Potty Humor

So sorry that my blogging is minimal and with few pictures if any lately! I am just about as exhausted as they come. Being almost 34 weeks pregnant is zapping my energy as well as no sleep and chasing an energized 2 year old around all day! When I was pregnant with Christian at least I could rest at any time and now I just pray he takes a nap each afternoon so I can just relax! Unfortunately, I do not have any relief each night at 5:00pm like most families and by the time bed time rolls around I have all but lost patience with my sweet little guy! I feel horrible because he does not understand how tired mommy is and when I loose it with him.....he gives me this look of horror. I am trying to remember not to raise my voice with him, but a 2 year old is very trying and pushing his limits every second of every day! I honestly am ready NOT to be pregnant, but scared of what is to come once she arrives. This situation is going to be very interesting and I am afraid I will be calling on family a lot sooner and more than originally thought! I am in the midst of searching for some part time help in the afternoon from 4-8 pm and if anybody knows of anybody......Please let me know! I believe this is going to be the most difficult time for me with dinner, bath and bed so I am going to need some help until a schedule happens!



Now the funny story! Christian is obviously around females more than males and so he is bound to pick up some habits that daddy might not think are so cute! Well, the other day I was over visiting my mother and Christian is very curious and loves to follow you into the bathroom on a regular basis and tell you what you are doing! Usually he justs says, pee pee and points to the toilet, but that was not the case this day. He followed my mother and went into the bathroom with her. I quickly heard hysterical laughing and went to investigate what was so funny? My mom told me to watch what he was doing. He was grabbing toilet paper and patting himself in the front of his pants. After a few pats, he would throw the toilet paper in the trash and say, "trash". I was laughing so hard I almost wet my pants! I had never seen him do this before and he did it about three times until we dragged him out of the bathroom! Anyway, the moral of the story is that I guess they pick up more than you think by watching you! He watches Brian all the time too but, obviously I am with him 24/7! I am going to try and get this on video, but he has not done it again since the other day!

Reality Sets In......

Last night we had our good friends the Copelands over for dinner. Elijah is Christian's best buddy whom he plays with regularly and Preston his older brother. They recently added to their family with a third little boy Porter. Porter is a few weeks old and I sit and marvel at how tiny he seems to be. I just do not remember how small they are in the beginning of life! I watch how the boys interact with the baby and Christian too! He seems very loving and even wanted to hold the baby! Susan, such the trooper let all the boys hold him and It made me so nervous! Christian was absolutely adorable. He held Porter and kissed his head and just squeezed him sweetly! He touched his feet and said, "feet" and just hugged him! I love that he is so sweet with the baby, but I am not so sure that is how he will be with his sister. I know he will not especially like her when he is use to mommies 100% attention. When we took Porter away from him he cried and said, "More, More"!

The reality of this story is that I can not believe my baby is no longer about to be My Baby! The Copelands were telling me about how small they use to think Elijah was and how he was always their baby until the new one came along! I was watching Christian last night and just how sweet and loving he can be and can not believe he will soon look more like a child and no longer a baby! I can not believe he is about to be two! He is in such a fun stage. I love that he talks and communicates with us....most of the time without a tantrum! However, he is also entering that stage of independence that he wants to do things himself and do not touch me attitude! I am trying to just enjoy him as much as I possibly can right now. I know soon it will be more difficult to have mommy and Christian time alone! I savor every kiss and snuggle he gives me because one day those will be few and far between! I hope that I will be able to give both of them undivided attention every day! We will see soon enough! I definitely have my work cut out for me!

Our Little Trooper!

