Can We Stop the Judgy Judging?!?!

As an emotionally drained, exhausted mother of two, I have a serious request. Can we PLEASE stop the judging? It seems that every blog I read has good intentions, but the comments! oh the comments! Mothers judging Mothers. It needs to end. Most mothers are just trying to NOT mess up their children, and maintain some sort of sanity during this extremely taxing process that we call 'raising children.'

None of us are perfect, by any means. I'll start with a few 'confessions'... 

Image Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Powdered-Baby-Formula

1. I formula fed my boys. I did not breastfeed. Gasp. And I don't feel guilty about it. Double gasp. Because they are both healthy, happy boys. Isn't that what is important? I actually did give it a go, both times- but decided that all the angst and drain were going to affect both myself AND the baby! 

Image Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/10/08/working.moms/

2. I work full time, outside the home. My kids are in the care of someone other than myself for a majority of the week. I am still raising my children, and making the decisions that will affect them. But I also enjoy my job, and get personal satisfaction from my work. I feel that this will be a benefit to my children in the long run.

Image Source: http://www.everydaypeoplecartoons.com/cartoon/316

3. I yell at my children. I get frustrated, I get angry, and I lose it sometimes. I'm not always the understanding, caring mother that I would like to be. This goes doubly for the time that I have been a mother of two. Everything is intensified, and that's good and bad. 

Now that some of my so-called sins are out there, can't we just realize that parenting is different for everyone. AND, importantly, until you are a parent- you do not understand how you will parent! Reading other blogs, that much bigger than mine... I read the comments that people post, and I am shocked by what I read. 

People that are out there telling other mothers (or fathers) that they are 'doing it wrong' must be so insecure about their parenting! Why else would someone behave that way? Do you agree? 

Lego Birthday Party

Little J turned 5 on Saturday, and we celebrated with friends and family at Pump It Up. This was the first birthday party for either of our boys that we did at a location that wasn't a backyard or a park. I knew the kids would need to run around, and since we're 'between houses' right now... I figured a neutral location was best. 

It took a little time to J to warm up... I made this t-shirt with an iron-on decal from Clean Cut Studio (via Etsy)

I figured it would be a party that only the kids enjoyed, but I was very wrong about that! 

The 'big kids' enjoyed the party just as much as the little kids. My cousin, Mike, shown here with Mayhem

My brother, with a bucket on his head to protect himself from the crossfire.

I apologize for the 'through the net' photo, but this was hilarious. The 20-somethings enjoyed boxing each other, with oversized boxing gloves. Daddy J got in on this too, and enjoyed punching Uncle Andy.

All in all the party was a success. Little J was very happy. :) Everyone was tired, and took a wonderfully long nap in the afternoon. 

I made the cake, it was supposed to look like a lego. Don't mind the fact that it's TEAL. I highly recommend the 'easy' birthday party every once in a while, especially when you have a very active 2 year old to contend with. All we did was show up with a cake, and Pump It Up did the rest! It was so easy and the kids all had a blast. The adults enjoyed it more than they thought. 

Thanks to everyone who came out and made Little J's fifth birthday special! 

Bluum July 2013 Box- Social Butterfly

This month, Bluum made both of my boys happy. I loved the edibles in this month's box, and the book was great too!

Little Learners Press & Play Sound Book- This book is great! 45 sounds, and something for everyone. There are firefighters, teachers, ballerinas, builders and many others. The buttons aren't TOO loud, like some other books (Thomas, I'm looking at you)- so it's great for the car!

Paul Frank Monkey - We have a white monkey, now we have a brown one too. Little J is amassing a collection of these guys!

Kelly Toy Bumblebee Travel Pillow - Mayhem loved this, he now sleeps with it. His animal collection is getting a bit out of control...and Little J likes it too!

Nature's Bakery - Fig Bar - Whole Wheat Raspberry - These reminded me of Fig Newtons, which I ate as a child. I wasn't sure if Mayhem would like these, but he did! I tried a bite too, and I must say- they are delicious!

Sneakz Organics - Chocolate Milkshake - A full serving of vegetables, and doesn't have to be refrigerated (but tastes better if it has been!). This is a great idea for kids who love chocolate milk, and won't eat vegetables. What they don't know, won't hurt them!

Once again, another successful month! Thank you, Bluum!

Mayhem's Vacation

While the rest of our family had a completely normal vacation experience, I felt that Mayhem's experience deserved it's own post. He loves his Uncle John. Boys will be boys, and these two... birds of a feather.

Spending some time with Uncle John

Uncle John lives in NYC, and Mayhem lives in California. So the usual 'bonding time' is over FaceTime, as sad as that is. So Mayhem wanted to spend as much time with John as possible... 

Yes, he owns more than one shirt... I swear...

They won boardwalk games together, they swam together, they even slept in the same room. So of course, when the time came for Mayhem to visit the Emergency Room... guess who he wanted to come with us? Yep, Uncle John...

This kid, I swear, how many ER trips is this now?!

Oh, right- why did he have to go to the ER? Well, he developed swimmer's ear on Friday. He's pretty tough, but he wouldn't let us touch his ear and I knew right away... something was really wrong. So we located the closest medical facility that was open... and off to the ER we went. Grandpa drove us, since I'm not familiar with the highways in NJ. Mayhem was a perfect patient, probably because he's been to the ER several times before! 

