Out for Lunch...

We went out for lunch today at Solos Pizza, me and the boys that is, and I realized that things are getting easier! For the first time, Landon and I ate our entire meal w/ conversation and everything was in control. He is getting so much more mature and he wants to be treated like a big boy now. So, he is not running around the restaurant like a crazy man and I am not shoving food down my throat trying to hurry out because a tantrum is in the midst! Of all the things that I have been sad about him getting older, this is definitely not one of them. I love that he is getting older and wants to be independent.

We have come so far in the last 3.5 years! He has always been a very intense child and to put it bluntly, a handful at times. He is very loving, smart and a blast to be around, but he has never been that great at going out to eat and shopping. Anything that has made him be quiet and sit still has been a danger zone, until now.

I think a lot of it is my maturity as a parent too... I think I wanted him to always be perfect (like my mom was with me) and then I realized, let him have his tantrum, don't go to places that take forever to eat, it is not about me, it is about him. Being at home full time has really let my parenting skills be exercised and I am (in my opinion) becoming a much better mother!

Cause I'm a Blond, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

My hair is now back to blond!!! I had it colored brown/copper after I had little pumpkin and today I did it back to the "old" Jen blond... I know, brown looks better with my complexion, but I DO NOT CARE :P Brady seemed happy that it was back to blond too. I feel like every month that goes by I am getting closer to being back to good old Jen :) It is funny how after you have a baby your looks are not as important as they were before and then you wake up one morning, look in the mirror and say "who the heck are you funky looking lady?" That is the point I am at right now. Even though I am at home all day, I still want to look good... hey, my boys don't want to be around a frumpy mama, they want to be around a hot mama :)

Do you ever have one of those days??

When you just do not feel like doing anything? I feel bad when I have those days now that I am home full time. There is so much to do, and most of it you HAVE to do... but, for all of those things that I technically can get away with not doing for a day, I just do not want to do them.

I am having one of those days today. I feel burned out, tired and not interested in cleaning the whole house before we leave for the cabin tomorrow morning. I feel like we are always off somewhere for the weekend, or we have a million places and party's to be at. I guess that I am lucky that I have somewhere to go, but sometimes I just need a lazy day at home where I do not get the guilt's that I am not running around the whole house cleaning.

Bully at the Park

So I had my first experience yesterday at the park where Landon was somewhat bullied. I always knew there would be a day that Landon would have to deal with kids being mean to him, but I did not know that it would be when he was 3.5 years old. Landon is very comfortable around older kids, being he always plays with his aunts and uncles who are very close in age to him. He definitely prefers to play with older children.

There was a group of 8-9 year old at the park and they were playing Indiana Jones, which Landon loves and he wanted to get in on the action. So, he was kind of following them around trying to play and the older boy turns to him and said "go away kid!" I did not say anything, as I believe that kids need to learn to handle these situations on their own. Well, Landon only being 3 years old did not understand... so, he still followed them around trying to play. Then the boy yells at him and says, "GET OUT OF HERE KID, WE DO NOT WANT YOU HERE AND YOU ARE NOT PLAYING WITH US, NOW GO AWAY!" Landon's face fell and my heart sank.

There is nothing that can prepare you for witnessing rejection of your child, boy does it hurt. I got up and walked over to Landon as the boy started to shake in his pants, and I told him that I do not want him playing with mean boys and that he was too good to play with boys that hurt other peoples feelings. A glow of confidence ran through Landon as the biggest smile beamed over his face.

I do not know if I handled the situation right. All I know is, I want my kids to be aware of other children's feelings and hopefully he will remember how it feels to have someone treat him badly. I also want him to grow up confident enough not to let mean kids get him down... I feel like this is just the beginning in a new chapter of parenthood...

Not afraid to get older

My 28th birthday is coming up on Friday. I was thinking how excited I am to have another birthday... just like when I was a little girl. It seems as though most people I know dread getting one year older, as if they want to hold on to their youth just a little longer. I do not want to go through my life fearing another year, what is the point? You are getting older every day whether you like it or not. In my opinion, there is nothing more alluring then to be around someone who is confident in themselves and their age. I hope I go through my life being proud of my age and all that I have accomplished and not obsess over a silly number...

My name is Jen and I am going to be 28 years old :) LOL

Whoops! Another kid in the bed...

Okay, so now Brock won't sleep through the night unless he is in our bed... he will literally scream until I lay him in his co-sleeper in our bed! Then, he will sleep until 8-8:30AM!!! We went through this with Landon. He slept in our bed from birth to... well, up until we had Brock. We had a whole month where both boys slept in their own beds and we were so happy to have our bed back! Now, there are times where Landon wanders to our bed in the middle of the night and there are FOUR of us in one queen bed.

We do not mind for the most part, but sometimes I just want to have my own time and watch T.V. or read a book in my room and it is taken over by a sleeping baby. I told myself when we moved Brock to his crib when he was 3 months old that he was not ever coming back to our room. I was not going to go through this again... guess what? We are going to go through this again!

The truth is, I will sacrifice my bed for a sleeping child and that is why we have a "child in our bed" problem.