10 for the weekend

1. I've been feeling a bit more on my game lately. Just a little bit. I have a little more motivation, a little more pep in my step, a little more energy. It's been working in my favor. I have no idea where it came from, but it feels as though my pregnancy-haze-exhaustion has lifted and I feel myself again. It couldn't come at a better time, as the long winter months seem to be lasting forever and my mood had been going down hill.

2. I've finally seen some progress with our time outs that I've been doing when Josie misbehaves. It's so hard as a first time parent to figure out how to discipline a child. I've heard all these different approaches, opinions (some very strong), and methods. It seems that you have to be either on one side or the other, and my question is why can't there be a middle ground? Why do we as parents have to be against each other? Different ways work for different kids. Knowing this, I have had to experiment to see what is most effective for Josie. After months of doing time outs, I think this is the one. Today, while she was screaming and throwing a full on tantrum in her time out spot, I let go to see if she'd stay (something she hasn't had the chance to do before because she usually bolts). She did! She scooted over a foot or so to get away from me, and then just sat there crying. After a while, I asked her why she was in time out. She usually doesn't answer me so I end up explaining what she did, why it is wrong, and how to do the right thing. This time, she said right away "chair" meaning that she stood on the chair when she wasn't supposed to. She knew! She got it! So we talked a little more about it, and when I said "I love you" she immediately  jumped in my arms for a hug and kiss. I was so proud of her. I always try to end time outs with an affirmation that I still love her just not that behavior, and she understood. I'm so thankful that it's paid off because holding a screaming toddler in one spot for five minutes is no fun task. I've been trying to teach her what "obey" and "disobey" means because I know that understanding that concept will help so much with God's plan and understanding what sin is. She does seem to be getting it more and more.

3. We don't have much planned for this weekend other than a fun birthday party that was rescheduled due to the weather. The birthday boy just turned one and has never been in a pool (oh, did I mention it's a pool party?) and Josie hasn't been in one since last summer, so it should be interesting to see the reactions. I'm not too worried about her though, she's up for anything most of the time. 

4. I went to Walmart yesterday because Katie @ For Lauren and Lauren had mentioned that there were skinny jeggings for $10 each in a multitude of colors. I figured it was worth at least looking at. I'm not usually a fan of jeggings, but I like the off colored ones, like black, gray, green, etc. I just really don't like the denim colored imitators. Anyway, we got there, found them, and I found not one, not two, but three pairs that fit decent. Miracle, I tell you. As we were leaving the clothing department (that I have never ever given a second glance at in the past), we found the actual jeggings that she had been talking about. I guess I had bought real jeans (extra stretchy) and they were $11 instead of $10. I was willing to pay the extra dollar for them. What a win for me! I don't feel like I can wear regular shirts with jeggings, but I can with skinny jeans so my closet feels like it has tripled in size and options now that I have a few more skinny  jeans to wear with my boots. I love surprise shopping trips like this!

5. I brought AJ to the chiropractor on Wednesday. She has not been herself lately, although I'm not sure what I'm basing that on since she was a happy smiley (sleepy) baby for one month, and now has been a fussy, always-needs-to-be-held, not-so-smiley baby her second month of life. In particular, I noticed that when I laid her down on her back, no matter where it was, she screamed ridiculously loud and instantly. It didn't seem right to me and I know a few people that have brought their babies in to the chiropractor, so we tried it. There was an immediate difference. She was like a different baby and has been ever since. She smiles, laughs, "plays" independently while laying on the floor (which she's never done without fussing the whole time), sleeps even better (never been an issue but I love that it's even easier). I cannot even believe it. I am so thankful that we were able to get in right away and that the results were so obvious. 

6. AJ stands for Audrey Joy, in case you are wondering. I'm too lazy to type out Audrey every time and I kind of like that both my girls have a  tomboy nickname to go with their girly personalities. 

7. I haven't been to the gym since Monday which means I'm going to have to go come rain or shine (or night or day) both days this weekend. And then again on this coming Monday. Ugh. I do like to work out, it's just hard to find time and I haven't been able to pull myself out of bed in the early mornings. Well actually, AJ has been up ready to eat right when I would be leaving. No, no, don't think that's my excuse. I'm fully aware that I could just feed her twenty minutes earlier than I was planning on getting up and could still get out the door and back before hubby has to go to work, but that idea is quite daunting at 5:30 AM. Maybe someday I'll have that kind of will power. In the meantime, 8:30 PM is much more manageable. I get to leave the house after being cooped up all day with two energetic littles and can sleep in to the normal time in the morning. Thank you God that hubby does bed time. It makes it a lot easier to slip out the door and not feel like I am missing something because all I do when not going to the gym is catch up on emails, blogs, and tv. Not exactly productive. 

