A Quick Laugh

Our child was the first child born and spent a lot of her early years as the only. This means she naturally gravitates towards the adults in the room. Always.  

At summer camp, she becomes besties with the counselors. When at a party with children, she can be found with the adults. Most of the stories we have involve teachers, not classmates. In class, she likes to sit away from her classmates. 

It is who she is.

Now for a story....

Weeks ago, we attended a meeting on a potential upcoming class trip opportunity to Italy. This is a chance to hang with other kids their own age in a different country. Alice asked if we all went, if she could room with us. We stopped to ask her math teacher (a trip chaperone) if the kids had to room with other kids or if she could room with us. She said it depends on what we wanted. I mentioned Alice needed to learn how to hang with other people her age and not room with her parents. Alice gave me a look, the math teacher laughed.

Fast forward to this weekend when she was talking about school drama. 

Her "Oh, and thanks to YOU, now I have to sit next to so-and-so in Math class because my teacher thinks I (in air quotes) 'need to socialize with kids my age'! I used to sit alone!! It was wonderful!! And now it's ruined!"

I laughed until I cried.

This season of life with Alice has been one of my favorites. Our conversations are hysterical. Always.

Until next time.....

A Pinch of Hope

This weekend I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone for something I knew in my heart was important. 

I have been unapologetically vocal about my disgust with those in leadership roles and my disappointment with those who put them there. I share this on social media and in the shirts I wear when I leave the house.

But lately, that hasn't been enough.

Last Friday I decided to see if there was a No Kings gathering in our area and was pleasantly surprised to see one in our little community. I told my Beloved I needed to be there. I texted my like-minded Bestie and her response was an immediate "I'm down." That night we bought markers and made signs. 

I was going outside......

Before we left the house, it was important to me that Alice understood why this was necessary.

We talked about our Freedom of Speech and how the current administration would like to silence those who disagree with them. We talked about how they are trying to manage what stories the Press are allowed to tell. We talked about how they are attempting to erase parts of history that might make us uncomfortable; but these are things that to be learned so we don't accept the terrible treatment of others as being okay. 

Lastly, we talked about the importance of showing up for our friends that do not look like us who are having to worry about being unlawfully detained for the color of their skin. That is not something we have to worry about and it's important to use our voices for them. By showing our outrage at the blatant injustice - we are showing them they are safe with us.

On Saturday, with our signs in hand, we headed to City Hall and joined around 300 people from our community in solidarity that NONE of this okay. The lies. The shutdowns. The disgusting internet trolling done by the freaking leader of the United States - NONE OF IT IS OKAY.

We held signs, waved, blew bubbles, sang, chanted - even when it rained.  

And for the first time in a long time, we all didn't feel so alone.

We stood next to a woman from our neighboring community who was thankful to be able to stand with people who felt the same way she did. 

It's easy to feel like we're crazy. But over 7 million people peacefully gathered to express their anger at where we are heading. 

And for the first time in a long time, I had hope.

Hope that the hate won't continue to win.

Hope that eventually the lies will stop and consequences will happen. (I miss accountability and consequences and checks & balances...)

Hope that communities can live in peace again.

Just.....a pinch of hope.

I'm thankful we attended because now I know I'm not so alone in the immediate space I share with so many. 

Until next time....

The head, the heart and Santa

Alice's head is telling her all the things her heart doesn't want to hear. 

We knew this was coming. We understood that by fostering this kind of childhood 'magic' we would one day have to answer for it. We made no plans - we decided to handle it when it was time as the questions came up. 

That was foolishness. Let this be a warning to all new parents - RIP the heads off all mythical, magical beings at the same time. Just completely break their heart at one time instead of a slow, continuous break the span of 4 years. 

She's a trisky child and asks these heavy, life-shattering questions when we're compromised and our brains are tired so we answer without thought to deceive preserve the magic of belief.

And she KNOWS. I know she knows but the asking is part of our penance.  

First it was the Fairy. One day over the summer while I was working, she walks into my office and asks "Mom, are fairies real?" Me, distracted, responded with "no." Her "then what about my fairy door!??" Me after a long pause....."okay, I can't think about how to answer this right now, let's revisit it later." 

