Trying to look on the bright side...

So, it's Monday, and on top of it being Monday, it's yucky, rainy and dreary out. As if Monday isn't bad enough on it's own!

Since it's pretty easy to feel down on a day like today I thought I would attempt to look on the bright side of it all. PS, I'm usually pretty good at this sort of thing. I can put a positive spin on almost anything, let's see how I do...

It's Monday....errrrr...back to school? Wait, that's not really positive. I guess you could say that it's another day closer to my birthday, so there, we'll go with that.

It's raining and dreary....uhhhh...at least it's not snowing? Yeah, that's pretty positive.

My baby girl is a teething monster... she'll have more teeth finally! But really, does she have to get FOUR at ONCE?!


Matthew is going to be home late today, like 6:30, which makes for a really long day with the kids...but he's bringing dinner home!


I did an extra work-out yesterday and I'm still sore...positive spin? Skinny jeans!


Okay this isn't so bad after all, but really, I would feel just a teeny bit better if the sun would come out! Or if the weather warmed up just a few degrees! In other positive news, I'm now knee-deep in plotting my second book. Woo. Now to finish the first. Haven't actually thought about publishing in a few weeks because it depresses me, but it's fun to write!

Gotta go...school time!

A touch of the Blarg..

The Blarg - A sickness prevalent in most moms. Characterized by feelings of being overwhelmed, tired and generally out-of-it. Sometimes caused by too much time spent with teething babies and/or very talkative older children. Symptoms include (but are not limited to) lethargy, tiredness, crabbiness and the extreme urge to snack on unhealthy things. Cures include the use of stimulants (caffeine) and the ever popular holistic cure of a good, long nap. *


Yes, I had the Blarg yesterday, or the blargies as I so lovingly call it. My day started off entirely too early for my taste, at five a.m. Sophia was wide awake, however, no matter how much I tried to convince her not to be. To make matters even better, I had a terrible headache already. "The Headache" as my mom calls it. The one that cannot be touched by things like Motrin or caffeine. I knew it was going to be a long day.

Saturdays are my usual grocery shopping day, since I never have the car on weekdays and it's much easier for me to do my shopping if Matthew has the kids. I usually wait until everyone is up and fed before I head out. Yesterday Sophia ended up going back to bed at around 7:30, so I was stuck waiting around for her to get up so that I could nurse her before she left. I'm not sure what possessed me, but I offered to take Elijah with me. Normally I like to not have any distractions while I'm grocery shopping or else I come home without toilet paper, or milk. But I felt like having some company and someone to talk to, so he tagged along.

We ended up going to two separate grocery stores, so we were gone quite a while. When I got home I realized my pantry was a complete disaster and would need serious organization. This is when I became aware that I had the Blarg. Organizing my pantry should have made me happy! But it didn't. Instead I felt like having a cup of coffee and/or going back to bed for the day.

The rest of the day was just your usual at-home craziness. Elijah asking me to put his Stormtrooper's blaster back in his miniature hand for the millionth time. Feeding everyone lunch, snacks, dinner and more snacks (can we say growth spurt!). Sophia for the past three days has been ridiculously crabby. She's normally not an overly-clingy baby, but she's been spending a huge amount of time being carried around on my hip lately. To make matters worse, and not helping my headache, she seems to be testing the volume of her voice lately by shouting as loudly as she possibly can, all of the time. Finally, I took her in my lap and pried open her mouth out of curiosity. Sure enough I spotted FOUR top teeth well on their way to pushing out. They have not yet broken the surface, but I can feel them. Hopefully this is the reason for all her drama and not sleeping lately. Fingers crossed!

