about to snap

I am about to snap. I am on the verge of having a complete meltdown at the ripe age of 34. I have been spending a lot of time on my knees today praying to my God because I need His help. This house project is going to put me over the edge. And I know I will look back on this blog 10 years from now and laugh at how worked up I got about this, but today ain't that day.

We are on the brink of a battle with getting the termite damage repaired, they are trying to tell us one thing and we are saying another. And now we find out there are 4 windows that have damage and need to be replaced...how was this missed last week when they were working on the other damage? But I looked at them and they are rotted. When it rains it pours and I am on the verge.

To top it off, I had to pick up The Mayor early from school today because he was so upset and wouldn't stop crying. Thankfully both kids are napping and I am enjoying a moment of peace. My dad is on his way to evaluate the termite damage and give me his professional and fatherly opinion.

It's 5:00 somewhere, right?

when will this be over?

Over a week and a half ago we started the process of getting the house repaired so the exterior could be painted. And I feel like this project is never going to end. About 4 days into working on the home, replacing rotted trim and facia boards, they found some termite damage around a window. We have had 2 guys from our pest control come out and confirm the damage, but the weasel of a supervisor is playing the "let's treat your house but not repair the damage because it hasn't affected the structural stability of your home" game and we are playing the "we don't care if the structure is sound, we want the damage repaired and the house restored to it's original condition and that is why we pay you each month" game. You know who is going to win? We are. But how long is it going to take to get the repairs done so we can get our house painted?

The painters are coming out tomorrow to finalize the last of their repairs and they are eager to paint but I don't want them painting until all the repairs for the termite damage are done. I feel like by Christmas I will be enjoying the beauty of my new exterior.

A nice distraction today was the weather. Finally, a day where the highs did not get out of the 80s. And low 80s at that. We celebrated by going to a local water fountain with our buddies. The Mayor had a great time drinking the disgusting chlorinated water and being defiant every single time I asked him not to consume the fountain water. What is it with this age and their fascination with drinking pool and bath water? So nasty, but at least his insides are clean from all the chlorine. A picnic lunch and some more play time rounded out the early afternoon then we scurried home for naps. The evening is now coming close to an end and we are less than an hour from both kiddos being down for the night. Hallelujah!

picnic lunch with our friends

Love Bug...this is how she spends most of our outdoor play dates. Not too much longer sweet girl and you will be free to roam...

the incredible shrinking father

This blog is usually dedicated to our life with our two munchkins, but what kind of wife would I be if I didn't dedicate today's blog to my husband. D, at one point, got up to 262 pounds. To his credit, it was after one heck of a major surgery...so major he was in the hospital for 6 days and unable to do any type of exercise for several months. So naturally the weight piled on. When The Mayor was born in October 2007, D was between 250 and 260 pounds. He dropped almost 30 pounds just by dieting alone, cutting back on portions and eliminating sweets. By the time Love Bug was born in March 2010, D was down to 230 pounds. 5 1/2 months later, he is now 179 pounds. He is smaller than he was when he graduated high school; in fact, he is about the weight he was when he was a sophomore in high school. He went from wearing a size 38 inch pant and extra-large shirts to wearing a size 32 inch pant and medium shirts. And to top if off, he is racing in his first triathlon in October. We are so proud of him. He is a wonderful role model to our kids and an inspiration to me. He has me doing a workout program that I wouldn't have even attempted to do a few months ago. Hopefully, soon, I will be posting before and after pictures of myself on here. But for now here is our incredible shrinking daddy, 83 pounds lighter!

October 2007 - 260 pounds

March 2010 - 230 pounds

August 2010 - 179 pounds!

yeah baby!

let the weekend fun begin

D came home from work early and the fun has already begun. Love Bug and The Mayor spent the entire evening playing together (well, as much as she can possibly "play") but she was absolutely entertained by her brother. The laughs continued all the way to bed time and will hopefully keep on going through the weekend. The weatherman promises temperatures in the 70s and 80s and being that almost every day this summer has been well over 90, you bet we will be spending a lot of time in the sun.

*I wish you could see all of Love Bug's face in the picture, her smile was huge and her laugh was even bigger.

too fast

Tonight we packed up Love Bug's car seat carrier. And I did so with tears brimming up in my eyes. It's the first part of her childhood that has been boxed up forever. The first thing, with the exception of clothes, she has outgrown. And since our family is complete and we do not plan on having anymore children, it is a phase in our life completely done. We will never have another child of our own in a car seat carrier. It is just going by way too fast.

