It's about that time

Dear Landon, Noah, and Lilah,
I have decided that it's about that time. After three years of recording our happenings, I'm ready to call it quits...at least for now. When I told your dad, he seemed disappointed and asked why. My response was pretty simple. I just don't enjoy it very much anymore. I feel like it's a burden instead of something I want to do. I don't plan to quit writing completely. I think I'll just write individual letters to you. My idea has been to get you each a notebook, and I can record my thoughts and memories in those versus the internet for all to see. Whatever I decide to do, I won't completely drop documenting our lives. I just need to do it how and when I want to, with no pressure to please. Something that really is just about you and my relationship with each of you. That will mean more to me, and I really believe in the long run, that's what you'll enjoy more as well.

I am happy I've had the opportunity to do this for the past three years. There were times that writing on here was so therapeutic and relaxing for me. I hope that one day you'll treasure my words, our pictures, and our lives from this time period. You three and your dad are everything to me. You make my world go round, and I love you so much--both individually and as a whole. Thank you for letting me be your mommy. It's a job that I probably never appreciate as much as I should, but I promise you, I do know how special it is.

LCS, Booger Bear, & my Pumpkin Pie--I love you. Thank you.

Love,
Mom

P.S. For those of you that do read this blog, I hope to get better at posting pictures on facebook, so feel free to follow us on there. Thanks for your comments and support over the past three years. I've appreciated them all.

More Spring Pictures

I have no comment...

Our campsite for Easter weekend. We had a great time!
Not a great picture, but they very rarely lay next to one another. Kasey doesn't like others in her space. Max would curl up next to her if she allowed it.Landon and I after running our first race together. That race meant more to me than he will ever know. Watching the Grayson Days parade with friends Landon, Clay, and Noah watching the parade (a.k.a. getting lots of candy) Our baby girl and her newly pierced ears.

Watching Dora with her babies

Spring 2011

Our colored Easter eggs

The family decorating eggs.
Lilah getting ready to do her performance at school.
Noah getting ready to start his program.
Lilah finding eggs at her school's Easter egg hunt.
My two youngest My bookworm (well, he had to read for homework, but still...) The kids getting ready for the family Easter egg hunt (while camping) Lilah walking to the egg hunt.


I have no idea why I was double fisting. It would have been a cute picture...Noah waiting for his turn at bat. Up to bat... Baseball ready...almost...Now that the hat is on the right way...baseball ready.Lilah at the ball field

To be a princess...

In anticipation of tomorrow's royal wedding, I started thinking about why we are so enthralled with the nuptials of two people we don't know, of two people that don't live in our country, of two people that will never "rule" over the United States. On facebook, I had a friend say that she had set her alarm and was excited that she would be able to watch a portion of it with her sweet daughter. I was almost envious and wished that Lilah was a little older so we could watch it together. I practically stopped in my tracks when that thought crossed my mind and asked myself "why?". I wouldn't wish that life on Lilah--the scrutiny, the lack of privacy, the constant worry that she's doing what others think she should. And then it kind of hit me---as females, we're almost trained to want to be a princess. We already ask Lilah if she's our princess. She'll say "I'm Daddy's princess" without hesitation. She loves her helmet that has princesses decorated across it. She wears her princess shoes whenever she can. And let's not forget the tiara. Let's face it, we girls want to be a princess.

But what I realized in my thoughts was that I'm not that interested in the life that Kate Middleton is about to lead. I almost pity her for that. What I want to see in this wedding is the love between two people. I want to see the Prince smile when he sees his bride walking down the aisle. I want to see her proud face as she is about to become his wife. I want to see a kiss that seals the deal. (I'm not gonna lie, I also want to see what a royal wedding gets ya.) I want to see that girl become a princess because let's face it, we were all princesses on our wedding day. And believe me, my little Lilah will be the most beautiful princess in the world the day she says I do. Yes, for Kate Middleton, her wedding day will signify the day she truly became the Princess of England. But for the rest of us commoners, it was the day that we agreed to marry that one man who in all ways was (and is) our prince.

So maybe your prince is the Prince of England, or maybe your prince came from Conyers, GA. Either way, I think it's fun celebrating another girl's day of being a princess.

Max--a year plus later...

Oh, my Max. Oh Max. Wow, Max. What a year you have given us. I have to admit, for a lab, he really hasn't been that bad of a pup. However, I started keeping a list of the things he chewed and/or destroyed. It went something like this...15-20 sippy cups, a couple of flip-flops, dog beds, loaves (yes, loaves) of bread, a few books, shoes, rugs, too many wipes to count (he eats these), diapers, blankets, dog toys, the kids' toys, etc....

