Christmas Ended Too Soon

What a whirlwind this Christmas season was... I'm still trying to accept and understand that it is all over. A blink of the eye and Christmas season items are on clearance everywhere I look.

As usual, I overextended myself. I vow next year to plan better. Much better. Just like we do at the marketing firm, I know the drop dead dates for everything (Christmas cards going out, parties to bake for, Christmas errands to run, etc.). I just need to back out the timeline and work according to the schedule.

We had 4 parties this year and 5? christmas gatherings. It didn't help that there were 5 fewer days this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That's pretty much a freakin' week in my book! 

:-(

Well, it was all great and fun and wonderful, nonetheless. And I have to remember what it's all supposed to be about, anyway. My life is changed... the world is changed for all eternity because of Jesus. The older I get, the easier it is to doubt the Christmas story. But I can't ignore the faith I have deep inside. That feeling that I am never alone, that my life and my family are being looked after by something greater than myself. I believe in Jesus because I see him in everything around me, once I take the time to stop and look. I'll tell you what, becoming a mother really gave me reason to believe. The loves and fears and insecurities that come with the job are terribly overwhelming. But I know I can do all things through Him. And I remember that I am loved the same way I love my children. 

It just feels right to believe in it all.

The Eve of Christmas Eve

I had two special moments today... 

The first one was this afternoon. Jack was asleep in the house and I was letting Austin ride his "BIG BIKE" in the driveway. I even moved my car out of the way, much to his delight. There he was, riding around me in circles, pedaling like crazy and enjoying the fact that I was participating in this fun activity with him. All of it set to the tunes of the Christmas music I had booming out of the shower radio I had set up in the garage.

My second moment happened with Austin, too. Jeff and I went shopping for the boys and Jeff needed to make one more stop. He took Jack with him and I had Austin with me. We went to Starbucks for Hot Chocolate and we sat at a table together, waiting for my mom to order and join us. As we were waiting, Austin had me put the top on his cup and he took a cautious sip of his drink. I can't begin to explain the world I saw open up in front of my eyes as I witnessed his first Starbucks sip... all with his eyes glued on me like he knew this was a landmark moment. I explained to him that people sit, drink and talk at coffee shops and then he proceeded to ask me about my day at work and tell me a story about a mean lion pushing me down, and how he took me to the doctor, who was also mean. I can't wait to have countless more moments like this with him at coffee shops.

Jack, I promise to make a special memory with you tomorrow...

Boobs No More

We have officially weaned Jack. We were in the process about a month or so ago, but then he got really sick with a stomach virus, so we backtracked some. He's not like Austin when it comes to nursing. Austin was very busy, active and independent and he pretty much weaned himself. I had just found out I was pregnant with Jack, so at 14 months I kind of took his lead and it was done.

Jack is much more attached to me. Everything that is "mommy". He's a Mama's boy, for sure, which I love. So while he was sick I realized that he was mostly throwing up my breastmilk and keeping other things down fine. That was the sign, and Jeff pretty much made it a reality. I'm a little depressed about it b/c I have these boobs that are larger than most and full of milk, just wondering where the baby all of a sudden went... They hurst some, too. More than that though, is the sad fact that I'll never see my baby Jack nurse from me again. 

He just grew up too damn fast.

Sweet Sounds

When I became a mother I realized that the most beautiful sound in life was that of my little boy laughing out of pure joy. There is not sweeter sound. It's a sound created from happiness, innocence, joyfulness and amazement, excitement and love, among many other precious things.

But recently I got to experience something even more beautiful. It was the sound of my 2 boys laughing together as they played. I was in a separate room and they were making each other so happy. The fact that each boy brought such joy to the other made my insides melt. I realized I was also witnessing them learning to love each other.

I will keep this in my heart forever.

YEA for FALL!

I absolutely fucking love this time of year. I decided the other day that it is my favorite time of year. I love Christmas, too, but there is such a let down when the holidays are over that I keep in the back of my mind during the month of December.

I love the fall, esp post Halloween, because of all there is to look forward to. No more fucking mosquitoes, no more sweating through the heat. Nope. I can leave the windows open, I can play in the leaves with Austin and Jack. I can dress them up in cozy sweaters and teach them about holiday baking and apple cider.

