Of Kid-Meltdowns and Singing Epiphanies

I had an a-ha moment this week with Lucy:

My "down-time" during the day occurs usually from 1:30-2:30...my "lunch hour", if you will. Simon & Lucy are napping and Maya & Mason are still at school. I usually make my lunch, then eat it in front of the computer while I read Facebook or blogs, or whatever. It's my little re-charge before the craziness of after-school and homework and driving to activities and cooking/eating and the whole bedtime routine begins.

One day this week I was sitting at the computer when I heard Lucy start to cry. When she does that during her nap, it is usually disastrous. She's in sort of a half-sleep and it takes a long time to calm her down. She'll never go back to sleep after one of those episodes, and is cranky until bedtime. I hurried in to hold her before she got too worked up. I sat down in the chair with her and tried rocking her, patting her, snuggling her, but she resisted and continued crying uncontrollably.

Then I started singing to her. I used Simon's "playlist" of songs he likes me to sing to him before his nap...all of his Mormon-kid favorites. I Am A Child of God. Teach Me to Walk in the Light. She started to calm down. She relaxed. She stopped crying. And then I sang I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was singing as I sat cuddling my baby, rubbing her back and singing softly into the top of her head, until I got to the words "Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought, for these are the things Jesus taught".

All of a sudden, it hit me. I'm doing it! I'm being gentle and loving. I'm not frustrated that my me-time was interrupted. I'm not annoyed. I'm not fussing at her to just go.to.sleep. I'm being gentle and loving. I'm actually following Jesus! So I started the song over and paid attention. I love the words of the chorus: "Love one another as Jesus loves you. Try to show kindness in all that you do. Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought, for these are the things Jesus taught.".

What would Jesus do? Love one another. Be kind. Be gentle. Be loving. I SO want to remember that...I so want to be like that. Not just because I know (duh!) that those are good ways to be, but also because I want to be like Jesus. I'm a follower of Christ (far from perfect as I am), but sometimes I don't know exactly what to do, day in, day out, to show that to the world. But this mini-epiphany is a great place to start!

{Miss Lucy post-meltdown on another occasion. A little 5 minute snoozer after an hour of mania. Good times. I do enjoy the snuggles when I can get them!}

Easy Green

I have been singing the praises of my green morning smoothie all over town this week. Best way to start my day and my kids love it, too!

And why wouldn't they? Look at all that deliciousness!

(Actually, my big kids are skeptical, since it's green and they know it has spinach in it. They know it's yummy, but they think it shouldn't be. The littles LOVE it.)

So here's my lineup:

A good handful of baby spinach

A whole orange, peeled and sectioned

A whole small apple, cored and chunked

A handful of blueberries

A few strawberries

A couple scoops of strawberry yogurt (I get the light version)

A splash or 2 or orange juice

Lots o' ice

I don't have an awesome, $500 blender, so I wasn't sure I could make this type of smoothie. But I totally can! I have to babysit it a bit...blend, then stir, blend, then stir...a couple of times, but then it gets rolling and chop chop, I have a day's worth of fruit and some veggies in a cup. SUPER yummy, as that's my top priority, and gives me tons more energy than I would otherwise have in the morning.

Try it! Any mix of fruits will work...pick your favorites!

(Thank you, Jen, for teaching me your smoothie method! Yum and YUM!)

Best of 2011: Phone Pics

Phone pics are the best. You know, sort of. They make it to Facebook. Well, most of them. But they don't usually get downloaded to the computer or make it onto the blog. Until now! Here's a backwards look at some of my favorite phone pics of the past few months.

Lucy is so strong-willed! I've never had a toddler care what they were wearing. Lucy loves to be fancy, she loves to wear shoes and hats, etc. And when she found this Santa dress in her closet, she was wearing it, baby, no matter what!

I never wonder more if Maya is actually my flesh and blood than when she wanders into a petting zoo. Never in a million years would I pick up a rooster! But that's Maya for you. She picked up all the animals, I think, including the baby goats. You can't see me shaking my head back and forth, wrinkling my nose, so you'll just have to imagine it. I'm no animal lover, but my kids definitely are. Which is a good thing.

