That Waitress Deserved a Bigger Tip...

This blog has been pretty neglected... I don't mean to.  I have intentions of writing more, but most days I just feel like everything is... ordinary and not particularly interesting.  Plus, most evenings my brain just wants to shut off, watch some Grey's Anatomy and drink a glass a wine.  

Today is turning out not to be one of those days...

Let me set the scene.  I've been solo parenting this week, so I took today to be "kid free" and get some errands run and recharge a bit.  I dropped the kids off at their old day care and did what needed to be done.  Fast forward eight hours or so, I head back to pick them up.  It's rush hour by that time, so I decided to take the kids out to dinner and wait out the traffic.

We head over to Applebee's because I know that a) there is rarely a wait for a table, b) it's never too crowded so I doubt loud kids will annoy too many people, and c) they have "low cal" menu options for me... and d) I like to be waited on when I have the chance to be.  =)

Our waitress gave me a knowing smirk when we were seated and asked if I wanted a margarita.... really wish now that I would have taken her up on that.

We got our drinks, ordered our food, and everyone, for the most part, was doing a-okay.  I was actually starting to pat myself on the back a bit at how smoothly the evening in a restaurant, with two kid, by myself was actually going.

Our waitress brought us out our food, and Emily proceeded to pull the corn off her dog in her usual way, when Sam started to make a noise.  I look over at him, not yet taking a bit of my own dinner, and see that he his puking.  A lot.  All over the place.

His high chair, his clothes, the carpet beneath his chair... all covered in yogurt-y looking vomit. Tinged, I'm sure, but the milk that he was sipping on prior to the incident.  Quickly I get a server's attention, tell her that we need to go containers and that he had just been sick.  Containers and a wet rag swiftly appeared at our table.  I sat there, trying to figure out how to get my son cleaned up, with his bile already on my hands, and somehow get our food packed up... thankfully I had a lot of hand sanitizer in the diaper bag, and a 4 year old that was willing to help (though her idea of packing up her yogurt also included stealing the serving dish that it was presented in. lol).

Finally I got the bill paid, both kids and food out to the car.  Sam got a quick change of clothes, and a prayer that he wouldn't throw up on the way home.  For the next 30+ minutes I sat in (not horrible, thank God) traffic with the scent of puke and Applebee's take out wafting through our car.

Getting home, Emily had fallen asleep.  She can be... challenging... to wake up, and tonight was no different.  I finally got her on her feet, and when to get Sam and our food.  Thankfully nothing extra had occurred.

Everyone got inside, I set our food down on the kitchen counter, and Sam started to heave again.  I tried to hold him over the kitchen sink, but he wanted nothing to do with that... he wanted to bury his face in my warm sweater and empty his stomach.

When he was done, I asked Emily to get herself a spoon so that she could finish her dinner, and I took Sam upstairs to give him a quick bath.  I got him in the tub (and sat there with him, topless, with my now-disgusting sweater thankfully removed) and he acted like nothing was amiss.  Like, "yeah!  I love baths!"  I really don't understand kids sometimes.  After a few minutes he stood up, said, "All Done", and I wrapped him up in a big towel, got him into his jammies, read him a book and put an almost-passed-out little man to bed.

I came downstairs to clean up and check on Emily, and found this...

She got the spoon that I told her to...

So, I cleaned up some puke, got the gross clothes from the car (how do I get that smell out?) and started a load of laundry.  Then I carried Emily upstairs and put her to bed.  Generally, both kids in bed and asleep before 8:00 would be cause for celebration... but currently I'm just worried.  Sam has already woken up once heaving.  Not sure what the rest of the night is going to bring.

I've washed/sanitized my hands about a dozen times so far... I can't get sick.  I'm photographing someone's wedding this weekend... I can NOT get sick...

My (Other) Baby Turns 1!

OK, actually, he just turned 13 months... I'm a bit behind with my life recaps (we've been busy, I swear!) but here is a cute kid photo dump of Sam's first birthday party last month!  His actual birthday double as CLOSING DAY for our new house, and so his birthday party the following week was kind of an open house for family and friends as well.  =)  Much to celebrate!

Sam was actually pretty tentative with the cake.  We didn't get the traditional "smash" that we were hoping for.  In fact, Jacob had to put Cheerios on it just to get Sam to put the frosting in his mouth! lol

A Poop in the Hand is Worth...?

