Laura's Mommy Blog

Archive for the ‘Life’ Category

Let me start off by saying that my daughter is a great kid. She’s very sweet and gentle, and not a wild child at all. Now that I’ve said that, let me just say that even with the greatest kids in the world, it is still possible to lose your mind!

Lately I have been noticing a lot of changes in her attitude and behavior. Most of the changes are very cute and are just a normal part of growing up. Now that she is getting older, she is more interested in playing with other kids. And I mean, really playing, not that thing that kids under 2 years old do, where they play within a very close square footage of each other, but couldn’t really care less that the other is there. Ava is now playing interactively with other kids and having real conversations with them. Just the other day I heard her talking with another 3 year old about our federal health care and whether Obama should really be signing in that health care bill in the U.S..

Ava: You know that federal health care is very beneficial to all our citizens.

Other kid: Yes, but the United States do not want to enter into socialism, it is against their beliefs.

Ava: Very true, we will have to re-convene on this subject at a later date.

I kid, I kid… Of course they talk about normal kid topics, even though I would like to think that my kid is a super genius child. Later on today I will change my status on Facebook to brag about some sort of accomplishment Ava had, like “Laura is so proud that Ava counted to a bazillion today!!!!!!” I will admit that I am guilty of bragging about my kid on Facebook, but I have seen some posts from parents that make me want to puke. Let’s just say that when your status gets to be longer than 20 lines, it’s a bit overboard. We got the point after the 1st line!

Okay, so back to Ava’s changing behavior. She’s starting to play more with kids, she is starting to stand up for herself a bit more, which also means that she is starting to talk back to me. Let me just say that this is a wonderful phase (please insert sarcastic tone here), which I am guessing probably won’t end for about another 15-16 years? Yay for me!!!!!!!

She isn’t talking back as in she is telling me off or making arguments, but she is definitely giving me a hard time. Ignoring me or saying “No” is a regular occurrence. What happened to my little girl that would listen and do anything I would ask her to do? I guess this is the part where parents start talking about ripping their hair out? I am starting to envision how this is going to turn me into a madwoman. Do they sell prescription drugs for this because I think I am going to need them one day. Please, pharma companies out there, if you are reading this, please start the research on this. And if you could make us a drug that will not cause us diarrhea, nausea, insomnia, amnesia, trouble turning your head right, urgency to break out into song anytime, spontaneous combustion, planned combustion, melting of exoskeleton, exploding eyeballs, and any of the other undesirable side effects, that would be much appreciated.

So, the journey into my upcoming psychosis begins. Hopefully, I can stay sane most of the time. If not, god help anyone that knows me, I apologize for my future actions ahead of time….

Yesterday I was at my cousin’s 1 st birthday party and as I was being introduced to some of the other guests, one of them asked me “Are you Laura from Laura’s Mommy Blog?” I proudly said “Yes, that is me!” OMG, I’m a celebrity!!!! But then I felt a bit embarrassed that I haven’t blogged in a really, really, really long time. So, I decided that I am going to jump back on this horse, but with a different objective this time. When I started blogging last fall, I was trying to post everyday, and the pressure to find topics to talk about everyday really got to me. So, I put the blogging to rest for awhile and then I forgot about it.

Now I am going to go into this with some more realistic objectives. I am only going to try and blog a few times a week, and only when I really have something interesting to talk about. That way my articles will be more interesting (hopefully you will all agree ), and since I will only write about things that I am passionate about, it will be fun. I definitely still plan to bring the laughs. The biggest reward I get from blogging is when people leave me comments telling me that they enjoyed my article and it made them chuckle, so please, please, please leave me comments!

So, less quantity, but better quality! I hope you will all join along with me for this ride…

Before we had kids, my husband and I used to  go on vacation just about every year. When I say vacation, I mean taking a plane somewhere. Usually, we would go to an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean. We seem to prefer those styles of vacations because you get to really relax and you don’t have any surprises about the final cost of your trip. What you pay before you leave is pretty much what it will cost you, unless you tend to go on a lot of excursions. We usually do not go on any excursions, so we bring about $150 cash on us for tips and a couple of souvenirs, and that’s it!

