Are you smarter than your 3 year old?

I was trying to play Pandora though our TV using our Roku and it just wasn't working. Then Carter says, "You turned the sound off!"

Right. Whatever. I click on the volume button a couple of times and.... umm.. yep. I had turned the sound off.

New dentist

Is your dentist THIS thoughtful? The dog is a sticker :)

Follow up to yesterday's post...

No recruiting today!

As I sat down to my computer while the boys started eating their breakfast:

Carter: "Mom! This is not what I ordered!"

Lord, give me strength :)

This week...

This week I've been a single working pregnant mother. I'm beat!  Chris scored and amazing opportunity to go deep sea fishing in Alaska and we decided he simply HAD TO GO! It is so hard to get him to take a break and do something for himself that it was a no-brainer for me, even if it meant leaving me alone with the boys for a week.

Then, last week, I was asked to take on a recruiting job. I should have said, "no." I mean, I'm like 8 months pregnant and tired, but I just.can't.say.no. to a recruiting opportunity. I love it. I love the challenge of it. Most of all, I love when I find the perfect person! So I agreed and was given resumes on Friday. Then they told me they wanted a candidate by Wednesday. hmm..

A little panicked, but excited by the challenge, I started calling in the reinforcements. If I didn't have 2 kids to take care of, this wouldn't have been a huge issue, but you can't interview candidates with toddlers in the background - it's tacky. I was able to piece together a childcare plan for bits and pieces of the week and scheduled interviews around already scheduled dentist appointments and babysitter availability. I've completed my interviews and will continue to screen candidates, but right now, I'm in finger crossing mode that we made have the right candidate moving through the process.

So, busy week. That said, I've decided that FOR ME, being a stay-at-home-mom is harder than any job I've ever had. Not mentally challenging, but more exhausting physically and more trying on my patience and my stress levels. I had already noted this before with friends, but having a week of work with Chris out of town, I feel like I really got to experience it more. Normally, if he is gone from us for just a few days, I feel like I need a vacation when he gets back. This time he will have been gone Monday 5a.m. to Saturday at 7 p.m. and I'm feeling pretty darn good Thursday night.

Now, with THAT said, it killed me to come downstairs after 5 hours of interviews to see the kids playing with a sitter. I was missing out! They excitedly told me what they had been doing for the day, what they ate for lunch, and I even found the tattling too precious for words.

As exhausting as it is to be a caregiver 24/7, I could not be a working mom right now. Every now and again it is awesome to have a recruiting job to get excited about, but having to leave my boys everyday.... ugh! Too painful. I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with them, even on days when Chris comes home to find me almost passed out on the couch with leftovers for dinner, at least I didn't miss anything.

Dentist

Both boys did awesome at the dentist which is normal for Carter, but even Coen did x-rays, teeth cleaning and flossing! He did so well that he scored these sweet glasses which he won't take off.

Mom for a minute quiz

Being mom means wearing MANY hats. One of them is "translator". While riding in the car the other day, we ran out of songs to sing.

Old MacDonald. Check.
This is the day the lord has made. Check.
Jessus Loves Me. Check.
Etc...

I asked what else we could sing and Carter thought about it.

"I only know: rumor has it, rumor has it, rumor has it (Adel) and... um... We are old. Carry me home tonight." (He was singing these lines, but to the wrong melody).

So there you have it. Your mom quiz for the day.

I'm pretty proud that I figured it out in about 3 minutes, but it required quite a bit of brain power.

The "un" shower

Last night I got a much needed girls' night out with my besties. Some were appalled that I was not going to have a shower for my third son, but it just seemed a little greedy silly to me. They insisted we do something to celebrate this baby and my being pregnant 'cause after all, it is a miracle. I gave in and am so glad I did. We had such a great time at dinner and followed it up with a short walk to an amazing ice cream place.

I was also spoiled rotten with gift certificates for facials, massages, make-up, BABYSITTING and a night away at a spa with one of my favorite girls. They knew just what I'll be needing heading into motherhood of 3 age 3 and under. Nicole even provided post-baby necessities including beer, Starbucks and chocolate. She knows me too well.

Bump update

Wow. Has it really been almost a week since I posted? Sorry. It's been a bit hectic around here. We were at the lake this weekend with some good friends and then just busy trying to catch up before leaving again tomorrow for the big Kale Campout!

Anyway... bump update.

Everything is looking great. I was measuring small, but within normal range so we went ahead and did an ultrasound. No good pictures to share. It was a different tech this time and well... no good photos. Oddly enough, my belly was measuring small, but our little guy isn't little. First time around he was measuring in the 95%.  She did it again because she was so surprised and got it down to the 85%. The ultrasound shows him to weigh about 4 lbs 15oz give or take, but he is at least 4 lbs. AND HE HAS HAIR ALREADY!

It is so weird getting to see so much this time since we only had the one ultrasound with Carter at 20 weeks. The tech was surprised how much hair he had at this stage so, maybe he'll have even more than Carter did..?

