My baby is 2

2, we meet again. My baby is 2.  My last baby is 2.  To make it worse, I keep typing 3 & Zach keeps telling me I don't have any more babies & I just need to like big boys now.

Oliver is your typical 2 year old maniac. He loves to jump, climb, throw, really anything possibly dangerous or destructive he thinks is hilarious.

He's still measuring as a gentle giant. We just moved up to 3T clothes. He is 32.2 pounds, so only 3 lbs behind his big brother.  His height slowed down (I imagine a growth spurt is coming) & he's 34" tall.

He is so happy. 95% of the time he is smiling & laughing.  And this guy, he smiles & laughs with him whole body. The other 5% of the time he's super angry; usually because he cannot have a donut or watch TV.

Ollie has a lot of single words. He will parrot words right back to you & randomly say things clear. He is just forming sentences.  He usually forms them when he's super mad, such as, "I wan Daddy!", "TB on pwease!!!!" Or "oh no, wha happen?!".   His new favorite phrase is, "Mama watch dis" as he jumps off the couch.  He's not much of a talker.  But to be fair, as the last baby & the little brother, he doesn't get much of a chance to talk.

He still loves to eat, but has gotten much more selective. He currently eats breakfast food 90% of the time. He loves, loves yogurt.  He will also eat guacamole.  Still drinking almond milk & gets some juice.

He is doing amazing with his glasses. He keeps them on & has only broken 2 pairs in 5 months. The eye doctor thinks there is a good chance Oliver will not need to wear glasses anymore by the time he's 9.  Thank the sweet lord.

He currently loves Mater & Thomas the train.

He really loves being outside, even in the snow & all sports balls.

Oliver has just started really playing with his brother. It's so sweet because now Ollie will miss him & get so excited yelling brother at preschool pick up. This lasts briefly before they push each other or fight over toys.

This little guy is a hilarious handful. He is ornery as the day is long, but brings so much laughter to all of us.   

This sums it up perfectly

So how is life with 2 little boys?  This conversation perfectly sums it up:

Zach goes to preschool at a church and all of the kids gather for a message from the pastor on Fridays.

Me: "What did the pastor talk about today?"

Zach: "Farts!"

Oliver makes a fart noise and both boys start losing their minds laughing.

To be 2 and 4 year old boys. It's a simple life really. We run and jump ALL THE TIME, have daily talks about appropriate jokes, still laugh at fart jokes, Paw Patrol or Dinotrux  (it's on Netflix, dinosaurs that are also trucks, I promise you never want your kids to know about this), and eat all the food all the time.

Generally, each boy wants to do a different combination of these things, which leads to trouble. Have no fear, everything is smoothed over with a cookie break or rough housing.

Zach literally asks, "Mom, can we please rough house now?" 

It's a smelly, wrestling, fart noise, kind of daily life. We have our melt downs, ok a lot of melt downs, and time outs, but mostly happy chaos.

I really thought I had more time until the wresting with each other, but I'll take this crazy boy life any day. Don't worry, I'm no saint.  Wine helps me find the humor in the 345 fart joke of the day.

1st day of Preschool train wreck

Becoming a parent, there are a few things you imagine....apple picking, trick or treating, all sorts of kid activities you know will be adorable and amazing. I'm here to break it to you, it never goes like you picture. Movies lie with their happy, clean, non tantrum children. Those tv kids don't even have boogers anywhere on their face or clothes.

One of these activities I've been looking forward to is the first day of school. I pictured waffles with sprinkles, pictures wearing backpacks, and a lovely send off to starting a school career. What I actually got was nothing short of a train wreck.

I should have given up all hope when Oliver was up from 12:30am-3:15 am and woke up Zach.  I shuffled Zach back to bed & was confident our early risers would rebound. 

Fast forward to 8:15 am when I finally had to wake up both boys. Zach was not thrilled, but excited about school. Oliver was straight up demon baby screaming pissed. Never have I seen such rage from a small child. I got his diaper off to change him & he ran screeching the whole way through the house.

I gave up clothing the baby to focus on the big boy.....since we had to leave in 20 minutes & no one was dressed or fed. I shoved Zach into some clothes & at the table for a breakfast of whatever I could dig up fast.  So magical & special this 1st day of school breakfast.

