Mother's Day

We had a stay at home day for Mother's Day. I'm not too keen on going out with two toddlers on the busiest restaurant day of the year. Todd did go out and mow the lawn as it was getting high and the guy who does it usually I think was on a bender ;) We all went outside and Adam and Abbey had to pound on all the old metal cabinet next to the dumpster that was there at the time. I caged Abbey in the old shoe rack, too for a bit to keep her from running into the lawn mower. The funny thing is she liked it for a while. Adam was very interested in the lawn mower and was "helping" Daddy get it started but once it started he would get kind of close but then back off. Typical Adam....curious but cautious! Abbey however wanted to run right into it and up to it and around it and every which way through it I was able to keep her up on the porch for a while, watching her Daddy. Adam was playing on the porch, mostly with Bailey, but as is typical he stopped laughing when he saw my camera! We finished the day with ordered Chinese food...and we had gone to Rudy's the day before, so it was a nice laid back weekend!

Tammy's Parents' House

A few weeks ago when Tammy was in town, I brought a pot of my amazing meatballs to her parents' house the day after her grandmother's burial. The kids LOVED the house, I mean Abbey stole one of her mom's collectibles right away and the two of them sat in front of Mrs. P's very breakable curio cabinet full of cool dolls and items from around the world (I recall many of those stuffed in Tammy's backpack when we traveled). It made me too nervous....we went out to the screen porch for a while. Eventually, we headed over to the play set area Mr. P. built years ago for Tammy's nieces. It was hot and they loved it...Adam had to be "forced" but loved it. Abbey got right up there, but I didn't know about this look of trepidation until I saw Tammy's pictures! They both liked this play set, Adam kept saying ball ball ball. yeah, he gets super focused! Liked this rider thing...! But the highlight was when they realized there was a ton of open space to the other side of the house, going towards Tammy's grandparents' house. They are on a MISSION!! They just loved running around, Adam collecting dangerous sticks and Abbey trying to pick and eat any flowers she could find! Always nice to see Tammy, even with the circumstances.

General Disarray and Professor Chaos

It's been one of those days where the A-team is a tornado and every time I try to clean one ting, 2 more things pop up. I've been obsessed with the fact that I feel like I smell pee or puke in the dining room and have basically spot cleaned almost the entire carpet. This morning, I decided to pull off the high chair and pull it a part and clean off the pieces as it was kind of nasty under there. With "help" this chore took 20 minutes instead of 10 minutes. Right now, I am looking at a juice drop on a duvet cover that I know I should take off and stick in the washer, but I did put Shout on it. Flashcards everywhere, clean laundry "help" made it take 45 minutes to fold HALF the laundry!

We went to the office for a while and as we were leaving Todd re-named Adam General Disarray and Abbey Professor Chaos. (Southpark reference people). I generally know it comes with the territory but sometimes I just have a moment of overwhelmed where I throw up my hands and feel powerless to stop the tornado...!

Oh yeah, Adam got up at 5:30am and Abbey climbed out of her crib...meeting me at her bedroom door this morning. Sigh.

Anxiety

I'm on the verge of a lot of anxiety. I hate this feeling. What technically set me off is that I was supposed to go to the corner house today and take photos before the tenants officially moved in. We told them they could move in early on Memorial Day weekend. But I just find out they are already moved in. It pisses me off. It's not really a big deal, I am going to go out there and see if I can catch them later and at least get photos of the exterior, but it has brought the anxiety on. Now I know that it's the trigger, not the real source. I know this from common sense and from the Sopranos. Animals gave Tony panic attacks, but we learned it was the associations with his childhood that was the real culprit.

Maybe I don't like the feeling of being taken advantage of, maybe I don't like things out of my control. I know I inherited this from my mother. I think I had a little here and there my whole life but it wasn't until my separation that it started feelings so heavy. I have periods where it is better and worse. I have been doing pretty well lately. I hate that I feel this way and I hate that I am ruled by anxiety. It pisses me right off. I'm supposed to be a strong and independent woman. It's so overwhelming when this happens, my heart races, my brain panics and I just want to hide. Doesn't sound very strong and independent to me.

