Go, Man, Go!

My Brother and his family gave Jonathan his first drum set for his 2nd Birthday. What I thought was going to be a nightmare on my ears has actually turned out to be really cute. He really likes to rock it out on the drums!

Will this day ever end?

I couldn't let the day go by without saying "farewell" to one of the worst parenting days of my life (relatively speaking, that is). For those of you in need of a little comic relief, I know this will not disappoint!
Here it is, in timeline format....

Wednesday night
8 p.m. Put baby Jonathan to bed (all is well....)
8:30 p.m. Jonathan is putting Delaney to bed. I come downstairs, check baby in video monitor... not in crib. Go upstairs to check. He's out of his crib sitting on the floor playing with "something white". Turn on the light.... he's gotten into the Desitin and emptied half the tube which he is now squishing through his hands, all over his pjs and onto the carpet. Clean him, change him, scrub carpet. Back to bed.
10 p.m. Jonathan and I go to bed. Check on baby...not in crib. Asleep on floor with blankets and baby (awwww... so sweet)

Thursday
5:30 AM!!!!!! I wake up to a thud (which is Jonathan climbing/falling from crib) Go in, change his diaper, show him that it's still dark out and time for night-night
5:40 a.m. Out of bed again (Jonathan's turn!) He catches him looking out the window--maybe the sun has come up? back in crib
5:50 a.m. Thud, out of crib
6:10 a.m. thud, out of crib
etc. etc. etc.

URGHHHHH!

8 a.m. bath the kids
8:20 a.m. Try to get breakfast in them before Delaney's school
9 a.m. Drop Delaney at school and head to Babies R Us for $80 "Crib Tent" to contain the kid (Oh, did I mention my parents are watching the kids for the weekend while we go to Chicago for a wedding... can't have all those "thuds" for my parents)
11:45 a.m. Try to install crib tent... semi-fits, but matress is dangling in mid air, hanging on mesh netting (not good) Jonathan puts baby in anyway :) side panel rips (urgh!)
11:50 a.m. HUGE crash downstairs... Jonathan crying. Run downstairs to find he's "helped himself" to a full pitcher of lemonade from counter. Pitcher is in pieces on floor with 2 quarts of lemonade on floor also. (guess I'll be ordering another Quick stir pitcher from Pampered Chef)
12:30 I convince Jonathan to move the crib mattress up so no more dangling mattress and I can put that ulcer order on hold
2 p.m. Baby Jonathan is finally asleep and contained in his crib (Horray!)

Yeah, we survived! and Jonathan and I didn't even fight to the death due to lack on sleep.
Glad that day is OVER!

Hangin' with my Homegirl...

I just love afternoons with Delaney when she allows me the time to rest and watch a movie with her. Today we are getting in the spirit of Christmas and watching "The Polar Express". I remember the first time I ever saw that movie... it was on ABC, I was in a hospital room at Magee Woman's Hospital 2 days after having baby Jonathan. It was a wonderful way to welcome in the Christmas spirit.

Happy Halloween!

We didn't take a picture "pre-loot eating" so he's a sucker monkey now!

I think the kids were done with smiling at this point, especially Delaney. No more Trick or Treating for her!

How can you get upset that he got chocolate all over his belly? He's just too cute!

Our beautiful Lady Bug! She was the one Daddy needed to carry home on his shoulders after too much Trick-or-Treating, not Jonathan.

No...not a goatee....

No, Jonathan is not advanced for his age and growing facial hair... nor are these pictures of messing eating. THESE pictures are the result of mommy being on the phone and Jonathan being TOO quiet... I went to check on him. He was in my bathroom, in the make-up drawer, applying "lipstick".... only it was mascara. How can you not laugh?

A moment of peace, please!

This is a shout out to all those mommies out there who can't ever get a moment's peace to relieve ourselves (in the truest sense of the word). Never, ever are we allowed the privacy or quiet solitude to use the facilities. Can I get an Amen? If the door isn't locked, then one or both of my kids are in the bathroom with me, playing with the water in sink, trying to sit on my lap (I know.. gross!) or asking for a drink. I've started locking the door. This usually promotes the wailing and nashing of teeth on the other side of the barrier... which, although technically ALONE, does not make it quiet time by any means. Just once I would LOVE to get through an entire page of a catalog before the whining starts. Today was the same except for one wonderful time this morning when I actually did have some quiet, which then makes me wonder..."What are they in to out there?" until I heard a small little voice saying "Mommy?" from the other side of the door. Unlike times past, no screaming just the cutest, tenderest jesture... a small 22 month old had came under the door looking for my touch. When I touched him gingerly with my toes, the giggles errupted and the game was on. I have to say, it was the most fun bathroom time I've had in a long time. I wish this for all my mommy friends...

