Props to my husband

Surely you have seen this string of text messages from a dad to the mom about the kid puking, having to clean it up and him puking on the side of the road AND then the lady's lawn he was puking on calling the cops and having to do a breathalyzer???  ***Ok - wait, so now he is saying that well...he really didn't have anyone call the cops or take a breathalyzer and was just being super dramatic for his wife - I have to say, I like this guys even better now because guess what?  I do the same thing to Jimmy #mightbealittleoverdramatic ***

I saw the story when it first came out when Baby Rabies posted it on her facebook feed and literally started crying I was laughing SO hard.  It was literally uncontrollable laughter.  And a bit of sympathy laughter too!

Poor guy (and kid for throwing up in the first place!), but seriously, I had this draft in my posts for about 2 weeks now and was getting around to posting it and yep, this goes right along very well (I guess unfortunately!?!?).

Let me start off by saying that my husband, Jimmy, is officially a super hero to me.  Especially after he's been gone for 6 days and I've been taking care of these kids solo with one in my big belly.  I swear, there might not be anything harder to me than getting the kids out the door on time in the morning.  WHY!?  And after doing it for 3 days in a row...I will say I did progressively get better and more efficient and decreased my lateness to work time each day (yes, I did track that myself).  But he does it every morning.  While, yes, I do help with lots of things, like helping to get them dressed, I usually make the breakfast for them both, he is the one that ultimately gets their shoes on and out the door.  Which you think that would be easy right.  But when I leisurely walk out the door at 7AM, mug of hot lemon water and purse in hand - what I quickly realized after this week and after this string of text messages...

...you never know what can happen between when the time mom walks out the door and when you drop them off at daycare/preschool.  Never.

Because on this morning, I walked out, drove my normal drive to work alone enjoying my drink and the radio and walked into work around 7:20AM and started my day.  Nope, not stressful getting out the door once I pulled out of the driveway.

Jimmy on the other hand...poor guy.

I got this text message from him below that Maddie was SO upset with him because I don't even know why.  Likely it was that he asked her to go potty (how dare he) or that he put on her shoes (seriously, worst dad ever)...or that he asked her to walk out to the car (I mean if that's not child abuse...). 

 #almosttwoyearoldDRAMAQUEEN

Anyways, she was screaming so upset and Jimmy got her into the car seat and then went over to buckle Charlie in and just like that - she threw up.  From crying.  And I'm pretty sure she had cereal that morning.  And maybe some oatmeal.  And of course a big glass of milk.  Yuck, yuck yuck.

Just read to see what he said.  And of course he felt horrible because like any rational adult, he was likely frustrated with the situation (versus Maddie herself) and got mad.  I mean - I would have flipped out.  And vomited.  And maybe cried because I cannot handle things like this.  Especially before work.  No way.

He handled it like a champ though, like I said, super dad.

My favorite part of the text string might be the fact that he accidentally typed "cat" versus "car" and envisioning Charlie buckled into the car seat right next to her screaming "get me out!!!  I'm gonna throw up".  Don't get me wrong - I felt absolutely horrible for him, but was laughing and screen shotted this and sent to my mom and sister to tell them if they thought their day was off to a bad start - couldn't be as bad as Jimmy's.  And they both immediately asked "Wait.  You have a cat?" (no we don't - just a typo).

Of course when I picked the kids up - Charlie went into Maddie's room with me and told her teachers how she threw up in the car this morning - and then I was stuck explaining she really was NOT sick, it was just an "upset-I'm almost 2 and can't handle life-probably couldn't breathe I was screaming so hard/loud" throw up.  Not sure if they bought it, but needless to say, she wasn't sick so thanks a lot Charlie!!

The point of this story besides forcing you to read about the now viral post famousish guy and hopefully getting a good laugh envisioning poor Jimmy's morning...is to say.  Here's to you parents that are the day care/school/preschool dropper-offers.  If I could drink alcohol, I would literally cheers to you because...FOR REAL..the fact that you make it out of the house every morning with alive and well children and you have not gone insane means you deserve a medal.  I'm serious.

And now that Jimmy's back in town and is back to his normal taking the kids to school role, this mama couldn't treasure more the fact that I'm lucky enough to get to walk out the door and worry about the stress of my day at work without having to pile on top of that getting everyone out the door and on time.  For real.

