FlashBack Fridays:Memorial Day

This weekend is Memorial day weekend.  This weekend means the start of summer.  Hurray.  I am excited to sleep in and start heading to the beach and be outside.  It has been a long winter with no spring and I am ready to be outside with the kids.  Every Memorial Day we go to the Memorial day parade because it is short and sweet..  Its is about as long of a parade that my kids can handle.  It is the perfect parade for little kids.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  We have been at parades with 80 degree weather and other  paradeswith cold and rain.  I am so ready for 80 degree weather.  These pictures are from Memorial day of 2008.  If you look at Cody you will notice he looks a little pale.  After we got back to my grandma's house he threw up and threw up and threw up for the next 7 days.  It was the worst stomach flu I have ever seen.  So here's hoping for a happy, Health Memorial Day.  Thanks to all the Veteran's for all you have done for this country

SECRETS

I have a secret to confess.   My children are addicts.   Yes you heard me right addicts and their drug of choice breast milk…so I guess that makes me their supplier.  Just so you don’t get totally creeped out I need to clarify that only Brennan is currently being breastfeed , but at some point in their little lives Hailey and Cody also had a daily habit that was impossible to break.   I breastfeed Cody until he was 13 months, Hailey until she was 18 months.  She was impossible to wean, Finally at 18 months Steve and I took a vacation to Vegas and my parents suffered through the detox .   I owe them big time but also have to admit I have  visions of going to Vegas sometime in the near future.  I figure they are pros, so they could handle one more detox.   It is funny,  I never planned on breastfeeding , the ideas seemed weird to me but  Steve was the one who convinced me just to try it.   The rest is history, I guess you could say, I practice attachment style parenting, Meaning I have a kid constantly attached to my breast.   Joking aside, I  have created some major problems for myself.   While I love the benefits of breastfeeding for my children and myself, it has also created some really bad habits.   The biggest being my kids really need me, to the point it makes it hard to leave them at nighttime.  I am not so much worried about them but about the poor person stuck taking care of them.  Steve and I don’t fight , however any fight we have is after he has to deal with the kids while I am working 2ndshift.  Just last night I stopped home from work at bedtime because I could not get home at dinner time.  Well big mistake, Hailey got so upset as I was leaving she vomited.  Yes vomited.  The sad part is this is not a isolated incident.  Cody did it from ages 1-4, when I was not home at bedtime.   Hailey same thing and I  am hoping Brennan does not pick up this habit.  They get so upset when I am not home, they make themselves sick.   Hailey has been good lately so I thought I was “safe” stopping home  close to bedtime, but apparently not.  Till this day which most of you know Hailey still plays with my bra strap which she refers to as “strappy”  she uses strappy like her blanket , she likes to hold on to it while she falls asleep.  Yes this is my life one stuck to the breast another hanging on my bra strap.  I need a intervention.    The problem I have is breastfeeding is easy.  It is easy to get Brennan down for a nap or bed.  It makes it easy when he wakes up at night to feed him.  Yes he is a year old and No he does not sleep through the night.  In fact he gets up about 3 times a night.  I must admit I do enjoy the cuddling and nurturing feeling which comes with breastfeeding,  However I would like to go out with my husband later than 9pm.  What I struggle  with is that It is hard to take something away from Brennan that he wants so bad.  It would be easy if it was something that was bad for him or get hurt him but that is not the case with breastfeeding.  In fact it is the complete opposite ,the world health organization says it is best to breast feeding your child till 2 years old.  I know I can hear the sigh and see the eye rolls.  It is funny because I have noticed the reaction of people on the breastfeeding topic.  If you don’t breastfeed people look down on you, but if you breastfeed past 12 months people start looking at you weird.  I wish I was one of the lucky ones whose child weans himself or their supply dries up.  I know others wish they could breastfeed as long as I have. It’s funny how the grass is always greener on the other side.    So I decided it is time to put a end to a period in my life and start weaning Brennan, I have not told him yet.  Part of me is ready to be done, maybe actually by a new bra, that is not tan in color.  But part of me is sad I will never breastfeed a baby again.  So anyone have any tips on how to wean , I would be happy to hear them.  Mel’s all night Café is on its final month open. Maybe next week I will blog on my other dirty secret……Co-sleeping.  Feel free to share any of you secrets of parenting.  Misery loves company

FlashBack Friday

Wow I am really slacking on this blogging thing.  This past week I was sick with strep throat.  I have not been really sick in a while but I learned there are no sick days for moms.  Someone always needs you.  Someone is always all over you.  Which I normally don't mind but between the strep throat, my killer headache and my ulcertive colitis acting up due to all the Advil I was taking to numb the pain, I was a hot mess.  Lets just say I went to  work this week cause at least there I had no one hanging on me.  I am happy to say I am back to my normal happy self.  So Kids hang away. 

