Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Fashionista

A two-year-old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it.
Jerry Seinfeld










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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Wordless Wednesday - Old School

Flashing back to my childhood this week...

I loved my cabbage patch kids!


Campfire was a lot of fun!


Loving the stone wash jeans and short hair doo


I was obsessed with NKOTB


My childhood best friend & I on graduation night - 1994. I MISS you Michael! You SHOULD be here! RIP


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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Wanted: A manual for our dear 2 year old daughter...ASAP please!

I really think children should come with manuals. Oh how I hate not knowing what to do. I know there are a million and one child rearing books out there for a reason. Dear Lord, I seriously think you should send me a manual specifically tailored for my child. Okay so I get that I am not getting a manual, I hear ya'll laughing, I 'm sure I'll laugh one day but NOT today.

This is our 2nd weekend at church. LeAnne was happy playing with a stroller & the chairs set up for the puppet show when we left her in her Sunday school class. John & I were able to enjoy almost all of worship together, but just as I was starting to relax I hear her Sunday school teacher say mommy someone needs you. Same thing, she did well during play time, must have enjoyed the puppet show but when it came time for the lesson she was having none of it. The teacher has them all sit in chairs, listen to a verse, or short story and today they were doing a simple craft. I figured I would go back into the classroom to see if LeAnne would sit with me to listen to the verse and do the craft. She wanted nothing to do with sitting still, showed some interest in the craft then started to throw a fit. She was interrupting the whole class of 8-10 other 2-3 1/2 year olds who were sitting quietly at the table so I took her for a walk. I then brought her back, since they were about to have more play time. Watching her I play I began to notice she was the most vocal child in the room. The other kids were wandering around, quietly playing with things while our girl was talking about the toys, kicking a ball while saying "kick it", putting on a play hot pad saying "hot" and to my embarrassment she even acted like she was belching and said "excuse me". Oh my word!! I tried to walk out at one point, got out the door , she saw I was gone and started to cry so I went back in. A few minutes later she took my hand and said "walk", as if to say lets get out of here. She wanted nothing to do with snack time until it was time to sing a few songs. I tried to have her sit with me to sing. I had her interest for a few seconds before she there a huge fit and we left the class for good. I wonder why she is so much more vocal? Is it because she is an only child? Is it because we encourage her every move? Why are the others not vocal?

She has no clue how to be in a classroom. She sits still at home when we do something with her that she is interested in. (coloring, reading, play dough, and blocks) We went to church a few times when shew as a baby but stopped going because she wouldn't stay in the nursery then we didn't go back until recently. I know she needs to learn how to be in a classroom, how to take direction from a stranger but how do I help her learn how to do this? I was hoping she would feel comfortable enough with me there that she would get involved and learn how to be in the classroom. I know she is getting her way when we leave but she was disrupting the whole class and no adult in the room was doing anything to help us through this situation. All the other kids sat and listened so well and here I was with "that" unruly kid. Oh how I wished the teacher would have offered some advice or encouragement. She said nothing, didn't even look our way. I am at a loss. I really want our family to be able to go church. We all need to grow,to fellowship and have friends. I think we need to keep going but I don't know how to help her to learn to be in the classroom. All suggestions welcome.

One more question... How do you handle it when your toddler throws a tantrum? We have been going with the not paying attention to her and having her go to her room until she is done. This works some of the time. Other times, especially after nap time she just carried on and on and on with one tantrum after another. She will be sitting there and all of a sudden start screaming. the hardest part is not knowing why she is screaming. When she has a tantrum because she can't have or do something she wants I get that but when she just screams for no apparent reason I am puzzled.

We don't want to have "That unruly child". We don't want her to rule our life. I know I am way to patient. I am thinking consistency is key. Where is the balance? I don't like to yell at her. When she is melting down yelling makes her scream louder & longer. Ahhh again where is the manual folks?

She is a very busy, kind hearted, beautiful, smart girl with lots of emotions and opinions that she shares rather LOUDLY. I am praying, I have faith we'll get this figure out and then be on to the next phase. I know we'll laugh about this one day but NOT today. Dear Lord please give us wisdom!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

No so Wordless Wednesday - I don't want to forget!

NOT so wordless this week...

I don't ever want to forget all the precious moments with LeAnne! If I could I'd bottle them up & put them on a shelf for safe keeping. This is why I take so many photos and videos. She is starting to talk a lot better and even putting together a few simple phrases. Whenever she sees Christmas lights she says "thank-you Dad" because she knows daddy put up the lights at our house. It melts my heart every time I hear it. The other night she hurt her hand somehow, I kissed it and she said "all better". Yesterday when we were getitng daddy up in the morning she was saying "come on dad", but it sounds more like "mon dad". I also love when she says "way cool". :-)

I won this Mellissa & Doug Grocery/Lemonaide stand through a blog contest on Mogul Baby's blog.
I wasn't going to set it up until LeAnne was a bit older but she kept saying "open" so I caved and daddy set it up. It's adorable & she totally loves playing store! She kept calling for one of us to come play with her. :-) I'll upload a cute video tomomorow.