And for Jimmy - thank you thank you thank you.  For taking the morning drop off every day like a champ.  While pick up is stressful some days as well, I'll take that any day of the week.  Love you!

My two littles

So here's the deal.  My kids RARELY dress up aka rarely do we put them in non shorts/t-shirts that they wear to day care.  They are usually in that or just...naked...well the rule is they have to wear underwear in the house and *usually* at least a shirt outside.  Because you, know, we have standards.  

Ha.

So we have gotten them to get used to "dressing up" on Sunday mornings for church.  Charlie has accepted and almost embraced the fact that he wears jeans or nice shorts every week to church.  Thank goodness because seriously I hate fighting so much about clothes.  (I'm even excited to have an infant that doesn't protest everything I pick out!)

This past Sunday they actually kind of matched so gosh darnit...after church I asked them to take a picture.  My little miss was VERY excited to take a picture.  Her brother?  Not so much.  In complete transparency....I told him I would give him a moon pie (I picked them up on my trip to Nashville) if he came over and took pictures with Maddie.

About 20 pictures later (I only could fit 10 into my collage!!)...

 ...I got a keeper for sure.

As for these two?  They are keepers for sure.  We had a great weekend...busy for sure...but one thing is for sure.  These two are developing quite the relationship and I'm loving watching every minute of them.  A brother and sister relationship is something that neither Jimmy or I had growing up...so it's just amazing to watch them interact and love each other so much.  Seriously they make my heart feel things I never thought possible. 

And boy oh boy...I cannot wait for them to add more to this mix!

Lawrence: crafts + food + family

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So, while this image is not all that true about how I feel - but ABSOLUTELY how my sweet husband feels.  He's in love with Lawrence, KU Jayhawks, and everything else that has to do with it.

Where we moved in KC, we are actually closer to Lawrence then we are to the Country Club Plaza....but we don't take advantage of the fun that Lawrence has to bring at all!! While I'm a KSU Wildcat at heart, Jimmy and I met in Lawrence so there will always be a soft spot in my heart for it.  

One of our family goals?  Take advantage of all the fun it has to offer!

So last Sunday?  We did just that.  We didn't have plans after naps and I knew that is usually when we all get at our wits end with each other (kids are sick of being in the house, we are sick of cleaning up after them and making them stop fighting), so I looked it up and Lawrence had a craft fair going on in South Park right off Mass Street.  Kids woke up - and off we went.

Charlie got to try out the headphones on the car ride there and loved them.  I am interested to see what happens when we turn Maddie's car seat around - I have a feeling once she starts talking and can verbalize her opinion that Charlie is in for a rude awakening because she likely won't be OK with watching ninja turtles nonstop.  

It was a fun little craft fair with lots of cool (and some very strange) stuff! I found an awesome necklace that I almost bought too!

The best thing we found?  HUGE bubbles!!

Oh my gosh - how fun were these.  We should have bought the sticks to keep, but then I feel like we would probably never use them, so we just had fun playing and stuck with that.

Charlie loved doing it by himself!

And this girl.  Just sits.  Unlike her brother, she's as happy as a clam in the stroller.  Thank goodness for everyone's sake!

As we walked around the whole craft fair, it was coming to an end and they had a fun band playing music in the gazebo in the middle of it.

Does it look familiar???  Haha.  #flashbackto2009

Oh yeah, this is where we got our engagement pictures taken.  Me with my black hair and all (long story).  But that's what I love about Lawrence so much. The memories we made there together are priceless and it's even more fun to take our kids there to the same places we walked before they were even thoughts in our minds.

PS that picture though - hahahhaahaa.

Anyways - back to the day.  It was great.  The kids were good (I was prepared with TONS of snacks) and there was not a crazy amount of fighting, whining, etc.  The weather was beautiful.  Beautiful.  

And it was just fun.  To be there with them.  Not thinking about work or other stresses.  But just be with the four of us.  My people.

Charlie was enjoying just aimlessly walking down the street.  It makes me realize how important it is to just LET them be from time to time.  Let them be kids.  They need it and I need the reminder every so often too.

We didn't have any big plans, which was even better.  And when the place we were planning on going to eat turned out to not be open on Sunday's (715 - but I'm kind of glad because it looks WAY too fancy for our tastes and too clean for our kids), we just changed the dinner location to a far more casual option: Pickleman's Sandwich shop.  Delicious. 