The Mayor is in preschool and Love Bug is in her big girl car seat...life is going by so quickly. I wish I knew how to put time in a bottle.

chaos

I can't believe it is already Tuesday afternoon. I have no idea where the weekend and the beginning of this week have gone. I haven't even gotten the camera out in the past few days...

This weekend was jammed pack with shopping for D (he has lost almost 80 pounds since he was at his heaviest...40 of those have been just since Love Bug has been born.) He looks amazing, but his new look requires a new wardrobe. He is now smaller than he was in high school...if only those words could come out of my own mouth! The Mayor had another birthday party to go to, D had a softball game, church, lunch with the family, running errands...time just flew by.

Monday D stayed home from work to handle the work being done on our home. He watched Love Bug while I took The Mayor to a water park with one his buddies. They had the best time, and this park is genius. Totally geared for kids his age with rubberized flooring at the bottom of the pool to ensure no scraped knees or feet. Little slides that land in 1 foot of water, water jets, water sprayers, misters, etc...they thought of everything.

Today has been just as crazy. The Mayor had school, Love Bug went to Meega's, I went grocery shopping, had a tennis lesson, came home to deal with the work being done on our house...I tell you what, if we build the next house we live in, there will not be one piece of wood on it. Just about every piece of wood trim on our home is rotted. The repairs are astronomical! But if we are going to paint our house and get it fixed up, gotta do it the right way.

Fingers crossed the kids stay sound asleep while the painters bang away outside repairing the house. Pictures will be posted once the house is complete...can't wait!

my girl

This little beauty is my heart. I love her, and she makes me so happy. She is now 5 months old and so full of life. She is at the age where she can grasp at items and hold on to toys (most of which almost always end up in her mouth). She loves to laugh and she will crack up endlessly at her brother. When he walks into the room, her face lights up and she will follow him with her eyes. I just know they are going to be best friends.

This morning I finally went into her room at 10:30 to wake her up because I had not heard a peep from her room all morning, but when I walked in she was already awake. She was just holding onto her feet and looking around her room. I have no idea how long she had been like that. I thought she was just exhausted from the crazy week we have had and decided to sleep extra long, but she was just content to hang out in her crib. She is like this almost every morning. Even mornings when I do have to wake her up, she will just open her eyes and give me the biggest smile. I'm not sure what I did to deserve her but I thank God for blessing me with such a wonderful daughter.

It's so funny. I was never really aware of the hole left in my heart after losing my mother until I had children. I guess I was so used to the emptiness I felt that I considered it normal. But since the birth of my children, the hole has been closed and I now know that this is how normal is, this is what I should be feeling. I have never in my life had such a sense of contentment. I long for nothing. Because everything I ever needed is under this roof.

school days

This morning started exactly as I knew it would. The Mayor had to be woken up to get our day started. Why is it when you want your child to sleep in they wake up early, but when you need them to wake up at their usual time because you have somewhere to be, all of a sudden they are sleeping like a 16 year old boy. A little after 8:00, we walked into his bedroom and he was still sleeping soundly, and he was not happy to be woken up from his slumber. And for the first time in the 2 years and 9 1/2 months The Mayor has been on this Earth, that boy climbed back into bed, covered himself up and told me he wanted to go back "nite nite". I just laughed...of course you do.

After a small battle, he finally agreed to be changed into his clothes and we were off downstairs for breakfast. Of course, he didn't want to eat. He wanted to play. So after I fed Love Bug, we loaded up in the car to drop Love Bug at Meega's house and then off to school. We had to bribe The Mayor just to get him to eat his breakfast in the car. I am not sure what was going on with him today...maybe he was nervous? But I don't think he really understood what school was and what exactly was going to happen...who knows.

I fought back tears while we pulled into the parking lot. And I really fought back tears while I watched The Mayor and D walk side by side into the school. We made our way through the crowded halls of parents and kids and made our way to his classroom. And my child, the one who still cries when we drop him off at church nursery, ran right into his classroom and started playing. I didn't even get to kiss him and tell him good-bye.

