PheMOMena

Oh, sigh. I try to keep things on THIS blog fairly light, right? I mean, I tell you all about my daughter and the new stages we are going through (BTW, we are all still assigned rotating characters from random ass Nick Jr. shows, just in case you we wondering). But, I find that what we did as a family today, along with some news stories, will take the levity out of this post. What can I say? We will be back to shits and giggles in the next post. Today, Luke Perry died. If you didn't know, he grew up a short car ride (think 35 minutes or so) from our neighborhood. In the early 90s, when I was barely a teenager, he was like the end all be all on 90210. He was hot and his hair was perfect and I loved him. (Didn't love the show, but Dylan... I totally loved Dylan). Last week Luke had a massive stroke. He died today, while I was in a meeting, at the age of 52. A few reasons why this freaked me out: 1. Hubs is 51, 2. Luke seemed to be in great health (and I am sooooo not curren...

Most days I am “mama,” hubs is “dada,” and our offspring is “Kensie”. Most days. Which is generally how we like it, since we pored over our baby name list and picked a name that had meaning to us and all that jazz, right!? Right.  Starting yesterday, Kensie decided that she was NOT going to be Kensington for the duration. She was on some ‘my name is whatever I say it is’ bullshit. Not only did she say what her new name was, but Mark and I got new names also. She changed up the game all over. Like, fuck my feelings forever— she didn’t care that I’ve had the same name for 41 years, that shit stopped yesterday! 😒😒 So yesterday, Baby K was Owlette from PJ Mask. I was Cat Boy (did NOT like) and hubs was Gekko. If we called her baby, Kensie or any other name besides Owlette she SWIFTLY sent the correction AND would not answer us until we used her proper name. Protests of “I Owlette!!” rang through our house, followed by this look that screamed “I thought y’all were smart, but...

Welcome back to my crazy life! I know, I know, you probably just made a face and thought "I mean, how crazy could her life ACTUALLY be?" Well, darling, let me fill you in... on just the last day and a half. [Maybe my life isn't crazy. Maybe I am crazy. Could be. Yeah... totally could be.] It is just shy of three in the morning and here I am, trying to type quietly so I don't wake the irritable toddler that (finally) decided to go to sleep "in mama's bed." The same bed that she has peed in TWICE in the last 36 hours. BTW- never been so happy to have purchased a mattress protector, IN MY WHOLE LIFE. Big girl panties SUCK. So, laundry is the pits and I find myself just wanting to throw everything away, turn our Honda Element into a mini camper and go to the land of 'no sheets allowed' where toddlers walk around naked until they can figure out that they don't like the sensation of warm piss flowing down their formerly chunky legs. Yesterday...

You know, when you are pregnant people think  it is hilarious to send you pictures and videos of massive diaper blowouts. Babies just covered in poop, onesies that will never recover-- no matter how many times they are washed. You also get lovely pictures of toddlers covered in peanut butter or shaving cream, while writing on white walls with a black permanent marker. When I was pregnant I was convinced that my friends and family were trying to torture me with proof of misdeeds by little people.  I think that maybe those pictures and videos helped strengthen my nerves when it came to poop. Luckily, hubs and I never really had to deal with lots of poop or puke. I can count on one hand how many times in her 23 months that Baby K puked all over. Each time it was because she was inhaling her favorite food-- green beans. The explosive puke was traumatic, at the time, but so infrequent that I wasn't even going to write about it.  What I do NOT understand is why no one...

Let's end February with a bang! The first two months of 2018 have been significantly... extra. Baby K has been sick twice-- the January edition of "sick baby" landed us in the doctor's office (story later because mama is still traumatized). I have gone to three memorial services. We have been traveling on the weekend (basketball season) and I am not sure that I actually finished unpacking from our end of the year (2017) trip to Savannah. Y'all, I'm living off of caffeine and bad decision making. Slow down, 2018... no need to drop kick me this early in the year.  In addition to the whirlwind of emotions that come with the above named craziness, I'll tell you what else I have been feeling: judgment. Now listen, BEFORE Baby K I was not really sensitive to the judgment hoisted at me from other people. I didn't really notice it and, frankly, I just didn't care. I still don't care, but I notice the judgment more. I mean, God forbid Baby K fall i...

