No longer.

Today, October 28th, marks the end of a title I've grown to embrace. Tomorrow my baby boy Sebastian turns two years old.. which means I no longer am a mom to 2 under 2. I don't know why this makes me kind of sad. I know Sebastian is still a toddler and will always be MY baby.. but there was something special about being able to say I have two under two.

I was really nostalgic and weepy throughout most of the day, telling Sebastian all about how today was the last day he was only one.. (He ignored my sentiments and proceeded to help himself to the entire bundle of bananas that I have to hide in the upper cabinets in the kitchen, while I was nursing Penelope.)

Here's how we celebrated our pre-second-birthday:

-Sebastian and I argued about breakfast- specifically about milk vs. juice boxes. (Sebastian- 0, Me- 1)

Breaskfast, where Sebastian said "Sunshine... Go Away." Clearly not a morning person. 

-Sebastian sneakily stole bananas while I was nursing Penelope (quite impressive as they are were hidden in the high cabinets, and he had to push a chair over and climb up to retrieve them.. little monkey!) (Sebastian-1, Me-1)
-Had a picnic on the patio
-Went to the dollar store (Where I promptly forgot what on Earth we were supposed to get.)
-Sebastian refused to SIT in the cart (Sebastian-2, Me-1)
 (Sebastian was really cute following me around like a duck, while Sebastian slept in her carseat in the base of the cart the entire shopping adventure.. Sebastian probably has a future in politics, everytime we go to the store he practically scares all the customers to death by yelling HI! Most of the time they look around entirely startled and kind of chuckling at Sebastian, and while some respond by asking "How are you?" Sebastian always screams GOOD!! and then runs back to me as if he's terrified that this stranger was talking to them. (Even though he always starts the conversations.)

We left the dollar store with a "clubhouse" coloring book (Mickey Mouse- but Sebastian has renamed him just clubhouse), some AAA batteries, and me still not remembering for the life of me what on Earth we were supposed to have gotten. (Dear self: It was dishwasher detergent.)

Got home, Sebastian wanted to color and listen to music (always Paul McCartney...) and eventually I coerced him into taking a nap (Sebastian-2, Me-2) 

During nap (Penelope still sleeping from the dollar store trip..) I made cupcakes for tomorrow and binge watched netflix (currently obsessed with sons of anarchy) until both kids decided to wake up and need me at the exact same moment.

It was a pretty low key afternoon waiting for Grayson to come home, no real battles with Sebastian (unless you count bribing him to eat dinner with promises of cupcakes) (Sebastian-3, Me-2)

I know that everyone talks about the "terrible twos" and the battles that you will have with your toddler... (which I already seem to be losing..) I can't wait to see how much Sebastian grows and develops this next year.

He's already such a smart kid- already knows all 26 {capital} letters, can count to 10, and randomly knows what an octagon is (Thank you, Elmo!) and always says "please" and "thank you", has no fears (he seriously ran into the spiderweb infested playhouse outside (to my absolute horror), loves to help out with chores and run around outside, gives kisses to baby Penelope, and loves to read: we can easily go through about 10 books back to back, and he will simply look up at you and say AGAIN! I love my little buddy so much, and hope that he enjoys our adventure-filled day tomorrow. I'm sure I'll have a whole separate post dedicated to tomorrow... Hopefully I can make it through the day without too many tears (;

Here's to no longer being a mom of 2 babies under 2, but balancing the challenges of a stubborn two year old and tantrums with an infant on my hip. Thank God Penelope is so laid back and easy-going (Knock on wood.)

Stella & Dot

Remember that time that I mentioned that I'm really good at starting new ventures...
well we can add another one to my list.. I'm officially a Stella & Dot Independent Stylist (for now... because I'm so motivated and excited about this new opportunity that I have already decided that I will move on to a different level within the company and gain a different title (: hehe)

Woohoo! I'm seriously super optimistic and stoked! In fact, I am doing my first trunk show this weekend with my mom as the host (: AND THEN, Next weekend I'm holding a girls' night in trunk show at my place.  The jewelry & bags are unique and great quality- I'm loving the small sample stock that I got along with my newbie kit..

