CUTIES

Well it's official we make them CUTE!

The hilarity of potty training

Potty Training is an interesting parental right of passage. As an adult you have condition yourself to not speak of the things that occur in the bathroom as it is consider in poor taste. Potty mouth is a common referral for someone who uses bad language so it becomes quite a change of pace to eat, sleep and breathe pee and poop.

EJ has always been a bit ahead of the curve. He is the typical first born with quite the independent streak that has spent the majority of his life in cloth diapers. I am pretty sure the cloth not only helped greatly with rash issues but also taught him early on what it felt like to be wet. Needless to say we hit 18 months and he started show interest in the potty. After some research I decided that for a boy he was most likely a bit young to head down that road but I went ahead and got a potty and basically just let it hang out in the bathroom.

When he wanted we let him sit on it we let him and thus began the constant dialogue of bathroom talk. Around 23 months he went full force into training. I totally let him take the lead and we were there for pee almost immediately. I knew that if I just pulled the pull-ups and left him big boy under ware we get there in a few days. My kid is smart and would ask for a pull-up to poop. But, with Jack arriving in less than a month I decided to wait. The likelihood of a regression was high and who needs that stress with a newborn, not me that is for sure.  

He did just as I expected and totally regressed about a week before Jack entered the world and I just left it. I have enough to deal with, we will revisit this fall. Well EJ had other plans and woke up one day this week and refused his pull-ups only wants his Cars under ware which he wears BACKWARDS so he can see the car. So here I am in the throws of potty training with a newborn. God sure does have a sense of humor. 

And this my friends was the result of timeout in his room for acting out while I was nursing Jack... 

You guessed it... that is poop everywhere. Thank goodness for hard wood floors. If that I had been carpet I might have had a meltdown.

He was pretty happy with the result, a mid-day bath. Its a good thing this kid is so darn cute.
Wish us luck... Potty or Bust!

The Boy

Lately, this blog seems to be all about Momma being pregnant and little Jack's impending arrival. While the new baby will surely bless this family in ways we can not even fathom we still have our first born. And boy is he growing up fast. Currently, we are potty training. Can you believe it? 22 months ago today I was at the hospital gearing up for him to join our family and today we talk, run, play and, well, potty train.

The last few weeks have been beautiful in the South. Yes, there have been some horrid storms and major destruction but the days that are pretty have been nothing short of beautiful. We have played outside for hours, headed to a strawberry patch to pick our own fresh berries and spent a wonderful family filled weekend in Memphis with family on the farm.

EJ is a farm boy, he loves not only the fire engine bed my mother has for him but the dirt, dogs, toys, tractors, and all other farm things. He is the happiest child in the world while there and melts down almost every time he is forced to the car to leave. I fully expect a day to come where he begs me to send him to his grandparents. And I am sure his grandparents will eagerly agree. He is truly the apple of both of their eyes.

Below is quite the picture explosion of the last few weeks.

Halloween Photo Playdate

EJ and I are members of a wonderful playgroup here in Atlanta. One of my favorite aspects of the group is, of course, hosting my own play dates. Craig and I love to entertain and with my past life in the event industry I have to put my best foot forward. Not to mention I love doing it. 

It was supposed to be an afternoon in the back yard with all the kids decked out in their Halloween gear for a photo op and some playtime. As fate would have it Atlanta got hit with some horrid storms that day so I moved the play date inside. Space was a bit more limited, but we did the best with had to work with and I know EJ had a blast. 

We snacked on pumpkin muffins, fruit, and pumpkin dip with ginger snaps. The kids played with EJ's ball pit and millions of toys and the moms were able to visit. 

Here we have a homemade cupcake tower. Yes that is cans of soup with scrap booking paper and cake plates with scrap booking border glued to it. Affordable and easy. I made the muffin toppers with the same paper and border. Easy, easy and very cute if I do say so myself. 

Homemade sign. An hour with some glue, paint and paper. A nice quiet nap activity. If you want instructions on how to make your own let me know. 

 Photo Op set with a black sheet tacked to the wall and some homemade poms. I moved our planters from outside and Voila cute photos. My kid wasn't interested in posing so my pictures leave a bit to be desired but there were some cute ones of the other less squirmy kids.

Pumpkin Patch

The day begun with a slight chill in the air and seemed to be the first taste of fall. Ready to embrace this new season we made plans to head to the country and take EJ to a pumpkin patch. We dressed in anticipation of a cool day and lots of pictures. By the time we arrived at Southern Belle Farm the chill had faded to humidity but even in the heat we had a wonderful day. Craig put it perfectly when he said "That day was a great day" and a great day it was.

Morning Cereal

Its been 16 months. 16 months today, I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to shower and started the processes of meeting my little man. By 10am my water had broken and at 3:05pm he flew into this world. Today, I am in awe of the difference a few months makes.

I awoke as I do many mornings to the pitter patter of feet playing and a call for "Momma". As I open the door little fingers appear from behind and he stands up to be hugged. We laugh most mornings and he runs down the hall to pear into Daddy still tucked into bed. Food is first on the agenda and as aways bananas are the favorite. We laugh, we play and we send Dad to work.

On days like today, we relish in being lazy. As I sat down with a bowl of cereal EJ appeared at my feet and crawled into my lap. And this morning while Elmo bounced across the screen we shared. One bit for me, one bit for him. Every time I tried to sneak a second bite "No Momma mine" exploded from his mouth. When the last bit had been taken, he grabbed my face and planted slobbery kiss right on my lips and smiled.

Its only been 16 months but what an amazing 16 months it has been. Happy Birthday my love, you have no idea how much you have changed your momma and daddy's lives.

The Wind Blown Look

Nothing like a morning boat ride to dry your hair in style.

Ouch

My poor little man is cutting 2 molars at once. We have a pacifier that has ridges on it and he spends all day rubbing it across his gums. It really is heartbreaking to watch him drool and chew on anything he can get his hand on to. Yesterday, I looked over and EJ had pulled a bookend off our book case and was chewing on it. Yes, the wooden bookend seemed to feel awesome on his hurting gums.

I have been trying to help him as much as I can with Infant Motrin and a number of frozen goodies. His favorite so far has been frozen blueberries. He ate almost a whole bag yesterday. As you can see from the pic, he needed a bath after he was done and lets just say the poo has been... well interesting.

I also have been making use of my frozen baby food that he will not eat anymore. Throw it into a mesh feeder and voila tasty, healthy teething toy. Today, I am letting him enjoy some frozen watermelon. I have heard the high water content of watermelon makes it a great frozen treat for teething.

What are your tried and true tricks? How do you keep the family sane and the pain at bay when the teething monster strikes?

All Smiles Here

My little guy is one resistant little boy. After days of whining, drooling, wanting nothing more than to cuddle and just all around unhappy, his fever broke.

Saturday we woke up to this...

A very happy and energetic little boy!

And he rest of the weekend he was back to his old self. 

Loving his food.

 

Playing outside.

 

And back to running. Lots and lots of running. 

The Plague

Today I am running on empty. I am tired, irritable and emotional. I cried while cooking breakfast and honestly did not even react when my kid pulled my hair. Its been one of those weeks.

EJ is sick for the first time ever. And really that is crazy. He is 14 1/2 months old. But, beside a few minor colds and an ear infection that we did not know he had, he has been perfectly healthy. And no, I am not a germ freak at.all. Y'all my kid eats dirt. I have no choice, get over germs or lose my mind.

See DIRT all around his mouth.

Until this week when he started running 102+ fevers. I get its a virus, it was bound to happen. But man am I tired. Emotional drained from worrying. Physically drained from a serious lack of sleep.

Welcome to Motherhood! I am sure the day that he wakes up in the middle of the night yakking everywhere and in my dazed state I find myself cleaning vom off the floor will be worse. But, for today, its the worst we have had and Momma is tired.

Sick or not, the kid is pretty darn adorable. Don't you think?

SOO BIG!

Overnight EJ morphed from a baby boy to a little boy. There is no doubt that he is all boy either. He is covered in bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes. I honestly don't know where half of them come from because he is one tough cookie. A scream only occurs if he knows I am watching or if it REALLY hurts.

The weather has cooled just enough that we can comfortably play outside again in the afternoons. And like most little boys, he is happiest when he is exploring the world. Yesterday, I grabbed the camera and snapped away as he was hanging out in our backyard.

So annoyed that focus is on the leaves.

Finally figured how to climb up the slide.

The blower provided quite a bit of fun.

This kid kills me, smiling at his reflection in the window.

Telling me all about something, I wish I knew what he was saying. It was very important.

Finally decided to just chill for a few minutes. EJ agrees this weather is amazing.

Dancing in the Rain

This is one amazing woman, I dare you to read her blog

 Have you stopped and looked at life through your child's eyes? Really paused and tried to see the world the way they do? I try really hard to pause and soak in the wonder of playing in the rain or the first taste of chocolate milk. But, the business of life robs me of this act more than I would like to admit.

Our to-do list couldn't be longer and the reality that our family's fall seems to be busier than our summer this year doesn't help. I seem to be drowning in world of boxes, touch-up painting and cleaning out.  Instead of seeing the joy in my son's eyes as he climbs in out of a big box or dumping my freshly folded laundry on the floor I find myself boiling over with annoyance. Selling a house is hard work but needed. Is it imperative that we sell it? Absolutely not. Will it make our lives easier to move out to the suburbs? Certainly. We are just throwing our hat in the ring and seeing what happens but I am overachiever. If I am going to do something then I put 110% effort into and do it right.

I broke down this week and ugly cried for hours... like snotty, stressed ball of mess. Along with getting our house sell ready, I also decided to move the baby boy to a toddler bed. Mr. Monkey Man climbs right out of his crib with zero effort and does what he wants. Banging his head on our hard wood floor haunted me so onto the toddler bed we went and it was awesome... for about 2 weeks. He slept better than he has slept in months. And then a switch flipped and refused to stay in bed would trash his room, play and scream for hours. Well the screaming has about sent me to a mental institution.

Last night, I screamed "uncle" and put the crib back together in hopes of resetting that switch. He has at least forgotten how to climb out of the crib for now. My plan is that he will learn to sleep again, recover from the sheer exhaustion of many sleepless nights and then we will retry the toddler bed. Hopefully with more success this time. The house is getting there and I even got the hubs to agree to spend all weekend helping me get this house in ship shape. We are getting there slowly but surely and I am just excited to see the light at the end of this tunnel.

This Thursday, I am thankful for loving supportive families. One that offers to drive hours to take a child for a few nights so that you can breathe and get some sleep even if they know I will not take them up on it. A husband who tries to see life from my perspective even if he doesn't really get it. A perfectly beautiful son whose zest for life is intoxicating. Whether it be dancing in the rain, eating his Great Grandma's homemade fried chicken or telling me who's really boss when it comes to bedtime, I am so thankful for his energy for life even if it leaves me exhausted.

So this week, vow to be a cliche. Stop and smell the roses or dance in the rain. It is those little wonders that can turn an ordinary day extraordinary.

Dancing in the Rain in his brand new rain coat.

No, you may not take my chicken bone, its way too yummy!

I want to be just like my Daddy!

Yes, I am a Monkey... that's all.

Wordless Wednesday

Who needs walking when you can RUN...