MommaAMommaB

Here’s a clip from the preview video for our newest Teacher’s Pay Teachers product: REPTILES UNIT Teachers Bundle Pack

(Lizard Boy loved our week of activities!)

That being said…CHRISTMAS TIME is here!

Well… vlogmas, that is. The time of year when vloggers… vlog. Every day, consecutively posting for the 25 days of December leading up to the big day (Christmas, that is).

Don’t worry, I won’t be posting any jingle bell soundtracks for awhile, I just wanted to mention that vloggers and other digital media creators and sellers are most likely thinking about December already (time moves faster in the social media world, I am finding. I refuse to be “behind” this year)! It’s crazy, but many vloggers I have reached out to admit that they too are thinking about content for the Christmas 2019 season.

So, when you watch your favorite episodes this season, consider that they probably filmed their intros and bought special gear and started collaborating with other YouTubers and businesses in months prior.

That is to ask kindly, that if you even marginally enjoy a creator’s content, throw a thumbs-up! It’s whatever the opposite of rude is. And it really helps them with those pesky analytics and helping YouTube become better for it’s partners and viewers.

But I digress.

Amy and I had not been over-the-top fans of the holiday until recent years (her, begrudgingly sharing her birth month; me, getting stressed out about all the gift buying). Yet when our first child came along, we decided to go all in.

We do the whole shebang: family cards, swapping Christmas holiday celebrations each year (her hometown on even years, mine on odd), vlogmas (this will be our third year) and hosting an annual family bowling tournament. I mean, we go hard now.

Our decor spilled outside our house for the first time ever in 2017 (save for the occasional colored bulbs we had been known to screw into the porch fixtures in days leading to the extra ‘time off work’).

Amy even had a Griswold moment of falling off the ladder last year. We kept the light clips up this year to limit time spent up on the ladder. My time spent on the ladder, that is. Now that I’m not pregnant or nursing a newborn, I will be the one resuming those responsibilities. Whew!

Anyways, in preparation for all of my teaching resources that need to be created and listed in my online stores before November plus finding time to catch my YouTube channel up (new intros, new editing software to learn, etc) I am finding that my days look a lot like working from home.

I also am thinking about volunteering with the YMCA again for basketball – I tried tried tried to talk Amy into it (basketball is her thing! I hardly even like it!), but she says she’s not interested but wants me to do it. Admittedly, it was fun to coach. I am considering it (but why, after the I-am-so-busy rant?).

I must organize and sell and donate and pack away and re-hang clothes that I have taken out of every drawer and dresser in sister’s room in a fit of organizing (before she made it painfully aware that she needed her bedroom for sleep at that instant, and I had to abandon the project. It’s waiting for me at home).

But before all that…I must sew a Winnie-the-Pooh costume tonight or tomorrow (the pajamas I ordered for the base of it just arrived on the day of the writing of this blog, 10/25. By the times you read this post, Halloween has come and gone, and I am editing this from the future – neat!).

While life is crazy and chaotic and showing no signs of slowing any time soon with two young children sharing the same bubble as me at most all times, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I remember the days I wished for these days. Really. It’s not lost on me how lucky I am.

Still, it’s nice when I get the luxury of stepping out for a coffee all by myself on a Friday, when my spouse’s week ends early. The fact that it’s a luxury is by no means lost on me, and while I catch up on saying hello to you guys and having a quick snack, I struggle with the mom guilt of not being at home for a moment. For spending a few dollars. You know, all the things.

Trying to film it all, opening our house and home to criticism but really truly loving the art of vlogging. I even recently found a mom bashing site that is dedicated to singling out YouTube moms and family vloggers and just picking them apart. A bullying community, basically. While I don’t have the honor of being popular to be mentioned on it, a few of my friends channels are mentioned and it makes me sick to think of how mean people can be.

It’s a struggle that will one day force me to segway my channel to protect my children as they ‘opt out’ of filming (and likely, before then. I’m torn between keeping their lives 100 percent private and sharing them with the general public, which can be a scary place. But being in public can be scary, too. Do I save them from it? And in many cases, our kids sign release waivers for social media appearances as they do sports or special events. Do we opt out of those, too? Where’s the line? For now, I will try to find a healthy balance.)…

If you have any favorite video, please throw a ‘LIKE’ so I know what kind of content to make as our family vlogs face an uncertain future. It’s hard to envision the work that goes into vlogging each week, but it’s a true labor of love – so I’ll find a way to make it happen!

As far as vlogmas goes, we look forward to posting a short video update every day. It’s a great way for you to get to see more of the real ‘uncensored’ us. No “Cinematic B Roll”, just good old vlog-style vlogging. Just us, talking to you.

