B-Day or is it D-Day?

Tomorrow is Aidan's 5th Birthday Party. Tomorrow I am responsible for the entertainment and well being of fifteen 5 year olds. (Oops! Actually, 16, we had another RSVP come in this morning.) I question my judgment. When, exactly did I believe this was a good idea?

What's For Dinner?

The boys had finished dinner and were wild with play racing through the house when Chris got home from work. Griffin managed to crawl right after his older brothers, intent on finding a way to participate in the fun.

Chris walks into the kitchen where I am cleaning up and asks, "Did Griffin have peas for dinner?"

Me: "Yes, Why?"

Chris hands me a handful of small green little peas. And then gestures to the family room. A thin trail of peas marks Griffin's path as he crawls from room to room chasing his brothers.

Me: "Huh. I swear I cleaned him up after dinner. " In response to Chris's dubious expression, I exclaim, "I did. Really!"

Chris walks over to Griffin and picks him up. From the outside, he looks clean and pea free. Gently, Chris shakes him up and down, releasing a steady stream of green peas hidden inside his onesie onto the floor.

I think he was saving those up for later. Just in case. 'Cause you never know when you might want some peas.

Beaching It!

We spent Sunday at a friend's beach cottage. The boys went wild over the beach, the lake and the waves. Griffin even managed to get in on the action and crawled himself right into the lake to share some play with his brothers.

The most challenging part of the day? Surviving the 25 minute ride to the beach with the eager beaver kiddies in the back seat. "Are we there yet?" "Where's the beach?" "I don't see the beach." "Is that the beach?" "I don't see any sand." "Where's the water?" "How much longer?" And my personal favorite comes from Aidan who after ten minutes said with exasperation, "Are we even in the same STATE anymore?" 25 minutes of endless questions, bickering and impatience. It was worth it though. Well worth it.

Quarter Hoarder

We spent the afternoon today at one of Aidan's friend's birthday party at the local bowling alley. The bowling alley also featured a mini-arcade with games galore. Aidan is my little video game addict. (I so blame his father.) This little addiction kept Aidan pretend playing and gazing at all the games in the arcade in pure delight.

After some bowling and pizza, the birthday boy's father gave each child four quarters for the arcade. I saw Aidan grab the quarters and run in a mob of boys to the arcade.

Ten minutes later, Aidan walked over to me and asked if I had any quarters for him. As I looked through my purse and wallet, I told him I didn't.

"Didn't you get four quarters to play already?" I asked him.

"Yes," Aidan replied.

"Okay, I will give you a dollar to get change, but no more after that okay?" Aidan nodded as I pulled the dollar out of my wallet.

"Take the dollar over to the counter and the man will give you four quarters. Okay, Aidan?"

Aidan gazed at the dollar in awe. He looked at me, over at the attendant, and back at the dollar bill he clutched in his hands.

After some hesitation, he said, "Okay."

I saw the hesitation and figured he was nervous about approaching a stranger for change. "Do you want me to go with you to get change?" I asked.

He shook his head and walked away.

When we returned home a few hours later, Aidan told me he needed to empty his pockets.

"What's in your pockets?" I asked him.

He smiled a shy smile, giggled and showed me a dollar and four quarters.

I laughed out loud for a good three minutes.

"Why didn't you use the money to play games?"

He shrugged and said, "I wanted to save it instead. I'm going to put it in my bank."

My little quarter hoarder.

Bye Bye

After three days, one pair of pants sacrificed to the gods of potty training, more viewings of Potty Power than I’d care to admit, and even more singings of the multitude of Potty Power songs, we’ve got some action on the potty. Once. Just one little ol’ deposit. But, it’s a start. We’ve got POTTY POWER!

In other child news, Griffin can wave bye-bye. This may explain to my neighbors why my entire family keeps standing on the front lawn waving to Griffin at the front door for about ten minutes every morning, while we shout “bye bye” in rather loud child like voices. Yes, we may be somewhat annoying, but Griffin is Just Too Damn Cute as he waves his little hand back and forth. Bye Bye Griffin, Bye Bye...

