I'm starting to dislike titles

What's wrong with me? I've really lost that Blogging Feeling. I'm not sure why but I'm hoping it will come back again. I suppose it may have something to do with my anxiety/panic issues the last 3 months or so. Most of the time at night I am trying to deal with all sorts of physical symptoms and I try not to go to bed too late because they just get worse the later I stay up. Make sense? No? I know. I'm a mess. Anyhow, one day I will be back to normal. I am trying to just have patience. Until that time....I may be a bit sporadic and flighty when it comes to the blog. I am trying not to drown myself in guilt because I'm not writing down all the amazingly funny things that my kids are doing or the mundane things that fill our days.

Here is a recap of the last couple of weeks:
Ahem.

Dad came down for a visit and we mostly just hung around the house. Everytime he comes down we talk about going to visit an Antebellum mansion or doing something culturally significant and then we just can't get our shit together. Really, it's because I'm either pregnant or caring for little ones, though. He got to really bond with Carter though and this was priceless. Carter ran him ragged for 11 days straight and I barely heard a complaint from the old man. It was great to see them playing so much. My dad is great because he is creative and just a big kid himself, so he makes up games from virtually nothing and he always gives 100% of himself to them. Seeing him play with Carter made me remember why I thought my dad was so great when I was a little girl. He makes the perfect playmate for a child! In fact, at family reunions or family gatherings my dad is like the Pied Piper. You will most likely see him being trailed by all the little cousins, nieces and nephews. It's always been like that.

I really miss my family. Like I've said before, it becomes kind of like a physical ache.

Anyway, hopefully we will see them all this summer. If all goes well we will be driving up to Michigan for a week's vacay. I can't wait. I'm already planning my itinerary....it mostly revolves around food....and stores. :) Lawd, help me! That drive is gonna be awful but I just can't imagine flying with all our crap. Plus, I hate flying since I became a parent.

So my dad left on Tuesday. Kevin was working out of town all week so that was a drag. I had a doctor appointment, went to the zoo, attempted storytime at the library (not so good this week), hung out with a pal and plotted my casino/hotel getaway. Man! I am lame. I was pretty damned excited to get out of town. Even though we still had to bring the baby with us (Grammy & Papa are just not up to that yet), it still feels like a vacation. Even though I am not attending the wedding we are down here for, I still feel like I'm "doing" something. Even though I'm not wearing a cute dress and heels and having cocktails, I still feel like I'm footloose and fancy free. Weird. I need to get out more.
What I am actually doing is: sitting in the dark in our hotel room with the baby asleep in the pack-n-play, listening to Beethoven, eating cheesecake and playing on the computer. My big plans for the morning include getting up at the crack-o-ass (Owen's favorite time of day), having a breakfast buffet at the casino downstairs (casino hotels are totally strange, btw), then gonna take Owie-Bo for his first pool experience. We'll check out, drive home, I'll scoop up my two year old little whiz kid and I'll squeeze him like we've been apart for weeks. Just a little night away is amazing.

P.S. Owen has discovered his hands. He kinda waves to himself and then squawks with glee. He says DaDaDaDaDadadada, BaababaMaaMaMaMa, *raspberry*, HaabababaEEEEK, YaaayayyayayYAYAYAYA, *screech*, *hysterical laughter*. He smiles at everybody (especially the ladies) and when he dissolves into baby giggles I see grown, hardened men turn all googly and speak in high-pitched voices. He has such a personality and is one of the happiest, sweetest babies I've ever known. Honestly, all he does is laugh. He totally cracks me up. Kevin and I always discuss how different our boys have been so far. Carter had a lot more frustration, impatience and drama as an infant....well, even now he is a little more high maintenance. It's like night and day sometimes. I can't wait to see how their personalities differ as they grow older.

Anyway, off to take more lame quizzes on facebook and maybe shower before I watch tv on mute. :) Ahhh, living it up. Ha

Our weekend

For a weekend away with 2 sick kids, and one with teeth trying to break through his gums, it was surprisingly relaxing. We went up to Kevin's dad and step-mom's house and had a great time. No internet, minimal sports viewing, minimal cooking for ourselves (grammy is an awesome cook and I look forward to her meals every time we go), no lawn/yard work to keep the husband busy, no dishes to do or toys to pick up and the added benefit of more hands to hold the baby and entertain the toddler (Papa and Grammy are very popular with the kids). Plus, I got to eat some Indian food on Saturday before we went to a friends St. Patrick's Day Party/crawfish boil. Yuck to the crawfish. I don't eat them. It's not my thing. They basically creep me out. As kids we would pry them out of riverbanks .... not boil them up and eat them. I cringe while my husband sucks the spice out of their heads. Uggghhh.
But good grief, I crave Indian food all the time. Why doesn't our town have any good restaurants!? Argh. We had a yummy buffet lunch but I wish I didn't fill up so quick! It was so damn good I wanted to keep going back for more. Alas, I am a glutton. So basically my weekend revolved around food.

Today Owen's First Tooth made it's appearance with #2 running close behind. Why do I feel so proud? It's just a tooth. He is a wee bit fussy but not nearly as bad as Carter when he was teething. Carter was a teething maniac....for months. Owen just had a few crappy days and Voila! Here they are! Just another way they differ, I suppose.