D and I watched him play from the window in the hall that looks into his classroom and I just couldn't believe my little boy was in his classroom playing and he didn't even cry for me. We ended up standing in the hall too long because he noticed us watching him...then he started crying. Which I will admit, made me feel good. He hadn't completely forgotten about me! D and I bolted out of the school and luckily ran into a friend of mine who agreed to go peek in on his class and came back to tell me he had already stopped crying and was back playing.

he immediately ran into his classroom and went right to this table and started playing

playing with playdough

1:00 could not have gotten here fast enough. I was so eager to go get my boy. And we got a great report from his teacher. She said he did great and was all boy! He was non-stop playing, and it was obvious. He was so tired. He came home and slept for 3 hours. So happy tomorrow isn't a school day and I get my boy all to myself. And if this has to be hard on someone, I would much rather it be me than him. Thank goodness I still have my sweet Love Bug to cuddle with. I do not know what I am going to do when she goes to preschool. Luckily I have a few years before I need to worry about that.

of course we went out for ice cream after dinner to celebrate a great first day at school

that's my boy!

to bed a toddler, awakes a preschooler

The Mayor is safe and snug in his bed and went into it a toddler. Tomorrow he will wake up and be a preschooler. This is exciting and sad all at the same time, for me. It dawned on me today that starting tomorrow and continuing through the rest of his life that he lives under this roof, he is going to be in school. He isn't going to be my stay-at-home baby 24/7 anymore. He will be in a classroom with other kids and teachers, people I don't even know yet, and I won't know what he is doing.

I wonder if it is too late to get his tuition back...

a new beginning

We are at a huge turning point in our family...the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. The Mayor is about to transition from toddler to preschooler. With his first day of preschool just 2 days away (yes, I have stocked up on my kleenex in anticipation), he had his "meet the teacher" at his school today. We have been talking up his school and reminding him of his teacher's name for the past several days. He ran into that school so excited until we got to his classroom. Then the brakes came on and he stopped at the door, turned around and buried his head in my leg. So I took the lead, went into his room and talked about all the fun toys in this room and he reluctantly decided to follow. Then he saw the toys...

The fear seemed to immediately disappear. He played with the plastic food, then went to the toy cars, then made his way to the legos and then stumbled over to the playdough table. He thought the playdough was awesome. He has never seen the stuff before and I believe playdough will now make its way onto his birthday or Christmas wish list.

The true test will be Thursday morning when we walk him to his classroom and say goodbye. I am going to do everything in my power to keep the tears from falling until I have cleared his classroom door. No need in having both of us melting down in his class...

family

It really just doesn't get any better than this.

sweet cousins

daddy, Love Bug and The Mayor playing "airplane"

touch-a-truck

This morning we loaded up and headed to a park in Alpharetta for Touch-a-Truck. Where firetrucks, moving trucks, ambulances, delivery trucks, semi-trucks, police cars, tractors, mini-trains...well you name it kind of truck and it was there, were parked in a section of the park and kids could climb in, on and all around them. It was a blast. And thank goodness it was overcast. We were only there 10 minutes before we were all drenched with sweat because it was so humid...I couldn't imagine what it would have been like had the sun been shining.

Sweet Love Bug slept almost the entire time...and that is no small feat considering it was wall-to-wall people and trucks and do you know what happens when little boys get in the driver's seat of a truck? They honk the horn. And not once...they honk it over and over again and some of them just lay on the horn until one of their parents finally says "enough"! Luckily, The Mayor was more irritated with the horn then impressed with it. Half of the time he had his hands over his ears while waiting in line for the next truck.

Tonight is date night for me and D. Much needed too considering we haven't been out just the two of us since before Love Bug was born. Mamie and PopPop are going to watch both kids tonight. Big deal too considering this will be the first time Love Bug has spent the night out. I am already worried about it, but I am sure they will both have a blast. And if not, we are only 3 miles away.

say cheese

We bought this toy camera for The Mayor about 2 years ago, and it probably hasn't been played with in about 1 year and 11 months. But what is old is now new again and for the past 3 days this camera has not left The Mayor's side. He has slept with it, eaten meals with it and walks around the house saying "say cheese" while taking your picture. He thinks the lens is where you have to look to take the picture, so he has been taking pictures backwards on it for the past 3 days. If you turn it around and show him the proper way to take pictures, he looks at you like you have 2 heads, turns it around and says "say cheese". And then he shows you the back of the camera where the picture would normally show up and says "so cute". If he keeps up this passion for photography, he will be getting a real camera for his birthday.

so happy

a moment

Being a parent is hard work. Anyone with kids can tell you that. And although I had always wanted nothing more than to be a stay-at-home mother, nobody told me it was going to be like this. It is 24/7 with very little downtime...especially the older your children become. Love Bug is easy, it is The Mayor who keeps me on my toes. And I'm not going to lie, of course I love my children, but there are some days I long to be alone on a beach somewhere with no responsibilities...or to be completely honest, just laying on a couch with mindless TV on and no interruptions. But this morning something happened that reminded me why I should be on my knees thanking the good Lord that we are afforded the opportunity for me to stay at home.

Around 4AM I heard The Mayor crying. I knew something was wrong when the crying continued for 15 minutes. When I went in there, he was sitting up and told me his "beebo" hurt*. He lifted up his shirt and was pointing to his bellybutton. I cuddled with him for awhile and put him back to bed. 20 minutes later, he was crying again complaining his "beebo" hurt. Fearful he was going to vomit due to some viruses going around, I decided to stay in his room. I climbed into bed with him and he snuggled right in.

Anyone who knows me knows I do not like to snuggle when I sleep. I can not sleep if someone is touching me, but I guess that doesn't apply when it is your child because I went immediately to sleep and so did The Mayor. I woke up about an hour later wanting to make sure he was ok and he was thisclose to me. So close that while sucking his left thumb, the pinky on that hand was resting on my upper lip. And I melted. I just stared at his sweet face with his eyes closed and his long eyelashes resting on his cheeks, and I listened to the soft sound of him sucking his thumb and breathing peacefully while he slept.

This was the moment. The moment, that if I didn't have my son lying in my arms, I would have dropped to the floor and thanked God for this opportunity. It is this moment and the hundreds of others I have experienced with Love Bug and The Mayor and the million more I pray I am around to have with them that makes the tough days that much easier to get through.

*Beebo is what he calls his bellybutton. He learned this from "The Belly Button Book" by Sandra Boynton. If you don't own this book, get it...it is ridiculously precious.

one of those days

It was just one of those days. One of those days where I questioned my ability to be a good mother, one of those days where I could have used a little more patience. But when the day was all over, my little boy ran into my bedroom, bathed, dressed in his PJs, gave me a big kiss and said "nite nite momma, I love you". And just like that the day was washed away...made better and I am ready to start over tomorrow. Days like today make me happy they only last 24 hours because a fresh start is always right around the corner.

playtime

We enjoyed our last boring weekend of the summer before life changes a bit in the Shirley household. We have plans for each remaining weekend of the month and The Mayor starts school a week from Thursday. So we decided to just enjoy the beautiful sunny weather this weekend by going for walks and playing outside at some local playgrounds.

The Mayor had the best time at the playground. D and I took turns holding Love Bug while the other chased The Mayor up the playground and raced him down the slides. He thought it was the best though when we decided to let Love Bug in on the action and she rode down the slides on our laps. The Mayor just loved the fact that his sister was able to play with him, and she got such a kick out of being outside and watching her brother run around.

The little things...life is so good.

he's so big

my happy Love Bug

not too bad

Totally thought I would be jinxing myself when I wrote about how good my kids were yesterday. But it wasn't too bad today. No major tantrums...had a few disobedient moments (most of which occurred before a much needed nap time) so all in all, it was a good day. We finally stepped outside the four walls of this house and saw the sun because today was the first day we were fever free and healthy, so we ran a few errands this morning. We picked up The Mayor's immunization records from the doctor and dropped that and his registration papers off at his preschool. Now he is now officially registered for preschool!

The Mayor will be going to preschool 2 days a week for 4 hours a day starting at the end of August. It will be so good for him. He will develop more social skills (which if you know The Mayor, he doesn't really need help with) but he will learn to be in a structured classroom environment and learn to take instruction from someone besides D and myself. So hard to believe my little boy is going to school! It is a Christian preschool so in addition to his class, he will have chapel, music, Spanish and PE. How cute is that?!

I am looking forward to seeing how he will thrive and being able to spend 8 hours each week with my sweet Love Bug. It is going to be so wonderful having one-on-one mommy/daughter time with my sweet pea.

