Things that make any crappy day better

A good work out (started week 5 of the Couch to 5k!)
Beer.
With a bath.
And a new face scrub.
And some lavender epsom salt.

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In an ideal world, my kids wouldn't watch tv until after age 2 (as recommended by the AAP).  We would spend our mornings outside in the backyard, tending to our gardens, followed by a healthy lunch and a good long nap.  I would spend nap time cleaning the house, folding laundry, and starting dinner, perhaps with some blogging thrown in for good measure.  After awakening, my angel children would play together, and I would join while the sauce for whatever simmered on the stove.

Ty watching TV well before the recommended age.  (10 months)

In reality, Lily woke up at 4 am throwing up.  Then I couldn't get back to sleep until almost 6-- and Ty woke me up at 6:30.  Lily woke up fussy, had a NASTY diaper later, fussed fussed cried until her morning nap (damn teeth).Ty watched a lot of Thomas and Cars.  Lily did eat some lunch and a little bit of a bottle, and let me nap for almost an hour.  But that was followed by more fuss fuss crying, until she finally gave in and drank almost a full bottle (that she refused for almost an hour).  Around 7 I finally left the kids with Steve and went to the gym, where I started week 5 of Couch to 5k (run 5 minutes, walk 3, run 5, walk 3, run 5-- booyeah!)  Those endorphins really helped (plus the afore mentioned list), and I was in a much better mood the rest of the night.

Parenting is hard in general (especially spending all. day.  long. with the kids...every single day and night without a break).  Throw in a mild stomach bug and/or teething, and it is TORTURE.

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 On a political note-- YAY!  Gay marriage rights finally passed in New York state!  But it's so sad that it has taken this long, and there are still only a few states that allow it.  As a friend stated on facebook, "Now the rest of the country that's not legalized, need to get their heads out of their asses! Ridiculous!"

But one of the best quotes comes from Republican (!) New York State Senator Roy McDonald, when he announced his decision to support the bill: "Well, fuck it. I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing."

It's about time.

Love you.

They're baaaack!

I took the kids to Wendy's today for lunch (in order to save my sanity and GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!)  Whilst feasting on my burger I happened to glance up and see a woman waiting in line. 

She was dressed in total 80s fashion.

Spiky black heels, long business-atire skirt with a small slit up the back, topped off with a royal blue shirt with a black belt over it.  There may have been a glimpse of a couple of shoulder pads.  But then I realized something.

This woman wasn't a fashion victim.  She was following the fashion trends.

It's all coming back, even the shoulder pads!

80s Fashion Trend
Bringing Back 80s Fashion

This woman was actually pretty rockin'.

Which brings me to my latest idea for an invention...

Teething Shoulder Pads!

For the times when you are mistaken for a teething toy.

She's coming to get me!

Mom of the Year

The hubs is gone to Michigan for race weekend with his boyzzz, so it's me and the kiddos until Monday.  He hasn't even gotten on the plane yet, and already this has happened.

But the cabinets were not closed when I caught her.

The 8 month old crawling machine got into the kitchen cabinet while my back was turned.  She is fascinated with the cabinet lock, which happened to not be fastened.  Luckily she didn't get into anything (plus all of the supplies in there are chemical-free) but still a nice wake up call for me.

At least I didn't smack her head on the van while putting her in the car seat, like I did her big brother.  Oops.

Apologies

I feel the need to apologize for my bitchy post yesterday.  It was just one big day of fail (well, with a 3 hour block of awesome at Landa Park with some moms from my playgroup).

Ty was super defiant, which is par for the course of being a 2 year old, but actually pretty rare for him.  I mistakenly allowed him to walk around at Target (had to buy smaller underwear-- for me!  Yay, Couch to 5K!)  After giving him no less than 2 warnings to behave, listen to mommy, no, you can't have a Cars toy, no, you can't go look at videos, I finally had to resort to putting him in the cart when he kicked his shoes off in the checkout lane (3 strikes and you're out, kiddo).  Crying ensued, along with avoided glances from the other customers.  He calmed down after a couple of minutes and was allowed to walk with me to the car.  I'm lucky, he listens really well when walking across the street or through parking lots (well, usually.  He did lay down in the middle of a parking lot once.)

