spring!

The last few days have been warm and wonderful (otherwise perfect, if not for headaches and a bad cold, but I'm not complaining...I love this weather!).

Yesterday morning we were playing outside. Rachel didn't want to come in for lunch. So I asked her if she would like to eat lunch outside. She was SO excited by that idea. We went down to the basement and got her picnic table, which we had brought inside at the end of the fall. She "helped" me clean it, and I made her lunch and took it out to her. She kept saying, "I eating wunch outside, Mommy!" like she was getting away with something!

Thrilling!

Today we were running some errands and I happened to find this dress up outfit on clearance. I'm making a collection for her for her birthday, but since she was with me, I couldn't hide this one from her, so she knew I bought it and couldn't wait to get home to get it on. She was torn between playing outside and wearing her princess dress. The princess dress won.

Here she's "dancing wiff Snow White."

Notice the short sleeved shirt!!! Yay for warm weather!! Colder weather is supposed to be upon us tomorrow, but I think the end of winter is finally in sight. Hooray!

a nice day

So I'm officially in my mid-thirities now, having turned 35 yesterday. I remember a time when 35 sounded old. It still sounds old, but it doesn't feel any older!

It was a fun day full of shopping, a date with my husband, and food (lunch out....cake and ice cream....dinner out--no cooking for me!). My parents were here so we all went out for lunch and they watched Rachel last night while my husband and I went out. Neither of us was very hungry after a big lunch and cake and ice cream, but we were going to take advantage of having babysitters here!

Here are some pictures from the day. It was warm and beautiful outside, so we spent much of the afternoon in the backyard. Rachel loved being the center of attention, even if it wasn't her birthday yet! (She knows it's coming, though, and can't wait!)

Both Grandma and Grandpa got up in her clubhouse with her and slid down the slide!

Grandma and Rachel had a parade with flags (these belong on the clubhouse but keep blowing off).

Rachel LOVES birthdays and couldn't wait for us to sing and blow out the candles. Look at her face!

And here's me with my best girl.

a new 'do

I tried something different with Rachel's hair this morning, after seeing another little girl with a similar style sometime last week. I thought, "Hey, I can do that!" and gave it a try. Her hair is so difficult because when it's down it's either messy or hanging in her face. And she's getting better about sitting still for pig tails, but not always. Anyway, this was a nice compromise, and a little easier than pig tails. And still kept it out of her face.

We were playing tea party, and she wouldn't sit still for two seconds or look at me and smile for me to get a decent picture, but you can get the idea. Here's my always on the go girl with the new 'do.

bibbidy bobbity boo

Yesterday I had the worst headache of my life. To help me make it through the day Rachel watched a little more TV than normal. On Dora they were trying to get through a door to get away from a witch and they were trying to solicit the word, "abre," when they said, "What's the magic word to get the door open?" My non-spanish-speaking but Cinderella-loving daughter called out excitedly that the magic word was, "Bibbidy Bobbity Boo!"

Wish her magic words would have taken away my headache.

It's better today, thanks to a good night's sleep and my trusty excedrin.

Potty training took a back seat yesterday to the headache. After an accident I switched her back to a diaper for the rest of the day. I could barely move, let alone run her to the potty. We'll try again when my headaches are a little more under control.

the time change woes

I like the hour of extra daylight this time change allows, but I don't like much else about it.

Yesterday it took Rachel two hours to fall asleep at naptime.

Last night she was awake (in bed talking and singing) until after 10 pm.

Sure, she slept until 8:00am this morning, which was nice, but I'd really rather have her going to sleep at 8:00pm like usual.

Naptime today took her about 40 minutes to fall asleep. I guess that's an improvement. She's still sleeping, though I hear her stirring, and I'll get her up at 4:00 if she's not up yet, because I don't want another 10pm bedtime tonight.

My husband thinks they should just change the clocks a half hour one time and then be done with it, never having to have a time change again. I'll bet that anyone with little ones would probably agree with him. Time changes just don't work well for kids on a schedule.

In potty news, she pooped on the potty yesterday, which was exciting (yes, my life is really that dull that poop on the potty is exciting!). That's all the success we've had so far.

potty training, take two

So after New Year's I wrote about our potty training adventures. Then I suddenly stopped writing about them. A few of you noticed and asked. Some of you probably noticed and didn't ask. And some of you really don't care and didn't notice at all. But let me explain, for those of you who didn't ask.