This week flashback picture is pictures from a week before in 2007.  This was when we actually had a spring.   I am hoping if I show some pictures of how spring should be, maybe I can change the weather.  So here is to you spring.  Let us see you a few times before the hot and humid weather comes, we miss you

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

I thought it was only appropriate for my flashback Fridays picture to be pictures of my beautiful mom since Sunday is Mother's Day

 This picture appeared in the Racine Journal times.  I love this picture cause it represents one of my favorite memories as a kid.   Going to the beach or quarry (pre dirtydiaper days).  We would go at least 2x a week with my mom and dad when were little.  I still love going to the beach till this day. 

I went through numerous photo albums to find a picture of my mom and me.  There were very few photos of this or any of my mom and my sisters when we were young.  It seems like that is how it is at our house also.  It seems like I am the one always taking photos.  So to all the moms out there, give your husband the camera and get in those photos, your children will appreciate it one day.

Also mom I want to know how you got all that volume in your hair!!


Finally one picture of Cody, Steve and I at Cody's baptism.  The birth of Cody made me a mom so I though it was only appropriate to put one of those photos in this week.  I would put one in from his birth but I did not have a digital camera yet, so this one was easier to find.  I love digital Files!!!

Happy Mother's day to all the great Moms I am lucky to know in my life.

Mother's Day

This Sunday is Mother's Day I love Mother's day because I love being  a mother.  This day represents so much to me.  I love being the mother to 3 wonderful kids.  Cody, Hailey and Brennan., I love you so much.  I am honored to be your mother.  You have given me something I can never thank you enough for.  You have given me a feeling of accomplishment in my life.  I have never felt that I have ever excelled at anything before I became a mother.  I was always a average student, a  average athlete.  Don't even talk to me about my Art skills......zero!!!!  I think I was a good  police officer,I think I am a good detective, a good cook but I never felt I could say I am great at something.  But once I became a Mom, I found something I loved to do and I feel like I am great at.  So thank you Brennan, Hailey and Cody for giving me that gift.  However I really need to thank my mom because she has given me the tools to be a great mom because everything I know about being a great Mom  I have learned from her.  So Mom happy Mother's Day.  You haven given me so much and taught me how to be the mother I am.  You are so modest so you will never take credit for all you have done and taught me.  You are everything to Jen ,Meg and I.     You are the core of our family  You mean everything to all the grand kids.   No one makes warm cookies after school better than you.  If you don't believe me just ask Cody, Hailey and Brennan.   So I want you to know what you are to me.  You are beautiful on the inside and the outside.  I wish you would see yourself  how everyone else  see's you  A HOT MOM.  Yes you are Hot, Beautiful, Stunning, I don't care what word we use, they all describe you.  I don't know why you don't see it, you always nit pick at yourself so I want you to know how everyone else's see you.  BEAUTIFUL.  For those of you that don't know my mom never went to college but she is one of the smartest people  I know, her vocabulary can put anyone to shame.  It has put me to shame on  a number occasions.!!!!  She also knows all kind of interesting facts, if you don't believe me play Trivia with her on Wednesday night at Mario's.  She is also very thrifty.  My mom was a stay at home mom  and my parents raised us on one income and sent us to private school.  Growing up I never wanted anything.  It is only now as a adult from hearing stories did I realize how tight our finical situation was.   I never felt the crunch because my mom would make sure we would have what we needed if it meant sewing it, getting up at the crack of dawn for the thanksgiving sale, or getting things on clearance and hiding them for the next year.  My mom always found a way.  My mom is super creative.  Steve makes fun of me when ever it is my turn to bring snack to school.  He laughs cause it is never simple, Its usually something that causes way to much frustration like strawberry mice, beach pudding cups, heart shape muffins...etc.  Why do I torture myself you may ask?  No it is not that I like spending my spare time cooking!   Spare time what is that!!!  It is because I remember being the kid bringing in the snack that all the kids loved.  I remember that feeling of pride and excitement carrying that snack in.  I still have  grade school friends that talk about  the snacks I  brought in.  My Mom did that for me and I want to do that for my kids.  .  My mom is also fun.  What other Mom would do soda popper shots with her 21 year old daughter and her best friend before they went out to the bars.  There is so much to say about my mom I could go on for pages.   I guess I will end with my moms best trait.  My mom is the kindest ,most sincere, loving ,genuine, caring person I know..  I know that is more than one trait but how to you describe in one word the person that means the most to you.   I strive everyday to be the mother to my kids that she is to me.  Mom,I am honored to be your daughter . I thank God everyday for you.  When I am having a bad day there is no one else I want to complain to but her,  Isn't it funny no matter how old you are no  one can make  you feel better  than your mom.  A few years ago I had a tubal pregnancy, after surgery I was very agitated .  She probably does not remember this but my Mom came over and held me in my bed and rubbed my head and back.  But that is just what I needed, I wanted to feel safe and reassured that everything would be OK.   That is what my mother has always given me a safe place where I am loved unconditionally and feel safe.  Mom you have given me so much I want you to realize you are the center of my world .  I love you Happy Mother's Day  You meant the word to us growing up.

Now as adult I realize just how blessed we are to have you as a Mother

So to my Hero, Kathrine Schiro.  Happy Mother's Day.  I love you,  Thank you for all the sacrifices you have made,all the time and effort you have given to making me the mother, and  person I am today.  Thanks for being a best grandmother to my kids