Our Mini Adventure

I have embarked on a mini adventure this weekend with the girls. Since it is a three day weekend, the girls and I have traveled up north about four hours to Fresno, CA where my mother and her husband live. My husband was not able to come, so this is where the adventure part sets in. Since having Stella, I have been conquering my fears of going out with TWO children, one step at a time. The first trip to Target, or the grocery store, or a friend's home. There was even a doctor's visit somewhere in there. Each outing with just myself and the girls has helped me become a little more comfortable with handling them alone. However, being that Stella is only about one month old, I was afraid of this "road trip" this weekend. It would be me and two little ones trekking up north in the heat, and you know that everything cannot go perfectly. Could I do it? Would they both potty in their pants at the same time and decorate their car seats with poopies??? And then how would I clean them while watching them both? How do I go to the bathroom? Maybe I should not drink any liquid for five hours and try to avoid having to stop and have a family trip to the potty. Was I prepared that they might both start crying at the same time and not stop for hours? And then of course there would be the inevitable stop to feed little Stella. What would Gracie do? Knowing her she would probably run off and I would have to leave our stuff and chase after her while feeding my newborn. In which case someone would most likely steal our stuff while I was trying to run down my screaming preschooler. You can see where my imagination ran wild....
Alas, things went rather smoothly on the trip up here. We did have to stop to feed Stella, and Gracie sat quietly and ate her yogurt parfait just like the little sweetheart that she is capable of being:) We all made a trip to the potty without incident (I convinced Gracie that while I was using the restroom, it was crucially important for her to watch her sister and make sure she did not jump out of her carrier and run away; she was the best "watchdog" ever!). Both diapers were changed and we were out the door and on the road. They both slept, I listened to some Frank Sinatra and drank my grande coffee, and in no time we were at my mother's door. And, for now, the fear has subsided and I feel a little more brave about what I can accomplish as a mom of two. That being said, it is so apparent that I depend on my husband, and that he really does a lot for us. Not having him on this trip has created in me a whole new appreciation for all that he does!
So far this visit has been nice, and I have to say that I am not scared about the road trip home. I feel as though I have "grown up" a little more as a mommy. I wonder what challenge I will take on next...

The Beauty Shop and The Medicine Cabinet

My oldest daughter, Gracie, has given me more than enough material for my blogging this week. It seems as though each day is a new opportunity for her to do something that is just too funny to keep to myself. The other day, for example, she was off playing with her niece Isis (who is five years old) and I assumed she was having a grand time and staying out of trouble. Oh what a silly assumption; I am obviously a young and "new" mom still. Isis came out holding a "ball" of some strange substance. While on her way to the trash can, my husband asked her what she was carrying. She simply replied, "Hair." He then asked her what she was doing and she said, "Cutting hair." He then questioned her about who's hair, and of course she said, "Mine and Gracie's." I think my heart actually stopped beating for a minute. It seemed like several LONG minutes before I reached Gracie's bedroom door. Visions of G.I. Jane and Demi Moore's buzzed head were popping up in my mind. Gracie greeted us with a smile and a seriously uneven and almost completely "chopped" hair do. See photo for a visual! All we could do was laugh. Apparently Isis is ready to use her kindergarten-child-proof scissors! We soon discovered that Isis also cut of about four inches off of her own hair as well. Several laughs (okay, and maybe a few tears) later, we had the girls evened out and showing off their new "summer" do's. Haha...

As if that was not enough excitement, Gracie struck again only hours later. As I have said before, I have a newborn as well who just turned one month the other day. So naturally my nights are filled with sleepy-eyed midnight feedings and in the morning I am usually pretty tired. The morning following the hair incident, Gracie awoke rather early. I tried to put her in bed with me since my husband was already at work and there was room. I gave her some milk, talked to her in a sweet voice and basically begged her to go back to sleep for "just a few more minutes". Apparently I then dozed off for a minute or two and when I awoke I discovered that she had completely emptied a bottle of nose spray and a bottle of gas drops that were for her sister. Oh, and she dumped them all over my bible and other books I had resting on my nightstand. Thank goodness she did not drink them, but this was about the only other thing she could do with them that was still not fun to deal with. This left me feeling rather upset because I just WANTED TO SLEEP, and a little mad at myself for leaving the medicine in plain view of my little one. And yes, I had just purchased both so there went some money down the drain (or poured all over my books) as well. Don't you just LOVE kids:)? Actually, all joking aside, what I have discovered this week is that even with all of the crazy things Gracie is doing lately and the seriously small amounts of sleep I am getting, I have truly learned to enjoy my little girl for all that she is. How boring our lives would be without our little girls....