We gave potty training a good college try for three solid weeks in January. Three miserable weeks of being house bound in the middle of winter, cleaning up mess after mess after mess, to no avail. Yes, we had some good days, but mostly we had bad days. Very bad days. And so after three weeks, I threw in the towel and decided she wasn't ready. She hadn't really made any progress, to speak of, and only went on the potty if we happened to get her there at the right time and made her sit there long enough for something to happen. But that didn't seem to happen very often. Mostly there were just messes. And lots of dirty clothes to wash.

I felt awful for having to stop. A failure, would be a better word for it. (Yeah, I know that's not true, but that's still the way I felt at the time. I'm over it now.) And so I avoided the topic on my blog because I didn't want to admit that I (or she) had failed. It was a really hard decision to stop, because I wanted so badly for it to work, but I finally had to admit that it wasn't working and put her back in diapers for awhile. Once I did, and she didn't mention one single word about it, I realized that it was really so much nicer to not have to worry about it, and probably the right decision. I was able to get out and about again and go on with my life. I knew the day would come when we'd have to try again, but I was hoping she'd be more ready for it then, and it wouldn't be so difficult. Everything I read and everyone I talked to said that once they're ready, it only takes a few days for them to get it. (I'm banking on that one, so I hope everyone else is right!!!!).

So until about two weeks ago, she has been completely happy with diapers. And I was fine with waiting until she was ready. But she's started talking about the potty again. And complaining whenever her diaper is the least little bit wet. Last week we went out of town, so I didn't do anything about it. But this week I don't have an excuse. So today I bought some m&ms (she's been asking to use the potty and get m&ms, so I guess I'd better have them on hand!), and I'm going to try again. Maybe not quite so hard core as last time--I'm not going to stop going out as much as I did last time, and will put her in diapers when we do leave, but when we're home, I won't have her in diapers. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully better than last time.

a visit with friends

Rachel and I have been gone most of the week visiting our friends Allecia and Kaden, who now live out of state. We got home yesterday afternoon, and while we had a great visit, it's also really nice to be home.

Rachel and Kaden had big fun playing together all week. Rachel was excited to see his train table and play with all of his dress up hats and costumes.

She got to look at his Thomas the Train "madzagine," which she loved. She also enjoyed listening to Kaden's music and has asked to hear the song, "Puppy at the Pound" several times since we've been home! I'll have to see if our library has that one.

They had a great time at the children's museum, including a new Lego castle exhibit.

(for some reason I'm having trouble moving my pictures around, so I can't put them in the right order, but you get the idea....)

Allecia and I enjoyed catching up, cooking five dinners together to put in our freezers for future busy nights (our first real attempt at freezer cooking, which was actually pretty easy, but I don't know if I'd want to attempt it by myself--we'll see), and cake decorating (I helped her learn how so she can decorate Kaden's John Deere birthday cake for his party next weekend).

Baby Marin has grown by leaps and bounds since the last time I saw her, and Rachel enjoyed holding her a couple of times and giving her kisses. She didn't like it when the baby cried, though. Rachel is super sensitive (hmmmm....wonder where she gets that?) and can't stand it when other people are sad or upset about something. She was almost in tears every time Marin cried.

We can't wait to see them again when they come visit us in a couple of months.

dressin' up

To say Rachel loves to dress up is an understatement. A large portion of every day is spent either

1) wearing her Snow White Dress (it's already been through the washer countless times because it's been covered in yogurt, peanut butter, jelly, and all sorts of other food--I used to make her take it off before she ate, but then we were taking it off and putting it on soooo many times a day that I've gotten kind of lazy about that--thankfully it washes well!)

2) putting on or taking off beads

3) dancing in her tutu and ballet slippers

4) asking me, "Mommy, how do I wook?"

So here are just a few shots of the last couple of days' escapades, all of which involve dressing up.

Yesterday we were at my nephew, Alex's, fourth birthday party, which was pirate themed.

