Angels & Demons

Today was a polarizing day. It started at 4 am with Owen coming to my room and quietly waking me and asking to snuggle. He joined me in bed (I sent Miles to the guest room so he could get uninterrupted sleep for the remainder of the night) and the wiggling began. Normally I wouldn't allow it, but I knew he was sick and not feeling well. He coughed on and off for at least 30 minutes, and just as he was finally settling down and I was heading back to sleep, Elsie woke up at 5:15 am. (I should mention that last night we put both kids to bed at 6:30 pm because they were hot messes. They both cried non-stop for the previous 30 - 45 min, and we knew they needed their rest. So I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising that both woke early.) Unfortunately for me, it took me a good hour to get her back to sleep. I got about one more hour of sleep before Owen woke me to get up. And thus our day began.

One cute moment of "baby in a box" in the midst of craziness:

Our morning was slow and painful. Both kids were off and cranky. Owen was so sensitive and anything and everything would send him into fits of tears. To shorten the day's recap, I will give the "highlights."

Owen:
- Directly disobeyed me and found and ate treats (by diligently searching) three different times after being told "no treats."
- Spilled a cup of my chocolate shakeology I had given him all over his pants and the blanket his Grammy made for him. This happened because he did not follow the "eat in the kitchen" rule.
- Screamed at his sister (a fairly regular occurrence in our home).
- Took a huge pile of sticky tack and put it in the toilet, prior to pooping and peeing in the toilet.
- Was overall defiant, disobedient, angry, and whiney.

Elsie:
- Scratched Owen's face
- Splashed in the toilet
- Pooped in the tub
- Caused general havoc wherever she went (a fairly regular occurrence in our home)

I sent out numerous SOSs to Miles and my friends seeking some words of wisdom and support to help me get through my day.

My one reprieve was nap time.

Elsie climbed in bed and wanted to be covered up with him. Owen didn't want a picture.

Then when he did want a picture, Elsie was done. You can see Owen's sad, red eyes from crying all day.

It's amazing how sweet they look when they are sleeping. It can make all the other stuff go away...at least until they wake up. ;)

Elsie's awesome "bed head" post nap.

And then something happened. I have no idea what. In the midst of dinner and bath time, Miles had to leave. I was dreading doing bed time by myself after the day we had. Owen wanted to take a bath, but I told him that he couldn't tonight because Elsie had pooped in the tub, but that he could take one tomorrow. I expected him to throw a fit, but he didn't. He asked if he could play and I said yes. He said, "Thanks, Mom!" I was shocked. Not because this is abnormal for Owen, but it was completely unexpected based on his behavior from today.

While the kids played happily, I did some laundry, cleaning and general pick up. They didn't whine or complain, and they played nicely. It was so wonderful to hear "sure, Mom!" when I would ask Owen to help Elsie with something. And to hear Elsie say, "day-do" (thank you) to Owen. When Elsie would come over to play with Owen, he didn't shoo her away or get angry when she messed something up. I couldn't believe that I had a good 45 min+ of happy play time between the two of them.

Then, I told Owen it was time to do some clean up. Both kids helped happily and willingly and were so proud of their accomplishments. When I took Elsie off to bed, they hugged and kissed. Elsie didn't fuss about bed time, and went down easily. Owen was only upset for a brief moment when it was his turn, but quickly changed to a happy, sweet boy. We read from the Book of Mormon and I explained that what we had read was about the atonement. He saw a picture of Jesus and said, "It's Jesus! Why is he sad?" I told him he was sad because he was suffering for our sins and could feel each time we made bad choices. He said, "He doesn't like it when I'm mean to Elsie." I said, "Nope." He said, "He doesn't like it when Elsie scratches my face." I said, "Nope. And he doesn't like it when you don't listen to Mommy. Or when Mommy yells at you, and I'm sorry I got upset with you earlier." He said, while hugging me so tight, "It's ok, Mom! Now Jesus can love you!"

It was such a blessing to end this horrendous day on a beautiful, high note with my kids. Some times days like this make me wonder if it is worth it, or if I am doing things right. And then my children show me their love and innocence and sweetness. Even with it all, I would most definitely do this day again.

Smart Kid

We went to Ikea today and stopped to get some lunch. I was showing Owen the picture of the available kids' meals and asked him which one he wanted. I described each and told him to point to the one he wanted.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "I want that one." This was the picture he pointed to...

Midnight Moments

I just got home from my book club and went downstairs to check on Owen before heading to bed. I saw his closet door was open, and being slightly freakish about it, I had to close it. I think the noise woke him because I heard a little sound. When I walked over to his crib, I could see that he was awake. I gently stroked his hand and said, "Good night, baby boy." He quietly whispered, "Tickle me..." and unzipped the top of his jammies so I could tickle his chest and tummy. I tickled him for a minute, zipped him up, stroked his face and said, "Good night." He quickly wrapped his arms around my hand and forearm, and turned to the side hugging me tightly. Then he said, "You're stuck. You have to wait for Daddy to come help you." I said, "I don't think Daddy will come help me." He said, "Yes he will!" And I slipped out of his grasp. I again said, "I love you, sweet boy. Good night," and started to walk away. He called, "Mommy...tickle me." And as requested, I gave him a few more tickles. As I was finally able to get closer to leaving his room, he said, "Mommy..." and I again returned to see what he needed. He whispered something that I couldn't hear. I asked him what he said. In a quiet, sly, whispered voice I heard, "Can you put the iPad in my bed?" I gave a muffled laugh and said, "Can I put the iPad in your bed?!...No." And he started to giggle. As I walked out of the room, I heard, "Can you put the iPad in my bed?" followed by little giggles, repeated about five times.

Sweet midnight moments I don't want to forget...

(Picture taken a different night of my sleeping boy)

3rd Birthday(s)

That's right. BirthdayS. Since we had so many family members in town at the same time, I thought that I would just do a family party for Owen. However, when I told him his birthday was coming up he said, "My friends are coming!" I said, "Oh really? Who is coming?" He said, "Sophia, and Tucker, and Lightening McQueen!" Hmm...well, I didn't think I could get Lightening to show up, but I figured I could fulfill his wish for a friend party as well. I also asked him what kind of party he wanted. He said, "A tiger cake!" I was pretty sure this came from watching a number of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood episodes and seeing Daniel Tiger have a birthday and a tiger cake. But over a month's time, his answer never wavered. So a tiger party it was.

We celebrated his family party a little early. We tried to arrange it so both sets of Owen's grandparents would be there, but couldn't quite get it to work. However, we were able to have Grandma and Grandpa Van de Wetering, Aunt Kerry, cousins Hadley and Elena, Aunt Megan and Uncle Mitchell. It was great to have so much family in town.

I went downstairs to get Owen once everyone had arrived. I told him that it was time to come upstairs for breakfast and that we had a surprise for him. I hadn't mentioned anything about celebrating his birthday and he said, "You do?! What is it? It's my tiger cake!!!"

This was his happy face at seeing his guess was correct. So glad I could make his wish come true. :)

We started by having a delicious brunch of spinach and bacon quiche, fruit, orange rolls, and juice.

Following breakfast, we opened presents.

Another pig book from his Mama. I liked this one for his birthday because it was about a pig who got a surprise birthday party at the end.

He also got a wheelbarrow with garden tools and a dry erase/chalkboard easel from us.

A train set from Auntie Kimmie:

A mama/baby animal matching set from Grammy and Grandpa:

The Velveteen Rabbit book and a stuffed rabbit to match from Auntie Kerry, Hadley and Elena:

And then we ended with what?...A TIGER CAKE!

We sang to Owen and he tried to blow out the candle. He must have been aiming his breath wrong because it wasn't working. The all of a sudden, after about four blows, he sucked in and the candle went out. It was hilarious and so cute! 

Then, while we were getting plates and ice cream, Owen decided to dig right into his cake by giving it a big LICK. Awesome. :P

A cut out with a big lick on the side. :)

And a couple of pictures of Elsie with Auntie Kerry and Uncle Mitchell, just to prove she was there. ;)

I think Owen really enjoyed his family tiger party.

Next up was his friend Tiger party. I decided to save most tiger-themed activities for he and his friends. (Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of pictures from this party. It was kind of overwhelming to have our first large event hosting a group of kids and their parents, while coordinating activities for the party. So sadly, pictures took a back seat.)

The friends (and parents) in attendance were: Sophia & Audrey (Haley & Braden) Molyneux, Tucker & Calvin (Holly & Curt) Smith, Chandler & Preston (Adri) Nye, Lucas & Sabrina (Debbie) Montero, Felix (Kelli & Kyle) Murray, and Griffin (Jacklyn & Tyler) Fellows.

After most friends had arrived, we started with Pin the Tail on the Tiger. Look at Miles' awesome art skills!

After "pinning" their tail, each child received a tiger tail of their own that we tucked into the backs of their pants.

Once each child had gone and received their tail, they were sent outside for a game of "Catch a Tiger by its Tail." We had the kids run around the backyard and chase each other and try to yank the other kids' tails. I was slightly worried about the potential of tears when children temporarily lost their tails, but for the most part it went really well. I think the kids enjoyed running around and were distracted when after losing their own tail, they were quickly told to run after other children and get theirs. Chandler was the biggest and oldest child there and was hilarious as he just bolted from one end of the yard to the other to avoid losing his tail. The kids must have liked it though because they asked to play again.

After running them ragged, we sat down for lunch. I attempted to do "themed" food to the best of my ability, but opted to round it out with a good 'ole non-theme-related pizza. :) Otherwise, we had Cheetos for "tiger tails," a "forest" of veggies, tiger-faced mandarin cups, and chocolate-dipped "tiger tails."

Following lunch we opened presents. Owen loved them all! There seemed to be a car/truck theme going on with presents. Owen was in heaven. He also got his very first board game - The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, as well as play dough, sidewalk chalk, and a butterfly net.

Again, lacking in pictures. So here are a couple of he and Elsie playing with a parking garage car set and a dump truck.

We ended with a tiger pinata. Here is a picture of it:

 

And all the goodies inside (minus the candy):

We went youngest to oldest. I learned from this experience, that the kids probably could have beat on it for hours and probably wouldn't have made a dent. Next time I'd give them each a little more time (or a second turn) to work at it. After all the kids went without any damage done, we moved on to the adults. Holly went first and knocked a couple things out, then Adri went and pounded it so hard it broke off the hanger! (Don't mess with her!) ;) So since it was no longer easy to swing at it, Miles went primal on us and tore it open. It was pretty funny, and the kids were really excited when everything came raining out of it.

And Elsie was a huge fan of the tiger balloons. Something for everyone to enjoy!

I think it went well. It was a little crazy organizing and keeping everything flowing quickly. But I think everyone had fun. Here are a few "after-party" pictures of Owen with his tiger mask and tail.

Catch a tiger by his tail...