boys are...

gross.

maybe moo was too. i can't remember. but if niz isn't licking the bottom of a well worn shoe, he is arm deep in the toilet. or tipping the frog potty and splashing with delight.

he is mouthing the 'never been sanitized' shopping cart handle, gnawing the seat belt clip, and rubbing his face on something that surely is unhealthy.

i don't know if i've just dropped the ball a little since having two, or if boys really 'will be boys,' but this kid is... gross. and cute. really cute.

sad mac

i spend the majority of last night creating documents for my classroom. welcome back pages, homework sheets, graphic organizers. i hit save. then i hit the sheets.

this morning i packed up my sweet little white macbook and headed to work. excited to share my carefully drafted, font specific, fun pages with my partner in crime. i grabbed a seat in our staff meeting. plugged it in. hit start and... nothing. nothing.at.all.

and then this:
{this entire sex and the city dialogue started running through my head}

- When was the last time you backed up your work? - I don't do that. 
- You don't back up? - No. 
Anything else before we go in? 
Yes! There was a mean little man who popped up, and he had ''X's'' where his eyes should be. 
And his tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth. 
- He didn't have a tongue. - He had a tongue. 
That's the Sad Mac. You Sad Mac'd, you should've told me that before. 
Oh, my God, why? What does that mean? 
Could be your motherboard, the guts of your computer. It could be bad RAM. We'll keep it here for a couple of days, run some tests. I'm Dmitri. I'll call you if we find anything. 

and... i kid you not, my other mac has died before. I KNOW BETTER... yet i didn't do better.

so... through panicked tones and lots and lots of praying i made an appointment. and i literally grabbed the niz kid after work, my sad mac, my purse and headed to the apple store. 

to add insult to injury niz was grouchy. like yes... i'm THAT mom with the screaming kid. that has no business torturing other patrons. that mom who selfishly takes her little groucho out when he clearly needs a nap. when he's clearly teething. that mom who is handing her kid keys, pens, an iphone {because clearly... where better to have it dropped and broken}.

a cold sweat came over me watching the group of people ahead of me. listening to him scream. feeling him twist and turn in my arms. i would hear another kid squeak and feel a slight sense of relief. like... i'm not alone. not the worst, most selfish mom in here. my eyes would lock with another mom. who was equally as stressed. who understood that rigorous bounce. who handed me the sippy he just launched across this tech savvy store. 

at one point i thought... crap! is food even allowed in here? are almost one year olds even allowed in here?

so it was finally my turn. i had wiggled and jiggled him just enough to make it through our wait time. i may or may not have given him a random chocolate chip fiber one bar. tiny pieces at a time. and felt completely mortified that we were both getting covered in chocolate. and i'm pretty sure almost one year olds should NOT be eating chocolate. 

and then... happy, happy news. i only needed a new power cord. and then... sheer delight. i purchased apple care. so it was free {minus the cost of that extended coverage :) }

and now... my sad mac is no longer sad. and i will be backing up this weekend. 

date night

the other night we were able to sneak away. to the fish market. we haven't been since prom night.

we got all dressed up. dropped babies with grandma. and ventured out.

we had a great table. a really nice server. and yummy food. we talked and pretended we were on a first date. although... our body language and 'is there anything in my teeth?' are far from first date conversation.

but it got me thinking about dating ryan as an adult. i wondered what it would be like to have just met him. what would his life be like? would he even want to date me? oh... of course he would! ;)

we've been in each others' lives for literally half our own life span. it's strange. and comforting.

i'm glad i didn't meet him as an almost 30 year old. i honestly don't believe i would have had the chance to date him if it worked out any other way.

from the mouth of *MY* babe

her: 'where's D?'
me: 'sleeping'
her: 'shhhh... D's sleeping. he dreaming little bit'

her: 'put in pocket'
ryan: 'no... that's not a pocket'
her: 'PUT IN POCKET'
ryan: 'no'
her: 'POCKET'
i peek into the room to notice he's only wearing boxers

her: 'you ready? you ready to see gg?'
me: 'oh... we're going to gg's house today?'
her: 'yes. see gg and papa and kiiiiiiiiiitty!'

her: 'ohhhh.... soooo cute! D is so tiny and cute!'

bunting on a budget

i'm in love with bunting right now. like really in love. so i decided to make a few strands for nizzy's first birthday. 

it will be pirate themed. so i went with circles. and these are the colors of the party.

you will need:

- a circle punch... or lots and lots of time and energy if you cut your circles by hand

- card stock or free home depot paint sample cards

- twine

- hot glue gun

first, i bought a circle punch. it is a 2.5" ek circle punch. 

{i may or may not have just ordered a second, slightly smaller one, to layer these beauties!}

second, i robbed the home depot paint section of their paint sample cards. i recommend the behr brand cards because they are HUGE! 

{this may or may not be a new goal in life... have a small stash of every.single.color}   

third, i punched away.

i laid out twine. i use this kind. it should last me a few years. i also just ordered this kind.

i set my circles along the twine eye-balling the distance. you need two circles that will be glued together. 

{i learned that bunting is wiggly... the hard way when i made moo's last year... it will show the ugly backside when you hang it up}

i hot glued a line right over the twine.

and pressed the second circle right on top. now both sides are perfectly presentable.

and ta da! circle bunting! beautiful from all angles.

i will probably add some pirate stickers the day of the party once it is up. otherwise i am sure the stickers will end up upside down.

inspired

i found this site from pinterest.

i wanted to check out the healthy lunches. i'll be packing moo a lunch in a few weeks.

2 hours later i wanted to purge my pantry.

lots of great info. check it out.

now i want to order this:

and these:

:)

strange realities

counting down the seconds until they're in bed. missing them a few hours later.
worrying that his nap is too long.

the thrill of shopping with one. bringing in reinforcements to make it enjoyable. {does this make me super wuss mom?... ya. probably}

the 'know it all' mentality that leaves the minute you're a parent.

the comfort of a kaiser advice nurse. the joy of emailing the pediatrician. feeling beyond thankful that we have medical coverage. for our tiny humans.

the hours she's at school fly. the hours before ryan gets home stand still.

the joy a plastic pool brings. or a bathtub full of toys.

her round buddha belly is bottomless. she can eat all day. and make it seem like we starve her. 'mmmm.... food. lots of kinds? I soooooo hungy'

using the bathroom seems to alert her that she needs to go. right.that.second. then it alerts niz that he needs to check on us. the three of us in that tiny room. and now it's just so strange to ever be in there alone.