While there Rachel enjoyed dressing up in her cousin Emma's collection of dresses (and shoes. She clonked around in these shoes all afternoon)

And at home she's been enjoying these pop beads (my husband calls this her hippie look).Thankfully she can pull them apart and put them together almost completely by herself now. Up until now I've been doing a lot of that part, and am very thankful to pass that task on to her!

who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

Rachel's loved the story of The Three Little Pigs for quite awhile now. We've read it, reinacted it, and watched it (the old Disney version is on Youtube) more times than I care to count.

So it was no surprise to me yesterday when we were outside playing (in the FIFTY SIX DEGREE WEATHER, mind you!) that she started picking up sticks and said, "I build you a house of sticks, Mommy."

Here are a few other pictures of our playtime. She's loving her "new pwaygwound," which is what she calls the new playset.

While she was looking through the binoculars here she asked me, "Do you see any animals to save, Mommy?" (She had just watched an episode of Wonder Pets.)

Oh, and here's an addendum to my last post about her memory. Last night we went to get some ice cream. On the way there we passed Dunkin Donuts. The only encounter Rachel has ever had with Dunkin Donuts is that last summer on Father's Day she and I got up early while my husband was still sleeping to go buy donuts to surprise him for Father's Day. It wasn't open! At 6:30 AM on a Sunday morning it wasn't open. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, last night as we passed it she pointed to it and said, "That building's locked!" She remembered last June that the door was locked there and we couldn't get donuts for Daddy. Strange memory, that girl of mine!

really smart or freakishly strange?

My girl has an amazing memory....about some things. Saying "please" when she asks for something? Not such a good memory. But about completely unimportant things, she can remember the oddest stuff. For instance, yesterday we were getting ready to leave to go swimming at the community center (I'll write about that in a minute). She told me, "We going in the truck. We not go in the blue car. We ride in the blue car to Kaden's church. I wear pigtails. They have food there."

So let me explain that she's only ridden in "the blue car" a couple of times. Usually her car seat is in the truck and that's the only vehicle she rides in. But a few times in her short life my husband has needed the truck and she and I have ridden in the car. The last time that happened was in JULY when we went to Kaden's church (back before Kaden moved away). And yes, she had pig tails in her hair that day. And yes, they had food there. We ate lunch there afterwards. And she remembers! So is she smart, or just strange????

She also remembers things like going hiking with some friends back in October (every time we see them she asks if we're going hiking), or remembering who gave her what toy (she reminds me almost every day that Grandma gave her Thomas and Uncle Jack gave her Rosie and Lady, speaking of her trains). She remembers how to get to the various places we normally drive. Strange, I tell you.

Here's something that made me laugh lately. The other night before bed she was singing her Piglet bathtub toy a lullaby while taking a bath. When it came time for me to put her in bed I jokingly started singing her the same lullaby: "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep little Rachel...." and she immediately chimed in, with the same tune, "Time to get up, time to get up, time to get up, little Rachel...." Then last night I started singing, "It's time to take a bath, it's time to take a bath, high-ho the dairy-o, it's time to take a bath." And immediately she continued, "It's time to stay downstairs, it's time to stay downstairs....." you get the idea. I had to laugh.

Okay, so....swimming. Yesterday we decided to go to the community center to swim. They have a huge leisure pool with a zero entry pool for little ones, a playground in the water with a slide, water falls, sprayers, and so forth. Great place for kids. We'd talked about going many times and just never had done it. When we told her she was SO excited and jumped up and down until we left. When we got there she couldn't wait to get in the water. She immediately went for the playground. You climb up a few stairs and there are some things to play with on the way up. But she wanted to go down the slide right away. My husband was with her at the top and I was at the bottom. Just as she was getting ready to go down she slipped a bit and went flying down the slide with all four limbs sprawled in all direction, terror written all over her face. I caught her at the bottom before she went under, but when I lifted her out of the water she was shaking and horrified. "I all done. I go home to Rachel's house now," she said. So we paid a small fortune (we're not members and not residents of the town, so we had to pay more) to "swim" for two minutes???? We were so disappointed. We stayed awhile and tried to get her to enjoy other things. She didn't want to have anything to do with any of it. She wouldn't even put her feet down to walk in the water where it was only up to her ankles. We tried the "lazy river." We tried everything. All she wanted was out. Finally my husband told me to go sit in the hot tub and he'd walk around with her. The hot tub was awesome. Eventually they came and sat on the edge of the hot tub with me and watched the big kids jump and dive into the big pool next door. She loved that part. After we got out she played on the indoor playground out in the foyer. She loved that part, and as we left she said, "I had fun today!" So maybe we haven't scarred her for life like we're fearing.

making a comeback

After a long hiatus, pigtails have returned.

