Amelia Strikes Again

Running full speed ahead to greet Mommy at the gym kids' care + clunky sandals + clumsy Amelia = forehead into the door jam = urgent care

Yes, this happened at pick up at the kids' care at Gold's.  Naturally, I panicked.  Then the kids' care ladies panicked, so I panicked even more.  They've seen a lot of accidents, but this one freaked them out.  Needless to say, I headed to urgent care immediately.  One of the ladies went with me because I am not the calm parent in this situation.  Two of the ladies kept kids' care open past the closing time to keep Madeline for me.  We received a "yep, she smacked it good" at the urgent care and was sent home with a 24 hour watch period.  Of course, Amelia was fine.  However, I really appreciate the kindness that was extended to me.  Those ladies at the kids' care love my girls (and me) like family.

 

After the urgent care visit, my sweet Madeline coddled Amelia like a little Mama.

 

Sweet Sisters

 

Two days later, the bruising and knot really showed up.

 

Will I ever get used to all these boo-boos?  Probably not.

Mother's Day 2013

Mother's Day was perfect.  It truly was.  I only wanted three things on this day:  to spend this day as a family, my children to behave ALL DAY, and a cute picture of me with my girls.  Check, check, and check!  Hallelujah! 

 

My sweet husband started my Mother's Day off on Saturday evening when he got home from a business trip.  Eric presented me with my card and all the fixins for a fabulous dirty martini.  Be still my heart.  We grilled salmon and asparagus after the girls went to bed, had a lovely "dinner date" on the porch, and of course a dirty martini. 

 

My hilarious card that is PERFECT for me.  Eric wrote a sweet letter on the inside.

 

After church, we had lunch out at the Wild Wing.  Nothing screams "Happy Mother's Day!" like wings and beer on the outdoor patio!  The girls do really well there, and it wasn't important to me to go anywhere spectacular.  I just didn't want to prepare lunch for anyone, so mission accomplished.  The girls do really well out to eat on a normal basis, but today, they were true angels.  It helped that they were both famished, so they ate and ate.  When they were done, they colored and colored.  After a fun lunch, we headed to Menchies for ice cream.  We snapped a few pictures and back to the house we went.

The epitome of my children - one standing still and smiling & the other one being goofy.  Love them.

Mom and her girls - cute picture even with chocolate ice cream mustaches

 

When we got home, we went for a walk, rode bikes, played on the swing set, took a wagon ride, played in the yard, and relaxed on the back porch.  The weather was perfect - not too hot and humid!  Madeline and Amelia had a blast, and so did I.  It's days like today that make me realize all the day-to-day discipline and teaching is starting to show in the girls' behavior and attitudes.  

 

I am a very blessed woman to have a husband that makes an effort to show me love and appreciation everyday but especially on this day.  I am even more blessed to be the Mommy to these precious little girls.  I can only hope all my fellow Mommy friends and family had a wonderful day as well.

Homegrown Mother's Day Goodies

Madeline's Mother's Day cards are by far my favorite preschool project yet!  I will treasure these for many years to come.  Too adorable.

 

This little smile and pose is perfect for Madeline.

I love how she wrote her name before "Love,"

This little booklet says it all about me from Madeline's perspective.

Yep, couldn't be more true.

Again, so true.

Rookie Gardeners

I have been wanting to dabble in gardening for quite a few summers now, and this summer, I finally wrapped my brain around it and bought the stuff for it.  I had high hopes of "researching" what would do the best in our space, but time got away from me, and I decided to wing it this year.  I wanted to include Madeline in this project since she's not really napping in the afternoons, and I thought it would be a fun way to help her learn about vegetables, where they come from, and most importantly, tasting what we grow.

 

Madeline was really into helping me.  She enjoyed seeing what I had bought for our garden, learning how to dig a little hole, plant the plant, and admiring our work in the end.

 

My sidekick was distracted after the first couple of plants when these little fellas showed up.

 

However, when I brought the hose out to water, I managed to bring her back to the garden.

 

Our finished product (minus the fencing we have up now): 2 tomatoes, 4 green bell pepper, orange bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, sweet red pepper, zucchini, squash, and cucumber

 

The final product poses, and please take notice that my little helper is doing a curtsy or something hilarious in each photo.  She's a hoot.

 

 

Let's hope for a bumper crop!

Daddy's In Charge

I went away on a girls' weekend, and I found this picture on our camera!  Daddy time is the best!

My sources tell me that upon arrival at church, both girls were dressed adorably AND with bloomers and bows!  As an added bonus, I came home to a clean, tidy kitchen! 

Girls weekend plus a well kept household = total bliss for this Mama

Thanks honey!  We had a fabulous time.

Woo Hoo!

