Just a boy and his dog...

 

I am not sure if we will ever be able to walk in the yard in normal shoes again, we might just be wearing rain boots for the next 3 months till Summer hits...haha.  It is WET out there...but it has not stopped us from being outside as much as possible.  The kids must have all gone through three outfits each yesterday from getting soaked in the wet grass, the sandbox or falling in the mud.  I should just put up a few big obstacles and advertise a Tough Mudder Race or something!  Tis Springtime in Pittsburgh!

Life Swap...

 I used to be totally addicted to the show "Wife Swap"...not the celebrity version but the initial seasons where they took two totally average households and made the wives swap places with each other.  After a week of living in each other's homes and abiding by each other's set rules, the new wives got to change the rules and run the home according to their own style.  Then they got to meet face to face at the end and tell each other what they thought of their homes/families/rules, etc.  Almost every time, the wives would come away feeling very thankful for their homes and families and appreciate them more than ever before..and often there were positive changes made to improve the family dynamics when they returned.

This past month, the combination of the baby, the puppy and the dreary weather has made me pine for brighter less chaotic days...and even sometimes, yes, and escape from my crazed life.  I'm not saying I'd ever imagine my life not being this way...but to trade lives with someone with just a tad bit less stress and a tad more sleep each night does sound awfully appealing...oh and if they lived somewhere like, oh, say, Arizona...or Florida or Southern California...yes that would be an added bonus.  But maybe, just maybe, when I found myself somewhere quieter and calmer and less chaotic, I'd feel bored??  Well, I'll never know I guess...  :)  I just have to keep reminding myself that the grass isn't always greener on the other side....well unless you live in Florida or California that is...

Today was Day #1 of Puppy Training class and Hershey also was reunited with one of her litter mates...her sister Skye.  They LOVED each other and were inseparable within minutes.  It was so cute to see them playing and enjoying each other so much.

Carter and Reese attended the class with me and loved working through the commands with her and also getting her to complete some of the agility training they had set up.

This afternoon the kids enjoyed blowing bubbles for her to attack.

Tonight while we were making dinner I happened to look over at Lawson in his exersaucer and Sienna was standing there talking to him.  Suddenly I saw her put her fist up to his face and shove it into his mouth.  "Sienna, what are you doing?" I asked her.   "I'm giving Lawson a knuckle sandwich!"  Oh geez...she's taking that one wayyyy too literally.

Don't move or I'll shoot!

Tired Reese, tired puppy

They tell it like it is...

We were reading books to the kids the other night and Derrick said it was time for bed.  Carter started to complain that he hadn't finished reading the book.  Derrick told him, "I've read you 40 pages of this book...it's a 70 page book!"  Carter turned right back and said, "That's not even 100 pages!"  Wow...high expectations for a "bedtime story" in this house.

Sienna has been kinda-potty training....I say "Kinda" because it's very hit or miss...she only goes when she wants to go and is definitely 100% motivated because of a treat.  So Derrick had been telling her if she went poop on the potty she'd get a BIG bowl of ice cream.  The other day, she actually went in by herself and did go poop on the potty.  She ate her big bowl of ice cream and not 2 minutes later said, "I pooped in my diaper."  Ugh, ugh and UGH!!!  This kid knows how to work the system.

Sienna was pulling the puppy's tail yesterday and I told her that was very mean.  I asked, 'Why did you do that to Hershey?"  And without hesitation she said, "Because I'm mean."  Well, she's honest, what can I say??

Hershey completed her first Puppy Training class two nights ago and was a star performer.  The instructor kept pulling her up in front of all the other owners and dogs and using her as an example and she did exactly what he wanted her too.  I was so proud.  Then, we came home and she pooped and peed all over the family room rug.  That brought my ego crashing back down to reality....sigh...

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie?

Is the old adage, to let sleeping dogs lie really such a good idea?  Well I don't know, you tell me...I certainly didn't want to let the puppy sleep today after she woke me up at 5:30 AM!!  I bitterly grabbed her leash at 9:30 tonight, threw on my winter coat and hat and took her for a nice, brisk walk around the neighborhood to get her good and tired.  Take that, sleepy puppy...who will win this battle??

Everyone told us to potty train the dog by tying a bell to the front door and teaching her to ring it when she needs to go.  So today, when she realized she'd get a treat for going out, she literally must have rung that bell almost 60 times...I'm not even kidding.  She'd just come in from going out and run back over and ring it again a minute later.  She was driving us CRAZY!!!  As if we really need another critter in this house to do that??

Fortunately, Derrick got the trampoline up for the kids on Friday, so there has been lots of happy jumping in the backyard since then.  If only we could throw the puppy on there with them.

Not giving up...