And I mean the company there?  Amazing.

Maddie and her raisin smile!!

Um - she just LOVES her dad.

No clue on her face!!

And Charlie?  Well this little man has turned into quite the lover lately.  Always telling us how he loves us and giving us hugs and kisses.  I cannot get enough.  So sweet of him!!

And what trip to Lawrence is complete without a stop at Sylas and Maddy's homemade ice cream parlor?  Not one that we make.

Seriously so good.  You must go.

However, Maddie wasn't so sure of the Cherry Limeade sherbet at first.

I mean - her expressions.  But Jimmy loved it!

And we LOVED the one scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough + fudge brownie.

Oh my.

Just what we needed.  A little family time to remember just what is most important.

And Lawrence, you are always so good to us.  A perfect way to end last weekend and a perfect reflection for me to get this next one started!!!

#reallife house tour

Here's the thing.  I have yet to do a house tour of our new house.  Mainly because I don't feel like it's "done" but also because it's so dang hard to have the whole house spotless AND remember to take photos.  Oh wait- the whole house is never ever clean.  

Another thing- I want my house to be pretty and put together with gorgeous wall arrangements and accent piece from Pinterest.  But who has time for that in real life?  Because in real life I barely have a second to myself to read a book or watch tv at night after the kids go to bed- or God forbid, hang out with my husband.  Working full time and having two kids while keeping up with cooking, cleaning, laundry and attempting to not disappear for the social world = daily struggle.

To be honest, after Maddie was born and I had to unexpectedly go back to work when she was 8 weeks old because my boss quit...we hired a cleaning lady.  And I loved her.  I loved it.  It was simply amazing - no lie.  I made sure to plan anything that we were having on the weekend where people came over the weekend AFTER the Friday they came.  Yep, come to my house and I'll pretend like it's always this clean. Ha! Sad but true!!

And then we decided we wanted to redo our backyard.  Like expensive stuff- ripping out and replacing our current huge retaining wall, new concrete stairs, replace our current (small) patio, extend it by pushing back the retaining wall and then add another new patio.  Also- level the top of our yard out to get a playset.  And I cannot even tell you how excited o am that they are starting work on it today after much discussion, planning (financial and logistical) and excitement!

But since we decided to do it all at once, that's not cheap.  So out goes the cleaning lady monthly expense and in comes the expense for the patio.  Not a fun decision, but that's life right.  And I'm soooo excited for the new space we can enjoy as a family and with our friends- so many fun times to come. 

But in the meantime, inside our house, there are days/moments/weeks that either Jimmy and I are walking around our house and we are like Aahhhhh so messy and just go on a cleaning spree.  This morning was one of them - well I mean it was me walking around our house going AHHHHH I cannot believe what a mess this place freaking is. It really hadn't occurred to me at all when I was working out, getting ready and getting the kids ready - but I ran back upstairs to get something in Maddie's room before I headed out the door to work and I was just like WTF is wrong with our house. 

Seriously.  Like I'm embarrassed and so happy no one is coming inside of it today.

And then I thought - you know what.  The truth of social media is that we only post the nice, clean stuff in our life.  Isn't that the truth?  For sure because I even mentioned the reason I haven't posted a tour of our new house because it's not "done" (hello - never going to be done...needs time - don't have - and lots of money - don't have that either...all thanks to having kids...that I wouldn't trade for the world, but you get the point, right) and it's never clean.  That's because of kids and life.  But as moms in real life (and not who only live in the social media/blogging world), I'm going to show you what my real life looked like today.

And it was a MESS.

But maybe you can relate?  Somewhat?

Or not...then you can just look at pictures of my dirty house and judge me.   Go ahead, judge away.  I have been crazy busy at work for the last two weeks, worked out every morning for the last two weeks and kept my children alive and fed.  In my world - I'm going to call this winning. 

And tomorrow I will clean up this MESS.  But for now, I'm just living in it and thankful for all the space we have and all the stuff we have.  Because sometimes, you have to just relax and LIVE.  Right?  Can I get an amen?  Ok, I'm going overboard now.  Sorry.

Onto the #reallife house tour as I'm calling it.

