Say What?

Hope: Why doesn't daddy cry in church when some ladies say beautiful things?

Lately Eden has taken a liking to stripping. I don't know if it's some sub-conscious effort to live up to her stripper-like nick name "Miss Chevious" or just a phase, but I hope for the latter. She spends most days half naked from the waist down and frequently goes potty on the floor...on purpose. Last night, during dinner, she left the table and went into the family room and took off her clothes and diaper. A few minutes later
Daddy says: You need to put your diaper back on. What if a bug crawled up your bum. Wouldn't that concern you?
Eden looks up into daddy's eyes very seriously and says: That's weird.

While watching Ice Age: Continental Drift, a gigantic crab appears on an iceberg with the characters. One character, Sid, exclaims: HOLY CRAB!!!
Hope Says: Whoa, that is a holy crap.

*Here Eden had pulled her shirt down to her waist and was running around shaking her hips saying: Shake! Shake! Turn it around.*

*Eden has decided to be boss of when I am allowed to clean the kitchen. Here she is trying to block me from the sink. She also does this with doorways.*

*Recently we got Zoe a new kennel since she has gotten bigger and it's been ridiculously bitter cold outside. Yesterday, Eden decided it was a good place for her too. No arguments here. ;) Kidding of course, but she does fit rather nicely, doesn't she?*

A Miss Chevious Moment

About a month ago I decided to potty train Miss Chevious. I was so determined that I went out and bought the smallest little panties I could find, because I'd be damned if I were going to buy another box of diapers. My plan was to have her sit on the potty every thirty minutes for several days until she got the hang of it. She isn't afraid of the potty, so I thought for sure this was the route to go. Day 1 started with her telling me she needed to go potty. I thought to myself, "Heavenly Father must really know how much I just need Him to potty train this child and is obviously taking this burden from me. I am SO blessed!!!" I took her in and sat her down on the potty. She sat there for a minute or so with a cute little grin on her face as she talked about the potty. Once or twice it actually seemed like she was trying to go. Finally she just wanted to get down. I felt okay with that because she did give it a good try. I helped her down from the potty, but then she started whining because she wanted back ON the potty. I put her back on. She smiled, then wanted back down. We repeated this a couple of times. Finally, she walked into the hallway just in front of the bathroom and peed down her legs, all over her feet and the carpet. "Fine," I thought. "Not my will be done, but THY will." This is experience was, no doubt going to be part of the refiner's fire that I must pass through during this part of my life. ***I'm seriously being sarcastic here. Kind of.***

I decided that putting on the panties might help. She was thrilled with that. She wouldn't put her pants back on because she wanted to run around with her little pink panties. A few moments later I got distracted by something. I don't remember what now, but all it took was a moment. The "quiet storm" hit the house and I went into search mode. This is what I found:

 

 

This is the corner where the diaper genie is kept. She wedged herself here where she reached up on her changing table for the powder and lotion and went to work. Thank goodness I got to her before she had a shot at the lotion. I'm sure Dance Star Mickey is grateful too, because he was now an albino mouse.

This kid. She is like Animal from The Muppet Babies.

 

Her new trick is climbing up on her changing table (which is a re-purposed buffet table, so quite heavy and I'm not at all worried about it tipping over on her). Since she recently mastered climbing into her crib I suppose it was only a matter of time before she gave the other furniture a go. The first time it happened went something like this:

I was cooking dinner when the clouds of the quiet storm began to swirl. It storms quite often in our house. I took a moment to resign to the fact that I would soon be cleaning up another mess and I didn't know how significant the damage of that mess might be. My eyes quickly scanned the family room and living room and then my ears perked with alertness as I realized she must be in the back of the house, which means either she is playing quietly in big sister's room, or she is wreaking havoc somewhere back there. I knew in my heart the answer and as I rounded the corner in the hall the smell of baby powder filling my nostrils confirmed my intuition. But I didn't see her in her room, which is where the baby powder was kept. And I still didn't see any baby powder, only smelled it. I passed her room and searched Hope's room, Noah's room, the laundry room, passed her room again with a puff of powder stinging my nose and searched my room and my bathroom. Nowhere. Puzzled, I turned to go back down the hall when I caught a glimpse of a chubby, bare leg sitting atop the changing table in Eden's room. "No," I thought, "no way. She can't climb up there....can she?" Powder filled the air as I walked in to see her smiling at me.

"I did it myself!" She was proud. I was shocked. I'm always shocked that I am shocked when it comes to this child. Wouldn't you think that I would know by now that there is just no limit to her destruction? Her power is all encompassing.
She had taken off her diaper, which was soiled, and tossed it on the floor. Then she cleverly found the powder, which after the above incident I hid on the shelf above the changing table, doused herself and her changing pad with the white stuff and then strewn baby wipes all about. At the moment I walked in she was very delicately wiping a tiny spot (which was the one spotless place) on her forearm with one of the wipes. I knew I was standing there gaping at her because my mouth suddenly became parched from all the powder in the air. I came to and tried to clean her up, but the powder on top of her messy bottom made that next to impossible. I stripped off her clothes trying not to get any more powder on myself and once she was standing atop her changing table naked, she for some reason decided to give my breasts a high five. Not just one of them, but both of them now had tiny little white hand prints on them. If I had looked closely I am sure I would've found more than the powder in the hand prints, but I didn't need to see it to know it was there. I held her out as far from me as possible, stood her in the shower and turned it on. Thank goodness we have a shower hose. She wouldn't stand directly under it, so I had to follow her little fleeing body all around the tub. *Sigh* Reliving it is almost as exhausting as living it the first time. She'll be three in about six months. Then she'll be past this stage, right?

