stuff

~i opened the lid on the toilet in the boys' bathroom the other to sit down and found a rooster and a hen staring back at me. plastic of course. thank goodness i looked before i peed on them!

~out of the blue the other afternoon, monkey turned to me and said "i want to go swimming in the ocean mommy!" hmmm, me too! maybe we will have to make that happen in the distant (but not too distant future).

~i'm currently sitting in my bed typing with the window open listening to the rain fall quietly. except for my yellow lab, sam, who i can hear snoring. i don't know how shiloh (our chocolate pooch) puts up with it. i would have kicked him out long ago! thank goodness hubs only snores when he's had a few brew ha ha's. those days are few and far between now!

~i love the smell of rain!

~i love june for many reasons. but one of the main reasons is that i get a little dose of home for two weeks thanks to espn's coverage of the college world series on tv. the boys of summer. the ting of the metal bat. the desert dome large and magnificent in the background. beautiful midwestern blue skies. good ole' rosenblatt stadium. so many memories i have of the cws and that stadium. sad to see it moving somewhere new. please take zesto's with you. it really won't be the same without!

~i had my wall all prepped and ready for it's fabulous face lift the other day when i went to go find my roller and pan. nope not where they should be. not in the garage or the shed. then i remembered hubby using them this summer to paint the shed. i'm sure they were actually no where to be found on our property but instead buried in the landfill. urgh!!!!

~me and the mower had a moment (or 500 yesterday). you would have thought i was a sailor for the words that were coming out of my mouth aimed straight at that stinkin' mower. it started when i couldn't get it to back down the ramp. then i didn't even get around the backyard once and it had lost it's belt. after 15 minutes and two dogs licking my face, legs, and smelling my butt (tmi...sorry), i discovered the teeny tiny sticker that shows you the track the belt must take. enter swear words. then it's chute kept plugging up and consequently the cut grass was dropping in big huge clumps around the yard instead of dropping into the bins like it's suppose to. i won't bore you with the rest of the details. just suffice it to say....i didn't dare start up the weed whip because it probably would have landed on the moon at some point!

~i'm ready to go to warm weather. i'm tired of dressing the boys in long pants and long sleeves. it's depressing. for goodness sakes, i was wearing my fleece coat today when we went to see the fire truck. and it was still chilly! maybe i should delete my comment from above about loving the smell of rain.....

~as i was getting bug dressed after his bath last night, i asked monkey to start picking up the tub toys and putting them in the bucket. his reply, "no thanks mommy. i'm still playing in the tub!" does he get points for being polite about not doing what his mommy asks? hmmmm!! toddlers!

~poor little bug. he has cut three teeth in 10 days with two more soon to make their appearance. thank goodness you don't remember this time in your life for that very reason. he's such a trooper about it too!!

~monkey just makes my heart melt when he randomly out of the blue kisses things. we finished reading his book the other night (ironically, where do kisses come from?) and he leaned over and kissed each member of the fox family that was on the last page. so cute! he will kiss the computer screen when we are skyping with my parents too! makes his grandma's heart melt too!

The Boys

Whoa...Part 2

So I take it back. I'd rather wake up to 27 clean diapers all over the floor and a hamper full of dirty laundry all over.....

Because Tuesday morning, I woke up to two piles of poop. Yep, you heard me right! Poop on Monkey's bedroom carpet. I don't know if you could actually call it two piles though. One pile was smooshed into the carpet because his alligator belly bank (which is slammed full of coins) was sitting on top of one of the piles.

"Look Mommy! It's smooshy. I squished it Mommy!!"

Wow! All I could do was laugh on the inside because otherwise I was going to start my day crying. After explaining that we only poop in the potty and need to keep our diaper on, he said, "I peed too Mommy! Look!!" Sure enough, lo' and behold, he had peed too. Good grief! I secretly thanked him for telling me because I never would have seen that to clean up.

By this time, Bug had woken up from all the commotion and wanted his milk "now". Needless to say, I cracked a window, shut the poopy room door, and we traipsed out to the kitchen to get our milk. An hour later, I returned with my Little Green machine and attacked the carpet. By this time the stench had invaded the house. Thank goodness for cinnamon pumpkin candles!!

How's this for irony. As I was fetching the cleaner from the garage, I looked out the window and my neighbor had a carpet cleaning service over to freshen up their living room!

Happy Father's Day

We love you near and far Daddy!

Thanks for being the best Daddy two little boys could ever ask for!

XOXO

Whoa...

This is what I walked into when I opened Monkey's door this morning.
In case you needed a close-up bc I wanted to shut the door and open it again...hoping it would magically disappear.

I know that's probably nothing for some but his floor was clean before he went to bed. And I somehow didn't hear any of this occuring on the monitor. Oh and a side note, you were standing there in only your jammie top....no jammie bottom and no diaper.....hmmm! "I need my diaper Mommy!" No, really.....did you really need all 27 of them spread from one corner to the other corner of your room. I did a frantic eyeball scan of the room looking for your diaper and didn't find it. Then I turned you around and sighed with relief!! I finally found that diaper in the.....get this.....diaper genie. You are too smart for me sometimes!

