Back again?

Back on the Bloggy train.  My how things have changed.  My sweet family welcomed another joyous boy into our clan.  My last cryptic post was regarding the news we found out we were pregnant.   

Thomas and Harrison have become the joys of our lives.  It is amazing seeing two brothers play, and love on one another.

Grad School is over, HURRAH!   I officially hold my masters of arts in teaching.  I am grateful it is over now as I would never have the time to do it now with two active boys.  It was hard enough to finish with a three year old and two week for my last six week course.

Harrison has grown, his vocabulary has expanded, and motherhood has become harder.   How simple it was with one child, and how complex it has become with two.

Balance, and Patience have become my center focus as I seem to have little of both.  

 Sweet Thomas is almost walking at 11 months old, and he truly brings such sweetness to our lives.

 Harrison has entered the 'terrible threes' but man is he cute as ever!

To a renewed focus!

So What Wednesday.

I’m linking up once again with Shannon from Life at I Dew for another
So What Wednesday.

So what if…

-I put the toddler to bed early tonight.  Kiddo  was out of his mind he was so overtired.  Sprinting through the kitchen, then crying hanging on my leg. 
-I just heard H woke up and did a silent prayer to myself that he falls back asleep.
-I only clean my car out if I know someone other than my husband will be riding in it, (and only then does ‘cleaning’ entail brushing the goldfish cracker crumbs off the seats.
-I always leave the bath toys at the bottom of the tub for my poor husband to clean up, almost every time.
-Everything in my house has some sort of leveler under it.  Gotta love a 100 year old house with crooked floors.
-If that also means that if you position yourself correctly you almost always end up winning that game of pickup hockey in the kitchen.
-I can’t say no to projects at work, and am becoming slowly frazzled by the deadlines looming over my head.
- I skim, then pass over the last WAHM VS. SAHM VS.Working mom post.  Parts of me have been so conflicted lately that reading another will send me over the edge.  As a guilty party myself, I need to gather my thoughts before I post again about it.
- I let my voicemails sit for weeks at a time. 
- Don’t immediately (if even) respond to texts within the same day.
- I am loving my husband now having his first ‘smartphone’.  BBMing has never been so fun!

Thanks for reading, and link up with us for So What Wednesday.

Ashley

Messy Mom Monday

I’m linking up today with Katie from Loves of Life, Brittany from Living in the Moment , and Jess from  Dudes and Sweets. for Messy Mom Monday. 

                                        
I’m very fortunate to have today off, and in turn I’ve let my toddler destroy my house.
I feel like I’m in a constant battle with my entire home with cleanliness. 
Toddlers don’t help.  All I do is clean up after him.
Between the laundry, a picture that I won’t even post on the internet.  (Our laundry room is located in our old dark basement, that is currently being used as my studio too.)
The dishes, Sippy cup overload with all their bits and pieces. The twelve plates I use throughout the day to try and attempt to feed my temperamental eater.

The cabinets, that I just freshly painted today, because they were covered with chocolate milk splatter, grubby fingerprints…
The bathtub has been over taken with squishy letters, rubber ducky's, and the random objects (this week it’s paintbrushes) that Harrison insists he bring in the bath.
 
My car.  Oh my poor, poor car.  Cheerios, goldfish, pretzels, and a couple of lost sippies that I am sure are trash worthy.
But my biggest problem is the toys. 

THE TOYS…

The obscene amounts of toys one toddler accumulates is Insane.

Oh and the pictures that have only been sitting on the couch since Christmas ready to be hung.  Husband and I can’t make any decisions, so there the artwork lies.

Our solution to this problem was to put his toys on our three season porch.  This has turned into a poor decision because it is –2 outside and it’s called 3 season for a reason.  So, poor H wants to go out there to get his toys but mean mommy says no.  So we compromise, and allow H to bring his toys in.  We started with just a couple at a time, which rapidly morphed into this disaster of a living space.

The toys seem to steadily crawl outside of the living room, into the kitchen, and all the way around to the stairs.  Notice all my opened freshly painted cabinets, it was a very productive 2 hour nap day.

I vaguely remember the days where it was only me and the husband to look after, but it seems so long ago. 

So very very long ago.

Mommy only weekend.

The husband is going to be gone tonight for my little brothers bachelor party. 

A little bit of me is excited.  I’m looking forward to a little bit of mommy and Harrison alone time.  OK, Ok, more like momma alone time.

After that sweet sweet bedtime hour, the house is going to be mine. 

All mine.

 

Maybe I’ll enjoy a bit of this,    

With some uninterrupted perusing of this 

With this in hand

 

Maybe I’ll actually stick to my goals and do some more posts and preschedule them?

More than likely I’ll end up reading blog upon blog, and become obsessed with yet another blogging Momma out there.

To be able to read that other mommas out there are going through the same exact thing that I am with my toddler is incredibly refreshing. Talking to my coworkers about their children that were born within days of my son always ends with me leaving the conversation worried about my child's development.  Because their children are, of course, perfect and spouting off hundreds of words at 19 months. 

That’s where real life blogging mommies come in. 

They reassure me that those moms aren’t like all mommies out there.