Cheating Sleep

After work yesterday, I attended a cooking class at Delish with my friend Carolyn. (Wine, good food, easy recipes, and peanut butter whoopee pie! Yum.)

When I returned home to find the boys already in bed, my heart hurt a little bit. I hate not seeing them all day and missing the chance to hear their voices before they were off to sleep.

One by one I checked on them before I went to bed. First Aidan, then Brennan and last Griffin. Neither Aidan or Brennan stirred when I gently kissed them and covered them with their blankets. As I covered Griffin, he moved, restless, raised his head sleepily and looked at me. After a quick glance, he rested his head back on his crib and closed his eyes.

That’s when I cheated. I should have quietly left his room on tip toes so as not to disturb his slumber. I know I should have. Instead, I gently rubbed his head and whispered, “Are you awake?”

He wasn’t. But I pretended he was. I picked him up as he slept and cradled him in my arms. I walked over to the rocker, sat down and bundled us both up in a soft blanket. Slowly, we rocked together in the dark. I snuggled him. I kissed him. And I simply inhaled his beautiful baby scent.

There are times I wish my children would sleep. In my head, I beg and plead and dream of their sleep. Sleep to bring me just a moment of peace and quiet. And then I cheat. Because just when they do what we want, what we need, all I want is for them to be awake. Awake for me. To give me a chance to love them up and end my day snuggled under a blanket with them in the dark.

Potty Power!

We have relaunched the effort to get Brennan potty trained for good. What brought on this effort? This enthusiasm? This plan? Well, Diego pull ups were on sale at Target. The big box too! So, I took it as a sign that we should reenter the land of pull ups, plastic potty chairs and the Potty Power potty song.

What? You don't know the potty song? The annoying little ditty playing repeatedly in my head? The one I just can't stop singing like some sort of lunatic every time Brennan sits on his little plastic throne?

I can do it myself. I'm a big kid now. I can do it myself. I've got Potty Power. No need to tell Mom. No need to tell Dad. I know what to do and I'm so glad. I can do it myself. I'm a big kid now. I can do it myself. I've got Potty Power. Potty Power!

The term "Potty Power" should be emphasized during the song with a hand salute to the gods of potty that is almost naziesque in form.

Brennan also likes to sing the other potty song from Potty Power while he sits on his plastic potty.

No More Diapers for me. Say Goodbye Diapers Bye Bye. I can use the potty, going to give it a try. No more Diapers for me. Bye Bye.

Yes, all the potty singing in our house so does need to be made into a video for mockery on You tube, but I can't afford the years of therapy it would require for my children.

Anyway. Potty training for the fifth or sixth time. I think this time it may really stick. Really!

We had much effort on Brennan's behalf. Much sitting and reading (and singing), but well, no actual deposits were made. We did have quite an enthusiastic false alarm when Brennan declared he was: "for sure going poppy on his potty this time." But after a few minutes of silence, he came running out smiling and told us all, "No poopies! I just got a lot of my gas out." Then he laughed like a hyena. I think we all joined him. In the laughter part, not the gas.

Good Monday for our house. Target, potty singing and gas. Could you ask for anything more?

Fun at the Fair

We hit the fair today with the boys. As part of the annual family picnic, my firm provided tickets, ride passes and food. So off we went to peer at the cows, pet some sheep, ride some rides and eat some fried dough.

The boys loved the cows and sheep. (Oh, the smell though. Icky, horrible smell.) They hated the rides. We tried three times to get them on a kiddie ride. Each attempt was met with such unbridled hysteria you would think we tried to force them into their very own version of hell. It was fun to watch all the other smiling kids get on the rides, wave to their moms and dads as they rode the carousels, and hoot as they honked their little toy horns. But, not my boys. Nope.

I enjoyed some buttery cinnamony goodness of fried dough. Chris munched on some vinegary french fries. The boys loved their icees.

