Vacation: Then and Now!

So... we just came back from a 5 night stay in Wells Beach with both kids and all our parents and I noticed a few differences in how we used to vacation and how we vacation now:)

Then: I packed a book on CD for our car ride and we didn't stop unless we REALLY had to to make the trip go faster.

Now: We have Bubble Guppies on repeat and stop multiple times to get the kids out to stretch their legs and play to help break up the long ride.

Then: I took long, bubble baths with wine, candles and my book and used lots of soft, plush towels.

Now: I take 2 minute showers using Elmo Bubble bath for body wash and princess shampoo for my hair and the bath mat for a towel because there were no towels in the bathroom I ended up in.

Then: We brought movies and books for staying in the room and relaxing 

Now: We packed toys, pillows, blankets, activities to keep the kids entertained and could only stay in the house for small stints of time because of cabin fever kids!

Then: We went to long, drawn out dinners at nice restaurants

Now: I spend my eating time - feeding the kids and trying to get Ben not to be the loud, screaming, kid

Then: We rolled into brunch around 10 - 10:30

Now: We are up and feeding the kids by 7:30 - and a cup of coffee while standing over the sink is my breakfast

Then: I used to see that hotel pools opened at 8 am and thought  - who the heck is in the pool at 8?)

Now: Yeah, we were those people.... (8:30)

Then: I sat by the pool for the sun

Now: I jump into freezing cold pool water so my kids can play

Then: I would never pay for parking to sit on a cold beach for an hour
Now: We paid $16 for the kids to play in the sand in 50 - 60 degree weather for an hour and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!!

I also learned a few things on this most recent vacation:

• The kids are rockstars and travelled REALLY well
• I should worry less about packing lightly and worry more about packing everything we could possibly want - cause more is better
• I should ALWAYS pack clothes for warm and cold weather, regardless of what the weather channel says 
• We should always have towels in the car - even if it's 60 degrees and you don't plan on someone getting wet, cause sometimes kids fall in
• Renting a condo style hotel room at the beach was the best idea we ever had
• Planning day trips in case the weather doesn't work out is a MUST - we screwed this one up big time and the kids got cabin fever and it was stressful
• Bringing some bedding from home can help your little ones sleep better at night
• Pack nightlights for the hotel
• Change the sheets in your house before you leave so when you come home everything is nice and clean

What other tips do you have for traveling?
Happy Summer Travels

My sick kids break my heart

8 days. 8 days back at full day preschool and Katie is sick again.

Me: Katie - are you ok? Do you feel like you're going to throw up

Katie - NO I feel fine

Me -Are you sure?

Katie - I want to go upstairs and lay in bed (never a good sign)

Me - ok Katie - let's go

Katie - Carry me

Me - of course

we get to the top of the stairs and she says in a rush

I WANT BABA TO STAY ON YOUR BED

that's when I knew we were screwed.

My immediate reaction was to throw Baba far away from us out of the line of fire (success)

As I'm turning to try to get her into the bathroom - she proceeds to throw up all over me and her while screaming I DON'T HAVE TO THROW UP.

Not sure if you have experience with this, but when your child is talking while puking, it does something to the volume and direction of the puke which makes a ridiculous mess.

Now, I have a bowl of cereal all over me, the floor, (my bare foot) and Katie (baba was saved due to our combined quick thinking)

Inside I'm screaming EW EW EW EW EW GROSS

outside I'm saying, it's ok Katie as I stroke her puke filled hair and trying to clean her up to make her not embarrassed.

We strip down, I clean her up - put her in bed and get ready to clean up the breakfast mess.

My day continued like this for awhile.

Not sure if it's cause she's little or what, but there is no way for me to get her to puke into a "bucket" or anything because she freaks out and insists she's ok and then it's just too late.

So, I put towels on the floor in hopes that we could aim any future puke there. My only warning when she would actually throw up was if she suddenly threw Baba away from her.

We always tell her, if you are going to spit up (throw up) get Baba out of the way so we don't have to take him away to clean him - she takes this seriously which is super helpful - cause he's the only thing that makes her feel better.

