Perks of Parenthood

First of all, I would like to apologize for my lack of postings recently. Life has been pretty insanely busy the last little while, and has not left much free time for blogging. And on top of being busy, we have been dealing with some pretty intense behavioural issues, that have had us pretty much pulling our hair out. (And wishing that I wasn't pregnant so I could be adding alcohol to my daily diet) To be honest, most days in the past couple weeks have left me feeling so frustrated, that had I sat down at the computer to write something about my kids, I probably would have gone to craigslist and posted them for sale rather then blogged about them. Scratch that, I would have listed them for free.


But things seem to have somewhat settled down, and I once again feel like I can safely write about them. And maybe perhaps in sharing about what we have gone through, it might help one of you get through your day with out posting your kids on craiglist, knowing that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! Kids have issues, some are worse then others, but they all have them! We all deal with them. It's just one of those things in parenting that we just have to get through. And we do, we always do. And there are always better days! 


Anyway, if you are interested in hearing all the gory details, read on. If you dont want to taint the glorious vision you may have of the Mini Mundys (or even the Big Mundys for that matter), I suggest you just stop now, or skip ahead, as I promise I will end this post on a positive note!


So here we go... Our normally sweet as candy, heart melting little girly, has been replaced by an unreasonable, emotional, tantrum throwing, full on terrible two year old who will meltdown without any warning and for no particular reason, at the drop of a hat. Yeah, it's been fun! There was actually one particular weekend that I can honestly say was the worst weekend I have had in my last 4 1/2 years of parenthood. I felt completely powerless. A feeling that I am not too fond of, as I like to control, well, pretty much everything. There was even times that I looked down at my ever growing belly and thought, "What am I doing?! A third, have I completely lost my mind?!" It pains me to even write that, but it's the honest truth. And honesty is the best policy right?!


This particular weekend started out with some big family fun on friday night. (which I will fill you in on at the end of this post) Maybe the late night or the fact that she was feeling a little under the weather contributed to what was to follow, but non the less, it was terrible. Saturday mid morning, marked the start of the first meltdown. This one, maybe the worst. It lasted for upwards of 2 hours!!! Seriously, 2 hours straight of relentless, unconsolable screaming at the top of her lungs. It continued for the rest of the weekend. Every few hours, another meltdown ensued. By the end of the weekend, I was so emotionally and physically drained that I honestly felt like running away. 


Here's the thing about Madisyn, she is an incredibly stubborn, strong willed, sassy little thing. (I seriously have no idea where she gets it from. It must be her dad. ) She had mastered the art of manipulation before she could even talk. What she lacks in size, she more then makes up for in attitude. She is a tiny controller. We often sit back in amazement and watch her manipulate a situation into going her way, all with a bit of a hair flip, a flutter of eyelashes and a mischievous grin. She will be trouble, we know it. In about 12-14 years things will get VERY interesting. At least we have a few years to prepare... All that being said though, she really is one of the sweetest little girls. She is generally an absolute joy to be around. She just has a bit of a dark side, you could say. When she gets mad, she gets REALLY mad. Like run for the hills, lock up your children kinda mad. She is capable of tantrums far worse then we ever saw from Josiah at this age. BUT, they are generally very few and far between. Which was why this particular weekend sent us into such a tail spin. It was sooo out of character for her to have tantrum after tantrum. We were at a total loss as to what to do, or how to deal with it. It left us feeling completely helpless. A feeling that as a parent, is absolutely horrible!


Another thing about Madisyn is, she is a daddy's girl through and through. Almost from the moment she so 'gracefully' came into this world. She has him wrapped around her little finger so tightly, it is almost sickening. So when comfort is needed, without hesitation, she will always go directly to him. That is until this one glorious weekend when she decided to forsake all others and turn to her mommy. Wow, did I ever feel honoured. Actually to be perfectly honest, it made me want to run in the opposite direction. I was the only one she wanted. Although there was nothing I could do to stop the screaming and carrying on, she still clung to me for dear life while doing it. It was awful. This may have something to do with the impending change our family is about to make. She may be starting to understand that she is going to be losing her spot as baby of the family. I don't really know what it is, but regardless of the reason behind it all, it has not been fun.


