It's been a hectic week. Between work, kiddos, and one helluva blowout with my father (such a long story. Some day I might find the strength to write about my relationship with my parents - however that day isnt today.), I've barely had time to breathe, let alone sit down and write.
I've started working on Dex's birth story, just because I don't want the details to fade. That day was one of the happiest of my life, and I want to hold onto every last detail forever.
I did manage to put up our Christmas tree this evening! Dex loooooves Christmas trees, and was super happy to see we have one too! I still need to it down and fluff up the little pink 3 foot artificial tree that Kalli puts up in her room, but I'll deal with that later on tonight. Other than that I've been spending time with my kids and my husband today. After the blowout yesterday I needed to be close to them. My father drinks, and when he's had a few he is volatile. Part of what happened last night was that he verbally attacked me, my character, my husband and his character, and decided that since he has money and we're not even close to loaded that he would threaten to hire a lawyer and try to take my children from me. What he *doesn't* know, is that I already have a kick ass attorney on retainer, and not having millions in the bank doesn't make me a terrible parent, and he would have to prove me unfit for the courts to even consider taking my children. Just because he was pissed off that my car broke down and I had to call him for help and it interrupted his beer time isn't a valid reason. That and I'll be honest- I dont know of a single judge that is gonna hand a 9 year old Aspie and a 7 month old infant to a 68 year old alcoholic with a history of emotional and physical abuse. Ack, I've already gone off on a tangent, haven't I? Anyway, even after years of therapy to overcome the emotional bullshit that I carry around as a result of my childhood, I cracked a bit last night, and all of the harsh words and memories of being hit, slapped, thrown to the floor and choked came rushing back and I had a hard time regrouping. Being safely locked away in my home with my kids and my ever supportive and loving husband (who I thought was going to kill my father after his attack on me, but certainly when he threatened to take our kids!), was what I needed today. Noone is ever going to seperate us. I need to remember that.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Test?
This is a test of the mobile blogging system. This is only a test. Also, I love my hubby dearly but he insists on babbling at me while I'm trying to work on other things. Drives me a bit nuts!
The dogs are running scared.....
And they should be. Because Dex is starting to mobilize.
I don't remember Kalli mobilizing so quickly. It seemed like it took her forever to start scooting and creeping, and just as long to figure out that she could turn. We spent alot of time picking her up and turning her around, otherwise she would just keep trying to crawl through the wall she had bumped into. I'll admit that it was funny, but it also concerned me. Of course she also started pulling up and walking much sooner than expected, so I suppose it evened out. But Dex? Dex has been rolling onto his belly for months, but didn't really care about going anywhere until recently, when he discovered that rolling around gave him access to things he couldn't normally reach. This week he realized that he could pull himself forward, scoot himself backward, and turn to the side. This morning he started gaining actual ground, and I realized it's officially time to babyproof over babyproofing, as well as possibly invest in a play yard. If nothing else, a play yard will protect the dogs, who Dex has an extreme fascination with. Seriously, my 115lb Labradane can be sitting around doing a whole lotta nothing, and Dex stares at her and cracks up. He tries to share food with her, and loves nothing more than when she licks his little hands or feet. He loves this dog. He is becoming mobile. The dog is not safe. Despite being a huge yellow beast, she's not safe. She's a big love, and gentle as a cotton ball with this baby. She will be terrorized. And I will laugh, because that's just the kind of person I am.
I'm also the kind of person that allows a 115lb dog access to the baby. No, I'm not afraid the dog will hurt him; I've trained her myself and she's the last thing I worry about with him. She loves that baby, and knows to pull away if he starts getting grabby or slappy. I dont leave them alone unsupervised, but I dont worry that the dog is gonna eat the baby. I know many people out there would have a massive coronary if a large dog even sniffed at their little ones, but I'm not one of them. I spent 8 years as a Veterinary Technician and my daughter was raised with animals from day one. The dogs are part of the family, and I teach my kids to respect them. And I teach the dogs to be gentle and kind to the little ones. I only wish I could teach them to change a diaper as opposed to just trying to ingest them.
I've digressed a bit there. But hey, sometimes I feel like adding a little disclaimer BEFORE someone goes all unhinged over some aspect of my parenting. My point was that Dex is mobile, the dogs are no longer safe, and the mobilizing baby is just in time for Christmas, when there are all sorts of shiny objects to go chasing after! My mother's house is something out of a Christmas Catalog....several trees, train around the tree, mechanical christmas dolls, dolls that tell stories, a "snow scene", complete with glittery fake snow, buildings, sledding children, snowmen etc, and she even goes as far as to wrap empty boxes so it looks like the whole living room has been vomited upon by the Christmas Spirit. It's insane. And it's going to be Dex's favorite freaking thing in the world to crawl around and find things to chew on. I'm either going to need some sort of portable baby containment system STAT, or I'm going to have to duct tape him into my arms.
