Unspoken rules of the playground

My best friend and I were recently hanging out at the indoor playground at Memorial City Mall. In all honesty, this is one of the better indoor playgrounds because it is clean, monitored and totally gated off. So unless my kids are kidnapped and taken out screaming, they are decently safe. As we were sitting there, I noticed many of the parents breaking some of the"unspoken rules" that all parents naturally know and follow. In case you are living under a rock missed them, let me recap.

1. If your kid is walking around screaming and being generally annoying just for fun, stop them. I know kids scream sometimes, but we have all been around the kids who scream just to be loud and annoying. These are the kids that scream and then look around to see who they have annoyed. Interestingly enough, I get to deal with these kids when they grow up and hit middle school and let me tell you, it is just as annoying in a school hallway as a playground. So please try to take care of the issue now. K, thanks.

2. If your kid is walking around and hugging/hanging on random adults, deal with the situation. Hello...stranger danger anyone?

3. If you walk behind your kid handing them snacks every time they slow down for a second, stop it. We all know they can't eat in there. Don't take it a step further and follow them around feeding them. You know what happens when crumbs and chunks of food get stuck in the little crevices of a playground? Roaches. And rats.

4. If you watch your kid go tearing through the playground and then plow some little kid over, take care of it. This should be obvious.

5. If you intend to take your child to the playground and leave, don't. At one point, I walked out the gate to get something (my friend was still in there) and the guard actually had to stop me and ask "where are your kids? You know you can't leave them here alone right?" Uh....yes, I am fully aware that this is not a free babysitting service. Obviously there have been enough parents who didn't realize that because he felt the need to say it. Yikes.

And I promise that I observed every one of these on Monday. All of them. In one trip. Come on parents, get with the program please. If we work together here, we can all enjoy the indoor playground this summer while the outdoor playground rivals the surface of the sun.

A whole lot of nothing.

I apologize for my lack of posting this week. I could insert some sort of cliche blog line like, "I've been busy living life!" or "while I have been away, life has been happening!" but don't you guys already assume that just because I am not posting, my life hasn't stopped? That's what I figured.

Anyway, I don't have my computer cable for my camera and since I am living back in 1990 with my ghetto flip phone and don't use instagram or any other equally cool program, I have no pictures for you today :( So I will just do a quick update and promise to post later in the week.

1. School is finishing up nicely. And by nicely, I mean that I haven't gone crazy and my kids have not revolted. It's a win-win for everybody.

2. We took the boys to the zoo on Saturday for the first time. They loved it! Jonathan was a little skittish at first, but quickly warmed up to all the animals. His favorite was the baby elephant. And let's be honest, it was our favorite too. Seriously....can it get any more cute than a baby elephant?

3. I have come to realize that as much as I look forward to family and friends coming to visit so that we can hang out and catch up, I look forward to the extra set of hands even more. My sister-in-law, Katie, was here this week and man, did I put her to work! We ran errands, I cooked dinner, she helped with baths and bedtimes....it was awesome!! Is that what it feels like to have a live in nanny? How do I go about getting one of those?

4. We introduced Jonathan to his new potty today. I have to say it was a big success! He loves that it looks like a frog and even told me he wanted to go tee-tee in the toilet. First of all, where did he learn to say toilet? And second, since his vocabulary is clearly higher than mine, I guess I should stop saying "pee-pee in the potty" My boy is advanced.

And that's about it. I am pretty excited that tomorrow begins the last week of school. I am very ready to be home with my boys (and not have my alarm go off at 5:00am....) and I have lots of fun things planned thanks to Pinterest. Things that I will buy a bunch of crap for, set up and then roll my eyes as Jonathan chunks my awesome sensory tub across the room. You know, that kind of stuff :)

Getting the stink eye at the playground....

Tonight I met up with my good friend Laura and her two precious girls at the mall. We walked a little, ate dinner and then ended our play date at the little "playground" so that the kids could burn off some steam before bed. Everything was going really well and we were all having a fun time!

Then we hit the playground.

