Daddy's turn

I suppose it's the fact that this is my 3rd pregnancy, or perhaps the fact that I have been pregnant the majority of the last 4 years, but I am definitely not loving my gravid state these days.  I hear other expectant women talk about the thrill of feeling their baby kick or the excitement of setting up the baby's nursery.  I just keep thinking about how excited I am to start losing weight and running fast (or at least faster).  As excited as I am about our newest addition, I am just having trouble enjoying the means to our end.
The other day, my daughter was looking at me and hugging the baby.  "Mommy," she said, looking at me with her naive little face, "I think the baby is getting too big for you to carry.  It's time for Daddy to start carrying the baby."  Hmm... now there's an idea.  I guess she's in for a rude awakening later in life.
Mom of the year ...

Go Daddy!

If you've been following this blog, then you already know how much my 2 year old son loves basketball.  While my daughter watches cartoons, my son and I curl up in front of my computer to watch the Tarheels play basketball on Youtube.  He does a great job of cheering for Carolina and pointing out Ramses but today I noticed him saying something new.  "GO DADDY!"  At first, I was sure I had misunderstood him since his articulation isn't perfect.  "GO DADDY!"  Sure enough, that's what he was saying clear as day.  I am planning to take him to some games this season but am a little worried about the looks I may get when he starts cheering for "Daddy."

Mom of the year ...

Wrong channel

Our almost 2 year old son has continued to boycott sleep over the past couple weeks.  Despite the fact that we let him sleep in t-shirts, plaid shorts, and his running shoes, he still feels inclined to scream for 45 minutes at bedtime.  Recently, we have gone with the "let him cry" philosophy again.  It worked at 4 months of age so hoping it will work again now.  The other night, he had been crying on and off and we were doing our best to ignore him.  I decided to take a look at the video monitor to see what he was doing.  Good thing I checked because he was standing there in a t-shirt and running shoes ... only a t-shirt and running shoes.  And I thought we had those channels blocked!  Needless to say, we decided to go address his concerns before leaving him to cry some more.
Mom of the year ...

Payback's a ...

As a parent, it's hard not to feel that some children reap what they sew.  At this week's soccer game, we had a bit of drama on the field.  My daughter's little team, although primarily made of boys, is not very physical.  We quickly learned that some teams have boys who are much more into pushing and tackling than soccer.  Two boys on the other team were particularly rough, even with my daughter who happened to never be anywhere near the ball.  After several episodes of pushing each other and other kids, the coach decided to separate the 2 boys and put one on the other field.  (All of this carried on with both sets of parents watching in silence).  The boy who stayed on our field continued his physical tactics and resorted to tackling more than a few times.  In one play, 2 of our players tripped over each other and fell.  I guess the little boy thought this was his chance for wrestle mania because he dove onto the pile.  All of a sudden, he screamed and started crying and running toward his mother.  Apparently, one of the boys on our team had bitten him.  I'm not normally a fan of biting but I almost tried to start the wave.  The bite victim spent the rest of the game crying in his mom's lap.  We all seemed to enjoy the game more from that point on.  Good thing my child wasn't the perpetrator because if that mother had approached me, I'm afraid of how I would have responded.  Payback's a ... well, you know.
Mom of the year ...

Dear Roy

I'm really tempted to write Roy Williams a letter and if I thought there were any chance he'd read it, it would go something like this.

Dear Roy,

I am sure in your line of work that you come across many young talented basketball players.  I have heard that there is even a trend to start recruitment as early as the middle school years for promising young players.  I am writing to inquire about the player development and recruitment opportunities that exist for the toddler age group.  My almost 2 year old son seems to have an unheard of affinity for basketball.  He currently sleeps with at least 3 basketballs and wakes up talking about basketball.  He screams "basketball" every time he sees either a ball or a goal and insists on playing if there is a court anywhere nearby (despite his significant height disadvantage on most courts).  He has also developed a love of watching and analyzing games either on TV or youtube.  Luckily, I found the NBA station on TV or we would not have survived the few months between the Olympics basketball games and the coming NCAA season.  I have made it through many a temper tantrum by searching "UNC basketball" on YouTube and playing it for him.  He immediately stops crying the second he says those Carolina blue boys shooting the ball.

