What Were We THINKING?

Everyone went down for a late nap today causing them to sleep later into the afternoon than usual. We didn't unearth Joey from his crib until 5, and the girls got up sometime around 5:30. I thouroughly enjoyed all of that time to myself, but as the clock ticked away, so did the idea that the kids would be in bed early enough for me to watch Octomom at 8. So we needed something to fill the time between dinner and bed...

After everyone was fed and changed Ron and I decided that we'd take a family trip to Borders. Getting in the car at 7pm with three young children who are normally in bed at that hour was our first mistake. Not putting Joey in a stroller while at Borders was our second mistake. Not stocking up my bag with a single package of animal crackers, gummies, or even a lolipop was our third mistake. Get the picture??? Joey ran through the store faster than we could keep up with him. He touched everything, he yelled everytime we came near him, he was like an animal that had spent a lifetime in captivity out of his cage for the first time.

We should have left. I know that. But somehow I've gotten to the point where I'm not all that embarrassed when my husband and I make complete idiots of ourselves as our children cause an obnoxious scene in a public setting. So I stayed the course. I was determined to not leave the store with what we went in for so I made all 5 of us (and many strangers) suffer through the madness. But let's not put all the blame on poor little Joey. None of my kids wanted to be shopping in a bookstore at 7 o'clock at night. After finding the book that I wanted to buy, I finally grabbed hold of Joey, propped him up on my hip, pushed the stroller through the checkout line, sent Ron and Olivia back to the car, and made my purchase. I even remembered to use my coupon! HURRAH!

Once everyone was back in their respective carseats and the minivan turned out of the parking lot Ron said, "We are either really stupid, or really brave." I replied, "I'm thinking a little of both."

The Post-baby Weight Gain

I don't own a scale. I never have, I never will. I do weigh myself when given the opportunity. The kids' doctor's office always presents an opportunity, as there is a scale in each exam room. So after the doctor leaves, I pack up my kids and do a quick weight check before exiting the office. This is how I found I had lost all my baby weight when the twins were just 2 weeks old. You may remember that post. If you don't, it can be found here.

Today was Katelyn and Olivia's 4 month doctor appointment. I'm bummed to say that since the two week check up I've gained a little weight. (10-12 pounds is still considered a little, right?) I'm blaming it on the bowls of ice cream, popcorn, and cookies that we consume after the kids are in bed. Oh, and the wine. Oh how I love the wine...

Well, I am not going to buy any new clothes and I got rid of all of my clothes that were too big so I've got to get this under control. I've vowed to start walking away the stress in my life instead of eating it away. After the kids are in bed instead of scooping myself a big bowl of ice cream I will walk. This starts today. Notice I'm not saying I won't have the ice cream, because I'm just not sure I can commit to that. In fact I know I can't live without ice cream. So I'll just commit to the walking for now.

If it seems too good to be true...

It probably is. After 4 successful potty trips on Monday I was thinking to myself, "Wow, this is super easy. Potty trained all in one day. I'm super mom." Then we had 2 successful trips on Tuesday, and just 1 successful trip today. Needless to say, my excitement and confidence in the potty training adventures has come to a screeching halt. He might be ready, but I'm not so sure that I am. It is exhausting work. And my life is already kinda exhausting. We are spending so much time pulling off shorts, removing diapers, sitting on the potty, standing on the potty, sitting back on the potty, yelling for no good reason, putting diapers back on, only to start all over again 5 minutes later. I'm exhausted just writing about it. I'm beginning to think that Joey saying that he has to go potty is a game to him. He's smart. He knows that he can get my undivided attention for approximately 5-10 minutes just by uttering the famous p-word. So he says it ALL OF THE TIME! I feel like we are spending more time in the bathroom than any other room of the house. And I don't think it's working. He still peed in his diaper, and on the floor, and in the bath tub. Ahhh, the joys of toddlerhood.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

As for me, I did not give my 2-year old 3 hershey kisses, ice cream, and a few too many sips of my diet coke tonight. Nope not me. And I'm sure that is NOT the reason why at 9:50pm he is still wide awake singing to himself in his crib. That was definately NOT me.

Got a confession? Leave a comment and tell me what you did NOT do!

Growing Up

The time is getting closer. Time for Joey to lose what's left of his babyhood, and become a real boy. Like Pinocchio. How do I know it is time? Because today my son POOPED on the potty. Peed too, but I'm pretty sure that was a result of the pushing of the poop! We got him this little kid Elmo potty yesterday for free, so I think Joey was anxious to try it out. He told me he had to go, off came the diaper, into the bathroom we went and he sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. Nothing. Olivia was crying in the other room, so I went to go pick her up. Upon my return Joey was still sitting. Only something was different. I could *smell* it. Sure enough, I stood him up and there it was! His first official potty poop! We were very excited. We clapped, we flushed, we got a Hershey Kiss! What an exciting Monday morning we had. Is it a fluke? Maybe. But I'm excited none the less.