Mike said I get a blogging break tonight in our blog wars challenge because I’ve had more posts then him this month so far….I am very grateful because the 5am wake ups for work this week have just exhausted my phsyically and intellectually!

There was a moment tonight where I’m sure my jaw disjointed from my face and fell in a direct plummet to the floor - landing there with a resounding thump as my son said to me - Hi MommY…..

Now most people would presume that this was an every day occurence for the mom of a near 2 year old but for me I have grown accumstom to Jacob excitedly calling me MAMA.  I can’t say I thought he’d call me Mama forever but I sure as heck didn’t think he’d make the switch already and I’ve gotta share that I’m totally feeling a variety of emotions about this.  First I’m happy to see his vocabulary expanding and it’s wonderful to hear new words every day - it reminds me that we’re on track (even ahead in some things) in terms of development!  The second thing it does for me is causes me a pang of sadness - Mama was such a sentimental word for me…I just loved hearing him call me his Mama and maybe I imagined that he’d always call me Mama so that’s why it’s so hard to hear.  When I think about it logically i guess I cant picture my 22 year old son calling me up on the phone and saying “Hi Mama, college is going great”….

For now I guess I’ll revel in the change and hope that he’ll continue calling me Mama for just a little while longer!  Just don’t expect me to change my blog name to Mommy Melissa…..not happening folks.

For some bizarre reason Jacob was up last night and since this is not at all typical behavior for him we were both concerned and stayed up until he was able to settle.  So tonight my post will be teeny tiny because I am so tired right now (after getting up at 5am for work) that I am going to go and pass out in my comfortable bed while I attempt to watch the season finale of American Idol.

Tonight we took Jacob to swim class!  It’s something we’ve been doing as a family and I’m quite fond of watching my little guy in the water with Mike.  Mike and I always want our children to feel supported and encouraged by us - so we plan to try and have both of us at classes, activities, etc. as our kids grow up.  I think it’s important for children to feel like their parents care about their interests and acheivements so if both of us are there it shows in some way that we are both invested in him.  I know that we will not always be able to both be there but we’ll try to do our best!  I love it when I’m sitting on the sidelines at the pool and Jacob looks up to find me from way across the pool and shouts MAMA! while he waves his hands in a flail overhead!  It just melts my heart and makes me want to leap up and flail my arms back at him but instead I lift my hand and wave with a big smile of my face - sometimes I give a big thumbs up when he’s done something like kicked his legs or stuck his head under the water.

Next swim session we’re hoping to put Jacob in Tiny Tots - this will be a huge transition for us because it wil be the first time Jacob will be in the water without his Mama or Dada!  Yikes!  The swim instructor does a one on one 15 minute lesson twice a week with Jacob - then if possible I think Mike and Jacob will also do the Guardian swim once a week!  It’s really super important to Mike and I that Jacob learns how to swim and how to be independant in the water.  There is no doubt that he will not be permitted alone in the water anywhere for a very long time but I want him to begin to get the tools to help himself survive in case (god forbid) an accident might happen.

What’s most important is that we want Jacob and any future children to enjoy activities that are active - Jacob will start learning to skate this winter in preparation for hockey.  We’ll give it a go and if he’s not interested after a while we’ll try something different!  In the summer we’d love for him to be active in a sport like soccer or baseball!  Only time will tell what interests Jacob but I know I’m excited to find out what he’ll enjoy doing as he gets older!

Wow, I never realized how badly the laundry had piled up until I went to do it all today and spent 3.5 hours from start to finish to get approximately 10 loads (including all the towels and bed sheets) complete.  I just can’t believe how much clothes we have (Mike and I) so we spent a good portion of the time purging what we no longer wore, what didn’t fit, or what might be in rough shape!  Yay us.  We’re trying to de-clutter, re-organize, and go with the philosophy that less is more.  It’s going to be a process because we’ve been holding onto stuff for years now and it’s just time to get rid of it before we move into our bigger place!  I’m psyched about the process but I know it will be difficult because we’re both very emotionally attached to some of our things that we had before even meeting each other so I’m anxious to see how much stuff we can get rid of in the end.  One thing that really bothers me is the abundance of cables that are around this place.  We have too so much technology in this household and with that comes cords, cords cords - well I am declaring that it is time to purge!  We have no need for the multitude of cables!  Another irritating thing is the papers that we seem to keep!  We need a filing cabinet!  I think we really seriously need to look into one because there are papers in A LOT of our drawers!  I declare that it is time to pull out the shredder and get rid of MOST of this craziness!