To Nap or Not To Nap

It's here. I new it would be sooner or later. I was rather hoping it would be later though. When I say "it" I mean that time in a toddler's life when they decide you no longer need to gather the shreds of whats left your sanity a mommy break and they throw their nap time out the window like it means nothing to them. If I could get back my afternoon naps, I would take them in a heartbeat. Just as a side note, I would take back a lot of things from toddlerhood, like no responsibility, ENERGY!, naivety, having the world be so small and simple. *Sigh* I've had a particularly emotionally trying day today and thinking about childhood simplicity helps a little. Don't get me wrong, the trials I've overcome and am currently facing have given me all that I have and will have and for that I am grateful, but every once in a while I feel picked on and want to clinch my fists, stomp my feet, scream and shout and then cry for a good hour.
Somehow I've gotten completely off track with this post.

There she is. Sweet, naive, Miss Chevious who thought she didn't need a nap on this particular day. Mommy thought she did need a nap. She loves to watch movies on my bed so I put one on and made her all snugly and Oops...look what happened. She fell asleep. I guess she needed a nap after all. ;) This doesn't work all the time though - yeah, I try it EVERY time she refuses to nap cause she can be quite cranky come 4 o'clock. I am not ready for nap time to go. However, I am ready for that pillow to go. Hello, stains!

Pinkalicious

I found a yummy sounding cupcake recipe on Pinterest that I made yesterday. It was lemonade cupcakes with raspberry frosting. A great memory from my childhood is my mom letting me lick the spoon or the beaters after she had made a cake so I let my kids give it a go too.

Miss Chevious was looking especially Pinkalicious eating her frosting covered beater and wearing her pink outfit.

The frosting was a little tart for me, but the kids loved it.

Looks a little like she is in a sugar trance.

Then the cupcakes had cooled enough to frost and the kids couldn't wait to try them.

Of course Eden and Hope only ate the frosting off the cupcakes. Hope brought hers back to the counter and told me she didn't want it. But that was too simple and clean for Miss Chevious.

She decided to crumble hers up on the floor and then lay on it to "hide" it.

She thought it was pretty funny that I was taking pictures. Perhaps me snapping a picture of all her messes is sending her the wrong message.



MY Miss Chevious

For several days now I have wanted to write a post solely about my love and complete adoration for Eden. I feel like my true feelings for her and our real relationship may not be conveyed accurately since most of the posts that include her are tales of her..."destructive behaviors."

Finding words to describe my feelings for my children have always been difficult, but the past several months I find myself so speechless over Eden. After writing that last sentence I seriously sat here staring at the computer for about ten minutes trying to figure how to express my feelings for her through words and I still don't know how to say it. I will just start typing otherwise this post will be left undone waiting to be published forever. And what a shame it would be for my Miss Chevious not to be able to read this and know what a little love bug she is to her mommy. Of all three of my children she is the most cuddly, snuggly, always willing to give & receive hugs/kisses. I remember one day Hope had hurt her feelings somehow and I told Hope she needed to give her a hug. Eden was crying and I told her that Hope was going to give her a hug and immediately she stopped crying and a smile spread on her tear streaked cheeks. Sadly, Hope did not follow through with that hug, but she at least let Eden hug her, which she did and obviously she had forgiven her sister for whatever she had done that hurt her so. I love the way Eden caresses my arms as a way to soothe herself. It makes me feel needed and important to her. It shows me that she loves me and my imperfections are no matter to her...I am still her mommy and right now I am what she needs. She tells me often and out of the blue that she loves me. Actually, she says, "I whaas ew, mommy." She is so full of love that I think she may burst out into little sparkly Miss Chevious hearts one day.

She is a very intelligent child. If I remember correctly, she was about 14 months when she learned to sing her ABC's. She knew how to say all the letters and she knew the melody to the song and could sing it all by herself, and she would...over and over and over again. I received many compliments from people about this fact, but the fact is, that I don't remember teaching it to her. She picked it up from somewhere though and helped teach it to her big sister! Sometimes I look at her with wide-eyed amazement at how unbelievably smart she is. She has been participating with family prayer for several months now, but usually I have to help her along. Last night...last night was incredible. We asked her if she wanted to say the prayer and she nodded her head. She folded her arms and began with something resembling, "dear Heavenly Father." I couldn't understand most of what she said even though she was sitting right there in my lap about 2 inches from my face, but she needed no help at all. She thanked Heavenly Father for quite a few things. The things I could understand were, gma, Hopie, beach, fish (we had just been to the beach earlier that day and saw some fish). The prayer was pretty lengthy and at one point Hope leaned over and whispered, "in the name of..." but Eden whispered back, "No. I say the prayer," and continued saying her prayer of thanks. As I watched her pray I thought back to that experience I had while writing The Waiting Place post and my heart was so full that I could see and hear and feel her learning to communicate with her Father in Heaven. It is not often that I feel pride in my accomplishments as a mother (I tend to be very hard on myself), but last night I knew without a doubt that I was doing something right and was so thankful that I had followed through with her dad in teaching her and showing her how to pray. I know that praying is something that she will turn to often in her life for help and guidance and I'm grateful that she has learned so early to do it.

