Julie and Julia

I watched Julie and Julia last night and I loved it. I love the fact that they showed 2 happy marriages, and no one was cheating, and no one was getting divorced. Hollywood just doesn't show things like that anymore, and it makes me sad. They weren't perfect, but they were in love so they tried and they fought, but they made up.
It also inspired me to cook. I enjoy cooking most of the time. But watching that movie really made me want to make new things and embrace all the good fresh foods that are out there. It made me hungry!!

PS This is my 100th post, and I think that blogging etiquette says I should do something exciting, but I didn't have time for that so this is all you get today, I will do something more exciting soon. I'm not sure anybody reads this anyway

Ode to Thanksgiving

I feel more and more like Thanksgiving is the forgotten holiday. It seems like Christmas decorations are coming out earlier and earlier. I LOVE Thanksgiving, and I feel bad that it has gotten the shaft. I love the food, and I love that Thanksgiving is centered around the food. How many holidays can you say that. I also love the fact that I can use it to teach my kids about being thankful and appreciative for everything that we have. My dad and his wife actually have started volunteering every year at a homeless shelter, they take my little brother also, he is 7. I think that is a great idea. I am glad that we are able to provide for our children, but I also want them to grow up and realize that they have it pretty good. I don't want them to feel entitled, and I want them to realize that we should be thankful to God for all he has provided us!!

New Realization

I went to a Bachelorette party this last weekend. It was for a friend, who I honestly consider a little sister. She is 21 and she is getting married in December. The party was in Oceanside, CA and I was super excited because I left the girls at home all weekend with the hubby. It occurred to me on Saturday night as I watched a group of 21 year old girls getting ready to go out, that I wouldn't give anything to be 21 again. I go through phases where I long for the days when we were younger and life was easier, but after this weekend, I realized that life is pretty good right now. I have a confidence that I never had as a 21 year old, really until recently. It was like an AHA moment, made me appreciate all the wonderful things in my life right now!

Dyson Love!

For the last couple of years my hubby and I have debated getting a Dyson or not. They are REALLY expensive, but everyone that has one LOVES them, and they have a 5 year warranty. We are kind of hard on vacuums, we have had 2 in the last 2 years that have both died. When the last one died last week, I said why the heck not. By the time we bought another one, we would have probably spent close to the same amount as a Dyson anyhow. So I started researching. I found one on Ebay that was factory refurbished, so instead of the 5 year warranty, it only had a 3 year warranty. But, it $250.00 less than the same vacuum brand new. So we took the plunge. We got it today, and I gotta say, it was worth the money. It would have been worth the money if we had paid full price. The question will be if it lasts. With the dog hair and 2 messy girls, it has it's work cut out for it.

Christmas Dilemna

Last year we decided that each year our girls would only get 3 gifts from us. It is important to us that they understand what Christmas is really about, so we decided to limit it. We can go crazy on their birthdays if we decide to, but we limited Christmas. My problem this year is that there are a ton of things that I want to get Reagan and I have no idea what to get Morgan. Reagan has always been into princesses, and because of that we steered away from that with Morgan because that was Reagan's thing. But Morgan doesn't really have a "thing" so now I struggle with what her thing should be.
I wonder parents out there who have 2 children that are the same sex, what do you do?? Morgan plays with Reagan's toys, but truthfully, she would play with anything at this point I think.

Halloween

Here are my beautiful girls on Halloween. Reagan was a mermaid and Morgan was a ladybug and I thought they were adorable. They both had a ton of fun, they needed the whole next day to recover

Fall Fun

I have been really enjoying the fall weather. We have been doing lots of fun things to celebrate the season. We also made a trip to NM to visit my in-laws and we took the girls to the pumpkin patch. Here are a few pictures from that trip

