Friday Funnies (and some little flashbacks)

Olivia and I were talking about when Daddy and I went to Hawaii for Renee's wedding, and Olivia was in my belly. "Mommy, did you put me in your mouth to get in your belly?"  Ummm... think, Momma.  "No, honey... God put you there."  "Oh, ok."  Whew!

After school on Wednesday:  "Mommy, I potty-talked at school today."  "What did you say?"  "Diarrhea, ch-ch-ch."  Oh geez Louise... that's my girl!

I was looking through some old videos... there are so many cute ones, but these ones just struck me as not only super-cute, but wow... has Olivia grown up! The first one is April of 2010... and the second is June of 2010. What a difference a year makes!  Enjoy. :)

My little ballerina

Today was Olivia's last day of Princess Pre-Ballet. :)

And a little video sample...



My little ballerina. :)

Father's Day Weekend

We had a busy and super-fun Father's Day weekend. It started with Aunt Marz and Uncle Rick's housewarming and "Welcome Home, Tegan!" party.  Here is a picture of them with the sweet new addition to the family...

Some pre-meltdown pictures of Olivia having fun playing with a new friend...

Sunday we spent the day with Daddy's family...

Papa and the kiddos

Aunt Ali helping Liv with her "cartwheel"

Owen and Liv with Mimi and Daddy

And...
WE SOLD THE HOUSE!! Just have to get through inspections, etc. of both places... then should be closing very soon! Like in a couple of weeks! So things are going to get even MORE nuts around here!! But it will all be worth it to have more space and a nice yard!!!! Keep your fingers crossed!!





Bedtime

I have a love-hate relationship with bedtime, and I'm pretty sure the Hubs would agree.  We know that at the end of the long, tedious, frustrating journey that is getting the kids to bed, we will have some much-needed downtime for a couple of hours.  But the journey... oh, the journey... that is the bedtime routine in this house.  Now, before Olivia jumped the crib at the age of 26 months, bedtime was a breeze (once she was sleep-trained at 4 months, that is).  Since then, it's slowly but surely become more difficult, especially as she has become more aware of button-pushing, stalling tactics, and manipulation of an exhausted Mommy and Daddy. This is just a teeny tiny little sample of what bedtime can look like for Olivia these days...

Anyone who has ever attempted to put this child to bed over the last year or so knows what a process it can be. Seriously, there was a time when I thought she might have OCD with the darn routine, that seems to always be evolving, and on her terms. Goodness, I remember about a year ago, maybe, she used to have to find all of these little beloved figurines of hers... Diego, Dora, Kai-Lan... and several others, and she had to throw them over the gate and Daddy had to go get them, then she had to put them all to bed... ugh. Now, you may say, in your naivete of not being Olivia's parent, "Um, you're the PARENT. Don't let her do it, and just put her to bed."  See, nothing works that way with my sweet, stubborn, strong-willed, spirited little spitfire. You've gotta get her to where you want her to be... yes, mostly on your terms, but you have to make her think it's on her terms, so it takes some compromise and creativity sometimes.  And you are just sooooooo tired... and soooooo over the day. It's usually been about 12-13 hours of me with the kiddos, refereeing wrestling matches, dealing with tantrums, wiping poopy bums, and other such fun by this time... that I am just DONE. So many nights I have thought to myself... JUST GO TO SLEEP... SERIOUSLY! Which is why I pretty much pi#%ed myself when I heard of this book.  ***WARNING*** If you are even remotely offended by foul language, do not watch this.  If you have no sense of humor about raising children, do not watch this.  And before you say that I should cherish having children to actually put to bed at night, believe me, I understand this more than many.  But, it doesn't mean that at the end of a long, sometimes very hard day when I've done my best and tried to give them everything I have, that I'm not completely spent and just ready for them to go to sleep.  So much so, in fact, that this has gone through my head (why, oh why, did I not think to write this book?!?):

I think I might buy the hardcover version, though Samuel L. Jackson reading this is PRICELESS. I also just heard about Monsters Eat Whiny Children, which may be next on my list. :)



Friday Funnies

"Can I call Gaga and say thank you for the 'dasagna'"?

When talking about using the barre at ballet class..."I really have to concentrate, or I will lose my 'valance.'"

Talking to Owen's caseworker... "Boys are easy, girls are tough."  Caseworker: "Who says that?"  Olivia: "Mommy!"

Busting out Lady Gaga in front of the same caseworker, minutes later: "I'm on the edge- of glory!" loudly and with feeling, of course. :) Said caseworker almost peed her pants laughing.

One of the many reasons she wasn't ready to go to bed this week..."I have a lip ache."

"Mommy, do you know why we don't touch plugs? Because they have ee-lack-tricity in them."

Summer!

OK, so it's not "officially" summer yet, but it has definitely begun around here! The regular school year is over and it's been like 90 degrees almost every day! We decided that a cute, short, little-boy haircut was in order...

