Terrible Twos VS Troublesome Threes

Round 1.  Ding Ding Ding!

Which one is worse?  My opinion is 3 year olds.  Whoever said two year olds are the hardest to deal with is crazy and has obviously never had a three year old.

Two year olds are all sunshine, sweet smiles, and giggles.  Three year olds have an opinion and are NOT afraid to let you know it.  You can still hide items from a two year old (or at least a young one); they forget about it and go play with something else.  Not so much with a three year old.  They remember everything, even things you wish they would forget (aka those certain four letter words that accidentally slip out every now and then).  Take a toy away and hide it, they will hound you until they decide you are standing firm in the stance of 'you are not getting it back to learn a lesson' or 'yes, I'll give it back just to stop the whining!'

As another mom with a three year old recently said, "They have all these emotions and feelings going through them and sometimes they just have no idea how to express them.  Then the tantrums start."

Such a true statement.

And you never quite know whats going to set them off.  Something minor will be the end of the world.  But something you consider major, you have the conscious thought of, "Ah hear it comes." Then nothing happens because they brush it off.  And you are sitting there thinking, "What the hell just happened!  This cannot be the same child that had a breakdown over XYZ."  It is one of those mysterious things that I have put in the category of 'I'm not ever going to figure out this parenting gig because nothing makes a lick of sense.  I'll just wing it from now on.'

It doesn't help me that I'm raising little men.  Yes, they may be little boys or toddlers now, but one day they will grow to be men.  And to this day, I still don't get men.  I say this with a lot less shock now-a-days because I've just accepted it.  Like my boys pulling down their pants and saying, "Look Mommy!  It's my penis!"  Then pulling up their pants and going on about their day like that is the most natural thing in the world.  I don't understand it.  You don't see girls whipping off their shirts saying, "Look, boobies!"  Although, I'm sure the response would be way different.

Anyway, raising boys and having the troublesome threes are difficult, to say the least.  I swear sometimes I wonder why I put myself through this.  As a first time parent, you envision all the wonderful things with your children, then reality slaps you in the face with a Ha ha! you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?!  Yet, here I am about to be a third time parent to three boys.  I must be a glutton for punishment.

So back to my original dialogue, 3 year olds are much worse than 2 year olds.  If you disagree, you must be one of those parents who say they have a perfect child who never gives them any trouble.  If that is the case, I hate you.  Don't lie to yourself any longer!  Embrace the imperfectness of your own child.  It's what makes them unique, and you human.

And if you agree or disagree with me, let me know.  Its always fun to hear other people's opinions.

Playing Doctor

Playing this afternoon, Jackson loudly announced, "I'm giving Cullen a check up.  He needs a doctor's visit."

Since he doesn't have any play doctor toys, he improvised.  A pair of play kitchen tongs were used as a stethoscope and to check Cullen's ears.  Jackson also used them to check his hair.  Although, it looked more like he was pretending to cut it.  After unsuccessfully trying to look down Cullen's throat and me telling him to get his fingers out of Cullen's mouth, Jackson decided Cullen was healthy enough.

I guess he wanted to be like Uncle Matt for a little while.

Rain!

It rained!  It rained!

A cold front (which means its only in the low 90s instead of the 100s) blew through here starting on Thursday and brought rain with it.  It hasn't rained here in awhile, so we were pretty pumped.

Since the boys were born, we have been in some constant state of drought.  Which means every time it rains, Jackson and Cullen love to just stand on the back porch or the edge of the garage and watch the rain come down.  Pretty sad, isn't it?  Also cute.

Friday evening, we were all sitting on the back porch watching the rain and thunderstorm.  It was nice and cool enough for me to actually feel comfortable and not like I'm roasting on an open flame. All of the sudden a loud thunder boom went off.

"No, you be quiet!" Jackson shouted into the rain after the thunder.

Andrew and I looked at each other and started laughing.  Of all things, Jackson (the child whose volume control is broken some days) is telling the thunderstorm to be quiet.  If only he would follow his own directions at times.

Soccer Lessons

Andrew and I decided to get Jackson involved in sports lessons.  Since most leagues start at the age of 5, I went looking for what was offered for toddlers.  I found a couple of different options, but in the end decided on soccer lessons.  I always had fun playing soccer and it teaches team play.  Jackson had his first 'practice' on Wednesday.  It is a class of 3-5 year olds. 

