...

Today has been an... adventure (that's a fairly safe word). It started with a trip to Tempe Beach Park with our friend Gina. Scratch that. It started with a trip to Paiute Park (a hidden park in Scottsdale) with our friend Gina. Paiute Park has a decent splash pad, but bees outnumbered us nearly 10:1. Needless to say, we decided on Tempe Beach Park instead. I love getting out of the house, but 9 times out of 10, it throws off the boys' nap schedule. As it did today. Passed out. In the car. On the way home. WHATEVER. I fed them lunch and put them to bed for their nap. Regardless if they sleep, I have ME time each afternoon (selfish? maybe. but a must for sanity). I knew they wouldn't sleep. If they did fall asleep, it would be at 3:15, fifteen minutes before their nap-time ended. No such luck. 3:30 comes and I can still hear them over the monitor. I ready their afternoon snacks. I go upstairs, trying to be silent to make a sneak attack and surprise them. I open the door. The surprise is on me. Joel has emptied ALL of the clothes from the dresser. ALL of the burp cloths and bibs from the changing table. ALL of the blankets and diapers from the shelves. Heaping pile. In the middle of the floor. MY BIGGEST GRIEVANCE (if you know me, you know how OCD I am about order and organization). I instantly go from calm to furious; I felt my blood begin to boil just thinking about how long it would take me to fold each individual item and reorganize. This is when I notice a particular odor about the room. I turn to look at Lucas. My jaw drops to the floor. He is sitting in his crib. Half his diaper undone. Next to his feces. My eyes must have popped out of their sockets. I look directly at Lucas. He is drooling. Brown. Smudges all over his body and bed. His fists are closed around dark lumps. I screamed. Ran out, closed the door, bounded down the stairs, went out front, and screamed. Sounds a bit over-dramatic, but that is exactly what I did (I am surprised I did not faint). I know that this happens. I have heard stories before. That is not the issue. My OCD brain cannot wrap itself around this (well, it can. just hurts). I am not a negligent parent. The boys have skipped naps previously without such an outcome. But TODAY. An adventure... I will never put my children down to nap in nothing but a diaper again (a rarity previously). And the next time they refuse to sleep, I will check in on them regularly...

(for obvious reasons, no photo with this post)