Doesn't he look like such a BIG BOY?!?  He did really great this time (with the help of the airplane he was flying and Team Umizoomi he was watching at Little Snips)!  This kid has had 3 haircuts already and he's 14 months old! I swear, he's had more hair cut OFF of his head than Olivia had ON her head at that age!

Also, Daddy turned 29, (again... for the 10th year in a row!!) and Gaga and Pap Pap had a little party for him at their house...

Livy and Callie putting the candles on the cake

Daddy and his big boy

The 4 grandkids... Liv, Owen, Callie, and Mira, with the birthday boy and Gaga and Pap Pap

This picture absolutely CRACKS ME UP.



Stevie and Adrienne



Uncle Wayne and Callie

It was such an awesome day!!! I LOVE OUR FAMILY!! We are SO BLESSED!!

Oh, and have I mentioned...??

Aaahhhhhh!! If you would, please pray to St. Joseph or whoever you would like to pray to for us!! :) We're really hoping to sell by the end of July!

A month... really?!?

Geesh. I knew we were busy and I have been pretty overwhelmed lately... but nearly a MONTH has gone by since I have logged onto this blog? Bad Mommy! There goes my "once or twice a week" commitment! But I can recommit... I can! I have to. So much happens in our daily life that is so blog-worthy, but I swear I can't remember a fraction of it as I sit down to write. I will say that most of our free time as parents has been house-hunting, which went into full-force at the beginning of this month (no coincidence that is when the blog-slacking REALLY started). We do like our townhome, and love our neighborhood, but I think we've outgrown the space. It's a little bittersweet to think about selling it, as this is the home we bought right after we were married, and the place we brought each of our babies home to. Many, many wonderful memories. But... it's time. We have found a place, and I thought about sharing a picture, but I think I'll hold off on that, as I don't want to get too excited just yet. We did come to a home-sale contingency agreement, and everything is in place, but we do have to sell this one first, and someone can come along with a non-contingent offer and take it.  So... we are of the mindset that whatever is meant to happen, will happen. It is pretty much out of our hands now. Wish us luck and say a little prayer!

This has also been a very busy month for the kiddos. Gosh, they are growing so fast and both of them amaze me and just fill my heart every single day.

Getting ready for her first day of "princess" ballet class

Showing (and telling) me exactly how she was going to dance

After our Mother's Day Tea at preschool

The sweet gift Liv made for me

Celebrating Mother's Day at Gaga and Pap Pap's

One of Olivia's favorite pastimes

Owen's first time in the big kid swing

Our scrapbook page for Ms. Lora

And one for Ms. Betty Jo

Snuggling and watching tv in the morning

Last day of preschool picnic with Johanna and Ashlyn

Olivia with her two amazing teachers

Ms. Lora, Olivia, and Ms. Betty Jo

Olivia is doing well and having a great time at her ballet class. I'm curious to see how she will perform on the last day of class with Mommy actually in the room.  Her first year of preschool has come to a close, and I have to say that I could not have hand-picked two better teachers for her. I really feel like they both love and accept Olivia for exactly who she is, and have this balance of setting the limits she needs but allowing that spirit of hers to shine through at the same time... not always easy, and quite a delicate balance. We are so grateful as parents to have had such wonderful teachers for our daughter's first experience with school! 

Owen is getting SO big and is just moving around like a crazy man! He took his first two steps last week! He's still just crawling and cruising, but I'm pretty sure that walking is right around the corner! He doesn't really say any words yet, but is a VERY vocal little boy. :) He waves hi and bye-bye and is just the happiest and sweetest little thing you ever did see.

Mother's Day was such a special day for me this year. It's like the kiddos knew just what I needed. I can't even tell you how well-behaved and agreeable they were the whole day for me (if you know my Olivia, you know this is a big deal). :)  We had a really nice day at my parents' house just playing and relaxing with the family. It was absolutely perfect.

I wish I could remember all of the funny stories over the last month to journal them! I will say that Olivia is still on a "calling all of us by character names" kick... and it's almost constant now. Most recently we are the characters from Arthur. She calls herself D.W., (which is kind of funny, because she IS D.W.) Owen is Arthur, Daddy is Buster, and I am Muffy.  And yes... she calls us by these names ALL the time. Very rarely have I heard "Mommy," "Daddy," or "Owen," and the funniest is when she calls us these in public, or when she calls out in the middle of the night, for instance, "MUFFY! I need to blow my nose"!  Seriously, kid?? Yep, she's serious.

We're approaching summertime now (thank goodness!!) and have alot planned... playdates, pool time, a few more weeks of ballet and then musical theater, and we're going to attempt Mother's Morning Out for Olivia once a week... we shall see how it goes. I'm hoping to find a babysitter/Mother's Helper once a week so I can spend some one-on-one time with each of my kiddos, maybe doing a Mommy and Me class with Owen like I did Olivia... I'm not sure yet. But I've got to figure out a way to have more "special" time with each of them. I'm a lucky Mommy, and I want my beautiful babies to know that.