See You in the Morning...

Right before I leave his room at night, Tommy will say to me...
"And we will play catch?"
"Yes Bubs...we can play catch in the morning."
"Oookkkaayy..."
And then he just rolls over and starts stroking his hair.
I love that kid...

This Thanksgiving...

I am thankful for my awesome husband (who always takes the pics and therefore, is never in ONE!), my wonderful family and all of our great friends we've had so much fun with this past year. We are so lucky!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone - let's eat!

Being a Mom is Hard Work, huh?

This is a question I have been asked over the past year a few times from Lucy. Maybe when she saw me flailing or I sighed deeply after satisfying the latest request (and maybe 50th one of the day).
But the truth is...things have gotten easier. I was asked by a friend today how the experience of having the two kids close in age was for me. I told him the first year was probably the hardest year of my life. Juggling a 21 month old and a breastfeeding newborn was about as tough as it gets. We were put to the test in many ways. In other ways, it forced me to slow down and get to the basics of life.
The next year, pretty tough. TONS of multi-tasking and even though Lucy was in preschool two mornings a week, I still always felt that internal tugging to "have some alone time" and never being without a child in tow. Chasing an 18 month old and dealing with a crazy, emotional 3 year old. I was always very, very tired.
This year, not so much. I've changed and the kids have changed. Lucy is independent, more mature, self-sufficient, and has toned down much of her drama (as of now, 6 months in...I DO have to agree with the rumor that age 4 is a much calmer year). Tommy is now a talking, running, self-playing, adorable chunk of easiness who is o.k. with me not standing over him 24/7 and happily waves goodbye as he heads into the preschool classroom.
And then I am alone 3 mornings a week...for 2.5 glorious hours. I get my "me time" and my errand time, my running alone outside time, and my "dink around a store while staring aimlessly" time, or maybe my "spending too much money on coffee" time. But that is neither here nor there...moving on...
I have changed in that I am more low key (for all the reasons stated above). I don't have to be so hyper-vigilant. I can actually jump in the shower and no one is stricken or sobbing. I am a multi-tasking fool. Groceries are in the house. I'm still doing pretty well with that cooking healthy and regularly thing. Laundry is done. The house is usually clean. I've got my groove going.
When the kids aren't in school, we have such a blast. Many mornings, as we are cruising around in the car, hanging around on a lazy morning, or just eating a PLG lunch at Olga's together, I often stop and think to myself, "How LUCKY am I to get to do this with my two favorite people in the world?" These kids are hilarious.
In some ways, I feel like a survivor. I have lived through some very stressful times over the past few years. Lately, I have had the thought that nothing would really throw me at this point. I have tackled raising two little people for the past 4 1/2 years. Now THAT is something. I have grown stronger from my experience as their mom. I have learned you can't control everything. That life isn't really perfect and that sometimes things just happen and that's all there is to say.
I've learned to love outside of myself in a way I never really understood. I, of course, love Matt as my husband and best friend. But...now I get the quote about how having a baby is like deciding to give your heart away and let it walk around the earth.
But then...with all that return to normalcy and non-baby life and independence and self-confidence is that feeling in the back of my brain...
They will never be babies again. They are getting bigger and bigger every moment. And it's bitter sweet.
Mostly excited for what they've become, how fun they really are now and wondering what they will become. But maybe just a tiny bit sad my babies are growing up.
And as I tell Luce every time she asks, "It IS hard but I love being your mom more than anything in the world..."

Vest Day Rules...

Hey...did you hear the news? It's National Vest Day!
Or at least we decided it was...ha!

WHY....

Why am I psycho about cleaning? Maybe it's because after one week...I look up at the ceiling fans and they look like The Haunted Mansion at Disney World, due to the cobwebs...whhhhyyy??? I am on a crazy frenzy...

Why do I decide to plan the craziest week while my husband is off killing deer? I guess it was both a good and bad thing....but THANK THE SWEET LORD for my parents...that is all I have to say!

