Every mother knows that as soon as you get on the phone your children know it, whether they really know it or not, they have a sixth sense about it. Needless to say, they morph from sweet angel faced boys into screaming little hethens. And, no matter where you are in the house, they will find you. If you are hiding in the closet (which I have done) and they are calling out "mommy, where are you?" in their sweet sing-song voice and you hold still and whisper into the phone just to get a little quiet conversation for two minutes, they will find you.
I was on the phone with my mom tonight and, even though my husband was home, as soon the boys realized I was otherwise occupied the noise level cranked up about 10 notches. The twins got on their riding toys and barreled around and around me making car noises and screaming a bit in general. I get to where it does not really bother me (too much); however, it can make the person on the other end, for instance my mom, a nervous nilly and we have to continue our chat later. I do have to say that the loudness may not be entirely the kids fault. It might just run in the family :)
So, my mom (or anyone else that may be on the other end of the line) gets to hear what is now widely known and accepted as "Kelly's Signature Sound." By that I mean, if I call and leave you a message, you will hear my children in the background. If you call my voicemail and leave me a message, you will hear my children in the background of my greeting. If you talk to me on the phone, chances are you will hear my children in the background.
I do just love when my dumplings are happy. Obviously, when they are happy I am happy and sometimes their happiness cannot be contained and they nearly burst with their need to express it. So, I will try to have my phone visits during their naptime. Oh, that's right, they don't want naps anymore. Please feel free to email me until they start school!!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
And a woo hoo!!!
Well, I think we hit a MAJOR milestone today. Potty training has been rough going. Sam was a champ. Put underpants on the boy and he did great - never an accident! That is not the norm I do know. However, my little Hayes has been showing interest, as he has proven with his poop artistry during naptime. Hayes decided that today would be the day and thank you Jesus. Lets cross our fingers that Hayes the Artist has left the building!!
Screaming but why?
Ok, why do my toddlers think they need to scream almost everything?
Do you want lunch? NO
Do you want to take a nap? NO
Do you need a new diaper? NO
Do you want some chocolate? NO - I mean YES
Anyway, I can't say they aren't spirited boys. They emphatically and heartily scream as if their life depended on it sometimes. Especially Hayes.
Beyond just screaming NO - they screech and squeal so loud and at a pitch so high you would think glass would break. Lots of times their Papa's eardrums almost do seem to burst when they hit the right pitch.
Since my 5 year old no longer screams (well, not as much anyway) I do know or at least really hope that they grow out of this phase soon!!!
Our ears will thank us!
Do you want lunch? NO
Do you want to take a nap? NO
Do you need a new diaper? NO
Do you want some chocolate? NO - I mean YES
Anyway, I can't say they aren't spirited boys. They emphatically and heartily scream as if their life depended on it sometimes. Especially Hayes.
Beyond just screaming NO - they screech and squeal so loud and at a pitch so high you would think glass would break. Lots of times their Papa's eardrums almost do seem to burst when they hit the right pitch.
Since my 5 year old no longer screams (well, not as much anyway) I do know or at least really hope that they grow out of this phase soon!!!
Our ears will thank us!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Ben did it again...
Well, after the Christmas incident you would think that we would have taught him that the toilet is not for toys. You would also think that it would have taught us to keep a better eye on him near a potty and to have all the potties locked. Well, you would be wrong. Apparently a couple weeks ago the ring leader and his groupie did it again. I caught them and the toilet seemed to work fine. However, I went to the gym - in my quest to reach my health goal mentioned earlier - and Ryan caught them. Apparently a little too late.
So, we ended up having a toilet that did not work very well. Thankfully, it was not 100% out of commission. Ryan called the plumber this week and of course he could not get the darn thing out - whatever it was. He said that for the cost of a new toilet it would be the same if he tried for hours to get it out. Fine, we said. New toilet.
Next day, he comes and installs the new toilet. What was the victim of Ben's heinous crime????? Poor little Thomas the Train. He was hanging out the bottom and so stuck that unless the toilet was broken, we were not going to see that Thomas again. What a way to go :(
Hopefully, we have learned from our two (expensive) mistakes and we will be the toilet police keeping Bandit Ben at bay. Although, it all makes it very hard when potty training is in progress. Oh well.
So, we ended up having a toilet that did not work very well. Thankfully, it was not 100% out of commission. Ryan called the plumber this week and of course he could not get the darn thing out - whatever it was. He said that for the cost of a new toilet it would be the same if he tried for hours to get it out. Fine, we said. New toilet.
Next day, he comes and installs the new toilet. What was the victim of Ben's heinous crime????? Poor little Thomas the Train. He was hanging out the bottom and so stuck that unless the toilet was broken, we were not going to see that Thomas again. What a way to go :(
Hopefully, we have learned from our two (expensive) mistakes and we will be the toilet police keeping Bandit Ben at bay. Although, it all makes it very hard when potty training is in progress. Oh well.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Peek A Boo I see you!
Isn’t it funny that children think you can’t see them if they cover their eyes and can’t see you?
At naptime yesterday Hayes did not want to stay in his room – he never really does. Ryan goes up to check on the boys and there is Hayes standing in the playroom with his hand on a chair and the other arm in front of his eyes. If he can’t see Ryan then Ryan can’t see him right? Wrong! Back to his room he goes. Apparently he was like a stealth bomber because we never heard him get back out of his gate and crawl over Ben’s gate and snuggle in beside him for naptime. I am sure it was adorable. However, I am really just glad that they slept.
At naptime yesterday Hayes did not want to stay in his room – he never really does. Ryan goes up to check on the boys and there is Hayes standing in the playroom with his hand on a chair and the other arm in front of his eyes. If he can’t see Ryan then Ryan can’t see him right? Wrong! Back to his room he goes. Apparently he was like a stealth bomber because we never heard him get back out of his gate and crawl over Ben’s gate and snuggle in beside him for naptime. I am sure it was adorable. However, I am really just glad that they slept.
January 2010: Naptime at our house.
So, the boys are trying to give up their naps. Perfectly understandable, however, not really jiving with my schedule. I need that downtime. Two children of the exact same age are exhausting and I really need that time to do housework, return calls, or try to exercise. So, I am on the treadmill. It is a new year and I have a new goal which is getting in shape. Well, that is really my goal every year but at least I keep trying. I am on the treadmill watching the Young and the Restless (love TIVO) and I think I should go and just check and make sure they are asleep. They have separate rooms so usually they go to sleep out of boredom if nothing else.
As soon as I hit the playroom – BAM the smell of poop penetrates the air. Of course, I think that Hayes has pooped, his room is closest to the playroom. Oh how I wish it had been that simple. What I saw next rendered me speechless for a period before a scream erupted from my lips. None of my children had done this ever. Hayes had taken off his diaper and pooped on the carpet. As if that is not bad enough, he has dipped his Lincoln logs in it, finger painted a book, filled a Little People car with it and smooshed it into the carpet. Gag me. I take a deep breath and still scream a little bit. Ok, first things first, get cleaning supplies. I run back up stairs, Hayes is happy a clam running around yelling he pooped on the floor. Ben wakes up and starts screaming for a kiss – “I need a kiss” over and over. I am sweating and gagging and think where is my beach vacation. I told my husband that I had raised my white flag in surrender. I could take no more that day.
Sometimes I think everyday I can take no more with the screaming, screeching, squealing, fighting, hitting, biting, stealing of toys, throwing food, and tantrums. Then, one of my boys smiles at me, tells me he loves me, or just hugs me and I know that this is my world and it is perfect. As everyone says, this too shall pass. And, I do want it to pass, just not too quickly. My Sam is already 5 ½ and will start kindergarten next fall and I think that the time has flown by. So, I take a steadying breath, sometimes a swig of wine, and think this too shall pass.
So, the boys are trying to give up their naps. Perfectly understandable, however, not really jiving with my schedule. I need that downtime. Two children of the exact same age are exhausting and I really need that time to do housework, return calls, or try to exercise. So, I am on the treadmill. It is a new year and I have a new goal which is getting in shape. Well, that is really my goal every year but at least I keep trying. I am on the treadmill watching the Young and the Restless (love TIVO) and I think I should go and just check and make sure they are asleep. They have separate rooms so usually they go to sleep out of boredom if nothing else.
As soon as I hit the playroom – BAM the smell of poop penetrates the air. Of course, I think that Hayes has pooped, his room is closest to the playroom. Oh how I wish it had been that simple. What I saw next rendered me speechless for a period before a scream erupted from my lips. None of my children had done this ever. Hayes had taken off his diaper and pooped on the carpet. As if that is not bad enough, he has dipped his Lincoln logs in it, finger painted a book, filled a Little People car with it and smooshed it into the carpet. Gag me. I take a deep breath and still scream a little bit. Ok, first things first, get cleaning supplies. I run back up stairs, Hayes is happy a clam running around yelling he pooped on the floor. Ben wakes up and starts screaming for a kiss – “I need a kiss” over and over. I am sweating and gagging and think where is my beach vacation. I told my husband that I had raised my white flag in surrender. I could take no more that day.
Sometimes I think everyday I can take no more with the screaming, screeching, squealing, fighting, hitting, biting, stealing of toys, throwing food, and tantrums. Then, one of my boys smiles at me, tells me he loves me, or just hugs me and I know that this is my world and it is perfect. As everyone says, this too shall pass. And, I do want it to pass, just not too quickly. My Sam is already 5 ½ and will start kindergarten next fall and I think that the time has flown by. So, I take a steadying breath, sometimes a swig of wine, and think this too shall pass.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
ALERT - Toilet Bandit loose
Alert - Beware of Ben - the "put it in and flush it down the toilet" Bandit.
We were in Snowmass Colorado for Christmas at my parents place. The whole family was there and it was a blast. The time was 9:45 pm. Who is supposed to be sleeping? Ben, Hayes and big brother Sam – or so we thought.
As my brother Andrew, Ryan and me were playing a game of cards (Amy was knitting), mom flies up the stairs asking what the boys are doing. Nothing I say. Mom says “the downstairs bathroom is flooding.” Flooding??? Well, can't be because of my kids I think.
We run into the bedroom to find my angel faced boys staring trance like into an overflowing toilet and soaking wet. After much plunging and plunging - nothing was coming out or going down. We ask the boys what happened, what did they flush? Hayes says it was Ben's fault - like I did not know that because he is the little devil on your shoulder at most times :). Ben finally says he flushed the candle, which had been on the back of the toilet. It was a small candle in a metal tin that fit just perfectly into the toilet and stopped it totally up.
Roto rooter had to take the toilet off the floor and work for almost an hour before he could even get it out. I think he almost gave up, at which point I prayed hard for him to get it out so a new toilet would not have to be purchased. Anway, the pic is of the man working on the toilet. Luckily, my Sam man gave us a play by play the whole time. We gave the roto rooter man a round of applause and then Ryan promptly Gorilla taped up the toilet so that no little hands could work their magic on it again.
You might wonder why we had the gorilla tape in the first place, Hayes likes to take his diaper off all the time and it comes in handy, plus you never know when you will need it.
We were in Snowmass Colorado for Christmas at my parents place. The whole family was there and it was a blast. The time was 9:45 pm. Who is supposed to be sleeping? Ben, Hayes and big brother Sam – or so we thought.
As my brother Andrew, Ryan and me were playing a game of cards (Amy was knitting), mom flies up the stairs asking what the boys are doing. Nothing I say. Mom says “the downstairs bathroom is flooding.” Flooding??? Well, can't be because of my kids I think.
We run into the bedroom to find my angel faced boys staring trance like into an overflowing toilet and soaking wet. After much plunging and plunging - nothing was coming out or going down. We ask the boys what happened, what did they flush? Hayes says it was Ben's fault - like I did not know that because he is the little devil on your shoulder at most times :). Ben finally says he flushed the candle, which had been on the back of the toilet. It was a small candle in a metal tin that fit just perfectly into the toilet and stopped it totally up.
Roto rooter had to take the toilet off the floor and work for almost an hour before he could even get it out. I think he almost gave up, at which point I prayed hard for him to get it out so a new toilet would not have to be purchased. Anway, the pic is of the man working on the toilet. Luckily, my Sam man gave us a play by play the whole time. We gave the roto rooter man a round of applause and then Ryan promptly Gorilla taped up the toilet so that no little hands could work their magic on it again.
You might wonder why we had the gorilla tape in the first place, Hayes likes to take his diaper off all the time and it comes in handy, plus you never know when you will need it.
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