As far as raw talent goes, I have no insight into how to judge what is normal vs child prodigy in the arena of toddler basketball.  That is why I am contacting you.  I am hoping you can connect him to someone who can develop him into the basketball player that he clearly desires to become.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't have any ulterior motives.  Sure, I'd love to have free tickets (in good seats) to all the games once he is officially recruited to be a Tarheel.  But the real reason for contacting you, of course, is my son's happiness.  Please let me know if you have any advice for us.

Go Heels!

Sincerely, 

Mom of the Year

Tough little coaches

My husband was out of town this past weekend leaving me home to fend for myself.  Fortunately, I had a great deal of help from my mother-in-law.  Sunday morning, however, we were on our own and I was in desperate need of a work-out.  I decided that a brisk walk with the jogging stroller would be adequate given that I am now just over 22 weeks pregnant.  I loaded the kids up (who were both surprisingly excited about going for a ride) and we headed off.  Both of our kids have loved going for runs with us since they were little, probably out of necessity more than choice.  I guess we trained them well because as soon as we started off on our walk, my daughter asked me when we were going to start running.  Well, I wasn't planning to run, I tried to explain to her 3 1/2 year old brain.  "Run Mommy run," she started chanting.  My almost 2 year old son chimed in with "ready, set, go!"  I felt as though I had no choice but to give it a go.  Otherwise, I figured I'd have 2 screaming unhappy children for my 45 minute walk.  Better to sacrifice a little oxygen to the growing fetus than deal with that!  Even as I started running, my daughter kept asking "Mommy, are we running or walking?"  Toughest coach I've ever had.  She's lucky I don't act the same way toward her when she's on the soccer field ... "Hey, are you playing soccer or picking pansies?"
Mom of the year ...

Win some, lose some

I am officially a soccer mom!  Sure, my daughter is only 3 but she started soccer this fall and I'm as excited about my new role as I am about her playing soccer.  Of course, I have a lot to learn.  For starters, I don't have a fold-up chair to bring to games.  I was the snack mom this week and had to scour the grocery store to find something "organic" and acceptable to other Chapel Hill moms.

Most importantly, I am trying to learn how to appropriately engage my daughter in the games.  For this weekend's game, she was particularly resistant to the idea of going onto the field, probably in part due to the fact that her grandparents and aunt came to watch.  I figured she was trying to soak up the attention of refusing to play so I decided to ignore her.  That didn't work very well since she kept trying to get my attention and I was starting to look like a negligent parent.  What better than sibling rivalry to spark an interest, I thought.  I took my daughter's jersey and put it on my almost 2 year old son, who was more than ecstatic about his new apparel.  I told her she could sit and watch the game and he would play for her.  Well, that was all it took and she was ready and rearing to go.  Of course, I had to force the shirt off my now very unhappy son so she could put it back on.  "My sock-ser shirt," my poor son kept crying.  My daughter ran out onto the field and played the rest of the game while my son cried on the sidelines.  You win some, you lose some.

Mom of the year ...

Running shoes

It's always tough to figure out where to draw the line with toddlers, which I suppose is why people say to pick your battles.  I tend to prioritize my own sleep so if the battle will interfere with my sleep, score 1 for the toddler.  My 21 month old son has developed quite an interesting bedtime routine.  First of all, he screams bloody murder as soon as you try to take his running shoes off at night.  He continues to scream "run shoes" until you put them back on his feet.  At first, my husband thought we should fight this battle and refuse to let him sleep in his shoes.  About 30 minutes into the power struggle, I gave in and put his shoes back on.  That was about 3 weeks ago and he's been sleeping in his running shoes ever since.  Now, his new issue is wanting to sleep in a collared shirt.  I was on the fence on this one - on the one hand, I couldn't see any harm in it.  On the other hand though, I'd like him to have clean collared shirts to wear during the day.  I think I lasted about an hour on this power struggle at which point I decided my sleep was too important and put his polo on.  Can't wait to see what's next on the horizon.
Mom of the year ...

