Tonight is one of those nights where I am thankful, thankful for my companion.  After the day dished out everything it had to bring, there was no better way to deal with it all besides cracking open a bottle of vino tinto and talking about it with my life partner. 

On nights like tonight, I look back on this journey of marriage and wonder how we ever got to where we are now.  Nobody could have described to my 22-year-old self what it would feel like to have an unwavering companion by your side every step of the way.  Sure there are bumps: conversations about money, frusterations about household duties and the little annoyances that come with living with anyone for an extended period of time, but the benefits of such a relationship render them virtually null and void.

Not only did I marry the right person eleven years ago, but we have evolved both separately and together in a very compatible way.  To be able to so fully explore the events of this day in a way that leaves me feeling, more than anything, thankful, is a true gift.  I pause for this brief moment to recognize how lucky I am…we both are.

Today was a wonderful Mother’s Day and I needed a day like today.

While my first instinct is to try and spend every waking minute I can with my kids, I gave into another need to do adult things and feel like I have a bit of a life and I have to admit, I am so glad I did.  In a previous life, my “me time” was quite thoroughly nurtured, but I am stating the obvious when I say this is one of the hardest things to find time for once you have kids.

Saturday night we went to a wine/beer/spirits tasting event with our good friends and for the first time in I cannot even remember, we all left the kids at home with sitters. Needless to say, we had a fun time!

Andy let me sleep in a bit this morning, then I was treated to some very luxurious time with the novel I have been reading for what seems like forever. It is an amazing book (The Invisible Bridge) but I simply haven’t given myself time to read AT ALL so it felt so indulgent to lay in bed with the book while Andy entertained the girls in the next room.

Next we met my parents at my sister’s house for Huevos Rancheros, her husband Derik’s speciality. The meal was completely worthy of the hype!

After that, we went home, got the girls down for a nap then my sister and I went on a mountain bike ride. It was a gorgeous day and except for a few rutty trails and some cows on the trail (cows scare me), it couldn’t have been more perfect.

Of course one of the best parts of the day was playing with our kids and hanging out as a family in between these other activities.  They are so darn fun and Belén has been a crack up lately!  As we were driving home from Anna and Derik’s this afternoon, we heard from the backseat, “Mommy, my balls hurt.”  She meant the balls of her feet aka ankles.

I hope all of you amazing mothers out there were pampered in your own special today and had as wonderful of a day as I did. You all deserve it!

We are only two weeks in and so far being three has been rough on everyone in the family!  Our slightly moody but otherwise quite pleasant two-year-old has turned into a bipolar ninja.  Goodness, I hope this is only temporary and by temporary I mean like 12 more hours, because we are not going to be able to afford the wine bill nor bags under our eyes if this keeps up.

We can be going along all pleasantly, hanging out and then something doesn’t go Belen’s way and oh holly hell watch out because it’s going to be screaming at the top of her lungs.  Luckily Eloise doesn’t cry every single time Belen does anymore because it would be a continuous all out bawlfest. 

Yesterday morning as I was taking all of the bags out to the car before work/school, I returned to the house and walked into the room to see Belen attempting to unramp a Snickers mini (it takes us forever to eat our Halloween candy.)  My jaw must have dropped as I looked at her agast.  I almost didn’t know what to say.  I finally responded, “What exactly do you think you are eating?”

“Chocolate.”

“Um, I don’t think so.  It’s 8am, we don’t eat chocolate at this time of day; only in the evening after you’ve eaten all of your dinner.”

“BWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”  (major crying fit.)

I put the girls jackets on and we walked to the car.  I asked Belen to either try and open the door herself or just wait on the grass by the car while I buckled Eloise in. 

She followed me into the street.

In my annoyed voice which I really hate to use, “Belen, what are you doing?  Get out of the street.”

“BWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” (major crying fit followed by her telling me I am a “bad mommy.”)

I went back around to her side of the car to get her in her carseat and asked her if she thought I was a bad mommy because I sounded annoyed when I told her to get out of the street. 

By this time she was using her spoiled toddler voice, drawing out the first vowel of every word she used.  “Yeeeeeeeees, yoooooou’re a MEan MOMmy.” 

I started trying to reason with her which perhaps is not the best approach. 

“Belen, mommy doesn’t like to talk to you in that tone of voice but I get frusterated when you don’t listen to me and I am going on very little sleep because you kept us up last night.”

She was like, ya whatever mom but I continued.  “I will make a deal with you that I won’t use that tone of voice if you listen to me when I ask you to do something.”  She eventually agreed and we even shook hands even though I don’t think she quite knew what that meant.

I changed my tone of voice and played little games with them on the drive to school, “Whose name starts with the letter B?” “MIIIINE!” and things were good.