Why is he naked?

This is the question I have now been asking myself at the end of every naptime and every early morning for the past week.
Jonathan's latest trick... the removal of ALL clothing, including diaper. No matter how many layers, zippers, snaps, duct tapes (just kidding) he gets through them all. And when asked "Where are your clothes?", he politely points to the place outside of his crib where they have been discarded.
Now, why, I ask you, does he do this? For the ulitmate prize, you see... the greatest toy ever invented... do I need to say it? I have been inquiring to my friends who are also raising little boys if this is "normal" or if I should be worried that this is an unhealthy obsession and one brave mommy confided in me her own doctor's response as to when he would stop playing with his "toy"..... "When he's 90 or so"

Share?

Do you think they are sharing? Welcome to my world on Wednesday, September 3rd.
The funny part about this... they were actually fighting worse before Delaney saw that I had the camera or that I was watching. They were both screaming seconds before. It's a shame my poor deprived kids only have a few grains of sand and one pail to play with.

Blankie!

It had to be done...

Please don't judge me... you would have done the same.

It's been dragged through the sandbox, off the stroller, into the bathroom. It had seen much cleaner days...

Yes, I'm talking about "Blankie"... Jonathan's Blankie. He adores that thing!

I made one fatal mistake today though...I put Blankie in the washing machine (long overdue) and left the laundry room door open. He saw... he saw his blankie in the midst of the other dirty clothes just out of his reach. I was reminded of a sad scene in the movies when the object of their desire is so close, but just out of reach and the pain on the actor's face as he touches the glass that separates them.

"Blankie, Blankie, Blankie....."

I had to drag him out of the room and close the door, explaining that blankie was only taking a bath and would be clean soon.

To make matters worse, blankie was not done being washed before Naptime came to call. I guess he'll be talking about that with his therapist one day.

But for now, I am grateful that my little buddy has something in his life, besides his family, that brings him such comfort and joy and sorrow when it's missing.

How to keep it together... an essay by a struggling mommy

Okay, that sounds worse than it is... It's just that I'm coming off of 3 days without my hubby. (he's home now, thank goodness) and I'm just tired.

It's also a great segway into these wonderful words of wisdom that I read today in my Parents magazine. It really made me stop and think....

"Memo to Mommy" lessons from our little ones:

• Stop freaking out about the mess! There's always time to clean--but how often do we get to make mud pies?
  

  Love me, even when I'm naughty. I'll only be this age once
  

  Be patient. I do everything for a reason, but I don't know enough words yet to give you an explanation
  

  Let me do it. I know you can do it better, but sometimes experience is the best teacher
  

  Don't expect too much of me. I want to do what you ask and make you happy, but I'm still little
  

  Don't try to reason with me when I'm having a tantrum. Trust me--I can't hear you over my own screaming
  

  Keep your promises. It's all about trust. When I'm a teenager, you'll understand why it's so important
  

  Don't keep asking me if I've been good. I'm not even sure what that means, but if I was bad I'd never admit it!
  

  Don't let me think that you're perfect. I feel a lot better knowing I'm not the only one who makes mistakes sometimes.

I can think of one great example for the "Let me do it" file. Delaney wanted to help me vaccum the kitchen floor with the wand. It was hard to stand back and watch her slowly do it but it was worth it all seeing the satisfaction on her face when she had completed the task. Mommy had to "finish", or so I thought, until I sucked up her polly pocket's doll shoe that she had missed on purpose. Serves me right...I had to dig through the dirt to retreive it for her from the emptied canister. Lord, help me to slow down and enjoy the small, wonderful things in my life... my kids especially.

Go Cubbies!

One of "The Girls" from Chicago came to visit me in Pittsburgh this week, Erin Leyden. We used to joke that we were the same person because we liked so many of the same things, did the same job (I took over her job when she got promoted), laughed at the same jokes. We just "get" each other. When we first met, I had just moved to Chicago from Pittsburgh and I was commenting on the abundance of squirrels in Chicago. She looked at me and asked "Do you have squirrels in Pittsburgh?" That broke the tension and we both burst into laughter. She's an awesome friend and one that I admire so much for her strength. A year and a half ago, her second son Emmett started having seizures at the age of 2 1/2. It was terrifying and he was having up to 200 a day. Erin was pregnant through all this will their daughter Clare. I can't even imagine what hell their life was for the year before they were finally able to find the right combination of drugs/therapy to control Emmett's seizures. Now here's where the strength comes in... she turned that negative into such positive, creating the AEOF (the American Epilepsy Outreach Foundation) to help other families get information and support when someone they love has been diagnosed with the condition. They are striving to change the face of epilepsy so that it's not such a stigma against the person. How selfless is that? She's awesome and I love her!

