Day 48

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 11 weeks

Today was one of those days were you recover after vacation. We had to get back to our normal a bit. Liem had to do a detox from all the attention and leeway, and get back to the day-to-day real life rules and routine. It was fun.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Do not just limit, monitor all outdoor activity during potty training.
Liem, once again, dropped his drawers and pooped outside. I had just checked on him, so this was an on-the-sly deal. This time, though, he didn't tell me. Which leads to lesson #2.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Explain what potty training is to Liem.
I had told Liem not to poop outside since, as previously mentioned, he needs specific, frequent reminders. He obviously ignored this instruction. So when I told him he was in trouble he immediately said, "I get on the potty train!!" Well, I laughed and the "in trouble" part was over. He's obviously heard me talking about potty training, and came up with that. We cleared that up, but I hated to since it was so cute.

Mommy's Lesson 3: Kisses + rambunctious boy = disaster.
We kept Liem up late watching the debate and the Tigers game at my brother & sister-in-law's place. So by 9:00, his 2nd wind was hitting. He asked for a kiss, I leaned in and I got a massive head-butt to the nose. Owwww! My right eye is still blurry.

Liem's Lesson 1: Priscilla is getting a little better/cooler every day.
Prissy just giggles and coo's when Liem talks to her. So he, in turn, talks to her more. Today, he picked a flower and brought it in. He does this for me regularly, and it warms my heart. But today when I asked, "Did you pick a flower for Mommy?" he replied, "This is for Priss. She's the baby sister." Then, when he saw she was asleep, he laid it next to her and went back out to play. It was way better than a flower for mommy.

Liem's Lesson 2: Mommy is Daddy's baby.
The word "baby" is used a lot in our house. We talk about "the baby." My husband and I call each other "Baby." I call Liem "Baby." So Liem has begun to use it, too. He calls Prissy "baby" all the time. But now he calls me "Baby." This morning it was, "I need crackers, Baby." Then, "I want some juice, please, Baby." Then, "I need to go pee pee, Baby." And when he thinks he's going to get in trouble, "Baby, I need to obey" or "I need to obey Baby." You try keeping a straight face through that one. We've tried to explain that mommy is only daddy's baby. But he's not getting it yet. We'll have to keep working on it.

Finally, and off-topic for my usual direction: I just want to say "thank you" to people who stop to help the mother of two small children. I know that an offer of help cam be taken wrong these days, and so it takes courage to even offer. But I really appreciate the holding of doors, helping with groceries and kind smiles. You're an encouragement to me.

Priss and the flower Liem picked for her:

A Family Day

Liem: 30 Months
Priscilla: 10 Weeks

A day with family can be just what the doctor ordered, or it can be disastrous. Thankfully, it was just what we needed today. We got to sleep in a bit, be with my fabulous in-laws, and enjoy a wonderful dinner.

Liem's lesson 1: Anatomy
Liem is learning the differences between boys and girls. He displayed his knowledge this morning when he told my husband and I, "Daddy has pecks, Liem has pecks, and Mommy has boobies."

Liem's Lesson 2: The care and feeding of babies.
I am a nursing mother, and this is something my bright boy can't miss. Shortly after Priscilla was born, he made an observation, "Priscilla's eating Mommy's milkshakes." I was impressed with his very astute observation for a two year old. But I got a little worried recently when he came to me while I was nursing and said, "I want milkshakes, too." I needed some clarification so asked, "You want Mommy's milkshakes?" I was thankful when he said, "No! I want McDonald's milkshakes."

Liem's Lesson 3: You just have to ask the right person.
Liem has recently begun to ask me for something if he didn't get the answer he wanted and vice-versa. We're teaching him this isn't okay. But today, it served him well.
He loves to ride the riding mower. And he'll ride for as long as his pilot will take him. No one said he wasn't allowed, just that they were done. So to continue riding when one said, "I'm done," he just went from Daddy to Grandpa to Uncle for quite some time. The only way we were able to get him to be done was to tell him the "mow mow" was tired and needed to sleep.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Boys mark their territory.
Liem has a few bug bites from playing outside, and he has a very hard time not scratching them. So we put fun bandaids on to help. I am beginning to think we need to reconsider the types of bandaids we're using, though. He seems to think of them more as stickers than bandaids. He puts them on his things and says, that's Liem's. This was taken one step further when my sister-in-law found Donald Duck on her fridge after we left today.

