Hanging with a Hockenberry

It's been so long since I logged on here. Imagine my surprise to see that it's been almost exactly a year since my last post. A YEAR. How, over the course of a year, did I not find time to check in? I'm sitting here trying to think back to what kept me so busy. Kids are obviously a big chunk of it, then work, kids, the house, kids, Kevin, kids...

But at what point did my writing become relegated to the back burner? I don't have many material loves in my life...magazines, jigsaw puzzles, coffee and wine. I also adore exercise (specifically CrossFit), and of course writing. And did I mention wine? Somehow I manage to make time for everything except writing (and some more than others *cough*wine*cough*), which is ironic considering the number of hours a day I spend online reading the blogs of other people. It occurred to me that it really doesn't make sense to pour over these and be jealous of their lives and passions. I have that time too, I just have to use it for myself instead of for them. So that's what I've decided to do. 

So this is me. Here I am. Notice the name of this post is 'Hanging with A Hockenberry,' versus 'the Hockenberrys.' Because this is my blog, about me and my life, and let's face it. As a mom, there are very few things in this life that are mine alone anymore. Obviously my kids will have a role in it too (there's no escaping them, trust me, I've tried). And my dear, sweet, husband will make a regular appearance since there's no escaping him either he's such an integral part of my life. And who knows where this will go. My current blog obsessions right now are Financial Independence and Minimalism (I'm subscribed to at least 30 of them) so maybe I'll share my adventures in those. Sneak Peek - my first foray into minimalism started with my completely filling up the back of my Yukon XL with items from the depths of our basement. These were things we haven't used in 2+ years or things we had duplicates of. Goodwill or Bust. Unfortunately my foray promptly ended 30 minutes after it began with Kevin buried ass-deep in the back of my Yukon hauling out all of the items that we NEEDED to keep. Because that feather duster that hasn't left it's shelf in the closet since we moved in 3.5 years ago could come in handy some day! And the kids' "favorite toy"? Has been in a box in the basement for 8 months. Note to self: Minimalism should only be undertaken while Kevin is out of town. 

That's it. Let's see where this goes. 

Waffle Faces

Am I the only one that hates doing nice things for my kids? I mean, I don't HATE it, it's just that......well, they're elephants. They don't forget anything. We have to anticipate everything we do with or for them because you can guarantee it will be brought up at a later date. (And sometimes a MUCH later date. Grey still talks about things from 2 years ago. "Remember when you gave me that new toy because I was nice to Emerson??? Remember that???" "No, no I don't.") Everything we do has to be calculated and analyzed because you can bet the kids are going to remember and request it again. 

Take this morning for example. On Tuesday morning I was in a good mood (I managed to suck down copious amounts of coffee before the offspring woke up) so I decided to make waffles for the kids for breakfast. And before you start emailing me requesting my superhuman "waffles-on-a-weekday" mom secrets, I will elaborate and inform you that to make waffles = to toast Eggos. Anyway, on a whim I decided it would be fun to make waffle faces for the kids. So I spread them with peanut butter and busted out M&Ms for eyes and a mouth and candy corn for hair and a nose. Of course nothing is ever as easy as "Wow! This is so cool! Thank you mommy! You're the best! " No, first we have to get all of the kinks worked out in order to stop the mass hysteria:   

1) There was a RED M&M on Emerson's waffle! BLASPHEMY! 
2) There was NO ORANGE M&M present on Grey's waffle. BUT EMERSON HAS 2!!!!  
3) Greyden's candy corn nose was sticking up like a carrot nose. OMG! HE DOESN'T WANT IT STICKING UP!!!!!!!!
4) One of Greyden's "hairs" fell off the waffle onto his plate. Insert hyperventilation here. 
5) Harley ate the red M&M (coated in peanut butter) that Emerson had ceremoniously thrown across the room. NOOOOOO!!! IT'S HER M&M!!!! OMGEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

After the initial bugs were worked out of the waffle faces, things went relatively smoothly. (Of course after those kind of panicked "emergencies", a dump truck could drive into our living room and I'd still consider it a relatively easy morning. As long as the kids aren't screaming, I'll take it.) 