Once at school, I dropped Eloise off first and was trying to wash her hands very thoroughly since her classroom has both Hand, Foot and Mouth and some other virus I cannot pronounce, both highly contagious.  Belen started wandering into the play area before I had washed her hands and I asked her to please come with me so we could wash her hands.  She turned into defiant Belen again and stopped listening.  So much for our deal…

The big problem the last few days has been bedtime.  Our kids go to bed between 7-8pm and typically sleep through the night until after 6:30am.  We have consistently had this routine for some time and typically the girls go down without a whole lot of fuss.  In the last week that pleasant routine has been turned upside down. 

Before, Belen drug out the nighttime routine as long as she possibly could.

“Sing me a song.”

“Read me a book.”

“I need to go potty.”

“I need some water.”

After she was out of legitimate excuses she begrudgingly conceded that it was time for us to leave the room.  Now at this juncture, she starts whailing.

“BWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“BWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Sometimes it wakes Eloise up but otherwise, we were okay with it and moved on to the sans kids part of our evenings starting with cleaning up all of the messes.

Wednesday night we decided to watch the Mad Men episode from Sunday.  Belen was still screaming from upstairs when Andy said, “Well at least she hasn’t figured out she can get out of bed.”

FIVE MINUTES LATER

Pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter, “BWAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” at the top of the stairs, waking up Eloise.  Belen came downstairs saying she didn’t want to be alone and we gave in and let her watch tv with us for awhile.

When the show was over she still didn’t want to go to bed.  Suddenly having given into her earlier didn’t feel so rewarding anymore because no matter what we do, she’s still pissed when she has to lay in her bedroom by herself.  Eventually she fell asleep until 1:30am when, like a ninja, she slipped into our bedroom completely quiet and then whispered, “Daddy” right in Andy’s ear.  He woke up and without even thinking put her into bed with us.  I woke up a few minutes later when she moved and wondered why the heck Belen was in bed with us.  I told her she needed to go back to bed and guess what I heard?  “BWAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”  Andy took her upstairs to bed.  Then she proceeded to run from her room crying three more times before she finally fell back asleep in her bed.

Obviously Belen is attempting to test her boundaries with nearly everything she does and Andy and I finally caught on and realized we needed to step up our parenting game.  We went into Thursday night prepared to deal with our bipolar ninja.  The strategy was that once she came downstairs we (and by WE, I mean Andy) would very unemotionally carry her back upstairs to her bed then wait in the nearby office for her to come running out at which point we would pick her up and carry her back to bed again repeatedly until it stuck. 

She fought bed time, got timeout for lying about having to go potty and then not really having to go but finally fell asleep.  She woke up the first time at 1:30 at whichtime Andy was so out of it he apparently put her into bed with us.  I didn’t even notice.  When he woke up to her asking if she could play on the iPad a few minutes later he snapped out of his slumber and followed the plan to carry her back to her room, sit in office, carry back to room, repeat.  I slept through it all.

She woke again at 2 something and they carried out the same routine.  After that she slept until morning when “all done sleeping” was finally an acceptable proclaimation.

Our goal is to teach her that fighting bed time and getting up in the middle of the night and running to mom and dad’s bed for no apparent reason is NOT OKAY.  If she was really frightened, we would have a softer response but this is something different, she is boundary testing.

So, with bags under our eyes and early morning exercise appointments missed, we continue to figure out our newly minted three-year-old… 

We are totally open to parenting suggestions from other parents who have been through this.  These kids sure don’t come with instruction manuals.

My wonderful mom turned 60 on April 26th.  Here are some pages from an album my sister and I (mostly my sister) put together to commemorate her 60 years.

From adolescence

To marriage and pregnancy

To motherhood

To dropping her girls off at college

And then watching them get married

Then finally having kids of their own.

I hope my life is so wonderful and full!

Happy (Belated — I had to wait to share these photos until you had received the gift) Mom/Nana! I am a lucky girl to have a mom like you and you are the apple of my girls’ eyes.

A couple of months ago, Belén and I had a very serious discussion about what theme she wanted for her birthday party.  She said she wanted a princess party.  I agreed and said, “Okay, we will save the piñata for next year” causing her to quickly backtrack and commit to a “piñata princess” party.  I reluctantly gave in and asked which color scheme she had in mind and soon we had a Purple Piñata Princess Party on our hands.

I began planning, pinning applicable items on pinterest, buying party favors at the dollar store, researching cakes to make that would fit the theme and literally months later on April 28th, Belén’s actual birthday, we threw Eloise and Belén a joint Purple Piñata Princess birthday party.

