Ending it on a good note

7.12.14

This morning I had the fabulous idea of going down to Provo to ride our bikes down the river trail and we decided to get some jobs done around the house and head down. I suddenly got into a cleaning frenzy which usually ends with me getting ticked off because we've crammed our lives into 3 little rooms for over a year and I'm 100% done with it. Papers everywhere, trying to track down that darn Costco credit, toys, laundry, filing, LEGOS, unopened mail and more papers. Gahhhh. Danny trimmed and mowed the lawn and I gave Cole some jobs to work on while I tried to multitask several things. 

After getting after Cole 100 times to keep him on task and working on his {short} list of jobs, he says to me, "Well I guess you love my baby brother more than you love me because you're talking all sweet and nice to him and you're all angry with me."

Me: Do you think I'm upset with you because I love your baby brother more than you or because you are ignoring me and not doing what you know you should be doing?

Cole: {trying to keep a straight face}...You love him more...

Me: Are you trying not to smile?

Cole: {Allllmost cracking a smile} No...

Me: Don't smile...don-, {he busts up laughing}.

Me: Okay seriously--back to work {and I kiss him on the forehead}.

Sometimes being "Bad Cop" really stinks. I hate having to nag and nag and I refuse to give into the trap of doing everything myself so that it gets done "right" or gets done at all. Good moms teach their kids how to work and I want to be a good mom. Just the other day Cole said {and I quote verbatim} "I like dads more because dads let you do whatever you want." Slam. Guess what buddy, if I let you do whatever you want, all hell would break loose.

I complained about having to eat plain chicken nuggets for lunch because I can't have any type of condiment or dressing with it and Danny got after for me for be a grump. I was put in my place and ate my bland chicken nuggets.

I decided I didn't want to go down to Provo anymore because I was in a sour mood. Like sitting around the house would make it much better...

We decided to go by the Rehab Center to visit mom who is recovering from knee replacement surgery and then head down to the Proves. I decided it would do me some good after all.

We got to the Rehab place and Mom was totally whacked out. Too many pain killers? I'm not sure but I had a chat with the nurse and called my Dad to get over there. I was not comfortable leaving her like that. Those places are frustrating because I feel like you don't get the quality of care that you'd get in a hospital but you can't just stay in the hospital for 3 weeks while you learn how to walk on a new bionic knee. Dad showed up and had the bright idea of showing us a picture of my Mom's knee once the doc opened her up. I declined and watched Danny's face:

Then Cole looked and was freaking out and somehow I glanced over at the screen and almost tossed my cookies. No, no, no, no. Not what I wanted to see. It wasn't bloody but it was graphic. I felt dizzy and had to distract myself. 

We left around 4 and figured we'd pick up some dinner down in Provo. Somewhere in the south part of the valley the traffic started getting really congested and I suggested we take Redwood as far South as we could.  I lost that battle and we ended up staying on I-15 until it came to a dead halt. For 15 minutes.

This dude was sitting on the hood of his car smoking. Other people were walking around...? I was glad I had packed some snacks in a little cooler in the back so I grabbed us some apples and water bottles while we waited for the car to overheat. Finally it dawned on me that Caleb was probably getting fried while sitting there in the sunshine. I got out of the car and lathered him down in sunscreen. I was too late :(

After 45 minutes of semi-gridlock traffic, we were finally on our way. Slowly, but we were moving. There were a bunch of cars pulled off to the side of the road for various reasons. Some guy needed help pushing his car to the side of the road and I was upset that we didn't stop to help him. We got to the point of the mountain and saw what was left of a car accident. 

We stopped at the Shops at Riverwoods in Provo to eat some Subway and then headed up the canyon. There's just something about being in the mountains. Suddenly everything that had been driving me crazy up until that point was gone. It was nice and cool, the sun was setting and the view was incredible and refreshing. We are so spoiled to live so close to places like this.

Aside from the bikes and the trailer for Caleb--the bike rack for our car has been my favorite purchase of 2014.

Soooo tired.

Right after passing me.  He had his game face on.

Bridal Veil Falls

Once we got to the Mt. Timpanogos park in Orem, Danny turned around and headed back up the canyon to go get the car and we stayed at the park and hung out. Aside from the gnats, and trying to get a very tired baby to sleep who wouldn't sleep, it was nice. Cole made friends with every single child who would talk to a stranger and I sat back and watched him interacting with people. He wanted so badly to help the little girl on the monkey bars but she was too shy to let him help her. He talked to all the little kids to see if they were brave enough to go down the slide. He became buddies with the kids who were using their nerf gun to knock over empty 2 liter bottles. This boy is SOCIAL and I am so grateful for it. It made trips to the park as an only child so much easier and play dates much more comfortable when he could quickly adapt to any situation and any adult or child he was thrown into hanging out with. 

I'm really enjoying watching  how different the boys are. It's been strange to only know ONE thing for so long and then suddenly realize that just as I am completely different from all of my siblings, these two are likely going to be very different as well. It'll be interesting to watch them grow up together. They may not be close in age but I hope they are always close in their affection for each other.

After getting home, unloading the car, giving baby a 3 minute bath, a bottle and getting him into his happy place {crib}, we got Cole into bed and Danny and I are both exhausted. We got a lot done today. He's asleep now and the house is quiet. I was a grump but I ended on a good note. Just like our day. 

Bonus: I found the Costco credit.