Potty Hostage

Most of my posts tend to revolve around my youngest lately. I've thought about why that is and all I can think of is she is the one keeping me on my toes. Like today when I had to clean up smeared poo all over the bathroom because she didn't want to wait for me to be ready to potty train her. She's ready NOW. When I wasn't a willing participant, she took it upon herself to get'r'done.

Bad Mama. I know. I'm onthe ball now. We'll spend tomorrow in panties. ::shudder:: I really hate potty training. It's the worst part about having a two-year-old. The fits? No problem. The screaming? No sweat. Stepping on a wet spot on the carpet that you didn't know about? THE WORST. Sometimes I walk into a room and feel like I can smell urine. Then I crawl around like a crazy person sniffing the carpet thinking someone peed and it DRIED on there. Oh the horror.

So if anyone has any encouragement, words of wisdom, xanax... (kidding about that last one... pregnant and what not.) I'm all ears. I'm just not ready to be a potty hostage. I guess I just need an attitude adjustment. She's 2.5 for heaven sake. Well, here we go!

I... am so sorry.

You know that verbal diarrhea that rude people get whenever they see a pregnant woman? You know those tactless people who say things like "Let me tell you about how horrible my labor/delivery was..."

::sigh::

I have been one of those people. My crime: fawning over baby boys. See, I have a boy. I think he's the greatest thing since... well I can't even think of anything to compare him to. He holds a special place in my heart that only a son could. So what's the problem?

I also have three daughters.

Each time I discovered I was pregnant, I hoped it was another boy. I wanted to duplicate the love and relationship I had with my first born. When #2 was a girl, I was okay with it. Hubs really wanted a girl so I thought "Well, I have one and now you have one." Healthy, I know... It doesn't really help that our personalities conflict so we haven't even been THAT close. She is definitely a Daddy's Girl if ever there was one.

But then #3, just a few months later, was a girl. My whole pregnancy with her I felt defensive. You can only hear "Was it planned?!?" "How old is your youngest?!" "You know what causes that, don't you?!" so many times before you develop a bitterness to everyone who so much as glances at your stomach. Up until the day she was born I was, in a way, apologizing to everyone for being pregnant. Then she was born and I looked into her sweet face...

She was perfect. She was beautiful. She wasn't a consolation prize. She was my DAUGHTER and I was absolutely head over heels in LOVE. I bonded with her immediately in a way I hadn't experienced with my first two. I spent the whole first night just staring into her sweet face. I was so convicted. How could I have been resentful that this little girl was mine? How DARE I feel that way?!

#3 is 2.5 years old now. She's laying here beside me while #1 is at school and #2 watches TV. She'd rather be next to me, whatever I'm doing. She's an amazing little girl. Sometimes when I think about how much I love her, I feel like my heart will explode.

When they said, "Looks female" about #4, my heart skipped a beat.  It isn't gender that determines your connection to a child. It isn't gender that dictates their worth. I love ALL of my children equally. We are beyond excited about our new little girl.

So, young mother of that baby girl, I am SO sorry for spewing my preference for baby boys in front of you. I'm guilty of gushing on and on about little boys and how they're my FAVORITE right in front of mothers of little girls. And you know what? That just isn't true. I wouldn't trade a single one of my girls in for a boy. My son is amazing. So are my daughters.

The next time someone comes up to you and starts up the mouth with no filter, remember they're not TRYING to make you feel bad. They're just an idiot... like me.

A toddler scorned

I have a two-year-old with a personality that barely fits into her tiny 26 pound body. 

She loves to go to church. She loves her class and she loves her friends. Since she's there 3 times each week for different things, she's very used to these people and classrooms. BUT. When we go on Tuesday mornings.  ::deep breath:: 

"I don't want to go to my class!"

"Why not? Don't you want to play with your friends?"

"No. I want to stay with mama."

"You can do a puzzle with Brooklynn. See? Brooklyn needs a friend to play with."

"No. She's fine. I'll stay with you."

When I came back to pick her up 2 hours later, they said... "Uhh, we had some problems. For an hour. She just stood there at the glass by the door and was angry." This meant she had stood there for an hour plotting my demise. She's not the type to throw an all out walleye fit (usually...) but she lets you know she. is. mad. She gives me the stink eye. She won't hold my hand. Shoot, she wouldn't even walk with me to the car. She trailed 5 feet behind me like she didn't want to be seen together.

By the time we got home she was fine. She is once again "Mommy's Woogie" but just wait until the next time I tick her off. Oh the teen years should be a blast. And she'll just be one of four teenagers in the house. Looks like I may have bigger issues than the grocery bill at that point.

Perspective

I'm feeling like Eeyore today so I'm going to write a post of 12 GOOD things I can think about and be thankful for. What better way to pull myself out of a funk?

1. My whole family is HEALTHY! This is huge y'all. At least one of the kids is usually sniffling or something, but right now we have a whole house of healthy people. Can I get an amen?!?

2. Spring is here! While today that means storms and sideways rain, it also means t-shirts and kids getting to play outside! Woohoo! It also means baby birds tweeting and ducks to feed at the park. :) We're saving our bread heels.

