Drop it like it’s hot

It’s a Saturday night in the McGee house and we’re getting ready to drop it like it’s hot.

drop it like its hot

This is how we roll, yo

Yet when I say Drop it like it’s hot I’m referring to the crib mattress.  I think we’re going to have to get low, get low, get low.

Here’s why… One bad decision in the middle of the night which involved allowing a fussy tot sleep with us has turned into 5 nights of 90+ minute bedtimes and either Denny or me sleeping on the floor (yet again).

I can hear you right now, “Shut the door,” “Let her cry it out,” “She’ll be fine.”  BUT and this is a big but (I don’t like big buts and I cannot lie), we can’t let Makenzie cry it out… because our little Rolly Pollie rockstar can now jump out of the crib.  It happened Thursday night and it was terrifying for all of us.  Luckily she was fine, but now we’ve turned into little pawns.  If we let her keep crying she could try to jump out again and possibly get hurt.  So we spend at least 30 minutes each night sleeping on her floor until she falls asleep and then we army crawl out of her room.

Essentially our 21-month old just yelled out Checkmate!

Well played Makenzie, well played.

Once again we’re back at a parenting crossroads.  Unexpected sleeping issue Avenue intersects with Who the hell even allowed us to be parents Street and our car has stalled out.  So now what?

Do we continue into this trend of endless bedtimes?  Do we keep sleeping on her floor until she is into her mid-20’s?  Do we opt for the toddler bed?   Do we drop the crib mattress like it’s hot to the floor?  Or do we just laugh about it and wait it out a few more nights?  One might think that we would figure this out since we’ve been here countless times but we’re still stumped.

But on a good note, we have a decent amount of time to ponder this while laying on the floor next to our girl’s crib.  If you know any shortcuts to get back to the Quick Bedtime Boulevard let us know.  In the meantime we’ll be spending our nights relaxing under the stars in Makenzie’s room.

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My view from the floor… look closely and you’ll see her crib rails.

 

And call me crazy but part of me kind of likes knowing that she wants me there while she heads to dreamland.  I’m pretty sure I’ll miss this someday when she is in her teens, her sleeping patterns are regular and she begs me to leave her room.

Sweet dreams Makenzie Ruth, I love you and your stubborn little sleeping habits to the moon and back.

xoxo

Mom

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15 weeks – Little Dude or Dudette updates

Hi honey, I’m Home!   Back at the blog finally.

Ever since we’ve revealed the news about Lil’ Dude or Dudette (as Denny has been affectionately calling the upcoming arrival), we’ve been getting all kinds of questions so I thought I’d spend some time answering them.

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How far is the baby? – We’re now at 15 weeks!  The little one is the size of an apple and is perfectly healthy.  We’re so thankful!

A little red delicious son or daughter   :)

A little red delicious son or daughter 🙂

Bump? – Not exactly.  More like an awkward Lump.  The kind that leaves people asking, “Has she been overindulging in triple fudge brownies or is she having a baby?”

How Makenzie is feeling? – She is blissfully unaware.  We talk about her future brother or sister and she likes to point out babies when we go places so we’ll count that as a step in the right direction.

How I’m feeling? – The nauseous  feeling is totally gone, but the tired feeling is still kicking my butt.  After I get Kenzie to bed at night I feel like my eyelids weigh about 100 lbs each so my chance of accomplishing anything, let alone a blog post, is at about 1-2%.  Hopefully I’ll get past this, otherwise the new kid will be sleeping in the overly-full laundry baskets on our bedroom floor.

Dude or Dudette? – YES, we are going to find out if this little one if a Mister or  Sister.  We had SO much fun with the gender reveal party last time and we want to do it again.

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May 2012 – finding out about Baby Makenzie!

The Moment of Truth... Team PINK!

Team PINK!

BUT we want to wait to find out until our parents and siblings are all in town together so rather than do the reveal in August at 18 weeks, we’re going to wait until Makenzie’s Birthday party in October.  She’ll get to open a special gift to find out if she’ll be getting a future Maid of Honor or a future wrestling buddy.  The wait might make us crazy but we think it will be worth it.

Are we ready? – Not even close.  By 15 weeks with Makenzie we ordered a crib, designed a possible girl room and a possible boy room and spent hours researching the best stroller and car seat.  We had a list of names, a pile of clothes and a memory book filled with sonogram pics.  For this baby, I’ve barely had a chance to finish taking the pregnancy test.  At least this kid will get parents who (kind of) know what they are doing.  Makenzie might have had a safe stroller but she was essentially raised by wolves in the beginning.

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This about sums it up. Poor Kenz.

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We’re looking forward to the next 6 months and meeting our new little Dude or Dudette.

I’ll do my best to keep the updates coming on the blog.  See you soon!

A day at the park?!