Austin wanted to be a LION for Halloween this year. We found a CAVEMAN costume in his size at the local Halloween store. We were on our way to some parties and desperate so we threw down the 35 f-ing dollars and that was it. Jack got to wear a hand-me-down Chicken Little costume. As soon as I got Austin dressed he decided he didn't like it. I managed to get him to wear the dang thing to the 2 parties that night.

The boys had Dress Up days at their school and I bribed the heck out of Austin to wear his costume. You can see for yourself how thrilled he was about it. It's not his fault he was miserable. It's mine. I pressured him to wear it and I was less than sweet whenever he was insisting the HE do the make up, not me (he sits so nice and still when he's getting his face painted, but not for me!). So our morning was a little rocky and it shows...

Jack at school

Austin with his teacher, Ms Tracey

So for the actual Halloween trick or treating, I dressed him up as a 70's-ish rock star. He loved it.
These are pics from Nana's... he even sang her a special rock song to which she quickly hushed him (I guess the old folks' home is not the place for such talents)...

Happy Memory

About a year and a half ago, in Feb 2008, I was in the thick of it with Austin and poop messes. I seem to post about poop a lot, but contrary to my intro, this is not about poop. I had given Austin a shower to clean him up and he was laying on my bed naked while I tended quickly to Jack. Well, while he was waiting, he decided to pee on my bed (I had JUST changed the sheets)! My washing machine can't handle our comforter, so I got the kids dressed and packed my car up for an adventure trip to the local laundromat. This wouldn't be post-worthy not, but for me to tackle this 18 months ago was a huge milestone...for all of us!

There we were in the most God-awful place, surrounded by the sketchiest group of people. But this post isn't about that either. It's a memory of me and Austin, working together as a team and being on our best behavior to make it work...to get us all out of there alive.

It was the first time Austin stepped up and became my "helper." He obeyed when I told him to stay close to Jack in the stroller. He listened to me when I told him "no running, no walking out the door (left WIDE open b/c there was no A/C in the place and we'd hit an all-time HIGH for Feb), and he sat quietly as I read him the several books I'd packed for our outing.

I rewarded him with a vending machine lunch: an ice cream sandwich. He loved it. I will remember him forever in that place, happy as could be wearing his cowboy boots and shorts with a face covered in ice cream.

A Lesson Learned

Do not flush baby wipes down the toilet. They will clog your plumbing, causing the pipes in your toilets, shower and bath tub to back up, which you will realize when you attempt to flush a toilet only to see shit water magically appear through the drains in your bath tub and shower floor, along with an out pouring of the nastiness overflowing from your toilet... which will then leak under your new bathroom cabinets, through the wall which connects to your master bedroom, allowing the sewage H2O to soak the brand new carpet you just had installed. If you like your house smelling like a 3rd world country, try it sometime. I recommend the semi-cotton wipes sold in bulk at Sam's.

Kid Shit

Don't read if you can't handle the topic of shit (although you will laugh!)

I should be working on my Dad's powerpoint presentation, but I've just got to get this down. We are in the process of potty training Austin. At his 3-yr check-up the doc said to take him out of his pull-up diapers and put him in underwear b/c he had the vocab to speak up and that those pull-up diapers are just too absorbent to want him to make a change. We've been doing awesome with peeing, but the boy refuses to poop on the pot. I think it's b/c he's gotten so accustomed to pooping in the standing position. He'd go and hide behind a chair and that would be that.

Well, the first time he pooped in regular underwear I was home and was semi-freaking, saying, "Austin, come into the bathroom. Mommy has to deal with this. How don't know HOW Mommy is going to handle this... Dear God, what do I do?" kind of talk... but it wasn't bad (now a messy poop, thank God).

Yesterday ON OUR WAY OUT THE DOOR TO SCHOOL the "Mommy, I have poop" sentence came out of his mouth. (could he not have waited a little longer so the teachers could deal with this???). We had to do a quick clean-up, change and then we were at school 15 min late. Well, that day I worked my ass off which meant no time to break for lunch. When I left to get the kids I was shaky-hungry (hate that feeling), so we stopped at the McDonald's drive thru on our way to the gym (great idea, I know). I got my kid's meal and Austin got his. Then we cruised over to the new L.A. Fitness to check it out and pick up my new ID card (Jeff had added me to his plan over the phone that morning).

