The Halloween Recap

Happy Halloween!

Photo Cred: Neighbor Katie!

After much coaxing, Cooper actually wore his costume and got what trick-or-treating is all about. He got a bucket full of candy and we sent him off to bed riding the insulin roller coaster. I didn't make him bathe, but after I caught him eating a laffy taffy, wrapper and all, I definitely made him brush those pearly whites!

Trick or Treat!

I have no idea how many "lemon mmms" he ate tonight.

Carrington stole the show when she passed out in her little mouse costume, all warm and snuggly in her costume. I wish I could freeze her at the age. I die.

Little Mouse before snoozefest!

OUT.

We had a great one this year! Hope you did too!

Crying like Sister

Have you ever seen anything funnier, cuter or more heartbreaking than Cooper in this video?!

Whenever Cooper is upset and crying, he tells us he is "crying wike sister".  I caught this video of him it the other day, he was upset his Dad had left for work. Usually his emotion of choice is either ecstatic or angry (he's his mother's son) so to catch him actually sad is a rarity!

I've got nothing else but cute pics to share tonight!

My little loves in bed before we read books. Kyle wanted to make sure he got photo cred. There you go, beb.

This is after Kyle let the ice cream truck stop serve as dinner!

I love Carrington but I really wish she would smile more! What a grump!

That's all for now... Is it really only Tuesday? Oy.

More Cooperisms

Awhile back I wrote a post called Man Meat and other Cooperisms. I love taking time to document these things because it seems like the moment I blink he’s on to the next thing and I’ve already forgotten what he did last week! I’m realizing as I write these that a lot of the Cooperisms are made funnier by the face that he pronounces his L’s as W’s.

Here are the “Cooperisms” of the moment!

Wots and wots and wots, pwease! – Apparently there is a number that is somewhere in the range of greater than five and less than what will fit in two little kid hands that is used when Cooper wants the max allowable of whatever he is asking for.
                     
     i.e. I want birthday candles! I want wots and wots and wots, pwease?


I’m going to be a Wizard! – A lot of people have been asking Cooper what he’s going to be for Halloween. He enthusiastically says “a wizard”! At which point I usually step into the conversation because he’s actually going to be a LIZARD (same as last year because he refused to wear his costume), but just cant say it correctly!

Halloween 2012

Go for it! – When Cooper wants one of us to do something, he’ll say “Go for it, Mom/Dad!” This is mainly used when he wants us to do something he’s too scared to do himself, like touch the pretend spider on our neighbor’s porch.

     Touch it! Go for it, Dad!

Beee-loon – Cooper LOVES beee-loons (a.k.a. balloons). A couple of weekends ago, our sweet friend Abigail came over for dinner and brought the boy a balloon. He was in heaven. So the other night just minutes after meeting Uncle Matt’s girlfriend, Katie, he marched right up to her and said, “Lady, can I have a beee-loon?” I guess he thinks all pretty girls that come to dinner should be bringing King Cooper a balloon.

Beee-loon!

I’m Superman! – Cooper has no idea who Superman is or what he does. However, all of the teachers at his school call him “Super Duper Cooper” and I guess sometimes “Superman”. Now he walks around all the time telling people he’s Superman by standing on one leg and sticking one arm up in the air.

Superman! Hattie's face says it all.

Swinging on my tush vs. Swinging wike E-Whore – Cooper has two different styles when it comes to swinging: “on my tush”, which warrants no explanation but is still funny; and, “wike E-Whore”. No, this is not some twisted two-year-old online dating site, it is simply on his tummy with his arms and legs hanging down like Eeyore, from Winnie the Pooh. Get your mind out of the gutter, gah!

The sun is waking up! (or going night night) – Instead of saying that it is getting light or dark outside, he says this. Maybe one day he’ll figure out that he shouldn’t wake up before the sun wakes up! On that note, can we please petition for it to ALWAYS be Daylight Savings time?!

I wish I could just bottle all of these up! On that note, Kyle and I had the following email conversation the other day that started with us discussing what time the sun would come up for his tee time…

From: Charles, Casey
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 11:35 AM
To: Charles, Kyle
Subject: RE: HBD

Gotcha. I’ll ask Cooper when the sun’s waking up. He’s such a muffin man. I want to eat him. 

From: Charles, Kyle
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 11:36 AM
To: Charles, Casey
Subject: RE: HBD 

This morning he was cracking me up talking about having to catch the bus.  When I put him down last night I just looked at his little arms and little person hands thinking about how I better soak them up before he’s just a teenager or a young man. 

From: Charles, Casey
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 11:38 AM
To: Charles, Kyle
Subject: RE: HBD

Ugh, I know. He’s getting so big. It makes me sad. His hands are huge and they look just like yours. 

From: Charles, Kyle
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 11:39 AM
To: Charles, Casey
Subject: RE: HBD

We should just have one every 3 years.  Like keeping fresh milk at the house.  We’ll just have a fresh baby all the time.

From: Charles, Kyle
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 11:45 AM
To: Charles, Casey
Subject: RE: HBD 

You can put that in your blog.

Love that man. And not just because he knew this was going to be blog-worthy! 