Holla toddler Moms,

A relaxing day at the park sounds lovely, right?  

You mean toddler Moms don’t get to relax like this at the park?

Wrong!  Grab your sneakers, the diaper bag, your SuperMom cape and perhaps some Xanax.  It’s playground season!  

And maybe I’m just a Rookie Mom but the park is a scary place.  Let me tell you why…

:: High-Low game ::

The playground for a toddler Mom is actually like a giant chess board.  One wrong move and it’s game over.  From my experience (or lack thereof) there appear to be 2 schools of thought when monitoring your tiny tots at the p-ground.

Theory One: Stay High – Some experts suggest that you stay directly behind that toddler as they run across the bridges and up the metal steps.  The good news is that you are one step behind them if they lose their balance.  The bad news is that said toddler is always just one slide away from complete and total freedom.  Undoubtedly your oversize Mom butt will get stuck going down the slide and in this time your kiddo could potentially sprint across the playground.  Fail!

Theory Two: Stay Low – The competing theory is to stay on the ground as your toddler races through the metal jungle gym.  Theoretically you will be one step ahead and you’ll be there to scoop up your kiddo as the bottom of the slide.  But being on the ground isn’t ideal either… one wrong move and your kid is on a breakaway through the twists and turns of the playground.   Do you climb the ladder and chase them, or try to run around the playground and then anticipate which slide they’ll go down?  Either way it’s playground Checkmate.

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How fast can you race around the perimeter of the playground? Not fast enough!

:: Bad example bullies ::

Got a toddler who loves to imitate everything you do and say?  Perfect!  The playground seems to be a breeding ground for bad-ass tweens that like to jump from the 10-foot platforms and run the wrong way up the slide.

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Grandma’s gonna love your kiddos new vocabulary!

:: Drop-offs ::

Speaking of 10-foot falls, why MUST all playgrounds have those large openings to allow kids to rappel from the metal playground sides?  Seems fun for Spiderman, but what about our wee baby toddlers?  These are NOT cool!

toddler mom heart attack zone

So there you have it.  Call me crazy… call me overprotective… call me a helicopter parent… but I think the playground can be a scary place for toddler Mom.

Will this fear stop me from visiting the slides and swings with my fearless tot?  Heck no!  But I’m going to have to strategize a little better when it comes to staying one step ahead of Makenzie.

And as for the saying about a Day at the park… I’m pretty sure this false representation of a relaxing day was created by the same person who coined the phrase sleeping like a baby.  Maybe they should change it to sleeping like a toddler Mom!   Nighty night!

 

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Need some wine after your trip to the playground?  

The bottle is always half full at Mommy McBlog

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Truth be told…

I’m throwing out my “keeping the bottle half full” rule and replacing it with a tall glass of Pinot Honesty.

Truth be told…

Tonight is annoying.  Tonight I am cranky.  Tonight I am NOT a happy camper.  And tonight I have no legitimate reason why.  So I called in the big guns to deal with my medical semi-emergency.

Cue my girl, Doc McStuffins.

The Doc is In!!

Time for my check-up!  She’s gonna check my ears, check my eyes and find out how much I’ve grown.  Sure enough, Doc found some symptoms:  irritability, worried husband who thinks he did something wrong, fatigue, and general urge to run away by myself to Target even if for just 30 minutes.

Doc thought about it and then realized the diagnosis:  A General case of Sick-of-being-an-adult-itis.  Yikes!  This is one for the Big Book of Boo Boos.

According to Doc, Moms occasionally feel burned out after day in and day out of busy schedules, never-ending to do lists, a house that doesn’t clean itself and constant meal planning, baby bag packing, dishwasher emptying, and general need for making decisions.  

Luckily it’s very curable.  The treatment includes: sweat pants, a two-hour liquid diet of Riesling, an early bedtime and a round of take-out the next day to avoid a nasty flare up of ‘what the duck is for dinner tonight-itis’

So on that note, I’m checking out of life and pretending to be my 20-year-old self for just a few hours.  I’m gettin’ ca-razy and I’m going to bed without my shirt ironed, without my K-cup placed strategically next to my to-go cup, without my lunch packed and without a dinner plan for tomorrow.

Will I regret this night of irresponsibility tomorrow at 5:35 am?  You bet!

But by then my nasty 12-hour cranky-mom-atosis will be gone and I’ll return to my regular condition of Incredibly Thankful for all the awesome things we have going on in our world.

Once in awhile, feel free to let your bottle be half empty (especially if it’s your favorite bottle of wine).  It makes you a human.  And even Super Moms need to rest their capes once in a while.

 

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Cranky, Party of one… your early bedtime awaits!

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Lucky Charms and an awesome Friday

::  Today was very blog-worthy.

