Yeah... I Am A Mom.

Ok. So I know that I have 3 kids and my oldest is 4, but it is official... I am a mom. Harlow is going to be the death of me when it comes to potty training. She is just so stubborn and nothing gets to her! I can take away all of her toys... Nothing. I can put her in time out... Nothing. I can send her to bed early... Nothing. I don't know where she gets this attitude from (kidding, I totally know. She is all Daddy.) but she is killing me here!

After discipline failed us, we are returning to the reward system (which has failed us already as well). If she poops she gets a little pony.

*Mini Rant Warning* I hate... no... I LOATHE these little stupid toys. Why are they so small? Why do I always step on them? Why are these things so small still so expensive?!?! I hate them!!!!!

Ok... back on topic. So if she poops she gets a pony, BUT, if she poops in her underwear... I get the pony back. Again., she doesn't give me much of a reaction to either. Sometimes she will stick out her bottom lip, but I think it is just to humor me and make me feel better. Well, shockingly (<---- sarcasm, folks) the Little Pony's have not made much impact on her. And I don't know if you all are aware, but Cinderella is coming out of the Disney Vault on October 2, so I thought LIGHTBULB! Why not let her have a mission for Cinderella? So while they were playing, I made a super off brand poop chart. Construction paper, sharpie, and stickers... I was done. Now every time she goes, she puts a sticker next to a number and when she fills up the row, she gets to go to Target and get Cinderella. She is actually loving it! 2 days, 2 stickers! That, my friends. is what I like to call PROGRESS <----- when I type that, I am singing the word 'progress' in my most broadway voice. Also, picture spirit fingers.

Fun Fact #1: When kids are potty training, they get very proud of themselves. They want to show everyone. When one parent is not there, they do not want to flush. So, in order to flush, you then get to take a picture of the toilet and it's contents with your phone. Yeah. Being a mom you do things you never thought you would do. Don't worry, though. I deleted the picture. It will not be on my blog.

Fun Fact #2: The poop chart is located on our fridge. You know what is not appetizing? Poop. So thank you for being a pain, Harlow. You are making it so much easier to cut back on snacking.

Awesome segue alert!

Speaking of appetizing, here is what we had for dinner the last 4 nights. I would tell you what we had Monday, but I literally have no idea. I cannot remember for the life of me. This week has been an ode to Skinnytaste and it has been amazing.

Tuesday- bacon topped turkey meatloaf with barbeque sauce. Sounds weird, but it is delicious! It is spicy, so if you have kids and make it, put theirs in the tins before you add the red pepper. Then add the red pepper to the rest.

Wednesday- Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini Boats. Yum. I love this. Again, it is spicy, so hold the sauce for the kids.

Thursday- Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake. I love her pesto. I never knew that it would be soooo easy to make! I served this with some pasta tossed in a small amount of the pesto, olive oil, salt and pepper. When Derrick finished eating, he took a deep breath, looked at me, and then gave me a high 5. Yeah, that good. The kids ate all of theirs as well.

Friday- Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Breasts. Now, I fully admit that I really hesitated making this. The picture makes it look amazing, but the ingredients? They scared me a bit.Well, I decided to go ahead and try it and thank the taste bud Gods that I did! It was delicious! One of my favorite meals. The kids didn't eat it, but the adults loved it!

I will add pictures later. My computer is being a POS and not downloading them.

Movie Night Done Right?

Wrong.

In our house bedtime is always a fight. DJ and Harlow go to each other's rooms and try to keep playing. Usually they are awake for about 30-60 minutes after I put them in their beds. Drives. Me. Nuts.

Last night, I let them play with Harlow's new toys and put them in bed at 9. I gave them the normal "stay in your own bed, it's time to sleep" speech and crossed my fingers that it worked for once. And... it did!!!!

Or so I thought.

