& it just keeps coming down

fair warning: long post ahead. read at your own leisure...

the snow, it just keeps coming & piling up. just when we think it may be over, we get another inch or two or three. BUT! i see some areas of green grass in our yard...mostly b/c of the windy conditions that have drifted half our yard, letting some grass peek through. it's good to see.

wes & i are both winter-folks. we love the snow, we love snow sports & winter camping/backpacking, & i love the sweaters & fleece & scarfs, etc. but this year i am finally ready for spring. i think it's a record, i don't remember wanting spring to be here this early (except maybe when adeline was around amelia's age?).

so yes, let me talk a bit about this fury of orneriness we have living with us: amelia, the great destroyer droid. she laughs at us when we tell her no. laughs, as in, we say NO! with a stern expression. she looks at us with big eyes...then we see a sparkle in the eye, then a smile creeps on her face & a toddler girly-giggle is let loose. then she will most likely do exactly what she was just disciplined for, with those sparkly eyes & ornery grin. *sigh* we have been flicking her hand for about a week now, in addition to time outs (that seem to do nothing to her except give her other ideas of how to create terror in her parents & sister). last week i even gave her a spanking, her first ever. but.it.worked. she has not so much as tried to get the cereal bins out of the lazy susan since then.

but i don't want to be a spanking parent, i just don't know what else to do!? really, it seems she's too young to grasp time outs or time away from fun things or even having toys or privileges taken away. flicking her hand works sometimes. maybe we just need to sigh a bit more, drink some more bailey's in our coffee & wait until we find something less painful that works, that keeps us sane while she runs the gamut of this phase/age.

also i am a bit worried (sarcastically) that amelia isn't going to learn things like her body parts & the alphabet, etc...b/c she doesn't slow down enough to read or interact beyond screeches & snarls. it's hilarious, actually. just now i was playing with her (am i the only one who takes 90 minutes to write a freakin blog post?! interruptions galore, here.) so yes, just now i was playing with the viewmaster, showing amelia that dora was in the viewmaster. i said to put it up to her eyes & she puts it on her mouth & then closes her eyes, then opens her eyes, then screeches angrily. you know: where is dora, mom! i don't see her! at other times when i ask her where her nose is or who someone is in a picture, she just gives the another version of her screech & then runs away. 

which brings me to the thought that her & adeline are so different. it's a good thing. i don't know if i could handle having two kids with the same behavioral frustrations & perks.

hmmmm, also just now amelia has learned how to get pants on her legs. she can't pull them up above her knees without toppling over...but still, this is huge to her. so she found a pair of addy's pants, pulled them mostly up *over her own pants*. so right now she's walking around with a huge pair of pants on top of her own pair of pants. i guess she sorta looks like an oompa loompa??

***

adeline. she loves to swim! wes took her swimming last week, on one of the nights when my parents had amelia. & since then adeline is obsessed. some days the first thing she asks about when she wakes up is go swimming today?! saturday when i returned from target--oh the joy of target shopping *alone*!--she opened the garage door & yelled out to me, GOING SWIMMING TODAY MOMMY! then quickly shut the door again, but not before i caught her with a huge smile on her face. & then we did actually go swimming (not me, i need at least a 24 hour notice so i can shave my legs...it's winter, right? no need to shave the legs more than once, eh?) so we packed us all in the car with swimming gear, dressed, etc, i remembered my book to read!, got to the rec center, got everyone in the water...& BAM another kid pukes in the pool. out of all the kids adeline's tantrum was much louder; it was a proud moment as a parent. *smile* thankfully i remembered to bring some chocolate-peanut eggs, which distracted her & then we played ring around the rosy for awhile (which amelia & adeline are so good at helping each other fall down! it's like they are ecstatic to be allowed to 'help' each other fall down... we may have to rename it, ring around the boxing ring-rosy or something of the sort).

what else about adeline? well, she is still so overwhelmed when more than 2 people are over at our house, as seen last night when we had our small group over & adeline cried for 30 minutes in her bedroom, not wanting to come down. another *sigh*. then adeline is waking up crying, terrified, screaming at night...i don't think this is night terrors b/c she will talk with us & she remembers it happening the next day. i think last night she was up twice. argh.

but adeline is also becoming this great kid who knows how to do most things herself & loves to help us do *anything* & then thinks that she can do it better herself. lol, she also called me old last week, 'mommy not go swimming, mommy too old!' then wes taught her to call me a geezer. & when i try to explain that daddy is older than mommy, she just laughs at me & calls me a geezer. yes, we are working on explaining now how name calling is not nice at all. (good job, wes!).

***

as for me, well, i had my first frustrating appointment with the great dr. im last friday. long story, but i've been having migraines nearly every day, increase in bone & muscle pain...really, i have just been in severe pain every day & it was getting out of control. so, off to see the dr for me. i mentioned the time of day that the pain & migraines worsen, which is right after i take my afternoon set of pills--like all good geriatric patients, lol. so then i go on to say that i seem to have nearly all the negative side effects of the steroid (cortef) that he has me on twice a day (for adrenal fatigue, not muscle-building, lol). so im looks at me & says 'like what?' as in, what side effects, name then, right now! & my mind drew a huge blank & i was like, well, you know, uh mood swings? & then i remembered a few & he didn't say anything! & after typing in his little laptop was like, maybe we should think about anxiety medication... 

needless to say i shot that down pretty quick...like i need to be adjusting to a certain medication that i have heard not-so-great things about. then i reasserted that i think it's the steroid & i would like to try going off of it, at least once a day. he waited 10 seconds, typing of course, & said 'maybe we should try stopping the afternoon dose.' duh, i just said that. grrrr.....

so yes, long story short. since i have stopped taking this steroid in the afternoon i have felt much better! amazing. i was right. lesson learned: listen to your body. i sorta feel like a new person since last friday. i mean, no migraines from 2:30 until 4 or 5! which means i'm not laying on the couch with a heating pad, all lights off, blinds & curtains drawn, kids running around without clothes on, throwing food at each other... i am instead laying on the couch, throwing food at the kids, yelling at them to get their clothes on! just kidding, i am doing much more than laying on the couch, but i do throw food at them every once in awhile *wink*.

also, i went up after the service at church to get more prayer for healing, b/c our pastor, rich nathan, made a call to those with illness & disease, etc so there i was. you know HELLO! & this lady was feeling the holy spirit like crazy, her arms were shaking me whole arm...it was almost like a nice massage, actually. lol. but she did pray for healing, but also for hope & peace. which i think it what i really do need, hope & peace about this whole situation (the situation that makes me feel like i'm an arthritic 80 year old). anyway, that's it. this is all i can type before amelia starts to dump her snack into yet another toy container (she has at least one piece of cereal in about 10 toys, you know, stacking cups or blocks, etc, & they are all laid out in a toddler-type row. cute kid, a bit anal, but cute).