Mason does this awesome wink that we all love, complete with clicking sound. So here's a look at the wink + a painted-on ninja mask. Pretty awesome!

Maya dressed up in a Wales-ish costume (made by me-truly with the help of my trusty glue gun) for her school heritage presentation on Wales. So cute!

34 and counting, baby! How much do I love my Happy Birthday Natalie cake? Very, very much. (Thanks, Michelle!)

Maya broke her mother's heart when she chopped off all that beautiful hair. And by that I mean, I'm so proud of Maya for donating her hair to Locks for Love. (Sniff, sniff.)

Maya loves her new look, and so do I. But what I really love is that there is no crying at hair-brushing time anymore! It's a beautiful thing all the way around.

Purple girl! This was a favorite outfit of Maya's when she was this age. I can't believe how much they look alike.

My shopping buddy! Simon prefers "the big part" of the cart and really is the best go-along guy ever. Anytime he senses anyone might be leaving, he's there, ready to go. "I go." is definitely Simon's motto.

Oh boy, blankie washing day is the saddest day ever. Poor Lucy.

Maya & I had the best time at the Texas book festival. While I waited in line to meet Rosemary Wells (so awesome!), Maya stood next to a "No Stopping, No Standing" sign. I thought it was funny.

Give me the sucker and no one gets hurt.

Simon & Jonathan out for a spin around the neighborhood. (Notice: rain boots.)

Simon's favorite place to eat is Freddy's Frozen Custard, or "Big Wass Cream Cone", as he says. They're getting to be on an even more familiar basis lately, so he just refers to it as "Big Wass" most of the time. And we all know what he means. And we head there immediately because their hot dogs, fries and chocolate custard shakes are not to be missed. Big Wass forever.

Fun event of 2011 for Chris & Natalie: Chris won tickets (but I was the one that entered us both into the contest) to the Austin City Limits television show taping of Coldplay's New Year's special. We were literally sitting directly next to the stage. It was freaking awesome.

Why yes, that is Chris Martin's piano just a few feet in front of me, thanks for asking. Truly, super amazing concert experience. Nobody beats Coldplay.

Silly girls! We are so happy that Maya & Addie are in the same class again this year. They're making it a thing, having spent Pre-K and 1st grade together also. We love their friendship because it's no-drama and all fun. Such great little buddies.

Snuggler! Mason is famous for sneaking into our bed Ninja-style. We don't mind, since most of the time, he's the only one that will give us the snuggles we need and deserve.

Lucy's such a big help! Rearranging the laundry is only one of her skills. She's actually really good at rearranging anything you leave in her reach.

Look! It's the stroller from the movie Up! Seriously, though, why all the balloons? Nordstrom half yearly sale, maybe? And each kid has to have one, of course. It has to be fair.

Two of Maya's best little friends decorated our drive way while we were out to birthday dinner. Thanks, Addie & Alia!

Man, this traffic sucks!

And finally, obligatory Santa picture. And not a bad one, at that! Merry Christmas, 2011!

Obligatory Christmas Sunday Pictures

My kids only get new church clothes maybe twice a year...Christmas and Easter. So when they do, I try to make them sort of matchy and cute, you know. And then, of course, we're obligated to pull out the tripod and try to get a bit of a family photo, such as this:

Do you see that? Everyone looking at the camera? Almost everyone smiling? Only one person wearing his distracting rain boots. (And then there's the one in the distracting yellow tights...)

Ta Da! It's the Cottam kids. This might be one of my favorite ever Cottam kids pics, really. Except that one rascal, still not smiling.

Get over here, Simon! Let's work on that smile. See, like Mommy. Do it.

Hmm, almost...

That's really more grimace than smile.

Mason, show your brother how to smile. Ugh, forget it.

Bring me the baby. She's a good smiler.

Now how 'bout just one of me and my tights. Wait a second! What? There's a what behind who? Oh, you silly Cottams.

