Blog Birthday

Happy birthday, my little blog! I went back to re-read some of my earlier posts a few weeks ago, and I realized that my very first post was mid-February. I decided to take stock of where I am right now, and see how I did with my goal of sweeping life changes.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

I cook a LOT more for the girls, we do super fun stuff almost every day, I've cut down on their TV a *little*, and I feel like my attitude is much better in general. There are a few things that have really helped me get my shiz together.

N going to school has brought some weekly routine into the mix. Not only does it get us out and about early in the day, but it gives me some quality time with D. School has also helped N's attitude, I think. She freaks out less frequently, and is a little more reasonable when there's an obstacle in the way. A little. We're still working on that.

I discovered audiobooks! This was a housecleaning epiphany. My husband works very late 4 days a week, so I'm on my own a lot. After the girls are in bed, I feel like I need some *me* time, understandably so. Before, I would sit down for "just a minute" to check my e-mail or watch a short show while I ate dinner. Once I parked my butt, that was all she wrote. This way, I can listen to a book while I poke around the house cleaning. I lose myself in the books and I find myself looking for more things to do while I listen. The house isn't perfect, but it's a LOT better.

I made a conscious effort to not shrink away from "messy" fun. We've been doing more crafty fun things, even if the project requires a lot of clean up. I try to include D, but that's asking a little much, haha! Our messy play time is usually when D is sleeping in the afternoons. N has gotten a lot better at helping around the house. She cleans up her toys when I ask her, and she even empties parts of the dishwasher for me! She's in charge of silverware and sippy cups. What a big girl <3 !

Dried beans and glue! Just a quick little craft for the afternoon. D didn't try to eat *too* many beans. (Really, you would think she was old enough to know better by now!)

I joined a MOMS Club! It's been awesome. There are playdates available just about every weekday, if you want to go. There are also Mom's Nights Out once a month, but since A works late just about every night, I never get to go. Boo! I host at least one playdate a month here, so it's also a good motivation to get the first floor presentable once a month. I've met a lot of great moms that live in my town, and N & D have a bunch of friends that they get to play with regularly. Not only are the playdates super fun, but the support has been fantastic. When I have a question about ANYTHING, there's 20 other moms that have an opinion (and aren't afraid to share it!). They all have kids. They all live near me. They've all been where I am, and know how hard it can be. They also know how much fun it is, too. :)

We still eat mac & chee sometimes. D still has chronic diarrhea (nasty, I know!). I still get frustrated. But I feel like I'm floating through the days less and less. I feel like I have a Purpose. I know that this is largely due to the girls being one year older and a little easier to handle. N & D can play together, and now that D is talking a little clearer, they can have actual conversations. (SO freaking cute!!)

Those little heads bent together are just the sweetest!

I would love to bottle this positive feeling and keep it in a jar for those days when the grumps come creeping in. Bad days are a part of life, but they've been less frequent and for that I'm grateful.

Valen-times Day

We had a nice one!

The day before, we made faux sugar cookies out of boxed white cake mix, neon food dye and red sprinkles. N was a big help rolling out the balls of dough and squishing them flat. Of course, she also helped enthusiastically decorate the tops! I cut a heart out of cardstock and used the hole to create the hearts.

While the cookies were baking, N made the Valentines Day cards for her pre-school class. I folded the paper and drew a half heart and N did the rest. She cut the hearts out all by herself...

and really got into decorating them! I thought she would just stamp random hearts on them, but after a few she created a design that she liked and made the rest the same. The row of hearts at the top with a small break in the middle are eyes, and she drew smiles and frowns on the bottom. (That girl LOVES a good sad face!) We talked about love, and why she loves her friends and family.

She instructed me to take a picture of her stamps after she lined them all up.

Here are the finished Valentines. Cute! I made little bags of Mini Teddy Grahams to go on the back. I was going to write something about "bear hugs" or something, but N got so into her designs, I didn't have room! In the back is a rice hand warmer for her teacher.