Ramblings

I have a lot of different things on my mind, so this will be a little all over the place. I can't seem to get all the things done lately that I think should be done. I need to visit my grandparents, and I need to go to the gym and I need to grocery store. But I cannot get all of those things before I need to come home and feed the girls lunch and put them down for a nap. And then tonight we have our neighborhood group, so we need to have dinner ready when Patrick gets home from work so we can get there in time. So honestly, instead of blogging about all of this I should be trying to get out the door, but alas, I am still blogging.
I am also all about cakes right now. I am looking into taking some new classes and I am going to start making a ton of cakes to take pictures of to put on my new website. That's right, I am going to have an actual website. My friend Corey is creating it for me, so stay tuned for new developments. And if you need a cake, please let me know!!
In my last post I talked about the wonderful weather we were having, well I think that I cursed it. It is supposed to be 100 on Saturday! Are you freaking kidding me, it is the middle of October?? Oh well, what can I do about it, besides complain. I went yesterday to buy the girls some new clothes and I couldn't find anything that wasn't long sleeved. It is really hard for me to buy things for the kids that is long sleeved when it is 95 degrees outside.
AHHH, that feels better, thanks for reading all my random thoughts

FALL

I am way into Fall this year. I don't remember being like this in the past, but I am all about it this year. It is probably partially because summer DRAGGED this year. It was hot until about a week ago. Now it has cooled off and I am loving it. I am excited about the weather and the food, the holidays and the colors, all of it. In the past I have not really cared about Fall, it was definitely not my favorite season. I want to take the girls to the pumpkin patch and make jack-o-lanterns. I can't wait till Thanksgiving and Halloween.
Good Times

DIY Network

I have been sucked into the DIY network. We have never been DIY kind of people, we just have no desire to do it. Because of the economy we have realized that we will not be able to sell this house anytime soon. We have always planned on selling this house and buying something bigger, but now that is not going to happen we have decided to do some things to the house to make it the way we want it, since we are going to be here for the forseeable future. The problem with the DIY network is that they make it look so easy. Now we are on a kick and there is a ton of things we want to do to the house. I am sure we cannot afford to do all of them right now, but we are definitely going to do a few. And then we started looking around the house and talked about doing things that we never even considered. We are out of control!!

1st Day of Pre-School

Reagan started preschool yesterday! It was a bog day. She was not scared at all, she walked right in and didn't look back at me at all. I had wanted to take a picture of her with her teacher, but she didn't wait long enough. By the time I got done signing her in, she was already in the classroom playing with the other kids, so I just let her play. I am very proud of her, next week I start aiding in her classroom every other week. It will be fun to see what she is doing and how she plays with the other kids.

FREE Cake!!

I haven't done a cake in a while, so in an effort to get my name out there, I want to do some free ones. All you have to do is put a comment on my page and I will contact you. I will make you a fabulous custom cake for your next event.
All I ask of you is to tell all your friends where you got it and how wonderful you think I am!! I will also give you some cards to pass out.

Good Day

I usually just rant and rave about my frustrations on here, but today I thought I would talk about how proud I am of my kids. They are both growing and learning and they make me happy. Not that everyday is perfect, but all in all I have pretty great kids.
Reagan is very loving and tells me all the time that she loves me. And when I am not here (which is not very often) she tell me how much she misses me. And Morgan is at that age where she is learning so much and she is amazed by so many things. She is very cuddly and lots of fun!
I would love to post a cute picture of my sweet girls here, but our computer died and I am still trying to figure out how to get all the pictures off the computer. So let this be a lesson to you, back everything up often!! :)

Random Thoughts for Thursday

I feel like we have finally had a breakthrough with Reagan and the potty. She has been doing really well during the day, but she still was pooping in her pull up at nap time. So I stopped putting her in a pull up at nap time, and problem solved. She comes out of her room and goes to the bathroom if she needs to and we have had no accidents. She has also woken up dry for the last 2 mornings, so I am hoping that we are on our way to No Pull Ups!!

Our computer died last weekend and we bought a new laptop. But we lost all of our pictures on that computer. We had backed it all up last November, but everything else from then until now is trapped on the dead computer. Not sure what we are going to do, I assume there is a way that we can get it all off, but it will probably cost a bunch of money so right now we are just complaing about it.

Pre-school starts soon and we are all very excited. We are going to meet Reagan's new teacher on September 1, and then school starts on September 8. I have to go next week for a training so that I can be an aide in the classroom. My girls are growing so fast.

AUGH!

