But for the Grace of God

When I was a kid, my Grandma use to say that quite a bit.  "There but for the grace of God, go I (or us)."  She also said, "there is a lid for every pot" every time we would see an odd couple, but that's a a different post.  Anyway, she would say it when we would see someone less fortunate or with a disability or going through any kind of rough time.  She had a number of reasons for saying this.  It would be to try to get me to focus on the what is good in life and not the bad.  It would be to keep me from judging others and their situations.  But mostly I think it was to get me to count my blessings and see how really good things were.

This year I have thought about that quote so many times.  I am not going to lie, when the floor fell from beneath me, I had so much self-pity.  Poor, poor Cari.  My husband cheated (while I was pregnant), he is leaving, Kaelyn won't have her family together and now I am a single Mom of a newborn.  Poor me.  Feel bad for me, pity me.   I would hear stories about happy families, new babies being born, moving into bigger homes.  Poor, poor me.  I can't have my happy family now, I won't be having more babies (with him anyway), I won't be moving as a family into a nice, new home.  And then BAM reality hit me in the face.  Hard.  It seemed that every where I turned someone had MUCH bigger mountains to climb.  A terminally ill child, a husband dying unexpectedly with 2 very young kids, a wife finding out her husband had been secretly video taping her daughter, a preemie baby born much too early, a family almost losing a son to drowning...and I could go on and on. There but for the grace of God, go I. Wow, when I started to think about it, I am blessed beyond measure.  For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a Mother.  If you asked any of my friends, they could all tell you that my dream in life was to be a Mommy.  Don't pity me, be glad for me. My dream is fulfilled.  I have wonderful friends and family.  I have an awesome job that I love and I make good money.  So my idea of my little family was not longer the reality.  But Kaelyn and I are a family.  We are a wonderful, happy, little family. 

Love to all,

Cari

Something Happened

Something seemingly happened over night.  Her name ran through my head today, like it unfortunately does from time to time.  But this time was different.  This time my head did not spin around and fire did not shoot from my ears.  Okay.  Okay.  That never really happens.  BUT I do get sick to my stomach and immediately feel the need to punch.her.in.the.face.  Today, though, that did not happen.  I felt at peace.  Calm.  It was amazing.  Maybe I have truly started to forgive.  Oh My Gosh, I may truly be growing up here...stay tuned.

A Calm Weekend Wrap Up

We didn’t do much this weekend.  Friday when I got off work, we went to my Dad’s.  Then went with me Sisters to dinner at Cheddars.  Kaelyn enjoyed people watching and eating chicken.  She can now drink out of a straw and is super proud of herself.  She will take a drink with a shocked look on her face when the cold hits her mouth and then give me this huge cheesy smile.  Then Holli stayed the night with us and we just watched movies and hung out.  Holli taught Kaelyn to say her name and it sounds like Howi..it’s cute.  Saturday we went to eat and ran some errands.  Then I took Baby K to her dad’s to stay the night and took Holli home.  I enjoyed the rest of my evening reading and watching Lifetime movies.  Now I am doing some laundry and cleaning before Kaelyn gets home this evening.  Fun Times.
I thought I would share a few pics of her supporting her Daddy’s Chicago Bears. Mama is a Cowboys fan!
Here she is walking!



She loves it when she is able to sneak my phone.

She is yelling something here.  The child is a chatter box!

Kaelyn’s Words so far – In Order:
Dada, Mama, No, Hi, Dah (for DooDah, my Dad) Abby (her friend), Holli

Wordless Wednesday

Letting Go. But How?

Maybe to understand where I am now, you have to understand where I have been and how I got here.  I am not sure that I am ready to tell that whole story.  I will when it’s time, but right now is not it.  I created this blog as some sort of therapy for me and at some point I will need to let it all out.  But for now, I only want to talk about where I am. 

I will say that in April, when Kaelyn was about 8 weeks old, my world collapsed.  As a counselor told me during that time, it wasn’t actually my world, just my marriage.  My work life, family life and most importantly my life as a mother were still very much revolving.  Even after I found out about the affair, I wanted to repair my marriage.  We went to counseling until he refused to go back and then a month later he informed me that he wanted to move out.  He said he wanted to work on our marriage while we were separated.  I knew that it was the beginning of the end but there was nothing I could do but try.  I never wanted to look back and wish I would have tried harder.  So in July, when the baby was 5 months old, he moved out.  We were suppose to be working on our marriage, but the lies continued.  He was not really willing to work on things and he certainly had no desire to help me trust him.  So about 6 weeks after he moved out, I knew our marriage was over.  It was not what I wanted, but I couldn’t live like that any longer.  We were in limbo and he did not act like he was the least bit interested in me or saving our marriage.  It hurt.  I consulted with an attorney and filed for divorce in September.  And that is where we are today.  Kind of.  We have a very unusual relationship.  We hang out, we do things together.  The three of us.  We spent New Years together, we go to dinner together, we watch movies together.  I guess you could say we are weird.  The funny thing is that I see him as a different person now, not the man I married.  I love him as Kaelyn’s Dad, but I don’t love him as my husband.  He tore my heart apart and I don’t think that can ever be mended by him.  Not that he has ever tried, or ever would.  But lately I have started to wonder about our friendship.  Am I really able to let go with us spending time together all the time?  I know that what I wanted to save was the dream of our family, but honestly the reality was there was nothing to save.  I don’t know if I will ever forgive him completely.  I do know that the anger has to leave me at some point.  The anger towards him and towards her.  I am only hurting me by holding on to it.  The problem is I don’t know how to let go of the anger especially towards her.  She is no longer a part of my life or his, but I think about what they did and I get so angry at her and want to call her and just scream. 