We went to the afore-mentioned Landa Park, in New Braunfels.  Ty played on the playground while Lily gnawed on wood chips and dirt, and I chatted with some of my friends.  We all went and fed the ducks, while I gazed longingly at the wading pool (which we will be frequenting this summer-- free, baby!)

It was a lovely time, until the breeze stopped, the humidity and temperature rose, and the hot, heavy baby hanging out on me in the Ergo started making me sweat puddles.  I gathered Ty up and started loading them in the car.  As it was after 1, I figured they would knock out on the way home and sleep for a good 2 hours, so I changed them into their double-stuffed diapers.  WRONG.  Lily babbled most of the way home, Ty whined and asked where the train tracks were, and they slept for maybe 15-20 minutes while I grabbed lunch from Whataburger (mmmm).  Luckily I was able to get Lily back down for another hour once we got home, but Ty was up and rarin' to go.  I put on "Cars" for him, which helped.  Thank you, Pixar.

I tried to get cracking on my grad school application, emailing former professors and what not for letters of recommendations, but the whining toddler and crying infant thwarted that plan.  When Steve got home I packed up my laptop and went to the library to do some work.  Unfortunately, I needed a table near an outlet, since my laptop is old and run-down, and can't hold a charge.  None were available.  Cursing under my breath, I got back in the car and drove to Goodwill, hoping to find some good deals.  I didn't.

That little bit of time away helped, and I was happier once I got home.  My dinner last night helped.

Birthday cake, strawberry ice cream and red wine.  Yes, please.

Nothing good comes from a south Texas summer

It's too hot.

There is ALWAYS a drought.

Which leads to water restrictions.

Kids are out of school, which translates to annoying, loud neighborhood kids being around all. day.  long.  I am WAITING for those little cretins to ring my doorbell during nap time to play with the kids.  Bring it.

It's only bearable outside between the hours of 8 pm to 8 am.  Then the temperatures soar to the 100s.

I finally gathered the courage to wear shorts this summer.  Main, that's been a game changer.  But I still can't stand to be outside after 11 am.

This cranky post has been brought to you by the tired mama of a defiant toddler who napped for a total of 20 minutes following a sweaty morning at the park.

TMI FYI

Today whilst browsing through my Facebook news feed I came across a link to a post by American-in-Britain blogger Stay at Home Babe.  She writes about pap smears (sorry guys) and how Americans are probably getting them too often.  She also wrote about her experience with testing positive for HPV (human pappiloma virus).  I loved reading this post, because about 2 years ago I also tested positive for HPV.

For the unawares, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the US.  At least 50% of the population will transmit this disease at some point (or already have).  It is transmitted through sexual contact ONLY, not through spit or touching or through the air.  Most people who contract it don't even know that they have it, because there are usually no telling signs or symptoms.  If you have it, it doesn't mean you're the town whore.  HPV can hang out "down there" for years and years and years before a pap smear even detects it.  There are lots of types of HPV, including some that can cause genital warts and some that can lead to cervical cancer.  I had the latter.

Thanks to my annual pap smear (again, sorry guys) back in 2009, some abnormal cells were discovered.  Two colposcopies and biopsies later (ooh, so much fun!) the HPV was discovered.  They scraped the cells off (ooh, fun again!) and got all the abnormalities. 

I'm writing this to make people aware of this disease.  It's so common, you probably know one (or 2, or 3, or more) people that have it, or it could be you.  It's not just in women, though if not detected and treated it can lead to cervical cancer.  Luckily, there are two vaccines available.  Both girls and boys can start getting these vaccines (3 doses) as early as age 9, and it's important for them to receive all three doses before becoming sexually active.

I'm not here to tell you what to do with your own kids.  I'm just telling my own experience, to try to raise some sort of small awareness about a now-preventable disease.

(All information about HPV on this blog is from the CDC website.)