Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas time. I love the spirit of giving that surrounds it. This Christmas I am so grateful that firstly, I have a loving family to be surrounded by. I'm grateful to have a warm home and jobs that will provide our family with a Christmas full of happy memories. And I am most grateful for the birth of our Savior. I love being able to have a special time of year to celebrate such a magnificent event. It truly is the real meaning of Christmas to me. Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope your worries may be lessened and your hearts may be full.

Here comes trouble.

Literally. It has passed the point of being funny or cute. This kid is a menace! I've only just blogged about our Christmas decorations and couch incidents, no thanks to Noah. Well today I have just about lost it with him. It started out at 8:30 this morning with the police banging on our door. Apparently Noah was playing with the phone and had called 911. I was so embarrassed and this was only the beginning of his havoc wreaking day. Right after lunch I caught him playing with the toilet. I was surprised because I had been pretty stern with him two days ago when he had clogged the toilet with toilet paper. Now he was back at it. I stopped him before he clogged it again and sent him off to play in his room. I went back out to clean up lunch and I had the dishwasher going when I realized some of the noise I heard was coming from another "water device". I told Aaron to go see what was going on with the boys. Well Aaron found Noah throwing bath toys in the toilet and flushing away. Our toilet is so clogged that Aaron is going to have to spend tomorrow taking the toilet apart. Luckily he knows his way around plumbing otherwise we'd have to call in professionals. Noah's destruction does not end here though. He is put down for a nap and it was the most peaceful 2 and half hours this whole Saturday had to offer. After he woke up we were all in Mia's room and I was reading to Mia on her bed. Being distracted with the book, we didn't notice as Noah covered himself head to toe with marker. He also realized his hand made a nice stamp if he colored on his hand and wiped it on her white dresser. It all came off, but it was just too much for this mom to handle and there's still more to come. After dinner I let them have cereal for dessert. I begin doing the dinner dishes, I come out into the family room and Noah has dumped his cereal out all over the carpet and also found a bag of pretzels to spread out along with his cereal. I erupted. I had to just go plunk him in his crib to keep from strangling him. After it was cleaned up I decided to wind up our night a little early and began getting everyone ready for bed. I noticed Kai's asthma acting up so I went to get his nebulizer from my room and when I came back, Mia and Kai were yelling how Noah had screwed up the TV. Sure enough he had. We have one of those complicated set ups where the TV is connected to the cable box and the DVD player so if one thing is out of whack they all are. Then it takes like 20 minutes to figure out if it's just one thing you need to fix or a combination of issues. I am happy to say this was the last Noah causing stressor for the day. They are all in bed and I feel like I'm going to dissolve into thin air. I know it is easy to say "DON'T YOU WATCH HIM?!" All these things happen in a minute or less. Go wash two pots or read a page of Harry Potter and that's all the time a nearly two year needs to cover himself in marker or make cereal and pretzel soup. I've never had a kid like this. Even if he's disciplined he doesn't care, he'll do whatever it was 5 minutes later. You can add one more ornament and one more decoration to his score of Christmas items destroyed. I don't understand him or his needs and that's what's so frustrating. I get Mia and I get Kai most of the time, but Noah has been much more difficult for me to figure out. Luckily his dad likes him so we won't be putting him up for adoption. Just kidding (sort of).

*So I woke up this Sunday morning and realized what a whiner I sound like. Every mom experiences bad days like this, so don't mind my little pity party.

Destrucos

So far...
Christmas ornaments broken: 4
Score: Noah 2
Kai 2

Christmas decorations broken: 3
Score: Noah 2
Mia 1

Look out mom, we'll be there in less than 2 weeks. BE PREPARED!

