Boil Over

Katie D.

Happiness comes in the small things. Life is full of challenges and being a stay at home mom provides no shortages of those.  That is why when I come across something to make my day a little better I feel the need to share it. I enjoy cooking and continue to refine my skills in the kitchen.  I frequently have my water boil over while I’m cooking usually because I’ve left the kitchen to break up a fight, help with a potty break, find a toy, kiss a boo boo…you get the picture. It always makes a mess and gives me one more thing to clean up. Then I read in Real Simple that if you lay a wooden spoon across the top of the pot water will not boil over.  Is this common knowledge? Am I late to the party? Either way I smile a little bit every time I pull out my wooden spoon. 

Follow us on our blog or like our Facebook page and you will be entered to win your own wooden spoon!

Thank You

We have been very grateful to all of our readers as we explore the world that is 2katies. We hope that our stories and pictures entertain you and provide you a snapshot of our lives in the upper valley. We have readers all over states and the far reaches of Russia, Germany and Brazil. As we continue to expand our blog we want to take the time to thank you for growing with us.  We invite you to follow us by clicking the join this site icon on the right hand side of the screen or if that doesn’t fit your fancy we have another new way to follow us on our Facebook page.

www.facebook.com/2KatiesBlog

 

As our blog continues to grow we will stay true to ourselves and provide more stories to help maintain our sanity in our ever-changing lives.  Thanks again from both of us.

Pizza Friday

Katie R.

Thank God it’s Friday.  We look forward to Fridays for many reasons:  the start of the weekend activities, Joe is home for 2 days and most of all Pizza Friday.

A couple years ago Katie D and her family (before Lincoln and Wes were born) invited us over for pizza one Friday evening.  Her comment was “I don’t cook on Fridays.”  Well, as I don’t like to cook any night those words sounded like music to my ears.

Even though Katie D. has generously opened her house on Friday to all of our friends, we are the only rude ones who actually took them up on it and now show up pretty much every Friday.  Luckily our husbands and kids are good friends so they look forward to it as much as we do.

Unfortunately we had to cancel last week and this week because of this freakin’ home improvement project we are doing.  Not only does that mean we don’t get to hang out with our friends it also means I have to cook dinner for my family.  Damn.

Just another Friday evening!

Art

Katie D.

Colby is happy playing with a pile of dirt but from time to time I pull out the paints and let him get his art skills on! He may get messy but the smiles it produces are fabulous!




He knows if he stops to look up for the camera it makes me happy and he gets
to paint for longer.

Can you tell he's pretty proud of himself!

They Can Be Cute

Katie R.

Because Wes has been cranky all morning and Andrew is in his room screaming when he's supposed to be taking a nap, I thought maybe I should sit here and think about some of the things they have done to make me smile.

A few weeks ago Andrew and I had a movie night because Joe went out with Katie's husband for some beer thing.  I told Andrew we could watch Cars and at the end we were dancing.  This conversation took place:

     Me:  Andrew some day you'll grow big and go to a dance with a girl

     Andrew:  Will we dance like this?

     Me:  Yes.

     Andrew:  Will we hold hands?

     Me:  Maybe.

     Andrew:  Will you come with me mommy?

     Me:  Of course I will.

Then a few days later he rediscovered the book Guess How Much I Love You.  We read it every night and of course we have "made it our own" by changing the words.  Now when I turn out the light and say it's time to sleep he says "Mommy I love you to the moon and back and down the silly little lane". 

Of course Wes isn't declaring his love now but he did get his head stuck in the basket last night and that made me smile.

If You Think You Had A Bad Day

Katie R.

Today started out great.  Joe woke up and decided to take his comp day today (he worked the weekend so he gets one day off the following week).  The boys woke up in great moods and were playing.   Then the clock struck 8 am and so ended the good day. 

First Joe started working on our “project” downstairs which means we immediately got into a fight.  Wes decided to take a ½ hour nap so he was ridiculously cranky and then I was late picking Andrew up from school.  Those who know me know how much I hate being late.

We finally got the boys in their rooms for naps after both of them had meltdowns at lunch, and I was in a horrible mood.  At this point the house is trashed because we’re trying to clean and get all the laundry done before construction, Joe and I were fighting and Andrew was crying in his room.  I decided that I would run the errand that we had to do.

I get back and ask if the boys are sleeping to which Joe said that he hadn’t heard anything from them in awhile.  Then I hear something in Andrew’s room.  I go in and he is sitting on the floor and says “Mommy I had an accident”.  I assume he’s talking about peeing but then I look up on the dresser and see this:

Yep, pretty much anything he could find in his room he put in his fish bowl, including the entire container of fish food.  Unbelievable.  Luckily the fish found refuge under the ribbon that ties the curtains back and we quickly cleaned out the bowl and the fish is fine. 

The day pretty much continued on this same way but I’m too tired and grumpy to write about the rest.  The good news is it is 7:15 and they are both fast asleep.  And even though I feel like I had a bad day I would say Stripe the fish had it much worse.

You Know You're a Mom When..

You know you're a mom when you follow a bulldozer on the road instead of going home for a few minutes.

Katie D.

Ironing

Katie D.

My mother had told me she was shocked to hear that my cousin’s kids didn’t know what an iron was. To her, nothing is better than a pressed pair of pants and a crisp shirt.  Growing up the ironing board and iron were always set up and it was a daily part of our lives.  But much like my cousin, ironing is not something that happens on any regular basis in my house. (My sister Jeanne got that family gene.)  In fact, my ironing board is closed underneath my bed and Colby pulls it out from time to time to use it as a surfboard.  The last time I used it was to iron the dress I’m wearing in the header photo and the time before that was to press cloth napkins for dinner at Christmas.  My family doesn’t look sloppy or wrinkled; our wardrobe is mostly ready to wear items.  Tom’s work attire is casual and most of his shirts are the wrinkle resistant kind. I’m not opposed to ironing, I’ll iron things that need to be done but I like my ironing board where it belongs, under the bed!

The Minivan

Katie R.

One of the greatest days of my life was in October when Wes was born.  Life was amazing and crazy and we were enjoying every minute of it and then came November when my husband talked me into doing something I never thought I would do… yes that’s right we bought a minivan.

To be honest I think he took advantage of my sleep deprived state when he found the van and talked me into buying it (he did the same thing with a new TV soon after Andrew was born).  So we went on our first date after Wes was born, bought a minivan and I went and had a few drinks to numb myself knowing I would be driving a minivan.

What I think is even worse than driving the mini-van is that I completely appreciate (I just can’t go as far as saying I like it) my big blue minivan.  This was especially true as we made our maiden voyage to Ohio with both kids.  For the first time we had room for all of our things and we were still able to see out of the back window.

So I don’t love the minivan but it does serve a purpose and with all the trips to Ohio and future vacations I guess we’ll keep it.

As you can see Wes loves it!

How Could I Deny Him That

You know you're a mom when this just warms your heart...

Lincoln was desperate to wake Colby up from his nap.

How could I deny him that.

I love these boys.

Katie D.

And then you call the Mother-In-Law

Katie D.

What do you do when you and your husband are so sick with the stomach bug that you can’t even make lunch for your 2 kids that are running wild around you?  Yes, you call in the mother-in-law.  She was working an open house and drove 2 hours to come to us but I’ve never been so happy to see her in my life. 

Since I last wrote about Colby being sick, the rest of us followed.  Lincoln, like Colby, had a small bug on Wednesday and it passed quickly and he was back to his regular self by Thursday afternoon.  Tom and I thought we were in the clear.  My sister and brother in law came to visit Saturday and we had a wonderful visit with a BBQ that evening. I woke on Sunday feeling a bit off.  I wish I was hungover; I know how to treat that- hair of the dog, a trip to McDonald's and Tylenol. This was all stomach pain, hot flashes and the chills. And then the vomit set in. I won’t go into details but good God it was awful.  Tom started about 2 hours behind me but matched my pain and agony quickly. 

At one point Tom took the boys outside to play so I could lie down for a second and then he called to me so he could run to the bathroom. I sat down in the shade praying that I could make it.  I thought to myself, I have to puke and I’m going to do it in my front yard, what will my neighbors think, I don’t want to be that person. I start looking for a spot to throw up and luckily Tom appears, I dash by him and just make it to the bathroom. 

Also, Colby wanted to wear his snow boots and since neither one of us where in any condition to try to persuade him that it was a bit warm for them we let him wear them.  He then proceeded to attempt to jump rope in them.  The sound of him jumping on the hard wood floor was deafening but Tom and I couldn’t muster an ounce of energy to stop him.

At this point we knew we needed help and made the call.

We are all on the mend and plan a road trip for tomorrow. It’s good to be back among the living.  Sorry to be gone so long!

Exciting News

Katie R.