I guess what the big deal is that we need change!  We need more space, we need to re-evaluate several things in our life and move forward towards the future with a refreshed idea of what that future will look like!  Another thing that I want to do is work on resumes for both Michael and myself.  The moment that I am on vacation I think I will begin tackling this!  I think it’s important to always have a resume ready because you never know when a new opportunity might come knocking on your doorstep!  I’m not contemplating a career change but Mike has (and needs to be) been contemplating one for a while!

Wish us luck.  I’m actually really excited about this!

I don’t even know where to begin…

This weekend has been one of those weekends where nothing seems to go right.  I can’t put my finger on what is happening because everything seems so unreal…..

After a day of complete confusion yesterday about something I cannot go into on public blog… I felt decent when I woke up this morning and happy to go into work, to do the work that I love doing, at an organization that I love dearly - Mike, Jacob and myself were in the car at about 6:40 a.m. coming through an intersection on a green light when another car without hesitation and going about 10-15 km/h faster then us slammed into the side of our car….Mike was amazing and reacted very appropriately in my opinion and I think He saved himself and Jacob from some serious harm, the way he handled the car was so amazing and I believe wholeheartedly that Jacob and Mike are walking around today injury free because of how Mike responded when we saw the car about to hit us.  After the car hit us I was so livid, I immediately checked to make sure Jacob was ok, and then I just sat in shock for a few moments wondering about what could of been - I think we were pretty lucky.  The car is not in the best of shape, still driveable but clearly has some damage probably if I had to guess around the 2000$ mark…..one of the most important things is that the front left turn signal isn’t working. Anyways I am just really grateful that we were not injured and I am praying now that when we wake up in the morning we do not have sore backs or necks from the impact.  I love my guys…I can’t imagine how hysterical I might have been if one of them had been seriously injured.

I’ve had a very long day and I’m feeling slightly under the weather with a massive headache so I am going to head off to bed without a meaningful blog post today!

Mike and I ordered tickets for the whole family to go see Thomas the Tank Engine live at Ricoh Colliseum this fall. We’re both so excited because we know Jacob is going to love it and the tickets were so affordable! I’m not really sure how the show with go or if Jacob who will be almost 2.5 years old when we finally see it will be able to sit still for the whole show - but we’re pretty sure he’ll at least enjoy part of the show! I know Mike is going to really love the show too since he loved Thomas the Tank Engine when he was a little boy! For some reason I think I’ll have two little boys on my hands that day!

I can’t beleive it’s really happening!  After 2 years away from the real work that I do there are clients coming into the treatment center starting tomorrow!  Woweee!  The renovation is complete and we are finally moving forward to do the work that I am really good at doing!  Today at work was our first clinical case review where we discussed the youth coming to stay in treatment!  It was so much fun to be back at the work I love to do but at the same time it was so hard to get back into the swing of things!  This return to shift work is bittersweet because I have enjoyed having every weekend off but when I work shift work Jacob gets to be home with his parents more often! I get a combo sahm/working mom lifestyle because Jacob will be with my mother in law for about half the time he use to.  I’m ok with that!  I’ve done the sahm thing, the work all the time thing and now I’ll do a combination!  Perfect!  A little taste of both!  It will take a while to adjust to the whole routine of things but I think it’s going to be a really great transition for us!  Wish us luck!

I recently discovered a new product (Thanks Suzanne) for scrapbooking and card making! Stickles!  I am in love with this stuff and was able to find a seller on ebay selling the whole set of 35 colors for wicked cheap with only 7.50 shipping for the whole set!  Now I can’t wait for them to get here so I can try them out on some of my work!  I plan to re-sell the colors on ebay that I don’t like in the set but I couldn’t turn down the deal for the whole shebang!!  Here are two color samples so you know what I’m talking about!  Sparklicious!!