The funnyness of Mommiehood

Once again, a rain filled week!

The one day this week we had sun, we played with water :)

When I go to the bathroom, it is the only “alone” 30 seconds I get to myself…..until Grace learned how to open doors 2 years ago! Now I don’t even try to close them, they are just left wide open and the girls just follow my trail right on in to the potty. What is funny is that if the girls are not home, I still go to the bathroom and leave the door wide open.

Eating a hot meal, well that is for the birds anymore. Getting dressed is never a one man show either, the girls like to “help” me by choosing what I should wear and then they give me directions on how to put it on, as if 33 years of getting dressed doesn’t matter!

I am always asked “play with me” by one or both girls, what we are playing is never always defined and then sometimes in the middle of playing the game or the rules change just like that. I am never made aware of the sudden rule change and then when I break the rules, I am in BIG trouble and sent to stand in the corner (that I never actually stand in). These girls have some rather big imaginations too. How in the world a wooden spoon turns into a pizza I don’t fully understand, especially when I ordered an omelet!

Folding laundry and emptying the dishwasher always seem to be a family event anymore, and although I love that the girls want to help, we all know it’s just faster if I do it myself. I have found that if I give them their own specific “chore” they stay out of my way and they get to help at the same time! Grace gets to put away the forks and Jenni the spoons. That is the part I hate the most about putting the dishes away anyway so it’s a bonus for me!

For me the best and funniest part of Mommyness (I can make up words, it’s my damn blog!) is when the girls are trying to say a certain word and it just comes out all kinds of wrong. We have family movie night once a week and the girls like to watch Harry Potter (I take full responsibility for this brain washing) but Jenn calls it Harddy Potter. Sometimes Grace will stumble over words she is trying to talk so fast and makes up her own words.

I love the funny parts of Mommyness, it makes the bad days better and the good days the best!

It's Raining........

There she is playing goalie!!!

One of the Jelly Beans bad moods, and yet, she is so cute!

Grace had her BFF over last Friday, they played with Aqua Sand, which is super fun on hot days!

The Jelly Bean, this is what we do while Grace is in school.

Grace's last soccer game, picture taken by Yama!

Jenni and our new Hello Kitty umbrella!

It’s been raining here in the lovely state of misery, Oops, I mean Michigan. Rain, then more rain, then some more to go on top of that. I think we had one sunny day, last week, Friday. My poor girls and I are stuck inside the house, and we have a finished basement to run around and play in, but Oh Yeah, that got flooded and we can’t go downstairs now because the smell of water, wet cement, and I know mold is setting in. Why not rip it out already? Right?! Well we thought we could save our carpet, a fact we now know, you CAN save carpet, it’s the padding that holds all the water. Did I mention this basement just got finished last may?!?!? Yep only 1 year old, and already having to rip it out and start over. On the bright side (here comes my sunshine) since we are going to have to rip out all the carpet to take out the padding, I suggested that we “remodel” part of the basement for a studio space. Luckily my hubby (did I ever mention how awesome he is?!) said it was a GREAT idea and he is happy to do it.

Grace has finished her first season of soccer, she says she loves it, but when we actually go to soccer, she stands around with her fingers in her mouth just watching. Well naturally on the last game of the season she played goalie, something she wanted to try and then she got to play on the field. She was on FIRE kicking that ball all over the place, she was awesome, super sweaty (totally got that from me) and I didn’t even care that she was kicking the ball towards the wrong goal, we will work on that for next year!

Then we have Jenni, who is in the “terrible two” phase. She is testing me, testing me hard, and sometimes I pass wonderfully (and yes, I am grading myself), and then other days I feel like I failed. Sometimes I just have to give up, sometimes I fight with her until I win. She is 2, it will last till she is, oh yeah, probably forever! She is smart like her sister, and full of spunk, that is why she’s my Jelly Bean!

Learning through my OCD

I let Grace paint my toes, she was so proud to make them so pretty! I know they are not summer ready, but she was so excited to do it!

My turn painting Grace's toes.

This is what Grace looks like while playing soccer the WHOLE time.

Here is my Jenni learning to drink her milk from the cereal bowl, at least she makes a mess look cute!

Prepping the nail polish!

My First School Mother's Day gift! LOVE IT!

