Wordless Wednesday

don’t grow up too fast, please.

It keeps getting better

I am writing this more for me than for you, but hey, feel free to eaves drop. 
Gianna is 17 months and 16 days old.

She is wearing 12-18 month clothes. Size 3 diapers. Size 5 shoes.
Normal bed time – 7p. 7:30 at the latest.
Normal wake up time – 7a
Still somewhere between 1 and 2 naps a day, but she needs at least 3hrs total of sleep in the day.
She is HILARIOUS
She loves to dance. and “shake shake”. and “sing'”.  Wearing her princess dresses (tutu’s) all at is the only way to do it.  She loves having her hair done and wearing “pretties”

Favorite TV shows (yes, she likes TV. whatever) – Sesame Street, Jack’s Big Music Show and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She also likes Blue’s Clues.

Words? She’s got LOTS. And I know there is no way this is going to be a comprehensive list.  Right now she is pretty much the cutest parrot I have ever seen and she literally repeats everything.
Words she can say AND sign: please, thank you, more, all done
People: Moomeeee, Dadeeee, Jacqui, Sissy, Cori (all aunts, but without the aunt), Ga-ma, Papa
Things/random: dance, sing, knock-knock, shake-shake, pillow, tired, night-night, WOOBIEE (lovie), BINKIEE, cup, juice, strawberries, cookies, grapes, bananas, cereal, french fries, blanket, TEEBEEE, baby, princess, hat, boat (bow), hat, HAWWT, cold, tired, SHOOESSS, socks, clothes, pants, shirt, dress, socks, jump-jump, YELLLOWW?, bye-bye, WUB YOU, squeeeeezes, smooches, morning, kick-kick (swim), pool, LOOOOK, WOOOOWWW, keys, cook, shooot. Besss eeewww, thank you.
She knows and says pretty much every animal and the sound they make.
She knows most body parts. That "boats" go in her hair. And that her nose goes "peep" (beep). And so does yours. She also knows that Mommy wears glasses.
Tantrums and girlie drama – we got it. She will throw herself on the ground and scream and cry and kick until, well, forever if I let her.  She hits and kicks and throws things  and pulls her hair out when she is mad.  She knows she is not supposed to do that since she usually says “no kick” when she does it.  Timeouts don’t work well for her. Redirection kind of works. We are working on this. any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.
She LOVES the tubby-time.
She eats likes a bird – most breakfast foods are good. meat is bad. pasta and bread are worse. Fruit rocks her world. Veggies are not so awesome. She is still lactose intolerant. My mom and stepdad still sneak her food that I would never let her eat. It still pisses me off.

She loves being the center of attention and knows how to command an audience. Except she really doesn’t like to get too close to people she doesn’t know and we are working on social skills with other kids.

But really? She rocks my world. all the drama she likes to demonstrate is washed away by her adorable smile, infections laugh and to die for squeezes in no time at all.  Every day is better than last.

The future makes me nervous

 I know I talked a little while ago about how I never imagined that I would be where I am today.
The other part of that story?  I am having trouble imagining the future.

Maybe that is a good thing, since we all know that life is never as we planned or imagined.

Except I am a planner. You should see my google calendar and all it’s glorious colorful organization.  It may or may not run my life.

I want to know exactly where I am going to be as far as having a new job. Buying a bigger house one day. Because I will have many more babies to fill it. And honestly people, these thoughts are overwhelming sometimes.
First step to the future? Graduation in May. That is under control and on track. And holy crap I might actually be finished being a student (for now).

Second step to the future? Finding not just a new job but a position that satisfies me professionally and intellectually. This is HARD.  I am in the process of contacting a recruiter on the matter because I don’t know where else to begin.  I know what I am looking for, I know what I am willing to bend on and what I am not in a new position. My fingers are crossed tightly that I can find someplace that meets my needs and appreciates what I have to offer.

