new adventures

Today I launched my group blog with 2 other stay at home moms.  Our blog is:

mommiesonmissions.wordpress.com

Our goal with this blog is to share our war stories, and to let other moms know that they are not alone in their adventures of motherhood!  I am really excited about this new adventure of ours!  I am starting to think that I may be addicted to blogging haha.  I have this one.. now mommiesonmissions... my photography blog (richellethorntonphotography.blogspot.com) as well as a private blog that I am just not ready to share with the world yet...

I guess when your a mommy of two little ones at home, there are much worse things to get addicted to than blogging!

hope

I just need to take a minute to document something that hasn't happened since little lady was born... a WHOLE day with no crying! (well from her anyway... little man had a few melt downs yesterday, as well as another bladder explosion on my sofa.. sigh)  And on top of no crying ALL day, I laid her down in her own bed for every nap, and bed time, without rocking, and she went to sleep on her own!!  I feel like we have made a breakthrough!  While, no, I am not expecting this to be the new "norm"... it did give me a small glimmer of hope for what is to come!

OOH EMMMM GEEEE

I really do not like to complain.. really.  I try to see the positives in everything, but my goodness, November 23rd, 2011, I am SO over you!!!  Today started with a massive mess on the sofa (see "two weeks notice")...Then it looked like MAYBE the day way turning around.. little lady went down for a nap without being rocked or held in her own bed (YAY).... then it ALL started to go down hill.. this is what my day looked like:
4:30 am- little lady woke up to eat (2 hours early)
5:30 am- little lady went back to sleep (YAY!)
8:00 am- little man woke up
9:00 am- little lady woke up
10:00am- little man pissed on sofa
10:30 am- little lady took a nap (yay!)
11:00 am- doorbell rings... "Ernie" from Animal control comes to door.. says there are complaints that our dog has been running around the  neighborhood unattended to.  Unless she can open doors in the middle of the night HERSELF.. no, she isn't.  My dog has NEVER been outside without either my husband or I, and ALWAYS stays in our yard.  So one of my crazy-ass neighbors is making stuff up (I could totally write a post just about the weirdness of my neighbors, but I'll save that for another day)
11:30 am- little lady wakes up from nap, in a seemingly good mood
12:00 pm- little lady has MASSIVE meltdown, tears, snot, the whole nine (We have been trying to switch her formula, because I think what she is on may be bothering her... but she HATES the new stuff.. we thought it might be helping, but the painful screaming leads me to believe we are back at square one)
12:30 pm- little lady takes a nap
1:00 pm- little man takes a nap
1:30 pm- mommy lays on the sofa to read and passes out
2:30 pm- mommy wakes up "shit! nothing got done during nap time"
3:00 pm- little man wakes up, with poop in his pants (UGH)
3:30 pm- little lady wakes up, HUNGRY and PISSED that she hates her new formula
4:30-pm- Mommy tried to cook dinner
4:45 pm- little lady has massive meltdown #2
5:15 pm- little lady is sleeping... little man is doing pee-pee dance.... refusing to go...

2 weeks notice

It is wednesday, and today is the second time in THIS week, that my (potty trained) 2 1/2 yr old has decided to piss all over my sofa.... not just like a little accident, but full blow just-didn't-feel-like-walking- ALL-the-way-to-the-potty pissed his pants.  If this were an actual paying job, that I had regular hours, and breaks (ahh remember breaks?).. today would be the day that I put in my two weeks notice...

But there are no "regular hours", there are no "breaks".. and there is certainly no quitting this job... Plus, if this were an actual paying job, my "boss" wouldn't be able to cuddle with me on the sofa, kiss my face and say "sorry mommy, i make you happy?"

While I will never wish that my children grow up too quickly... I certainly would not mind NOT being elbow deep in toddler piss before noon on a wednesday...

Fleeting moments

As I lay on my sofa, reading "the happiness project", both of my kids are sleeping. Taking a much needed nap, and both at the same time! I have spent much of this week researching parenting techniques, sleep training, and various other parenting issues. I have mommy blogged, facebooked and emailed friends what they have done with their children that has worked to obtain a night of sleep.. While yes,I would love to get a full nights sleep again, I have to stop and really take in what is happening, life. My kids will never be younger than they are today, they are constantly getting older, and before I know it they will be sleep deprived parents themselves. As I look at little lady sleeping peacefully in her swing, I am reminded that it seemed like just yesterday that little man was in that very swing. There is a quote in the book that says "days are long, but years are short", I find this statement to be so true. I have to stop myself from wishing the not-so-pleasant aspects of parenthood away, because the good far outweighs the bad, and before I know it, these fleeting moments will be distant memories of a peaceful sleeping newborn, and a high-energy toddler who has the whole world figured out.