While the big one was eating I turned my attention back to the little half naked one....who was laying face down on the carpet crying still. I stand him up, slap a diaper & some clothes on him in a manner that would make Houdini proud only to realize my knees were now wet.  During his fit of rage, Oliver peed a lake on the carper, that I was now sitting in.

I had enough time to clean the pee carpet, but not myself, shove a banana in Oliver's pie hole & hit the road.

As we're getting in the car I remember we should take pictures of this joyous day. I get Zach to stand in the driveway for a quick phone picture as Oliver starts screaming again from his car seat.

I got Zach dropped off, only 4 minutes late & smelling of pee & high tailed it to the pediatrician to exercise the demons from Oliver. Turns out he's not sick, just being a toddler sized bully.

Not what I imagined, but at the very least tomorrow could not go worse.

Did I mention today is also my birthday?  Pass me all the wine & cake year 31.

Hello MIddle Age

How are we doing around here?  We're test driving used sedans, I peed my pants last week, and we spent Friday night watching Space Jam (a really awful movie with cartoon characters and Michael Jordan....just terrible).  Overall I'd say we are living the middle aged parents dream.

Did you know, after birthing 2 children, you may pee a little while doing box jumps in a bootcamp class at the gym?  At which point I paused to have a conversation with myself..."what was that?  It can't be....did I really just pee in my pants?  What in the actual hell?  I just fu**ing peed my pants.  Good thing I sweat like a menopausal woman now, you can't even tell.  I need to start doing kegels ASAP."  I mean, being 30 is pretty awesome.

I'm clearly excelling at motherhood.

I would also like to take a moment to laugh at that optimistic woman who posted on here over a year ago about kicking butt with 2 kids hahahahahaha.  Oh sweet woman.  That little baby will do more than sleep and eat and then shit gets real.  I think I actually gave this sage advice to a woman who just had her 2nd child, "It won't seem bad, then it will seem impossible, but then it gets better....I promise it will get better".  We are entering the better phase.  We feel like we're clawing our way out of survival mode and are ready to be functioning members of society.  The boys are more mobile and Oliver can communicate more.  The boys are playing with each other, it often looks like wrestling, but I'll call it super hugging.  Overall we have hit a good stride.  Somedays are more difficult than others, but we're going on more adventures and Oliver is finally sleeping consistently (that child hates to sleep).  We are entering the 4 year old attitude and 18 month old climber stages, so I'm sure I'll regret declaring my awesome parenting and succeeding in this stage of life.  

So I leave you for 4 months and then I provide gems of peeing my pants and life being difficult.  You're welcome.

Another baby, another poop story

Oliver finally gets his very own poop post. 
Oh Oliver.  He looks so sweet, but he is so ornery. I was finishing up giving both boys a bath and needed to grab a diaper.  Oliver was out of the bath, lotioned up, pulling everything out of the drawers.  Zach was playing toys in the draining tub. 'Oliver will be fine without a diaper for a few minutes'.....stupid, stupid, stupid.

The diaper I needed was literally 4 steps away, around the corner, in Oliver's room.  I was out of the bathroom possibly 35 seconds.  Maybe add an extra 4 seconds to close then reopen the bathroom door.  Clearly I closed the door so no baby could escape down the hall and pee.

I walk back into the bathroom and there is a pile of poo in the middle of the floor.  Zach and Oliver appear to be in the excat same spot as when I left the room....35 seconds earlier.....

It looked like a big dog snuck into our bathroom to have an incident on the floor.

I just started laughing. What else can you do?  I say, "Zach did you see Oliver poop on the floor?".  Zach finally notices the mess and starts laughing hysterically.  I'm not quite sure how Zach missed the whole event in a small bathroom.

I was just happy nobody had stepped in it or made a bigger mess. 

Never, ever, ever, does it go well letting a baby run naked in the house.

Hard Worker

3 year old - "My daddy is such a hard worker. He works so hard."

Me - "Well, what about me?  Do I work hard?"

3 yo - "No mommy, you don't work hard....you just do everything."

This was the most insulting compliment I've received to date and I once had someone tell me I was pretty in an average sort of way. 

