Boo!

Whew! Long time, no post. But that’s OK. There aren’t too many people who read this, I don’t think–and if they did, they would have given up on any updates whatsoever! But I have to post some Halloween pictures since how could I not with my boys looking how they did? I’m just a tad biased–and proud to be!

We got clobbered by a Halloween snow storm which pretty much wiped out our Halloween altogether so we are thankful for school that had a couple of dress up in costume days prior to the storm, and trick or treating at Nana and Grandpa’s house since our town cancelled it. Nana and Grandpa also had power (and more important–heat!) so we camped out there for a few days. We are now back home and ready to celebrate in our town who has thankfully rescheduled all the missed activities of last weekend!

So stop speeding or else you might get a ticket from this guy…and who wouldn’t want to kiss this frog?

 

morning

If you asked me years ago (not that I’m that old) if I was a morning person, it would have been telling how little you knew me.  Today, Bub tries to say I’m a night owl–but the activities that I stay up late for are quite different than what they were years ago.

I’m now a morning person, and probably not by choice.  But I think I prefer it to being a late night regular, at least for now.

There is so much promise to the day when you wake up.  First, there’s coffee.  Sure, you can have coffee any time you choose, but for me, it’s most enjoyed in the morning.  Then there’s getting ready.  Don’t get me wrong, the process can be painful, especially with two little ones and Bub’s train schedule and two school drop-offs and pick-ups for each child.  But it’s the sense of feeling clean from that hot shower, or refreshed after putting on a new outfit (not new as in store-bought new, but freshly washed clothes).  And then there’s the thought of the whole day stretching out beyond your fingertips for you to conquer.

On the flipside, nighttime brings exhaustion from the day, less motivation because of less energy, and therefore, less will power.  Crankiness sets in slowly (or rapidly, without you realizing it), and then there’s the clean-up of the entire day’s activities to tackle, whether it be from the kiddos or from neglected chores.  At night, my to-do list has usually grown from the morning (or stayed the same) and you attempt to tackle it before bed, staying up later to get it all done.  And here’s hoping you do.

And then you have the next day, the next morning, to do it all again.

living and loving

Life has taken over so the blog takes a backseat.  Between all the places to update the world with tidbits of life: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn (sort of), I’m too tired to come here and spell it out again.  But yet, I enjoy writing so I’m not sure why I view this as exhausting…and Facebook and Twitter are not really places you write, at least not more than a few sentences, or in the case of Twitter, 140 characters.

We are busy, folks.  Busy.  I think it’s a good thing when you don’t make time to update all of these social network, digital spaces.  It’s a good thing to share, but live life outside of technology.  Live!

So, this guy?

His last day of daycare is tomorrow.  I was sad about it at first.  Then it felt bittersweet.  Now I am so ready for him.  To move on.  He is beginning a summer program at his preschool in two weeks! This is a program we learned about four years ago when we moved here which we were immediately interested in, but since it’s a preschool, obviously your baby can’t enroll until he is almost three.  And Ian is turning three (!) in August!

And look out! Arthur is walking! He is walking a whole two months ahead of when big brother started to walk.  But I think Ian was a little bit ahead with his baby words than Arthur is…

Every day I say I am going to eat these guys up.  My heart runneth over with love for these two.

When I was pregnant with Arthur, I wasn’t sure how I could love another as much as I do Ian.  Now I know.  The heart knows no limits.

I don’t think I’ve improved with taking pics of both guys at once, but we’ll get there.

And on that note, we’re going to get back to living.

31 things about me…

since i just, uh, turned…31! i’ll try to keep it as non-boring as possible.  apologies for the weak beginning, starting with:

