Locks of Love

On the way home from the salon, Audrey and I had a conversation that went something like this:

A:  "Mommy, where's your ponytail?"
Me:  "On the seat next to me."
A:  "Can I hold it?"
Me:  "No."
A:  "Why not?"
Me:  "It's not a toy."
A:  "What are you going to do with it?"
Me:  "I'm going to mail it to some kids who don't have any hair.  They can make a wig out of it."
A:  (very serious, very concerned.)  "Are you going to send some to Papa, too?  He only has a little hair."

Love you Dad!  :)

Just Checking In

My apologies to my Grandparents who faithfully check this blog for our happenings.  Clearly, up until last week, blogging has gone by the wayside as life has gotten busy.  What have we been up to?

School: 
Audrey is almost reading.  Yesterday I heard her sound out at least 4 new 3-letter-words all by herself, without any prompting whatsoever from me.  So fun!  We opted not to put her in preschool this year, and instead I have started, quite unofficially, to homeschool.  This involves about 15 minutes each some mornings after breakfast.  We are slowly going through The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and I must say it's going quite well.  She loves it, and asks to do it in the afternoon if we skipped it that morning.  We have gone through all the vowels, and are to the letter T in consonants.  She started teasing me a few days ago when we were talking about "S," asking if Norah's name started with the letter "S."  I asked, "is her name "SSSSSnorah?"  Audrey smiled coyly and said, "Mommy, can we give Norah a new name?  Can we call her SSSSSnake?  Or SSSSSnotter?"  Also contributing to the reading skills is her newfound love of starfall.com.  I have to limit her to an hour of computer time after her nap, (she would spend all day on that site!) and she's getting good with the mouse, too.  Yesterday I caught her in an advanced activity, sounding out the word 'grass'!  Tonight for Tim she read the words "octopus" and "rocket," without any pictures to prompt her.  She amazes us.

Laughing:
We've been having some interesting conversations the past 2 days.  Randomly Audrey asked me, "Mommy, last days, (her version of asking anything that happened in the past,) how did I get into your tummy?" I opted to forego the birds and the bees discussion, (I've had way more of my share of those talks with S over the last month,) and settled for "God put you there."  She wasn't quite satisfied with this answer.  "But I don't remember that happening.  I didn't see it happen."  Sheesh. 

One day last week we dropped off Norah at a friends' house so I could take Audrey to an appointment at the Iowa Sleep Disorders Center to see a pediatric sleep specialist.  Our friend was changing a little boy's diaper when we got there.  Audrey (in awe):  "Look at his bottom, Mommy!  He has a ball on his bottom!"  And thus ensued a short discussion about the differences between boys and girls.  Fun times.

Two weeks ago I called Audrey to the bathroom and I heard her whispering a self-narration as she came running, "down the hall, over the rug, as fast as my legs could carry!"

Last night we let Audrey listen to some music as she was having a hard time falling asleep.  This morning she told us all about listening to "Greve Steen on the rodeo."  (AKA, Steve Green on the Radio.) 

Norah's been talking up a storm lately, too. My favorite new word of hers is "good-bye." It comes out more like "bug-eye." It's adorable.  She also answers most any question with "k."  Or "okay."  It's very sweet.  Tell her or ask her anything, and she sounds very agreeable.  By my, oh my, does that one have a temper.  Yesterday she caught me eating a Dorito, and started signing and saying "please, please, please?"  I just shook my head 'no.'  She looked up at me and shook her head 'yes.'  Complete nonverbal conversation.  At 17-months-old.  Nothing gets by her!  Other favorite words include "shoes" and "tutu."  She's very into accessories.  Anyway, moving on...

Trouble-shooting sleep:
I decided to go ahead and schedule an appointment for Audrey with an MD who specializes in sleep disorders after a few horrendous weeks about a month ago including multiple screaming episodes in the middle of the night, 2-hour bedtime battles, 5:30 a.m. wake-ups, and 2-3 hour stretches of her being awake in the middle of the night, nearly out of control, and unable to go back to sleep.  We left the appointment with multiple diagnoses, and not a lot of solutions.  More on that later. 

