Promises kept...

and promises broken.  I know I promised to come back to blogging.  And that was over 3 months ago.  Le sigh.

But it's the same old story - only tougher times two.  Two kids underfoot, a full-time career, marriage, taking care of myself - everything that comes ahead of sitting at my computer and blogging my thoughts for the day.  It's not that I feel guilty about not blogging.  Hell, as long as my kids are happy, healthy, loved and fed at the end of the day, then I have been a success, no?  If I get to actually capture that in writing on tiny piece of cyberspace, then bonus points scored. 

The problem, I guess, is that while I'm keeping it all together, I have a tough time remembering it all.  I'm living in the moment - and dealing with every moment - so that many times, once that moment is passed, I forget about it.  And I don't want to forget.  I don't want my kids or my husband to forget.  I want to remember.  And blogging helps me remember.

Ok, so what's been going on?  Well, one thing I noticed today is that the babe is coming with leaps and bounds with his vocabulary.  Sometimes a little too much with his vocabulary because this boy is STUBBORN.  He wants something and come hell or highwater, he's gonna get that something.  It's a lot of fun, let me tell you.  Plus, you know what I've noticed?  He's LYING with his newly found vocabulary!  This morning, he was eating breakfast at daycare with a teacher he absolutely adores.  Charlene asked him if he ate anything at home and he replied, "Yes, I ate a waffle and a cookie."  Hello, BIG FAT LIAR!  You had neither of those.

It's also damn funny.  Two days ago, I was trying to get him out of the house to go to daycare.  He keeps telling me he doesn't want to go to school, he wants to go to Costco.  Don't ask me why he wants to go to Costco.  I tell him no and he screams, "YES!  COSTCO!!!!!"  So, as the kind, loving parent I am, I completely ignore him.  Hah.  He stops for a while and watches the DVD I have playing in the car.  Whatever, don't judge me.  My kids watch TV in the car.  Deal with it.  We pull into the parking lot of the daycare center, the babe looks up and declares, "Mama, this is NOT Costco!"  And he is PISSED.  Le sigh.

Speaking of promises, I told a friend of mine I would participate in a "photo a day" thing.  Yeah.  It's the 5th day of the new year and I don't even have a charged battery in a camera.  I suck.

Little Monsters

Last night the family headed out to Disneyland for the Little Monsters event that Cast Activities puts on every year. I must say, it's quite different from back when I worked at Disneyland - but then again, Disney has expanded it's empire in Southern California, so as all other things change, so must this. I will say that Disney treats its Cast Member families well. This is an event put on by Cast Activities and the kids absolutely LOVE it. Basically, they get to walk around Disneyland park and trick-or-treat. Kids love it. Parents are exhausted. Life is good.

Some pics:

Taken by the Photo Pass people who obviously have no formal training in photography save for "push this button" when the kids smile.  At the very least, they could have gotten the kids in focus, right?

Time to start blogging again...

It's been a while. But I found a great product that turns your blogs into books - PERFECT! I welcome the ability to do so - to capture these thoughts so that my boys can read them at a later date. When I am too old and too crazy to impart on them the wisdom I have gained through the years. You can stop rolling your eyes at me.

It's been two years since I last blogged. Life has been hectic, but fun. Lots of changes, all for the good. But I pledge to start again if only so that I have a record of the madness. Let the fun continue. Rock and Roll.

And the madness begins.

M and I were talking last week. The Friday after Thanksgiving marks our crazy season. We love the Holidays, but BOY are they WORK! It's a non-stop whirlwind the entire month of December. Our calendar is booked solid with some sort of activity or get-together EVERY weekend - and even weeknights are filling up. I should stop complaining, though, because despite the craziness, I do love the Holidays. I love catching up with friends - I love the merriment - I love the happy glint in the kids' eyes every time he sees the Christmas tree.

