Hunter's "Finger Painting"

I haven't had a chance to blog about this until now! We have been crazy busy with last minute Christmas shopping, and other stuff going on.

Friday morning started like any other morning at our house meaning it was pretty uneventful. We have a routine of getting up and eating breakfast, changing the boys into their day clothes, having some tummy time for the baby while I clean the kitchen, and then me putting the baby down for his mid morning nap while I take a shower and Hunter watches cartoons or plays with toys. Hunter gets in some good play time and movie time with "Mommy" as he calls me, and then the baby usually wakes up and we eat lunch. Then we have some more awake time, and then we ALL go down for naps in the afternoon (by this time I am in serious need of one!)

Well Friday Hunter decided that a nap was too boring. Instead he stayed awake while I came upstairs and slept on our couch. Little did I know that Hunter had an inner artist side to him. He decided to do some "unconventional" fingerpainting in his crib. He took off his pants and decided that he was going to fingerpaint with his own poo all over the wall, his crib, the sheets, his stuffed animals, blankets, and himself! When I walked in, the smell nearly made me throw up. It was like I had run in to a brick wall of it! So needless to say I ended up spending a good hour calling my mom crying and complaining about what a mess it was, and cleaning it up at the same time. I had to throw Hunter in the tub, then clean the tub, and then disinfect the crib, the wall, and throw away his favorite stuffed animal because it was too far gone to wash. I had the strip the bed of everything and wash it twice on the hottest water I could muster with the washing machine. I think I was in shock of the entire thing. I was so mad at Hunter, I was ready to mount his bum to the wall! I mean it's one thing when they poop in the tub, but this was everywhere and it was a massive undertaking to clean everything off even washing Hunter and the tub!

I had to spray half a can of aerosol spray in his room to get rid of the smell. I was just so mortified at the whole situation. Of course my family just laughed at this after the fact, but geez, it certainly wasn't funny at the time! Luckily Friday night we left the kids with some friends of ours in order to get away for an evening to ourselves and to get some Christmast shopping accomplished! I SOOOO needed a night away after that nightmare!

Has anyone else ever had something awful like this happen? If so, please share! And I hope I didn't gross anyone out!

The "Honeymoon" period is SO over!

In foster care classes, they warned us about what they call the "Honeymoon'" period. This is the time when children are first placed in your home, and they obey everything you say, behave themselves, etc. Well as of last Friday night for our 2 year old, we found that that was totally over! Brandon had text me earlier in the day asking if I wanted to go out to dinner with him and the kids. I text him back and was wondering if he was smoking something. But we went ahead with the plans anyway. That afternoon Hunter was incredibly moody and defiant. His favorite word is definitely the ever popular "NO!" you get from 2 year olds. I put him down (stupidly) for a very late nap. When he woke up he was even worse. We tried to explain to him that we were going to go bye bye and get something to eat. He absolutely didn't understand and this lead to the worst fit I have ever seen from any 2 year old in my life! He got on the kitchen floor and started wailing, kicking, and then came the first wave of blood-curdling screams! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He had been so good up to that point. All Brandon had to do was look at me and say that he refused to take Hunter anywhere in that condition. I decided to go ahead and feed Hunter dinner, and then coerced him into going out for ice cream at the restaurant we went to. Let's just say that between keeping him happy, as well as the baby, there wasn't much adult conversation happening between Brandon and I. But nonetheless it was good to get out and not have to stay at home and cook.

Saturday morning, the baby woke up with a cold. And he has still been pretty happy, but yesterday and today were a little rough for the little guy. I felt so bad for him. When he breathes through his nose, he sounds like a little kitty cat purring. I am learning through what sometimes feels like mistake after mistake when it comes to parenting. I often realize that I really have no idea what I am doing sometimes. I am just grateful that some things are starting to become routine for us.

Another little accomplishment that Brandon and I are pretty proud of is that with Hunter's speech delays, we have taught him a bunch of signs! This has helped tremendously with the frustrations of communication! He is so dang cute when he signs! We are excited for this!

New Foster Boys!

It has been 5 days since I went and picked up our new foster boys. It has been a little crazy at our house since then. I went last Wednesday and picked up 2 year old Hunter, and his 6 month old baby brother Riddick. They look nothing alike, except for their eyes! They are absolutely adorable and very good kids. They have been through some tough times that I can not really go in to detail about, but they are sweethearts. Hunter is pretty polite for a 2 year old and has a little bit of a speech delay, but that is no indicator of his intelligence for sure! He always asks me what things are, and tries so hard to repeat my answers. He says thank you in his own little way saying "day day" for everything you do for him, and everything you give him.

Baby Riddick, or affectionately called bubba, or buddy by us, is a smiley and happy-go-lucky little baby. He has huge blue eyes and a smile the size of Texas! He is just delightful to have around. We couldn't have asked for more precious boys to take care of for the next while! We aren't for sure how long we will have them, but we of course will love and adore them all the same!

It has been nuts at our house mainly because we aren't used to having little ones around! It has and is continuing to be quite the adjustment having two little boys in diapers and bathing two boys that aren't the biggest fans of the tub. We call it the chamber of torture, not only for them, but for us as the ones bathing them while they scream and cry!

Church today was definitely interesting, but went a little better than I thought it would. We have a reversed schedule at the hearing ward I attend. It is Relief Society then Sunday School, then Sacrament meeting! It was kind of nice to drop Hunter off in nursery giving me a little break, though I did worry about the nursery leaders and how he would do. It ended up with him being an angel for them, and the baby giving me heck during my meetings! I had predicted the exact opposite! I spent 2/3 of the day in the foyer on the couch with an ornery baby! Sacrament meeting came, and Hunter was so good just sitting on the pew and coloring with another little boy his age, but the baby didn't want anything to do with me sitting down and holding him. I had to take him out but stay close enough for Hunter to see me. So it ended up that I had two tired and hungry boys that I brought home to a surprised Brandon after sacrament, because I was too exhausted to handle on my own any longer!

That's about it for now, other than the fact that Lexi our dog is exhausted by the end of the day because it has been just as big of an adjustment for her as it has been for us or maybe even more so because she is used to the quiet and being the spoiled center of attention!