Hoodie Addiction

I have a problem. Everytime I go somewhere I find a hoodie that I just LOVE and have to have.  I love most all hoodies so as you can imagine, I have a number of them even though I don't travel as much as I used to. A few years ago the addiction was so bad that I had to force myself to buy a hoodie in a non-hoodie color. What is that? Well, I realized that my hoodie collection was all grey. So I branched out to Navy Blue and after a few years of that I ventured into red and pink.

Today, our little family went up to the outlet mall after hearing about all the great sales they were having. Of course, I fell in love with a hoodie. The best part was the price...a $40 hoodie for $15!!!! I found myself bargaining with my husband in order to get it! I actually OFFERED to get rid of my entire hoodie collection...just the zippered hoodies because that's what this one was...and those are VERY different from regular hooded sweatshirts or sweatshirts in general (sans the hood). I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth! Before we made it to the checkout, my husband said that I simply needed to downsize by half. That sounded much better and with that agreement, I could and would commit.

Of course we got home and the second thoughts began. I had forgotten about some of my beloved hoodies and had forgotten how attached I was. My husband came to my aid ever so gently. We brought my collection out to the living room and we began sorting. This was when I really saw how ridiculous my addiction is. One was from spring break my junior year in college, one Damien got me for Christmas, one I just got last month in Key West (it made it to the keeper pile), another was "stolen" fair and square from a very good friend nearly 12 years ago, another was maternity, another was a vibrant orange & was on super-duper sale, etc, etc. There were 8 hoodies in all. I had decided to keep the new one, the Key West one, the maternity one (duh) and just one more...as I write I can't even remember which one made the cut! Obviously it was important enough to make it.

Now, once again, hoodies are different from hooded sweatshirts. I had 8 hoodies cut down to 4...might as well bring out all the sweatshirts...which totaled TWELVE which means when added to the hoodies I had a collection of TWENTY-TWO sweatshirts(only 5 of which were NOT blue or grey) and I live in South Florida!!! I was able to cut that number in 1/2 as well. I now have only 5 hooded sweatshirts: a few from my alma mater, one from our honeymoon in Maine, one from grad school and of course one for Notre Dame football season :D What insanity, huh?!? I had no idea but my closet is a bit bigger now and I feel a little lighter. I'm sure the addiction will continue to some degree but my new awareness of it should help to hinder it's growth. I suppose most women have this problem with shoes - a pair of shoes for each mood and each outfit. I've never been able to relate to that. But hoodies...hoodies are my kryptonite.

Pregnancy and braces? Seriously.

So I went in for my semi-annual dental cleaning and was quite proud when they said I only had one little cavity! I was relieved because I hadn't been as diligent with my scheduled cleanings since having kids...3 years ago! The relief on my face stunned the dentist. He then said I needed braces in order for them to get to the cavity. Yeah right. Well, I have two teeth that didn't bother coming in until my senior year in college and neither have decended completely. Of course the cavity is in one of those teeth ABOVE THE GUMLINE! Seriously! Have you ever heard of such a thing? Needless to say, a second opinion was scheduled for the next day across town.

The second dentist was much older and made me feel a little more comfortable. Maybe she could get to it! Maybe job experience is what's needed to get at my little cavity - WHICH BY THE WAY, runs us $30 to fill. Well, the older and more wiser dentist nearly had a heart attack when she found the cavity. Turns out, this cavity isn't simply above the gumline, but it's so deep that it's nearly gotten to the root which now turns this whole thing into a type of dental emergency because I could lose the tooth. If it had been a molar - no problem...root canal and crown away! But this just so happens to be my canine....front and center! Final word from this dentist was BRACES. Oh my. So the following week was the consult with an orthodontist. We were hoping (at the request of the older & wiser dentist) that they could just throw on a few brackets to bring the one tooth down. That sounded great to me! Awkward looking but great on the checking account! No dice. We need FULL BRACES for at least 18 months. They hope the canine will be in far enough in 6 months to get to the cavity. I pray that's they case because heaven forbid I lose the tooth anyway. So now we're full steam ahead. Braces are on. I'm thirty years old, married (thankfully and happily) with two gorgeous little ones and one on the way. No ibuprofen for this girl! Just awkward looking :)

The moral of the story is this: Damien and I have been through so many crazy financial crisis in our short four years of marriage that this became quite comical. The story isn't that I'm pregnant with braces. The STORY is that my $30 cavity is now running a $4, 800 deficit! This is par for the course folks :) And no ibuprofen to boot! hahahaha!

