I Can't, We Have Baseball

I started this week on the struggle bus. I’ve been looking forward to dance and baseball because I love watching my kids do what they love, but this week marked the start of nearly 2 months of straight crazy.

I’m owned by my kids’ activities every single week night between now and the end of October. I definitely need the shirt that says “I can’t, we have baseball (or dance).” And to top it all off, I dropped the ball on night one of children’s activities by showing up at the end of ballet class instead of the beginning. Turns out I saved the time incorrectly in my calendar 2 months ago when we registered. It didn’t go over real well with my little ballerina.

So I’ve been over here this week letting it eat at me. How are we going to get through the next 7 weeks with any level of sanity left to show at the end? No doubt it’ll end in exhaustion for both me and the kids.

But then I remembered something. Yes this is going to be hard for the next 7 weeks and yes it’s okay to acknowledge that and know that it’ll be stressful at times, but these are just small things when all is said and done.

I know that in hindsight I probably won’t even remember the rushing through dinner, homework and showers so we could fit everything in. I won’t remember how I screwed up the first day of dance (unless that one kid never lets me live it down, which is very possible). I won’t remember how I sent my kid to baseball in dirty pants because who has time to wash those things every 2 days. I won’t remember the 3 trips to sporting goods store in 1 week to get all the things I didn’t realize we needed this season and how quickly all those things added up.

Instead I’ll remember that one hit of the season that made my boy feel like a star and put a look of pure joy on his face. I’ll remember the two outs he got in one game that made him want to play short stop forever and ever. I’ll remember leaning forward at my daughter’s recital so nobody saw my tears as I watched my sweet girl dance her heart out and I’ll remember how she watched that recital video over and over again afterwards for weeks.

How absolutely incredible it is that I get to be present for these moments. What a privilege it is to watch them grow.

I kind of feel like the secret to life might just be meeting each struggle with enough gratitude to find and appreciate the beauty hidden in the chaos. Admittedly, that’s sometimes easier said than done, but something I’ve been actively working on for the last 2 years.

See ya in November.

Parabo Press For The Win + Free Square Prints + $10 Off

I don’t have quite as much control over things when it comes to Saida anymore. She has her own style, her own likes, wants to decorate her room according to her own taste, and all that good business. I’m hanging on to as much control as I can, but I’m also kind of a believer in letting her explore and letting her take charge of some of those things within reason.

Putting up these super cute (AND FREE because we got the smaller ones which are always free) square prints from Parabo Press is a fun way for me to let her make her own decisions while winning the battle over her room decor. She got to pick each photo she wanted to display. Nevermind that we’re still wearing Christmas pajamas with unbrushed hair (and it’s the afternoon). Scroll down for a coupon code at the bottom of this post for $10 off your first order from Parabo Press. Or if you’d rather, just order the free prints and just pay shipping. Such a fun way to have your kids interact with photographs.

Code for $10 off your first order from Parabo Press: MNEHAE

The Picture That Sums up Why we Bought a Camper / Our Trip to McKinney Falls State Park

I promised myself I’d start blogging about our camping trips once we actually started taking them. I wasn’t sure what these blog posts would be exactly. I’m pretty sure I was thinking at some point I would become some sort of camping expert and people would flock to my blog to hear about our trips and what cool things I did/cooked that they too need to be doing, but I’m not sure this is where that is going. Big dreams, huh? I feel inspired for like 5 minutes and then it’s gone so…. Also, like, I’m never going to be that person. EVER. I don’t have my shit nearly enough together for that.

This morning I edited a picture from our trip that basically sums up our reason for buying a camper and trying to take a camping trip every month. Do you want to see it? Not that your answer matters because I’m going to show it to you whether you want to or not.

Here it is…

You: But Monica, that’s just a blurry photo of your child swinging on her hammock. How could that possibly sum up your reasons for buying a camper?

Me: Um no, it’s not. That photo right there is a feeling.

But for real, the out of focus element of this image is giving me this out of body experience where time has slowed significantly and I’m just exactly where I’m supposed to be. It’s that thing I was reaching for when we bought our camper. It’s that thing I’ve wasted the past 6 months or so of my life anxiously awaiting. It’s that thing we’ve been missing in this life that doesn’t ever seem to slow down. It just goes faster and faster and faster and we were afraid that before we knew it we’d wake up and our kids would be grown and we would have let the opportunity for these kinds of experiences pass us up.