Derrick went to bed at about 11:30. He goes upstairs and I hear him talking. What? Who is he talking to? Those kids are asleep! He comes back downstairs and gives me a look. The first thing I say is "They are still awake??!!" I was shocked. He says, "DJ is". He then tells me that DJ was laying in his bed and... wait for it.... watching Power Rangers on my iPad!!!! That little creep! He had watched Power Rangers, Spiderman, and Iron Man! All on Netflix! I am not certain, but I think that is a parenting fail. How this kid can work the iPad better than me? I don't know.

This morning, when I woke him up for school. the first thing he said was "I wanted to watch a movie in my room, but Dad said no."

Looks like I am going to have to hide my electronics from now on!

So Happy, But So Sad

How can you be so thrilled, yet so devastated at the same time? There is this pulling go on in my heart and I don't know what to do. Should I laugh? Should I cry?

The season finale of Real Housewives of New Jersey is tonight. Though I am so excited for the conclusion of "Strippergate", I don't know if I can handle knowing I have to wait months for a new episode. So what about you, are you Team Teresa or Team Everyone Else?

Oh! Wait! Reunion next week! Thank you Bravo! for giving me a little longer with my favorite Jersey ladies (after you Di!)!

So This Happened...

While on my blogging hiatus, I made some questionable life decisions. This is the one that stuck out the most. Don't worry, I took pictures so I could show you all.

Well, the kids had destroyed the toy room as usual. I have been making them clean up before bedtime lately, but I decided I would do it this night. I turned on Netflix and got it done. After it was clean, I went into the living room. Derrick was watching something crappy that I didn't want to watch so.... LIGHTBULB! I can watch it in the toy room! Woot woot! Here is how it went down...

I grabbed some M&M's...

I turned on Mad Men, my new favorite show... 

And I sat down on DJ's car couch with a glass of wine.

I watched an episode or 2, fell asleep, and then woke up at about 1 in the morning. When I woke up, I looked around and was slightly ashamed. I went to bed and hoped that my husband wouldn't laugh at me in the morning. He did. 

Back In Action!

Sorry about the sudden stop in posting. Between Harlow's party that I totally procrastinated and Dash having a 103+ fever for 3 day, I would have only complained. But here I am, back in action, aren't you thrilled?!

So yesterday was Harlow's party and if I must say so myself, it was amazing! This is by far my favorite party that I have thrown. I was so nervous because as of last Friday, all I had was 2 Madonna posters, a Madonna shirt, and a cake stand. I had contacted some people on Etsy for cupcake toppers and they never responded, I didn't know what to do for decorations behind the dessert table, and I had no idea who was coming. I was so stressed. I have this competition with myself with these parties and I put so much pressure on myself. Harlow would have been pissed if she didn't get her Madonna party!

I was talking to my friend Meghan about the Etsy people not responding and she pointed me in the of Dazzle Expressions. I sent them a message late Friday night and I had a response when I woke up. They listened to everything I said and toppers and water bottle labels looked amazing!

I decided that I wanted to cut my baking load down and I remembered that my cousin had a friend that did cakes. I sent her a message on facebook to see if she made cake pops. When she said that she did, I was so excited, less work for me! As we were talking, she sent me a picture of the cake she made for her daughter. Ok. Yeah. Harlow needs a cake. So we found pictures online and tweaked the one I liked best to make it a perfect fit for Harlow. The cake looked so good and I am so thankful that I found Tina!

The decorations for this party was much more difficult than the other parties I have done. I usually get 3 canvases, cover them in fabric, and decorate them accordingly. I knew that would not work this time. We were doing 80's Madonna, for goodness sake. I needed sparkle and lots of color! I made the tulle balls, I had posters, but I was stuck there. Thank goodness for google. Shindigz had great things! I actually remember going through their catalogs in high school! I was in student council and we had to help get stuff for the dances. Haha! They had a lot of streamers and quick shipping. Perfect match! They had some other things that I really wanted, but they were custom made and since I was ordering on Monday and the party was Saturday... it didn't work out. Maybe next time I won't procrastinate as much (*snort* yeah right!!!). After dragging my poor husband around all day Wednesday (Ikea is the best place for party stuff!), I was finally ready! I knew what I had to do and I knew it would come together.

