End of the 1st day...

I'm typing this with Evan lying on my lap, a ton of groceries and the dirty dinner dishes behind me, and David upstairs putting Trouble to bed...

But we survived. No major injuries and everyone is alive. And I hope that tomorrow is easier!

Things started out really well. Everybody got up at the right times and got fed at the same time with no problems.

But things with the toddler started going downhill after we went outside...

I think the highlight of the day was when I told Seth that I was going to discipline him if he threw the bucket of rocks in anger. He did, and just as I was about to follow through on that, I turned and saw that Evan had had his first diaper blowout ever. And it was a doozy. So I disciplined the toddler and rushed the baby inside for detox. Seth freaked out with all the activity and proceeded to have a crying meltdown for the next 20 minutes, until I finally took him upstairs for crib timeout.

By the time I brought him back downstairs, my confidence was shot. He really did pretty well after that, but I couldn't wait for naptime. My nerves needed a break.

After naptime was pretty good. I had Evan in the sling, and Seth "helped" me make box mac n' cheese. (He stood on the stool near the stove and watched and dumped the noodles and cheese sauce.)

But he's been doing a lot of running away from us when we ask him to come and do something. I think he's figured out that we have less hands, and he's testing to see if we'll enforce it when we need him. I am realizing that we've been relying a little bit too much on picking him up and physically stopping him when we want him for something. He thinks running away is a game too much of the time.

I talked to Terri today, and she said that Isaac did a lot of testing limits the first week that she had Claire. That made me feel better, since we use a lot of the same discipline techniques.

So if you're praying, keep up the prayers. I need divinely inspired patience and gentleness and firmness with Seth and Evan right now. And I need an extra shot of confidence, too. =)