I walk into our bathroom to gather a pile of towels to wash. I get the towels started in the washing machine and return to the bedroom to find the television remote from the living room on the bedroom floor. I return the remote to its home. While there, I see James' coffee mug from that morning with just enough cold coffee for Hunter to spill. In order to avoid a mess, I pick up the mug along with a wine glass he'd left there last night and return them to the kitchen sink. Hunter is now pulling my pant leg, signing, and telling me in toddler speak that he'd like something to eat. I go through a list of snack options of which he says "NO" to everything the first go around. I finally get him to agree to goldfish and get them out for him. He proceeds to eat a few and drop the rest on the floor. In the process of bringing in the "clean up crew" aka, the golden children, I remember that I had moved a load of clothes from the washer to the dryer, but never started the dryer. I walk into the laundry room to find Hunter with his head peeking into the dryer. I close the door, after moving his peeping head out of the way, of course, and I start the dryer. I had unloaded the dishwasher while Hunter was eating breakfast and attempt to reload, which seems to be a worthless cause these days, because Hunter really likes to help unload and is completely uninterested in reloading. Everything that I put in, he seems to pull out or rearrange. I give up and close the door, dishwasher half loaded. You get the idea. I walk in circles all day long and very few things get accomplished from my list.
Yesterday, I stopped as I was driving down our street to get the mail from our community bank of mail boxes. I pulled my extra set of car keys with the mail key attached, out of my diaper bag/purse, got the mail, and filed through it. Then, I drove into the driveway and made my way into the house. I walk in and sit down in the recliner opposite of James and Hunter begins this game where he crawls into my lap and then tries to jump off the recliner only to do it again another 5+ times. There is a knock at the door. A neighbor from down the street has stopped to tell James that he thinks I left the keys in the mailbox. Sure enough, James looks down the street to see the mailbox open with my car keys hanging out. It gave us a good laugh for the afternoon, that's for sure.
Some of you may think I'm crazy and some of you, whether you have kiddos or not, might relate and get a laugh too. I'm no superwoman, that's for sure. In this world driven by social media, blogs, and Pinterest, it is easy to get caught up in the ideal.
Personal example:
I am a Pinterest/Houzz junkie. I like our home to be perfectly arranged, design-wise, and before events/parties, I always seem to start some outlandish project. Luckily, I have a husband that rolls with the punches and supports my design whims. I like Hunter to be able to have homemade waffles and muffins and aspire to bake regularly. I have had a competitive and perfectionistic spirit since childhood. I would love to have the opportunity to design for others like Joanna Gaines of "Fixer Upper", or have the energy to do the array of things accomplished by Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.
As one of my best friends, Lindsay Currey, would tell you, I characteristically over-commit myself to projects, as do many of the women in my family. Lindsay is blessed to have my cousin, Ashly, as her sister-in-law, and understands that most of the women in my family have a tendency to say "Yes", because we are doers and rarely say "No". She jokes that we will stay up all night or wake up early and do whatever has to be done and that is why people continue to ask us. (Although I'm sure it drives Lindsay crazy to be surrounded by the two of us who bear these similar character traits. Oh well, she's stuck with us.)
Confessions:
Dishes may sit in our sink for two days before they are washed. (Some of you are cringing right now...sorry for that.) I am great at washing the laundry, but horrible at putting it away. There is a mountain of clean clothes that keeps me from walking into my walk-in closet. In the Corps, James' old lady apparently referred to this issue as "Mount Sitton". Now James jokes that he married another Mount Sitton. We are doomed. Our garage is incredibly disorganized, but I assure you, we know where most everything is. I also have stacks of mail that adorn our kitchen island that are patiently waiting to be sorted.
I share all of this, because none of us is perfect. Kids, no kids; working parent, stay-at-home parent; ideal media representation or not; it doesn't matter. I have grown really close to my sister-in-law, Lori, and she and I joke about being ducks. I hope to appear smooth and unruffled to others, but truthfully I am paddling furiously under the surface to get things done. I would love to embody all of the wonderful things that are the media's idea of the perfect wife, mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, friend, and the list goes on. I may not be the perfect wife, mother, etc, but I am James's wife and Hunter and Baby Girl's momma and that is what God intended me to be; flaws, stacked laundry, dirty dishes, and all.
James' favorite quote that adorns our kitchen, "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all", is so true. I will gladly sacrifice a clean house to play on the floor with my little man or try my best to fulfill the request of a friend. Thank God for His Grace! We are all broken and imperfect, but that is part of our story.
Music has always really spoken to me and I've always really loved to sing and perform. Thankfully, Hunter is currently infatuated with music of any kind. What can I say, the kid loves to drum on anything imaginable and likes to rock it out. We always have some music playing whether its Pandora's toddler station or something of personal choice. A song that has really spoken to me recently is titled "Carry Me Away", by David White. David is the husband of my childhood family friend, Jessica Hobratsch White, and he has composed an album called "Long Roots" where he sings this incredibly beautiful piece. If you are a fan of James Taylor, you will love David's voice. I have tried to attach the link below, hopefully you are able to give it a listen. You won't be disappointed. His album is also available for purchase on his website www.davidwhitemusic.com.
"Carry Me Away" brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it and today, it is a great reminder of what I would love to aspire to, rather than working to be some replica of a social media mama.
http://davidwhitemusic.com/track/645289/carry-me-away?autostart=true
Prayer Requests:
We have had several friends who have personally or within their families have encountered some difficulty this week. The daughter and family of another childhood friend could use some extra prayers. The Falgout's daughter, Ellie, who is a couple of months younger than Hunter, has a condition called Moyamoya and had to have surgery on one side of her brain at the end of July. Ellie had a stroke this week on the opposite side and is currently waiting in the hospital for the swelling to go down in order for more testing to be completed and another eventual surgery on the opposite side of her brain. Lots of prayers and thoughts for this family. If you'd like to read more about their story up until this week and pray for them, their blog is address is as follows: http://teamfalgout.blogspot.com/2014/09/positive-results.html?spref=fb
We personally received the results from Hunter's initial genetic blood work. It appears that he does have some extra DNA information, however it does not correlate with scoliosis or any other disease. This is obviously good news and we are thankful. However, they would like to perform more blood work on Hunter, James, and I to resume further testing, if we so wish. At this time, James and I are weighing the options, but really don't want to put him through any more testing if it isn't necessary.
Hunter is currently scheduled to cast next Friday, October 3rd. He does have an ear infection, but his lungs are clear. I have a call in to the nurse at Scottish Rite to let her know this. Hopefully we will be able to continue with casting, but obviously want to do whatever is in Hunter's best interest. We will keep you updated, but just send good thoughts and prayers for this process.
Quick family pic for Hunter's school assignment.
Thank you for tuning in and reading my long reflection of the day. On a personal note, I want to say a humble thank you to my family and devoted husband for loving me, flaws included.