Then it was the Easter Bunny. Late one night something was being talked about and then she stared us down and asked if the Easter Bunny was real. I took a breath and told the truth. We argued about where the Easter presents came from. She said, "okay, the Easter Bunny isn't real" and we thought we were done. A few days later she said "I wonder what the Easter Bunny is going to bring me this year!" I told her we talked about this and there was no Easter Bunny. To which she responded with "yeah, I know. But he's still going to bring me something." We go over this every Easter even if I've let her pick out what goes in her own Easter basket.

Months later we were playing on the floor of her room when her Dada states "that's because the Tooth Fairy isn't real." My eyebrows jumped to my hairline and Alice's jaw dropped down to her chest. Him "was that not one we went over already?" This was exceptionally entertaining because we got to go over all the times her 'Tooth Fairy' forgot. 

She usually follows up these kinds of chats with "what about Santa!?" and I look at her with all the gentleness I can muster and say "do you want the truth or do you want to sit with it a bit longer?" and she says with devastating seriousness "I want to sit with it" so we move on.

I think her head is getting louder than her heart and all this growing up is unsettling to her. 

The other night while I was taking a shower she wanders into the bathroom with all the Santa questions. 

"Mom, is Santa real?"

Me "do you want to truth?"

Her "no."

After some quiet thinking, "if he's not real, then how does the elf move?"

Me, from the shower "what does your head tell you?"

Her, after a pause "that someone else in the house moves it."

Another pause, "mom, what if kids at school talk about Santa?"

Me "it's probably not going to be what you want to hear."

I peek around the shower curtain and say "when we do finally talk about Santa and it's what you fear it to be, we can still keep the magic for Kayden and Sawyer. We can always make magic." 

By this time I'm crying, obviously. 

Then she circles back to "so, how does the elf move if there is no Santa?"

Me, at the point of enough...."I'm not sure I want to answer that while I'm shaving my legs in the shower. Maybe you should go ask your Dad."

She didn't because it's usually me she wants to trigger into a sobbing mess. 

We'll talk about it again, of this I am SURE.

And my heart tells me she will adjust because the magic will change and SHE will get to move the elf. And I guarantee her elf will do A LOT more than our elf did. 

For now, we'll let her ask the questions she already knows the answers to because holding on to every ounce of her childhood seems to be what she NEEDS right now. She'll accept it eventually but for now, we're going let her heart hold on. 

One day it will come up and I will ask her "do you want the truth or do you want to sit on it for a bit more?" and she will say she wants the truth even though she's known it all along. 

Spoiler alert - I will sob then too. 

Until next time.....

Socially Spent

We have not done classroom birthday parties yet mainly because we felt she was too young and we had things going on. Plus, I'm no good with new people. I get all weird. I have gone her entire school career without learning any of the parent's names. I know this is probably horrible but the extent of our interactions is usually opening the door for each other on the way in or out. That's it! I know who belongs to which kid! Mostly. 

Now it's just awkward to ask, I've seen some of these women for 3+ years. 

However, we decided this year we would make more of an effort to socialize her so if she came home with an invite and wanted to go - we would try to make that happen. 

And the universe LAUGHED and she came home with three invites for this past weekend. 

And the kids have words now and spent the entire week talking about the parties like little gossipy teenagers. There was no way of getting around it.

Saturday we had a Halloween party with costumes and pumpkin painting. 

I am grown. I haven't dressed up in YEARS!!! But I didn't want to be the only one not in a costume so I borrowed some scrubs from my mom. I mean, if I'm going to be uncomfortable, I might as well dress comfortably. 

We show up at 3 with our pumpkin and the host (who is the ONLY other adult wearing a costume - more showed up later though) says she's not sure she's had anyone show up at 3 before - they usually show up much later! 

For clarification, the invitation listed the party at 3pm with no end time. And it didn't say it was 'starting at 3'. It said When: 3pm. I noticed the timeline for the event when we got there and things were scheduled until almost 6. Jesus, take the wheel.

Turns out it's an all-evening family event they throw every year. I was glad Alice got to go this year. She had a ball. She ran all over in her princess dress and cried huge tears when it was time to go. It was cold but she was happy. And she was finally able to see J's room because they've been talking about it all week and he wants her to see it. It's upstairs now and you have to take your shoes off.