Target practice

Sometimes a split second decision to avoid immediate consequences comes back to bite you later on.  We were on our way back from the beach, about a 5 hour drive.  Who doesn't love road trips with a 3 year old and 21 month old?  I don't.  We stopped for a potty break at a gas station where my daughter proceeded to pick up everything and ask "Mommy, can I buy this?"  My daughter is fairly easily distracted at this point, and I bribed her away from the souvenir aisle with cookies.  However, not before she held up a glow-in-the-dark soccer ball and showed my son, whose obsession with balls has reached an all-time high.  I could feel the temper tantrum rising in him as I tried to pry the ball out of his monster grip.  I then imagined the next 50 miles with him screaming "sah-sir ball" at the top of his lungs.  "Buy the ball now," I barked at my husband.  And we were off without a tear.
Two hours down the road, we stopped for lunch.  My son still had his grip on the soccer ball as he sat at the table eating.  He decided to roll the ball across the table to my daughter, which seemed like an innocent enough game.  I got up to get some drinks when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flashing ball fly across the restaurant, bouncing on someone's plate before whizzing about a millimeter from someone else's head. Needless to say, my son was not happy when we put the ball away for the rest of lunch.

Back at it again

There are very few things in life where recurrent failures do not discourage one from continuing to persevere.  Motherhood is one of those.  Just when I am most worried that I am completely sabotaging two very innocent lives, I find out we are adding a third life into the mix.  Yes, Mom of the Year is pressing on despite the challenges of motherhood into previously uncharted territory ... zone defense.  I know other moms have gone before me, and succeeded.  However, it is my amazing track record that has me most worried about this new adventure (see previous posts).  I am taking bets as to how many hours per day are "tear-free"... yes, including my tears.  The good news is I have started my new job and am no longer a PICU fellow working long hours.  The bad news is I have started my new job and am no longer a PICU fellow working long hours.  Less work equals more family time and while I love time with my family, I also love Monday morning.

Call me maybe

This week has been graduation party week.  I am finishing up fellowship at the end of the month and have had 3 parties in the past 6 days.  The parties plus another night out with my husband's work has made for 4 nights of having a babysitter put the kids to bed.  As much as I have loved having so many "nights off," I'm starting to wonder how it is effecting my kids.  Our 3 year old daughter is used to having songs sung to her at bedtime.  Our favorite picks are usually "Jesus loves me" or "Jesus loves the little children."  I guess she's learned a few new ones as she woke up singing this pop song this morning:

Mom of the year ...

Carseat switch

For anyone who has read my blog entries, you may have noticed that it is on my "post-call" days (or after working 24 hours straight) that I seem to struggle the most.  A while back, I was post-call and picked the kids up early from school.  We went to play at a park and were going to meet my husband for dinner.  I took the kids to the car and proceeded to start putting my 17 month old son in a carseat.  My 3 year old daughter said something like "hey that's my seat" but I was pretty oblivious and carried on.  When I went to put her in the other seat, something looked funny.  "Mommy I'm facing the wrong way" she said and it was then that I finally noticed I had put my son in her seat (facing forward) and was attempting to put my 3 year old in the rear facing seat.  My son seemed pleased with the change of scenery.  Good thing my daughter spoke up!
Mom of the year ...

Scheduling snafu

Sometimes being a mom feels more like being a personal assistant than a nurturer.  I am always worried that I will have something wrong with our day-to-day schedule and end up leaving the kids at daycare or forgetting to feed them a meal.  This week, I left for a 24 hour call shift on Monday.  I came home Tuesday morning while my husband was on his way to the airport for a trip.  He returns home late tonight and I leave for another 24 hour shift tomorrow morning.  With all the coming and going, it's a wonder we've kept it together this week.
Last night, my mother-in-law and I took the kids to Cafe Carolina.  As soon as we walked in, my daughter spotted her buddy, Sergio, who works there.  He played hide and seek with her for a few minutes then came over to say hi to my son.  "Are you going to smile for me tonight?" he asked "He only smiled at me once last night."  I looked at him confused.  "Your family was here last night for dinner," he responded laughing.  And I thought I had this scheduling thing figured out.  Oh well, at least the kids seemed to enjoy their dinner... again.
Mom of the year ...

