A Day in the Life of a Mom with Two Girls

So one night this weekend, Jaime (mike's cousin and my wedding buddy) and I were talking in the kitchen. We could hear the girls giggling and Jaime commented on how well they played together. My response was something like, "yes - they do play well together but usually when they start giggling like that, they're up to no good." So I checked on them, saw that they were coloring on paper and went back into the kitchen.

Not even two minutes later, Sydney come skipping into the kitchen with a blue forehead and a blue crayola marker in her hand. Next thing I see is Lexi with a pink forehead and a pink crayola marker in her hand. Here's what happens next:

Me: "Lexi! Sydney! Why did you color on your heads?"
Girls: blank stares
Me: "Go show your father your heads. Coloring time is over."

I grab the markers out of their hands and they continue skipping around the house. I walk over to the spot there were coloring in and notice the wall. It has marker all over it as far as they can reach.

Me: "Oh my God! Why did you color on the wall!?!?!"
Lexi: While still skipping around the house with her sister, doesn't miss a beat and says, "Because we're CA-RAY-ZEE!"

This was one of those times where I knew I shouldn't laugh - but I did anyway. UGH!

Not my proudest mommy moment...

This morning was very similar to most mornings. The girls wake up, I get them ready, we go downstairs and they play for a bit or watch a show on Noggin before we make the trip to school (daycare.) As I'm getting their lunches packed, I realize that LB was very VERY quiet this morning (and the TV wasn't on.) So I go over to where she's sitting at her little table and realize that she is "painting" her nails with a pink highlighter. She has her left hand done and is working on her right hand. She sees me watching, so she proudly shows me her hands and says, "Mommy, I have nail polish!" I knew I had two choices. One, take a screaming 3 1/2 year old to the bathroom to wash her hands; or two, color in her thumbs and get the show on the road. Guess which I chose?

Yup. I took the highlighter from her and colored in her thumbs and we had a VERY happy child as a result. I was able to get their coats on and we were out the door in no time. Sometimes the path of least resistance is the right answer. Besides, what's a little highlighter?

A Toddler's Bedtime...

As a 35 year old woman, I'd give my right arm to be able to sleep 11 hours a night. Really. I love sleep. I could sleep anytime and anywhere. It's been about three years since I had a night of uninterrupted sleep. It's really been that long. For the last three years, I've been waking up at least once a night to tend to Itty Bitty or Little Mama. Don't get me wrong, I love them and have no problem with the waking up part because they need their mommy. However, what I can't understand is why my almost 3 year old just won't go to sleep at 8pm. It's a struggle every night. She has to pee. She's hungry. She wants another story. She wants to give me a hug. She wants to give me a kiss. She wants to tell me something. While it's great to be wanted like this, I know she needs more sleep than she's getting. In the morning, she refuses to wake up at 6:30. I'm practically getting her dressed while she's sleeping. I really hope that this is just a phase. In the meantime, I'm going to have to come up with something to make the 8pm bed time work...if I think of something and it actually works - I'll post it here. If you're reading this and have any ideas to try - please let me know.

$20 Crayon?

Maybe I'm insane, maybe I just do what I need to do to make it through the day because in the grand scheme of things spending $20 on a crayon isn't a big deal?

I can't get through putting on my make up without Little Bitty asking me to draw a pumpkin, a sun, a flower, or a whole slew of other things on her hand with my Laura Mercier eye liner. I used to have a cheaper Loreal eye liner that I used to use, but it's been missing as of late.

So is it bad that I don't mind using my pricey eye liner to draw on my kid's hand? Not if this little reward brings huge smiles and a bit of happiness to both of us.

Ran my first 5K in over 3 years...

I ran my first 5K in over three years on Friday. I can't say that I've really been training. I've been trying to run consistantly over the last couple of months, but I haven't been consistant at all. I've been run/walking about 2 miles at least once or twice a week. That is it. Lame, I know - but I had to preface the rest of my entry with this info. Anyway...

Holy hell - it was long and I was tired. However, the only two things I wanted to accomplish were: 1) Not coming in last; and 2) finishing in under 35 minutes. I managed to accomplish both. I didn't come in last AND I finished in 34:49 (finish line clock time.) By my watch, I finished in 34:11. So, I feel very good about my race. The last mile starts out with an up hill grind - for about 1/2 mile. That was beyond HORRIBLE. I ran what I could and stopped to walk when I needed to. However, once I got to the top, it was all either downhill or flat from there so I decided to lengthen my stride and put an end to my misery. I just started running and focusing on the end. I managed to pass 14 people in that last 1/2 - I'm not kidding or exaggerating. I started hauling ass and passing people is what motivated me to just run. (Well at least I felt like I was hauling ass - Run Jenny Run!!) Today, I'm still really sore from the run. After the run, it took me until the next day (since it was a Friday evening run) to actually cool off! It was worth it (eventhough I wouldn't have said that WHILE I was running.)

So there you have it. I'm really glad that I did it. I think I'm hooked!!

We survived AND we had fun!

We're back from our week long Cape Cod vacation and we had a blast. We spent a lot of time walking and a lot of time on the beach. We had great weather eventhough it rained a little. Here are a few pictures.

We're getting ready for our first family vacation as a family of four...

And I'm trying to work out the logistics on how to fit all of us and everything we'll need for a week on the Cape in one VW Passat Wagon. A couple of years ago, when we made this same trip as a family of three, the car was packed to the gills. I even remember looking at my husband and asking him if we'd be able to fit Little Bitty in there too. However, that year, we not only brought everything we'd need, but my husband also brought his beloved golf clubs. Kindly, he's already made mention of the fact that he didn't think the golf clubs would make the trip this year. I'm pretty happy about that for a couple of reasons. First, it's one less thing I have to try to fit in the car. Second, (and this is pretty selfish) why should he get to go golfing while we're on vacation when I'm a golf widow pretty much every weekend from about March to when the ground is too snow covered to be able to find your ball.

So on to my task. How do I fit enough clothes for four people (hot/cold weather clothes since you never know what you'll get on the Cape), a double jogging stroller, a Pack N Play, two bags of toys, books, videos, towels, sheets, bed rails, beach umbrella, and a bunch of other little things in or on one car. I don't have the answer to this yet, but check back for my update. I may even show you a picture or two of the packed car!