A day in the life....

My morning starts with the sound of a little boy calling out, "Mommy!" From his bedroom. As I walk down the hall I'm always greeted with a smile, a wave, and the cutest "hi" that there ever was. This is just the beginning of the nonstop day with my sweet boy. I change him and we head to the kitchen to discuss breakfast. He tries his hardest to con me into letting him have ice cream or popcorn. It doesn't work so he pouts. We end up with a solution that works. Cereal, raisin, and apple slices do the trick....this time. I give him his ice water in a sippy and lead him back to his room to watch Mickey and the gang while I get myself ready for the day. 

As I get myself ready I hear, "Mom, help me!" Or "Mom, Melmo Shoes!!" And I must figure out what he is needing. Usually if I can find his Elmo house shoes he is fine. But other times, he just needs my attention. This can make getting ready a little bit of a task. He often joins me in the room I get ready in and plays cars. He watches as I put on my eyeshadow and fix my hair. Constantly saying "Ready, Mommy, ready?" Before he zooms a car across something doing a trick. 

On our way out the door he is telling the dogs to hush. Bossing me around. Telling me how he is supposed to be buckled into his seat. Then once he is buckled he has to make sure he has his "booms" or cars for those of you that don't know what booms are. He is quite a funny little guy. Even if he is bossy. 

We talk in the car, while shopping, during lunch, and through out the day. I hear little feet running into the kitchen while I'm cleaning. "Mommy, up up UP!" He is begging me to hold him so he can see something inside the cabinet. Ten minutes later he's back to ask, "sprise?!" Which means he wants a surprise from his Halloween bucket inside one of the cabinets. He watches Mickey or dances to whatever music I have on in the kitchen. We laugh and play. He helps me put away laundry and clean windows and doors. I vacuum so he gets his popper out to "vacuum" with me. We usually end up taking a nap together. His favorite nap spot is on our new sofa. He lays down and asks for his soft blanket and his piggy. I lay down and he says, "Hold my hand, Mommy." He is asleep in minutes. I lay there holding his tiny hand wondering what I ever did to deserve such a beautiful blessing. 

At 5 we start his dinner. Then we start bath time. Then it's time to relax and start Daddy's dinner. I usually play ball or cars while trying to fix dinner. Talent loves to play catch. So we play and he asks if Daddy is bye bye until his Daddy pulls in the drive. Then it's hugs for Daddy and a little "Daddy ball" before bed. 

After all the activities of the day we end our day with Talent picking out his favorite books. We crawl up on his bed and we read at least four or five books. We laugh and read. Then it's Goodnight Moon and our night night prayers. He always kisses me and hugs me goodnight. We say I love you's and night night. 

My day is a lot different than it once was. I once woke up at 5 every single day to get ready for work. I went to bed every night at a decent time and I worked all day at a job I liked most days. I love my new schedule. It is crazy most days. It seems like I never get everything I need done, but, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Being a stay at home mom keeps me busy. Despite what most people may think, our days are always filled with activities. The only time we slow down is when Seth is home. We try to slow down and make time to just be with him when he's home. I'm thankful that I've been able to be a stay at home mom. I never thought I'd enjoy it this much. 

That's how you know you are a parent.....

Do you remember when you first started dating your spouse and you would leave them love notes or send them sweet text messages through the day? Well, a lot of things change after you get married. Even though the "honeymoon" is over in my marriage and we are well into almost 9 years of marriage, 11 years of being together, I still try to send messages to my husband every single day. However, our messages lately have confirmed one thing.......we are most certainly parents.

We have been really working hard to get Talent to poop in the potty. He has serious fears when it comes to pooping. It's because pooping has always been painful for him. We've tried medicines, we have tried suppositories, and right now we are about to the end of our rope. So, at the advice of a friend, we are trying potty training. So far, he's not doing too bad. But what has made me laugh is that when Talent goes on the potty during the day and Seth isn't here, I still text him to let him know what happened. Our texts have gone from these sweet "I love you's" to "YAY! He pooped in the potty!!" in what seems like an instant. I guess that's how you know you are officially a parent.

It always makes me laugh to go back through and see these text messages about the potty. It's not something I ever thought I would be sending text messages to my husband about while he's working. And it definitely isn't something I would ever expect him to reply to with, "YAY! Was he proud?" and then have him follow that with a phone call to congratulate our son. I must say, I can't take the credit for this potty training thing at all. My husband has taken this and just gone with it. He's been the one to enforce it. He's been the strong one with the patience to sit in the bathroom on the toilet next to Talent and hold his little hand for an hour if that's what it takes. Tonight when he came home he told Talent just how proud he was of him for going in the potty. Talent reached up and gave his Daddy a high five and said, "I e e  potty! I DID IT!" in this excited little voice! He loves for his Daddy to be proud of him.

I have never been more proud of this man I married. He's the most amazing husband and dad. I don't think I could have asked for a more perfect person to parent with. I'm glad I have him to text these tiny victories to. I'm even more grateful that he is just as excited about them as I am. Even though our texting has changed from lovey dovey to toilet victories, we love this new adventure and all of the craziness it brings.