Daddy's Lesson: Some things just aren't funny.
Our day had two oddities. 1) I felt sick to my stomach all day for no apparent reason. 2) Prissy had a huge crying fit, and became nearly inconsolable---very unusual for her. My husband tried to help me explain these things. 1) You're pregnant again. 2) She's just teething. Thankfully, the answer to both of these is "No!" But he almost found himself sleeping on the couch.

Liem with Grandpa on the mow-mow:

Day 47

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 10 weeks

This week has been fabulous and crazy. When there is company, you learn how you're children would really behave if you had never provided any training.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Get Liem some more socialization time.
Good friends of ours are in town, and staying with my parents. This means all of Liem's toys are being shared and the attention is split between he and his "cousin." Liem has overall done well, but still has a lot of learning to do. His lessons are the reasons for my lesson.

Liem's Lesson 1: Don't hit.
Liem doesn't play the same as everyone else. He collects things, lines them up and organizes them, groups things; but just because he put it down doesn't mean he's done. It just means he's gone to get something else and will "be right back," as he says. But his slightly younger playing companion doesn't understand this playing style. So when Liem gets off his riding toy and gets his play wrench to "fix" it, K (his cousin) takes off on the toy. Liem's response is to bop K on the top of the head. I don't know where he got this, because that is not a behavior modeled in our house. But this has been a reoccurring incidence this week. Mommy is helping Liem learn not to hit.

Liem's Lesson 2: Share.
As I said, Liem loves to group and organize things. He'll line them up according to size and shape. But again, this is not K's style. So if Liem has put it down, K views it as fair game. Liem doesn't see it this way; and being a little bigger, he tends to win. Liem also likes to see toys that are new to him. And his "collecting" style of playing really lends itself more toward hoarding. So all of K's toys tend to end up in front of Liem. Mommy will win the battle on this one. Sharing is a must.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Taking professional pictures of Liem just isn't going to be fun.
I am very blessed to have some wonderful photographers and editors in my family. This means that I frequently have beautiful pictures of my children at no cost, except the printing. Liem does not enjoy this as much as I do. He doesn't mind getting dressed up; he likes looking "handsome." In fact he's quite proud of the way he looks. But once it comes to the actual picture taking, he has no intention of cooperating. In order to get a good picture, I bribe him. This is something I do under no other circumstances. But even with bribes, and a very patient photographer (my mom, in today's case) Liem is not going to make it easy---or even difficult; he's going to make it next to impossible. And if I put Priscilla in the picture next to him, he's going to carry it all the way to impossible. After hours (quite literally) of trying, taking breaks, and trying again, I believe we got one good picture. I can't wait until he really starts to like his sister. It will bring the process just back down to difficult.

Mommy's Lesson 3: There are no bed times when Grandma is in town.
Also in town this week are my husband's parents. They are wonderful in-laws. I am very blessed that way. But juggling visiting with two sets of guests has been difficult; Liem was very distraught that he didn't get to see Grandma and Grandpa today. We even considered taking him over late tonight. We have decided that for the remainder of their time here, we're just going to have to flex the routine and get Liem some good Grandma & Grandpa time. And he's falling asleep very quickly once he does go to bed because he's staying up so much---that's a great perk!

Liem's Lesson 3: No diaper, no wetness protection.
Guests make potty training difficult. But while we are home, it's on. He is still having trouble remembering to go when he's playing, even with me reminding him to use the potty every 20-30 minutes. So he's been surprised and upset a few times this week when his clothes have ended up quite wet. He's making great progress, though. I am sooo thankful we seem to be getting this down!!

The money shot of my beautiful children:

Day 44

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 10 weeks

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Dramatic? Yes. Accurate? Most definitely---as any mother of young children will tell you.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Remember the foods that upset the baby's stomach, and don't eat them.
Prissy screamed for over an hour, which is very unusual for her. And she cried on and off all day. I can only conclude that I ate something that upset her stomach. I'm going to have journal my eating habits so I don't repeat this mistake.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Remember to put training pants on the potty training two year old before you get in the car.
Liem is just wearing lose shorts and pants so he can go use the potty quickly and easily. But it doesn't need to be that easy in the car. He was standing in the car and I heard, "Uh oh! There's poop. There's a big poop and a little poop." He had gone poo, and it had fallen right out the bottom of those loose fitting shorts.

