No Elves on These Shelves

Posted on December 6, 2012 by measamommy

I love Christmas in a major major fashion. This year, Mason gets it and is probably only slightly less pumped than I am. He’s asked almost everyday since November 1st if it’s Christmas yet (because at some point someone told him it was after Halloween), and just about everyone he knows has heard his Christmas list. Last year, my aunt gave us an Elf on the Shelf book and elf and I was SO EXCITED to start the tradition this year. On November 30th, I brought our elf out, stuck him in the Christmas tree, and read the book to Mason and Audrey before bed. They were totally into it. We named our elf Joe and talked about how exciting it would be to find him in the morning. The week before, I had spent an embarrassing amount of time planning out each day of the elf’s travels. I was ready. This was going to be the best tradition ever and our elf would not be a boring dude.

I got the kids ready for bed, and we laid down together. We laid there quietly for about 5 minutes before Mason rolled over and asked “Mommy? How many days until Christmas is over?” I told him 26 and he requested “When we get up tomorrow morning can we put away all the Christmas things and be finished? I don’t like Christmas anymore.” My heart leapt into my my throat, and took  a pretty permanent residence there for the next 30 minutes as I tried to coax answers out of my son to find out what had changed.

In that time, Mason told me many things – including “tell Santa I don’t need a four wheeler anymore” at which point I knew this was serious. What on Earth had I done to make him hate Christmas so much?? Finally it came out. I was reminded that my little boy is still that – a LITTLE boy. “Mommy, I don’t like Joe. I’m scared of his elf talkin’ magic and he makes me scared of Christmas.” I tried not to laugh (or cry) as he continued telling me that he just doesn’t like the idea of Joe flying to Santa each night, and he especially doesn’t like Joe’s red cheeks.

We eventually resolved things with me promising that I would tell Joe to stay at Santa’s workshop and help make toys instead of checking in on Mason and Audrey. After the kids fell asleep, I grabbed Joe out of our tree, packed him up with the Christmas stuff and decided to never bring him up again. And yet… Joe keeps being brought up in conversation. Mason tells anyone that has an elf on the shelf in their home that “our elf flew away because I don’t like him.” He also explained the scary “elf talkin’ magic” and red cheeks to Daddy the next morning.

So much for that tradition. Maybe next year Joe will return and be the awesomely fun elf I had hoped for – but this year, you won’t be finding an elf on any shelves in this house!!

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The Man Named Mason

Posted on December 5, 2012 by measamommy

Dudes. I know. He’s amazingly cute. But this guy? Is also the funniest guy I’ve ever met. The shot above, was taken during one of his newest favorite things to do… which would be photo shoots. He likes to be on both sides of the camera. First, he’ll request that we take pictures of him, and he’ll give us a series of different faces. Kinda like these:

Silly Doctor

Angry

Sad

Surprised

Thoughtful

Fighting

Silly

Happy

Just for the record, most of those captions are his exact words on the pose he’s giving us… though he does say “thinking” instead of thoughtful. And once he has his fill of being in front of the camera, he asks if he can start taking pictures. He often gives us poses that we need to correctly imitate or he turns into a very angry photographer. He’s also a big fan of still life photography which is a good thing because there are only so many times A and I can make angry/zombie/surprised/really really happy faces before we get tired of standing in one spot with a flash going off half a foot away from our faces. I usually end up with quite the assortment of pictures on my camera, here’s a selection from my last download:

 

 

 

 

Yes, I’m aware my 3.5 year old son is a better photographer than some grown adults. Yes, you may hire him for your next event… though I can’t make any promises on candid shots.

He’s also saying some pretty amazing things. Just today, he pointed out to me that “we need to do something about [the fireplace grate]. because Santa is going to hurt his butt.” We also had a nice long conversation about The Elf on the Shelf, but I’ll save that one for some other post. In the meantime, you can focus on the fact that he informed me that “taking a no thank you bite of one part of dinner should be enough. Even if you don’t like that part it’s the mom and dad’s job to make some new dinner for the kids.” Clearly, my attempt at getting him to try some new things needs yet another new approach.

