This little piggy went to the market...

The dust is settling after three crazy weeks. The big end cap to our madness was the pig roast we threw at our house yesterday for our neighbors. One of Jonathan's friends has a huge propane tank converted cooker that he backed up into our yard at 8am and cooked a pig all day. The party was scheduled to start at 4pm, and of course torrential rains started at the same time. Praise the Lord, it only rained for about 45 minutes and then cleared back up and we were able to enjoy the cookout outside. We had a great time and a lot of leftover pork. Luckily, we hosted our church's marriage enrichment group today and they helped us clear our a lot of the extra food. Somehow we have managed to stay just on the inside of the line that divides sane and crazy. That being said, we are all completely exhausted. Josiah and I napped for nearly three hours this afternoon, and when we woke up I fed him dinner, bathed him, and put him right back down. He didn't protest. I am currently close to crashing again myself. So, on to the weekly assessment of stories and lessons of this whole parenting a toddler thing...

This week I learned a very valuable lesson. It is nearly impossible, and certainly painful, to try to shop with a toddler. Now, I know it seems I would have developed some kind of position statement long before now, as I shop every week, so I must clarify. This week I, for the first time in an obviously long time, decided I was going to shop for items that cannot just be swept off of the shelf. I intended to look at racks of clothes and--GASP--browse. This is where the computer fails me, because a big sound effect belongs here, blaring a horn to indicate an incorrect answer. THERE IS NO BROWSING IN TODDLER TOWN! There is maintenance item purchasing. This entails throwing items into a cart while moving a monkey of a child from the cart seat into the main cart onto one's hip and then back again. It includes trying to entertain with a can of beans and explain to someone who does not share the same logic why we can't eat the bananas (or chips or grapes) yet. It involves placing items in a cart multiple times after some small person decides it's fun to discard the items you have collected. It in fact does NOT include perusing the dress rack at Ross. Unfortunately for Josiah (and myself), I tried to override this basic law of physics this last week. It didn't go super well. I wouldn't call it a complete disaster, but I also wouldn't dare say that it was fun. I did manage to come out with a victory prize of a new dress for weddings this summer, but that was after several raisin bribes and the need to call it quits long before I was ready. All of my experiences made me realize how long it has been since I have shopped for myself. I honestly can't remember when it was. I have defaulted to shopping for Josiah because it is quick and no dressing room is involved, but I haven't looked at anything for myself in quite some time. I don't say this to be self righteous or to gain sympathy, but merely to identify how STARTLINGLY different it is to try to shop for entertainment or enjoyment. OH the simple things I took for granted before now...

All of that being said...I truly think this age is one of my favorites so far. Josiah is SOO awesome. I can say that and fully believe it 100%. Life is so stinking fun with him. One of my childless friends asked me last night, "But isn't it just exhausting?!" and I said, "No, it's not." Gasp. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! The cardinal sin of parenthood. How could I possibly deny how exhausting parenting can be? I think I was just feeling euphoric about how amazing Josiah is and somehow (miraculously) it slipped my mind how nowadays sleeping until 8 am is luxurious and how half of the week I fall asleep on the couch at night. After analyzing WHY on earth I would lie to such a good friend, I have come to a conclusion. (#1 being that I didn't mean to lie, I just didn't really think about it). I think of "exhaustion" applying to the way I feel when I get off work where I have HAD to do so much WORK, often without much gratification from my patients. It is an obligatory thing. When I think about how tiring parenting can be, it is blurred by the fact that Josiah will walk up to me, throw his arms around me, and hum in contentment as he gives me the biggest hug he possibly could. It is as if I think of exhaustion with a negative connotation, one that on most days I just can't bring myself to associate with the most wonderfully tiring thing I do--Josiah. Now, don't get me wrong. There are plenty of days that I would very willingly associate Josiah with the word exhaustion, such as when 6:30am comes 3 hours too soon and everyone in the neighborhood besides Josiah knows that it is truly too early to be ready to start the day. That being said, it is truly the most wonderful reason I have ever been tired. So, I must apologize to Jenny, because after further analysis I have decided that my initial answer was impulsive and not completely honest...but I would at least offer that it isn't ALWAYS exhausting.

Josiah got a Bubble Lawn Mower this week. It is an early present from his Nana, and she is 2 for 2 on the toys. (the last one was his bike). He is in love with the mower. He has spent the better amount of his backyard time pushing and pulling that little mower all around the yard. Nevermind the fact that the bubble aspect isn't really working and I haven't taken the time to troubleshoot it. The way I see it, he doesn't yet expect it to blow bubbles so I'm good. Way to lower your child's expectations, Callie. I really will get around to it. Anyway, he loves the mower and we are very thankful for it. Thanks, Nana!

This post is getting extremely long so I think I am going to call it quits for now. Check out the video bar for new videos; I've been meaning to upload quite a few so there will be a series of 7-10 new videos up in the next few days. If you miss some you can always check them out at my Youtube.