My Name is Mommy

My friend and I took our kids out strawberry picking this morning. I’ve heard of people doing it for years around here, but never had my act together early enough to get to the fields on time. (For most farms around here, this is one of the last few days to pick, or else they’re already done with it.)

Truth be told, I didn’t have my act together this year either. My friend did. She planned the date. I did the research. We made it in time. We’re a good team. Apart from each other, just bumps on a log. Not really. At least not for her. For me? True.

Anyway, the kids had fun. Luke’s favorite part was running up and down the rows in the fields and every 15 minutes or so yelling out, “I found one!”

Yeah. Extremely helpful. But he had lots of fun. And I still owe him for the whole birthday incident.

Here are some photos from the day. You enjoy while I go look up a recipe for strawberry jam….

Why is it that I insisted on telling the waiter that it was Luke’s birthday and that they could all gather ’round and sing to him? ‘Cause I’m stupid. Even after Bald Man said not to b/c Luke wouldn’t like it, I still told the guy. And you know what? Luke turned his head down and cried. CRIED!! One of the waitresses stopped singing and was all, “I can’t keep making him cry.” She had more compassion for my child than I did.

And the real reason that I asked them to recognize his birthday? Because I hadn’t made a cake. And there were no candles. One of my children had a birthday and I made no cake, bought no cake, and had no candles for him to blow out. So, obviously, if you’re not going to bake a cake, the next best thing is to make your child cry.

Yeah, he had a cake the night before at Titi’s. With candles. That he blew out (or his brother did, I really don’t remember). But that wasn’t good enough! I should have made a cake that would be his exactly three years to the day (or plus one, Leap Day and that) of his birth!!!! I failed.

Yes, I have issues. And, depending on who you are, it’s either that I have a high guilt complex or that I really am a bad mother. You choose.

The funny thing is that, apparently, Luke thought those crazy servers were just sadistic child-torturers. Because the waiter came by with the check and was all, “I’m sorry we scared you little buddy. We didn’t mean to. Happy Birthday.”

And Luke looked at me and was all, “He didn’t mean to scare me.” And was totally relieved. Good thing he doesn’t know that I was the one who set him up to be terrorized in the first place.

Well, today is the last day that I’ll have a two year old. My baby turns three tomorrow. It’s crazy how quickly time flies. And if you’re looking for me tomorrow, I’ll be the one dancing up and down the street singing, “Hallelujah!”.

As you may remember, two hasn’t always been easy in our house. And I’m not really sad to see it go. And really not for any other reason than it means we’re moving forward with our little family.

Two is quite amazing, actually. The changes that occur in that year are unbelievably phenomenal. From speech, to mobility, to they way they play, to the way they think, it’s just unimaginable. It seems that it would take an adult an entire lifetime to accomplish the changes that a child makes in just that year. And it’s a beautiful thing to be a part of.

But I don’t think I’ll miss it. I’ve had the joy (and struggle!) of being with all of my kids, day in and out, through all of their twos. And I think I’ve had my fill.
Now to get one more through the threes. Because, as well all know, three is much harder than two. All those fancy words that you thought it would be fun to teach your two year old? All of the attitude he’s been observing in his older sibs? All of the knock-knock jokes that he’s committed to memory? They all come to haunt you in the threes. And I’ll feel completely joyed at getting to experience the threes for one last time. (Remind me of this in a coupla months, will ya? )

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And Happy Birthday to Jackie!!!!!!! (I was gonna put a nice photo of her up here, but I think she’ll kill me no matter what photo I use. She should stop yawning when I go to take her picture so I have some options. )

Day: Mother’s Day Morning

Samantha: “Where’s Mommy?”
Bald Man: “In the bathroom.”
Samantha: “What’s she doing in there?”
Jake: “She’s clipping her eyebrows off.“
Samantha: “Nuh uh.”
Jake: “Uh huh.”

Here’s hoping you had a Mother’s Day requiring no clipping off of your eyebrows.

A conversation today between Jake, his best buddy from down the street (both age 4), and me (not 4):

Jake: “It’s true, in real life, for real!!!”
His little friend, A, to me: “Why does he always say that?”
Me to her (A): “I don’t know. You should ask him.”
A to Jake: “Why do you always say that?”
Jake to A: “I don’t always. Only when I’m not lying.”