Is anyone else tired of all the screaming. I feel like at least one of my kids is yelling all the time and I am about to lose my mind. Morgan is at that age where she knows what she wants but can't quite communicate it, so if you get the wrong thing, she is devastated! And Reagan is just a little snotty. If I say something that she doesn't like, she starts screaming until I stop talking. I told her today that if she does it again I am going to wash out her mouth with soap.
AUGH! I can't wait till pre-school starts

Breakthrough

For the past few months I have finally started feeling like Reagan is REALLY potty trained. I am not worried about accidents and I know that she will go when she has to, or if we are out and about she will tell me. However, she still has not been pooping in the toilet. She waited until she was in a pull up and nap time or bed time, but it was still getting irritating. I know she knows what she is supposed to do, but she just doesn't. And then when I had to clean her up, she would complain, and I would tell her if she would just go in the potty I wouldn't have to do this.
Yesterday morning she woke up with poop in her pull up and for some reason I had just had it. All day I was trying to think about what the solution would be. I don't think not putting her in a pull up was the answer because she occasionaly still pees when she falls asleep, and everything I have read says that is normal, and honeslty that doesn't really bother me at this point. So when I put her down for a nap I told her she could not go poop in her pull up and that if she came out of her room when she had to go and went in the potty we would go swimming after nap time. And she did it. I have told her that many many times before and she has never done it, but for some reason it just clicked.
I am hoping this means that we have turned a corner!!!

Grocery Shopping Bargain Hunter

This is not usually something I would talk about it, but I am pretty proud of myself. I have never been the most efficient grocery shopper. I wasn't very good at making a list, and definitely not good at sticking to the list. But recently I have embraced the list and I am getting better. In an effort to save some money and make my life a little easier, I have started shopping for 2 weeks at a time. And it has been going great, and I think we are saving about $100 a month. We buy some of our meat at Costco, so yesterday I spent $150 for 2 weeks worth of groceries!! I was super impressed, and that was the second time that I have been able to do that. I sometimes have to pick up a few things like milk or juice that we run out of. But for the most part I am saving about $100 a month. This was mostly just to toot my own horn a little!!

Kid Update

We just had Morgan's 15 month checkup and she is growing like a weed. She is finally over 20 pounds and running around like crazy. She is not talking a lot, but she is working on it. She can definitely understand most of what we say and she is starting to try and mimick what we do quite a bit. She is very funny, and I think that she is going to be my climber. She also just got her first haircut. It was looking a little like a mullet, and not pretty, so we finally went to the kids place and had them clean it up. This is a picture of her new face that she makes all the time, it makes me and Patrick laugh every time!

Reagan is as sweet as ever..sometimes. Everyone told me that the threes were worse than the twos but I didn't believe them. They were right. She has an opinion about everything!! She knows what she wants and you cannot convince her otherwise. She can also be very loving, she tells me no less than 10 times a day that she loves me. And she always wants me to hug her, unless of course it is my idea, it has to be on her terms. She is taking swim lessons right now and I am hoping that they will help her be a little more confident in the pool.

Dancing Queen

Last night was Reagan's first dance recital. She did an awesome job, I could not have been prouder. Last week they had a dress rehearsal and it did not go so well, so I really did not have high hopes for the actual performance. I figured if she got up on the stage and looked cute, that was about all we could hope for. The day did not start out well, she didn't take a nap, so I was concerned that she might not make it through the whole show. But she did great. We had to check her into the backstage area and we couldn't pick her up until after the show was over. I was so nervous waiting for her to come out, and then she did and she looked adorable. Then she did the whole dance!! (At the dress rehearsal, she just stood there)

When we picked her up I gave her some flowers and she was so excited! It was a success all around, however, now I am afraid we are in for a long (expensive) road at the dance studio!

Bad Mom

There are a lot of days that I feel like a bad mom lately. We really don't do much, and there is a very good reason. Whenever we go somewhere "fun" Like the park, the playland at McDonalds house. When it is time to leave my oldest daughter has the mother of all meltdowns! It is embaressing and ridiculous and I have no idea what to do about it. I have tried talking to her about it before we go in. I even give her a warning 5 minutes before we leave and she still flips out. And because of this it makes me not want to do these things. I feel bad a lot, like we are not doing enough, but then I remember the last time when I had to drag her out McDonalds kicking and screaming and everyone was staring at me.