Bribery

I find the age of 3 years to be quite a challenge, but the one upside is that my 3 year old daughter responds rather well to bribes.  For example, hurry up and get dressed and you can watch a TV show ... or if you leave the park now without throwing a fit, I'll give you a cookie when we get home.  Many bribes revolve around convincing her to go potty when we have the chance.  With all the bribery going around, we have had to become more and more creative.
A few weeks ago, we were finishing up lunch and had to run to Lowe's before going home for nap time.  I wanted her to potty before we left the restaurant but, as usual, she was taking her sweet time.  I decided to make Lowe's more enticing ... "Don't you want to go pick out pink paint for your new room? You have to go potty if you want pink paint" (We are moving in the next few months and have talked a lot about our new house).  An older woman overheard our conversation and chuckled.  I guess the bribe sounded pretty ridiculous.  I'd like to say it worked but we were still standing outside the bathroom talking about pink paint 5 minutes later.
Mom of the year ...

PS- I'm not even sure I'm going to let her paint her room pink!

Beach bums

We recently returned home from a 10 day vacation at the beach.  We enjoyed ourselves but more importantly, we all survived the trip without too much drama.  It's funny how I always feel like I need a vacation from my vacation these days.
My 3 year old daughter was amazingly well-behaved for the majority of the trip but of course had her moments.  And I guess I had my moments too.  I had become accustomed to having sand all over me, but I wasn't a huge fan of that gritty all-over feeling.  One day, while playing in the sand, my daughter launched a shovel full of sand all over me.  She looked me right in the eye when she did it so I know it was no accident.  I've never claimed to be mature enough to be a mom.  In fact, people who know me well think I often act like a 6th grader.  Maybe that explains why my first instinct was to throw sand back at her.  Unfortunately, my aim wasn't great and it all went in her face.  Oops... sorry sweetie!  She cried for a few minutes before she forgave me.
Mom of the year ...

Happy Mothers' Day

I feel negligent in my role as "Mom of the Year" letting Mother's Day go by without a blog post.  I'm sure I'm the only "mommy blogger" that would allow a slip-up of that magnitude.  Of course, I did work the 24 hours prior to Mothers' Day so I will use that as my excuse.  As for the holiday itself, I had a beautiful day, despite being exhausted from work.  How could I not enjoy the day with these cuties?

I hope everyone enjoyed Mothers' Day.  If yours was similar to mine, it revolved around spending time with the family, more specifically the children.  As much as I love my children, part of me wanted to slip away and sleep the whole day (oh wait, I did sleep half the day).  It puzzles me why Fathers' Day is depicted in all the Hallmark cards as a day off for dads ... playing golf, fishing, lying in a hammock.  Mothers' Day on the other hand seems more focused on spending time together with the children.  Am I the only one who would have enjoyed a day off?  Now I sound ungrateful.  I am very thankful for my 2 healthy children and my own wonderful mother and mother-in-law.  I just think moms could use a day off too.  Who's with me in 2013?
Mom of the year ...

Tale of a tail

Tonight, I was especially impatient with my 3 year old daughter getting ready for bed.  She has a tendency to take 30 minutes to complete a 3 minute task.  I was holding her pull-ups and trying to get her to come over to me to put them on.  Finally, exasperated, I raised my voice and said (aka I yelled) "Get your tail over here now!"  She responded very matter of fact-ly, "Mommy, I don't have a tail!"  I couldn't help but burst out in laughter.  Well, at least she diffused the situation.
Mom of the year ...

