My life with Boys

A few days ago I was getting myself ready.  I had my two sweet little boys at my feet like I do every morning while I'm trying to get ready.  Chase is opening the bathroom cupboard and taking all my hair products and makeup out, and sprawling them all over the floor.  Wesley is darting in and out of my closet knocking down my clothes as he plays "peak a boo" with us.  Chase begins to put my brush in his mouth, and before his chubby little fingers can put it in his mouth, Wesley grabs it from him as he shouts, "No No Chase!!  You can't eat Mommy's brush!!"  Chase starts to scream, and Wesley starts crying too. Tears are flowing, and I'm trying to prevent Chase from knocking down my flat iron and burning himself while trying to control the situation.  I then take the boys and put them in the hall and ask them to give me five minutes so I can do my hair so we can go run our errands.  Chase then starts screaming louder (with tears).  I can hear Wesley yelling, "Chase is crying!!!!!!"  while banging on the door and rattling the locked handle. I sigh, and grumpily open the door and they rush in like a pack of dogs after some meat.  Chase goes over to the bedroom fan and turns it on and off, on and off.  Wesley rushes over to control the situation, and unplugs it saying firmly, "No No Chase!!!"  Chase starts crying again, and I pick him up and attempt to brush my teeth and do my makeup while holding my 25 lb 14 month old. It doesn't work too well, so I put him down.  Chase rushes over to the trash and pulls out all my tissue (I use a lot of tissue because of my allergies).  I rush over, put the trash out of his reach and try to finish.  I hear a crash, and I look back in my room (the bathroom is conected to my room), and he has knocked down my jewlry box with my earrings.  Normally that is out of his reach too, but I must have left it too low.  I go and pick it up before he ingests all my earrings.   I am tired, and it is not even 9 am.   I still have breakfast to battle (and it is a battle with Wesley!)  It takes me a long time to get him to eat anything, and I have to bribe him with every bite some mornings.  "I'm not hungry, I dont want anything!"  He says in his sweet high pitched voice.  I know if he doesn't eat, he will be crying and starving if we ever make it out the door.  Sometimes I just bring food with us, because it can take me 30 minutes to get him to eat a small bowl of cereal.  I have been late to church twice because I wasn't paying attention to the time, and sat there trying to get him to eat.  These mornings are fairly common, and often leave me with a bad case of 'the grumpies' *said in a low, silly voice*.  If you are not familiar with this condition, let me give you a few examples.  Often, things like this run through my head..."I'm tired of the boys fighting all the time!"  "I'm tired of the toys being sprawled out all over the room"  "I'm wish Chase would sleep in a little, so I could get more sleep!"  "I wish Wesley would eat his food without so much hassle!"  "I'm tired of Chase crying every single morning as I'm trying to get ready."  And so on, and so on... the list could go on.  On this particular morning, I was feeling worn out and frustrated, and I was thinking that I only have two kids.  I know many people have a lot more, and while I know all moms get stressed and frustrated, I know some handle the job of parenting with more ease than others (or at least it looks like it on the outside).  I know my kids are just kids, and I know all kids make messes, and cry, and fight with each other.  I think parenting really depends on attitude, and patience, and the realization that kids will be kids.  It is so easy to see the trials, and the hardships right away, but what about seeing all the blessing right away?!  Right then and there in the midst of the chaos, I gave my self a challenge...instead of looking negatively on a challenging situation...see the positives. There are positives and blessings all around us, all the time.   Instead of thinking "I'm tired of..." think, "I'm grateful for..."  I tried it out.  It is not easy to be happy and positive in a hard situation, but it really does put a better perspective on things.  As Chase was crying and fussing, I thought, "I'm so grateful that he has a healthy body that allows him to cry when needed, and express his feelings.  Many kids are not as fortunate to have a healthy (albeit loud) little body!"  When he is super clingy, I think, "I am so blessed that my sweet little boy loves me, and trusts me enough to want to be near me all day long!"    When Wesley doesn't want to eat, I try to think things like, "I'm glad he is not starving, and that we have plenty of food to ofter to him each day.  Even if he isn't a big eater, at least he eats, and has a healthy body that is not starving."  When I start getting frustrated seeing toys and crumbs all over the floor I remind myself how blessed I am to have a good house...a good home...to raise my kids in.  It doesn't have to be perfectly clean to be a good home.  I am glad my kids are fortunate enough to have toys...many kids are lucky to get one good toy their whole childhood.  We take so many things for granted.  Just as I was writting this post, Wesley interupts me to tell me that "Daisy is eating the frog!"  (Yes, we got a cute dog, I will have to post about that next time!)  I run to the hall to see her (and Chase) chomping on a cute handmade wood frog that I bought at the LA fair a few years back.  It was in dozens of pieces.  A few feet away there was a mini scarpbook of our Wedding that I had spent days working on. The front page was slightly ripped up.  I was really upset, and the first thing I wanted to do was get all frustrated.  I quickly reminded myself of the very post I was working on!  The frog, while a total loss, isn't that important.  I can probably buy another one if I really want.  The scrapbook can be fixed.  Yes, it will take me time, and I dont really want to have to work on it, but it can be fixed.  In the long run, it is not big deal at all.  I am really going to try to be more positive and count my blessings in every situation...because life really is mostly about perspective.  It is all about how we see things, and the happier I am, the happier my boys will be. 

 I have been taking pictures of all my 'blessings in disguise' over the past three days.  I talk to a lot of older women that say things like, "My house was always clean when I had kids...my kids never threw tantrums....all my kids were always so well behaved!" I think it is awesome that with time, mostly only the good memories remain.  I think it is important though, to remember how everyday life was.  Messes and dirt is a part of raising kids, and I know seeing the messes will make me laugh one day, and maybe will make my kids laugh one day too.  I love my boys...and you know what...in an indirect way, that means I love all the messes and fun things that are an inherent part of raising kids! (I will remind myself of that often!) 


On an average day...this is what goes on in the Burnell house...
I took these over the course of only two or three days. 

Chase  Loves the water table we have outside, and he also loves the sand boxes we have....

Water +sand = messy and gritty boy 

I love how Wesley's legs are 'moving' in the corner. What my living room looks like on an average afternoon

Pencils and crayons are often strewn about

More toys... (this one isn't too bad..it gets much worse) 

Wesley likes to climb all over the cushions, and at the end of each day the couch is torn apart

Chase is in a food flinging stage...if I dont catch it right away, any unwanted meal ends up all over the carpet along with cups, utensils, and so on.  'Gotta love this stage! 

Wesley is either rejecting his food....

Or using it to paint the table

Usually what his room looks like like after a "nap" 

Chase enjoys removing all the scrapbooks and custom made shutterfly books off our book shelf nearly every day.  Yes, I have finally decided to move them, and make my front room more baby proof. 

 I have a weird thing about people wearing shoes in my house, because it can bring in bacteria and other gross stuff. (Part of my slight germ-a-phobia).  We have piles of shoes under this little table by our entrance.  Today, Wesley and Chase shoved them all off to make their "new home."  My first reaction was to make Wesley clean up the mess, but then when I saw how much fun they were having together, I figured the cleaning could wait a little longer. 

Look at them laughing hysterically at each other!

Chase is looking at Wesley so sweetly 

Yes, this kiss was prompted, but so cute :-)

This one makes me so happy.  Look how sweetly Wesley tries to put Chase's pacifier in his mouth.  I love how he is opening his mouth too! Wesley is always looking out for his brother.