Ahhhhh! A Monster! (With Teeth!)

A few days to catch up on. First, we had a last minute ability to travel down to Miami with Dad (Thanks Kaz boys), and so everything got (or continued?) in chaos (as usual). We packed everything up and headed out Sunday evening, into a monsoon- saw several accidents after they happened, had to call the highway patrol on one (wish we could've stopped, but it was too late without turning around)... so we made it safely :)

Fortunately, I brought some projects with- over the weekend (after my lovely Friday the 13th), I finished up Chase's shopping cart/high chair cover- just have to add the seat belt yet... it was a pain in the butt, until I was finished, then I thought- wow, that was kinda fun- go figure!

Ah- so the monster part... yes, had an insane day with baby boy on Tuesday- and sure enough- two bottom teeth have officially broken skin. See? I wasn't imagining things- that part is the good part. But between the pain/discomfort- he has been fussing while eating- which was the big neon blinking sign that the teeth were hurting. Those suckers are sharp! Now all of a sudden he's trying to use me as a chew-toy- what the heck? Kaely was no longer nursing when her first tooth appeared, so this is completely foreign.

Add on his newest thing where he is constantly swinging his arms- when nursing, he's fidgeting nonstop with the straps of my tank tops- snapping them- or he's raking his nails (which I trim twice a week) down my arms/chest/face... or he always has a hand on my face- usually my nose or mouth- where he seems to be either reassuring himself as to who it is, or being curious. When I carry him up higher on my hip, he grabs my face with both hands and it's either him trying to mimic a kiss (my preferred thought) or trying to eat me. LOL. Either way, it's a risk to hold him now half the time- always in motion, and somewhat dangerous :)

Then he finally figured out his feet- I know a lot of others did a while ago, but well, with those massive thighs, flexibility isn't as easy -lol. It's entertaining for us both though, and makes diaper changes a bit challenging- only because while it helps in some ways, he won't stay still in others. We've been going through anywhere from 2-4 outfits a day lately- not spit up this time- but massive blowouts. Really???

Still working on tummy time activities- amazing how far he can travel throughout the room when he's on his back and ticked off- but tummy time still sucks. Coordinating tummy time with a stomach that isn't full and he's awake is yet another challenge. I'm determined though to get this stinker mobile.

Great part about being down here of course is being with Dad... and for my sake? Being able to hand off the monster for an hour or so, and let blood return to my arms, stretch my back out, and have a tiny bit of freedom... even things like bath time are fun for Chase & Dad, which makes me happy as well :) I get to work on some of my sewing projects or read, and the boys get to bond. The limbo continues, but hey, with baby monster in tow- things are pretty good :)

Mommy Time-Out

Ahhhh- the dog days of summer make the temperatures- and tempers- inside the house boil sometimes. Yesterday was, well? Challenging to say the least. It started off okay, putzed around in Kaely's room, moved a few things around, had my coffee and played with Chase... then the stupidest things started to build- not being able to get the coat rack thing in Kaely's room to hang up (it's one of those things that has 4 screws in the wall, and you have to match up the holes exactly right, then pull down to secure it...)- so a job that should take 30 seconds took over 30 minutes. All the while Chase had tired of playing on the floor, and Kaely kept making comments about- wow, shouldn't you be done by now? (steam coming out of ears- mouthing bad, bad words, muttering to the wall)...

Okay, so it's done, time for snack/nap/etc- sit down to relax for a bit- then get the message from my sister that she cannot watch the house/dogs next week afterall, so my plans to spend the week with Dave just went down the drain. My frustration and temper started into a rapid boil- and I start asking around if anyone wants a dog. Hmmm. Enter in Kaely playing with her toys, singing, in constant motion- doing nothing wrong really, but I just needed quiet. So she starts playing in the rolling chairs in the kitchen for the millionth time, which I've threatened to once again make her sit on the floor instead of at the table. Wouldn't be the first time.

Sigh... I decide what I really need is a shower. So Kaely asks to watch Chase (same room), so I let them play on the bed, she starts climbing on the footboard- which, another thing that I've told her not to do a million times (loosens up the whole frame)... so I get the usual "Oooops! Sorry!" (not very genuine)- enter into the shower. I end up having to hop out to grab something real quick, and look out- what do I see? She's sitting on the flippin' footboard again. OMG. I scare her, then enter into the shower once again.

Alrighty- at least I'm clean, so I offer to make lunch- she wants her ham & mayo sandwich, so I throw that, and a few pretzel crisps and juice together for her. She pops in a DVD game thing (old school Lion King one), and eats all her chips. Then informs me that the ham is gross and she should've chosen the turkey (mind you, she picked it out at the grocery store)... she then proceeds to finish off her juice and continue to make faces, and try to make herself gag. I'm ready to lose it. So after a good 20 minutes of this, I offer her to eat the sandwich or go lay down. She opted to lay down. Seriously???