I walked into the gym with big baby Jack on my hip and Austin at my heels. I just wanted to get it over with. Some 18yr old blonde beauty gave us the tour which started at the kid's area. Austin loved it and played while I asked spycho parent questions like, "do the staff personnel watching the kids know CPR?" I managed to coax Austin out of the play area so we could continue our tour of the facility and I noticed Austin was walking like he'd been riding a hours for a day. ("Shit! I thought, not here, not now of all places!). So I asked him, "Austin, did you go poop?" The poor blonde, who looked like she hadn't babysat a day in her life, seemed in awe of my situation. Austin politely answered, "nnnoooo..." and I decided that he was just being shy around all the buff big guys on the machines we were walking around. The rest of the tour was ok, lasted about 15 min, and we were out of there in 20. My arms were about to fall off from holding Jack the whole time and I was so excited to be leaving. Austin offered to "be a gentelement" and hold the door open for me as we were leaving. Yes, I'm teaching him manly manners already.

The second we were outside he admitted to having pooped in his pants. I immediately racked my brain for the next steps: where to clean him up? I'm parked smack dab in front of the place and everyone inside can see my car. How to clean him? I took the diaper wipes out of Jack's diaper bag b/c they are heavy and the school already has wipes. What to change him into? We'd already used his spare change of underwear that morning. 5 seconds later (yes, all those thoughts transpired in 5 seconds) I started towards the card with both boys...all the while asking Austin why he didn't tell me he had to poop.

FIRST: I settled Jack into his car seat and I left his door open, allowing Austin to be shielded for privacy between Jack's door and my door. SECOND: I got him out of his shorts to assess the damage done. It was worse than I'd thought; we had leakage down the leg. THIRD: After insisting in a crazy voice that Austin stand completely still, I scanned the car for any unused napkins from our prior trip to McDonald's.

Birthday Blogging

So, this year was my first year to be the mother of 2 boys and 2 celebrations to plan. I wanted Jack's first to be as special as Austin's, so we did a birthday dinner the night of the 28th (a thurs) and we invited our friends to the event. That had me cleaning the house, buying party decor and dinner ingredients after work on Tues. I did more cleaning and all the cooking, and I had to include food for a vegetarian. I did the Arroz con Pollo that I like to make, along with fresh black beans and we had queso for snacks. It was a LOT of work, and more of me running around like a mad woman, but it was worth it. My favorite memories of that night are a) Jack getting his first taste of cake (champagne cake - and did I mention that I baked a damn cherry pie, too?!), b) all of us singing Happy Birthday to him, and c) breaking out the musical toys he and Austin got as gifts and having an impromptu jam session with Ellie, Doug, Carl, Anne and the boys.


His second FIRST birthday party was on the following Saturday at Splash. Yes, I made all the damn sandwiches and it was hot. He made a complete mess out of his smash cake and his adorable cupcake fish cake didn't get a good pic taken of it before it was all melting and messy. I think he had a good time, and I know Austin and the other kids liked it. We came home to disaster zone full of crap everywhere and toys/clothes/gifts all over the place. But there it was: done and done. Jack's first milestone had come and gone and I quickly became the mother of TWO TODDLER BOYS!!!


For about 3 months Austin was saying that he wanted a Mickey Mouse birthday party every time we asked him about it. This would have been his second in a row, but I knew I could do it up kinda cool. I was just worried about finding a PLACE to have the party. I was convinced it would be another swimming party b/c for summer b-days, that's about all you have as an option. Well, the boy amazed me! Out of nowhere he said, "I wanna have a Big Blue Bowling Birthday Party!" Genius! Loved it! Air Conditioning!!! I quickly made a party reservation at the Main Event in Grapevine, and then I hand crafted some invites, adding a request that all the kids come wearing Austin's favorite color: blue (cute idea, I know). So, it seemed all was taken care of except party favors and a cake. I had no idea what to do for the cake. I didn't want a bowling cake, and I didn't want a "3rd Birthday" cake... I wanted something unique and special for him. I couldn't think of anything so I finally threw my hands up in the air and asked Austin what kind of cake he wanted. Genius answer #2! "Mommy, I want a shark cake and I want to eat the Mean Shark!" (Hey, and sharks swim in blue water, don't they?!). So there I was, scouring the internet for shark cake ideas and I kid you not, I was going to attempt to bake my own 3-D-shark-coming-out-of-the-water-showing-teeth-and-all cake. But after much begging and pleading from Jeff, I gave up the idea and our lovely bakery down the street fit us in as a last-minute order. They had a great shark cake pic that I chose and that was that... except for party favors.

