Two Kids, 1 Mom and a field trip to the Doctor

I dread going to the doctor's office. I don't like going for me but when I have to take one of the kids because they're sick, well it's like a field trip. If one child is sick and the other is well then by the time we're home they're probably both sick with different illnesses and if they're both sick and I'm alone with them then we're probably creating our own side show.

Today it was me vs. them. I was wrestling and trying to corral my 2.5 year old and almost 1 year old while answering loads of questions for both the nurse and the doctor. But before we were called back a lady with her child and another lady exited, calmly, orderly and without a trail of toys, pacifiers or sippy cups in her wake. I assume it was the child's grandmother that accompanied them and was helping carry the diaper bag and loading and unloading.

Its times like that when I'm hit with a wall of emotions, missing my Mom, wishing we had family that lived nearby and could help, jealousy and then shame because I'm jealous.

I'm tough, lots of people over the years have called me a "survivor" but there are some days when you just don't want to be tough. Some days I want to be weak and have help, today is one of those days.

Fun with Step 2

One of things we're lacking at our house are good, quality outdoor toys. I love Step 2 and Little Tikes but we really need to clean out the yard and make room. But we could use our garage and that way the kids would be in the shade. I'm hoping to win the Step 2 Sand & Water Fun Farm so the kids will have something to play with. Check it out here : A Mom's Balancing Act or Step 2.

Groundhog Day

Do you ever feel like every day is Groundhog Day? You know the Bill Murray movie. where every day was the same until he got it right?

I'm beginning to feel like I live Groundhog Day everyday. I wake up, get the kids, change them, feed them, starts doing laundry, then clean up the mess made from eating breakfast, play with them, break up fights, check FB for adult conversation, more laundry, more dishes (didn't I just wash those?), time to fix lunch, play dates, naps, and repeat.

We do a wide range of activities from day to day, sometimes play dates with friends, shopping for groceries or running errands, swimming, etc. but almost every day feels like the day before. The dishes and laundry are NEVER completely done and the house always needs to be picked up. There are always diapers needing to be changed and kids that want to eat.

Does anyone else ever feel like they're living the same day over and over again?

What Did She Say?

Our little girl, MC aka monkey butt has gone from saying very little to talking up a storm. Of course this is great news but its also scary because I never know what she's going to say.

Yes, I know that what she hears will be repeated. Therefore, we're trying to censor our conversations and reduce our use of certain expletives. But that being said we don't really use a lot of curse words to begin with. I'm starting to realize though that we say certain things more often and we're not even aware of what we say.

Some of MC's new favorite expressions are: "Oh Dear!" (not something I ever say so I'm not sure where she got this one from), "I don't think so Mommy!", "Crap" (apparently I say this more than I realized), "Trust me", and "Are you sure?"

Today she hit me with a new one, HP was crawling around and had gas, MC says "HP made a fart!" He made what? NO I have not said this before. And so I was shocked but also trying to hide the fact that it was cute and funny, although mainly because we were home alone and because she used the word "made" as if he'd been in the workshop assembling it.

A few days ago we were looking for a can of soup in the pantry and one of our storage containers fell, as soon as it hit the floor MC says "CRAP". Because I'd almost said it myself but she'd just beat me to it, I wanted to laugh but also wanted to correct her but since I couldn't keep a straight face I just pretended like it didn't happen. Its tough being a parent, even harder being a good one.

Things I was never told

Some things don't mix well, like oil and water, beans and men, beer and liquor. Some things should never go together like fire and gasoline or corn and babies or children that still wear diapers. And apparently, among other things no one told me, garlic, spinach, raisins, blueberries and well I'm sure you probably know of some others. Now I guess, since I'd never changed a diaper in my life before my daughter that if I did know what happened when a child ate some of these things, well it probably would have been good birth control.

I'm looking forward to the day my children are potty trained...I'm not looking forward to potty training my children! I will say if you are super hungry and considering eating things that you shouldn't in order to lose weight, well just change one of these diapers I'm talking about and your appetite will diminish significantly.

