Many years ago, I went on a vacation with a number of girlfriends. We had all met through having children around February 2002. During this vacation, I stayed with Kelly and her daughter, Natalie, in a shared hotel room. Each evening, she would lay Natalie to sleep in the playpen, with her Baby Tad, and he would softly play 6 minutes of music. When he would turn off, Natalie would be magically asleep! I determined right then and there that I would be getting my next baby one of these magical toys! And the day I found out I was pregnant, I went out to Target, and got my baby a Baby Tad!
So, each night, Seth went to sleep listening to six minutes of baby Tad from the night we brought him home. We took Baby Tad with us on trips to New York, and St. George. Where Seth went, so went Baby Tad. As Seth grew, he would play with him in his crib when he woke up after his nap, and sang other songs with him, as well as games!
I came to realize a few months ago, that Baby Tad wasn't always in his "usual" spot on Seth's bed. More and more I would find him with all the other stuffed toys in the toy bucket. I would fish him out and put him back on the bed. But slowly, I was coming to see that my 5 year old no longer played with Baby Tad.
This morning, at the lovely hour of 4 a.m., I woke to hear Seth crying. I went into him, as we are working really hard to keep him from coming to our bed, which has gotten to be a very bad habit of his. I laid down next to him, and listened to him tell me about his bad dream, and then I said, let's go back to sleep. He rolled over to his side, and inadvertently turned on Baby Tad for 3 minutes. I smiled to myself, thinking Magic Tad would help once again get my baby back to sleep. Then Seth quietly said, "no, tad" and turned him off. I laid there and realized that my baby no longer wanted his Baby Tad. I felt sad. It was the turning point that made me realize at 4 a.m. that my baby isn't a baby any longer, and all his baby things will soon follow Baby Tad into the bottom of the Toy Bucket. My boy is growing up. And it is a Bittersweet Thing for this momma.
Good-bye Baby Tad. And thanks for the magic you have brought for the past five years!
We've been planning this spring break vacay since January. Since the Chief wasn't going to be able to take off, we decided to stay closer to home, and go to Wolf creek with Shauna and her boys. We've been planning, and getting more excited about it as the months have gone by. The boys have come up with lots of ideas...play tennis, and basketball, and raquetball, and pool. We would have an easter egg hunt out on the golf course. It would be a fun week for the six boys. But then the weather forecast has been predicting lots of rain, and now, they are also saying snow for up there in the mountains. So, here we are mid April, and we're going to get snow! Some trick Mother Nature!
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| Wolfcreek, UT |
I'm going to have to pack more warm things in the morning. The most that the boys have is their hoodies. I think Noah only put in one pair of pants...he's ready for "short" weather! So am I!
Maybe I should throw in the sleds! It could be a long week if all 8 of us are stuck in the condo! Whatever happens, we'll make the most of it! And we'll miss the Chief and the dogs too!
I promise that I'll post pics when we get back!
As I was driving home today in a rain/sleet/wind storm, my mind started wandering to birthdays I've celebrated before. Frankly, I cannot recall all of them, but some really do stand out...here are a few memories...
I recall when I was 6 or 7 (I guess I could look up it up to figure out which one it was, but I'm too lazy today to do a weather google search!) we had a huge snowfall, and for my birthday, my older brothers built me a snow fort and tunnels in the backyard, and my friends and I played out in the snow!
I remember when I was turned 13 and I was playing out on the monkey bars in the backyard, and my mom calling me in for cake. I thought I was so "OLD" that day. I wore my favorite overalls, and I had a horrid perm, which looked more like an afro. (Un)Fortunately, all of those birthday pics are lost (or perhaps someone, no names here, shredded them!)
I remember on my 16th birthday my mom took me down to get my learner's permit! That was such an exciting event! And she let me drive home! Six months later to the day I got my driver's license, and went out driving with my sister, Robin. We went through my first drive-through at Burger King, and I promptly scratched the whole side of the car as I turned the corner too closely. Oh, the Joy!
Then my 28th birthday comes to mind! It was the first one as a married woman! My husband took me to the Olive Garden for dinner, and then we went back to our basement apartment, where he had many friends and family gathered for a Surprise Birthday party for me! He decorated and had cleaned the place and even made me a homemade lemon birthday cake! It was such a sweet gesture!
And then we celebrated my 40th last year, in Denver...with my oldest girlfriend, Julie and her family. It was the same week as Easter, so we celebrated them both!
And here we are now...my 41st birthday! I slept in a little. Then went to work for 4 hours. I finished up, and then met my sweetheart at the Olive Garden again for a lunch for 2. It was just nice to be together, and to enjoy a yummy lunch! Now, I'm home, and plan to kick back and relax! The Chief will make dinner and hopefully there will be a cake with candles to blow out later too! And then sometime later, my sister Suzanne and her fam are supposed to show up. They will spend the night with us, as they are here to finish up their big move to Idaho.
And just to remind me who's boss, Mother Nature has decided to give us some snow for this Birthday of mine this year too! It doesn't matter though because I still love April and all it represents, including my Birthday!
Happy Birthday to me!
I think I complained a few months back about my horrible tooth pain. I went in and had a root canal. Yet, I still had pain, and I frequented the dentist more than I would have liked. It got better for a few months, but this past weekend, the tooth pain returned. So, tomorrow that Dentist of mine is going to remove that tooth. In between sessions with my clients, no less. Because this girl is just too busy to take time off of work, and I refuse to wait another day and visit that dentist on my Birthday!
So, that is one of the reasons I have been kinda quiet this week. Just thought I should explain, since I was so boisterous about April and all. The freak snowstorm last weekend also did have something to do with my quietness.
I'll post soon about my wonderful girls day out I enjoyed last Saturday with Shauna! Shauna even thought to bring her camera along, so maybe I'll get her to send them to me and I'll share them here!
In the meantime, brush and floss daily...and maybe you can avoid meeting the dentist the way I have been lately!
