Christmas is coming...

..and the goose is getting fat. Hopefully, I won't be the goose! The boys are getting quite excited for Christmas. I am sad knowing that I will soon have to temporarily retire the term "Santa is watching". Although, it doesn't hold too much weight around here. I can remember back to being young and thinking that Christmas day would never arrive. How hard it must be for a 4 year old to be patient. Oh wait, he's not patient! Max has sort of quit messing with the tree but now he is quite into messing with the presents. None have been unwrapped yet. Oh well, nothing fun under the tree for him yet. Hopefully we can make it 7 more days!

Update

Just an update on the results of our "tough love" saga. It worked. Now, the minute I say that we will have another night of listening to our youngest "cry it out" for over an hour. He is so much better. Even in the middle of the night it is now no more than 10 minutes of fussing and then he calms himself down. It is kind of sad to think about, though. I know he needs to be able to self soothe, but it is almost like he is thinking, "Okay, I cried...no one came...no one loves me...I guess I'll just go to sleep". I almost had to give him props for his prior perserverance.

Sleep or not...I love that little man! I am amazed at what comes out of his mouth lately. Some of his latest...."Come on" with a hand gesture. When talking about a "choo choo" he says it goes "woun woun" and again, with a hand gesture. And he loves his brother. In the morning, he gets so excited to see him, "Hi Will hi!". He asked me today for a "hug", and I gladly obliged. As trying as it can be, this is such a fun age.

Tough Love

We had to do it. We've let it go far enough. Yes, we are instituting "tough love" on Max. So, I am writing this as I listen to him scream my name from his crib. And why do they always scream for "Mommy"? Never a "daddy" in there. Max has really always been the "easier" baby. Much more laid back. Probably because he's numero dos. But sleep has always been our headache with him. It's not really an issue if you like to spend most of your evening and much of your early morning hours in the rocking chair. As much as I love a good snuggle with my guys, unfortunately there is too much more to be done (like sleep!). So, here we are at 18 months trying to initiate some good sleep habits. And frankly, it sucks. I don't really care to listen to him cry for this long (we are going on 30 minutes....oh, but he's fading. Please God, let him be fading!). Last night it was 45 minutes. The other morning at 3 am, it was well over an hour. My heart breaks a little with each "Mommy", but I'm hanging tough. I have to. I really hope we're getting somewhere.

Next battle....bye bye binky. We may wait until he's 10. I'll keep you updated.

Glorious Evening

Don't you love it when things turn out so much better than you had planned?

Brian tells me a few days ago that he is going to go watch the KU football game with a friend tonight. Ok, no big deal. He's allowed. But just the thought of the ongoing bedtime fiasco all alone puts me in panic mode early. So I say to Will, "Let's have a movie night". He replies (too cute), "That was just what I was thinking!". So we do dinner, baths, lay out our blankets and pillows, and pop our corn. Not 10 minutes into the movie, Will wants to go upstairs. So fine...he has the attention span of a gnat...we go upstairs and look at photo albums. Then he says, "Mom, aren't you going to put Max to bed?". Which I had been contemplating, since only a 1 hour nap for him today and there was some serious hair pulling going on (him pulling mine=sleepy boy). It is only 7:15 but what the hay. I get Max all ready and he starts to fuss, so I rock him for about 5 minutes. I lay him down, half expecting him to jump up and demand more. Nope, he settles in, he's out. I go into Will's room ready for the next "fight" and he is dead asleep in his bed, covers up, teddy in his arms, snoring. HE PUT HIMSELF TO BED! I am in shock at this point because I can't remember the last time I had the night to myself starting at 7:30. So, long story with little substance. But it is such a nice feeling to not have to spend what is left of my evening trying to destress from the bedtime routine. I love it!

Big birthday party tomorrow for Will. First one with friends. We'll see how it goes.

Happy Halloween!

We hope you all had a fun halloween. Our night started off with Max falling out of the wagon and getting a scrape on his forehead. Luckily, it was a few centimeters over from the bruise he got from falling down the stairs a few days prior. He recovered and went happily "running" after the older kids. Will was quite excited about all the candy. And really, so was I! We all know from whom the boys got their sweet tooth!

