Life Lately

Life lately has been pretty busy. Mostly with the end of the school year activities and lacrosse.  Of course, add in pregnancy exhaustion and a rambunctious 2 year old and I'm spent.

I'm definitely looking forward to summer and less we "have" to do and more of "want" to do.  Doesn't that sound divine???

Not that we won't be busy with other things, but more of the "want" stuff.  June is almost completely booked already.

~One of Lily's favorite things to do lately is "build a fire wif Daddy."  Just a little backyard fire in the firepit to sit by and/or roast "smarshmellows."  She loves it!  Last weekend, we had a cold front blow back in and Lily asked for her fire.  Daddy obliged. She helps him stack up sticks to throw in it beforehand and then throws them into the fire when he asks.  They're adorable and I'm so glad she loves it! She is definitely becoming more and more of a Daddy's girl.

"hi mommy!"

~Andrew had his last band concert of 7th grade recently.  I'm glad he likes band and wants to continue playing in the future.  Marching band starts in 8th grade here. After his one introduction to it last Fall, he is excited to join marching band next year as well as continue in concert band! Awww, my well-rounded kid. Band geeks, unite!

right in the middle of the pic

~Like I said, lacrosse has been a big part of life the last few months. Practice Monday through Friday and if there's not practice, there's a game.  Coming up this weekend, the boys have an all-day tournament, so we're preparing for a long day! It's been fun to learn a new sport! Even Lily loves "the cross." We found her a plastic little lacrosse set one day and she was in heaven! She loves to watch and yell for her "Bubby!"

 

~A few weeks ago, I got a fetal heart doppler for home just for peace of mind.  I used it the day I got it and found her briefly and decided to wait until after my next appointment so I could ask some questions before trying again.  Turns out, I was distinguishing correctly between my heartbeat and the baby's, so that was nice! I have an anterior placenta {all in front} which makes it difficult to feel movement, so as of 18 weeks yesterday, I still don't feel her move.  I check in with the doppler and will find her then she'll thump against it and move around.  It makes me laugh because she's super active and George says she's trying to get away from me pushing on her space.  But, I hate that I still can't feel her.  Booooooooooooo

~Speaking of baby girl i2, she's got a first name, still no middle.

~George knew I had been wanting to see the movie This is 40 for a long time.  Of course, it was coming out right around the time I was turning 40. Well, duh.  We redboxed it the other night and finally watched it last night.  He's not a Paul Rudd fan at all, so definitely not something he would have picked to see, but we both really enjoyed it.  We laughed pretty hard a lot of the movie! If language offends you, it is not the movie for you, but the marriage stuff,  stupid fighting and the sibling stuff was so true!

~The weather has been warmer for the most part, so we've been outside a lot! Park playdates, backyard playing, hitting up the playground at lacrosse games, going to friend's houses. After the longest winter EV-ER, it's been so welcomed! 

~We're wrapping up 7th and 3rd grades in our house. 
7th grade for Andrew has been great!  His grades are excellent! His social life is what I'd like to call "actual 13 age appropriate." He hangs out with friends sometimes, usually playing video games or some sport. Most often it's actually playing Xbox online with his friends. He's not interested in the crowd who just hangs out at the mall or the roller rink.  He says, "I don't understand it. They're not doing anything."  I'll remind him of that in a few years.

Earlier this year, when he had a specials teacher think he did something he did not do, the assistant principal asked him what happened and he explained his point of view. She then asked him what his core teachers would say about him if she asked them and looked up his grades before she called me with him still in the office with her. She told him {and me} that she had no reason not to take him at his word and would be giving him the benefit of the doubt.  It was a great lesson for him about being trustworthy.  That was the only "incident" of the year.   I can't believe he will finish up junior high next year and my boy will be in high school soon!

3rd grade for Reagan has been pretty good too.  Her grades are also excellent and she is successful in her classroom.  There is inevitably drama with girls and she gets her feelings hurt easily as she tries to be friends with everyone.  It's going to make the teen years rough, I'm betting! She does have a very good friend who has been in her class the last two years and also in Brownies with her. She has gotten to spend a lot of time at her friend's house this year--spending the night and being involved in normal 9 year old stuff. It's been good for her to see another family's dynamics outside of her own. We really appreciate the mom of her friend, as she truly adores Reagan and puts up with all of Reag's scheduling. :)  

~There's also been a lot of this going on the last few weeks:

Let's Go Pens!!!
Happy Friday!

