Category Archives: random

Thursday Musings

I’m not sure what to think of this silly weather we’ve been having… up and down and all the nice weather seems to fall during the week instead of on the weekend. Most Memorial Day weekends we’d be off doing something like camping, but we definitely weren’t about to do that last weekend. The kids have been extra cantankerous, though. I’m not sure if it’s the rain coming through or what, but I know I would certainly like some warm weather to actually fall on a weekend so I can soak it all up.

It doesn’t help that there has been so much going on either. It is time to fit in some evening walks and tackle our outside projects whenever the opportunity arises since summer is always too short. Soon we’ll be sending swimsuits to day care and trying frantically to fit in as many outside activities as possible. I want to camping, swimming, you name it!

The kids did get some cousin time in over the weekend, which is always nice, and I have some pictures from when we traded babysitting a few weeks ago that I need to go through. Josh got a couple of really good pictures and there are some fun ones of all the kiddos hanging out. I love watching our little tomboy keep up with the boys. I swear she’s more rowdy than her brother at times and giggles madly when she gets tackled.

Already she’s rebelling against the dresses I’ve gotten her… I put one on her the other day and she wanted it off. Then she wanted a skirt, but didn’t want a shirt on. Then Enzo wanted a skirt too, so I was like… okay, sure, why not? They both twirled and had great fun and then watched Strawberry Shortcake, which was Enzo’s choice. I think it’s good for both kids to get to do “boy” and “girl” things. I can’t imagine telling Enzo that I won’t paint his nails, but I’ll paint Phoebe’s because she’s a girl… he likes brightly colored things, so paint his nails I will!

Don’t ask me where this post is going… just random thoughts on a very hot afternoon from a very air conditioned office during the slowest time of the year. Tomorrow can’t come soon enough… plus its Josh’s birthday and I have surprises in store! There is nothing more fun than surprising someone. 😉

Much like the weather

Just as the weather can suddenly go from warm and sunny to overcast, windy, and downright chilly, so too can a toddler go from being happy and healthy to being sick from out of nowhere. Phoebe randomly started coughing last night and today it sounds pretty awful, but she has no fever so I’m not taking her to the doctor yet. I did, however, have to get her early and bring her home because day care called and said she was pretty much inconsolable most of the morning, wouldn’t eat, and only wanted to sleep. Poor Squish. Oh well, at least we were able to enjoy the weekend… these pictures are not even from this weekend, but another fun weekend. :p

Such is life as a parent, I’ve discovered. You rarely have time to accomplish all the things you want to, or at least I do. Perhaps that’s just a reflection of my constantly changing priorities and motivation that is always on a roller coaster.

Most of our weekends often have a lot of the same going on, though. They often start way too early because the kids are very much against sleeping in. I’m usually the first to stumble out of bed with them and coffee is typically my first priority if I can manage it. This is why most of my morning photos have the flash… because our living room has very few lamps and they like to wake with the sun. Sigh.

This particular weekend was fairly windy and Enzo was feeling “off” on Saturday so I took Phoebe on a quick run to Costco. It’s grilling season and their organic beef is a great price, plus I bought enough aluminum foil to last us at least a couple of years. Then yesterday was one of Enzo’s friend’s birthday party so we went to that. I have a feeling most of our weekends are going to be fairly busy this summer.

We also found out that our city-wide garage sale weekend is mid-May, so yesterday I started doing some prep work for that. I think I have about 9 bins of baby clothes and so many toys and other kid items that it’s going to take quite a while to sort through everything and prep for it. Plus, we have books, movies, games and you name it, so it’s going to end up being a fairly large sale. I can’t wait to clear up some room in our garage and under our stairs. It’s going to feel very, very good.

It’s a routine thing.

I’ve always liked having routines. I’m not against surprises by any means and have my spontaneous moments, but for the most part I find routines to be somewhat calming because I know exactly what to expect. I can roll with changes if I need to, but without a doubt I am thrown off kilter if my morning routine is interrupted in a big way. I knew that having kids would most likely require me to switch up my routine, but for the most part we do indeed still have our daily routines. Enzo seems to thrive on them just as much as I do… like me, he likes to know what to expect. Phoebe seems to be more of a go with the flow type of gal, however, since both Josh and I work, and the kids are in day care, routines are just kind of a must to keep things running smoothly.

Right now, everyone’s favorite routine is our bath routine. The kids don’t get baths every night because it dries their skin out badly, but come summertime they’ll be more likely to get a daily dunking which will please them to no end. There’s a great deal of excitement when I announce that its bath night and both kids run for the tub. Enzo gets undressed himself, but Phoebe I have to grab otherwise she’d attempt to climb in fully clothed. I’m glad that for now they like taking baths together – it’s such a timesaver.