Well right after I write a blog about how I want to do event planning something exciting happens… I’m planning a wedding.  Thanks to a friend, I was connected with someone who needed a wedding planner and so here we go!

I debated (aka freaked out) for an entire afternoon and evening after I emailed my friend saying I would do it if they wanted me.  Am I ready to do this?  Can I do a wedding while staying home with the kids?  Can I really start my own event planning business?

I finally decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and go for it.   The nervousness has changed to excitement and after getting started I realized how much I missed doing it.  So bring on the excel sheets, bridal binders and venue visits.  Of course a small part of me kind of feels like this...

Things I thought I Would Never Say...

Katie R.

"Guys, we don't put jump ropes around our friends' necks"

At least this one involved a few kids and not just me yelling at my child!

You Know You're A Mom When...

Katie D.

You know you're a mom when you point out firetrucks, garbage trucks, bulldozers and farm equipment with an enthusiasm previously held for finding a fabulous pair of shoes.

What Do You Do For A Living?

Katie R.

A question that comes up all the time in conversation is “What do you do for a living?”   Of course this is a straightforward question that usually arises when I meet someone or run into someone I haven’t seen in awhile.  So why the hell is it so hard for me to answer?  I guess I am still adjusting to the fact that I’m a stay-at-home mom and also I have the dilemma that many moms have of staying-at-home or working. 

So how do I answer this question?  Well it really depends on who asks.

A stay-at-home mom who loves being a stay-at-home mom:  I am at home with the boys.  I love being able to spend time with them and watch them grow up.

A stay-at-home mom that has sitters/daycare:   I am home with the kids but I think it’s great that Andrew goes to school 2 days a week.  It really helps him socialize.

A part-time working mom:  I am home with the kids. I was doing contract work but unfortunately they didn’t need me this year.  I am not sure if I’m going to look for another job or not.

A full-time working mom:  I was working but the non-profit no longer needed me.  I think that I’ll wait until after the summer and start looking for a job. 

Why you may ask do I change my answer?  Part of it is my lack of confidence in the decision to stay-at-home versus going to work.  Another part of it is because I never thought I would be a stay-at-home mom, especially after attending college and graduate school.  Yet another part is that, I worry that not having a job is going to turn my brain into mush. The final part is I feel like other moms often face the same dilemma and want to be justified in their decision in staying-at-home versus working.  Hmm… do you think I may be over thinking this?

So you may have heard any of the above but here is the truth:  I would like to have a part-time job.  I would like to do event planning or volunteer coordination 3 or 4 morning/afternoons a week.  So when that job comes along I will be a working mom but until then I guess I’ll be here battling the little monsters every day.

I Don't Want to Go To Bed

Katie R.

"I don't want to go to bed"

No it's not my 3 year old saying this or even my 6 month old implying this by crying, it's me saying this as I sit here exhausted after an awesome Easter weekend.  We had a busy and exciting holiday but the kids were both exhausted and in bed by about 6:45.

I don't want to go to bed because then it will be morning and I'll have to deal with 2 cranky kids who will still need to catch-up on sleep and I will have to battle Andrew all day about not eating candy every 10 minutes.

Yep... I think I will stay up a bit longer and watch television.

Until Today

Katie D.

So I’ve been lucky up to this point.  My sons have not been pukers. The two times that Colby had thrown up before had been during sleep and I just had to deal with the aftermath.  Not that it wasn’t awful, but I hadn’t seen the right before face and the actual puke coming out of his mouth.  That is until today.

We celebrated Katie R.’s birthday last night and her husband got her a delicious, chocolate cake. Since she is on a diet and doesn’t like chocolate cake our boys received very generous pieces.  Andrew ate some and Colby took his piece to town.  They left and Tom and I put the boys down like any other night.  I heard Colby singing around 7am in his usual happy morning spirit.  I headed into the room and was quite startled that my happy, singing boy was covered, along with his bed, in chocolate cake puke.  The first words out of his mouth are “good morning mommy, lets clean up”.  After I stripped the bed I got him his milk because he seemed in fine shape. Well he wasn’t.  While eating his breakfast with Tom he started to throw up and Tom quickly moved him to the bathroom.  I was getting Lincoln up so I switched with Tom when I had the first chance.  I cleaned him up, put him in some sweats and got my snuggle on with him. Colby was such a trooper; he pointed to his belly and said that it hurt.  I called Katie R. and canceled our plans for the day with them.  And then it happened. Colby’s face went pale, very pale. I asked if he wanted to go to the bathroom, he nodded.  I scooped him up and dashed to the bathroom and there he stood. He gaged, leaned forward and threw up.  And then my sweet little boy closed the lid and flushed the toilet. He just stood there for a bit and then it hit again, he lifted the seat and bent over.  It’s just a different feeling when it’s your child and not your college roommate and you’re holding her hair back. I felt so sorry for him that I couldn’t take the pain away or make it stop for him. That was the last time he puked today.  He had toast for lunch took a 3 hour nap and then ate plain waffles for dinner and played like he usually does in the bath and went to bed at normal time.

