Writing This Now So I Can Laugh About It Later

So I put Solomon down for his nap around 11:45. I could hear him running around in his room but thought, "Well, the later he falls asleep, the later he'll wake up, the more quiet time for me." About a half hour, maybe 45 minutes later I heard the toilet flush. I went upstairs to find him in the bathroom naked & reeking of poop. The diaper was no where to be found in the general vicinity but decided it was more important to bathe him & get him back to bed before looking for it. Once I got him situated (& the second gate up -- my first mistake was not bothering with that to begin with) I began my hunt for the poopy diaper. I found it in our room. Only there was no poop in it.

Poopy bottom + non-poopy diaper = poop somewhere else.

The pile was on our bedroom floor, but it didn't stop there. Oh no, it kept going. It was smeared on our closet door, the comforter & all over our sheets. I cleaned up the mess & hopped in the shower. While I was in there I could hear loud thuds just outside the door. I knew he couldn't have gotten out with the door being double gated so I could only conclude he was throwing stuff. What, I didn't know. He got into the diaper changing cabinet (again! Why have I not installed those stupid locks yet??) & was throwing the little bottles of soap & stuff over the gate. I gathered all the items & put them in my room & sent him back to bed.

A few minutes later I heard a loud thud upstairs. I went back up & he had somehow reached the lotion on the top of the diaper changing table (how the heck did he reach that??). It was splattered all over the carpet & few spots elsewhere & Solomon was rubbing globs of it on his fresh shirt that I had just put on him! (Coincidentally it was his "Mr. Messy" shirt.) "Losin," he kept repeating to me while lubricating his shirt.

If only I had already installed the cabinet locks. If only I had I double gated the door. When will I learn???

New Bedtime Routine?

Last night I went into Solomon's room to check on him before I went to bed. Lately he's been turning his lamp on before he goes to sleep, so I go in there to cover him up & turn the light off. When I went in, I found he had gotten into the cabinet of the changing table & pulled out all the bottles (soap, diaper cream, baby oil, etc.); he then stacked the little bottles on top of the bigger bottles, making towers out of them. I guess since he didn't have his Duplo blocks available he decided to improvise.

Baby Talk

When Charlie coos I often "converse" with her. I say things like, "Oh yeah?" or "Ya' don't say" & so on. This morning she was talking & gargling which prompted Solomon to turn to her & say, "Oh yeah?" I thought it was funny.

LORD Beer Me Strength (if you don't get the reference, I am sorry for you)

Jason left for Maryland this morning for a couple of post doc interviews & I will be with the kids by myself for the next week. I'm a little nervous about that. Today wasn't so bad. Solomon was good all day until later in the afternoon; I sat down to nurse Charlotte & he started jumping on the couch right next to us. He isn't allowed to do that of course, but I was clearly in no position to really stop him. And he knew it. Despite my efforts to hold him back with one arm, he managed to bonk Charlotte on her head. Twice. After the second time she was nearly inconsolable so I sought refuge in my bedroom behind a locked door. I knew Solomon would be so upset that I was in there with her & assumed he would whine & throw a tantrum at my door until I came out. He did as I expected.... for about 2 minutes. Then it got really quiet. Any mother knows that quiet is not a good sign. When I came out of my room he was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, throwing cat food. He dumped their water dispenser all over the floor & what was left in the bowl was full of soggy food. He also took 3 of my nativity figurines & tossed them into one of the litter pans. Argh!! I tossed him in the bathtub & scrubbed him down, put him in a clean diaper & put him in his room with the gate up so I could clean up his mess. While I was preparing to clean, Lucy ate some of the soggy food from the water & proceeded to immediately barf it all back up all over the stairs. Awesome. Once I got everything back in order (more than a half hour later!) I went to get Solomon & found that he had taken off his diaper & threw it over the gate. Fortunately he hadn't pooped or peed anywhere. Thank the LORD! I was in no mood to clean another mess!

In other today news: Remember that beautiful mug I made from a couple of posts ago? Well the first time I used it I noticed the coffee was staining the inside. A spot was missed during the glazing process & the ceramic was absorbing the coffee like a sponge. I took it back up there yesterday so they could reglaze it & it was finished today so I returned to pick it up again. I should've checked it before I left the store, but the kids were in the car & I didn't feel comfortable leaving them in there so I was in a hurry to get out. (Solomon loves to play with the breakables when we're in there, hence they were left in the car.) When I got home I checked it & the missed spot was STILL unglazed!! Now I have to take it back AGAIN tomorrow! I'm sure it's no one's fault in particular, but it's frustrating nonetheless. I've been looking forward to this mug since before Charlie was born! I can't wait until it's finished!!

