just a great day

I got the Halloween decorations out, my Yankee Candle "Autumn Wreath" candle is burning so the house smells like fall and today it was actually cool enough to need and wear a long sleeve shirt. It was a great day.

Tonight the 4 of us just enjoyed being together. We played on the floor and just laughed...I just loved today.

I am really looking forward to this weekend. Not only is the weather supposed to be amazing, but D is competing in his first triathlon. We are so proud of him and how hard he has worked. I can't wait for us to be there cheering him on.

so much better

Today was amazing. All day...amazing. I felt like myself again and really enjoyed the day with my babes.

This is the beauty about every day being a new day. It was just that. A new day. A fresh perspective, a new attitude, a chance to start over.

Today was one of those days where I was proud to be a mother. Proud to be a mother to my two beautiful children. Proud that I am privileged to be able to stay at home with them.

I didn't even care that The Mayor only took a 30 minute nap today. I didn't need the break, I was happy to see his smiling face after his short slumber. I actually fought back tears when I dropped him off at Mamie and PopPop's house so D and I could go to our small group and was happy when he requested me to put him down for the night. These are the days I just adore. These are the days that make the days like yesterday tolerable.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Love Bug loves to chew on this toy

sweet cousins...

Love this...at 6 months and 9 months, they already love to try and snatch toys out of each other's hands...

one of my worst days ever

This is my blog...and I started this blog so I could one day show my children what life was like when they were young. And it is fun for me and D to look back on to remember the fun memories and trips we have taken with our family. And it would be so easy for me to bypass the bad days and just write about the good days and pretend everyday was perfect. But it isn't...life isn't perfect...I am not perfect. So I am being honest with myself and writing about the bad days...so we can see that we survived the bad days and as a reminder to try and not repeat them.

I believe every mother has days where they have "mother's guilt". But today is absolutely one of the worst days I have ever had as a mother. Cabin fever really started to hit today. We just are not stay-at-home kind of people. I like it when our calendar is filled...and it usually is. We have playgroups, school, tennis and a whole bunch of other activities that usually keep us busy Monday though Friday from the time we wake up until the time we go to bed. The cabin fever really started to work on my nerves and I just started my day on edge. And I took it out on The Mayor.

We ventured out today to run some errands for his upcoming birthday party and then met up with Meega and Bennett to walk around an outdoor mall and enjoy the weather. Cut ahead a little bit to the meltdown. The Mayor had a tantrum for ONE HOUR straight. It was a horrible downward spiral of him not feeling 100%, being tired and not getting his way. And I really tried to keep my cool. D and I have made the commitment to discipline and parent with a balance of love and control and to discipline without yelling. It is so much more effective to keep your cool when discipling your child instead of screaming while trying to discipline. But today I lost it. I think I had made it about 45 minutes before the wheels came off. I yelled...no, if I am going to be truly honest, I screamed. I screamed so loudly that I actually gave myself an instant headache. And I yelled so loudly at The Mayor that I made Love Bug cry...and I did this twice. And then slammed every door from the garage up to his bedroom. Thankfully the second we got home, The Mayor went down for a nap and is still sleeping. And I have had to restrain myself for the past 2 1/2 hours from going into his room and laying down and cuddling with him. And the second he wakes up you better believe that kid is going to get some serious apologies, hugs and kisses.

Today is a day where I am thankful there is only 24 hours. This day will be over in less than 8 hours and tomorrow is a new day. I get a do-over.

back to the doctor

I scheduled another doctor's appointment for The Mayor this morning. 4 days with a fever while on antibiotics just wasn't going to cut it. They drew some blood (which all the results were completely normal) and wrote a prescription for a new antibiotic. And I am happy to report that after his nap, his temperature was normal! 99.4! I am praying this is a sign of things to come...

Love Bug had peaches this morning for the first time...and of course, she loved them. This was the one Stage 1 food I was worried about since the peaches can be quite tart. The Mayor didn't love peaches but his sister sure has no problem with them. She didn't even flinch when she took her first bite of the tart treat.

The rest of our day was completely low-key. It rained all day long. Tomorrow I will keep The Mayor out of school since he will not have been fever free for 24 hours, but if he wakes up with a normal temperature, you better believe we will be getting out and enjoying the sunshine.

this face cracks me up...

