Getting Ready!!

Scenario: The family has eaten dinner, the kids are bathed and in bed. The house is quiet.

This is the time where I find myself faced with many options. Do I watch television? Do I go to bed? Phone a friend? Read a book? Pray? Get started on that night time love fest with my husband? What to do?

When someone text me or calls me after 8 and ask "what are you doing?" I usually reply "getting ready for bed".

I laugh at this even as I write because "getting ready for bed" usually means I am going to put that last load in the dryer, wipe down the counter, sweep the floor, check facebook, take a shower, tell my husband about the 50 million things I read on facebook, and then actually go to bed. Finally I get in the bed and I am still making mental list of what needs to happen the next day, what we will eat for breakfast, and who I need to call until I drift off to sleep.

This my friends is going to stop. I am going to start being very serious about my getting ready to go to bed. I will include maybe a hot a bath, some nice soothing quiet time, and definitely that love fest with my husband. I am going to stop treating my list of things to do at night as things I need to do in order to go to bed and actually enjoy the quiet stillness of night time. The time where the kids are down and I can enjoy the house.

What does your "getting ready for bed" look like and how can you make it more peaceful if it is not already?

Blank Page

I saw this today and immediately laughed. Let me start off by saying that I did not start this year off with any great anticipation of anything exciting happening or with some big party, honestly I was sleep by nine and woke up the next morning forgetting to even say Happy New Year. You see every since September of 2012 life has kind of been a world wind and a blur. My oldest started school, I sort of do a little home school with my middle son, and the baby well it's a constant day of sleep, breastfeed, diaper and that is my life every day. The weekends do present a little relief as my husband is home and can be a second set of hands  and really hilarious adult conversation and fun but usually aside from a family outing the day is the same. So the new year for me kind of just follow the same ole pattern.

I have read so many facebook pages with so many big plans and dreams for the new year and I have thought that is so nice, or wow, or man one day, and then I saw this picture on someones page and I thought not only is today the first blank page but everyday is a new blank page. When I wake up every morning it is a different day. As a stay at home mom it is very hard to remember this because there is no work agenda, big meeting, or daily email that reminds you today is different from yesterday. It all seems like it runs together. Wake up, wash face, breakfast, take kids to school, feed baby, lunch, feed baby, dinner, feed baby, read story, bed...wake up and repeat..lol. But it is a different day, a day to call a friend, send a card, write my husband a love letter, play a game that my kids have not played., do a new workout, try a new recipe. There are so many different things that I could do everyday.

So even as I sit here writing I did not do anything extradordinary today, but I am going to purpose in my heart to do a little something special every day this year because everyday is new and presents a new opportunity for me to add to the story of my life, my families life, and a friends' life. What will you write on your page today?

Momma Down

So I have been away for a few days. Being pregnant with our third child, headache, fatigue, and sore neck muscles just don't go together at all. I find being sick and having to take care of the children and house work to be the hardest thing as being a mom. When we are sick it seems nothing really stops and for lack of a better phrase no one really cares. The important things are can you still cook, clean, give me a hug, read me that bedtime story, and tuck me in.

Thankfully I can not really sit on the pity horse because my dear husband did come home yesterday after working a half day so I could get some rest and get myself together. Now I don't know about you but this was still a hard task. My youngest son wanted to lay in the bed with me and watch cartoons. This would be ok if he just wanted to watch them but he likes to talk about them. Mommy look at that and mommy why did they do that and mommy that was not nice. So I laid in the bed just about in tears almost like this is not going to happen for me, but my husband came to the rescue and took him downstairs. I was able to get some rest and did not have to cook dinner. Thank you very much husband.

When you are sick how do you entertain your kids so you can get some rest or do you just plow through it?

Cleaning

Cleaning...it has to be done everyday it seems. I am home with my children so it would seem like getting it done would be a very easy task. Not!!! Trying to find a time to clean the bathrooms when my boys don't want to help spray the solution, or mop the kitchen floor when they are not going to go in there and slip around, or vacuuming when someone is not sleeping is almost impossible, but some how with the help of my OCD I do manage to get it done.

