Thursday, November 18, 2010

Are the terrible twos starting early?

Dear goodness...My darling girl threw a fit in Ross today! She has never done anything like that before, I have no idea what came over her. Here's what happened:

I need a few things to wear for our upcoming Thanksgiving trip to visit my husbands family. I feel guilty spending money on clothes for myself, so I decided to go to Ross and check out what they had. I've found some pretty good stuff there in the past. So, I loaded up the kiddos and the double stroller and was on my way.

When we first got there, the kids were pretty good. Hanging out in the stroller, drinking their juice. My daughter even made friends with a little boy who was there with his Mom. (She's quite the flirt) They were so good while I was browsing through the sweater dresses that I decided to stroll on back to the toy section to see if I could find them a little something to play with and buy myself a little more time. I really needed a couple of cute tops.

The first thing I saw was a Megablocks dump truck. Perfect! It was only $7.00 and My little man is totally into megablocks. Well, apparently my darling girl has decided that she is now into megablock dump trucks as well, because she started screaming while I was trying to find her a toy. I was hoping that her little tantrum was only because Brother had something and she didn't. Not so much. I found her this really cute toy hair dryer and she threw it on the floor and screamed louder. At this point people were starting to stare. She then ripped the truck out of Brother's hands and was happy. But now my little man was upset, so he started crying. We were then a complete spectacle!

Thank God there was another dump truck because I needed two! Then they each had one. Problem solved...or so I thought . Every time Brother even looked in her direction, my darling girl screamed. Not a little scream, oh no, blood curdling screams. I practically ran for the checkout where I had to pry the dump trucks out of my maniac children's hands so the poor girl could scan them, paid, and ran out the door.

You want to know what my rotten/darling girl did when I put her in the car. She gave me a big kiss and a smile and then sang all the way home. How in the world will I ever figure her out?

On the upside, I did manage to get two pretty cute tops, and two identical megablocks dump trucks.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Excuses, excuses...

When I was pregnant with the twins I gained 53 pounds. Since they were born almost 16 months ago I have lost 48 of those added pounds. Great, right? WRONG! I am about ready to chop off a leg to get rid of the last 5! It is becoming increasingly difficult to get motivated to work out, and I cannot control myself around my kids' chicken nuggets!

Lately I have been the queen of excuses, but no more! Losing weight is not easy. I've done it before (I lost 50 lbs after college), and it took lots of work. So, I am going to hold myself accountable to the blog and keep a workout log on here for all to see. If that's not accountability, then I don't know what is.

So here's to fitting into the skinny jeans! I'm off to do some yoga!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Friends

Anytime you move to a new place, you have to reestablish your social life. I should know, I've lived in several places, and have made some amazing friends. I'm finding, however that as I move through different stages in life, making friends is becoming increasingly more difficult.

When I was in college I met people in class. It was easy to find friends when we were all in the same place in life. I made my best friends in graduate school though.

I decided that I needed a big change in my life after being out of college for a year and being in the workforce so I applied for graduate school. The one I eventually chose was the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Now, I grew up in Southern California and had never lived anywhere else, this was going to be a HUGE change. I did not know one person in Minnesota but I decided that this was going to be a great adventure. As it turns out, I met my very best friend in the whole world in Minnesota, Brigitt. I miss her so much I'm tearing up writing this.


I got married right after grad school, and moved to Louisiana. Wow, very different than any place I had ever been. It was easier for me not having my friends around then, because my husband is my best friend! We had so much fun spending time together that year. I also had a job where I interacted with people everyday, so I got to be social with others also. Even though my husband and I have moved a couple of times since then, it has been pretty much the same. I got to see Brigitt every once in a while, had some social acquaintances at work, and we have had each other.

Enter the kiddos. I thought marriage was a life changer. Well nothing prepared me for having children! At first I was too tired to worry about not having friends, but now it has snuck up on me. You see, I don't even really get my hubby to myself anymore. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a Mom, but I need to be Katie too. And Katie is a social person.

So, how do you make friends when you have twins under 2? Can't go to Mommy and Me classes because you need one parent for each kid and they don't offer classes in the evenings or weekends. It is really difficult to join a playgroup when you don't know anyone who is already there, especially when you are bringing 2 little monkeys with you.

Here is what the hubby and I have come up with:

1. We are making friends with people he works with. It has been fun going on some "triple dates" you know, My hubby and I, the couple from work, and our twins. They are too young to object to being each other's date for now. :)

2. We accepted an invitation to church. Who knows, we may meet some life-long friends there!

3. We called up friends we had BT (Before Twins) and really have made an effort to get together with them.

4. This is the most important... After we put the kids to bed in the evening, we turn off the TV and eat dinner together, Just the hubbs and I. We have adult conversation, play games, and remember why we love each other so much.

In all of this, I'm remembering what it is like to be me again. It feels good.