3. BOTH the kid rooms are clean. Yes, you read that correctly.

4. We are BLESSED beyond measure as evidenced by all the clothes I need to fold. Most of them I didn't even have to pay for. They're either handed down or gifted to us. Super awesome.

5. Chris was able to fix the blinds in the girls room that I thought were broken. I had SUCH a bad attitude when I saw them. I thought they were hopeless but Dad comes to the rescue every time.

6. I HAVE A HOUSE! While I may grumble about it from time to time, all I need to do is flash back to apartment (or even duplex) living and voila! I'm cured! Having my own house is such a blessing. I can paint if I want to and you know what? I want to.

7. We aren't a TV centered household. My kids are smart and funny and creative. They make things and play pretend instead of asking to watch TV. You should see some of the games they invent. They're actually pretty good.

8. My husband has a good job. He isn't on the chopping block worried about if he'll have it next month. He has awesome hours, awesome benefits, and awesome coworkers. Him being happy at works makes me happy. I remember what it was like to hate a job and still have to go in every day because you needed the money. So thankful that isn't a daily reality for him.

9. I'm in school! I can't wait to go to class every week and learn more about the field I love.

10. I live in a fantastic area. There is super low crime. The schools are good. There are 57 protestant churches in the city limits. There are tons of good people and good causes centered here. We love it.

11. I'm having a baby! EEEEEEEK! I don't think anyone really realizes how much this baby was wanted and prayed for. While we may get the occasional, "ANOTHER ONE?!?!" We know we are richly blessed and can't WAIT to welcome this little one into our home.

12. I have the most solid marriage out of anyone I know. Due mainly to my amazing husband who really is my rock. He's way more than I could have asked for and definitely more than I deserve.

Sickies

Isla has been really sick lately. She has run a fever and near about coughed up her ever-lovin' lungs.

I've figured out that if I wake up and keep her medicated, she sleeps a lot better. Poor thing is miserable if I let her fever flare back up. I've been known to make a midnight run to Walgreens when I don't gauge how much ibuprofen we have very well.

Still, as long as we have books to read and another round of ABCs to sing we're doing alright. God bless the library.

Duct tape baseball

At the suggestion of my GENIUS mother-in-law, I took a piece of string and tied a duct tape ball to one end. I looped the other end around a nail in a doorway, gave my toddler a kitchen utensil and told her to go to town! My 2-year-old and 3-year-old absolutely love this. It keeps them occupied for quite a while. This comes in super handy when I'm trying to cook dinner or help their older brother with homework. :) 

The best part is when they're done, you just wrap the string around it and throw it in a drawer to pull out another time! It's like they've never seen it before every time and it's just as much fun.

What love is

I love the quote about fathers that says, "The best gift a father could give his children is to love their mother." The truth contained in that statement is phenomenal. A father loving his daughter's mother teaches her that she is worth loving and models how she should be treated in a relationship. A father loving his son's mother shows that boy how to be a man and how to treat a woman. Wow.

My Dad traveled a lot for work and sometimes we didn't go with him. The model wasn't there. I think I looked to my grandparents by default. I remember my Grandad being my whole world. Any time he and Granny went on vacation, they picked me and my cousin up on the way out. Granny was an iron fist. She would paddle me if I needed it and she'd give you a swat too if she felt like you could benefit from it. She really fit more into a mothering role than a grandmother. Grandad never said a harsh word to us kids. He was the one waiting there with a piece of candy to mend our broken hearts after Granny had pulled a switch from the tree (which we totally deserved, by the way.)

Summer of 1999 (I think?) they drove down to see us on the Texas coast. We decided to jog over to Galveston for a few days so as not to break the Summer vacation streak we had running. We walked the strip I was all too familiar with until time to have dinner. We passed this warehouse looking building that was an Italian restaurant called Mario's. It was Granny's idea to eat at "Mary-o's" that night. My cousin and I being the NES champs that we were promptly corrected her. "Granny, it's Ma-ree-oh's." This happened a couple more times through out the evening just in conversation. Then, out of nowhere, our world got rocked. 

"You kids stop correcting your Granny! If she wants to say it that way, she will! You shut your mouths about it!" 

I spent the next hour crying quietly into my sleeve and my cousin spent it sick in the restaurant bathroom. Talk about heart break. That is the only time in my life I can ever recall him saying a harsh word to any of us kids and I still remember the sinking feeling in my chest that came with it. I would rather Granny had picked up a switch there on the side of the Galveston strip and let me have it. 

Know what that taught me? (Other than to keep my mouth shut, thank you very much.) I know for an absolute fact that my Grandad loves me more than anything in this world. That didn't change that Summer, but what he made sure we knew was that Granny is his WIFE, and favorite kids in the world or not, you mess with her, you get the wrath of the man who loves her. That planted a seed in me way back then that means so much more to me now. It's really amazing. They've been married for 51 years. I know for a fact, to this day, if you tried to confront my Granny, you'd have to go through him first. You know, that's just the way it should be.

My grandparents on their 50th wedding anniversary last year. <3