Don't underestimate the power of a hungry boy

We've been having food issues with Phin lately. His molars are coming in, so I have just figured that once they cut through, he'll eat a bit better. I have to admit, however, that I question that assumption regularily. I don't know if he just doesn't like to sit still long enough to eat and if that is the case, should I just leave little piles of food all over the living room? (Wouldn't that make me mom of the year!? I mean who could put up with that nonsense?!) I don't know if he has oral or texture issues because he is forced to take an inhaler every day. In that case, would a food therapist be in our future. His eating isn't something I let myself dwell on or worry about to any extent because the boy could live off his own chub for atleast a year, I'm sure.

Tonight's dinner was initially not unlike any other night. Marc, Ava, and I were trying to eat while juggling encouraging Phin to eat the variety of food offered him. His dissatisfaction with being restrained in the high chair grew and grew as did the volume at with he expressed his dissatifaction. I got him out of the high chair to hold him long enough to finish my food and then planned to put him to bed. He kept attempting to grab my plate. I warded off his attempts about three times before being caught off guard. The little stinker wasn't actually grabbing at my plate- he wanted my chicken.

Turns out, perhaps he doesn't have eating issues after all. Perhaps he is just offended that I cut up his food into bite size peices; he thinks he is pretty big stuff after all. (To our astonishment, he did a great job gnawing on my chicken breast...I guess he'll be one of those kids that always want the chicken leg!)

And I was sleeping soundly....

I spent the weekend with a couple high school friends in Holland, MI. The weather was pretty horrendous, so we really just spent time doing a lot of talking and a little eating;) It was so great to catch up and realize how much they have remained "themselves" while still growing into beautiful women/mothers. I was thankful that I can leave my children with my husband, knowing he'll do a great job on his own and I can spent a weekend worry free. I was gone about 36 hour...but I am rejivinated for atleast 36 days! Marc, of course, did a great job making the weekend fun and fabulous for the kids, but he might need his own weekend away at this point! He had a few exciting moments:

1) Apparently Phin is surrounded by angels and they are really good at their job! We have a basement door off the kitchen. This door opens to a long set of wooden stairs that end on a very hard floor....ceramic tile on top of cement=nightmare for parents. We keep this door firmly closed and it is hard to open. I practically have to body check the thing to get it open. Marc was in the living room when he heard a loud "crack" and instant crying, followed by Ava's yelling, "Phin needs help!" Marc ran into the kitchen to find Phin crying at the TOP of the steps. He is apparently training for football already. He managed to push against the door hard enough to open it. It is miraculous that he just got scared but didn't fall down the stairs. MIRACULOUS. Thank God for keeping him safe and sparing Marc a heart attack.

2) While I was sleeping happily in Holland...Marc was woken up at 3:00am by a little three year old face RIGHT beside his that said eerily and softly, "Papa, there is a bug in my room." Marc wanting desperately trying to preserve his beauty rest said, "Just sleep here with me." I don't know why at 3am parents forget that it is miserable to attempt to sleep with a toddler. Only the toddler sleeps; Marc spent the next twenty minutes fielding away kicks and jabs and listening to the "suck, suck, suck" of a pacifier (yes, our 3 year old still sleeps with a pacifier- no comments needed on that one;). He was deciding whether or not to wake her to bring her back to her bed when he heard crying from the other side of the house. Number Two had chosen that night to experiment with NOT sleeping through the night. Marc carried Ava back to bed and found our son sitting up in his crib, happy as the day is long to see his papa at 3:30 in the morning. His face seemed to say, "Papa, what a delightful surprise!" Why he awoke is still a mystery, for his diaper was clean and he barely drank his bottle...perhaps he heard his sister stompin' about and wanted to join the fun. After getting Phinny settled, Marc had to return to big sister's room to defend her against the attack of the giant fly- atleast that is her impression of the little pest. Marc reports the fly being the fastest fly he has ever had the priviledge to fight- so fast in fact, that his only resort was to shew him from the room and close Ava safely inside. My hero of a husband than happily returned to bed- alone- and closed his eyes to set in for a precious few more hours of sleep. Five minutes later instead of being in a blissful state of sleep, he lay awake listening to sound of his might foe, "bzzz, bzzz, bzzz, bzzz". In the end Marc won the war- but the bags under eyes pay tribute to valiant efforts of the black insect with wings that moved at the speed of light....

