Blogmas 2017 - Vol.21

What I liked about today - the I'm tired blogmas edition

As the title says - I'm tired. So here, in no particular order, are some of the things I liked about today:

• Grandkids getting loved on by awesome grandparents 
• The joy my daughter gets from riding the smallest train in the history of mankind 
• The fact that my mother and I did not get stuck in said train when riding with said daughter after having folded ourselves in half to fit
• The fact that grandpa rescued the daughter from the so so scary carousel 
• Sponge candy! Bought especially for me by the mama
• That an old friend's mother said baby boy has my nose and profile :)
• Hanging out with a fabulous old friend who gives the best hugs
• The knowledge that SP comes tomorrow!
• Whiskey and diet after the kids are in bed. And for the record the Costco whiskey is not half bad...
• Coffee. Amen.
• Big fat squishy babies 
• Reading Christmas books from my childhood to my kiddos
• The sunshine!!!
• Watching holiday baking shows with mom

And that's a wrap for tonight! Hasty mañana amigos!

Blogmas 2017 - Vol. 20

On Good Enough 

So clearly I dropped the proverbial ball for a couple days there... I thought about trying to make up the days but honestly these days I can only do what I can do.

Recently we sent out Christmas cards. I was lamenting to my mother that I couldn't get it together enough to write a letter this year. But I did get cards with pictures on them. And she said to me "good enough... our family motto" 

And it really is my motto lately! And you know what I think that's just fine. Little girl only ate fruit for dinner - good enough. Babies only got showered once this week - good enough. Only a few Christmas decorations up this year - good enough. 

The truth is everybody is still happy. My sweet kids love every little thing and don't know any different. I like everything more because I'm not stressing about every detail. 

Sometimes good enough really is good enough!

Ps - flew alone with the kiddos today. Little girl watched 2hrs of Mickey and ate a metric ton of gummy bears... good enough!

Blogmas 2017 - Vol. 17

From Non-Belly to Belly Mama

It's so appropriate that 2 years ago I was writing about being a non-belly mama to my daughter...

https://blooblogg.blogspot.com/2015/12/blogmas-vol17.html

My dream of becoming a belly mama has come true.  So now SP and I have been on both sides and what an amazing journey it's been. In some ways nothing has changed, in others everything has changed in the most amazing ways.

I'm still a non belly mama and I'm a belly mama.  

Mostly I'm just a mama.

Some people say they feel a difference with their biological kid.  I honestly don't.  I think maybe if somebody told me that I had some sort of amnesia and had actually carried my daughter as well I might believe them.  Nature and nurture are so weird.  Because sometimes my daughter is a carbon copy of my wife.  And sometimes I swear she somehow inherited my DNA through osmosis or something.  

But through it all I'm still over here wiping noses and butts.  I'm still over here kissing boo boo's and fixing broken toys.  I'm still making food they won't eat and doing laundry in an endless loop (it NEVER ends).  I'm still giving a million hugs and singing the same songs over and over and over. I'm still laughing at their crazy antics and melting at their sweetness. 

I think I always thought I would give birth to all of my children. And I really did.  One came from my belly and one came straight from my heart. 

Clearly the universe has unfolded exactly as it was meant to...

Blogmas 2017 - Vol. 16

Oh yes...She's still here...

Just in case you were wondering - this crazy crazy girl is still here.  Our Fur-st baby will be turning 7 (I think? maybe? I can't remember... It's all a guess anyway) this coming february. Although if you are lucky enough to make her acquaintance you might never know she was turning 7.  She still has about a 5ft vertical jump, she has an insane amount of energy, she eats everything (except chocolate which is a miracle).

She is what I lovingly call a "shelter surprise."  The folks there told us she was a shepard mix.  We now know that was essentially an outright lie!  She's some kind of american dingo/ basenji mix we think.  Basenjis as it turns out - are VERY smart and liver FOREVER (the average age is something insane like 14-16yrs...THE AVERAGE!) So we unknowingly made a very long commitment...

Kori has been nothing but trouble since her first moments. I think it was her first week at home when she ate a needle (oh yes you read that correctly).  By some grace of all things holy she passed it on her own.  After that we spent months training her (HAHA) to not be afraid of everything including leaves, the darkness, plastic bags...you name it.  Every day that I came home from work it was a game of "What did Kori eat today?!"  And it was everything you can imagine just fyi - shoes, rolls of quarters, roach traps - you name it, she tried to eat it.

And while she is still very energetic, and still pretty fearful of most things, and still generally bonkers - we do love her!  She is surprisingly gentle with the kids, although she has very little body awareness and is often whacking somebody with a tail.  Once she loves and trusts you she will cuddle you within an inch of your life.  She definitely can read souls and knows exactly when you need a dog to love on.  She is obsessed with curing my tears (to the point that she will body check SP out of the way to make sure I'm ok).  If you've been gone 5 mins or 5 days she's never been more excited to see you (she does not like to be alone!)

