Marathon trip to Oklahoma!

First off...I had every intention of packing my best outfits for our trip to Oklahoma with the hopes of running smack into Blake Shelton...

Spoiler Alert: That did not happen.

In reality, we were there for a much more important reason. Our, one and only, cousin (yes, I really only have ONE cousin) was getting married to her main squeeze, Chad. After Chad popped the question, it only took Meg a few weeks to ask us if they could have Griffin be a part of their special day. My first thought was, well duh....of course! But after discussing the whole situation with the quick trip, plane flights (now that he's two....almost 3!), and realizing we could possibly have a kid-free weekend (that's so selfish, right??) we ended up declining the offer.

Not that he wouldn't have looked amaze-balls in a mini-tux.

So we set up plans for Nana to watch the boys here in Georgia (Thanks Nana!) and on Friday morning, we were Oklahoma bound!

As much as I love spending every waking moment with my boys (said with sickly amounts of sarcasm) it was nice getting dolled up 2 nights in a row without having to sacrifice some form of the "getting ready" process. I even enjoyed cocktails while getting ready...which was pretty simple being that my parents brought their "home-away-from-home" bar they practically keep packed in their car when they travel.

I even managed to fit my cowboy boots on my carry-on!

I didn't even own a pair of cowboy boots up until about 6 months ago. But I am obsessed with them and look for every single chance to wear them...which with the summer heat in Georgia and my flip-flop-wearing Florida girl self...it has been a grand total of 2 times. But we were in Oklahoma. So I did as the Oklahom-ians do.

Here are a few pictures from the wedding...

Yes...I did the Pinterest "sock bun" for my wedding hair. The actual process of it seems simple. But I NEVER do my own hair, unless I am blow drying and flat ironing it, so I realized, in that very moment, what every hair dresser has dealt with for every up-do I've ever had done in my life. I've always heard them say "what am I going to do with this piece of hair?" "You have SO much hair!!" "I just need a place to put this bunch of hair." So the whole cutting the sock, putting your hair in a pony, sliding the sock on, and making the bun is easy. It's what you manage to do with the rest of the hair sticking out that was my problem. Nothing a hundred few bobby pins and a half a bottle of hair spray couldn't fix!

Any QT spent with my sister is A-OK in my book!

I need to give a small shout-out to my Sis and Brother-In-Law...they have made some serious lifestyle changes over the past couple of months and they are looking more and more FABULOSO as each day passes! I've told you both a bajillion times...but I'm super proud of you!

Never can say enough good things about these two. My parents are amazing and made this weekend happen for us! Thank you Mom and Dad for an AWESOME time!!

Megan and Chad <3

Meg and I...only 6 months apart!

For realz...she's our ONLY cousin.

Happy to have been able to spend such a special weekend with our family. We missed the boys so much. As soon as I came home I wanted to go up to Brady's room, pick him up, and rock him. But then I stopped thinking like a crazy person.

We made up for lost snuggles today.

Congratulation to Megan and Chad...we love you guys!!

"No sense of emergency"-room Visit #2 for G

So there we were...on Saturday morning... I was dicing olives for my 7 layer mexican dip to take to the baby shower I was hosting that night when I hear Griffin fall off of his tiny blue plastic chair...followed by his "hurt cry." All you Mama's know the difference between a "I'm whining cry because I bruised my knee a little bit" and a "I'm screaming bloody murder cry because, well, in this case, I just split my chin open."

When I kneeled down to check out the damage Griffin was holding his mouth. As I put my hand under his chin to tilt his head up, I knew it was bad when blood ran down my own hand. Oye. Queasy and a whole bunch of "Oh S#@$'s" came out of my mouth and that's when Bri ran in...saved the day with his paper towel and applied pressure. I was still looking at the blood on my hands thinking, "there is no way we aren't going to the ER today."

You see...we are split chin connoisseurs...Griff managed to split his chin open when he was just under a year old. We took him to the ER then, b/c duh...we were new parents and we saw blood. Turns out he just needed a little glue (like he was a broken toy) and off we went.