Third step in the future? Work on making more babies. I said in my friday night leftovers that I am not physically ready. I am not. I want to get my body in a little better shape. I am there “weight” wise but flabby extra jiggle wise – no where near. Also? It took us close to a year to conceive Gianna.  While we didn’t require medical intervention, I feel that the steps we did take while TTC (while who knows if they did or did not make a difference) puts us somewhere on the line that she talks about @ Lovely Lady Bump.  I am scared to death that it will take as long or longer for #2.  Or it might not. That part of the unknown makes us nervous.  Also? having to wait for steps 1 and 2 to fall into place frustrates me because mentally and as a family – we are READY to expand. To share the love we have.  And that part is frustrating.  6 months seems like a long time to wait to even start this journey. But, it’s only 6 more months, right?

Fourth step in the future? Be a supportive wife to my husband in all that he does and in the venture he would like to undertake. It could be very good but we have a lot of research to do.  He has always been supportive of me through my educational journey and it’s time to focus on him for awhile. 

The future seems very promising yet very daunting and a little bit scary right now.  I KNOW it will all be fine, because it always is in whatever way I define “fine” at that moment. But just for a second can I have a crystal ball so I can see WHEN and HOW these things will play out?!!

Friday Night Leftovers

• Everyone needs to play along with Danifred!
• This has been a long week. I am not 100% sure why, but it has.
• I need fall clothes. Mostly because all of my stuff is too big from last year, so that is a good thing.
• Baby FEVAHHH is running wild. I am not where I want to be physically or with my job to get back on that train. But within 6 months I am confident we will get started on expanding this family. Until then I will just hunt down tiny babies to snuggle.
• Fall TV!
• Usually when I am busy, I am super productive. Not lately. Again, not really sure why.  I need to get organized. Get a plan and get my head in the damn game.
• I heard that an “old” friend is having a tough time and it makes me sad that I can’t be there for them in the same way that I used to.
• You know the stripper wedding from last weekend? It wasn’t so bad. See: But there was some HUGE drama that night and I feel bad for our friends.  We want to do something for them, but how do you do-over a wedding reception?
• And I got to hang with some GREAT friends last week see: We have been friends for a LONG time and I love them all lots.
• I have been getting some KILLER diaper deals lately, it makes me happy.

Wordless Wednesday

i adore this picture.

Big or little?

In the spirit of ICLW and JJ’s thoughtful Tuesday, this seemed appropriate.

You are either a Big Things person or a Little Things person.

I am a little things person. 

The little things mean more to me than any one big thing ever could.  The little things that go wrong also stay with me for longer than (almost) any big thing that has ever gone wrong.

I am a detail person. 

Life is about the details. At least it is to me.  I notice that in the pictures I take, in the things I focus on during the day, the way I interact with people.  I do my best everyday to pay attention to the details – sometimes I just like to look at the leaves and not the forest.  Makes the forest seem less dark and scary, ya know?

The little things that made today a good day:

• I forgot something at home when I left for work this morning. So I came home to get it at lunch. And I got to see Gianna. That made the rest of my day better.
• someone at work said thank you to me.
• I got to wake Gianna up from her nap when I got home and snuggle on the couch watching Elmo.
• My husband starting an after party dance party.
• I drank my coffee out of a cup my sisters got me from CA.

What kind of person are you?

Sensory integration and the toddler

I want to start this post of by saying I DO NOT THINK THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH GIANNA.

I do think that she has some issues integrating/processing various sensory experiences.

For example: when we were at the beach she WOULD NOT put her feet in the sand. She had to have her crocs on or dear.gawd.melt.down and end of the world as we know it.  Same thing if it got on her hands – she would wipe her hands on me saying “dirty” do whatever she could to get the sand off of her. Needless to say, we are not getting a sandbox at our house anytime soon.

Another example from the beach – which translates into her regular life – the sound of the ocean and the kids water features (those mushroom looking things that the water comes out/off of) – FREAKED HER OUT.  She feels the same way about the shower. She does not like the water hitting her like that.  We are just now able to wash her hair without major meltdowns.

As we all know, she has a limited diet. She won’t eat anything with a texture (think pasta, rice, cottage cheese, some veggies). Not only will she not eat it – she won’t touch it.  I have tried feeding it to her myself and having her use utensils, but no dice.

She doesn’t mind snuggles and hugs – but she normally does not like you to rub her back or light touch. If you are going to hold her, she needs to feel your presence.

The binky. The beloved binky. She is quite literally addicted to it.  She does fine if you take it from her most of the time, but she would have it in her mouth all day long if you let her (I don’t).  The thought of ever taking it from her seriously gives ME hives because I can imagine the torture it will be to break her of it.