The tantrums themselves seemed to have tapered off in frequency and perhaps even in severity. But they are still continuing to happen far more then they ever had before. And like I said before, they come on without any warning and for almost no reason at all. The last 3 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for us. I think more tears have been shed in the Mundy household then ever before, and not just from the Mini Mundys. It doesn't help that I am nearly 8 months pregnant. But we know that this too shall pass, or at least thats what we keep telling ourselves. Lol. So until then, we will just continue to cope as best we can.


(If you happen to be surfing craigslist and come across a posting for a child that seems all too familiar, you will know that we are just having 'one of those days'!)


It is times like this that are hard for us as parents to remember that parenting, like almost any job, although incredibly hard at times, does come with it's perks. Aside from the obvious ones like the hugs and cuddles (on good days) and the whole unconditional love thing, there are also some other pretty sweet perks that I feel deserve some recognition. For example, you get to use your kids as an excuse to go to events like DISNEY ON ICE!!!! Ok, let me rephrase that.   You get to experience with your kids some of the greatest moments of childhood. You get to once again see the world through the eyes of a child, and it really is a much better place from their point of view.


So thanks to my wonderful mom, we all got to attend Disney on Ice when it was in Abbotsford a few weeks ago. (This was the big family fun I was referring to) As a kid, I was lucky enough to see it a number of times in Calgary. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood. I guess technically that was when it was just called the Ice Capades. So when we saw that it was coming right to Abbotsford, we knew it was something we couldn't miss. 


It was AWESOME! Seriously an amazing show. All 5 of us thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit of a gamble, as the show didn't start until 7:30, which is right around bedtime. But they both did amazingly well. Actually Madisyn may have even done slightly better then Josiah. Her eyes honestly didn't leave the ice from the moment it started. She was in absolute awe of the whole thing. Josiah was equally as thrilled, but a little more chatty as he wanted to talk about every single character as they came out on the ice. But really I was so proud of both of them and how well they did. Being the Toy Story fans that we are, I think its safe to say that was our favourite part. (Well aside from Colin. I think he preferred Cinderella. Lol. Maybe he will blog about that) But we truly enjoyed the entire thing from start to finish. It was an absolutely PERFECT family night!!

Here they are waiting for the show to start, with their arms full of gold, I mean, Disney merchandise. But for the cost, it may as well have been gold.

No excitement here!

Enjoying her snowcone in a cute but entirely impractical Minnie cup. With an even more impractical straw/spoon. But its all about the experience!

Eyes glued to the ice

Our attempt during intermission at a family photo. Madisyn was too concerned that she was going to miss something on the ice to actually look at the camera.

Jessie and Woody!!!

Ready to head home. Tired but sooo happy!

So yes, definitely a 'perk of parenthood'. What an Awesome night it was. Thanks again Grandma Clara!!!

Just to Clarify

If there was any confusion, about the most recent post, 'In My defense...', please refer to the previous post, 'A Few Changes'. That should clear things up a bit:)

In My Defense... I also like Christmas Lingerie!

I don’t hate Christmas! In fact I think I generally like it. Although I’m not a huge fan of the cliché Christmas songs, or the cold weather, I don’t mind a lot of the other festivities that come with the season. Including any that might involve Christmas lingerie... or bikinis & boots w/ fur (I blame the media for this illusion of fantastic winter attire) *if anybody knows of a place this is normal I need to know.

The thought process behind the defense:

“I don’t hate Christmas! In fact I think I generally like it.” Keyword being generally (insert dictionary definition here) -- let this be a lesson to a lot of people out there, this is a very calculated response to a potentially very bad situation. Being ‘that guy’ who hates Christmas, not only makes you a terrible person it can also be very dangerous. Even people alive with Christmas spirit won’t think twice about kicking your ass for putting any kind of damper on holiday cheer. I would highly recommend ‘generally’ as a good conflict reduction tool.

Not a huge fan... again this is a safe word, just displayed as four separate units working as one to minimize the dramatic (and possibly dangerous) effect of their combined meaning.

Cliché songs, though not a huge fan of the cliché jingles themselves, I may however be rather humoured by many of the dirty variations of the same classic tunes. So the next time you hear a classic Christmas jingle, and wonder why I’m silently laughing about it.... you’ll know.

I do like snow... just not when it’s rolling down the inside of my jacket. I think fresh snow looks great too. Snow can also be used build amazing snow sculptures, please see ‘Calvin & Hobbes’ for examples of ‘amazing’ sculptures (for cartoons, they did some fantastic work). However, I can honestly say that I truly don’t enjoy the cold.

