Be one of those who learn from others' mistakes...

    It was supposed to be an uneventful lunch playdate with Taylor's best bud Tyler. But it soon, became anything but that!
   As the boys bounced out of the car, I realized Andrew didn't have any shoes. I sat my diaper bag down on the curb beside me and I placed the shoeless child in the driver's seat while I looked for any sign of them in the back seat. "Don't touch anything!"
   There they were, on the other side. I ordered Taylor and Tyler to play in the flower bed while I resolved the issue. Each time, 3 to be exact, that I made it to the other side of the car to get the shoes, Andrew had locked the doors. The third, and final time, I dug my keys out of the diaper bag and marched over there and unlocked the door myself. He's 2, it is to be expected.
   I placed the keys on the seat while I adorned Andrew with his sporty silver and red tennies. We counted to three and he hopped out onto the ground. I closed the door and grabbed the door to retrieve the third child. Locked. hmm...that little...
   I dug around for my keys in my diaper bag that was still sitting on the curb. Still keeping an eye on two 4 year olds and a 2 year old playing in the Chik-fil-A flower bed, I see that the keys are still laying on the seat where I had placed them while socking and shoe-ing Andrew.
   lovely!
   It's okay, Carrie Ann's only a little fussy. What in the world do I do? Jim didn't have the spare key and was headed into a meeting. Tyler's mom, Deanna,  had locked her keys in her car before and told me to call the police.
  She was right! The Tupelo police directed my call to the Fire Station and before I finished my conversation I could hear the sirens blaring from the new fire station just down the road. "Good grief ma'am, are they sending a fire truck?" To which she kindly and swiftly replied, "Yes ma'am, they will be right there!"  I was mortified. Deanna was mortified. The boys, all three of them, were excited...What's that sound?
  Visions of what was about to take place ran through my head. I leaned my head against my car and shook it. They are going to use the jaws of life to get this little angel out of my car. Who, by the way, had no idea she was in there all by her lonesome. I should have taken her sweater off of her, it's probably hot in there.
   They arrived alright, bright and loud. Lights and sirens. The boys loved it!
   I was so embarrassed. My car was a mess. I felt like the worst mother ever. Standing there, blaming it all on my middle child!
   Naturally, I'm a drama queen, but I was oddly calm. I kept wondering when the "freaking out" moment would come. When the tears would pour. Or maybe, I'm just getting good at catastrophes by now!
   While these guys shimmied and pryed their way into my passenger side door...{of course I took pictures!}

This guy entertained the little guys...It didn't take much, all he had to say was, this is my truck! 

Taylor even entertained him a little...

And this little princess had no idea what all the fuss was about! 

She even slept through the alarm going off! 

Safe at last! 

Moral of the story...learn from others' mistakes and if by chance you don't, have OnStar installed in your car or call the fire department, they'll be there in a jiffy!

