Gross Boy Stuff

Jeremiah proves over & over again that he is 100% boy, but today was just about too much for this girlie-girl to handle. Even though he was happy & as sweet as could be all day, he was just plain GROSS!

Here is a rundown of the events that transpired throughout the day:

• playing with the recycling (which means the recycling container went on top of the kitchen table)
• opening the trash & diving in 3 different times today
• grabbing his poop while I'm changing his dirty diaper
• splashing around in the toilet (which was closed, but he's learned how to open)
• opening up his cloth diaper pail to fondle his soiled diapers
  

but the one that really got me...ugh, I'm shuddering just thinking about it...right before bath time (side note: it wasn't a bath day, but after the above events a bath was certainly in order!) I had just dumped a big poop into the toilet from one of his cloth diapers, I then closed the toilet and went back into his room to dump the diaper into his diaper pail. When I come back into the bathroom he has opened the toilet (again!) and is about to grab the big ball of POOP!!! The loudest scream of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" comes out of my mouth. Honestly, I'm not sure if he actually touched the poop or not because I swiftly stripped him, put him in the tub and gave him the best bath of his life! He even got into all the scrubbing & lathered his belly and legs just like I had done. I think even he knew that he needed every last inch of his little toddler body scrubbed CLEAN!

Happy Father's Day!!

Hello Hanes Sweet Home readers! It's Little J. I hijacked Mommy's computer because I wanted to be sure to wish you a Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

You are the best daddy in the whole world.

You've gotten up in the middle of the night countless times in the last (almost) 11 months to retrieve a lost paci, give me snuggles, or take me to Mommy for some midnight milk.

You bounce & spin me around - and I love it (you know from all the giggles!).

I love when you get down on the floor to play with me and all my toys.

I also love to climb all over you...you're the best jungle gym for me to play on!

I love to sit in your lap and watch ESPN with you...thanks for teaching me the importance of sports so young!

I don't know if anyone has ever told you this, but you're really funny! You can make me laugh almost always - even when I'm in a rotten mood.

I know I'm a bit of a messy eater, and that really drives you crazy, but thanks for dealing with it anyway!

And Mommy said I should especially thank you for all those diapers you've changed!

You are a great dad and I thank God he gave me to you!

I love you, Daddy! Your son, Little J

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to both of our moms and Granny! We love and appreciate you all very much!! I tried to send these pictures via email, but I'm not sure if it went through. Hope you like it!

I've had a wonderful Mother's Day! I can't think of a better way to celebrate than having Jeremiah dedicated and spending time with family. Not to mention Josh got me an Ergo!!! You know the thing I've blogged about before (here and here) because I need a new carrier for Little J since he's getting so big (I used the Baby Bjorn a TON!!). And I know you're thinking...why not just use the stroller? Well, we do sometimes but as I've mentioned before, I'm a bit of a "crunchy" parent and enjoy "wearing" Little J (mostly because he really loves it!!!).

I have about a million pictures to go through from the past few days, so hopefully they will be up soon!

Poop!

This post will be free of pictures & for that you should thank me!

Friday night Little J was splashing around in his duck tub while I was trying to scrub every last ounce of dinner off of him. While lathering him up, I stood him up to clean his legs & bottom when all of a sudden poop came out - ACK!! There was poop floating around in the little ducky and he was full of suds! After a few minutes of sudsy J playing on the bathroom floor while I cleaned up poop from the tub, we eventually relocated to our big tub. OK...I've heard of this happening and while not thrilled to have it happen to me, not too big a deal.

Fast forward to tonight...We have been extremely lucky in the "naked-baby accidents" dept. Little J plays naked every night for 10-20 minutes just to let his diaper area air out a bit...we've done this for most of his life and he's only peed once (amazing...I know!). Tonight Big J was trying to help Little J get out of his hooded towel (he finds it funny to crawl around with it on his head), he noticed a little poop and then a LOT of poop! Thankfully he caught it in the towel...well most of it. We later found some more on the rug (YUCK!), but got that cleaned up.

