The storming of the molars.

Toby is cutting molars.  I may have mentioned this before.

Well.

It is taking forever.  Because my precious baby boy, the one who tends to be chill and all smiles is a whirling dervish of fuss and "can't make up my mind mom because I'm UNCOMFORTABLEZ."  Do I thrash this way?  Do I throw this toy?  Do I try to gouge your eyes out because, "PAIN?"  Do I hit the cat/brother/TV/daddy?  How about I pretend I want to drink water only to spit it out everywhere?  I know it has only been like a week but of the four, yes FOUR, molars he is cutting all at once only one has "erupted" with tiny dagger-like points.  Two are thisclose and one is just a big ouchie bulge.

I have tried all of my tricks.  No frozen washcloth, no chew toy, no Oragel, no teething tab will do.  Nope, only Ibuprofen seems to do the trick.  And oh how I loathe pumping my precious baby with chemicals.

A friend posted this on Facebook years ago it seems.  Now . . . . now it seems so appropriate.  I'm quite certain Ethan had a tough time with teething here and there but MAN O' LAKES!  Poor Toby Muffinz is getting the raw deal y'all!

We are clearly in Stage 3 here.  However, that baby doesn't look nearly as uncomfortable as my lil' wee.  In fact, when Toby isn't crying he is fussing and combative.  Although today there were breaks in the clouds of pain n' misery and he actually SMILED at me a few times.  I know.  Amaze-balls.

So, in conclusion I hate molars.  They are ruining my baby's happiness bubble and NOBODY gets to ruin my baby's happiness bubble! 


P.S.  Ethan started camp today and I think it was rough on him.  He was in a horrible mood when he got home and was very clingy this evening.  Usually he adjusts really well.  Tomorrow I'm going to talk with his teacher to make sure everything is okay! 

Snibbles and Snuffs

Tick Tock.

I feel like I'm biding my time until Monday.  That all of a sudden, with Ethan at camp where he will learn and play and have a grand ol' time I will find my motivation and become a whirlwind of productivity.

I can say, having a bit of knowledge about the history of me, that most likely that first day I'll lie on the floor with Toby and just bask in the ONENESS that comes with just ONE child to attend to for a prolonged time.  Also, NAP TIME Y'ALL!

The only person pressuring me to address the Room O' Doom and the Pile O' Laundry from H E Doublehockeystixs is ME.  Just me.  It will get done though.  3/4 of the main floor of the house is lookin' pretty dandy.  Ugh, this housewife stay at home mom sweaty is ITCHY *twitch twitch*

Ergle snibbles and snuffs.  That is what my brain is doing.  Grumbling and digging its proverbial toe in the dirt.  Responsibility and shit yo.  Need to finish my "book" but haven't heard a peep from my test group of readers.  It makes me think that it was a HUGE mistake sending it out to people.  That they all hate it and that I suck so badly they don't want to tell me so they just never bring it up because, "Shhhhhh if you don't look her in the eye she won't ask and then we won't have to tell her . . ."  Except I won't be technically looking anyone of them in the eye.  Really.  Anyway.  UGH. 

On another completely different note than the overwhelming procrastination that is looming, I met a new friend.

It was quite an event.  The initial contact that should have happened for a completely different event never did quite happen.  But then another contact was made for a completely different reason and it wasn't until I contacted her to do Toby's one year photos that we put it all together.  Follow?  Erm.  No?  This awesome lady answered an "ad" of sorts in the local community forum for baby stuffs I was offloading.  And then I contacted her through another website on her business page for the aforementioned photo session.  We didn't put it together until the day we met that she was the same person inquiring about baby stuff.  AND THEN . . . through the course of conversation she asked if I liked to knit and I found out she was the lady I was supposed to contact about the knitting group!

So there.  Three people I was supposed to follow up with in regards to three completely different things and it was ONE PERSON.  Score!

Oh, lastly.  TOBY IS CUTTING 4 MOLARS AT ONCE!  What the eff did I do to deserve this!  What did my poor wee do to deserve this!  I believe I described him today as a screeching Tasmanian Devil in a diaper . . . and that my only method of soothing him was to put this tooth gnashing, thrashing, grasping, biting creature on my BREAST to sooth him.  Yes, I've been bit.  I don't want to talk about it.  *pout*

Hung over

I feel hung over.

