mama's helpin boy

Helping me prepare for a simple supper.

the first one up

my mom says...

REPOST:
When I'm having a bad day or week I usually call my mom and vent and complain and basically look to her for some encouragement. She is a wise woman and was, is, has always been a fantastic mom!
I have the hardest time with Henry. For some reason he has been the one that drives me to almost drink. He irritates me, aggravates me, angers me and sometimes I just plain don't like my little boy! Is that normal for moms of boys? I love him with all my being but ugh!!! sometimes!!! Anyway, when I've ranted and raved about my kids (usually Henry) to mom, she calmly and rationally, with amazing love and sweetness, reminds me that I am my kid's world, their sun. Their lives revolve around me and my mood and my love and re-assurance. She reminds me to sit with them, love them up, kiss their sweet, chubby cheeks. I always feel refreshed and calmly reprimanded for my bad attitude. I don't mean that she did reprimands me, but I always come away from our conversations with conviction that I am probably more the one to blame for my bad attitude toward my babes than they are! I know I'm not making a lot of sense but anyway, all that to say that if my kids look up to me so much I should be happy and joyful to have a happy face and ready smiles for my little loves instead of frowns of frustration for taking time from my day. It's like, waaaaaaaait a minute here! They are my day! They are my job and wasn't I the one who wanted to have babies since I was two? So, stop being selfish, Tab! Take those blessings that the Lord saw fit to give to you into your arms and hug and kiss them up! And let me tell you, when I do it is amazing the response I get in return! What a blessing indeed!

tuesday!!

This morning, as soon as the kids ate their cereal and everyone was dressed and groomed we headed out the door to run some errands.  I needed to return some jeans to Target, unload some newspapers at the recycle bin  near our apartment, return books to the library and get some "new" ones to bring home with us.  I wanted to pick up some FroYo at Publix and ketchup at Winn-Dixie and some cereal and wipes at Walgreens. 

It turned out to be a busy morning and it got really late on me!  I was thankful I thought to bring some crackers along for the kids to snack on while we got our errands run.  I am pleased that we got everything done before 2!  But, we ended up having a late lunch and I was ready to get things done around the house.  However, directly after lunch I made myself sit on the couch to read the kids their library books.  It was really great that I did because we all needed some "down" time and I enjoyed our book time!

 Even though, what I REALLY wanted to do was clear and wipe off the table from lunch.

 I wanted to put the dishes into the dishwasher.

 And these minimal groceries were calling my name to be put away.

 Instead, I enjoyed some bonding and cuddle time with the babes and didn't regret it at all!  These days are precious and those dirty dishes and table and counters and groceries that need putting away can wait!

i should've

Yes, today I really, really should've devoted my time to the floors of our apartment.  They are feeling crummy and sandy.  It's probably been a day and a half since it's last thorough sweepage.  However, I was feeling more inclined to watch my little guys play and giggle with them at their imaginations.

 Here, Marcail is singing from an ABC book.  She likes to pretend she's at church or maybe even a teacher.  She's a singer, too!  Almost always she's singing a made up song. 
   The girls are wearing aprons because they were playing restaurant.

 Maybe Naomi's looking at a menu?

Henry is usually a willing helper.  I asked him to get some toilet paper since he used up the last of the old roll.  He ran to the bathroom and gladly pulled a roll of t.p. off the top of a stack of rolls.  He made the stack of toilet paper fall over and he tried in vain to catch it with his hand.  So, there were 5 rolls of toilet paper on the ground.  I couldn't help but laugh as I watched him react.  I was so happy that he didn't get frustrated.  Instead, he giggled and said they all "falled" down, I didn't mean to do "dat".  I assured him that I knew he didn't mean to and that it's just a big stack of toilet paper and that's why it fell.  He proceeded to re-stack the t.p. and he was so pleased with himself that he just had to be a little goofy when he handed me the new roll!

This Monday was one of the longest I've experienced in a while.  It wasn't bad, necessarily but it seemed to drag!  I need to get my camera out more often.  That may help the time go by quickly when it seems to never end.  I just need some inspiration!

guilt and melancholy

With all the holiday hype I'm feeling overwhelmed; guilty that I don't have any pictures of Naomi printed from when she was a newborn babe. I have absolutely nothing of her printed of when she was in the hospital and after. Ok, maybe I do but nothing compared to what we have of Henry and Marcail! With the age of digital technology all her photos are on discs or on the computer.... Back to the holiday hype. Because of Christmas and the New Year just around the corner Walgreen's and CVS and all those other photo places are offering lots of cool deals for printing pictures and calendars and all that stuff....but you know what? I cannot get it together! I can't seem to make myself collect all the cds and get them organized to download onto the website and select which photos of baby Naomi I want to get printed!!!!! I am so sad because I feel like her babyhood passed by so quickly and I was so busy back then and my life was so chaotic and stressful and emotional that when I look at her baby photos on the computer I think, "Where did the time go? Who is that little baby? She doesn't even look familiar to me." Naomi was such a happy, pleasant baby. She wasn't very demanding of my attention which was so great because I was so busy with the twins. She was content to lie on the floor with some toys or roll around on the floor. She didn't really get into too much trouble. She spent lots of time roaming around my mom and dad's house (mine and the kid's home at the time too) in her walker. Not that she wasn't cared for and given lots of love and attention. We were living with my parents and youngest sister at the time. I assure you, she had plenty of attention. I just think back and realize she didn't get a lot from me. She was a joy and yet I hardly remember it!

I just want to print each and everyone of her precious photos and put them in a photo album and I think, "that can't be too hard." Then I really think about it and the dollar signs start dancing before me and I get overwhelmed. 100 pictures or so and a few photo albums add up! I don't pay attention to photo album sales! So, I get frustrated that I haven't been more organized in the photo department and organizing of the photos department. It gets huge in my mind and so all the discs sit on my desk and I just stare at them.

I never, ever do New Year's Resolutions but I have resolved to, if I don't get around since I probably won't get around to printing 1000 pictures of my babies, I will spend more one-on-one time with the little loves and kiss those sweet cheeks and hold them more. They're going to be too heavy and long to hold soon! And then I'll really want to! I've already started and it's not 2010 yet. I don't need an excuse to do those things. The kids love the extra loves and cuddles. And their response to my attention is so precious. The hugs and kisses and cuddles are so much more important than a few pictures to hold and look at and the kids will feel way more loved by my affection than by seeing a few of their pictures in print!

Well, thank you for tuning into Tabitha's rantings. I'm better now!

Hey Guys!
Thank you all for your encouragement after that last post (i'm kinda bummed)! I felt better even after I posted it. I think I just needed to vent....it had been one of THOSE days. I know you know what I mean.

Merry Christmas all of you!

i'm so proud

I haven't really sat down and tried to teach my kids how to write their names. I introduced their letters and showed them how to do it and left it up to them to ask me if they wanted to continue. Henry is really into it! He loves writing his letters. Yesterday, he asked how to write his 'R' because before he was only doing his 'H', 'E' and 'N'. This letter has been the easiest for him to get by far! Look how great he's doing!

Marcail is a different story. She wasn't interested in learning how to write her letters. It's only been in the last month that she cared to learn how to write the 'M' and then the 'A' in her name. She really prefers, however, to just stick with the 'M' and that's ok with me. She writes a stellar 'M' in my opinion!