So she surprised me and booked a ticket to come to Pittsburgh when she new the Chicago Cubs were in town playing the Pirates. So I got us 4 tickets, invited Tiffany and Laurie to join us and the girls had a grand ole' time a the ball park. Noshing on some nachos and peanuts. Yum!

We had such great seats and there was never a stall in the conversation. It was the best night out with the girls (especially ones who didn't really know each other)

The next day wen went down to Station Square for lunch at Hard Rock, a ride on the incline, ice cream on Mt. Washington and then off to the airport for her to fly home.

Memory Lane is Open

This sounds like fun and I always love traveling down memory lane so go ahead and read on.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I (or you and Jonathan) had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Welcome to my World!

Jonathan finally got a "taste" of what it is like to take 2 young children to the grocery store during nap time.

We picked Jonathan up from work around lunchtime and we headed to Super Walmart in Robinson for lunch at Mickey D's and grocery shopping (McDonald's, although not my favorite choice always wins out because it requires me to only get the kids out of the car once... one stop shop!). So after a not-so-healthy lunch of Delaney's favorite "Chicken and fries" we headed into Walmart with baby Jonathan in the cart and Delaney roaming free next to us. It wasn't long before she became too tired to walk and then kept slipping out of her shoes. When asked to go and retrieve her shoes, we would get a tantrum. I could tell Jonathan's temper was wearing thin. He looked like he was going to blow a gasket any second.

And then Delaney blew! Full out tantrum in the dairy section. Screaming, whaling, stomping, you name it. I walked away. I let Daddy handle it.

We finally made it out of the store and to the safety of the car. My only comment... "Now do you see why I like to come shopping by myself" (I don't think that helped the mood)

Oh, no, he's definitely a boy!

My life will never be the same... Events have transpired today that make it evident that we can never go back to life as it was yesterday.

It all started innocently enough. Jonathan was working from home. He offered to put baby Jonathan up for a nap around 10 a.m. I gave my snuggly boy a kiss and hug and smiled thinking about the hour or so I would have to catch up on things around the house. 10 minutes later he was downstairs and walking around. I had to assume that my husband had rescued him from his room, but no, Jonathan was on a conference call. He looked as perplexed as I that Jonathan was downstairs walking around.

So guess what? That little stinker crawled out of his crib (first time), opened his bedroom door (first time) and walked down the stairs (not his first time, but still impressive). Ugh! How did this happen?

So, to make it a complete trifecta, he climbed up into his highchair by himself later in the day.

He amazes me so much every day... and makes me realize how much I still have to learn about little boys.

"I wipe it off!"

Delaney is having some real issues with bed time. Specifically, she just doesn't want to go to bed. At all. Every night is a ritual of tucking her "snug as a bug in a rug" only to find her "discretely" coming down the stairs, with her eyes covered, of course (so we can't see her) for one more "tiss and hug". Jonathan and I take turns every night re-escorting her up to bed. The first couple trips are gratis... the ones following carry a high consequence... a bum spanking. Even this has not deterred her. Last night when I was going to bed, I thought I'd look in on our little angel sleeping in her new full-size big-girl bed. I gingerly opened to door to find an empty bed. I was a little panicked as I had not heard the patter of little feet upstairs before this. Where could she be. Not in the bathroom, not in our room watching tv. I finally called out to her, my fear getting the best of me. She arose, groggily from underneath our fluffy comforter in the space between my and Jonathan's pillows on our bed and said "I sleep in your bed". She was escorted back to her bed but I had to hide a snicker. Tonight I went over to my sister's house and was not her to partake in the bedtime games. Jonathan informed me that she had to be spanked twice tonight for bed exitus and that she has a new "coping" mechanism. As soon as she is spanked (lightly) on the bum, she quickly licks her hand and spanks her bum. After the second spanking session, Jonathan had to ask.... "What are you doing?" Her answer... "I wipe off my spanking"
How can you argue with that?