Needless to say, the day didn't really look up from there. I'm pretty sure you didn't get a nap(or a very good one if you did get one) yesterday at Grandma's while I was running around like a chicken at work. I know this because you and I didn't have patience for one another today. It was one of those ugly Mommy days that I care not to repeat. I don't know why I felt we had to go to Lowe's and Freddy's today except that I just got told last night what I needed to bring to Father's Day dinner....and your daddy finally decided what we were suppose to get for Grandpa today.

So reluctantly, I loaded you both up after Bug's nap and we ventured out. We didn't even make it in the car before the first meltdown. "I can't go to the store Mommy!" I know you can't. That's why Mommy is driving! "I can't drive Mommy!" I know. Just please look out the window and see if you can find an airplane or an excavator. "I can't find an airplane!" Muttering under my breath. All the while, Bug is babbling away and playing with his feet!!

Three meltdowns later and a very dramatic exit of both stores and we headed home. A much needed nap for you that didn't last long enough. I cursed the nap gods. We headed outside bc this usually delays the meltdowns or easily distracts them.

Silly Mommy thought maybe we should go to church this evening too. Only bc she felt she needed to pray for sanity and patience.....and for the toddler tantrums to maybe slip slide away or at least go down in number.....pretty please God! He was shining down on us bc mass was fairly uneventful...at least it didn't require an exit during to remind said toddler of how we're suppose to act in church. I think that was pretty good!

Tonight when we were saying prayers and talking about what we were thankful for, I decided instead to ask God for better patience and kinda teared up a little as I was talking about it. You instantly got up and ran to the bathroom. I followed you in asking what you were doing. "I need a band aid Mama." Why do you need a band aid? "To make you feel better!" Insert a heart melting!

Sorry for the rough day Monkey! Thank you for reminding me that at the end of the day a new day is right around the corner. A more patient day. A better Mommy and Monkey day. To enjoy the small things and look at the big picture....not the small one that keeps popping up over and over. Thank you for being the sweet little man that you are and taking care of your Mommy's tears! I know it's not easy being the little boy and the big boy all at the same time. You make my heart so proud and happy! Love you to the moon and back!!

10 Things I Love About You

1. How you snuggle into my neck every time I pick you up out of your crib. You follow the snuggle with a huge grin, and if I'm lucky, a second snuggle in!!


2. When I put you down in the grass, you crawl as fast as you can to the fence gate. You know that the doggies are waiting on the other side to love you!


3. You love everyone!! It doesn't matter who it is. It could be a guy all dirty from work with a scruffy face, and you still give that million dollar smile. Making everyone fall victim to your uber cuteness!


4. When I put you in your high chair, you get all excited and can't wait one second longer for your food. I have to have something ready or you are quick to let me know that you can't wait much longer. And blueberries....oh my goodness do you love them. You do the bicycle in your chair when you see the carton come out of the fridge.


5. How you are so proud of yourself when you are walking behind your push cart! You know you are doing something pretty special, and it's written all over your pudgy little face.


6. You completely and utterly adore your big brother! He is the apple of your eye. You want to do what he is doing at all costs. Even if it means you might get squished by him. Train table, trucks, hockey, building, clapping....you name it! You both make my heart melt when you are playing "boo" and laughing hysterically together!!


7. Your feet! I am in love with them! So pudgy and smooshable! I kiss them every chance I get! You love them too. They're often your source of entertainment. Not sure why I even put socks on you sometimes!


8. How you drink it all in! Everything! Those deep, dark eyes of yours are always taking inventory on life. You've always been a wide-eyed little baby. Never able to get enough of what is going on around you. Always eager to share a smile and that sparkle in your eyes!


9. You are the most laid back, in the moment baby. Nothing much ever stresses you out! You can go without a nap, and we don't pay for it later. You just love to be in the shuffle of things. God knew what he was doing when he gave us you. We needed a little one who was content to go with the flow. To love every minute of life!


10. I love your sweetness! I say it again and again, but I just can't get over how sweet of a little boy you are. From day one you have been my sweet little Bug. All I have to do is look at you and see your smile to know that it's going to be okay. You keep my heart light and my soul happy! These last ten months have gone much too fast. I want to slow the clock and continue to drink in your sweetness. To hold you just a little bit longer before I put you in the crib. To hear your sweet babble over and over again. To watch you giggle as we make a block tower and knock it down. To kiss those sweet cheeks again and again. To drink in your sweet smell and never let it go. Thanks for 10 of the sweetest months ever little Bug. You make this Mama so incredibly proud and happy! Love you sweet baby boy!

Five

It seems so close yet so far away that we met at the end of that aisle. Dressed in our very best You looking as handsome as I'd ever seen. It was everything I had ever dreamed of and more. Surrounded by our family and very best friends. We confessed our love and vowed our commitment. We danced the night away. Never wanting to see it end. So in love with one another and the magic of that night!

Now five years later, I still get goosebumps just thinking about that beautiful day. When our commitment was sealed for all to see.

I'll never forget the honesty in your eyes. Your eyes. They tell it all. They tell me everyday how much they love and honor us. They never judge. They always tell it how it is. They take in the good and the bad. But they always, always love me for me. I could never ask for anything more.

You are my strength. My rock. My best friend. My defendant and my opponent. You are the rope that I hang on to when I sometimes feel like I'm slipping. You always pull me back. It's not always pretty but it's real.

You are real. Our love is real.

Five, Babe! Can you even imagine ten? I can't wait!

Here's to forever and always! Loves to you!