Where does the time go?

Looking back on things I am not really sure what Stacey and I did with all our free time before we had the girls.  These days it seems like there is little time to sleep let alone anything else.  What did I do Monday nights before I had to take the girls to dance?  Where did we go before we had to make plans weeks in advance to secure a babysitter?  I think the days just must be getting shorter :)

Seriously, these days I don't think that I work any more then I used too, in face I know that I put in less nights at the office since the girls were born.  Yet it took me an hour last night just to get some things put away and in order.  Part of the problem is that the girls have way to many toys.  20 baby dolls is more then enough for two little girls (Just so you know Stacey and I will put out a hit on anyone who dares to buy a baby doll for the girls birthday or Christmas this year....think we are kidding, just try us.  And no I don't really care that the girls keep saying they just want a baby doll).  I did what any good mom would do after spending an hour cleaning up, I sat and read the girls a book, put them to bed, and had a glass of wine!  Go ahead and laugh, but I have given in to my OCD and am learning to accept the fact that my house will never be the spotless envy of my friends.  I have two kids, and well let's face it a husband, and so my house will be clean, but not spotless.  If you come over you may have to move a toy or two around.  I don't have to run the vacuum everyday and the beds may or may not get made. 

Instead I will use my time having fun with family and friends.  Just to prove my point the girls will enjoy an evening with Nana and Papa and Stacey and I will have a date night.  The two dishes in the sink can wait until tomorrow and our closets are full of clothes so the mountain of laundry (ok maybe I am exaggerating a little there) can wait until Saturday. 

Since I can't add hours to the day, I will just have to enjoy the ones I have.  After all someone will clean it all up after I am gone :). 

Papa's Girl

When Dan married into this family he never knew that he would end up with five girls not just two (and that does not even count other grandkids).  While Christina and I were a breeze to deal with :), these little girls are anything but. 

Grace, more so then Ella, is a proclaimed Papa's Girl.  We have had talks were Ella says she is a helper girl and a mommy and daddy's girl and asks Grace who she wants to be and Grace always, and I mean always, says "well I really papa's girl."  If she get hurt, or sad, or in trouble, or really just anytime she can open her mouth it is always I miss my papa, I need my papa, can I call my papa.  The last is by far my favorite.  Most of the calls she makes Dan ends not having a clue what they just talked about, but really I guess that might just be that she is a girl and he is a boy.  She will tell him about her day, what she wants to do next time she sees him, or how he gets to do something for her.  Take her to nana and papa's and she can find papa's lap quicker then an Oreo can find Dan's mouth (sorry had to add that in there). 

It should come as no surprise that when I told Grace we were going to see papa on Sunday that her face just beamed.  Sunday morning came and she had to get all dressed up, after all it had been two weeks since she had seen him which was just torture in her mind.  On the way she wanted to call and make sure papa would be home when she arrived.  After jumping in his lap she only moved to have her dress hemmed (which papa had to look at and watch the process for her) and to get a book in which papa must read.  Papa even got caught trying to skip pages (silly papa).  After watching almost all the football game that papa was coaching I suggested that it was time to head home.  If you could see the hurt in her eyes you would realize why we stayed another hour until papa was done coaching so she could give him a hug goodbye. 

So there is only one question left, papa when does Grace get to see you again :)

What every little girls needs

Children never cease to amaze me and there is never a dull moment when a child is around (trust me if there is something big is about to happen).  So let me set the scene. 

It is Saturday morning and Ella has gotten up at 6:00 a.m. and Stacey got her set watching cartoons and then came back to bed and fell back to sleep like the rest of us.  The three of us get up at 7:00 and I started breakfast.  We needed to leave by 9:20 for our 10:00 pictures (or so I thought).  I waited as long as possible before showering both girls and getting them dressed.  The only instructions was to spend the next hour not eating, drinking, or getting into anything.  Anyone with kids is most likely laughing now knowing this is impossible. 

Just as Stacey was getting ready to cut his hair and take a shower, I realized that our photos were at 9 not 10 and we needed to leave in 10 minutes.  I will spare you the story, but we made it only 10 minutes late which is not bad.