Are You There?

~Last time I was here too long ago, I was blogging about Lily's last week of one. I have a few posts to add to that last week along with nearly every single other thing we've done this summer, but I'm starting to feel a little less in a funk and more like journaling and capturing. Thank God for my camera this summer.


Here's what's on the horizon:

~I've got a few giveaways coming up!

~Guest Post over at one of my favorites.

~Life in a stepfamily and coparenting has taken a positive turn that I officially say is successful that I need to write about a new life for Reagan.

~Lily's 2 year birthday party!

~Andrew's summer adventures and all his travel.

~4th of July trip to Scout Camp for family day!

~A few tales of the outlaws.

~Lots of playdates!


And just for good measure here's a cute picture:

Thanks for bearing with me!

Play that Funky Music

Hello??

*tap tap tap*

Is this thing on?

Remember me?

I've clearly been missing for some time.  Yes, we've been busy and it's been miserably hot this summer, but truth be told, I have been in a serious funk this summer.

The heat hasn't helped. At all.

Thanks to my mom friends and our playdates, I have managed to keep some of my funk at bay. {thank you, ladies~although I know you had no idea how much you were helping}

I've seen Andrew a total of four days this summer so far as I've mentioned he would be traveling to visit family and going to Scout camp.  I miss him.

George's work schedule changed from perfect to not-so-perfect and it's really gotten to me. It's been a lot harder of a change than I had expected. Like whoa. I miss him too.

Lily is nearly two~like 12 days left until she is. As much as I have loved spending these last weeks of one with her~largely one-on-one, it also makes me sad how quickly she's growing. Thank God she's truly hysterical with the things she says and keeps me laughing even when I'm in the funk that has been present this summer.

So, I'm working on getting myself pulled out of the funk and working on reconnecting. I have been taking a lot of pictures at least.

Hope you'll stick around.

A Little Recap

I've clearly not been blogging as regularly the last few weeks, but I'm working on getting it caught up as well as planning a second {OMG!} birthday party!

Andrew's been enjoying time with his dad and that side of his family since the day school got out. I'm ready for him to be home for a few days later this week before he heads out for Scout Camp and then to Arizona immediately following camp.

Reagan's on her second week with her mom on our summer schedule this week. We finished up our first week. That's been a slight change for all of us. Things are peaceful so we're adjusting to going from busy school time to all down time when she's here and the adjustment at her mom's is going from 2 full days to 7 full days.

Lily's been loving her time with just us, but does miss "bubba" and "sissy" too. She's been busy with her own friends though, hitting up the zoo and the North Shore water steps in the last two weeks. {some of the posts I'm working on}

Of course, there's been a lot of Lily asking for "Bub bub bubble guppies!" which has become her favorite new show. And when I say favorite, I actually mean obsessed. She tells us which episode she wants to watch and names all the characters each time it starts, dances to the theme song, squeals with laughter as it begins and chatters about the episodes and characters all day long. Did I mention obsessed?

Potty training is soon to hit full force in our house. She hides when she's pooping, she asks to get on the potty when we're in the bathroom and the other day wanted to wear her Minnie undies. So, we picked up the seat to fit on the regular seat and after our trip to pick up Andrew, we're on it!

We had an unbearably hot week last week and this week the weather is heavenly~ in the 70s and 80s with low humidity again! One night is even supposed to be 48!

We've been trying to make the most of our time just enjoying hanging out at home, going to the park, getting ice cream, playing outside and just enjoying summer.

 George has started playing with a band this summer which has been great too! Reag went with him to practice last week and was so excited! It's been a really good thing for him. He loves playing guitar and after the last too many few years of drama, he needed something just for him. The time committment is the right fit, he's happy with group of guys and it makes him happy. Which makes me happy.

Happy summer!

It's Friday, Friday....

You're welcome for getting that stuck in your head. ;)

~I'm super tired this morning.  Not sure why, really. I slept pretty soundly, but at 3:38am, I woke up because Lily was crying and the light was on upstairs. George has apparently forgotten the middle of the night rules of keeping the lights low and staying quiet to get the babe back to sleep.  She's still cutting her 4 canines all at once, so that's pretty much yuck.