Eden is funny. She loves to make her brother and sister laugh and does things just to amuse them. One Friday afternoon while picking up Noah, I took the girls into his classroom a few minutes before the final bell rang. Eden ran up to Noah and he greeted her with open arms, the way he always does, and picked her up for a hug. He held her and said to his friends, "Hey, watch this." and then he told Eden to blow a raspberry. She did and all the kids laughed. Apparently, this was very funny because they told her to do it over and over again, laughing all the while. I could see pride on Noah's face (which I thought was funny because all she was doing was spitting in his direction), and Eden looked very pleased with all the attention she was getting.

Sometimes I look at what she is doing and wonder where in the world did she get that notion? For example, yesterday while we were grilling dinner she randomly went to the middle of the yard and laid down in the grass, started pulling grass and piling on her stomach. She told her dad she was sleeping.

When she put on Hope's cape she smiled and said, "SUPER Goofy!"

This child is a very bright light in my life. I joke a lot about her unruly-ness and the messes she makes, but it is nothing in comparison to the love she brings to our family. She is a beautiful piece of the puzzle that makes our family. Without her we simply would not be. I love you, MY Miss Chevious!!! 

Miss Chevious Moments Episode 4

I am going to keep this somewhat short and simple because I feel like the pictures speak for themselves.

Remember those cushion covers I washed not too long ago because of another Miss Chevious moment? Mmmhhmm. They became target practice. Since she seemed to hit her target I thought I would reward her with a cookie. Ha, Ha! Just kidding.

One evening lil Miss became very quiet and disappeared for a while. I went around the house calling her name because she wasn't in her usual spots. Suddenly I hear my bathroom door open and close. The same door that we ALWAYS keep closed specifically because of Miss Chevious and the tons of fun she can find in a bathroom. She comes strolling out of my room with dental floss draped all over her and the floor. She had emptied most of the contents.

Lesson learned. Miss Chevious can now open just about every door in the house. At least she smelled minty afterwards.

Noah and Eden were sitting quietly on the couch watching a movie. Noah decided he wanted to snack on some chips and left the bag with Miss Chevious while he went to play in another room. I am sure he would've left the bag if she had been there or not: typical 10 yr old boy behavior. I ask him where the bag is and he tells me where he left it. I groan a little and walk into the family room where I see this.

Noah decided the chips were still edible despite being messed with by Miss Chevious.

During dinner she steals Noah glass of water while he is away for a split second and leaves behind all kinds of yucky for him to find.

Noah is very particular about not wanting to drink after anyone...I wonder how he felt about this.

Then she got into dad's gym bag and found the deodorant. She took a big chunk out of it with her finger and put it in her hair.

A few days ago Miss Chevious and Hope were wrestling on my bed and even though Hope is twice her size she was losing. Eden would lay on top of her and say "tickle, tickle". Finally, she put her finger on Hope's nose and said, "Pick your nose! Pick your nose!" She is practicing her bullying on her big sister and I have to say, I think she'll be excellent very soon.

Miss Chevious Moments Episode 3

Monday
This morning was beautiful so we spent all morning outside. Eden hadn't been out there for 30 minutes before she had doused herself with sand and dirt. In her hair, in her shoes, who knows where else...she was dirty. I just looked at her and sighed as I watched her sprinkling more sand on her arm and then tossing a handful in her sister's direction. I remember putting sand in my hair when I was about Hope's age. I thought it tickled when it would slide down my scalp. I guess payback is only fair, so I just let her do it. That certainty that they will be clean and smell lovely again is what I love most about our night time routine, even if Miss Chevious only stays clean while she's sleeping.

The girls watched a movie while I made lunch and that is when this happened.

This one is really daddy's fault for leaving his newspaper in such an obvious place for it to meet it's demise. Okay, so it is just as much my fault because I looked at that paper several times making a mental note to move it cause of Miss Chevious, but I kept getting sidetracked. Miss Chevious showed her mercy and the paper remains in tact. You are welcome, daddy.

Eden decided to wash the couch with her macaroni and cheese so mommy decided to wash the cushion covers. No pic of that, but the memory is still vivid.

Then there was lots of tormenting big sister by taking her stuffed animals and running around the house with them (smiling behind her pacifier all the while) while Hope screamed through tears of objection. Yesterday, they had some moments where they got along so well. They would hug each other while they went down the slide and giggle and smile. I tried to soak up as much as possible because I knew it wouldn't last long. I drew on those memories of yesterday for peace and reassurance amidst the screaming and yelling of quibbling siblings today.

