Mommy Monday: The Breakdowns

The breakdown, otherwise known as tantrums. If you are a parent you know what I'm talking about; I think most two to three year olds have these at some point. I have seen and heard them and experienced them myself! Let me paint a picture for you:

It's 8:050am and I should be walking out the door in about ten minutes to get Cian to his babysitter and to work by 9. I tell Cian, who is deeply engrossed in "Super Why" that it is time to get dressed and put on his shoes to go to Heather's. Well he loves to go there, but doesn't love being taken away from his precious morning cartoons. At first he just says, "Wanna watch soupwy." Then as he can see I am becoming more insistent he starts crying. "No mommy, not wite now." He has not made any effort to budge from the couch and walk into his room where said clothes and shoes are so I start walking toward him and he screams, "Wanna sit couch and watch soupwy". It's time to pull out the big guns so I say, "Cian, do you want a spanking". To which he replies, "No, mommy, no". Usually this will get him up and into his room. This is when the real fun begins. My child is not one who will simply wear whatever I have picked out for him. (This might be punishment my youth and the clothes I wore in high school). He is VERY particular about the things he wants to wear. I have learned to set out two options and let him pick out which one he wants. Sometimes this makes getting dressed easy, but on a morning like this it made no difference. He picked the shirt out and I went to put it on him.

To put the shirt over his head I asked him to stand up. Have you ever tried to walk after a surgery or something when your legs have been kind of asleep? You know when you stand up and your knees buckle? Well my child does this voluntarily. I have my hands under his armpits and he will put his hands up as if he is going to be cooperative and then the legs buckle and all that is keeping him up are my hands. His legs are dangling and he is screaming and thrashing. It is not so easy to pull a shirt over the head of a twenty-six pound thrashing banshee. "Don't like Thomas shirt," he is screaming. This is the same Thomas shirt he picked out two seconds earlier. After fighting to get his shirt on it is time for pants. I try laying him down for this because the bucking legs just isn't going to work. The legs definitely dodn't buckle, they just thrash and kick like a soccer player shooting for the game winning goal. Every time I can get one foot in the pants and move on to the next one the first foot spasms and comes out. As you can imagine I am getting pretty exasperated by this point. Not to mention it is 8:15 and I need to be out the door. When he is FINALLY dressed we move on the the next battle, the shoes and socks.

I do the same thing, giving him the option of two pair of shoes and he almost always chooses his crocs over his converse. (I want him to look like a punk rock boy though)! I try to get him to sit in my lap to put his socks on and he starts throwing himself to either side of me saying "wanna sit next you". Ok, sit next to me but be still for Christ's sake. (Yep, by this point I am getting super frustrated and saying things I wouldn't normally say. The F word has even come out of my mouth). He sits next to me and screams about how he wants to be in my lap. So I ask him if he wants spanking again and this time I get his shoes on. If they are the crocs it is easy, but if they are the high top tennis shoes this battle is much longer. Finally, I have a fully dressed, face full of snot and tears toddler and a fully frustrated almost-in-tears mommy. Time to brush our teeth. This can be tricky because there is temptation to run out to the TV instead of the bathroom. (Good thing mommy is smart or has learned the hard way to turn the TV off beforehand). No running in the catch the end of Super Why, it's teeth time child. The brushing is not really hard anymore until I tell him it is time for me to "get his teeth real good." Don't judge me for the grammar. Most days he will say ahhh and let me finish up but sometimes he takes off and I have to chase him.

Finally, we are ready to go except one last thing...the jacket! "Don't wanna put my jaket on." Well kid, tough, I don't want to deal with your screaming but I am." I haven't mentioned that I am leaving the house carrying my purse, Cian's backpack, a gym bag and sometime a coke and water bottle. On the morning I resemble a pack mule are usually the morning that Cian refuses to walk to the car by himself. I say bye and take all the stuff to the car and get in. This is supposed to work in getting him to the car right? Nope, he starts running around the yard. By this time it is 8:30 and we are going to be late, again! I have to get out and march over there and pick him up which generally results in some more thrashing and "wanna walk mommy." I carry thrashy mcthrasherton to the car where I wrangle him into his car seat and start singing about Jesus, cause I need him right now.