We arrive at this nice studio and the girls have gotten over the idea that I would not let them color in the truck with markers on the way.  They are both little hams so they are so excited when we get to choose the background and start getting set up.  Like a good mom I take one last look over them before sending them to the camera.  Grace reminds me that I was going to do lip gloss on them and I have to now explain that I left it at home and pray there is no meltdown coming.  "Don't worry mommy I have it here in my pocket," Grace says.  So as she is taking it out I realize that she has a few other things in her pocket.  Now here is what every girl needs to take with her to a photo shoot:  lip gloss, pink ribbon, hair clip, and oh yeah a pink handgun (fake of course).  I about fell over laughing.  When I asked why she brought this stuff, "You just never know when you might need to a gun or lip gloss mom."  At least she will be prepared for anything. 

The Hunting Widow

I met Stacey in December 2001 and by April when he had moved in, I realized that I was living with a hunter.  Now many of you may say so what, but let me tell you it is a lifestyle not a hobby.  By the fall of 2002 I really knew what I was in for and I loved it!  I love spending time with Stace, but I really enjoy the fall when he can be gone up to 3 or 4 nights a week and the opening weekend deer camp trip (now in fairness I will say that since he started the Taxidermy and we had kids, his hunting days have been cut down some).  It was our bestman Doug who said at our wedding, "usually Stacey would have a girlfriend and then October would come around and by the winter he no longer had a girlfriend so when Stephanie was still around in the winter we knew she was a keeper."

Before kids my "hunting days" were spent watching my football games (ie not MU), girly movies, organizing parts of the house (yes I do enjoy doing that and yes I know it is a sickness), shopping with my friends and mom, and anything I wanted to do.  Not too much has changed for my hunting days now that the kids have come along except to say that yes pancakes can be dinner and yes you can just eat noodles and butter and call it a meal :). 

Now I look forward to the day when Stacey and the girls all go hunting and I will be the one to sacrifice and stay at home.  Just imagine a whole day or weekend with everyone gone and just me at the house (hey a girl can dream can't she). 

We will miss you this fall hunny, but good luck!  Oh yeah and when are you taking the girls hunting :)

To all you hunters out there, best of luck this season and if you should get the big one I know a great taxidermist that can help you out :).

To all the hunting widows, enjoy the season and happy shopping, eating, or just laying around.

A Little Family Time

Every September since they were born, Stacey and I have taken the girls on a vacation to Colorado.  Each year has had its ups and downs.  The first year they were so off their schedule that they only way they would nap was if we drove.  The second year they were walking and we were trying to be supportive of their independence, but wow it took forever to get anywhere.  Last year they hiked liked little champs putting in about 3 miles in  one day. 

This year we were expecting that things would be about the same, but they always find a way to surprise us.  I am positive we were the only ones who had to sing songs while we hiked.  I never saw another girl dance her way down a hiking trail.   I am 100% sure people thought we were nuts hiking in the rain while our girls giggled and laughed. 

Here are a few things the girls taught me on vacation this year

1.  If you going to write your letters you better, better start them at the top.
2.  A walk and a hike are the same thing to a four year old and don't try to tell them otherwise.
3.  If you go into a store you must buy something, anything, just buy something.
4.  Songs make a hike go by faster and it is even better when strangers join in the song.
5.  Rain makes the best weather to hike in and you can jump in puddles.
6.  Trucks can be fun to ride in and it is amazing how many toys fit in a back seat.
7.  There is nothing better then sitting by a fire and watching elk as a family.
8.  You must always say good night to the Elk before going to sleep.
9.  Promising to go to the playground will get girls to do just about anything.
10.  9 nights in a camper bring you closer as a family

I can sum up this year's vacation as being fun, trying, and just plain perfect! 

A Shout Out to Stacey

Our life is crazy busy and the girls are not even involved in much yet.  With so much going on it is easy to overlook the best thing that happened to me, Stacey.  Eight years ago I married my best friend and life, no matter how crazy it gets, he is the bright spot in my day.  So today's blog post goes out to Stacey!