Our trip to the ER left us with a diagnosis of swimmer's ear, and antibiotic ear drops. Friday night, he barely slept. He woke up several times, with a fever... and in quite a bit of pain. I was able to soothe him back to get a few hours of sleep. But Saturday, we were supposed to fly home. I was NOT thinking that would be a great idea with an ear infection. My poor sister flew with an ear infection once, and her ear drum burst! She said it was the most painful experience of her life, and she's been through a lot! So, back to the ER we went... and this time we got a prescription for antibiotics. This seemed to work, since we got through our Sunday morning flight pretty smoothly! 

Have you ever had to visit the Emergency Room on your vacation?

June 2013 Bluum Box: I Am A Big Kid Now

I received our June Bluum box prior to leaving for vacation, and I was happy it came! I used several of the items for our trip, including the Happy Family munchies and the sippy cups on the plane.

Happy Family - Creamies- Carrot, Mango & Orange ($3.59) Mayhem loved these. I was glad to have them as a healthy snack on the plane. It was lightweight, and I loved that they are made with coconut milk. A great item to have around the house for an active two year old!

Happy Family - Happy Munchies - Rice Cakes Blueberry & Beet ($3.00) We weren't so fond of these, but I'm sure there are other flavors that Mayhem would like.

The First Years - Take And Toss 4 Sippy Cups ($3.28) I love Take and Toss items. Toddlers chew on, lose, and general destroy sippy cups in my experience. With this price tag, you don't have to worry as much and when you're done you can recycle them. It's simple. And I bring one of these on the plane, so you don't have to hold your toddler's apple juice for them. No spills!

Banz - Banz Kidz ($15.00) My kids always wanted to grab my sunglasses off my head when we're outside together. I was hoping these would prevent that. They didn't, but they are cute!

Little Learners - I Can Do Everything! ($10.00) A collection of several board books for the curious little one, who can't sit still for you to read a whole book!

Century Novelty - Beach Ball ($2.00) Fun for the pool, or the backyard!

StriVectin-EV - Get Even Brightening Serum ($22.00) For momma, a little boost for your complexion.

I love the personalized, age-appropriate goodies in our Bluum box this month. A happy customer!

What did you get in your Bluum box this month?

Jersey Shore Vacay 2013

Once a year, we head cross country to visit my family. My parents hosted a 4th of July picnic, and  both my mom's family and my dad's family came together. It was a full week this year, longer than we've stayed in the past. This meant we got to head into New York City, which was really fun!

We arrived into New Jersey late Saturday, my sister and brother picked us up at the airport and we headed to our parents' house. We relaxed Sunday, and spent lots of time in the pool. On Monday, the hubby, my sister, my brother and I headed into NYC. My siblings both live there, and we got to visit both of their apartments and experience a little bit of New York. It was pouring raining, so we didn't exactly get to tour much. But we did get to walk the HighLine. I loved it!

www.highline.org The HighLine was wonderful.
So much history, and an amazing reuse with great views!

Tuesday we went to the American Museum of Natural History. Apparently, so did everyone else in NYC. It was raining, so people were flocking to indoor locations. We enjoyed the short time we were there, checking out the dinosaur exhibits in particular. Then we headed back to the Jersey Shore.

www.amnh.org Little J had so much fun looking at the dinosaurs!

We had our fair share of rain while we were there, and when it wasn't raining- it was humid! Californians aren't used to that... but we managed.

Sea Girt, NJ in the rain... 

We saw fireworks for the 4th, on my parents front lawn. Pretty convenient!

Watching fireworks with Daddy!

We also made it to the Point Pleasant boardwalk, which I was very curious to see after Hurricane Sandy. It looked fantastic! You could see patches of new boardwalk, and old. I was happy that they were able to get it back in business so quickly. Little J wanted a minion from Despicable Me, so we spent lots of money and effort to get him one!

Jacob and his minion

Mayhem also won big! Uncle John helped...

I won!

All in all, we had a great trip. Mayhem tried to sabotage our return to California. I think that story deserves its own post! More on that tomorrow...

Weekend Recap June 24, 2013

This weekend involved quite a bit of activity for our little family. Friday, I took Little J to the pediatrician for his kindergarten shots. He never wants, 'to get shot' again. I'll try to grant that request. Then, I met two friends from high school for a play date. We took 5 kids to 'Jump N Jammin' to let them run around and get all their energy out. Then we took them to lunch, here's a picture. They look tired, don't they!

From left to right: Brooklyn (little brother Alexander due
next month!), Mayhem, Mackenzie, Nathan, and Little J

Saturday, we had breakfast then back to the townhouse to pack up our stuff. We waited all day for the 'storage pods' to be dropped off. Then, we were the talk of the neighborhood as we had to ask a few people to move their cars... so the truck didn't hit them as it backed into our driveway... At 7:30 pm, they FINALLY dropped off the second 'pod'. It seemed like a long day, with no internet or cable. Then we went out to dinner, thankfully everyone held it together while we ate.

Sunday morning it was time to pack up the storage pods. The boys were so well-behaved, playing in the backyard with some random toys while we packed. They were COVERED in sand when we were done, but no worse for the wear. After naps, we ventured out for a little summer treat!  

Frozen yogurt- what a treat!

Now, we're waiting to close escrow on our townhouse. One step at a time, this process has been such a crazy roller coaster ride. But that's a whole other post...

How was your weekend? What did your family do?