Monday, February 29, 2016

Weekend + Tantrums

This weekend – LAWD.  There are no words.  I don’t know if there’s something in the air, or something in the water, or if it’s just because they didn’t act up too terribly last weekend when there was a full moon, but our kids were cray cray this weekend. 

We started Friday evening out with a hair cut for Jacob, pizza for dinner, and a quick trip Dick’s Sporting Goods to get a basketball for Jacob (he’s starting tiny tot b’ball this week – hehe) and the kids were mostly behaved.  We had a couple of minor meltdowns and one semi-big one that involved Jacob smacking Livi at the counter while they were awaiting their gelato at the restaurant, but other than that they did well. 




However, when we got home all hell broke loose.  They both kept smacking each other and stealing each other’s toys and just couldn’t get along for anything, so Brian and I called it a night (for them), and took them up for an early bedtime for a Friday night.  Olivia was fine and happily got into her PJs and into the bed without any trouble, but Jacob had other plans. 

He pretty much went off the charts cray cray and threw the mother of all tantrums.  We couldn’t talk any sense into him whatsoever and he wouldn’t calm down for anything so we ended up spanking him (which we rarely do) and it didn’t do any good either (which it usually does) so we ended up leaving him in his room where he screamed for I don’t even know how long.  Brian went up there after a little bit (because I was on the verge of having a tantrum of my own by then) and Jacob finally calmed down and passed out from the sheer exhaustion from the tantrum. 

By then it was already close to 10 so B and I only had a chance to watch a couple of episodes of Fuller House (which I am loving, by the way) before we called it a night.  I did sneak into Jacob’s room where I held his tiny hand and kissed his sweet little face a million times as he slept.  I hate ending the night by yelling at him – it doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, it makes me so sad that I can barely sleep.

Saturday morning wasn’t much better – Jacob had another tantrum at breakfast and both kids pretty much acted like hooligans the whole time that Brian was at tennis.  B came home to a peaceful house – Jacob working in his workbook, and Olivia painting, but that was about as peaceful as they had been all morning.



The rest of the day was pretty uneventful – I cleaned the house top to bottom, got the Valentine's decor put away (finally), the kids had naps and quiet time, and then we headed to church and dinner. 




The kids were both a little rambunctious in church and there were a couple of times where I thought that Olivia was going to have a full on meltdown, but luckily she didn’t and we escaped unscathed.  Dinner was pretty tame, and then it was home for bed for the kiddos.






Sunday was much better, thank goodness!  We played and I got caught up on some paperwork while the kids napped, and then we ended the day with tons of playground time and fresh air followed by dinner with Pop and Cokie.








Here’s to hoping that the week ahead will be a wee bit better!

Since this is probably the least interesting post you'll read all day (if you're even still reading) I'll be back tomorrow with something a lot more interesting - it's Home Tour Tuesday, and I'll be sharing Jacob's room, so you can see where all of the tantrum action happens!

And if you just can't wait until then, here some other rooms to hold you over.  ;o)


*Linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Five On Friday - Olivia's Birth Day O Fun as Told by Olivia

We enjoyed celebrating our girl yesterday!  It was a wonderful thing spending one on one time with her all day yesterday and boy, did we do a lot of fun stuff!  Here’s how the day went from Olivia’s perspective...



O N E – Ate Like a Boss

My very favorite thing to eat for breakfast is donuts (whose isn’t?) so Mommy and Daddy took me to Dunkin Donuts.  I saw a pink donut and went craaaazaaaay!  Strawberry frosted with sprinkles for me, pwease!

 

We lunched at one of my faves – Chick-Fil-A.  They have the very best meals for kids… I mostly just like the fruit pouch and the fact that Mommy and Daddy let me have juice there.  They stopped ordering milk for me because it’s in a bottle and I always spill it all over the place.  I guess I showed them!

T W O – Played Like a Boss

After donuts, we popped over to visit my Cokie at her office for some birthday hugs and kisses, and I roped her into giving me a piece of chocolate – I’ll take the pink heart, pwease! 