1. i’ve never colored my hair.  i’m not sure what i will do when i go strong in the gray department (or white), but for now, i’m a brunette without any desires to be a blonde, a red-head, a black-haired beauty…
2. i’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop.  and i enjoy the satisfaction of telling someone “i told you so.”
3. i majored in English in college which should mean i know how to do things like read and write–well.  but then you see that i am not using caps here, for the most part, and you scratch your head in wonderment.
4. one of my dreams is to live abroad with my family.  i’m not sure we’ll do it.  with young kids, the last thing i desire is to uproot the life we’ve made, but you never know.
5. i like the taste of coffee so much, i don’t dislike decaf.  i think it’s the fact that i’m drinking coffee that makes me feel like decaf or not, it’s still…coffee, so it must be working its *magic* somehow.
6. i’m the biggest procrastinator OR i’m a compulsive do it all now-er…there is nothing in between.
7. i’ve tried to like running, but i just don’t!
8. i was in marching band (color guard) for eight glorious years and met some of the best people doing it
9. i love being the mother of boys.  they get dirty and know how to have fun.  what’s not to like?
10. i enjoy baking.  i’ve thought about it as a career.  unfortunately, ian is allergic to eggs which limits what i will bake or else you imagine how to tell a two and a half year old how they can’t eat something that smells and tastes delicious, but excuse you while YOU eat it?!
11. i am a HUGE lady gaga fan.  my first time seeing her i was fifteen DAYS away from giving birth to Arthur.
12. i love planning: vacations, weekends, playdates, dinner (OK, dinner gets boring fast, but i like when i know what i’m going to cook and making sure i have the recipe and ingredients at the ready).
13. i feel accomplished if i can get the boys out of the house and off to do at least one thing per morning.  this is apart from my corporate job days, but if we can say we set up the porch, went to the playground or the grocery store, i feel successful.  if we stay put, i feel like we haven’t been productive which rolls right back into the procrastination personality.  see #6.
14. i’m a homebody.  i grew up twenty minutes from where i live, and i went to college in my homestate.  i did think i would end up in NYC one day.  the verdict is still out on whether i’ll regret that one or not…looking at my family and home, i’m thinking not.
15. another dream is to start my own business, but nothing has come of it…yet.  ideas being tossed around have included: bookstore, bar, bakery…a “b” theme, for sure!
16. spring and fall are favorite seasons, but we got married in the summer and had summer babies, so summer is clearly the winner.  and winter is out.
17. i was born without a middle name.  my middle name now is legally my maiden name.
18. i sucked my thumb for a very long time.  hence the braces and headgear.
19. favorite color: blue
20. favorite food: any type of pasta (so i have a blue car and we’re eating pasta tonight!)
21. i want to buy my retirement/vacation home in Eze, France.
22. i don’t mind doing laundry apart from the folding/putting away part of the process.
23. my favorite book is Jane Eyre.
24. on the first night i met Bub, i followed him home to use his bathroom.
25. the anniversary of our first date is the summer solstice and this year will mark its tenth anniversary; we will have been married for five years.
26. i cried when i found my wedding dress.
27. we went to Italy for two weeks on our honeymoon.  we are discussing how to get back there with the boys.
28. i was 41 weeks with both boys’ pregnancies and had to be induced both times. 
29. being a mother is the most rewarding thing i have ever done and i am honored to be their mother.
30. i believe God has a plan for everyone.
31. i am afraid of death.

early morning birthday thoughts

i’m not sure why i’m actually up at this hour.  as referenced below, Arthur made our daily early-morning (read: 3am) nursing date.  Bub tried to soothe him and even changed his diaper which he said really didn’t need changing.  but that was not enough, Arthur needed a drink.  so instead of dragging my body back to bed to soak up a couple more hours of sleep, my mind was all like: you were not productive enough at work yesterday and because you are taking a 1/2 day today, get your butt downstairs and do some work.  instead, i sit here, on the sofa, figuring out if i should work or do last night’s dishes/prep for leaving the house because in all my laziness last night, we had to finish watching Mildred Pierce, and i think, wouldn’t it be good to post again so soon on the blog that readers shall not comment on a) because i write non-captivating yadda yadda posts and b) i’ve let this thing go so far to the way-side, people forget that i’ve been blogging since 2005?

and wasn’t the reason why i was not dragging myself back to bed so i could work, not dilly-dally online? and i remind myself that it is my birthday, after all, and shouldn’t i do as i please, especially when it’s almost 4am and everyone will wake up soon looking for me to dress them, remind them to use the potty, looking for milky, looking to nurse, looking, looking, looking.

i have a nice 1/2 day at work planned.  nothing special for my non-working 1/2 day except i always manage to get my toes done as a nice little pampering tradition and something i hardly ever do anymore now that i have the kiddos.  i just can’t justify getting away long enough to go and i’m the one that has to overpay for it significantly, to go to an actual spa as opposed to the in-and-out so-so places that you may as well skip since, well, they skip hygiene as a rule (gross).

so, some more of my pics decided to come through that i could not post yesterday.  and here they are (and happy birthday, all my fellow 4/13-ers!)

life

it’s happening. even though it’s not being recorded on here.

for the record, i believe mangoes are Arthur’s favorite fruit.  we arise just one time each night to soothe and/or feed the little babe, and then we finish out our sleep to awake to smiles similar to the above.  i’ve witnessed him ”rocking” on hind legs and semi-scooting, belly-down backwards, but Arthur is most absorbed with pulling himself up whether he uses us as his climbing wall or the crib railing.  he will be nine months old in just under a week.  eek! and forget cartoons, he is content watching his brother all day, every day, cracking up at anything he says or does, including the tantrum or shriek when he doesn’t see to it that something goes his way.

