Home Alone (with kids)

We're moving

2010-03-03T01:08:00.000-08:00

Today is my one year "blog-iversary" and to celebrate I have some big news. We are packing up shop and moving. I've been considering it for quite awhile and finally got around to making it happen...

What's that? Oh, I didn't mean we were selling our house and moving. No silly! We are moving over to our new home at oneperfectmess.com. So you should go there. No really. Please?

Discouraged but determined

2010-02-28T07:49:00.000-08:00

Today marks the end of February and the end of my first big work out challenge. While I have done the Shred off and on for several months, I haven't been dedicated to making it the entire month until now. And make it I did. In full disclosure I did not stick to the Shred every single day. Instead I alternated that with Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism and No More Trouble Zones which are 40+ minute workouts as opposed to the 20 minute Shred. I clocked in 11 1/2 hours of Jillian in 28 days. I made an effort to eat a little healthier in the first part of the month and then finally switched over to keeping on WW Points the second half of the month.

So, you'd think I would have seen a pretty significant change in the numbers wouldn't you? I certainly thought I would. But surprisingly, and perhaps a teeny tiny whole hell of a lot disappointing to me is the fact that I didn't. I didn't see any appreciable change in either weight or measurements which pretty much baffles me.

But, there are big positives. I am so much stronger at the end of this month than I was at the beginning. I can run all over chasing the kids and never get out of breath. I feel light years stronger and can see definition in all sorts of places where it wasn't before. And I have apparently been brainwashed into liking exercise which I cannot believe. I find myself absentmindedly doing cardio while waiting for Jillian to finish her opening spiel and I find ways to fit in workouts even when I really don't have time for them. I can bust through Level 1 and actually modify several of the exercises to make them harder. So even though I haven't changed on the outside, Jillian has certainly managed to kicked my brain into shape.

Looking to March I will continue to stay on Points as much as I hate it. WW is really great and I loved it the first time around but it is so much easier to have meals you like that are Points friendly when you only have yourself to worry about. With a husband and kids to feed and eight million other things to do it is hard to find the time to stay focused on getting the math to work out. Stick with Jillian for the rest of the month doing Shred on the days I don't have time for a full workout and upping the frequency of BFBM since I suspect more cardio wouldn't hurt. NMTZ is by far my favorite because I love all the strength training but I need the cardio too. If, after the next month I still don't see my stats going anywhere then I will reassess but I hope that won't be the case.

The Greatest Show on Earth

2010-02-27T04:59:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to the circus today. I hadn't been in probably 10 years and it has changed quite a bit. I guess you expect the staples of childhood to always remain pretty much the same so I'm not sure how I feel about it. The kids had a great time even though the Weebs spent the first twenty minutes asking where the tigers were.

I also feel conflicted about the animal situation. Clearly it isn't ideal for them to be shuttled from town to town on the train. I can only hope that the people that work with them day in and day out see to it that they are taken care of as well as the situation allows.

I was mostly impressed with the behind the scenes work. I didn't even watch half of the colorful spinning hip hop abacadabra. I found the army of people wearing black that were making it all happen much more interesting. It is amazing how organized and choreographed the whole production is.

I'm glad we went, and I'm glad the kids had so much fun. Must admit I'm disappointed at what the circus has turned into though. The circus just isn't the circus without the clown car.

Why I puffy heart Jamie Oliver

2010-02-26T15:25:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Crunchy Domestic Goddess for bringing this video to my attention. Jamie Oliver has always been one of my favorite chefs.

This issue particularly hits home for me. When I was pregnant with Weebles and after she was born I spent a great deal of time and effort buying only organic and switching out all our cleaning products with natural alternatives. We still stick with all the personal/cleaning products but have drifted away from all organic food although we certainly still buy it when it is readily available. The problem is that it is really damn hard to eat healthy, fresh, local organic food on a budget. With two small children I simply don't have the time to travel 30 minutes to a specialty grocer to buy all the items that I would ideally like. Not to mention the several hundred dollars a month I would likely spend doing so. Also, in order to get really good organic food it is necessary to eat what is in season. I don't have the know how as it is to make this work for my family.

This is the kind of thing that should be taught in schools. What is in season at various times of the year and the best ways to serve it. Recipes and cooking techniques for making quick, healthy meals at home. Where in the hell did home economics go? When did someone decide that knowing how to dress yourself and feed yourself was no longer necessary? I still don't know how to properly iron a shirt. That knowledge would have served me far better than knowing how to conjugate a french verb. Thanks to this timely reminder I am going to sign up for the local CSA. I have been intimidated in the past by all the vegetables on the list that I wouldn't readily know how to cook. I am challenging myself to learn about them and find ways to serve them to my family. Eggplant parm anyone?

Lunch with Daddy

2010-02-25T19:16:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to see Andrew at his office today. We hadn't been in over a year and Peanut had never been at all. This wasn't exactly a planned trip but Andrew forgot his lunch and since he was going to have to go out anyway we thought it was a good chance to have lunch with him. Since it is an hour commute each way this took up the major part of our day but I think it was worth it. The kids had fun and ate a bunch ~~of french fries and ketchup~~. We'll have to put it on our rotation of things to do every so often.

Wordless Wednesday - How do YOU eat a cupcake?

2010-02-24T05:24:00.000-08:00

My boy

2010-02-23T11:38:00.000-08:00

Not only did he find his sister's crayons and is about to go crazy on that wall behind him, he climbed up in a chair in order to get on top of the table he is sitting on to do so. That look in his eye tells me he knows all too well that he is in trouble.

Not Me Monday

2010-02-22T06:52:00.000-08:00

It was Not Me that whined literally the entire way through No More Trouble Zones yesterday. That would have been pathetic.

It is Not Me that employs the faulty logic that all the unhealthy food in the house should be eaten in the days leading up to a period of healthy eating. That would be silly, thinking the calories are any less bad for me one day versus the next.

It was Not Me that somehow allowed myself to end up with four house cats. No, really... can that NOT be me??

It is Not Me that stayed up until after midnight both nights this past weekend watching movies when the kids were both sleeping great. It would have been insanity to miss out on the first opportunities for sleep I have had in months.

It is Not Me that is dragging my feet picking out a name for my new blog. I am great at making decisions.. surely.

It was Not Me yesterday that kicked a ball across the yard and smacked the poor baby right in the back of the head so hard that he fell on his face. That would've made me feel like a crappy mom.

New happenings

2010-02-21T18:27:00.000-08:00

I forget for long periods of time why I bother to write a blog to begin with. To avoid having to update the baby books. They sit on a shelf mocking me every time I walk by them. Well EFF you baby books, I've got a record of everything and can go back and fill you in when my kids are older and won't have anything to do with me. I'll just switch pens around so it won't be so obvious.

New notables from the Peanut:

If you ask him where the moon is he will look into the sky until he finds it and then point and say "mooooon"

He loves to pick up various phones around the house and walk around with them against his ear saying "HELLO! HELLO!" very loudly.

One of his new favorite games is making faces at himself in the mirror. Especially fun is when someone else plays with him and copies the faces he is making.

He is totally obsessed with his blankies.

New from the Weebles:

Really getting into getting clothes out of her drawers and trying to put them on. Does a fairly good job but gets her pants on backwards about half the time.

Major language spurt in the last three months or so. She can form all kinds of long sentences and thoughts now.

Problem solving has also really taken off. She can figure out all sorts of solutions to problems... including how to get her way more often.

Can identify most colors, some shapes, count to eleven, and can sing a bunch of songs.

Uniform

2010-02-20T21:20:00.000-08:00

I never understood why people dressed their kids alike. Until I had kids that is. The temptation is just too great with two so close in age. I don't know whether it is because I love symmetry and it is so easy and gratifying to get one in pink and one in blue and be done with it or if I like unifying my little troops or what. It isn't just clothes though. More than that it is toys, foods, treats... it makes treating them equally much easier. I'm sure somehow it stems back to my laziness, most things do.

Today I...

2010-02-19T23:48:00.000-08:00

Today I took out of my little boy's mouth:

Cat food
A popcorn kernel
Uncooked dried beans
A stick
An acorn
Crayon
Play Doh
A piece of chalk
Dirt
A sticker
A piece of cardboard

He is so bad about sticking things in his mouth that when I tell his sister to make sure he doesn't get something he shouldn't have she says in a bored tone "oh yeah, he eat it?"

Random Thought Thursday

2010-02-18T11:13:00.000-08:00

*I have to suppress a giggle every time Pete calls him "Mickey the Mouse." My kids have taken whatever tiny bit of cool I had and peed on it, scratched it with their tiny fingernails and then dropped it down a heat vent.

*Going to the library to get new books to read the kids seems like such a great outing for them. Unfortunately I cannot actually pick any new books while I have them with me because I spend the entire time chasing them down, rescuing my teetering toddler from his perch atop the reading tables and issuing threats in a hissy whisper.

*I should not try to exercise with my children underfoot. I am not a nice person when I exercise and I find myself being entirely too snippy by the eleventh "mommy what you doing?"

*I need more lunch ideas that are heavy on the protein. Between the breastfeeding and working out every day I am so punchy for calories by mid-afternoon that I find myself eating icing out of the container with a spoon. Seems like there would be a much better way to get the energy I need.

*It is hard to think of very many random thoughts because every other thought I have is "I am so freaking tired."

Wordless Wednesday - Go Go Go!

2010-02-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Nap Trap

2010-02-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

We are in the nap trap around here. I knew it was too good to last when both kids would sleep for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The last few weeks the Peanut has been taking his morning nap around nine and then not wanting to sleep again until late in the afternoon.

** Insert lots of whining and frustration and tiny violins here **

I know eventually he'll go from two naps to one and then we should have a good chance they will overlap again for awhile. Not only does it make going out and doing things difficult with Peanut's nap from 9-11, Weebles nap from 12-3 and then Peanut's nap from 4-6 but more importantly there is zero time in my day where both kids are sleeping! It might not be the only reason for my grumpy mood these days, but it sure isn't helping!

Not Me Monday

2010-02-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

It was Not Me that wore the same pair of jeans every day last week without bothering to wash them. Well.. it wasn't like I didn't bother to wash them so much as it was I had them on every time I did laundry so I couldn't.

It is Not Me that has to put my 14 month old son in a car seat (his sister's pink one no less) to get him to sleep more than 20 minutes. That would seem like bad parenting, or something.

It is Not Me that doesn't bother to even try washing my two year old's hands when we use public restrooms. Between the high counter that is always soaked, the automatic water that won't stay on and the stupid hand dryers that are totally inefficient it just isn't worth the struggle. We use Purell and call it a day.

It was Not Me earlier this week that told my toddler that if she opened the front door to the house by herself without an adult there with her that a big monster might be in the yard and he might get her. In retrospect that would have probably not been the best way to discourage that... you know IF that had been me. Which it wasn't.

My little Valentines

2010-02-14T17:21:00.000-08:00

Change of Plans

2010-02-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

I totally suck at spontaneity. I ~~like~~ ~~love~~ NEED to plan like some people perhaps need to breathe. Back before I had children when I had plenty of paid vacation days and expendable income I was at times known to have the next two years' worth of vacations and travels planned out. I still absolutely must have my calendar in good form and if a toddler happens to scribble on it with an errant crayon I have on three separate occasions gone out and bought another entire yearly calendar because I just couldn't take looking at the disorder. So, to say I get uptight and pissy when plans suddenly change is a little bit of an understatement. I know it is something I need to work on.. that seems to be a common theme with me these days.

This weekend my in laws were supposed to come visit. They were going to come in Thursday night and stay until Sunday because my father in law had a work related something or other nearby. My husband relayed that my mother in law planned to do some cooking so we'd have some premade meals since we're still having a tough time of things health wise around here. They also offered to watch the kids so we could go out and see a movie for the first time since the Weebs was born.

Now just two weeks ago they were supposed to come and we told the Weebles the entire week that her SiSi and Granddaddy would be here to see them on Friday. We played it up, day after day. She, especially, gets very very excited about seeing them. A huge snowstorm was on the way and they had to cancel their trip for fear of getting stuck here a few extra days. Unfortunately they didn't make that decision until they day they were supposed to come so I had already done all the shopping and cleaning for their visit and was somewhat annoyed they couldn't have made that call a little sooner since the weather had been forecast for several days at that point.

So, I learned my lesson a bit for this visit. We didn't mention anything to the kids and I didn't really do much to get ready for visitors until the day they were to arrive. My husband called the night before to make sure the trip was still on. I got up Thursday and cleaned up the house, trashed all the extra stuff in the fridge since I knew my MIL would need the space, went to the store to get a few items I thought we might need for breakfast and when the kids woke up from their naps I told them their grandparents were coming. My 2 year old was so excited she cleaned up all her toys and sat on the front steps a good five hours before they were scheduled to arrive. I even emailed them to show them a picture of her waiting for them and got back an email saying they were hurrying.

