Napping

This little guy is really wearing me out lately!  Its currently nap time so I snuck in and snapped this pic.  I'm starting to fear that Kolton is getting spoiled by having me around all of the time.  He has started SCREAMING every time he wants something.  I read that through age 2 a child thinks that the world revolves around him.  I wonder if he didn't always have my undivided attention if he would still be so demanding?  Don't get me wrong, the kid can play by himself for a while so I'm not constantly at his beck and call.  This screaming thing is somewhat new and I hope he grows out of it quickly.  I miss my sweet little baby!

Pause

For quite some time now I've been feeling a little bit of a baby fever.  I think it's because my brother and I are 2 years apart and I feel that's proper spacing between siblings.  But now I've come to a point where I feel pretty comfortable pressing the pause button on life changes for a while.  I'm still struggling to find my groove in Richmond and I think I need to be comfortable to tackle the challenge of having 2 kids.  Not to mention that since Mike travels a lot now I'd be on my own with those 2 kids.  I was super spoiled with Kolton because since Mike wasn't working we were able to share duties a lot during both day and night.  The thought of having a 3 year old and a new born seems less daunting than if Kolton were only 2. We are also considering moving in the summer.  We are still going to rent but maybe get something a little better suited to our tastes.  There are way more 3 bedroom places out there than 4 bedroom; although having a separate space as a toy room is kind of a must for me too.

I'm not sure why I felt so pressured to hop back on the baby train.  Honestly my age has a lot to do with it.  I'll be 34 this summer.  I got pregnant so easily the first time its scary to think that might not be the case when we want to have another.  But I'm feeling more at ease now.  Waiting is definitely the right decision.  Plus, I think Mike and I need to take a proper adult vacation later this year.  I'm actually a little giddy thinking about it!

Je m'appelle Traci

In high school I cheated my way through two years of French thanks to my good friend Jen.  Our teacher inexplicably hated me.  But now that I look back on it her ex-husband, also a teacher at our school, used to hit on me in the weight room.  As a high school girl I guess I was a little oblivious =)

Anyway, I'm currently obsessed with reading Bringing Up BeBe by Pamela Duckerman.  Pamela is a native New Yorker who found herself living and raising her children in Paris.  The book provides insight into the differences between the French and American way of parenting.  She observed that French kids were overall more well behaved than American kids.  They sit patiently in restaurants, eat a wide variety of foods and meals in courses, acknowledge adults politely, and even have more respect for authority.  Of course kids will be kids but overall this seemed to be the case.  She also observed that French mothers seemed more at ease and put together compared to the disheveled American mother stereotype.  I love this book!   I can't get enough!  And honestly it just sounds like a lot of common sense.  I can't say that it'll become my parenting bible but I'm definitely going to give some of the strategies a go.

Hangnail

Wow!  I have really been off my game lately.  I don't even have a good picture of little man today.  I hate it when a bunch of little things go wrong.  It's nothing to be upset about I'm just not handling things very well. For example today I let Sophie out into the back yard just like every other morning.  When she didn't appear at the door to be let back in after a few minutes I panicked; the lawn people had been here a little earlier and once before they had forgotten to shut the gate.  I ran back through the house to grab a coat, I was still in my pj's, and flew out the front door.  Thankfully she was in my neighbor's yard.  She knew she'd done a bad thing too because she actually came running when I called her.  Then OMG panic really struck.  Our front door is locked only you can open it from the inside and it had shut behind me!!!!  Kolton was inside on the living room floor!!!!  I held my breath as I went around to the back.  Praise the Lord I did not lock the slider when I rushed back through the house.  This all seems like something that could be an honest mistake right?  Wrong!  I had just locked myself out of the house in almost the same manner last week but that time Kolton was with me.  I had to go to a neighbor to call the owner who called her realtor who had an extra key.  That just happened!  Now here's me losing my head and not thinking again.  It could have been disastrous.  If I had locked myself out with Kolton unattended inside I probably would have grabbed a rock to smash the window.  There was no way I could have waited 20 minutes for a locksmith.

But this is how things have been going lately.  A bunch of little, almost unnoticable misteps leading up to a big hot mess that is me right now!  It's definitely time to get my nails done.  I don't know why it matters but whenever I'm unraveling its usually time for a manicure.