When to call for backup

     It was really a great day! Or at least it started out with high hopes! It has only been a week since the flour fiasco and the days have been just as eventful ever since.  Today proved to be no different. Just when I thought--wow....we are doing good! I looked at the clock to see that I had 20 more minutes before we had to head out the door. That's a lifetime in my world!  All I had left to do was change Carrie Ann's clothes and dress myself-easy. Except, I changed clothes 3 times, only to settle on jeans and a  baggy t-shirt because I feel like a Hippopotamus-fat rolls and all.  It's depressing. I hate my mirrors. I hate my scale. Ugh! I know, you feel my pain, it's awful.
     Bible study was great, kids were great, lunch went smoothly. We went to visit Mr. Adrian and Mrs. Bonnie and their daughter Terri for about an hour and then headed home. We hadn't gone 100 feet before Taylor said he had to go to the potty. Then he told me he had to get sick in the potty. I questioned him about his feelings. He told me to hurry home. I asked him if he had to throw up in the potty. He said no, he had to get sick in the potty...hmmm....
     I am pretty sure that the onset of spewing came from my speeding home in fear of him peeing in his car seat or a replay of the first year of his life when he threw up just about everytime we rode in our Jeep Cherokee-yuck! The other half was probably from Carrie Ann screaming halfway home because she had just woken up from her nap, hasn't pooped since Monday and like usual, wants to be attached to me!
     I handed Taylor a bag, told him to get sick in it if he needed to. Well he missed. I'll you save all the gorey details, but I did strip Taylor down to his tighty whities in the middle of our driveway. He went straight to the shower from there.
     I brought Andrew inside. Go play son! Retrieved Carrie Ann. Go check on Taylor...Entire shower is covered in blue soapy shaving cream! Don't miss it- I'm about to get my Mother of the Month Award for this one!
     Sometime, while going between Taylor, the rotten back seat of my car and Carrie Ann, Andrew, the sweet and quiet middle child, found his way to a drawer where I keep our razor. It's a drawer he hasn't been able to reach, until today.
    When I came upon him, between my closet and laundry room, he had my Swiffer Mop out squirting the cleaning liquid onto the carpet...attempting to scrub something red...Andrew, what are you doing? What is all that red stuff....What did you get into? It was all over him. His face, his legs (He had lost his pants somewhere, I think in the bathroom, because he was in hopes he was going to get to take a shower with his brother), his arms, his hands. The Swiffer was covered in red stuff...OH MY WORD...you are bleeding son....
    I'm trying not to panic. I ran him to the sink and wash off what I can to survey the damage. Thank the Lord, it was just a surface cut on his thumb, but the blasted thing would not stop bleeding. I tried to keep my mind from going to deep and dark scary places, but the more I tried to control the bleeding, the more irritated Andrew got, the more scared I got and the more upset I became.
    And just a side note, those cute little Sesame Street bandaids aren't worth a flip!  That first-aid kit that I keep putting off buying sure would come in handy right about now! Carrie Ann's still screaming, Taylor has used up all the hot water and I am only making matters worse with Andrew. I can't get him to calm down or his thumb to stop bleeding-all over everything! My mind races between how much worse it could be and how awful of a mom I am for allowing him to cut himself. I was trying not to just lose it. I needed backup!
     I reluctantly called Jim---I let our son bleed all over our bathroom, I'm pretty sure Carrie Ann has exploded in her car seat and Taylor is freezing--- I need you!
   Daddy to the rescue. As soon as he got there, helped Taylor dry off and then was able to calm Andrew down. I found an adult bandaid and wrapped up the raw thumb and Jim comforted him while I rescued Carrie Ann. Taylor was great! He was so helpful! I was so proud of him. You'd never know he had just lost his lunch just minutes earlier. Whew....  

It's race time again!

     It's beginning to be that time of year again---race time. Jim's a serious runner, whatever that is, all I know is he trains a lot and he's fast. He could care less about placing or getting a medal. He races against the clock, trying to improve his time, something I love about him! It is a plus when he does win races where there's a monetary award though! I love going to his races. Before we had Andrew, I never missed a race. After Andrew's first race, Jim's gone solo to quite a few.

     Tomorrow {Saturday} will be the first race that all five of us will attend together! Yah..I'm nuts! There's just something about showing my support for my husband in all he does, not only in our home, but in public as well. I also think it's pretty cool for Taylor and Andrew to get to cheer for their daddy! It's so sweet! Jim is a super hero to these boys. At the Watermelon Festival in Water Valley last year Taylor had a throwdown screaming tantrum at the start of the race because he couldn't go with his daddy. It was so embarrassing...I couldn't even hear the prayer or the starting gun because he was wailing so loud. Jim keeps asking me over and over if I really want to go. All he can remember is the first race I took Andrew to.

     It was the Bodock Festival in Pontotoc, MS.  It's an evening race and one of our favorites to attend. We hadn't gotten to go to this race in 2 years because we had been in D.C. I was so excited. Not only is there a race, but a festival, vendors and lots of carnival-type food--my favorite!!! I don't know what I was thinking, taking an almost 3 month old out at 7 in the evening in the hot, sticky, muggy Mississippi humidity. Ya'll think I hold it together in public now.... Well, I didn't then.

