This Song...

is so rad.

totally makes me long for another girl's weekend.

and, yes, I would gladly carry any (or all) of them home!

The Days Are Long....

A few days ago I stumbled upon this quote about raising kids and I can't think of anything that better describes what it is like to be a parent.

'The days are long, but the years are short.' - Gretchen Rubin

Lately, like most parents, I feel like I am living in some version of Groundhog's Day.  Everyday is the same. Nothing too bad happens, but also nothing really unexpected occurs. Some days when the LM finally goes to bed around 8 I feel like I have just finished running a marathon, and other days I can't even remember what it is that we did all day because it went by so quickly. Each week seems to be soooooooooooo long from start to finish, and then I turn around and my baby is already a few months away from turning a year old, and my little man is almost big enough to start kindergarten.

When the heck did that happen??????

Somewhere in between all the diaper changes, rides to and from school, and play dates, these kids just keep growing, and sometimes I am honestly just surprised we all survived the day. I often wonder if it is always going to feel like this, or if things do get easier as the kids get older? I imagine in some ways the day to day gets some relief, but emotionally things must get much more intense. They don't say "bigger kids, bigger problems" for no reason.

You will find no complaints here, just the musings of a mother who wonders where the time goes, and sometimes feels as though she didn't "see" her children all day, even though neither of them was more than a foot away at any given time.

Maybe I just need a little more of this....

                                                                  

Source: Uploaded by user via Robin on Pinterest

Happy Best Day of the Year.

Is there any day of the year that is better than the first day of Spring? The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the flowers are beginning to bloom, and you can even see the leaves trying their hardest to make their big debut. I'd love to write more, but a bike ride and a picnic in the park seems to be calling all of our names!

Happy best day of the year!

My beautiful sis and adorable (8!!!!!! month) old boy enjoying a sunset walk. 

Here's To a Colorful (and warm) Spring!!!!

It is not really 75 degrees out. My kids did not wear shorts today. We did not play at the park in the sun ALL DAY LONG, yesterday. No, this is New England. We have three feet of snow on the ground. You are going sledding after nap, not swimming. You are just dreaming. Open your eyes. 

Wait.... what? It's not a dream. It really is Spring/ Summer out there? That really was the ice cream man and not the snow plow that woke up my kiddies? Hell yeah!!!!!

It's beautiful out... and that only means on thing... it's time for a Spring fashion post! I, like everyone and their mother (brother, sister, great aunt, 12 cousin twice removed, cocker spaniel) am obsessed with color this Spring. O- to the -obsessed. Bright colors, pastels, neons... on nails, lips, shoes, dresses... you name it, I LOVE it. Just looking at these pictures makes me truly believe that Summer might really come early this year. Almost. How can you not be happy when you look like you just had a candy store explode all over you? Love it all. 

Here are a few of my favorite pieces for Spring from around the interwebs. Any one of these would be ideal for brightening up any spring wardrobe! You know, some of these are definitely in my shopping bag this year!!! 

EmersonFry 

HATCH 

HATCH

J. Crew

Calypso

Barneys

Bensimon

I will absolutely be wearing that tunic and those yellow jeans EVERYWHERE this spring/ summer (but not together, of course ;)). Throw in a hot pink lip, and a colorful bag, and I might have just found my new uniform! 

I hope you all, wherever you are, can get out today and soak up some beautiful sunshine! Man, it does a body (and a mind) good!

(Photos via Pinterest)

Meh.

This week has just been one of those that I'm happy to see go.

On Monday, we found out that the LM didn't get into the school that we were so ridiculously in love with. I, of course, was devastated. Cried, yelled, pouted, made calls... the usual freak out. It turns out that they had a lot of boys and they think it would be beneficial to him to spend another year at his {awesome} school that he has been attending for 3 years. In the scheme of things this is no big deal. In the moment it seems as though we (I) have failed him and now he is destined to spend the rest of his life wondering what it would have been like if he had spent that one more year in the "new school." I know, that's some seriously crazy talk and as the week progressed I was able to get some of this in perspective. Now I've succumb to the whole, "it is what it is thing,"  I  can take solace in the fact that the LM told me last night that he is "not going to another school.... EVER..... and that his school is the bestest ever." Who can argue with logic like that? So we do nothing. He stays where he is. Next year we apply again... and to a few more places, and hope that we can find him a place that loves us as much as we love them.

meh.