It’s easy to skip these things over. It’s easy to say, “Well, life is just to damn busy to stop right now.” We live in a world where we have to intentionally schedule time to slow down and so that’s what we’re doing.

Me: You wanna see more of my favorites from this trip to McKinney Falls State Park?

You: Yes, Monica. I can’t think of anything I’d love more.

Where we stayed: McKinney Falls State Park in Austin, Texas

Campsite: 18, (1 of 12 50 amp sites with water and electric). Very large pull through campsite with one site very close by (worked out fine because they never came out of their camper) and next to the bathrooms which turned out to not be a big deal at all. In fact when Corbin pooped in his pull up we were just thankful there was a dumpster nearby.

Why We Invested In Memories Over Real Estate

There was this brief moment a few weeks ago where Tyler and I seriously considered buying a house. As seriously as we’ve done anything we were planning renovations for each room and really trying to understand the layout and falling in love with the sweet lot the house sat on. We’d only seen it in pictures and it just hit the market and literally every single room was going to need renovations. I’m down for renovations, don’t get me wrong, but there wasn’t going to be any money left for renovations.

That morning we’d been camper shopping so we were thrown for a loop when we saw this property pop up. Our options were camper or house, but not both. We already have a house so it’s not like we don’t have a place to be, but real estate is always a good investment, right? Campers just depreciate over time and all that.

Sooooo, we passed up a super awesome real estate opportunity and decided to buy a camper. It wasn’t quite that simple, but it’s what we did. Here is what it came down to for me.

Real Estate vs. Memories

We got stuck in one of those time share presentations back in April in Sedona. We had no intention of buying, but there we were trying to collect the $100 promised to us for sitting through it. Side note: Don’t ever sit through one of these things for only $100. Ask them for the world before you show up and negotiate something much better than $100. Anyway, they ask you all these questions trying to guilt you into buying a timeshare because if you don’t, you obvioulsy don’t love your kids or your mother-in-law. Legit this is what the dude working for Diamond Resorts more or less told me. I wish I was kidding. The thing that made sense from that presentation was investing in memories. We’re not timeshare people, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to start making the kinds of memories I cherish from my childhood with my own children. So we bought a camper and invested in moments and memories for our family. We can buy an new house with more land later after we handle some more things financially, but I’d prefer to start making the memories now. Each day is a gift and it would sure be a shame if we let these years pass us by with regret. Something tells me we’ll never regret a single day spent with our kiddos exploring nature and making s’mores.

First Day of Kindergarten

I only have to survive 40 more minutes before I get the oldest child back from her very first day of Kindergarten!!!

Y'all I made it a whole day with her in the care of someone she isn't related to and I didn't even cry once.  I got close like two times, but it was because I was so proud of her and because her teacher added photos to the class Facebook page.  

I talked about this on Facebook and Instagram this morning.  I love watching my kids reach these milestones. I try not to rush things, but I genuinely love watching them them grow and learn and do the things kids are supposed to do.  I don't want my babies to be babies forever.  There are definitely some ages and stages I miss, but I also wouldn't trade them for the stages we're in now.  We've been there, we've done that and now we're going to do this other thing and it too is going to be awesome (and maybe awful all at the same time, idk).  

We tried to do the obligatory first day of school sign photos this morning.  I'm not sure we're cut out for this.  I could have spent more time forcing them into standing still and things, but somehow this one seems to fit the day and the attitudes of the day perfectly.  Plus also of course my kid is the one that managed to bust up her face two days before the first day of school.  I feel like we're being judged already.

I'm so anxious to see if she's as excited this afternoon as she was this morning and I pretty sure I need a hug.  Time to go find my shoes and walk the couple blocks to school.

The McKenna Children's Museum

So if you keep up with my blog you know that we were supposed to be in Galveston until today, but family issues resulted in us coming home early. This means we're home, Tyler has time off, and with Saida getting ready to start Kindergarten, we want make the most of this little bit of "vacation" time we have/had left.

