Better late than never!

Well, it's been a while! Almost two years since I last posted on my blog. I'm going to keep this short and sweet for now...

My awesome sister in-law presented a challenge on Facebook to participate in 30 days of writing for the month of August. Today is day one so, naturally, here I am at 11:23pm writing...something.

The gist of my life right now is BOYS... My life is consumed by them. I was blessed in May to give birth to little man #2 Jeremy Steven. His birth story is a long one that I will save for another day, but it was an adventure. It's been a bit of a whirlwind for the last couple months as we get settled but we're getting there. My heart is full and my body is tired! I'm on maternity leave for now, but I will be returning to my job that I love in a few short weeks. It will be bittersweet to say the least.

That's all I can put to paper for now before my eyelids collapse. Please forgive me for any spelling/grammar errors. It's late and I'm typing on my phone and in a hurry! I'm looking forward to catching up over the next month.

Visiting some Cronies!

I truly am one of the luckiest girls in the world. Know why? My in-laws ROCK! Seriously. I love them all. No scary monster in-law stories from me.  My mother in law (Jan) is kind, helpful, loving and friggin hilarious! Paul (my father in-law) is giving, sweet, wise and also loving.  Seeing the way he loves Patrick and how much Patrick loves him warms my heart in ways I never thought possible. Plus, they raised two of the most incredible men I have ever met.  They have serious parenting skills and I fully intend keep them around to teach me there wise ways...

Then there's Steve (Tim's kick ass bro) and Laura (his smokin hot wife.) Going to visit these two is beyond bitter sweet.  Whenever we're all together we seem to have some of the best times of our lives.  Serious memories made with these two.  Wedding cake smashing for breakfast anyone??? (ya really had to be there) BUT, we've never lived in the same city so no matter how much fun we have, it always come to an end much too quickly.  While it's probably better for my self-esteem that I don't spend too much time with Laura face to face (she's a model people, a good one) I would give anything to live closer to these guys and of course sweet little Kaiya.



When Kaiya's 1st birthday came around in June, we jumped at the chance for a visit.  We weren't able to be there for her birth since they lived in DC so there was no way we were missing this milestone.  My tip for traveling with a toddler? Go visit people with kids close in age to yours!  No need to pack a port-a-crib, bowls, spoons, towels, baby shampoo, toys (except what you need for travel) etc.  No worrying about baby proofing the house when you get there. It was such a relief to know that anything we needed, they already had.  Even diapers...


Pman handled the plane the best we could ask for.  He loved the airport of course.  He was good on the plane but three hours of sitting is a lot to ask of him.  We thought we'd be smart and take a crazy early flight and he'd sleep on the plane. Wrong. He tossed and turned and fussed until he finally fell asleep, 10 minutes before we landed.  Overall, we survived and that was about the best we could ask for. Let the fun begin!

One of the funnest parts of the trip was observing the similarities between Kai and Patrick.  They sound the same, (it was hilarious trying to decipher whose kid was crying at any given time :) they laugh the same, they have the same mannerisms. Neither of them sleep worth a darn. It's amazing how deep those Cronin genes run. Kaiya could teach Pman a thing or two about eating well though. They loved each other so much!

After a couple days in Denver we took the short trip down to Pueblo to visit a few more of my favorite people.  Let me tell you all a little about my Grandma Dixie.  This lady is 80 years old and I would give anything to have the energy and spirit that she has.  She is AMAZING! She has 25 grandchildren and I don't even know how many great grandchildren (a lot) yet she still knows how to make me feel like I'm special to her. She was so excited that I was coming to visit. It made me feel so loved. She took such good care of us while we visited.  Cooked us yummy food and even watched Pman while we went out to visit my BFF. Just one more person in my life that I never get to spend enough time with...

Patrick did not want to leave...

And we got to visit my oldest (as in time known) friend in the world.  My relationship with this chic cannot be described in a paragraph.  That's a whole other post...

