You Just Can't Beat the Memories

My baby nugget turned 10 months old and I was a puddle over it.  He's almost walking...and I find myself pushing him down (moreso than Lucky and Jack do just for fun).  Beau is my go with the flow, wild man.  My speed crawling, food demanding, bull BEAR in a China shop.

But how did we ever exist without him?  It's weird how these things evolve.

If you would have told me 10 years ago that I'd hop in an SUV and drive 8 hours with two children under the age of 4, I would have told you that you clearly didn't know me very well.

But you just can't beat the memories.

Ya see, if I'd have known that my 3 year old was going to be so damn funny ("MOM. I need lemolade";  "Mom, let me ask you a question";  "MOM - You roar now!")....or that my 10 month old belly laughed at ALL my jokes....maybe I would have done it sooner.


Because you just can't beat the memories.

Matt had to work in preparation for going to San Diego for two weeks.  I wasn't sure I was strong enough or ready enough or sane enough to do it alone - but we did it, y'all.  Me and the boys, that is. We drove from Tampa to Pensacola....and no one got hurt, had an accident, got at ticket or left a child in a bathroom.

I have to brag on them -- they are PERFECT travelers (plane AND car, now!).  The only complaining that happened was in the final 30 minutes of both car rides....and honestly?  That's FAR LESS COMPLAINING than when we spend a day around the house, so I'll take it.

You just can not beat the memories.

Jack is a one fun little dude who never stops moving.....both his feet and his mouth.  I get compliments on how polite he is to everyone else, but I never get that sort of treatment.  I get the backtalk -- and it's so damn funny sometimes that I have to get up and walk away before I discipline.
"No, momma, I'm in charge!  I give you a panking!"

Lord Help Me.

Meanwhile, Beau is speed crawling for the nearest toilet so that he can play like he's at the splashpad.

But you really can't beat the memories....even if you have to keep sanitizing.


There's nothing I love more than having other people experience my boys.....the intensity, the energy, the eager beaver ambition to take on anything.  It's seriously such a thrill for me to have other people in awe of the nonstop movement.  I feel like no one really believes me when I tell them about it.

My mom was astonished that Jack literally ran through the entire zoo.  He ran to each animal exhibit, between the exhibits and would have probably ran next to the train if they would have let him.  And, Beau -- even though he can't run yet....he spends all of his energy flirting with the nearest pretty girl. Like father, like son.

 

My dad couldn't believe that Jack only wanted to be outside even though it was 100 degrees with 100% humidity. I mean, my face was literally melting off my body....and Jack was soaked with sweat, but all he could do was yell at me to "pitch the ball, momma - you're the pitcher, I'm the batter!"

We visited so many people while we were home this time -- I finally felt like we were there long enough and not rushed.

We hit up the zoo, where Jack roared at all of the lions, tigers and bears (OH MY!).  Beau literally tried to fling himself out of the stroller trying to get to the monkeys and the geese (which subsequently, almost too Jack's fingers off)

We swam with Michael Phelps (aka, Brenny)...

 

Every day, we had to ride on the tractor and feed the fish.  Every. Day.



But you can't beat the memories....even of the annoying 6 am fish feeding requests.

DJ, Tony and Esmee (mostly Tony) got a healthy dose of Jack's energy too with the constant "LET'S WRESTLE" -- and we learned that Beau is likely to take Jack out one day soon because Beau already likes to get in on this wrestling action.

Poor Esmee got to experience bathtime with my two crazeballs where Beau flopped around like a fish out of water trying to grab Jack's penis....and Jack poured water on everyone's head - including mine.

(what the hell is going on here??)

My other sweet sister Lisa and her crew also got to experience my little circus.  I have to believe they were amazed at Jack's energy and excitement about getting in the pool....because he kept everyone busy all afternoon with his cannon balls and "throw me in! let's do it again!" requests.  (Thank you to Travis Smith and Uncle Tony!)

