We're Still Here!

Quick Check In Post

We've Missed You. . . .

So I know it has been, what two months since I've had a new post. I have started so many but can't finish them in one sitting, so in my mind I think I've posted - but they are all still here in my dashboard aka Post Purgatory!

We have done a lot in two months -first day of school, a trip to Florida, Kaiden's 2nd birthday, Pierce's half-way (6 month) birthday and more I'm sure, like our 4th of July post that is partial at best.

Basically the quick recap is: time flies!!! Between a two year old and a six month old there are a lot of diaper changes, quite a few tantrums, crazy laugh out loud moments, a bunch of baths, lots of laundry, daily crying sessions (that don't usually involve me, thankfully) book reading and arts & crafts a plenty, mealtime prep and cleanup. Plus preschool, doctors appointments, grocery shopping, errand running, party & vacation planning all this while also attempting to spend quality time as a family and get some 'me' time from my tennis and workouts. Seriously anyone who doesn't respect the supreme title of stay at home mom only frowns upon it because they couldn't do it!

Lately there has been rain - LOTS of It! How much rain you may ask? Like start building a boat amount of rain, which normally is something a 'perma drought' state like Georgia would relish but when you are going on the second straight week of rain with 40 - 100% chance of rain for the next 6 days - well we're all tired of it! In addition to this rain the whole family has so lovingly decided to share runny noses, scratchy throats & no sleep. Yippie! And of course here we are just days out from our 'Kirk Boys Party'. The party to introduce and celebrate Pierce's birth and health and Kaiden's second birthday and so now in addition to the 'get the house ready for guest' cleaning I am going to have to disinfect all of his toys, books well pretty much the whole first floor. Some of the cleaning won't be too bad because I just got the steam shark which disinfects using steam, so the floor and counters will be a breeze, seriously I LOVE that thing - ok, pardon my little infomercial moment. One last thing, while I'm on a roll about the upcoming party. . . people if you get an invitation (evite) to a party - first CHECK IT! Take a second and open it. Now this follows suit with step one, but secondly RSVP - party host's don't take it personal if you can't attend and are delighted if you can make it but for our sanity take two freaking seconds and say yes or no. Lastly and again don't take offense (and I'm trying to stay 'in general' here), but if you are invited by the same person to several events and you can never attend for whatever reason, chances are pretty good that eventually the invitation will no longer be extended. So if you really do want to go but have a conflict take a second and call or email - (or follow step two and RSVP).

OK hope everyone has a great week and hopefully we'll see a bunch of you on Saturday - rain or shine!

Happy Birthday Kaiden!

Can't Believe You Are TWO Already!

Really It Just Doesn't Seem Possible. . .

Remember this little bundle of joy who decided to show up three weeks early . . . .Well look at him now. . .
So unlike his one year I was not quite awake at his birth minute (6:58am) but within a few minutes of it I was downstairs with baby Pierce in one arm and the video camera in the other to catch Kaiden enjoying his 'Drive Queen Nummy Cake' for his birthday breakfast. And since we had just returned home from Florida the night before and Dave had taken the whole week for vacation we all got to spend the morning together, it was a great morning. Although unlike last year where we played with a giant mylar turtle all day, this year Kaiden had to get dressed and get ready to head off to school. He was SO excited to go because he got to bring the rest of the nummy cakes to school to share with his class.

His Birthday Crown
And What Would A Birthday Be Without. . . . Presents

Grampa Dave sent Kaiden this great remote control 'Drive Queen' car which is really cool!!

My Mom got Kaiden a little bike, he's a little too small for it yet, but in a year or so he'll love it!
And we got him, what else, 'Drive Queen' helmet & pads to go with the bike & his own little table and chairs with Drive & Mater on it!!

I'd say he had a pretty great second birthday!! I remember thinking on his 1st birthday that there will not be another year that sees as drastic changes from birth to one year and now I'm thinking that from one year to two years is also a HUGE difference!!

We Love You Kaiden! Thanks for 2 Great Years!!

"O' What A Night!"

Early September in '09

One Of Our Best Nights Ever

Waiting Patiently

Seriously you could not have asked for a better night!!! Yes we had a bit of a wait to get into the restaurant, but it was SO worth it! The food was oh so yummy, cold drinks, amazing entertainment - including Kaiden's show stopping dancing and crowd pleasing smiles. Really, nights don't get any better. After a day of on and off rain we got to sit and watch a beautiful sunset, chat with friendly people, and eventually get a great seat right in front of the band. Now let me say I LOVE sugarland, and this lady was as good if not better - to me that's saying a lot!! We got Kaiden's food almost as soon as we got seated, along with some crayons and paper - and he was set. Shortly there after we were served our drinks and salad - and both were delightful. Dave ordered the scallops and I got the shrimp & scallop spicy tomato fettuccine - oh I wish I could have eaten it all - within minutes of receiving our dinners the band started and that is when the real fun began - the music was amazing and Kaiden entertained the whole restaurant - he even approached an 18 month old and actually did a head bob and pointed to the 'dance floor' oh he is such a lady killer - I'm telling you I could NOT have been more proud of my little stud!

Waving At Mom From Dance Floor

And although he's a little younger and asleep for most of the evening, close to the end of the evening Kaiden found Pierce's carrier walked over, lifted the blanket and yelled "Baby Pierce is Sleeping! Mommy look - Baby Pierce Wake Up!" Oh really I wonder why he would wake up!? But can I just say that not one tear fell from that baby's sleepy eyes, he woke up to loud band music, a brother in his face and he had a smile on his face and was ready to hang - it's good to be a Kirk!