Then it was back to Denver and time to PARTY!!!  Laura MAY have gone a tiny bit crazy in the planning of this soiree but it was totally worth it. I got to live vicariously through her in prepping for the girliest, pinkiest, frilliest party I've ever seen.  Everything was so beautiful and fun.  Kaiya has so many awesome people that love her. She is one lucky girl. I mean an Uncle that shows up with a cotton candy machine? Score!

 It was a great idea to take a pic with all the kids wearing funny glasses but the babies weren't having it...

This damn banner.  It was crazy  adorable but so hard to get a good pic!



 Yes, I let him have cotton candy. No, it was not organic

 I've said it before, there is a serious lack of tutus in my life.

And all too soon it was time to say good-bye.  It was harder this time for me than other times we have visited.  I guess it was because I got a glimpse of all that we are missing from so many miles away...





A tale of two stitches

I'm finally getting around to actually writing down one of our most recent adventures with Pman. It's still a little painful. For me. Patrick is fine.

Let me start by saying P had already had a rough week. On Wednesday he met the brick around Oma and Opa's fireplace with his face and was left with a big scrape over his eye. On Saturday (while playing with mama) he smacked his face on the coffee table and got a big fat lip. He was just warming up...

It was a warm Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago. Tim and I had planned to go wine tasting in Amador with my uncle and aunt that were in town visiting along with my dad. My mom had eagerly volunteered to stay home with the kiddos (mom's not much of a drinker :).

We got to my parents new house early and we were hanging out while everyone was finishing getting ready. Patrick was running around like a crazy man as usual. Looking back, I feel terrible that I didn't respond quicker to the THUD I heard come from the living room. He falls and bangs himself up so often that if I jumped to respond to every bump I'd spend all day hovering. It wasn't until I heard Tim shout "Oh sh**" for everyone to hear that I knew there was trouble.

Sure enough, he brings P into the kitchen with blood spreading down his face and of course, the poor kid is screaming bloody murder. I take a lot of pride in the fact that neither Tim or I are panicky parents. I know my heart was pounding and Tim was talking pretty fast, but for the most part we held it together and talked about what we needed to do. (It seriously drives me bonkers when parents wig out and get hysterical. You're not helping the situation or your child.) It was pretty obvious from the amount of blood and the way the cut looked that a band aid wasn't going to cut it. Bye-bye wine tasting.

The next question is, where the heck do we go??? It's Sunday so his doctor's office is closed. Do we head to the ER, urgent care? I didn't know. Fortunately Jan Cronin is always the level headed medical professional and she was able to advise us that urgent care would be able to handle our situation. That seemed much less scary than going to the hospital. So we threw a band aid over the gaping slash on my 21 month old’s head and headed out the door. Patrick had calmed down but he didn't want anyone to touch his head or even hold the cold pack to it. I knew getting it checked out was going to be loads of fun...

In the waiting room you never would have guessed that this child has recently had a traumatic head injury. He was running all over place, checking out the fish tank and charming the other patients. I considered just taking him home without further traumatizing him. Chics dig scars right? I kid, I would never deny my child medical care just because it might be uncomfortable for either of us.

It was a different story once we got into the exam room. I'll spare you all the details but let me just tell you that my arms were sore the next day from restraining him. Talk about heart breaking... It was a long process of having the nurse look at his cut and clean it up. Then the dr determined that he did in fact need stitches (duh). Then there was the agonizing 10 minute wait for the topical cream to numb the area. Patrick was enjoying a popsicle but I knew what was coming next wasn't gonna be pretty.

