Put at ease...

At church yesterday. It was so nice!

A little background first. I ran my 5K on Saturday (Yay!), watch for a post about that in the near future. I was EXHAUSTED to say the least. Wound up taking an hour long nap when we got back home, and started feeling pretty sick later on, too. Stuffy nose, cloudy head, sore throat, the works. I decided I was going to go to bed early that night to try and sleep some of it off. Well...I at least have good intentions when it comes to things like that but they never really come to fruition! I don't remember what time I went to bed, but it definitely wasn't early enough.

Anyways. Sunday morning rolled around, and I was reminded of what a wonderful husband I have! I woke up around 8 am (!) to both monitors being turned off, and Michael out in the living 'area' of the house with all three kids. I woke up feeling even worse than the night before. Boo! After a few minutes on my computer and letting myself wake up, I decided I should go ahead and go to church. I got the kids dressed while Michael got ready. When he was done, I got myself dressed and realized I hadn't eaten breakfast OR pumped! Blerg. Que crummy morning feeling on top of everything else. I hooked my pump up (yay for hands free pumping!!!), grabbed some eggs out of the fridge, popped some bread in the toaster and pumped while I made my breakfast. We got out the door a few minutes later than we like to, but we still made it to church on time. This is where the 'put at ease' title comes in...

First off, let me say that I really, really like our new church!

Michael got J&J out of the car, and I carried Alaina in. I had her covered with a blanket, and one of the ushers said to me "Good morning! Is there someone hiding under there?" So I turned so he could see her. He smiled and commented on her chewing on the blanket. As we walked towards an empty pew, Fr. stopped and talked to us. He said to me "I want to congratulate you", while holding his hand out. I was kind of confused so I said "Thank you? For what?" And he replied with "bang, bang, bang" looking at each of the three kids. I chuckled as he started in on a story about his cousin and cousin's wife having 5 kids in 6 years. He said he asked the wife how her health was, and she said she was "always sick". I laughed again because, after all, I was feeling pretty crummy that morning myself!

As we got closer to the time that we offer the sign of peace to each other, my patience had started wearing thin. Justin had been pretty squirmy - but mostly quiet, Julia was all. over. the. place. But again...mostly quiet. Alaina was really tired, but fighting sleep. Thankfully, she only squeaked a few times before falling asleep a little later. When I turned to the lady standing behind us, I shook her hand and said "Peace be with you". She said the same and then said "You have a very beautiful family, and your kids are very well behaved." It made me feel pretty good! I said "Thank you! We're working on it :-) "

Anyways...this has gotten long enough! Have a great day, everyone...

God bless!
~Stacy

What irks me as a parent

Before I was a parent, I never really gave a second thought to things that I said to other parents. After all, I didn't know how my words were affecting them. How could I? I didn't have any kids. Recently I've encountered a few phrases myself that I kind of wish weren't directed at me. I'm including a few from some good friends of mine as well. Enjoy!

~~numberone~~

"What a good baby!" - Now, normally, this wouldn't be so bad! However. When this is said in response to a baby that stays silent during church, or a movie, or in the grocery store, or wherever...it irritates the heck out of me. Babies cry. You know, it's their only means of communication since they don't learn how to effectively communicate until they're probably around a year old, at least. Some babies don't start talking until their 18 months, 2 years old, and sometimes THREE! Go figure. Crying is a baby's way of telling you they need something whether it's food, sleep, warmth, whatever. Babies cry. So get over it.

~~numbertwo~~

"You have your hands full!" - OK. I hear this a lot. Yes. I do have my hands full. I have a tiny little spunky 3 1/2 year old, a 2 year old boy - nuff said, really - that has a hard time communicating, and a 6 month old breast fed-turned-bottle-fed-while-I-pump-every-two-to-four-hours-a-day baby. Yes. I have my hands full. Yes. They all drive me batty in their own special way. Yes. I love them all with everything that I am. No. I wouldn't trade it for the world ten times over, and I would much rather have my hands be overflowing than my heart to be empty.

~~numberthree~~

"You're not pregnant again, are you?" (or any variation) - OK. Really. I get that people might be surprised that we have 3 kids so close together, but who cares? It's our life. We're going to do it how we want to - or rather how God wants us to. I have always wanted a lot of kids. Anywhere from 3-6 to be exact. As of now, we're teetering between "done" and "we still want another". I do appreciate people trying to save my sanity - as thin as it may be right now - but it's not your business. Mmkay? For the record, I've heard this from at *least* 7 people.

~~numberfour~~

"When are you going back to work?" - Um, I'm not. At least not any time soon. I'm enjoying being a stay-at-home mom, and being able to see all of my kids' firsts. I love being able to watch their little imaginations grow, their vocabulary explode, milestones being met. Do I want to go back to work eventually? Yeah...part time, maybe. But I want to be there for my kids' sporting events, concerts, plays, whatever they get into so I'm in absolutely no rush to go back to work. I do have days that I really wish I was working, but those days are usually because all three kids are throwing fits at the same time multiple times a day. I'm pretty sure anyone would buckle with that. I used to work full time when Julia was born. It was tons easier than what I do now. But again, I wouldn't trade it for the world ten times over.


The last couple are from some friends of mine. :-)

~~numberfive~~

"Mommy gut" - Don't. Just don't. We all know we have it. We all want to get rid of it - maybe...eventually. We don't need a reminder that our midsections are a smidgen worse than pristine condition. Some of us don't care that we have it! Either way, that one falls under the "none of your business" umbrella as well. We don't walk around criticizing your hair, makeup, clothes, body, whatever...so why should you be allowed to ridicule us?

~~numbersix~~

"When are you going to try for a girl/boy?" or "Don't you want a girl/boy?" - You know...this one kind of falls under that umbrella, too. Maybe people are happy with all boys or all girls. Who cares? Asking this question could actually hurt the parents, too! You don't know if they have been trying for another, or if they've reluctantly decided to be "done" having kids. Either way, it's not anyone else's decision.


Anyways...just my little rant for the day. :-)

God bless!
~Stacy

My running journey

Well, last night I ran the last scheduled workout of my c25k app! It feels good to have completed it, and I'm looking forward to my run next weekend! Check out my last post on my C25K Journal!

God bless!
~S