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Feast or Famine

2 Mar

So much has happened with the Valles fam this past week that it was too hard to sit down and write about at the time – now though the boy is taking a nap (and will probably wake up before I can finish this) so I will try and share everything as quickly (and interestingly) as I can.

Last Thursday – I get sick.  Like real sick.  Like can’t stand up or I’m going to throw up sick.  Like did throw up while boy was playing with the toilet bowl brush with one hand and hitting me on the back with the other.  I couldn’t function and wasn’t able to call in sick because Andrew was stuck in a meeting all day and couldn’t come home.  It was a big challenge.  Before, when I worked and got sick, I could call in and then Andrew would take the kids to day care – of course you know that’s not the case anymore so I was forced to try to stomach making them lunch and required to try and stay awake.  By the end of the day I started feeling better but then Andrew started feeling sick and then (even worse) at 3 in the morning Nia wakes me up saying in a very sad voice “Momma, I threw up in my bed.”  She stayed sick for the next 24 hours.  I finally knew she was feeling better when she asked for “chicken, french fries and bananas” for dinner.

After the Sickiness

After the Sickiness

On Monday, we all loaded up (minus Joey who got to stay at a doggy-kennel-resort) and headed to Savannah.  Andrew had to work there and I figured we all might as well go since we really didn’t have to be here by ourselves.  Visiting Savannah was so wonderful and it made me remember why I loved it there so much.  Of course the people we love, but also there’s just something about that town.  I even missed that awful smell that is distinctly Savannah.  We only stayed for a few days but they were such great days.  The kids and I got to spend time with Aunt Ree, Uncle Marcus and Baby Ella – Ginger, Lee and Cami – Karen and Baby Andrew – Paul – I even went to see WSAV and Nia got to play with her old friends at her day care.  It was awesome taking her there – the kids bombarded her and they fought over her all day saying “that’s MY Nia!”  She was a little overwhelmed and played hard and it was just so sweet to see how much 3-year-olds can miss each other.  Nia’s really good friend Avery started to cry when Nia had to leave – kind of like I did when I had to say goodbye to Ginger – proving there’s really no age limit on missing your buddy.

Before the Move

Just Visiting

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You’re My Favorite

14 Feb

He's All Mine

He makes me laugh and laughs with (at) me. He puts up with me and my moodiness. He spoils me. He makes me feel safe and comfortable, always putting his family first. He likes my cooking. He tells me I’m smart even though we both know I can be very flighty (Me – “Oh, look at all those dogs in that field!” Him – “Those are goats!  Didn’t the grazing and ‘goat’ees give it away?”).  He always says “I love you” on the phone even if other people are around him.  He is my best friend – He is my sexy – He is my FAVORITE and he is all mine.

I usually kid with Andrew about being “all mine” whenever he does something gross (like farts or picks his nose) but I really am so very happy and lucky that he is “all mine” and I am so thankful he chose me to be his lady.

Step Aside Ladies...

Happy Valentine’s Day Andrew – I love you bunches…

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Nice 29th

12 Jan

Yesterday, I turned 29 years old and it was great.  I spent the day just like I have been, me and the kids, only I took time to try and work out a little (you know in honor of getting older and all).

It was a riot.  Nate was sitting on the floor of the living room, calmly staring at his silly mother as she tried to do ab crunches – then it got really entertaining for him.  Justin Timberlake’s “My Love” came on the XM channel I had the TV tuned to and it just made me feel like breakin’ it down some.

There he was, eyes wide, holding his blankie, as his mother started leaping across the room, swinging her head around – hair flying – I even tried to do a few turns and kicks!  I know I had to be the most ridiculous sight but I didn’t care it was so much FUN to be so crazy stupid.  I was worried for just a second that I might pull something – but right after that second I pulled another spin move and threw my arms up in the air like the gymnasts do.  HE JUST SAT THERE!  (By the way, his sister was very nicely playing with her princess dolls in her room at this time so she did not witness the mommy dance out.)

Well, fast forward to today and I pull up JT’s “My Love” on the computer – Nate starts shakin’ his money maker!  It was so hilariously adorable – I actually got some of it on camera – please don’t miss it – I even tried to add some cheesy effects to it to make it all music video-ish.

I just didn’t want to forget how I felt right after turning 29.  I had a fun day with the kids and then their daddy bought me my favorite perfume and took us out to dinner with our new parent-friends, Monica and Steven.  I got to talk to my family and I thanked my mom and dad for having me (to that my dad grossly replied “it was my pleasure”).  HA!

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Signing Off from Savannah

29 Nov

Tonight is the last night I will have this computer to type on in Savannah.  It all seems so unreal.  Right now, I should be packing up our “get us through the days until we’re in our new house” stuff but instead I’m racing to get this blog up before Andrew comes in and wants to pack up the ‘puter.  I just have to take in what I’m feeling and hold on to it in some way…

I love this city.  It is such a beautiful and captivating place – there is none other like it. I hope with all of my heart that we will be able to come back here someday…soon.  I know I’m not even gone yet – I’m sure our new city will offer me a bunch of unique qualities that I will come to love – but I’m pretty sure it will never make me feel the way Savannah does.

