Fall, Football & FUN!

As we rushed home tonight in order to make my husband's fantasy football draft, I quickly realized summer has come to an end AND that I drew the short straw.  He is at a bar, drinking beer, talking crap about who got who and I am trying to get a extremely tired, off-schedule toddler to bed.  YES I AM JEALOUS.  I have been around football and fantasy drafts since the days my dad left the house with a timer and two pieces of poster board (no computers or iPads HA).  I guess it is time to put all the beach gear away and bring out the football gear.

I truly enjoyed this summer.  Emily was at the age where she had a blast, whether we were at the pool, beach, on the rides or just hanging out with her grandparents.  BUT all good things have to come to an end.

Now I can start thinking about how I want to decorate my house for fall.  I now have TWO mantels that I can decorate and more than one room done in our house.  Oh and Halloween costumes, pumkin beer, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin spiced donuts, hayrides, orchards...OH THE FUN.

Goodbye summer and hello fall, football and more fun :)

Very grateful

This has been an amazing summer filled with trips to the beach, parties, friends and family.  E has truly had an awesome time at the beach and swimming.  Throughout all the car rides with crying kids, 10pm bed times,  random temper tantrums, we tend to forget how grateful we are.  We have two healthy kids, two beach houses to go to and are surrounded by wonderful family and friends.

I sometimes sit her frustrated at the world because I only got 3 hours of sleep. In reality, I should be happy I have two kids, sleeping or crying.  It could be worse.  I feel guilty sometimes because I sit here worrying about such meaningless things when other moms are worry about TRUE issues.

I write this post as a reminder to not just moms but to everyone, to stop every once in a while and think about everything you have.  And when you think your life sucks cause you didn't get to finish your coffee (yes I admit I do this!), think that it could be worse...a lot worse.  

I am so lucky and today I reminded myself that!!!

It's been a while...

Things have been crazy the last month or so.  A LOT going on!!!

On a "me" front...The older I get, the more I know who my true friends are.  People really amaze me.  I am so lucky to have the friends and family I have, I don't need people in my life that will drag me down.  The last week I have spent some quality time with my friends and family and that's all a girl can ask for!

On a mommy front...my babies are getting so old.  C will be 6 months tomorrow and E will be 2 next Tuesday.  WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?! I cherish every hug and every smile I get from them!

I spoke to E's preschool teacher and she went on and on about how she is so smart and will try anything.  That makes me so happy.  All parents want is for their children to be happy and progress in life.  I mean I am not opposed to a doctor in the family :)

I cannot believe summer is almost over.  Only two more weekends at the beach.  :( :( :(

I am however looking forward to fall festivities with the kids.  Oh and Pumpkin lattes YUM!!!

Hopefully, I will go back to regularly blogging soon but smooches for now!  I am off to enjoy the Jay-Z JT concert with 3 of my favs.

White pants and whistling

Two very random thoughts...

If you are a mom of young kids, is there ever a time white pants can be worn?  I have never been a person to wear too much white, since I go with the black makes you look slim thought, but I got these white jeans earlier this summer.  I tried to wear them Memorial Weekend and within minutes there was watermelon and spit-up on them, so I quickly changed. Since then I have neglected those poor white jeans. 

Finally, I seized the opportunity to wear them to my girls night out (or shall I say dinner out). When you are a working mom of two, any chance to spend a few ours or even minutes enjoying some "me time" is greatly appreciate and makes me a happy person.  When I put these white jeans on, I forgot I have to pack the kids up, drop them off at my parents, pick them up and take them home.  I made it there and through dinner with no issues.  As I was putting E in her carseat, I leaned up against the car and in a matter of seconds, a black smudge appeared.  COME ON!!  Every second and every stain was worth it for a few hours out and that mandarin Cosmo!!

On to the next topic...

As I was trying to clean out my closet with a toddler squeezing in taking out all my shoes, I heard someone whistling. Thinking there is no way this is E, my almost 2 year old.  Sure enough I turned around and she did it again. When I started whistling, she tried to do it again, but was unsuccessful. Where does someone her age learn to whistle? She amazes me everyday with how much she is growing up. I mean the words "ewe" and "yeah" are part of her vocab now ;)

No shoes to bed

For some reason, E has become obsessed with shoes. Normally I would think this is cute and she was being a girly girl but she has taking it to a new level. Now she wears them to bed every night.  Not flip flops either...full fledged shoes.  Last night was Toms and tonight was Converses.  

I know this is not a major issue or anything but she sweats and sleeping in shoes each night does not help those stinky feet hahaha!!! "Shoes mommy! Shoes!"  Tonight I tried to coerce her into wearing her kitty socks instead, which she agreed to.  She also has a kitty obsession since being over her Aunt Liz's and met two real cats. However, this backfired and she ended up wanting to wear shoes too.

What can I say...this girl has a mind of her own and loves clothes and accessories.  I guess she isn't much different than most girls or women even ;)

Terrible Twos are FUN

After being at the beach for a week, I am now back to reality and not enjoying it.  This means an overload of laundry, no food, trying to get the kids back on their normal routine and my pants are just a little tighter.  WELL WORTH IT ALL THOUGH!  Emily had the time of her life at the beach and pool.  She has however hit the "terrible twos" a tad bit early.  The whiny, temper tantrum phase is not fun at all.  I absolutely hate when she does this in public too.

