Sleep? What is this "sleep" you speak of?

The husband was out of town last night. I tried hard to stay awake so I could catch up on "Revenge", but ended up falling asleep around 10:40. I got my first night visitor - Ava - at 11:10. She likes to sleep with me when her Daddy is gone, and that's fine. I don't think either of us were sleeping all that well, though, because around 1-something, I could tell we were both awake. Then, at 4am, I got visitor number two - Davis. It's kind of hard to say no to a little 3-year-old voice asking, "Mommy? Can I sleep in your bed?"

Problem was, he went to bed at 6pm last night. No nap, you see. So by 4am? He was kind of awake. I have to credit him for trying to go back to sleep. But poor me. I was sandwiched between the two kids, and you know how 3-year-olds are. They squirm. They kick. They rustle. By 4:45am, Ava was wide awake, too, and at 5, I relented and turned on the TV, then went to get in Davis' bed. I never did get back to sleep, though. And now we're all up and at 'em. God help me.

I'm sure I should be using this time to be really productive, but instead, I'm reading blogs, perusing Pinterest, and checking Facebook. And in the background? Two children keep talking about their bottoms.

Welcome to my reality.

Teacher Gifts

As I have said on numerous occasions, I am neither creative nor crafty. And I'm quite the procrastinator. So, the combination of those things makes me a little crazy when it comes time for teacher gifts at the end of the year. But this year, I was so proud of myself. I thought ahead (meaning about 36 hours ahead), combined a few ideas I'd gotten from Pinterest, and made these for Davis'  four Mothers' Morning Out teachers.

I went to Dollar Tree, picked up colored water bottles, and then added a handful of Crystal Light On-the_go packets. I printed up some cute labels that I found online (sorry, can't find the link at the moment), tied them with some grosgrain ribbon, and ta-da! Instant gift. It cost less than $10 for all four of them.

Davis also has two preschool teachers that he sees twice a week. I wanted to do something a little different for them so I went to Trader Joe's thinking I'd get them each an orchid. Well, they were sold out of all but the huge $22 orchids, so I had to make a quick plan B. I found these great little potted herbs for $7.99. The pot includes rosemary, thyme, and sage. It also comes with a recipe for stuffing. I thought they were really cute, and a good gift. I should have taken a picture, but I forgot. Busy week, what can I say?

Of course, teacher gifts mean that preschool is over for the year. *sigh*. I'm actually looking forward to easy mornings, not packing lunches, and long days at the pool. Of course, after a month of this, I'm probably going to be ready for our routine to kick back in.

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day. I wish all weekends were three days!

Weekend trip to the ER

It was bound to happen sooner or later, and frankly, I'm amazed it took 3 years. Davis had his first trip to the ER for stitches on Saturday. I'd like to tell you there is some crazy story of him swan diving from the top of our swing set, or even jumping on the bed, but no. It was a boring injury. He just tripped walking into the house from our  back deck. He fell right over the step and got a big gash in his knee. It was one of those cuts that, as soon as I saw it, I thought, "Yep. That one needs stitches."

I suppose the story is a little more interesting if you know that he was wearing snow boots?

Morgan stepped up to the plate and took Davis to urgent care so that I could pick up Ava from a sleepover and get her to a choir rehearsal. I received lots of updates from Morgan via text, and the quick version of this is that the urgent care doc couldn't keep Davis calm enough to stitch his knee. He's a bit fidgety and a little headstrong. So, she recommended that we go to the ER so that he could be sedated a bit. 

I ended up meeting them in the ER. Davis was chilling out, watching some Nick Jr:

Laid-back....like Snoop Dogg

Wake Med has a pediatric ER, and we got the best care ever. We were lucky that they weren't busy, but it felt like we had the entire ER staff in the room with us. They were able to give Davis nitrous so that he was okay with getting all stitched up. Davis on nitrous was hilarious. He was singing songs, giggling, talking to everyone.....it was all quite entertaining. His doctor's first name was also Davis, which just blew my Davis' mind. 

I'm pretty sure we got a good glimpse of drunk Davis.....which makes me a little nervous for high school/college. 

The wound only needed 3 stitches.....here's how it looked by this morning:

He's still covered in betadine....we were told no bath or shower for  48 hours. And of course, no pool. That's the worst part. I'm hoping we'll have them off by the weekend so we can get lots of pool time in for Memorial Day.