Laundry room: there is SO much laundry.  These suckers get used and used and used.  I've thought about putting a rug in here and something fun on the walls to make me like it more.  But yep, haven't got around to it.  Probably because of all the laundry to do.fold.repeat.  #mess

OMG my closet.  Are you kidding me?  I know.  What's funny about this messy space is that I actually didn't take all of those things out and throw them on the floor.  Sweet Maddie did.  Yep - when she decides to wake up early and I'm still working out, I swoop her up, bring her into my closet and she finishes my work out with me.  And takes everything out of my bra drawer.  THANKS!  This was literally spotless 2 days ago.

I feel like I clean this constantly.  Never clean.

Wait - laundry outside of the laundry room?  This has been sitting here for two days now.  Jimmy and I somehow both just walk past it on our way to the kid's rooms.  Hmmmmm......

So I have fun stuff to talk about in my dining room.  I do.  New stencil (OMG Jimmy rocked that), new rug, new fabric on my chairs.  However, this room was used as a fort a week ago.  I just took the fort down and now it looks like this.

The number of toys on this floor really isn't TOO horrible.

STUFF.EVERYWHERE in the kitchen.  Always.  This is what our mornings look like.  Packing everyone's stuff, bags, lunches, breakfast, snacks, bottles.  Oh my.

But then there are these two.  I'm thankful for them.  Which makes me in turn thankful for my messy house.  Because I'll take a messy house and a few days where we freak out and clean everything for their hugs, smiles and kisses any day of the week.

How's that for #reallife house tour?  Oh my. Embarrassing.  But true.

And loving every minute of this life.

Happy hump day!

A tour of ERs- this time in Wichita

We had a family road trip this past weekend to visit one of my best friends, Lauren, at her new house on Wichita.  It started out as any old weekend and we picked the kids up from school and headed south. The drive went great and Charlie told us when he had to potty and it was timed well for us to be able to stop!!  We got there and gave the kids a bath and put them to sleep and they surprisingly did ok- Maddie in the pack n play and Charlie got to sleep on the floor in his new sleeping bag Nana got him for Christmas (that he was SO excited about!).

We went to bed later and Maddie woke up, so I just pulled her in bed with us in an attempt to not let her cries wake Charlie up.   She was laying on my chest and at midnight she started moving around and then puked all over me.   And it smelled horrible.  Like nothing I've ever smelled in baby spit up.  Oh wait....that's because she got a bottle of someone else's formula on accident at daycare Friday afternoon.  She's never even had formula, but apparently sucked it down ok...but it didn't seem to settle well in her tummy. 

I changed and thought it was just a one time thing.  Oh nope.  She did it again two times before it was an acceptable time to get up (aka 5:30am)...and after the third time...the sheets and pillow were soaked too (the first two times she somehow just puked on me...).  So we got everyone up - of course Charlie had ended up in our bed too!

She was acting just fine. Laughing and crawling around, etc.  I was worried because she had not had any wet diapers since a little wet one after she threw up at midnight.  I fed her around 9:00 and prayed that she would keep it down and have a wet diaper.  I was outside playing with Charlie while she was inside chilling with everyone else.  Around 10:00 she was good!! No fever, no vomit but still no wet diaper.  I picked her up and it was almost an instant vomit all over me again. I mean I was out of clothes to wear at this point!!!  Poor girl.

I decided to call our pediatrician's office and see what they thought. When I told her she had not had a wet diaper or bowel movement since around midnight- she kind of freaked out and said we should bring her in now.  Ok- but we are 2.5 hours away. She recommended an immediate care clinic in wichita for us to go to - but said she needs to be seen in case of dehydration.  So I'm torn because I feel like she's feeling just fine, but the urgency in the nurse's voice made me nervous. I called the urgent care to make sure they saw babies and they said yes, so off we went...just as Katie, Barry, James and baby William got there from Oklahoma.  Talk about bad timing.

Twenty minutes later, we are checked in and waiting.  She gets her weight taken, temp taken, etc.  we go back into the exam room and she instantly falls asleep.   The doctor walks in, I talk to her for 5 seconds, she slightly takes Maddie's pacifier out and says - "Yep, she's dehydrated and needs an IV.  We don't give those to kids under 5 here so you need to go to the ER."  And then literally walked out of the room.  No exam, nothing else. Weirdest thing ever.  I even stopped by the check in to make sure we didn't need anything else.  

