Little Pigs!

Something very exciting in a mother's life has happened today.  Something especially exciting to a mother of a hairless two year old daughter...she let me put piggy tails in!!!  I've tried many times only to be told "No no NOOO it HURTS!" and today tried another approach..."See mommy's ponytail?  You want one too?"  And yup, that did it!  For some reason the crazy kid likes to be like me.  So, we got it done, brush...two pink rubber bands...little bit of whining...LOTS of praise about how adorable she is, and now she doesn't want to take them out!  SCORE.  And I can't even describe in words how cute she looks.  We went to Costco and I proudly carted her around, hardly even getting irritated at the two of them pushing, hitting, and yelling at each other in the cart.

As usual Ben didn't cease to crack me up today on the way there.  I love eavesdropping on their conversations, and he's in the back seat saying, "Brookie...we're going to Costco.  Mom shops, Dad works, that's how it goes."  Oh reeaeaaaalllly?  I couldn't help but chime in, "BEN!  Mom works a lot too you know!" By this time we've pulled into the parking lot.  "WELL, either way mom, I am NOT going in there, that place is for GIRLS."  That's interesting.  I mean, I guess I do in fact do a lot of the shopping, but rarely take him along, and he certainly goes with dad to the tool store and pet store a lot.  But ya, maybe Costco typically IS for GIRLS!  Anyway, he quickly snapped out of that and gladly held his sister's hand in the parking lot, which never fails to melt my heart.

Work Life Balance...

Something wonderful happened for our family this week. As anyone who really knows me knows (which should be all of you...since you're here and all), I have a constant battle over balancing my work life and time with our kiddos.  I love my job and they have always been very flexible with my schedule, from the time Ben was born until he was 3 (and Brooke was 1) I worked 3 days/week which was really great. But a year ago I felt pressure to bump it up to 4 days and have struggled with the transition ever since. That put Brooke going to daycare 4 days a week, and as much as we all adore Miss Sally it has always been more than I'm comfortable with and I've really missed them both.  I wonder constantly whether we could make it work if I stayed home full time, but fear finding my place back in the workforce if I left such a great job.

On Monday I had my yearly review with my boss, who has been there about a year and a half and has been really awesome. He is very happy with my accomplishments over the past year, and asked how my schedule is working out. I told him how much I value my Wednesdays at home and left it at that, for fear of sounding demanding to ask for anything more. Then he was the one to bring up, "well I want you to know that I am fine with you working from home any time." He's said that before, so I clarified..."Really?  Like you're REALLY okay with that on occasion?" He said yes and that he actually thought it would be better if I picked one day each week that I stayed home so that it was planned and everyone would know and expect it. Now, anybody who has kids of their own, or has met my kids, knows that not much of anything can be accomplished with a very busy 2 and 4 year old around. And he recognized that, and said that he understood it would be tough but as long as I kept my phone on me, was available, and logged in to check my e-mail a few times throughout the day he was okay with it. SERIOUSLY?!??!  Nicest. Boss. Ever. I've thought about hiring somebody to come spend the day with us so that she can keep them busy when I need to get work done, but I can still see them and have lunch with them, etc. AND my kids get to stay home (no crazy morning rush for us) AND I still get to keep my job I love and get paid for four days...seriously best of both worlds!!

This is the way it's going to play out, and it makes me so overjoyed to think about. Brooke will go from spending 4 days at Miss Sally's to TWO (yahooooo!), and will spend Mondays with her Mormor and Morfar. She loves being there with them and my mom is excited to spend more time with her. Ben will continue to go to school 3 days a week but drop his Mormor day in exchange for Fridays home with me. He's grown to enjoy school and is doing so well, and Mike and I feel 3 days will be good for the next year to transition into kindergarten 5 days/week.  Fridays I will stay home and have talked to the the one sitter we've ever used outside of the family (Kathryn) to come hang out with us from 9-1 until the kids take their nap.  The kids adore her, she's 17 and has her own car...perfect!  So, not sure if I'll go it alone come fall or find someone else to help, but it's going to work GREAT in the meantime.

SOOO happy for us, I've felt this huge relief all week that this is the perfect scenario for us at the moment. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that after so much worrying things always work out so well...we are so very blessed.

The mystery beast....