The Good and the Bad

Staying at home with the kids is a delicate balancing act of recognizing the good and not beating myself up for admitting there is bad.

The Good: I got to snuggle with my toddler at 6:30am and watch cartoons instead of rushing around to get ready and get out the door.

The Bad: I have been up since 3am since the baby is teething/has a cold/hates me and wanted to hang out for an hour or 2 in the middle of the night.  Since I get to be the one who stays home, I get to be the one who gets up with the kids.  It is more acceptable for me to fall asleep with my eyes open at home, than my husband to pass out at work and get fired.

The Good:  I don't have to change out of my pajamas.

The Bad:  There are many days I do not talk to another adult.  If this is the case I pounce on poor Matt once he gets home and either a.) throw the kids at him and run out the door....only to drive around and enjoy the quiet, still not talking to anyone; or b.) pounce on poor Matt and start firing questions at him about his social interactions.  Questions that have actually been asked include: what did you eat from lunch?  Did you get to go to the bathroom alone?

The Bad Part 2:  Pants that grow with you give the illusion of zero weight gain even though you may have hid in the pantry and ate your kids Christmas candy.

The Good:  You never miss a moment.  Those first steps, first words, hugs and kisses.

The Bad:  You never miss a moment.  Not a single tantrum, poop explosion, I hate my brother & like to yell in his face every 3 minutes moment.

The Good:  Plenty of time for play dates.

The Bad:  It could be my introvert nature, or the fact that making mom friends is harder than finding a husband was, but none of my friend stay home (most think I'm pretty bonkers for staying home myself) and I have yet to ask another mom on a date.  Play dates are going to the library and pretending we know the other people there.

The Good: You get to make all of the decisions....what your child eats, learns, can and cannot do.

The Bad: For the love of God do not put any of these choices on Facebook, they will be judged and ridiculed and commented on because you get to stay home so you should have home cooked organic meals every night, after you have done your craft and learning activity, while staying on a consistent schedule because....you know, you can since you're home all the time.  A 3 year old acts like a 3 year old no matter what setting.  Today our learning activity is in the form of Elmo...on TV.

It is heavy to be responsible for all of these things.  I am sure I'm failing everyday in at least one aspect.  But donut date Fridays, even if they happen at lunch time and not breakfast, are the bees knees even if they are not healthy.

The Good:  We have more family time to just be together and not getting chores/errands done.

The Bad: We don't have to use family time to do chores/errands because I did them.  Probably at 4am after the baby went back to sleep.  I may be burning a hole in my stomach with all this coffee in my system.  Truth, I hate 90% of the housework, but it's part of my job, just like I'm sure Matt hates 90% of the reports he has to do, or questions he has to answer.

There are so many more good and bads.  Sometimes when I'm overwhelmed and consider taking any job that is offered to me just to get out of the house, I stop Matt and tell him all the positives of working and make him point out all of the positives of staying home.  Sometimes it is hard to see the forest in the trees, or the awesome opportunity I have to stay home through the pile of laundry and dirty diapers.  It works for us and although I'll question what the hell I'm doing and then search through the want ads during the week, I can't imagine being anywhere else.

Mean Mommy

3 year old: "Mommy, those are mean alligators, like you."

Me: "Wait, what (I was only half listening to the previous 10 minutes where he gave the life and adventures of said alligators & pirates)?  I'm not mean."

3 yo: "Yes you are mommy, but only a little bit, like the alligators."

He runs off as I contemplate if this is a score in the good mom or bad mom column?  I choose to pat myself on the back for a job well done. Looks like I'm winning some of these battles.

My meanest act of the day had been not letting him eat a "cold treat" for breakfast. It was a good negotiation tactic, but no matter how hard you try to make ice cream sound healthy, it's just not.....believe me, I've explored this Avenue before.

Dog or Hydrant

Some days you are the dog, and some days you are the mom getting peed on by her toddler.....wait, I mean hydrant.

Zach has been fully potty trained for months. He does not sleep in a diaper and always tells us when he has to go. He hates when his undies are wet at all. 

