Daddy takes the reins!

John called me last Thursday and said "It's time for you to go away and find your smile." I'd had the kids all the week before while he was in California and wasn't able to shake a cold the next week, so I was operating on just fumes, and John could see I needed a recharge. Well, if someone offers you a life jacket, grab it and swim! So that's what I did, going to visit my brother in Jackson, Mississippi. No babies, no diaper bags, no schedules. Just a wonderful weekend wandering wherever the day took us. But fate wanted me to know I was never too far from home, so she played a wonderful joke by having me contract pink eye en route to Jackson. Thankfully, no one at home got it and my brother stayed clear. Not so lucky was his friend Scotta (so sorry Scotta. I suck. )

Mommy getting R&R (and yummy pecan pie) in Jackson, MS

So in honor of his heroic efforts in taking the kids all weekend while Mommy was out playing, John will be guest blogging this entry. And without further ado...

Well, this weekend Daddy was on his own. After suggesting that Bonnie take some time off and go visit Chris in Jackson MS, the reality hit that I would indeed by on my own with the terrible twosome, the nervous dog and the 2 noisy cats.

All in all, it was very manageable. The only tricky time came when 8 pm rolled around. As the squeaky wheel gets the grease, Jack got 3 quick stories and then was left to his own volition as I attended to Alex - all the time with Jack asking "Mommy, I want Mommy". And the response to this question every time was "Mommy is coming home tomorrow" hoping that he has not figured out how time works yet.

The funniest moment of the weekend came at bath time on Friday night. All 3 of us were in the bathtub together and Jack decided to stay in by himself when all the washing was finished. I drained the tub, dressed Alex and began to get her bottle together when I hear Jack begin to yell, kind of frantically. (Precursor to the next few sentences - Jack has not mastered #2 in the potty yet.) I walk back into the bathroom and Jack repeats over and over again "I peed on it, I peed on it!". I turns out that he had a massive #2 on the anti-slip mat and just to make sure he had taken care of things decided to pee on it, just in case.

Is that a glimmer of light...

at the end of the tunnel? Perhaps?

Jack came home yesterday from school with an exuberant note from his teacher saying he had peed in the potty 5 times that day. Still some accidents but dramatic improvement from the day before. And he peed again in the potty when we got home. The later, he was watching Bob the Builder while I fixed dinner and I went in the room to find the potty again filled with pee. He went WITHOUT ANYONE ASKING and didn't even tell anyone. He must have wanted to get back to Bob.

Anyway, he was very excited and he does the "potty dance" whenever he goes, while we sing "Jack pee peed in the potty, he pee peed in the potty!"

Alexandra finds the whole thing humorous, thinking "who the heck is the insane family I have been born into?"

Nothing like a lifelong friend

Jack is visiting in Dallas this week and getting lots of time with his cousins Katy and Grayson. Last night, he jumped on the trampoline with Katy and got to play Wii with Grayson. Today we visited Katy at school to see her sing in the school program and tomorrow we will be visiting the Aquarium with Katy.

So good to see him and Katy togather, they are only 3 days apart in age and just seamlessly start to play when they see each other it seems.

Catching my breath before going under

What a crazy week it has been. Upon returning from our weekend away, we finally got Jack recovered from the hives he broke out in from the resort. They ended up being the worst on his face, but also got on his chest, back and began on his arms and legs. No sooner had that cleared up then the next plague hit us in the form of diaper rash from hell. I'm talking the kind that you have to hit with the prescription cream ("Happy Hiney" compounded ointment for those of you not in the know, interestingly enough prescribed to me when I was in the throes of an allergic reaction to the adhesive bandage used in my c-section)

So I kept Jack home to clear up the diaper rash and thought, why not kill, or at least injure, two birds with one stone by letting Jack go naked waist down all day and do some potty training boot camp. So we did it. By 9:30 am, Jack had peed twice in the potty, pooped twice in the potty, pooped once on our door mat and peed down his leg on the patio. I knew I was in for a hell of a day.

So that was 5 days ago and today was mother's day. We decided lazy day around the house was a good theme so we did Naked Jack again today with his potty accompanying him everywhere. And damn if that boy didn't get right to it and announce before breakfast that he needed to pee. He sat right down and did it. We're all cheering and clapping except for baby who thinks we're insane and Ginger who is eating Jack's breakfast which has been set on the counter.
And it didn't stop there. By the end of the day, Jack peed 8 times in the potty and pooped twice (of course, he got so excited on the first poop that he jumped up to show me and didn't realize he still needed to go. 30 seconds later, we had poop on the living room floor and all over Jack. Yikes!

So tomorrow, we head to Dallas, with potty accompanying us again to visit Dotti and Pawpaw and continue our quest for a life without diapers.

Weekend of flowers and viruses

This past weekend, my family took our annual trip together, sticking close to home this year because of baby Alex, we just went to a nearby resort. They had gorgeous wildflowers spouting all over the site, like much of Texas has these days. So we were able to get some shots of the kids amongst the flowers, including this one of a mopey Jack walking the wildflower path (I think he had pooped in his pants and didn't want us to know-we found out soon enough!)

Unfortunately, we also had some mishaps along the way. My brother, sister-in-law and two kids all came down with a 24 hour bug that had them all vomiting in their room and quarantined for the weekend. Being sick with kids is bad enough but being at a hotel trapped in your room and no convenience of a kitchen, totally sucked. And Jack came out with a total rash on his face that spread all over by the end of the weekend, we think the result of an allergic reaction to the detergent used to launder the sheets. But hard to say. All is clearing now that we are home. Ahhh, travelling with children- such a joy!