The Talk of the Town

In our little house we have quite the "entourage" as I like to call it.  We have our 3 year old son, a 75 pound chocolate lab, a 65 pound German short haired pointer, and a 6 month old cat.  Like I said, our entourage.

I should have also probably mentioned that we live in a town home, not an actual house.  That's right, no backyard for our 4 legged kiddos to play in or "use" at their disposal.

So when its time to take the pups outside, between the toddler running amuck, and handling the 2 large dogs, (and just me) we usually don't spend too much time out there.  So things like picking up after the dogs doesn't get handled as they are doing it.  I usually end up doing it every other day.  When Cameron has gone to bed, and after the dogs have done their business.

Well apparently this is too much for our anal retentive elderly neighbors to handle.  Because this morning, as I was handling our normal morning ritual (you know, calming one dog down because there are other living creatures outside, calling after the other because sometimes her curiosity gets the best of her, and of course there's Cameron, trying to pick up God knows what off the ground).  I was approached by one of my (very friendly, just to note) neighbors. He wanted to let me know that there was an HOA meeting last night, and apparently me and my little entourage are the "talk of the town" (as he put it).  You could tell this man felt bad for even trying to disrupt my already chaotic situation, but just wanted to give me a heads up that the HOA and some of our "older" tenants, have it out for us.  They don't feel that I am keeping my property in proper condition.

Lovely.

As if I didn't despise living in our condo - that has no storage, a dryer sitting on our patio because it broke back in November of last year and was never removed, not one thing fixed that was promised by our landlords to be fixed when we moved in (including a hole in my living room ceiling because there was a leak in the upstairs bathroom that caused a weakness in the ceiling and the previous tenant decided to stick his hand through it), a crazy next door neighbor that calls the cops because we were watching Toy Story too loud at 8pm on a Wednesday night, and a severe red ant problem (yep, the kind that bite).  Just to name a few.

Now I need to be outside (my property only - just another note) with a bag under each dog as they are taking care of business, while watching my child, and then make it to the dumpster with each dog and making sure my child doesn't try to play chicken in the parking lot.  All because I live in a small community of old retired people that have nothing better to do than sit around and find things to bitch about.

And I get it.  I chose to live in a condo, I chose to have the dogs and the child.  However, let's be real here.. a little dog shit on the ground never hurt any body.

Little Man's 3rd Birthday

It seems like just yesterday I was bringing my little bundle of joy home from the hospital.. and here we are 3 years later celebrating his 3rd birthday.  


On Saturday we had a construction themed birthday party at Chad's parents house.  Cameron is OBSESSED with tractors and dump trucks, so he was thrilled with the kid size hard hats, his own orange vest, and a dump truck shaped cake.  

I think the boy got every dump truck and CAT tractor toy ever made.  And at least 20 more Hot Wheels cars to add to his collection.  (And he of course made us open them all that night!)


Then there was the gift that Chad and I got him... a remote control Monster Truck.  (Still not sure who was more excited about it, Chad or Cameron. Haha)  And it will take some time for him to get the hang of driving it, not into buildings, and not in circles.  But Chad is determined to teach him how to drive it.  :)

Yesterday for his actual birthday, they had a party at school for him.  With cupcakes, games, and pizza.  And of course goody bags - his favorite part of all school birthday parties.  Then last night, we took him to Peter Piper for some pizza and GAMES!!  He had a blast.  


This was probably one of the most fun of any of the holidays I have had with him to date.  He had been asking for 2 weeks on a daily basis if we were going to his birthday party that day.  So when it was finally the big day, he was extremely excited to share the day with all his family and friends - including his best friend Kayvan.  :)

Times like these make me look forward even more to the future and how much fun we are going to have on holidays.  It was not only a memorable experience for him, but I actually had a lot of fun getting it all ready for him!


Here is the birthday boy all dressed and ready to party!!

Bestest Buddies

So Cameron is a pretty shy kid.  Unless you get to know him, and on his turf - then its a totally different ball game. But in general, he's pretty shy.   


And I started noticing I would see him in school doing a lot by himself, and not really playing with the other kids.  It made me sad to see, and to be honest, kind of concerned.  I didn't want my son to the be the "loner" in class.  Chad of course said I had nothing to worry about.  And that he had seen him playing with other kids all the time.  But until I saw it with my own eyes, I didn't believe it and had been worried about it.  


Until last Monday.  


Cameron's teacher told me about his "best friend" at school.  I was on cloud 9 to think my little man has not only made a friend, but a BEST friend.  So that night on the way home from school I asked him about it.  He told me that his best friend's name is Kayvan, and that they do EVERYTHING together.  I was so excited and told him how cool it was that he has a best friend.  He just sat and smiled.  :)


Since then, I have snuck up to the classroom window to take a peek before I go in, and have seen them playing together.  It melts my heart every time.  


A couple days later, I noticed another little boy in their class, Greyden.  He had been happily greeting us at the door, shouting "Cameron!!!", everyday.  So I asked Cameron about this new friend the other night.  He said to me, "me and Kayvan and Greyden are bestest buddies, mommy".  