As for the other festivities of the season, Christmas really is a great time of year. You can’t beat the amounts of amazing snacks, or the big meals (which, when prepared by my wife are fantastic!). Things like Christmas lights and gift giving are great. Among the less traditional, Slushing unsuspecting ‘punks’ can be fun (though I might be too old for that this year, we’ll see)

My only suggestion to help improve this already well-loved season, would be to somehow introduce the festivities of one of the other ‘co-holidays’. What I’m suggesting is that any random date during the holidays, implement the festivities of March.14^th. This could even be an excellent addition to the already huge hype of ‘Boxing Day’. I couldn’t think of a better finish to day of bargain shopping than the festivities of March 14^th. *If not familiar with the holiday that takes place March 14^th, here are the google results, it shouldn’t require too much research beyond this.

In all seriousness, I do enjoy the Christmas season. Also as a side note, I said she could decorate 2 weeks ago (however, benefit of the doubt, I was supposed to do some minor heavy lifting first... yep, still on my to-do list), and I’m not lying about the lingerie or bikini part... these are also Christmas things I like.

** comments section below for directions to the place where bikinis are worn as winter outfits. Thanks.

A Few Changes

So... you may have noticed a few changes made to the blog. (I know, 2 posts in and I am already switching things up?!) To start the title has been changed. The blog formerly known (even if only for a short time) as 'My Life With the Mini Mundys' will now be, drumroll please... 'Our Lives With the Mini Mundys'. 


If you are curious why this 'drastic change', take a little gander to the right side of my blog and you will find that I have added a contributor. None other then, the one and only Big 'Mundy'! (AKA- Colin, my amazing husband)


Apparently my last post sparked a little something in him. He now also, has the burning desire to blog. Or more so to add to my blog. Maybe a chance to add a rebuttal?! I don't know, we will see! But now you will all have a chance to get a little insight from my other half. This could get interesting. Lol.


The blog will still remain primarily mine. His 'contributions' will, I imagine, not be as frequent or lengthy as mine. But he will definitely be putting in his 2 bits here and there. So stay tuned for his first post!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Ummm, well, it WAS beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Now, not so much. The snow that had been missing Abbotsford for about a week finally hit us last Wednesday night. I was thrilled when I woke up on Thursday morning to see a nice layer of that beautiful white stuff. For a moment it made me feel like a kid again. There is nothing like the first snow fall. It just gives you that 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' feeling. I could not wait WAIT for the kids to get up and see it! And when they did, I was thrilled to see that they were just as excited about it as I was. Granted, we didn't leave the house all day, didn't even go out to play in it due to lack of winter gear. (I know, I know, bad mommy) BUT we did enjoy it , through the window all day. And... it was beautiful! (Was being the key word) Unfortunately, it did not last. In true Lower Mainland fashion, the rain came and washed most of it away. 

So now the kids, especially Josiah, are panicking. What does this mean for Christmas?! Are we going to have to wait longer?! How will Santa get here if there is no snow?! And unfortunately for them, inside the house, is just as bleak, as the outside. Now I myself, am a Christmas Hardcore, a total junky. I love, love, LOVE Christmas and everything about it. If I could I would listen to Christmas music ALL year. And I would put up my decorations the day after Halloween.    My husband, on the other hand does not feel quite so strongly about 'The Most Wonderful Time of the Year'. He hates the cold, so the fact that it lands during winter doesn't really work in it's benefit. He enjoys the whole gift giving thing (and he is totally awesome at that. Spoils me every year!!), but could definitely do without the shopping part. He doesn't even really like turkey dinner!! Although, between my mashed potatos and my mom's candied yams, he is definitely warming up to it. And to top it all off... this is hard for me to even write, but oh man, here I go...he HATES Christmas music! I know, right?! How can you not love it?!

But don't get me wrong. He is by no means a Scrooge. He is actually a very good sport about the whole thing. He puts up with my overspending, overdecorating, generally just overdoing Christmas, every year. But at some point, he has to draw the line, and for him that means Christmas doesn't really start 'happening' in our house until December. (Although he will start indulging in Christmas drinks the minute Starbucks starts serving them up) So until then, I will patiently wait. Only 2 more days and then it's on!!