8. I made a large breakfast of waffles and deer sausage this morning since my parents were here. Then my sister came over with Caribou Coffee (my absolute favorite, today she got me a skinny turtle mocha). It was a fabulous breakfast, but now I'm thinking I'm done eating for the day... ask me again at noon how I'm feeling!

9. For Valentine's Day, hubby had his parents watch the girls and we headed to Texas Roadhouse for some steaks. He was feeling them something fierce and I wasn't about to object. The wait time was 75-90 minutes, which we fully expected, so we sat down and enjoyed the time with just the two of us to talk, laugh, and just enjoy each other without the kids for a few hours. I was completely shocked by how negative everyone was around us about the wait time. It was Valentine's Day, what did they expect? We ended up being quite entertained by our neighbors in the waiting area. People watching is so fascinating. We also ended up eating way too much food and bringing home enough for two full meals later. I'm still feeling full now, come to think of it. (So seriously, need to be done with large meals - that's two in three days.)

10. I have so many books I want to read and have no time to read them. I'm reading Anna Karenina right now and while I know I'll be glad I read it once I've finished, I am having a hard time getting through it. I love Russian culture and am fascinated with their customs and traditions, but it is still a hard read. I need to just do it though, because my list of books to read has grown exponentially since I started it and they won't read themselves! This entire paragraph screams nerd alert, doesn't it? I'm fine with that.




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V day

Happy Valentines Day!

1. My bun from lunch. How very appropriate.

2. AJ with her heart shirt.

3. Jo giving some love on this lovely day.

Hope yours is full of love too!

Josie says

Her famous interjections (the utterance of a word or phrase expressive of emotion; the uttering of an exclamation):


"Oh my goodness!" (She says it slow but with great excitement every.single.time.)

"Oh Gosh..." (Plenty of emphasis on the shhhhh)

"All right." (She only says this when she really wants to do something and doesn't want to wait for my permission. So, in a sense, she is giving herself permission. It's so funny but I can never laugh when she says it...)

"Ok!!"

"Wooooow" (She says this every time she sees something new. It doesn't actually have to be impressive, but you'd never guess that it isn't by the way she says it. There always seems to be a bit of wonder to her voice too. I should try to get it on video.)






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Firsts, pancakes, and blizzards: A Weekend Update

This weekend, we continued the annual tradition of going to the Kiwanis Pancake Feed with my hubby's family. The highlight was definitely the play area. Josie was big enough (just barely) to play inside one of the inflatables so we threw helped her in and took a step back. Would she know what to do? Would we ever be able to get her out of it again? How could we get to her if she needed us? I'll admit, we were a bit nervous, but she was a champ. At first she just sat there....

But then some kid tried to tackle her. She didn't like that so much. So she came to the edge, hubby picked her up, and we moved to the slide area. After a few attempts, she figured out how to get up the ladder and go down the slide, but it was way more fun for hubby to just lift her up to the top over and over. 

I managed to get it on video. The place was chaos, but you get the idea.

Afterwards, we walked around a while more to see if there was anything else for her to try out. We got to the huge slide and noticed another tiny little girl climbing up the ladder. After finding out that she was the same age as Josie, we sent her up. It took a solid five minutes before she made it to the top (and a few times where I thought I was going to have to climb in there after her), but she eventually did get up there. We got a picture of her at the top. She looks absolutely tiny. She loved it though!

We only did that slide once since the line was long (some tiny kid took FIVE MINUTES to go up so it was a little backed up... oops...). We went back to the table where Audrey was hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Josie immediately had to tell A all about it.

Audrey was captivated, obviously

Last year when we went, Josie was only seven months old. 

Next year when we go, Audrey will be just over one and Josie will be 2 1/2. They will both be able to play in there. I can't even wait.

Later that afternoon, we went outside to play before the blizzard came. I shoveled a path in our yard for Josie to walk around. It seems to be her mission to "walk" whenever we play outside. She can't really do much else, so I tried to at least give her that option. Mostly, I just wanted to keep her out of the street. Audrey chilled in her car seat, watching us with mild amusement. She was probably the warmest one since she had the garage wall to shelter her from the wind. 

We tried "sledding" but the snow was too deep for me to pull her and actually progress without falling over myself. The shoveled path was a lot more fun (for both of us).

Then she discovered the chairs. She just had to sit in one. She also invited me to sit in the other one, but I respectfully declined. 

We'll be going back out this afternoon since we've been stuck inside ever since this little outing on Saturday. We watched movies and had some quality family time inside yesterday, but we are all feeling cooped up in here today so outside we will go after naps. 

Enjoy this beautiful winter day!

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