We visited with a couple of my high school friends -- where we tried to show Jack video that I was a cheerleader in high school.  I was so proud of my glory days...the infamous "mall competition."

There are not words to describe his level of disinterest.  ("mom, we go to pool now?")


But you just can't beat the memories...even of the disinterest in how cool his mom was in high school.

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We visited all sorts of parks and places while we were home, but particularly loved Benny Russell park where we met my cousin Brittany and her hubby and kiddos.  Jack couldn't contain his excitement and ran around like a wild pig for a good hour before declaring his hunger

 

 

The ride home was a real pain in the ass for me because it rained cows the entire way home....but the boys slept and watched movies.  Well, Jack watched movies and Beau giggled at Jack's sound effects and chewed on his Garanimals golf club while watching me grit my teeth in the mirror for 7 hours.

All of this...to only come home to the dentist and a cavity.  God, I hate the dentist (it's the lectures and the drills and the picks - no, thanks, man)....mine and Jack's, but Jack did beautifully.  While he was getting his cavity fixed, he told the dentist that he was an astronaut and he was going to outer space soon on his motorcycle, but that he'd wear a helmet ("safety first!").

You can teeth-shame me all you want, but Jack's love of fruit will likely rot all of his teeth out.

But you just can't beat the memories....even of the first cavity.

It's Mother's Day, Please Stop...

"Please stop touching your penis."

"Do you have to potty?"

"No?"

"Then stop touching your penis."

Is there anything funnier than waking up to a Marching Chief?

It was Mother's Day.

There wasn't a gift, but rather the promise of one that I could pick out myself.  My husband is practical and logical, that way, but I'm more emotional and non-logical about so all I knew was that there was no gift.

So, to Church we went....

"Stop touching your penis.  It's still there, I promise."

(How long does this last??)

See....Mass is right in the middle of Beau's morning naptime, so it's always a bit of a struggle, but today - on Mother's Day - he decided to really let me earn my title.  See...he doesn't cry as much as he yells at you when you don't do what he wants you to.  And he squirms and rolls and wriggles until you want to SNAP.

"Stop touching your penis."

"Do you have to potty?"

"No?"

"Then stop touching your penis."

"Please don't roll your cars up and down the pews.  Stop banging the dinosaurs on the back of the pew."

We finally make it out of Church only for the whining to start from Jack....

"I want....I need....Momma, do this....Momma, do that..."

OMG.

*It's Mother's Day*

We arrive home and I immediately put Beau down for a nap only to find one poop disaster after another from here on out.  The conversation generally goes like this:

Me:  Who has poop in their pants??

Matt:  "Not me!"

Jack: "Nope!"

*stop touching your penis*

Lucky??

Nope...Beau....poop everywhere.

*It's Mother's Day*

We to go lunch....Jack proceeds to literally poke Matt 4000 times during lunch causing Matt to ALMOST snap...and we get back into the car....same conversation:

Me:  Who has poop in their pants??

Matt:  "Not me!"

Beau:  "zzzzzzz"

Me:  "Well, Lucky isn't here"

Jack:  "I have poop!"

*It's Mother's Day*

Post lunch....No one naps...least of all me....so we go in the pool, where?  You guessed it!  Someone poops! (not Matt, not me, not Lucky)

*It's Mother's Day*  And even though I cleaned up more poop than I wanted to, listened to more whining than necessary and never got around to picking out my gift....it was all good because Beau said "ma ma."

SOLD.

So, potty training is a real hoot  -- but here's the good news:  WE'VE TURNED A CORNER.

The potty training is 98% complete - complete with dry naptimes and dry night times!!  Jack has really turned it around and I can't say enough good things about his (previously undesirable) great attitude.  The kid is READY for preschool and we are excited to see him thriving!!

The fun did continue the morning after Mother's Day....

Jack can now get up by himself  to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  He also gets up in the mornings, goes to the bathroom and gets himself dressed (sometimes on backwards and not matching, but we have to start somewhere).