Was it a stomach bug, was it the chocolate cake; I don’t know.  He is better now and I hope to not have to deal with a pukey boy again for some time!

How I Became a Stay-At-Home Mom

Katie R.

If you would have told me in my 20s I would be a stay-at-home mom I would have said that you are out of your (insert a curse word of your comfort level) mind.  I had no intention of staying at home with the kids and even while I was pregnant with Andrew I planned on going back to work; however, things changed and so my journey as a stay-at-home began.

Joe and I ended up in the Upper Valley because of Joe’s career.  Being the amazing wife I am, I followed him from Boston to the UV and I was lucky enough the first year to continue on full-time with the non-profit where I was working in Boston.  It allowed me to adjust to life in the UV and still have a lifeline to the city where I would go a few times a month to “work”, shop and visit friends.

After I became pregnant with Andrew my plan was to work full-time from home and send him to daycare.  However, there was a possible health concern when the little guy was born (which is now thankfully no longer a issue) and the doctor recommended that he not go to daycare if we could avoid it.  Luckily around the same time the economy tanked so the non-profit only needed me part-time. 

We then planned on moving to Ohio so I took some time off while we planned, looked for jobs, searched for places to live etc.   While I freaked out daily about the whole situation, Joe had a couple interviews in Ohio; however, it wasn’t even close to the career path he wanted and so eventually we made the decision to stay in the UV. 

After we bought a house, which for someone as neurotic as I am was quite an ordeal, I ended up talking with my former director who asked me to do some contract work.  It was perfect because it not only allowed me to make some extra money but it also gave me a reason to put Andrew in “school” 2 mornings a week.  I would sit at the coffee shop and work and it was heavenly. Of course then we decide to have another little angel, and my plan was to go back doing contract work after Wes was born.  Unfortunately, the non-profit didn’t need me for the event so here I am a stay-at-home mom. 

My husband, who now claims me as a dependent on his taxes which couldn’t get under my skin more, jokingly tells me just to embrace it.  I think what he really means is “cook or clean something”.  My goal is to start my own event planning business doing small events in the UV and I think I’m getting closer to doing it.  However, we have a lot planned the summer with having family visit, taking vacations, going to the pool so really when do I have time to work or cook or clean or do laundry….

The Greatest Trumpet Player in the World

Katie D.

I went home to visit family this past weekend. My step-mother, who is a fabulous 2^nd grade teacher, and I were discussing the chicken pox vaccine and the issues it can bring into a school system. It had me remember my chicken pox story.

I got the chicken pox in 8^th grade. It was awful. I even had them in my mouth. It was June and all the end of year events were going on.  I missed my oldest sister Emily’s High School Graduation.  I missed the Funtown field trip with the band and chorus. I had to attend my 8^th grade promotion ceremony and dance with my hair flipped over the side of my face to cover the pockmarks.  But the biggest miss for me was the band and chorus concert. I had a trumpet solo in the West Side Story piece.  My first solo.  My friend Tim was my understudy and I loved giving him shit about it.   It had seemed so silly to have an understudy for a band concert in junior high. Well that little SOB called me at home the day of the concert to rub it in my face. I didn’t go on to play the trumpet in high school. In fact, I never played the trumpet again and have since donated it back to the school.

What if I never got the chicken pox? If only they had a vaccine for them, oh wait, they do! Maybe I would have gone on to be the greatest trumpet player in the entire world.  My step-mom and I had a good laugh and thought it could be a good PSA advising parents what their kids could miss out on!  Both my boys have the vaccine.

Noah's Ark Theme Baptism Party

Katie R.

Because the majority of our family is in Ohio, we decided on our last trip in March to get both children baptized.  Both of our families were very pleased to get the children baptized, Joe was glad our families were happy and I was thrilled to get a chance to plan a party.  With Andrew being much older than the average child baptized I decided that a Noah’s Ark theme would be cute.  Here are some of the decorations:

The boys acutally did a great job at church and had a blast at the party.