Saturday, July 31, 2010

Duhraamma (Drama)

I'm new to this whole toddler thing. No, wait. Let me rephrase that... I'm new to this whole parenting thing. Sure, I've been doing it for a little over two years, but each day brings a new element to the mix.

As of today, there are two adjectives that I can use to describe Piper: dramatic and mischievous.

She already acts like your typical female. She is affectionate and sweet. She is a little mama. She loves to help. She loves jewelry, the color pink, and anything that sparkles. And she is a major drama queen.

Nothing is done halfway. When she is happy, she is overjoyed. When she is loving on you, she smothers you to death. When she is sad, she bawls and needs lots of comfort. If she is trying to do something, like screwing the lid onto a bottle, and she is unable to do it, she'll exclaim "I can't do it!" as she throws it across the room.


And then there is my favorite one- the pout!

When Piper finds something to pout about she will drop (and I mean drop) whatever she is holding, hang her head as far down as she can, and stomp to the bedroom without ever taking her eyes off of the floor. She'll shut the door and (I imagine) fling herself onto her bed. Umm, really? It is quite comical, but where the heck did she learn this?

Here's her other new "quirk".

Piper was climbing onto the tabletop of a kiddie picnic table we have on the porch. I told her to stop climbing on top of the table. She stops. 30 seconds pass. She looks at me and says...

"Mama, you're hot. You need to go inside."

Sounds good to me. But then I realize she means for me and me alone to go inside. Hmmm, interesting. Very interesting.

Fast forward to two days later. I am sitting on the couch, minding my own business, when Piper climbs onto the arm of the couch and stands up. She then jumps off of the arm onto to couch. Not wanting my child to break her neck, I tell her she that what she is doing is dangerous. No jumping on the couch. Her response?

"Mommy. You're tired. You need to go to your room."

Ohhhhh, Now I get it. This little rascal wants me to go away so she can do what I just told her not to do. She has already figured out that if I don't see her... Great. Just great.

Maybe all girls do this. Maybe she is just your average 2 year old. Since this is my first experience raising a little person, I can't be sure. But if she is already doing this at two what is she going to be doing at 16? I'm breaking a sweat just thinking about it.

I'm innocent I tell ya! Innocent!

Friday, July 30, 2010

What's this??

Okie dokie. I realize that if I want to be a phenomenon (kidding, kidding) I need to have some kind of incentive to gain followers. So, when I reach an iconic number of followers, I am going to have a giveaway. Well, the number doesn't really have to be iconic, but it needs to be higher than it currently is. I have a number in my head but I don't want to put it out there because it may be unfathomable... so for now it will stay nice and safe in my head.

That brings me to what is up for grabs. I want you to decide. So vote on the poll and tell me what would make you happiest. The poll is open until August 6th and whatever has the most votes (even if it is only 4!) will be the prize. There will be multiple ways for you to get an entry and the winner will be chosen via randomizer.org.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Update

I need to update on my whiny post ;)

So after some encouraging words from readers, friends, and family, I have decided that I need to stop pressuring Piper to basically grow up. She is only little once and I need to enjoy her rather than be stressed out about this little thing that will resolve itself. She isn't going to want to wear diapers forever. So I am backing off.

I started attacking our laundry. It is still definitely winning the battle, but at least I am not allowing it to take over without a fight. Today, I cleaned the three major areas of our home- the kitchen, living room, and dining room/entry. They look good and that is a relief. As soon as Colbie wakes up from her nap, I am going to work on the girl's room. Whoop whoop!

I realize that I have a pack rat tendency. I know in my head that I need to get rid of 85% of Piper's old toys, but I keep convincing myself that we need them. This is something I desperately need to work through. If I don't, when Piper graduates high school her room will still contain toys from her infancy. Not cool.

As for the body image... well, still not over that, but I am going to deal until I have the time to really do something about it. Besides, summer is almost over, and with it goes bathing suit season. Praise the Lord. The way I see it, I have a entire year to work on it!

Monday, July 26, 2010

3 things

Alrighty...

So, I'm going to be real today,

3 things are aggravating me beyond belief.

#1. Potty training Piper

I can not lie. Part of me wants to throw in the towel and let her wear diapers until High School. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I honestly did not think that it would be a battle getting my 28 month old to sit on the blasted potty. The other part of me knows that it is time to get this girl out of diapers no matter how hard it is.
Exhibit A: Two days ago, she smiled at me innocently while she peed a river on my hardwood floors. Yeah, she was in big trouble for that one.

Exhibit B: About 40% of the time, she cries when we put her on the potty.

