Thursday, May 31, 2012

Mom Reflexes

My reflexes are normally fairly good to begin with, but today, I think they topped the charts.

I was at Sam's with Jackson and Cullen picking up diapers and a few other items.  Jackson had been walking by the cart the entire time.  We were just finished checking out at the cashier.  Jackson was a little ahead of me, and Cullen was sitting in the cart seat.  As I was turning the cart around to head to the exit, Cullen decided it would be a fine time to stand up in the cart and reach for something on the counter.  In slow motion ( I swear!), Cullen went careening forward to topple over the handle bar for the cart and start his slow decent to a concrete floor.  I, literally, swooped in with my arms and caught him right as he was falling over the handle bar.

As I'm catching Cullen, I hear the cashier lady gasp in sheer horror at what she was witnessing, and Cullen starting to cry out realizing what was about to happen.  I catch him, flip him over, cuddle him for a few seconds then dump him right back into the cart.  After multiple reassurances from me to the cashier he was fine, I headed out the door.

I really think sometimes I have super reflexes just to stop the inevitable crazy and random events in which the boys grace my life with.  Without them, I think we would see our pediatrician way more than necessary.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Memorial Day Weekend Recap

Memorial Day weekend was definitely nice, but never seems long enough.  We had a busy weekend, but we got a lot done too.

Saturday, Andrew and I brought the boys over to the Play for All Abilities park.  Both boys love all the different activities in the park.  Andrew and I like the fact the entire park is fenced in with a double door entrance.  After chasing the boys around for an hour, we had to go drop my car off at the dealership to get my side mirror fixed.  The side mirror had a run in with the garbage can and lost.  Just to clarify, this was not my fault.  I'll leave it at that.  While the dealership was assessing what parts needed to be ordered, we went over and ate lunch at Fuddrucker's.  It was nice to eat lunch as a family and the kids were fairly good.







Sunday, we all went down to the neighborhood pool.  Jackson has no fear of water and just jumps right into the deep end.  Andrew was there waiting for him.  Cullen doesn't have any fear of the water either and just hopped right into the toddler pool.  We only stayed for about an hour.  With the wind, the kids got cold.  The boys were hungry and exhausted afterward.  Cullen didn't even make it to his normal nap time before conking out.

Monday, Andrew fixed one of our fence posts in the backyard.  It's been broken for awhile, and Andrew finally dug it up and replaced it.  It took him a couple hours and a farmer's burn.  The boys and I had to run an errand during the fence fixing, then we went on a bike and wagon ride.  In the afternoon, we broke out the kiddie pool in the backyard and let the boys play.




Overall, it was a fun and busy weekend.  It was nice to be able to do things as a family and have an extra day to relax.  Although if the boys would let us sleep in, that would have been the perfect weekend!  Happy Memorial Day!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Happy 3rd Birthday Jackson!

Just a few days old
Today Jackson, my oldest, turns 3 years old.  It is a little crazy to think how much has changed in three years.    We started a family 3 years ago today, and it continues to grow.

I never thought a little 8lb 1oz squirming boy could bless Andrew and I in such a way.  Although Jackson can be difficult at times (what kid isn't), he also brings a smile to my face every day.  We started with night feedings and rolling on the ground.  We have grown to Jackson being almost completely potty trained (yea!) and bossing his little brother around.  On Jackson's first birthday, he threw his cupcake on the ground.  Now, he has a few bites of cake even though he'll eat peanut butter directly from a spoon (go figure).


Happy Birthday Jackson!  Many more are to come!  Although I could have chosen a nice picture of him smiling, this seemed more appropriate.  I told Jackson to smile for his birthday picture, and this is what he did.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Spoons!

Spoons are a new hot commodity in my house these days.  Jackson has been eating with a spoon and fork for awhile.  Cullen, on the other hand, has become quite the spoonaholic when it comes to eating.  If he sees you and anyone else at the table eating with a utensil, he has to have a spoon.

It's become quite amusing, ridiculous, and irritating all at the same time.  I love the fact Cullen's growing up and learning new skills.  He hasn't fully figured out how to maneuver the spoon to its full potential, but he comprehends the concept.  For example, this morning we were eating pancakes.  Jackson was perfectly happy eating his pancake at the table next to me.  Cullen had just gotten his pancake cut up, but started leaning back, pointing to the utensil drawer, and saying, "Spoon" as best as he could.  He refused to even eat the pancake until I got him a spoon.  After putting a spoon in front of him, Cullen proceeded to pick up a piece of pancake, put it on his spoon, then bring the spoon to his mouth and eat the pancake.  Followed by a good "mmm" just to make sure everyone knew he liked it.