In other news, I'm pretty sure that the LM and I have the relationship of a 80 year old married couple. for reals. For the past few weeks it seems like all we do is bicker at each other. I am as much to blame as he is. It always starts with him talking back (which seems to be something new that came with turning 4 1/2), and then not listening. I usually make two crucial errors, 1) I try to reason with him, or 2) I try to get a reaction out of him by threatening something dramatic i.e. I'm going to take away ALL your toys. He then fake overreacts, I thrown my hands up in frustration... the moment passes and we are both totally over it. We then make some grand declaration of love, to wit, you are the best little boy in the whole world, and I love you. Then we move on. This seems to happen about 10 times a day. I have to say it's exhausting and tomorrow I'm going to try to deal with things differently. Have you ever spent the day arguing with someone who is totally irrational? I definitely don't recommend it. Looks like one of us is going to have to be the grown up (I'm guessing that's me) and keep things from escalating in such a dramatic fashion.

meh.

To top it all off, I think my baby has his 200th cold this year. Normally I would just say, this is what happens when you are the second child, but given that we just had our 2nd stomach flu of the season a week or two ago, I'm just thinking a little break from all the germs would be nice. If it were just baby, I could say, "well at least his immune system is getting a boost," but you all know that these things go from one kid to the next, then eventually to Dad (who reverts to a kid when he isn't feeling well) and then eventually to Mom, who gets over it just in time for another bout with something else. It really is a vicious cycle.

meh.

Speaking of the season... what is up with this New England weather? Look I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth (what does that even mean?) but can't it just stay warm? or cold? or something in between? We spent last weekend planning our annual Costa Rica trip, and right now I am itching for some sun and sand. Soon enough I know.

meh.

Since I'm really bitching here, can we just talk about daylight savings? Why does one hour throw things off so dramatically, and why aren't my kids as affected as me? This time change actually worked in our favor, allowing baby to stay up until 7pm, and not wake until 6:30... but the problem is that 6:30 still feels like 5:30, and then the flip is no one wants to go to bed on time. I have a feeling I was asleep before the LM last night and it was 9:30!!!

meh.

Okay, enough whining. I recognize that NONE of these things even register on the scale of bad, sad, or even abnormal... so I'll just quit my bitching, play the debbie downer wah wah in my head and move on. The weekend is here, the warm weather is coming back on Sunday, and we are all healthy (sans gray beans) so what more could we need?

Sulking done. Bring on the weekend and hopefully a better week next! I hope you all had a better week than us!

p.s. This is what I plan on doing the second this rain stops. You all remember my plea to Santa for this? Well, he, my hubby, and the amazing people over at Zigo all got together and made all our Christmas Spring dreams come true! And yes, it is absolutely as good as it looked like it would be!

#1 Must Have For Spring... Bib Necklace!

When I think of what I need to spruce up my "Spring" wardrobe, there is only one thing on my lust list this year. One thing that will transform every single piece of clothing that I own. Yes, I said every. single. piece. As the title of this post suggests the bib necklace is my #1 must have for Spring, and when it comes to statement necklaces, no one does it better than dannijo. For reals. Don't believe me, get ready to have your mind blown!!!

Feast your eyes on these works of art (hold tight to your wallet my friends!) 

Yep... that's what I'm talking about. Absolute beaded perfection. I envision wearing one of these with everything from jeans and a white t, to my favorite LBD. Don't even get me started on how amazing these would look over any one of my {favorite} nautical striped tops. (I say favorite because I love them all so much, there is no way I could choose just one. That's some kind of Sophie's choice talk, right there.) Right now I'm overly obsessed with this one, and I'm hoping that some little birdies deliver it for the ol' birthday/ mother's day combo in May. I seriously could stare at this website all day, and coming from a girl who wears almost no jewelry, that says a lot. 

Any of you craftzillas out there know how to make one of these beauties? Want to teach me ;)

The Bachelor: The Morning After.

You all know I'm a huge Bachelor fan. This season was blah at best, but I have to say something very unpopular here; I am so team Courtney. She was funny, she was witty, her style was awesome, she was kind of dorky, and yes, she was mean. SO WHAT? She was mean to the OTHER girls. Girls who were trying to date the same guy she was. Girls that would stab each other in the back if even given the slightest chance. Girls that were too busy trying to braid each other's hair, make friendship bracelets, and sit around singing kumbaya, instead of trying to spend time with the dude that they want to PROPOSE to them. Seriously, this is marriage they are dealing with. Never again will you have to compete to date your HUSBAND. His mom and sister liked her, aren't those the only girls that matter?

Whateves... they all break up before the final rose special anyway. At least in the past they tried for a few months before grabbing a magazine cover announcing their tearful split.

Say what you will about the show, but I dare you to talk badly anything that gave us something as funny as this.

Thanks mom for the link!

