Mommy.... It's my favorite name

O My hubby and I love to go out to dinner; I am a totally foodie and love to try new non-chain restaurants. Before kids, we could do this any night. Now we have to be more calculated on which nights we will go, we need to line up a sitter, and let’s be honest, the days of ‘before kids’ when we could blow $100 on ONE dinner are so far gone I can hardly remember them. We still love to take time for dinner and time for ourselves, time to NOT be ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’ for a few hours and just be husband and wife.   My parents usually watch our boys when we go out for dinner and I feel like we are 16 again and sneaking out after curfew when we leave the house.   The door shuts and we are like giddy teenagers as we hop in the car with new found energy.   We get to turn off the Pandora Disney channel and listen to whatever we want WITHOUT hearing “Noooo, sing Lion King!” We get to order a drink with dinner and “sip” it, instead of chugging the glass of wine as we try to finish...

Last night I got a sweet email from someone in Germany that said, in more detail, that they enjoyed my blogs.   I appreciate your kind words, and thank you for reading!!! It made me realize that I have not written in over a week. It had been a busy week and work and by the time I get home I am busy with two crazy little men.   This past week or so I have kind of felt ‘blah.’   Weather doesn’t usually affect me too much but this winter has been extremely looooong and very cold. I am ready for Spring!!! Please come soon, warm weather!   If my two little boys have to stay inside to play much longer they are going to tear my house down!   On days that it is nice out, as soon as we get home from work and school we are outside. I make them dinner and let them eat outside and we do not go in until it is bath time (or the temperature drop to low and it cold…yet again). We pile in the house on the warm days I unload the items from school and work and quickly drop ev...

To My Jimmy, I hope you know how much Daddy and I love you.   I hope you know how much I cherish our “Jimmy/Mommy time.” It is seldom that you get to have Mommy and Daddy all to yourself, and the times you do are limited and few and far between. I love to have both of my babies with me, but I also know the importance of building a personal bond with both you and your brother individually.   Last night daddy was at a meeting and your brother was playing happily in the family room so I gave you a bath alone. Most nights you and Jake bathe together, it is easier for Mommy and you guys have so much fun together. But Jimmy I loved to see your smile when you looked around to see that you had the whole bath to yourself.   I loved how you soaked up the one-on-one attention from me. No big brother to squirt you repeatedly with the rubber football toy.   No one to overpower you by taking the toy you wanted. It was just you and me for a bit buddy!   You gave me you...

I have so often heard parents’ talk of the “terrible two’s”…..So when Jake was two I was expecting a change from his happy easy-going self.   It didn’t happen. I often would say “we got lucky, a good baby, and a pleasant two-year old.” Just like anything, as soon as you say it out loud you jinx yourself. He stayed a great two year old, which I am still thankful for, as that is when baby brother Jimmy came into the picture. If I had a terrible two year old and a newborn I may have had to be admitted. Jake turned three in October; still things were going pretty smoothly. He   has an exceptional vocabulary and speaks very well so I think the frustration that comes with NOT being able to articulate what they want when they are two or brand new three was something we by-passed.…….However, WHY has no one told me about this three-year old stage, or for my little goober three-and-a half stage? He really is a good boy, and for the most part many people don’t see these ‘f...

For some reason I am sad today, no one ‘DID’ anything I’m just a little down. I couldn’t place my finger on what it was…until I could. From the minute you let anyone know you are expecting a baby everyone’s first response is “Enjoy every minute, it goes to fast.”   When I am talking to anyone   (especially parents with older children) no matter what story, whether it be funny, frustrating, annoying, shocking or a combination of all of them, their response “Oh I remember those days, enjoy them, they grow too fast.” This morning I was getting my silly boys ready for Dr. Seuss Day (Wacky Wednesday) as school. I was changing Jimmy’s diaper and Jake pulled out a book.   He opens this book and without saying “look mommy!” or “watch me!” he says that is an ‘M’ that is a ‘O’ that is a ‘O’. Then he looks at me to ask, “Mommy, what does M-O-O say?” I knew he knew letters but I was still in a little shock. He goes on to spell P-I-G, “That is a ‘P’ and ‘I’ and a ‘G’, does...