Rough Morning...

I mentioned in my previous post that my ray of sunshine has had a rough time transitioning to me going back to work. This morning was the worst so far.

We got to Theresa's house and we were walking up to her house. Noah asked me if his little friend Paxton was there. I looked in and said yes, opened the door and waited for Noah to walk in. I waited. And waited. Juliana's car seat was getting heavy, so I dropped her off inside the door and went back out and asked Noah what was going on. He said he wasn't going to go to Theresa's today. I explained to him why he was going to go to Theresa's. Then I began to count. Noah said, "I don't want you to get to 3". I told him that I didn't want to get to 3 either. I don't often get to 3 (it's happened 1 or 2 times). I got to 3.

I went to Noah and he said, "Okay". I took his hand, because I thought okay meant he was going to go inside. I was wrong. So, I followed through with what I had told him was going to happen and took him back to the van. Then we went into Theresa's house, where he proceeded to wrap his arms and legs around me. Theresa literally had to wrestle him off of me while he kicked and cried. She wrestled him onto the couch and held him there so I could leave. I told him I loved him and he started to scream that he wanted a kiss. Theresa let him give me a kiss and then we went through the wrestling again. I could hear him all the way out to the car screaming, "I want my Momma!".

Nothing like a good dose of working-momma guilt along with a strong willed child to start the day.

Back To Work Again...

Where did the summer go? I feel like it never really started for me. Last year, I was happy to go back to work, because Juliana was so difficult with her constant screaming (I know, I'm horrible, go ahead and judge me). Then, we started seeing specialists and I realized she wasn't just a difficult baby and I wasn't a bad mom, she actually had problems, and I wanted to be home... well, part of me did. Part of me was happy to be occupied with my job so that I wasn't constantly worrying about whether or not she had eaten. Then, when I went to see my migraine doctor and she said my stress level and blood pressure were so high she worried about me having a stroke, I was thankful to be at work and not at home because I know it would have been that much higher.

This past Thursday was our first institute day. It started with tears. Noah was on the potty before we left to go to Theresa's. He kept saying he didn't want to go to Theresa's. That he would stay home with the dogs because he was a big boy. That he wanted mama to stay home and play with him all day just like we had all summer. I started to cry. As soon as I started to cry, Noah stopped crying and said, "Momma, stop crying. I want to go Theresa's house. I have fun there. It's okay. We go now." Which of course made me cry even more. When i picked them up at the end of the day, both kids were fine (of course).

On Friday, I literally had to pull Noah kicking and screaming out of his bed (I'm not kidding- he kicked me in the stomach twice and I almost dropped him) to get him up. Fortunately our institute day started at 8, so it was okay that this battle was taking up a large amount of time. After he kicked me, I called my mom. My mom is usually magical to Noah, and can usually talk him down from his naughtiness. Not that day. When I gave him the phone to talk to grandma, he closed it and threw it. Well, at that point I had had it with my little ray of sunshine. I put him on the couch and pulled off his shirt. Noah immediately began to sob and told me he was sorry. He cried so hard he almost threw up. I held him until he calmed down and we talked about how momma wanted to stay home too but had to go back to work so that we could use momma's insurance for Juliana to see all her special doctors and therapists and so Noah could see his special eye doctor and have glasses. After that he asked if we could call "framma" so that he could tell her he was sorry, and we did. Then, I dropped them off at Theresa's...

And went to school with a huge dose of working mom's guilt.

I Blame Jaime & Bill...

Rori and Liam taught Noah how to do this:

Watching Noah, Juliana learned how to do this:

Now if we track back through what I have typed, the only question that needs to be asked and answered is this: who taught Rori and Liam how to climb a slide? The answer is found in the title of this post.

Nuff said.

Visitors From The Southwest...

Two weeks ago, we had special visitors from the southwest. Grandma Johnda, Grandpa John, and Great-Auntie Diane all drove up from Arizona to spend some time with us. We were also visited by Auntie Candise and cousins JJ, Anna, and Sammy- but I'll do a separate post on them. We had a nice time visiting with them, and everyone was taken with the little girl and all she has accomplished with Early Intervention. Here are some glimpses of our week...

On This Day 11 Years Ago...

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Ryan and a girl named Jenna. They met at Bethel College and fell in love. 11 years ago on this exact day, I married my soulmate. Happy Anniversary, Ryan! I love you more than I did on the day we were married.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Frampa Jim's 60th birthday! Happy Birthday, Frampa! Noah can't wait to ride Thomas this weekend with you & the little girl can't wait to take your watch away from you!

Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you very much!

Love,

Noah, Juliana, Jenna and Ryan