Famous last words that I get tired of hearing. I guess I do a lot of complaining and that gives people the impression that I dread every day. That is so not true. Everyday is a challenge for me – raising two kids while exhausted ..

Sleep Deprivation is a Buzz Killer
It makes EVERYTHING harder. And when you have an active child and spend a lot of time in the Texas heat – you get worn down so much faster. It erodes my patience, creativity and ability to think on my feet. I don’t like being sleep deprived, but it is just one of the things that comes with the territory of having two young children. Individually, they don’t wake that much, but combined it is about 5 times a night. Tyler has been waking up a bit more lately. It will get better, but for now makes my days harder.

It is all about Moments
Do I have good days? I like to say I have good moments and not so good moments. What I don’t think people get is that everyday is filled with joy, laughter, tears, and anger. You get it all everyday. By the end of a day, you are pretty worn out. We Moms are actresses putting our energy into play, singing songs, corraling kids, and redirecting from a “no-no” activities to more desirable ones. By the end I have so little left. Heck, you can read about many of my good moments in this blog…. And these days, it isn’t over when Chris gets home, it is just that I have one less in my care.

Trying Harder
Even with the fabulous support system I have and non-judgemental mommas around me – I still judge myself harshly. I will see what another momma is doing and think to myself- I need to be doing those things with Tyler or why didn’t I think of that or what a brilliant way to handle that situation. I put a lot of pressure on myself to “do it right”. Nevertheless – I am going to try to have a better attitude and try to make sure that I am enjoying this time with my kids. I am going to better about “preparing” for the week by coming up with activities and adventures ahead of time and making sure I have everything I need together. I also need to work on taking care of myself, so I can take better care of my kids.

I think going back to work will be such a breeze after this….this HAS to be the hardest job on the planet.

Last night we had to put our dog Rosie to sleep. We nicknamed her Rosie-Rue and after a while it became Rue. She had a very aggressive form of cancer that even with treatment continued to worsen. Becoming less and less interested in food (her favorite thing in the whole wide world), it was evident to us that it was time. We wanted to do this on a good day and not wait until she was completely miserable.

She was the sweetest, most laid back girl and yet was always the instigator in wrestling with her brother, Chase. She was also a dog from Gold Ribbon Rescue. Strangely, she was adopted by another family who kept her in the backyard. She got out and when she was returned to rescue and the family contacted, they didn’t want her back?!?! That blows my mind because she had a gentle spirit about her and was so easy going. A very easy pet to care for and love.

She had a very peaceful send off and was surrounded by her family and Chase (Chris said the dogs were nose to nose as she passed).

Tyler has been choo-choo train crazy for a while now. We were wanting to get him a train set for his birthday in November or for Christmas. However, upon observing him doing a really great job of running trains on the tracks at Terra Toys, we thought he would be ready for a set now. And why wait? With the heat being so bad right now, we are inside a lot more than we will be in the fall.

He got his train set in July after returning from a San Antonio visit with my folks. Upon unveiling the set (Chris had already built him a track configuration), he emphatically started saying “Choo-choooooo!” and pointing. He played with his choo-choos for about 4 hours straight that day!

Fun for Tyler and Daddy
From time to time, Daddy will build Tyler new configurations. The other day Tyler brought the bridge over to Chris saying “bridge, bridge” wanting him to incorporate it into the latest configuration. I can tell that Chris is having a blast with his too. We are really excited about the purchase. I think Tyler will play with his train set for years to come. And Tyler loves to take his trains everywhere – especially his engines, Thomas and James (named from Thomas the Train).

Check them out by clicking on Tyler’s album, and then on the linkthat reads , “My Sister Quinn’s Site” (below Tyler’s picture). The new pics are under “Quinn’s Glamour Shots”. Enjoy!

If not here it is again and some pics to go with it…

La, La, La, La Lemon
We were over at a friend Sorcha’s house. She was making dinner and had juiced a lemon. She gave half to her sone, Thomas and the other half to Tyler. Tyler loved his lemon and was very attached to it. When we got home, Tyler got out of the car and spied the box his train set came in (I will tell you more about that later). Of course, he had to drag the box into the house and look at the choo-choo on the box. After a little bit, he is upset and trying to tell me something. I ask him to show me and he takes me to the door to the garage. I open the door and there sits his lemon. That is what he was saying – lemon. I thought it was hilarious! And he played around the house for a while with this lemon hanging out of his mouth…