Because I want to share Mason’s awesome with all of you, I’ve decided to open up the floor to your questions. Mason and I will hold an interview session sometime next week while Audrey naps. I’ll ask him all your questions and we will record the questions and answers. Have a question you just need his opinion on? In addition to being a great photographer, he’s also a fantastic life coach. So email me (measamommy at gmail dot com) any questions you may have for my little man and we’ll provide the answers soon. I can promise you they will be good.

 

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Traveling for the Holidays

Posted on November 30, 2012 by measamommy

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As you know if you’re a regular reader on Me as a Mommy (which isn’t hard lately since I so rarely blog!), we aren’t from around here. In fact, all of our family is about a 10 hour drive away. Because of the kids we try to fly instead of drive, but quite a few times now, we’ve taken the plunge and done a road trip instead. The other day, my friend Katie went on a 2 hour road trip with her 3 year old, and based on her texts and instagram posts, I’m pretty sure the event almost killed her. She texted me the entire trip asking HOW ON EARTH we do 10 hours with 2 kids. When Kia Motors mentioned they were looking for people to write about tips for traveling with kids during the holidays just a few days later I figured it could be Katie isn’t the only one that would be interested in hearing our attack plan. So, here ya go!!

I owe the credit for most of these ideas to my mom. My brother and I loved going on car trips because it always meant the “car box” would come back out. What’s a car box? It’s a regular old plastic container you can get at Target or Wal Mart. But it’s EXCITING! Because inside that box were toys and games and other stuff that we couldn’t play with unless we were on a long car trip. Sometimes the toys and games would be new and we’d get to keep them, sometimes we’d have to load them back into the car box to be saved for the next trip (I’m not too sure how this was decided), all I know is that my brother and I were ALWAYS excited.

When making the car box for my kids I grabbed some of their favorite toys from home and also headed out to the dollar store for some new stuff. I got all quiet toys so they wouldn’t drive A and I completely insane. One of the most exciting things – at least in the kids’ opinions – is that I bought 2 cheap clipboards and wrote their names on them with a couple decorations. These clipboards are their favorite (and are one of the things that stay in the car box), and it’s nice because I can just toss a pack of crayons or markers and some blank paper in. Adding a clipboard makes the blank paper SO MUCH MORE EXCITING, and they will sit quietly and color for 30 minutes or more (which is an eternity for a 3 year old and 1 year old). I also usually put something themed with why we’re driving – if we’re headed to the beach, I’ll put a couple new sand toys in that they can look at and explore while we are driving. This trip, when we drive up for the holidays there will probably be some Christmasy stuff – maybe some Christmas themed coloring sheets or a cheapo wooden frame (with their picture already in it) that can be decorated and given as a Christmas present to one of the grandparents.

We also have a headrest DVD player and try to switch between both movies and the car box so that nothing gets boring. As for movies – I usually just take a few that we have at home, sometimes I’ll pick up a new “special” movie to put inside the car box… that’s usually a premium pick from the $5 bin but the kids don’t care about price tags, they just like to have something new that they’ve never seen before.

My last “strategy” is that we plan out our leave time as carefully as possible. We try our best to leave mid-morning, or late afternoon. We do this so that we maximize the time in the car that will be spent with sleeping kids. If we leave mid-morning we drive for a few hours, stop for lunch, drive through naps, drive with awake kids for a couple hours, eat dinner, drive for a couple hours, and then the kids fall asleep for the night for the remainder of the drive (if we aren’t there yet). Leaving in the afternoon usually makes for a two-day trip for us, but it also works out pretty nicely and adds an extra element of excitement for the kids. When we take this route, we usually drive for a couple hours, stop for dinner, and then drive until A and I are ready to call it a night. Usually the kids are already asleep, and if A and I had the energy we could drive the entire trip… but usually we get tired too and end up pulling over and grabbing a hotel for the night. When the kids wake up the next morning we grab some breakfast, play around in the hotel some and usually get on the road again around 10ish… putting us on our morning schedule!

Traveling with kids may not be ideal, but we make it work and have fun while we’re at it. So far we’ve made most of our trips without too much whining, and when worst comes to worst, it’s always good to have a bag of lolipops hidden in the glove box for an extra little bribe ;)

Do you travel with your kids? What tips and tricks do you have for long road trips?

