A Glimpse Of My Evenings Alone

Sorry I just wanted to make you all work for it. I mean, afterall... I'm writing this huge, lengthy, rambling post in hopes that you'll all share you bedtime routines with me...it only seems fair.

A glimpse into my evenings alone with the kids:

6:30ish-- Dinner. This is where Ryan promptly takes his food off his plate and throws the plate on the ground. Tristan stares at his food and protests and yells, "NEVER!" until I get ketchup, ranch, or Johnny's and then in wonder he says, "OHH WOW".

7:00ish-- Kids play while I pick plates up off the floor and attempt to pick up toys and straighten up, and get pj's ready and give them their milk cups. 

7:30ish-- Bathtime. This is where my life gets kinda crazy. When Ryan was a baby, I would give them separate baths because it freaked me out so much to even be out of arms reach of Tristan while he was in the bath. These days, it would be impossible to give separate baths, not to mention extremely time consuming. One would be standing outside the bath attempting to strip down, cheeks stained with fat baby tears. So as crazy as it is, we just do it all together. I change whatever pants I have on to something I can roll up, and we all jump in. 

Scrubbing these kids down is like... I don't know, herding cattle or something. They're all wiggly and whiney and annoyed, like I'm bothering them. I wash Tristan first and then let him play and start draining the water. I have to rush through washing Ryan because he is such a wimp about it, and immediately wants to get out after the water goes over his head. 

This is where the timing comes in. Sometimes I wrap Ryan up into a towel and we sit on the toilet and wait for the water to drain a bit more until I feel safe enough to leave the room. Yep. I leave the room entirely. I used to put Ryan's diaper on in the hallway lightning fast and yank Tristan outta the tub, but I've learned to relax a bit. Now, me and Ryan have a little 5-10 minute alone time, and I get to lather his special eczema lotion all over him and he loooves it and then we get pj's on and by the time, Tristan is like a beached whale...playing in an empty bath. He doesn't seem to mind.

8:00ish-- Show time. Usually Doc McStuffins or Gaspar & Lisa-- these shows are so cute. This is where I finish picking up toys and start turning off lights and music or whatever else is on. I try to put all the toys away so they are left to zone out to the TV. Once milk is finished, it's toothbrushing time and potty time for Tristan. Now that he's sitting on the potty, I kill two birds with one stone and brush his teeth while he's on the pot. Ryan always fights me on it and is much better with Eric about teeth brushing, so I always start to feel a little bit of that "If only..." bug pop up right about now.

By this time, I'm straight up exhausted. It all sounds very basic what I need to accomplish- dinner, bath, pajamas, brush teeth, story time, asleep. But in reality, its all in the details. There's so many little things to remember to get it all running smoothly. One little thing can disrupt the order or make for a stressful night instead of a smooth one. If one child is being needy, it's up to me to balance it out. I don't have anyone to help run Tristan to the potty when he says he has to pee right as I open Ryan's poopy diaper to change it or to calm shrieking Tristan because Ryan broke his train tracks that he just put together. I have one set of arms, so I choose my battles. Tristan can deal as long as I take Ryan and get him interested elsewhere. These kinds of things you don't think about until you have two toddlers and only one body.

All of this is just a general idea. Of course it never happens this way. Dinner time produces tears; tearing them away from their toys to get in the bath produces tears. Then they start to play and you pour water on their head or get them out too early and that produces tears too. Putting the trains away too early produces tears, teething, diaper changes, etc. You think you know yourself until you have kids , and then you know them. Their likes, their dislikes, what's going to set them off, how to distract them, how to make them laugh, etc.

 

8:20-- I steal Ryan away quietly and tuck him in. He's simple. Binky + Blankie + lights out... Zzzzz...

8:30-- Now, I get to deal with Storytime Police. If I'm lucky and I time it just right to where the 8 o clock show is ending, and that guy that tells a Winnie the Pooh story comes on...but before Little Einstein's come on...I'll get a willing little boy. He'll collect his puppy, his cup and his lovie and he'll climb in bed. Sometimes, I try to scurry out of the room without having to read him a story...but it never works. If I want him to go to sleep willingly without having to hear him from down the hall saying "OH DEAR, a story...oh dear, oh dear" while standing in the middle of the room in the dark... I read him a story. He used to be able to get 4 out of me, but I've managed to whindle it down to two.

Finally, I get to sit. 

HAHA. Just kidding. Now I get to do laundry and dishes and feed the dogs and then I crawl into bed and play on my phone for hours and hate myself in the morning. 

The end! 