Then this morning happened. 

Grey: "Mommy, remember on Wednesday (sidenote: everything happens on either Wednesday or Saturday to Grey) when you put candy on our waffles? And made faces? With M&Ms? And the other candy? You should do that again. Today. Because I want them."

Me: "Sorry, honey. I only did that because it was a special day." (It wasn't but whatever)

Grey: "BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT TODAY IS SPECIAL"

Me: "No, we're not having candy for breakfast today, sorry buddy."

Grey: (screeching at the top of his lungs) "IIIIIIII WAAAAAAAANT WAFFLES WITH FAAAAAAAAAAACESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! Throws himself on the floor. As soon as Emerson sees him go down, she decides she's committed to the cause as well and promptly chucks herself down in solidarity. Now I have 2 little people shrieking and flailing on the floor. Kevin's out of town, the dogs have already evacuated to the safety of the bedroom, and the cat will never be found ever again. I have no help. Ten minutes later when all of my FBI negotiation tactics have failed miserably and they're STILL screaming at the top of their lungs, I make a game-time decision and offer them the breakfast of champions - cold, leftover pizza. All waffle faces are forgotten and they happily hop up from the floor and climb into their chairs. Why do I have a feeling that pizza for breakfast might just bite me in the ass someday? 

Oh, and lest you think it was that easy, they also demanded mini-pancakes spread with peanut butter and syrup as a side for their pizza. I think they know when I've been sufficiently beaten down, because I didn't even question it. Just submitted to their demands and served up the pancakes. (Exhausted) Parenting fail. 

Happy Friday! 

Falling

As in, my blog (and I) have fallen off the face of the Earth. And I'm sorry for that. I blame my perfectionist tendencies. And my job. And my kids. But mostly my perfectionism. As the saying goes, if something is worth doing, then it has to be perfect, right? Or...something like that.

So I'm back. With a 2 and almost 4 year old. Crazy how time flies. And the 4 year old started preschool today. I'm feeling really un-young lately. 

First day of Preschool 2014

Speaking of feeling un-young, a Preschooler and a 2-going-on-16 year old are just one half of the equation. The other is my dear husband who is beyond thrilled that, as of 2 weeks ago, I'm now 34 and he's still 33 with a whopping 2 months to go. In order to remind me of this constantly, he has taken to calling me his Cougar. Obviously not helpful. 

So why am I blogging again? It's been over a year and I have more than enough to fill my time without adding one more thing to my giant, broken plate. Well, for one, I need an outlet. Somewhere I can mindlessly ramble about all of the things that are going on in my head. Not that Kevin doesn't love listening to me when I ramble them out loud. I mean, every time I do he rolls his eyes toward the sky where I'm sure he's thanking his lucky stars that he found (and picked - sucker) me.  Another reason is because my mom everyone tells me that I'm an excellent writer and that I should "DO SOMETHING WITH IT LEAH". Her Their words, not mine. So I've decided to appease my clearly adoring fan base. And since I obviously don't have time to write the next Harry Potter series, this is it. My own little padded corner of the interwebs. Welcome back. 

10 Months and On the Move!

Isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen??? And as we all know, cute usually equals trouble. Ask anyone who has watched her for an hour (heck, even just 30 minutes) and they'll tell you that there is no stopping her. I can't even tell you how many times I've heard "you're going to have fun with that one..."  If there is something that she can get into or climb, she's all over it. Constantly. So of course it makes sense that she's already started walking. Heaven forbid she is a semi-contained crawler for even a few weeks longer! She started standing on her own just after she hit 10 months. A few days later, she was taking steps. Granted, she's only taking a few steps at a time, but that's enough to get her from Point A to Point Destruction so she's fine with it. She'd probably have more luck staying upright if she didn't try to run though.
 
Another thing that 10 months has brought us is some sleep! Well, from Emerson's point of view anyway. She's finally starting to sleep through the night. Last night was the 3rd night in a row. Of course, nothing EVER comes for free. Just ask Greyden, who suddenly needs to be rocked to sleep every night. And when you lay him in bed, unless he's asleep and doesn't wake up, you might as well count on hysterical screaming for an hour. He's gotten himself so worked up that he's even thrown up for the last two nights straight. (Note to self: make sure to refer to it as "throwing up" and not "puking" in front of Grey. Listening to your 2.5 year old yelling "I PUKED! I PUKED!" is a little.....odd.) Oh, and let's not forget about the hysterical screaming session in the middle of the night every night, just for good measure. If you ask my mom, she'll tell you that he takes after his mommy. Apparently I used to do the same thing, including making myself throw up. (I say apparently because the only witnesses are my mom and Grandma Omi and we all know what Drama Queens they are. Bless their hearts.) I'll just smile and nod in agreement.

Ever since we've moved Grey to his Big Boy Bed (which has pretty much turned into everything BUT a "Big Boy" bed) we've had an early morning wake up call every. Single. Morning. As much as I love summer, the fact that the sun comes up at 5:30 isn't working for me anymore. I used to love waking up slowly to the sunrise, now when the sun comes up, Grey is up. This means that every morning we wake up to "The sun is awake Daddy!" Although this morning was "I need a new dump truck." Ooookay..... Oh, and random funny - we took Grey to the Brighton Memorial Day parade on Monday. That night he must have been having a dream about the fire trucks because in the middle of the night he yelled out "I didn't get to sit in the fire truck!"
 


Grey and his fire truck



 

 



At the Memorial Day parade


Luckily Emerson is also at the stage where everything that happens gets a round of applause. All you have to do is say "Yay!" and she's shrieking and clapping for you. This is good, because with all that has been going on between her getting into all the trouble she can manage and her brother milking his Toddler Card for all it's worth, any and all encouragement Daddy and I can get is much appreciated. :) Lately she's either clapping for you or waving and telling you hi which is another new trick. Except she waves and says "Haiiiiiiiiii" She's apparently very Southern.

Speaking of shrieking, the girl has a killer set of lungs on her. When you put her in her chair for dinner, she screams at the top of her lungs until you put her food in front of her. I'm not talking like the cute little baby shrieks, I'm talking a 10 second, ear-piercing, top of her lungs ANGRY SCREAM that makes your ears tingle. And she does it over and over until her mouth is full. (No comments about taking after mom from the peanut gallery, please.)
 
Since she's on the go so much, I didn't get any really good pictures from her 10 month shoot. It's hard to take a picture when you're literally chasing a crawler around on your hands and knees.

This is from her 6 month pictures. She's such a big girl now! (This must have been taken right after Mommy gave her bangs a haircut. I guess I shouldn't make that mistake again...)

 

He sure looks cute and harmless. Just don't try to put him to bed.

Helping with Sissy's bottle

 

"Helping" Emerson use her walker. This was about 10 seconds before shooting her across the driveway. 

 

Driving Daddy's Jeep

 

Her first pony tail!

 

Her first ice cream cone. She dove in head first and, believe it or not, SCREAMED when I finished it and there was none left. We still can't get Greyden to try it. For whatever reason, his toddler brain seems to have permanently connected ice cream and "butt cream", also known as diaper cream. So I guess I wouldn't try it if I were him either.

 

 

 

If you listen closely, it sounds like she does a fake burp at the end. :)

 

 

 

Emerson is 9 Months!

Either Emerson is growing up way too fast, or I am just way too busy to keep up with her. She's already 9 months old. 9 MONTHS. I feel old now. It seems like just yesterday my garage sale buddy and I were spending our mornings perusing the local junk merchandise. And now I wouldn't be able to keep her in her car seat long enough for even one sale, let alone our record 5 in one morning. My maternity leave was obviously well used last year! E and I made some killer finds. For example, had I not had maternity leave, I would have never scored my new waffle maker for $1. $1 PEOPLE! No household is complete without a waffle maker. I mean, I'm not sure if it works yet since I haven't used it, but still......only $1. For fluffy, homemade goodness right at your fingertips. Or the fingertips of the first person to actually use it.