Imagine my surprise when he arrives in our room at 4:50 am, shining his flashlight about an inch from my face...in his loudest possible "whisper voice":

Jack:  "MOMMA.  MOMMA.  The nightlight out.  You fix it."

Me:  "Babe, we will just use your flashlight as the nightlight for now so that we can all go back to sleep"

Jack:  "MOMMA.  FIX THE NIGHTLIGHT."

I sense that unless I figured this out, no one was sleeping.....and after searching for 15 minutes, I had to steal Beau's nightlght bulb to keep the peace.

Jack:  "I knew you'd fix it, momma."

That kid pushes me to my limits but then makes me realize that I'll do just about anything for sleep.

He'll be a great people developer one day....pushing people to rise above their previously determined limits.  LOL.  (one must try to always find the positive, right?)

For the love of God, please let us always keep nightlight bulbs and batteries of all shapes, sizes and quantities on hand for all of eternity.

Amen.

That time I wouldn't let Jack eat the blueberry on the grocery store floor and he gave me this look.  #GRUMP

Since our last update, little Beau Bear turned 8 months old...and he's a BIG BOY, even bigger than Jack was at his age, so I have to assume that he'll be tackling Jack in no time.

Beau was baptized this past Sunday and we had a ton of family and friends in attendance.  It was a great day - and went remarkably smooth considering how many people we were trying to please over the course of 5 days!

It was Beau's day, but - true to form - Jack is waving to his fans.

Aunt Teen/Godmother with Baby Beau

Beau was sleeping until this point....ha!

Grandma and Grandpa with Baby Beau!

  Momma's little cowboy!

 

Esmee learning about trucks!

Esmee and Beau discussing binkies

Jack sharing his popsicle with Beau

All of Meme's babies!

All the babies!

 And for your further entertainment....some recent Jackisms:

Grandma: "We finally turned the corner on potty training"

Jack: "what corner?  there was no corner!"

DJ and Dondi: "Meme is crazy"

Jack:  *hands on hips* "She is NOT CRAZY!!!"

Jack: "T-O-Y,  NO!"

(Jack's version of "N-O, No")

Me:  "Jack, what time is it?"

Jack:  "o'clock, momma, o'clock"

With all of this going on, though, isn't every day MOTHER'S Day?

*stop touching your penis*

Perspective. Everyone Needs a Healthy Dose.

Sometimes we get all caught up in the moment.

A simple series of unfortunate events turns into a bad day....then a bad weekend...then you start worrying about BROAD topics like if you're raising caring and compassionate kids or if you're paying too much for preschool tuition (you want HOW MUCH for him to go to PREschool??).

This happened to us a few weeks ago.  It started with a sleepless night for our teething baby Beau.  It continued with a grumpy Jack at soccer, which sent me over the edge because "what are we paying for if you're just going to stand in the middle of the field and pout."

We arrive home to dog puke on the rug and spilled orange juice all over the kitchen.

As I'm wiping the sticky floor, I realize the laundry list of things that needs to be completed before we have Beau's Baptism.

Meanwhile, Jack is like a ping pong ball around the house making demands and threats.

Then there was the shattered back glass of the SUV - for no apparent reason - and a car company that said it wasn't under warranty.

And don't even mention the fact that no one wanted to take a nap (except me) and no one wanted to apologize for anything (Lucky??  Jack??  Anybody??).

All of this...on the day we are to take family photos.  

It was a rough day that needed to end......or start over.  I couldn't figure out which one I wanted.

<Siiiiiiigh>

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We were having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

For real.

We needed to rally.  We needed to pull this sh*tshow together and make the best of our series of unfortunate events.
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Then....then, someone shed some new light on us.  

We needed a new perspective and we needed to remember what was important.

Moreover, *I* needed to remember what was important.

Here's my healthy dose of reality, thanks to Shannon Drawbaugh: