We are in full-force potty training with Joey. He’s actually done great peeing, but we’ve had zero success with pooping. He seems to hold it now so he’s only pooping every other day, and then goes in his pants. He comes to tell us right away that he’s gone in his pants. I went online to read some stuff about potty training, hoping to find some suggestions. All I found were offers to buy some $5.99 dvds on potty training. No thanks. But, I did read not to punish them for going in their pants, just to tell them to tell us next time. It doesn’t seem to be working. This morning, Joe said to Joey, “Joey, sometimes your tummy will hurt when you have to poop- does your tummy kind of feel that way? Do you want to try to poop?” And, he responded with, “Nope! My tummy tells me it wants to eat some donuts!” Oh geez.
Maddox had his 9-month appt. He weighed in at a whopper of 24 pounds and 31 inches- both in the 97/98 percentiles. Joey was always in 95-98 percentiles, as well, and only recently went down in weight, and up in height. I suppose that’s a good thing. I’m personally not worried about his weight- he’s obviously a big kid. But, I see everything that goes in his mouth and know that he’s not unhealthy. I kind of laugh at the parents who are worried about their kids’ weight. To me, there are bigger things to stress about. That being said, Maddox’s cousin, Reagan, who is 12 HOURS younger than Maddox had her 9-month appt. I think Kim told me she weighed in at 17 pounds and 27 or 28 inches. That tells you something about Maddox, doesn’t it?
We had a Coppola and the In-Laws Summer Barbeque on Thursday night. Kelly’s parents, Ali’s parents and my parents were all there, along with Ali’s brother’s family and Heather and the girls. It was a fun night, and fun seeing all the kids and all the parents again. Ali’s parents and Kelly’s parents are both down-to-earth nice people so it’s easy to hang out with them and visit. It’s nice to do that every now and then to catch up. Here are a few pictures from the night! 
On Friday night, Joe had league. He had plans to surprise me with a babysitter, dinner and an I-Cubs game, but I intervened on my surprise. When he told me he had a babysitter, I was real content just to go to the league games. I really enjoy softball on Friday nights, having a beer with the girls and watching Joe play. But, when you have two little ones, you don’t get any of the above done. Instead, you chase them, play with them, feed them, watch them, scold them, and try to keep them happy. It’s exhausting but I also know that the boys love it, so you do it anyway. So, it was nice actually having a night to ourselves. Erin babysat and did a great job, as usual. It’s nice knowing your kids are in good hands.
My gpa Cecil is back in the hospital. They admitted him because of pain, but not knowing the source of it- which is so frustrating. Gpa and Gma don’t like to burden anyone so they wait until the pain is unbearable usually, and this time it was. So, dad took them to Ames and they admitted him. Since they’ve admitted him, the pain has been blamed on the gall bladder, chemo, the constipation, the cancer, and the hernia. Today, he had hernia surgery and now they think that’s been the cause of his pain. I hope the surgery gets him some immediate relief. We also got results of the MRI back, and it wasn't good- the cancer is in his spine and up in his shoulders, and the tumor on his bladder is growing. They will do radiation on the spine and shoulders immediately. I went to see Gpa in the hospital on Sunday morning and was there when the doctor came around, for which I was grateful for. I drove to Marshalltown after that for Joe’s softball tournament, and it was a long drive by myself after getting bad news. I can’t write about my Gpa right now, it’s just too hard for me. Some days, writing brings great relief, it’s almost like therapy. Other days, writing makes it all the harder. Here’s a picture of my Grandpa with Maddox Cecil.
