Globe-trotting Grovers: April 2012

our story

It all began on the evening of Nov 29th 2003, at former Chat Noir French Restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA. Brad approached me [Jana] and we instantly connected; it was love at first sight. The next 4 years that followed were a whirlwind of romance, growing pains, and adventures. We circled the globe, traveling to South America, Europe, and Asia. Then one night, Brad surprised me with a romantic beachside proposal. We made it official on August 23rd 2008 with an intimate wedding at a hip art gallery in Laguna Beach. A year later we finished redesigning our home in the beach village of Corona del Mar.

On May 18th, 2010, we were blessed with a sweet little miracle of our own, our baby boy Taj Leon. He stole our hearts and took our breath away! Then, 19 months later, his incredible little brother, Jax Franz, arrived on Christmas morning (December 25th) 2011. What an amazing gift we received! In an effort to slow down the clock and enjoy our beautiful family, in Spring of 2012, we sold our CA seaside home and moved across the country to our dream lake house in Brad's hometown of Bemus Point, a resort village on Chautauqua Lake in Western New York! Even though we are living a more slow paced life, we are living a life far from ordinary!

From the West Coast to the East Coast, our Grover family adventures continue! So won't you come along and join us on this journey of love, family, and travel we like to call our La Vida Grover!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Mom of Two, Coming Through....

Have you ever seen one of those moms holding her toddler in one arm and balancing an infant in a car seat in the other, while running errands? Or how about the one who is pushing her toddler in the swing with one hand while nursing her infant? Or the one who participates and dances with her toddler in his music movement class with infant strapped on to her chest? Or the mom who cooks dinner, feeds, bathes, and puts 2 babies to bed simultaneously? Or better yet, how about the mom who dines solo with her 2 babies in a restaurant, feeding her toddler and nursing her infant?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. and hells Yes on the last one! Why? Because that's me! (as if you couldn't guess I was leading up to that!) Three years ago to-date, did I ever imagine I would be a SAHM with 2 little boys under the age of 2? No way. Its a dream come true. I embrace the challenges and rewards that go along with it. The stair climbing, the tantrums, the random night wakings.... sure, they make being a mom even more difficult as if being a mom of 2 isn't difficult enough. I say this, being a mom of 2 babies under the age of 2 is not for the light-hearted!! You have to have incredible multi-tasking abilities, an organization system, and loads of patience. As a woman, I look back at all the stages of our life and how we take each one for granted. Say, when you are single (or married without kids) you don't realize how peachy life is that you get to sleep in whenever you want, go wherever you please, and act as selfish as you want to be. When you are a mom of 1, you don't realize how easy you have it when it comes to nap schedules, going places, and doing things. As a mom of 2, showers become even more of a luxury, every task is a weight-lifting chore, and once the kiddos are in their cribs asleep for the night you realize how dehydrated and hungry you are because you have forgotten to drink enough water or eat enough in the day! For the 5 months ago pregnant SAHM with a toddler who feared she wasn't going to be able to handle this, I have come a long long way, and would like to toot my own horn!

I never gave up on breast feeding Jax (I'm so happy the pump is hidden somewhere in the closet collecting dust!).... this makes being a mom of an infant and toddler so much more simple, I don't have to carry any bottles with me. I balance spending time with each of my 2 boys by attending music and swim classes with the older one, and baby yoga with the younger one. They each hold a special place in my heart, and for each I have carved out specific 1:1 times in the day. I cook gourmet meals 4-5 evenings a week, while entertaining and keeping my babies busy with playdates, field trips, story times, and park playtime. My cuisine specialities are my signature soups, muffins, buffalo burgers, salmon dishes, asian dishes, artisan flatbread pizzas, baked pasta dishes, PF Chang style chicken lettuce wraps, and I make some pretty heavenly french toast and chocolate chip pancakes as well! The icing on the cake is that Taj loves mama's cooking! I have stayed overnight with the babies alone, had a slumber party with them outside of the house, and some nights I put them both to bed by myself. What's reassuring for me is that I could be a really good single mom if I had to be. I do some sort of exercise (bootcamp, pilates, yoga, zumba, dance) almost every day and I'm back in my pre-pregnancy jeans after a 55 lb pregnancy weight gain, all thanks to Studio Seaside, which includes a preschool-like childcare (genius!).