I know what you're thinking, turn the TV off and start getting ready earlier. Ok, I got it but I am not sure this will stop the dramatics. These morning I am praying a lot. I need patience and a bit of Daddy's intimidation factor. I love my child more than words and it makes me feel bad when I let his two year old antics get to me and I act like a flustered and bedraggled adult. I know this phase too will pass and one day when he is 15 I will look back on those morning and miss them and think the toddler was so much easier. This is what I tell myself as I start the car thinking about how I could drop him off at daycare and hit up a bar. This is what I want to tell him:

Cian,

Even though you might sometimes scream and cry and put up a fight when asked to do anything, you are very special. The times you are like this no way overshadow the times when you give hugs and kisses and the way you have made my life so much better. It's amazing to me that I ever felt complete before you came to your daddy and I. Don't worry, truth be told, I have crying fits and put up fights. In fact, I have them in my own way as you are having yours. I am not a perfect parent, therefore can't raise a perfect child but I can and will pray for you and be thankful for you every day of your life and mine. You will always be my bebop and I will always give you one when you say, "Wanna hug you mommy".

Love,

Mom

Dressed and ready but not happy about it...

Obsession: Cardigans

I have a confession to make, I am obsessed with cardigans. There, I said it. I have a few, but I have really been into bright colored cardigans lately. A majority of my work clothes are black so I have been trying to branch out and add pops of color. (This would be my bright tights and hot pink heels as well). I really want a short cardigan that has a tie kind of like a ballerina shirt. Like this:

Here is another one I am drooling over:


This one is from a cotton commercial in 2009 in which I loved everything Zooey Deschanel was wearing. I feel like cardigans don't go out of style too quickly so you can keep them for mulitple seasons/years.



I am also addicted to wedding blogs. (It's for work, I promise). So this makes me really love brides in cardigans. I so wish I had thought of that five years ago and I would have definitely worn one! Here is an example:




The photos came from here and you can look at more brides in cardigans on their site.

New Year's Eve

The beginning of 2011 started for me by blowing on a horn with a room full of people for a good 20 minutes. I'm not going to lie this was both hilarious and juvenile. It made me really happy. I usually have to work every year for NYE but this year I was off--all night! This meant we were going to a party. If you know my husband you know he is not the party type, he is the sit at home and play games by himself type. This year we spend New Years apart. I know it sounds crazy to other couples but it works for us. I took Cian to Chattanooga with me and he got to spend time with Mimi and Grumpa.

My friends Bonnie and Corey had a party at their house and it looked like Martha Stewart had been there all day making the food. She has dips, sausages, macaroons, cupcakes, cookies and you name it. They had me at Gigi's cupcakes and cookies on a stick. She also has some really great serving pieces, which I am lacking. I went with one of my best friends, Laine, whose husband was in Afghanistan so I at least had a date. Laine and I did not get the memo that it was a sequined/sparkly dress party and we just wore jeans, wah wah. We had a great time, I was able to hang out with friends I hadn't seen in quite awhile and Laine and I were able to sit up until 5AM talking. It was just like college! (And yes, I was very tired when Cian woke up but he did sleep in till 8!)

Corey and the amazing spread of food

2010 was a great year and I know 2011 brings great things! I can't wait to see where God leads us.

Laine and I eating (no, we didn't stop at Sonic on the way just in case there wasn't a lot of food and still eat a couple plates full at the party...)

People always gather in the kitchen...

Party hats, check, horns, check. Time to bring in the new year

Almost Midnight...

5,4,3, 2, 1...Happy New Year

Happy (belated) New Year!

Christmas Morning and Christmas Day

My parent's house in Chattanooga

I have always been dreaming of a white Christmas, and that is what we woke up to this year. We had a very light little dusting of snow. We were headed to Chattanooga though and they had a four inch dusting.

We haven't arrived at the Christmas mornings where Cian is running in at 6 am dragging us out of bed yet. We got to sleep in until about 7:30 or 8, which was wonderful! We woke Cian up to show him the gifts Santa had left under the tree. I am pretty sure he had more fun opening them than actually plying with the gifts.

Sitting on his Cars chair from Santa

Cian must have been good this year

Opening his first gift
After eating candy from his stocking

After gifts we headed over to Bill and Karen's for breakfast and then were planning on leaving from there for Chattanooga. We were worried that the roads leading to my parent's house, which is on a ridge, would be too dangerous for us to make it. They called and told us not to attempt the trip, but then called and decided they were ok so we headed to Chattanooga.