I forgot to mention last week that I started running again. Aiiiyeeee. I am in the worst shape of my life. Seriously. I'm not just saying that. I can feel everything jiggling when I'm jogging and I'm tired after about ohhhhhhh 10 steps or so. God, what's happened? The first day I ran 1/4 of a mile, came home gasping for breath and proceeded to have a coughing fit for the next 30 minutes. I felt like I had just smoked 3 packs of Newports. Like I hadn't taken a deep breath in a decade. What the hell? Have I used my lungs in the past year or two? Anyway, the 2nd time I ran 1/2 mile and felt much better afterwards. Slowly but surely....
I will always hate running. I'll do it though.

The holiday season and weekend getaways

The last few days have been such fun! Well, at least Saturday and Sunday have been.... Friday was just bad. Very bad. Mental patient bad. I could have used a Whiskey I.V.


Buuuuuut, Saturday I woke up excited because Kevin and I were going to the Coast for his work Christmas party. I was viewing it as a Romantic Getaway of sorts (with our 2 month old). Hey! At least I didn't have to argue, barter and finangle my way through another weekend with my 2 year old; he was staying at home with Grammy & Papa. Oh joy!

(note: I missed the hell out of my youngster despite all the hoops he makes me jump through on a daily basis)

We had a hotel room at The Grand so we loaded up our mini van and a Uhaul for one night away with ourselves and our 2month old baby. Just kidding, of course, about the Uhaul but our mini van was packed full of crap. Why do kids require so much stuff when traveling?? I guess it's more me than anything. I like to be prepared for any situation.

Anyway, we checked in and got situated and it was so......quiet. I mean we were staying in a casino hotel but I mean it was quiet; in a way only a mother of two who left the older chatterbox at home, could understand. :) I could actually hear my baby coo gently and Kevin and I could hold a conversation from beginning to end. It was weird.
We got ready to go to the party and headed out. I had bought a pair of larger dress pants on the way down because I was unwilling to wear maternity clothes but I opted not to get a new shirt. I figured my red sweater would be stretchy enough to fit, and it was....but it fit a little too well, if ya know what I mean. Unfortunately I spent most of the evening self consciously tugging at the form fitting waist of the shirt trying to pull it down over my odd shaped belly and camel humps. Ah well. I got through it.
So we are dressed nicely (Kevin was quiet dapper) and we are toting our 2 month old along. He was so amazingly good. I nursed him at 6:30 or 7:00 and put him in the stroller with a little blanket tent and he was good to go. (note: he ended up sleeping until 3:30 that morning, even with being transferred to carseat and then to bassinet in hotel room) During the Christmas party I got the mix of looks and comments from people ranging from Why would she bring her baby to a party?! to Ahhh, I wish I brought my little one along.... I can't please everybody but survival is key and I neeeeeed to be able to hang out at social functions now and again. I just do what I have to do.
Mommy got to have a couple of cocktails (yum) and didn't even need to use the back-up breast milk. Yeah!
After a lovely night sleeping in the most comfortable bed in the world and not getting kicked in the head, we went to the breakfast buffet. It was relaxed and fun and it totally recharged me. Mother's guilt set in sometime between the walk from the room and my made-to-order omelette. Sigh. So we stopped off at the overpriced gift shop for a Pwesent for Carter. I knew since I said I'd bring him one that he would remember. The days of him forgetting things like that are long gone. He has a memory like an elephant and he'll call you out on things you tell/promise him. It was an agonizing decision, "Hmmm, 20 dollar penguin or 20 dollar alligator....". :) The alligator won out and has since never left his side. He was pleased. I live to serve.
After we got home and attacked our youngster with kisses like we had been gone for weeks, we lazed about all day until dusk when we all loaded in the car again and headed out to see some awesome Christmas lights.
For all of you non-locals, the Lewis Lights are THE place to get some Christmas cheer. This family out in bfe starts decorating in October and by December 1st they are on from 5:30 until 9:00pm every night until New Years. They are amazing. You walk along a path that is strung back and forth across their property and covered with some 15,000 lights (I think that is what they said...is that alot? I dunno). Plus, it's free. Free fits our budget very well, I might add. They take donations to cover the exorbitant electric bill, though.
I'm so glad there is something like this for the little ones especially. Carter absolutely loves it and we try to go a few times each season. This time he grabbed the camera and took a picture of every display. I will have to post some of them because I was pretty surprised how well he did lining them up in the frame and all....maybe he will be a famous photographer. Look out Ansel Adams!
Check some of these out, and keep in mind, he's two...... and we are obnoxiously proud parents... and this is my blog and I can post whatever I want. :)

Well that was our weekend.

Last night I got to the Wrapping of the Presents. *sigh* I never thought I would get sick of seeing the same wrapping paper. Remind me next year to buy more of a variety....and to organize all of my wrapping supplies. Egads! It's a mess.
Christmas is fast approaching! What happened to December being soooooo long that it was actually painful. I remember thinking that Christmas would never come. Haha. Time flies when you get old.

(I have no idea why blogger won't let me alter this last paragraph so it's not right on top of those pictures but whatever....looks sloppy. stupid.)