3) This morning as Marc was helping Ava pick our her clothes for church, his little mischief making son tipped over her potty chair- her "full of pee from the night before" potty chair. Ava still laughs as she recalls papas panick over the "pee pee" on the floor and how he "saved" phin and was "being so fast to clean it up"...


I have to say I appreciate my husbands care for my children, enjoyed a laugh at these and many more instances, and was all the more grateful to be on the listening end and not the experiencing end of this weekend.

Camped In

Ava has been begging to go camping every time we come across the picture of campers in her devotional bible (sorry I forget at the moment why they have a picture of campers, so don't question it, just know for some reason there is a picture of kids in a tent). On Monday morning she was looking through the said devotional and asked again to pleeeease go camping . I realized summer is but a vapor and from the weather forecast yesterday was to be the "last" warm summer day. We had plans to go to the pool, which we did, but I also borrowed a tent from my sister and planned to have a camp out in our backyard with Ava. Marc was to be sleeping inside because someone had to stay inside with Phin and if the campout turned out to be a sleepless night he has no chance to take a nap during the day.

Marc was busy getting the tent set up. My sister has an older tent so it doesn't just "pop" up- it's kind of an ordeal getting all the posts lined up and staked into the ground. Ava was super excited at first. She was dancing around making up songs about camping. I don't exactly know what went on in her pretty little head, but her mood switch drastically and she ran up to me and said, "I think I am going to camp in my regular bed inside. We can do the tent later." Perhaps it "hit" her that tents were OUT side...with bugs;) Thankfully, Marc hadn't finished set up and we were able to just go get ice cream and hang out in the backyard until bedtime...

I wasn't complaining! Not only did I NOT have to climb in a tent at 7:30 and pretend to go to sleep at 8. I was able to veg out on my couch and eat chocolate and watch "Chopped" on Food Network. I am all about adventure and I would have been more than willing to brave out sleepin' in the yard to make my little girl happy, but I thoroughly enjoyed the evening indoors...and I don't have a cranky little girl today.

It also rained last night...'nuff said?!

If you had been a fly in my backyard...

Me: Ava, what happened under your eye here? (Weird red patch that is sort of rash looking but only about the size of a quarter...hmmm)
Ava: What, I got a dot?
Me: yes, does it hurt? (I touch it)
Ava: No, I'm just getting old.

Why are you laughing mom?


(Addendum: As I was lying in bed last nigh I realized why she said, "I'm just getting old." In April, we were at the airport riding the tram from the parking lot to the terminal. I had Ava sit in the seats at the back. An elderly woman sat across from her and was chatting nicely to Ava. Ava all of a sudden says, "why do you have red dots all over your face?" (She had those birght red moles all over her face.) The elderly woman, thankfully, did not get offended at all; she simply replied, "Cuz i am REALLY REALLY old!" I had almost completely forgotten this incident, after all April was four months ago and I can barely remember to get my clothes out the dryer after an hour! The moment, however, must have made an impression on Ava;)

God must be smiling.

As Marc and I were talking in the car this evening, we heard the Ava talking very quietly as she looked out the window. I don't cry easily, but what I heard brought tears to my eyes.

Ava: Thank you for the Beautiful Sky. It is really lots of colors.
And Thank you for sleeping with me at night time.
And Thank you for the Beautiful Sky.
Amen.


First of all, she often comments on sunsets. She loves the pink in the sky and it is not at all uncommon for her to exclaim, "Mommy, look at the sky!" I am so glad she notices nature and I really wonder if she'll be an artist and paint the sky someday.

Next, what really brought tears to my eye was hearing her say, "Thank you for sleeping with me at night time." Ava has been afraid a lot lately, so we've prayed with her and ensured her that Jesus is always with us and He takes care of us. As a parent, you're not always sure how much of what you are saying is "sinking in". To know she understands that Jesus, the same God who made the beautiful sky, is with her is probably one of the greatest moments in my life.

What is he thinking?

Phineas was a difficult infant...to say the least. He was hard to soothe, unless he was breastfeeding and seemed to hate sleep...or hate for ME to have sleep;) I tried COUNTLESS times to get him to take a pacifier. The kid would NOT take one...and we tried every single kind they carried at Babies R Us (you do those sort of things when you are desperate...).

