Rude

I don't think I'm one to get overly upset or to hold grudges when people don't "do the right thing". Yes, every now and then I get bent out of shape, but that's fairly rare (and mostly induced by my beloved family!). But this week I'm kinda irritated. I gave out almost 20 b-day invites to WA's daycare friends and only 3 people have responded. 3. And I asked for responses by this Friday. So unless I get an influx of RSVPs over the next two days, I'm considering OH Mommy and Daddies r-u-d-e!

Two!

The other day we were walking down the street and caught IA giving a "word up!" gesture with her hands. The hubby and I looked at each other and thought, "what?!?". We laughed and enjoyed the moment not really knowing who was teaching her such slick moves (certainly not her square parents!). This weekend I finally figured out what she was attempting to do. She was counting to two! Here are some pics of her attempts...

Could you deny this face?

Who does this remind you of...

For those of you who knew me, and my locks, pre-kids...look familiar?

1 year (can you believe it?!?)

It hardly seems like it, but I've been blogging for one year! Thanks to the faithful few who follow my ramblings and kiddo updates. I hope you continue to enjoy a post or two as much as I enjoy writing them. Here's to another year!

Alone time

I used to spend a TON of time alone with WA playing in his room. He got this VIP treatment until I was 8 months pregnant (and could no longer get up by myself!). Back in the day where it was 2 parents to 1 child, my hubby and I would often trade off weekend mornings and sleep in. WA, never a child who embraced sleep, would get up at about 6:30am. I'd go in and sit on the floor and play with him for hours. There would be days when I was exhausted and would half snooze/half play. As he grew older that trick didn't work as well. Anyway, I loved those mornings. With IA, I don't get much time like that. In a quite house, just she and I with sleepies in our eyes. This morning she treated us to a 5am wake up call. The hubby got up and attempted to rock her back to sleep, when that didn't work he brought her to our bed. From there she snuggled up with me for maybe 30 mins and started to get restless. I fended her off for 10 additional minutes before finally giving up just before 6. Since I was wide awake I decided to take her to her room to play. Alone. She and I. I really, really savored it. We got a solid hour of play, lotion application, dress up and books. If one has to get up before 6, playing with a cute little redhead is definitely the way to go.

life, death and baked lays

Last night I learned that a guy I went to school with was found dead next to a stream. Wow, that was a huge shocker. You just don't think about someone your age showing up mysteriously dead next to a body of water. Very shocking and somewhat mysterious, at this point, since the police aren't sure exactly what happened. He was a nice guy, loved by his family and successful in his professional life. He could have been me or you. Life is that fragile and death puts it in perspective. Still a bit in shock due to this news….

On life's lighter side…is there anything better than salt during PMS? No way! Today, I am all about Baked Lays. Thighs be damned!

A delight

I don't know why, but I absolutely LOVE witnessing IA's vocabulary expand. More so than when WA's was blossoming. Is it a simple case of little girl cuteness?

Loss of confidence

I used to feel like a fantastic mother. Recently, I've had a sense of failure. I'm not sure if it's two-kid fatigue, my faint feeling of depression, the difficulty of maintaining patience given the challenges we face with WA or if I just haven't adjusted to the way things are vs. the way I thought they would be. Either way this feeling really sucks and I hope it's primarily in my head. I'm not looking for sympathy, it's just good to get it off my chest. I think we, as Moms, don't talk about the negative nearly enough and it makes us more isolated when we attempt to deal.

Frat Boy

The other day WA's teacher pulled me aside to recount WA's day. I'm used to this, as we attempt to figure out his difficulties with the daycare environment chats like these have become commonplace. What I wasn't expecting was to hear about WA's two Jim Belushi-esq moves. During nap time, the pre-K room and WA's preschool room combine and "nap". This means that some kids sleep, some lay quietly and others, like my son, fidget. That day he took fidgeting to a whole new level. Apparently, in the middle of nap time, WA stood up and mooned the rest of the non-napping kids. After I cringed a bit, the teacher went on to tell me that she also found him attempting to stick his head in the toilet. What?? Fantastic. That night when I explained that we can't do those types of things and he told me "But Mommy, I was making a joke!" Oh man. I dare anyone to tell me that I do not have a future frat boy on my hands…