I'm trying hard to be patient, but it really is hard. I want to pull my hair out, gnash my teeth, and hit the wall all at the same time, but amazingly enough, I have managed to keep up a façade of complete serenity. I don't know how much longer I will last, though.


#2 My house

I hate everything about my house that traditionally is the wife's job to take care.

I want to decorate. I want rugs, and curtains, and beautiful furniture. I want to display thing artfully. I want my house to ooze Pottery Barn mixed with Etsy right out the front door.

I want to be clean and organized. I am probably the world's worst housekeeper. Clutter is all I see and it drives me insane. I want to throw everything away. Everything! I don't, however think that would go over too well with my hubby. His mantra is that even if I haven't used it in 5 years, if I think I might possibly need to use it in 50, it stays.

But, I can't blame him. It really is all my own fault. When I start cleaning, I am so easily distracted. I am terrible when it comes to picking up after myself. Of course, this is not a new thing. You should have seen my room in high school You couldn't even see the floor. I want to break this cycle so bad!

#3 Me, in general

Okay, so some people look at me and think that there is no reason for me to be stressing about my body, but those people see me in clothes. I know that I have had two kids and that some things just don't snap back when they have been stretched beyond their threshold. But, I know that if I could just lose the love handles, tone my arms and thighs, and lose about 7lbs, I wouldn't feel so blah.

In addition to the body issues, I never fix my hair or put on makeup. I also never get dressed in cute attire. My uniform has lately been hair in a bun and knit pants and a tee.

I want to have a body that looks good in a bathing suit. I want to have pretty hair and a flawless complexion. And, I want to dress stylishly. I think that is possible, right?



So, what is the point of all this moaning? I'm going to be posting about my struggles and what I am doing about them. So bear with me. Maybe it won't take too long to work it out! I am also interested in finding out other women do it all so effortlessly! Any insight would be helpful ;)

Saturday, July 24, 2010

This one...

Little Colbie has been with us for 6 months! Time has flown by. She is an incredibly sweet baby and I am so thankful to have been blessed with her. Here's a glimpse into what Colbie is doing these days.

The little rascal can roll over from her back to her stomach but not from her stomach to her back.

She absolutely loves no diaper time. If you want to hear her sing, simply take her diaper off and lay her down.

She can say "dada" but usually it is in a string of other syllables. Her favorite syllable being "ahhhhh"

When you hold her, she prefers to be facing out so she can see everything.

Piper trips her out. It is so cute!

Her breath smells so amazingly sweet. I could let her breath in my face all day and never tire of it. Sorry, Edward Cullen, but I doubt your breath could be any sweeter.

She loves to go to bed early. And I mean bed. Sleeping in some one's arms is not the same and she will wake up after a short amount of time.
She sleeps all night. She gets up later than I do, but earlier than Piper.

She loves put two things in her mouth- her feet or an adults fingers.


She never would take a pacifier.

Her favorite toy right changes almost weekly. This week it is the little pink stuffed animal blankie she is loving in her sleep in the picture above

She is very laid back and is pretty much happy all the time. The only thing that makes her really ill is being tired.

She has learned how to cry really loud. Almost as loud as Piper did when she was that age... but not quite.

She is still nursing and I hope that just like Piper we can make it past the 1 year mark. And we started feeding her rice cereal this week- she loves it!
She is growing up so fast. She makes me want to have more- think Duggar style- if I could guarantee that they would be all like her (I love you, too, Piper)

Friday, July 23, 2010

Another awesome giveway

I swear that thanks to Amanda Grantham Photography's Facebook contest, I am hooked on giveaways. This one is for another upcycled wool soaker.

(This is just an example of her work)


ThreeHappyTrees is another Etsy shop that makes wool soakers. She will even prelanolize them, which for this mama is an added bonus. I love my wool, but the drying time when lanolizing really tests my patience ;) ThreeHappyTrees has joined up with >Mama B to sponsor a giveaway where one lucky winner will win their own ThreeHappyTrees soaker! So go check it out.

***Open to US residents only. This giveaway will end on July 28th, 2010 at 11:59 EST.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

A new discovery

As a cloth diapering mom, I have realized that I really do prefer wool diaper covers over the waterproof PUL ones. I only have one wool cover and I want to add more, but they cost more than the PUL covers. But today, I came across a way to add to my stash without paying 30 bucks a cover.

I love Etsy I love looking at all the vintage and handmade items. On etsy, I found SnugglePants Snuggle pants takes old sweaters and turns them into the cutest wool pants, shorties, and soakers!
I am in love! They are not outrageously priced, either, which was an added bonus. And then, the icing on the cake! They are having a giveaway on their Facebook page Go check it out and enter for your chance to win!




Parent Reviewers' Directory Listing

It has been a while...

