Not my day today.

Today is just one of those days makes it very hard to stay positive. Started out not getting ANY sleep last night. We've officially "turned Anthony's bed around". About 4 months ago we decided to remove the one crib wall and let Anthony be a "big boy". Well after about 4 nights of no sleep because he kept escaping, we turned the bed around so the open side was facing the wall and he couldn't get out. Yes, we know, it takes time. And there's really no good time to loose sleep. But we're selfish, so sue us! Anyhow, a few days ago we came to the realization that if he's going to act like a big boy, we need to treat him like one. So we set him free again. Day one went awesome, day 2 only 1 escape attempt. The last 2 nights have been DISASTER. He SNEAKS out. I'll hear his bedroom door open, but then shut again and I think that he's gone back to bed when he sees it's all dark. But nope, he's just SMART. He sneaks out, shuts the door behind him, and goes and hides downstairs or in the bathroom. Last night was the worst at 11 espcape attempts. Super Nanny always says never to say anything to the child and just put them back in bed as many times as it takes and eventually they give up.So yeah, that's what I spent all night doing. Finally after 2am he fell asleep. Lucky for me, that's EXACTLY the time Joe decided to snore as loud as humanly possible, and I happen to be a very light sleeper. NOT a good combination. Slept on the couch. Woke up at 5am with a horrific cramp in my glute. Still hurts like a b. Then woke up at 6am when Joe got up for work and started walking like an elephant all over the house, all 140 lbsof him.

Went upstairs at this point to try and catch an hour of sleep before Anthony got up. Fell asleep and slept hard. Woke up abruptly when I heard a loud noise from the bathroom. Anthony had escaped. He was standing on the toilet to reach the shelves on the wall holding all of our hair products and creams and such. He got a hold of some VERY expensive eye cream, and emptied the whole container of it on his face and head. Once I cleaned that up I headed downstairs to assess the rest of the damage. He had busted into the cleaning products (YES--WE CHILDPROOF THOSE CUPBOARDS, but he's cracked the code!), and squirted an entire bottle of oxy deep carpet cleaner onto my new coffee table. Luckily it doesn't look like permanent damage, but I think the chemicals started to melt away the finish of the table, it's a bit tacky still. He also decided to sharpie some appointments into my appointment book. Not a huge deal, but annoying.

Today also happens to be one of the days I get to watch 2 other children. They're both VERY good, but very easily influenced by my devil child. They all play extremely well together, but still 3 two year olds is a lot to handle on no sleep. They never even let me around them. Anytime I try to play with them they yell at me in little toddler babble. How is it possible they're already annoyed by the parental unit in the room. So I have to keep a close eye on them from at least 8ft away! They all eat at the same time, poop at the same time, and nap at the same time. You might think that'd be easier--IT IS NOT. But thank GOD for nap time (which is what's allowing me to blog now).

Reason # 12301823908 why I'm having a crap day:: Lady Gaga tickets for the Pittsburgh show went on sale at 10am this morning. I got on ticketmaster at 9:42, refreshing every minute until 10 just to be sure I was one of the first when they came available. I searched, and searched, and entered CAPTCHA after CAPTCHA and "Sorry, no tickets available to match your request". My request was simply "ANY price in ANY section". Sold out. How is it possible for 18,000 tix to sell out in 10 seconds?! Gaga. That's how. There's still some on Ebay and Stubhub for quadruple their worth. Though I'd love for it to be my Bday present to myself, I need to not be impulsive and spend it just because I have it. So if anyone wants to buy me Gaga tickets, I might just marry them.

Next reason:: That cramp in my butt that I woke up with is now a nagging pain that's causing me to limp around. Hopefully it's just a pulled muscle that will go away with a few days of rest...otherwise it's really going to put a damper on my marathon training schedule.

Then while making lunch for all the kids I cut my hand on a campbell's soup can. Crap.

