Who Knew You Could Be So Excited About Pee

We're safe and sound in Des Moines, Iowa, ready to celebrate a family wedding. I'm sure all the mama's out there can comisserate with me when I tell you how stressful planning, even for a short trip, can be. Because you know you are responsible for packing EVERYTHING... and making sure the kennel gets booked... and making sure you've mapped out the trip for possible bathroom stops (preferrably somewhere that won't give your kid hepatitis). My biggest stressor this trip however was the decision to diaper or not to diaper. Maggie has been daytime diaper free for over three weeks now, and accident free for almost as long. So with a seven hour car ride ahead of us do I trust her? You know what, I've realized I'm a "jump into the deep end and see if you float" type of mama. So off we went, sans diaper, and guess what... NO ACCIDENTS! About every two to two and a half hours she let us know that she had to go, we (thank god) were within a few miles of an exit with suitable facilities each time, and she didn't complain once about having to use a public restroom. If I'm this proud of her for not peeing in the car, I'm going to burst into flames when she gets into Harvard in 16 years!

Daddy-ya

Not sure why we have strayed from the typical pronounciation, but Jason has a new name... Daddy-ya. Maggie has been able to say Dada for quite a long time now, but in the last few weeks we've noticed that Dada is no longer Dada, he is now Daddy-ya. We'll just go with it.

Pride and Exhaustion

We have run the gammut of toddler emotions today and have somehow ended up on the good end of the spectrum. I am exhausted... can barely move my feet while walking exhausted... may just fall asleep while typing exhausted.

Morning begins with a slightly cranky wake-up and some cartoon time in Mama's bed. Not so bad, especially since I'm expecting the worst the next few days as her bottom molars come in. But my expectations are met quickly, and that was the best part of the morning. Cartoon time was quickly followed by incesent whining, feet-dragging, crying, and indecisiveness. Time to take some baby-tylenol and off we go to Granny's house so that Mama can make it to her doctors appointment on time. Cue more whining, feet-dragging, etc. Even more crying when she figured out she wasn't coming with me to the doctor. Oh, and a short trip to Wal-Mart was in there too. Fun stuff.

Sidebar - info from the aforementioned doctors appointment...baby number two is coming along just fine. I finally got a "normal" result from bloodwork and everything is progressing nicely. Excuse me while I go find a big ole Oak tree or something to knock on.

Anyhoo... I've been dragging this kid around against her will all day long. I know she's not feeling so hot because of her teeth, but these are the days that really make you question why you ever wanted to become a parent in the first place. BUT THEN, just as I was about to pull out my very last strand of hair, she reminds me exactly why I wanted her and love her so so soooo much.

I drug her to a mom/tot dance class this evening, the first one, even though she insisted she did not want to go. When we got there she saw there was a slide and a trampoline. Suddenly she was a PERFECT CHILD. She shared, took turns, helped the teacher clean up, was polite, listened to the instructions, and just generally showed up every other kid in the class, all of whom where running around like little pyschos. The teacher was so impressed, and I was so proud.

I'll have to remember this day as a day that proves we must be doing something right with this parenting thing, especially the next time I'm carrying a limp, screaming body out of the toy aisle while trying to explain that we do not need duplicates of the toys she already has - no matter how fun they are.

My Day Off

Yesterday Mommy got to take the day off. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went to visit a friend, did a little window shopping, and got my nails done. Nothing too exciting, but SUCH a welcome break. I missed my munchkin though, and was so glad to see that Daddy had thought to take the camera with him on their adventure for the day - to the Russell Military Museum. The pictures below remind me of the photo that came home the last time Maggie and Jason had a Daddy/Daughter outing...

Another Switch has Flipped

Very interesting morning for conversation with my daughter (very boring post for you, sorry). It seems that another brain cell or synapse or something has fully developed while she slept. It would be difficult for anyone else to notice, but Mama sure is impressed that when asked, "What is Payton barking at?" Maggie promptly responded, "People walking" instead of just pointing out the window and saying "Guy!" And when Maggie spilled yogurt on her belly, instead of pointing and saying, "Mama, yucky!" she said, "Mama, yogurt, wipe it off me."

Still Fat

Ooops, I meant still PREGNANT. Oh well, same thing. Everything has been going well lately with baby number two, nothing to exciting to report as of late. My heartburn has waned a tiny bit so I'm not constantly sick anymore - just frequently sick. Pepcid AC is my new best friend. I think the biggest change has been reflected in my emotional state in the past three or four weeks. I cry a lot easier right now, easily depressed, easily overwhelmed, easily saddened. Hormones are NOT my best friend. I am 26 weeks right now, so almost into my third trimester. Even though I find myself crying at, well, everything right now, I am also super excited that we get to meet our next little girl in about 14 weeks. I just want to know her... know what she looks like, know if she will like the same things Maggie likes, if she will be more like her dad or like her mom. Right now she's so mysterious, my little Kung-fu fighter, beating the crap out of my abdomen. I've also been thinking a lot about Maggie lately and how she will react to another child in the family. I'm worried about her feeling left out, or lacking attention. Right now she is the center of our world, how do I split that center into two equal parts without her feeling like I'm taking something away from her? If anyone has any thoughts about this I'd be happy to hear them. And speaking of Maggie, she just rubbed yogurt on my pants to clean her hands, so... the end.

Ahhhh, Spring....

Our Saturday... Breakfast at the diner, quick trip to the grocery store, play time and yard work in the backyard, long walk through the forest preserve, dinner on the grill, and fire in the backyard stove in the cool evening air. Maggie frequently proclaimed, "I happy!" throughout the day. I happy too baby, I happy too.

Worm

Maggie has recently discovered worms. Particularly the dead ones in the driveway. "Nigh, nigh worm!"

Today I was doing some yard work while she motored around the backyard. When I found a worm I told her about it and that soon became the highlight of our morning tasks. At one point I told her that the worm needed to go to his house and put it back in the ground. She said "Go to house?" then ran over to the bird feeder I had just pulled out of the shed, which looks like a house, and brought it over to me declaring it a "Worm house Mama!" By the end of our work there were three worms living in the worm house.

Easter Part 2

I know, I know... it's not Easter anymore. I'm a busy girl! Check out the video below of Maggie enjoying her Easter basket gift.

We Got A Cat!

Maggie got a kitty for Easter this past weekend and she is sooo happy! She takes really good care of it. She gives it water to drink, lets it watch the geese from the deck, and even lets it play with her bubbles. The dogs are getting alone great with Kitty too, they hardly pay any attention to her. Check out the pictures of our new family member...






This is exactly how the Kitty was placed/played with today - I did not set up any of these photos.

So Now You Have an Opinion

I'm sitting on the couch with my feet up after having spent the previous hour in the backyard spreading mulch around the flower beds. All of a sudden Maggie slinks up to me with a empty box of fruit snacks from her play kitchen and says, "Mama, I like fruit snacks." And promptly melts onto the floor. Goofball. Turns out the kid suddenly has a preference... in clothes, snacks, toys, shoes, etc.... and she'll tell you all about it. "Mama, I don't like this one," she says about the shirt I'm trying to cram over her head. "I like this!" she exclaims, pointing to a blow-up pool, as she examines the toy catalog that was delivered to our house last week. "Mama, no sparkly shoes, I no like sparkly shoes!" she cries as I try to push her foot into the jelly shoes she simply HAD to have last week at Old Navy. Do you know how hard it is to say "no" to her now? When she's so stinking cute with her "I like" and "I don't like"! It's near impossible. This parenting stuff is getting harder and harder.