Snips and Snails and Puppydog tails

I grew up the middle of three children and the only girl. I was a tomboy, but as I grew I came to realize that boys are gross. They tend to get dirtier then girls, they always seem to 'accidentally' get yucky stuff everywhere. It was my experience that when you are sharing a bathroom with a boy there are going to be boogers and pee somewhere.

Alex is such a sweet little guy. Imagine my amazement when I realized that he is a stinky boy! LOL!

I went into his room the other afternoon to wake him up because I needed to pick Izzy up from school. He was hard to wake up and looked like he really wanted to stay asleep. I rolled him over and started to change his diaper. He passed some gas and we both laughed. I got his pants off and started removing his diaper. As soon as I got the diaper off he tooted again. This one really surprised me and because he had not pooped yet, it alarmed me. I jumped. Alex thought this was hilarious. We both ended up laughing.

Then comes the stinky boy part. He said "Watch this Mommy!" I saw his little body tense up and the little booger pooted at will! Then he did it again 3 more times! Geez...if he can do this at 2 what will he be like at 13????

Oh yeah...shouldn't I get bonus points for how many different words I used for passing gas? LOL!

The Final Frontier

I knew it was coming. I just kept hoping it would take a while longer.

When you are going through motherhood for the first time you can't wait for your child to hit those major milestones. You know the ones, rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking, talking, and da da da daaaaaaa...opening the door knobs. As a second time mom I have found myself not really wanting to rush things. Alex has hit all of the major milestones so far, but not the final one until today.

He now OPENS DOORKNOBS! Eeeekkkkk!!!! This was my last defense. Thomas told me yesterday that that he did it like 3 times, but he didn't do it for me until today. And he did it numerous times. It's so funny that he is sooooo late in this milestone because Isabelle did it before she turned 2. Actually it took her like 2 evenings after we took the side off of her crib. We took the side off of Alex's crib in January. It's now May. I was secretly hoping that it wouldn't happen.

Now I am looking forward to him not wanting to stay in his room when it is time to take a nap or go to bed. He can also get into my hiding places (the laundry room and the closet) without the help of his older sister. And let's not forget the bathrooms. He has been obsessed for some time with flushing the toilet so we have kept the bathroom doors closed so that he can't get in there and flush the toilet numerous times. We are in the middle of a drought so we have water restrictions and I REALLY don't want to have to pay extra money because we have gone over our normal water usage. So far he hasn't tried to get out of his room when he wasn't supposed to. I actually think that it hasn't crossed his mind yet that he can open his door and leave when he wants to. We'll see how long that lasts.

Finger Love

I went and picked the kids up today from Alabama. By the end of our trip poor little Alex had had enough of being in his car seat. He started crying and whining and every time I had to stop at a light of slow down and would say "Go Go Go!!!!". He finally woke Izzy up who actually fell asleep. When she woke up she was trying to get him to calm down and quit crying. I suggested that she hold his hand as that might calm him down.

She reached over and took his hand. He of course quit crying.

Then she said, "Momma, when I hold his hand I feel love coming all the way from my fingers to my heart!"

So sweet!!!

Evel Knievel Rides Again

Alex has been quite the crazy child lately. Still a complete sweetie, but just trying his luck with everything.

A week ago Friday he fell as he was running to play with Isabelle and ran into the corner of the wall. He had the biggest goose egg. If he had hit it any harder we would have been at the ER getting stitches. He still had the bruise over a week later. The same day he dropped something heavy on his foot and left a huge bruise. Later that day he slammed his fingers in a door. Not his best day.

A couple of days after that I went up to get him up from a nap that wasn't happening and found him sitting in the TOP DRAWER of his dresser. I almost peed my pants! We have since put latches on the dresser so hopefully that is done.

On Saturday, the kids and I were at my Mom and Dad's house in Alabama. They have a few riding toys (the battery powered kind) for the kids. We had finished playing when them and put them up on the porch to plug them in and get re-charged. The kids and I were on the porch playing while my Dad and Mom were getting ready to take everyone on a boat ride. The porch is about 3 feet off of the ground with no railing around it. I was getting up to help Isabelle with something when Alex got on the little motorcycle that they have. I immediately started towards him and was yelling for him to get off of the motorcycle.

Then, accidentally his little foot hit the gas and the motorcycle took off with him on it. He rode the dang thing off of the porch!!!! I hate it when things like this happen. They seem to happen in slow motion and you can NEVER get there in time to prevent it from happening. I saw it all in slow mo...he had a look of terror on his little face as I was running toward him screaming for him to stop. First the front wheel went off of the porch. Then the back wheels caught on the pavement and he went flying off of the porch. His little chest/tummy hit the steering column and then he flipped over the handle bars and got hung on the handle bars by his shirt.

