Archives for May 2014

It’s not you, it’s us.

May 29, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Summer rocks!!

Picnics, parades, pool parties…

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Sweet sweet summertime, baby!

…and pathetic excuses why we leave social events early or even worse, we don’t even show up.  Tell me I’m not alone on this!

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It wasn’t long ago that Denny and I were quite the party couple. We were champs when it came to beer-related sports and we often stayed around for Last Call.  But with all good things in life, that era came to an end and to be honest I don’t really miss it.  Life has become WAY more fun with our Makenzie, but when it comes to the social scene our attendance is dwindling drastically and I don’t know why.

From Monday at 7:20 am to Friday at 5:15 pm, we’re on our A-game.  Kenzie gets in her car seat like a champ and we zip around town – baby-sitter, work, work baby-sitter, drive-thru, errands – lather, rinse, repeat x 5.  We are generally on-time, generally put together and generally reliable.  (Please note the vague nature of the word generally.)

Then Friday evening rolls around and shit gets crazy (excuse my language Mom).  We run late for parties, we leave picnics early and sometimes we don’t even make it at all.  I can think of two social activities in the past 10 days that we said we would attend yet didn’t even make it out to door.  Ugh!

Here’s generally how it works:

  • Receive an invite – Absolutely, we’ll be there!
  • Social event gets closer – Yay, we’re still planning on it
  • Social event day rolls around and inevitably something happens – Fever, puke, unexpected family visits or the inability to wrangle a little munchkin in her carseat without epic meltdown from aforementioned munchkin and/or parents
  • Sulk back into house, send obligatory “I’m sorry we suck” text and spend next hour feeling like a rotten friend/sister/neighbor
  • Social event Fail!

 

picnic table

We’ve become those people.  The better ask someone else to bring desserts because the McGees will no show people

Overbooking is partially the reason (my fault completely), but the other part of this is a complete mystery to me.  Frankly it’s quite embarrassing.  Is this normal for new-ish parents?  How the heck do we drop the ball so much on the weekends?   Does this get better?  Or will our sub par reliability levels earn us a spot on the B list or even worse the no list?

To our remaining friends (are you still out there?) we miss you and we hope that we can see you soon!  I’m sorry we’ve blown you off.  It’s not you, it’s us (I swear!).  But we just don’t how do we fix it?!?  Help!!  Any suggestions, let me know.

Slacker love,

Erin (the once reliable, turned flaky Mom)

 

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Summer Hours at the Blog

May 16, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

The temperature is rising which can only mean one thing…

Summer hours at the blog!!

(Woot, insert noisemaker sound here!)

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Summer hours means that we’re focusing on having fun, we’re wearing flip flips and we’re sipping cool lemonade.  (And by “we” I mean “I” but whatever.  A girl can pretend that her blog is so famous that she needs a whole team, right?)

And summer hours means a more relaxed blog schedule.

Remember when I thought I could handle Thirsty Thursdays on the blog?  Remember when I thought I could handle another deadline in my life?  I thought wrong.  Way wrong.  So I’m going back to posting when I can.  Hopefully I’ll be able to post once a week , but if not, it’s because I’m enjoying summer.  Thanks for understanding.  And if you miss the fun, follow Mommy McBlog on Instagram and Facebook.

It’s going to be a great summer… grab the snacks, sunscreen, car seats, water wings, sippy cups, extra onesies, bibs, swim diapers, sand toys and wine (if there’s any room for it in the overloaded car).

I’m glad you’re along for the ride!

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summer chalkboard

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Dear twenty something girl at Target…

May 10, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Dear twenty something girl at Target…

Hi, it’s me.  I was that thirty-something Mom trying to wrangle up my feisty nineteen-month old today while you were shopping.  Her screams of “No, noooo” obviously interrupted your bathing suit browsing because you sent that half pity/half annoying so glad my future kid will never act like that look my way.  I recognized that look right away because not long ago that I used to give that same exact look to Moms with sassy tots.  As for your theory of My kid will never act like that… just keep telling yourself that.  If not for that theory, our population would be at risk.

I don’t know your name or for that matter anything about you, but in some ways I know everything about you.  It turns out that I used to be you.  I’m guessing you rolled out of bed at around 11 am today after a Friday happy hour with your girlfriends that lasted until 9 pm. By the looks of it you skipped your shower (that’s what headbands and ponytails are for, right?), and picked up a Starbucks en route to run some errands.

