The over-competitive mother.....

Competition has always been a part of my life. From the time I started taking voice lessons I started competing against other singers. I fought my way through a tough performing arts high school and took on many other performers for jobs after high school. However, I never knew true cut-throat competition like the kind that exists in the world of motherhood!!!

When Jax was first born I found myself aching for him to accomplish milestones. When we got around other kids his age I could not focus on anything except what they were doing or saying and how it compared to Jax. I would make comments about what he could do, and hope all the other mothers would be amazed and ask me how I was doing such a fabulous job raising my highly intelligent child! I decided to chalk it up to first time motherhood, and relax a little when Cash was born! It's amazing how kids progress naturally and don't do anything faster when you spend your days bragging to others about them :)

Now that I have done my best to put myself on the outside looking in, I do enjoy watching other mothers freak out about their children!!! I hate to say it, but there is something so amusing about a mother that thinks her kid is the ONLY one doing whatever it is he's doing. For example, the other day I heard a woman tell the nursery coordinator, "If my son gets bored in that nursery, you can move him up. You'll see he's very mature for his age!" WHAT???? Since when is a 2 year old mature??? Did she really think that he would get bored hanging out with other kids for an hour of his life??? I guess in case the blocks and cars in the 2 year old nursery weren't enough, he could go in the other room where the much higher educated 3 year olds were and delve into required reading of some sort. Now, I am not saying that I myself don't think that Jax and Cash are the greatest and smartest kids in the world (mainly because I'M their MOTHER), but lets be serious. I don't think at the ripe age of 3 I'm going to be able to tell if rocket science is in their near future! I do appreciate this mother's confidence in her child, but I just had to have a little laugh at her seriousness in it all.

The reason I can laugh at things like this is because I'm happy to say the mothers I spend my time with are wonderful. I am amazed by them all and how smart their kids are. There's no competition in the group and I like to think that we all help each other out in this whole motherhood thing we've gotten ourselves into. However, I must say that my kids are still the greatest in the world! Okay, maybe I'm not all out of my competitiveness :)



Cash passed out in his chair!!!!

It's all about the Money!

I know I've only posted on this new blog a few times, but in looking back I realized that I hadn't dedicated a single post to my second baby boy! So, Cash man this one is all about you :)

I must say that motherhood the second time around is a lot more laid back! I felt like with Jax I waited forever for his first birthday to come and every milestone took ages for him to accomplish whether he was doing them early or not. However, Cash has grown up right before my eyes in record time! I really can't believe he is 15 months old!!! I watch his personality develop everyday and he is quite the little entertainer :) He absolutely LOVES cars! He walks around the house all day saying "car" in his sweet little voice and he even lines them up like his brother! Earlier today he thought it would be hilarious to drive them up and down my face, which I thought was funny too until it turned into a hitting game (also a favorite of Mr. Cash!). He is really picking up language and learning to follow simple directions. He likes to throw things away and go get his clothes and shoes. I think my favorite thing he does lately is "Cheers"! For some reason Jax has been into everyone toasting to one another at every meal, and Cash has picked it up too. So, if you have a drink and Cash has a drink you better be ready to "Cheers" endless amount of times :) Some of his favorite words include: Bob Bob (spongebob), pig, MAMA, dada, Gigi, no, bye-bye, ball, golf, milk, daaa (roar...like a dinosaur), dog, my bunny, and various other sounds that he thinks are words :)

Also, I took Cash to his 15 month checkup and he's doing great! He is up to 26 pounds now, but has failed to grow in height since his 12 month checkup! After giving birth to Jax, this was an unknown occurrence to me, but apparently it is very normal at this stage :) I am proud to say that his "baby ashtma" seems to have passed and his breathing is perfect! He went through so much as a baby with sickness, and now he seems to be pretty tough! He is still sleeping like a champ, about 13 hours a night, and seems perfectly happy to be laid down by anyone, anywhere. As you all know my sleeping issues with Jax, I believe I deserve this one :)

Well, I hope this entry did justice to my little man. He is a perfect little boy and we love him so much! I live a crazy hectic life with these boys, but it is my greatest joy. Sorry for the gushy stuff, I was having a moment :)

Cash man with the potty seat...I can only hope!