Tuesday

Today we met Ben for lunch. Why would I take Ben away from the peace of his work to the stressful environment created by Miss Chevious in a lunch atmosphere? That is a good question and one I ask myself every time we meet him for lunch. I always say to myself, "Poor Ben has been working hard all day and now is being hounded and harassed by this little monkey and then has to go back to work for the rest of the day. I won't do this to him again." But I miss my Bennie Boo and can't help but want to go see him in the middle of the day. I should just suck it up, spare him and let him work in peace until he is forced to come home. :) Anyway...she actually didn't do too bad this time out. She only squirmed and bruised a few of my ribs while we were standing in line, held on to the glass partition between the line and the cooks with a death grip that only daddy could break and then tried to steal Hope's food. After a while of eating what she could snatch from Hope she decided she wanted my drink, but it was laced with caffeine so I wouldn't share. Mean, I know, but the last thing anyone wants is Miss Chevious hyped up on caffeine. She settled for her sippy cup, but grabbed an empty water cup and went to work making her "special juice." This is what Noah calls it when Miss Chevious drinks from her sippy cup and spits it into another container. She did it somewhat discreetly and gracefully though, so I was grateful there wasn't juice spraying all over the surrounding patrons. Her chin rested on the edge of the cup and a steady stream of juice poured from her little puckered lips into the water cup. She reminded me of one of those little statue fountains of the little kids peeing or something. Hey, if a statue of a kid peeing can be a considered a cute fountain why not one of a kid spitting into a cup?

Wednesday

This morning when I looked in little Miss Monkey Pants' closet I was hesitant to dress her in the super cute outfit from Grandma Verla. The shirt is white and this is Miss Chevious we are talking about, but I had waited a long time to dress her in this outfit and it is finally warm enough too so I put it on her anyway. The morning went surprisingly well with no dirties on her clean white shirt, but then came lunch time. I've been trying to get the girls interested in some healthy smoothies and so far Hope refuses to try them and Eden loves them. Today I made a peach raspberry smoothie. I guess Eden didn't like today's flavor cause this is what she did with it.

Raspberries on her cute new outfit!!! I am happy to say that I only had to treat the stain and wash it twice for the stain to come out, but it is out. The outfit lives for another day. Miss Chevious does pretty well with big kid cups (like the one you see on the couch behind her) when there is something in it that she actually likes. Who am I kidding? I bring these moments on myself. You're probably thinking I'm an idiot for giving a two year old an open cup on the couch. I am thinking the same thing and wonder why I continue to do these things?

Here she is having a snack in her second outfit of the day. She loves olives and calls them "tacos" cause we usually eat them when we have tacos. I gave her several in a cup and she sat on the floor to munch.

She found a colored pencil, speared the olives and used it as an eating utensil. I guess putting them on her fingertips is no longer fun.

Thursday
Fast forward through the usual tormenting of big sister and other messes to dinner time. Miss Chevious and Hope sat briefly at the table eating corn when Hope decided she was done. Eden looked at the plate that Hope now left unguarded and went for it. Not only did she steal her corn, but she used her chair to climb up on the table so she could eat the corn like a dog. Precious little thing.

She must not be as seasoned as Hope in eating her food like a dog because after a couple of bites she gave up and resumed eating...like a human.

Friday

I had a headache all Thursday night that lasted until I woke Saturday morning, so when Miss Chevious fought me on getting dressed I just rolled with it and let her stay in her pajamas. I wish I could've done the same with her messy diaper when she fought me on that, but given her history of playing with poop and the inevitable rash that follows diapers that aren't changed regularly I felt I had no choice but to call on my super mommy powers and change her diaper through flailing arms and her squirming body. Diaper changed, but not without a big swipe of the baby powder by Miss Chevious.

While I was cleaning the bathroom she found her potty and dragged it into the kitchen where she stuffed a bunch of toys and paper in it.

At least she isn't scared of it. The more comfortable she is with it the more likely she will be to use it. Right?
Lastly, she was having a snack at the table (shocking that she was sitting at the table, isn't it?) when she decided to turn the yogurt cup upside down, try to empty it on the table and then smear it around with her hands.

Saturday
First thing this morning, Eden grabbed Hope's cup and Hope freaked out even though it was already empty. As I was trying to explain to Hope that she needed to use words to express her feelings instead of crying and whining Eden examines the cup and considers giving it back. Finally Hope asks for it back (such a novel idea) and Eden obliges...but not before slowly and deliberately spitting in it. She didn't even spit juice or milk, it was just plain old disgusting spit. I was so shocked and confused at what had just happened I am sure I stood there staring at her with my mouth hanging open for a good 30 seconds. Why did she feel the need to do that and where in the world did the idea come from????
This evening she got her first goose egg. Hope was spinning her around in the entry way trying to get her to stay inside so Hope could sneak out and see what daddy was doing in the yard. Suddenly I hear a smack and the french door vibrate...then Hope: "Are you okay, Eden?"....Crying. Hope hid behind a chair because she thought we were going to be mad at her. I didn't see  Eden's head right away cause she was looking down, but she hugged me tight when I picked her up. It was after Ben had convinced Hope to tell him about it that we knew to look at her head. There it was. I can't believe I didn't notice it first thing. It was huge and pink/blue/purple with a harsh line down the middle of it which was obviously from the edge of the door. Eden hasn't had many major owies, thank goodness, so I was relieved to see that she got over it somewhat quickly. Hope remained very concerned though and kept asking her if she was alright. While they were undressing for their bath Hope asked, "Are you sure the water isn't going to hurt her owie?" Hope has always seemed to think that getting ANY owie wet is going to make it hurt. Anyway, I was very touched by her concern for her sister because usually it seems like she can't wait to get away from her.
***So I've made a decision about the new Miss Chevious Moments episodes. I will no longer be documenting on a daily basis, as a lot of these moments occur several times daily. Instead of being a diversion of troubles, trying to document on a daily basis seems to be causing more stress. So away with it! Instead, I will do my best to capture the big Miss Chevious Moments and hopefully I will have enough to make a few posts a month. I know family enjoys these posts, but there is so much stress that I can't do anything about that if I have a choice to rid my life of SOME stress, albeit not a huge conductor of stress, I should try to eliminate it, right? Right.***