Mommy's Lesson 3: Be careful about pet names.
Liem has been experimenting with the English language. His latest venture into speech is his use of pet names. Such as calling my good friend "Honey" repeatedly yesterday. She and I both loved it. But I won't be calling my husband "Hot Stuff" in front of Liem any more.

Mommy's Lesson 4: Every day has a silver lining.
My nerves have been on end all day, but Liem has made each and every minute of hard work worth it. Completely unsolicited (I was actually in the middle of a conversation with someone) Liem came to me and said, "I love you so much, Mommy. So much" and accompanied his declaration with a hug and kiss. He came to me later and said, "I need a kiss, Mommy" and held my face with both hands and kissed me repeatedly. Then tonight, he came to me and said, "Good night, My Love. I love you. I have to go to bed."
And finally, during one of Priscilla's crying spells today, he came to her and said, "It's okay, Sissy. It will be okay" and gave her a hug. He has melted my heart all day today. What a blessing he's been to me.

My sweet boy comforting his sissy today:

Girls' Weekend

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 9 weeks

The final day of our girls' weekend was great. We took some baby pictures, had coffee, did lunch, talked and did a little shopping. But finishing conversations, eating my food hot, and going to the bathroom alone was getting too weird.

Liem pretended not to care that I got home, but betrayed himself by being cuddly and clingy. It was nice :) He even played with his little sister---that was the major give-away. We had a good evening and it was a great cap-off to my trip.

The best part of my night was putting Liem to bed. We sang together and prayed. Then I got to eavesdrop on his time with Daddy through the baby monitor. He pulled out some pennies he had and told daddy that they were for going to get coffee together, which is his favorite thing to do with Daddy. I am pretty sure that is the sweetest thing EVER. I just love my little man; I really missed him.

Liem trying to give Prissy her pacci:

Day 42

Liem: 30 Months
Priscilla: 9 weeks

Today I left for a girls trip with my mom and little girl. We went to visit my aunt and cousin, who live 4 hours away. A break is fantabulous! But it teaches you some things, too.

Mommy's Lesson 1: There's no such thing as going away.
I left at 6 o'clock this morning for one night away. And as I left, all I could think was, "I won't get a hug or kiss from my Liem today." And all day, my thoughts were consumed with how he was doing. The time away is refreshing and good for me; but I miss my little man. I have no antic-filled stories and did not have to clean my floor of pee or poo because he wasn't with me.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Relax and enjoy the time off.
Today I sat and read a magazine. I held my little girl and talked and enjoyed her coo's. I finished a conversation. I put on my makeup start to finish in one sitting. All in all, I had a fantastic day. I am thankful for my time off. And tomorrow will be good, too. But I can't wait to hear about all the things my Liem did while I was away.

My mom with Prissy today:

Alone with Blessings

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 9 weeks

This morning, the first words out of Liem's mouth were, "Don't pee on Mommy's couch." I was immediately skeptical for the rest of the day, as is my nature. This could be fantastic! Maybe he's getting it! Or maybe not. Or maybe he's got his own variation.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Limit the outdoor time while potty training.
Liem has figured out that he doesn't really get in trouble for peeing outside. And when he goes out, Mommy doesn't say, "Don't pee outside." As I've stated before, I have to be very specific with him. Today he took it to a whole new level. While playing outside, he dropped his shorts and pooped. He came inside to give a report, "Mommy there's poop outside." He like to tell me about the dog "leftovers" so I didn't think anything of it. I just reminded him, "Don't touch it." Then he replied, "I pooped outside. That's Liem's poop." Upon inspection of his behind, I found the report to be true. Gross! I cleaned him up, explained that poopoo is only for the potty and sent him back out. He soon returns distraught. His problem? The dog ate his poop. Liem spent the rest of the day inside; the dog spent the rest of the day outside.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Being a mommy is the highest paid job in the world.
I am a strong believer in verbal affirmation---it's one of my love languages. So it is a big part of my parenting style. Because of this, my children hear that I love them (and my husband, too) several times a day. Today, for the first time, Liem responded, "I love you, Mommy." When he's talking to others, I coach him to respond to their "I love you's." But because that's my job, and I'm not the kind to have him tell me he loves me, I don't get the same responses. Today, though, he gave it all on his own. I just got paid---big time. I'm richest woman in the world. Donald Trump has nothing on me.

