{I hope you noted the deep sarcasm in those words}

What. A. Day.

Just another one of those long, exhausting, mentally draining, overwhelming days in the Mommyhood.

Sigh.

Nico has been TERRIBLE! He's has me all over the place emotionally. From sweet and loving, to outrageously pissed of, so f-ing mad I ....almost started crying of overwhelming f-r-u-s-t-r-a-t-i-o-n.

I blame it on this STUPID cold, wintery, wet weather. He probably feels like a jailed little man on house arrest. I don't blame him. I do too, but worse. I'm like a barely sane inmate confined to a mad house some days. This IS a mad house. I am this close to losing. My. Freakin. MIND! When the hell is Spring going to arrive? I was through with Winter the day it started back in December. When you have little ones (two under the age of 3 in my case) when winter comes you do nothing but hibernate.

Repeat: Hibernate.

That's right. Any planning you want to do gets squeezed into the Spring part of the calendar. And that feels like light years away!

Most Moms I know feel the same way. Unless there is pretty much absolutely n-o-t-h-i-n-g, and I mean NOTHING in the house to eat. Ok, ok, at least nothing you would want to eat, which in that case probably should be thrown out or donated, depending on its edible status which can be questionable sometimes. There are few plausible reasons to even think of leaving the house with two kids. Most reasons are simply not important enough to leave our warm cave. We're like bears. If you don't believe me ask my thighs, and belly... they're piling up some extra goody stuff that aren't going to sit well with my bathing suit {or the public} come summer. Ha!

{Note to self: Diet and exercise ASAP!}

Sigh.

Today alone, Nico has...

Among a very long list of things, had 3 potty accidents.

There was the one, first thing in the morning. How could I forget it? It was 6:53 am! He woke me up, half undressed with his arm trapped half way over his head, and all winy told me he was stuck and wet. It was pitch black. {What's he a freakin rooster? GO BACK TO SLEEP! I thought to myself...} After changing his diaper and clothes and a failed attempt to put him back in his bed, of course it was wet too, I brought him back to our bed in what turned out to be yet another failed attempt to catch more zzzs. It was not even 7 am yet. Sigh.

He never fell asleep again. Neither did I. His incessant squirming around, poking my back with his feet and knees, and little voice {as cute as it is, I don't care for it at the crack of dawn} repeatedly sounding like a broken record saying, "I can't sleep Mommy, I can't" was as torturous as knowing the hour # was still on 6 when my beautiful precious sleep came to an end.

I could have cried. But I was too busy trying desperately to fall back asleep.

Then there were the two others. Intentional ones, I say. Potty accidents. Remember we're still really talking about that. The fact he decided not to tell me he had peed and pooped in the potty at some point led me to not wiping him... which led to noticing after it was way too late that he left me a big gift in the potty, and a soiled underwear on the floor (and later a repeat story but that time it was a pull up), all while he ran around naked. I was only too late each time I realized he was sitting all over our family room leather sofas with it all hanging out, spreading the poop love all over. It was a poop fest!

At least the leather sofas were easier to clean than if they would have been cloth. 

I should mention a tiny detail, which really adds to the seriousness of these events. Nico's stools have been very runny and deadly stinky (smelling like worst than something dead) the past couple weeks. Yeah, that made the entire ordeal just that much more fun.

Besides all the poop... Nico also spent the entire day throwing stuff at me, hitting me, and screaming at me. Also defying me. Talking back. You name it, he done it.

Then there was little Victoria. You'd think she's just so darn cute nothing bad could ever come from her... Then came the moment she woke up from her nap with the biggest, runniest, STINKIEST poop EVER! It was greenish. And it was SO disgusting I gagged and literally almost threw up. Her's too smelled like something far beyond dead.

What have my kids been ingesting???!!

I don't understand how something so horrendous could come from something so adorably cute. I guess it is what it is. Sh*t happens.

Yes, there’s more. Victoria wouldn't stop squirming around while I tried changing her diaper, so of course she got poop all over my hands, arms, pants, and all of herself as well.  I swear she needs to be restrained and heavily sedated to accomplish a simple task like changing her diaper. This would have been a wonderful time to do just so. ARGHH!

The carpet and floor got poop on it as well. {No, I didn't use a changing table or changing pad.} Squirmy little monster princess. Dear God!

I guess I should be thankful she took a nice long nap at least.

But then she threw up on me after I took her clothes off. A thank you, perhaps? Uhg. Good thing it was all over my dirty pooped pants.

