Finding Happiness in Doing What You're Doing

So I have three little boys: 6 months, almost 4, and 6 years old. Although I have never been a "kid person," I love my children very much and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

Look at those impressionable young faces. :)

The other day I was with my 6 yr old doing SOMETHING--for the life of me I can't remember what it was, but it was one of those mundane Mommy things I don't really like to do. I remember sighing impatiently while I waited for him to accomplish his task and was about to pull out my iPod to "pass the time doing something constructive". That's when hit me just what I was doing. I had the "I'd rather be somewhere else, doing anything else" attitude. Let's face it. It's HARD to enjoy laundry, cleaning up bodily fluids, scrubbing dishes, cooking, shopping, chauffeuring,  scrubbing toilets and sinks and hairy showers...But still, I wondered how I could POSSIBLY think my iPod would offer more happiness than spending time with my precious son. I realized I'd been treating my Mommy duties as something to push through in order to get to better things. Like facebook and blogging and writing books...even things like cooking fabulous dinners. Connecting with family and friends, writing and making a nice dinner for my family aren't BAD things, but I was putting their importance over the emotional needs of my children. Once I put the iPod away and looked my 6 year old in the eye and helped with what he was doing, his whole countenance changed. He was happier and I was happier. Putting him first in deed AND in heart made a biggest difference in the world........even though I didn't particularly like doing it. :)

UPDATE Time!!

Time flies when you're having fun. And as is always true this time of year, there's been a lot of fun to be had. Here are 5 MILLION pictures to highlight some of the fun...

A friend of mine took our family pictures in October. I'm happy to have some pictures with the babelicious. :)

She edited these two pics. She sells Photoshop actions. Her website is http://www.prettylittleactions.com. Check it out!

Sometimes, just sometimes, we think we're pretty tough...

I love this with Elijah in the pumpkins--my cute little pumpkin--because we're all smiling for rizzle. (She edited this one, too.)

My three little men. :)

Me and my hooooooney--poo. Married 8 years, we have been (yes, said in Yoda voice).

We carved our pumpkins outside--it was such a beautiful day for late-October! The boys helped take out some seeds, but were too grossed out by the sliminess so I did most of it. Pansies! ;)

I'll show them how it's done. Nom-Nom-Nom!

Here's the boys all dressed up for Halloween. I think Miles mixed up his super heroes. :) The cuteness is almost too much! They got lots of candy through the drizzling rain and numb little fingers. Bless their little hearts. :D

Hurricane Sandy rolled through so we had our church's Trunk-Or-Treating activity 5 days after Halloween (the kids trick-or-treat from rows of cars lined up, trunks decorated, passing out candy). Our trunk was the scariest!

Christian and Elijah have a special connection that just warms my heart. :) C wants to spend every moment with his baby brother and E just lights up when his biggest brother enters the room.

Elijah swinging for the first time. Needless to say, he LOVED it! :)

Christian TRYING to swing with Elijah but my super-sized 6 yr old is just a little too long for the baby swing. :)

We went to my friend, Christina's house for Thanksgiving. She lives 4 hours from us in Wooster, OH. We all had a BLAST and plan to make another trip out there soon. (My boys still ask if we're going to, "hallow-hallow," as Miles calls Ohio.) :)

The food was sooooooooooo good. mmmm....

Shaylin quickly became Christian's "girlfriend". We were there 3 days and they spent every minute together. He said, "I'm going to marry her." Ah, young love. ;)

Now that Thanksgiving is over we're getting ready for Christmas...found this cute lil' reindeer when I pulled out the decorations.

My wonderful neighbor left goodies on my porch and the local critters decided to pull one out and have a taste. ha!!

Toooooootsies!! :) Love those tootsies.

My response to this election 2012, "I'm just scared"

(I wrote this November 7th and forgot to post it Oops...) ;)

A woman named Maria, who had grown up in communistic Soviet Union, called into Glen Beck's radio talk show the day after the election and said, "Glenn, well, I grew up in the Soviet Union and I came to this country 18 years ago and I felt that I’d never again have to live in fear,” she said. “And I’ve been worried for the past four years but after what happened last night, I’m just scared, okay?