Voice of Christmases Past

With the cooler/cold weather we're experiencing here in Houston I've been wearing one of my ski jackets to keep warm. It still has all of my lift tickets on it from our last ski trip in December of 2006.

That was a great trip. My boyfriend, now my husband, and I had been dating for a little over six months long distance. I was living in WI, he was in TX and we saw each otehr about every three to four weeks when I was in Dallas, San Antonio or Houston. Because of the distance we'd decided to take a trip for Christmas. I had to go to New Mexico on business the week after Christmas to close out a market but other than that I was off for two weeks. So we decided to make the trek out to New Mexico together and turn it into a ski vacation.

On Christmas day we were in Ruidoso, New Mexico riding the lifts up and plowing down the slopes as fast as we could go. During one of our breaks I called my best friend in SC to wish her and the kids a Merry Christmas. They had opened all of their gifts and were watching some TV while the kids played with their new toys. What did you get for Christmas I asked? "Just a few mixing bowls and kitchen utensils," she replied. Then she continued on about how when you're married and have kids life and the holidays are boring. All gifts become about what you need more than what you want...

Of course I sympathized and said well I'm sorry you're not having a more exciting Christmas. We're out here where its beautiful skiing, drinking warm cocktails, eating out and having a blast! JB had given me a new MP3 player and I'd given him some new clothes, we were both loving our time together and the holidays.

So now its three years later and I'm happily married and we have a 14 month old bundle of joy. Let's review, last Christmas I got a Dyson vacuum, mixing bowls, a trailer hitch cover and a DVD, pretty exciting huh? It was almost comical to see the look on our friend's faces when I told them my husband gave me a vacuum cleaner for Christmas. You could actually see the horror, the thoughts of impending doom on our relationship and the sympathy for me the recipient of an appliance! What they didn't know or realize is that I'd wanted that vacuum cleaner for forever and we'd discussed if it would be an acceptable Christmas present. But, looking from the outside in, I can understand the presumption that JB had made a terrible mistake.

This year I was talking about Christmas with a friend and what we were getting each other and she just nodded her head and said "That's the way it is when you're married and have kids." Wait, so is there an unwritten law or policy somewhere that states after you've said "I do" all presents must be practical rather than fun, perform some type of household duty or make a chore easier, or solely fall into the category of need rather than want?

My husband wanted to take another ski trip this year. He wanted to drive or fly to New Mexico or Colorado and spend a week on the slopes. Yes, it does sound like a lot of fun. But what would we do with our little one? How can we justify spending money n a vacation when he hasn't bought any new clothes for himself in two years? And we'd already splurged and purchased a new digital SLR as a family Christmas present so we could take better pictures of MC. Alright so maybe the writing is on the wall, we're married, have a kid and Christmas has become practical and boring.

Then there's MC and her Christmas. Again, as we go back two years, before we left for our ski trip we celebrated Christmas with JB's family. We were all sitting around my brother's house as our nieces unwrapped their Christmas presents. We watched as the youngest one ran around playing with her toy that she's brought with her completely oblivious as her mom opened all of her presents. And afterwards we watched as she played with the discarded paper and empty boxes showing zero interest in the new toys.

Later as we were driving home, JB and I laughed and said when we have a child we'll just get them wrapping paper and boxes for their first few Christmases and they'll have just as much fun as they would with new toys, if not more fun!

Now we're nine days from Christmas and the presents under the tree are overflowing. MC is getting a new chair that's her size, a wagon to ride around in, several new books, mega bloks, a push toy, some Disney movies, a stuffed animal and a few miscellaneous toys. And in the back of my head I hear ourselves saying, she'll just get paper and boxes, we'll she's getting lots of boxes and paper with all sorts of fun stuff inside. I have to kind of laugh as I'm hearing the voices of Christmases past and seeing all of the practical gifts we've purchased for each other and the toys for our little girl!