"I'm a big kid now!"

I love that I can say this next sentence: I have a potty trained child!! It was so much easier to train him than I though it would be and he has been accident free for days on end. If he does have the occasional accident, it's only one and it always tends to be after Levi is home (when they are too busy playing!) But accidents are very rare, and they are always easy clean ups!

He loves, loves, loves to pee on grass! We spent all day Friday and Saturday away from the house and even though I brought a spare change of clothes, I never had to use them! He has marked his territory all over town: our house, Goose Lake, the park, the zoo, our friends back yard...you name it! He has no problem whipping down those pants and aiming for the grass!

I thought for certain that #2 was going to be a hassle. I've always heard that it is the last to be mastered and often takes months to accomplish. Well, not for Lucas! Since the day we started potty training, he only had the one poo accident. He must really not like the feel of messy undies because he will not allow himself to go until he's found a potty. Lucky, lucky, me!

He constantly refers to himself as a big kid and I finally realized that he's exactly right. I had a happy/sad moment when I looked down and realized there was absolutely no baby to him anymore. Of course, he's always going to be my baby, but he is sure grown up. He talks in full sentences, has his own ideas and opinions about everything, drinks out of normal cups, and is potty trained. I have no idea how it all happened so fast, and right before my very own eyes!

A few nights ago he insisted on sitting in his highchair. This totally caught me off guard and I thought it was strange because he has not physically sat in that thing for well over a year. I thought it would be fun to play baby and see how much he has grown. Notice on the right how the slit in the highchair is level with his cheek, yet now it is just above his elbow?? What a big boy, huh?!

Dying Eggs!

We went on a mini Easter egg hunt Saturday morning at Park & Play, one of the local indoor play areas. It was over in nearly five minutes, but Lucas had a great time! He found 13 eggs on his own and was very proud of his accomplishment! And even more excited when he discovered the candy hiding in each egg :)

That night, I hard boiled some eggs and we dyed them together as a family. Lucas thoroughly enjoyed this! He was very intrigued with the tablets that changed the water...

He watched as daddy carefully placed an egg into the green cup.

Of course, he insisted on trying that too. Look at that focus!

He also decided that the eggs needed to be stirred while we waited.

I didn't get a picture of the final product until Easter was over, but he is very excited to have colorful eggs in our fridge. The question now...will he actually eat them?!


I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter with their loved ones! We got a nice surprise Skype call from Hannah over in Africa, and then had a FaceTime call session with my mom and brothers. I am so thankful that technology allows me to see my family and friends on the holidays!

Showing Hannah his Easter egg!

Big Brother Cues

I am convinced now, more than ever, that Lucas is going to be a FANTASTIC big brother. I would be lying if I claimed not to talk about the new baby on occasion, but lately it has been all Lucas! He brings him up into so many of our conversations and loves to talk about him every day.

Here are my five favorite brother situations/comments from this week:

1. I was sitting on the couch minding my own business when Lucas came over and lifted up my shirt. He wrapped my stomach up with his blankie (which, believe me, he doesn't like to share with anybody). He told me that we needed to keep the baby warm and that he wanted to share his favorite blankie with him. Aww!

2. I spent a morning filing papers and starting to organize/clean up our office. I'm having a hard time with the idea of parting with my office, but I know baby needs his own room! Lucas came in and asked what I was doing and when I explained that we were going to turn the office into the baby's new bedroom, he declined. He insisted that the baby needed to sleep in his room with him! He was very adamant and ordered that I stop cleaning.

3. Levi and I were watching a movie one evening while Lucas was in his room playing quietly. He ran out holding a baby rattle that he found buried in one of his bins and excitedly yelled, "I want to give this to the baby!"

4. After making Lucas dinner a few nights ago I asked him to sit down at his little table. He always sits in the same seat, but this time decided to change it up a bit. He told me that he wanted to sit in a different seat, mommy had to sit in his seat, and that the other seat was for ______! This was the first time he had ever called his baby brother by name without being prompted and my heart nearly melted! (I don't know if Levi wants to announce the name just yet...but stay tuned!)

