I am exhausted

So far today Destructo has:  woke up for 2.5 hours over night and threw hitting temper tantrums,
woke up an hour earlier than normal,
had an explosive poo diaper that covered his PJ's,
pulled all the books off the shelf in his room,
pulled all the DVD's off the DVD rack,
attempted to play in the toilet,
escaped naked into the back yard,
escaped in a diaper and socks into the front yard,
forced me to buy a new pack of paci's since I forgot to bring one for him when we went out,
ate corn bread and mashed potatoes for lunch since he refused anything else,
frantically warned everyone that the fire under the buffet thingies was hot, hot, loudly and incessantly,
watched more Olympic soccer than I care to admit since I have finally found a TV show he likes,
caused mommy to DVR said soccer since he will actually watch it,
pulled all the puzzles off the shelf and dumped the pieces all over the living room,
knocked the vaccum over and rode it like a horse,
threw away all the contents of his diaper bag one by one until I caught him,
pulled dirty dishes out of the dishwasher,
fed the dog blueberries and cantaloupe,
rode the dog, hit the dog, layed on the dog, walked on the dog, headbutted the dog, etc
learned to climb on the futon and fell off at least once,
threw my phone across the room,
hit the laptop so hard I am amazed it didn't break,
ate pizza for dinner because I was too exhausted to cook,
pulled said pizza off the counter onto the floor,
fed the dog pizza and peas but sneakily this time,
let his sippie cup leak milk all over the floor,
conned my husband out of bits of his brownies even though we don't give him stuff like this normally,
bit me hard when I finally let him nurse after he had been begging for ten minutes,
threw a fit when I then refused to nurse him,
ran away when I tried to change his poop butt,
ran away when I tried to put his PJ's on, and
forced me to read his Goodnight Moon to him and the wooden puppy toy.

Is it any wonder I am so tired I can barely stay awake?  Ahh motherhood the only time in your life when exhaustion is so normal you forget you are tired.  :)

The Sunshine Award

I was nominated for the Sunshine Award and am so glad I was. The purpose of this award is to "positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere." I definitely like being inspired and encouraged. Who doesn't?  A big thanks to Meredith at http://www.themomoftheyear.net/ for nominating me for this award.  Check out her blog if you haven't already.  She is funny and her posts are always entertaining to read and I can relate to so many of her posts.

The requirements of the Sunshine Award (as Meredith outlined in her post ) are that I need to thank those who nominated me and link back to them (done).  I also need to post the award on my blog (done times two), answer 10 question, and pass the award onto to 10 other bloggers.

Now onto the awarding.  These are ten blogs that I check out regularly, they inspire me to become a better blogger, make me laugh, or are very informative (or a combo of all three of those.)  These aren't in any particular order either.

1)  Growing Up Geeky  This blog is awesome.  I love linking up with the Toddle Along Tuesday blog hop.  Occasionally Melissa's husband will guest post on her blog and he is hilarious.  She is funny and very honest about motherhood.  

2)  The Adventures of J-Man and Millerbug   This blog hosts the Finding New Friends weekend blog hop and I have gotten a lot of new followers from this particular hop.  This particular blog also has tons of good product reviews that I have gotten great info from.

3)  Me + the Moon    This blog hosts the Find and Follow Friday blog hop.  Can you guys tells I love blog hops?  I just find so many awesome new blogs and gain followers this way.  She also does a monthly product I love post which I really like reading.  

4)  Jellibean Journals  This momma is living in Costa Rica which makes her super cool in my book since I honeymooned in Costa Rica and loved it.  She posts very creative ideas and recipes and has an adorable little girl.  

5)  Eloping Stethoscope  This blog has a number of link ups and I have gained a lot of followers from them.  You guys should definitely check this blog out.  She sells jewelry on it that is just gorgeous.  She also post up lifting things like her recent it's okay Thursday post.  I really enjoyed that one.

6)  Clairejustineoxox  This blog has a creative link up which I love to link up my crafts I do with my son to.  She is also a very talented photographer and has some amazing pictures on her blog.  Plus the blog has recipes.  What's not to love?

7)  A Day in the Life  Mary of this blog is am amazing momma raising twins.  She and I have a lot of things in common and recently both wrote posts about the moms we thought we would be compared to the moms we really are.  This blog is honest and fun to read. 