Ummmm......pump your breaks, little girl! Wanting to rush off to see some boys room. She will give me all the grey hairs.  

On Sunday, she had back-to-back birthdays. 

We started with a little girl in her class and the invite said "costumes optional". Thinking ease, we went with Fancy Nancy because all that involves is a party dress and some accessories that are going to end up in my purse after a few minutes anyway. We arrive and not a single child is in a costume. Not even the birthday girl. Bless.

Alice is super awkward and these party helped me to realize that ALL kids are super awkward. This little girl is about as excited about socializing as I am. And all Alice wanted to do was play with her toys because they're all new to her! 

Alice doesn't understand the rules of a party. "It's time to play this game!" "No thank you, I don't want to." Yeah, that's not how this works, you have to play along, kid. And then tears. Always tears. 

As we were making our exit, the mom mentioned we could do play dates and dinner. She had my number on the caller ID so she could contact me. 

Y'all - this is like my worst nightmare. They have a really nice, calm house. I don't know how to behave in that kind of environment. And what happens when it's our turn to host?! I'm already sweating just thinking about it. 

Our next party was for a little boy. There was no guidance as to what to buy these kids so we got board games that would be appropriate for each child. 

We arrive to the party at Peter Piper Pizza and immediately realize the party is for a kid I've never even seen. Apparently, there are two boys in the class with the same name and while I was shopping for one, it was the other one I should have been shopping for. This was probably the most uncomfortable social encounter we have ever had. 

Although this does explain why the child I shopped for was in no hurry to leave the little girl's party before his. 

There were at least 3 other kids from Alice's class and I did eventually meet the boy's parents and figure out which child he was. 

Y'all. 

This was just all too much socializing. 

I had to write down names so I could remember what they were for when we run into each other at the Thankful Feast. 

And I think we might have hit our max on social engagements for the year. 

We're officially socially spent.

Real talk.

Until next time......

Alice Goes Potty

For Christmas, instead of Santa bringing her diapers - he brought her panties. She was unimpressed. Her 'scary' fairy, Nixie, also brought her panties. I did not have the camera ready for the Santa reaction, however, Aunt Tami was prepared for the second panty find.

Classic. 

You might wonder why the fictitious characters were the ones to bring her panties. Because her parents didn't want any of that blame! No ma'am! Let her be angry at them! We're no dummies! 

We started potty training the Monday after Christmas with the goal of starting 2016 diaper free.




The first day went about as well as we thought it would.

In nothing but a shirt and a diaper, we put her on the potty every 15-30 minutes. Nothing. 

And then she went on the floor. She did not like that! It only happened twice. Then she started going when we put her on the potty.

Day two was better! She seemed to be getting it.....mostly. There was only one accident. 

Day three we had no accidents! 

She remembered every time to tell us when she needed to go.

We spent New Years eve and day at Nana's. This was going to be a big test because we were going to be away from home and around lots of distracting people. So we packed lots of clothes, expecting lots of accidents. She only had one! That was it! 

She started back to school this week and so far, so good. She told her bff, Chloe that she's a big girl now so she wears panties. And every time she goes - she HAS to tell EVERYONE in the vicinity that she just "pee-peed in da potty!" Bless. 

She had to use the potty at Daddy's school this weekend. She handled that like a pro.

Now with the glitches. 

She only goes when she thinks she's ready to go which could be ALL DAY. It's currently 1:50 pm - she still hasn't gone all day. She's been drinking - but not going. And if she doesn't think she needs to go - besides it being a huge meltdown and possible physical fight - sitting her on the potty is useless. The child will sit there for hours and not go. Her commitment game is strong. This is completely contradictory of how her Daddy operates. I am thankful she has my bladder.

Pooping. She still isn't a big fan of pooping in the potty. She has pooped in her pants twice. When we can tell that's what she is about to do, we put her on the potty and she doesn't do it. She'll hold it until her tummy hurts. I don't know how to fix this. The first time, it wasn't a big deal. However, she did it over the weekend and we were not impressed. 

