Time to Breathe...Just one breath

There are many reasons I haven't updated this blog recently. Here are a few:
I've been busy.
Potty training and dealing with "Terrible Twos" is suprisingly unfunny.
Does anyone care about my life anymore now that I live here, just like you, shop at Target, just like you, and empty my dishwasher every morning, just like you?

But, here are the highlights - find in them what you will.

Potty Training
We did it. It started with Simon throwing his potty across the room and declaring he didn't want to go to the potty. We are now at the point of being accident free, at least as it comes to pee. Poop is a different story, but gross as it is, it's self-contained and doesn't happen so often, so I don't really care. Biggest surprise: Those little boy pee-pees are very hard to aim. We've refined our technique to Sy putting both hands on the wall behind the potty and letting me point him down. I'm sure at some point he will be able to do the aiming himself. But, my paper towel budget doesn't allow me to begin that adventure just yet.

I'm 29.
Years. Old.
Not much more to say about that.

This may have been the worst Easter of my life.
I really tried to remind myself that Christ's power over death means I am not subject to the tears, anger, impatience, and frustration controlling me, but to no avail. Ben, Simon, and I spent most of the day mad at each other. I was mad at Ben for being mad at me for being naggy and irritable about getting to church on time. We were both mad at Simon for being bratty in any new and creative way he could think of. He was mad at us for being mad at him (now where does he get that from?). My day ended with him peeing in the potty, and then picking it up, looking at me, and dumping it on the floor. I cried. He was sent to bed early. Happy Easter.

Family, Family, Family
Thank goodness for family. The love us. They help us with projects we are in no way capable of completing on our own (namely, potty training, finishing our basement, and cleaning my oven). They watch and support us as we struggle through parenting. They try to say the right things, like "I'd spank the hell out of him," when appropriate and not say anything when we're falling apart. Good work Moms and Dads and thanks for spending your senior year spring break with us Marky!

Twos
A couple of weeks ago, Sy was an angel. He's two-and-a-half, so I started to think maybe this wasn't so bad after all. Well it is. So. Bad. He's begun screaming in our faces when he doesn't get our way. Oh, and the aforementioned pee dumping incident. He's even decided to wake up in the middle of the night just to throw another tantrum. I think that potty training has probably contributed to this by making him feel just insecure enough to act out in other ways. But, frankly, I don't care. I just want him to stop.

Today
Today was our breath. Our one breath. Just the three of us doing normal things. Haircuts, shopping, errands, naps, etc. We breathed the breath as deeply as we could, and it's soon over. Tomorrow we road trip to Birmingham to see wonderful friends who are helping us in our support raising and ministry. We are armed with Shrek, Shark Tale, Veggie Tales and a new DVD player. Hopefully that will provide us minutes for more breaths. And hopefully Sy won't dump his pee all over our friends' house. Please, God, grant me that.