Monday, May 30, 2016

memorial day weekend

the long weekend is over and
we're all back at it tomorrow.
we left early saturday morning to go
 down to the lake with a bunch of friends
and spend two whole days out on a boat.
it. was. glorious.
and it makes me want to spend my whole summer
doing exactly that.
i think both girls love being out on the water.
it is a little difficult with the girls being as young as they are.
reid is supposed to take two naps a day and is still on the boob.
try doing that on a boat.
brette was ready to throw down at night because she was so tired,
but i figured it's only a few days and i'd rather have a fun day
and a rocky night, than do nothing at all. 
the second day we left reid with my parents and
just took brette.
reid needs a schedule more than brette
AND brette was so excited about "driving the boat"
that there was no way she was getting left behind.
i think next summer we might look into getting a camper so
we can actually do more of this.
the girls will be easier, the house should be done and
we might actually have some free time.
i can't wait.
i'm really glad we got out of the house and had some fun.
i think ronnie and i both needed the break.
 





 
we spent today at my parent's.
we slept, at lots of food and hung out with the family.
my brother came down with his girls and we
took them to visit my grandpa's grave and see
the ceremony they have at the veterans cemetery where he is buried.
 



 
 
and now here i am,
back at home, after going and going and going.
both girls are passed out after the long weekend and
i'm getting ready to watch scandal. (yes, i'm obsessed)
it's been a nice break,
but its nice to lay in my own bed.
hopefully you had a lovely l o n g  weekend too.
if only we got more of these.
 
 
 

Sunday, May 22, 2016

reid: ten months

 
reid changes more and more everyday and
i feel like we're getting into "big girl" territory.
no more car seats in a store, she sits in the cart.
no more laps in a restaurant, she sits in a highchair.
no more baby food, she's eats what we eat.
basically, she's way easier now.
here's the downlow:

 
 
growth:
we won't have another doctor's appointment until she's a year old,
so i don't have her exact height and weight, but she's definitely getting bigger.
she mostly wears 12 months clothing, but
just because we have a TON of it.
everything from madeline and eden and then 
all the clothes brette got for her first birthday.
reid's wardrobe is out. of. this. world.
no clothes needed over here.
 she's still in a size 3 diaper and i'm going to try to start having her wear shoes.
i bet she's in a three or a four, but not sure.
i need to go through all of brette's old shoes and bust them out.
her hair is growing a lot on top and the sides but
still not a lot of length in the back.
it does seem to be curling some though, so
i'm excited to see how that turns out.
basically, exactly opposite from B.
but the biggest change this month are her gross motor skills.
she can crawl and sit up on her own.
it is so amazing to sit her down in the playroom
and let her go.
literally, i can just leave her alone to go explore
she can sit up, crawl around, bother brette...
it's awesome.
 
 
sleeps:
turns out i was right about her sleeping through the night.
in fact, it's even gotten better.
no more up at 5am.
wahoo.
she goes down at 8 and is up at 7.
i'm loving it.
too bad it only took 9 months!
her naps are the same except i took out the 3rd nap altogether.
it was annoying and i decided that since she's getting eleven hours at night
as long as she gets around three in her first two naps,
then i'm okay with it.
her first at is still at 10am,
her second at 2pm.
her morning nap is definitely her best and
she'll sleep the longest, but
every once in awhile her afternoon nap rocks too.
 i'm still nursing her to sleep and she still loves the pacifier.
i know.
these next couple months might suck taking those things away,
but i'm hoping for smooth transition.
fingers crossed.
 
 
 eats:
reid still has no teeth.
it's crazy. i keep waiting but nothing is popping through.
nevertheless she eats people food like a champ.
she eats anything we give her including meat.
i know last month i still hadn't started that, but
i wanted her to get more protein so i just cut it up really small and
she does great with it.
in fact, i think she loves it.
for those of you with babies this age i completely recommend
it makes going to a restaurant a breeze.
seriously, get one.
weaning has been going really well too.
i took away her 5am feeding and now she sleeps right through.
next, i took away her 5pm feeding.
i figured she can have a snack after nap and
then dinner, which will get us to her last feeding of the day.
so far, no complaints.
right now our schedule is:
7:00 nurse
8:30 breakfast
10:00 nurse
12:00 lunch
2:00 nurse
4:00 snack
6:00 dinner
8:00 nurse
i plan on combining her 7am with her 10am.
i would like her to start drinking milk with breakfast that
way we can start getting away from nursing her to sleep.
next week should be interesting.
hopefully she's ready for this.
 