The biggest potty battle we face is washing her hands. Seriously. It's not hard. It doesn't hurt. But Little Miss Drama has a huge scene every time we tell her to wash her hands. This is also completely contradictory of how her Daddy operates. 

For the few mishaps, she is doing really good. She sleeps in pull-ups mainly because we have them and she's been really good at letting us know when she has to go.  I was in the shower last week and she went all by herself. It made me proud and a little sad. We removed the changing table from the top of her dresser. Now it's just a dresser. It kind of makes me wish we had started earlier. But mostly not.

She's turning in to such a big girl and there is nothing I can do to slow it down. This isn't bad! It's just bittersweet. 

This is her singing on the potty. She sings or reads - it's adorable. 

But we're biased. Mostly we think everything she does is adorable. Mostly.


So we started 2016 diaper free! And we have only had to throw away one pair of pretty panties. We know there will still be some learning and we will have some accidents, but we're pretty proud of how well she's doing. (And I totally understand that by typing these words - I am jinxing everything. You would think I would know better by now. Yeesh.) 

While she does her business, we leave her alone mostly. And sometimes when we come back - we find her like this....

Our silly Little Bitty.

Until next time.....

A Very Merry Christmas

Every Christmas since Alice has been around has been just so magical. This year was no exception. This is the first Christmas that Alice really understood what was going on. She was excited to decorate, she loved the Christmas lights, and the anticipation of presents was palpable. (We spent so many days going to different houses for presents that now every time we are set to go somewhere, she asks, "I get presents?!" Not this time, kid.)

Christmas Eve, we were at mom's for the candlelight service and our family gift exchange. It was a ball, as usual! While at Nana's, she received a cash register and a little wooden make-up set that she ADORES. Now we are either being made over or getting a "keck up". 

We usually spend the night at mom's, however, this year, we came home and brought Aunt Tami and Uncle Travis with us. (My mom works Christmas day - babies don't know it's a holiday.) We got up, found what Santa brought, ate breakfast and opened presents. It was lovely. This was also the first year that Alice showed any interest in opening presents and every present, she reacted with, "oh wow!! I wub it!!" and hugged it to her. So precious.

Santa brought her lots of Play Doh, panties (her reaction was priceless), a turtle toothbrush holder, a Frozen microphone, a pink book, and Dada made her a lap desk.

Everything but the panties were her most "paborite EVER!" 

Christmas day, we headed up to Huntsville for Christmas with Papa and Mawmaw. She gave everyone a make-over with her new play make up set and we talked to Uncle David's goats.

We had a fantastic Christmas with the ones we love. We hope you did too.

Until next time.....

Silencio, Judgy Moms!

Social Media is a funny thing. 

It's great to stay in touch with family and friends who live so very far away. You can connect to people you will never meet simply because you happen to stumble upon a picture they posted on Instagram. You can join in celebrating, mourning, supporting people you share commonalities with. It's fun! 

But sometimes it's not. 

The other day, one of my silly pictures was featured on a funny Insta feed. While 99% of the comments were of good humor and appreciated the funny for what it was, there were a few moms that were quick to condemn my parenting skills. Complete strangers felt like they should call me out for the choice I made. 

Ummmm, no thank you.

I have a strict "Do Not Engage" policy when it comes to social media. I am not getting into an internet war with anyone. It's not good for my blood pressure and not worth my time. Arguing with someone over social media has NEVER led to the other person changing their opinion or views. All it does is upset you. So I don't. 

But sometimes it's hard.

And since having Alice, it's been so hard to listen to the CONSTANT judging that can come from being a parent. 

I've decided that the Mean Girls in high school have gone on to become the Mean Moms of social media. They can hide behind their screens and tsk, tsk every time you break an obvious parenting rule. 

Some people have more knowledge of how I should raise my child an entire :40 seconds after giving birth. It's.....cute.

As a New Parent, you get TONS of advice, mostly unasked for. 
And it always starts with:
You HAVE to.....
You CANNOT.....
You MUST....
You should NEVER....

I think we need to change the language when speaking with fellow parents.

What worked for us might not work for you. What was good for us might not be good for you. 

When someone asks for advice, I try REALLY hard to say, "what worked for Alice was..." Because that's the truth. We found what worked for us. 