8)  Mama to 4 Blessings Our Homeschool Blog  This blog has some great crafts and teaching ideas.  She also hosts a Wordless Wednesday blog hop that I always link up with.  There are even product reviews and recipes as well.  It is a well rounded little bit of everything blog and she homeschools just in case we decide to go that route.  I can pay attention now!

9)  Smiles n' Snuggles  I love this blog!  I got one of my son's very favorite new things to play with from her (colored rice.)  Her posts are realistic and I love how she has been tracking her pregnancy each week.  I plan on doing that if we have another baby.

And finally, 10)  Local Sugar Hawaii  Nicole from this blog is so sweet and always comments on my blog which just makes my day.   She also hosts the Aloha Friday blog hop and we all know how much I love blog hops.  Check out her blog for some yummy looking recipes as well.

The questions Meredith asked me are below.

1. If you could live anywhere, where would you live?
  Umm Lexington, Kentucky.  I would love to be right in the middle of thoroughbred breeding country.  Or maybe Costa Rica.  We really loved it there.

2.  If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would you go?
I would take any vacation right now.  My child is wearing me out.  Oh but my family has to go so I have built in babysitters.  Ahh peace and quiet.

3. What's your favorite part of blogging?
The positive response to things I post.  I had no idea if my writing was good enough to get people to read, let alone comment and follow me.  At first I was mainly sticking to informative, facts based posts, but recently have even started just blogging about thoughts and feelings more.

4. Coffee or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate.  My acid reflux hates coffee.

5. How do you take your coffee?
Mocha flavored with ice

6. What do you do to relax?
Here recently blog, but in the past watch birds, read, search the internet, or walk my dog.

7. How do you keep calm in stressful situations?
My success in remaining calm is entirely dependent on two factors: how tired and cranky I am and how tired and cranky the kids.  (Meredith's answer is so true just for the record.)  I try to find the humor in situations which helps me not lose my cool.

8. Beautiful skies or clear with stars?
Stars.  I love stars.

9. Dogs, cats or fish?
Any of them.  I love animals.

10. Be honest--which name do you like better, maiden or married?
By far married.  It is literally half the length with no Z.

Happy Sunshine Awards fellow bloggers!  I hope this brightens every ones days.

Sometimes a mommy's just gotta have fun

Since having my son, I have not been away from him much at all.  I did go to the Kentucky Derby in May and had a blast.  But other than that, I have basically only been away for him for a few hours here and there and to go to work.   Breastfeeding complicates matters of hanging out with friends because you have to pump or feed the baby every few hours.

Churchill Downs twin spires

Well I have been down in the dumps and seriously needing a fun girls night.  When Mr.Destructo had to travel out of state for work this week, I figured out a wonderful solution to my problem.  I invited one of my coworkers who is also one of my close friends to spend the night and have a sleepover.  ( I know, I know it made me sound like I was five when I asked her.)

This was the best of both worlds since I could still be with my sonny boy and have a girls night.  We started by having a feast of epic proportions at the local Mexican restaurant.  We had some delicious margaritas and cheese dip as well.

Then we went home and played with Kai for awhile and got him ready for bed.  Once he was fast asleep, we had some of those slushie Pina Colada things that you freeze and watched Sweet Home Alabama (only my all time favorite movie.)

Between reminiscing about our younger days and looking at horrible pictures (thank goodness Facebook and Myspace and smartphones were not really popular yet in my college days) the hours flew by and we stayed up way too late.  I might have even been giggling like a girl ( I know this from the anti-girlie girl.)

Since we both had to work the next day, we decided to go to sleep around 11.  Well I needed a snack so we sat outside since it was so nice out.  One thing led to another and before long we decided it was a right good idea to go swimming.  And a good idea it was.  My pool is in direct sunlight so it was probably 90 degrees and more hot tub like than pool like.  I need to float around my pool in the dark more often.

5:30 came way too quickly especially since I didn't go to bed until 12 and then Destructo decided to wake up and need "rockie rockie" at 3 AM.  It is definitely a coffee kind of morning (and I never drink coffee.)  But a small price for a night of laughs, swimming, and good memories made.

I highly encourage all you mommies out there to have a girls night sleepover.  It made me feel much younger than I have been feeling.  It also helped me to remember who I am, which sometimes seems to get lost.  I am Melissa, not just Destructo's mom or Mr.Destructo's wife. And this is something I should probably try harder not to forget.

This post is linked up over at the MOB Society blog.  Check it out!