New Mom Registry Woes

I love looking at the gift registries of new moms. Sometimes they are absolutely freaking hilarious! Don't worry, I'm not passing judgement, I was a new mom once, too. I'm sure if the veteran, seasoned mom that I am now was able to travel back in time and take a peek at my old registry (as if, if I could time travel I wouldn't waste it to do something so lame, maybe to be that new mom again, but reviewing my registry -no) I would probably get a few laughs at myself as well. I looked up the registry of a friend today, she's expecting her first baby this summer. Here are a few standouts- 40 pairs of socks, 32 of them white, all sized 0-6 months!! Holy Batman, you will lose a few socks, but not nearly that many! An 8-pack of white is all you need, if you're adventurous you can add an 8-pack of colored socks, too. 5 packs of 152 sized-1 diapers! I will admit, this is much better than registering for umpteen newborn diapers, which always makes me cringe. My firstborn skipped the newborn size all together, and was out of size 1 at about a month and a half. At least diapers are easy to exchange for another size. A complete coordinating layette, you know, onesies, pants, shorts, little shirts, mittens, hats, and, yes, more socks (I didn't count these socks in the original 40 pair), that comes in a boxed set. Plus, four packs of bodysuits and a handful of outfits. All cute. Cute, cute, cute, but all sized 9 months and smaller. The baby doesn't really need all that much to wear. Really. A few layette items will do, as well as a few "going out" things. I know my kids often wore the same few outfits over and again, and they had a lot of brand new, with tags items hanging in the closet. This is definitely a case of less is more. Also, after having my showers for my first child, I realized that it was pointless to register for clothes. People love to buy baby clothes, you will get them by the bucketfulls, and it won't be what you registered for anyway. Often a good thing, as my kids received some cute and unexpected clothes! 8 hooded towels. Yes, eight. This one really had me rolling. Eight! What are you going to do with all of them? When you have a newborn or an infant, heck, even a toddler or preschooler, you do laundry EVERY DAY. When you're super busy you put it off to every other day, but still, you're always doing laundry. So two hooded towels should be just fine. :) Again, I'm not passing judgement, although I realize to some this may sound like a real b*tchy post. It's not!! I would never, never say anything to a friend in real life, or even write this if there were any way anyone could figure out who I'm referring to. I just got a laugh and thought I would share. It's just the perspective of a mom whose been there a time or two. :)

Rite of Passage

I feel like Little Man and I have experienced a parental rite of passage together. Yesterday Baby Girl and I sat in carpool line, picked Little Man up, and headed home. We weren't but a few yards from the school property, (and a good 10 minutes from home) when I heard Little Man say, "I feel like I'm gonna throw up." Uh-oh. I didn't think much of it, he looked fine, but still I hit the gas a little bit. It wasn't but a few seconds later, though, that IT happened. Buckets of IT. Lots and lots of IT. Everywhere. I didn't have so much as a kleenex to help clean Little Man up. I did manage to spot a wayward sock in my passenger seat. I usually don't keep random things in my car, but I had recently bought new running shoes and packed a pair of socks, and I guess one fell out of my purse and onto the seat. We used that to wipe up his face, but the rest of him, his booster seat, under and behind the booster seat, the floor - covered. He was wearing a rain jacket, but nevertheless the two layers he had on under it were soaked. His underthings and socks were even soaked. Am I giving you enough of a visual image? It's an understatement to say that it was gross and disgusting. Anyway, we made it home okay. I kept asking Little Man if he was all right, or if he could wipe his face. Poor thing couldn't even talk, he just kept replying with noises, "Uhhhhhhhhhh." I got the nasty clothes off and in the wash, and got my sweet thing settled on the couch. My dear, sweet, wonderful husband came home after a long day's work and cleaned out my car. If that's not love, I don't know what is. Little Man was fine after about an hour. He's been a bit, um, backed up this week, and I think that's what the problem is. I don't think he has a bug or anything. I've kept him home from school today and am giving him lots of juice, fruit, and a bit of medicine. Hopefully he will find relief soon, and for both our sakes I hope it comes out the right end. :)