Cinco de Mayo

I'm not sure what Cinco de Mayo is, a Mexican holiday of some-sort. But I am grateful to have a day set aside to have an excuse to partake in my favorite food genre. So I couldn't let the day go by without having a little Mexican feast Bernard-style. Now, before the cash budget system, I would have said, "heck with it...let's go out to eat!" But I have definitely tried to embrace this new budget so we brought Mexico to us. Nothing fancy, just hard and soft tacos with ground beef and refried beans. I didn't even have lettuce or tomatoes for toppings but we got by just fine.

The kids really ate it up though. (All that Mexican food I ate during pregnancy and nursing is finally paying off... the kids can stand the heat!)

Just Bloom

Driving home today I noticed a steep, rocky hillside that I passed many, many times before. I had just never noticed it as intently as I did today. Maybe because I was in the passenger seat and Jonathan was driving. But none the less, I noticed. I noticed the steep walls, the sharp rocks.... and then all the folliage growing strong and green straight up toward the sun. It's silly, but I thought, "boy, that sucks for those plants. I wonder if they realize what a sucky place they have to grow in." (No, really, I thought that) But then I thought. "That's silly... the plant seeds would have had no way of knowing that this was a less desirable place to be planted. They were just happy to be able to grow and see the sun." The phrase "Bloom where you are planted" came to mind. Okay, so now let's get personal. How many times have I been in a situation when I thought "This really sucks! Thanks alot God!" when I really should have just "Bloomed".I am blooming today. I can't say that weather-wise it is a fantastic day or that it is any special occassion... except that is is "Family day"... my favorite day of the whole week. The one I look forward to the most when Jonathan and I can do the most hated tasks, but we do them as a family and it somehow makes it so much better. I have even started getting Delaney excited for "Family Day". It's a day when Jonathan's job is put away, when we all just focus on loving our time together. I am so thankful for my little family even when I forget to be thankful.

Just One Cupcake

I made 6 cupcakes today. I made them with the leftover batter from the last part I needed for Delaney's castle cake. Delaney, of course, saw them and wanted one. My response was to tell her that if she ate a good dinner and was a good girl at the gym nursery while Mommy took her Body Pump class, she could have a cupcake when we got home.She lived up to her end of the bargain, for the most part. What happened when we returned from the gym was the funny part. As soon as we pulled into the garage, Delaney announced that she wanted out of the car first. As soon as her feet hit the garage floor she tore off into the house. I had actually forgotten all about the cupcake...but as soon as I entered the house with baby Jonathan I realized that she hadn't. She already had a cupcake in her hands, unwrapped and starting to devoir it. It wasn't even frosted! I took it from her, gently reminding her that it wasn't frosted yet. So I opened a can of icing and spread some of it on the top of the partially eaten cupcake and gave it back to her. My parting words to her as I took the baby upstairs to put him to bed was to not eat any more cupcakes. She did as she was told. Instead, when I came down from putting Jonathan to bed, I found that she had helped herself to about 1/4 cup of the frosting from the can. She quickly held her fingers up and let me know that she had only had 3 tastes. I said, "How many?" Then she changed her answer and fingers to five. It was hard to stifle a smirk because her little fingers and face were covered in icing. Lesson for today... be absolutely specific with your instructions to an almost 3-year-old. And the laughs keep coming!

Yummy, Dirt!

My son ate dirt today.We were at a birthday party for our friend's daughter who turned one. Lo always goes all out for her kids' birthdays and today was no exception. She had a craft section set up where the kids could plant Impatients into Mickey Mouse cups. There was a big bin of potting soil that Jonathan was having fun digging in. I looked away from him for a minute and when I looked back, Lo was asking me where Jonathan got a brownie from.No, no brownie, just a huge clump of dirt that he decided to take a big bite out of. Yuck! His tongue was covered in dirt! I tried to clean him up as best I could but the dirt snack really didn't phase him. He was off on his next adventure quite quickly. I guess that extra little dose of plant food might give him a growth spurt tonight.It's hard to believe that Delaney turns 3 tomorrow!Where did the time go? It seems just yesterday she was growing in my belly and now she's a walkin', talkin', sassin' 3 year old. I have a lot to get done tonight before her birthday party tomorrow so this will have to be brief. I am taking on a princess castle cake. I hope it turns out okay. Plus, I haven't even started her birthday video. It may just have to wait a week or so. I am exhausted from Jonathan being out of town all week. I'm really going to try though. But I have to keep in mind that she won't care now about the video, what she will remember is the time I spent with her on her birthday making it a special time for her. I just have to keep that perspective when the pangs of guilt at not being perfect mommy creep into my mind.

