Find a bathing suit!

The mission: Find a bathing suit!

Not just any bathing suit. One that lifts your boobs about 4ft. high. Hides your stretch marks, and performs liposuction while in motion.

The Debate: One-piece or two- piece

The Challenge: Bring the children with you.

My journey began at a mildly busy suburban mall. Bloomingdales was the store of choice. I was geared up (meaning I had my diaper bag, lunch box, and vital deterrents - shovels, cheerios, cuppies, stickers, pacifiers, and the worst case scenario music shaker) and I was ready to go. The children were strapped in the double stroller without their shoes. This tactic is necessary in order to avoid the panic stricken sandal search throughout the mall.

After locating the elevator and waiting a good six minutes, we arrived at the bathing suit section. I approached it like the class geek pursuing a prom queen - real slow, nervous, scared, a bit clammy, but determined for success. I performed a quick scan of the display and immediately pin pointed a few possibilities. Within an instance I had a variety of styles - low cut, high cut, I don't even know how to wear this cut. At this point my arm was about to break and I already piled up more than I should on top of the stroller. As I reached for the black one-piece with the "LOOK 10LBS. LIGHTER" tag on it, I noticed Liam munching away on what one would guess to be a delicacy based on his facial _expression, but it was simply the tag to one of the suits. With that, we proceeded to the dressing room (handicapped room only of course).

My location was secured and I was ready to set up camp. The stroller was strategically placed against the wall. Far enough to be out of Liam's range, and close enough to me for easy access. Lily on the other hand was wondering throughout the dressing room (with sandals now on of course). I knew that if I wanted this to go even remotely smooth, Lily would have to be set free. Before I could even get my bra off, Liam began to fuss so I turned to my pile of deterrents and grabbed the shovel. This lasted long enough to get through a few suits. Keep in mind of course, all the while I am reckoning with Lilyan to stop opening the door, licking the mirror, and crying over the fact that the shovel I gave Liam was hers.

Twelve suits later, my spirits are fading and whatever patience the kids might have had are now gone - along with my figure! "I must go on. Out of all these suits there has to be one" I said to myself. With high hopes and low expectations I plunged forward.

Finally!!! - A suit that seemed to look somewhat decent. Suddenly the air was clearer and I could breath deep again. And breathe deep I did, with that came a vial scent. The kind that burns through your nostrils, and somehow makes it up into your eyeballs. Unfortunately, it was a scent that I was all too familiar with -Liam's' poop.

While wiping Liam's foul stanched toosh, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lily peeling off the sticker located in the "private area" of the bathing suit... For a few moments after, I just remember seeing black. After wiping down Lily's hand to the point of peeling off the pigment, I was finally able to get back to the mission, only this time the suit that I thought looked relatively decent was now looking awful. My butt, my back, my legs, and my boobs - wrong, wrong wrong. By now, the tears are beginning to swell and my deterrents supply is looking rather grim. At that moment I surrendered my efforts and threw in the towel. In my defeat, I silently placed the kids back into the stroller, put my clothes on, and left behind a dressing room filled with inside out bathing suits, crooked hangers, and a most un-welcomed smell.

Just as I was leaving the dressing room, Matt called and asked to meet us at the food court. With the entire experience behind us, Lily, Liam, Matt, and I sat happily together and enjoyed a big ICE CREAM CONE!!!!

Then End!

Find a bathing suit!

The mission: Find a bathing suit!

Not just any bathing suit. One that lifts your boobs about 4ft. high. Hides your stretch marks, and performs liposuction while in motion.

The Debate: One-piece or two- piece

The Challenge: Bring the children with you.

My journey began at a mildly busy suburban mall. Bloomingdales was the store of choice. I was geared up (meaning I had my diaper bag, lunch box, and vital deterrents - shovels, cheerios, cuppies, stickers, pacifiers, and the worst case scenario music shaker) and I was ready to go. The children were strapped in the double stroller without their shoes. This tactic is necessary in order to avoid the panic stricken sandal search throughout the mall.

