What we've been up to lately

Potty learning, potty learning and more potty learning!  I can't remember how much, if anything, I have said about our experiences so far with this subject, but I feel like more of an expert in my son's learning than I did even 3 weeks ago.

We started off working with him only on the weekends and evenings because we didn't want his teachers to have to deal with accidents at school.  Even though he would do pretty well on the weekends, he would absolutely refuse to use the potty at school.  While I love the teachers, they weren't very accommodating with this topic.

There were some weekend days that I got so frustrated that I said forget it and put a diaper back on.  I think I expected things to go quickly and that it would be a one weekend thing, but it really did happen over a period of time.  He did great 2 weekends in a row and I felt good about having him wear underwear to school, but it was right at the same time he changed classrooms, so we decided to wait until he transitioned.

He was in his classroom for only about a week and we had another great weekend.  He even stayed dry on his "out of the house underwear" (aka pull-ups) so I spoke to her on Monday about trying underwear.  She said that she wanted to stay consistent with what we did at home and that potty learning is a part of the school day, not a distraction from it.

There were a few poop accidents and some bribery with Legos, but he started in that class at the beginning of the month and hasn't had an accident at school in 2 weeks.  I am so proud of him!  He occasionally has accidents at home or when we walk to the park, but overall he is doing so great!

He likes to poop in front of the TV, which seriously cracks me up!

This past weekend, we had a few friends over and ordered the Widespread Panic show which was streaming live from Red Rocks in Colorado.  N and I have enjoyed many concerts in this venue including Panic, so while it wasn't quite like seeing the real thing, it was definitely the next best thing.

Plus, we got to watch BBZ and his friend "camp" in the living room!

We did a little garage saleing that morning and hit the mother-load!  We got a box of kids camping stuff, which precipitated the camping in the living room.  I also found a Cardinals outfit, a sweater, 3 books, a doctor set, some winter boots, and a few other things, all for $7!  AND I found a space saver high chair for only $10 on (you guessed it) Craig's List!  It was a weekend of great deals and good times.

On Sunday we had N's family over to celebrate a late Father's Day.  We played outside, went shopping at Kohl's and spent the day together.  It was a really nice visit.

Cousins :)

Today, N had a happy hour after work, so I decided to take BBZ to get a haircut.  I had been thinking of taking him for a real one, since my barber shop isn't really that great, but I was worried because I knew it would be a lot shorter than the way I tended to cut it.  Then again, I thought a nice cute cut would be nice for the summer.

It's pretty short! But I really love it and I think she did a great job! A friend gave me a free haircut coupon a while back and I finally took advantage of it.  He looks so grown up!

He also loves to pull my shirt up and talk to his "baby bwover".  He tries to pull up my shirt all of the time, so I have been working on teaching him to talk to his baby brother through my shirt outside of the house and only pull my shirt up at home.  Now he always says "I can pull your shirt up 'cause we at home?"  He's so smart :)

The view from here...

(31 Weeks)

Me and my sweet boys, 31 weeks and 2 3/4 years old. 

I want to blog about the very difficult time I am having concentrating on anything but my boys and my family, but it is late and I really need to head to bed.  I have some things I need to concentrate on tomorrow and a super-late night is not going to help.  I also want to write about how sometimes I really don't enjoy being a working mom...but that will have to wait too.

So much to blog about and so little time!

Our Trip to the Far North

I have so much to blog about, that I almost don't know where to start.  I really want to post my vacation pics, so that's what I'll do now.  I have been falling asleep with BBZ each night like I did during the whole first trimester, so tonight I actually drank some caffeine before I laid him down to help me stay up.  Hopefully I won't regret that later :)

My parents live in the far, far north about 13 hours away.  We flew into an airport about 3 hours from their house and rented a car to drive the rest of the way.  BBZ did awesome on the flight and the drive and even kept his out of the house underwear (aka pull-ups) dry the whole trip!

We usually drive to visit my parents in November, which is crazy cold.  Going in the spring/summer is awesome because it is warm, but it is also not as humid and a nice break from the crazy hot Midwest.

So we spent plenty of time in their gorgeous back yard.

Here is my sister and her fiance!  It was so great to meet him and to see her so happy!

Doesn't their yard look like a park?

N and CJ had all kinds of fun.

This was a perfect way to spend the day!  We tried to fill the days with lots of activities...

Cousins :)

We found a park with this amazing, completely accessible playground.  BBZ loves a good playground.

There was lots of Popsicle eating.

The boys down by the red river, which interestingly flows north.

Getting ready to watch CJ open his birthday presents.

 I love this one.

We went to Chuck E Cheese for CJ's birthday!  BBZ had lots of fun.

So did the Birthday Boy!

We thought this place was pretty cool!  BBZ loved the tow truck.

I love these boys!  And I can't believe we will have another one in the family very soon!

BBZ's first try at Putt-Putt Golf!

He was so cute.  He would carry the ball to the hole, place it right in front of it and push it in with his putter.  It was awesome.

