Munchkins, husbands, breakdowns -- oh my!

Wednesday night at Casa de Ramirez was actually ... calm. Picked the kids up from school, and I must note that Andrew has received a green happy face for almost 3 weeks now.  A green face means that he has been a great listener and he's following directions well; we don't want red faces :(

My new bedtime routine has been implemented and worked well for me Monday and Tuesday night. What happened Wednesday night?  You tell me! He's tall, has dark hair, wears glasses, and his name starts with R. Yeah that would be my husband, that's what happened. I told him the new routine, what to do, how to do it and... most importantly...don't let Andrew sleep with the lamp on.

I mentioned before how all of the sudden Andrew was scared of the dark and needed to sleep with the light on. Well, we got him a lamp but I didn't want it on all night.  So Monday & Tuesday I was able to talk to Andrew and let him know we only use the lamp for reading our books then it gets turned off. He was okay with that and got his treat in the morning; no problems.

Back to the husband. I get back from my work out and asked him how Andrew was. His response, "he was good, but he's sleeping with the lamp on because I didn't want him to cry." arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Why do husbands undermine you? I told Raul that he just got played by a 4 year old.  Last night I had to intervene with Andrew and Raul during bath time because Andrew was having a meltdown about wanting his trains. Of course Raul the macho dad that he is had to stand there in his "i'm the boss stance" and let Andrew scream. I'm all about letting him tantrum until he calms down, except for when Andrew can clearly tell you whats wrong.

Andrew pointed me to the trains he wanted and crisis adverted. I sneered at Raul and told him to pick his battles. His response "I didn't know where the trains were." typical husband response. oy!

Tonight munchkin #1 will be in bed without his lamp on. Munchkin #2 will be in bed before 7:30 pm.

Re-energized, Re-couped, and Re-vived!

This weekend my anxiety level was at a all time high. I've been anticipating Raul leaving at the end of the month for two weeks and then he throws in he's working 9-6 next week which means he'll be home close to 8 pm  --- argh. I kinda broke down thinking, "how am I going to take care of these little men without loosing my mind?"  After the waterworks I told myself to suck it up. I can do this. What's my problem. I'm in control of these munchkins; they're not in control of me.

I sat down and re-evaluated my game plan with the kids.  Usually when I get home I cook dinner right away, we eat at 6:30 pm, and then it's bath time. As I write this, I kind of sound like my mom. She was always, and still is, stuck in her routine.  That was it...I need to break my routine and just know that dinner doesn't have to be at 6:30 pm every night. It's okay to play with the kids when we get home. Finally, I tried a new strategy last night, I bathed the kids separately. We usually give them a bath together, but that always turns into fighting, splashing, toys being thrown, someone getting a time out and mom and dad loosing their minds. I mean bath time is supposed to be relaxing, right?

Last night I gave Adam his bath first; got him washed, changed, and put him in the crib with some toys while I got Andrew in the bath. While Andrew was in the bath I actually had time to put Adam to bed. Hmmmm, all this by 7:30 pm, awesome. I had a good feeling about when Raul was gone that I can do this without feeling stressed or over-whelmed with the bedtime routine.

I'm also venturing out of my comfort zone; I'm scheduling more play dates and taking the kids places more on my own. I do go out with them but I need to take them out on more play dates and to fun places. I'm always nervous as Andrew is not the easiest kid. I've had many days of dragging him back to the car kicking and screaming. If I have to discipline in public, so be it. I have a few play dates scheduled with other moms that I'm excited about.

Now that I have my game plan with the kids, it's time for me. I'm back on the wagon with my diet. I want to loose 20lbs. I can do this. Raul promised a $500 shopping spree so this is my motivation!!

My scare-d Cats

This weekend was full of the usual: tantrums, tears, and time-outs. You can always expect nothing less at Casa de Ramirez.

Andrew decided last Friday that he was afraid of the dark. I guess that Handy Manny episode about the ghost is the culprit. I had finally gotten to a point where Andrew was not getting out of bed 10 times before he fell asleep. I would tell him he would get a special treat (cereral or muffins) if he stayed in bed all night and was quiet. Alright let's call it what it is, bribery. But it works! He has been going to bed the last month with no problems, until Friday.

So, Friday night I told him if he slept all night he would get a special treat in the morning. His response, "I don't want a special treat, I'll eat waffles!" Darn smart kid.  So, he ended up sleeping with his bedroom light on which was a disaster as he didn't fall asleep until 11 pm. I knew this was a bad idea. Saturday night, same thing...scared of the dark and again the bedroom light is on. I told Raul to get Adam's lamp at least that won't be so bright.

Sunday, I went to my dads and of course the hoarder that he is has a great lamp I can put in Andrew's room. This is my solution for now, putting a lamp in his room so he's not scared. Because if he really is scared, I want him to feel some peace at night.  However, this lamp is old and not made to be on all night so I will need to wean him off of it.  So, I have to up my bribery (insert sneaky laugh). And what is that new bribe? A playdate this Saturday with a schoolmate at a pumpkin festival. I have to plan this out just right, so I think I will plant the seed on Thursday. Stay tuned...

