When you're a kid, your parents are the best things ever. "That's my mom, she's my best friend." "Look at my daddy, he's the strongest person in the world." You know you've all had moments like these whether or not it was your mom or you dad, you had someone that you looked up to, that even at a young age, you got advice from, help from, a hug from.
Then you get into those tweenage and teenage years where there's no way mom or dad knows anything about this. I like to think of this as the blind years. You actually do know that your mom and dad know better, but you don't want to see it and sometimes can't see it. Lucky for MOST of us, we grow out of that. That time in our life passes quickly and we eventually make it back into a friend relationship with our parents. This, in my opinion, is the best time of our lives. And again, lucky for MOST of us, this portion lasts a lot longer and we can enjoy it a lot more than the tid bit of time that we spent fighting with them.
Some of us are even lucky enough that we get to become parents ourselves so then we get to experience all the phases that we went through with our parents, only on the other side. :) I'm quite enjoying this right now. Some good and some bad, but I'm still enjoying it. Many time a day, I catch myself doing something or saying something that AHHHHHHHHH - my mom did or said! Oh my goodness! I said I'd never turn into her. But how do we even have a chance. If you're like me, you spent (and probably still do spend) a lot of time with your mom over the years. I'm about to turn 30, so 30 years of her wise cracks, disciplines, and humor are drilled into my brain. I'm bound to turn out like her a little.
Then there's those times, even when you're 30 years old, that you slip back into that time frame where "my mom has no knowledge on this topic at all" or "this situation is completely different than what she went through" (or threw...mom you get the joke). Yet, they somehow always come out being right, dammit! How do they do it?
You see a little while ago I had a situation at hand. Of course one of the first people I asked for advice was my mother. She told me, "Lindsey, you've been through this before. No matter what you say or so, there's always going to be a problem. You're never going to just be able to work this out."
If you know me, I completely ignored her recommendations. For the two months before talking to her, I had actually talked to someone else about. The only person I thought could give me better advice than her, God. I had prayed about this situation. There were others involved. If I had done something wrong, I needed to fix it. So I handed it over to God and ignored my mom. I went full force into fixing a relationship for people other than myself. This was perhaps the most unselfish thing I'd done in a long time. It's funny how that happens when you have a husband and kids and you just want to give them everything.
Things looked up. God had come through for me. It looked like things were headed in the right direction. Finally after a year or two, things were good. Then they were bad.
Mom in the back of my head - I told you so. In her sweet little kind words though. My mom had one....she knew more about how to handle this situation than God.
Seriously...do y'all really think I believe that!? LOL It turns out that God is right! And so is mom! I handed this situation to God many months ago. He knew what was right for me and my family. He knew what we had to do and when we had done all that we could, He knew that He had to show us that people come in our lives for a reason. God takes them out for a reason too. We should thank Him daily for taking care of us because without Him in this situation, we would've probably done and/or said things that we shouldn't.
So just remember when you bust your butt and do everything you know how to do to make a situation work, hand it over to God and He will help with the rest. It may not be how YOU wanted it to end, but He has different plans for everyone. It may not be the plans you have for yourself.
Thanks mom for being there and not saying you "told me so", even though I know you were thinking it. Thanks for being there anyway!
Thanks to my sweet loving husband who works so hard to do what he knows is right for his family. XOXO
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Monday, June 23, 2014
Sisters
When I got pregnant with Vivian, I went back and forth in my head whether I wanted my #2 to be a girl or a boy. I know every expecting mother does this and if you say you didn't, you're a liar. Things went through my head like:
Girl
When I found out we were having another girl, I was excited. Two girls...well what in the hell am I going to do with two girls? Maybe at least they'll play with each other. A few months ago, I got really scared. Vivian was just getting really mobile and starting to follow Lila around. If Lila had something, Viv wanted it. She even got it sometimes and then it was "Mom, she took that from me". I immediately started thinking, what have we gotten ourselves into. I could see the next 15 year flashing before my eyes. Lila was this fingernail polish and Vivian got it first or Vivian was playing with the iPad and Lila wants it...OR Vivian took the car and Lila had plans with friends and she was going to use it. Aye aye aye....
