Time Passes

When I think back to my childhood, I felt like it took forever.  I felt like I was a child for so long I couldn't stand it.  I longed for the day when I could run my own life.  Now that I have it, I enjoy and would never want to go back to my childhood.  Not that my childhood was bad, by any means.  I have many fond memories of my family and friends.  I just hated the rules.  When I was younger:  Having to be in bed by 8.  Having to be home by a dark.  Not allowed to have a Nintendo.  Not being able to go from one friend's house to another without asking my parents first.  Not being allowed to wear makeup.  When I reached high school:  Not being allowed to go on dates.  Having to be home by 10, and later midnight.  All are typical childhood limitations.  

I see so much of myself in Aiden.  Stubbornly independent.  I know he cannot stand the limitations and rules we have about watching TV, playing LeapPad, getting dressed and going to bed.  I just hope he can see the fun in things and not focus on all the limitations.  Childhood takes a long time when you're in the midst of it.  

The older I get, the faster time seems to travel.  College was fun, but it was over before I realized what I was living.  Travis and I spent a couple more pre-parental years running amok, but that was soon over as well.  Next came the marriage, house and kids.  Aiden is already 3 years old and our second child is Army crawling all over the house with her mouthful of 5 teeth.  

TIME FLIES.  It really does.  This video puts it into artistic perspective:

 

THE EAGLEMAN STAG from Mikey Please on Vimeo.

Childhood Games

I used to jump over cracks in the road while I sat in the front seat of the car.

 

Hard Headed

I don't understand how one child can be so different from one day to the next.  Mornings can be very difficult for us with Aiden.  I decided this week that I wanted to start picking out his clothes the night before to see if that would help. 

Monday morning, Aiden refused to get dressed. Instead, he sat on the couch with his clothes and cried the entire time we were getting ready.  I withheld his Lucky Charms during the car ride since those are for big boys, not babies.  (He gets breakfast at daycare, so don't worry that he missed a meal.)  Monday night, we explained that when he woke up, he would have to get dressed in the morning ALL BY HIMSELF if he wanted cereal.  The kid loves cereal.

Tuesday morning was straight out of a dream.  Aiden woke up, came out of his room and said good morning to both Travis and I.  Then he went to the bathroom and went back to his room.  He came back out 30 seconds later with his clothes in hand, sat on the couch and got dressed.  He asked for help with his shoes.  (Which he can do by himself sometimes, but not others?)  He got ready quickly enough that he had time to eat a bowl of cereal with milk before we left. 

Magical, right?  Praise ensued.

Well, it was too good to last.  Last night, we told him again how proud of him we were.  We told him the same thing we did the night before: if you get dressed all by your self, then you can have cereal.  

This morning was a complete disaster.  I'm sure part of the problem is he didn't wake up on his own.  Whenever we have to wake him up, he is Oscar the Grouch.  He just wouldn't get up!  Finally, Travis was able to get him out of bed, but he suddenly couldn't dress himself.  And instead of asking for help, he just threw fit after fit about it.  Non-stop.  About everything.  He didn't get any cereal on the ride into daycare (they're having cereal for breakfast at daycare - yay!) and he continued to cry right up to when I left him there.  For all I know, he's still sitting over there crying.  

IT IS SO STRESSFUL BEING A PARENT.  Especially when you have one that will only do as he pleases.  I keep hoping that Mila will be easier so we don't have to struggle with two kids everyday.

My mom always says I was exactly like Aiden when I was little.  Stubborn, independent and fought her tooth and nail.  I have some memories of that.  I actually recall a few of those moments.  I remember purposely fighting her because I didn't want her to win.  I always wonder if that's what's going through Aiden's head.  If he's actually like me, then hopefully that means he'll get better as he gets older.  I don't think I gave my mom as hard of a time after I started school.

Crossing my fingers...

In the 90's

One year at Christmas time, we went out hunting for our tree.  Found the perfect one, tied it to the top of our van and made our way home.  When we got home, my dad trimmed the tree outside, then brought it in the living room to put in the tree stand. 

By this point, it was dark.  A few moments later, a bat was flying frantically around the house.  We all ducked, the cats went nuts trying to chase the flying creature and my parents did some quick thinking.  If I remember correctly, they attempted to coax the bat out the door using a broom at first.  When that didn't work, they moved on to a blanket.  They opened it up and held it vertically to push the bat toward the door.  Worked like a charm. 

I have to give my mom props for doing that because I really don't think I would have handled it well.  I have a severe fear of bugs or any flying creature getting stuck in my hair.  Just thinking about it gives me the chills.  After my parents divorced, my mom moved into another home.  There was a red bud tree at her front door that used to get swarmed by Japanese beetles (they look like black shiny June bugs) every summer.  There were so many that they used to land on the front screen door.  For a little while, our garage door keypad stopped working so the only option was to enter the front door. 

