A story about why I'm the worst blogger.

A story about why I'm the worst blogger.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Every single day I have high hopes of getting a blog post or two in. In my wildest dreams, I schedule them out a week in advance. And then my day goes something like this...

Wake up at 6:30 when Phillip wakes up. Feed him a go-go squeeze and bring him to bed with me and hope and hope and hope he will please go back to sleep for a little bit. Because, you guys. I do not get up before the sun. That is the worst thing ever. I can get up so much earlier in the summer (I'm so serious). But it's still winter and still dark at 6:30 and so still I hope Phillip will go back to sleep. Some mornings I'm lucky and he does and we both sleep 45 more minutes. Some days I'm not so lucky and once it's the teensiest bit light I drag myself out of bed so Phillip will stop climbing all over/hitting/poking Jack & Daddy because it's not fair for nobody to get any sleep ha.

On a really, really good (and rare) day, I'll get 20 minutes in on my exercise bike before Phillip's pleas (read: angry screams) for breakfast force me off the bike and straight to mom-duties for the rest of the day.

Feed breakfast to the baby who swipes everything off the table and thinks it's hilarious sometimes while simultaneously getting Jack's mini wheats (oh, wait. change of plans. now he wants oatmeal like phillip) in the right color bowl with the right color spoon with the right TV show on (when will the kid learn I don't schedule Disney Channel's programs?! - I'm sorry, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is not. on. right. now.) ... and I'm sometimes also making T's lunch during all this commotion. While telling this little baby inside of me (and my angry, growling tummy) ... I will feed you, too. Patience!

Clean up breakfast and any food/drink that was swiped to the floor by monster baby. Promise self I will vacuum crumbs today. It really will be today. I've said that every day for the last seven days.

Hop in shower. Jack throws a fit because he wants me to play instead. Phillip cries because he wants to be held. I tune it all out for five minutes of relaxation under the warm water ... or until one of them swipes the curtain open over and over again demanding my attention. The latter happens more often.

Promise Jack I will play cars as soon as I get dressed, fix my hair, and do my makeup. He generally goes on to play by himself while he waits. Phillip gets a nap. I dress. Do my makeup. Start fixing my hair. Jack comes in. "Mommy what are you doing? Play cars now?" Finish my hair in a hurry (this is my excuse for any time you see that it looks awful). Fulfill my promise and play cars. Oh, but I only play with the purple one because that's the "girl car" and the only one I'm allowed to touch.

Break little Jack's heart when I tell him I have to start the laundry. Or vacuum. Or clean the bathrooms. Or make the beds. Or clean the playroom (again). Or...okay, you get it.  Phillip wakes up seconds into my chores and clings to my leg while I try to get something done.

Suddenly it's already time for lunch. Didn't we just do breakfast? Fix lunch for a starving baby and a toddler who can't make up his mind for what he wants to eat. And again tell that baby and my own tummy...I will feed you, too. Patience! Repeat breakfast scene.

COORDINATED NAP TIME. It works out some days.

As soon as both boys are down I look at my to-do list and suddenly feel so overwhelmed with exhaustion it's all I can do to make myself a quick lunch, scarf it down and drag myself to the couch for what I hope will be a decent nap. Lay down and close my eyes and fall asleep immediately. I wish. Instead I spend several minutes worrying that the second I close my eyes one child or the other will wake up and interrupt my almost-nap which is worse than no nap amiright? By the time I can finally convince myself to just go to sleep my worries all come true and someone (usually Phillip) starts crying. Up I go.

Repeat clingy baby (I swear he doesn't nap long enough, but I can't seem to fix it. All ideas and advice welcome). Do as many chores as possible with baby on hip and one free hand. Jack wakes up and begs and begs and begs for me to play and so I do. Because they're only little once, right? And plus he is just so cute and playing with him is always fun even if it does mean I can't get even a quarter of my to-do list to-done. So we play cars. And baseball. And swords. And bowling. And...can you tell I have a boy?

Time for dinner! All we do is eat! Repeat breakfast and lunch except the meal inevitably takes longer to make. Especially during the witching hour. Gosh, I hate the witching hour.

Time for baths and jammies and teeth-brushing which all take far longer than you'd think they should. And suddenly, the baby is in bed for the night. The toddler still wants me to play but usually he gives in to "helping" with chores and we try to finish at least half the to-do list.

