Family visits and Battleground Everything

So Sunday my stepfather and his lady came for a visit. They brought Michigan treats (Vernors, Sanders hot fudge and Better Made chips), christmas presents from da sista and baby gifts. I love visits that start like this! haha. This was only the second time Carter got to meet his grandpa Rick.
How awful does that sound? That my son has only met such important people in his life once or twice... weird. I miss my family even more when I see familiar faces, however briefly. It tears my heart in two when I see how much my little niece has grown and I realize that I've only seen her once when she was 3 months old....and now she is an 18 month old terror. Sniffle.
Anyway, homesickness and depression aside.... We had a whirlwind visit with them. We did the zoo, lunch downtown and I made some bread pudding as a treat. Carter giggled happily on the carousel with his grandpa and basically was a sweetheart the whole time
I feel bad when they say stuff like"He's so sweet! I thought you said he was a terror!", because I find myself arguing that Yes, he is a terror....but wait, that's not right! The mother is supposed to be telling everyone all of her child's Good qualities and even making up a few and here I am arguing people out of thinking the best of him??? What? Who am I?
Of course, he is a sweetheart and a charmer and smart and ambitious and his motor skills are highly developed and blah blah blah..........pause.......pause......pause......BUT, he is still two. He is a two year old rascal with immature reasoning skills and he is highly frustrated most of the time. I must remember that this is his age not his personality that makes me so crazy.

My rambunctious two year old boy makes everything a Battleground. I can't "pick my battles" as they say because everything is a battle around here. We fight to get clothes on. We fight to get them off. We fight to get in the bath. We fight to get out of the bath. We fight, argue, reason, yell, threaten, walk away, storm off, cry and put our head in our hands all day and night. And I wonder to myself; my crazy, drained self, is it always going to be like this? And the answer, of course, is NO. But damn it, it's exhausting. He is pushing us to our very limits because he can and why would he act out in front of other people when he has 2 wonderful whipping posts at home to practice on? Yep, mommy and daddy make excellent guinea pigs and since we love him so much he can really crank up the action.
I am basically a No Conflict type of person. I don't like loud noises so much or yelling or those crappy feelings you get after an arguement. I don't like drama. But here I am, firmly stuck in dramatic conflicts everyday. I'm No Good at this people! Either my oldest son will grow out of his most recent behavior or I will be visiting him in his dressing room after a smash hit Broadway show.

Therefore, THIS is why I tell people he is "high maintenance" or a "terror" or a "pistol", because at home with us, he is. I swear I'm not making it up. :) But damn! if he ain't just the sweetest thing when ya'll are around....

Family yard work day

Well, we had Papa Red come over today just in time to hear Carter say "Papa" for the first time and to help us keep an eye on our little typhoon while we actually got some yard work done. We didn't actually get as much done as we thought we would.....I suppose we were being optimistic. However, we tackled one of the stupid Crape Myrtle trees (one more to go), one Crape Myrtle bush and our little Buddha garden in the back. I know. Absolutely fascinating information. I should write a book. Shut up.
We only have 75 feet of undergrowth to attack and then lay down the weed mat....only 75 feet. god.
I was just glad to be out in the yard working and doing something. No one ever told me that being a mom meant watching your husband do yard work while you hold crazy youngster and secretly wish you could switch places. I soooo miss being outside and doing stuff. Carter is impossible to deal with when we try to do it as a family. Yeah! for Papa Red (who recently said he would prefer the name Booger Red....hmmm, No)

I must say it was fun to watch our little man be an adventurous toddler in the great outdoors sans the usual 9,000 red ants. I will never ever learn to co-exist with red ants. I've been attacked too many times while working in the field and in my mind they are a threat to my baby. I spent a portion of every day last summer drowning them with the hose and cackling, evilly.

Carter helped by moving around all of the pine straw I meticulously laid out and by dragging dead sticks and limbs around the yard. He was awesome.

I really miss Michigan when I watch him play outside. I miss sidewalks and soft grass you can run barefoot in (without the fear of ants). I miss all the flora and fauna that I grew up with .....the safe stuff like frogs & toads, butterflies, garter snakes and leaf piles. I'm so homesick. Even more so when I imagine seeing these things again through the eyes of my child. I want to take him to the lake and to all the beautiful parks. I want to watch his face at the zoo when I show him the polar bears swimming over our heads or the elephants when they trumpet really loud. The museum. The science center. Camping in Canada. Sand dunes. Mackinac island. My aunts farm house up-north. Catching lightening bugs. Picnics in the grass. I guess I could just go on and on...

I miss my family and friends very much, as well. I'm one depressing person.

Oh well. I'll deal with it. I must go stuff my face now.