Since we’ve had Ava, we’ve gone on one vacation, which is a lot more than other parents we know, so I am thankful that we got to go away. We went away last year to the Dominican Republic. Ava was 18 months old and we left her with my parents for the week while we went on vacation with a group of friends. We missed her a lot, but we definitely got some well deserved rest. I love being a mommy more than anything in the world, but I do appreciate those few times when I get to just focus on myself. It’s strange how it feels so good to know that you only have to worry about getting yourself ready to leave for dinner, or taking your time to shower in the morning because you don’t have anyone waiting for you to help them get ready. It’s the small things in life we take for granted.

With this being said, I am really craving a vacation, but this time I want it to be a family vacation. Even though I really want to relax, I want to experience traveling with Ava, and I want to take her around the world to see things that I never got to see as a kid. I will probably need another vacation as soon as we get back because I will be so tired from all the traveling with a toddler, but the memories we will make will be priceless.

I knew that we would not be going anywhere this year. My husband traveled to go to a good friend’s wedding this year, so that used up any vacation budget we would of had, but that’s okay, I was prepared to go a year without vacation. No biggie! Now, next year is a different story. I really am hoping that we can go somewhere in May, but if it doesn’t work out, at the very latest, I am hoping we can go away in the fall. The prices are always low at those two times of the year, so I am sure we can get a good deal.

Lately though I have been very tempted with some of the great deals out there. I have some relatives that are going away next week to the Dominican. The package they bought is now selling for $400 + tax, and kids get to go for free!!! OMG, it’s hard to resist that! That price includes flight, hotel, and transfers. I have no clue how they sell packages at that price, but I ain’t complaining! Hopefully, I will be able to find such a good deal when it’s time for us to book. It seems like I always find good deals online, EXCEPT for when I am actually looking to book something. It’s kind of like the same concept of when you go to the mall and you see so many nice things that you want to buy, but you can’t afford it. Then, when you actually have money to spend, you can’t find anything you like. Why is that???? Am I the only one that experiences this?

Well, as I sit here trying to resist the urge to call the travel agent, I am wishing that my dreams of going on a family vacation next year will come true. Only time will tell…… or if maybe some travel company offers me a free trip in exchange for reviewing it on my site????? Hey! I can dream, can’t I!!!!!

This weekend was full of celebrations. We celebrated my birthday this weekend, my 21st birthday, hehe. Next year I will be turning 20, time moves backwards for me. Don’t ask me how I do it, God must like me!

This birthday has been a good one, except for the fact that I am having muscle spasms in my neck. I could of really done without them. For some reason I woke up on Sunday unable to move my head without suffering from sharp pains shooting down my neck. Everyone sing together now – happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, enjoy the sharp paaaiiiinnnnssss, happy birthday to me! So now I am walking around as if I am attached to a stiff board. I can’t turn my head around. I get these spasms every now and then for no apparent reason. Well…. sort of for no reason. I can’t quite seem to figure out what triggers them, but when I am exercising regularly, it seems like I don’t get too many muscle spasms. Of course, over the past month, I have not really been to the gym. Between trying to get my kid vaccinated for an entire week unsuccessfully, and then getting sick (go figure!), I didn’t work out for four weeks! So, now I must pay for it. I guess God doesn’t like me after all…. boo hoo.

Well, I wasn’t going to let this ruin my birthday. Yesterday we went to my grandparents for some good ‘ole German comfort food. Yummy!!!! There is nothing better than my grandmother’s cooking. Then, last night I was determined to get the Christmas tree up, stiff. painful neck or not! I love decorating the tree and I figure, when is there a better time to do it than on my birthday weekend? This was the first year that Ava actually understood what was going on. She has seen Christmas trees in the stores, but she has never helped put ours up before because she was too young. Well let me tell you, she knew exactly what to do. Do kids come with an automatic instinct as to how to decorate a tree? As soon as that tree was up, she started digging through the ornament box, pulling them out and hanging them on the ends of the branches. Mind you, they were literally hanging on the edge. About half of a millimetre over and they would fall right off. It was very cute though….

Now that the celebrations have come to an end, I am still left with the painful neck. Why couldn’t I just be left with a hangover, that would be so much cooler….