As soon as I pulled myself together and looked at the cut, I immediately could tell this was twice as big....twice as deep.

So before I knew it, Bri was coming downstairs fully dressed with a Brady in his arms (poor baby JUST laid down for his morning nap) when I thought, "Crap...I need to put a bra on." So I hurried, got decent, and we rushed to the car. Bri is putting Griff in and I see the blood going all over his car seat and I'm thinking "Ugh...I JUST cleaned that car seat cover." Oh c'mon...ya'll know what a pain those are to take apart!!

Our neighbor....our AMAZING neighbor...came thru in the clutch and took Brady for us so we didn't have to drag him to the hospital. No...it wasn't even an option for us for just one of us to go.

The ER usually takes children and their injuries pretty seriously. We got back to a room right away. Within about 10-15 minutes we had seen a doctor and she had confirmed that he would most definitely need stitches. After that, we waited FOREVER for him to be numbed. They used a topical numbing solution, which by the way, if you are ever in this situation...request a shot! Short term pain for a long term gain. You guessed it...by the 2nd stitch G was screaming saying that it hurt. He was fidgeting and the doctor said, you need to stop kicking Griffin...as if he was some sort of adult. I was about to get all Mama Bear on her ass.

He was re-numbed and we were able to finish the 3 other stitches with little to no problems.

FOUR HOURS! 4 hours in that ER....Thank goodness for great friends! I was running so far behind in the day, I needed my grocery list finished off before the baby shower started.

Things like split chins ONLY happen on the days you have some big event.

Here are pictures from our lovely morning/afternoon spent in the ER... Beware...the sliced chin is a little gross. I love that when I texted my best friend (the one whose shower I was hosting) that I wasn't going to send her the picture b/c it would make her nauseous, she responds, "No...just do it. Send it. I can handle it." *Love her*

The pic I took before we left the house.

Waiting patiently...the cartoons helped!

 Waiting for the numbing solution to kick in!

LP makes these situations a little better :-)

And Kindles...

Oh, and popsicles...

 The final product!

Lastly.....

#toddlerproblems

I've been wanting to post on this for a LONG time...but it seems that I am too busy dealing with my crazy, stubborn, too-smart-for-his-own-good-which results in being a bad thing, impatient, mean, attitude-y (I'm so flustered I'm making up words now), toddler to even have one single second to rage my frustrations.

Before I begin, it helps that I have talked to both friends....and complete strangers (b/c I will vent my toddler frustrations on just about anyone who will listen) and they have all told me that they are either 1. having the same issues with their own child or 2. they are past that point and tell me "Not to worry, it really is just a phase."

Side note: there are also the parents that are just one step ahead of me and tell me, and I quote, "Don't worry...3 is MUCH worse." << And even this somehow makes me feel better... like I am on some sort of Mommy level playing field and it's not just my kid.

Of course, I am my toughest critic. I am constantly asking myself, "Am I disciplining him right?" "Am I being consistent?" "Am I being too hard on him?" "Should I pop him on the tush for that?" "Is time out really working?" The list of questions is endless....

I take into account what my friends do with their kids...then usually push that to the wayside b/c there isn't a single child I know that is just like Griffin, therefore, I can't discipline the same.

I was texting a friend the other day and told her that I am SHOCKED that there are days that Bri feels comfortable leaving the 2 of us alone together all day long. I'm pretty sure he's expecting to come home one day and see Griffin tied to a tree in the backyard.

Some of the things I say to Griffin EVERYDAY:

"Stop saying Mommy...I just answered you 5 Mommy's ago..."
"Get off your brother."
"You're going too fast...you are going to run over Brady."
"No you can't have fruit snacks in the morning."
"Stop climbing on your brother while he's drinking his bottle."
"Color on the paper...not the table."
"Don't throw that at me when I'm not looking."
"Get in the corner."
"Be careful, son."

A few discovery's I have made from raising this little human:

- Yelling is a horrible disciplining technique. Unless they are in danger, it's best not to raise your voice. They will most likely laugh in your face. At least mine does....and it scares the baby.