     The race crowd was bigger than I had remembered...had to be a million people there. {exaggeration, probably a few hundred} Taylor was excited! Andrew was fussy. He was having tummy issues at the time and we hadn't yet figured out what was wrong. I got very very overwhelmed. Among a million people, with a 2-year old and a screaming 3 month old, I got a rare and very, very bad case of clausterphobia! It was awful. I thought everyone was staring {they probably were just admiring my glowing beauty=my sweat}. I thought everyone just kept getting closer and closer. For the first time ever, I wanted Jim to be the first one coming down that hill for more reasons than one. I wanted to get the heck out of that place. I was scared to death. Jim did come across the line first. By the time he found me on the courthouse steps I was doing all I could to not to burst into tears.

     He could see it on my face. "Honey, can we go home, NOW?" I hated leaving all that cotton candy, chicken on a sticks and corndogs behind, but I really couldn't take it anymore. As we walked away from the race, without Jim's prize for first place or getting his official time or having his picture taken for the Pontotoc Progress, I began to sob. Andrew and I cried all the way back to the car.

    So, as I prepare snacks, outfits, and blankets for our race debut tomorrow morning, Jim is remembering that long walk back to the car. He's probably asked me 10 times tonight if I was sure I wanted to go! I'll most likely regret going, but I have help meeting me there.{Melissa--remember her!! She's a life saver!}  It'll be freezing, not a sauna...a plus in my book.
   

Just another ordinary day!

     We began our new Bible study this past Wednesday on the book of Jonah. I am sooo excited about this study because Mrs. Kay is leading us through the book, verse by verse, my favorite way to study Scripture! I think I was more excited Wednesday morning than any other.
     I got us all prepared on Tuesday night, uncertain just how I was going to make it out the door on time without any meltdowns. It was our first time back to Bible study since Carrie Ann had arrived. I packed the diaper bag for Andrew, including both boys' snack bowls and extra snacks. Packed Carrie Ann's bag, bottles, diapers, etc. It was all in vain!
     Jim and I awoke to rattling coming from our bathroom Wednesday at 6 stinkin' a.m....I had only just fallen back asleep from feeding Carrie Ann. The sound is our two other little monkeys hanging out in our bathroom (our bathroom, closet and laundry room are all connected so you can get there from the kitchen). The rattling is them shaking their snack bowls to get their goldfish out. Six a.m.!!!!!!!!!! They usually don't get up until at least 7!!! Awful, just awful! Jim put them back in their rooms. At 7, I got up with the boys and fixed their breakfast, found the trail of goldfish and raisins the boys had made. Turned on a cartoon and sat both boys on the couch while I went for a shower. I do this just about everyday. Well, not the breakfast part, Jim usually does that, but I usually turn on a cartoon for them while I get a shower.
     I'm showering, Jim's shaving. I get out, hear the boys having way too much fun for Mr. Philips, so, in my towel, wet hair, I head to the kitchen, when I arrive, this is what I found:

     Can you see Taylor standing there in the background? He's saying, mommy I didn't do it..Andrew did it. Andrew did it, Andrew did it.

Andrew was soooo proud of himself, he threw his hands up and it rained flour. When he got up to walk away, he acted as if he was skiing...

Upon further examination of this picture, I can see that Andrew didn't in fact act alone...there are big brother sized footprints all through that stuff! If anything, he instigated and cheered him on!

     Can you see why I was really looking forward to Bible study that morning!

     I know what you might be thinking, same thing I would think had I seen this happen to someone else: where were the parents? Well, I was in the shower, Jim was shaving. Mr. Philips 47 inch was babysitting. Might sound more pathetic had we been doing productive, more necessary things like nursing Carrie Ann or using the bathroom, something like that. The pantry, from which this flour was retrieved, had a child safety lock on it...ironic dontcha think!

     I held it together, I didn't cry, at least not then. While I was drying my hair, not once, but twice, Andrew pulled the two Swiffers and dust mop down out of the laudry room, breaking my beloved Swiffer Vac in the process. As I was digging through the boys' dresser drawer for matching socks, I lost it...I am the the one who had the meltdown! I stood there and cried like a baby!

     For lunch, I strapped those kids in the car and made them eat in their car seats...I didn't want to clean anything else up! Then...2 minutes before naptime, I am feeding Carrie Ann. Taylor starts giggling, pointing and squealing. Andrew has taken his pants off, along with his diaper! He's standing in the middle of my blessed dry clean only rug {note to self: never buy one of those again, no matter how good it makes your room look}. DO NOT PEE ON MY RUG!!! He takes off running, I can't unlatch Carrie Ann fast enough.

