Mommy Musings

The past few weeks have been a little tough around here.  We're all adjusting to Emmy being back at school.  She is struggling with the fact that kindergarten is harder and different than preschool.  She is also seeing Skip a lot less than in the summer.  Charlie is missing her big sister during the day.  Skip has been working a lot, and strange hours, and missing his girls.  I have been alone with them a lot, struggling with the early wake-ups, making sure Emmy is doing homework and has everything she needs every day.  I've been working on a little homeschooling with Charlie, and trying to get things done around the house while carving out a little time for things I like to and want to get done.  It's been tough. So Friday when Skip was off, he wonderfully gave me a little break.  He let me sleep in until 7:15 and took Charlie with him to drop Emmy off at school so I could get ready in peace.  When they got home he took Charlie to run s...

In parenting there are good moments and bad.  There are amazing wonderful moments and ones you wish you could erase from your memory completely.  As I mentioned to my cousin {who is only weeks away from becoming a father for the first time} the other night, being a parent can best be described as a roller coaster. Friday afternoon I experienced one of the low moments.  The girls and I had a birthday party to attend for the daughter of one of my friends.  It was going to be at a local children's museum we'd been to several times before. I'm going to be honest with you though, I had been dreading the party for a few days prior.  I knew the place was super fun for kids, and the girls and I were both excited to see our friends, but as Skip was working that afternoon, it would be a solo mission. Now before the eye rolling starts, I know how ridiculous it sounds that I was dreading taking the girls by myself.  They're older and there is only two of them . ...

In the first few months of Emmy's life, I was borderline obsessed with reading as much about babies I could.  I would spend hours combing the library for the latest book on development, feeding, sleeping, etc.  I was shocked when I heard other, more experience, mothers tell me that they didn't read any of the books.  But how would they know when they're child was supposed to roll over?  How did they know how much to feed them and when?  How would they get their baby to fall asleep without all the knowledge out there? As Emmy grew, I found myself reading fewer and fewer parenting books.  Though to be honest, it was more that I was just exhausted after chasing a toddler around all day, than I felt like I didn't need them. Then I got pregnant with Charlie.  There was very little reading of any kind going on during those nine months, mainly because reading made me never-ending nausea even worse.  But I also didn't feel the need to find out what each...

The past two weeks have felt like forever, and are really taking a toll on me.  Both girls rotated the croup, and it took Charlie almost three times as long to kick it.  Which made her whiny, fussy, and be even more clingy with me that before.  I literally couldn't do anything unless I was holding her...and since she was sick, that meant we did nothing.  My house was a mess, I never left Charlie's side, even to run an errand, and the whining hit epic proportions.  We spent the last two weeks doing a lot of cuddling: A decent amount of TV watching: A few late night parties: And a whole lot of comfort food: But thankfully this week is going slightly better.  No Charlie won't let anyone other than me change her diaper, give her a bath, or put her to bed.  Yes, it seems like she screams more than she doesn't.  But things definitely are a bit better overall.  One, everyone is healthy {knock on wood} and two, I'm starting to figure out some of Cha...

Some days, ahem like yesterday, can be really tough and trying.  There aren't enough hours in the day...kids aren't listening...you just can't seem to shake your cranky moods. But then there are the really awesome days.  The ones that make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside when you think about them.  The ones where you know  you're rocking this motherhood thing. Charlie and I started off the day with a pretty typical morning.  We dropped Emmy off at school, went for a long walk, then came home to shower and get ready. I got a little more dressed up than normal, and my mom came over to watch Charlie while I headed to Emmy's school.  They were having a special Mother's Day celebration and I could not wait to see it. The whole class sang a special Mother's Day song and the kids presented us with sunflowers they had grown and a special sign they made. It is always  so fun to see Emmy at school, but this was even more special . On our way home we pi...

It has been a cold, dreary, hellish week in the Musing's house.  But now it's Friday, the sun is shining, and so I thought I'd share a fun little story to make you laugh....and simultaneously make you feel better as a parent. As you all know, this is my sweet Emmy girl. Sure she is sassy, starting to talk back, and the glimpse I have caught of what the teenage years will look like is definitely not pretty.   But deep down and 98% of the time, she is simply a sweet, innocent, little girl. That is until she said the F word.  Yup, you read that right.  My four year old says the F word.  {and no I'm typing out the actual word...my dad reads my blog} Skip was playing a game with Emmy in the living room last week and he dropped one of the toys on his foot.  It really hurt, so he yelled out "Oh, come on!"  To which Emmy replied, "F'ing deer".   Skip had her repeat it two more times to make sure he really did hear her correctly.  Oh yes, my four y...

I had no intention of posting today, but when I came back from running to the bathroom by myself this morning {I know, how dare I} this is what I was greeted with. My tiny little baby managed to climb up on a chair, and then the table.  She was happily playing with a puzzle when I got there, all proud of herself. If you've been wondering why I look older these days...why I have more grey hair and a few more noticeable wrinkles ?  It's because of this tiny little terror. She is adorable and fearless and the combination is alarming ! Now if you'll excuse me I'll be removing all my furniture from downstairs...who needs to sit down anyway?

Over the last decade, I have developed a love of cooking.  I'm not that creative or adventurous in my dishes, but I really   enjoy  preparing meals for my family.  I wouldn't label myself a great cook by any means, but I can definitely hold my own.  I love cranking up some music and dancing around while stirring and keeping all the pots and pans under control. But in the past few months I've had to lower the music and take a little more time while I cook.   I am training a little apprentice after all. I can't remember if I first encouraged Emmy to help out in the kitchen, or if she requested it herself.  But either way, I truly love it.   Yes, it slows down the whole process and she is often in the way more than helping, but it is such  a special time for us together. I love showing her about different ingredients and how they mix together.   I love how it makes her feel like a big girl . I love how she always wants to experiment a...

I'm very excited for Becky's Women Connect project!  I love finding new blogs, especially when they are in a similar life stage as me.  I think it's important for women to be able to find someone going through the same things they are to share stories and bounce ideas off one another.  So who am I?  If you're new here, I'm Mandy.  I'm newly thirty { ouch }, married for seven years, mommy for four years. I've worn a lot of hats over the years: student, teacher, girlfriend, fiance, wife, Marine Corps wife, cop wife, deployment survivor, Jersey girl...the list could go on. But the most important hat I've ever worn, is that of stay-at-home mom to my two sweet girls. Being a SAHM is the one thing I always wanted to do in life.  I always knew I wanted kids and as long as my husband and I could afford it, I wanted to be able to stay home while they were young.  I didn't want to miss out on a second of their little lives.  So ...