 

I wrote this post while participating in a sponsored program from Kia Motors. The opinions, content, and topic are all my own.
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19 Weeks!

Posted on November 29, 2012 by measamommy

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18 Weeks!

Posted on November 21, 2012 by measamommy

Ok so it’s been a little longer than a week since my last “weekly” update. Ooops. So, here’s a list of excuses updates on what we’ve been up to.

Mason: He’s hilarious. If you’re friends with me on my personal facebook account, you probably already know this. Most days, I’m able to post a ridiculously funny or ridiculously amazing quote from him. He makes A and I crack up almost every single day with the stuff he says. Yesterday, we were in a store and he asked if we would buy him something. A told him that we didn’t have any money with us and couldn’t buy the giant inflatable snowman in a recliner that Mason wanted. Later that night, we went to a state park to see their Christmas light display. It costs $12 to get in and just after A handed over the cash, we heard from the backseat a “Daddy you lied to me!!” Bot of us were confused… lied? And then it finally dawned on us. A had said he had no money… but he DID have money, and Mason not only remembered, he had the guts to call his Dad out on it. Hilarious? Yes. Embarrassing? Oh yes. Hard to explain? You can’t even imagine.

Audrey: She has grown up the past few weeks. She went from being a baby to being a kid sometime while I wasn’t watching. She is intuitive and smart, and she is going to be an amazing big sister. She has 3 baby dolls, 2 of which she takes amazing care of – kisses, hugs, food, and lots of TLC. The 3rd just sits in the baby cradle chilling out. Audrey listens to everything we say and understands almost all of it. She hears Mason say he’s thirsty, and she runs off to grab a sippy cup (when it has juice in it it’s a huge bonus). She cooperates for diaper changes and tells us when she needs one and would probably be a piece of cake to potty train if we put some effort into it… except I’m just not motivated enough to do so just yet.

The baby: I finally got my prenatal blood-work done (yeah, the stuff that’s usually done around 8-10 weeks), and our anatomy scan is set for December 5th. Before you ask, we aren’t finding out the gender this time. There were all these cute ideas I pinned on Pinterest before this baby was even conceived, and I’ve been trying to do a few of them (ya know, like the weekly pictures with fruit!). One of them was this super adorable gender reveal… but since I won’t be pregnant when we do find out, I figured I’d take this one instead:

Me: I’ve been working a lot. ABC was good for business and I picked up a few more social media clients. My blog is taking a hit because most nights if I have spare time the last thing I want to do is get onto the computer and spend more time on the Internet. Sorry y’all.

A: He’s been switched to rotating shifts, which is good and bad. Right now he’s on 2nd shift, so he starts work at 2… which is pretty nice since it means I sometimes get to sleep in, and it also means he’s home for 2 meals with us instead of just one. I’m not looking forward to his next rotation though since it’ll mean he’s overnight and will be asleep during the day – which means I need to keep the kids either out of the house or in the house and quiet, both of which can present a challenge.

That’s about it for us! See you next month… or hopefully sooner!!

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She’s not stupid

Posted on November 12, 2012 by measamommy

Liberty gets a lot of abuse from the kids. She’s not stupid though, she knows better than to bite the hands that feed her. She gets more handouts from the kids than any dog needs… she knows where to hang out during dinner or snack time!! But Liberty also knows a lot more. When the kids cry, Liberty is there. In the mornings when Audrey wakes up, Liberty waits (impatiently) at her door waiting for me to open it so we can both go greet Audrey. If I happen to be moving slowly that morning, Liberty will run laps between me and Audrey’s door, and will even start nipping at the backs of my legs if I still don’t move quickly enough.

The love Liberty shows the kids is unparalleled. Even I can’t cheer them up as quickly as she can. The worst skinned knee or hurt feelings (because I’m the meanest mom ever and won’t let them live on popsicles and candy alone) are all cured by a visit from Liberty. When our dog sees someone that’s upset, she knows just what to do. Some snuggles, a little bit of “OMG I’M SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU MY BUTT IS GOING TO SHAKE RIGHT OFF” and a lick or two is a sure-fire way to get the kids from tears to laughter.

