I'm Gonna Miss This.....

So I'm sure that you've all heard the song, You're gonna miss this. If not it is basically about a girl who is always looking forward to the next stage in life and everyone keeps telling her to appreciate where she is at right now, not where she would like to be someday. Well, today was a perfect example of that for me.......here's my day in a nutshell.

8:25 Devan is trying to find his backpack, Liam is scurrying out the door, no coat. I yell out the door for him to wait and get his coat (it is freezing outside) and he just keeps going. Poor Devan tries to catch up to Liam.

3:15 Lance is scratching his little behind (keep in mind that he never wears pants so I know a snuggie is not to blame). I ask what is wrong and do some investigating to find a small niblet of you know what causing the irritation. Now I'm irritated because I swear this potty training thing can't last any longer than it already has. I sit his little behind on the potty and tell him not to get off until the business is done while he is insisting he doesn't need to go -- I beg to differ.

3:20 Check Lance's status to find that there really was no progress. I feel guilty for insisting that he MUST need to go because of the aforementioned evidence.

3:30 Liam and Devan are usually home from school by now, no sign of them. I'll give them a few more minutes because I know that Devan is a slow poke getting to the flag pole sometimes.

3:40 Still no sign of the boys, starting to panic and wonder if I should stay there in case they come home or try to go find them. It sure would help if my house were clean and I had any idea where my cell phone is (which is going straight to voicemail because the battery is dead). I'm searching frantically up and down the street and in the cul-de-sac.

3:42 I come back inside and come to my desk to use my work phone to call the school when in comes Devan, no Liam. Immediately I know that one of them didn't go to the flag pole and they were looking for each other. I call the school and Liam is in the office trying to call me on the other line.

3:43 The lecture starts with child #2 on why we meet at the flag pole and walk to and from school TOGETHER.

3:45 Liam starts ringing the door bell repeatedly (keep in mind that the door was unlocked because I knew he would be coming) and doesn't stop until the door is opened.

3:46 Another lecture begins with child #1 about why we walk to and from school TOGETHER.

Fast forward about an hour. Preston is now awake (he took an awesome nap, which he really needed) but is now ravenous and I am trying to make dinner. As I'm chopping apples for dinner he wants a bit every 2 seconds and is screaming at my feet. He doesn't stop screaming until dinner is over. The boys are now supposed to be doing chores.

5:45 I find them in the living room spitting sun flower seeds into a bowl. Where the heck did they find sunflower seeds?! I tell them to get doing their chores, the shells get spilled on the ground. Nice.

6:00 I find a whole Ziploc bag of sunflower seeds dumped on the couch in the back room. Mysteriously no two stories are the same and the one who is willing to take the blame keeps changing the story. After being extremely patient, they are in bed so that they have plenty of time to think about what happened and if they are telling a fib to figure out what they need to do about it.

6:10 I start to clean the sunflower seeds up so that Preston doesn't choke on one. I am so thankful that the two youngest have gone downstairs to play so that I can work quickly. I peek down the stairs to check on them and see something on the ground that I just can't make out what it is. I ask Lance what the mysterious object by the door is as Preston picks it up and puts it up to his face (his back towards me, hoping it wasn't anywhere near his mouth) when Lance calmly replies, "Poop." "POOP?!!!! PRESTON, PRESTON!!!!" Imagine me flying down the stairs at record speed in time for him to drop it to the ground because I scared the poor kid to death. Sure enough, it was poop. How sick is that?! Since when do you find poop in the play room? Lance calmly blames it on Liam. Gotta love that one. I dispose of the treasure and begin dousing Preston's hands in antibacterial soap and scrubbing like there is no tomorrow while he is whining, looking at me like I'm a nut case. I'm piecing together the previous accident issue together and am totally appalled and disgusted. Lance gets the lecture on not pooping anywhere but the toilet.

6:15 Lance pees his pants. I had had it and slapped a pull-up on him. I couldn't take any more. And I was sure he had had enough of the day too.

6:20 I proceed to clean up dinner to see Lance running through the kitchen with DVDs in his hands. I calmly take them and go in the living room to put them away when I notice a faint whiff of poop. Seriously? (keep in mind I had changed Preston within these after dinner hours too and it wasn't pleasant) I start to investigate to find it is Lance again!!! And is that some nice artwork on the wall with the one brown crayon that got left out?!!! I am ready to string him up by his toenails. I plop him back on the toilet and give him strict instructions not to touch anything and not to get up until he had finished his business.

6:21 Finish what is left of the kitchen -- should only take a minute. Am getting the leftover bits of junk off the floor when I hear a little pitter patter. Who can resist Preston with that little smile.....and toothpaste smeared in his hair?!!! He is rubbing his hands together as if this will get it off his hands. By now this is all starting to get comical. How is it humanly possible for all of this to happen within such a short time?

6:25 Preston is in the tub (having reminded Lance not to move a muscle). Cleaned, jammied and ready for bed.

6:27 I go in to see that Lance has tried to "help" and there is now sludge on the toilet seat. Just lovely. I take him to the tub and shut the door so that Preston can't get in....what I didn't realize is that the other bathroom door is wide open. I get Lance all cleaned up and find it amazing that Preston hadn't just stood by the door screaming the whole 3 minutes.

6:30 Are you kidding me? Preston is now playing in the toilet - yes the one with the sludge on the seat. I give up.

6:35 Daniel walks in the door as I'm searching for Preston's binky -- it is way past bedtime for tonight (yes, I know. It is only 6:35).

6:36 Preston is in bed.

6:37 Lance blew his nose with a bribe that he would get a treat if he blew the big monster boogies out of his nose (I can't stand snotty noses). This is a big deal for me -- almost as big as potty training.

6:38 Lance is munching on his tootsie roll in bed (I know, not good for the teeth).

Soooo.....back to my original statement. When I have days like this I find myself saying the words to this song to myself:

It's hard to believe...

But You're going to miss this

You're going to want this back

You're going to wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're going to miss this

I do know that someday I will miss these little rugrats and the insanity that they bring into my life. I know that I will miss Lance strutting around in his underweer (that's how he says it). I will miss Baby Cakes (what Lance calls Preston) causing mischief in the bathroom. I will miss Devan making me guess everything about his day and how he still asks me to tuck him in every night. I will miss the way Liam takes such good care of his little brothers. He love Preston so much and is always so happy to see him (and LOVES the fact that Preston says his name). I will miss their little faces, smiles, hugs, laughs, voices and the simplicity of the problems that they have now. I know I will miss this stage in my life, but sometimes I have to say it out loud to realize how grateful I am for these insane days.

I love these kids!!!!