7 Quick Takes

Or should I have named it 7 REALLY LONG takes...

1. Corbin turned two last month. It's hard to believe that he's already two, especially since he's still a baby in so many ways.

We did a small family party, nothing fancy. As each year goes by, I am learning what's important to us and what isn't. At this age Corbin wouldn't really understand a party, doesn't have "friends", and really has no idea what a birthday even is! So, instead of spending tons of money on a party that only I would remember, we opted for a more low key celebration.

The hit of the party were the 10 helium balloons I picked up at HEB. For the money, this seems to be the best investment in fun for a two year old. He had a blast carrying them around all day and wouldn't let them out of his sight! Best 8 bucks I ever spent.

Finally, my kids now eat birthday cake. We went through multiple birthdays where the cake went untouched. They don't get a lot of sweets, so cake is a bit over the top for them. But now that they are older they can appreciate the yumminess, haha.

It's very hard to make a special day for Corbin without Hayden getting right in the middle of it. I guess that's the curse of the second child. But I tried my best to keep the attention on Corbin for the day. He often gets "backseat" to Hayden and his antics. But we tried to give him his own special day.

2. Last week I took the kids to the Austin Children's Museum with the Monday Morning Mommies Playgroup. It has a wonderful section for smaller children that really was a blast for both of the boys. But, for a mom with two small kids, it was a bit overwhelming trying to keep track of them. They were a step away from having their pictures on a milk carton somewhere and I don't think I will try that again. It's just too hard to watch them and they never wanted to do the same thing at the same time. Add in a few tantrums and Hayden running away from me mad and I was at the end of my rope.

3. I finally was able to set up a physical therapy evaluation for Corbin through ECI. They are coming out next week and hopefully he'll qualify for services. He's still not walking and balancing like he should be and it's getting frustrating. He has at least 8-10 serious wipe outs a day and it's getting ridiculous. Add in a big brother who mows him down regularly and it's chaos. Luckily for us he has a hard head and I'm not the kind of parent that gets too anxious about that stuff.

4. Hayden's potty training is all over the place. With all the change in schedule lately he's gotten a bit off. Yesterday I decided to take the kids out for the day while our new windows were being installed. We headed to the water park, then I went through the Wendy's drive-thru for lunch. I figured that would be the easiest and Corbin had already passed out by this time. My plan was to feed them then do a nice, long drive to Marble Falls while they napped. As I'm getting Hayden's food out he informs me he has to go potty. All week he's been wetting his pullup and underwear and just doing horrible as far as using the potty goes. I had put him in a pullup so that we didn't have to deal with potty breaks during our day out. So I told him just to go in his pullup. He just kind of looks at me and then keeps eating. Five minutes later he gets antsy and is painfully holding it. He exclaims, "I have to go potty!!!!". Of all the times to use the potty, of course it would be now. So I get Corbin out of his seat - he's asleep and like a ragdoll in my arms, and grab Hayden. We head into the Wendy's bathroom. As he's pulling his pants off he starts to dribble!! I quickly scoop him up (with sleeping Corbin still in my arms) and throw him on the potty before he pees everywhere. I do NOT have extra clothes and we still have our drive to Marble Falls to do so I can't have him peeing on himself. After he finishes he flushes the toilet and it ROARS with water. Now Corbin is awake... We go back to the car and finish lunch. Hayden passes out 5 minutes into the drive, Corbin stays awake for another 45 minutes. Sheesh.

5. After over a year of pain, tons of tests, physical therapy and doctor visits I may finally get some relief!! For six months now, I've been suspecting that my gallbladder is the source of this pain, not my back, but my doctor wasn't convinced (even though I do have gallstones). Finally, she ordered a HIDA scan and sure enough, my gallbladder function is abnormal. So I have a consult with a surgeon next week to have that thing removed. I'm just hoping my completely debilitating pain episodes will cease. Not that I don't love being zoned out on pain meds and muscle relaxers - but I have a life to live people! And I can't really do that from my bed. I missed church this week and was unable to bring supplies for my teachers in CM because I was in the worst pain I've had so far on Sunday morning. Even my meds didn't touch it. Yuck.

6. We hadn't even had our windows in 24 hours and Hayden already destroyed one of them. Okay, maybe not destroyed, but he did dig out about 2 inches of caulking that hadn't dried yet around the window which now will have to be redone. Yeah. This is why we don't have nice things.

7. Hayden continues to mimic my every word and phrase. I get a lot of my own words thrown back at me. For instance, he alternates between calling me Dude, and Mark Babe. Hmmm...yeah I just can't help that one. Dude, it's a permanent part of my vocabulary.

If you're looking for some more quick takes, head over to Conversion Diary!