Little Escape Artist

As I am laying in bed, unwinding from a stressful day (earlier today I wrote that my daughter was over her "night fussies".. Well guess what came back as I juggled my 2 yr old, the dog, and packing for our pending vacation)... I hear my little man banging away in his room. Then I hear his door open (little man has never been one to stay in bed, so we have a "childproof" door handle on his door. And a gate at the door) I get out of bed and go to his room, as soon as I get to get door I hear him sprinting back to his bed. When I walk in he is holding the "childproof" handle in his hands, saying "look mommy, it broke"...
How is it that I have never bought a child proof item that is actually child-proof? From the time little man was little baby, he could get through any baby proofing we put up. Locks on cabinets? He can take them off. Baby gates, he just climbs over. And now the handle protector??One time he actually took the pin out of the hinge of a door. My mom was watching him, walked into his room and he was just holding the 6 inch pin in his hands, smiled at her, and handed to her like some kind of peace offering....
Ooh the joys...

And then there were 2

WOW. It has been MONTHS since my last post!  Life since the arrival of my daughter has been hectic to say the least.  Reading back a few posts ago, I see how nervous I was, how would a new little one disrupt our lives?  Well, I can honestly say that our newest one has made a HUGE impact on our "schedule".  But I can also say with 100% certainty, that I wouldn't have it any other way :)  The love that I have for both of my children is completely overwhelming.  I remember thinking when I was pregnant that I did not know if I could love another baby as much as I love my son.  The answer is YES, 100 times YES.

My daughter, as much as I love her, is a whole different animal  than my son was at her age.  When we brought little man home from the hospital, he was a dream baby.  He rarely cried, if he did it was only to let us know he was hungry, wet, or tired.  He was sleeping through the night by the time he was 7 weeks old. (I know, you can hate me for it)  He was always so calm, and laid back, one of our good friends names him our "stoner baby" haha.  My husband and I thought this whole parenting thing was easy! (HA) Little man was so good that I found myself lying to other moms and telling them he was difficult just because I didn't want them to hate me haha.  When we decided to get pregnant again, we thought (stupidly) that because we are both calm laid back people, that we just make calm babies.  WRONG!    Little girl came out in a RUSH!  3 hours from first contraction, to the time she was laying on my belly, screaming her little lungs out.  Quite a difference from little man who took about 14 hours to make his appearance.  And she came out without a quiet, cute little baby cry, she had a full 6 month old baby piercing scream.  There is no "little fussies" with her.. she is either happy.. or she is PISSED!  We knew we were in for it when we had our first night in the hospital with her, and she was up every hour-2 hours to either eat or poop.  And the whole 1st month was a blur of eating and pooping. She ate every 2 hours.. and my god that little one shit a lot!  We went though 16-18 poop diapers a day at the height of it!  We had what the dr called "night time fussies" from weeks 4-12... I thought it could have been colic, but because she didn't quite hit the 3 hours a day mark, it was deemed "the fussies"...(something about the word "fussies" sounds quiet, and even cute.. there is nothing cute about a baby that screams non stop, without you being able to calm her down..)
Then at 12 weeks something happened.  The hours and hours of screaming stopped.  When she is pissed she still lets everyone in a mile radios know (I have NEVER head such a noise come from such a little person!) but for the most part I am able to calm her.  She NEEDS to be on a schedule, if she doesnt have the same routine every day, there is hell to pay.  Weekends she is usually a little grumpier because we dont have the calm quiet house that we have all week, and sometimes I have things to do so my husband is home with the two kids alone, and that  just pisses her off haha.
With all of that said, all of her quirks, screams, and shits (I am happy to say that we are now down to 1-2 poops a day!) I still love this little girl with all of my heart.  She has the biggest smile that lights up the whole room.  She adores her big brother, and at 13 weeks has such a hearty belly laugh that just melts away any stress in my life.
Even though I am sleep deprived (little lady isnt sleeping through the night yet, I guess thats what I get for having such a great sleeper the first time around, and for being so stupid to expect to get another one), and live off of Coffee, I absolutely adore my life as a stay at home mom.