First of all, if you have ever been in a playground at the mall, there are like a zillion kids there. And the one at this particular mall is not monitored, so half of the kids in there are like 15 years old. Which sparks the question "why are pre-teens hanging out at the playground in the mall?" but whatever....So the older kids are playing (and I am wearing Matthew in the Baby Bjorn) and all of a sudden I look over at Jonathan and he is staring at his pants. And the pee coming out of his pants. And running down his leg. And puddling on the floor....in front of the zillion kids and parents at the playground. And of course he is cracking up. Now, this was all very confusing to me since Jonathan is still in diapers (don't roll your eyes, the kid is only 27 months old) and I was pretty confident that I remembered to put one on him before we left the house. As I am sitting there mentally considering the possibility that I could have, in fact, forgotten to put a diaper on the kid, I look over and see a Mom and Dad sitting next to Jonathan....and giving me the stink eye. Talk about Judgy McJudgersons. I swear I could read their minds..."Wow. Look at that Mom who can't control her kids. Let's see how she handles this one....rookie!" So I go to Jonathan and discover that his diaper had come un-velcroed and was actually not covering anything at all. In fact, it was inching it's way down the leg of his pants....imagine how awesome that would have been if my kid had been running around the place with a dirty diaper hanging out the leg of his pants. ANYWAY. I hand Matthew over to Laura (who was all calm and collected because she is cool like that) and change Jonathan's diaper right there in the middle of the playground. And of course I am getting the stink eye AGAIN for this. Once he is relatively clean, I use my last diaper wipe to scrub as much pee off the floor as I can. All the while The McJudgerson's are still staring. So we get past that crisis, I reattach Matthew to the Bjorn and life moves on. For 5 minutes. That's all it took before Matthew's diaper busted as well. All down his leg,  puddled in the bottom of the Bjorn....warmly soaking into the front of my shirt. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I just looked at Laura and said that was my cue to leave. Thankfully, I was able to hide this situation a little better and The McJudgerson's had diverted their stink eye to another unsuspecting Mom. Whew....dodged that bullet. And let the record state that these are the same parents whose kid was running around eating pretzel bites......guess they didn't see the huge sign that said "NO FOOD OR DRINK ALLOWED!" If I wasn't so busy cleaning up pee, I would have given them the freaking stink eye.

So it was an exciting evening. Both boys went straight into the bath when we got home (they just started bathing together.) Where they promptly peed on each other. No joke.

Things that get on my nerves....

Let me start by saying that I am not super irritated today or anything :) I was joking around with a friend yesterday about things that get on our nerves and she said that my list was ridiculous. I think they are pretty legit. What do you guys think?

• When people send me an email and only write in the subject line. Just in case you didn't see it, there is a huge open space directly below the subject line that is there for the specific reason of writing messages.
• People that sit in the right hand lane but don't turn right.
• When my students bring blankets to school instead of a jacket. Now, I know there are some different schools of thought about this....some people think I shouldn't care because they might not be able to afford a jacket. I guess I get that....but didn't they have to buy the blanket?
• When my lunch group at school switches up their seats. We don't technically have assigned seats (obviously, since we are adults and all...) but I have a specific spot that I like to eat everyday. I can see all my friends, I have ample room to spread out my lunch, no weirdos sit next to me....but every now and then, people try to jack with my spot. And I hate that. Leave me and my seat alone.
• Companies that don't allow online bill pay or even over the phone bill pay. Is the money I spent on my stamp really that important to you? You do realize you aren't earning any extra money from my stamp....right?
• When my bread is not really, really fresh and soft. There is a very small window for optimal sandwich bread. Like 3 days maybe. In fact, I would rather eat a banana past it's prime than a piece of sandwich bread.
• When I find something I really want online and actually go to buy it but then calculate that shipping is like a billion dollars. I am so, so cheap that for me to finally pull the trigger and put the item in my cart is a big deal. And then shipping has to get involved and bust up the fun.
• When I go to throw something away and there is no bag in the trash can. Of course, normally, I am the one who forgot to replace the bag, so I am really just getting on my own nerves...but still, annoying.

So what do you guys think? Are these that ridiculous? Anybody have something ridiculous that gets on their nerves? (not that I am admitting my own list is ridiculous or anything.....)

I Wish....

I wish that every store I shopped in played Christian music like HEB. It really makes me happy.

I wish that the stupid teenagers who speed down my street would slow the crap down. Can I install my own speed bumps? Maybe just a huge log? *sigh* I am so old.

I wish I could sleep this soundly. Better yet, I wish he would sleep this soundly all the time. (He really has been doing better lately though!)

I wish you would all go buy this book. Seriously, it is life changing. Like, for real.

I wish Mexican food was calorie free. Wait, back up...let's say I wish ALL food was calorie free.

I wish for my boys to always enjoy each others company.

I wish I knew enough Spanish to understand what my students are saying about me. I know they are talking trash, but I can't figure out exactly what they are saying so I have to fake it. And I am pretty sure I look like an idiot.

