Feeling Funky

I've been in a bit of a funk lately.  It all started with that whole drama last week with the nasty comment and then became deep set after a regular customer at work asked I had had my baby yet since she thought I still looked the same and couldn't tell for sure.

Ouch.

Nothing boosts your self esteem like being told you still look like you're ready to give birth when your baby is about to turn 2 months old.  Awesomesauce.

So, that launched a week of me being down in the dumps, crabby, and HUNGRY.  I would bounce back and forth between eating practically nothing (including Evan's amazing chicken on the grill) and binging on Halloween candy.  Seriously, my relationship with food sucks and when something gets in my head like this, it gets even worse. 

I'm feeling a little better now and have stopped being quite so manic depressive about the whole thing.  I've amped up my water consumption and tried to get my sweet tooth under control a little bit.  I'm attempting to make some better choices with my food and I'm telling myself that I will lose the weight if I just give myself some time.  It's just such a struggle for me.  I feel like if I look at a french fry, I can feel my butt getting bigger. 

I did take a big step and got myself in a photo with Thomas the other night.

That's progress, people. 

Anyone else have a very love/hate relationship with food?  I'm thinking about asking for a year's membership to Weight Watchers Online for Christmas.  I think I'd do well with that program.  Has anyone tried it?  Thoughts?

Oh, and just becuase it's cute, check out this Instagram shot of some happy little nursing hands.

How is it that hands can be so cute???

Photo Fun

Evan's Aunt Maribeth sent us these juice box holders just because she's awesome.  I gave Micah one as a treat for taking a great nap without causing a fuss, but when I asked him to smile I got this.

But....after a little cropping and processing with The Pioneer Woman's "Seventies" action, it looks quite a bit better, even if he didn't smile!

Evan is loving his new iPhone.  I am loving the Instagram app on Evan's new iPhone.  I swear, the moment he sets foot in the door I am stealing that thing and snapping photo after photo with that app. 

I think I might be tempted to trade in my Droid for an iPhone next year simply so I can have this app.  I'm obsessed.

Pork Chops with a Side of Envy

In case you were wondering about yesterday's pork chops, Evan said they were awesome.  He and the boys wolfed them down.  Apparantly they are especially good with garlic mashed potatoes.

Not that I would know this firsthand, since my darling husband didn't even save me a taste of said "awesome" pork chops that his darling wife had made for him even though she was going to be at work and wouldn't be able to enjoy them with her family yet still decided to gift wrap a supper for them complete with broccoli already chopped up and ready to go in the steamer and a blue Post-It with specific instructions for the teeny tiny bit of prep work he had left to do to get a delicious meal on that table while I was stuck wearing pantyhose and an unflattering men's shirt and serving people coffee and eating a grilled chicken salad since I apparently still look 9 months pregnant after having a baby 8 weeks ago but who's really counting and getting upset about what that stupid customer said?

I'm sorry.  Where was I?

Yeah, so apparently the chops were good.  Whatever.  Get the recipe here, try them yourself, and then you can be the second one to tell me how yummy they are.  You're welcome.

Moving right along....

Jessica wrote an amazing post at InCourage this morning.  It was the kind of post that immediately hit me right where it hurts and connected with me.  She wrote about jealousy.  Holy Hannah, do I struggle with jealousy. 

Source: mypinkcloud.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

There is this woman who comes into the restaurant with her family every so often and she looks AMAZING when she's pregnant.  No, that picture isn't of her, but it's the same kind of concept.  I mean, this chick can strut in wearing 4 inch heels with her 3 year old and 2 year old in tow and she is rocking that preggo belly like it's a Prada bag.  Girl looks incredible.  Don't even get me started on how drop dead gorgeous she is when she isn't growing life in her midsection.  See?  I'm doing it again.  I get so jealous of that woman every time she's in.  I immediately start comparing how when I'm pregnant, I swell up like a sponge and gain a third chin versus how she looks like she's just got a basketball discretely hidden under her form fitting top that accent her still perky boobies.

Jealousy is tough stuff and Jessica's post mentioned so many of the nasty little covetous things that go through my head more often than I care to admit:

"She is skinnier than me.
Look at that outfit, she must be rich.
I wish our house would sell fast like their’s did."


I would probably also have to add things like:

Her house is always so clean.  What I wouldn't give to be that on top of things.

She is a much better mom than I am.  Her kids are perfect!

Why is it they get to take family vacations to all these amazing places?  I wish we could afford to go somewhere half as nice.

