Facing Fears

Some people are scared of spiders and snakes, I'm terrified of Zumba. Yes, Zumba the dance workout. The entire idea is a billion miles out of my comfort zone.  I'm missing a key element for dancing....rhythm.  My rhythm is so bad I can't even spell rhythm. Spell check had to take 10 tries to figure out what I was trying to say. I also fear embarrassing myself in public.  So, Zumba is the perfect set up for a panic attack.

Fast forward to yesterday. We joined the ymca and I figured I would try out a fitness class. Standing in the back I ask what class I've joined, really should do that prior to joining next time, and hear I'm in EXhilarate.....Zumba with hip hop instead of Latin music.  I tell this poor stranger, "well that's terrifying, I think I better go".  I'm not sure why I don't make friends with that sort if awkward appeal oozing from my mouth. 

She is chipper and alll, "just stay it's fun...blah blah".  Apparently my need to people please outweighs my fear of dancing in public.....or I didn't want to look like a giant pansy running out of a Zumba class full of ladies, many of them my senior by a good margin.

So here I was, facing fears, starting 2015 accidentally kicking butt and taking names.

I can just thank my lucky stars no one tapes these classes.  There was more booty shaking in that hour than my entire life combined. And guess what......I had a blast. 

Once I realized no one in that room, except for the instructor, had any sort of rhythm or idea what they were doing, I decided to throw caution to the wind and get down with my bad self. It's like singing in church, no matter how bad you are you sing loud and proud because you're praising the lord......when you're in Zumba you go wild and booty shake like only ever done when you're drunk, because you're working out.

Before this episode I also thought of myself as a decently fit person.  I've been running and can bang out 3-4 miles no problem. I've never had to take so many water breaks in 1 hour in my life....and I ran a half marathon. The sweat was so bad it looked like I just got out if the shower. Some poor woman was being so kind and told me as I was walking out of the building, "I just love your hair, wash and go styles are the best".  I didn't have the heart to tell her it was a sweat and go style.

So 2015, first lesson learned. Get out of my comfort zone and it may be fun. The women were all so friendly and it was a ton of fun. There were definitely a lot of moments where I just jumped around trying to figure out what the hell I was doing, but I'm looking forward to next week and perfecting my booty shake.

PS Turns out I don't have any pictures of myself on my phone, so I leave you with this.....you're welcome.....

Sleep studies by a 3 year old

3 year old: "Mommy, I'm tired but if I sleep I can't see anything.  It's hard to sleep when I can't see."

Me: my usual blank stare, then pull some bs out of my butt....."we will go on adventures tomorrow & there will be lots to see, but you have to sleep and rest first"

Told you, complete bs.  I did start calling everything an adventure early, so Zach is no Lewis and Clark.  An adventure to Zach is going to the grocery store and getting to walk down the toy aisle.  It's either evil or genuis, I'm not sure which one. 

One man says buying stamps & mailing bills, another says adventure.  Clearly the one who says adventure is one of my children & needs to visit a therapist for this & a whole lot of other weird issues.

10 months old

Hi, remember me?  Remember when I was confident & all, '2 kids, I got this'.....hahahaha.....feel free to join in laughing. 

I'm back, finally, to give this blog neglected second child an update. I seriously have no idea how my mom has any pictures of my little brother, the 4th child, in a time without camera phones.

Ok, Oliver.

10 months old & still growing at an alarming pace. His weight is 22 lbs and height was 30" last month at his checkup.  He dropped to 87% for weight & jumped to 97% for height.

We just transitioned to 18 month clothes & he's been in size 4 diapers for sometime.

This last month has been big on moving milestones. He crawls, pulls himself up, cruises furniture, jumps in his crib, and now stands for a few seconds on his own. His first steps aren't far behind.

He is still the happiest baby ever. He's all smiles & laughs, unless he's hungry.

He eats everything....except baby food from a spoon. He'll still take pouches of food, but mostly eats finger foods.  He likes all food. He has 3 meals & 1 snack.  He still takes 2 bottles & formula in a sipppy cup at breakfast. He also drinks water.

He is a terrible sleeper.  You can't have it all.  He's an excellent day napper & a terrible night sleeper.  He's been getting up for an hour or 2 at night. He gets super excited & wants to play at 2am.  He sleeps through the night just enough to know he can, he just chooses not to. 

Chomper has 3 teeth.  2 bottom & 1 i tooth on the top.  It looks like the other i tooth is coming in, so he'll look like vampire baby in no time.

The only thing he loves more than eating is his brother.  He now wants whatever toy Zach is playing with. He wants to be touching Zach at all times....this, as you can imagine, is a problem for the 3 year old. 

Ollie is just a cute happy guy. His hair keeps coming in blonder & his eyes keep getting bluer. 

He waves (usually 2 minutes too late), claps his hands, loves to pretend cough, & says mama, Dada & what sounds like hi.  He signs more, but we're pretty sure he has no idea what it means still. 

We're blessed beyond belief with these little guys....even if they give me all the gray hairs.

First skate

It was a big day for Zach....well, as big as days can get for a 3 year old when it'd not Christmas or his birthday. 

Zach went ice skating for the first time last night and it was equal parts hilarious and weirdly emotional.  I mean my baby isn't a baby anymore. He was ice skating, without me, such a little man. It just seemed like such a big kid activity and I'm clearly feeling hormonal.

