Happy Father's Day

This Sunday is Father's Day. Somehow it has totally sneaked up on me. Sneaked. For some reason that sounds super awkward. Sneaked. Snuck. Whatever. Either way, it's here and it's kind of a surprise. Thank goodness I ordered Josh's present about 6 weeks ago. Sometime around Mother's Day. Being a gamer geek type, he's pretty easy to shop for. So, at least I have a present. But I have made no plans for "celebrating" which makes me feel like a total slacker.

So what to do?

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

What are you doing to celebrate Father's Day?

Our typical route is a cook out. I guess this year we can throw in some pool time as well. Have some family over. Something like that. Just because it's what we always do doesn't make it any less enjoyable. I absolutely LOVE cooking out. Semi-blackened hotdogs with chili, coleslaw, ketchup and mustard are one of life's great pleasures. Or I think so at least. So I'm all for a cook out.

Most importantly I will make sure it's a nice, relaxing and enjoyable family sort of day for Josh. I won't hold it against him that Mother's Day was a total bummer. I will probably let him sleep in, make him breakfast, get him a cute card, dote on him, let him relax. You know, all the upsides to Father's Day.

Another side to planning this weekend: Josh is actually off Saturday and Sunday. First time in a while that we will have two whole days off together. So we need to maximize it without stressing ourselves out. It's a difficult balance to achieve. If you have a spouse with a set work schedule you probably don't understand how wonderful it is to actually have time off together. I always work Monday through Friday. Josh typically gets two days off a week but they could be any day. And since he frequently works second shift, even if he gets a day off he can't get up early because he didn't get home the night before until 2 a.m. and he's one of those people that needs 8 hours of sleep to be tolerable. And he's REALLY not a morning person. It is quite delicious to have two days in a row together as a family. We get to eat meals together, team up on house work and share responsibilities with the kids. Since I'm used to doing most of it by myself, I really enjoy having some help. And since Josh is used to not getting to spend a lot of time with the girls, he loves getting to actually SEE them. Plus, they adore their Daddy. Especially Evie. She is SUCH a Daddy's girl. I've still got my fingers crossed that Elly will prefer me. But she's got a serious soft spot for Dada as well. Dang it.

I'm sure it will be fabulous, whatever we do.

One thing is definite though - there won't be any Father's Day surprise like last year. Only once will Josh be receiving a positive pregnancy test from his wife for Father's Day. I love my two. But I'm not ready for three under three. Heck. No.

Happy Father's Day everyone!

Mother's Day 2011

 Well, it has come and gone.

Thank. God.

Halfway through Sunday, Josh asked Evie to stop whining at Mommy because it was MY day and I told him no it wasn't. I didn't want it.

Sunday was awful. Not because it was Mother's Day. It was just a horrible day. And the fact that it was Mother's Day and therefore supposed to be a good day for me was just salt in the wound. A lot of salt.

Evie was in the absolute worst mood I have seen her in ever. She started by waking up early, then demanding her pacifier. Which of course she gave up last week and I had to deny her. So the rest of the morning was one continuous tantrum. Evie was throwing things, hitting her sister, climbing onto the kitchen table, trying to climb the entertainment center, climbing on the back of the couch, slamming doors, screaming, wailing, whining, flailing, tearing books...okay, you probably get the idea. If you have a toddler, this scene may be familiar.

Needless to say, I spent the morning wondering how awful of parent I was for my child to act this way. I put her in time out. I told her no. I gave her other things to do. I ignored her. I spanked her. I yelled at her. I cried. And I cried. And I cried. I just didn't know what to do. Nothing worked!

I have been told and I have read that toddlers test boundaries. And that the terrible two's and terrible three's are all about testing boundaries over and over and over. Well, Sunday was a marathon run of testing those boundaries. Josh got up around 10 a.m. (he had to work late Saturday night and didn't get home til after 2 a.m.) and that was when I finally got to eat my breakfast.