Ironically enough I did have a dream that Matt and I went out drinking last night (?!)  Yea, weird one.  But, Matt and I DO get to go out to dinner this upcoming Saturday just the two of us.  Yes.  Just. The TWO of us.  It will be the first time we are going to out to dinner sans kids or me being pregnant in 3 years!!  Family will, of course, be stepping in to help . . . bless them!  It is actually in celebration of our upcoming anniversary.  To which I have done no planning and have no present yet (BAD WIFE.)  On July 16th, we will celebrate 8 years of marriage and 14 years of togetherness AND now two toddlers.  Well almost toddlers.  Oh gosh!  I just remembered another part of my dream.  Toby just stood up and started running around the house.  Yes, he is that close and NO I don't want him to walk yet (BAD MOMMY.)

So, yea.  Hung over.  I think a lot of it is hormonal.  Not to get TMI on ya'll but my body is a bit messed up right now.  Instead of a normal womanly er . . . cycle, she is stuck on repeat.  I think also I function at a level of high stress, survival mode energy and then just crash.

I've crashed.

I feel like I've been hit by a bus despite going to the chiropractor.  I know I'm not getting sick but I feel achy.  It will pass.  But I haven't been as prolific with writing lately and I'm very close to finishing my first book.  Like, I'm writing the last chapter close.

Ethan is going into summer camp 2 weeks early (NEXT MONDAY WOOT) so I'm hoping I can put my productivity hat on and really get the house shaped up then.

I noticed though, that when I get in these moods I really lose touch with the world.  If I don't have a to-do list I forget pretty much everything going on outside the house.  I know I'm reemerging when I sit down and email the people I need to follow up with regarding a play date, do a spit thingie for my doctor (to check my cortisol levels) and update my blog.  See?  I'm reemerging.

But I seriously feel hungover.  And also my brain is all over the place.  Can you tell?  I mean, how disjointed can a blog post . . . SQUIRREL!

A July Birthday Day

So, we celebrated Toby's 1st birthday on Saturday, July 6th which also happens to be my sister, Aimee's, birthday.  I still wish I could have stolen her birthday but stubborn bum down baby and the 4th of July holiday thwarted the plan.  Aw, who am I kidding, you can't plan that crap.

I digress.  Before I begin . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNNA!!!!

Okay, now onto the wee Toby's Birthday Party.

As first birthday parties are inevitably more for parents than children, I picked the theme.  My Neighbor Totoro is one of my favorite children's movies for many reasons.  One being I love Hayao Miyazaki films and the other is that the totoros are ridiculously cute (see the Chu Totoro above.)  I may or may not have considered getting a pair of totoros for a tattoo in honor of the boys . . . this might be why Matt bought me a car decal instead.  Maybe.

Here is a link if you've never heard of it.  It is okay, most people I talk to about Totoro give me a funny look:  My Neighbor Totoro

There is the big Totoro:

And then the medium one is Chu Totoro:

And the wee one is Chibi Totoro:

I didn't want to spend too much money decorating but I did buy t-shirts for the boys and myself.  Matt color coordinated, so I give him props for that, even if he refused to wear a Totoro shirt.  It was a small affair with really good food.  Thanks to some pretty fabulous in-laws, the food was purchased at Healthy Living, an awesome local organic and whole foods store (also where the cupcakes/cake was purchased.)  And more thanks to my awesome sister-in-law for assisting me in last minute preparing of food. 

The cake was ADORABLE.  The cupcakes were not what I had originally wanted.  I didn't want the whole TOP to be a soot sprite but what can you do when you are being rushed by a terse and very busy baker dude?  Also, as you will see via the upcoming picture brigade, I really should have stripped Toby of all articles of clothing.  I knew he would make a mess but wow.  Just . . . wow.

Pictures!  Enjoy!

The banner I made Toby.  Acorns are gifts left by Totoro and his wee companions.  As a side note - I made that valance!)

Spread in progress.  That wee precious girl is my niece, Ammi!

The spread.  Almost all either gluten free or vegetarian!

Totoro cake for Toby, Soot Sprite cupcakes for guests and 2 gluten free acorn cupcakes!

Lemon Berry Soot Sprites!

My Neighbor Totoro Lemon Berry cake!

Okay now I must say that I failed horribly at taking better guest shots.  I'm usually pretty camera happy but there seemed to be a lot going on.  I did snap a few but realize later I didn't get the good, "Say Cheese!" photos I usually do with each guest.  Here are the few I did take!

