Take It Easy

So, when you're the mothership in a crazy nut-house like this one, there are days when things go so totally wrong it makes you want to run out the door only because you know that if someone looked inside and saw all the shennanigans inside they'd totally understand and not judge you.

Ahem.

Take the other day for example. I set Isla down in her crib sans diaper.

Worst. Mistake. Of. My. Life.

Finn alerted me to the problem after I had left the room for a quick moment and I came back to find her lovely (white) crib, lovely pink blanket AND lovely face covered in poo.

And everything else in the vicinity too, it seemed.

And then Luke came home and was all concerned because Jussi had gotten out and was strolling her bad self around the neighborhood and I had failed to notice.

When he saw the disaster zone he smartly let that one slide.

And then there was today. By 10am I had quickly and thoroughly convinced myself that I was, in fact, the worst mother ever.

Worse than Medea (nope, I take that back. Madea? Of the Tyler Perry variety? Only slightly better).

Finn was hitting and kicking everything, person and dog in sight. Isla was yelling at me and I didn't know why. I was yelling at everyone and didn't know why.

It was uncool, man.

And just when I thought things couldn't get worse, I had just spent 10 minutes putting Isla to bed only to come out and see that Finn had disappeared. When I called him all I heard was, 'I'm pooping!' and I hung my head in shame thinking I was about to come upon a disaster akin to the one previously mentioned.

But alas, no. He was on the toilet. All of his own, smart, mature accord.

And the heavens opened and the angels sang and handed me a well-deserved Diet Coke.

And was like, 'Thanks, angels. I needed that."

And then he took a nap. And then we went shopping. And I saved $30. And some lady gave my mom her $10 off coupon to Old Navy. And we got cookies. And 'pleases' and 'thank you's' were said.

And then we got home and Finn disappeared again only to be found en toilet once again on his own, doing the #2 thing.

And now I feel pretty awesome. And to solidify that easy, peaceful feeling I think I'll go eat a muffin and listen to the Eagles. Duh. 

So, with no further adieu a picture of Isla being awesome (and not covered in her own poo):

Well Shone, Moon.

I'm currently embroiled in a bedtime battle royale with Finn. He's become the master of tactical stalling at bedtime.

This kid knows how to do it, guys.

He only asks for things that are totally necessary (like going to the potty or a drink) so I have a hard time saying no...

But he when gets tired, he gets sloppy and starts asking for toys and I draw the line because I'm a real toughie and I also get pretty tired of all the two-year old BS.

Seriously though, I've gotten up like, 10 times since I started writing this.

Rargh.

Anywho, sometimes I get a creative wave and start decorating walls in this casa and it's a good feeling. In my office space I have a gallery of random art that goes across the entire wall.

It's my inspiration wall and I love it. I'll show it to you one day.

But recently, what with all my new school prepping and all, I've gone on a quote kick and here are the two new images in Finn and Jussi's rooms respectively:

Luke made this one for me...

 I'm smitten with my own creativity.

And since I'm obviously on a Midsummer kick, this is in Isla's room:

Aaah I love that play so much. It almost makes me sad that I've picked American Literature as the emphasis for my Master's. So much so that I might be still swayed to switch.

Also, I joined our neighborhood book club and I got to pick the book for April. Steven Millhauser's Dangerous Laughter.

In the Springville area come April 28th at 8pm? Want to read a book that WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE? Seriously feel free to come! I'm sure I'll bake up something delicious too.

Who are we kidding? I'll buy something delicious. 

Last but not least, I got my kids as dressed up as they'll ever be (for Easter's sake) and we took a one-shot chance at a family picture. Bam. Turned out great. First try:

We. Are. All. Fabulous.

One Flew Over This Cuckoo's Nest...

Apparently, if all is working correctly, you should be reading this on my new blog site, rebarchikitydo.com. 

Are you? Because Luke took the liberty of changing some stuff and I don't know why or how (specifically why) or if it is even working. In any case, I'm grateful...that '.blogspot.com' part was gettin' pretty old, huh?