All that being said, we did do something totally out of character for us this year, we got Santa pictures done already!! And I have to say, it was an absolutely wonderful (and hilarious) experience. Never been able to say that before about our last minute, standing in line in the mall for hours, paying upwards of 20.00 for one crappy picture of my kids screaming their heads off . So this year, we did things a little differently. My friends Jen and Sonja have been doing this for the last 3 years and we decided to try it out this year too. There is a local photographer who does an annual Santa Photo weekend at his house. For 30.00 you get your own (prearranged) 15 minute time slot with just Santa and the photographer. The photographer takes pictures the whole time and then you get them all on a disc at the end. It is awesome!! There is no standing in line. No rushing the kids through. It gives them plenty of time to warm up to Santa, and you can do as many poses as you want. Seriously a brilliant idea. I only wish I had thought of it first. Lol.

So to get the kids extra pumped up for the whole thing, we had done the Sympatico Magic Santa message for them. (If you haven't done it for your kids, or dont even know what it is check it out. It is very cool! http://magicsanta.ca The morning of their pictures, I called them over to the computer to show them the email that I had received for each of them from Santa himself! Inside the email was a personalized video message from Santa, complete with a picture of them and some personal info. Josiah's jaw literally dropped. I wish I had taken a video of it. It was a priceless moment. After watching the videos we got them dressed in their Christmasy outfits and continued the 'buzz' while discussing in great detail what they would be asking Santa for. Josiah took a little gentle persuasion, as his Santa list was a little 'extravagant'. And Madisyn just wanted to ask Santa for pink. Nothing specific, just the colour pink. (She evidently doesn't quite get the whole Santa list thing yet) But with help she did finally settle on pink colouring markers. (Which is probably all Santa will be able to afford after fulfilling her brothers wishlist)

So off we went with the kids looking as cute as ever. We were all pretty stoked. (I think even Colin may have been excited) We walked up to the house with little Madisyn chanting that she was going to sit on Santa's lap and Josiah was fretting about the wind ruining his hair. Once we got inside Josiah's excitement grew, as did the grin on his face and Madisyn stayed pretty happy. That is until we came around the corner and were suddenly face to face with Santa. Josiah ran right over to him and started chatting non-stop to him. Madisyn however wanted nothing to do with him. She wouldn't even look at him. Now, my little girly is many things, but a wimp she is not. She was scared, oh man she was scared. But she was not gonna let it show. She didn't cry or even wimper and she didn't run out of the room. She just stood there back to Santa and wouldn't budge. Nothing we could do or say was going to get her any closer then she already was, that is until the photographer mentioned a possible 'goody bag'. Then it was game on for her, she would do what it took to get a goody bag. She slowly walked over to Santa and stood in front of him. Without making a fuss a just picked her up and put her on his lap. She sat looking straight ahead biting her top lip, and didn't move an inch. She was 'Stone Cold Madisyn'. Poor Santa. Josiah was getting such a kick out of it all. (I guess he doesn't remember screaming his head off every other year he has visited Santa) Then Santa asked her what she would like for Christmas. Without any hesitation she responded in a totally monotone and emotionless voice, "A goody bag." We all burst out laughing, well all of us except for Madisyn, who continued to look straight ahead and didn't even crack a smile. Then just to be sure, Santa asked, "A goody bag?" To which she replied in the exact same completely monotone voice, "Yeah, right now." Again, more laughter. I may have even peed my pants a little. (Hey, I am 7 month pregnant, you just never know) It was absolutely hilarious. In the end we managed to get 29 pictures. None of which were bad, as they all told the story of our 2010 Santa experience. Madisyn even braved it out for some solo photos with Santa, and then of course was rewarded with a goody bag. Then all was good in the world she was back to her happy little self. Even said good bye to Santa as she walked out of the room.

So here are a few of the pictures we got: 

Here is Josiah telling Santa how old he is.

Just chatting

He is one handsome little dude!

And again.

Hi 5 for Santa! Josiah just loved him.

We finally got her on his lap!

Stone Cold Madisyn

Not gonna answer a single question and most definitely not gonna look at Santa!

As I said, Josiah found the whole thing hilarious. Madisyn... not so much.

Even managed a solo photo!

Almost looks like a smile, but I believe she is saying, "A goody bag"

Not impressed that we all found it so funny. 

Finally, the goody bag!!!

Aaand, we're done. (FYI that glare is for me. If looks could kill hey?!)

So one Christmas thing crossed off our list before December 1st! Big step for the Mundy's! Who knows, maybe next year we could listen to Christmas music on the way to our November Santa photos?!