If Jack had a bedtime, this would probably be it. But let's be honest. By the end of the day, I'm too tired to think about a bedtime routine for him and really don't want to fight the bedtime tears so he just doesn't have a bedtime and goes to bed when I do.

I glance at the clock and it's somehow 10pm already?! Where does the time go?! Jack easily goes to bed with a promise of getting to sleep in mommy's bed. I hurry and tidy the playroom while the monsters aren't there to destroy it within seconds.

And then I sit in bed by an almost-sleeping Jack with my journal/computer/bills to pay/budget to track/anything else that really does need to be done. He's out. I catch up on what I can and then think "NOW I CAN BLOG!" And then I hit "new post" and stare at the blank "compose" box and it's just all too much. Editing pictures, putting them on the computer, uploading them to blogger, writing something clever, adjusting photo locations. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. And I'm just exhausted in general. I'm telling you that the second trimester energy burst has not at all come true for me in round 3. At all.  And so instead of blogging, I close my laptop and promise myself I'll do it tomorrow.

Now scroll allllll the way back up to the top and read the whole thing again. That's what tomorrow is going to be like. Welcome to Motherhood (+ a husband stolen away by accounting busy season).

And that is why I'm the worst blogger.

I wouldn't change one thing (except for busy season).

PS. You can expect me here tomorrow. I promised myself.

xoxo

Read more »

Phillip is ONE!

Phillip is ONE!

Monday, January 26, 2015

I can't even believe my baby is one! He is still often referred to as "Baby" around here but he is proving to us every day that he is leaving the babyhood and becoming a little toddler! Part of me says "noooo!" but the other part is so excited for each new stage and to see him learn & grow! On to a few things about our sweet Phillip at one year old!

-He is 18lb 11oz (5%) and 29" long (25%). He's so much smaller than Jack Jack who was 20lb at 6 months ha!

-He is generally a really happy baby and definitely a people-lover. He will smile at just about anybody he sees and is the biggest flirt.

-He is SO energetic. I swear he never runs out of energy! He is into everything and you have to keep a close eye on him at all times or else he will for sure get into trouble! He's a pro at unrolling the toilet paper rolls and pulling everything out of any cabinets or drawers that do not have baby locks.

-Master climber. I find this little one climbing on everything!

-Started walking about two weeks before his first birthday and now he is everywhere! Sometimes he tries to run after Jack but his little feet can't keep up so he is often face-planting haha

-He can't decide if he's a mama's boy or daddy's boy. He is back and forth not just on the daily but by the minute! He'll really want mama but then suddenly he is whining and desperately reaching for daddy or vice-versa. I guess it's good to know he really loves us both!

-Working on his 8th tooth and also getting his one-year molars. Those things are a beast.

-Almost sleeps through the night. He does wake up once or twice a night just because he can't find his binky. I stumble in and replace it and he's out like a light within seconds.

-Considering what months 3-9 were like, it's amazing that I'm telling you this but: he is the easiest baby to put down for bed (and usually naps, too). We just give him his pacifier and a stuffed animal, turn on his light/sound machine (which plays a lullaby all night), give him a kiss, and lay him in the crib. He rolls right over onto his tummy and goes right to sleep! I swear by The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight. Changed my life, I'm serious.

-Sleeps 6:30-6:30. I generally bring him into bed with me when he wakes up at 6:30am and feed him a Go-Go Squeeze and then he is back out for another hour or so.

-Finished nursing about two weeks before his first birthday (right around when he started walking!).

-Says "mama," "dada," and "no no no." If you ask him where Jack is he will find him and point to him. He can clap, wave (old news, old news but still including!), smack his lips and blow raspberries...all on command. Does that make it sound like he's a dog? Haha!

-We swear he says "what's that?" but I'm still in denial as he has been saying it since about 9 months old! He points at everything and clear as day it sounds like "what's that?" (always whispered ha!) but I still feel like he is so young to be saying something as advanced as that so who knows!

-He is so, so sensitive and just a stern voice can bring him to tears very fast! Both of my boys have been this way and we have to be very careful when we correct behaviors to be very soft-spoken and sensitive otherwise they will burst into tears! He also has the saddest sad face you have ever seen!

-He is so patient with Jack who plays "swords" with him (read: beats him with the sword ha) and rides him like a horsey while saying "giddy, up horsey! yee-haw!"

-He used to get called a girl every single time we went out but it has been at least two weeks since we've heard that so fingers crossed he has maybe passed his girl look-alike stage?! Haha!

