Have a great weekend, friends!
life with a toddler
the truth about this 2nd pregnancy //
- My pants started to get tight prior to even finding out I was pregnant. Which totally made sense once I found out I was pregnant. However, that happens FAST with a second pregnancy! Dang! People weren’t kidding!
- Morning sickness that lasts all day and taking care of a crazy ass toddler is hell on Earth. I know it shouldn’t last forever, but when you’re in the thick of it, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
- I’m trying to figure out HOW my boobs are going to get even bigger as pregnancy progresses and then after delivery. HOW is that even possible!?
- Speaking of boobs, I have to wear two sports bras — TWO!! — when I run.
- And speaking of running, I actually have continued to run. With Ari, I could barely walk without peeing myself. But this time around I’m staying active. In fact, walking/running intervals has been the one thing that reduces my nausea. Walking is definitely the easier of the two. Sometimes running makes my stomach churn. Yuck! However, I have run TWO races since finding out I was pregnant — a 5k and an 8k.
- I can’t put words together into sentences. Mom brain has kicked in mega hard and mega fast. I couldn’t remember the word WHEELCHAIR. Instead? Instead I called it “a big person stroller thing.” Yep. That happened. With someone who didn’t know I was pregnant. And I didn’t even know them well. Suuuuper.
More updates to come. Oh and blog posts that aren’t about pregnancy… Once I can get my pregnancy brain wrapped around the English language again. Ha.
Number 2 // January 2016
because parenting is hard.
The other day on Facebook I shared that I called my kid an asshole — and meant it. And I started thinking about all the people I likely pissed off; all of the moms (& dads) who would never dare call their kids an asshole, let alone share it on social media.
And calling my kid an asshole doesn’t mean I don’t love him more than words can say (and more than NACHOS — that is real love ya’ll). In fact, I can’t even believe that I could love a little human THIS MUCH. But that doesn’t mean he’s perfect. Sure, he’s super cute. And he says awesome things. But he also says crappy things. Like telling me to go away when he doesn’t want me around (ouch). I just have the balls to admit it.
Also, check out this awesome blog post from Scary Mommy about parenting just being damn hard! Ha! The truth in it is amazing.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re completely unqualified to be a grown-up, let alone a parent;
If you’ve ever thought I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing;
If you’ve ever cried yourself to sleep at night because your child was hurt or scared or in trouble and you didn’t know how to help or couldn’t help or thought that maybe this once you shouldn’t help;
If you’ve ever sat in the bathroom for five, ten, fifteen minutes pretending to be pooping while you scroll though Facebook or text your BFF about the assholery that is toddlerhood (“assholery” is a word, right?);
If you’ve ever hidden in the car or pretended to fold laundry or taken an extra-long time sorting socks just for a few minutes alone;
If you’ve ever wondered how it’s possible to love your child with all your heart while not liking them very much;
If you’ve ever wanted to ditch your family to spend a night or two or three in a hotel by yourself, ordering room service and watching Lifetime movies the entire time;
If you’ve ever actually ditched your family for a night or two or three in a hotel by yourself, ordering room service and watching Lifetime movies the entire time;
If you’ve ever been frustrated or annoyed or angry that your kid is THAT kid and wondered why everything has to be so goddamn hard;
If you’ve ever regretted having kids – if only for a moment – only to immediately be consumed by guilt for having that thought, however fleeting, in the first place;
If you’ve ever wondered why you dropped eighty grand on that college education only to clean boogers and wipe butts and refer to yourself in the third person;
If you’ve ever muttered fuck you under your breath at your kids or your husband or both;
If you’ve ever wondered what your life would have looked without kids; or
If you’ve ever felt your heart swell ten sizes at once, cried tears of gratitude and awe, and understood what they meant when they said being a parent is like carrying your heart outside your body, then
Please know that IT’S NOT JUST YOU.
Well said, Scary Mommy. Well said.
weekend wrap up // Memorial Day Edition
Oh hey, it’s a week later already. Short work weeks don’t equate to long blog weeks, that’s for sure. Cause I haven’t even had a chance to TALK about our Memorial Day Weekend, let alone sit down and write about it.
Saturday //
So those big plans I had to go to yoga, Crafty Mart at Thirsty Dog, and a pool party? Well the idea of over booking my planner kind of over loaded my brain. Seriously. I skipped EVERYTHING. Well, except the pool party and cookout with my sister.
Moosh hasn’t been swimming in ages. And last time he went, he was skeptical, to say the very least. But we told him we were going to go swimming and so he wouldn’t stop saying “I wanna go swimming, Mommy!” And like all things a toddler learns to say, he repeated this over and over and over again. I thought once he saw the pool he would remember how much anxiety the water gave him.
