In case you haven’t heard, we got a little rain down here in Houston Sunday night. It was a fantastic storm whose thunder (and the flash flood alarms on our phones) kept us up all night and caused a little girl to crawl into bed with me for the first time ever in the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully, our house was fine, but our brand new tree got uprooted and fell over in the yard. Many, many Houstonians weren’t so lucky and are dealing with flooded homes and cars and lost possessions. Grayson’s school flooded AGAIN but mercifully was able to reopen today. Due to high water in our area, we didn’t leave the house all day Monday or Tuesday, and only got out for about an hour today to pick up some new shoes at the mall for Grayson and Charlotte. Both of them, and Ryan, will go back to school tomorrow, which will be nice. We’ve had a lot of togetherness the past few days.

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to do a post on things I’m currently loving, and thought a rainy week when I’m low on patience would be a good time to share some happiness.

1. My first post on Houston Moms Blog is up today! I am so excited to be a part of this talented group of ladies and have really enjoyed getting to know them all. And I love seeing my writing published and shared for a larger audience. Thank you to all who shared this post today- I wrote it hoping it will help people know how to help their kids engage with special needs kids.

2. Playing outside. I am not much of a sit on the floor and play pretend birthday party with 100 stuffed animals enthusiast, but want to ride bikes, throw a ball around or go down the twisty slide ten times in a row? I’m in. Every day, I beg Charlotte to go outside and ride scooters with me in the cul de sac (she would rather play said pretend birthday party). I seriously could ride scooters for hours. I am forever 10 years old. 

3. The eye-rolling emoji. I think I use this 25 times a day.

4. This mascara. A few months ago, I heard Jamie Ivey talk about this “tube mascara” that doesn’t smudge at all, and I SO wanted to buy it, but just couldn’t justify $31 for mascara. I have a huge problem with mascara running all over my face and usually just don’t wear it at all because I don’t want to deal with looking like a raccoon 5 minutes after I walk out the door. But then I found this one for about 1/4 the price and am happy to report I like it- and I’ve had minimal smudging. And the best part is the little “tubes” just wash right off!

5. The Popcast. I’d like to add this show to my list of favorite podcasts. The hosts have great chemistry and are just generally HILARIOUS.

What are you loving these days?

We’ve had an unfortunate situation unfold over the past two weeks and I’m just a mess of emotions: super angry (livid and furious at times) and embarrassed, but mostly just heartbroken. I fixture in our family’s life, and especially Grayson’s, is gone, and the way it happened was honestly shocking and hurtful.

So, that being said, we are searching for another nurse for G.  We have a nurse in our home five nights a week for a total of 60 hours. That’s a lot of time to have someone in my home, especially a stranger. It’s just annoying and uncomfortable to start this process over again to try to find the right fit for G and for our family. And I do realize what we’ve had is super uncommon- having one nurse for three years-but I miss it. And although I’m hurt and angry about what happened, I miss having her around. We considered her part of our family and she knew it.

We are trying out a FIFTH new nurse tonight. We actually had a great one for two months but when we moved the drive was just too far for her. The one who is here tonight is actually great so far, so maybe she will be a good fit. I hope so.

I keep thinking about Grayson in this crazy situation- how confused he must be. He adored his nurse, and one day she was gone. And since then, he’s moved to a brand new house and there’s been a parade of strangers taking care of him at night. I often wonder how much he remembers and processes.

I registered Grayson for Kindergarten this morning. SO STRANGE. It wasn’t emotional at all, like most people talk about. And I think it’s because for me it doesn’t feel like I’m really registering him for Kindergarten. He won’t be in a Kindergarten classroom, and may or may not even be at the school I registered him at, which is in our neighborhood. But even though I don’t have the touchy-feely emotions about this milestone, I am excited for him. We will miss his current school terribly, but I’m feeling hopeful that this change will be a great thing for him.

I was thinking back today about how much I used to write about the details of Grayson’s days, and I just don’t do that much anymore. And honestly, it’s because there’s not that much to write about right now. G is stable, and is definitely my easiest kid to take care of at this point. He still loves his Veggie Tales, hanging out in his beanbag chair, and just being loved. He reminds me to slow down and calm down. And I know we will find the right nurse for him, hopefully soon.