The hospital ER was next door, but I was just so frustrated.  I felt like she wasn't even examined and the last thing I wanted was for her to go to the ER again (I mean she's already been twice!!).  Part of me just wanted to hang out and see if she threw up or finally would have a wet diaper, but then the other part of me was thinking how I would never ever forgive myself if she really was dehydrated and I just ignored the doctor and then God forbid something worse happened to Maddie.  Mommy gut told me to just suck it up and block out the practical side (telling me it's to much $$, time, etc) and just take her in just in case.

So in we went.  Maddie's third time to the emergency room in just 8.5 months.  For real, sister??! Let's hope that record doesn't continue!!!

We got a room and she was happy as a lark.  No temperature, perfect oxygen levels- just hanging out in the ER.

The nurse was super nice and almost immediately the PA working came in and was fabulous.   She took a look at her and said, nope...she's not dehydrated.  I about LOST it.  I mean seriously?! Not that I wanted her to be at all- but what the heck since the last doctor said she was and said to get her immediately to the ER.  So frustrating!!!  They were very nice though, as we were still concerned because she still had not had a wet diaper or bowel movement since midnight.  She suggested that I feed her and see what happens next.  

So I fed her.  She fell asleep.  And I sat there.  My phone was barely working and running out of battery quick.  I was starving, had to pee and thirsty.  But I wasn't about to leave my sweet babe.  So I sucked up any selfish emotions and just sat with her. Let her sleep on me while the crazy ER world hustled around outside our curtain.

After and hour and a half of just sitting there and relishing in our closeness, I tried to wake her up to see if I could get her to pee.  Girlfriend didn't want to wake up- maybe it's because she didn't sleep he night before with all her puking!!

Finally she got up and we played with my empty water bottle.  Blew bubbles and practiced saying "mama".

Then mid-playing. She passed out like this. Haha. Poor thing was beat!!

The ER doctor finally came in and it was the first time we got to talk to him. He looked at her, also confirmed she was not dehydrated.  We discussed if her throwing up could have been due to the fact she was accidentally given a bottle of someone else's formula at day care (unlike Charlie who we did have to supplement him early on, Maddie has never had anything but breast milk...so quite a shock to her tummy.).  He said not likely but unsure.  Probably just a quick stomach bug.  He gave us a prescription for zofran to help with her nausea and that was it. Pretty anti-climatic for the time we spent there (and one expensive nap miss Madeline!).  However, the two hours I spent sitting there holding my baby and listening to everything else going on and others getting bad news about their loved ones- I kind of felt like all this happened to remind me to be constantly thankful for the health of my loved ones and especially my kiddos.  So while we left with no real ailment defined- it was good for us both.

Even though I did feel kind of stupid for taking her in.

And guess what? I had been checking and praying for a wet diaper the whole time we were sitting there and I checked one last time before we left and there it was!!!  Good timing Maddie!!

In the mean time, Charlie and James had a freaking blast playing on Lauren and David's amazing swing set!!  It turned out to be a gorgeous day too!!  When Maddie and I got back, we all headed to an amazing park just up be road from their house to play. Pretty much their future kids are set with all this fun around them!!!

After the park, James was about ready to meltdown since he didn't take a nap and Katie and Barry headed back to Oklahoma. I was pretty sad because I barely got to see them and didn't even hold baby William (because I was super worried about any germs that Maddie had spreading to him- at only 3 months old, that's a no no!).  So Katie- can we set up another get together please???

Lauren, Charlie and I went to the store while the boys entertained Maddie.  The Big 12 tournament games were on, but David was DVRIng them to watch after our kids were asleep in their amazing theater room!! We grilled and ate WAY TOO much food but it was so good.  

Luckily, Maddie didn't throw up anymore, but as we guessed, we were in for a long night.  So when she woke up at 5:30- we were ready to hit the road by 7:30. Mainly because we were like ruining their new house we felt like!!!  The drive back was easy and the kids did good- so that was so nice.

Highlights of the trip-

- of course getting to see Lauren and David and their new house! We miss them in KC but such an easy drive to visit!

- getting to see the Ruddick clan and meeting William in person- he's adorable!!!

- James and Charlie reuniting- they seriously love each other!

- Charlie being obsessed with Lauren and David's pantry and their step stil.  He pretty much owned David all weekend and demanded he lift him up so he could examine the food on the highest shelf.  Embarrassingly rude,  but hilarious

- of course...a third ER visit and puking baby was not a positive thing, but a highlight of the trip

- confirmation that a swing set is an amazing investment (getting one soon with our upcoming backyard redo!)