We really didn't know what we wanted to do with this time though.  We just knew that we wanted to do it together.  After putting out an SOS to a local moms group on Facebook, we had a few suggestions to fill our time.  We chose to head down to New Braunfels (about 35 minutes away) to the McKenna Children's Museum.  We actually have a children's museum in Austin too that's technically closer, but we like to avoid the Austin traffic whenever possible.  

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Why we chose The McKenna Children's Museum for our Day Trip

• 35 minutes is a cinch.  I hear the children's museum in San Antonio is great, but we left later than I would have liked and adding on an extra 30 minutes each way to the trip is just something we didn't have time for today.
• It was cost effective.  We paid $7.50/person to get in.  The Thinkery in Austin would have been $12/person and The Doseum in San Antonio would have been $14/person.  I'm feeling like we definitely got our money's worth.
• It's inside (mostly).  I thought about going to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, but it's hot.  Texas is sitting at a whopping 100 degress today and wasn't about to go spend nearly $60 to hang out in the sun.  Yes you get to drive your car around, but I still have to wonder if the animals would even be out moving.  We'll save that idea for cooler weather.
• Our kids really just seem like the ideal ages for a children's museum.  Saida just turned 5 and Corbin is 2 and a half.  Children's museums are a safe place for them to run and play without limits and we love just watching them do it.
• It gets rave reviews from just about every mom who has ever taken their kids there.

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What we found at the McKenna Children's Museum

The Grocery Store Exhibit

I'm going to be honest, I haven't been to a children's museum since I was a kid and I don't really remember much about it.  Actually the only thing I sort of remember from that experience was the grocery store exhibit.  I remember thinking this is what it feels like to be a grown up when in that exhibit.  Oh to be that naive again.  But anyway, the grocery store exhibit didn't disappoint.  I especially loved seeing the things they picked out on their own shopping experience.  Corbin basically filled his cart with cheese.  If there was ever any doubt he was his mother's child, I think that doubt is gone now.  

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The Wonder Shop Exhibit

The Wonder Shop was something Saida was looking forward to.  I showed her Instagram photos of the museum before we went and she's just always down for a good painting session.  I imagined this exhibit a little more out in the open.  I was happy to find it in a room separate from the chaos of the main space of the children's museum.  

I'm not always that mom that's going to hand Corbin some paints and let him go at it.  He's a two and half year old boy which means things almost never go according to plan and I'm typically not in the mood to clean up after what went wrong.  I love that he got to paint next to his sister.  His sister is still upset that he added green to her paper where she didn't want it, but this moment made me happy.  

Helpful Tip: Do this early enough in your visit to allow more time for your paintings to dry.  We did it about half way through and as liberal as my kids are with paint, they were still wet when we put them in the car.  Fortunatley my cargo space was pretty clear and we had room to set them down flat on the way home.  

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The Great Outdoors Exhibit

The main attraction outside is the water.  It's basically the ultimate water table full of fishing (for toy fish), waterslide racing (for toys), and a bunch of other educational ways to interact with the water.  My kids loved this area and we sat there and watched them while silently thanking the McKenna folks for having this space under cover.  August in Texas is hot.  

Helpful Tip:  Bring a change of clothes just in case.  My kids can be pretty timid so they really didn't get wet, but I could see how it would be easy to leave this area a bit covered in water.  Chances are you know if your kid is one of those fun loving kids who may walk away wet.

Also outside was a music area.  Honestly I felt like the music area could have been a little cooler, but my kids still thought it was pretty cool and I guess that is what matters most.  The xylophone was definitely thier favorite instrument to play.

There are also opportunities to climb and build outside so basically this area has a little bit of something for everyone (including benches for mom and dad).  

I knew this would be one of our favorite spots and I purposely saved it for last in our visit because... water.... and kids.  

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Hill Country Campground Exhibit

This was a suuuuuper cute area.  I'm kind of a sucker for a vintage inspired play camper and tent.  The photographer in me also loved it because it was close to a wall of windows and natural light is kind of like my very best friend.  Also we went and looked at campers after this so this is just where I am in life right now anyway.  This area also included a little cave with bat wings to put on the kiddos.  My kids probably would have taken those bat wings home.  I smell a diy project sometime in the future maybe.  

