The Joys of Poop

If you have small kids like I do, then you probably understand the joys of poop.  You understand that when your fifteen month old walks up to you as your sitting in the family room blogging on your computer and throws a piece of poop fresh from his backside at your face and smiles, that this is just the beginning of your problems.  And, you would think, as a mom of three small boys I would understand that you NEVER leave a 15 month old alone without a diaper on for more than about 15 seconds.  But of course you'd be wrong.

So that poop at my face?  Yep, you guessed it.  I traced it back to a small art project in the kitchen where he had walked through it and sat in it.  It was, or course, trailed through the kitchen and into the pantry.  It was all over his legs, his rear end, and his arms.  Say it with me, EWWWW.

As I proceeded to give him an impromptu bath in the kitchen sink, I decided I needed to start counting down the days until the last child is officially potty trained.  But then again, with three boys, is that even possible?  If you have multiple boys you know what I mean.  They may not be going in their pants anymore, but that doesn't mean they're not missing aim; sometimes quite a bit I must add.  I've cleaned  pee off the surrounding floor, the shower curtain next to the toilet, the blinds and the windows.  Sometimes I wonder how the heck they get it where they do.

We finally broke down and invested in some targets for the kids toilets and I'm happy to report that they are working.  The pee seems to have cleared the windows, blinds and curtains for now.  All though I still occasionally find a puddle on the floor.

So if you have boys, I'd love to know your thoughts on ways to contain their you know what to the you know where.

I'm late! I'm late! For a very Important Date!

Well, with only six days left in the school year, I finally did it.  I forgot to set my alarm clock and woke up only 5 minutes before Nicholas was supposed to leave for school.  Yikes!  Have you ever done that before?  There's that first minute where you wake up and think, "man, do I feel great this morning, I wonder what I did different?"  And then there's the realization like a brick over the head; that "OH CRAP, I slept in!"

I'm running down the hall like a woman possessed telling Nick we have to get dressed NOW.  And he just comes down the ladder and says, "Mom, it's ok.  I laid out my clothes the night before and I'll take my breakfast in the car (we drive him instead of him taking the bus, incidentally so that Mommy can have an extra half hour sleep.  Apparently she needs more). 

That boy is wise beyond his years.  Just being around his calm presence this morning calmed me and  believe it or not, he was dressed and out the door in 10 minutes with lunch in hand (and breakfast as well).

Thank goodness there's only five more days of waking up.  If there's one thing to look forward to with summer break, it's not having to set the dreaded alarm.

He's Stopping Nursing

So Andrew has initiated ending our nursing relationship.  He's started to kick and scream at me and sit up when I try to nurse him in the morning.  We've only been nursing  twice a day (in the morning and before bed )for the past month or two so I knew that we were winding down regardless in the next couple weeks, but it's still difficult when it happens.  This is my third and most likely final child and it just sort of feels like the end of an era.  He'll be 15 months on Thursday so regardless, we've had a good run.

He's also full on walking now.  It's so cute watch him walk around the house like a man who's had one too many vodka martinis.  It's hard for me to write down the point where he actually "walked" for the first time.  I feel like it's been more of a process that's gone on the past over the course of the past couple months.  He still crawls about 1/3 of the time, but it's looking like my baby won't be around much longer; the toddler is here to stay.  

He's also started saying words and it's so much fun to listen to him say them.  His favorite right now is "car".  He says it for everything.  Although when he says it, it sounds a bit more like a southie from Boston.  More like a "Ca" with the silent r.  He also says this and points quite a bit which can be entertaining.  

Nicholas turned six this past Friday and we'll be having his Star Wars party this Saturday.  I think that it should be a pretty fun time and there will even be a visit from Darth Vader!  I'll post up some pictures of that next week once we get through the whole thing.

Nap Time

Here is a picture of Andrew taken at the Walmart while I was buying a gift for a friend of Alex for his birthday party tomorrow.  Do you think it might be nap time? :)

 

Big Life Moments

So we've had a couple big life moments these past few days.  Nicholas lost not one, not two, not three, but FOUR teeth this past week.  He looks like a completely different child with all those spaces in his mouth!  I need to get a picture of it for posterity and post it up on the blog. 

And Andrew took his first steps today.  Not a full on walk yet, but he did three full steps this evening before bed.  I can't believe how fast it's happening!  Nicholas and Alex were both much later; 16 and 17 months.  I have to say though, that I am ready.  I will miss having a baby, but at the same time he's been much more "attached" and I think that walking will help a bit with the independence.

Wednesday we leave for camping.  I'm really excited for it!  I think it should be a really good time.  We are camping at the beach and we will get to visit Brook Green Gardens which I've been wanting to visit since we moved to the East Coast.

Finally, Nicholas is turning six next month - Six!!  I can't believe it.  I feel like he was just a baby the last time I looked.  It's amazing how fast the time goes.  He wants a Lego Star Wars party this year so I need to get on the ball with planning.  Off to research cakes and games!

Andrew gets Baptized

We finally, FINALLY, got Andrew baptized.  It went pretty smoothly, aside from forgetting the donation envelope at home (Typical for us). We still haven't turned it in, but plan to soon.  Of course, our child was the oldest at the baptism.  We joked that he could have practically walked to the baptismal font on his own.  It's all good though.  He's free from original sin and can move forward now.  I feel like the weight's been lifted from us as well.  Now if we can only get the will updated we'll be doing good.  Here are a few shots from the day:

I'm not sure at what point I developed such an amazing double chin.  Perhaps I should lay off the homemade chocolate chip cookies a bit.  HA.

New Beginnings

Eight weeks ago I began a journey at my church called MOMs and last night was the culmination of that time.  What a great group of ladies and a fabulous experience this was!  If I felt like I was different from everyone here in Charlotte, I don't anymore.  The women in my group were amazing and I feel like I will make some lasting friendships from it.  It also helped me to really get in better touch with myself and how I project myself to others.  I only wish I could take it a second time.  I can always moderate a new group, but I'll admit I'm a bit nervous about that still, so we shall see.  I challenge anyone that's not feeling connected to their church or themselves to get more involved with some of the groups and events their church sponsors.  I promise not only will it bring you closer to God, but it will also help bring you closer to yourself and others around you.  It definitely made a big church seem a little bit smaller to me.