Miss Chevious Moments Episode 2

Ben took the day off yesterday (5/07/12) to celebrate our 6th anniversary. We went up to Sugar House to the Original Pancake House, a place we used to frequent while dating. It was no surprise to me or Ben that Miss Chevious did not sit still longer than about three minutes. She was climbing under the table running up to the front of the restaurant, where the hostess empathetically said, "You've got a track star on your hands." I just smiled politely and after grabbing the little monkey headed back to my table...but I would soon be visiting the hostess again thanks to our "track star." She also shoved the flatware into the cracks of the stone fireplace that was right next to us. She did this after being told not to bang them on the table. She insisted on continuously picking up and putting down her chocolate milk which resulted in several small spills, even though it was covered with a lid. She took all the sugar packets out of the little dish and after playing with them calmly for about 30 seconds, she rapidly swished her arms back and forth across the pile flinging the sugar packets everywhere. While I was trying to gather them up, she grabbed a few that I hadn't reached yet and started squishing them in her hands. As we were about to leave I dipped her pacifier in the water that the server accidentally filled my sprite glass with and stuck it in her mouth. After a suck or two she smiled, took the pacifier out of her mouth and dipped it in the glass. She did this a couple times. Then she just dropped it in and pushed it under the ice.

Next we went shopping for "creature-free" bed sheets for Hope (refer to the earlier Say What? post). Putting Eden in a shopping cart is quite difficult.  It is in fact, a nightmare. She fights, kicks, cries and screams bloody murder. She is one of those children that you have to look at because it sounds like she's being abducted or beaten. I have no doubts that she can be heard in the furthest corner of the store. She screamed and tried to escape just about the entire time until daddy couldn't stand it any longer and got her out. We went to a couple of stores and in the ones that didn't have shopping carts Miss Chevious would run as far as she could looking back at me and laughing the whole time. Finally, I just tried to hold her, but she pushed and dug her knee into my ribs and wiped her messy cookie face all over my shirt. I didn't even care about the mess all over my shirt...I was exhausted and let's face it, after running back and forth after Miss Chevious several times, I had little pride left.

5/08/2012

Today Hope wanted to draw a footprint with the colored pencils so she sat at the table for a while to draw. Eden got a hold of the pencils after a while and found the one pen that I didn't know was in there and scribbled all over her arm and then came to laundry room where I was folding clothes to show me her art work.

Then she mashed up a banana on the family room floor. Yuck.

5/10/2012

There have been too many incidents to keep track of...this may not have been a good idea. I'm exhausted.

We started the day with Eden having a messy diaper and playing with it in her crib. Straight into the bath! Then she crumbled up a perfectly good hash brown and threw it all over the car.

So this week's episode was kind of a bust. Sorry. But just because I failed to document it don't think that there weren't many many, MANY Miss Chevious moments. I'll try harder next week. But before I go here's something special to think about: While Ben was standing in line at Einstein's Bagels and older lady in front of him got her order and turned towards the door to leave. Eden promptly begins singing "Go Away Scary Witch, Go Away!" and follows her to the door. I'm glad I wasn't there for that one. How embarrassing.

Now you don't need to wonder why my dining room chairs are always put up in my pictures. THIS is why. You can't see it but in the background there was one chair down that she used as climbing device.

Miss Chevious Moments

Welcome to the first installment of "Miss Chevious Moments." This is a series in which I will recount and display photos of said monkey's destructive, mischievous and some what anarchist behavior spanning the previous week. Hmmm...is "anarchist" the right word?

Anarchist: a person who causes disorder or upheaval. Whoa...spot on. Who'd a thunk I have a two year old anarchist? Rebellious would also be good.

Rebellious: resisting treatment or control; unruly. Anyway, you get the idea. She's a handful. So I will document what I catch her doing and hopefully get a good picture along the way. I find that making photographic evidence of these occurrences delays my frenzied mommy reflex in which I momentarily may lose my temper. Snapping a picture, I feel, is better for mine and Miss Chevious' relationship, and makes for some darn funny posts.

In this first picture, dated 5/4/2012, Miss Chevious hid out in big sister's room while I mindlessly mopped up old sticky juice spills from the kitchen floor. It was here where she started "cleaning" her Eeyore toy by spitting juice onto it and then rubbing it with a wipee. Actually, back up. She started doing that in the hall where she left several juice puddles in the carpet. Then she moved to Hope's room where she spit juice all over the table and apparently her pants. You can't see how wet the table is, but it looked like she pretty much emptied the sippy cup.