One Day

Wow, we are having one of those days. Actually, it's probably just me, but it seems like we've "had one of those days" for several days in a row now. The kids are doing crazy stuff. Actually, it's probably just normal kid's stuff, but mercy! Seriously. I know that one day my house will be clean, and quiet, will stay clean, and be mostly clutter-free. I know that one day I will be able to finish a simple task quickly, without an interruption (or twenty), and that I will easily be able to check off everything on my to-do list. I know that. I tell myself that when it takes me 20 MINUTES to unload the dishwasher, because I'm constantly having to stop and attend to something the kids need. Even though I set them up with a game, or colors, a book, or even a cartoon beforehand. One day I'll be able to cook dinner without a toddler literally hanging off my leg, and often repeatedly pulling down my pants in the process, saying, "Hold you, hold you" over and over again. And without a preschooler crying and throwing a fit because a toy isn't working right, or he wants to do something that requires grownup hands and my hands are busy at the stove. One day everyone will eat the meals that I cook, and enjoy it, instead of taking one look at something they loved yesterday, grimacing, and saying, "I dooonn't like it." One day everyone will go to bed without a tantrum, or without dragging the process out to 2 HOURS with "I have to go to the bathroom (when they don't), or "I need a drink of water", or whatever comes to mind to drag out bedtime for 5 more minutes. One day the The Husband and I will have enough energy after the bedtime process to have a real conversation. As it is, we have several pressing family matters that need attending to, but since one of us passes out before the other finishes making sure Little Man is asleep and won't come running downstairs the second we make it down ourselves, those important conversations aren't happening. One day. Oh, I know that this time is fleeting, and I'm not wishing it away. Truly I'm not. There's a big part of me that wants them to stay little forever. I know that soon enough they'll be rolling their eyes at me, and saying, "Mo-om" at everything I say or do. Soon enough they'll think I'm a do-do and don't know anything about anything. Then they'll go to college, leave, get married...my house will be clean and quiet....and I will miss them so much. I will miss this so much. I know that. This is just a little vent. Sometimes it's hard that I feel like I never get anything done, and that my house is always a mess, even though I clean everyday. Sometimes it's just frustrating. But it's so rewarding, and lovely. I love my kids! I am SO BLESSED!! There isn't anywhere else I'd rather be. I am so very, very, very thankful that I am able to stay home with my precious gifts, my two slices of heaven. Some days, like today, I just need to remind myself of that.

Aw, Dammit

From Baby Girl today -

"Aw, dammit!" - in an entirely appropriate context. I wonder who taught her that phrase? Hmm, I think I'm guilty of that one.

...and I'm about to enjoy nap time. After a few days of go, go, go and very little rest or sleep at night, I'm going to put the kids down for a nap, sit on my bed, eat my lunch, and watch my DVR. Heaven.

Sleepless

Little Man last night:

After nearly two hours of "bedtime," he snuck back downstairs and asked to sleep in our bed. I said "no," as neither the Hubs nor I sleep well with our tossing, turning, arm slinging, and kicking son in our bed, although we do enjoy having him with us. So then Little Man says, "If you let me sleep in your bed I'll snuggle with you in the morning, if you don't I won't give you any snuggles." The Hubs looks at me and says, "Snuggles, the only currency he has." Guess where Little Man slept? That's right...yawn.

This and That

It seems like we've been so busy lately. I'm not really sure what we've actually been actually doing, but it's taking up all our time! One thing I know that's a time eater is The Husband's work schedule. True, he is self-employed and gets to set his own schedule, but for someone like him that just means he works, and works, and works. Lately it's been 11-12 hour days, six days a week. It's been hard. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I'm so glad he has a great work ethic and is working so hard to provide for his family. That's not lip service, I really, really am grateful. His hard work allows me to stay home with the kids and do things like journal our lives via a blog, take the kids to Aardvark classes, and be a part of Little Man's school community. I am forever grateful that I get to do these things during this season of my life. Like I said, though, it's been hard. The kids have had dinner, bath, and stories by the time Daddy gets home, and by that time momma and daddy are exhausted. The good news, though, is that Hubs is working towards a goal! We are hoping to move this summer!! Whoo hoo! I can't tell you how excited that makes me. I love our little house, and our neighborhood, but it's time to move on. I'm ready. We had a realtor come look at the house last week and give us a list of things we need to do to prepare to list the house. After a week of thinking on it, the Hubs gave the green light to go ahead and proceed. The Hubs needs time to mull things over, lol! Anyway, hopefully by the end of the summer we will have sold our house, bought a house, and have a move under our belts!

On another note, here are a few cute things from Baby Girl -

She loves her Woody and Jesse dolls. She calls Woody, "Boody." Adorable. Yesterday we were riding in the car, and she was clutching "Boody" and Jesse to her chest, and said possessively, "These are MY kids!" Over and over she kept calling them, "my kids." So sweet. She's also in love with her toes. She talks about her toes all day long. Tippy toes, tippy toes. Only she doesn't say, "tippy toes." Use your imagination, but what she says sounds a little dirty, as "tippy" is a hard word for a two-year-old to say!

That's about all. Little Man's year of pre-k is almost over, I can't believe it! We are on spring break this week. The Hubs is planning on taking a day off (hallelujah!) and we might go camping overnight at a campsite that's only 30 min from home. I hope it works out, that would be so much fun!

A date with my favorite boy

I took Baby Girl to school today, for an extra day, so Little Man and I could enjoy some time together, just the two of us. We started off at Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and some playground time, then on to Whole Foods for a chocolate chocolate chip cookie, then a trip through his favorite parking garage, and finally home to watch a movie. Lovin' it. :)