“This president, his entire administration, I know a Communist when I see one, and he’s passed his policies, the direction we’ve been going in the past four years, it can’t be any clearer to me what his beliefs and goals are. And I think being an American is not about where you were born. It’s about what you believe, what’s in your soul. And what’s in his soul is dark. The ideology he believes, it’s pure evil. It kills people. It destroys souls. It’s synonymous with hopelessness, misery, apathy.

“I mean, that’s the only equality you get in socialism: Everyone but the government and the criminals are equal and miserable and poor and apathetic. And maybe it’s because I’ve lived through that that I can truly appreciate what America is and what it stands for. And I’m trying to find something positive about what happened last night, about this situation, some kind of hope, take it with good humor, but all I can feel is this dread.

“I had so much faith in the American people and our determination to do what’s right especially after what we saw at Restoring Honor which, by the way, me and my husband went to and it was amazing. I was in shock at what happened. I’m still in shock.

“I was mistaken. So many Americans have become diluted and pampered and all they care about is, you know, free stuff and the latest episode of American Idol. It’s insane. I don’t understand what’s happening here.”

Mr. Beck then responded with, "Half of your country feels exactly the same way."

Here is the link.

I am afraid she is right...I pray for this country...that it may be a land of the free for my children and grandchildren to come. It is a somber, somber day...

Ode to Elijah

Elijah Matthew Bordon. :) Filling our lives with endless smiles and happiness. Now 6 months. :D So full of smiles and squeals and giggles...From the top of his fuzzy head to the bottom of his curly toes, Oh how we love him so!!! :D

Bored Shorts Snippet: Math Class

hahahaha!! Another favorite I had to share. Probably because this is EXACTLY how it goes when I try to teach Miles ANYTHING. :D HA! Enjoy!
"If movies were written by our children... We asked a girl to teach her sister how to do math. This is what they came up with."

CHIPS AND MILL WORM DIP, ANYONE?

I went on a Sunday walk with the boys a few weeks ago and we took some pictures. :D Such funny boys. We only got a few blocks there was so much goofin' around. Fun times. :)

Saturday, Sept 30 we went to an Insect Fair on the Penn State campus. It was really fun! We got to see and touch and hold so many fun bugs like giant cockroaches, millipedes, grubs, caterpillars, and praying mantises! :D

Here I am with my two favorite bugs. :) They got their faces painted (Christian got a spider and Miles a bee) and...the best part...

They ATE BUGS!!! It's not something I'd ever wanted to do so I opted out, but here is a picture and video of the monumentous event. :D C and M ate chocolate covered crickets, but Alan ate ALL of the choices. AAAHHHH!

Here's a video of some of the bug-eating fun. :)

Here world, take my first born...

Christian started Kindergarten today. I was soooo nervous to send him out into the world and have someone else take care of him. Plus, kids can be so cruel and Christian is such a sweet, sensitive soul.
Here's a picture of him this morning before school while we were waiting for the bus (which took off after a 2 second pause so I had to take him anyway--which I kind of wanted to do on his first day). He was nervous and excited.

This is him right after school:

He kept telling me it was SO awesome!!!! ha! I don't know where he learned the hand gesture, but it's pretty darn funny. He made 18 new friends (all of his classmates), especially one kid whose name he doesn't know yet. :) AND they have math bins...and if he learned anything, he can't remember by now. hehehe...I think my sweet little man is going to make it in the big, bad world.

Discovering new friends...

I got this vibrating rocker from Austin, TX friends when I was pregnant with Christian 6 years ago. One of my favorite things is watching my babies discover their new pig, sheep, and cow friends. :D Elijah was cooing and squealing at them and it was about the most precious thing! :D Flimed from our new apartment in State College, PA. Please excuse my loud boys and my annoyed/-ing voice. ;)

Pregopics

So I mentioned that a photographer took some professional pictures of some of us pregnant ladies in my complex back in May...Well here are a couple of them. :) Glad I'm not swollen pregnant lady anymore! :D Here's a link to her photography website.

She's offered to take some of Elijah and I when she's back here in the east coast. :D Fun!

Kids and Kid History...