Now on to my other scare-d cat, Adam While at my mom & dad's house on Sunday, we venture off to feed the horse across the way and the baby horse. Adam is very excited and telling me "this way" to see the horse. We get up to the stable and he seems interested, just looking and smiling. Oh does that end quickly as I move closer and I feel the deathgrip of tiny 2 yr old hands digging into me and then, "no mommy no mommy no horse no horse"  I could not get him to touch the darn thing. I guess a big horse can be scary. Adam was telling me, "this way" and pointing towards my mom's house.

I hope Adam is scared on Halloween!

Happy Monday

Have you ever had one of those moments ....

.... those crazy moments where you're scrambling to get two kids ready, breakfast done, lunches packed, get yourself ready, get the kids to brush their teeth..then something happens and you just .. loose it. Sometimes I feel like supernanny is going to walk through my front door at any moment and give me a crash course on how to raise your kids.  All of the above happened this morning (minus supernanny) after the teeth were brushed Adam decides to touch the toilet, lift the toilet seat, and flush the toilet..oy! Me, trying to stay calm and wash his hands and make sure Andrew is brushing all teeth and not just the front two.  Then little Adam decides to bring in a tub of blocks and dump them on the bathroom floor.... this is where mom cracks...

I let out a high pitched nooooooo .... as Adam dumped the toys.  Great, one more thing to pick up before we leave.

I felt awful. Adam walked away and went into his room.  The guilt filled my chest. How could I yell at that sweet face? Geez, they're just toys. It can be picked up. I ran in and hugged Adam and said I was sorry. Oh, and I also scared Andrew too because he told me "mom, you scared me" The last thing I want to be is a scary mom.... Gotta get the craziness in check.

Birthday Boy

We celebrated Adam's 2nd birthday on September 25th. I can't believe he is a two year old. I love watching him. He jumps, runs, skips, and hops with so much happiness.  He's talking so much and loves being around his big brother Andrew. I didn't realize he's such a scaredy cat. We bought him a cake for his actual birthday on the 24th and this was his response:



The funny thing is that he had this same expression when he was born! He swatted at the cake thinking he was going to knock it off the table, but he just got a hand full of icing.

The next day we had our pirate themed party.  For this birthday I ordered a 5 ft sandwich from our local deli, Cavarettas. I wanted to go the easy route and the sandwich was a hit. I also made potatoe salad, and mini corndogs for the little ones. Oh and I also made home-made ice cream (i'll save that for a later post.)

Adam loved his pirate cake and so did I!



I can't believe I got this cake from Albertson's. They really do a great job with cakes.  Everyone had a great time and i'm glad my little pirate had a good birthday.  Now I have to think about Andrew's birthday.....

September - recap

It's been a month since my last post. For some reason I haven't been inspired to write. Until this morning when I read one of my good friends blog post's; she's always so inspirational. It's tough being a mom of two little ones, running the household, making meals, entertaining the kids - how do we balance it all without going mad?  I know I try to be so patient, but sometimes it's so hard.  I got frustrated with Adam recently because I was trying to rush out the door and get them to school and get to work, and Adams says "sorry mommy". How can I be upset at that cute face?

September was a busy month. Adam turned 2 and we had a pirate themed birthday party for him. The party turned out awesome. I bought a pirate cake from albertson's. They really do a nice job on their cakes. I'm glad we had the party at 4 pm this year as it was almost 100 degrees that day and there's plenty of shade during that hour.  Also, Adam started going to Andrew's preschool. Adam is in the 2 yr old class and he loves it. Of course he cried the first 3 days, but by Friday he was saying, "bye mommy!"  Too cute.  I celebrated 8 years at my job last Thursday. What a milestone. I never thought I would make it past 3 yrs here. It's a good company, and I'm fortunate to have a job.

Raul's travel season is gearing up with his first trip at the end of October. I still get anxiety with the thought of Raul leaving. Things are easier with the boys, however, it's still tiring when they argue or fight over a toy when there's a million of toys to play with but they both want the same fire truck. Andrew's tantrums are easing up. I've learned some new techniques that I've implemented with the tantrums and it's really working. Andrew seems much more confident and he's getting more easy going.

I am anticipating potty training Adam. He's definitely showing signs such as actually going to the potty and pulling his shirt up and saying he has to go peep peep. Very cute. I also need to get Adam into a toddler bed I noticed last night he was sleeping with his legs curled up against the crib; I guess that's a sign of him getting too big. I'm just procrastinating because thought of sleep training him in a toddler bed makes me cringe. Things are great right now because he just goes right to sleep.

Those are my thoughts for now. I think I'm up to date. Thanks to my little inspirational friend who always makes me think.

My Little Pirate

It's time to start planning my little guy Adam's birthday. He'll be turning the big 2 on September 24th.  I'm planning a pirate themed birthday for him. I love, love planning my kids birthday's. It's the one time I get to use my creative side and I love having theme's.

I didn't think I would do a birthday party every year for the kids, but I thought...they're only young once and pretty soon they're not going to want a birthday party by mom. 

So here I go, time to plan!

I found my pirate ship invitations yesterday at Party City.

They have tons of Pirate themed supplies that I can't wait to buy!

...and most importantly

I dressed Adam in his pirate costume!

I will add this photo to the invites:

arghhhh!