We are all smiles over here

Not only did practice day 2 start great, it just keeps getting better. Every one in this house is all smiles right now. Love it!

This morning, Bennett started rustling around at about 6:30, which allowed me the pleasure of rolling over and waking up my snoring husband who clearly turned the alarm off instead of hitting snooze. I got up and got my day started by getting dressed for the gym and making the bed when Bennett decided to lay down and be quiet. So, I was actually able to spend some time to myself this morning, first thing. When I was ready, I came downstairs and Morgan was already up and dressed, had made her bed and was brushing her teeth! It was about 7:15 at this point, so we are right on track for practice day 2 target of being ready to leave by 7:45ish. Bennett was awake, so I got him up and dressed, and aside from COMPLETELY losing it because Daddy had to go to work (and make money, Morgan chimed in), he was fairly pleasant. I made him some eggs for Bennett and myself and it was the usual -- cereal -- for Morgan. She was so pleasant the whole time.

I had packed my gym bag the night before, so all I needed to do was grab the pre-packed "gym diaper bag" and throw a sippy cup in there, and grab Morgan's pre-packed soccer bag. We went to the gym, I dropped off the kids (Bennett actually just walked in the nursery without any crying. I was shocked!). I headed off to a cardio and core class. It was an interesting class. More on that later. I actually ended up bailing on the class at the half-way mark and hit the weight room and indoor track to finish my workout. Morgan decided to do kid fit, so she was in the gym and could see me running around the indoor track, so she was happy. When I was done with my workout, I showered, shaved and got dressed. I threw my hair in a pony-tail and then picked Morgan up from the gym. She was happy to see me and then happy to go get Bennett. We picked Bennett up and all walked, hand in hand, to the car to head over to soccer.

This was Morgan's last soccer practice of the summer. They haven't really been doing traditional games this whole time - just working on soccer skills. My new soccer mom friend and I were both saying that we hoped they would do a game today for their last soccer practice. Well, weren't we pleasantly surprised when the kids started playing a game! It was great! All the parents suddenly became sideline cheerleaders, cheering on the kids. The kids did GREAT; there was a lot of back and forth and then, right at the end, Morgan scored a goal and it was the WINNING GOAL for her team. Want to know what she said to me after soccer?

Mom, I'm so proud of myself!
I just didn't want to let the green team down!
I made my goal!
I'm so proud!
Can we call Daddy and tell him??

She was so excited! It was a great moment to experience.

Also, the whole time I was at soccer? I was making a new BFF! Get this! She took her five year old son to see Willy Wonka and then to do back to school clothes shopping this weekend!! And her husband? Took him to get school supplies. Hello?! Mirror lives! She's the one that also has the 13 month old son. And is a member at the tennis club where she took a kickboxing class with me on Saturday. And she wants us to enroll the kids in the same soccer league for fall. So we exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. And I already have two emails from her in my inbox. Yay! Yes. I feel like I'm thirteen. But, I'm sure you can understand, given the recent events in my friend life. Now, I'm just crossing my fingers that her husband and Lance get along. He's a software developer also, so it's almost a given. Seriously, we just have a lot in common with these people. I think that's cool! I do realize that I'm taking my coolness level way down with this admission, but that's okay. I was too cool to start with. ;)

After soccer, we had to make an emergency pit stop at home because Bennett decided to have a blowout. We got him changed, had lunch, and then went grocery shopping where the kids were....get this....good. I don't know what's happened to my kids. Maybe it's some sick joke the universe is playing on me because it's nearly the end of summer and this is how I would have liked EVERY day to go this summer. But you know what? I'll take it!

The went down for naps at 2 and Morgan was up at 3:30 (early for her), but agreed to go back to her room for more quiet time with books while I finished up paying/filing bills and similar tasks. She's up watching Backyardigans right now and Bennett is still napping. It's 5pm. I should probably wake him up soon. But I'm really enjoying the peace and quiet.

Less than blissful

I'm not feeling the domestic bliss today. It's really just a series of minor irritations, but I'm just not feeling it. I know, I know. You are saying to yourself, "But she's always so cheerful and upbeat and always LOVES being around those two kids of hers, how can this be?" *yeah right* But trust me, if given the option TODAY, I just might opt to go back to work, where I fondly recall having a lunch hour. Yes, an HOUR. Devoted entirely to ME and EATING. I also recall being able to have a discussion on the phone without someone nagging me to play with them or screaming at me that they want more water. Yeah, I know most of the people who I worked with were children in their own right; but at least I could look at them, tell them they needed to figure it out, and not worry about whether or not they would cry or hit each other. (most of the time).

Here are just a few of the reasons why I'm feeling less than blissful today.

