Who Says Being a Stay at Home Mom isn't Exciting!!!

Today was a normal Wednesday. The kids had appointments at the dentist and then we were going to go to the gym and run a few errands. I get the kids in the car only to find out my little dude had turned on one of the lights in the back. It had to have been on for at least a day and a half. The battery was dead and I only had 15 minutes to get the kids to the dentist that is a 15 minute freeway drive away. I called my hubby who tells me that the jumper cables are in his car 25 miles away. I start running to the few apartments that have someone who hasn't left for the day trying to find out if someone has jumper cables and if they could help me. Well, two of the four apartments that I could try were unable to help. As I'm walking up to the one where I know people are there, I find out that they don't speak english! Thankfully, the woman who helped them get this apartment had jumper cables with her and she spoke fluent spanish! With her car and cables, the father of that family was able to jump the car. As we were driving up, I realized that our radio won't work because it has an anit-theft device that needs a code that isn't in the car. The previous owner didn't leave that in the owner's pack, but he did leave the instruction manual to a portable dvd player! And yes, my little dude wanted to listen to music, because the drive is boring. We made it to the dentist late, but were still able to get in. Plus, my kids don't have any cavities! The day is only looking better.

After we leave the dentist's office, I pick up lunch for the kids. My baby doll had a shortened nap, and then it was off to the gym where I had a lazy day of bike riding for an hour. It took an extra 10 minutes to get out of the parking lot because my little dude didn't want to leave. He tried so hard not to leave that he grabbed the bike rack and wouldn't let go. It was HI-larious! We then went to our credit union where he didn't realize that the drive thru there is the same as the drive thru at a fast food restaurant. He took off his seat belt, after many times of me telling him no, and climbed up front to see the canister shoot up. After a bit of a scolding, he got back in his seat and tried so hard to get his seat belt on. When we were done there, I drove to the nearest pharmacy to pick up his flouride prescription. It took probably a good five minutes of me explaining to him that he doesn't need to unbuckle himself, because we weren't getting out. It's not that he didn't understand that we weren't getting out, but that he didn't understand why we wouldn't WANT to get out to go to another 'store.'

Our last stop was my bank, where I needed to cash my bonds. We go in, because I just know that it's going to take FORever, and I didn't want to be in a car with a 4 yr old who keeps asking what we're doing and a 1 yr old who would be screaming because we aren't going anywhere. Well, when we finally get up to an available teller, he has to ask 2 others how to cash bonds, since they aren't seeing too many of them. They finally figure out that it's about a 10 minute process for 3 bonds. If they were for a LARGE amount of money I probably would have been more jovial. However, I was an exhausted mom who just got done exercising and running errands with a 4 yr old who tried using the bank as a jungle gym and an infant/toddler who just wants to crawl everywhere and not be told she isn't allowed to go where she wants. They finished up and I figured that while I was actually in the bank and had a copy of our marriage liscence on me, I would change my name after only 6 1/2 years of marriage. I looked at the tax copy of of my bond deposit, and it read that I deposited 3-$50 bonds. I was shocked! One of those was a $100 bond. Not that it's much of a difference, but still I know I didn't get the correct face value of it. That meant that I had to get back into line and get to the teller who helped me and get everything straightened out. By this time, my little dude had already finished off his sucker and my baby doll wasn't doing well without a bottle and freedom. About 1/4 of the through fixing the mishap, my little dude was using the door as a swing. I guess it's good that he doesn't weigh too much, that way he won't break anything, right? Oy! He's so bored inside, that he's running in and out of the two doors and holding them open for people. He was holding open the outside door trying to get me to come out to go home. One of the women that was originally helping me and the teller tried to play with my little dude, and that was the one thing that got him running and staying by my side. Finally I lifted him up onto the ledge where the teller was. He finished his time up playing with the pen while I finished throwing my baby doll up for about the 30th time to keep her happy and not screaming. With many apologies and thank yous, we left the bank after being there for a 1/2 hr that felt like about 3 hrs and went home. You know, I surprised myself today. While there were moments where I just wanted to scream and cry, I pushed out smiles and enjoyed that my kids are healthy, happy, energetic, normal kids who do what kids do. Now here I sit typing out what could have been a bad experience all because of the way I perceived and reacted to the events of today. I'm finishing my day off with a bowl filled with a banana, chocolate ice cream and marshmallows. A sweet ending to an exciting day.

Funny things they do

My little baby doll still just as tiny as ever is starting to be told no. As we tell her no, we give stern looks and shake our heads so that she will know what we mean. Now, everytime she goes to the dog dish to play with the water, she shakes her head and then starts the fun splashing. She overgeneralized it to playing with our shoes. She crawled into our closet, shook her head and proceeded to pull out shoes one by one and throwing them behind her.

