Debating

In a few weekends Ryan has a conference in a beautiful part of Northern California, and the kids and I are going to tag along and make a vacation out of it, figured we might as well- free gas up, and free hotel room, and Ryan is going to be reimbursed for his food....and we're 99% sure a vacation is out of the question this year, unless we hit the lotto.  We have a friend up that way and she said there are lots of great things to do for toddlers..children's museums, and a little amusement park that's just for little guys.

But then last night I had a very selfish thought that I feel guilty for.

What if we left Curren at Grandma's house and we up with just Fin?

The longest i've been away from Curren is when we were in the hospital with Finley, and it wasn't even 2 days. Before that we left him one other time over night and I was a mess. I missed him sooo much I could hardly look at the pictures our family was texting us of him.

Ryan will be at conferences most of the days (3).  So it will be me with two kids in a hotel room, trying to keep one quiet so the other can sleep most of the time, and the one day Ryan has a break we can go do the fun stuff.

It would be so wonderful to get 3 full nights sleep! (Finley sleeps through the night, Curren does NOT) sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't it's a hit or miss.

But I know we would be up there thinking 'ohhh Curren would love this' to everything!

It would be nice to spend some time just Ryan and I. Before we know it Fin will  be crawling and as you moms know, it's a whole different ball game when that happens.

Plus Finley is so little she can be transported everywhere in the Ergo Carrier and we can do things late cause she can just sleep in there, she is great everywhere we go. Plus homegirl doesn't take a bottle so she's gotta come along for the ride!!

so hmmm what to do what to do

Meet the Familia

I thought, perhaps I should introduce the characters that will be talked about on this blog!

Welp, I'm Sarah. Let's start at the beginning but make it brief! Grew up in a small town here in CA lived next to almost all my family, majority of them were on my street. Italian/Portuguese/Basque/Scottish/ and American Indian make up my mutt of a DNA strand.  Stayed in this town till I graduated high school, moved to Santa Barbara for school, did some traveling, and met the first man i've ever loved-RYAN! We got married when I was 21 moved around..and 1 1/2 years later found out we were expecting our son, Curren. Moved BACK to that small town...back to the exact house I grew up in to make it even more interesting, and now my family has monopolized this street and we are all over it! 2 weeks after Curren turned 1 we found out Finley was on the way! I am on a wait list for a Nursing Program here, and as long as I stop popping out babies I will hopefully graduate in a few years, right now my focus is my kids and spending the few short years I have them at home, with them.  Here we are living our small town life, and trying to keep our passions alive.
I LOVE
being a stay at home mom
gardening
going on dates with my RYNITO
socializing
finding great textiles for my home
researching everything baby/toddler
cloth diapers
breastfeeding
pretty much sums me up.





                                                

Curren James Urbain...oh Curren Curren Curren. My boy, he is a character. Almost always laughing, climbing, running, jumping..non stop! We joke he is probably just a blur to Finley cause he is never sitting still! He just brings so much happiness to us and we are always cracking up at him. He is very loving, and if others are sad, he is sad...he can't stand even handle when characters on cartoons are upset, he will cry with them, which I find very sweet.  He has that stubbornness that Ryan and I have, and can give me a run for my money sometimes, but no one has a deeper love for him than we do, we'd do anything for him and Fin in a second. As i'm sure most of you moms feel you would do for your babies. Curren loves all food, esp spicy things. He asks to go to the beach on the daily, he is a really good athlete, even now he's super coordinated, and is very much a mama's boy. (which i secretly LOVE) hehe

Finley Sage Marie is our little doll, she's new to the fam so we're still getting to know her a bit :) so far, she is an angel she is the happiest baby i've probably ever met, and she just goes with the flow. I take her everywhere...partly because she DENIED the bottle hardcore..so when she's hungry i'm all she's got..but also because she is just happy to be doing anything with me, and I'm happy to have her with me! She sleeps through the night, and has been since week 4, lights up at Curren and cracks up at Giggs, melts Ryan's heart and my attention is hers.

Ryan is my husband, and is the most hardworking man I know, he will hold down 3 jobs if he has to, to provide for us. He is an amazing man, and an even more amazing Father. I knew he would be great with kids, but really...above and beyond what any wife could ever hope for. He is so into our kids, and wanting to do the best for them, and give them so many experiences. Ryan and I are very similar in personality, we butt heads hard sometimes, and we are both so stubborn so when we fight we fight hard, but when we love we love hard too! I think in the back of our minds we know right now(...two small kids...tight money...trying to buy a house....) is lots of stress, but we're keeping our eye on the prize of growing our family and one day traveling all over again and just enjoying each other and our family more, when things calm down. Ryan's a studly surfer, and can excel at any sport he tries his hand at. He teaches at a local high school and is very passionate about it, the students love him and the parents love him even more, he's doing big things at that school and they are very happy to have him..and we are so happy he is there! He also coaches soccer and loves to play guitar when the kids aren't climbing all over him

Giggs Bartholomew Cornelius. Our first baby, got Giggs when we got married, he was our child..and poor guy has been slowly pushed down the totem poll with each kid. He still sleeps with us, and gets walks, and we try to take him on our hikes and beach days. He's a great dog, cleans up under the high chair which is GREAT, slightly neurotic and gets very nervous..which goes with the Boston territory.  He was never protective, until we had kids, anyone at the door he will now bark, and when on walks if someone gets close to the kids he gets in between then, and we appreciate his loyalty very much. He's so good with the kids and Curren loves him to death, they seriously play all the time, it's great.