Now, they both love each other, I know that, but of course they don't always show it. Then last night something happened. We were on a bike ride and they were in the bike trailer (that's another post for another time) just ridin' along. Then I hear "Mom, she's trying to bite me". Well, I can't really do anything at this very moment while I'm riding and pulling you crazies. "Just lightly touch her lips and tell her no, no biting." What I was thinking, please please don't hit her hard and make her cry, we're almost home and I really don't feel like stopping right now. Then out of nowhere I hear giggles. Viv is cracking up at Lila and Lila is telling her "no, no" in the sweetest voice ever. Then Vivi puts her mouth on Lila's arm and makes a fart noise, yes these are my kids. They just continue to giggle and giggle for the rest of the ride home. I just smiled.
I always thought they could be best friends one day, but I never expected it to be this soon. Vivian thinks Lila is the best thing since sliced bread. Lila is pretty proud to be her big sister. Although brats a lot of the time, they are still two of the sweetest creatures on Earth.
XOXO
Girl
- She will be able to wear a lot of Lila's clothes, that'll be great
- We already have pretty much everything we need for a girl
- I really won't have to decorate much more than I did with Lila
- Ugh...won't have to worry about the circumcision or penis spraying us every time he peed...another girl, great!
- I WON'T HAVE TO DO HIS HAIR!!!!!!!!!
- This will be different....
- I have two younger brothers, I can handle this.
- I have NO boy names picked out, nor any that I even like...Neil will win :(
When I found out we were having another girl, I was excited. Two girls...well what in the hell am I going to do with two girls? Maybe at least they'll play with each other. A few months ago, I got really scared. Vivian was just getting really mobile and starting to follow Lila around. If Lila had something, Viv wanted it. She even got it sometimes and then it was "Mom, she took that from me". I immediately started thinking, what have we gotten ourselves into. I could see the next 15 year flashing before my eyes. Lila was this fingernail polish and Vivian got it first or Vivian was playing with the iPad and Lila wants it...OR Vivian took the car and Lila had plans with friends and she was going to use it. Aye aye aye....
Now, they both love each other, I know that, but of course they don't always show it. Then last night something happened. We were on a bike ride and they were in the bike trailer (that's another post for another time) just ridin' along. Then I hear "Mom, she's trying to bite me". Well, I can't really do anything at this very moment while I'm riding and pulling you crazies. "Just lightly touch her lips and tell her no, no biting." What I was thinking, please please don't hit her hard and make her cry, we're almost home and I really don't feel like stopping right now. Then out of nowhere I hear giggles. Viv is cracking up at Lila and Lila is telling her "no, no" in the sweetest voice ever. Then Vivi puts her mouth on Lila's arm and makes a fart noise, yes these are my kids. They just continue to giggle and giggle for the rest of the ride home. I just smiled.
I always thought they could be best friends one day, but I never expected it to be this soon. Vivian thinks Lila is the best thing since sliced bread. Lila is pretty proud to be her big sister. Although brats a lot of the time, they are still two of the sweetest creatures on Earth.
XOXO
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Where are you going?
This is the question I was asked last night by my husband as I went storming out the door.
Do you ever have those times when you, as a mother, just have to get yourself out of a situation as fast as you can before something is either said or done that you know you will eventually regret?
That was me last night. UGH! Sometimes a mom can just lose it. I about blew a gasket. I don't know about you, but I can only take so much of a 3 year old whining, every.single.word.of.every.single.day. Whining because I didn't make her pony tail high enough or "swooshy" enough. Or she told me that she wanted 1 pony tail and then mid way through changed her mind to pig tails, but didn't let me know that. Or that her sock hurts her foot or she wanted to wear "hoopy hoop" earrings today. I know it's tough being a 3 year in this crazy world, but REALLY????
Then there's my rotten little Vivian. I thought that my baby who wants to constantly be held by me if I'm in the house would eventually grow out of this. Well, she turned 1 and that didn't happen yet. So adding on to the 3 year old whining, I have a 1 year old following me around screaming crying because I won't pick her up. Aye aye aye....
When I finally can make her happy by finding a toy that she would like to play with, Lila comes around and...you guessed it...that was the toy she wanted to play with, that has been thrown into a corner in her room since she got for Christmas. The kid didn't even know she had the toy until now. So Vivian then gets something to eat, usually a CLIF bar because that's what she gets out of the cabinet and brings to me. Lila wants milk. Ok....she gets milk. But she wanted chocolate milk this time. I forgot my crystal ball in the other room honey....sorry!
If you're a mom, you know this is pretty standard. This happens DAILY and daily I can usually deal, but every once in a while a mom wants to just lay in bed or sit on the couch or get on the computer and not have to deal with such drama. Every once in a while, a mom wants someone to take care of her, to appreciate the things that she does when all this drama come on. Every once in a while a mom needs a break. Mom's don't get days off or weekends. We may get hours off, but rarely days. I don't know about you, but even when I get my days off of work, I feel guilty still taking my kids to daycare. I feel like if I'm not at work, then I should be with them.
I think this is when we need to stop and realize, that we need to cut ourselves some slack and take the breaks that we need. Spend the day alone doing what you want to do. Shopping, meditating, exercising, sleeping, laying on the couch and catching up on The Young and the Restless and NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT.
I challenge all mom's to do something for themselves at some point in the next week. We all need it!!
XOXO
Lindsey
Do you ever have those times when you, as a mother, just have to get yourself out of a situation as fast as you can before something is either said or done that you know you will eventually regret?
That was me last night. UGH! Sometimes a mom can just lose it. I about blew a gasket. I don't know about you, but I can only take so much of a 3 year old whining, every.single.word.of.every.single.day. Whining because I didn't make her pony tail high enough or "swooshy" enough. Or she told me that she wanted 1 pony tail and then mid way through changed her mind to pig tails, but didn't let me know that. Or that her sock hurts her foot or she wanted to wear "hoopy hoop" earrings today. I know it's tough being a 3 year in this crazy world, but REALLY????
Then there's my rotten little Vivian. I thought that my baby who wants to constantly be held by me if I'm in the house would eventually grow out of this. Well, she turned 1 and that didn't happen yet. So adding on to the 3 year old whining, I have a 1 year old following me around screaming crying because I won't pick her up. Aye aye aye....
When I finally can make her happy by finding a toy that she would like to play with, Lila comes around and...you guessed it...that was the toy she wanted to play with, that has been thrown into a corner in her room since she got for Christmas. The kid didn't even know she had the toy until now. So Vivian then gets something to eat, usually a CLIF bar because that's what she gets out of the cabinet and brings to me. Lila wants milk. Ok....she gets milk. But she wanted chocolate milk this time. I forgot my crystal ball in the other room honey....sorry!
If you're a mom, you know this is pretty standard. This happens DAILY and daily I can usually deal, but every once in a while a mom wants to just lay in bed or sit on the couch or get on the computer and not have to deal with such drama. Every once in a while, a mom wants someone to take care of her, to appreciate the things that she does when all this drama come on. Every once in a while a mom needs a break. Mom's don't get days off or weekends. We may get hours off, but rarely days. I don't know about you, but even when I get my days off of work, I feel guilty still taking my kids to daycare. I feel like if I'm not at work, then I should be with them.
I think this is when we need to stop and realize, that we need to cut ourselves some slack and take the breaks that we need. Spend the day alone doing what you want to do. Shopping, meditating, exercising, sleeping, laying on the couch and catching up on The Young and the Restless and NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT.
I challenge all mom's to do something for themselves at some point in the next week. We all need it!!
XOXO
Lindsey
Friday, May 9, 2014
The Life of a Mom
There are moments in your life when you feel like you've officially become a mom. I'm not talking about the actual birthing of a baby, of course that makes you a mom. I'm talking about when you're changing your infant's poopy diaper (and having to change her clothes because it was a huge blowout) and your 3 year old pukes all over you, or when you're trying to give your kids a bath and your baby poops in the bath (EVERY SINGLE TIME) so you're trying to get both kids clean without the poop touching anything because the last thing you want to do is take the kids out, drain the bath tub, clean it, and refill just to "finish the bath". Those are the things that put you in the Mom Club.
I know we all could share stories that could keep ours ears perked for days. These are the joys of motherhood!
Last week I, in my opinion, just officially enter the Mom Club. We got a van! I can't tell you how excited I am about this. I have been wanting a minivan for about a year. Pretty much ever since we put Vivian's car seat in the car with Lila's, just about a week before she was born. If you ever want to drastically decrease the amount of space you have in your car, just put two car seats in. Seriously, where did all this room go? It's ridiculous. So now, I'm rockin' the minivan...and completely excited about it! As I told Neil, "we'll have so much more room for activities", to quote the movie Step Brothers. :)
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When I was pregnant with Lila, I was part of a birth month forum on The Bump. There were several girls on this forum that I got very close to over the course of a pregnancy and first few months of being a mother. Some of us eventually connected on Facebook where over 4 year later, we are still good friends. Some of us have met in person (which always makes the others jealous) and some of us continue to grow closer through the internet. This is something I never thought I would do, but can't imagine my life without these ladies. About a year ago, I found out that one of the ladies only lives a little under 2 hours away from me. I couldn't believe it. Since then we've wanted to meet up, but never had the opportunity to do so. She's an amazing photographer and I've been dying to have her take pictures of my girls. This week we finally got to meet up. She took pics for Vivian's 1 year birthday and our girls (we both have 2) got to play with each other. They had so much fun. I'm blessed to share some of the sneak peeks with everyone. If you live in Southern Illinois or Central Illinois, you should totally look her up. She's the bomb dot com. Go to her website and check out her work! You'll be happy you did. http://www.juliepottorff.com/
Now it's just fitting to talk about Viv's first birthday. She celebrated with a Peppa Pig party. She loves Peppa Pig! We got to celebrate with lots of family and friends and couldn't be more blessed to have those we love come to party with us! Thanks to everyone.
The most recent thing I've had that has made me a "Silver Member" of the Mom Club. As I was getting my hair done, my ever-so-sweet stylist informed me that she found a gray! LOL This is the second gray that has been spotted in my head. Thus the reason I've deemed myself a "Silver Member". Oh the joys! Looks like I'm going to be needing a lot more Serenity and Balance in my life. Oh doTERRA please help me keep my sanity!
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I know we all could share stories that could keep ours ears perked for days. These are the joys of motherhood!
Last week I, in my opinion, just officially enter the Mom Club. We got a van! I can't tell you how excited I am about this. I have been wanting a minivan for about a year. Pretty much ever since we put Vivian's car seat in the car with Lila's, just about a week before she was born. If you ever want to drastically decrease the amount of space you have in your car, just put two car seats in. Seriously, where did all this room go? It's ridiculous. So now, I'm rockin' the minivan...and completely excited about it! As I told Neil, "we'll have so much more room for activities", to quote the movie Step Brothers. :)
When I was pregnant with Lila, I was part of a birth month forum on The Bump. There were several girls on this forum that I got very close to over the course of a pregnancy and first few months of being a mother. Some of us eventually connected on Facebook where over 4 year later, we are still good friends. Some of us have met in person (which always makes the others jealous) and some of us continue to grow closer through the internet. This is something I never thought I would do, but can't imagine my life without these ladies. About a year ago, I found out that one of the ladies only lives a little under 2 hours away from me. I couldn't believe it. Since then we've wanted to meet up, but never had the opportunity to do so. She's an amazing photographer and I've been dying to have her take pictures of my girls. This week we finally got to meet up. She took pics for Vivian's 1 year birthday and our girls (we both have 2) got to play with each other. They had so much fun. I'm blessed to share some of the sneak peeks with everyone. If you live in Southern Illinois or Central Illinois, you should totally look her up. She's the bomb dot com. Go to her website and check out her work! You'll be happy you did. http://www.juliepottorff.com/
Now it's just fitting to talk about Viv's first birthday. She celebrated with a Peppa Pig party. She loves Peppa Pig! We got to celebrate with lots of family and friends and couldn't be more blessed to have those we love come to party with us! Thanks to everyone.
The most recent thing I've had that has made me a "Silver Member" of the Mom Club. As I was getting my hair done, my ever-so-sweet stylist informed me that she found a gray! LOL This is the second gray that has been spotted in my head. Thus the reason I've deemed myself a "Silver Member". Oh the joys! Looks like I'm going to be needing a lot more Serenity and Balance in my life. Oh doTERRA please help me keep my sanity!