My husband called them on his way home from work to see what time they were going to get in and was told that his mom couldn't make it because she was sick but that his dad was still coming. W.T.F? Of course, I feel terrible that she is sick and sometimes things just happen. But since I had just gone through all of this two weeks ago I was pretty upset. This meant I needed to go back to the grocery store to make sure I'd have something to serve for dinner Saturday night since SiSi wouldn't be here to cook. So on Friday I drug my kids out and went to two different stores to get food for dinner tonight. Then last night my father in law casually mentioned that he wouldn't be coming back after his conference today, he was going straight back home. Umm what? He spent less than an hour the entire trip with the kids because by the time he got here both nights they were either already in bed, or nearly so. Not to mention I have a ton of food that we don't need.

In all fairness just a few weeks ago they came down to help us out when the kids first got RSV. They have been a huge help to us on many many occasions. It is just a totally different approach to life and I need to figure out how to get our two styles to coexist because it has been a source of frustration to me several times in the past. I know I need to go with the flow a lot better but I'd like to think it isn't unreasonable to point out to them that when they bail on plans at the last minute it really can affect us. And as the kids get older they won't be so easy to distract when they get disappointed.

2010-02-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

The Weebles is sleeping peacefully in my lap, it is snowing outside and all should be right with my world. Yet... somehow I'm still in a shit mood. Meh.

Random Thought Thursday

2010-02-11T17:59:00.000-08:00

**Where the eff did the badge for this go? Thanks for nothing Google.

**I am in a pretty shit mood today. I am getting really tired of people not doing what they say they are going to. It isn't like I go to any trouble or anything.

**I hate putting sheets and pillowcases back on the bed after washing them.

**Tomorrow is the last day of our most recent round of antibiotics. If these don't work we are getting sent to an ENT which might mean surgery for our little ones. All because of one stupid fucking virus. The kids are both still coughing with runny noses so I don't have great hopes that this was the miracle cure.

**I took the day off from Shred. I had hoped to have plenty of time to myself the next few days as the in laws were supposed to be here to spend time with the kids. That didn't work out so it is going to be much harder to fit in me time this weekend. Me time is in short supply around here the last month or so. Got NMTZ in the mail today and was really looking forward to giving it a try. Maybe I will get lucky and they will nap at the same time tomorrow.

**I am in danger of a full blown Fage addiction. Please tell me Greek yogurt is healthy.

**The Weebles learned how to use the touch pad on the laptop today to play the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse games on Disney.com. She is going to be zooming around the internet in no time.

**I really need to work on moving my blog. But there are about a hundred other things I'd rather do first when I find a minute to myself so it might be awhile yet.

**Did I mention I was in a shit mood? Yeah.

Wordless Wednesday - Welcome Home

2010-02-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

Love & Logic

2010-02-09T06:54:00.000-08:00

I've started reading parenting books because the fear of raising axe murderers has started to set in after getting a gander at a category 5 toddler tantrum. I'm going to review them as I finish them to help me glean the finer points of each since it is already evident there is no "one size fits all" answer.

The first up is the Love & Logic method. Sounded good to me and endorsed by the teachers at my daughter's preschool so I checked it out of the library and gave it a once over. The basic premise is to use natural consequences to teach children about good decision making. Sounds logical I suppose. Unfortunately I have to take issue with a few points in the book. I know that tearing apart an entire method due to just one or two examples is going overboard but these in particular really seemed... well, like shitty parenting.

The first was the notion that if your child is getting physically attacked by an older child for being a smartass to them you should let it continue because a black eye is a small price to pay for learning that you shouldn't be a smartass. Umm no. I hope my children aren't smartasses but honestly if they are it is totally my my husband's fault. Assault is never appropriate. I don't see how the logical conclusion to that wouldn't be that my child would learn that then they can turn around and beat up other people when they don't like how they are acting. Totally ridiculous.

The second suggestion that I found outrageous was the concept of withholding food. The example was to tell your child that they could join the family for the next meal as soon as they mowed the lawn. If they didn't mow the lawn, no food. "Hey I work to buy food to eat and that's how life works kid." Yeah. Notsomuch. I think teaching them to value of work is very important and they can learn to earn money to buy extras and other things they might want but not necessarily need. I believe that it is a parent's job to provide necessities for their children and that most certainly includes food. Anybody that refuses to feed their child because they wouldn't mow the lawn is an asshole.

Aside from those extreme examples I do thing there was good to be taken from the book. Giving your child choices, even from a young age (they suggested nine months) teaches them good decision making skills and builds confidence. Plus, you might meet with less resistance if you give your kid a choice rather than dole out orders all the time. We have been trying this, and lots of times it is great. When dealing with something my 2 1/2 year simply doesn't want to do it gets us nowhere. "Hey honey, would you like to take your medicine in the living room or the kitchen?" or "Would you like to take it all by yourself or do you want mommy to help you?" gets me a nice loud "Uh UH". But I do like the idea of choices so we'll definitely be working that into our routine a lot more. I also like the idea of giving plenty of empathy and keeping your child's problems theirs instead of taking them on yourself. Telling your child you are so sorry they are tired because they refused to nap and empathizing with them that you know how you feel super tired when you don't get sleep plants in their little minds that the way they are feeling is a result of their own actions.

Up next: The Discipline Book by Dr Sears

Stop me if you've heard this one...

2010-02-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

Still sick. We were right back to urgent care tonight with fevers and a goopy ear. Four infected ears. Sigh. New medicines for everyone. I really hope this does the trick otherwise we're getting handed a referral to an ENT. We didn't even bother putting them to bed in their rooms. The Peanut is sleeping happily (so far) in his car seat and the Weebles is tucked into our bed. She is very restless though so I'm not getting much sleep.

So this post isn't yet another waaa waaa waaaa post there were some cute things that happened today. This morning the Weebs was in such a hurry to get to school that she went into her dad's closet while he was in the shower and drug off a dress shirt from its hanger, pulled a tie off the rack and grabbed two of his dress shoes. She left these offerings on the floor outside the shower. She is really taking an interest in getting dressed too. Tonight she tried to put on her own pajamas. She managed to get the pants almost all the way up... unfortunately the had put them on upside down. ;)

Off to try to sleep some more. I have a feeling it might be a long few days coming up....

2 1/2

2010-02-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

Weebles,

Today is your half birthday. Which is sort of a silly milestone I guess but given that you have a summer birthday it will probably come into play for school parties and the like. Plus, I love any opportunity to celebrate you. You have grown up so, SO much in the last six months. You are most definitely a little girl now. You no longer wear diapers, you sleep in a big girl bed (sometimes mine!) and you go to preschool three mornings a week.

Admittedly 2 1/2 is a tough stage for all of us. Some things have been getting better, you have been having fewer tantrums and had a great day with your Mana and Papa. For the last month or two you wouldn't have anything to do with them and would sit in my lap the entire time they were here. Bedtime has become a huge struggle lately and it is making things hard on all of us. But I know we will come out on the other side. Hopefully soon. Very, very soon.

I miss your baby days. It is hard for me to look at you and realize how far you have come in such a short time. Of course it is exciting to see you learn and grow but you are growing so fast it scares your Mama. My precious little baby girl. Please don't rush to grow up. And please, for the love of God go to bed.

Love,
Mama

Sleep deprivation

2010-02-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

My plan this weekend was to run the kids from one activity to the next so ensure they would be so tired at the end of the day that they would sleep properly. Coming off basically a month of being sick we have been cooped up in the house and everyone was bored, restless and not sleeping worth a damn. Andrew and I are both at a breaking point we are both so tired. We haven't slept the entire night in the same bed in a month. Poor Andrew has slept sitting up on the couch more nights than not holding the Peanut who can't breathe very well lying down thanks to the gift that keeps on givin', RSV. Last night I spent several hours in the chair in our bedroom with BOTH children asleep on my lap. So, I went into the weekend with an iron resolve to wear these little people out. The secondary goals were to a.) have a TV free weekend (again, cooped up in the house, way too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, it was time to go cold turkey) and b.) get them out of the house so that Andrew could have several hours at a time without anyone around so he could catch up on work, sleep and drawing.

So here I sit. Nearly 10 on Saturday night listening to my two year old freak out over the monitor at her dad. I've already been in her room with her for well over an hour and the girl just isn't going to sleep. WTF? I am so exhausted I'm not entirely sure I'm awake as I write this. How in the hell can a two year old still be going strong? And the real kicker is that even ~~when~~ if she finally does go to sleep her little brother will be up.

Oh bottle of wine in the fridge... will I ever get to spend some quality time with you?

2010-02-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

Toddler - "Mommy what's this?" holding up a ball of play doh

Me - "Hmm what do you think it is?"

Toddler - "Poop! It go in potty, I get special treat!" Runs towards bathroom

Happy weekend!!

2010-02-04T06:26:00.000-08:00

Prompt #4 : ~~Ten~~ Seven things I never knew until I was a mom

Just how damn useful baby wipes are. I will never be without them again. Need to detail the van? Baby wipes. Stain on your shirt? Baby wipes. Want to wipe of the bathroom counter or dust the top of the TV? Baby wipes.

How insane children make you feel. They are totally irrational little beings yet you can't help but try to reason with them which leaves me feeling like I'm losing my marbles most of the time. "Honey if you don't take your antibiotics you'll never get better and will feel like hell much longer than necessary." - me "NO!" - Toddler

Just how little sleep parents get. You hear about it, you laugh about it.. then you live it and think, "Holy hell, will I ever sleep again?" I also wonder how little sleep one can survive on without actually dying.

I had no idea what constituted a "child friendly" place until I had kids of my own. First up, it has to be noisy. Like Cracker Barrel noisy or Red Robin noisy. You want to be able to walk in there and be totally drowned out. Bonus points if your restaurant or store has an area set up with toys so that the parents can actually eat or shop in peace for ten minutes. We don't get that luxury often and we will thank you a thousand times over.

Having children has highlighted what a hypochondriac I am. During pregnancy I was pretty sure I was on the verge of losing the baby and thereby dying myself at least a dozen times. After they were born I stared at my babies wondering how on earth they would remember to breath. Every illness or fever sends me right over the edge of reason with worry. I probably need to work on that.

Being a mom has taught me how much I suck at imaginative play. I blame my upbringing on this one. Really.. I'm totally clueless. I honestly cannot understand the fun in pretending to do something. But I think I do a decent job of faking it. At least my two year old doesn't seem to catch on yet...

There is never enough time to finish anything.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

Groundhog Day

2010-02-02T07:28:00.000-08:00

So you've seen the movie, right? Everyone has seen that movie. I've probably seen it a dozen times and to be honest I really wasn't all that impressed the first several viewings but it is one of those movies that is always on one of the cable channels and it is easy to zone out to. The more I have thought about it the more I like the premise of the movie. You get to do over the same day over and over again until you finally manage to get it just how you want it. Not having to think in hind sight about how you wish you'd said this or that, or how you wish you'd gone back to check on that stranded motorist or how you wish you'd spent more time playing Legos when your toddler asked and less time scanning the headlines on TMZ.

As a stay at home parent my days can be super monotonous. This is most pronounced in the newborn days when day and night all just run together in a 3 hour cycle of feed the baby, stare at the baby, try to play with the baby, repeat. But the days still seem to run one right into the other with two toddlers So, it is the perfect opportunity to stage a Groundhog Day of my own. From being more cheerful first thing in the morning (even when the kids aren't) to dedicating more of my day to slowing down and making Play Doh animals or building block towers I want to make sure each day is the best we can do as a family. Now I'm off to have a word with that silly groundhog... six more weeks of winter?

Not Me! Monday

2010-02-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

It was definitely Not Me that left extra cake batter in the mixing bowl so that there would be more to lick off the spoon. Everybody knows those calories don't count.

It couldn't possibly have been me that allowed my children to eat every meal at the coffee table for the last three days. If I had done that I surely would have been doing a LOT of vacuuming up of crumbs.

I'm sure it was someone else that after finishing BFBM this morning stayed upstairs a few extra minutes to catch up on blog reading instead of rushing downstairs to take over with the kids.

And it absolutely was Not Me that neglected this blog the last three weeks while nursing two pitiful sick babies back to health. The mood around here would have had to have been so bad that I had nothing to say worth remembering for that to happen.

