Memorable Moments:#1

Making a Mark



Once again we managed to plan our vacation during the middle of Texas' Tax-free shopping weekend. Thankfully we were able to hit one day of it in which we ventured to the brand new sports store in our area. It had opened during the previous week so everything was shiny-new. I headed to try on a few shorts but couldn't find Kurt when I finished. Eventually the bathroom came to mind and sure enough there all the boys were taking care of business. Joshua had reportedly indicated he need to poo poo, but upon arriving to the potty didn't produce any. Kurt then went to try a few things on while I took over maning the boys. While we meandered around the men's section I got this horrible whiff of poo. "Tobin," I exclaimed, "You stink!" After I finished saying it I heard Joshua whimpering. I turned the corner to find him standing with his legs spread and a big ol' pile of mess under him. The runny kind.

The poor kid had a look of panic on his face; Thankfully Kurt emerged at that moment. At this point fits of giggles had taken over and I managed to communicate to Kurt we had a major issue. I ran to the dressing rooms to get some paper towels, they didn't have any. The girl did offer me a trash bag though. Back at the scene of the crime, we put Joshua in our shopping cart inside the trash bag. The bathrooms were about half-a-mile away so they weren't really an option at that point. So I grabbed the nearest employee and informed him my son had had a "little" accident. Yes, that was a lie, but he probably knew it since I was still having fits of giggles.

He asked me to show him where it was. So I did. He said, "oh."

He went to look for paper towels so we decided we needed to get out of the area, fast. Kurt volunteered to man the boys and I was in charge of checking out our stuff. This was a big mistake. I now realize that standing in line for a gazillion minutes while I could hear all the employees hystarically laughing and arguing about who had to clean up my son's poop, meanwhile hoping that know one would realize that I was his mom, was probably not worth the 8.25% I saved buying them that day. It then occured to me that maybe I should have offered to clean up the poop myself (I am a pro at it now), but it seemed a little late at that point. The reality is, if I had it to do all over again, I'm not sure I would have stayed to clean it up. Take the Poo Poll below, I'd love to see what the rest of you would do.




And that my friends the the completion of our memorable moments of the summer. Hope you enjoyed them! There might be an honorable mention entry soon for all the things we remembered once we started this.

Memorable Moments:#2

My Nomination for Mother of the Year

I was tired. My throat had been hurting all week. We had spent most of the week indoors at home. Joshua had needed a last minute “emergency” trip to the dentist to check out his tooth again. I knew I needed to see the doctor, but Joshua needed to be seen and taken care of first. As we finished at the dentist I thought maybe my doctor could squeeze me in before closing that Friday evening. We got loaded up and as Joshua got buckled in he threw his recently acquired rubber lizard into the floor. And of course, he started howling for it the second he did it. And kept howling. I explained several times that since he threw it, he would have to wait to get it back. He was asked several times to be quiet and eventually settled down. However, as soon as I picked up the phone to call the doctor he upped the ante. As I was put on hold he continued until I hit my wits end, “STOP IT!” I screamed at him in the loudest, most frustrated voice, can’t take anymore of this voice. Of course, at the same moment the receptionist took me off hold. I stuttered, apologized, and did what every grown mature person would do; I hung up. I found out a few days later that the doctor’s office has Caller ID.

(By the way, this is the only occasion I have ever raised my loving, patient, kind, sweet, motherly voice to my child).

Memorable Moments:#3

$8 For A Summer's Worth of Entertainment


We bought a plastic swimming pool off someone at the beginning of the summer. It was the best $8 we spent all summer (well except maybe the $8 I spent at Starbucks getting a grande soy toffee frappachino that was oh-so-good.) (Wow I just wrote more on that tangent that I did on the actually story). Anyway, he is so fun/funny to watch playing in it. He definitely likes to be adventurous and is always looking for new tricks in the pool. On this particular evening, we set Tobin up in the pool with him. I promise he was laughing before I got the camera. They were a hoot to watch.

Memorable Moments: #4

If You Want A Good Tip

One evening we were out eating dinner at the local cantina. We asked the waiter if he would put some water in Joshua’s sippy cup. As he walked away Joshua raised his finger and said, “NO ICE.” We have no idea where he got this from, so it cracked us up.

Other funny things Joshua has said this summer:

"Hey! Whatcha doing in there?"

To me while I was feeding Tobin in his room.

"Nice time!"

(as in have a nice time) to Kurt when he skipped work to spend a day on the lake

JZ: "What's That?" pointing to cow udders

ME: "You know what those are...they are udders"

JZ: "Women have udders."

ME: thinking of what to say... "Are you ready for a new book?"

Just a little sampling. It's been really fun to watch him learn and grow in language development. At this age they average one new word every day. To hear him start stringing things together is amazing.