I looked at the clock confused because I felt like I'd slept forever, but it was still the middle of the night. When I went upstairs, the hall light was on and the bathroom door was closed. Lily was still crying in her room, so I assumed George was in the bathroom. As I got to the top of the steps, Reagan came out of the bathroom heading back to bed. Then Andrew emerged from his room to use the bathroom. I looked in Lily's room and Daddy was changing her diaper. I simply turned around and headed downstairs back to bed because after all, SOMEONE needed to be sleeping.

Sometimes you just need to let the daddy handle it.

~Yesterday afternoon, instead of looking at my planner, I just thought about my afternoon schedule that I apparently thought I'd remembered.  About 1:30 p.m. I thought, "I'll put supper in the crockpot around 2 p.m. or so and then when G gets home, I can leave for my hair appointment."  At 1:53 p.m., I looked at my phone and a reminder on the screen: "Andrew dentist. 2:00 p.m."  WHOOPS!  I was supposed to pick Andrew up at school at 1:50 p.m. Clearly I was late.  Not only was I late, but Lily and I were still in our pajammies.  I changed out of my pajama pants, threw a sweatshirt on and we were out the door. Yep, she was still in her pjs.

Fortunately we live close to school and the dentist, so we were only 10 minutes late.

~Dealing with b.s. with Reagan's mother has become increasingly more frequent as of late. Yesterday was just one of those days. Sometimes it gets to me more than others. She clearly knows the button to push with me is calling me a liar or attacking my children.  I've bitten my tongue for a long time and yesterday the top blew. If you follow me on twitter you did get the brunt of the rant and I am sorry.  You don't always get the sunshine and positivity from me online because that's not my real life. I write authentically. My kids and my husband get the best of me. THAT'S my job--to give THEM 100%. So, if I rant on my blog or on twitter, that's because I need to get it out.  Thankfully my friends understand and know that about me. 

I have tried to call a couple times recently and talk to her when the issue becomes she and I.  She doesn't answer.  George deals with her about Reagan, not me.  When the issue becomes me, then I am certainly going to attempt to address her. Futile though. Truthfully, I have come to feel very sorry for her. She exhibits disturbing behavior that in a teenager would be considered a cry for help, but at 30 it's just sad.  
While the details of this specific tweet are not relevant, because it's too much to try to explain the stupidity behind it, it exemplifies what I deal with on a very minuscule scale:

On a sarcastic note... according to her, she and I have never actually met, so funny how she calls me by name after I wrote on twitter (that she claims to never read) that "Steph" is actually a familiar name and psychos don't get to use it.  Tested and once again I was right. As always.

Like I said, some days I lose my cool with her.  Yesterday happened to be one of them, unfortunately.

~It snowed last night. Not a ton. But enough. It was 9 degrees this morning. Our school district didn't have a delay, so off to school they went on time to catch the bus. They were both excited about the snow! Andrew has a field trip today to see the symphony, so he headed off in dress clothes and getting him to wear a coat these days is proving to be super difficult. Today, since he had an undershirt and a dress shirt on he thought that was enough. Did I mention it was NINE degrees?  Sheesh! Tweens are tough. Boundaries tested very differently than ever before. BUT, being able to reason is there now. Ebb and flow.

Andrew and Reag on their way to the bus stop.

We're looking forward to being able to get the Lilinator out in the snow this weekend to see what she thinks. :) 

Here's last year:  ohhhhhhh my baby!

It's Monday

Happy Monday! 

Really? 

Yes, although I'm exhausted just thinking about the week haha!

Things have been good just busy here, but everyone is hanging in.

~Andrew is running for student council at school which is exciting for him! I'm so proud of him because he said, "You know this is just a popularity contest, but I'm going to try it anyway."  I'm glad he wants to. He originally came home saying he was running for Secretary and then debated about VP. After talking with George and myself about it and asking whether we had been in student council when we were in school, he for certain decided on Secretary. I was also Secretary and so was George. :)  Andrew said he better keep the family line going. I thought this was really funny.   So, this weekend he worked on his speech and his poster. Yep, just one poster per kid.   I'll keep you posted about elections. ;)  I'm just proud of him for wanting to do it and following through no matter how it turns out.

~Lily has had this vocabulary explosion lately! We love it! She is such a funny little person!  In addition to her "noooooooooo" and "nope", she calls Yo Gabba Gabba, "go go", has started calling me "mum" --literally refusing to saying "mama". Stubborn as a stone.  I still have to catch up on her 15 and 16 month posts, so I'll finish about her language with those.  We are enjoying her so much! She loves dancing--even when there's no music. Her favorite thing to do still is read books. She makes us laugh so much. Honestly I probably say at least 4 to 5 times a week, "I wish we all woke up that happy everyday."  From the moment she wakes up, she is smiling, saying "hi", dancing, laughing, making cheesy faces and squealing. Lucky mama  mum.