Liem's Lesson: Being big brother is kinda' cool.
Today Liem was much more interested in Priscilla. He even said, "That's my little sister. I'm the big brother." Every day is a new blessing.

In Priscilla news, her best times are her night time times. From 9 to 10:30 p.m. she is talkative and smiley. But I think that's because she has her daddy. She is definitely a daddy's girl. Below is a picture of them "talking." I just love it!!

The Next Day

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 9 weeks

There are days I feel that I accomplish a lot. Sometimes it's getting housework done. Sometimes it's teaching Liem something. Sometimes it's a project that I have. There are days where I feel like I get nothing accomplished. Then there are days like today; days I think I'm accomplishing something, and then I find out I never was.

Mommy's lesson 1: If at hundredth you don't succeed, try try again.
Liem secretly likes his little sister. He doesn't want me to know, though. But he really is warming up to her. He likes to hold her hand and talk to her. He likes it when she looks at him and smiles. But he hasn't really decided to like her openly yet. He decided to pick flowers from the yard and being them to her today. But then he got upset that she wouldn't take them when offered. I tried to explain that she doesn't know how to hold them, but he didn't understand. Instead he decided to let me know, "I don't like her any more." Oh, well. I'll try again tomorrow.

Mommy's Lesson 2: "Just keep swimming, swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming."
I really believe Dory (from Disney's "Finding Nemo") was on to something there. Today Liem went potty much more successfully. He only had one accident. It was, however, on me. We were playing horsey, and he peed on my back. Ew. I'll try again tomorrow.

A picture of my little (big) blessings:

Today

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 8 weeks

I have been absent for some time. The reasons can all be summed up in one word: diseased. My little family has run the gamut of illnesses, and it would be too long and boring to list them all. Sufficed to say, I finished the last of my antibiotics yesterday and we're all well---what a blessing!

I have learned many lessons over the past weeks. Things like, just put your kid in the tub when they have a stomach bug. It's hard enough for adults to decide which end of their body to use the toilet for; don't put that kind of pressure on a two year old. And this lesson: bring more than two changes of clothes for a baby with projectile poop abilities, even if it is only a 15 minute errand. Instead of sharing all my lessons at once, though, I'd like to tell you a few anecdotes and one of today's lessons.

My two year old provides most, if not all, of the humor throughout my day. I really believe God did this especially for me, since it breaks up his other "adventures." His use of the English language is really just my favorite:

My husband has a few regular exclamations hr uses when things aren't going according to plan such as, "Come on, man!" (I don't know who this man is.) Liem likes to repeat these for emphasis at the time, and then later in his own moments of frustration. My favorite is his version of "dogon it!" I've heard this pronounced many ways like "daw gone it!" and "dog on it!" and "da gum it!" But my son's interpretation, or rather misinterpretation, is my favorite: "all gone it!"

Liem is a big fan of Disney's movie, Cars. But his pronunciation of the name of the main character, Lightning McQueen, needs some work. It always comes out, "Wiping Queen."

Today's Lesson: Adventures in potty training are really just reasons to double my efforts.
Liem is quite capable of using the "big boy potty," he just doesn't want to. As soon as he is coerced onto the toilet, he goes, lets you know what he did, cleans up, puts the potty seat away, flushes, and washes his hands. Knowing that he has the intelligence, understanding, and capability I have begun to force the issue. He always has an excuse not to go, though. Reasons such as, "I'm too busy to go potty." He even started saying, "I don't need to use the potty, I have a diaper." So today I took the diaper away and told him that if he went pee pee on mommy's floor or couch or bed or chair (it is of great import to be 100% clear on everything hr may not pee on) or Liem's bed, etc. that he would be in trouble. He did a pretty good job all in all. So today when he needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of talking to me, he dropped his toy and ran to the bathroom. Yay! Success! Or not. He didn't make it. He came back very upset and said, "Mommy, I went poo poo on the floor." He sat on the toilet to finish, though.