Because Solomon's Pics Greatly Outnumber Hers...

Don't wanna leave Charlie out! :)

Mmmmm, ink. Yummy....

The result of my allowing Solomon to use markers this morning. They must've been pretty tasty:


Does anyone else hear "Thriller" playing in the background of this photo?

Punkin Head

We carved our first jack-o-lantern as a family on Sunday. Solomon loved pulling out the pulp (what boy wouldn't??)! It actually turned out very nicely, considering I can't remember the last time I carved a pumpkin. Here are some pics (sorry if you guys are getting tired of all the pictures :) ) of the activity:




These are some pics I took trying out this cool idea I found in Family Fun magazine. Mine didn't turn out nearly as well as the ones in the mag, but I think they still look pretty neat:

Apple Days Festival 2008

Yesterday we went to Julian with Jon & Molly to spend the day. Julian is a teeny tiny town, about an hour east/north east of San Diego, & is known for its apple orchards. It only has one main street, Main Street, oddly enough, on which many of the buildings are the original ones built in the 1800's. Very old, wild west vibe. We first stopped at Julian Mining Company because it offered the most activities of all the orchards listed. Turned out to be really lame so we left. Then we walked around on Main Street, stopping in the general store & a couple other places & Solomon & Jason went on a horse ride. After lunch we bought a delicious apple pie & then headed over to Apple Starr Orchards. We spent about an hour picking our own apples & pears. Solomon kept picking up the rotten ones from the ground & putting them in our bag -- we let him & then threw them out when he wasn't looking :) Here are a few pics from the trip:

Could This Truly Be The End of Bedtime Battles??

Yesterday I bought a gate for Solomon's bedroom door so he couldn't run out anymore (got the idea from Sue's blog :) ). It is taller than our other gate & sturdy plastic, with smaller holes, so I thought it would be impossible for him to crawl over it. Well, I was wrong. He could still climb over. Jason tried locking it in the door frame a few inches above the floor to add height. Again, he still escaped. Fed up I went & got our other gate & locked it in above the plastic one -- it was like a toddler prison cell, but it worked! Once he realized there was no way around it this time, he finally retreated to bed & didn't make another peep. I didn't put the second gate up at nap time today & he actually stayed in bed anyway. Yippee!! Maybe this is the answer! :)

Cup o' Charlie

Artistic ability is most definitely NOT one of my gifts, but I am so proud of this piece work I wanted to share it! I messed up her right hand a little (too high up & smudged a bit); the flowers are all freehand. It took about 3 hours & was very difficult with a newborn, but well worth it :)

Feeling Overwhelmed

I'm feeling kinda miserable tonight & just want to cry. Perhaps it's due to the fact I have not been taking my Zoloft daily (the doc said I should stay on it until Charlie is sleeping through the night). It's just been a shitty evening.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. - Paul, Philippians 4:19

Sunday morning when Jason & I were walking out the door to go to the airport, we opened the door to find an Albertson's bag sitting on our porch with two packs of diapers & a $100 VISA gift card. There was no card or note indicating who it was from. My guess is that it was a close friend. I mean, who else would be that generous?? I certainly don't go around giving acquaintances $100. Trevin said he thought it would be pretty cool if I never found out who it was, which I agreed with but it also drives me crazy to not know! I would like to thank the person for their gift, but I'm sure they know we appreciate it greatly. I'm going to do a little investigating to see if I can figure it out, but I'm not going to push too hard in case the person wanted to remain anonymous (maybe they were practicing this). Either way, I thank the LORD for providing for us through that person. Even during these financially tough times for us, He has continued to show His faithfulness to us (i.e. flexible spending accounts, economic stimulus, Sue, family, friends -- & countless other ways). My heart overflows with gratitude.

Today Must Be Punishment For Having Grown-up Fun Yesterday

Yesterday was so much fun! It's been a while since I've been able to go out & enjoy a party (& booze) child-free. It was our friend Dave's birthday & we were celebrating his 31st & his friend Claire's 29th -- it was a "Not-So-Average, Average 30th Birthday Party." The day started with 12 of us taking a dinghy around the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, enjoying homemade pomegranate sangria, homemade hummus & great people having great conversation (topics ranging from t.v. shows to travel to breastfeeding, which is funny to me seeing as how I was the only person there who has ever breastfed). After the boat ride we went to Claire & her husband's house for dinner where more people joined the party. A lot of Rock Band was played, which was cool; Jason & I had never seen or played it before. Jason absolutely LOVED it! I'd like to get it for him for his birthday, but probably shouldn't because it's pretty pricey.