It is Not Me that has been unable to locate the only land line telephone in our house. The last time I saw it The Peanut was toddling around with it. Four days ago. We have searched everywhere. It wouldn't be quite as funny except he didn't also drool all over my cell phone rendering the back lit display useless. When I have a text message or missed call I have to find a flashlight to shine on the screen. People that try to get in touch with me can tell just how "together" I am.

It has however been me doling out lots of extra hugs and kisses to the babies. Watching them enjoy playing in the snow after wrestling with snow suits and related accessories for a solid twenty minutes first. Enjoying having the husband home and having time to just BE. We don't get around to doing nothing very often and that is a shame. I could use another few days like these. Anybody have any extra snow they could send our way?

Two weeks

2010-01-24T12:48:00.001-08:00

Seven urgent care visits
One overnight trip to the ER
Two nebulizer treatments
One inhaler
Five antibiotic prescriptions
One chest x-ray
Three bottles of children's Tylenol
One bottle of children's Motrin
Zero nights where anyone got any sleep to speak of
Two boxes of popsicles
30 hours worth of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
An unexpected "staycation" last week for Andrew
And a one week visit from the MIL to save us all from starving

It really wasn't as glamorous as it all sounds.

Silver Linings

2010-01-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

I've been missing lately. We've been having fun with this crazy little thing called RSV over here and quite honestly I'm so fried from the stress and lack of sleep that I haven't even felt like stringing a set of words together and smacking it on the internets. All hope is not lost however. I like to try to find the positive. Here are my favorite things about having two small children with a serious virus:

Diaper changes haven't been a wrestling match. The kid actually lies still.

Bedtimes aren't a fight. Both kids are more than ready to conk out. They don't stay asleep but these are the positives people...

Naps. Lots and lots of naps.

My baby boy has learned to be a snuggler. Even as a newborn he wouldn't sleep in my arms. Now he snuggles in like a champ and drifts off to sleep. He picked this skill up quickly seeing as how he had to sleep being held for four! nights! straight!

We have enough antibiotic on hand to cover our entire family in the event of a terrorist attack. Five entire courses of it as a matter of fact. Hardly any of it that my daughter was willing to touch even upon threat of death or having to go to the doctor for a BIG SCARY SHOT.

Guilt free days filled with no fewer than a dozen episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Plenty of opportunity to hammer out my Hot Dog Dance style and slowly lose my mind.

Not one thought given to the ramifications of having cheese sticks for breakfast. FOR BREAKFAST PEOPLE. It is pure survival around here folks.

My toddler begs to take a bath since it helps her breathe.

I have gotten so little sleep (meaning absolutely none some nights) for the last week that when I go back to being woken up every two hours it will seem wonderful.

Happy Delurker Day!

2010-01-14T12:13:00.000-08:00

How I made it until mid afternoon without realizing it was National Delurker Day I do not know... oh wait yes I do. It is called our first ear infection. Little Weebs made it to 2 1/2 without an ear infection so now I feel like she is finally a "real child." Sniffle. 4 mornings in preschool and we have an ear infection. The Hell. Sigh, Motrin and good ol' antibiotics are helping to fix her up. She was in a pitiful state. And yes, for the record I am against willy nilly use of antibiotics. At least I was until it was my baby hurting. *Ahem hypocrite. Happy Delurker Day! Feel free to say hi! I see you out there. :)

Separation Anxiety

2010-01-10T19:16:00.000-08:00

What has happened to my delightful little girl? It has been really stressful around here the last couple of weeks. She. has. LOST. IT. Almost all the time. The Weebles positively refuses to let me out of her sight at all times. She wakes up over and over again at night hysterical that I'm not there. We will go over to my parents' house to visit and she'll be having a great time with her Papa only to realize I'm not within sight and freak out. She will then insist I carry her until we get back home lest I disappear again.

Andrew and I traced the problems back to when I was working a few extra hours over Christmas. I usually work two mornings a week while my mom comes over to stay with the kids. Over Christmas I picked up one extra afternoon shift and also worked Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons. Andrew was here all of those extra times to be with the kids. It didn't seem like a ton of time to me, but then again I'm not 2 years old. She got so she wouldn't want me to leave but she didn't bring out the full blown tantrums, yet.

The week before Christmas she started having a really difficult time going to sleep at night. She claimed there were dragons in her window and she was scared. It was heartbreaking to see her so upset. Even if she was in my arms she would be scared. But, once she finally did fall asleep she would sleep through the night and be her usual happy self by morning.

Then of course it was the holidays and we were all over the place. Visiting virtually everyone in the family and there were presents presents presents for about four straight days. It was a lot of excitement and really too much to process for a small child. By the time we got home she was clearly over stimulated. Unfortunately there was no time for a break because the Peanut's birthday rolled around a week later and all the relatives were back with more PRESENTS of course.

I made the idiot decision to start her in preschool three mornings a week right after New Year's. It seemed like a good time.. it would give her something new to be excited about once the thrill of Christmas was gone I thought.

Things are much MUCH worse now. The first day of preschool I had to pick her up early because she was inconsolable. The second day they said she did much better. Drop off went okay but she got upset when she realized I was gone. She was back to normal by pick up time. Wednesday was heart breaking for me. She clung to me for at least an hour as I tried to get her interested in painting, books, the fish tank, dress up.. anything. Finally I had to go and I had no choice but to hand her over screaming and begging for me to come back. I must've cried for a solid hour. The school called me to let me know she cheered right up after I left, so I felt some better. There was a similar melt down Tuesday night when I left to go to a sewing class.

This just sucks. I love my little girl and my instincts say to let her cling to me as much as she needs to. This is a phase and she is doing what she needs to do to feel okay about all her newfound independence. The problem is: I can't always be with her. I work.. admittedly very little but still I have to leave sometimes. Her brother still needs to nurse at night so I can't very easily sleep with her all the time even though I am happy to when I can. I just enrolled in my sewing class and I would really like to be able to have that time for me each week. And then of course there is the issue of her preschool. I had such high hopes for that. I hoped she would LOVE it and be so excited to go and play with her new little friends. I'm not the mom that subscribes to the "oh they'll get over it eventually" school of thought on separation anxiety. I know anxiety all too well and there is no way a two year old has the coping skills to work through that on their own. Hopefully she will one day, but it isn't reasonable to expect her to now. So what to do? I hate to give up on it so easily. We are going to try letting Andrew do drop off tomorrow to see if that is an easier transition for her. I am nervous. I feel like I've brought on all this unnecessary emotional upheaval for my little girl by making the wrong decisions. Bleh. Better go to bed, it will surely be another long night.

Love the One You're With

2010-01-07T16:13:00.001-08:00

I used to be so happy when it was just the Weebles and she was tucked into bed safely beside me. I could actually sleep well that way, without worrying so much. Then Peanut was born and all that changed. Now, even when she was snuggled next to me.. he wasn't. So my heart ached for him, wishing he was next to me too. I felt bad that he was all alone in his little crib while we were all down here together. Of course it isn't always that way. Now some nights he will be curled up on his belly between us while Weebles is upstairs in her bed. Then I wish I were with her. We haven't really tried cosleeping with both of them at the same time. I keep thinking when they are older it will be easier, when I don't have to worry quite so much about one of them going off the side or waking the other up. By then there is a good possibility that we'll have a third child and I'll be right back in the same boat. This same feeling surfaces when I am spending one on one time with one or the other. I'll be cooking or coloring with my daughter and I'll feel badly that my son is playing cars by himself. Or I'll be building a block tower with my little boy and feel bad that my daughter is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Why can't I let go of the guilt and really enjoy connecting with each of my children on their own?

First Day of School Jitters

2010-01-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

There was crying, there were attempts to back out, there was a LOT of second guessing.. of course all of that was me. Today was the Weebs' first day of preschool. She'll be going three mornings a week. I don't go in for Gymboree or play dates or basically anything that involves me sitting around with other moms singing nursery rhymes. I've never been good at that sort of social interaction and I don't know that now is the time to take up the hobby. I wanted her to have interaction with kids her own age and get out of the house some.

So this morning we packed up everything on the list we were given. Let me tell you, it felt downright weird to be writing her name on her cup and extra clothes. I guess I'm spoiled being able to stay home with the kids pretty much full time. Andrew and I both went to drop her off since he had never been there before. She ran off when we got there to play and didn't even look back. Whew. I didn't fare quite as well, but felt better about it than I had thought I would.

Around 10:30 I got a call that she was upset and asking for something and they couldn't figure out what. Her "bonky??" the teacher said. Poor baby wanted her blankie. I didn't send it because it is super frail, luckily I had it in the car with me. I drove it over with the plan that they would sneak it in to her to see if it helped. Once I got there I could hear her though and there was no way I wasn't going to go in and reassure her. She wasn't actually all that upset at that point. There were a couple of other kids that were really freaking out and she was sort of staring at them so I think it was distracting her from her own drama. She was still happy to see me and after she calmed the rest of the way down I helped her put on her coat and shoes and we went outside for playground time with the rest of her class. She ventured around on her own a bit and when it was time to go back inside I went ahead and took her home. The real test will be tomorrow I guess. Hopefully she will be excited to be back and the day will go even better. And maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll handle it better too. ;)

Tale of the Cake

2010-01-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

The Weebles is allergic to eggs. This is really only somewhat inconvenient and really doesn't even come up all that often as we are used to going places we know she has food she likes and are good about avoiding it at home. Still... we hope she'll outgrow them.

The biggest pain in the ass about the situation is the birthday cake. When she turned one we got a pretty cake from a bakery and I baked her a little smash cake of her own that had no eggs. She didn't have any clue there was a whole other cake and wouldn't have cared anyway. When she turned two however, I knew she was going to want the "cool" cake so I contacted the only local bakery I could find that would do a vegan cake. I didn't need it to be vegan of course, but they insisted that was the only way I'd get one without the eggs in it. Devil's food with chocolate icing was my only option. I told the lady the situation and asked if they could please make it look fun for my daughter and write Happy Birthday Julie on it.. sure no problem they said. My husband went and picked it up.. and I only wish I had thought to take a picture of the hot mess that cake was. It was a dark brown cake (of course) and they had written the words in runny white icing that had spread into puddles and was pretty much illegible. I was a mess. My husband saved the day by painstakingly scraping all the white goop off with a toothpick and using some hot pink icing from the grocery store to jazz things up a bit. We added some rainbow Happy Birthday candles and it looked pretty darn cute. The Weebs was excited.

So I knew that there was no way I was going back to that bakery for this past weekend's festivities. My in laws are from Asheville and they had gotten a few vegan cakes for various birthdays we've celebrated there during Weebs' lifetime so I gave their bakery a call. I told the lady what had happened last time and she was really sweet and understanding. You know how little kids are, they want COLOR and FUN! She said they would be happy to do any cake they had without eggs for us and they could decorate it any way we wanted. YAY! I told them I definitely wanted a white cake and that it should be super colorful and that my boy loves dinosaurs and cars and whichever they thought they might be able to do better I'd be thrilled with. I should have known how bad it was when my father in law called after picking up the cake to ask what I had told them to put on the cake. They sent me a picture.

"At least everything was spelled right" he said trying to cheer me up. Off to Wal-Mart we went to buy cake decorating supplies. Here is the final version, courtesy of Andrew.

Hard to believe it is the same cake right? Next time around I'll know better and we'll just make the whole cake ourselves. The worst part? Both of these vegan cakes came from swanky bakeries that charged upwards of $50 for the darn things. I think a cake decorating class at the local community college is in order...

One Year Old

2010-01-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

My little Peanut, a surprise of a lifetime. You are really something else. When you were born I was so worried that you would never be the center of attention like your big sister. She shines so brightly and can work a room of adults like a pro. Today you proved that you know a thing or two about being the star too.

Tuesday you took off walking for the first time. That came in super handy today as you grabbed onto one of the shiny star shaped balloons we bought for your party and walked around the house with it. All Day. You didn't let go of your balloon for anything. It is pretty hard to resist an adorable little guy toddling gleefully around with a balloon. You were layin' the cute on us pretty dang thick.

You have also learned to give high fives and you are working on saying lots of words. You have had "NO!" down for a week or so but tonight during your party you also sang along "E I E I O" clear as day and said "Go Go Go!"

You are a big time climber and love to get up in chairs or scale a flight of steps. You scare me to death on an hourly basis. In the last week or two you've decided you don't like your high chair so every meal time is a struggle. I must say you did great tonight at your party. Then again, I'd sit still for spaghetti and cake too!

I am so proud of you my little man. I know we are going to have so much fun together as you get older and learn more and more things. Mama loves her little son. Happy Birthday Drew.

