The worst sunny day I've ever had

Today's high got up to 67 here in Pittsburgh and so we decided to go to the park all day. I woke up early this morning to make bread because we had none and for some reason the bread wasn't rising, so I had to put it in the freezer for later. Right before we left for the park Henry coughed and sneezed at the same time which made snot come out of both his mouth and nose and was so gross that he gagged himself and threw-up macaroni and cheese all over the carpet, his clothes, the chair, and the wood floor. He had no other clothes to wear so I just scrubbed everything up and he smelled like throw-up for the rest of the day. That's what I get for making macaroni and cheese. I felt guilty making it since it's so processed and fake and now I'm paying for it! THEN when we got to the park, I accidentally locked Bea in the car with the keys still inside. Luckily it was still cool outside and I was in the semi-shade and we have AAA coverage. We called them and they came promptly and opened my door, but messed it up in the process and now when I go out tomorrow I fully expect water from the rain outside to leak into my passenger's side door. Volvos are the hardest car to break into, apparently. Even though it was a bad morning, the sunshine made all the problems seem like they weren't mine. I love the sun and so does Henry!

Pee in the Park

I know, I know. You're thinking, not another post on pee pee or maybe, could it get any worse than it already has? Yes, my friends, it gets worse...

If you read Beatrice's blog you'll know that we just took an 8 day road trip to CT, NYC and Philadelphia. So imagine us in Washington Square park and to give you an idea of our surroundings, this park is frequented by some of the most beautiful, affluent, and fabulous women and children that you have ever seen. Every child was wearing designer clothes, had fabulous hairdos and attended by an equally fabulous and attractive mother. They were all standing around their children as they played in the sand. I was sitting on a bench turned slightly away from where Henry was playing. I could see him out of the corner of my eye and I would glance over occasionally to make sure he was okay. He seemed to be doing fine so I kept talking to my friend who met us for our play date. All of a sudden my friend puts her hands up to her mouth and gasps in horror. I turn around only to witness Henry standing in the middle of all the beautiful children with his pants around his ankles, exposing himself, and peeing into the sand where they were all playing. All of the children had stopped playing in the sand and were all staring at Henry. The mothers were standing with their hands over their mouths, some were shielding their childrens' eyes and some were laughing hysterically. All I could do is bury my head in my hands and wait for him to finish. We went over, pulled his pants, apologized to all present and covered the wet spot with more sand. After I covered the last bit of pee with sand, I looked up and said, "I am so sorry about this. Don't play right here for a while." All the mothers burst out in laughter. I was grateful for their understanding.

I can only imagine what's next.

Henry's belated Birthday Party Recap

I can't believe I haven't written about Henry's Birthday party yet. I usually feel like it's so daunting to write about trips or Birthdays because there is just so much to say and I know people don't read those entries so it's not as fun to write about.

So to quickly document what we did...

We had a bug party. I made bug cages from scratch that were really cute. We had a bug hunt. Played the cocoon game which is wrapping someone up with toilet paper and then emerging like a beautiful butterfly (think mummy). We played "buzz, buzz, sting" like "duck, duck, goose". We marched to the ants go marching all around the house. Then we watched Henry's third Birthday slide show and sang Happy Birthday and the kids ate bug cupcakes. While all this was going on I served the adults like 10 different gourmet creations of which we didn't get any photos. Such a travesty. The best thing was the coconut sour cream cake which I will hopefully, eventually, put up on my food blog which has also been neglected. We opened presents and let the kids play. Henry also got a nice bike from my dad and a cute guitar from my mom. He was really good that day and even went #2 in the potty in the middle of all the commotion. He's such a good little boy.

Urine for an Adventure

Henry has been standing up to go pee pee in the big toilet recently and really enjoys not having to support himself with both of his arms in order to not fall in the toilet, plus it's quicker. He also, with the example of his father, has gotten the idea if there's no potty within 10 yards of where he is standing he is free to just drop his drawers and go outside. Yesterday I caught him peeing off the deck and just a couple hours later he climbed over our fence, wandered into the neighbor's yard and and did the same thing in their back yard right in front of Justin. I warned him that his liberal attitude about peeing in nature was going to come back to haunt him! These boys just have too much fun regressing to their primitive state.

I have to recount the story of what happened last Saturday. I was so disappointed at the time that I didn't want to write anything about it, but now I'm over it. Anyway, I went to the Young Woman's basketball tournament(I was our team's coach) expecting to play a couple hours of basketball which is one of my most favorite sports ever and after I'd played maybe 25 minutes I sprained my ankle and was out for the rest of the tournament. My ankle got so swollen, turned black, blue, yellow, looks like an elephants foot and is now referred to as "the kankle". Anyway, so as I was trying to nurse Bea, and keep ice on my ankle I was trying to keep an eye on Henry who was making a huge mess with the snacks I brought. As soon as it was over I was packing up to leave someone brought Henry over to me and he was soaking wet with pee pee. As soon as he saw the look on my face he ran away only to return with no pants or underwear on and his shoes, which were filled with pee, nowhere to be found. Here I was in excruciating pain, hopping on one foot, carrying two bags, a basketball, a screaming baby in a carseat, and a naked, pee covered boy and his pee covered clothes. I needed like five people to help me out to my car. The drive home was filled with tears. Me because I missed my only chance in two years to play basketball and I let down my team (we got 2nd place), Henry because he wanted to stay and play with his friends and the pee was burning his skin, and Bea because she was hungry and neglected. It was a really bad morning.