I'm new to blogging and old to facebook so thanks for reading!

I feel like an A-HOLE when..

Grocery store shopping with two kids is not something I like to call fun, going to play dates-fun, Club House-fun, parks-fun Grocery store NO BUENO. I set up the scene so Finley would be falling asleep just as we get into town, I can set her on the cart, put Curren in the big part and get my Milk, Pumpkin Bread Mix (for Curren's preschool class), cheese, cereal (the meal of moms), and crushed tomatoes.  Get the cart, put Fin in...Curren is screaming cause he wants to sit in the front...blah blah I convince him that he will get a treat if he shuts his pie hole. Sweet. Rattle Rattle goes the cart putting Fin into an even deeper sleep...success....DINK hit the curb going into the store, baby wakes up crying. EFFFFF! Curren starts grabbing whatever he can get his paws on, survival mode at this point, get the SHIZ and get OUT! Get to the checking line, curren is quiet with his sucker, Fin still crying....slide my card...debit...no cash back..put my card back..."can you slide your card again"? SERIOUSLY?? Curren wants another sucker...slide my card...no cash back...baby screaming...would you like to donate to breast cancer? i hit the NO I CAN BARELY PURCHASE THESE GROCERIES button.  "would you like to donate to breast cancer today?" me-"why do you guys have a button, and then ask anyways?? no i don't!" grab receipt slam kids into car and go home.
i'm a dick i should have donated to breast cancer.
awww i forgot the MFing pumpkin bread mix!

missing the VTA

I just watched an episode of World of Jenks, and he follows a surfer girl while she competes and you just get to know her. Seeing all the scenes of the misty mornings by the ocean and the sun setting over the horizon, i could just smell the salty air, it really makes me miss living in Ventura.  The beach is so calming to us, whenever we're there we always feel like we can slow it down and take a breath....thats probably why whenever we need to talk about something serious we find ourselves at Mugu Rock, or somewhere down south. PLUS i'm pasty and freckel-y so lets be real..the gloomy weather suits my skin well.

Ryan and I moved to Ventura about a year after we got married, we had a little 600 square ft. studio that was miniature and had a little view of the ocean and islands. We lived right across the st. from a huge dog park, and it was perfect for us and Giggs..who was our furry child at the time. It was within walking distance of lots of good restaurants, shops, and bars. Good times. We always say that when (one day) we can buy a house we would love to live in that area again. Things are different now that we have kids..we are looking at the schools where we would want to buy a house, crime rates... etc. Of course it's wonderful having our family so close by..but I kind of feel a part of our hearts got left in Ventura! We got pregnant with Curren there, and lived there up until the month he was born, it was a very happy time. It's only a 20 min drive..we are usually there at least once a week going to festivals, or just walking on the pier. Seems like there is always stuff to do there, thats something I miss too..activity and lots of it! I don't like sitting at home for two long, and neither does Ryan, here are some pics from that year..

2 months pregnant with Curren :) i'd be nice to be that skinny again, please note our nautical themed bathroom with nasty ROPE all over the borders of EVERYTHING

 My little cousin D came over to play for a day, hanging out in Gigg's house

 We had lots of fun on Ryan's motorcycle...but we sold it when Curren came along

 We always took Giggs to Solimar at night to burn up some energy...usually after 2 hours of the dog park!

 Halloween, last min..i was a biker not sure what Ryan was?

 5 months with Curren

 Pregnancy wears you OUT!

 My beautiful cousin Brooke in our front patio

 Brooke and Brennan used to come over for sleep overs..and I introduced them to the real stuff...Super Nintendo- Mario Brothers LOST LEVELS...they always thought it was so old school but they loved it! They would also always watch The Neverending Story. Gotta teach the younger gen.

 I miss having the little cousins over!!

Toddler Tips

My son Curren is a bada bing bada boom type of kid. He likes things NOW, and before he finishes one thing he's onto the next. I love that about him, but it can create lots of messes. Here's two tips i've used over the past 26 months to make things a little faster for the little Lord, and easier on me.

Keep Kitchen Shears handy!
-forget cutting with a knife and fork, chop that chicken, grape, pankcake, grilled cheese, or spaghetti up GINSU style in a few seconds. i keep a pair in my diaper bag too when we go to restaurants, makes it much easier so mom gets to eat too, cause you know you get handed all the food to cut up. snip snip snip hot dog and green beans are all toddler size.

Spray and Wash on the Hamper
- every hamper in our house has a bottle of spray and wash hanging from it (with the gun triggered to OFF) it's the only stain lifter i've found that still works even if it was sprayed a week ago and is crusty at the bottom of your hamper. my kid is filthy by 7:00 am, we're talking grass, mud, syrup, you name it it's on him and in the hamper by nap time.

what do you do to make things quicker and easier? i can always use some mom tips!