Happy Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday to Spencer!

We spent so much time focusing on the party, which was the Saturday after his actual birthday, that we neglected to plan anything for the actual special day.  The night before at a post-soccer dinner, Joey looked at me and asked if we were doing anything for Spencer's birthday tomorrow. Whoops! Quick 9:00 PM trip to the grocery store (the only place open at 9:00 PM for party supplies) for cake mix, banners, party blowers, hats, and balloons. He was none the wiser that it had not been planned all along. 

Spencer woke up to his birthday breakfast with Lightening McQueen and Thomas balloons, a new train book, and new train cup and bowl. The boys and I drove out to the new donut place to pick out donuts for his friends at school.  He was already a happy boy.

Impromptu birthday party that evening with Spencer's favorite, and one of only three things he will eat, dinner: cheese pizza.  Luckily, my parents live close, so Gewah and Pops were able to hop over for  a pizza and cake mini party at the last minute. I managed to make and decorate a train cake.  I was scared at first that Spencer couldn't even tell what it was, but Alden came to my rescue and could interpret cake decorating abilities. Doesn't matter in the end because train or not, it tasted like cake. Daddy even snuck Harrison his first bite of ice cream. 

Birthday bath! Blue water, his favorite color, and a tub full of balloons!
                                               
Trying to not go overboard this year, we did a little DIY. He was excited that Mommy made him Thomas pajamas for his present.  He wore them for two nights in a row because he didn't want to take them off.  The only bad thing is that I have started something. Now, I have been ordered to make the older one dinosaur pajamas for his birthday!  I am thankful there is something I can still sew for my jeans and t-shirt wearing boys!

Later in the week, we had a visit from Grumps and Toni and John mid-college tour to tell Spencer Happy Birthday.  The brainwashing has begun!  Spencer loved being dressed up just like Uncle John in his new Alabama sweatshirt.  They also brought him the ultimate influence: An Alabama train named Big Al.  However, a few days later, Grandma Libby showed up with an Ole Miss train named Rebel.  We may end up with a SEC fleet before the end of it. The Auburn and Georgia engines are surely close behind.

Talk about cutting it close. Spencer started three year old soccer two days after turning three. He dressed up in his little outfit and cleats and ran around the house saying, "It's my turn! It's my turn!" Bless his heart, he has watched and waited so long to not be chased and pulled off the field when he is running through his big brother's games. Spencer is not a bad athlete. He kicks that ball in the correct direction and can actually make a goal. However, his newly three year old attention span doesn't last much after that. They have a 15 minute practice where he is spot-on, but then the game starts and he would rather sit on the sidelines and try to figure out who has brought the snacks.  Spencer was good with having one big practice and he is pretty much over soccer now no matter how long he waited to play. Considering the fact that Alden's T-Ball games are at the exact same time and Joey and I have to act like the divorced couple tin A Parent Trap splitting up the kids and swapping assignments every other weekend, Spencer's soccer season may be a short one. Needless to say, the day of the big birthday party, we all woke up (Grandma included) for the great split to two different sports games (Sidebar here: Can anyone tell me what you do when this happens with THREE boys? I need to be cloned).  At the 9:00 AM soccer game, I get an email from a friend that her kids are sick with a stomach virus and could we use their tickets to the 11:00 AM Disney Live.  Well, sure! I am nuts enough to do that with a 3:00 PM birthday party. I connect with Joey, find a "sitter" (ha!) for my Mother in Law, run to Erin's house for tickets coated in Lysol, meet Joey in the driveway, change boys clothing in living room, and run downtown for the show.  I caved when the boys wanted to get icee's in souvenir cups because the tickets were free, right? Joey looked at me like I was a nut and reminded me that we had to keep those outfits clean for the party. I look in terror at the purple and red syrup on top of those blasted things and wish I had talked them into Mickey Mouse ears or spinning light swords. I literally covered them in burp clothes, a bib, and a nursing cover and sat with my hand under Spencer's chin for the first half of the show.  Outfits made it!

Worth every bit of time rushed and nap skipped and activities crammed. They loved it!

Spencer and Harrison made it as far as they could. After the mid-Disney mini-nap, off for a quick lunch, pick up Grandma, and go party!  It takes creativity to come up with yet another train party this year. We went to the local gymnastics play gym Spencer loves and told him it was a train party. You through in a train birthday shirt, train cups and plates, and hey Jack, you got yourself a train party in Spencer's estimation.
                                      

There was one really big kid that kept breaking all the rules and being a bad example. I had to put him in time out, and when he didn't listen, I went and got his Mom.  She totally made him stop throwing the balls across the gym.

The big and little celebrated with the middle.  They had just as much fun as he did. Alden entertained the older siblings and even made a new friend that will be in Kindergarten with him next year.  Harrison spent most of his time surrounded by doting grandparents who were (gulp!) trying to teach him how to crawl!