I am open to suggestions!!

I know when you look at this picture, how could that sweet girl do something like that, but believe me, it isn't pretty!

BTW, this is Reagan's costume for her dance recital that is on Friday night, should be hilarious!!

Ode to the Minivan!!

I made the leap, I bought the minivan!! And as I supected, I love it. It is awesome. There is so much room it feels cavernous, the kids seem so far away. Probably because in my old car it felt like they were on top of me. It has all kinds of neat gadgets and things I probably will never use, but it is still fun to have them. So for those of you who are fighting the minivan, if you can get past the fact that it is a minivan, you will love it!! The only time you won't want it is when you go clubbing! Which I haven't done since sometime in 2005 so I am clear in that area.

Cars

I want/need a new car. Some would say it is a want, I would say a need. When Reagan was born I drove a 1998 Toyota Corolla. I really thought that since it had 4 doors I would be fine, but alas, that was one more thing that I did not understand about motherhood!! I had to move the passenger seat so far forward that no one could sit in it. So, we NEEDED a new car. We bought a car that I didn't really want, but it was better than what we had, so I said okay. And now 3 years later, I hate my car!! It is way too small, if the stroller is in my car, I can't put anything else in. And now we have a second car seat to contend with too.
So the quesiton is, do I take the leap and get a minivan?? I always said I would never drive a minivan, but now, I see the benefits. And everyone I know that has one LOVES them. What to do, what to do?? I will let you know how this dilemna turns out

Summer, AUGH!!

While I enjoy living in Phoenix, there are a few things I could do without. I can live with the heat, I don't want to go walk 10 miles or anything, but I have learned to deal with it. What I don't like however, is that everything shuts down. All the activites that the kids do stops during the summer, when it is impossible to go play outside. No fun!! I am left with story hour and going swimming. Which swimming is fun, except I still have 2 little ones that cannot swim alone. So taking them swimming without my hubby is a lot of work.
Today was Reagan's last day of "school." Starting next year she will go to preschool 2 days a week and Morgan will go to Mom's Day Out once a week. So that means I will have a whole 3 hours a week to myself. I can hardly wait!! Whatever will I do?? I am sure I will have no problems filing the time.

Vacation, Here I Come!!!

I have had the worst attitude lately!! I know I do too, and that is even worse. I see myself losing it with the kids but I can't help it. I am frustrated and tired, and sick of fighting with a 3 year old. I have never needed a vacation more than I do right now. Luckily we are leaving tomorrow for a kid free vacation and I am super excited. My in-laws are here to stay with the girls and I am getting packed as we speak. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I will be on the beach with an umbrella drink in my hand!!!
I am also hoping this will be a time to rest and rejuvenate so that when I come home I will be able to be more patient and not scream at everyone at the drop of a hat. I don't enjoy being this way, and I know I am being a little ridiculous, but yet, everyday I still lose it at least once a day.
So Happy Vacation to me!!!

Thursday Thoughts

There has not been a lot going on lately, so here are a few random thought.

• Morgan is NOT sleeping again. I have let her cry for the last 3 nights and she has cried hard for at least an hour each time, and does not go back to sleep until I go in there. Ridiculous. I am not really sure what to do, but I am commited so we will try again tonight.
• Reagan suddenly has a really bad attitude. She does not listen and she flips out every night when it is time for bed. This is a new thing, she used to not be very happy about it, but she would still go upstairs and get ready for bed. Now, we have to pick her up and carry her up the stairs. Again, I am not really sure what to do except keep punishing her when she doesn't do wat she is told. Which is a lot!!
• We are leaving for our trip to Florida in less than 2 weeks and I am SOOOO EXCITED!! The in-laws are coming to stay with the girls while we are gone and we are going from Tuesday to Sunday. I hope that Morgan starts sleeping better before then or they may never come back!!

Monday Misery

My kids are miserable, in turn I am too. Morgan has a cough that will not go away and for some reason it got worse last night. It took forever for us to get her to go back to sleep, and now that she is weaned she will not take a bottle or a sippy cup from me which is a huge pain in the you know what! And then Reagan woke up this morning congested and she is in a fabulous mood also. It is a very happy day at the Darby household.

My Baby is 1!!!

I cannot believe that Morgan is 1 year old! It seems like she was just born. Maybe it is because I know that we are probably not going to have another baby, it makes me a little sad. Although she is so much fun, I miss my tiny baby. She is hilarious though. She is walking, she has been for over 2 months actually, a little ridiculous. She is doing more and more and discovering more everyday. It is a lot of fun. She seems (fingers crossed) to be finally sleeping through the night, after much convincing. She says "Uh Oh" all the time, it makes me laugh every time. She is also a cuddler, much more than Reagan was at this point. Her new favorite thing to do is spin around in a circle until she gets dizzy and falls down, very funny!

Ode to the Panini

I finally bought a Panini press at Target yesterday. I have been lusting after it for a long time, so I finally broke down and bought one yesterday. I don't why I waited so long, it was only $35, but I am a little cheap about things like that. So last night I made a turkey and bacon panini with provolone cheese and it was fabulous!! So easy to use and it makes a crunchy, melty, delightful sandwich. I have been researching and finding all kinds of recipes to try. I am so excited. It's the little things in life!!

Sweet Sleep, AWWW!

It seems that my plan might actually have worked. After 2 horrible nights of crying on both of our parts, Morgan slept has slept through the night for the last 2!! I think I might actually survive. Hopefully we are turning a corner.

Sleep Update!

Sleep Update, day 3. I am feeling a little like a failure. The first night, Morgan woke up at 10:00, which is ridiculous, she had only been asleep for 3 hours. I let her cry until 11:30, and then I gave in and went in and nursed her. She slept until 4:30 and woke up again, and she only cried for about 20 minutes. I was feeling optimistic after that night. It was not great, but I felt there was progress.
Then last night Morgan woke up at 1:30 and I let her cry and she cried for 2 HOURS!!! I finally gave in and went in there. Maybe I should have just left her, I don't know, but I had been laying bed for 2 hours counting the minutes listening to her cry.
I am not giving up though, I will continue, even if it kills, hopefully it won't!!

Sleeping Dilemna

I am at my wits end about what to do with Morgan and her sleeping, or lack of sleeping I should say. Let me start out by saying that with Reagan I worked very hard to get her on a schedule and sleeping through the night. And when people would tell me that their kid did not sleep through the night until they were 2 or something crazy like that, I was very judgemental. I thought they were just lazy and silly. And now I think that God is punishing for being that way. I did everything the same with Morgan. I put her down when she was awake, I got her on a schedule at an early age, even earlier than Reagan. She was even sleeping through the night when she was about 3 months old. And then there was a switch, and she has not slept through the night since. I have tried letting her cry it out, and she will cry for 2 hours sometimes. It is only in the middle of the night. She is a good napper, and when I put her down she very rarely cries. But, she waked up every night without fail. I tried having my husband go in there and rock her and calm her down, and she will for a little while, but then she gets mad again and I end up going in there and nursing her. I KNOW that an almost 1 year old does not need to eat in the middles of the night, but I do not know what else to do. And the truth is I am so tired that when she cries in the middle of the night I know that if I go in there and feed her, she will go back to sleep and I can too.
At this point I am going to do whatever needs to be done to get her to sleep. I am going to let her cry at least an hour when she wakes up, it is going to be awful, but I do not know what else to do. I am open to suggestions!!

I Have a Car Again!!

I got my car back today!!! The sun is shining a little brighter and the birds are singing a little louder. No more rearranging everything because I do not have a car. I no longer have to cram 15 errands into one day because I don't know when I will have a car again.
Also, on another happy note. I think that both of the kids are getting over the sickness that has infiltrated our house. I seemed to have escaped unscathed, so hopefully that will continue.
Reagan seems to be embracing the potty finally. She hasn't had any accidents and she is even waking up dry sometimes and she is going #2 in the potty too.
Next challnge is weaning Morgan and getting her to sleep through the night. I have tried letting her cry and she just keeps crying, for like 2 hours. So, I need a new approach, I am open to suggestions.

