The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

The Plan: Mom and dad quickly paint the back porch and garage door while the toddler plays happily in the yard (despite the fact that it is crazy hot outside).

What won't happen: Mom and dad quickly paint the back porch and garage door while the toddler plays happily in the yard (despite the fact that it is crazy hot outside).

What will happen: Painting will take a LONG time with many unforeseen complications.
Mom and dad will spend copious amounts of time keeping the toddler out of the paint.
When mom and dad's backs are turned the toddler will dip his hands in the paint and wipe them all over his non-painting clothes.
Clothes will end up soaking in high powered Melaleuca stain remover.

The toddler will end up playing with the hose in an effort to cool down in nothing but a diaper and tennis shoes.


Dad will be left to paint by himself.

The toddler will still be in just a diaper and tennis shoes when the painting party moves out front to the garage door.
A statistically high number of people will walk by and assume mom, dad, and toddler are very white trash.
The toddler will eventually insist upon going inside because he is afraid of the "buzzies" (the flies that are apparently attracted to the paint smell).
Again dad will be left to paint by himself.
The project will get done.
All will be exhausted.

Motherly Lesson #7364

As a mother I feel like I am always learning lessons. Everyday I learn I should be doing things different, better, faster, etc. Yesterday was no exception. I learned a valuable lesson that I will not soon forget.

At the crack of dawn yesterday the city came to work on the street in front of our house. I am really not sure what they were doing. The best I could tell they were making holes only to fill them back in. Merrick spent much of the morning standing at window watching the "scooper diggers", loving every minute of it.

Just after noon I realized that I had somewhere to be soon and that there were four large trucks and several large holes in front of my house and I was not sure I was going to be able to get out. I decided that I would go outside and ask the workers if they thought I would be able to get out. I looked at Merrick and wondered if I should carry him out with me because I was worried he would run out after me and he did not have shoes on. Unfortunately I convinced myself he would stay at the window and ran out and talked to the men.

The good news is that they said I would be able to get out. The bad news is that when I got back to the front door I found out that it was locked. This was very bad news for the following reasons:
1. I was outside and my baby was inside by himself
2. The work trucks were so loud I could not hear him inside
3. All the workers were looking at me like I was crazy
4. It was 108 degrees yesterday

Luckily I did have my cell phone tucked in my pocket, but Jeremy was in North Scottsdale at work with his house key. I called both of my in-laws because I knew they were the only other people with a house key. At first Carolyn did not answer and Jeff was not sure which key was the right one. He did eventually find one he thought was the right one and headed over. When I reached Carolyn she told me she had the key with her and was on her way. Eventually the trucks moved and at least I could hear and talk to Merrick. He was upset off and on, but mostly I was able to keep him calm and try to talk him through unlocking the door. Alas it was to no avail and he was not able to get the door open.

What seemed like a century later, but was probably closer to 10 or 15 minutes later, both Jeff and Carolyn showed up and Carolyn had the right key. Within seconds we were all inside and it was all over. I really think I learned my lesson on this one and it will never happen again, but Jeremy must not have been so sure. When he left for work this morning he reminded me not to go outside without Merrick...thanks for the reminder honey!

Random Acts of Love

I am not sure if I have ever mentioned this before, but I LOVE being a mom! It took us much longer than planned to have Merrick and I try to treasure every moment together. That being said, every parent has time times when they are tired, stressed, and feel unappreciated. I am no exception and I have my fair share of these moments. The thing is that it only takes one smile, one laugh, or one hug from my little man to turn it all around.

This past weekend brought with it a big heaping of stress for our family and by Sunday night Jeremy and I were both emotionally exhausted. I honestly don't remember what Merrick did, but some how he lifted our spirits and Jeremy and I could not help but having a discussion about how he always does this. He is so sweet and bright it is contagious. Here are just a few of the ways he brightens our lives:

Today when my back was out of place, he sat on my tummy and played with trains while I rested with my legs up in the air.

He learned to say "I love you" and last week spontaneously said "I love you, Mommy" for the first time.

When he is talking to other people he says "That's my Jeremy" or "That's my Sarah".

He gives "big, big hugs" where he squeezes you so tight around the neck.

He gives kisses and then pulls back and with a big, silly grin says "gross".

Jeremy and I are so blessed to have Merrick bringing so such joy into our lives. I don't know what we would do without him.

Adventures in Potty Training

I really think that this picture says it all! Despite my extreme resistance, we have started down the potty training road. Since we are moving in a few weeks I wanted to wait until we were settled to make this big change. However, months ago Merrick started asking to use the potty. At first he would sit on it for half a second and then jump off. Then he decided the the potty was a fun place to be and would have sat on it for hours if I would have let him. But no matter how long or short the time on the potty was, nothing ever made it into the bowl. After about a month of sitting with no result, Merrick must have gotten tired of it too because he began providing his own "pshhhh" sound effect to potty time.

All the unproductive trips to the bathroom did not bother me at first, but after a while I started to resist them. When we were out in public I really did not want to stop whatever errand I was running to let him pretend to go potty. It started happening at church as well. In the church nursery Merrick would tell them that he needed to go potty. They would come and get me out of class and I would let him sit on the potty and then take him back to class.

I think eventually Merrick began to sense my resistance to the whole process and he stepped up his game. One day after two cups of warm water on his tummy, we had our first taste of success. Since then it has been one step forward, three steps back. What I do know is that he is trying his hardest (and pushing his hardest for that matter). I would be happy to wait until we get settled in Oregon to work on this, but he is determined to try. I guess we will just take it slow and we will get there some day.

The Beginning of the Crazy

This last week and a half or so has been a whirlwind. We have so much to do to get ready for our move and when we are not making preparations we are trying to make sure Merrick still has a normal, fun, and active life. Here are a few of the highlights since my last post (not necessarily in the order they happened, but in the order I remember)

*We went to Garret's high school graduation


*Jeremy took a day off work and we had a nice 4 day weekend together as a family.

*We paid our second and final deposit to Lewis and Clark (and let the deadline for the deposit to Willamette pass).

*We took several trips to see the cows at the farm outside our neighborhood and just as many trips to the park down the street.

*We cleaned out and sold the majority of our books and DVDs to get ready for the move. We ended up getting a whopping $27 for all of it and Jeremy said it made him feel like a meth head to sell all of his possessions for next to nothing.

*We got our first set of moving boxes.

*We went to the Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center. Merrick had a blast, but I had to nurse a sunburn on the top of my head for several days afterwards.



*I applied for a part-time job at a school in Portland.

I know this is just the beginning of the craziness. There is so much to do before we leave I think we should just hold on tight and prepare for the ride.