I want to be the Kool-Aid mom!

I have a confession to make... I want to be the Kool-Aid Mom! I want all the kiddos to hang out at my house. I promise to always have popsicles, juice boxes, fruit snacks,pizza rolls and episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants on DVR. With cute kiddos like these.. who wouldn't want to hang out with them? Today we had a baby get-2-gether. It was a blast! We had kids in the big pool, little pool and some just hanging on Mom. 

We had: 

Addie, Maddie x3, Noah x2, AJ, Elias, Ryan and Lily.. confused? Check out these pics!

 the oldest Maddie.. look at those cute little  legs!

 AJ and "momma to be" danielle
 Addie "aka" addie-tude. I think her expression explains it all

 the middle Maddie.. aka.. Mady. She just turned 1!!!! 
 Little miss hostess with the mostess.. the youngest Maddie
too cool for school, Ryan. Aka.. My Maddie's boyfriend.. even though he kissed another girl!

 The younger Noah and Lily.. I think I see a love connection!
 AJ.. talking to all his "lady friends"

 I promise she had a good time

 The older Noah!

 Noah, Ryan and Addie. Addie like the younger boys ;)

 Noah

Elias... the new kid in town ;)

As you can see, it was cuteness overload! You really can't go wrong with good food, good friends and cute kids! I am lucky enough to have made some really great friends in the past year. We have kids around 6 months apart. (some are even a few weeks apart) We also have some new Moms and Moms to be. I am so happy to be apart of this group and hope our kids continue to be friends. Ok ok.. I just want to host more parties! 

Remember when........

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Just something funny..

Just a little funny thing that happened today.. I promise not to take up too much of your time. I needed to go to Target today to pick up a few things. Maddie and I had been swimming so I needed to change her before we left. I carefully picked out her outfit. I always think about what she is going to wear. Do I want her in a comfy summer dress? Is it a onesie/shorts kinda day? Maybe a jumper? Ahhh... so many options. So I decided on an summer dress. I peeked in the diaper bag to make sure I had my wallet and a diaper and out the door I went.... well.. almost.. I got to the door and realized I looked like something the cat dragged in. I had on a dirty tank top and shorts with paint on them. My hair was pulled back in somewhat of a ponytail and my shoes didn't come close to matching what I had on. Oh.. and I hadn't even put deodorant on yet!

Now.. normally I could care less about what I am wearing, make-up, hair done.. etc.. BUT.. I do like to look presentable. I mean, these poor innocent target shoppers do have to look at me. I decided to at least put on a clean tank top and a decent pair of shorts. 

Thinking back on this incident made me laugh. It truly says something about being a Mom and that no matter what, when, or how little.. we always put our kiddos first. The best part of this story is now I spend 98% of my time in the baby section. Usually looking through the clearance aisles for cute clothes. The other 2% is grabbing what I actually need. (toothpaste, shampoo.. etc.) This is a FAR cry from before Maddie was born. I could browse Target for HOURS. Looking at clothes I didn't need or purses I didn't want but bought anyway.. 

Ok.. there is a cricket the size of Africa in my living room right now. I can't concentrate.. He's SO LOUD! IT'S ALL I CAN HEAR RIGHT NOW.. I can't even hear the dang TV! That's all I got anyways.. LATERS!!!

The meaning of the songs on my playlist

I thought I would explain why I chose the songs on my playlist. I know some of them are pretty random!

The Light- I love the lyrics to this song. A friend sent it to me a long time ago and it stuck with me. Listen to the words.. it's pretty cool

Come on Eileen- This song reminds me of going to Martini Ranch on Saturday night to see Rock Lobster. My friend Kristi and I would go almost every weekend. Nothing better than listening to a cover band perform your favorite 80's hits and doing shots of jagermeister, Right?

Faithfully- Come on.. it's Journey.. 'nuff said

Cold as ice- Aww geeze.. this is a song Matt LOVES to sing to me when I am being mean. Lets just say it's a song he sings A LOT! 

The final countdown- This is a song Matt would sing around the house right before our wedding and before Madison was born. I thought it was cute. The song makes me smile

Paul Revere- Please.. if you know ANYTHING about me you know I was going to have some Beastie Boys on this playlist.

Grove is in the heart- Just a classic dance song. It makes you feel good and feel like shakin yer groove thang! This song also reminds me of my friend Angie and good times at Club Rio. 

Hungry like the wolf- No special reason for this song, I just really like it! I like to sing it loudly when I am in the car ;)

Isn't she lovely- Dedicated to little miss Madison (of course).. because she is, in fact, lovely. 

Say- makes me think of my Dad who passed away about a year ago. The lyrics are great even though they make me sad sometimes

I'll be- The first dance at our wedding (ready... AWWWWW)

Da Rockwilder- I have always loved this song. It has the best beat! We took an instrumental version of this song and used it as our procession at the wedding. It was hilarious to look back and see our Grandparents being led up the aisle to this song. Good times, good times!

Only Time- I walked down the aisle to this song ::tear::

Big Pimpin- Just love the song.. It's Jigga, yo!

Hypnotize- this song reminds me of Matt. He loves Biggie

Secret- This is my favorite song on this CD. I just love it

Champange Supernova- Who doesn't like a little Oasis!?

And there you have it... make sense now? ;) 

I am teaching my daughter to people watch

Lets face it.. the BEST sport in the world is not baseball, football or soccer. It's people watching. This could seriously be an olympic sport. Let me demonstrate...

