do you really need that?

They say kids say the darnest things. And it's true...they really do.

I was lucky enough to have the day off on Monday and of course, I spent it with my little man. He was excited to have some QT time with mommy as was I with him. After spending some time at Chuck E Cheese and having lunch, we decided to head over to the Dollar Store since I needed to pick up some essentials...

My son's new thing is throwing unnecessary items into the basket or cart when we're shopping. So he was up to his usual behavior as soon as we walked into the store.

"Don't just throw things into the basket, Dylan."

He still continues to put random items in the basket so I finally say, "Okay, these are things that we don't need so let's not put things that we don't need into the basket."

This is something that we are trying to teach him when we go shopping - our needs vs. wants.

He puts what he was holding back down, looks at me {with a little smirk on his face} and says, "But Mommy, you put chips in there. Do you NEED chips???"

I swear, this kid is too smart for his own good.

who's the father?

My son is in preschool part time so on his off days, he spends a lot of his time with my mom. She always says, "Kids are like sponges." And boy, is she right.

The other day during his nighttime prayer he said: "Dear God, please bless my mommy and daddy. And the other daddy. And the other daddy."


(Hmm??)


Immediately confused, I said: "What other daddy??"
My boyfriend said: "Yeah, who are you talking about?"


We let the moment pass and let him finish his prayer. Then he gets up and says to his daddy, "You are NOT the father!!"


Still confused, I said: "What are you talking about?" Suddenly, it dawns on me! My mom has been watching TOO much of Maury Povich around him! 


I could not. stop. laughing.


Thanks, Maury!!

and just like that.

My honey was in Vegas over the weekend with his boys.
So it was just me and my little man.
I tend to get a little jealous when he goes out and has a good time...without me.
I know, it's selfish of me.
He deserves to have fun. 
He works hard to provide for our little family.
So why be a brat about it?
Well I was.
And during a phone conversation with him while he was on the road to Vegas, I showed my bratty attitude...and annoyance.


I got off the phone with him...
And right away, my son sensed my frustration.


He looked up at me,
And in the sweetest and softest voice ever,
The kind that makes you melt and fall in love with him,
He said, "What's the matter, sweetie?"


And just like that.
I was over it.

say what!?

Mommy. 

I absolutely love the sound of it. I love it so much that when I hear my son say it, I often ask him to repeat what he said just so I could hear it again. I am a Mommy. Well, until the other day at least.

Me: Dylan, come here please.

Dylan: Yes, Mom.

Me: {WTH! MOM???} It's Mommy. You call me Mommy, ok.

Dylan: Ok.

conversation continues for a minute or two...

Me: Ok, can you please go pick up your toys from the floor?

Dylan: Ok, MOM!

three in a bed??

"My biggest fear is that my son will sleep in the bed with us forever!"


These are the words my cousin said last night about her son. He's 9 months old and has never taken to sleeping in the crib so he sleeps with her and the hubby. She loves it and honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I understand where she's coming from, because I am guilty of the situation myself. 

Yes, my 2-year old son sleeps with us.
Sometimes in the middle...
Sometimes on the side of the wall where the bed lies against...
Sometimes on top of us...
Sometimes with his whole body on top of all the pillows.


Before I had my son and before I was even pregnant I always told myself, "My child will never sleep in the bed!" Never say never, right?? Yeah that bit me in the butt really hard.


My son has been in the bed with us since he was 9 months old. Up until that point, he was sleeping in his crib. No problems, no waking up in the middle of the night...it was a breeze. Then he got sick. It was the most sick he'd ever been. I couldn't bear to let him sleep all by himself. He was miserable and not my usually happy son. He wanted Mommy and I wanted to cuddle him and make him feel better. So I brought him in the bed with us. I told myself, "It's only for a few days...just until he gets better."


Sure enough, he was better after several days. Okay baby boy, back into your crib! Sounds easy, right? No way...little man had plans of his own. He woke up in the middle of the night, crying his little eyes out. We'd put him back to sleep and lay him back into his crib, only to wake up to him crying again after 30 minutes or so. This routine went on for a few days before we decided to just bring him in the bed with us. The cry-it-out method didn't work for us and we weren't about to try it again. With early mornings and work days, the whole process of him waking up in the middle of the night was just exhausting. 


One thing I've learned with motherhood is that it's very unpredictable. I wouldn't have predicted that my son would be sleeping in the same bed as us, even at his age. It's worked out fine for us. We honestly love sleeping with our son in the bed. Although it has gotten in the way of "cuddle time" with each other, I believe it's a wonderful bonding time. How can you not love cuddling with your whole family? With him growing so fast, it has gotten very cramped in the bed so we're going to need to transition him very soon. We've introduced the idea of getting him his own bed and surprisingly, he's taken in the idea. 

"I want a Thomas Bed!"

Getting him out of our bed isn't going to be an easy task, but we're up for the challenge. I know everyone has their own opinion about co-sleeping with a baby, or in my case, a toddler. I know people who've done it with their children and their kids are perfectly fine in their own beds now. I've even had people say "Oh you shouldn't do that...they'll NEVER leave your bed."


Psh! Never say never, right? ;)

inspiring

I had never read up on the Jaycee Dugard story, but only knew of it through some news snippets here and there.  I watched her Diane Sawyer interview from last night just this morning and was completely blown away by her story. For her to even come out and tell her story and to even write a book was amazing to me. I can't even begin to imagine what she went through. Also, as a mother, I can't imagine what her own mother went through. What's inspiring to me is that she's living her life today to the fullest and isn't letting what happened to her define who she is.


If you missed it, click here


...will definitely be picking this up to read!

saved by the...cheese?

A few weeks ago, I blogged about my son's meltdown moment. Yesterday, I had my OWN mommy meltdown moment. 


I had just lugged three bags of laundry to the car...with my son running around and not listening to a word I was saying. 


"Please get in the car now." {nope}


I finally got him in the car and reached into his backpack, which I had temporarily used for my own personal belongings, to grab my cell phone. I pull it out and there's juice all over it. Grape juice. Not only did it get all over my phone, but it got all over my wallet and his pull-ups. 


Anger starts building up. 


I take them all out in an attempt to dry my phone AND the bottom of the backpack with the only napkins I could find in the car. After doing that I start to put everything back in the backpack when I notice MORE juice had somehow dripped onto my seat. 


Enter a flood of curse words.


I'm freaking out now. OMG, grape juice on my car seat! I quickly run back inside the house to grab a wet towel and furiously dabbed at the darn stain...hoping it'll go away. 


Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. 


Before heading to the laundromat, I pick up my sister from her apartment. She gets into the car, hands me a snack size Tillamook cheese, and all of a sudden, I'm feeling much better about what had just happened. My unlucky turn of events was saved by these bad boys:

FYI: the seat and phone are in fabulous condition. oh, and so am I.