In Love With the A-Team: Breakfast facts

I took these pictures at breakfast a couple of weeks ago on May 9th. Each day, the kids wake up, they occasional cuddle me but more often than not have plans for something they have to do right away...like grab Mr. Potato Head or hug Mickey Mouse and after a few minutes either Abbey pulls herself in her high chair, grunting, making sure I know she wants to eat or Adam says Mom-my Eat or I say who wants breakfast and all three (including Bailey) hustle to the dining room. Abbey gave up her morning bottle two weeks ago now so she's extra hungry. She wants juice right away. I usually start breakfast with some type of fruit. Abbey eats all sorts but loves those mandarin oranges in a cup. Adam is pretty picky...diced peaches, blueberries, dried apples and sometimes grapes. Or raisins or craisins. Then we do cereal (Adam likes Life, fitting since he is as picky as Mikey!) or whole grain toast. On occasion, banana bread. Sometimes, I even do pancakes. I tried to do hard boiled eggs the other day, but they both thought I was nuts. Look at this grin. Adam stole my spot and he sneaks Rexy in all the time. He will get around my rule of no toys on the place mat by putting him or bronte on the table, putting food in their mouth and saying "Dinosaur Eat!" Each morning, I love seeing them. These pictures make my heart melt and remind how in love with them I am. It's disgusting, I know. By bed time, I'm ready for a break. But each day, when I see Abbey jump up in down in her crib excited to get out or like this morning, I hear Adam play acting with his toys in his bed (ROARRRR...OW...ROAR....OW Obviously Rexy was eating SOMEONE!!) before I open his door and say hey where's Adam? He's not in the toy box (Depending on his patience level how many times I get to guess before he says "surprise!" in his cute voice) and how he makes me point out that Shrek, Donkey and Puss in boots are on his curtains before I get him out, I fall in love more. Blessed to have my little A-team....

Middle Bathroom AFTER

OK, Tammy, I know you hated how I did the before without the after! :) Here's the view from the living room door...notice we used the leftover floor and paint color from the other bathroom :) We gained a lot of space in the walk through part. There is no longer a janitor's sink in the way! View from the door in the bedroom. Love the crown molding in here. The toilet was originally supposed to go here but after we put the shower in, we had a last minute switch as we realized that there was so little room. This was the only vanity that fit in this space but I really like how it turned out. We lost the bottom shelf of the closet, but Kevin's dad built this door for the new smaller opening and I really like it. I think it gives the bathroom some more character. I like the faucet I picked :) And in case you were curious, the inside of the shower! Both Todd and I like the way it turned out. We have more walk-through space as well. We might need a new shower head as this one is a bit "weak" but I think it really goes with our bedroom colors, too. Someday, we may open the two living rooms back up and then we'd seal off one of the doors, but until them, one of the things about old houses is the character that comes from things like having to walk through the bathroom to get to the bedroom :) I kind of always like how you don't always know what's behind each door in an old house.

Middle Bathroom Before

The Middle Bathroom, so-called as it is kind of in the middle of the house connecting the living room to our bedroom, was re-done a couple of weeks ago after the main bathroom was done. Here are some before pictures of the 5x7 room. The cast iron tub tub was really low...come to find out because a hole had been cut in and the tub dropped in. So funny how they put these "rentals" together (this bathroom and our bedroom was an apartment). Notice the only closet I have is in the bathtub :) The view from the entrance in the living room
The view standing in front of the tub...this is the door to the living room. Notice how the sink sticks out, something we both found annoying, especially when carrying newborn Abigail back and forth to our room. View from the door of our bedroom. We barely used this bathroom...it wasn't particularly inviting and having kids in the next room, we were always afraid to wake them. Turns out when we were using this bathroom while the other one was done, they slept through it! Are you ready for the "after"?!? Coming soon....

Sad Time of Year

A year ago this week coming up, we lost Todd's father. I don't want to make him sad, so I won't get into it too much but I have to say his loss affects me. He was a very nice father-in-law who loved my kids, his grandkids and raised a wonderful son that I got to marry.

And the day after we had the burial of Charles Butler, i got the news my Dad was sick. And he was gone five weeks after that. Look closely at this photo and you will see a paint splatter. In 2009 for my birthday, my Dad and brother painted our bedroom. He got paint all over the phone, which he felt bad about. I assured him that it was no big deal, but that was my Dad. He always felt really bad if he messed up like that. This phone broke, one of three causalities of my son. I had to clean out the closet in the middle bathroom as it as just re-done and this was something that needed to be thrown out. But I had to take a photo, because it just made me think of my Dad. Todd told me it's the weird things that remind you and he was right... By the way, my Dad was amazing painter who could make any room look good. He could sand down trim and paint it to make it look brand new. He loved working on this house. When I look at the paint spot, I think my Dad actually did that.