- getting zero sleep with all 4 of us in bed! Ha! I'm still catching up on sleep and I went to bed so early- these kids!!

Next visit I'm hoping for no sick kids, more beers on the amazing patio and more quality time with friends!!  Thanks for a great visit Hart's and hopefully you will have us back despite having to do like 4 loads of laundry!!!

Full transparency: 10 things

As I've "lived" in this blog land for 7 years now (I'm not sure how that is even possible that I have found 7 years of things to blog about - however, things have changed a LOT since then) and transformed from an engaged girl focused on planning a wedding to now more blogging about my kids, the folks who's blogs I read have changed and varied as well.  But here is one thing I feel like I've always tried to be - fully transparent.  Because this blog is the journey of my life and I want to look back on the good times AND the bad to remember all the moments.

So here are 5 things currently that I feel like you need to know that you will NOT find in my house:

1. Clean Floors - Nope they are not clean.  At all.  I mean I walk around barefoot a lot and am grossed out at my own house (you know it's bad).  But honestly - how the heck are you supposed to keep floors clean with 3 dogs tracking in mud, foot prints, grass, dog hair, etc. and then 2 kids - one of them that thinks it is funny to spit the food you make him on the floor (I might just smack him) and the other kid that has learned the concept of object permanence and likes to watch as she drops things (food) from her high chair onto the floor.  Just so you know, shoes and socks are not a requirement in our house, merely a strong recommendation if you don't want to be totally grossed out.  I keep telling myself that SOMEDAY my floors will be spotless, but that means my house will be empty, right?

2. Organized kids rooms - Let's get real here.  We are at work/school until at least 4:30, most days we roll in around 5PM.  By the time dinner is cooked and then cleaned up and we get some playtime/errand/something in...it's time for the mad dash called bed time.  Two kids to get bathed, one to pee and poop, another to nurse - sometimes toddler is hungry (hmmm - I wonder why, maybe he decided to not eat dinner!?!),  So you never ever know what you are going to find in their rooms.  Dirty diapers that have been sitting out for a few days (gross), books thrown all over, mix of dirty/clean clothes, random water bottles and even the occasional stale, half-eaten peanut butter sandwich.  Yes - that happened once - maybe twice.  At least our kid's rooms NEVER look like the pictures I post on the blog when they are first decorated - aka not lived in.

3. Put together and awesome home decor - For sure someone who is almost 30 that spent years decorating and DIY-ing her last home that has lived in their new home for almost 2 years now would have that long list of house projects complete and all the walls decorated and color schemes complete.  Ha - what a joke.  I seriously follow some Instagram accounts and just drool at their houses and how everything ties together and just long for that.  But other days, I'm happy with our crazy, messy house just the way it is.  Do I have a list?  YES - it's LONG. Do I have visions and ideas for each room?  ABSOLUTELY - that is long too.  But there is this little thing called time that is necessary to implement those plans, shop for those perfect pieces, build the furniture that I want to build.  And we have these little things called kids that are running around our house that pretty much take all of our time.  Like seriously - when do DIY bloggers find time to do this??  So lost on that one.  Especially the one with more kids and smaller kids than we have.  Oh - and then there is this little thing called money that is required to do all these wonderful plans.  Yeah - again we have these little things running around our house called kids that steal all of that too.  But I'm telling you, in like 5 years I might have that stencil that I bought on maternity leave with Maddie painted on the accent wall in the dining room.  But maybe not and I'd be ok with that too.

4. Organized laundry room - Pinterest and those pictures of such organized and gorgeous laundry rooms.  WHERE IS YOUR LAUNDRY?  I pin and pin and pin ideas on how to make mine "pretty" and "organized" and "bright" in hopes that maybe it will make me happier due to all the time I spend in there.  But nope - our laundry room will never look like that.  We literally do 1-2 loads of laundry a NIGHT people.  I never thought it would be like this either.  Never.  We were "we do laundry on Sunday" only people before we got married.  Now with work out clothes, work clothes, kids school clothes, kids that have multiple blow outs a day on their school clothes, kids that have potty training accidents in their clothes, kids that pee in their shoes and on their socks and on their blankets and on and on and on. LAUNDRY NEVER STOPS PEOPLE.  So nope, I need to get over the fact I will never have an organized laundry room.  At least for another 20 years.