It was also very difficult to get him to take a bottle. We spent a fortune trying every single kind we could find...even the ones that look like a boob. Finally we tried a laytex nipple with the cheap playtex bottles...apparently it mimicked skin cuz he would take this one with a little proding. Eventually he realized bottles were a bit quicker than breasts and he weaned himself from breastfeeding. He now lights up at the sight of his bottle, which is quite adorable.

What he has started to do, however, with his bottles is not so cute. He is treating his bottle as a pacifier. My son finishes his milk and then crawls around with a big ol' bottle hanging from his mouth. He does everything with this crazy bottle hanging from his mouth- it doesn't seem to slow him or his mischief down...but it looks ridiculous. What a crazy kid.

Oh, Really?!

Me: Ava, Please stop jumping on the couch and put your Polly's away.
A: Mommy! I can't stop jumping, it is very important to practice.
Me: Ave, you do not need to practice jumping. You do need to obey.
A: Yes, I need to obey, but first I need to practice jumping or they won't let me come to jumping class.
Me: What jumping class?
A: The Jumping Class and Jumping School. Mommy, you pay good money for jumping school, so it is important that I practice, see.


(I have no idea what she is talking about...she makes up imaginary things all the time...especially when making excuses.:P)

DoDo DoDo DoDo...

We had "New Parents Night" at Ava's school last night. We will be sending her to a christian private school, so the night focused on parents of not just preschoolers, but also elementary, junior high, and high schoolers. It is a great school, which we knew, but we left and both joked that we hoped we hadn't inadvertantly joined a cult. Does anyone have ANYTHING bad to say about this school? I mean nothing- nothing. Could we have found the eutopia of education?;)


Granted the school is phenominal. The Head of School, used to be an International Lawyer. He brings a culture and brilliance that is amazing. His passion is to build a school that is fully committed to christ and the christian world view and still rivals any educational institution around. The cirriculum they have developped at the high school level is ground breaking and new and being looked at all over the country. Exciting stuff. You couldn't help but listen to all they are doing and not be proud to be apart of it.


I also couldn't help bit sit and wonder when the heck I grew up? How am I old enough to sit at a new parents dinner? Granted I DON'T have a high schooler, junior higher, or even kindergartner, but just being part of the conversation made me feel way to grown up. I talked with Ava's teachers. TEACHERS!!! WHAT?! Wasn't it just yesterday that I was in labor, eating Gruyere Mac and Cheese at Bistro Campagne because they don't do take out and I wanted to carbo load before the big "event"? Now I am talking to teachers about my child and how their looking forward to having her in their class and how they have been praying for her all summer....I felt like I entered the twilight zone. Then when we asked how long one of her teachers had been teaching, she answered three years. She is young. She probably looks at me and thinks I am old. That is just flippin' weird....weird, I tell you.


It's all great...really great and we are very fortunate to have this amazing place to send her, where she'll get a great education, but also learn how to live like God wants us to. I wouldn't change our choice...shoot after every meeting, reading, and info session I feel like I want to send every kid in Chicago to CHA;)...but I do feel like I have been picked up by a huge wave and it's carrying me to new places I am not prepared for yet. I'll be going to a parent-teacher conference in September...wow.


Ava is READY. Yesterday she got all dressed up and put her back pack on and said, "I am ready to go to school." It is still two weeks away and she's already rearin' to go...I on the other hand will probably cry the whole way home after I drop her off:) She'll only be there two days a week, the break will be nice and I"ll get awesome one on one time with Phin; but seeing my baby girl become a little percocious "big" girl chokes me up....I guess it's true, I am all grown up...

Is it nap time yet?

I adore my son. How could I not? He is absolute the cutest little chubby baby with a face that captures your heart. His is precious. His personality is starting to be evident. He is so curious and enjoys making other people laugh. He loves to laugh too and sometimes makes himself laugh...which makes everyone else laugh;) We have lots of fun with him.

He also is exhausting. I am choosing to sit down and write a blog post because I am realizing just how exhausting, but as I type for all of 45 secounds so far, he has emptied the play kitchen and crawled over to empty the toy box. I'll type for 5 minutes and spend 10 cleaning up after him.