Friday, March 14, 2014
A 3 Year Old and a 10 Month Old
Sometimes I walk in the living room and Lila and Vivian are just playing in their kitchen or watching TV or playing with toys in the floor. It warms my heart to know how much they love each other. Then they fight. I know, I know, it's only just beginning!
It's funny how different kids can be. When Lila was little, well, little-r, she was much more independent. She would sit and play by herself, no crying, no whining. Vivi on the other hand, constantly crawls after me climbing up my legs, pulling my pants down and just wanting up, wanting to be held...ALL.THE.TIME!
It seems that these two can get into trouble in no time. The other day I left them in the living room watching TV and playing. I went in the kitchen to start supper. When I came back in the living room, Vivian had EVERYTHING pulled out of their kitchen, play cookies and cupcakes, play pots and pans, every other toy that was in there too. I thought, "how in the world can this child do this so fast?". My next thought was, "Where is Lila?". LOL She had snuck into the corner with her lip gloss and was "painting her finger nails and toe nails" with her glitter lip gloss. Are you kidding me? It was all over the place. Lord grant me patience!!!
To make me feel a little bit better, knowing that this doesn't only happen to me, my husband had the girls the other day. He left them alone for a few minutes to get a bedroom picked up. He comes back out to find that Vivian had gotten into the dogs water bowl and splashed water everywhere and Lila had dumped her hair bands and barrettes in the floor to fill the holder up with water from the bathroom sink. LOL I can see my 10 month old doing this, she doesn't know right from wrong, but my 3 year old? C'mon! I guess she's just at that age....I'm sure she'll be "at that age" for years!
I also thought the other day how glad I was to have girls because you always hear things about boys playing in the bathroom and getting in the toilet, throwing things in it, etc... Well yesterday I find out that Vivian had done just that! And to make it worse, Lila had just pee peed and, in typical fashion, didn't flush. So here's Vivi standing and splashing in pee water. I can't even imagine if I was home. Bath time IMMEDIATELY!!!
The fun times have just started, and I know, are probably going to get more "fun". I think I need to rethink what the definition of FUN is. :)
It's funny how different kids can be. When Lila was little, well, little-r, she was much more independent. She would sit and play by herself, no crying, no whining. Vivi on the other hand, constantly crawls after me climbing up my legs, pulling my pants down and just wanting up, wanting to be held...ALL.THE.TIME!
It seems that these two can get into trouble in no time. The other day I left them in the living room watching TV and playing. I went in the kitchen to start supper. When I came back in the living room, Vivian had EVERYTHING pulled out of their kitchen, play cookies and cupcakes, play pots and pans, every other toy that was in there too. I thought, "how in the world can this child do this so fast?". My next thought was, "Where is Lila?". LOL She had snuck into the corner with her lip gloss and was "painting her finger nails and toe nails" with her glitter lip gloss. Are you kidding me? It was all over the place. Lord grant me patience!!!
To make me feel a little bit better, knowing that this doesn't only happen to me, my husband had the girls the other day. He left them alone for a few minutes to get a bedroom picked up. He comes back out to find that Vivian had gotten into the dogs water bowl and splashed water everywhere and Lila had dumped her hair bands and barrettes in the floor to fill the holder up with water from the bathroom sink. LOL I can see my 10 month old doing this, she doesn't know right from wrong, but my 3 year old? C'mon! I guess she's just at that age....I'm sure she'll be "at that age" for years!
I also thought the other day how glad I was to have girls because you always hear things about boys playing in the bathroom and getting in the toilet, throwing things in it, etc... Well yesterday I find out that Vivian had done just that! And to make it worse, Lila had just pee peed and, in typical fashion, didn't flush. So here's Vivi standing and splashing in pee water. I can't even imagine if I was home. Bath time IMMEDIATELY!!!
The fun times have just started, and I know, are probably going to get more "fun". I think I need to rethink what the definition of FUN is. :)
Monday, February 10, 2014
Best Friends
We are almost to that point...Lila and Vivian are starting to play more together. Where ever Lila goes, Vivi is quickly crawling behind. If Lila has it, Vivi wants it. Vivi loves the same shows as Lila. It's so cute. While not wanting to wish time away, we've been waiting for this very patiently. Vivian grabs Lila's face for a great big slobbery, wide mouth open, kiss on, well anywhere on her face she can get it. :)
On the other hand, the fighting has also began. I catch them fighting over toys, books, food, the iPad! I must say, Vivi is VERY stubborn and many times wins on her own, even before I can get in there and break it all up. :) I feel like this is going to be my life for, ummm ohhhh, forever, I guess. Ahhhh sisters! It's literally a love/hate relationship.
