I Didn't Even Rent a Car!

It’s like, the older you get, the lamer and more boring your birthday is supposed to be. And as much as I try and fight that with every fiber of my being, it seems that it can’t be avoided.

Yep, I turned 25 and there was nary a celebration to be had that day. I was finally at car-renting age! Didn’t anyone care?!

Finn even went so far as to deny that I was even having a birthday when I told him. As if to say, ‘Don’t be ridiculous…moms don’t have birthdays. As we all know, they are clearly not actually people.’

Thanks, dude.

Sure we had cake at my mom’s place the weekend before, but it’s just not the same as having a huge blowout kind of party on the actual day of your birth…if you hint a touch of sadness in my voice…well, you are correct. I was sad about it. I’m an avid birthday celebrator, so this was a big effing deal, guys.

But guess what? I don’t even care (all that much) because they say your birthday is what you make it (someone says that, right?)…well, I made my birthday day a birthday week.

That’s right. Hardcore. Haters gonna hate, but I did it anyway.

That means shopping for myself (and a lot of shopping for the kiddos. It happens).  All  week.

And dinner with my ah-mazing friends in SLC…which meant, yeah, I got out of the house for an entire night. Look at me, guys, getting all crazy in my old age! Living it up over here!

(I was back home by 930pm, just to keep the crazy at a manageable level)

Then there’s Rubio’s with Nick (it’s his birthday too, after all). And let’s face it…probably more shopping after that.

Because if you’re going to have a birthday, people...you gotta do it right. 

Twins = birthday enthusiasts since day one.

Five Months!

 Whaaaaat?! Math alert: That's almost half a year!

And yeah, Isla's lovin' it :

 Ummm, adorable, no? I love me some baby jeggings let me just tell you right now. And a cardigan? Someone is pushing their style onto their child (Hint: its me).

Ah, this little cutie pie is doing fantastic. She weighed in at 15(!) pounds during her 4 month check-up...but she was also 25 inches long so she's tall, too. Which kind of makes up for it, right?!

But seriously, she skipped all 6 month and most 9 month clothes and is wearing 12 month size clothes. No joke. I think Target is runnin' their toddler clothes a bit small though, to tell you the truth.

But it works out because the cuter clothes are all in the toddler section anyway...Isla knows whats up. We've got this down.

Besides clothes though, she is growing up to be a super happy lil' lady. She smiles at everyone, laughs at everything, she sits up almost on her own, loves being tickled, loves baths and is Finn's best friend...I'm not sure if she feels the same way about him though, yet :)

She's still working on figuring out solid food as of right now. As soon as the spoon goes in her mouth so do her hands...which is not only gross and messy but also totally counter productive because she pulls all the food out. So gross. We've tried everything short of tying her chubby little arms down, but to no avail.

And if we could only get her to sleeeeeeeep at night, life would be muy perfecto.

Where I Re-enter Society For A While...

That's right folks, I'm back at work. Walking around like I own the place.

Ok, not really. I kind of slink in and out. See, the office I work in is full of girls who are all single and living together and I don't ummmm, "fit in".

Which, let me be perfectly honest with you, is so very ok with me. I thought raising a two-year old was drama-rific, but lo, I forgot about the strife and miseries of dating, gossip and being bitchy to other girls behind their backs.

(Ok, I'm still bitchy to other girls behind their backs but this is more a secret pasttime of mine.)

Yeah, these girls are all about that in a big way. Its entertaining.

But really, I'm having a bueno time. I'm working for the same place I did before I had Finn, so I didn't have to go through any of that awkward figuring-out-how-everything-works-phase. But they did move to a new building so finding the bathroom the first day was a fun adventure!

And thank goodness I didn't have to go through an interview. I can't think of anything more awkward than doing an interview when you've done nothing but hang around the toddler crew for two years straight.

I was, therefore, able to avoid gems such as:

"What have you been doing the past two years between jobs?" (Um, wiping butts mostly.)