What I realized this morning is that I look at the clock about a hundred times a day. I can't wait until it's time to put him to bed again; is that horrible? I didn't even realize I did it so often! But I do. I looked at the clock about four times this morning and was very conscious of the fact that only an hour had gone by. It isn't a miserable hour, it is a tiring one! He is hilarious, but has more mischief in his chubby pinky than our entire family! In enjoy him, but I SO look forward to tucking him safely in his crib and knowing that for two hours I don't have to be "on guard". For that two hours, I don't have to worry about him electrocuting himself or choking on one of Ava's Barbie shoes. I can rest my aching back and prepare for the next entertaining session of following Phin as he empties cabinets, redirecting Phin from unplugging the carbon monoxide detector, and entertaining Phin so he stays away from Ava's toys, which all seem to be choke hazards. It is no wonder that I also enjoy meals (contained in a high chair), bath (contained in a bath seat) and car rides (notice a containment trend, here?).

He is SOO happy now that he is mobile. He is entertaining on a whole new level. I love to watch him explore and he is amazingly smart....but it is now on the record that I have become clock obsessed and dread the day when Phin drops a nap or learns to crawl out of his crib!

My Little Boy- Happily Contained;)

"To Be or Not To Be, That is the Question."

Today we spent the entire day just chillin' with good friends. The kids played, the adults chatted, and it felt like we stepped out of life and were able to just "BE". It was nice. There is really nothing like a good friend, is there?

We talked about a wide variety of things, but as I process the day this evening I am reminded at how fortunate we are to have wonderful friends. We don't walk through life alone. I am so thankful that God made us for community with others!

Today on top of just talking and listening, Chloe encouraged me as a mom. She pointed out the joy I experience with my children. I often question myself as a mom. I am proud of myself on some days, but some days I wonder...particularily when it comes to raising Ava. She is so emotional and creative; things that are hard for me to relate to sometimes and I wonder if I am appropriately handling the gift that she is. Today my friend just complemented aspects of my motherhood that I didn't know were "strengths". I could always experience more joy, that is a goal of mine, but I do indeed enjoy my children. I feel so surrendured to this stage of motherhood. I have stressful, overwhelming, frustrated moments, but I AM so happy. To know that this happiness is evident is so encouraging! I hope my kids know I am happy and more than that I hope it impresses on them the joy that I find in Jesus. My children and husband are blessings- I enjoy the blessings Jesus gives me and I am thankful for them! I hope my children also learn to count and enjoy the blessings God so bountifully pours on them and I hope that they live joy-filled lives!

Too often we strive to achieve in life. It is good to have goals and to work to achieve them. Today, however, felt like God gave us a gift. We stepped by from life, all that we had to do today was "be" and it was refreshing and wonderful.

Untamable Laughter

Ava has dance on Friday mornings. This event is by far the highlight of her week. She is ready to leave from the moment she wakes up. The problem is that the class doesn't start until 10:30. This means a bit of a stressful morning for me for two reasons: 1) Ava asks a million times "Is it time to go yet?" and 2)It falls smack dab in the middle of Phins morning nap.

In order to avoid both questions I tried for a few weeks to leave at 9am (Phin's naptime) and allow him to sleep in the car and drive around until ballet with Ava chatting, listening to books on CD, singing, etc. I thought this would be an ingenious solution and it worked well as far as Ava was concerned. She knew she was "on the way" to ballet and she was happy. It did not work well for Phin. He's just gotten to an age where he is too interested in the world to sleep, unless he's beyond exhausted.

Today I knew I had to nap Phin BEFORE we left and just wake him up at the last minute to go. At least then I had a risk of a mildly grumpy baby vs. a guarantee of a very tired, very grumpy little lad. Ava has just on pins and needles. She was in her ballet tights and leotard before I was even out of bed. She talked about tap and ballet all through breakfast and was just crushed when I changed the old "plan" and put Phin to nap before leaving. She was sure she was going to "be late".

In order to avoid getting frustrated, I put on a "Olivia" episode. She was distracted and I was able to get showered and changed and even clean up after breakfast before it was time to wake up Phin and head out. I didn't want to lose any sleep for Phin so I waited to wake him up until it was time to get into the car. When I told Ava to grab her bag while I got Phin, she was delighted. She said, "it's time to go?!" with such exuberence, you'd think she'd won the lottery. (Is there anything better than the pure joy children so easily express?) She started jumping up and down and for some unknown reason she grabbed a Campari Tomato from the counter. I don't know what she was thinking and I am sure she has no idea herself. She treated the tomato as one of those egg shaker and as she took her first "shake", she obviously also squeezed. The tomato burst and was all over Ava AND all over my jeans.