Traumatized me for life.

Looks like someone else had a creature problem this year:

Snake found in a Christmas tree

What a difference 9 years makes

I came across these photos within a couple days ago and couldn't help but notice the similarities. The first is taken at a party in high school, circa 2000. The second was taken Thanksgiving 2009. That means we had graduated from college, gotten married, owned a house, bought a dog and our son was four months old.

Remember the 90's?

Check out those buckaroos! I had to wear head gear for over a year in middle school because of them. I really hope our children are not cursed with my horrid orthodontics.

I'd also like to point out the acid wash, tapered jeans and tubular vest. I think this photo dates sometime around 1991. As you can see, I played the piano and the recorder. I had piano lessons for seven years, but only played the recorder for one year before joining band in middle school. At that point I began playing the alto and bass saxophones. I was bad ass.

The Apartment above a Bar

I was reminiscing about the good ole partyin' days a couple weekends ago with Chris and Alexa and I decided that one of the stories might be worth telling to the general public. Before we owned the house we live in now, Travis and I lived above a bar in downtown Galveston. It was the perfect place to live at that point in our lives. Now, it would totally not be worth it:

• Two flights of stairs to climb daily would not be fun with a stroller, diaper bag and groceries;
• Window AC units and one gas heater would not suffice with a newborn in the home;
• Late night live bands at the bar below might be slightly entertaining during midnight feeds, but those drunk people throwing beer bottles in the road would seriously piss me off;
• While it was fun at the time, random visits multiple times a week from whoever was going out to the bars that night would start to get irritating with a newborn on a schedule.

Another downside would be situations like this... One Friday night, many a moon ago, Travis decided to go bar hopping with an older guy friend of his. He has been known to have a drinking problem, which meant he would most likely be staying the night at our apartment. Somewhere around 3 in the morning, Travis stumbled into the bedroom, bouncing like a pinball between the bed and the wall. His repeat bounces off the bed woke me. A little irritated at his drunkenness, I just rolled over to go back to sleep. About 15 seconds later, I hear water pouring onto the floor. I assumed he had spilled his glass of water, so I sat up to see what I could do to mend the situation. I was still irritated, but figured if I helped him I would be able to go back to sleep sooner. When I sat up, I quickly realized that he was leaning against the wall peeing on his nightstand. !!! I slapped him on the arm and yelled, "Travis! You are peeing in our bedroom!" That's when he turns to me and says, "huh?!" and I notice IT'S NOT TRAVIS.

What the deuce?! I immediately jumped out of bed and ran into the living room to escape Random Dude In My Bedroom. It scared the begeezes out of me! Travis was passed out on the couch, so I shook him violently, screaming his name until he came out of drunken unconsciousness.

"YOUR FRIEND IS PEEING ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND!"

Again, with the "huh?"

"YOUR FRIEND IS PEEING ON THE NIGHTSTAND IN OUR BEDROOM!"

"What? No way."

"Yes way! Fix it!"

All my screaming woke up my sister, who was living with us at the time. She comes out to find out what's happening and I quickly explain the situation. In the meantime, Travis' friend had come out of our bedroom, closed the door and leaned against it. It looked like he might finish what he was doing on our bedroom door, so Ariel yells at the guy, "THAT IS NOT THE TOILET. THE BATHROOM IS OVER THERE," and points to our only restroom. He looked thoroughly embarrassed, even in his drunken state, and for some reason tried to fit between two couches to get to the bathroom. Ariel again, "NOT THROUGH THERE - YOU HAVE TO GO AROUND THE COUCHES," all the time gesticulating wildly in the direction he should take.

He finally made it to the restroom. I looked at Travis and told him he was going to take care of this situation on his own. I was mortified by it all and did not want to be around when his friend got out of the bathroom. Ariel invited me to sleep in her room for the night and I took her up on the offer. When I woke up in the morning I was a little afraid to leave Ariel's bedroom. When I finally did (the urge to pee finally won over - I wasn't about to pee on her nightstand), I found Travis' friend was gone and the bedroom mess had been cleaned up, although it did reek of urine for a couple days.

I am so happy about our decision to buy a home in early 2007. A large part of our decision was the money factor. Living above a bar made it very easy for both of us to drink too much since we were always within walking distance of home. We also decided that we would have to remain in Texas for several years to pay off some debt before returning home to Illinois after we had both graduated from college. So why not build equity in a home? We are yet to make the final decision on where to move to from here: Illinois or somewhere else around here. Either way, I plan to move from this house within two years.

It's amazing to see how much our lives have changed in just a few short years. I loved our time above that bar, but I am so happy to be where we are at this point. This change-thing is only going to continue exponentially from here.