Davis has been a trooper, and tells everyone that he has a broken leg. I'm just waiting on a call from Social Services.

Catching Up

Life has gotten ahead of me lately, thus the lack of blogging this week. All is good, though.Here's a breakdown of what's been going on:

Last weekend we went to see my parents and celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. He looks quite good, doesn't he?

We've always been close. And as you can see, he doesn't age in the same way as the rest of the human race:

Next was Mother's Day. It was nice that we were at my parents' house because we were able to celebrate everyone in one trip. Plus, it's just always fun to be home with my parents. They still live in the house where I grew up. I found a bunch of old notes from high school, along with some diaries, and I had fun reading them.

My family spoiled me for Mother's Day. I did a little shopping last week and got a new dress and shirt, so I told Morgan not to get my anything. And for once, I meant it. I was quite happy with my new clothes. But I was pleasantly surprised when he and the kids gave me a Breville Juice Fountain Plus. I've never really tried juicing, but it seems like a good way to get some more veggies, so I'm going to give it a try. Here she is:

Sadly, I have not had a chance to even take this thing out of the box yet....busy week.

I loved my Mother's Day, and it was especially nice getting to spend most of the day with my mom.

We brought Davis' big boy bed home from my  parents' house. Morgan disassembled the crib and set up the new bed that evening. We need to work on furniture placement in the very small bedroom, but the bed itself looks cute. It belonged to my grandparents, and it does have a mate. The room is just too small for two twins. I'd kind of like to paint the, but I've been asked by the former owner not to do so. When I do, though, I might just call on my friend Holly from Storywood Designs. I think distressed red or navy would be awfully cute.

Davis looks pretty snuggly in it:

He sleeps well in the bed once he settles down. The settling down part is taking far too long. However, I guess considering that in the course of two weeks, he's lost his pacifier and moved beds, he's doing pretty well.

Lastly, I got a nice surprise when I stopped at Harris Teeter for a bottle of wine today. This Cycles Clement Chardonnay supposedly retails for $15/bottle (I don't know that I believe that - pretty sure HT fudges their MSRPs a bit on wine to make sales look better), but  it was marked down to $4.99. That's cheap, folks. And not bad. I only got two bottles because I was worried it would be wretched, but it's actually quite good, so I may go back for more.

7 Going on 3

I can handle toddlers having tantrums. I can handle preschoolers having tantrums. What I can not tolerate, however, is a child of nearly 7 years getting all Reagan-from-The-Exorcist on me. Unfortunately, that's just what I got last night, and then all over again this morning. I would love to paint a lovely picture for you, in which my kids are angels all the time. But that would be boring, and I think there are plenty of blogs in which mothers show you only the most charming and lovely sides of their children. As parents, we know there's another side to it.

If you've been keeping up with me for a while, then you know that Ava has ALWAYS been prone to a little, shall we say, drama. She's also so attached to me that if it got any worse, I would need a restraining order. Really. 

Anyway, I don't know exactly what set her off last night, but it had to do with the fact that I was playing tennis today and needed Morgan to take her to school. She wanted me. Of course. After that, the night was kind of terrible, and it ended with lots of tears/screaming/yelling from her. And lots of wine for me. 

Then this morning, I got up to run at 5:40. As I was getting dressed, she came in my room crying that she needed me to come lie with her so she could fall back asleep. I suggested she get in my bed with her daddy. No dice. Cue early morning hysterics. Luckily for me, I was forced to be strong because I was meeting a friend to run and we don't do early morning runs by ourselves. Stranger Danger is real, you know. 

Long story short, according to Morgan she finally made it back to her bed, only to get up a short while later, bicker with Davis, and then completely fall apart again. It was ugly. Really ugly. She was supposed to sleep over at a friend's tonight and Morgan repealed those plans. I'm not lying to you when I say that she cried on and off for over TWO HOURS. Nightmare. Terrible way to start the day, and surely the reason I lost my tennis match today. Not that I ever win. Anyway, this was clearly not the way I wanted to kick off my Mother's Day weekend. I don't know what in the world is going on with her, but it's not good. The counselors at the parenting class I went to mentioned to me that age 6 1/2 is one of the worst of all. They said it's like reverting to toddlerhood, but worse. If that's the case, then Ava is proving it to be true. 

