This is just the best outfit EVER! Hannelore loves wearing her swimsuit all day everyday, then Gaga sent her a Tiara making kit (so she made the one she is wearing), I had my "fancy" shoes out from an interview the previous evening and baby was scared from a movie, so he needed to be in the Mei Thai. She wore this outfit, shoes included for about 15 minutes. . . then the shoes came off and the baby got to be too heavy. Hannelore is quite a hoot! Now, if I could just get her to sleep through the night, I could stay conscious to enjoy her and Decker.

School Starting

OK, so Decker starts school one week from tomorrow and I can't get motivated to get us on schedule. I am so sleep deprived that I am going to skip my workout tonight and go to bed early, and all I could accomplish today was a little laundry and feeding the kids. Decker is also getting woken up by Hannelore and was cranky all afternoon. At least he gets home early enough from school to spend the cranky part of the day with me :D

I am a little worried about school with all of this. . . how am I going to get both kids ready, Jay's food together, and everyone breakfast all before 7:15am? I know I can start packing a lot of food stuff the night before, etc. but I still don't see us all being ready for the day that quickly, Hannelore usually nurses until 6:30 or 7am.

Well, on a positive note, Decker has been reading me lots of books lately and his confidence is increasing. I also spoke to his teacher and she seems very confident that she will be able to challenge Decker, and that the Montessori system will be just the thing for him. This is what we have heard from other specialists, so I am happy to hear that she is confident and comfortable with the situation. I mentioned his previous temper issues and how they are currently resolved, but we are a little concerned about the possibility of a relapse if he gets too bored ( I didn't say it quite that directly on the phone, more of a -- he used to have this issue, but now I just don't want him to get bored). Anyway, lots of exciting and new things going on. . . I wonder if that is why my period hasn't started yet. I mean, I have been getting 5-6 hours of sleep the last few days (though my period was supposed to start 6 days ago), well, the home pregnancy test was negative, so it must be stress of something. I will get a good nights sleep tonight and I am sure things will start up again tomorrow.

Sun is Awesome!

Life has been pretty good lately, I have been able to sneak in workouts during the day while the kids are playing at the playground. I actually had one person comment on my working out, saying,"If nothing else happens today, you know that you have done something today". I thought that was cool. I was worried that everyone was looking at me like I was a freak (not that such a thing is unusual in my life), but perhaps some of them thought it was a great thing that I was working out there. In the picture here, Hannelore is doing some yoga, she also loves to "wuhrk out".

The kids have been awesome too. I have been wrestling more with Decker and finding games to play with both of them, so they are having an easier time just hanging out at times. It is amazing how great it is to be able to go outside at any moment! I feel that much of the good times and ability to create new games with ease has everything to do with going outside. Whenever the kids are driving me nuts, we go outside. . . I am getting tan quickly this summer, and feeling better because I have somewhere to go when that happens.

The kids are also going to sleep a little easier now, which helps A LOT. . . I have to bike Hannelore around for 30 minutes (which I enjoy) and 20 min of nursing, which is so much better than an hour!

Birthday and Mother's Day

I have just turned 30 years old, registered my eldest for kindergarten, and had a very fruitful mother's day. Things have been going pretty well for us lately. I am in bootcamp from 6am to 640am thanks to my husband (as my 30th birthday present), so I get to start the day off with a workout OUTSIDE with NO kids. . . and I have been able to get Decker to the car without a fight, just a little refusal. Jay and I are connecting more often and not just talking about the kids when we see each other.

But I still worry about what will happen for Decker in school. Is the teacher going to be able to keep him interested? Is he going to make friends? Is he going to get kicked out of school for fighting? What will life be like when Decker is gone 6 hours a day 5 days a week? I just hope he has a good time and WANTS to go to school everyday.

Hannelore is growing a lot. I thought she was going to potty learn a few months ago, but she has set that aside and is concentrating on imitating who she will be as an adult (it is more "girly" than I am, so I think she is making a lot of it up as she goes).