It was bad. That's all there is to say about it. Anyone who has had to go through any medical procedure with a small child knows that there are few things worse than listening to your child scream in fear. He wasn't in pain. That seemed pretty clear. But imagine being restrained by the people who love you most,having your eyes covered by a sheet, bright light blasted into your face while a stranger starts poking around your owie. It makes me sick just to think about how he felt.  I surprised myself by actually watching some of the procedure. I'm usually pretty squimish when it comes to things like this.  It's different when it's your child that someone is going at with a needle and thread.  You want to supervise everything and medical procedures are no different.  Fortunately, it was over pretty quickly and we headed home for a much deserved nap and lots of treats for the rest of the day.  Tofutti's not gonna cut it after a day including stitches to the head. Bring on the Ben and Jerry's.

Accidents happen. I consider myself extremely blessed to have been given a healthy, energetic child. With that blessing comes the risk that his curiosity will induce many boo-boos for Patrick and many grey hairs mommy. While I don't wish for days like this one, I wouldn't trade my rambunctious little boy for anything!

Playing catch up!

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm famous for ignoring my friends because I don't have 'enough' time to talk to them.  What I mean is, I always want to talk to my friends but often when I go to call someone I'll realize I only have 5-10 minutes before I have to go somewhere, do something etc.  Therefore, instead of calling them I wait until I have more time.  (Seriously, when am I gonna have more time?) This will continue for weeks or even months until I know that in order to catch up with this friend I'm gonna need a solid 2 hour block of time so we can fill eachother in because its been so long since we talked. I always kick myself for being such a crappy friend.

Apparently  I'm a crappy blogger too because I've done the same thing here.  Every time I want to post something short and sweet I stop myself because I didn't post about this thing or that subject before.  Argh! So here is my big catch up post. I'm gonna try to be better...I make no promises though :)

Me....After graduating in December I spent four LONG months looking for work.  It was beyond stressful and not at all what I consider to be a good time.  Making decisions that seem to effect your entire future is not my strong suit.  I finally did land a gig in the accounting department of a NoCal grocery store chain.  While it's not my dream job, it's not too difficult and I'm gaining experience that will benefit my career in the long run. I hope.

Going back to work after such a long time was tough to say the least. After about a week, I was ready to throw in the towel and stay home with my sweet little boy forever.  It was never my intention to be a stay at home mom long term (major props to you moms who do it) but I was overwhelmed by how much I missed him.  Plus, missing out on his entire day so that I could sit in a cube and stare at a spreadsheet all day didn't feel as worthwhile as I would have hoped. (shocking I know)  More on my plan for resolving this issue later.

Thank goodness for a loving spouse who supports me in everything I do.  Sometimes it drives me crazy because he won't just decide for me what I should do but I'm so thankful to know that whatever I decide regarding my career and our future he trusts me and will stand by me.  For better or worse...

As for Pman...There really is too much to say about this guy's growth in the last few months.  He's a PERSON.  To say he's not a baby anymore doesn't begin to cover how different he is now compared to 6 months ago. He talks in sentences. He says his ABC's (not just sings the song but actually knows what comes after L, S etc). He is beyond opinionated, but mostly in a good way.  Gone are the days when you could just grab a book off the shelf at night and snuggle in for a story. No. He wants to choose the book. And he's not sure which one he wants so you must offer about 300 different choices before he'll agree to one. While it's kind of a pain, it's also really cute to see him get excited about something that he really wants. One of the best changes we've had in the last couple months is that he EATS! We don't really know what changed but now instead of a a little bird I have a little piggy.  He's still pretty picky but dinner time is no longer the most dreaded part of our day.

I definitely gave birth to a creature that is part monkey.  He can now easily climb in and out of his crib so he pretty much comes and goes as he pleases. We learned this weekend that he can also turn doorknobs so keeping him in his room is a thing of the past.  Our days are spent just trying to keep this child alive and with no bones broken before the age of 2.  In case you didn't hear, we've already gotten to experience stitches. That's a different blog for a different day...

After evaluating MANY options for daycare when I went back to work, we found an awesome home daycare that we are thrilled with.  Patrick seems to have a great time.  He doesn't cry when he's dropped off and the provider really seems to love him. I think he is secretly one of her favorites. Who could blame her? He comes home singing songs I haven't heard and saying things that I know he didn't know how to say yesterday.  It's really fun to see him learning from other influences. As long as those are positive influences of course.