5. A tidy house - this applies to random pictures that people take and post.  Where is all their STUFF?  Like where do people put all the stuff they use on a daily basis?  Like a lunch bag?  I throw that on top of the fridge every day - I mean not tidy or fancy, but I find it super inefficient to put it away in the pantry every afternoon just to get it right back out again.  What about like papers you reference everyday - where do those go?  I'm just amazed at how tidy people's houses are and then I wonder where all their stuff is and where I can just throw all mine? haha for reals.


But here are 5 things you will ALWAYS find in our house:

1. Dinner on the table every night.  My mom did this, Jimmy's mom did this and we do this.  We cook something every night and all sit down to eat dinner.  And we will do this as long as we can and we love it.  While it's not always possible with meetings, etc. and won't be once sports, activities, meetings, etc. start when our kids are older - we will take advantage of this time.  Already, Charlie has proved to be quite the dinner entertainment doing his silly walk up and down the bench and Maddie dangling her yum yums for the dogs.

2. Double bath fun.  This won't last forever - but for now we all gather in the kid's bathroom and enjoy some splashing and music.  Most of the time it ends in someone crying/screaming/peeing on something...but at least we tried and our kids are clean, right?

3. Parents who struggle daily with patience but love our kids uncontrollably.  Enough said.

4. Laughter.  While there is some toddler drama and infant tears, we have our fair share of belly laughs that come along with playing together, wrestling, playing with swords and princesses, etc.  I hope that never ever stops and I don't think it will.

5.  A kiss and a hug.  Every night.  Each night, after baths and Charlie and Maddie are in their pjs, Charlie cannot wait to run into Maddie's room and jump up on her chair to give her a kiss and hug and then give one of each to me too.  It's literally my favorite time of night.  Maddie is usually nursing and the lights are off in her room and he walks in with Jimmy and goes "GOT TO BE QUIET" but pretty much yells is and defeats the purpose, but it's still cute.

So there you have it - 10 things I feel like you needed to know - or that I needed to document in my life at this point in time.

It's ONLY Tuesday?

I have said that about four times today.

This week.

Kids up every hour on Sunday night.

One sick.  One getting her second tooth so she spent half the night in our bed.  

But still looked adorable sleeping (see below).

Sick kid throws up all over me as I'm walking out the door on Monday morning.

Text our bosses.  Mom will be late (change Charlie's clothes, take Maddie to school) and dad will be working from home with sick kid.

Sick kid loved working from home with dad (see below).

Kids did much better the next night (after SUPER early bedtime).  But mom went to bed at 8PM (sick with cough that sick child gave her) and dad stayed up watching his team lose to mom's team (AH!)

Sick kid wakes up saying his tummy feels better but now his ear still hurts.  GREAT!  Mom checks ears and tubes are doing their job...ear drainage is EVERYWHERE (make note to call doc today).

Teething kid slept better - but she was not having a good hair day (see below).

Nurse says to bring him in if his ear hurts.  Thank goodness for walk in hours after work.

Hurt ear kid swooped up from school.  Double ear infection confirmed and oral antibiotics prescribed (in addition to the drops we already had).

Still have to go to CostCo - so we have an impromptu dinner date of hot dogs and ice cream.

And it was FABULOUS.

Avoid the highway home because our way to the doctor there was a car on fire going westbound - so pretty much take the longest way home ever.  

Halfway into drive, sick kid proclaims he has to pee.  Great.

Make stop at Starbucks (closest thing) and run in and run out.  Yep, he peed.

Back in car for another 30 minutes until we finally get to drive through line at CVS.  At least he enjoyed and didn't spill his ice cream on the way home!

Home just in time to kiss sweet teething girl, nurse her and put her to bed.

Sick kid only wants mom, so mom reads him story and puts him to bed.

Then mom goes back to get his prescription.

FINALLY home and get to sit down for 10 minutes to type this before I pass out - three and a half hours after I left work what seems like a lifetime ago.

And then I sit down and think for 5 minutes about this week - and how it's only Tuesday...