Officially Satan

As the mother of a 3 year old, I am officially self-proclaimed Satan.  When people tell you that 3 is harder than 2, it's hard to believe (at least when you're the mother of the most stubborn 2 year old you know).  Well, it's true.  3 is definitely harder than 2.  It's hard to pinpoint exactly why that is until you're in Lowe's and your previously content and acqueisent 3 year old is suddenly on the floor screaming bloody murder.  It's at these moments that I find I have no coping mechanisms, especially when these moments occur post call.  After spending more than 5 minutes trying to stuff our hyperventilating, fighting 3 year old into the carseat, I was spent.  We started to pull out of the parking lot when I realized she had managed to wriggle both arms out of the carseat straps.  Seriously!?!  We pulled over so I could wrestle her back in at which point I tightened the arm straps as much as possible.  "I'm too tight, I'm too tight" ... more screaming bloody murder and crying.  Well, I finally decided I couldn't take any more.  I opened my window and held her lovey (Lamby) out the window.  "I'll throw him out," I threatened!  "No Mommy, don't drop him!" The tears disappeared and her expression was pure terror!  My husband cracked a smile ... I guess it was pretty hysterical.  I wonder what people in cars behind us must have thought with my arm out the window, "Lamby" hanging on by a thread.  Oh well, it worked.  She stopped crying and within 10 minutes, was back to her pre-tantrum, sweet demeanor.  Is my child bipolar ... or is she just 3?
Mom of the year ...

Don't judge!

My daughter has been having major issues with transitions ever since her 3rd birthday.  We were at the kids' museum in downtown Chapel Hill,  and it was time to go home.  I tried every way I know to ease the transition, but ultimately, I had to drag her out kicking and screaming.  We then had to walk down Franklin Street towards our car, but she was refusing to walk.  I threw her over my shoulder (like a sack of potatoes), kicking and screaming, and tried to steer my 15 month old down the sidewalk.  We were almost at the car (still screaming) when we passed 2 male undergrads.  They were trying not to look at me but I caught their eye.  I couldn't help but laugh at the thoughts that must have been going through their heads, and I yelled "Don't judge me ... this is your life in 10 years!"  The looks on their faces were priceless ... they looked unsure of whether to be amused or afraid.

Mom of the year ...

Target practice

My potty-trained daughter has had several accidents in the past few days so I started wondering if something was going on and decided to take her to the doctor. I've only been to the pediatrician twice with my kids outside of well visits so I was feeling pretty proud of myself for taking the time to go. It wasn't until we arrived at the doctor's office that I realized the challenge that lay ahead.
I took on the challenge and all 3 of us crammed into the little bathroom. I showed my daughter the target ... A small cup with a Carolina blue cap. She liked it but still wasn't sold on the idea.
"I need you to pee in this."
"Mommy, that's silly. I can't sit on that!"
After getting her situated on the potty with the cup in my hand and my 15 month old son crying on the floor, I realized too late that I should have gotten a glove. I'm happy to say that I managed to catch some of the urine in the cup.
After she finished, I told her I needed to go and she asked me if I needed a cup. I graciously declined.
Mom of the year ...

Special yogurt

We have been dealing with all the extremes of abdominal distress this week.  After the 24 hours of vomiting subsided, our 15 month old son started having several watery poops per day.  Our 3 year old daughter, in contrast, kept complaining of stomach pain, crying on the potty, and squeezing out rock solid pebble-sized poops.  As a pediatrician, I am a huge fan of Miralax and dole it out to my kids frequently.  My daughter seems to be catching on and no longer wants to drink water or milk after she sees me mixing in the white powder.  Last night, I packed some Miralax for our dinner outing.  My daughter always wants to eat yogurt for "dessert" so I planned to mix it in.  Unfortunately, she was sitting beside me so I couldn't think of an inconspicuous way to get the yogurt drugged.  Instead, I decided to tell her that since she had been so good at dinner, I had some special sugar to put in her yogurt to make it extra sweet.  She took the bait and was so proud of her "special" yogurt.  So far, no major consequences from the special yogurt but I have this strange feeling it will come back to haunt me!
Mom of the year ...

