disgusting little habits.....

UGH! Arianne has been sick for a while now and she CONTINUALLY wipes her nose on me....YUCK!!

Then there's the licking part....where does she come up with that? What is a mom to do? Well, I licked her back, but it doesn't seem to phase her....she continually does it.....IS THIS NORMAL?

Well....she's going stir crazy and hopefully our babysitter will be here tomorrow. Especially since my house is a disaster, it looks like a tornado hit it and how many times can you watch Little Einsteins.... Lord Help Me! Don't get me wrong it's a terrific show, but it's the only thing she really likes. (Little Einsteins is on Disney and has classical music, great characters and art, we have the disks, so they are readily available.) We actually got her Pat Pat Rocket and the characters for Christmas....thank God for Ebay! It talks and stuff....she'll love it.

I don't mind the show, but it's getting annoying....however, it has become a great way to get her to obey. If she doesn't, she's not allowed to watch it. Keeps her in check! "Find her currency," Dr. Phil always says, so I have.

Paul is on-call this week, so he's not always available to play with her. He's her biggest playmate. She loves her daddy, as I'm sure all little girls do. Daddy's little girl.

Is your child like this? If so, PLEASE share your stories with me so I don't think I'm the only one.....Thanks!

Thanks for reading.....

Cute sayings....

Ok, tell me if you've heard these sayings before?

How 'bout that Mommy?
Whacha think about that Mommy?
That would make me happy Mommy?

Those are the sayings Arianne is quoting nowadays.....too cute.

She'll say, "We go to Nanny Carol's house, how bout that mommy?" Or, "After my nap, I have a lollipop, how 'bout that? That would make me happy Mommy."

I have to stop from laughing. She's so darn cute. I love my 2 1/2 year old. I can't believe she's 2 1/2! Time flies and soon she'll be all grown up. I hope and pray we're doing a good job.

Nanny Carol & Uncle Kevin have moved away and I know Arianne doesn't understand, but I already miss my friend. She misses her too.....just the other day she asked to go over there and I told her, "Nanny Carol doesn't live there anymore." I took her over there through various stages of Carol's house changing, from full to empty....we stood in her driveway with the pods and took pictures, but I don't think she understands quite what that means.

I really want to visit Carol a lot, but I know it's impossible, even though she's only 7 hours away.
I won't be able to see her as often as I like but she's always there for me. I'm hoping Arianne will never forget her. She's an important person in my life.

I must say, though, that October SUCKS! It seems like everything bad happens in October....My mom died, Dad died, then Nanny Carol & Uncle Kevin move away......

So even though my daughter makes me laugh and I have her joy around me, it still doesn't stop me from feeling sad.....

Thanks for reading.....blessings to all.

BIG GIRL BED!!!

Ok, so for the past 5 months or so we have been trying to get Arianne out of the crib and into the "Big Girl Bed"!

First there was the crib to toddler bed, which is essentially just taking the front of the crib off. DID NOT GO WELL...during this time, she would want me to stay in the room with her for a while (usually through 3 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star songs) so we brought in the full size mattress from our guest room and put it on the floor of her room.

So the second thing was, she wanted to sleep on the full-size mattress instead of the toddler bed. She did really well, once we put up the gate so she couldn't wander around the house.

Then third, reorganized her room and put the crib to a Full-size bed and SHE LOVES IT!! Success Finally! While we were on vacation, we forgot stuff for the pack-n-play so we bought a full-size sheet, fitted sheet and pillowcases--that SHE PICKED OUT and blanket. Those are now on her bed...here are a few pictures of her in "her new room" and BIG GIRL BED!!!

She loves jumping on her Big-Girl Bed!

something funny

When I lived in Massachusetts, I was very involved Children's ministry. I loved my volunteer position and developed close friendships w/ quite a few girls, tonight I was on another site and one of the girls wrote this to the Children's Pastor:

Haha, I am SO glad I came to see you tonight to pick up those costumes for next week's skit! When I got home, Josh hadn't fed the dog (as usual), so I made him feed him, and then after he'd holed himself up in his room again, I threw on the Satan mask and claws and knocked on the door until he opened up. His look of pure terror was PRICELESS!!! Maybe now he'll remember who will be waiting for him if he doesn't care for his pet LOL

Sometimes it's good to be "in" with the Children's Pastor.....it comes in hand when tormenting siblings. I just couldn't resist passing this along....I thought it was so funny.

My brother used to use his Karate' on us...what were some things your siblings did to you?

homeschooling a 2 year old....

Well, I've decided to home school Arianne, and yes, Paul is OK with that. We should have started a few weeks ago, but I just couldn't get a handle on it. I know some people think I'm nuts because she's only 2, but hey, they need to learn stuff too. Funny thing is...she LOVES to learn.

I've got stuff ready to go to start tomorrow. I just hope it goes well. I think she'll have fun because all her friends from the neighborhood (who happen to be 4, 7, & 8) all go to school and she knows this....therefore, she wants to go too. She keeps telling me, "I get big like Rosie & Kacie, mommy" to which I reply, "Yes, one day you'll get big like Rosie & Kacie." Then she says, "I go to school too mommy," to which my reply is, "Someday." Well, why not now.

What is our first lesson about? Well the first week is counting to 5, the story of Jonah and people in your family. It should be good and fun, at least I'm going to try. I'll keep everyone posted. She has a memory verse every month, we go to music classes on Thursdays and I'm not going to be gestapo about it...but make it fun! I can't wait....but PLEASE pray for me!

substitutions.....

Why is it when you want something people always give you other options instead of what you want....for example, you say, "Man...I would LOVE a brownie," and they say, "Well, I don't have that, but I have cookies, or chips or something else"? Sometimes, substitutions just don't cut it, especially when God is telling you to do something, and you run up against a wall and the people who own the wall tell you all the other things you could do instead of what God has told you to do.

I know I'm not making sense, but if you knew the situation, you'd understand.....Nothing can take the place of what God wants you to do. So now I have to find a way to do what God wants me to do, which means making a purchase I shouldn't have to make, but am going to have to. UGH!!! Life is sooooo difficult! I just hope when it's said and done it's worth it.....

bed time rituals

OK, so since Arianne was 6 mos I have had this routine with her: bath, dress her, read books, put music and her humidifier on, rock her through 2 songs, put her down and leave the room, but it never fails, she always wants me to come back by saying, "Huggin' li'l bit." She loves to hug and rock.

This is becoming VERY tiring...however, I do NOT give into her all the time. Sometimes, I know she needs it.....long day, lots of time w/out mommy...etc.

However, this has scaled to screaming at the top of her lungs tonight.....wanting me to go back in there and I've already been twice--once to rock her a little, then the next to put her in her crib (she was on the full size mattress on the floor w/ a gate at the door). I hate hearing her scream, but know she will eventually tire out and go to sleep, but it still breaks my heart.

UGH!!!!! It's 9:30 for pete's sake!!!

help....first time blogger

Ok, so I'm not exactly sure about this blogging thing, but I'm willing to give it a try.

I wish I knew more about how to change my background, but have no clue....I'm ususally pretty good w/ computer software, but I cannot for the life of me figure this out, so until I do the background is what it is.

...stay tuned.....