Back to reality

Last weekend, daddyG and i had a lovely little break from Monkey. My mom took him from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. It was definitely a much needed and well deserved break from the little monster. Last week was a horror show, as you all remember from the previous post. Being childless for the weekend was so refreshing. DaddyG and I accomplished several house hold chores, planted some new shrubs and flowers, ate out almost every single meal, woke up when we wanted (which happened to be 6am, even without being awakened by a child), and various other tasks. It was productive, but not too relaxing. Oh yeah and I was able to squeeze in some retail therapy in the busy weekend. DaddyG wasn't too happy, but he got over it.

So Monkey has returned and is as cranky as ever. I thinks he gets use to being ridiculously spoiled at my mother's and then can't handle the fact that we're not playing with him every second of the day. My mom basically turns him in to a monster. And then it takes me a solid 2 days once he's home to turn him around and get back in to a normal routine. I almost completely flipped out on him yesterday, but I managed to hold it together. Thankfully I have my trusty ole' neighbor/best friend, Stacey, to keep my sane.

Oh and my newest adventure, staining the deck. DaddyG and I took on this task Sunday morning. It sucked asshole. Apparently using a sprayer is much easier, but being the poor, one income family that we are, we slabbed the freakin' stain on with brushes. It took a solid 4 hours and we didn't even finish it. We ran out of stain. DaddyG is still pickin' away at it. He finished the floor part last night and guess what happened? It poured. Uh oh. It appears to have survived the rain, but we'll see.

One more rant. I bought Aidan his first pair of REAL sneakers today. I'm almost too embarassed to say how much i spent. Kids shoes are fucking ridiculously over-priced.
$47.Can you believe it. I barely paid that for my sneakers. Oh and not to mention that he will be growing out them by Septmeber. Don't get me wrong, they're super nice sneakers, but come on, that's a little out of control.

P.S. My current read - My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Great book.

IS IT FRIDAY YET??????

I am officially declaring this day, THE DAY FROM HELL. O.k., that's not really fair. I guess it would be more accurate to say, THE MORNING, from 10:00-12:00, FROM HELL. Monkey and I decided to take a trip to Portland to visist daddyG at work and go for a stroll around Back Bay with a couple of my friends and their little ones. It sounds like a nice morning out, but trust me it was nothing of the sort. The visit to daddyG's office went well. We got to meet the new co-workers and check out his space. It was nice. Great location. It made me miss working in Portland.
Anywhoo...the real fun begins when Monkey and I arrive at the Bay. From the minute I take the stroller out of the car, he FREAKS. Now I'm not talking just a couple squaks here and there. I mean all out SCREAMING!! He was pissed. Apparently he wasn't in the mood for a stroll around the bay. I'm not quite sure what he wanted, but I'm positive that everyone in a 5 mile radius from us knew he didn't want to be in the stroller. He was absolutley losing his mind. He didn't want a snack, didn't want a drink, threw his pacifier on the dirt trail about 5 times. It was a horror show. Meanwhile my two friends kiddos are sitting in their strollers, quiet as can be, just watching my wild child put on a show. So, i decide it's time to leave and wrestle my beast in to his car seat. Most of you would assume that he fell right to sleep on the drive. NOPE!!! He screamed the whole ride. Blood-curdling, snot flying, dry heaving, screaming. It SUCKED!!!

All is well now. We are home. Monkey is fed and sleeping. phew. I wasn't sure I was going to survive this morning. But once again, mamagoods has pulled through. All I can do is hope for a better afternoon. And start chilling my bottle of Pinot Grigio for tonight.

P.S. I finished The Da Vinci Code. Great read. I kinda guessed a few of the twists, but was still impressed with the ending.

Tantrum Central...

...that's where we live now. You all thought we lived in this lovely little town in Maine. Nope, we don't. Our home is now, Tantrum Central. On Saturday Monkey turned into a tantrum throwing, i want what i want, cranky ass toddler. It was NOT a pretty sight. Mama and Daddygoods just about lost their minds. It was the first time that I actually saw daddygoods really get frustrated with Monkey. Usually it's only me that feels like i'm going to lose my mind and need to commit myself. But this weekend, i think Monkey succeeded in pushing daddy to the main entrance of the psych ward. O.k., i'm being a little over dramatic, but you get the point. It was one of those days that you realize how difficult parenting can be. Not that it's not difficult everyday, but sometimes you have those days, that's makes you wonder what the heck you were thinking when you decided to have children. And then of course, an hour later your child does something absoultely amazing and melts your heart, and then you feel soooo guilty for being so angry with him. Basically parenting is a rollercoaster of emotions. One minute your child makes you so happy you just want to eat his little face, and then the next minute you are so angry with him, you could spit nails. Oh and not to mention being a parent brings along permanent guilt. Doesn't it sounds like a blast. Actually it is. As difficult as it can be, I wouldn't change my life for anything. Monkey has brought me so much joy, that somedays i feel like i'm going to burst from the seams with love. It's an incredible feeling. I hope you all get to experience it someday.