Help

Ok, to the very few people who read this blog, I need help, encouragement, Zanax, and/or booze. As you saw in my last blog....my children are adorable, angelic-faced wonders....who are driving me crazy! I can't believe that one minute I am marveling at their cuteness, intelligence, etc. and the next I am trying the whole count to 10 thing and praying that God is ok with spanking. Cuz in my head, I know that is what is coming next. I never dreamed that a soon to be 4 year old could figure out how to push every single one of my buttons worse than my older brother ever could. Will has such a temper (no clue where that comes from!) and is still quite prone to horrible fits. And Max is starting to give Will a run for his money on the temper tantrum thing. And poor Max, he just gets bullied around by Will. This is the action that I don't get and don't know how to fix: Every time Will gets mad, he hits Max. And the reason he is mad usually has nothing to do with Max. He is just a convenient punching bag. And Will's big saying now is "Mom, I just want you to be nice". Right back at ya buddy!

And let's just talk about bedtime. Should it be an hour long process? And I know..."you made your own bed...". Blah, blah, blah. I just want a peaceful end to my day. I want to brush teeth, read books, tuck them in, say "good night" and "I love you" and then be done. Oh, I am ok with and even expecting the occasional "Mom, I need a drink" and the like, but I am not ok with the screaming of my name from 2 different rooms. (And no one is screaming "Daddy"!)

Don't get me wrong, I love those two little burping, tooting, weinie-loving, dirty, stinky boys with all my heart. Lately though, they frequently make me want to run away from home. Pack my "I'm going to Grandma's" suitcase and head off down the street. Chances are, I won't.

They'd find me anyway!

Wedding

We all had a great time at Chad (Brian's brother) and Megan this past weekend. They are now off to Mexico, and I am quite jealous. The wedding was beautifully decorated...no detail missed thanks to Megan's talented Mom. The boys did great! They actually left their tuxes on. It was Will's job to pull Max down the aisle in an antique toy fire engine. Rehearsals did not fare so well, so needless to say, I was almost as nervous as the bride and groom as go time neared. Max threw a small hissy fit just as I was supposed to send them on their way, so we did not make it down binky-free as we all had hoped. I am attaching some pics from the big day. Sadly, as it was my job to get them ready to go down the aisle, I did not make it around to my seat in time to see the walk for real! But they did get some applause! All in all, it was a great time and we are very happy for Chad and Megan.

Life has been busy around here. Will has been loving his new preschool. He is always very excited to go. He has a new little friend, Katie, who he talks about a lot. I even caught them holding hands while exiting the building the other day! Ooh la la. Despite his new relationship, he is still quite fond of Ellie, as witnessed at her birthday party last week. Those two were inseparable. Too cute!


We are anxiously awaiting the upcoming nuptuals of Brian's brother, Chad. The boys are excited to be ring bearers and wear fancy clothes. I am praying for cooperation from the two of them. You never know when the little demon children will come out! (Like now...trying to get Will to bed!). I can't wait to post some pictures from the big event!

Brian and I are celebrating our fifth anniversary this Friday. We are planning a nice dinner and the kids will be having a "sleepover" at Mema's house. Maybe we'll even slip in a movie too! Wow...we know how to live it up! Usually our problem is trying to stay out late enough so that we don't get home before the kids go to bed!

We passed up tickets to the K-State v. KU game in Manhattan this weekend in favor of watching the game with some friends. What a win over Texas last weekend. Let's hope the streak continues and we can give the Chicken Hawks a bruising!

I Love Fall

What a gorgeous day! I am so excited for the cooler weather. Although it is not officially Autumn yet, at least we can step outside without breaking an immediate sweat. No more cabin fever!

Will started at his new preschool last week and is starting to get in the groove. He is in the 4 year old class and is going 3 mornings a week. He has mastered pushing in his chair and can now remember his teacher's name. And the great part is is that there are no more tears at drop off! And for the first time in his life, Mr. Max gets a few hours of alone time with the women in his life (Mom, DaDa, and Memaw).

Mom was lucky enough to have two girls nights this week. I got to meet up with the Chi O girls for dinner on Tuesday. It is always fun catching up. And then Thursday was the monthly Bunko night, which is always a great time. The down side is I injured my back on Tuesday and have not been able to work off all the food I ate this week. I will be good tomorrow.....

Girls' Day Out

I had a great day with my mom and sister yesterday. Lunch, shopping, no kids. We probably could have sat on a curb all day and did nothing and still enjoyed ourselves....just because of the sheer fact that we were childless. It is always fun to reconnect with them on an adult level....even if neither of them sees me as an adult yet! My sanity needs me to do it more!