The reality is he was not a good husband.  The reality is he will never truly apologize for what he has done.  The reality is he tries to blame me for his actions.  The reality is we are much better apart.

He is a great father to Baby K and for that I will always be thankful. 

This year I will work on letting go of the anger, letting go of the hurt, letting go of the dream.

Cari

Christmas Catch Up

I know I am very LATE in posting this but I wanted to put it on here for me later on to remember Baby K's First Christmas.

We went to a Christmas Party about a week before Christmas and Kaelyn got to meet Santa Claus for the first time.  She was not sure about all of his facial hair!

 

We had a wonderful Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Kaelyn and I went to my Dad's house and celebrated with him and my sisters. Here are a few pictures. We opened presents and just hung out. It was very low-key and nice.

 

Kaelyn is not sure what this is all about...

Here is my 19 year old sister Hannah opening her gifts

And Holli opening her Gerber Yogurt Melts...hahaha...she actually asked for those. 

She eats Kaelyn's all the time.

 

Then the next morning Kaelyn's Daddy came over and we opened more presents.  The three of us celebrated together. 

Here she is going towards her Christmas loot.

Kaelyn still wasn't sure what the boxes and paper were all about. 

 She thought this one was a new chair for her.

 

 

 

Random Randomness

For some reason, right now I have lots on my brain. Almost to the point where I am sure it will explode at some point. The problem is that I have no idea how to form most of it into thoughts, much less sentences. I have been super cranky lately and I have no idea why. There are several things coming up soon that I am very excited about it and nothing really unpleasant going on right now. Usually my crankiness can be easily blamed on something at work, or family issues or even fun times with the soon to be ex husband. But all of that is going fine for now. I am worried and disappointed in my 18 year old sister, but that isn't affecting my daily well being. I just can't quite put a finger on it. I am still not thrilled about my pending divorce, but I have reached a place where I realize this is how it is going to be. I didn't ask for it or want it, but as the serenity prayer says, "courage to accept the things I cannot change." I am learning to accept, or at least trying to learn.

Baby K's birthday is next month...how in the world did this year go so fast. I can not believe that my baby will be 1! She is suppose to stay little!

But now my baby is getting to be such a big girl, she doesn't look so much like a baby anymore.

I love how in this one she has that, "I am caught" look.

Anyway, I am preparing for her party now. I can't believe how much planning I am doing for this. You would think I was trying to get ready for a wedding! She won't even remember it, but I want it to be such a special day for her.

Also, the end of this month I am starting Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. I am VERY excited about this. I wanted to do it last year, but my husband wouldn't go and I didn't think it made sense for me to do it alone when it was our finances. Well now that it's just me, I am doing it! It's being held at the church that I visit. I would actually like for K and I to become members there eventually.

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. K and I have a playdate tomorrow with my best friend and her daughter that is 2 days older than Kaelyn!

Mama C

A New Beginning

I love the beginning of a new year.  It always feels like a second chance, a new beginning.  The next twelve months are blank, completely unwritten, just waiting to be filled in.  It gets me all excited, so much promise.

I won’t start any new years resolutions this year.  They never seem to stick past the first week…so this year I will just have a theme.  2011 is the year of Mama C and Baby K.  If it’s not something that benefits our lives or well-being, then we simply do not need it.

Being a Mother is a tough job.  Even at this early age, I feel like the filter of all things.  But how can I filter things for her, if I cannot also filter my life.  It’s all about what is healthy for us this year, physically, emotionally, financially, you name it.

When I learned of the affair and my marriage began to crumble, I immediately panicked.   I felt that I would never date again, no one would ever want me and I would never re-marry.  Since that time I have had numerous guys approach me and ask for my number.  Now, I will say that most of them aren’t worth writing home about, it did give me a bit of confidence.  Since my separation, I found out quickly that I am not ready to date and not even interested in dating.  For now, I want to focus on my beautiful, wonderful daughter and me.  I want to focus on improving all aspects of our lives.  2011 – The year that I will create and discover a new me, the year that I make improvements to help both Baby K and me.

Wishing you all the best in 2011,

Mama C