nobody likes a complainer...

....but today I don't care. I'm going to complain for the next few paragraphs and I don't care what anyone thinks. So feel free to read along as I wallow in self-pity for a few moments. Or just skip this post. Whatevs.

   Today didn't start off so bad. I got to stay in bed while Graham got the boys up and playing. I'm not exactly sure at what point the day went south really....all I know is, that it has gone totally downhill since then. Did anyone else ever read that children's book, 'Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day'? Well, that's how I feel today...So after the point at which everything started to go downhill, Lincoln decides it's a good idea to just start hitting and pushing Quinn. For no reason at all. Just simply because he feels like it. And he decided that today of all days would be the day that he didn't care about being disciplined, either. Usually, my levelheaded child, Lincoln, will give up the error of his ways with one quick glare and stern 'No, sir' from me. But like I said, something weird was in the stars today that made that child all of a sudden invincible of my eye-gazing wrath. Perfect.
   So whilst dealing with the hitting and pushing, I'm trying to get these children dressed for the errands we have to get done today. I am supposed to head over to Hobby Lobby to hopefully sign up for some Cake Decorating Classes. (which I've been planning on and saving for weeks now) It seems like forever that it takes me to get everyone ready and in the car and what do you know, I turn the car on and I have no gas. Zero. Sitting completely on empty with the gas light gleaming at me. So I drive carefully (trying not to have to brake too much) to the gas station where I pull up to the pump. I hop out of the car and what do you know this time? I forgot my debit card at the house and I have no cash on me. Of course. So I proceed to drive even more carefully back to the apartment, pick up my card and some cash (you can never be too careful), and head back to the gas station knowing that it is only a miracle that we made it there and back again.
   So once my car is full of gas and I've bought myself a coke (I feel like I've earned at least that) we head to Hobby Lobby. Lincoln is super excited, because this is one of his favorite store's so I'm sure that he will be on his best behavior from now on. (which for the most part, he surprisingly was)
   Upon arrival at Hobby Lobby everything seems fine and normal, I see the signs for the Cake Classes and am eager to go put my name on the list. Well, come to find out, they started their last class of the month yesterday and have no idea when the next class will start. Awesome. But more than likely it will run from middle of March to middle of April. Perfect, that's exactly when I'll be busy having a baby. So with my head hung a little low I choose to head over to the fabric department to pick up some fabric for these pants I've been wanting to make for the boys. Now, let me ask you....do you think with all the spring fabrics coming out now that it would be difficult to locate a seersucker fabric? The answer to that my friends should of course be, no, however this day is destined to fail me. They only have one seersucker fabric and it's white on white. For two toddler boys? No, thanks. So with my head hung a little lower, I head over to the knobs section determined to get one project done before Cora comes and pick out some cute knobs for a piece of furniture I want to repurpose. With cute knobs in hand (that were 50% off - finally I catch a break!) I head over to the spray paint section feeling a little more confident. Now I know what you're thinking....I shouldn't be spray painting at a time like this. However, I've read that if you do it outside and with a mask on, it should be no problem at all, so determined to make this errand productive I head over to the spray paint section. While standing in the aisle with two cans in my hand, trying to decipher the differences between all the brands and finishes, a Hobby Lobby employee walks into the same aisle as me and just sort of...hovers. She's about 20 or 21 and I don't really pay her much attention until she says, "Umm...I don't know if you know this, but you probably shouldn't be spray painting while you're pregnant." It takes me a second to read her facial expression and figure out she's not joking, she's actually quite serious about this. So I just smile the best I can and say, "Thanks." as unsarcastically as I am capable of at the time. Apparently my response isn't urgent enough for her, so she says, "And you know, if you decided you want to buy spray paint, and have someone else do it for you of course, it's only like a dollar at Walmart."....And what do our mothers always say....if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. So that's exactly what I did. I stayed engrossed in my spray paint can reading and completely ignored this comment. But of course I'm thinking to myself, "Ok, hobby lobby girl,  any mother of two youngins would know it is totally worth the extra $2.47 to not have to make another trip and just get the dang spray paint while I'm here. At the store that you work at, Genius. So then apparently hobby lobby girl thinks I ACTUALLY didn't hear her, that a person was incapable of simply ignoring her and must have some sort of hearing problem. So she completely ignores all the 'leave me alone' body language I'm throwing her direction and she dares to come closer to me. She's about a foot from me when she says, "Again, I don't think you should be spray painting unless someone does it for you." Had hobby lobby girl not walked away immediately, I'm about 99% sure I would've clocked her. Completely aggravated and frustrated I decide to just leave. I buy my knobs and leave the spray paint for another day (I'm sure hobby lobby girl thinks she's converted me because I saw her eyeing me around the corner while I was checking out) and get out as fast as I can.
   Upon arrival at home, both the boys lose all reason. They cannot contain themselves while I make lunch, so it's the loudest 15 minutes anyone has ever heard while I make a sandwich for Lincoln and myself and some eggs for Quinn. Meal time is uneventful enough and then the real drama hits. Quinn decides to throw a fit when I tell him it's time for night night and that gets Lincoln up and screaming again, too. I proceed to change Quinn, and put him down with some milk and what do you know, when I turn the corner back into the kitchen Lincoln is standing in the middle of the floor with throw up everywhere. Yup, you read that right. Puke. All over the floor and himself and the trashcan. He tried to spit some out in there, but wasn't too successful. So as I'm cleaning this up and trying to console him and keep Roxy from not eating the throw up, Quinn is screaming and my downstairs neighbors are banging on my floor (their ceiling).  My screaming children are just more than the 22 year old college student can handle at 12 in the afternoon.
   Promptly after cleaning up Lincoln and the kitchen he thankfully goes down for a nap easily. I think all the puking and screaming wore him out. So with both the boys down and the kitchen overly sanitized, I try to lay down on the couch also, but am immediately woken by all the sudden banging and clanging going on downstairs. I literally think my neighbors are trying to kill me. They play rock band at all hours of the night, move furniture all day and then bang on my floors during daylight hours when my toddlers make a peep. WHO DOES THAT? Someone with intentions to drive me insane, that's who. And I'm pretty sure if I can hear all of their noise from upstairs, I can't be over-exaggerating....(am I right or am I right??) And of course if I'm hearing all the banging and clanging, surely so is Quinny. He's immediately awake also and screaming. So I try to let him cry it out because he's only been asleep for an hour (he normally sleeps 2 to 3 hours), but at this point it's hopeless.
   So here we are at 4 o'clock...Quinn's completely gone bananas, I'm exhausted, and I can hear Linc waking up. How is this day not over? How am I still functioning? I pray for my sanity that this is the worst it's going to get today....not holding my breath though.
   Thanks for letting me vent and ramble. Hopefully you all had much better days than I. Sigh....

