Mommy Complex

Both my kiddos have decided to develop a serious mommy complex. It's not the worst thing in the world. After all, it's nice knowing that they love me so much. But these poor kiddos are completely incapable of leaving my sight for even the tiniest of moments without going into core meltdown. Abby I can totally understand. She is not even six months old, so naturally wanting mommy all of the time comes second nature to her. Though I think it is a bit extreme at times seeing as how I can't leave her with anyone for more than five minutes. Alex, on the other hand, has developed the worst case of mommy complex I've seen thus far. I can't leave the house without him going nutty. Forget leaving the house...I can't even pee in peace. Now that he has learned to string words together, he is talking more and so he tells me what he wants me to do. Which the more common phrases I hear from him are, "Hang phone please." This he says when I am on the phone. He hates me talking on the phone because I'm not devoting all attention to him. The next phrase is, "Abby down. Hold me please mommy." With this, he puts toys on the ground for Abby in hopes that I will place her on the ground and proceed to hold him instead of her. And finally, "Sit please mommy." I gotta give him credit. At least he is polite about his mommy complex. He almost never forgets to ask please. With that little phrase his is telling me to sit by his bed while he goes to sleep. But I think if Abby were able to spout her feeling into words, she would probably be saying all these things as well. I've heard that the mommy complex will pass eventually, but I'm not so sure I see a light a light at the end quite yet. For now I'm chained to two kids. In two weeks is Alex's birthday party and we are going to have a few kids around to entertain him, so I'm hoping he will give me a small breather then. I wonder what age the daddy complex begins.

The Awkward Inbetweenies

I decided yesterday to drop Alex off with my friend, aka Aunt Mandy, so that I could go do my weekly shopping with one less monkey on my back. Well, long story short...that didn't go over so well. Apparently this new 'mommy phase' that he is going through only leads to disaster if I leave him with anyone. I was only half done with my errands and got a call from Mandy. She didn't have to say anything. I could hear him hyperventilating in the background. So I headed back without my groceries and rescued him from his miniature disaster. One Wal-mart run and no food later, I decided to head back into town this morning and get the food we so desperately needed. (Enter disaster #2 here)
Apparently, I have two kiddos that have entered what I am affectionately referring to as the 'awkward inbetweenies.' They are both at a stage in thier lives where they are somewhere inbetween where they need to be to make my life easier. Alex is in the stage where he is too big to be riding in the shopping cart but still too small to walk by my side without running insanely up and down the store aisles leaving a wake of unpurchased items dangling dangerously from the shelves. Abby is too big to ride in the carseat without screaming and too small to sit in the shopping cart. And guess what handy-dandy item I forgot at home? My front-pack to carry her in. Whoops...what a mistake. So Alex ran down the aisles at warp speed while Abby sat in her car seat screaming all the while. One whirlwind trip and several dirty looks later, and I was back in the safety of our home. Too bad stores can't baby/toddler proof thier shelves. Ugh...I SO do not want to do that again. Now I have two peacefully sleeping monkeys and five more minutes of me-time to kill. So I am putting up on the side bar of the blog, Alex's birthday wish list. Feel free to be creative though if you want to get him a gift. He likes Elmo, Choo-choo trains, dogs, cats, books, pretend playing, and art stuff like markers, playdough, crayons and colored pencils so feel free to use your imagination if you don't want to stick to our little list. I can't believe in a few mere weeks i'm going to have a two year old. Where has the time gone?

It's Worth the Insanity

Things around here have been a bit on the insane side lately. I am coming to terms with this whole 'terrible-twos' thing. It really is crazy at times. I am sure that I don't have it nearly as hard as parents of more than two kids (I'm talkin about you Heather :-), but it ain't easy! Alex is a pistol. Actually he is more like a pair of pistols. I think that he has more energy than he knows what to do with at times. He reached is 'beyond the crib' stage this week. He now climbs out of it within mere moments of being put in it so today I came to the harsh realization that our crib days with this little monkey are in the past. (Pardon me while I take a moment to muffle a shedded tear.) Of course he doesn't want to stay in his bed either, so let the great night-night battles begin. We are also in the beginning stages of possible potty training. We purchased Elmo's Potty Time in hopes of it sparking an interest in his already busy mind. It worked...kind of. He now runs amoc through the house screaming "pee pee" and "poo poo". Let me just say on a side note, that watching a furry red monster muppet talk about pooping on the toilet to be, shall we say, a bit on the disturbing side. Elmo talks about poo-pooing in the potty while Grover sings about accidents happening and various other muppets explain thier adventures in buying underwear. Wierd to say the least. No crib, potty training, and levels of energy that I didn't believed existed. *sigh* And I was told tonight that this is just the begining.