Many dads I know are not as involved as Stacey.  He was a good sport when the girls dance class got moved to Tuesday nights and he got to be the one to get the girls ready and take them to dance for at least half the classes if not more.  Add in the fact that he is solely responsible for the girls at least 1 night a week and you have Super Dad!  It should be no surprise that the one time he goes out of town, Ella stares out the window and cries for her snuggle buddy.  I am happy to say that WE are raising our kids and he has been in it every step of the way from the first night (truth be told some weeks he sees them more then me).  The girls will someday realize how lucky they are to have such a great dad.  Plus seeing him in action with the girls is one of the things I love the most about him. 

We don't always get to spend as much time together as we would like, but we always have fun and find a reason to laugh. After all if we can't laugh at ourselves and each other I don't know that we would make it day to day. 

He is so understanding of my 5 phone calls a day with my mother, he helps to cook dinner almost every night (if he does not make it alone), he makes sure that I never have to get in a cold car, and he always listens to my rants and gossip that I just have to share, he makes breakfast on the weekends, he tolerates my busy schedule knowing how much I love my job, and so much more that I can not even think of right now. 

I am a lucky woman to share my life with such a great man.  I love you babe and agree we have it pretty good :)

My Promise to My Girls

My name is Stephanie and I am addicted to social media.  There I said it and it makes me feel a little better.  Sure I have Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, a blog, Snapfish, and those are just the ones I look at each day.  So it should come as no surprise that I have been fascinated by the talk around the book "Maggie Goes On A Diet."  I usually open minded and really pay little attention to taking a stance on something like this, but I am going to make an exception.

I knew almost 5 years ago what I was getting into when we found out we were having two girls.  I would be the one to potty train, do most of the bathing, not be able to sit and eat a meal without having to take a child to the restroom at least 4 times, I will have to have "the talk", deal with women issues, and so much more.  I was willing to handle all that (although let's be honest when we found out we were having two girls it was a little late to decide that I would be ok with all of this). 

I was raised to be happy with who I am and to have a strong sense of self.  I have never been a true girly girl (I love to get all dolled up but on any given weekend you will find me hair in a pony tail, no make-up, and a swim suit).  Like me for who I am or don't either way I am fine with it (thanks mom!). 

Already we get the questions like "mom why is that girl wearing her underway to the store (loudly of course in the Wal-Mart line)?"  I was prepared and think I did a good job of responding by saying "hunny everyone dresses a little different from one another and that is ok." 

Fast forward to last week and thank goodness the girls were not in the car with me when I saw someone walking down the road, looking like what can only be described as wearing a hooker type outfit (oh you all know what I am talking about), when I found myself saying "you be lookn' like a ho" (although I did not roll down my window and yell such). 

I began to wonder if I was really ready to set a good example for my girls.  So when I read about this book and know of all the issues that girls grow up having to deal with, it can be a little scary.  My friend Amy wrote a great blog post and it got me to thinking.  So here is what I promise to you Ella and Grace (with at least a few readers to remind me of this promise):

• I will raise you to have self-confidence and be happy with the person you choose to become.
• I will never knowingly let you out of the house wearing anything that would make someone wonder if you were a hooker or make them want to yell "you be lookn' like a ho"
• I will teach you to respect that everyone looks different because god wanted to teach us acceptance of others.
• I will teach you that you can look just as good in a black tie affair dress and a pair of pj's with no make up.
• I will teach you to respect yourself so that others will respect you.
• I will teach you that you are the most beautiful person in the world and not to let anyone tell you other wise.
• I will teach you that you don't have to look like a particular image to be happy with who you are.

and lastly, and perhaps the most important....

• I will teach you that when your daughter asks why you have a roll on your tummy to respond that it was because your perfect stomach was taken away by growing two little girls in your tummy, who now occupy all your time so that you can't do the workout that you want to get back that flat stomach.  (ok who I am kidding that is really my lesson to myself and who I am kidding to think that I will ever look the same as I did  prior to having the girls).