Pardon the Interruption

I am moving... new name, new space and new writing. Hold tight and I will be back soon!

Is it a Phase? Please say YES!

I was out on Saturday night and a friend told me she reads my blog and it helps to her keep perspective on life with two small kids.  I think we all need this at some point. Doesn't matter if I give the perspective or your mom does or twitter.  Parents need perspective.  So, in an effort to keep it real I am going to keep it real about Brady and Cate right now.  Please, don’t interpret this as me complaining. I know if these are my worries that life is pretty good.  Again, I am just keeping it real.

Cate our Earlybird

Ever since we let Cate cry it out at six months, she has been a wicked (awesome) nighttime sleeper.  12 hours sometimes even 12.5 hours at night. It has been glorious.  The weekends were actually even more amazing because no one was getting up before seven.  Until recently.  All of sudden going to bed is a struggle no matter if we put her down early, same time or later.  Sometimes she is awake in her crib getting settled for an hour- playing with her blankets and loveys and rolling around.   More often than not, she stands screaming bloody murder and after 3-4 trips up there she will finally settle down. But here is the worst part.  She is waking up around 5:45am daily. Which is torture, and inhumane and causing me to be full of piss and vinegar because I thrive on sleep and routines which are out of whack right now. I can’t figure out what is causing it. She is not napping any longer than she used to. So what gives?

Brady Soft and Warm

Brady to this point has never cared about clothes.  And then he started caring about what was on his shirts. I knew it was coming at some point so we embraced it. Super heroes.  Turtles.  Dinosaurs.  Transformers.  Whatever.  I don’t love any of it but we have allowed him to pick his shirt and don’t say no unless he gets it out of his hamper in which case it is dirty and recently been worn.  Which he would do most days if we let him.  The problem is the bottoms.  Or pants.  Or shorts.  He started telling us he wanted soft pants. Sweatpants is what he was asking for.   But not just any.  The fleece ones.  And when we would try warm up pants or cargo pants he would adamantly say no, kick and scream, take them off.  And then he added warm pants. He said his pants were cold.  Too cold.  And when we can’t deliver on that, he throws a tantrum that I can’t describe. He screams and flails and the fear in his eyes is real.  He refuses to wear them. He wardrobe is dwindling and it is an epic struggle daily.  The other day he was sobbing with real tears because the pants weren't warm enough.  And I was tired and sad because I know that he doesn't get it or even really know.  But to watch him be that upset daily kills me.  I know it is sensory driven but I am wondering what gives? 

Are these phases? Please say yes.

Weekend Recap- Three Days Later

This past weekend was just what I needed to get out of whatever funk I was in last week.

Friday night was dinner with a girlfriend I cherish and the weather- the fact that the windows in the entire front of the restaurant were open was enough to make me smile.

Saturday we woke up to brilliant sunshine even if it was a bit early for our liking.

We watched as the largest of many trees in our yard was cut down. Poor thing was huge but dead and such a hazard to the house I am finally calling my home. It was entertainment for hours as we watched her thud in our yard and shake our house when she was finally laid to rest.

A visit from Empire carpet and the electrician followed by helping our neighbors recover their things from their flooded home ended our morning. Our kids took wicked (i.e. long) naps and we played at the park and had an awesome dinner courtesy of Glenn and the grill. Glenn and I watched “Zero Dark Thirty”.  So good…but yet so sad in so many ways. I am sort of obsessed with Navy SEALS right now.

Sunday we had breakfast with my parents at Walker Brothers and spent a good portion of the day doing things around the house, playing, riding bikes and going for a jog and working in our yard.

The thing is that the sun shined all weekend long. And that is necessary. And makes anything better. 

It's Friday...

My fingers start to type and quickly I hit delete. I try to form a coherent thought on the screen but find myself closing my laptop or hitting delete. I stare at the nothingness on my screen. Blank screen means my thoughts are scattered, complicated and more than likely not appropriate for a place that I was reminded in school this week is permanent otherwise known as the internet. In case you are wondering my Business Law kids are watching "The Social Network" as we learn about intellectual property law. 

So, instead I will give you some tidbits and then maybe next week I will be back to blogging and ready to share all the thoughts swimming in my head.

And plus also, I was going to share some pics of the kids from last weekend outside but in true fashion of this week, my memory card is in my camera right now so all I have are IG pics. 

~ I started reading “Lean In”. Like I ordered a physical book that has real pages and is not just on my iPad.  That is refreshing. I like seeing it on my nightstand. I like flipping pages and being able to go back easily and read things again. I will reserve my comments about the book for a later post.

~ Cate started at daycare this week with Brady. There is nothing harder to look at than pictures of her all day carrying her coat and her teachers reporting that she keeps asking “go bye bye peas” “mama bye bye now?” My mama guilt on this one is heavy.

~ I have recently spent a lot of time questioning what I believe in as a teacher/coach. I am in a situation I never thought I would be one. One that will result in me giving up something I love to take a stand for something I truly believe in. Change is hard. And this one will sting.

~ We are having a tree taken out this weekend. We have been testing fate with this dead tree and it is time. The $1350 price tag stings. Really it does. But I have a feeling it may entertain our kids for hours.

~ This weekend looks perfect and I truly believe nice weather makes everything better. We have a toy sanitizing party for our neighbors that lost everything in the flood, dinner with a friend, a visit from my parents and lots of family time. Hoping this will get my mind clear.

~ I can’t stop listening to the Cruise Remix by Flordia Georiga Line and Nelly. It makes me smile.

