It's Been a Month Plus...

The Stewart Family has not been exciting this past month or so.  We've dodged and slightly missed some sickness bullets, Daddy's been on the road, Mommy has resumed her hard core workouts, and the cold, rainy doldrums are upon us.  But, we are here, and we are healthy once again. 

 

What have we been doing lately, you ask?

 

 

We've snuggled up and watched shows after lunch.  Some of us refuse to remove our hat and coat from school.

 

We've celebrated St. Patrick's Day even though the fever sisters struck again on this particular weekend...didn't keep us from getting out to lunch and dressing seasonal.  Eric and I may have paid for that decision, but we got out of the house nonetheless.  :)

 Lots of days were spent like this....fever, not feeling well, no appetite, lethargic.  However, we were blessed in that not one of us came down with anything super heinous.

 

Daddy was on the road a lot this past month, and the girls had a dance party one evening...HILARIOUS.  I wish I had video.

 Here's my favorite:

 

 We've addressed some serious four year old behavior issues and started a marble jar.  When the jar looks like this:

 a reward will be given.  The said four year old is really digging the marble jar and filling it up like crazy.  :)

 

The two year old has gnawed through her beloved paci.  To avoid the choking hazard and trip to the ER,

 I did the snip, snip.  This was not expected, and therefore, I had not wrapped my brain around ditching the paci just yet.  You know, I'm a cold turkey kind of gal, but this was not on my radar.  However, the snip-snip worked in my favor.  Said two year old lost interest in paci, and we no longer have it!  Unexpected milestone.

 

Daddy has had some weekend trips.  After naps on a Friday, our house looks like this when "it's just the girls".  Popcorn, chic Disney movie, water, and breakfast for dinner AFTER all that popcorn:

Spring is trying to arrive, and we are enjoying it!

 

Nothing spectacular.  Just us being us.

Could It Be?

Sassy Britches has left the premises for the moment, and our sweet Madeline is BACK! This Mama couldn't be more overjoyed. In fact, I received several, "You are my most favorite Mommy ever!" comments this week! I'm sure it's because I have not had "Game Face Mommy" on, and life has seemed to returned to normal. Ahhhh, the terrible twos have gone into hiding for the time being.

Attitude with a CAPITAL A

Meet Sassy Britches:


Perhaps I jinxed myself when I wrote about Madeline's manners & behavior because the switch just flipped, and Sassy Britches is out in full force! Seemingly overnight Madeline as we know her disappeared, & Sassy Britches entered our home in her place.

This one

is venturing into uncharted territory with her talking back and sass, and I must say it's bringing me back to my 5th grade teacher school days. I knew I taught 5th grade for ten years for a reason! I've decided I handle these situations MUCH better than the irrational temper tantrums ~ maybe it's my school teacher comfort zone or maybe it's just a change of pace in the discipline department to keep me on my Mommy toes. Whatever it is, I don't like the fact that my two and a half year old has decided that pouting, talking back, laughing when she is disciplined, trying to boss me around, & sticking her tongue out at me is an appropriate response to Mommy! And, of course, to keep it interesting, she'll throw in one of those awesome temper tantrums at the drop of a hat just to make sure my blood pressure completely skyrockets. Seriously, if there is a boundary, she's testing it. If there is a line, she's crossing it all the while keeping her eye on me and how I react. I'm taking LOTS of deep breaths. I keep reminding myself that Madeline is learning about the world around her and our expectations of her, so it's my job as her Mama (Daddy too when he's home) to teach her that these are not appropriate tools to navigate the world. I'm sure she sees & hears these things in addition to being two and a half and feels the need to test drive this territory for herself. As Dr. Phil would say, "How's that working out for you?"

This timeout chair is occupied more often than not these days, and that doesn't include the times I have had to issue a few spanks for larger infractions.

I know it's the age & only temporary (I hope ~ her teacher keeps telling me so!), but I'm ready for my fun loving, sweet, well mannered girl to come back. Until then, I may have to adjust the grocery list to include more wine or invite John Rosemond to come live with us. :) Just kidding...