"What sets you apart from everyone else?" (I'm probably the only one here wearing a nursing bra?)

and of course:

"What pay scale are you expecting?" (Do I have to change your diaper? No? OK, then I'll do it for free.)

Ah yes, re-entering society is a beautiful thing. And while I miss my little ones like crazy, I do feel more human (and less robot-diaper-changer) than I have in quite a while. And thanks to my madre, I get a picture of Isla's outfit everyday...because she knows what's important to me. Duh.

Plus, its only for 4 hours a day and (Finn naps for 2 of those hours), thus assuaging my guilt somewhat for getting a job I don't particularly need but still enjoy.

Good choice of outfit, Mom...

In other news, Finn is basically potty trained (high fives all around!), Isla is adorable, and I'm training for a 15k in two weeks and I feel like I'm in good shape but will probably have reality slap me in the face come race day when I have to face the fact that my mom can (and will!) beat the pants off me.

Also, I'm currently making this quilt for Finn (the last one I made him turned out crappily...): Its a beast and I'm only 8 rows into it:





Where We All Sit Still For A Quarter Of A Second...

Before I go into my picture-related post let me just tell you that today we were in Joann's and Finn was walking around and two girls walked by and he kept following them going, "Hiiiii" until they turned around and said hi to him.

Playaaaaa. My kid's got killer moves with the ladies.

Onto pictures (boooooring):
Problem #1 while trying to take pictures of la famille is that Finn loves Nick (my brother extraordinaire).

Nick takes our pictures.

Finn always shows off his trouble-making skills for Nick because Nick thinks its hilarious. Finn is ever the comedian.

Problem identified.

Problem not solved, though.

Whatevs, we got some decent ones and I have officially given up my desire for that picture of all of us smiling angelically at the camera with perfect hair (or hair at all in Isla's case) and all that.  My little spit-fire isn't going to be sitting still for a while. I've faced facts. I'm letting go, I swear...

 This is how Luke feels about the whole situation...

My pretty girl :)

Close enough!
 

Finn kissing Isla :)

And he's off!

 Come on, Isla! We were so damn close!!
 

...until Christmas.

Up next: I made both the kiddo's amazing quilts after deciding to really embrace my inner old-lady. Er Mer Gerd...they look frantastic. Big pat on the back right here.

Sleeping Babies Should Not Look Like Turtles.

Sleep. It's not happenin', people. Not now. Not for the past 4+ months. Not ever.


Here's the thing. When I first started this whole 'mothering' business, I was all, 'No waaaaay I'm ever going to sleep in the same bed as my kid. My kids are going to be taught how to sleep like pros.'

Yeah, excuse me while I go bitch slap my past-self.

With Finn, things went pretty well. By 12 months the kid was a sleeping champ, naps and all. Sure we had to cry-it-out for a week, but thats the simplicity of only having one kid. You can do stuff like that and it doesn't totally ruin your life.

With Isla? Ha. Funny. I started co-sleeping with that little one in the hospital.

And you know what? She still (STILL) sleeps best when she's in the crook of my arm, thus imobilizing me for the entire night.

Let me tell you, not being able to move all night is torturous. I don't think I've ever been so passively aggressively mad at Luke in my whole life. Every morning I'm like, "Hey...how was your night? How'd you like sleeping on your LEFT SIDE THE WHOLE NIGHT?! Oh what? You got to turn over and sleep on your stomach? Rude. Just rude, Luke"

On a side note: Sorry, Luke.

Thankfully she sleeps in her crib from 8pm-midnight with no problems. But after that? Put her down and she rolls over onto her stomach and then just flails her arms and legs. She looks like a turtle.

Sleeping babies should not look like turtles.

And when she does sleep she literally burrows her face into the mattress. Greeeeat.

And then there's Finn. The other night he was up SEVEN times running down the hallway at 4am going, "Hiiiiiiiii!". He was so damn happy about it. And last night I panicked when he wasn't in his bed but lo, he was sleeping on the floor next to my side of the bed.

First of all, he was lucky I didn't step on his face.

Toddler beds. Gotta love giving kids their independence (who thought that was a good idea?!)

