Eddie Cohorst

I'm sure that most of you right now are saying "Who?".

I know that you do not know who Eddie Cohorst is, but I know that all of you went to school with a kid like Eddie. He was the kid that always got into trouble. Was just always doing something bad. Teachers rolled their eyes when they found out Eddie was going to be in their class, and so did we students. Eddie's antics started out in grade school innocently enough. I remember in middle school shop class, he laid himself on his stomach on top of a table and proceeding to roll himself back and forth on the table yelling "rollerballs!" I had no idea what that meant, but I could only assume it was some sort of reference to his testicles. As Eddie grew, his antics which started out as social became more and more anti-social. I guess since Eddie had heard so many times that he was bad and was a trouble maker, he decided to be bad and be a trouble maker.

I've been thinking alot about Eddie Cohorst lately. Or rather, I've been thinking alot about Mrs. Cohorst. What did she think about all of this? Did she try her hardest to work with Eddie or did she just not care? Did it break her heart that he was sort of an outcast and that teachers gave him a hard time or did she just decide to throw her hands up in exasperation? Did the fact that Eddie couldn't behave in school keep her up at night? Did she fight with school authorities for people to let up on him? Did she have him medicated?

I wonder because Ryan has been getting into trouble at school. And, the last thing I want is for him to be an Eddie. He's smart. It seems like it would be such a waste f he were to end up hating school because he's always in trouble. He's social. It would be a shame if he were to end up being anti-social because he's sick of people telling him he's bad. That's why I want to know about Mrs. Cohorst...I want a different result than with Eddie. Sometimes there is a very thin line between the class clown that becomes president and turns out to be CEO of this and that company and the class weirdo who ends up dealing drugs and in jail. I would obviously prefer the CEO scenario. We've been working with his teacher and with Ryan and I think things are improving. Good thing he's cute...

I think I'm going to google Eddie Cohorst to see if I can ever find out what happened to that kid...I hope, for my own sanity's sake, that I find something good!

It's the little things...(Part 2)

That make everything worth it.

We had open house tonight. The 4th graders wrote up a little newspaper thing-y. Trisha wrote her main article about Hayleigh and her thoughts and feelings about her birth. SHe said she was nervous because she didn't know what it would be like to have a baby around. She said she was excited because she was waiting her whole life for a sister. She said I was her hero because I always listened to her and helped her. The last line in her Hayleigh story was that she looked at Hayleigh and I said "She loves you" and Trisha said "I know". It was just beautiful...not only what she said, but the eloquance with which she said it. She may one day have a blog herself.

As it turned out, Trisha wasn't the only one who said I was their hero. Jaden also said I was his hero because I got married and if I didn't get married, he wouldn't be born. Rob got some props as he was Jonathan's hero.

There's not a lot of immediate gratification in being a parent. It's not like at work when I work really hard on the receivables and the next week, I see percentages go where I want them to go. Often times, I don't see the effects of my work as a mother....or, instead I should say I only seem to see the bad effects. Like, so-and-so is doing that thing again...must be because I'm not doing this-and-that. That's what makes nights like tonight so special. I guess the work that I, and all of us parents are doing does pay have its rewards. In the hallway of an elementary school hangs at least some validation and the stamina to keep giving this motherhood thing my best shot.

It's the little things...

That can really drive a person to drink. Let's just take yesterday for an example.

Annoyance #1 For the sake of complete accuracy, I will start yesterday at 12:00 am meaning midnight. Hayleigh awakens at her usual time between 3 and 4 am. I do not know what actual time it is because I am 75% asleep. I trip over my breast pump, the laundry basket, and two pairs of shoes on my way out the bedroom door. Feed Hayleigh as usual. Rock her to sleep. Put her in crib. She wakes up. Repeat. 3 times.

Annoyance #2 Jonathan has decided to play the drum this year. I think that's all I need to say about that.

Annoyance #3 Work. My job is to handle all of the billing. I was off for two months and now upon my return there are patients whose accounts have gone into arrears and are in danger of being turned over to collections. I try to be nice and call these people. Here's a conversation I had: "Hi, I'm going to turn you over to collections." "OK". "OK? I mean if you can pay anything today, I will not turn you over." "No, you can just turn me over." What?!?!? I made her wish come true later that day.

Annoyance #4 My cat. We still for some reason (well because Rob keeps feeding the darn thing!) have Kosmo the cat. He (Kosmo) left me a little present yesterday of a dead chipmunk right on the welcome mat. What made this particular gift so unusual was that it was decapitated. Thanks, Kosmo. Why, oh why must I live with this cat. I swept it( the chipmunk) into the bushes where it will begin to reek to high heaven in just a few days...goodie!

Annoyance #5 Insomnia. Yes, folks if it wasn't bad enough that I have to get up to feed Hayleigh, I can't sleep. Last night I couldn't fall asleep because my feet were itchy. Why you might ask? Because I made the mistake of going to a bonfire wearing Crocs. Everywhere there is a hole in the croc, there is some sort of bug bite on my foot. It literally matches up hole for bite. If it were on someone else's feet I would find it amusing.

It's days like this that I understand what Jesus meant when he said not to worry about tomorrow because today has enough trouble of it's own. Amen! Today, so far, the only annoying thing is that I stayed the same at my weigh-in. 6.2 pounds lost though. Take that, fat rolls!

2 months old

Late again! But, I'm having a hard time finding time to even go to the bathroom, so I feel like one week late is pretty good!!

The Breakup

Dear Fat Rolls,

I have decided that it is time for us to take a break from each other. I know it's sudden, but I have decided that I no longer like you hanging around. Sure, we've had some good times. Like the time I laid down on my bed to get my zipper all the way up. But then you got the last laugh because when I stood up you sort of flopped over the top like a mushroom. Oh, we laughed and laughed over that one. I think I will miss the way you always said "hello" to me everytime I lifted my shirt to feed Hayleigh. That was nice to know I wasn't alone in the middle of the night. With you, I have been so lucky. Most women only have one set of boobs, but because of you, fat rolls, I have two, one in the front and one in the back. I'll miss my back boobs. Despite all of these good times, I think I need to let you go. I hope that losing you will be quick and painless. Besides, I know that you will move on and find some other woman to hang out with. If you get lonely, try the OB office. I know I've picked up several of you there over the years myself. I wish you well, fat rolls. Goodbye~

Me

Back to School (already)

So, the kids are back at school. It seems like maybe they had a month off. It went quick. To the kids, this will probably be known as the most boring summer ever, and I do feel bad for them. In June, they pretty much sat around and watched me be miserable adn pregnant and then after July 10th, they pretty much sat around and watched me nurse. Not too exciting. Case in point: Jaden was asked to bring in something to share with his classmates that would be symbolic of something he did over summer vacation. He wanted to bring in a baseball bat. Why?? To tell everyone about how he got in the head with it. That, apparently was the most exciting thing about the summer. Thankfully, I remembered that that actually happened at the end of last year, and thus, does not count. I think he ended up bringing in a Webkinz because that was his favorite thing that he got from his summer birthday.

Something exciting did happen this summer though for the older kids. Since we didn't go anywhere or do anything, the kids were forced to pay with each other. And, they did. During the school year when they are each running to soccer or baseball or basketball or drama, they really don't spend much time together. There were actually times this summer when I heard them laughing and playing together. It was nice. Of course, this changed during the last few weeks of vacation when it was all I could do to kick them out for fighting so much! But, for awhile there, it was nice.

It is always hard to say goodbye to them and it always seems like the house is a little bit too quiet without them around. Surprisingly, even having a baby didn't change that. But, I think they are each going to have a great year.