of Dogs and Toddlers.

I haven't fully decompressed from the last hectic week in school, and I can't seem to put a coherent thought together. It is officially Thanksgiving vacation. Alas, the life of a mom is never relaxing, so vacation to me just means time off from school to enjoy the chaos at home.

We are dog sitting this week for my younger sister's mutt. I'm not going to lie, I was thinking "oh great, I'm going to spend the week with a dog bouncing around my house and two screaming kids getting pissed off when the dog takes their toys". But less than 12 hours later, it appears to be quite the opposite. Poor dog alternates from cowering under my desk to sitting in my lap like a huge baby. Meanwhile, the 3 year old wants to BE a dog and keeps trying to climb under the desk with him, and the 1 year old has a fascination with the doggy's nose (and doggy's food. eww). The dog's name is "Aiden", yet my son decided that last night he will be called "Katie" and today, "Alice".

Sorry sister it appears your dog might be a bit traumatized after this week...

Oh but don't feel sorry for the poor puppy yet. In the time it took me to look down at my own plate of food, Rowen had shared half of his with the dog. Then told me he needed more because "me n the doggie are HUNGRY!" I'll admit, it is nice having a little "hoover" roaming the house. The area under Kain's high chair has never been so clean. (Don't worry sis, no chocolate or raisins, I promise)

More than anything, I'm so paranoid this dog is going to poop in my house. Which is silly, really because a) he's housebroken, and b) my carpet is already covered in toddler pee. Yes potty training is still going strong. For every perfect, no accident day, we will have a day of Rowen walking up to me, pants soaked, and say something along the lines of "oh, whoops" totally nonchalantly. Walking a dog is just as irritating as sitting a toddler on the toilet 3,762 times a day and just waiting for them to do their business. I wish I had a fenced in yard, then I could set them both free outside.

(kidding, of course!)

I remember how hard it was when Kain was a newborn and Rowen was 2. I remember thinking "this is the hardest part, it will get easier!" Well come to find out, it never gets easier, it's just an ever changing different kind of "hard". My needy newborn is now "toddling" around the house and scaling anything that can momentarily support his body weight, and my sweet little first born is now an opinionated 3 going on 15 year old. His use of the words "disgusting", "ridiculous" and "hilarious" are, well, hilarious.

As it is the week of Thanksgiving I'm sure blog posts will be full of things people are thankful for. And mine is no different. Every single day that I wake up to either a baby shaking his crib in protest, or a 3 year old peeling my eyeballs back saying "GET UP it's 7 o'clock-thirty!", I am so , so incredibly thankful for this chaos, this life, and these two beautiful baby boys. I really wouldn't have it any other way!