She screams and hollers when I put them in, which explains the hiatus. Usually I choose not to fight that battle. But this morning she was getting her picture taken and I wanted her to look extra cute, including pigtails. So I put up with the tears and frustration (tears on her part, frustration on mine....) and just did it.

So we got the pictures taken, and when we got home I decided to take some of my own, just because I wanted to document their cuteness.

She didn't really want her picture taken anymore, so she ran away to "hide."

First she tried hiding her face, but I ended up with this.

Then she tried actually hiding. I found her.

Next I tried the sneak attack and took some while she was playing.

She didn't like that idea either.

Oh well, I got my documentation.

the evolution of King Kong

King Kong has arrived and is fully assembled.


Here's our old set, just for the sake of comparison. We gave it away last week on Craig's List.




And here's the start of the new (we moved the wood pile that was behind the old swingset. My husband is rebuilding the rack the wood sits in and then the wood will go back in it on the side of the yard instead of the back).


It kept getting bigger and bigger.

And just kept growing!!

My husband couldn't wait for Rachel to wake up from her nap and see it. She was asleep the entire time they were here and didn't know it was coming today, so we knew she'd be totally surprised.

When she got up I told her Mommy and Daddy had a surprise for her. She was excited and could hardly wait to see what it was. We got her coat, hat, boots, and gloves on (it's cold here today!) and took her around to the back yard. My husband filmed her reaction, which was a big smile and a break out into a run toward it!

She went straight for the tire swing.

Next came climbing up to the top and down the slide.

Then climbing up and out to the bubble to wave to Mommy.

Then the swings. She liked the "Pirate Boat" swing.

She wouldn't swing on the regular swings except on her tummy. It was cold so we only stayed out for about 15 minutes (after all, she is sick), but she kept saying, "I climb one more time," or "I swide one more time." She had a ball.

It needs to be restained, which we'll do once it's warmer outside. Also, there's a removable rock wall on one side and the rope swing can be switched out for a swinging ball, which is in our garage at the moment.

"I wike it," she declared on the way in the house. Just what we wanted.

flowers, crab legs, King Kong, and throw up

It's been a long, fun weekend for the most part.


Saturday, Valentine's Day, my husband surprised me with flowers, candy, and a card! I wasn't expecting anything more than a card, so I was excited. He also gave Rachel a Tinkerbell card and a little box of chocolates with a Snoopy on top. She was thrilled. I had gotten her a little Valentine sticker book. She and I spent at least an hour that morning putting all of the stickers where they belonged in the book. She did the entire book in one sitting. She's crazy about stickers!


We got a babysitter for the first time Saturday night. Every other time we've gone out it's been family or close friends watching her, so I was a bit nervous, but all went well. We went to dinner at a favorite seafood restaurant of ours. We don't go there often because it's always more than we want to spend, but my husband decided we should splurge. It's nice because they fly their fish in fresh twice a day and change their menu based on what they have available. He had lobster and I had king crab legs (the menu said they were off of one of the boats seen on the Discovery Channel show, "Deadliest Catch". My husband watches and enjoys that show sometimes). My crab legs were great. His lobster was pretty tough and chewy. He didn't want to, but I convinced him to tell the waitress, who went and got the manager. And they took it off our bill! I told him if ever he'd want a meal taken off his bill it would be a lobster dinner! But he wishes it had just tasted better so he could've enjoyed it. But we had a great time. This restaurant is nice because it has these private booths with big velvet curtains drawn back on each side, so it's more intimate. The hostess told us we could close them if we wanted to and she wouldn't tell. My husband said, "We've been married for awhile, so we don't need to do that!" Some romantic, huh??? I was glad they were there, though, when I was eating my crab legs since I always make a big mess breaking them open!!