It was nothing momentous but everything wonderful about being a Mom.  ::

Long before Makenzie, long before Denny and long before I knew much about anything, I knew I wanted to be a Mom.  In fact I spent my entire life dreaming about it and practicing my Mom skills with every Cabbage Patch Kid in Trumbull County, Ohio.  In my dreams I envisioned rocking and singing lullabies, chatting and giggling in the car, exploring and visiting fun places, and living every moment in bliss.

Then I became a mom, and the bliss lasted about half a day.  To be precise it lasted 5 hours until I tried to breastfeed and I realized this whole Mom thing was wayyyy harder then I envisioned in my dreams.  Cue reality.

I think I’m getting better each day, but balancing being a mom, wife, employee, sister, friend, housekeeper, chef, birthday gift getter,  bill payer, thank you note writer, blogger, and everything else is not an easy feat.

But today was different.  Today I took a vacation day (thankfully I have an incredibly supportive workplace that allows this).  And today I threw responsibility out the window.  Today I woke up and cuddled with Makenzie.  Today I went outside at 7:50 am simply because Kenzie wanted to.  Today I did a whole bunch of fun things just because they’re fun.  Today was a great, incredibly awesome, memorable, very fun day.

Makenzie and I had a blast.  We ate Lucky Charms.  We waved at neighborhood puppies.  We cruised around in the Cozy Coupe.  We left the dishes in the sink (well at least until nap time).  We walked around Target… yes, we ditched the cart and we both walked because Kenzie wanted to.  We jumped on the trampoline at Rolly Pollies.  We sang songs in the car.  We ignored the time.  We ate at McDonald’s and fed each other french fries.  We (well I) didn’t beat myself up for forgetting a bib.  We came home and left our shoes by the door.  We read books.  We had a picnic.  We had one of the best days I can remember in a long time.

We didn’t do much, but at the same time we did everything that matters.

Today life was good and simple and fun.  In fact it was better than the dreams I envisioned because it actually happened.  And I’m not sure Makenzie will remember this day but I’ll never forget it.

And Kenzie girl, if you read this someday, thank you for the fun today.  I hope you know just how much I love being your mom.  It rocks!  Let’s do this again soon.  xoxo, Mom

 

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A snow day picnic with some sweet desserts

I owe Mother Nature an apology.  If it wasn’t for her blizzard (that I cursed at earlier this week) I wouldn’t be having a picnic right now.  

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Snow day picnic – party of one!

And for dessert at the picnic, it’s a little slice of heaven… a sleeping baby, a completely unexpected free afternoon, a hot coffee & some Girl Scout cookies.   True, we might never ever see summer, but I haven’t had a day like this in months and it feels AMAZING.  Thank you Mother Nature.

Today is a reminder that life is about the sweet stuff, so here are some other fun little happenings in our world right now:

  • New episodes of Parenthood
  • A favorite little St. Patty’s day nephew who turns ONE this weekend!  Happy Birthday Jack!!!
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It’s hard to believe Ryan became a big brother to Jack an entire year ago! I sure love these little guys.

  • Good friends that have had great news lately
  • Shamrock shakes!
  • Some really big wins at work
  • A daughter that recently fell in love with karaoke (or perhaps she just like drooling on the mic)
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“I will survive”

  • An upcoming visit from the Easter Bunny
  • A facelift for the blog by the summer (hopefully)
  • A June wine tour
  • A Q cousins weekend that is getting closer and closer
  • SUMMER!!  Even thought it feels like it will never ever get here

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    “Hurry up summer, I wanna wear these cool shades of mine!”

  • And the opportunity to finish this post so I can enjoy some snuggle time with my favorite little karaoke star

Whether your drink of choice is SImilac, juice or Pinot Grigio, I’m a big believer that we need to sometimes slow down and focus on keeping our bottles half full!  I’m not always good at it myself but today was a great reminder of it.  What sweet little things are happening in your worlds?

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Excludes all toys… or does it?

A few days ago I got a little coupon from Toys R Us that made me wonder what the heck they were thinking.  You can read about it here.  Rather than wonder what they were thinking, I sent them an e-mail asking them what they were thinking.  Here’s what they responded:

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Dear Erin M:

Thank you for contacting “R” Us.  We would be happy to honor the $10 off coupon. Please contact us at the phone number below.  Thank you once again, Erin M, for contacting the “R” Us Family.

Sincerely,

Tonya 6025

Toys “R” Us Customer Service Team

1-800-TOYSRUS

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Thanks Tonya 6025.  Short and sweet, but at least they stepped up to accept the coupon.  And they did it within 24 hours of my initial outreach.  That counts for something, right?

So off to Toys R Us we went to check out their cozy coupes.  The pink and blue baby mobile wasn’t in the store but it could be ordered.  And they would price match Wal-Mart if we contacted the manager.  And they would allow me to use the coupon if I called customer service.  Phew, too many steps for this Mom.