30 minutes later, I've cooled down a bit, so I decide I wanted to go to Target to grab the diapers that were on sale. Load everyone up in the truck, buckle them in, and go to start the truck. WTH? Click, click, click... it won't freaking start! I just sit there staring at the dash, going, you have GOT to be kidding me?? So I get out to pop the hood, get it up, and low and behold? It starts raining on me. I just had to laugh- I felt like I was coming out of the looney bin. So I go back to the seat, look at the kids, and give it another try... nope. Nada. Unload everyone, and contemplate opening up a bottle of wine. But crap, it's only 2-3pm...

So instead I decide to tackle a sewing project (one of those grocery cart seat covers)- because the methodical nature of cutting/measuring/etc is somehow soothing. Kind of like cleaning/organizing can sometimes be. So of course Kaely wants to help, and Chase has missed yet another nap, so we all end up on the living room floor. We survived dinner without much incident, and managed to calm down for the rest of the evening. Well, until I turned on the tv around 7:30, and it sounded like it was going to blow up. Sigh...

Managed to get Chase bathed, Kaely in the shower, Chase in bed, and then Dave arrived early for a Friday night- and I'm sure I looked worse than something the cat dragged in... fortunately, when Chase woke up this time, Dad was there to help, and Kaely accepted her bedtime. For me? A glass of wine was mandatory, and a much needed end of the day.

Happy Friday the 13th. UGH.

Clothing Confusion!

As if I didn't have enough issues of this myself- between the past decade or more of the way clothes advertise a particular size, but clearly keep changing what that "size" means. Just like with Kaely- whose clothes I desperately need to go through and donate now that I think of it. She's fairly on for the "age" tagging that children's clothes do. But she's on the more petite side, and she quite literally still has size 4 clothes, and I even found a pair of her undies that were a size 2/3T that she had just worn. Crap! The other day she showed up (from her dad's) wearing these shorts that were the right size- but oh hell no- I had to quickly confiscate them, baby daisy dukes, OMG.

So with the process of revamping Chase's room, I discovered a diaper box of clothes I had put aside probably 8 months or so ago, of generally 12 months and up. I realized I needed to box up his 0-6 month sizes, and so I went through the newest discovery. I found an adorable Gap sleeper that is 6-12 month size, so I washed it and pulled it out to put on him tonight. Well, huh... I had to stop mid-way while putting his arms in, and have to stretch out the sleeves and holes... then ended up in the same predicament with the legs. Man! Doesn't look like he'll be wearing it again- unless somehow he sprouts outward length-wise instead of round.

Moral of the story? I highly recommend going through clothes and not missing out on some of those adorable outfits that don't exactly measure up to the typical sizes. I am pretty familiar now with the way Carter's (and all their brands) fits, and now I know Gap runs pretty small. Gerber runs bigger and stretches. Circo (Target) and some of the others tend to be a little on the bigger side- but usually is wider.

When watching Nathan last week, I had to change his outfit, so I dug in his backpack, and all the outfits were 0-3 months. I was stumped, and sure enough- they actually fit him. He's all arms & legs- so all those onesies still fit his body. Chase is pushing the 6 months sizes, and starting to get into the 6-9 months when it comes to onesies and tops.

The forever rotating closets continue on. It's a never-ending cycle of ins and outs, and nearly impossible to stay organized... but hey, at least these kids are adorable! :)

Just Another Reason Having More Than One Is Hard

Ahhhhh- jealousy. A good healthy dose. I knew it was coming, saw it from a mile away, but... one can hope. From the moment I started working on Chase's paintings in his "room" I knew Kaely would be jealous. For the first couple of days she stuck with simply being curious, and offering her help, playing in the room while I painted, etc. But, after another playdate canceled (the little boy called yesterday to chat- said he'd be right over- but of course with little kids they say that before confirming with the parents)... so she started sulking about why Chase gets the jungle room, and why haven't I done anything in her room.

Sigh... So I promised we'd go through her room today and do some fun stuff. Well- wild hairs being what they are, 9:30 last night I start simply taking down old photo frames I had on her wall, dusting them, and deciding I'd put in new photos. Then I noticed all the dust. Unacceptable amounts- and noticed the culprit of the ceiling fan. Next thing I know I'm cleaning the nasty fan blades, dusting the whole room/walls/etc... then I start taking everything off the walls, the curtains, and all that. Then comes the furniture rearranging- Kaely gave up on me around 10- and fell asleep on the couch... midnight rolls around and I'm reorganizing all her toys, getting rid of trash, sorting through her approx 30+ purses/bags (okay, seriously- please no more!)... I'm hanging up shelves- the other set I had like in Chase's room, and pulling organizers out of the garage I had bought back when we first moved stuff down to Miami. Next thing I know- it's 1:30- 2:00am... OMG- what is wrong with me???