Before Dex was born, we picked up a Pack N Play. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! It's a playpen! It's a portable crib! It's a changing table! It's sitting in the garage collecting dust! Dex couldnt stand being made to hang out in the damned thing when he was younger, and honestly its not all that quick and easy to put up and then take back down when we go to dinner at mom's, so its been relegated to the garage. Now he's big enough that the pack n play is kinda small for him to move around in without whacking his little noggin on the sides, or getting pissed off cause he's too long to play in it sideways. I miss the days of the old, huge playpens. I'm pretty sure they've stopped making them now since they had those v shaped, metal arms on the sides and anything like that is now considered deadly. Kalli had a huge one of those, and man! She loooooved it. She would play in it while I cleaned or did laundry, and it was tall enough to contain her, but not so tall that she couldnt pull herself up and scoot around the edges. I'm leaning toward this plastic play yard with built in toys this time around. Kinda like a little plastic chicken coop for the baby. Safe, fun, and he can scoot around and play, crawl, maybe lay an egg or 2. And the dogs will be safe from a drooling, grabbing, pooping baby monster.
Speaking of....Dex is no longer content in his "Dexersaucer". Time to play and pop out a boob. Dex hates to be too far from the boobies. I swear he has radar.
I don't remember Kalli mobilizing so quickly. It seemed like it took her forever to start scooting and creeping, and just as long to figure out that she could turn. We spent alot of time picking her up and turning her around, otherwise she would just keep trying to crawl through the wall she had bumped into. I'll admit that it was funny, but it also concerned me. Of course she also started pulling up and walking much sooner than expected, so I suppose it evened out. But Dex? Dex has been rolling onto his belly for months, but didn't really care about going anywhere until recently, when he discovered that rolling around gave him access to things he couldn't normally reach. This week he realized that he could pull himself forward, scoot himself backward, and turn to the side. This morning he started gaining actual ground, and I realized it's officially time to babyproof over babyproofing, as well as possibly invest in a play yard. If nothing else, a play yard will protect the dogs, who Dex has an extreme fascination with. Seriously, my 115lb Labradane can be sitting around doing a whole lotta nothing, and Dex stares at her and cracks up. He tries to share food with her, and loves nothing more than when she licks his little hands or feet. He loves this dog. He is becoming mobile. The dog is not safe. Despite being a huge yellow beast, she's not safe. She's a big love, and gentle as a cotton ball with this baby. She will be terrorized. And I will laugh, because that's just the kind of person I am.
I'm also the kind of person that allows a 115lb dog access to the baby. No, I'm not afraid the dog will hurt him; I've trained her myself and she's the last thing I worry about with him. She loves that baby, and knows to pull away if he starts getting grabby or slappy. I dont leave them alone unsupervised, but I dont worry that the dog is gonna eat the baby. I know many people out there would have a massive coronary if a large dog even sniffed at their little ones, but I'm not one of them. I spent 8 years as a Veterinary Technician and my daughter was raised with animals from day one. The dogs are part of the family, and I teach my kids to respect them. And I teach the dogs to be gentle and kind to the little ones. I only wish I could teach them to change a diaper as opposed to just trying to ingest them.
I've digressed a bit there. But hey, sometimes I feel like adding a little disclaimer BEFORE someone goes all unhinged over some aspect of my parenting. My point was that Dex is mobile, the dogs are no longer safe, and the mobilizing baby is just in time for Christmas, when there are all sorts of shiny objects to go chasing after! My mother's house is something out of a Christmas Catalog....several trees, train around the tree, mechanical christmas dolls, dolls that tell stories, a "snow scene", complete with glittery fake snow, buildings, sledding children, snowmen etc, and she even goes as far as to wrap empty boxes so it looks like the whole living room has been vomited upon by the Christmas Spirit. It's insane. And it's going to be Dex's favorite freaking thing in the world to crawl around and find things to chew on. I'm either going to need some sort of portable baby containment system STAT, or I'm going to have to duct tape him into my arms.
