Long time no blog...

Well, I guess it hasn't been that long, but it has seemed like a while. I also haven't picked up my camera in a while either. I have been busy, but with stuff that isn't so fun. For one, we are still working out the bugs (you can take part of that literally) in our new place. I have found that when you don't have small things that you are used to, you realize they are more important than you thought. We do not currently have a microwave. Well, not inside at least. We have one that sits on our counter, but since we have a teeny tiny kitchen, we can't bring it in without taking most of our counter space away. So, we have to take down the hood that is up right now and find a built in microwave to install, however, Chad thinks that our current cabinets are not strong enough to support the weight of a built in, so we are going to wait until Chad's dad comes into town to help us out. Don is such a trooper! We have a laundry list of other things to do in the condo. We have an ant problem to squash, spiders in the garage, can lighting to put in, knobs and pulls for all the cabinets in the kitchen, painting, a banquette to build and so on and so on. I guess this is what homeownership is all about! It is neat to see it becoming ours though. I love that we can customize it to our needs. Yay!

The other thing that is keeping me busy would have to be the kids. I know...duh, but really, they have be out of the ordinary difficult lately. Brooklyn is Brooklyn and requires a lot of attention and food. She loves to eat, sleep and be in your face. Don't expect her to entertain herself. She just won't. OK, I take that back, she entertains herself with mischief. Usually she finds fishing in the toilet to be a fun pastime! Micah, ugh, he is hitting four hard. I don't even know what to say. He went from being my sweet obedient boy to being a monster. What happened? He now back talks, he has attitude, has been mean to his sister and is constantly doing the opposite of what we say. I know this is about finding boundaries, but how many times do they have to do it before they back down and realize that they have hit their boundary? There are days when I just want to lock him in his room because he can just be a snot. Like when I take him all the way down to the park and then he tells me he doesn't want to go. I ask two more times if he is sure. He reassures me that he doesn't want to go, so I leave only to have him meltdown completely. I then tell him he told me he didn't want to go, so we would run a few errands and if he was a good boy, we would come back after. He then proceeds to make the trip to Costco a living hell. Lovely! I love my boy...where did he go? A demon has entered my child and is driving me nuts! What do I do? I am being consistent. He knows what is and isn't acceptable, but he has been like this for a couple months now. What is up? He will be going to "school" (otherwise known as structured playtime) soon and he has to drop this. I'm also planning to go to Disneyland tomorrow and last time was a disaster. Has anyone else gone through this? Helpful advice would be great. It would help both of us get through this!