The next morning, she let me make her hair pretty for school. It was supposed to be a heart, but I think I pulled a little too much hair back. Still cute, though. She had so much fun at school exchanging Valentines. I should have done something special with D, but sometimes that girl exhausts me! We went to a playdate with her cousin, so she had a super fun morning, too.

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. We should take time every day to remember those we love!

Don't Worry, It's Just a Phase

I've been away from blogging over the summer. My husband was home more and my evenings somehow disappeared into a haze of cleaning and vegging in front of the TV. (yuk!) Now that the semester is yet again underway, I'm on my own at least 4 full days a week. It's definitely trying my patience, but we're all adjusting. I'll touch on a few things before I get into my "real" blog post.

Preschool

N started preschool this year. *tear* She goes in the mornings two days a week. It's a nice break in our routine, but it's a busy way to start our loooong week. I was worried that N would have a little trouble being away since she's never been watched by anyone other than immediate family. I should have saved myself the grey hairs. I don't even get a kiss goodbye before she's running into her classroom. Of course, D wailing and draping herself across my arms may have something to do with that, too. D redeems herself when we go to pick up N and she's squealing and dancing before we reach the door. Actually, both of them are. Cute!

 

N's First Day of School

 

N's First Two Weeks of Classwork

The Garden

This turned out to be such a nice project for the summer. We ate oodles of squash, and a good amount of cucumbers. The peppers were a little sparse, but I think that was due more to the damage of the storm/hurricane than anything else. They were coming in late in the season, right when the storm hit.

The Beach

We went on vacation to Nags Head, NC for a week with my parents. IT WAS AWESOME! We had a great time. The girls behaved so well and the weather was perfect. I can't say enough good things about our time there.

 

A & D in the outside shower. This is my favorite picture from the week! (seriously, we didn't take a single shower inside all week)

Family Photo! The stairs on the right hand side of the photo led to our cabin.

Ready to head home :)

Not Much Else

I'm sure we did more, but nothing is standing out to me at the moment. We didn't do anything life changing or epic (other than our rockin' vacation).

Just a Phase

You know when you hear that phrase... it's exactly WHILE your kid is doing something embarassing/out of control/or vaguely obscene that someone sagely nods their head and says "Oh don't worry, it's just a phase, hon." I hate that. Unfortunately, it's also true. I remember when we thought that Nora would never get out of her 24/7 temper tantrum. I felt like she spent 90% of her waking time rolling around on the ground sounding *exactly* like what I imagine a stuck pig to sound like.

This is her licking snot off her nose following a fit because the stupid baby bjorn wouldn't stay on or something. This was March 2010, so she was 26 months and D was one month old. Obviously, we weren't in the best frame of mind to deal with the trivial (to us!) problems of a two year old, either. However, this time passed without us noticing the end of it. That's not to say that N never has hissy fits, they're just much less frequent and often we can head them off at the pass and avoid it altogether. At the time they were absolutely unavoidable. The frustrations of being two coupled with distracted parents and a new baby sister (not to mention her sassy personality) were a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately, D is just gearing up for her time to shine...

Oh, bad mommy won't let you pull a frying pan full of ground beef and grease on your head. :(

N's bedtime routines have also eased up a bit. We have a nice, SHORT, reasonable routine in place. No more 30 minutes from start to finish. I think a big thing that helped with this was N giving up her nap. (If you could spend a moment of silence to mourn its passing, I would appreciate it.) With no nap and school in the mix she is very tired by bedtime, which has been bumped up to 7 so that she goes to bed the same time as D. Sweet! There's little resistance especially on nights that A isn't home. We have our ducks in a row and mommy doesn't take any crap. Not that daddy does, but I think with two of us around she sees the opportunity to take a chance on someone being a softie.

Another change that I have noticed since the last time I blogged is that things are a lot more in control for me at home. I cook a lot more, and the house is almost always tidy. I still have a hard time keeping up with the "real" cleaning like mopping, bathrooms and laundry, but the dishes are usually done and the floors/countertops are clear before I go to bed. I attribute this solely to audiobooks. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?! It makes it so much easier to lose myself in my book while cleaning. I never look at the clock to see if I've cleaned long enough to sit down guilt free, and I actually look for things to do so I can listen longer.

