Worth a Thousand Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words....this post is going to be worth several thousand. I'm going to post as many as I can and let you scroll your way through the past couple of weeks of our life...at least the moments I remembered to grab the camera! If you have any questions....use your imagination! Just kidding...I think most are self-explanatory. Enjoy!

Temper Tantrums, Jogs, and Prayers

I know...it's only been a couple of days and here I am writing again. Now that you've closed your open jaws I can go on with my story.

This morning while out jogging I had this fabulous blog all composed in my head and of course because it was so fabulous I had oodles of comments on it. It's now been over 14 hours since I composed that draft in my head...we'll see how much of it comes back to me.

For those of you who talk to me on a regular basis you know that my youngest son Rhett is 16 months old and does not sleep through the night. Most nights he's up an average of 3 times...bad nights it's 5 + times. Last night was a bad night. And then he decided that 5:30 am was a the time that he should be wide awake ready to start his day. I start my day at 6:20 and am out the door on the pavement by 6:35...I do not appreciate the 5:30 wake up call because usually I'm up for 15-20 minutes at this time of the morning trying to convince him to go back to sleep. And to those of you who would tell me to just leave him to cry...I would if he couldn't get out of his bed! Then he's wondering around the house, finding things and turning on stuff. This morning it was a no-go for getting him to go back to sleep. By the time I was supposed to be leaving I was stomping around the house, getting him a bottle and telling him loudly(not yelling because Zane was still sleeping) that he was too little to be up by himself. However, because I am selfish about my hour in the morning I left him with cartoons and a daddy pretending to be asleep and headed out. In case you're wondering....this is where the tantrum came in, and no it was not on Rhett's part. It was all me. Yes, I, Kelly Johnson, 26 years old, mom of 2, still throw tantrums.

I headed out into the cold morning just fuming...trying to concentrate on my music and raging in my head at my Father in Heaven for not answering all my prayers pleading for sleep to come to my son and myself. To give you a feel for how long this foul, black mood followed me, let me explain how my morning exercise routine works. As soon as I hit the hallway my ipod is on and I'm getting shoes on, coat on, stretching etc. By the end of the first song I'm in the parking lot headed for the sidewalk. I walk for 1 1/2 to 2 songs...I start jogging at a specific house and jog to a certain spot...usually 2 or 2 and a bit songs. I walk for 2 songs or so and then I start the jog up the hill. When I first started I could only make it up the hill. Now this part of my jog is pushing 20 minutes long. Then I walk for a song, jog another small stretch and walk about 2 blocks home for cool down and stretches. Are you tired yet? I promise I have a point...as I started out this morning I wasn't able to get past my sour mood until I was almost through my long run. But here's what I learned. As I jogged and prayed, and jogged and prayed, and told my Father in Heaven how unfair it was that my toddler still does not sleep through the night - I realized that I have been praying for the wrong thing. I have been praying for my sweet toddler to be changed and I need to be praying for me to be changed. So, I will now be praying that my body will be able to do what it needs to do on much less sleep - that I will be able to be the happy mommy on 5 hours of sleep that I am on much more sleep.

I returned a much happier mommy...hopefully my new strategy will work.
And sorry, no pics yet. I've been busy packing and keeping Rhett from climbing and pushing every button he can reach!

Time Out

Well this title has a few meanings for me lately....
I know it's been quite a while since I posted...I've kinda been on a blog time out while I've been packing, cleaning, and generally trying to contain the chaos that our lives have been over the past couple of weeks. Sorry for those who have missed me. I ahve missed being here and have thought about you often...sometimes I compose wonderful blog posts in my mind while I am running...and then by the time I get to the computer late at night all my good thoughts have slowly leaked out of my head until the only thing I can think about is how tired I really am.

The best meaning of time out for me was this past weekend. Leslie and I went to Calgary for the 5th anniversary of Time Out for Women. For those of you who don't know what that is - it's a women's conference put on by Desert Books. They bring in wonderful speakers and musicians whose whole purpose is to renew, refresh and rejuvanate your soul and mind. It was such a wonderful time and experience...I got to listen to some of my favorite people as well as finding new favorites and came home refreshed in spirit. I'd like to say that we got lots of sleep too...but we stayed up until midnight talking and laughing and just being girls. Katie slept so much that it really was like being there without any kids and it was so great to have entire conversations without pausing to answer little people questions, discipline, or calm the screams of our children. Did I mention that we stayed in the Marriot hotel as well? It was well worth the money since we were connected to the convention center and they treated us awesomely. Valet parking is one of my new favorite things! If you have never been to one I would strongly recommend going the next time they come. And of course we did some shopping at the bookstore there and came home with some great music I'm itching to get at on my new piano...

We take possession of our house a week from today. Every hour it is getting closer and closer and feels more and more real. The control freak in me is starting to panic a little bit but i think I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping her tamped down and under control. I'm pretty much packed as much as I can until we get a little closer to actually moving...so I'm going to start spot washing walls and stuff to make cleaning easier when we move out. We are counting sleeps for many things....Grammie S coming to help us, taking possession of the house, Zane starting preschool, carpets getting cleaned, new appliances (yeah!!!) being delivered, and actually moving. Phew. September is busy busy busy.

And I have been taking some pictures...I promise...they just aren't on my computer yet. I'll try to get some up soon. In the meantime just picture me spending the majority of my day cleaning up after destructo...aka...Rhett. Sigh. If that child survies to see his 2nd birthday...I'm just kidding, I love him to bits - just tired of the current phase!