5. And finally, I was able to record the sweetest little voice memos in the world! I love to sneak out the phone and record him without his knowing because he doesn't get all shy and quiet like he does with videos. Lucas was laying on my belly again, of his entirely own doing, and started calling out to the baby. (The second memo is him admitting that he drooled on my stomach). The conversations went like so:

Memo #1: "______, come out! ______! I hear him! I hear him! I hear him in there. I hear him in there! Oh, you wanna play kung-fu?" (He's been watching too many Bruce Lee videos with dad if you couldn't tell!)

Memo #2: L: "Are you here ______? Ohhhh. What happened? I spit on him. I spit on my baby brother! (I laugh) I spit on him!"
Me: "You spit on him?"
L: "Yeah! I saw that."
Me: "Tell him sorry."
L:"Sorry. Hey...he's not waking up."
Me: "He's sleeping."
L: "Yeah. Come on mom."

I can't figure out how to get them into an uploadable form for a blog, but if anyone would like to hear them...just let me know! I can e-mail them to you or text them if you have an iPhone. Believe me, they'll make your day!

I can already tell that he is going to be very lovable and extremely protective over his baby brother. Only 18 more weeks to go!

One with nature!

The best part about Hawaii was watching my son explore an environment so diverse from our home. It took him a few days to realize that the sand was actually fun to play in and that all of the bugs and lizards weren't out to get him. Now, we can't keep him away from any of the creepy crawlies and he is quite the water bug!








He also loved the fish and whale watching. I can't wait for this summer so that we can explore the wonderful nature in Alaska. We love our hikes and always find some wonderful friends to play with.

2 going on 16!

Levi made the huge mistake of allowing Lucas to drive around in Hawaii and since that day he has begged and begged to drive some more. We let him steer around in the neighborhood and when trekking back on dirt trails, and this boy was in heaven! Each and every time we got into the car he would ask to drive... and you'd better believe he asked again and again throughout our trip. The biggest downfall to the big island is that you really have to commute everywhere (unless you live directly in the main cities) so Lucas often got a little anxious sitting in the passenger's seat.

The two most overused phrases these past 2.5 weeks: “Me turn to drive?” and “Can me drive yet?”

I'm pretty proud of my little man. He did a great job navigating and never ran us off the road! I think he's going to be a very safe driver when the time comes.

Daddy's Boy

Lucas has always been a momma’s boy...until recently. I know that I should be excited and love watching this strong bond continue to strengthen between my boys, but its starting to break my heart. Since being in Hawaii there have been more than a handful of daddy comments made by Lucas that completely exclude me. Here are just a few from the past couple days:

L: “I can’t find another flower.”
Me: “Don’t worry, mommy will help you find one!”
L: “No, I want daddy help me find it.”

L: “Will you get my milk?”
Me: “Yeah, I’ll get it.”
L: “No, daddy get my milk.”

Me: “Lucas, don’t you wanna sit with me?”
L: “No, I wanna sit with my daddy.”

Me: “Oh my Lucas!”
L: “No, I’m daddy’s Lucas.”

And the worst of them all: Lucas woke up in the middle of the night scared because he didn’t realize where we were.

L: “Mom?!”
Me: “I’m right here sweetie, it’s ok”
L: “Where’s my dad?”

Now how am I not supposed to let this get to me? I feel like I’ve been completely replaced and shoved to the back burner. Levi thinks it’s hilarious every time Lucas makes these comments and he just grins the happiest daddy grin. He jokes that Lucas is now his and that I get the new baby. I know this is probably normal...especially with boys...but it doesn’t make it any easier. I want my super lovey, affectionate momma's boy back! But I have to admit, they are pretty darn cute together!

Blackmail!

My mom has so many photos that she's threatened to use to her advantage as we grew up. I especially remember one of my sister taking a poo on a coffee mug when we were camping- it's absolutely priceless. I don't know how many times she joked about blowing the photo up and hanging on the wall for her prom date. (Although she never did, I still find the threats hilarious!) I now understand that urge to humiliate your children and I've already got quite the compilation of photos on Lucas.