Our first trip to Funland, my dad bought 100 tickets and Emily got on 1 ride, which was all of 1 ticket.  This time, after she through a FIT, would not get in the stroller, wanted french fries but they were too hot, but ended up getting on 2 rides, both of which I had to get on with her.  I mean who would have thought the mini roller coaster would be what she loved.  I mean it was pretty fast and I did not enjoy it one bit.  The irony...it is the one she liked.  We used all our tickets since that ride required 3 tickets for me as well.  What a rip off!  Her and my mom played a few games next and had a blast.  Not sure how but they won this one game twice, which resulted in this massive purple and orange ugly squirrel (i think).  But she had fun so that is all that matters.

Next public tantrum occurred when we got to my FIL's country club.  All these kids are playing nice in the pool and like a little diva, E hates the bathing suit I put on her (had the long sleeve shirt) and insists on taking it off.  Nothing like being at a nice country club pool with a screaming naked child.  After some food (once again) she let her guard down and ended up having an amazing time.  Thank god for adult drinks there :)

Next was the beach!  She LOVED the bay and playing in it earlier this week but this time was a different story.  With only a short nap, cranky pants did not like the water or sand.  She just wanted me to hold her in the water... "up mommy". She eventually warmed up here too.  Then we pushed our luck by trying to go to dinner and ice cream.  Oh well.

She is a sassy little girl filled with personality, but we love her to pieces and could not imagine life without her!

Do we need all this?

Going on vacation for a week with two little kids is awful to prepare for! There are so many little things, like pacifiers or Disney movies, that could make or break our trip.  God forbid little E wants to watch Belle and it is still in the DVD player at home.  Little C is easy since he is only 4 months old.  All he needs is clothes and bottles.  I think he will be a minimalist like it poppy and dad! What is even worse about the amount of stuff we have sitting out to pack is my parents beach house and my in-laws both have a pack n play, toys, bouncy seats...you name it.  You would think all we need to pack is the little stuff.

I am not even confident everything is going to fit.  I am sure my mom will take some stuff but still.  The poor dog has been confined to a minuscule amount of space in the back of our new, what we thought was bigger and more spacious car.  In reality, the bigger the car, the more sh!t you bring.  I find the same thing happens with my purse.  If I have a small bag, I am forced to only bring what can fit.  If I have a huge tote-size bag, it is amazing what you will find in my purse HAHA.

Either way once we get to the beach and unpack, I will be relieved, especially since we will be there for a week.  I hate having to pack back up a day or two later. All the hustle and bustle is worth it to spend time with my family and away from work.  I am praying there are no meltdowns in the car like the last trip.  Now I know why everyone else is driving themselves...I would if I could find some way to ship/mail my kids to the beach :)

Toddler Talk

People always warned me about the "mine" phase toddlers go through or the "what's this" and I have to say it is quite an annoying stage. Rushing out of daycare on a 95 degree day with a bag and heavy infant carseat, then having to hold a toddler's hand who has not grasped the concept that you have to look where you are walking as she asks "what's is" (her way of "what's this") as she points to a wall multiple times is not so much fun. Don't get me wrong, this is a fun stage and she has developed her own little personality, 75% of the time which is sassy or whinny. 

I do love how she tries really hard to talk, mostly sounds like Japanese or any foreign language. Everything is yellow or "yewelo" and she has forgotten about the number "1" and goes right to 3 and 4. The funny part is all last year all she said was "1".  My dads favorite is "more" or as E likes to say "moyeee". 

You just have to laugh and be glad she tries and is advancing. I am secretly hoping she is a genius so she can make tons of money and buy us a retirement house in Florida someday. I don't think she will ever be professional ballerina or anything that requires good coordination. The girl is a major klutz. I have noooo idea where she gets it from haha.

Miss sassy pants gives us a run for our money but I could never image life without her.  She is filled with love and personality and thinks the world already of her little brother.  That makes all the temper tantrums and stress well worth it (most of the time haha). 

Why is everyone crying?

I remember as a kid all those drives to the beach and even OBX, which I am sure were worth the hassle of packing up 3 kids and travelling anywhere.  We are used to driving to the beach with E, but she was a narcolep in the car when she was little.  She would sleep from the second we left all the way to the beach.  Even now normally we put a movie on and she is fine.  However, Mr. C is a different story.  He does not like the car, so it is crucial to time our trip and leave right after he eats. We knew this was the case yesterday but for some reason we still had to pack the car afterwards, so it was an hour before we left.  This led to the

CAR TRIP FROM HELL!!!