How was your week friends?

Welcome to the Suburbs Storm Style

We had seen on the weather reports that like every other day this spring we were in for rain this week. I didn't think much of it except to make a snarky comment to Glenn about our old house needing an arc if it was going to rain as much as they said it was.  But our new house is high on the street, has a sump up and a back-up and to this point has not given us reason to worry about a little rain. Little was not the right word. 

It started raining on Wednesday… most of the day on and off.  It was a tranquil steady rain that made you want to curl up with a hot drink and a book and watch it come down.  By dinner time it was really raining. We slept through the storm on Wednesday night with the exception of the thunder and lightning that woke me up but not anyone else in our house.  I got in the shower on Thursday morning and thought nothing of the rain the night before. I only kept thinking how wet I was going to get taking Brady in to preschool.  

My phone started buzzing at 6:15 with my mom asking if we could talk. Still not thinking anything I called her to hear that my brother’s house was flooded in Elmhurst, my brother was in D.C. and my dad was on his way from Bloomington to help my sister in law. At that point, I looked at Glenn with panic in my voice and told him to check the basement. He did and there was a SMALL puddle seeping in.

Brady and I left to go to school and then I saw this.

I put the car in reverse knowing Glenn’s car would not make it through the water. We shuttled our nanny and her son through the water in our SUV and then the three of us set off for preschool, school and work. It took us a long time, lots of rerouting and what we saw brought tears to my eyes. Homes submerged that looked they were floating. And on top of it all the rain was not stopping.

After getting to school, it was decided a few minutes later to cancel.  The daycare was closing. Glenn left work, we picked up Brady and headed home. To find this.

The only route to and from our house was a kayak. 

I learned today that my street and neighbors are amazing, even the ones that have lost everything.

So thank you suburbs and mother nature. For teaching me a couple of lessons- that my neighbors are fighters and my friends and that my sump pump is the new love of my husband's life. 

And even after a storm, beauty shows up. Hello pretty deer looking for dry land. And oh, snowflakes you can go away anytime. 

Happy Weekend Friends.

Friday Already

Happy Friday friends! For some reasons the weeks just keep going by and before I know it summer is going to be here and life is going to be totally different. If we could just Mother Nature the memo that it is supposed to be spring not winter I think I could start smelling the BBQ grill, see the breeze ripple papers on our island with the windows open and see my kids running thru the yard as the sun starts its slow descent for the night. Here are some of the million thoughts racing in my head as the week ends.

~I am questioning what is up with Cate right now. She is fussy. Really fussy. She is 19 months old. She shouldn’t be right? Why? Why does she cry all of the time? Why does she want to be held all of the time? Why are simple things like brushing her teeth resulting in full blown tears and screaming? What is she needing or not getting at some point each day? My original instinct questioned if she was sick or not. Could be. But something just doesn’t seem right. Yes, she is strong willed and verbal.  Am I struggling with this because we never dealt with until now? I will take any suggestions or things to try.  Is it something we should take her to the doctor for? Is it normal? Looking for anything here people which could include a 12 pack of beer.

~ I am contemplating change. Change for me. Vague I know. But, I keep thinking about what change means for me, for my husband and for my kids. We are finding things are barely but starting to get easier. And with a change comes uncertainty, new routines, new roles and a new life.  I have spent a lot of time this week lying awake at night trying to decide at my core what I want, what I need and what I risks I am willing to take and I am just not sure. 

~ Do you sell things on Craigslist? I do. I get in these moods to sell all things in our house and I do. I sell anything I can and secretly do the touchdown dance the minute I have the cash in my hand from a sale. I buy nothing to this point on Craigslist but I just keep thinking that we have nice stuff in our house and even though I don’t want it anymore someone might.   Am I wrong? Is there something I should be buying off Craigslist?

~Lastly, this is TMI for some of you but I learned an important lesson yesterday when I was conditioning with the freshmen softball team. After two kids, jump roping just doesn’t work. It just doesn’t. Use your imagination and then know I sprinted to the bathroom….

Have a great weekend. We have no plans other than a dinner date tomorrow night. Hoping for some spring cleaning, relaxing, good food and some sleep! How about you? 

Weekend in Review

This weekend was good. Just good. I haven’t been good at coming to this space and writing.  But I thought you deserved to see a tiny peek in to our lives.  I have been living and my priority has shifted to be present whenever possible because as a working mom my time is so limited with my kids. So, hence less writing and sharing.

Friday night we spent the early part of the evening at a happy hour with friends. My friends and Brady’s friends. I am so lucky that my kid has picked friends whose parents I really enjoy spending time with… we drink, we talk, we laugh and we watch as our kids interact and love each other.

15 years from now I hope they are still friends like this. 

Saturday I spent the day coaching in the morning, a birthday party for one of Brady’s friends in the afternoon at a glow in the dark bowling alley (super cute) and proceeded to have the same friends and more back at our house for some playing, pizza and the Final Four games.

Right after this he caught a fly ball unplanned. 

Sunday we regrouped for the week.  I did 19 loads of laundry from Friday to Sunday.  I cleaned out closets.  We went to the grocery store. We went to the park. We got the grill out for dinner. I took a run in the sunshine. We played. We picked up PILES upon PILES of deer poop in our backyard. (Talk about a smack in the face from the suburbs.)

Her lashes are ridiculous

Lululemon and I are still friends...

I went to bed last night exhausted but full. Content but wanting more. Grateful but ready to tackle the week. I went to bed thinking that this weekend was good. Really good. I am ready for you Monday.