Why are my kids so butt cute I want to kill myself? (I am fully aware that question makes no sense). The comments, games and actions that have transpired over the past few days are hysterical and ridiculous and blog-worthy...if only I allowed time to write them down. Instead I am planning my next cleanfest attack on the upstairs....

Why are Gardenburgers so tasty and why do Boca burgers make me want to hurl? Core update: Lost two pounds last week! AND, most importantly, I feel 100% better eating the way I am eating. Go Core!!

Why have I watched this over 15 times since Saturday night and it still makes me cry of laughter? Because it is awesome...

The Schizo....

Life with a 2.5 year old can certainly feel schizophrenic. Yesterday afternoon, the boy was a mess from nap wake-up until bedtime. He woke up furious, sobbed outside while trying to get some fresh air with friends, sobbed during dinner and sobbed through his bath. I was to the point during the bath where I called to Matt, "Seriously...I can't take it. My head is killing me from the cries! You must take over!"
Ridiculous.

Incidentally, and on a random side note, I have shocked my body a bit with sugar withdrawal on the Weight Watchers Core plan and it hit me hard on day three. But I am motivated and excited about doing this for the next 8 weeks and seeing how it goes. No more sugar and processed foods for me...it is time for a wake-up call.

O.k. back to the sobbing....so this morning, the boy wakes up happy as a clam. Cute and so happy yelling, "Yeah! I love school and it's a school day!"
When I picked him up from school, Miss Gloria told me, "He sure had a great day. He was doing all the hand motions to our indian song and just having a blast." PLG....
Later during lunch, he walked into the kitchen and looked adorable so I asked for a hug. He happily obliged and when he pulled away he looked at me all concerned and said, after a moment of thought,
"I didn't see you all weekend."
"I know, Tomma, and I really missed you! I didn't see you all weekend!"
"Yeah, I missed you, too..." and ran off to the family room.

So yeah...needless to say, I kind of forgot about the previous day's sob-fest....

What More Do You Need?

Lucy came downstairs this morning with her Princess carry-on bag, proclaiming to be all packed to visit my sister this weekend....

Items in suitcase:
One pair of Halloween pajamas
One pair of hot pink pants
One children's Christmas nativity
One Barack Obama Sticker

Look out Detroit...here we come....

What I Want you to Know...

Well, the world is spinning madly on....and so I will leave you with a few things I want you to know 20 years from now (as a good friend surmised as reasons for her blog postings recently)....

1. The kids were about as cute as it gets on Halloween this year. Tommy was so brave in his costume at his first school performance, and Lucy lived it up as the one and only Alice in Wonderland. We brought a bit of our own magic from our Disney trip back for Halloween and it was so fun and worth every penny.




I have to say, I didn't necessarily love being in the Snow White costume, but seeing their faces as I walked outside as Snow White made it all worth it. It's ridiculous what a mom will do to make them laugh!

2. I volunteered to be a "class helper" in Lucy's preschool class last week. Thankfully, she was so entranced by the art projects, friends, stories, and singing, she basically forgot I was even there. I got to see "the real her" in action and it was so fun. She was so interested and smart, and projected happiness and self esteem. I was beaming with pride as I snuck out halfway through "Circle Time."

3. We took a quick trip to Chicago on Saturday to visit a close friend of mine, who just had a baby. Lucy and Tommy were absolutely FABULOUS. Tommy is fighting a bad cold and they were both still wiped from Halloween, so we weren't real sure what to expect from them. They exceeded all expectations from in the car to sharing toys to being kind to my friend's little boy. We rewarded them with a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo yesterday morning and they loved it. I loved taking them somewhere I used to frequent in my former life, as a singleton in the city. Now I can't wait to take them back and show them even more of the city. In the words of Lucy yesterday as we left the zoo, "Thanks for having us, Chicago! You're a real nice city!"

4. After waking up from my 2nd night of Barack Obama dreams (I am obsessing) at 6:15 a.m., I heard Lucy telling Tommy that she "hates John McCain." Then we had to yell to them from bed, "We don't hate anyone and we don't say hate. That isn't nice. We just think Obama would be a better President. That's all."
"Oh..."
And back to playing in Lucy's room they went...