Wednesday, September 30, 2009
So Behind
A little of what's been going on: Ron was away for a few days at the beginning of the week in search of work and shelter for our family. That left me home with the three babes to fend for ourselves. I managed ok, and the only difficult time was the dreaded dinner/bedtime hour. Joey watched A LOT of Blues Clues on these two days and we were all glad when Daddy was home.
Yesterday I spent the day running around like crazy: to the grocery store, the mall, the tailor, etc. etc. It was a bit of a trial for Olivia in that she was without me for several hours. Still refused the bottle but she survived! Today is moving day. Not for me, for my mom. Such a hard, sad day, and my world feels a bit upside down now that this is actually happening. I know that there are good things ahead of us with all of these changes, but today I just feel sad. I can't even begin to imagine how I will feel in a month when it is our turn to move. Tonight we'll have our last neighborhood-family dinner, followed by a trip to Kohls for various last-minute items that I'll need for this weekend.
This weekend is the BIG DAY. My very good friend Kate is set to be married, and I'm a bridesmaid! So the next three days will be filled with errands, preparations, a secret project that I'm working on, and a couple of appointments to beautify myself. Oh yeah, and I still have 3 young children to continue caring for while doing all of that.
So, I apologize for being behind in my blogging. Don't lose faith in me though. I'll be back soon and I have 2 *awesome* giveaways in the works!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Rejuvinated
So off we went. We left the house with a spring in our step and a flutter in our hearts. We were free. Free. Free. Free. In fact I had the urge to roll down the windows of the minivan as it cruised the neighborhood streets and shout, "Free at last, Free at last, God Almighty I'm free at last!" I did not actually do this, but believe you me, I wanted to.
We held hands as we walked to the restaurant. We rejoiced in the fact that there was a 20-30 minute wait, as that gave us time to peruse books in the nearby bookstore. At said bookstore we actually read the inside flaps to each other. Without interruption. We didn't have to buy anything that one of our children ripped, ate, or spit up on either. When our buzzer buzzed we again walked hand in hand back to the restaurant where we were handed two menus. We each read the whole menu. We contemplated what to order. We asked the waiter for MORE TIME! It was the most incredible feeling to be out with my husband without anyone crying, whining, spitting up, pooping, or sleeping on my shoulder.
The best part of the evening was when we finished dinner and while walking through the downtown area came across some live acoustic music. It was chilly outside so I went in to a coffee shop to get some warm beverages and Ron went back to the car to get me a sweatshirt. The only sweatshirt in the car was size 2T, but he did manage to find me a nice fleece blanket to cover up with. A fleece blanket covered in my favorite red furry monster. Yep, you guessed it, Elmo. So there I sat among the other childless couples, snuggled up to my hubby, sipping a hot cup of coffee, under a child-sized Elmo blanket. The blanket did its' job in keeping me warm, but it did something else for me as well. It reminded me that I have three of the most special gifts waiting for me at home, and no matter how much I enjoy my time without them nothing warms my soul quite like the time I spend with them.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Calling All Cute Kids
After I submitted Joey's *cutest* picture today it brings you to a screen where you can send out an email, post to your FB profile, twitter, etc. encouraging friends and family members to vote for your kid. Well, every mom who gets that email is going to think to herself, "my kid is cuter than that kid, I should enter this too." So sending out a mass email encouraging people to vote for Joey is a double edge sword in a way. Good, in that I might have gotten him some votes and publicity. Not so good in that I totally just advertised this contest and significantly increased the pool of competitors. And let me tell you, there is some stiff competition out there....
So why am I writing about this tonight? I figure the damage is already done. I posted it to my facebook profile, sent out the email, haven't tweeted about it because I have no idea how Twitter works, but I figure I might as well mention it here too. Please go ahead and vote for Joey (everyday!) by clicking here. And please enter your own child too. Let's all just agree to the golden rule of cutest kid competitions: To a mom, there is no cuter kid than her own kid. But I'll vote for yours if you'll vote for mine!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Nutritionists Beware
After Walmart we went on to Tim Horton's for an early lunch. A lunch of doughnuts for Joey. Oh, and Doritos. ha. No turkey sandwich on whole wheat for this kid. Just doughnuts please. Well, it didn't end there. We can't possibly take a trip to Tim Horton's without bringing a treat to cousin Mollie. While we were out she actually called to verify that we were coming. Upon delivery Mollie excitedly sat down to have herself a tasty doughnut. And so did Joey. Again.