Plus, just this week I have become a little bit wiser in my mothering....:)

Gray Hairs

On the way to story time the other day, I made the mistake of looking into the car mirror to apply some lip gloss. Little did I know that I would be discovering something I did not expect to discover for YEARS...several gray hairs. And I do mean several. Let me put it this way, there were too many to just "pluck" away with a pair of tweezers. I will admit that about a month or two ago I found a few gray hairs hanging out around my hair line, and truth be told I convinced myself that they were "really blonde hairs" (even though I am a brunette) and it was probably caused by hormones during my pregnancy. Well, now I am not pregnant anymore AND these hairs were a lovely shade of gray, not blonde. I freaked out and bought some hair dye. Okay, I know this sounds very superficial, but I was just not prepared to be dealing with this at an early age. I am not yet 30, and here comes the "old age" hair. My husband politely told me that I will look beautiful with gray hair...ummmm maybe when I am much older I can do the au naturel look and go all gray but at this age hair dye is a must. This whole experience got me thinking....

Now I have to color my "grays" every other month or so. Just add one more thing to my to-do list, and one more thing to my "upkeep" list. I feel like the older I get the more upkeeping I have to do to maintain my look. Not that I particulary have a "look" but it seems that I am having to do more and more just to stay decent. Anyone else feel this way? I truly do not like high maintenance fashion, hair, make up, etc. but I am also not able to go with the naked face look either. Yet, the older I get the more time it seems to take to look the same. And, ironically, I have less time now. I wonder if there is a solution to this...

I am assuming that with these new gray hairs, I will also be receiving new wisdom...right??? I sure could use some.

Replacing the pacifier...and other things I do over and over....

Do you other moms ever feel that you spend countless minutes, maybe hours, putting the pacifier back in your newborn/baby's mouth? Or wiping up after your toddler for the hundreth time that day? Or changing yet ANOTHER diaper? Not that I am really "complaining" because I truly love being a mother and I love my girls. But what really gets me about being a mom is that you are never really "done" with your work, or that as soon as you accomplish one thing, it is off to the next! The minute Stella, my newborn, is asleep, don't you know it...Gracie is up or is involved in some dramatic situation needing my immediate attention. I am slowly realizing that being a mom of two is a whole different story. Again, it is greater than I ever expected, but also challenging and yesterday I found myself in the parenting section of Borders Bookstore. Currently I am in the state of survival and so I have been feeling as though there is something lacking in our families' lives. Everyone keeps telling me that this is just a phase and soon I will be on top of my game and we will be "thriving" instead of barely getting through the day. Anyone have any advice on this??? I guess I just want to do it all, and I am disappointed that I cannot...

The funny thing is...I am currently living at my mother-in-law's home as we are in transition with our lives since moving back to our home area, AND I am a full time stay at home mom for the minute. So not only do I have help, but I am also not juggling a job...yet. Funny how I actually have the nerve to write about all of this in my blog given my circumstances...but I guess I am just not as with it as many moms are. In early Sept. I begin teaching again, and so the serious juggling act will begin. Get ready for those posts....

On a positive note, the girls are healthy and happy and I just could not imagine a day in life without them! God is so good...

Crazy days (and sleepless nights!)

You know that you are super tired when you and your husband spend five minutes in the morning trying to figure out which one of you got up with your two and a half year old daughter in the middle of the night. Sad to say, but on this morning neither one of us could recall which person actually went in and checked on her when she awoke for the fifth time in the middle of the night, again. Of course, the main reason for this forgetfulness is that we have a two week old daughter as well, and so due to the multiple feedings and such, we are tired, tired, tired parents. However, I have to say that our newborn, Stella, is quite a wonderful little baby so far. And it is a good thing....since our oldest, Gracie, is quite the little firecracker.
Life has been chaotic since we started having children, and apparently it gets more chaotic as you add children to your family. But in the same breath, life with the girls is simply wonderful and we would not have it any other way. As I am typing this my toddler is whining and crying because she has to have "creative" room-time all by herself...poor thing. But we have found that waking up each morning to their adorable little faces and even more adorable quirky habits, is the best way to start your day! Truth be told, we would be lost without them and I probably would not have enough stories to start this blog!
On that note, welcome to our story. I have a wonderful friend that posts her family's happenings weekly and I enjoy them so much I decided to start one for our family. There is no telling what this blog will include or share, but I think it will be a fun adventure for us. I am off to try to find a moment of peace and quiet....
As if that exists at this time!