I don't know, but the good thing is that during the day (and during the night in Finn's case), I've got the happiest kids you ever saw. Isla is seriously the happiest little giggler I've ever come across. So it kind of makes up for it :)

Here are some pictures of those lil' hellions. Bless their sleepless hearts, they sure are cute.

 

Mom needs a less dorky haircut.

Finn needs a less dorky haircut.

The Big T-W-O

Two!

And he's acting like it, too. All day today all I've gotten is "no" "no" and then some more "no's". Way to usher in the terrible two's like a boss, kiddo.

He's great though...really. I promise.

His birthday party was a total bash. All the neighborhood kids showed up and there was cake and cookies and chips and basically all your junky foodstuff galore. We had it at a park but Finn was like, "Park whaaaat? Fooood!" I'm pretty sure his mouth was full of food the entire time. Which is fine because I'm pretty sure thats how I spend all of my birthday parties, too.

Pictures? Sure!

And after that we attempted family pictures. Yeah, none of those goin' up on this ol' blog because someone (who just turned two) wouldn't sit still for them. Any of them. We'll try again next weekend and maybe I'll sedate him or do it while he naps. I love the idea of him just sleeping in the background. I lol'd.

Something like that. Here's one picture we did get (sorry, Finn)

Other than that fun business, potty training is still totally hap-happenin'. He keeps asking to wear his 'undies' which I let him do only while we're at home because he hasn't quite mastered the whole 'go potty, like, every time you need to go' situation. But he goes on the potty all day so I'm happy and we're just taking it one day at a time.

Who thought going to the bathroom would be such a big freaking deal. Totally exhausting. 

And last but not least, smarty pants (that would be me) scheduled Finn's 24 month and Isla's 4 month doctor appointments on the same day at the same time to get it over with all at once...sooooo that should be a total disaster. What with Finn's total and complete meltdown at doctors' offices and both of them having to get shots. Yeah, real smart.

Why don't I reschedule, you ask? Because I like a challenge, yo! Bring it on!

Stuff..Whether You Like it Or Not...

My babies are so cute. AAAAAH (Sigh of love, right there).

Finn loves this girl in a big way. He loves it when she's happy and talking and points to her and says "Isla HAPPY!". He loves to get up all in her face and talk to her and she's always like, "whaaaaaat are you doing you crazy nut?"

Except in not so many words. There's a lot of facial communication going on.

And as you can see, hand holding is the newest development. If she fusses in her seat he grabs her hand and says, "Hiiii, its ok."

Whether she likes it or not. Usually not. 

So there's all that cuteness for ya.

Other than that, we're just doing some serious party planning for Finn's 2ND BIRTHDAY PARTY THIS WEEKEND. I've learned my lesson in holding massive get-togethers at el casa rebarchik and am opting to have it at a park where grungy-handed hooligans can get all sugar crazy somewhere they can run and jump and play without giving me a coniption fit in the process.

See? I'm learning.

So yeah, get yer party pants on and head on over!

Have I mentioned I'm glad that Finn isn't old enough to expect like, a massive, gift-laden party yet? I haven't gotten him anything yet and you better believe that when I do, its going to be books and clothes. Throw in some socks and undies I'm THAT mom. Yikes.

Anywho, there you go. Kids, party, cuteness. Isla is laughing like crazy nowadays. Seriously, she laughs like a crazy person so its hilarious for everyone. Unless you're Luke. She'll laugh for everyone except him...Sorry dude, obviously your stand-up needs some work.

She's also rolling over. And over. And over. She can roll across a room. She rolls over all night in her sleep and stresses me out because I don't like her sleeping on her stomach but she won't stay on her back. Oy. Even when she does end up sleeping, I still don't sleep. Life.

And Finn? Besides the party, we've also tackled the potty (excuse me while I high-five myself)...if you ask him what he does on the potty he says, "eat candy!". Yeah, queen of bribery right here. But guess what, he goes on the potty at least 3 times a day and for the first week, I'm calling that a mega-success.

 They're so handsome, no?