Children are good for...

I always said my parents had me just so they could make me do chores.  Not that they really made me do that much, but at the time it felt like a lot.  I think I had to rake leaves once when I got in trouble and I know I had to clean my room.  Oh, the insanity.  It's one perk of having children, right?  Making them do the stuff you don't want to do?  I think one of the first things Matt said when we found out Banks was a boy was that he was excited about teaching him to rake the leaves.  Banks is still a bit too young to clean the toilets for me, but his day is coming, don't you worry.  He is good for a few things already:

-eating the hard and end pieces of bread (Matt and I used to fight over who had to eat the first two pieces of bread in the loaf, since they are harder than the rest.  I'm telling you blog world, have a kid and all your problems will be solved.)

-eating the really over-ripe bananas

-throwing things in the trash

-shredding things

-walking the dog

-fetching things (might come in handy once the new babe gets here)

We'll be working on increasing his list of know-hows.  Pretty soon he'll be serving me breakfast in bed.  All joking aside, he is good for more than the list above.  One favorite: he's good for a laugh.  That guy says some of the craziest things.  I know it happens with all children...they overhear something and then repeat the phrase at just the right moment.  And he knows he's funny too.  He cracks himself up and says "dat funny" or "I be silly."

He's also soaking up the Christmas spirit.  He can already sing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman", and "Jingle Bells".  He knows about baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the manger and the donkey.  He knows all about Santa's "alfs" that help him in his shop.  Banks doesn't know it yet but an "alf" is going to be coming to his house very soon.  He also says he's going to ask Santa for a fire truck, some trucks and some tractors. 

This year, since we're in the TTT (teeny-tiny townhouse), we're scaling WAY back on the Christmas decorations. Banks and I are making all the ornaments and decorations for the tree. I think it will be so sweet to look back on our last Christmas with just the three of us and remember making all the decorations together! I can't say that I'm not sad about not doing it up big this year, but we just don't have the space. Plus, our stuff is spread out all over the world and I'm not sure which storage unit has which decorations. Wish us luck!

Stringing the cranberries.  We only knotted the string 257 times.

Glitter.  I hate glitter.  Toddlers and glitter do not mix well.  See how neat it all looks in the picture?  He was just getting started.  But the snowflake sure turned out pretty! 

Also on tap for this week: stringing popcorn, salt dough ornaments, and something involving sequins.  I'll post pictures once we actually get a tree on which to hang all our ornaments!

I'm exhausted!

Banks' style of play these days is very active.  Lots of chasing, flipping upside down, hide-and-seek.  He starts one thing, plays with it for 10 minutes or less and then moves on to the next thing.  He plays very loudly and he's bossy.  "No, mommy, drive the trains ober he-ah", "no, mommy, run", or "mommy, get up!"  If I am doing ANYTHING in the kitchen, he drags our little step ladder in there and wants to help.  I even tried to get him to sit still and watch TV the other day and he wouldn't do it.  What???  Needless to say, I'm exhausted from playing with my child!  I am super thankful that he's active, healthy and wants to run and play all the time, but whew! I'm worn out at the end of the day. 

I'm also worn out from trying to discipline him.  He is pushing EVERY boundary, EVERY limit and even breaking some rules willingly and accepting his punishment without a second thought.  As an example, Banks has learned to lock/unlock our front door.  We have sent him to time out or spanked when he does this since, you know, there's a certain level of danger there.  Well, yesterday I was putting some things in the car and came back to open the door and he had locked me out of the house!  Little stinker.  There are some days when I feel like he can do nothing right; I am on him ALL DAY LONG.  "Banks, don't put your feet on the table."  "Banks, don't feed the dog your grapes."  "Don't throw."  "Hurry up."  "Don't lock me out of the house."  "No, no, no!"  And, there are some days when I can't do anything right.  "NO, mommy, I was going to do that" is what I hear when I try to put his shoes on, help him into the car, carry him up the stairs, and on and on and on I can go.

We all know that doing the right thing is usually the more difficult choice.  Disciplining, or molding your child into making the right choices, is definitely difficult.  There are some days when I just want to close my eyes and pretend that I don't see him hit the dog or spit his food out or unroll the toilet paper but I heave myself up and discipline even though it's not easy.

Banks is not a "bad" child; very far from it.  He's caring, comes up and hugs my legs all the time and tells me "I lub you, mom", and very smart.  He's energetic, creative and thoughtful in his play.  He's observant and insightful (as insightful as a two year old can get).  He is the love of my life and I can't imagine loving anything more and at the same time I can't imagine being this exhausted and having someone else for which to care.

