It Was All I Could Do Not To Scream

I wrote this post a few days ago.  I will start by saying, I am SOOO glad hubby is home from Florida.

These two cuties missed their daddy and they let me know it.  Usually when the hubby is out of town I plan a few activities outside of the house to take their mind off of daddy not being home.  I did the same thing this week.  Let me tell you about our outings.

{Night 1}

Went very smoothly.  Hubby left early this morning.  The girls and I went to church.  A pretty typical Sunday.  In the evening an old friend came over.  She and I rarely see one another so this was a real treat.  We sat out on the porch catching up while the girls showed off for her. Most of the time I think it is adorable when the kids have a new audience.  It was also strange that LD (4) even went near my friend.  LD does not like strangers.  But boy she showed off this night!

{Night 2}

The moment I walked into the babysitters I could tell AL (1) was not going to be nice.  She was already screeching at me and running around like a maniac and climbing all over her sister making her sister scream.  LD (4) had an accident at nap time and our sitter was washing her blanket, so we had to wait for the washer to finish.  Longest 15 minutes of my life!!

With AL still being a maniac once we got home I decided to take the girls to the pool.  We have not been in a little while and AL (1) has not been sleeping well so I thought this plan would work two-fold.  I have to say by the time I got the girls and myself dressed and packed for the gym, I was ready to be back home.  I was exhausted.

We get to the pool and there were no family rooms available, so we undress in the hall of lockers - a very public walkway to the pool.  Not that big of a deal because we all had our suits on.  However once it was my turn AL did not want to stay still and kept running off.  Let me tell you how much I love running around in my swimsuit.

Finally to the pool, not 1 minute in and LD has to go potty.  I have to get both kids out of the water and walk soaking wet to the bathrooms.  We get back in the pool and LD is clinging to me like a cat in water.  This is difficult to handle when you are trying to help a 1 year old swim.  They both had vests on but LD is not a trusting/relaxed kid.  She finally lets go a little and I realize she is hanging onto one of the strings of AL's lifejacket.  Sound safe?  We finally get comfortable in the pool and the life gaurds make everyone get out.  Now comes the funnest part - getting everyone dressed.

{Night 3}

I decided to take the girls to the mall.  I did not bring the stroller in because I thought AL could run around the mall and tire herself out.  Bad idea once we were getting food.  She was throwing the biggest fit while I was holding her, I did not think we would make it to the table with our food.  Once we begin eating I realize AL is not going to eat anything because she starts pounding all of her food with her hands.  Her only interest was her juice box.  She was doing fine with her juice box until she started to get restless and decided to squeeze the box.  The straw circled around like an ocsilating sprinkler.  So I cleaned up and moved to the next task.  The playground. 

We get to the escalator and all of a sudden LD starts screaming like I am stealing her.  People are staring at this point and I am at the end of my rope.  She does not want to go down the escalator she is suddenly scared.  I try to reason with her that this is the only way to the playground.  She is having non of it.  She is screaming so loud I begin to just walk off towards the car.  Of course this really makes her scream. To top the situation off a man comes over and just decides to watch - NO JOKE!  So of course I am extra embarrassed and I start rambeling about the situation and he says, "well I woul dhelp if I could."  How about just going away?  I am sure he thought I was beating LD by the way she was screaming. 

So let's skip to the end of my story because this goes on for awhile.  Know how do I get down the escalator?  By carrying the 1 year old and the 4 year old.  Did I mention the 4 year old is scared and I am wearing a skirt with a very loose elastic waist band?  So LD is wrapped around me - arms and legs - and her shoes are pulling down my skirt - on a glass elevator.  Oh and because of all of the wresteling I had been doing with AL my tank top was completly stretched out and hanging very low.  Yes ladies - I was looking pretty awesome at that moment.  Hubby is lucky some guy didn't just snatch me right up. 

Now that I have written this out part of me feels much better, the other part of me wants to sit in the corner and rock back and forth.

Truly when I have experiences like these as a mom it is very upsetting and here is why; I am embarrased and I feel like I am not in control.  When the moment is over I can reason with myself.  I know almost everyone has these moments, and as badly as I wanted to just start screaming and yelling, I was able to control myself.  We did make it out of the mall alive, which felt nothing short of a miracle. 

Hubby is home and things are getting back to normal.  Unfortunatley he leaves again Sunday, for 2 days longer this time.  Wish me luck!

Chomp!