I, on the other hand, suck at golf bad.  I think I only got it into one of the holes the whole time.

In my defense, we did only play 9 holes.  Still, those odds are pretty bad.

I love this one too!  He was pretty done by this time.

It was such a great trip!  BBZ was a really good boy almost the entire trip.  It only rained the last 2 days and we were home by 4pm or so after a day of travel.  That was hard, but BBZ only had 1 accident while we were traveling and maybe 2 while at my parents house.  Overall, I think our little man has mastered the potty.  I'll post more about that another time.

A Father's Day Moment

I am currently on vacation, hanging with my family in the far North, and relaxing in the only way one can at their parent's house...without a worry in the world.

While I am reading blogs, I am taking a break to really enjoy this time with my family.  I am coming out of hiding only to share a photograph that my brother-in-law took of N and BBZ during a trip to the Botanical Garden this Spring.

For Father's Day, I had the photo put on a water bottle for N.  I love what it captures, and that it is of the 2 most important boys in the whole world to me...exploring the world together.

Happy Father's Day to my sweet, wonderful husband!

Temper Tantrums (and not just BBZ's)

I have a bad temper.  No, that's not exactly accurate.  I have a really bad temper.  People who know me will likely be quite surprised by this as I am also blessed with a great deal of patience.  You see, I am patient, patient, patient, patient and suddenly BAM!  Pissed off!  There is very little middle ground for me.

This has proven to be a challenge for me as a parent, and one that I continue to work on.  I had to go out of town for work on Thursday and Friday, and N had to go out of town Friday through today, so BBZ's routine has been all kinds of crazy, as has mine.

So it was just he and I holding down the fort after I finally got to him at about 10pm Friday night.  Traffic was terrible and a rough end to an otherwise great work trip.  But it was not a great start to the weekend.

BBZ and I have spent many weeknights and some weekends alone together as N often travels for work.  I'm not sure if it was his extra testing or something going on with me, but we just didn't do well this weekend.  While he is really just being a regular 2-year-old with a messed up routine, I really don't have an excuse.

There were times over the weekend when I was reacting to something he was doing and I was having an internal battle with myself.  I knew that my attitude was making it worse.  I knew that I was getting upset and that I should be able to control myself.  I knew what "positive discipline" measures I should have been using, but reacted the opposite.  Not sure why...exhaustion, maybe?  Hormones?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Never the less, it made for a few rough interactions between Saturday and Sunday.  For one thing, he is extra intense right now.  Everything is amped up to a "10".  I really think it is a little boy thing, as my friends who have little girls don't seem to experience this same kind of intensity.

The last blow up occurred at McDonald's.  We tried to patch up our rough morning with a trip to the park and we were going to go out for pizza.  He asked to go to "old McDonald's" instead, and I recently discovered one nearby that has a play place, so we headed that way.

He started his wiggly and can't stand still stuff while standing in line to order food.  We got through that and found a table by the play place.  He actually did really well playing and eating...I was impressed.  As we were getting close to time to leave, I gave him the 10-minute warning, the 5-minute warning, then 3, then one more time down the slide and it was time to go.

He started to run away from me and I grabbed him and swooped him up (which is quite the funny site with my big belly swinging around).  And then he did it.  He pulled both hands as far back as he could reach and hit me so hard that I almost dropped him.  Right in front of all of those people.

That was it for me, I sat down, gave him all kinds of lectures about how we don't hit and how bad that hurt and how is was not ok and blah blah blah.  And I got nothing back.  Just screams that he didn't want to leave.  No "sorry mommy"s or other reactions that I wanted from him.  No apologies or "ok mommy"s or anything.  Which made my blood boil.  (Yes, I now realize that these are unrealistic expectations of a 2-year-old, but this is what my mind was expecting at the time).

After not getting what I wanted from him, I swooped him up and shuffled out the door and to the car.  And in the car as he continued to try and hit me it happened...I turned his little butt around and smacked it hard.  And simultaneously said "we do not hit".

Yes, it was not one of my finer parenting moments.

So as he sat in the back seat and cried for his toy or whatever, I drove off towards home.  Then the guilt hit me, and I started bawling.  Not just little cries either, big, huge, fat tears that I could not control.  BBZ asked me a question after he calmed down and I did my best to answer.  He asked me why I was talking funny and I told him it was because I was crying.  He asked why I was crying and I told him.

I actually manipulated the situation a little and told him I was crying because he hit me.  I was actually crying because I knew I had lost control, but I didn't want to go into that right then.  He said that he cries when kids at school hit him too.  So we talked a little about that.  Then he asked for ice cream and I said no.  I told him we were taking a bath when we got home and I didn't want him to argue with me at all.  Thankfully, he didn't.

So after we got home and relaxed, took a bath and had a snack, we headed to bed.  He had one more hitting fit and spent a few minutes in his room alone before bed.  I went in and sat down with him, talking about all that happened between us that day.

After a few minutes of talking, I said "BBZ, I am really sorry that I lost my temper earlier today"

And he responds "you need help to find it?"

