Monday, November 15, 2010

Jason and Holly are MARRIED!!

My latest Interactive Slideshow. Wedding days are just the best.

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You can also view this at Jason and Holly's Personal Wedding Site.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Challenges of Motherhood

Being a mother is a lot more challenging and plain out HARDER than I ever thought it would be. A baby is a walk in the park compared to when they get to be around 6-7 years old in MY book. I will not make this blog post a list of all of the things I have found challenging in the past year. . .
Instead, I will discuss one thing that has been a thorn in mine and Spencer's side. Teaching Liam how to ride a bike.

{{SIGH}}

Now I will admit that I had my own challenges when learning to ride a bike. But, honestly, those challenges came once my training wheels were off the bike. Hmmmm, whereas Liam's have come from the time he started riding a tricycle.

First, his legs were too short, then it was just too hard for him to push the pedals, then his legs were too long for a trike and they kept hitting the handlebars.

Okay, then he inherited a bike from a good buddy of his. Spencer and I went out and got training wheels to put on it. Somehow he never could ride it though. I don't blame him on that one though. I tried riding it myself and the pedals really seemed stuck.
(Feel free to go ahead and picture me on a kid's bike now)

NEXT, I tried him on a bike at Wal-Mart to see if the situation were hopeless.
He rode it fine. Good news. So my mom and dad got him the bike he wanted for a gift
on Spencer's and my wedding anniversary.

Well. . .my dear, dear, DEAR boy has fears. Fears that his Transformer helmet and shoulder and knee pads can't seem to fend off. This could be because I made the mistake of letting him ride it one time without the knee pads and he scraped his knee. Or it could be due to my misguided effort to make him feel better about falling by telling him about my own war wound.

When I had learned to ride my bike I had issues making U-turns while riding. Instead, I would stop the bike, turn it around, and then keep going. Well, one day I thought I had conquered this inability and decided to show my dad. Well, let's just say my U-turn was more like an L-turn. . .right into a tree. Long story short, one trip to the emergency room, eight stitches, and about 20 years later I am fine and have a fine scar to show for it. But the important thing is I survived.
(I also didn't ride my bike again for years after that, at which time I got stung by a paper wasp that had built its nest under my seat,
but I left that part out of the story to Liam)

Unfortunately, the only thing Liam got from this story was that I fell and hurt myself badly and he does NOT want that to happen to him.
Inadvertently I made it more challenging to teach him to ride a bike.

{{SIGH}}

I guess the point that I need to take away from this experience is that if I don't want him to give up on learning to ride his bike then I don't need to give up on helping him get over his fears. . .but that is such a difficult thing to do when it takes time and patience that I don't necessarily possess in abundance. But aren't the things that end up being the most precious also the things that take the most out of us?

I'll leave that question up in the air and share with you some images of one of the times Spencer and I took Liam out riding.
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Doesn't he look thrilled?
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Spencer doing what he can to motivate him as well as assure him that he is always there in case he should call. I married a great guy. :)
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PhotobucketOne of the few times I caught him smiling.
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Just look at the determination in his shoulders and his whole posture in this shot. Love it.
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His expression in the middle shot just kills me. . .in a good way.

By this time, he was somewhat getting the hang of things and quite happy about it.
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Thanks for listening. :D
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