Every once in a while....

Josh and I get to get all dressed up too.

However we are bound to be a mess before we leave....not our fault!

So is a day in the life with two.

This morning we awoke at our usual time. Meredith had school today and was the snack helper and line leader so our bags were packed the night before and waiting at the back door to help me out. I made the 2 tikes eggs, because we have pop karks or pop tarts and oatmeal every morning of our life I decided to do something different and put a little effort into it.

The effort proved fruitless....Noah lovingly tossed his on the floor and to Brownie and Meredith pleaded for a pop kark! I dressed the eggs up with a little ketchup thinking that might be helpful, but the result was the same....the pleading and begging....the tossing to the dog.

I threw away two eggs, with ketchup....I made oatmeal and a pop tart. I should have realized how my day would unfold this morning, but yet I continued to try and be productive. The key word being tried. I then headed to school late....two breakfasts set me way back. I dropped off tike #1 and then headed to the post office, where I realized I only had half the stuff I needed to mail. I then was going to head to Sam's but realized I left the list at home and had no clue what was on it. Seriously....no clue.

I ran home and grabbed the list and the rest of the things that needed to be mailed out. I headed back out with tike #2 to Sam's. We got out and headed in where I realized my list was in the car. I opted to shop without the list and called my list maker at work to see what we needed. Three hundred dollars later I walked out with everything on my list and few Christmas presents and things that I didn't need as well.

I then headed to buy some clothing for a family in need....there it is.....productivity...my one productive thing today.

I got home and unloaded the stuff and tike #2 with enough time to switch laundry, fold a batch, and then get back in the car to pick up tike #1. We got home with the things I needed to mail and didn't and destroyed the kitchen with lunch....more begging and pleading...this time for candy for lunch.... and more tossing food to the dog. My kitchen floor always looks like a disaster zone. I could feed a third world country with the crumbs....and no I am not proud of that.

I then tried to get two kids to nap and do more laundry, but that effort also proved fruitless. Since 1 o'clock I have refereed my daughter's temper tantrums. She has turned into something with three heads and an attitude straight out of hell.

At some point this afternoon I realized that my new sheets from Sam's were for a queen size bed. I own a King and a twin and a crib. My husband then pointed out that I bought the wrong size diapers....shouldn't I have known that. The sad part is that it wasn't a mistake....I seriously thought he still wore a size 3. My husband lovingly reminded me that he could they were just leak and he would need an outfit change with every diaper change.

Now it is 5 o'clock.....dinner is cooking and I am supposed to be getting dressed for my girl's night. Yes a girls night......thank gawd! Sushi and a movie....I think I may just have some sake too. Here is to hoping you had a better day....I feel like I've been hit by a mack truck and then it backed up over me and hit me again.

A much needed break

On Thursday after our Thanksgiving lunch with family all of the ladies in my family packed our stuff into the car and headed to the beach. We met up with several other women in the family and caravaned to Destin, Florida. We stayed for two nights in a condo and had a blast. We shopped and ate and laughed and reminisced. It was so much fun. This was the first trip I took without my children, it was long overdue. I will not lie I missed Meredith's smile and constant gibber jabber, I missed Noah's cuddles and silly grin. I missed the tons of hugs and kisses and love yous that they were at home giving their dad, but I really enjoyed my girls weekend.

When I got home I was greeted with a huge hug from Meredith and she didn't want me to put her down for about 20 minutes. When Noah awoke I got him out of his crib and he hugged me so tight and just held onto me with a firm grasp not wanting me to let him go. It felt awesome to be missed.

I also missed my husband so much and he also greeted me with a big hug and kiss along with folded laundry, a clean house, a clean kitchen, dinner on the stove, no dishes in the sink, and two kids who had been well taken care of.

I know why I love this man and married this man and then he does stuff like this and makes me fall in love with him all over again. Thanks Josh for taking care of the kids and the house and giving me a weekend away...I love you.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Today I am so thankful for my family. I could not have been blessed with a more wonderful husband or two more fabulous tikes! Yes, I have a lot to be thankful for.

Enjoy your turkey day and when I return from my girl's weekend, I will be back to blogging. My first weekend with no children, I know I should be thankful my husband has pushed me to go on this trip and volunteered to do the solo parenting, but I'm nervous to leave them and afraid of how much I will miss them.

So I will see you all Saturday!

The Women

If you get the chance to grab some girl friends and see "The Women" than do it! I went last night with some friends and it was great. A real girly flick, one you definitely have to see with women and one every woman should see. The whole theatre was laughing out loud, well except for then one man that was dragged there by his significant other. He didn't laugh or even watch the show, he texted throughout the whole movie. I felt bad for him. But it was a really great movie and there was not one man in it, it just proves that women can run this country without men. Okay so it doesn't do that, but women so could run the country....absolutely could.