That's just the tip of the iceberg.  And you know what?  If we're being totally honest here, blogging doesn't help.  On many an occasion, I have felt that green fire of jealous broiling up in my gut from reading Jessica's blog.  She gets to travel to so many cool places for her "real job" as well as her blog.  Jealous.  I can literally feel my hair curling when I read Erin's blog.  She just seems so perfect, friends.  She's gorgeous, thin, has an incredible house, drives a brand new Honda Odyssey Touring Edition, shops at Anthropologie, wears cute boots, and travels on shopping trips to New York City with her husband. And then there's her HAIR!!!

Again, I could go on and on.  Sure, blogging is a great way to vent, to share ideas, to journal, and to connect with others.  It's also a dangerous gateway to Jealousy Land.  Pinterest can do this to ya too, if you're not careful! 

In the meantime, I'm going to go shuffle through my cluttered house (that's messy because we're blessed to have a home and stuff to put in it) and throw in a load of laundry (in the washer and dryer I'm blessed to own) since I've worn the same shirt for three days in a row now (since I'm blessed to have several more items of clothing I can wear in the meantime) and get ready for work (because I'm blessed to have a job that's flexible enough to still let me be a full-time mom to these crazy kids). 

Jealous? 

Just Another Day in Paradise

When Evan arrived home last night to an assembled plate of food straight out of the Crock Pot, he couldn't help but ask me, "What's with being all Suzy Homemaker lately?"  I can't say I blame him for wondering what had been slipped in the Kool-Aid.  I'm hardly much of a domestic goddess by any stretch of the imagination, but I blame Pinterest and Crock Pot Girls for inspiring me to take at least a teeny step in the direction of attempting more for meals than chicken nuggets or pasta.

So, here's what's in the Crock Pot today.  I won't even be home tonight to enjoy it with the boys since I'll be at work, but hopefully they like it!

Pork Chops with Tangy Gravy

• 4 – 6 pork chops (can still be frozen)
• sliced yellow onion
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 packet brown gravy mix
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Lay the onion on the bottom of the crock pot and put your pork chops on top. Mix everything else up in a jar (I have one with a lid that I fill and shake!) and pour it over. Cook on low for 6 – 8 hours. The onions will be caramelized and the pork chops will be tender. Serve over rice or with mashed potatoes.

I can tell you that this little beauty is already smelling yummy in the kitchen!  I only have two chops in there because only The Bigs and Evan will be eating this tonight.  I've got two boneless chops ready to go for another recipe tomorrow!

After I got the Crock Pot running, the boys goofed off, played with Play-Doh, and chased each other around the table while I made lunch.

They also tried to get Thomas to smile.

Once again, he was too quick for me to catch the full smile, but I managed to snap a shot of the smirk at least. 

After The Bigs were sitting at the table enjoying their lunch, I couldn't help but get a little mushy about the moment.  I had our Veggie Tales station playing on Pandora and the song was a kid praise version of "How Great is Our God."  Looking at my kids and hearing that song just made me so grateful for my little stinkers. 



I'm going to try to keep up my little Suzy Homemaker routine for tomorrow with another pork chop Crock Pot recipe which I'll try to share on here.  This weekend, I'm hoping to attempt a double batch of these pumpkin Rice Krispy treats so I can lure my neighbors over to hang out with me.  They're even gluten free so I can really tempt Auna! 

Source: homestoriesatoz.com via Sarah on Pinterest

If they turn out to not be too difficult, I'm going to try to make a batch for Isaiah's preschool class as a Halloween treat.  Wish me luck!

I hope you're having a wonderful Thursday!

Hamburger, Squats, and Skunks

I had an appointment last week to get a Mirena IUD.  Of course, since I'm the stay at home Mommy of three under the age of four, my brood came with me.  We occupied The Bigs with tape measures and gave them strict instructions to stay up by Mommy's head.  At a moment where a speculum was being used in conjunction with some kind of torture apparatus on my cervix, I couldn't help but wince a bit.  Isaiah grabbed my hand and lovingly stroked it while gently reassuring me, "It's ok Mommy.  It's just a piece of hamburger."

Laughing hurts like a son of a gun during a pelvic procedure.  Just so ya know.

I took the kids to the park yesterday afternoon.  Despite the gorgeous weather of the morning, the afternoon took a blustery turn.  We had literally just arrived and the boys had run to the play set with gusto.  I was still standing by the open minivan door and had just finished getting Thomas strapped into the Ergo when Isaiah came toward me with a look of sheer panic on his face.