I thoroughly washed myself, and her, and changed both of us. My scrubbing was beyond what doctors do before entering the OR. That's how disgusting the whole thing was. And we STILL reek of poop! I bet Julio will love that when he gets home. His girls' lovely smell... of... eu de merde. {Welcome to the Mommyhood!}

Oh.

Another forgotten thought just came back to me. Because this day only kept getting better and better. {Note the sarcasm, please.}

The toilet got clogged when I tried flushing down one of Nico's nasty stools. Just fabulous! Luckily it didn't over-flood. But, I am not attempting to deal with that disgusting mess. That'll be another little surprise to welcome Julio home from work. ENOUGH POOP, I'M SO THROUGH WITH IT ALL!!!!! ARGHHHHHH!!! 

Nico has also spent the entire day hitting Victoria. You name it he's done it to her. Poor princess. I've caught him in the act so many times, I've ran out of measures of punishment. I'm unsure if it's due to jealousy, or maybe he's got too much energy built up due to winter hibernation and isn't able to burn it off in a safe and productive way.

.

.

...Ah!!...

...my savior arrived!! Julio, brought home cheese slices for sandwiches. That may after all be what's for dinner tonight.

He also kissed me hello. Makes my world a better place instantly. :)

He unclogged the toiled immediately. Poop be gone... the toilet Master is home! LOL

He also took care of feeding and putting Victoria to sleep.

And played with Nico.

And gave me some much needed time to hear my own thoughts and write this out.

My ears are sore from all the crying that happened in this house today. That includes all of my mental cries.  I also have a terrible headache.

I managed to not go completely insane, again. I don't know how though. Another notch on my belt.  

And as the cherry on top...

The house is an entire mess. Again. Thanks to Hurricane Nico! :/

.

.

Ok… Off to have me a drink! Red Wine... here I come! 

Cheers to this paradise called Mommyhood, and to us brave women who find the strength, the will and the mind to get up everyday to do it. All. Over. Again.

Salud!

The people at the Street Dept. must think I’m a nuisance… or maybe not. Well, probably.  I have their phone # in my contacts; that’s how often I’ve called them to make inquiries or complaints about different issues.

In the past I’ve complained about the mess that WM has left behind when they’ve carelessly collected the trash. They’ve left part of the trash scattered across the street in front of our house and haven’t even bothered to pick it up. They expect us to clean up their mess? No way! Even now, they still fail to take it all, but at least what’s left behind is still in the container. They’re lucky I haven’t complained about that… yet. That said…

Snowmaggedon hit last week with a snow and ice mix that had us housebound and hibernating for a good two and a half days. We had snow up the wazu. We cleared the driveway and sidewalks, but clearing space to gain access to the mailbox proved to be an impossible feat. Honestly, the Street Dept. can’t complain when I feel forced to call them and complain about the sorry a** job they did, leaving roughly 6 ft of snow (2 ft deep at some points) in front of our home (taking up street space). Poor mailman must have today’s toughest job in the city, and God forbid someone might want to come visit us… uh, sorry, no parking available.

Today I called in to complain. I was very annoyed to have to call, after all it’s been well over 4 days since the storm hit the city and by now anyone would expect all roads to be pretty well cleaned up. Not ours. So I called, and the man I spoke to was on the defensive the whole time and almost dismissive, like he was annoyed I was complaining. Who do you think was more annoyed when he, in the Street Dept.’s defense, told me they have to put excess snow somewhere, especially after an intersection (our house is the second down from a curve, which he called an intersection ??) AND that they try to do their best at removing the snow up to 10 inches from the curb?

I think at that point I wanted to reach into the phone and strangle him, but I contained myself and in my nicest voice {really, I was nice} I told him that whatever excess snow they had could be placed on the curve where there is no home to block access to (not my home) AND that I understood one couldn’t ask for snow removal beyond 10 inches from the curb, but we were swamped with snow extending 6 FEET from the curb. I think I heard his sigh of disbelief, and he said he’d come over and talk to me after he took a look at it.

Sure, he thought I was exaggerating.

I was surprised an hour later when he showed up at my front door, and said he looked at the issue and said that they’ll “try to do a better job next time and get it 10 in from the curb.” He also said something else, which honestly just made me want to slap him (LOL) though I contained myself, after I told him clearing access to the mailbox was impossible (the 6 ft of snow was about 2.5 ft deep of pure ice), “Well, the neighbors cleared their mailbox… but I don’t think we can do anything here since it’s probably ice now.”

DUH. Ice. But not my fault. It was ice to begin with!