Walking out of the ymca, on the way out to the car after running errands, I must have asked Zach 15 times if he had to go potty....more like 3, but it felt like a lot.  Ohio was having am awesome -10 degree day and I wanted to get to the car and get home before we froze.

All the way out of the building...."no mom, no mama, I don't have to go".  Liar liar pants on fire. I get Oliver buckled in his seat, Zach takes his coat off and starts freaking out...of course he has to pee NOW. 

We have one choice, drop your drawers and pee out of the door in the parking lot of the ymca....into the freezing wind chill. I run around the car and it is already too late. He started peeing in his pants as I'm pulling them down, I'm yelling "wait, wait!"  Apparently he did try to wait because as I get in front of him to get his pants all the way down his stream double times and he pees on me.  It was like I was being fire hosed.

I, of course, go "turn, turn!"  duh, now he pees all over the car door.

Everything is soaked.  Luckily I keep spare pants in the car for him and had a blanket to wipe everything down....as I'm freezing my ass off, wet with pee, standing in the ymca parking lot.  It was a sight to be seen.

Zach was thrilled he got to wear pants with no underware home.  I was thrilled no one that parked around us decided to come out during the pee incident of 2015.

Facing Fears

Some people are scared of spiders and snakes, I'm terrified of Zumba. Yes, Zumba the dance workout. The entire idea is a billion miles out of my comfort zone.  I'm missing a key element for dancing....rhythm.  My rhythm is so bad I can't even spell rhythm. Spell check had to take 10 tries to figure out what I was trying to say. I also fear embarrassing myself in public.  So, Zumba is the perfect set up for a panic attack.

Fast forward to yesterday. We joined the ymca and I figured I would try out a fitness class. Standing in the back I ask what class I've joined, really should do that prior to joining next time, and hear I'm in EXhilarate.....Zumba with hip hop instead of Latin music.  I tell this poor stranger, "well that's terrifying, I think I better go".  I'm not sure why I don't make friends with that sort if awkward appeal oozing from my mouth. 

She is chipper and alll, "just stay it's fun...blah blah".  Apparently my need to people please outweighs my fear of dancing in public.....or I didn't want to look like a giant pansy running out of a Zumba class full of ladies, many of them my senior by a good margin.

So here I was, facing fears, starting 2015 accidentally kicking butt and taking names.

I can just thank my lucky stars no one tapes these classes.  There was more booty shaking in that hour than my entire life combined. And guess what......I had a blast. 

Once I realized no one in that room, except for the instructor, had any sort of rhythm or idea what they were doing, I decided to throw caution to the wind and get down with my bad self. It's like singing in church, no matter how bad you are you sing loud and proud because you're praising the lord......when you're in Zumba you go wild and booty shake like only ever done when you're drunk, because you're working out.

Before this episode I also thought of myself as a decently fit person.  I've been running and can bang out 3-4 miles no problem. I've never had to take so many water breaks in 1 hour in my life....and I ran a half marathon. The sweat was so bad it looked like I just got out if the shower. Some poor woman was being so kind and told me as I was walking out of the building, "I just love your hair, wash and go styles are the best".  I didn't have the heart to tell her it was a sweat and go style.

So 2015, first lesson learned. Get out of my comfort zone and it may be fun. The women were all so friendly and it was a ton of fun. There were definitely a lot of moments where I just jumped around trying to figure out what the hell I was doing, but I'm looking forward to next week and perfecting my booty shake.

PS Turns out I don't have any pictures of myself on my phone, so I leave you with this.....you're welcome.....

Sleep studies by a 3 year old

3 year old: "Mommy, I'm tired but if I sleep I can't see anything.  It's hard to sleep when I can't see."

Me: my usual blank stare, then pull some bs out of my butt....."we will go on adventures tomorrow & there will be lots to see, but you have to sleep and rest first"

Told you, complete bs.  I did start calling everything an adventure early, so Zach is no Lewis and Clark.  An adventure to Zach is going to the grocery store and getting to walk down the toy aisle.  It's either evil or genuis, I'm not sure which one. 

One man says buying stamps & mailing bills, another says adventure.  Clearly the one who says adventure is one of my children & needs to visit a therapist for this & a whole lot of other weird issues.