Matt wrangling wee ones.  Dan and Laura in the background and Huxley (who turned 1 two months ago) on the far right!

Kay, my mother-in-law!

Maryann and Anna my most awesome of neighbors!

 

Ethan thoroughly enjoyed his cupcake as well and Ammi did her best to steal a bite!

Big brudder E-Wee

Sneaky Ammi with the cutest Pebbles 'do ever.

Okay, now what you've all been waiting for . . . 

CAKE CARNAGE!!!!

Oh my, this cake is tasty.  (As he rakes Totoro's FACE OFF.)

NOMNOMNOM

Heaven in a handful.  P.S.  I cut the cake in half at one point so the adults could have some cake (I scraped the icing off the top to avoid the ingestion of a 1 year olds hand germs.)

Do I have something on my face?

This stuff ROCKS!

Mouthful of cake!  Allllll the cake!

Lil' stinker :)

Cheeeeese!  Good thing I wiped down his face a few times, those nostrils were getting full!

In case you were wondering he cleaned up fairly easily.  You know, a million paper towels and a bath later!  Also, those lil' gel sticks of OxyClean stain remover stuff work GREAT!

Alllll clean!

My big boy *sniffs*

P.S.  I envision this to be Toby in the future: Cake

Unbelievable

Why is it so unbelievable that Toby is turning 1 year old?

My mind sort of skips around like a malfunctioning robot . . . this . . . does NOT  . . . compute *beeboop beep*  Ugh.

I know that this happens, this growing up thing.  Ethan did it as well.  But I KNEW I'd be having another baby after Ethan . . . and I DON'T want another baby after Toby.  BUT.  But . . . but . . . MY BABY IS GROWING UP :(  *commence big pout and lots of stomps of disapproval*

Planning for his party, which is really just a get together with a few friends and family, thinking about how he is growing out of all his 18-24 month clothes and really some 24 month ones as well as long as I'm being honest.  Thinking about how he is THISCLOSE to walking but very thankful he is very far from weaning.  How he calls out MOMMA when he is very upset but how he says dad all the time.  How he mimics words like, "Hot" and "Blueberry" with surprising clarity.  Thinking about how he is going to continue to morph into this toddler being and how he is not allowed to be 3 years old.  Not sure I can survive a round 2 of 3 years old and I'm only halfway through round 1!  Ack!  Thinking about him as an adult . . . what he will look like, who he will marry, will I have grandkids?  Will he like school or hate it, will he continue to be social and feisty?  Will he and his brother be close and help one another out?  See what this birthday crap does to me!!!!

Toby's birth was not what I wanted.  I was angry that he was breech and I would have to have a c-section.  I cried myself to sleep way too many nights over it (fueled, no doubt by raging pregnancy hormones.)  But, in the end, the important part was that he arrive safely.  I also had in incredibly supportive, very experienced and skilled OB that was my lighthouse amidst the storm.  If it weren't for her and my mother-in-law who helped immensely with Ethan I would not have come through it as well.

But out he came.  Not as I had planned, but here nonetheless and the joy at meeting my precious boy completely eclipsed my anger over the c-section.  I knew it would though, in fact, when the nurses were trying to support and talk to me before hand I jokingly said, "Let's just get the show on the road, I just want to hold my baby and never have to worry about this c-section crap again."  That might be verbatim, regardless you get the gist. 

Such a special lil' Moose Muffin.  Happy First Birthday precious baby boy.

Welcome to the world!  Bum first!

The most precious of daddy cuddles.

The stats

Precious baby at the hospital

First week home!

Still in the "asleep period" or 4th trimester.  Want to nom doze cheekz.

Tiny creature . . .

Hidden Gem

(WARNING VERY HEAVY PHOTO POST!)

Thanks to another mom, I found out about the Vermont Veterans Militia Museum in Colchester (which is really just down the road from us - practically Essex.)  I thought, "Well, maybe Ethan will get a kick out of the planes and stuff!"

Little did I know that this place was such a hidden gem.  It is tucked up in the Camp Johnson area in a very non-descript looking building.  Right away though I got a sense of community.  There was an older gentleman painting one of the planes and as cars drove by they called out greetings (and jokes) to him.  The museum was also pretty busy (although it looked like mostly people that either worked or volunteered there not really visitors per se.)

We arrived super early as I've taken to leaving an hour early for all events after being late several times.  (I never wanted to be "that late mom" well I was HER several times - ARGH.)

