If I run 4 miles, then eat 1/2 omelet, a banana, and a Starbucks blueberry muffin, is my run pretty much negated? Because that's what I did this morning. Sorry, but I feel that if I haul my tush out of bed at 6am for a run, I get to have treats. Thanks. That's all.

Ode to Target....

Ah, Target. What an alluring appeal you have. Why else would I find reason to visit you, oh, 3-5 times a week? You entice me with your bargains, your fashionable wares, and your ability to convince me that, why yes! I DO need that Liberty of London notepad!

Yesterday, I had but a quick little tryst with Target. However, the joy of the occassion was impeded by an encounter with SuperBitchMom. Davis and I trotted in, and headed straight over to the returns line to take back a dress that I had decided not to keep. There was one woman finishing up her return, and no line. And, as in all Target stores, there was one of those line managing ropes. You know what I mean, right? Okay. So, as I'm waiting, this woman and her 3 children come up and stand on the opposited side of the rope from me. I had seen this woman outside with the kids as I was coming in. She was yelling at them to stop playing. I noted to myself that she seemed annoying. And that she was wearing ugly shoes.

The woman who was already doing her return finished up, and I stepped up to the counter with my little return. Now, remember, SuperBitchMom is standing at the other side of the return rope. As soon as I get to the counter, she says in a loud and bitchy voice, "EXCUSE ME. I was next. See? I was standing here where it says, 'line forms here."

WTF? I mean, seriously? If there were several people in line, I could understand. But there was me. And then her. It was clear who was there first. CLEAR. It took every fiber of my being not to engage with her, but I was the bigger person and just smiled politiely and said, "Oops! Looks like I didn't see  that sign. Sorry!" And I let her go. And what I wished I had said was, "Sweetie, I can see from the way you were yelling at your boys outside that you are having a bad day. So even though I was clearly here first, I'll let you go ahead of me. I mean, walking around in those ugly shoes must just put you in a bad mood." Of course, I think of these things too late.

The rest of the Target trip was fine, thank you. I did keep being like, one aisle away from SuperBitchMom, and she continued to be loud.

I bet she homeschools.

Sibling Rivalry....

For the last year, my kids have been all love for each other. So sweet. Ava has either loved or ignored her brother most of the time. However, since he started walking, it's all changed. There is still lots of love, and even lots of playing (yay! please entertain each other....Mommy needs to catch up on Facebook now). However, Davis loves all of Ava's stuff. And he loves to pull her hair. And yell in her ear. Well, she says it's in her ear. Usually, it's just in her proximity.

My sister is 10 years older than me, so I have never personally experienced childhood sibling rivalry. It's interesting to watch. I'm pretty good at not intervening or taking sides, but there is lots of me reminding Ava that Davis is only one and that he just doesn't understand things like she does. Sigh. It's hard to reason with a dramatic 4-year-old.

It's been a pretty uneventful week here. Busy, but uneventful, if that makes any sense. I have a 5 mile run planned for the morning, so I suppose I should put down the wine, turn off the tv, and get into bed.

Oh! One last thing, though. Since stalking strangers on the web is a hobby of mine, I often read other people's blogs. Running blogs have caught my attention of late, and I started reading Erica's blog over at http://www.ericarunning.com/. She hosted a giveaway for Chobani Champions (yum!) last week, and guess what? I won! Yay me! And thanks, Erica!

On a lighter note....

I was in a pretty bad mood yesterday, and today is much better, so let's change things up a bit. This is not at all related to my kids, but to me, it's share-worthy. The husband and I were watching Jeopardy one night last week, and one of the categories was "Uranus." As in, the planet. Being the mature 30-somethings that we are, we laughed hysterically through the entire category. Frankly, it doesn't get much funnier than Alex Trebek repeatedly asking questions involving Uranus. Like this:



Anyway. I still think it's hysterical. HYSTERICAL. Sorry. Somthing else funny to me? Heidi Montag. Those boobs are ridiculous. I mean, I have NO boobs, and have often contemplated implants. But those? Wow. Not sure how the girl stays balanced. And I won't even get into the rest of her plastic surgery. Yikes.This just cracks me up, thought:

And, while I'm at it, let me just state that I hate people who are famous for no reason. I mean, I think I deserve to be famous, too. I would like all the benefits of celebrity. Why would a reality show about me be any less interesting than one about Heidi and Spencer? Okay, maybe don't answer that.

Some days require more alcohol than others...

