little devils

yeah, 3 months later...

well, things are a little crazy in my world these days. i'm so used to the boring "every day is the same", that now it is just a little hard to sit down and figure out what to write. (not to mention the fact that i didn't even get those 2 sentences out without being interrupted by having to referee!!) anyway, i have been working 4 days a week and it adds up to only about 10-12 hours a week, but it has really changed how i get things done during the day. i'm not as good at time management as i used to be!!

the good news is that he is completely intelligent. he can count to 100 and knows the Lord's prayer and the books of the new testament, all his colors, shapes, letters and loves to sing. luke has about 2 weeks left in preschool for the regular year. then they are off for 2 weeks and then he switches from fridays to tuesdays (my only day off of work!) he got his first official time-out last friday. he was kicking over the other kids' blocks and the teacher got on to him several times. the last time, she had no sooner gotten it out of her mouth when he got up, went over there and kicked them over. so he had to sit in the time-out chair and lost his treat for the day. when i got there she said he also wouldn't use the potty all day. (it bothered her, but not me because this is a child that has held it from athens to gulf shores!!) anyway, i marched him to his room, spanked him, made him potty and flush (something else he wouldn't do the week before) and then go hug his teacher and apologize. he lost his video and game priviledges for the weekend. (tough mama!!) he has had an issue with using the potty in public. (it's the industrial flush...woosh!! i think.) he has been potty trained a year now and just hates to do it in public. well, this past february he actually went a couple of places in public without problem. we were super duper pumped. we even made a trip to dothan where he used it at the mall. well, around my birthday we were at red lobster in decatur where he was using the potty and he shifted a little and it was one of those automatic things and the child nearly jumped out of his skin!! so pottying is actually just now getting back to some normalcy. he went a couple of weeks where he was wetting his underwear all the time and peed on my couch 4 times in 1 week. i thought i would kill him!! oh, and let's not even get into the time he peed on the chair...so much so there was a puddle on the floor!! but he is going fine at home again, but the school thing...we may have to work on. he has also developed a fear of bugs. one saturday a bumble bee buzzed by his ear and he went birzerk. i had to lock him out of the house so he wouldn't be inside alone while we were all outside. now, everyone knows if there is even a fly in the room. seriously...i'm surprised i even bathe anymore!! he has also been having allergies for the last week and getting him to take medicine is like water torture. seriously...i must have been the actual devil in my past life to get him!!

sethy...little sethy. well, i had him sleeping in a toddler bed because he no longer fit in a pack n play when we traveled. so it was just getting time. he was doing fine until he realized that he can just get up. so he was getting up at like 5 am or so and just being up for the day, playing in his room. aggrevating. and as soon as we'd lay him down, he was right back up. so back to the crib he went. he is mouthy...and good lord! he can say absolutely anything and can say all the way to "k" in the abcs. he's a smarty for sure. he is all red head. between the 2 of them, i have definitely earned my angel wings.

they are both in their rooms right now crying. the computer room sits right in the middle, so i have it in stereo. and that is a good reason not to post very much!!)

micah is training for the cotton row 10k like he does every year so my sunday afternoons are shot right now because he goes over to run the course. i'm not sure why he cares. he's not in it to win it or anything. so giving up every sunday afternoon has mama a little ill these days. but i just make sure i take the same 3 hours doing something alone on saturdays. (i'm warped like that!)

we are going to the beach at the end of august and that is our only other plans for the rest of the year so far. we're not great travelers so that is probably just fine! hope everyone is doing well and i'm sorry it has taken forever to post. hopefully it won't be another 3 months. i'll work on some new pics later.

