A little this and a little that

There isn't really anything major to write about but I just thought I would write about a little bit of everything.

I have been doing great on Weight Watchers. The weight loss is happening slowly (which is good) but more importantly I am learning to become more in-tune with my body. By that I mean only eating when I am hungry, not because I am bored, sad, happy or thirsty. Sounds funny right? To eat when you are really thirsty...Yup, by listening (really hard) to my body I have found I tend to eat when I should be drinking. I drink a lot to begin with but now I am drinking a lot more and eating a lot less. Surprisingly, I am not hungry all that often! Who knew!

This weekend we are having a memorial for my Mom. Which in of itself is sad but it will be nice to have my family all home. When we all come together, even for the saddest of events, we all have a good time. That is how my family is, one fun loving group! I am sure there will be plenty of tears, laughs, food, drink, and who knows maybe some accidental peeing. Heehee...you know who you are!

Our kitchen is torn apart a little. For some strange reason the outlet that our microwave plugs into is not working. It wasn't the fuse or the outlet itself so it must be the wire. I am so afraid of an electrically fire that we have turned off the power to that line which affects a couple of other outlets. The appliances that were plugged into the other outlets are now moved to other counters to make then usable. Ugh, as if my kitchen wasn't messy enough. Oh well.

Griffin's last day of school is today. Ryan's last day is June 15th. We hope to do some camping (in a tent), hiking, swimming, fishing and anything else that strikes our fancy. Ryan and I would like to try kayaking. I think we would have a lot of fun. We just need someone to babysit the other two. Maybe we can tie fishing and kayaking together so we can all be there to give kayaking a try.

I guess that is it for now.

Mom

Yesterday was emotionally draining. I spent the better part of the day at the ER with my mom. Not that it was physically demanding, really I was just sitting there, but to see her so old and frail, tired and worn out, it was just another reality that my wonderful mom is passing away.

My sister called to tell me Mom was transferred from the nursing home to the ER. She couldn't make it up there and was worried that they might put her on a ventilator (something my Mom really does not want). Hearing that of course I think that she is very bad off, and I offer to go there to be with Mom and make sure the Drs don't do anything she doesn't want. I get a little teary telling my husband Jonny what is going on but hold it together. All the way to the hospital I am thinking..."this could be it. I could be the one making it possible for my mom to die". From what the nursing home had said my Mom could not breath and her O2 stats were very low. Of course I was not expecting her to be sitting up in the bed talking to the nurses when I walked in the ER room. Happy that she was...yes...relieved...very! They had her on some oxygen and she was doing very well. After the chest x-ray confirmed that it was pneumonia they gave her a diuretic and she started breathing better and her O2 stats went back up without the oxygen.

After sitting there and watching her Stats for about an hour they decide to send her back to the nursing home...Good. Better for her to be there rather than in the hospital. What made me upset was that the EMT's bring her in and place her back in her bed and no nurse is around to make sure she is all set, in need of anything, or even to help the EMT's (who, by the way, are fantastic!). I came in and my poor mom is wrapped up like a mummy in three blankets and looks at me with her weary eyes and says "I really have to pee!" Do you think I could get a nurse to come to her room? Nope! I rang the bell on her bed and then the little old lady next to her kept asking me to bring her to the bathroom. So, I rang her bell...still nothing...now the both of them are really needing to go to the bathroom. I walk down the hall to the nurses station. Three of them are standing around, chit chatting (about what I am not sure, it could have been a patient). I inform them that 2 ladies have to use the bathroom pretty badly, could we get some help. Instead of one of them coming to help, they look around for a LNA. Is it beneath a RN to bring people to the bathroom?! God I hope they don't think that way, especially working in a nursing home.

Fearsome Fours

Anyone have a four year old out there? I can't tell you how hard a four year old can be. I rather have 10 two year olds. Griffin is in the prime of 4. He talks back constantly, has a really snotty attitude, and cries/whines at a drop of a hat. He is endlessly pushing my buttons and testing his limits. I am at the end of my hope with him. Yesterday, he pushed me over the edge. I didn't spank him or yell and time outs stopped working, so I soaped him. Yes I put soap in his mouth. And before anyone gets mad and thinks that it is cruel and unusually punishment. I have to tell you it was all natural, organic soap. So yes it taste bad, but no it did not hurt him. He hasn't talked back or spoke rudely to me today. It must have worked some. Now I don't think this is something I would do on a regular basis, but in a pinch when nothing else works then I think it is fine to use. Yes, I do use some positive discipline and I really try to make natural consequences teach the lesson, but when it comes to talking back, being down right rude, and plain disrespecting people there has to be a punishment. Kids are entitled to speak their opinions and feelings but no one has a right to be rude to another person. That is something I try to practice in my own life and want my kids to realize and practice in theirs.
Tell me, how can a kid this cute be so annoying?I still love you my little man!