Our house is still for sale- a couple of walk-throughs, a few phone calls, but nothing serious. And, I think we’re good with that. We have no plans, no idea where we’d go and the thought of having a buyer scares me right now. I guess we’d have to make a decision at that point. We’re looking at a few options right now, so maybe one will pan out. But, for now, we’re happy. After seeing what the tornadoes did to the people of Parkersburg, I’m just happy to have walls up around us
If you would look up in Webster's Dictionary, under temper tantrum, you may have seen a picture of my son last Wednesday night. I asked him to get out of the car (I was letting him play in the back end while we did yard work), and he said no. I asked him again, he said no. Third time, he had no choice, I took him out of the car. And, in response to that, he growled and threw his Spiderman. The Spiderman broke in 6 different pieces and then Joey completely lost it. I did what any parent would do and said, “Well, I hope you’re happy. Your Spiderman is broken because you chose to throw a fit. It’s gone. Hope you learned your lesson!” Joey continued to cry and cry and cry. Finally, I said, “Joey, that’s enough. It’s over, move on.” And, then he belted out, “But, it was Uncle Jeff’s Spiderman! Ahhhhh!” So, that explains the extremeness of the tantrum. Uncle Jeff had given him that Spiderman a long time ago. It was my brother’s when he was little so it was old-school Spiderman, and it was actually missing the fingers that he uses to shoot webs, so I never understood why Joey liked it so much. Anyway, I made him call Uncle Jeff and apologize. He could barely get the words out to Jeff, explaining to him what he did. Finally, he said, “You tell him, mom!” So, I told him, which only made Joey cry harder. Jeff said, “It’s okay, Joey. It’s no big deal.” We finally hung up, Joey ran outside to Joe, and yelled “Dad, it’s okay! It’s NO big deal. It’s no big deal. Uncle Jeff said it’s okay!” In the end, I figured out how to put Spiderman back together, but we also learned a very valuable lesson: Don’t throw Uncle Jeff’s Spiderman because it breaks really easily. (Just kidding, that wasn’t the lesson).
My friend Andrea had a going-away party at her house. She leaves for Iraq this Thursday. She’ll be there for 12-14 months, I believe. So, that means I won’t see her again until next July. That seems like an eternity right now – I mean, it’s only June. This is the third time she’s been deployed. Andrea is the kind of friend, where you can say, “Okay, did you think it was weird when….” And, she’ll interrupt you before you’re done and say, “Yes! Totally!” Or, you can say, “I know this is mean but I can’t help feeling…” And, she’ll say, “It’s okay to feel that way. I’ve felt that way before.” Or, you can even ask her, “Does this shirt make me look fat?” And, she’ll say, “Well, I liked the other one better.” She’s the friend who you don’t talk to for three weeks, and then you catch up with her on every detail of your three weeks in one phone conversation. She’s the kind of friend who you can be completely honest with, and she won’t judge you. She’s the kind of friend that when you’re rollerblading, and you get shit on by a bird, she laughs with you – and reminds you of it 10 years later as if it just happened yesterday. Yep, she’s the kind of friend that you don’t want to go without seeing for a whole year. But, on the positive side, she’s doing something really, really great for our country. It’s something I could never do – and the world needs more people like her. So, I’m thankful for that, and know that without people like her, our country would be a different place. So, it was because of that, I decided to take her fish while she was gone. She told me at her party that no one wanted it. The truth is -- I’m not a fish person. But, I thought it was the least I could do. I mean, she’s going to Iraq for 14 months, surely I can raise her fish while she’s gone. Some people have to raise kids while their loved ones serve in the war - I can manage a fish. Her fish’s name was Princess -- “was” being the key word….she told us we could re-name it. We can’t have a “Princess” in a house with boys (believe me, I tried playing that role and it didn’t work). So, Joey re-named it “Biggie Smalls.” So, here’s to Andrea’s and Biggie Small’s next 12-14 months – may they survive!
My parents celebrated 35 years of marriage! Wow. I bet there were times Heather and Jeff really tested their marriage. It’s hard having kids like them. I’m thankful my parents have made it this far! It’s a blessing to have parents that are still married – and actually like each other still. Happy Anniversary, mom and dad! Right now in my life, more than ever, I realize that you learn how to love from your parents. I see how they’ve cared for my grandparents, and how much they’ve helped them, and I’m so thankful for that.
And, that’s a short, short synopsis of last week. I went to lunch with my friend, Georgia yesterday. She has two kids - Carson is 3 months younger than Joey and Grace is 3 months older than Maddox. So, we share a lot of parenting ideas and advice. But, here’s how I started our conversation out about our kids, “So, Georgia, are your kids kickin’ your ass? Because mine are!” Once again, two kids – two parents. That’s man to man defense right now- a sure win, right? But, nope, Joe and I are resorting to “zone” defense quite often. Our defense is not winning any championships right now to say the least. But, we’re hanging in there and still enjoying every minute of craziness.
In closing, it was a tough week- Andrea leaving, Gpa's bad news, the rainy weather, and work was hard last week. Sometimes, when it rains, it pours (literally). Please pray for my friend Andrea and for my Grandpa. God bless them both.
1 comment:
I love you, sis.
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