When she was little, she and I shared a bed for a while. All I ever heard was, "that's the WORST thing you can do! DO NOT let her sleep with you!" And my heart broke. My heart that told me it's what she NEEDED. One day we were visiting the hospital where she was born. The subject came up again and an OB sitting at the counter asked, "are you sleeping any?" I said, "yes". He then asked, "is she sleeping?" Again I said, "yes." He said, "then what does it matter? What matters is you're both getting sleep." I cried the entire drive home. Because he said what every new, exhausted parent wants to hear - is it working for now? Then you're good. Hang in there. 

That's the thing I tell my fellow new parents - it's HARD and you will not love it all and that's OKAY. 

We might spoil her some. We might indulge her some. We might allow more than we should. 

But she's ours to do with as we please. We didn't ask you.

We are NOT perfect parents. And neither are you. 

In closing.....

Dear Judgy, McJudgy Online Stranger Danger Moms,

You DO NOT know me. I didn't make her another sandwich; I simply gave her mine and chose to eat hers. I'm not a short-order cook, as you suggest. I was simply being funny. So find the humor or move along. 

And get off my case, toilet face. 

Sincerely, 
Alice's Mom

PS: We got this. Thanks.

*Disclaimer: I KNOW by sharing pictures this sets us up for additional outside judgement. This is my way of handling it. 

Until next time.....

Summer Goals

I gave myself and Alice a few goals to accomplish this summer. So far we've marked one off the list without much effort. I don't think the others are going to go as smoothly. 

Here they are:

1: Get Rid of the Pacifier - DONE! 
I drug my feet on this one. This is the one milestone I was heartbroken to get to. It's the one thing that made her so much my baby and since she will be the only, it was HARD letting it go. But in true Alice form, she did it herself. We set a rule that paci had to stay in the bed so that limited her use. It was hard at first because her Kiki (blanket) and paci go together. When she has Kiki, she asks for Paci. We did good about making it stay in the bed. We stopped taking it in the car with us and she only used it at night. I hid her bowl full of pacifiers. When I would check on her at night, she would have it in her hand and not her mouth. So one night when I was rocking her (it's not really rocking, we sit in the chair and go over the day and everyone who loves her) I put the paci out of sight. And she didn't ask for it. And that was it. She will occasionally ask for it when she's super tired but it hasn't been bad. It does make bedtime different. I now have to go in a few times and add another stuffed animal to her bed until she's so surrounded, it's comical. I sneak in when I know she's out and remove a handful. She is very much an out-of-sight-out-of-mind child and I think she was ready so the transition was MUCH smoother than I thought. 

2: Potty Train
Yeah, this will be a challenge. We put her on the potty before every bath. Sometimes she uses it no problem! Other times she sits for a few minutes and then pees as soon as she gets in the bath. It drives her Dada batty. When she asks me during the day to go potty, I throw her on the potty. Nothing usually happens but we do it anyway. She usually poops and THEN asks to go potty. This is inconvenient. And not at all the correct order. She doesn't care. We talk about potty and I will let her come into the potty with me. The other day she was watching me get ready and asked what I was doing. I said, "I'm putting on my panties! Big girls get to wear panties, not diapers. Do you want to be a big girl and wear panties?" Her response - "Nope." So I'm guessing she's not ready. I don't want to rush her, that will only lead to frustration and stress. When she's ready, she's ready. But how do I know. I thought about moving her from diapers to pull-ups to see if that speeds the process along. I'm just not sure though. I don't know nothing 'bout potty training no baby. 

3: Learn Some Letters
She's pretty good at saying her ABC's along with you which is totally cute! And I would kind of like her to be able to recognize some letters before she goes back to school. But I also don't want to rush that either. I think too much pressure is put on little ones to know too much too soon. And I don't want that. I want her to be little as long as she can, however, if she could recognize her name - that's good, right!?

So those are the goals. So far we haven't focused too much on accomplishing them. So far we've been playing and imagining. And that's really what the summer is for anyway. ;)

Until next time......

Monkeys, 'Mingos, and a Kitty

Before we decided to send Alice back to school, I mentioned to her uncle that we should take her to the Zoo before he headed to Spain. (He is currently in Spain for an Architecture class and was only home for a few days between the end of the semester and him leaving and I wanted them to have some time with her before he left.) I thought it might be less crowded with schools not being out yet and the weather wouldn't be too hot. So we picked a Thursday and invited the aunt too.