A week ago today I drove with the boys to York, PA to meet up with my long-time friend, Shauna. It was about a 50 minute drive and Christian finally asked how close we were to the restaurant where we were meeting. I looked at the GPS and was happy to tell him, "We only have 4 more miles."
Miles then gasped excitedly and said, "We only have four more me, Mommy?" I had a good chuckle at that one...kids really do say the darndest things!
I just wanted to share a snippet from one of my favorite things to watch, Bored Shorts. These creative guys got together and act out stories told in kids' voices. It's really cute. Here's one of my favorites (enjoy!):

A Shout Out to my Sweetheart

I just wanted to give a shout out to Alan on this Father's Day. He is simply a wonderful husband and father. I love this picture where he is soaking in Elijah's snuggles.

Photo op with Miles before we left for our "safari ride" at Lake Tobias. Memorial Day (May 28) 2012.

And our sweet Christian. :)

The boys had a blast feeding the animals then checking out the zoo and petting zoo. We topped our Lake Tobias trip off with a live reptile show. We all had a blast!

Alan enjoys getting down and dirty with the boys and watching them enjoy new experiences. He gives them plenty of hugs, teaches them, makes them respect their mother, and isn't afraid to plant a wet one on their smackers. :) I love him so much and am glad I chose him to be the father of my children.

Happy Father's Day, honey. :)

How baby Elijah came into the world...

Elijah Matthew Bordon was born on Saturday, June 2 at 3:39 p.m. He weighed 7 lb 4 oz, 19 3/4" long. He has blond hair and blue eyes, which is funny because Christian and Miles both had black hair and gray eyes. :) I said, "Is this OUR baby?" I am pretty sure Alan caught me saying that on video. :D HA! My birth story is a little interesting, so read on if you dare... ;)

Saturday morning sometime, 10 am at the earliest, I started having contractions. I had been having contractions off and on the past week, but not very painful ones. These were painful, but I still wasn't sure if they were the real thing. We took Christian to his game at 12 pm and the contractions started getting closer together. That's when I started thinking they were the real thing. I would talk to other kids' moms and pause for a contraction. They'd say, "Uh, does your husband know you're having contractions?" I'd laugh and say yes. :D Hey, beginning stages of labor take time. Might as well spend the time out and distracted by other things. ;)
We made it home at around 1:45 pm. A wonderful woman from my ward (church congregation) named Jane came over and stayed with the boys while we walked across the street to the hospital. People we knew cheered us on our way. We checked in at 2 p.m. and were sent to an "observation room," a tiny room the size of a closet where I put a gown on and they asked me 5,000,000 questions.
This is Hershey Med Center; a learning hospital, so you have a resident doctor come in and do their thing then a doctor comes in and does the same exact thing. A little frustrating, but whatever. I stressed that I went quickly (Miles was a 4 hour labor total) and that I wanted an epidural.
Now I was contracting 2 minutes apart when I arrived at the hospital. The resident doctor checked my progress and announced I was 5 cm and 80% effaced. An attending doctor came and started asking questions but got distracted by a loud beeping sound and left. Another woman came and asked the rest of the questions. By this time my pain was really increasing. She left and nobody came in for an hour.
During that hour my pain got so bad I started writhing and moaning with each contraction. I've never felt such heavy ones before; I'd always had an epidural by now! Alan was leafing through a magazine across the room and I could hear the nurses--5-10 of them--chatting and laughing right outside our door. I chastised Alan for being a poor coach (hey, we've never trained for this) and he came and held my hand. The pain was surreal and when I started feeling intense pressure I would cry out to the nurses such things as, "Help!" and, "The baby is coming! He's coming, I can feel it!" Nobody came. It was the most frustrating thing ever. I wasn't in the right mind to think of pushing the nurse call button, but there were 500 of them right outside my door. I really needed someone to tell me what was happening. I didn't know exactly because I'd never transitioned before. I was angry because they hadn't listened to me--I was going fast, like I'd told them, and I had a feeling it was too late for the epidural I had wanted. Overall, I was worried and scared and felt alone.
I finally told Alan to ask for a Dr to check me. A nurse came in and stood me up to walk to the labor and delivery room. As soon as I stood, my water broke. After the contraction ended I walked to the labor and delivery room and a couple of doctors rushed in. I was 95% effaced, 10 cm, and baby was at -1 position. I had 2 more contractions and then my body took over, pushing that baby out. It took 2 or 3 pushes and it was all over. It was all around INSANE. It might have been "cooler" if I wasn't annoyed by the whole experience.
So I got to hospital at 2 p.m. and had the baby at 3:39 p.m. ALAN almost had to catch the baby in the observation room!!! It might have been cool in the end if he had (he'd wanted to deliver the baby anyway), but I felt I deserved to be treated better than to be left alone for so long, transitioning and in such pain without really knowing what was happening and my cries for help being ignored (they are definitely getting a colorful evaluation from me). :)
In the end--now that it's all over and the emotions have died down--I am glad I had a natural birth. With Christian my water broke and contractions started slowly after that. With Miles I was induced. Now I've had a natural birth and know what it's like. It was intense and let me tell you...I am definitely a fan of epidurals. I don't feel like I've crossed some cool barrier or joined a club. I feel like everyone should be able to choose how to deliver your children. The most important thing is that the baby is healthy.

