Thursday, February 27, 2014

Road Trip

A few weeks ago, we took a little road trip to a city about 3 hours away where my husband was working a trade show in the area. Luckily my sister-in-law lives there with her family so we had a nice place to crash for a few days. Before when we used to travel somewhere we loved to see how fast we could get from point A to point B, now it seems like no matter how hard we try we are always leaving an hour later then planned and the trip takes three times longer then Google map says it will. Short bathroom stops turn into half an hour excursions and stopping for food takes way over an hour. Due to this me and road trips aren’t the best of friends lately. By the end of a journey everyone is a little irritable and cramped and sometimes it just doesn’t seem worth the hassle of packing up half of our belongings (since I am the worlds worst packer and tend to think on the side of more is better). One silver lining to all of it is that we have really good little travellers. The kids rarely cry in the vehicle unless they are hungry and we can usually make it a fair distance before we have to stop for a bathroom break.


 So four in a half hours later we arrived (Goggle says we should have made it in 3) hoping to spend some time with daddy while he was off at night and excited to spend time with family. Since our visit was mostly in the middle of the week we had a lot of alone time, with kids at school and people at work, and so we decided to explore the city. There is a large Outlet Mall nearby that claimed to be very family friendly so i thought i would test their claims with my two little monsters.They had a free, clean play area for the kids equipped with tons of play structures for them to play on,  a few of the stores had coloring stations and choo-choo trains set up for kids to play with while their parents shopped, but the best part of the whole mall was the mothers lounge they had in one of the bathrooms.  I love that public places are finally starting to cater more to breastfeeding moms and I no longer have to sit on a dirty floor or in a changing room to feed my son. This lounge had 6 leather recliners, soft carpet on the floor, a few toys and a TV playing cartoons. I was so impressed with it!





My kids had a blast at the mall and even meet a few friends along the way. We ended up going back to the same mall the next day because of everything it offered to keep them busy and entertained (I want to add that the temperatures outside were in the -30's which is why we were looking for anything indoors).

All in all our road trip was pretty good, we did have some low points, daddy had to work way more then we thought and having little ones in a new place that isn’t 100% baby friendly can be tough. My already poor sleepers slept horribly the whole time and on more then one occasion our Queen bed had four people sleeping in it. On the plus side my little ones loved seeing their family and had so much fun at the different play centers we went to everyday. Road trips and me still aren't on the best of terms but we are getting to be better friends. 







Sunday, February 23, 2014

A Little Wine and Jewelry


                                   
                                        

A few days ago I had a couple of girlfriends over for a jewelry party.  I have mixed feelings about these kinds of parties. Over the last 5 years I have been to dozens of them, and while I usually have a good time and enjoy the company, food and wine, there is always the underlying feeling of obligation to buy something. While many hostesses probably don’t care if you do purchase the product they are selling, you always feel guilty if you don’t and most of the time you want to anyway, you just might not have the extra money to buy it. So all of this being said I finally decided to host my own party.  At a recent play date when I told the other mommies I  was going to place an order online from one of my favourite jewelry sites they all encouraged me to host a party as they had things they wanted to purchase as well. So putting my mixed feelings aside I contacted a stylist I knew and started the planning process.

I don’t know how other people are but on days I know I have company coming over I am a bit of a monster to deal with.  My house has to be clean, there needs to be more then enough food and drink and I like to make a back up plan for anything that could possibly go wrong.  To say these days are trying for my husband is probably downplaying it.  I do feel bad for my craziness but I honestly don’t know how to fix it. Maybe if I always had a perfectly clean house it wouldn’t be such an ordeal, but I never do. So I spent the day running errands, making food and cleaning, by the time 6pm rolled around I felt spent. Then people started arriving and laughter filled my house and it made the craziness of the day all worth it.

I had a great time, got to look at some great jewelry (if you haven’t yet you should check out Stella & Dots new Spring line here ) had a few drinks and a kid free night with the ladies. I don’t think I will be hosting a lot of these kinds of parties in the future but at least now I know that I can, and hopefully people don’t feel like they have to buy but rather just use it as a good excuse to get out of the house and have a little visit.

Friday, February 21, 2014

The Flu, Kids and Grandma




This last week we all came down with the flu. It was a knock your socks off, don’t leave the bathroom for hours; loose 10 pounds in a day kinda flu. Unfortunately it hit Matt and me at the same time so we had to call in reinforcements of the Grandma variety. Looking after a playful two year old and a very busy 8 month old can be hard and tiring for anyone especially when the kids aren’t feeling good, mom took it on like a champ.

Neither of my kids seem to like to sleep. We have tried various things but as soon as Ava was moved from her crib to her big girl bed, things like napping and going to bed easy disappeared. She also started waking up terribly early and nothing we do seems to help. Knox has never slept well. At 8 months he stills gets up at least two times a night, so all of this combined with them not feeling good left my mom feeling a little tired and worn out. As much as I hated seeing my mom so tired it was kind of nice to see that my job really isn’t easy. The lack of sleep I get on a nightly basis combined with dealing with the terrible two’s, a busy baby and trying to maintain a semi-clean household, really isn’t easy. Being a mom is hard and it takes a lot of sacrifice, its also not a job that gets a lot of recognition, if any, so when I see that I’m doing an ok job it feels like a small victory.

So flu, while you knocked us down pretty good you also helped me see that I’m doing a decent job at this whole mom of two thing. But please do not come back again for a really, really long time I don’t think my body could take it. 

Saturday, February 15, 2014

A Valentines Day Note






When I was young I always envisioned what it would be like to be married. I thought about how sweet it would be to wake up to someone everyday and have someone to share my thoughts with every night. When Matt and I first moved in together I got excited at just seeing our clothes hanging side by side in the closet. It felt like everyday was a new adventure. At the end of this month we will have been together for 8 years, living together for almost 6. To say the novelty of seeing our clothes together has worn off is a bit of an understatement, to say we have had a perfect marriage would be a lie. We have our ups and downs just like everyone. We have gone to bed angry and woke up livid. We have shared hurtful remarks and a few tears but we love each other and that gets us through it all.

I know we have many more years to weather the storm together and I don’t predict an easy ride but I also know how much I love my husband and how much he loves me. I know that he would do anything for me and the kids, I know that he is the only person in the world that truly “gets" me and puts up with all my crazy quirks and I know that at the end of every day he is the only one I want to see.

Because Valentines day just passed and all that lovey dovey stuff is still in the air it is reminding me how much I love him and helping me to forget that he leaves his socks all over the house. Thus while I am in this love kind of mood I thought I would jot down a few reasons why I love him, so that the next time we are having a tough day I can look at it and remember why I love this man.

Matt is 100% dependable and trustworthy. He is the best father I know (no offence dad), this man of mine does it all and there is nothing he wouldn’t do for his kids. He is funny. He makes me laugh daily and I love that and he is still as handsome as the day I meet him.

So dear husband of mine, here is my love letter to you, a little unconventional I know but we have never really followed the rules anyways.

Happy Valentines Day Love.