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Destination Space Exhibit

I hope my kids explore this one a little more next time.  Saida actually really loved walking through the outter space room which is basically a pitch black room with stars.  I couldn't even see the walkway it was so dark.  For a kid who insists on a night light, I was super shocked she loved it so much.  Corbin hated it.  There was so much more in that area though that they never touched so maybe next time.

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Other exhibits not mentioned that they also really enjoyed are the Amazing Airways Exhibit, The Town Square, and The Kids Clinic.

I mean really this whole place is super adorable and so inviting for play.  A steal for $7.50 per person.  The bottom line is that if we lived even 15 minutes closer, we'd have a family membership.  A family of 4 can buy a membership for only $125 a year.  It would pay for itself in about 5 visits.

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So my recommendation is YES, DEFINITELY GO!!!  And if you live close, DEFINITELY PAY FOR A MEMBERSHIP!!!

For more information on the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels, click the button below.

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This is just to add another level of cuteness to the post.  Also yes, he is wearing Tito's Vodka Sunglasses.  They're his favorite.

Mom Brain: It's a Legit Thing

I feel like there are endless ways I could start this blog post.  For example:

Does anyone spend most of their day doing all the little things they'd never remember?

The term "pregnancy brain" is bullshit.  It insinuates that maybe you'll get your brain back after the baby is born and obviously that couldn't be any farther from the truth.  

Or my personal favorite...

So this one time my husband was late to work after he spent an hour looking for his keys.  Hell, I even helped and it just so happens I was the one who misplaced them.  Any guesses on where we found them?  

That last one was this morning.  

But for real though, please tell me I'm not the only one.  We moms go through our entire day automatically doing so many things without even realizing it.  Just last week I was getting ready to go somewhere (I can't even remember where) and was in my bathroom working on hair and makeup.  Saida was talking to me and periodically Corbin would come into the bathroom needing something.  I looked down and at him on one of these quick visits and he had an applesauce squeezie in his hands.  I remembered giving him a yogurt squeezie at some point, but not an applesauce squeezie.  How did he get this thing open on his own? I looked in front of me and lo and behold, there is the damn cap to the applesauce squeezie on my bathroom counter.  I opened that thing at some point and handed it over and had absolutely no memory of it.  I was in the middle of something and just did it without thinking. No big deal really, but he was totally taking advantage of me and on his third squeezie in like 10 minutes.  I wonder what else he could have gotten away with.  "Yeah sure honey, let me open this bag of flour.  Go ahead now, move along."

Or sometimes people will ask me where a small bruise came from that I don't remember getting.  I walk into furniture, walls, doorways on the regular, but could never even begin to tell you which incident a bruise came from.  Likely I don't even remember the incident ever happening, but I have some sort of vague recollection of saying ow at some point... I think.  Sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day to really take note of these things and my head is already filled with too much other stuff.  

So anyway, when Tyler came to me this morning and asked if I'd seen his keys, obviously I said no.  I asked him twenty questions about what was happening the last time he had his keys and blamed the children for maybe moving them (honestly I still blame the children).  We even looked in their playroom and I texted the neighbor to see if we had lost them there a couple nights before.  In a last ditch effort I checked my purse.  There they were.  For about two seconds I tried to come up with places I could hide them that we hadn't looked yet, but I hadn't had coffee yet and Tyler was 5 feet away so I just handed them over.

Someone please tell me how they got in there.  All I can figure is one of the kids handed them to me yesterday when we were on our way out the door and I just opened my purse and slid them in without thinking and I never really figured it out because we were taking my car with push button start and not Tyler's truck.  I don't really know, but this is at least how I imagine it all going down in my head.  

This is my life.  I really don't know what to say.  Sorry Tyler.  For the record, I still think it's the kids' fault.  Good thing they're cute.

Why We Gave Up On Potty Training After Half a Day

I started wondering if I should be potty training Corbin more than 6 months ago when he started removing his diaper on his own.  This ended up not lasting long and I never did anything.  He wasn’t even two at the time.  

He turned two in January. This is June and next month he’ll be two and half.  Seems like as good a time as any to try to knock this potty training thing out.  I was hoping to get it done before we go to the beach in August anyway.  It was super easy with my daughter and she was basically trained in 2 days when she was barely two.  

Honestly I tried to do all the things other people suggest doing beforehand with Corbin.  We got all excited over a potty seat he now refuses to use (it sits on the big potty), we read a super hero potty book that he has zero interest in, and I keep talking about all the yummy treats he’ll get for peeing in the potty because treats would definitely motivate him on a regular day.

The only problem is we are full on in that stage where you fight about ever last thing or it’s a game. And I'm not talking about the stuff that doesn't matter.  I'm talking about things like diaper changes.  Yes, if you have poop, you do not have a choice, I'm changing you.  Of course he'll kick uncontrollably through the entire thing.  Getting into the car seat is a fight and a game.  He wants to do it himself, but if you give him an inch to do it, he's everywhere except the place he's supposed to be and I literally have to climb through the car after him.  Getting out of the car is also a game.  He wants to go out sister's door which is fine by me except when I get over to sister's door we're all over the car again and now we want to go out this other door.  I've gotten to the point where if he told me he wants to go out a door, that's the one he's coming out one way or another.  Otherwise I'd chase him from door to door for a good 10 minutes before he'd actually get out of the car.  All of it is a fight.  I literally have to man handle the kid to get him to do anything.  

So I’m actually not feeling very confident about this potty training thing, but we’re going to give it a go anyway for the next two days.  If day 2 shows zero progress, I’ll scrap it and try again later.  If we make even the slightest progress, I’ll keep going.

Here we go….

Potty Training Day 1

7:00am: Wrangled Corbin on to the potty after he decided potty training wasn’t part of his plan for today.  Doesn’t care if he gets to wear big boy pants and couldn’t care less about the marshmallows I promised.  If he’s going to wear the big boy pants, he insists on also wearing shorts.  This wasn’t part of my plan, but beggars can’t be choosers so oh well.  I’m planning a load of laundry for the end of the day anyway.

7:50am:  Seems okay with sitting on the potty for .75 seconds assuming I also give him the marshmallow while he’s on the potty. Still no pee so followed this up with a cup of water.  Probably should have done that first thing this morning.

8:30am: Sat on the potty again.  Sat longer, but still no pee.  Stepped up my bribe with chocolate chips for actual pee in the potty.  

8:39am: Accident #1 happens, not even 10 minutes after sitting on the potty. Go figure.  He’s content to just sit in it.

9:05am: Sat on the potty again because he wanted a yogurt squeezie and I was like sure, as long as you go pee in the potty.  He didn’t. No second squeezie was given. He’s drinking more water so we shall see.  In the meantime I’m looking at little potties on Amazon, because I’m not sure we’re going to make any progress today on the big potty, but honestly I’m not sure a little potty would make a difference either.

9:35am:  Sat on the potty again.  He seems to be more excited about chocolate chips than marshmallows. Unfortunately no pee this time either.

10:02am:  Accident #2.  Lord help me.  So if they don’t go in the potty a single time on day one, do you just scrap it completely?  

10:33am:  Sat on the potty again because he really wanted that yogurt squeezie.  He wasn’t able to squeezie anything out though, lol.  

11:00am:  It’s been over an hour since the last accident so I thought now was a good time to go sit on the potty again.  I had to chase Corbin around the house and onto his bed where I was just sure he’d pee.  In my efforts to get him off the bed so we could go potty (or at least not pee on the bed) he fought so hard that I ended up bumping him in the mouth and hurting him. 

For real though

This is a child who is clearly not ready to potty train.  I don’t think it’s healthy to put either one of us through anymore of this at this time.  Who are we kidding?  We didn’t even make it half a day.  After potty training one kid, this is definitely not moving in a promising direction at all.  I think if either of us are going to do this and stay sane, it’s got to come after the fighting and game playing stage is over or at least not as much of a thing.

Send all your boy potty training tips my way, pretty please.  We’ll try this again another day.

Actually, send all your getting over this fighting stage tips my way.  We give him choices when appropriate and I pick my battles with things that don't matter, but how do you get over it with things that matter?  I've taken on a no tolerance policy with the things that matter so I'm confused about why we're still trying it.  He knows he's not getting his way and 9 times out of 10 it ends in tears.  It can't possibly seem fun for him anymore.

P.S. This is not at all where I thought this would end up.  I actually thought we'd make it through the day before we made a decision to continue or give up and I was totally ready to see it though.  Bummer.