Speaking of that someone else, he finally has a name!  We're going to name him Andrew Phillips and call him Andrew.  Andrew is from Matt's side and I couldn't tell you how they are related.  All I know is it's on the family tree so that counts!  Phillips is my maternal grandmother's maiden name.  My pregnancy is flying by and I'll be in the third trimester before I know it.  My belly button is trying to turn itself inside-out.  I've never run more than three miles in my life but I'd imagine my belly button feels like that of a marathon runner.  It is so sore and sensitive.  My shirt rubs it all day everyday and it certainly doesn't help that a little two year old punches, rubs, pushes, etc on my belly everyday.

Enough of belly button grossness.  Here's a picture of my little Indian from his MMO Thanksgiving feast.  He made sure to skip the green beans and corn and opted for two cookies and two juice boxes.  Lunch of champions.

I just don't know what to do with myself...

Matt is going out of town for a few days this week and for the week after Thanksgiving.  Bummer.  However, wasn't there a Sex and the City episode where the girls talked about "single girl behavior"?  Plucking things, shaving things, etc.  Things that you just can't do with a man around.  There are a few things I can assure you will happen while Matt is gone.
1. I will shower less.  I won't be gross, I'll just be less clean.
2. I will get in the bed earlier than I'd like to admit.  And I'll be SUPER happy about it.
3. I will go to bed with the t.v. OFF.  Something that rarely happens with Matt around.
4. I will watch ridiculous girl t.v. with no shame.  There will be no ESPN this week.
5. I will make (and most likely eat the whole thing as to leave no evidence) some fabulous chocolate cake/pie/cookie.  I will eat all of it with little to no shame (until I go to my next doctor's appointment and wonder why I gained so much weight this month).
6. I will let my child watch more t.v than usual.  Give me a break here, I'm pregnant.
7. I will give the dog water.  I forgot to do this last time Matt went out of town until I found Buford crying at the toilet (3 days after Matt left).
8. I will get bored and lonely and wish my husband would hurry up and get home so I can have someone to talk to.

Randomness.

I am so behind on my blogging.  I planned on doing a Fall recap to cover all the fun things we've done so far this fall but the thought of wading through all the pictures to cover it all seems overwhelming right now.  So, I'm just going to type and see what comes out of the ole brain and then I'll throw in some completely random pictures so you can see if you remember what we look like.

Something you may have forgotten is that we're having another baby.  In fact, I kind of forgot myself until I tried to bend straight over last week and about squished the poor kid to death.  Somewhere between weeks 22 and now (almost 25) the belly just poked itself right on out there.  I had a moment of panic in the middle of the night last week that I really have just about 3 months until this bambino gets here.  And, I haven't done ONE thing to get prepared.  Not that there's much to do since we're still in the TTT (teeny-tiny townhouse) and there's really no place for him to go anyway so we'll just put him in a bassinet in the corner somewhere.  Do I feel some momma guilt about that?  Absolutely.  I also realized that with Banks we borrowed almost everything...swing, bouncy seat, bathtub, bumbo (really any baby item that starts with a "b"), snap and go, etc.  We might as well just borrowed a baby at the rate we were going.  So, there are some major things we need to buy and if you know Matt, the accountant husband, that really excites him.

And speaking of the TTT, the walls seem to be closing in on me.  Seriously, my kid might be the loudest kid in America.  He just can't help but yell all the time.  He hits the ground running (literally) and doesn't stop until he's forced into his crib.  He can be awake for 12 minutes and have pulled every toy out of every bin.  It's a wonder I don't break my neck with the amount of debris through which I have to maneuver.  We're super ready to be in a house.  So much so that we're even entertaining the idea of building.  I just almost choked while typing that.

Let's see, what else?  All the Halloween festivities seemed to fly by and we are really looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I just love this time of year and it's even more special this year knowing it'll be our last with just Banks.  Santa might just have to be extra good to him for that reason!

So sorry for all the randomness but it's an update, right???  As promised, here are a few pictures.  I'm off to bed.  Yes, I know it's only 9:00 and yes, I know there's a great football game on, but let's be honest here.  About the only thing that gets me excited this time of night is a brownie and a bowl of ice cream and getting in the bed.  Night all!

Banks the Witch at his school Halloween party.

Proud of his pumpkin!

My little froggy at the Fall Festival:

Having a ball at the Zoo today: