Remember last week, good ol' Week 23--the one entitled "A Sentimental Week"?? Oh how quickly the tides can turn! Just when we're really starting to think, "hmmm, maybe we should have one (or two) more--look how adorable and sweet and fun they are".....REALITY strikes again! I love my boys so dearly, but I want to paint an honest picture of our life, and this week was not one of my favorites. I can't stand it when people, particularly from the safety and distance of their computers, constantly only post the very best parts of their lives and conveniently forget to mention the not-so-awesome times. So, there will be some moments from this week that I don't necessarily want to remember, but I figure maybe someday the boys can look back and gain comfort from reading this when they have kids (Lord willing!).
The week started off with haircuts for both boys. Ethan was a piece of cake thank goodness because his hair is so fine and straight that there's a very small margin for error! Tommy's haircut was hard as usual. He had to be held down by Davey, and he cried the whole time. That said, the "whole time" was significantly shorter than usual--he seemed kind of resigned to the fact that it had to be done, so that was a win! Progress has been made on the haircut scene for sure, and I think I've improved a bit too!
Ethan and Tommy sporting their new haircuts.
But, let me tell you where progress has not been made--pooping in the potty. I'm a bit at my wit's end here with Tommy on this one. If you didn't know, I actually worked in the potty training class at a 5-star daycare for 1.5 years after college. Now, it is true that literally every single one of the boys took a while to get the pooping part of potty training. That said, I think there was only 1 or 2 that have taken as long as Tommy (I know one of the kids took a good 6 months--at this point, I think I'd take that!). Here's the problem (as I see it anyway): He knows we are going to take care of him, change his underwear, and clean him up after he has an accident. The issue is, he seems totally fine with all of that. He graciously encourages us as we clean him up, "Good job Mommy!", and "Uh-oh Daddy, poop poop in pants--time to get new underwear", and "Thanks so much Mommy" after we clean him up. One thing that he is different about than all of the kids at the daycare is this--if they would have a really messy poop, we'd occasionally have to throw away their underwear or panties. Every single kid went nuts when this had to happen--just devastated that Dora, Cinderella, Buzz Lightyear, or Spiderman were being heartlessly thrown into the trash. Tommy's response, "Bye Bye Buzz underwear...C-ya...YUCK!". He is simply not bothered by it. I talked to his OT about it, and she said to just try to be patient, and not to go back to diapers, particularly since his only "motivation" right now seems to be the fact that he doesn't like the feeling of poop in his pants. So, I'm willing to hear any suggestions if you have them!
Okay, moving on! There were some fun and cute moments this week too after all :) The boys have really taken to taking over Mommy and Daddy's bedroom. Tommy loves climbing under our bed for some reason, while Ethan loves looking at his own reflection! He is pretty cute though, so who can blame him?! They both also love reading their books. Well, actually, we're at the stage right now where Tommy loves to do anything that Ethan does (yes, the older one is following the younger one around!). Since books are Ethan's new favorite thing, Tommy steals whatever book Ethan has out the moment he puts it down!
I can't imagine what is so exciting under the bed?!
Ethan working on his "angry face" :)
Who is that handsome boy across from me??
Time for a little relaxation so I can read my book in peace!
HA HA HAAA! Ethan put his book down--it's mine now!