Ahhhhh

When is the last time you went in the hot tub before work? Never? Yeah, well me either. But yesterday I did. And it was glorious. For the past day and a half my hubby and I have been child-less. My fantastic in-laws took them for a few days to give us a little respite. Since moving to Columbus, life has dished out one thing after another. Thankfully nothing too bad, but each one has worn us down. We really needed the break, so that combined with the fact that it was my b-day weekend resulted in their generous offer. Two kids under 4 are certainly a handful! These days of leisure…so foreign now…how would we fill them? On Sunday, my bday, we worked in the yard and got a ton done (it's amazing how much you can accomplish without two little ones underfoot). That night we holed up in our bed room and had dinner in bed while watching one of my all time favorite movies…Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Shake and Bake baby! Part of the reason we chose to hole up in the boudoir is that our AC unit was broken (see "one thing after another" above). It proved to be an excellent excuse to stop, relax and spend time together. Just what the couples doctor ordered. I do miss my kids, but am happy that I can relax and enjoy this time knowing they are in excellent hands, eating junk food galore, watching tv, playing with the animals and loving every minute! Thanks MB and CB, this "vacation" was awesome!

Differences

Bath time just became interesting. Last week, while bathing WA and IA, WA looked at her and said…"Mommy, where's IA's penis?". Whoa boy. This was the first time WA has directly shown an interest in anatomy and anything remotely circling the birds and bees. I wasn't exactly prepared (though I should have been considering my CT friend has blogged about her daughter's curiosity. LP is an intensely bright and inquisitive little girl, that should have tipped me off this was coming…). I explained to him that boys have different parts down there than girls. Luckily he was content with this explanation and didn't press for more details. He did however turn to me and say…"Well, Mommy. Boys have penises, they are ROCK STARS!" Why yes WA, little do you know just how right you are.

Certainly not Kansas

Ever have a moment where you pass an accident and think "If only I had left 5 minutes earlier" or hear about a scary incident and think " What if I had decided to take the subway instead of that cab "? Moments where you realize how fragile life is and how you're constantly avoiding disaster without even knowing it? I had that experience last weekend.

The kids, hubby and I went up to my in-laws, right outside of Toledo, for my sister-in-law's high school graduation. We were extremely proud of her and happy to celebrate her accomplishments. Graduation day started off with a few bumps, and a glimpse in to what having an emotional teen aged girl is going to be like. We made it out the door with zero minutes to spare and raced to the ceremony. We took our seats, listened to speeches and cheered as KB walked across the stage. Very cool. I've only known KB for a little over 7 years, but I felt like a proud mama watching her hit this milestone. After the ceremony we headed home. I stayed there with IA as she took a much needed nap and the rest of the family went out for a celebratory lunch. Later that day WA and I headed to a local Butterfly House and we had a blast checking out some amazingly beautiful creatures. WA freaked out when the butterflies tried to land on him, and I can't blame him considering they were the size of a very large man's hand. We took a break and went back in, me hoofing him around the whole time, and he was much calmer. I'd recommend a trip to a Butterfly house if you can find one…they are just pure happiness. WA and I then went back to my in-laws. My in-laws offered to watch the kids so the hubby and I could go to the movies. Well, they didn't have to ask ME twice! We bolted out the door and ended up seeing "Get Him to the Greek", a light, entertaining comedy. After the movie we headed back to the in-laws. We arrived home to find both kids sleeping and the rest of the family watching TV. I hung out for a little bit and headed to bed at roughly 10pm. At that point it was raining, but fairly calm out. About an hour and a half later my hubby came crashing in to the room yelling "Get IA, there's a tornado!". HOLY CRAP! WHAT?!? Not exactly the most calming way to awake from a deep sleep. I went to the living room to see what was going on. T he news was on, the sirens were going off, my husband and father-in-law were checking outside and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were looking fraught. The doppler showed that there were at least three tornados either spotted in the air or ones that had touched down, all within a handful of miles from us. I calmly went to retrieve IA and WA and headed to an interior bathroom. What made this situation even more scary is that my in-laws have no basement. Yup….tornado + no basement = not so comforting. I ended up huddled in the bathtub with both kids as the rest of the family either monitored the skies (in hindsight maybe not the smartest thing) or collected flashlights. We stayed in the tub for maybe 20 mins and got an "all clear" shortly thereafter. I definitely did not realize, until later, just how serious the situation was. The next day we learned that a horse barn down the road was destroyed (and the horse's freed), that 5 people were killed just 10miles down the road, and that several local homes and municipal building were destroyed or damaged. To think that only 10 miles came between us and a not-so-great outcome. That's not a lot of distance. I'm SO thankful we are all ok and that ignorance is truly bliss….otherwise I would have been FAR more freaked out. I think next time I will be. NA, you're not in CT anymore.