 Our Pastor used an interesting quote in his sermon this morning:

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."  Winston Churchill

He went on to relate this then to faith...saying that faith too, consists of going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.  As imperfect people living in an imperfect world, we are bound to face challenges and difficulties and make many mistakes along the path of life...but we cannot ever lose our hope.

Sometimes I feel this way about parenting too...that I go from failure to failure... yet cannot lose enthusiasm...because my kids are depending on me.

These last few months have been a true test of my stamina, my patience, my ability to adjust to change and lack of sleep.  And many days, when the kids are finally in bed, I start thinking back over the day and can really start to feel down on myself...like I am failing in so many areas.  There are ALWAYS things on my to-do list that don't get done...there are always things that happen with the kids that I wish I had handled differently.

But what I am realizing in all of this is that I need to keep pursuing God with whole-hearted enthusiasm.  Only then will I have the strength to move forward and not give up...to do the right things and not get discouraged...to face repeated disappointment and keep pressing on...

Music to my ears...

So you may be wondering how things are going here.  OK seriously, you want to know...there are four kids and an un-housetrained puppy in my house together all day every day.  How do you think it's going???  Oh, and it's still snowing.  Oh, and I fell on the ice for the second time this week.  Yep, it's just peachy keen...

I was on the phone with a lady to make some changes on one of our credit card accounts the other day, and of course everyone was screaming.  So I locked myself into the laundry room and was apologizing to her about all the noise.  She was very sweet and said, "Oh it's fine...those sounds are music to my ears."  I then told her we had four kids and a puppy and she said, "I'll just start calling you Saint Shelley."  I like her...

Yesterday I was in line at the grocery store and the man in front of me had two small kids in the cart who were fussing a  little.  He looked at me, with Lawson asleep in his carseat (for once!!) and said, "Is that your only one?"  I laughed and said "No I have 4, I won't judge you."  He just looked at me and said, "Oh..."  I threw in for good measure, "And we just got a new puppy too."  He and the checkout guy were speechless.  Maybe I'm onto something here...I mean, if I'm ever running late or forget something important I have a new card to play....it's the "I have four kids and a puppy" card.  I'm keeping that one in my back pocket...

Sienna's new bedtime routine now not only includes wrapping her up in a blanket so that no limbs are showing, but also wrapping her Lamby, Mooey, and Bear in separate blankets.  Just to keep it nice and simple . If anyone is left unwrapped, crying will ensue.  Even at 6 am when I was in doing a diaper change, she started to cry when I was leaving.  I quickly went back to see what was the matter and she said, "You need to wrap Mooey (her cow) up!"  There is no rest for the weary.

This really crazy thing happened to me the other day.  Derrick was outside with Carter and Reese and the dog and Sienna and Lawson were both sleeping.  I went into my bedroom and sat down to do some mending for 10 minutes and suddenly realized....there was NO NOISE.  I know, so weird right?  Fortunately, I didn't have to think about it for very long because Lawson only slept for 10 minutes.  Good thing...I wouldn't want to get too used to that...

Let them eat cake...

 It was a fun couple of days...well, I guess that is if your idea of fun includes brawling kids, a rambunctious 2 year old, and an un-housetrained puppy who needs to be taken outside every 30 minutes in the bitter cold.  Yep, all par for the course in this household, right?

We enjoyed a visit from Nani and Pop Pop and celebrated Pop Pop's 70th Birthday a couple days early.  Wow the big 7-0...We are lucky to have Pop Pop in our lives and to celebrate this major milestone with him!  Love you, Dad!!!

 The kids are adjusting pretty well to Hershey and I think she is adjusting to life in our home.  She's actually making herself quite at home now that she's figured out how to jump up on the furniture.  She's trying to sneak up on the chairs and couch whenever she gets a chance...UGH....need to nip that in the bud.  She especially likes the kids little Pottery Barn Kids chair that we've had forever.  Derrick put it upside down on top of the other chair, and she still managed to climb up on that chair and sneak underneath it to catch a nap.  Just what I need, another conniving critter in this house...doesn't Sienna already more than fill that role!?

Puppy Purgatory

 We celebrated Grammie's birthday today.  Everyone enjoyed seeing each other, meeting the puppy and having some yummy cake thanks to Aunt Jess!  The kids had fun with all the extra playmates around and enjoyed making people play horsey and read to them.

If anyone would like to know the honest truth about how having 4 kids ( 7 and under) and a puppy is going...it's a little like training for the Olympics would be I imagine.  It's so super intensely exhausting and stressful, I feel a bit like a kicked-in-the face, beat-down, thoroughly exhausted, old-aged version of myself.  Sounds like fun, eh??  Do I recommend undertaking such a thing to other people.  NO WAY IN HECK!  People keep saying "Oh my gosh, You're AMAZING!"  Yea, amazingly stupid!!!

Getting ready for church this morning was like a 6 ring circus but somehow we made it on time.  Of course 5 minutes after we got back home the dog had already had three accidents and it just went downhill from there.  Derrick left to take Carter to soccer and I was here with a very unhappy baby and the girls and puppy.