 Yep, that's exactly what you think it is! Tee Tee!

And again...he was soooo proud of himself...at least he stepped around it before he ran off!

     So now, I have a broken Swiffer Vac and ruined the filter on my vaccuum, because apparently, you aren't supposed to suck up flour with it! Go figure!

I'm 28 and I can't get up...

     Our church had a special at Mother's Day Out today...$12 a family....8:30-1:30...it is usually 3 times that for my two so I jumped on this special and pulled up at 8:31! Sad, I know. I saved the rest of the boys' Christmas shopping and the gifts that I didn't purchase online, for this day...I thought I'd be so quick without them, like superwoman, breezing in and out of stores, getting what I needed in a snap. By 11 a.m. I realized, I'm no faster without the boys than I am 8 months pregnant. I really could have used that stroller to hold me up a few times too! Then I noticed I had to plan my store visits by the ones that had public restrooms, closest to the entrance. Lovely.
     I was in Belk, asked this older gentleman if he could help me pick a tie for Jim's uncle, he looked at me, then at the older lady who walked up behind me, ignored me, and asked her what he could do for her! Age over beauty for sure!
     Way back in the back I crowched down between the turning displays of Fossil wallets...when I realized, I can't get up. REALLY! I couldn't stand back up. I attempted to pull up on the racks, noticing I weigh A LOT more than 20 wallets. I was going to have to ask the elderly lady on the other side of the rack if I could borrow her cane! Should've just knelt and prayed then, because that WAS my only hope! I found a sturdy rack on the other side and as I wobbled out of the store, I was discouraged. This was supposed to be an easy day for me. I actually felt as pitiful as I looked. However, across the street, as I left Walmart with supplies for a playgroup craft project, two gentlemen hooligans obviously didn't think I looked all that bad...as they were whistling at me and asking if my baby was theirs. OH, if I only had a gun, yes, seriously. I had every intention of wanting to call the cops on the creeps and teach them a lesson or two about sexual harrassment, but I was too exhausted and wanted to just get the heck out of there. And btw, the Baconator at Wendy's really is all it's cracked up to be and oh so worth every single calorie!
    1:30 came quick. I missed my two precious boys. And when we got home, I crashed. I had really overdone it. Thank you, Lord, for naptime!

What were we thinking?