We've also been trying to figure out how to keep Norah-Lou-dini in pajamas at night. The girl can get out of anything, and will spend hours after we put her to bed playing and undressing herself. She has woken up in only a diaper by morning.  A few of our workable solutions:

funny looking, but effective.

 Didja catch that?  They're on BACKWARDS.

This one works well, but makes diaper changes annoying!  Anyone else have any more ideas?

Redecorating:
I've also been busy finishing up a few final details on our bedroom project, and I can finally say, "it's done!!!"

Here is the before:  (pretty dark and cavelike, if you ask me.)

When we moved into this house, I had no idea what I wanted to do with our bedroom.  In lieu of white walls, we painted our master the same color as our living room to avoid the hassle of choosing something else, and just used our current bedspread, but both ended up being way too dark for the small room. 

A few months ago we upgraded to a King...which led to new bedding...and a new headboard and footboard...and a total overhaul of the rest of the room. ;)

Here is the after:

(Thanks to my mother-in-law for helping me make these throw pillow cases!)

My new favorite wall:

Dusting:

See previous pictures.  Trust me, it had been awhile.

Foster Parenting:

S is still living with us, but we have no idea how long it will last.  She could be here through May or she could decide to leave tomorrow.  The last few weeks have been a roller-coaster, but we're hanging on for the ride!

That's all I have the time and energy for now.  You can stay tuned if you want, but I make no promises that I'll blog again this month! ;)

A Logical Conclusion...

Last week we spent 7 wonderful days in beautiful Colorado (and 2 not-so-wonderful 12-hour days driving to and from, but that's another post for another day.)  Thus my lack of attention to the blog.  My apologies.

Noteworthy tonight, however, was Audrey's line of thinking yesterday after naptime.  She's been potty trained for a year now, but still has trouble staying dry at naptime and nighttime.  We've tried multiple 'methods' for working on this, but I've come to the conclusion that she'll get it when she's ready.  For now, she gets a small reward when she succeeds. 

After naptime, if her Pull-Up is dry, she gets a few chocolate chips.  Yesterday, success!   So I gave her 3 chocolate chips.  "Because you're 3!" I said.  Norah ran over and insisted (aka, grunted 'uh uh uh' while frantically signing 'please') that she get one too.  I handed her 1 chocolate chip.  "Because Norah's 1." 

Audrey thought about this for a minute, then asked me "Mommy, does that mean you get 30 chocolate chips?  Because you're 30?" 

Why yes, sweetie, I believe it does.  ;) 

And in case you're wondering, yes, we pull out all the stops if she makes it ALL NIGHT LONG with a dry diaper.  Which has only happened 2 or 3 times in the last year, and did indeed happen once last week.  (Likely because we were in the mountains and she was super dehydrated, but it was success, nonetheless, right?)

DONUTS FOR BREAKFAST!!!!

Way too early...

Saturday evening we were invited to a wedding & reception. Audrey napped during the wedding and then we picked her up and the whole family went to the reception. We spent a few hours having dinner and enjoying the evening, and then I (Tim) took Audrey home to put her to bed. Here is a transcript of the ride home:

Tim: Audrey, did you have a good time at the party?

Audrey: Yeah.

Tim: What was your favorite part?

Audrey: Boys.

I will be installing extra locks on the doors next week.

You Know You're a Mommy When...

In honor of Mother's Day, I decided it would be fun to have a little giveaway on this blog, specifically dedicated to all the hardworking mommies out there who read my ramblings. Sound like fun? I must admit, I'm ripping a few ideas for this off of another blog contest I recently entered, but many of the ideas are original, and I've been kicking this post around in my head for awhile. In addition, you will soon notice the list is catered towards moms of small children. Because, well, that's my life right now!

Part of the inspiration started when I read a few mommy stories on blogs of my friends. Nealy's story about a Target shopping trip with a newborn cracked me up. I have totally been there! And my friend Becky's experience about shopping with verbal, inquisitive boys, still cracks me up every time I think about it. Another story I've thought of more than once since reading it is another friend's "Not Me Monday" post. Read these few excerpts if you have a minute and want a good laugh!

