- You make a meal that you are used to having leftovers from but don't have any because someone likes it so much (thankfully) he has three servings of it!
- You realize most of your socialization now is with other Moms.
- When you go out with above mentioned Moms alone you talk mostly about your kids when the whole reason you went out was to have some time away from them :)
- You spend most of your time in church entertaining a wiggly little guy :)
- You leave the doctor's office with a sticker.
- You are very good at counting to three (of course you usually do it in a stern voice.)
- Negotiating is a daily thing in your household.
- You are seeing more and more a mini version of yourself (poor child.)
Cole LOVES to help and LOVES to be as involved as he can in anything I am doing. Here he is helping me make a shopping list :) He even said aloud the things he thought we needed as he "wrote" them down (milk...smoothies...) Man, I LOVE this stage :)
I saw this video on a fellow blogger's blog (LOL...that wording sounds funny.) Anyway, she wrote about how her marriage isn't perfect and how she would never leave her husband...marriage is forever through thick and thin and she doesn't take her vows lightly. I couldn't agree more. In fact Tony and I have often talked about how divorce is no big deal now. Often in church I hear of a couple celebrating 50 years, etc. and I am so happy. It is unfortunately so rare now.
I too have days as the fellow blogger mentioned where I wonder how I can live another day in the same house as my husband. I wonder how would it work with Cole? I of course then immediately think of how devestating it would be for Cole. He loves us both so much it would break his heart to not have us put him to bed together each night. He would miss our nightly singing and "marching bands." It would crush him. Yet, couples do it all the time and poor kids end up the victim.
With that said, I don't want you all thinking my marriage is on the rocks since I most likely just painted that picture in your heads. I just feel that all too often marriage and couples make it sound like complete bliss and it is not. Marriage is hard. Marriage is work. All too often I think couples throw in the towel when it gets "too hard."
With that also said, I don't want to say that for people who have divorced they should not. I cannot speak for their situation. I know there are times where it may be necessary. I just think too often it is the "easy way out" for people.
I love my husband dearly. He truly is my best friend. He hurts when I hurt. He surprises me with things like an AMAZING camera I would have never dreamed of asking for. He takes care of me when I am sick. He is THE BEST Daddy to Cole. He literally is my partner in life and he even for the most part shares house duties equally with me and we often switch jobs. He can take care of Cole as well as I can. He can cook, do laundry, and take out the trash. I am lucky to have found him and to have met him in high school so that we have already had almost 15 years with each other. I am blessed and I hope he feels the same about me. But, this is the side we often hear from people. We don't hear the part about feeling like "throwing in the towel" on some days. And as I said, I have those days and I think we all do. Marriage is not easy but it is worth it. This song just sums it up better than I think I ever could. I now have it on my IPod :) Listen and enjoy.
I am surprised that so many of you who took the poll actually have not ever had snow. That just tells me my blog reaches farther than I realized! I am shocked that one of you said you hope never to see it too but I suppose that is why I live where I do and you live where you do :) I love having all our seasons and cannot imagine anything else (nor do I want to!)
As you can see in the above photos, we get snow here where I live. For those of you who have never seen it in person, what you see in these photos is nothing compared to what we usually get. Thank goodness I live where I do because Cole loves to shovel! The other day we had just a dusting and Cole and I were out shoveling it...lol.
I highly expected someone to say that where they live doesn't bother them weather-wise. However, I suppose even when you live in warmer climates it still gets colder than your summers for sure!
I am also surprised that so many of you said you have too much else to keep you busy to get "blue." I think in the past few years the after Christmas let down has hit me harder. I felt like I was in a pretty big slump a couple of weeks ago and I believe it is partly because for some reason this "Holiday season" literally felt like it came and went before I could even blink once! However, I seemed to suddenly just snap out of it and am feeling more myself thankfully.
Ask me again around March though because it seems the past few years that "Winter" seems to impact my mood more. I am usually a little more "down" in the Winter no matter how hard I try. I used to really enjoy Winter but now I think it really has become my least favorite season. It is too cold for me to enjoy being outside and I am too busy with a toddler to hunker down with a good book as I used to love to do in the dead of Winter. I also am too busy with a toddler to sleep in or go to bed early and "hibernate" a little more.
Thankfully though that busy little toddler also is such a charmer that it is also hard to sink too deeply into a "slump" with him around. So, for those of you who said you are too busy with "other stuff" to get blue, what "other stuff" do you do during these months ahead?
Ever since I was sick a few weeks ago and explained this to Cole by telling him "Mommy's belly didn't feel good" to which he immediately actually felt my belly (I love how literal kids are at this age), Cole has asked me if I am happy at random moments. He will out of the blue ask, "Mommy happy?"
I love this. So sweet. I have replied from the first moment he asked me this with, "Yes. Mommy is always happy when she is with you."
My husband says this isn't true. He said Cole makes me mad at times so I am not happy then. I disagree. Even in the hardest of times, I am happy to have Cole.
So yes Buddy, Mommy is happy. She is always happy when she is with you.
I was actually surprised by the results of this poll because I figured that at least one person may not "Do Santa" in their house. I actually know a couple people who don't so I figured with this being the world wide web that someone would say that. With that said, my answer is that we do Santa in our house but I also talk to Cole about the true meaning of Christmas. He is a little young to grasp both but I still talk about it. Next year I want to do an even better job talking to Cole about Jesus, etc. at Christmas.
On a different note, my husband had a great idea of picking a mitten off a tree at the gingerbread contest we went to in our town. The mitten contained a Christmas wish of a local child. We emphasized to Cole how some kids can't have the Christmas we do without help. We involved him in picking out the toys for the child (I went with a 1 1/2 year old girl who wanted trains since Cole loves trains) and he had a hard time not keeping the toys himself, which I think was actually a great lesson for him. We will continue to do this each year to help Cole realize the importance of helping others and how fortunate he is to have what he does.
Has anyone noticed my map in my sidebar has been crazy lately? It has had a ton of visitors listed on it. Although I would love to think people find my life that interesting I am smart enough to know it is not. I mean I only have 16 followers, and although a few may be "lurkers" there is also a great possibility many of my followers don't really follow anymore so I think that makes those two things a wash. With that said, I went to the map site and noticed in the fine print that it said the default map is now all hits and said how to change it back to just in the past 24 hours. So, I did just that. Now my map is looking scarce again. Kind of sad but definitely more realistic :)
- You have to move toys off your couch to be able to sit in your living room.
- You rarely eat something without being asked, "What's that Mama?" and then being required to share.
- You often have the same bedtime as a 2 year old.
- A frequent question you ask lately is, "Do you have to pee?" and a frequent comment is, "No peeing on the couch, floor, etc...we pee on a potty right?"
- You have watched Kung Fu Panda at least 100 times now.