Adam and the Dinosaurs

Adam's love of dinosaurs have reached a new height as of late, but when I first went to write about this, I had to stop and think about when it really began. In January, I was testing out my new camera and tried to get Adam to pose. He immediately decided his dinosaurs had to pose....here's Rexy, the dinosaur he picked out when we took them shopping for Christmas. This gift did not wait until Christmas morning, he cried when she had to scan it. And here's Spike, the dinosaur Uncle Bobby bought him for his 2nd birthday, after I told him how much he LOVED his Bronte (The dinosaur he picked out for his birthday, also could not be pried from him. But it actually goes back further. I took these photos of Adam playing with his dinosaur puzzle the same day, see how focused he is on them. But he got this puzzle for Christmas 2009 and has played with it ever since some times almost EVERY DAY. In these pictures, he is actually doing the puzzle, but he is usually well beyond that. He just likes to play with the pieces....even going through a period where he'd load him up in his pumpkin bucket last fall and lug them along. Somewhere I have a photo of him on our anniversary playing with them at Delmonico's. Don't you love how focused he is? And his little hands... So a couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to take photos of him as he had become OBSESSED with Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Crying when it was over, asking to watch it all the time. He had been lugging Rexy, Bronte and sometimes Spike everywhere for months, including the bathtub and the car. But now he couldn't get enough. He would start asking first thing in the morning, even though the TV is never turned on before 10-10:30am. I caved a couple of times, but eventually got tough. Here he is with Rexy.. Spike walks and I made him walk towards Adam for fun :) OK, I LOVE this picture! He decided for two second to pose for mom! His best friends. (Besides Abbey, I think). And this is a shot of the movie. He's calmed down on it, but still watches a part of it almost every day. He sleeps with Rexy and sometimes Bronte (I don't allow Spike because he talks and walks), hugging them like they are cuddly bears. He cries Din-o-saur when he wants one but doesn't have it. He roars at you and sometimes roars when he says Dinosaur. I've bought him some dinosaur pj's and a couple of t's. His whole face lights up when he sees them....and sometimes, turns himself into Adam-sour-ous.... And when his father scrolls through our newly gained Netflix list, my son IMMEDIATELY spots anything with a dinosaur and while watching Land Before Time, had to remind us many times they were DINO-SAURS!

Easter Sunday

After breakfast and bath, I thought it was time to give the kids their Easter baskets. We told Adam about the Easter bunny the day before, but he is really too young to get it. I got them each a bunny and a book and gave them giant chocolate eggs that were a gift from someone Todd does business with, the Cam's pizza guy. I used baskets that held floral arrangements sent to me at their births, but I realized Abbey's is too small and will have to think of something else next year, though I loved the sentimentality! They may be too young to get the Easter bunny. but they sure were excited to tear into those baskets and those eggs! OK so Abbey knew right what to do...the girl LOVES chocolate. My more cautious child Adam wasn't sure if he trusted that egg and put his mouth on it for a bit, kissed it and then started to dig in... Got my adorable kids dressed up...doesn't Abbey look adorable?? Getting a picture of them together wasn't easy....I kept trying kind of the best I got... Poor Adam's head got knocked with the car door but he recovered quickly...he looks so happy in this photo...he didn't know I took it so he didn't give me a dirty look like usual! We got to Mom's house and Uncle Bobby had rented Megamind for him. He was pretty much into it for like the first half hour there. Uncle Bobby cooked a great prime rib and these awesome rolls the kid loved. Grandma got the kids baskets and they dug in! Abbey chowed down on almost an entire bunny...I finally had to pry the butt out of her hand. Later, Adam and Daddy were napping and Abbey looked so cute dressed up I had to take more photos. She was loving her dress and shoes. LOVE this picture. She sat herself down, intently inspecting her girlie shoes...and that little tongue out, concentrating! It was a nice day. I managed to capture the day, without spending the whole day worrying about pictures...my new goal is to take a few then put it away so I can still participate in the day, not just photograph it.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, Grandma Kathy called to see if she could stop and see the kids. I put Abbey's bunny ears on her in preparation. I LOVE this picture...the look on her face. She brought them baskets that included these beaded necklaces that the kids love (though they ended up being a pain and had to be taken away...they were eating them and smacking each other! And bubbles...as you can see, Adam loved those, too. I love the occasional photo I can get of my son with this look of joy and amazement in his eyes. Grandma Lynn had already schedule a stop-by. I really like this picture, too. It's nice to see my Mom smile. My kids love their Grandmas! And why shouldn't they? They spoil them. I can't even believe my mother is the same person who raised us with her Oh let them have fun routine! HA!