Not to be left out of the fun, Griffin waited until we all sat down for lunch at the Firm picnic to unload the leakiest, ickiest, stinkiest poop in baby history. Because, really, what is my day without some bodily fluid marking it's territory? There is nothing better than changing a poop infested child while he screams his head off in front of your five million coworkers. It's good for morale. I'm hoping it makes the company daily newsletter. Yeehaw!

Life of a Mom

I love my children dearly. I love being a mother. But there are days when it takes every ounce of willpower, every last reserve of strength, every bit of patience left in my soul to survive my children. Today was such a day.

Griffin threw up all over the kitchen and me. Then he pooped all over me. I actually looked at my third pair of pants of the day, and asked Chris, "Is this poop or vomit on me?"

I had to clean poop out of the carpet. How it got there, I have no idea. None.

I lost count of the time-outs enforced for the bickering and lack of sharing. At one point, I had to carry Aidan (all 50 plus pounds of him) up a flight of stairs to his room while he kicked and screamed.

No one napped. Not one of my children. Brennan got mad at me after I made him turn off the television, so he yelled, stomped his foot, glared at me and said, "You're a bad momma. Bad!"

Is it wrong that made me cry?

Aidan ran into the garage door. (I have no idea.) The result was a bloodied lip, blood everywhere on him, and some blood to add to the variety of bodily fluids staining many of my t-shirts.

The police came in the midst of all this chaos. They thought our alarm had gone off. They had the wrong address, but still they hesitated at the door of my home . I have a feeling the blood stains on mine and Aidan's shirts gave them no comfort.

Just as I was about to simply give up and allow the kiddies to drone out in front of the tv, we lost power. Cruel, cruel world. Four hours with no electricity. This means four hours with no back up tv on hand. Four hours of just a cranky mommy with three very grumpy children. I hate that damn power company.

I counted the minutes to the 7 p.m bedtime. Maybe even the seconds. Aidan and Brennan went down willingly. But Brennan's repeated howling of his "ABCs" at full volume in the next bedroom got Griffin in such a state, he refused to sleep. He just wailed. I had to rock him for no less than two hours to get him quietly into his crib.

Finally, by 9 p.m., we had power, the boys were all asleep, the house was blissfully quiet and I wore clothes unstained by blood, vomit or poo. And tomorrow, I get to do it all over again. Such is the life of a mom.

Let's Go to the Zoo

The boys and I headed to the zoo yesterday. After all was said and done, our group consisted of like ten or eleven kiddies. The adults were hopelessly outnumbered, but we managed to maintain some sense of chaotic order.

As I put the boys to bed last night, I asked Aidan and Brennan to describe their favorite part of the zoo visit.

Aidan liked the sea lion exhibit. As we stood on the bridge overlooking the sea lion stream, a sea lion burst to the surface and sprayed water directly at Aidan. It was a show stopper.

Brennan thought about my question and after a minute or two of silence said, "I liked the dinosaurs the best."

Me: "Dinosaurs? Brennan, we didn't see any dinosaurs."

Brennan: "Really?" He looks at me with surprise, gazes off into space with contemplation, and says "Huh."

After another minute of silence, he looks back at me, smiles and says, "Then I guess I liked the elephants."

Okay. There are times I wished I could see inside Brennan's world. I have a feeling alot goes on there that we don't know about.

P.S. Happy Birthday to me. I am 23. Really. I swear. 23! Uh huh. Sigh. For my birthday dinner tonight, I picked pizza and chocolate cake. Yes, I really should be saying I am turning ten.

Rock Star!

Griffin rocks the mohawk thanks to the efforts of his ever attentive and creative cousins Nicole and Liam. The peas were good too.

Movie Night!

Since, my birthday falls on a school night, Chris and I celebrated the occasion last night with, my favorite date night activity, dinner and a movie. We saw the Bourne movie and I loved it. I do, however, have just a few comments for my fellow moviegoers. Ahem, here goes:

To the teenagers who stomped up and down the stairs of the theater during the movie while loudly talking on their cell phones: I wanted to clap when the movie usher finally escorted you out of the movie theater, but I held back because I figured it would just give you all the attention you secretly craved with your antics.