So here's how this contest is going to work. Following is a by-no-means-exhaustive list of "You Know You're a Mommy When..." For each item on the list that you have experienced, give yourself one entry in the contest. For example, if you've experienced 10 of these things, you get 10 entries! Just post a comment listing what has happened to you, (that's right...you have to admit you've been there or done that!), and tell a funny mommy story, or add something to the list if you want. The more the better. I know quite a few moms read this blog, and it's encouraging for all of us to know we're not the only ones out there!! The contest will end at midnight this Sunday, on Mother's Day. Sometime the following week I will randomly select a winner, who will receive a yet-to-be-determined prize mailed to their home. So, without further ado:

You Know You're a Mommy When:

• Your "to-do" list for the day includes items like "take a shower," "eat lunch," or "feed the baby." (And you list "feed the baby" 8 times, so you can cross if off as many times as it actually needs to be done.)


• You realize you can't remember the last time you were able to wash your hair and shave your legs in the same day.


• You find yourself hauling the exersaucer into the bathroom, and playing peek-a-boo from behind the shower curtain, in order to get a shower in during the day while keeping a little one content.


• Naps and feedings become the 2 most important things you schedule your day around.


• You've been puked on, (not counting spit-up...I mean real vomit). Give yourself 2 points if you've been puked on, and settled for just wiping it off with a washcloth instead of taking a shower; seriously, why waste that valuable time when you know there's a 90% chance you'll get puked on again within the next 24 hours?


• You've nursed a baby in the backseat of a car in a parking lot. Or in a dressing room.
• You've leaked breastmilk...in public.


• You bring the 409 into the shower with you so that you can multitask and get 2 things done at once.


• Grocery shopping becomes a highlight of the week, because it's a reason to get out of the house.


• You've picked up poop with your bare hands.


• You've dealt with a blow-out in public.


• You've handled a tantrum in public.


• You've sung silly songs in the car, all the way across town, to keep someone in the backseat from screaming the whole way home.


• You've talked and chattered and been exciting and entertaining and animated, possibly reaching with one arm into the backseat to pop goldfish crackers into an open mouth, in the car, all the way across town, to keep someone in the backseat from falling asleep before their naptime.


• You find that nearly every conversation you have with anyone revolves around something your child said or did that day.


• You can provide a detailed description of the type, size, steering capability and sanitary condition of the shopping carts at each different store in town. (And you possibly let this determine which stores you will patronize.)


• You always carry hand sanitizer.


• 5 hours of sleep in one stretch is considered "a good night."

Finally, give yourself 1 point for each of the following if:


...you skipped a teeth-brushing sometime this week.
...you haven't put on make-up in the last 2 days.
...your underarm hair is at least 1/4" long.
...you haven't shaved your legs in 2 weeks.
...you got less than 7 hours of sleep last night.
...you've ever gone 7 days without bathing one of your kids.
...you're wearing something you wore yesterday. Extra point if this is the THIRD day you've worn the same article.

Not sure why so many of these ended up being about showering and personal hygiene...I guess that's something that gets a lot more difficult when kids enter the picture? Looking forward to hearing your comments...bring 'em on!

Links for Moms

A good friend of mine shared a blog with me a few weeks ago, and I found one of the posts really helpful. I've shared the link with a few expecting friends, but wanted to post it here in case it's relevant to anyone else. A mom wrote in asking for advice on how to keep her toddler entertained while nursing a newborn, and I thought there were some great suggestions! Seeing as I'll be finding myself in this category in a few months, there are definitely some ideas here that I plan on utilizing.

Click here to see the comments from other moms.

Another helpful site I was browsing the other day was the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. This link is to Toy recalls in general, but I found it slightly overwhelming. If you go to their homepage you can also search by category, or company. For example, since most of Audrey's toys came from Target, I went to this search engine, typed in "Target," and got a list of all of their recalled toys.