10 months old

Hi, remember me?  Remember when I was confident & all, '2 kids, I got this'.....hahahaha.....feel free to join in laughing. 

I'm back, finally, to give this blog neglected second child an update. I seriously have no idea how my mom has any pictures of my little brother, the 4th child, in a time without camera phones.

Ok, Oliver.

10 months old & still growing at an alarming pace. His weight is 22 lbs and height was 30" last month at his checkup.  He dropped to 87% for weight & jumped to 97% for height.

We just transitioned to 18 month clothes & he's been in size 4 diapers for sometime.

This last month has been big on moving milestones. He crawls, pulls himself up, cruises furniture, jumps in his crib, and now stands for a few seconds on his own. His first steps aren't far behind.

He is still the happiest baby ever. He's all smiles & laughs, unless he's hungry.

He eats everything....except baby food from a spoon. He'll still take pouches of food, but mostly eats finger foods.  He likes all food. He has 3 meals & 1 snack.  He still takes 2 bottles & formula in a sipppy cup at breakfast. He also drinks water.

He is a terrible sleeper.  You can't have it all.  He's an excellent day napper & a terrible night sleeper.  He's been getting up for an hour or 2 at night. He gets super excited & wants to play at 2am.  He sleeps through the night just enough to know he can, he just chooses not to. 

Chomper has 3 teeth.  2 bottom & 1 i tooth on the top.  It looks like the other i tooth is coming in, so he'll look like vampire baby in no time.

The only thing he loves more than eating is his brother.  He now wants whatever toy Zach is playing with. He wants to be touching Zach at all times....this, as you can imagine, is a problem for the 3 year old. 

Ollie is just a cute happy guy. His hair keeps coming in blonder & his eyes keep getting bluer. 

He waves (usually 2 minutes too late), claps his hands, loves to pretend cough, & says mama, Dada & what sounds like hi.  He signs more, but we're pretty sure he has no idea what it means still. 

We're blessed beyond belief with these little guys....even if they give me all the gray hairs.

First skate

It was a big day for Zach....well, as big as days can get for a 3 year old when it'd not Christmas or his birthday. 

Zach went ice skating for the first time last night and it was equal parts hilarious and weirdly emotional.  I mean my baby isn't a baby anymore. He was ice skating, without me, such a little man. It just seemed like such a big kid activity and I'm clearly feeling hormonal.

Don't fret, I was not feeling this lovey dovey towards my toddler as he was yelling and refusing to put his skates on.  I did what all defeated mom's do and I bribed the crap out of him.  If he put on his skates, then we could walk over and check out the race car game.....if he stood in the circle with everybody, then we can ride the toy car on the way out.....then swooped in an angel in ice skates. She was a peppy 20 year old who conveniently looked like queen Elsa from Frozen and has clearly taught classes of the uncooperative beasts known as toddlers.

To get him in the ice she let him color on it with special ice markers (who knew there was such a thing?) And then slowly had him up pushing a bucket around and walking on his skates.  There were a few tears, but when it was time to go I got, "no mommy I'm ice skating....I like skating ". 

Considering I didn't think I'd even get his skates on, it's a small miracle he took a few steps out on the ice by himself.  There were definitely a few moments I was really glad it was a free trial thing and I didn't waste money since it looked like we were going to leave screaming. 

Another fun fact, I don't know how to tie ice skates properly.

I doubt Zach will be the next (insert famous hockey player/inserts skater here) but we may have found something to wear him out during the winter.

Just call me Indiana Jones

Do you ever have moments when you're by yourself but stop for a second just to think, "it's a good thing no one can see me right now"?

I have many crazy, ridiculous moments like that...dance parties, singing all the Disney songs, the conversations/bargains that happen to get Zach to do anything....but by far one of the funniest things has to be watching someone try to set a baby down without waking the child up.

I firmly believe no one can do this gracefully, but everyone who has attempted has done so with the concentration as if they were handling a nuclear bomb....because, well, it's a fair comparison.

It is truly a feat that rivals Indian Jones moves in the Temple of Doom movie. You move carefully, not to make a misstep...then find something that can pass as your arm to put the baby against....slowly place the package (almost lose your balance)....keep one hand on the treasure to ensure success then back away slowly to do your victory dance....which wakes up the baby...DAMN!

