Does this one come with instructions?

Just when I think I have things figured out, the universe slaps me in the face with a doozy of a day.  This cute face would be the culprit...

He never ceases to remind me that all children are different, because he is NOTHING like Carter was at this age.  He is a major cuddler, unlike his brother, and yesterday I held him for nearly 9 hours straight.  It was the only thing that worked, and the only perk was the bicep workout I got.  Who needs a shakeweight when you have a fussy 10 lb newborn to bounce?!

It also reminded me of a bone I have to pick with God.  All babies should come with their own personalized instruction manual.  Period. 

New moms go through enough, we don't need surprise attacks waged against us by the very offspring we worked so hard to bring into this world.  Heck, yesterday I'd have been happy with a customer service line. -Hello, you've reached Yourwhitsend Hotline.  If you're calling, your child *Charlie must be throwing you for a loop.  Press 1 for blood curdling screams that never end.  Press 2 for brightly colored poo or vomit.  Press 3 if you have dropped your child.  Press 4 if you are concerned you've ruined your child for life. Or stay on the line to speak with someone who knows what in the heck to do-  Although, it'd probably get outsourced like everything else.  But come to think of it, maybe outsourcing wouldn't be so bad in this situation.  The more remote the country the better.  Because if anyone knows how to effectively and efficiently manage a newborn it would be women who had to walk miles for water or food, balance laundry baskets on their heads, or live in constant fear of tribal attacks, right?  Surely they have secrets I don't know about because I can barely keep things under control here, and I have running water, a washer & dryer, frozen meals that require zero hunting or gathering, and a car to get me from here to there.  So, yes, let me talk to those women! 

Sometimes, we just need a reminder that our children aren't robots.  Or that we are good moms, and we are doing the very best we know how.  Or that some days are just tougher than others, and that God has already given us the grace we need to get through each one of them.  Or that maybe, today, the kid just needs to cry for whatever reason, and nothing you do will help.  He will tucker out and fall asleep eventually.  So when he does, have a glass of wine, get some sleep, and tomorrow will be better.

Mommy Confessions: pitchin' a tent

Ever have a day or three when you just feel a little blue for no good reason at all?  Well, that's where I am, and there are probably a few reasons, but as I said...none of which are good enough to warrant a three day slump.  None-the-less, I'm here, and today I should probably have taken Carter outside or done something productive, but I just didn't want to.  What I really wanted was to get out of my head and live in some other story for a while.  I usually read to do that, but I haven't found a book good enough to hold my attention lately.  So I decided to watch one or two of the 15 movies that have been sitting unwatched on my DVR, but alas, they do not include brightly colored animated characters, so I knew Carter wouldn't be interested in watching with me.  And I hate the idea of me being a bum while he has nothing to do but get in to trouble.  Solution?  A tent.

Because even the most ordinary things are more fun in a tent.  So I, with as much excitement as I can muster, announce this morning that we will have a tent day. I made his lunch picnic style, grabbed the iPad, some blankets, Charlie's bottle, a little debbie for myself {because what's a down day without junk food?} and upstairs we went. 

It was just enough to make the day exciting for him, and it kept the mom guilt from creeping in on me while I watched Secretariat in bed.  After he ate, he pulled in some trucks, a puzzle, and a flashlight, and was very pleased with himself. 

I'm allowing myself this last day to be blue, because really, enough already.  But I never want Carter to suffer because of my stupid mood.  That just adds to the already ever-present mom guilt and makes things worse.  So I'll put the tent in my growing trunk of tricks for the next down day, rainy day, or toodanghottoplayoutside day.

I'm planning to suggest coloring in the tent after nap time.

Back to the movies for me.  Now Showing: Red Riding Hood   

Favorite Moment Friday: Let's Play Ball

Okay, don't judge but I occasionally watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Kloe and Lamar.  And by 'occasionally' I mean I sink into a reality tv coma anytime there is a marathon.  And believe it or not, I was actually inspired by something they do at the dinner table.  They call it "highs and lows," and they share their highest or best moment of the day as well as their lowest moment of the day.  Sometimes, it's just good to stop and take stock of things, ya know?  While it's unrealistic for me to blog everyday about it, I can totally do it once a week! So, I'm starting a section to document my favorite moment of the week. 

