Groupies

I have groupies. I know, you’re jealous. They are my biggest fans. I’m thinking that they will be life-long fans. Although I have to admit, sometimes I wish they were someone else’s fans. Like when they come with me into the restroom, or after I have heard ‘mommy’ for the 100^th time in one day (before 9am!).

Here is what I find interesting, I am a tough mom. I discipline regularly and I don’t think I am all that much fun (which daddy is). So at the end of the day, once daddy get’s home, why do they still want me? 

I love my kids (something I had to remind myself of several times today), and as I’ve said before – I want to be the first person they call when they are hurt, in trouble or want to give hugs (and kisses), but I reeeeaallly just want to be able to pee all by myself.

I guess kids understand all of the different displays of love and show their appreciation all. the .time. And really, I DO love my kids, more than anything. And I wouldn’t trade being home with them for anything (but I am still kinda excited about school starting next week!).

Lessons I learned today:

·       Jalapeno popper grilled cheese (grilled cheese with cream cheese and jalapenos) is DELICIOUS!

·       We need to start keeping better track of our library books. I do NOT want to pay the fine for a St. Patrick’s Day book (in August!).

·       Having a fan club really is quite cool (even if they do want to watch you pee).

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my...

To celebrate our last few days of summer and the nice weather we’ve been having, I decided to take the kids to the zoo today. Little did I know that I didn’t have to go anywhere to be in a zoo J

I should have known it was going to be a wild ride when E decided to bless us with some quality time at 1AM and 5AM. Her 5AM wake up proceded to wake everyone else a bit earlier than normal causing the gremlins to join the family for the day.

I realize that lack of sleep is not good for my children – which is why I am so structured about their schedules – or at least I used to be. I’m beginning to understand that keeping a third kid on a nap schedule is difficult when you are running around with the older children. I’m hoping that with the start of school next week, I will be able to get some sort of structure together for E so she can nap in her crib (as opposed to her carseat, which she’s getting too comfortable with). We've also gotten lazy about what time they go to bed during the summer since they don't have to wake up early anymore (but what we have failed to realize is that they are still waking up at the same time!)

I also know that kids crave structure, which is why I am so mad at myself for not having more structure for our summer break. Especially since J and L have had a very structured routine since they were 3 months old. I had a ‘light bulb’ moment today… realizing that the reason why J has been so grumpy lately is because he has been off his schedule for 6 weeks now. I am hoping that having a new schedule will help turn our house back into a home and not the crazy zoo it has become.

Lessons I learned today:

·       You better be prepared if you’re going to take three kids under four to the zoo by yourself.

·       Having Daddy play outside with the kids when he gets home gives me some nice quite time to cook a proper dinner.

·       I had better figure out a new schedule so that my kids aren’t mistaken for zoo animals.

Back to School

Our local schools start on Wednesday and the town is all a buzz with everyone getting ready.

I went grocery shopping today (yes, Sunday is supposed to be my grocery day but I had to go to an antique fair and take a nap yesterday instead) and all of the deals were about back to school (10 packs of lunch meat for $10 – who would eat 10 packs of lunch meat in a week?). There weren’t many people at my gym class today --- my guess is they are all getting everything ready for Wednesday. The school parking lots are full of teacher & staff cars getting ready for the students, and kids are not out as late at night (assuming parents have already started the school night early bedtime schedules).

I love back to school time. I always have. Maybe that’s why I went to school for so long? I love buying school supplies – I still buy them as a 30-something (for myself, not my kids!). I must admit that I am a bit jealous of all the families getting ready to send their little ones back to school. Not just because they get to buy looonnngg lists of school supplies but also because they get to have someone else entertain their children for several hours during the day!

J begins school next week but it’s just a transition period; so 1 hour on Wed, 1.5 on Thurs and 2 on Friday. Then on Tuesday after Labor Day he will start his morning schedule (9am – 11:45am). I must admit I’m excited for him to start school – not just because I will be free of his whining (which has become his predominate way of communicating lately) but because I think he’s really going to thrive in the Montessori environment, I hope so at least J

On the contrary, I’m worried about L who will only be going to school two mornings a week for two hours. She went to her previous school since birth and still cried every morning when she was dropped off. I’m thinking that with just two days for two hours, she’ll spend all of her time crying and not really enjoy herself (now, I know that she is fine about 4 seconds after we leave but it’s going to be painful just two days a week!).