Haha. So this morning Kaely chose to go with the Pink Panther photos, to go along with the sericel Dave got for her on our cruise almost 2 years ago (time flies!). Made the room more open and "grown up"- she won't leave it this morning! Of course I threatened her life (or just her freedom) if she messed everything up. LOL.

Still working on Chase's monkeys- here are some updates, needing to work on the details and finish the guitar playing monkey yet... then we have the baby elephant... lots more to go- but getting there! Juggle, juggle, juggle...

First Movie...

The day started off with Kaely's playdate getting cancelled at 7am. Sigh... So I felt horrible for another uneventful, boring day ahead for her. See, Chase and I can be just fine hanging out, reading, painting, or whatever- but for a 7 year old... summer sucks. Luckily, I remembered our "ghetto" theater (it's not really all that bad, just we have a million giant theaters all around, and this one is a small, old one). Anyhow, they do $1 children's movies every Wednesday morning during the summer. Granted, they are movies that are already on DVD, but still- it's the idea of going out to the theater... so, that was the plan.

Today the movie was Rio, which I loved the first time we saw it- actually, I already had Rafael, the Toucan from the movie, sketched on Chase's wall to join the cast of animals... (I think I'm going to add Jewel to it now too- hmm). All I went armed with was the diaper bag and a pair of boobs. We got there about 30 mins early, which helped to get a back seat so it wouldn't be as awkward to nurse in public. He ended up sleeping through half of the movie, then when he did wake up, he sat there enthralled with the movie. Kind of surprised me- but I guess all the colors and music was cool. Somehow it was a success! Very cool :)

Second part of our morning adventure included having to drop off library books finally, and get a couple more... so Kaely carried the books, and I had Chase. While she was in the kids section, I went searching for a couple books for me, when he started grunting...I look around knowing that more sounds were to follow- and why me? Always in the library where everyone can hear throughout the building. LOL. Sure enough... then I noticed my hand had something wet on it- I pull him away from me and the damn thing leaked everywhere! Through his onesie, overalls, and onto my shirt and jeans. Then it was a mission to get Kaely, get our new books checked out, and get the heck out of there. Of course ran into one of the moms from Kaely's class, so the girls wanted to chat- all the while I'm gagging on the smell (he had squash yesterday), and knowing it's just leaking everywhere... somehow managed to make it out- at that point it was either clean him and leave him in his carseat in just a diaper, or put a blanket under him and brave the 5 minute drive home. Considering I left the package of wipes at home today? Opted for the drive home. Never a dull moment...

Gone Bananas

Teething babies are crazy. Babies who are not teething, but have all the same symptoms? Just as nuts. Worst part? Not having a clue which is which. Sooooo... thanks again April for posting the alternative options for teething pain relief. I am not a big fan of running to Tylenol everytime he appears to be in pain- because sometimes I think it's just a mood, exhaustion, or something else entirely. I don't want to over-medicate regardless. The toys we have throughout the house are hit or miss. Honestly- his fingers - or anyone else's that he can find, seem to do the trick more-so than the toys. But... the idea of the frozen banana made me think- hmmm- not a bad idea.

So, this went really great and really bad- but I'm running with the good. He didn't want to hold it at first, and man it makes a giant, sticky, slobbery mess- but he seemed thrilled by the banana either way, and gave a few moments of contentedness. Of course, he got mad at the thing, and then we had to switch things up- but I'm putting stock in this frozen banana for the rest of the summer- teeth or no teeth! What else should I expect from creating  the monkey theme everywhere around him? :)

M-I-A

Yeah, so we've been missing in action in the virtual world the past several days. Since I took on the project of his jungle room, I've had the laptop in the room for reference, and well, too lazy to cart it back and forth. The 4th of July we laid low, tore up the yard, then visited with family and watched fireworks in our back yard... day after I played at the house while Dave had to work, then Friday I babysat the Nathan-ater and made a belated birthday dinner for my other sister. Saturday brought more friends & family visits and dinner with the grandma's and Chase finally meeting his Uncle Brandon for the first time (slacker)... so we've been busy doing a whole bunch of nothin'  :)

Cranky baby over here not enjoying the lack of attention from mom who is taking advantage of dad being here to help out so I can play with paint... Lots of craziness to go around as always!

Here are some updated pics of the room- slowly getting there!