Look at that face, so unassuming and happy. She is happy, which makes me smile and makes it difficult to discipline her. It reminds me of when I was little and my dad would swing open the door to the room which me and my three other sisters shared. Making too much noise at night should be expected with four young girls all in the same room, right? He would enter with a stern look on his face and his belt in his hand, ready to snap it for effect, and we would all stare back at him with big smiles and sometimes giggles. After a few moments of staring each other down he would start to smile...turn a little red and then leave. I love you, dad, and now I understand because this happens to Ben and I regularly.

In this picture dated 5/5/2012 (yes that IS one day later), Miss Chevious shows off more of her table manners. The child is hungry. She is a good eater, not too picky, but she knows what she likes and wants and thank goodness she can communicate well enough to let me know without my making 50 guesses. Here she eats Frosted Mini Wheats cereal, her favorite. When she's had her fill she takes the last bite, usually right out of her mouth, squeezes it in her hand until all the milk, and saliva has dripped onto the table and her clothes then she places the lump next to the bowl. I am guessing she learned this next trick from her brother or sister cause I didn't teach it to her, and no I didn't teach her to take her food out of her mouth and squish it either. She lifts the bowl to her mouth and drinks the remaining milk, but of course not without it streaming down the sides of her chin and down her neck getting her all sticky. You can see below that sometimes she can fit her whole face into it. I'm not sure if that is the most effective way of drinking milk from a bowl but she seemed to succeed.

Sometimes instead of drinking it she will splash in it like it's a rain puddle until she sees me coming and then she will say, "no, no, no" and try to run away with the bowl.

In this next picture, taken the same day, Miss Chevious runs around with Hope's tortilla on her head, dropping it on the floor a couple times, picking it back up and placing it back atop her little hairless head. At least it was a plain tortilla instead of a bean burrito, right?

In the picture that I did NOT get, you would see Miss Chevious running around the dining room and family room with two empty corn cobs (hers and Hope's) clinching them tightly in her fists so that the milk from the cob can rain on our already yucky carpet. Finally, she throws them across the family room. Why? I do not know. Perhaps she no longer needed them as microphones which she was using to serenade the family during dinner time. She also pretended to use them as harmonicas. I did find corn kernels in her diaper while I was undressing her for her bath. Sometimes I find the weirdest things in there - things that shouldn't be. Like toys, wood chips from the playground, what ever she had to eat that day, and sand. If if I remember correctly, one night I found a crayon. She likes to put things down her shirt (thank goodness she got over putting things down mine) and I guess sometimes it just makes it's way to her diaper. A little random piece of information for you, but it's been a long day, so I'm aloud to ramble.

I just started documenting on Friday so bear with me as this new series develops. And on that note, look at what she can do in just two days! Of course there was lots that I didn't mention, like scribbling on the wall with a pencil, using mommy as a jungle gym while I was trying to rest on the couch and a couple of grabs at the powder on her diaper area while I am trying to change her. She does that last one purely to annoy me.

Miss Chevious Eats

I don't even know where to begin with this post, but I know I have to document this child's behavior for a couple of reasons: 1) Because she will get a kick out of it when she's older...and so will her significant other. 2) Because one day she may be blessed with a Miss Chevious of her own and I can refer her to these posts and then laugh...in her face. 3) To remind myself that I DO have patience with my children in those moments when I feel like curling up in a ball like a roly poly. 4) To give myself a good laugh when the moment has past...FAR past. And finally 5) To let other parents out there know that their child is not the only half angel half devil.

This post isn't really even about anything extreme, just dinner time. Sounds like a simple every day happening in which family gathers around the table to discuss their day and enjoy each other's company and some good food, right? HA! There is an old family story that my mom likes to tell about when I was around Eden's age. My siblings and I had assigned seats at the dinner table and mine was next to my oldest brother, Bobby. Bobby is 10 years older than I am so I am sure he remembers this incident well, and I just have to thank him for having patience with his little sister and not screaming or slapping me into the next room like many other children throughout the world would've reacted in this situation. So one night we were enjoying mashed potatoes. My mom makes great mashed potatoes and unlike my little Hopie, I ate what I was served for dinner, well, I guess I should say "ate". Bobby says to my mom, "Mom, do I have to sit next to Lindsey?" Mom looks over at Bobby to see that I am massaging mashed potatoes into his hair, slathering it around like shampoo.

My children haven't ventured to siblings hair yet, but they've mastered the art of food shampooing with their own hair.

First Hope with the instant oatmeal

and now Eden with the spaghetti.

As a side note, spaghetti is not easy to get out of hair.

You can see she is very pleased with herself. I think she believes she is creating art when she does this. For example, a couple of nights ago we had mashed potatoes and broccoli with our chicken and she made a beautiful piece I like to call, "The Lone Tree".

She does eat most of her dinner and she is quite fond of broccoli. It is when she is done eating that the havoc starts wreaking. :) I suppose now my mom is laughing...in MY face.