Resolutions

2010-01-01T04:40:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of hopes for this coming year. Resolutions are generally doomed to be forgotten after only a few days so I think I might prefer to call them "long term goals" instead. Finding patience is definitely at the top of the list. I have improved an immeasurable amount to be sure, but I find that my stores of patience still run thin by the end (okay sometimes the beginning) of the day. The Weebles is in an "emotional outburst" phase and it tends to get my blood pressure rising almost instantly when she kicks into a tantrum for what seems like no particular reason.

Right up there at the top has GOT to be taking better care of myself. Sleep, exercise, eating something that isn't someone else's leftovers, having interests that don't revolve around finding missing pieces to Little People playsets, taking notice of what I put on in the morning (yesterday's jeans anyone? a t-shirt... again??) you get the idea. This one I will be breaking down into smaller short term goals because it will be impossible to make all the necessary changes at once.

Improve the quality of the time I spend with the kids. Some days are superstars... others seem like nothing but episodes of Mickey Mouse Playhouse and time outs. Every chance I get to move more time into the win column I want to take.

Really that is about it. I think overall I want to keep in the forefront of my mind that in order to raise good children, ones that will be compassionate towards others and mindful of the impact they leave around them, I have to mirror all the same qualities I wish for them. That, my friends, is a tall order.

Happy 2010!

Year in Review

2009-12-31T10:30:00.001-08:00

This year I have:

Had a baby
Not gotten pregnant again (so far... but I think I'm in the clear)
Not lost one single pound since giving birth on Jan 2nd GO ME!
Not gained one single pound either Grumble Grumble okay I'll take it
Nursed two children for an entire year
Not slept all the way through the night even once
Done somewhere in the neighborhood of 625 loads of laundry
Survived a son of a bitch case of PPD
Survived a simultaneous case of colic
Not killed my husband or anyone else in the process
Started a blog
Met so many kick ass bloggers
Spent approximately 1500 hours online
Witnessed my daughter learn to speak in complete sentences, sleep in her own room and ditch diapers
Witnessed my son learn to eat, roll over, sit up, crawl, climb, and just recently walk. He's also pretty awesome at waving bye bye and saying NO!
Picked up the pieces to my kids' Melissa and Doug puzzles at least 1,000 times.
Taken maybe 10 showers uninterrupted
Driven my "non mom" car maybe twice and considering that enough reason to keep it
Bought myself 8 new articles of clothing, yep I can count them
Bought my children 20 times that many
Watched Classical Baby about 700 times
Told my children I loved them 9,000 times

Not a bad year. Not bad at all.

Packing Up

2009-12-29T19:03:00.000-08:00

I came to the harsh realization that I will never again (or at least for a very long time) be able to put off packing up all the Christmas decorations. The Peanut's birthday is Jan 2nd and while I can probably get away with leaving everything up until Jan 1, the 2nd is just a tad too late to have up a tree. So, tonight we began trying to chip away at the work to be done to get ready for the birthday party this weekend. As I put things in boxes I started to wonder about next year. Will the Weebles love being read Winnie the Pooh's Jingle Bells as much as she did this year? Will Olive the Other Reindeer get exclusive play in the van next year too? What will our children remember from this year to the next? Where will we be in our lives when I unpack her special "Jingle Bells" ponytail holder? It made me a little sad to be putting all these things away that have been such a focus of their little lives for the last two months or so. Christmas themed dishes, clothes, movies and bedtime stories have taken center stage. What if next year they aren't totally in love with Pooh anymore and the giant inflatable Santa Pooh we just got on clearance isn't such a big hit? It makes me a little sad to see them grow up so fast. By next year it isn't totally unreasonable to expect the Weebs to be in love with Barbie or Princesses (holy beans, please tell me Bratz don't come until much, MUCH later.) I'm not ready for Barbie and Princesses. I like Pooh Bear and Wow Wow. Mama isn't ready for all of this, stay little awhile longer please babies.

Christmas lessons

2009-12-28T12:01:00.000-08:00

We had a hectic but fun Christmas that spanned three days of present opening and family visiting. There are several things I have taken away this year on Christmas with children under 3.

1.) Don't bother buying tons of presents. The kids will get hooked on one or two things and ignore all the other ones. Seriously, there are dozens of new toys my daughter hasn't even picked up or looked at. I'm packing them all up and getting them out one at a time over the next few months.

2.) Wear something presentable to bed Christmas Eve or be ready to throw on something "decent", including the requisite undergarments, first thing when the kids wake up. Otherwise you will forever be captured in pictures and videos looking a tad trashy. I learned this the hard way as I found myself on the wrong side of the video camera first thing and went to change.

3.) Don't put candy in the stockings. I know it is tempting, but just don't. This is a recipe for tantrums and who wants to spend a month working hard so your wee ones' eyes will light up on Christmas morning only to have them let you know in no uncertain terms you have ruined their life because they cannot eat a giant chocolate penguin for breakfast.

4.) Freeing toys from the packaging that they come in these days is a royal pain the ass. Be prepared with a box cutter and some heavy duty scissors (at the least.) Bolt cutters would not be overdoing it.

5.) Amazon.com is so named because the entire rain forest had to be chopped down in order to send out one order. Everything will come in a separate box, your UPS man will run over your driveway lights on purpose to get even and you will be left with a mountain of cardboard blocking the entrace into your garage.

Can't wait to do it all again next year!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-23T20:41:00.001-08:00

Get 1000 new followers in one day!

2009-12-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

Heather had a fantastic post today in response to the controversy surrounding Shellie. It really made my day to read it because so often I have sat here, thousands of miles away from her wishing there was something, anything, I could do to help her. Turns out, the tweets we send off into cyberspace and the outpourings of love on our blogs do actually matter during our online friends' time of need.

Twitter is an awesome resource. Whether I want to share something funny, vent about something frustrating going on or just see what the world is up to it is there day or night. If I sneak the whole box of Christmas Cookies into the bed to munch on while blogging, I can tweet it and instantly get back up telling me to #putthosebackrightnow! If my kids are making me nuts I might get a response from another mom in Chicago telling me their kids are being ten times worse and I'm able to laugh about it with them. I get up to the minute news, someone to "watch" the big game with or tips on great Christmas presents for those hard to buy for relatives.

And yes, there are lots of us that use twitter as a support group. Why that is so threatening to some people I just don't understand. I have to wonder when I read these scathing accusations of moms that tweet while their children are fighting for their lives have any understanding of the technology that makes social networking possible. Tweeting doesn't involve going into your living room and firing up the old Commodore 64, waiting 10 minutes for it to start up and then dialing into Prodigy. What she did took no more time than a very brief phone call and surely nobody would try to fault someone for calling someone, anyone, when something so shocking and horrible happens. Social networking isn't limited to Farmville and trending topics on the latest hit movie. It can be used for amazing things too. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go check my @ replies...

5 Years

2009-12-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

Five years ago we braved the bringing together of all the various ~~warring factions~~ sides of our families for a wedding. Sure, there were arguments, plenty of threats (from me) and perhaps 911 had to be called during our reception with paramedics swarming in.. but all of that is neither here nor there. The important thing is that we made damn sure all the elderly relatives were fed at a decent hour and not left waiting. And that we had an open bar. And really, isn't that what weddings are all about?

In the movies the groom is frequently shown freaking out and considering running off while he still can. Pacing back and forth... or doing last minute nerve calming shots with the best man. My husband to be? He calmly went downstairs in the chapel and ran his hands under hot water because he was "afraid they would be cold" when I got up to the altar. I think the typical concern is cold feet hon.

Happy Anniversary Roo

Wordless Wednesday - Tis the Season

2009-12-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

Bloggy Holiday Card Exchange

2009-12-15T02:47:00.000-08:00

Wishing all my bloggy friends a very happy holiday season from my crazy family to yours!

Family tradition

2009-12-13T16:54:00.001-08:00

Thank goodness NaBloPoMo wasn't in December. Good thinking on their part. Family drama is already heating up. I sure do love the holidays. Every year I feel like I'm having to drag my family through the motions. I buy the gifts for my mom to give my dad, for my dad to give my mom, for my parents to give my husband, for my parents to give my children. I've even started buying things for myself for my husband to give to my parents to give to me. I'm determined my children will grow up thinking Christmas is as special as I think it is. I want them to remember it as a magical time of the year filled with family memories and anticipation. When they are older I want them to understand what the holiday is *really* about both in the religious sense but also the spirit of the holiday too. Thinking of others, appreciating their many blessings and remembering those that aren't as fortunate. I'm determined they won't see it as the time of year that their mom lost her cool at the crazy uncle that persisted in standing over her shoulder saying "another potato? you don't need any more potatos, who is going to eat all this food?" while ridding the entire house of doritos and mixed nuts and eating directly out of the serving pots. Or the time of year that mom and grandma got in a fight about whether or not the TURKEY needed to be refrigerated overnight. Holy hell my mother and her steadfast belief that food never spoils. Sigh, I'm looking forward to it already.

Who in the hell is this guy?

2009-12-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from the family y'all

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-09T16:08:00.001-08:00

Fuzzy Logic

2009-12-07T10:56:00.001-08:00

There is so much static going on in my head I can't seem to get a clear thought out of the lot of it. I have so many half projects and to do's swirling around that it is beginning to induce panic. On top of that I feel like I spend my day chasing down my "half way dones" while not actually finishing anything or spending any quality time with the kids. This is resulting in one broke down mama. How to drop it all, figure out the two or three most important things and focus on them while admitting that I won't get everything done? Won't happen... I'm just not wired that way. Sigh.

11 months old

2009-12-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

Not Me! Monday

2009-11-30T11:23:00.001-08:00

It wasn't me that stepped in a puddle while in the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning and upon checking to make sure it wasn't pee from one critter or another walked away without bothering to get it up.

It also isn't me that has no plans for dinner this week or groceries in the house. But if it WERE me, I'd totally have a justifiable excuse because c'mon people, it was just Thanksgiving and certainly I shouldn't still be having to do all this thinking about food.

It was most definitely not me last night that was completely confused by Google Wave. I would never have sat there staring at the screen in confusion for twenty minutes. I'm not that old.. right?

A Weekend Well Spent

2009-11-29T03:18:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Children are like hamsters

2009-11-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

I came to this realization a few days ago. I wanted to back this claim up with pictures, but I'll never get things together enough for that.

The Peanut has already managed to chew pieces of wood off of both his cribs.

The Weebles nibbles bites off when she eats. If you hand her an apple she will give it back to you when she is done with a dozen little tiny nibbles all over the apple. She does the same thing with celery and potatoes.

Yesterday the Peanut crawled between the sofa and the wall. We were afraid we'd have to move the whole thing to get him out.

While they certainly do NOT sleep during the day, they have been known to be wide awake half the night.

I'm considering looking into buying a large wheel for the living room so they can run off their energy in the afternoon....

Black Friday

2009-11-27T12:42:00.000-08:00

My posts of late have been more twitter worthy than blog worthy and I feel bad about that. My on again off again depression has been dragging me down the last week or two and it has taken every ounce of everything I have to keep on keepin' on where I absolutely have to. Some afternoons I'm pretty sure I'm going to collapse on the floor and never get up again. Bleh. I'm hoping the fog lifts soon and things look up. This is my favorite time of the year and I don't want this bullshit depression to detract from that. Bring on the Xanax* people.

*I don't actually know if Xanax is for anxiety/depression per se. I am woefully uneducated in the world of pharmaceuticals. So don't go self prescribing based on me...

Thankful

2009-11-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

Thankful for my babies. Thankful for my husband. Thankful for my friends, IRL and bloggy. Thankful for sleeeeep. :)

Naptime Routine

2009-11-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

I am a slave to the daytime routine on the days I am here by myself. Admittedly part of the reason I am so rigid regarding naps is that I crave a few minutes to just zone out. However, it is also crucial that the little people get the sleep they need or they turn into whiny PITAs. And I say that as only a mama who loves them can. So the double whammy of no time to myself + whiny children is enough to push me right over the edge into screamy mad mama behavior.

I have documented the Peanut's sketchy daytime sleep record here many times. I seem to have hit on a delicate formula that works. After lunch I nurse him and put him in his sister's old car seat, yeah it is pink gotaproblemwiththat?? He doesn't know and I try not to take too many pictures... ahem. I have to turn on a specific episode I have TiVo'ed of Classical Baby and then I get his sister ready for her nap and we go upstairs for me to tuck her in. Yes, believe me I have tremendous guilt for essentially strapping my poor baby in and forcing him to watch TV but it is the only way he will sleep for any length of time. If I tuck him in upstairs in his room (during the day only, at night he's fine) he wakes up after 15 or 20 minutes and will not fall back asleep. No amount of crying, playing, cajoling, nursing, or witch doctor-y will change this fact. I wouldn't let him cry it out anyway because that isn't my thing, but believe me, not gonna happen. This little guy is STUBBORN. The show is 20 minutes long, I have to manually restart the damn thing (TiVo doesn't have a repeat function, although I can't really imagine why it would..) and if I accidentally let it run out some damn Elmo commercial comes on that is loud as hell and wakes him. Then it is game over. So I spend his entire nap (which with this plan lasts 2+ hours) keeping a close eye on the TV and restarting as soon as it nears the end with bomb squad precision.

