Crying Part 2

Good evening everyone. Well, I had hoped to be writing an entry about a miraculous slowdown in crying episodes. Many of you have emailed me about it and gave me your good wishes that it would stop. Well, folks, quite the opposite has happened. And tonight might have just taken the cake. It started out really funny (I'm trying to be more light hearted about it when possible), but you know, after about 25 minutes, the amusement got lost and things started to spin wildlly out of control ending with me yelling LOUDLY about 3 inches from Noah's face. Not sure what kind of emotion that evokes in you...........maybe you think it is funny, maybe you feel bad for Noah. But please just try to imagine:

Both boys in the bath. They are having fun. Wesley is chewing on all those spongy bath toys while Noah is doing who knows what splashing around. Well, I'm in Wesley's room folding clothes (next door to the bathroom) and I hear Noah yell "Roar!!" to Wesley and start giggling. Suddenly Wesley shreaks much like a bottle rocket and it started growing louder and louder. He has huge tears, huge bottom lip, slightly traumatized by Noah's roar. Well, I very calmly said, "Oh Noah. You scared Wesley" and came running in the bathroom (while Wesley is still shreaking). And then as if in slow motion, I see Noah's face turn very solemn and his bottom lip start to poke out. I start to say "Noooooooooooo" and before I can do any kind of reassuring, comforting, encouraging, Noah's mouth flys open and he WAILS. Instantly sending Wesley into a second tier of screaming. They are both looking directly at eachother crying harder and harder and louder. Neither one will calm down because both of them are crying so loudly. I'm trying to giggle and tell Noah that it's totally ok, and he's not in trouble.... Wesley is fine and will be fine if only he will stop crying....etc etc. But Noah feels so terrible for scaring him that he just cannot help himself. I try distracting Wesley with all kinds of different toys....an occasional bucket of water over the head....nothing works. Still screaming. Which means Noah....is still screaming. So I yank Wes out of the tub and spend a good 10 minutes in his room getting him calmed down and ready for bed. Noah is still going on and on and on in the bath. I put a video on for Wes and then tried to regain my strength to tackle Noah.
I ask him why he's crying, tell him to stop crying, ask him if he wants to get out, wants to stay in, wants to watch the video........anything to get through to the kid. Nothing. All he does is cry harder and louder while staring at me. I tell him, "Noah, I cannot just stand here and listen to you cry. You have got to stop." Well, naturally, that makes him mad and he cries louder. So I shut the door and walk away. Repeat of the previous sentence. I go back in for another try (this is probably 20 minutes into it) and use a real sweet voice, try to break through some how. He just reaches for me. I go over and hold his hand and ask him if he'll please stop crying. I tell him to use his words and hop out if he wants to hop out. He simply looks at me with tears everywhere and continues to scream. So after much anger simmering inside me, I yell....really loudly.....in his face. USE YOUR WORDS!!!!!!!!!! He looks at me in shock and need I say it, screams even louder but atleast talks to me and says "You yelled! You scared me!" and I said, "YES. I DID YELL. BECAUSE YOU WON'T STOP CRYING" So while the crying ensues, I go over, grab his towel, carry him to his room, and get him ready. I bring him in to the video where Wes is and set him down in a chair and walk out of the room. Crying episode finished.

Now. If reading this at all exhausted you, I apologize. You can only imagine what it was like to be here. I didn't mean to carry on for so long. But there was really no way to shorten the story. So that's Noah's new thing. He thinks that any time I get mad or yell that him saying "You scared me" means it's all my fault and I need to apologize right then and there. I'm so frustrated. I cannot win with this kid. He is beyond any sort of strategy.

Today was actually a pretty good day all the way around. I have lots of things to be thankful for. But isn't it amazing that one 25 minute twilight zone can make you feel miserable about your whole day!?! Okay, now I have to post a funny post about Noah just to get myself to snap out of it.

Crying

Oh don't worry, it's not me crying. However, that might do some good. I just wanted to take a moment to express that I TRULY believe that loud crying, in large amounts, over a long period time is more physically and mentally exhausting than running a marathon. Now mind you, I have never run a marathon (my sister is next weekend!) but I am confident that it is like sipping tea in comparison to this dreadful crying I speak of.
My son Noah, who is a jewel much of the time is seriously world champion of crying. He can outcry anyone......just try him. If you need a reminder he is 3. Yes, 3. In other words, WAY TOO OLD to be doing this crap. When others have witnessed this crying that I speak of, they are usually quite astonished and baffled that he does it so......loudly and unceasingly. I took a moment tonight to describe to my friend Tracey in detail just how plaguing this current phase is and it made me realize that it has affected every inch of me. I'm done. I'm exhausted. I am out of patience, mercy, gentleness, self control.......uh oh, I'm not doing too well am I? It is a sad truth that Noah found a button on me that he didn't merely push, he banged it until it was broken and crushed into itty bitty pieces. Nothing can snap Noah out of it when he's on one of these kicks. It just has to go onnnnnnnnnnnnnn and onnnnnnnnnn and onnnnnnnn until finally some psycho switch in him flips and he decides to stop. That is the worst part. Nothing we do can stop the madness. And this morning, at 6:45am, Brian and I got to wake up to one of his rampages. It was probably the worst wake up call we've had in a while.
So there it is, I have no advice, I'm not even asking for advice necessarily. I just have come unravelled due to this crying and I hope and pray it stops soon. Because I know many of you out there are just dying to tell me these words, "This too shall pass". And yes, people, I know it will. But the passing of it could not come soon enough.

