ARE WE THERE YET....?!

Traveling with one kid was sometimes bad enough, but now traveling with two...? OMG!! Every day I somehow miraculously manage to get the boys in the car and to daycare! Ok I only have two kids I know people have more kids and pets that they somehow get ready and taken care of in the morning… but my two still make me feel like I conquered a marathon most mornings! Most days I’m battling my toddler to get his shoes and coat on and in the car, (recently giving in to letting him bring random toys to daycare—sorry Carri… I am weak!), I’m pleading/bribing the baby to please not cry by giving him toys and binkies (he cries anyway, he hates the car!) BUT it is only a 5 minute trip so I get through it, the way you get through any stressful situation… I put a little Bailey’s in my morning coffee and eat a special brownie!! (Rule #3 totally joking…I don’t put Bailey’s in my coffee.)

So I’ve conquered (or survive) the 5 minutes to and from daycare, but long distance traveling…? Well it is even more eventful than my morning routine (if you could imagine that.) and with the holiday season we are sure to add some memories to our crazy traveling adventures. When we had just one kid it was a lot of packing yes, and a few extra stops but as one parent was driving the other could keep the kid entertained, but with two, (and now with the oldest now potty trained… i.e. Trained to potty pretty much as soon as he tells you he has to go!!) preparing mentally and physically has been much more difficult!! 

First of all, packing for a weekend trip… you’d think we were leaving for months!!  (I know I’ve worried my sissy that we were movin’ in when I’ve taken 4 trips to the car and back and unloaded 9 bags into her spare room….OR I guess I unload the bags all throughout her house and pretty much take over all her space during the short time we are there! Sorry ‘bout that!) With the bumbos, pumps, extra clothes, snacks, rice cereal, coats, shoes, diapers, wipes, toys, movies, ice chest for frozen bottles…blah blah blah the list goes on and on!! It is a good thing we got a bigger car… otherwise we would have to paper rock it to decide which kid would get left at home with a water dish and money for pizza. 

So the packing is one thing but trying to plan the best travel time based on feeding schedules, nap times, and happy hour is quite difficult!! On a recent trip to Seattle we decide to leave after work! Ahhh perfect! We can eat on the way feed Brody before we leave (unrealistically hoping that would hold him over until we got there! HA! Because clearly by the looks of Mr. 98 percentile he is ok with skipping a few meals!) Yeah great plan…UNTIL Becks throws a fit because he doesn’t want to stop…stopping to eat dinner just REALLY pissed Brody off that he didn’t get to eat and the last half of the trip ended with me wedged between a large car seat and an even larger car seat, playing ABC games on my iPhone with my toddler and nursing my baby (Mom, don’t worry I didn’t get Brody out of the car seat… I simply just leaned over the car seat and fed him!! It’s ok it’s safe… I saw Kourtney Kardashian do it once!!)

While in Seattle we had to make a mini trip down to Olympia. Something magical happened on the way back from this adventure. BOTH KIDS WERE ASLEEP AT THE SAME TIME!!! UGGGHH Why do they have to do this to me now… We were supposed to stop to see a friend. A good friend… a GREAT FRIEND!!! This friend may very well be my last chance to ever be asked to be a bridesmaid!! I have to stop and remind her how good of friends we are. I share my dilemma with my husband who basically tells me that is the most ridiculous thing he has ever heard and we can’t stop because they boys will be grumpy pants the rest of the day if we do. Uggghhh FINE!! I continue to lecture my husband how this is ALL HIS FAULT!! If I wasn’t so smitten with your charm and good looks at age 15 maybe I could have built stronger and more bridesmaid worthy female relationships… DAMN YOU HUBBY FOR MAKING ME ALWAYS A BRIDE AND NEVER A BRIDESMAID!! 

On the way home we decide leaving during naptime will definitely be the best strategy. WRONG-O!!! Yeah.. that was a great idea until we stopped for gas and my hubby got a hankering for some sushi. The combination of the two stops was too much downtime for the boys to stay asleep. We were forced to bribe Becks to stay happily in his car seat for the next two hours with funyuns and bug juice! (Parents of the year right here!!) This bribery worked out well until Becks shouts from the back.. I GOTTA GO POTTY!! And anyone who has a three year old knows, when they say they gotta go… you can tell them to just hold it for the next 40 minutes until you can make it to a clean and well lite secure location and they will be perfectly able and happy to do so… HA!! JK you have about 3 minutes!!! We take the next exit and find ourselves at a shady dark dirty gas station. The bathroom is in a dark corner in the back… it has a loud toilet and a loud hand dryer (those thing even scare me!). While we are waiting our turn Becks tells me he’s scared and doesn’t want to go in there (ME EITHER DUDE!) My quick thinking self does what any mom would in this situation...I lied to him!!! “Beckham… this is a super hero bathroom!! Only super heroes can use it!” That gets him in the door but he is still freaked out by the toilet and now confesses to having to go poo poo too!! Oh man well now for sure we aren’t leaving…he is not getting back in my car until he gos. “Ohh this is a super hero toilet too… If you go poo poo in this toilet it will make you a super hero!!!” Pretty sure I just told my son even his poop is super… Oh no is that the same as like teaching your kids ‘your sh*t don’t stink!’ Did I just teach my son he is better than everyone else? “I DID IT MAMA!” Ohhh well it worked!!! :-)

