Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Ahhhh Friday.....WHAT!? It's Wednesday??

 A week in the life of a full moon.... Oh wait, it's only Wednesday.....a half week then?  A kinda week?  Whatever....

Monday:  FUN field trip with Natalie's class to the farm.  So fun!  Seriously, did  I mention how fun it was?  I LOVE that I am the parent at a field trip.  It is so weird to not have to worry about everything and just get to enjoy my child doing something new.  No planning, no gathering parent consent forms, no worrying if anyone is touching the wrong end of one of the farm animals, no dealing with buses and the where and whens of all that mess.  It ROCKED!  Natalie has been very "in her head" and overly sensory the last few weeks so she didn't do as much as I thought she would.  She wouldn't touch the animals (except the baby chicks and ducklings...awwww)  She has learned how to be gentle from having the cats all of her life (and a little sister) and it is so freaking adorable when she whips out her nurturing side.   For those of you who really know her, you know that she is not exactly the huggy, love all over me type so really.......in the words of Chandler Bing.... "Could she BE any cuter!?"
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Being "in her head" means she is living more to satisfy what feels good or looks cool.... so there was a lot of this:
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The teacher in me was all  "Why won't you pay attention to the animals...we are freaking LEARNING here!"  Meanwhile the mom/therapist in me was all "DID YOU JUST SEE HER SCALE THAT FENCE!?"  "That's MY baby girl!".....The gross motor, fine motor, cognitive planning, balance...that went into that was a sight to see I tell you!  It's odd having a child with special needs because you just can't help but celebrate everything they do.  Even if that means being super excited on the inside when they scale nasty, dirty, animal pen fences that you just KNOW are covered in all kinds of disgusting things we won't talk about.....I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.......but did you SEE HER SCALE THAT FENCE PEOPLE??!!  

Tuesday:
So we survived the farm and moved right into a nice little Tuesday....dun dun DUUUUUN!  That was scary music for those of you with no imaginations who couldn't tell.  Day started off with a trip to the Chiropractor which is the best EVER!  Before we go I do the mommy voiced "Do you have to go potty because so help me god if you pee in my car or in his office..."  She peed.....then did a little doody for me.  Somewhere in the back of my head I notice it smells a bit off (yes, more so than poop usually does....shut it, I am a stay at home mom now, I notice this kind of craptastic stuff) and kind of a light color. (she makes me look so she can get an m&m ok?  Stop judging)  Off to the Chiro, then the grocery store.  Two hours later we are back home.  She runs into the bathroom and I hear a scary splatter.  WTH?  Was that pee hitting the walls?  Did she run over a cat on the way in there?  Seriously....can I just leave and pretend I don't live here?  Then  shudder I walk in to find her SCREAMING and standing in a poo puddle that looked like it shot out of her tush like it was in a cannon.  CRAPTASTIC SHITASTROPHE!   gag, gag, I cleaned her and the entire bathroom up.  I use all natural homemade cleaners only but I keep one little pack of clorox wipes in the back under the sink for just this level of toxic disinfecting.  Her butt is now safely in a diaper.  gag

Fast forward about an hour and her stomach is all distended and all I could think was "dear lord, please, PLEASE let this only be a back end issue, please don't let her start puking all over like the exorcist."  We have lived that fun before when both girls got rotavirus....within days of each other....gag. gag. blah!  So her stomach is all hard and I am asking her to go potty over and over until she finally goes in and then......then........gag....then her body opened up and out came everything she has ever eaten...EVER.  It was almost amazing if it wasn't so incredibly disgusting.  Her poor little eyes all bugged out like she could not believe what was happening either.  All I could think was "YES!  NOT PUKE!".....seriously, this is the life of a stay at home mom.   Stay in school kids!  She takes a nap and the rest of the day is fine except that I am on total poop patrol and terrified of spraying at any moment.  

Wednesday: aka the day before the full moon.  Poopy head girl seems almost back to normal except for being a little tired.  We lounge and enjoy some mommy daughter time.  Ahhhh so awesome.  She goes down for a nap like an angel (am I the only one who ALWAYS types angle first and has to fix it?  Just saying) and I think I am in the clear.  I eat lunch...can this really be the day before a full moon?  Then the shedevil wakes up early in a mood like no other.  For real.....the tears....were....endless.  The whining, the fighting with Natalie.  Poor Natalie could do no right today.  Every toy the poor thing picked up Alyssa would charge at her like the running of the bulls screaming "MINE!  MINE NATALIE!"  Natalie finally gave up and just started taking her things and running off with them for fun.  Hey, if you can't beat em....  This is what 3 hours of this afternoon looked like.
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Is that not the most pathetic little look ever?  I feel like she was my own personal leach because I can't just leave her there to look like that.  sigh

So now I am exhausted from playing ref, nurse, mom, maid, taxi, wife, chef, poop picker upper.  It is 8:15 on Friday Wednesday and I need a vacation.  Just so you don't think I can't find the silver lining in my happy life bubble I will leave you with some eye candy from when Natalie and I were playing.  Ahhhhhhhh.....it's a little like Calgon without all the bubbles and relaxing and.....wait, what was I saying?
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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Mini goes to Clemson...

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I have literally waited for this day since I was one of the lucky students at Clemson.  I used to walk that campus thinking that I could just stay there forever and be perfectly content.  It is like belonging to the largest family ever!  I remember painting tiger paws on little kids faces at the football games thinking "someday I will be the one bringing my kids here".  We took Natalie to her first tailgate when she was still a baby.  
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 She of course had the time of her life.  ;)

Well it started to happen again. That feel of something great yet to happen.  You can literally feel it in the air as football season starts.  Let me cut myself off her to tell you that I HATE football...all football except Tiger football anyway.  I LOVE Clemson games.  The tailgating, the sea of orange, beer, the sound of the canon as our boys run down the hill, the food and my favorite part....our friends.   
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This is not just a keg...this is a contraption that our friend Paul has that eliminates the need to pump the keg... we have arrived...
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Paul doing the honors
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Taking Alyssa was amazingly fun.  She was calm and well behaved and I think she felt "it" too.  You can almost see her blood turning orange.  
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I love that we can take her tailgating and to the games now and she loves it.  She picked out a new baby (of course!) at Bi-lo and who am I to say no when my girl wants a baby covered in orange, a paw and looking oh so adorable.  Add in a sippy of water, some crackers and you have her day in a nutshell. 
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I haven't been to an opening game since I was pregnant with Natalie and I was like a kid on Christmas morning.  I couldn't WAIT to go back "home".  It really is a place that sucks you in and becomes a part of you.  At one point I just stood back and realized how far Cliff and I had come since that night we met there.  WE are the family there and I am so ok with letting the college years go in exchange for what I get to live now.
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We were there for the football but in reality that is such a small part of the day.  The day is about friends and laughing and letting go of stressful work weeks to just "be". We are making memories for ourselves and in turn making memories for Alyssa.  Ones I hope that she can look back on with contentment for years to come.
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After all, isn't that what this is all really about?
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