While we were there I met another mom (we actually met 2 years earlier, while we were both pregnant with our first children), Amy. Our older children were born two months apart & her second child was born 2 days after Charlie. We talked sooo much; it was fantastic talking to someone who totally related to me. I really need that conversation! She gave me her contact info so we could get together & have play dates for the children, & grown-up time for us!

So on to my nightmare that is today: BOTH children were up A LOT in the middle of the night. I actually had to go sleep in Solomon's bed with him because he wouldn't stay there. Then I had to get up early & take Jason to the John Wayne airport at 7am, come home, & take my mom to the Long Beach airport an hour later. On the way home Solomon started whining & saying "owie!" I thought it was due to the sun shining right in his eyes, but then he hiccupped & burped at the same time which sounded really liquidy. I was terrified he was going to barf in the car. He eventually fell asleep & woke up when we got home. Perfect. Enough of a nap to interfere with his regular nap. Since he was so tired he had tantrum after tantrum. I thought I was going to pull my hair out. When I finally got him down for a nap, I ate my lunch & had planned to go take a nap. But Charlie wouldn't let me. By the time she did let me go to sleep Solomon woke up 10 minutes later. All afternoon, Solomon was cranky. I tried taking him to the playground but he just wanted to run away, so I brought him back home & we were stuck in the house the rest of the day. Both kids were screaming & crying throughout the evening. When I put Solomon down for the night, he kept getting out of bed. After nearly two hours of this I called Jason, literally crying because I couldn't take it anymore. Of course he couldn't do anything about it but I needed someone! Solomon finally went to sleep 3 hours into our head-to-head battle. How can the boy I love the most in the whole world be the same one that makes me want to run away from home??

Hermit Living

Jason & I went on a date to the movies last night (Ghost Town -- great movie!) & I was surprised to see that the menu boards at the concession stand were digital tv screens. Jason said, "Man, you really haven't been to the movies in a while! It's been like this for at least a year!" In addition to that, they apparently let you take in outside foods & beverages; we walked right in with Starbucks in hand! I insisted the coffee was a bad idea but he said he does it all the time.

Yep. I haven't been to a movie in a theater in nearly a year & a half. Because I'm the one who stays home with Solomon while Jason goes with his friends. Even if I did have an opportunity to go to the movies with my friends, I wouldn't because, I'm the one who gets up at the asscrack of dawn with the children. (Sorry if the slight bit of resentment is detectable -- it's kinda hard to hide.)

At least my first venture to a movie theater in a year & a half was worth while -- I would've been really upset if I had wasted the chance on an awful movie.

No Personal Space

This morning while Jason was taking a shower, he was washing his face & when he opened his eyes Solomon was standing in the shower with him, fully clothed. He didn't make a sound or say a word; just hopped right in.

I Love Animals -- They Taste Great!

Jason came home from a men's retreat Sunday afternoon & announced he wanted us to try vegetarianism for a month. Someone gave him the notion that cutting meat out of his diet would help with his fatigue. I told him hell no. I would be willing to cut back on my meat intake, but I refuse to cut it out entirely.

Only an hour or two had passed since this conversation when Jason then told me to use ground beef in place of spinach in the lasagna rolls as he was tired of spinach.

And Trevin says women are fickle!....

A Toddler's Perspective On Breastfeeding

Sometimes when I'm nursing Charlie Solomon tells her, "No bite!" He's cute & makes me laugh.

A Run-in With Procyon Lotor

Last night I was walking out of the laundry room, which is just yards away from our back door, when I saw a gray animal walking along our porch. I noticed I had left the screen door open a bit & continued walking, assuming it was Gabe, our cat. It only took a few seconds before I realized it was a raccoon & I froze & yelled Jason's name. He saw the raccoon & also thought it was Gabe & nearly went to pick it up! There was a second raccoon as well (a third joined them soon after) & the two of them headed in my direction, glaring at me. I ran back into the laundry room & watched them out the window until they left. Never having seen raccoons in real life before, I was a bit scared....

Came across this quote I had scribbled down while cleaning out the desk. My prayer is that this be true for me as well:

Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.
- Bob Pierce, World Vision founder