I was deathly afraid of mothering a son. I grew up with just one sister and we were girly girls, so I could only picture myself having daughters. When I was pregnant with Julie, I was positive she was a girl, and of course she was. I just loved dressing up my beautiful little girl baby in all the adorable frilly outfits. I loved everything about having a little girl. The second time around, Scott was gung-ho about having a boy and of course we found out we were having a boy. For some reason, I was really scared to have a boy. I have always pictured little boys as rough, wild and full of mischief. That was before Johnny came along. My blue-eyed boy is wrapped so tightly around my finger, I could never really get mad at him. I never imagined a two-year-old little boy could be so sweet and sensitive. Whenever Julie is crying (which isn’t as often as it was during the school year, but it’s still too often for a five-year-old), he runs up to her, takes her face in his hands and sweetly kisses her and says “It’s OK, Julie, I give you hug.” She, of course, eats this up and squeezes him tightly back. (Despite the occasional sybling rivalry, Julie really loves her little brother. She calls him her best friend.) He is constantly saying “Mommy, I love you. Mommy, I give you hug.” The other day, this is what he said to me, and I’m dead serious: “Mommy, you’re beautiful (except it sounded like booteeful). I love you.” My heart melted on the spot and I picked him up, so he could snuggle in my neck. Don’t get me wrong. He’s definitely a mischevious little guy and I think he uses his charming ways to his advantage. If he gets in trouble, he’ll just give this little pout and start tearing up, and you can’t help but feel bad for him. Of course I end up scooping him up and cuddling him on our big recliner, as we sing songs together. He’s just too darn hard to resist!
Archive for the ‘Parents’ Category
On a Personal Note: It’s a Boy!!??
On a Personal Note: New Years Resolutions
resolution every year. Some years I’m more successful than others, but I really think the point of it for me, is to start the year off with a clean slate. It’s pardoning yourself for last year’s screwups. It’s like saying, last year might have been a bust, but I have a new chance this year. 2010 was actually a pretty good year for me, resolutions-wise. A year ago, I vowed to lose 30 pounds. Shockingly, the weight came off— 32 pounds by April, and it’s still pretty much off (though I haven’t taken into account the holiday poundage.) I have my sister, Kelly, to thank On a Personal Note; Running………………..and running, and running.
I think my husband Scott and I are getting crazier as we get older. If you would have told me five years ago that we would be running half marathons and doing crazy obstacle course races, I would have laughed uncontrollably. But we have really been into challenges lately.
A couple weekends ago we ran the half marathon in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. I run a lot, but my furthest distance was 6.5 miles, when I ran the relay half marathon in the spring in Baltimore. After running that race, I knew I wanted to do the entire 13.1 miles of the half marathon. The half marathon in Hollidaysburg was a perfect starter. There weren’t any crazy hills and the weather was brisk, but really perfect for running. For most of the race Scott and I were running alone. Yup. We were definitely the slower runners. We finished in 2 hours and 15 minutes, and there were only four people behind us. There are some amazing runners in our area. I’m not upset about our time though. It was a great race and something fun to do with Scott. We talked for most of the race. The best was at the end of the race. We were both sprinting and racing each other to the finish line. Then, we gave each other a big hug. It’s fun to share a passion with each other. Our goal is a full marathon maybe next fall in Baltimore. We also had a crazy challenge the weekend after the half marathon when we competed in the Warrior Dash in Lancaster. We met up with my sister, Kelly and some friends. It was a hilarious 3-mile obstacle course.
We climbed cargo nets, hay bales and huge metal boxes. We crawled through spider web nets and up impossibly muddy hills. Jumping in the freezing cold swamp and plunging into the muddy bog were the most extreme. In the swamp we had to climb over floating logs and in the bog we had to crawl beneath barbed wire. Covered in mud from head to toe, we sprinted to the finish line and jumped through rings of fire. It was one of the most fun and off-the-wall things we have done. Afterwards we sported our warrior hats, ate huge turkey legs and listened to music. Anyone up for a different experience, should try it next year. Check out www.warriordash.com.
On a Personal Note….Happy Birthday
My daughter Julie had been looking forward to the day forever, but I was quietly dreading it. She turned 5 and was thrilled beyond belief. Though I had a smile plastered on my face and we had a great day, I couldn’t help but feel a little blue. My baby girl is 5!! That may seem silly…especially to parents of even older kids who might be reading this. I bet if you think back, though, you might remember your kids turning 5 as a little milestone. For some reason “5″ just seems so big to me. Little by little she’s growing up more each day. Each day she needs me less and less. Scott and I were relaxing in our bed this morning as Julie played quietly by herself downstairs. (For some reason, my 17-month-old son, Johnny was sleeping later than usual.) It was a wonderful feeling, but then I felt something in the pit of my stomach—the realization that she doesn’t need me anymore. She didn’t even come in to ask me for a drink or breakfast or to play Barbies with her. She goes to the bathroom by herself, brushes her teeth, gets something to eat, puts her dishes in the dishwasher, cleans up her messes—all by herself! It seems like I’ve been waiting for a self-sufficient little girl for eternity. Now that I have her, I can’t help but miss the days when I carried her around on my hip like she was my little baby doll. Now she has her own feelings and opinions and she picks out her own clothes to wear in the morning, and no matter how much I want to do her hair in piggie tails, if she wants her hair straight, that’s her choice. As I tucked her in to bed that night and we read “Golidlicious” ( a birthday gift from Scott and me), Julie looked at me and said, “Mommy, tomorrow’s not my birthday, but I’ll still be 5, right?” I smiled in triumph. She still was my innocent little girl.
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On a Personal Note….Mother’s Day
-Kristy MacKaben
Kristy also has blog on MIRRORMOMS.
About Me
Kristy MacKaben is a stay-at-home mom. The MacKaben household also includes husband Scott, 4-year-old daughter Julie, and son Johnny who was born April 19, 2009. Kristy is also a freelance writer for the Altoona Mirror and is a member of ‘MOMS Club of Hollidaysburg/Altoona’ and ‘Mothers Of Preschoolers’.
Kristy also has blog on MIRRORMOMS.
Kristy will be submitting stories periodically about parenting or anything she wants to talk about. I wanted to diversify the content a bit on getpresales while still having it be of interest to you guys.
