the incident

today we had one of those incidents that i think all moms dread. you know it will happen eventually, but you just keep hoping by some twist of fate you might escape it. yes...i am talking about "a diaper incident."

sometimes it occurs in the crib, sometimes in the car...ours was in the playroom. behind the baby swing to be precise. while sitting in the playroom i noticed a rather unpleasant odor coming from that corner. i was not terribly phased as this relatively "private corner" tends to be ben david's chosen location for his daily consitutional. however...upon second glance, it became quickly apparent that today's "consitutional" was not at all contained.

in fact...none of it was contained, but rather...ALL OVER THE CARPET!!! did i mention that we JUST had our carpet's professionally cleaned last friday?? ben david was promptly escorted upstairs for an emergency scrub down bath, and this was followed by a good dousing with lysol (just kidding). for those wondering (especially those who visit our home on occasion) i spent the next 30 min. cleaning and sterilizing the carpet and all involved clothing.

oh...and just to give you a visual (don't worry...no graphic pictures to follow)...here is the faulty diaper that was implicated in this incident:

yes...your eyes do not deceive you. it is perfectly clean. reusable in fact. indeed...not at all marred in the process. hard to believe, but true. yes...i am thinking about a lawsuit against huggies.

and so continues the chronicles of my life as a stay at home mom! stay tuned for more exciting episodes.

Lotion Anyone??

i just couldn't let the day go by without adding this to our blog. my good friend jane has twins boys (not to mention two little girls and one on the way) and today they were being entirely too quiet upstairs during "rest time." suspicious...jane checked on them only to find this scene playing out. please note the "bundle of joy" sign on the door in the background. can anyone relate to this picture???

prodigy

we think that james is a prodigy. i mean...one look at this photo and you will have to agree. only 7 months old and already at the wheel. look out world...here i come! oh, and in case you were wondering, although not visible in this picture, ben david is in the corner scowling. he is not at all pleased with this situation. sharing is a relatively new and foreign concept around here.

child labor

today i was thinking. ben david turns two next month and it is high time he started to pull his weight around here. i mean, i could use a helping hand here and there. so...we started today off with ben david taking james for a walk. yes...i do realize that james is about the same size as ben david, but hey, it's a good workout!! i guess really he is pulling james' weight around here..but it's a start!

here is a pic to capture that moment...

LIFE AT THE WRIGHTS

As a father you have to understand your kids expressions sometimes more than their words - this is the case with us and BD since he still has a limited vocabulary such as: ma = milk, ma ma= mom, da = whatever he is pointing at, and mah mah = please or a substitute for what ever you are trying to make him say. Anyways in this picture ill let you interpret the photo. Is he trying to say (a) I have a dirty diaper? (b) Im just sad because i keep getting called a girl with my curls? or (c) I dont want a picture taken i just want the camera? You can leave you comments and see if you can guess right - ill blog the correct answer latter.
This is the new chair. Thanks to craigslist we picked this up for $30 and it has been a new fave for BD and his TV habits. Here you have to understand what BD is saying aswell - can you tell what he is trying to say to me? James is just happy to have the opportunity to share in BD's bigboy chair - Thanks for loving life James.



Here BD is just glad not to have clothes on (exept for the socks ) . Its a funny thing when the clothes come off - its like it puts him in another mode of running around as fast as he can.

I like to call this sugar high. Anytime the day is just not going well and BD wont do something then just give him a lolipop or a M&M and this is what happens...
So after long hours of searching craigslist and other peoples backyard i finally broke down and bought a swingset. I had hoped to buy a used one but they are hot items on the market and just never could land on one. This one looked cool in the store but not as cool when you get it home and open up the boxes. This box consisted of the fasteners....
The remaining 5 boxes look to have wood peices that you put together to achieve the look in the store. Not shure how long this is going to take - the instructions said 2 skilled men 20-25hrs. I am thinking to acheive this on friday (1 very skilled man 10hrs).

This is as far as i got over the weekend. This was about 2hrs of work. Somehow it just doesnt look like the one in the store yet.

one ticket to paradise, please!

i've been thinking about blogging on one of my days as a stay at home mom...and here it finally is, though long overdue! several days ago i had one of those days as a mom where you are ready to jump on the first plane to anywhere. actually...even a solo trip to the bathroom would have sufficed. :)
ben david is no longer taking a morning nap, so our time at home in the morning can feel quite eternal. this was tuesday...and here was the order of events:
6:30am wake up time!!
this was followed by breakfast for everyone which now take about an hour as james nurses and eats real food, and ben david eats too.
i then diaper and cloth everyone for what will be the first of about 10 times that day.
next, we have a marathon playtime consisting of mr. potato head, playdough, ball, chase, hide and seek, more mr. potato head, cars and blocks.
it now about 9am and james goes down for an hour nap.
meanwhile, ben david now gets to watche a little clifford while i take a lightning fast shower(praying he doesn't switch the channel to jerry springer in those 10min or disassemble our bedroom in any permanent way).
as i try to apply makeup, ben david insists on using my electric toothbrush, coming back every 10sec. for more toothpaste (that he's not really suppose to get in the first place d/t the fuloride content...oh well!;)
i then allow ben david to play with paper clips on the treadmill in the bonus room while i get james changed.
more mr. potato head
next, an attempt to unload dishwasher while blocking ben david from the knives as he "helps" me put the dishes away.
let ben david take all the spices out of my cabinet just for fun only to replace them to have them removed at least 12 more times that day.
at this point, james gets up and we spend about 20 min. packing ourselves (partially due to the fact that ben david is removing each item i put in the diaper bag as i put it in) and finally get in the car.
attempting to drive while handing ben david the occasional goldfish can be tricky, but at least in the car we are all contained! cartime can be your best friend as a mom.
we arrived at the food court for our weekly outing with our cousins and grandmommie and poppie. this event truly deserves a blog in and of itself, but i will try to capture the scene briefly for you: there are 7kids in all...my sister with her 5 kids and me with my two. not to mention that by the time it is all said and done, we have to go to sbarro, chicfila, showmars, subway, the chinese place (for my niece...the only child her age that eats low mein), and the great steak and fry company. no, i am not exagerrating. the cleanup crew there knows us by name and probably dreads tuesdays as we leave a royal mess behind.
in order to survive this event today and keep ben david in his highchair...i cave and get him chocolate milk for the first time. glancing over at one point, i notice he is sucking his cup dry and has yet to take a breath since his first sip. needless to say, the chocolate milk was a hit! we last for about 30min today, and then head home for naptime. it was a complete failure this particular day...both boys napping a grand total of an hour. my to do list shot, i bundle both boys up (which take about 20min) and load them into the double stroller for an afternoon jog in the freezing cold. now...i think the best way to describe this event is with a timeline:
2:00pm- start our run
2:05pm- stop to replace the plastic jogger cover the ben david has kicked off
2:10pm- stop to return james' toy to him that ben david has swiped
2:15pm- stop to block ben david from poking james in the eyes (he's not being ugly, just learning body parts)
2:20pm-stop again to return james the toy that ben david has yet again stolen
2:25pm-stop to retrive the sippy cup rolling down the street
2:30pm-end the run

now, i'm guessing that my 30min. run really consists of about 3min. of true running when you take above into consideration. still...we got out of the house!
realizing this is taking way to long to type...i will spare you the details of our evening. i wish i had a picture to put with this blog, but there is just not picture that could capture the day well enough.
but needless to say it was a humdinger. one that left me saying..."one ticket to paradise, please!" then again...i wouldn't trade my "paradise" with these boys for any place else. well...most days at least!:)

Family Photo Day

Ok I'm the first to admit that i hate staged photo shoots with props, makeup, and anything elts that makes you look like something that you aren't. So for the last year i have denied family photos to Christina trying to postpone the inevitable day that I would have to go. Pretty much the worst gift you could give me for my b-day would be a gift certificate to glamour shots. Anyways - Christina came up with a compromise of having somebody that the Wrays knew come to our house to take some family pictures. I was not excited about this but new it was probable the best compromise to my ordeal. Lindsey Turner (the photographer) was lined up for a Saturday afternoon and we prepped for the big day. This involved purchasing about 4 outfits for the boys not know what the weather would be and what colors would work. I had no idea that shirts and pants for kids that would fit my foot can cost more than days wages - we went on rice and beans for a week and landed on two striped shirts from the gap - my shirt however is a find at the thrift store $3 bucks.

To my surprise i have to say i was impressed with Lindsey. She did an amazing job of dealing with BD (Ben David) among his desire to be anywhere but in the picture. She has an amazing way with kids that makes them feel comfortable within minutes of meeting them. I have attached a few of the pics for you viewing pleasure of our family. There are also more on Lindseys blog ( http://lindseyturner.blogspot.com/). You can also go to her website and find out more about her rates - she is excellent!!!

James - about to roll off the Ottoman.

Ben David - I may look calm but watch me run!!

You can't see the Bling Bling from Christina's ring but she is taken - sorry guys..

This is the pond by our house. You may think that i am leading here but its the other way around. If BD had his way he would be in the water.

No teeth yet - but we are looking forward to the drool and long nights...

In the background you can see the chain fence - this is how Lindsey was able to corner him into taking this shot... he can run but only as big as the back yard is. ...