Starting Over...

...We've been here before. With my apologies for my inconsistency. Mommybloggers have my respect because I just can't find the time- really, I can't!  I posted before Quinn's birthday, had ideas for more posts, but they never came. I've been reading book after book, which is cut in to my blogging time. No blogs came.

Then. I. broke. my. leg.

Last Satruday night.

Moms, I'll give you a moment to let your eyes readjust and your lower jaw to find your mouth again. As moms, we know that anything that physically incapacitates us is one of the Horsemen, just awful.   I won't get in to the details of how it happened- there aren't many, danskos + wet floor= broken fibula and torn ligaments/tendons in ankle area. This translated in to surgery to place 3 plates and 10 or 11 screws to get everything back in alignment.

Here I sit. On my couch. I'm going to have to start it all over. I had just gotten in to a great diet/exercise routine that was producing visible and consistent results. Now I have to/ get to start over. With PT. Taking it slow. building up strength and endurance. Listening to my body. Taking it Slow. Want to get 100%.

Since November I've read 11 books. The Twilight Series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn), The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mocking Jay), Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed), and Wintergirls.  I was bitten by the series bug and just read and read and read. I finished Wintergirls this afternoon and loved it. I'm going to start A Prayer For Owen Meany today.

I didn't read much fiction since I finished the Sweet Valley High series in middle school, aside from required readings. When you're a sociology major in college, you read lots and lots and lots of non fiction in the form of demographics, case studies, anthropological memoirs...But I'm reminding myself how much reading fiction is so relaxing, is better than TV, and is so vital to the "undumbing" of civilization.

While I'm healing I'd like to discuss the books I've read, am reading, and will take suggestions on which ones to read. I read quickly. One must when one has 3 toddlers and nap and bedtimes equal reading time.  My husband is being FANTASTIC with this broken leg nonsense and has stepped in to the Mr. Mom role well- but not without the incredible support from our family, friends, church, and community- everyone is just wonderful.  I'm going to focus on continuing to journal my food so I don't gain weight whilst I sit on this couch. Reading and blogging will help as well.

I hope to post tonight with a brief discussion on the Twilight Saga. :)

xo
andrea

Then the tears came...

I cried in church last Sunday...as I was speaking...in front of everyone. Rather, I couldn't finish what I WANTED to say because the tears cut me off and filled in the rest.

Nearly 2 weeks ago Quinn had tubes put in his ears. Big deal, lots of kids get tubes- right? Not so much.

When I would tell people he was getting tubes they would say, "ah, ear infections?" And I'd have to explain that he's only had 2 or 3 ear infections in his 4 years of life, and not the 14 a year that often ignites talks of tubes. Quinn failed his hearing test at school...then again at the audiologist. The audiologist stated that Quinn couldn't hear much below 45 decibels, which is a relatively normal speaking volume-except for in this house ;) The ENT said that there was a significant fluid build-up behind his eardrums- no real "reason" like 7 million ear infections...just poor drainage with stuffy noses, etc that most of us don't notice.

After Quinn's surgery, specifically right when we got home at 10am and proceeded to my bedroom to take a nap, he heard the cat eating- presumably for the first time. He sat up in bed and said "WHAT'S THAT SOUND?!" Describing this specific revelation in Church cracked my voice and I couldn't share that Quinn cried when I yelled from one room to another with him standing right next to me- because it hurt his ears, or that the next several days were filled with walks to the bus stop that made him stop dead in his tracks to look around at where any given sound came from.

Quinn's speaking volume is gradually getting lower too, and our house is becoming a quieter place as well. I have to pay attention to his new sensitivity. If I snap loudly at him, he's been driven to tears. If the house gets loud and full of commotion, he seems to either retreat or overreact as if it's sensory overload (which it is).

It's another new way of life around here, as my big man hits FOUR YEARS OLD TOMORROW!

Birthday post will come tomorrow :)

Love you buddy!

xo

andrea

Like climbing Mt. Everest...

The title of this post comes from a blog I was just introduced to. Her January 4th post (the first one I read) hit so close to home that I posted it on my Facebook page as "the best commentary on motherhood I've ever read." Here's the link for you to get caught up... http://momastery.com/blog/ ...All caught up? Awesome, right?

Might I add that motherhood, some days, is like climbing Mt. Everest WHILE IT'S ON FIRE, and other days it's like you've grown wings and can soar up it.

The Chronos moments are those like I summarized in my run-on paragraph describing my hiatus. Those are all snippets of time, and things that have happened and we've just moved on.

The Kairos moments we can see on most days, but describe the summation of parenting- of mothering. I highlight mothering because it IS different. Yes, growing a child doesn't make one a mother. But, for those of us who grew, nursed, and are raising our children- it's MOTHERING. Mothering is, and will likely remain, the single most spiritual connection with God I will ever have until I meet Him myself. Raising children gives you a direct line to the Big Guy. Not only because children are more spiritually attuned than the rest of us, but God GAVE them SPECIFICALLY to us. I think about that sometimes when I'm having a particularly difficult day. I think "well, if someone else could be doing it better I'm sure God would have given the kids to them...press on!"

I hope you take the time to read that post- it's really great, and is truly the only reason for this post :)

Carry on fellow mommy warriors ;)

xo

andrea