I'm so EXCITED!!

     Ok it might seem a little overboard, but I am totally pumped.  The Zoo where we live is having a military appreciation day!!! That means we get to go to the zoo for FREE!

     Now while I am sure I will not have near as much fun as my two year old I am stoked.  He is going to LOVE it.  Currently he runs around our house pretending to be different animals.  I can only imagine his excitement with getting to see all the animals in person.  Then there is the obligatory petting zoo inside the zoo.  He is going to completely flip at the idea of petting all the animals.  I just hope the goats behave.

     I am not quite sure my husband shares the same enthusiasm about the impending zoo trip that I do.  He has duty the day before, and will need a nap before we go.  However I am certain that once he gets there, and sees the boys having a good time he will also have fun.  Little baby Ken, I have to use baby as long as possible because his first birthday is coming up.  Anyway little baby Ken will most like not think it is the best trip of his life, but he will enjoy riding in the stroller. Now I just hope the nice weather will hold out.

     Do you remember your first trip to the zoo? Maybe you have fond memories of your little ones first trip to the zoo.  Please leave a comment sharing your favorite moment at the zoo.

     The first thing I ever remember about the zoo was as family trip we took when I was little.  Being the oldest I was out prancing around, and being reminded to keep up with our group.  We had to stop for awhile at the hippo building.  Not that I don't like hippos, but it felt like we were there forever.  All because my little brother got covered in bird poop.  That is right he was the target of a fly by pooping.  I still remember this as being totally hilarious.  The good news is he was most likely to small to remember.  The bad news he hates being the center of attention.  Sorry man I had to share!  Maybe something awesome will happen on our first family trip to the zoo, and then I can use a new story.  Stay tuned for update next week all about the zoo.

     So lets hear it what is your best memory of the zoo.

Cable Guys

     Now don't get me wrong I love the cable guys.  Obviously I have an addiction to cable internet.  I however do not like seeing them at my neighbors house.  They were there all day fixing something.  No matter how bad I felt for my neighbor having some kind of technical difficulty in their home. I was totally irked when fixing it involved turning off the internet to my house.

     Yesterday I spent numerous hours resetting my router, and unplugging the cable modem.  I even took the time to ask the toddler if he had touched anything in the area of the modem and router.  Lets just say I thought I was loosing my mind, and would need to call the cable company.  Yet another thing I dislike sitting on hold for people to answer my question. Calling when the kids are awake is pointless so I waited.

     There is one point in the day where I get both kids napping at the same time for a few hours. In this short window I prefer to take a little me time I shoot for 30-45 minutes of what I want to do.  My time is usually used to play on the internet or read a book.  Yesterday I spent the entire time working on the internet.

     Then nap time was over, and I realized I did nothing else.  Now I have to begin dinner preps while the kids are both awake.  I was working at the sink when I hear "Mommy look a big truck."  So I meander on over to the window which my toddler is now occupying.  Sure enough there sits the cable truck.  Why did I not look outside all day?  I was certain we were having an equipment malfunction, and I was determined to fix it.  I watched for a while, and they made several trips up and down the poles.  Every time they went up I check my cable modem sure enough it went dead.  Now why did I not notice a dead modem all day?  They only flick it off for about a minute and then they turn it back on.  So all day by the time I would reach the modem after noticing a loss of connection to the computer, and it would be back on.

     To ensure my sanity I wandered down to ask the cable guy how long they had been working here.  The guy told me they had been there most of the day. Conclusion I am not crazy, and the modem and router work just fine.

     Here is to hoping for a cable guy free day.  So in those brief times where both kids are sleeping or occupied I can sneak on the internet.  I know all my mom readers out there appreciate their mom time during nap time.  So here is to nap time!!! The only quiet part of my day.

     I hope everyone's quiet down time goes smoothly today!