I love that I can share via twitter that my 19 month old has a decent vocabulary but that his favorite words to use are “Oh, Shit”.  And heck, I get a laugh out of it not judgment.

The blogging world has made me feel better about myself as a mother when I’ve worried that I was screwing my child up by making him CIO.  Thank you BabeChilla for this great post.

 

So tonight I look forward to reaffirming my mommy choices, wine in hand, body on couch.., with this sweet boy tucked tight in bed..

Well, it's been a while.

I'm one of those bloggers that is writing about the fact that I haven't written for a while.  

Typical.

It was hard rolling back into the transition of work and mommyhood.  I'm cashing in on nap time to catch up on the blogging world.   I was going back and forth in my mind whether or not I wanted to continue this venture in blogging, and to tell you the truth, I loved it this summer.

Creating and writing, posting, and networking.

Time management, spending time with my wild man Harrison, husband, and being in my very first Craft Fair, took all my time this fall.   As time went on the space got further and further from when I last posted so heres to a fresh year, and a fresh new start on my blog.


RECAP of September, October, November, and December...

- Had yet another birthday.... 26 years old.
- Started another school year, as the Crazy art teacher.
- Harrison transitioned wonderfully into being back at day care.
- Went to the fair with H, and he loved chasing all the animals around petting them.

- Also tried giving kisses to random little girls in the petting zoo.
- Went apple picking with daddy and mommy.  H was a blast, was able to pick his own apples and the whole experience got me excited for what we are able to do as a family now that he's getting a bit older.

 






October

-Trick or treating with my little Monkey.

- Had a crazy snowstorm where we took H-man out in his snowsuit to enjoy the fresh flakes

Note that since then it has not snowed again.

- Started panicking about the fact that I hadn't done enough for my first craft fair and set up shop in my basement creating away!

 November
- Participated in my first Alternative Craft Fair.  Deemed, Not your Grandma's Craft Fair.

Had a blast and met lots of new friends, and artisans.

December
- As a result of the Craft Fair made a couple more Etsy sales.  
-Involved lots of planning and shopping for gifts.  Created and dabbled in some homemade gifts including skittles vodka and homemade crayons.
-Sent out our Christmas card with this picture that I have fallen in love with, and since have overused all over my home.

- Celebrated my husbands Christmas Birthday turned 26.  Yes, I nabbed myself a younger man.
- Had a round of sickness on our Christmas break.  Started with H-man, moved on to me, back to H-man, then on to the husband. (and the cat and dog, gross).


So here's to a new year, with a fresh rejuvenation and commitment to writing this blog.

My Goodwill Love Affair

I hit it good at the thrift store yesterday.

I love thrift shopping, it's something I've been doing since childhood.


This week I splurged a bit, meaning I spent more than 30 dollars there, which is a rarity for me.

It's my birthday in September, so 'splurging' at the thrift store has become kind of a birthday right of passage for me.  I have to show off some of my goodies.  Now keep in mind I had a toddler with me on a very short fuse, so it was a short lived shopping trip.  He was literally shouting in the changing room because he figured out how to create an echo.  Very entertaining for him, mind numbing for me.




So right as I enter I always hit the shoe section first as those are easiest to go through, and honestly I get anxious that someone else it going to snatch up my great find.

I found three pairs of keepers this trip.

One for the baby, and two for myself.            Momma loves her shoes...

 A great little pair of Stride Rites!  Yayyyy... Perfect for Harrison to grow into, and at only 2.99, affordable!

Also, meandered over to baby clothing, I don't go there a lot because H has tons and tons of hand-me-downs and doesn't need one more article of clothing, but I often find great jackets there.

 Point in case, Baby gap jean jacket.   How cute for fall.  1.99   Heck yes.

Now for me.  I snatched up two pairs of flats.  One black, one shiny sliver.  Perfect for teaching, I can't wear any heels anymore in my classroom.  Not only am I getting old, but I'm sick of getting paint on them. 

 (Lets be honest, my feet ache at the end of a day  I'm. Getting. Old.)

At about 4.99 each, I sucked it up and got these. These are to replace my other pair of trusty black flats, don't know about  you guys but mine get nasty, due to not wearing socks.  Yuck.

I then wandered on over to the clothing area, and scored myself a pair of skinny blue jeans (not pictured because they were worn asap), black skinny jeans, black dress pants, and beige dress pants.  All for 2.50 each.  Boo ya.  I love myself the half off color days, I only look for the half off color tags when I go through the aisle.  Also, a green and red spotted button up shirt.   It's a bit funky, husband just cringes when looking at it.

Lastly, my FULL price item.  A whopping 9.99 for a dress.  Something I ordinarily do NOT do.  But, like I said it is my birthday coming up, plus I have a fall wedding to go to the day after my birthday, and figured the color was perfect.  Brand new with tags, another big Boo Yah!

Also Has some pretty lace neck detail.  Don't mind my unbrushed hippy hair.

Brand new with tags, best kind of thrift store find.

So in doing this post, I was clearly bragging about my finds, how I was so excited I found so many awesome steals and wanted to show it off.  Well Karma got me.