This is motherhood: here I sit, at 2:45 in the morning, watching Caribbean Life on HGTV and trying to quietly type my thoughts without waking a very talkative 18 month old. I swear that being a mom is really just undercover ninja training. Being THIS quiet is hard! I want to exhale loudly... especially if putting Baby K down takes an extended amount of time (which has been the case lately). But NO, quiet is a necessity for at least 20 minutes after she closes her chocolate colored eyeballs.  Being quiet at night is also really messing up my late night snacking life. I end up eating whatever makes the least amount of noise... which is never anything exceptionally good. I mean, chips come in crinkly bags, so guess who is eating pickles or canned fruit in the middle of the night? Not that there is anything wrong with those snacks, but, uh, if I have had to "mom" all day, I want some salty chips or great candy that I don't have to share.  Really I just want some qui...

Exactly two years ago today hubs and I made my pregnancy "Facebook official" with this picture. The caption read: ' Well now, it looks like 2016 is shaping up to be a new kind of adventure at our house... #NewParents #Preggo #MomToBe #DadToBe #Pregnant #AprilBaby #PregnancyAnnouncement.' Amazingly, it took more than a few of our friends a little while to realize what we were doing in this picture. Maybe they were already tired of autumn scenery on their Facebook timelines? They did get it though and this is one of our most liked pictures on Facebook.  How did you announce your pregnancy? If you are having another child, how will you announce it?

After Baby K was born I struggled with how I was going to introduce myself to her. I mean, I spent months talking to her while she punted my internal organs around, but once she was born, how would I let her know who I am? How could I make sure that she knew that I look a little different on the outside, but it was my heart that she was hearing beat for all those months? Most importantly, how could I ensure that her first word would be...mama? (It is a thing I have... don't judge me). As soon as we knew she was paying attention (and able to follow our fingers), we started pointing to our noses and saying our names. Round a bouts of "mama, dada, Kenzie" were heard over and over again. She seemed to love it. Laughs were had. After a month or so, she joined in. She would point to my nose and it was my job to say "mama" so I did. About 8,000 times. I didn't care. Have you ever heard a six month old giggle? Heaven. Plus, when we got past the cooing stage, Ba...

Who remembers the theme song from Welcome Back, Kotter? That is totally playing over and over again in my head. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Now it is totally running through your mind-- you're welcome.  Welcome back, to me!! I took a little self imposed hiatus from blogging this summer, so I could enjoy quality time with my little pumpkin eater. It has been outrageously satisfying watching her grow, taking her on trips to museums and farmers markets, letting her try new foods and watching her interact with new people. It has been a blast! Now there is a chill in the air and we are getting into a more home bound schedule, freeing up more time for me to type about our adventures. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back!  Let's get after it, y'all! 

Summertime in the city! The weather is fantastic and here in the Midwest everything is in bloom. Our garden is growing like gang busters and we are loving the life of fresh fruits and veggies that we planted and watered. A few years ago we planted berries (strawberries and raspberries). This year the raspberries have done so well. We can get a couple handfuls every other day. The strawberries have not fared as well-- the ants are eating them before we can pick them and the size of the berries have declined. What is a girl to do? Put everyone in the car and drive an hour west to Troy for everything strawberry!! A few weekends ago we did just that. June is a weird month for us. The weather is wacky (either too hot or too rainy), my mom's birthday is a week before Father's Day, my brothers and sisters are getting out of school and summertime activities are kicking off. We are crazy busy. So, even though it has been 5 years since I moved back to Columbus, we have not ventured out...

This is going to be more of a catch up, what's been going on entry... because SO much has been happening around here. First of all, WE HAVE A WALKER!! That's right, Baby K is making her way everywhere, mostly on her own. For a few months she has been participating in assisted walking, which really just means that she was dragging me and hubs around the house for balance. She still crawls and does her little bunny hop, but she added (non assisted) walking to her repertoire on May 28th. To be fair she put together 3 steps on the 27th, but really took off the following day. Her new thing is to walk towards you like she is going to bless you with her presence and at the last minute she turns around and goes the other way-- it is very entertaining... for her. Next: she still hates baths. Like, crying fits, hates them. She will get wiped off with little to no problems but the whole immerse her body into water is a constant struggle. She hayed the little seat that you put in the bat...

Y'all. We are under attack. Right now, as I type, our household is being held hostage.. by a teething toddler. Seriously, sweet baby Jesus, WHY???? Now I will say this: until now, hubs and I have been spared. Baby K has 8 teeth, 4 on the top, 4 on the bottom. They all came in with no problem. Like, zero problems. She wasn't extra clingy, no fever, no crying. Just excessive drooling... and, given the alternative, I can deal with that.  Well, when we went to her 12 month check up last week, our pediatrician told us that all of her molars are coming in-- at the same time. That day she didn't seem to bothered at all. She happily ate very berry Cheerios, drank breast milk, ate purees... attempted to eat baby wipes (what can I say? My baby is an adventurous eater). Fast forward a week. Lucifer has entered my sweet child and forced her to terrorize us. Oh my good god.  Last night she had a slight fever. Now, I found out, long ago, that Baby K does not tolerate Tylenol we...

Ah, the joys of pregnancy. Amirite, ladies? What you will discover VERY early on is that pregnancy is about growing a healthy baby AND getting examined. Exams, exams, exams... and a few blood tests. Trust me, readers, I am certainly no prude, however, there is nothing that prepares you for the number of times your doctor (and whoever is assisting him) will see your nether regions during this 10 month time period. I mean, it is like a party where you don't wear pants. Pantless party - population you and one sturdy pair of stirrups. Mercy!  It starts rather early too. It isn't like they give you a chance to get comfortable with the idea of going from a pap smear once every two years to throwing your feet above your head every other office visit. They don't really ease a girl into this. As I recall, you are safe for the first visit because they don't REALLY know if you are carrying an energy zapping parasite , er, baby. You go in and say "hey, I think I might be...

With all these letters, I feel like I am on 26 episodes of Sesame Street! Today I am going to talk about two types of delivery: birth and my writing style.  Let's start with BIRTH. As you can read in my Birth Story Recap, part one and two , I delivered Baby K via a scheduled c-section. I chose to deliver this way WELL before April 12th, 2016. Hubs and I talked about my medical history and concerns almost as soon as we found out I was pregnant. I brought up my concerns with my doctor and got a second opinion-- we all came to the conclusion that a c-section would be my absolute best option. Baby K clearly had the same plan because when we went in for the c-section, she was lying transverse in utero... so I was going to have to deliver by c-section anyway. (I feel bad for the ladies who are not mentally prepared to deliver this way because it was high stress for me and I knew what was coming). If you read some mommy blogs there is a nasty little group of mamas that talk so b...

It has occurred to me that I just started this blog without introducing myself. I guess that I always figured that the only people that would read this would be my family and friends, but what better way to kick off a blogging challenge besides some sort of introduction, right? I mean you want to know how large a raving lunatic I am before taking my parenting advice, right? You need to have some idea about exactly how sarcastic I can be, right? FYI- my sarcasm level is off the charts. Every day, all day.   Let's see if we can't shine some light on the lady behind this blog, shall we? Here are 15 fast facts about me. These are in no particular order... * I am rarely sappy. My go-to emotion is sarcasm or jokes. Mostly sarcasm.  * I never thought that I would have a child. Like, ever... but I do love Baby K more than words can express.  * Hubs is my best friend and even if I told him every day how invaluable he is to me, it still would not be enough.  * I...