In other Miss Chevious news (not having the slightest to do with eating) is her new potty routine. And by potty routine I mean the way she messes her pants, promptly sticks her hand in her diaper to grab a handful and either come show it to me or smear whatever is nearby. In some cases far away objects as well, she isn't picky. Last year she started doing this and I thought I was pretty clever about adding a onsie to her daily outfit so that she couldn't reach down the back of her diaper. That worked well until a couple of months ago when she discovered that she could reach up under her leg and get through both her onsie and the leg hole of her diaper! She does this just about every day and I have started follow her around the house when I know she is going or about to go because I am not about to let her out of my sight when I know what is transpiring. Alas, I cannot watch her 24/7. Let me just stop here to tell any judgemental people who are reading this and disagreeing with this fact to "shove it." Going on...because I cannot watch her like a hawk, sometimes poop ends up on the walls and floors...windows, door knobs, crib, toys, water bottles...you get it. Sunday was special because she decided to share her poop with Muffin.

I was not present at the time or I obviously wouldn't have allowed it to happen, but this is how I imagine it in my head. Poor, poor Muffin was asleep in the front room resting peacefully on a computer chair when in walks a defecating Miss Chevious. She stands by the chair watching the cute kitty sleep while she finishes her business. She reaches into her diaper and pulls out a handful of the mess she just created and plops it down onto Muffins fluffy fur. Meanwhile, I am in the kitchen and suddenly realize how quite Miss Chevious is being so I start to hunt for her. Luckily I find her before she has a chance it mash it into his fur, but she still has a handful and Muffin has woken up and is looking around as if he might try to escape. I have a dilemma here. If I take care of Eden first Muffin will likely pounce away and poop will go flying. If I take care of Muffin first, Eden will run around in anticipation of my cleaning her up...and poop will go flying. Hmmm....it's a good thing it was Sunday and daddy was home. Ben contained Eden while I cleaned up Muffin and then I was able to clean up Eden. Flying poop averted. Whew. Now it is time to dust off the old potty chair for Miss Chevious WILL BE POTTY TRAINED!!!

I love this child. I do. I adore her. I could look into her chocolate eyes all day. She is such a wonderful, beautiful, snuggly, loveable little weirdo. But dealing with this much poop is exhausting.

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Technically the whole day wasn't bad, just big chunks of it, and really the only reason I titled it as such is because I was in pain all day. Had I not been, I probably would've been able to laugh at just about every "terrible" occurrence.

So that is where my day starts...with pain. I have woken up several days now with a pain in my neck. Literally. Last week the pain was so bad that by the time Ben got home I was holding back some serious tears. I am pretty sure the culprit is our super soft bed and the compacted stuffing in my pillows. So despite how much I loathe taking medicine I crushed up some Ibuprofen so I could tolerate life for the rest of the day. It barely touched the pain. That was my first hint that it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Surprisingly, Miss Chevious was not on her usual behavior and the damage caused by said child was minimal. *Thank you, Lord*  But she did manage to get into Ben's pictures while I was taking a shower and spread them all over the bedroom floor and the family room floor.
Then afternoon came and it was time to put chicken in the crock pot. (You should know that the trash had been full to the brim all day but because it was snowing outside I gave in to my lazy side and decided to wait as long as possible before taking it out.) While throwing away the plastic that the raw chicken was wrapped in I tipped over the garbage can and everything spilled into the pantry. It was turning out to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Once dinner was cooking in the crock pot I got a burst of energy and decided to clean the jet tub since its' been a few weeks. I filled the tub above the jets with hot water and poured some bleach in the water near the intake, and then I let it run for about 15 minutes while I was cleaning the kitchen. After loading the dishwasher I decided it was time to turn the tub jets off and drain it. Before opening the bathroom door I realized that it seemed much louder than before but thought nothing of it until I saw the steam escaping through the crack of the door. Water was spraying EVERYWHERE!!! I guess I didn't tighten the plug good enough and water has slowly drained out of the tub decreasing the water level below a couple of the jets. The floor was flooded and water was dripping from the walls so I hurried in, soaking my socks and getting my second shower of the day. It was like someone was spraying me with a very warm water hose that smelled like bleach. Everything was drenched and I immediately thought everything would be bleached as well, but so far so good. Nothing bleached, I guess I didn't use enough to do that kind of damage. The bathroom scale was ruined, obviously as it spewed water when I picked it up from the mini lake it was resting in. I wiped down the walls, baseboards, counters, toilet and soaked up Lake Gimmeabreak using several towels. I thought I had done a good recovery job and at least now the bathroom looked and smelled clean. I was actually laughing to myself about this incident,the whole scene was pretty funny. But the bleach smell mixed with the pain in my neck was now turning into a migraine. You know, the kind that makes you really nauseous. Which only contributed to making it a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

I could tell by the smell of dinner that it was not going to turn out as I hoped. It was one of those recipes I got from Pinterest in an effort to change up and ease the whole dinner process. Let me just tell you that 3 1/2 hours is TOO LONG to cook chicken breasts in the crock pot. AND, brown rice needs more liquid than other rice in a rice cooker. My intentions were good, and Ben ate it anyway, but not before he asked..."Why is everything wet in the bathroom?"

*sigh* I think I'll move to Australia.