Having two kids has been an adjustment... especially one being an infant and the other a 2 year old.  They both have their own challenges!  Several people have asked me if it's harder having two kids than one.  I don't think that it's "harder" necessarily, but just requires more of you, your time and patience.

I would compare it to getting a new, large, responsibility at work.  It doesn't exactly make the job itself harder, but you have to re-prioritize in order to get everything done and you have to figure out what's the most important thing to focus on at any given time... and then you go home and drink a big glass of wine.  ;)

Case and point... my life today as a mom of two while Jacob's at work:

11:20... After sitting in a quiet room having an hour-long power struggle with an obstinate toddler who refuses to put away her play dough (baby is napping at this point), I decided that it's probably a good time to make lunch as I know that baby will be waking up soon.  So, I clean up the play dough, put it away on a high shelf letting Emily know that she won't be able to play with it tomorrow either as she refused to put it away today.  Then I make PB&J for Emily and I (with toasted frozen bread as, apparently, the stuff that's been out on the counter is now moldy).

Sandwiches are made, half of mine is eaten, Sam starts to scream.  I go into the nursery and feed him, leaving Emily alone in the dining room to finish her lunch.  After feeding Sam (who hasn't been feeling well and has been spitting up more than normal), I realize that he smells kind of gross and decide to give him a bath.  I fill up his tub, get him undressed and into it, and give him a quick wipe down.  Emily comes in with her face and hands covered in peanut butter and jelly.  I tell her to go wash her hands and face with WATER (not just the dry napkin that she's holding).  She goes into the other bathroom and, presumably, washes up (I have yet to check out that bathroom).

By the time she's done there, I'm getting a screaming Sam out of the tub.  She decides that she wants to take a bath so, I empty out Sam's tub and fill up the bath tub for her to play around in.  I take Sam into his room to get a diaper on and get him dressed (yelling questions to Emily so that, by her responses, I'll know that she hasn't drowned... I'm paranoid).  Sam's still screaming.  I think he's tired again, so I put him in his crib and swaddle him.  He's still screaming, but sleepily so I leave to go check on Emily. 

Sam falls asleep.  I take the opportunity to grab my pump.  Since Sam hasn't been feeling well, he hasn't been eating as much, which means that I've been a little, um, "full".  I set up shop outside the bathroom door so I can keep an eye/ear on Emily and start to pump.  I get a couple of ounces in when, almost simultaneously, I hear:

Sam:  SCREAMING

Emily:  Mom, I pooped in the bathtub!  See??!

I quickly disconnect myself from the pump and make a quick assessment of the situation... screaming child or child in bathtub who is HOLDING her own feces.  Hmm.  Tough one?  No. 

I grab toilet paper, take the offending log out of her hand and put it in the toilet.  Lift her up and put her on the potty so that she can finish, empty out the bathtub, grab some Clorox wipes to wipe down the interior and exterior of the tub (it got everywhere since she was passing it between both hands and then touching things), grab some paper towels so that she can wipe her hands off.  Wipe her butt when she's done, take her to the sink so she can wash her hands with soap and then sanitize.  The whole time Sam is screaming from his crib.

Once I'm pretty sure that all fecal matter has been addressed, I go in to get Sam and Emily heads to her room to get dressed.

Sam is pretty much inconsolable by this point so I'm walking, bouncing, shushing, anything that I can think of.  I go into the dining room to get his vibrating bouncer chair and see my lunch sitting on the table.  Oh yeah.  I was eating lunch, wasn't I?

I take Sam and his chair into the master bedroom and manage to calm him down so that I can finish pumping.  Emily comes in, all dressed.  She sees a bottle of lotion on my nightstand and decides that she needs some.  It's the pump bottle variety so, of course, it sprays the wall when she pushes down on it.  I tell her to go grab a towel.  She goes into the bathroom and comes back with a Clorox wipe.  Oh yeah, I forgot to put those away.  She takes the wipe and affixes it to the wall by means of lotion.  And turns around to leave it there.  I manage, somehow, to continue to rock Sam with my foot, while balancing my pumping bottles on my legs so they don't get detached, and reach over with one free hand to wipe off the wall and hand the wipe to Emily to throw away.

Pumping done, I manage to get myself detached, ask Emily to play with Sam for a minute and put the milk in the fridge.   I think come back into the bedroom and have a few quiet moments with Emily and Sam before naptime.  Phew. 