     I hope my kids enjoyed their little trip to Memphis, TN, this weekend because it will be their last! Anywhere! The only place we will ever be taking them is Grandma's house! Friday night, the night before Jim's marathon, was a nightmare!
     We had such high expectations, too. Just when you think you have it all thought out and pat yourself on the back for such great planning, it all goes to pots! Friday afternoon started off just fine. We found a great parking spot near the convention center in downtown Memphis, where Jim had to register for the race. From there we set out to find the EconoLodge {This very well could have been our first mistake...only room left in town for this date when I booked back in September. It was only 2 blocks from AutoZone park, the finish line, so I took it} Walking to our room on the 8th floor, we realized I could reach the ceiling...I'm 5 foot 2, on a good day! Then a picture fell off the wall onto Taylor as we walked past it. The room was basic, we had to child proof it really quick! As we began to plan for dinner, we come to find out that the 2 restaurants we wanted to eat at for supper were either non-existent now or were now 21 and older adult-bars. Should have known then....go to Denny's! Jim's plan, like always, lets just start walking and find a place. Exact opposite of me...I mean, I plan out in my head exactly what and where for everything. I followed him. As we walked down the street, I held his arm close and said, "Remember when this weekend was romantic?" He responded, "Yah, before we had kids! ha!" We ended up at Hardrock Cafe'. And this is where the fun it all started. Can I just say, worst meal and service EVER for $31....I mean, who knowingly serves children macaroni and cheese loaded with red pepper powder? Really? They sat us right in front of the stage where the music was vibrating and Madonna was half-naked in a music video on the big screen. I asked if we could sit in a booth...there was a perfectly good empty one over behind the hostess stand...No ma'am..this is all we have. Should've left then. Well my kids just weren't having it. The comments from the waitress, that it wasn't a kid restaurant bout made Jim livid.
     We left with two starving, very unhappy little boys. Their behavior was understandable and mostly our faults. Back to our EconoLodge...Taylor decided at the 3rd floor he had to go potty and by the 8th, he just couldn't hold it any longer. He left a puddle of you know what from the elevator all the way down the hallway, past the picture that had fallen earlier, to our room. Straight into the wheelchair accessible shower- me constantly saying, don't touch anything, it's icky.
      We get both boys some food and pjammed and we try Andrew and Taylor out in the Queen bed together. That lasted all of 2 minutes. I laid down with Andrew and Jim with Taylor. Five minutes later Andrew was out. At about 9ish we let Taylor get back in the bed with him, only to have to constantly scold him for taunting Andrew...while the poor kid was sleeping! We were awakened at 12:42 by Andrew screaming and gasping for air. Taylor had rolled over on top of him and the poor kid was being smothered. We switched back. Andrew then went into a coughing fit for about 20 minutes before we decided he needed some cold air to cure this. I nominated Jim to take him outside. You know my luck in crime-ridden cities! I was not about to take a toddler outside in downtown Memphis at that hour...I'm not stupid. Five minutes or so later, he was back, the coughing was gone. Andrew curled up beside me in the bed for what began 3 hours of tossing, turning, kicking. My back got a good shiatsu massage out of it though. He would sit up, giggle, lean over kiss me, bury his face down into the pillow quickly. Sometimes he'd cry. Around 4 he began to really get fussy. I tried everything, a drink, food, Tylenol. Nothing worked. At 4:30, Taylor was woken up by Andrew. Jim decided it was as good a time as any to get up and eat his breakfast. I buried my head into the pillow and just cried...LORD HELP ME, PLEASE! I let Andrew off the bed and for about 30 minutes he walked around the pitch black dark room sqwalling. I wrapped Taylor up in my arms, told him I loved him and was sorry that he wasn't getting any sleep. We curled up and tried to ignore Andrew. Jim came back and got Andrew calmed down. We think he slept for about an hour and a half. He was awake again at 6:30, and so were we.
     One thing I liked about the EconoLodge is that it had a continental breakfast....Across the parking garage in the hotel's bar and cocktail lounge. All the way down the two flights of stairs I could smell the remnants of the night before. OH MY WORD. I grabbed a handful of bagels and muffins to keep the kids content throughout the race and I got the heck outta there. The race was great! You can read all about it here.
     Great, we get to leave this place, good riddens EconoLodge...I didn't want to get charged for not leaving on time so I went to the front desk to check out. I was 4th in line. There were 3 people behind me. The assistant manager, who was working the desk, kept watching Harry Potter on the TV in the lobby, making the wait even longer. Really! At one point she said, I have never gotten to see how Harry got started out, until today, I finally got to see the beginning. Guess we were interrupting her show. Then when it was my turn, she couldn't get me checked out because it kept asking for a code for a credit card that wasn't mine....PahLEASE lady....Jim popped in...What in the world is going on lady...I've never seen Jim make a scene like he did at that moment...guess I'm rubbing off on him! ha. Come to find out, the people who had checked us in the night before hadn't put in the right expiration date on our card. So, 30 minutes after entering the hotel lobby, I drove away, quickly.
     We headed to Target in Collierville to do some Christmas shopping. Note to self: Never take Jim shopping when you are searching for stocking stuffers for your kids! He didn't like or want anything I picked out. It was either too cheap, useless or we already had something like it at home...or so he thought. I told him I was never bringing him shopping for the boys again! Andrew had something against the cart and threw an absolute fit.
     Then we headed to our traditional Red Robin just down the road about 3 miles! Could anything else go wrong? Yes, the entire power grid the Carriage Crossing shopping mall and all the restaurants were in, was out. We went farther north, towards Winchester....Power out there too....Are you serious? We came back to Tupelo to Cracker Barrel. Kids are hungry, they'll be happy to be out of car. Would probably eat anything. NOPE. For the first time in our lives as parents we had to leave a restaurant because our kids were acting so badly. When we got home, these kids got sanitized in the bathtub and went straight to bed! I was soooo exhausted.  I got in the bed at 7:22 and by 7:30, I was out! I didn't awake again until 10 til 7 Sunday morning!!!!