I wish they made these jammies for adults. They are so soft. And let's be honest, they make the person wearing them look pretty freaking cute.

I wish my Mom could move in so that I could have homemade cake and flowers waiting for me when I got home from work every day.

I wish that Zack could work normal people hours.

I wish I had a million dollars so that I could take my entire family on a vacation to the beach.

I wish I had time to cook amazing meals for my family every night. Or better yet, I wish I had a million dollars to pay for a personal chef.

I wish my poor little Jonathan could finally get over all of his ear infections, sinus infections, asthma, eczema and persistent coughs. I doubt he even knows what it feels like not to be sick.

I wish that 10 years from now, when my boys are nutty teenagers, that I always remember how fun and sweet and cuddly they were at this age.

What are you guys wishing for today?

Weekend Extravaganza!

After our week of total crazy, we had a wonderfully relaxing, encouraging, fun-filled weekend. My parents got here Friday night and we started our weekend with homemade pizza, ice cream and good TV watching. Saturday we celebrated my birthday with a trip to the mall (Jonathan loves riding the carousel and playing at the big castle!) and then my parents babysat while Zack and I went out on a date. They even took control of the baby monitors all night and let Zack and I sleep uninterrupted!! Sunday morning we lounged around, went for a walk and then headed to church to have sweet little Matthew dedicated. More on that to come later....Sunday afternoon we celebrated Mother's Day with a great lunch, yummy homemade cake and sweet cards and gifts. The entire weekend served as such a powerful reminder that we are truly, truly blessed.



Zack surprised me with a new laptop for my birthday! I have never had a brand new computer (mine have always been old hand-me-downs!) I can't wait to play on it!

 

We went on one last walk Sunday evening and it proved to be just a little too much for Baby Boy. To be honest, I think we were all wiped out by the end of our fun weekend!

Must. Stay. Positive.

It has been a long, tough week. We are all sick and sleep deprived. Our only saving grace is that my Mom, sensing my need for help before even I did, offered to come hang out with us for a few days before my birthday. Seriously, I don't know what I would do without her. So, it was no surprise that when I sat down to write a post this morning, nothing but whiny dribble came out. But then I remembered that just hours earlier (3:30 am to be exact...) I prayed that God would change my heart today and allow me to focus on the good things going on, not the bad. I have been praying all week that Matthew would PLEASE sleep well, that Jonathan would behave, that I would feel better etc...but this morning, as I was cuddling Mr. Matthew, I realized that I don't really have anything to be so cranky about. Sure I am tired but millions of mothers have survived sleep deprivation. And Jonathan is being a little pickle right now, but again, millions of mothers have been there, done that. And even though Zack's work hours are still ridiculous, at least he comes home at night. So, instead of the dribble I wrote originally, I want to share some highlights from this week....believe me, there have been lots :)

Matthew has finally started rolling over! He can go front to back and back to front and always seems pretty proud of himself after he does it.

Anytime Matthew is laying down, sitting up, in my lap or even getting his diaper changed, Jonathan wants to be next to him. I just can't get enough of them wanting to be with each other. I guess this is why people have lots of kids...it is pretty fun to watch your kids love on each other. (side note....Jonathan has since had a haircut....please excuse that hot mess.)

Matthew ate rice cereal for the first time the other day. At first he was a little unsure, but after a few bites, he seemed to get more interested! I am pretty excited to start real foods with him in the coming weeks. Jonathan was a great eater as a baby, so I hope Matthew follows his lead! Now that Jonathan is older however....totally different story.

And finally, Jonathan ate his first bowl of  "cereals" with milk. He felt pretty important getting to eat it himself! Call me crazy, but the idea of giving him a bowl full of milk and a spoon has always seemed a little nuts to me, but he did great!

So there you have it. Even in the midst of crazy, there are still good, fun things going on. I just have to remember that and consciously make an effort to focus on them.  My Dad is coming to town tomorrow and this weekend we are celebrating my birthday, Mother's Day and Matthew's baby dedication at church! So I should have no trouble finding fun, joyful things to focus on for the next few days :)

Questions for my Supermommy friends

I need help ya'll. Serious help. (And I better not hear any of you mutter "yeah, we know" under your breath when you read that....) My boys are pretty stinkin' awesome and life is going pretty smoothly for the most part, but there are a few areas in which I could use your advice. At this point, any advice is welcome....unless it is along the lines of "How is this for advice... just shut up and stop blogging about your issues!!"