Well, we moved a week ago! We are back in Katy, and are so, so grateful and happy. In just a week, I have realized just how unhappy I was in our old house. Not to sound ungrateful, because so many have so much less, but it just wasn’t a good place for our family. Now, we have a big backyard, play room for the kids, and everyone has their own room. Amazing. Last week, we had this installed. Charlotte was having a hard time with leaving her “brown house” so we let her name it. I give you…Pony Park. Worth.Every.Penny. (And it was a lot of pennies).

This is the perfect time of year to hang outside, and we are making up for the last 3 years not having any outdoor space. 

Speaking of the backyard, we met with some volunteers from Make A Wish Foundation yesterday because Grayson is eligible for a Wish. We’ve considered his Wish for a long time now, and since he can’t verbally wish for anything, we have to request for him. A dream vacation would have been amazing, but we weren’t sure how amazing it would be for him. So instead, we thought about what he really loves, which is being with his family and being outside. So we wished for a covered space for him in the backyard where he can be close to us, but still out of the heat. I’m really excited to see what Grayson receives. He deserves it. 

This move has been 99% positive and such a great thing for our family, but we are incredibly sad and somewhat anxious that Grayson won’t be attending the Caroline School next year. He’s been at the school for four years now, and we adore the school, his teachers, and his therapists. But, it’s just too far for me to keep making the drive day after day. It was too far from our old house and it’s WAY too far from the new one. Right now, the plan is to try public school next year (he’ll be in kindergarten…what??!). To be honest, I’m incredibly nervous about this, but I’m praying for some incredible teachers and for G to thrive in his new school.

Charlotte will also be attending a new preschool next year, but I’m not so much worried about her transition. She loves any type of “school” environment and I think she will be just fine. We are still really struggling with her attitude towards Grayson. It did get better for a few weeks, but she’s back to her old antics. None of my tactics are working, so after consulting with my counselor, I’ve decided to get some professional help for her. I meet with a play therapist this week and I’m assuming Charlotte will start seeing her after that. 

I’m super excited that a few weeks ago, I was asked to be a contributor for Houston Moms Blog! I love to write, and this is an opportunity to write for a larger audience as well as collaborate with other amazing moms in this city. I’ll be sure to link here when I have a post published!

Big changes happening, but most of them good and a positive step forward for our family. I’m looking forward to life slowing down some, and lots of afternoons spent outside with these little people!

Dear Nolan,
Today you are 7 months old. Although you are still a relatively needy baby, with each passing day you seem to get happier and more easy-going. Your grin just lights up the room and melts my heart, and I really think we are about to hit the sweet spot of your babyhood. 

You’ve had some big changes these past few weeks, the biggest being a brand new house! You are finally out of Mommy and Daddy’s room (hooray!) and sleeping in your own room. We have a big backyard, and we’ve already spent a chunk of time hanging out on the patio and a blanket on the grass. I am so looking forward to watching you grow up here, in the bedroom next to Grayson.

Nolan, at 7 months old you:

• Weigh 15 pounds 15 ounces (so yeah, 16 pounds)
• Wear size 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers
• Drink 6 ounce bottles all day long- you aren’t on any sort of schedule with that (#thirdkidproblems)
• Have a consistent bedtime, around 5:30 pm, but naps are all over the place. Consecutive hours-wise,  you are definitely sleeping through the night. I do give you one bottle in the wee hours of the morning though.
• Think everything your sister does is hilarious. I tend to disagree with you.
• Can army crawl but still aren’t sitting independently. And the reason you aren’t sitting independently is you don’t want to actually be in the sitting position, ever. You want to stand or be on your tummy.
• Have been offered solid food exactly twice now: avacados and bananas. Your reaction? Meh.
• Love putting anything you aren’t supposed to have in your mouth. Charlotte was crying today because you bit her crayon in half.
  

Oh baby boy, gosh I love you so much. Happy 7 months!

Love,
Mommy

It’s been awhile since I did one of these, and I feel like my whole existence right now is a big ol’ SO WHAT, so here goes…