We will also have our normal product reviews thrown in, with some favorites, guest appearances, Christmas card swaps, challenges and tags, travel vlogs and MORE!

Until then, it’s business as usual.

THANKS FOR SUPPORTING OUR CHANNEL

Happy Christmas in October (…Remember to check out REPTILES Unit before you go)!

Love,

Mama B

Click bait title! No hangovers for us, not this year – sugar nor otherwise.

I made a joke to my wife in the middle of costume struggles and trying to get out the door that “this is the last year I’m doing this, next year we will get Halloween themed drinks and call it a day!” Then in seemingly the next instant we were laughing at the somewhat-managed chaos and taking family photos and I remember that some day, I’ll be looking at these pictures and glad I have them. I mean, I already forgot what my one year old was for Halloween last year! (I kid. Sort of.)

(She was a bear.)

We were all in bed by 10 this year, after trekking through the Hundred Acre Wood as a rag tag Winnie-the-Pooh themed entourage. Okay, not the forest per se…but at least The Avenue (our downtown collection of small businesses and restaurants worth a darn).

We exhausted the kids and even had a moment to ourselves to catch up after a very busy week. We decided our time was best spent calling it an early evening.

I woke up feeling ready to tackle the weekend (a time when I get a lot of my social and digital media projects done).

It was another successful year!

Canyon walked through our town as if he were in a dream land, too stunned this year to utter the magic words until the very last few candy volunteers near our parked car stopped to talk to him for a moment.

“Happy Halloween.” Barely a whisper. What a whisper wants to be when it grows up some day.

To be fair, what we had just experienced was almost a feeding frenzy of candy goers that would shock anyone – especially a two year old (at one point I heard people shouting at their children to hurry, or in some cases even run, and in other unrelated incidents I heard the words “go” and “faster” intentionally strung together).

Tiny, bucket wielding characters such as unicorns and uni-kitties (a modern twist on the classic cat costume) as well as pint sized dinosaurs (some costumes inflated with air yet, somehow, remaining delightfully small) and terrifying Pennywise imitators – all rushed along by their parents, many of whom were trying to avoid clipping the heels of strangers who were also walking briskly (and within the nearest six inches from our wheels at any given moment).

We were hurried, single file, from business to business. I mean, there was no official beginning and end to the thing, you just kind of timed the flow of the crowd and…went for it!

Despite being 3 P.M., there had been a chill in the air, the tall buildings blocking most of the sun, and we made quick work of it: Tigger, Pooh, a tiny bumblebee — and me (a blue pot of ‘hunny’).

Next, it was off to Nan and Papa’s, where we can always count on a special treat. This year it was a hot slice from Amy’s favorite Wenatchee pizzaria Abby’s Pizza N’ More (where we hosted a baby shower and celebrate all our family birthdays – we do combined celebrations every few months for the older “kids”, ahem, among us. Complete with beer!).

By then, the Trick Or Treat seal had been broken. It was on! A rice cereal and marshmallow treat was quickly devoured, followed by a piece or three of chocolate, and then the poor child was forced to eat something substantial. A few bites of pizza, which he thoroughly resisted.

If you would have seen the look in his eye, you would have let him go for it, too – despite the risk of a huge meltdown and sugar induced fit and bedtime chaos.

But – so far, so good. When I told him he was done with candy for the night, he took a half-sucked sucker out of his mouth and PUT IT BACK IN THE WRAPPER AND HANDED IT OVER.

Maybe I got majorly lucky this year or perhaps he was simply tired out from the wonder of SPOOKY HALLOWEEN to bother with a bedtime negotiation. Either way, I’ll take it!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Poor Dakota caught the crud during our travels (Sick babies are so hard to watch, you just feel so helpless as a parent!).

After a couple days of consistently high fevers and rattling cough, we decided to take her in to the local doctors office, where the doctor determined a virus was running it’s course.

After discharge, Sis and I hung out back at our room, with Mama and a bottle of Tylenol (she ended up cutting four new teeth during our travel. Oh girl, you sure give us a run for our money!).

Canyon toured the local aquarium and enjoyed lunch with Mom and grandparents while Sis and I rested.

When one is in a foreign place with a sick child, one has to start thinking of possibilities – and it can easily turn to panic. I admittedly called my son’s day with his grandparents a bit short after sister woke up from a nap and struggled to breathe a little bit. I knew they were at least twenty minutes or more away, and they had the carseat in their possession.

As I watched her fuss and try to get comfortable with over a hundred degree fever, I tried not to overreact: practicing breathing techniques while walking with her on the covered patio (the lanai) for some fresh air. When she started coughing and struggling to catch a deep breath for a minute, I called my wife and asked her to start thinking about heading back towards us, juuust incase.