I burst out laughing. Ava was stunned. She stood there for a few seconds and I thought she could laugh too...only I was wrong. She started crying...and crying...and crying. As badly as I wanted to stop laughing I couldn't. My laughter was only exacerbated by her repeating "that pamato spit on me". I cleaned her up, dug tomato seeds out of her hair and scrubbed the juice off her leotard. She calmed a bit, but was still crying as I rushed her into the car. My laughing turned to a bit of anxiety as I realized this little episode might make us late and in her three year old mind our lateness would now be associated by her "random" action but by MY giving Phin a nap before we left. We made it JUST as class was to begin and she enjoyed every second of her tappin' and turning.

I still crack up when I see the tomoatoes on my counter. She will certainly think twice before picking them up again...she seemed so shocked by the whole thing, I wouldn't be surprised if she develops a tomatoe phobia...is there such a thing?

When Life gives you lemons...

I am a talker, always have been. I like a good chat and can pretty much have one with anyone. I also like, silence, however. I like time to myself. I like to be alone with my thoughts. I married one of the few men in this world who talks....and talks....and talks. You'll never hear me complain about wondering what my husband is thinking or wishing he was a better communicator. Sure, he has weaknesses, but talking too little is not one of them. This is a challenge for me sometimes...never has it been more of a challenge since Ava started talking ALL DAY LONG.

OH MY WORD!

I am so fried from spending my days with my little chatterbox. She's been ESPECIALLY verbal in the last week. My poor husband doesn't stand a chance when he comes home from work. I don't want to hear about his day or any other thought in his precious little head. I want quiet. SILENCE! I am DONE with listening;)

This is not kind, I know. I feel badly about this. This morning I made sure to start my day praying about my attitude. I don't want to make Ava feel like I am annoyed; I don't ever want her to think (or know) I am ignoring her or tuning her out. I know she'll end up on the couch at some point in her life, telling a therapist of her "mother wounds", but I don't want any of those purposefully inflicted. It certainly isn't fair to have my husband walk into his home, his "haven, to find the wicked witch of the west waiting for him.

Today we were driving to church for mom's group. We'd been in the car for 5 minutes. It was 8:30 in the morning. I was already about to scream listening to her talk and talk nonstop; I thought to myself "anyone else would find her adorable." I said a quick prayer. It was then I decided to make a memory instead of letting myself get grumpier. I started writing down every topic she mentioned on a napkin (yes writing as I drove) to keep a record in her baby book of just how much she talked at three. Since the writing on the napkin is messy and the napkin is written on front and back, here is a list of the topics, in order, straight from the McDonalds napkin. I wrote down a few quotes admist the topics that caught me offguard and made me laugh:

Boats
Singing Old MacDonald had a Farm
What do zebra's say
Where do Pony's Sleep?
Forests
Unicorns
Toothpaste
cars
car dealerships (Mommy, what is that big house with cars everywhere?)
"Yes mommy your exactly right about that." (in response to being told they sell cars at car dealerships)
How old is Papa?
Yogurt
Shoes not staying on her feet
cold feet
Glass slippers
worms
long worms in dirt
"Papa sure has long arms." (Now this comment was so random, that I asked her what made her say that after I finished my laugh- she said, he dug a deep hole to find worms cuz he has long arms.)
Cinderella
Hunt for "M"s on signs, just like M for "you" (Mom starts with M)
How Amazing it is that McDonalds is a big M
Azul cars (blue in spanish)
Bricks and how you make buildings by stacking them
Red and green lights
"Why are you writing on that napkin, Mommy?" (This made me laught almost to the point of tears.)
Barns
Gymboree songs
Graffiti
Money
Boats (again)
Lying
Littering
Babies
Rojo and Verde Lights (red and green in spanish)
Where are you going?
Singing Old MacDonald again
Underpants
Parking
Phin sleeping in car
Going to church, but not sunday school

This is ALL in twenty minutes...and this is just a list of TOPICS not all the words she spoke on each topic. It is amazing really. I suppose our minds have this many topics run through them in twenty minutes, we just don't speak every little thought aloud. Ava, on the otherhand, absolutely does.

Ava has been able to spell her name since long before she turned too. When your name is spelled with three letters, you definitely are going to be the first among your friends to memorize it. She also had an advantage in the particular letters of her name. She has been able to write "A-V-A" for a long time. At first, she's write and A, then turn the paper upside down to make the V, always saying aloud, no line in the V, and then turn the paper right side up to make another A. She did eventually get how to make a V without moving the paper and "AVA" is written everywhere and anywhere she can write it. Other than her name, however, Ava had very little interest in letters. She seemed to be a number girl (not surprising since I have always LOVED numbers). Recently, however, she has been crazy about the alphabet and learning her letter sounds.

