A family of 5, Super Mom, USMC Dad, & three boys ages 5, 7, & 9. This is glimpse into the daily life of raising 3 American boys while living in Bangkok, Thailand.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Growing Up..

A week or so ago I received the parts to convert the crib to a full size bed. After a few days of the ginormous box being used as a balance beam, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and make the switch.  After Arcadian's nap on Saturday I took apart the crib and put it in Justice's room as a full size bed. He no longer sleeps on mattresses on the floor. The boys have been mistaking it for a trampoline but at least they like it.

Arcadian is now in a 'big boy' bed. The tried and true race car bed is taking its last laps in the Pelton household. Although it is sad to know my babies are no longer babies, I am thrilled by the idea of moving onwards. I look forward to my boys growing up. Yes, babies and toddler's are cute and cuddly but they are so much work. For the last 6 years I have been changing diapers and listening to crying, and whining because of a child that is disabled by the physical and cognitive limitations imposed on them due to nothing else but their age. I am tired of a child that throws themselves on the floor because you accidentally gave them chocolate milk in the morning instead of orange juice and they don't understand that it was a simple accident. I'm tired of kids that do not understand basic action and consequences. I'm tired of chasing after children that do not understand why I am chasing after them. I'm tired of being kicked every time I change a diaper. I'm tired of changing diapers. I'm tired of cleaning up food off the table, chairs, floors, face, clothes, hair, hands, and ears after EVERY meal. I'm tired of baby gates and child proofing. I'm tired of having to restrict activities of the two older boys because the youngest is to little to play. I'm just tired. With that said, there are things that I will miss about babies, such as their completely innocent smiles, their giggly laughs, and the excitement they experience as they learn new things. All those things will continue as they grow but it evolves into something a bit different.

When Brosnan was about 13 months old, I found out I was pregnant with Arcadian...and I cried. I was happy with having my two boys and I was then excited to move on in life. I had just started my Master's program and I was living back in Washington and looking forward to spending time with friends, family & enjoying life. Well I was able to do all of that but not how I had hoped it would be. My life with my three boys is hectic and taking them anywhere was never relaxing. Going over to a friends house always meant that I would be constantly running behind them making sure they were not getting into everything. Sitting down and just visiting was next to impossible. It was exhausting to leave the house. Don't get me wrong. I love all my boys and enjoy them immensely. I'm just looking forward to life getting easier. Arcadian is living up to the 'terrible two' stereotype. Justice has his moments, but he can be reasoned with and understands. Poor Brosnan is stuck in the middle. Justice understands why we can't do certain things at certain times, Brosnan kind of gets it but doesn't agree with it. The older two like to color. Arcadian likes to color as an appetizer and finishes off with eating the crayons and chewing the tips of markers. The older two are often not finished coloring by the time Arcadian is but when Arcadian is done it has to stop. If not he is climbing on the table, throwing markers/crayons, eating them or grabbing one and running around the house. Anyways, my point is, things like having a crib free house means more to me then just not having a crib in the house. It is the beginning of what I am hoping is a more enjoyable time in our lives. Both the kids and myself are slowly gaining a bit of Independence that has restricted us because of the demands of small children. I think by this time next year there will be so much stress relieved from nothing other than the developmental progression of age.


I was going to go to bed early tonight and it is 12:30am....so much for that.

Good Night-
JP

Sunday, September 19, 2010

1 Month Down, 3 to go

Today marks four weeks of Justice being gone, which means we only have 3 more months left!  The first month has gone by pretty quick so hopefully the rest will to. If all goes as planned then we will be seeing Justice for a few days in October then my mother is coming for a visit the beginning of November so at least we have things to look forward to.

Brosnan has been in a better mood the last couple of days so that has been nice. He's had his moments, well they've all had their moments but they are kids so I guess that's normal.


First Toothless Smile :-)

Justice Loses a Tooth
As you can see, Justice lost his first tooth yesterday. It had been wiggling for a week or two. I did not know that he had been wiggling it at all. I figured he was going to be one of those kids where the tooth is hanging on by a thread and still refuses to give it that final yank. I was SO wrong. Him and Brosnan were watching a movie in Justice's bedroom and Justice comes out with a bloody mouth and a tooth in his hand! I was shocked and surprised!  The tooth fairy came last night and gave him some money and a note that told him to tell his mom to take him to the store so he can buy something cool. We went to the store today and he picked out some lego's.

House Cleaning
Oh, Yesterday I finally got tired of the HUGE mess that the boys bedrooms were constantly in and I decided it was time to do some cleaning and emptying. I had been noticing that the boys would actually play with their toys the most after the rooms were cleaned and organized. Then by the end of the day when they had messed it all up, they really wouldn't go back in until it was clean again. 



This is Justice's room as I was cleaning. Please be aware that I had already taken out a bunch of stuff and picked a lot of stuff up before deciding I should take pictures.



This is his room after I was done. He got to choose 2 things to keep and the rest got sent to the garage. He choose his guys and monster trucks. The books and computer of course stayed. He had absolutely no problems with what I did and actually did a good job helping me.

Brosnan's Room Before

Brosnan's room After














Yes, I even did Arcadian's room!
Arcadian's room after
A little over 24 hours later and the rooms are still pretty clean. I have picked them up a little but it only takes me a few minutes compared to what it used to. They have all spent more time in their rooms playing and I am hoping that continues.  They have been told that if they ever want to play with anything else all they have to do is make a trade. Give me something they have now and I'll give them what they want.

Speaking of Houses

For all those curious how our house selling is going...our  WA house has been on the market for almost three months. Showings have been nearly non-existent so we have dropped the price to a ridiculous amount in hopes to at least get people looking at it so we can get a short-sale approved and be done with it (anyone want to buy a house??). Who wants to bother with the short-sale process for a house that is 30 years old when they can buy a brand new one for the same price?!? The houses provide me with daily headaches and debt. I never would have thought that buying a house for our family to live in would have ended up as a financial nightmare. A house that appraised for a decent amount over what we paid for it has dropped in value nearly $70,000 in 3 years. Something is incredibly wrong with that picture. The same thing with the VA house. It is literally worth less then half of what we paid for it. Of course we paid the highest price, about a month later is when the housing bubble burst and it was a down hill slide from there. Renting a house out for a couple hundred dollars less then your monthly mortgage is not ideal.  What ever happens I am ready to just deal with it and move on. No more house buying for us for awhile. I am enjoying renting for now.

Tomorrow.... Tomorrow is a busy day. We are supposed to go to a "meet & greet" for the Mom's Club in the morning, then in the evening the Officer's wives are having a get together. They are picking me up here at the house (and bringing a babysitter) so I have to make sure the house is clean. Fun! Actually I am looking forward to some adult conversation without kids!

JP

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Stressful at times

Most days are good, but some wear me down real fast. The last couple of days Brosnan has been testing my patience and threatening my sanity. I can't quite figure out what the problem is. The kid has attitude, whines, and lies.

Me: "Did you clean up the mess?" 
Brosnan (with a HUGE grin, wide eyes, and excessive head nodding):  "Yes! I did"
Me: Are you sure?
Brosnan: Yes, it's clean. Just don't go look at it though.

Another example:
Brosnan is lying on the living room floor on one of the couch cushions he pulled off. I asked him to get up and put everything back, he tells me he can't because his head is so heavy and he is so tired.

The things he says is extremely funny, yet he is SO persistent. Eventually he will be crying and waiting for me to breakdown. When he realizes that I am ignoring him he will either wander around the house looking for more attention or go start making messes.

I've spent a lot of energy ignoring his behavior. I almost feel bad when 10 minutes has gone by and he is still lying on the floor insisting that I pick him up..."You just do it. I can't do it Mom, I'm just so tired"  I'm hoping that my persistence will pay off and he will realize that his crazy behavior will not get the response that he wants.

The hardest part is that he does it for EVERYTHING. In most cases I can hold my ground, but there are other times when it is so much easier to give in and do it for him, such as getting dressed or putting shoes on when it is time to leave. I have realized that he is fully capable of getting dressed AND putting his shoes on by himself, although 9 times out of 10 everything is on backwards, when I mention this to him he states, "I know, that's how I like it"  It takes me a minute to get him dressed, waiting for him can take hours. With that said, he gets excited every time he does it for himself and on the rare occasions when he did not stall or put up a fight, I get a little break by only having Arcadian to get ready.  

I am hoping that with my perseverance and patience Brosnan will get the idea and start to do things on his own without crying about it.

The other two boys are doing good. Justice is enjoying kindergarten and Arcadian is acting like a 2 year old.  We are all missing daddy but so far we are managing well with him gone. It's almost been a month which means only 3 more to go!!!

JP