Again, I do NOT think there is anything wrong with her. I have just been making some mental notes (which I am sure there are more of, but I can’t think of them right now) and wonder if these are things she will just grow out of or if there is anything we can do to help her – or if it’s really anything that she NEEDS help with.  Do all toddlers have quirks like this? Will they change/increase/decrease over time? 

I am also certain I overanalyze shit.

The last of the beach vacation updates

If I could be a professional beach-bum. I would. I mean, I could sit on the beach, in the sun, listening to the ocean all day everyday. No questions asked. It would honestly never get old.

It was truly a fabulous vacation. These are just a few of my fav pictures – I don’t want to overwhelm you so check here for all the rest. 

 

no words needed here.

Swimming with daddy being a big cheese.

  

Up too late. But this picture just warms my heart in a million ways.

So does this one.

Being her sassy self trying to run away from the water!

Modeling her “boat” for me one morning.

Trying to be okay with the water. She was super nervous but we got her to hang in there for a few minutes!

she did however enjoy the shells. She collected them for Gaama’s seashell garden.

and digging. After she decided the sand was no longer “dirty”.

 

This is one of my favorite memories. Walking up the beach with her, hand in hand. At her pace. It’s something I will always remember because the whole walk up the beach she was “talking” to me. Seriously it was perfect.

Friday Night Leftovers

• Gianna is 17 months old. She talks NON STOP. In real words. She is starting to string words together. examples: morning. pool. kick kick kick. (in the morning we will swim, from vacation).  “piinsess peez” (tutu please).
• The person who was supposed to be “covering” my job while I was gone – must have just covered herself in papers and took a nap because I have spent the last 40hrs of the work week catching up from LAST week. This week’s stuff? ya… not touched.
• I work with very petty people. It is ridiculous. I have to try VERY hard to watch what I say. Especially lately. I need an hour to be “off the record” so I can say my peace and feel better.
• How do you discipline your toddler? I am looking for ideas here on effective ways other than re-direction (we do that already) and time-outs.
• Mike is in one of his best friends’ wedding today. I do not want to go. He is marrying a stripper. (yes really) It is going to be a train wreck. And I will have to be alone with my in-laws.  Hopefully they have good wine.
• My sisters are seriously the sweetest people and the best aunts ev-ah.  They were in California last week and brought Gianna back so much fun stuff – minnie mouse ears on a headband (she LOVES her new “boat”), toys, books, coffee mugs, clothes.
• Life this week has been boring compared to the excitement of the beach.  I am still in vacay-hangover mode, and I am not sure I want to get out of it!

Join Danifred and the other left-over-ers for more bullet pointed goodness.

Picky Eaters on Vacation

We are a family of picky eaters.

Like EXTREME PICKINESS. I am the least picky of the three of us because I eat vegetables and seafood. All restaurants must serve chicken fingers, grilled cheese and/or pizza otherwise 2/3 of my family members won’t eat (sometimes a challenge, but everyone has chicken fingers!)

So, when we decided to go on vacation we would try to get some restaurant recommendations but figured we could wing it, it works most of the time.

In Myrtle Beach – it DOES NOT WORK.

If you are picky or do not like buffet-style dining – you should really research places to eat better than we did.  Also, you need to DRIVE to the restaurants, we sort of expected there would be more in walking distance.

My 3 favorite places we ate:

River City Cafe – the drinks were good. the atmosphere is beachy. My salad was FANTASTIC. The chicken fingers AND grilled cheese were a hit.

wayyy past naptime. obviously.

Dirty Dicks Crab House – the drinks were good. the crab ROCKED and the hushpuppies were to.die.for good.

it was WAYYYY past her bedtime. can you tell?

Mellow Mushroom – the drinks were good. the pretzels and pizza were gluten free and oh so yummy. my salad ROCKED again. (and it was 80’s night – so it HAD to be a winner ) (they don’t have a kids menu, which was fine for us since we rarely order off it, but they do have grilled cheese)

 

the atmosphere here was really fun. HELLO, 80’s!!

The lessons we picky-three learned? Bring snacks for the wee-ones (she was entertained by 2 saltine crackers for 40 minutes. yes really.) and if there isn’t anything you like on the food menu there will definitely be something tasty on the drink menu.

