Flying your freak flag.

When I was younger, I was awkward. OK, even more awkward than I am today. I was tall and skinny, but not in a supermodel way. More like in a newborn-giraffe-on-water skis kind of way. I was all knees, elbows and a bouffant of home-permed hair.

I was also a weird fish in a very traditional fish pond. I didn't understand why I was different from all of the people around me, I just knew that I was. I also understood that if I showed my true colors to anyone, things would be difficult. Even more difficult than the hell of being a weird kid in a town full of non-weird kids.

I recently reached out to someone from high school to catch up. I wondered if she had changed and thought to myself, "It is kind of embarrassing how little I have changed." But then I realized that I have changed in a huge way: that little girl who was afraid to show her true colors now lets her freak flag fly on the daily. I have grown into my oddities and grown to love them. My diarrhea of the mouth and flamboyant style are no longer things I try to hide, they are things that I wear with pride.

I hope to instill this willingness to embrace your weird into my children. I hope they don't end up hiding their quirks like I did and being paralyzed with fear over being different. I hope the wave their freak flags with wild abandon and use them to attract like-minded beings that love what makes them different.

I wish the world promoted individuality instead of imitation. I wish we could all try less to conform and more to be unique. Because how boring is a world filled with beige carbon copies of one another?

If you share this post, I will buy you a pony. I suck at Twitter. I am OK at Facebook. Pinterest is my bitch. I am also on Bloglovin' and Instagram.

Soaking it all in.

I have been pausing a lot in life lately. Giving myself a chance to soak in all of the goodness that I am surrounded by. Giving myself a minute to focus on the good instead of dwelling on the bad. Letting myself feel OK with just being in the moment and breathing. 

So I don't miss all of the special little moments that surround me. Or overlook the wonder of the experiences that we have the privilege of being part of on a daily basis.

Like instead of focusing on being in the hospital and all that recovery will entail when we leave, I focused on my son getting the awesome opportunity to meet Yadi the touch therapy dog. 

Or instead of being annoyed by all of the work that it took to make it, I stopped to enjoy the beauty of the home-cooked meal that I had created.

Instead of asking my kids to get off the kitchen floor and out of my way, I stopped to notice that they looked like cats chasing the sun.

Instead of rushing off to do one thing or another when my son was finally asleep, I sat and stared at his perfect little face while he quietly slumbered.

Instead of fearing for my ankles and the ankles of all of the other unlucky shoppers my son was about to maim, I took the time to see how happy he was to be in charge of the grocery shopping.

I soaked in the beauty of a day out with my son with no interruptions.

I realized how small my daughter still is even though she is the "big girl".

I stopped to see joy and happiness in my children's faces, instead of hurrying on to the next attraction.

I let myself actually feel pretty and happy with who I am. No waiting until I changed this or that. Just being happy with the now.

I realized that the relationship my children share is special. And amazing.

I stopped to see how absolutely beautiful this face was when it is deep in concentration.

I let loose and let llama.

I took a moment to breathe in the deep love that my children have for each other. Even when they are fighting.

I even stopped to smell the clydesdales on a run (maybe a bit of a mistake...).

These small moments have been life-changing for me. None of them are newsworthy, but they have shaped who I have become over the few months: mindful. Of who I am and all that I have. Of the ability I have to change things for the better. How smalls changes can have big impacts. They are reminders that even when it seems like nothing is good in this world anymore, that maybe all you have to do is dig a little deeper. Or be a little more still.

What about you? What small things have been big moments for you lately?

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If you share this post, I will buy you a pony. I suck at Twitter. I am OK at Facebook. Pinterest is my bitch. I am also on Bloglovin'.

Tonsils, and adenoids, and tubes...oh my!

So the Cool Cucumber finally had his tonsils and adenoids removed and a second set of tubes put back in. Overall, it was a great experience and I am so happy that we went through with it. I am also glad that we waited until he was 3 to have it done. Here is a little photo rundown of how everything went.

Playing at the hospital before getting admitted.

The big weigh in.

Getting measured.

Blood pressured checked: check.

Pulse ox monitoring was one of his least faves.

Then it was time to play until we got called up to the big room.

Again, I asked to take him back for surgery so I had to suit up.

Then he was in surgery and we waited. I was so worried I didn't notice I forgot to take a bootie off for over an hour.

Once he got out, we has sort of a mess. This is very usual. He was upset and cry/coughing a lot. He was still very out of it but in a lot of pain. They don't give them pain meds until after surgery so when they wake up, they still haven't really taken effect. That sucks, but it is just the way it goes. After about 20 minutes we were wheeled up to our room.

There he finally fell asleep...for about 10 minutes.

Then he was up and not doing too bad, mostly thanks to Netflix.
Thank the sweet lord baby Jesus for free wifi and Netflix streaming.

Next it was time for popsicles. He ate three. Then downed two waffles, jello and juice... 

That evening he was ready for laps around the hospital wing and rides on his IV pole.

And some goofing off with mom.

Then, he slept. Like the dead.

Let me give you a little info on sleeping in a hospital: you won't. At all. Between his pulse ox monitor going off every 10 minutes and our roommate's going off every five, I think I got about 3 hours of sleep that night. But the boy slept like a champ, and that was all that mattered.

Me when the cute, young Dr. woke me up. HOT!

The next morning our Dr. woke me up RIGHT as I had just fallen asleep to tell me we were getting released for good behavior. Of the five kids on the floor that had had the same surgery, the Cucumber was the youngest and still had the best overnight oxygen saturation and had drank the most. They were amazed at his recovery. So were we. He was literally dancing a jig around the wing that morning making all of the nurses swoon.

Before we left we got to meet Yadi the touch therapy dog. I may have tried to sneak him into my suitcase.

Yadi love.

The hardest part of recovery is making sure you stay on top of the pain meds after. The hospital doesn't give you any prescriptions to take, just orders for alternating acetaminophen and ibuprofen. We stayed on it like a hawk for a week. Every time it came time where both meds were given at the same time and they both got close to wearing off, the boy would lose it. I felt horrible for him. We even set alarms to be up to give them to him in the middle of the night. Very important! Also, if you can, steal the hospital syringes with the caps. Not that I did that or anything...

Over the week, the boy was a bit down, but not out.

He enjoyed cuddle time with his sister.

But would get in pain when the meds were close to wearing off.

But he was a cart boss at Trader Joe's.

And enjoyed a trip the the botanical garden.

And time with mommy even when he felt pukey.

And a trip to the zoo.

And time at the park.

Soon he was back to his superhero self.

That face.

These two.

I die.

Seriously.

Now we are all back to our happy place.

Overall, the surgery was way easier than we thought and has helped a ton already. The other night I listened to the boy sleep for an hour, mostly because there was nothing to listen to. He went from Darth Vader to a silent little mouse. And it is a wonderful silence.


If you share this post, I will buy you a pony. I suck at Twitter. I am OK at Facebook. Pinterest is my bitch. I am also on Bloglovin' and Instagram.