I've been a very busy girl.

Not busy in the sense that I have been running around, but there has just been a lot going on!

I started keeping a little girl, M, at the beginning of June. I am very happy that I did, because it is forcing Piper to learn to share, and also giving her a chance to interact with someone her own age. And, it is bringing in a little income for me.

All of the girls (mine and little M) were sick for what seemed like for-e-ver! Nobody was running a fever, but snotty noses were everywhere. I finally took Piper to the Dr. because she seemed to be better and then she started coughing all night again. She had bronchitis and an ear infection. Luckily, I took Colbie with me because she also had an ear infection and a clogged tear duct. Poor babies were on all kinds of meds.

I lost my wallet and killed my computer within days of each other. I completely blame that on mommy brain!

We have started really focusing on potty training Piper. That is probably the real reason why I haven't posted. It is not going as well as I had hoped... (and by well, I mean that I had hoped she would just pee in the potty the first time with no objections and continue. Yeah right.) She isn't in diapers at all during the day, but I am changing panties at least 5 times a day. And she holds the worst for the cloth diaper that I put on her for nighttime. Yay me. It has been frustrating and challenging and slow. But, I know that she will eventually get it!

On to the good news! I won a $250 dollar giftcard to Amanda Grantham Photography



My facebook friends and family are awesome! I am not even kidding when I say that I couldn't have done it without them. They put up with my constant badgering and didn't gripe about it at all! ;) I am truly grateful!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Forgiveness

I honestly and whole heartedly believe that one of the most important components of being a good parents is the ability to forgive.

I should probably rephrase that to trying to be a good parent because one doesn't really know how good of a parent they are/were until their children are grown.

Piper is two. And this age has a notorious nickname... "the terrible two's". I can see where this comes from. She is able to vocalize what she wants and she is in full control of her movements. Her emotions, however, are still very immature and rather than her controlling them, they control her. So, this means that breakdowns are inevitable. And because it is human nature to try and buck authority, she also sometimes disobeys mommy and daddy. This is where forgiveness comes into play.

When Piper gets in trouble for something, we always, always, ALWAYS make sure that after the punishment we do 3 things:

1. Ask her why she got in trouble. If she can't answer, we explain it to her
2. Tell her mommy or daddy are not mad at her, we forgive her, and we tell her that we love her very, very much.
3. Ask her for a hug and a kiss

If her crime was committed against someone else, we make her apologize to the other person and give them a hug.

I'm am in no way, shape, or form trying to say that this is the way that all parents should act. It works for us and that is what is important.

But the point of this whole post is this.

Piper got in trouble for covering up Colbie's head with a blanket. This is a major no no in our house because I have caught her taking freezer bags out of a drawer and placing them on Colbie's head. Since I am not a big fan of either one of my children suffocating, nothing is allowed to cover Colbie's face. So, anyway, Piper put the blanket over Colbie's head and when I told her to remove it she just sat there and looked at me. In defiance. So, I had to punish her. When the punishment was over, the conversation went like this.

Piper, smiling: "Mommy not mad."
Me: "No, mommy's not mad."
Piper, still smiling: "Daddy not mad."
Me:"No, daddy's not mad."
Piper: "Piper not mad. Sorry Colbie."

So, in essence, I think she gets it. We don't punish her because we are angry and we let it go/forgive her as soon as it is over. And the most important thing of all is that we love her.

Ask me in 20 years how this worked out for us. I pray daily that God will give me wisdom when it comes to raising my children. And if you are reading this and are an experience parent, any helpful suggestions would be welcomed!



Daddy and Piper playing in her pool




Friday, July 2, 2010

All the things she says


Here's a post to all the cute things that Piper says as of today.


"I can't want it" (Whenever someone tries to give her anything that might actually be good for her)
"Look what Piper's got! Yay!" (usually when she has something she isn't suppose to)
"Yucky, bleh." (
"That's my Colbie"
"Hey sugar booger" (To Colbie)
"Colbie smile"
"I lubee you"
Gasp, gasp "What's that? I hear it!" (she says this when she hears an airplane, large trucks, sirens,etc)
"My heiny spicy mama! Fix it!" (she had diaper rash when this phrase came out.)
"I need to cover up my boobies" (she says this when she wants me to put on her bathing suit top.
"I need sugar!" (kisses)
"Count with me" (thanks to Dora)
"Mama, I hongry" (my little redneck)
"I need Chocette milk"
"Colbie so cute"

Sometimes, she refers to herself as "baby". Usually when she is tired. "Baby's tired, mama."

I'm sure there are more, but this is all I could think of off of the top of my head that I knew I wanted to remember ten years from now.