officially up and running…

although not all that pretty yet. Visit www.crumbsinmycouch.com

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

toys, stickers, and books, oh my

I spent most of yesterday feeling like I was dying.  Seriously.  Fever, chills, aches, horrible headache, couldn’t breathe, wheezing, stuffy nose, coughing, the works.  It was all I could do to sit on on couch and make sure the kiddo didn’t seriously injure himself.  By the end of the day, there were books and toys everywhere.  I mean everywhere, like you couldn’t walk without stepping on something.  I gave him some stickers which were on the floor, the couch, the rug, and my pants.  Scott had a long day, of course.  But he was a huge help when he finally did get home.  He picked up the mess, got Caleb ready for bed, emptied the dishwasher, got Caleb breakfast this morning, and let me sleep in.  I broke down and sobbed (for about the 5th time) when Scott got home yesterday.  Luckily we have some penicillin here, and I have self diagnosed myself with some type of bacterial something, for which antibiotics are warranted.  I actually think it is an upper respiratory infection.  Thankfully I’m feeling much better today, and obviously sound well enough for my own mother to take no notice.

More cuteness:

• Caleb and I were looking through a Bible stories book yesterday.  As we went through the creation story, looking at the pictures, he saw a picture of a giraffe.  He hugged the book, laying his check over the Charley, and then put his hands up to say where’s my Charley.  I pointed to him across the room on the table and he hopped down and went and got him and hugged him tight.  He also hugs the same page in another book that has a picture of two other children on it that are loving on their stuffed animals.
• When he woke up from his nap yesterday, he found me on the couch.  He climbed up in my lap, and gently brushed my hair out of my face, and put the backside of his hand on my forehead and said ‘hot.’  Yep I definitely won the kid lottery.

 

another new name

I think I have finally settled on a name for my blog. It would be just my luck to reveal it here, and someone grab up the domain. So I think I’ll keep it to myself for the time being. I have to complete my domain and hosting purchase and get WordPress installed. I hope I’m not getting in over my head! That’s all for now.

 

today we made…

Fishbowls! I got the inspiration from Enchanted Learning and modified it a little to suit my need for the rice (or sand) not falling off + the artistic capabilities of a 2 year old. I think he did pretty good. I found some super easy to wash off/out non toxic paint at walmart. I bought foam stickers shaped like fish. I think they came out pretty cute.

I participated as well and we made an extra one to take to Granny’s tomorrow.

 

funny friday

 

toddler vs patience

Caleb is really beginning to test his limits.  Saying no/refusing, not necessarily because he dislikes the task at hand, but just to see what happens when he says no.  I bought some Easy Ups for diaper changing in an effort to make things go more smoothly, because he never wants to lay down.  He caught on pretty quick, and he drops down and tucks his knees to his stomach and plants his arms firmly against his sides with his hands underneath the ball.  Somewhat annoying at best.  I lost my patience in the bath tub this morning and tried out a little smack on the butt.  He got pretty upset and I felt pretty bad (and of course the speech therapist called in the middle of the escapade).  I don’t think it is something I want to continue in the future.  He’s a good kid overall, and I want him to behave out of respect, manners, and morals rather than fear of getting in trouble or being spanked, etc.  I’ve been reading Dr. Sears’s book on discipline (can you tell?).  God made toddlers cute for a reason.  They require large amounts of patience.  Caleb has also upgraded his tantrum mechanism.  He throws his hand out in front of him repeatedly (with his fingers positioned in the sign language formation for the word no) and just  screeches with high levels of frustration.  He still comes to me for a hug during these times a lot.  I try to talk to him calmly and quietly, and tell him that I understand he is frustrated and that it is okay, etc.  Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t.  Distraction and/or redirection still work reasonably well.  He is thankfully trying to communicate more, but just basic words.  I look forward to being able to have a two way conversation at times like these.

 

the washer eats baby socks

I know what you’re thinking. That isn’t right. The saying is “the dryer ate the socks” not the washer. I beg to differ.

This is what I found last night when I went to put the clothes in the dryer. Yep the washer was full of water still. I began despairing over how we might afford to purchase a new one. Scott called his boss, Steve, who coincidently used to own a laundromat…how convenient. He told Scott exactly how to take it apart and what to look for. We had previously thought that the motor was locked up, since the agitator wouldn’t budge.

Since I had never seen the inside of a washer before I thought I would take pictures to remember the occasion. Not what I would have imagined. I’m not sure that I have ever given much thought to what it might look like though.

Scott placed the poor sopping wet Charley atop the agitator after making fun of me for taking pictures. It was finally determined that we needed a water pump because ours was locked up. But upon further examination of what caused it to lock up…?

Yep. The washer ate a baby sock. Literally. Best we can determine after looking at the washer guts, the sock must have been washed over top of the rim so that it ended up between the actual wash basin and the clearish tub pictured above that contains the water. Then when the water drained, it went down the pipe and became lodged in the water pump. If it is the sock I think it is (can’t tell for sure), it went missing about a month ago!  So it very well may have been trapped for a while before making its way down to the pump.  Scott had to pull rip it out with pliers! As you can see, it came out in a couple pieces. Thank goodness for my handyman!!

 

it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood

So far today In the last hour I have:

• I have wanted to choke the dog because he barked so much,
• so I took him to the very end of the field,
• and tied him around a tree.
• Come out the door carrying a pot of almost boiling water, caught my sleeve on the door handle,
• sloshed nearly boiling water on my hands,
• dropped (and dented) the pot,
• thus sloshing the same water on my feet, which made me
• do a lovely little dance.
• The I came back in and crashed our POS computer by holding down the on/off button. Go team!

But my newly found optimism has me laughing over it instead of crying

 

the things you do…

the things you do for your kids:

We have officially acquired THE Walmart pool

Scott was thoroughly embarrassed to be driving 20mph with a plastic pool tied to the roof.

 

And the things you do to your kids:

The only thing ever made by Speedo that belongs in the same sentence as the word “cute.” But then again I am slightly biased.

Of course he didn’t just gain 10lbs, there are ‘floaties’ on either side of him that zip into pockets

More pictures of pool play to follow I’m sure.