Anyways...kind of random. But I'm known around these parts as the "safety queen," so I felt compelled to share with you all.

On a side note...I'm chewing on the idea of cloth diapering. (Now don't misinterpret my use of the word 'chewing' there. I mean the idea, not the diaper.) I don't mean it literally...but if you haven't seen the following video clip, by all means, have a laugh, then continue reading.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/55587/saturday-night-live-pampers

Seriously, though, I have a lot of friends who use cloth diapers, and I really admire them. I love the idea of it. We even tried it for awhile with Audrey when she was really little. Okay, so "awhile" translated into about a weekend. But to my credit, she was a little over 3 months old, stopped napping, stopped sleeping through the night, I started my downward slide into postpartum depression/anxiety, and we were travelling back & forth to Iowa about every weekend preparing for an out-of-state move. Plus I found out later we'd been folding them wrong, so she was leaking/squirting out of them almost every time. It didn't go well. And I was totally overwhelmed. And I know I very well might be totally overwhelmed again in under 3 months. But I feel like if I'm going to do it, now is the time. Get used to it before the baby gets here. Make an investment that would pay off when I use them on child #2. I hear the all-in-ones are really convenient...and I wouldn't have to worry about folding them wrong!

So....I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Who among my readers uses cloth? Is there a certain kind you recommend? Anyone want to talk me out of it? I'm all ears...

Puzzles

Audrey chose a puzzle as one of her toys for 'crib time' this morning. Afterwards I couldn't find 2 of the pieces anywhere. Not in the crib, not under the crib, not even between the wall and the crib. (I even rolled it away from the wall to look!) Then she brought me some books to read, sat down on my lap, and I noticed a lump...this girl cracks me up. Daily.

Dwaws... dwaws... is what bwings us togevahh

Momma-bear stumbled across what has to be the estate sale of the Priest from the Princess Bride.

Check it out...

http://ames.craigslist.org/fuo/907624884.html

And just for fun...



Man-O-the-house

One. Tired. Girl.

The past 2 days Audrey's nap has only been about an hour and a half long, which just isn't long enough for this girl, since it's her only nap of the day. She wakes up crying, can't get back to sleep, and is pretty crabby off and on for the rest of the day.

Usually she's good until at least noon, which is when I try to put her down for her nap. Occasionally she makes it to 12:30 or even 1:00. Not today. I think today the past 2 days of short naps finally caught up with her. The following clip was taken at 11:30 a.m.

Mommy Mishap

My plan this year was to make Audrey a Halloween costume ALL BY MYSELF. I'm crafty, I'm creative, right? I thought a ladybug would be cute. I'd get black pants, a black shirt, a headband to hook antennae to, and just get red fabric for the 'body.' I've sewed pillows before, so I'm picturing a red pillow with big black spots, with 2 straps that she could just wear like a backpack. Sounded pretty simple to me.

But then Target reeled me in. I found a SUPER cute ladybug costume for a mere $14.99. I easily would have spent that on her black clothes + headband + fabric, right? Plus, I'm saving myself all that time. (I don't even have my own sewing machine!) I had a minor dilemma getting the right size. They actually only had 2 sizes left in stock, XS and M. Medium said "2T-3T" on the tag. Definitely too big. XS was labeled 0-9 months, up to 20 lbs. Perfect! She just weighed in around 18 lbs, so this should work just fine.

Well, APPARENTLY the costume makers at Target ASSUME that most 0-9 month olds aren't yet walking. Lo & behold I got the cute costume home, and Audrey tried it on. Er, tried to try it on. One small oversight on my part...there are NO LEG HOLES. That's right, I basically purchased a sleep-sack for my always-on-the-go little girl. Needless to say, she wasn't too thrilled about the thought of zipping up her legs in a giant ladybug body.

So I guess the good news is, I still get to put my domestic skills to the test. I'm looking for someone with a sewing machine, (and perhaps some sewing skills they're willing to impart to me as well,) to help me cut out leg holes and stitch up the ragged edges. Then Audrey can just wear black leggings and black shoes, and hopefully this will all work out in the end.