Update!

We just got back from "vacation" in Ohio where we were visiting my dad. It was freaking cold!! We were very happy to be home. But I need a vacation to recover from my vacation. Both of the kids are sick and there are piles of clothes everywhere! I desperatley need to go grocery shopping which should be a blast with 2 sick kids. And I still don't have a car. Luckily my husband got a ride to work today so I can go to the store.
I am a little cranky, I need an attitude adjustment!

Tuesday Thoughts

A couple of random things that are going on at our house:

On Sunday, we went to church and it was awesome. The sermon was great and totally hit home. When the service was over Patrick took the girls home and I stayed to work in the nursery. On my way home I got in a car accident! I am fine, but my car had to be towed, and luckily the cops said it was the other guys fault. So, now I am waiting for his insurance to accept liability so that they will pay for my rental car. I am going on 2 days of being stuck at home and I can only handle that for so long. Hopefully I will hear from them today!

Morgan had the worst night EVER! She woke several times in the middle of the night and for a while I couldn't figure out what the problem was so I was letting her cry, but after the 3rd time I realized that she has a cold and she could not breathe. Poor little girl, she does not feel well.

Reagan has given up napping! I was hoping that she would continue taking a nap for a while, but no such luck. It makes the days drag, especially when I don't have a car to go somewhere to break it up a little.

All About Us!

I thought that this was a good blog for Valentines Day! This all about me and my hubby

1. Where did you meet?
I cannot exactly recall, we were friends for a long time and actually when we met we were both seeing other people. I am guessing it was at Coaches, a sports bar in Albuquerque that we both spent a lot of time at in college!

2. How long did you date before you were married?
A LONG time, 3 years

3. What does he do that surprises you?
He does laundry a lot with no prompting, he has been doing it a while but it still surprises me

4. What is your favorite quality of his?
He commitement to me and the girls

5. What is your favorite feature of his?
His laugh, and in turn his sense of humor

6. Does he have a nickname for you?
Not really, sometimes babe

7. What is his favorite food?
Probably pizza

8. What is his favorite sport?
That is very hard because he likes ALL sports. I would say golf is his favorite to play and football to watch, but he also love baseball and hockey.

9. When and where was your first kiss?
In his car, before our first date, I think that is why we had a first date. I know, I know

10. What do you like to do together?
Watch movies, go out to eat, go shopping, we are pretty easy

11. Do you have any children?
Reagan 3, and Morgan 10 months

12. Does he have a hidden talent?
He is a fantastic dancer, hilarious, some of you have seen it, awesome. It usually comes out at weddings and Christmas parties

13. Who said "I love you" first?
Me, but only because he was a big chicken

14. What is his favorite type of music?
He listens to everything, I laugh at his CD's because they will go from Kanye to Frank Sinatra, he has no concern about genre, he puts them all on a CD together

15. What do you admire most about him?
His work ethic and loyalty, he works hard

16. Do you think he will read this?
Probably not, he doesn't check it very often (but if you are, I love you Patrick, you are the best!)

Seriously, You've Got to be Kidding!

I stole this article from someone elses blog and I had to put it on my blog because it was shocking and hilarious!! This was actually in a paper in Tacoma, WA. Seriously, if this person had said these things to me I would have had to punch her!

"My best friend has a child. Her: Exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .OK. I've done Internet searches; I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please, no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners. . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them every day. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day, and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail?I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events), and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy — not a bad thing at all — but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth?Is this a contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids, and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions."— Tacoma, Wash.
"Relax and enjoy. You're funny.Or you're lying about having friends with kids.Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.Internet searches?I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand — while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom friends are either lying or competing with you — is disingenuous indeed.So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries and questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family members and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting the constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything — language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity, empathy. Everything.It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy — and then when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, you wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend — a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends or marvel at how much more productively she uses her time.Either make a sincere effort to understand, or keep your snit to yourself."