The Ever-Popular Issue of Weight

This picture is hilarious to me on so many levels. A friend from high school was going through some of her old photos and came across this one. It was taken on the floor in front of my locker. I have no idea what we are doing hanging out there. Maybe it's the beginning of the day and class hasn't started yet? I have no clue.

Travis and I joke all the time now that we our weights have switched since high school. I was at my heaviest at a little over 145 and Travis maybe weighed 125 pounds. Granted, at the time, he was a sophomore and I was a senior. I had a few more years of growth on him, right? Anyhoo, since then, Travis has gained enough weight to make him look more like an adult than an adolescent and I managed to get my junk food cravings under control. Pre-pregnancy, I was almost constantly at 133. Somehow I got down to 125 for our wedding. Ya, that won't happen again.

Looking at this picture freaks me out. I am currently at 144. That is VERY close to my heaviest weight ever (as is seen in photo above). Rachel and I were talking the other day about how pregnancy goes against everything a female is taught in this day and age. I'm not saying that either of our parents promoted anorexia, but the media has done a darn good job of letting us know that obesity is not an option.

Now, people look at me like I'm a bad person when I say I only gained five pounds in my first trimester. I saw a guy at work yesterday that I hadn't seen in a few months. His first reaction was, "Hey! Congratulations! You look great! I haven't seen you since you got bigger!" Can you tell me when that has ever been said in the same sentence as a good thing? Congratulations you are bigger?! Ha!

I love that I am expected to gain weight (although I want to keep that under control so I'm not in agony after the baby is born). The other hilarious thing is how I am treated like I am injured or incapacitated in some way. I am getting to the point where things are getting a little more difficult. Like bending over, for example. I can still do it, but it takes a little more effort nowadays. Here are a few examples of what other people will not let me do "in my condition":

• Bend over to unlatch a door. (according to a lady in the break room)
• Use the stairs, because I might slip on a piece of ice or food. Keep in mind that the stairs at my work are INDOORS. (according to a guy in my lab)
• Use the step stool. Although I can see this one becoming treacherous in the future. (according to a guy in my lab)
• Pick up boxes, empty or full. (according to everyone, it seems)
• The one I am starting to appreciate the most - I am always offered a seat, wherever I am.

I know people are just trying to be nice and I appreciate it. I just worry about stuff, like my bosses thinking having a pregnant lady is a nuisance because she can't do anything. I feel like I am at a point where I am still capable of doing most things, albeit sometimes it may be a little slower than I used to. I am only just past the halfway point in this pregnancy and I've only put on 11 pounds (I have to say I look better pregnant-fat than I do in that photo). I guess I just don't want to lose respect because I've become some lazy pregnant lady.

Before 2002

I had another strange dream the other night. I am sure that doesn't come as a surprise to many of you.

I dreamt that Travis, Ariel and I all had to go to the cell phone store to upgrade our phones. When we all went out to the camper (none of us own a camper in real life) to drive into town, this tall guy got in behind the driver's seat and took off with us in the vehicle. He was driving in the direction we needed to go, so I didn't say anything to the familiar looking man. A few moments later, he pulled into the strip mall parking lot of our cell phone store and parked the camper. We all got out and headed for the store, like this had been the plan all along. The guy headed towards the pizza place next to our cell phone store and said, "Come get me when you guys are finished. I'll be right in here."

My dream ended shortly thereafter and I woke up trying to figure out who that guy was. It actually took me a couple minutes to realize that he was a friend of Travis and mine when we lived in Illinois. Suddenly, I was reminded of a whole time of our lives that I had forgotten about. I know I've mentioned before that I have a bad memory, but this is ridiculous. I completely forgot about the two years between when I graduated from high school and when Travis and I moved down here to Texas.

Don't get me wrong, I do recall that I had two years before we moved here. And I remember that I went to a community college and got my Associate's degree during that time. But it seems I dropped every recollection of our social life.

We had this large group of friends that we made through a guy that Travis worked with at Quizno's during his last two years of high school (yes, that's right. Travis is two years my junior). This Quizno's guy went to school at the large university in the town where we lived. He lived in a rented house on campus with a friend and his twin.

My best friend Chrissie ended up dating the Quizno's guy and we all started hanging out every weekend. The location changed every weekend as we took turns hanging out at a different friend's house each weekend. At the end of each night we either stayed the night at the Quizno's guy's house, or we headed back to our house.

I suppose the fact that I totally forgot about this time of my life should give you an idea of our weekend activities. That's about the time I learned to like beer. It's crazy to think about how far Travis and I have come since then. Every time I think about how much our life is about to change with the birth of this child, I am amazed and grateful for everything Travis and I have done in our lives together. I don't know what brought up the random memory of the good old university group, but that sure made that dream just as random as the rest of them to me.