I spent the afternoon, watching for her to push Baba away - grabbing one of the towels near me and basically creating a towel bowl for her to throw up into. We even succeeded one time to having her aim it off over the couch onto a stack of  towels I had put there for that purpose.

Poor baby.

She hates puking so much that she tries really hard NOT to - which just makes it worse - and I had a hard time not laughing at how much she kept  insisting she didn't have to throw up - even in the middle of a long puke.

Then she was hungry, thirsty and sad - and I couldn't give her food.

I finally gave her some saltines cause she was pitiful and told her to eat them slow - she took one bite every 2 mins - and small sips of water.

Yeah, I got that on me about a half hour later on the way to bed.

Here's what I've learned/realized over the past few days:

1) I hate Puke

2) I hate puke a little less when it's my kid

3) I'm really good at catching puke in a towel

4) I'm really good at pretending not to care about vomit being on me to make her feel better

    when realistically, I'm dying inside

6) Saying you don't have to throw up, while you are throwing up only makes the situation worse

7) Having a sad 3 year old crying for water in the middle of the night and not being able to give it to

    her because she'll throw it up has got to be the worst, awful feeling in the world.

8) Asking her to take small sips when all she wants to do is chug it - makes me cry because I know         she's thirsty and hungry

9) Not being able to do anything about how uncomfortable she is makes me cry

10) My husband is a rockstar for sleeping on the floor next to her bed to try to make her feel better

      I would have been a hysterical mess every time she asked for water or cried.

11) I was NOT prepared for just how often my kids would get sick being at daycare....

They are at the doctors office now - let's hope for some sort of diagnosis and medicine

To Minivan or not to Minivan that is my current question

I'd like to preface this by saying this is all my husbands fault.

We have 2 cars - a 1996 Manual Honda Civic with 150,000 miles on it which I still love to this day and a 2011 Honda CRV which is the car we upgraded to when we outgrew our
Honda Accord after having Katie.

The Civic was my first car and continues to serve us well and be insanely reliable - particularly as a commuter car for once or twice a week.  I love that car when its just me and short drives:)

In my mind, the CRV was the perfect car - and it was.... for me and Katie when I stayed at home full time.

It was comfortable, we had space, we could squeeze our parents in when they come to visit (always an overnight visit as we live so far away)

Then we had Ben and with the 2nd car seat - it can only hold 4 people unless one person wants to risk throwing their back out while squishing sideways with one arm resting on a car seat at all times.

So... anytime it's more than the 4 of us - it's squished. It's also squished on long car rides when one of us might have to pop in back to help entertain the kids who are bored and desperate to get out of their car seats. 

So, a minivan has been on our radar for the past few months.

I'm not opposed to a minvan - I have no image issues - I have comfort issue and I want to be comfortable:)

We discussed briefly what do we do about the second car and in my mind I was thinking of replacing my beloved civic with the bald paint spots, but my husband said - MINIVAN

and then, it was ON.

It's been all I can think about. Particularly as we are about to have a very long and cramped drive on our way up to Maine for an awesome beach vacation!

So, my thought process is this... if we wait to get the minivan because we are trying to figure out our finances and house situation and don't want to drop a bunch of cash on a new car... (which is the same exact predicament we are in EVERY SINGLE YEAR as we are never sure where we will be living and if we will finally buy a house somewhere to call home ), but then we end up cracking and getting one within the next 6 months anyway - I am going to be pissed that we missed the opportunity to enjoy the extra space during this 6 hour drive. 

Which is how I got my CRV by the way - it was also prompted by an upcoming trip to Maine! 

So, to buy or not to buy? I love Honda, but have been hearing not so good reviews from Odyssey owners. I like the idea of the Quest, but I think the price point is too high for us.

So, of course my thought process is just suck it up and get it now so that we can enjoy the drive - cause we're gonna get one anyway. As the kids get older, we will need a bigger car to take them and any of their friends or our family anywhere - so I feel like there is no way we will regret doing it now.