I also like back to school season because it means football is here and fall is right around the corner – two of my favorite things! Can’t wait to start eating pumpkin treats, wearing sweaters and cheering on my favorite teams (since my NFL team will be lucky to win 2 games this season, I’m turning my attention to our local high school where my little brother will play his senior year – GO BIRDS!).

Lessons I learned today:

·      Going to bed early means nothing if you get woken up 3 times before sunup (argh!)

·      Pinterest is addicting and could be blamed for me not being nominated for mother-of-the-year this year

·      Organizing for back to school also means organizing everything else (bonus!)

Party Dress

I often err on the side of being over-dressed in most situations. In fact, my summer uniform happens to be sundresses – which are easy to dress up or down (and are easy and comfortable with no pesky waste band to contend with). I also go shoe shopping at the beginning of every summer to buy one pair of metallic flip flops that I can wear with everything (I wear them so much that I have to throw them away at the end of the season).

So I suppose it’s not surprising that my children have started to request outfits that would put them into the ‘over dressed’ category. J has taken an affinity to collared shirts. So much so that if there isn’t one in his drawer in the morning he throws a fit (in preparation for him starting Montessori school in a few weeks (who teach independence), he now picks out his own outfits. Of course, I put the outfits together in the drawer – tshirt on top of shorts). He has long loved his ‘fancy’ shoes and asks to wear them whenever we go out (regardless if the situation merits dressing up or not).  He is often the best-dressed person in our family when we go out (I’m certain people think that I’m dressing him).

Similarly, L has started to request ‘party dresses’ in the morning when getting dressed. She also has specific ideas about which party dress she would like to wear that day – which causes some problems when she selects something that is too special to wear to the park. As with any fashion conscience diva, she also likes to accessorize. Usually with silly bands and a necklace but has recently added a sun hat and sunglasses. I have learned to plan ahead when we are leaving the house to ensure that she has all of her accoutrements. I have also learned that she gets a lot of attention when all dolled up, which means that the rest of us get attention too – so I’m sure to look in the mirror before going out to make sure everything is in it’s correct place!

So far E hasn’t requested any special wardrobe items. But I am a little worried about the precedent set by her big brother and sister. I’m also a bit worried about how our new  getting dressed routine will affect our morning schedules once school starts (before we were all at home together, I would lay out all of the kids’ clothes the night before so there was no debate or consideration about what to wear in the morning). I’m guessing I’ll have everyone make their decision before heading to bed each night to minimize the disruption in our morning routine (I’m not really a morning person so I try to minimize as much debate as possible before I finish my necessary 2 cups of coffee).

Lessons I learned today:

·       Don’t forget to set the DVR to record the new season of Project Runway! I have some making up to do next week.

·       Getting a big payday from the consignment shop provides mixed emotions (excited for the big pay day and a big sick about how much money was originally spent on all those clothes).

·       Giving kids the opportunity to pick out their own outfits provides countless smiles and memories.

Moooommmyyyy...

I’m thinking of buying one of those counters that people working a carnival use to keep track of the number of people coming through the gates - just to count the number of times I hear ‘mommy’ in one day. I swear that it’s at LEAST 100 times before 9 AM!!

I always answer my kids when they call my name, well – when they call me ‘mommy’ (which I prefer over ‘Mom’ at this age!). I answer even if they just say ‘mommy’, even when it’s 7 times in a row with nothing to say after. Sometimes I think they just want to say my name to hear how it sounds (as if they’ve never said it before). I love that my kids always want to talk to me about something, really I do, but do they have to talk to me ALL. THE. TIME??

Of course, I like having my cake and eating it too – so when my kids fall or when they are sick, I WANT to be the person they want (like when L was coming out of anesthesia on Monday I wanted to be the first person to hold her). I also smile a bit when my ‘name’ is the first they say when they wake up in the morning (or in the middle of the night, as the case may be). BUT, at the end of the day, when I’ve heard ‘mommy’ no less than ‘one millliiiooon’ times, I am ready to change my name!

As I was thinking about this blog post, the song by Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, kept coming to me so I Googled (since when did Googled become a ‘verb’?) the lyrics. While the whole song doesn’t really ‘speak’ to my SAHM journey, I think the first verse does a good job:

Is this the real life-
Is this just fantasy-
Caught in a landslide-
No escape from reality-
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see-
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy-
Because I'm easy come, easy go,
A little high, little low,

Lessons I learned today:

·       It’s going to be difficult to be a Bengals fan once again this year

·       An outing to Target counts as an ‘activity’ for my children (get a treat, play ‘I Spy’, etc) – fun, educational AND productive (my kind of outing!)