My Point of View

     I know everyone is entitled to there own point of view on everything. I just wanted to share my point of view on family and housekeeping.  I have two little boys that are ages 2 1/2 and 11 months.  A little background on myself.  I was in the Navy for 6 years, and my husband still is.  Serving in the military teaches you a lot of different things, but flexibility is a major point. Who knows when you will get the call that you have to report to leave in 24 hours.  I think that has carried over to my take on being a MOM. 

     Being the mom of a toddler means anything predictable in your life just got tossed out the window. Throw in a baby for added excitement, and the roller coaster you just got on is off at full speed.  I for one LOVE roller coasters.  Around our house you never know when a ball might fly by your head, or some crazy toy will start blaring music all on its own.  Now my house is by no means perfect. I would never suggest that my way of parenting is the way it should be done.   This is a reminder to take a step back, and look at the important things in your life.

     However my kids know they are loved!! When is the last time you took a look around your house, and said you know what all these things are here because of someone I love.  My kids have way to many toys I will be the first person to tell you this.  For some reason they have grandparents that love to send them more toys.  When I come from the kitchen after retrieving a sippy cup of milk to see that the living room toy box got turned up side down.  I just take a deep breath sit back and watch, usually there is moment of sheer joy about to happen.  You see when my 2 year old finds a toy at the bottom of the box he has not seen in a few days he gets terribly excited.  Most of the time he will rush over to me, and show me his great find.  Now days he typically has a little shadow that comes right behind him full of excitement, but not quiet sure why. 

     So my house has piles of toys, dishes that need to go in the dish washer, and laundry that needs to move from the washer to the dryer.  If I spend all my time worrying about keeping the house spotless who knows what I would miss. Morale of the story take time to enjoy your family.  Families are an every changing dynamic so if you miss it now you will not get it back.

     Here is a post from I'm A Silly Mami as she views a change in her family dynamic.  Take time to enjoy your family as it is now.  I also enjoyed this post from 24/7 MOMS. In her post she steps back to reflect on some of here families favorite memories. She reminds us that it is important to take time, and make new memories to cherish with your family.

     Take time for family.  As a military family we are always trying to squeeze in extra good memories to keep us going when we are separated by deployment.  So even if the sink is full of dishes take your family to do something fun.  Memories last a life time so go make more.

Do toddlers ever sleep?

     Do you have kids that never seem to go to bed on time?  At one time I could say no my kids are always in bed, and asleep when I would like them to be. However the times they are a changing.
 
     General overview my 2 1/2 year old and my 11month old share a room.  We do have another bed room, but it is upstairs and I prefer to not put one of them up there alone.  Initially everything was fine, and they would both go to sleep. Now the tiny man goes to sleep at first, but then his big brother gets up and wakes him so they can play.

     On a few occasions toddler man has skipped his afternoon nap due to an urgent outing such as, grocery shopping.  These days he goes to sleep quickly once in bed at night, but around dinner time he is a terror. Since he did not get a nap these days we try to ignore his whining attempts to get what he wants.

     The new technique we are trying for bed time is baby goes to sleep in their room, and toddler falls asleep in mom and dad's bed to be moved to his bed later.  This is working currently, but I wonder if it has brought up our new problem.

     In the past three days Korvin, my poor toddler has awoken around 3AM and wandered into our room, with his blanket.  Now my first response in my sleep haze is to pick him up in to our bed, and go back to sleep.  His plan however seems to be stay awake, and play with mom's hair.  On the weekend it was not a problem, but today he came in at 3 AM and hubby's alarm for work goes off at 4:30 AM.  I generally get up with my hubby, so that I can have my alone time in the morning.  This is seriously the only time I have by myself!

     The random waking does not seem to be caused by the bad dreams, or whatever it was that used to wake him up.  I guess the bad dream reaction could have changed from sitting in bed screaming to getting up and finding mom and dad.

     Do you have any tips or general suggestions?  Please leave me a comment below with any ideas you may have.  Sincerely the mama that wants to have a few hours in the morning to herself!!