Thursday, February 23, 2012

Spring is Springing

Yay for Spring!!!

The bulbs are popping up, the sun is coming out a bit more and the trees are making little leaf buds and flower buds. This is on the Pluot tree, which is an apricot plum hybrid. I have my fingers crossed that I will get more fruit this year. Last year we got some cherries that the birds and bugs got most of and one nectarine and 4 peaches, and the big peach tree didn't make a SINGLE PEACH! I was so sad. We got some apples, but most of them got eaten by bugs. I am hoping to find a bug spray for the tree that is semi safe. I plan to go bug the people at the local nursery soon about things that might work.



I just cleared out the blackberry bushes, spent an hour digging up the root balls and raking the last of the thorny twigs out. This weekend I am going to go buy some blueberries to put in there, and in the back space of it put in some golden raspberries. In the front section I want to eventually build two or three raised beds for veggies, but this year I think I will just plant some fast growing things like tomatoes, but keep them in pots for now until I can get the beds built. There are too many potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes in the ground there that leech out all the good nutrients when they start to grow.



Liam is also having fun getting out in the yard again, even if its still quite cold. As long as it isn't raining we can go outside for a bit, at least until his cheeks turn bright red and his hands feel like little ice cubes.




And just because its cute, this is a birds nest that I found in the blackberry bushes when I was clearing them out. I put it on the grape arbor just because I like the way bird nests look.



The bulbs are all coming up in the front yard, which is something Liam and I both enjoyed immensely last year, all the hyacinths and tulips and a few daffodils. There seem to be twice as many this year, so I guess they all spread out. Ok by me, I love seeing the front yard be a riot of purple and red flowers. I have a packet of Oregon wildflower seeds that I want to put somewhere. I have some empty space in the front yard that I think they would look nice in, so I might go spread those around soon.



Sunday, February 19, 2012

Toddlers are Disgusting, and Surprisingly, I'm ok with that!

I must say that there are things in life I have done, seen, or dealt with since having a baby, that I never thought I would do. And no, this is not a poop story. Poop is a whooooole 'nother topic that I will rarely get into, because really, no one else needs to know about my kids diaper.

I still am disgusted by child created filth, lets make that clear. Like the scum layer that forms on all plastic latches for car seats, high chairs and strollers. That layer of dirt and food and drool and hand crud that forms the nasty film you can never scrub off without some serious effort and time. But not with Liam's stuff. For some reason that does not phase me one bit. I do clean his crud, but not until I really have to.

Or the messy face eating. Other kids (other than cousin Dotty, I am immune to her messy face for some reason) with frosting or pasta sauce or blackberry jam or anything at all smeared around their face is gross to me. It makes me dive for the baby wipes and Purell. But with Liam (and Dotty) its like, Dawwwwwww, baby had a nummy snack! Such a happy baby!

And the pinnacle of things I never thought I would do, eat the half finished meal off someone's plate. Without a second thought I will snack on the uneaten part of Liam's lunch or dinner. I will finish his sandwich if I am hungry, or eat the other half of the cracker that he wants to feed me. And then I realize that I wouldn't even do that with my husband. Liam can feed me with his bare hands, and I will let him.

Between the sippy cups of juice that start to ferment when they are lost under the couch, the hands that get shoved in my mouth and then I realize they were just petting the dog and being shoved in the darkest crevasses of the toy bin, the dog toy being held in the babies mouth, the baby toy in the dogs mouth, the little floaties that get left behind in my water bottle after Liam has it..... there are a lot of gross things about having a toddler. And somehow it doesn't phase me or give me the Eeewwwww's the way that it would with other people's kids.

I am immune to my kids gross. I still know its gross, but it doesn't make me panic. I will hug him and kiss him, jam face and all. I remove the "ugh, what was THAT?" flavored hands from my lips and remind him gently that we don't need to put hands in people's mouths.

Honestly, I am amazed that I am not more freaked out by this stuff. But only from my own kiddo. And Dotty. She gets a special pass, nothing about her grosses me out. Having Liam really calmed me down on some of my germ-a-phobic tendencies. I guess that is a good thing, especially with potty training coming up in the not so distant future. But raw chicken should still require a Hazmat suit and special containment procedures if you ask me. Same with the crud down in the couch or car.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Holy Sh*t....

Sometimes I still am amazed that somehow the universe made me a mom. I still have moments of looking at Liam and thinking "Wow, this is really real. I am his MOM! I'm the mama....."

Most of the time I just go about my day and he is just so much a part of my life that I can not even imagine my life another way. Even my day dreams and stories I make up in my head all have Liam in them now. I can not NOT have him be on my mind constantly. 

Right now I am sitting here making a grocery list... ground beef, cheese, fruit, frozen veggies.... and it hit me that I am planning my meals based on what I can cook that LIAM might want to eat. I can not cook something that is not toddler friendly anymore. Or that can't have a portion modified to be toddler friendly. (like soup.... he would just spill that down his front, but I can mix soup with mashed potato or just pull out the veggies and stuff for him.)

Even before he was born I just accepted him as he was and modified my life to fit around him and his needs. My life was no longer about me first, suddenly this tiny little person was all that mattered.

But sometimes it just hits me all over again.... HOLY SH*T, I'M THE MAMA!

This is my baby. This is my son. And he is doing just fine.... somehow this is really happening and I am not making a mess of it. He is smart and healthy and as kind as a tiny human with no social awareness can be. He loves animals and picks up his crayons when I ask him to. He loves Milky Way bars and fruit leather, he likes small shiny cars and colorful blocks. He has great eyes and can spot something he wants from across the room and make a beeline for it. He can bring you your shoes, or his shoes, he can put his laundry away, he knows that a kitty is not a doggy (but everything else is a doggy still) and he will soak you every single bath time by giving you a wet naked baby hug on his way out.

I am actually doing this.

Most of the time it is effortless and as simple and natural as breathing.

But I am still amazed that this is real. I will never stop being amazed that I have this most amazing little boy.

And at times it is just so overwhelming that I just sit here and am struck by the wonder of it all, over and over again.
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