Family Ties

It's always hard to imagine that your baby has turned one. They've entered into "the numbers" and are no longer "a month". Well, my youngest little cousin turned one today. Sweet, little Kylie Jaymes entered the world as a teeny, tiny little wee one and is now into everything. Happy Birthday Kylie!

Kylie's birth renewed the date of June 10th for our family. Three years ago (2007), my grandfather passed away rather suddenly. Anniversaries like that don't fade very easily. Every May most of my family members begin feeling the squirreliness and by June, we've figured it out. For me, I'm usually pregnant or post-partum so forgetaboutit. This year was different for me. And I have my smallest little cousin to thank. Today was her birthday and it was not a sad day. For that I am very grateful. Love and hugs to you little Kylie Jaymes. XOXOXOXO

The 2nd Born

The 1st born has 6.5 MILLION pictures taken of them. They're everywhere: on the walls, on the computer, in photo albums, key chains, boutique blankets, coffee mugs and uploaded to various social media outlets...a blog is even devoted to their life (well an attempt at one at least!). The 2nd born, traditionally, has a half dozen pictures of each milestone where a camera was within reach and fully charged. And here we are. I'm pregnant with #3 and the only photo of the 2nd born on this blog is in utero. Poor baby!

So let's try this again! Addison is three and can show you her age on her fingers while Tommy is 1 and shows you his age by the drooling, squealing and the death-defying attempts at climbing anything vertical...anything. Potty training is more like potty staining and I have a semi-permanently-borrowed, full-sized steam cleaner from my more seasoned mommy friend. Everyday is something new and funny but I think this coming year will be a good one for sharing with you because...I'm pregnant and thus...clinically insane. Here's some proof.

The other night I woke around 2am and saw smoke in the corner of our bedroom. I woke Damien by slamming into his shoulder over and over yelling his name, screaming "there's smoke in the room" repeatedly. He jumped up, turned on the lights and there it was...nothing! No smoke, no fire, no nothing. Just the corner of our room. I guess I thought he needed a little punch of adrenaline in the middle of his good nights sleep. Poor guy!

So between the hormones, the potty staining, the death defying stunts and a very well balanced husband...there should be plenty to write about even if it's just for my own piece of mind!

OCD on BOTH sides!

So our kids are doomed. Damien and I have both exhibited OCD behavior on numerous occasions and although neither of us have a severe case, nor have we ever been diagnosed, we are certain our children will inherit the perfectionism that plagues us both! I mention this because it just dawned on me that Damien and I are both acting within our OCD separately and simultaneously this evening....Damien is wrapping presents hidden away behind our bedroom door and I'm editing our Christmas newsletter. Sounds relatively harmless or even boring to some but what you don't know is that our new wrapping paper has grid lines and Damien, being the perfectionistic cabinet maker he is, has entered an entirely new dimension of perfectly wrapping gifts! Meanwhile, I'm at the computer doing what I think I do best...editing and tearing apart written work...even my own. The quest for the very word that describes the thought most perfectly is a cross I carry and love more than you'd think! Our children are doomed...to be continued...

Daddy's Are Different Than Mommies

This past Saturday we were out running errands. We popped into Target for a quick shoe purchase. We get to the shoe department when I realize that Damien didn't put Addy in a shopping cart...I was a bit concerned about this but figured that I'm on a shoe mission and he's on Daddy-duty. And boy was he. The second he set her down on the floor...barefoot mind you...she immediately ran to the shoe racks and tearing shoes out of the boxes as if to say "JACKPOT"!!!!!!!!! I found it hillarious as Damien scrambled to keep up with our shoe-loving toddler! Within minutes, I turned around and there was my little baby walking down the main isle with a pair of high heels on that even I couldn't keep my balance in! Women all over the surrounding departments were cracking up, ohhhing and ahhhing all over the place. Priceless.

Moral of the story: this would've never happened had it just been Mommy with Addy; we wouldn't have this memory or the laugh and random strangers lives would be a little darker. God bless daddies!

New to Blogging

So a friend of mine had a baby last spring and set up a blog. From what I can see, it's keeping all of her extended family and out of town friends in the loop and I love the idea of it. To me, blogging was something that people do when they need an outlet for their thoughts - much like a journal but with "followers". This is very intriguing to me as an aspiring writer. However, I'm finding that after 19 short months of motherhood bootcamp, I'm not very good at getting pictures developed and sending them to our far away loved ones. And since many of my "adult" family members are not on Facebook, this Blog will serve the purpose of updating in leiu of my maternal skills :) I hope you enjoy this while I figure it all out!