Before Dex was born, we picked up a Pack N Play. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! It's a playpen! It's a portable crib! It's a changing table! It's sitting in the garage collecting dust! Dex couldnt stand being made to hang out in the damned thing when he was younger, and honestly its not all that quick and easy to put up and then take back down when we go to dinner at mom's, so its been relegated to the garage. Now he's big enough that the pack n play is kinda small for him to move around in without whacking his little noggin on the sides, or getting pissed off cause he's too long to play in it sideways. I miss the days of the old, huge playpens. I'm pretty sure they've stopped making them now since they had those v shaped, metal arms on the sides and anything like that is now considered deadly. Kalli had a huge one of those, and man! She loooooved it. She would play in it while I cleaned or did laundry, and it was tall enough to contain her, but not so tall that she couldnt pull herself up and scoot around the edges. I'm leaning toward this plastic play yard with built in toys this time around. Kinda like a little plastic chicken coop for the baby. Safe, fun, and he can scoot around and play, crawl, maybe lay an egg or 2. And the dogs will be safe from a drooling, grabbing, pooping baby monster.
Speaking of....Dex is no longer content in his "Dexersaucer". Time to play and pop out a boob. Dex hates to be too far from the boobies. I swear he has radar.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Obligatory "Welcome and Hello!" post.
I'll admit it. I have zero idea of where to start. Starting a blog is always a bit like trying to start a conversation with a stranger that I may not have a damned thing in common with. Most people don't really want to hear about my son's latest epic dirty diaper or my daughter's latest school project, right? And here I am, purposely plotting to bore an entire internet audience with just that. I suppose it could be worse; I could be planning to write an entire blog about cleaning my toilet, or the latest season of some reality show. Not to bag on reality shows, but I think my kiddos are much more entertaining than The Situation's latest found-in-a-bar concubine. Having said that, why don't we start with a little about me? We can pretend it's like we met at a PTA meeting and are just schmoozing over some watered down Kool-Aid.
My name is technically Kimber, although these days I answer to "Hey Mom!" or a soft little baby whimper. I have 2 wonderful kids; Kallista, age 9, and Dexter, 6 months. My life revolves around them, to the point that I quit my mainstream job and started my own little business so that I can be here for them. My husband (who I refer to as Brian, but soon enough will probably be know as "Hey Dad!") and I started In The DogHouse Pet Services in 2009, around the same time that I became pregnant with Dexter. Petsitting and Dog Walking aren't exactly rocket science, but it pays the bills, has a flexible schedule, and doesn't require that I deal with people on a regular basis. I'm not a "people person". I admit it. People scare me. Which is why you won't really catch me at a PTA meeting.
Owning my own business, although a complete pain in the ass at times, is the best thing I have ever done for my family. I see my husband more often. I have time to spend with my kids. Despite my general distaste for cleaning and laundry, I have time to bitch and whine about cleaning and doing laundry. And there's the added bonus of never having to be called into the boss's office or being written up over being 5 minutes late because the line at Starbucks was longer than expected. Granted, I have to deal with the pleasantries of quarterly taxes and coaxing clients to actually pay their invoices, but it's still better than working my ass off and slowly going nowhere. It also allows me the flexibility to get my daughter the help she needs. You see, Kalli has Asperger's Syndrome (a form of High Functioning Autism that effects social skills, motor skills, and emotional development), and needs Occupational Therapy, Social Skills Groups, additional instruction in writing, etc. Its all very time consuming, and when I was working out in the mainstream, I wasn't able to find the time for all of those things. That bothered me since she needs ALL of them in order to cope, otherwise she melts down, falls behind, and ends up being made fun of or bullied. And honestly she is so much more important to me than any job ever could be. I get alot of flack for being a petsitter/dogwalker since it's not a high powered career, but before you point and laugh, lemme just tell you that owning a business (we're incorporated, registered, insured, bonded and licensed just like any other legitimate business) isn't as simple as it seems! But hey, I'm not here to talk about the nuances of business, right? Point is that owning this little biz helps me help my daughter, and that is priceless.
It's also allowed me to have all the time in the world with Dex, my 6 month old son. I went back to work when Kalli was 6 weeks old, and I missed all of her firsts. This time around I have the opportunity to be here for Dex's, and that means the world to me. I'm a big fan of attachment parenting, and working from home in a profession that allows me to make my own schedule as well as take Dex with me (Kalli is in school while we're working) makes AP much easier for me. Don't get me wrong, I practiced AP with Kalli and worked outside of the home, and it worked out well. But being home or taking him with me just eases my mind. Trust me, I admire the hell out of moms that work outside the home. I honestly don't know how they handle it without being sick with worry. Those women deserve medals.
I'm also breastfeeding. Yup, that's right. I use my boobies for what they were made for, and I'm damned proud of it. I was blessed with sabotage at the hospital in Dex's first days, as well as a milk supply that all but disappeared when Dex was 4 days old, so I had to work HARD to be able to breastfeed. I'm a firm believer in the benefits of breastfeeding (although I don't look down on formula feeding moms - that's not what I'm about), and plan on breastfeeding Dex for at least the first year. We'll be doing baby led weaning as well, so I'm prepared to nurse him for a good while. I know that's controversial (why, I'll never know!), but it's what I believe in and I'm sure I'll write about it often.