My Little Valentine

For Valentine's Day I thought Kolton might want to take another crack at smashing frosting on a big cupcake.  I feel really bad but it was probably the least romantic V-Day ever.  I am still pretty sick...I don't know what gives!  And although I did make some crock pot chicken for dinner I didn't even shower or do my hair.  My sweetie surprised me with some perfume which, now that I think about it, may have been a hint =)

Those People

We went out to eat at the Olive Garden tonight.  When I lived in Baltimore I'd sometimes drag my friends out to the suburbs just to go there!  Hey, those delicious commercials really get to me.  But the scene was always the same...crying babies, wait staff breaking out in "Happy Birthday", and a menu with the Tour of Italy.  It just seemed slightly tragic to the oh so ever glamorous life in the city.  Mike and I have now become "Those People".  Those People who take their baby out to dinner at a chain restaurant and leave behind a big mess.  Aaaaaah!  But you know what?  I had a really good time =)

Mind Reader

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  After a busy weekend in Baltimore I was rewarded with a nasty cold.  Ugh!  I'm so sick of being sick.  This has been bad winter on the sickness front for me.   I didn't even watch the Super Bowl because the minute we got back I took a Nyquil Nap.  The hardest part about being sick now is that I can't call out of work.  But, I think Kolton can read my mind!  Monday morning I was fearing how I was going to get through the day with him feeling like hell.  My little darling napped from 9:15 AM to 12:30 PM and then again from 4-5:00.  I felt a lot better yesterday but by last night I couldn't wait to plop into bed.  I like to shower before going to bed but just couldn't do it last night.  I fell asleep wondering if there was any way I could wake up before Kolton to shower in the morning.  Kolton decided it was the perfect morning to sleep in until 8:45!!!!!!  I had plenty of time to shower, eat breakfast, and have a cup of coffee.  Of course I checked to make sure the little guy was still breathing!  On top of that he took a 3 hour nap as well so I could rest some more =)  How does he know exactly what I need???

Demolish

Kolton has just learned that if he crumples food in his hands it makes a big fantastic mess!  Too bad he missed the opportunity to demolish his birthday cupcake.  He's also been wanting to feed himself which leads to longer meal times (sometimes 40 min) and the need to do more laundry.  I noticed he tends to use his left hand during meal times but favors his right during play time.

I realized I haven't said much lately about how things are going in Richmond.  I've fallen in with a nice group of moms that meet weekly.  Sometimes it is a large group gathering and sometimes just a few of us.  These ladies are very nice and serve as true inspiration as the kind of mom I want to be.  And their homes are spotless!  Not that it matters..Have you noticed that in every picture I take my house is a complete disaster?!?!  I swear its clean sometimes =)  The hard part is, I wouldn't exactly classify these women as friends yet.  We don't call each other just to gab or do anything without the kids.  I know it takes time and I'm just thankful to have some company during the day!

And after 6 months I've decided that its time to set up the house.  I've been rearranging furniture and I have some grand plans to hang pictures as well.  We just don't know what we are going to do when our lease is up.  I can see us living in this house for another year OR finding a different rental that better suits our needs for less money OR purchasing a home.  So I'm feeling a little unsettled just being unsettled.  I'm a planner and I like to know things.

The awful truth is its still hard to find the good in Richmond.  We absolutely loved our lives in Baltimore and we're having a really hard time letting go.  We are actually going back again this weekend to celebrate Kristin & Alec's engagement AND Annmarie's 1st Birthday.  Can't Wait!!!

Pushing Buttons

I'm really missing our wall mounted TV right about now!  We even had all of the components wired into a closet.  Kolton loves to push buttons and has definitely learned that they do something.  Well how do I get across that he shouldn't push this particular button?  I say "no" and "don't touch" and he'll look back at me and smile.  So he knows he's getting a rise out of me already!  The problem is I laugh.  I can't help it =)  Last night I watched an episode of Super Nanny where they featured a family with 4 boys.  The mom couldn't deal with her sons' unruly behavior (and let me tell you it was awful!!!!) so she just laughed it off....uh oh, I'm in trouble!