Wednesday, May 23, 2012

KK's awesomeness

at almost 19m old, K-bug is pretty spectacular. on top of being crazy cute, she's hilarious & snuggly too! that's not to say i dont want to spank her 100x a day or pad lock her in her room at nap time. (no, crazies- i dont do either of those! i'm just noting that she is a bit relentless ALL.DAY.LONG. and that sometimes she wears down my patience!)

so some of her new skills include: pointing to her hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, arm, leg, foot, hand, belly button & toot-toot on command. she tells us when she has a dirty diaper (although she says "doo doo" every time- that just means she's dirty. it's a bonus when she's only wet!). she knows where every room in our house is & what the name for it is. she has recently used the potty before bath time, but i'm pretty certain it was pure luck & she has no concept of what she's really doing. she loves to read. she loves books where we can ask her to point to something (like cat, dog, bunny, cheese, ect) & that she can show us her smarts. she pretends to take pictures & talk on the phone all the time. she says "cheese" to the camera. she's recently learned to bite (not the skill i had hoped she'd learn, but whatever). she wakes up asking for bows & shoes. those two things are her current obsession. she's a bonafide toy thief. she gives amazing hugs & kisses. she's got a huge vocabulary that's just been exploding these last few weeks- i finally got a "please" out of her. she goes to all the doors & begs to go outside from the minute she's awake until bedtime. she gets her own bibs & forks when it's time to eat. she throws away her snacks when she's done. she likes to rob the snacks in the pantry! she's a monkey & climbs every thing. she gives mommy heart attacks all day long!
basically she's a nut. but a beautiful nut that we ADORE & wouldnt trade for the world!

dancing girl

L had her first recital. oh man i was so nervous. nervous about how'd she do, nervous about leaving her backstage all alone, nervous about saving seats... basically, i was a wreck. L was acting a wild nut all that morning but did great during the rehearsal. by the time the show actually started, i was so worked up. of course L took the stage & did amazing. she got to stand on the front row (which in a class with 2yr experienced dancers was a big deal to her) & she didnt miss a beat. i giggled so much during her gymnastics routine that i almost started crying! in the end, she was proud of herself & thrilled to have gotten a few bouquets of flowers from us & our family. her only request after the recital was to go eat japanese, where they cook with fire! of course we obliged since our tiny dancer did so well.

Monday, May 21, 2012

3k ends

L completed her first year of preschool (3k) on thursday & participated in her school's end of the year program that night. the theme was "friends all over the world"... so each class dressed up like a different country & performed a few songs about that country. L's class was the cutest (although i am probably biased)- they were from Mexico! the boys were big sombreros & the girls were flowers in their hair with brightly colored skirts & peasant tops. i was so impressed with the whole program & L did amazing on stage.

i dont know how this happened but somehow my baby is getting ready to start 4k. it's so surreal- she shouldnt be old enough for her last year of preschool. she shouldnt be big enough to start reading, yet here she is. 4yrs old & so smart. i love her energy & her laugh & her genuine love of all things wonderful. i'm so glad she loves school & that her 3k teachers made such a lasting impression on her!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

post mothers day gift

L made me this adorable artwork for mother's day.... i have to say, sending her to school & having a surprise mother's day gift made by someone besides myself.... well, that makes tuition well worth the money!
L was so proud of her work & even more proud of herself for keeping it a secret from me for two whole weeks.
here is my big girl & my special gift:

Thursday, May 17, 2012

peeves

i'm not generally a person with 1000 pet peeves. yes, i have them all in my head, but rarely do i say them OUT LOUD. i'm not sure if getting closer to 29 makes me ornery or if i just felt the need to voice these. so anyways, here goes. this are the things that have been gnawing on me these days.

1- people who make excuses for their kids when they behave poorly. ex- oh sorry, he must be tired. ... kids are kids. just admit that your kid isnt perfect & lets move on. my kids can be turds. yours can too. no one is exempt!
2- people who try to tell parents that their kids are fine without naps. i am a FIRM believer in naps. if you wanna test my kids, make them go without a nap (K at least. L just is required some form of rest) & see how they act. trust me, you'll be wishing for that nap by 6pm! if you even make it that far. same holds true for bedtime. if i say bedtime is at 8, there's  reason why. please dont question me. i was given the "mom" title for these two girls, not you. i know my kids so well & trust me, they wake up when the sun comes up- REGARDLESS of what time they go to bed.
3- people who use the excuse "i/we have just been really busy" - as in too busy to call, email, text, hang out, acknowledge that there's life outside their bubble. listen, i am busy. extremely busy some days. and yet i MAKE TIME to contact or see those who are most valuable to me. it's just call common courtesy. use it, folks. no one likes a bad friend.
4- people who treat their children like cute accessories. ex- you are always done up perfectly with make up, clothes, nothing out of place. your kid is crying, hungry, tired, with a dirty diaper.... i wish these mamas would put their babies FIRST & then primp themselves once their kiddos have been cared for. nothing makes me sadder than seeing a baby who doesnt look like they're being well cared for.
5- people who only call you when they need something. i've gotten my fair share of these calls lately. this goes hand in hand with the people who want something for nothing. i'm all about favors but obviously i wasnt put on earth to do everything for others for free. i have bills to pay too.

reading this back i sound like a mean bitty. i'm really not. i just think these have been gnawing on me constantly in the last few weeks & it just makes me feel better to write them out. at least people will know where i stand on a few things. and who doesnt feel better once they've vented???

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

mother's day beach trip

my in-laws went to the beach around mother's day & invited us to join them. of course the girls loved the water and sand!
i didnt take my camera DOWN to the ocean b/c i'm a sissy. completely scared of that one tiny grain of sand messing up my lens. i'm pretty vain about my camera. but i tried to over-compensate by taking 4000 pictures everywhere else!
we drove down friday morning- the kids were decent in the car (surprise!) and we got to the beach right after lunch. it was beautiful & perfect. K dove head first into the ocean & L busied herself playing in the sand & wading into the ocean. the pool was too cold to enjoy but we made the best of it. that night we went to schooners to eat (an old favorite that my parents took us to while i was growing up). K barely slept friday night, but besides that- the day was perfect.

saturday morning we woke up to what looked like a huge storm rolling in, but we still went down to the ocean- i didnt want to waste a day since we only had 3 down there. a little after lunch time we ended up taking the girls to a pirate ship adventure, which they LOVED. we sailed the seas, & pretended to be pirates & watched the girls play all the pirate games. by afternoon we were all pretty exhausted & managed to squeeze in a tiny nap before dinner at sharkeys. after dinner we went to pier park (which has exploded in growth- if you havent been to PCB in awhile) so the kids could ride the train. it's kinda a tradition for us to let them do that. and since there's a "pretend fair" (in L's words) there too, i let L pick 3 rides to ride. i think it was well after 9pm when we left pier park. to our kids, that's like staying up until 2am.... of course our girls swapped things up on us & that night L didnt sleep at all.

sunday after breakfast we gave my MIL her gift, they gave me a gift & then we decided to go back down to the beach. luckily my missing bff was staying w her family in the condo next door- so L & I decided to walk down there & catch up. their condo has this amazing kid station & L was in heaven! after lunch we made the girls rest & then went back down to the beach. we went to this amazing place for dinner (boat house, i think...) & they had a live band. i walked the girls up to the band & they both danced for a little while. L did all of her ballet moves & obviously impressed the singer b/c he ended up giving her an instrument! this was HUGE to our little music-obsessed child. we topped the night off with some window shopping & yogurt.
by monday i was so ready to go home. even though the beach is beautiful i  really missed teh simplicity of our life. and sunscreen, sand, & super cold water had filled my beach quota for the year! 

Monday, May 14, 2012

mommy's day

now that i have kids i'd like to think mother's day is about me.... but we still have to pay our dues to the mommy figures that raised US.

my mom- she is such a servant. she is the first to make food for someone & always has a dish of goodies in hand when she visits her friends. she loves me unconditionally & in ways that i never understood until i had kids. she survived raising 3 girls & for that she deserves all the props in the world. she wore many hats when we were little - mom, chef, chauffeur, girl scout leader, ect.- yet somehow i have no memory of any title she held besides "mom" - clearly she did an awesome job at the most important job of all! ..... she & i may not agree on everything or how things should be done, but i know no matter what she will stand behind me. i love you mom & i'm so thankful to have you as my friend.

memaw- this is my dad's mother. i love love love her. she is just such a constant in my life. i dont remember her looking anyway but how she looks now. every family function, every holiday, every time she took me to her church.... i have a thousand precious memories with her stored in my head. she has always been the family member that i confide in. she's an excellent listener & she gives incredible advice. she is slowly going down-hill & i am determined to make every visit with her count. she's amazing & i am so thankful that i've been able to call her mine for the last 28+ years.

my MIL- hub's mom didnt raise me per say but she did know me when i was super little & has been in my life for almost 13 years. she raised my hubs & for that, i am forever thankful. she & i are very different in our mannerisms, but regardless of our differences- we have the same goals in mind. she's always willing to lend a hand with our girls & adores both of them. i know she always wanted a daughter, so seeing her relationship with our daughters blossom has been so fun to watch. i know without a doubt that she would do anything that i ask her, at any time of day. she backs me up when there's an important issue that hubs might want to ignore & continues to encourage me to live out my dream of staying home to raise these babies. she taught my man to be a hard worker & how to shop- two things that shine through him all the time!

my aunt- i love her. she is the epitome of what i want to be when i'm her age. she's the lady who has it all together. she's beautiful, in shape, debt free, has a grown kid who is successful, happy in her marriage & has a great group of friends! she's also super sweet & has a positive outlook on life. she's helped me with my wedding, baby showers, decorating a house, babysitting.... she's covered all the bases for sure! she's kinda what i'm aiming to be. big shoes to fill at minimum.

my sisters- no, they didnt technically raise me. they probably tried to "help" my mom. they're both great mommies & awesome friends of mine. i am excited to see our kids all grow up together & for the 3 of us girls to hold our family ties together in the years to come!