As I was looking back through my blog, I see that I failed to post her 7 and 8 month pictures. So how about another catch up?

7 Months

The girl has to be exhausted because she hit two major milestones at 7 months. She's sitting up on her own and she's become a professional army crawler. She also says "DA-DA!" whenever Kevin walks into the room. She still hasn't mastered the eating game yet. Most of what goes into her mouth gets pushed right back out. But she's a Hockenberry with Shagene blood, so I have faith that she'll catch on soon.

 

I honestly don't think that Emerson could love her big brother any more than she already does.

My baby boy mugging for the camera. Because we can't take pictures of Sissy without taking pictures of him. At least, that's what he seems to think.

Emerson and Daddy.

 

8 Months

And now we can't keep up. She's now pulling herself up to standing, as I discovered when I walked into her room after a nap one day and found this:

 

 

She's also FINALLY started saying ma-ma. But only when she's hungry. She's still an army crawling fiend, but shows no interest in getting up on all 4s to crawl. 

9 Months

It amazes me that she's 9 months old. I absolutely LOVE this stage. She's picking up pretty much everything that goes on around her. She started crawling over Easter weekend and hasn't slowed down since. She's also walking while pushing Greyden's little play chairs across the room. She's finally eating up a storm too! At daycare, the teachers were having to force 3 4-ounce bottles and one jar of food down her each day. Literally overnight (I believe it was Tuesday to Wednesday) she began eating 4 5-ounce bottles and 2-3 jars of food a day. I think it's safe to say we've hit a growth spurt, huh? I've been giving her 1-2 jars of baby food at home too, but the majority of what she's eating is coming directly off my plate. She eats pretty much everything I put in front of her, from avocado and watermelon to cheeseburger macaroni, grilled chicken, and taco stuffed shells. Last night she was HOOVERING polish sausage. I'm not exaggerating. I couldn't dice it up fast enough for her.

Cheeseburger macaroni night

 

It took her all of 3 seconds to figure out how to eat a Mum Mum rice cracker

Of course this growth spurt has it's downside too......she is up multiple times every night. Add this to Greyden's latest sleep schedule and Kevin and I can barely function. We're lucky if we get 5 hours of sleep a night. Lately I've been netting 3-4 hours, and that's not even all at one time. This is insane.

I wish I could have gotten some better pictures for her 9 month shots, but to be honest, I was lucky to even get these. 90% of the pictures I took were blurry because she was moving and/or crawling away. Or trying to nose dive off the chair. The girl can't sit still for even a second. I'm going to need to hire an assistant for her 10 month shots.

 

What do the majority of these pictures have in common? Yup, her tongue is sticking out. And it's ALWAYS sticking out. I'm pretty sure she gets that from me, since my tongue is currently sticking out as I'm writing this post.

 

I was kind of kicking myself for not keeping up and posting her pictures on time, but to tell you the truth, I'm loving scrolling back and forth to see how much she's changed in just a couple of months. She's getting so big!

 

 

 

If It Ain't Broke....

I'd love to know who coined the phrase "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Never have I come across a time in my life where I should have listened to those 7 little words more than when we moved Grey to his new bed. WTF were we thinking? We had a 2 1/2 year old confined to baby jail and he LOVED it. You don't let a convict out of his cell because you think he'll do better in one without bars. Yet, stupid us did just that. Minus the convict part. And we really don't think of his crib as baby jail. Mostly we thought of it was a safe place for Greyden to sleep. Ummmm.....anyway. 

Now that we've been in the big boy bed for about a month, you're probably wondering how he's doing, right? Well, let's just say that not a morning goes by that I don't threaten to put his crib back up. Yeah, it's that good. Apparently the Lightning McQueen bed comes with an alarm that goes off at 6:00 am on the nose every morning. I have gone over that thing with a fine toothed comb and I have yet to find it, but I can assure you it's there. How do I know this? Well, the toddler in my room every morning at 6:00 (give or take 5 minutes - no I'm not exaggerating) is a pretty dead giveaway. The first morning that he braved coming downstairs by himself (I believe it was day 3) we woke up to Grey standing on our bed yelling at the top of his lungs "THERE'S A KITTY IN THE BED!" Ho. Ly. $hit. Apparently Grey thought is was strange that the cat was sleeping up there, but totally normal that he was also standing up there. Never mind the fact that we can't figure out how he actually got up there. We pretty much realized that we need to nip this in the bud proto, before we both end up with heart attacks.