Just Birthday-ing it up!

Do you ever have days when you feel like you are just a step behind in everything you are trying to do? Today is one of those days. I won't bore you with the details but it involves a sick nanny, a running toilet and Kyle's birthday! 

I love birthdays. I love other people's birthdays (almost) as much as my own. I would love them more if they could all somehow magically fall on the weekends!

Last week Kyle and I had this conversation:

K: Man, my birthday really snuck up on me this year.

Me: Uh, yeah. Totally snuck up on me too. 

Except maybe I didn't even finish that last sentence because my head was swimming with "oh crap"-s and "what am I going to do?"-s. I swear, I'm usually more on top of things! 

In our house, usually the one that cries the loudest gets the most of my attention. Usually, that is Cooper. Usually, that is not Kyle. So when I asked him what he wanted me to cook for his birthday dinner, he requested something that required the least amount of effort so I could actually hang out with him and not be stuck in the kitchen. Bless him.

So last  night I whipped up this Pioneer Woman carrot cake and I'm going to make this salted caramel sauce to pour over the top. I threw a whole chicken in the crock pot with herbs, veggies and some beer (to "man" it up, of course) and hopefully a delicious dinner will be waiting for us when we get home. If its decent, I'll post the recipe!

Some Firsts

Me first! Me first!

I know, kid stuff is way more fun but they always get to go first! Drumroll, please... For the first time in a year, I am wearing my shirt tucked in. With a belt. Holler! It's the little things.

Carrington is sleeping through the night pretty consistently now. Except for last night, just to spite me, because I decided it was time to finally say it out loud and write it in a post. She also rolled over for the first time (about a month ago)! This is the first time I've remembered to put it in a blog! Poor second-born.

Sister rolls over

Cooper memorized his first non-nursery song. Fittingly, it is the Aggie War Hymn, whoop! Please excuse the nose picking, my singing and the light show that happens towards the end of the clip!

Cooper Sings the Aggie War Hymn

Kyle shot his first under-80 score at golf. I'm really not sure if "under-80 score at golf" the correct term but he's not around to consult. He shot a 78. Maybe now he won't have to "practice" so much anymore! One can wish...

Happy almost weekend!

Here's a funny video about cat jerks who steal dog beds for those of you who missed out on the hilarity. This could have been shot at our house!

That Stay at Home Mom Article

A lot of people have asked me if my blog post, A Day in the Life of a Working Mom, was in response to a post that recently went viral and was written just the day before mine. (You're a stay-at-home Mom? What do you DO all day?)The answer is no, pure coincidence!

Others have asked what I think about that article. Oh boy...

Well, if I’m going to put it out there then I guess I’ll really put it out there! 

Let me start by saying that the majority of my Mom friends are stay-at-home- Moms, "SAHMs" if you will. I’m pretty sure that they don’t sit down all day long. Ever. The definition of "taking a long lunch" is when their toddler is boycotting eating that day and they have to stick it out with them. Their bosses are only three feet tall but somehow can still dictate bathroom breaks. No one I know is sitting around watching soaps and eating bonbons.

I wholeheartedly agree with the spirit of the article but am truly discouraged by the approach.

First, in defense of the working Mom, he completely fails to acknowledge that working Moms actually do raise and parent their children, too. He writes as if we get off work at 5pm and then we are done for the day. Last I checked my kids do not cook their own dinner, read themselves bedtime stories and not get up in the middle of the night just because I work outside of the home.

Also, is he not bashing working moms just to get his point across? He tells working Moms that they are expendable at their jobs and then lists out the only exceptions he feels are justifiable for Moms to work (single mothers, single income isn’t enough, etc.). Isn’t this Mom-bashing the very thing that he is angry about to begin with?

Judging from my gut reaction and how this article made me feel, I think the article only serves to add fuel to a fire that doesn’t need to exist. Why is the comment “must be nice!” so offensive? Why can’t a working Mom admire a SAHM and think staying at home with kids is a “nice” thing. I certainly do. Just as my SAHM friends would say there are “nice” things about my job. They are right, there are.

I wish he would have acknowledged the fact that raising children is a tough job any way you slice it, and stopped there. Mothers are mothers and we all work hard whether we have a career outside of the home or not. Enough of the Mom-petition!

Casey out.

[Steps off soap box.]

And because no blog post would be complete without the kiddos that make me so dog-gone opinionated, here you go!

A Day in the Life of a Working Mom

I've had a lot of conversations with my Mom friends lately about what it's been like to go back to work. I have friends that work full time, friends that take care of their kids full time and friends that do all different shades of whatever is in the middle of those two. At the end of the day we are all trying to to the best for our families and be the best moms we can be. Period! (i.e. I'm not getting into the politics!) That said, I wanted to share my take on life as a working mom and a peek into a normal day for us.

Is it hard? Yes. 

Do I question if I'm doing the right thing for my family? Every. Single. Day. 

Is this what I choose as our long term solution? I don't know but it's working for now! 

Do I miss my kids and feel like I'm missing out on their daily lives? Always.

If only we could have it all or at least more time in the day!