Yes, I have OCD, I am OCD. Maybe not in the typical cleaning manic mode that you are more familiar with but I have an organizational OCD. I am a planning OCD person, however, since becoming a mom, I am learning to let things go and breath through it more than ever! I still stick to a pretty set schedule, for example, Monday’s I drop off Grace to school and then Jenni and I go grocery shopping. On Thursday’s I do the laundry. Why Monday and why Thursday, well this is how my mind works. I got grocery shopping for the week on Monday’s. The sales start on Sunday’s and I want to make sure I get what I need off of my list, with all of my coupons of course!! When something happens, like Grace has no school, I will just skip the grocery shopping for the next available day. After all it’s not like we will run out of food, I am OCD about having more then enough food, because when things are on sale I will stock up the pantry.

Then there is why I do laundry on Thursday’s, well in my head, I like to do laundry on Thursday’s because if we have things going on over the weekend, I will have those clothes that I need clean, ready to go and set to the side for that event. I know I could do it on any other day, but for me in my OCD head, that is just what works best. Sunday’s I cut and organize my coupons, Monday I use them, and then Thursdays I clean clothes.

I have OCD about playdoh colors not being mixed together, the AquaSand colors not being mixed together. I like my belongings in a certain spot, so that when I need it again in 20 minutes I will know where the hell it is. These are the my internal dealings that I am learning to let go, to breathe through, after all what fun is it for my kids to only use one color of playdoh at a time?!? I know that I am a Mom to teach my kids how to be good people and hope that I am raising them the best way I know how, but I feel like I get most of the days lessons, when they let me learn how to relax and have more fun then they do. These are the moments I feel like I am being the best mom I can be, by letting them be kids and have fun while doing it. As hard as it is for me to two three playdoh colors at a time, I do it because its what they want, it makes them happy, and in reality how much does another can of playdoh really cost?!?!? If I have coupon for it, its not that bad J

These are the things I am learning with my OCD, messes can always be cleaned, and it doesn’t even have to be cleaned right away. My kids love “free” toys, being boxes of any size, spoons and plastic bowls, and toilet paper cardboard rolls. Its ok if the crayons are not sorted or have sharpened tips, they just want to color. My biggest lesson, let them be themselves for very shortly, they will not need my help to open doors or buckle them in, so breathe through it if I have to, because tomorrow they might not want me to play playdoh with them anymore.

A Huge Moment!

A glamorous moment for her 2nd year photos.

She is a keeper this one!

These sisters do everything together!

Headed to go down the slide all by herself.

While on Grace's 4year photo shoot, Jenni was copying every move!!

She has her moments.

She loves her princess nightgown, and she just makes it looks so good.

So usually, I will write about the weeks events, but in light of my huge moment that is happening tomorrow I have to talk about it today! What moment? Well, the moment that every Mommy goes through, when they know that they no longer have any more babies, when the little ones can no longer be called a baby (technically speaking of course, they will always be my babies, just ask my own mother!). Tomorrow Jennifer will be 2 years old. They were the fastest moving 2 years of my life I think! When I had Grace she was all I paid attention to, one focus, one baby to keep track of and kiss all the time. When Jenni was born, I had to magically split into two moms and give of myself to both girls. I felt like I had to give Grace extra special attention to make sure she knew she was just as important to me as Jenni was. Knowing that 1. we are not planning on anymore kids, and B. my babies are growing up is exciting, but sad. Who doesn't love the baby phase, the late night feedings are exhausting, but when that baby falls asleep on your chest, you just never want to move! The way that your giant finger fits just so perfectly into that babies whole hand and hold on so tightly. The little toes that have so many places to go on life's journey.

Not being a baby means that Jenni can do things on her own, and I am ready for it, I just didn't want it to come this fast. She is talking like its nobody's business, she LOVES food, and LOVES being outside. We get more comments on her red hair and bright blue eyes more then anything else. She is my Jelly Bean, and I love when she gives me hugs (super good BIG hugs) and kisses and says "love you!". She follows her big sister around and drives her a little crazy, but she plays alone when she has to. She calls herself a "snuggle bunny" when she is cold and wants to get a blanket to keep her warm. She has the best laugh and when she smiles sometimes her nose crinkles up a little bit. I can't wait to see what this next year will bring, because when I think about the future and how fast my girls are growing up and becoming more and more independent, I just want to cry, a good cry because I LOVE being their mother, it is the bestest ever!! :)