I'm hoping an early bedtime tonight will get her back on track. She had really been pretty much a breeze for the last six months or so. I was really enjoying her. But this mess has got to stop. Like, yesterday. 

I guess the silver lining is that when she's acting so badly, Davis sprouts an invisible halo and doesn't misstep even a little. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

PS - The Steve Madden shoes from this post are a no-go. With a 4.5" heel, I can't walk in them. And I kind of look like a woman of the night. 

Mother's Day Tea

Happy Thursday, my friends. I had the pleasure of attending Davis' first ever Mother's Day Tea at school today. It was seriously so sweet. The kids sang songs for us, then served us yummy food (ham biscuits!). They also answered questions about their Mommies, which their teachers put on paper for us. Here is Davis', complete with scribble scrabble (the boy hates coloring, unless it's on his sister's homework).

Hopefully, you can read it. My favorite is "When we are in the car my Mommy likes to...." Davis's response? "She might have a wreck."


I'm pretty sure that comes from me saying something like, "Stop whining/bickering/yelling or I might have a wreck."

I think I just just be happy he didn't fill in the blank with "text on her phone."

Also, the fact that he thinks I like shopping at the grocery store shows that he really doesn't know me all that well. Target, maybe. But not the grocery store.

Just for giggles, let's look at one of Ava's recent writing samples. Hard to believe that just four short years ago, she could not read or write, and was the same age as Davis. Things change crazy-fast.

Now, while I do believe Davis is just as bright as his sister, I don't think he's going to meet her literacy skills at the same age. She taught herself to read at 4, and at 3 he doesn't even know his letters.

A funny note about the tea at Davis' school: Ava heard me mention it this morning, and her mood immediately went dark. She was miffed that I was going to his school, and even said, "Oh! Remember, though? You said you might sign me out of school early for that."

Um. No, I didn't. Nice try, though.

After that, she was especially sullen, so I called her out, saying, "Ava, you're just in a bad mood because I'm going to Davis' school today and not yours."

Her honest reply?

"That's right. And if you hadn't told me you were going, I wouldn't be grumpy at all."

And that was that.

I should probably mention that I just finished taking a course on Positive Discipline, so now I am empowered with excellent parenting skillz. Just spend a day with the kids and me and I just know you'll be dying to know my secrets.**

**dripping with sarcasm

High End vs Low End: Wedge Sandals. Plus, a dress, and Christian Grey

If I had my druthers, these Stuart Weitzman wedges would be mine:

Alas, at $365, our relationship is not meant to be. I did come across these Steve Madden knockoffs, though. On sale for $59, they can be mine. And they will, as soon as Piperlime ships them to me.

I can't lie - I like the Stuart Weitzmans much better. But I could buy like, 6 pairs of the Steve Maddens. I just ordered one pair, though. Gotta love free shipping and free returns. Risk-free shopping. I'll let you know how they are once I get them. I'm sure I don't really need them. I mean, I spend most of my days in my workout clothes. But for those rare occasions when I put on something nicer, it's good to have cute shoes. 

Also, I picked up this dress at Target yesterday after seeing a friend wear it.  She got navy, I got aqua (so we can trade, right, Heather?):

This is sold out online, but there were several in my Target today. It comes in stripes and a few solids. For $20, it's a steal. Just one of those great summer dresses to throw on for daytime. 

By the way, who out there is reading 50 Shades of Grey? 

I seriously cannot put it down, despite the fact that the writing is on about a 7th grade level. The actual story is - um - worth reading. One of my friends called it "Mommy Porn", which is pretty accurate. Like I said, I can't stop reading. I even took it to the park and read while pushing Davis on the swing. 

Share your thoughts on the book with me.....I'd love to hear!

It's Outta Here

After months and months of procrastination, I finally did the unthinkable this weekend and took Davis' beloved pacifier away from him. He's three. It was time. Frankly, it was time about two years ago.