I took a good look at him and kindly but [very] seriously requested he send a big ol’ snow plowing truck just to try to clean it all up. I said, “After all, we can’t lose anything in trying, right?”

He half-smiled. It looked pretty fake. He probably hated me, who knows. Oh, and no apologies from the Street Dept. 

Ten min after he left, low and behold a snow plowing truck came by and very quickly and easily cleaned up the street. Took nothing but 10 sec to clear the front of our house, and another min to clean up the rest of the street.

Apology accepted, thanks Street Dept.!

See? You just have to stick up for yourself and demand what’s right.

We frequently have long term guests at our house, and by that I mean a month or more at a time, even more than once a year.  In the past we’ve ended up doubling Nico and Victoria in her bedroom and offered up Nico’s room since Victoria’s crib won’t fit through the doorway in one piece and disassembling it is not an option we want to even think of.

In the event of an even tougher scenario, we need both kids’ bedrooms for guests which means both kiddos are booted from their bedrooms, and with both being under the age of 3 we have no where else to put them other than our bedroom. This can happen, it’s not a vague supposition.

Don’t get me wrong, I love having visitors, especially since all our family lives out of the country and we don’t get to see them as often as we’d like. But the situation is tough when it involves shuffling the kids around.

If guests stayed a week or two, it would be a bearable sacrifice. But when they have extended stays, it becomes SO stressful I can barely handle it. Their sleep patterns are completely disrupted (leading to mine as well), they wake each other up, and that leads to a domino effect of chaos, that quite simply put, is intolerable. It’s a crazy situation and adds more stress to an already hectic household. All of that leads to a more bitchy me. So, I object! (I’m sure Julio would as well.)

^{image by staci0421_photo}

My Mom will be spending a few months with us starting in March. And it looks like she may be visiting us for long periods on a permanent and yearly basis. I’m also taking into consideration the fact that my step daughter visits us over the summers and some Holidays as well. We really do need a solution, and pronto!

So, I’m on a mission to find the {perfect} solution!  The clock’s ticking… I’ll keep you posted on what I come up with.

So, it has begun.

I don’t know if this is the right time. Could it ever be the right time? Who are we kidding? Little things can be more annoying than the broken record of a little 2 yr 9 mth old boy {my son} repeating over… and over… and over again:

 

“Why Mommy? Why?”

 

The subject is never relevant. Sometimes, it’s an out of the blue question. “Mommy, why is this?” Other times, it doesn’t even make sense, and it’s oddly hilarious. Like when I  jammed my toe into the foot of the sofa, and while I screamed hurting he asked, “Why Mommy?”  Ok, so in the middle of my pain, I cracked up laughing. That must have been the silliest most stupid question, ever.

There are moments where this sassy Mama loses it, due to over-heated “why, why , why?” malfunction… it is those moments when I wish someone would just put me out of my misery. And then something cute happens; Nico will do something so adorable I completely forget the insanity, and just realize how adorable he is and how crazy I’m about him.

Craziness! I know. Us Moms can be so weak.

Nico is asleep as we speak, and somehow I still hear his voice saying, “Why Mommy?” {Haha.} Yep, losing it probably. It was cute the first time he asked why. Ok, the first two times. After all, Nico is so darn cute it’s hard not eating him. But in reality after that… dear God! I could really go insane, any day now. Whatever dismal bit of sanity might be left in me, may have just gone out the window a few minutes ago.

SOS! Anyone?

So, how long does this stage last, exactly? Of course, I’m sure that like everything else, once Nico grows out of this phase, Victoria will fall right into it. It’s like the whole diaper thing and cleaning poop everywhere. I could pull my hair out! But that’s a whole different story.

So, in keeping positive thoughts about this crazy and silly situation, I see the good in the, err, crazy.  My son is a learning machine, always wanting to understand everything.

Wow! He’s SO smart.

Yeah… SO smart he’s figured out another way of driving me insane, and then bringing me back from coo-coo-cachou land instantly by hugging and kissing me spontaneously, out of the blue, all while he tells me “Mommy, I loooooove you!”

I mean, could you resist this face? 

{oh, I just melt away…}

Along with many women, I too pledged to become part of this yearlong movement through BlogHer. Why not? It’s something to keep you thinking and motivated to strive to be the best you can be, love yourself, and do your part in encouraging and influencing others’ lives.

