Still not asleep

As I write this, both of my children are screaming.  Both because they don't want to take a nap.  It's really been one of those days.  Sometimes I wish I could drop my oldest off at his Nana's and just, well do anything else.  He is in the phase of his life where all he says is "no" and "why."  They why doesn't bother me much but man oh man the "no" sure does.  Even though I know it's developmental it still boggles my mind.  Even when I offer him something he likes he says "no."  He refuses to obey a big chunk of the time and no amount of discipline, jokes, bribes, etc work.  What's a girl to do?  I spend 24 hours a day with this person.  Even at night when he wakes up he wants me.  I don't want him.  I've already been up twice with Jacob.  That sounds terrible but I'm venting as gently as I can.  Even now he's looking over my shoulder whining and saying no to going back to bed.  Advice, help, prayers?  Anything.  I will take any and all advice I can get. 

People say well maybe he's just growing out of his nap, well maybe he is but he should still stay in his room.  I even said to him you can bring books in your bed but you have to stay in your bed.  He even said no to that.  He LOVES books.  I have no idea what consequence to give for this.  Spankings don't work, bribes don't work, taking away his toys doesn't work.  He probably came out 15 times.  Jacob had 4 shots today at his six month checkup.  He doesn't feel good.  But the only thing I can do is pick up Micah and put him in bed yet again.  When is it Jacob's turn?   When do I get to take care of him?  Why does he have to take a back seat just because he is immobile?  I would give anything to have family closer.  I have had this day many times in the last six months.  Pray for us.  Pray for me to have patience, to have wisdom, to understand the difference between the urgent and the important.  To know how to effectively discipline with love.  Man.  well Micah is quietly talking to himself in the living room.  And I think Jacob has fallen asleep.  Hope so.  Tune in next time...

What is going on?!

So Jacob and I started our afternoon by feeding him carrots for the first time.  He loved them, ate a whole bunch and got really messy.  It was adorable.  Then as I was chatting with him in his bouncy seat I heard him fill his diaper.  No big deal, I carried him to his room and undid his diaper.  It was crazy full.  I started pulling out wipes as fast as I could but I was soon completely overwhelmed.  First it was on his hands, then he grabbed his feet!  Then it was on my hands then somehow both of his legs were covered!  Then he tried to put his feet in his mouth!  "What is going on?"  I shouted!  I didn't know what to do.  I turned and saw that I was quickly running out of wipes.  Even the fresh diaper I was going to put on was soiled.  This has NEVER happened to me before.  Finally I got as much as I could then I carried his little brown body to the tub. 

New problem.  I do not give baby baths.  I am waaay to paranoid about him slipping under water.  Justin is the bath man.  Plus Justin had just informed me that Jacob is way to big for his baby tub.  So I put the bumbo in the water and placed him in it.  I soon realized that the area that needed to be washed was now in a chair.  LOL that would not work.  So I put a big towel in the tub, laid his head on that and with a small amount of water in the tub finally got us both clean.  Sheesh.

Breaking out of our comfort zone...Thanks Aunt Adrian :)

Both Micah and I dislike purposely making a mess.  He doesn't like getting his hands dirty, sticky, wet, you get the point.  I dislike messes simply because it is one more thing to pick up in my already scattered about house.  When I'm stressed or angry I clean, it distracts me and uses up my anger in a physical way so that I don't take it out on anyone.  Needless to say, we don't do a lot of crafts at our house because neither of us enjoy the mess.

Well, yesterday Micah and I had breakthrough.  My sister-in-law Adrian had bought Micah fingerpaints for his birthday, way back in March.  Since I don't like messes we hadn't used them yet.  But we pulled them out yesterday, covered the table in newspaper and went at it.  Micah was hesitant at first.  Even asking me to wipe his hands the second we put them in the paint.  I encouraged him to let them stay dirty and use his fingers as a pencil.  By the end of our adventure there was paint all over the newspaper, we had painted some pinecones and a "pretty picture."  Micah got over his dirty hands phobia for a few moments and I was able to clean it up with minimal effort.  Here is a photo of Micah showing off his dirty hands.

Trying to be cool.

So a bunch of my newish friends have blogs.  They are creative, clever, funny and crafty.  I am none of these things.  But yesterday I decided I wanted to try baking more things with Micah.  So here was what we made yesterday.

Even though they aren't pretty they were yummy and super easy.  Just slices of bread rolled flat and baked in muffin tins.  We put in tavern and shredded cheese.  Perfect for my non-crafty self.  Oh and Micah made "peanut butter cookies."