Wah Wah Wah

So Kaden had been a good boy today while I was cleaning my house...he stayed out of the way and played really well with his legos. So I gave him a dollar. He wanted to go buy a push pop. Ya know, the sucker candy that you can push out of the plastic container? I was alright with this since I wanted to rent a movie at redbox, so we took a little walk down the street to Walgreens.

We found the push pops, and right above it was a giant Lollipop. I am talking the round, multi colored, as big as your head lollipops. And to top it off, it was exactly a $1. So I thought sure... I double checked with him to make sure it was what he really wanted, and in the back of my mind I contemplated buying the push pop as well just in case he changes his mind.

As we were crossing the street in a bit of a hurry, the lollipop started to wiggle in his hand. It was then that he decided it was too big, and now he wanted the smaller push pop. I knew it.

There was a part of me that wanted so badly to turn around and get him that push pop because he had been good all day, but then the other part was telling me that I spoil him too much and I need to teach him a lesson. So I decided to teach him a lesson. He learned a lesson about being greedy...he chose the big lollipop because it was bigger. But bigger isn't always better. He has been crying now for thirty minutes, begging to get a push pop. He has thrown his lollipop in the garbage, gotten it back out(I know it sounds gross, but my garbage was basically empty), licked it a few times, threw it on the ground, broke it, then eaten it again.

I really did want to make sure he was a happy boy all day because he was so helpful, but when do we, as parents, draw the line? I felt that I was already giving him a treat, and that he was becoming undeserving of this sugary deliciousness. Am I just teaching him that he can get a treat everytime he throws a fit? I hope not, and thats why he got stuck with the lollipop.

{Listening}

Lately i found it very hard to get Kaden to listen. It doesn't matter what he is doing, whether it is a harm to himself, or one to others. He does not listen.

I can threaten all I want, it doesn't bother him. I can punish. No bother. It is literally like he can't even hear what I am saying. There is no reaction in his facial expressions when I speak to him. I ask him not to play with blinds, climb on the table, unfold folded laundry, play with household cleaners, throw toys out of the bathrub, feed his fish by himself, throw garbage away... anything. HE DOESN'T LISTEN!

I am at witts end here...I cannot think of a way to get him to listen, obey, or mind. Timeouts don't work, sending him to his room doesn't work, letting him go hungry doesn't work. Hmm... I just want him to acknowledge me.

{ It happened }

The thing I have most dreaded since I became a mother has happened... is it what we all dread? Or just me?

I remember when I was younger going to my aunts house and hearing the stories. The story how he put the fork into the outlet...I thought to myself, "So thats why there are black dots everywhere"... But I never did it, none of my sisters did it. So was it just a curious little boy thing? Or were we just fortunate enough not to have gone to that level of curiosity?

We always had safety plugs in our outlets since Kaden could crawl, and he never really bothered them. They didn't seem to have much interest in him. But I guess Sunday was the day he had planned out...the day he had been waiting for. The one where mom was at work, and while Garrett was shaving he thought it'd be a good day to shove my tweezers in the outlet.

I wasn't here, but Garrett said that the lights flickered and there was a popping noise, and Kaden came running in the bathroom yelling that they were black. What is black? The tweezers are. He willingly admitted to doing it, and told Garrett that his leg hurt. BAM! Would I have ever even known if it wasn't for the fact that my tweezers are now blackened and destroyed on one half? Boy oh Boy...I sure hope he learned his lesson the first time!

Happy St Patty's Day

Well, I didn't exactly wake up to find my pot of gold...but I did wake up to make Kaden a great green breakfast, and it even made his milk taste better. Of course, he wanted to help me make the pancakes, he loves to stir, and help add the eggs. Sometimes, he can help me better by just watching.

We did have a good day, and I even made green cupcakes, with green frosting. Then I decided that I didn't want to eat all 18 of them, so I had Garrett take down 6 to our annoying neighbors...now hopefully they will start being more respectful. Kill them with kindness I guess, eh?

I love Sundays.

Sundays are calm, lazy, and relaxing.

I hate that Garrett works most Sundays.

I guess I better enjoy this relaxing day before my neices get here, then it won't be so calm anymore! :) But Kaden is excited to see them...

My Little Helper

So Yesterday we were watching cartoons and Kaden saw a commercial for brownies...and he said he wanted some! So I got this bright idea to make brownies topped with caramel and mini chocolate chips! I didn't have my moms recipe, so I found one in my cookbook, and one online and kinda combined both of them. This recipe tastes delicious, but the middle of the pan didn't really cook all the way through...maybe I should have cooked them longer, or maybe add more flour. Who knows.

Kaden loves to help me bake. He always wants to crack the eggs, and dump in the flour. I got a couple of pics of him helping before I even had the bowl attached to the mixer.



I wish I would have taken a picture of the brownies, but they were delicious...for anyone wanting the recipe, you can just make any type of brownie, although cake like works better than gooey. Then for the caramel, I did...

1 cube butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp vanilla, and boiled for 5 minutes or so.

I poured this over slightly cooled brownies, and then once the caramel cooled a bit more I sprinkled with mini chocolate chips.

WARNING: May cause you to consume the entire pan!!!

Bathrooms should clean themselves...

So now that we are in our own place, I now have 2 bathrooms to clean instead of just 1.

Does anyone actually enjoy cleaning them? When we moved in, there was really bad hard water deposits on the shower walls, so I bought some Melaleuca Tub n Tile to work wonders...and now it looks like they are almost new.

The thing that kills me is that since Kaden has been potty trained, I have had to clean up so much more dried urine off the toilet. It doesn't matter if I clean it up right after her goes, it still seems as though there is urine hiding places that eventually finds its way to the light, dries, and begins to stink. All you moms know what I am talking about. Dried urine stinks worse than fresh urine. Its disgusting. Foul. Make me wanna vomit, nasty.

He never really sat down to use the bathroom, he just kinda learned to stand up, and so far has done a pretty good job, although once in a while he does spray more than the toilet bowl! But I swear no matter how much I clean the toilet, I still smell urine... hmm, maybe some day it will go away! (when toilets learn to clean themselves)

It pays to be pushy...

I got what I wanted. YAY!

Today while I was taking a nap, I missed a phone call from someone saying that they were going to issue me a check for $164.99 to pay for the DVR that was originally suppposed to be in my home. The thing that is confusing is that I swear we ordered our dish/internet bundle through Quest Communications, but the company that is mailing back the check isn't quest, but a retailer that deals with both companies. :/

Oh well...at least I get my DVR, like I had requested for in the beginning. I have been missing too many American Idol episodes since I usually work Tuesday nights, and I would really like to finish out the season. I haven't missed a season since I got started on it in 2007!

Dude, I totally hate customer service departments...it doesn't matter which company. They all suck.

We got a bundle through quest with internet and dish network. They charged us more for the installation than they quoted. They had the wrong receiver installed.

Now it is a disaster trying to get them to install the DVR that we wanted. Supposedly they have to listen to the phone call to see if we initially asked for it.

Does it matter? I mean, really. The price is the same, except for an additional $6 monthly fee, which we are and have been willing to pay the entire time.

We aren't asking for anything free, or refunds, or credits, just the bloody DVR... come on people seriously!

We first called Friday, they said they would review the call monday.

We called Monday, they said they haven't gotten to it. Then Tuesday we get a phone call from the salesman that sold it to us to apologize for the cost difference, that he was misinformed. I told him it was fine, if they could just come replace the receiver with the DVR, he said he would call back. No phone call yet.

We called today. No help today either... I just don't understand how there isn't one single person in that department that can help us. AHHH

New house, new problems...

So on February 26th, we moved into our new place in Idaho Falls. It is so nice having our own space, being able to decorate, and finally getting Kaden into his own bed. He had his own at my moms, but he would not sleep in it for the life of me. He would wake up in the middle of the night crying so loud until I brought him into bed with me.

He is currently using Garretts bed, which is a queen, because I don't have the money to buy him a twin...and I know he is only 3, but at least with it being bigger I don't have to worry about him falling out of it, right? hehe... He has done really well the past week in his bed. Normally I have to lay with him until he falls asleep. I think I have done that just once... I put him in it, and tell him I'm gonna check on him in 5 minutes, and when I do he is passed out. SO NICE! But, of course he has been waking up at 5 in the morning to use the bathroom, and then I hear noises, so i look and his bedroom light is on and he is just playing. So I end up falling asleep next to him for a couple hours because I am not waking up at 5!

So I worked until close on Friday, and when I come home, I opened the door to a disaster. My Microsuede chair is soaking wet, there is water dripping off the bar onto the carpet, the carpet is soaking wet, and it looks like every towel in our house is now soaking up the remains of Kadens helaciousness... oh boy
...Apparently, while Garrett was using the restroom, Kaden decided to empty the entire contents of dawn dish detergent onto the counter, and I think he tried to clean it up using the sink sprayer, but while he did he also managed to soak down the entire kitchen, chair, and part of the living room carpet. Needless to say, he was in his bedroom for 18 years (according to Garrett). He didn't stay much longer than probably 30 minutes. So we made a quick trip to walmart to buy a cheap carpet cleaner to soak up all the water that we could, and I think we did a pretty good job.

The next day I took all the towels to the Laundromat to wash them, kinda forgetting that half of them were used to clean up dawn...oh man. Bubble city. The first load was okay, there was only a few suds, so i just ran it through an extra cycle without detergent to rinse again. But the second load. Bad. Real Bad. I opened the front loader, and suds just came pouring out. What to do. Everyone is looking. I am embarrassed. I dunno what to do. So i come home and make Garrett come back to help me. We got a garbage can and emptied as much suds into that so we could at least see the towels again. Then we ran it through another wash ,without detergent, to try and rid the suds. This very nice lady told me that liquid fabric softener attacks the soap, so she gave me a little bit to use. I wouldn't have known this, because I don't used liquid softener. But it worked! And i wasn't as embarrassed anymore.

All in all....it has been such a crazy week! Moving, getting settled, cleaning, soaking up carpets, trying to prevent mold...ahhh Now if I could just relax and enjoy our new place. That would be nice!