Guess who has been released from the orthopedic doc? Guess who can wear these orthopedic doc approved shoes to the GYM!?? Guess who has been given medical permission to run? ME! ME!!!

And guess where this stinky 'ol boot can go? Somewhere besides my foot that is for sure! I saw Dr. B for the last time today, I hope. He said, "Your x-ray looks awesome!" Music to my ears. So in true Anne fashion, I had my big bag of running/gym shoes from junky to brand new, and I dumped them on the exam table asking which pair(s) would be suitable for my new bones. He so kindly checked them all out for me, telling me why each was not going to work yet, and chose the New Balance mules for their stiff bottoms. BUT, I was given the freedom to do whatever I wanted at the gym while being smart about it! Hallelujah! He even said I was allowed to go for a brisk walk AND run a 12 minute mile if I wanted. All I wanted to be able to do was ride the elliptical. Woo hoo!! I'm back with a cautious vengeance. I'm focusing on the elliptical and my weight routine, and just maybe, perhaps trying to wear my high heels again! :) Just kidding! When I asked him about heels, he rolled his eyes, told me to be happy with my New Balance sneaks, and not worry about heels until much later this year!

Ahhh, one happy Gold's Gym Mama!

Ever have one of THOSE days?

You know the kind of day that I'm talking about --- it seems every decision you make backfires on you, nobody in your life seems to be happy about anything, too many, "I want...", very few thank you's, and overall very frustrating kind of day when you plop into bed at night praying that tomorrow will be better because by golly, tomorrow is a new day, and it's got to be better! I think I would sum up our 2011 year as one of THOSE days times 365! That last statement might be a slight exaggeration, but 2011 was a rocky one for us. As for me, it was a humbling year on so many levels.

We started our life as a family of four, and I would not trade our little family for anything in this world! I love my husband and my two girls down to my very core. Madeline has come along so far emotionally, socially, physically, and mentally. She's a very sensitive, empathic child. She can sense when I'm not having a good day and will try to make me smile. It pretty much always works! :) Madeline is a protective older sister, and she doesn't want Amelia to cry, get hurt, or be scolded. Sometimes she's too overprotective not allowing Amelia to fend for herself. Her outrageous temper tantrums come only every so often now, and she's learning to check her emotions. I had some very humbling moments in the afternoons pouring over my John Roesmond articles and books trying to figure out ways to conquer these tantrums in an age appropriate manner. Over the course of the year, she's become more rational, so she can calm herself down before things spiral out of her control. Madeline has blossomed socially making friends at school and in the neighborhood, learning to share without being prompted to do so, learning to not follow others' poor behavior choices, and communicating with adults in a mannerly way. Madeline is certainly not the most athletic child, but she's attempting to ride her tricycle and a bike with training wheels with much more confidence. She can climb the rockwall on our swingset in a flash, and her physical skills like hopping, running, jumping, etc. are much less clumsy. She loves her ballet class, and she's learned a ton! I am so looking forward to her recital to see what she has learned. Every now and again, I'll catch her dancing around obviously doing her ballet motions. Super cuteness. Madeline is a smart little girl. She loves to learn, and her neverending questions can be maddening, but she wants to learn about the world around her. Her little memory is a steel trap. The girl retains information like crazy. Books and coloring are still her most favorite past times.

And, sweet Amelia, she's finally coming into her own after 12 very long months. Her verbal skills are really starting to take off, and while she doesn't seem to have a huge interest in walking on her own, she's on the move keeping up with Madeline as best she can. She's eating up a storm, and she wants whatever we are eating. Amelia has figured out how to snap her fingers, and she will snap in the direction of the food item that she wants. While it's not the most mannerly thing to do, it's giving us some level of communication, so we're going with it for now. Eventually, we'll enforce the use of words once her verbal skills are better. Amelia humbled me as a Mom. I thought I had the whole Mom thing under control --- balancing my gym time, household chores, errands, and playtime. Madeline and I got into our routine just trucking right along, and when Amelia arrived, she slipped right into our lives like she'd always been here with us. Sure, I was exhausted, but that's to be expected with the newborn phase. And, then the fussy, gassy, uncomfortable, something's not quite right Amelia showed up. Just like that. I was taken down a notch. Suddenly, I was with an unhappy baby all the time, and our happy days were few and far between. I allowed this to go on for months making trips to the doctor, trusting his advice against my own gut feelings. Afterall, Madeline was nothing like this as a baby. What did I know? However, I knew something wasn't right in my gut. I finally put my Bullheaded Mom face on, sought out advice from friends, and switched doctors after 9 very long months! Amelia's health improved and so did her disposition, but it didn't last for long. Teething. Again, more unhappy days than happy days. Unfortunately, Amelia is not the "go with the flow" second child I just knew I was going to have. She's far from it, and it's been hard for me to handle every situation with grace and a smile. As I said, it's been a humbling experience thinking I had it all just right, and then one of THOSE days keeps going on day after day after day. There were many days when I felt like throwing my hands up in the air, and shouting, "I'm moving to Australia!" just like Alexander in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.