What do YOUR nights look like? 

AM I DOING IT RIGHT?!?!

Do you ever wonder if you're doing it right? 

Life, that is.

My answer? Always.

Just when you start to grow out of teenage angst and the awkward stage of living out of your parents house but still calling them for anything and everything...you go and do a silly thing like get married. and (or) have kids.

And it starts all over again.

Living in my very own apartment-- roommate free was an interesting exerience, to say the least. First of all, for those that don't remember-- I had to ask my very first roommate how to do my own laundry. LUCKILY, we are still friends :) Actually, both of my roommates are about to have their first babies so maybe I can feel like the smart one now and return the favor. *Redeem myself* Hopefully... :)

Once I was out and about on my own and outside of student housing, I realized I had to pay the rent AND the bills AND do all the cleaning myself AND stock my fridge and pantry and spices and buy pots and pans, and omg I didn't even have a broom. I walked the 4 blocks over to Bed Bath & Beyond, stocked up my cart and then realized I had to hike back to my apartment with all these things. I think I left with garbage bags, a sponge, a shower curtain, and what I thought was dishwasher detergent. Needless to say, it was DISH WASHING SOAP. (Evidently, it's a genetic disability to be able to decipher between dish washing soap and dishwasher detergent because at my families last two reunions someone has done this...and it wasn't me. )

All these things I had to remember to do and learn and buy. You wouldn't believe it. It was flustering and I think at some point I kind of gave up and wanted a roommate again. Slowly but surely, I started to get the hang of it. And then Eric came into the picture. And suddenly I had another person to "take care of". Little did I know, that was the easy part. Adding on to laundry I was already going to be doing and making someone's lunch didn't really seem like a whole lot of work. I could handle it. And then Tristan came along. And it was a whole world of fun. At first, I didn't mind changing the diapers or doing the baths, or feeding, and heaven forbid I let Eric dress him.

Back when I WANTED to wear a baby strapped to my front. 

AND THEN... Ryan happened. It's hard to say whether the change happened because 1+1 equals 2, or if Ryan is just *special*. He's my little monster to say the least. One was soooo easy. I never lost a child in my own home back then. Tristan was just so content and good. He didn't play in my cupboards or terrorize my bookshelf, or lock himself in my closet.

PRE-CHILDREN, I was the kind of person who stayed up till 3am on average--just because. But when I was tired, I was tired. There was no bedtime routine, no brushing teeth... it was get home, take off pants, get in bed, the end. Now, this is impossible. I have no choice. I have two midgets running around my house that MUST GO TO BED. These midgets are pretty much helpless. I have to do everything for them. It's like they're babies or something.

Often, I wonder how people do it. Like, what do they do with their kids each night?

Am I doing it right?

Am I missing something?

And then I realize yes...yes, I am missing an extra set of hands to wrangle these kids with. I honestly don't know how single moms do it. Maybe I've been put in this situation to understand my mother a bit so that I'm not so hard on her. I always think about her when I just want to cry. I'm not a single mom. I do have help, and a very helpful helper at that. But because of Eric's work schedule, I get stuck doing a lot of things on my own. It's no secret that I loathe Eric's job. I'm home alone all afternoon and all night and I go to bed alone every night and I often feel really bitter about it. Something that you'd think one would get used to after over 3 years, but the bitterness just grows. I have my days, and I'm working on being thankful that Eric has a job and makes enough to support us without requiring me to work. I'm hoping that when that day shift finally gets offered to us, I will really cherish it, instead of taking it for granted. For now, I'm going to continue to whine about how I can't wait to be "normal".

(YEAH RIGHT, I don't know why I bother...I've never really been "normal")

Somehow this post turned very lengthy, and all with all that being said... I was giving the kids a bath tonight and started thinking about moms in general. Like I said, I'm always curious what people do with their kids, or what their routines are.

Stay tuned for a glimpse into my evenings alone with the kids... ;)

Juuuust teasing. Here you go:

CLICK THIS LINK. But seriously, it's the 2nd half of this entry.

Runners High!

Oh yeah, I got it.

I got the runners high.

After 3 weeks of struggling and pushing (quite literally) through my runs, I finally had what I may just call an "enjoyable" run. It was like my legs had wings. And I didn't have a heart attack, or feel like I might. It was all very lovely.

Now that I'm saying this, my run tomorrow will probably feel dreadful and hard. But that's okay. To know that eventually I will get to the point where 3 miles is a normal workout is what keeps me going. I remember when I first joined LAF my first workout consisted of 12 minutes on the eliptical. Seriously. This is no joke.

Now one year later- an average workout consists of anywhere from 45-1.5 hours of cardio split between one or two of the following: eliptical, cross runner, stairmill, spin bike &  tredmill. When I first started the stairmill, I was at 8 minutes and soaked in sweat. Literally dripping. I've now worked myself up quite a few levels, although I play around with that sometimes and I get about 30 minutes on the stairmill. Working up to 45 is the goal. I love writing goals down and then months later stumbling across them and realizing, "OMG! I beat this last month!" It makes me so happy.

That's why when I ran my 3-3.5 miles to the gym the other day only to get there and realize I beat my time by a whole 8 minutes, I kinda freaked out. If I wasn't alone I would've been jumping up and down with glee. The run was such a breeze. I was tempted to run back it felt so good. Thankfully, Eric picked me up because after I cooled down and stretched I realized my legs were actually tired.

Can't wait for the Color Run!
2 months exactly, here I come!!

Quinoa Banana Bran Muffins

I recently vented to Facebook that I didn't understand why the Covington/ Maple Valley area didn't have a Target, a Trader Joe's (or any natural market for that matter, tsk tsk), or even a Jimmy John's. It's a sad sad thing. If I had to pick the place that feels closest to home- outside of Issaquah- it would be Covington. However-- I can't help but feel the need to deduct 10 cool points for not having these things... I really dislike Wal-Mart in general, and feel passionately that they should just get rid of it entirely and replace it with a Super Target. Or even a Whole Foods, or PCC or...movie theater? C'mon Cov-town, get it together.

You know what town DOES have 2/3 of these things that I so deeply love?

 Issaquah. 

Issaquah really is the best. You can't argue with me on this one. Target, Costco, PCC, Trader Joe's, REI, Movie theater, ETC-- the list truly goes on. 

Plus-- I'm from Issaquah, therefore adding 10 cool points there... ;)

Anyway. I was in deep need of these things and the Kent Target kinda scares me :/ so we made a day trip out of it and ventured out to Issaquah. 

Got all my goods for a few Pinterest snacks I found. We've been looking for healthier snacking options because we're getting bored. I get in food ruts frequently. I could eat eggs, broccoli, salmon, and oatmeal every day for the rest of my life and not blink an eye. However, in the name of weight loss I know I need to change things up frequently so there I sat, scouring Pinterest for healthy snack options. 

One thing I'm seriously loving is that Costco is so on board with this whole natural/organic/healthy movement. LOVE YOU COSTCO, I could kiss you! 

Healthy food can get pricey so it's great that we can stock up at Costco on certain things. And for everything else, there's Fred Meyer's (whose natural food section is to die for, seriously... I spend hours in those 3 aisles...) and of course, Trader Joe's.

^^ Isn't is cute!? All the street names in Issaquah. I just about died. 

Made my heart pitter patter full of homesickness.

I am no baker. 

Really. Quite terrible actually. 

But this was the easiest thing in the whole world. 

Boil your quinoa, mix ingredients, stick in oven. 

DONE. 

BAM. Snacks for the whole week. All the ingredients are all natural and although I chose to use an egg, there's an egg replacement option listed as well. I also swapped the 1% milk out for Rice Milk and chose to use paper cups (because I accidently bought JUMBO forever ago, and I'm trying to get rid of them...) instead of spraying my tray. Also, I did not use the milk chocolate candy or the walnuts-- because I hate walnuts. These muffins are pretty good on their own, but a little bland (they're basically a bran muffin without the milk chocolate candy) so today I tried a *little* peanut butter with it, and tomorrow I'm going to try some coconut oil, and maybe some Agave later this week.

Such a versatile little muffin!

Yummm :)

I'm jumping!

The most commonly used phrase in my home these days.

A year of so ago I had this endless debate in my head...should we get a trampoline or a swingset?

First, I'd like to point out that I grew up without either. And I'll also tell you that I felt royally ripped off. Now that I'm "grown" and have children of my own, I understand why I didn't and I've since forgiven my mother. We weren't ever home enough to use any of these things (my mom was a single mom and thus, we spent most of our days at daycare and then once old enough we ran away to friends homes and these things were no longer desirable by then anyway).

However, being a stay at home mom requires a little more, shall we say... materialistic things. (THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT YOU HAVE TO BUY TOYSRUS OUT) I know plenty of women who have endless free fun with their kids and teach them all sorts of great things. I also know women who buy their kids every hot toy on the market. Whatever floats your boat. Personally, I'd rather spend my time and energy on getting my kids out of the house because I'm tired of picking up toys. I'm seriously shocked at how many toys we DO have, and how little some of them get played with, and also how often the hotwheels and racecars are the staple of our days. Why do I buy anything else?! SERIOUSLY. End rant.