Glass is half full

This weekend I took Mia to a birthday party at a bowling alley. I dropped her off and went to run some errands then came back to pick her up. I was a little early when I pulled into the parking lot so I thought I'd clean out my car in the mean time and leave Mia a few more minutes at the party. I was picking up all the straw wrappers and receipts when I noticed a man going through the dumpster on the side of the bowling alley. At first I thought he must have lost something and was trying to find it in the garbage. He was dressed fine, and definitely didn't look homeless or even needy. I went back to straightening up my car and looked up again and noticed he was getting food out of the garbage. He was opening every pizza box and had put together about 3/4 of an entire pizza with what he was getting out of the dump. I felt awful. I thought about how just the night before I had stared into a pretty full cupboard and thinking I had nothing to make for dinner. Did this man have little children at home or elderly parents and this was the only way he could provide food? All the stress in my life seemed so minuscule at that moment. I know there are people starving all over the world including here in America, but just seeing it right before my eyes like that really made me realize how much I have and how much I need share. It reminded me of the Christmas song by John Lennon "So this is Christmas, and what have you done?" Mia and I went to the grocery store after the party and I had her pick out some non perishables to put in the collection bins at the front of the store. It wasn't a lot, but I just had to help in some way at that time. I urge anyone who can remember to grab a box of Mac n Cheese or a can of Chicken Noodle Soup while they're grocery shopping and leave it where they're collecting food for the hungry. I know this won't wipe out hunger, but every little bit helps...right?

Misunderstood

This has been weighing on me like a ton of bricks and I feel like a post to let it out, so to speak, may take some of the weight off.
I was very happy, both of my main political hopes were fulfilled. Obama is kicking W. to the curb and Prop. 8 passed. However Prop. 8 passing has brought this huge wave of backlash and attacks against Christians, especially Mormons that has really disturbed Aaron and I. We talk about it at least once a week and of course living in a city 20 miles south of SF, we are not in friendly territory when it comes to our views. The words hate, bigot, and intolerance keep being directed at those who supported this measure and I feel there is a huge misunderstanding at least about the way we feel on the issue. I am fully aware that there are terribly judgemental people that hide behind religion to say awful things about people/practices they don't approve of.
We love and respect every person we know who are gay. We don't think gays burn in hell. All the signs saying "End the hate" frustrate me, just because I voted yes on 8 doesn't mean I hate gay people. If our children are gay they will be just as loved and welcomed in our home. It also doesn't mean that just because I have a gay child I have to change my beliefs on what the definition of marriage is. If one of my kids turns atheist, it doesn't mean that I have to stop believing in God to make them happy. They will have their beliefs and I will love them no matter what. We both believe gay couples should be able to share benefits with their partner or make medical decisions for one another, and go into a hospital room like married couples can. These rights were NOT taken away from gay couples when Prop. 8 passed.
For Aaron, his thinking about gay marriage is about biology. Man-woman they "fit" together, it's just the way anatomy works. So why should he believe it's totally normal when science shows him the way the puzzle fits. It's like telling him 2+2 doesn't equal 4 anymore. For me it's the definition. I don't believe the definition of marriage needs to be changed. Whether you believe in Adam and Eve or apes, marriage has always been defined as man and woman. There are some traditions that should be left in tact. There is always room for new traditions, but they go by new definitions. Where we both worry is the education side. A lot of arguments regarding this issue in schools, revolve around kids being born gay, so implementing this type of education won't make kids "turn" gay because it's not a choice. I believe this, just like I believe some kids are born brilliant. Parents buy videos, and workbooks in hopes of boosting their kids chances to be extra smart or super strong. In the end though, I think if a kid is going to be an awesome soccer player, or mathematician it's inside them no matter how much or little encouragement they receive. So, yes I think you can be born gay. However, trying to make kids understand concepts of any kind before they are ready is confusing for them. It is understandable if in sex ed. (which isn't until 5th grade) teachers explained there are different types of relationships and sexual orientations, but the way history is being laid out in Massachusetts, and California (pre-prop. 8) they want to start talking about it as early as kindergarten. Romantic relationships are confusing no matter what sexual orientation you are. Why can't they just be little kids? Why do we have to start initiating them into topics that still perplex us as adults? Mia has no clue what a homosexual or a heterosexual couple is, she's just barely understanding that she's in the mammal species! What I don't understand is, traditional marriage isn't specifically discussed until sex ed., but then when gay marriage is legal we need to start talking about marriages and especially gay marriage as soon as they enter the public school system???? I want my children to grow up to be accepting and kind to everyone. It's one reason I love being in the bay area. It's such a diverse community with people from all walks of life and it's wonderful!
So, am I intolerant, a bigot and full of hate? I like to think not. There is no easy compromise when it comes to this issue. One side is always going to be disappointed. I must say it did feel good when Prop 8 came out on top despite all the Hollywood and political big wig pressure to vote no. We know the way the majority of Californians, and Americans for that matter, feel regardless of what the courts rule. It's been disheartening to see the nastiness and scapegoatism (that is a real word, check it out) that has gone on since then. I'm sorry people feel like Christianity is being "shoved down their throats". We live with a lot of anti-christian views that I may not agree with, but I don't deface property or call names.
These are obviously all just my thoughts, and I don't intend to offend anyone. Like I said I needed to just get this out. Every time I read an article online about prop 8, I do what I shouldn't and scroll down to read the random comments. They're mostly all mean, and spiteful toward yes on 8. I always want to leave a comment on how I feel, but I know it will fall on deaf ears and I'll end up a villain anyway. I figured this was a safe place to finally explain my feelings since it is our personal blog. I understand the disappointment, I would have felt disappointed if it was defeated. I value adverse opinions, but I'm using this more as therapy and not looking to argue. If you have anything negative to say, kindly say it on your own blog and not here.