Then it's time for Emily's nap... which coincides with Sam needing to eat.  So, again, Sam's screaming and Emily needs to get down for a nap.  Sam goes into his bouncer once again (getting red in the face and pretty pissed off) while I try to get Emily into bed.  We get the correct water cup, and the correct blanket and try to go potty and FINALLY get her in bed.  I grab Sam, go into the living room, feed him, and manage to get him to fall asleep, too.

1:30... I finish my lunch.

Boot Camp: Day Four!

Yesterday was the last day of potty training boot camp... and it went just as well as the other three days.  =) 

Emily had one number 2 accident, but I think it was a fart turned wrong and she surprised herself as much as us!  I also took a risk and chose not to put her in a diaper for her nap (since she'd been dry the last two days during nap and went potty right beforehand)... but it was a Murphy's Law situation and she wet the bed.  Oh well.  No harm, no foul.  =)

We also ventured out of the house again, went to a splash pad to cool off and then went to Target to buy some more little underwear (apparently I didn't have as many on hand as I thought I did). 

She still isn't really TELLING us when she needs to go, but if we mention it to her, and she needs to go, she will (otherwise she says "no potty" and we move on).  I'm hoping that this will get better and she'll start doing it herself and/or vocalizing the need to us more.

Today I dropped her off at daycare with a couple extra sets of clothes, a sticker potty chart, stickers and some treats.  I felt bad dropping her off in underwear when she's not 100% reliable yet, but I have to remind myself that her daycare provider has much more experience at potty training than we do! lol  Sounds like she had another number 2 accident today, but otherwise used the little potty at daycare.  After dinner tonight she went into the bathroom to (I thought) wash her hands and face (our routine), but soon I hear "Mommy potty!" so I go in there and she's sitting on her little potty with a smile on her face pointing between her legs. lol  Sure enough, she'd gone potty without prompting!

Next weekend we're going camping, so that will be interesting.  =)  On the advice of some other moms, we just ordered a Potette Plus potty.  It won't be here in time for this trip, but I think it will be useful to have something to easily travel with.

Over all, I think our potty training boot camp was a success.  And I'm really looking forward to that last diaper!  =)

Boot Camp: Day Three

Day three of potty training boot camp started at 9:30!  Emily was up late watching the fireworks last night, and actually slept in!  Though, I think the fact that she's still not feeling 100% probably added to that (did I mention, she's been taking 2.5 hour naps these last few days?  That's, like, an hour longer than I usually get out of her!).

With today's training, we added underwear.  We've been reading this book a lot about a "big sister" and the differences between her and the new baby in her family (in preparation of Em's baby brother coming), but it also talks about how big girls wear underpants, so, I was able to relate back to the story to explain them to her when she kept calling them "shorts" and didn't understand why she'd put another pair of pants on over them. lol

After getting up and getting breakfast, Emily and I went to the farmer's market.  She told me once that she needed to use the potty, so I we made a bee line to the porta-potty.  I got her up on the seat and she said "done".  I think I've got a potty snob on my hands.  ;)

I've also been a little concerned about her as she hasn't been eating much the last few days and hasn't yet pooped.  I've been urging her to try to go number 2 a lot, and I think that I may have been over doing it.  She held EVERYTHING for about 8 hours.  Right around the 6 hour mark I told myself that I wasn't going to say anything else to her and, if she had an accident, then she had an accident.  Wouldn't be the end of the world.

We went to the park and played for awhile (I was hoping to run the poop out of her. lol), and then we headed back home to cool off and make dinner.  We went outside to water the garden, and she did, indeed have a (wet) accident.  I had her take off her shorts and underwear, hosed down the area where she peed, and then asked if she had to finish up on the potty.  She said yes and went inside.  I finished up with the watering and went to check on her.  She was sitting on the potty going number 2.  =)  It's amazing how much a little poop can make a mom feel better about things! lol

Tomorrow is the final potty training boot camp day, and I'm feeling pretty good about it.  I'm going to try to lay off on the potty nagging and see how well she does on her own.  I've been really proud of my little girl (and excited to give up diapers for awhile!**).


**Still doing diapers and nap and bedtime, but the past two days she has been dry after her nap, so may pull that diaper here soon as well!

Boot Camp: Day Two

(Posting late!  Went out to celebrate the 4th last night and just getting around to finishing this one!)