In news on Prissy, she coos and smiles beautifully and we're loving every minute of her development. She's such a sweetheart.

A picture of one of my sweet girl's first smiles, as well as my two wonderful children together:

Day 10

Liem: 28 months
Priscilla: 20 days

Mommy's Lesson 1: Children and poop are synonymous.
Today, my dad pointed out to me that almost all my blogs include something about poo. At first I thought that was odd; but then I really thought about it. I change at least 7 poopy diapers a day between my two children---more if one of them is especially active. I may get lucky and have a little less if I can convince my son to use the potty. It is almost impossible to not have some kind of smelly experience from my day. Maybe in the future, I will try to eliminate a few BM stories. But, lest today be any different from the norm . . .

Mommy's Lesson: Save the talking for after Liem's bedtime.
Liem' Lesson: Dog poop is not play dough.
My husband and I try to grab a few moments to talk in between the madness. These moment are rare, since they are usually when both children are temporarily settled---mainly our two-year-old. Occasionally, though, we try to grab a moment to discuss something when he is awake. Today is a prime example of why we don't normally do this. I let Liem play outside unsupervised. I knew he was digging in mud, fresh from the day's rain---I was okay with this. Boys and dirt go together like cupcakes and frosting. What I didn't know was that while my husband and I talked about needing a bigger car, Liem was building dog poop castles. Then, realizing the reprimanding that he would incur, he decided he should wash his hands. So he went into our bathroom and got poop all over my sink, soap dispenser, cabinets and towels. He then realized he was unable to turn the water on. At this point he comes to me and says, "I need to wash my hands, Mommy," displaying his very messy hands. I didn't know he'd already been in my bathroom, but the poo was all over his shirt, his hands, and his arms. I told him to go rinse in his pool to get the big stuff. He did, then came back in and wiped his hands on my couch and jeans---now I and my couch are wearing soggy poop. I tool him to the bathroom and saw the mess from his own attempt to clean up. I washed his hands and arms, and my bathroom and realized it was also all over his legs and in his hair. The end result was Daddy giving him a bath and giving Mommy a break.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Just be patient.
Liem has been doing a lot better with his sister. And a lot better with me, too. He especially does well if he thinks no one is watching. Today, I stepped out of the room to make lunch and left he and Priss in my room. When I came back he had pulled her blanket over her. She didn't need it, but he was taking care of his little sister. What a blessing to see that patience and not pushing is working.

A picture from one of Liem's muddy adventures this Spring & Prissy after Liem had covered her:

Family Day 5

Liem: 28 months
Priscilla: 19 days

Our Sunday is spent at church. We're there most of the day. But getting there is always an adventure.

Liem naps in the afternoon, and getting him up to go back to church is always a battle. He likes the nursery--loves it, actually. But he loves sleep more (he's his mother's son). But once we get moving, we're all good.

Today, we headed back for choir practice and evening service and we offered him a snack, as usual. Today, though, Liem said, "No, thank you. I'm too sad to eat." After swallowing my laughter at his silly-for-a-two-year-old statement, I asked, "Why are you sad?" He said, "I just need some rest." So we let him be. A few minutes later he said, "I'm rested now." What a crack-up my little man is.

Adventures Alone: Day 9

Liem: 28 months
Priscilla: 17 days

I had very little alone time with both my children today. We had an appointment this morning, and planned to come home this afternoon.

My mom and the three of us were headed home after our morning out. As soon as we got in the car, Liem told me he didn't want to go home. I thought it was just because he had got to play with his friends and wasn't ready for it to stop. But we were almost home and he was still insistent that he didn't want to go home. When I asked him what he wanted to do, he said he wanted to go home with Grandmommy, my mom. I explained to him that I had to go home, so he would have to go with her by himself. To my surprise, he agreed. I was thrilled that we had instilled in him some independance, and broken hearted that he was asking to leave mommy. They dropped me off, and it was reported to me that he said, "I got home with Grandmommy, and Mommy feel better. Mommy take a nap and feel better." I just can't believe my little man is already thinking of taking care of me---at two! I am just so blessed!