Great trip to Colorado

Last weekend, Wesley and I headed off for a relaxing getaway to Colorado to see some of my friends. We had a wonderful time. It was just what the doctor ordered. Lots of chatting, eating yummy food, and staying in our jammies till 11am (not to mention staying up waaaaaay too late). My friend Katy Yates played a WONDERFUL hostess to us while we were there. She and her husband John, and their 3 kiddos, just move in June to the Denver area from Long Beach. Katy and I have known eachother since first grade...went to college together...she was in my wedding, etc. Lots of history. So it was such a joy to share our married and mommy lives with one another. Here are a few pictures of our time there.
Josiah and Wes.

Brooklyn lovin' on Wesley. She kept saying, "I want to keep him."
McKenna is seriously the sweetest girl ever. I wanted to eat her up. She was so good with Wesley. Thanks for taking such good care of him!
Katy and I.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year. Noah was totally into the trick or treating which was fun. Much better than last year where I had to practically drag him up to the door. What a difference a year makes! We all went out together for awhile and then Brian and Wes headed back to the house to pass out candy. Noah and I made it to about 7 more houses but then Noah saw a teenager with a very scary mask on. At that point, he said, "Mom, it's time to go back home. There are some scary people out here." And that was that.

If you haven't heard yet......

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh......our B-cation!!

Well, we just returned from b-cation...that is how Noah says vacation. We just love it and no matter how many times we explicitely say "VAcation", he has no interest in saying it that way. So there you go. Anyway, we had a great time in San Antonio. It was our first ever family b-cation. We stayed at a Hyatt vacation club (a new one, Wild Oaks) and it was beautiful. Noah just kept looking around saying how cool everything was. He said over and over, "I looooove this bcation!" Man, he's a cutie. Anyway, our condo was awesome and the surroundings were beautiful. They had some great pools and lots of fun activities. Our friends, the Rohlwings, from Chicago met up with us down there. So Heather and I got to get a massage and Pete and Brian played golf of course. I sure wish my massage took as long as a round of golf! :) Obviously Wesley is at a hard age to take places but we made the best of it. It's 8:06pm and I'm about to head to bed......need I say more? Oh and one more thing........guess who came to visit us last night while we were on vacation????

The Pukefairy!

Yes, the evil demon that visited us......hmmm.....was that just last month???? Oh yes, folks, at 12 midnight last night, guess what we awoke to? Yep, Noah throwing up like a crazy person in his bed. And then it got really good............Brian started up as well. So yes, your dearest April who yes, is PHOBIC of throwup, had TWO people to take care of last night. Plus, throw in a side of Wes waking up every hour due to the loud commotion and it made for a verrrrrry long evening. Whenever I'm in a stressful situation, I have to talk myself down and prepare myself for every turn around the corner. So I actually remained calm and HELD Noah while he was throwing up......a big step, I know. The poor little guy was so sad looking. Then Brian was close to death. He unfortunately got the stomach bug in more than one way if you know what I mean, so he was really miserable. I didn't sleep hardly a lick because I can't relax at all in situations like this. So needless to say, the Lord answered my prayers and gave me lots of energy and stamina today as we decided to cut our bcation short and head home. The 4.5 hour drive really went pretty well. Both boys had stopped throwing up in the early morning and while Noah was kicking a football around at 8am this morning, Brian has not been so quick to recover. This really hit him like a mack truck. So please pray for him to heal completely. And if it isnt obvious, please pray that Wesley nor I contract this nasty disease. I believe it's time to go take some Tylenol PM and head off to lala land. I hope everyone had a great weekend and oh, thank you for all the comments to my last post about life as a mom/grumpiness/etc. I really appreciate all of the encouragement. I'm pleased to say that Brian and I went out on a date on Friday night (whole other story I'll have to tell later) and we had a great heart to heart. He told me what he needed, I told him what I needed, and all is great in love and parenthood. :) Well, you know what I mean. Okay, ta ta for now!

I admit it.

I've been an internal grump lately. Instead of going into all the details, I found this post that my friend wrote that pretty much describes my dillema....and error. I thought I would share it because it is so well worded and I relate to it so much. My friend challenges me and I'm so glad God put her in my life!

http://unsinkablekristen.blogspot.com/2007/08/well-fine-then.html

Cuties

I just have to recommend that you go take a look at the boys' blog to see some adorable pictures I just posted. I can't believe they are mine! I'm the luckiest girl!

http://noahspicer.blogspot.com

My dad

My dad is really an interesting person. Some would think (okay, most would think) he's just weird. And granted, that's true. But he's really a persnikety (sp?) guy who actually, I'm a lot alike. I see that more and more every day. I love him so much and he really is a hero in some ways. He is a very consistent personality (whether grumpy or amusing)and he is very solid spiritually. He loves my mom and adores his girls and REALLY adores all 6 of his grandchildren. He's pretty predictable and I know he lives by such high morals, I never have to worry about him doing something crazy or going off the deep end. He has been a rock for my sis, Kasey through the last year and I think that has impressed all of us. He is turning 69 this next year and it is starting to sink in that despite his youthful appearance and personality, he's getting old. :( He would probably freak if he just read that but I'm pretty sure he knows nothing about blogs other than to look at pictures of the boys on my other one. I just can't imagine my life without him and I really want him to be 50 again. I remember his party like yesterday and it is startling to wonder where the last 18 years have gone. Anyway, kinda depressing, I know. But every once in awhile I'll let myself think of mortality and remember that this life is really not even scratching the surface of our existence. I admit I'm pretty lousy at expectantly thinking about heaven and all the good that is in store someday soon. God has given me such a good life here that I haven't had a whole lot of reason lately to think beyond it. Anyway, here's a cute and crazy pic of my dad that he sent me today. He caught this snake in his backyard yesterday. What a stud! (oh and yes, I believe that is a cigar in his other hand)