"Mommy!!  I need to go poop!!!"

The bathrooms were locked.  I was left with no choice but to teach my oldest how to cop a squat and take a dump outside.  And I managed to accomplish this feet with a baby strapped to my chest and a two year old standing next to me, just dying to know what his big brother was up to.

I tweeted this little gem under the hashtag #MomWin.  I plan to tell this story when I meet his first homecoming date. 

I found the perfect T-shirt for Micah.  Thank you Old Navy.  The fact that it was on clearance for $3 meant that it was really meant to be.

How's your week going?

Project Life Tuesday - October Week Three

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! I am taking a photo every day in 2011 and putting them together in an album to create a unique keepsake of this year for our family.  Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their projects over at The Mom Creative!

Sunday, October 16th - He likes to work on his tough face sometimes.  It will serve him well when he's giving the lineman across the line of scrimmage this look through his facemask.

 

 

Monday, October 17th - Somewhere in the middle of a nearly three hour bedtime battle last night, Micah turned suddenly and ran smack into the bedpost and split his eyebrow open.  It really wasn't bad at all (no stitches needed), so we slapped a Band-Aid on it and continued to try to get him to go to bed.  All day today, he kept pointing at it and saying, "Owie.  I hit bed."

 

 

Tuesday, October 18th -  I busted out the art bin for some serious mess making time.  I taught Isaiah how to use a scissors (the kid kind of course) and attempted to show Micah how to glue pictures onto paper. 
 

 
Wednesday, October 19th - What can I even say about this photo?  I'm so ridiculously in love. (Thomas - 7 weeks old)
 

 

Thursday, October 20th - I was this close to catching his massive grin on camera, but ended up being a split second too late to capture it.  This is still pretty good though.

 

 

Friday, October 21st - Speaking of being madly in love, this photo just makes my heart go pitter pat.  God is good.
 

 

Saturday, October 22nd - What?  You mean you don't set the table shirtless?  You're missing out, man.

 

 

Just another crazy week, folks!

 

Brothers

If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart.

Lemons to Lemonade

I've started typing this post, then erased it and started over again probably three or four times now.  There's so much I want to say, but trying to figure out the best way to make sense of the jumbled thoughts in my head right now is proving to be more difficult than my sleep deprived "I have a 7 week old baby" brain can handle.  So, I'm just going to roll with it.

First and foremost, I am extremely humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of supportive and amazing comments I have received in the last couple days.  Comments on the blog, Facebook, Twitter, and emails have been pouring into my inbox and each and every one has touched my heart.  I heard from family members, friends from high school and college, former co-workers, people I know only in the "online world," and even from total strangers.  It's been incredible. 

It's so easy to feel lost.

One of the reasons I chose to share the tough moments of raising my boys here on the blog was so that if other mothers were experiencing similar struggles, she would know that she isn't alone in that battle.  Unfortunately, I still felt somewhat alone in my battle and my negative self-talk was starting to get to me.  The voices in my head were telling me, "You're a bad mother.  If you can't control that boy at 2 years old, what's it going to be like at 12?  You'd better get it together or you're going to ruin that poor boy forever!"  Nice, huh?  When that comment showed up on the blog, Suesie333 really didn't say anything that the negative voices in my brain hadn't already whispered in my ear time and time again.

This just in folks.  God knows what he's doing.

After my initial meltdown after reading the words that pierced my heart like a dagger, reading the outpouring of loving word from so many people was exactly what I needed.  If ever I felt alone in my struggle with a tough toddler, I didn't anymore.  In fact, those of you who commented that you appreciated reading about the difficult times as well as the good will also benefit from reading a few of these gems.  I want to share some excerpts from the messages I've received with you in the hopes that you find them as uplifting and encouraging as I did.

We all have frustrations and difficulties. The easy thing to do is ignore them, or hope that they go away. Then they just fester and eat away at us from the inside. What takes courage is sharing our struggles, reaching out for help, showing our own weaknesses in the hope of moving forward.

I could have written that post on more than occasion about Willem.  He was and still is a very strong-willed child- just more, more demanding, more willful, when he laughs, he laughs louder, when he screams it is like fingernails down a chalkboard.  He is by far the most challenging to me on many levels.  I can offer you hope.  He is getting better.  Part of it is age, but he will also ALWAYS be all of these things.  And  I, too, have wanted a fourth child but thought, "How on earth would I handle it when having Willem is actually like having two or three with just him- and what if I got another super spirited child?  It doesn't mean I don't love him to pieces...

