Enjoying the calm before the storm tomorrow. I expect there to be lots of screaming, box throwing and floor covered in wrapping paper!

As I sit here in the morning of Christmas Eve, tired from wrapping and making sure I’m not forgetting somethings I reflect on my childhood and how growing up it was such a magical time. As I got older the magic faded until I had kids. Having them brings me right back to that little girl that believed and wrote letters to Santa. Going to sleep on Christmas Eve with butterflies in my tummy forcing myself to fall asleep just so he comes. My parents would get one big gift that I really wanted and a few small ones. I didn’t grow up with a whole living room floor covered with presents like my husband. I never felt like I was missing out on anything because that’s all I knew, I also knew that my parents loved to travel and would take me along. I got to experience different cultures from a young age and those memories can’t be wrapped under the tree. As kids get older my husband and I think we will do the same. Making memories with our kids as a family even if it’s just getting dinner at a restaurant will go a long way. I hope everyone out there has a wonderful Christmas Eve, don’t forget to leave your cookies and milk out for Santa. The money spent, the hours of wrapping will all be worth it when you see that sparkle in their eye!

Mother’s Day

In spirit of Mother’s Day I thought I would share my experience of having a second baby. How could I possibly love another child as much as I already loved my son. I wasn’t sure that I had any room in my heart. What I didn’t know is that I didn’t have to make room, my heart stretched to have not just some but the exact amount of love for my daughter as I already did for my son. My son will always hold a special place in my heart since he’s the one that made me a mama but I even though my daughter is not even 2 yet I can’t remember life without her. She’s been the perfect addition to our family. I’m not perfect, I don’t have my shit together but when I look at my kids and see how much they love each other I know I did something right and I feel blessed. Happy Mother’s day to all the mamas! Also the picture below was taken the day after I had an emergency c section and I’m so bloated from fluids I don’t even look like myself, but hey that’s real life!

1/8/22

Today was one of the worst days of my life. It started as a typical Saturday. I woke up, got the kids dressed and ready for my son’s basketball practice. I was planning on stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts to get the kids donuts and a coffee for me. My husband was coming with us and he takes longer to get ready than us so there was no time for donuts. We drove to practice and got there right on time. My son was doing great. My husband was sitting on the other side of the court to stay by our daughter who was playing dolls with another little girl who’s brother is on my son’s team. My parents showed up and sat next to me. Everything was going fine, the kids were bouncing the balls running back and forth, doing drills. I looked over at my son and I could tell something was not right. He dropped the ball and started to walk over to me, he took his mask off and asked for water. I offered him mine since he left his in the car, he declined and said he doesn’t feel good. I told him I will go to the car and get his water and I asked him if he wanted to go home. He hugged me and said “mama something is wrong” his body got heavy and he lost consciousness in my arms. I stood up holding his body and started screaming my husband name over and over. It’s a packed gym, I was wearing a mask finally he heard me and started to run towards me. I put our son on the floor gently and screamed for people to call 911. My husband asked if he hit his head I said no he hugged me and passed out, he picked him up and started running. I got my daughter, my son’s jacket and pants and walked outside. No sight of my husband or son. The car is parked so where did they go? I see them walking out of the school. My son who was unconscious is walking. My husband took him to the bathroom, put cold water on his face and forced him to drink and he came to life. We went home. Both my parents and husband believe that he passed out from dehydration and he barely ate anything that morning before practice. I know that makes sense and I am so happy that he is ok but because of how it all happened and him passing out in my arms I have a hard time moving on. I check on him all the time, he’s all “mama I’m ok” but I just keep seeing his pale face and I keep hearing my scream for husband to come. My son is an unbelievable kid. I know he’s mine and moms brag but from the moment he came into this world people that meet him just know he’s destined to do something great. He’s smart, loves to read, has an amazing sense of humor, is a great dancer and most of all athletic. He’s programmed to be the best at everything he does and he works hard to make sure that it happens. At age 7 he knows what he wants to be, an engineer or president (said to lower gas prices). I honestly don’t know what I would do if something happened to him. I have been praying to god to keep him safe and that this was a one time situation caused by dehydration and not eating before practice. Being a parent is so scary and stressful, you want to raise them to be good, honest people and also keep them safe. I have so much guilt from not feeding him at home that morning, I should have known we could be running late and wouldn’t have time to stop at Dunkin’ Donuts. I should have woken him up earlier that day so we would have plenty of time for breakfast. I try and try to be the best mom, and I feel like I failed. I did not keep him safe. That whole situation broke me. I keep hugging him, checking on him. I take for granted my kids, my husband I need to take a step back and appreciate what I have. Life is short, too short. So we need to love our babies, hold them as much as we can and tell them we love them even more than we do now.

It’s 5pm on a Sunday night and I have to go back to work tomorrow. My stomach hurts just thinking about it. This past week flew by so fast, I loved not have to wake up in a rush to get my son ready for school and to make myself look half decent. So dreading tomorrow where my life goes back to Chaos management. My work gives me so much anxiety, It’s been very clear lately that they are using me for my ideas and actually hired a girl who’s job is to copy the marketing that I do for my company. I feel like there’s no room to grow and most of all I feel stuck. I am good at my job, I take pride in it but lately I’ve lost all of my drive and feel like I’m not sure what I’m working towards. I know what’s going to happen tomorrow I will wake up, I will get my son ready and drop him off at school and I will go to work. By Tuesday I will be back in the swing of things and hating life again. I feel like after vacation you need something to look forward to just to keep going. I do have a business trip in March ( for a job I’m not happy at) lol. Ok no more negativity, this is 2022. New year, new me with all the same problems. I will do my best to be in the moment and really enjoy life, focus on the positives. I started a new face washing/toner routine to make myself look like I’m 22 ( haha not 34). Also hopefully I’ll be saying goodbye to some pounds, I have been drinking giant jug of water everyday. It’s funny how New Years forces people to take a hard look at themselves and see what they are not happy with. I also read somewhere that dressing better forces you to look at yourself in a better light. I’m going to start trying to not look like I just rolled out of bed in 2022. I also got some turtlenecks because I think that’s going to be a go to top this year. Last time I wore a turtleneck was in 6th grade, I felt suffocated the whole time. Wish me luck. So the new Kate will arrive to work tomorrow, with shiny skin from all the crap that I’m using to look like I am 22, with a coffee in one hand, giant water jug in the other wearing a turtleneck. I will also have my new work tote with my new 2022 planner in it, that I am going to force myself to use and not stop by February like all the others. Positive, only positive thoughts. Wish me luck. 01/02/21