This week's winner...

I introduced my oldest son to baseball!! 

 Carter has recently become quite the indoor golfer.  While he enjoys using various club-like objects to send assorted balls flying, mommy enjoys dent-free walls.  So we took the fun outside.  I found a wiffle bat and ball in the garage and out back we went.  I tossed the ball up and knocked it across the yard to show him how it's done {Don't be fooled by this sporty fluke. I secretly couldn't believe I made contact on the first try and did a happy girly-girl dance in my head}, and took my home run lap, which he thought was funny.  Probably because my run looks more like a hobble due to my recent overzealous workout regimen.  Then I stood behind him and helped him do it himself.  He was so excited that he hit the ball, so we tossed the bat-okay, maybe he threw it straight up only to have it hit me in the face on the way down- and ran the bases as we counted "One, Two, Three, Home run!" 

I love being a mom of boys. Period.

Feel free to link up and blog your favorite moment of the week, and be sure to add the FMF button!

2 is better than 1...sometimes

This week the 2 boys and I packed up and headed to Alabama to visit my sister and her soon-to-be family of 4.  Her and her husband Frank have a daughter Anna, and another, Ella, on the way.  She is 38 weeks pregnant {yes, we've been pregnant together...twice!} and needed some last minute cleaning done, which is nearly impossible at her juncture of pregnancy, so south we went.  I was glad for a change of scenery, and for Carter to have a playmate for a few days.  He and my niece Anna were born 2 weeks apart, and it's been a blessing to see them grow up together.  I've also decided that toddlers are similar to dogs in that 2 is {sometimes} better than 1.  You see, you can use one to manage the other.  One toddler can be used to bait another, for example, into taking a bath, or cleaning up toys.  Two also creates instant running races....often to nowhere in particular and with no obvious winner.  Just running for the sake of running.  And where there is running, there is screaming.  This is when 2 is not better than 1.  So, I took advantage of the gorgeous Spring day and took the running balls of loudness outside for some fresh air and open space.  And {I say this with the biggest smile in my heart} I got to teach them the joy of blowing dandelion seeds.  I showed them once, saw their faces light up, pointed them towards their own and around the yard they went.  I sat watching them find joy in something so simple and thought to myself moments like these make motherhood worth it. I get to relive the wonderment of the world all over again, one dandelion moment at a time.  And then I snapped out of it and realized I would have no pictures to remember it by if I didn't run and get my camera.  

Lucky for me there were plenty of dandelion seed...things{what is the name for those, anyway?} to keep them busy and give me time to shoot. 

 Unlucky for my brother-in-law Frank that he will have unlimited dandelion weeds in his back yard now.

5 Things Only Moms Know

1. Applejacks and/or Fruitloops go in the bowl with milk as an air-puffed cereal, but appear later dried and adhered to flat surfaces as a shriveled shrunken version of itself.

2.  Cartoons, no matter how "educational" they claim to be, will never be rational.  ie-2 year old Max will always outsmart 5 year old Ruby.  If Ruby would learn to listen to Max the first time he speaks, she'd save herself a lot of trouble.

 Dino Dan's friends and family are enablers.  He clearly needs an imaginary dinosaur intervention. 

No, Diego, magical mermaids {or the "heroes of the sea" as you'd like to call them} were not once manatees, and I've never been able to fit a life boat in any bag or carry-on.

3.  Mom's bed is no longer just a bed.  It is the family room, the office, the conference room, the hospital, the breakfast, lunch, and dinner table, the movie theater, the laundry folding table and the gymnasium.