But he saved a little time for a swing with a friend.

And a game of hide and seek.

                                                

A very happy birthday boy! He sang Happy Birthday to himself for a week after his "train party."

CAKE!

Oh, Lawd! I see visions of these boys in a car together in the all to near future. I am not sure what is more terrifying, Alden covering his eyes or Spencer screaming.

Surrounded by his best friends on his big day.

A much, much loved little boy.

Mom's Pulling Out Her Hair, Oh My!

 

My son is going through teenage angst. I am now understanding why men say there are certain emotional times that you can do nothing right and just want to run away. I have realized that PMS and four year olds have a lot in common. There are many things I do wrong around here. I decided to keep a list of a few:

• I wrung out the wash cloth and put it on the side of the tub only to find out that it was Thomas' bridge and Diesel was very upset. Screaming.

• I used the hair washing pitcher to, well wash hair, and found out that when I poured it on his head it was meant for the Starbuck's bathtub latte. I refilled it from the tub which caused tears because the clean water was for the customers and I refilled it with dirty water.

• I made vegetables and found out he wanted corn dogs. I made corn dogs and they were too cold. I made pancakes with syrup and found out that he "hated" syrup and wouldn't eat the pancakes because they were ruined.

• I bought a t-shirt with cars but it was "hated" because it did not have a police car only regular cars. Screaming and running from the room.

• I messed up the sleeping bag while I was in the shower. I did this telepathically because the sleeping bag was in another room but the child ran screaming at me in the bathroom that I messed it up.

• I said we had to get dressed to go to school. That is always a huge mistake.

• I turned off the bath water when it was so full that it was leaking into the room downstairs. He was cold.

• We only listened to the Batman theme song five times on the way to school instead of six. Someone else requested a song. We could not hear Thomas' theme song over the shouting.

• We went to the shoe store to get stickers. The man gave him a Sesame Street sticker and not a Scooby-Doo sticker.

• I brought him the blue monster hat instead if the white monster hat.

• I couldn't fix the scratched DVD.

• I couldn't make the neighbors stop selling their house.

• I told him he couldn't play with fire.

• I made him wear pants with buttons. I made him wear a Polo shirt.

• I gave him the wrong color yogurt.

On the other front, the middlest has become quite mischievous. This is maybe equivalent to what I would imagine to believe a constant burglary in my home would look like. He is remarkably fast with these antics, literally in the blink of an eye, and usually in rapid succession so that he gets in a new move while you are cleaning up the last mess. Sounds like running water, quiet, and "uh-oh" now terrify me:

• He got out of the bathtub to go and find my iPhone and throw it into the bathtub.

• I put the phone in a bag of rice to dry out. For three days. He found the bag of rice and poured it all over the house. He said it was snow. When I caught him, he falls to the floor and says, "Look, snow angels."

• He tore all the labels of his eczema creams so we didn't have the prescription numbers to reorder them. Then, he poured all the prescription eczema cremes into Baby Harry's bathtub.

• He emptied Baby Harry's bathtub onto the floor missing the tub by a mile. I shout from the changing table, "I hope that wasn't what I thought it was." Alden replies, "Yep, it's everywhere." (Two loads of wet towels followed)

• He pour out the coffee grounds. He poured out the flour. He poured out the cereal. I need gardening boots to walk through my kitchen.

• He found a highlighter and highlighted his clothes.

• He experimented with using the bathroom in the tub...on the bathroom floor...on the living room rug. Just to see what would happen. He asked if I would open the door so he could "go" in the backyard. I said, no, the bathroom was just fine.

• He took the mattresses off his bed to make a bridge.

• He also was irritated on corn dog night and slammed it repeatedly against a wall until it was just a stick.

• He left dinner at a restaurant, and I had to run and chase him three blocks to catch him.

• He decided to put some hair products in his hair to make it curly. He can't read. It was sunscreen. Took three immediate washings an he still smells like the beach four days later.

• He went to time out at school for eating his teacher's Valentine candy (or so he says).

Harrison has been fairly easily and slowly transitioned to his crib. He made it seven hours two nights in a row which I thought proved my point to my husband that as cute as he was in our room he needed to stretch out. Then, as luck would have it, he got his first tooth. Followed by his first ear infection. There went those blissful seven hours. Heres hoping that the tooth pushes through and amoxicillin does its thing and the poor little guy can sleep again. Harrison is a doll. He is the star of his music class getting so excited that he shakes when the music starts and sings along. The teacher really likes him;) He is also enamored with the other babies since it is the only time he sees someone just like him. He can sit up for about three minutes before he falls over, gives Mommy kisses, and can be thoroughly entertained by his big brothers.