I sure love my little Elijah. He doesn't sleep well at night and it's making me a little crazy, but I know things like that fall into place as they grow older. In the meantime I will continue to stare at his cute little face and enjoy each little moment, because I know it all passes too quickly.

A shave and a hair cut...

I hate taking pictures with just me in them (as you can tell by my face), but here it is. My new hair. ;) I did the highlights and some reddish color (in with the highlights to make them jump) and got a trim. More layers, basically, and shorter bangs.

Some say they cut their hair to prepare for a baby...I didn't feel that way. I just plain needed a trim and some shape. :) But I guess there's always the fact that I won't be as able to go out and get a cut once little Elijah comes. ;)
And the shave? Well, I'm about to have a baby. ;) Gotta keep those legs smooth! :D

Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks. That's full term. Woohoo! I'm getting a little anxious, especially as I see my neighbors having their babies. :D Did I mention there are 5 of us in our area (of 16 apartments) that are pregnant? :D HA! It's true. Here we are standing in order of due date. Jane, the Asian woman on the left, had her baby last week. Next in line is Michelle. She will give birth any day now. Tia is due June 4th, I'm due June 12 (or 13th, whatever), and Andrea is due at the end of June. So I'm surrounded by these skinny prego chicks while I'm the only one bloated like a whale. HA! Se la vi. A woman saw this picture on her daughter's facebook page and shrieked, offering to take professional pictures of us for free. The four of us who hadn't popped took advantage of that and now we're anxiously waiting the CD of the pics she promised. :D

 For Mother's Day Alan got me 2 dozen white roses and a pack of DELICIOUS cinnamon rolls from Costco. :) Flowers and food: a man after my own heart. ;) And Sunday morning he had the boys bring me "Mother" pictures they had colored for me and a "Best Mother in the World" certificate. HA! It was very cute. They each said something they appreciate about me. Christian said "she makes me lunch" and Miles said, "She makes me breakfast". Yah, those are my boys. :D I don't care what Alan gets me for any occassion, as long as he tries. The effort is all I care about. :) And he darn done himself good. ;)

OOPS, forgot Thanksgiving 2011

So I was just looking at our NYC pics from last summer and read that I wanted to take the boys there some day. Well, that "some day" came last November. We took the boys to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Alan's cousin, Erin, and her husband met us there from Binghamton, NY. It was a fun time (though we can leave out that I was had such terrible "morning sickness" that I ralfed twice on the three-hour drive to NYC). ;)

All of us, anxiously waiting for the parade to start. November 25, 2011.

This was my favorite float...the actual actors from Sesame Street were on it, along with all our favorite monsters. And Big Bird, of course! :D

 Watching the parade. :D With Erin and her husband, James. Christian was at the front of the crowd by himself for a better view. :D

A place we stopped to rest for a bit after the parade.

Christian was super excited to see the Lego store, though it was closed on Thanksgiving day. Love his cheesy smile. :)

Here's some random leaf pictures from the fall. We love to make piles of leaves outside! Miles is such a Mama's boy. I hope that never changes. :D

Thank you for sharing our November 2011!