We celebrated Christmas with my parent's and my brother and his wife Bonnie Christmas night and then my extended family came over on the 26th so we could do our Christmas brunch. (Poor Steve had to celebrate Christmas on his birthday). For as far back as I can remember my dad's side of the family has come over on Christmas morning and we have had a sausage egg casserole, fruit casserole, yummy bacon and assorted breads and spreads. It is one of my favorite meals and traditions. We were supposed to do this the evening of Christmas but waited until the next day because of the snow.

Mimi and Grumpa getting ready to open gifts

Ben and Bonnie

Christmas Eve

You know how when you get married you have to embrace a whole new ritual at Christmas? At first it kind of stinks to know you are missing what your family is doing and what you have done every year but then after a few years you realize that you aren't missing anything, you are spending time with your family-his family is your family. We have done well at meshing our Christmases and I hope one day to have our own customs for the holidays.

Every other year we spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with one side of the family and Christmas night with the other. (Ok, I guess this happens every year but you know what I mean). This year we were with Steve's family for Christmas Eve. What you have to know is that a function with the George's isn't a quick eat and leave event, it begins around 1-2 in the afternoon and goes until the last person decides to crawl in bed. In many cases this is all hours of the morning. It is really cool to be able to spend so much time with family and really enjoy each other.

The kids always love Robbie

Checking out baby Maggie

Pretty little Livi

Karen, aka Grandma

When you have eight grandkids it's hard to open gifts without help

The BelchersTracy's family, getting all them together for a photo after opening gifts was no easy feat

The Georges

We had a great celebration and I should point out that Karen, Amanda, Tracy and I all showed up wearing red and black--totally not planned. Great minds must think alike...

Winter Vintage Wedding Inspiration Board

Now that we are in full swing of winter I wanted to post an inspiration board I did for a Winter Vintage wedding. I loved the idea of vintage Valentine cards and wanted a rustic feel. I also love old Coca-cola stuff. My grandfather worked for Coke and they always had cool vintage coke stuff and cokes in glass bottles. I know I selected a barn for the venue but it might be better to do it inside...

All the photos came from various online sources but the venue is Southall Eden outside of Franklin. I haven't been there but I think it looks so cool!

Mommy Monday; I know it's a lot of blood but don't freak out...

I always thought I would be calm and collected when my children came in bleeding or with broken bones. I always have been with myself, I popped my own broken foot back into place in 8th grade, I wanted to see the tissue the doctor cut out of me and had a ton of cuts and bruises in my lifetime. Yesterday I had my first chance to react as mommy to a hurt child. And I FREAKED OUT!!

That's right, no calm and collected Becca, but sweating hot, not knowing what to do, almost passing out mom is what I was. It was kinda warm so Cian and I were sitting out in the yard. He was running and I was reading. There was a man walking down the street and Cian and I said hi to him. He was asking Cian if he was in jail because he was behind our picket fence. I was laughing and said yes and Cian came running down the sidewalk toward me. He ran right at me and tripped and fell. He has fallen a million times but this time he fell right into the bottom concrete step leading into our house. He hit the corner and I saw his little head bounce back. Cian immediately started wailing. The guy asked if he was ok and I was like, yeah he's fine. Then I looked at him and saw that he has blood running, and I mean running down his face. This is where I went from good to not so good. I scooped him up and muttered something incomprehensible to the guy and ran into the bathroom.

The bright light of the bathroom is where I saw the big ole gash on his forehead where the river of blood was now spewing. The first aid class I had didn't come back at all, I yelled at Steve and just said, "Cian fell, he's bleeding like crazy, what do I do?" Well you try to stop the blood genius. This isn't what Steve said but it should have been. He brought me a washcloth and I held it against Cian's forehead to stop the bleeding. By this time I have blood all over my face along with Cian. Steve looked at the cut and we both agreed it was time for our first trip to the ER as parents.

Thank God I wasn't home by myself because we would have made it to the hospital without anything! I grabbed Cian and ran out the car and put him in his car seat. It was about that time that I started feeling sweaty and hot and like I just might pass out. Steve got my purse from the house and brought my book and our stuff inside and came out to drive us to the hospital. Cian calmed down on the way but wouldn't let me hold the washcloth on his head. He has stopped bleeding so I calmed down. We got to the ER and checked Cian in. Steve had to finish the paperwork because I started feeling sweaty again and had to sit down. Cian ran around and played in the waiting room during the hour that we waited like his head was not gashed open and he didn't have crusted blood on his face and hands.