·       I will always love being my kids’ ‘mommy’, no matter how many times they need to say my name!

Work it Out

So I have been doing really well with my exercise regime since May 4. Then vacation hit. I had big plans to go running a few times and even took my tension bands to keep my muscles up to snuff. Turns out the only thing I really worked out while on vacation was my liver. Needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to getting back at it this morning. Interestingly my muscles remembered what they were supposed to do but my feet didn’t. Not surprisingly I was huffier than usual and thought to myself, “I’d better be careful that I don’t hurt myself being as tired as I am.’ I promise, 30 seconds after having that thought, I turned my ankle and down I went --- resulting in a lot of attention being paid to me; laying on the floor, sweaty, not looking my best! I bounced back and finished the workout a little more red in the face than before (which is hard to do considering how flushed I get).

Whenever J & L fight over a toy or argue about something, I tell them to ‘work it out’.  Very rarely do they actually find a solution to their problem. More often I end up sending them both to time out or taking the toy under debate. I chose this approach about a year ago after I found myself always asking J to concede because he was older. I was certain that he was not always in the wrong and that I was being unfair to him. While I’m not sure if my new approach is any better than before, I’m hoping that eventually they will be able to work it out without me.

As we approach the end of summer I’ve been working out our school year schedules. My reign as SAHM started during the summer so this new routine will be new to me. I’m guessing that I will welcome the busier days, the mandated structure and new adventures. Only a week and a half left!

Lessons I learned today:

·         10 days is too long to go without doing some sort of physical activity

·         Always accept an invitation to go to a friend’s pool (especially when there is a water slide)

·         Sometimes it takes patience, sometimes creativity, often it takes time but eventually we can work it out!

Early Day = Long Day

Today started out a bit earlier than most Mondays – and certainly earlier than we were ready for on the heels of a relaxing vacation.

L was scheduled for her second set of tubes this morning. So we got up bright and early to head out to our nationally ranked Children’s Hospital – which I feel very fortunate to have literally 15 minutes from our house (not that I ever want to have a need beyond tubes to use it!). I have been lucky enough to only have to visit this place for very minor procedures and each time leave with overwhelming feelings of gratitude and sympathy. Gracious that for all intents and purposes, my children are very healthy and extremely sympathetic to the families I see who have children dealing with life and death situations.

My visit this morning gave me the serenity to help me get through this day. For several reasons, it was probably my hardest one as a SAHM yet: 1) First Monday after a week of vacation (meaning several other people could take on mommy duties throughout the day giving me many breaks), 2) An early wake-up call by E (early meaning 3 am), 3) Stress induced headache that I couldn’t shake and 4) lots of chores to ‘clean up’ after being away for a week.

Needless to say, not one of my most successful SAHM days. I’m wondering how long it takes to recover from being ‘off’ – will I be back in the game tomorrow or will it take a few extra days? The silver lining today was that all three munchkins were still tuckered from a week of playing in the sand (plus L had some extra help with anesthesia) so they all took extra-long naps (not sure I would have been able to do it otherwise).

Lessons I learned today:

·       It’s easy to entertain kids on days that aren’t 90+ degrees – just play outside for an hour or so!

·       When at Children's Hospital you can visit their pharmacy for a $1 bottle of children's tylenol.

·       It takes more than a day to recover from a week long vacation (does that mean it takes longer to recover from a longer vacation? I’m willing to find out!).

Welcome Home!

We had a wonderful time on Lake Michigan last week – really enjoying the 80 degree days and 60 degree nights (no AC, windows open). We spent some great time with our family and met some new friends too. During our car ride on the way home we all talked about our favorite parts of the week:

·         J – going under water and playing baseball on the beach

·         L – playing on the beach

·         E – didn’t really have much to say (being 4 ½ months and all), but I’m guessing she really liked being held all week

·         Me – playing with my kids every day

·         Hubby – Spending time with family and seeing his parents spend time with our kids

Lessons I learned while on vacation:

·       I completely forgot about all of the items on my to-do lists back at home. I even caught myself wondering how nice it would be to spend a summer not having to worry about all of the things that have to be done at home. Then I wondered if I stayed for a long(er) period of time if I’d just make a new to-do list at a different location (then I’d end up in a worse spot having two to-do lists, always having one I couldn’t do anything about when I was at the other place).