All if this makes for a whole bunch of laughter, some frustration, an afternoon cocktail or two, and a few creative punishments. My favorite of the moment is telling Spencer he is in time out in the car. Really, it just means that it is time to go and I don't have the time to wait on time out or find a better time out spot. He truly believes he is in time out though. One day, I forgot about it and about 10 minutes into the drive he asks if he is still in time out. He was happy to find out he wasn't, but I don't know why since he was still in his car seat. Love it when they are young and gullible. Unfortunately, and fortunately, Alden is a great reader. He is Mr. Phonics and is really learning remarkably fast. Here is the bad part : I can't lie to him anymore. He has a book of knowledge and wanted me to read him the one page, of course, that deals with childbirth because it had a baby "like Baby Harrison" and a belly "like Mommy's was". Being a c-section Mama, we breezed through little brother arrival with a "they open up my belly" explanation. Of course, he points right to the word vagina and asks what it is. I just am not in the mood to go there or have him share his knew knowledge with all of his playground pals and thought I could avoid a few more months of that vocabulary lesson. I made something up. He says, "No Mommy, that is not what it says. It starts with a V sound." Crud, this whole reading thing is really going to limit my little white lie abilities.

We had some really great weekend plans in the month of February. We were going to see two plays, Abe Lincoln and The Three Little Kittens, attend Big Machines Day at the museum, go to the opening of the new donut store, and, gulp, I do the first of two things I said I would NEVER do: Chuck E. Cheese. On the way to the Chuck E. Cheese hell experience, in the middle of the highway where there is no way in the world you can pull off, Spencer throws up. More like projectile vomits. We just all sit there and watch the newish mini van become the ultimate mom car in horror and disbelief. I thought it would never stop, and when it did, one illegal U-turn later, I started to Google getting vomit out if car carpet. Upon arrival at home, poor Alden is in shock but somehow manages to climb over the abomination and get out safely. Harrison is just promptly removed and put in the middle of the driveway. Spencer is held under the arms like a stuffed toy and marched straight to a bath. Mom was left with mini van detail. Thank goodness for the warm sunny day and the upgrade Joey chose for the rubber mats because the entire front yard was covered in tiny parts of car seat and car mats for the ultimate hose down, febreeze, Lysol, carpet cleaning. Harry napped in the breeze and Alden began his come-apart that he could not go to Chuck E. Cheese like Braxton and Delmer in his class. Ok, I suppose that come apart was fair yet a bit inconvenient. He won, and Daddy took him to see Chuck while I sat with the baby and the sick one at home. Four hours later, after I called and said it was time to come home and rescue me from stomach virus, they arrived home and Joey proclaimed that he hoped we never went Chuck E. Cheese again. Alden just said, "Guess what? I met Chuck E:!"

Fast forward one week exactly and it was Mama's turn. Joey has the one meeting that I couldn't get him out of when it hit me. I drive to carpool with a plastic sack in my lap, prayed for long boy naps, and texted every five minutes to see if Joey could please come home. When I reached the low point of nursing the baby from the bathroom floor with my head on the porcelain throne, I called his assistant and told her that three hours of taking car of three kids and a stomach virus was enough and go get him. The text I got from Joey said, "Oh, shit! I'm on my way!" Bless him. The bad news is that Grandma was coming. She had a weekend of not one, but two sick adults, and none of our fun planned events. We also may never see her again because she got trapped in her hotel with the stomach virus for two extra days. She may be afraid to visit.

So what was the other thing I NEVER seas going to do? I, gulp, took my kids inside a McDonalds. This Braxton and Delmer got me in trouble again with a gift card to McDonalds for Christmas and then a friend invited us to go. I agreed to a visit for chocolate sundaes but I refuse to cross over into Happy Meal territory. My kids don't do fast food places with toys, so they were awe if the toy display I referred to as "decorations" so as to not initiate any sudden love for hamburgers.  I did, however, discover that $.99 coffee is a pretty good deal, and the only drive thru coffee option on the way to school, so it might not have been all bad. I have learned I can't take them thru the drive thru for coffee anymore because they started asking me to order them Sprites. McDonalds marketing at work. There has never been a soft drink in our house since they were born.

Whew! Oh, somewhere in there was Valentines (all Easter stash was found by my little snoops and thus we had quite a Valentine celebration as the Easter Bunny could no longer claim those spoils) and Joey had a birthday where we even made him a surprisingly good Paleo Coconut Cake.

I am not kidding when I say that this was a friends post on Facebook the other day:
"After a long day at work yesterday, I went to the grocery and struggled to find something for the evening meal, got home, the hall bath reeked from puppy pad and litter box so I cleaned all that, all the while trying to start dinner which included cleaning the sink and counters. Found some hairballs in the floor, started to clean that up and in the midst of it all I thought to myself, "I wonder what kind of day Carla is having. Then, I laughed hysterically and felt better immediately."

Glad to know my life is inspirational. There aren't very many photos this month...can you guess why??