My biggest project for this party was the table skirt that I made. It was a giant tutu and it was the death of me. I was up until 5:30 getting stuff done and the majority of that was spent on the table skirt. Tulle is the devil. I hate it and I pretty sure it hates me, too. After it was all done though, I am very glad that I made it. The dessert table needed more color. The white table cloth would have thrown it all off without the skirt.

I hope you are ready for pictures now!

The Birthday Girl! 

80's candy! Pop Rocks, Ring Pops, and Nerds 

The drink table! Printed out lyrics and frames from Ikea were inexpensive and easy decorations 

80's kits! Complete with microphones, necklaces, glow bracelets, sunglasses, and mini rubik's cubes! 

Dash modeling Harlow's hair clip! 

Afternoon Conversation

So this afternoon, Derrick and I were cleaning out our pantry. O.M.G. It was sooooo needed. I won't even tell you how many trash bags we filled. Anyways, while we were cleaning, we found some margarita mix and salt. I told Derrick that we should have margaritas tonight after the kids go to bed or with dinner. He then asked me the following question:

Babe, why do you like to drink so much?

Ummm.... I don't understand. What is the question? Is it rhetorical? I have been trying to think of an answer since he asked... but I still can't think of one.

Where Did We Leave Off?

So... where did we leave off Saturday night? Oh yes, right here...

Sorry I didn't update yesterday (I know I ruined everyone's Sunday because they were so anxious to know), but I was pretty sure my head was going to explode. I had the world's worst migraine and spent most of the day hiding under a pillow. I know what you are all wondering- "How much wine did you drink, Alexa???" But really, I didn't even finish my one glass. So... What did I make with the tulle?

Tulle Balls!!! They are my new favorite party decoration! They are more of an effort and slightly more expensive than paper lanterns, but they look so fun! I found this tutorial on pinterest and tried them for Dash's party. Though they are easy to make, they are pretty time consuming. So after your kids go to sleep, turn on you favorite show, and get to work!

The tutorial is great, but I have a few tips to make it a little bit easier. First, cutting cardboard is a giant pain in the you know what. So, when you go to Hobby Lobby to buy the tulle, stop in the cake decorating isle. There you will find cake board circles and they come in different sizes, so you can pick the size that is best for you. Next, when you start to wrap these circles with the tulle, don't unroll the entire roll of tulle (each roll of tulle is 25 yards and if you unroll it all you will be overwhelmed with it all). Take it and pull out about 7 yards, cut, and then wrap. When you finish wrapping that, tuck it under, cut another 7 or so yards, and start where you left off, do this until the tulle is gone. Trust me is will make it so much easier. It took me about 4 poms before I figured out this technique. Finally, when you are all finished, put them high because your kids will think they look like awesome new toys!

In case you care, tonight for dinner was another pinterest recipe, spicy honey chicken thighs. This might be my favorite yet! It was so easy and so good! My kids even asked for seconds! I sauteed some sweet potatoes and steamed asparagus, it was a great dinner :o)

I Told You So, Zoe.

Remember a few days back when I was reading Glamour and found out through Rachel Zoe, that badazzling was a "don't" (ha... yeah right!)? Well, today I was at the dentist office and I was reading the new issue of People. I looked at the cover and BAM... proof that bedazzling shoes is a do!

Snookie's baby in bedazzled shoes! Snookie is surely a fashion icon! Oh.... wait...

Nevermind.

I will keep looking.

Kinda A Superhero!

I lead the search and rescue in our house!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Saturday! DJ had a movie date with his Nonna, he loves spending time with her. Harlow, Dash, and I napped! It was amazing, I can't lie. After our nap we went and got frozen yogurt, did some shopping (Harlow is totally my daughter, that girl loves to shop!!), and ordered cupcakes for her party. She is so excited for her "Y-O-U- Donna" party! She tells everyone that it is almost her birthday and that she is going to be 3 :o) 

I think she liked her froyo! 