Really appreciating the Book of Mormon

Today we didn't go to church because I majorly sprained my ankle playing in the YW basketball tournament and can barely walk and Justin had to work today so we spent the day doing Sundayish activities. We read his Book of Mormon comic book, watched Mr. Kruegars Christmas and the Christmas DVD, Joy to the World. While we were watching the scenes of Jerusalem Henry noticed that they were dressed like the people in his comic book and he asked, "Mom, where's Laman in this show?" I had to try to explain that he lived like 600 years before Christ, but yes, this was the same city. He's so observant. I just can't tell you how much he's enjoying the comic book. He even went to get a drink while I was reading this morning and I asked him if he was done reading and he said "no, I just need a drink." and we kept on going. If any of you are trying to read scriptures with your young children I have to say that reading in the morning is significantly easier than when we read with Justin as a family at night from the ol' standard children's Book of Mormon. I think the comic book is also way more exciting to look at as well. We're also planning of Book of Mormon party when we finish reading it. I am currently researching things we can do for our party. I have about 48 days to prepare. Any suggestions?

Three Year Update

So here's what the doctor had to say about Henry at his 3 year well child visit...and I have to admit that it might seem like I'm bragging, but this blog is ultimately for him so I have to be honest for posterity, right:). Henry measures at almost 41 inches tall which is over the 100th percentile on the growth chart. He'd be taller than every 3 year old his age and half of the 4 year olds. He's in the 85th percentile for weight, but has almost no fat on his body so it's mostly muscle and just plain solidness. Basically he's a big boy! This might have to do with the fact that Henry eats anything and everything. Since I've banned candy and snacks in my house after his cavity fiasco, he only eats fresh fruit and veggies for snacks and only occasionally some crackers. He has always eaten every vegetable I set in front of him and always appreciates my gourmet cooking even if it has strange ingredients like strong goat cheese and super bitter radicchio. Tonight we had steak, purple heirloom potatoes and purple yams (yes they really are bright purple) with rice and cauliflower and he ate a adult sized portion of them all. Looks like we've created a foodie! He has excellent verbal and physical skills and is now 100% potty trained! He's been in underwear for the past week without any accidents. No more poopy diapers for me! What a huge blessing.

Since I finished painting the house and don't have giant projects on my plate right now I have been able to spend more playtime with my kids and I've seen a real turn-around with Henry's behavior. He has almost returned to his wonderful old self (pre-Beatrice) and is now more stable emotionally and even communicates even better than ever. I find myself amazed at the long, grammatically correct sentences he constructs and the abstract ideas and thoughts he comes up with. He's really taking the world in, discovering, learning and understanding more of what life is all about. He is especially interested in Jesus Christ and his roll in this world. He frequently makes up songs about Jesus on his new guitar he got for his Birthday and comments in the car that "Jesus died and people were really mad" and that "Jesus is in heaven with the Prophet and my brother Georgie" We read the scriptures every night together and very often in his Book of Mormon comic book (so cool- a must have for boys called The Golden Plates). This is such a great time to get him used to thinking about Christ in everything he does...which puts a lot of pressure on me! His passion inspires me to be a better Christian and a better mother. Thank you Henry for your pure and sweet spirit. We love you!

Song Lyrics

For Henry's Birthday he got a little guitar from his grandma and he has started singing more and more often around the house, making up songs and strumming his cute instrument. Today while watching out the front window waiting for Justin to come home he started singing Book of Mormon Stories and the chorus went, "given this land, thank you man, right-ous-ly". I guess he figured that "thank you man" rhymed better than "if they lived" and I totally agree.

Oh and a couple weeks ago I took Henry to look for some new shoes and I had them measure his foot. Turns out that he's now a 9.5 and should be wearing a size 10. I had his poor little foot jammed into size 7.5 or 8!! Every once in a while he would complain that his feet hurt, but not every day, but there were the telltale marks all over his feet from his socks being squeezed into his skin. When did he grow so much? We're going to his 3 year appointment on Thursday so we'll let you know how me measures up. I'm thinking he'll be more normal this time and not such a giant for his age.

In these photos Henry is drinking V8 juice in a skull cup which ended up looking like a head filled with blood. You can't really see it though. I was just amazed that he drank an entire V8! He's my little tomato lover!