Snowed in

As I mentioned before, last week we were pretty much stuck at home snowed/iced in. It isn't that Texans are weak, it is just that they dont have the means to clear off the roads to be able to get out and be safe. This means that everything closes and everyone stays home. We after the 2 inches of ice everywhere, it snowed and we went out and played all day long.

I learned a few things....

I learned that Boots LOVES the snow. His hands looked like this over his gloves every time we went out. He would just fondle the snow till it clumped up on his hands, then he would eat it off. He loved it.

I learned that Natalie doesn't LOVE the snow like boots does but she loves doing snow angels. Although this time she actually brought her pony's outside and played for a long time.

I learned that our neighbour, whoever they are, is rude and obnoxious. They had this truck parked out at the end of our driveway, right behind where we reverse, all week. We pulled an Austin Powers everytime we had to backout. ALL WEEK PEOPLE.

I learned that we just dont have the correct snow supplies around for everyone to be bundled up.

I learned that Texans are creative. They dont sell sleds at Walmart, so if you want to go sledding you better look around your house and through your pool toys and see what you can find. Things that work are cookie sheets, tupperware lids, cardboard boxes, air mattresses, and many pool toys.

For real, sledding was so fun. We dropped off Courtney at Papa's house, and headed over to a hill to sled. We grabbed the above mentioned things and were out there for about 2 hours. I was shocked how much fun our kids were having. Boots was going down this HUGE hill by himself and would walk up without complaints too. Natalie just wanted to scoot on her bum down the hill, but she still had fun.

It is all melted now, after a few days in the 40's. I was ready to have my roads and sidewalks back. I need to run outside! My training is going great, but I do better outside than inside. Just because I think treadmill running is so much easier and I need to train outside.

So this also has been weighing on my mind a lot lately, and always, parenting. I am always trying to be a better mom and trying to be kinder to my kids. It is hard when I am feeling anxious or upset. So I have mentioned in the past that I was stopping nursing and switching to a bottle. (FYI, JUST A reminder, this is my blog so I can freely talk about this!) So I was just pumping and keeping the "supply" up and bottle feeding it, but I realized that not only did that take up the same amount of time, but it also keeps the same emotions and feelings. I was not feeling any less anxious so something had to change. I am now in the process of completely putting her on formula, so right now she is getting a mixture of 70 B milk, 30 formula. She is doing good on it. There was a small amount of guilt going along with this decision because Courtney was such a great nurser. She was better than my other 2 and just loved it. BUT I also rememered how I am a great mom usually and I just was not living up to par.

Well I dont feel bad anymore, I know that in order for me to be the 100% mom and wife that I know how to be, I have to do this. She nursed for 5 months which is longer than either of my others, and I am proud of that. SHe is healthy and happy and I know she will be fine. Better yet, I will be fine and I will stop sweating the small things and getting so upset about every little thing that happens in my house.

BYE BYE emotional crazy mommy, HELLO sane happy fun mommy.