While all of this seems great, it can be irritating as well.  Its all part of growing up.  Although, I swear I am learning more patience (and in some days truly having little to none) than my kids are.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Jackson's Birthday Party

Jackson had his birthday party on Saturday.  His actual birthday isn't until this Thursday.  He'll be 3!  It was the first real birthday party we have ever given him mainly because now he really knew what was happening.  He knew it was his birthday party, and he was excited to play with his friends.

We held it at a local indoor play place called Safari Champ.  The theme was animals and jungle.  All of his friends had a blast!  They ran around for almost 2 hours, then had cake!  Andrew got a workout also crawling and running after Cullen since he had to play in the big kid play area with the rest of the kids.  Jackson was really excited to have Happy Birthday sung to him.  He loved blowing out his candles!  Of course he tried to reach out and touch them at least once, but I squashed that idea pretty quickly.  Both of my kids were definitely worn out by the time we got home.

All in all, it was a successful and rather stress free party.  That's my kind of party!



Friday, May 18, 2012

A Car, a Bloody Nose, and Water Play!

Why is it that every time I have an interesting story to tell I can't seem to find the right words to start it with?  It could have to do with the 18 month old child I have shoving a book into my face right now.

Yesterday, I had just put Jackson on the potty to do his business and walked out of the bathroom.  About 5 seconds after walking out, I hear a clink, clink, clank, splash!  I stop dead in my tracks because I know exactly what happened.  I calmly walk back in to find Jackson staring at me, then looking down at the toilet and saying, "Oh no Mommy!"  I walk over to see one of his cars in the toilet bowl.

As bad as that sounds, it's what came next which made the situation worse.  I see a piece of poop (in slow motion) slide down the toilet bowl and come to rest on the car.  Yes!  I'm staring at this happening thinking, this really can't be happening.  But, oh yes, it did!  After gathering my wits, I just go for it and pluck the car right out.

I'm washing my hands and am about to disinfect the car when I hear a very loud smack followed by a wail of a cry.  I stick my head out the bathroom door to see Cullen had fallen in the hallway.  I knew he was hurt because he was screaming his 'I'm really hurt' cry.  He stands up, and I notice his face from nose down is covered in blood.

Cullen is literally dripping blood like a faucet down his face, on his shirt and shorts, and to the floor.  I hastily finish cleaning my hands, scoop Cullen up, and run to the paper towels.  I had no idea where the blood was coming from, so my first priority was to find out then stop it.

I quickly figured out it was coming from his nose.  Have you ever tried to stop a massive nose bleed on an 18 month old?  If not, let me be the first to tell you its very difficult.  It's not that I couldn't stop it, but if Cullen would stay still long enough to enable me to get a hold of his nose in order to stop it.  When I finally was able to get it to slow down (which was about 6 paper towels, 2 bloody shirts, and some bloody floors later), Cullen finally stopped moving.  I don't freak out at the sight of blood (even my own kids), but I had a window of about 30 seconds (which felt about 3 hours long) in which I seriously contemplated bringing him to an urgent care clinic because I couldn't stop the bleeding.  It was a gusher!

After the blood flow stopped, Cullen and I looked like we should be in a horror movie.  I had to strip him, change his diaper (because he had just pooped), and take my shirt off.  After soaking the clothes and cleaning up the floors, I went to go put another shirt on.  I glanced at myself in the mirror and realized my face, neck and arms were coated in blood.  I seriously looked like an accident victim!

Cullen was okay in the end.  As a treat for being good during this whole ordeal, I took the boys out in the backyard and let them play in the kiddie pool.


My kids are crazy pale and white.  But they were covered head to toe in sunscreen.  Here are a few cute pictures.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Hungry much?

I guess they got hungry and decided to take it into their own hands.  This is what I get for walking out of the room to clean some other mess up!


Friday, May 11, 2012

Never a Dull Moment

It's been raining here for the past few days (or week depending on how specific you want to get).  I'm not complaining, really.  We need the rain, and I, personally, love rainy days.  The thought of curling up on the sofa with a cup of hot tea and good book on a rainy day is heaven!  How I miss those days.

With all the rain, it makes getting outside to play more difficult.  The park is out because the playgrounds are going to be soaked.  The backyard is only playable if a sufficient amount of time has passed to dry out the grass.  Inside, we have been stuck for the most part.