Only we sent her back to school. But it's okay, we just went after school! She wouldn't last an entire day there so a few hours would be perfect. There was no rain in the forecast for the day so of course, a storm blew in. Whatever. We were determined! She wanted to see the MONKEYS!!! 

Mom called when we were on the way in and asked if we were still planning on going. She could hear Alice in the backseat chanting, "monkeys, monkeys, monkeys!" and I said, "yes - the child wants monkeys."

We drive through scary skies and make it to the zoo in a light sprinkle. And while it rained heavy on us twice, we took shelter until it stopped and it was fine! The park was practically empty and the animals were entertaining. 

We stopped at the Red Panda first. Alice wasn't impressed. Only a monkey will do. We also stopped to talk to the Meerkats. They're so cute and just watching us. And then a bumblebee landed in their habitat and Meerkats came out of the ground and POUNCED on it. Yeesh.

We saw Elephants and Rhinos and Giraffes and so much more! And every time we did - she asked where the monkeys were. 

Double yeesh.

We finally found the primates. She waved to every one. Our zoo has done a fantastic job of creating an environment that's very wild. It doesn't look like animals in a cage. It doesn't feel like the animals are uncomfortable. And it's also very easy to get lost. They give you a map but thanks to JK Rowling, I always expect to see our bubble letting us know where we are at all times. I mean, seriously. 

We spent lots of time at the tiger habitat. Alice kept saying, 'here, kitty kitty!" And he was extremely willing to stop for a photo.

Uncle Travis and Alice got to visit the zoo last year around the same time. I took a picture then and I took another one this trip. I think it'll be a new yearly tradition. 

We saw Zebras and Flamingos and Triumph, the Bald Eagle and a really ugly turkey. The zoo is also full of bunny rabbits and chickens. We skipped the bug house. Nope. And the reptile house. Double nope. 

It was a great day. She talked about monkeys and mingos (flamingos) and elephants all night and first thing the next day. And that makes the rain totally worth it. She won't remember the rain or the having to wait out the storm. All she remembers is talking to the lion for a little bit longer and getting to spend time with the people she loves. And that's the point. 

Until next time....

Counting Teeth

Alice had her first trip to the dentist last month! Her doctors have been pressuring me to take her since her 18 month check up. Finding one was a challenge. Most dentists won't see kids under 5 so you have to find a Pediatric Dentist and finding one in our area was a challenge. And because a pediatric dentist is considered a specialty, they are also outside of network with our insurance. Awesome. (Disclaimer: when we picked the dental plan, there wasn't a child involved. It might be time to pick a new plan.)

We don't really know why she needed to go. They're not going to do anything in the event her teeth are out of place! And she is my child - her teeth WILL be out of place. I pray she won't have as much dental drama as I had but I know there will be some.

And she hates medical professionals so I put it off as long as I can.

But she did really good! I took her Sheep so she could have something to hold. She got a little anxious when we first went back but we had a long wait before the dentist came in so we talked about what was going to happen. I told her she was going to brush her teeth and count them. And then we could go.I also packed lots of distractions.

We sat for a long time. She asked what all the noises were and I could see her anxiety lessen. Then a new family moved in next door and their little one was screaming like a banshee. I thought, "well, there goes that!" but she handled it well. She asked why the baby was sad and we talked about her being scared. I don't know how much she understood but she never got worked up. 






Her dentist was fantastic and Alice did SO GOOD! She let her brush her teeth and count them. She only puckered up when she tried to put Fluoride on them. Fluoride is super yucky anyway. As soon as the dentist was done, Alice asked, "we go?".  



Her teeth look great! She still has two molars left to come through - yay. But everything else looked great! We worried because brushing her teeth is a total calamity. She mostly just sucks the toothpaste off. Teeth brushing is the Dada's role and bless him, he tries! But she wants to do it all on her own so it's a miracle if they manage to get clean. 

At her last 2 1/2 well baby check, the resident said we should start flossing her bottom teeth. I'm surprised my eyes didn't pop out of my head. I said, "oh, okay. I'll let her dad know!" Yep. Won't that be fun!