To the woman behind me who LOVED to share tidbits about what was bound to happen NEXT in the plotline: Thanks from all of us in aisle 12 of the theater. You are so wicked smart and you just caught stuff we never saw coming. Nevah! You little genius you. And now we all know. You're smart. Sooo very smart. And boy, does your annoying little voice carry, doesn't it?

To the woman who sat smack dab next to me in the theater: I am just so very happy that you loved the hell out of your king size slurpie throughout the whole damn movie. SO VERRRRY HAPPY. I mean, really, you just extracted every last bit of liquid out of that slushie, didn't you? The slurping, the never ending shaking of the cup back and forth, the sliding of the staw in and out - you just worked that slurpie for every ounce of its magical goodness. I think you made sure there wasn't a drop left in the cup. Particularly when you opted to forgo the straw and opened up the top of the cup to shake the last dregs of slush into your open mouth. Can you just say Yum? Yeah, that pretty much turned me off slurpies for life. So, thanks.

I feel much better now.

All Romance, All the Time

We celebrated the big Ten Year with an adult night out on Thursday evening. Dinner was wonderful. (Love that La Tee Da!) After dinner, we came home to the kiddies already in bed sound asleep. Ahhhh, the quiet of the beautiful summer evening and the sweet buzz of many glasses of wine - led me to believe love and romance was in the air.

And maybe it was. It could have been. But first, we had to uncover the mystery of what, exactly, one of our lovely children shoved down the toilet in the master bath. Mmmmm, nothing gets a woman in the mood more than watching her hottie husband work the plunger. Oh baby, hot, so hot. And just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, Chris brought out the fancy 'snake' plunger/plumbing thingamajig because the ordinary plunger couldn't quite get the job done. Now that's a man who knows how to woo his woman, I'll tell ya.

All romance, all the time in our house. After ten years, we still got it baby.

The Anniversary

Ten Years of wedded bliss! And I wouldn't change a moment.

Sick Day

I got the dreaded call of any working mother today. School called to say Aidan is sick. I left work in a frenzy after gathering together a pile of things to do at home. I hated knowing Aidan wasn't feeling well and he was anywhere but home with me.

In the car on the ride home, Aidan told me he was sad at school because he wasn't feeling well. He went on to say, "I was so sad, Mom that I asked my teacher if I could see Brennan to make me feel better while I waited for you."

Me: (my heart breaking a bit) "Did you go see Brennan in his classroom?"

Aidan: "I did. I watched him from the window at his classroom door. He was sitting at a table playing."

Me: "Did you talk to Brennan?"

Aidan: "No, I didn't want him to get sad because I was sad. I felt better just because I saw him."

Just because he saw him.

There are so many things I love about being a parent. One of the greatest gifts is to watch my children love each other.

Old = Death

I turn 35 next week. It feels old to me. 35 is practically 40. This means all those oil of olay commercials really are marketing to me. (and it works! I have oiled of olayed my skin to death this week in prep for the upcoming birthday. Because, you know, my skin really knows to sprout wrinkles as a way of saying happy birthday to me.)

Anyway, I have a point and a child related anecdote for all this, of course. So, Aidan was asking me about my birthday as I put him to bed last night.

Aidan: "How old are you going to be Mom?"

Me: Big dramatic sigh, "I am going to be very, very old Aidan."

Aidan looks at me with concern in his eyes and asks "You are?" A pause. And then, "Are you going to die?"

Well, that will teach me to be self indulgent with my complaints of age and birthdays won't it?

And He's Off...

It isn't enough that Griffin has discovered he can stand up in his crib. No, it surely isn't enough. He wants to make sure we all know he really, really, REALLY can get himself up and about on anything and everything in the house. I think he is slowly trying to drive me insane.