And yes, for those of you wondering, both Tim & I had a good laugh when I got home and discovered what I'd done. Lesson learned.

Our Little Ham-ball

It just doesn't get much cuter than this. "Say cheese, Audrey":



Seriously, I'm having a hard time getting pictures of this girl without her eyes closed and mouth open these days.

WARNING

Attention all babies: if you go out to eat with your parents at a Mexican restaurant, and your daddy is eating chips with salsa out of a little bowl that is approximately the same size and shape as the bowl he is feeding you baby food out of, beware!!! My daddy came within inches of accidentally serving me a spoonful of salsa tonight. My dad is hilarious sometimes...

Surprise!

This morning I was laying on the floor watching Audrey play. Suddenly she started crawling full speed ahead...toward me. I found my face pinned to the floor as she stuck one hand on my eyeball and the other on my mouth. Squinting my eyes closed to prevent damage and saying "gentle, Audrey, be gentle with Mommy's face," she pulled my lower lip down to my chin. As I felt my entire nose engulfed by her mouth, it hit me. She had justdecided I needed a big, juicy kiss! As quickly as it started, it was over, and she crawled back to her toys while I pondered the best way to get drool out of my nostrils. Pretty cute, but pretty gross at the same time. Ah, motherhood.

French Kiss

Hello all... this is Tim. I felt compelled to share a funny story about what we are learning about parenting. We were having dinner with my sister and her family last week and we were discussing the cute Audrey story of the day, how she likes to give kisses. Audrey has the tendancy to slip a little tongue in with the kiss so Christy elaborated a bit at the dinner table and explained to the adults that the kisses were French . Our inquisitive neice Autumn latched on to the comment and asked Aunt Christy, "What's a French kiss..." As a faithful husband, I added "she likes to use her tongue" and then I enjoyed watching my wife wrestle an appropriate explanation that ended up with the phrase, "like a French poodle..." I guess we are learning well ahead of time what sponges these little ears are, and that they are always listening.

Tales of a new mom...part 1

So, I'm going to try and start blogging regularly. I love my friends' blogs. It's so fun to pull them up and see what's going on. I'd like to journal but I rarely take the time, and I find myself emailing the same stories to lots of different people, so I thought, "hey, why not type it just once?" Plus...typing is faster than writing in a journal, and this way I can share my thoughts with other people! So...we'll see how long I can keep it up.

At this stage in my life, the success of a day is currently measured by the quality of naps that Audrey takes. I know, sounds boring, but ask any new mom and she'll tell you what a difference it makes! The really dumb part is that I would base my day's success on something so completely out of my own control! But I still find myself doing that. Thankfully, today has so far been a great nap day...one down, 2 more to go. The best thing about this morning was that not only did Audrey sleep for over an hour, but I did too! Yeah!! After going to bed at 11 and getting up to feed her from 3:30 to 4:30 (yes, she ate for a solid hour), and then getting up at 6:30 a.m., I was one tired momma. But after a solid morning nap, I feel great!

Enough about naps. My latest way to pass the time (usually during an afternoon nap or after Audrey goes to bed,) is reading. I've started Debi Pearl's "Created to be his Help Meet," and despite the flowery cover, it is actually quite good! And so far, pretty basic stuff. The biggest thing I've learned so far is that husbands like it when their wives smile and have a good attitude about life. Huh, makes sense! Be thankful! Have a merry heart, then your children and your husband will too! Thanks, Debi, for reminding me not to be a whiner and a complainer, especially about dumb little things. I'm also reading the Million Dollar mystery series. It's been a long time since I've read any fiction (aside from Sandra Boynton and other fun kids' books), so I've really enjoyed the first 2 books in this Christian murder mystery series.

Anyways...Audrey looks like she's getting bored on the floor next to me. As I've typed this entry she has pivoted on her tummy and completely off the blanket at least 3 different times. Yikes, I'm going to have mobile kid before I know it!

More later...