 
 
plays:
like i said above, reid is playing more and
more on her own just because she's mobile now to do it.
a lot of the time if i'm trying to get something done or
i need to get ready i can put a basket
of toys down on the floor and she's good.
she'll throw them around and then crawl around to all of them.
it's so nice.
her freedom = my freedom.
we've also been going on stroller walks everyday.
brette loves to run around and reid loves to watch.
it's so nice to be able to go outside all the time.
in fact, i took them to the park a few days ago and
reid sat on a blanket in the grass and picked dandelions.
thank god for spring.
i have been trying to work on her standing to play,
but she has no balance.
i feel like she stands on her tippy toes a lot and
will literally just go down like a tree.
i have to be on high alert when she's standing.
we have a bunch of toys that are good for standing and playing,
and she'll pull up to her knees, but actually
getting up on her feet is a no go.
i'm not even worried about it though since she JUST started crawling.
one thing at a time.
 
 
firsts:
she is crawling
she is sitting up on her own.
she is sleeping 11 hours straight.
she sits in shopping carts and highchairs.
she had her first ice cream and popsicle.
(tis the season, right?)
 
 
 



 

 

 
 

Thursday, May 19, 2016

on her way



reid was not having it.
brette growing up without her?
not in this house.
as soon as brette made her way into her big girl bed,
reid was like, oh yeah?
well, i'm going to start crawling.
and that little stinker did it first for my parents on monday.
[May 16th]
of course she would.
why save anything for dear ol' mamma
who is here literally all. the. time.
whatevs.
she did it for me that night though and everyday since.
it's so exciting. 
i love a little crawling peanut.
but i also realized these girls are working together.
they're trying to kill me.
i now have one child in and out of her room too busy to nap
and up super early in the morning.
and the other one can now get into everything.
doesn't that like fun?
 

 
 
(literally the first morning brette went into reid's room
at 5:50am and woke her up.
the second morning she was standing over me
at 6:00am and scared the crap out of me. good times.)
 
 

Sunday, May 15, 2016

caged

 
the thing that i've been dreading, happened.
brette started consistently climbing out of her crib.
she walked into our room this morning at 6:30 like it ain't no thang.
oh geez.
normally, i ignore her until at least 7:00.
i guess this. is. happening.
so we decided it was time to turn her crib into a daybed.
i'm not thrilled.
she hasn't napped all weekend, but - - fingers crossed - -
seems to go down fine at night.
(probably because she's so tired from not napping.)
but i'm waiting for her to show up at 3am and
then my life will be over.
i literally just got reid sleeping through the night so
if i start having to get up with my 2 year old i might die.
it's not fair!
she is super excited about it though and will invite anyone
to "come look at her big girl bed."
we I put a rail up so she won't fall out,
but she can easily get around that anytime she pleases.
i'm just worried that her naps will suffer and
i'll end up with a grouchy little girl.
so far, nothing i've tried will keep her in bed with her eyes closed.
she gets out toys,
she tried on clothes,
she reads books,
she rearranges her closet.
anything but sleep.
i think one day she will figure out to go in the playroom and
then i'm pretty sure i'll have to wave my white flag.
but for now, i'm not giving up!
i have hope that she will get used to this new
found freedom and still choose to lay down and fall asleep.
we shall see.
i'll keep you posted.
 


 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, May 12, 2016

lion or lamb?

 

 
so brette is a little lamb.
or is she a lion?
i think she's both.
i'm mean, sure she's super sweet full of hugs and kisses and giggles.
but there is also a temper brewing.
and a mouth.
oh her mouth.
she's just keeps talking.
 
i feel like when trying to deal with her behavior
consistency is key,
but i can't make up my mind on how to deal
with her so i keep trying new things,
which is probably more confusing for her.
i go back and forth between time out and
positive parenting.
jaime let me borrow a book a few years ago about
positive parenting which i know had a lot of good ideas,
but at the time, i had a sweet little baby.
i read it, but i didn't USE it.
she didn't talk back, not listen or hit.
now that these are the things we're dealing with
i try to go back and use the methods suggested.
but there are things that i believe in that i would like
to instill in her too.
learn to be empathetic AND say you're sorry.
learn better listening skills and how to follow directions.
i know she's young, but
these are the things i'm working toward.
 
i know to get down on her level.
i let her know i understand the way she's feeling.
i talk to her about how to deal with it.
i know to give her two options so she feels like
she has the power and independence to make her own choices.
and i know to give her lots of love.
but  s o m e t i m e s  i feel like this doesn't work.
she's not listening - she doesn't want to talk it out.
i feel like maybe if i just hold her and
love on her she will calm down enough so we can talk,
but there have been times that she doesn't want to be held.
and then i will pull her out of the situation to breathe.
to collect ourselves.
a little time out, if you will.
but this always makes her start crying.
so now instead of mad, she's upset.
but she didn't want held and she's didn't want to talk,
 so what's left???
we've actually started something new.
hit a pillow if she's mad.
snuggle her favorite stuffed animal if she's upset.
but then this morning she said,
i think i need to hit my puppy dogs.
oh geez.
i am always second guessing myself.
no one want to have "that kid."
she needs boundaries, but what is 
appropriate for a two/three year old?
ahhhh.
its hard.  
feel free to send suggestions of what worked
or didn't work for you.
 
it takes a village.