He can climb up to grab onto the kitchen chairs. He has also figured out how to cruise right along each chair. A great, death defying feat done with pure confidence and excitement. Never mind that ceramic tile floor threatening him from below. Concussion, what concussion?


And just for kicks, Griffin has figured out how to climb up onto and stand on his brother's furniture. I nearly screamed in abject horror the first time he showed me this little trick.


But, all in all, I am sure Griffin thinks his new skills are the bomb. He gets to freak his parents out, thrill his older brothers with his antics and net new toys previously hidden in the basement. What's not to love?

Overheard

I overheard a conversation between Aidan and Brennan this morning as they pretended to battle to the death with light sabres.

Aidan: "Remember, Brennan - the force is inside of you. It is inside of us all."

Brennan: "Okay Aidan. I have the force."

Aidan: "May the Force Be With You."

Someone, please help me.

Remember

Things I want to remember from today:

(1) Before Nap: After a morning of swimming with the boys, I am lost in a flurry of clothes changes, bottles, sippy cups and other necessary pre nap prep. After ten minutes, I announce to the boys it's time to head upstairs for nap. It is at that point, I realize I have two children with me instead of three. We can't find Brennan. After a few moments of searching the downstairs for him, we head upstairs.

I find my sweet two year old little boy already cuddled up in his bed. He is snuggled under his blanket with his binky and he looks as if he is just about to drift off into dreamland.

Brennan gives me a tired little smile and says, "I'm sleepy Momma."

"I know honey." I lean down to give him a hug and a kiss and whisper "Go to sleep baby, I love you."

"Me love you too Momma." Brennan's eyes drift shut as I close his door. My sweet, darling little boy.

(2) After Nap: My other sweet darling little baby turns eight months tomorrow. He celebrated by greeting me standing in his crib when I fetched him from his afternoon nap. The lil' stinker.

May the Force Be With You

Last night, I bent down to give Aidan one last, go to bed, sleep tight hug and he asked seriously, “Mom, Can I ask you something?”

Me: “Love, you can ask me anything. Anything at all.” I brushed his hair back off his forehead and gave him an expectant smile.

He gave me a hesitant smile back, took a deep breath and asked, “In Star Wars, why do C3PO and R2D2 have to flee from Princess Leia’s spaceship?”

Sigh. Really. This is the hesitant, soul searching, quiet smile question to end our day? Where’s the after school special moment I was expecting? Where’s the bonding? Where’s the love? Damn that Star Wars.

I should have expected this after Saturday. I took Aidan to his classmates birthday party. We got in the car and I was excited to have a little one on one time with him. As we pull out of the driveway, he says to me: “I have an idea Mom. Let’s play a game where we each take turns and name each Star Wars character. Okay? You start.”

Grrr, sure, I’ll start. Mommy would LOOOOOOVE to pass the time naming each and every character related to Star Wars. I can’t imagine a better way to pass the time. Let’s just say that five minute ride to the birthday party felt like an hour. There has to be an end to this Star Wars obsession. HAS TO. But until then, May the Force Be With You. Amen.

Anatomy 101: Again!

Brennan snuck up on me while I was changing out of my clothes after work. He gazed at me with shock, pointed at my nether region and asked, "Momma, where's your penis?"

I tried to casually clothe myself without revealing the panic I felt at having to teach my child anatomy while I was bare assed naked.

Me (after I coughed and cleared my throat several times): "Well, B., ah, see, well, um, mommies don't actually have penises." (Penises? Peni? I have no idea - and no way am I googling it to figure it out.)

Brennan: "No?" He stands staring at me in disbelief. "Whatch you got then?"

Me: (sighing) "Mommies have vaginas."

Brennan: "Yeah?"

Me: "Yes. "

Brennan: "Not me. I have a penis. Like Daddy."

Me: "Yes. Daddies have penises. Mommies have vaginas."

Brennan: "I like my penis."

Me: "That's good Brennan."

Wordlessly, Brennan shakes his head back and forth. After a beat, he turns to leave the room and says, "I no like 'ginas momma."

Well, alrighty then.