While sitting on the potty, Lucas insisted that he get a turn in filing down my nails. I got myself a nice little mani by my son...while he attempted to do the deed. Now if this doesn't constitute as blackmail for his future girlfriends, I don't know what will!

Anxious Brother

I just love how curious and gentle Lucas is when it comes to my belly. He fully comprehends that there's a baby inside and knows that it still has to grow bigger before it can come out! I caught him coloring on his doodle with the little girl I watch and he said "let's draw the baby in mommy's belly!" It was so sweet and absolutely melted my heart!

Yesterday Lucas came over, lifted up my shirt, and covered my belly with his personal blankie. He told me the baby needed to be warm...how could I argue with that?!

On more than on occasion he's lifted up my shirt out of the blue and shoved a stuffed animal next to it. Most often it's "baby moose wants to see the baby!" haha. And he really enjoyed listening to the heartbeat at my last two prenatal visits. He sure made my midwife laugh when he blurted out "I hear it!" Kids and their curiosity :)

I decided to snap a couple photos this evening while he was so intrigued by the belly. Plus, I got to play around with a new photo app instead of doing my school work. I'm so easily distracted!

Who would have imagined a two year old would be so sweet and gentle!

Listening for baby

Of course he had to grab his "doctor scope"

Apparently my belly button is "squishy"

My favorite...pure love!

Terrible Two's

The terrible two's are just that...TERRIBLE! (Well, not at all times. But they have their moments!) I have been awake for a whole 45 minutes this awful Saturday morning and it's a miracle that I have not managed to pull out all of my hair!! (Which, as I just learned in my abnormal psychology class, is called trichotillomania).

Before I break down our disastrous morning let me tell you that Lucas has been quite the little stinker lately. I think he is rebelling against me for his dad working out of town so much and I've really let my emotions get the best of me at times. He has been waking up EVERY night sometime between 1 and 3 and causing nothing but frustration in our house. He comes into my room each time, asks me to cuddle him with his blankies, (which simply means to tuck him back in bed) and we usually do just that. This last week he has continued to get out of bed 10-15 times requesting me to tuck him right back him. He would refuse to stay and would yell "MOM!!" at the top of his lungs as I tried to walk out of the room. Getting nowhere with this, I try to just go back to bed myself but it always leads to a disaster.

A few nights ago it took me over an hour to get him to stop this ridiculous behavior. I finally broke down in tears and he stopped crying instantly. He asked "mommy, what's wrong?" in the most sympathetic little voice. I told him I was so tired and that mommy just really wanted to go back to sleep. His response? "It's ok! Go to your room." WHAT?! I seriously fought him...and I mean fought him...for over an hour and all it took was for me to break into tears? I don't get it. Unfortunately the next night was the same ordeal. This time however, was awful. After me trying to be as patient as I could, I eventually broke and we both proceeded to yell, scream, and cry at each other for nearly 40 minutes. It was awful. I hated that he broke me to that point and felt horrible for not keeping it together, but nothing was working. Daddy's flight was late and he finally walked in the door at 4:00 a.m. Poor guy walked into a war zone and was in absolute shock at what was going down. He said he'd take it from here and he took Lucas back into his room. 10 minutes later he comes to bed. UGH! Why is he so bad for me and so good for his father? It drives me crazy!!

But this is where I broke. Levi said he was almost asleep and then just bursted into tears. He cried and said "mommy is mean to me" and Levi had to reassure him that I loved him and we were both just upset. As he was telling this to me the tears poured down my face. I couldn't believe I let our fight escalate to that point and I felt like the crappiest parent on earth. I know the unruly tantrum went on for almost an hour, but I shouldn't have yelled so much.

So here I am, laying in bed, feeling awful. I couldn't sleep and the only thing I wanted was to go kiss my baby and tell him I loved him. At that very moment I told myself that yelling is not the answer and I was not going to ever let me son feel that way against me, ever again! :(

Fast forward to this morning.