Family Day 4

Liem: 28 months
Priscilla: 18 days

Just wanted to share about my fabulous family.

We got tons of work done around the house, and everyone pitched in. Liem and Daddy mowed the lawn, and Prissy and Mommy organized the clothes (she laid next to me, anyway). We went on our first grocery shopping trip as a family tonight---that was a new adventure.

The best part of our day was Priscilla's first bath at home. Previous to this, I've been cleaning her with a damp cloth waiting for her belly button to heal. We all got in on the adventure. Daddy took pictures and video, Mommy bathed, and Liem gave me instructions and said, "It's okay, Prissy." Then, while Daddy put Liem to bed, I cuddled Priss while she was a wrapped up in a towel. It was such a sweet moment just Mommy and the baby girl. Then, she pooped on me through the towel; and pooped, and popped, and pooped. Why didn't I get up and clean her? Because she didn't take a break. Every time I would go to clean her up, she'd go again. I am very thankful her system is in good working order.

I have a fantastic family! And I just can't get over how blessed I am. I couldn't ask for anything more than I already have.

Mommy & Priss after her bath (and before the poop):

Adventures Alone: Day 7

Liem: 28 Months
Priscilla: 15 Days

I am exhausted, and therefore do not guarantee the quality or correct grammatical structure of the content of this blog.

Mommy's Lesson 1: I need more than 3 non-consecutive hours of sleep a night. Priscilla was up all night just because. She'd fall asleep and wake up five minutes later complaining, as if saying, "Wait a minute, you tricked me!" I lost count somewhere after the third time, but I cried a lot today. That's just hormones and a lack of sleep. I believe I may have said something to Liem along the lines of, "Don't do what I told you to" at some point today. I think I may also have called him "Bumper" (the name of our dog). Poor kid. I'm pretty sure I was very confusing today.

Mommy's Lesson 2: It is best to double check the needed ingredients needed vs ingredients I have before making a meal. I think I've done this several times since coming home from the hospital. I can usually improvise; today, however, I was just out of everything that would work. So I decided to quit while I was ahead and move on to the back-up plan. Liem loves sweet potatoes, so in went three bakers. A success? Unfortunately not. I wasn't paying very close attention to my husband's. He ended up with one big bite of a rotten sweet potato. Liem's and my potatoes were fine. My poor husband ended up with a bowl if cereal for dinner.

Mommy's Lesson 3: 2-year olds can't be still; and hair gel covers a lot.
Liem's Lesson: Hold still as best you can.
Every time Liem gets a haircut, he screams like a banshee. You'd think that his hair had feeling and every time the blade cut, he felt it. So I have quit taking him to get his hair cut; I feel bad for the person having to do it. I started cutting his hair myself last fall thinking it might be less "scary" for mommy to do it: wrong! He still screams. My skill has improved, but his confidence has not. So I switched to regular scissors today in hopes that the elimination of the loud noise while cutting would help. He didn't scream, but he did wiggle a lot more; now he was curious. The process went something like this: I cut, he squirms, I sigh, and he says, "Oh, no." My skill with the scissors will have to improve and learn to move with his squirms. In the mean time, hair gel does quite a bit to cover my mistakes.

Just want to say thanks for reading!! I'm having fun writing, and I hope you're getting a chuckle as you read. :-)

Adventures Alone: Day 8

Liem: 28 Months
Priscilla: 16 Days

Today is Priscilla's due date. I am so glad she is here already!! I can't imagine having had to be pregnant these last two weeks.

There were several lessons today, but I just want to brag on my sweet Liem today with a funny story.

We leave our lab/husky mix in the garage (cooled) when we have to be gone because of the heat and all the sporadic rain we've been getting. If I leave him in the house, he always finds something to chew up; and I'd rather him use the bathroom in the garage than on my carpet should the urgent need arise. Today, the urgent need arose. I didn't notice this, but Liem did. He came and told me, "Mommy, there's poo-poo!" Sure enough, there it sat in my garage. Apparently, Liem saw how much I didn't want to have to clean it up; because a moment later he came back with toilet paper in hand and said, "I'll clean it up, Mommy."

