what its worth.

I am a pretty cheap person. I only shop the clearance racks. I live for an awesome deal. I will always attempt to fix my plumbing issue or basic home repair by myself before calling in a professional. I research major purchases TO DEATH and always end up making my decision when the perfect deal comes around. That being said - I shop, a lot. If a sale is too good to be true, I buy it - even if I don't really need a 3rd car seat or a new set of china.

My husband is the total opposite. His thinking goes like this - "dash really likes bubbles, maybe i should buy him a bubble machine...hmmm....well there are 15 choices on Amazon, I guess I should be the most expensive one because that means it is the best." I mean every 2 year old really needs a "DJ quality" $150 bubble machine along with a $20 gallon of bubbles. (seriously, who buys $20 bubbles ... I about had a heart attack when I saw that invoice. I could have bought those for $1 at Big Lots.)

There are a few "luxuries" that we allow ourselves and I don't feel one bit guilty and I can rattle off a 10 minute justification of each.

1. Lawn Care - after 5 years in this house, we finally hired a lawn service. I don't know why we didn't do it before. Our weekends no longer have to be spent mowing and trimming and fertilizing. I don't have to worry about the dogs getting chopped up by the mower, as it is their mortal enemy and they attack it and if they aren't participating in the yard work with Brent then they sit by the window and bark - for HOURS.

i'm ferocious .... watch out lawn mower

2. Pool Guy - we did the chemicals and cleaning in our pool for 3 1/2 years and our pool was probably breeding bacteria for that entire time frame. For about $30 less than we were spending every month on chemicals trying to make it usable, a guy comes once a week and cleans it and does the chemicals and it has been usable every day since we hired them. if you have a pool - hire a pool man. seriously.

3. Good Hair Cuts - I don't get my haircut all that often but it is important to me that when I do the person cutting it isn't going to fuck it up. I found my hairstylist right when I moved here and haven't been to anyone else in 5 years. Every year her prices go up and I will just keep paying more because I love her and trust her. She cuts Dash's hair too - for free, so I probably save $20 a month just by knowing her.
                                                  

look how cute he is after his haircut

 

 

 

4. Vacations - I like to travel. I think everyone needs a break from the routine. We are going on our first annual family/friend trip to Tennessee in a couple weeks. One house, 7 bedrooms, 6 families, 5 kids under the age of 4 and apparently my brother is bringing a case of vodka. so it should be an interesting trip. i am excited to see what this trip has in store for us!

losing control ...

my house is a disaster. my laundry pile is out control. i cannot even do the giant ass pile of laundry because all the laundry baskets are filled with clean clothes that have been needed to be put away for a couple of weeks. the kids have been sick. ear infections and stomach flu. dash feels the need to dump buckets of toys out the moment he wakes up.

Our days have been filled with doctor appointments, co-pays, drug store runs, occasional trips to the park and Toy Story 3 practically on repeat. I have projects that need completed but a baby that only wants to be held. so i have lost control and just trying not to drown in the clutter.

On our way to pick up a prescription the other night we went a little out of our way and stopped at the beach. it was needed. puts things in perspective. what matters is so much bigger than the confines of our concrete block house and it's belongings.

the laundry will be done eventually. one day there will be no more little handprints on the mirror and the sliding glass doors. one day the constant "mama" on repeat will be replaced by "shut up, mom". this week i am just letting go of my self set expectations and going to try to focus on getting these boys healthy and keeping them healthy.

Sometimes at the end of a long, hard, stressful day - you just need to put your feet in the sand, smell the saltwater air and watch the sun say goodnight.

           beacause there is always tomorrow. and most things can wait.

where'd my little baby go??

Mackey will be 9 months in a couple of days and in the last few weeks he has decided to grow up. It's hard to believe that this rough and tumble little man spent the first month of his life hooked to machines in a little isolette.

I left Brent at home w/ Mack for 1 hour and came home to my little man sporting a black eye ... not really dad's fault, Max is a daredevil like his brother and attempts to cruise between furniture on his not quite steady legs. so he falls, a lot.

The little man is crawling like a pro but has decided that walking is more his style ....



and did i mention that he is GIANT. We went to the doctor last week for an ear infection and the kid weighs almost 19lbs. At 6 months he was not even 15lbs - so in less than 3 months he has gained 4 lbs. He is bigger than Dash was at his age. Everyone said he would catch up but I really didn't expect him to overnight, literally. He went to bed in a 9 month sleeper that i am pretty sure fit when I put him in it and when he woke up in the morning the arms were WAY too short and his little legs were stuck bended trying to fit in the too small material. Is that even really possible that he grew so much overnight??

His sleep is HORRIBLE right now. I think it is because he wants to be up and moving 24/7 and sleep just isn't his friend right now. We are all tired.

I cannot believe that in 3 months, he is going to be turning 1 and probably running around. I already miss the days of him laying on the floor and not being able to get anywhere. nothing is off limits these days.