The Mayor wanted to help D feed Love Bug

beauty out of chaos

Those are the exact words that came out of my mouth as I watched our dear photographer follow The Mayor around our yard today capturing pictures of him for his 3 year photos. Christina has been taking our pictures since The Mayor was 6 months old, and ever since that stinker has been mobile, I have left our photo sessions with Christina thinking there is just no way she got any good pictures...and every single time I am amazed at what gorgeous pictures she captures. And today I told her I am so thankful for her and her ability to capture the beauty out of chaos. Because The Mayor was chaos.

To be fair, he does have strep throat, croup and a fever that we can not get rid of. Coupled with the fact he is knocking on 3's door and just isn't interested in having his picture taken. But bribery of ice cream and playing got him to cooperate for about 30 minutes. Then thankfully we were done with him and moved on to Love Bug. Her 6 month pictures were being taken today as well and she was a dream. Such an easy age where she is willing to be propped up, dressed and undressed, moved from room to room all in an effort to capture the perfect pictures. She smiled, laughed, cooed, blew little spit bubbles and worked that camera.

I can't wait to see the pictures and the beauty that was captured from our amazing chaos.

watching football with her daddy

a long weekend...

...and it isn't even over yet. Thankfully, The Mayor slept peacefully and quietly the entire night. When we checked on him around 10:30 last night to give him another round of Motrin, his fever had broken. It was down to 98.2 and he was covered, actually drenched, in sweat. But I gave him the Motrin anyway just to give him another 6-8 hours of protection. When he woke up this morning at 8:00, his temperature was at 99.7. Nothing compared to the nightmare that occurred just 15 hours before.

We decided to keep Love Bug at Meega's until The Mayor's nap time. The Mayor was in a much better mood this morning. He actually wanted to play and even better than that, he wanted to eat. He requested Mexican for lunch and we absolutely obliged. The poor child hadn't eaten in over 24 hours so when he said "chips and cheese" we said OK! He devoured his chips, cheese, rice and beans. And it made me so happy. I really thought we were over the hump but when we got home, his temperature had risen to 100.8. Again, nothing like last night but considering the amount of Tylenol and Motrin in his system, I was really expecting a temperature around 98.6.

The Mayor chose not to take a nap today. And I don't know why. He was tired and it showed all over his face. Not sure if all this medicine we are pumping into him is affecting him, but he didn't sleep and man did it show by dinner time. A quick dinner of leftovers, a long steamy shower to help with the croup and about 10 minutes of play led us right to bedtime. And he was out about 5 minutes after that...with a temperature of 101.8. If we can't get this fever under control, we are back to the pediatrician Monday morning.

Tomorrow morning brings family pictures. I know, I have horrible timing. A sick child and it is supposed to rain. Luckily our photographer is amazing so I know she will capture something beautiful.

fevers, fevers go away

The Mayor went to bed last night with a 103.1 temperature and woke up this morning with a fever of only 100.4. I thought we were ok...but because he had no desire to eat or drink this morning and had a little bit of a barking cough, I decided to schedule a pediatrician appointment just to be on the safe side. Being that it is Friday, I didn't want to wait an entire weekend in case he got worse.

During breakfast The Mayor watched me feed Love Bug apples for the first time...and shocker, she loved them! She scrunched her nose and smiled at me during the entire feeding. She was so happy to test out her new food. And those precious 30 minutes of breakfast is almost all I have seen of my sweet girl today.

i love apples!

during breakfast...pretty happy...fever of 100.4

Our appointment was for 11:30, so we dropped Love Bug off at Meega's (didn't want to take the healthy baby to the doctor's office) and off The Mayor and I went. I checked his temperature right before we went and it was up to 102.9. 30 minutes later we were leaving the office with a prescription for strep throat and a diagnosis of croup...great. The strep test came back positive before the nurse could even right The Mayor's name on the paper...the results normally can take up to 5 minutes...but his were immediate.