Couch sweet couch

First I want to recap our wonderful Thanksgiving. We celebrated with Aaron's family and it was relaxed and cozy. We did absolutely NO black Friday shopping. Instead, the kids spent the night at nana Debbie and papa David's and Aaron and I slept in past 10 am. It was heaven. We made the most of it and had lunch just the two of us at a new burger joint in town, Jack's Prime, best burger I've ever had...ever. Then on Saturday, my sis Whitney and her husband Adam came up for a visit with his family. They were at Adam's family's house for Thanksgiving in Santa Cruz. We had a great day together, but it went by too fast. Then we spent Sunday and Monday getting our Christmas decorations up.
Now on to the topic of this post. When we moved into this house we had to buy a new sectional for the family room because our old one (that was only 2 years old) was the wrong configuration for this new house. The funny thing is we loved our old sectional so much we bought the same one, just in a different fabric. I actually like the fabric of this new one better than the old, but the color is lighter and as you can imagine lighter is NOT better when you have kids. Anyway, we waited so long for this couch to arrive it started getting ridiculous. We were using a twin futon laid out to sit on. The couch finally gets here and it's gorgeous. It fits in the room just right, I love the fabric, and it's so comfortable. Our poor couch is only two weeks old when it is horribly graffitied by Noah with a blue ball point pen. It was a nightmare. My parents were here when it happened and witnessed my dismay. We had the old couch for two years and it hadn't suffered abuse like that, then this new one is only two weeks old and there are multiple long blue streaks on 4 of the six cushions AND the throw pillows. This little guy had gone to town scribbling on our beautiful new couch. We got the marks pretty lightened up so now you can only see them if you look for them. The graffiti and abuse continues though on this poor couch. Noah hasn't let up, luckily it's been with washable markers and not ball point pens or sharpies. It's funny because I think a lot of people would freak out if they found crayola marker streaks on their new couch and I just breath a sigh of relief that it's something easy to get out. I also had the pleasure of washing out a ground in 'fruit by the foot' and yes we have a no eating on the new couch rule, but it got there regardless. Oh, then yesterday it was peed on by Kai-nobody's going to want to sit on this couch by the time I'm done with this post. He took an impromptu nap in the afternoon(on account of being up half the night with asthma) and he's potty trained when he's awake, but not asleep. Something his mom didn't think about until he was an hour into his nap. After a thorough cleaning, I pretty much drown the cushion, the thing is still drying. I can't wait to see what else is in store for our poor couch. I've thought about covering it with a sheet, but the kids will just rip the sheets off and it'll look sloppy and messy all the time. I'm resigned to this couch becoming our junker couch at warp speed. It's still comfy and I'll flip the cushions over to hide all the "secrets" when company comes over. I'm sure you have a horrible picture in your head about what this couch looks like, but really it still looks (and smells) great. It's holding up well, the secret is getting to the stains when they're fresh, it's one thing I can't tell myself "oh, I'll clean that tomorrow".