Family Living: Abbott Style

Except when there is. I want to move here.  Here being Colorado.  I went as far as to look up police and trooper jobs in Colorado.  Even picked us out a nice modest home we could see ourselves in.  But for Ian, there truly is no place like home. So for now, I will have to live with a week long  visit now and then.  We will see.  I will try to sell my "Let's move to Colorado" pitch when we return to 100 degree nastiness.  I think I might have a better chance then.  

Boundaries. They are a part of life. Hopefully I am not speaking too soon--but I think I have vastly improved my life by purchasing a play yard.  I know, I know, Haley is TWO not 6 months.  But somewhere along the line, Haley did not develop a  particular skill.  That is, to sit down and play with toys--independently.  She is SO active, which I totally love and embrace, but I think she is sometimes too much for herself.  And after a day of the play yard, it is now apparent to me that she craves the boundaries. I suppose I just figured, with an open floor plan, and some baby proofing--what is the harm in allowing her to roam the house?  Well the issue is, there are too many options.  Too much freedom.  And way too much destruction in my life. I tried a play room.  Thinking, having all the toys in one place, she would be more likely to just go play on her own.  WRONG.  She doesn't want to go in there unless someone is sit...

Can I please just say how much I LOVE Haley at the age of 2? I have never enjoyed being a mom so much.  This is a great age!  Sure we have our moments.  We have our meltdowns.  They are usually very public.  And most everyone else is watching your parenting under a microscope and harshly judging your every move (which I am so over and could care less, I'm an amazing mother.)  But all that aside, this is amazing.  This is what it is all about. In a way, your child's experiences become your experiences.  Their joys, your joys.  Like, taking your 2-year-old to the zoo for the first time: It is not like I really enjoy seeing lions, tigers, and bears---but I enjoy seeing her see lions, tigers, and bears.   Everyday, I see Haley learn and get excited about new things--which makes me excited about things in life that I either grew too old to get excited about or started to take for granted. It is simply amazing. But gosh, isn't is so flee...

And today, I slowly started breathing again.  Also regaining a certain part of my sanity. Relief. But first things first, you are here because you want the goods.   Back story  I didn't want to know the sex. Ian did.  But after our 13 week appointment, when I was diagnosed with placenta previa, things changed.  I needed some good news.  I needed a focal point other than the negative things I had been experiencing in the previous months.  For weeks I imagined the worse.  Preterm labor.  Loosing the baby.  Bed rest.  At first, I most feared a c-section, I eventually fully embraced that idea as long as the baby and myself made it safely to full term. Basically, the diagnoses felt like I was told I had a rug under my feet, and without notice it could be ripped out from under my feet and how bad the fall could be "all just depends".  For a control freak like myself, all these variables were not good.  I needed t...

I was flipping through my Redbook magazine, reading articles when I was overwhelmed with the desire to write. I haven't felt motivated to really write in a long time, so here I am. I could go on for days with all the happenings in our lives recently, but instead I am just going to try to keep everything as concise as possible. I am now a full time Stay-At-Home-Mom   The plan was always for me to be a SAHM.  Even before I got pregnant, or before we got married.  It was basically a non-issue altogether.  But we discussed it when we were dating, and that is just how we both envisioned our lives. And for the most part--over the past two years, I have been--ish. When I was 8 months pregnant with Haley, I decided to hold on to my part time gig for awhile longer.  Haley could tag along and it would give me something to do (oh how naive was I to think I actually NEEDED to add MORE to my plate)  So at one point I was working 10 + hours a weeks, and the ho...

You ever find yourself in a situation, and you are not sure who to blame? This evening, I found myself in that exact situation.  There I was, standing in line to check out at our local Wal-Mart.  I ran in quickly to pick up two things: enchilada sauce and chocolate syrup.  I had Haley in tote.  I typically avoid Wal-Mart at rush hour, but I wanted to save myself a trip the next day.  So there I was.  Haley was on leash and was doing amazing.  She was proudly sporting the leash and made it through the store without issue. AND then we made it to the checkout line.  I picked a shortish line, but the wrong line because both the cashier and the person checking out were taking forever.  And then I was faced with a full blown meltdown. The checkout area is like the running the gauntlet.  On one side you have candy and snack, none of which are desirably healthy nor mom improved.  The other side is full of cheap worthless toys that are...