 

1. Is there a direct vent/line from the shower to the nursery? At least 2 times a week, Matthew will be sleeping soundly in his crib and then the second I turn the shower on in our bathroom, he wakes up. And what is weird is that the same thing used to happen to Jonathan. Zack would get up and start getting ready for work and almost instantly, Jonathan would start squeaking! I seriously considered that maybe a vent was connected somewhere and they could hear it, but they never hear anything else from our bathroom. The hairdryer, Zack's electric razor, when I vacuum the rug....we have even used the blender in their before and still, they slept on. So what am I supposed to do? Never shower again?

2. Speaking of sleep, Matthew hates sleeping Saturday-Monday nights. It is the weirdest thing. During the week, he sleeps awesome. I put him down at 8:00 and he wakes up around 6:15-6:30. Absolutely no complaints here! But Saturday-Monday, he is up all. night. long. I thought it was because he likes his weekday routine and when he gets off (on the weekend) it throws his night schedule off as well. So this weekend I did my very best to hold firm to his regular routine. Good naps, lots of bottles, good cuddles etc....and nothing. Last night he was up at 12:45, 2:25, 3:30 (I fed him 5 ounces at 3:30), 5:20 (when I turned on the shower of course) and up for good at 6:15. How can a kid who I KNOW can sleep all night, go from that to up every 2 hours?! He is 16 pounds, 4 months old, doesn't want to eat but MAYBE once a night.....what gives?!

3. And in regards to eating....It has been a constant battle to get Matthew to eat. He is formula fed and I think he hates the bottle. He wiggles his head, cries, fights, acts as if he is never hungry, basically just makes it a huge ordeal. I can't just sit and hold him when he eats either. I have to lay him flat on his play mat, walk around the house, lay him on his changing table so he can watch his mobile, stop feeding him for 10 minutes and try again. It is so frustrating! Now, at bedtime and if I feed him in the middle of the night, he is awesome. He will down his bottle in like 12 minutes and fall right back to sleep. But during the day...oh man. I have tried new formula, new bottles, we raised his dose of reflux medication (and I don't think this is the issue since he tends to eat better flat on his back) and tried spacing his meals out. Nothing has helped. Has this happened to anybody else? Anything you guys can suggest that worked for you?

4. And last but not least....Jonathan refuses to keep his drawers on. Luckily he hasn't learned how to take his diaper off, but man, that kid hates his pants. He will  be playing in the front yard and all of a sudden I look over and his pants are off. Playing in the house? Of course the pants are off. He even tried once in the Wal Mart grocery cart. Options? Ideas? Most of his little shorts don't have belt loops, so a belt wouldn't work. And he is so skinny that they are already as tight as I can make them! And just for proof....

So there you go....any help would be appreciated. I know there has to be somebody, somewhere who has dealt with at least one of these issues! Help!

Things I Love This Week!

A pretty random collection this week :)

1. Let's start with the most important stuff. I found this blog post yesterday through a link on a friend's page. I love what this group is doing. Basically, they are collecting and distributing clean birthing kits in developing nations. These kits include the necessary tools to create a clean, hygienic environment for women to give birth, thus keeping moms and babies as healthy as possible. According to her website, "In rural Papua New Guinea 1 in 7 women die in childbirth." As a mom who had two successful, healthy deliveries, this statistic is heartbreaking. So for just $10, you can provide 5 clean birth kits for women in developing nations. Sounds like a good deal to me. You can find the information on how to donate on her page. Please consider it!

2. I stumbled across this blog the other day as well. I literally sat here reading it with tears streaming down my face. Not only tears for the loss of a sweet, little baby girl, but tears of appreciation. I love that this family accepted the life God had planned for their little girl and embraced it. They didn't stay holed up in their house, wallowing in depression over the diagnosis handed down to them. Instead, they allowed that baby girl to live life to it's fullest. At just 5 months old, little Avery had accomplished many things on her "bucket list." Small things that we take for granted were fun, enjoyable memories for this family. I appreciate that there are families like this one out there. It reminds me that even in the midst of chaos, pain, and craziness, there are millions of ways to enjoy life as long as we are in the right state of mind.

And now, for the less heavy things....

3. Matthew and Jonathan are continuing to figure each other out and it is so much fun to watch! This morning, Matthew was super close to rolling over and I was cheering him on. Jonathan thought this was hilarious and started cheering him on too! He started yelling "Matthew funny!!" and when Matthew heard Jonathan encouraging him, I swear his smile got just a little bit bigger and he got a little closer to rolling over. Only 4 months old and already he wants to make his big brother proud!