When we got back to a room the Physicians Assistant came in and talked to us and said he would need about 3 stitches but there shouldn't be any worry about brain damage. (Holy crap, I hadn't even thought of that!!). He said they would wrap Cian up like a burrito and give him a shot to numb his head then do the stitches. We waited a bit longer and he came back with the nurse (who I knew from aerobics). They did wrap little Cian up in a sheet like a burrito and laid him down on the bed. They turned the light on really bright like they do at the dentist office. This was so they could see and so he would shut his eyes and not see the giant needle coming at his head. They said this was hard for parents to watch and I immediately started praying not to pass out. They gave him the shot and his head bled again, or at least the fluid from the shot made more blood run down the side of his face. My poor little guy was screaming at this point and Steve and I were talking to him and trying to get him to calm down. (Cue sweaty pass out feeling in mommy again). The stitching part came next and Cian flinched on the first one but by the second one he was telling the doctor his favorite Star Wars characters and falling asleep. After they finished with the stitches the nurse gave him a Popsicle which he promptly devoured. We had talked about ice cream but they saved us a trip!

So, first ER trip survived. Cian did so much better than I did. Guess I need to work on this whole stay calm thing...The wound. Still not sure if I will get the blood out of the shirts

In the bath washing off the crusty blood

Our neighbor that was outside when Cian fell came over tonight to make sure he was ok. He said he couldn't sleep last night because he was worried about his little buddy. How sweet! He also said he was worried because of how easy brain damage can happen. (Still, holy cow I didn't even think of that)!

Disney Marathon

Warning: This post is looooonnnnngggg like 26.2 miles.

I know I am skipping around a little here but I wanted to get this weekend out while it was fresh on my mind and maybe while there was still someone who knows me who is not sick of hearing marathon talk. Yes, I have been talking non-stop for months about this marathon and anyone who lives in my house is probably sick of hearing and experiencing everything that goes on with marathon running and training. (Steve compared it to some raid in WOW, pretty sure it is not the same thing but everyone has their priorities).

I will post more about the entire weekend soon but this one is devoted solely to the race I have been so devoted to for the past four months. To me, this was the perfect place to run a marathon. I have been a Disney fanatic since I was born. There was no better place for me than the most magical place on Earth!

We woke up in the middle of the night, 3AM, to ride the monorail from our hotel to Epcot. We met for the monorail at 4:15AM and the race started at 5AM. Once we got there the walk to the race start was about a mileish, or that is what it felt like. We were crowded together and herded in like cattle. There were men running off to the side of the rode to use the bathroom, I mean a line of them. I found this very amusing. At a point you split off into corrals (see what I mean?) by what your estimated finish time will be. We were in corral a since we planned on finishing in under 4 hours. It was still dark but there was a buzz of excitement around us. There were interviews from the start line and Mickey and Minnie were there! On the way we discussed which Disney Princesses we thought could run a marathon. Belle was a definite and Jasmine too, we thought Ariel would be more of a triathlon girl.

When we got in place we were all getting a little nervous and my running buddies, Margaret, Caitlin and I said a little prayer. There was cheering, there were fireworks and we were off! The three of us started together and somwhere around mile 3-4 we lost Margaret. Along the side of the race there were characters and peole talking, singing or playing music. Caitlin and I were feeling great, we were "dancing" with our arms to the music and whoohooing to all the people we saw. We decided to think of it as different destinations in our mind, Epcot was first, then our hotel, The Contemporary, the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studious and finishing in Epcot again. I think this helped in alwasy having a small goal to accomplish and not just the big 26.2 monster.

We breezed through the first Epcot and on to the Contemporary and Magic Kingdom. When we were getting there the sun was coming up so the sky was really beautiful. I was like a little kid running down Main Street Magic Kingdom. It was like seeing it again for the first time but this time there were people on the sidelines cheering for you! I have to admit that the first 14 miles were pretty easy. It's after 15 that I started to get a little tired. We were drinking plenty of water and I had plenty of shot bloks (black cherry and strawberry flavored electrolite and caffeine chews) so the feuling was going well. Caitlin and I were talking and cheering each other on and really just having a great time. I think it was around mile 18 where my body started getting tired. I wasn't at the, " I want to cry and just be done with this" point but I could feel my legs getting heavier and my butt was plain ole hurtting. We trucked it to mile 20 and I started to feel really tired, I slowed down a bit and lost Caitlin. We still had an hour to finish which is exactly where we wanted to be in our pre-planning. They had a big screen on mile 20.6 where you saw youself running and the guy announcing said we were in the top 1500 and there were 12,000 people behind us. I think this gave me a second wind because miles 21-23 were not bad at all.