My new goodies (:

I really feel like I needed something that was just for me, and while I had tried to do Mary Kay in the past, I simply wasn't that excited about it. It's much more exciting when someone compliments your necklace, and you can tell them that you sell it! (And here, take this magazine!) .. (Yes this very thing happened at my daughter's pediatrician with the nurses. Ha!) The whole time I did MK, not a single person said Hey! Where did you get that makeup ;)

But, that being said, I really feel like I want to put 100% of my effort and free time (ha! free time..) into this, simply because it makes me happy. So here's to another venture.


Oh and if you need more sparkle in your life check out my stella & dot site (;
I really hope that I can find someone to do this with me too! My whole mentality being, it's so much more fun and easy to work out when you have a buddy.. why not have someone to motivate and support through all of this!

Apple Picking

A few weekends ago, we took the whole family apple picking (including my sister, Nina).. and I swear it's going to have to be an annual tradition! I had the random thought that perhaps it was apple season and used good old google to find the nearest self-pick farm- about 20 minutes away in Weston, MO! Luckily I had the idea when I did, as it was the last week that they were in season and available to go pick..

The first time that I "wore" Penelope- it was so easy, and apparently comfy for her, as she slept the entire adventure (: That's an apple cider slushy in my hand.. not beer, in case you were wondering. My lovely husband pointed out that it looks like I'm totally boozing. 

Attempting a group selfie while Sebastian was thoroughly enjoying my apple slushy.  (That kid can gulp quickly if given the opportunity for a 'sip'.)

The lady who gave us the basket to begin our picking excursion was really kind, and told us to feel free to sample an apple if we wanted, before filling up our bucket with a certain variety that we may not like once we got home.. Sebastian was totally abusing that system and had to ride on Nina's shoulders the entire time, otherwise he'd pick an apple, take a bite, throw said apple onto the ground, and repeat. ... He still did it while riding, however, it prevented him from eating them off the ground. When all was said and done we had a full basket of several different varieties of apples.. all for $7.50! Forget Hyvee! This is totally the way to go- what a great adventure.. I'm pretty sure I annoyed Grayson to death by how often I said, "This is so much fun!!!" .. seriously though. Here's to new family traditions!

My favorite picture of the day. Nina looks darling and Sebastian is digging into probably his 15th apple.

Happy Fall! 

The Poop Problem.

As a mom, (and a pet owner) I am used to having my fair share of conversations about poop. I am pretty desensitized to the whole ordeal- I have changed probably a total of 12 diapers today so far between the two babes. However, I was not prepared for our Friday night.

As we were attending to our crazy Friday night rituals (me watching Netflix obsessively- Currently it's going through all 5 seasons of Sons of Anarchy... while Grayson watches some sporting event...) I noticed this HOORRRIBBLLEEE smell starting to permeate through the house... upon further investigation I discovered the LOVELY poop situation that was going on in the basement. This is the part where you appreciate that I am not attaching pictures to this post. The downstairs never used toilet and bathtub was literally spewing out EVERYTHING- including the kitchen sink (literally- some leftovers I thought disappeared in the magical black hole known as the garbage disposal) and all other horrible things you never want to see again was leaking all over our finished basement. It's the only time that I have ever just looked at poop and just the money this was going to cost us. (Luckily the basement is completely tile so we didn't have to worry about carpet!!!!!!)

.. Long story short... Called my Aunt/Landlord .. Roto Rooter.. A DIY  Uncle .. My 90 year old Grandpa who likes to be involved .. The water problem is fixed.

The culprit of the whole clogged system? Baby Wipes. And suddenly I know the exact moment when it happened.

Sebastian, my lovely 'helper' was really interested in helping me out while I was changing a particularly messy diaper of Penelope's last Wednesday.. His job was to hand me the nice new wipes. In typical toddler fashion, his attention only lasted about 15 seconds. With his hands completely full of new wipes, Sebastian ran off .. and next thing I know I hear the toilet flush.