drama queens and biting things

i thought seth was gonna be my good baby. my angel baby. apparently with the full moon in his sixteenth month, the devil has completely come out in my little man. he swats at things, he growls in frusteration, he throws himself down in the floor in an all out fit. sometimes, his body goes completely limp, he turns blue and almost passes out. fun times. and as of this weekend, he decided he wants to be a biter. completely unprovoked, he has bitten luke 3 times, and i mean a hunk of a bite. and he had the gaul to bite micah last night. so micah bit him back. and of course the drama queen came back out after that. sethy has a long road ahead of him as he has yet to have to learn that mama is older, smarter, and the clincher....MEANER!! luke...well, he is 3. there are good moments and bad. i like to refer to the 2-3 year old stage as the bi-polar years. parenting is the absolute hardest thing i could have ever wanted to do. i know it will have it's rewards. i'm not really seeing those days any time soon i am quite sure. but i am sure this is my lesson in patience...children. i'm sure within a few days i'll get a few pics of the mean drama queen and his work to post.

milestones and other mishaps

well, things are getting a little crazy in our house. luke, as we all know, is 3 and if you have ever had a 3 year old, you know what all that entails. he is rough and tumble and tantrums and everything is "that's mine!" or "that's luke's!" he's such a JOY to be around these days. He hits and pushes his brother (fortunately he hasn't learned to put any weight behind it yet!) He still loves preschool and i am just waitin on them to call me for another day a week. stinkin waiting lists! He is starting to pretend a little these days. he is playing house with baby tad...putting him to bed, rocking him to sleep, buckling him in the booster chair to eat. it's cute. he loves to sing at the top of his lungs until he thinks you are listening. right now for sunday school he has to learn the Lord's prayer. he has done really well and knows probably about 1/2 of it. so i'm proud. he somehow doesn't get in trouble in school, and always seems to have a great day. (i wonder if they will keep him? lol)

Sethy...my sweet angel baby is turning into a 2 year old. at about 15-16 months both of mine have turned on me. unfortunately seth gets to learn from older brother. but sethy has a temper! gracious! he will surely let you know when he doesn't like something. he will throw and slap at stuff. he and i are in for a long year i imagine. i could kill micah for passing on that red-headed temper. i told him if i have one more red head or one more boy, he would likely find me in Tuscaloosa in Bryce. (no...no baby on the way...i'm talking "if" and "in the future.")

Not much else is going on. I will finally get to start back to work in a week or 2 which will be nice. It's just one day a week. I'm already having some babysitting issues, but it will work out i assume. That's about it for us for now. Not much happening which is a good thing! I've learned in the last week that being boring can be the best thing!

The Month that Was Christmas

Let me just say that I am glad Christmas is over! it seems like it really did last all month long! Luke had preschool stuff for the first 2 weeks of the month and his Christmas program on the 15th. it was too cute. the whole preschool wore matching painted sweatshirts. luke's class was the youngest and last to perform. he had to learn "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". And let me tell you, he knew every word down to the arm motion they do on "WISH". The 4 y.o. class went first and sang 2 songs. Then the 3s joined them for 2 more and then Luke's class (he's technically in the 2 y.o. class, but like in school, he will be the oldest). micah and i were just happy that he went up there and sat and didn't cry. let me tell you, when the 2s came out, all the parents were up there taking pics of their kids. luke sat there smiling for all the cameras and didn't sing until the last 2 lines of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and then he clapped with everyone. I was really hoping he would have sang more, but he was too interested in hamming it up for everyone NOT taking pictures of him. but it was cute none the less. on the 10th we went down to cullman to have christmas lunch with my father-in-law's side of the family. and that is basically all that happened there. let me just say that at this point, my tree had been up for 2 weeks and luke was asking to open presents every day. fortunately he was patient. i never had any problems with seth trying to get into the tree, it was luke this year. but eventually he got the point. the 16th was mine and micah's 6th anniversary and we spent the morning finishing up Christmas shopping (how romantic, right?). the next week was mostly calm except that both boys were just coming off of a 2 week cold. the 21st seth had his 15 month dr. appointment and he is big and healthy and got his chickenpox/mmr shot. NOT HAPPY!!

but he didn't have any reaction to it, so that was good. we all woke up here on Christmas morning (luke slept until 8 and seth and me until 9) and opened presents for forever. then that evening we had a couple over for christmas supper. 2 days later becky's parents (pop and mimi) came bearing gifts from a hundred people it seems, and stayed for 2 days and then that friday we finally all got together with micah's family and opened presents. fortunately micah was santa this year and we all just dug into the gifts instead of going in rounds (thank you Jesus!) we had supper and FINALLY it was over! this last sunday luke didn't want to leave class because he thought he was supposed to get a gift first. but this week he was back to normal.

so, all that and 10 lbs later, i'm glad for the new year!

