Heard in the bathroom and other stories of the day

Luc was using the potty and I was outside the door folding laundry. I heard him loudly pass gas and I chuckled softly. He heard me and said "I just have a little gas." I replied, "I'll say!" and Luc quickly protested, "no, I'll say that!"

Luc got a reprieve on the planned haircut today. His hair is getting so long, but I've gone through three years of screaming, crying, and drooling at the kids hair place and I just didn't have it in me today. Yes, I've tried cutting his hair at home, in front of the tv and using other distractions, but he does no better with me and he ends up with a real hack job. At least if we go to the salon, it comes out halfway decent. It is never great because he is moving around so much an putting his hands in the way of the scissors. I don't know how to make it any less scary for him. I never thought my three-year-old would still be having such a hard time. Anyway, by the time we pulled up to the place to get his hair cut he was already crying hysterically, so I said, screw it!
The funny thing is that we were in a coffee shop today on the way to the library and the young woman behind the counter said of Luc "He has the coolest hair of any kid I've seen" and I'm like "I'm taking him to get it cut today." And she says "no! It is really cool!"

During the day I always have the best intention of getting some much needed clutter clearing or cleaning done at the end of the day. But alas, I am so wiped out once Lucas and Amanda are in bed that I never get to it. Instead, as Phil is now putting Luc to bed I just cracked a Tecate and I'm wasting time writing this. How do some women do it? Where do you find your reserve energy? Since I awoke at 6:30 this morning I've nursed my toddler, made breakfast for the kids (OK, oatmeal, waffles and fruit aren't hard to do), cleaned the breakfast dishes, dressed the kids, threw in a load of laundry, logged in with work to catch phone calls and email, packed us up for storytime and headed to the library, came home and made lunch for kids, answered email and a few phone calls while kids had lunch , nursed toddler, tucked kids in for a nap, cleaned up the mess from lunch, logged back in with work while the kids napped, kids got up and packed them to head for my mom's, dropped Amanda off at mom's and headed to hair place with Luc, turned right around and just spent time with kids and mom. Headed home and made dinner and fed kids. Played a bit with kids and did some more laundry. Phil came in and headed straight for the treadmill. Nursed and tucked Amanda into bed. Came out and cleaned up mess from dinner. Hung out with Luc. Phil finally emerged from jog and shower to eat dinner and read a couple stories to Lucas. Now he is putting him to bed. In Phil's defense, he would happily do the dishes later tonight -- well, not happily, but not grudgingly -- but I'm not the type to let them sit there until 9 p.m. so my husband who worked equally as hardtoday can do them.
Anyway, I'm just rambling to myself because I just want to validate that I should be a bit wiped out and not have bundles of energy now. I have linen closets, kid's closet's, my closets and kitchen cabinets screaming to be cleaned out. I need to do spring cleaning and painting so bad but I just can't seem to just freakin buck up and do it at night. There is just no time between work and keeping the kids clean and fed to do anything during the day.
I keep hoping that my fairytale nanny will come and whisk the kids away for a fun-filled week so I can dig in.

Storytime, crazy time

Why did all of the other moms at storytime today look so calm and happy to be sitting with their little angels while I was having my hair pulled by my screaming toddler and my preschooler was desparately trying to get my attention by wildly flapping his arms?
I don't know how other moms control their smaller children while the older ones listen to the story.

Today was our first trip to storytime at the library. Lucas was very excited and he quickly joined the other children on the carpet in front of the librarian. He paid attention to the first story, but then he wanted to make sure I was watching him, so he was making all sorts of arm movements. Amanda was not content to sit on my lap and listen, so I was walking her all over the library while trying to keep an eye on Luc.
Amanda is at a crazy age right now where she doesn't really get the idea that you aren't supposed to fling every book off the shelf at the library, so I can't really let her roam. In case you are thinking I should put her in the stroller... wrong! She will just howl her head off and look as if she's having a seizure as she tries to escape from the horrible device that is keeping her from running around. Ahhh! Luc had a good time, and that is what counts, but man, it stresses me out. We'll try again next week. Days like this, I wish I had a nanny who could watch Amanda while I spend quality time with the Lucster.

Phil home early!

My life would be SO much easier if Phil got home from work at 5:30 every night. I can't tell you what a difference that extra 1 hour 15 minutes makes at the end of my day. Tonight I was just trying to settle the kids down and get dinner finished when Phil walked in the door. I am always happy to see him, but when he gets home so early I am ecstatic! I usually feed the kids before he gets home because Amanda goes to bed about 7 and both kids are ready to start gnawing on their arms by about 5:45 p.m. So, if I've had a tough day, it will get really rough when I try to get my son to eat and try to keep my speed eater from screaming her head off while she waits for Lucas to finish his dinner.

Anyway, I'm in a great mood following a fabulous day with the kids that ended with such a nice surprise.

First day of soccer

Lucas had his first day of pre-soccer on Saturday morning. It was raining out, so the class was in the gym at a local rec center. It was very cute to see all the kids running around after the soccer balls. But the coaches really want to teach these kids some basics... a difficult task to get 10 3 year-olds to stand still and follow directions.
Anyway, Lucas did well with Phil the first 15 minutes or so. He was listening and standing still. But after a bit, he was getting frustrated when he couldn't stop the soccer ball with his foot.
He started to fuss a bit and wanted to leave, and he kept looking at me with eyes that were begging for me to go get him. But we made him stay and finish out the class.
He talked about how hard it was to play soccer, so we explained that you have to practice and practice so that it will be less difficult each time.
On Sunday I practiced with him a bit and when he finally stopped the ball perfectly, he was very proud. I know that I don't particularly like to spend time doing things I'm not good at, so I understand. But it is great to see him get the connection that the more you practice something, the easier it is.

God, that girl can eat!

I just have to say that I love it that my little girl can eat. My son is as picky as they come and it really stressed me out the first 2.5 years of his life. He is pretty lanky and just doesn't like many different foods. He is getting a bit more adventurous and does eat fruit, so we can work with it. He just has a boring diet and we try to get in good foods where we can.
My 14 month old is completely different. She nursed like crazy from the beginning and put on weight quickly. I'm still surpised that she's not up there in weight (she's pretty average) because, man, that girl can eat. She loves almost everything except melon and eggs.
Let's just have a sample of today:
1/2 banana
1 plain waffle (a little butter here)
about 1/4 cup blueberries
piece of string cheese
cup of milk
4 strawberries
1/2 grilled cheese sandwich
handful of cut up grapes
bite of my cookie (bad mommy!)
1/2 cup yogurt
a few crackers
1/2 cup spaghettie and one meatball
1/2 cup corn
a few more blueberries
1 cup milk
Oh, and she also still nurses about 3 times a day. I'm not some freaky person constantly trying to fatten her up, but I do enjoy that I have one less thing to worry about with her. I know that toddlers can be notoriously picky, so I'll be on the lookout for that over the next few months, but I think we will definitely have an easier time with her.

Just before the bite!

This was about 20 seconds before the turkey (not in this scene) tried to take off my daughter's finger. Bad mommy for trying to take a picture and not getting those little fingers out of the cage in time. She was unharmed, but totally pissed off!

New blog

Well, I've made a few posts on this new blog and so far I like it. I think this will the new home of my blog. Now if I could only get all my posts from the other site transferred over here....

First day at new school

Lucas had his first day at the new school and it went very well. He was very excited to see his cousin at school - she's in a different room because she's 4.5 but the school is so tiny they see a lot of each other.
The sisters who teach are so patient and kind and I love, love, love the small size of the classes -- about 8 kids in Luc's class compared to 30 kids in his other school.
He seemed really happy today after school and I think it's going to make a difference. I know it's only MWF for 3 hours each time (9 hours a week) but I really think it's an important part of his social growth. He's had a hard year with the addition of Amanda to the family and just the growing pains of his third year of life -- saying good-bye to binky, hello to big kid bed, hello to toilet-training and bye-bye diapers (thank God). It's a lot of change for a little person and I think the constant of school in a friendly, safe enviroment is very important.
I'm praying that things go well and that I made the right decision.

First popsicle face

I'm kind

After Lucas is all tucked in, he's had a story and I've sung him a song, I blow him a kiss from the doorway and he catches it. He then blows a kiss to me and I catch it and then we wave to each other as I close the door. Last night as I closed the door, I heard him say, "wait, mommy." So I opened up the door and asked what he needed. He replied, "Mommy, you're kind and you're really nice, too!" What a thing for a 3-year-old to say. He is always saying that he loves me and that I'm his best friend, but I don't know where "you're kind" came from. I will take it! He is such a sweet boy.

snack time at the crouse haus

tough day ended well

We're still recovering from Luc's bout with a nasty stomach virus. He is still not eating much and it has been over a week so his energy level is very low and he is extremely emotional.
Phil left us this morning at about 6:30 to run the 5K for the Great Race of Agoura. The kids and I stayed home to get ready for Lucas' first day of soccer. We were heading out the door and Phil made it back in time to join us. We headed out to the park but we soon found out that soccer was cancelled because the fields were too wet from the recent rain. I guess they didn't want the little 3-year-olds slipping in the muddy fields.
We played for a bit at the park, but Luc was already pretty whiny. While he was sick we catered to his every need, of course, and now it seems as if he has changed into this demanding little child who won't take no for an answer. Now that we are asking him to take part in regular activities and do a few things at home (like pick up toys and eat his dinner) he complains at every turn. It is really putting us all on edge.
So, the rest of the day went downhill and Phil and I were starting to get irritated with eachother's handling of Luc. After Amanda went to bed we read a bit to Luc and we were able to end the night on a good note with him.
Now Phil and I have enjoyed a nice glass of wine and all seems right again.