...then I think about the person who's car was on fire (literally a HUGE fire on the highway - the whole car) that was still stopping traffic two and a half hours after we passed it on the way to the doctor and I remind myself - nope, this week has not been THAT bad.  I could have kids with terminal diseases versus minor colds/ear infections.  I could not have the means to provide food to my kids or a house.  And the list goes on and on.

Or I could have been that person who's car caught on fire in the middle of the highway.

So yeah - it's only Tuesday - but tomorrow is Wednesday and that's half way through the week - so I'll go ahead and take the glass half full approach and say it's all good.

What is your perspective these days?  

Hoping you can see the good in everyday too - even the really hard ones.

#isitspringyet

#parenthood

Five places...all at once

Last Thursday - Sunday...might have been some of the worst days...I have had in a LONG time.  Is that rather dramatic? Maybe.  But for real people- motherhood.  Sheesh. That's all I have to say.

I found myself sitting in the hearth room, just off my kitchen last Friday morning.  Jimmy had been out of town for work since Wednesday morning.  I was nursing Maddie while Charlie was eating breakfast and then at one moment's notice- I all of a sudden realized that I needed to literally be in five places at once.  Yes, five of them.  Not one or two, five.

(1) 

Maddie needed me to stay right there and keep nursing her, you know, for her nourishment and all...nbd

(2)

at the same time, my stomach was rumbling and telling me I needed to go to the bathroom...STAT.  Oh yeah, conveniently while Jimmy was out of town my right breast infection that had been hurting for about a week got bad and painful. Fever, aches, etc. I had gone to the doctor to the morning and she like  was "not serious, but let me give you this antibiotic to help fight off the infection".  She might as well handed me over 3 lbs of super spicy chili and said- "just eat it and see how if makes you feel".  Because that's how I felt every hour waking up and hanging out in the porcelain throne the night before.  In between my kids waking up screaming the other times. It was awesome.  Oh yeah and even after taking the antibiotic, the "chili" side effects happened until SUNDAY night. If you're good at math (or not) that's three full days.  You can close your mouth now.  Anyways,  this was mid that chaos (which has finally subsided- those were some strong pills- I just wish they would have beat my infection off versus just beating me), and I needed to be in the bathroom at that moment.

(3)  

Charlie just spilled yogurt ALL over his pants and ia screaming "MOM I need a napkin at the top of his lungs". He won't stop.  

(4) 

Toby is banging his bowl of empty food and Willy has knocked over the water bowl because it's empty.  Sweet life.  But seriously- anyone want 3 dogs- free to a good home.

(5) 

to be honest, I needed to be at work at that very moment as well.  I had more than a full days work to do and if all these other demands weren't surrounding me, it is likely have been at work at like 6:30.

But I sat on the couch. Cursing the dogs, telling Charlie to sit on his bottom and get a napkin himself, knowing that again, everything would not get done at work- but that it would likely have to spill into the next day and I would just have to prioritize. As for my bathroom issue, I was able to hold it and I sat there and continued to feed my baby girl.  

For a second, I really thought my head was going to explode.  Like how was it even possible that 3 years ago I was a newly pregnant adult with so few things relying on me (we still had the dogs...)??  It's crazy how fast life can change.b and sometimes how freaking annoying it is.  Like I just wanted to curl up in a ball, put on sweat pants and go back to bed.  

But then I took a deep breath, looked into my baby's eyes and realized something.  For as many times now I'm wishing little people (and big...) would stop needing me for 4.5 seconds so I can go to the bathroom, I will be wishing they were this little again years from now.  When they are teenagers, or away from home or even adults themselves.  I know try will still need me, just like I need my parents, but this absolute dependency just doesn't last very long and I think as I see how dang fast Charlie is growing up I'm realizing these childhood years just fly by.  

So instead of wishing I was in my sweat pants alone and sleeping in my bed, I charged ahead.  I knew that the next day would come.  Jimmy would eventually come home.  And someday I will sleep again (not anytime soon- but oddly, I'm ok with that).  I was wishing that my babes would stay needing me and barging into the bathroom on me and yelling my name at the top of their lungs the minute they wake up in the morning.  I hope they always give me that sweet look of love too.  Even as we all grow older- I don't Want that to change.

So to all you mamas out there- take a deep breath.  I wish I could tell you a solution to getting it all done by adding a limb (or two more!) or acquiring an assistant or cloning yourself.  But I can't. I can tell you that you are everything your kids need in that place at that time- even if you think you need to be 5 places at once.