My New Year's resolution...late, as usual

Let me begin by confirming that yes, I know it is March and yes, I know that New Year's resolutions are supposed to be started at the beginning of the new year. So I'm a little slow in that aspect, but better late than never has always been my motto. Plus, I have written a little on our family website so that should count for something. So why the new weblog? Well.... because I found this awesome book publishing website (you know, where you can have photo books printed?) and they will export my blog and turn it into a book! I thought..."What a great way to chronicle the year without making myself crazy at the end of the year!" So here it is.
Where do I begin. Let me start by saying that we are leaving tomorrow for a week at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Do you even need to ask the question if I am packed and ready to go? Of course not. In true Tracy style, I have not even started. Although I am way ahead of the game in the fact that I have all the laundry done (not, put away, but clean). I'm not stressed because there is always Super Walmart! Anything major I forget can always be purchased there when we get there. I love America!
Yesterday was a pretty exciting day. Here's a brief synopsis for those not wanting to read the full versions: Daddy worked from home, Rukus is good, Delaney and the poo-poo, Daughtry and Bon Jovi. What? That's not enough information? Well, I guess you'll just have to read on...
Let me tell you that although the frequent travel sucks, I LOVE Jonathan's new job for the pure fact that he is able to work from home when he is in Pittsburgh. He gets a lot done and we are very diligent at respecting his office time for "business calls" but it also means that we get to have breakfast and lunch with him and Mommy even gets to steal away in the afternoons sometimes to run errands while the kids are napping. I was worried about how it would all work out having him home, but it has been awesome!
We had to put our loveable pet cat Sammy to sleep in early February. That was hard. He was with us for 7 years...almost our whole marriage and made all the different house moves that we did. He was a great cat and is so very much missed. Even though I swore we would not have another cat for awhile, Rukus just seemed to drop into our lap. My cousin Kimberly owned Rukus and his brother and could not keep them due to her son's allergies. He's only 6 months old and litter-box trained so I said we could have a "meet and greet" a couple weeks ago to see how the kids and Rukus got along. Love at first sight for Delaney so a few days later Rukus came to live with us. Now, Rukus has not been to the vet since he was born, so of course, he had to have all his shots ($$$$$) and needs neutered and declawed ($$$$$). This is not going to be a cheap pet. But I saw the love in Delaney's tearful eyes when I told her I needed to take Rukus to the doctor. She cried because when we took Sammy to the doctor, he never came home again. I guess when you are 2 1/2--almost 3, you just don't understand the difference in appointment types. But Rukus got a clean bill of health and will be going back in 3 weeks for his surgeries. And he is darn cute.
Last night was Daddy night as I had a girls night out at the Daughtry/Bon Jovi concert. Talking with Jonathan while on my way home from the concert, I got the play-by-play of Delaney's stubborn evening, which started with an early bedtime as punishment for not eating her dinner. Since she was not tired, Delaney played up in her bedroom for hours instead of falling asleep. She has now decided that instead of potty training, she will just change all her diapers when needed. So Jonathan went upstairs to find her trying to change her own poopie diaper in her bedroom. She was using wipes, but had still managed to get it all over her hands, feet and legs. So he wiped her down, put a new diaper on and put her back to bed. Not long later, same thing. Poopie Diaper #2 and same result. This time, poop on the rug. Finally, cleaned her, changed her, put her back to bed. Took the wipes and diapers and put them back in Jonathan's room and told her to leave them there. In the short time it took him to go downstairs to get Hippo and Hippo's blanket, she had crawled out of her crib, snuck into Jonathan's room, took the diapers and wipes, brought them back to her room and crawled back into bed. All the while, pretending that she had never moved from her bed. What a little stinker. So smart! As you can imagine, I was laughing very hardily at the mental picture of this whole fiasco. Glad I wasn't there though.
And finally, Daughtry and Bon Jovi. I went with Tiffany and Amy Robol first to dinner at Nakama, the Japanese Steakhouse in South Side, then to the concert at Mellon Arena. I was more excited to see Daughtry since I love his album and have been a fan since his American Idol days, but I was actually blown away by Bon Jovi. They were such high energy and the show was really good. Took me back to my high schools days. It was nice to remember that I used to be someone other than Mommy. (which is still the best job in the world, by the way)
So that's it. Time to pack for Mickey Mouse's house!