the most evil cart invented

Once upon a time, I thought it would be fun to put my kids in one of these:

I thought that this would fix all my grocery shopping problems: Shepherd would be strapped in, no jumping out of the basket, both kids would be entertained, everybody would be happy.

Boy was I wrong.

Sure, they love the "steewing wheel!!!!" cart, but that's it. Five minutes of excitement, and it's game over. There is hairpulling, Shepherd's elbow in Zoey's ear, he's steering her wheel with his hands while simultaneously steering his wheel with his feet. Poor Zoey has one square inch of room in the seat while trying to push 34 lbs. of big brother off her tiny body. I'm fending off stares, trying to pick out produce, and give polite nods and smiles when onlookers say, "Gee you really have your hands full!!" (No kidding, Mr. Obvious?)

The last time this happened, I left the store with $200 worth of groceries and very little idea of what I bought. And I'm not sure I can ever take my kids back... not until they are both 3 and potty-trained--when they can hang out in the store's daycare while I take my sweet time.

Until then, I need to find another way to balance these two wild things while making my big grocery trip of the week. It's always something!

this is what i imagined when i thought about having kids

perfection.

a salute to the 2 best Dads i know.

This article by sports blogger Jeff Pearlman about mentally-absent fathers has been quickly circulating both my facebook and twitter feeds this morning.

For a quick recap, Pearlman is a stay-at-home-dad who is pleading with the uninvolved fathers of the world to look beyond themselves and get involved if they aren't already. After I read his "10 Commandments of Righteous Fatherhood," I realized I had nothing to be worried about.

I'll skip #1 (no golf on weekends), because we all need a little alone time, and if it's golf, so be it. Sometimes I skip out on a weekend morning to go shopping, and that leads us to #6 (order the wife to bug off), where we each get our alone time with the kids. Everybody wins!

The most important one of the list is #2. Wake up with the kids. We've been alternating days of sleeping in on the weekends since I was pregnant with Zoey, and it has been the lifesaver of our relationship. He sleeps in on Saturdays, and I get Sundays, and we don't have to discuss it unless we're out of town somewhere or we have an outing planned. Rest is important, especially since we have early risers and he has such a crazy commute! The third one of the list? Change diapers. Why stop there? Clean up vomit, spitup, diarrhea, the works. When we had to live with my parents in the middle of our crazy move, even the kids' grandpa changed their diapers. While we're cleaning (#8), let's do the dishes. Husband does the dishes at least 3x a week. I hate dishes. It's starting to sound like I don't do anything, isn't it? ;)

Onto my Dad... I wouldn't be where I am without him, and #s 4,5, and 9 really stood out to me as things that pertained to him. I remember my Dad letting me play hairstylist with him when I was younger--putting clips and pretty barrettes all over his hair. He might seem tough, but he also will sit and watch Legally Blonde or Bridget Jones' Diary too. AND he danced at my wedding, and I know for sure he didn't want to dance! One of my favorite childhood memories is being awoken in the middle of the night to watch meteor showers on our back patio, and I hope to make some special memories with our kids too.

So, to two of the best Dads I know, Happy Father's Day. If you've recently or not recently lost your Dad or Grandfather (like my husband), I hope you find comfort in family this weekend.

summer bucket list

I decided to join a link up with Jillian at cornflake dreams today... It was such a great idea, I couldn't resist.  To be fair, I originally saw the idea at Long Distance Loving ... just to give everyone her credit. ;)

Mine is short & sweet (and not nearly as cute as some others!):

1. Get pictures framed & up on the walls already!
2. Hit up the farmer's market.
3. Work out more.
4. More evening playtimes.
5. Watch the fireworks.
6. Take the kiddies to a minor league ballgame (this will take some finagling with the husband, but I think it can be done).
7. Go to a spray park.
8. Spend a week in IN (easy, because I already know I'm doing this one!)
9. Train for a 5k.

