Justice Delivered

The other day as Talan was throwing a tantrum and being a grump, he decided to take it out on his little brother by hurling a plastic toy tiger at Tyce's head. Luckily it missed Tyce's head by a mere inch and hit the wall. Without blinking or missing a beat, Tyce looked down at the tiger, picked it up, and chucked it back, hitting Talan right in the middle of his face. Let's just say it was hard to suppress my laughter and be sympathetic to Talan as he wailed and screamed.

"Girl" picture

We were getting ready to go take someone a birthday present when Talan asked if he could give give her a picture that he had colored. Of course, how cute will that be? He announced very excitedly that he had the perfect "girl" picture for her that he had colored. Imagine my utter shock when my sweet little 4 yr old produced the following picture with pride:

Oh my gosh!!!!!! Does anyone else find it totally disturbing that whoever made this children's coloring book thought it appropriate to include this?

Needless to say, we settled on a coloring of spiderman instead. Now I get to "screen" all coloring books. That is great because I have actually been trying to find stuff to do in all of my "spare time."

Imperfectly Perfect

I know I spend most of my time on this site focusing on the not-so-fun aspects of being a mom of these boys, but this is my designated space to do that! That said, there is so much fun and good that we experience everyday that will soon be highlighted on my other blog (that is currently under construction).

I was starting to feel frustrated with all the things that I was facing on a daily basis. (It is hard being a mom to 2 very active boys). I want whoever reads this to know that this is part of my life, this is reality, and that's ok. I look at so many "this-is-my-perfect-life" blogs and that is fine, but I want to share my challenges here. I am probably too transparent and honest, but maybe if you've ever experienced some of the things I do it will help to know that someone else has been through it too. No, my life isn't "perfect" because everything goes right for me all the time. My life is "perfect" for me because what I experience on a daily basis adds to the person that I am. My life feels perfect when my husband hugs me, or when my children get me up in the morning by climbing on me and giving me kisses on my cheeks until I am awake. I am an imperfect person....as clearly evidenced on this blog! I am clumsy, uncoordinated, grumpy in the morning, airheaded, always 5-10 minutes late, a procrastinator.....just to name a few of my many flaws! I love that my husband, family, and friends know all of these things about me and accept me anyway. What could be more perfect than that?

Potty Time Update

Except for one episode of peeing down the heat vent this week (yeah, not the easiest place to clean), Tyce has resorted to going in his diaper again. (Thank you!). I'm not ready to potty-train another kid yet!

Talan went all week with no accidents and as a reward got to pick out the same power ranger toy that he gave his friend Tanner for his birthday. We are very, very proud of him.

I've decided that if I can survive potty-training, I can survive anything. It has honestly been one of my biggest challenges, but it has taught me patience on a whole new level, being prepared (the time you forget the extra diaper at the store is the time you are going to need it), and it has made me realize that as a mother I don't really have a clue sometimes and that it is ok to ask for help (from my family, friend's going through the same thing, and my Heavenly Father). Thanks for all the support!

Talan's Broken Heart

It was about an hour before Talan was going to go to his friend Tanner's birthday party when I asked him if he would like to help me wrap the present I had for him to take. He was really excited to help until he saw the gift.....a totally awesome red power ranger. Excitement quickly turned to tears as he declared that he didn't even have a power ranger and that he just wanted to keep this one and give his friend something different. Although it would have been much easier to just give in I thought I would let this be a teaching moment about how to be a good friend and that we don't always get what we want. Let me tell ya, that was a looooong hour as we waited for the party to start. My constant reply of "No" was repeatedly met with despaired sobs of how that was the only toy that he has every wanted. I finally gave him the option to go to the party with the present or stay home and I would take the present to Tanner by myself. Luckily he chose the first option and I think actually had a great time.

The next day Talan was happily ancipating the arrival of his friend Luke who was coming over to play. At the time he was supposed to get there Talan took his post at the front window to watch for him. About every 30 seconds he would ask "Mom, where is he? Why isn't he here yet? Why is he taking forever?, etc....After 1/2 an hour of this we found out that Luke wasn't going to be able to come and play that day after all. The tears and sobs began and I watched him go from being so excited to totally devastated. (It amazing how HUGE such little things are to kids). :.(
As the crying continued to excalate I asked Talan if he wanted to come sit on my lap and give me a hug. He climbed on and melted into my arms. As I began rocking him, I suggested that he stay here until he didn't feel sad anymore. He looked up at me with his big blue tear-filled eyes and whispered, "Mom, can I stay here forever?" Yeah, that was pretty much the sweetest moment ever. Unfortunately for me, "forever" to him meant until 3 minutes later when we had arranged for him to play with another friend.

Escape of the Baby

Why do I take Tyce shopping with me? I have asked myself this many times and yet continue to hope for the best on the next trip. I took him to Roberts with me because all I had to buy was some ribbon. The moment we walked into the store he started trying to run away from me. Each time I would pick him up and hold him as he kicked and screamed until my arms got too tired and then the whole thing would start again with him trying to run off. Had he stayed with me all along the shopping would have lasted all of 5 minutes.