There was a creature in our backyard this morning.  An unidentifyable, mystery animal...according to Ben. We never get anything more exciting than a grasshopper (which is pretty exciting) and it's still driving me nuts to think about what it could have been, so I have to share.  Ben was ready for school and asked if he could go in the backyard for a few minutes while I finish getting ready for work, so I agreed.  A few minutes later he came back in screaming "MOOOOOMMY COME QUICK!" So I of course almost fell down the stairs I ran so fast..."there's something DEAD and REALLY YUCKY in the backyard!"  I mentally prepared myself for some nasty bloody scene, quizzing him about it as we walked out. "It's body is this big (about the size of my hand) and it's head is this big (3 inches??). He took me to the spot. Nothing but grass. 

"OH....wait, it was just here?"  Now how can something DEAD mysteriously get up and walk away? I checked and Oscar was still inside, hadn't gotten out of bed yet. So began the 30 questions to get to the bottom of this. How do you know it was dead? "It didn't move." Was it bloody? "No". (phew)  Did it have fur? "No mommy...only bears have fur silly." Well how about fur like Oscar or like a mouse, or maybe feathers? "No." Okaaaaay....did it look slimy? "Ummmm....ya. Looked slimy". Okay....now we're getting somewhere here.  Was it a frog?  "Nope, wasn't a frog."  Hmph. A lizard?  "No...definitely not a lizard." Okay even if it was, still doesn't explain where it went? Ben maybe it was just sleeping? "No...it was dead."  How do you know, did you touch it?  "No way. It was SUPER yucky."  What color was it?  "Ummmm, brown. I'd say light brown."  Did it have legs?  "No, no legs or eyes.  Just a body and a head."  WHAT?  Okay so eyes could have been closed...hence the dead.  But just a body and a head?  Ben do you know what a toad looks like? (They're kid of big blobs right?) "No....wait, yes. Maybe. I think it was a toad." We looked all around the yard and no sign of it, hmph....

I wasn't so convinced...so I googled images of toads and showed him a couple..."Ben did it look something like this?"  The response was iffy..."Uhhhhh, sure!  Ya, I think it looked like that." Mike thinks that I'm a victim of Ben's wild imagination, but I don't know...he was pretty fired up! So continues the mystery of the REALLY YUCKY mystery animal in the Hagman Backyard.  The End.

Reflection

Tomorrow we will be parents of a 4 and a 2 year old.  The 4 year old I've been working on coming to terms with over the last month, but now my baby girl is turning 2.  That along with the fact that next week will mark our EIGHT year anniversary has me baffled....simply baffled.  Sometimes when there is the rare quiet moment I just sit and think "Wow...really?! Am I really to this point in my life?"  As a lot of people say, on the one hand it's flown by but there are also weeks that seem to last for ages...of course the challenging ones when we're sick and grumpy.  Yet I SO SO vividly remember how it felt in those first moments with both of them when I heard them cry, got to hold them, and nursed them....just like it happened literally yesterday and I can't believe that years have passed.  Even to think of Mike and I as newlyweds eight years ago...if at that moment we would have been able to look in a crystal ball and gotten a glimpse of our family I would have collapsed in a puddle of happy tears. I have been so blessed in my life, not to say we haven't had some tough times and health battles with the kids and with my dad, but we are all strong and have amazing love for each other and for that I couldn't be more grateful.

Life as a Girl...

Well it's official, we have a little girl growing up in our house. A full-fledged, pink-dressing, doll-toting, drama-stirring, shoe-loving, hug and kiss-giving, giggly, pouty, GIRL. I knew it was coming and that she would be this way...what I didn't know was that well before the age of two she would have a preference over what shoes she'll wear or that she absolutely MUST wear her piggy pajamas to bed or the world will most certainly come to an end. She is so playful and loveable, and while she demands to be loved, she also dishes it right back at ya. If anyone in the room lets out a little yip she'll be right there rubbing your head or shoulder with her cute little hand and head cocked to the side saying "you okay mom? es okaaaaay mama, shhshhshh..."  So nurturing.  Ben to this day could care less about what clothes he wears, although some days does have a preference for what shoes he'll wear. But once he makes up his mind, we're set and out the door. Brooke...she usually has to try on at least 3 different pairs before being certain that THESE are the ones. Where she gets this I don't know, little old MOI would never be so indecisive (wink wink). Oh well, I've been told that giving them choices and letting them feel like they have some sort of control over their lives is important. So I wait. I take lots of deep breaths, help when asked, and wait. :)