Don't blink!

Whenever O hears M fussing, he will grab him, swoop him up into his arms, and bounce him around like he is his own.  It melts my heart when I see our first born and our last born (STOP, Yes, he is our last born so please DO NOT ask if we are trying for that girl) looking at each other, smiling, eyes fixated on each other.   I know, wholeheartedly and without a doubt that they have each others back.  Maybe not everyday, but for today.

 "Every cliche about kids is true; they grow up so quickly, you blink and they're gone, and you have to spend time with them now.  But that's a joy.  -Liam Neeson

Disclaimer: So I may have googled "cliche blink of an eye quotes" but DAMN Liam read my mind.....

I'm Sorry.....

O is becoming Mr. Know-it-ALL.  Is that what happens when they reach (almost) double digits??  O has always been the, pleaser, rule follower, easy one and  never veering from that straight line.  Lately, he has these bouts where is just a royal pain in the ass.  I'm not sure if he is making up for lost times of pushing the boundaries? But, Holy Christ I need him to stay easy...B and I deserve one easy one.

Every.Single.Day I question my parenting.  I went to bed that night, knowing that B and I must be doing something right.

Oil and Vinegar, Sugar and Spice

The middles were at each other's throats ALL day today.  ALL DAY!  It started at breakfast, because H didn't like the song S was singing.  It carried on to lunch, because we have 5 stools around our island, but they both wanted the same one.  Around 4pm (and this is when I had to make a stiff drink, no joke), they didn't want to share the damn blanket.  Please note that the blanket is  big enough to fit a king size bed, so surely it can fit two middles who together do not weigh more than 90 lbs and combined are less than 7 feet tall.  I think they managed to get through dinner? I may have had a bit of a buzz at that point.  It all went to shit at bath time.  Actually, they were getting along great, they have a blast.   It was the aftermath that had me scratching my head.  H steps out of the tub, S steps out of the tub.  Both dry off, comb their hair and all of the sudden B and I hear, "Sullivan JUST peed on ME!!"  Now, I know you are probably disgusted by this, right?  I actually giggled, quietly of course.  I mean, really??  Only in my house.  S decide to pee right on H, square shot to the back.  WHO does that?  S, that's who.  Anyone that knows S, would not be surprised by this behavior.  Needless to say, straight to bed he went.  5 minutes later, I went to check on him and my little angel was fast asleep.  I think he hung up his horns for the night.

TGIF!

Mandatory Family Meeting-TONIGHT 8PM!!!!

H asked me this AM what "doozy" meant. Let me just tell you, bedtime last night was a DOOZY! It went like this....

H wanted a piggy back ride upstairs, but S was already on Brett's shoulders. We gave H the choice, hop on daddy's back or walk up by yourself. Those were his two choices. H didn't like those choices, he wanted Brett to take S upstairs and then come back down to get him, so he chose to cry for about 10 minutes. CRY, very loudly....

S was in his bed, snug as a bug, BUT he wanted water. Instead of politely coming downstairs and asking for some, he let us know by SCREAMING on the top of his lungs, waking up baby M.

Meanwhile, O couldn't find his damn stuffed doggie. I calculated about 3000 minutes, over the past 9 years, that we've spent looking for doggie. That's 50 HOURS, if you were wondering. So, I tell him to put on his boots and check the car. He opens the front door and the dog runs out.

It's now snowing, REALLY snowing, Brett goes searching for the dog, through the neighborhood. The dog is a runner. He almost becomes possessed, when he gets out. There is no stopping him.

While O, baby M and I are waiting for Brett to come home with the dog, Baby M has a HUGE blowout, of course, why not.

By 10pm, Oliver finds doggie in the car, Brett finds Stitch roaming the neighborhood, Mac is still awake and we are out of wine.

Tonight, there will be a mandatory family meeting. On the agenda: 1. Once we say it's bedtime and you are upstairs, that's it, finito, no mas! No asking for water, no coming downstairs looking for something you forgot, no screaming from your bed, NOTHING. Mamma is DONE and Daddy needs a break.

 Please work with us, for the love of GOD!

SAHM vs. WOOTHM (work out of the home mom)

I was an outside, mixed in with a little bit of inside, working mom for about 9 years of my kids lives. Our 3 oldest boys all started daycare at 12 weeks of age.  I remember, with each one, it got easier to drop them off that day and head into the office.  By the 3rd, I was ready to get back to the office and sit down with a HOT cup of coffee, that was actually still hot as I finished the last drop.  As a working mom, I kind of felt like a warrior, a bad ass.  I prided myself in, having structure in our house, a hot meal on the table every night (okay, there may have been some takeout), clean floors (so maybe I hired someone to keep them that way) and the ability to provide the extras to my family given a dual income.

For the past year and a half, I've been a SAHM.  Lately, I've been struggling with this.  Don't get me wrong, I love the time with my boys.  However, the amount of time I spend in leggings, no makeup, a nursing bra and my hair in a bun has FAR exceeded the time I've spent actually putting on a pair of cute jeans and washing my hair....that happens maybe once a week.  I miss my work friends.  I miss using my brain for something other than 4th grade math and balancing the check book.

So, today, I woke up, dropped 3 of the boys off at school, nursed 1 back to sleep and took a shower...all before 9.  Unheard of, a bit of a struggle, but I had a plan!  I squeezed into a pair of jeans...barely, and put on some makeup, it felt good.  That's kind of sad.  What's even more sad, is when I went to pick up S at school, I think think I may have looked unrecognizable to the other moms.  Instead of my typical dis shoveled look, I actually looked...somewhat put together (until I came home and realized my nursing bra was totally undone from feeding M before we left).  Baby steps......

I don't know what the perfect scenerio would be for me?  Ideally, I would love to become a yoga teacher at night, while working at Lululemon during the day to get a sweet discount on some cute yoga clothes, but you know, that's proably not going to happen.

So today, I will love the life I lead, embrace this time with my kids (which is proving to be going by WAY too fast), try not to fall asleep before 10pm and love myself, love myself, love myself, must remember to love myself.  Namaste