what a week

It's been so long! I didn't mean to stay away, really I didn't! I was sick - very sick. I could hardly find the strength to get through the day let alone type on the keyboard. I remember before having kids how I would take for granted the times when I was sick and I could just "rest". I could lay in bed aaaaaaall day long, drink juice and watch cheesy movies on the internet. I would get better quickly due to all this rest and relaxation. But not now. With two kids, being sick is a delicate balancing act. Trying to heal while also keeping the kiddos fed and clothed and changed. It involves a lot of "Hey, wanna watch Yo Gabba Gabba?" and napping when they are napping. It also meant that the instant, and I mean instant, my husband was in the door the baby and I were off to the bedroom to lie down and not get up unless it meant the bathroom or a water bottle refill.

During this week  the baby also got sick. Luckily this did not involve a lot of projectile vomiting, but there was plenty of poop. Yucky, watery poops and lots of temperature taking. She recovered quicker than I did. She had about 4 days of fevers, while I had 7. (I think her secret weapon was the breastmilk, hehe). There were some positives to be had this week too - lots of baby cuddling and I lost 8lbs. Hellooooo flu diet! It's definitely a challenge to get through a bad flu while looking after babies. It's not something I'm looking forward to doing again anytime soon, that's for sure! But it is do-able. My mom always tells me that when things get tough as a mom, you just do what you gotta do and she's right. You make it work! Next time though, I would much prefer having a nanny or two around to help out - hey, I can dream, right??

Want to color Rosie? Please, PLEASE color so Mama can sit here and close her eyes... just... for a minute............

5 things you might not expect when starting roller derby

1. It is all-ecompassing - What you think will be a fun, exciting past-time soon becomes one of the most important things you do. Your priorities shift and you soon find yourself scheduling your kid's activities around your practice schedule.

2. It's addictive - Before you know it you will be counting down the minutes until your next practice, religiously watching roller derby videos on Youtube while feeding the baby, and be searching online shops for some good deals on gear.

3. It sometimes like being in high school all over again - This one isn't a constant in derby, but it definitely happens. The drama. This was something I should have expected as I was joining a huge group of women, all from different walks of life, and spending hours on end with them. I wasn't prepared though for some of the drama that ensued when we first began. (Luckily the drama-mongers didn't stick around too long and our league is much calmer!).

4. It's expensive - You might think that you just buy your initial fresh meat package and you're set, but you will want to upgrade, especially when you start playing bouts. (Unfortunately in my case I never have any extra money, so I'm still rockin' the fresh meat gear I started with. This is definitely fine, but you do find yourself wanting to upgrade!)

5. The guilt - You will feel guilty. When you walk out the door for yet another practice or game or special training, your husband/partner will give you "the" look. The look that means "I understand you need your own time, but you're really leaving me with two babies again?? Especially the one that screams the minute you leave since she's no longer attached to your boob?" It sucks, but I have to go to derby. If I didn't, I would go crazy - I wouldn't be the mom I am if not for taking time for myself too!

barf all over the place

Today was a day filled with sore toes and baby barf.

The first half of my day was spent at a special roller derby practice with a guest coach. The first 45 minutes was spent working on getting comfortable being up on our toe stops. So ya... ouch! He's a great coach and is teaching us a lot of valuable things, but I feel completely invisible at his practices. It seems like he only sees the "star" skaters, the jammers. Fine, maybe he does, but I still work my butt off out there and will keep doing so! I am determined to be a better, more confident player. There are times when I'm scared to play or to scrimmage, wishing it was over or wondering what I've gotten myself into. I hate feeling like that. I just want to love it! Once the nerves settle and I get into the game it does gets better and I start to really enjoy myself. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy derby - I just find actually playing it can be pretty scary sometimes! Our next bout is on the 15th, so here's to hoping my confidence level is just a little bit higher by then!

Then my evening was spent with my 6 month old seemingly unable to keep anything down. She threw up her supper, milk, water - anything I gave her. She's now sleeping after a big feed and fingers crossed she keeps it in her system! I'd rather not have to run to the hospital with a dehydrated baby tonight thank you very much! Luckily she doesn't have a fever and is still pretty happy and playing so I'm thinking it isn't too serious. I hate seeing my babies sick! (Though can I admit that I do love the extra cuddliness when they are sick? Is that awful of me?) Hoping that by the morning we have our happy little girl feeling better!

you're never too old to play with toys

I spent my Saturday finding some sales and putting together a dollhouse.

We ran to Wal-mart with the girls to pick up a few needed items. I stumbled upon a Nuk "Freshfoods Food Mill" on half price (snagged it for $7) and since Tess is starting solids and I hate having to dirty up the big food processor every meal, decided to give it a try. Haven't used it yet but will be doing a product review on it once we see how it goes!

I also ran to my parent's home to pick up a few things from the attic. Tess needs some of the bigger baby clothes I have packed up so I grabbed a few things for her. I also found my old Playmobil mansion dollhouse. This was the thing of my dreams when I was young. I spent several years pining over it until my mom and stepdad surprised me with it one Christmas morning. They were up until 2am putting it together, down to the last individual petal on each individual flower. It was beautiful, I was in love! Putting it back together today for my oldest daughter brought back so many memories of wonderful playtimes. Rose's eyes almost popped out of her head as it came together! She played with it the rest of the day. I am a HUGE Playmobil fan and have several sets besides the dollhouse. Rose will definitely be getting a few sets for upcoming birthdays and Christmases but I'd love to start collecting again for myself too!

Tomorrow is a special roller derby practice as we have a guest coach in. Pretty excited for it as I'll be picking up some new wheel bearings I'm buying from a teammate and I plan on trying a new setup for my wheels. I'll get back to you on how I like the bearings and wheel placement! I'm going for some more grip when I'm digging in to push someone off the track! Oh Roller derby, how I love you! It's my twice a week time all for me, where I'm more than mommy and wife - I'm my alter-ego, I'm an athlete, I'm powerful. Since starting it when Rose was just 5 months old I feel like my life has changed drastically for the better. I've made new friends, am in better shape, and have gained a ton of confidence. If you're interested, check it out - see if there is a local league near you!

(Me in action as Sirius Block - Photo by Kevin Molyneaux)