I so dreaded it. I knew it was going to be horrific. This kid loved his paci. When Ava had one, I was really good about relegating it to her bed only. With Davis, I was more of a sucker. Or maybe just a second-time-around parent. As long as he wasn't traipsing around town with it, I didn't care. But I also knew he could live without it. He doesn't have it at school, or on playdates, and he doesn't ask for it then either. But at home? He wanted it all the time. And I'll be the first to tell you that I can't stand to see a big kid with a paci sticking out of their mouth, but here I was, with my own child doing just that.

I started prepping Davis last week. His response was always the same: "But it's my paci and it will be gone FOREVER!" Despite the sadness in those big blue eyes and the pouty lower lip, I followed through on my promise. On Saturday, I told him it was the end of the road for his pacifiers, and took him to Target to pick out a toy. Luckily for me, his toy of choice was a $2.99 ball.

So, fast forward to Saturday night. Davis had not napped, so the night went pretty well. He  cried about his paci for about 5 minutes and then was out for the night. He woke up around 5am for a bathroom break, asked for the paci once, and went back to bed.

Yesterday was great. Hardly any mention of the oral accoutrements, and bedtime seemed to be a breeze. He only got out of bed (which is still a crib) about 27 times. He got in Ava's bed, where they decided they would sleep together. That worked for about 10 minutes, until it became evident that no sleep was going to occur. Finally, around 9:15, he did fall asleep.

So, I think we're good from here. No turning back for me. I'm pretty happy that he's now 100% potty trained and pacifier-free. I still get to dress him up like this for another year or so, though:

One Room at a Time

Ever since we remodeled our kitchen and put hardwood floors in our den, I've been wondering what the next project is (much to Morgan's chagrin). Although my bonus room is in dire need of organization, it's the master bedroom that is truly in the most need of some re-design. It's terrible. It is anything but a haven or a peaceful sanctuary. It's a chronic mess, the place where all of my good intentions of a well-kept home go to die. Clothes are constantly strewn over the chairs, both dressers are cluttered, and while the bed is usually made, the bedding is second-rate. 

So, it is for those reasons that the master bedroom is my next undertaking. Last year, we (okay, Morgan) painted the room a great color. I believe it's "Quiet Moments" from Benjamin Moore. It's a grey-blue, and it lives up to its name. 

I'm happy with the color, so we don't have to paint. I'd LOVE a new bed. We currently have a queen, and we need a king. It would be a tight fit, but it would work. And, I'd like to change out the headboard from the dark wood one that's in there to a nice upholstered one. Maybe like this? 

I 

via www.housebeautiful.com

I suppose the change in bed can wait. I think the biggest thing we need right now is window treatments. I'd really, really, really like to put plantation shutters all over my house. I think my husband would have a heart attack if he found out how much that would cost, so we're not even putting the idea on the table. Instead, we'll go with new curtains for now. I was at Target the other day and was shocked when I came across these:

I know they aren't truly designer, but really, for $25/panel, they are a seriously good deal. Alas, the 96" are sold out online and not available in stores. Sigh. I perused Target.com a little further, though, and came across these:

They're slightly costlier at $50/panel, but still a bargain for window treatments. My hesitation is that they are an indoor/outdoor fabric, so I can't tell if the way they hang will be all that attractive, but I think I'm going to pull the trigger on them today. With the right hardware, I think they could be good. 

My other thought was to take the room in a more modern direction with these panels from Crate and Barrel:

I love the wide horizontal stripes, but I think that grey is a little harsh, and doesn't go with the rest of my house at all. In the right space, I think they'd be knockout. 

There are also two chairs that currently reside in the bedroom, which are primarily resting spots for discarded clothes. You know, the stuff that either needs to be hung up, folded in a drawer, or tossed in the laundry. One of the chairs sits in a corner that it really doesn't belong in. I keep seeing fiddle fig trees pop up on decor blogs and in shelter magazines, and I just love them. In fact, I think I need one in my living room, too. So, that purchase is on the agenda for the weekend. I just need to figure out where to  get one.

A couple of new bedside lamps would be nice. I thought about doing wall mounted swing-arm sconces, but I just don't think they have the coziness of a nice table lamp. I've had my eye on these Robert Abbey ones for a while now:

via

Of course, all of this will need to be topped off with new bedding. Duh. I love nothing more than an all white bed, with lots of layers of varying textures. Maybe a hint of color in a throw pillow or two. This image, from Pinterest, is just perfect to me:

I'll keep you posted on the progress.