Onnn the bright side, I'm expecting a couple of good UPS deliveries :) My new laptop and a big canvas of my family Click Pics. Ugh. What a day.

Ok Ok...

What was that a few posts back about me finishing things that I start and being more consistent? Yeah. Like that happened. Here it is, months later, and I'm finally getting around to posting again. Ahhh I'll try again.

Anyhow--here I am. Still working 100% for myself (LOVING that!), my photography business is flourishing {Click Chick Images}, my son is awesome-though a bit of a devil child, and Joe and I are all finally financially settled. You know what that means, don't you?? Time to shake things up! I'm finally to the point in my life where I'm realizing that life is short, and I want to live it to the fullest. I hear people say that a lot, but actions speak louder than words, don't they?

Joe and I have made the decision to move south. We both want to advance our careers, and feel that Erie just doesn't have the market for our industries to the standard we'd like it to be. We also both like warmth, which Erie lacks 90% of the year, we love the ocean, we'd love our son to be able to grow up near the ocean, and a biggie--CULTURE! Joe and I are kind of food snobs and culture junkies! We love to experience new things, new cuisines, new environments...and I think we've exhausted our options in Erie! Time to change. The projected move date is November 2011--after next wedding season for which I'm fully booked. I'll still take on a couple of wedding photography jobs in Erie each year to grant us the excuse to travel back and visit. Woo hoo--exciting. It's looking like our future home is going to be in Wilmington Beach, North Carolina--but that could change! We're leaving our options open, researching heavily, and visiting potential cities before making our final decision!



Also in my plight to live life to the fullest, I want to do things I've always wanted to do but haven't, and learn things I've always wanted to learn. Here's my list and what I'm doing to accomplish each bullet point::

*Run a marathon-- I'm ready to roll for the Presque Isle marathon in September. I'm registered for every 5k, 10k, and half marathon between now and then, and am on a training schedule to build up my endurance. I also bought new running shoes. Come on, girls, you know all we need to motivate us is a new pair of shoes or a new outfit!

*Live on the ocean--just covered that--I'm on my way!

*Work for myself-- DOIN' it! {Click Chick Images} {Lavish Events}

*Learn to play guitar-- I'd like to start this late spring/early summer. I'm a self-taught kind of person, so I'll probably just buy a guitar (acoustic), get some sheet music for 2 or 3 songs I want to learn, and sit there until I get it. That's pretty much how I learn everything.


*Learn to cook really, really well! I'm talking culinary excellence, people! I'm a food network junkie for sure, but I'm not the most domestic woman in the world (people who know me well are dying laughing right now). I've been trying hard to perfect some new recipes, but I'd like to be more like Martha friggin Stewart. Ha.

*Do more for charities--I'd love to get involved with helping physically and/or mentally handicapped children. I'm going to register for every race I can to help fundraise, but I'm really looking for more than just montetary contribution--I want to actually work with these kids and contribute my time. Anyone with any ideas on where/how to do this, I'd love lots of options!


*Get in the best shape of my life-- This is going to be a tough one for me. I'm known to just have TOO much to do, too much on my plate, so much, in fact, that doing things for myself are really few and far between. However, I've started! It's been about 3 months now that I've been really watching diet, taking good supplements, and working out consistently. Training for the marathon is helping. I just want to see what my body is capable of looking like! I still have a long, long way to go, but I'd love to feel completely comfortable in a swimsuit (or even NAKED) for once! It's tough after having a child, but I'm going to try!

*Learn to surf!--Obviously not something I can do here! So I'm on this RIGHT away when we move! We have a couple of vacations planned for this summer that I might be able to try it out! I'm 99% sure I'm going to be horrific at it. I can't do anything that requires good balance (roller skating/blading, or even biking very well!).


*Hang out with more moms--Just something every mom needs to do san kids!

So any encouragement would be appreciated! I need alll the motivation I can get!

xoxo

Kara Marie