At that point I pretty much knew that any attempt to feed Joey lunch (or any other meal for the day) was completely shot. He napped for only an hour, woke up with low blood sugar (shocking!), and proceeded to starve himself of any "real" food for the remainder of the day. It's no wonder that he woke up this morning requesting gummies for breakfast. I'd say this calls for operation detox for the two-year old.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
As Seen On TV
I just ordered Matthew's Snuggie. Instead of the standard blue or pink choices, I did some internet searching and came up with one that is sure to make this kid's heart sing. I managed to find an Authentic Dallas Cowboys Youth-sized Snuggie. Now I just wish I could be there next week to see his reaction when he opens it!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
OOPS! Winner Announced
So I was totally bummed not to have more entries for this. Where is every one??? With my injury this week, I forgot to announce the winner of the Stop and Shop Giftcard. Winner is post #3, Marie who said, "I hope I win as I have no groceries in my house ** haha" Congratulations, we'll get your gift card to you pronto! Big thanks to General Mills and MyBlogSpark for this great offer!
Stay tuned for more giveaways soon!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Stall Tactics
When I sit to read him a book, I never choose the right book. So he needs to get out of the chair and pull ten thousand books off the shelf in search of (insert book title here). It is so interesting to me that at just 2 years young, this little person has figured out exactly how to get what he wants.
When I go in his room to cover him up before I go to bed he sometimes wakes up. I used to be able to sneak out after a sleepy "hi mommy," followed by a quick kiss. Now if he wakes up stands up immediately and announces that he needs milk. NEEDS MILK! MILK! MILK MOMMY! MILK! Because I can't stand the yelling and whining at 11:30pm, I always give in, drag my tired self back downstairs, fill a sippy cup and bring it back to my now wide-awake child. Last night he took many small sips and passed the cup back to me after each one. Every time I started to walk away he needed just one more sip. After this routine repeated itself several times over, I finally stopped the madness and proceeded into the hallway despite his protest.
Just as I think I'm going to finally get to go to bed, I hear Joey call for me once more. Another game has begun. He has announced that he needs to go potty. I throw my head back in utter exhaustion paired with a significant amount of frustration in being manipulated by a 2 year old. Well, given our current success with potty training thus far, I can't exactly ignore this final request. And boy does he know it. So I take him into the bathroom, remove his night time diaper (which I'm secretly rejoicing in the fact that it is still dry!), sit him on the potty, and wait.
At this point in my story I'm pretty sure you can guess what this oh-so-adorable child asked for next as we flushed the potty. Yep, chocolate. This is where I put my foot down. I may do a lot of things to avoid a tantrum, but this is not one of them. I refuse to reward this ridiculous display of "I'm not tired anymore, Mommy." with M and Ms at Midnight. So I sternly told Joey that we do not get chocolate in the night time. Only in the daytime. He protested at first, but soon realized I was done. Game over. Back to bed.
Stalling: He's become an expert already. I'm pretty sure the fun has just begun.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Please Excuse My Absence
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Review: Rainy Day Kids
This set could not be cuter. The fabric is so soft, and the jacket is fully lined with a jersey-type cotton, making it nice and comfortable for little ones. I was told that the boots run a little big, but in my opinion they were just right because I ordered Joey's regular shoe size and they fit him just right. He loved wearing them too. I'm pretty sure he didn't take them off for 2 days. Aside from the adorableness of this set, Rainy Day Kids has great prices on high quality rainwear for kids! They have a fabulous selection of fun, comfortable, and practical rainwear that your kids will love wearing in any weather! And they have a great everyday shipping rate of $5.95, no matter how big your order is.
As a special gift, business owner Lauri Stokes has offered a 15% discount for my readers at Rainy Day Kids now through October 31st. Just enter in discount code: WHINE when prompted. This is a great deal, and I might just get ahead of myself and order some Christmas presents!
And Then There Was Poop
No, seriously, this will be my last post about potty training for a while. I promise. But I must brag for a moment and fill everyone in on Joey's progress. And boy has he made progress. He officially pooped on the potty today. All by himself. Meaning: he realized he had to go, told me, pulled down the unda-pans, waddled into the bathroom and did the deed! Hurrah! No accidents today, and we even went out! He is such a smart little goober, and I am such a proud momma!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
What The Poop
I KNOW he needs to go. How do I know? We won't get into it. I think the answer to that question teeters on the edge of too much information. So just take my word for it. I've tried lots of different approaches to get him to cooperate, and to no avail. I even pretended that his baby sister pooped on the potty this morning and rewarded her with a treasured popsicle. When he wanted a popsicle too, I told him he could have one as soon as he POTP. (pooped on the potty) That didn't even work.