I couldn't help but giggle.  The truth of his 2-year-oldness shined through in that moment.  The guilt I had carried that evening for losing my temper drifted away.  As bad as I felt for reacting the way I did, BBZ was already over it.  He didn't even realize what happened.  In fact, he was willing to help me look for what I had lost.  Oh goodness, if only we could all see life like a 2-year-old.

I'm not sure why it was so bad this weekend...why I couldn't control my own emotions and help him learn how to control his.  I know I can't do the right thing all of the time, and I will learn from this and maybe make some changes to my approach to have a better next time, but for now I'll just chalk it up to a short temper and I try to learn from it.  Hopefully he has learned something too.

BBZ says the Darndest Things

"What's this one called about?"

when he hears a new song, a new show or starts a new book.

"No, it's not my favorite."

Anytime we ask him "why" something, he always answers with "why" instead of "because".

"BBZ, why do you want watermelon?" and he responds "why it's my favorite"

"Hiiiii, baby bwover!" while looking and/or kissing my belly.

"My poop looks like a volcano"

"Let's pway cops and roberts"

"Come on soldiers, let's soldge"

"A tomato storm is coming our way" (tornado)

When asked, what do people do on Shavuot? BBZ replies:

"We drink wine, dance and eat challah . . . Holla!"

"Daddy, this is no time to show your belly, we're hunting dinosaurs"

"Mommy, you're pretty...can I have some ice cream?"

"It is so bootiful outside"

"I need the Lego indructions."

When I ask him what we should name his baby brother, he replies "Loofa".

Which very closely resembles one of our favorite names for LBZ.

And tonight, for the first time he lifted up my shirt, kissed my belly and said:

"I am going to love you so much when you come out of mommy's belly, baby bwover!"

(28 Weeks)

Gosh, I just love him so much!  He challenges my patience, makes me question myself constantly, makes me smile, makes me laugh, sometimes makes me want to cry, and always surprises me with the look of absolute peace he has when he closes his eyes and falls asleep.  And oh, the things he says...

I love you so much, BBZ.

Is that a Hammer in Your Pants or...

We had a crazy busy weekend!  I should have taken it easy and relaxed since I feel a cold or something coming on, but I feel the worst overnight, so when I get moving in the morning I feel motivated and have to keep going!

Saturday morning, BBZ woke us up early, so we hit the road and headed to a garage sale, the farmer's market and the botanical garden.  Oh, I for got to mention that the heat Saturday was forecast to break a heat record, so what better way to celebrate at 7 months pregnant than to spend the whole day outside, right?

I didn't take any pictures at the garden, but let's just say that about an hour in and I was exhausted.  Between the heat and the walking (or should I say, waddling), I didn't last long at all.

We came home, but still wanted to do stuff outside.  Once we cooled off, we filled up the water table and hung out on the driveway.  I finally thought to grab the camera at that point.

I love having a place in the front yard to hang out.  Our old house was on such a busy street, we didn't dare let BBZ play our front.  This is much, much better.

I can't believe how big he is getting!  There is nothing baby about him anymore.

We took it easy last evening and watched a movie.  N and I were pretty worn out after the heat and sun of the day.  This morning we were motivated again, and N had a few outdoor projects planned.  He has been gardening and filling in some open spots in our yard with some new plants.  He also picked up some paint and decided to paint the baby's room (aka BBZ's playroom) while BBZ and I were at a birthday party.

Here's the before pics...

The room is set apart from the small living room by an accordion wall.  This wall will likely stay open for most of the time unless LBZ is sleeping.  And who knows how long it will be before he is sleeping in this room at night.  BBZ was 8 weeks before I was ok with him being down the hall.

BBZ woke up in time to do a little painting in a small spot...

And get some on his cute little tootsie toes :)

Here are the after photos!

It seems so weird to have everything all set up already, but I couldn't help it!

The wall does close the room off nicely when it's shut.

I sat in the rocker, gazed at the room and daydreamed about LBZ being here in our house.  I sat in the same chair and imagined BBZ joining our family just 3 years ago.  

I remember how foreign it felt and hard to believe that he would actually be here with us. This time, I really understand that another little boy will be here, in our home, in this little room, in about 3 months.

Since we had to move some of BBZ's toys out of his playroom, his room got a makeover too!

I really love the way both rooms turned out!  BBZ's room is much more suited for a big boy now.  He has toys in there and we moved out some of the baby things...including the diapers!

Yes folks, our sweet first born is almost officially out of diapers.  He wakes up dry each morning and after each nap and uses the potty throughout the day.  He had a few misses today, but he is certainly on the road to potty trained.

I think the diapers are gone for good.  I really don't want to turn back.  Tomorrow he will have his first day at school with big boy underwear!  I am nervous about it, but his teachers said that they want to be consistent with what we are doing at home, and he is in underwear at home, so that seems like what we should do there too.  I'm just nervous!

This was an awesome photo I caught while he was playing construction worker...

Is that a hammer in your pants or...  :) :) :)