Wordless Wednesday: Zac Brown Band Ed.

toes in the water

ass in the sand

not a worry in the world

a cold beer in my hand

life is good today.

life is good today.

Lyrics by Zac Brown Band.

Pictures (unedited, so sorry!) by me.

More to come sooooon.

Vacation Hangover

Here’s a quick vacation rundown, more details and pictures coming later.

• Leaving at 4am was seriously a great plan, no really. It was. Besides the little ones car sickness issue and mild meltdowns – out of 24 driving hours she did GREAT!!
• She now hates her carseat with a passion, but hey, she’ll be over it soon right?
• Our hotel was very nice. The part about being able to see the ocean from the bed and only having to walk about 20 steps to the beach was even nicer.
• We had a few really awesome meals. A few okay meals. And 2 really terrible ones.
• I took 771 pictures over the week.  I have a lot of editing to do.
• Dear gawd do I want to go back to the beach. NOW! I am happier there than anywhere else.  When can I move to there?
• Gianna had to have her crocs on to put her feet in the sand. She also took awhile to walk off the blanket and never once let her butt touch the sand.  Every time we went to the water she said “no no no” But eventually she came around. For about 30 minutes.
• We had a really great time. Relaxing. Beautiful weather. The best company ever.
• I do not want to go to work tomorrow.

Her first day of school is just around the corner, right?

With school starting and several of my friends’ children starting some form of school (preschool, kindergarten, etc) it has gotten me thinking. (I know…look out!)

Gianna will be starting school soon. By soon I mean in like 4 years. But still, SOON!

Sooner if/when we send her to preschool.  Which brings me to my next point.

When did you send your children to preschool? How many days? How long during the day?  How did you decide which school to send them too?

Clearly, I have NO CLUE about properly educating small children, I mean Nick Jr can’t teach her everything, huh?

My next question: when we bought our house we really paid zero attention to school system because in all honestly, we don’t intend to live here (as in this house, not necessarily the area)more than 5 years.  However – what did/do you look for to determine if a public school system is good?  What makes them “good” versus “bad”?!  Same for private schools, as we have already talked about going this route.

Obviously I am no where near ready to delve into this kind of research, but I like to be prepared and know where to start looking.

Hope all the kiddos enjoy/ed their first days of schools.  I know I did not. then again, by the time you hit grad school the excitement has really lost it’s appeal.

Wordless Wednesday

WEEEEEeeEEEE

Only at the county fair….

This past week was the county fair.

Believe it or not - I LOVE the demolition derby.

So I reluctantly let my in-laws babysit. Put on my plaid shirt. Grabbed 20 of my favorite people (yes really) and had a really good time.

especially when the lawnmower derby was going on.

However. had I not let my in-laws babysit and decided to take my 16 month old princess to the demolition derby that started after her bedtime. I would not have been alone. There were at least 5 toddlers there. 1 infant with these huge ear-phone-thingies on and a few handfuls of preschoolers just in my section.

We took Gianna to the fair on Saturday. And since she didn’t have a plaid shirt, I put her in her jean skirt and this cute button up.

 

She was comparing her outfit to the that of the sheep. She deemed hers superior, naturally.   

Papa tried to show her Zues, Aunt Cori’s horse. But she wanted no part of it.  She kept saying “Nooooo hoos-EEE”

Of course, she enjoyed the horsies from a far. And kept telling us the sound they make “heeee” complete with head shake. 

She let Gaama take her closer to Miss Maria’s horse, Ella. But still, uncertain. 

 

Then there was the fair food.  The glorious grease and flavor we all look forward to at such events. Unless you are Gianna. She stuck with her Gerber crunchies and water.  I couldn’t get her to eat anything except those and a nutrigrain bar.  The one time I let her eat junk food, she doesn’t want it. I heard many kids screaming about wanting to eat food their parents wouldn’t buy them and mine was doing just the opposite. 

  

And. The good thing about being outside all day is how sleepy it makes the buglet.  she was comfy in her new stroller (seriously a GREAT purchase from diapers.com) and was in a GREAT mood all day.

Made me thankful for such a good kid when I saw all of the other…unique… fair-goers and their children.