I just love how my little man takes care of me and his sister. He reminds me to buckle her in the car (I don't need the reminder, but it's so sweet that he's concerned). If Priss is fussy, he goes and rubs her back. If I'm having a rough day, he says, "Don't be sad. I love you so much, Mommy." He's been very protective of his sister when we're out (maybe a little too much--haha).

He is just such a blessing to me. God has been very good to this mommy.

Adventures Alone: Day 6

Liem: 28 months
Priscilla: 14 days

Today's lessons were in Potty Training 101. I wish I could pay someone to handle this part of parenting for me.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Make Liem pee before giving him a potty book. Liem takes a while to go to the bathroom, it's not always a quick process. To pass the time, we give him a book to read/look at. He has begun to forget to "aim" in his excitement to read his book. So it is a regular occurrence now for him to miss the toilet all together and pee out from under the book and all over the bathroom. Why I didn't think of it sooner, I don't know; but now he has to pee before he gets a book (the rest of the processes he can have a book for). This is a very valuable lesson for me to have learned.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Chants and Sing-songs make it more fun. Daddy came up with this one and, again, I should have thought of this before. But during his night-time routine, I hear from the bathroom, "Liem make poo-poo. Liem make poo-poo." Not overly original or novel, but obviously effective. He went poo-poo. I will have to come up with more of these.

Liem's Lesson: Don't pee on Mater. We took Liem to the store and made a very big deal about buying big boy underwear. He knows how to use the bathroom, but forgets to go. So I thought maybe big boy underwear would help him remember. (Potty candy and other enticements have not worked.) He knows not to pee on Mommy's floor or our bed; and says just that all the time: "Don't pee on Mommy's floor." So I have now added, "Don't pee on Mater" (the character on his underwear) to the repertoire. We are going to have to keep working on this one; because Mater wasn't the only one to suffer, my couch suffered the harsh consequences of the failed day 1 of Potty Training 101.

A picture of me and my beautiful children from my birthday yesterday:

Adventures Alone: Day 5

Liem: 28 month
Priscilla: 13 days

My husband was home for a long weekend, cutting my alone time short last week. (This did not bother me.) But today we were at it in full swing.

Mommy's over-all Day 5 Lesson: Your children and the world don't care that it's your birthday. There is no rest for the weary. I wasn't the only one to miss my husband after the long weekend. Liem was very upset that Daddy had to go back to work today, and expressed his thoughts and feelings on this freely. They were manifested in such phrases as, "Mommy go to work, Daddy come home." I was actually kind of impressed that he came up with that one on his own; he understands someone has to work.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Don't take the Oreos out in such an OCD manner. I really like things to be a certain way, and I expresses this in various silly ways. I take the Oreos from the package from the top to bottom, left to right columns. (If they didn't want you to eat them in order, they'd put them in a bag.) Today I realized what a mistake I've been making, because this makes the package heavy to one side as the cookies are removed from the package. So when I removed the package from the pantry, it fell and the cookies went all over the floor. But please don't tell my husband, because I put them back in the package and returned them to the pantry; he can eat them. (I had to after a lesson I learned this weekend: Don't buy Oreos at Publix. $4.15 a package is WAY too much!)

Mommy's Lesson 3: My husband is the best. I knew this already, but just wanted to brag. I have craved cinnamon since Priscilla was born. So in light of my desire for Cinnabon on my birthday, he got two and put candles in them. He's such a sweetheart.

The truth is, my birthday was fantastic because I have been blessed beyond measure. I have a husband, two children, wonderful family, amazing friends, and over a hundred birthday wishes from them. God has been so good.

Adventures Alone: Day 4

Liem: 28 Months
Priscilla: 9 Days

Today: Rain is a free water park. I have always loved rain and Liem has inherited this love of rain. There is nothing especially entertaining to write here, except to say that a soaking wet boy in a diaper and his soaking wet mommy running around the front yard are kind of funny to watch.

Today's water park fun:

Adventures Alone: Day 3

Liem: 28 months
Priscilla: 8 days

Warning! Today's post is briefly mushy.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Today I learned that a mommy's heart needs little encouragement to find happiness in her children.