After locating the elevator and waiting a good six minutes, we arrived at the bathing suit section. I approached it like the class geek pursuing a prom queen - real slow, nervous, scared, a bit clammy, but determined for success. I performed a quick scan of the display and immediately pin pointed a few possibilities. Within an instance I had a variety of styles - low cut, high cut, I don't even know how to wear this cut. At this point my arm was about to break and I already piled up more than I should on top of the stroller. As I reached for the black one-piece with the "LOOK 10LBS. LIGHTER" tag on it, I noticed Liam munching away on what one would guess to be a delicacy based on his facial _expression, but it was simply the tag to one of the suits. With that, we proceeded to the dressing room (handicapped room only of course).

My location was secured and I was ready to set up camp. The stroller was strategically placed against the wall. Far enough to be out of Liam's range, and close enough to me for easy access. Lily on the other hand was wondering throughout the dressing room (with sandals now on of course). I knew that if I wanted this to go even remotely smooth, Lily would have to be set free. Before I could even get my bra off, Liam began to fuss so I turned to my pile of deterrents and grabbed the shovel. This lasted long enough to get through a few suits. Keep in mind of course, all the while I am reckoning with Lilyan to stop opening the door, licking the mirror, and crying over the fact that the shovel I gave Liam was hers.

Twelve suits later, my spirits are fading and whatever patience the kids might have had are now gone - along with my figure! "I must go on. Out of all these suits there has to be one" I said to myself. With high hopes and low expectations I plunged forward.

Finally!!! - A suit that seemed to look somewhat decent. Suddenly the air was clearer and I could breath deep again. And breathe deep I did, with that came a vial scent. The kind that burns through your nostrils, and somehow makes it up into your eyeballs. Unfortunately, it was a scent that I was all too familiar with -Liam's' poop.

While wiping Liam's foul stanched toosh, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lily peeling off the sticker located in the "private area" of the bathing suit... For a few moments after, I just remember seeing black. After wiping down Lily's hand to the point of peeling off the pigment, I was finally able to get back to the mission, only this time the suit that I thought looked relatively decent was now looking awful. My butt, my back, my legs, and my boobs - wrong, wrong wrong. By now, the tears are beginning to swell and my deterrents supply is looking rather grim. At that moment I surrendered my efforts and threw in the towel. In my defeat, I silently placed the kids back into the stroller, put my clothes on, and left behind a dressing room filled with inside out bathing suits, crooked hangers, and a most un-welcomed smell.

Just as I was leaving the dressing room, Matt called and asked to meet us at the food court. With the entire experience behind us, Lily, Liam, Matt, and I sat happily together and enjoyed a big ICE CREAM CONE!!!!

Then End!

Mood: Distressed

Escaping the Crib

Matt and I were sleeping soundly in our bed when suddenly we heard a big k-a-blunk! At 2:00am Liam discovered how to jump out of his crib. I leaped out of bed and headed for his room. Liam was already on his way to me and we were greeted by one another in the hallway. I was hesitant to put him back into his crib with the fear he may jump out again - especially since Liam's room is covered in hardwood flooring. I was going to bring him to my bed, but he doesn't sleep when he is with us. With not other choice I placed him back in his crib and waited for him to fall asleep. The next morning I was faced with a choice of buying him a toddler bed or getting a mesh net to put over the crib. I went with the mesh netting. Lilyan did this same thing at this age. We got her a toddler bed because she was mature enough to handle the transition. Not to mention she was sleeping through the night just fine. Liam on the other hand still likes to wake up and scream, and, is not ready for the freedom. The mesh netting didn't faze him a bit (thank goodness) I actually think it makes him feel cozy. It's been a week since we got it and all seems to be going quite well. If you are in need of a mesh netting device they are sold at Babies R Us or online at www.onestepahead.com

Mood: Distressed

Escaping the Crib

Matt and I were sleeping soundly in our bed when suddenly we heard a big k-a-blunk! At 2:00am Liam discovered how to jump out of his crib. I leaped out of bed and headed for his room. Liam was already on his way to me and we were greeted by one another in the hallway. I was hesitant to put him back into his crib with the fear he may jump out again - especially since Liam's room is covered in hardwood flooring. I was going to bring him to my bed, but he doesn't sleep when he is with us. With not other choice I placed him back in his crib and waited for him to fall asleep. The next morning I was faced with a choice of buying him a toddler bed or getting a mesh net to put over the crib. I went with the mesh netting. Lilyan did this same thing at this age. We got her a toddler bed because she was mature enough to handle the transition. Not to mention she was sleeping through the night just fine. Liam on the other hand still likes to wake up and scream, and, is not ready for the freedom. The mesh netting didn't faze him a bit (thank goodness) I actually think it makes him feel cozy. It's been a week since we got it and all seems to be going quite well. If you are in need of a mesh netting device they are sold at Babies R Us or online at www.onestepahead.com