So there you go, blogdom. Enjoy your stay.

Anywho, you've caught me in the midst of a fantastically frazzled week. It's a doozy and it's only Wednesday. No bueno.

Isla just cut four teeth. At once. Three on the top, one on the bottom. And two more made their appearance a week or two ago. They're still coming in and boy, is that girl sad about it. Add her first ever cold on top of that you've (I've) got a real snot-fest on our (my) hands.

So. That's gross.

Finn has also been throwing some serious attitude around recently, too. All day long he goes around flinging these little gems at me:

"No mommy! I tell you to go to your room!"
"No mommy! I tell you to go to the potty!"
"Mommy! Go time out!"

And so on and so on. 

Give your mom a break, kid...she's only, you know, providing the necessary elements for you to SURVIVE. Sheesh.

And as two year-olds are wont to do, the next minute he'll be giving me hugs and kisses and saying, "I love YOU, mommy...I love YOU". Or my new favorite, "Thank you so so SO much"

Whatever. It's like living in an honest-to-goodness nut house around here.

Thankfully, the boy is seriously potty-trained now so I don't feel like a total failure. We can do all-day outings with no pull-ups and no accidents. And that, friends, is how you know you've made it in life.

When you can go to the mall and no one in your party wets themselves. Sweet, sweet success.

Last but certainly not least, Jussi just got back from an overnight stay at the vet after getting ummm, 'fixed'. I thought dropping her off would be the easy part but Finn lost it when he saw strangers taking her away. He started bawling and yelling, "I want Jussi!"

It was seriously so sad...but at the same time a little bit happy because at least it means they're friends now, right? Silver linings all around!

And now I give you the pièce de résistance...the pictures. duh.

Isla is 10 months old today!

How Do You Pronounce That?

Vacashun?
Vacaytun?

Vacation! Ah, yes, that's the word. It's been so long since I've had one..

...ahem...

That was so cheesy I want to die.

Moving on! Luke and I are going on vacaaaaation. To Chicago. For a wedding. By ourselves.

Sans kiddos.

And while I vacillated for quite some time about whether or not we should bring those crazy hooligans along, I ultimately decided that ummmm...nope. Sorry, guys.

Bringing a 2 and 1 year-old on vacation isn't exactly tres romantique, is it?

May can't come fast enough and my mom is a baby-sitting saint.
 .....
In other news, Finn is approximately 85% potty-trained, guys (!).

No accidents in 3 days and we've been going out every day with no diaper on. It's legit!

He's getting better at telling me every time he needs to go which means this whole business is getting a little bit less exhausting.

I've also been doing some serious research on preschools for when he turns 3 this fall.

I mean, these places have waiting lists, enrollment deadlines. I have to compare tuitions. Serious stuff! I'm waiting to find one that requires a talent show or something to get in. It has to be out there.

(The thing is, his birthday is only TWO weeks after the cut-off for starting preschool at 3 kindergarten at 5. Basically, they tell me he better be pretty effing smart to start early or I can wait a year. Here's hoping he's ready to start early)

What I'm getting at is that with all these big new developments present and future, I'm feeling super-mature-mom-sy right now. And I'm loving it.

I'm not a big fan of the little baby phase (sorry, Isla...you're almost out of it :). This toddler, potty-trained, school-age stuff.

This is much better.

Speaking of Isla:

She's a great little trooper. Teething like a demon, but here's hoping she makes it through. I'm just hoping she makes it to her first birthday. The girl is a furniture climber. Climbing down? She's all about the tuck-and-roll kind of somersault. Stressful.

And Jussi? The never-mentioned hairy child of mine? She's getting huge but thankfully the weather is now warm enough for her to be outside all the time. Like big dogs should be.

Plus, we dropped some major cash on a huge dog house, so she better be outside in that thing. Gotta get my money's worth, right?

Wam. Bam.

Thank you, m'am.

(David Bowie does the best introductions, non?)

The unthinkable has happened, guys.