2 nights before his party, I saw a mailer for Michael's advertising blanks Ts on sale. I decided to make shirts for all the kids. I downloaded more coupons and spent all day Friday buying shirts (even had to venture out to the outlet mall for baby t's) and iron-on supplies. Then I designed the logos, one design for girls and one design for boys, and each shirt logo incorporated the child's name, along with "Big Blue Bowling" along the side and Austin's name along with the date on the bowling ball. (The logo consisted of 3 bowling pics getting knocked by a bowling ball and a fiery flame behind them. The logo background for girls had blue circles and the one for boys had little skulls and lightening bolts). I'll have to find a way to show pics. Of course, they were a huge hit but then Kristi made an excellent point: "Melissa, the $5 game cards for the kids are like a favor; you shouldn't have worried about doing more than that!" Huh... she was right. Oh Well! I also had blue hair spray and Mina picked up some blue crystal stick-ons that all the girls wore on their faces. Jeff's hair was blue but he as too shy to show it, so he sported a hat! Anyway, you would have thought that the party would go smoothly, etc. But it was crazy. Austin didn't take a nap AT ALL! that day. I was freaking out about it and Jeff was freaking b/c there was no time for him to get ready. Also, Jack was tired. So we got to the party, everything/everyone was waiting around and unsure. Then when we finally got started bowling, kids were hungry and Austin was completely in borderline MELTDOWN mode. Jeff's BOSS was there with his kids and we were so stressed about Austin having a bad kicking/screaming temper tantrum in front of him that we did any and everything we could think of to keep him happy. This meant he chomped down almost 3 bags of Cheetos from the vending machine. When we got in the party room we had to wait for the pizza and my dad had the kids chanting,"We want pizza!" and he cleverly added, "We want Tacos!" ;-) It seemed like forever but we eventually had the pizza done, we sang Happy Birthday (Austin sang the loudest) and he loved the look of the shark cake (decorated with 3 bowling pin candles and a bowling ball). They all had cake and ice cream and we packed the gifts up to take home. THEN CAME THE ARCADE TIME!!! It took ages for them to use all the $5 cards and I got to hold HEAVY Jack the entire time. Austin almost fell asleep in the truck on the way home but he managed through a third wind and when we got home he opened presents and we all played, the 4 of us, with toys while we watched The Sandlot (which I must add taught my son how to kiss like a man, pitch a baseball and say the word shit!).




On his actual birthday we met up at Grapevine Mills for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I thought he'd get a kick out of it and he did. Jack liked it too. They sang him Happy Birthday and he thought he was pretty cool shit. Then we walked the ENTIRE mall looking for baseball stuff! We gave up but on the way home I managed to convince Jeff to stop at Toys R Us on the way home and take him in (Austin had $5 from Memaw and a $3 gift card saved in his wallet for the occasion and I wanted him to get to use it). I'll never forget how adorable he and Jeff looked when they walked out of the store; he had a glove on his hand and he was so excited telling me about all the baseball stuff he got and how he was "going to hit the ball real far!" Poor Jack was so tired he cried, more like yelled, during the drive home. He was probably has relieved as I was when we got home and I realized that BOTH birthdays were officially done and behind us.

The idea is that next year, and probably most non-milestone birthdays, we will just do one kick-ass combo birthday party for the boys. It will be cheaper, that's for sure! And I'll only have to be crazy over one party instead of 4! (Of course, we'll still celebrate each birthday, just us Massies).

Time is Mean

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. No, I can believe how long it's been, I just have a hard time racking my brain to realize how many wonderful, challenging things life has thrown at me being the mother of 2 boys.

Time just goes by too fast. I would rather it drag than move at the ridiculous rate that it does. Jack is now 13 months old. That's right. I was away from blogging for so long that one of the most important milestones in his life has come and gone and all I have to show for it is this stupid paragraph. More if I wanted. It's just that I feel like there is SOOO much to comment on that the task itself gets overwhelming and I just don't do it. In short, I asked Mamasource for ideas on where to have the party and I settled on Splash at Bedford Boys Ranch. We had about 30 people show up. It was H-O-T and I felt bad for all the no-swimming adults who had to sit in the sun (even though I had rented the pavilion, the sun was hitting us from the east). Well, here's something good to comment on re: his party... I spent the entire day before his party and the morning of his party putting together party favor bags for the kiddos and making something like 50-60 sandwhiches. I made PB&J, ham and swiss and turkey and chedder sandwhiches, all individually wrapped with a napkin and labeled!