Cesar Dog Food is running a Share the Love Campaign to highlight some of the great therapy dogs out there. Obviously Liberty isn’t a “professional” like some of these therapy dogs, but she could hold her own I think! If you have (or know) a therapy dog, Cesar wants to hear about them!! Check out their facebook page and share your story – in return, they’ll share some love with Therapy Dog Organizations by making a donation – everyone wins!!

Do you have a pet? Would they make a good therapy pet?

 

I wrote this review while participating in an ambassador program by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Cesar and received product samples and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
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Oh yeah, I blog!

Posted on October 30, 2012 by measamommy

First things first…

Now that that’s out of the way… wondering where the heck I’ve been? Well, first I went to the ABC Kids show with my very favorite cloth diaper company. It was super hectic but fun. I got the chance to meet Holly from Wee Urban, and Van and Jenny from Lil’ Tulips (all clients of mine) which was amazing; and also got to catch up with Jess and Justin from Diaper Daisy (more clients); and make some awesomely fun new friends.

I got back from ABC VERRRRRRRY late on a Wednesday night and Friday morning the entire family headed to the airport. We went to Baltimore for my cousin’s wedding which both Mason and I were in. I stole the following photos from my Mom’s good friend (and amazing Baltimore Photographer), Beth Franks.

Having both of us in a wedding was insanely stressful and something I won’t be doing again until my brother gets married. So take note un-married friends and family: if you want us both? PICK ONE… preferably Mason because he’s WAY cuter.

When we got back from the wedding I was totally exhausted (funny thing about going non-stop for 10 days), and took a few days to recover before realizing ZOMG HALLOWEEN IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER AND WE HAVE NO COSTUMES!

So now I’m finally all caught up on life and work and as rested as I can be while pregnant and with two toddlers in the house and I’m finally realizing my blog has been long neglected and it might be time for some attention. I’m not going to promise lots of posts because let’s be realistic… it’s not going to happen. But I WILL promise to do my best to get back to posting weekly updates :)

As far as pregnancy goes – I usually feel OK for the most part, but I’m always one small smell, sound, or false move away from losing the last meal I ate. I’m still exhausted all the time, but I’m no longer sure if that’s pregnancy + 2 toddlers or just pregnancy. Lately, I can make it through the day without napping, and can even get on the floor and play with the kids. The past few months have been spent laying on the couch watching the kids destroy the house and praying that they listen when I beg them to clean up after themselves. You should see our house… it’s really pretty. Being an active participant in the destruction (still no energy to actually clean) is much more fun than just being a lazy bystander. Speaking of active… this little one has started to move around pretty frequently. Pretty much anytime I slow down and lay down I can feel movement almost always. Nobody else has felt anything, but I’m getting close to the point where I think A needs to try because the movements are getting stronger by the day.

 

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Liberty Loves Cesar

Posted on October 8, 2012 by measamommy

Awhile ago I posted about how we had introduced Liberty to Cesar Dog food. Liberty absolutely loves it. Which we absolutely love.

Liberty is an interesting dog. We are horrible pet owners. We took Liberty to doggy training a couple times then quit going because we didn’t like one of the other dogs… or something just as trivial as that. Maybe we missed a single class and were too embarrassed to go back? I don’t remember… all I know is that we didn’t make it to graduation. She is not trained to do anything and doesn’t listen to us at all. Ever. Thankfully, she’s a big fat wimp of a dog (but we love her anyway) who won’t run more than 2 feet away from us even when we let her out without a leash. She’s usually scared of strangers so we don’t have to worry about her jumping on people, and she gets enough handouts from the kids that she is generally pretty good at staying away from food she shouldn’t eat.

Our biggest problem with Liberty is that because of her timid nature, she refuses to eat her food unless we are in the same room with her. She’s a skinny little dog and a lot of time A and I worry about her. Recently, we started mixing in half a container of Cesar’s Meaty Selects with some of Liberty’s usual dry food. It works magic and is a great food option for small dogs. Within a minute (regardless of if we stand watch or not) the bowl is empty and Liberty has a belly full of what she’s supposed to have rather than table scraps the kids throw at her when they are tired of eating.