Oh the Drama!

I can't even begin to tell you the drama I deal way too often. Let me try to explain this one as nicely as I can. Easter plans were changed do to the fact that Griffin was sick. Jodi did not want Griffin around baby Jacob for fear he would get sick. Understandable? Yes. A little paranoid? Maybe. But that isn't the drama. I had no problem staying home with Griffin. But after talking to Jonny and the boys we decided it wasn't fair that Ryan and Jonny get to go to Easter at Grammies and Griffin had to stay home. So, we all would stay home. As we tell Jonny's mom (Lynda) she gets upset and tells us that Jodi changed her mind and wouldn't mind us going down even with Griffin being sick. Not that I didn't believe her but I told her I didn't want to bring Griffin and have Jodi be worried and uncomfortable the whole day. Jonny and I then come up with a great idea that we would do Easter dinner and the egg hunt on Monday. The boys were thrilled because the still get to go to Grammies and Jodi won't have to worry about Jacob getting sick. Everyone, including Lynda seemed content with the idea. So off we went to celebrate Easter at my sisters house with my large, rather crazy family. Now, we had a blast (other than my sisters puppy endlessly jumping on Zachy and scratching his face), dinner was great the boys played outside with their cousins and we had wonderful conversation. Not once did we think about bad feeling surrounding Easter at Lynda's. When we get home it was another story...we walk in and find that Lynda had brought all the boys Easter presents including the eggs for the hunt on the kitchen table. The boys got upset...they were not happy to have their stuff here. They wanted to go to Grammie's in the morning like we had planned. To me and Jonny it was kind of a slap in the face. Jonny was upset and angry. Does it end there? Oh no! Ryan calls Grammie because he wants her to come pick up the eggs and hide them at her house so they could find them in the morning. Jonny then speaks to her and she tells him we were overreacting. WE were overreacting! I don't think so. We just did what was asked of us, keeping Griffin away from Jacob. Somehow along the way we became the bad guys. Not that there was anyone involved that should have been "the bad guys". But there we were...the ones that were overreacting and messing up Easter. For some reason, Jonny's family likes the drama. Instead of just being happy we could do it another day, the drama had to be brought in. So today when we were supposed to be at Lynda's eating and watching the boys find eggs, we are home, angry because we have to explain to the boys that Grammie is not in the mood to have us. I just want to scream "stop the attitude and drama and lets just live".

This story may seem minor, but this is always what happens. Plans change and send the Melen'stale spin. And Jonny says my family is crazy. Well we are, we just don't let the little things effect us because we have to deal with the big things. into a

Hello????

Sorry, another bitch fest. Ryan and Griffin are driving me nuts. Ryan used to have a lot of common sense for a 6 year old. All of a sudden he has none. I think when they go to school and start learning academics they lose their common sense. Must be not enough room in that little skull for all the info. For some reason he thought it would be fine to glue small pieces of wood together on the carpet in the living room...WTF! So I stop him and ask "Do you think that is a good idea?" "No" he says to me. I ask him why. He tells me it would make a mess. So, if he knew that why would he do it. I tell him to go in the kitchen and he proceeds to show me the glue isn't coming out well and what happens...All over the carpet. Again, WTF!! He just told me it would make a mess. I don't know, maybe I expect too much from him.

Then Griffin...Lucky he is cute or I would ship him off. I am up stairs trying to nurse Zachy and lay him down for a nap. He is at the stage when he hears something he has to look so he hasn't been nursing well. I have told the boys not to come into Zachy's room when I am nursing him unless someone is bleeding or the house is on fire. So, Griffin, comes in which I am not thrilled with but he is being quite. Next thing I know he is talking to the dog in the annoying baby voice he uses. I tell him to go down stairs but it is too late, Zachy is up looking around. I still try for the nap and lay him down. After a lot of crying (Zachy not me) I go back upstairs and try to nurse him again. I know (now that I am writing this) it doesn't seem like a big deal but at the time I just was at my limit.

Now Ryan has his friend over (Dillon) who is a very sweet boy. Ryan just has a hard time sharing his friends. It could be a long afternoon. Soon both boys will be on Christmas break for two weeks. I have a feeling it is going to be hard. I will have to schedule a lot of play dates for them.

Now I am off to make lunch.