Kids

The Little Things

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

As time flies by too too quickly, I am trying to think about and appreciate the little things.  The amazing smile and giggle of my little girl who can now climb up the stairs.  They are growing up so fast.  Noah is constantly amazing me with his verbal skills–he is picking up about 5 new words a day on average and I don’t see it slowing anytime soon. 

He makes Bill’s coffee every morning–we have a one cup coffee maker.  Yesterday we were talking about making daddy’s coffee

Me: Noah you want to make daddy’s coffee?

Noah: Sure, mom.

Bill: I’m going to take a shower.

Noah: Mom, maybe daddy’s takes a shower first, then I make his coffee.

Me: Okay. 

Where does this kid get this stuff.  He’s only 2 1/2.  Today he fell at school and has a huge fat lip.  So big he is having a hard time talking.  He cried and cried…I had to go and get him at school and bring him home.  He is growing so fast and it was so hard to have him in pain (it looks like it really hurts) and not be able to do anything about it.  He was a little better when I got home from school tonight but it still hurt him.  He finally let me give him some Tylenol. 

I am trying to find a way to get back to life.  I am feeling disconnected from the world and from myself.  I have allowed myself to be too busy to take care of myself.  I have some issues to deal with and confront.  I don’t feel as though I have the strength or energy to do it right now.  Am I hiding?  Maybe.  But I am coping and getting through.  I need to face the facts and the truth.  But right now it is the little things that are getting me through until I can deal with those bigger things.

What I Learned On Vacation

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 8 Comments

I just want to preface this by saying that I am extremely grateful for my mother’s generosity and fully appreciate the time my kids got to have with their uncles and my mom.  That being said…

Taking two small children on a 9 day adventure is not my idea of a vacation.  Not in any uncertain terms was it a vacation.  I think part of my problem as well as my husbands was that we had really high expectations for this trip.  We were really excited.  Neither of us fully appreciated what it is to travel with two small children.  I have to say that Noah and Zoë did awesome.  They were perfect on the plane flights all 9 hours of flying on 3 different planes.  But it was exhausting.  Zoë is a spark plug and wanted to be played with the entire time we were on the plane.  She is a busy little girl and loves to play. 

But being away from home is hard.  Especially for little ones who thrive on routines.  Neither napped much on the trip–as we had to drive every where we went.  
I have learned that 5 days is the absolute longest my children can happily be away from home. 
I also learned that it isn’t worth it to lug a pack-n-play for them to sleep is as they will both sleep with us.  unde
I learned that family won’t always step up to help you out.
I learned that neither of my brothers are parent material.
I learned that my son loves the ocean.
I learned that I don’t need to pack so much.
I now understand that there really is no vacation from being a parent.
I learned that staying in a resort is the way we will travel from now on.
I understand that I have to make sure the places we vacation are actually kid friendly (St. Maarten–not kid friendly)
I understand that a vacation with kids really isn’t a vacation. 
I learned that you can’t let someone else plan your vacation if you want it to work for you.
I learned that kids shouldn’t board an airplane after 7pm for a flight.
I learned that I love my husband and that he is amazing. 

There are so many other things that this trip taught me.  I am still tired–as I didn’t really get a chance to relax.  I am happy to be home and our new bathroom is amazing.  It still needs a little work–we have drywall to mud and sand, then prime and paint, but everything else is done and it is fricking amazing.  I’ll post pics of that when we are done. 

Need Food Ideas

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

Okay so you would think that I would know what to feed a baby–but Noah was hard or easy you could say.  Zoë is hard because she is a bit picky and seems to prefer a variety of foods, whereas Noah could eat the same thing all day long. 

Zoë wants lots of different things and she likes to graze–eat about every hour.  I know she’d sleep through the night (or would wake up less) if she was eating more solid food.  Please Internets give me some great self-feeding baby food.  She insists on feeding herself the majority of the time.  She’ll let me feed her yogurt and cottage cheese, but everything else she must do herself.

I need some ideas.  HELP