That's about all I can fit in during my lunch hour.  I really am going to try to get back to a couple posts a week.  It's so hard when you're away for such a long time.  Too many things to say. Not enough time :)

Under construction

I'm really hoping to get some better organization to my blog format and posts.  Stay tuned for a new layout and a new game plan...I'll be making lots of adjustments while I try to find what works best. Thanks for understanding!

10 things you may not know about toddlers

I'm a big fan of lists. Especially short, funny ones that are full of accurate information.  This post is inspired by the hilarious Happily After Giving Birth – 10 Things They Don't Tell You. If you are a mom, or going to be someday, you must read this.  It's awesome!


It seems sometimes that giving birth was a million years ago.  Reading that blog makes me smile not only because it's funny but because I was so focused on keeping my sweet little baby alive and healthy. Now, all my time is spent trying not to kill my sweet (and naughty) little toddler. Do you see the difference?


Allow me to elaborate by presenting my own list of 10 Things You May Not Know About Toddlers...


1.) They still don't sleep... When you're in the newborn stage, waking up every 2 hours, the only way you (and baby) survive is by convincing yourself that you just have to get through this stage. You tell yourself that in a few short weeks, maybe months, you'll be blissfully sleeping 8 hours a night once again and all will be right in the world.  If you're currently residing in this pretty pink bubble, I encourage you to stop reading now because I'm about to pop it. Even as I sit here typing this, I'm EXHAUSTED because my 17 month old was awake for 2 hours straight last night. Do you know what it's like to not sleep for 17 months? Of course, he doesn't wake up every night but the culmination of over a year of broken sleep will make any person insane.  I don't mean a little crazy. I mean lock me up in the loony bin before I declare my cat a decent enough caretaker to watch Patrick while I take a nap.  You could probably get good sleep in the loony bin though...


2.) They have strong opinions...and demands.  They voice these opinions loudly and with no regard for anyone else's comfort or feelings. They don't care if you're grocery shopping, eating dinner at a restaurant or trying to spend some 'alone' time with your spouse. They will feel zero embarrassment about screaming at the top of their lungs until you produce the snack, toy, beverage or activity that they desire.  May God help you if you can't understand the screaming toddler jargon and have no idea what it is that they want.  You're screwed...

3.) They are born part monkey.  I include this in my list because just today I caught my child scaling our rocking chair in order to climb the rails of his crib and flip upside down inside in order to retrieve his binky that is only allowed during sleep times. He also finds it incredibly funny to wait until you are in the kitchen making dinner to climb onto the coffee table, stand up and start dancing.  I am less than amused.  This is not a skill that is taught. They are born somehow knowing exactly the most dangerous activities that will cause your hair to go grey the fastest...

4.) They understand what the word 'no' means.  They don't care... If they have an aching desire to dump every blanket from the basket for the 10,000th time that day, they're gonna do it.  All while repeating the word 'no' over and over. They also learn how to say 'no'. Emphatically. If they don't want to do something, it's not happening.  No amount of airplane spoons will convince my child that eating his carrots is in fact a good idea if he doesn't feel like it at the moment.  His wail of the word 'no' generally coincides with a shrill scream that would make anyone within earshot assume that I'm trying to set him on fire when I'm actually just trying to wipe his face after dinner.

5.) They will be fascinated by their, ummm body parts. It's adorable when your child learns to identify their nose, toes, hair, belly etc.  It's also incredibly hilarious when your son immediately escapes the moment you take his diaper off and starts running through the living room with a firm grasp on his penis.  At least, I think it's hilarious. Penis, vagina, pee pee, hoo hoo, bottom, booty, what ever you're going to call it, I encourage you to figure it out now because a conversation about their 'private' parts is coming sooner than you think.