So that's my tantrum, parenting rant for the day. Now to something that has nothing to do with children or parenting. My current reading choice. The Da Vinci Code. It's freakin' amazing. I love this book. I'm just finally getting around to reading it, because i never imagined that it would be something that would interest me. A friend insisted that I would enjoy it, so i decided to give it a whirl. WOW! I'm glad I did. I love it. It makes me want to start my own researching expedition to uncover hiden documents about the Church. Is anyone in?? Oh and I haven't finished the book yet, so please, no comments about the ending. Although I'll probaby have finished reading it, by the time this post is published. I can't put the damn book down. Every time Monkey walks into the next room, i pick the book up and read a page. Has anyone read any other Dan Brown books? How are they?

Brocolli anyone????

So....my crazy child LOVES brocolli. Last night I made a gourmet meal of Chicken tenders, french fries and brocolli. Interesting combination I know. But when you have kids, you need to include a veggie at every meal. Anyway....the point is, Monkey preferred the brocolli to the chicken or fries. He kept reaching out for the bowl, asking for more. He could have cared less about the scrumptious nuggets. I must say i am quite proud of this food preference. I take complete credit for my child being such a healthy eater. I've made it my mission to feed him every fruit and vegetable I can get my hands on. Friends and family are always on our case about what we feed Monkey. My mother is horrified that i feed him avocado and tofu dogs. You'd think people would appreciate the fact that we want our child to be healthy and have healthy eating habits. But apparently some see us as prudes (hello, i offerred him baked chicken nuggets and fries.) You should have seen the reaction of everyone at Monkeys birthday party when he showed no interest in his cake and ice cream. It took him a good 20 minutes to really dig in and start eating. Everyone there was so shocked that he had never had sweets before and was showing very little interest in eating them now. whatever. Excuse me if i don't want my child to be a morbidly obese diabetic If he's just as happy eating a bowl of peas, then that's what he's getting. I know the day is probably coming when he will revolt against all that is healthy and refuse to eat anything but cheesy poofs and slim jims. But hey, i've got a good thing going right now, and i'm going to enjoy it for as long as I can.

YAH!!! It's friday. Daddygoods is home!!! A break for mamagoods. phew.

P.S. Naps still blow. Today was a one napper day. About an hour and 20 minutes. Incase you were wondering, that's not long enough for a cranky 17 month old toddler and a tired worn out mama.

Napping is NOT optional.

O.k., so apparently Monkey is in the process of transitioning from two naps a day, to one. This may sound like no big deal, to the childless person, but let me tell you, IT SUCKS!!!!!!! One day he's tired and grouchy in the morning and naps without any complaint and then also naps for a short period of time in the afternoon. Well, then theres the next day, that he refuses to sleep in the morning, but wants to nap before lunch and will only sleep for an hour. And then refuses to nap again later in the day. And when this happens, he's grouchy all afternoon and through dinner. And don't even get me started on what happens with the nap schedule if we actually leave the house. It's hell for all invovled.

Bottom line is that my child needs to nap. He's 17 months old, grouchy and overtired. There's just NO other option, but to nap. Little does he know, I MAKE THE RULES. He can fight 'em all he wants, but i will win. Mommy always wins. I wish. If that's the case, then why am i the one losing my mind because he cried for an hour and i decide to just get him up, instead of prolonging the screaming match in hopes that it will end with a nap. AHHH!!!!!! This week has been an all out napping war. Everyday Monkey has chosen a different schedule for himself and in the process has completely screwed up any schedule I may have planned.

Can you tell this has been a long week. I'm so ready for daddygoods to be home this weekend. Oh and speaking of daddygoods, he and Monkey mowed the lawn together last night. It was the absolute cutest sight I've ever seen. Monkey was riding in the backpack while daddyG pushed the lawn mower like a work horse. Before we knew it, Monkey was out cold. Apparently the mower lulled him to sleep. It was adorable. I'll put a picture up as soon as I can figure out how.
to do it.

Today Monkey and I are heading to Freeport to do a little shopping. That is, when he wakes up from his morning nap. AHHH!!!!!

My Virgin Post

Well, I finally did it. I've enetered the blogging world. After debating the issue with myself for weeks, i just broke down and created the damn thing. So now it all begins. I officially have a place to vent/share all my SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) joys and frustrations. I've had the title of SAHM for 17 months now. Although it's gone by fast, i feel as though i've aged at least 10 years. Looking back at pictures before motherhood took over, i seemed so youthful and vibrant. Now i'm a little duller and worn out, but I have a joy inside me that i wouldn't change for anything. My son (we'll call him, Monkey) is the absolute most wonderful, yet difficult, yet amazing, yet STRESSFUl, yet incrdible thing that has ever happened to me. How cliche' does that sound. Well, once you're a mom you actually become quite cliche. It's weird how that happens.

Anywho....this blog will chronicle the life of this very blunt, straight-forwward SAHM. I tell it like it is and seldom hold much back. Why lie about the challenges of motherhood and parenting? I want full credit for all the hard work I put in everyday. And I'm not ashamed to admit how difficult it can be at times. Oh yeah and that i make mistakes. Can you believe it.

Stay tuned for the daily updates of my crazy life with a toddler.

P.S. I'm a terrible writer. I have horrible grammer. And I can barely spell. So bare with me.