***I'm done with school and I was going to have May all to myself to write and clean and organize. However, some things have happened and that won't be the case. I'll write when I can, however, I can't promise it will be too often. But I'll try!

Until next time.....

And just like that....she's 2

So....we attempted a Sheep picture for month 24 (that's 2 years, folks!). They ALL look like this.....

Yep. This year might be a little exhausting.

Today, we celebrated. We decided to keep things very small. We had dinner and cupcakes and some family. And it was perfect. We splashed in the pool. We LAUGHED. We played. We opened presents. We ate cupcakes.

And we loved on a little girl who brings us so much joy. A little girl who lights up a room with her little grin. A little girl who waves bye bye when she leaves a room. A little girl who LOVES animals and marshmallows and books and colors.

She had our complete attention for the entire day. And that's what it should be about.

Two was a little bittersweet. One was exciting! It's the FIRST! But two means she's growing! And while I am SO proud of that, I miss the tiny little thing we brought home. However, I am SO excited to see what this next year holds for our girl. And it's an honor to call her ours.

Can you believe she's 2?! Yeesh.

Until next time....

Into the Weeds

Nothing says "we're Texans" better than standing in some weeds. 

It's spring in Texas which means you can't take a drive through the country without passing a gaggle of cars pulled over and mobs of families traipsing through the fields of reds and blues. I always thought it was kind of funny. 

And then we had the cutest little girl ever. 

And SHE MUST HAVE HER PICTURE TAKEN IN THE BLUEBONNETS!!!!! What kind of Texas kid would she be if she didn't?! We can't fail her as parents!! SHE MUST STAND IN THE PRETTY FLOWERS!

So we made a stop at a friends house and let her play in the weeds.

She didn't seem to mind.

Our friend, Amanda was kind enough to let us play in her pretty flowers. And she even took our picture!

Happy spring, y'all!

18 Months Already?!?

I took this sheep picture on her actual monthly milestone.

She was surprisingly agreeable! 

Today, we had her 18 month well baby check up. We've spent the week with "naps are for chumps" attitude so guess who fell asleep on the 10 minute drive to the doctor? Yep.

So I sat in the car while the Dada checked us in. 

When she woke up, we headed in and found the Dada filling out our paperwork. As we're waiting, he asks "how do you spell discernible?" 
Me - what on earth are you filling out?!
My Beloved - don't worry about it! How do you spell it?
Me - *incredulous look*
My Beloved - fine, I'll look it up on my phone.

Turns out he was filling out the 'are there any concerns with your child's development' and he answered "she does not have any discernible words." (Side note - apparently his phone lied to him about the spelling and he spelled it with  'able' and is now very put out and embarrassed.)

We go to a teaching facility so we get to see a resident before we see the doctor. Today, we saw Dr. Carey who is so super precious, he doesn't look much older than his patients and he seems to like Alice. 

Alice has started to not enjoy sitting at restaurants so in an attempt to distract her, I've put together a 'busy bottle' for her. It's an old water bottle with a few puffs and some pipe cleaners in it. I dump them out and she puts them back in and then screws the top on. And (for now) it works! So that kept her busy while we talked to the doctor. 

I'm pretty sure the little puffs triggered our discussion on choking hazards. Oopsie.

She is doing great in regards to her growth. She is up to 21.8 pounds and is 30.5 inches tall! Such a big girl!

The doctors don't seem to have any concerns AND she didn't need any shots! HOLLA!

Tonight, we got to have dinner with the Nana and she played with her bottle again.

I hope it keeps working.....

Until next time....

Seek & Destroy

We had a particularly challenging night. Alice was up screaming at 4 this morning with what could only be a horrible nightmare. It took us forever to finally get her to wake up enough to stop thrashing around. It was scary and unsettling. This is also very much not the norm for our girl. I was texting my mommy friends who reassured me this happens. It sucks, but it happens. I sent the following picture to my friend to show her this morning's episode didn't seem to have any lasting affects....

She says "I love how you 'let' her destroy the house."

Yep.

You see, Alice is 100% committed to destroying the house. 

The Momma is 3% committed to fighting that battle. 