What quirky rituals do you or your children require?

Mommy: 0 - Kids: 0

2009-11-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those no nap days. So.. yeah. I'm pretty much done for. Night all.

Weekend Recap

2009-11-23T04:53:00.000-08:00

We spent the weekend with my in laws. The purpose of the trip was two fold. Saturday was my father in law's birthday and we wanted to celebrate it with him and Saturday was also the Asheville Christmas parade. We tried to go to the parade last year but assumed it was the weekend after Thanksgiving instead of the weekend before and missed out.

We got into Asheville a little after ten Friday night. Peanut did great and slept the entire four hours or so we were in the car. Weebles stayed up until her usual bedtime around eight thirty so she only got in about two hours of sleep. When we got there they both woke up and were immediately thrown into excited ooooh goodie look it is SiSi, Granddaddy and Uncle Yama! mode. This was the first time Peanut really seemed to take in his surroundings there and their house has all sorts of interesting things to look at. As a result we didn't manage to get them settled back down until nearly one AM. Ouch. Someone that doesn't have kids might think "well at least they'll sleep in the next morning..." and to that I say YOU FOOL! That is not how the game is played. Peanut was up and at 'em at his usual five AM.

We spent two hours at the parade and both kids were wild the whole time. Then the Peanut grabbed a twenty minute catnap on the way to lunch. After lunch we headed back to my in laws' and the Weebles took a nice hour + nap until five or so. Peanut meanwhile refused further napping and played. We headed to dinner around six thirty and the kids held up remarkably well for having had such a busy day. Peanut passed out in the car on the way home and we managed to change him into his jammies and tuck him in all while he still slept. Weebles however kept going on strong throughout the presents and cake and called it a night around ten.

Not surprisingly both kids were whiny basketcases all day Sunday. Totally exhausted from the previous day they weren't able to handle much of anything so we piled into the car fairly early to head home. My mood wasn't too far off from theirs so it probably wasn't the most pleasant ride for my poor husband with three whiny folks in the car. Thankfully bedtime went well and we're back into our regular (still up at five AM... groan) routine. Just in time to do it all again for Thanksgiving! :)

Yesterday my kid ate:

2009-11-22T17:19:00.000-08:00

A cinnamon roll. Cup of milk.

A handful of cheddar bunnies and a pack of dried fruit.

Two lollipops. They were organic, does that help? No?

Two mini candy canes.

Three french fries and probably a quarter of a cup of ketchup.

Chocolate milkshake.

An orange.

Two and a half french fries and another quarter cup of ketchup. Cup of milk.

The icing off a piece of chocolate birthday cake. It was vegan, does that help? No?

The sad thing is, I'm pretty sure she did better than me yesterday. Sigh.

Christmas Parade

2009-11-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

The Peanut really got into the Christmas parade today. Laughing and waving at the passing floats.

Then again, maybe he knows something I don't about this guy:

GAH How many effn days are there in November

2009-11-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

I used to like to blog. I looked forward to it. Clearly something has gone awry. Now it's all like ohforfuckssake AGAIN with the blogging? I'm not one for quitting so I'm still plowing ahead. Just be forewarned there is all kinds of written garbage headed your way.

We're in the midst of a sleep regression here in the Slawter household. Two of them to be more accurate. For the uninitiated, a sleep regression is a period in the development of a child where they are on the verge of major developmental milestones and as a result their little brains are so busy prattling on with excitement that they cannot sleep. The definition is way the hell cuter than the reality of it.

You'll be going along, night after night thinking "Hey! the kids sure seem to be sleeping better... we're totally making progress. Just imagine in a few weeks I might not get up at all at this rate." This is where you should stop. Because it makes it even worse when the inevitable happens.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that for the last three or four nights just as soon as my head hits the pillow a child wakes up. You can then repeat that scenario six or seven times throughout the night. Believe it or not, this leaves a person tired, frazzled and somewhat pissed off (if that someone is short on patience as I am.) And after the stretch of pretty decent sleep it is especially crippling to backtrack so spectacularly.

But hey! Good news, I guess this means my kids should be doing some new amazing things in the next couple of weeks! Walking? Talking? Doing the laundry?

Random Thought Thursday

2009-11-19T19:02:00.000-08:00

* I should be packing. The amount of crap that has to go with us when we go anywhere overnight is astounding. Beds, blankets, loveys, food, cups/dishes, clothes, more clothes, toys, movies, medicine, more clothes... crazy. I cannot fathom why my husband and I didn't just pick up and go more often while we still could. Hear that childless people? Travel while it still seems worth the effort!!

* I'm having a hella time finding Christmas + birthday presents for my little guy. Part of the problem is that he inherited so many toys from his big sister that it limits the good ideas. The other difficulty is that he is just now starting to really enjoy playing so I don't have a great handle on what his favorites are going to be yet. And then of course I have the double whammy of back to back gift buying occasions for him so I feel like I need twice as many ideas.

* At what point do you step in when a relative is being obnoxious to your children? If anyone else had intentionally made my baby boy cry and then laughed in his face the mama bear in me would have ripped them to pieces. But today I just sat and stared and then looked at my dad for a reaction, got none and was duly disappointed in him. Should be used to it by now I guess.

* I have so many loose ends to tie up in the coming weeks. Preschool enrollment forms, beach house rental deposits, Christmas cards. Yikes! I'd better find what is left of my marbles and get them all in one place so I might actually get some things done.

* Get well Anissa. I miss teh funny.

200th Post

2009-11-18T06:13:00.001-08:00

There were lots of different directions I thought about going today. I hated to give up a Wordless Wednesday but felt like that wouldn't be a very profound way to mark a milestone. Then last night I got online after getting the kids to bed to this news.

Anissa is the ringleader of the Aiming Low gals, one of my favorite blogging sites. I'm a D List blogger (as you can see from my sidebar) but Anissa? Anissa is what the "A" in A List stands for. I am being reminded again today of why the blogging community is so important to me as everyone rallies around her and her family.

As I go through my day I look at things in a different light. Sure, I could bitch that the kids got up at 5:30 (AGAIN!?!?!) or that my two year old dumped an entire box of Cheerios all over the floor this morning. But then I remember Anissa. I think about her husband, her three kids, all her friends. And I tell myself to shut the fuck up. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go eat some kittehs in her honor.

Fight for Preemies Day

2009-11-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

Today is fight for preemies day. I remember when I was pregnant being terrified my babies would come early. Each week I would search the internet for statistics on the survival rates for babies born at that point in my pregnancy. I would go on to read about possible complications they might face, length of NICU stays and their future prognosis. What can I say? I'm a worrier.

I was a preemie myself weighing just five pounds when I was born. I've done my very best to catch up in the weight department. ;) I've had friends and co-workers that have had preemies and seen firsthand the stress, worry, helplessness and heartbreak it can cause. I also have a friend that works in the NICU and she amazes me. That isn't so much a career as a calling I'd have to think. I was thrilled she was able to be there right after my first child was born, but even happier that she was there as nothing more than a friend.

Luckily both my babies were born full term and healthy. While there are lots of things we can do to protect our unborn children we cannot control it all. My next child could very well be born early. We are at a time where we are realizing that preventative medicine is crucial and that all starts during pregnancy. Supporting the March of Dimes is one of the best ways to contribute to the fight against premature birth.

Driving me to drink

2009-11-16T18:45:00.000-08:00

If my kid asks me one more time what I'm doing I'm going to have to go straight into the kitchen and have a shot of whiskey. That is all.

2009-11-15T18:29:00.000-08:00

Daddy Guest Post

2009-11-14T11:11:00.000-08:00

Weekends are a wonderful thing. Even if they are sometimes tiring as hell. I look forward to nothing more during the week than being able to spend two entire days with my wife and kids. During the week, my play-time with the kids is limited. The majority of my time in the morning is spent getting ready for work, and the majority of my time with them in the evening is getting them ready for bed. I still manage to have a lot of fun with my kids on weekdays, but nothing compares to the weekend. As probably most people do, I spend at least part of every day at work wishing that I was home instead. But the funny thing is, each Saturday, usually mid-afternoon, realizing just how exhausting it must be for Mary to be at home alone with the kids on weekdays.

Regardless of what time we manage to get him to sleep at night, the Peanut tends to wake up, without fail, sometime between 5:15 and 5:45 in the morning. This would be all fine and dandy if he was good about taking a nap sometime during the day (well -- theoretically anyway...I guess there's a good chance I'd still complain about getting up that early even if he did nap). But he isn't good about taking naps during the day, which just adds insult to injury. It's almost like his sole source of energy is from some invisible solar panel up on our roof (I say up on our roof because if the sun is up, even if he's in a dark room being rocked while a nice gentle soother is playing, he's giddy and playful, as though he's in the middle of a playground with jolting carnival music blaring nearby.)

So, without fail, every Saturday, around 1:30 in the afternoon, after I'm already tired from getting up, playing with and helping care for the kids, doing whatever errands we have to do for the morning, getting lunch and helping to get the Weeble down for her nap, just when I'm looking forward to a break -- just for a few minutes -- the Peanut suddenly gets his second (third?) wind and has the energy to go on a Babycrawl 5K. What's insane about all of this is that Mary is with me the whole time, and I still feel that way. I'm not alone with the kids. Maybe the Peanut inherited his ability to harness the sun's energy from his mom -- because as tired as I know being here during the week makes her, she's gotta be getting the energy to take care of them from somewhere.

Wordless Friday - Girl and Dog

2009-11-13T14:49:00.000-08:00

Random Thought Thursday

2009-11-12T14:16:00.000-08:00

** If it doesn't stop raining I am going to go completely mad. We have been stuck inside for what seems like three months. The Weebles asks me over and over "go outside walk?" I wouldn't even care about the rain at this point but its forty degrees outside. The double whammy of freezing AND raining I just can't find a way around.

** How can Thanksgiving be two weeks away? HOW PEOPLE? I don't even want to think about how much cleaning, shopping and planning I have to do in those two weeks. Not to mention we're going out of town part of the time between now and then.

** Looming behind Thanksgiving is Christmas. We have about 5% of the decorations out already so at least I feel like that's a start. But the recipe finding, cookie baking, gift shopping, wrapping, card sending, family fueding, tree installation madness that awaits is a little overwhelming even though it is my favorite time of the year and I love all those things.

** Even after we survive Christmas we have The Peanut's one year birthday to look forward to a week later. So I'll have to be planning for that somewhere in all the Christmas mayhem.

** This isn't so random is it? More of a depressing "oh shit I gots a lot to do why am I just sitting here refreshing twitter?" list. Better get cracking.

Happy Birthday Maddie

2009-11-11T04:46:00.001-08:00

Dear Maddie,

I am a stranger to you and your parents. My daughter is only a couple of months older than you and when she was a few months old I discovered "mommy blogs." Reading them helped me not to feel so alone as I sat here with my baby day after day wondering if I were doing this whole thing right.

About a year ago I found your mommy's blog. It got bookmarked right away because your mommy is very funny and the beautiful pictures of you jumped off the screen and made me laugh. I looked at your pictures and could see the joy in your eyes and thought that your mom must be a really good mom for you to be so happy.

Over the months I enjoyed reading about you and seeing everything that you were learning and how much you were growing. When you got sick I worried and checked in often for updates. When your mom and dad were hurting I felt helpless, desperately wishing I could change things for them.

I wish I had gotten the opportunity to meet you in person. I have never seen a child so full of life. I would love nothing more than to be buying you a present today and wrapping it with a million curly ribbons for you to laugh at. But I will do the only thing I know to do today to celebrate your life. Today, and every November 11th, I will make a donation to Friends of Maddie in your honor.

Your mom and dad's posts still make me laugh and all too often they make me cry. I anxiously (but not too anxiously, don't get any ideas Binky!) await the arrive of your little sister. She will have her own light and her own personality but I have no doubt we will all fall in love with her just like we did with you.

Happy Birthday Maddie.

Insomnia

2009-11-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

My son doesn't sleep during the day.

That's not totally true. He sometimes will nap a little, but not reliably and certainly not enough. Today, for example he didn't sleep until noon. He was so tired he finally conked out in his high chair. Our usual "routine" is for me to nurse him and put him in the car seat in front of Classical Baby while I tuck his sister in for her nap. The classical music and colorful graphics usually knock him out and he'll nap there for awhile. Hey, there's one of me and two of them. If anybody has any better ideas I'm listening.