So What that…

• I’ve been on a major purging/decluttering binge the past few days and am totally throwing sentimentality out the window. If I haven’t used it/worn it in a year: gone. I’ve taken two huge loads to Goodwill, sold a ton of stuff on FB (I’ve made over $300 so far!) and kept our garbage collectors in business this week.
• I’ve sold a huge number of our wedding gifts. After almost 8 years and 4 moves of never once using those tiny coffee cups and saucers, I’m done. Give me my $5 plastic coffee cup that I use every morning, please.
• I stopped breastfeeding this week. For several reasons, it was the best thing for both Nolan and me. And although I’m a little sad, I’m 95% relieved and at peace with it. And yesterday I promptly sold my pump, pads, and tanks. It’s strange to think that after 5 1/2 years of a very emotional relationship with infant feeding, I’m almost done, and won’t have to stress over it ever again.
• I’m torn between wanting Nolan to stay my little baby and also ready for him to grow up a little. Six months is definitely the baby sweet spot for me, and each day he grows more and more adorable. He’s getting close to sitting on his own, grabs at everything, and interacts and communicates more than just with screams. I love holding him, rocking him and relishing his squishy baby-ness, but I’m also looking forward to him playing with his sister at the park and being able to eat a meal at a restaurant with two hands.
• I haven’t started solids with Nolan yet. I know he’s ready, but our high chair is in storage. That’s my official excuse, anyway. The other truth is that ugh, it’s another person to think about feeding, which is just not my favorite. We move in a week and a half, so let the baby-led weaning begin in April!
• I actually Googled “Potty Training Coach” this afternoon. But for real, is this a thing? Because I’m totally ready to outsource this particular parenting duty.
• I still have three children in diapers. So what, right?
• I ordered an over-the-top play set for our new backyard. It’s impossible for me to take my three to the park by myself, so I’m bringing the park to us.

What are you saying So What to this week?

Thank you to all of you who offered advice and encouragement a few weeks ago when I published this post. I’m happy to report that things are getting much better with Charlotte and Grayson’s relationship. It’s not perfect, but I’m no longer hearing “mean” words from her on a daily basis, and she even told me today, unprompted, that she likes Grayson. I’ve been heaping on the praise when she helps me with him or gives him a toy and letting her have it (instead of ignoring) when she says something mean or rude about him.

I’ve also started talking to Charlotte quite a bit about why Grayson is different. We’ve talked about her brain and what it does- tells her legs to walk, her mouth to talk, and her tummy to hold food. She now knows that Grayson’s brain has a Boo-Boo and it doesn’t tell his legs to walk…etc. The biggest Boo-Boo that she’s had is when she fell and split her lip/chin open and had to go to the ER, and she talks about that a lot, but she also always says that “I got better.” I’m not sure if I should or how to tell her that Grayson’s Boo-Boo isn’t going to get better.

Every day, I have to continually make a conscious effort to give Charlotte a lot of grace. Age 3 is all about BIG emotions, and they can easily exasperate me. But that little girl has had a LOT to process in the past year: her Mommy got pregnant and was sick for 9 months, her big brother had major surgery, her little brother was born and cried and cried for months, and then her schedule was thrown into chaos with our house being on the market. All this has nearly driven ME insane, and I have a lot more emotional maturity than a three year old. Poor baby.

And now we are about to subject that little girl to the biggest change yet: we are moving in a few weeks. We are so excited and grateful that this is finally happening and are hopeful it will mean a much better quality of life for all of us. However, this current house is all Charlotte remembers and she tells me (in tears) whenever I bring it up that she doesn’t want a new house. She’s been to the new house twice now and her behavior was horrible- silly, disobedient and angry. I’ve been trying to get her excited about a backyard with a playset, a play room, and the sidewalks and cul-de-sac where she can learn to ride a bike. We’ve been to the new neighborhood’s playground quite a few times now, and she does love it, but so far it’s not been enough to convince her that leaving this current house is a good thing.

This girl. She’s stubborn, opinionated, hilarious, and smart. She has her own style (wear a party dress and tennis shoes to the park…why not?) and wants what she wants. She makes me crazy some days, but I love her so and am so glad she’s mine.

These days, I have an ever-growing obsession with podcasts. About a year and a half ago, I started reading and hearing buzz about Serial, discovered the podcast app on my iPhone, and was hooked. At that point, Serial season 1 was nearly over, so I binge-listened to that one and started searching for more. Now, podcasts have replaced TV and even blog-reading as my main source of evening entertainment. Honestly, I love that I can become lost in an episode while giving my eyes a rest (crawling under the covers in a dark room with earbuds in? Yes please). I’ve also recently begun listening to podcasts while I drive, which is a nice alternative to listening to music, or the jabbering of a 3 year old.

I also realize I now talk about podcasts a lot, just like I talk about blogs. Just this morning at my Bible study, I referenced podcast episodes twice in our discussions. And surprisingly, not a lot of people have discovered the magic that are podcasts. If this is you- give them a try! There are literally thousands, and if you have an iPhone, there’s a little purple Podcast app right on your home screen I bet you’ve never noticed.

