Gender Reveal!!!

Will we be on team pink or blue??? Turn up your volume and watch to find out!

Friday Tidbits

• The most exciting bit of news is that we are finding out the gender of Baby #2 this morning! I had high hopes of having a gender reveal party, but with the move and what not, things just didn't pan out. We'll see if I can pull something together to make this gender reveal a little special...seeing as how it's suppose to happen today...the odds aren't great.

• Week one of MDO has come and gone and I have to say it has already been such a blessing. I can feel things getting back on track. The house is a little cleaner, I'm a little happier and Ethan is loving it. I think we both needed a better schedule. Ok let's face it...we had zero schedule. So this new thing we have going on is very refreshing.

• Being in a new town, I'm on the prowl for new mommy friends. For some reason, this makes me feel like I'm dating. I dressed up all nice (read: not yoga pants) for MDO open house and actually seemed to make some connections, and now...I'm constantly keeping an eye out for these PNMF's (potential new mommy friends) at every drop off and pick up. I did manage to track down one PNMF on FB but I feel too stalker-ish to send her a message. Did I mention I hated dating...ugh.

• I've been crazy emotional this week. Like crying numerous times while driving down the road just thinking about anything and everything, but mostly about baby #2 and what that's going to mean for our family. I guess my hormones are in full force, but being pregnant the second time around is nothing like the first time. I think it's safe to say that I always feel on the edge of my seat that it could be taken away from me at any moment and yeah...well. Maybe this is a post all in itself.

• My 10 year class reunion is right around the corner and this pregnant lady needs a dress. Any suggestions on where I might find one...I've looked at A Pea in the Pod and Motherhood, but not sure where else I should check? A reunion is terrifying enough, but going pregnant is just not dream scenario. Ugh. 

• Ok that's all I've got. Literally, I cannot think of anything more than ultrasound, ultrasound, ultrasound! Be on the look out for the gender announcement soon! YAY!!! 

Relishing in the Moment

Normally I'm the type of person who rushes from one thing to another. I'll start a project and can't wait for it to be completed so I can move onto the next. Rarely do I ever take the time to just relish in the progression of something. I just want to cross the items off the list so I can...well make another list and begin the process again.

I guess it's something about the thrill of knowing I completed something. I accomplished something. I can say...ok, well, I did that. Now what?

In some ways I view my kid(s) this way. 

There's x amount of time to grow baby number two before I can say...great, I grew a healthy baby now lets make it past the first year. 

There's x amount of time before Ethan should be transitioned to a big boy bed before I can begin on number 2's nursery.

Although I know that each moment I spend with my son is precious, yesterday slapped me in the face pretty hard when it reminded me of how fast time really goes. Ethan starting Mother's Day Out was a big milestone for our family. Other than family, Ethan has never been in anyone elses care and now, two days a week, he will be spending his days elsewhere. 

I saw time flashing before my eyes as I was packing up his little lunchbox the night before. 

How did this happen? How did he grow so quickly? Yes, today it is just Mother's Day Out, but in a couple of years it will be Kindergarten and then before I know it he will be graduating and moving away.


Dramatic? Maybe. 

Hormonal? Definitely.

Pre-baby days I always said I could happily skip to the part where they were 5. I knew nothing about babies, but I knew that taking them to school, carting them around to ballgames, helping them with school projects would all be a blast. 

Present me? Well, I realize how fleeting each moment is. I realize that once I cross these milestones off the "Kid To-Do" list I will never get another chance to do them again. That time will be gone and I want to make sure I relish in the progression of each of those milestones because they are precious. 

I made it through the day yesterday without shedding a tear. I woke up extra early, so early in fact that I was twiddling my thumbs (in case you didn't know...this never happens. I'm always late. Always.). I dressed Ethan in his cute little outfit and tried to take pictures. 

He found sweeping more interesting. I kept clicking away anyways.

We drove to "school" (Mmhmm, I call it school. Get over it.) and I talked to him about what his day would be like and promised that he would have fun and that I would pick him up later that day. 

I got him out of the car, put his backpack on him and held his little hand as we walked toward his teacher. He was gripping my hand so tightly, but he let her pick him up and they walked away.

He never looked back.

He was going to be okay. 

