hodge podge

This post is potentially the most "hodge podge-y" I've ever done. There are some things the boys have said & done that I want to remember and some thoughts I want to jot down. None of them are at all related, hence the hodge podge.

First up, the boys. Sam is so stinkin' funny. I just love watching my kids' personalities develop. The other day he had done something and I had to pretty sternly tell him no. As usual, he got his feelings hurt and promptly ran away from me. But this time he ran to Noah's time-out corner and stood with his face in the corner just like Noah. I was kind of stunned! He seriously put himself in time-out. He and I had a good laugh :) Sweet boy is obsessed with cars just like Noah, and the problem is he is a cars snob and only likes the Cars ones (like from the movie). You can't fool this kid with a Hot Wheels and don't even think about a baby car. He can say "Francesco" but not even his own name. Honestly Francesco is one of the clearest words he says, and he calls every car Francesco. He is a little thief and if he finds one of Noah's cars laying around, he will snatch it up so fast and literally run into his room with it. I'm wondering if we need to buy 2 of ever single Cars car? Sheesh!

Cutest baby boy. Love, love, love him. I want him to stay a baby forever! The other day we were out somewhere and I got a comment about him "still" having his paci. I thought, still?!?! Of course he does! He's just a baby. And always will be if you ask me :) I just laugh at the difference in myself as a mom the second time around--when Noah was this age I thought he was such a big boy! Ha, so typical.

Noah, Noah, Noah. He's pretty funny himself. These days he likes to relate everything to how old he is/was/will be. Like he will say "yesterday, when I was 2...." or "when I'm 4..." Yes he thinks everything from the past happened yesterday. He will tell these big elaborate stories that never happened, such as "Yesterday when I was 2, I slammed my hand in the door and I broke all my fingers off and you gave me a boo boo band-aid but that didn't help so I had to go to Dr. Ledbetter and he fixed my fingers so now they aren't hurt anymore." Um, ok. And everything that he doesn't want to do or doesn't like, he says he will do or like it when he's 4. Doesn't want to put his pajamas on? He'll do it when he's 4. Whenever people hear that he doesn't like chocolate, there is always a big reaction like he is just completely crazy. Like, to the point that I think he's almost a little embarrassed or worried about it. I can't tell you how many times he has said lately "You know Mommy,  I really think I will like chocolate when I'm 4". He'll tell me that out of nowhere when we are driving down the road or just sitting around.

To be completely honest, Noah's strong will has come very very close to sending me over the edge this past month.We were cruising right along and I thought we were coasting into the joyous age 4 that I've heard so much about, when age 3 reared its ugly head again. Except it's been about 25 times worse than before. I've always been a little leery when people call a kid strong-willed and I wasn't ready to "diagnose" Noah as such for quite awhile. For one thing, I think that pretty much every two-year-old on the planet is strong-willed on some level. But now that Noah's a little older, and I've done a little more reading on the topic, (Parenting is Heart Work, our Bloom study from last year, had a great chapter or two about strong-willed kids) I've decided that Noah is most definitely, without a doubt, a strong-willed child/person. I could go on and on about it but I won't. I'll just say that the past month has tested me as a mom and a person more than ever before, that I'm feeling the serious pressure of my responsibility to shape his strong will without breaking it, and that after the last two days I feel like maybe we are making some strides. Whew. I love this sweet boy (even though he stole my Snuggie), and I can't wait to see how the Lord uses his strong will to do great things throughout his life!

Funny thing, I never thought I would be that frazzled mom who leaves splattered milk and crushed crackers in her wake everywhere she goes, but here I am. Seriously, this week has been ridiculous. I've dropped a large Diet Coke not once but twice while juggling a baby and/or tray of food and trying to open a door; I've done the walk of shame to the front of Chickfila to inform them that my kid spilled his milk ALL over the floor; I've let Sam run around the back of the Purple Cow because I figured everyone in the restaurant was tired of hearing him squeal and scream in his highchair; I've pulled my Boogie Wipes out of my purse in record time after Noah sneezed a puddle of snot onto the floor in the bread aisle at the grocery store; and the list truly goes on. I feel like people think I am completely loony tunes, but I just have the hardest time keeping things calm and organized when I am out of the house with the boys. I'm trying really hard to be considerate of others in public but some days I feel like I just better not leave the house. Because for every sweet older lady who kindly tells me she's "been there" and "these days will go so fast", there's a grumpy man (or lady) who glares at me when Sam drops Goldfish all over the floor at Target. Uggghh. And every time that happens, I have to pinch that spot between my thumb and pointer finger to keep from tearing up (that really works by the way--try it next time you are trying not to cry). I just take things soooo personally, and I know I worry too much about what other people think of me and my kids. I'm rambling, I know it. But surely someone out there can feel me on this one?

I've been reading everyone's New Years posts this week and wondering if I should have more goals for the coming year. I have plenty of goals, both big and small, in general but I've never been big on making resolutions with the new year--especially public ones. Because then I'd actually have to follow through! :) In all honesty the coming year really overwhelms me. It has the potential to be a year of pretty big change for our family. Noah is starting real school in the fall, something that already has me in tears when I stop long enough to really think about it. Yes it's just 3-day a week K4 preschool, but it's at a real live "big kid school" with uniforms and carpool drop-off. We prayed long and hard about where to send him to school, when he should start, which program he should do for K4 and kindergarten, etc., and we feel really good about our decisions. We are blessed to have many wonderful options where we live so the decisions weren't easy. Our prayer is that this will be his forever school, where he will go until he graduates and heads off to college. So yeah, that feels a little huge, overwhelming, and exciting to me! This year we also plan to sell our house and move--although we are well-aware that God and the housing market may have different plans, and putting our house on the market this year doesn't actually mean we will move this year! But that's our plan & our prayer, and it's another thing that overwhelms but excites me! 2012 is shaping up to be busy, stressful and exciting. My only true resolutions are 1) to remember to trust God with all these big things (and the little things too) and 2) to survive!