That's my kid....

So today I decided that I wanted to try something new and go to a soft play area. I never thought that I would let my kid play in a public area like that because I am a germ freak, but I figured all the months of breast feeding built up a healthy enough immune system to handle it. So I decided we would do Chickfila for lunch and play there as well. They are a pretty clean place and I figured the play area wouldn't be too bad. Well when we arrived we realized it was spring break in valdosta so it was crazy in there, we also went around 12:45 so it was a lunch rush. We got our food and had a booth right by the window and Preston was so excited looking out at the play area while eating his food and sucking down the yummy lemonade....that darn lemonade! Anyways, I took him out to the play area and there were two grandmothers whose grands were way above the height and age limit to be out there, but I didn't say anything. They were also really rude and didn't offer to move their wide loads of an ass over when I came out. I let it slide because Preston was so happy and excited. He never went up the slide but had a blast climbing up the stairs and just running around and laughing at the other kids. He was squealing and laughing so hard, the grandmoms were letting out irritated moans everytime my kids squealed but I didn't care, it was a play area! Well, all that lemonade caught up to Preston and being so caught up in all the new playing he let out a little pee. I picked him up as soon as it started and he only let out a Litle bit on the turf (floor) on th
e play area. I ended up getting some on me as well, but as a mom it didn't really phase me. Grandmoms freaked out and told there grands that they had to go immediately. Ughhh I was super embarrassed, and apologized. They were so rude and ignored my apology.WTF. There was another mom in there that grabbed her wipes and actually got down on the turf and helped me blot it up. I was so grateful that she didn't freak out! I told her thank you and apologized a billon times, she told me not to worry about it and said obviously the old ladies don't know what it's like to have a toddler in the early statues of potty training and that their kids probably stayed in diapers until they were 5! I asked someone that worked there if they sprayed anything special down and he said as long as it was on the floor, they really don't care. I also kinda felt bad because the mom that helped annoyed me earlier. She was talking
super loud, about a serious topic, but still super loud at the table next to ours when we were eating. Her daughter had brain cancer and had been through a ton on treatments and was doing better! I heard her whole convo while we were eating and she knew one of the grandmothers that freaked out and was talking to her when we were in the play area. They were also talking about how her husband was in the air force and the old ladies were saying so much good stuff about military members. I read in Miesha's post about all the stuff you could have said after the fact and I am gonna use my blog to say it! I would have said ummm really old grandma wide ass bitch??? You are probably wearing depends so you don't pee your pants so calm the hell down! And FYI, my husband is a Chaplain in the AF, so you can stop giving me all those oh young single mom stares that you were throwing my way. And your grandkids are too damn big to be in here anyways and the fact that they want to play on this little kid playset makes me wonder about what kind of parents they have! Oh and your perfume stinks! And my kid is a billion times cutter than your grands wish they could be. Oh and my purse is better than yours and you can kiss my ass because accidents happen and I don't need to feel bad about it!I would also like to give a super mom award to the mom that got down and helped me wipe up my kids pee with no hesitation!(sorry for any typos, I'm on my iPhone and auto correct is a pain!)

How RUDE!!!!!