I'm also married to an amazing man. He's a wonderful husband a father, who somehow manages to tolerate my twisted sense of humor, increasingly strange idiosyncracies, and raging PMS. I'm lucky to have him, although I fully expect him to start attempting to smother me in my sleep any day now.
There ya have it. The quick PTA approved version of me. It's not interesting enough for my own reality series, but it keeps me busy and just the right amount of stressed out. Hopefully I'll find some interesting things to write about. But I apologize in advance if all I ever write about is how disgusting that last dirty diaper was.
My name is technically Kimber, although these days I answer to "Hey Mom!" or a soft little baby whimper. I have 2 wonderful kids; Kallista, age 9, and Dexter, 6 months. My life revolves around them, to the point that I quit my mainstream job and started my own little business so that I can be here for them. My husband (who I refer to as Brian, but soon enough will probably be know as "Hey Dad!") and I started In The DogHouse Pet Services in 2009, around the same time that I became pregnant with Dexter. Petsitting and Dog Walking aren't exactly rocket science, but it pays the bills, has a flexible schedule, and doesn't require that I deal with people on a regular basis. I'm not a "people person". I admit it. People scare me. Which is why you won't really catch me at a PTA meeting.
Owning my own business, although a complete pain in the ass at times, is the best thing I have ever done for my family. I see my husband more often. I have time to spend with my kids. Despite my general distaste for cleaning and laundry, I have time to bitch and whine about cleaning and doing laundry. And there's the added bonus of never having to be called into the boss's office or being written up over being 5 minutes late because the line at Starbucks was longer than expected. Granted, I have to deal with the pleasantries of quarterly taxes and coaxing clients to actually pay their invoices, but it's still better than working my ass off and slowly going nowhere. It also allows me the flexibility to get my daughter the help she needs. You see, Kalli has Asperger's Syndrome (a form of High Functioning Autism that effects social skills, motor skills, and emotional development), and needs Occupational Therapy, Social Skills Groups, additional instruction in writing, etc. Its all very time consuming, and when I was working out in the mainstream, I wasn't able to find the time for all of those things. That bothered me since she needs ALL of them in order to cope, otherwise she melts down, falls behind, and ends up being made fun of or bullied. And honestly she is so much more important to me than any job ever could be. I get alot of flack for being a petsitter/dogwalker since it's not a high powered career, but before you point and laugh, lemme just tell you that owning a business (we're incorporated, registered, insured, bonded and licensed just like any other legitimate business) isn't as simple as it seems! But hey, I'm not here to talk about the nuances of business, right? Point is that owning this little biz helps me help my daughter, and that is priceless.
It's also allowed me to have all the time in the world with Dex, my 6 month old son. I went back to work when Kalli was 6 weeks old, and I missed all of her firsts. This time around I have the opportunity to be here for Dex's, and that means the world to me. I'm a big fan of attachment parenting, and working from home in a profession that allows me to make my own schedule as well as take Dex with me (Kalli is in school while we're working) makes AP much easier for me. Don't get me wrong, I practiced AP with Kalli and worked outside of the home, and it worked out well. But being home or taking him with me just eases my mind. Trust me, I admire the hell out of moms that work outside the home. I honestly don't know how they handle it without being sick with worry. Those women deserve medals.
I'm also breastfeeding. Yup, that's right. I use my boobies for what they were made for, and I'm damned proud of it. I was blessed with sabotage at the hospital in Dex's first days, as well as a milk supply that all but disappeared when Dex was 4 days old, so I had to work HARD to be able to breastfeed. I'm a firm believer in the benefits of breastfeeding (although I don't look down on formula feeding moms - that's not what I'm about), and plan on breastfeeding Dex for at least the first year. We'll be doing baby led weaning as well, so I'm prepared to nurse him for a good while. I know that's controversial (why, I'll never know!), but it's what I believe in and I'm sure I'll write about it often.
I'm also married to an amazing man. He's a wonderful husband a father, who somehow manages to tolerate my twisted sense of humor, increasingly strange idiosyncracies, and raging PMS. I'm lucky to have him, although I fully expect him to start attempting to smother me in my sleep any day now.
There ya have it. The quick PTA approved version of me. It's not interesting enough for my own reality series, but it keeps me busy and just the right amount of stressed out. Hopefully I'll find some interesting things to write about. But I apologize in advance if all I ever write about is how disgusting that last dirty diaper was.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)