Just 9 for me, but I think I can do this!

summertime fun

I just want to post this quick video tonight. I have been pretty busy this past week: trying to keep up with housework & laundry is a neverending task, and it seems like my kids have more clothes than I've had in my lifetime! I can't help it, it seems like buying clothes for them is an addiction for me. ;) 

We've been spending as much time as possible outside, and Zoey discovered Shepherd's tee-ball set. She is surprisingly talented at it, especially since she doesn't even meet the age requirements yet. Big brother loves to help, and if you listen closely to the audio, you can hear him say, "Shepherd helped!" multiple times. 

P.S. You may notice the new button I have on the top right of my sidebar. I grabbed the code from A Bunch of Momsense and you can too. Lauren Spierer was last seen on June 3, early in the morning coming home from a sports bar at Indiana University. I went to Purdue University (IU's rival), and grew up about 45 minutes away from IU. Every little bit of publicity helps, so please help spread the word!

i'm the luckiest woman alive.

 look at all this happy:

he's a water baby

she's a daddy's girl

he's a ham

she has no fear

they're besties.

I love them. And I especially love summer. I also like to think of today as my defining moment as a mother, because "Ice, Ice Baby" was playing on the radio (yeah, so what?!) and Shepherd started singing along. All night long he was walking around saying, "Ice ice baby! Shepherd make Mommy laugh! Shepherd's funny!"

Ooooh, yeah you are, buddy. You made me laugh at the end of a long, hard day, and now everyone knows what kind of radio station I listen to. At least it wasn't Ke$ha. ;)

occupational therapy: 2 steps forward, 1 step back

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but Zoey has been seeing an occupational therapist since she was 9 months old. For a quick summary: she was diagnosed with acid reflux at 6 weeks, chronic constipation soon after, never really burped after meals, and never took to eating baby food. It was always a struggle--the OT thinks it is probably because she had medicines coming at her mouth as long as she could remember, and it was never a good feeling.

Through much work with textures, flavors, and fun play, we have finally gotten her to eat certain foods, but still not a lot of the "common" 18 month old foods. Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly proud of her progress, but it is so disappointing to have to bust out her snack bags at a playdate, full of her comforting carbs, and go through the full explanation that she has tactile sensitivity and just touching a mushy cooked noodle is enough to make her gag and run away.

We do so much with her therapist, and I feel like the activity of playing with dry and cooked noodles yesterday really worked her too hard. It is so difficult to know--am I pushing her to the right limit, where this will help & improve things? Or is this pushing over the line where she will regress and be scared at not only the touch, but the sight as well?

Summer is here, and I'd love to see my little Bear eating watermelon, berries, and Rita's so let's hope the 2 steps forward gets us to one of those goals!

back from vacation

I've been on mommy-cation in San Francisco. You read that right: I went alone. All by myself--no kids, no husband, no nothing.

The point of the trip was to go visit one of my oldest, dearest friends who is now a teacher at a private school in the city. I stayed with her for 4 1/2 days, and we had an amazing time. She showed me EVERYTHING. The entire city, plus more. We biked across the Golden Gate Bridge, into Sausalito, saw the sea lions at Pier 39, went to In-N-Out Burger, drove down Lombard St., drove on some of Hwy. 1, went to Haight/Ashbury, and so much more.

I missed the kids so much though, and I found myself taking pictures of things like this:

They were always on my mind, and the reaction they had when we met at the airport curb on Wednesday was PRICELESS. They both wanted to hold my hand the whole car ride home.

I have found that a lot of people have asked why I went alone, and the answer is simple: I have a husband who is incredibly generous and recognizes that sometimes even moms need a break. And a quick, long weekend trip to see a friend can be just what a girl needs.

We've been going nonstop lately, and I think things just might slow down soon, so I hope to start updating a bit more frequently. I feel like my babies are growing up to be big kids a little too fast, and I don't want to miss anything.