It's amazing to me how the maternal instinct kicks in and you just know how to do it all, without the fear and trepidation you feel prior to your life changing and expanding with one more baby. This has got to be something innate within us.... I mean, think about the women who have multiples or who have many children and never use a nanny! I secretly admire other moms of 2, and eternally appreciate my mom friends who always lend a helping hand without even being asked (and most only have 1 child themselves, so its pretty awesome how much they understand and care.) The main wisdom I have acquired from this journey so far is 1) its ok if one child cries while you help the other, as long as you trade off who you run to first (plus the kiddies learn what patience is all about), 2) never rush a mom while she's getting the kids packed up and out the door (she may just leave something very important behind), 3) after the kiddies are in bed, reflect on the day, and vow you will be even more patient and positive the next, 4) strive for as many kisses and hugs in a day (I find myself kissing and hugging my boys after every activity, when we go to and from places, and i get many cuddles and hugs back in return. I always think about an article I read a few months ago about how crucial the first 3 years are for a child's intelligence and self-esteem, and there's no one better than mommy and daddy to instill that positive self-confidence and self-love. This makes me so grateful that I have essentially put things on hold to nurture and raise my little ones.

In the beginning months of this adventure I had 2 secret weapons: my eyelash extensions and my babysitter Sam. Ha ha! Its really true! The fabulous eyelashes allowed me to just roll out of bed and dash out of the house without a worry of how I looked (minimizing mommy maintenance), while my babysitter allowed me to run errands and grocery shop without the babies in tow when I didn't have the confidence to do so. Now, 4 months later, the eyelash extensions are off and my babysitter comes only when needed or when I have an appointment/ date night. And the "super" mommy moments I listed in the beginning of this post are just the many that I'm proud of. Actually, I left out a pretty crazy one that happened last week! Ok, here it goes! Have you ever met a mom that in order to wash her hair (my blow dryer blew out the night before so I had no other choice but to wash my hair early in the evening in order for it to dry by bedtime).... had to take a shower with her toddler (infant was lounging on a towel just feet from the shower) when all of a sudden the toddler announced he had to go "poopoo"? Then, only to have the soaking mom hurriedly pull the toddler out of the shower and on the toilet? ha ha! Again, if someone asked me 3 years ago if I could ever see myself in this kind of scenario I would have laughed out loud and maybe even cringed at the possibility of my toddler pooping in the shower. Ah, what we do for love! Welcome to my life! Every day is an adventure, and its far from ordinary! Oh, and its only getting better!!!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Spring Break 2012 - San Diego

Last weekend was our big Open House weekend (both Saturday and Sunday), so we got the "heck out of Dodge" (Believe it or not, it was the easiest thing for us to do with 2 babies..... our realtor took care of the rest.) And while our home was on display each day, the boys and I headed south to La Jolla to relax, dine, and play in the pool. I have 2 words to express what a great time we had: Embassy Suites. 2-room suite, heated indoor pool, and complimentary "cooked-to-order" breakfast buffet, all for $150/ night...... Enough said! This is seriously the way to go anytime we travel as a family of 4, and they have over 200 locations nationally and internationally!

The Tropical open-air atrium (this is where we had our breakfast down below):

Jax's first time staying overnight in a hotel..... and he slept awesome 8-5am :)

After having linner at PF Chang's, we splashed around in the indoor heated pool, it was also Jax's first time in the pool! Do you like his speedo swim diaper? Same one Taj wore first time he went in the pool (at 7 months old, indoor pool as well, when we visited our friends in Colorado!)

And after pool play, it was bath time and bedtime for the kiddos.

The great thing about a 2-room suite is that the kids go to sleep in one room, while the adults order room- service and kick back in the living room!

Jax's Zoolander sleep look (just like the one daddy does!)

The next day, we devoured our breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and headed to Legoland!

First family ride: the scenic Fairytale boat adventure.... all the storybook characters were made out of legos!

Jax's first time on a ride:

Do you notice Jax's super cute Ugg booties? He got so many smiles and compliments that day on his outfit :)

Taji LOVES playing with legos, and they had so many play areas for the little ones to play with legos and such...

Firetruck race ride that Taj and daddy went on. Daddy did all the work "pumping" the fire truck to move since Taj was too small, and they still ended up beating out the other 3 trucks!

One of Taj's favorites: a water swing! I highly recommend Legoland on a hot weekday, when the kiddos can run around in their board shorts and get wet. The day we went it was a teeny bit too cold for Taj to take his shoes or shirt off