We're down to 6 weeks until he makes his scheduled appearance. Let's hope he's on the same page and doesn't want to come early. I'm trying to be ready but keep realizing that I'm missing stuff! Where the heck is the bath thing-y and my boppie? And my baby carrier? I never would have gotten rid of it. Do I need a "nap nanny"? Oh, and bottles. Got rid of those. So much left to do!

Did I mention I agreed to take on a recruitment job at Chris' company to be completed ASAP? Don't laugh. I'm well aware I'm crazy.

Chore chart

I told Carter I was thinking of making a chore chart for him. He got so excited! He insisted we had to do it NOW! We sat together and came up with his chores: 1) staying in bed or his room until his light turns on (on a timer) 2)eating ALL of his breakfast 3) keeping the playroom clean 4)taking a nap without a fight 5)eating ALL his dinner 6)going to bed without a fight 7) mommy has the power to add chores as needed

He gets a toy $1 for each chore he does well and we came up with a list of prizes he can cash them in for. One is a movie date with mommy, another is getting to watch a tv show (he has gotten a little addicted to Blue's Clues so this will hopefully help him choose real play over spending his hard earned money on tv). He can also choose to buy a new book.

I love how excited he is to do his chores! Maybe we'll get him to gain a little weight :)

The smallest soccer player

During the last session of soccer, poor Coen had to just sit with mommy and watch Carter. He was too young since this is a 3-4 year old class. When I approached the coach about letting him give it a try, I got the big blow off. I'm sure everyone thinks their kid is the exception, but I figured that Coen just copies Carter anyway and he is actually really good at kicking the ball where it needs to go. Anyway, I gave up and he just sat and watched.

One night Chris was able to make it to class and used his special magic. Just like that Coen was signed up for the next session with the condition that the coach could kick him out if he couldn't keep up.

Tonight was his first night and he did great! Coach said no problem, he can stay in the class! The oldest kid in the class, on the other hand, well... I think the coach had a different talk with his parents. He cried the whole time and would not leave their side. Poor guy!

Both boys are in the smallest size shirt. You can tell they are not meant for 2 1/2 year olds :)

I think he's making fun of me

Summer fun

We've been taking full advantage of the weather being nice the past few days. I think I'm actually starting to get used to summer not starting until the 2nd week of July here in the northwest. Today we started out with a special trip to Dots Donuts! The boys knew right away which one they one. Carter chose a wild cherry donut while Coen chose the orange one right next to it. I thought for sure they would have a harder time - I did!

Then we were off to pick berries. We thought they had raspberries, but were pleasantly surprised to get to pick marion berries today!!

The other day we joined Auntie Lindsey and GG at GG's neighborhood pool. Kids are allowed for 2 hours each morning, but the boys only stayed in the water about 1/2 hour. Coen really enjoyed it. Carter did as well, but just like his mama did when she was his age, he sat on the steps of the pool in his life jacket. Once Coen started jumping in from the side of the pool, Carter joined in, but would insist that I got closer and closer to him to catch him until I was right under him. Once I caught him, I had to take him right back to the steps.

 

Dots Donuts

How daddy plays

Sometimes daddy can get a little carried away with the building toys. After awhile, the boys lose interest :)

What you talking 'bout Willis?

This had me almost on the floor laughing. Usually Coen is EASIER to understand than Carter, but on this day, I couldn't figure it out. I think he was trying to ask for a marble, but couldn't remember what it was called.

What was so funny was that Carter kept going up to him, putting his ear close and then trying to translate as if the two of them spoke their own language and I was the one out of the loop!

A big day for a big boy

Quite the day for big boy Coen. He's been doing great in his pull-ups so I decided today that he would graduate to real big boy underwear! Honestly, we probably could have done it about a month ago, but this tired mama didn't want to add any unnecessary accidents to our daily schedule. 

He goes on the big potty when he needs to - he never wanted anything to do with the little training potty that Carter uses, even freaked out when I put a smaller seat on the big potty to assist. Nope. He'd rather sit on the potty with his tushy hanging in there and hold himself up. When I switched Carter to underwear, we did it 24/7 cold turkey without isses, but Coen still can't make it to the potty in time in the morning so he'll be staying in pull-ups at night for the time being. Really, it's like his body is still getting used to having plenty of liquid and not being dehydrated. We can avoid liquid an hour prior to bed time and he can potty right before bed, he will still wake up with a full pull-up.

No, this photo has nothing to do with his underwear, but it was taken today and too cute not to share. 

Nearing the finish line

Baby appointment went fine today. I'm still measuring a bit small, but only an inch this week. Peggy said it's as if he is laying sideways which is what I'm constantly telling Chris :) we'll have an ultrasound at the next appointment to check on his growth (yeah, more pictures!!!). I only gained 2 oz the past 2 weeks which was a shock since I feel huge, but keeping up with the boys is pretty tough work. I'm looking forward to my upcoming weekend completely alone to rest, relax and work on a special project. Bet I'll gain more than 2 oz just this weekend :)