I was accepted. To BYU's Master's Program. For English Literature.

!!!

I seriously couldn't believe it.

Granted, it is provisional that I get a B or higher in a Critical Theory class my first year.

Critical Theory?! I am the master of critical theory, guys.

Yep, that's what I'm telling myself.

(I'm not going to lie, though...when we decided to get a dog, I did it with the conviction that I wasn't going to be going back to school and would therefore have loads of time to watch a dog while raising two kids.

I'll figure it out, right?)

In any case, I've got a standing theory that someone on the Graduate Committee was either bribed or one of my recommendations was a blackmail letter that was accidentally uploaded.

But hey! I'll take it.

So, I am the goon squad and I'm coming to town. Beep beep.

Ok, maybe David Bowie isn't always the best for this kind of stuff?

Don't be sad, Bowie. You're still cool.

Master of Mayhem. Queen of Chaos.

That's me folks.

Adding a puppy into our (my) mix has been like adding a daily and constant tornado.

Toys! Scatter them!
Kids! Knock them over!
Walks! Do them all the time, always!

At the end of the day you will find me happily passed out in coma.

A COMA.

But seriously, these kids are keeping me on toes. I swear the minute I let up, they're all going to take over the house and Luke will come home to find me tied up in a closet.

(Well, that escalated quickly.)

But to make all the kid-induced mayhem more fun more me I make Finn push me on his bike:

I'm a real slave-driver, guys.

Really, I was trying to teach Finn how to ride the damn thing and after getting a teensy bit frustrated I kicked him off to show him how the pros do it.

Done and done.

As for Finn, he's like, really getting into this potty-training business (thank goodness). The end of diapers is so close I can taste it (that was seriously the grossest way to put it. Good job, me).

We went out twice today without him wearing diapers. No accidents.

Bam.

I am so very cautiously optimistic. I am a caution cone of optimism.

And Isla? She's getting THREE teeth at once. Her first three teeth ever. I'm like, really? Reallllly? I was sleeping for once and now you get three teeth? Great. The weirdest part is they're the same random top, side/fang teeth that Finn got first. Whatever, vampire baby.

But I dare say she is almost walking on her own.

How cute is that chubby little face? And she is such a little chubster. She weighed 20 lbs at her 9 month check-up.

Well, yep that's how much Finn weighed at 12 months.

And last but not least, Jüssi. My happy, little bundle of energy. Potty trained in 1 day and sleeps mostly through the night.

Hey kids, take a hint from your hairy, adopted sister, would you?

:)

We Got a Dog. Her Name is Jüssi.

And that's about it.

Bye.

Joke! Could I leave without a smattering of details?

No. No I could not.

We got the most adorable, mellow 9-week-old, purebred black Labrador puppy. Because what's another thing to take care of and clean up after and potty train? Bring it on.

We named her Jüssi (it's Swedish. Pronounced "you-see". We're just keeping in line with our European naming strategy for our kids, ja? Plus, I'm perpetually obsessed with all things Scandinavian.).

She is a super star. No accidents,  great with the kids, my new best friend, Luke's new best friend, sleeps better than Isla.

The works.

The only problem so far is that Finn is a teensy bit unsure about her motives. He starts running, she starts chasing and it all just goes a bit pear-shaped from there.

"No Jüssi, nooooooooo"

"Its fine, Finn. She's just playing..."

"Noooooooo"

You get the idea.

They get better every day, though. Today they were practically chums. It was brilliant.

As for Isla, she loves chasing Jüssi and Jüssi just looks at me like, "Who is this bald, slow puppy? I'm gonna go lick her face and sit in her lap. Yeah."

Bonus? She's Luke's first ever dog.

How cute is that?

So cute.

But really truly, it's just like having another kid. Gotta keep her on a schedule, make sure she's fed at the right time and then I have to get up in the middle of the night for one reason or another.

Best part is that it's like having a kid you can dump outside whenever you want to. And lets face it, that's the best kind of kid to have, right?

With no further adieu...les pictures: