My great escape

Today Logan is having a two-year-old day. A day where he wants chocolate milk for breakfast, demands to watch tv shows that don't exist, throws a huge fit with each article of clothing I try to put on him, then runs out into the pouring rain and jumps into puddles the second I open the garage door.

Today I am having a pregnancy day. A day where I also only want chocolate milk for breakfast, cry listening to music from glee (they have great voices but covers of justin bieber and katy perry don't usually do it for me), get frustrated easily at dumb things, and will do anything to get out of the house to run one of those meaningless errands that I used to have the energy to do all the time.

I haven't left the house for anything not church related since Friday.

It's Thursday.

So after changing Logan's clothes again from being soaked in the rain and bribing him with m&m's to get in the car we went to Joann's. One of the worst places to take a child after the post office and the bank.

Actually those two are way worse but today Joann's was the torture of the day. After steering the cart into several secret corners to hide my screaming child while I shamelessly continued to bribe him to be good (terrible parenting, but usually works in a pinch) I finally let him run free. And run free he did. After pulling on every shiny bauble he saw, throwing pots on the floor, screaming at the top of his lungs, and racing into the restricted framing area we were done.

We got to the car (empty handed) and I made him repeat after me several times "I will not run away from mom in the store" while I took a picture of someone who is probably having a worse day than me.

We've had a lot of rain today.

I don't even know where I'm going with this story anymore but I'm going to keep writing .

So I was upset and frustrated (and crying, I know) when I got home and I just wanted to get away. Luckily Tyson was just getting home for his lunch break when I pulled up so he took Logan out of the car for me and I drove away. You know, after telling Tyson I needed a break. I didn't just peel away like the crazy person that I am inside.

Anyway, I was free.

What does a pregnant woman do when suddenly presented with almost an hour of alone time?

Go to Taco Bell.

I picked up a couple of beef supreme chalupas and with the smell of (probably) fake meat and fried bread in the car I drove to the nearest Goodwill where I shamelessly ate 500 calories of sour cream in their parking lot. In the rain. Listening to soft rock. I took a swig from Logan's sippy cup, remembering too late that it was laced with mirilax, but I figured it was nothing that a little pregnancy couldn't equal out.

And then I went inside and found myself a cute Target maternity sweater for $7.

And that was all I needed. A moment to be myself so I could come home and be a better mom. So I could appreciate the good in my little boy and keep the naughtiness from making me upset. So I could be reminded again of what an amazing and understanding husband I have.

So I could have Taco Bell again.

Kidding.

But maybe not that much. :-)

On pregnancy

Oh pregnancy, how I've missed you loved you forgotten what you were really like.

My vow to run throughout at least the first trimester was broken as soon as the morning sickness hit, and was quickly replaced by a vow to eat nachos with abandon and ignore the needs of the household.

Well, I am taking care of Logan but we have definitely been watching more tv than usual.

This time around the morning sickness has been worse, the heartburn has been better, the tiredness has been worse, the weight gain has been better (i.e. not 12 lbs in 12 weeks), and still I'm showing already.

Revenge of the Nachos.

But overall we're doing good. The evenings have been rough but the upside is I have an excuse to not cook. Logan wears his pajamas 24 hours a day which is pretty much his dream anyway so nothing wrong there. And I tell myself that Tyson appreciates the higher balance in our bank account since I only leave the house for mandatory outings and haven't had the energy to craft. Of course the overage might be going to Taco Bell...

Yep, we're getting through this.

Sometimes you don't get the perfect shot

A two-year-old's cooperation is a fleeting thing.

Especially when mom accidentally zipped his finger into his coat a few minutes before.

But you hope it will be enough to get the message across.

Big brother in the house, August 1, 2012.

Board and batten project revealed!

So we decided to change things up in the green room a little. We actually want to do this in more of the house but we started with this room because, well, we don't spend much time in here so if it was a disaster we could just close the door and forget about it for awhile. 

Here are a few before pictures because the afters are no fun without them.

Here I am, photographic proof that I did at least a little work in here.

We painted the wall first to try and minimize the detail painting that we would have to do once the boards were all up.

Truly though, the majority of the work was done by Tyson and his dad while I watched wonderpets in the living room with Logan. 

They even planed (shaved) down every one of the vertical boards because they come a little bit deeper than the baseboard and we didn't like how they looked hanging over the edge. 

Then when Tyson brought all the boards home he realized he used a board that was still too wide as his measurement and the vertical boards still hung over a bit. 

So he took them back to his dad's and they planed them again.

We don't bring that up often.

The result was beautiful though and I am grateful for a husband who is willing to work extra hard to get the details just the way he wants them.

You ready for the after?

Here's a before again for comparison.

And after!

Hooray!

The longest and most tedious part for sure was the painting once all the boards were up. Painting the wall first and using boards that were primed helped for sure but still. There are a lot of nooks and crannies on this wall. Plus you've got to fill in nail holes and sand and caulk all the cracks and paint over all that. Twice.

Lots of work.

Poor Tyson.

I'm still working on how I want to decorate this room exactly but I knew I wanted a little shelf as part of the board and batten to set things on. 

Sorry I'm not tall enough to get a better angle on that. Probably should have stood on a chair.

It turned out just the way I wanted and I couldn't be happier!

Tyson is totally ready to tackle the rest of the house :)

Styrofoam is evil

I came downstairs the other day to find Tyson putting his grill together and Logan playing in the box. Aw, so precious.

Then I noticed Logan quickly destroying one piece of foam after another and throwing it in the air pretending it was snow. My heart clenched a little as I saw the rapidly spreading mess, but, one of my goals is to give Logan more opportunities for sensory play so why not start with this?

 I mean it's not like it would get tracked all through the house, stick to the walls and floor, wind up in our food, and become statically bonded to my hair or anything, right? Ha ha ha ha. HA.

I believe he was pretending he was in Polar Express with his train in the "snow". And his opportunities for creativity are worth any mess.

Maybe.

Or actually not.

This was not even half of it. 

Have you ever tried to sweep up this stuff? It is horrible. The little bits were literally jumping out of the dustpan back onto the floor. And I spent like eleven minutes trying to flick one piece off of my hand. Stupid static making me look like a spazz.

Lesson learned: no more styrofoam.  I'd rather have a house full of dirt. At least I can throw that back outside without killing the environment.