1. After dinner last night, I still had not gotten any exercise in and so instead of cleaning the kitchen, I went for a run. I came home and Lance had cleaned up the kitchen EXCEPT the pots and pans that needed to be washed by hand. I was actually surprised to find that the food wasn't just sitting out, since I didn't put it away myself, so I was totally prepared to wash those dishes. Except that when I thanked him for cleaning up the kitchen, he told me that he hadn't washed the pots and pans, but he would. How nice of him! Except as of this morning, they were not washed. Not even soaked. And I cooked pan seared steaks last night - and the whole "pan-searing" can do quite a number on a pan. So, I got to get up and immediately start washing dishes this morning. Lucky me! Oh, and we'll just tack this one on to here as well. I'm not sure how he didn't notice when he was cleaning up the kitchen last night, but the dishwasher was totally full when I got up this morning. And totally dirty. It had not been run. I know, it's so unbelievable that someone could actually FILL a dishwasher to the BRIM and not run it, but it happened to me. I swear it! So, now I have to run it and wait for it to be done and dry before I can put any dirty dishes in there. Yeah, not happy about this.

2. I was informed last night that we were "running low on dog food". So, I put it on my shopping list and thought that was that. Except this morning? Barely half a bowl of food for the dog. Now, I guess I should have some sort of "sense" for when we are running low, but honestly this is not MY thing. This is Lance's thing. So, the shopping trip got bumped up in priority since the poor dog can't starve. And who knows how much Bennett is going to feed her.

3. In another Best-Mother-Award moment, I called this morning to see about taking Morgan back in for her TB test. You see, I totally FORGOT to go back in the 2-3 days after the first test to have the test read. Yeah, I know. I suck. I had called when I realized, but it was too late to be read and they told me to call back another day to see about doing a drop-in for her TB test. So, I thought this morning would be perfect since it's right on the way to Morgan's soccer practice. So I call to see about the drop-in appointment and they tell me that she can't have the test performed again until SIX WEEKS after her previous vaccinations. What??? I'm totally thrown off by this, so I ask to speak to a nurse and they have to take a message. When she does get around to returning my call, she has to explain to me (several times, slowly so that I understand, and probably answering too many of my questions) why she can't have the TB test done now. The upside is that they had already prepared the paperwork and so it looks like she has complied with all the necessary vaccinations for kindergarten. Plus, they don't view her as a "high risk" person for TB. While I thank them for trying to work with me here and realize that I am ultimately to blame for this entire situation, I'm also a person who typically plays by the rules, so this really bothers me. I ask for the date that I can bring her back in and am told by the nurse that it's 4 weeks after her previous vaccination, so Aug 16. So, I can still have this done before she starts school, which is good. But this is all just another minor irritation to my not-so-blissful morning.

4. So, now with no TB test to go have done before soccer practice, I decide to go ahead and do my daily chores (laundry, cleaning out the diaper bag, my purse and wallet, cleaning the toaster, cleaning the bathroom mirrors and the computer screens). I actually break one of the mirror panels in our downstairs bathroom and can only think of seven years bad luck as I'm finishing the rest of my chores. As I'm doing this, Morgan pulls out Bennett's Mega Blocks and starts playing with them and then getting mad when he wants to play with them. I remind her that they *are* his, but that's neither here nor there to her. So, I go get *her* wooden blocks from the playroom for him to play with. I bet you can see where this is going. Now she wants NOTHING to do with his blocks and he only wants to throw her blocks at the wall, at her, at the TV, whatever. So, FIVE TIMEOUTS IN A ROW later, I'm counting down the minutes to leaving for soccer practice.

5. The phone rings and it's the people in charge of soccer and they're having to cancel soccer practice today because the coach is having car trouble. They will make up the session by adding another day to the end of the "season". Except that that is during school. She tells me that she's been hearing that a lot from the calls she's making this morning, so they might have to refund some of our money. Okay, whatever. And now we are here at home with no plans of leaving whatsoever.

6. Next up? Shopping. I decide that since I have the extra time and now have to go to the grocery store today, I will look at next week's ads to see if I should hold off on buying anything I was planning on buying until they are on sale. So, essentially all the planning I did on Sunday had to be redone. And as I'm doing this, I get a text message from the other co-director of the Moms club. She wants me to call her. Only a few people have RSVP'd that they will be at the board meeting. So, I call and unload on her all the issues I'm having right now with lack of participation of *different* people doing stuff for the club. I'm almost to the point where I just don't care anymore because I honestly cannot keep asking the SAME people to do the stuff that needs to be done. And I certainly don't want to have to do everything myself. As I'm on the phone with her, I walk outside into our courtyard for some privacy so I can speak freely. Except Morgan, with her ever so keen "Mom is on the phone" senses, follows me out there and stands, with the door cracked ever so slightly, trying to listen to what I'm saying. I'm doing all the hand motions for "GET YOUR ASS BACK INSIDE", but she acts like she doesn't know what I'm saying. I finally have to interrupt the person I'm talking to to ask her to get back inside. I told her that I came outside so I could talk on the phone in privacy. Want to know what she asks me? "Can I just play with the sand table?" The one that's outside? In the courtyard? Two feet from where I'm standing? Are you freaking serious??