All I wanted to eat was a brie and bacon quiche and I was able to make it in the midst of the screaming and thrashing but two hours later I still hadn't gotten to eat it. So in tears, I ate my quiche. It was delicious. Super delicious. And I got to drink my coffee. Which, while also cold, was no worse for the microwaving and was scrumptious as well. I felt a little better after breakfast, but it was short-lived because I had to make brownie cupcakes and icing for the Mother's Day lunch at my grandparents and get myself and the babies dressed.

Elly, bless her heart, mostly slept through the whole disastrous morning.

The interlude of driving, lunch, watching cows with Evie and driving back was a little refreshing. But we got home, Josh left for work, and the tantrum resumed. I finally got Evie down for a nap and Elly spent most of that time eating or fussing because she couldn't decide if she was full or not. So no quiet time for me.

Then Evie was up and it was supper time and time to get ready for bed. That involved more screaming and crying and throwing things. More time outs and spankings. We did a conference call with my in-laws since my father-in-law hasn't seen the grandbabies in awhile. That actually went fairly well. But it didn't last. As soon as the video chat was over the tantrum resumed and I was so happy that it was bed time. Of course, Elly refused to go to sleep til nearly 11:30. So it was midnight before I got to bed. I was so tired that I literally hurt all over.

Really, it was an awful, awful day. But even in the middle of the screaming and crying, I squeezed Elly (Evie was sitting in time out at the time) and thought how grateful I was to be blessed with two beautiful and healthy baby girls. I thought of all the women who weren't able to have children or whose circumstances just hadn't allowed babies and thanked God for the screaming and spit-up and tears. Because while some days the bad times outnumber the good, when you take in the overall, my girls are way worth the bad days. The good times, the times when Evie brings me a dandelion she picked or Elly tries to say "momma," those little things are just the most incredibly wonderful things. I simply love them!

But Sunday was still awful.

And my present, while super-duper unbelievably awesome, still isn't here. It's supposed to be here on Thursday, according to the FedEx shipment tracker. It's in Anchorage, Alaska now.

Man I wish it were Thursday!

I hope everyone else had a much better Mother's Day than I did.

Happy Mother's Day! And other good bits...

I was feeling super overwhelmed today.

And I have been cold all day. I mean all day. Except for when I woke up. I was hot then. And I went and got ready for work and since then I have froze all day. Ugh.

And I'm worrying about how this weekend is going to go.


So I have had so much on my mind and not one of those things has been a blog.

So in the great spirit of laziness, I'm blogging about how I don't have anything to blog about. But I do!

1. This is my first Mother's Day as a mother of two babies. With my family complete. And I have some really high expectations and even higher hopes. I've set my heart on Brie and Bacon quiche for breakfast on Sunday and I'm concocting a delicious cupcake/brownie recipe to take to my grandmother's Mother's Day lunch on Sunday. I hope that it's a good weekend with lots of time with my girls and maybe even some extra relaxation time for me.

I will let you know how the cupcake/brownie concoction turns out. So far its sounding delicious. And I'm glad I'm taking them for lots of other people to eat so they don't sit around my house and single-handedly demolish my diet goals.

And I hope that all the moms out there reading this have a spectacular Mother's Day. Whether it's your first, fifth or fiftieth. Happy Mother's Day! You are a spectacular wonderful person. And no matter what your friends, family or husband might say NO ONE can do what you do! :-) And your kids know it.

Don't forget to tell your mom that you agree.

2. Wish me luck taking both girls to Boone by myself on Saturday. I'm also going to be photographing the birthday party we'll be going to for the parents. Sort of professional like. And while I did professional photography for a year as a journalist, I'm super scared about how it will turn out! Pray for me please.

3. I fit into a pair of size 8 jeans this morning and I have officially lost 50 lbs in less than 3 months. Sunday, my baby will be 3 months old and while the last 20 lbs will possibly be the hardest I feel a little accomplished. And my size 8 jeans look pretty cute! (If I say so myself...and I do!)

4. I know what I'm getting for Mother's Day and it is SOOOOOOO freaking awesome. But as of right now, it still hasn't shipped. Which is depressing. But it's supposed to be here by Friday. I'll let you know!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!