What's Happening Lately...Sorta

Well, what's been happening is a whole lotta not bloggin'. But it has been just that crazy. Not to mention I seem to have a crude case of writer's block --- I think of stuff to write down, memories to capture, milestones to remember, and then poof- I sit down at the computer and get pinged by a dozen work emails, interrupted by children who would like to be fed or something else incredibly demanding, or I just want to nap. Usually it's the latter and I have zero willpower in that department.

But here goes --- just some random thoughts and catch up with the Clanahan's. I also have a few pics to dump from my i-phone but I think I'll save that for another fascinating post. Or maybe not. Let's see if I can get through this post without someone yelling "Mommy" or "MEEEEEE!" 

1. Mother's Day Out is going FANTASTIC. It has been so good for R&Q and so good for me as well : ) Although those 5 hours pass darn fast. At any rate, the kids both love it and barely give me a second glance as I leave. From the feedback I get from their wonderful teachers, they do really well listening, actually follow directions (what???!!!), and play wonderfully with the other kids. So warms my heart that even if I have a hard time getting a "please" or "thank you" here, they are doing it in public, where I suppose it matters! For Quinn, her report cards mostly say that she is a total doll, wants to be the class helper all the time, keeps up with the "big boys" without a problem, and is chatty and busy all.the.time. The only issue she's had lately is either rarely napping or only taking a 30 minute snooze. Which actually works out for me, because she usually crashes for another hour or 2 when she gets home. Ryan's feedback is that he is always sweet and cuddly, curious about almost everything, loves to play outside and read books, and has really come out of his shell the past few weeks. He's talking more and always takes great naps. His main issue is eating. The boy is PICKY and sometimes just won't eat at all - just will drink milk & water. But to be fair, he's used to having mainly "hot lunches" at home and is not a huge fan of lunch meat or anything else that I can send with him. So I try to stock him up on crackers, cheese, and peaches - things I know he will eat. Then he devours snacks as soon as he gets home!

Here are a couple of pics of the kids worn out on their way home from MDO, yay!

2. So the house has officially been on the market almost a month. We've had about 8 showings, all with mostly positive feedback. The main issue has been that our house unfortunately backs up to a fairly busy road (which wasn't nearly as busy 6 years ago!) But we still feel confident and did a little price adjustment yesterday so we'll see if that helps. I am SO tired of cleaning constantly in case we get a call for a showing. I literally have gone through twice as many paper towels this month, 2 containers of granite cleaner and 3 things of Clorox. FUN. If you know me at all, I am not a cleaner. I like things clean, but I do "surface cleaning", meaning baseboards and scrubbing shower scum is not my bag. Nor is vacuuming. Matt has always like to vacuum (did I score in that department or what?) so I never do. The other day we had a showing and I had a momentary freak out when I had to figure out how to turn the vacuum on. Turns out there's this handy little red button at the base. Hmmm.

So we'll see --- we are hoping that the next month will bring in a buyer and then we can get this show on the road! We haven't broken ground on the new place yet until we feel a little more positive about selling here. And it's a 4 month building process, barring weather. So now I am just hoping that we can be in the new house by mid to late fall. Here's hoping...

3. I believe we can now safely say we are getting entrenched in the terrible 2's. A little early for my taste. But we are dealing with multiple tantrums a day and plenty of time outs. It's interesting to see how they each get in trouble. For Ryan, I think he sometimes just "forgets" that he shouldn't do something and then knows immediately to stop. So he doesn't get timeout too often because the behavior doesn't continue. For Quinn, well, ... she's special : ) She knows exactly what she is doing, knows that it is wrong, and then she keeps doing it. And then melts into the floor and throws a fit if I take her away from it. Then her timeouts are used as "plotting" times when she thinks of what she will get into next. It's just such a science experiment to see their little personalities. I love them equally --- I love that Ryan doesn't want to disappoint and wants to be "good" and no matter my level of frustration, I love that Quinn is strong-willed and independent. Each set of their qualities will serve them well in life, and perhaps they can even learn a little bit from each other. Here's hoping!

4. We've had some GORGEOUS weather around here. Perfect for playing outside almost all day - and especially in the evening when Mommy is trying to get dinner ready and have a few moments of silence. And that's reason #2589 why I love my husband --- for the past few weeks, almost religiously, he takes the kids outside, blows bubbles, plays balls, whatever, as soon as he gets home from work. It's like HEAVEN to me. A thirty minute heaven, but wonderful nonetheless.

5. I am finding it more and more challenging to work from home, raise the kids, get errands done, house stuff, cook dinner, ya know, the works. It's such a balancing act. Most days I feel just torn --- knowing that I should have given the kids more attention and worked less, or on the days where the kids have my full attention, I know that I may not be on as top of my work as I used to be. But I know I will look back and I won't remember the times that I didn't meet that one self-imposed deadline, but I will remember if I told R&Q that "Mommy is too busy to read you a book right now". I'm still just trying to find my footing. Some days I am more successful than others. But we're working on it.

6. I've had a lot of teeth and dentist related dreams lately. It's so bizarre. The first one, the dentist pulled out 10 of my teeth without pain meds because they were "bad". The second, my teeth just fell out. And then last night, I had a dream that I had my teeth polished and cleaned for hours. I have no idea why I feel the need to share that, but I'm pretty sure it means that my mind is working overtime at the moment.

7. While 2012 hasn't been the least stressful year --- I  have been incredibly blessed by a wonderful group of girlfriends who keep me sane. I know that I am not always the best friend in keeping up with everyone, but I am so thankful that I have people that I can call at the drop of a hat or shoot an email and know I will get back heartfelt advice and prayer. So thankful! These women are like family --- and I couldn't make it through everything without them! Or our "Mommy's Night Outs" : )

8. I think that's quite enough for now. I know I have more to update on the twins specifically and some milestones as we quickly approach their 2nd birthday in 6 weeks, aghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! How did that happen? But I'll save you from all of the words. Plus, naptime is over and mommy is back on duty!

Love to you all,