Uh oh, another golfer!!!

Sick, sicker and sickest!

Well, it's been an eventful week. It began with me pushing my way through what I thought was a simple chest cold. I convinced myself that I would quickly get over it and no one would know the difference, but when Jax woke up a couple days later with eyes swollen shut and a cough that most smokers couldn't beat, I figured it was time to address the issue :)

After an excruciating trip to the doctor with two kids, one sick and a sick mommy we had our diagnosis.....bronchitis with an ear infection on the side! While I was glad to know that the past 2 nights of Jax getting up a minimum of 15 times was for a reason, I still wasn't sure that just Jax getting medicine was going to solve our problem. So, in case my mothering skills hadn't been tested enough that day I decided to make a trip to my doctor with two kids in tow! After sitting in a waiting room the size of a small prison cell for what seemed like days, the doctor finally made an appearance. During the time it took to listen to my chest, Cash got into the trash can about 20 times and Jax managed to open every drawer in the office! Also, did I mention that the doctor had terrible bedside manner and hates kids??? Well, she did. Long story short, I was diagnosed with the exact same thing as Jaxon and sent on my way :)

Needless to say, Cash caught the plague today. Luckily he had his 15 month "well" check-up scheduled for today so I was all set for another doctor's visit! I was surprised to find that he did not have bronchitis, but he did have an upper respiratory infection and a double case of pink eye! Not so much of a well check-up I guess :) I did find it a little disheartening when my doctor acted like my kids were wild! He is such a sweet guy, but the pity in his eyes for me makes me a little nervous. He did explain that I produce, "naturally athletic and physical children". I think that is the medical term for out of control :)

Don't worry about us, we'll all be back to "normal" soon enough. In order to keep this entry from being all bad I've listed a few new laughable quotes from the past crazy week.....

• Jax-"Cash, why are you messing with my cars? Is this really necessary?"
• Jax- "Mom, this show is silly. We all know animals can't talk!"
• Jax- "Do you know the story of the 3 little pigs? Me- "Yes" Jax- "No you don't, only little kids know it."
• Jax- "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which is stands, one nation, under God, indibivible with liberty and justice for all. That was good wasn't it mommy?"
• Cash- "Mama, Bob Bob!" (he said this when he walked into my room one morning and spongebob was on!)
• What does a dinosaur say? Cash- "Raaarrr"

Maybe some of these don't seem too funny, but in the fog of sickness and over tiredness they were HILARIOUS!!!

Where is the love??

One thing I've always been proud of with Jax is that he is such a loving boy! On a daily basis he would randomly call out my name and when I'd answer he'd say, "I love you, Mom" and my heart would melt! He would come over and sit with me saying things like, "Mommy, I want you to love on me", and although it was not always convenient at the time it was always special. Well, no one told me that once my sweet little boy turned 3 1/2 the devil would come out in him!

Now, I'm not saying that I don't get an occasional remark mentioned above, but I am saying that they are more scarce and not always without a motive :) Lately, the attitude that Jax has taken on sounds more like a teenager than a toddler. He is constantly saying things like, "Let me tell you something!" and "That's it! I'm not doing this anymore!". While I understand that he hears most of these things from when I'm yelling at him, what I don't understand is what does he have to be so irritated about??? We are talking about a child that has 800 sets of grandparents that would do anything he asked and 2 parents that, while strict a lot of the time, are more than willing to work with him on his requests! I can't imagine that his little view of the world is so terrible that he feels the need to be annoyed with it on a daily basis!!! In addition, he has started acting like he's going to hit me. Now, Jax is a smart boy and he knows that if he hits me he might just get hit back (for all of you who don't believe in spanking, I'm sorry...I do!) so he doesn't go as far as making contact, but he still gives me an unsettling look and an angry noise as he swats at the air in front of my face. Time out and loss of privileges seem to be working for small periods of time, but if this continues I'm not sure what else to do!

I know 3 seems to be the hardest age so far, so I guess I'll have to suck it up for another 5 months. Too bad for me when Jax hits 4, Cash will hit terrible 2's!! I'll let you know what mental hospital to visit me at once this occurs :)