Jack and Jill

Come on, I know you've been waiting for a post with this title...almost 9 months actually. Okay so have a laugh.

Go ahead.

Get it out.

I'll wait.

I know, Jack and Jill went up a hill....Funny, funny.

Done now?

I know, why in the world would she name her kid that and set herself for a good laugh...who knows? I like punishment?

I decided to get it over with and just go for it. Are we good now?

Okay so on to the stuff about Jack and Jill {don't start again...}.

Yesterday morning near the end of breakfast the kids and I were sitting at the table. Kale and Kate were finishing up their cereal. I was enjoying my coffee with whipped cream. Jack was starting to wiggle so I pulled him out of his highchair. Mark was loading the dishwasher {good man!}.

I had just set Jack on my lap and turned and looked at Mark to tell him something about a dish he was putting in the dishwasher when I feel a horribly warm, incredibly warm, uncomfortably hot feeling in my lap. Grabby Grabberson (aka Jack, Poopy Pooperson, Squirmy Wormy {Kate's favorite}, Drooly Droolerson, Stinky Stinkerson) had reached over, grabbed my just poured cup of hot! coffee and dumped it in my lap!!!

There was some squealing, some "Come help me! Get this kid before I dump him on the floor", some hopping up and down and some running for the bedroom tearing off my wet clothes {not as sexy as it sounds believe me}. It wasn't the McDonald's incident but it was hot! My coffee maker does not produce lukewarm coffee :) Oh, mama! It took several minutes for my heart to stop racing and realize that, yes, I would survive, and, no, Jack did not mean to scald my lap. He was fine by the way. A little coffee on his socks and pants but there were no tears. Not even from my squeals. Thank goodness.

Note to self ~~ Never let Jack do anything without my eyeballs on him! Totally as exhausting as it sounds....

On another note I have a confession. My bedroom is a .... nightmare! I can't even believe how bad it is right now. It stresses me out to even think about it. Neither Mark or I are in there other than to sleep. It's been a challenge since it's Jack's other bedroom. He takes all of his daytime naps in there so Kale can have access to his toys in his room without waking LB (little Bubba). Then, when LB is awake, he demands our undivided attention. We need to make sure he's not eating something, crawling somewhere, or grabbing someone that would be dangerous. I've tried letting him roam the floors of our bedroom while I'm picking up but because it's so messy, it's a dangerous place.

I suppose I could have Mark watch him while I clean or vice versa but there is so much stuff in there now it's overwhelming. Yuck! I need to go back to my goals and do 15 minutes at a time. Slow and steady and eventually it will get done. I know, I know. I have to say, though, that it is very freeing to let this corner of my world know that my bedroom looks like a tornado went through it. Ahh...freedom....

Goals for 2009

I am not one to make New Year's resolutions. I don't think I've ever actually done it in my life. But I have thought about making goals for this year. Much better sounding then resolutions don't you think? :) I hate the pressure of not failing! But I would like to be able to measure my progress. So I'm gonna write them down for the first time ever and look back in a year and see how I did. Believe me - this is a first!

1- Wanna stay out of credit card debt! Mark and I tried this last year and we did really well until our fridge broke and we had to replace it (not so sad about getting a new fridge but sad we couldn't pay out of our account for it). We started off the year with no C.C. debt and resolved not to use them at all unless it was an emergency (medical bill, car repair that couldn't wait etc...). Like I said, we did great! Then the fridge and then the roof and then Christmas...So we'll use a portion of our tax return again this year to pay off last year and start over. Maybe next year at this time we'll be able to use our tax return for a fabulous trip or something! It's definitely progress though.

2-Wanna be a better hostess. This does not come naturally to me at all. I love hanging out with friends. Love it love it. But I get nervous having people over. Nervous about making enough food, hoping it tastes good and not like cardboard, hoping my kids will share their toys, catching up on cleaning so I can pretend my house looks good all the time... It's stressful! But I also realize I'm missing out on great friend time because of my own issues. So I want to make it a goal to have people over at least twice a month. I'd love to say every week but I need to be realistic here. Some weeks just work better than others.

3-Wanna do a little each day. I discovered Flylady several years ago and have made numerous attempts to live with those principles. I am so the lady she talks about. Lives in CHAOS, gets behind, is a perfectionist etc... So my goal this year is to just do a little each day and see where I go. Not beat myself up and quit when I fail but just keep going.

4-Wanna read more. I love reading but I fill my time up with so many other things. Some good and some wasteful. I want to stop and read and enjoy learning.

5-Wanna give myself a break. I have a lot of things on my plate and I can easily get overwhelmed. I need to step back, organize the things on my plate, and do them. Relax if it doesn't happen exactly how I had planned. I'm not perfect - why do I expect to be? Give me a break! Exactly!

Thanks for reading my goals. I now have at least 13 accountability partners :) We'll have to check back and see how I did.