This Modern Dad

My husband Chris and I started dating almost fifteen years ago and just celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary (the traditional gift is iron if you are into that sort of thing, and I am).

In this time we have evolved from silly college freshmen to homeowners, husband and wife and Mom and Dad.  

Hampton 2011

We used to have all the time in the world after work and on the weekends to catch up with one another, eat fancy dinners at quiet restaurants, and stay up late with friends.


Now, like most parents of little people, our days start very early with diaper changes, bottles,  packing backpacks and juggling schedules. They end with, well, diaper changes, bottles, unpacking backpacks and juggling our schedules to meet the needs of our little family.  Chris and I have turned into perpetual motion machines.


Yet somehow we manage to carve out tiny bits of our days for each other.  It may not always be romantic in the traditional sense but the sentiment remains the same.  
At this frenzied phase of our life there is nothing that makes me swoon more than when Chris walks through the door after a long day and jumps right into the diaper changing, bottle making, backpack packing.


Chris has always been my favorite person to drink too many beers and grab pizza slices downtown with and he is also my favorite person to stay up late with shushing, swaddling and swinging a newborn.


My apologies for the cliche schmoopie talk. But it's my blog and I can talk about how in love with my husband I am if I want. I do a lot of complaining and felt it was only fair to document how thankful I am to have Chris as my teammate.  Stay tuned, tomorrow I will keep it real with a story about our  epic parenting fail this evening which is going to cost us a trip to Build a Bear AND a ride around the mall on the overpriced "train".

Fitzy

Hi World, meet Fitzy.  Her full name is Charlotte Fitzgerald  but she has quickly grown into her nickname given to her by her father.

She was born the day before Thanksgiving last year and has filled our house with smiles and laughter (and messes, oh the mess one itty bitty crawling infant can make).  

Before she was born we were a neat little family of three.  We were pretty mobile, no diaper bag or stroller needed.  I was really getting used to it.  We always knew we wanted more than one child but damn having an only was pretty easy. Ever the planners, we were reaching the mark when our children would be four years apart as we had hoped for and threw caution to the wind.  On St. Patrick's Day 2010 we found out we were going to be a family of four.  We had no idea how lucky we were about to get.

After a downright miserable first six months, I hit my pregnancy stride and enjoyed the last months of carrying her. On a chilly November morning I  waddled into the Labor and Delivery floor of our hospital.  I hoped for a VBAC but for reasons beyond my control we ran out of time and she would be delivered via c-section as her sister was four years prior.  The OB asked us if we wanted to listen to the Top Gun soundtrack or Celine Dion's greatest hits.  We picked Top Gun (no brainer, really).  She was delivered as Jerry Lee Lewis's Great Balls of Fire was playing.  This was no accident.  Karma, kismet, fate, whatever you want to call it was at work. I could not think of a better song to start the soundtrack of Fitzy's life.  You see, our second daughter is quirky and wild.

  

Wild in a great way.  The kind of wild that makes me leave a pile of puffs on the floor and dirty dishes in the sink to sit and play with her.  She demands our attention and repays us with giggles, smirks and an occasional nose pinch.  

The kind of wild that astonishes her family when she starts crawling up the stairs at six months old. The kind of quirky baby who would prefer quiche to infant cereal in the morning.

She challenges me in ways I could have never imagined and I am sure she will continue to do so right on  into her teens.  She makes me throw my head back and laugh, she makes me frustrated beyond words (anyone who was on our beach vacation knows what I am talking about.  The only thing that made her stop crying was egg salad sandwiches.  Weird, right?).  She makes me think we are nuts for considering a third (eventually). She makes me feel blessed when I tuck her in at night and she smiles sweetly and goes right to sleep.  She makes me a better mother.

Happy Last First Day of Preschool

Today was Mimi's last first day of preschool.  This is her third year at the preschool at the Methodist church in our town.  The same preschool her Daddy attended years ago (how cute is that?).

She was a bit sad when she found out many of her friends from school were going to Kindergarten this year.  I'm quietly thrilled she has an October birthday and has to wait one more year.  One more year of tagging along to the grocery store on Monday mornings, one more year of middle of the day trips to the library for story time, and one more year of hearing her slowing coming down the stairs carrying her bunny Snowy after nap time. 

Happy First Day of Preschool, Mimi!

Chores, see also Cheap Labor

Mimi has been a very easy child thus far (excuse me while I go knock on everything wood I can find).  She still asks before raiding the snack shelf in the pantry, is quick with "please" and "thank you" and is very patient and kind with her little sister.  But man can she make a mess!

Mimi, like most four year olds leaps from art project to Playmobile to roller skates to dress up without looking back at her path of destruction.  I have tried multiple ways to bribe encourage her to pick up after herself but nothing has done the trick.

Today this arrived in the mail.

The Melissa & Doug Responsibility Chart comes with many magnets suggesting chores, responsibilities and positive behavior.  

So far Mimi has received smile faced "reward" magnets in the Tuesday column for "Cleaning Up Toys", "Setting the Table" and "Getting Ready for Bed".  

Here's hoping she keeps up the good work!

What Not to Wear, the Earthquake Edition

Today, just a little before 2:00pm the house started shaking. Slow at first I thought Mimi might be jumping on the furniture in the living room. About five of the longest seconds ever when by and I realized the shaking was getting worse. Things were actually falling off shelves in the pantry.  I scooped Fitzy out of her highchair and urged Mimi to head to the front door.
  
She bolted out with Fitzy and me trailing behind her. At the last moment (earth still quaking and whatnot) I realized I was in a bra and my favorite pair of Talbot's bermudas.  My first thought as I see my four year old dash down the stairs to join our frightened neighbors? "Wouldn't you know it?  It's the end of the world and I am half dressed!".

Earlier, during the delightful time that is shoveling parsnips into an angry teething infant's itty bitty mouth I was hit in the tummy with a spoonful veggies.  I did what made sense at the time...took the shirt off, hit it with some Shout and carried on, damn it.


...and then THE EARTH STARTED SHAKING!  My brain was all "calmly collect my people and get into a doorway"...."wait that doorway looks questionable...that one too!......I don't want my last moments to be spent in our stupid half-bath that should be a closet.....get outside, now!"


At the last minute I grabbed a itchy wool sweater slated to make the next trip to the donation bin, put it on and joined Mimi outside.  Luckily my neighbors were all too distracted what with the EARTHQUAKE and all to notice.

Hello World!

Thank you for visiting This Modern Mom! I've carved out this little corner of the world and am making it my own.

I'm a thirty-something mom of two little girls, Mimi (4 years old) and Fitzy (9 months old). I'm married to my college sweetheart, a most handsome computer geek.

I have the best of both worlds when it comes to my work inside and outside of our home.  I currently work part-time in the Meetings and Convention world, while staying at home with the girls the balance of the time.  I consider myself a SAHM/WOHM hybrid.

I used to blog once in a while on our family blog, updating grandmothers and aunts in distant lands with pictures of our Littles.  It was great but what I really wanted was a place where I could vent, drop the occasional *#^$%, and share my stories of modern motherhood.  

Welcome to This Modern Mom.  Let's get this party started!