~Christmas is way closer than I'd like it to be.  Lily was easy and done in like March. Andrew has one giant wish and it's the "only thing I really want, Mom" and Reagan well, she's the hardest.   I'm having difficulty this year getting things scheduled because of our custody schedule.  We only have weekday time with Reagan so it's made getting Christmas pictures taken, getting our Christmas tree, going to see Christmas lights and the rest of the traditons we started 5 years ago, very difficult this year.  Some things I'm afraid she's just going to end up missing out on. :(  We are excited this week she gets to participate in her very 1st Brownies activity outside of meetings! The girls are going caroling at a nursing home. She's really looking forward to it!  Andrew's Christmas band concert is coming up next week, so they've had rehearsals in the evenings lately. We're excited about the concert!  So, hopefully by the end of the week, we'll have our tree picked out, put up and decorated. Lofty goals amidst homework, Scouts, supper, showers and chores to cram into a 4 hour window each night. ;)   We'll figure it out.

~I'll be posting my giveaway later today, so be sure to check back in!

Laundry awaits...

Just a Little Brain Vomit

*heavy sigh*

I don't even know where to start really.  So, I'll just dive in and see what comes out.

~Life is pretty busy right now and only getting busier in the next few weeks.... BUT I am hosting my very first giveaway coming up next week that I'm VERY excited about!  So all you mamas and friends and friends who are mamas who are as into pictures of your kids and family as I am...stay tuned!  Look for it Monday because I can't wait to share!

~I started my physical health journey and I feel pretty good about it. I'm going to write more about this in a post by itself. For this non runner, I'm committed to this program I've begun despite the place I went to run's track having construction going on and the convenience store I stopped to get water getting robbed days later. ha! I don't take those as signs to quit, but rather to be flexible and have alternate plans.  If you haven't watched The Tillman Story on A&E, find time to do it. I have so much admiration for his family and of course as a fellow Arizona State Alum, the Pat Tillman Run is something I'm going to get behind.

As far as the mental health journey of that post, writing is such a good release that I will continue to do so with regard to dealing with Reagan's mother.  The once a week post may be LONG and sometimes simply a rant, but it is mine and necessary.  I simply shake my head at the crap that I hear randomly from Reagan about us.  The last minute thing today before leaving for the weekend was that her mom isn't going to let her help take care of their new baby like she totally takes care of Lily here.  Whatever, Crazycakes.  I'm Lily's primary caretaker and I like it that way.  There are a billion reasons why we do not let Reagan take care of Lily, so once again, you're wrong.

~The sickness continues.  George went to the doctor early last week after all the coughing and difficulty breathing and is FINALLY starting to feel better after what seems like an eternity. Reag still has her stuffy nose and cough. Lily has caught on to the runny nose (mostly teething clear runny-ness) and slight cough too. Andrew's hanging in like a champ staying healthy. My nose and head are starting to get stuffy after all these months. :(

~Lily has zero interest in being "contained" now that she finally decided walking is her preferred method of mobility. She is content to walk and just walk. She's started "running" a little bit too. It's become increasingly difficult to catch pictures of her because she's off and going before I can get her on camera.  Same holds true trying to hold her to get a picture. She wants down! 

This is evidenced below with my sweet nearly 85 year old grandmother and I trying to get a picture together with Lily.  She's saying "nooooooooooo" which is her new favorite word in situations like this.  And yes, it's that elongated and emotional too.  If she's just saying "no" short and sweet it's, "nope", but for something she really doesn't want to do..."Noooooooooooo"!

'Cause you see when she finally gets down...here's what you get ~ happy, cheesy grins. She's a pistol.

~Andrew had a great visit with his dad and family in Tennessee. I'm glad to have him home, of course and we definitely missed him over the long Thanksgiving weekend, I'm so happy he really enjoyed himself with his dad, stepmom and grandparents. Knowing it's only a month before he sees his dad again, made for an easy transition to come back home too. :)   Birthday post to follow soon since we're doing his family birthday party this weekend! He had a great birthday dinner in Tennessee on his 12th birthday:

Okie dokie I gotta get the Punky Pie fed.   Catch up more soon!