And the best news of all...D is on his way home. My time of being a single parent this week is almost over. I hate it when D travels for work...thank the Lord it isn't that often. He should be home in time to put The Mayor down for the night. Really doesn't get much better than that.

it seriously does not get better than this

As past blogs have taught me, you better be careful when you go braggin' on your kids because it always leads to a disaster. But I don't care. Today was perfect. It really was. And we totally deserved it. I was so sick on Monday and yesterday The Mayor was fighting a virus that gave him a fever as high as 103.6...so we needed an easy day. Today he woke up and was as sweet as can be. ALL DAY LONG. We did not have one 2 year old moment ALL DAY LONG. From the second I went into his room this morning where he said "mornin' momma" and then put his arm around me and laid on my tummy to the last moment of the night where we cuddled and kissed and said goodnight, every moment in between was absolute bliss.

The 3 of us just enjoyed being together all day today. We laughed and cuddled and played...it was so wonderful. The Mayor wanted to play with Love Bug, entertain her, bring her toys and she could not have been happier. The way her face lights up when she sees her brother brings tears to my eyes. She was a little fussy this evening and her brother walked over to her and she started laughing and squealing. He just makes her so happy. I love the way they love each other.

so proud...sitting next to his new puzzle that we put together

so happy...just a swingin' and playing with the football her brother just shared with her

Lesson learned...I know. I am sure tomorrow will bring nothing but 2 year old tantrums...but that is ok. It will be worth it because of today.

*Some sweet stories about my kids that I just don't want to forget:

Every morning The Mayor loves to go into Love Bug's room to help me wake her up. And every morning, he goes to her crib and says "hi pretty girl". He tries to emulate the "baby voice" we use when talking to her so his voice goes up about an octave when saying "hi pretty girl". It is hysterical and ridiculously sweet. And when she is just playing in her exersaucer and watching him, he will walk up to her and say "hi pretty girl, what you doin'?". I must capture this on video.

I purchased this puzzle set for Love Bug and The Mayor a couple of months ago. It has 26 pieces for each letter of the alphabet (and an occupation starting with that letter is on each piece). The letters create a large circle and then there are puzzle pieces that fit into a smaller circle that make up a little town where the occupations listed on the alphabet puzzle pieces would work. Anyway, when we put the puzzle together, we ask The Mayor to hand us the letters (we will ask, where is the 'A' and he will bring us the 'A', etc). The puzzle piece for 'W' is 'Waitress' and it is a woman holding a tray of cupcakes. Every time we ask him for the 'W', he brings us the piece and then says "Mama and cake". Cracks us up...not sure why I am the waitress (about half of the letters have women portraying the occupation) but apparently to my little guy he wants his momma to always serve him cake. So precious.

germ city

Yesterday I was sick as a dog, and thank you to a wonderful friend who took The Mayor to her house to play with her son for the morning. Wore him slap out that he took a 3 1/2 hour nap. After both kids were down for the night, I took some Tylenol PM and woke up 12 hours later. Today I am feeling like my old self.

This afternoon, The Mayor was puny. Crying like something was wrong and when I picked him up, I could tell he was burning up. Checked his temperature and it was 102.6. Great! Hoping some Tylenol and a good nap will help him feel better. But this weekend he was at a birthday party and the birthday girl now has strep. So...something tells me we will be at the pediatrician's office in the morning.

And D is out of town on business...why does this always happen when I am flying solo?

a solid effort

I told D earlier in the week that we were going to start potty training The Mayor this weekend. We are going to "bite the bullet" I believe were my exact words. And the plan was to wake up Saturday morning, put The Mayor in big boy underwear, expect accidents but hope he would hate being wet and this would trigger him to request to use the potty. After one hour in big boy underwear, 2 trips to the potty that produced absolutely zero and a request by The Mayor to get back into diapers, I considered the potty training a bust and put the big boy underwear into the drawer. Then it dawned on me, thank goodness. It is so easy to just have him in diapers. I don't have to worry about being deep into Publix with a grocery cart full of food, Love Bug in the Baby Bjorn and The Mayor telling me he has to go to the bathroom NOW or being in the car running errands and hearing him tell me he has to go to the bathroom NOW and trying to figure out where to pull over and get 2 kids out of the car. If he has to go to the bathroom NOW, he can, right in his diaper. I know for a fact he won't start kindergarten in a diaper, so it will happen, eventually.

one of our two attempts to use the potty...at least he doesn't scream anymore when we put him on the potty...see, progress

cool cat...ready for the pool

daddy's girl