So I stepped my fingers over to google and Bam, I found a sweet little cozy coupe from Sears (who knew they even sold toys).  Then I found another $5 off coupon on RetailMeNot.com and got free shipping if I picked it up at the store.  Score & score!

So there you have it.  Toys R Us fumbled and tried to recover, but at the end of the game they didn’t score my business!  I’ll be spiking my credit card in the end zone at Sears.

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You’ve Got to be kidding me…

Maybe I’m just a wee bit overtired or maybe I’m a teeny bit oversensitive (because that’s never happened), but I just went to use my Toys R Us $10 off coupon to buy Kenzie’s Birthday gift…  then I turned the coupon to the back and read the phrase Excludes All toys.

Not ‘Excludes some toys’ or ‘Excludes certain toys’.  Excludes ALL toys.

Shut the diaper pail door Toys R Us.  You’ve just pushed my overtired oversensitive buttons.  And I think your customer service department needs to know…

Dear Toys R Us,
You have got to be kidding me…
I recently received a coupon that said “$10 a gift for you… our very special guest.”  I was very excited as I have a baby girl who is about to turn 1 in three weeks.  (You likely know this because I registered with you and spent oodles of money with your brand.)  I went on your Website to purchase her birthday gift (a pink cozy coupe) then turned over the coupon to read “excludes all toys.”   Seriously?   Your company, Toys R Us sent me a coupon that excludes ALL toys?  That’s sad and incredibly lame.  Please keep your coupons.  I’ll spend my money with a business that actually allows me to use their coupons on more than 2% of their products.
Many thanks,
Erin
Not Excited Moms R Us

We’ll see what they have to say.  Stay tuned!

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Cape May – the 1st official McGee Family Summer Vacation

Today we went back to reality – back to alarm clocks, back to schedules and back to real shoes.  It was the first day in about a week that I came home and didn’t find sand everywhere.  But despite being sand-free, today wasn’t nearly as good as the past week and a half.  Last week was the 1st official McGee Family Summer Vacation.

Beach, Sun, Sand, Strolls, Family Naps… the GOOD stuff of life!

We spent 5 days in Cape May, NJ, and we had a great time!  I could ramble on about our visit, but I think the pictures tell a pretty accurate story…

The McGee Mobile all loaded up and hitting the road (just kidding, it’s not our car but I wanted to make sure you are paying attention)

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Kenz living the dream – Baby Einstein, jammies, a paci and her big girl car seat. She was a rockstar traveler!

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View from Room 209. Not too shabby!

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And the lovely little views on Beach Avenue.   Cape May Is such a cool little town…

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Too cute!

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Voted favorite house on Beach Avenue by cute hubby.

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Voted favorite house on Beach Avenue by your (hopefully) favorite Mommy McBlogger.

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Happy little picket fence

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A snapshot of the houses looking out to the Atlantic Ocean.

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And the lovely little views of Mom-cam.

Say Cheese!!

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Makenzie’s 1st dip of her little tootsies in the ocean

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And Makenzie’s 1st dip into the pool (how cute are those chunky thighs?)

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She Loved the sand – playing in it and eating it!

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And she loved the view (so did I)      🙂

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We sure loved Cape May!!

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And it sure tired us out…

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See you soon beach, we’ll be back!

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SPF 50 – Waterproof

Won’t clog pores or cause breakouts

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Dear Makenzie – Some thoughts about your ears

Hey Kenz girl,

It’s me, Mom.

You’re probably going to roll your eyes at this… but I want to remind you that you have absolutely precious, adorable, sweet, little, perfect baby girl ears.  They are so cute and they make me smile.   And the reason I remind you of this is because yesterday at the grocery store I saw a girl about 16 years older than you who decided she didn’t love or appreciate her ears in their current shape.  In fact she wanted to change the shape of her ears so much that she put giant plastic round spacers in them to create a huge permanent holes in both of her ears.

It’s possible that this girl thought that it’s cool to permanently put giant holes in her ears.  Or perhaps she put giant holes in her ears to impress people in her life.  But maybe, just maybe she decided to stretch out her ears because her mom forgot to remind her just how precious her ears were.

So if you ever think it’s super cool to stretch the crap out of those ears, just remember that your lame old conservative Mom thinks they are perfect as is.  Plus if you ever want to stretch out your skin, you’ll easily be able to do this when you have kids (which is of course not likely to happen for at least 29 1/2 years since you aren’t allowed to date until then).

If you have any questions about this, ask your dad.  He’ll be more than glad to clarify about this situation and what you are and are not allowed to do to your ears.

Much Love,

Mom

PS  While we are on the topic of things that we are not excited about in our house, don’t even think about dancing like Miley Cyrus did at the VMA’s unless you want to be grounded until you are 73.  That’s absolutely not what we refer to when we sing the Shake your sillies out song.

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