Own Your Beauty is a groundbreaking, year-long movement bringing women together to change the conversation about what beauty means. Our mission: to encourage and remind grown women that it is never too late to learn to love one's self and influence the lives of those around us - our mothers, friends, children, neighbors. We can shift our minds and hearts and change the path we follow in the pursuit of authentic beauty. 

In keeping with January’s theme, Adventure, I thought I’d write about my 2011 [projected] adventures.

Life is an adventure… mine is a mix of adventures with my kids, husband, marriage, long To Do lists, projects, friendships, and conquering even the worst health issues. I vowed 2011 would be filled with good things, positive thinking, completed projects, all wrapped up in a bundle of happy feelings with a big bow of joyful life. This, after the very stressful and heart-wrenching experiences we went through as a family in the last quarter of 2010 with Julio’s kidney cancer. I know our love and God was what got us through it all.

So, what adventures await in 2011?

1) Back to blogging. Because I simply LOVE it! I started off January by getting back to blogging, after what seemed like an eternal hiatus. I’ve vowed to become a serious blogger, and have been doing tons of research and work on that matter. I’m getting ready to pimp up both my blogs AND move to Wordpress once and for all. Blogging has become one of my most enjoyable hobbies since I started last year, so why not dive into it? Of course, I never have enough time to devote all that I’d like to it with the kids and life in general. But, when there’s a will there’s a way.

2) Travel with my hubby, sans kids. Or you can call it mini-honeymooning. Luckily my Mom’s spending some months here with us, so that will facilitate this, we hope. I just realized, more strongly than ever before, that Julio and I need more ‘us time’. We love our kids, but life can (and has) become mostly about them, and working all around them. And that’s ok. Most of the time. But we just cannot neglect each other, or stop enjoying ‘us moments’ for so long. We need time alone with each other. We deserve it, we want it and we’re making it happen. After all, we know life is too short, and every second counts.

3) Renewing our vows. Because after all, our love and family is what makes life worth living. This year marks our 5th Wedding Anniversary. I had always told Julio that when we married we’d renew our vows every 5 years. It was never written in stone or anything, but after 2010 came and went, nothing seems more appropriate than to renew our vows, and promise our love to each other once again. I’m sure whatever way we do it, wherever it ends up being, it’ll be as special, if not more, than when we promised each other the world the first time around that 21st of Dec. of 2006. Now, wearing my wedding dress might be too long of a stretch and an impossible feat, but it’s an interesting thought. I have it stored in the closet.

4) Complete projects. Because I’m addicted to projects. But, I have had an ever growing list of projects that keep piling up. Some I’ve started and never finished, and some have remained simply ideas as they’ve failed to launch. In any case, I’d like to renew the efforts to complete them, the most I can. My personal and cooking blogs are two ongoing projects that really need a lot of attention and work put into them. Others are mostly [our] home design/décor and organization projects including but not limited to: painting the house interiors (very big project); transitioning Victoria’s baby room to big girl room; basement kids/tv room; basement game room; garage organization; back yard gardening; etc.

5) Empowering ourselves with knowledge of our health and risks. Some adventures you simply don’t look much forward to, but nevertheless, they’re adventures. Live and learn. Julio will be getting check-up CT scans every couple mths or so, which I’m sure will not come without the added stress and anxiety of finding out results and praying everything is a-ok. But, like they say, “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”, right? Sigh. It’s hard not to worry.  We’re also thinking of getting genetic testing, for both of us, to assess the risks (or lack of) getting certain cancers for us and our children. VHL genetic testing for Julio because of his bilateral kidney cancers (which were successfully removed with negative margins in late 2010), and BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic testing for me because of my family health history (Mom’s ovarian cancer and Dad’s breast cancer). Knowledge is empowering, no matter how you look at it.

So, many adventures set forth in 2011. I hope to be able to accomplish most, if not all of the things I’ve projected. There’s also the cliché New Year’s Resolutions that always seem to be lost in translation or fall through the cracks much before half of the year is even over: lose weight and get fit; clear the clutter; get organized; stop procrastinating; be on time to everything; etc. I hope to be successful at keeping those as well. Good luck to me!

…and good luck to all of you in all your 2011 adventures!

"Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars, is a current hit song that plays often on the radio, and I cannot help but think about my sweet husband Julio every time I hear it. It just reminds me of how he makes me feel, because he loves me just the way I am. Makes me happy every time I hear it!

Just thought I'd share some cheesy love with you... because it's Monday... why not?  Enjoy the song (courtesy of ElektraRecords via youtube.com)! :)

Sounds like a {fabulous} plan! It's on! :)

{{ New found LOVE on BlogHer.com }}