I, of course, {attempted to} question if Sebastian had indeed flushed almost the entire container of wipes (to which he sheepishly answered noooo...) But, Since the toilet (on our main level) continued to seemingly work fine, I just forgot about the whole situation. Oops!

Now, if only I can figure out a way to get the lovely plastic pink ball out of our shower drain (thanks bud!)

I'm thankful for the handy men in our family and that we didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for a plumber to come. Also, thank God for Clorox (;

... How did you spend your weekend?

Timeline

My previous post didn't do an adequate job introducing myself, and if I'm blogging I should probably diverge some of my history. I met my husband Grayson when I was still a baby- the ripe ol' age of 18- my freshman year at the University of Kansas. I knew he was the one that I was going to spend the rest of my life with by our second date.. and we got married two weeks after both graduating. (I was 21- Grayson, 23.) Here comes the crazy condensed timeline of my life:

• Baby #1 ... 16 months after saying I do! (Oct. 29, 2012)

 Having Sebastian changed my life completely. I lost all passion of the traditional sense of "work" (I know Grayson is snickering right now because that "passion for work" is a total lie- it never was there- I always wanted to be a stay at home mom) and knew I wanted to devote my time and effort to being the best mom that I could be to my blonde baby boy. Sebastian is such an ornery boy, and every time he gives me that cheesy little grin his eyes twinkle and my heart absolutely melts. Being a parent is the best thing that has ever happened and I thank God every day! Which is why we made the crazy decision to have a second baby (;

• Baby #2 ... 21 months after Sebastian! (July 28, 2014)

Penelope is technically only seven weeks old, but it feels like she has been a part of this family forever. She fits in perfectly with our crazy dynamics, and even though she still spends most of her day asleep, she is still able to make us all smile! I think she's the easiest baby ever- sleep, eat, poop, repeat. However, she seems to go into full on fussy dramatic baby when she's alone with Grayson. (Ha Ha!) 

... And that basically brings you up to speed.. We are scraping by with student loans and God's blessings until Grayson finishes dental school.

This is my life! And I wouldn't change a darn thing about it (;

All of my loves in one picture <3

Over Ambitious

As I get older, I am starting to realize that I must have a large ego. I mean huge. I guess you can positively spin this as being confident? For some reason, I think I'm going to be amazing at everything I try to do. Unfortunately, this is absolutely rarely the case, and I find myself frustrated and angry that my results are not instantly fabulous. Perhaps I have used up all my patience on my family, because there is hardly any left for myself. I am beginning to realize I am not Martha Stewart. Case in point: after mentally preparing a shopping list full cute children's accessories and clothes from boutiques on Instagram (with my fantastical never ending bank account, obviously)... I was determined to pull out the dust covered sewing machine that I insisted I NEEDED for Christmas two years back, and simply channel my inner seamstress to whip out j.crew kids' quality results. This is at least how it panned out in my mind. The mojo lasted until the darn machine (definitly the machine- my obviously inherent skills have nothing to blame)*sarcasm  kept getting jammed. I called my mother, which is never a good idea when I am frustrated, and was complaining about the whole situation when she tried to offer friendly advice of "you probably don't have the bobbin in correctly." PAH! I grumbled about how "no, obviously I know what I'm doing!" (I don't.) And hung up angry with my mother, and shoving the sewing machine back into it's plastic bin full of couple dozen patterns of previously forsaken projects.

You're probably rolling your eyes at this point. Heck, I know I would be, because once again I have the gatorade mentality. I can do anything better than you.

Truth is I can't. I know I can't. But this over-ambitious mom can't stop believing I can [be a marathon runner, seamstress, blogger.... ..] and once I get set on a idea, I jump fully in (until the first hiccup.) I have realized my over-zealous nature is just driven even harder by my obsessive compulsive need to do something once the idea is planted.

So, here it goes, my next project. My little corner and "mummy jumbo" that I'll share with the world. Warning you now, I scraped by through my required college English courses with writing skills probably more on par with those of a middle schooler.. but hey, I still got that degree! Maybe this time I'll actually stick with an idea and become a blogger (;