It has been a busy week, so we have been having a fairly lazy weekend. Tyler was in San Antonio with my folks, so Chris and I took advantage and ate at Clay Pit with Quinn. We LOVE that place and hadn’t been in a while – awesome Indian Food. The next night we hung out at a good friends’ house who live in the neighborhood and enjoyed pizza and conversation until almost 10PM! Quinn crashed out in the sling, so it was really nice. We had a good weekend celebrating my brother’s birthday and as I speak Tyler is over at Chris’ parents splashing around in their wading pool. A weekend packed with good family fun! Chris and I have been tired, so these weekends albeit not always ultra productive, are really recharging. Oh, and I think the ride with my friends is going to become a Sunday fixture. A first step to getting back in shape.

My Little Snugglebunny
I love, LOVE snuggling Quinn. She is so fun to cuddle with. Tyler isn’t that snuggly unless he is asleep. While awake he either wants milk or is a squirmy worm. He is a boy, what can I say? A while back he woke up from his nap while Quinn was asleep. I nursed him on the couch and he fell back asleep and was like that in my arms for 40 minutes. It was so awesome!!! It had been so long since I had just gotten to hold him sleeping like that. It is those little moments I treasure.

Holding out until September
Two more weeks and then September hits! We have a Labor Day holiday (Daddy is home!!) and then that weekend we leave for the beach! Tyler’s first view of the beach! The next weekend I will be in San Antonio with the kids because Chris will be doing ACL Fest for three days straight. I am hoping that after that the weather will have calmed down a bit. Heck, I would be thrilled with a high of 93 degrees. I would head back out in the afternoon with that. I am looking forward to getting back to all the parks and outings, hiking, and eventually running with the kids. Oh, and the mosquitos will hopefully be gone soon….

Getting back to life, slowly
I am wanting to join my friends in getting back to life, but the reality is that I do have a baby at home. I will admit to being a little bit jealous because we have to travel the baby road all over again, but at the same time, Quinn is so irresistably sweet and cute, I am so glad we did have another baby. I am sure when the autumn hits she will join us on lots of adventures. We are even thinking about some camping. There is this diachotmoy of wanting the kids to hurry up and be older and not wanting this time to end. Chris and I are already NOT looking forward to when Tyler talks like everyone else and no longer with his adorable sing-song voice. Everyone says we should record it so we can remember. Someday, if we have time, maybe we will. A baby so cute and kissable. There are things about a 2 month-old that you want to last forever. I guess all we can do is try to not focus on too much else but enjoy what we have right now.

Pictures
Well, I have lots of pics to share, but I will save them and spread them throughout the next several posts. This is one of my faves – Quinn’s lovely smile!

Tyler’s partner in crime is the lovely Miss Piper Pizzo. I had the pleasure of babysitting her one afternoon. She told Tyler to “sit” next to her on the windowsill They look so cute and innocent as they enjoyed a snack together. One day I know these two will be conspiring to get in all sorts of mischief!!

Today was a typical day filled with all the usual ups and downs –

– Policing Tyler at playgroup to make sure he doesn’t yank out everyone’s hair or bite anyone (all his friends are doing the same thing, so he usually gets back what he dishes out). Tiring some days.

– Later that day Tyler and I play with his Duplo legos and he adds to a tower I started stacking 18 legos all my himself!!! Woo-hoo!!

– Tyler goes to sleep for the first night in his big boy bed!!

– Quinn cries for 3 hours exhausting me and actually Chris took the last shift where she finally feel asleep.

There is never a dull day when you have kids, let me tell you. Some days I think the hardest thing about being a Mom is being mentally and physically exhausted, but pushing yourself to do better. To find the time to implement new strategies for things – like how to curb Tyler’s recent increase in aggression with his sister. Some nights I feel a littel overwhelmed with all there is to do, but usually I am so pooped, I just choose to fall asleep.

I didn’t mention that I shunned housework yesterday and painted my toes instead. That is huge for me, but looking at my pretty toes, I am so glad I did it. Now, I just need to get my haircut…..speaking of haircuts….

Petsmart Fun
I think I forgot to mention that I take Tyler to Petsmart often for afternoon adventures. Well, we went over to see the dogs getting groomed and I told Tyler that the doggies were getting a haircut. He repeats “haircut”. I was holding him up at the window and set him down after a while. After I did this, he looks up at me and says “more haircut” while signing for “more”. I thought it was too cute (don’t I say that about everything that he does?)!