Coming Soon...

i am not neglecting my general public...which may be about 3 people. but we STILL aren't done with Christmas. We have tomorrow when Pop & Mimi (becky's parents) come up for a few days, and then Friday with the Tucker's. Trust me...when Saturday gets here and i can finally deconstruct my house, normalcy will start to ensue and i will post our holiday stuff and pics of the kiddos.

off subject...when luke is saying the blessing at supper, it goes something like this: "God is great; God is good. Thank Him for food. Hands are fed. Thank you Lord for daddy's bread. Amen!" how cute is that?

T-Day Vaca & the Next Big Thing

We left last week and went to Dothan from Tuesday through Saturday. Dothan is a good 6 hour trip for us including the stop for lunch. Fortunately right now, Luke hates and refuses to potty in public places, so we don't have to stop every 10 minutes for a break. And yes, when we went to the beach and this trip, both ways, my son held it for 6 hours. Not healthy, but what can you do with a stubborn 3 year old? (that is a sincere question. all queries...email me.) It was a basically uneventful trip. Seth doesn't sleep in the car, so of course he was a delight. Dorothy said it best..."there's no place like home!" Micah and I just aren't good travelers. Even before children...we are good for maybe 4 days and then we want to be at home. I'm glad our honeymoon wasn't longer than that because we were ready to get off the boat and be in our own place. We are weird, I know. I got to spend time with my parents, both sets, my brother's family and even spend a few girl hours with a good friend that i only get to see maybe once a year. We really needed it. Micah will be gone next week to Houston, so all I can do is ask for prayers on mine and my children's behalves. It will be a doozy of a week thanks to the "oh my stars even worse 3s" and the constant battle of the wills and limit testing. Fun times. Seth cut 3 teeth in the last 2 weeks and we have 2-3 more on the way. So again, more fun times! I feel like i'm just kind of hitting the wall on mommyhood these days. I know it will get better. But that knowledge actually doesn't help me now.

Moving on...Christmas. It will be a little different dynamic this year for the Tuckers. We have a new member (welcome Jeff!) and the McGee part of our family will be at their home on Christmas morning as will we. We both feel it is important for Santa to come to our kids' house and that we wil not be traveling on Christmas day. I'm excited because i fully intend on cooking a big lunch, even if it is just the 4 of us. And we will all get together probably during the week. I'm not sure yet. But every year when we do the big Christmas all together, presents are opened one at a time in rounds from youngest to oldest. Yes, this takes hours (no exageration) and is a humongous pain, especially when 2 of the youngest are yours. But, I'm just gonna let them run wild. Christmas is about them (everyone's kids, not just mine) and I don't think they should have to wait on their toys! I did make the suggestion to stop buying every adult their own gift as we are broke and it is really just getting out of hand. (it's a big family!) Fortunately, that worked. So hopefully things will go a little quicker and smoother this year. I have mucho shopping to get done and am hoping I can make a good dent this weekend. We are also taking the kids to Santa's Village in Huntsville this weekend, so that should be fun. I know Luke will love it! I also am gonna try to get our Christmas cards done this weekend. So if you have moved in the last year, send me your new address! Mine and Micah's anniversary is coming up on the 16th (6 years married, 10 years together). I told him i wanted an actual date and that i didn't intend on planning anything or suggesting anything (because it has probably been 10 years since that happened!) He is just supposed to tell me what time to be ready, secure the babysitting, and let's go.

So that is basically it in the life of these Tuckers. Boring. We don't have any fun Christmas parties to attend or anything special going on. But that is us. Luke has a Christmas program at school in a couple of weeks so I'll post pics (let's hope i remember my camera)!