Baby Girl Update!

   Just wanting to give an update since the last time I announced that we were having a girl! We are about 31 weeks along so we've only got about 10 weeks to go! Yay! Both Linc and Quinny were a week or two late so we try not to depend too much on the "due date" that's given us. Just everyone keep us in your prayers because our due date is April 13 and Graham's finals week for school starts April 26. Eeek!! We aren't too worried about it, but it would definitely be nice to all have your prayers and good thoughts and vibes sent our way (and we thank you ahead of time)! :)
    I had written that we were planning on (at the time) naming her Ruby and while we weren't 100% sure, that's what we were more than likely going with....Well....we have changed our minds! I know, I know...but trust me, we've been calling her this new name for months now and really feel like this is it. It's to the point now, where if I even think about other names it feels weird. Like how it would feel to rename Lincoln or Quinn...so without further ado, our baby girl's name will be.....(drum roll please)....Cora Fayne Lutz. (gasp and applause!) We kept the middle and last names the same (obviously), but switched Ruby out for Cora. Ruby had gained a little more popularity than we were comfortable with and while we still very much like the name, when we read Cora we knew it was it! We had actually been looking online at a baby names website and we looked up Graham's grandmother's name which is Corinne. Under that it said that a common variation of that name is Cora. And we fell in love. (awwww....) So we hope you like it! And even if you don't that's ok because we do! :) Alright, so that's our update, hope you all have been well. Ciao!