Today though he went out before I could do that. He slept all of 20 minutes after I put him in his crib. So I picked up the routine where it would normally be, changing his diaper and nursing him then snuggling him down with his blankie in front of his "baby show" as the Weebles calls it. I got her all settled in her room and came down to find him still awake. Sigh. Forty minutes later he was still wide awake yammering away at the animals on the screen. I gave up and got him out of the seat.

That's when I discovered his dirty diaper. Well played little man. Now I feel guilty for letting you sit there hoping you'd fall asleep.

Not too guilty though, because I plugged the wipes warmer back in this past weekend. Warm wipes for you Peanut! You can't possibly accuse me of being that horrible of a mama. I'll call that one a draw.

Not Me! Monday

2009-11-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

It was certainly not me that was all "woe is me" yesterday when I have a wonderful husband and two healthy happy kids. Not to mention a warm safe home and plenty of food (trust me.. I count points.)

All my love, thoughts, prayer and support for MckMama and her family today.

Pity Party

2009-11-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

I'm having one of those days where I'm just exhausted. Not really so much in the physical sense, since I've been exhausted physically for at least a year and don't even notice that anymore. Tired of worrying, tired of feeling so heartsick every time I read about a sick child. Tired of fighting with my kids to sleep or to eat. Then tired of them melting down because they didn't sleep or eat. Tired of being snappy with my husband. Tired of feeling like I'm not taking care of myself. Tired of being tired.

Then again, it could just be the two hours I spent in Wal-Mart today. Blergh.

27 Months

2009-11-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

Weebles,

Twenty Seven months isn't really any sort of milestone but you are growing and learning so much every day that I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with it all.

Thank you so much for being such a wonderful big sister. You are always looking out for your baby brother and it is very sweet. If I look tired or stressed out you say "You otay mama?" and pat my back. You also use please, thank you, and I'm sorry at all the appropriate times.

You love to run and jump. I think your gross motor skills are pretty much all taken care of at this point. We've been trying to teach you letters and numbers but you are totally uninterested, and that's okay.

The potty thing? Is pretty amazing. I never considered that my child would just up decide to use the bathroom on her own without any coaching. Impressive. I finally took your diapers off the changing table. It looks so funny to just have one basket of diapers up there. If you want to teach your brother your mad skills I'd be fine with that...

Things aren't all rainbows and unicorns of course. Some days we go through an hour or two where you are constantly in time out. Other days you aren't at all. It is pretty clearly a factor of what kind of mood both you and I are in. I try so hard not to let my exhaustion from a rough night show in my parenting the following day but find it nearly impossible.

Now that your brother is a little older we've decided to try to split you up for some one on one time more often. The two of us went to the mall this week and it was really nice. Just strolling around hand in hand watching the Christmas decorations go up.

You've gotten into the question asking phase. I didn't think that would get on my nerves. But you ask the same question thirty times in a row and admittedly my patience wears thin on that. :) I assume answering the question the same way every time is the way to go, maybe you are testing to see if it will change? But it is awful tempting the tenth time you ask me what a Christmas tree is to tell you it is a car to see if you will call me on it.

You are upstairs sleeping in your big girl bed. You wake up in the morning and tell me you have to potty. You have definite thoughts on what you want for breakfast and you tell your daddy "be careful, i wuv you" when he leaves for work. You even have your first pair of light up shoes. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the fact you are growing up so fast. But, I am so proud of you. Sleep tight little girl.

Love,
Mama

Mama's Christmas Wish List

2009-11-06T04:55:00.000-08:00

* Stanley Steemer every month for the entire year.

* Eight solid hours of sleep every night for a week. Repeat every three months. I could rule the world with that kind of sleep.

* Total and complete silence for five minutes a day. No white noise, no baby monitors, no WonderPets and most definitely no whining.

* A drive through fast food place with all healthy food. Bonus points if it tastes good.

* Crib sheets that actually fit and don't require superhuman strength to get on the mattress.

* Sheets for my bed that stay on and don't constantly come off at the corners. WTH? My sheets are too big, my kids' are too small. Conspiracy to drive me crazy?

* Clothes that are both stylish and comfortable at the same time.

* Something that goes around and constantly puts toys away, Roomba style

* In the event that some of the things on my list are hard to find, I will settle for a live in nanny/housekeeper/chef/masseuse/hairstylist. Can I get a WOOT for daily blowouts?

Bathroom adventures

2009-11-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

There are a whole lot of times I find myself thinking "huh, didn't really see THAT challenge coming." Although admittedly this one had crossed my mind in recent weeks, still it gave me pause when it actually happened.

I needed to pick up a few things at the grocery store. I have a newly un-diapered 2 year old daughter. I don't really like potty trained because I didn't train her. I bought the potty about a year ago and put it where she could check it out. She decided to run with it about a month ago and she hasn't looked back. Anyway, so I was out and about with both kids. I had the big monster cart with the little car section for the two of them to ride in and we were clunking clumsily down the aisles because that thing is a total beast to steer. We were somewhere in the middle of the baking aisle when I heard the dreaded words.

"Mommy I go potty"

Pause. Pause. Pause. What should I say here? Ummm... okay sweetie hold on a minute. Mind racing I try to distract her by pointing out things on the shelves.

"Mommmm -eeee I GO potty!"

Alrighty so we're doing this are we? Super. So I maneuver the gigantic cart through the store to the restrooms. Take her out and let her run around while I unsnap her brother. Still totally unsure how this is going to play out we head into the ladies' room.

I have noticed in a few public restrooms lately a little fold down seat presumably for just such an occasion but there wasn't one of those handy. I contemplated my options. My little Peanut can cruise but can't yet stand on his own. So strap him on the changing table? Yeah, notsomuch. My boy isn't really one of those "quiet, lie still" types and nothing short of a five point harness keeps him in one place. So I squatted down, sat him on my knee and yanked my daughter's pants down with the other hand. I managed to hold him on my knee with one arm while propping her up on the seat with the other. We were all waaay too close to a public bathroom toilet for my liking, but it was the best I could come up with. Luckily I had the foresight to move us all as far away as possible to avoid the startling that would likely come from the autoflushing toilet as I pulled her pants back up.

Another challenge met!

Wordless Wednesday - Sisi & Granddaddy Edition

2009-11-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Let's have a little talk about tweetle beetles..

2009-11-03T11:10:00.001-08:00

Bonus points for naming that reference.

I would seriously like to nutpunch whoever came up with Daylight Savings Time. Seriously? Who prefers their daylight first thing in the morning anyway? Only bad things come from this scenario.

A.) My children will never come to terms with the fact that time magically shifted an hour. And by the time they finally do come around damn if it won't be time to do it again. Oh ha! That time thing that we've been struggling with for months? Nevermind.. just kidding. Fack.

B.) When the sun stays down longer in the morning, children *might* actually sleep a little later.

C.) Now that it is dark as all hell early in the day there is no opportunity to get outside with the kids post nap/snack and ~~wear them out~~ get exercise before dinner.

To my dearest son,

When the little hand is on the four and the big hand is on the six, GO BACK TO SLEEP. Sweet Baby Jeebus it is four thirty in the effn morning. Under no circumstances is that a proper time to wake up.

I realize now that bringing you to bed with me for your middle of the night feed the last few weeks has been a poor decision. I suspected something was up when I'd doze off nursing you only to awake what seemed like a couple of hours later to find you still going strong. Mama is not a pacifier. Get your milks on and then be on your way. I just can't wait to see what kind of oversupply issues this is going to cause. Pumping at three AM FTW!

Also that thing where you wave bye bye now? OMG THE CUTENESS.

Love, Mama

Moral of the story: I don't care how damn bright and sunny it is, six AM is still friggin six AM no matter how you look at it and I am still going to be tired and cranky. Give me the sunlight at the end of the day when I might actually get to enjoy it.

10 Months

2009-11-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

My little boy. My baby. I can't get away with using that term much longer since you are moving full speed ahead toward toddler-hood. This last month has seemed like an explosion in terms of your personality. All of a sudden toys are interesting to you and you will play with some of them for minutes at the time! You love to drag around the little wooden hammer to the pound a peg set and given the chance you would eat every crayon your sister has.

We had a balloon we picked up somewhere for Halloween and you didn't want to go anywhere without it all day. You'd crawl along with the ribbon in your little fist, the orange balloon bobbing along overhead. Then you'd sit down and yank on the ribbon causing the balloon to bop you in the head repeatedly and you laughed and laughed. I was more sad than both you and your sister when it quit floating overnight. We'll get you more balloons soon, I promise.

You surprise me by being so verbal. Constantly jabbering along. Today you said "Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma" so I'm hoping you'll be getting the hang of saying Mama soon. I sort of assumed you would be a quiet child since you are so close on the heels of your chatty sister but you are determined to have your say as well.

The two of you are still getting along famously. It is so nice to watch you both sit on the floor and share snacks while watching cartoons. She takes good care of you and I hope you'll always get along so well.

You are really into cruising the furniture these days. Going from the coffee table to the couch and chasing the cats around pulling out huge clumps of their fur when you manage to catch up to them. Poor kitties. It will only be a matter of time before you'll be walking on your own and then they'll have to learn to take to higher ground for any peace.

We've been trying to vary your menu so that you can feed yourself more. You still aren't totally excited about the prospect but some foods are starting to stand out as favorites. You LOVE yogurt and will almost always eat that well for me. Spaghetti is another favorite. Everything else is hit or miss.

We've been able to bring you downstairs to our room the last month or so. Since your sister got her new big girl room set up she has been sleeping through the night. We never did figure out how to have both of you in the bed with us without worrying that one might fall off the edge. As you both get older that won't be an issue. You have finally gotten used to sleeping with us. I enjoy waking up to see you sprawled out contentedly beside us snuggling your blankie. That being said could you, for the LOVE OF JESUS, quit waking at five AM? It is really starting to drive me nuts. That is just too damn early. When you are a teenager I swear I am going to wake you every morning at five just to get even.

I can tell that you are going to keep me busy. Every little thing you find on the floor you try to put in your mouth. I have retrieved leaves, wood chips, plastic, rocks, grass and bugs from your little mouth. And you get really ticked off every time I have to do it. As a matter of fact, you get pretty darn upset whenever you don't get your way. If your dad has to go in the kitchen and leaves you on the other side of the baby gate they can probably hear your protests two counties away. If we dare to take something away from you that you want to play with we'd better be ready to hear about it. And you are the most persistent child. When you get your mind on something you will.not.let.it.go. Sometimes I move your sister's milk away from you ten times in the span of five minutes only to have you attack the laptop. Then as I set the milk down to move the laptop you give me a sneaky smile and grab the milk. I am so screwed. You are only 10 months old. What are you going to be pulling over on me when you are two? How about fifteen?

I knew from the very beginning you were always going to keep me on my toes. I love you little man.

Mama

Season of Giving

2009-11-01T05:33:00.000-08:00

November 1 officially begins the Christmas season here at the Slawter house. This is for a couple of reasons. The first is that for the past 11 years I have worked for a mail order company and for the six weeks or so before Christmas there is so much work to be done there that there is very little time left over to shop and decorate. So, if I want time to really get things done right I have to start early. The second is that I really adore Christmas and enjoy dragging the holiday out as long as possible. Also, I don't really have anything in the way of Thanksgiving decor... is there really such a thing? So if I want the house spruced up for Thanksgiving I might as well pull out Christmas stuff. Generally the stockings and tree etc don't go up until right at Thanksgiving but otherwise... yeah we'll be decking the halls in the next week or two.

I could write for thousands of words about Christmas... and I likely will since it is NaBloPoMo here on my blog. But my post today is about charity. I saw on the local news website this morning that the Salvation Army is already ramping up the effort to get toys donated for needy children. The demand this year is especially high due to the economy. Lots of families won't have food to eat or gifts to give their small children. This totally breaks my heart and I look forward to finding as many outlets as possible to help these truly needy people have the holiday that all families deserve. However. And this is where I get all soapbox-y and pissed off. There are horrible people out there. Horrible, despicable greedy criminals that take advantage of others' good will. People that are always on the look out for ways to get their hands on more for themselves. So I encourage everybody that reads this blog to find some way this holiday season to help someone that needs it. Even if all you can give is a kind word to someone that is having a bad day. But please PLEASE be cautious to make sure that the donations you do give go to the right places so that they can get to those that need the help the most instead of lining the pockets of those that seem to think they deserve it.