·       I spend several hours (too many really) a day watching tv. On vacation, I didn’t watch (nor did I have the desire to watch) any shows. I wonder if this was because I knew all of my shows were being taped on our DVR at home? Or, if I was too busy watching my kids play and the sunset to worry about it. (I’d like to think I’m evolved enough to blame it on the latter but I’m pretty sure it had a bit to do with the former too).

·        Having a beach literally outside your front door makes for HOURS of amusement for an almost 4 year old and a 2 year old. They will find all kinds of things to do in the sand; play baseball, dig with shovels, play trucks, build sand castles… They will also be crazy tired at the end of every day. I found myself wishing I had a beach at our home for those days (of which there seem to be many) I need help finding things for them to do.

·        I went to bed later than usual (having too much fun with my in-laws), woke up earlier (thanks to no curtains and the sunrise), only took one nap and didn’t seem very tired at all. I wonder if it was all the fresh air or just the fact that I was on vacation (and didn’t have a to-do list to wake up to) that gave me all the extra energy. Regardless, I wish I could bottle it!

·        Vacations really ARE all they are cracked up to be!

Here are some pics from our week:

Going on Vacation!

As you all know, we leave tomorrow for a one-week vacation (not nearly long enough if you ask me). We’re planning to wake up terribly early (like 5am) to allow us to get to our destination by nap time. I’m not crazy about waking up so early, but I’m sure I’ll be happy once we get there.

My hubby is a beach vacation guy. I like beaches but not crazy about the ocean (seaweed creeps me out) or a 12+ hour drive. I also LOVE beaching-it during the day and having to wear a jacket at night – the best of both worlds (especially when it’s so hot at home).So, about 6 years ago I introduced hubby to Michigan and while he didn’t love it (we were too far north to get good beaches), he agreed to try it again 3 years ago. This time we stayed a little further south to get better beaches (and a shorter drive). I’m so excited that we’re going back at the same spot we went to last year and I can hardly wait – we’ll be able to see the sunset from our front porch.

When I was growing up, we went to this same place for summer vacation and stayed for 2 weeks. Many of the families in the neighborhood (those who owned the crazy big and pricey homes), stayed the whole summer at the lake. I’m wondering if they purposefully unplugged for that long (granted it was just the SAHM and the kids who stayed the whole summer with daddy commuting), or if times were really that different back then (like 25 whole years ago!) – no summer sports or camps?

I would say that I would love to spend the entire summer at the lake but not sure I could do it. While doing nothing has its appeal, I’m thinking that by the end of two weeks I’d be ready to get back to my to-do list (does that make me crazy?). I also think about how much we would miss at home - holiday parties, baseball games, etc. If we were ever going to do it, now would be the time since our kids are little and not involved in too many activities but I don’t see it happening. Two weeks maybe.

I am looking forward to not having to pay attention to schedules, or plan kid friendly activities. I’m wondering how many times the words ‘go play outside’ will leave my lips. I’m not at all feeling guilty about having everyone else hold the baby all day. I’m thinking about taking a nap every day (what’s a vacation without an afternoon nap?).  I might even try to get in a date night with hubby. In general, I’m going to do a whole lot of nothing – the perfect beach vacation!

Not sure if I’ll post while I’m away – so for all of my flocks of followers don’t be disappointed if you don’t hear from me for a few days.

Lessons I learned today:

·         Planning for vacation is hard work – good thing you’re about to go on vacation!

·         Packing up the car is pretty easy with so much planning ahead.

·         Getting everything in order before-hand results in maximum enjoyment while on vacation.

List Making

I am a list-maker. I make lists for everything. Sometimes I add stuff to my list that I’ve already done just so I can cross it off.

We’re getting ready to leave for vacation tomorrow and I started my lists last week. As all moms know, packing for little ones if HARD. There are 64 items of my ‘PACKING’ list and only 9 of them are clothing related – 14%. I have the ‘PACKING’ list, the ‘things to take in the car’ list and the ‘things to remember the morning we leave’ list. All together I have five lists (that’s not including the lists I’ve been making while we are ON vacation – which happen to be on the list of things to pack!).

The ironic part of it all is that I know that once we get to our destination, there will be something that I have forgotten! I suppose that if I were a really organized list maker, I would have something on my computer that I could print for each trip and add to as I forget things on each trip. Maybe next time. For now, off to make more lists!!

