Life in Daybreak: 2010

Dec 13, 2010

divorce

(Never mind the sad looking picture, it's one of the only decent pictures I had on my computer)

It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Not contemplating for myself, just thinking about the subject in general. It just makes me so sad to think about families breaking up, and I find myself wondering how Heavenly Father can possibly make it right. What happens after this life to family relationships that were disrupted by divorce? How do single mothers do it, anyway? I can barely handle two kids even when Matt is around to help.

So finally after all this pondering, last night I had a dream that Matt left me and had remarried within a week . I remember being especially devastated when his new wife said that they were saving up to buy a new couch. I felt so betrayed, and I thought "That should be my couch, and my savings, and my husband." The only other specific memory I have is of texting Matt to say that I missed his casserole (euphemism?). I woke from the dream feeling so sad, and it wasn't until I told Matt about it several hours later that I really started to feel better.

The past few weeks and last night's dream have made me realize that I would do anything to keep my marriage intact. We are definitely imperfect people, and we really get on each other's nerves sometimes, but nothing makes me happier or more fulfilled than being with my little family. I can't even imagine how painful it would be to lose that. The sad thing is, I don't express these feelings to my husband often enough. I get caught up in the busyness of every day life and forget to really appreciate him. So I'm glad I had that terrible dream because it reminded me just how lucky I am. Thanks honey for being my family, I sure love ya.

Nov 3, 2010

Jonah Taylor McDaniel

If you've been wondering where I've been lately... now you know! We [Marci and I] welcomed our second son into the world on November 1st. He was 7 lbs. 13 oz., and 20.5" long. He's furry, has long fingers and toes, and like to give me little pirate-y looks. Marci did an awesome job, going through her 2nd delivery sans medication. Au-natural. I am very proud of her and love her and our boys VERY much. Enjoy the photos.

Oct 20, 2010

I find myself sitting on the couch while Miles is napping, not enough energy to do housework or baby prep stuff, but no desire to watch TV or take a nap. So what do I do? I blog!

First of all, I don't think I ever really announced that I'm pregnant. So here it is. I am due in exactly one week, and am feeling all kinds of nervous and excited and sad and anxious and dreamy. I definitely have more conflicting feelings this time around because I'm worried about how much this will change Miles' life and I just hope that he adjusts well to having a baby brother.

Speaking of Miles, I started keeping track of his vocabulary last week when I realized that he seemed pretty advanced in language skills. I'd read somewhere that he should have a vocabulary of 50-75 words by the time he's 2. He's 21 months right now, and so far the tally is 196 words. Yep, he's pretty much a genius. He's also able to string several words together to form primitive sentences. I won't bother posting all of his words, but here are a few of my favorites.

Squeeze- what he says when he gives us hugs

Money- he loves putting coins in his piggy bank

Heavy- what he says any time he is trying to open a door or lift something off the ground (he also grunts a little when he says it)

Lion- any time he uses that word, he follows it up with a nice roar

Cow- by far his favorite animal; he loves to sing Old McDonald, and any time I ask him to choose the animal he chooses a cow

Head- he also loves to sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Airplane- any time he hears a loud noise outside, he calls it an airplane; if I try to tell him that it was a truck or something else, he is insistent that it was an airplane

Broccoli- one of his favorite foods; he actually pronounces it something like "boppy" but we know what he means

Ice cream cone- what can I say, the kid is spoiled with the good stuff

Oh no, he's hurt!- probably one of my favorite things about Miles is that he is so compassionate. Any time he sees someone (or a character in a book) get hurt, he gets really worried about them and I have to reassure him that they're ok. And when he gets hurt, he will come tell me about it with these big sad eyes, then hold out his afflicted body part for me to kiss it better.

I sure love my little guy. Of course I'm going to adore him because he's the fruit of my womb, but anyone that knows Miles will admit that he's special. He's smart, sweet, cute (those eyes! those cheeks!), funny, good natured, happy, playful, loving, a ham, and so on. I can only hope I'll get this lucky a second time.