It was quite amusing watching these kids run around a small field kicking a soccer ball.  Mass chaos, but at least the kids were moving around, learning motor skills, and enjoying themselves.  I'm pretty sure Jackson is one of the youngest in the class, but he did listen and pay attention.  Cullen was desperate to join in too, so we had to keep heading him off before he ran onto the field.  Next practice I have to remember to bring Cullen his own soccer ball, so at least he can kick a ball around with Andrew and I.  I did remember to bring folding chairs, so I could sit down (go me!).  Here are a few pictures from practice.

New Beds!

Cullen has been in a toddler bed for a little over a month now.  Andrew and I decided to transition him early since we have the baby coming.  We knew both boys would have to share a room, so the sooner we could get him used to a bed bed the better.

Originally, Andrew and I thought to get the boys a bunk bed.  After thinking about it and how rowdy our two can be, we decided to look for twin beds instead.  I could just envision a trip to the ER after someone decided it would be a good idea to jump (or push) another off the top bunk of the bed.  I can hear myself explaining, why yes doctor he willingly jumped off the top bunk and started screaming.  Yeah, I didn't want to risk it.

After searching high and low, new twin beds were finally found.  The requirement of storage underneath was essential.  Here are a couple pictures of Jackson and Cullen enjoying their new beds.

Pregnancy is chuggin' along and along and along...

I'm now 29 weeks pregnant.  I am officially in my last trimester of pregnancy, and I am definitely ready for it to be over.  Unfortunately, I still have plenty of time for this baby boy to keep cooking until he's done.

Recap of my first and second trimester.

First Trimester
I had 13 long weeks of morning, day and night sickness.  Oh yes, this baby did not was to discriminate and made me sick all day long.  It tapered off to just morning sickness at 13 weeks and finally withdrew its hold on me completely around 16 weeks.  There's nothing like waking your husband up on a Saturday morning by running into the bathroom to let go.  And let's not forget two children racing after you to make sure "Mommy is ok."  I was more than happy to pass this stage up.  I also started showing early since it is my third pregnancy.  Andrew swears I wasn't showing, but I could feel the difference in how my clothes were fitting.  I also was exhausted every day and night.  I actually fell asleep during the kids nap time to be woken up by someone crying or someone crawling onto a chair with me quite a few times.

Second Trimester
After the morning sickness, I started to slowly get my energy back.  As Andrew likes to say, I get bursts of energy that propel me to do a lot of stuff I haven't been able to in a couple of days span. Then that energy dissipates, and I crash hard. I wake up pretty much with zero energy for a day or two.  I'm compelled to rest, then the cycle starts over again.  Gotta love pregnancy (insert sarcasm here).  I really started to show some time during this trimester.  I had a couple of people blatantly notice probably about 22/23 weeks.  I pulled out some of my maternity clothes during this trimester.

Now I'm in the third and last trimester.  I had my glucose test last week which is not as bad as people make it out to be.  You either drink a pint of orange (which tastes just like Sunkist) or red (which tastes like someone make KoolAid wrong), wait an hour, then get blood drawn.  I'm not sure why so many people complain about it.  It has never bothered me.

I'm definitely ready for the last few weeks to fly by quickly.

My biggest worry has nothing to do with the pregnancy or labor.  I'm worried about when I go into labor what we are going to do with Jackson and Cullen.  It worked out great last time with Cullen, but what if doesn't work out this time?  What if I go into labor in the middle of the night or at a even more inconvenient time?  Its not like I can call a family member because we don't live by any.  Everyone I know works.  It's just scary to think about.  I really want Andrew to be there with me, and he does too.  I'm hoping and praying it will all work out.

I kind of have to get to the hospital quickly seeing as I gave birth to Cullen almost 4 hours to the minute after my water broke.  As my brother so kindly put it, "Haul ass to the hospital Emily.  This one is gonna come fast!"  Why thank you Matt!  I appreciate your bluntness.  I will be hauling ass to the hospital when the time comes.

First Day of Preschool!

It's the first day of preschool!  I'm not sure who was more excited, me or the boys.  Don't get me wrong; I love my kids.  I just need some down time every now and then.

With that said, Jackson and Cullen were very excited to start school today.  I found out Cullen is the lone male in a class full of girls.  I guess he'll be learning his mojo with the ladies early!  Jackson started the younger 3 year old class and had no problem.  He even walked to the right classroom all by himself today while I signed Cullen in.  At least I think he did.  He might have been directed that way by his teacher last year since his class is right down the hall..  Hey, he got to the right classroom!  He was super excited about seeing his friends again.  All I heard this weekend was I want to go to school.  We'll see how long that attitude lasts in the years to come.

Jackson and Cullen's first day of preschool 2012-2013.

Showing brotherly love which turned into a wrestling match right after this shot was taken.