There's a reason why they suggest washing before wearing!

This is what happens when you are on a Sunday flight to Anchorage with kids close in age to your own surrounding you – I go into reminisce mode. 2013 has seriously been a whirlwind, and once again I’ve fallen into bad blogger mode. With just over a month and half to redeem myself this year, here I go... Isaac has pretty much been good to go on the potty training front since last December, but until recently, new under-roo’s (as Isaac likes to call them. Better than panties – which sometimes slips out of my mom’s mouth because she’s so used to having only girls around) were damn near as good as chocolate, so venturing to nana’s house for an unexpected sleepover also meant an emergency run to Target for the next best addition to the underwear collection. Now, in a regular day at the Devlin’s we’d wash the undies before wearing them, but with the trip to nanas and need to open the pack that day, why not scratch the whole pre-washing deal out the door and put the rest of the ‘new’ undies in the drawer to wear? Here’s why... GRANDMAHHHHHHH – Isaac hollers, she rushes over to the bathroom to find a VERY confused little boy with a facial expression screaming, “Why did it turn black?” His little package was no longer of Caucasian decent; it was a shade darker than the asphalt at 6 p.m. the weekend of day light savings. Did I mention – Isaac has blonde hair and blue eyes? Perhaps this was a story that falls under the funnier if you were there category, but come on – imagine your hubby’s mini-me freaking out that is package changed colors and for a second you have NO IDEA WHY – to later realize is was the dye from the undies?! LOL. Lesson learned – always pre-wash those darn dark colored under-roos!

The Milk Factory is Officially CLOSED

Well, they are finally mine again – yes, the all-powerful nee-nee will no longer be a means of nutrition, soothing support, nap shortcut, or airplane take-off crutch. As of Monday, August 5 – the milk factory officially closed for vacation...and doesn’t plan on coming back! Which means, baby #3 is looking less and less likely (which I’m totally OK with), but that horrible monthly beast is BACK. How is it that carrying a baby (in the womb) is more comfortable than the miserable cramps that paid me a visit this week?! Oh, what us woman go through – and see, that’s why I feel no guilt having an occasional ladies night, or sleeping in Saturday morning while Mark is watching Bubble Guppies with the kids. It’s all about balance, right?! And, accepting the fact, life (as we once knew it) is never “fair” – once you are blessed with the title, MOM!

Bad Mommy...

How is it possible that someone so young can make his way under my skin so bad that I completely SNAP! Oh, yeah - a 3 1/2 year old can. Everyone talks about the terrible 2's - ha, two's nothing compared to the little stinkers they can become once they hit three. But, the worst part - when we let them WIN! And, that's exactly what happened the other night. Isaac pushed the last button - the motherboard breaker that activated a screaming mommy who was done with the back and forth conversation that was going nowhere painfully slow, and it was clear – I needed to walk away. But of course, not before screaming God Dangit (but the real thing, which is SOOOO not me!) – G-O T-O B-E-D! Accompanied by me storming out – slamming the door shut behind me. Not my proudest moment! I made it downstairs, but turned right back around - obviously feeling horrible about what I'd just done. So, what's the rational thing to do next, of course, crawl in bed with him, sobbing I'm sorry - mommy had a really rough day - please forgive me. For him to reply with, I wish you didn't have to go to work in the morning. Are you kidding me?! Brutal. I felt the crappiest I've ever felt as a mom...in my whole 3 1/2 years - LOL. But in all seriousness - it was a low moment, but dangit, you need to listen to mommy! And that's what I also made sure to say. And, not that I'll make a general practice of hollering GD, and risk waking up the other kid, along with feeling like shit, he's been somewhat less of a stinker these past two days! TGIF!

Welcome back!

I'm clearly a horrible Blogger, having not written anything in over a year, and previous to that had another huge lapse in time - but her I am, back at it. That whole work life balance thing that I mentioned in my intro, it barely exists these days. Who could blame me when you add another kid to the mix, two volunteer boards – each with their own activities, and a job that still has me on the road at least once a month? Yes, I know, some of that busyness is by choice, but regardless, the weekends are priceless and I cherish every minute I have with Isaac and Abigail - and of course Mark, too. Today something funny happened, well - strange actually. This could just be a random coincidence, but I think it's a head-scratcher. Isaac comes downstairs and asks if he can watch Sportacus, which is a character on the Sprout channel. He goes on to say it’s on after Elmo. I remind him that the show he was previously watching was a recording, so whatever he just saw wasn't actually what was going to be on next. But it was... I head back upstairs with him and turn off the recording and there on live Sprout TV is Elmo and the next show scheduled was Lazy Town - the show that Sportacus is in. Weird, right? Never a dull moment here, and so much more to tell – it’s been way too long.

Is it really the middle of April?

Wow - I can't believe I haven't posted anything since August of last year. They always say time goes by faster the older you get...especially once kids are in the mix. Well, that is the serious truth! I feel like I've been pregnant with Isaac's little sister forever - maybe because I was a lunatic with the pregnancy tests and was taking one a week, so I literally found out I was pregnant the first humanly day possible! And here I am 38.5 weeks in losing my mind. It's like I've never been through this before - but wait - maybe because I haven't! Isaac made his appearance 12 days early - so this whole thing about going on 39 weeks is INSANE to me. Not to mention the nerves I'm feeling because I've been having contractions like mad, but no other signs of labor, again - nothing like what I experienced with Isaac. My storybook delivery, which so many of you curse me about, is now haunting me, because now all I can think about is, crap - what if my water doesn't break first, and what if I don't really know if this is real or not, and yikes, I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but I don't want to end up giving birth to this kid in the car. UGH - so much to think about and all everyone keeps telling me is to relax. HA - Cheri relax, right....

Last night is the perfect example. Contractions started up about 9 p.m. and they weren't the little Braxton Hicks I've been dealing, they were the dagger in the goods feeling, so I look at Mark and say, “OK - let's start timing them.” Well, a few more came and went, but none of them were lasting for than a few seconds...but 2 hours of this? Mark asks me, "so what do you want to do?" And I say, “I dunno...maybe I should take a shower.” So that's what I did. A few more contractions came and went, and then the lull...so, we decided to go to bed. And here I am today, still prego and bigger than I was yesterday!

Good times in prego land...

Where has the year gone?

I feel like we were just ringing in the new year at J and Athena's wedding, and here we are saying bye to the summer! I turned 30 in February, we bought a house in April, weaned Isaac from the boob, and congratulated Mark on a HUGE promotion that same month. My niece was born, we moved my dad to Campbell, I chopped my hair against Mark's will (although he LOVES it now), and in the middle of it all, I committed to a pregnancy pack to start working on baby number 2. Did I mention Mark got promoted, so we are both traveling for work now, and this fall I'm headed to Anchorage and Chicago (the same week)? Good times!

Let's get back to that baby number two mention. Athena and I go way back - back to 2003 – the same year she hired me at Ernst & Young. We’ve laughed together, cried together, even traveled to Italy together. Hell, she even helped me figure out the most advantageous seating arrangements for our single friends at our wedding reception, which led to the introduction of her soul mate...yes, the same J and Athena I mentioned a minute ago.

They have a beautiful little girl named Kayla who is a year older than Isaac - almost to the day. And frankly, Ms. Kayla is one of the reasons Mark and I ventured into baby making season in 2009. I couldn’t think of a better friend to head down this path with again. And, I will leave it at that for now...

The Sweetest Thing...

Bath time was complete, jammies were on, and 8 p.m. had just rolled around – Isaac knew it was time for bed. His tiny hand reached for mine – holding it tight as he led the way to the rocking chair in his room.

“Are you ready for bed?” I asked, as he shook his head yes. “Then let’s go tell papa good night.” How precious to see him rush out to the living room, mouth wide open (he’s still learning the proper way to kiss) to plant a sloppy one on his daddy. No time for hugs, he was ready for nighty-night, aka some booby.

We’ve decided 18 months is it, so in three months, he will officially be cut off. BUT, until then I’m going to relish every night I have left to gaze down at my beautiful son knowing I’m providing him a level of comfort only mommy can.

I’m so far behind with my blog and sharing all of Isaac’s milestones this past year, that I now have enough content in my head to write a novel (which I WILL accomplish eventually – it’s at the top of my bucket list!). Corporate Mommyhood is BUSYhood, which is my best excuse for letting almost 4 months lapse since my last substantive entry.

Isaac is (literally) on the run now – from sun up, to sun down; the bottle’s been gone for almost a month; and he’s sleeping close to 10 hours each night. The sound of Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa is music to our ears and being able to witness his amazing mind hard at work is priceless. Life is good and God is great!

I wouldn’t go as far as saying things are easy, but they are certainly reaching a point that we are beginning to ask ourselves, “could we be ready for number 2?” Only God and time will tell...