Ok, so does anyone have any suggestions for this situation? Please?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Port-a-Potty
While I was inside making dinner, Joey was outside with Ron playing. I noticed that we were approaching that 2 hour mark, and Joey had consumed his fair share of "onge chew" (orange juice) throughout the course of the afternoon. Katelyn was fussy all day and had just fallen asleep in her swing. I knew that if Joey came bounding in the house making all kinds of noise, she would inevitably wake up, dinner would not get made, and I would be frustrated.
So I cheated. Instead of bringing the child to the potty, I brought the potty to the child. Literally. I brought his little kid-sized potty outside, put it in the grass and told him to go. And he did. Then I went back inside, washed out the potty, returned it to it's proper location (the bathroom), and went back outside to deliver 2 M and Ms to a very proud Joey. Now that is what I call a Port-a-Potty.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Stop and Shop Giftcard Giveaway
To enter, leave me a comment telling me a way that you like to save at the grocery store. Up to 5 additional entries can be earned by doing one or more of the following: (Leave another comment for EACH additional entry!)
- Become a follower of Thou Shall Not Whine
- Subscribe to Thou Shall Not Whine in a Newsreader
- Link back to this post on your blog or website
- Leave a comment on a Non-giveaway post
- Grab my button and post it on your blog or website
Giveaway is open until Monday, September 14th at 11:59EST. Winner will be chosen via Random.org and notified shortly thereafter. Good Luck!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Potty Progress
Saturday, September 5, 2009
And The Winner Is...
Friday, September 4, 2009
Working on it...
- I am happy to report that I have successfully completed all pending thank-you notes and remembered to enclose portrait pictures before mailing.
- I have also begun operation clothing swap. This involves unearthing many plastic containers from the basement and sorting through items that are "not too boyish" for the babies to wear, as well as tossing anything with stubborn stains, and packaging up size-appropriate items to pass on to my nephew Cody. To make room for the hand me downs, this mission also requires me to sort through the girl's current collection of clothes and put away anything that is too small or too summery to wear in the coming months.
- Potty training will take place in full force this afternoon when I put Joey in his new undies, and ditch the diapers for good.
- Olivia is no better with the bottle, but it is not for lack of trying on our part. We might have to do the "cold turkey" approach to get this little monster to cooperate. Selfishly, I'm pretty sure that I'd like to quit nursing all together. I feel like that makes me a bad mom.
That's the update for now. As for sleep and the battle against the binkie... we're still working on those.
REMINDER: Don't forget that today is the last day to enter my giveaway for your choice of ISpy game from Briarpatch.com. You may do so by clicking here.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Am I Asking Too Much?
- Get my babies who were fantastic sleepers back on track. How did we go from 10-12 hours to up 3x a night again???
- Stop procrastinating and go full throttle with the potty situation. He's ready, why aren't I???
- Get Olivia to take a bottle in preparation for The Big Day. I have to leave her for my dear friend Kate's wedding in a month, and I don't want my baby to starve herself because my breasts aren't available at her beck and call.
- Ditch the binkie for the walking, talking toddler. We started with bed time only, then bent the rules a bit, then a bit more, and a bit more from there. We're pretty much back to the drawing board.
That is my very intimidating list that is sure to invite many tantrums and lots of crying from JOK. A few less intense, but equally important tasks that must be completed in the very near future:
- Cook, puree, and freeze the sweet potatoes that are in my fridge before they spoil.
- Finish the long list of thank you notes on behalf of my children, and be sure to enclose the portrait pictures that we had taken of them with each note.
- Do the clothing overhaul as we quickly transition from Summer to Fall. This includes: going through J's baby clothes to find some neutral, warmer items that will fit O&K; sorting, labeling, and putting away all clothes that are too small for JOK, locate the clothes that I purchased for J for this fall; put away my summer clothes and find some fall clothes that are a) not maternity and b) not ugly, worn out, or out of style.
I'd like to tackle everything all at once. However, I'm pretty sure I don't have to energy to do that. So creating these lists has helped me to prioritize. We'll start with sleep training the little ones back to sleeping through the night. If I'm able to get a good night's sleep I'll be better prepared to accomplish the rest of my daunting tasks. As of right now, I'm off to bed with yet another hope for a quiet night. Here goes nothing...
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Baby Love
You must excuse the shakiness of this video. Olivia was kicking her feet making the bouncy seat extra bouncy. Well, actually Joey jumping into it from the arm of the couch on a daily basis has made it extra bouncy.... Olivia's kicking just exaggerates this. Regardless, the video may cause some to feel queasy but I swear it's not my fault!