Red Bull Morning & a Beach Trip

I'm not a coffee drinker. Diet Coke is my thing. And if that doesn't work, it's Red Bull even though I try to resort to that only in extreme emergency. This morning was an one of those extreme emergencies. When I'd been awakened for the fourth morning in a row before 5 a.m. by my 9 month old who in turn awakened my 3 year old, I knew it was going to be a doozy. My lack of sleep and/or good rest probably wouldn't have been so paramount had I not had the past two weeks that I've had. If you'll remember, two Sundays ago I took charge of my 4 year old brother and 9 year old sister for 8 days (in addition to my own two kids of course) followed by a week at the beach with all of them. Let's just say down time hasn't been in the vocabulary whatsoever. By the time we headed home from the beach I was running on empty. And the fact that my children still haven't recovered from all the action which is in turn affecting their sleep patterns is about to make a woman crazy. So this morning when I'd showered, done 2 loads of laundry, showered again from being thrown up all over by Cate, done 2 more loads of laundry to wash the throw up off of my clothes and our duvet cover and comforter, attended to an extremely whiny toddler who just couldn't find the right outfit after approximately ten tries, and done about 5 laps around the neighborhood pushing Cate in her stroller with one hand while holding Towns on my hip and her doll stroller (that she was supposed to be pushing since this little stroll was all her idea) in the other hand all before 8 a.m.....that's when Diet Coke just doesn't cut it. I broke my own personal record and had downed a 12 oz. Red Bull by 8:15. Then it was off to the church for the first day of Princess Ballerina Camp in my pink ballerina outfit (thank you, Amy) which turned out surprisingly well despite my mood. Thankfully, the day ended better than it started because I discovered my new favorite show. I never watch TV. Never. Except the occasional O'Reilly Factor or Hannity and Colmes. But tonight as J was flipping through the channels we became instantly enthralled by "Country Goes Pop" night on Nashville Star. I'm in love. I don't really do country music. And have never really been into reality TV. The last time I was into it was back when Taylor Hicks won American Idol. But this girl who took Britney Spears' "You Drive Me Crazy" and made it county and this country boy who did "Umbrella" have brought back the same kind of feelings I had when good ol' Tay Tay used to reduce me to a screaming schoolgirl every Tuesday night back in 2006. Was it 2006? That seems like ages ago.

Onto the beach trip recap...we had a really good time...that said, I've come to the conclusion that with small children a vacation isn't really a vacation for the mom. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast. But I become a nervous wreck when my children are around water and on balconies. Two things I never really gave much thought to until I had children of my own. My greatest fear in this world is losing one of my babies, so I watched them like a hawk the entire time and I don't think I sat down once all week because I was constantly over their shoulders! Towns goes ninety to nothing with everything she does and now that Cate's mobile and gets around way too fast for me it keeps me on my toes. J usually entertained the big kids (Bethany and Anna Grace) and my mom had Max to take care of (he'll get away from you in a heartbeat if you don't watch him...I found this out the hard way when I took all 5 kids to the splash pad the other day and before I knew it a sweet old woman came up holding Max's hand and told me she'd just retrieved him from the middle of the road...apparently he'd gotten out of the gate surrounding the splash pad before I ever realized it...now none of you will ever trust me with your children) so I had Cate and Towns to keep an eye on. Now I can't even remember where I was going with the story. Anyhoo, Cate got her first beach experience that started with a face full of sand and ended with sand from her neck down as well (which drives me crazy and is the reason our beach trips are limited to about 30 minutes...good thing for me none of our kids really like the beach which is why we stick with the pool) and Towns found out that doing her famed cartwheels in the sand ends up with the equivalent of carpet burn on your face - except it's sand and not carpet. That cured that. Bethany was so sweet and patient about the trip to "the ocean" (as Towns calls it...to her the beach=the ocean and Phoenix on the Bay=the beach...she's so confused) and never once complained or asked when we were leaving. We got to see our friends Justin and Aubrey and their kids from Birmingham which was a treat. They came over the night of J's birthday and we all grilled out by the bay. It was gorgeous weather and we had such a good time. The week went by way too quickly for me and I so wish we had another beach trip to look forward to! Our pictures are here and B I'm wondering where were you when I had my camera out?? You and AG did your own thing most of the week so I suppose that's why I don't have very many of you. Sad!! That's just reason enough to go again, right?!

I'm off to bed now and hoping tomorrow will start off a little (ok, a lot) better and make for a much more positive blog post! :)