Mood: Distressed

middle of the night wakings

I'm not sure why, but our three-year-old, who normally sleeps wonderfully has been waking up around 11:30pm. When my husband or I go into her room to console her, she just screams until we take her into our bed. We normally wouldn't feed into this behavior, but our son Liam is still having trouble sleeping through the nigh, therefore we do not want anything to disturb him. Plus, having her cute little body next to us is comforting. It's been two weeks now and I'm afraid that we are forming a bad habit. Any advice? Should we just ride it out a bit longer and see if she gets over it, or should we nip it in the bud?

Mood: Sleepy

middle of the night wakings

I'm not sure why, but our three-year-old, who normally sleeps wonderfully has been waking up around 11:30pm. When my husband or I go into her room to console her, she just screams until we take her into our bed. We normally wouldn't feed into this behavior, but our son Liam is still having trouble sleeping through the nigh, therefore we do not want anything to disturb him. Plus, having her cute little body next to us is comforting. It's been two weeks now and I'm afraid that we are forming a bad habit. Any advice? Should we just ride it out a bit longer and see if she gets over it, or should we nip it in the bud?

Mood: Sleepy

why are the highchairs in restaurants so filthy?

why are the highchairs in restaurants so filthy?

The hostess greets my family and I with a smile. She graciously escorts us to a table that appears sparkling clean. The chairs are crumb-less and the dishes glisten. As we take our seats, the hostess places a highchair in front of the table. I immediately notice the leftover food resting on the seat as well as dried up leftovers that have been smooshed into the belt part of the chair. As if that wasn't gross enough, the seat belt felt stickier than a jar of maple syrup. So, my question is how can a restaurant take such pride in the cleanliness of the establishment yet overlook something that a small child has to sit in? I'm curious to know what kind of reaction an adult would have if she was offered a seat that resembled a highchair covered in filth. I find myself getting more and more frustrated when I go out to eat and am offered a disgusting chair to place my child in. Yes, kids are messy and it is up to the parents to be considerate and wipe the chair, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the restaurant. It's no different than cleaning up a regular seat that a messy kid just sat in. I've gotten so used accepting it that I have the wipes and cover ready before the chair even arrives. I'm sure nine out of ten mothers out there do the same. This should not be the case. In fact offering customers a filthy seat to sit in should be unacceptable. We need to demand that the restaurant bring us a clean chair for our child to sit. That's exactly what I did today. The kids and I met my husband for lunch and they brought us the one and only seven way sampler highchair, featuring the last seven meals that were ate in it. Hellll no! I said to myself. I kindly explained to the waitress that the highchair was unsuitable for my child to sit in and requested that she bring me a highchair that has been properly wiped down. The chair should look just as clean as the one I am about to sit in, I added. Sure enough she came back with a newly scrubbed down chair that only had remnants of one or two meals prior, but it's a start. So on went the highchair cover and I felt a small sense of victory.

Mood: Sleepy

An outbreak of eczema

Eczema helped Lily poop on the potty. Yup - you read it correctly. Lilyan's outbreak of eczema helped us get her to poop on the potty. Lilyan has had eczema since she was a baby. Most of the outbreaks occur on her legs, but recently she suffered a harsh outbreak on her tushy.

One afternoon we were at the park and Lily suddenly began to scream in pain. She said her butt was burning. I immediately thought it was from a stubborn poop. What I didn't realize is that she had already pooped and it was irritating her skin. When I took off her diaper her cheeks were oozing blood. They looked as if they were sun burned. It was so bad I could barely wipe her. I put a clean diaper on her, took her home, and put her straight into the bath.