-He thinks Jack is the funniest person on the planet. We love having two little boys so close in age!
-Bluest blue eyes.
-Still has a reddish tint to his blonde hair, although we don't get comments on it nearly as often as we used to.
-The majority of people say he looks like Jack & Daddy but ask anyone in the family and they will all tell you they don't think so! I don't know who I think he looks like!

Happy birthday, Baby! You have brought so much joy into our lives and home and we cannot even imagine life without you in it! Everyone around here absolutely adores you :) We sure love you!

Read more »

A little black & white for your Friday night.

A little black & white for your Friday night.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Basically all my pictures that didn't look very good in color (read: i stink at taking pictures in good lighting).

^so sick! so sad!^

"daddy, what did you get?"

hiiiii, jai! (more on this in tomorrow's post!)

^cousins make the best friends^

^a birthday at the movie theater!^

hiiii, kelli.

happy birthday to yours truly!

messy room + 14? week baby bump.

a little boy just waiting to facetime daddy.

we hate when daddy has to go out of town.

i took both babies to my 15 week prenatal appointment thinking i would be in & out in no time and they would be perfectly well-behaved. wrong. wrong.

the doctor wanted to do an ultrasound (i also had one at 9 weeks) instead of listening to the heartbeat by doppler since the baby is still so small. i've never had an OB opt for ultrasound before even trying the doppler this far along. buuut not complaining. an extra chance to see the baby? OKAY! however. this meant a very, very long wait for our turn to go into the ultrasound room which meant a very wiggly & exhausted baby. 

but you guys. my doctor is seriously the best. and she kept coming in to check on us and apologizing for the long wait. and then she came in and held Phillip and could tell he was getting so antsy and so she took the boys to her office and showed them around. she let them touch all her little knick-knacks sitting around and i had to bend over to pick my jaw up off the floor because seriously what doctors do stuff like that anymore?! i'm seriously just amazed by her every time i go in.

popcorn & movie dates have become a regular thing at our house since daddy is in busy season.

90% of the time we watch Planes unless I can somehow convince my 2-year-old date to switch it up every once in awhile.

these rain gutters now serve as bookshelves in our (newly designed! - coming to the blog soon!) playroom but for one night Jack was pretty sure they were new racetracks and tunnels. imagination at its finest.

 no explanation needed.

see you here tomorrow for a christmas day post! xoxo

Read more »

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve!

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

CHRISTMAS EVE. I know, it was weeks ago but better late than never! We started the day off by making sugar cookies at my parents' house in the late morning. We might have to make this a tradition. This year Jack was only interested in cutting & decorating for a grand total of three minutes but I'm thinking in future years he will love it!

^^ there are almost never true candid photos of me & the boys because T just isn't a picture-taker and so a special thanks to my dad for capturing this moment with Jack Jack!

Before heading to the annual Wallace family Christmas Eve party that night (which I have exactly zero pictures of), we let the boys open their Christmas Eve presents (always a book - or in this year's case, they both got a set of books!).  Jack was pretty excited to finally get to open one of the presents from under the tree!

We actually bought these Cars books back in October while we were at Disneyland because I knew they would be perfect for his Christmas Eve book present! He immediately wanted Daddy to read him all four of them.

I promise that little Phillip was with us on Christmas Eve all day. Somehow he just didn't make a presence in any of my pictures ha! I think he was napping during the sugar cookie making and I know I took pictures of him opening his books (If You Gave a Mouse a Cookie-type books set!) but either they didn't turn out and I deleted them or they are missing. Because they are not on the computer haha. But he was there! And he opened his book present! And he liked it...for about two seconds before something else was more interesting haha!

After our Christmas Eve party we came home and put the boys to bed and Santa Claus came not much later! We didn't do any milk/cookies or reindeer food this year because the boys were beat (who am I kidding - so were we!) and they wouldn't really understand anyway. Plus I think Santa got his fill of cookies & milk at all the other houses :) Next year, Santa!

I'm pretty sure I'm more giddy at Christmas now than I ever was as a child! It is SO FUN to wait to see your kids' reactions to their presents! I seriously could not wait for Christmas morning to come! Stay tuned for Christmas Day post coming soon!

PS Santa sure did make quite a ruckus while putting out Phillip's Little People toys (which all make sounds with no volume control!) but luckily no little children were awakened :)

xoxo

Read more »