6.) Speaking of wiping their face, they hate it. With a fiery passion. Toddlers have zero issue with refried beans plastered into their eyebrows and green snot dripping from their nose. Snot is a very important part of a toddler's life.  They are perfectly fine with smearing it across their face and continuing in their activities.  No wiping necessary.  Toddlers are disgusting human beings...

7.) You will not always like them.  Of course, you will ALWAYS love your child unconditionally but there will be days in which you will not like them one bit. You will wonder what on earth you were thinking when you thought procreating was such a great idea. You will feel a great deal of unyielding guilt for feeling this way and attempt to compensate by offering ice cream for dinner. Guilt is an important part of parenting. For better or worse, many of your parenting days are spent feeling terrible about yourself for the reactions you've had toward your toddler's perfectly normal and expected behavior. Cut yourself some slack.  Everyone has bad days at their job and parenting is the hardest job on the planet. (Don't attempt to challenge me on this statement. I will cut you.)

8.) They change their likes and dislikes on a daily basis. In our house, this rule generally applies to food.  Your toddler gobbling up 3 helpings of your delicious homemade chicken and rice last night is in no way an implication that he will eat the same meal again. Ever.  BUT, he may eat it again next week. Or the week after that. I assure you that this behavior is beyond maddening.  Especially if you are like me and constantly worried that your child is getting the proper nourishment.

9.) The smells that they produce will make you wish you lived closer to a cattle ranch so you could go outside and get some "fresh" air. Now, Patrick never had formula so I really can't attest to what a formula fed baby's poop smells like but breast milk poop is great. Yes, I just said poop is great.  It smells like popcorn. I realize this is an odd observation but it's true.  Toddler poop on the other hand is just plain nasty.  I know that seems obvious, but trust me when I say you will be surprised by what your sweet little child is able to produce.  

10.) Toddlers give the best hugs and kisses in the world. Even if they're covered in green snot when your child walks up to you and puckers their tiny little lips for a smooch, your heart will melt.  When they wrap their chubby little arms around your neck because they're scared, tired, or sick and squeeze you tight, you will feel that all is right in the world. You are doing something right if your child looks to you for security and comfort. Toddlers are also incredibly in tune with you and your moods. The same hugs that bring him comfort will instantly improve any insecurities you're having also.  Hugs and kisses cure everything...

For those of you with toddlers, I encourage you to add anything I may have forgotten.  For those that have toddler hood in your horizon, I encourage you to bookmark this post and look back on it from time to time. Don't say I didn't warn you:)

Can't i just stay unemployed?

Time flies when you're havin fun?  I don't know that I'd call job hunting fun, but it's been keeping me occupied. Not to mention the busy little man who demands just about 100% of my attention during all waking hours.  That part IS fun. (almost all the time ;)

Why isn't there a job on Career Builder (or any job search site, I'm not picky) that states 'This job is perfect for you. The hours are exactly what you're looking for. The pay and benefits are great. You will enjoy doing this for the foreseeable future. And you're perfectly qualified for the position' ??? Where is this job? It's not that there aren't jobs to apply to. I'm just not sure I want to do any of those jobs.

I'm so envious of the people in my life that know exactly what they want to do. Their dream job. Even if their dream never comes into fruition, at least they can recognize the end of the rainbow. I have no idea what my dream job consists of. I know I'm passionate about finance and money but it's a big field! If anybody out there knows what I should be doing with my life, please, fill me in.

I was pretty far along in the hiring process with a reputable organization when I decided it just wasn't the right fit for me.  It's so discouraging to waste time and energy getting excited about a possibility only to determine that it may not be the dream you thought it was.  Not to mention the constant self doubt and second guessing that comes with any life altering decision.  Did I make the right choice in bowing out of this? (they were totally gonna hire me) Huge mistake? Only time will tell...

All I can do is trust my instincts, keep an open mind and continue to be thankful that I have, a loving partner who supports me in every decision that I make for myself and our family.