You know you live with kids...

Disclaimer: if you are confused about where you are living, please note that many of these may also apply to frat houses and dorm rooms.

1. There is dirty laundry in every room of your house.
2. Just because the people in the household go to bed in one place doesn't mean that is where they will be in the morning.
3. There are m&m's, pennies, stickers, and/or toys in your bathrooms.
4. There are milk splatters on your wall, and you haven't bothered to wipe them off, because as soon as you do, they will just happen again.
5. You, a child, a pet, or a piece of furniture has gotten stuck to the kitchen floor because it is so sticky.
6. You don't even bother to close the bathroom door anymore.
7. Your pantry contains every variety of cheerios.
8. You own sparkle toothpaste.
9. You have had to clean up the entire kitchen after a mixer or blender was turned on high.
10. Hot dogs are a gourmet meal.
11. You know which restaurants have mac & cheese on their kids meal, and on what days and places kids eat free.
12. You have planned a vacation around going to the zoo.
13. Conversations about going to the bathroom are totally normal.
14. Someone in the house is screaming bloody murder, and you don't even look up from what you are doing.
15. You have eaten a lunch that consists entirely of sandwich crusts and apple peels.
16. Your son can say "I need my outer space" and you know he is looking for his water bottle.
17. Your house can look like an episode of Hoarders 15 minutes after you cleaned it.
18. You have at least one bathtub that resembles a tiny marina.
19. You know how many laundry loads you do a DAY not a WEEK.
20. You have to smuggle things out to the trash or Goodwill in the dark of night so your tiny hoarders don't find out.

Gezer Park, Leawood

I am definitely in love with this park. Located at 133rd and Mission in Leawood, this is a really nice, well thought out park. The play structure is unique and has tunnels and a shade as well as some really nice slides. There is a sandbox with concrete shells to uncover. But the highlight is the water. There is a large "pond" and a stream that runs through the entire park. The water is only a couple of inches deep and pretty clean. The water does not go through the sandbox, which is nice for cleanliness, but not so good for building.

This is a really well designed park, however, there were a few things that were a deterrent- first is the lack of shade. We were here in July, and it was HOT. I didn't touch the slides, and the kids didn't complain, but the structure is in full sun, so maybe not the best park for a summer afternoon. Also, the rocks in the water were slippery. Nothing to be done about this, just the nature of water, but if your kids have water shoes or something like that, it might be helpful. Even some of the older kids I saw there slipped. 

 

Antioch Park, revised

The upper playground at Antioch Park was redone, so I thought I would post some new pictures.
In the trend of parks around here, they went with the modern art look. I am on the fence about what I think of these parks. Some are really well done, and some just seem more focused on looks rather than actual play factor.
The new upper playground was fairly well done. The main structure is fairly standard, with slides, steps, etc.
There is a side structure that has these large hoops to climb through, a big spider web, these circle things that spin around, and some stepping stone stone things on springs.

This side structure is a little odd to me. The web is pretty self-explanatory, but the hoops are pretty high and spread out, and seem difficult for even the bigger kids to climb through. 

Still, Antioch Park is one of my favorites, and I highly recommend the camps there through Johnson County Parks and Rec. 

You know you want another potty story!

A couple of weeks ago, we were out in the back yard playing in the kiddie pools. Newly potty trained Greg was wearing a swimsuit with no swim diaper for the first time. All three kids were happily sliding and splashing, Jacob was alternately sleeping and fussing. I was on the phone with my brother.
Greg runs up to me, yelling "I need to go potty! I need to go potty!"
Well, we were outside, and Greg, being a boy, had already learned that he could pee outside. So, since I was on the phone and dealing with Jacob, I told him, "Just go in the grass."
Greg runs off, and I finish my phone call, happy that he was able to take care of things himself.
A couple minutes later, I notice Greg is still hanging around at the edge of the grass, and hasn't gotten back in the pool. I ask him  if he is ok, if he still has to go potty. Before he can answer, I notice the smell.
Yup, he did exactly what I told him. He went and stood in the grass and pooped in his pants.
So, I pull down his pants, and he sees what is there, and, in his most shocked voice, says "Oh! No!" As if he had no idea how it got there.
At that point, I did what any good mom would do on a 90+ degree day. I sprayed down my naked son with a garden hose and put him back in the pool.

Jacob's Story pt 1

This is Jacob:

He was born on March 20th. He was 4lbs 10oz.
We adopted Jacob, he was born in Ashville, KY. He spent the first two weeks of life in the NICU there, then was transferred here for another two weeks.

I have gotten a lot of questions about his adoption, as it was rather sudden. So, I thought that I would type out his story for everyone to read!

After 3 very stressful pregnancies, and 3 babies each earlier than the last, Brian and I decided that the best choice would be for me to not get pregnant again. We had talked a lot about adoption, both before and after we had children. Being adopted myself, I have always felt called to adopt. Additionally, we have always wanted to have four children.

Almost a year ago, we started the process of adoption. We didn't tell very many people that we had started the process because we knew that it could be a long process, and we also knew that there would be a lot of questions, including numerous ones asking whether we had a placement yet. Not ready to field frequent inquiries about whether we had a placement, or how long we thought that we would wait, we made the decision to wait until we had been matched with a birthmother before making our decision public. In general, matches are made at the beginning of the third trimester, giving the adoptive parents about 3 months to prepare. Jacob's story is a little different.

Because we have biological children, the odds of a quick placement were against us. Most birth parents are looking for a couple who either has no children, or who cannot have biological children. In fact, some adoption agencies refuse to work with couples who have the ability to have biological children. Because of this, we decided to make ourselves available for immediate placement, or what is called a "baby born" situation. This means that there is a birth mother who has delivered, or is about to, who has not chosen adoptive parents. What this means is that the adoptive parents don't have much time to prepare- they must be able to travel to where the baby is within a day usually. Since this baby would be our fourth, we knew that we were prepared for a baby at any time. There was nothing to buy or anything. As long as the distance wasn't too far, we knew we could travel with little notice, as Brian's job is somewhat flexible. We were told by our adoption agent that this type of adoption is rare, she had only handled two such cases in the past year.

On March 18th, we returned from visiting Brian's family in CA. March 19th I had my sitter come so that I could get unpacked, do laundry, run errands, etc. March 20th I had just finished putting away laundry from our trip when I got a call from our agency. There was a mother in KY who was being induced the next morning. She had planned on adoption, but thought she still had weeks to choose an adoptive family. Would we be interested? After a call to Brian, we said yes, we would. This did not mean for sure that we would be chosen, just that we would be in the running. Just to be prepared, and also to fill the time, I packed a bag for the new baby- we knew it would be a boy. Right about the same time that Brian was driving home from work, I got the call. We had been chosen as the adoptive parents.