Of course, as you all know, Santa pictures kick off the Holiday season for us. I like to get them done the week of Thanksgiving, as there are no crowds and the kid is in a much better mood when he hasn't had to wait in line for a half hour. Here are this year's "official" pictures (the ones I bought from the Santa photo people). And yes, it's my mommy obligation to match their clothes. ESPECIALLY for Holidays:

The kid and the babe together:


Just the babe (since this is his first Christmas and all):


And some outtakes taken with our own camera:

Love this one because the kid is telling Santa what he wants for Christmas. Notice the babe's expression is one of complete indifference.


And this just captures the kid's age. If you have a three-year-old, you know what I'm talking about. You ask them to smile and you get all teeth. He looks like he's constipated.



For a retrospective of past Santa pictures, click here.

Here, though, is where early Santa pictures backfired for me. The next morning after visiting Santa, the Kid woke up and RAN into my bedroom. With a hopeful look, he sweetly asked me, "Mommy, is it Christmas morning?!?!" Makes logical sense - he did, after all, see Santa the night before. And I've been reading him "The Night Before Christmas" every year. This is what happens when you pair a dumbass Mommy with a too-smart kid.

Giving thanks...

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving. A time to be thankful. So please indulge me in the obvious. A post of things that deserve my thanks.

I don't mean to sound smug or condescending, but really, it's not my style to only give thanks once a year. I think it's important, and I vow to teach my kids the importance, of being thankful every moment of every day - and voiceing that thanks at least once a day. Our blessings are bountiful, and while we may not have the latest and greatest toys or the biggest and best house or the designer-of-the-moment stuff, we are rich in so many means. I have a wonderful, happy, healthy family. I, myself, am truly happy. My boys are incredible lights of joy in my life - and my husband is my love, my support, and my strength. The three of them - my heart, my soul, my love are the greatest blessings I could ever receive. I thank God for them every day of my life.

I'm also thankful for my career - for my husband's career. I thank God for the means to support and provide for our family. While we still may struggle to pay for the mounting bills that come with adding to the family, in economic times such as these we are lucky to be able to put food on the table. Did you know that 1 in 8 Americans go hungry? That is STAGGERING. Especially in a country of plenty.

You know what else I'm thankful for? My crazy extended family. My loco friends. My co-workers, my clients. Because they support me, they make me laugh, they make me cry. They make me, ME. I am the sum of my experiences and interactions...and enriched by all those I encounter. So to all of you, thanks.

I hope that this Thanksgiving season finds you and yours well - and well blessed. In the spirit of giving and giving thanks, I'll link you to my post from last year - all the organizations are still there and still struggling to meet demand, even moreso now.

I was duped...

When the Babe was born, I could hardly believe how much he slept. VAST difference from the Kid, who woke every 20 minutes. Holy sleep deprivation, Batman! But with the Babe, I had to wake him for feedings, which was SO new to us. I hovered over his bassinet for fear he wasn't breathing - he slept that long and heavily. He would regularly sleep for 3-4 hours at a time. And was sleeping "through the night" (actually sleeping 6+ hours at night) by 6 weeks old. I *almost* felt guilty about it.

But now, at 4 months old, the Babe (and me, obviously) is waking every two hours. HE'S KILLING ME! It's 6:00am and I'm writing this post. Now, being awake at 6:00am is not too bad. But it is when you were up at 2:00am. And 4:00am. And 5:00am. SOMEONE STOP THE MADNESS.

Some photo sharing

It's been a while since I've used my blog to brag about my kids...but seriously, they are cute. Here are photos from the past few months - as I realized I never posted any of my maternity period, the birth of the babe, or the kidlets together. So without further ado...

Maternity photos - these were taken by a good friend of ours who happens to be a great photographer. Taken in May, 2008:




Love this photo...but it looks like the Kid is kicking the Babe...



Ahh...much better. Brotherly love starts early.



And then there were four...





My boys. My lazy, lazy, boys. My entire world on one queen-sized bed.



Some pictures taken by our photographer friend (same one that took the maternity photos above). The Kid is about 41 months (3 years, 5 months old) and the Babe is about 3 months old: