Mommathon

You can raise your son a Quaker, a vegan or a pagan; he’s still going to fight with his brother over an unused pen cap as though it were the Star of India.

You can kiss him every night and sing to him of milkweed and nightingales and give him his own doll and play kitty with him instead of Navy SEALs. Go ahead. He’s still going to make a gun from a toaster waffle and fire it across the table-even if he’s never seen a gun that didn’t squirt water and wasn’t shaped like a caterpillar.

This was in Wondertime magazine this month written by Jacquelyn Mitchard.

I just had to share these gems because they are SOOOO true. 🙂

This was our Easter:
-we were awoken by Liam a little before 5a.m. because he was having a croup attack
-I gave Liam some meds to reduce the swelling in his throat while Sean looked frantically for my glasses so I could drive Liam to the hospital
-I put Liam in the car and then decided there was no way I could drive him-he was too bad
-Called 911 and sat in the driveway with Liam while Sean called 911 again because Liam was getting worse
-Went to the hospital, got the meds that he needs, and Liam was fine (It amazes me how effective the meds they give him for croup are. I wish we could have them at home and trust me, I have asked. He gets it enough that it would save everyone a whole lot of trouble. This episode was definitely in the top three worse cases of croup he has had and it is very scary. Sitting with your child in an ambulance is no fun.)
-Came home and fell asleep
-Totally missed church
-Opened Easter baskets
-Had Easter Egg Hunt
-Made Easter Cake
-Went to Sean’s aunt’s house for family meal

Colm fell asleep on the hard floor…now THAT’S tired. He was in timeout for biting Liam’s toe and he just fell asleep.

I was standing in line at McDonald’s in the airport today. I went up to order and this young professional woman grabbed my arm to tell me that I was in the wrong line. Okay, I admit, I was in the wrong line. It was an honest mistake. There were only two people in line. It’s not like I accidentally cut in front of 100 people. Why did she have to grab my arm? Why couldn’t she just let it go? I have had similar experiences where I was the one who could have done the arm grabbing, but you just let it go. It’s not a big deal. There was such a short line that she was still there waiting for her food when I went up to order a second time when it was actually my turn. I almost said something super smarmy to her, but I swallowed it. I don’t know what is going on in her life that would make her be the way she is. I let it go.

Off to…

Liam and Sean are up there somewhere. Colm wasn’t tall enough and he was NOT happy.

The dolphin and beluga show was AWESOME! It wasn’t just animals, it was like a Vegas show only in Texas. I didn’t take a lot of pics because I was too busy watching with my mouth hanging open. We also sat in the “splash zone”. We didn’t get too wet, but the people behind us got SOAKED!

Another yummy dinner…thanks again for another great recommendation, Candy’s mom. 🙂

At the Alamo…we didn’t actually go in. The line went on forever. There is no way we could have stood in that line.

We had dinner at Mi Tierra (great advice from Candy and her mom.) It was SUPER yummy. Not only is it a restaurant, but it is a bakery, too. We got some baked goodies to take back to our hotel room.

Working off dinner at a park across from the restaurant.

This is where it all started. Last June, I saw this article in Parents magazine. We were going to go last summer, but decided that Texas in August was not a good idea.

We had a great flight. The only little “bubble” was that when we got there and checked in Colm was put on standby. Yep, just Colm. I explained to them why that wasn’t going to work and a very nice Sister gave up her seat so that Colm could fly with the rest of his family. 🙂

Once we got there we dropped off our stuff in our room and went to explore the Riverwalk. How beautiful it is! The only scary part is that there is NO BARRIER in between your wandering children and the water. They could just fall right in, so you better bet that I was in super Mother Hen mode.

Great hotel…I would stay there again in a heartbeat

Our Room

The kids loved the pool…it was heated, so he even though it was a little chilly the first couple of days we were there, that didn’t keep us out of the pool.

We ate at a yummy restaurant called the Zuni Grill then we strolled around soaking up the sights and sounds of the Riverwalk (while I had a death grip on Colm to make sure he didn’t fall in).

This is an insightful look into an era that is gone. In the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s if an unmarried woman/girl became pregnant they were often sent away to maternity homes where they stayed for the last few months/weeks of their pregnancy. They would then have the baby in a hospital with no one there to help them, hold their hand, etc. and without any education as to what to expect during childbirth. They were then expected to go back to their previous lives after having given up their babies for adoption without any choice in the matter. The stories of loss and betrayal are saddening. Even though the baby didn’t come home with them, the families are never the same and there are a lot of hard feelings that never go away.