So we walked around the outside for a while and Ethan marveled at the tanks, helicopters, planes and artillery guns.  He also found a beetle (are you surprised?)

Non-Descript-ish building with TONS O' AWESOMENESS inside :)

Look!  A happy cappy Ethan sized!  Also known as The Flying Egg.

Soon all of his pictures will be a colorful blur shaped like Toby so I'm fine with stroller photos for now.

Look Ma, supply vehicles!

Quad 50 mm anti-aircraft battery in front of a 105 (possibly a 90) mm field artillary gun.

F16 Fighting Falcon

M1 Abrams tankety tank tank

Shooting Stars!  Some of our first jet fighters!

M47 Tank Destroyer on left and can't remember on the right :)  A tank.  A big one.

Classic Huey

I only spent about 15 minutes on Google until I gave up and guessed this was some sort of Blister Beetle.  Who the frick knows but Ethan wanted to bring him home.  You know, because we don't have enough bugs at home.

But the real treat was when we went inside.  Of course my camera battery died halfway through (OF COURSE) so the lesser quality (no flash) shots are from the trusty iPad.  Seriously guys, this place was awesome, the pictures I took show probably a tenth of what is there.

The amount of information on top of the detail of the exhibits was insane.  Someone spent a lot of time and effort (and love) creating these exhibits.  I had the pleasure of speaking to one of the dudes and he walked us around in a "sort of" tour.  I say "sort of" because while I was entranced, my wild monkey of a child was running around with his similarly energized cohort and being chased by said cohort's mother.  Most of the exhibits are full of either donated or on loan memorabilia.  There were incredibly detailed replicas of bases and buildings and all sorts of stuff.  They covered everything from the wars of yore to present.

There was a box car (train car, whatever you like) that was donated by France (who gave one to each of the states in the U.S. I found out) that would hold either 40 people or 8 horses.  Although, until the aforementioned mom cleared it up, I went on thinking they stuffed 8 horses AND 40 people in the box car.  My Common Sense card was in danger for a little while.  Anyway, said box car was definitely the "place to be" amongst toddlers as Ethan's companions had a grand time stomping around in it.  There was also a large room with standing exhibits showing bunks and such and then there was an enormous mural on the far wall.  Although I was distracted, it was explained that the wall hanging was discovered (in a field?) and cleaned up!

To the left you see a library peeking.  I would not allow Ethan in there - but you can see part of the Iraq/Afghanistan exhibit.

I won't lie, I was happy to see women represented so well.

Holy awesome display.

Levitating Toddler running on excitementium.  (Just kidding, I made that up.  But he is levitating.)

Oh man, the uniforms!

U.S. Military Crests N' Badges

Each exhibit had incredible detail and information.

Little dioramas that were impeccably done (and with flashing lights!)

One of the first helicopters (eep!)

That HUGE wall hanging I mentioned earlier that was just "found and cleaned up!"  Also, pretty sure that Ethan wanted to bring the cannon home.

So. Much. Cool. Stuff!

The inside of the box car.  Sorry for the poor quality, I was chasing a wildling.

For anyone that is a history or military buff this museum is awesome.  Heck, I'm neither and I thought it was the bees knees.  It is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10-4.  Although I admit that at 3 years old Ethan's attention span wasn't *quite* up to snuff.  I know in a year it will be and I will be going back.  I feel like it is one of the hidden gems I've found so far in Vermont.  Here is their website although it hasn't been working recently due to upgrades and revamping:  vermontmilitarymuseum.com 

P.S.  Thank you to Matt for helping to identify the vehicles in the photos.  I could have gotten the M1 Abrams all on my own though.  I swear.  If he got any of them wrong it is due my inability to take a picture of an identifying sign that was attached to most of the vehicles (oops.)
***********************************************************************************

Later that day . . .

Gypsy Moth Caterpillar.  A VERY Bad Guy Bug.

We went to a park afterward and Ethan found another bug (are you surprised.)  These guys were everywhere.  I was initially upset at how many I found intentionally killed on trees (squeeeshed.)  That is, until I went to identify them and found out they are frickin' Gypsy Moth caterpillars and are incredibly invasive and destructive!  RAWR!  They were accidentally introduced in 1869 and have been wrecking havoc defoliating and destroying hardwoods since that time.  Bad caterpillar bad!  Back to Europe with thee!