Being the Oldest

I have heard my mom say to Owen “its tough being the oldest”.  She is also the oldest of 4 girls…and she says it to Owen with such sympathy it got me thinking.

Being the oldest would be tough…you go from being the sole owner of the center of the universe to NOT being the sole owner of that location. You have to share EVERYTHING. From attention, to food/drinks, toys, tv time, ipad time, movie/show choosing, etc.  The list could go on and go on and on.  Owen was an only child for almost 4 years…he was IT! My parents only grandchild, the youngest grandchild on my hubby’s side..he was THE man.  When Ella came along he was so amazing. He LOVES babies. He just loved on her.  But then she started moving, grabbing, talking and taking from him.  His love has been tried and tried. He still loves her BUT sometimes just isn’t AS amused by her as he was almost 2 years ago. 

So I thought to myself…it would be hard to be the oldest. Going from having everything to having to share everything would be difficult BUUTTTT at the same time…it kinda sucks NOT being the oldest. You don’t ever get the solo attention and lovin’ that the oldest gets.  You are born having to share! There is no choice in the matter on what color your highchair is, character sippy cups, toys, training potties, carseats, etcs…its all hand me downs.

I believe in the birth order playing a part in the way you are as a person. Moms ruin their first born…and totally don’t the second. lol Well thats what I’m thinking anyway. haha (I would never be THAT mom that “ruins” her kids….cough cough. haha winkie face)

Being a big brother means you have to deal with your mom’s shit like matching outfits and pajamas. Sorry Owen. I don’t think there are many more years you’ll allow me to dress you in matching outfits with your sister!

You can see from the pictures above…whatever Owen has, Ella wants.  Top of he latter or the red swervy car…shes always on a mission. And the poor kid ALWAYS lets her have whatever she wants (at one point or another…sometimes there is lots of tears from both children but you know how that goes)

Owen actually asked me to put them in their matching snowman pj’s tonight…and I didn’t hesitate to make that happen! Yes they are last years…and yes my lil lady still fits into 12 month pj’s.  Like I said before I don’t know how many more years this will happen…I’ll take it for however long I can get it! teeheehee.

So tonight, after Ella went to bed, he got to do some “big kid stuff”…like decorate his own Christmas tree in his own room…without having to let his little sister help.  He was thrilled to get to do something without her around.  Sad huh! lol But I can’t blame him. 

He was so happy to get to do his thang. I didn’t say much…didn’t offer to help (aka or control the situation). I just took pictures of him…playing with my settings to see how I could get the best unblurry pic with the pretty christmas tree lightening.  Its going to be hello trying to get some when Ella is around…she moves WAY to fast! haha

But I laughed because he was so impressed with his work…who cares if he likes to double or triple up on the bulbs on one branch! lol
 

Owen got to be the center of the universe again this evening. Even if its just for a little bit I have to remember to do that…with BOTH my kids. Even though Ella doesn’t understand that yet, I have to try and make it a point to allow her some alone time JUST like we do with Owen!

Tis the Season peeps.  We are getting Santa Ready around here!  For the record. I have NEVER EVER been this ready for Christmas before. I have ALL my shopping done except for 3 people…whaaaaaaat has gotten in to me?!? I’m lovin’ it!!

Thanksgiving 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Me and my little lady were matching….yes I’ve been waiting a long time to do that!! teeheehee. And funny thing is…those dresses were bought at totally different times, different places, heck different countries!! But it worked for the occasion!  

 

Holidays around here can somewhat be like Ground Hog’s Day. Same place, same people, same food. So this year it was so nice to kinda “spice” things up!! My sis-in-law (SIL) and bro-in-law (BIL) hosted Thanksgiving in their new home! They moved back to Cali from upstate NY this summer…...

It was a BEAUTIFUL day…we could have actually gone swimming BUT we stayed inside. Men watched football. Kids played games and colored…it was SO relaxing.
 

Ella LOVES her cousin Bae.  She calls Bailey “Bae”…I love it.  And I think he secretly does as well. ;)  She climbs up into his lap no hesitation. I love it.

 

Our Ground Hogs Day cycle has been broken but I know my SIL is having to adjust too. They usually spend turkey day in their jammies just them 4 at home.  NOW she hosted the herd of us…and she did SUCH a great job!! Thanks for having us Missy & Chris!
 

Before we sat down for dinner I forced everyone outside for a family pic! They will thank me later! lol

 

The food was delish!! The usual spread BUT some New Yorker add-ons!! Having enough people for 2 tables doesn’t happen often around here!! But I have to say…I liked it…a lot!!

Dinner was followed up with MORE coloring. And Ella was making this “concentration face”…I was cracking up!!

We all ate until we couldn’t sit comfortably.  I hate being that miserable BUT you KNOW I’ll still dip in for some dessert! FatAssProbs.  And of course more SOBER jenga…OH how times have changed! Playing Jenga without an alcoholic beverages in hand! hahaha  This girl couldn’t get her drank on…shopping had to be done that night!!! Yeah!
But  I sat back and watched my kids play with their cousins…its SO nice to have family around for the holidays! I know Owen and Ella are a lot younger than their cousins BUT either way I pray that they are able to have a good relationship with them.  I love family…and am not used to having them around but I sure do LOVE it!!  I’m so THANKFUL they made the decision to move home. We love having them here.

 

The night ended with Ella rockin’ out on Rock Band while my SIL, niece and myself browsed the Black Friday ad’s and created our plan of attack for later that night. 

And our tradition continues…me, mom, Taryn and Gaga braved the craziness of Black Friday (on Thursday night). Toys R Us, Kohls, Old Navy, JcPenny’s from 10pm-3am. 
AND no LINES! It was awesome!!

Mountain Life

A few months ago a few friends and myself reserved AirStream trailers in Santa Barbara for a mini getaway weekend in November. They were vintage airstreams that were refurbished and looked AWESOME in the pictures online.  But in September, while we were IN Santa Barbara for our girls run weekend we just so happened to drive past the AirStream trailer park and THANK GOD we did. Lets just say that ended up in us cancelling our reservations because the place was NOT what they portrayed on the internet.  

So we had that weekend open again.  Luckily my friend Heather found an AMAZING 5 bedroom cabin in Lake Arrowhead that was reasonably priced and available for that weekend. What are the odds?!? Why Lake Arrowhead you ask…well I can’t drive all the way up that mountain without throwing up SO Lake Arrowhead was the right distance to make me feel sick but not barf! And yes I am the driver but I get car sick even driving…no bueno!

Here are a few pics of our amazing home away from home. 
Please don’t judge…I took these after we had been there over 24 hours…so it was kinda like a BOMB went off in some places. But we were on vacation, ya know?!? (winkie face)

You walk into the middle level that has a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom. 

Amazing fireplace right?!?

Had a large kitchen table that seated all 13 of us!

 
 
The babies chuggin’ their yogurt smoothies…I lub them.

Our main balcony had an A-MAZ-ING view of the lake. And a few of the rooms had their own separate balconies too.

The level UP had the awesome master bedroom with the amazing bath tub…and a loft with a bed as well. I didn’t get pictures of the bedroom or loft….kinda forgot.  But you KNOW I got one of lil diva Ella livin’ it up in the jacuzzi tub!

The first level down had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and the laundry room.
One bedroom had a full bed, bunk beds and a full bath.  The other bedroom had a full bed and amazing fireplace.  The guest bathroom in the hallway was SO awesome!! It had the coolest shower I have ever used before in my life!!  And the third bedroom had a full bed (that was Ella’s bedroom where she slept in her pack-n-play).

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Next level down had the playroom AND wine cellar! So cool huh.

It was one of the easiest weekends in a long time. Zero fights between the kids, everyone was on the same relaxed vacation mode…it was nice!  We cooked all our meals at home minus the last morning breakfast when a McDonalds run was in order. On the Saturday after naps we went into the Village for a bit…on a mission to try and get nice family x-mas card pics.  Like a dummy, I didn’t bring cute outfits for a holiday picture BUT thats ok. It was a fun chaotic adventure to find a place suitable. I admire Heather’s patience!

   

Did you know the Lake Arrowhead village is like an outlet mall?? They had a bunch of outlet stores, Coach, Bass, Tervis, Famous Footwear! I was shocked all that was up there. We may or may not have bribed some of the kids to take nice pictures in exchange for a treat at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory…heehee. 

 

It was such a nice weekend away with great friends. Evenings consisted of men cooking, kids playing and mama’s relaxing…my kinda style.   

We even had adult time to play some good hearted board games (btw, Battle of the Sexes…such a bullshit game!! The guys couldn’t even answer their own male questions and the girl questions were a joke…anyone would know them! And so what if us girls lost!! lol I’m totally not bitter.)  We stayed up way past our bedtimes and enjoyed ourselves.  It was fun.  (winkie face)

The mornings were nice too…

When we felt the cabin fever setting in we brought the kids for a walk around the neighborhood…only down fall of this cabin…it wasn’t very close to the lake.  But the kids didn’t seem to mind all that much. 

Climbing the steep hill back to our cabin…it wasn’t easy!
 

I loved this weekend. Thank you so much Heather for finding this hidden gem!!!  We enjoyed ourselves and Owen hasn’t stopped asking when we are going back to “our cabin”.