Of course, there is the impending potential of having to put a down payment on a house within the next year - but the reality to that is that we don't have any ONE place that we both have our hearts set on for re-location - so it's not a definite that we will need to do that in the next year anyway. MY feelings on buying a house are this - I'd rather wait until I know where we want to live for LONG TERM and buy a house we can afford that I will LOVE And never want to leave - then buy a house that makes sense for now, in a town that we think makes sense for now - and then have to try to buy it to move somewhere else. Renting is just fine by me as we don't have any place we feel we ABSOLUTELY have to move to. 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH being an adult  is complicated.

Coxsackie can kiss my ass

Coxsackie virus, better known as hand, food and mouth disease - 

NO, not.. HOOF and Mouth disease (that's what farm animals get), 

is the DEVIL.

This sneaky bastard is crazy contagious in daycare settings, particularly in infant rooms.

(Yay)

My  little guy is the "sick kid", the one who gets all the crap the daycare sends home warning  you they might have been exposed to

Yeah, he's that kid.

So - the first time he got Coxsackie sucked. Daycare called me and said I had to come get him - I had no idea what I was in for. He was laying in his crib with his eyes half open crying and pitiful and sweaty and just plain sad.

I freaked out so bad I was scared to leave the daycare cause I had never seen him like this. 

I immediately called the Ped - and they said - oh yeah it's Coxsackie and all you can do is give him ibuprofen for the fever and the pain. 

Oh, and by the way - he's been contagious already for a few days.

Yeah, that's how this freakin things works... you get it, and you're contagious and THEN 3 - 4 days later is when it actually shows up with syptoms which are high fever, severe lethargy - (i never knew what that looked like until this thing and let me tell you it's SCARY) and then they get a rash on their hands and feet and body which is painful to the touch.

Yeah, it's a real gem.

So, we explained to Katie that she couldn't touch anything Ben touched until we sanitzed it, and my amazing little 3  year old actually listened. We kept them separate - cleaned everything and right when he started to feel better - Katie got it.

Hers was more mild - a fever for half a day and she was tired, but that's it. The rash showed up but it didn't seem to bother her much at all.

When they both were finally feeling better - we were more than happy to have that fing thing out of our house because it was AWFUL. You can't go anywhere or do anything and you can't really help them feel better and it's just miserable.

Well, that was 2 months ago and Saturday it started all over again with Benny having a much worse reaction this time. Severe lethargy for 2 whole days, high fever, irritability (who can blame  him) and no appetite. This time, we thought maybe we were in the clear as they are separate all day long and Katie and I were out of state over the weekend. I came home and bleached everything, spray sanitized and Lysol wiped every surface the kids touch.
It has ruined 3 birthday parties for us that we can't attend do to it's nasty stay.

Benny started feeling better on Tuesday and I was getting all packed up to take him on an adventure to celebrate him feeling better and spoil him a little before his return to daycare when I got the call that said Katie had a high fever.

I went and got her from school and the director carried her down to the car to me like an infant all wrapped up in a blanket - she was half awake. She had a fever and was shivering.

I got them home and stuck Ben in his highchair and brought Katie up to her room to pee and get in bed with some medicine. She went quietly and without complaint and fell asleep instantly, I came downstairs and Ben was happily just sitting in his highchair for me as if he knew I needed him to be patient while I sorted Katie.

Then I broke down and started crying hysterically because I was so overwhelmed with emotion over how sick my buggies were and how good they were being so I could help the other one out. Then the guilt started and I realized they'd never have gotten this damn thing if I hadn't gone back to work - so the waterworks continued. Guilt, exhaustion and frustration at not being able to do more have left me so stressed out that I am breaking out like a 13 year old girl and having trouble sleeping at night during the little amount of time they actually allow lately. I'm ready for this to be over and really, really hope it never comes back in my house again!

And so it continues. Benny is fine - although he still has the "rash" Katie is having a hard time sleeping at night cause her neck (throat) hurts and we have been stuck in this house on quarantine since Saturday. There's 4 days left.

Don't get me wrong. I love being with my kids and miss seeing them so much - but being stuck with no warning, with sick, irritable children who you have to keep separate, and keep on top of sanitizing, etc... without the ability to break up the day and go anywhere or do anything is killing all of us.

Add the rain from the last few days and it is a cranky, sleep deprived, emotional black hole in my house.