4. Ever since I found out I was pregnant with Matthew, my sweet tooth has been totally ridiculous. I thought that maybe it would get better after he was born, but I am pretty sure it has only gotten worse. Seriously, all I ever want to eat are cookies. I would happily skip dinner if it meant eating extra cookies for dessert. And not just any cookies, I want good, soft homemade cookies. With icing. And if those aren't available, I will buy sugar cookies at the store and ice them myself. So that's what I did this week. I bought a whole box of sugar cookies from the bakery and a container of rainbow chip icing (because really, is there any point to any other flavor?! They all fall short of the rainbow chip) and have been having one every night for dessert. As long as I only eat one or two a day, that's acceptable....right?

5. Lately, it has been a battle to take the boys anywhere in the car. Matthew HATES the car and Jonathan LOVES the car. I can't win. Somebody is always yelling at me. Jonathan seriously loves driving around. If we get close to the freeway but I turn before actually getting on, he freaks out and yells "freewaaaaay!!" for the rest of the trip. He loves looking around at the other cars and buildings, announcing every color of car and truck he sees, and if we see balloons (think car dealership) that is just the feather in his cap. In contrast, Matthew screams bloody murder the second the car stops. Anyway, yesterday I had an errand to run that would require some driving, but luckily it was mostly on the highway. So Matthew fell asleep (and stayed asleep since there were no stops) and Jonathan was in hog heaven. The highlight of the trip was when we drove over the big overpass at I-10 and HWY 99.....he yelled "Weeeeee!!! Wow!" the whole time. I swear it made his whole day. So today, I love that my little guy is so easily pleased :)

That's it for this week friends! Hopefully you have lots of things going on this week that you love too!

Sometimes you just have to laugh....

Remember this post where I discussed that sometimes God has to remind me that I am not in control, He is? Well apparently I haven't learned my lesson yet.

Let me preface this by saying I am not really complaining about what has happened this morning....I am beyond that. Now I just have to laugh about it. So really it all started last night when I was at the grocery store. I am taking dinner to a sweet friend tonight who just had a baby, so I had to go to the store after I picked the boys up to get supplies. Well Matthew wasn't too cool with that plan and straight up melted down in the middle of the store. I'm talking a full blown screaming, sweat pouring down his face, little fists shaking, melt down. And as a side note...has anybody noticed that the stupid grocery carts at HEB do not have enough room for a infant seat AND a toddler?! What the crap is that all about? So Matthew is sitting in his seat freaking out and poor Jonathan has to stand up next to him. It was an all around super great party. And to make it even more fun, some lady stops me and says "You need to pick him up...." Oh no she didn't just call me out on my parenting!!! Don't people know not to mess with a poor mom who is obviously in the middle of a situation? Oh and I forgot to add that out of the 3 prescriptions I was waiting on, the stupid HEB pharmacy had NONE of them in stock. Not one. So I get to go back this afternoon.....yay.

Fast forward to this morning....Matthew woke up at 2:50, 4:20, 5:40, and 6:10. I mean, that stinks as it is, but when you are trying to get ready for work and your sweet little cherub keeps waking up, that is no good. So I finally get ready, Matthew and Jonathan both wake up for good and the situation is finally under control. At 6:40 (a little late already) I pick up 2 diaper bags, my school bag and Matthew in his car seat and head for the door. Right then, I hear the sound that brings chills to every mother in the world....that gross, gagging cough that implies something more than a cough is about to come out of your kid's mouth. I look at Jonathan just as he barfs all over the floor, his shoes, his clothes and then he starts crying. So my arms are full, Matthew is screaming (because let's face it, my poor kid will NEVER like his carseat) and Jonathan is crying and covered in barf. Quickly, I change his clothes and shoes, give him a spit bath with the good smelling soap (you know...basically a cologne bath...) and we hurry into the car. Now before you point your judgey fingers for sending him to school, let me clarify that it wasn't sick throw up, just the kind that happens when they drink a whole sippy cup of milk and then run circles around the house. He basically just choked.

And then the icing on the cake....I go to open the door to get Jonathan out of the car and stick my hand in a huge pile of bird poop. Seriously. It was super, super disgusting. And this coming from the girl who just cleaned up a gallon of barf up off her floor and child.

After all this, as I was driving to school and literally laughing out loud about the chaos that is my life....this song came to my head. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, here is the chorus...

"Sounds like life to me, it ain’t no fantasy
It’s just a common case of everyday reality.
Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
But it sounds like life to me"

Yep...that sounds about right :)