A Busy Day for Miss Chevious

Eden has been recovering from a nasty cold, but that hasn't slowed her down. This morning, I gave her some cereal. She took a bite, coughed and sprayed it all over me. After that she wanted no more cereal. She did want some toast. She ate most of it, but crumbled up the rest and threw it on the couch/floor. Then she wanted some banana bread. Her appetite hasn't been great with this cold, so I am giving her anything lately hoping she'll eat it. I think she took a nibble, but the rest of it ended up like the toast. Crumbled on the floor and couch. Then she found a marker. Thankfully a washable one. She proceeded to tattoo herself where ever her skin was showing and also marked the couch for good measure. I cleaned it off her face, tried to clean it off her hands, but just cause they are "washable" doesn't mean they come off easy.  I decided to get the rest of it tonight at bath time. I put her down for a nap. That is my vacation time. It only last about an hour and half, but I'll take it on a day like today. After her nap she took advantage of the fact that I had forgotten to lock the fridge latch and went for the eggs. Most of the eggs were still in the carton, just out of their little nooks and waiting in the lid of the carton for their turn to get smashed on the floor. She broke probably three on the floor before she came to tell me she had made a mess. In the middle of cleaning it up I ran out of paper towels and headed to the bathroom for the tp. While I was away she tried to help clean it up and got it all over her clothes in the process. So here she is sitting on the couch (yes, the mess on the couch is from her) half naked tattooed with green marker, probably with a running nose. No, actually, I will give myself credit for wiping noses efficiently. :) I deserve it.

Then she was hungry again. Of course. So I made her a peanut butter sandwich, knowing my fate, but hey, the kid has to eat. Surprisingly she ate most of it, but left the last bite face down on the couch. But then she wanted Doritos. I gave her one. She stood right in front of me, right after I gave it to her and smashed it in her hands and let it drop on the kitchen floor...all while looking up at me with a little grin on her face. *Sigh* Oh boy. Then she asked for another. No, I didn't give her one this time. Then she took my water jug that I had just filled up with water.  Soon I hear Hope yelling, "Mom! Eden's making a mess again!!!" Somehow she managed to pour out the entire bottle on the carpet/couch. It took one and half towels to soak it up. It's only 5 pm...she has another three hours before bedtime. What are the chances she is done making messes today?

Reading over this I realized that much of the problem is that someone lets this child eat in the family room instead of her high chair. Doesn't that person realize that once the screaming tantrum about having to eat in the high chair is over the messes will be significantly less than if she doesn't eat in her chair? Actually, that is not at all true. Last night while sitting in her high chair she managed to throw her food all the way over to the couch and the garage door. *sigh* This is just a stage right?

Oh, I decided that "Destruct-Or" is too masculine for this little lady. Her new nick name is Miss Chevious. Both fitting, but I can think of no better way to describe the look on her face when she is doing something she knows you don't want her to do.

A Bunch of Random Stuff...

The first two weeks of February has been somewhat eventful and stressful in our home. Lots of learning, messes, life changes and so forth. Of course there are always good times. Last Saturday Uncle Brian's family came over for a while and it was warm enough to play outside, so the kids decided to dig for treasure in the sandbox.

All they found was some cat poop (not from our cat). I wouldn't really call that treasure, but you know what they say..."what is one man's trash is another man's treasure." There were also rides in the wagon...

and lots of fun in the sun.

This is Caleb in the box.

Cameron getting ready to slide.

Caleb and Hope running around the trampoline.

Cameron and Hope taking a juice break.

Autumn, Cameron & Brian

And of course Destruct-OR in all her glory.

Noah and Hope have been saying that they want to switch rooms. I figured why not since I had done it a few months before. So I spent ALL day last Thursday switching their rooms and trying to get everything ready before Noah came home Friday. Muffin of course was very concerned/interested in what was going on and had to explore everything. He managed to jump up onto a shelf in Noah's room while some furniture was close by.

Turns out switching the rooms just wasn't a good idea. Eden still cries at night some times and it is very upsetting to Noah. When I switched the room he was right next to her room so he could hear her very well and didn't like that. Hope's bed in her new room was also an issue...so Saturday, Ben and I switched everything BACK.  *sigh* Oh well. At least it was a distraction from some of the more stressful things that have been going on.

Sunday morning Ben made pancakes.


So that was our first two weeks. It actually did snow after the unusually warm day that Brian's family came over, and Noah and Hope played outside for a while making giant snow balls. I didn't get any pictures of that though.

Another one of Noah's drawings.

Grrr...

Today I made popcorn for the girls' snack. Eden swiped the bowl and headed for Hope's room. Then this happened.

Luckily the bowl wasn't full when she decided to grab and go. I told her to smile in the bottom picture and she showed me her chewed up popcorn instead. The sign of a true rebel.

Not long after, this happened...

Yes. The latch for the fridge broke a day or so ago. To be honest I am surprised it took this long. To her credit though, after doing her egg toss game she came to get me and told me she'd made a mess. :) I love that she is proudly pointing to the eggs in the bottom picture. *sigh*

P.S. I forgot to add that after I took these pictures Hope came over to see what happened. She knelt down and said, "I'm not so happy about this."