Friday Phone Dump!

I have so many fun pictures from summer and since I officially know how to get them off of my phone- here goes nothing!

Weddings make you put on grown up clothes!

(Dress is from Kiki La Rue!)

Buddies give hugs.

Looking identical to his big cousin. Who I may or may not have also carried in a laundry basket a time or two.

How everyone feels shopping at Wal Mart.

Fourth of July Fun

 

See, me still be little like David.

Pappy got him the GALLON sized purple slushie. PS- if they drink even a little bit of this, they will puke in purple too! He took about four sips.

 

Grayson, did you eat a doughnut? No Mommy, me ate LOTS of them!

That time Uncle Mac rappelled off of a building.

 



Still bedhogs.

When you're having a good hair day, you take a selfie.



We take awkward selfies like champs.

More proof. PS- that shirt is from 3rd grade. Still fits.  

 

 

Mommy can Pappy take me for a ride?

No kid. Just no.

Best friends take awkward selfies too!

 



 



Toddler Moments to Remember

Every once in awhile I will catch myself wishing that I can remember what Grayson is like at this age forever. The little moments, the random things he does, they are amazing. Im so glad we live in an age where an iphone can whip out and record most of these moments.

How he reaches for my hand when he's watching cartoons and drinking his milk.

 

 

How he carries around his blanket and his Monkey when he's tired.

 

 

The fact that he has to have ALL of his blankies with him when he's falling asleep- hello, blanket hoarder.

 

 

The wonder he sees in bubbles.

 

How he picks up any bugs without fear and delights in showing them to me.

 

The ducklips he gives when he's coming in for a mooch.

 

 

How he giggles at Curious George.

 

The fact that tickle Mommy is a favorite game.

How he crawls up onto my lap and lays his head on my belly and rubs his face into my tummy with a giggle. He can spend a good hour snuggled like that.

 

When he learns a new word, and is so stinking proud of himself.

 

How he sits on the counter with me while I make dinner and eats a sucker jabbering to me about life.

How we call him El Destructo because he can destroy a room faster than any tornado could.

Those curtains used to be attached to that door. Sweet, huh?

Every time I think I want to remember this forever, he does something else that I want to add to the list. I'm so glad I can take pictures and videos to remember these moments because otherwise I would forget. Lets face it, I have to write down the passwords that I use to log into websites I visit daily- my memory is pretty shoddy like that.

Plus I don't know about you, but I love having them on my phone so when Motherhood has me waving the white flag (like above, when he ripped my curtains off the windows while I was on the phone) I can look back and remind myself that he's just learning and growing and these moments will pass.  Even if it seems like the difficult moments take longer to pass than the fun ones, they all go by far too quickly for this Momma's liking.

Sandbox Fun!

Last year for Easter my Dad bought Grayson a sandbox.  But, after the disasterous beach trip where he discovered that he HATED sand- we didnt set it up.  This year, all we want to do is be outside so I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to give it a try. 

 

First- I cant believe how incredibly SMALL the darn thing is. What ever happened to calling up a friend and playing in the sandbox together? Not in this turtle, thats for sure. A few Ikea toys and the thing is full. 

 

 

To start we only put in one bag of sand, eventhough I bought three.  I considered this my Mommy's intuition that we should wait, and I was right. My kid's idea of playing in the sandbox was to take the sand out of the sandbox and "water" my hydrangea plants with it. The one plant I can keep alive, and hes trying to kill it on me.  Luckily, hes cute and catches onto things quick so the 'sand stays in the sandbox' mantra was only repeated three or four times before he got it.

 

 

 

On an un-related note, Grayson got a haircut the other day and it was possibly the worst thing I have ever paid for.  Seriously, this is what his hair looks like. I could have done better and I once gave myself a bald patch when I wanted bangs. Notice the spokes by his ears and the bald patch on his forehead?  The kid sat still, she was just that bad apparently. #neverevergoingbackthereagain.

 

 

 

I think we'll be spending lots of time outside this summer, which is good because Daddy just demolished the back yard to put up a swing set.  More on that to come!



What Motherhood has taught me...so far, that is.

Ah Motherhood- you are a tricky devil.  I don't think anything makes you feel like you can do it all and makes you realize know absolutely nothing about anything at the exact same time.  In these short months that I have been a Mama I have had successes and failures, and each one taught me something different.