Don't fret, I was not feeling this lovey dovey towards my toddler as he was yelling and refusing to put his skates on.  I did what all defeated mom's do and I bribed the crap out of him.  If he put on his skates, then we could walk over and check out the race car game.....if he stood in the circle with everybody, then we can ride the toy car on the way out.....then swooped in an angel in ice skates. She was a peppy 20 year old who conveniently looked like queen Elsa from Frozen and has clearly taught classes of the uncooperative beasts known as toddlers.

To get him in the ice she let him color on it with special ice markers (who knew there was such a thing?) And then slowly had him up pushing a bucket around and walking on his skates.  There were a few tears, but when it was time to go I got, "no mommy I'm ice skating....I like skating ". 

Considering I didn't think I'd even get his skates on, it's a small miracle he took a few steps out on the ice by himself.  There were definitely a few moments I was really glad it was a free trial thing and I didn't waste money since it looked like we were going to leave screaming. 

Another fun fact, I don't know how to tie ice skates properly.

I doubt Zach will be the next (insert famous hockey player/inserts skater here) but we may have found something to wear him out during the winter.

Just call me Indiana Jones

Do you ever have moments when you're by yourself but stop for a second just to think, "it's a good thing no one can see me right now"?

I have many crazy, ridiculous moments like that...dance parties, singing all the Disney songs, the conversations/bargains that happen to get Zach to do anything....but by far one of the funniest things has to be watching someone try to set a baby down without waking the child up.

I firmly believe no one can do this gracefully, but everyone who has attempted has done so with the concentration as if they were handling a nuclear bomb....because, well, it's a fair comparison.

It is truly a feat that rivals Indian Jones moves in the Temple of Doom movie. You move carefully, not to make a misstep...then find something that can pass as your arm to put the baby against....slowly place the package (almost lose your balance)....keep one hand on the treasure to ensure success then back away slowly to do your victory dance....which wakes up the baby...DAMN!

I would like the putting down babies YouTube channel.  It would be like my very own America's Funniest Home videos, sad pathetic mom edition. 

3 years old

My baby is 3.  And now I understand why my sister in law cries every year when her kids blow out their birthday candles.  I took turning 30 in stride (probably because I was drinking on the beaches of Mexico), but somehow my little guy turning preschool age has me all sorts of emotional.  Becoming a mom has made me weird, well weirder than I was.

Oh Zach. He is all boy. If there is dirt to dig or rocks to explore he will find it. His favorite things to do are go to the library and go hiking....this will be an interesting combination through the years I'm sure.  He asks almost everyday if it is time to harvest. Farming and tractors may always be his first love.

Currently trains, specifically Thomas the Train, are the bees knees. We have trains everywhere. Train bedding on his big boy twin bed, train movies, train toys, and as a special birthday surprise from Nana & Papa, we got to ride the real Thomas. 

The kid is hilarious. He never stops talking and has some gems come out if that loud mouth. He likes to ask (with a giant ornery smile), "Are you tricking me?!".  We have been also getting, "hey mommy/daddy.....I love you."  He lik3s to talk to strangers in restaurants.   He will just turn around and start yelling, 'hi, I'm zach, I'm eating pizza".  His favorite phrase is, "Oliver, you're ok buddy, I love you!", whenever Oliver cries.

Zach loves Oliver so hard.....literally,  so hard. There are some full contact hugs & kisses I have to supervise.  These brothers light up each others world. I know it won't always be like that, so I'm trying to savor it now.

He just got to move up to preschool at daycare. He still goes 2 days a week currently. He is smart.  He knows his shapes, colors, most letters & numbers, how to spell his name & normal 3 year old stuff. He already cries to go to school on the big bus like his niece & nephew. 

Turns out Zach grew a few inches over the summer & all of his pants are too short. He is in 3T shirts & 2T/3T pants. He is a skinny guy still, but getting better about trying foods. He tried broccoli the other day & the face he made, one would think we fed him dog poop covered in burnt hair. His favorite food is pizza.

3 has come with some attitude. 2 had its tantrums, but he was generally a lovey, happy guy. I saw someone else refer to their kid as a 'threenager' & I couldn't agree more. I get way more sass, eye rolls, and fights now.....those with real teenagers feel free to laugh at me & how much worse it's going to get.

Even with the new attitude,  I'm loving this age. His independence is growing, but he still will hold my hand & snuggle up. We have real talks about school & everything else. He does not forget or miss anything, I have to watch what I say always. We love this little spitfire so much & cannot believe it has been 3 years since he made us way more than we thought we could be, mommy & daddy. 

Zach loves the ladies

It's already mildly disturbing that Zach gravitates toward older girls. It never fails.  We'll pick him up from school and he'll be with 2 or 3 older girls.

Then he told us he wanted to dress as Izzy,  the girl pirate from a cartoon,  for Halloween.

I raised my eyebrows, but I'm all about not conforming and all that hippy goodness, so sure.  I asked him here and there over the next 2 days and sure enough he stuck with Izzy the pirate.

Finally I asked him why he wanted to be Izzy instead of Jake or Buddy?

"Because I really like girls mom"

I'm going to need Xanax when this kid hits high school.