I would like the putting down babies YouTube channel.  It would be like my very own America's Funniest Home videos, sad pathetic mom edition. 

3 years old

My baby is 3.  And now I understand why my sister in law cries every year when her kids blow out their birthday candles.  I took turning 30 in stride (probably because I was drinking on the beaches of Mexico), but somehow my little guy turning preschool age has me all sorts of emotional.  Becoming a mom has made me weird, well weirder than I was.

Oh Zach. He is all boy. If there is dirt to dig or rocks to explore he will find it. His favorite things to do are go to the library and go hiking....this will be an interesting combination through the years I'm sure.  He asks almost everyday if it is time to harvest. Farming and tractors may always be his first love.

Currently trains, specifically Thomas the Train, are the bees knees. We have trains everywhere. Train bedding on his big boy twin bed, train movies, train toys, and as a special birthday surprise from Nana & Papa, we got to ride the real Thomas. 

The kid is hilarious. He never stops talking and has some gems come out if that loud mouth. He likes to ask (with a giant ornery smile), "Are you tricking me?!".  We have been also getting, "hey mommy/daddy.....I love you."  He lik3s to talk to strangers in restaurants.   He will just turn around and start yelling, 'hi, I'm zach, I'm eating pizza".  His favorite phrase is, "Oliver, you're ok buddy, I love you!", whenever Oliver cries.

Zach loves Oliver so hard.....literally,  so hard. There are some full contact hugs & kisses I have to supervise.  These brothers light up each others world. I know it won't always be like that, so I'm trying to savor it now.

He just got to move up to preschool at daycare. He still goes 2 days a week currently. He is smart.  He knows his shapes, colors, most letters & numbers, how to spell his name & normal 3 year old stuff. He already cries to go to school on the big bus like his niece & nephew. 

Turns out Zach grew a few inches over the summer & all of his pants are too short. He is in 3T shirts & 2T/3T pants. He is a skinny guy still, but getting better about trying foods. He tried broccoli the other day & the face he made, one would think we fed him dog poop covered in burnt hair. His favorite food is pizza.

3 has come with some attitude. 2 had its tantrums, but he was generally a lovey, happy guy. I saw someone else refer to their kid as a 'threenager' & I couldn't agree more. I get way more sass, eye rolls, and fights now.....those with real teenagers feel free to laugh at me & how much worse it's going to get.

Even with the new attitude,  I'm loving this age. His independence is growing, but he still will hold my hand & snuggle up. We have real talks about school & everything else. He does not forget or miss anything, I have to watch what I say always. We love this little spitfire so much & cannot believe it has been 3 years since he made us way more than we thought we could be, mommy & daddy. 

Zach loves the ladies

It's already mildly disturbing that Zach gravitates toward older girls. It never fails.  We'll pick him up from school and he'll be with 2 or 3 older girls.

Then he told us he wanted to dress as Izzy,  the girl pirate from a cartoon,  for Halloween.

I raised my eyebrows, but I'm all about not conforming and all that hippy goodness, so sure.  I asked him here and there over the next 2 days and sure enough he stuck with Izzy the pirate.

Finally I asked him why he wanted to be Izzy instead of Jake or Buddy?

"Because I really like girls mom"

I'm going to need Xanax when this kid hits high school.

6 Months Old

Oh Oliver, I can't believe your already 6 months old, but I also can't remember our little family without you.

You are 19 lbs 15 oz and 28" long...confirming you are indeed one solid boy at 85% for both. And just as a comparison, Oliver is just 1 ounce & 2 inches off of where Zach was at his 1 year check up.

You are growing like a weed and are going to eat us out of house and home. You're in 6-9/9 month clothes and those are starting to get snug. Your size 3 diapers seem to be fitting still. You blow through clothe sizes at an alarming rate.

You love food. You take 4 bottles a day, each one 7 - 8oz for 28-32 oz a day.  We also do rice cereal in the morning and night and have added fruits and veggies to try. You hate peaches. That is the only food you have rejected. You love rice cereal and bananas.

Big guy is sitting up on his own. He sometimes tips, but he's doing great. If he tips he giggles the entire way down like it's a game.

