Sometimes You Just Can’t Win…

…And you just have to accept that!

At the end of this day when I was nursing Elijah before bedtime and reflecting on the last several hours, I couldn’t help but smile at how ironically discombobulated the afternoon was.  I only write about it because not only am I amazed at how many of my plans could be thwarted in just a few hours, but also that I can laugh at it, rather than sulk at the end of the day.  That is an accomplishment for me and evidence of how parenthood has developed me!

For starters, both boys were pretty exhausted after church since we had a LONG day and short night the day/night before.  I, myself, was exhausted and looking forward to a nap of my own while they napped – a rarity for me.  We got them both down and I did a few random tasks (including filling up our kiddie pool) while I waited for Elijah to wake up 45 minutes into his nap – a very predictable thing for him – so that I could help him go back to sleep if needed.  After that I hit the sack.  Well, I think he is hitting a growth spurt and he woke SCREAMING 30 minutes later, while I was apparently in a deep sleep because I just couldn’t quite pull myself together. 

At 5 p.m., an hour after my much needed nap was cut short, I decided to wake Josiah since it was getting so late.  To coax him out of bed I told him we’d go swimming.  He jumped up and ran out saying “pool, pool”…and then I heard a crash of thunder.  So much for that!  Plan B: we decided to play on the porch while it rained.  We got out there and it turned into a torrential gusty rain and we had to go inside.  Plan C:  He begged for “Pooh” (a new DVD he’s obsessed with), so I gave in, but then the power flickered off.  Plan D: Coloring by flashlight by the window.  This one panned out and proved to be fun.  He says “color me”, meaning “color with me”.  I opened the window so we could get some air and every time there was a crash of thunder/lightning, he’d look out the window and say “space ship”.  What?!?  I finally realized he had watched the shuttle launch on t.v. with Jacob and I assume it was noisy and he now thinks that is what makes thunder.  Too cute! :)

This is what an afternoon of playing in the pool may have looked like.  I’ve been looking for an opportunity to post these :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But this was our “color me” session we had instead.  It was actually quite dark in the room, but you wouldn’t know it due to the camera flash.

We had planned on grilling steaks, but with the downpour, that was out.  Not having AC, I didn’t want to heat up the house with the stove/oven (it is gas) only to eat with Josiah in the dark, so we packed the kids up and went out to dinner at Piesanos, a pizza place.  On the way out the door the power came back on and the rain let up.  We decided to go anyway since Josiah was well rested and, therefore, should behave and Elijah was tired and should sleep through it.  Perfect, right?

Well…Elijah didn’t sleep and Josiah didn’t behave!  I thought our food was good, Jacob said it “wasn’t bad”, and Josiah wouldn’t even eat a bite because he touched it too soon and burnt himself and because it didn’t look like the pizza he is used to.  Mom came late after church and I had ordered her a chicken parmesan pizza which she didn’t like because it had chicken on it!  Apparently chicken doesn’t belong on pizza.  Elijah finally totally lost it and I had to nurse him at the table which I know makes both Jacob and mom uncomfortable in public and definitely made our early 20’s waiter uncomfortable :)  Oh well.

That brings us to the end of an afternoon gone bad that wasn’t so bad.  I love and hate that life is so unpredictable.  You never know what you are going to get with kids and the best laid plans may or may not pan out.  Parenthood has definitely stretched my limits on many levels and has made me more understanding of other people’s day gone bad when it affects me.  And that is my only hang up when things don’t go right.  I hate when it alters other people’s plans or ruins their dinner out.  I don’t think we were too bad, though.  Tomorrow is another day…

Here are more random photos to help make up for so many words.  I think I’ve decided I need a journal so I don’t have to bore all of you so badly!

Aren’t they so cute?  I didn’t bother to put in all of the pictures taken in the process to get all 3 looking at the camera at the same time, but we finally got a cute one!