What a difference a year makes. I remember writing this post and just feeling at my absolute end with Jake. I honestly didn’t know what to do, and then the threes came!!! (I have told you that the threes are worse than the twos, yeah?)

Jake turned 4 today, and I’m amazed at how much has changed in the past year. He’s still full of energy and…um….loudness. But he’s also developed the most loving spirit. The day started with everyone telling him Happy Birthday, and he immediately decided that he was, “sharing my birthday with everyone in my family and in the whole world. And everyone gets to be 4.” When I told him that an elderly neighbor had called to wish him Happy Birthday, he said, “Aww. That was sweet.”

He really is a true joy in my life. Yes, he still aggravates his sister. Yes, he still teases his brother. Yes, he is still a bit dramatic over every little bump and ouchie. But he is also so fun. He loves to tell jokes. He has a mischievous bent to his personality (gotta watch that!). He loves to make people laugh. He’s a great helper (really! He loves cleaning up with the Dust Buster!). He has an abundance of hugs and kisses to share. And he is constantly telling the people in his life that he loves us. I do love being his mom.

Happy Birthday, Jake.

I knew there was a reason I didn’t mention the birthday party that we were supposed to go to today. I mean, I was planning on taking the kids to the party, but I wasn’t telling them until we were on the way there. We never got to that part because when we went to pick up the baby (hmmm…I said I’d stop calling him that, didn’t I?), I knew right away that he had pink eye.

Ah…pink eye. Yeah, we’ve played this game before.

So, no birthday party for us today. At least they didn’t know.

And now the challenge is to keep everyone else from getting it, because we have a dance recital this weekend, a brunch to celebrate an accomplishment of a good friend, babysitting so another couple can get a date, and one or two other things.

I hate pink eye. However, certainly not the end of the world. It’s treatable, not all that disturbing, and the baby (I’ll work on something else to call him) will be back to stirrin’ up trouble in no time. Not like he’s stopped.

Today, Luke turned two. Here is his momentous day in photos:

Snuggling with Mommy and the ever-present duckie blankie.

Stopping to smell the roses. Or, hitting them, which is what actually happened.

Looking like a big boy in his car seat! Yeah, I really should no longer refer to him as a baby. That’s a big boy sitting in that seat!

Mmmm….pizza…..only french fries could make this a more perfect meal for me…

Must interrupt this dinner for a brief temper tantrum. I am two now, you know. (The cause for the tantrum? Mommy wouldn’t let him go find Daddy in the bathroom. It is my job, after all, to protect him from danger, you know. )

Mmm….Dairy Queen ice cream cake….

Another snuggle with Mommy, just because.

Happy birthday, to my little boy. It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since I first held you in my arms and introduced you to the world. Two years since you made our family 5, since you caused us girls to be outnumbered. Two years since I proved to the world that, yes, I can TOO have a blonde, blue-eyed child! Two years that have gone so quickly, and two years to the start of a life that I’m lucky enough to have a front row seat for. You are amazing, funny, sneaky, loving, mischievous, and one of the great joys of my life. I love you.

This is my baby’s last day as a one year old. Also, probably the last time I should be referring to him as a baby. We’ll discuss that later, maybe. For now, let me have my moment.
Anyway, I think he knows that 2 year olds don’t get away with quite as much stuff as one year olds, because this is the scene I came down to after an extremely quick potty break (the only kind of potty break a SAHM of little ones gets during the day). In the 1.5 minutes I was gone, Luke managed to get the big bag of Fruit Rings (a Fruit Loops knock-off) off of the counter, cop a squat next to the oven, and taunt my in-laws’ pup with the sugary treats cereal.

Today, catching him on his last day as a one year old, it’s a Kodak moment. Tomorrow? Off to the naughty step! (Which, actually, he is quite familiar with already. )

My 3 1/2 year old looking at the toliet in McDonald’s…

“Mommy….this potty is AWESOME!”

Why, yes, we are teaching our kids to appreciate the finer things in life.
note: Bald Man says it’s important to make it known that this was the women’s restroom. In the men’s restroom, he claims that the commentary is more along the lines of:

“Daddy, what’s that smell?”

or

“Daddy, don’t step in the puddle!”