Crappy Start of the Week - Literally

What kind of week is this going to be? I don't know - here's how it's started so far...

Last night Claire kept waking up crying. I decided that she must need to use the potty, so I took her to the bathroom. She threw a total fit, not wanting to go potty. She eventually went pee-pee, but it shot between the toilet & the seat and made a huge mess on the floor. Jeff put her in new jammies (because of course she got pee on them) and I cleaned the puddle on the floor & put the rugs into the washer. Then off to bed we went.

At 6:20 this morning, Matthew woke up crying. I went to his room to find that his diaper leaked & he was covered in pee! I changed him into new jammies and put him back to bed.

When I woke up to tend to Matthew, I had a horrendous headache. So I climbed back in bed. Jeff brought me some Advil before he left for work. I stayed in bed for a while waiting for it to kick in.

I got up about 7:20 and fixed breakfast for Tyler. Last night I was sure that Claire would need to go to the doctor today because her eyes were goopy & crusty. After fixing breakfast for Tyler, I checked Claire's eyes & they were perfectly clear! Hooray! Maybe the day won't be so bad after all... or not!

I went in Matthew's room to get him out of his crib. Holy Moly!!! Matthew had taken his pajama pants off & thrown them on the floor. Then he pooped in his diaper & it had oozed out all over his legs and all over his bed. Of course he had to walk all through it! The poop was everywhere! Even up the side of the crib on the slats! I got him all cleaned up and gave him a bath. All this time I just couldn't help but wonder, "How can a mess so gross come from someone so cute?" Instead of adding a picture of the mess, I've added a picture of my cutie little boy after he was all cleaned up.

Tyler started in on his, "I don't want to go to school" whining. My response to him today was, "Fine you can stay home from school, but you'll have to clean up all of that poop in Matthew's room." Needless to say, he was perfectly happy to go to school after that.

As we were walking out the door to take Tyler to school, he decided that he should put his breakfast dishes in the sink. What a good boy - until he spilled the rest of his Cran-Apple juice all over the floor. Nice!

We took Tyler to school & battled it out with all of the crazy parents trying to drop their kids off at school. Now we're back home & I have a disgusting crib to clean up! Oh the joys of being a parent!

All I can say is that if this morning is any indication of how the rest of the week will go, I'll be in need of help from either a mental health professional or the Molly Maids. Here's to a fantastic week. I hope you're all off to a much cleaner & better start than I am.

Oh wait, now there's one my thing to add to the morning list. Claire & Matthew have been playing in my room while I've been writing this post. Just as I was finishing, they left the room & Claire closed Matthew's finger in the door. It looks like he'll probably lose his fingernail. Poor baby! There's no blood, so I think he's ok.

Happy Monday everyone!!!

Dummy

Here's the conversation I just had with Claire.

Me: What are you eating?
Claire: Nothing.
Me: What's in your mouth?
Claire: Nothing.
- I pause to smell her breath.
Me: You're eating peanut butter pretzels.
Claire: No.
Me: Claire, I can smell them. And I can see it in your mouth. I'm not a dummy you know.
Claire: You are a dummy.

Thanks Claire. It's nice to know your opinion of me. And to think, I was going to polish your nails for you before you go to bed tonight. I don't think a dummy can handle that. :)

Christmas 2009

This year our Christmas was definitely an eventful one! The Monday before Christmas, my Dad was admitted to the hospital. After some testing, it was determined that he has Congestive Heart Failure. This was not the news we were hoping to receive, but the doctors are hopeful that with the medications available today, a low sodium diet, and exercise, my Dad will live a full life. My Dad was released from the hospital on Christmas Eve, just in time to have dinner with everyone at Melissa's house. We were all so happy that he was able to join us! And Melissa made a spectacular dinner - it was delicious! Well, enough of the sad part of our holiday. . . I'll move on to the happier highlights!

This was Matthew's First Christmas. He is our little adventurer. When we set up the tree, I was certain he would be climbing all over it, but he was actually afraid of it! Thank goodness for that - I had been worried that he would pull the tree over on himself. He was absolutely terrified of Santa. Which is funny because my Dad was the man in the Santa suit (or "Santa's Helper" as we like to call him). Christmas morning Matthew had a great time playing with his new toys. He had so much fun that he just didn't want to take a nap!

This year Claire really understood the whole Santa and presents concept of Christmas. About a week before Christmas, Claire announced to me, "I Love Santa!" Claire was actually the destroyer of the Christams tree this year. She kept wanting to play with the ornaments. It seemed like every time I turned around, Claire was eating another candy cane from the tree. She was so very excited to receive her presents. On Christmas morning, I was in the family room & heard her wake up in her room. She sat up in bed, shouted "Pessents!" and sprinted for the Christmas tree! I had to laugh as she came running around the corner, so intent on finding the bounty left by Santa. She had a wonderful day playing with her new toys. After dinner, she must have been exhausted. She climbed up on my Dad's lap with a book & asked him to read to her. After the third book, she fell asleep all snuggled up with her Papa. What a precious sight to see!