I think ALL moms have those days (or even weeks) whether or not they are willing to admit it or not. Being a parent is TOUGH! There is no instruction manual. Each child is different, so what worked for one will not necessarily work for another.


In mom's groups this is the kind of stuff we talk and vent about.  It is better than throwing poor little Micah out the window!!   I had the urge a few times when Oliver was little.  He was the same way...still has it occasionally when tired.  Just remember it gets better.  Nursing was the worst.  He learned that while I was nursing he could do whatever he wanted.  Oh that year was really tough.  I used to put the back of Thane's nuk in my mouth and bite on it.  I think it was the only way to not totally lose my temper.

I was so stressed by my 2 and 3 year old that I actually couldn't wait to go to work most days. Not sure if you'd remember that or not, but I felt like all I did all day, every day was holler at them. Your blogging about your frustrations is healthy and therapeutic for you. And honestly, you're probably voicing what so many parents of toddlers are thinking. I know I've been there, and would never judge another parent being frustrated about the behavior of their child.

And that isn't even close to all of them, people.  Mamas coming out of the woodwork to share their stories of frustrations and difficulties!  This is a tough, tough job and we are definitely in it together.  I had gotten so caught up in convincing myself I was failing that I completely forgot that I'm not the first woman on the planet to deal with a strong-willed little stinker!

Second, I also received a lot of feedback on the idea of making the blog private.  My husband is 100% against it since it has introduced me to so many wonderful friends and that I continue to receive a couple emails every month from people who nearly fell victim to a Craigslist scam if not for my blog post.  Since we wives never tend to listen to our husband's opinion as the be all end all, I still wasn't convinced.  Once again, it took some wonderful emails from friends like Marissa, family members like Maribeth, and complete strangers like Sandra to convince me otherwise.

Ok, you win.  We'll stay public.  :)

Lastly, and most important, I want to ask you to take a moment and say a prayer for the person who left the original comment that started this whole drama.  I don't know Suesie333.  I have no idea where she lives or what her story is.  It could very well be that this woman has struggled with infertility for years and years and would love nothing more than to have a child of her own, but is unable to.  Or perhaps she is in the process of adopting a child.  Or maybe she lost a child.  It could be that she was raised in a home where she was that tough to handle kid who heard a lot of screaming from her parents out of anger.  Whatever her story, what she saw was this young mom with three kids complaining on a blog about how terrible her two year old is.  She saw that boy's cute face (because let's face it, Micah is pretty darn cute) and just got too upset not to leave a comment.  So please join me in sending up a prayer of love for Suesie333.  I pray that whatever is troubling her, whatever hurt has been done to her that caused her to lash out at a stranger, would be eased by the peace of our Father.  And despite what my husband said in his protective alpha-male moment, I say she's welcome to stop back again soon and know that there was a community of people with a prayer on their lips....just for her.

And we'll talk again soon.  I promise.

I can't wait to tell you all what Isaiah said while we were in the clinic for my appointment to get an IUD put in.  Everything is funnier when you're in stirrups and there's a clamp on your cervix.  Trust me. 

Until then.

Because I Love Him

If I didn't love him so much....I wouldn't care if he took a nap.  But I do, and I know that his body needs rest.

If I didn't love him so much....I wouldn't insist that he clean up after the messes he makes.  But I do, and I want him to learn to respect his surroundings.

If I didn't love him so much....I wouldn't give him Time Outs when he misbehaves.  But I do, and I want him to learn that his actions have consequences.

If I didn't love him so much.....I woudn't respond when he has tantrums and acts out.  But I do, and I want him to know how to treat others with love.

If I didn't love him so much....I wouldn't care that he acts defiant and refuses to listen.  But I do, and I want him to grow up to respect his parents.

If I didn't love him so much....I would give him everything he wants.  But I do, and I want him to appreciate the gifts he has. 

If I didn't love Micah so incredibly much, I wouldn't have the frustrations that have plagued me as of late.  Babysitting is easy, but parenting is HARD.  I'm not here to bend to his every whim.  I'm here to raise a boy into a man.  I'm here to be a parent.

And I make no apologies for that.