Merry belated Christmas from the Cottams & hap hap happiest 2012 to you!

Best of 2011: THREE Years Old & Loving It!

Simon! That kid is such a character. There is really no other good way to describe him. He is fun and funny and has quite the mind of his own. As we always say of Simon, "The little man knows everything!". He walks into every room like he owns the place and knows just what his plans are.

This is Simon on his 3rd birthday, October 29. We had a party at the park with some of his best little buddies. Of course, after being 100+ degrees for , oh, 5ish months, suddenly it was windy and freezing that day. Of course.

Oh well, we had a blast anyway. Sure the cute decor and doughnut-pops blew away. Do you think this guy cared? (No, he did not.)

He played on the swings, ran around with his friends, went down the slide...

...so much fun!

My favorite part was when we sang Happy Birthday to Simon, and he sang along, 10 times louder than anyone else in the crowd. "Happy Birthday, dear Simon!"

Mmm, worm cake!

Due to his mother's extreme laziness and distaste for potty training, we have waited until the last week of 2011 to cross "Potty Train Simon" of my 2011 to-do list. He's doing awesome and I'm super proud of him, but I super hate potty training. But just think, if I get my act together, I could legitimately be DONE with diapers by this time next year...Lucy will be 2 1/2, so maybe we'll make post-Christmas/pre-New Year's week a traditional potty training week. Now that would be pretty exciting!

Other Simon tidbits:

• Simon loves his blankies. His favorite one is named...wait for it..."Favorite One". But in a pinch, "Number Four", "Choo Choo" or "Whitie" will do. "Greenie" never really caught on, but "Big New Favorite One" is finding some favor lately.
• Simon recently said "bye-bye to cribbie" and is loving his big boy bed. He has it filled with his "Octis" (a shameful number of Sonic kid-meal stuffed toys) and all of his many Snoopys. He also keeps several flashlights handy and loves his glow-in-the-dark ceiling stars.
• Simon likes to do what Simon likes to do whenever Simon likes to do it and he is not concerned with pleasing you. Most of the time. Every now and then he'll throw you a bone.
• Simon loves to be read to and sung to. He also loves Phineas and Ferb, but who doesn't? :)
• Simon can sing his "ABCDs" and count really well, but has no concept of color. He can sort things into color piles, so I don't think he's color blind, but for some reason color names just aren't sticking for him. I'm sure it will click when he feels like making it click.
• After being super slow to speak, Simon is that chattiest, most articulate kiddo ever. I just love some of the crazy things that come out of his mouth. He is truly a budding comedian. Just ask him. No one thinks Simon is funnier than Simon himself.

And I could go on, but I'll stop. So glad to have this guy in my brood. He keeps me on my toes and I just adore him.

Best of 2011: Punk Kids

One of the most important discoveries I made in 2011 is that I, in fact, can't do everything. I'm sure I always knew this, logically, but as life becomes busier and busier, it's being demonstrated more and more often. Some of these things, we're used to, i.e. I can't keep my house clean. Others have been more of a surprise, such as not writing blog posts and thank-you cards. I've always been so good at both of those things, but this year, I've come up short. So I've missed journaling some fun parts of the year, such as the annual visit to the pumpkin patch.

4 kids in the patch and 3/4 of them looking at the camera = success!

Maya age 8

Mason, 5 1/2

Simon, "almost" 3

Lucy - 1 1/2

We were quite the disastrous bunch at the pumpkin patch. Simon latched onto a wheel-barrow that he was convinced belonged only to him and was heart-broken when that didn't seem to be the case.

Lucy made more than one break toward the busy street and Chris & I had to do some sprinting. Maya "juggled" pumpkins we had no intention of buying. Mason, I believe, behaved himself. There's always one. Thank goodness for that!

Best of 2011: Running

"Learn to Run" was one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2011. And in fact, looking over the list, is the only one that I completed with much success. But that's what great about running. It's a good, quantifiable goal, unlike "Be a more thoughtful friend" and "Speak kind words". (Actual goals from my 2011 list, ugh. Mission not accomplished: "Be on time.".)