 

1. Even if you are terrified of giving birth, and 40+ weeks you will NOT be saying "I'm too scared to have this baby". Rather you will say "Get this kid out of my kidneys and off of my bladder" to anyone who will listen.  I'm pretty sure the hubs was never more surprised when I said flat out to the doctor to take Grayson by C-Section (considering I pass out at the thought of needles on a normal day) because I wanted nothing more than to snuggle my baby and have him stop kicking me in the bladder.

 

2. The moment that child is born, you learn what love really is. Yes you love your spouse, your pets, your family- but until you lay eyes on your own baby you've got no idea. Trust me on this one.

 

3.  Babies can sense when you're upset. When Grayson was a bitty bean and he would get sick, he never wanted me- he wanted his Daddy.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong, why my baby didn't want me- I really felt like a failure. I would be lying if it didn't make me cry that he reached for Daddy and not Mommy- and Patrick of course thought it was amazing that he was the favorite.  One day I realized that whenever Grayson didn't feel well, I got all worked up and he could tell that I was all wired.  Patrick is probably one of the most laid back men on the planet, so when Grayson would lay on him he just felt relaxed.  Once I figured that out, I chilled out, and all of a sudden he loved his Mama and wanted me. 

 

4. You are never prepared- motherhood will always get you.  You just have to run to the store for a quick second? Thats when your kid will poop out of his diaper. You have a change of clothes? They will need two or three.  Just be prepared to accept defeat, its easier that way.

5. If you're excited and just oh-so-sure your little bundle of joy is going to love something, there is a good chance they will hate it. I wanted to cloth diaper and I loved Sophie and the Mama-Roo- he wears disposables, threw Sophie and screamed the whole time in the Mama Roo. Consider it practice for the teenage years when they will fight you on everything.

6. Its impossible to find the information for easy questions like how much formula should you buy? All I wanted was someone to say you need X amount of diapers a week and you'll need X amount of formula, but it was nowhere.  That's because every baby is different, and its impossible to predict how they will eat/pee/poo from day to day.  Here's a good place to start, as a newborn you can expect to go through around 2 containers of formula a week and around 12 diapers a day.

7. In college we all pulled fun all nighters where you managed to go for a few days without sleep. Do not think that life with a baby will be the same. All nighters will be frequent, but you can no longer handle them with the same zest and vigor you once did.  Invest in a good coffee pot and some strong dark circle concealer.

8. Its okay.  Its okay if the toddler wants to eat nothing but a banana and some cheese its for lunch. Its okay if you cant remember when you last switched the laundry. Its okay if the baby and you don't get out of pj's until three minutes before Daddy walks in the door. Its okay to sniff your baby in public to see if he or she has pooped. Its okay if you hide in the bathroom to eat the Reece's Cup so you don't have to share with a tiny human. Really, its okay.  The people who judge either never had kids or they just suck, period.

9. You develop some super human strength as a Mom.  Those infant carriers are heavy, and yet you can juggle one of them loaded with a 20 pound baby and all of the groceries with ease.  You can also resist the urge to cry out when you stub your toe after putting baby down to sleep or step on a lego on the way out the door after checking on a sleeping toddler.  You learn to change the rankest of diapers and clean up the grossest of messes without gagging, even if your gag reflex is in full swing when it comes to anything not child related.

10. No one will love that baby as much as you, or know what they need like you can.  If you think something is right for your baby, then trust your gut. Doctors, Mothers, Mothers In Law, friends and even complete strangers may have advice, but if its not right for you and your baby then tell them to stick it.  They'll respect you for it, and if they don't you really won't care.

11. Find Mommy friends.  They will be your biggest support system, because someone who doesn't have kids just cant get why you do not attend dinner parties after bedtime or refuse to skip the all holy nap time. Mommies will get it.

and lastly

12. You are an awesome Mommy.  I know there are days you don't feel like it. There are days you yell at the baby or get stressed out and feel like the worst Mom in the world. You are not. You are amazing and wonderful and you just need someone to remind you of that.  If you ever find yourself in that situation, just email, tweet, or comment- Ill let you know how amazing you are :)

The best moment of my life hands down- even if I was tied down and sliced open.



This year the hubs ran the marathon and the bean got the flu.

The crazy part- these two events happened to us in the same span of three hours. Sweet, right?

 I thought we were pretty well in the clear- three flu shots, sore arms and November to April behind us.  I may have even done a little celebratory dance. But that bug is a persistent S.O.B.

 

Sunday the Hubs and MIL ran the Pittsburgh Half, and just like last year Grayson, Mommy and Grandpap were there to cheer them on.