We came home and attempted to eat lunch, but he still had no interest in eating so off he went to nap. 2 hours later, he was barking so badly and his fever had spiked to 105.7. Nothing panics a mother more than seeing the thermometer climb to 105.7. It is quite unsettling to know your child's temperature is substantially closer to brain damage range than normal range. After a couple of calls to the doctor and some Motrin, his temperature is now down to 104.7. I never thought I would have been happy about a fever of 104.7. We are on a cycle of Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours so hopefully this will get under control.

Sweet Love Bug has been with Meega almost all day. With the exception of me feeding her for about 10 minutes this afternoon and putting her down for her afternoon nap, I haven't seen her since breakfast. Meega came over about an hour ago and took Love Bug home with her for the night. I miss my girl but am thankful for family willing to help so me and D can be here for The Mayor. Praying for no ER visits tonight...

fever of 105.7...lethargic and tired

what a way to start my day

Tuesday and Thursday mornings are tough around here. I have to get 2 kids up (who both love to sleep in), pack lunches/diaper bags, get them fed and out the door in about 30 minutes. We have to get The Mayor to school and Love Bug to Meega's. This morning seemed especially frantic...

...but it was such a good morning. Every morning The Mayor loves to go into Love Bug's room to help me get her up. He literally pushes me out of the way so he can get into her room and to her crib first. He loves to be the first one to greet her. And she loves it. The smile on her face when he peeks over the side of her crib is priceless.

I can't pick Love Bug up out of her crib until The Mayor has said good morning to her through the slats of her crib and I can't change her diaper until I lower her so he can kiss her. After kissing her he says "good mornin' pretty, pretty girl"...just melts my heart to watch the way they love each other.

Today was Spirit Wear Day at The Mayor's school and I so wish I had captured the picture this morning before school when he was in a great mood...but time just didn't permit. So I captured the picture after nap, when he was in a foul mood. I should have known something was up when he woke up from his nap still tired and so whiny. But when D got home, he took The Mayor back up to school for "Date Night with Dad" (how cute is that?!). They had their picture taken, ate snacks, went to The Mayor's classroom where each dad was presented with a "surprise" (a decorated rock used for a paper weight and a handmade card with The Mayor's little finger prints painted on it). After the "date night", D took The Mayor to Chick-fil-a for dinner and ice cream.

i just love this face...he did not want his picture taken

before "date with dad" night at school

When they got home The Mayor didn't want to do anything but cuddle. I should have known his foul mood after nap was something...because I could tell he had a fever when we were cuddling. Sure enough, he has a fever of 103.1. He is sound asleep now so we will see what the morning brings. With his history of fevers, I am praying he will wake up totally normal.

Sweet Love Bug is becoming a master at solids. She is far neater at eating than her brother and loving every new food we give her. She loves the bananas and tomorrow is apples. I am confident she will love those just as much. I am also pretty sure she is going to be getting some teeth here soon. She is drooling like Niagara Falls and biting on everything she can get into her mouth...including your fingers. She has got a pretty good "chomp" going on...

she loves bananas!

made my heart skip a beat

My mother passed away 20 years ago. I miss her terribly.

I am friends with my mom's best friend from high school on Facebook and last night while messing around on Facebook, I noticed a picture of my mom's friend from high school had been posted. I clicked on it, and then realized there were over 370 pictures from the Class of 1970 that had been posted on this particular page. So I wondered if my mom's high school picture was one of those 370. I clicked through each picture and there it was. Number 179 of 372...my mother's high school senior picture. And my heart just stopped.

My mother passed away before the internet and laptops and smart phones were a blink in our eye. So to see a picture of her posted on Facebook by someone I do not even know...made me just stop in my track. You just don't expect to stumbled onto your mother's picture on the internet...something she never knew existed. I found myself just staring at her picture for what seemed like hours. I looked at it for so long that it no longer even looked like a real picture.

I miss my mom terribly.

sesame street live

I'm exhausted. Too exhausted to write a blog....so here is the quick and dirty version. We went to church, Love Bug went home with Meega, Uncle J and PopPop afterwards while we took The Mayor to a birthday party and then downtown to see Sesame Street Live. It was so much fun but we are all so exhausted. The kids are sound asleep and I am right behind them.

daddy and his boy (this is how The Mayor sat the ENTIRE first half of the show...with this hand to his mouth)

the 3 of us...we missed our Love Bug

mommy and her sweet boy

exhausted

carrots and swings

Today was a big day of firsts for Love Bug. She ate carrots for the first time and enjoyed the swings at the park for the first time. Such a big girl she is becoming!