I’m guessing that after your Target trip, you picked up some Wendy’s and hung out on your futon enjoying some DVR then you took a nap.  You might have spent a few hours obsessing over when Mr. Perfect will pop the question or what your college roommates are planning to pack for your upcoming girls weekend.  And you were probably just getting into the shower to go out for the night while we were finishing up tubby time just a few blocks away in Mommyland.

Just so you know, when I saw you this morning I was surprisingly nostalgic for a brief moment.  I wouldn’t trade my life for a single second but I saw you and I had flashbacks to what life was like before responsibilities…  no independent “I want to walk” baby, no 10-lb diaper bag, no mortgage, no need to even consider buying a one piece bathing suit (because those are clearly only for Moms).

And in case you didn’t catch the look I sent back your way (in fact I’m sure you didn’t), my look was saying this…

Hey twenty-something, I hope you’re enjoying your carefree life right now.  Get pedis, sleep in, drink an extra cocktail, stay out late, pay off bills, take road trips and really enjoy every minute you can get with your girlfriends because someday (sooner than you realize) your priorities will shift.  Your life will be even become even better than it is now but your days full of relaxing, watching TV and taking naps will disappear.  Relish every single second while you can because once it’s gone it won’t return.  But on a good note, it turns out that the best, most grounded and most appreciative 30-something Moms are created from the experiences of the uninhibited, fun and free 20-something…  Enjoying it now means that you won’t miss it one bit when you give it up for your kids.  Trust me, it’s completely worth it.  

Thank you 20-something girl!  You reminded me how grateful I am that a fun past has led me to an even better future.  Cheers to you, your fun 20’s and your even better 30’s!

Sincerely,

Erin  (aka the 30-something Mom who went to Target to find lamps but walked away with something even better — a walk down memory lane and a deep appreciation for my current, crazy non-bikini-wearing life)

 

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Eighteen Months!

May 1, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Oh my gosh, our girl is 18 months!   Makenzie Ruth is growing up so fast!

If you don’t believe me, look how big she looks in her infant bouncy seat that she found in her closet.

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Yikes!  Where did newborn Kenzie go?!?

Denny and I have no clue how she turned into a toddler but we’re loving it.  She occasionally tries to take over the household (don’t all toddlers?) but overall Makenzie has the cutest little personality and keeps our world full of fun!

We had a pretty good 18-month check-up this week (minus the meltdown for her shots but can you blame her?).  Kenzie weighs 26 lbs. 9 oz., and is 32.5 inches tall – 70th percentile for both height & weight.

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She didn’t love the doctor’s office and this picture was the best we could get.

Here are some of the other updates…

::  Makenzie’s Favorite Things  ::

  • Playing hide & seek – She runs from room to room hiding behind curtains, under chairs and in every little spot she finds.   Usually her giggles give away her hiding spot but if we don’t find her right away she’ll yell, “Hello??”
  • Taking selfies and playing with our cell phones and the iPad
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“Cheeeeese”

  • Checking out the neighborhood and greeting visitors
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The BEST part of my day every day!

  • Playing at Rolly Pollies (perhaps we love it more, but either way we all have fun at baby gym class)

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  • Morning roll call – The first thing she does every morning is point and say “Mama, Dada, Sissy” (referring to Lex)
  • Giving Sissy treats and then following her around the house to make sure she eats all of them
  • Wearing my sweater from the 80’s!
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A little fashionista!

  • Choo choos – The girl is obsessed with trains and runs to see them out the window every time she hears the whistle
  • Dancing – Kenzie really likes the chicken dance and does a great job flapping her little wings

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  • Talking – Her vocabulary is growing each day.  Some of her favorite words include: “Hiii”, “Bye bye”, “shoes”, “coak” aka coat, “yay down” aka lay down, “Momo” aka Elmo, “duckie”, “moo”, “spoon”, “more”, “thank you”, “pease” aka please, “bubbles”, and lots of others
  • Speaking of bubbles, Makenzie is obsessed with them, both outside and in the tub

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  • Unloading the dishwasher one utensil at a time
  • Waiting for Dada at the airport

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  • Being outside ALL the time

and

  • Hanging out with all the big kids in the neighborhood!   They are all really sweet to Kenz and she loves being with them and watching them play
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Enjoying a visit from Abbi & Molly

::  Makenzie’s Least Favorite Things  ::

  • Not being outside
  • Brushing her teeth (excuse the screams, neighbors)
  • Bathtime without bubbles
  • And getting in the car seat because it means we’re not outside

We count our lucky stars every single day!   It’s been 18 fun months with Makenzie Ruth and we can’t wait to see her continue to grow.

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Sweet Dreams!

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18 months and counting!  

Watch our monkey grow on Facebook.

Mommy McBlog

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