When I finally had my ribbon selection in my arms (and began to wonder why I didn't get a cart), Tyce took off toward the back of the store. I happened to have about 10 spools of ribbon in my arms (one falling with each step and then another falling each time I would reach down to grab the first one that fell). I decided to go up the next isle over and cut him off. Well, at some point he decided to change course and headed to the front of the store instead. As I approached the back wall I realized that he had outsmarted me. As I quickened my pace to the front of the store, I tried to fight off the sick feeling that he had run out the front doors of the store into the parking lot. I began the embarrassing but necessary task of yelling out Tyce's name in all directions as I scanned each isle on my way to the store's entrance. At the front of the store was a lovely store clerk holding my little Tyce and giving him a balloon. (Because he is sooo cute and innocent and his bad mommy can't even keep track of her barely-2-year-old little darling while she shops).

"I'll take that little boy off your hands," I said nearly out-of-breath. Just then an eruption of laughter and chuckles erupted from behind me. I turned around to see a line of at least 15 people watching all the events unfold. Another great humiliating mommy moment for me.

The Curse of the Garage Door

No, I didn't run into the garage door with my car again. (Thank goodness!). I was hurriedly (is that a word?) putting my kiddos in the car so I could make it to my aerobics class on time (for once), and then I pushed the wall button that opens the garage (since my remote opener has been suspended from my possession indefinitely). I closed the car door to the back seat only to have the emergency release string for the garage door get slammed into the top of the car door as the garage door was almost to the top. As I realized what I had done I quickly opened the door but was a milisecond too late. The emergency release had disengaged the garage door and it went slamming to the ground with a bang.

I tried for awhile to get the garage door hooked back up to the chain, but after what seemed like forever, I let my squealing kids go back inside and realized the gym was not going to happen today. I called Ryan and even consulted the unhelpful garage-door-owners-manual to see if I could figure this out on my own so we wouldn't be trapped at the house all day. If you know me at all you know that I am clumsy and uncoordinated to begin with, but it is magnified when I try to do anything of a "handyman" nature. Despite this unfortunate characteristic of mine, I was able to get the dang-stupid-dumb-cursed thing working in less than an hour. Gym back on baby.

Well, maybe not. When I went inside to collect the boys Talan was running down the hall with poop all over his legs. "I tried to call for you mom but you didn't hear me!" Talan cried. That's because I was fixing the garage door that is trying to kill me. After cleaning him up I began to find poop smears scattered throughtout the house.....on the shower wall, the bathroom counter, his dresser, in Tyce's room and on the outside of at least four other diapers. Poop is my life.

Outhouse

Does my house look like a toilet to you? I guess it does to my children. Tyce has out-smarted the onsie technique and has resorted to unsnapping, undiapering, and undoing all my best efforts to keep my carpets clean by peeing in about 5 different places today. I think I am officially sick of scrubbing my carpets!!!! I just had them steam cleaned a month ago and I think I will invest in it again. What am I supposed to do with him???? He is so naughty and he knows he is not supposed to do it because when he realizes he has been busted he starts smiling, laughing, and running away from me. What a turkey. I just wish he would point out the puddles to me first before my sock finds it for me.

Talan decided to undo being completely potty-trained by "skidding" in multiple pairs of underwear today, hiding them in various garbages, and attempting to wipe all by his little own self. I can handle that. It is when I find streaks of brown poop painted on different walls throughout the house that I sort of start to lose it. I just don't get it. He also left a lovely yellow trail of pee down the hall and across the bathroom floor because running with your pants down when you have to go isn't always the best option. At least it wasn't as bad as finding poop chunks down the hall like last week when he decided to go commando in his spiderman costume and didn't quite make it to the toilet in time. I am probably going to get sick from all the chlorox and cleaners I have been inadvertently inhaling as I attempt to sterilize my house and consider getting sterilized myself. (Just kidding mom....sort of)...

Just a Mom

Last night at work I was asked by my boss why I didn't work fulltime. "Are you just a mom?" Wow. While some moms may be offended by that, I actually was not. I wanted to say "Being a mom is my REAL job; here I'm just a nurse." I know that to some people being a mom isn't recognized as being as important as careers and professions, but to me striving to be the best mom and wife is the most important work that I do. Even when it's tough. Even when I feel like my efforts go unrewarded and unnoticed. Even when I feel like I am failing completely.

Found this quote today and thought I'd share....

"Motherhood brings as much joy as ever, but it still brings boredom, exhaustion, and sorrow too. Nothing else ever will make you as happy or as sad, as proud or as tired, for nothing is quite as hard as helping a person develop his own individuality especially while you struggle to keep your own." -Marguerite Kelly and Elia Parsons

Not the Onsie!

Since Tyce has made it a sport of removing his pants and diaper at every opportunity and then peeing on the carpet, I have started putting a onsie on him to make it harder for him to undress and to prevent our house from becoming condemned due to urinary contamination. The other day he tried to protest this new strategy of mine by saying, "NO, not the baby costume!!!"