Somewhere between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios they had Frozone from The Incredibles and right past him was a house with a bunch of balloons coming from the top fro UP. These are Cian's favorite two movies and they were right next to each other. When I saw them I just teared up and started thanking God for putting my bebop right there on the course with me even if he couldn't really be there to see me finish. I needed that boost so close to the end. When we go to mile 23 I said out loud, this is just a 5k now. And thought to myself, I can do this in my sleep. The guy running next to me said, "I can do this in my sleep."

The 3:50 pacer caught up to me and they were really motivating people and keeping everyone going for the last three miles. I was running a....lot.......slo...ww...eer than normal. I really think it was adrenaline and Jesus that pushed me to the finish line. I was just thinking to myself and thanking God that he got me this far in the race. When we got into Epcot and ran back through the countries and one of the guys pointed out the "big silver golf ball" that is the big silver thing and said we didn't have far to go, just over there. It couldn't have been more than a mile away but it looked like it was a million miles away! When it was finally close we rounded a corner and lo and behold, there was the finish line. Thank you Jesus! I ran across and I think I was in total shock. I walked through and got my medal and got my photo taken. Then I went on and got a water, a real coke, a powerade and some muffins. I didn't start crying until I came out and saw Caitlin. We ran/hobble over and hugged each other and yelled and cried. It was so awesome to run for Special Kids and to push my body to it's limits like some of the kids there have to every day. This training took effort and they give that kind of effort all the time. I am so glad God has given me this group and the group of running friends I have met through Special Kids. Without them I would never have been able to finish a marathon!

Caitin and I about to cry after that race

I just saw that the winner of the marathon said she was "drinking around the world" after the race. That is just what I did!

This time all smiles

Caitlin, me and Margaret after the race

Now, them moment you have all been waiting for: My results:

Distance	MAR
Clock Time	3:54:05
Chip Time	3:52:59
Overall Place	1620 / 13529
Gender Place	337 / 6269
Division Place	87 / 1083
Age Grade	58.1%
5 Mile	44:21
10 Mile	1:27:34
Half Split	1:54:40
20 Mile	2:55:11

Coming Soon

Ok, I admit I have been a bad blogger over the past week. I have lots of blogs coming soon including:

• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Day
• New Year's Eve
• 2010 Recap
  
• Marathon Weekend!

I won't keep you hanging too long...

Potty Training: Day 2

The porcelain god. That is what I have been consumed with for the last two days. I have been thinking about the potty all day long! (Don't worry, I have been doing a lot of praying to the real God for patience and progress). Fortunately, I have a much better report today. Our underwear count was only 2! Cian had an accident this morning shortly after breakfast, but after that our floors have been peepee free. (Well except for him missing the toilet). We have also watched "Rack, Shack and Benny" two and a half times today. The first time he went on the potty today we sat there for a good 18 minutes (yes, I'm precise. I kept the time by the movie). With a few breaks to get up and fight bad guys with our light sabers Cian went on the potty! After he went he yelled, "I did it"! He was so excited, and he got a big ole hand full of skittles. I had to go into work today for a bit so I took Cian to Heather's. He didn't wear a diaper on the way there or back, but he did wear one while he took a nap. I also put a diaper on him when I went to the gym but we had another good potty when we got home! I had walked out of the room to change clothes and he yelled, "I did it!" again. I am so proud of my little guy. I know what you are thinking, "my lord this girl had gone off the deep end and is blogging about bodily functions." Well you're dern right I blogging about bodily functions, this mess is hard!
Cian's potty actually looks like this one. It is a nice little throne that plays music when you pee. It hasn't actually played any of the three times he has peed though. I guess this could be because a lot of it was on the floor.

Truth be told I have been thinking about pottying for more reasons than just Cian. The Walt Disney World Marathon I am running is this weekend and I have been so worried about getting enough fluids. I am not only tracking my two year old's peepee but I am constantly thinking about mine. This keeping pee schedules is getting old. Thank goodness mine goes out the window on Sunday!