As I described the symptoms to our pediatrician he quickly concluded that it was a bad case of eczema. He recommended keeping her out of diapers as much as possible and keeping the area dry! Apparently in this case, moisture was the colprit. From that day on we stopped putting a diaper on Lilyan during the day. We used to keep her in big girl panties and only put a diaper on her when she had to poop (per her request). The day after her outbreak I explained to Lilyan that a diaper would irritate her tushy so she would to make poopoo on the potty. I guess she decided the potty was a lot better than a bleeding tush and pooped on the potty without any hesitation. I was shocked but thankful. From that day forward we stopped putting a diaper on her during the day.

At our meeting with her pediatrician we discussed eczema further, and the million different things that could set it off. You can fry your brain trying to narrow down what might have caused an outbreak, but I gave it a shot anyway. A week prior to Lilyan's outbreak we put pull ups on her at night. While Lilyan is potty trained in the day she is not yet ready to give up a diaper in the night. Pull ups are mainly for accidents not for continuous flow. The moisture was most likely not absored as well and irriated her poor little tush. The doctor recommended that we put a diaper on her at night until she is properly trained and cover her entire butt with a barrier between the moisture and her skin (balmex, buttpaste, etc). It seems to have helped and we haven't suffered another incident since.

While eczema can be a unwelcomed ailment in this case it did help in some ways!

Mood: Sleepy

Team Grandmas Come to Visit

This weekend we had team Grandmothers staying with us. While some of you may cringe at the thought, it has been bliss for Matt and me. With tag team Nona’s, Bon mamma’s, grannies, nannies, or whatever you want to call them, we had it made. Both of our mothers are pretty young at heart and in good shape. Good enough shape to bathe the kids, feed them, put them to bed, make dinner for us, and clean the house. Oh yeah baby! They do all that when they are here and WE LOVE IT!!! Don’t get me wrong, we don’t completely ignore our parenting responsibilities. We still need to keep a close eye on the duo in order to make sure that the kids don’t wind up eating chocolate cake for dinner, or stay up two hours past bedtime. This past weekend Matt and I went to Philly for dinner, we saw the movie The Perfect Stranger, went shopping, and headed to a wine bar for a drink. Of course, we did supply our mothers with a generous amount of wine, cheese, and even cooked dinner for them one night. I would say it’s been bliss. Now get out – just kidding!

Mood: Happy

Age Appropriate Discipline

Lately my son Liam has been throwing temper tantrums quite frequently. It seems as though the tantrum stage has arrived just in line with his second birthday. Over the past several weeks, my husband and I have become more and more frustrated with his behavior, and with each tantrum, stricter. I would say that my husband and I run a pretty tight ship. We allow the kids their freedom and opportunities to have fun, with guidelines and limitations. My three-year-old daughter, going on fourteen is pretty clear on the rules of the house. Of course, she likes to test the waters from time to time, but as long as we are clear on what we expect from her, Lilyan does pretty well. Talking to her seems to work most of the time and when that fails, timeouts get the message across quite clear.

So I got to thinking about why we aren’t getting through to Liam, and then it hit me. It isn’t so much Liam as it is our expectations of him. While we have set rules for the house, they may not necessarily apply appropriately to each child. Lilyan is already three-years-old, while Liam is just turning two. In the adult world a year difference is nothing, but when dealing with children it is quite a generation gap. The tantrums are normal for his age. I realized that we shouldn’t expect the same things from each child and the discipline needed to be altered as well. While timeouts do work for both children, when and how they are used needed to be changed. When it comes to Liam we need to do more talking, distracting, and validating of his feelings. For example, if we ask that he doesn’t bang the broom on the table and he does, we should to tell him that we are going to take it away if he continues to do that. If the banging persists, then we would briefly explain that we are taking away the broom because he banged the table. At this point a tantrum would most likely erupt and we should validate that he is upset about the broom, but we had to take it away for now. I would then move him over to a different activity. Previously, I might be more inclined to use a timeout, when to be honest it may not have fit the bill.

Since we’ve altered our attitude and discipline to be more age appropriate, Liam’s tantrums have become less frequent, shorter, and more manageable.

For all you parents who have children close in age I hope this helps as a reminder of how we as parents need to constantly evaluate our behavior and not just the children’s.

Mood: Happy