The Salsa and The Poop

Ever have one of those days where if you don't laugh about it (in the midst of it), you will just cry? Today was one of those days. Overall, it wasn't a horrible day, but some things happened today that really test you as a parent. Things that fall into the "stuff" happens category, the things that you don't have much control over, and if you get upset about, you will just eventually make yourself crazy. These are the things I am learning to just let go about, which is good considering I am such a control freak.

First: The Salsa

We were at a friends house (thankfully they have hardwood floors in the area where the incident occurred) visiting. I was trying to eat some soup, so Timo had Raymond and Dario was on the floor playing. Dario made to head for the cat food, so Timo tried to lean down and get him away from the food while holding Raymond. This put Ray within reach of a nice big bowl of - you guessed it - medium salsa. Tip - right over all over brother and Daddy. Ray only got a very small spot of salsa on himself. Thankfully, Dario didn't get much on his head - but his back, and pants were completely covered. What did Mommy do first? Go grab her cell phone to take a picture.

Now: The Poop

Boys have been in their seats eating dinner. At one point during dinner, Dario's face turned a nice shade of crimson and he uttered some "rrr, grr, grrunt" sounds, indicating some bowel action. Post-dinner, Daddy takes Dario to his room and sets him in his crib while he gets diapering supplies ready. Dario stands up in the crib, and POOP falls out of his pants leg. Oops! How did that happen? Mind you, I'm on the phone with my sister in the other room at the time. Somehow, poop got in BOTH of the boys' cribs, BOTH boys stepped in the poop with their Robeez shoes on, and Ray jumped around in his crib with poo on his shoes for awhile, making little poo shoeprints all over his cribsheet. Did I mention I just changed their sheets 2 days ago? My first notice of the situation is Timo coming into our bedroom, saying "I NEED YOUR HELP. Please get off the phone. Now." Boys are stripped down, put in the bath, Daddy supervises them playing while I dispose of poopy diapers, set aside poopy (and seperate, salsa filled) clothes for soaking later, change crib sheets, and put crib sheets in the wash. Then it's to the bathroom to wash boys and get them ready for bed.

After all that, they were an hour late getting to bed, and they didn't even utter a whimper before falling straight to sleep (after storytime).

Too much to post about

The birthday party is over - it went as well as could be.

Got an email Saturday from my prospective childcare provider to say they can't actually work for us, and I start work tomorrow (Monday). Grandma drove from Ellensburg to watch the boys for my orientation and another good friend is going to step in to watch the boys (at her house). Perhaps this is for the best. I'm so past being stressed about anything, because I'm so tired right now.

Will post pictures of the party as soon as I get them from friends - I didn't even get the camera out once. We did get some video, and a good friend took plenty of pictures to share.

Party Progress?

So, how do you like my lopsided cake? And no, it's not done yet. The yellow frosting is just a "crumb layer" - a thin layer of icing that will crust over, and then I can really ice the cake without worries of getting crumbs in my icing. At least that's the theory anyway. It is a spice cake with Nutella filling. It's about 4" high and 14" across. I've never made a cake of this magnitude before from start to finish, all by myself. So, however it turns out, I'll still be proud of myself for doing this project. Elmo! Elmo is no longer going to be on top of the other cake, but a freestanding cake by himself. We probably won't even need him but I guess he'll give us another cake flavor for people who don't want the other kind.
Now this is a candy plate that was made in the same Elmo cake pan. This is now what is going to go on top of the 14" round cake. This was the brain-child of my sister.

Weaning from the Nighttime Nursing

Three nights ago we started what we have been dreading doing - weaning the boys from the right-before-bed nursing. The thought is that with me going back to work a couple days a week, working evening shift, that we need to make it easier for Timo to put the boys to bed by himself. So we have been sleep training the boys with the eventual goal that they would have a regular night-time routine that anybody could put them to bed.

The first night (Monday) we replaced the nursing with a bottle. They both drank just a little bit, played with it some more, but didn't cry when we gave them the bottle. Then did story time and quiet time, like we normally would, and put them in their cribs with a kiss goodnight, and closed the door. That is when the screaming began - Dario was the worst - it was like he was saying "WHAT?!?" whereas Ray was crying more like, he had hope that I was going to come back and nurse them. They finally did fall asleep, but it was hard listening to them cry.

Second night went a little better. They still didn't drink much from the bottles, but when it came time to put them down to bed, they maybe cried for 5-10 minutes then went to sleep.

Third night was Halloween, so it was all screwed up as far as routine goes. We decided to go trick-or-treating with my niece SRC, and we didn't end up getting out until 7pm (their regular bed time). They did great, though! They stayed up the whole time, didn't complain at all, and seemed to enjoy going around in the stroller being admired by people. Obviously the candy isn't for them - it was a fun time, and I'm glad we went. In the car on the way back to my brother's house, they fell asleep in the car. When we got home and brought them inside, got them ready for bed, and laid them down to sleep. Ray fell asleep almost immediately - Dario was screaming so loud and hysterically that we finally decided to just nurse him for fear he was going to make himself throw up (he's done it many times before). We figured the night was shot already as far as their new routine went, so hopefully it won't hurt that much.

So tonight should be interesting. It's hard to remember not to nurse them, since it is such a habit. They start climbing all over me on the floor, pressing their faces to my nightgown, opening their mouths like little birds. And I feel bad knowing that they really want to nurse, and I'm giving them a bottle instead. But I also know that it will be better for everyone involved when I am working that they can go down to bed with less fuss with me not there.

I'm a little behind on the party preparations - yesterday I was supposed to make and color all the icing - I just got it made. I also did another set of the Sesame Street candy molds. If we had stayed home and not gone trick-or-treating I could have gotten the icing colored in the evening. I think I'm still doing alright with my "schedule". Today I'm baking cakes - my first 2" deep 14" round layer is in the oven as I type. I'd be sleeping but it had 20 min left to bake and I didn't want to miss taking it out of the oven. Once it's done baking, I'm taking a nap! I'm so tired, I'm really running myself down this week. I feel like super mom, except without extra energy. I'm going to wish I had extra time to relax after the party, but then I start work on Monday. Maybe it will be like a break since I will be away from home. I hope things work out with our sitter.

Gotta go, somebody just woke up.