I have to admit, up until now I didn’t want to accept that Christmas was right around the corner. I am usually always very excited about the holidays, but this year it seems like it came too soon. I guess it’s since we had a really bad summer, it doesn’t feel like we actually even had a proper summer, so it sucks to know that we are soon approaching those frigid cold months. Apart from the coldness, I like everything else about the holidays. This past week I seemed to be really getting into it.

On Sunday, we ventured out to the mall to do some shopping. At this time of year I usually avoid going out to the malls because it scares me. Have you ever seen an episode of The Amazing Race when they are in India trying to ride the public train system? It’s just people smooshed together that can’t move even an inch, and people are getting frustrated, well at least The Amazing Race contestants are. It’s a nightmare! This is how I feel about the malls at Christmas time – too many people at the same time, all trying to get the perfect gift. Not for me, no thanks!

This Sunday however was quite a different story. We went early in the morning when the stores were just opening, and low and behold, the mall was practically empty! People weren’t jumping out of bed at the crack of dawn to shop their little hearts away????? What has happened to society? Whatever it is, I like it! We stayed at the mall until noon, and even when we left, there still wasn’t nearly as many people as I would expect at this time of year. This will probably change as we get closer to Dec.25th, but you probably won’t be seeing me in the malls too often during the weekend anymore, so that suits me fine!

So, it makes me wonder – are people shopping less for the holidays? We are just coming out of a bad recession and I know that spending is on my mind a lot. I still have a list of people to buy for, but I’m trying to be smart about it this year to save as much $$$ as I can. Here are some of my tips on how to save on Christmas gifts this year:

1. Be aware of the warehouse sale in your area. This can be a great way to get gifts that you would normally find in a retail store, but pay almost 50-80% less. The quality isn’t any different, just the effect it takes on your wallet.
2. Read the weekly flyers. A lot of stores have door busters at this time of year. You have to get there early, but if you are going to save over 50% on a big ticket item, it may be worth it to you.
3. Channel your creative side and make something. I don’t think people put enough emphasis on how sentimental a homemade gift can be. I love to scrapbook, so making small albums for people is a good idea. I already have so many supplies at home, that it won’t cost me anything. Another idea is to make a box of homemade cards for someone. You could give them a variety of themes so that they will always have a nice card on hand to give to someone.
4. Bake! Who doesn’t like some yummy tasting Christmas goodies? You could even put together a little basket of cookies, brownies, breads, and maybe some homemade spreads (ie. hummus, guacamole etc.)
5. Give the gift of your time. you could make up a cute little coupon book to give to someone that they can cash in for segments of your time. If it’s your spouse, perhaps you could make it a romantic theme. If it’s your parents, maybe you could offer to do some work or chores around the house for them. Anything that you think would be valuable to your recipient can go in your coupon book.

What are some of the ways you get creative around the holidays? I would love for you to share your tips with me and my readers. Just leave me a comment down below!

We love to act silly in our house, I think it helps everyone feel young and it helps you escape the seriousness of life. You will often find us singing silly songs that we’ve made up about our pets, sometimes we like to jump around to get the dog all riled up, and sometimes we like to dance.

This evening after dinner, I was hanging out in the kitchen with my hubby and daughter. I was sitting at the kitchen table and I could hear my husband beat boxing in the background. He had a good beat going, so he started to bust out some of his dance moves in front of Ava. Ava really liked that, so she started to dance as well. It takes a lot to get her to dance because she is  little shy about it, so I wanted to join in too. I stood up and started to move around dancing to my husband’s beat boxing. All of a sudden, Ava looks at me and says, “No mommy, no. Daddy.” Basically she told me that she was dancing with Daddy, not me. Once I stopped, she continued to bust a move with my husband.

Well, I wasn’t going to be turned down so easily, so I started to dance again. She turned and looked at me again, and said “No mommy!”

Is my two year old seriously telling me that I am a worse dancer than my husband? This can’t be possible. When my husband dances, it’s as if there is no beat. He just keeps stepping back and forth moving his arms around and the moves and pace of the dance never change, regardless of what music he is dancing to. I, on the other hand, am an okay dancer. I’m no professional, but I know how to follow a rhythm and not make a fool of myself at a wedding or party. But now, my two year old is insulting my dance moves, comparing me to my husband???? I think she’s a harder judge than the ones on So You Think You Can Dance!

I can’t believe I was insulted by a toddler tonight, excuse me while I go sweep my ego off the floor…