Day two started much earlier than expected. Emily was pretty violently crying at 1am. I went in to check on her, thinking that she'd had a nightmare. I picked her up, sat down in our glider and BAM! She heaved a mixture of hot dog and watermelon all over my bare back. Let me tell you, I was wide awake at that point! 

After getting Jacob's attention, I was able to hand off the kid and go jump in the shower to rinse off.

Emily had a fever, so we gave her some Tylenol and everyone tried to go back to bed... But that's when baby decided he most wanted to practice his amnio-aerobics, so I was up for a bit longer dealing with that and stressing about potty training while sick.

Em woke up at about 7:30, still with a fever. But, by 8:30 the fever had broken and she'd gotten her first potty sticker of the day, so, decided to venture on! She'd been complaining about her teeth yesterday, so I'm hoping it's teething issues and not some bug!

Today was pants (but no underwear day), and it went well!  Day 2 of no accidents!  Also, day 2 of no number 2... curious how that's going to pan out. lol

I've been asking Emily every couple of hours or so if she needs to go potty.  When she tells me "no" I listen.  For the most part, she's been pretty good about going when she needs to when I ask her, but she hasn't yet initiated it on her own.

This evening we went to my in-laws place for a big Fourth of July BBQ event and to watch the fireworks from their houseboat.  Emily hasn't been eating much today (which wasn't a surprise to me if she did have some stomach something or other), and dinner was the same.  She ate some pretzels, but that was about it.  She also started to look kind of queasy during dinner and had a bit of a fever, so, after eating my share of the awesome food, and giving her another dose of Tylenol, I excused us and went back to sit in the house.   She fell asleep for about an hour or so.  Woke up, went potty, played for a little bit, and then was looking exhausted again.  When I asked if she wanted to put on jammies, she pretty much jumped at the chance.  And, after jammies were on, she grabbed a blanket and curled up in bed.  So, I left her sleep.  She probably slept for another 30 minutes or so and then was awake.  Since she's had such a late nap, we decided to let her try to stay up for the fireworks and play with her cousins.

I was a bit nervous about having her out of the house during potty training, but she did really really well.  And, like I said, no accidents!  So far I've been really happy with the experiences.  She's doing such a great job!  (And she's really digging the stickers! lol)

Boot Camp: Day One

No, I'm not participating in a 6 AM exercise regimen... I'm doing something just a little more scary... potty training a toddler... in four days. ;)

I've known for months that this weekend was going to be potty training boot camp weekend... put it on the calendar and everything.  Our daycare was closed today and tomorrow for the holiday, so I have a 4-day weekend home with Emily.  Since I knew that I was going to have such a great block of time to focus on it, I decided to give "Independence Day" weekend a new meaning.  ;)

Last night after work I stopped by the Dollar Tree and picked up some stickers and cookies.  After Emily went to bed, I made up a sticker potty chart to put in the bathroom.  After reading up on potty training methods over the last few months, I came up with a plan: day one = naked day, day 2 = clothing (no undies) day, day three (and four): clothing with undies days!  

*Side note: I'm not planning to attack potty training during sleeping hours quite yet... just when awake.  I'll still put her in pull ups/diapers for naps and bed until I start to see some dry nights/naps and then I'll reassess.

Emily has always done pretty well at avoiding accidents when she's naked, so I wasn't too concerned about today.  And she did really well!  (Though, pregnant me peed about 3 times to each of her single trips. lol).  She went "pee pee" in her potty three times today... and added a sticker to her chart for each successful trip.  =)

 

The reward plan is that for every 5 "pee pees" she'll get a cookie, and every time she goes "poo poo" in the potty she'll get a cookie.  She's two stickers away from her first incentive.  =)

She's in bed now, I'm feeling pretty relieved at her first no-accident day, but still a little on edge about tomorrow. lol  She never actually TOLD me today that she had to go... it was all on my urging (bribing), so, I'm just hoping that tomorrow she'll take a little more initiative.  But, I'm going to have several pairs of shorts ready just in case.  =)

My Girl

I remember when I went back to work when Emily was about 8 weeks old.  I had conversations with other moms about how much it sucked to leave them right when they are getting to a "fun" age where they can interact with you.  Emily also hit a "fun" age at about 6 months when she was crawling all over the place, and at 9 months when she started walking (and subsequently running)... and at 12 months... and 18 months....