- Time out for Griffin was fun for him until I turned "Get into time out!!" into "Put your nose in the corner!!" He hates that corner. Probably b/c it has cobwebs.

- I have 2 phrases that work 99.9% of the time...especially in public... "That is not an option" and "This is not up for discussion." It sounds advanced. He may not even know what the words mean. But when I say one, or both, of those...he knows I mean biniz...

- It is physically impossible to hold a grudge with your toddler. The other day, Griffin busted into Brady's room (without me knowing) after B had only been asleep for 45 minutes. I don't think I have ever been so mad at my child...you just don't MESS with nap time. After he spent more than enough time in the corner, he was over it...I, of course, was still fuming..... I just wanted to be like, "DON'T YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU DID?!?" But it's just another lesson learned for them.

At the end of the day, I just want him to be a good kid. I want him to be respectful and kind and gentle with other peoples feelings. I also want him to throw touchdown passes and hit home runs...but thankfully he got his Daddy's genes for that ;-) I just hope this "phase" makes us both stronger for enduring each other...b/c I'm sure there are days he doesn't like to be around me as much as I don't like to be around him!

BG is 8 Months Old!

It's October 1st 2nd...which means I am officially behind on posting. If you had asked me a few months ago how staying home with 2 wee ones is, I would've said that it's a lot like staying home with just one! As I sit here, guzzling down my second cup of coffee, I'm laughing at that former statement.

I'll start with stats...b/c if another day passes, I will forget them....

B-rad turned 8 Months Old on September 23rd! He is still as freakin' cute as can be....

He's about 22 pounds of chubby goodness. Wearing all 12 month clothes...and I tread lightly when I say all 12 month clothes. B/c if I had 18 months jammies unpacked, he'd be wearing those. You know those times when you have to have your hubby, friend, Mom, etc, etc, zip up a dress that you know fit last month, but you have to hold together the sides all while screaming "Don't zip my skin....don't zip my skin!!"?? Well...that's kindof how  feel when I'm trying to zip footie jammies over B's chubba-licious thighs.

He went from having 2 teeth to 5 teeth in ONE week. He mouths EVERYTHING...and I know it's a baby thing, but Griffin never put anything in his mouth, so it kindof grosses me out. We officially stopped all purees and his meals usually consist of veggies, cheese, small pieces of meat, and cut up fruit....and cheerios. Always cheerios. And he feeds himself! Which amazes me. I'm not sure when Griff started picking up food himself...but it most definitely wasn't this early.

One bad thing about the 2nd baby doing things faster?? My kid has officially started weaning himself off of his morning nap....ALREADY!!! This topic could seriously bring me to tears...not really...I'm being overly-dramatic about this...but I REALLY enjoy my time with Griffin when Brady naps. Especially since I have set their schedule to take their afternoon nap at the same time so I can take a nap tackle my to-do list. Griffin and I spend this time reading books, playing baseball outside, coloring, doing some pre-pre-K learning activities, etc.... I've been spending this time with him since Brady was a newborn, so another adjustment is about to ensue! For now, I'm still trying to squeeze a little nap out of Brady, but he is fighting back like Mike Tyson...minus the whole ear biting thing.

B has officially started his own little vocabulary. He can say Dada, Mama, and Ba...which we *think* means bottle, sometimes I think it's his word for Griffin. Either way...it's ADORABLE! Brian spends a lot of time with him in front of our picture frames around the house asking him to point out "Mama" and "Dada" and "Griffin." Only problem is, when he's sitting in his high chair or in the playroom and we ask, "Brady...where's Mama??" He looks for the nearest picture frame and not for me. So it needs some work.

Brady hasn't quite started standing on his own yet. Save that heart attack for another month. He gets around quite nicely. Although, Griffin thinks that now that Brady is mobile he can do all the things that Griffin can do....like throw a baseball. Which usually ends up with a baseball (soft, of course) getting thrown at B's head. I don't think Brady minds so much. After all, he spends most of the day trying to get Griffin's attention. Crawling on him, taking his toys, touching his face when G gets close enough. No one can make Brady smile quite like Griffin can. It makes the rough days worth it.