Sunday I had a fun time shopping for Rachel by myself. I went to several kids resale stores on the other side of town and got to look to my heart's content, which I don't get to do when Rachel is with me (I don't even venture all the way over there when she's with me, so I rarely go!). And to top it off they were having a special President's Day sale I didn't know about, so the clearance stuff was even more clearanced and the winter stuff was all even cheaper. I went looking for Easter shoes and a new wool dress coat for church for her and found both, exactly what I was looking for. I was thrilled. That never happens when you're trying to shop at resale stores. You kind of have to pick and choose based on what's there. So I'm thankful for my husband who entertained Rachel so I could be gone having fun for a few hours.


I came home and repayed him by working with him outside clearing out the backyard, preparing for King Kong's arrival on Monday. King Kong is a monsterous playset we bought last week off of Craig's List. We've been looking for one to replace the little one we bought used when Rachel was a baby (she had pretty much outgrown it), and were excited to find a Rainbow set, used, for a good price. However, it is gigantic, and I've been so worried about it fitting in our yard. It's really more than we need, but there aren't usually many used Rainbow sets available. It's called "King Kong," and for good reason. It's supposed to be installed this afternoon--I'm sure there will be pictures soon.


Yesterday Rachel was playing with her trains, as usual, but this time she was reinacting her book, "The Little Engine that Could." She was pushing the trains over the pile of Sunday newspaper on the coffee table, saying, "I fink I can, I fink I can, I fink I can...." Once she'd get over it she'd say, "I did it, said James," just like she was narrating a story. Then she added a phrase from a Thomas video she's watched over and over, in which Thomas says, "I shant have to wear it," when referring to the plow they want to put on the front of his train. So she was going around with the trains saying, "I shant have to wear it." What two year old uses the word shant???? (What 34 year old uses it, for that matter?? Certainly not me!)

Rachel's had a cold the last few days. And she threw up twice last night in the middle of the night...once at 1:30 and again around 2:45 (not long after getting everything cleaned up, sheets changed, and back to bed). The first time what woke me up was hearing what sounded like her choking. I RAN in there as fast as I could. She was sitting up and said, "I all messy, Mommy." That's when I realized what happened. I started throwing stuff on the floor (her blanket, bear, etc). I called my husband and he came in and started cleaning up the sheets and so forth while I took care of cleaning her up. It was in her hair so I had to give her a quick bath, which she didn't want, but she was a really good sport during the whole thing. (I didn't do a very good job, though, because I could still smell it in her hair when she got up this morning and had to give her another one this morning. Ick. )

Anyway, we got everything cleaned up. She kept saying "I wanna go back to sweep!" I read her a story and she went back to bed. I went down in the basement and scrubbed the nasty laundry (almost throwing up myself in the process). I started the washer and came back up and got in bed. She was still singing in her bed. No sooner was I back in bed and I heard her throwing up again. I ran in and she said, "I messy again. I sick." So we repeated the process, except this time we didn't have any more sheet, mattress pad, or purple blanket (her favorite--we have two but they had both just gotten thrown up on!) After I got her cleaned up I found a twin sheet and mattress pad and just tucked those in as best I could. I found another soft, fuzzy blanket she has in her drawer. She went right back to sleep that time. I went down and scrubbed the sheets again, switched the load from the washer over, and put the new load in the washer. I didn't feel good at that point and thought I was going to throw up. I didn't go back to bed--I got in the bed in the guest room and read for awhile, needing to get my mind off of her throwing up. I read for a long time and don't know what time I finally went to sleep.

I went in this morning after she woke up and she popped up and said, "I not making a mess anymore! I not sick anymore!" She's was as happy as can be this morning. Hopefully that part is all over. Dealing with throwing up kids is just the WORST!

toothbrushes??

We got a surprise package in the mail today. I brought it into the kitchen where Rachel was finishing up her lunch and said, "Rachel, look! Grandma sent us a package!

Though I wasn't sure, I had an inkling of what was in it, but I said, "What do you think it is?"

As I got the scissors and started to open it, she got a big grin on her face and said, "Toothbrushes!!" like that would be the most exciting package she could open.

Toothbrushes???? (And this is from a little girl who hates getting her teeth brushed!)

No, it was quite the opposite.

Valentine Cookies! Only the very best (this is just a picture I found online....they aren't the actual ones, though they look similar).

The ironic thing? Just this morning I went to Joann's and bought a heart cookie cutter. Great minds think alike, huh Mom? Thanks for the delicious cookies!