For almost 3 years, hubs has traveled to San Diego every. single. week for 2 days and 1 night.

Every Wednesday morning, hubs woke at 4:30am to catch a 6am flight down South. Every Thursday evening, hubs would return home no earlier than 9pm. Along with that, he surfed every Thursday morning and mingled with coworkers every Wednesday night. (Oh, and got one good night of sleep without some small martian waking him needing something, like a bottle or to scare the boogie man away.)

Not a bad gig, huh? Well, the times, they are a changin.

Next week, he will no longer travel down South. His time in SD has come to an end.

His last week with his company is next week. After that, he is taking two months off to just be.

Come November, he will join the family business.

He will travel again. It just won’t be to the same place EVERY SINGLE WEEK. (But hubs has already stated he will make some business trips back down to SD. He can’t stay away from the surf too long. And Northern CA surf is just not the same. I wouldn’t know. That’s just what he said.)

Until he starts up again, I will enjoy having my hubs home.

Oh, and getting to have EVERY Wednesday to myself will not suck either.

e

I have a new niece. Her name is Stella. She’s petite at 5 lb 14 oz. She’s perfect. And, she’s ours!

I’ve been distracted.

What, with having a FOUR MONTH OLD whose cutting TWO TEETH (Are you kidding me????) and taking on a side gig or two, I’ve not been able to get on here and state anything coherent.

Can we talk about my not-long-ago-newborn cutting TEETH for a moment? Gasp! My mother told me my brother and I cut teeth in our 5th month, so I knew early was possible, but Rt got his at 8 months. Clearly, I was thrown for a big ‘ol loop. Of course, the pain really turned on once we were in San Diego, but Hola was a trooper. With getting little to no naps, or ones that didn’t last longer than an hour, he did rather well. Poor guy.

Speaking of, San Diego was loads of fun. I made it through my first trip with two kids without going too looney. I was my typical self early on, being all neurotic and all, but I calmed down quickly after that first night with both boys in the same room. (I slept in the other room on the fold out couch and had the worst night sleep ever. Sleeping in the same room with the boys was a treat after that.)

I went out to lunch on the first day with my favorite San Diego gal pal, Red Lotus Mama at PF Changs. The boys kept mostly to themselves and gave us a small window to catch up. If you are ever in the area, you need to hook up with this gal. She’s a keeper.

The following day, I made my way up to Orange County to meet up with my girls, Whoorl and Caroline. It’s so funny how all of us grew up together in OK, but we all made our way out to CA and have remained here for many years. Rt and Wito kept themselves entertained over lunch while the rest of us were drooling over Diane Keaton shopping nearby. She was darling. Dressed to the hilt in a cute polka dotted skirt and leggings. I have no photos of this portion of my trip since my new pocket camera didn’t have the battery inside. Supposedly, it was charging in the hotel room. (Complete eye roll.) Miss Caroline said she’d send some my way soon….bring ‘em sister!

Saturday, we headed to the beach to meet up with some people from hubs’ work. Rt enjoyed every freakin minute we were there. He even got to boogie board with hubs.

I learned how to surf too!

Wait, that’s not right. I was handed a board and said, “Go for it, I’ve got the kids.” So, I took what knowledge I knew about surfing, and went for it. This is what I got instead. (Note to self. Go get yourself some stomach muscles before trying surfing again. Clearly, you need them and having a baby does make a difference.)

We finished off the day by hitting Sea World. It’s was great to go, but it was way expensive, way crowded and the highlight of the day, seeing Shamu, was too short in my eyes. Ah, well. At least we said we went right?

We got back Sunday night and are already making plans to head to Santa Cruz this weekend. Can’t keep us down for long…..

e

The lovely gorillabuns showed some interest for one of my baby-carrying contraptions, so I thought I would take all of you on a tour of “How to hold your baby.”

First up, and most-needed!!!!, in my opinion, is the Sling. In my case, the Peanut Shell.