Okay, let's be honest - it's more like 2.75%. 

As soon as her teeny tiny tyrannical feet the floor - her goal is to seek and DESTROY!!! And destroy she does!

If I attempted to clean up after her all day, we wouldn't ever have any fun and I would be exhausted and cranky. As it sits now, I clean while she's getting her bath so the house is fresh to destroy all over again the next day.

She likes to have everything out where she can see it and she thinks moving one thing from one room to the other is good exercise. 

She knocks stuff off her shelves in her room.

She goes through the recycling.

We've relocated the recycling so now all she has to go through in the kitchen are the reusable grocery bags I always forget to use.

And it's okay!

My Beloved comes home and laughs. He will occasionally ask me silly questions like "why did you put your socks on the dog's bed?" "Really?! You think I did that?!" Boys.

I will straighten some if I know people are coming over and I will make sure where we walk is clear of things that could trip us, but other than that - I let her be. It's not worth it. She does not understand the "everybody clean up" song nor does she care to. She's a baby. And we spend our days playing and playing is messy! 

I love that she will play on her own, humming to herself, making messes. I love that she's figuring out how things work and what things can do. I LOVE IT. And it doesn't hurt anything. 

I don't allow her to get to anything that might hurt her and we do our best to keep her from destroying houses we visit. But at home - we make messes and read and laugh. 

I was given a pillow stand for Christmas from my mom. I had it in the living room reading my Nook while Alice ran a muck. I got up to do something and came back to this.

And it made me laugh! Because she's too smart for her own good. 

Today, we played a new game. I only gave her 6 puffs and I kept a close eye on her. She will still occasionally put things to her mouth. Usually she touches her mouth to it and stops. I like to tell myself she's remembering me tell her "not in the mouth" but that's probably just wishful thinking.

So if you stop by unannounced - don't be surprised to find a complete wreck. And we won't apologize! We're busy making memories. 

Until next time....

Feeding Our Native

Alice is a funny eater. She'll try anything you put in front of her. If she doesn't like it, she piles it on the farthest corner of her tray. Unless it's in the way - then it goes to the dog immediately. We will have a lot of explaining to do to the vet next time we visit. 

She refuses to be fed - unless it's yogurt or something off MY plate. If it comes from MY fork - it's fine but baby spoons are a big no, no. Alice is a big girl - she feeds herself! Well then.

She LOVES veggies and pasta and fruit. The only thing she won't eat seems to be meat. She will eat bacon and eggs and the occasional turkey hot dog - but that's iffy. 

Today we had veggie noodles, edamame and a chicken nugget. Guess what the dog got? Yep, the chicken nugget.

Oiy vey.

We did try watermelon today and that was a big hit!

YUMM-O! 

Feeding her big girl food has presented new challenges. But things might get a bit easier - she has some new teeth! Check out her teethy smile!

So precious!

Now for the "orange" photo challenge.

Our Veronica Mars movie sticker!!!! The movie is coming out soon. I'm silly excited about it! 

Until next time.....

A New Throne

First for the fun.

Yesterday we got to have lunch with Aunt Tami and Uncle Travis before he headed back up to Tech.

And eating with them can be very embarrassing. 

After lunch, we ran some errands. Aunt Tami and Uncle Travis picked up some ice cream. And Aunt Tami shares.

Alice approves of Choco Taco's.

Oh my.

Now for the throne. 

Alice loves to climb on furniture. She won't sit like a lady on the couch - she wants to crawl all over it and hang off the back like a money. This worries us. 

So we attempted to come up with a solution. We discussed getting a little couch for her, one that folds out to a nap pad and yesterday we found one! 

And she LOVES it.

She loves to climb on it. She loves to sit on it. She loves to play with her toys on it. She backs her little royal behind up to it, sits and kicks her feet! It's super cute.

And we worry less about her falling 6 inches over the back of this one as compared to the 4 feet over the back of our couch.

And the most current "best money we ever spent" item. 

We have several things we've bought throughout her life that have been "the best money we ever spent" - her highchair, her stroller, the push car she got for her birthday, the Nose Frieda (nasty but worth EVERY PENNY) and now this chair. 

Seriously.

Such a little girl.