This day has really not gotten off to the best start. Let's see. Alarm was set for 5:30am so I could get to my boot camp class. However, when said alarm went off, I was in A's bed, so she also woke up, and I was unable to sneak out. Cue one more hour of sleep for me, at which point I did sneak out for a quick 2 mile run. (And it was so cold this morning! WTF??). Okay, back to the house at 7. Quick shower, no time for shampoo. Standing in the bathroom, blow-drying the sweat out of my hair, A appears at the bathroom door, in tears. Tears because I was drying my (sweaty) hair and was not immediately available to turn off her nightlight & sound machine and open up her blinds and curtains. We may be the teensiest bit OCD. So, off to a bad start today, in many ways.
The day has continued to be a  challenge. I picked up my happy daughter after preschool today, but the mood quickly turned sour and led to yet another meltdown. I mean, I feel like I really need to get to the bottom of whatever is going on with her lately. I feel like it's constant battles, power-struggles, and general difficulties. When I talk about meltdowns, I mean nuclear. Hard-core. Screaming, kicking, sometimes hitting. It's frustrating, enfuriating, humorous, and pitiful, all at the same time. I want so badly to be able to help her through such emotional turmoil, but I often feel manipulated. I know that any anger I show only serves to make things worse, so I work extremely hard to maintain my cool. Very difficult task.I know we'll all get through this, but I just want to get to the source of all this emotion. Aargh.
Our other problem right now is nighttime. As mentioned above, I often find myself in A's bed. She  goes to sleep just fine at night. But nearly every night, she awakens, and says that she had a bad dream. Well, I'm a sucker for a scared little kid, so I always go in and lay down in her bed with her. Of course, this is also the easy option, as it means we all get to go right back to sleep. This would be fine if it were an occassional occurrence. However, every night is absurd. I mean, I am supposed to sleep in my own bed, with my husband, and that's just the way it goes. So, I told A this morning that starting tonight, if she gets scared, I will come in, comfort her, hug her, etc, but I will go back to my room. Uhhh, yeah, That didn't go over so well. So, stay tuned for a report on how that goes. In the meantime, I'm going to go take a large dose of Xanax and try to relax.

Perhaps I SHOULD be this tired....

Wow. I never truly realized how active boys are! When A turned one, we gave her one of those Pottery Barn Kids anywhere chairs. She loved it. She would climb in and chill with a little Baby Einstein so Mommy could make dinner. She sometimes even sat and played with a single toy for a full five minutes. D, on the other hand, has NO interest in TV. I know, I know. There will come a day when I have to tell him, "no, you may not watch another show," but for now, I would love to get him to sit quietly for just a few minutes. That boy is on the go all the time. No wonder he's so exhausted by 6:30 every night!

Since A no longer naps, she will occassionally get a little tired at the end of the day. Here they both are, following A's ballet class a couple of weeks ago:

Normally, I am not so fond of letting my  4-year-old sleep during the day, but sometimes, the peace and quiet that is the result of 2 sleeping children is just too much to resist. As all moms know, the craziest time of day begins around 5pm, so to have just a few moments of zen before that starts is like a little slice of heaven.

Somthing funny to mention before I sign off: My sweet daughter is, shall we say, mildly tantrum-prone? Okay, midly  may be putting it quite lightly. Let's just say that maybe she never fully outgrew her colic. The girl has a temper, and (yeah, I'll admit it), she might be just a wee bit spoiled. Anyway. Tantrums seem to come in waves, and last week was a week o' meltdowns. Funny things come out of her mouth during these moments, though. Some highlights from last week include, "I'm not having a tantrum! I'm MISERABLE!!" Also worthy of mention was (when her daddy was trying to reason with her), "I really just need to have little talk with Mommy. That will make me feel much more better!" I think at one point she also mentioned that she would not live at our house anymore.

I'm learning a lot about patience and my own temper (me??) in all of this. Remaining calm truly is helpful to all. And, we're really having to work on this whole spoiled first child thing. I swear, A should be planning to go to law school. The girl is super-persuasive, and it's hard to say no. We're getting there, though. It's a slow process.

So, between a 1-year-old boy who only stops when he sleeps, and a 4 1/2 year old drama queen, this Mommy is pretty wiped out by the end of most days. Oh, and did I mention that I've taken up running and a boot camp exercise class? Riiigght. Busy & tired. But good. Very good.

A

How is it possible?

Since my last post, my baby boy has turned 1. All last week, I just kept thinking, "this time last year, I couldn't wait for you to get here. This time last year, I was going to the doctor to learn that I would be induced. This time last year, I was bringing you home for the first time." Seriously, it has been the best year, and I wouldn't change a minute of it. I love seeing that bright, smiling face in the morning, and seeing his eyes light up at the sound of his sister laughing. I love the boy-ness of him, his curiosity, the fact that he is constantly on the go. And I love seeing that little personality emerge more and more every day. I always worried that there would be no way I could love a second baby as much as I love my first, but those worries have proven silly, and I have learned that I have more than enough love to go around.

So, Happy Birthday, sweet boy. I love you.

April 2, 2009:

And, one year later....