As expected, she loved the carrots. I wouldn't be surprised if that girl eats anything we put in front of her. She is so interested in the foods we eat now that I am sure she is going to be thrilled when we let her partake in our meals. She would probably gum her way through a steak if I let her...

After dinner, we took the kids to a park. Looked like just about every other person in our county had the same idea because the park was packed. The Mayor asked to swing so we loaded him and his sister up in the swings. He had such a blast swinging with his sister swinging next to him. He kept talking to her and asking her questions. It was so sweet. And she had a grin from ear to ear feeling that little breeze through her little hair.

she just started making this face today...she scrunches her nose up and breathes in and out really fast...so cute

mastering the monkey bars

Can't believe there is only 1 day left to our weekend...goes by so quickly.

friday fun

Today has been a low-key but fun day. Bennett came over this morning and I had my first run of watching 3 kids...on my own. Wasn't too bad actually. I mean I am not running to have another baby or anything, but I can do it on my own, at least for a few hours!

The Mayor decided it was going to be "no nap Friday". I hate it when he decides that...especially when he hasn't discussed the change in schedule with me beforehand. But the upside is bedtime will be a lot earlier tonight. I won't be surprised if our sweet boy will be able to keep his eyes open one minute after 7:30 tonight. And that works just fine for me. It is that much earlier that D and I get some quiet in the house.

Since I didn't blog last night due to internet issues...again...I will do a little recap. Love Bug and I cuddled inside while The Mayor and D played outside. The Mayor was perfecting his baseball skills...which made one daddy a very happy daddy. And for a few minutes, Love Bug and I sat outside and watched, and he is really good. I mean, he is only 2 and not anywhere near being drafted by the Braves, but he has some natural talent. D hasn't really worked with him on hitting a baseball (trying not to force the sport on him) but The Mayor was standing at his tee, lining his bat up with the ball, drawing his bat back and swinging right on through and making some serious contact. That ball went flying across the yard. We were proud! And so was he. We will see if he keeps it up...maybe in another year or so we will start him with t-ball and see if it is something he wants to pursue.

lining up his bat with the ball

getting ready...

...contact!...look at that ball go!

This weekend we have another birthday party to go to and then we are taking The Mayor to see "Sesame Street Live" with some of his buddies. Going to be a blast watching him see a life-size Elmo, Big Bird, Zoe, Ernie, etc on stage. Well, either a blast or a nightmare. Hopefully they don't scare him!

the angel and the devil

There is no manual that comes with parenting…and I sure do wish there was one. I mean there is absolutely nothing in this entire world that doesn’t come with a manual, except a child. And because The Mayor is our oldest, he is our guinea pig with parenting. Poor child…

I have a dear friend who has five children under the age of 5…so she knows it all. I go to her every once in awhile with questions or for seeking advice. One day I called her because D and I were just convinced there was something wrong with The Mayor. We were literally on the brink of scheduling an appointment with our pediatrician to discuss his behavior. Because it just could not be possible for a child to be calm and happy one second and literally the very next second to be yelling and screaming and pitching a fit…over nothing. D and I had The Mayor diagnosed with just about every disease and behavioral issue under the sun. I called my friend and she calmed me down and told me THIS IS NORMAL (whew) and she described it best by saying you will look at your toddler and wonder how they can be the angel and the devil in one body at the same time. And I have never heard a phrase more beautifully describe the ride that is toddlerhood.

Today is a tale of the angel and the devil.

The Devil

We had our Wednesday morning playgroup scheduled for a local playground and picnic with our buddies. It was just too beautiful outside to not take full advantage of the weather. We brought our tricycles, soccer balls and picnic lunches…and I just knew we had hours of fun ahead of us. We made it exactly 30 minutes. The Mayor played fine on the playground with his friends but when we headed to the picnic tables to eat lunch, he lasted about 5 minutes before the wheels fell off.

He was mad. He wanted to eat his lunch. And I wasn’t depriving him of that. His lunch was laid out in front of him. I even took his sandwich out and opened the bag of his goldfish crackers for him. He had a few bites and then suddenly the frustration set in. Something wasn't going his way...but I couldn't figure out what it was. He kept asking to eat...but the food in front of him wasn't making him happy. He wasn't asking for different food either. I was perplexed. What exactly could I have done to allow him to eat his lunch…short of shoving the sandwich in his mouth? But he was throwing the biggest fit. He was screaming and crying. And I had no idea over what. Had we been at home I would have walked out of the room and ignored his temper tantrum. But because we were with friends (and there were other mothers there with their children at picnic tables near by) I thought it was best to not disrupt everyone’s afternoon, so I picked him up and all of our belongings and carried him to the car. I told him behavior like this would not be rewarded and he wasn’t going to be able to play with his friends. He continued to pitch a fit.

On the way out of the parking lot, I told him to stop crying and tell me what was wrong. He said “eat please”. I wanted to scream my head off, so instead I screamed on the inside. I thought to myself, “what exactly were we doing back there????? I was letting you eat!!!!!!” I made a u-turn and went to the local Barnes and Noble bookstore and purchased The New Strong-Willed Child by Dr. James C. Dobson.

The Angel

The Mayor didn’t make a peep while inside that bookstore. Not one word. He didn’t ask to get out of his stroller, he didn’t ask to walk, and he didn’t ask to pick up everything that we passed by. When we were outside, he asked me quietly and politely if he could eat his lunch.

I parked the stroller at a bench in the shade and he preceded to eat everything in his lunchbox, quietly, politely and with a smile on his face.

I can’t tell you how many women passed by me to tell me how “beautiful and well-behaved” my children were. I cracked up on the inside…oh, ladies, if you only knew what we went through just 20 minutes ago.

I love The Mayor…I love the angel and the devil that he is. And I know God has blessed me with this treasure and will grant me the wisdom and patience to rear him and raise him the way I should. Some days are just harder than the others…

*on an encouraging note to probably nobody except D, myself and his future teachers, after reading the first few chapters of the book, I don’t know if The Mayor is truly a “strong-willed child”. According to the book (and again I have only read the first few chapters and those chapters were talking about some seriously strong-willed children), strong-willed children are strong-willed from birth, are not usually phased by or respond to discipline and are in it to “win the battle”. The Mayor was the easiest baby, cares A LOT if he gets disciplined and doesn’t care about winning the battle because he usually caves in after discipline or if he is removed from the situation. I think we just have an almost 3 year old testing his limits and boundaries and doesn’t have the vocabulary or maturity to express his frustrations…so he screams. Usually after a minute or two, he is totally calm and over it. But, I am still going to read this book for some good discipline techniques and to learn to stay calm...especially when he can't.

haircuts, fevers and sweet potatoes

We have been offline the past few days due to a weak internet connection. I can't wait until I read this blog 20 years from now and get a good chuckle at how a bad internet kept me from blogging. I will probably have to remind myself what the internet was because by then we will probably be surfing the web with some crazy hologram...anyway, I digress.

The Mayor got his hair cut this weekend. I decided to make the shorter hair a permanent feature. Which, if you know me, you know that was a really difficult decision. But being on the brink of The Mayor turning 3, I thought he was due to have a "big kid" haircut. The shaggy frat boy haircut has sadly been cut away...

handsome boy with his "big boy" haircut

Sunday we had a great day at church followed by a fun birthday party for one of The Mayor's best buddies Blake. The party was at one of our favorite establishments, Catch Air. The Mayor and his friends had fun running from one bouncy house to another with a little dance party sandwiched in between. After a bunch of sweaty kids ran around for over an hour, we polished off the awesome event with pizza and cake. Doesn't get better than that!

The Mayor and the birthday boy, Blake

Yesterday after playgroup and a nap, The Mayor woke up with a fever of 103.4. He had no other symptoms but was clingy and puny for the rest of the afternoon and evening. So we decided not to push it and keep him out of school today. Of course, that sweet boy is totally back to normal and never had any other symptoms except the fever.