Getting Real

Sometimes I forget that there is no sarcasm font I can engage on my keyboard.  I forget that everything I post here on the blog or on Twitter is out there for anyone and everyone to see....and to make opinions about.  I originally started this blog as a way to keep our family updated on the cute things Isaiah was doing, when he was busting out new teeth, or trying to graduate from scooting to crawling.  It worked very well for that purpose.  Over time, it evolved into more of a platform for a wider variety of topics.  I wrote about my kids mostly, but also about faith, shopping, relationships, and opinions.  I've tried to keep it real and show both the fun and the frustrating, the triumphs and the trials.

I met some of my most amazing friends through this blog.  My neighbor from 4 houses down on my street had never met me until she stumbled across my blog and contacted me.  Now I would call her one of my closest friends and through her I have met a network of other amazing moms that have welcomed me into their fold with open arms.  Through that connection, we found new friends and a preschool for Isaiah and a church family we were so painfully missing.  Without the blog, this would have never happened.

What I forgot was that writing about my experiences and opinions implicitly invites others to share theirs.  Usually these are very positive and helpful, creating a network of mutual support.  Every so often, there is an outlier.  When one of these comments arrived on my blog tonight, I was totally blind-sighted.  I felt like I'd been kicked in the the gut.  It hurt so much to think that the things I had written or Tweeted made it sound like I don't love my kids or that I can't handle them.  Have I been struggling lately?  Yes.  Is Micah proving to be a challenge unlike anything Isaiah ever presented at this age?  Absolutely. 

But let me make one thing perfectly clear once and for all.

I love my children.  ALL of my children.  And anyone who suggests that a single one of those boys would be better off being adopted by someone else or that I am unfit to be a parent to them clearly doesn't know me or my kids. 

And after I sobbed, shuddered, and choked on my tears for about 30 minutes after reading the comment, I realized that perhaps I don't need to share every single detail about everything with everyone.  Maybe I shouldn't have felt the need to write about the difficult side of parenting.  Perhaps I should have stuck to posting cute photos of faces smeared with baby food, the news of new teeth, and excitement over first words. 

Or maybe I should just make the blog private from here on out.  Because if there's one thing I've never been very good at, it's swallowing that someone thinks that way about me.  Even if I don't even know who that person is.

So here's the heads up.  If you've read this entire post, it probably means that you're either related to me or a friend who has seen me without any makeup and wearing my husband's UW-Platteville sweatshirt.  If you fall into one of those categories, not much will change.  After the blog goes private, you'll have to request an invite to view it with an email address.  I'll continue to post, you'll continue to read as you see fit.  If you'd rather not stick around, I understand.  I can guarantee that one Suesie333 probably won't want to keep reading and that's just fine.  As much as I welcome comments on the stuff I write, I can't pretend that reading this particular one didn't affect me deeply.  I apologize to Suesie333 if I made it seem like I think Micah is horrible.  I've been madly in love with him since the first time he locked in on me with those blue eyes.  I want you to know that I cried and cried....and then wrote this.  Thank you for making me realize that my words have consequences, but I didn't realize it would be such a harsh lesson.

This Child is Driving Me Crazy

My poor cuticles and lips tell the story - Mommy is stressed.  I've been gnawing on them pretty much constantly in between hollering things like

Micah!  Do NOT lick the patio door! 

and

BOYS!!!  Mommy just wants to go potty BY HERSELF for ONCE!!!

and

That's it!  TIME OUT!

I know I keep writing about how frustrating it has been to parent Micah lately.  I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record and you're probably really starting to get sick of hearing me complain.  But believe me when I say that my frustrations with him are literally dominating my entire day. 

He usually starts his day with a good dose of screaming and crying in the hallway for no particular reason.  This morning, this step lasted for about 12 solid minutes.

A couple nights ago, it took 3 HOURS to put him to bed at night. Over and over, he got up out of bed, flipped on the light, and caused trouble.  We'd go in, turn the light off, and put him back to bed.  I'd be lying if I said we were able to resist the urge to do some serious hollering.  Somewhere in the second hour of that torture, I tried to bring him out of the room since I didn't want his ear piercing screams to wake up his big brother on the top bunk....again.  Unfortunately, he turned and ran smack into the bedpost and split his eyebrow open. 

Lovely.

The light switch is now taped down with Scotch tape.