So this morning, Greyden greeted us with his normal shout.  And Kayvan got up from the table to come say hi to Cameron.  Cameron and Kayvan stood and chatted (about what, none of us will ever know lol) for a few minutes while I talked with the teacher about potty training progress.  I glanced over and saw Cameron was putting his hat on Kayvan.  They were smiling away and having a blast. 


When I left the classroom, I stopped at the window to wave goodbye to my little man, like I do every morning.  And there sat Cameron, Kayvan and Greyden, smiling, all waving back at me.  As I walked away Cameron looked at Kayvan and smiled.  


And I couldn't help but notice the ear to ear smile I had on myself.  


: )

Get The Bowl Flushing

For the last 3 months we have been "trying" to potty train my soon-to-be 3 year old.  It started in about May when we tried to get really serious about it.  But there was zero cooperation from my little one. (I may be biased) but he is quite intelligent for his young age.  So we were so frustrated and confused as to why we just couldn't get him to do it!!


About a month ago, his teacher at "school" said to us that it might be time to try big boy underwear again.  So, we took a deep breath, sent him in the underwear, and hoped for the best.  And whaddya know, he was doing great!  Of course, accidents happened here and there, but overall, especially compared to how the first trial run went, he was actually doing it.  So we started with diapers at nap time and bedtime only, and after about a week, moved to diapers at nighttime only.  


We tried lots of different things this time, learning from our first failed experience.  We let him doing it standing up, like Chad (which he loves to do anything like him).  :)  We threw some Cheerios in the toilet, to help with aim, since it can be frustrating to have pee all over your bathroom floor everyday (especially for people like me, who are bare foot most of the time).  And we went out and got him the coolest monster truck, Mickey Mouse, and race car underwear we could find.  Everything was going pretty smoothly... 


The only major issue we were having was "number twos".  He just wasn't getting the concept of going to the bathroom for that.  Not sure why.. because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to walk around with that in my pants for the day. Plus, the school was just tossing the underwear when there was an accident, which wasn't turning out to be very friendly on our bank account.  


Friday night was a rough one.  He peed in his pants because he didn't want to pause his movie (that he watches religiously everyday) and then dropped a lovely present for us in his new underwear, so frustrations were high.  We calmly tried talking with him that night (which we have done every time) explaining to him why he needed to use the potty.  Of course Chad and I walked away from the conversation with our 3 year old thinking nothing had changed and we had just taken a major step back.  We put him to bed, cracked a beer and hoped for a miracle for the rest of the weekend.  


Then came Saturday morning.  He went into the bathroom on his own to pee.  Chad and I sat there smiling, so thankful that he had taken that upon himself to go, when a shout comes from the bathroom "I POOPED IN THE POTTY!!!".  We both kind of sat there puzzled for a minute, is he bluffing?  (Which he has done before in an effort to get candy - like I said, the kids pretty smart).  So I got up to go check out the situation and low and behold.. he did it!!!  He actually went all by himself!!!  


You would have thought we just won the lottery with how we all oooh'ed and aaah'ed over him and the toilet.  But apparently that's the reaction he needed because the rest of the weekend, we would hear that random shout from the bathroom, and we would both go running.  You could tell he felt like a rock star when we would give him the praise.  Which is always a cool feeling, because you know he is proud of himself.  


So this morning off to school he went.  With great news to report to his teachers.  My fingers are crossed that diaper days are far behind us.  And "number two" accidents (for the most part) are as well.  


I guess he just needed a little time, and a little more encouragement from us, to get the bowl flushing.  :)

Whatever You Need Them To Be, When You Need Them To Be It

"What allows us, as human beings, to psychologically survive life on earth, with all of its pain, drama, and challenges, is a sense of purpose and meaning." - Barbara De Angelis


"A sense of purpose and meaning".  I feel like this is something I have been searching for, for most of my short life.  I think its something we all search for.  But what I have realized lately is what gives you a sense of purpose and meaning isn't necessarily something you have to search for. 


For some people, I think for most of society, their sense of purpose and meaning comes from their career in life.  So I think part of me had been searching and brainstorming for that "perfect" career.  The one that motivated me to wake up every morning and that I should actually be excited and proud to tell people I did for a living.  But no matter how much I brainstormed, or how many different college majors I thought about going back and trying, I couldn't quite find my niche.  


That's when it hit me, I had already been doing what I felt gave me that sense of purpose and meaning in life.  Being a mom.  And I don't just mean being a mom in taking care of my child.  A "mom" has so many more roles that are not even thought about.  Moms don't just take care of the kids.  They take care of (just to name a few), the house, the pets, the man of the house, (and lets be real) the dirty work no one else really wants to do. :)  Moms have to remember the details that no one else thinks of for longer than a split second.  Moms are the personal assistants, the chefs, the maids, the chauffeurs, the rule enforcers, but they also have that soft side too.  The "boo-boo" fixers, the tear wipers, the listeners, the lovers, the "whatever you need them to be when you need them to be it".


And I am happy to say, I am PROUD to be a mom.  The first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning is what I need to get done for my family.  And what can I do to make today a great day for the ones I love?  


I have never felt more alive inside than when my home is in order and I have 2 happy boys in it.  There is no greater feeling.  <3