Sweet Love Bug had sweet potatoes for the first time today. Stage 1 foods, here we come! So for the next 3 days we have sweet potatoes and then start cycling through all the foods to ensure there are no allergies. She really liked the sweet potatoes. The first couple of bites brought a few cute expressions since it is a new texture and new taste, but she was literally just thrusting her tongue in and out of her mouth just waiting for the next spoonful. Adorable.

loves the sweet potatoes!

Tomorrow promises some seriously beautiful weather. Temperatures in the 80s and humidity almost non-existent. Weather that screams for some outdoor play. And that is just what we are going to do.

messy, messy

This is what The Mayor kept telling his sister as he watched her eat rice cereal for the first time today. I just didn't have the heart to tell that sweet boy that his sister was about 10 times neater eating rice cereal than he was at this age.

Love Bug LOVED the rice cereal for the first few spoonfuls. She would grab my hand, pull it towards her and shove the spoon in her mouth. But after a few bites, the eating slowed and the little faces and grimaces came out. The same happened during her dinner time bowl of rice cereal. More came out then actually went in. I remember the same for The Mayor...their little tongues have to learn not to thrust out and they have to learn how to swallow something solid. And the texture is completely different. She will get it, just like her brother did.

Looking forward to tomorrow. Church and then one of The Mayor's best buddies is having a birthday party. We are going to have 2 exhausted children come nap time. Gotta love it!

so excited to be sitting in the high chair...anxiously waiting for her cereal

somebody else also had his first bowl of cereal...his first "big boy" bowl of cheerios

today was also the first day we used a sippy cup...she actually did great holding it on her own...still working on tipping it up to actually get any of the water to come out

happy 1/2 birthday love bug

Today is sweet Love Bug's 6 month birthday. I can not believe that she is already 6 months old...and at the same time, I can not believe she is only 6 months old. I feel like she has been a part of this family forever. I love her...

It is hard to believe that 6 months ago I was laying in my hospital bed looking at this sweet, swaddled little peanut sleeping so peacefully next to me...and wondering how the heck I was going to do this. How was I going to love her and make her feel important when I had a toddler at home who needed me too. And how was I going to love that toddler when I had a newborn who needed me. I am almost a little nauseous now just thinking back on that anxious feeling I had. But now it seems so unnecessary. We are doing just fine...we figured it out and life is so good.

Our sweet Love Bug had a great report from the doctor today. She is healthy and ready for solid foods. Tomorrow morning we start rice cereal...gonna be messy!

Love Bug is 27 1/4 inches long and 19 pounds even. She has grown almost 2 inches (1 3/4 inches to be exact) and gained 1 pound 5 ounces from her 4 month appointment. Her weight gain has slowed but she is still in the 90th percentile. But our sweet girl is proportionate and as cute as can be!

Love Bug is all smiles all of the time. And she is such a welcome addition to our family. I can not imagine my life without her and I am so happy I don't have to know what that life would be like. Every morning I get to start my day seeing her sweet smiling face peeking up at me from her crib. I can not think of a better way to start my day.

she sits alone

One day shy of her 6 month birthday, Love Bug sits on her own. We were up in the playroom and she and I were sitting on the floor playing. It dawned on me we have never really tried it, so I slowly slid out from behind her and she just sat there. She lasted for about 6 seconds and then she toppled over. So I sat her back up and then she sat there alone for over a minute. My girl...she is either a superstar and going to excel at everything she does or I have been carrying her around too much and she was more than ready...nah, that's not it. She is a superstar!

such a big girl!

oops...toppling over...good catch daddy

The Mayor had another great report today from school. Hopefully we are turning a big corner here. D and I have been telling him how proud we are of him for being such a big boy and going to Mrs. Jennifer's class. Apparently we are saying it a lot because this morning when he woke up he looked at me and said "momma, I go to Mrs. Jennifer's class, I so proud of you". I love that kid.

Tomorrow is Love Bug's 6 month appointment. I can't wait to see how long she is and how much she weighs. And then Saturday morning we start on rice cereal...big things are happening here! The video camera is charged and ready.

we make him work for his clothes...

seriously, he loves to help clean (takes after his daddy) and he is missing his clothes because he had more tomato sauce on his shirt and shorts then he got into his belly

playing "footsies"

after he does something he thinks is awesome, he pulls his fist down and says "yesssssss"...he was impressed with his golf swing