Lessons I learned today:

·        I need a new system of sorting my papers – second time in as many weeks that I couldn’t find something I was looking for.

·       I like the ‘idea’ of being organized but I’m finding it hard to have time to actually do it.

·       I need a list to keep track of all my lists!

The Honeymoon is OVER

I knew it was going to happen, I just didn’t know how long it would take. Turns out - about 2 ½ weeks. I’m tired, cranky and sometimes downright mean. I’m still not regretting my decision to stay at home with my little ‘angels’ but I’m giving up mad props to all the SAHMs out there after living it first hand for 17 days. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence or not that we’ve also had 17 consecutive days of over 90 degrees.

On the bright side, we seem to be getting into a relatively smooth routine (at least on days that we all sleep past 6am) – which mainly revolves around meals & naptimes (boring!). Outside of my not-so-successful baking activity this week, I have not been very creative or organized about scheduling things for the gremlins to do. As a result, we’ve had a lot of whining, fighting, yelling, and time outs this past week (I’m hoping that these aren’t a permanent part of our blissful routine).

Two things struck me today in the middle of someone’s temper-tantrum; 1) SAHMs need vacations just to break the routines that you don’t want to keep and 2) back-to-school really is the ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year.’

I’m pretty sure that once school starts (J for 5 mornings, L for 2 mornings – just 2 hours), that I’ll turn into the June Cleaver meets Martha Stewart and my kids will morph into perfectly behaved, well-mannered angels. In the event that doesn’t work out for me, I’m researching story-times at the local library and local bookstores, some gym classes for L and keeping my sister on the payroll to provide mommy with the much needed kid-free time.

Lessons I learned today:

·       Homemade birthday dinners (and desserts) are fun to do and everyone seems to enjoy them more because of the effort put in.

·       Travelling for work seemed like it was hard at the time, but there were several times today that I would have traded places with hubby.

·       Kids crave structure, but routines without kid-centered activities create moms who crave wine.

Dancing Queen

On a whim, I called a dance studio on July 5^th and signed L up for a 6 week 2 year-old dance class (which happened to start that night!). I wanted to see if she was as into dancing in public as she is at home (she has literally been dancing since the day she was born). Tonight was our last class (there is one week left but we will be on VACATION!), so I thought for tonight’s post, I would show you a bit of our dancing queen (it took a few weeks for her to come out of her shell but she finally did!).

(video coming as soon as I can figure out how to get it from my phone to my computer!)

Lessons I learned today:

·         Waking up before 5am to days in a row does a tired mommy make!

·         I am officially out of inside activities (library again today)

·         There are few things better than having a baby sleep on you or spying on our kids as they are playing (or dancing).

The Next Martha Stewart

I think not! Today was another day over 90 (which all of my friends in Texas tell me is no big deal – but I am having a hard time finding something to do that won’t roast the baby in her car seat), so I had to find more indoor activities to occupy the munchkins and keep them out of trouble.

After the Monday morning workout the thermometer only read 84 egrees, so I opted for an unscheduled trip to the park (a little bit of a problem as J decided to wear his ‘fancy shoes’ and L had on Crocs). I took some advice from a previous co-worker turned SAHM and literally ran J & L around in circles – we raced around the circular sidewalk 2 times (the third time was interrupted by L falling caused by her shoes  being on the wrong feet – nothing two Barbie band-aids won’t cure)!). Nap time was very successful today since everyone woke up before the sun (yes, it was a typical Monday!).

So, my indoor activity of choice today was baking. We are having a little dinner for my sister’s birthday on Wednesday so I thought I’d make ice cream and a cake, and wanted to get some cookies made for vacation next week. My kids always beg me to help out when making dinner (and I’m usually successful at finding an activity condusive to their abilities), so I thought this would be a fun thing for everyone today.

Not. So .Much. My first mistake – making raspberry sorbet with a 2 year old and 4 year old (who were still a little short on sleep). Needless to say, my crafty indoor activity didn’t last very long. My kids were troopers though (once I get an idea, I have a hard time letting go so I was determined to bake today!), and managed to play nicely together (for the most part) all afternoon… and I got all my baking finished!

Lessons I learned today:

·       As much as I sometimes like to pretend (on my rare day of ‘crafting), I will not be the next woman to build an empire making the perfect soufflé.

·       My kids seem to understand when mommy is having a bad day and magically start to behave.

·       I need to do a better job of letting go of my to-do list and making fun for my kids.