We've got a decent little schedule down....or we did until the last 10 days when you decided sleep was over rated. It's hard to be too mad at your 2-3 am party sessions because you are so darn happy. You just want to be awake to laugh and smile at me. Usually you take 2 naps & 1 cat nap, go down at 7:30 & sleep until 5:30am at the earliest.

You are loud!  We think it's because you have to be to be heard over your brother. You get to squealing and making noises & don't worry, everyone can hear you. I swear I heard a mama in there, but it was probably wishful thinking.

Your favorite thing ever is your brother. You stare and laugh at Zach. It's a good thing Zach has decided he likes you too & always wants to hold your hand. Anytime you cry Zach is sure to come up to tell you it's ok, and then you start laughing. You boys love each other so much & it makes my heart burst with happiness.

You also like the jumper, but really you like everything. Oliver, the happiest baby ever. You smile at ladies in the store & make their day. You're such a happy round guy with those blue blue eyes and white blonde hair.

You have been sticking out your tongue and making fart noises all the time, much to the delight of your older brother.

Weird enough, you always giggle when you're getting a poop diaper cleaned up. I'm glad you think it's hilarious I have to wipe your butt.

You're gearing up to crawl and I'm slightly terrified.  You already wiggle and move around a little.  Tummy time is hit or miss since you just roll over.

We love you, our happy little guy.....even though the sound of the camera on my phone terrifies you...

7am

I have fed the baby and got the little chubbers back to sleep, fed and let out the dog, paid bills and watched a movie all by 7am.

There are perks to being up by 4 am. I am way more productive in the morning when everyone else is asleep. Want to do some calculus or discuss the situation in the middle east?  Catch me at 6am. Want to do basic addition or small talk at 8pm?  Nope, not going to happen, I'm already shutting down for the day.  The best you'll get from me are some fart jokes.

It always boggles my mind what a morning person I've become out of necessity. I was the girl skipping doing my hair or any sort of make up,  or changing out of my pajamas really to get just 5 more minutes of shut eye before school.

Maybe someday I can learn to love exercise and stop having such a smart mouth.....nah, let's not go that far.

This happy guy is worth getting up for....

Breakfast Conversations

Some actual words spoken this morning...

Me: "please stop biting the table, we talked about this yesterday"

Zach: making fart noises
Me: "do not make fart noises at me please"
Zach: roooaaarrr
...I guess dinosaur roars are better than fart noises.

Zach with dirty hands: "my hands are dirty, mommy lick it"
Me: "no, I'm not licking your hands clean"
Zach: "why?"

Ollie fussing
Me: "I'm sorry Ollie I can feed you any faster"
....this one is going to eat us out of house and home.

Zach about 2,000 times since going to the local fair on Wednesday: "I want a cow mommy....we're going to get a cow, a dairy cow, I need a cow..."

It's only 8am.  Someone send a cow and a bloody Mary stat. 

So we meet again Thomas

Oh, you think Thomas is a random friend....you clearly do not have small children. If someone brings up the name Thomas in conversation I assume they're talking about Thomas the Train...don't mind me if you talk about your coworker Thomas and I ask if you work at Sodor Steamworks.  I would then laugh like crazy at my lame toddler cartoon joke.

Ahem, anyway, Zach has clearly revived his love for Thomas the train. We had a brief window of time where he was into other things, but it was short lived, much to my dismay.

I thought tractors had taken the top spot in Zachs heart until we picked out new sheets for his new big boy twin bed. I should have just gotten what I wanted and not given him a choice because now it's going to look like Thomas the train threw up in his room.

Zach also refused to put the sheet set in the cart and instead carried it through the store. It doesn't seem like much, but that's bulky and heavy for an almost 3 year old. He just kept saying "I do it" and hugging them closer and making train noises.

But the cherry on top of this ridiculous trip is when I heard him whisper to the sheets he was carrying, "I love you Thomas".  Well dang it Thomas, I guess I love you too for making my big guy so happy.....I still think I may have a seizure from all the train patterns in his room.

This picture has nothing to do with his bed or Thomas the Train, it's just hilarious. You don't play in the sandbox in your undies?