After all, look at all Savannah has given us.  Amazing friends, the birthplace of Nia and Nate, our first mortgage, my first real car accident (and second!), incredibly fun nights out on the town, a real sense of history just by walking on River Street (with a Wet Willy of course). I was always so excited to live in a “tourist town” because I grew up in a place that no one would ever want to pay money to visit.  Now we are moving to another “non-tourist town” and I know I will have to search through it to find the special place it will hold in my heart.

A few weeks ago I started writing a “What I Will Miss About Savannah” list.  I never really finished it – but I still want to share what I did write-
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What I’ll Miss about Savannah: (in no particular order)

-Savannah – there is no other place like it – so beautiful, mysterious, historic, entertaining, inviting – I feel like it pulled me in and now won’t let me go – I only hope it wins the tug of war and pulls me back in a few years

-Family – Andrew’s sister, her husband and our beautiful niece Baby Ella – I don’t want to miss her grow up – her, Nia and Nate LOVE playing together and I want them be close – I also love hanging out with Anna Marie and Marcus and it’s so comforting to live so close to them now

-Ginger, Lee and Cami – I so wanted to be able to Cami-sit for them like they did for us so many times – I wanted to have our families go on play dates and beach dates and then (much later) have a Cami-Nate date! – I know we still can get together – it just won’t be as easy –

-Ginger – when I needed someone she was there – even though we didn’t know each other very well at the time – I knew she genuinely cared about me and Bean when I was pregnant and Andrew was deployed – with my family being so far away, she didn’t hesitate when I asked her to be my birthing coach – what she did for us was so wonderful – she’s such an incredible person and I feel lucky to have her as a friend – I will miss being able to go to lunch with her every other week and just having her a 20 minute car ride away from a laugh/cry/chat/dinner together-

-Work people – Ike, Paul Rea, Karen – you have all meant so very much to me and it will be hard not to want to call and talk to you everyday

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It’s hard for me not to think about everything and get tears (but those of you who know me know if I DIDN’T cry something would be wrong) but I know this is not really goodbye.  It’s just see you later, talk to you soon or signing off from Savannah until the next time…

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My Last Wednesday

16 Nov

What a great day!  I was only there for part of it! I had to leave early so moving company people could come and look over all our stuff to give us an estimate.  Despite my half day though – I still have something to say about my time there.

Today I was stumped with how to put together the newscast.  Usually, when I know what my lead story is everything else just falls into place but today I felt like I didn’t have much to work with (that is until that one AWOL soldier barricaded himself in a house for 3 hours). What it really boils down to is that I just didn’t want to be there but I still did my best to make the cast as good as it could be and I still added breaking news to the website and sent out emails about crazy viewer story ideas.

I find it so frustrating that I care so much about not caring!  Part of me wishes I could just walk in there and not answer the phones – tell annoying reporters to grow up and do their jobs and to get a brain so I don’t have to do their work for them – rebel against updating the web just because I’m tired of being told how freaking important it is to do it – and probably the thing I wish I could let go of the most – the need to have every script the way I want it.

My half day is writing out like a whole day but I won’t have to worry about it next week!  Next week I’ll be working to keep two busy kids (and myself) alive while trying to move – finish preparing for Nate’s baptism and finding a sweater to wear over this cute dress I bought for my 10 year reunion (Ginger, remind me to ask you if you have one!)

It’s funny because today I got a small dose of what My First Wednesday as a full time mommy will be like – Nia was coloring in her room in the middle of 15 or 20 coloring books and I was standing right next to her sorting through her dresser drawers when a funny sound coming from Nia’s crayon.  It was then that I realized she had been coloring on the carpet!  Like really coloring – like putting her whole arm into it –

When I saw her I said with a gasp “NIA!”  She immediately started crying, you guessed it, “I wanna listen.”  When I asked her why she colored on the carpet she said, “Cuz I don’t want to.”

What?!?!

Let the adventure begin!

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Much More than a Bowl

31 Oct

Tonight, I watched a little girl entertain her little brother with a bowl. The laughter I heard coming from that baby was a sound that made me remember how truly beautiful life can be.

Every night we just kind of go through the motions – get home from work, feed the kids, feed ourselves, give kids baths, get kids ready for bed, put kids to bed, clean up mess from dinner/playtime/living, watch tivo’d shows until we both fall asleep in the living room.  I usually get stressed out when the kids make a bigger mess than usual because that means more work I have to do – but tonight as the kids were tearing apart my Tupperware cabinet – tossing bowls and lids across the floor and even into the next room – I just sat there and watched and laughed.

I saw a 10 month old follow his 3 year old sister’s every move. He then began letting out this sweet baby laugh when she put the loudest bowl on her head, spoke some ridiculous gibberish and then dumped her head to let the bowl clank to the floor.  This happened over and over again  – each time he laughed a little harder and each time the gibberish got a little more ridiculous.  (Something like, “ridabiga-ridabiga”  I’m not really sure how to type it since I really didn’t understand what she was saying.)

At first I just watched wondering why on earth he thought that was so funny – then I realized it doesn’t really matter and began laughing too.  It was a moment that I thought – I wish I had this on camera – but then I thought – I don’t want to miss any of it!

I know the next time I go to use that bowl for some leftovers I will remember how my sweetie used it to make her baby brother and her mommy so happy.  Maybe it will even make the food taste better!

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