The boys have been going a little crazy running around, jumping off of various objects.  Objects is the best definition I can give because it's not just furniture.  I didn't want to turn the TV or a movie on.  I don't have the TV on at all during the day except to play music.  I just couldn't bring myself to turn it on when I hadn't gone down all avenues of play with them, yet.

As I was washing dishes in the kitchen, I heard a weird rustle sound.  I turn around to find Jackson had grabbed a paper bag I had sitting on the counter and put it over his head.  The paper bag was a big hit with the boys!  They kept putting it over each others heads and running around the house.  After a few minutes and collisions later, I asked Jackson to bring me the bag.  I promptly cut some eye holes, handed it back, and said go play.  My eye holes made the paper bag even more popular!


This morning, after having a bad thunderstorm roll through last night, Andrew comes to tell me part of the fence blew down (again).  He was outside trying to fix it while I was making breakfast, packing lunches, and doing my best to eat.  Jackson was watching Andrew outside through our bedroom windows.

After a few minutes of Jackson being too quiet, I decided to go check on him.  Too much quiet is never a good thing in my house.  It wasn't a good thing this morning either.  A few minutes of concern and a phone call to Poison Control later, my house was not quiet anymore.  Jackson's fine.  I knew this in the back of my mind, but needed reassurance from a different source.

Yes, never a dull moment.  When a dull moment does happen, it's not usually a good thing as proven by this morning's incident.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

No, I'm not getting fat; I'm pregnant!

Yes, it's true.  I'm pregnant.  And no, it was not a surprise.

Andrew and I talked a long time about having a larger family. I had been thinking about it a long time before I actually brought it up. I just knew we should have third child. It might sound dumb, but I couldn't shake the feeling. After I finally got the courage to bring it up to Andrew, he had been having the same thoughts. Although, he was reluctant to bring it up to me. It's nice to know we think on the same wave length most of the time.

After a rather lengthy discussion, we decided to try for a third.  I found out I was pregnant at the end of March.  My due date is November 21, 2012, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Looks like I won't have to cook this year!  Whoop!

Andrew and I have been telling the boys there is a baby in Mommy's belly.  We asked Jackson whether he wants a brother or sister.  His answer, always, is a sister.  He's never once said brother.  We'll have to wait and see.  Jackson will be 3 1/2 and Cullen will have just turned 2 when baby #3 comes along.

Andrew and I are excited about adding another addition to the family.  It will involve even more chaos, but my household is already in constant chaos.  Nothing like adding something to spice it up even more!

Monday, May 7, 2012

In My Dreams

I was exhausted by the time I went to bed on Friday night.  I turned off my lamp and was probably asleep in less than a minute.

When I woke up, I noticed it was unusually bright.  I had woken up, but hadn't opened my eyes yet.  I could still tell sunlight poured into the bedroom windows.  First thing I thought of was, it had to be close to 8am.  Not the normal 6:30am darkness Jackson usually wakes me up too because he's hungry.

I couldn't believe the kids had let us sleep in!  I can't even remember the last time both kids slept in and until 8am!  I was in heaven!

As I opened my eyes to this wonderful bliss, I noticed something wasn't right.  The light in our bedroom didn't look right.  As my brain caught up to what my eyes were seeing, it dawned on me that I wasn't looking at sunlight.  This was artificial light coming from Andrew's nightstand.  I rolled over to see the time.  It was 11:45pm Friday night.  Yep, still Friday night!

I couldn't believe it!  I knew both kids sleeping into until sunlight was pouring into our room was too good to be true.  My mind was so exhausted and excited about the possibility of sleeping in, I somehow conjured this alternate reality for 20 seconds.  After discovering this disappointment, I rolled back over and fell asleep.

My actual Saturday morning started at 6:20am with Jackson waking me up because he was hungry.  Cullen woke up at 7am.  Reality is never as good as my subconscious.

Friday, May 4, 2012

O Blessed Nap Time

Nap time in my house is sacred (or at least it is to me).  It is one of the few times it is actually quiet enough where I can hear my own thoughts.  I can take a time out from the craziness of the day to sit down, relax, and enjoy the silence.

Most of the time, nap time goes fairly decently.  But, it's days like today when I really wish nap time would last for 12 hours, so I can just have a break.

Today, nap time lasted 1 hour.  Normally, both boys sleep for at least a good 2 - 2 1/2 hours.  The boys really do need a long nap.  My kids are just happier with longer naps.  Mom is a lot happier with longer naps too!