My kids also had a great time, Miss Carrie came to watch them since Josh was on call. Meredith told me she had so much fun with Miss Carrie and was looking for her this morning. She was heartbroken when I told her Carrie went home last night. I'm hoping Carrie had fun too. Neither tike cried when I left last night and they were both peacefully asleep when I got home. Carrie was amazed how easily they went to bed, me too. I know they normally do that for me, but sometimes they give other people trouble. However they did great, which means Josh and I will be getting some more date nights in soon!

Well have a great Saturday, I just sent Josh and the kids to pick up some fast food breakfast while I chill in my bed....it's shaping up to be a great Saturday.

Greek night anyone?

So last night was the third part in our series of dinner club. First was Cajun night, then there was Mexican night, and last night was Greek night. Mhmmm! I had no idea how much I liked Greek food....none. Josh made a kick ass roasted feta and walnut Greek salad and I made hummus. What the hell, we didn't even know what Greek food consisted of much less how to make it. We also sampled some other seriously good Greek food and I must say, I now love it. Josh and I went in with a 10 year old's attitude.....we will taste and sample it then and stop at Mickey D's on the way home for dinner. Sorry, girls I am just way too pick. But on the way home we opted for Brownies from Chickalay instead. Josh and I loved the food and both had seconds. We are Greek food lovers now.

Next month we are doing Great American takeout. I am bringing pizza, we will be dining and swimming at Mimi's pool. Should be fun and full of chaos and kiddos, but hey that's our life now.

Finally a ladies night...

Or perhaps I should keep my mouth closed until I get home! Shhhh I will whisper....tonight I am headed to see it....Sex and the City.....it's a girls night.....don't tell my kids.....one of them is bound to get sick or do something else to prevent me from going.....we will just tell them I went once I get home!

Ladies Night....

That's right tonight is official my ladies night out. And even though hitting a happy hour might be nice, there is no time for that. Because I will be leaving at 3:15pm to go and see................

Jon & Kate!

Yes the Jon & Kate from Jon & Kate plus 8. Apparently they travel around the country and give talks. I am not sure what it will be about, but I am really excited to see them. Supposedly the twins maybe with them. I will report back soon!

I'm not from the bayou, but.....

Cajun night was awesome!

Olivia was brave enough to invite us and another couple with a toddler over for dinner. It was delicious. Like all good folks from South Louisiana we had plenty of food.....my God it was good. Olivia made a kick ass gumbo, roux and all. I made my easy and delicious shrimp pasta and Jessica made a damn good bread pudding with a white chocolate sauce. Oh the sauce was heavenly.

We started off with happy hour, the kids played in a sandbox and the adults had Abita strawberry beer. We then munched on some appetizers and finished it off with cajun food. I helped myself to seconds....I probably put away more than my husband.

The kids had fun too, it was great. We decided to do this once a month, I hope we stick to it.

Breastfeeding and the bridesmaid

This weekend I was indeed a bridesmaid, and by chance I was also nursing. I learned a very important lesson this weekend......if ever asked to be a bridesmaid while you are nursing a baby....politely decline. I mean really, it just does not work well. Over a year ago, I was asked to be in a wedding. I was mildly pregnant, if there is such a thing. You know pretty early on and not really thinking about having a baby, finding a sitter, pumping milk, praying he took a bottle and so on. I was just looking at the present and said sure. After all I was really happy for Mary and Matt.

Fast forward to ordering the dress and then reordering the dress in a different (bigger) size to fit my 3 month post baby body or better yet 3 month post baby boobs...the wedding weekend was finally here. I had made arrangements for a babysitter for my tikes, I had given Noah a bottle each week to prepare him for being away from my boobs all day, I had pumped enough milk to feed a small NICU for a month and I was preparing myself for being away from my baby for a whole day and night. I was going to miss my little guy and miss feeding him, you know it is not often that someone else gets to feed him. But I really was ready for a day off.... a day for hanging out with the girls...a day to not feel like a 24 hour milk bar...a night alone with my hubby to relax and enjoy myself. Or so I thought....

My day started out at 5:30am waking up to nurse Noah and then start getting ready. I then helped my husband to pack all the bottles we would need and all the frozen milk and the pump and the pump accessories and so on. Not to mention all the stuff I had to pack for the wedding and me and the kids. So we headed to Nola at 9:30am with kids, clothing, wedding accessories and the Pump in Style in tow. And really what is stylish about a pump? It comes in a big, bulky black bag that has two cone-shaped suction cups that attach it to you via long cords of clear tubing and makes the most hideous suction noise ever! Pump in style, I didn't realize there was such a thing.

We arrived in Nola just in time to drop my kids off at the babysitter, eat a quick sandwich and then get back in the car with Noah to bring me and my stylish pump downtown to the hotel where we would be getting dressed. I brought Noah so that I could nurse him one last time for the day. He normally nurses about every 2 hours, but I was going to try and go every 3 hours to pump. It would be easy, I would just bring my pump with me and nurse at the hotel and reception every 3 hours, not a problem. Yeah right! I was so stressing out about this.