I noticed this morning when I brush this babies teeth, it is like a tactical mission.  I only have a very short moment to get the toothbrush in her mouth and get a few teeth cleaned before she realizes there is toothpaste on the brush.  Once she realizes there is toothpaste it is all over.  She chomps down on the toothbrush with her alligator jaws, making it impossible to even wiggle the toothbrush.  I have to wait until she is satisfied that she has sucked all of the toothpaste off the brush and than she will release her jaw and let me finish brushing her 7 teeth.  A lot of work to ensure the sustainability of 7 teeth!  HA!

This baby is a TURKEY!!

Miscellany Monday

                                                         

Okay every other Monday I have felt serene and ready for the week.  This Monday you ask?  Not so much.  I could have just stayed home!

{first}

I am totally loving being a matchmaker for my little brother! 

{second}

Hubby is in Florida, and I already miss him.  LD misses him more.

{third}

I was a terrible blogger last week and I am going to work at getting back to business this week.

{fourth}

I have been many things in my life, to include a software tester for web based applications and other types of software.  Google/Blogger is about to get a list of bugs from me.  Like why does the word verification not show when you initially land on the page?  You have to press submit to essentially refresh and than it gives you the verification - SO ANNOYING!!!!  I have others but this is currently the biggest thorn.  So Google - if you would like to hire me as a contract tester, let me know.  Will send references. ;)

{fifth}

To add to my many things list I am currently editing my friend/ex-boss' book.  I am pretty excited to add this to my resume!  I am also pretty nervous about the experience.

{sixth}

My husband did an ugly amount of laundry on Saturday in an impressive amount of time!  Yay hubby!!  I usually get 1 load going with big ambitions and completley forget I even started laundry until a few days later.

{seventh}

Something in my personal life I am going to try to be very aware of this week (and going forward) is being more aware of portion sizes, gossiping and spending......gonna be a busy week. ;)

{eigth}
Have you ever noticed that milk that sat out and got warm taste different from milk that was warmed?

I hope everyone has a splendid week!  Thank you Clarissa for being a wonderful host, once again!

I Discovered the Solution

I am a very social person.  I LOVE to go out and socialize and meet new people.  Since we have had kids most of that has stopped.  There is just never anytime.  Even when there is time there are two other factors 1) my hubby and I usually want to spend the time together, alone 2) the cost of a babysitter, plus a movie, plus dinner, it just get's out of control!

So what is someone like me to do?  I feel guilty leaving hubby at home so I can go do things, but I really feel that need to be out doing something and having friends.  As a 30-something mother I find my friends are either married with kids and careers or married and no kids and still going out.  The first group is just as busy as we are and also have trouble getting out.  The second group have a group of friends and are usually going out-out.    We have tried to get together with some friends and just do game night, but it just never seems to happen.

As you can probably tell I have put a lot of thought into this situation.  Well folks I have come up with a solution - Lunches!!  Today I met one of my faves for lunch.  We never see eachother and it is just a relintless guilt trip that I am too busy for her. ;)  Really we are just too busy for each other.  It was so good to catch up and to hear her vacation story.  As well as catching up on our favorite topic, The Housewives.  So fun.

This my friends is my solution.  I will be planning more lunch dates.  The beauty of it?  Daycare is already paid for and lunch menus are cheaper! 

What things in your life have changed since you got married or had kids?  And how have you adapted?

Miscellany Monday

Here we are again, another Monday.  This Monday has been pretty awesome and now topped off with one of my favorite things, Miscellany, thanks to Carissa!

{first}

NO doctors trips for this family this week.  Thank goodness considering I don't think any where open.

{second}

AM, 14 year old is in SoCal for the next two week, so far she has been to Knotts Berry Farms, parasailing and zip lining.  I have not done either of the last two.  How fun would it be to do both of those things?

{third}

Tonight I am going to sit down and set some serious goals for my week.  The weeks keep slipping away from me and I have so much to do - ALWAYS!

{fourth}

Still working on this mental block I have with working out.  I just am not getting to the gym like I used to - and I can tell.  Blech.

{fifth}

LD, 4 year old, informed us she is not a baby she is a grown up.  I am not sure what to say to that.  She is always talking about when she is my age she is going to do things I do.  Yikes, slow it down, please!

{sixth} 

This summer has been pretty great, and this weekend was awesome!!  We got a few things down around the house and also squeezed in lots of vegging time to watch a whole season of Bones, I really like that show.

{seventh}

I bought the book, The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks back in October at an airport and I just finished the book today.  I believe in between the time I bought the book and the time I finished it I have read at least ten other books.  I just could not get into it.  When I did get into it, the book had a less than desirable ending.  I am all for the Hollywood endings in most cases, this was one of them.

{eigth}

Two things you should know about me; my two greatest senses are my sense of smell and my sense of touch.  La can vouch for the touch one, as can anyone whom has shopped with me.

