Memorial Day Weekend

We had a wonderfully busy weekend. I'm still exhausted but it was totally worth it. Saturday we worked in the apartment and went swimming with friends. Sunday we spent the afternoon at my grandparents house. It was a perfect day. Little Man and Grandad

Zizi will post more pictures soon, I hope. Monday we decided to take the kids downtown. We packed a picnic lunch and headed into DC. We gave Little Man the choice of seeing the cars, airplanes or dinosaurs. He picked the dinosaurs (Natural History Museum):

"Have it, please?"

We also checked out the Mammal exhibit. He loved seeing all the animals. We really need to take him to the zoo.

Hunting like the bats.

This is what J-Bug thought of the trip:
He slept through most of they day. Thank goodness I had the sling with me. It wasn't such a great look for me, but the kids were happy.
We did manage to time it well and headed home before we had any meltdowns. We spent the afternoon at a cookout with some friends. Little Man loved their pool and we enjoyed having a chance to relax. The whole weekend was a good mix of work and play.... we need more weekends like this one.

Naptime Wars: Little Man plays dirty

DISCLAIMER: This post is NOT for the faint of heart or those who might have queasy stomachs. You have been warned.

You might remember this post from a couple weeks ago and of course the saga of the Naptime Wars. Well today there was another twist. First to bring you up to date....

In an effort to reinstate the nap, we have installed "light-filtering" blinds. It has helped to cut down on the bright afternoon sunlight in Little Man's room. In retaliation, Little Man has learned to empty one of his toy bins, set it on the floor by the door and turn on all the lights. Most days I'm just happy with a couple hours of him playing quietly in his room. When it gets REALLY quiet, that usually means he has fallen asleep and I say a prayer of thanksgiving.

Today that was not the case... It got REALLY quiet and I was happily expecting a long nap. Until I heard the pounding on the door and wailing coming from the other side. I opened the door to find Little Man holding this:
I was speechless. I didn't know what to say or how to react, other than being so totally disgusted that I wanted to hurl or cry... or both. Upon further inspection of his room I found this:


Little Man went directly into the tub and I spent half an hour cleaning up the poop. Lots of poop. Everywhere. The pacifier went into the trash because I wasn't even going to try. I was unbelievably grateful for hard wood floors and disinfectant wipes. As for the rest of the weekend... Wil gets the stinky diapers.

Cause I'm a slacker...

and I like to brag about how cute my kids are....J-Bug smiles

Little Man's "motorcycle"

So handsome!