Abby has been just as crazy though. She is starting her adventure in mobility. She was moving everywhere in the front room by means of rolling and scooting backwards. Today she found out that if she gets her knees up under her, then she can scoot forward. So she is now just a small 'step' away from crawling. I give her a few weeks and I think she might be crawling. She sits up on her own now for limited periods of time. I can almost leave her unattended for a minute, but I still worry that Alex will bowl her over if I do. She has found her voice as well. So when Alex screams, she mimics him almost identically. It's cute. Those two monkeys just feed off of each others craziness. She is always happier when her big brother is near by. She didn't even seem phased by him when he decided to crawl into her crib, sit on her back, jump up and down while playing 'drums' on her head and singing a song. What a trooper she is!

So here we are. Almost two with Alex and I believe we have just barely tapped into his craziness. But then he goes and does the most adorable things, like using a flashlight as a microphone and singing his ABC's. Or saying 'Hold me mommy." And even though Abby is still spitting up with the best of them and desperately needing mommy all of the time, she goes and does something that melts my heart. She lays her little head down on my chest and sucks her thumb while smiling up randomly into my eyes. So I said it in the title of this blog and I'll say it again. It's all worth the insanity.

Happy Birthday!

The last few months of the year in our family seems to be birthday after birthday and so that time of year has come. Yesterday was Josh's birthday. And one of the gifts we (we meaning me and the kids) got him was for Alex to tell daddy 'Happy Birthday'. So I worked with him all day. And when the time came, he walked up to Josh and said it was a big, proud smile on his face. Personally, I think his biggest motivation was the birthday brownies he helped me to make earlier in the day. I told him that after we sung happy birthday to daddy, that we would eat the brownies. It was adorable though. I got my inspiration for this gift from my brother-in-law, Ben. I remember hearing those precious words from my niece, Lauren, for the first time a few years back. If I remember right, Ben spent part of the day getting her to say it so she could in turn say it to me. It melted my heart on the spot.
So now we will say one more happy birthday for the month. Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. so...Happy Birthday Cindy! Actually, it could also be Happy Birthday Grandma! We hope you have a great one!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

You've got a little something on your...

...shirt, face, arms, legs, hair, nose....need I go on? As you can see from this little photo, meal time is far from a clean experience. Spaghetti sauce in the yogurt (yes it is soy yogurt), toast in the peas, spaghetti in the diaper and everything on the table. So I ask you; does it ever get easier? From what I can tell you right now, the answer is plainly no. You start out with breastfeeding and from my kids experiences with that, the milk is always all over them from spit up or a really strong milk letdown. Then they move on to cereal and baby food. Even though you are the one spoon feeding it into their little mouths, they still can't manage to keep it in there. It gets everywhere and sometimes in places I didn't know baby food could reach. Then you move on and let them try the spoon themselves and they get the food everywhere except their mouths. Cute...yes. For a mere moment. Now we have approached the toddler eating experience. Alex is nearing two years old and eating is still more often than not, an extreme mess. He knows how to use the fork and spoon. He just prefers his fingers and as a delightful result we have stained carpet and clothes and a very good reason to bathe him regularly.


And then there is the 'clean' one. Miss Abby. She just hangs out in her doorway bouncer while Alex demolishes his dinner. Other than the excessive spit up issues she has, she stays relatively clean. But month six is upon us and with that comes baby food. Soon there won't be a clean kid in the house. I wonder. Do they make full body bibs?

Hello Terrible Twos

Goodbye to the sweet-to-everyone baby boy. It's official. Alex has hit his terrible twos. He is still my sweetie, but boy howdy! When that kid has a tantrum, he has a TANTRUM! It's not just the tantrums though. It's a new thing I like to call the 'mine syndrome'. Everything that any other kid has is really his. Not theirs. No sharing. Period. My friend came over with her one year old (Wesley) and as soon as he would pick something up to play with it, Alex would run over and grab it away. And not just toys, mind you. Paper, balloons, food...shoot, I'm sure if Wesley had cat poop in his hand, Alex would feel compelled to snatch it away without a second thought. And as soon as I tell him to give it back and try to pry the object out of his kung-fu grip, he proceeds to throw himself on the floor in a fit of rage. Lovely, isn't it? Poor Abby can't hold on to anything for more than a split second before her godzilla-like brother comes stomping over to take it away. I worry she will grow up with a complex. If this little monkey doesn't get his way with food, drink, toys, bath, playtime, etc...then the hulk-side of Alex rears it's ugly head. I'm just waiting for the moment when he turns green and grows two feet taller. But after his brief moment of devastation, he turns back into the precious, sweet, always helpful little boy I cherish so much. Don't get me wrong, I cherish him even at his worst moments of anger. But he sure does know how to push my buttons sometimes. And punishment? yeah...right. NOTHING works with this kid. Timeout you say? no...not effective. Spanking? pardon me while I laugh...because he thinks it's hilarious to get a swat on the bottom. And no, I'm not one of those parents who spanks for everything. It's only reserved for willful defiance and endangering someone or himself. But it never works so I don't really do it. I don't think he understands punishment right now.
So let the terrible twos come. I'm going to have one of those little toddlers that the terrible twos were named after. This is gonna be a bumpy ride.

Don't let that innocent smile fool you. He's just plotting his next disaster.

And now to Abby. Miss thing has decided that she doesn't want to stay in one place all the time. She now rolls to her destination. She also scoots backwards as far as she can go until she becomes wedged between the couches or other obstacles. It's funny to leave the room for a minute and come back to find her in random places. She is all over her crib at night and sometimes wakes up as mad as a hornet because she has rolled or scooted her way into a position she can't wiggle her way out of. I tell ya, between my 5 month old and my almost 2 year old, being a mother has got to be the most interesting and fascinating thing I've ever done in my life. I might change my mind on that when the teenage years hit though.

Can we say Adorable? Look at that sweet face!

The Great Escape

Apparently the time is quickly approaching us to the permanent toddler bed change over. We've of course been battling the crib to bed switch for quite some time now. Just when we think Alex is ready for the permanent switch...he decides that he won't sleep unless he is cozy in his crib. It's frustrating. But last night when I heard a lot of weird noises coming from his room, I took a peek in and this is what I saw...

The Great Escape!

He has finally figured out that he is not entirely confined to his crib if he so chooses. Fantastic. (please note extreme sarcasm) Of course I grabbed my camera and caught him in the act. Much like a raccoon in a trash can, the flash from the camera startled him, so he decided to go back in his crib. But I truly do believe that had I not took his picture, he would have made a break for it. Now what am I supposed to do with the little monkey? The world is his playground right now. I just have no idea how to keep him in bed now. Negotiating? no....that doesn't work. Have you ever tried negotiating with a two year old?? I used to use the crib as a 'threat' (for lack of a better word). I would say if he gets out of bed, he would have to sleep in his crib. Obviously if he can get out of that too, then the threat has become idle. Ahh...back to square one....again. Pardon me while I go smack myself in the head now.

Hay Haulin' Time

Ahh...Labor Day weekend. A time to kick back, relax, and BBQ. Right? Generally that would be true, but tis the season for hay hauling. If you are unfamiliar with that term, it can roughly be translated as 'an incredibly long, hot weekend of blood, sweat, and tears.' The blood and sweat were mine and the tears were Abby's. Let me start at the beginning. When the weather is right, and the prairie grass is tall enough, it is time to cut it down and bale it up. That time was this past weekend. My aunt owns a lot of pasture and every year about this time, she cuts it down and puts it in bales so we can store it in my parents barn for winter feeding. I have three old cows that my parents are keeping for me until I can get land of my own. They are my beautiful ladies. I'll try to post some pictures of them sometime. Anyhow, on Sunday i dropped Abby off with my friend Mandy and hoped for her to not cry the entire time I was gone. You see, I helped get her 150 bales into their barn so I figured the trade was fair. I do the haying, and she does the babysitting. :-) Much to Mandy's disappointment, Abby was not agreeable with the leaving of Mommy. She screamed for at least 1 1/2 hours straight right after I left. Apparently she is not willing to take a bottle from anyone...including me. Then we got to go and get the last 250 bales of hay to put in my parents barn. It was a long hard weekend, but it's done. The bales weigh about 60 pounds each and the weather was nice and hot during the day. So I figure after throwing around that much weight, in that kind of heat, I deserve a nice break. Ten minutes oughta do it.
Of course, on Saturday we got to go to the Drive-In movie theater. It was so much fun. It was a nice family outing. We got to see three movies for a carload price of $10.00. We saw Star Wars: Clone Wars, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Batman: The Dark Knight. Batman was by far the best of the three but Star Wars was fun too. Journey was okay. Alex had fun too. He got to walk around the place and see a lot of kids playing around. He got his fill of junk food and beverages and got to sleep in a make-shift bed in the van backseat. Abby slept in a makeshift bed on the floor and Josh and I watched the movies. It was just like old times...only there were four of us instead of two. My parents went too and we all crawled into bed at 4:00 in the morning. I hope to go again next year.

And seeing as how I haven't blogged in a week, here are some picture updates of the crazy monkeys.Abby is enjoying her doorway bouncer now.

Alex decided he wanted to be a Michelangelo on our wall.

Alex got to help Josh wash his work van...

...and he had a blast doing it.

And Abby has learned to sit on her own for brief periods.