This puppy is the BEES’ KNEES when it comes to holding your baby, ESPECIALLY newborns, right off the bat. Hola was a 4th trimester baby. If there was room, he could have stayed in my womb for another 3 months. For the first month or so, he was not too interested in just “hanging out” after being fed/before nap. He would just fuss fuss fuss. So, I stuck him in the sling, and did everything I needed/wanted to do. (he would literally pass out within minutes!!)

Clean kitchen? check. Write blog post? check. Make something edible for dinner? check.

It’s just like being pregnant, so you do have to work around your belly, but you’ve got two hands AND no back pain. MAJOR BONUS. Hey, I still shove Hola in my sling when desperate, and at 17 lbs, he still nods off to sleep. (Sometimes, it does take some “walking the halls” to the rhythm of the night to get him to settle and nod off, but once he does, I’m set, and so is he.

Next up, a little side talk regarding the Baby Bjorn.

I have owned this sucker since Rt was born. It was THE THING to register for. We used it a handful of times with him, hubs more than me, cause that thing killed my shoulders. No matter how much I tried to make it work, it didn’t. Plus, he was kid #1, so he spent more time on the floor, or stroller while we were en route.

This babe around, I have used it. But, ONLY cause I knew I was going somewhere quickly and wasn’t going to be wearing it very long. If that is the case, then I say, USE YOUR BJORN. Running in to pick up kid #1 from school? Throw babe in bjorn. Going on a long walk around the neighborhood, or trail? NO WAY! If so, run to the nearest massage parlor to get the kinks in your upper body worked out pronto!

And now, the talk turns towards the Ergo Carrier!!

Now, I have to start by telling you I haven’t truly used this yet. Well, I have, but Hola is still too little to ride in it. His legs have to wrap around my waist, and his body is not mature enough to do so quite yet. I have read people started carrying their babies around 5- 6 months.

Since Hola is 4 months now, and clearly too small for the Peanut Shell, I needed something for the NOW, not 1 to 2 months from now. I tried the Bjorn again, at a playdate, and was in pain within minutes. I whipped out my Moby Wrap (oh, ya, another item I purchased for baby #2) and had to have my girlfriend walk me through the process of wrapping it around my body. 10 minutes later, I had Hola chilling on my chest. I thought I had found my NOW answer. Well, until, my girlfriend pointed out Hola’s legs were a beautiful shade of purple. OOOPS. I was cutting off the circulation of my baby!! Not good. Not at all.

Let me just say, there is nothing wrong with the Moby Wrap. I am sure if I spent some time with it, the three of us, Moby, Hola and I would be friends, but I don’t have the time. I do not want to make the time. I am going to resell it on Craigslist (where I bought it in the first place.)

So, what to do, what to do.

I caved and bought the Ergo Carrier insert. (on sale, free shipping!)

While it does work, my baby, my child, looks hilarious hanging out the side of this thing. (the proper way to carry a newborn, both legs off to the side.) I think I need to spend some more time configuring this thingie, but it DOES work! Hola took a lovely little nap, basically lying down, while I ate my dinner the other night out with friends. All with no pain to my backside.

I will continue to update you on my carrier when I get to use it for all its worth. (And just so you know, all of these items were either given to me, won in a giveaway, purchased off of craigslist, or splurged on by me since I was having a same-sex baby!)

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Hola turns 4 months today.

I thought he was tipping the scales at 16.5 lbs (WHOAH!) at 4 months old, but I looked back at Rt’s stats and he was 16.1 lbs at 4 months. So, I guess my babies just get rolly polly fast and level off later in their first year. Rt was only 21 lbs at 1. But still, he’s my sweet chunk ‘o munck. The rolls people, the rolls!

I bit the bullet and bought the newborn insert for my Ergo Carrier, so I can use it now. (instead of the recommended age of 5-6 months) The bjorn is a shoulder KILLER and my trusty Peanut Shell sling just looks ridiculous now with one or both feet hanging out the top. Poor kid thought he was back in utero today. He had his hands up over his face crammed in the pocket while snoozing. He needs more room, and so do I! My shirt around my left boob was all sweaty when I took him out. It was either too hot in there or my milk just came in. on one side. ha.