At one point I was upstairs changing a diaper and heard Reese yell, "Mama, the puppy is out of her cage!"  Sienna had figured out how to open it (even though her 7 year old brother still can't seem to figure it out.)  Loose puppy with no supervision is a very VERY bad thing right now.  She poops and pees like crazy and chews ANYTHING.  So I raced downstairs, put Lawson in the Pack 'n Play and asked Reese to watch him, grabbed the dog and went outside before she could make another mess.  I was outside for maybe 5 minutes at the most and came back in to find a pile of dog treats on the rug by the door (thank you Sienna), a screaming baby, and when I went into the kitchen, the table had orange peel all the way around the perimeter....  Sienna had gotten herself a clementine and walked around the table while peeling it, leaving bits of peel all the way around.

I have hence rigged up several barricades throughout the first floor of my house to try and contain the destructive puppy (and maybe Sienna too) and minimize some of the insanity.

Why was my bathroom door locked from the inside today when I tried to open it, really needing to use the restroom?  Oh, that's just because Sienna was sneaking up there into the bathroom all throughout the day today, stealing bandaids out of the closet.  She must have used up 3/4 of a box before we finally resorted to locking the door so she wouldn't tear our whole bathroom apart looking for them.  I'm telling you, she's gunning for the "Best Kid of the Year Award" right now...

Puppy kisses

Seriously Sienna and the puppy are in contention for the worst-behaved member of the family...it's a tight race.  Who will win???  We will just have to wait and see.  (I know...the suspense is just killing me...)

Four Kids and a Puppy

Sometimes, I'll catch myself saying something to one of the kids and think to myself, "I can't even believe I'm saying this!  I should really write this down."  Not sure what I'm talking about...here are just a few examples from today...

Keep your shirt on or you don't get a treat (to Sienna)

Please don't peel your orange in the dishwasher (to Sienna who was sitting on the door and leaving a pile of the peel in the dishwasher)

No you can't have Goldfish for breakfast (to Sienna)

Please don't use Lawson's diapers on your baby dolls (to Sienna)

Please stop eating you boo boo buddy (to Sienna)

Don't eat your shirt (to Sienna)

Don't eat my slippers (to Hershey)

Day Three of the "Four Kids and a Puppy Experiment" went pretty well.  I had no voice left by the time dinner was over and felt like I had been run over by a truck...but I'm still alive...hahaha  She only woke us up about 5 times last night, which was a little rough, and of course it was the first night Lawson slept all the way through the night...well timed, Lawson, well timed.  It also could not possibly be a worse week to try to potty train a puppy.  The poor little thing is shaking like a leaf after a minute outside it is SO cold this week.  Well, I guess all you can say is, it can only get better....right???

5 Month Milestone

 Well, we celebrated Lawson turning 5 months today and surviving the hardest months of the newborn haze by....getting a puppy!  Sure, why not!?!?  Uh, yea what were we thinking.  We must just be suckers for cute little faces.

Welcome to the crazy Berad Family, Hershey the Puppy.  She is 11 pounds and a total mutt.  Looks like a mini Lab but her mom looked more like a beagle, so we'll see how big she turns out to be.  Our first day with her went pretty well, so we'll see how this new "adventure" goes.


Driving home with her in the car, we told the kids we'd need to feed her when we got back.  Sienna chimed in, "I'll go upstairs and get my baby bottle!"


She even braved the ridiculously cold temps and snow to got out numerous times today and seems to be doing pretty well with the outdoor potty training.  I can only hope that continues...there is enough peeing and pooping in my house already!

Learning new things...

If it's not the kids making messes, it's the cat.  Yesterday while we were working on school together I could hear him racing around the kitchen like a maniac.  When we came back into the kitchen, he had jumped up on the kitchen table where the kids had put together several different puzzles, broken them all apart, and then pushed the pieces all across the kitchen floor!  Seriously, can't anyone cut me some slack around here?

Reese is REALLY into playing different card games lately.  She comes down every morning and the first thing she wants to do, before even eating, is make puzzles and play card games.  She learned how to play Indian Poker, where you hold your card up on your forehead and try to guess if your card is higher or lower than the other players.  This is not all that challenging when there are only two people playing but she doesn't seem to mind a bit.  I've spent the last couple mornings playing with her and when I tell her I need to stop to make breakfast for the other kids, she will sit there and deal a card to the table and hold the other one on her head and play by herself.  She even does play-by-play commentating..."I won" or "You won"...which I'm not sure who "you" would be...the table???  It's quite amusing!

 The kids got an opportunity to try out ice skating for the first time today in a friends homemade rink.  They loved it.  Carter was a natural and was zipping around right away.  So glad they had fun...at least it gives some purpose to all this ice and snow!