 

So traveling as a family of four is definitely different and vacations are not so much as vacations but test to our patients, planning, packing, and organization skills BUT… they are way more fun and eventful to say the least!! So I look forward to the crazy, stressful, exciting travels to come!! So I wish all of you my fellow super hero moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers and any other travelers this holiday season to enjoy every moment you get out and about. And REMEMBER next time you are to your breaking point, pulled over on the side of the road with a baby blow out, you’re out of wipes, your toddler is pissed you won’t let him have his toy back that he threw at your and landed in blow out-poopy mess so he’s opening a present that isn’t his to try and find it and it’s pouring down rain…… You will never get these days back!!!!! So try to enjoy them as much as you can!!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

SAFE TRAVELS!!

I'M SO THANKFUL THANKSGIVING IS OVER!!

Ok so maybe my title is a bit harsh. Thanksgiving actually turned out to be a really fun day, but the days leading up to Thanksgiving I was feeling a lot of stress and anxiety for my future “day off.” Being married and/or mom on thanksgiving or the holidays is a totally different experience than being single. Before married life and kids I just had to show up to my 2 thanksgivings. I could enjoy Thanksgiving the way it should be as a non-responsible participant… eat, sleep, eat some more, sleep some more, wish you wouldn’t have eaten so much, have dessert! But now… as a mature married old hag and with TWO kids this thanksgiving there was a lot more to think about then just showing up!! Ok fine.. I still didn’t have to be responsible for any of the food, though I offered! (I also conveniently shared a recent story of cookie making where I accidentally put a table spoon of salt instead of a teaspoon, instilling a lack of trust from my family about my abilities in the kitchen and ultimately getting me off of being asked to bring side dishes or desserts… This story might be just good enough to get me out of Christmas cooking too!! –Rule #2 Classic Gentry run on! Rule #3 I’m just joking…I think?) ANYWHO… I am quite thankful to have such amazing cooks in my family that at least I didn’t have to think about that. 

However, it still is stressful, 1)-being married and BOTH of our families being so close makes for a tug-a-war on where to go, when to go, and how long to stay! Trying to get this all planned out in advance so the day goes somewhat smoothly is exhausting all by itself. I felt so much guilt about not wanting to have to be running around all day because I know people just want to see my boys and I don’t want to disappoint anyone or hurt their feelings but I want to get to enjoy my thanksgiving too, but in the end it actually wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be. My step momma invited us for dinner the next night so we got to make one less stop on Thanksgiving Day, which really helped us out a lot, giving Beckham the opportunity to rest up for the big Friday dinner and not being too tired for any family (He was maybe too rested up and energized… At one point hiding under a blanket, under the coffee table, stripping to his naked buns, then jumping out and yelling “TA DA!” My poor really old Nana… I think she told him to put his clothes back on about 100 times in 1 minute! I predict possible jail time for that little streakier if he continues to expose himself to his elders.)  ANYWHO!! We made a pretty good plan and we got to spend time about both families without feeling rushed, so I’m thankful for my family for being so understanding of our other obligations. 

There still was some stress though!!! Getting both kids in and out the door, planning around nap schedules, feeding schedules, the meltdowns that are sure to happen when Andy doesn't get what he wants. Not to mention picking out outfits!! You know...? trying to get the whole family to match for your Thanksgiving picture without making it look like we meant to all match so strategically wearing the same color but maybe in slightly different patterns but not clashing patterns so that it isn’t obvious and we could just pose and be like “Oh wow we just look like the perfect little family that just seems to go together really well but are obliviously that we did this because we are totally NOT matchy matchy!! (I saw some of your Thanksgiving family pictures I know I’m not the only one who spends too much time planning this!) I could have also probably avoid some extra time crunch stress if I wouldn’t have decided to do a 32 slide PowerPoint game show where I asked my family to answer 7 different questions and then made up funny multiple choice answers in hopes of bringing laughter to my dear family on this glorious Thanksgiving day! In this game show, HOLTSON DRONES, each person was given an elf name which added another level of entertainment to the day!!... So I could have avoided that 3-4 hours of stress getting that ready BUT it was fun SOOOO I’m thankful my family members were all good sports and answered the questions and pretended to have fun playing the game!   