My mom was back sitting between the kids.  For the first hour or so, she was non-stop.  Restarting the movies that E somehow turned off.  Keeping C occupied.  Trying to keep him from crying.  E was hungry or thirsty.  I felt bad enough for my mom as it is.  C was pretty good...on and off sleeping but for the most part quiet.  He would sometimes wake up when we got stuck in traffic because the car stopped.  Right as we got close to the 273 exit all hell broke lose.  C started screaming, which in turn made E upset.  It was so bad my mom even tried to take him out and calm him (we were at a dead stop, not driving).  Nothing worked and now both were screaming bloody murder.  Frantically, my mom yells PULL OVER.  Like the crazy woman I am at this point, I cut across two lanes of traffic and pulled over.  I get out of the car and take C and try and calm him.  E is still screaming.  Then a cop pulls up behind us and as he walks past the car, my mom goes all stressed, "we are fine...just have two screaming kids."  The cop smirked and moved on. 

Finally, I made the executive decision to just go...screaming kids or not.  my mom was driving and now I was in the back.  I put the window down to get some air and this droning noise started cause only one window was down.  I tell mom mom fran to put her window down.  Darn new cars threw her for a loop.  You know how in new cars you push the button and the window goes all the way down?  Well she could NOT figure out how to just crack the window.  Up down up down up down.  At this point, all we could do is laugh.  Both kids were so exhausted from crying they were falling asleep (praise the lord).  I had to hold E's hand to keep her calm :(

I was suppose to take my mom home but she did not think the kids would stay asleep, so we went straight to my house.  My poor dad had to bring the dog up and get my mom and mom mom.  He proceeded to tell me he remembered multiple times having to stop or pullover because of the kids or just drive with them screaming.  Even though the drive was horrible, every ounce of crazy was worth the memories we made this weekend at the beach.  Seeing my dad time after time get C asleep.  Watching E on the boats at Funland.  Us all dancing around having a great time.  Who ever said kids were easy anyway?!!??

Thank you sleep

All parents know how it is to never know when you go to bed at night if it will be a horrible night where your kids are up a lot or if there will not be a peep from them.  E was a EXCELLENT  sleeper until about 9 months.  Then she started waking up at 5am.  That only lasted a little bit but then a few months before I had C, she started waking up in the middle of the night and wanting to go downstairs or come in our bed.  This is not fun being 8-9 months pregnant.  We associated it with teething and her molars.

Then we threw her another curve ball, well two actually, and brought little C home then moved her to a toddler bed.  When C came home, she knew he was in our room, so she wanted to be in there too.  Also, she would hear him cry and us walking around those first few nights and would wake up (the white noise maker I got is a god sent).  I never felt so much sleep deprivation and frustration in my life.  Then it was like little by little each of them found their groove.  We moved C into his crib around a month or a little before, which was a simple transition.  He started only waking up once throughout the night and E started to be less needy. 

However, this week we would had a true break through!!!!  Even if it only lasts a week, it is a week we truly needed.  C started sleeping through the night and E started going to down WAY quicker and not waking up at all.  Actually, this morning I had to wake her up at 7:40am.   Now I am not dumb...I know this may not last but I go back to work tomorrow, so this gleam of hope is something I will just hold onto for now.

AL

Sleep Woes

I knew that sleep was not on my side once little C was born but I did not think my main issue would be with E. All of a sudden she started waking up at 11pm. Sometimes she will just lay back down and other times I will rock her back to sleep. THEN she gets up again at 2am. At this point, I have little patience and end up putting her in our bed so we all can sleep. I know this is not the best thing to do! I am not sure why she wakes up at these times every night. Is it her teething? Is it the cold and cough?  Is it the baby crying? Yes I have a white noise machine in her room that stays in all night.

If I could get E to sleep, dealing with C would be a piece of cake.  I even thought about moving her to a toddler bed but she is only about 20 months.

Any thoughts or suggestions?!?!?

It's been a while...

This last month has been crazy that I have not really blogged at all. My January started with a crazy, stressful month of work and being 9 months pregnant.  Then on Valentine's Day my little man arrived.  Coming home proved to be a little harder than I expected.  His big sister was very jealous and still is, but is getting better. Sleep... What is that!! Through all the craziness, I can truly say, I COULD NOT be happier.

Random current facts about me:

*Waking up ever 3 hours is not easy!
*Getting a toddler back on a routine has proven more difficult.
*My husband could not be a better dad.
*Getting sick of wearing sweatpants everyday.
*Sometimes I just don't feel like showering (but I normally do haha).
*My little E is growing up and makes me laugh, even when she refuses to eat dinner cause she wants to watch Sofia or Little Einstein's.
*I know I should nap throughout the day but I don't. I have never been a napper, which is probably why I get very grumpy at night (sorry Pete).
*If it is not one thing, it is another.
N
Through all the rough times, I am so lucky to have such an amazing family and friends. Life is good...even without sleep :)

Adding to the crazy...

In 8 days (or less), we will be heading to the hospital to have our baby boy.  People keep asking me if I am ready.  I don't think I am ever going to be ready for for the craziness that is about to take over my life.  Little E thinks all the baby stuff is hers, so that should be interesting. AND she is going through an "all about mommy" stage.

With all that being said, we are beyond excited for our family to grow.  I look at it as adding to the craziness that already exists.  We will find a way to deal and every ounce of crazy is worth it!!!!

To make this experience even better, one of my friends (also named Adrienne) is also being induced the same day as me!!!

Well wish me luck and I cannot wait to introduce our baby boy to the world!!!