2

...and I missed it, well, not her birthday, but I missed my blog entry on my sweet, little Cora - who can be very not sweet sometimes.  Everyone says it is because she is 2, every now and then, my mom mentions maybe she is a little like me, so who knows, but nonetheless, I love her to pieces!

So, each year for the kids birthday I spend a few minutes reflecting back on their births, the journey we have taken so far and some favorite things about each of them at each age.  And while I'd be happy to recount her birth again (I play it over and over in my head quite often, always with a smile on my face) and talk about our journey, I'll just skip right to the fun part.  Cora is 2 - and in that time she has become her own person, with her own thoughts and ideas and has certainly has learned to stand up for herself.  A few of my favorite things about my little girl:

• She still nurses to sleep at night and every now and then when she isn't feeling well.  I love that our nursing relationship has gotten us this far and listening to her yell at me for milkies when Sean is on bedtime night, is one of the sweetest things (mostly because Sean tells her that she needs to stand at the top of the stairs and yell for me).  
• She goes to sleep in her big girl bed just about every night and has spent a few nights in there, by herself.  Most nights she wakes up crying and Sean or I will go get her.  She then finds her way between Sean and I and mostly on top of me, kicking me out of bed.  But many times, she rolls over and mutters snuggles and milkies and makes sure she snuggles in close.
• She has learned from watching Liam - just one more, she says to me, holding her index finger up and smiling - whether it's a book at night, a piece of candy or one more time to fill up the squirt gun, she knows the look to give to get what she wants.
• I love the way she yells Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when we let them watch a show, only to sit for a solid 39 seconds before she is off and running doing something else.
• She is very opinionated - she knows what she wants, when she wants it and if she doesn't get it, well, watch out - she will let you know - she will flail backwards, kick her legs out and cry and scream at the top of her lungs.
• She is doing everything and anything to keep up with big brother, Liam.  She is killing it on her strider bike, wanting to dirt bike, play with anything he is playing with and so on.  She also likes to pick on him, and get him in trouble, but I know she is mostly always starting it.
• Me too!  is her favorite thing to say, or rather yell!  
• She's being quite stubborn with potty training at this time, thought we'd have her in underpants by now, but she'd prefer to just get her candy here and there, silly kid.

I'm sure there are a million more things that I want to capture about her right now, but this is my list to get started, to make up for being late, and to show her, even though she is the second, I love her just as much as Liam - just a few months doesn't prove anything, right?  

Lessons learned when least expected

We had an amazing weekend this weekend.  We attended the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.  Sean had talked about it, we decided we'd go for it.  It's the only time of the year you can actually camp at Pikes Peak, we were maybe 10 feet away from race cars whizzing past us, we got to sit in some cars the day before, Liam got to sign a car and we got to high five the race car drivers on the way down the hill.

It was great, a fun weekend, the weather mostly cooperated...and then it happened.  The car wouldn't start.  We were stuck in the middle of Pikes Peak with our camper, the kids, 2 other friends and just not even sure where to start to get back home.  So, the process began, I went to tell the sheriff directing traffic we needed a tow truck, he was working on it, then the rain and hail came (perfect timing).  The process began - lots of people trying to figure out what to do, Sean being patient as they finally agreed to listen to his plan, the kids on the side of the road with car seats, me waiting for some help from someone, not sure who to ask, and so on.  They finally got the car and trailer loaded up, we finally got a ride to the gates of Pikes Peak, where we then needed to wait for a cab (in this time, I was reminded how great it was to have kids around - they just wanted to run around and play and I just wanted to be upset about how late we will get home, etc. - but nope, I got up and ran around and played tag and the laughs that came out of Cora and Liam were totally priceless).  Cab finally came and the kids were just laughing and having a blast.

I think we should take more cues from kids,,,right?  Maybe they have way more figured out than we give them credit for.  They just rolled with it, they got from one car with the rangers, to the next car with a crazy cab lady (who may or may not have stolen the cab from someone else), to back to Jolie's, where thank god she had cheerios and her neighbor had milk, to the ride home with Brit when they FINALLY crashed.  Cora cried for maybe 5 minutes on the way home, they both freaked out when we got home, but other than that, they were rock stars, they barely cried, they were friendly and polite to everyone we met and they just enjoyed it all.  They never cease to amaze me with how much stuff they put up with.

They went to sleep and Sean and I sat on the front porch and talked some more...the tow truck driver jacked up a our camper a bit...the car, who knows what will happen with the car...and if we wanted to make the experience be a bad one, this situation could have done that.  I wasn't going to let that happen.  I was going to let the kids remember the crappy part of the day.  I wasn't going to let Sean keep beating himself up over it.

Fact is, this car is a piece of crap, we both know and we both hate it.  So, now we figure out what to do that.  But while talking, I realized something pretty crazy.  The car would have crapped out on our way home...going down Pikes Peak, we could have lost power steering/brakes and that could have be bad, really bad.  Once that started going through my head, I told Sean it was a blessing it didn't start when it did.  Sure, it was a sucky situation, but it could have been so much worse.  No one was hurt, we just have to fix a damn car and parts of a camper.  The kids had fun, I kept my shit together (shockingly!) and all was good.

Yesterday was 10 years from the day Sean and I met...as we sat on the front porch, I asked if he knew he'd up here with me...this life, adventures that always have something go a little wonky...these amazing kids that were top notch this weekend, this love that got us through this tough time with no yelling (he insists I'll still yell at him, which is possible!), this life we have...and we both thought about it, and honestly, when I met him, I knew something was different with him...not sure I envisioned all of this, but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.  I love being his teammate, and now I look at the rest of our team (Cora and Liam) and I'm so impressed with them and what they have done and look forward to what they will do!

Team Foege doesn't always do things easy, and most of the time we make shit much harder on ourselves that it needs to be, but when I look to see how strong we are, I'm amazed.

I'm also beyond impressed with some of the friends we have made so far out here in Colorado.  Friends that aren't used to kids, but put up with them and these crazy adventures for at least a few extra hours.  Friends that crack open a beer to split with me because it's been that kind of day.

And I went to bed last night with the biggest smile on my face.  Yes, I miss my family and yes, this process would have been much simpler if my parents were in town, but the family we have here is growing in ways I never realized possible.  As long as you go through life with the right people, no situation can be that terrible, and that's something I hope the kids will see as they get older - it's not what happens, it how you deal with it.

I gave myself 2 minutes to slightly freak out about the car thing - in those 2 minutes (I was out of the sight of the kids), they also freaked out - Sean told me that was the only time they cried the whole time.  I'm OK with my little freak out, I regrouped and got my shit together and we rolled with it all...but honestly, you get back what you give - I (after taking direction from Liam and Cora) gave a good attitude in a shitty situation and I learned how much that can come back to help you out.  And it makes me so happy and lucky, despite our piece of shit car! :)