So yeah, long day. I attempted to take a nap at some point, but as usual it was far too short. After dinner the kids both needed baths (hang in there, it's about to get good). They almost always take baths together and last night was no different. Matthew even came in and sat with me and we watched them play and splash each other. Finally I was starting to feel better. My kids were happily playing together and the would be in bed soon.  Matthew and I had plans to watch a movie together and have some popcorn. Suddenly Matthew noticed Sophia was making "The Face", you know the "about to go" face. He panicked, I panicked, we all panicked together. Fortunately I'm fast, I grabbed her out of the tub, paused for a half a second trying to decide what to do. Stupidly I though I might have time to get a diaper on her, halfway to her room it became apparent that I was going to be too late. And I was, too late. I laid her on the changing pad and collapsed into a fit of laughter. Meanwhile Matthew's back in the bathroom calling out to me, "Um honey, you know you didn't make it right?" I'm still laughing, "Yes, I know I didn't make it, that's what's so funny!" Yup, my kid pooped on the hallway floor and I'm laughing about it. Sometimes you just have to laugh, you know.

So I got her and the floor cleaned up, lucky me, I get all the crappy jobs! Matthew is still in the bathtub with Elijah, who's peering around the edge of the shower curtain, trying to figure out what just happened. I put her back in the tub where she continues to play as though nothing had ever happened. Matthew and I are still laughing and vowing to never let her live this one down.

Yeah, so that's how my day with the Blarg ended, right there. We finally got the kids in bed around eight. I worked on my book for about fifteen minutes before I started getting really tired. Matthew suggested I go ahead and go to bed, so I did. At eight fifteen. I think I was asleep as soon as I hit the pillow. That kind of stuff really takes it out of you, you know?

Here's to a Blarg-free day today...

* Yes, I completely made this up. (the Blarg that is, the poop-story is unfortunately very true.)

Saturday Sarcasm...

I'm thinking about giving up coffee for Lent...

Strange bedfellows...

Admittedly, I've never been a big fan of co-sleeping. Maybe it's because I can be a bit claustrophobic at times and really like my space when I'm sleeping. Either way, both our kids have always slept in their cribs, in their rooms as babies.

Elijah hardly ever slept in our bed as a baby. For one thing he was not the greatest sleeper and we were always trying so hard to establish good sleep habits for him. Yeah, right, the kid didn't sleep through the night until he was almost one. Maybe we should have given it a shot! Oh well. At one point he really got so used to being in his own crib that he simply would not sleep with us in bed. A few times I thought it would be cute, on a random Saturday afternoon, to snuggle up with my baby and take a nap. Umm, no. Not Elijah. He would just end up fussing and crying until I took him back to his bed. Snuggle fail.

Elijah at around 1 1/2 months.

Last summer when we went to stay with my parents for a week Elijah and I ended up sharing the guest room bed. Sophia had her pack 'n play, Matthew was still back in Connecticut, so it seemed pointless to have Elijah on the floor. Can I just say, bad idea? Have you ever met Elijah? What does he do best? TALK! Every night we would go to bed, pretty much worn out from going to the beach or pool (or running a 5k *ahem*) and you-know-who would want to talk, and talk and talk! Hmmm, maybe now I know how Matthew feels and why he's temped to smother me with a pillow some nights! Also, he was a kicker! I would wake up with his feet between my shoulder blades every single night. So, no, I don't recommend co-sleeping with a four year-old

Anyway, so when Sophia was born, once again we determined to encourage independent sleeping habits. For the most part it really worked. She doesn't get nursed or rocked to sleep, ever. She even gets really fussy if you try, I swear! She prefers to be put in her crib with her paci, her blankie and her bedtime music playing. She's usually out like a light in ten minutes. It's so great! She still gets up for night-time feedings once or twice, which I've stopped trying to fight because it isn't worth it. Because of her brace it makes it impossible to bring her to bed to feed her, so I'm usually out on the couch for those feedings.

But occasionally she'll wake up around 5:30-6:00 when it's too early to get up, so I just take off her brace and bring her to bed with me. Matthew is usually already out of bed, so there's plenty of room. After a feeding she dozes right off. Sometimes I snuggle for a while, sometimes I push her over to the other side of the bed so I can have a little more room. Either way, it's sweet. Often she'll wake up before me and start trying to pull my nose off or rip my eyeballs out, but it's still pretty cute waking up to her little face.