Sometimes my roles and my time all bleeds together. Yes, I have someone taking care of my kids during the day, but not all of my Mom duties stop just because I'm at work. I still am shuttling the boy to school, going to doctor's appointments and buying diapers. And let's not forget my favorite activity, pumping! Sometimes I do Mom stuff during the day and sometimes I do work things after I put the kids down. I am thankful to have a job where they let me figure out how to make it all work. (Although I'm sure I've pushed the boundaries a time or two!)

Here's a typical day for us:

Everyday I get up around 6am and sometime between then and 7:30am I get dressed and ready for work, get Cooper dressed and fed on school days and get Carrington changed and fed. This goes in no particular order, whoever cries the loudest usually gets my attention and that is usually the Cooper boy. Thank goodness for iPads and Henry Hugglemonster.

We are out the door by 7:30 (on a good day) which is when my nanny gets to the house to watch Carrington. I drop Cooper off at school by 8 and head into the office. I put on my investor hat for a few hours until it is time to get Cooper from school around lunch. I pick him up, drive him home, shove some food in my mouth and head back to work. In order to keep up with the breastfeeding regime, I have to pump three times during the work day, while reading equity reports of course! Otherwise I pretend to be a perfectly normal investment analyst.

I leave the office by 5 to get home in time to spend an hour and a half with my kids before they go to bed. If that means I have to work after they go down that's what I do, but I rarely sacrifice my family time if I can help it!

There is nothing better than a Cooper smile and a big hug at the end of a long day. There is nothing worse than him getting mad at me when I get home and telling me "I'm going to WORK Mom!" As if I'm doing it to punish him...ouch.

During the week, I try to stick with easy dinners. Simple proteins to grill or bake, steamed veggies, salads and crockpot recipes are my friends! I grocery shop on Sunday afternoons for food for the entire week. This usually works, unless we run out of milk, blueberries or Bunny Snacks!

We start the bath and bed process around 7:15 every night and usually have both kids settled by 7:45. After this we clean up dinner, wash what feels like one thousand pump parts and pack Cooper's lunch for school the next day.

After everything is done, I'm usually good for a big glass of wine and some QT with the hubs.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

My babies.

Pumpkin Patch! (You knew this was coming...)

Just as spring brings you pictures of babies in bluebonnets, it is now time for the obligatory post of kids in a pumpkin patch. And on a blanket in my front yard. Because I couldn't get a good one of them together without a lollipop bribe. Two year olds!

We went to our local plant nursery on Saturday to pick up some pumpkins and let Cooper do the kid activities they had planned for the first Saturday in October. Since the boy likes neither face painting nor popcorn, we headed over to the pumpkin decorating table. It was a free for all with tons of kids, tons of markers and the coolest thing ever for little kids, glue!  The affinity for glue is not shared by many Moms. I spent my time sticking things to the glue he was putting EVERYWHERE and tried to keep him off of everyone else's pumpkins. He "decorated" two pumpkins (i guess one for sister, oops!) in a matter of minutes and announced it was time to go. I was not so sad that our morning activity ended so abruptly!

Some pics from the day!

Sister was a good sport! 

Not having it. Not one part of it!

Oh Jeez. Glue EVERYWHERE!

His concentration face!

Much happier at home!

"Lollipop? OK!"

Bribes work.

Sweet rewards!

Never go to bed angry, OR...

Never go to bed angry. Or do, and wake up the next morning only to realize what a [bleep] you were being, apologize and make nice. I'm not sure who this sweet little saying works for, but sometimes I feel like you need the night to stew on things and wake up in a better state of mind. Especially when you're working and trying to parent two kids, one of which still gets up at night. (At least she's really cute!) Anybody with me on this?

A little backstory on how this train of thought came about...

This is a first world problem, for sure, but did you hear about the fluke with United a couple of weeks ago where all of the flights were listed online for $5? Yes, $5. Well, Kyle did and was able to snag tickets for us for NY around Christmas and also tickets to Denver in a few weeks. It all happened so fast he didn't even have a chance to call me before buying tickets. The NY trip is perfect. The Denver trip not so much.

First, the trip would require me to take 2 days off of work, 3 weeks after I return from leave and this is a really busy time of year. Eek. Second, I do not have enough milk stock piled for Carrington which means she'd be coming with us. What does one do in Denver, in the cold, with a 3 month old? 

See? First world problem for sure.

Anywho...Kyle really wants to go and brought up that if I didn't go, he would just go without me with one of his buddies. The weekend after he's gone for a Bachelor party. Yeah. Needless to say, at 10pm last night we were both tired and grumpy and neither his idea nor my responses went over too well! I won't bore you with the details, mainly because I woke up this morning embarrassed I took it to "that" level. "Why don't you just go to Denver and stay there!" REALLY, CASEY?!

In about 2.5 seconds this morning we were able to resolve that while it was bad timing, he would go but only if it's great weather. Wish we would have just given up and slept on it sooner! 

Moral of the story is that I'm throwing out the idea of not going to bed angry and sticking with: Everything is clearer in the light of day. Sleep on it, dummy!

I really don't know how I ever get mad at this face...