Ian is doing an amazing job with the potty.  he is wearing underwear (we shall never call them “undies” in front of him or you will get corrected!) i was overwhelmed with what to “do” and wanted to concentrate on the training all at once and then enforce what he learned each day.  thanks to a good book and lots of patience (not just mine, but also his), he still has an accident here and there, but the sense of pride in knowing that he can do this on his own is special for him and for us.  after all, it’s only been about three weeks…

playing in the sand is his favorite thing to do these days.  most likely because he missed it all winter.  it was the main activity for him at the playground this weekend.  he slid down a few slides and whatnot, but he always returned to the park’s trucks and sand toys, sitting atop the mounds and keeping vigilant over his favorite toys there.  yesterday was Arthur’s first experience in our sandbox.  lest we not forget the sandbox incident of 2010, shortly after Arthur’s birth when i sat calmly sipping my decaf coffee in the sun, bouncer at my feet, outside, while we watched on as Ian played to his heart’s content with the big container of sandy beach toys that double as sandbox fun for home.  i breathed in the day when, in a split second, it all changed: Ian was spraying sand all over his new baby brother.  the bath i had just given Arthur, voided.  a silent curse and a bite of the lip.  and then a stern “no” would begin the disciplining of a then-toddler to his new sibling.  yesterday was a bit of a repeat.  this time, Arthur sat proudly in the sandbox with one of the few toys Ian was willing to part with for the moment, and then came the “raking” which yielded not only with sand in Ian’s hair, but all over Arthur’s head.  And this time, there was no silent curse or bite of the lip.  The “no” was still firm, but my laughs followed and we all headed up to take baths before dinner.  well, a bath for Arthur, and a shower for Ian.  his new activity.  we call it a car wash.  long story.

i wish i was better with taking pictures.  our digital camera seems to take the picture too slowly so i always resort to my phone.  i had to copy and paste these from FB because they weren’t uploading for some reason, hence the microscopic quality, but you get the picture, er, point:

behind my ramblings

So far, 2011 has been a fine ride.  In fact, it feels pretty much like 2010.  The trend of feeling behind has continued.

Behind in work.

Behind in chores.

Behind in upkeep with physical appearance.  Although, I am now exercising and (gasp!) enjoying it?

Behind with stuff.

I forever make lists and I don’t even want to remember what’s on them since I know I can’t cross anything off.  When did life get so complex? Ah, I think it was August 2008 and again in July 2010.  Life changing events, ones that cannot be topped, ever.  I’m falling in love deeper and deeper with my rascals.  We are having lots of laughs (smiles) and fun…so it makes feeling behind worth it.  But still, the stress remains to be organized! On top of things! On time!

I can’t believe the baby is 6 months already! It feels like forever ago that I was sitting in my mint green robe in the hospital loving on my newborn, drowning him in kisses, trying to feel out the situation between Ian and what he must be thinking and if he would feel upset that there was a fourth member to our family now.  If he was upset, it’s not apparent today as it’s the first thing he asks about when Arthur is not in sight.  Where is he? Go get him! Maybe I can get my act together and actually finish his birth story! Wouldn’t that be something to celebrate! 

We are still trying to solve the mystery of “does not want to sleep through the night beyond 3 hours, sometimes 2 and rarely, 4″.  Ian slept through the night starting at 8 weeks.  I’m not a cry it out advocate, so please tell me something else to do besides rocking, baths, books, songs, and solid feedings right before bed as well as binkies and thumbs (and boobs!).  I just feel like it’s going to happen when he’s ready (or maybe I’m being silly; he is a baby, after all!).  I would just like insight as to when that will be…  When the kiddos are sleeping is when I refuel on sanity, energy, and me-time (perhaps this is why chores and general “stuff” fall BEHIND).  But I prefer sanity to clean floors.  Shoot me.  So when I feel that we have completed and wrapped up another day, cue the sweet cries, the upside down smile and you have Arthur’s current emotion every few hours.  After a nursing, he’s good to go, and sometimes he just needs a good snuggle and replacement of the binky, but usually it’s the boob that soothes.  But it doesn’t do much for longevity of sleep.  Tomorrow is his check-up, so hopefully we get some tips and not a talking to since I was told he really shouldn’t be having feedings during the night…oops.  And he is a big boy, wearing 12-month clothes, easily.  Since I want to eat him for dinner every night, it makes stumbling into his room several times through the silent night and early morning, bearable and dare I say it, peaceful (once I help Arthur stop crying, that is!).

So, it looks like I’m going to be a single mama again while Bub studies to retake his exam.  During these winter months, I need some change.  At least we have a few places in our back pocket for play like the clean bouncy house venue and assorted areas where you can test drive toys and not necessarily have to buy anything. 