It's okay, my Dr. Pepper had a lid on it!

     POW! is all I heard and then a milli-sec later my pregnant belly was covered in glass. I thought someone had shot at me, I was driving through West Point after all, and I have nightmares about that place already. (And yes, I am very well aware that I am a drama queen)  My mind went blank, are the boys okay. I glanced back at them, their eyes hadn't seemed to leave the DVD screens, Thank You Lord! I pulled off the road and then into the Walmart parking lot. What do I do...hold it together so I don't scare the boys. Maybe they won't notice! Call Jim....He asks, are you okay, well I don't know hun, haven't thought about that. I don't see any blood, I start sobbing, I can't breathe, OH MY WORD...what just happened. I was trying to let him know I was okay, despite the trembling and sobbing and teeth chattering...I was bewildered. Then the shakes and Jim, tell me what to do? (Made me think of the Barney song that Baby Bop sings: What do I do when I don't know what to do? --Taylor sings it all the time now) I have all my priorities in order and am concerned, did any of that glass get in my Dr. Pepper I had just gotten at Sonic? Looks good. Good. Okay, back to what do I do? After calling everyone I know and my phone dying 3 times in the process, Kasey C calls her Mother-in-law, Judy C., there in West Point and she and another guy fix me all up! 15 Minutes after the fact, Taylor asks, mommy, what was that loud boom? Andrew's floorboard, behind my seat was also covered in glass. I am just so thankful that if it had to happen, then it was my window and not his!

     We made it back to Tupelo, duct tape and all, and once inside I made it to my bedroom, Andrew at my side, I just fell to my knees and cried, sobbing actually. So thankful my boys were okay. All I could say was Thank You Lord. I pulled myself together, didn't really have a choice, Andrew poured his ice water out all over my lap. Jim called to check on us, I was fine, was home, had a good cry and now, I need a nap!

Mom-Up

     His words made me bawl. I had thought the same thing earlier, I thought I was being so selfish when I said it to myseslf, it just sounded different when he said it.  Two young, newlywed couples have recently moved onto our street, we can see one out our front door and the other out our living room window. They come and go, freely it seems. As I came through the foyer this evening, I glanced outside to see the lights on across the street. I wonder what they are up to tonight?  They are a constant reminder of Friday nights when Jim & I were just married, we went to Walmart...that's when we did our grocery shopping. We did everything together. We didn't do anything, but we were always doing nothing together. I can't remember much about those days, except quiet Sunday afternoons and peaceful meals. So this evening, in the midst of the usual dinner table chaos, as I stood at the counter peeling cucumbers, a plate flies, there's a pond of milk on the table and chewed chicken is making its way out of someone's mouth onto my once clean floor. Jim, coming to the rescue with the Swiffer and a towel, says to me, remember what it  was like when it was just us? I tried to hide the stream of tears that began to roll down my cheeks. He heard me sniffle, he wrapped his arms around me. A few moments later he reminded us both that we just have to laugh at some stuff and this supper was one of them!

      I saw a recent FB post of a friend that said "Mom-Up."  I find that very useful for me right now. We think, I'll get it together and grow up when I get married, then we say that once we are married-we'll settle down once we have kids. We think it's an automatic switch that just turns on-click- you're selfless....and you have "mommed-up"  But that is so far from the truth. For someone that is very selfish, I have got a lot of momming up to do. It's a process, an embarrassing one at times. A repititous request I have of the Lord in the mornings before my feet hit the floor is that I would see the shortcomings I have as a mom and that I would have wisdom to correct them-and in the process my kids are not scarred for life as a result of them! I do all the things I said pre-children that I would never do. I forget I even have kids sometimes. I get so wrapped up in myself and what I am doing or the conversation and don't even realize my child has his head stuck in the vending machine- (hypothetically speaking)! I love my little boys more than you could imagine, there's no doubt about that, but there comes a time, when I have to get over myself and mom-up! I don't have the mommy instincts that people like, Michelle Duggar have, or Jim's mom and sisters even. Gentleness, patience and caring words do not come easy for me. I came from a tough love kind of family and that's all I know. I have a lot to learn. A long way to go. I need to work harder at it. My friend and I had a conversation about this same thing this very week. She admitted she didn't have the mommy instinct either. It was great, well not great, but I realized I wasn't alone! We're both on this difficult journey of momming-up together.