Harsh realization

2009-10-31T05:25:00.001-07:00

So yesterday I took the kids for a walk around the neighborhood as I do most days. I found myself temporarily concerned with the fact I was still in my sweatpants and wondered if neighbors would think I was slouchy walking around in public like that. As I concluded that there wasn't really any point in putting on jeans just for a quick walk it hit me. Oh shit I'm becoming my mother aren't I? I've joked about that before but never realized just how true it is.

My mom frequently hung out in sweatsuits all day and my dad picked on her for it. I'm not quite to the point of wearing matching purple sweatpants and sweatshirts just yet but really what is the difference? I had been letting getting dressed slide thinking that if we were staying in the house most of the day that there wasn't any point in dragging out more clothes just to create even more laundry. Plus there isn't really any denying that pj pants are more comfy that jeans. And for the record, yeah, jeans ARE dressed up for me these days.

This isn't the only way I've been turning into a clone of my mother either. Countless times I have seen my mother eat something just because it was there. The last piece of bacon nobody wanted. Free cookie displays in the grocery store. The rest of the macaroni and cheese on a kid's plate. Stuff that doesn't even taste good for chrissakes. Mindless eating. And damn it if I haven't started doing the same thing and I have no good explanation for it. The only thing I can come up with is that I am totally exhausted and in constant search for an energy source.

Then of course there is the negative self talk. Every meal I cook I'm critical of. Everything I do I find fault with. Do I really want my children, my daughter especially, to grow up hearing her mom put herself down like that? What kind of example does that set? So I'm recommitting myself to make a mindful effort to actually participate in the world around me instead of focusing so exclusively on feeding, clothing and nurturing the smaller members of the family. Now where the hell did I last have my hairbrush...

Brag on Him Friday

2009-10-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to try to post today since I'm still exhausted from our big pumpkin carving soiree yesterday, but then I saw Malia's Brag on Him Friday feature over at her blog Blissfully Domestic and couldn't pass it up.

I have to drop everything and brag on my husband for being such a terrific daddy. True.. his time out routine sucks and he definitely doesn't do things the way I do. BUT he can play with his kids for hours at the time. HOURS. This is the one area of parenting that I am totally inept at. I try. I really do. I flop down on the floor and try to engage them in a puzzle or by building a block tower. But they see right through me. They know I have no idea what I am doing. When daddy is on the scene they are all over him and whatever he is doing. He never seems too tired for a "soccer ball game" or to chase them around with puppets. On our beach trip this week he spent the majority of each day down at the beach building sandcastles or at the pool swimming with the Weebles. Our children are so lucky to have such a hands on father. Thanks Andrew!

Thanks for such a great idea Malia! It is so great to focus on the positive for once. I'll be back to my snarky self tomorrow though. ;)

Vacation

2009-10-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

Apparently our family vacation to Hilton Head meant a blog vacation too. But don't worry, I'll be back! NaBloPoMo coming up in November!

Wordless Wednesday - Busy Weekend

2009-10-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

Shopping Fail

2009-10-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

I've been having a little problem with shopping. Ha, well yes, there is THAT other problem with shopping but that really isn't a problem at all. I love shopping.. it might be considered a little problem of having no money. Anyway back to my shopping dilemma. The kids need clothes. And there are none to be found.

I remember when Weebles was born. It was around this time of year even when I really started getting into buying her clothes. The overalls.. holy cuteness. There were adorable overalls, sweaters, jackets, mittens.. the list goes on. I have boxes and boxes of hardly worn baby clothes in my attic to prove it.

The weather is getting chilly and it is time to update the kiddos wardrobes. So I've been engaging in some pretty serious online shopping only to come up empty handed for the most part. I have found ONE pair of overalls in my vast shopping endeavors for my son. That was found at an Osh Kosh outlet in Hilton Head and is really pretty cute. But where are all the others? The only other pair I found had horrible little tractors or something embroidered ALL OVER them. One on the bib? Yes please. Maybe another on the lower leg.. sure okay. But this trend of embroidering little bitty logos all over the garment is ugly. And don't even get me started on overalls for my daughter. I haven't seen a single pair. Anywhere. I've looked high and low. I could see the argument that in her size you have to take into account potty training and they might not be very popular... but I haven't seen any in the girl's section in any sizes at all.

Kids pants just aren't terribly comfortable (at least for my kids.) On both my children in order to get the right length so they won't be stepping on them, the waist is almost always too tight. So it's either overalls or sweatpants if I want them to be comfy. So where are all the damn overalls??

This brings me to another peeve. Who the hell is designing this stuff. Holy hell on a cracker the clothes in the stores this weekend were some of the ugliest shit I have ever seen. I don't think I'll ever go in another Children's Place again. It was nearly all bright ass clashing colors together. I especially enjoy the shirts that say things like (and I'm not making this one up) "I'm just here for the DRAMA!" Uhh on a two year old? I also particularly enjoyed the onesie that said "Mom says I'm a great catch!" And the leggings. My God the leggings everywhere. I'm going to be up front and say that I can't imagine any place where leggings are a good thing. I grew up in the 80's... I've seen them in their glory days and it wasn't cute then, it isn't cute now. But the really mind boggling part to me is... how do they look over a diaper? I've put tights on my daughter before and it is totally lumpy. I can only imagine the hot mess leggings over a diaper is.

The real kicker this weekend though was in trying to locate coats and knit caps for the kids because we were going to be outside and it was cold. I had some sweatshirt zip up hoods for them but that just wasn't cutting it with temps in the 40's. I could not find any jacket at all in my son's size that wasn't just a lightweight hood like I already have. The only jackets I found for my daughter was a Dora the Explorer one in JC Pennys (oh yes, I went there out of total desperation) and one at Children's Place that was sixty dollars and a horrible pink/grey striped design. As for the caps? I couldn't find any. I finally went in Belk thinking surely a department store of all places would have the basics to be told by the sales clerk "We don't sell things like that here. You should try those other stores... you know the ones I'm talking about..." Clearly I don't lady because this is the fourth store I've been in. She whispered that I should try K-Mart. Apparently trendy folks don't like to be warm.

I know styles come and go but with kids' clothing it isn't like they can just pull out stuff from last year to wear if I they don't like this year's fashion. You'll know my kids at the playground.. they'll be the ones in sweatpants.

Early to bed, Early to Rise

2009-10-17T02:58:00.000-07:00

My definition of sleeping in has changed drastically. I consider it a luxury to sleep until seven. I know right, I'll wait here while you collect your jaw off the floor. Generally our days start somewhere in the 5:30 range.

The Peanut has always been an early riser. I just don't get it. Why? Why get up? It's warm in bed. You're already all blissed out and comfortable. FortheloveofGod just hit your mental snooze a couple of times. Ahem... sorry.

The Weebles has always been good about sleeping in. Probably because she slept with us from the beginning and just got used to our schedule. She routinely would not wake up until seven or even eight ::heart flutters:: Even the days she would wake up a little early, or on weekends when we wanted to take our time getting up we could just prop her up between us and turn on cartoons. We could easily get an extra hour of sleep that way.

This plan just doesn't fly with Peanut. He sits still for nothing. So when we try to put him between us he spends all his time hell bent on climbing over one of us and taking a header onto the floor. This is surprisingly not conducive to sleep. One longstanding option we had was for one of us to get up with him and put him in his bouncy seat in front of Classical Baby. Yeah? Haven't I already made it clear we utilize the TV in order to get more sleep? Quitchyer "I cannot believe these people with the TV" cause mama needs some sleep or she might start hugging folks a leeetle too tight. Anyway.. unfortunately he has outgrown the bouncy seat. He has a mini crib in our room so we have managed to get him interested in Wow Wow Wubbzy for 15-20 minutes while hanging out in there. Every little bit helps.

But what is really the long term solution here? Are there parents out there that just hop out of bed and start playing Legos at that ungodly hour? What do you do with your early risers?

**I think my posts still show up at a funny time. FTR it is just barely after six. Andrew is upstairs with Weebs reading stories and Peanut is just barely asleep in our bed. I can't sleep because I'm afraid he'll go over the edge. Now that Weebles has discovered she can get out of bed on her own she is excited to do so and has been waking a little earlier. The pumpkin patch opens in three hours. It will easily take me that long to get everyone ready anyway.

STTN

2009-10-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Every parent... okay well every interwebby parent knows that acronym all too well. It hasn't been something I have worried with too terribly much. With my first we co-slept. It was the only way I would have ever gotten any sleep what with my insatiable need to make sure she was still breathing every thirty seconds or so. This went on in some form until... let's see. Five days ago?

And I honestly haven't minded. Sure there were times I worried that our nighttime parenting, or whatever the term is in AP, too lazy to google, was going to make it where she had a really tough time ever sleeping on her own. When she calls to us, we go get her. When it is time to go to bed one, or both, of us lie there with her until she drops off to sleep. In the last month we have switched her from her crib, which never saw much use at all, to a new twin bed. She freaking loves that bed. She loves to play on it, she loves to read stories there and most importantly she loves to sleep there. I'm not sure if it is related but several nights ago during what will come to be known as the "great holy hells we all have some sort of H1N1Y2KEbola virus" I was in the midst of tucking her in when the entire contents of my head started to make a beeline for the nearest exit. I gave her a big hug and told her I'd be right back and headed downstairs to try to make the insanity stop. I expected her to freak out as she has in the past when we left her at bedtime. I didn't hear anything from upstairs. After about twenty minutes we snuck up there to see what trouble she was getting into. The girl was asleep! No freaking way! That was maybe the second time she had ever fallen asleep on her own.

The night progressed. No sign of Weebles. No calling over the monitor for daddy to come get her and bring her down to our room. Wha? Whose child is this anyway? What a fluke... except the same thing happened the next night. And the next. We are now on night #5 of tucking her in, leaving the room and *hopefully* a full night's sleep in her own bed. I must admit I miss her a little bit. But I am really happy that she can put herself to sleep and feels confident and safe enough to make it through the night without us. And with nary a cry it out episode necessary. Sure it took two years and two months for her to sleep through the night on her own but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I know that CIO was just not right for our family. Don't get me wrong though. I'm not counting my chickens here. I know all too well that any minute now it could all go to hell in a handbasket and we could be up all night watching Oobi with Walden, Widget, Wow Wow, Bear, Penguin, Pooh Bear, Dancing somethingorother Elmo and a sprinkler (yeah that's right, a damn Elmo sprinkler has been in my bed at times.. not as risque as it sounds.)

And in case you are thinking "hey good for them! finally getting some sleep..." don't forget about Peanut. He's already been up THREE times in the last two and a half hours. I'm not worried though, he'll STTN when he's good and ready.

Potty time

2009-10-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the obligatory potty post. I think every blogger I read has had one, or twelve, in recent months. My daughter is 26 months old and I am really not interested in ditching diapers just yet. I don't see the hype. Sure, they are expensive and horrible for the environment whether you go cloth or disposable. I have done both over the last two years. But I find diaper changing to actually be rather easy. That was almost always the first comment I got when pregnant with my son. "Oh my you'll have two in diapers.. you poor thing." Really BFD on the diapers. It should be "oh my you'll have two that REFUSE TO SLEEP OR EAT OR GIVE YOU ANY PEACE FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS ON END..." but I digress.

Where was I? Oh the potty. So when my daughter was a little over a year old I ordered one of those little potty chair things. Mostly because I like ordering things. Yes, I'm aware I have a tiny shopping problem. She has loved sitting on it, standing IN it, carrying it around, putting toys in it, yada yada for the last year or so. Then a few months ago before bathtime I jokingly asked her if she had to pee and pointed at the potty. Lo, the girl sat down and peed. After that every so often I'd mention it to her when she was already running around nekkid and she'd sit down and go. It was a novelty.

In the last three weeks or so she was started to take it seriously. At first she totally did not get the concept of her pants coming off before going which was a bit of a funny problem to have. Poor kid just thought you peed right through your pants. She still doesn't know how to get her pants on and off, or perhaps is just unwilling to try. So now if she has to go she will run over to me and yell "MOMMY PANTS OFF!" and so I'll yank them off and she'll run to the bathroom. It's actually quite adorable and if I didn't have a "no photography/videography of naked children" policy I would HAVE to get video of her running bare assed, curls just bouncing away into the bathroom. It cracks me up every time. She's had one or two accidents when she was concentrating on her play too much and didn't realize until too late but for the most part we now go all day without diapers. She's even woken up a few times dry in the morning and run straight to the potty.

So, I'm not sure what to think. I'm not ready for her to be potty trained. I'm most certainly not ready to undertake a car trip and have to stop every thirty minutes for potty breaks and no way in hell am I taking her in any bathroom along the road to go. The potty will have to start travelling with us. And what on earth do you do when you go out and about alone with two of them? I can't just set the baby down somewhere to help the Weebs in the bathroom. Diapers are just SO much easier. I may even look into them for future pregnancies...