Unfortunately for a large portion of 2011, Eric was traveling like crazy for days on end week after week, and it was rough running the show by myself especially during those summer months when Amelia's health & disposition were at their worst, and Madeline's terrible three's flared up. Again, a humbling experience for me...my husband did come home after a few days or even a week, and I could vent or cry or go to the grocery by myself. But, during these rough patches, I often thought about single Moms or wives with deployed husbands and wondered how in the world they did it. At least I got some reprieve. Luckily, Eric's job finally started to slow down and his travel schedule has become less hectic. Having him around in the evenings, has certainly made for happier dynamics around here! This year, he was able to find a better balance between working hard, family, friends, gym time, and hunting.

Together, we were able to go on some trips and have some date nights for some us time. Of course, we did a lot of work to the house making it "us", and we have enjoyed our improvements together. Our entertaining probably reached an all time high this summer and fall when we hosted several parties, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and some cookouts in between. Hence the reason all of our birthday celebrations were kept super low key this year. I could only handle so much entertaining with all the other things going on in our little world.

As for me, my excitement was my Disney marathon that didn't happen, and again, another humbling experience. All that training, time, & effort was for not. First, figuring out my training schedule amidst Eric's & the girls' schedules was tricky, and then I had an ankle tendon issue during the "meat" of my training which required me to cut back my miles for a two week time frame. Finally, my broken foot sealed the deal --- No marathon. Canceled trip to Disney because my foot couldn't handle the parks. Boo hiss.

Surely, all of these trials and tribulations of 2011 happened for a reason. I'm a firm believer in that. I may not ever realize all the reasons we had these experiences, but I know deep in my heart that the Big Man Upstairs puts events in your life for a reason. I've realized a lot about myself. I have a few things to iron out that could make me a kinder wife, a more patient mother, a more attentive friend, and a less perfectionist Anne in 2012. Here's to 2012 with less health issues, less temper tantrums, less travels for Daddy, a less frazzled Mama, and less of THOSE I'm moving to Australia kind of days!

Just Some Mama Thoughts & Keepin' it Real

Wow, it's hard to believe that August is here. Many of my teacher friends start back on the 11th, & their students start on the 18th. Madeline's preschool starts September 1. If I am keepin' it real on this blog, I have to say, "Thank you, God, for getting me through this summer!" I think I've prayed to God for patience no less than 5 times per day everyday of the week. It's been a doozy of a summer, and I for one am glad to turn the page on my good 'ol fashioned paper calendar to August. August brings intense heat & humidity here, but it also brings me to thoughts of cooler weather to come, preschool starting, fixed schedules & routines Monday through Friday, college football on the weekends, and some serious Mama-Disney-marathon-training-time which in turn equals relaxed, happy Mama!

Summer around here is usually relaxed --- hanging out on the back porch in the evenings, a few beach trips here and there, trips to the neighborhood pool, some lake time, evening bike rides on the pink tricycle, evenings on the swingset, later naptimes & bedtimes, sleeping in a little bit, lots of gym time for both Eric and I, and some playdates scattered between all that.

Not so much. Instead, this summer was far from relaxing! It was full of doctor's appointments for Amelia's ongoing battle with reflux & ear infections, many afternoons stuck inside because it's way too hot to go to the pool with a sick wee one, many afternoons watching too much TV because Mommy needs to get housework done in between a fussy baby & a whiny almost three year old, many sharp words coming out of my mouth, many testing the boundaries from my almost three year old, many hours of the wee one fussing/crying out of discomfort, many deep breaths during naptime, many evenings spent praying tomorrow would be a better day, many evenings on the phone with Daddy because Daddy's travel schedule is nutso, and too many middle of the night wake-ups for this Mama and Amelia.

This summer has certainly been quite a learning time for me, and my perfectionist, type A personality certainly does not go well with a feeling of not doing a good job at my job. I know there were times I handled tense situations with grace and kindness, and unfortunately, I had many moments when there was too much yelling that accomplished very little except hurt feelings. I made too many little stops at the grocery store with both kids in tow instead of thinking through the grocery shopping and my couponing. I'm sure I turned down playdates, dates with friends, and other fun activities because I didn't want to drag Amelia with us knowing that she is not feeling well, and that's just not fair. Talk about feeling torn --- choose Amelia's misery to allow Madeline a little fun or having Madeline miss something fun because Amelia would be miserable strapped in the bucket seat or stroller! Then there were times when hiring a babysitter was simply too exhausting to think about because it's just easier to deal with Amelia's temperament, ailments, and meds myself. Many days I was in survival mode, and I wasn't always present enjoying the moment with my girls when they were happy & healthy. One thing is for sure: I complained too much to my hard working husband. Love his heart for listening ever so patiently to my "woe-is-me"!