Can you guess what I am doing tonight? Well, I will fill you in tomorrow!

A Little Perspective

So I was gearing up to write this new post. It was going to be about my weekends with the kids and how I never sleep because Harlow comes into my bed at the crack of dawn... it was going to be hilarious (trust me, you know I am funny! I laugh at my jokes all the time!). But, then my computer froze and I had to shut it down. When I opened up my internet, I saw a video of Taylor Swift and decided to watch it. Thanks a lot, Taylor. Now I am just a big crying mess on my couch. The video was of Taylor singing her new song 'Ronan' at Stand Up to Cancer. Ronan is a 4 year old little boy who passed away from cancer. Taylor came across a website and read a blog that inspired her to write this amazing song for him.

Grab a box of tissue before you hit play!

Seriously amazing, Miss Swift. You can buy the song off of iTunes and all the proceeds go to cancer charities.

All of a sudden, Harlow coming into my room and waking me up at 6 doesn't bother me at all... it makes me smile.

End The Night With A Bang... Or Should I Say Explosion?

Tonight was a great night. Derrick and DJ went to get haircuts, which left me with just Harlow and Dash. Let me tell you one thing, you do not realize how easy 2 kids are until you have 3 kids. It was so nice. We played, we danced, and I made dinner (this is nearly 2 weeks of no take out or restaurants for dinner, surely a record for me). Tonight I made "man-pleasing chicken" compliments of pinterest. I am happy to announce that tonight was a pinterest SUCCESS! Yay! 

After dinner, DJ and Harlow were playing with Derrick, so I decided to give Dash a bath. I love giving him a bath. He is still so small and loves to splash and dunk his head, it is pretty effing adorable. So he is in the tub, laughing, splashing, the water is filling up, best bath ever... and then I saw it. I know every single mom reading this knows exactly where I am going. That's right- Poop in the tub. There is nothing worse. So I grabbed him, drained the water, and headed to a different bathroom. We start all over again. Laughing, playing, splashing, even singing! Sooo much fun. Then... it happened again. Poop in the tub part 2. Really kid?!? What did I ever do to you? 

The Pooper 

Finally, after scrubbing 2 bathtubs and giving 3 baths, I have a clean baby. I have also requested a date night because, let's be honest, I kinda deserve it :o)

A Fool For Tulle!

So I went to get some things for Harlow's birthday party today. Turns out, I just needed tulle, lots and lots of tulle. When I went to check out, I thought "This is going to be amazing to get out of here for so cheap!!!". Then she told me the total. So rude. This thin fabric shouldn't cost so much. That's all I am saying. 

Looks innocent enough. I would tell you the total, but my husband reads this blog and he might not be as understanding as Ryan :o)

Show and Say What???

Fridays are good days for the Martin family. DJ and Harlow go to school, which means my house can stay clean for a few hours and I can go to Target in peace to grocery shop. Also, it is a Starbucks day (Pumpkin Spice Latte!! Holla!)! DJ loves it because he does gymnastics at school and they have Show and Tell. See... the simple things in life.

Every week, his teacher posts a sign saying what this weeks show and tell theme is. In his old class, it went with the alphabet, "This weeks show and tell starts with the letter 'A'". Ok, easy enough. Now, however, they make it a freaking scavenger hunt! This weeks theme was "Something from your heritage". What the freaking hell?!?! What happened to your favorite toy? A book you like to read? Something easy!!! First of all, I have no idea what to bring. Second, I bring it and what is DJ going to say??? He doesn't know or care about his irish/italian/black roots!