So I nurse my babe and he and Josh leave me and honestly my heart broke a little. I mean I was looking forward to a day off, and here I am longing to stay near him. Looking forward to a day of not being a milk bar, and then I looked at my stylish pump and thought bring me my babe back! So 2.5 hours after nursing my littlest tike, my pumping adventure began. I went into the bathroom of our hotel room and sat on the toilet as I pumped, I know how sanitary!

After pumping I put on my lovely bridesmaid dress that did a wonderful job of accentuating my chest. At 5pm when I put my dress on, I looked like Calista Flockhart - really small, flat boobs...I had pumped those babies dry. At 6:30 when we left for the church it still fit, just a little tighter across the chest, I guess I looked like me... pre-baby, nice full c-cups! At 8:30pm I had not pumped in a good 4 hours and my milk had come in twice, I was dying. I left the church looking like Dolly freakin' Parton! I was obnoxious, my dress was about to tear. The sweet young bridesmaid, who did not have children, that was standing next to me almost died when she looked over and viewed my boobs! I was triple X rated baby! I still had to walk back down the aisle in front of the whole church. And I was secretly hoping and praying that there were not any big wet spots on the front of my dress. I didn't even look....I didn't want to know. It has been known to happen, I make enough milk to feed a small country! And to think silly old me was worried about supply issues.

Fast forward to the reception, I ran in with my very stylish pump, hoping to run in and suck those babies dry real quick before I had to take pictures. Then I thought....hmmm...just wait a few minutes take the pictures and then pump. 8:45 and I still have not pumped or taken the required bridal party pictures...I was dying people. I was now hosting two very hard watermelons on the front of my chest in this very small bridesmaid dress. So I asked the photographer if we were taking pictures soon...." yes in a second sweetheart." Okay now it is 9pm, still have not pumped or taken a damn picture. So I run to the bridal room, get the pump ready, hook them up to my utters and turn it on....RELIEF at last. And then my sister (also a bridesmaid) knocks on the door to tell me it was time for pictures. SHIT!!!! where are the pumping gods and why are they not working in my favor right now????? I mean I bought the big expensive stylish pump dammit! I unhook my suctions and drip a little milk on the dress that is now fitting a little bit looser on the top and run out to take the pictures. 9:20 the pictures are over and I am now in heaven as I am hooked up to a pumping machine that makes me feel like a heifer and being milked, but hey it is stylish right?

We're going to the Chapel and we're going....

No silly, I am not getting married. I am already married, with kids, remember???? My cousin Matt is marrying my sister's best friend from high school and roommate in college and beyond...Mary! And I get to be a bridesmaid, yay! The kiddos are staying home with their Aunt and having a sleepover, of course we will be sleeping there after the wedding too. Like I would stick my Aunt with two kids that are not sleeping through the night! I would never do that.....the thought did cross my mind for one millisecond. Anyway we leave today for a fun filled weekend of wedding activities. Brownie's babysitter will be here late, hopefully she is on her best behavior too.

So I am off I will try to blog when I get a chance, but I cannot promise too much!

still around....

Hi everyone, we are still here. I think I was buried alive by the overwhelming laundry piles. That seems to be my life these days. Laundy....laundry....laundry....fix a meal....clean a meal....laundry.....laundry...fix a meal....clean a meal....and so on and so on. I guess you get it. Seriously sometimes the day in and day out of laundry and cooking and cleaning and bedtime routines really get me down, so my husband seeing this decided to help me out of the funk that I sometimes get into....he took me to Target. Awww what a man! Of course we only bought exciting things like baby lotion, breast milk storage bags, pacifiers, a teeny tiny nail clipper since my littlest tike looks like he was in a fight with a bobcat and some candy. The joy of parenthood. Still Target is Target, dumb return policy in all.

Now for a funny, today I got a neatly bundled up little package from Swiffer and Mr. Clean. They have teamed up with Febreeze and sent me a few products to try and blog about. One of my favorites in the box is a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! I am hoping it helps me out with my walls that are now a lovely shade of bright orange, thanks to Meredith and her markers! When I opened the box and showed my husband, who was holding our daughter....she looked at the box of Magic Erasers with Mr. Clean on the box and said...."daddy!" I laughed and said yep he kind of looks like daddy. And Meredith said...."No daddy.....daddy hair!" while rubbing Josh's going bald head. The honesty of children!

Mommys night out!

Last night some friends took Josh and I to dinner to celebrate his awesome score on his boards! We sat and ate and drank wine for over 3 1/2 hours. It surely didn't feel like that long. We had a wonderful time being adults and hanging out with friends. It was nice to know our tikes were in good hands and snug in their beds when we got home! Although I did miss my goodnight kisses. It was fun to remember how it is to be an adult, I highly recommend it.