Mommin' It Up!

April 15, 2008

In Lieu of My Pre-Travel Freak-Out…

For those of you who haven’t heard, I am going on a trip. Alone. Without me babies or me husband! And I am fah-reaking out. But I am too tired to blog about my freak-out. So, in lieu of my pre-travel freak-out post, I bring you…cute pictures of my kids!! First up is our first day at the park this spring. It was soo nice last week! Here are some cute shots:

My beautiful girl. She was SO happy to be out running around!

Joshua was pretty pleased himself!

Sophie liked the swing for about a minute, then made it quite clear that she was DONE!

Thursday we went to Portrait Innovations with all my nieces & nephews to get their pictures done together for my mom for Mother’s Day. It was really fun and the kids (all eight of them!) did great! While I was there I decided to get Joshua’s belated 4 year picture done and Sophie’s 18-month photo done one month early. It’s MUCH cheaper that way! 🙂 Here are some of the cute poses:

This is the pose I purchased of Joshua. He looks like such a big guy!

I thought this was sweet of SoSo.

Another cute one of Joshua! It was hard to choose!

My cuties together.

Finally, I leave you with Sophie’s BEST post-nap hair EVER, from Friday…

Is that AWESOME or what???

I’m leaving on a jet plane tomorrow…I’ll keep you posted on my trip, and any freak-outs it may induce!

April 14, 2008April 14, 2008

Momnesia, Anyone?

I’ve always thought of myself as “smart” – booksmart, at least, with a side of common sense. I always did well in school and while my room or my desk were never physically organized, I was always mentally organized enough to still know where everything was. It all made sense to me. My memory was always very sharp , too. I never needed a calendar to remember anyone’s birthday or to know where I needed to be, when. I just remembered.

Then I got pregnant, and life’s details started to get a little fuzzy. Then I had a baby. I found it hard to remember what day it was. Then I got pregnant again and had another baby. Soon I could no longer remember my own name or where I lived!

Ok, that is a slight exaggeration, but seriously peeps, I am no longer the sharpest pencil in the box. I just can’t remember things! I double-book myself for playdates, I misplace stuff I swear I JUST HAD MY HANDS ON, and I always have to race back into the house to get stuff I’ve forgotten: my purse, the diaper bag, a pacifier. I NEVER make it out of the house on the first try. For a “smart” girl, I sure feel like a dummy. But alas, thanks to my mom and MSNBC, I’ve recently learned that it’s NOT MY FAULT!

One day a few weeks ago my mom and I were talking on the phone and she informed me that she’d seen an interesting piece on the Today show about mothers with memory problems. “It’s called Momnesia,” she said, “It’s real.” Before she could explain, I jumped up and did a dance of joy. Finally! A reason I was such a space case! I got on MSNBC and checked out the article that accompanied the Today show piece. Basically it says that after you have a baby, hormones turn your brain to mush. Luckily for me, I can still claim to be a Momnesiac because apparently breastfeeding keeps your brain function at mushy levels. Yeee-haaa!! It’s not early-onset Alzheimer’s! It’s just Momnesia! I might one day still recover some of my pre-mommy brain power. (Please, oh please, oh please, Lord!) But until then, I’ve bought myself a planner (and by “bought” I mean I got it at FREEVS, I mean CVS for FREE-99) to try and ensure that my kids and I end up where we need to be when we need to be, and that I don’t say we’ll be in two places at once. I’ve always been the type to buy a planner and never use it, but now that I’ve been diagnosed with Momnesia, I swear I am gonna utilize this thing to help me on my road to recovery. For realzies, y’all. (I’m also on a strict memory replacement therapy that includes large quantities of Mountain Dew and Tim Horton’s Cafe Mochas. It’s totally ~~yummy~~ working.)

So, the next time you get halfway to the grocery store and realize you meant to go to the mall, don’t worry! It’s just MOMNESIA! It’ll pass.

In about 18 years.

Let’s start a Momnesia support group! Share your Momnesia moments! (Please tell me I’m not the only one!)

March 21, 2008March 21, 2008

Trying to Leave the House…Without My Head Exploding!

Tuesday my sister-in-law called me and asked what I was up to. “Well, I’ve had a busy morning, ” I repsonded. “I’m trying to get everybody ready to go because Joshua has a doctor’s appointment at 1:30.” Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Well, it’s NOT. Because this phone conversation was taking place at TEN A.M. and I was already quite stressed about being on time for an appointment that was three-and-a-half hours away. But ever since I’ve had kids, and especially that pesky second child, it seems it just takes all day to get ready to go somewhere. There’s no time to do anything but get myself and the kids dressed, bathed, etc. Which means when we get home from our destination, the house is a wreck and dinner hasn’t even been thought of! GRR!

This particular day, Tuesday, since Joshua had a doctor’s appointment (4 year check-up!), I also felt I needed to actually, you know, shower and put make-up on. I hate to go into the doctor’s office looking rough. For some reason I feel that this will lead them to automatically conclude that I am a terrible mother and call Children’s Services on me. So, I was able to shower and get my makeup done but I had to settle for a ponytail as Sophie insisted on napping during the time I had allotted for hairstyling, and I didn’t feel I could use the hairdryer without waking her up. She had slept late that day, and I was trying to keep her up until after the appointment, but it was a no-go. She demanded to nap, so I put her down. This meant of course, that I had to wake her up before we left (thus breaking a cardinal rule in my household, “Never wake a sleeping Sophie!”), so that we wouldn’t be late. (I was taking her to my other sister-in-law’s house so she could play with cousins rather than terrorizing me during Joshua’s appointment.) Since I had Joshua and myself all ready and had even fed us both lunch, I was doing ok with time. So, after letting Sophie sleep as long as possible, I woke her up and was trying to fix her crazy nap hair when I thought she felt warm. She has had a cold the past few days so I thought I better make sure she didn’t have a fever. I grabbed our ear thermometer, and Sophie immediately snatched it out of my hand and threw it to the ground as hard as she could! AAAHHH!! The thermometer separated from the case, the thermometer covers (you know, those clear, plastic, choking hazards) went EVERYWHERE, the battery cover popped off the thermometer and went under the coffee table and the batteries rolled under the love seat. “SOPHIA!” I shouted angrily as I scrambled to find all the thermometer’s parts. My head began to pound. I looked at the clock. 1:05. We needed to leave in five minutes. I got everything put back together (except the battery cover, I couldn’t find it!), and took So’s temp, which was thankfully normal. I gave a sigh of relief and put her coat on. I looked at the clock. 1:07. Then Joshua piped up, “I have to go POOPS!” My head started pounding harder and I swear my vision blurred. “Allright, let’s hurry!” I rushed him back to the bathroom while Sophie followed us wailing (I have no idea why. She just wanted to add to the drama). This stressed me out because you never know with Joshua whether it is going to be a regular poop or a marathon poop. I was praying for an expedient dump cause we HAD TO GET OUT THE DOOR! “C’mon buddy,” I encouraged, “we’re running late, can you do a quick poop?” Fortunately, his bowels obliged me and we were out the door by 1:12. I threw both kids in the car, dropped Sophie at my sister-in law’s, and sped to the doctor’s office. We pulled in the lot at exactly 1:30. Shew! My head was killing me, (it hurt for over 24 hours. Should I blame myself or the weather?) and I was upset at myself for getting so upset! I don’t know why getting out of the house has to be such an ordeal, but it always is. I don’t know why I feel that being two minutes late at any time is the end of the world, either, but I do! And I suspect that my neuroses has something to do with it…more to do with it that my kids’ antics ever will! Ugh!