Here's hoping this is the last time they get this. If not, we might have to consider changing daycares - although viruses like this are everywhere and there is no guarantee any other place has it less. 

Ben just needs to learn to keep his mouth shut and stop eating everything - then maybe he won't be such a host for germs....

The silver lining of this awful, unexpected, sickly week - is that while I've been home with Ben I have been able to teach him to say More physically (not sign language) gotten him to start following directions (put this in the garbage) and teach him where his head is.

So, all in all, not an awful week I guess :)

Here's hoping that since this time around it seems to be a worse version, that Dave and I don't get it. It's rare in adults but AWFUL if you get it. And given my weakened immune system (thanks thyroid) I'm more susceptible than most. Fingers crossed if you have a chance please.

Here's hoping for a healthy June!

Dollar Store Shopping

I LOVE the dollar store and I never in a million years thought I'd ever say that.

Before I had kids, I had never really been in a dollar store, but then when Katie and I were staying home together we would go for walks in town and there was a brand new dollar store that we would visit.

Here are the things I ALWAYS BUY there.

 

• Books !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Board Books GALORE - and not just crappy, no name versions - all the stuff in the picture above is from various Dollar Stores. Coloring books, Preschool work books, Board Books -I even managed to grab some big girl hard cover Disney Princess storybooks once

• Stickers - Katie went through a phase where she used stickers all day, every day and we made lots of projects... we got regular stickers, (current characters) foam stickers, foam shapes, re-usable stickers to decorate her walls and more
• Flash Cards - Katie LOVED flashcards (Ben just tries to eat them) She learned her alphabet and numbers from flashcards from the dollar store
• Balloons - I hate balloons because I had the sound when they pop - I also hate how much they cost - but they are only a buck at the dollar store and I'm talking legit Mylar balloons with princess, elmo, mickey, etc......
• Bubble Bath - I hit the jackpot the other day and found Strawberry Shortcake Bubble bath, Abby Cadabby hair de-tangler, Elmo hand soap and more - I stocked up because seriously - for a dollar you can't go wrong! And when they run out, I will re-fill the bottles with regular bath soap
• Some Cleaning supplies - I found some Lysol Toilet Bowl cleaner the other day and grabbed it - cause it was WAY cheaper than at Target.

I have also found Littlest Pet Shop toys once - so you NEVER know what you are going to find! Check out your nearest dollar store, and I guarantee you will be glad you did - Dollar Tree is the more popular one by me and the one that I have found the most awesome stuff in - if you go for nothing else, hit up the coloring books and board books and you will be glad you did because you will be able to create a whole new library for your child with 10 bucks!!!!!!

Happy Shopping!

How do I slow down?

My mind is on overdrive all the time - I'm not exaggerating.

It takes me a minute to wake up and get out of bed, but once I'm up - I'm UP and ready to do stuff.

The other morning I woke up early with Ben. When it was time for breakfast, I thought - perfect - I'll put him in his highchair in the kitchen, let him watch Bubble Guppies on the computer while I empty the dishwasher.

Then I realized it was Saturday - and thought it would be nice to  make pancakes for Katie and Dave - so I mixed up some pancake mix and then started emptying the dishwasher - Benny was happily eating in his highchair and then I realized - 

WAIT.. I'm wasting time, I could be cooking the pancakes and in between flipping them, I could be emptying the dishwasher.

So that's what I did - I made pancakes while I emptied the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen and Ben ate his breakfast. 

This is how my brain works all the time. 

It's wonderful for getting things done around the house, but I find that any time the kids are being quiet or are playing happily, my mind is running through the neverending list of things that need to be cleaned, cooked, packed, organized, folded, washed, dusted, vacuumed, etc...

I am incapable of just sitting and enjoying them. I always feel like I need to be doing something around the house.

I thought that working from home would allow me to do some of these household things during lunch breaks of while on conference calls, but that is just not happening. Even at work, I am a multi tasking freak - I have 2 monitors and 2 computers to work on so if one is busy doing something, I can hop on the other one to do other things. I wear a headset because I need my hands free to do other things while I'm on the phone.