I asked Derrick for an idea, he said to bring a cowboy hat because University of Wyoming is a part of his heritage. Ummm. Ok. Let's grab the cowboy hat, oh wait.... we don't have one. My mom said I should bring him a broom, you know, like jumping the broom in weddings. I don't think that would have translated well, I would have been better off bringing him a copy of "The Help" (you know that's where people's minds would have gone! LOL!). She then said a jar of spaghetti sauce... so I changed the subject. I finally made the executive decision that my grandparent's wedding picture is going to have to do, it is the best that I can come up with. I don't think DJ is going to be thrilled, but at least he will have something.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures!

A quick update. My dear husband informed that he didn't think DJ should bring a cowboy hat because of the University of Wyoming. Apparently, one of his ancestors was one of the first black cowboys in America and he told me that this morning. Good to know that I am as skilled at tuning out my husband, as I am with my kids. 

Pinterest Fail: Meatless Dinner Edition

I have decided to make Thursday's dinner a meatless dinner. Last week we had eggplant pesto paninis and they were out of this world delicious. So this week I decided to try loaded quinoa burgers and sweet potato parm chips, they both looked good and easy enough. 

OMG. How wrong I was. First of all, when you only have a mini food processor, it is probably not the best idea to make a recipe where you have to put ALL the ingredients in the food processor. I tried. It didn't work. So then I thought, blender! A blender is bigger, that should work. Nope, still did not work. Finally, I just did small batches in the food processor and then combined them all in a bowl. I think I was so happy that I got it going, that I totally over processed it. It was like a black bean dip and forming it into "burger" patties was not pretty. They tasted ok, but they are definitely not on my make again list. 

Next, I made the sweet potato chips. Really... how hard could this be? I mean I make sweet potato fries all the time, this can't be too different. Hahahahaha! Got me again pinterest! The 'chips' are all stuck to my cookie sheet and the ones that I was able to get off were soft and not at all like a chip. They didn't taste horrible though, so plus one there. 

As I am typing this, I can still taste those quinoa burgers. I think that I am going to try and wash it away with some wine... and chocolate. When this turns into a weight loss blog, please don't remind me of this!!!

Sooooooo...

I love having you here. Get comfortable, stay a while! Follow me and leave some comments :o)

The Time I Became A Don't

Well, if there is one hobby that I really love to do, it is bedazzling! When I had Harlow, I just bought crystals and bedazzled everything I could get my hands on. Lately, however, I haven't really found the time to do it (my 3 little "angels" keep me busy). So I decided the other day that I needed a small, easy project to do. I was at Target and I saw a pair of little black wedge booties, I thought they would be perfect for a little bedazzling! I bought them, bedazzled them, and then I rocked them.

 

So, a couple days later, I was back at Target (you will soon learn that it is my favorite place to go) and while in the checkout line, I grabbed the latest Glamour. Victoria Beckham was on the cover and I am slightly obsessed with her fabulousness, also I am totally guilty of falling into a fashion rut after having kids. I decided that this was a totally necessary purchase, I mean, I am trying to figure myself out right? Clothing is a big part of that!! So after the kids go to bed, I start to read it. I come to an article by Rachel  Zoe which has a list of "dos & don'ts". Reading, reading, totally agreeing, and then.... What? What is this???

Oh Rachel. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. That is just bananas. Well, that is my story on how I became a "don't", but I think we can all agree.... I am still totally a "do" :o)

Something Like A Wine Connoisseur

Thanks to meal planning and skinnytaste, I made chicken rollatini for dinner tonight. While it was in the oven, I decided that wine was a necessity for this dinner. Actually, wine is pretty much a necessity for living. To my surprise, the wine in my house had mysteriously disappeared, so I took it upon myself to go and buy more. I thought I would share the most important tip there is to picking a good bottle of wine with you all- Chose the cute bottle. Yes, that is how I chose my wine and I think I really succeeded tonight!

My mom always used to tell me that I was a marketer's dream.... Oh how right she was.

L-U-V Madonna!!!!

