Sleeping Angel

I love to watch my children sleep. After a long day of saying "no" and "come here" and "stop hitting your brother", it is nice to see them settle down and nestle into bed. The next day is usually the same all over again, but in those few moments I watch them sleep, they help me build my patience all over again and help me remember why I became a mother in the first place!!

The funny things kids say....

The other night I was watching American Idol with the kids. I usually mute the commercials because they are annoying and a lot of times inappropriate for kids. Sometime during the show, I had forgotten to select mute and we numbly sat there watching. During one commercial a man said the word "shut up" several times. I looked at Joseph and said, " uh oh, that is a bad word. We don't say that word in our house, right?" Joseph said, "yeah, right, we don't say that at our house." He was quiet for a few moments and then he said, " but can we say it at someone else's house?"

I miss Shannon

Hello world! Welcome to my first blog posting. And I can think of no better blog subject than my wonderful wife.

Shannon works in a call center during various, random hours totaling anywhere from 10 to 40 hours a month. Those 10 to 40 hours provide a nifty and needed source of extra income, but the down side is, well, weeks like this. Shannon has worked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night this week, completely obliterating any slim chance we may have had during those three days at communicating for more than two seconds without interjecting "Olivia, don't rub that into the couch!" or hearing "Hey Dad, remember that Rampage video game?" Of course, lately, for one reason or another, the kids have been getting in bed past 10:00 so often that most of our conversations usually begin and end with: "I'm tired honey, let's go to bed." Still, those conversations, although brief, constitute contact between us, contact that we both crave if it's gone.

So here I am, typing along in our new blog, without ANY contact with my wife, missing her like crazy. Ironically, both of our kids (Joseph age 4 and Olivia age 2), settled down before 8:00 tonight. We could have had an EXTENDED conversation tonight. Heck, we may have even had time and energy to fall asleep in front of a DVD. Instead, the TV is droning along lazily in the background, and I'm pondering an early bedtime. Sigh....

I hope Shannon doesn't mind me sharing this, but I recently expressed my feelings to her about nights like tonight. A favorite Pink Floyd song invariably wraps my mind around her every time I here it. Here's what I told her about it:

Oh, how I wish you were here.
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year.

So often, when work is wearing me down or the kids are wearing me out, I find that all I really need is your presence. When you’re not there, or when we can’t seem to find those quiet moments together, I crave those moments. I crave having you near. I am soothed by and deeply dependent on your presence.

There you have it. I'm not sure why I shared this. Perhaps it's cathartic to put my heart on display for the world wide web to see. Maybe this is a subconscious outreach to the other half of my heart. Or maybe, just maybe, I just miss my wife. Sigh...

Neal

Olivia turns 2!!

I can't believe it has been two years since Olivia was born. She had such a rocky start.....and look at her now! At her two year check up she was off the charts for height and weight. I am a little concerned that she is going to be a really big girl, but the doctor said she is proportionate so he isn't worried, she will eventually grow into her height. Most people think she is already 3 or 4 and can hardly believe that she just turned 2!
Olivia has the gift of language and talks non-stop. She has started getting herself dressed and put on her own shoes yesterday, which surprised me because it took Joseph forever to learn that skill.
She loves to follow Joseph around and copy's everything he does. She is also quite the bully and unfortunately hits a lot. While that gets old, sometimes I have to laugh at the HUGE difference between boys and girls. We love Olivia and can't wait to see what she will do next!