Vomit virgin

Somehow, I survived 3 years of motherhood without cleaning up vomit.  Fortunately, my daughter has only thrown up a couple times ever (and I happened to be on call), and my son has never thrown up (other than spit-up).  I consider this fact to be a blessing given that I am not very good with vomit.  I have a strong gag reflex and always feel like I may throw up myself when I see other people vomit. 
Earlier this week, I paid my dues.  My daughter woke up around 10 pm vomiting.  I think vomit at night is worse than vomit during the day (mostly because children are supposed to sleep at night, not vomit).  We bathed her 3 times and did 3 loads of laundry in the middle of the night.  She finally seemed to settle down around 3 am.  The next morning, I went to get our 15 month old son who I was planning to send to daycare while I stayed home with our ill child.  I walked in and he stood up in bed smiling.  He pointed to the other end of the bed.  I've never seen so much vomit in my life.  Goes to show you how different your children can be.  While my daughter was waking up every hour, our son decided to go back to sleep on the other side of the crib and woke up smiling!  Either he is a really easy kid or he has learned it's not worth competing with his sister for attention.  Either way, cleaning up after him was much easier!
Mom of the year ...

The Birthday Gift Shift

I just dropped off a trunk loaded with birthday presents to the NC Children's hospital.  These gifts were donated by the generous friends and family who came to my daughter's 3rd birthday party, in lieu of a gift for the birthday girl.  We have made this a tradition in our house since her 1st birthday.  At first, my friends told me I was crazy - that once our kids were old enough, they would pitch a fit about donating all those gifts.  I was especially worried this year since our daughter was turning 3, old enough to understand what gifts are (and to want them!).  I tried to prep her ahead of time by telling her that people were bringing gifts for the "sick children" to her party.  Still, I had my doubts about how it would all go down.
At the end of the party, my daughter looked at the pile of gifts, then looked up at me and asked "are we taking the presents to the sick children now?"  I almost cried ... maybe I really am Mom of the Year!  Well, I guess it's more like "mom of the moment" ... I'm pretty sure I almost strangled her later that day.

If anyone else would like to start this tradition, aka "The Birthday Gift Shift," please let me know and I will facilitate delivery of the donations. Not only will you feel good about donating gifts, but you will also feel good about not having to find space in your home for all that stuff!
Mom of the year ...

Fetch!

My 15 month old son loves balls.  In fact, he loves them so much that he wakes up saying "ball" and will run around looking for a ball as soon as he gets out of his crib.  I have to admit that we often use the ball as "bait" to get him to come with us.  We also discovered that he is really good at playing "fetch," so good in fact that we call him our labrador retriever. When I threw the ball today and said "fetch," I think he may have taken the game a little too far ...

Mom of the year ...

Sour milk

Whenever I pick the children up from school, my daughter asks for water and whines the whole way home if I don't have any.  For this reason, I have tried to keep a cup of water in the car at all times.  The other day, I picked the kids up and per usual, my daughter asked for water.  The purple cup that I had been keeping in the car was sitting in the cup holder.  I knew it had been a week since we had been out of town for the weekend, but I figured giving her the water was better than listening to her whine about it.  I handed her the cup and she took a swig.  She immediately made a face and said "That's not water, that's milk and it tastes funny."
I had forgotten that my husband had driven my car the day before we left town (5 days before the incident) and must have left the purple cup in it with milk, not water.  I almost gagged at the thought.
Mom of the year ...

Hypocrisy of parenting

My friends who know me well know how much I love sweets, especially chocolate.  These same friends also know how rarely I allow my children to eat sweets.  I refrained from giving either kid any kind of sweets until their first birthday, and then only on that day.  (I blame my career and the growing trend of obese children.)  I've only very recently started giving my 3 year old sweet treats, usually on some sort of special occasion.  To her, yogurt and apple sauce are desserts.  Of course, while I deprive my children of chocolate, cookies, cakes, etc, I tend to stuff my own face behind their backs.
This week, we celebrated our friend's one year birthday by going to get frozen yogurt.  It was one of those self-serve places, and I was so proud of myself for letting my daughter have a cup (my 15 month old son of course got none).  After filling my own cup, I sat down and took a look at our cups side by side.  I felt a little less proud.

Oh well, I still enjoyed my yogurt and my daughter did too!

Mom of the year ...

Who are you?

