Tuesday, September 15, 2020

A Catch-All Post for Catching Up

 I was recently reminded of the existence of this blog and how it's in dire need of an update, so I came to pay it a visit. Did I really begin this blog in 2013? Has it really been seven years? How did I have this much free time! How did I so easily share my thoughts on a random blog with little to no visitors? Also, WHY? 

Life sure has changed lately. Although most of my days drag on, time in general moves quickly; every parent knows this... "the days are slow but the years are fast". I will make an attempt to breathe some life back into A Lot About Living, here we go: 

In no particular order, here are random blurbs about... the past two-ish years?

 And this is me right now:


  • I'm a mom times two! I scroll thru pictures on my phone more often than is normal, and whenever I see photos of Emmett without Greyson they just look so unnatural! 
  • Shortly after Greyson's birth we lost our beloved Venom. I still carry deep guilt about his death and will carry it with me until the day I die. We talk about him often and have his picture on our fridge. RIP sweet boy.
  • We added a white German Shepherd girl to our pack after Venom's passing: Alaska. For a while there I went a little insane caring for a newborn, a kitten, a puppy, and a preschooler who refused to potty train. Life involved cleaning A LOT of poop in those days. 
  • We bought a house while I was prego: the news of our house purchase and a new baby all came on the same day to our loved ones. It was not planned too far in advance, and we scrambled together down-payment money in about 4 months. Upon move in, our savings were depleted to just a few hundred dollars. It was a panicky time, but worth it. 
  • Philip had a steady, well-paying, local job for 2.5 years: the longest in his oil field career. All good things come to an end, however, and he has been unemployed for almost 3 weeks now. (Here is us waiting until we'd dropped off the kids at Grandma's before busting out the cookies we didn't feel like sharing 😂)
  • Cars. Trucks. SUVs. All Wyeth-related vehicles seem to have terrible luck, and I don't think it's preventable. 
    • 3 weeks before Grey's birth my RAV4 (Shae) was stolen out of our driveway, along with some personal belongings from our foyer. I was limping around to doctor appointments on a borrowed vehicle for about three months before gritting my teeth and purchasing a VW sedan.  
    • Peter the Passat was a great vehicle! I chose cheap and used instead of new and leased, and I was pleasantly surprised. VW cars (especially turbo models) will likely be in my wish-list. During one unfortunate out of town mini-vacation (and right after purchasing new tires! ugh!) a complete moron of a driver backed up HARD into our parked car at a hotel parking lot and totaled it. 
    • About 4 months prior to the Peter disaster, Philip's truck (Claire) had some major mechanical breakdowns. We tried trading it in for a new one but every dealership offered insultingly low amounts, so instead we shared Peter until we had enough saved up for repairs, about $4,000! On this side of the struggle, I'm glad we sacrificed and made it work instead of incurring more debt. The Dave Ramsey way, I guess. 
    • We financed Holly the Highlander as a replacement for Peter the Passat. Now I feel extra mom-ish everywhere I go; just one step down from a minivan. It's super comfortable and spacey: plenty of room for a GSD, two kids, two adults, and any other nonsense we are transporting. Please, please, please, universe: Send us good car vibes so that nothing unnatural happens to Holly for the next 60 months or so. 
    • Emmett started Head Start! I was a nervous, trembling, stuttering wreck on the first day. The school was across town and after getting in my car I had the irrational idea that I'd just wait on the sidewalk for him (newborn baby in tow) until the school day finished. Then Grey started crying (he hates car seats) so I had to grit my teeth and wipe tears from my eyes as I drove home. 
      • I had to pull him kicking and screaming (take all of that literally) into the classroom every day for three weeks, (stubborn child) until he got used to it. 
      • Grandma taught right across the hall from him and eased my mind a ton, such a blessing! It helped him transition and get used to the new routine as well. 
      • Head Start took him from two-word mumbles to five-word sentences in a shocking amount of time! Sadly COVID got in the way after Spring Break, so we've been at home ever since. (remote learning is trash. the teachers are absolute wonderful angels from heaven, but 4 year olds don't learn from screens) 

    • We have so far survived 2020 unscathed. Everyone is happy, healthy, and no longer on the verge of locked-up insanity. In the early days of the pandemic we decided that even if we had to social distance, we'd allow visitations to and from 1 other household (my in-laws) because it's just necessary. 
    • Philip still likes hunting: he spends a lot of money on guns. 
    • I still like couponing: I spend a little money on a hoard of laundry detergent products. (If you don't understand that obsession, that's okay because neither do I)
      • To be fair, I also spend a considerable amount of money on books, kindle books, Audible, and Funko Pops. It evens out.
    • We now have two nephews! Gohan is just 1 month and 1 day younger than Greyson, I hope that they grow to be close friends all their lives. Gohan's younger brother Anakin just turned 1 month, he is itty bitty scary small, but that's just because my babies were huge at birth. The jokes about needing a girl in the family are getting old: I love being a boy mom and I'm ok if it stays that way. 


    And lastly: life with boys. 

    Life with boys is chaotic. It's one loud, messy, sticky, fast moving tornado. My home is in constant state of disarray: books, toys, Hot Wheels, Dinotrux, sippy cups, crackers, crumbs, diapers, dog hair, lone socks, LEGO, markers, magnets, boxes, blankets, shoes... everywhere, all the time, in every nook and cranny. These kids are like little machines with megaphones and charged up batteries. They are in constant motion, sometimes even in sleep. Time doesn't stand still for kids; quite the opposite. They race against it, always learning, always exploring, always moving forward. 
    It's surprising, really. Even on days where I'm and my most un-mom-est, when the TV is on for hours and I feed cereal and lunchables... they learn. They find something new that can be built with empty boxes, or learn how to push stools to climb on something higher and more dangerous. They find new places to hide, new words to surprise me with, new ways to make us happy. 
    I love my boys. Emmett with his big-brother, always-helpful attitude that just wants to have fun... Greyson the dauntless baby-turned-toddler giving it all to keep up. I love to see them interact, I love how caring comes naturally to Emmett, I love how fearless Greyson is growing up to be. I love that I can still find matching clothes for them. I love how  they climb on mom and dad whenever we sit still. I love hearing the pitter-patter of running feet on the floor above. 

    This morning I woke up and gave myself an hour to read my current book before getting out of bed (I've just started the Divergent series). I didn't know I'd end up blogging today, but I found a quote in the book and I highlighted it. 

    "If my entire life is like this, loud laughter and bold action and the kind of exhaustion you feel after a hard but satisfying day, I will be content." 

    I've decided it's the perfect fit for my life. It's not always exhausting, it's not always loud, it isn't always even fun... but it's a lot of living and a little love in the little world that is our home, and I will forever be content with it. 

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