We also cooked out and ate delicious food with my sister and brother in law. It was the perfect day, except for the fact that Moosh didn’t nap except for our 30 minute drive home (maybe 40 minutes considering I made Chad stop at Grandpa’s Cheesebarn on the way home!).
Sunday //
We slept and slept and slept, friends. It was glorious. We had to wake Moosh up so that we could get him ready for our adventures that day. I know, parent-friends… I know you’re jealous that we have to wake our toddler up after 12+ hours of sleep a night. Sorry (but really, sorry not sorry).
We spent another day with my sister and brother-in-law. This time at the Marc’s Great American Rib Cook-Off and Music Festival at Jacob’s Pavilion, downtown CLE! The plan was to arrive at the festival just after they opened at noon for two reasons: 1. To beat the crowds & heat; 2. To buy time from a potential no-nap crazy-baby. Mission accomplished! We arrived just as they were opening the gates.
The great thing about so many of these festivals in Northeast Ohio is that they are affordable and relatively easy to get to. Parking was a breeze (holla! $5 parking a block away!), even on a day when both the Indians were playing and the Cavs were playing in a home playoff game! There were concerns about the safety thanks to the #BreloVerdict coming down the day before; but honestly, I think the media was trying to turn the demonstrations into more than what they were. When we arrived downtown it was clear we had nothing to worry about (another reason CLE/Northeast Ohio is a great place to live).
Anyways… back to ribs. 🙂
It was seriously empty when we arrived. We were able to make a full lap around the festival, planning our ‘attack’ on the barbeque! Moosh was a champ while we ate. Of course, we kept him distracted with baked beans (dude LOVES baked beans). We split a lot of food with my sister and BIL, which meant we were able to try a lot of different vendors.
Monday //
We slept in again. Hooray for sleeping in! We had pretty much ZERO plans for our Memorial Day. Thank goodness! Shortly after we woke up Moosh and I went running (you’ll remember this post here about our experience) and then we got coffee and kombucha (thanks, Bearded Buch!) from Scribbles in Kent! I’ve been meaning to stop in to Scribbles since I tasted their cold brew at Crafty Mart a couple of months ago. And I finally got to go and sip some delicious cold coffee again. Ha!
However, things took an ugly turn when we put Moosh to bed. He was awake and coughing. And I was listening to him on the monitor, convinced he would stop and fall asleep. But he didn’t. He just kept coughing. So we had to bring him into bed with us. It was… rough, to say the least. It was ROUGH. He finally fell asleep around 3:00 am. And I finally fell asleep around 5:30 am.
Sure, it didn’t end the way I intended it to; but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. ♥♥♥
a few of our favorite things // toddler books
I was honestly beginning to wonder if it would ever happen, his love for books and reading. He spent so much time loving ‘boy’ things like Thomas the Tank and Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and I wasn’t sure he would ever slow down enough to sit down with a book.
But something happened just after Christmas last year. All of a sudden he was hooked. However, just like his favorite shows and movies, he gravitates towards the same three books. Always. I have to say the kid has awesome taste. I happened to spend a bit of time in Barnes and Noble one day, just reading through the children’s books. I was incredibly impressed with the creativity!
Especially of these three books:
2. Peanut Butter & Cupcake // This is my personal favorite, so I’m glad Moosh loves it too. While the author is not a children’s book author by trade, he is a photographer that has a series called “Bent Objects,” where he takes food items and turns them into people. So naturally, this makes a great children’s book.
The main ‘character’ is a piece of peanut butter toast. He just moved to town and he’s trying to find someone to play soccer with him. Everytime he meets someone he says “Hi. I’m new here and I’d like to play. Maybe now, maybe later, or even all day! I’ll make you chuckle deep down in your belly, and we’ll go together like Peanut Butter and… (insert name of whatever he’s introducing himself to). It’s freaking adorable. And yes, I recited that little poem from memory. I just love it so much. Moosh likes to go to the last page of the book and name all of the ‘people’ playing together. 🙂
3. Please, Mr. Panda // This book is short and sweet. Mr. Panda goes around asking all the animals if they want a donut. Most say yes… quite aggressively. So he in some way or another tells them that he has changed his mind and they are not allowed to have a donut. Finally he asks the question and one of them and the animal says “Oh please may I have one Mr. Panda?” and Mr. Panda says, “Yes, you can have them all. I do not like donuts anyways.” Ha. So cute. And Moosh doesn’t even know he’s getting a message in manners!
So yeah. Or go-to-books are adorable. However, we’re always looking to add to our collection. Any suggestions? What are your kids’ favorites?