I had dreams about getting this great schedule together where everyday I would pick a different room and clean it or pick a different chore and needless to say that did not happen. I tend to be an all or nothing girl, so I prefer to just get up and go from top to bottom in one day. This works well for me. I put on those ugly sweatpants and that too big sweat shirt (well it actually fits pretty snug now that I am preggers) and I get to work.

Now you may ask how many times a week do I have to do this top to bottom cleaning. I answer only once. The key for me is straightening up daily so that things don't get to out of hand. I must admit though now that I have a third child on the way I do wonder how I will continue to keep a clean house.

What do you mommas do to make sure your home stays clean? Share your ideas with us all.

Fill in the gap...

Today is December 26, 2011 and I have not written since October hence the title of this blog. I really must get better at this blogging. So what has happened since then?

November we had a great Thanksgiving with loads of family and friends. The Fennells, The Terry, and the Rattleys got together in Maryland and ate dinner at Regina's house. How did this happen you may ask. Well long story short: Darius and I were the first of the children to get married on both sides of the family so we started doing Thanksgiving together as two units. Then what happened next gets tricky. My best friend of 25 years oldest sister is dating my brother in law....so the 3 families decided to lump together for Thanksgiving and it was a blast and lots of food.

December brought us lots of joys and first. We anxiously awaited the 12th of this month to find out what the sex of our third child would be. Darius and I both were pretty sure it was a boy, but our family had other hopes and prayers. We arrived at the ultrasound ultimately just wanted to know that our baby was healthy with all fingers, toes, cells, and healthy organs, but little did we know the ultimate surprise awaited us. The ultrasound tech looked at everything and told us the baby was perfect, so we were a little confused when she asked us if we wanted to know the gender and then took a very long pause. She moved the device around and looked and looked and it was the longest few minutes of silence ever for me. Then she spoke"well I just wanted to make sure I was right before I told you what it was" and then more silence...IT'S A GIRL. I smiled and then laughed, then I am sure a little tear came out the side of my eye and then I just kept saying " Are you serious." Darius was in shock...he really did not say anything...then he smiled, laughed, did a fist pump, and we both were just very very happy. I did not think the joy could be anymore til we got outside and Darius started crying after he finished telling friends and family in the parking lot. He really wanted a girl and was so happy in love with a child he had not even met yet. His reaction was so touching and so emotional right then I knew he would be the best daddy a girl could ever have.

As if that was not enough excitement. Kyle was in his first Christmas play ever. He played a sheep in his schools play. He was the cutest sheep ever. He made us all very proud. He was singing and clapping and pretty much the most animated sheep I have ever seen. :)

This month we also celebrated our first Christmas in our new home. It was a great Christmas. Darius was sick for most of the day but some how it still turned out to be great. I started a new tradition this year of writing everyone Christmas letters. I think it will be so fun to go back and read when the kids are older. It was the only way I could think to capture my heart felt feelings on paper at least once a year. I mean I guess there is this blog but I have not done so good with that have I? For dinner we had baked chicken, ham, cheesy potato casserole, and green beans. The boys received a ton of gifts from family and friends. We were all feeling so very blessed. Our family tradition is to only get the boys 3 gifts a piece and the same for each other sometimes less when it comes to Darius and I. This year we actually stuck to that. :)

It's the last week of the year and we are so glad to be spending it all home together. Darius is off til the new year and we will all be able to spend time together, play games, go places, and take naps. Hopefully I will be much better at this thing called blogging and blog at least once or twice a week. Til next time...



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Our Family

A Little Background

About Me:

Well I am 30. Born and raised in Connecticut. Growing up I always said I would not get married, never have children, and be a doctor. Well I am married 8 years now with 2 kids  and I am a nurse. Actually my reality right now is I am a stay at home mom who works part time. While this is not quite the dream I had for myself. I like this one better. How did this happen you may ask? The short of it I had my first  child and worked pretty close to full time staying home with him during the day and working at night and on the weekends so we did not have to pay for childcare. I had my second and kept up the same tiring schedule. We moved to Ohio and I have not been back to nursing full time since. I plan on going back soon, but just found out I was pregnant again. Hmmm what do to? Well we will see how this unfolds as I write this book or journal or whatever you want to call it.

About The Husband:

What is there not to love? He is the best human I know. He is an engineer, a lover of Christ, and my husband. He is 33 born and raised in Dover, Delaware. When not working you can find him reading his Bible, playing video games, watching You Tube, playing with the boys, or doing something with me. He has a great sense of humor and when he is comfortable with you  he will have you in stitches most of the time you are with him. He is my husband, the father to our children, and I love him.

About the Romance:

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage…right??? So I met my husband  “D “(as I will refer to him throughout this story) at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Yeap I was a freshman and he was a senior. I saw him at a college event and knew yeap he was the one for me, but there was a lot of minor well major things I needed to do…LOL So we were friends he left and went to work in Rochester, NY after he graduated in 2000. We continued our relationship which was purely friendship. One day he called me on the phone and after like two hours of talking he asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes. Two months after that or so he proposed and a year and half later in August 2003 we were married. We lived in a very cute apartment in Rochester, NY for 2 years and we bought our first home in November of 2005. We were so excited. We had four bedrooms, and loads of space. It was great. We lived there and D worked on his masters, worked full time and I worked full time. Then came January 2007 when we found we were pregnant with our first child and thus the story of mommy adventures begins.

Now I wish I would have started writing this in 2007 when I had my first child but I didn’t. So there are many stories missing between 2007 and now October 2012, but I think you will enjoy the stories and the adventures all the same.

About our children:

K.J: He was born September 6, 2007. I was in labor 33 hours with him, but every hour was worth seeing his little face. He came into this world content, curious, very cute, and not much has change. He never cried as long as he was fed, and pretty much always goes with the flow. He is my explorer. He has to see how things work and find out why. You can often find Kyle in the bathroom trying to figure out how the water goes from the faucet to some distant place that we can not see, or in the kitchen looking under the sink studying the pipes. He pretty much does as he is told, but he often has to do it his way. He is very much the oldest independent, not needing much, and likes giving instructions to his little brother.

Andy: Born February 27, 2009. I was in labor for 5 hours with him. What a joy to meet my new baby boy. He was screaming his head off and wondering what was going on, but as soon as he was laid in my arms he was fine, and that has not changed. He is what I call my own little personal human tail. He goes where mommy goes. He loves to run, jump, play with cars, and be outside as long as it is not too hot. He is much different from Kyle as he is not very content. He wants what he wants when he wants it and how he wants it. He is a picky eater and a big drinker. At almost 3 he is still not the best sleeper but we are getting that down. He loves television and books. His personality is great and once he feels comfortable with you and lets you see  his true self you will feel the same way. He is also a little bossy one which I find funny because right now he is the youngest, but he asserts himself very well.

Cupcake: Well you see it is October 2011 and our third child is not born yet. We don’t even know the sex of the baby. What I do know is this has been the most difficult pregnancy, but I am not complaining because about a week ago I thought I was losing you and my heart started breaking in every place. I hoped and prayed that you were still in there and Praise God you were. I can’t wait to find out if you are a boy or a girl. I love you so much and I know you will be the icing on the cake to this our little family.

So what Sherrie exactly is this you are writing? It is a compilation of stories of our life. I plan to keep it up from now until the youngest is out of the house. I am sure some days will be happy and some will be sad, but this is my story of life really as a wife and a mother and I am sure some days just as a person in general. We do believe in Jesus, prayer, and the Bible so I am sure often times I will refer to them all. Enjoy and thank you for reading and sharing in my life.