My list grows weekly, but here are my current favorite podcasts.

The Satellite Sisters One of my absolute favorites- 5 real sisters who are all super accomplished in their fields. They are absolutely hilarious and inspiring, and talk about current events, trends, and do TV recaps. And I love that they produce two new shows a week and have a Facebook group for their fans to discuss topics of the shows, or whatever else they want. I do love a good FB group.

The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey For my Christian friends, this one is a must-listen. Jamie interviews a different woman each week- a lot of them are authors- and I am always inspired by their stories and the work they are doing. These are all women who have discovered their passion and are doing something big with it. I love how real their conversations are- it really is like listening in to a happy hour chat.

Sorta Awesome I love the content and format of this show. There is one main host and then the 3 other co-hosts rotate through. At the beginning of each show they share an “awesome of the week”- a product, show, app, tip, etc. that they are loving. Then each show has a main theme that they discuss- my favorites have included shows on friendship, anxiety, and Meyers Briggs personalities (the host is obsessed with this and I’ll admit, it’s super interesting to me too). This one also has a FB group with great discussions.

The Longest Shortest Time This podcast covers parenting in all sorts of ways. I love it because a lot of the guests are very different than me and my friends, and I love hearing about others’ experiences and points of view.

The Big Boo Cast Anyone who knows me well knows how much I adore Melanie Shankle (The Big Mama Blog). Melanie and Sophie Hudson (Boo Mama) put out this podcast every few weeks and it’s absolutely hilarious. It’s literally like you are listening in on a phone conversation between them- they obviously have no outline or plan to what they are going to talk about, and they just bounce from one topic to another. Sometimes they shop online while they podcast. They talk about mascara A LOT. This podcast just makes me happy (and laugh, a lot). .

Serial Obviously, I had to include this one. But full disclosure- as captivated as I was by Season 1, I just couldn’t get on board with Season 2. But Season 1- swoon.

This American Life Each week, this show has a theme and then all the stories they share revolve around that theme. There are weeks I’ll listen and can’t get some of the stories out of my head for days and days. Such great stuff.

Mystery Show A fun, quirky podcast where the host solves a “mystery”- which are all kind of trivial, but the episodes are riveting.

A Slob Comes Clean I’ve just started listening to this one. Awesome tips on de-cluttering, simplifying and dealing with routines and STUFF. Very timely as we are getting ready to move.

Mud Stories with Jacque Watkins This is another new one to me. Jacque interviewed Jamie Ivey a few weeks ago and that’s how I found it. Each episode is the story of someone with a “Mud Story”-some kind of suffering they’ve gone through and what it’s taught them and how it’s changed their life. Heavy stuff, but I love it. Be sure you listen to Jacque’s story- episode 61.

Do you listen to podcasts? Have any must-listen ones I am missing?!

• Weigh 15 pounds, 2 ounces (ummm…I just looked and you gained 2 whole pounds this past month- wow!)
• Wear size 3-6 month and 6 month clothing and size 2 diapers
• Have no sign of cutting any teeth yet
• Are drinking mostly bottles now. You still nurse before bed, in the morning and when you wake in the night, but are drinking 6 ounce bottles of formula during the day. And I’m totally good with that- it works for us.
• Haven’t had any solids to eat yet. I plan on doing Baby Led Weaning again like I did with Charlotte, so we will wait until you can sit independently before we start- I’m thinking another few weeks.
• Go to bed around 5:15 pm, wake up once in the night and are up for the day around 6:00 am.
• As of two days ago, are sleeping on your tummy
• Got your first hair cut a few weeks ago and are oh-so-handsome
• Have discovered your feet
• Can grab things and pick up toys off the floor easily now- and you love to grab my hair- ouch!
• Are vocalizing a lot- you’ve found that your voice can do a lot more than just cry
• Met your new baby cousin Winnie- you only held the position of youngest in the family for a little more than 5 months.
• Think your big sister is hilarious and are constantly trying to get her attention

This post may be both me venting and asking for advice. There’s a lot going on in our family right now- as I’ve mentioned before, we are trying to move and create a more family/kid friendly lifestyle. The process of selling our home, which hasn’t happened, has been beyond stressful. And of course we added a new baby to our bunch less than 6 months ago. And while he’s of course a precious blessing, babies by nature don’t exactly ease an already stressful situation.