He truly has grown so much, so fast, it makes me both proud and sad at the same time. 

How do they grow up so quickly? 

**A special thanks to Ruffles and Bow Ties for making Ethan's super cute shirt!**

Mama Said There Would Be Days Like This..

To say that I'm ready for this week to be over is like the understatement of the year. It's gotta be a full moon out there. In fact, I'm pretty sure it is. Right? Yeah...pretty sure. 

**Sidenote: Why does a full moon make everyone crazy...I've never gotten an explanation on that one.**

You know how earlier this week I was all "Cue: crazy emotions" about Ethan going to MDO? Bahaha....don't tell him but...I'm so ready now. I love him and all, but this toddler is nuts. He has decided to no longer eat anything that he doesn't find himself, "No!" is his new favorite word and taking him out in public is hardly an option anymore. Yesterday he decided that he needed to open or throw out everything in the grocery cart. I tried to get the milk and found him mere seconds away from throwing an egg across the store. I'm telling you...we are going through a phase. 

This would be my child ON our kitchen counter licking up the sugar and coffee grounds he spilled.....yes, you read that all correctly.

We recently bought stools for our bar top counters and they are going to be the death of me. Literally my little monkey will not stay off of them. He's also learned to push them around EVERYWHERE. So that knife you were thinking about setting on the counter? Yeah no, you might have to put it in the cabinet instead.

I'm two seconds away from rush ordering those crazy kiddie proof door knob things for my pantry. 

The stools are also used for letting my little guy help himself to anything and everything in the pantry. Yesterday he threw Orzo pasta around like rice on newlyweds.

You would think that I never watch this kid, but I do. I swear. There are just times that I have to go to the bathroom or Lord forbid, change out the laundry in the washer and dryer. I know. I could take him with me, but he has this love for flushing the toilet a million times and I don't know about you, but I've never taken a liking to bidets.

(source)

In other non toddler related rants, I have taken a liking to the color purple. I have this affliction where every season I unknowingly pick a favorite color and buy everything in it. I've had a blue phase, a black phase, a grey phase and now....it's apparently purple.

The guest room and guest bathroom are about to be my next purple causality. Today as I was picking out paint colors I became convinced that my laundry room should also be purple. The sensible me realizes this is probably not good for resale and I should stop while I'm ahead. Crazy me, thinks purple looks pretty damn good. My husband warns me that I don't want to be that person who has that crazy guest room that people hate to stay in. I've always believed you want to make them comfortable, but not so comfortable that they don't want to leave...purple might be the answer. Besides, my high school science teacher always told me "It takes a special person to wear purple, but you wear it well.". I always took that as a compliment, but now I'm not exactly sure what he meant by the word "special" ?

Speaking of the husband...I slaved away on a dinner that included not one but TWO sides last night. Um, hello....this is a miracle. He has the audacity to come home late because of work (pish, posh...who needs work) and then tells me my fabulous Alton Brown Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes taste like Spearmint.....what????? 

Did I mention that this entire meal was cooked while listening to high pitched toddler screams while I had him trapped in the pack-n-play. Did I husband, did I???? Did I also mention that said toddler refused to wear a diaper the whole time thus creating a lot of laundry???? Chipotle tasting like spearmint....I never.

So, I used this opportunity (like any sensible woman would) to talk him into buying me a cake. You know, because cake makes everything better. 

**Sigh**

Yeah....I'm more than ready for Friday. 

Ethan at 21 Months

We are 4 short days from being 22 months old. I got this one in just under the wire folks. 


Secret: The only reason I'm looking forward to him being two is so that I don't have to do these anymore. I know, I know. Awful, but true. I hate when I have to do things. We will just chalk that up to the artistic side of me. 


Ethan's interests are quickly expanding while his attention span...not so much. He goes from one fun thing to another within a matter of seconds. Sometimes I find it hard to keep up with him!


I've been hearing "no" a lot more from this kid lately. My usual questions of "Are you ready to do X,Y,Z" are having to switch to commands otherwise it is a sure fire "No!". Although this stage has certainly not been easy, it is so much fun to watch him learn and explore. 

PS: Please overlook his mismatched pajama bottoms. Sometimes we are so busy having fun that we just give up on matching outfits.