I know people always say that they wish that there were more hours in a day. What I want is another *day* in my day. The only caveat is that my kids need to be on another plane of existence while I have my extra time. There are a few basic things that I want/need to accomplish with my time sans children: cleaning, crocheting, reading and the occasional blog. I can not keep up with all these in the time allotted. Since I have the girls from waking to sleeping, at least four days a week, I also need to get to bed at a reasonable time every night. This is very hard for me, still. I want to cram as much "me time" in the hours after 7pm that I end up staying awake way too long. This makes me cranky and short-tempered the next day, which is bad for everyone.

Well, the long and the short of it is that I need to: 1) remember how far N has come in a year, 2) cut D some slack and 3) discover how to manipulate the space-time continuum so that I can get everything done.

Easy peasy, mac & cheesie!

Too Cool for School!

A few weeks ago, N and I visited her future pre-school. There's not a whole lot of options in the area, so I scoped out everybody's websites and called a few places. It seemed like one came out far on top in attitude and price. When I called, the woman was super nice and it's right in town. (Also a big plus!) She told me that N and I could drop by any day just after all the kids get there and hang out for an hour or so while they do their morning routine. So, I arranged to meet up with N's little friend W and her mom, and off we went!

The preschool is set up in a church basement. There's a large common area with classrooms all around the perimeter. I think there were 2 three year old classrooms and 2 four year old classrooms. Each class had 10-12 students and 2 teachers. The three year old classes focus on shapes, colors, letters, numbers, etc. It seemed like most of what they would be "learning" is stuff that N already knows. However the MOST important thing that N will learn is how to follow directions and how to act in a classroom setting. She's never been to a daycare, or had to behave without me or A around. I signed her up for a tiny tots tumbling class to see how she'd do, but it's kind of a bust. N's not very interested in it, she is terrible at following directions, and the teacher isn't very good at controlling the rest of the class. I spend the entire class herding N around and trying to keep her on task while the two boys run amok. W is a little angel, of course!

When we got there, N definitely looked overwhelmed with all the activity. After a few minutes, she decided it was OK to join in the free play and she fit right in! After 15 minutes or so of kids coming in the door and getting settled, it was time for all the classes to meet in the common area for morning prayers and songs. This was where things got a little scary for N, I think. The 3 year old and 4 year old classes all got together in a big circle (with N and W) while W's mom and I hung back to watch. I think what was most intimidating to N was that everyone knew what to do except for her. W, however, jumped right in and copied everyone's dance moves and tried to sing along to the songs that she didn't know! Even though I was trying hard not to giggle too loudly, it was a bit sad to see N so weirded out. Since it's the end of their school year soon, all the other kids had months to learn their songs, dances and Bible verses. They were a well oiled machine! N was just standing there like a deer in headlights while the other kids were clapping and dancing. At one point, W tried to hold N's hand to make her feel better. For the next few minutes, while W had gone back to dancing, N had frozen with her arm sticking out and a panicked look on her face. Poor kid!

After morning songs and prayers it was back to their classroom for craft time and free play. The teachers would pull out two students at a time to work on their Easter baskets while the other kids played until everyone had a chance to complete their craft project. W's mom and I just hung back again to watch how our girls interacted with the rest of the class. I didn't think that N and W seemed so much younger than the other kids. Everyone played and shared nicely and W even helped clean up when play time was done. N will be on the older end of the 3 year olds by the time she gets into class, which is fine by me. Hopefully it will give her a chance to mature a little more and listen a little better.

I'm sure that N will be fine when she starts in the fall. She's only signed up for two days a week from 9 to 11:30, and she should be in the same class as W. I, however, have never had to leave her with strangers before, so... I think I'll be the nervous wreck! We've definitely been lucky in that A's mom watched N while I worked part time, and that I was able to stay home after D was born. It was a blessing that we got to keep the kids home with family. It has been hectic lately and I find myself daydreaming of work sometimes, but when you get right down to it, I wouldn't trade my life for anything.