We are longing for the beach and sun.  I yearn for a long walk with the double stroller.  We can, I think, finally take off the car seat adapter to ours to make for easier transporting.  I want to work up a good sweat and feel the sun on my back.  I know Ian is ready for warm weather, too.  He wants us to talk about the beach at least once per day.  If I’m going to psych myself up to wear something resembling a swimsuit not meant for a grandmother, I’m going to have to continue with alot more than level 1 of 30 Day Shred, but at least it’s a start!

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,300 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 23 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 393 posts. There were 38 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 10mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was July 10th with 78 views. The most popular post that day was itsy who?.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were anewdayrises.wordpress.com, micropreemiemommy.com, reignoffirechild.blogspot.com, bloggingbarbie.wordpress.com, and onehundredeightydegrees.blogspot.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for itsy bitsy mama, itsy bitsy mama blog, itsybitsymomma, babymoon, and 25 week belly pics.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

itsy who? December 2007
2 comments

2

no news is good news…but this is really good news January 2010
4 comments

3

stuff February 2010
7 comments

4

a little pushy February 2010
3 comments

5

He’s here!!!! July 2010
5 comments

it’s here

When I was pregnant with Arthur, I was terrified after having our 18-week ultrasound.  I wanted so badly to know if Arthur was going to be okay, that our little family was going to be fine. 

Everyday that I am able to hold and kiss and drink in Arthur’s smell, I silently pray thanks to God for allowing my little boy to have safely arrived.  And all those many months ago, when I desperately wanted it to be Arthur’s birthday so I could meet my second sweet son and be proven to that all was okay, I fantasized about what I had hoped for him: a group of visiting friends and family at the hospital to greet him after his birth, a big brother introduction, a sweet homecoming, a first walk in the stroller, his Baptism, a first Halloween costume.  But I also imagined whose name I would put upon this–would it be a boy’s or a girl’s–and would everything be okay?

 

And apart from a little cold, all is well here with the littlest one, and Ian, too.  We’ve got our hands full and the blog has suffered, but I’m OK with it.  Hopefully I can muster up enough energy to come back here before several months have gone by, again.

one of those times

I was going to write about how it’s been one of those days in relation to yesterday, but then I thought to the day before, and hell, it’s been a busy week between Ian’s 2-year check-up which went really, really well, and his allergist appointment which went fine–no change in anything and I failed at being on time by 20 minutes and luckily the woman was forgiving when she saw what I was juggling.  Plus, she is in my shoes–with an almost 2 year old and expecting her second this fall.  And I am so not the type to use the “I have a new baby” excuse for anything or anyone.  It just isn’t how I role, to make excuses.  I was late.

But yesterday was hard.  We had my postpartum appointment which also went really well, and we were on time, but they weren’t.  We sat in the waiting room for 40 minutes and Ian was an angel in the beginning and then quickly tested me with the usual: finding a pen and then threatening to write on surfaces he shouldn’t (but he writes on these surfaces at home!), running over to the water cooler and touching the hot water nozzle.  Nothing like barking at your 2 year old as you nurse your newborn so that said 2 year old doesn’t go burning his fingers and hand! And then it was the attempt to climb the table they had with magazines after throwing all said magazines to the wayside.  The only control I could get of him with Arthur nursing is to make Ian sit in a chair if he wanted a snack and that worked for a bit…at least he’s been to that office and to lots of my OB appointments so I knew what to expect when we actually saw the doctor…

But it wasn’t until after we met Bub and his old friend for lunch after the appointment and nervously giggled/frowned upon Ian’s throwing of food at US (a couple of French fries, but still), that Ian got into a groove of doing everything he shouldn’t when we got home:

• drawing on the furniture with crayon
• throwing food on the floor
• throwing food on the floor and stepping on it
• knowing that he needs to say sorry but says “thank you” or something else on purpose while smiling his devilish grin
• throwing toys very close to us or at us (us being me and Arthur), and almost hitting us

I ask him if he wants to do a time out (not that he has a choice) and he even says yes! So yeah.  I tried to get him to calm down so many times yesterday.  He won’t sit long in a chair if we do a time out that way, and his time out’s are for a couple of minutes anyway, so by the time we talk about him staying seated, it should be over.  The only way I’ve sort of gotten through to him a few times is by putting him in his room, shutting the door and walking away.  If I close the door enough, he can’t open it and that really irked him, but now he’s just lying in his bed and he has a ton of toys in his room so I feel like it’s not working anymore and who wants to run up and down stairs to do time out’s every time you need to?

I know a handful or less of you read this, but if anyone has a good trick to stop the madness, please let me know.  I know he’s not getting away with this at school or else we’d hear about it, I think.  And to top it off, Ian refuses to clean up things like toys, but I know he knows how to do this; I’ve seen him do it at school.  They have a song and everything which we sing at home, but it doesn’t seem to matter when he’s with us.  It’s dump, dump, dump everything and I get to pick it all up!

Love,

tired itsy bitsy mama