But, again, if I am keepin' it real, then I would be unappreciative & ungrateful if I didn't mention my long weekend away with only my husband to Hilton Head leaving a sick wee one & testy almost three year old with Grandma and Grandpa. I cannot forget to mention my wonderful girls' weekend with my near and dear friend, Steph, to Costa Rica while my husband kept the sick wee one and testy tot while he worked from home. Bless his heart. Those two long weekends alone gave me the rejuvenation I needed to get through all those other stressful moments, I am sure. Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention our wonderful family filled weekend when we celebrated Amelia's baptism on our 7th wedding anniversary & Father's Day. Again, a little ray of sunshine in our rough summer.

So, I, for one, am ready for a new season with a healthy wee one (fingers crossed), a happy three year old who gets to go to school five days per week (for a week now, she's been asking, "I get to go to school today!?"), a Daddy's work schedule that allows for less overnight travels, and a Mommy who starts her marathon training releasing those feel good endorphins!

And, if I am really keepin' it real, then I should remind myself that this stay-at-home-Mama-gig is what I signed up for no matter how frustrating and stressful the days are. Truth be told, I am really a blessed woman with two beautiful little girls and an amazing husband! Perhaps, in addition to my prayers for patience, I should also thank God for my sweet little family!

Potty Training 101, Part I

In true Anne fashion, I picked a date on the calendar and declared, "This will be the day the diapers for Madeline go away!" So, Friday, June 24, 2011, arrived, and we were prepared to start potty training. I read John Rosemond's "Naked & $75" plan carefully as if I were studying for my AP Calculus exam, purchased entirely too many undies, bought a potty, set said potty up in the den, picked a perfect ring tone for the timer on my new fancy phone to pose as the "potty bell", mentally prepared to be on house arrest for a few days, and mustered up as much as enthusiasm as I possibly could, and went for it!

Madeline's new stash of undies. Her only request was pink and purple ones.
Our new best friend, the red potty. It goes where we go for now!

Mama's attempt at finding "around the house" activities to do other than the normal books, dolls, puzzles, etc. to cure cabin fever. Yep, my toes are now that lovely shade of purple per Madeline's request for us to matching toes.

A few "official potty training" shots.

Even while potty training, a girl has got to wear her jewels --- notice she is wearing her necklace & bracelet! :)

Proud Madeline --- such a big girl!

Amelia is a supportive little sis.

We've watched more TV than normal, and Madeline discovered this "My Little Pony" show. She enjoyed dancing to the music.

Potty training does make for some pretty cute "from behind" shots, and this Mama has occupied her down time by playing Solitaire as evidenced above.

I chose to start off this entire process with the suggested potty bell two reasons: I know myself, & I would have a tendency to micromanage the situation, and I wanted Madeline to have ownership in this process. So, I set the timer for 20 minutes and each time it rang, she learned to go to the potty, pull her undies down, and (attempt to) pee. Madeline caught onto the procedure quickly. She loves to dump her product into the big potty & flush. She does everything and is very proud of herself. Our first day was a little rough as I was figuring out her timing, and she had no clue what she was doing, so right off the bat, Madeline had a couple of accidents. (Deep breaths even though I expected them!) Then she was too busy playing to drink and eat enough (as usual), so she was dry for the longest time and seemed to become annoyed that she wasn't making anything in her potty. After an extra salty popcorn snack requiring Madeline to drink LOTS of water, she finally had "Lellow pee in my red potty!!!" She took it to the bathroom, dumped it, and returned the bowl to red the potty. The whole process seemed to click at that point.

The following day, Saturday, was a success in my book having only one accident all day. The potty bell set at 20 or 25 minutes worked for us. Madeline was very proud of herself, and we plunged into Sunday pretty optimistic. Sunday gave a new twist in the game when Madeline decided to test the limits of the potty bell and my patience. She wouldn't immediately go to the potty, and a few accidents occurred which caused me to be more stern with her in explaining not to lolly-gag to the potty. A slight power struggle came into play on Sunday. At this point, I stepped away from the situation by putting Madeline in for a nap in her 'sleeping undies' (Pull- ups). Post nap, we started with fresh undies, a fresh attitude, and an incentive chart with a Ring Pop being the reward (a jewel AND a lollipop all in one!). We've been couped up for three days now which is not good for any of us even though I am sure Amelia is loving her morning nap in her crib! On Monday, we will venture out the gym which will be interesting...stayed tuned for Part II and hopefully PROGRESS!

Love