{ninth}

LD said her first competitive prayer this weekend, "please God let me win, i really need to win".  Hearing this I thought maybe she was in the NBA finals, but she was just playing Dora on the computer.

Well here is to a fabulous week!  Let's get it started, so we can get it finished!  What goals have you set this week?

It's The Dad Life

First I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of you that participated in the Blogging Moment of Silence For Cohen!!  All 678 of you I should say, what an amazing turnout!

I thought I would share this video with you all, everytime I watch it I fall out laughing.  it is so dang funny - and oddly accurate!!  Even my 14 year old thought it was awesome.  I am sure those are not her terms but when you grow up in the 80's/90's in California, Awesome is a way of life...and a way to describe most things.

I had a hard time getting the image to fit the screen so if you have issues go here.  Trust me you will not regret the extra step!!

Weekend Recap

WOW - What a weekend!!  We had a GREAT weekend!  An AMAZING weekend even!!  Seriously we needed it.  Our Saturday started off with finding a Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family!!  Yah!!

Credit

We love Harry Potter at our house!  We don't have any memorbilia or anything but we do have one or two of the xBox games.  When Hubby and I first started dating we saw the second Harry Potter and we used to sit around with AM playing Harry Potter on xBox we finished one or two of the games.  It was a lot of fun, so Harry Potter has a lot of nastalgia for us.  This was the first time LD has seen Harry Potter.  I would have thought it would too scary for her but our neighbor told me it is her daughters favorite movie.  Her daughter is six (6) months older than LD.  They also came to LD's birthday and one of the gifts they gave her was Candy Land.  So while watching HP we laid on the floor and played Candy Land with LD.

Credit

When you look at the package you can see it is for ages 3+ but I honestly would have never thought to buy it for her.  We had a great time playing.  I will be on the lookout for other age appropriate family board games.  We pretty much lazed around the rest of Saturday.

On Sunday we went to the early service and after service hubby took LD on a winter walk, I went to youth group, AM went to her youth group and AL stayed in the nursery.  LD saw this winter walk on Nick Jr.  A daddy took his daughter on a winter walk and found sticks and pine cones and other natural things and she has talked about it all winter long.  So hubby announced Sunday morning that this would probably be the last chance he had to take LD on her winter walk.  He took her to Helen Hunt Falls a gorgeous park in Cheyenne Canyon.  One of the great aspects of living in Colorado Springs - all of the wilderness/nature.  Here are some of the photos he took with his phone.

Once LD and hubby came back AM and I left and went down to Manitou to eat at the Mate Factor. 

We have to drive by Garden of the Gods to get there.

 So we stopped to take some pictures.  Manitou is a cute little town nestled into the base of Pikes Peak.  The mountain behind the Garden of the Gods in the picture.  The Mate Factor is a cafe run by The Twelve Tribes.  If you are interested you should read a little more about them.  The items they seel in their cafes are natural and raised on their farms, sourced naturally or they bake them fresh (even the breads and chips).  They do not have a huge menu but everything is delicious!!  I had the tuna melt and a peach mate and AM had the turkey sandwich with an apple juice.  Here is the website with the cafe locations.  My father in-law attended college with one of the elders and we were invited to his daughters wedding.  It was very interesting and fun.  Very family oriented which was nice to see.  Tomorrow I will try to post some of the great photo's AM and I took while out.  Something is not right with my computer so I can't get anything to load or resize.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Victoria's Secret Catalog and Chips with DIp

Yes folks when I say things have been bad around my house - things have been bad. So bad in fact that I am "slowly" approaching my baby weight - with no baby. My husband sweetly took the chips away from me tonight and I realized what I was doing - TORTURING myself, with Chips and dip and flipping through a Victoria's Secret catalog. It was at that moment I realized that when things get bad I really like to see how bad it can get. Well lots of pounds later a broken heart and well maybe this is as bad as it gets.

Sorry to be Debby Downer but I just needed to express some of what I am going through. Sorry about my inconsistent and random posts and lack of comments on some of my favorite blogs.

Oh not sure I need to mention this but South Beach is not going so well.  Time to pick myself up and get back to business.  I will leave you with this, my favorite quote of all times.  It is a great reminder.

“Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow”.
Mary Anne Radmacher

So tomorrow I will get up and try again.

What Matters Most?

I am currently reading a book called, "What Matters Most". In short it is about being the best you. A little more detail is, the book goes through exercises to help the reader pare down what truly matters most to them and living a life based on their beliefs. I have read the book before, a long time ago but my life is radically different from that time. I decided to reread the book because of how disorganized I am feeling and how many mixed emotions I have.

So what matters most to you? How does your list of what matters most reflect in your daily priorities/activities list? Do you feel you are living your life through your beliefs?