Potty update

We are headed in the right direction. After much convincing and bribery, Reagan is going in the potty. She has not had an accident since Thursday and she even woke up this morning with a dry pull-up! Success!
Now, if I could only get her to do #2 in the potty. HMMM, we will see, I have a plan we will see if it works

Things you Cannot say with a 3 Year Old!

When Reagan turned 2 and started talking, we learned that we had to start watching what we say since she now repeats EVERYTHING! I thought that this would be harder for my husband since he talks to truck drivers all day and has a bit of a potty mouth. However, little things that I say, that I thought were harmless, turns out are not. I have been a fan of telling Patrick that I was going to punch him the throat. I, of course, am not going to punch him the throat, but it made me laugh none the less. It occasionally made him laugh as well. So, I was talking to him on the phone the other day, and he said something not so nice, and I told him that I was going to punch him the throat. And Reagan piped up and said that "Mommy, you shouldn't punch people!" I stared at her, and finally said "you're right baby, we shouldn't punch people."
Watch what you say, it can come back and bite you in the you know what!

Random Thoughts

This blog will have no coherent purpose, other than to share some random thoughts that are floating around in my head.

• I am exhausted, between my husband (who snores), my dog (who wants to sleep between my legs), and my kids, I think that they are trying to kill me.
• I just had a wonderful trip to Albuquerque to visit old friends. It was very nice and we had a good time. But it always makes me a little sad when we leave because I think that I will always think of Albuquerque as home.
• Reagan still does not want to be potty trained. When I ask her, she yells "I DO NOT WANT TO GO PEE PEE IN THE POTTY!" Very pleasant, especially when we are in public.
• I am stuck at home today because my husband left this morning with the babies car seat! Blah, I hate it. My sister and her husband only have 1 car and she is at home all day everyday, and I don't know how she does it, I think that I would lose my mind.
• Patrick and I are going to Florida for a week in May, are you ready for this, without the children! I can hardly believe it. I am so excited and I cannot wait. however, it does mean that I have to give up solid food since I am going to have to put on a bathing suit in front of other people. Patrick's parents are coming to stay with the little ones, it should be an adventure for everyone.
• I am bored! All I do is chase the kids around all the time. I can't tell you the last time I did something without kids. I need to find something for me. Not sure yet what that will be, but I am open to suggestions. I waned to join Junior League, but they meet in Paradise Valley, which is a little ridiculous.

So that is my thoughts of the day, hope you all have a wonderful day!

Trip to the Zoo

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Zoo today. Reagan is going to be 3 tomorrow so we took a family trip to the zoo because Patrick will be out of town tomorrow. Reagan had a great time and she said the giraffe was her favorite. And when we came home, her pull-up was dry, so we are headed in the right direction.

Success

We finally had some potty training success. She FINALLY went in the potty.
I now feel like there might be some hope. I realize that it is still a battle, but I at least feel that it might be possible

Potty Training Update

So the first morning of potty training was a complete failure. We had 2 accidents and a meltdown. I feel like a failure. I feel as though the first real challnge that I have faced and I am not succeeding at all! My daughter will be 3 on Monday and she has never gone in the toilet. She will sit on it, but she has never actually gone. My dad said that she is manipulating me and I should still make her sit in there, even after the melt down. I of course, at that point, put her back in a diaper. I know that she is manipulating me and that she knows if she throws a fit, I will give in. But does forcing her make it better or worse.
Help, Please!!

Checkups

Both of the girls had their checkups yesterday. Reagan had her 3 year checkup and Morgan had her 9 month. They are both getting so big. I cannot believe that Reagan is going to be 3 on Monday. The pediatrician talked to Reagan about "going pee pee in the potty" since I have had no success. So starting tomorrow, when we are home, Reagan is going to wear big girl underwear. And when she makes a mess she will have to help me clean it up. So wish me luck.
And little miss Morgan has boycotted sleeping. Starting tonight when she wakes up in the middle of the night, I will not go in there. Which is going to be awful, but this is getting ridiculous. She is 9 months old and she is waking up 2-3 times a night. Needless to say I am exhausted!!!
We have some big tasks to tackle, but I have faith! Wish me luck!