Our grand solution? "Greyden, you can't leave your bed in the morning. When you wake up you need to call for mommy and daddy and we'll come up and get you." Cue the blank toddler look. Somewhere in that little speech, the lines of communication apparently got crossed because now we have a toddler screaming and crying from his bed (he got half the message) every. single. morning. At 6:00 am. I freaking kid you not. Back in the good old, pre-toddler bed days (was it really only a month ago?) he would usually wake up early, but roll around in his bed for up to an hour before calling for us. Not anymore. Now when he's up, we're up and that's it. At least I think that's it. It's kind of hard to remember in this lack of sleep-induced haze I've been in for the last few weeks.

Oh, and not only that, we're regressing. He's decided that he needs to be rocked to sleep now. The whole point of the big boy bed was so that we could put him in bed, tuck him in, and walk out the door. Somewhere along the line we screwed that up. So far the only thing we've been able to accomplish is breaking the pacifier habit by telling him he's a "big boy" now. And I'm not even sure how much of an "accomplishment" that is. I think the only thing we managed to do is break him of wanting to be a "big boy", because now every time we try to get him to do something and bust out the "you're a big boy now" phrase, he informs us that no, he's not a big boy. I think we've just kissed the possibility of potty training any time soon goodbye....

Merry Christmas! - Part 1: The Decorating

I have always loved Christmas. Everything about it. And now that we have kids, I love it even more. It's so much fun to talk about Santa and show Greyden the ropes. This year he was actually old enough to understand the "Santa" concept. Or, he at least understood that there was a guy coming to our house and bringing him presents. He really didn't care much beyond that. Oh, and the whole "be good because Santa is watching" thing? Yeah, that's pretty sweet too.
 
It's always been a pain in the ass for me to convince Kevin that he we had to decorate the outside of our house when we lived in nice, warm Texas, so convincing him that it had to be done in freezing cold Michigan took some finesse. Meaning I finally had to whip out the guilt card and remind him that this was Emerson's first Christmas and the first Christmas that Greyden was old enough to take part in. That finally did it, although it didn't cut back on the amount of grumbling.
 
The first step was the house. Unfortunately this is the only picture I got of this step. I somehow missed the part where Kevin was hanging over the edge of the roof to get to the high peak. Probably because I was covering my eyes.
 

 

 

Grey was pretty impressed with the whole decorating thing.

 

After the house was done, Kevin got the genius idea to decorate the pine tree out front. 

 

Because nothing could possibly go wrong here....

 

 
He eventually gave up on that idea (thank god) and resorted to decorating our weeping pine on the other side of the front yard instead.
 

 

 

While Kevin was busy working on the outside of the house, I was on tree decorating duty. We had gotten our tree a few days earlier. Of course the day we took the kids to the Christmas Tree farm was probably the coldest day we had had so far that year. Or at least it felt like that to Kevin and me. It was a far cry from going to a U-Cut place in Texas and "cutting" the tree from a bucket of water in the ground, all while wearing our sunglasses and flip flops. Yeah, they don't exactly grow them around there.

 

 

On the hayride to the Christmas Tree field

Why does she always look so concerned???

Looking for the perfect tree.

 

Found it!

First he tried this side.

 

 

Then, after much cussing, tried this side.



 

Grey finally realized that Daddy wouldn't be able to do it alone, so he decided he needed to help.

 

 

Finally got it. Grey is obviously THRILLED!
 

Yeah, so it was a lot bigger once we got it up and in the house. I'd say at least 9 feet.

Greyden got to help with the decorating.

He lost interest shortly after this ornament (his first and last).