Lets Party!

Lucas and I got to attend a peer birthday party for his cousin recently and he did amazing!

It was at a gym and I knew the unfamiliar kids and parents would test his social anxiety. 

But as you can see he's loving it! 

They even had allergen free cupcakes so he could enjoy dessert just like all the other kids. 

Thanks guys for inviting us. It was AWESOME! 

 

 

 

Mom life

Monday:

Wake up, feed the baby and get Luke ready for school. 

8:50am - Get thing 1 on the bus

9am - Arrive at the social security office to finalize adoption things

9:40am - Leave social security office and stop to get donuts. 

9:55am - Stop at post office while in town to get stamps and ship some overdue items 

10:10am - arrive back home to eat quickly 

10:15am - leave with thing 2 for OT

10:40am - arrive at OT, speak with therapist and remind thing 2 to use good listening. 

10:50am - leave OT to run to Target to make some exchanges and buy a few necessities. Finding the girls matching clearance outfits as a bonus 😍

11:40am - return to get thing 2 from therapy. 

12pm - Pick up lunch for the kiddos and have the following conversation with thing 2. 

     Who is your favorite? 

     Daddy is my favorite. He's like a Happy Meal. 

12:30pm - return home and feed the kids lunch, get things 2 & 3 ready for nap

1:10pm - Leave with things 1 & 4 to drive to Cranial Tech for a doc band adjustment. 

2:20pm - Return home to drop off thing 4 and eat a quick snack. 

3pm - Load thing 1 to head to Lake Geneva for his first dental exam at Auntie's work. 

4pm - Arrive at dentist and manage to get through it without any major meltdowns. He didn't allow them to do much this time but no visual cavities so yay!

5pm - Arrive at Grandma and Grandpas to help set up their new phones and find out Ive paid off one of my student loans. Woot!

7pm - Leave to return home with thing 1. 

8pm - FINALLY back home for the day to enjoy the gift from my parents for paying off my loan!

No wonder moms look sleepy all the time 😉

 

They're hired

I'm fairly certain these are the moments he lives for as a daddy. 

Lucas watched a YouTube video with Dad and just took over as project manager. 

He even made sure to encourage daddy and reassure him he's doing great. 

I for one am pretty pleased with their work. 

BEFORE

AFTER 

A huge thanks to everyone who had a hand in making the new sink a reality ❤

 

 

Immersion therapy

There's a reason the letters O, C and D cannot be found in the word "parenting". 

This can be summed up in one word really ...

PLAY-DOH 

Kids love this stuff. It's like hand crack for tiny humans. 

As a parent I'm not a huge fan. 

ONE: The color mixing. OH the color mixing 😩 It is with complete confidence that I can assure you not a single container escaped contamination. 

TWO: How is it that more play-doh ends up on the floor than the table itself?! And did you know it sticks to socks? But only on hard surfaces. 

It comes right off the sock when on anything carpeted or upholstered. 

THREE: In an effort to prevent the floor from feeling like it's getting preferential treatment lets not forget clothing ...

Yep ... good old PLAY-DOH. 

Forcing parents to face their OCD tendencies since 1956. 
 

 

 

Cinnamon

A few weeks back Daddy and I had the pleasure of visiting Luke's classroom to make gingerbread houses. 

It was so wonderful to meet his friends and other parents. I often feel like I miss out on this because Luke takes the bus. 

But let's be real. Can you picture me bundling all the kids up, driving to school, unloading them all to walk Luke to his classroom, loading them all back into the car, going home, unloading them, waiting 2ish hours, loading them back into the car, driving to school, unloading them to walk and get Luke from his classroom, loading all 4 back into the car, driving home and unloading back into the house? Four days a week? Yeah me either. 

It's hard to see in this picture but Luke was given a red gummy Santa to finish off his gingerbread house. Mommy knew this was a hot cinnamon Santa but Daddy was unaware. 

One afternoon while I was at the store Luke asked to eat Santa and Daddy said sure! It did not go well. So Daddy and Luke had a talk about how sometimes cinnamon can taste hot and Luke told Mommy all about it when she got home.

 

Fast forward a few days. 

I'm laying in bed with Luke as he falls asleep and the following conversation insues. 

Mommy is my birthday tomorrow?

No buddy your birthday is in Summer when it's hot out. Right now it's pretty cold outside. 

Mommy I have an idea! Let's put some cinnamon outside and then it will be hot out and my birthday! Is that a good idea?

It sure is buddy. It sure is ❤

 

 

 

Seeing Red

Let this be a lesson to all you other parents out there ...

When you ask your child what color they would like their new playspace painted, first be prepared to have to follow through no matter the answer. 

A: Rapture Red 😳

Pictures soon

We're Back

It has been forever since I have written a blog post.  Probably because most days I can't remember to brush my teeth much less find time to sit down and write ;)
But as the new year approached I found myself sitting at the kitchen table last night contemplating my many resolutions, and blogging to document these priceless moments with my children came to mind.
It was about mid thought when Lucas (our oldest, 3.5) emerged from the basement playroom missing his pants, his underwear and smeared in poop.  No need to adjust your screen, I said poop.  On both hands, smeared down both legs and on his socks.  Potty training is not for the faint of heart.
I called for Dad to clean Lucas while I ventured to our carpeted basement to assess the damage ... again.
Top step ... poop.

Fifth step ... poop
Bottom landing ... poop.
Five steps into the room ... poopy pants and underwear.
Took a deeeeeeeep breath and rouded up the paper towel, plastic bag, enzyme spray, spotbot and some patience.
I began with the spots in the playroom, saving the basement steps for last.  About halfway through I hear the worst noise imaginable at this point.  Somehow Joshua (2) snuck past Don and was currently sliding down the basement stairs on his belly.  Without thinking I began screaming for Don to come get him and my yelling scared poor Joshy causing him to run his now poop covered self back up the carpeted stairs.  You can't make this stuff up folks.
What seemed like hours later I am finally finished cleaning up poo and I go to unplug the spotbot only to notice the carpet is soaking wet.  At first I thought he probably peed because I mean if you're going to poop on the carpet why not pee too, right?
Well unless my son is a camel, this was entirely too much wetness to be pee. In that very moment it occurs to me ... I had been so concentrated on the carpet I never even looked up.
His little poopy finger prints tell the story.

He likely used the dehumidifier to balance himself while removing his underwear and pants, thus tipping it over and dumping a full tank of water all over the carpet.
Sopped up as much water as I could with towels, restarted the dehumidifier, tossed the soaked towels in a hot vinegar wash and gingerly maneuvered up the still damp spot cleaned stairs.
Its a good thing life with 4 under 4 has become routine enough for me to be able to blog again 😉
Oh and just in case you were wondering ... playing with ones poop does in fact give you conjunctivitis. 

Which will inevitably spread to your siblings. 

This is real life people. 
I think maybe we will try underwear again in a month or so.

Stay tuned for more adventures in parenting 😆