Sean's First Shoes

With the weather getting colder, I am facing the challenge of keeping Sean's feet warm. He hates socks and they really only last about 10 seconds on his feet before he pulls them off. He'll also be walking soon (I hope, for his sake not mine). So I figured it was time for a pair of shoes. I'm hoping shoes will help keep the socks on, that is if he doesn't pull both socks and shoes off. He looks so cute with his new shoes. I cannot believe how fast he's growing up. (Please ignore the clutter on my floor. You can also see the boo-boo Sean got on his chin today, but really you should only be paying attention to how cute he is in his first pair of shoes!!!)

My little baby looks like a big boy!

Cute little shoes.
He thinks they were meant to be chewed on.
And played with.
I think he likes them though.

Cookie House

The other day while shopping at Sam's Club, I came across a Halloween cookie house (like a gingerbread house, but for Halloween and not gingerbread). I thought it would be a nice activity for me and Ryan to do, so I bought it. He was really excited to put it together. The directions weren't very clear, and it was a tiny bit frustrating. It didn't help that Ryan kept playing "knock, knock" on the cookie front door and knocking it over every time I got it assembled. Once we had it put together the fun part of decorating it came. Ryan really enjoyed putting the candy on and deciding just where it should go. The best part of it though was how proud and happy Ryan was when he finished his cookie house.

Priorities and Shame

I am ashamed to admit this, but I've been a really bad mother lately. It was not intended, and I didn't really understand the problem until today. I knew things weren't working, and it was bothering me. The thing I didn't know was what I could do about it. My priorities got a little out of whack. My children have always been and will be my number 1 priority, but I had been giving some other things--namely the FRG, too much importance. As a result, my children were suffering.

Over the past few months, the FRG has become all consuming for me. I feel like it just doesn't end. I can deal with the emergency/really important situations that interrupt my normal days, but it was the other stuff that was really getting in the way. It was the constant e-mails with new contacts, questions, issues etc. The problem was really that in order to address all these e-mails I was constantly being pulled away from the boys. What started as an occasional interruption became a nonstop daily occurrence.

I am a stay at home mom, and cherish my time with the boys more than anything else. However, because of all the distractions I found that when I was with the boys, I really wasn't "with" the boys. I am so sad to admit that I wasted all that precious time with them, and that they suffered as a consequence of my mistake.

I only realized it today when talking to my sister about how bad I felt for the boys that I am constantly having to do FRG stuff and feel like I am barely able to play with them. I finally saw that the FRG stuff can be done after the kids are in bed. Sure people may have to wait a few extra hours for a response, but they know they can call if they really need me to address any issues. If I can't complete it all at night before I go to bed, then it is okay if it takes me an extra day. I've always liked to respond right away because it bothers me to think of the e-mails piling up, and I have trouble getting it off my mind. In the end though, I cannot be dealing with it all day long. My kids come first, and that is the way it should be.

Now the only question of priorities will be balancing tv/relax time, cleaning the house, and the FRG in my evening time.