Two hundred plus three

Today marks my 200th post (coinciding with continuing coverage of Tyson's 3rd birthday). This little blog started out as a way for me to share pictures and stories for Tyson's grandparents/aunts and uncles to enjoy since we live far away from all family. Then my screaming ball of fury was born and it morphed into a place where I could write freely about how hard it was to have a really fussy kid so far away from home. For some reason, I could write about my struggles with much less guilt than verbalizing them. In short: this blog kept me from losing my shit.

Life is loads easier now so until the next little nugget is born, I can breathe easy and use this as a medium to brag about my 3 year old. I am a mother after all and bragging is what we do.

touche unknown author...touche

The Cake

Sooo....my child is three. I swear last week he was a screaming infant with the inability to nap and now he's, well, a BOY. An energy filled, motorized vehicle loving, dinosaur obsessed, extremely verbal BOY. I used to think the parents that were sad on their kids birthday's were a bit crazy. Now (along with everything I have ever thought about parenting prior to actual children) I realize what it's all about. I'm thrilled that Tyson is getting older and more independent but saddened at the realization of how fast this is all happening. If things continue at this speed, it feels like he'll be graduating tomorrow. I'd better start embarrassing the crap out of him today so I can squish in all the parental issues he'll need to tell a therapist before he moves out right?

Anyway, onto a fun topic. We had a birthday party for the little guy yesterday. My pregnancy nesting morphed into the need to bake his cake, even though a trained pastry chef lives next door (crazy I know). I found what I thought was a relatively easy dinosaur cake and got cracking. First we started with two 9" rounds.

Then I set out to a little carving. I thought I could find a template to print but turns out I had to try it on my own.

It's starting to take shape (PHEW!)

After a quick crumb coat (yeah, I said crumb coat...who's been watching a little too much Ace of Cakes? This girl!) and some time in the freezer to set, I could finish things off.

After another coat of icing and some candy decorations this was the end product. For my first attempt and a cake that had to resemble something other than an actual cake, I think it turned out okay!

Random update

Okay, so once again here I sit trying to explain why I have been such a crappy blogger. What can I say? Life is nuts. Some things that have happened are very good and some are inexplicably horrible. I will more than likely chat about the horrible stuff later but honestly, I'm not really ready for it (I am still pregnant and the baby seems to be fine so take that thought right out of your head).

Tyson is still the precocious little guy he's always been. Example: after having what I thought was an absolutely wonderful tantrum free day I was patting myself on the back thinking that our discipline (that has been soooo challenging lately) was really starting to work. "What good parents we are!" I thought. Then Tyson drops this little nugget. "Mom, you really did good today at saying yes instead of no. (pats me on the arm) You're getting much better." So...he's two...and apparently really good at training his mom. I am so screwed when he's a teenager. I'll leave you all to ponder the wisdom that comes out of my toddlers mouth and include some random pictures of the past couple of months.

Because sometime underwear is the best toy ever...

And sometimes your husband takes the pictures...can't tell who's in it but the living room looks great! (I'm pretty sure he doesn't know where the zoom is).

Sometimes pure bliss is as simple as watching your husband and son cuddle.

And sometimes going on a "dinosaur hunt" with your friend while wearing any kind of dress up clothing you can find leads to the best day ever.

A new kind of insanity

Our version of Valentine's day is probably a bit different than most (I realize it's not even close to February anymore...stick with me, it gets better). Instead of mushy cards or flowers and candy we decided to get the Insanity workout. So this workout arrived in the mail and we both excitedly geared up for our first session...

and promptly got our asses kicked. Holy hell this workout is...well, INSANE! Jason has been a very good little physical therapist and exercises religiously. I lasted approximately 1.5 weeks.

And then this happened. Instead of working my butt off in hopes of that six pack I parked it on the recliner and opened up a bag of chips. Yes, I realize that I should be exercising during pregnancy but my MD specifically said low impact...and what has less impact than my recliner? Nothing.

So here's the run down of the first 12 weeks...

My due date is October 22nd. The buttons on my pants are hanging on by a thread and tomatoes are a sure fire way to make me vomit. It's been a bit of a rough road as I am much more sick this time around (or am really getting good at blocking things out) but we are thrilled.

Here's to a whole other kind of insanity.

Sad

My Grandma died. She was 98 years old and amazing. I have a feeling I will want to write more about her later but for now, we are heading to northern Minnesota for a few days so spend time with the family.

Wisdom

One day Tyson and his three year old friend Owen were sitting at the table eating what I'm sure was an extremely nutritious snack while I was sorting through some old photos. This is the conversation that took place...verbatim...

Owen- "Who's that baby in the picture?"

Me-"That's Tyson"

Owen- "Awww Tyson you used to be a baby?"

Tyson- (deadpan) "Yeah...I was scared."

Owen- "oh, did you cry a lot?"

Tyson- "yep."

So apparently the reason why Tyson was such a screamer was because he was every bit as scared of my parenting abilities as he probably should have been. Smart kid.

Big N' Mighty Machines

I won't lie...I have totally sucked it up as a blogger lately. There are of course many excuses as to why I haven't been writing (most of which sound too lame to even post). So instead of completely boring you with these sad explanations, I will just continue onto today's post.

So as we approach age 3 (in 3 short months...aaack!), I am loving a lot of it (and hating a tad too...damn these kids and their free wills). Tyson is a riot but also, his attention span has expanded to slightly longer than that of a gnat (and in turn, slightly longer than mine). This makes my life infinitely easier. Of course, I could totally turn this into something productive (like teaching him a new language...or algebra...or perhaps how to get both his underwear AND his pants up over his butt and not just one or the other) but instead I have chosen to hypnotize him with the greatest show a toddler boy has ever known...

"Mighty Machines!"

To you or I this might seem like the most boring thing next to Thomas the Train (who writes that show anyway? Ben Stein?) but to these boys...

it's heaven. I love it too...cuz who wouldn't love the opportunity to get something done (like cook an extremely nutritious dinner...or slam a beer...your choice).