Next up Emily take two. YAWN (and by yawn, I mean that I will totally be watching.)

Some Things Never Change.

4 years ago, I left my husband "in charge" of our baby, only to come back to find both of them glued to the TV watching surf videos. 

4 days ago I did the same, only this time the video was skateboarding, and the kid was baby #2.

Proof that some things never change (except of course my decorating style... that is one rental I am happy to forget!)

Happy friday friends, hope you guys have something fun planned this weekend! Tomorrow we get to celebrate the birthday's of our two favorite little girls, and the next day the boys are heading up to New Hampshire for a big skate session. Sunday, also marks the day my sister finally gets home from Spring Break. Until this Summer, I hadn't lived in the same state as the girl for over 10 years... now even 10 days seems like a lifetime! On the upside, I was able to convince her to read The Hunger Games, and now she is as obsessed as the rest of us. This means I won't have to go to the opening day matinee by myself... cause you know that is something that HAS to happen. 2 weeks people!

Sk8ter Boy.

Remember back when the LM decided to trade in his pacifier for a skateboard? If not, you call read all about it here. At the time we thought that it would be just another "toy" for him to mess around with. In fact, the only reason we got him an instructor was because I was afraid that without proper guidance, he was cruising for some kind of major injury. Immediately he loved it. Loved skating, loved the challenge, love hanging with the older "boys."

Fast forward 6 months.

Not only does our kid still love skateboarding, but now he lives it. It has become like air to him. When he's not on his board he is doing one of three things 1) watching skate videos, 2) reading skate magazines, and 3) practicing tricks with his finger skateboards on any and EVERY surface he can find. In short, the kid is hooked.

Oh, and he is really, really, really, really good at it. Like freaky good. Like, whoa how can he do what a lot of kids 4x his age can't do? Like novelty good.

I can't help but be mystified by the whole thing. Sometimes I feel like a am watching a documentary about some athlete, and they pan to their mother who tells you how from a very young age Johnny likes to do x, and how once he found x it was all he could think about... and now as an adult Johnny is a professional x.   I used to think, oh, he's so good because his Dad was into it,  so of course he does it. Or, it was because his parents couldn't do it so they spent their whole life living vicariously through their kids (see Tiger Woods, the William's sisters.) It never really crossed my mind that a kid, at such a young age, could find something that they are so passionate about, that they themselves are the driving force behind making a life doing what they love.

Now, I'm not saying my kid is going to be a professional skateboarder. Honestly, if I had my say this would be nothing more than a recreational hobby, equal to swimming... soccer.. etc. The thing that I'm learning is that I might not have a say. At four years old my kid already knows what he wants to do, and who am I to stand in the way. I don't mean "do" as a career, I mean "do" every second of every minute of every day. I love him more than anything in the world, and I'm learning that if he loves skateboarding more than anything in the world, than so do I.

So we support him. Really support him. We have continued his weekly lessons, purchased him the proper gear, my husband has started skating, we take him to NH to a park 2x every weekend (a 6 hour daily commitment) and honestly, I now feel like we too live and breathe skateboarding. I can now name a dozen professional skateboarders, every trick invented, and know more about the history of the sport than I care to admit. 6 months ago I knew nothing.

I guess that's my point. At some age your kids hopefully find their passion. Mine was probably on the earlier side, but whenever it happens, I think you just have to let them be who they want to be, and try to help them become that person in whatever way you can. I can't tell you how many people tell me, "he's going to hurt himself," or "skaters aren't ideally the kind of adult you want your kid to be." I've found that these things are mostly stereotypes (isn't almost everything?) and met some of the nicest kids and adults who love this sport. The unexpected bonus has been that since he's been doing this sport, he has learned to focus himself in a way that I thought wasn't possible. This has completely translated to every other area of his life. His behavior in school and at home has been amazing, and he no longer gets frustrated when faced with a challenge. I'm sure some of this has to do with growing up, but truthfully, I can really see a difference on weeks that he skates a lot and weeks that he doesn't. I think it's been there best thing that could have happened to our (sometimes) overly active child.

Who knows if this is something that he will continue in the future.He may wake up tomorrow and be totally over it, or even in a few years decide it's too much. If that time comes, I hope that we will again be as supportive, and whatever new thing he "lives for" will again become our new thing to live for. Of course, there is Baby Gray to consider too (or Gracie as we now lovingly call him) he might hate skateboarding with a burning passion, and love something entirely different. As I always say.... it's their world, and we are just living in it. It will be very interesting to see what the future holds.

For now, here are some shots of the LM doing what he does best.

Sk8 or die! ;)