 

Thursday, May 5, 2016

mother's day gift ideas

if i HAD to buy myself something
for mother's day i know if would love any of this.
so i thought maybe these would work for that special
female in your life.
my go-to is always etsy.
original. fun. and so very cute.
 
you never have enough tea towels.
at least not in my family.
and i must have a soft spot for family recipes
because how amazing are these?


 
or, i find this one rather appropriate.

 
 
pair this with some actual recipe cards, maybe add a mug (like this one),
 
and a few kitchen items,
pull it all together in a basket and wah la..
you just got gifted.
 
 
i'm also always down for clothing or shoes.
summer is near and i really want a pair of saltwater sandals.
AND you can even buy a pair for your kid too.
can you get any cuter than matching your offspring on mother's day?
no. no, you can't.
i personally love the green ones!
 
and since i spend most of my time around the house or
running errands, cute tees are always a hit.
 
this 
 
or this.
or really ANY shirt from here.
 
and if you have a mama that loves
a good glass of wine,
well, look no further.
you can actually have a wine delivered to her door every month.
it's the gift that keeps on giving.
 
 
i'm not really a jewelry person.
i rarely wear it.
i might put on an extra ring or if
i'm feeling extra fancy i'll have on a necklace.
but i know there are lots of you ladies out there
that love love love you some jewelry.
here are two of my favorite ideas for mother's day.
first, the birthstones of your kids.
not my style, but i get the sentiment.
i actually like these because they're stackable and
therefore easy to add if you have more kids.
now this little necklace i can get behind.
it's probably the sweetest thing ever.
no mom can resist.
you actually get a picture they drew or,
i personally love, their signature option.
i might have to send this link to ronnie when
the girls are a little bit older.
 
 
 
and when in doubt,
you can never go wrong with flowers.
and it just so happens that groupon
has an amazing proflowers deal.
literally 50% off.
check. it. out.
 
 
 
i hope this helps.
and i hope you have a lovely mother's day.
celebrate you.
celebrate your mom.
celebrate your grandma.
celebrate your mamma friends.
 
and for all those male readers i have,
(do i actually have any?)
it all started with a mom,
so do it up right.
 
 
too bad ronnie's not follower.
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

weekend recap

not a whole lot going on over here in these parts.
ronnie spends every free moment outside trying
to get our siding and trim done in time for the painters.
i feel bad, but not enough to let him stop.
i just want it over with.
he did get another tiny project done for me:
paint the ugly mirror in our downstairs bathroom.
i hated to wood tone of this mirror but loved
the little shelf feature.
a year and a half later... it's painted and re-hung.
(now if only the bathroom was done too. meh.)
 
i did actually let ronnie have a few breaks.
we went on a little family walk around the neighborhood.
and we went out for ice cream.
reid's first time - - she loved it.

 
 
 
i also managed to escape the girls for a few hours
and actually got my hair professionally done.
it's been YEARS since i went to a salon and
it was such a treat.
expensive, yes, but totally worth it.

 
while waiting on ronnie to finish the outside,
i've been keeping busy with the details.
first, i took the girls to look at paint colors.
brette wanted pink and purple.
but really, it's SO HARD to choose.
i've never redone the outside of a house.
i'm drawn toward darker colors, which surprises me,
but i think it might look really
crisp and clean against the white trim.
right now, we're leaning toward this:
with black shutters.
we might do a black door too.
not sure yet.
i'm also toying with the idea of doing more of a blue tone.
i saved this to my phone a few weeks ago.
i wish i knew what color it was.

 
and for the inside i have fallen in love
with a new shelving unit i saw on pioneer woman.
 
it's industrial,
it's big.
it has a ladder!
ree drummond has it.
and it's perfect for this wall:

 

 
it's also expensive and ronnie pretty
much told me i was dreaming.
excepted instead of dreaming he said
something i won't write here.
dang it!
i'm still trying to persuade him and i even told him
he could count it for mother's day, birthday and christmas.
i'm not sure if it's working, but
i still have hope.
 
also, reid is still working hard toward crawling.
she does this. a lot.
but she won't actually take off and go.


i'm probably going to regret the day she is mobile
because i'm sure brette will go crazy trying to keep her
out of her things, but i just love milestones so much that
i don't care.
 
hope you had a lovely weekend
enjoying the last of these cool temps.
spring is upon us.