So this past weekend Brian, Christian and I went to visit some of our friends in Tampa, Florida. Matt and Michalene have a little boy Landon who is 2 1/2 and twin girls Mia and Ella who are 1 year old. We left early Thursday morning and had a great flight with Christian and arrived before noon. I was hoping Christian would take a nap when we got to their home, but with three new friends and a swimming pool.....there was no hope of a nap in his future! As the afternoon went by Christian became a little grumpy, so I tried to put him down for a short nap! Well, to my shock and horror he woke up with that seal bark cough.....you mothers know what I am talking about? The dreaded croup had come to visit my child and of all places at out friends house with three little ones too! I was hoping that I was wrong, but as the night progressed it just got worse and he had what they call Strider breathing. The breathing where it just sounds as if they have so much fluid in their lungs they can barely get air! Around 4:30 am I had enough and woke up Michalene to find out where the nearest hospital was that I could take him! She proceeded to tell me how horrible their ER was and if I waited three more hours I could take him to this great doctor right down the street! With great hesitation I decided to wait because sitting in the ER versus her house for a couple hours seemed more comfortable, especially for Christian. He slept on my chest for the next few hours and I cringed every time he took a breath. It just sounded so horrible and last time he had croup it was not that bad! Well as soon as the doctor opened we were there and he was seen immediately! They diagnosed him with the croup and poor baby an ear infection in each ear!!!!!! How in the world did I not know his ears were bothering him? I felt like a terrible mother! This age is so hard because they can not communicate very well and it is frustrating on both sides! We were given antibiotics and steroids for his cough and sent on our way! Christian seemed like a new guy after one dose of medicine and we decided to take him to the Aquarium to see all the fish! All the boys packed up and went on a water adventure! He came home and was just pumped up at all the fish he had seen! He loves fish! I was shocked at how well he seemed to be feeling, but unfortunately it did not last. With the croup it always gets worse at night and that it definitely did!!!!! Quickly he became very irritable and wanted to be held! Refusing to go to bed without mommy at his side and the doctors always suggest sleeping with your child that has croup because of the breathing issues they can have! Scary! We had a queen bed and it just was not enough room for three people, so Brian slept in another room. Christian tossed and turned and of course was just not getting any good rest for his little body to get better. The next day he was grumpy in the morning, but seemed better as he started to wake up.
Tampa is known for having one of the top rated children's zoos in the United States so without fail the boys packed up and went on another adventure! When 2:00 rolled around I could not believe my child was still out and still going strong? He was after all a sick baby.....having a blast with new friends and daddy! When they came home it was a battle to get him to sleep, but after while I succeeded in getting him down! Almost three hours later he woke up and seemed to be in a good mood. Yeah, the medicine was working and he would be happy tonight. I was glad because we were all going out to dinner and leaving the kids with their nanny! We decided to stay close to home in case something went wrong, but we were able to enjoy our evening! We ate at a restaurant called Capital Grill and it was wonderful! The food and the company were exceptional and it was nice to have a break from a sick child!
I got to spend alot of time with Michalene and the girls and it was fun to get a taste of the sweet girls.....after all I am about to have one! I have to tell you that they are so sweet and well behaved and talk about good eaters! I do not know what I would do with a child that actually sits down and eats a meal! They are adorable and it was fun to see two little ones running around the same size! I could never have twins! I raise my glass to all women with multiples! With double the wardrobe Michalene proceeded to stock our little girls closet with tons of clothes! She has also stocked Christian with clothes and more clothes! Michalene is so giving and I truly appreciate all she has given us and our children! I know Brian appreciates that I save money on clothes for the kids too!
Sunday morning we left and I was praying that her little ones stayed healthy and did not pick up the highly contagious croup! As of Monday they were still healthy and I have not heard anything different since then. We thanked them tons and left to come home! They were phenomenal hosts and Michalene puts me to shame with her cooking! Home cooked meals every night and from scratch if you can believe that? She made b-cue ribs one night with a sauce from scratch! Sorry Brian don't get to used to that!
An update on Christian....we went back to the doctor Monday because he was not better. They gave him an antibiotic shot and x-rayed his lungs to make sure there was nothing worse going on since three days on antibiotics had not gotten him better. We went home with ear drops for his ears, which he complained hurt him and some strong cough medicine to knock him out! He needed to sleep to get better and he had not been doing that very well! Today is Wednesday and last night he slept 13 hours straight! This morning he woke up very happy and feeling tons better! The cough is still around, but not so bad anymore! Today was back to normal and game was on for Christian! He played real hard and when I asked him if he was ready for a nap, he politely answered " No Thank You"!!!!! What? Are you kidding me? Fine.......this is not the first time that he goes without a nap during the day, but coming off being sick I could not believe his body did not need sleep! Oh well, bedtime would come early and mommy could rest! Enjoy some of the pictures. I did not go on the adventures with the boys and with him sick I did not take to many pictures, but here are a few.

GRADUATION DAY!!!!!!

Finally.....our son has graduated from his Infant Swim Resource class! I have never been so happy in my life because now I can stop driving every morning to swimming! It took nine weeks for his stubborn behind to finally realize that if he would just cooperate it would be over! I am so proud of him and feel 100% confident that if he fell in a pool that he would survive until I could get to him. In fact today we were out playing in the water slide and it was very full. There were two other friends playing with him and when he came down the slide he fell over into the pool and landed on his face! Immediately he flipped over on his back and then realized he could now get his footing back under him! It was unbelievable! This was probably the best money Brian and I have ever spent and we will definitely do ISR with our daughter! Watch the video of his floating. They do simulations that put them in the water face first or backwards as if they had fallen in a pool. The instructor says, that these are more difficult to come out of then if he fell in a pool. On graduation day they do NOT throw them in the pool, but they do have to be fully dressed with shoes and everything. This was a little difficult for Christian at first because the shoes throw them off in the beginning. They are not able to kick their feet as well when they are confined in shoes! However, he quickly learned what to do and it was no longer a problem! The video is crazy and if you have never seen ISR it will amaze you that a child could do this stuff!!!!!