                                    "hmm - i think i will dive right into the big pool" - crazy kid. 
I do think that this age is SO much fun, while it is a lot more work, his laughs and smiles make it worth it! I wish I could freeze time for just a little bit and really enjoy this stage before he starts running around and making the transistion from baby to toddler. not ready for 2 toddlers - i can barely handle the one I already have!

judgment ...

I like to think of myself as a very open minded person. I know everyone does things differently and it is not my place to press my views or opinions on to anyone else. I try not to get involved in the petty gossiping that happens in my mom's groups because I'm pretty sure I graduated high school over a decade ago. People are different, financial statuses among friends are not equal and we all come from different places so I am not going to judge someone for their decisions or way of life. If it isn't going to have a direct effect on me or my family, I really don't care. But I have a friend that is starting to get to me with her constant judgment. She actually told me that she didn't think she could be friends with this other mama because they were discussing finances (um, why?) and she found out that her husband only made X amount of dollars(the figure was well above the national average income) and my friend felt that she "was in another place in her life" than the other woman. The woman drove a kind of beat up minivan and she didn't think it was the safest vehicle for her kids, the woman's house was in a kind of older neighborhood and needed a few things fixed that my friend couldn't fathom living without (a dishwasher and water stain on the ceiling). I tried to get to her that money isn't everything and in fact it doesn't say anything about the person - but she just acted as though to her it meant that people were nicer and safer. i know for a fact that the woman in question sends her daughter to an advanced gymnastics school 4 days a week and to a private school - to me that shows that she loves her kids and is putting thier needs and futures above her own. I just don't get the judgment or even the reason behind it.

The same friend was at my home yesterday for a playdate and as always my house is a little bit, um, messy. There are toys thrown about almost every room and it just looks like kids live here. My friend says to me, "if you didn't have so many toys, your house would look cleaner". #1 I didn't ask for her opinion on the cleanliness of my house, #2 i like buying toys and for my kids to have things to do during the day.  So I was already annoyed when she starts on her next tangent. Some background, we live in an older ranch house, built in the 70's and we chose the house after a whirlwind 24 hour house search 5 years ago, basically it was the best out of the worst before we had to move down here. I do not love it but it is our home until we can sell it. okay. She was walking around and looking at our ceilings and started asking me in her "I am just curius" kind of way - "why did you put your ceiling fans up so the cords are not inside the wall" (our fans all have cords that just plug into the wall - they are held to the ceiling and wall by these cord cover things - not the most beutiful thing but it covers it.) um - I didn't build this house lady, i wasn't even born when this hosue was build, i don't know why they didn't put them in the wall? then she says - well you really should have that fixed. WTF - do i come over to her house and tell her the indoor/outdoor carpet she has in her sons room is ugly or that the sliding glass door in her daughters room is probably the first place a robber would enter or that i think her husband is the biggest tool i have ever met in my life. (ok - so maybe i do judge, but i keep it to myself) To finish the day, she said "oh this is a lot of furniture in mack's room - why do you have 2 bookshelves in here"  --- i know that there is too much in there but i just moved this giant shelf out of the living room and that was the only place to put it and kind of busy with the rest of my life to worry about a room I am in for 6 minutes every day. I told her that she was being rude and left the room. I am still mad and pretty sure I am never inviting her over again. She probably went and told everyone i am white trash. (maybe i am - my freakin tooth just broke off while I was writing this - i guess that is why i dont talk about people, i am being punished. i H.A.T.E the dentist.)

Wild Child

Dash is 2 1/2 and he is wild and crazy and probably not totally normal and I love that about him. He does not have an off switch and he is always on hyper mode which some days makes me want to lose my mind but at the same time makes me smile. I don't think other people find his antics so endearing. The other day I was talking to a friend about babies and expanding families and she blurted out before I even responded that if she had a kid like Dash she would not have any more babies, ever! excuse me.

Basically she was saying that if next kid turns out like Dash, that she is closing up her uterus forever even if that means giving up her dream of a little girl. I tried not to take offense and tried to remember that this conversation was happening while Dashy was continuously jumping from the top of the playground and screaming the handy manny song accented by a little jibberish at the top of his lungs. I think she is missing a lot of things about my little man. He marches to his own drum and I think he sees the world in a different color, he eats lemons and broccoli for breakfast and loves to start his hugs from across the room and run full speed at you with his arms out ready to embrace. He kisses on the lips and jumps in the pool sans floaties and swims to the ledge. He plays hide and seek with his toys and his favorite color is pink. He likes to be the little spoon when he sleeps and is becoming an expert simon says player. He bites his finger nails to the quick and only likes to wear stickers on his left check. He has the most hilarious fake laugh, where he throws his head all the way back and laughs this deep laugh.

Sure, he does make us tired and some days I wish he would just slow down for a minute and watch Cars like a normal toddler but there is too much I would miss if he changed. so to answer her question, of course we want more and I wish they would all be like Dashy, except maybe a little girl version : )