Here is a little PSA for all my good friends on the interwebs

2009-10-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

** They aren't going to make you pay to use Facebook. Joining a group attempting to threaten Facebook into this already obvious policy is silly.

** I am not going to join your Farming community/mafia family/virtual peanuckle group. It doesn't mean I don't love you, I just don't get a thrill from that kind of activity.

** No matter how totally worth the cause, pennies are never donated from the forwarding of an email. Period.

** Nobody cares "What Beyonce song" you are. I understand the joy one gets from wasting time taking such quizzes online, but is it a requirement that you publish the results? I enjoy reading your genuine status updates, however when you take thirty of those quizzes in a row to kill a boring afternoon at work you are cluttering up my feed and making my "hide" link itchy.

** Sparkly glitter comments/images are always in poor taste. ALWAYS. Just don't go there.

** MySpace is not getting "too crowded." That forward where they tell you to forward it on to see who is really using their account... yeah not real. So rest easy.

** If you get an email from Ebay asking you to login to verify your information... that is fake.

** The King of Prussia.. yeah he doesn't really need your help on laundering money out of his country.

Phoning it in

2009-10-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to find some space every day in order to Shred. There simply isn't an option early in the morning before the kids get up. I'm not 100% sure on this, but there may not ever be a time one of our kids isn't up... Anyway, I'm very much at the stage where there isn't one naptime every day that both kids are asleep and it isn't ideal trying to get it done after the kids go to bed because... well see above. Sometimes I'm not sure they ever actually go. So, today I tried doing it "first thing" after the kids got up and had breakfast and had settled into some morning playtime.

This? Didn't go over well. I had planned to blog the entire experience but now that it is later in the day I simply don't have the energy. Suffice to say I had to pause the DVD at least six times and it took me a solid 45 minutes to complete. It also involved doing the bicycle crunches with my daughter lying on top of me (hey it did make them harder.. maybe better results?) and a "poop on the floor" incident. Good times. So, with all the pausing I feel like I didn't go as good of a job as I usually do. Although I can certainly say my heart rate stayed elevated the entire time. Sheesh.

What ifs

2009-10-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

I find myself frequently thinking thoughts about how life would be with only one child. Not so much what it would be like to have an only child and never have any others, more like what daily life would be like with just one. It goes like this:

Wow, if Weebles was my only child I could spend this rainy afternoon curled up napping with her.

or..

If Weebles was still my only baby it wouldn't be a problem to sit up with her all night letting her sleep in my lap. It was so much easier for her to sleep that way when she was sick.

or..

Think of all the fun stuff my preschooler and I could go out and do together if it were just us.

It isn't always my firstborn that gets that sort of speculation either.

If Peanut had been born first I could have just held him all day long when he was so colic-y. I actually DID hold him the vast majority of the day but of course still had another child to look after.

or..

If Peanut were the only baby I bet I could get him to co-sleep more and get more rest at night.

I have an enormous amount of guilt when I find myself having these thoughts because DUH I love both my kids to pieces. The one on one dynamic is something I miss sometimes though. Because when there is one baby and one mom it is easier to be on their schedule. Easier to cater to their needs and practice solid attachment parenting. With two I sometimes feel like no matter how much I'm hitting it out of the ballpark for one child the other is just having a so-so day. Then of course there are the days nobody has a good day.. but let's not go there.

Things are definitely getting easier and easier though. As Peanut gets older he has been able to play with his sister more and more. Now he eats a lot of the same foods she does so feeding schedules are getting easier to manage. And maybe one day, if all the planets align and joy and sunshine rain down from the heavens, I will have a night where they both sleep well and I actually get to bed at a decent time.

And that, I'm sure, will be just in time for baby number three to arrive and send us all straight back to square one.

Not Me! Monday

2009-10-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

This past week I so did not get myself a Happy Meal at McDonald's after doing the weekly shopping and then lie to my preschooler when I got home. The girl SMELLED the fries on my breath and said all excitedly... FRIES?!?! I most certainly did not tell her, "no honey, no fries here, LOOK I brought you some more dishwashing detergent..."

It was absolutely not me that got so excited about the Alice.com promotion where they include samples in certain boxes that I divided my order into three shipments in hopes of getting one. Nope, I would never compromise the environment in such a fashion. Speaking of which, probably need to order some Purell.

It could not possibly have been me that allowed my nine month old to get hold of a sippy cup containing Kool Aid this weekend. We have been pulling out all the stops to get our sick daughter to drink something, a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. puhlease, and Kool Aid was just one of the many attempted bribes. But I never would have been so careless as to leave the cup where my cruising son might find it, surely.

I also certainly did not get up and go to work this morning even though I felt absolutely horrible from a head cold just because going to work is actually easier than taking care of two small, also sick, children. I also did not consider the fact I could stop and get McDonald's for breakfast as a compelling reason to go in.

I DID however participate in Mckmama's "Not Me! Monday" So much fun! Thanks :)

Happy Foosball Day

2009-10-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Nine Months

2009-10-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

Little Man,

Today you are nine months old. You love your sippy cup and feeding yourself cheerios. You aren't too interested in feeding yourself anything else though, go figure. Help a mama out and eat some fruit and veggies every now and again. You are getting really good at standing while holding onto something, you even tried to let go a few times yesterday. You also like to climb up in your sister's chairs to try to reach things that are too high for you. Please stop doing that, you are going to give mama a heart attack.

You still aren't too interested in toys unless they involve helping you to stand. If your sister is trying to play with something sometimes you will decide to go steal it from her. You haven't been sleeping worth anything lately. It is getting kind of hard on your old mama. I am hoping to start bringing you downstairs more soon so I won't have to wake up as often but you still seem to love your crib for sleeping above everywhere else.

You have really taken to your blankie just like your big sister. You have two we switch between and I keep waiting for you to show a preference for one or the other. We got you your first Pedipeds recently in anticipation of your walking some this fall. You don't know what to make of them and why your feet all of a sudden can't feel the floor. That's okay, you'll get the hang of it.

Your hair is really starting to get long in some spots and fill in everywhere else. Your daddy was wondering the other day how long it would be before you need a hair cut. Yikes. A first hair cut is going to be hard on mama, but probably not as hard as it will be when that time comes for your sister.

Sometimes I wish that you would sit still a little more. I miss being able to spend quiet time with you playing and talking but you are just so busy right now. No time for it. Your big drooly grins make me feel better though.

I wonder what your first words are going to be. You have started babbling more... but probably not as much as you would if the Weebles wasn't around. I think you let her take the lead a little too often and don't make your own voice heard enough. You sister loves you so much. Everything she does she says "Drew too?" I give her a cracker and she says "Drew some? Drew some cracker?" I ask her if she wants to go on a walk and she says "Drew go too?" I hope the two of you are always close.

I can't believe you are well on your way to your first birthday. I am so proud of you my little baby. Keep on learning and growing.. but please consider stopping to hang out with your mama every now and again.

Love,
Me

Mommy needs a Time Out

2009-10-02T11:08:00.001-07:00

I haven't been away from my children over five hours in their entire lives. Just short of 26 months of nearly continuous around the clock care. Even when I had my second son, I was nursing my daughter right up until the minute we left the house and I gave birth less than an hour later. I didn't even manage a few hours without a child hanging on me then. I love being with my children and I am so lucky to get to raise them instead of having to send them to day care to spend the majority of their time with someone else. That being said, it really is a job. I'm not sitting at home all day taking naps and watching HGTV.

I go to work two mornings a week. My job is only about 10 minutes from the house and I can leave whenever necessary. I only stay about three and a half hours so that I can be home to feed the kids lunch and get them down for their naps. Once or twice I have gone to a hockey game or a get together with friends, and I mean quite literally once or twice. I think my daughter has slept through the night five or six times ever. I'm just trying to wrap my head around just how little time I have had "off" in the last two years. Compounding matters is the fact my baby still refuses to have any sort of nap schedule. Some days he'll take two short naps, other days he'll take one long one. Some days he won't take any at all. At nine months.. yeah I know shoot me. Most days I don't have even one minute between the time Andrew leaves at seven thirty until he gets home after six. Then it is the dinner/bath/bedtime battle that often doesn't end until nine. My son often wakes for the day shortly after five. I am totally burned out. As in totally, 100% I don't think I can do this another day burned out. I actually yelled at my two year old today "I'm a person too you know!" Sigh.

I try my hardest to follow an attachment parenting philosophy and admittedly it is really kicking my ass with two so small at the same time. Neither child has ever put up with baby wearing and even if they had I would still have had a hard time carrying one child while wearing the other. I breastfeed both on demand still and am very committed to child led weaning. When they cry I go to them day or night. That's what parents are for. I don't think either of them are old enough to handle the emotional fall out from being made to deal with feeling abandoned in the name of toughening them up. Sure it would make my life easier if they didn't bother calling out for me when they needed me but I don't believe that cry it out makes the need go away. It just teaches them their needs won't be met.

At any rate I am at the point of having to admit that I need some time away. Be it a babysitter a couple of afternoons a week, part time preschool for my daughter, or a night or two a week to be off duty... something has to give. Mama needs to recharge her batteries...

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

2009-09-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

"He is ALL boy"

I saw that phrase every now and again before I had my son but it has a whole new meaning to me now. I just can't even imagine what I am in for when he gets a little older. The Weebles was slow to move about, endlessly fascinated with details and manipulating objects. Not my Peanut. He wants to GO GO GO. He spent weeks consumed with learning to crawl, trying to move himself across the floor on sheer will alone. Once he got the hang of that he didn't even pause to enjoy the triumph, he immediately went on to figuring out how to pull up. Now he spends the majority of his waking hours, and there's lots of those on account of the fact he doesn't nap, standing up. Even at three in the morning when he wakes to nurse he's standing up waiting for me. I can finally get him to play with a few things if his sister is also playing alongside him but he still has most of his focus on motion with very little regard for his well being.

Today he climbed into his sister's Anywhere Chair and then used it to climb up on the sofa. I also caught him in his bouncy seat standing up with no hands bouncing. It looked like some sort of odd baby chair surfing experiment. I didn't anticipate this kind of recklessness until at least three or four. At the rate he is going he'll be wrecking the family car before he gets to middle school. I foresee meeting a lot of deductibles in the future....

Child Abuse

2009-09-26T03:24:00.001-07:00

The kind my kids dole out to me on a daily basis... I have never encountered anything so physically demanding as parenting two small children. Even totally discounting what pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding do to you it is a tough gig. I have had my eyes and faced scratched, multiple times, by those razor sharp little nails. I have been kicked and smacked every imaginable place. And the head butts... oh my goodness my children have hard heads. It never seems to faze them in the least which I don't understand. I will be on the floor seeing stars after getting a thrashing head to the nose and they just go right on like they didn't even notice.

I think the most challenging part though is the baby wrangling. Holding a wildly flailing child still while I desperately try to put on clothes or a diaper really takes it out of me. And on a good day I get to repeat this two dozen times. With my son it is still just a flip and crawl maneuver. But when he wants to roll over it takes every big of strength I can muster to keep him from doing so. I don't know how that kid got so strong. (Yes, I've tried giving him a toy to hold. He gladly takes it, then flips over to look at it.) With my daughter she just gets up and runs off. Her favorite it to get on our bed and jump up and down going "Look at me mommy! Look at me!" She knows I can't reach her on the other side of the bed. So I'll have to go around and by that time she's gone out of reach again. Sigh. Then there's carrying them around. That is a whole different breed of wrangling. Peanut really isn't into being carried. He'll tolerate it for a few minutes but then he starts pushing off with his arms and legs and occasionally just throwing his head forward toward the floor with no warning trying to get down. I often wonder how it is I don't have bodybuilder arms by now as much lifting and carrying as I do. How many activity points do I get for hauling a two year old out of Target mid-tantrum?

Regression

2009-09-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

So how's that 9 month sleep regression treating you? I am feeling pretty darn tired. The Peanut has been waking up at four in the morning the last few days. It is a little hard not to break down in tears at four in the morning when you realize that chances are pretty good you won't get any more sleep until bedtime. Then once you finally wrangle both kids down to bed it ends up being 8:30-9 and hell you kinda want a few minutes to zone out online or just exist in general without a small person demanding your attention. So no matter how many times throughout the day I swear "I am going to bed just as soon as the Weebles does and catch up on sleep..." I just never do.

Exhaustion makes me very very cranky. I found myself snapping at the kids today and if they were behaving the way I was they would've gotten time outs for sure. I'm hoping to catch up on some sleep this weekend. This cool rainy night is the perfect start!