Peek-a-boo

Reading Spot books

48 hours - A Recap

Tuesday
6:30 am: Little Man crawls in bed with me.
6:50: Shower
7:15-9:15: Wil leaves for work. Finish getting ready, get Baby Bear bathed and dressed, Little Man dressed, breakfast and out the door.
9:30: Baby Bear's appointment for his 2 month check up
9:40: spend the next hour repeating the phrases, "please don't climb on that", "please don't open that", "that's not for you", "no, jumping on the scale please", "mommy said no", and "I SAID NO!" while trying to talk to the Doctor about Baby Bear.
10:30: Baby Bear had 4 shots.
10:40: Put Baby Bear in the van while Little Man crawls to the back seat. Try to convince Little Man to get in his seat. Give up. Crawl into the van, wrestle Little Man back to the front and buckle a screaming child into his seat.
10:55: Pull into the Walmart parking lot and briefly wonder if this is really a smart idea.
10:55-11:30: Push two children through the store while they take turns screaming for various reasons. Little Man's favorite being "Stuck. No buckle in, Mommy!"
11:30-12:30: Meet Zizi at McDonald's so Little Man could run around the PlayPlace and I could have a short break.
12:45: Threaten small child with bodily harm if he does not walk up the stairs, "right this minute"
1:00: Diaper changes and nap time
1:00 - 3:00: Repeatedly remind Little Man that it is naptime and he needs to play in his room if he is not going to sleep. Finally lock door so he can't come out. Feel guilty for locking him in. Cuddle Baby Bear who has decided that he only wants to sleep if being held, watch Bones season finale, check blogs and talk to Mimi.
3:00-3:30: Feed Baby Bear and let Little Man out of his room.
3:30-5ish: Hope that Wil will be able to leave work at 5. Placate Little Man with snacks and TV shows while trying to get Baby Bear to stop crying.
5-6:30: Repeat the phrases, "Please don't touch your brother", "let him sleep", "Leave the swing alone" and "I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE."
6:30-8: Feed Baby Bear and retreat downstairs for moral support. Have chinese carry-out for dinner. Let Little Man play with his trains and Zizi cuddle a very fussy Baby Bear.
8-10: Put Little Man to bed. Watch AI with Zizi while taking turns trying to comfort Baby Bear.
10-11:30: Get Baby Bear to sleep. Fall asleep in the big chair. Give Baby Bear his bottle. Fall back to sleep. Pump. Get ready for bed. Crash.
Wednesday
2 something: Feed Baby Bear
5 something: Baby Bear wakes up. Wil takes care of him cause it's only been 2 hours since he ate. Have bad dream thanks to the episode of Bones I watched.
5:45-6:30: Little Man wakes up and crawls in bed with me. Vaguely remember him playing blocks on my face and reading books.
6:30-7:15: Feed Baby Bear. Hang out in bed while Little Man watches the guys load and unload trailers from the bedroom window.
7:15-12:45: Change diapers, watch "Matilda", the boys take turns crying, Baby Bear falls asleep on my lap, try desperately not to fall asleep too, become a human jungle gym. Feed Baby Bear twice. Make lunch.
1:00: NAPTIME! Little Man falls right to sleep. It's a miracle!
1:05: Baby Bear is wide awake with no signs of napping. Try to calm Baby Bear until he finally falls asleep.
2:00: Cue Hallelujah Choir... I'm finally getting a nap.
2:45 - 4ish: Baby Bear wakes up. I realize quickly that 45 minutes was just enough to make me even more exhausted than I already was. Feed Baby Bear and watch something on TV. Little Man wakes up and crawls onto the other side of my lap. We watch movie trailers on iTunes for G rated movies. Realize I've made a huge mistake by introducing singing chihuahuas to Little Man.
4ish: Zizi shows up with chocolate and cuddles my kids.
5:30-8: Wil gets home early. We have scrambled eggs for dinner and he works on projects in the apartment. Most importantly the light filtering blinds in the boys' room.
8: BEDTIME!
8-9:30: Fold clothes. Help Wil clean up dinner. Discuss Little Man's sleeping issues as we take turns putting him back in his bed.
9:30-10:30: Get Baby Bear's bottle ready. Feed him. Pump. Get ready for bed. Crash.
Thursday
3something: Feed Baby Bear. He's really fussy, so Wil takes him to try and get him back to sleep.
5:30: Little Man wakes us up and crawls into bed with me while Wil gets ready for work.
6:30: Send Little Man back to his room because he's jumping on my head.
6:45: Shower and pray that today is not like yesterday.
7:30: Realize that it is.

"Everyone needs a Lindsey"

I was reminded on Saturday of how lucky I am to have a fabulous sister like Zi. We were at a baby shower and Zizi had Baby Bear. He was sitting on her lap, cooing, smiling and being all around cute. (We even had to point it out to one of the ladies because she had yet to see him in such a great mood.) One of the ladies said, "Everyone needs a Lindsey!" and she was right. I honestly don't know how I would have accomplished all that I needed to this weekend without her... cute baby throw blanket/spit rags were made, errands to run, baby shower to attend, posters for church, dinner for the missionaries, a birthday tutu for one of Little Man's friends, babies were cuddle when I needed 5 more minutes before I could nurse, big boys were cuddled while I was nursing and I even got some time with Wil.

I really don't know what I would do without her. I wish everyone could have a sister as helpful, fun, creative and all around fabulous.

More like my mother than I ever wanted to admit

I've discovered Etsy. This is dangerous. Very. Dangerous. The crafty girl in me is going crazy and wants to buy all kinds of cute "patterns" so I can make you all fabulous presents. You may wonder why this is a problem... Because I would spend the money on the patterns, then buy all the stuff to make them and it would SIT in my apartment for YEARS before I ever touched it. Plus I would then have to go out and buy non-homemade presents for Christmas, resulting in spending way more than my Christmas budget allows.

Someone please stop me now. Please.

Disappointed

Dear Edy's,

We have been huge fans of your Edy's Slow Churned light ice cream, especially the French Silk flavor, and buy at least one every week. Imagine my surprise today when I went to grab it and found that the container was SMALLER for the SAME price. Did you think we wouldn't notice that almost HALF of our ice cream is missing? Or that the other flavors are still in the larger containers? Is this going to happen with all of your flavors, almost doubling the cost of ice cream? If so, this will be one consumer who can no longer afford to buy your product.

A very disappointed consumer

Hepa-copper

Little Man LOVES vehicles of all kinds. My favorite is the helicopter, mostly because he pronounces it "Hepa-copper". It makes me smile every time.