Tyler was hilarious this Christmas. The one thing her really wanted for Christmas was the "Handy Manny truck that turns into his office." At his Kindergarten Christmas Program, he said that he wanted a Wii for Christmas. This was a strange desire, because we already have a Wii. My mom asked Tyler why he said he wanted a Wii if we already have one. He replied, "I just said a Wii because if I said I wanted a Handy Manny truck that turns into his office, all of the kids would laugh at me!" I guess he played it safe. I didn't buy the truck for him though. It's too big & I have no idea where we'd put it. I kept telling him that he wasn't getting that for Christmas, but he was still looking for it under the tree on Christmas morning, convinced that Santa wouldn't let him down. I don't think he was too horribly disappointed - he got plenty of fun presents. Now Tyler is looking forward to a sleepover with his cousin David tomorrow. He has cleaned up his room so that we can inflate an air mattess for them to sleep on. Just a little while ago Tyler told me, "I can't wait for Christmas to come next year..." I thought he was looking forward to getting more presents, but the next thing he added was, "because I get to have David come for a sleepover!" Too cute!

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Jeff and I had a great time this Christmas. We achieved my goal of having all of the presents wrapped before Christmas Eve! Hooray! After the kids were asleep, all we had to do was set the presents out under the tree! While we set all of the presents out, we watched A Christmas Story on its 24 hour marathon. We stayed up to see the end of the movie & we were way too tired the next morning. But it sure was fun unwrapping gifts with our kids. All of my bargain hunting and 5 months of shopping & preparation were well worth it! Now I can take a break until next August when my Christmas preparations will begin all over again!

Here are a few more pictures from our Christmas celebrations.

Here's Matthew clinging to Jeff because he's afraid of the Christmas Tree.

Tyler & Claire had a lot of fun decorating the Christmas Tree.

Claire decorated this section of the tree. I guess she wanted to make sure she had easy access to the good stuff. I'm such a spoil-sport - I moved all of these candy canes up higher on the tree after she went to bed for the night.

Here are my 3 cuties, all decked out for church on the Sunday before Christmas.

It is definitely not easy to find a "Baby's First Christmas" outfit in size 12 months. Hallelujah - I finally found one for him to wear. He looks cute in his outfit & he's showing off his 2 teeth!

These kiddos are so excited to see what's in all of those presents under the tree! Don't they look adorable in their Christmas jammies. I love the reindeer feet on Matthew's Christmas jammies! My mom bought Tyler some Star Wars pj's to wear for Christmas. About a week before Christmas he got really sad that he didn't have pj's with a Christmas design. So Grandma went out & found Tyler some pj's with reindeer, snowmen & Santa.

Tyler wants to open presents at Grandma & Papa's house. What a cute smile!

The Princess and the Frog

Last night we took our kids to see the movie, The Princess and the Frog. The movie was ok, not my favorite Disney movie. Anyway, the movie starts off with Tiana as a little girl and develops the relationship Tiana had with her parents. After a short introduction to Tiana as a little girl, Tiana is shown all grown up. At this point in her life, her father is no longer alive. No big deal, right? Wrong! As the movie was coming to a close, Tyler suddenly burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. He climbed up onto my lap. I, of course, asked him what was wrong. Between sobs, he told me, "I'm going to miss you when I'm a grown-up!" It took a lot of reassuring from Jeff & me that we would still be with him when he grows up to calm him down. He also made us promise that when he is a grown-up, he can live in the house right next door to us so that he won't have to miss us. We told him we would love to have him live next door to us. I think the fact that Princess Tiana's father was gone when she was a grown-up got Tyler thinking & he didn't want either of us to be gone when he grows up. What a sweet little boy - I just love him so much!

A Clean House

Tyler just asked me if I could help him clean his room when he gets home from school tomorrow. I told him I would be more than happy to help him do that because I want a clean house. He responded, "Oh good because it is a messy jungle in there. And a clean house is a heaven house! It is clean in heaven & we want our house to be clean like heaven." I just love that little boy!

Mr. "T"

Jeff marked his iPod charger with a "J" to distinguish it from my iPod charger. Today I noticed that Tyler decided to add his mark to it. If you turn over the USB plug, there is now a "T" on the opposite side from the "J." That boy is hilarious, but I need to make it clear to him that he just can't go around writing his initial on things in our house.

Tyler & Claire's Bedroom

I finally got Tyler & Claire's room completely organized for the first time since Claire moved in there in March. I know, I know it took me forever. I still need to add a few decorations to the wall with the dresser, but I think it looks good for now.

Here's their reading corner. I love it that we now have a Pottery Barn Outlet within a 1 hour drive of our house. I got a great bargain on the bookshelves. The chair was Tyler's Birthday present 2 years ago & was the reason I decided to make the room red. I actually got somewhat creative & painted the wood letters all by myself. Have you seen the commercial for Command Hooks? I used the picture hangers to hang the letters & they are the greatest invention!

Here's the view from the door! I wanted the room to be a color that was ok for a girl & a boy. I thought red was a good neutral color, plus it matched Tyler's chair. I love the alphabet sheets. I found them at Target & the red comforters are from Sears.

Look at that curtain! I am still impressed with myself for making it all by myself! I even came up with the idea for the pleats on my own - I didn't even have instructions or a picture to look at. I'm sure you can tell in the picture, but those 3 pleats are perfectly centered and spaced to the nearest 1/16 of an inch! I love the fabric - red corduroy. I found it at JoAnn's & I was so excited when I took the sample home it was the exact same shade of red as the chair!

Well, thanks for humoring me & looking at the fruits of my labor! I am so glad that I can finally check this off of my To Do List! Now on to other projects!