You know those amazing shoes I was talking about for my son.  In the process of taking pictures of them I noticed something a little funny.

Not only are they TWO different sizes, but they are BOTH right foot shoes.  Sighhhhh.....


At least they were only three bucks.

Mickey Mouse Club, How I love thee...

This is very new to us.

TV watching.

Now this is not new to mommy, heck mommy could spend all day watching reruns of project runway and any other reality TV show that dominates my DVR at any given time.

No, no.... this is TV watching for my son.

He actually sat still on my lap (not even a bottle) to sit and watch the entire Mickey Mouse Club...... introduction. 
Yet I'm not discouraged.  This is a baby step for us.  One in which Mommy is, dare I say, very excited about.

My kid doesn't sit still, ..... E.V.E.R.
This is one bad habit I am happy about starting.
In fact, I don't feel one ounce of Mom Guilt about it... (How Bad is that).

I can't even imagine the joy I will feel the day he sits still for an ENTIRE episode.

This is our Saturday Morning Scene, what are you up to?

Bad Mommy Week

This has been my worst week as a Mom, Ever.

I wanted to yell at my kid.

He's only 14 months.


What the Hell is wrong with me.




Harrison is my love, my life, but there are times when he becomes the bane of my existence.   Ok, I'm being dramatic but he's become a fussy baby as of late, pulling on my shorts, whining, or throwing a tantrum if not picked up.   He also does hardcore tantrums as well, where he cries so hard that he turns blue, and passes out.   Every time this happens I end up crying myself with my now exhausted toddler on my shoulder whimpering.

As I type this post my son runs up to me just to give me a kiss.   Ahhhh the guilt!

This week has been out of the ordinary, the husband has been gone a lot, making me a SAHM.
Making me realize I have no desire to be at home all day long all year long.  I just couldn't do it if I wanted to stay sane.

Which also makes me realize I have an amazing job.  I'm home just long enough in the summer time, school vacations, snow days, etc... to get glimpses of stay at home mommyhood, with just enough time at work to get me out of the house.

Going into my fifth year teaching art means that I'm finally starting to get a hang of my job.   Well maybe not the hang of things....... I've gotten better at getting things done more efficiently.  So that I can leave my job and be 'done' for the day at 2:50 to go pick up my wild man.


But....

Sometimes I find myself deep in the sucky trenches that motherhood can be at times and I have to realize that this too shall pass.     That I need to Take a moment, take a breath, and  take a step away to relax.

I was in shock and bewilderment the other day at the park.  I was chasing my son around with my mother, double teaming him on the equipment when I started paying attention to all the other mothers at the park with a child about the same age as mine.    The majority of them were all quite visibly pregnant.

All I could think was no F... ing way.   NO WAY!
Then, I think about my mother who was getting pregnant right now with my younger brother.
 (and also remember the part of the story where she starting crying when she found out she was pregnant).

Don't get me wrong, I want another.

I crave this, the itty bittyness of a small smushy baby. 

Just not until I drag myself out of this trench.

Balance and the Internet.

I feel as if the two don't go together.   Or perhaps motherhood and the internet 

I have become a passing blogger, and 'tweeter?'...

It comes in Phases, most often when my son allows it, where I can go on the computer for a prolonged period of time to type something up that has some kind of meaning.

 I feel as if twitter must have been created just for moms, who only have a small passing moment to post something.
   Where no one really cares if it makes sense.

Which leads to the fact that I've had a lot on my plate lately. 

A husband who is doing lots of side work ... which equals me being a stay at home mommy...

A son who has decided he wants to push me to my wits end, each and every day...

An alternative craft fair I'm taking part of in November...

My home which we've decided to continue renovating...and so it begins, living in a construction zone. AGAIN.

Me thinking it was a good idea to do 'limited internet' through Verizon  (via tablet trying to save a buck) versus unlimited, which has made me watch how much time I spend on the internet.  Ughhh... BAD decision.

Anddd.......My desire to be outside enjoying every moment of this gorgeous weather.

           I think I need to take a moment to define my form of  "Enjoying" has become since child.

                Enjoying the outdoors with a one year old 

 Not allowing my son to pick up or eat gross objects including:

         Dog poop

         Dead crickets

        Dead animal gifts from my cats

         Rocks, sand, grass, enter any various object here that can fit in a mouth.

Chasing said child around yard with magazine in hand, my new form of lounging around in the yard.

Setting up and breaking down his backyard each day with the ridiculous amounts of toys necessary to keep him occupied for maybe 10 minutes.

Lathering him, and ultimately myself with 10000 spf in waterproof lotion so we're both slippery all day.

Which leads back to chasing said child around, the lotion only makes things more 'fun'.

Emptying, washing, and refilling water table/pool, and dealing with all the lovely bugs that accumulate.

Trying to include some form of a nape so I can sit on my butt for more than two minutes.

Am I missing anything mommies?

Now, the hubby has the baby in a fluke moment this week so I'm going to continue to lay on my porch with Sex and the City reruns on tv... A Cold beverage next to me...

  All the while looking forward to a work meeting tonight to just get away and enjoy a Margarita without having to worry if my kid is throwing food at the next table.