The boys...

My Dad has been in town this week off and on to get some of his stuff taken care of. He was over the past couple of days here at the house and the first day that he was here the boys were just out of control. Baby J has figured out how to climb everything, especially his crib, and when he gets tired he gets evil...he will run in circles getting into everything that he's not supposed to. He's also getting good at the whole pouty face and temper tantrums..you know the whole terrible two behavior. Baby D has been getting more defiant lately and with watching his older sister throw her fits...he's now starting to try to imitate that and if I have anything to do with it...he's just not going to act like that...so lots of time outs for him. Anyway, I tried the first day my Dad was here to get them to take their normal nap for 3 hours...it was constant with having to go in there and put Baby J back in his crib. Baby D thought it was hilarious and so he wouldn't go to sleep either. Baby D definitely needs a nap everyday or he gets exceptionally whiny and more defiant. So, it was a day that they wouldn't take a nap, someone was constantly getting into something or throwing a fit. My Dad looked at me and said "how long are you going to do this? I could not do this." I tried to explain that it's not always like this...it was just a bad day. Keep in mind too that the whole day, I was trying to do Dad's taxes for him (federal and 2 state returns (he lived in one state but worked in another) and we had stuff going on with the car too (we traded in Andy's Saturn and couldn't find the title for the life of us...then we were trying to figure out if when we applied for the Texas title if they held it since at the time we were still paying his car off...the car has been paid off for a few months now...but we were trying to find where are title was...I had Andy calling to ask me for account numbers and phone numbers and all that fun stuff too). It was just a really hectic day...

Yesterday, they started out on the evil side...more whining, temper tantrums, and not leaving things alone. My Dad found an error on his taxes and we were going to have to amend his returns...I sign on and found out his taxes were rejected anyway so we didn't have to amend his returns and go through that hassle...I just got to fix the return and fix the error that got them rejected in the first place (his soon to be ex-wife's social security number didn't match the last name that we had down for her...she had never legally changed her last name apparently). Sent in another e-file...reprinted everything and we were good to go. Tried to put the boys down for a nap, Baby J got out of his crib a few times...finally I decided if he just stayed in his room I didn't care. He wound up going in his closet and shutting the door and taking a nap in there and Baby D fell asleep in his crib. They were so much better once they woke up and my Dad said "well, today wasn't that bad...they're a lot better behaved when they've had a nap." That's what I was trying to tell him the day before. When he left last night he said "well, you definitely have your hands full, but you're good with them." Mom took Deidra to movie night at school last night and she came in to talk a little bit before she went home and she said to me that she can see how much all the kids have blossomed here just in the short time they've been here and she knows I have my hands full and that we did a good job. That meant a lot to me that she said that. I told her if anything though I think my Dad got an eye opener...I think he thinks that I'm at home now and that I have all the time in the world to do things. So, I think he sees why it takes me so long to accomplish some simple tasks now with constantly having to run after the boys...but I know it's just a stage and they'll eventually simmer down too.

The bad days can be hard...I definitely look forward to Andy walking through the door at the end of the day, but thankfully we have more good days than bad ones. They really are sweet little boys...and with them being 10 months apart in age it can be a bit busy sometimes. But, I love seeing them learning new things, playing together, and all the cute things that they do. And they are momma's boys and I eat that right up too. Baby J is getting so good at his terrible two behavior, but I have to try not to laugh sometimes...you tell him no and he sticks that lower lip out and looks away from you and then you watch him and he'll eventually look back at you to see if he can get away with it anyway and I think he thinks that if he's not looking at you that you can't see what he's doing. It's too cute sometimes and it's too funny. Yes, he's a handful in a half lately, but I love that baby boy to pieces. Baby D is so smart too, I just love listening to him tell us all the things that he knows now and his speech has exploded and he's getting clearer and clearer all the time. It's awesome to know that I've taught him so much and that all the speech therapy we've been doing for him is paying off. He just absorbs everything that we try and teach him too. I get so proud of him telling me his letters and we're working on number recognition now...he just eats that stuff right up and I'm so proud of him for being 2 1/2 years old and knowing all that he does. He's a very smart little guy!