In the past month, we have found our feet, found our voice (Good God this kid has a mouth on him) grabbed objects hanging above him and slept through the night on several occasions. We have pulled out the jumperoo and the exersaucer trying to offer him more to do from a better viewpoint. He is an extremely happy little guy and has become more laid back as the months have gone by. Every time he smiles, he pulls his hands up by his face as if he were snickering. He’s in love with his brother and loves nothing more than to watch him all day long.

The doctor recommended, at his 2 month appt., that we should start feeding him cereal at 4 months due to his spit up issues. I know I’m not ready and I don’t think he is either. The thought of feeding him while reclining in his bouncer just doesn’t seem right. His actual 4 month appt. isn’t for another 3 weeks, so by that time I’ll have a better idea if he is ready.

Here’s Hola trying out the exersaucer for the first time.

Of course, we haven’t ditched the activity gym. That puppy has miles on it, and well, lots of spit up too.

Oh, and we can’t forget these guys. Someone got ahold of the camera and had themselves a photo shoot.

All in all, we’re doing well. Better than expected. It must be the sleep. or maybe it’s all the laughter going on.

e

There are six of us. All mothers of kids Rt’s age. All friends. Good friends. REALLY good friends.

We’ve been through many ups and downs over the past 3 years.

These girls have been my rocks, my go-to peeps.

One of them miscarried over the weekend.

Unfortunately, she isn’t the first one.

They say 1 in 4 gals miscarry while trying to conceive.

We’ve busted that number out of the water.

I do know I wouldn’t have made it through my own miscarriage if it weren’t for the understanding, empathy and compassion of these 5 women. I only hope I can be there for my latest friend who may feel so sad and so lonely right now.

I’m here.

We all are.

e

In my household, when the television is on in the morning, it’s usually on PBS.

It wasn’t always this way.

We used to be a Disney and Disney-only household. Rt loved Little Einsteins and all the adventures the kids would go on. He would hum classical music and even commented on a “Starry Night” painting in the doctor’s office and said, “Van Gogh.”

Not bad, eh?

Then, he took all these little adventures to bed with him. Not often, but he would wake up crying out LOUDLY. Hubs or I would go into his room, wondering what the hell was wrong with him, to find he had been dreaming of some little adventure he was on with his rocketing friends.

Ok, so maybe we needed to stray away from all the excitement during the day, so we could all get a good night’s sleep at night.

So, we moved onto Noggin.

Blues Clues. Blues Clues. Blues Clues. Ah, the love.

And what else? No night wakings, no dreams, nothing but Steve and his (brother/cousin??) Joe.

BUT, if you leave Noggin on long enough, especially in late afternoon, when the day has just gone on way too long and everyone is in need of some mindless entertainment, (um, ME) you get other characters like Diego, Dora and The Backyardigans.

With each new show brings on more adventure, more need to rescue someone, more need to TELL ME WHAT TO DO. ” SAY HOLA, SAY IT LOUDER” “TELL SWIPER, NO SWIPING” “DO IT NOW OR HE’LL EAT YOUR HEAD AND YOUR MOMMY’S HEAD.” (I hate that fox.)

Then, all of a sudden, we were waking up in the night AGAIN, TRYING TO SAVE THE PANDA BEAR FROM FALLING OFF THE CLIFF OF THE WATERFALL INTO THE TRENCHES OF DOOM.

Um, ok. Not what I’m looking for in programming.

Not to bitch, moan and diss these lovely little characters. I just think with Rt’s mind, mixed with too much stimulation, makes for a bad combo platter. Maybe down the road he can handle these guys, but for now, we’ve gone back to the basics.

PBS.

So, now some mornings are filled with a little bits of curious monkey (which have turned my little boy into a curious, bed jumping, blanket over the head, ghost acting 3 yr old. oh my.) becoming a super-reader like his friends on Super Why (He doesn’t want to take his shoes off, cause Super Why always has his shoes on) and letters and numbers of the day with the folks over at Sesame Street. (The kid has a strange obsession with letters and numbers.)