7. Am I on number seven? I can't even keep count! We'll make that minor annoyance number seven.

8. So after getting off the phone, I finish up the grocery list and once the kids have been sufficiently "snacked", we head off to the store. The shopping trip itself is only your typical level of irritation - with Morgan jumping around from square to square at the store (note to self: see if we can't find a different store WITHOUT varying colored squares) and with Bennett yelling MAMA at the top of his lungs. I get to the dog food aisle and there's NO WAY I can get that size bag INTO the cart. You know why it needs to go INSIDE the cart?? Because there is no bottom rack on this cart. (I'm using the term cart since I am apparently the only person on the face of the planet that uses the word buggy for a shopping cart. I want you guys to understand me) SO GLAD I DECIDED I HAD TO SHOP TODAY FOR DOG FOOD!! But whatever. There was plenty of other things we needed, so it wasn't totally wasted.

9. They are running a promotion where for every $25 you spend, you get something for free. I spent $75, so I got some free bread, lunch meat and CINNAMON ROLLS. Like freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Cream cheese or vanilla, the cashier wants to know. Cream cheese, of course. This is irritation number nine. I don't NEED those freaking cinnamon rolls staring me down. But how can I turn them down?? They were FREE! I know you aren't going to believe me, but they actually called my name in the car on the way home. I know I heard it.

10. Staying strong, I have my EVERY DAY lunch of light bread, with fat free mayo, and 2% cheese and 98% fat free lunch meat (with pickles!), a side of baby carrots and 1 oz of Ruffles Light chips. And the kids got to eat a cinnamon roll after their lunch. Only they didn't finish it. So there was about 1/4 of a cinnamon roll left on Morgan's plate. And then, it practically DARED me to eat it. I don't know about you, but I'm always up for a dare. So, I ate it. And you know what?? It sucked!! It was dry and not at all delicious. It soooo wasn't worth putting those calories in my body.

11. Even though I got all my chores done this morning, know what I had to spend the first part of nap time doing? Unloading the freaking dishwasher, so I could put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Yeah, not happy about this.

And they day isn't even half over. What other blissful things await me today?? I can hardly wait to find out!

One therapy session for the desperate soccer mom, stat!

I guess I'm officially a "soccer mom", whatever that means. Morgan called me a soccer mom before, but only I was the one playing. Now my eldest has entered the sport and so, in all literal terms, I am now officially ONE OF THEM. :)

In all seriousness, Morgan started soccer today and can I just say that she was totally in her element? She LOVED every moment of it, and did fairly well for never having played before. I'm so glad I was there to watch her. She told me after it was over how much fun she had. Even despite the fact that it was already closing in on 100 degrees and it wasn't even noon yet.

The rest of my day was spent in the car. Ran back home for lunch before camp started. Ran Morgan back over to camp and then back home for Bennett's quick nap. Bennett's 15 month checkup (more on this in a moment) and then back to pick Morgan up from camp. Run to Target for a last minute thing and then back home until Lance got home from work. Then we headed out to dinner. I honestly felt like I spent the majority of my day in the car. And did I mention that it was at least 110 here today? Yeah....my AC doesn't crank hard enough to cool me off in the car. It's supposed to be just as hot tomorrow, too. Good times.


So, Bennett's 15 month checkup was interesting. The main topic of conversation? His tantrums and the fact that he's the most stubborn person I know. Before I left, the pediatrician actually offered to refer me to a psychologist. Now, I'm not sure if I came off as a desperate mom, or if he was just being compassionate to my situation, but nevertheless, he actually offered me THERAPY in the context of dealing with my son. He told me that it's going to be hard for another 3- 5 months or so and then again for his entire terrible twos, again after he enters Kindergarten, then first grade, eighth grade and again in eleventh grade. He says it's very predictable. I'm not sure if he's suggesting that I start stock piling money for the upcoming therapy sessions, or if he's just giving me a panoramic view of my future. He actually told me that he can tell that he's going to be a tough one - he can see it in his eyes. Wanna know what he told me he could see in Morgan's eyes when she was around Bennett's age? The fact that she would be very talkative. Yeah, so he's basically the horse whisperer of children. I listen to him!

Regardless, the fact of the matter is that HE AGREES WITH ME. My child is, in fact, the most stubborn child on the face of the planet. He didn't say it in those terms, but I know he meant it. He might also agree with me that he gets it from his father. We didn't go that far.