And some funny things Tobin has said:

"hey!"

"heeeeyyyy!"

"heyyyyy!"

(He has a certain cry that really sounds like he is saying "HEY!")

Memorable Moments:#5

Ooops-missed one yesterday, so today is a double feature of our Countdown of the summer's most memorable moments.


Do as I say, not as I do.




Traveling with wee ones can be a stressful adventure for sure. Fortunately on both our plane trips this summer our boys were great travelers. It's nice to have Joshua appear as a mild-mannered, obedient angel of a child to the hundreds of people you encounter along the way. In order to accomplish this you have to give a steady does of Benadryl (just kidding!) and keep him on a tight leash. As we were boarding a plane on our return trip from Delaware Joshua was lolly gagging a bit down the Jetway. I turned around and snapped at him to "pay attention." Of course while I was turned around yapping at him I ran the stroller into the heals of the lady in front of me. oops.

Memorable Moments:#6

Can someone turn the heat off please?

Well it's not really a memorable moment per say, but something to be remembered about this summer: It’s been hot here in Texas. I vowed a long time ago not to complain about the heat. It’s silly to live in Texas and complain about it being hot. But seriously, it was hot this summer. We had 40+ days of over 100 degree heat and it's been the third hottest summer in history. I actually had a dream in the middle of the summer that we had gone to visit on the East Coast and the weather was nice and cool and I told him I was not going to live in Texas anymore.Here’s a picture of an Austin squirrel my friend Ann saw (yes, he is still alive).

Thankfully it has cooled off this week-hopefully it will stay that way.

Memorable Moments:#7

The Dream Job That Wasn’t

Mystery shopping. Getting paid to shop. Making money with kids in tow. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Excitement could only begin to explain the feeling when I finally found out how to get connected with legitimate mystery shopping companies. I registered with a handful but, sadly, found that it takes a lot of time to find good jobs and to do the paperwork after them. Some have been great, like Mr. Gatti’s pizza delivery (with only 5 minutes of paperwork) and others not so great like HEB (hit all the areas of the store and remember the 50 employees you interacted with by name for 10 bucks). I got to eat out at Chuy’s twice, which was lots of fun, but the paperwork took about an hour and a half. So, while it could be great in the right situation, it’s bye-bye to the dream for now.

Memorable Moments:#8

We're counting down the summer's most memorable moments. Click here to start at the beginning.


1-800-222-1222





That's number for Poison Control, just in case you need it. We needed it twice this summer. Once when Joshua got a hold of my flavored calcium supplements. Fortunately they only cause constipation (which they didn’t). The second time was when Tobin decided to flounder around during a diaper change involving butt paste and managed to lick some straying Boudreaux’s off his hand. It clearly states on the tube to call poison control immediately if ingested. So, Kurt made the call to see what we need to do. Again, only causes constipation if a lot in ingested. (why they make it sound so imminently dangerous on the tube I don’t know …) The best part about this call was that flustered Kurt told the operator he had been changing his son’s six month old diaper. Now that would be toxic!
Ah, good ol' Mr. Yuk. Sadly I ordered these stickers two years ago and never got them. We'll have the number memorized soon enough.

Memorable Moments:#9

Dream Big

Every parent dreams of watching their child win an Olympic gold medal; therefore the chance to expose them to their first taste of the Olympic dream is very exciting. Joshua had an early bed time routine one evening so he could catch the vision. During the first five minutes he was exposed to one pair of Olympic divers, along with a really long (like 10 minute) beer commercial and a sitcom with scantily-clad women having an inappropriate conversation. Not exactly the vision I was hoping for...

Tobin is stretching for the 2024 Olympics; I'm campaigning for Estonia to host.

Look at that incredible form; it's got Olympian written all over it.

Summer's top ten counted down

There never seems to be enough time to blog about our adventures, so we've complied a list of the summer's top ten memorable moments. For the next 10 days we'll count them down. Enjoy!



Love in the Air



*note* I'm having formatting problems getting this font to not be so big, but I"m going to let it go now...
Joshua solidified his relationships with buddies Ava and Hannah. They've said some pretty cute things about each other. One day Hannah told her Mom that, "Ava is my best friend," and then said, "Joshua is my boy." !! After hanging out with Ava one evening, Joshua said, "I love Ava," after we said our prayers. It was so sweet, especially considering he's never said I love anything without being prompted.

While we're on the topic of love, it's been so sweet to watch Joshua and Tobin becoming buddies. Tobin smiles and laughs at Joshua all the time and the big brother is always giving Tobin a hug, a kiss, or a toy. Of course, they have their moments, but I have a feeling they will be ganging up on me to get into some mischief pretty soon.