Ok so I guess I’m not thankful Thanksgiving is over… Though I was really stressed about it at first, I still got to relax because I have amazing family that all helped with the kids all day so I got a little break, I didn’t feel as rushed as I thought I was going to feel, I still ate WAY TO MUCH and vowed I would never eat that much again (which I see as a definitely success!), I’m thankful for my family being so accommodating for our little family, and was a little sad when the whole day was over!! BUT now I can get ready for our first Christmas as a family of four!! Ughhh I’ll be happy when all that stress is OVER!!! :-) 

 

Turn in next week for something I'm REALLY thankful for  “I'm glad my kids don’t read my blog about not lying… because I lie to them a lot!!” Or maybe “Are we there yet?” Because my traveling has sure changed with two little, crying, hungry, snotty, naughty kids in the car!!

EXCUSES.. EXCUSES..

I know what you are thinking…. “What? No blog post from Gentry this Thursday? Something must be wrong? Did she temporally lose the function of her pointer fingers due to a severe paper cut making it difficult for her to type? Did she get poked in both eyes and can’t see? Does she have food poisoning? Did she run out of things to say....? haha that’s just crazy… she will never shut up!! Well what happened?!” 

Well yes you were right. I got a stage 5 paper cut on my finger making it extremely difficult to type. They thought they were going to have to amputate but we were able to save it and I’ve spent the last week nursing my badly injured finger back to health. What…? You don’t believe that!? It could happen I work with A LOT of paper!! 

Ok fine the truth is I sprained my finger. I didn’t want to tell you I sprained it because I was embarrassed about how it happened. I was eating a grilled cheese sandwich and I…well I probably don’t need to explain anymore I’m sure you can see how I did it while eating a grilled cheese sandwich. But I’ve spend the week with regular visits to physical therapy getting it back functioning. You don’t believe that one either? Come on that was a good one!!

Ok Ok what really happened is you were right about the food poisoning… It was not safe for me to leave the bathroom and I tried bringing my computer in the bathroom with me so I wouldn’t disappoint my fans but it died and there was nothing I could do. 

Ok so the food poisoning may gain me some sympathy but that isn’t what happened. The truth is we are running a little low on cash so I devised a plan to sit outside my house Friday morning waiting for someone to come throw eggs. My plan was to sit out there until an egg came a flying then I would sacrifice my body by jumping in front of it before it hit the house. I would then be “severely” hurt mentally and physically by this abuse and sue the egg thrower for damages. 

Ok so yes we are low on cash but it wasn’t me I was going to sacrifice. I knew Andy took Friday off to put up the Christmas lights and was hoping someone would do a drive by while he was up on the latter so he would be the one to have to actually endure the brutal egg attack and we could sue for damages. I didn't mention this plan to him, I thought the element of surprise would play out quite well for us.

You don’t believe me?? Ok fine! The REAL truth is I lost 3 fingers in a paper shredding accident… OK FINE THAT’S NOT TRUE EITHER!! The truth is I just got really busy!! I am battling yet another cold/cough so good sleep has been tough, I’ve had a lot projects to finish at work before the holidays. I’ve been missing my boys a little with me being back at work and spending weekends studying so at night I just wanted to cuddle them instead of staying up late writing. I’ve fallen behind a little on my studying so I spent my lunch breaks trying to get caught back up, and I’ve just ran out of things to say!! Haha JK Ya'll know that's not true! Silence is a very uncomfortable place for me! 

An excuse is an excuse no matter which way you tell it the truth or a crazy made up lie, but when giving an excuse just be honest about what happened. People don’t really want to hear excuses as it is, so they surely don’t want to hear made up ones and have to catch you in a lie as well! Because (I’m hoping at least :-) ) when you tell the truth people are much more likely to 1) believe you and 2) forgive you! 

I absolutely love writing, being creative, trying to inspire, taking about motherhood and trying to make people laugh but it is a hobby for me right now!! Maybe someday I could work on something greater than my little ol once a week blog but today I’m a mom first, working mom second, CPA candidate third, and a blog writer fourth (I guess wife should be in there somewhere too)!! Lo siento my bargain egg shoppin’, empty threat making, hostile readers. 

I think I have a good one for next week though!! ;-)

“SOME CALL IT LETTING YOURSELF GO, OTHERS CALL IT PUTTING YOUR KIDS NEEDS BEFORE YOUR OWN”…WAIT..? WHAT..?!?