Then there's the little dude who is 4 now. Last night before bed, my hubby told the little dude that he could finish the bag of M&Ms later today. While I was toasting a waffle for him, I went to the bathroom and put my contacts in. In that short time, my little dude climbed up onto the counter and grabbed the bag of M&Ms out of the candy bowl that's on top of the fridge, poured them into a cup and threw away the bag. When I came out of the bathroom he showed me he got them all by himself.

I still can't stop laughing about my funny little ones.

My Petite One

So, my little baby doll is quite the eater for being so tiny. At 9 months she's barely getting bigger no matter how much she eats. She is such a little scavanger. I just caught her digging through things until she found her canister of baby stars. Since those are so expensive I made her a little baby trail mix, kix and cheerios. They are in one of those cute and smart Snacktraps. She sits there and just knows what's inside! I love it! She's so cute and now that she's a little more independent, she's just that much cuter.

I can't tell if she's just really hungry all of the time or if she just likes having things in her mouth. I have found her trying to bite a step stool, my arm, one of those toys where little wooden shapes go around the wires that are attached to a wooden board, and everything that's made of cloth. I have started feeding her pastas along with all of her fruits, veggies and baby cereals. I have found that she really enjoys all types of breads too. Going from a picky 4 year old to a baby that is demanding to try everything is really refreshing.

Two of a Kind

We've always known that our little ones have looked alike, grown at fairly the same rate (extremely small), and have some of the same habits. Everyone can tell that they are brother and sister, even though they have slight color differences in their hair and eyes. When I say slight, I mean that his blue eyes are a little light than her blue eyes and his hair is platinum and hers is progressively getting blonder, but her hair hasn't grown out too much yet to see how blond she will be. Well, as I was holding her yesterday during church, she fell asleep on me because it was nap time and the only time she will snuggle me or anyone else. I had looked down once to see if I could pull her fingers out of her mouth, but thankfully, they had slowly fallen out and her hand rested on her chest. It was at that moment that I saw it! She looked EXACTLY the same as her brother! If I had dressed her in his clothes or had put a dress on him at this age, it would have been like a weird time travelling story. If they were ever to be twins the only way I would have known at that point who was who, would be by checking their gender. As amazed as I will ever be, that moment seemed to last quite a long time and will forever be etched into my memory.

New Milestones

My little dude is now 4 and he is crazy active like usual. He can successfully count and read to 39. He loves his numbers. He reads his abcs. He still knows his numbers 1-10 in French and Spanish. He's learning to fine tune his drawing and willingly starting to write. While still scrawny, he has moved up to 4T only because of length. I don't think he'll ever fit into clothing properly. Not only does he tell us that he's hungry now, but he surprises us with asking for things like tacos! For one of the pickiest eaters, that's a huge step. He very much loves his sister.

My baby doll is almost 8 months and it has gone by too fast. I'm happy that she's not trying to crawl right now. She started rolling at around 3 1/2 months. Now she's spinning on her stomach and rolling to get to where she wants to be. She has quite the attitude. She loves to grab at things, especially hair, which she doesn't have much of still. She will sit up willingly after only a few weeks of fighting against. She's learning to fine tune her pincer grasp. She has been finding the smallest pieces of lint on the carpet. I don't know why the lint is more exciting than toys that surround her, but it is. She's just as small as ever. I'm trying to giver her high calorie foods...or at least extra formula, but those don't seem to be working too well. We'll see in a month what she really is. I have one more month to get her up another pound and a half. That was the goal the doctor set for us. However, everyone is in agreement that we just have genetically small children, and now I don't need to worry about how skinny they are.

Milestones

My little peanut is almost 6 months old now and she is amazing me. In no time flat, she has just rolled her way off of her play mat and onto the carpet. She has been rolling for a couple of months now. Last night she surprised us by looking like she was getting ready to crawl. She pushed up her but and had her arms out. Thankfully, she was just trying to eat the carpet. Nevertheless, it was quite the scare. These past few months seem to have just flown by. She has been testing her voice, which comes in 2 settings, extremely loud and possessed baby growl. Everything that she can grab immediately goes straight to her mouth, which happens to be sufficiently different from what her brother used to be. All of this while still being a happy mama's girl.

Personalities

I absolutely love how big of personalities babies have and how different each one is. My little peanut is not only a happy baby like her big brother, but she's a little more adventerous than he is. She likes to be thrown in the air and fall, knowing that someone is there to catch her. Our boy was always a little anxious when we tossed him. (Given, he is fearless when he's in control of what's happening to him.) While he has a high tolerance for pain and she has a really low one, their personalities for adventure are completely different. At 5 months old, she is getting ready to crawl. She has been rolling for some time now. She even sleeps on her stomach even though I lay her on her back. She seems to be taking her milestones in step. Whereas her brother rushed from one to the next as soon as he got ahold of what he was doing. Even if she turns out to be just a tiny little thing that has slow and small growth spurts, she will always be our big spirited babe.