This is supposed to be fun!

Here is a photo of our little family on Halloween night. It sure does look like Michael is psyched about Halloween, doesn't it? Well, he wasn't. According to Michael he did not match. In fact, he was furious about wearing a grey sweatshirt and a grey turtleneck with his RED Cars costume. Clearly, Josh and I did not know what we were doing! I'd love to say that our Halloween was the BEST! EVER!, but it was crazy. Josh lost his keys, so we spent the majority of the time leading up to trick or treating turning the house upside down. Of course, the keys were left right outside on the HVAC because Josh was playing basketball that afternoon. We also had a ravenous baby to attend to that evening, which also threw a wrench into things. Thank goodness my mom was here to help us out that evening. The trick or treating was close to being a bust, as well. Our neighborhood was full of these really scary houses and these really scary neighbors who were dressed up. Michael refused to knock on a few doors because of the ghosts and goblins hanging from the windows. I can't blame him for being afraid, I would have been the same way as a child.

Why the Halloween post now, you ask? Well, I wanted to share the cute picture, but I also felt the need to address a serious issue we are facing right now with Michael B: his attire.

For the past two months he has become incredibly picky about what he is wearing. It's insane! We're talking about an all out temper tantrum when it's time to get him dressed for the day. There are three shirts that he will wear right now and two pairs of pants. That makes life rather difficult and it also makes him look like a ragamuffin. The shirts are faded (and ugly) and the pants are on the verge of being high waters. Yesterday I decided to take Michael B to get some new "comfy pants" (sweats) from Kohls. He was also allowed to pick out a couple new shirts that HE likes. At one point, I had this cute basketball shirt picked out and I asked him if he liked it and he clearly said "NO!" So, I put it back. I'm learning not to even waste my time or money on clothes that he doesn't like.

It will be interesting to see if things improve on the getting dressed front this week now that he has some options. I sure hope so. Dealing with a temper tantrum is a rotten way to start the day, for everyone involved. Things have been rocky with our sweet Michael B lately. We're doing the best we can with the temper tantrums, which are probably both a function of being three and the new baby. I know he's tired of the question, "So, what do you think of your new brother??? And, what is your baby's name???" He used to answer these questions, but now he just ignores the questions and demands attention from me or Josh. He ADORES Nicholas, though, and relishes in the fact that HE is the big brother.

I'm hopeful that things will begin to settle by the holidays. Thankfully, I just started running today which means I will have at least ten to twenty minutes a day of outside time by myself. It was heavenly to run just one mile in peace this morning, though I wish I could have run ten miles, or so! Once I'm able to get out and run on a more consistent basis, I'm going to be so much more patient and energized. Today was a great start.