So Harlow is turning 3 this month so I asked her what kind of party she would like. I was expecting the normal... you know, princess, tea party thing. What did she tell me? She wants a Madonna party! Now, I don't know if my 2 (almost 3) year old being a Madonna fan makes me an awesome mom or a terrible one... but I think I am going to go with awesome. At first I was at a loss. How do I make Madonna suitable for a 3 year old's birthday party? Now I am in full party planning, idea mode and I can't wait to see how it comes together! As I start with my mini projects for this Madonna/1980's birthday bash, I will post them here.

Harlow enjoying her first Madonna concert! 

Yoga pants for yoga? Ha.

Yes. I am totally in. 

Organized? Yes... Maybe... No.

There are some things that you can fulfil with money, but at the end of the day these are not the things that make you happy. It is the small things that make life good.

~Sebastian Vettel

I am on a mission to become organized. We can just say that my organizational skills have never been my strong point. The kids had a dentist appointment this morning at 8. The moment I scheduled it, I knew I was gonna have to bring my A game to get myself and 3 kids out of the door early enough to be on time. Of course, scheduling it for the day after a holiday just made it even easier to prepare myself! So what did I do to get there on time? Absolutely nothing!!! I completely forgot about it until they called me at 8:30. Fail. Huge, giant fail! Funny, small world story though. They were able to see us at 9:10 because their next appointment called to cancel. The person that canceled was my aunt Carla! Too funny. Well, we got there, all kids behaved, and no cavities. It could have been worse... I guess.

After that crazy morning, caffeine was a must. If there is one thing that always cheers me up, it is Starbucks. I love that place. The only thing better than Starbucks, is Starbucks in the fall! Here is all you need to know: Pumpkin Spice Latte. It did take a lot of self control, however, to not order a pumpkin cream cheese muffin.

Another reason I love my Starbucks is they have a drive thru. I know my fellow moms are with me when I say how much I love a drive thru. As much as I love my coffee, I do not love it enough to have to strap and unstrap 3 small children in car seats, drag them inside, have them ask for (and most likely touch) everything they see, hear them whine when I say no, and then finally- drag them back through the parking lot and strap them all in the swagger wagon (that's a mini van for all you uncool non-mini van havers).

My sweet ride, if you were curious.

Back to my organization skills. I have started meal planning. Cooking is something that always overwhelms me, so meal planning has been so great! It has saved me money while grocery shopping, I don't waste food, and I don't spend money on crappy takeout! Pinterest has been amazing for meal ideas, but my favorite website is skinnytaste.com. Skinnytaste has so many amazing recipes, but they are all diet friendly. My kids love them, I love them, even Derrick and Juan love them! Tonight to dinner we had salmon with black bean salad.... but I did have to tell the kids it was chicken. It was really good and if you are looking for a meal idea, you should definitely try it! I know it might sound kinda lame, but I am really loving cooking for my family. I am taking a lot of pride in feeding them this way. So meal planning is a change that I will be sticking by :o)

So It Begins

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up 

where I intended to be.  

~Douglas Adams

My husband and I just celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary at the end of July and I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by. We started dating when I was 15 (almost 16) and I am now 25! I moved to live with him when I was 19, we were married right after I turned 20, and we had our first son, DJ, a few months before I turned 21. Let me tell you, I am blessed beyond belief... DJ, Harlow, Dash, and my husband are all the light of my life. They provide more joy than I can even put into words. They are my life.

Now, with that being said, I have come to realize that they truly are my life. I have spent my entire adult life focused on everyone other than myself. I have tried to be the perfect wife and perfect mother. I have tried to measure up to my amazing friends, who are amazing moms. The other day I was on facebook and I came across this picture- 

and it really made me think. Who am I? Who is Alexa? Yes, I am a mother. Yes, I am a wife. Those are very important parts of me, but what else is there? I don't know. It was my "aha moment". I know that in order for me to be the best wife, mother, daughter, friend that I can be, I have to be my first rate self. I have to find what makes me happy.

So here I am. I am starting this journey. I know there are a lot of women out there that are going through this, too. I hope we can experience it together and learn from one another.