Around Here: Week 5 2022

 {January 30-February 5th}

This week's vignette:

It is dark and quiet, only the hush of the fan as it rotates over us, first him, then me, spanning the distance of the room which has two twin beds, soldiers side by side, in a room that my twin sons are rapidly outgrowing.  He lies still, a black silky sleep mask over his eyes.  I watch his chest to see if his breath is regular, if he is asleep.  
The side effects of the COVID booster we opted to get him have been brutal; fever, body aches, chills, and a headache that is giving him a run for his money.  I pull together my arsenal of mom tools to try and soothe him.  Tylenol, fresh ice water, a cool cloth, a heating pad.  But all he really wants is me. And so I sit, barely aware of the din downstairs, dinner being made, his siblings doing homework, dogs barking, and read an ebook in the dark while he tries to sleep on the bed across from me.  
To be honest, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. 

Thankful for this little bit of inspiration from my friend Brittany.
I hung it on my mirror so I can read it on the daily. 
Thanks B!

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Contemplating... getting Wyatt an axolotl.  He wants one so much that he put together a slide show to ask for one.  He shared with us some details about the axolotl and why they make good pets. (For those of you who don't know, axolotls are similar to a salamander, but they live permanently under water) 
In the end, I did my own research and decided we would not be a good household for an axolotl.  They like calm environments with little stimulation and nearly zero sunlight.  They also require really specific water conditions that I am not up to figuring out. Wyatt was disappointed, but Josh reminded him that we did get him a puppy less than a month ago. Ha!

Feeling... proud as I watched the twins leave each morning this week.  They either hug me goodbye if I am downstairs, or text me that they are leaving if I'm upstairs.  I just love those boys. 

Doing... a sweet errand for a friend of mine who moved out of town.  She wanted to reach out to someone here, where I live, and asked me to be the one to fulfill this sweet little kindness.  So I picked up flowers and wrote a note and got to drop them off on behalf of my thoughtful friend. It felt really good to bring some sunshine to someone's day, and to help a friend who's far away. 

Mommin'... this week by learning about Carly's speech stutter from a friend of mine (who is a speech therapist) who stopped by out of the goodness of her own heart to help me out. I can't remember if I shared here that I noticed after Christmas break that Carly was talking a little funny.  Not always, but often enough that it caught my attention and I was able to record it.  My amazing friend Paula came over with some sheets about stuttering, and broke it all down for me. 
Basically Carly has a really rare type of stutter that is related to anxiety, called an Atypical Dysfluency where she takes mid-word breaks (like "wha-at") and does final word repetitions (like "store-ore").  It's uncommon, but there is a type of word play we can do with her to help it.  It was comforting to know that I wasn't being overdramatic (she really is doing something strange) and to know exactly what we can do to help her with it. 
Thankfully she isn't bothered by it, so we just congratulate her, "Hey! You didn't do any bumpy talk. That was all smooth talking!" Or encourage her to try again another way "Let's do robot talk" (breaking her speech up into syllables like "Carl.y.what.are.you.do.ing.to.day?") and then she can correct her speech and move on. 
I was also mommin' pretty hard this week at morning drop off as Carly cried a lot and I tried to come up with ways to keep her feeling positive.  We added more fun songs to our morning playlist for in the car and I've been trying really hard to make sure we aren't rushing, and that she has plenty of time for morning recess so that if she's sad at drop off, she has time to turn it around while playing with her friends. 

Reading... Hollis Woods, which is a sweet story about a little girl in foster care who didn't think she deserved love; Wild at Heart which is #2 in the Wild series by K.A. Tucker, and which I LOVED!; and doing some reading on Fibromyalgia. But not too much because it's all a bit overwhelming. 

Watching... Queer Eye and loving how they make me feel better about myself. Love those guys!

Laughing... as I took Piper to the vet.  She doesn't wear a collar yet, so she didn't know what that (or the leash) were about, and she wanted to be in my lap like a giant baby in the waiting room. She is truly a mama's girl. 
She was so sweet to the vet and his assistant's, just giving them kisses and wanting to be held by them.  I am proud to report that she is potty trained, and only has a pee pad in her crate for night times. So awesome. She is still waking up a bit earlier than I would like, but I'm hoping that will improve. 

Focusing on... letting myself feel my feelings, which meant some time spent crying this week. I am a Highly Sensitive Person who is also an Empath. (ugh) And I have four children, a husband, parents, a sister, two brothers, neighbors, friends, extended family, and two dogs. There are SO many people on God's green earth that I feel connected to and responsible for, and that leads to a LOT of feelings about a LOT of things. (Most of which I cannot control) So when it all gets to be too much, I cry. 

Struggling... to take a walk this week, knowing it is good for me (especially for my fibromyalgia among other things) but also knowing it's really hard.  I ended up going on a sunny morning before my weekly writing course, with Grady for company, and while it was, hands down, the hardest walk I have ever taken (it wasn't even that far, but my lower back pain was super intense by the end) I was really proud of myself. I just kept saying in my head, "We can do hard things. We can do hard things." 

Crossing... 100th Day preparation off the list for Carly by counting out chocolate chips.  She is so smart. And it is SO Carly that she wanted to bring 100 chocolate chips for Hundreds Day. Hah!

Celebrating... Carly getting an award for having the best attitude in her kindergarten class.  Logan heard she got an award and was like, "For what? For being the most cheerful?" We cracked up and Josh goes, "Basically." She is our sunshine girl. 

Learning... about more health concerns for a loved one, and gosh, it's all so heavy on my heart. Wishing I could do more and supporting where I can in the meantime. 

Loving... Carly learning how to write. She wrote Josh and I the sweetest little love notes. I will be keeping mine forever. 
Also loving how she makes each day special. One morning she said she wanted a strawberry on the edge of her water cup.  Let's all remember to do fancy things whenever we feel like it! 

Grateful... for fresh flowers.  Any time I buy myself flowers (or Josh gets me flowers) I find myself so enamored with their beauty and the beauty they bring to our home. 

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