So It's Going To Be One of Those Days...

I had a morning where you look up at Heaven, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and ask God, "Really? Can I just have a break for a moment?"
I thought the start to the morning was great. Ellie actually slept in until 8:00 and Noah slept until 8:30. This has not been done in a long time...maybe never. I had promised Noah last night that if he went to bed like a good boy at Matt and Jeana's (who baby-sat him for a little bit and then we visited for awhile after returning to get him) then he could have chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. He went to bed with no problems and so this morning I made pancakes. After cleaning up the breakfast mess, I started on dinner because I am making potato soup in the crockpot today (it's the first day of October, perfect fall weather...what better than a crock pot meal?) At the same time I am talking to Jeana and not hearing any crying so I'm assuming things are good throughout the house.
Right before getting off the phone with her and right after finishing throwing all the soup ingredients in the crock pot, I look at Noah who is singing and dancing around the kitchen. He is dressed only in his underwear and pajama top and instead of pants, his legs are covered with blue marker. There are stripes drawn up and down one leg and the other leg is covered with dots. I sigh and am thankful tonight is a bath night.
Finally I drag myself into the shower. As I am in the shower the lights start going on and off. Oh, yes, that's my son playing with the light switch. Grrr. There is only so much I can do with shampoo suds covering my head so I tell him firmly to stop and even start to count. Before I can get to "three" the lights he is playing with go off completely. Well, isn't that great? I remember the difficulty Tim had last time he was messing around with the circuit breaker trying to do something in the bathroom and that was with me helping by yelling down the stairs "no" every time a light other than the bathroom one went off. Not wanting to deal with it by myself, I figure I can use the bathroom in the dark until he gets home.
After I shower I give Ellie her bottle. Now, she is a baby who spits up quite a bit, although as she has started eating more baby cereal it has gotten a (little) bit better. I have actually been able to make it through a full day with both of us in the same outfits we started it in. Today she smiles and laughs at me and then spits up all over the front of her outfit as well as my own (which, thankfully, was just a t-shirt.)
I take her upstairs and, as I am changing her, Noah - who has joined us by this time - stops jumping on his bed and starts to make a grunting noise that I know well. I am frustrated because not one hour before this, we had been clapping and cheering and eating a cookie due to the fact he pooped in the potty all by himself and then told me afterwards. Plus, he is (and this might be too much information if you're not a mom but if you are, you understand) a regular pooper. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon and that's it. Today he has started the day with an explosion in his diaper as soon as he woke up. This was followed by his potty poop and now this! I tell him to stop and go use the potty but by this time it is too late. I tell him instead to stand in one place until we can go into the bathroom, so that it doesn't get mushed around in his undies. I turn back to Ellie and finish buttoning her outfit, which is a bit too big because I don't have many long sleeve shirts in her size. I put her in a 6-12 month outfit instead and figured, who cares if the legs are only a little too long and the sleeves are over her hands? It just helps them stay warm, right?
I put her in her crib and she promptly starts to scream because it means she is not going to be held at the moment (future diva?) I turn back to Noah and he is wiping his hand back and forth across his nose. It takes me a moment before I notice his hands, cheeks and nose are covered in blood. He gets frequent nosebleeds just like I did as a child (and still do when the weather becomes drier.)
"Look, Mama, a nosebweed," he informs me. He is an expert at this time with them.
So I pick him up under his arms and, holding him at arm's distance, carry him into mine and Tim's bathroom. I first take care of the nosebleed and then the dirty underwear fiasco.
What a morning, what a morning. I'm kind of nervous to see how the afternoon will go.

On a side note, what do you think of the new blog design? I was checking my friend, Traci's, today and saw she did a makeover on her's. I went to the same site and found one I liked (her's is super cute - it's a background called Warm Cider. Mmmmm.)