     I think it's a good thing that I can't really recall the quietness Jim & I had before our boys arrived in our lives. Maybe it was too quiet.  I just hope and pray that we can be godly examples to our new neighbors and friends. Allowing them to see that there's good and bad, the journey isn't easy at times. But that having a family, chaotic as it may sound through our windows at dinner time, is an absolute joy and one of the greatest blessings in the world.

An old glass of lemonade...for a day when you think you've had a bad day!

Written September 4, 2009, re-posted

     It was just one of those mornings. You know, one of those that you wish you could just crawl up in God's lap and let Him put the hair back in that you have pulled out!
     I have nothing in life to complain about, so I am sharing this with you comically, because I know I am not alone!
     I awoke to Jim asking me to come HELP! Andrew had gagged on his snot and he needed me. I whisked Andrew away to the bathroom for a bath while Jim cleaned up the kitchen. All is great. Jim is out the door, but uh oh...I forgot his lunch. Then it began....I sat at the table to write a quick grocery list, obviously we needed some cough medicine, lysol, and germ-X. We were out of everything...I had to go.     
     I got sick while making this list and while I was in my lavatory, Taylor brought me the kitchen scissors, said he couldn't find his. I sent him back to the kitchen to put all the tops on his markers. He quickly returns naked...he has to go potty. Are you serious? Okay...I'm still sick, you just have to wait. I emerge from my room, finding him in his bathroom and Andrew, the 1 year old, clutching a soaked piece of construciton paper....Where in the world did this come from....Taylor--I don't know. I chunk it. Okay....As I am gathering my coupons from the kitchen table, getting my bag ready, Taylor comes smiling impishly saying, Mommy, I fixed all your coupons....What he should have said was, Mommy, I strew all 100 of your coupons all over your bed, doesn't it look nice? He got sent to time out...but this 3 year old didn't go to the right time out...he went to the living room chair, climbed up the tv cabinet and got Mr. Potato Head and his 42 pieces down and poured them out on the entire floor (This is a not only a no-no because if has 42 stinkin' pieces, but the small parts are too small for Andrew...). As I am cleaning up the coupons, I come to find Taylor's new mess, then I hear Andrew...he's playing in a potty somewhere...ahh...there he is in the front bathroom and what in the world are you sitting in...the bathroom and mudroom floor are covered, with what I am hoping, but I am not naive, is just potty water! Not only that, some inovative kid in my house has taken all the white caps off the bolts that cover your bolts that hold your toilet to the ground and put them in an empty wipe box and Andrew has decided that's the best toy to play with at the time. Taylor couldn't tell me what kind of water it was....Andrew...back to the bath!
     I sop up the floor with paper towels, then get the Swiffer mop with the antibacterial spray. As I am mopping, I smell throw up....OH MY GOODNESS....this is the same mop pad Jim used this morning to clean up throw up!!!! LOVELY!!!!!!!!! Sick Again.....So I just sprayed bleach on everything and mopped it up with a clean pad!
     So then, I'm ready to go...Taylor now in the proper time out chair...in my room...except he has gotten onto the top of my dresser and destroyed a picture frame and crumpled 2 family portraits nearby that were awaiting frames....To the car and not a word.....I even packed my paddle with me today...I was ready for whatever.
     I got in the car and just laughed...This all happened within a span of 20 minutes! I called Jim...I needed him....It was a legitimate reason for him to leave work...unlike the time there was a giant millipede in the garage...Andrew and I are sick and Taylor is well....a 3 year old!....He didn't answer, I think he knew not to!
     As I drive to the grocery store...I realize...Candise...this isn't the way to the grocery store, this is the complete opposite direction....Turning around, I am praying that I just don't lose it in the grocery store and burst into tears in the produce aisle.
     I didn't know whether to cry or to just laugh...at a red light, I just sat in silence and prayed and asked God to help me hold it together.
     God has given me a great sense of humor, I think just so I can laugh at mornings like these and not get so uptight! I hope your day started off a little less eventful as mine!!!