With the nearly non-existent naps today, I realized how much I really do look forward to having those nice, quiet moments.  I can sit down, relax, read a book, or catch up on a few things around the house.  I can get so many things done without have two little boys clinging to me or 'helping.'  My brain seems to need the down time just to recharge and reboot.

Thank you nap time for allowing me a few moments to relax every day.  I seem to forget how much I miss it until days like today where I don't get it.  It will be a very sad day in this household when my children stop taking naps.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Being seriously insulted at the gym today

I had something interesting happen to me in the gym today.  I was in the dumbbell area having just finished my second set of alternating lunges, minding my own business with my iPod in my ears, when a guy came up to me.  I recognized him (although never had met him) because he drops his son off at the same preschool Jackson goes to.  His son is not in Jackson's class, so I've never said anything to him but maybe a friendly hello.

He comes up to me while I'm taking a break and asked me if I was just working out legs or upper body too.  Before I could answer, he gives me a tutorial on how if I drop my weight I can do step ups on the bench while do a bicep curl or continue doing lunges with a bicep curl.  He promptly demonstrates what he means while I'm still starring at him.  I nicely tell him I'm just working out legs today, and that I understand the exercises I'm doing.  I used to be a personal trainer.  For ten years.  Then I ran the fitness programs.

Apparently, I opened a can of worms when I said that because he then decided I needed to know he took a 6 week course on personal training.  He just couldn't personal train because the people you train aren't into health and wellness the way they should be in and it reflects poorly on the trainer.  He then proceeds to tell me the whoas on how the dumbbells at our gym (which are a very reputable brand seeing as I'd bought them for two recreation facilities I used to work at) aren't good.  I, then, was told how he knew the guy who owned a personal training school in town, the personal trainers working at my current gym, and several people who work at other various gyms in town.  He has a sports background going way back.  And how certain exercises are just okay, but he's trying to get big again so he needs heavy weights (over 100lb dumbbells).

On top of all that, he started discussing his wife and son.  At this point, I was really done with this guy.  But I had to hear how the guy's wife was a business woman who worked and could never stay at home because she's too business minded.  She has to abide by a strict schedule, but she's supermom and does everything anyway.  And how he likes working and coming home to his son.  I was also told he's a lot older than he looks (which makes me wonder how old he thought I was).

I don't remember how I finally was able to end this oh so stimulating discussion.  I was just glad it ended.  I was not only severely insulted but pissed off to the Nth degree!  So let me get this straight you person who doesn't know me at all 1) you have the nerve and ego, that couldn't even fit into the building, to come up to someone you don't know to give them exercise advice 2) you then learn the person you are talking to knows way more than you do; so instead of backing down you try to one up me with all your knowledge and connections 3) I obviously don't have a business mind because I chose to stay at home with my kids instead of going back to work and 4) I don't have as many contacts in town as he does.

Okay jackass, here's what I have to say to you!  Your ego is big because its making up for your total lack of regard for other people and your small dick.  Yes, I do know a hell of lot more than you do when it comes to fitness and recreation seeing as I made a fucking career of it!  I've earned a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree in it.  I hold a national recognized certification that requires continuing education units to keep up.  You can try to one up me, but everything you say makes you sound like more of an idiot.  I can pick your opinion and logic apart to death then shove it down your throat to choke on.  I do have a business mind since I have a fucking Masters in Business Administration!  I chose to stay home with my kids.  Just because I chose to stay home, does not mean I'm stupid!  And finally, I could care less who you know in this town.  It doesn't impact me at all.  In fact, I already insulted one of your buddies at my old job when he tried to tell me his school was better than a nationally recognized certification.

You can take your arrogant ass back home!  I don't care who you are or how nicely you try to put it.  You insulted my intelligence with your stupidity.  But because I am a better person than you, I will not provide the internet with your name.  My only hope is that someone puts your arrogant ass back in place because it severely needs to be kicked.  I'm done and out.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Cullen's 18 month Well Check

Cullen had his 18 month well check this morning.  Jackson was a trooper and tagged along continuously telling me Cullen had a doctor's appointment.  Why thank you for the eighteenth reminder Jackson.  Without you constantly telling me this morning, I may have forgotten.

Cullen's well check went off without any problems.  Here are his stats:

Head measurement: 48cm - 52%
Weight - 23lb 12.5oz - 24%
Height - 34in - 90%

Seems like we have a long and lean boy on our hands.  He must have hit a growth spurt recently because he definitely grew up (quite literally).  He's otherwise healthy and only had to get one shot today.  No more shots until he is 4 years! Whoop!  To a healthy, growing boy!