I stopped adding to the list. I realized that instead of listing what he had done, why not note the good days? I'm happy to say, there are more days when his silence doesn't mean he's gotten into something. There are more days when he's destroyed nothing (not many days, but at least more days). He is slowly growing up.

Maximus Jack Seabolt is definitely my dog. He follows me around all day. If he isn't right by my side, he's in the same room. He likes his mommy. He listens to me better than Jason (which NEVER happens). He cuddles with me. Ah, I love the cuddling. When I'm working late or watching TV, he quietly lays that big head of his on my legs. He's my 80 pounds of furry love.

I admit that adding Max to our family over a year ago probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. He has made our craziness even crazier. But I couldn't imagine it without him. He's Lilah's buddy, the boys' playmate, Jason's, well, nothing really, and my snug-bug.

Jason and I had one hope for when we decided to get him...that he would bring some youth back into Kasey's life. And that he has done. She plays more, she seems to handle other dogs so much better, and she has lost 9 pounds. Max is still an annoying little brother to her, but she plays with him and doesn't seem to mind him so much. I feel like we actually added years to Kasey's life.

So Max, this first year has been an eye-opener, but I'm happy to report, WE'RE KEEPIN' YA!

Missing Spring Break

I bet you never thought you would hear me say this, but I was not ready for the kids to go back to school this week. I was enjoying our laid back week. I liked not having to worry so much about a schedule. I loved not stressing about whether or not the kids were in bed by a certain time. I was happy to not make any lunches the night before or think about packing a snack. I had no problems forgetting about homework. And I did not miss the morning rush of getting everyone to their respective places.

We didn't even sleep in much later, and we still had to rush to the gym a couple of times for me to make my classes on time. But overall, it was a good break. No big plans--just hanging out at home and a lot of outside time. My parents took the kids for a couple of nights, and although I enjoyed cleaning and getting my things done without constant interruptions, I missed them. I'm actually really looking forward to summer. Can you believe that?!?!?

***Please feel free to refer to this post when I'm three weeks into summer break and wondering how I'm going to get through an entire summer. ***

A Big Girl's Room

A big girl... ...needs a big girl room. Lilah has been in her big bed for over a month now. She adjusted to it like it was nothing. It's crazy that we have no more cribs or toddler beds in this house. Time just keeps flying by.

This is an awesome box my dad built for Lilah to hold her dress up clothes.

Her room is small, but it's perfect for Lilah.

Oh, baby girl. Before I know it, we'll be putting together your dorm room.

iPod

She's only two, and she already knows her way around an ipod. Here she is playing games on Daddy's ipod touch. Sheesh. I don't think my mom would even know how to turn it on (no offense, Mom).

And in conclusion...

So, I didn't write again on Thursday (due to the nightmare of my picture posting and how long it took me, I was more than okay to take a break). I also didn't write on Friday--for which I have a very good excuse--I had to get ready for the garage sale that we had today. I spent most of Friday cleaning, working, hanging with the kids, doing anything I could to avoid blogging, and once the evening came, it was time to take everything to the garage and start pricing. We had it all ready to go by 8:30 this morning, and I'm more than happy to report it was a success. We made about $380 which isn't too bad if you ask me. We had no furniture (besides the changing table that didn't sell), so we were very pleased with our results. What I found odd and a little surprising was how hard it was for me to see our baby items go. Believe me, I was definitely ready to clean out the storage room and be done with it all, and I definitely don't want any more babies. But when a couple bought the pack & play, I had to restrain myself from grabbing on to the rails and holding on for dear life. I had three babies in that thing. We had packed it so many times in the car, it had become a part of us and our trips. It had flown out to South Dakota, had been camping, had made the trip to the beach several times, and had spent the night in friend's and family's homes many times. Now it's someone else's, and it was a feeling I wasn't prepared for. The good news is that our storage room is very clean. The good news is that more money is in our pocket. The good news is we had three healthy babies use that stuff. The sad news is that they will never use it again.

The point of this last entry of the "experiment" was to write about what I discovered through the process. I discovered that blogging your day every day is hard and time consuming. I discovered that I can't stay up late to blog without being tired throughout the week. I discovered that although I feel like I have few free minutes in my day, my life is pretty mundane. I discovered that blogging can take over your mind--always thinking "should I blog about this?" or "how can I make my day sound more exciting than it was?". And I discovered that blogging didn't solve my issue of being bored. That's right with all of the craziness in our life, I'm bored. It's not as if I have nothing to do, so it's not that type of boredom. It's just that I need something else.

I've said before that I'm very much a next-step type of person. I'm not content to stay in one place in our life for very long. Meet Jason, date, move to South Carolina, get married, have child, move back to Georgia, have more kids, get another dog, move to Marietta...oh wait. That's what hasn't happened. We are stuck in this holding pattern. We can't do any improvements to our house because we won't get our money back on it. We can't look for a new house and try to establish a home that we will be in for many years to come. We can't plan for that next step in our lives. We're stuck in Loganville.