On Wednesday, the boys once again got the beloved double-Grandparent day--beloved by them, but REALLY beloved by me! They had a wonderful time at Goggi's first, and then they headed over to Grandma's house to continue the fun! I got a much needed respite from the boys, plus a little retail therapy never hurts a bad mood (thank you PT summer profit sharing)! On Thursday, I had to run a few errands with the boys. They are usually wonderful in stores, but I might've taken on too many stores for them. Anyway, lets just say that it wasn't nearly as pleasant as my solo shopping trip from the day before! I got all upset in the car and had one of those, "Oh my gosh I must be a terrible Mom because my kids acted like brats today" moments. Sometimes being a Mom can be a tough job. Thankfully, Daddy took over for me when he got home, and I went out to buy the final ingredients for Father's Day preparations. This made my night all better when I got home:
Davey is such a wonderful, wonderful Daddy. He really loves the boys, and he spends tons of quality time with them. I love that he doesn't mind being silly with them. So, it was really easy to celebrate him, along with Bill and my Dad, Tom, this weekend. We started the festivities on Saturday afternoon with the Catchings side of the family. Bill, Susie, Nathan, Sarah, and Becky all came over to our house to celebrate. I decided to make fajitas--one batch of not at all spicy chicken, and one batch of spicy shrimp to try to accommodate everyone's dietary needs and preferences. Becky brought a lovely fruit salad, and Nathan and Sarah made some truly unique and delicious salted caramel cupcakes--Bill's favorite--for dessert. As you can see from the pictures, we had plenty of toppings and beverages to go with our Mexican fiesta!
Spicy Shrimp Fajitas
Not-at-all spicy Chicken Fajitas :)
Fajita fixins!
Take your pick!
Homemade margaritas to go with the fiesta!
Yummy fruit salad to cool off our tongues!
REALLY good salted caramel cupcakes!! Sorry the pic isn't great--Sarah's beautiful piping work got smashed by my container :(
Ethy and Gramps watching some Woody and Buzz!
Ethan and Goggi playing fun games on her phone!
On Sunday, Tommy greeted Davey with a HUGE Father's Day present....in his underwear. Okay, I know you guys are tired of hearing about poop, but that's our life right now! It was finally the "Big Kahuna" we had been waiting for since the Miralax routine started, so we were actually relieved that it happened! After that start to the day, we knew we needed to head to church! I know I just posted a sermon link, but I have got to talk about the message from this morning. In fact, the 3 families that we try to sit with at Crosspointe (Moccari's, Griffin's, and Watkin's) all agreed that pretty much everyone needs to watch this simulcast from Andy Stanley (Northpoint's pastor). Crosspointe hasn't provided a link yet (I'm guessing it's copyrighted or something and they can't), but I am going to post a link to the book that the message was based off of:
After church we headed over to my parent's house to continue Father's Day weekend! By this time, Tommy had caught on that it was "Happy Father's Day" instead of "Happy Birthday" so that was really cute to hear him saying that on Sunday :) My Dad said he wanted to grill out steaks on the grill....ummm....no one complained! Laura and Nolan took care of loaded baked potatoes, and we took care of the salad and homemade apple pie for dessert! After naps, the boys were racing to get outside into the pool!
I am loving this new camera!
OMG Mom! Enough pictures already :)
My two little guys are getting so big!
Ethan loved getting "rained" on from Grandaddy's watering can!
So, of course, Tommy has to try it too--"TOMMY'S TURN!!"
Bahahaha--Tommy says, "Oh NOOO--EYES HURT!!"
All better now--what a handsome guy :)
Mom, did you just get that awesome shot of me?!
Ethan is such a character <3
SPLISHHHH SPLASHHHH!!
Hey, I'm a pretty cute guy myself!
Grandaddy was doing this, so it should be fine for me too, right?!
Sorry buddy, Ethan doesn't trust you Tommy!
Blackmail picture here...Ethan, stop grabbing your little nipples!!
Is there a cuter lion in all the land?! How precious is this picture <3
My little monster Tommy--appropriate but adorable all the same!
Davey and I ended the weekend by watching one of our favorite shows together, "Food Network Star". While the week was certainly more challenging than it usually is, it's kind of nice to sit here and reflect on it all now that it's over. Looking back, there were plenty more smiles and laughs than frowns and tears. The week certainly ended on a very high note with the wonderful weekend we all had. It's not always pretty, but it's always always worth it <3
oh my...I just had similar pull up moments this week with Will...let me know what works!!
ReplyDelete