A Day at American Girl!

When  you have 3 kids, it's quite a luxury to go somewhere with just 1 or 2. Since the twinnies celebrated the big 4 today, just us girls celebrated yesterday by spending the day at American Girl.  I think when you give birth to a girl, the American Girl marketing team is quickly notified and the catalogs start coming. They have did in our house at least.  Presley loves when they arrive. 

We left the house early, at 8:30am and drove to Alderwood.  Presley was in heaven.  I had been telling her for weeks that we had this planned and she was so excited!!  She knew exactly what she wanted.  I am such a mother sucker and saying NO is hard to do, especially when you see your little girls eyes light up!!  She made out like a bandit.  Outfits galore, a tea party set, a pet puppy and a $25 hair-do.  YES, people you read right...a $25 hair do for a doll.  It came with a crown at least. 

 Here she is...her name is Princess. 

 On top of spending a fortune on dolls....after you shop, you spend another small fortune on food in the Bistro and since it was a special occasion, we splurged.  Chicken strips and hot chocolate for her.

 Hot Chocolate for princess.

 Banana split for desert. 

And of course V participated, she too got a Bitty Baby. 

Next stop, Pinkabella cupcakes to pick up a few dozen cupcakes for the party and Nordstrom for a new party dress, of course.  Such a fun girls day!!

Then we celebrated today with a big party at the bounce house, then a 6:30pm bedtime.  3 kids, no nap = early bedtime.  Now, daddy and I are drinking beer on the couch watching Shameless.  This birthday has been my favorite so far.  They knew what was going on and had such a blast. 

Pics to come....off to pack for our 10 day Hawaiian vaction!!  We are packing up all 5 of us and heading to Maui with Grandpa and Grandma for lots of fun in the sun!! 

Survival Tips for Toddler Moms.

Ok.  I love that people are reading....

Here are just a few things that get me through the day.

• You wanna know how I deal with 3 toddlers, here is the trick.  It works, trust me.  At 5pm, pour yourself your first glass of wine/beer.  By 8pm, you'll have a good buzz, it'll take the edge off and trust me, playing barbies or dinosaurs with a buzz is waaaaay easier.  And you'll be really good at hand puppets while laying in bed with the toddlers.  (I am not condoning drinking, just a few glasses and not every night.) 

• I've said this before and I'll say it now, when your having a bad day, think of me.  I am having worse.  I think about our friends The Hansens.  They have 5 boys.  Yes, you read it right, 5!  Let's just say they need a punch card at the ER because they visit so often.  Krestin, the SUPERmom, is amazing.  I want to be like her. 

• Shop online.  It helps.  When your having a bad day, hitting that SUBMIT button is euphoric.  Weird, I know.  But a week later when either a sparkly lipgloss, new shoes or some workout clothes come, it'll also make your day better!

• Work out!  Make the time for yourself to get into the gym.  Seriously.  It's amazing.  I take 3 afternoons a week and I go workout for a few hours.  It's my time. 

• Tea.  Afternoon Tea is my vice before I hit the wine.  A cup of hot tea really is quite calming.  Especially when your sitting on the couch with a 21 month old crawling over you!!

• Put makeup on.  I've been doing this for a few months now.  Mostly because I don't want to look like the crazy mom at Preschool dropoff, who comes rushing in, totally frazzled.  Well, I am that mom, the frazzled one, but at least I have makeup on and a cute outfit.

• Babysitter.  Get a babysitter who is NOT a family member and have their number on speed dial.  Our babysitter is Kelsey.  I love her. She's 19 and my saint.  I text her and within a few minutes, I get a response.  It's amazing.  We've been enjoying some adult time, Travis and I.  It helps.  Makes me remember life before children.  Yes people, we were people before we became mothers.  It's ok to leave your kids. 

• Buy an Ipad.  Let your kids use it.  I bring mine EVERYWHERE and it's a great tool to use for getting your children to sit still and SHUTUP.  I even use it in the grocery store.  Does this make me a bad mom, probably, but hell...I am in survival mode.

• Make plans.  It's always nice to have something to look forward to.  Like for me, Friday night, a few girls and I are going to see The Vow. 

• Get your car detailed every once in a while.  My car gets disgusting to say the least.  To give it up for a day to get a good detail is sooo worth the money. 

• When all else fails, cry.  I cry often. 

• Also, nobody is perfect.  Every family has their problems.  Often there are times I look at other mothers and feel like they are perfect.  Have perfect kids, perfect husband, and perfect life.  I have found this untrue.  As I dig deeper and ask questions (for those who know me, know I ask A LOT of questions), every mother struggles.  Different struggles, but we are all the same.  It's nice to have support.  Like one time, I was having a bad morning, took the kids to the bounce house and when I got there, my friend Allison was there (diff Ali).  Anyways, I saw her and just started crying.  I sat at the bounce house and cried to her.  It made me feel better.   

I hope you find these tips useful!  They help me:)

Going Private.

I am going to make by blog private.  If you want to keep reading, leave me a comment with your email and I'll make you able to access.  Blogstalkers are welcome, the more the merrier, because I too am a blog stalker:)

Cheers!

Plus, we gots some good stuff coming up....you don't wanna miss out!