Thankfully, I like our house just fine. Thankfully, all three kids are going to good schools. Thankfully, we have a church that we like. Thankfully, I have a gym that makes me happy. Thankfully, there are great opportunities for the kids to play sports.

We have met several people here, but I hesitate to get close to anyone. I know that I don't want to be in this part of Atlanta, so why get too involved in a friendship? There are a couple of people I really like , but overall, send me back to East Cobb, please. I have family there and many friends there. It's where I want to be.

We have been very patient in our house selling adventure. It's been over a year, and although we've been in a buyer's top two favorites a couple of times, we have had no contracts. I have mastered getting this house ready in an hour. The kids and dogs have become pros in getting out to let others view our home. We have gotten used to being beaten out by foreclosures. We have done our part in selling our home.

I think I thought taking on the journal challenge would give me that ah-ha moment. That lightbulb going off to tell me how I could deal with this boredom. That something that I needed. Unfortunately, it didn't. Really all it did was remind me how the day to day duties aren't too exciting. It's life, and I need to learn how to feel more comfortable on this step we've been on for a while now. I need to find a way to be content. So, I'll try. We still live our lives as if we'll be here for a while. All the kids are registered for next fall's school year. Plans for sport playing continue as if we'll be here for years. Participation in church activities continue as normal. We are living. But I won't lie...every day I open my email to see if God has sent something from above to let me know how long I have to be here. I think we need to get the Big Guy some internet service. I might have better luck getting my wished for email.

March 30, 2011

You have no idea what's it's taken for me to get this blog posted. I had the great idea to do my day through pictures instead of words. I spent over 3 hours working on this last night (3/30)-giving up at 1am, and blogger kept messing up my formatting--making it a complete mess. After starting over at least 5 times, I have thrown in the towel. I decided the pictures would be centered, and I'll deal with it not looking like I wanted it to. Very frustrated. Good thing we're at the end of this little project of mine. I'm not sure I'll ever do a post again (besides the 3/31 post which will be the official end) after this debacle. So, here was yesterday...

Time to get up! Lilah handing me her breakfast. Not the best picture of her, but the girl is serious about her food! Wednesday's cherry coke (and the hair stuff to get Landon out the door) One kid on his way to school...

Time to feed the dogs. Yes, that's the laundry room. Max eats in there, Kasey eats in our room. Notice the pineapple juice. It's put into their food so Max won't eat the poop. I don't know what pineapple juice does during the digestive cycle, but dogs don't like it. We're just glad it works. Washing our sheets.

On the road to take Noah to school. Lilah doesn't have school on Wednesdays.

Lilah walking into the gym.

My station for an hour. This class was body pump which is weight lifting for the entire body.

The stair master I worked on for 20 minutes to burn some more calories.

Calorie burning was wasted because Lilah wanted to stop at Wendy's to eat (nevermind who put that bug in her ear).

Picking up Noah from school.

Lilah fell asleep in the car, and I was able to easily transfer her to the bed. I thought she'd be down for a while, but she was up within 15 minutes of being home.

Three loads--a light laundry day.

Lilah insisted that I take a picture of her dolls, so I figured I would include them. She named them Melanie and Lilly. This is the first time she's called them anything but "baby".

I had to pay bills, balance the checkbook, and work on the budget.

I missed taking a picture of snack time; however, I included the mess that we needed to clean up before taking Landon to church.

Landon walking into church for his religious education class.

She is not sleeping. She's crying because I was mad at her. I was mad at her because she peed her pants (notice puddle). She peed her pants because she got in trouble. She got in trouble because she hit and pinched Noah. For some reason, peeing her pants is her way of getting back at me. Awesome.Got in some Courtroom Connect work before starting dinner.

I took a picture of the basement door because I had closed it on the younger two just moments before. I sent them downstairs so I could cook in peace. They had been under foot all afternoon, and I needed some quiet time.

Tacos for dinner. We tried to wait for Jason and Landon to get home, but we had to dig in. Luckily the two of them got home in time before we ate it all.

Bath Time!

While Lilah was in the tub, I made Noah and Lilah's lunches.

Noah's turn. Max is right in the middle of it because he loves to drink their bath water. Yuck.

Kids are all in bed, so it was time to go downstairs to finish work, fold laundry, and watch a little American Idol on the DVR.

Time for me to post all of the pictures on the blog. But first, I enjoyed a yummy frozen strawberry/banana treat that Jason had made.

It's done. This picture journal can finally be posted. It looks nothing like I had planned in my mind. Oh well-my great idea turned into one of my dumbest. It's done. It's done. It's done...