And while we joke that she's been "ruining everything since 2010" we can't imagine life without her!

We love you Kori Dog!

Oh yes and we've completely caved and allow
her on the couch...don't even start with me...

Blogmas 2017 - Vol. 15

So I'm tired and it's late...so tonight is a little bit of a cop out - but I'm posting something, so I think it counts!  Without further ado, here's a little bit about lil' ol' me!

25 Facts About Me!

What is your middle name?: Beth

What was favorite subject at school?: English probably

What is your favorite drink?: Coffee, Seltzer Water, Diet Coke - alcohol probably vodka something

What is your favorite song at the moment?: Uh it's pretty much all christmas music all the time right now.  I'm really loving the Pentatonix Christmas Albums!

What is your favorite food?: Uh yeah all the foods.  I love a good everything bagel with cream cheese, I adore a great salad bar, I could probably eat mexican every day of the week.  And bread and cheese yum!

What is the last thing you bought?: Sadly it was a $1 ice cream cone at McDonalds

Favorite book of all time?: I don't know if I can choose.  I loved A Wrinkle In Time; The Secret Life of Bees; When Breath Becomes Air...so many

Favorite Colour?: Blue

Do you have any pets?: Crazy Kori Dog!

Favorite Perfume?: I'm cheap and only have body spray from bath and body works.  I like Twilight Woods

Favorite Vacation?: Anywhere tropical with a beach.  I also love Europe - and in particular Paris.

Are you married?: Yep!

Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?: Yes - a lot

Do you speak any other language?: I can cobble together enough Spanish to get by at a 4year old level

How many siblings do you have?: One brother by blood, a few sisters by life

What is your favorite shop?: Uh Amazon and/or Target

Favorite restaurant?: Really depends on the mood

When was the last time you cried?: Monday I think; combo of exhaustion and utter garbage happening

Favorite Blog?: Yours! Honestly I still really love Post Secret

Favorite Movie?: Eat Pray Love, Julie Julia, The 1st Harry Potter, Christmas movies

Favorite TV show?: Gilmore Girls

PC or Mac?: Mac

What phone do you have?: White iPhone I honestly don't know what number 

How tall are you?: 5ft 3in on a good day

Can you cook?: Yes, I would say I'm a decent cook

Blogmas 2017 - Vol. 14

Hello Insomnia My Old Friend

I've never been a good sleeper (except maybe during highschool when I was doing all the sports and was suddenly able to nap!) 

Sleep and I have, for the most part, have always had a tumultuous relationship.  I either can't fall asleep, stay asleep, or just generally don't feel well rested.  And then I got pregnant - which in the beginning was like a natural tranquilizer - like I couldn't stay awake to save my life.  But then it was like my body recognized that I was getting sleep and decided that there would be no more of that nonsense.  And it turns out that the bigger you get the less you sleep.  So I had at least 2 good months where I basically never made it through the night. When baby boy made his appearance I was a wreck.  I already hadn't been sleeping and then his delayed debut really destroyed my body.  And then of course - babies don't sleep so much in the beginning.  The good news was that my inability to fall asleep was effectively cured because I was so stinkin tired that I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

As he got older and I went back to work and we got back into a more normal routine my body once again woke up in every sense of the word - oh you think you're going to sleep?! Hahaha No. 

I've seen 4:30am more times in the last month than I can count - and only a handful were because of the small people and or furry folk living in my house.  It's like I just.can't.rest.

So short of drugging myself every single night (I'm a walking billboard for zquill) I need ideas.  And yes, I've read books, done meditations (I just can't), gotten up, stayed in bed, counted the things, whispered the prayers...etc.  

But I'm also heading rapidly toward a sleep deprived breaking point...so send em to me folks, the ideas, the juju, the vudoo dolls, the crystals - whatever you got, I'll take it under advisement (and maybe even try it!)  

Until then I'll be the one mainlining the coffee with the big ol' grocery bags under my eyes!

ZZZzzz
Sarah

Blogmas 2017 - Vol. 13

What I liked about today - The Blogmas 2017 Edition

In no particular order, the things I liked about today:

1) Catered work lunch!

2) 6mo checkup with little buddy

3) A wife who had started dinner before I got home!

4) SP getting home before me!!!

5) Roasted brussels! Yum!

6) Friends who keep me accountable

7) Friends who challenge me to keep learning, keep thinking, and keep trying to do the next right thing

8) The breath in my lungs

9) Sparkling wine in a can

10) One week until vacation!

11) The Alabama election results

12) Finding some free tv!

13) Babies who sleep (knock on wood!)

And for the record Little Buddy's 6mos stats:

Wt: 19lbs 7.2 oz (83%)

Ht: 2' 3.5" (85%)

HC: 17.6" (87%)

Happy Hump Day folks!