Soccer Mom!

Yes, I have officially joined the ranks as a Soccer Mom! And I couldn’t be more frustrated and overjoyed at the same time.

Overjoyed because Brendan is starting to become a part of groups of adorable kids working together to accomplish a goal. Literally. Even if they don’t really know which goal is theirs. At this age level (all 3 and 4 year olds) there isn’t a goalie, and absolutely every goal is celebrated – regardless of which team scored it. And they don’t keep score. These little troopers are just out there having a great time together. It’s awesome.


Frustrated though? Our son, the kid who has more balls than a carnival game alley, cried the first game. And the second. Because he didn’t want to go play. Are you kidding me with this?!?! He CLUNG to my legs in tears and flat-out refused to play, almost the entire first game. We even called Grammie in Denver to see if she could get him to go and play. Nope. The coach, bless her heart, kept trying to get him interested, and finally convinced him to just stand by her – with about 10 minutes left of the whole game. After that, he was much more amenable to heading out and got couple of minutes of game time in.


The second game, we decided to hype it up A LOT. We showed him his own smile in all of the pictures we took. Do you smile when you have fun? Yes! Do you smile when you aren’t having fun? No! So, you had fun playing soccer? Yes! And you are going to have SO much fun playing again? No! Ugh. He did go with the coach straight off for the second game, though, and even made the starting kick. He played a great deal of the game – except when he took a rest and tried to take a ton of pictures with our camera.


Hopefully, the third and subsequent games will go much easier now. The most frustrating part is that we, his crazy parents, KNEW he would have the best time once he actually started to play. Which he did. Too bad, we couldn’t convince him we were right. Man, I thought that attitude didn’t start until they were teenagers. Sheesh.

Happy Birthday, Little One

Dearest Sela,

You just turned 1. Already. You haven’t been home with us for even 3 months yet, but what an experience it has been so far.

When we picked you up, you weren’t even sitting up by yourself. Now you are crawling, albeit on your belly, all over the place. You have started to get up on your knees and elbows and hands with a little assistance. If we give you some support you are able to stand for a little while. It is incredible to watch you learn these new skills.

I don’t know that you have a favorite toy yet. Mostly, you like to get at whatever Brendan has and most likely doesn’t want you to have. The funniest part of this is that he wants to play with all of your toys. Go figure.

So far, you are game to try most foods. When we first gave you Cheerios – the toddler staple – you gagged on it with messy results. So, we backtracked and gave you rice puffs for a while. Once you got the hang of those, we tried Cheerios again with great success. Now, those are just too boring for you. And why not? It certainly isn’t what the rest of the family is eating for pete’s sake! We haven’t introduced a few foods that are more prone to causing allergies, but we are hopefully that will go smoothly. I mean, who can live without peanut butter and strawberries? (I know there are those out there who do, but my life would just not be as joyful without those two things!)

Your personality is oh, so much different than Brendan’s. You are fussy, particular, funny and happy. When some slight is thrust upon you (usually Mommy or Daddy taking away something you shouldn’t have or Brendan taking away something he wants) you can howl with the best of them. If you take a tumble or get bumped or scared in any way you can let loose then, too. Thankfully for us, you are also easily consolable, for the most part. Usually we can pick you up or distract you and the tears will stop. On the days you aren’t cutting teeth and your brother isn’t picking on you too much, you are just way too much fun. Your smile can brighten a sunlit day. And your laugh is different than any other little kids I have heard, but it is no less infectious. I think if they could bottle baby/toddler laughter it would solve a lot of the world’s anger. Then you have this – look. You lower your chin, furrow your brow and give a stern look that could stop the antics of the naughtiest of kids. Then you usually put your chin up and laugh because you did something really funny. Oh, and being naked? THAT is the absolute best, in your opinion.

We happen to think you are pretty dang smart, too. You know how to smile and flirt to get people to give you what you want. You have already started to make a couple of signs (“more”, “milk” and “please”), though not all the time. You are an expert at maneuvering yourself to get EXACTLY what you shouldn’t have.

While we have changed a lot in your little life thus far, we are hoping the coming year will settle down. We have a nice place to live, Daddy has a job that keeps him from traveling too terribly much, and hopefully your big brother will continue getting used to the idea of actually being a big brother. All in all, we are blessed to have you in our lives, and we couldn’t be happier.

Much love,

Mommy & Daddy

Lessons on Moving

With the majority of boxes finally unpacked, I thought I would sit down to write about our adventures in moving. There is little that fills me with as much trepidation as moving, though I have done it more times in my life than I have fingers on both hands. Possibly more times than I have fingers AND toes. I lost count a while back. So, what have I learned from this lifetime of mobility? Apparently, not enough as I keep learning lessons each time. And the Lord knows I have more moves in me yet. Oh, joy and rapture!

Packing your own house into boxes is a GREAT time throw away lots of junk you have collected.
Having someone else pack is MUCH faster!
When you finally get to the unpacking, make sure to check all pieces of packing paper and in many nooks and crannies for thing that might have been smuggled into places they shouldn’t oughta be. (Brian and I “lost” some kitchen items during one move. The new place had a built-in microwave above the stove, so we never bothered to unpack our old one. That Christmas, 7 months later, we decided to give the “old” microwave to someone who needed an upgrade. When we opened the microwave to make sure it was cleaned and fit for giving, voila! Kitchen items rediscovered.)
The absolute best bit of information we have learned moving came during this most recent move: HIRE PEOPLE. There have been times that we could not have afforded to hire an entire moving company were it not paid for by someone else (military or other employer). Okay, we probably never could afford to hire an entire moving company. However, what we did learn is that you can hire these really great people who call themselves Lumpers. These truly wonderful people can save a person. These are the hard-working folks that move all the packed boxes and furniture onto the moving truck and then off of the moving truck into your new abode. And they will move it to and from a truck you have rented and propose to drive – it doesn’t have to be a moving company truck! This is INCREDIBLE! Lumpers do not make a ton of money, but it is worth every penny. (The charge about $15 and hour for a minimum of 4 hours. Our driver paid our Lumpers $110 each for about 6 or 7 hours of work.) Gone are the days%