We are fortunate to live in a college town with access to babysitters galore.  Last night, we went to a late basketball game and our usual babysitters weren't available.  We decided to ask a new babysitter, someone we know well but who our kids have never really met.  Since the game wasn't until 9, we put the kids to bed and the babysitter came over after bedtime.  We gave some basic instructions on what to do if our daughter called for someone but didn't think it would be an issue since it was an hour after her bedtime.  About 20 minutes after we left, our daughter called out for Daddy.  Our babysitter went upstairs to check on her and the ensuing conversation must have been interesting ...
"Hi, your mommy and daddy aren't here. I'm Georgia.  We haven't met.  Should I turn the light on so you can see my face?"
"Where's my mommy and daddy? Who are you?"
"They went to see the Tarheels play basketball. I'm friends with Jill. I like your pajamas"
"Oh, basketball. I like basketball. Go heels.  I like Jill too. My pajamas have polkadots. I love polkadots. Want to read a book? Let's talk. Do you go to school? Whatcha doin'?" ... and so on and so on.
I guess our daughter warms up to strangers entering her room in the middle of the night pretty easily.
Mom of the year ...

No pants, no problem

On our visit to Charleston last weekend, we took advantage of the conveniently close beaches and unseasonably warm weather.  Since it was barely February, I had not packed your typical "beachwear" for our trip.  When we decided to go to the beach Saturday, I carefully picked clothes that I thought would be weather appropriate and easy for playing on the beach.  I guess I forgot one major detail in packing our bag ... extra clothes.  After less than 10 minutes, it was obvious that my kids were going to be both sandy and wet.  It seemed that the 50 degree water did not phase either my 1 or 3 year old.  Both kids thought running in and out of it (only to fall into the sand immediately following the sprints) was too much fun to resist.  Since we stayed until lunch time, there was no time to make it home for a change of clothes before eating.  My 1 year old's pants were soaked and sandy so I decided to take them off and took him into the restaurant in only his onesie.  My daughter was wearing her leggings that she normally wears under a skirt or dress but took off prior to running in the water.  Unfortunately her skirt was too wet to wear over them, and she looked a bit like a 1980's Jane Fonda replica.  Once we entered the restaurant, my son took off running around barefooted in his onesie, and I looked over to find my daughter pulling her pants down screaming "my botty is sandy."  Our friends had their child dressed in the fresh clothes they packed for the day, sitting quietly in a highchair.
Mom of the year ...

Not so crafty

I had the great fortune of being off today for MLK.  Of course, with school out and my husband working, it didn't really seem like a day off.  I do best with the kids when we can get out of the house and go somewhere.  It was a bit cold this morning to play outside and we were too unorganized to make it to a museum.  So I had the bright idea of doing a craft here at home.  Lately, my daughter has been all about arts and crafts so I thought that would be the perfect morning entertainment for us.  We took a trip to Target to pick up a few craft supplies and hurried home to get started.  My daughter was really into the finger painting, which was going surprisingly smoothly given my lack of craftiness.  We took her new piece of artwork into the other room to lay it out to dry.  I guess I forgot about the curious 13 month old that I left in the other room ...

At least it was non-toxic.
Mom of the year ...

Plastic Bags

Finding time to share my stories has been tough the last several weeks, but I managed to out-do myself as mom of the year yesterday.  I decided to take the kids to the grocery store on the way home to pick up a few things for dinner.  We were lucky enough to snag the one and only 2 seater racecar grocery cart at our local HT (I may have left tire marks as I skidded into a parking spot and jumped out of the car to claim it).  Everything went surprisingly smoothly in the grocery store until check out.  I was busy helping bag the groceries when I heard a scream and looked over to find my almost 3 year old daughter with a plastic bag over her head.  My 13 month old son was laughing hysterically and helping hold the bag. Everyone seemed to stop and stare directly at me - not sure why they were looking at me when my daughter was the one screaming.  The poor high school boy ringing us up wasn't sure if he could laugh or not until I started laughing (and took the bag off my daughter's head) and apologized for the excitement.
Mom of the year ...