What I woke up to this morning.



Reason number 1,003...

why I'm ready for winter to be over!

So I can stop folding the fifty pairs of socks the four of us go through every week. Grrrr!

I think it's time to put the big kid to work again.

Ten things...

My birthday is one week from today! Yes, let's see how many times I can manage to bring that up between now and then. That's two already. It's like I'm afraid everyone's going to forget to send presents or something... which has never happened. Maybe because I nag them to death about it...

Anyway, I was thinking yesterday of all the things that occasionally make me feel old. So here are the top five signs I'm getting old.

1. Yesterday in the car turned up the radio when Celine Dion came on.
2. I often spot teenager in the mall and think to myself "what are those crazy kids wearing"? (Seriously, I once spotted a group of teenagers in the mall with tails hanging from the backs of their jeans. Like, raccoon tails.)
3. I have a bad knee, a bad shoulder, messed up ribs (they're getting better though) and as of today a bad finger. But I think I blame yoga for all of that.
4. I have grey hair. Okay, ONE grey hair, but still! I think it popped up around the time Elijah was two. Coincidence? I think not.
5. And lastly, I think Justin Beiber looks like a girl and that Glee has ruined Journey for me forever. There I said it.

And now, just to make myself feel better about being closer to thirty than to twenty, five signs I'm NOT getting older.

1. I still like to shop from the Juniors section. As long as the jeans are without raccoon tails, they usually fit me better. Maybe it's the short thing?
2. I can drink up to three cups of coffee and still sleep at night. I can even drink it right before bed and still fall asleep. Of course, that might have something to do with the baby girl that gets me up at night and not some rare-caffeine immunity.
3. I still know how to do long division. (Ha! That was a joke, sorta.)
4. I still get annoyed at my friends who are older than me when they tease me about being young, which according to them I shouldn't.
5. Finally, I own a Lady Gaga CD, that's gotta count for something, right?

Wednesday Randomness...

It's the middle of the week, so there's nothing better than a mid-week brain dump!

• This Wednesday was a little crazier than our usual Wednesday. Sophia had her nine-month appointment so that meant we all had to be up fairly early and out the door to drop Matthew off at school. Not usually a problem, but someone who shall remain nameless decided to sleep in, so were a bit more rushed than usual! (Shhh it was Sophia!)
• Matthew was surprised to actually see me concious and dressed at 7:30. Thanks honey!
• Okay, I'm not gonna lie, that is a rare occurance. In my defense I'm usually awake at that time, just not dressed, in pjs still!
• I'm having one of those days where I don't feel like working out. To make matters worse I really feel like eating! Grrrr. I don't have time today anyway.
• Okay I lied, I do have time. I just don't wanna.
• Ehhh, what else?
• Oh yeah, I need a vacation!!! It's sooo cold here today and tired of snow. Wait, have you heard that already? I am tired of snow!
• NO MORE.
• I bought Elijah his first comic book today, he loves it! Of course I had to go through it page by page before I deemed it suitable. He kept insisting it was fine and asking me to let him see it, but I wouldn't. It was fine though. I looked through a few others and they were...not. Comics have changed a lot since I was a kid.
• You know, like ten years ago! Ha!
• I'm turning 26 next week!! That's a nice age. Old enough to feel mature but not ancient. At least, in my opinion.
• PRESENTS! (If you send them now, I'm sure they will make it in time!)
• In other celebretory news, I now no longer have writer's block. (Yay!) I had been taking a self-imposed break (Read: I didn't feel like working!) from my book and have been trying really hard to get back into it. Last night I wrote five pages. Doesn't sound like much, but they were sort of awesome.
• No I don't ever think I'll be more modest...wait until I'm published, I'll be really obnoxious then!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need more coffee. Going out with two kids for the morning still wears me out!