What an admirable, selfless, encouraging, motivating, loving act it is to sacrifice your own needs and your body for your kids. You must really love them to engage in such a selfless act. I agree with ALWAYS putting your kids first, putting their needs and their safety before your own, and I will always support moms/parents who do more for their kids then they do for themselves. HOWEVER… I also support teaching your kids about health and exercise, feeding them healthy snacks and meals, leading by example, demonstrating good habits. Kids are like Santa.. THEY ARE ALWAYS WATCHING... That’s why when I saw the title of this post “SOME CALL IT LETTING YOURSELF GO, OTHERS CALL IT PUTTING YOUR KIDS NEEDS BEFORE YOUR OWN,” as a quote being “liked” and “shared” all over facebook and no offense to those who liked it because I get what it is trying to say but I just had to give it my two sense…(and yes I meant two “sense” not “cents” because I think there are “two” ways to look at this post that make “sense” haha get it?! I know it’s mind bottling right? Sometimes I think my creative/different thinking only makes sense to me…surely it must be because I’m advance and not slightly crazy..?!…Do I have tiger blood? “Focus Gwendolyn”)

Like I said before, YES you should put your kids’ needs before your own. So go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for waking up in the middle of the night, cleaning up your child’s puke when they are sick, or being a crappy friend because you’ve been too busy being an awesome parent, be proud of yourself for the time, money, and stressful moments you’ve put into and overcome to be the best parent you know how. Literally pat yourself on the back right now because you deserve it…parenting isn’t always easy to do it does take sacrifices!! DO IT!! Have you done it yet?? Ok good.. Now I’m going to tell you why one of those sacrifices should NEVER be your body!

There are two main factors that cause you to “let yourself go”

1)       The food you put into your body.

2)       The amount of waste/weight that comes out/off your body.

3)       (I suppose you could say just completely giving up on body hygiene and ever trying to look somewhat nice could be one too, so you shouldn’t do that either!! Please shower…others appreciate it!! Well maybe the rest of you don’t have freakishly stinky pits like myself but my family at least appreciates it when I shower regularly.)

Forgive me for talking in math… I’m an accountant that’s what we do! But weight loss and gain is just a simple equation; what you put in minus what you take out = if it’s a negative number congrats you’ve lost weight or a positive number oops you gain weight. Simple right??? Ok I know it is more complicated than that. I know that though there are many things I ungratefully complain about my physical appearance… (I think that’s just what girls do… I once heard a model complain that a picture made her finger look fat! CRAZINESS!) BUT what I’m trying to get at is that I have been pretty blessed genetically that I don’t have a lot of health problems and don’t struggle with significant weight gain. So I know genetics can plan a part too. But for the sake of this blog and for the feeling of control and empowerment we are going to pretend you have COMPLETE control over your body! Ok now that I’ve gone on a food equation and genetics tangent, I’m going to try and rein it back in and get to my point. 

I do think we should put our kids needs before our own but I don’t think that should include our health. One reason for that being if you are eating unhealthy meals, chances are you are also feeding your kids unhealthy meals, therefore you are teaching them poor eating habits. Two if you aren’t working out ever, not only is it not good for your health, you aren’t teaching your kids about the importance of physical health. Studies have shown (I’m sure somewhere) how valuable fitness is to maintaining life-long health, it helps you sleep better, feel better, improves your mood and energy, ALL THINGS YOU NEED TO KEEP UP WITH A TODDLER!!! Studies have also shown that feeding your kids healthy meals, and working out with them will make them love you more. (Refer to Rule #3 and Rule #4 not fact, kind of a joke.. but I’m sure there is some truth to it!?)

I’m not saying it unacceptable to gain a little weight after having kids or just as we get older IT HAPPENS. I’ve definitely put on a few pounds, but I don't think we should just give up!! I still work out when I can!! (I actually found a new workout video called T25 that is super awesome because all the videos are only 25 minutes long so I can get up early and do them before the boys are up!! They are kind of spendy but if you amortize them over their life span the per month expense is WAY less than a gym membership!!) We are parents, we work, we have other responsibilities, WE ARE BUSY.. it isn’t as easy to work out now a days, and sometimes you have to resort to mickey nuggets but that doesn’t mean just give up and eat cheese balls all day and spend any extra time laying on the couch!! You owe it to your kids to demonstrate good habits, to teach them how to be healthy, AND you owe it to yourself... You only get ONE body in this life, so don't forget to take care of it!! So keep the sacrifices of your body to shielding your kids from a foul ball or breaking their fall and not from sacrificing your health.

As the holiday season is approaching and you thought your days of worrying about Santa making a list and checking it twice were over, think again… because as parents we have a lot scarier jury watching then Santa and his elves.... WE HAVE KIDS!! They are ALWAYS watching! And we teach them how to be naughty or nice!!!! 

Tune in next week for THE LIES I TELL MY KIDS (It only seems appropriate following my blogs about telling the truth and setting good examples for your kids!!