Our original intent was to keep it small and simple, but with each month of planning, I invested a little bit more time and money making it a little more elaborate.  We didn’t want Belén to steal all of the spotlight from Eloise, especially since it was her very special first birthday, so we decided to rent a jump house for a few hours to keep the big kids occupied.  Then once we found out there was a princess jump house, we couldn’t resist the upgrade.  Plus, I really really enjoy planning our girl’s birthday parties and making their day as special as possible (without going too crazy.)

Finally, after months of planning and talking about it with Belén, her specially chosen friends from school and a few other close friends came to our house for the big shin-dig.

From the princess cake which I attempted to make

to the banner, crowns and birthday dresses made by Nana,

to the piñata,

the decorations,

fabulous gifts,

our incredible family,

(who I cruelly reward by posting a photo of them all eating)

wonderful friends,

and of course the jump house

it was a fun party for kids and adults alike (the kids were entertained so adults had the opportunity to drink beverages and have full conversations!)

This precious video captures the party so well. It is so sweet I could just watch it over and over.

Being that we had a lot going on and I didn’t want to miss any of the occasion but at the same time wanted to make sure we didn’t miss it in photos either, we hired our favorite, Tamara, of Tamara Kenyon Photography who took all of these photos as well as created the video and I am SO glad we did.  You can view more photos of the party here.

A final happy birthday to our girls.  We had fun making your party as special as you are.

In another lifetime, we may have tackled this entire to do list in a weekend.  It maybe a bit ambitious but I think it is doable.  The fact of the matter is, in our current lifetime, we struggle to make forward progress on anything regarding our house.  Just keeping the domestic hamsters running fast enough for the wheels of laundry, meals, dishes and cleaning to keep going seems to take most of our waking hours.

When I made this to do list the weekend before last, I wondered when we would ever be able to make any progress on it.  These are things that have been eating at me, urging me to tackle them every day.  I recently lamented to a good friend that it seems as though every room in our house has a junk drawer or messy area that is driving me a little crazy.  My inclination is to blame this on being working parents but I remember similar situations when we were first married.  Regardless of what life is currently bringing us, tackling lists like these is not our favorite way to spend our time.

I am happy to report that after a conversation with Andy getting him to share my vision we made progress on the list.  Not only that but we were both able to go for a run on Saturday and a mountain bike ride on Sunday, spend lots of time with our girls and along with my sister and dad throw my mom a 60th birthday bash.  In fact, we are feeling quite proud of ourselves and the progress we made this weekend.  Much more to go, but progress nonetheless…

Happy Monday!  I hope you all have a great week.

Normally I would never be even a day late with something as important as a birthday blog, but I figured pulling out all of the stops and celebrating a birthday in the physical world is much more important than blogging about it in the virtual world.  So here I am, six days later exclaiming that my first born is now THREE-YEARS-OLD!  Let me dust off all of the clichés I feel myself using over and over as my kids rapidly grow up, “Where has time time gone?”, “She is growing up right before our eyes.”, “It seems like just yesterday when she was born.”  All equally repetitive and true.  Without further ado, my baby turns three!

~~~

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Belén Rose.  She was a beautiful little girl with short, blond hair and pretty blue eyes.  She was born minutes after high noon in a Boise hospital via scheduled cesaran since wee newborn baby Belén was stubborn and did not want be upside down before birth.  From her earliest days she was good natured and slept well and was the dream baby parents of all little girls and boys hope and pray for.  Except for a few strange medical issues which she eventually (hopefully) outgrew, she was a healthy, happy little girl.

Belén’s mommy and daddy heard frightening tales of what two-year-old Belén would be like in the form of  ”terrible two’s”  but Belén did not entirely live up to the stereotype.  She definitely made her opinion be known and tested her parents from time to time, well, more often than “time to time” but like Belén’s Nana has always said, two is “such a fun age.”

And yet “fun” doesn’t come close to describing what two-year-old Belén was like.  Between the ages of two and three, “Little B” or “B” as she was nicknamed, transitioned from a girl who spoke in words and phrases to an articulate little person who blew past sentences to form complete thoughts, tell stories, both real and imaginary, sing songs and recalled events and books with frightening accuracy.  She proved to have the memory of her Auntie Anna and not her mommy.

Two-year-old Belén also looked very different.  Her features were toddler-like while a year later she was all little girl.  Some other big changes happened in that year including getting a baby sister and becoming potty trained.  In fact, last night was the first night sans Pull-Ups and there were no accidents.

From the beginning of her new, very important responsibility as a big sister, Belén embraced her sister.  She not only gained a playmate and new best friend but she also has experienced some life lessons in the ways of sharing, both toys and the spotlight.  If grace and tantrum can be used in the same sentence, she learned these lessons with grace as much as a two-year-old can.

The heroine of this story, our three-year-old Belén now embarks on yet another fundamental, life altering year of her young life.  The world is beginning to be more complicated with things to be afraid of like little dogs, ants and the wind and foods to scrunch up one’s face to and send away with disgust.  Her steel trap memory reminds her parents every day to be careful about what they say and how they say it because she doesn’t miss a thing and out of nowhere will recall it hours, days, weeks even months later.

At her current vantage point, Belén’s daily ritual is to “go camping with Gracyn” at school each day and then end her day with a nighttime routine of reading books, a last ditch effort to go potty and then beg for more water,  but in reality just prolong bedtime.  Novices at the bedtime routine will be eaten alive sacrificing an hour of their life to a pint-sized blondie trying to work them for all she can.

Her imagination is in overdrive as evidenced by the stories heard through the baby monitor after the lights are out and by the books she “reads” which haven’t already been memorized.  Some new favorites in the game department are playing “Daddy goes to Sleep,” which daddy does not mind one single bit and “Dr.Belén” which may require her patients to give multiple pretend urine samples but then amazingly be cured for such ailments as dramatic as bugs in the ears or “whole body sicknesses” with measures as innocent as applying a hula hoop or morochas.

So far three-year-old Belén in the morning has proved to be more moody and challenging than her two-year-old version ever was.  Belén’s mommy and daddy hope the other parents who said three is harder than two were exaggerating.  There is a plan in the works to harness all energy, both negative and positive into some fun activities like soccer and dance.

As in the case of any good parent storyteller, this tale could go on and on with memories recalled  and quotes shared but we don’t want to lose the reader.  Instead, we will wish our heroine a very happy belated virtual birthday and look forward to seeing what age three will bring.

We love you kid!

Mom and Dad

Our Dearest Eloise,

One year ago I was in labor with you, my sweet little baby and you were stuck. For hours all that the bystanders in the room could see was your thick black hair. With each passing, intense contraction I wanted to be the one seeing your black hair and more importantly holding you in my arms. My desire to conclude my first experience with “true” labor was more than anything because I couldn’t wait to meet you.

Despite pushing with all of my might for three solid hours, you needed special help from a doctor determined to get you out without surgery. But alas, all that is behind us now and I only bring it up because of this milestone we are celebrating: one year of Eloise!

Before you were born, I secretly wondered if I could love another baby as much as I did your sister. I feared it may not be possible and if this was the case, what would I do? I couldn’t live with myself.

Like many fears that come with having a new baby, this one was unnecessary. The minute I laid eyes on you and touched your tiny body, I fell head over heals for one Eloise Mae.

At that moment, our lives were forever changed. Our family was suddenly complete and we could no longer remember what it felt like to be only three.

Time passed rapidly and you grew and progressed flying past milestones without skipping a beat. Smiling, laughing, rolling over, sitting up, standing up, crawling and getting teeth, it’s been a big year!

Your content nature eventually evolved into a girl who knows what she wants and is not afraid to go get it. When you don’t get what you want or are God forbid, told N-O even gently, you throw your head onto the ground, slap the air and throw a fit.  You’ve recently been called a daredevil, a thrill seeker and a girl with a mission. These are all accurate assessments of the evolved Eloise who turns one today.

I sit here writing with tears in my eyes because I am not yet ready to see your baby years in the rearview mirror. Your bird legs have been replaced with luscious chunk. Your silly, toothy grin full of seven teeth took the place of a gummy smile. Your immobile contentment was long ago replaced by a girl on the move. Your hearty belly laugh that makes everyone smile evolved from your squeak box newborn cries. You eat everything we do, just minced for your safety and during many meals you eat more than your sister. You are making valiant strides towards talking and walking and soon we will have our hands full chasing you around.  You already leave a path of destruction in your wake as you crawl around the house happy as a clam with blackened hands and pants and toys strewn everywhere.

You love to rough house and be turned upside down.  You can be distracted by an emotional outburst by something new or dangerous.  You were the one to show your sister how to use her new plasma car birthday present.  Now that you’ve both figured it out, the two of you are learning the hard lessons associated with sharing.  Pretty soon you will no longer be able to get away with things because of your baby status.

The fact you are (at least currently) a mama’s girl makes this milestone a bit easier on me. There are few things I enjoy more than when I hear the slapping of your hands on the floor behind me followed by the tugging of my pants as you crawl up my leg.

It’s not just one little thing that makes us continuing fall in love with you.  The twinkle in your eye, the cheese in your grin, the spring in your bounce, the cackle in your laugh…all of it has us smitten with one little girl we like to call Weezy Mae.

We love our little one-year-old and are so grateful to have you in our lives!

Mommy & Daddy (and your sister too)