Thank You!!

To everyone who has left ideas, advice, and sympathy on my post about Jason,
THANK YOU!
It has made me realize how many wise, amazing mothers I am privileged to know.  And I think things are already getting better. Thank you all so much.

HELP!!

Today I told my friend Stephanie that I'm worried Jason's going to be a criminal when he's older.

Why would I say such a thing about my son? you ask. Because he is only 18 months old and is already really violent. And not just accidentally. He's doing it 100% on purpose. It's out of aggression and frustration for not getting his way, not just as a means of discovering what his body can do. Today he hit my nose with his HEAD. Oh man that hurt. He also rammed me in the back with his head. Yay. He's found a new weapon. Usually it's just hitting, though. Lots and lots of hitting. I give him time-outs by setting him on my lap, holding his hands, and counting. Every time he does something else, I add 10 seconds.
It's not doing anything. He either sits there and takes it like it aint no thang or he does this angry grunting thing as he thrashes his head around. And the SECOND time-out is over, he whips around and hits me again. So it goes a little somethin' like this: hit, time-out, hit, time-out, hit, time-out, get away before he can hit me again.
And I don't know why! He's never seen hitting. I don't hit him, Dave doesn't hit him, neither of us hit each other.

WHAT DO I DO!?! Bed time is especially trying because I have to keep him close in order to get him ready. Last night, after being hit about a dozen times during his diaper change and a few dozen more while trying to put on his pj's, I felt like putting him in his crib, throwing in his pj's, and saying, "You can put your own pj's on then." Ugh. It is so frustrating and tiring, and it just makes me sad. I have a cute, cuddly, violent, aggressive little boy. :/

Please, if you have any ideas, tips, advice, ANYthing, I am in desperate need.

Old & Improved Coffee Table

It's funny how having a party or even a little company makes you want to finish a project. Or in my case, start one several and hope to finish before people come over. I semi-recently realized that since our house has lots of browns (brown couches, brown tv stand, brown ottoman, tan carpet, tan walls) white furniture would make some great POPs big enough to even-out all the dark. (Side note: one reason we bought this house was b/c there was so much light - lots of windows, white walls, white appliances. But then we bought dark furniture, and painted the walls tan...)
Anyway, we've added white shelves (IKEA) and white was already one of the accent colors, but it took me forever to realize that a white coffee table is what I wanted. So, my options: buy one from IKEA (a 40 min drive from our house... with a grabby-grabby, hates-being-confined toddler) or paint the one we already have. Spray paint? Yes, please!
I used Rust-Oleum's Universal spray paint in white. Took me 3 cans, lots of coats, and a few days. Although, I'm sure that for those expert crafty spray painters out there, like Brooke from All Things Thrifty or Sheri & John from Young House Love, it'd be 1 can, 1 coat, and 1 day = perfection. This table = not perfection, but I still love the results. Makes me happy every time I walk by and think about how it used to look.

Can you see the glass-covered wicker? Or the gold trim
that the glass is resting on? Classy.

I sanded and then cleaned every nook and cranny before starting. I also tipped it on its side so the glass would come out. I lugged it out to the garage, laid out a few pieces of broken-down boxes and newspaper, and began spraying. Weather conditions were not ideal, though. The can says to spray when temperatures are above 50, and humidity is ... I can't remember. But the temp's were just below 50 and the humidity was unusually high for Utah (it had been raining, and continued to rain during this whole project. Thus, the garage instead of out on the driveway). I was sooo unsure if all the coats would dry in time. But I think they did. Yay!
The wicker and the gold are now white. And I discovered that the glass was actually tinted glass. I haven't decided how I feel about it, but I kinda think it makes it more unique and gives it a cool little somethin' somethin'.

Ahhh, no more gold :)