The new trick he's learned is to tell us that he needs to go poop on the potty.  Then we sit in the bathroom for the next 15 minutes while he makes goofy faces and screws around on the toilet and avoids going to bed...or poop.  We did that twice yesterday when it was supposed to be naptime before I finally had enough.  I put him back in his bed repeatedly until my lip was bleeding from all the stress-induced chewing.  Three hours later, I just accepted he wasn't going to nap and opened the door to let him out.

And found this:

Every single drawer was emptied.  This is why we had to move Isaiah into my bed for naptime.  After getting yet another Time Out for this latest stunt, I set the kids up at the kitchen table to color while I nursed Thomas. 

Not five minutes later, Isaiah comes in and tells me "Micah's coloring on the floor."

After another Time Out, I gave Micah the Magic Eraser and put him to work cleaning it up.  I then made the mistake of going to the bathroom for a couple minutes.  When I emerged, Micah had gone into the second bathroom and emptied the entire toilet paper roll.

He hits his brother.  Paints on his arms.  Colors on the table with marker.  Colors on the TV with crayons.  Says the word "No" like he's trying to make sure it isn't eliminated from the English language.

Just before bedtime last night, I was nursing Thomas and Micah suddenly chucked his plastic toy camera directly into his baby brother's head.

He went to Time Out AGAIN, came back and said he was sorry, then sat on his Daddy's lap for about 3 minutes.....and then threw his toy dinosaur at his baby brother's head. 

Micah was actually kicked out of gently asked to leave the toddler room at church.

I'm afraid to cut his hair too close to his head out of fear that I'll find a birthmark in the shape of a "666."

The Omen?  Anyone?  (Relax.....it's a joke.)

Nothing we're doing is working.  Time Out after another doesn't phase him.  As I've confessed before, we've even swatted him good and hard on the backside more than just a couple times.  He's defiant.  He looks you right in the face as he ignores what you're telling him to do. 

My child is a little stinker.

And I don't know how to fix it.  I know it's probably just a phase he's going through - heck, it's not called the "Terrible Twos" for nothing, but he's really pushing the limits.

It's stressing me out more than I can even describe.  I feel like a failure.  We can't even take Micah out in public anymore.  We can't go out to eat if he's with us and grocery shopping with him has turned into a nightmare.  I give him the opportunity to walk with us like a big boy, but it only took about 5 minutes of freedom on Monday before I caught him throwing tomatoes and avocados on the floor.  I gave him one more chance to listen to me and be good, but he moved right along to tossing a bunch of bananas at me.  He was confined to the cart for the rest of the trip and I was that mom - with a screaming toddler in the cart, a baby up front, and all her groceries crammed on the bottom rack of the cart to keep the toddler from pummeling them with his constant kicks.

More than ever, I'm realizing Evan has been right all along.  Having a fourth child would be a BAD idea.  I feel like I can't even manage the three I have.

Project Life Tuesday - October Week Two

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! I am taking a photo every day in 2011 and putting them together in an album to create a unique keepsake of this year for our family.  Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their projects over at The Mom Creative!


Sunday, October 9th - Isaiah just loves his baby brother.  I chase him around all day long trying to keep him from pulling his fingers off or smothering him.  He means well though, as we can certainly see in this look he's giving me.
 

 
Monday, October 10th - When I'm not protecting Thomas from his big brothers, they're usually doing something like this.  Micah is getting pretty good at tackling his older brother.
 

 

Tuesday, October 11th - It was kind of dreary and rainy today so I busted out the art tub.  My little artists painted me some lovely masterpieces, but an impromptu bath was definitely in order afterwards since Micah insisted on painting himself as well as his paper.

 

 

Wednesday, October 12th - Evan finally got to ditch his old phone that wored about as well as a paperweight and upgrades to an iPhone.  As you can see by the smug look on his face, he's pretty psyched to have entered the world of The Smartphone.  I immediately borrowed it and downloaded Instagram.

 

 

Thursday, October 13th - My college friend Marissa sent me this Washpod and Thomas gave it a whirl for the first time today.  It's definitely going to take some getting used to bathing him in something so unique, but I think overall he liked it!  (Please excuse my alien arm in the photo.)

 

 

Friday, October 14th - Ummm, so yeah.  I think we're potty training?  Out of the blue, Micah asked to go poop on the potty and he achieved success on the first try.  Only time will tell if it's a fluke or if he's really ready to ditch the diapers.

 

 

Saturday, October 15th - Isaiah found this styrofoam skull in the woodchips by the playset and became immediately attached to it for some reason.  He carried it around all day, made it talk, and named it "Frank."

 

Have a wonderful week!