So now Jack is awake from his nap (Austin's been watching the Sandlot 2 in the living room solo) and Jack's probably about to fall off the bed (again) which means my time ('ole meany that he is) is forcing me to end my post. More on Jack's party and Austin's 3rd b-day celebrations later.

This is what I'm talking about!

My day. If I don't write this down, I'll think back on this time and never believe it was actually so crazy. It's 3pm and I'm still in my pjs. I'm wearing makeup from yesterday. Hair is in a ponytail and I'm so close to raiding the fridge and gorging on caramel cake I made over the weekend for a birthday party. This morning I managed to remember our 9:30am doc appt for Jack at exactly 9:18am. I was changing Austin's diaper when it hit me. See, the real kicker about this is that I went to Jack's 9:30 am doctor's visit. Yep. We were there, on time, but little did I know that I was a WEEK EARLY. Yes. So it's REAL funny that a week later, I forget the damn appt. We've been rescheduled for Wed.

The rest of my morning was pretty ok and typical. Got Austin fed, managed to clean the kitchen (sort of) and fold the 2 loads of laundry I had hidden in my closet over the weekend (had company over on Saturday - had to hide the mess). Fed Austin lunch, Jack took his nap, all good. Then it came time for Austin's nap at 1pm (later than usual b/c he'd slept in a bit this morning). He pooped right before, which I thought was great b/c he'd have a nice clean diaper and nice clean bowels which would make for a nice long nap ;-) Over the next hour I had to go into his room time and time again b/c he wasn't sleeping. He was talking to himself in his weird Austin jargon and keeping himself awake. First I took away Elmo (sleeping buddy #1). Then it was Pooh Bear, then it was Monkey, then his bad attitude with me got his blanket AND pillow removed. I decided to let myself eat lunch (frozen dinner) while I nursed the baby. Austin cried the whole time from his room, then settled down. I managed to get Jack to sleep, then I heard Austin still talking (almost sounding possessed - yep, it's creepy). I walked into his room and there was a poop fiasco waiting for me. That's what I've decided to call these events and yes, they happen all the time. Only this time it was a major mess. The next 45 min were spent with me chasing him around the house, throwing him in the shower (a nice, cold one), removing monkey, blanket and pillow and sheets to the washing machine (I'd given him back some items when he promised to sleep), and finally cleaning, scrubbing and disinfecting the crib and floor around the crib. There were some major bad attitude episodes that got him spanked, too. Then I got Austin washed up and dressed, I put clean sheets on the crib and then it was nap time, round 2.

Only he's not asleep. He's talking to himself. I'm about to go in and force him to settle down by rocking with him. Now here comes the experience part. I've been through this before and I know exactly what will come next. I'll rock him and get him to sleep, somehow, and just as I close the room to his door Jack will wake up and need me. Now, if I was a stay-at-home mom, this wouldn't be a problem, as crazy and disfunctional as it's been. But I'm a WORK-FROM-HOME mom. I've got a cool 4+ hours of work that I HAVE to have done by tomorrow morning. :-( I guess I'll be up late tonight.

It all still beats having my kids grow up in day care, I guess.

...And so it begins

I've been reading my friend Adrianne's blog on a fairly regular basis since she started it several months back. She had moved from Texas to New Mexico and it was a way for her to keep everyone up-to-date on her adventurous activities in the ABQ. It has been a wonderful way for me to keep in touch with her and all I have to do is click on her bookmark and read.

See, I have 2 boys. Austin is now 2 1/2 and Jack is 6 months. Meeting friends for drinks is a luxury that's been put on hold. Calling friends to chat on the phone is next to impossible. It seems that every time the phone gets close to my ear, one or both boys needs me at that instant, and by the time bedtime is here, I'm mentally incapable of having a decent conversation with anyone outside of my head. So, I've been toying with the idea of creating one of my own blog for awhile now. And so it begins. I had a couple of free moments this morning to start my blog (yes, I should have been working or doing laundry, or taking a shower, but... screw it) and here it is: post numero UNO!

Of course now that I'm here, little Jack has woken up and he's goo-goo-gaa-gaa-ing for me to go get him, change his diaper and start our day. So this post will be cut short, but at least it's now a real thing and not just one of those ideas I have that stays in my head on that famous back burner. I look forward to blogging about my own little adventures that take place in the Massie family life. I look forward to staying connected with you.

Love, Melissa