These are calm times, and I am trying to settle into them with grace. . . any change is hard, even the good kind.

Crazziness Continues

Ok, so we went for a playdate today, discussed how we were going to play, and everything was going well. . . Until!. . . duh duh duh. . . I have no idea what happened. It just turned! Decker went from playing to hitting in no time flat, and not even listening to my friend when she asked him not to do things! Usually he will at least fear other adults. . . no, not even a blink of concern for them or their house.

I don't know what to do!

Man, this blog has so changed from its original intent! I don't think I have posted at all about their growth or even tried to sell anything. . . but I am getting out all the craziness I suppose. . .

Anyway, I have noticed a switch that turns and then after he gets a minute to calm down and there is nothing else to fight against, he is fine. But how do you get him to that point? He scratched my hands, my face, bit me, and kicked me in the head. All for no apparent reason. I was holding him to try and talk to him about what was happening and figure out why he was hitting our friends, and he couldn't calm down enough to talk, he just kept attacking! I love him and I want him to be able to have friends and function and prosper. At this point, I don't know if that is going to happen (I guess no one does with their preschooler).

Here's hoping for a way out of this insanity and into something more managable!

What a Month!

Ok, so it has been more than a month since my last post. We are doing so much around here that I am rarely on the internet these days. Hannelore doesn't like me on the computer during the day (can't blame her, I do tend to zone out on it) and I am training in the evenings when she is asleep. Well, lately Jay and I have worked out a schedule where I can get my workouts in before bedtime and now I get to play a little more.

Decker is totally addicted to listening to his Magic Tree House CD's. I am serious, he spends most days in his room listening to these stories over and over again, and only peeks his head out to make sure we are around and maybe get some nurishment. Hannelore is talking up a storm and putting small sentences together (2-3 words, one a verb. . . hey, its a sentence :D ). And both kids are fighting for mommy time, but only when the other one is interested. It is so funny how they will be playing and talking and making messes, then one decides to get in my lap and the other HAS to be there, and sharing mommy's lap is SO not an option.

Let's see what else, we still struggle A LOT with Decker and his demanding and hitting and not wanting to go anywhere (this has become worse because of the cd's, he NEVER wants to stop listening to them, not for the library, or friends, or even a waterpark). I am working on getting some help with this from outside the home and we hope this will work before we all go insane from being stuck in the house all the time. Winters are especially hard for this family. I fear that we will have to move because of the craziness that happens 6-7 months out of the year without the regular outside time. But for now we are all taking lots of vitamins (D and Omega-3) and trying to get out and play (dragging Decker kicking and screaming, until he is in the car, then he is fine).

We had talked about a February vacation, then we realized we couldn't afford one. Next year it will be our only trip, no Texas visits until 2011. . . sorry guys, you will have to come visit us, because we need to get out and have a real family vacation February 2010! Until then we will have to work on getting out of the house and making real plans for each day and make sure Jay is out doing something at all times (he gets the most stur crazy of us all) and hope that it will be warm enough to play in the back yard again soon. Today it was all of 10 degrees farenheit while I ran a race and it got up to 20. It really needs to be about 30 to get out and play . . . we are still whimpy that way.

Confusion

OK, it has been too long since I last posted. I have been updating our Tumblon site, but that isn't quite the same. It has been a crazy week and a half since we got back from our 12 day journey to the south. We went to Dallas, then Austin, then back to Dallas for Christmas and chaos. It was nice to be in the warm weather, get to see so many friends and family members, and get to work out almost everyday. But I think 12 days is a long time to be so far from home.

We got to see friends from Jay's first "real" job in Austin (DMi), and it was neat to see that the ones with kids, have the same philosophy in parenting as we do and have that instant connection or reconnection. Then a friend Jay has known since college (and I have known since I met Jay) also have very similar parenting style. . . it was great! I felt like I was justified and "cool" for being an API mom. And we actually got compliments on how we parented. . . and how smart our kids are. It isn't necessary, but it is nice to have that response.