 

It was pretty chilly, and when this picture was taken it was a whopping 5:50 AM- so we must really love Daddy. By the time we made it over to the start corrals Grayson was passed out in his stroller, snug as a bug in a rug. 

 

 

We took our final run fast its cold out here pictures and headed off to see them at the first checkpoint of the course. As we are sitting waiting for them and 30K of our closest friends to run by, Grayson was peacefully sleeping in his stroller.  Like a good Mommy I had a change of clothes with two extra shirts and an extra hoodie and a full pack of baby wipes in the diaper bag, but I really didn't anticipate needing anything in the short 3 hours we would be downtown. I guess that would be naive moment number two.

 

After watching the race leaders fly by I looked down to see this sweet sight-

 

 

and that's when it all went to hell in a hand basket.  Not thirty seconds after taking this picture my sweet boy woke up and projectile vomited all over himself, the blanket and his stroller.

 

I immediately fly into Mommy mode- taking him out of the stroller, comforting him and I passed him off to Grandpap. I broke out the wipes and extra clothes and we set out cleaning off the baby and the stroller.  Once I got the stroller cleaned and Pap got the kiddo changed into dry clothes we kind of pushed the stroller over the pile on the sidewalk and I started walking looking for a trashcan to toss the huge pile of wipes in my hands.  No dice.  Thanks to the bombings in Boston- every trashcan was removed from the course, and I had to walk two blocks off the beaten path to find one.  Super.

 

I made it back to the kiddo, who was sitting on the bridge rail laughing hysterically at all of the people running by and chalked it up to getting motion sick on the T (Pittsburgh's sad excuse for a subway system).  We saw Daddy and high fived him, then set off to our next stop. 

 

We stopped to get some doughnuts (its tradition, after all) and while we were waiting Grandpap was holding Grayson showing him all the busyness of the Strip.  That's when sicky round two struck- all down Pap's shoulder. All I could think was how I was out of clean clothes as I set out scrubbing down a baby and my FIL with more baby wipes.

 

Now, our car is stuck- we literally can not leave until they finish the race due to closed roads. I'm out of clean clothes for the baby, and now my FIL has puke all over him as well. It was a crap shoot for sure. By the time the hubs would cross the finish line, Grayson would have had two more experiences retching all over the place. Literally the second they crossed the finish line we were there saying "Eat your banana and get a move on."

 

I was so grossed out at that point that I didn't even take a picture of the hubs with his medal after he finished. Wife fail. I am super proud of him, but I just didn't love him enough to take a picture with him in my current state of ickyness.

 

We spent the next 72 hours getting sick pretty much around the clock and sleeping on the bathroom floor with a sicky baby. In fact, we were so worried about the bean that we didn't even realize that Patrick had something seriously wrong with his foot after the race. A quick trip to MedExpress last night revealed a stress fracture was the culprit, and they sent him home with a fancy boot and orders to see a podiatrist.

 

This year's Marathon was nothing but problems- next year, I think I'm skipping the whole thing and staying in bed. 





Tips and Tricks- Getting Rid of the Bathroom Nasties.

Okay, first rule- no judging. Agree?  Okay, read on.

 

I clean my bathroom fairly religiously, because I'm always leery of Grayson playing in the tub and it being full of germs. However, the one area that I could never get clean no matter how hard I scrubbed is the grout joint between the tub and the tile. The hubs says its because water got behind the tiles and they need replaced.  Now one would think with a husband who does that for a living that it would happen quickly...but since we only have one bathroom in the house it makes it a little tough to give up our only tub for 3-5 days for a remodel.

 

So here it is- the nasty bathroom issue in all its embarrassing glory. (Remember- I said no judgies!)

 

 

Now the best part- I figured out how to fix it.

 

All you need is a bag of the cotton used for perms (you know, the cotton rope), rubber gloves and some Clorox Bleach.

 

 

I took the cotton rope and plunked it into a Solo cup full of bleach and allowed it to get nice and sopping wet. Then, wearing rubber gloves, I took it out of the bleach and smushed the sopping cotton into the grout joint. Really push it so its right up against the grout. Then you can pour the extra bleach over the cotton to re-saturate it.

 

 

I let it set for about 5 hours, but you can leave it on there as long as you need.

When I pulled it off it looked like this-

 

 

No more bathroom nasties!!

(But there is some lovely tub crayon artwork courtesy of the Grayson-Boy!)

 

It really works, and for the $1.59 it cost me for the cotton I believe it was well worth it. I'm not embarrassed to have people shower in my bathroom anymore! Woo hoo!