Helping daddy with the assembly


Such a blessed little girl. :-)





Cooking up something to sell...


I think I should show her she needs a bowl. :-)


If you would like to see some TRUE Word Less Wednesday posts head on over to 5 Minutes for Moms.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Potty Training Day 1

Here we go embarking on another life changing milestone in 2010! I had to chuckle when I thought about my sister teaching herself to knit on her birthday this year and here I am starting to potty train our daughter on my birthday. hee hee! LeAnne helped me assemble her potty chair first thing this morning. The first time I asked her to go potty, she flipped out so it took a bit of bribery from an M&M to get her to come back into the bathroom and sit down. It got much easier after the first time. Today I have been taking her potty every 15 minutes. She has her own special potty training book to read, then we recite the ABC, talk about colors & shapes trying to get her to sit on her potty chair for a little bit longer. When at my mom's for my birthday dinner, we set up her potty in G-ma's bathroom and she was actually asking me to go potty a lot. This evening while she was trying to go potty I started saying come on potty and before I knew it she was saying "come on potty". Hee hee! She is talking so much better these days, it's pretty adorable! She never actually went potty today but she is going to try willingly so that's a first step right? John is picking up some pull ups tonight because taking diapers on and off is for the birds! I hope to get her into big girl panties as soon as possible but I think I should have her know what it actually means to go potty before I do that, right? Any & all thoughts/advice welcome!

Our baby is turning into a little girl! On one hand its sad to say good bye to her baby days but the big girl days are a fun new adventure too! Around 7pm on this first day of potty training I found myself digging deep to find more patience. Oh my girl you're stretching your mama again....Thank-you!! As I celebrate my birthday I recall a time not so long ago I wasn't sure I'd be able to have my own children. Thank-you Lord for answering our prayers!


Check out LeAnne's adorable Fischer Price Cheer for Me Potty Chair! Oh my word I never ever would have thought I'd hear myself say adorable & potty in the same sentence. LOL!!


She looks worried. :-)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Less Words Wednesday - How quickly her moods change!

How do I put this shirt back on?


Frustration! Meltdown!


I helped her put her shirt back on then she laid down on the kitchen floor happy as can be!


For more Word Less Wednesday head on over to 5 Minutes for Moms.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

2010 is off to a GREAT start!!

We've already had few big milestones in our house this year!

LeAnne is now eating all her meals at the table in a booster seat! She loves being at the table with us and is doing very well. She's even keeping her food on her plate and using her napkin, sometimes. Having her at the table makes it feel like a family dinner!


Amanda got home safely & had a nice Christmas with her family in Oregon too! We miss her already!


Drum roll please.....We are a pacifier free house! I started to wean LeAnne off her binky on Tuesday, see Operation Snip the Binky post. Tuesday night her binky came off her ribbon & I made the decision to toss all the binkies. It might have been a hasty decision, it was a gamble, but it paid off. The first nap was not much fun but even by that night she went to bed a lot easier. As of today we are a binky free family! :-)

I am excited to say we made it to church today as a family. We went back to Trinity Baptist Church in Walla Walla. We had been there a few times the first year we lived here but stopped going since LeAnne wouldn't stay in the nursery so it was a long way to drive for me to sit in the nursery. She was quite content playing in the 2-3 year old Sunday School class today. That is until the Sunday School teacher wanted her to sit around a table to listen to a lesson. I was shocked to see the teacher bringing her into service with a binky in her mouth. Ahhh! I quickly took it out of her mouth and was like um this is not hers. She said some mom gave it to her and she forgot who. ICKY & ahh we don't want her to regress. Thankfully she only asked for it a few times today & went to bed fine without one. Whew! I walked around the hall with her a bit until I heard the teacher singing, then took her back into the class. She still didn't want anything to do with not playing to listen to the music. How do I teach our 2 year old to sit still to listen to a bible lesson? Once they started to play again she was fine and I went back to service. Service was OK. The music was great! Hubby & I admit we got really spoiled by our church in Renton. We loved the pastors, the staff, the people, the music and it was 3 minutes from out house. This church wasn't Highlands but we are going to give it a try for a month or so and then go from there.

I am also happy to say John & I have been reading our bible together!! We made the decision to not try to put a time limit on our bible reading because of his work schedule. We ARE going to keep each other accountable to read together when he is off work. I really look forward to reading through the bible with my guy! So far its been a lot of fun and we are learning!!

This has been a really nice break from work and I am so sad to see it coming to an end. I'd really love to be a SAHM but until that happens I am thankful for the job I do have that provides for our family & allows me to be home with our girl more.

2010 is off to an amazing start, stay tune for more adventures with the Leonard's!