My fingers are crossed that the last "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" have been said, and I can get to my chore of cleaning the woodwork! Please people, don't get jealous. I would be happy to let you all come join me....

Bodily Parts

Ok, Max's newest word is "weenie". He says it repeatedly while he is overzealously playing with it.

I'm surrounded by them.

Little Toot

Well, it has happened. My sweet little baby boy, Max, has turned into a gigantic toot. He is so ornery these days. And him and Will just feed off of each other...I can't help but laugh at them. Between my tears! Max just insists on doing everything he is not supposed to do. What happened to the days when you could sit him down and could actually go to the bathroom without worrying about what he was doing? Oh, now he must come in the bathroom with me, because I don't trust him for a second. Don't get me wrong, I have not peed alone for almost 4 years now, but now it is my choice. And then, down comes the toilet paper, out comes the toilet brush, and if I'm really slow....little hands splashing the toilet water. Hoping it has finished flushing first! And quite the little talker. His latest favorite is "ready, go", and then he hurls a ball at you. Quite the arm. Look out MLB and $$$$ for our retirement! Food is collectively referred to as "cookie" and all drinks are "ju". And you better get that "ju" fast or he will show you another new facet of his endearing personality...tantrums.

Motherhood is truly a joy. I am reminded of that every night at about 8:30 when they are both sleeping angels. And am glad that God made us mothers of young ones too frazzled to remember all the chaos of the day!

Summer Fun

Intense ball watching.
There's that tongue, again!

The boys with Mema and Grandka

Summer seems to be flying by. Just wait until my kids are in school, right? We are trying to keep cool and are thankful for the subdivision pool. Here are some recent pics from our family trip to the T-Bones game. Will has been wanting to play baseball everyday since. He insists he needs a catchers mask and baseball pants. If it's up to Dad and Grandka (Brian's Dad), I am sure he will get them! As you can see, Max is quite fascinated with his tongue. And yours, so be careful if you stick your tongue out at him. He'll get it!

Bad Mom

So, I'm a bad mom. Will told me so yesterday. And, I guess, on many days I can't totally disagree with him. And in the same conversation, he told me, "I yike you berry, berry much". This is the conversation that we have as I am trying desperately to get both boys to take a nap. Thank God their memories are short, and they are quick to forgive! A friend told me that literally on her son's 4th birthday, all (ha!) of the bad behaviors went away. If my math is correct, only 133 days left to go! Let the count down begin.

Here's to a great day of picnics and "cracker jacks". (Will speak for "fireworks"). Happy 4th!

Is it normal to ask your 3 and 1/2 year old "what the H-E-double hockey sticks" he is doing?

I didn't think so.

Oops. Yet another parenting blunder. I am sure I just created a sociopathic-serial killer.

Will continues to push limits and his brother. Oh yeah, and my buttons. I often wonder how such a sweet boy can have such terrible moments. All is forgiven and forgotten when I peek in his room at night and watch my precious little man sleeping.

Max (or Maxy as he is more affectionately called....I now, it will not be good on the playground some day!) is quite mobile and is into everything. He has become quite ornery (sp?) and cracks up when you catch him doing what he shouldn't. It is funny the first 3 times. Two advantages to independent walking: 1.) playing outside is much easier; 2.) he wears himself out and for the first time in a year, he is sleeping good.

As my "angels" sleep, I must go exercise. If I sit here too long, I will talk myself out of it! Must maintain 23# weight loss....

Ok, here we go. If Kelly can find time to do this with boys the same age as mine, then I guess I better give it a try. Who wants to read about my boring life, anyway?

Will is 3 and 1/2 and shows his age in every respect. Whoever named it "the terrible twos" got it all wrong. They must have shipped their kid off to boarding school before he turned 3. Max is 13 months and now walking all over the place. Still doing the high-guard walk and falling frequently, but walking nonetheless. As you can tell, he loves his binky!

We had a busy, fun-filled day yesterday and the boys are sleeping it off now. We went to see Uncle Chad at the firehouse. Will got to play captain and ride shotgun as Chad pulled the truck out of the garage. Quite exciting! We then met some friends at the new Shawnee pool. They have a water slide that is pitch black inside. It gave me a slight anxiety attack. Luckily, the ride only lasts about 7 seconds. Our friends then came back to our house for pizza. We were up late, but we got to sleep in until 8 for the first time in about 3 and 1/2 years.

That's about the excitement of our lives. We just try to have a little fun in between temper tantrums!