I think sometime people don't realize how rude they are, especially women! Even when they may think that they are saying something nice sometimes you may need to stop and think before it comes out of your mouth. I am sure I could name a ton of things that I have heard especially since being a wife and mom but I am going to tell you the top ones and the reasons why, so here we go. 
  "Wow, how far along are you? You are so small, is the baby okay?" So I heard this question so many times during both of my pregnancies and asking someone why they are so small is just as rude as asking why they got so fat. I am 4'11" and about 100 pounds so when I was pregnant I gained about 23 pounds, which was a healthy weight. I think so many women use being pregnant as a reason to eat everything, but it's not. Once that baby is out of there you will be stuck with all that baby fat wondering what the hell happened! Question number 2, "How close in age are your kids? Was the last one an accident?" An accident???? How old are we people, I believe that most people knew how babies got here way before they were even thinking about sex, so to call a baby an accident is screwed up. You know that if you have sex there is a chance that 40 weeks later you will have a baby, so let's find a new word. Unplanned or a wonderful surprise or a blessing, but not accident. For the record Gracie was planned, I knew I wanted them close in age and wanted her born in the spring so that gave us a few months of trying and the last month of trying, I got my little girl! Question number three, "How old are you?" Asking someone their age once they are an adult is kind of rude. I usually get this question when I am with Rob, because people notice the age difference. I guess I forget about it because it's not a big deal. My newest response to that question is, "I'm 25, how old are you 46?" Rob and I are 16 years apart for all the people wondering. Okay, so question/statement number 4, "You know you won't be able to have a natural birth, your pelvis is too small..."So you are my doctor now? I am sure they are trying to say how tiny I am and so on, but who are you to tell me how I will be giving birth. And to all of the people who said that, I had both children in a natural labor with no issues. I had an excellent doctor and mid-wife that did an amazing job during both deliveries. Question 5, "Is he walking yet?" I was at the point of being ready to bitch slap the next person that asked me if Preston was walking, I even let it get to me at one point by taking him to the doctor and even had an apt. with a specialist to see if he was okay. The evening before he was scheduled to go see the specialist the kid walked, at 16 months. So what it took him little time, but I could not imagine having to chase after him and watch him climb and jump off of stuff any sooner than I did. he walked when he wanted to, which was okay for me!
And now my final question, number 6, "Why do you use cloth diapers and breast feed? It seems like such a pain in the ass." Well, I do cloth for a number of reasons. I consider myself to be somewhat green, I did not want all those chemicals on my children's skin, I knew that cloth diapered babies were potty trained sooner and it saved a TON of money! If you are thinking gross, you have to wash poop out and stuff, then maybe you shouldn't be a parent. The only times that I have ever had a diaper blow out has been the times when the kids had on disposables. We only use them when we are traveling somewhere and won't have access to a washer. As far as the breast feeding, I could do a whole post or two on why I do it. Not only is it healthy, easy, a wonderful bonding experience and pretty much amazing to see what your body can do, but it burns calories like no other! A couple weeks after having both kids I was bikini ready, no really I was, I will post a pic to prove it lol. 
So next time you are about to say something, take whatever adjective you are going to use and replace it with the opposite and see how it sounds then, small-big, green-wasteful, skinny-fat, etc.!
Below are some pics of me pregnant right before having the kidos, right after baby, cute cloth diapered butts and me and Rob! 

About a month after having Gracie

belly cast of both at start of 3rd Trimester, Preston on left Gracie on right

Nap time, a few days old Gracie

about 32 weeks with Preston

After nursing Preston, a few days old

Preston Daniel Marks

Savannah Grace Marks

My cloth diapered baby girl

Me and Rob

PRESCHOOLS the new college???????

So the search is on for pre-school, I feel that I am kinda stuck. I am pretty open with my parenting and not extremely strict with my kids, but when it comes to anyone watching them, the doctors they go to and baby gear that is for them I am a NUT. I research like crazy, I read reviews, I have a list of questions, I watch youtube video reviews, I go test it out, I google like crazy, basically if there is information out there I will find it! Like most parents I want the best for my kids and I want them to have even more and and even better opportunities than I had, which will be hard to top because my parents were and still are amazing, but I am trying. So like most parents, around the age of 3, it's time to really start thinking about schools and so on. My kids have never been to daycare and we don't really have a regular babysitter. It is not often that I leave them in the care of anyone besides myself, even their dad. CRAZY... I know, but as their mother, as the one who carried them for almost 40 weeks, who felt every kick and punch while in the womb and as the one who went through two natural labors, I feel that it's my job to protect them and keep them safe and it makes me seem a little loco it's okay. 
   With that being said I am STUCK! Preston turns 3 in September and I want him to be in preschool this Fall doing half days, at least 3 days a week! Well find a school you say, well it's not that simple. Being a military family we know that moving is always something we will have to deal with and I am okay with that, but right now I need to know where the hell we are going to be in the Fall. Rob is up for orders(means we will move some where) this year, actually any day now between now and June. Most really good preschools have waiting list and some kids have been on that list since birth! How can I compete with that, I can't! So yes, I am at the point of getting super stressed. If we were staying in Valdosta I would have him at Brookfield Academy with no hesitation, but I don't see that happening.
  When did school for a 3 year old become such a major event, is this college or preschool? Between the interviews and the waiting list and tuition, my kid would have better luck getting into Harvard... tomorrow! Yes, I know it may not be that extreme, but maybe it should be. These are people and other children that my kid will be around for a lot of his waking hours. Until I know where we will be living I have started to narrow it down to the type of school I want. I went to Montessori and so did my step-son, so Rob and I both agree that Montessori is at the top of the list, but there seems to be so much to really have to look at and not enough time. 
While I am grateful that Rob has a job that allows us to live in new places and experience new things, don't they know I have to pick a school! I am happy and looking forward to this next milestone in Preston's life, but I would like to have a little more control over the whole situation. I know some may feel that it's not a big deal and nothing to stress over, but IT IS! lol

What kind of doctor are you?????

So I am sure that we all have received advice that wasn't asked for! Well this post is a little venting on my part. Preston has been out of diapers since the end of December. We did the 3 day boot camp for Preston. He deosn't say that he has to pee but will grab himself and start dancing around, so we know he has to go then. He sometimes will say he has to yucky, but his doctor told us that the poop in the toilet part takes a little longer to click, but it will. Okay, so yesterday Rob was telling his doctor that one of the reasons he doesn't get a lot of sleep sometimes at night, is because Preston wakes up around 3 or 4 AM and uses the bathroom and he can't fall back asleep after that, so she suggested that we put him in diapers, well pull ups which are overpriced glorified diapers to me, at night. ummmm.... WTF???!!!!! really, I snapped on Rob before he could even finish! First of all does he not remember how hardcore the 3 day boot camp was, why would I back track. Second of all I'm not getting much sleep either, I still breast feed Gracie which has some late night and early morning requirements. Third of all, diapers or pull ups, I use cloth diapers unless we are out of town, so why would I do disposables now and why would I waste that money. Fourth of all, at least he is waking up to pee, I have changed a wet bed at 4 in the morning and I much rather take him to the bathroom then to have to clean up a bed wetting accident. I was beyond pissed that she would even suggest such a thing, not to mention she has made previous suggestions that I was not a fan of. Since I am on a roll I will mention it, we co-sleep and we love it. Preston's bed is now right next to ours, but he will crawl in the big bed around 5 or 6 AM and of course Gracie is there all night. It started when Rob deployed and I was breast feeding Preston and terrified of SIDS so I just kept him in the bed with me. Rob hated it at first but after trying the cry it out method, which I could only do one night (I cried more than Preston), he really loved the co-sleeping. So we started putting him in a bed next to our bed once it came closer to my due date with Gracie so he wouldn't feel like we just kicked him out the bed! I didn't even bother to set up the crib once we moved, because it would just take up space and I knew Gracie wouldn't use it. Anywho, this same doctor suggested that we put her in a crib and him in a bed. Well, WOMAN, NO, simple as that, I have my ways of doing what makes me happy and what works for me. I don't like cribs, they scare me and I don't want to get out of bed go get her, nurse her, take her back to her room and sleep with a monitor on trying to listen to her breath, yes I'm that paranoid! And hello, have you not seen all the crib recalls and deaths. My crib has not been recalled, but I don't want an accident with my child to be the reason why it makes the list! I'm sure she also believes in filling babies up with tons of formula and cereal to make them sleep, I don't do either, but I'm just saying, it has been suggested. 

   It makes me so mad, when people try to tell me what I should or shouldn't do with my own children. What works for some, doesn't work for others. I feel that I am their primary care-giver, 75% of their lives are spent with just me alone, so I'm not going to drive myself crazy doing what everyone else feels is right. I do what feels right and what feels natural, look at me with judgement eyes all you want, but at the end of the day, whenever it may be since my kids aren't on a schedule (judge some more people), I am happy with my children and how they are turning out. So for all you that like to judge here is a list for you to get to judging! I let them watch TV for more than 2 hours a day, I let Preston have milk and french fries for dinner, I hold Gracie while she sleeps (I did the same for Preston), I still exclusively breast feed Gracie and she rarely has solids, Preston has an ipod that he plays with for hours at a time, some days I let him eat french toast for all 3 meals, they have NEVER been sick, I sometimes hold Gracie in the Ergo carrier all day, we co-sleep, I use cloth diapers because I'm green, I pick them up as soon as they cry and over baby them sometimes, but you know what they are 2 of the happiest and healthiest children in the world. I rather enjoy every crazy moment with them than stress myself out to fit us in a perfect family mold! Okay, I'm done! here are some pics of the little happy children!