Vivian now has 6 teeth! She's 9 1/2 months. This is crazy to me since Lila didn't cut a tooth until she was 9 months. She's everywhere. Vivian is one of those babies that you have to watch just about every minute. Pulling pictures off of shelves, getting in the cabinets, trying to crawl down the stairs to the utility room. Again, Lila was the complete opposite. It's funny how that works. I always wondered how Vivian would look, act, behave, etc... It's quickly coming out that she's gonna be a handful...maybe two!
Lila Jane just gets bigger every day. She acts so grown up. She is starting to learn from Momma a little bit about eating healthy. That's her new thing. "Momma, is this healthly?" "Will this make me grow?". It's so sweet. I'm hoping that she continues to pick up on the positive things I do and not even notice the negative! :)
On the other hand, the fighting has also began. I catch them fighting over toys, books, food, the iPad! I must say, Vivi is VERY stubborn and many times wins on her own, even before I can get in there and break it all up. :) I feel like this is going to be my life for, ummm ohhhh, forever, I guess. Ahhhh sisters! It's literally a love/hate relationship.
Vivian now has 6 teeth! She's 9 1/2 months. This is crazy to me since Lila didn't cut a tooth until she was 9 months. She's everywhere. Vivian is one of those babies that you have to watch just about every minute. Pulling pictures off of shelves, getting in the cabinets, trying to crawl down the stairs to the utility room. Again, Lila was the complete opposite. It's funny how that works. I always wondered how Vivian would look, act, behave, etc... It's quickly coming out that she's gonna be a handful...maybe two!
Lila Jane just gets bigger every day. She acts so grown up. She is starting to learn from Momma a little bit about eating healthy. That's her new thing. "Momma, is this healthly?" "Will this make me grow?". It's so sweet. I'm hoping that she continues to pick up on the positive things I do and not even notice the negative! :)
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Mobile Roaming
No I'm not talking about a cell phone. I'm talking about my 8 month old. She has been rolling/scooting/belly crawling backwards for weeks, but on Christmas day, she started to crawl. What a great Christmas present to us! By the end of the night on Christmas she was already getting better. Since then, she's been pulling up on everything, slowly moving between objects like her play station and the couch or ottoman. Once I even saw her let go for a second or two and balance with no hands. That didn't last long though. :)
We are so proud that our baby is growing so fast. She's going to be our wild child, I think. Lila never got into anything she wasn't supposed to. We never had to lock the cabinets or shut doors, she just knew. Vivian is going to be the complete opposite. She is crazy!
I'm so happy to have had the last few weeks off of work with my girls so I can see them grow. It's hard to remember how Lila used to be, but I love watching her everyday because even at 3 she still seems to do or say something new everyday. Vivi is literally growing right before our eyes. That being said, I have never been happier to go back to work. I love my girls, but man I need a break! :) Especially those days when Neil is sleeping because he worked the night before and then he goes to work that night. TOO MANY HOURS OF "Hey mom, hey mom, hey mom" or "whhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa". Staying at home is not for me!
Happy New Year to you all and I wish you the best 2014!!
We are so proud that our baby is growing so fast. She's going to be our wild child, I think. Lila never got into anything she wasn't supposed to. We never had to lock the cabinets or shut doors, she just knew. Vivian is going to be the complete opposite. She is crazy!
I'm so happy to have had the last few weeks off of work with my girls so I can see them grow. It's hard to remember how Lila used to be, but I love watching her everyday because even at 3 she still seems to do or say something new everyday. Vivi is literally growing right before our eyes. That being said, I have never been happier to go back to work. I love my girls, but man I need a break! :) Especially those days when Neil is sleeping because he worked the night before and then he goes to work that night. TOO MANY HOURS OF "Hey mom, hey mom, hey mom" or "whhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa". Staying at home is not for me!
Happy New Year to you all and I wish you the best 2014!!
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