I even have about a half hour each day after the kids leave the house, before I start working, but that time is usually spent cleaning up the kids morning messes, making breakfast and showering. 

I am proud of the fact that I can multi-task most people under the table on any given day. I'm always thinking about maximizing efficiency and getting 2 things done at one time - but I'm sad because now that I work, I am doing this all day, every day and it's starting to make me bitter. 

I'm thinking of hiring a cleaning person to come in and do all the big cleaning for me so that I can erase that from my never ending list of things to do, but then I feel like a cop out because I think that cleaning ladies are an extravagance. (we never had one growing up so I have to adjust to the idea what it's "OK" to have one)

But, even with that, I'm hesitant about spending the money and what if the people I hire are crazy or weird or take stuff or break things?????

UGHHHHHHHHHH

What other things can I do to make myself slow down?  How can I switch my multi-tasking mind off and turn on my relax and enjoy the kids nonsense mind on? What things do you do to make sure that you have a balance of fun along with  getting everything done around the house without losing your mind? 

My Orange Marker

One of my favorite quotes on Parenting from The Back Up Plan (which I think is a must see for ANYONE thinking of having kids;))

A Dad to be asks a dad who is at the playground with his 3 kids what having kids is really like and this is his response: yes it's grossly exaggerated and no I don't think it's true every single day - but if you have more than one kid, I bet this makes you smile!


"The best way I can describe it is, it's awful awful awful awful, and then, something incredible happens, and then awful awful awful awful awful. "

So, here is the story of my something Incredible from yesterday

I went to a baby shower yesterday that was out of town, so being the multi-tasking queen that I am - I made a few stops to run some errands on the way because we needed some stuff for the house.

So, I searched high and low (as if I had extra time to search) for special bubble bath for Katie, I got Ben a cute toothbrush, (making sure to pick out JUST the right character) I got Dave a new Keurig Coffee Filter as ours has literally disappeared off the face of the earth.

Then I went to the baby shower and won a prize for catching lots of people saying the word Baby and taking their necklaces away. The prize was a cute, hard cover notebook and I thought - This is PERFECT for Katie - she will love it.

After the party, I went to Target and got some yogurt bites for Benny because they were on sale and they are seriously like like crack for kids (both my kids can eat an entire bag in less than 5 minutes) - and I picked up some new markers for Katie because hers were drying up and I thought she'd like them, especially since she was gonna get a new notebook.

I go home, and bring in all my bags and tell everyone that I got treats for everyone!! Katie followed me and helped hand out the treats like a helper elf!

Then I told her about the game I played and how I had won and that I was giving her my prize.
The first thing she did was look at my neck because she understood that I had collected necklaces during the game - so she asked me if I had to give them back. I told her I did, but the true is, I threw them away because it was ribbon with teeny tiny little plastic pieces on them that I knew she would A) need to carry around for about a week and B) Ben would try to chew.

So, she was coloring in her notebook with her markers and she looked at me and said, "But where is your special prize and treat?"

I told her, "Well, Katie my prize was the notebook but I am giving it to you so you can have it"

She looked at her markers and grabbed an orange one and said, "you can have one of my markers as your special prize."


I almost cried. For real.

I mean, she's 3 years old and hoards things. If she gets a package of 4 lip glosses, she will carry around all 4 at all times and freaks out if one is missing. And here she was giving me one of her precious markers... and she didn't even give me a 'boy' color which she was separating out while she was drawing.

She has been particularly mean to me lately - refusing to play with me and only asking for Daddy - so this little quip made that all go away, if only for an afternoon:)

Don't get me wrong, at bedtime - she still cried when I asked if I could read to her because she wanted daddy only but I didn't let it upset me - because she gave ME a marker - not Dave. So, I know loves me no matter how fresh she can be ;) And at the end of the day - I read her 3 My Little Pony Stories when I was only supposed to read her 2 - so that's gotta count for something right?

I love my kids and it's not always awful - and there is more wonder and excitement during any given day than I ever thought possible. But it is hard - and some days you forget about how wonderful it can be and I'm hoping I can check back here and read this when I'm frustrated with something she is doing, and remember that at the end of the day - she gave me her marker:)

Happy Parenting!