4.  When looking for misplaced items such as a remote, cell phone, or car keys, always search from bottom to top.  Never top to bottom.  This is a bi product of living with short people.  First, scan the floor of each room-most will stop after this step because said item will be tripped over or stepped on. Second, look under the furniture...even unrollable objects seem to magically roll themselves right out of sight.  Third, check in or around toy boxes and lower kitchen & bathroom cabinets. Fourth, lift couch cushions and pull back bedspreads.  So on and so on.  You get the idea.

5.  The gelatinous insides of an exploded diaper are much easier to vacuum/wipe up after having a minimum of 2 hours to dry.  But let's be real...who's gonna remember it's still there in 2 hours?

Saying Goodbye

5 years ago we brought a puppy home from the pet store.  We sat in the kitchen floor discussing names and watched the clumsy canine wreak havoc on our wood floors.  We smiled and laughed to ourselves nervously.  A few nights later, the gravity of the purchase began to set in.  But by then, he was family.  We knew the challenge that was ahead of us, but like so many new couples, we chose a dog as our first child, and we intended to see it through.  Potty training, scrubbing soiled carpet, pitiful puppy howls from the garage at night, crate training, sit & stay, chew toys...endless chew toys, bark collars, shock collars, walking collars, training collars {we've had them all}, doggie treats, swallowed diapers- which leads to vet visits, scratched floors, dented walls, doggie door, doggie beds, chewed up and peed on shrubs and trees...it is beyond me why humans put themselves through the trouble of owning animals.  We invested quite a bit in Winston.  In more ways than one.  I think I always pictured having Winston around until he was old and...well, gray.  But this weekend we made the tough decision to give him away to a home better suited to his wiley needs.  Our neighborhood association made rules prohibiting homes like ours from getting tall fences that block backyard views, and our seemingly Winston proof Invisible Fence wasn't so Winston proof after all.  He got a taste of life outside of our back yard, and apparently liked it enough to endure the *shocking* consequence. Over. and. Over.  Our friendly neighbors would bring him back each time, but we couldn't ignore the danger it posed for Winston and other drivers on the busy street.  Thankfully a childhood friend of mine shared the Good Owner Wanted facebook post with her husband, who fell in love with him, and they took him home a few nights ago. 
I don't think we were prepared for the loss, honestly.  It was all very quick, like ripping off a band-aid, and then he was gone.  We were no longer dog owners.  I'm not very good at goodbyes...let's be real...I'm not good in any emotional situation...but especially goodbyes.  I tend to make a laugh out of it and then suffer silently later by myself.  And this was no exception. I'm not blogging for sympathy, but rather because he was a part of our family, and it feels wrong not to document our goodbye it in some way.  I'm sure some psychologist would say this is my way of saying goodbye.  I'm sure they'd also say that I have guilt of not being a better dog mom while I had the chance, or that maybe I feel like a quitter.  I guess maybe they could be right.  But those guys are all nuts anyway, right?  Because being sad about or being emotionally attached to an animal would just be silly, right? Well, in any case, the Watsons will miss Winston.  The UPS man?...not so much.   

Getting Out & Settling In

It's been a little over a month since Charlie was born, and I'm finally feeling like myself again. Charlie has settled in to a schedule, and things seem to be back to normal...or maybe a new normal. I think the baby blues were starting to set in, but luckily I have good friends who get me out for girl time and unseasonably pretty weather to help me bounce back.  I've been making an effort this week to get out of the house with the boys, even if it's just down the road to a nearby playground for a picnic lunch with friends.

 Or canine hunting {aka searching the neighborhood for our prodigal dog, Winston, who's new obsession is running away} picture not included

Or driving a county over to Grandmama and Papa's house

We made sure to introduce Charlie to his great grandparents while we were in town

 While a full night's sleep is hard to come by, staying in yoga pants and a tee, and having a lazy day with the boys is tempting, but too much of anything is a bad thing.  And there is no denying that this child loves to be outside and active.

So this mom has been busy planning future day trips and activities to keep us cabin fever-free

P.S. I'm open to toddler friendly suggestions!!