With that being said, I do indulge on the outdoor toys every now and then because being a stay at home mom in the summertime IS actually enjoyable and I am determined to not raise boys that are stuck on video games. Therefore, if you are my child...you WILL go outside and you WILL like it.

Well, reason told me that I should get a swingset because well, let's face it. BOYS ARE CRAZY. And not in the same way that girls are crazy. We sit here painting our nails, keeping quiet, letting the crazy fester within ourselves. Boys...well, let me tell you about boys...

They run rampant like little bulls. My 18mo old and my almost 3 year old WRESTLE. Nobody wrestles in our home. Where did they learn this?? Instinct, I tell you. Boys are animals. The end.

So after considerable thought (cost, maintenance, being a renter, etc), I settled on the perfect solution. A little toddler sized trampoline. We may eventually upgrade to a bigger one but we'll see where this life takes us when we get there. Or we may produce quintuplet girls and we'll get a swingset to save their lives from our two rowdy boys. Who knows. But for now: the little tikes trampoline is it!

Love love it. From what I hear, it wasn't too hard to put together which is also nice because I didn't have to hear mumbling and grumbling about that :)

It was all fun and games until Tristan decided that 'Throw the ball out of the trampoline and then beg for it back' was the game of the day. 

Then I made them get out because 

ain't nobody got time for that.

:p

What I've been up to...

My life lately via my iPhone...

[random catch-up post]

Well, my dear family, friends, important people.

I finally got it. I got my BOB. Let's just say, I've never loved any posession more (just kidding, iphone...don't get all jealous now). The night before we bought it, I started getting a little bit of anxiety. What if I run with it and I just hate it? Eric's going to kill me. I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. I'll just take it on walks every day. Thankfully my panic attack was unnecessary.

Just a little history of my running career. I am NOT A RUNNER. I've always wanted to be, but I just really am no good. Yet. Turns out, it's not running that I'm bad at-- it's the treadmill! After signing up for the 5k, I found all this motivation I didn't even know I had and I decided to start running outside to get ready for the real deal. I was shocked after completing 3.5 (ran TO LA Fitness) miles that felt like 1 on the treadmill. Granted, it wasn't a walk in the park but I did it, and I didn't die. And I kinda wanted to do it again. So I did. I just started running. And now I kinda like it.

And now I have my beautiful BOB. And I love it even more. My first run was actually, exciting. I know. I'm super lame but I don't care.

I also re-joined as a member at LA Fitness. I really wasn't digging the new gym I had joined in January. It was small and cramped and (smelt bad) and they didn't offer any classes and I felt silly trying to get familiar with the machines and a whole new set of members that I didn't know. LAF had become my second home, so I'm super happy to be back.

OH YEAH. In other news, this mama got her license back! Hollaaaa. Thank you tax return. Feels good to be making progress. Making headway in the legal department as well. Got a new alcohol evaluation, which declared I no longer need treatment which is HUGE. It may end the case entirely. Fingers crossed.

We celebrated in typical Thompson fashion. Jimmy John's :)

AND... drum roll, please...

We got our trampoline set up!

We LOVE it!

[I'll post more pics later]

This is kind of a big deal to me:

I had been plateauing/fluctuating for several months

and I was getting super irritated about it. 

Kicked up my workouts a notch &

I kicked that plateau's %&$ without even noticing. 

15lbs away from my goal. 

The great thing is that even though I haven't made a significant weight drop, I can definitely see and feel the difference. 

I'm a happy camper. 

A sweaty one, but a happy one. 

I'm also campaigning to get Nike to sponsor me. 

Jk, but seriously.

the kiddos:

they're alive. this is huge. no, seriously. these kids have gone bonkers for the last couple weeks. it's crazy, it's fun, it's hilarious, but oh my gosh... I CRAWL into bed every night. This mama is tired. 

Tristan is registered for preschool in the fall. He started a bit of Speech Therapy, and he pees in the toilet like a big boy (No #2 yet). YAY FOR INDEPENDENCE!(kind of)

Ryan got a bad case of eczema, which resulted in a rash for two weeks, is getting multiple teeth, and we are pretty sure growing at an unreasonably fast rate. This means this kid mostly walks around crying all day, throwing fits and not sleeping through the night. 

OY.

We like him anyway.

Alright, that's it. I'm out.