Why Blog?!

Well... after months of deliberation, going back and forth, talking myself into it, then talking myself right back out of it, I have finally decided to join the wonderful world of blogging! Why, you might ask? Well obviously it's because I have copious amounts of spare time and a raw talent for writing that should no longer be tamed. Yeah, not so much. But I do have a few very good reasons that I think far out way the negative ones.

To start, I believe that my kids are just straight up 'blog worthy'. Between the two of them they have more personality (and attitude) then they know how to deal with. Who wouldn't want to read about that?! As many of you know, there is seriously never a dull day at the Mundy house. And facebook statuses just don't seem to do them justice. So I may as well just put it out there in full unedited form for all of you to read.

Secondly, all of our family and some of our closest friends live not only in different city's but in different provinces as well. This is an easy way for you all to keep up to date on everything new (exciting and even not so exciting)in our lives.

There is also another little reason. This one comes with a confession that  I am going to have to make... I am a Blog addict. I LOVE reading other peoples Blogs. People I know and even ones I dont. I just cant get enough of them! But with that comes another confession, I suffer from  what can only be described as 'Blog Envy'. Not familiar with the term? Well let me explain it to you. It is very similar to what some may call 'Shoe Envy'. You see a girl wearing a pair of to die for shoes and you start to feel your self fall in love with them. You look at them and admire them, probably even tell her how much you love them and how great she looks wearing them. And you genuinely mean it, but then, something happens, something that you can not stop, you start to feel yourself turning a little green with envy. You think, "Why cant I have those shoes? I could totally rock those shoes!!" Then you picture yourself in them, and how great they would look with your favourite pair of dark wash jeans. Or even that black and white plaid skirt that makes your husband, well, you know... But then the doubt kicks in. You then start to tell yourself that it would be a silly purchase. How often do you really get out of the house anyway, they would just collect dust in the closet. And for the amount they probably cost, you would have to starve your family for a week and put your daughter in grocery bags instead of diapers. But you would still look darn good in them! It is much that way with me and blogs. I read them and love them. My friends who write them, I usually try to let them know how much I enjoy them. But, I cant help thinking in my head about what mine would be like if I were to have one.  Something funny will happen and I think, "If I had a blog I would sooo write about that!" Then the doubt kicks and  I  think about  the many reasons why I should not do a blog. But here I am starting one of my own! Mine will not be as raw and as 'piss your pants funny' as my friend Alanna's. Nor will it be as detailed and as well documented as my friend Sonja's (hers is sort of like her baby book for her boys) And it most definitely will not have the awesome video compilations that my friend Erica has. (Way too technical and creative for me)  But it will be mine, all mine. 

My last, and probably most important reason for doing it, is a little more on the serious side. 4 years and seven months (and 7hours and 43 minutes) ago to this very day, I fell deeply and completely in love with the most beautiful and perfect little blue eyed baby boy I (and most other people) had ever seen. At that moment, everything changed. Everything that had once seemed so important, didn't seem to matter. The thoughts of one day having a successful career and making boatloads of money seemed to vanish. We knew that it wouldn't be easy, and we would probably struggle. We would most likely be the last ones to buy our own place and probably wouldn't drive luxury cars for many years, if ever. But we were going to do everything we could in our power so I could be a stay at home mommy. Then 2 years, 1 month and 4 days (and 26 minutes) later our decision was confirmed when we welcomed our precious baby girl into the world and once again our hearts were filled with more love then we even knew possible. The decision to stay at home is one that, not gonna lie, some days has me banging my head against a wall and slipping shots of Bailey's into my Mini Wheats. (obviously not in the last 29 weeks) But one that I do not regret and wouldn't change for the world. I have never missed a 'first' and I hopefully never will. I have been able to experience and celebrate every milestone, big and little, with them. And I get to witness first hand the changes they make everyday and the little people they become. My job, although as tiring and down right frustrating as it can be, is far more rewarding and fulfilling then anything else I could ever imagine doing. I am a proud mommy, and so, I will write!

So there you have it, my very first post. I have officially lost my 'blogging virginity'. I hope you have all enjoyed it and are looking forward to continuing to read about my life with the Mini Mundy's. (You can also be looking forward to many spelling, punctuation and grammar errors and I am sure loads and loads of run on sentences. So consider yourself warned!!)