The ups, the downs, and the in betweens!

I must warn you now, I may sound a bit whiny and irritating at certain points in this blog of mine....today may just be one of those damn whiny days too!!!

It has been a VERY busy past several weeks in the 'ole Heiring house. About a month and a half ago I found out that the excruciating pain that I was feeling was not just indigestion or a minor heart attack. Yes- I used the word heart attack- if you felt what I felt, you would have thought that you were dying too!!!! This lovely pain (what a positive way to put that) was actually my gallbladder letting me know that it has had it with this body and it was wanting a new place to stay. So, we parted ways on Monday, August 15th. Surgery went well, a little longer than expected due to a tumor that was found on my liver. Luckily, the tumor was still benign and all is "a-okay!" They removed the tumor and the gallbladder and after a rough first few days with a lot of pain, I am proud to announce that I am back on track, training hard, and chasing my little "chitlens" around again.

I have been busy attempting to keep up with the food intake that Oli has now begun. I make all of the baby food that our boys consume...Oli has DEFINITELY kept me on my toes and busy as ever. The boy eats non-stop, I swear. Maybe I feel so behind because when I had only Cole, I had all the time in the world to make this food, clean the house, get schoolwork done, and God knows what else I wasted my time doing. Now, they have me outnumbered and running like mad. That has to be the reason why I constantly feel behind, out of the loop, and unorganized. What a way to feel, huh? I just thank whoever is above me for the time I get with my boys. Watching them grow and change is such a remarkable experience that I never knew anything about until Cole and Oli graced our lives.

Cole has become quite the independent, defiant, and jubilant little 2 1/2-year-old. It seems as though we went from an independent, yet flexible child to a crazy, I do it my way when I want and how I want little boy in just a blink of the eye. I swear it happened over night. Some days, I feel as though all I do is put out fire after fire after fire in the house, but just when I am at my breaking point, Cole will turn the charm on and all is forgotten. I love those moments when it is just Cole and I and we have these in-depth conversations about such important things in life...you know- loaders, diggers, trucks, going potty, daddy, Papa, and of course....THE BOAT!!! How could we not talk about the boat, even one day of no boat talk is unimaginable. He certainly loves his papa and his boat as well as the ground that his daddy walks on!! Most days, I wonder what goes on his little brain....what a ride it would be to just crawl up there and get to experience first hand what is actually going through Cole's brain. Maybe, just maybe, I don't want to know because I will finally learn what he is thinking when he is doing that one thing that I absolutely hate. Who knows....I am thankful for naps and bedtimes at 8 because if it weren't for those moments, I would go nuts some days! Does that make me a bad parent?

I recently spoke with a local church (I know, I just mentioned "church" in my blog, odd!!) about sending Cole 2-days a week for half of a day of 3-year-old preschool. He needs the structure, the organization, and socialization. I think it would help to keep him challenged and well-balanced. I will miss him, but I will also love the time away from him as well. I hate to say it, but my baby needs time away from me too.

Oliver has made some huge milestones in the past few weeks....my baby boy is FINALLY sitting up completely by himself, throwing himself to the ground (that just sounds harsh), rolling around, and has begun to get up on both his hands and his knees and is rocking and pushing backwards. So far, he can slowly, but surely get across the living room floor backwards and is GREAT at getting stuck under things. This new found exploration has also allowed Oli to be more in tune with what is around him and not have the constant need/want/desire to always be held or in close proximity to me. Besides Oli's new found movement, he has become quite the eater as well. We have closed in on testing and eating almost all of the veggies and we are now beginning to learn the world of fruit. Boy does he love food. I am now only nursing morning and night . Oli is starting to feed himself some finger foods and is holding onto his sippy cup, but not quite drinking from it yet. Oli has started to join in on the bath fun with Cole, but he still stays in his tub. He may be 9 months now, but he still is a little peanut. At his check-up, his weight was in the 7%, head circumference in the 6% (he has my tiny head), and his height was in the 25%. He is so incredibly opposite from what his big brother has been.

Curt has been non-stop at work. A TON of over-time has been put in in the past month to help get the computers and network ready for the beginning of the school year. Cole has struggled with this and I have missed having my best friend around greatly. He leaves early and comes home late. Its amazing what we do for our families, but Curt goes above and beyond for us. We have taken such a huge hit financially this year with Curt's 20% and now my 20% cut too. I just keep telling myself that everything happens for a reason and this reason is just not known yet.

We also recently welcomed in a new addition to our family. I found out about a rescue organization near Portage, WI that was going under and was in financial trouble. The property was being auctioned off and there was still animals that desperately needed homes. I told Curt about the group and he immediately told me no, but the more I told him about the group and started showing him pictures the more he eased up. I have always had this dream of owning a black and white cat- a cow cat!! They happened to have a little boy by the name of JR who was a "cow cat." We went and met him and ended up falling in love and bringing him home. He has been the perfect addition to our family and we are now larger then ever! It is never a dull moment in this house with all of the animals, children, and other crazy things going on. JR is quite the big baby and happens to be MY baby. You see, the last cat, Annie (we still have her) was supposed to be my cat. She didn't turn out that way. She LOVES Curt and really doesn't care for me. I was so excited when he really took a liking to me. As I type, JR is right next to my leg snoozing away along with all 3 dogs. I have no clue where Annie is currently hiding.

Besides surgery, work, and new additions, I have kept busy with my training. In September, I will be training quite extensively for my very first 5K run. I am doing 5 days of boot camp, some swimming, A LOT of running, spinning, and pilates. My plate will be full, but I have come to really enjoy what I am doing and my trainer has been amazing. I am changing as a person and I feel as though I am becoming a better model for my boys.

Well, this is long enough. I guess it isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be...I had my ups and I had my downs, but isn't that how life goes???

Here's to an amazing Labor Day weekend full of fun, rest, and a little 5K action, wahoo!!!!

Signing off.....

Mama Bear