So I think we've had enough out-of-diaper poop for a while. Ahhh...the joys of parenting!

But this cutie makes it all worth it!

And yes I know I said it would be picture-free, but I just couldn't help myself!

Mother of the Year

I'm in the running for "Mother of the Year Award" after somehow locking my purse (with cell phone & keys) as well as Little J in the car at CVS today! I panicked because it was getting quite warm and I worried about him getting too hot in the car (all those terrible summertime news stories came flashing in my mind). I had to run in & use the phone at CVS to call for help...but I don't know anyone's phone numbers anymore since I have them all stored in my cell (which was locked IN the car!!!). After an unsuccessful attempt to call my in-laws (they were out working in the garden...where we were supposed to be!) and 2 busy signals to 911 (how can 911 be BUSY!!!!), I finally got Big J at work. He promptly left work to drive to our house, get extra set of car keys, drive to CVS and unlock the car. During all of that, he called Perry (his brother) to come to our rescue. Perry tried his hardest, but after several failed attempts with a Slim Jim & stubborn unlock button, Big J finally arrived with the extra keys and we finally were able to get to Little J. Thankfully he was happy as a clam playing with his Baby Einstein Light-Up Music Mirror. He only got a little fussy at the end when Perry was working hard to get in the car...I think it scared him a little. Everyone was fine and I'll be investing in an extra key to hide on the car somewhere ASAP!

It won't be like this for long...

I love this song...it perfectly describes being a parent (at least what I've learned in the last 9 months).  Whenever I get frustrated with Little J (which isn't too often...mostly just because he's still NOT sleeping through the night), I try to remember that before I know it he'll be sleeping the day away as a teenager, so for now I'll just enjoy our snuggles in the middle of the night.

Babies Don't Keep

Sometimes my house gets a bit dirty...

dishes have to be washed & put away

diapers need to be folded

 

dirt on the floor should be swept

 

sometimes Little J even plays in the aforementioned dirt

Whenever I start to get discouraged by the messy house & many chores that are waiting on me, I read this poem. It was published in a 1958 edition of Lady's Home Journal and I think it's still quite applicable more than 50 years later. Enjoy!

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
 
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo. 
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
 
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

-Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Babyfood & Mommy Shoes

What a good day! We started off our day by going to Brunch Bunch (BB) - a mom's group I belong to. We eat brunch (hence the name), gab a lot, and hopefully talk about the book we're reading together (right now we're reading Creative Correction by Lisa Whelchel - aka Blair from the TV show Facts of Life). We always have a good time and it's a great break for us during the week.

After BB, we came home for Little J to nap. When he woke up it was time for lunch (around 2pm - a little late). While he was eating, I set off to make more baby food! That's right...somehow I became one of those "Hippie" moms. You know the type...breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby wearing, babyfood making moms. And I'm loving every minute! 

Back to babyfood...I was given a Beaba Babycook for Christmas to make all this yummy food for Little J. It has been a GOD SEND! I can make so much babyfood quickly & without making a big mess.

After I steam & puree in this wonderful machine (yes - it does both!), I pour the puree into ice cube trays to freeze.

Once the cubes are frozen, I dump them into ziplock freezer bags, label them, and voila! I'm ready to provide a myraid of meal combinations for Little J at the drop of a hat!

So far I have made Sweet Potatoes, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Peas, Green Beans, Broccoli, Pears, Peaches, Bananas, and Apples. Usually Little J gets 2-3 cubes of fruit mixed with oatmeal for breakfast, 2-3 cubes of a fruit & veggie at lunch, then 2-3 cubes of veggies for dinner. Occasionally Little J is hungry enough to eat 4 cubes plus Puffs & Mum-Mums. What can I say...he's a growing boy!

After all this cooking (yes he sat in his high chair & helped), Little J was ready to play...with Mommy's shoes!

Wow Mom! You've got a big foot!