The nights are quiet again.

(Well, maybe in the dream department, but if he has a booger on his finger, or if said finger smells bad due to scratching his butt, he does yell out in a hysterical cry. good freakin’ grief.)

Oh, and within our PBS mix, we add in some DVR’s episodes of Blues Clues, cause you can never have too many visits with Steve and his (brother/cousin??) Joe.

Looking forward to Preschool in less than 4 weeks. (YIKES! My baby is growing up. Sniff, Sniff.) That way the lure of educational programming will be a treat rather than a morning staple.

e

It seems since I’ve been on vacation, I’ve lost some commenters on this here site.

(I am sure it’s due to the lack of interesting substance lately. And yes, I can admit to using photos as page fillers, but my creative mind is dry as dirt these days. Damn you mommy brain! I hope it’s that and not something more permanent like, NOT BEING FUNNY ANYMORE.)

So, to see if there are still some of you out there, I need your help. I want you to caption this photo below.

You won’t win anything besides the honor of titling this photo, but I do want to hear from you. All of you. For once. Please? I’m not begging, I’m just bored and am in need of some internet thrills. Appease me? Hold me?

And, in case you can’t figure it out, this is my son. My 3 yr old. Asleep for once. During “down time.”

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And would do it again in a heartbeat!

It was a lot of work.

Reason so?

No downtime.

Both kids didn’t go to bed earlier than 8:45p.m. EVER. Too much nighttime activity! Latest bedtime was 10:30p.m. for Rt (with NO nap). Luckily, Hola snuck in catnaps throughout the evenings to make it till bedtime, but woah, what a difference no down time makes.

Here’s a recap.

Things that happened while in Tahoe:

I went old school and slalomed. I probably should have wake boarded, but I wanted to actually ski and not fall time and time again into the FREEZING MELTED SNOW water. Next time, next time.

We played at the beach everyday with all the cousins (currently 8 of them, 9 is on her way) and bro/sister-in-laws. Great family time that only happens once a year.

Hubs and I escaped to the only theater in town to see the only movie showing, The Dark Knight. Woo hoo! We returned home to see BOTH kids still awake. Oh well. You do have no control over your kids when someone else is watching them. Ah, well.

I jet skied for the first time ever. My nephew rode on the back, not holding onto me, just a tiny trap. (such the 8 yr old boy thing to do) I had to look back multiple times to make sure he was still there. So fun.

Hubs fed the baby EVERY night in the night. I got up with him every morning while hubs slept in for a bit. Worked out well for the both of us. (I think I made out better, huh?)

Baby fell asleep on beach towel with no assistance. Score! A baby tent is so key here!!

Within 5 minutes of leaving the lake house, both boys were asleep for the ENTIRE trip home. Major bonus. (Poor kids were exhausted.)

Things that have happened since returning from Tahoe:

Finally trimmed my baby’s nails. 3 of them bled due to cutting them too short. Great…

Baby has needed another nap within an hour of waking from last nap. FUSS PANTS! Poor babe is desperately trying to catch up on needed sleep. That, or it’s teething, ear infection, or gas related. Totally mystery.

3 yr old is acting like his older cousins are still around. No, I do not liked being jumped on from behind while trimming baby’s nails. Thanks.

Baby has broken out into another heat/saliva rash on his face. Man, where is that fresh Tahoe air when you need it.

Rt cried bloody murder after being put down for the night. I ran into his room thinking he was hurt/stuck only to find him pointing his finger at me and he crying “booger.” Grrr!

Hubs has already started complaining about having to work and it’s only Monday. It happens at the end of EVER vacation we ever take. He always talks about wanting to retire. Hi, we’re 30 something. Buy that lotto ticket, will ya?

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I’ve come to the conclusion that anyone who has kids needs to take a vacation to appreciate how much easier it is to raise them in the comforts of your own home. In the same breath, I wish I still in Tahoe.

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