As I've blah blah blogged (and blah blah blahed to anyone who would listen), I started in April with the Couch to 5k program. Nine weeks later I graduated and just kept running. My uncle suggested I join him in Vegas for a 1/2 marathon in December. I laughed in his face. (Via Facebook message, which is so much less insulting.) Then one of my "running mentor-ish" friends told me I should do it. Then she posted a training schedule to my Facebook page. So I decided, what the heck!

Fast forward to December. In an attempt to be more fiscally responsible (read: I'm cheap) I decided to skip Vegas and find a race to do closer to home. And that's how I ended up in College Station, Texas on December 11, 2011, pumped and ready to run 13.1 miles with 2,500 of my new best friends.

At least that's how it felt at the starting line. Everyone talks about the "energy" at races. I didn't know what that was about, but now I do. I got a little choked up at how far I'd come to be there that day, and I just wanted to hug everyone else, knowing they'd come that far and farther (it was a full marathon as well), too.

Hey guys! Isn't this fun?

Woo hoo, mile 3 and the sun was coming up. This was my first time running in "gear". Usually if it's cold enough to want a jacket and gloves, I'll just pass on running that day. It was a lot colder than I was used to, but by mile 3 I was feeling good and warm.

Natalie! You're going the wrong way! Wait, no I wasn't. I just thought it was a funny picture. Silly, silly.

Double fisting my water, baby. I'm proud to say I ran all 13.1 miles, except for (quickly) walking through 4 water stops. I took my "shot blocks" (awesome little inventions) at miles 5 and 10, while running.

Hi everyone! Still having fun!

This run/walker behind me ended up smoking the heck out of me. I was amazed to watch people do that. But that wasn't my goal. Running it was my goal, and I did it!

Here we come thru the adorable Texas A&M campus. We were very impressed with the campus and the town. I'm surrounded by my silent running buddies. By mile 4ish, I was in a pack with the same people for most of the race. I'd pass them, then they'd pass me. We never talked, but it was nice having them there.

Thumbs up! I think this was maybe mile 8 or 9. After that Chris was trying to connect with my parents & the kiddos, and I kept missing them, so I was on my own from then until the end.

Here I am coming into the finish line! There's a big(ish) hill riiiight at the end that you have to go up before you come down. It felt good coming down that hill and seeing my family all there at the finish line.

Nice rear shot as I come into the finish line...pardon me. :)

Woo hoo! I got my apple juice!

What? Oh right, and my medal, too. I hogged down some oranges and a banana but passed on the BBQ and beer (at 9:30am, really people?).

I just wanted a picture with my cheering squad, but they weren't having it. 3/4 of them were crying, thank you very much. Nice way to greet your mother who has been running for 2 1/2 hours. (Make that 2:21:27, a 10:49 pace, just below the race average of 2:22:33.)

Ah, good thing I love those little turkeys!

Ta da! It is done.

So, overall thoughts on the race. Super fun! I had a blast doing it and would totally do it again. I was super, super duper pooped after. Like, about to die pooped, but only afterward. I was tired during, but never close to death and/or quitting. And literally a hour or 2 after the race, I started to feel myself getting sick and ended up with the worst case of bronchitis of my life...lasting 2 miserable weeks. I have no idea if this is race-related or just a coincidence, but I hope that never happens again. I'll definitely run another to find out, though I can't see myself doing more than 1 or maybe 2 in a year. The training is really time consuming. Instead, Chris & I are doing a 1,000 mile challenge for 2012. That comes out to about 20 miles per week (with 2 weeks off). I think 4 5-mile runs per week sounds just lovely and I'm totally looking forward to it.

Again, let me use any small piece of influence I have to encourage you to give running a shot if you never have. I never thought I'd be able run...I can't emphasize that enough. I just never thought I could do it. It is very empowering to find out what your body can do, and I have never been healthier in my life. Added bonus, it's motivated not only Chris to run, but also Maya, who is up to 3 miles at this point. It makes me happy.

I'll see you out there for 1,000 miles in 2012!