the mad cleaning day and genius parenting

my mother in law's parents were supposed to be staying with us til sunday (they came and slept here last night but apparently grandpa ed got a bad cough and doesn't want to get the kids sick so now they'll be staying at my in-laws for the rest of their visit) and as much as i said "i'm not going to go crazy, i'm just going to do basic cleaning and that's it" i couldn't hold myself to it.  so yesterday was a super intense cleaning day.  much needed though (i think that's one random thing i really like about house guests coming) because i was able to do a lot of things i've been putting off for no reason and i had a headache and low patience when i woke up and i think the cleaning and organizing gave me something to focus on and channel my energy towards.  like what some people say about exercising.  anyways, it was wonderful.  and i was the bipolar one in my relationship with my kids.  one second i'm obsessed with them and the next second they're driving me crazy.  more of the latter seconds though.  so the day was long and by sunset i was definitely ready to call it a day (even though i didn't go to bed til almost 3am... why do i do that?!?!) but it was productive and i'm calling it a success.  and i am 100% loving life today enjoying my clean house!

so here are pictures.  

iphone zombie pictures always crack me up

they're about the same width.  but one is twice as long as the other.

sibling playtime

words can not express my love for this face.  it is perfection.  with a light dusting of blonde wispies.

i had a HUGE parenting win in the "feeding brady solids" department.  brady is a great eater of baby food.  he loves it and i used to love feed it to him.  until his coordination and reflexes improved dramatically.  now, it makes me feel violent and suicidal.  well, maybe not suicidal but definitely violent.  like i literally want to throw and i frequently yell.  which is not good because abigail is very observant of this.  you see, i can take a spoonful of peas and wait five minutes for him to take his hands or bib out of his mouth.  as soon as i shove the spoon in his mouth, he shoves his hands and bib back in his mouth.  i pull them out with a spare hand that isn't holding a spoon, jar of baby food, or bib down (i think even an octopus would struggle with this job) and then they're just darting like a cat in the night with the speed of a cheetah.  i mean, like a cheetah in the night.  the most recent feeding, he had food on his face, in his ears, in his hair, on his hands and arms, on his shirt and shorts,  all up and down his legs, in his toes, and all over the bumbo.  and i had food lightly misted all over me from the mouthful of food that happened as he was blowing bubbles.  

i frequently joke about needing a baby straight jacket for mealtimes but that last feeding made me think it through a little more.  christopher said "well, why don't you swaddle him before you feed him?"  i'd considered this but didn't think he would be able to sit upright if he was swaddled.  but then a day went by and i didn't feed him any solids because i just knew i couldn't handle it without yelling and i went to bed feeling guilty for being selfish and not feeding my baby.  i needed a solution.  sooo, next time i needed to feed brady, i got a pair of abigail's leggings and used them to tie brady's arms so he couldn't move them.  a modified swaddle of sorts.  and then i stuck a bib on him and plopped him in the bumbo.  he was the happiest homestarruner baby ever.  and it worked so well that i told abigail she could feed him as much as she wanted.  

and then i hung out and took pictures of it all.  a dream come true.

he is gorgeous, is he not?  even with oatmeal all over his face.  his features are perfect and beautiful.

i love that abigail loves hats.  i'm loving this mickey hat.  right up there with her pink hobo hat.

and i looooove that she opens her mouth when she's getting him to take bites.  and that she uses the spoon to wipe the extra from his chin.  and that she coaches him through it with "open your mouth brady.  okay, good job."  he loves her so much.

the straightjacket.  i layed him on the waistband of the leggings and the leg parts went around his arms and tied behind his back.  so simple.  i should have done this a month ago!

and see how happy he is with his straightjacket?  his bib was almost perfectly clean (probably would have been untouched if i had been feeding him instead of abigail) and he only had food around his mouth.  that's it.  no oatmeal foot scrub this time.

the pictures look serious but they were all giggles.

and i didn't even see this gem til long after the fact.  tongue extended.

and then everything that's normally cute like "mommy, i'm going to show you all of my cards" was not that amusing because i just wanted everything to be all put away.

and again in the kitchen.  "tomato" "purse" "door" "present" "what's this one, mommy?"

 but we made it through and all was right with the world.  brady did so well being neglected as much as he was and abigail made sure to break out her preciousness ("mommy, let's read all of these books together!") at just the right times to keep me sane.

and here's a video.  i started doing a video by accident but just went with it.  sadly, i didn't get much of the feeding because baby girl got a speck of baby food on her hand and had to clean it off immediately.  

there are definitely pros and cons to her ocd.