The point I'm trying to make is that I have discovered that one "fun" age is followed, almost immediately by another.

Emily turned 2 just over a month ago.  Everyone has heard of the "terrible twos", and, for about a week, I thought someone had flipped some baby banshee switch on us, but the last month has been awesome.  I SO much enjoy having a little person who has some personality and independence.  Who can dress herself, and play alone for awhile, and TELL ME WHAT SHE WANTS. 

I love that I can let her outside in the backyard to play while I make dinner and she "checks in" with me every few minutes by piggy-pressing her nose up against the screen door.  I love that she no longer cries to be let out of her room when she wakes up, but rather yells "Mama!" or, simply, knocks on her bedroom door.

I love that I can set her clothes out for her, and she will put them on herself!  I love that, after a meal, I can tell her to go wash her hands and she can go into the bathroom, climb up on her stool and "wash" her hands (even if she needs a second pass at it with an adult to get all the sticky off).

I love that I can tell her to get me a spoon and she'll open the drawer and grab a spoon for me.  I love that I can ask her to get me the green box of crackers and she does! 

I love that she UNDERSTANDS me when I'm not being very clear.  For example, trying to get a garden tool outside the other day... I asked her to bring me that "thing" with the "green handle" that she likes to "pound in the rocks"... and she found and brought me exactly what I was asking for me!

I love that I can ask her about her day and she tells me that it was "good" and lists off the people that she played with.

I love that she wants to spend time with me, and "help" whenever she can (I know that stage won't last for long!)

I love that she says "Bless You" when I sneeze, and pats me on the back when I cough (and sometimes asks me if I need some water).  I love that she asks me "All done?" before she tries to drag me away from the dinner table to play with her.

I love that she has so much love inside of her.  She is going to be an amazing big sister, and an awesome kid.  I can't wait to experience the next "fun" ages with her.  It really feels like life gets more and more wonderful and fulfilling with each new day.

One Adorable Little Girl Eating a Sucker

So, before I go into a recap of our Halloween and some ADORABLE photos, I have to state my utter disdain for this women.  You may have heard about her, the one who, for Halloween gave out candy to some of the children, and notes to those that she thought were obese urging their parents to make better dietary decisions for their children... just thinking about this again makes me want to cry.  This woman is doing SOO MUCH MORE damage to these poor (probably already self-conscious) children than any "good" that she thinks may come from these letters.  I am all for promoting healthy eating, but do NOT single out children like that!  Hand out fruit snacks instead of tootsie rolls.  Hell, give all the kids a damn granola bar... even that is better on Halloween than placing blame on parents, and judgement and embarrassment on young children.  I'm really curious if that woman got "tricked" this year...

OK, rant over.... on to more happy things.  Particularly, pictures of my adorable little pirate.  =)

We weren't planning on taking Emily trick-or-treating this year.  We didn't really think that she'd "get it".  Plus, we don't really give her candy to eat, and she can't actually SAY "trick or treat".  So, our plan was to take her to the golf course down the street that was having a Halloween event.  I didn't realize that the indoor spooky trail (or whatever they called it) was actually a trick-or-treat loop where local businesses handed out candy to the kids and coupons/advertisements to the parents.  It was a nice little intro to trick or treating (and she actually really did get into it!), and Jacob and I both walked away with some free chiropractic care and half off massages... so.. it was win-win.  (Plus, we get to eat the majority of her candy... so... there's that, too).  =)

And now, the photos... there's lots of them.  She's cute.  Deal.  =)

 

 

 

Pictures for Mom

My Mom is, for some reason, completely anti-Facebook.  She doesn't want to admit that she uses a computer (although, she has slowly inched from occasionally ordering clothes online to now Googling recipes and craft projects... I wonder if anyone has showed her Pinterest yet... lol).  One thing that she DOES do online is read my blog... and occasionally I get guff for not posting enough pictures of her granddaughter (which are, consequently, all on Facebook).  So, for my mom, and as a recap of the last few months, here are some of my favorite photos from the summer.

You're welcome, Mom.  =)

Memorial Day at the beach

With her friend Tim

With Aunt Brittney and Cousin Jordan

No better view than atop daddy's shoulders!

Learning the climb!

Robinhood Festival in Sherwood

Sportin' some cool shades!

We totally look alike. lol

Feeding Daddy goldfish

At the splash park

Such a happy water baby!