We were doing letters today on Starfall and he wanted to do "H". There's a helicopter and when you click on it, it makes a helicopter sound. Little Man leaned over to me and said, "Hepa-copper says hepa-copper, hepa-copper, hepa-copper," the last part was repeated very softly and as fast as he could say it as he tried to minic the sound of the website. It was adorable.

Thank goodness for moments like this when I don't want to send him to his room for the rest of his natural life.

Just in case...

you think your 2 year old has fallen asleep in his bed and is miraculously taking a nap, you might want to double check. He might be sitting on your bed with a ballpoint pen and your parenting books, using them to create his latest masterpiece.

Catching up

I keep thinking of things I need to blog and haven't had the time to sit down and do it. So here it goes...

*Last Sunday one of Zizi's friends was quizzing Little Man on his animal noises and after asking him about a few different animals asked, "What does Little Man say?". He stopped, thought about it and replied, "Please!".

*Friday night we were out to dinner and Little Man was sitting next to me in a highchair. Baby Bear was getting restless and we were trying to get the bill taken care of before one of the boys went into full meltdown. I leaned over to tell him something and he said, "Come here Mommy, Hear me." He put one hand on either side of the back of my neck, pulled me over so our foreheads were touching and started talking. I know there was something about a motorcycle he saw in the parking lot, but I'm not sure what else. It was a rare moment for the two of us, since I often feel like I spend my day telling him no, being ignored or issuing orders for timeout.

*Little Man has named our new minivan "Herbie", after the Love Bug. Unfortunately, it's the Lindsey Lohan version that he loves. And believe me I've tried to get him to watch the classic Disney Herbie, but he shows very little interest.

*I totally scored at a yard sale this weekend. I found a double stroller, exersaucer, booster seat, clothes for both boys, infant toys, 3 dvds, 2 awesome wooden puzzles and a Thomas pop up train... all for the cost of a new exersaucer.

Singing in the Rain

We were going over to a friend's house this morning, because our park day was rained out. Little Man was adamant that I was not allowed to listen to the radio and soon he was keeping me entertained with his songs. The playlist: Ice, Ice Baby, the Backyardigans, and How much is that Doggie in the window. Do you think his mother was a child of the 80's?

The newest member of our family...

is still in need of a name.

Girl's Night Out

This week we hit the perfect combination... my friend, Rachel's birthday and a special "Girl's Night Out" discount at the Melting Pot. Our reservations were at 8pm, which is later than what I'm used to now, especially on a Monday night. But it was perfect. It meant that I could leave Baby Bear at home and have a real night out. Of course the food was fabulous - the cheese and the chocolate, and I raided Lindsey's closet for a cute outfit. It was a much needed break from the poop.

Stuck

Little Man was in his car seat for a long time today. We had errands to run and were test driving cars. While reminding me as often as possible that he was not happy about being "stuck", there were also a couple comments that made me laugh.

"Look, mommy, boogy in my finger. Don't touch it!" (I won't, I promise.)

"Daddy, look out that dirty window right now!" (Said from the back seat of the minivan we were test driving. The window had been attacked by some birds and we had pulled up next to a very big tour bus.)

The last half hour...

1. Baby Bear wakes up and wants to eat.
2. Turn on Veggie Tales for Little Man.
3. Start to nurse Baby Bear.
4. Burp Baby Bear.
5. Baby Bear poops. Up the back. Out the side. Everywhere.
6. Try to remove Baby Bear's outfit.
7. Realize that there is no way to avoid a bath. It's that gross.
8. Start water running in the bathroom sink.
9. While waiting for warm water, extricate Baby Bear from the nasty outfit.
10. Begin to bathe Baby Bear.
11. "Bath time now, Mommy?"
12. Start bath water in the tub.
13. Wash Baby Bear's neck and belly.
14. Undress Little Man and put him in the tub.
15. Back to Baby Bear who is still in the sink.
16. Stop because I forgot the bubbles.
17. Wash Baby Bear's head and back.
18. Grab towel for Baby Bear.
19. Turn off water in the tub.
20. Take Baby Bear into bedroom to get him dressed.
21. Phone rings.
22. Finish dressing Baby Bear, while trying to call Mom back.
23. Start nursing Baby Bear, again.
24. "Poopy potty!" "Poopy potty!"
25. Walk back to bathroom with Baby Bear still attached.
26. Realize that "poopy potty" doesn't mean that Little Man wants to use his potty, but that he pooped in the tub.
27. Put Baby Bear in his car seat.
28. Grab diaper, clothes, towel and Little Man.
29. Get Little Man dressed.
30. Clean poop out of the tub.
31. Finally finish nursing Baby Bear.
32. Grateful that I had enough sleep last night that the whole episode made me laugh.