Liem has been quite upset with me for bringing home a baby. It's not that there's something wrong with Priscilla, he even kind of likes her; he just doesn't like me.
This morning, there was improvement. Liem cuddled with me for the first time since Priscilla was born! We had some good quality time together. And then, miracle of miracles, Liem decided he wanted to help mommy with the baby. He held her while I went to get something in the other room.
This could all end abruptly at any moment. I just know that he gave me a little encouragement, and I'm running with it.

Mommy's Lesson 2: "Weird" isn't always bad. (This was illustrated in the first story, and even further in the following.) Liem just climbed in his bed and called out, "I take a nap now, Mommy." Why is this weird? He's never done this before. Usually, nap time is met with, "Read a book, Mommy" or "Sing, Mommy" both of which have been known to delay nap time in my fragile state of pregnancy. But today he got in bed all by himself. I am aware that this might be a sign of the apocalypse. But I'm just going to go with it for now because he's already asleep, and I'm about to be. This time, weird is good.

Liem's Lesson: Mommy's still an okay mommy. :)

My new favorite picture:

Adventures Alone: Day 2

Liem: 28 months
Priscilla: 7 days

My daughter is one week old. One week ago now, I was waiting to be taken to the recovery room. I was wondering how I had just survived natural childbirth. Now, I'm cuddling with my sweet blessing and saying I'd do it all again---and I would :-)

Today's lessons were definitely completely new.

Lesson 1: My 7 pound daughter has a hidden talent---very hidden. And I must admit, I would have been just fine had I never learned this about her. What is so special? My daughter can projectile poop. She can shoot at least 6 inches (the distance from she to myself at the time) without losing any air. Of course, I wasn't home when this happened, so I couldn't change clothes. I will begin carrying an extra outfit. (I did this with my son, just didn't know I needed to start this already.)

Lesson 2: My son needs no additional fiber in his diet---especially not an adult-sized serving containing 9 grams. He had one of my husband's fiber bars for breakfast. It's yummy, and my husband needs the fiber. My 2 year-old son, not so much. I changed LOTS of BIG, nasty poopy diapers today.

Lesson 3: Four consecutive hours of sleep is better than any drug---not that I've ever tried any for comparison. I'm just sure that there is no greater gift than that of sleep. Priss slept through a feeding last night and I slept four blissful hours in a row. Sweet, sweet sleep!! This was not a new lesson; but it's certainly a confirmed one.

All in all, it was a very good day. My time alone was longer, but better than yesterday. I was less intimidated and more in control. (I say this with confidence today.)

Adventures Alone: Day 1

Liem: 28 Months
Priscilla: 6 Days

Today is the first day that it is just me and the two children. I am intimidated. But I am Mommy, and I'm in charge and in control . . . right? Thankfully our alone time today is sandwiched between help from Daddy and Grandmommy.

I really believe that parenting is a series of lessons learned by both parents and children. The lessons for parents are, hopefully, one-time lessons; we take them in, repeat the successes and abandon the failures. The lessons for our children, we teach over and over in different ways until they have mastered the lesson. The lessons change over time, and methods are honed, but the lessons continue.

Today, I am afraid the lessons are mostly mine.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Little Ceasar's pizza gives Priscilla an upset stonach. The pizza, of course, came in the form of Mommy's milk ---not the pizza itself. This unfortunate lesson came at 2:30 this morning, and didn't end until 5:30. At 5:30, there was lots of gas and a dirty diaper.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Liem has a weak stomach. It wouldn't have occurred to me until today, but he's never seen another child throw up. He saw me sick a few times early in pregnancy; but for the most part, I distracted him before I took a few minutes to be sick (when I could). For whatever reason, seeing Priscilla spit up (very normal for babies) was different. So when Prissy spit up a little, that sent Liem over the edge. Next thing I knew, my bed held both Priscilla and Liem's breakfasts.

Mommy's Lesson 3: Just keep the two year old in the bathroom with you. I'm always trying to convince Liem that he doesn't need to come to the bathroom with me. Today, I succeeded. I won't do this again. When I came out, he was "washing" both his and Priscilla's hands with the soap he had swiped when I wasn't looking.

Liem's Lesson: Soap is only for the sink; and Prissy doesn't need it yet.

It's only 10:30 a.m. and there's time for many more lessons today. But maybe school is out for the day . . . I hope.