After a few more moments of wet and weak crying, she worked up whatever phlegm was bothering her. I guess. She seemed to calm down remarkably within moments, and then resumed her teething status of gnawing on her knuckles and refusing her bottle. She had to be hungry, by now. I sat her in her high chair and sat on the couch next to her in the shared kitchen-living space. After a few calm moments I decided to give her a snack.

I cut up a few sliced olives into even smaller pieces, thinking a bite of her favorite special treat (yeah, weird, I know) might help her aching gums. Of course midway through a bite she has another coughing fit, inhaling the olive segment. As I unbuckled her and began to pull her from her highchair, the particle unlodged itself, flying past my cheek and landing on the couch behind us. That’s when I finally lost it, and started crying, myself.

I think it was lack of sleep, a bit of a stressful travel, and dealing all day with a sick baby that just had me extra on edge. I just held her and quietly cried (as she sobbed) for a minute. Then, just like that, the storm was over.

Everything calmed. The ocean could be heard once more, it’s unwavering presence temporarily dulled by the drama in moments before. This feeling, this emotional release, was imminent. I had been burning the candle at both ends lately, trying to keep up with life and the pursuit of not forgetting anything while planning and doing all the things. My sick children seemed to be an embodiment of the stress I had been dealing with, leading up to this vacation. We were supposed to relax and leave it all at home while we enjoyed the beach, but the truth is you can’t run away from it all.

Even though we try to portray happiness and success in our social lives, everyone has struggles they go through and internal challenges they face. This good cry was unintentional, unexpected and exactly what I needed.

It felt good, and I’m not ashamed to say it. I didn’t feel weak for not ‘being strong’ for my children. I had been strong all day. All week. Most of the month. But sometimes, being strong means taking care of yourself. And a good cry helped me release my own frustration so I could be a better parent.

AND THAT’S OKAY.

I was so relieved to see my family walk through the door at just as I pulled myself together. What a sweet moment of relief!

Of course, the second they arrived home the stinker was able to put on a smile and drink a bottle.

KIDS.

SIGH.

Then, it was to off the pool for me! I was happy to start (and finish!) a good book, a rarity these days that used to be a weekly part of my life. I still felt a bit anxious, on edge. Not feeling the typical vacation vibe, but still just embracing this season of my life and thankful for it. After all, I could be at the E.R. right now, with sick babies. Instead, I am able to sit with a hot cup of soup and a cold drink, next to a pool with strangers that I don’t have to try to impress or small talk with. Just my sunnies and a hat and a book.

I could finally just take a few deep breaths and recharge my batteries. No vlogging, no editing. Just immersing myself in a book and shutting out the rest of the world. Letting the blood settle back into my tight extremities, the buzzing in my head calmed with each chapter.

Then, suddenly, I felt pulled back. As if a light switch flipped on. My head was telling me “Just stay here and finish the book. There’s nothing you can really do at home, the doctor says ride it out. She’s with competent adults, three of them.”

My heart said, simply: go.

Being a mom is very strange and wonderful and not at all what I expected. It’s better. And harder. Just as I walked back, I met my wife at our glass door, and she was happy to see me. Setting down a sick child to mix a bottle is never fun, and some of us are skilled at one-handed bottle making. Some of us aren’t so much, but have plenty of other life skills to offer the world. 😉 Anyway, she was glad I was there! My mommy-sense was right (that sounds so god awful cheesy, the Spidey Sense pun, but it’s true!). I was able to help with bedtime… and the poop my toddler had just as I was arriving.

Have I mentioned my family has impeccable timing in almost all that we do?

Being an introvert can be very taxing, it’s strange but true. I felt like I needed a vacation after this trip, but also realize every single moment how truly VERY amazingly WONDERFULLY blessed I am to be living this life.

It’s nice to reconnect with yourself and loved ones on a vacation away from everyday life – even when everyday troubles find you in paradise, you’re still in paradise!

Glad to report everyone is better now, but it was a humbling experience. I’ll always have the information of a local clinic, and even though we are now in a fight with our insurance over the out-of-network bill (after two hours of phone conversations before even going to the clinic), it was worth it for piece of mind. I can’t imagine getting on a plane two days later, had she still been struggling like that.

Canyon came down with whatever sister had, just as we were leaving the island. You can see him without a shirt in the video below, during our dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Poor guy was so hot and uncomfortable, but I am glad we are all over ‘the crud’ now!

Watch the video to ‘hang out with us’ on our last few days in Maui:

Mahalo, Hawaii! We have unfinished business (we’ll be back)!

Love,

Mama B