Lucas woke me up right at 7:30 as he does EVERY single morning. This boy is absolute clockwork! He was being so ridiculous and saying "mom, I'm hungry. I want breakfast" over and over again. I said ok, give me just a second and I'll come make you something. "MOM! I WANT PANCAKES!" was repeated nearly 10 times before I could even manage to make it out of my room. So off I go, straight to the kitchen. I start getting his pancakes ready and he yells "NO!! I don't want them!" I kept my mouth shut (even though I was thoroughly annoying at this point already) and asked him to just please eat the pancakes. "NO!! I don't want them!" Now, my yelling, screaming, overly dramatic child throws himself to the ground and continues to yell. I tell him to knock it off, stop crying, and tell me what he wants. He storms off into the living room crying and doesn't answer.

Oh lord. Here we go. I, trying to keep to my new promise, walk into the bathroom to put in my contacts while trying to ignore him. I figure if I don't give him a response then hopefully he'll realize he's getting no where and stop acting like a fool. Right? Wrong.

He comes into the bathroom now yelling "Mom, I want a cereal bar! Open it, open it!" Ok, fine. I ask him to go sit at the table and I'll open it for him. He goes, does what I ask and I follow him. I open it up, hand it to him, and guess what he does? He throws it back at me and yells "I DON'T WANT IT!" Here comes the loud yelling and screaming for no reason followed by his new favorite tantrum act...throwing himself on the floor. I calmly said fine and walked away. Oh, that pissed him off!

He followed me into the living room yelling and I told him to go sit down and eat. He yelled that he need a bib so I said to go and get one...you know where they are. This proceeds to more yelling and crying when he pretends that he can't put it on. He's now yelling "I can't do it! Will you help me?" and acting like a darn fool. He brings me the bib and as I try to put it on him he yanks it off, yells that he doesn't want it and starts screaming again. What in the world is wrong with my child? I let him throw his fit for a few minutes and when he asked me to put the bib on again, I gave it another shot. He screamed "I don't want it" again and ripped it off one last time. At this point, his butt is headed to time out!

He threw a fit with more yelling and screaming, attempted to get down quite a few times and finally calmed down. I told him he could get down as soon as he was done crying and we could try to eat breakfast again. This time around, he decides that he wants muffins. I didn't have it in me to argue so I open up the pack of mini blueberry muffins that he loves so much and set it on his table. This is where things get interesting. He pulls out the first muffin and begins hitting it and squishing it into the table. Not only is he squishing, he has made a fist and is beating this poor muffin into a million little crumbs. I've never seen him act so angry or violent and was almost laughing at the site. But once he was done mutilating the poor thing he started to cry...again. "My muffin is broken! I can't eat it!"


OH MY GOODNESS! I can't handle this child. And why does he only act like this when his dad isn't here to help me? AHHHHHHH!

So, I ignore. At this point I figure I've done all that I can and offered him plenty of food. If he doesn't want to eat, that's on him. I pull out the laptop because I really should be starting my psych paper that's due tomorrow (*sigh*) but I just cannot concentrate at all. So, to blogger I come. I figure the best way to laugh about this situation is to write it down so I can re-read it later.

After I managed to ignore my child's ridiculous behavior for some time I found him eating in what appeared to be a calm and content manner. There was suddenly no more crying, whining, or tantrum throwing. Instead, he was eating in silence! He finished his muffins and then grabbed a towel to clean up his mess. He wiped up his table (all of his own doing) and proceeded into the living room to play with his toys. He has been playing happily for the past 15 minutes...by himself...and you would almost never know how big of a butt he was just acting.

I love my son to death but boy does he know how to get to me! I feel like my patience and tolerance levels are lower than usual and I don't know if that's because I'm pregnant, or because he just knows how to push my buttons. He is a fantastic talker and I think that plays a large role into everything. He back talks like a darn teenager and acts like one half the time. I just told Levi the whole story and he goes..."and you wanted another one?!" Oh goodness...please help me! I pray that this terrible two phase is well and gone before the next one gets here. Otherwise, I may just loose my mind!

Morning Lovin'

Even after 2 years of motherhood, I still dread waking up as early as I have to. If I had it my way, I would sleep in every day of the week. Thankfully, I get to start each day off with the most wonderful little man around!




(blurry iPhone photos, but adorable nonetheless)