It may not look like much to you, but to Liberty this is practically pure gold:

I wrote this review while participating in an ambassador program by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Cesar and received product samples and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
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Contours Options Tandem Stroller – A Review

Posted on October 4, 2012 by measamommy

Some of you may remember that last year, I reviewed the Contours Optima. While it was (and still is) a great stroller, there were a few things that I found I really disliked. Though I mentioned some in my review, others weren’t things I noticed until having used the stroller for a few more months.

Recently, Contours came out with a new version of the Optima – the Options. It’s almost like Contours took everything I disliked about the Optima and fixed it. While there are a couple things I miss, the benefits of the Options far outweigh the drawbacks.

Let’s start with the awesome… The options is a MUCH more lightweight stroller. Due to a mix up with UPS, I had to go pick up my stroller at the UPS facility instead of having it dropped at my door. When the UPS worker brought it out on a hand truck I got a little nervous about lifting it into my car on my own. That was just plain silly. The hand truck was completely un-necessary as the stroller (and the box) only weigh 35 lbs. Once I got the box home I was super excited to get the stroller out and put together. With the Optima, I had some trouble getting everything together without instructions – with the Options I was able to put the entire thing together in about 10 minutes without even cracking open the instruction manual. It was WAY easy and intuitive.

Once assembled, the Options is a fantastic size. I love that it’s shorter and a little more petite than the Optima. It can also fold up with the seats attached which is HUGE for me. Not only that, it fits in the trunk of our van without taking the seats off… an even bigger HUGE plus.

Lately, the kids refuse to sit in any of the many configurations other than both facing forward. But I know it’s something we’ll be thankful for (again) when they change their little toddler minds decide that the only way they can possibly sit in the stroller is if they can see each other (right now both try to see who can kick their sibling in the face).

I really appreciate the adjustable footrests on this stroller as Mason (who usually sits in the front) likes to drag his feet on the ground when sitting in a stroller. He does this in all strollers, but with the Options, I can raise the footrest some and make it so he can’t reach the ground anymore – I’m sure his toes thank me for that option.

Audrey loves the Options more than anyone. She throws a tantrum 80% of the times we take her out of the stroller. If there’s an option to stay in the stroller, she’s going to take it.

Overall, this is a fantastic stroller – but I do miss the parent console that was on the Optima (two cup holders and a small storage area), since I used that to hold keys and my phone on walks around the neighborhood. The Options retails for $129.99 which in my opinion is a TOTAL steal for a stroller that is so close to perfection.

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A Little Lime

Posted on October 3, 2012 by measamommy

Yep, you read that right. All day everyday, I feel just fine. Then suddenly, I’m racing to the bathroom and losing my lunch. Mason loves commentating while I get sick, which is both hilarious, disgusting, and irritating all at once. “Hey mom are you sick? Oh that’s just disgusting. Mom, you have some throw up on your lip. You need a tissue? No, I can’t get you water, I’m not big enough. Are you brushing your teeth because you were sick? Are you still sick or are you better?” oh, the mind of a 3 year old.

Audrey is still nursing and shows no real signs of stopping anytime soon. While I know it’s fine for the baby, I’m not sure I will survive this pregnancy if she doesn’t wean at some point. It hurts. A LOT. I was ready to wean before pregnancy, and now I’m even more so. I’ve tried quite a few different ideas and nothing really seems to be working, instead Audrey’s attitude gets worse and my boob hurts anyway since she’s either busy nursing or clawing at my face/chest/stomach to try to nurse.

I have my first official prenatal appointment tomorrow. As many of you may remember, we had really sucky insurance until very recently. And, since I’m still breastfeeding I hadn’t gotten back to a regular cycle… so the only way I know how far along I am is because I went to a pregnancy clinic. I listened for over an hour about how I shouldn’t abort the baby, and was offered assistance applying for medicaid more than once. Though I continuously explained my situation, I don’t think the staff was used to having someone like me in their office. In fact,when I left a donation (services at a pregnancy center are free) they almost fell over from shock right in front of my face. So anyway, now that we have insurance that covers prenatal care I can actually go see my real doctor and start all the lovely waiting room visits…. I mean… prenatal care visits.

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