 

On Monday afternoon I was bored to tears. I wanted to get out and get some exercise but it was too hot to walk outside, Maddie does NOT do well in the child care area at the gym (see above blog entry) and all the recreation centers, with indoor tracks, only allow strollers when Maddie takes her naps. (don't EVEN get me started on this issue). So my next best solution was to take her to the mall. There is a mall near us called AZ Mills. It's an outlet mall that's one level and shaped in a circle. It's PERFECT for what I wanted to do. 

I realize that people who are shopping in a mall are not power walking with their 10 month old in a stroller, BUT... is is necessary to walk .005 MPH? Have you not been in a mall in your entire life? Are you sightseeing? Does this mall have stores you have never seen before? (trust me, it doesn't). Do you have severe ADD and 10 things just caught your attention? I really do not get it. It's like they are the only people in this place. Also, do people think it's ok to suddenly STOP in the middle of the walkway? Or dart out in front of someone(or something aka strollers). I started to get really annoyed and was ready to leave, but I decided to turn it into a game. I would give myself points for right answers. I am not sure what I will do with these points yet though. Maybe reward myself with a pedicure once I reach a certain amount? Hmm.. sounds good to me! So.. in my head I would say.. ok.. this guy in front of me is going to zig left so I should zag right.. then.. BOOM! It happens! I shit you not, my friends. I get 10 points! Woowhoo! Ok next... a little girl is going to dart out of a store with her parents nowhere to be found. BAM! It happens.. BUT.. it was a little boy.. only 5 points. This game continued on for 4 laps around the mall. I think I am up to 75,000 points (ok ok maybe not that much)

Next on our people watching adventure was to analyze the people themselves. Let me backtrack a little bit here.. this mall is .. how do you say.. umm.. a little ghetto. Picture fat girls in tube tops (umm sex-ay)

guys with pants down to their ankles...

and TEENS with parents that let them out of the house like this...

So.. I think you got my drift here. 

All in all it was a fun afternoon of making snide remarks to myself and getting some exercise. Hey.. killing two birds with one stone! Even Maddie had fun.. We would get behind someone and she would yell out a little bit. People would look back, see maddie, smile and move out of my way! She was like my little ambulance siren. Gotta love it!

Planning a 1yr old's birthday party

In my wildest dreams I never would have imagined that planning a birthday party for a 1yr old would consume my life. The sad thing is... Maddie is not even 10 months old yet! I have a little over 2 months to go! I find myself thinking of possible themes all the time. Butterflies, flowers, Winnie-the-pooh.. the list goes on and on. I was at Party City right before 4th of July getting plates, cups.. etc.. and I found myself walking around looking for ideas for the party. I was literally in that store for an  hour. I did like the idea of a beach or luau theme. How cute would that be? Mom and Dad in grass skirts! :::sigh:::

 

Of course I have another issue... Matt's birthday is 3 days after Maddie's. We plan on doing a BBQ that weekend. We will have maddie's friends over during the day and Matt's friends over at night. The problem is... does Matt really want butterflies and/or flower decorations at his party? These are the things a Mom thinks about. I know Matt could care less about his party but it matters to me. I am all about the details. 

Now the next issue.. the cake... there is NO WAY IN HELL a store bought cake will do. I have seen the cakes my mom decorated for me as a kid and I really want to do the same for Maddie. It can't be THAT hard right? RIGHT? Oh lord help me! I have never even attempted to decorate a cake before! I need to look around for cake pans. I am sure that will give me some guidence and maybe even a theme for the party! Then I need to think of a "smash" cake for Maddie. EEEEEEEK! I am getting so excited just thinking about her smearing the cake everywhere! 

I am sure there will be many more blogs to come about this upcoming event.. stay tuned!

I was violated today!!!!!!!!

So in an effort to get healthy and lose weight, I started going back to the gym. Madison is not very happy in the gym's daycare. I think she is going through a little bit of separation anxiety so it's hard for me to leave her. The daycare does a fabulous job of keeping her entertained and giving her special attention, but I think she just wants her Momma. She will last 30-40 minutes before I hear those dreaded words come over the sound system. "Attention Mountainside fitness memebers, will Cyrena McGraw please report to the childcare center". Ughhh.

So... about the violation... I decided to sign up for a class called "stroller strength". It's basically cardio, upper and lower body workouts with your kid being pushed in a stroller! It's great! What a fabulous idea! I get the best of both worlds. I can be with Madison and get a good workout. Little did I know the class was going to kick my ass! I realize I am not in the best shape (haha) but I had no idea how bad it really is! The class starts with some cardio. Jogging around the gym.. ok, I can do this. No problem! Then we do lunges across the whole gym and back (ok ouch). Next it's sprints... half court and back.. full length and back.. This continues in a cycle what seems like FOREVER. I am DYING at this point. I look over at the other girls (who are a size fucking 2) and I want to stab them. They are skipping along like this is a cakewalk. (stab. stab. stab. stab) 

There are times when you leave your kid (still in the stroller obviously) and do sprints, lunges etc.. on your own. This does NOT make Madison happy and I realize it's about her nap time. I use this as an excuse to skip out early. Now, I know that if I stick with the class it will get

easier. Now that I know what the class is like and what my body can handle, I will be taking it easy. I have nothing to prove.. but.. I have to say.. I did feel like the fat kid in dodgeball. Stay tuned for more.. "tales from stroller strength"

You have to go backward to go forward...

This is the philosophy of my darling daughter.. check out this video 

And here is another one of Madison and I playing. I guess you really can teach a kid "tricks"