Tonight is one of those nights - all is right with the world and I know bed time has come and gone and any second now chaos will ensue - but as I type this with Kaiden sprinting around the beach house with his bike helmet on talking about what we did today and baby Pierce hanging on the table with me I just don't want the night to end. I'm going to do my best to freeze this moment in time and carry it with me for days when the night doesn't end this well. Kaiden Loving His Helmet

Confessions Of A Mom Of Two Under Two

Or Just Random Venting

So anyone who has read any amount of my blog knows that both Dave and I feel incredibly blessed to have our boys and that we really would not change one thing about them. They are both healthy, happy and amazing us everyday with how they are developing and growing. Now having said that. . . . . Since Pierce's birth very often I have heard the comment "I don't know how you do it" - well honestly because there isn't another option. I mean really what is the 'other way', I in no way think this makes me special, I just feel like this makes me a mom. I mean look around, find any mom and tell me she isn't dealing with SOMETHING! ANYTHING!! It could be teething, the flu, fighting nap time, fighting feeds, weaning from the bottle, starting solids, potty training, separation anxiety, exhaustion from trying to keep up with all the extra work, or pressure from well meaning family to have another one - I mean seriously once you become a mom you have empathy & sympathy for Moms everywhere! Cause once you're a member of the Mom Club it's for life - Moms 4 Life!!

The Perks
As with any membership there are of course some great perks, which pretty much the rest of my blog highlights - but in general they are getting to see the world through their eyes, watching the wonderment that is childhood, shopping for those cute little outfits for special occasions, you know the good stuff!

The Confessions
So these aren't going to be really juicy confessions or anything, but I'm sure we've all thought it, at some point, either about being a mom or about our kids or worse the stuff we snubbed our noses at before we had kids but now understand all too well why. . .

• I am one of those moms who opens the box of crackers or cookies & lets my kid happily munch while I shop in peace. Of course I always purchase what we open - but like they say choose your battles wisely - and I've found if I get him a snack at the start everything runs smoother
• In direct disobedience to the AAP, I let my kids watch the Disney channel in the morning while I fix & feed them breakfast!! AND I let them watch GPB (who actually have some GREAT shows) Word World while making & feeding lunch. It gives them something to do while waiting & keeps them just distracted enough to open their mouth when the food is moving towards it. . . for now it works & that's all that matters!
• Although I do appreciate the subtle adult humor and or catchy songs sometimes the voices of the characters grate on my nerves SO badly that I have to turn it off = This is how I limit their viewing times, see AAP I do have some limits!
• We LOVE Music!! We always have it playing & Kaiden knows a lot of the lyrics ~ it's just that we listen to Top 40 & hip hop so instead of rocking out to 'Old McDonald' he rocks out to BEPs but in the end he's still getting to listen to music so that's good, right?!!
• There is ALWAYS a diaper to be changed, a mouth to be fed or bump to be kissed which I guess means job security but seriously. . . . enough with the poop already!!!

We Have Made The Move!!

Two Nights Down - No Problem

He's A Pro T Sleeping In New Beds!

So I was thinking, as I laid Pierce in his crib Wednesday night, how different his first four and a half months has been from Kaidens. Both boys slept in our room for the same length of time, or I should say until about the same age, but oh how Pierce has been through it all by the time he made this big move. With Kaiden, I really built it up, made sure he was taking all three naps each day in the crib before I ever tried to move him in it for a full night, with Pierce well he is a great sleeper, but babies make a lot of noise at night. So after three nights of restless sleep I decided it was time for him to make the move. Plus lets face it this poor baby has slept in at least five different kinds of bassinets, isolates, cribs and railed beds he never seemed to loose any sleep over which one he was in, plus the time he has spent in his room and crib he has always seemed to love.

The first night I did have to go in there once around 1:45 because I heard him crying, I was fearing it was going to be a very involved process, but he had simply kicked off the bottom part of his swaddle blanket so his little leggies were cold. I simply velcroed it back in place gave him his paci and within ten minutes I was back in bed! Last night was GREAT for both of us!! I felt like I really got to sleep because I wasn't on listen out mode and he slept through the entire night.

What a difference a good nights sleep makes!

Speaking of which I am so excited to share that we got a new mattress!!!! YAY - death to the foam pit we were calling a bed! A little over a year ago we were in the position where we needed a new mattress, the one we had, which we LOVED had bit the dust after six years, so we started looking. I thought I would like a TempurPedic - yes I know it's just foam, but it has like a lifetime guarantee and a 30 day in home trial - believe me you'll know in 1 night if you like a new mattress or not. . . . so to Dave foam is foam and there was no reason to buy the more expensive one when there was a foam mattress on Overstock of a fraction of the price. YES - looking back there are SO many reasons NOT to buy a huge thing like a mattress off the internet - but I was desperate and we bought it. BAD IDEA! It started out harder than concrete and after a few days began to take on a 'laffy taffy' sort of consistency - neither of which are conducive to a good nights sleep. Fast forward a few months when I am largely pregnant - which rolling over is near impossible on a bed with springs and here I am half sunk in my so called 'foam pit' (which if you have ever been in a foam pit like the one at PLAY, it's really hard to get out of) anyway you get it, I hated it and finally Dave started to hate it too which meant we got to get a new mattress! So this time we did our research and ended up with a fabulous one from the Original Mattress Factory - it is AMAZING!! And you wouldn't think it unless you've also experienced it but it took a couple nights to get used to having springs again! Love it, if you need one go there you won't be upset with what you bring home!!