That is where he was when I got to him. He was crying and scared. But, remarkably, completely unharmed!!!! The lucky little booger! Not even a bruise. I can't believe it. It will be a miracle if he makes it to 3 without an ER visit. Evel Knievel eat your heart out.

Body Parts

Last weekend my Mom and Dad (Meme and Pawpaw) were here for the weekend to help us celebrate Alex's birthday and the kids being Baptized. At one point during the weekend Pawpaw was holding Alex and Alex was doing the whole Nose, Eyes thing. I really wish you could hear his sweet little voice saying all of the body parts because it is the sweetest ever. So, here it is:

Alex: Eyyyeeeessss

Pawpaw: Yes. Eyes

A: Mouth

P: Yes. Mouth

A: Nose

P: That's right. Nose

A: (while inserting his sweet little finger into Pawpaw's nostril) Boogers

LOL!!! The whole room cracked up. Wish I had that one video. We might even win lots of money with that one.

A New Year

I know I've been a bit on the invisible side in the OC. I'm sorry to say that it probably won't get much better anytime soon. I have decided to try and simplify my life so that our little corner of the world can be a little more relaxed and happy this year. It seems crazy to me that my life as a stay at home Mom is so stressful. I don't think that it has to be this way.

Last year was a very hard year for us as was the year before. This year will be different. I'm counting on it.

It has already started off with a bang.

The kids were well for about 3/4 of December (including the holidays) and it has snowed here TWICE!!! All would probably still be well, but I got sick and then of course Izzy got it. But, it seems to have been relatively short lived and I think that she will be back at pre-school in the morning.

Thomas actually put the kids to bed (yes...you read that right...multiple kids) at least 4 times. Gee...things happen differently when mommy can't get out of bed. Alex is now in a big boy bed and he is doing really well with it. He would probably be heading for potty training if I had the energy and I could keep Isabelle out of the way.

Isabelle is back to not wanting to get her shots. I guess this is something that we will have to go through from time to time. It seems to be sort of a cycle with us. We have another endo appointment in February and I am planning on talking to the doctor about a pump at that time. I'll see how Izzy feels about it when the time comes. Boy...it sure would be nice not to have to worry about giving her all of those shots every day. It's hard sometimes not to get upset when she is running from you and begging you not to give her a shot.

Isabelle had her 4 year old well check up last week and the doctor was very pleased with her progress. She has done a lot of growing the last year. For what is probably the first time in her life she is well past the 10% of everything on the growth charts. She is still petite, but she is within the normal range.

So enough rambling. I will try to get back soon with some fun little stories of the kiddies. Don't forget about me out there...I am still here. And Scott(if you are out there)...I swear I will get around to the meme sometime soon. :)

Voices from the crib

Picture it...last night it was about 10:30 and I was in bed reading. All of a sudden I hear a little voice through the monitor. It wasn't Alex. At first I was a little freaked out then I realized that it was his Precious Moments Angel. Alex and Izzy both have one and you push their little tummy and they say a little prayer. I thought maybe he kicked it in his sleep.

A few minutes later I heard it again. That's strange. I thought maybe he was in a strange position and he was kicking it again or something. He sometimes kicks his little foot while he is trying to get to sleep.

A few more minutes and I heard it again. I knew that I could not sleep with that thing going off again so I snuck into his room to see what was going on. The little booger was sleeping on it!!! He was sleeping on his tummy with the doll under it. Luckily he rolled slightly, setting off the doll again, and I reached in and grabbed it. He of course completely rolled over then and looked up at me. I ran for the door. Mission complete.

I'm still laughing about this.

Poor Alex

He now has an ear infection. Funny...I know something was wrong when he was up most of the night last night. He just doesn't stay up all night for no reason. He feels better this evening. He should. He has antibiotics, Motrin, teething gel, cold medicine and a tummy full of milk. Plus he got to play with his Daddy and Isabelle.

Alex is too cute these days. He is trying really hard to jump, but can't quite figure out how to get his feet off of the ground. When he is on the bed though he can! He delights in jumping on the bed and landing on his butt. He giggles and then stands up and does it again. He is also trying really hard to give raspberries. Isabelle loves to do that and she thinks it is sooooo funny so now Alex is trying his hardest to do it too. He was totally annoying Isabelle tonight because he kept trying to blow raspberries all over her where ever he could get his mouth. He's too cute.