Seriously, Lord?

You know exactly what kind of day you are in for when the last thing daddy says to mommy as he escapes out the door is, "Honey, I pity you!" EXACTLY, I was doomed from the start!  Wednesdays are our busy days, Bible Study and then playgroup. We love both and it's my decision to do them both on the same day, but Wednesday works best for most of the mommies in our group, so there ya go! The chaos ensued, and oh, just because it's naptime now, doesn't mean it's over. Oh no, it usually gets worse around suppertime.

     First, I chose my battle very carefully, Taylor, you can not wear shorts, it is too cold. No it's not too cold, I want to be a football player. You can be a football player in that shirt, but we have to find pants that will match. Twenty minutes and 3 pair of pants later...we're both pleased.
     On to the quiet one now, gotta dress a moving target-the chase is on. Gotcha, now to comb out of your hair all that applesauce that your daddy thought you could feed yourself. Maybe we'll just skip socks for today! Takes 10 minutes to corale them both into the car and shoe them. And we're off! I turn up the music to drown out the questions...oh the questions, they never stop!
     As much talking that goes on in our Bible Study group, you'd be surprised to know it's quieter than my car and house! All's good at church til we get back to the car, a shove from one starts the dominoes. The little one wanted one of the 3 trains the older one had in a bucket. The older one was having none of it, shoved the little one. Just can't have that-I took the bucket away---then came the meltdown/tantrum that some of you ladies witnessed--thanks for the help by the way-LOL! So glad our circus could entertain you today!  After a spanking, short timeout on the step rails of the car and a reciting of Ephesians 6:1, we were on the road again-to the mall-GERONIMO!
     Lunch itself was a battle, I am completely worn out by now and it's only 11:45. I couldn't wait to get to the playground, I can sit and the boys will play with their friends! WooHoo...Errr..Not So Much! Taylor's friends Cael and Colby were there...perfect tackling buddies-yep tackling. We have 3 rules at the playground- No Hitting, No Tackling and Be Nice. But he was having fun and honestly, I was just too tired to chase him around.  Andrew, now he was plumb wore out and kept running away from the playground so I never actually got to sit much at all.
     Then to B &BW for soap, don't even get me started on that one. We make it to the car, but not before a certain someone stood up in the back of the stroller toppling the whole thing over sending a sippy cup across the parking lot! Forget the cup-GET IN THE CAR. Seriously, Lord? Really?
     Don't pity me, I do this to myself. I could choose to stay home and avoid the madness, but I'd go absolutely nuts! I'm not a home-body like Jim. I am very task oriented, gotta always be doing something.
     We are out of toilet paper at home. Completely out, can't wait for daddy, gotta get it ourselves, I'm thinking-great, can't get much worse! If I strap them both into the cart it'll be smooth sailing. Right! As Taylor is tearing off bananas and trying to eat them on the cake aisle a sweet and well-intentioned elderly couple stop by our cart and say, "You are right in the middle of the very best part!" Like I said, well-intentioned! They didn't see any other aisles! By the time we make it to the car all the frozen bags of vegetables have holes in them, a banana is missing and I can just feel the veins running down my shins, Lord help me!
     Last stop, the bank, harmless right! Yah, that's what I thought too! As I'm taking care of business with the lady behind the window,  Taylor is dangling the wires from the DVD player out of his window trying to lasso the vaccuum tube next to us!!!!!!!!!  And the teller actually thinks he needs a dum-dum sucker! Here it comes-OH MY WORD and it's only 2:30 in the afternoon.
     I know, he's only 3, and a boy, but can I be selfish for a minute? I'm only 28-, a girl, and I feel like I'm 60, need some support hose and a pack of Depends! Seriously, Lord? Again, don't pity me-I choose to stay home with my precious boys. I am exactly where He wants me at this very moment. Some days are more chaotic than others, but  I'd rather have this life and all its madness any day than only getting a few hours a day with these little guys. It's a blessing I get to do what I do and I take great joy in it.