Yesterday morning, Ava was writing "M"s like crazy. She figured out how they were written and was writing them everywhere. Then she said, "I am writing Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom." I explained to her that the letter M starts the word mom like A starts Ava, but to write "Mom" you have to put an "O" in the middle. I wrote it for her once...just once.

Several hours later, after church, she was coloring on her little table and brought me the picture she colored for me. "Mom" was written across the top. I can't tell you how amazing it is to see your three year old writing, let alone to have her color a picture for you and write "mom" at the top. I saved it for her baby book and I am sure will pull it out in my more sentimental moments...or when she's 16 and says something nasty and I need a reminder that deep inside, she loves me;)

Saturday Evening Post

I went to the Women of Faith conference today in Indianapolis. Did you know that you can really get a bloody nose when you sit all day in the infamous "nose bleed" section. I have the crusty nose to prove it. TMI? Sorry 'bout that. I DID learn a few more "spiritual" things...

Today I was challenged on forgiving my husband. I tend to "sort of " forgive- whatever that means. Really I think it is my avoidance technique. God help my husband when I am sleep deprived or have PMS, cuz all sorts of way old crap can come flinging out at him. The quote that really stuck with me was "When I forgave my husband he was finally allowed to heal, because he no longer had to wake up wondering what the 'temperature' of the house was that day." (The speaker's husband had a shopping addiction and had put their family on the brink of total emotional ruin...I mean seriously- if God can give her freedom through forgiveness of such a big thing who am I to hold grudges about stupid little things?!) I felt God's finger pointing RIGHT at me...I can tend to be a rather volatile weather system. I may look stable, but a high pressure system bumps into me and thunder and lightning strike.

I was also challenged because I tend to be a VERY good compartmentalizer. It is "hard" to hurt me or affect me for long. I tend to just not let myself feel this or that. There are many reasons for this...I could totally blame my mom for telling me a million and one times to "not wear my feelings on my sleeve." but I am pretty sure have multiple friends die (the first when I was just 15) may have something to do with that. Anywho- I realized I really need to force myself to work through emotions and connect with others even when it is risky or painful.

WOAH- serious post- but that is where I am;) I laughed a lot today too- one of the reasons I love this conference, is because they are all such good story tellers, but I can't begin to choose which story to repeat or begin to do their funny tales of woe justice.

On a totally random side note- Phin is talking. I am pretty sure that "nananana" is me (mama?), but not 100%. We are 100% sure that he is saying "all done". It sounds like "ah dah". Pretty cute. He'll do his "sign" for all done and say "ah dah" when he is finished eating. If you don't get it the first time, he'll push your hand offering him the food away and say, "ah dah" a little louder. He is adorable.

Ava and Marc painted an precious little bird house today. She had a vision for a rainbow bird house...and when they had finished painting it, she said, "It is just the way I wanted it." Must be nice to have something turn out as you envision it...I have never been so lucky artistically;)

NOT a "walk in the park"

Today was Ava's last day of Camp Amigos (her summer day camp). We have been attending twice a week for two day, so today all 11 attendees and their parents/siblings met at the park for a picnic before saying "Goodbye" for good.

The parents were all sitting on our blankets chatting and the kiddos were climbing, running, laughing, fighting, and over all playing with all their might. Adorable, of course;0) From my beach towel I was keeping an eye on Ava, making sure she played nicely and more importantly didn't do anything insane, like jump off the top of the monkey bars or something. About an hour into our picnic I look up and don't see Ava. I stood up to see if she was crouched down in a tube or something. She was not on the play ground. I start to turn around to see if she is running in the nearby field and I find her about 25 feet away. Oh she was crouched down all right, but what I saw STOPPED me in my tracks. Ava was in a full squat, pooping. Oh yes, about 25 feet from the parents. We all cracked up!! It was gross and hilarious.

Now, I tried to go over to shield her from view but she asked for "privacy". I guess "privacy" when you are pooping in the grass in public has it's own definition. This park did not have public restrooms and so you can't really blame the kid, but scooping my childs poop up with a plastic bag tops my list of grossest mom moments. (I DID take a photograph, but will refrain posting it on public domain since the world is full of perverts.)