Really, though, the part they like most about baths is the part that comes immediately afterwards when they can shed their towels and run around sans clothing. It’s get them wound up again, but it’s kind of adorable, so we let the craziness proceed. This weekend, I broke out of our routine and gave the kids a bath after snack because Phoebe smeared her cupcake (Enzo picked them out specially while grocery shopping and put them in his cart) all over her hair. The early bath slightly confused Enzo, however, who was ready to get into pajamas and have his bedtime books despite it being 4:00 in the afternoon. Whoops.

Random Friday Thoughts – Baby wearing

It’s true what they say about becoming a parent for the second time. You’re more relaxed overall and tend to let more slide. With Enzo I remember being really picky and concerned about everything we gave him to eat. He never had sugary sweets before he turned 1, and then it was few and far between. While we’re still careful what we feed the kids, I think Phoebe had tastes of “bad” foods a lot earlier than he did. We try to stay away from too many processed foods, but when we do pull them out, I don’t feel as guilty as I used to. With two kids and full-time jobs, life gets crazy.

We’re gearing up to go on vacation and I’m recalling some of our first trips with Enzo. Now we’ll be traveling with two kids and I’m hoping to bring even less than with him. Granted, Phoebe is older than Enzo was when we first flew, and we’re “cheating” a tad by renting some things when we arrive (like boosters so that way the kids can eat meals comfortably in our rental condo). The goal is still to travel with less, and that means bringing only our foldable nice umbrella stroller and mostly wearing Phoebe when we’re out and about.

I’m really excited that Enzo has agreed to be worn for part of the trip, though! We bought a new custom carrier that is just a tad too big for Phoebe right now, but fits Enzo really well and he thinks it’s cool (because super heroes). At first I had to talk him into it, but it was so comfy he didn’t want down and wanted me to run around the house with him… while also having to hold Phoebe. Talk about a workout!

I’m really excited about being able to potentially ditch the stroller, though. Josh doesn’t mind the new carrier (again, super heroes) so we can each wear a munchkin and maybe even see about getting rid of our big bulky stroller in the future. There’s nothing worse than being out and about and wanting to go exploring, only to realize that your stroller can’t fit anywhere.

Phoebe is generally happy to be worn, aside from cranky moments here and there where she doesn’t seem to know what she wants and will pull my hair and be naughty. For the most part, though, baby wearing has been a lifesaver with two kids. I can wear Phoebe and still interact with Enzo because my hands are free as well as cook and clean. Plus, carriers have magic sleepy dust… if Phoebe is having trouble sleeping she’s guaranteed to take a nap while being worn.

This also makes for good reading time for mama. 😉

Randomness and thoughts on self-sabotage

Much like this post, we are random sort of people. It’s good that the kids fit in so well, although I imagine when they’re older they will look at us with confusion, but also that look that teenagers give their parents when their parents are being… parents. They’ll roll their eyes and give us pitying looks, their poor ridiculous parents. And then I’ll have to remind them that once they thought we were pretty cool.

I know, I know, this post has zero direction to it, much like our lives at times. We have plans for the future, but in all honesty they’re a bit foggy. We sometimes plan for the weekend, but more often than not, we just wait and see. There is a lot of waiting and seeing. I like to think we’re living in the moment, but I’m not sure that’s exactly what it is.

Perhaps I should finally finish reading that books I picked up so long ago… Face the Fear and Do It Anyway. Uncertainty scares me and rather than actually living in the moment, I kind of put a bubble around myself. Rather than seeing endless possibilities as a great thing, I see it as a frightening prospect, even if I’m not entirely happy with how things are at the moment, in which case I should change things, but change can be unnerving. It’s a really silly thing.

I think what I need to do is set realistic goals and not subconsciously sabotage them, which I’m really good at doing. I couldn’t figure out why suddenly I was having trouble sticking to a budget, and ultimately, I’ve figured it out. If we save and meet our goals then there will be no excuse but to jump into the unknown, however, if the money isn’t there and other things don’t work out then nothing will change, which isn’t better, but it’s comfortable because I know it and exactly what to expect.

So, no more excuses. Time to actually set some dates on some goals and put forth real effort to make them happen. Every time I see Enzo struggle with change, I am reminded of how hard I struggle with change, and I want to learn how to roll with it and show him how to do the same. I have to be a strong role model in these kids’ lives, which means I need to step out of my comfort zone and become a stronger person.

Dino and Bunnies

Every day adventures