The Patience Level is Low....

Well, by the title, I'm sure you can tell how I'm feeling today!! I'll just say right now that this is a "venting" post. If you don't want to hear complaining, exit now! :)
While having quite a productive day so far, I am also at the end of my rope. My friend, Sarah, told me a hilarious quote from a Mom's Convention the other week: "When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on!!" Today, that is exactly what I am needing to do! :) The day started out fine---we left the house a little earlier than usual to get to playgroup and also get some Starbucks. I should have known something was up with Caleb when he begged and begged for a smoothie from Starbucks, got one, took one little sip, and said he was done. The really sad part is that the cashier gave us an extra big smoothie (we had ordered the smallest size), so it all went to waste. I was so disgusted with Caleb that I have vowed to not buy him a smoothie for a whole year!!
Playgroup was stressful, which is never the case. Hannah is so mobile now that she only wants to crawl around and put everything in her mouth. I can't expect every one's homes to be baby-proofed, especially when they don't have babies themselves, so I was constantly chasing her. Caleb was only adding to the stress because he was not getting along with his playmates. He sees them on a weekly basis, but for some reason, they were on opposite sides today. We left playgroup early to meet my friend, Lily, for lunch. That turned out okay but Caleb was starting to get VERY antsy and also starting to act up. He didn't want to sit still so lunch was rushed. Stupid me thought "Maybe the kids will enjoy the Mall of America, and then I can get some Christmas shopping done." All I have to say is: BLAH. We were there for an hour and during that hour, I lost all energy and patience. By then end of the journey, I actually refused to speak to my children. If Caleb jumped out of the stroller, I would point to him and then to his seat. For some reason, that was working much better than talking ever does. We made it out of there just in time for naps, which renewed my spirits. Both kids fell asleep on the way home and I was so hopeful that they would sleep for hours. WRONG! Hannah ended up waking up before we got home and not wanting to fall asleep once we got there. Caleb woke up as I was carrying him into the house and he didn't want to fall back asleep, which never happens. He is the hardest sleeper and 99% of the time falls back asleep once we bring him in the house. While I was trying to get a few things done around the house, he furthered the frustration by locking himself in a bathroom so he could paint his toe nails (yes, he had found a bottle of nail polish and knew exactly what it was for). Then, he shouted from the bottom of the stairs, waking up his baby sister in the process (once I finally got her to doze again). What was he shouting about? He wanted some apple pie, of course. He was holding the actual pie and trying to balance it on the gate at the bottom of the stairs. I'm surprised that I didn't have to clean up fallen pie---the one good thing about today!! Caleb did make me giggle a couple times, especially when he asked "How many patience do you have?" when I said that my patience was running low. He also got a little fake cell phone at the Disney store and has been referring to it as his "Home Sweet Cell Phone" (he says it like "Home Sweet Home"). I'm not sure why he's calling it that but it's pretty funny, nonetheless.

Calgon, take me away!!