I didn’t want to leave so Mommy and Daddy bribed me by telling me that they were going to take me to the crayground, but instead, we went through some crazy loud tornado cave that they called a car wash.  They said that they thought it might be fun for me to see, but I was like GET ME OUT OF HEEEERE, YOU SAID WE WERE GOING TO THE CRAYGROUND!  

  

After the carwash, Mommy and Daddy finally pulled up at the only place I wanted to see today – the crayground.  Thank goodness they kept their promise.  Mommy and Daddy kept complaining about the cold and the wind, but they’re just wusses.  It was glorious!





Mommy and Daddy cut our crayground trip short.  Sigh.  But then they took me to the library and let me get my very own library card so that made it all better!  After that, we read a few books, I practiced my duck face, and then we got to go to music and story time where we ran into our friends Miss Katie and Eloise.  Eloise and I made some music with our drum sticks and shakers, we did some coloring, and then I checked out my very first book on the way out – Cinderella!  Because – princesses – all day, errrry day.   





T H R E E – Shopped Like a Boss

After the library we had lunch (see above) and then we headed to the bank where the nice lady gave me a handful of lollipops, two being my favorite – purple!  So what to do on your birthday when you get two lollipops?  Eat ‘em both at the same time, of course!

I happily snacked on my two lollipops and then we headed over to Toys R Us because Mommy and Daddy said that I could pick out a toy.  I, of course, went with Frozen stuff – an Anna and Elsa beach toy set, and a little Anna and Elsa purse.

The shopping continued at Kohl’s – not on the original agenda, but Mommy realized that she had Kohl’s cash and a coupon that were about to expire so – might as well buy the birthday girl some new clothes!  I do need a new spring wardrobe, after all!  At the store I found the best nightgown ever, and of course, I roped Mommy into buying it for me.  She’s such a sucker.  I also practiced my duck face at Kohl’s today, too!



The car trip home felt long, and I thought I was going to be able to stay awake, but I ended up crashing about 2 miles from home.  When we got home, Mommy made a successful crib transfer where I proceeded to sleep like a boss... but only after I whined for my paci.  BWAHAHAHAHA!  ;o)




When I woke up from my nap, we stopped by to visit Pop at work, and then we headed to pick up Jacob from school.



F O U R – Caked Like a Boss (or not)

After dinner it was time for cake and I blew out my own candle!  I picked up my fork, took one bite, and said, “I don’t like it.  I’m done.”  And Mommy and Daddy were shocked… and probably totally OK with it at the same time.  Since I didn't want cake, I practiced my duck face some more while everybody else ate theirs... I think I've almost perfected it!





F I V E – Opened Presents Like a Boss

We ended the day by opening presents.  Mommy and Daddy surprised me with my very own kitchen!  I think Jacob likes it even more than I do!  I also got some princess magnets and a princess puzzle, Ariel’s chariot, and 2 hot pink Hot Wheels cars… those were my favorite!!






It was the best day and I enjoyed having Mommy and Daddy all to myself.

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites, Living for Naptime for BFF Friday Link-up Party, and September Farm for Oh Hey, Friday!


Thursday, February 25, 2016

Happy 2nd Birthday to Our Olivia Cate



Two.  You are two today, baby girl!

And what a wonderful two years it’s been!

At two you are sugar and spice and everything nice… heavy on the spice.  ;o)

You are spunky and you are a go-getter – you’re our little fireball just like Mommy has always known since you were just a little nugget in my tummy.

You’re a momma’s girl and I don’t hate it.  Not one little bit.  I love that I’m the person who you want when you’re sad or upset.  I know it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be rolling your eyes at me and running to get your Daddy, so I’m going to enjoy every second while it lasts.

You love your brother something fierce, even though half of the time you’re chasing him around trying to throw your Anna doll at him.  And he’s actually afraid of you sometimes… but you are almost his size, so who can blame him?

You currently wear a 3T shirt and 2T pants, though those are starting to fit a little snug… I can hardly believe that I’m going to be buying larger sizes for you again soon! 




You love all things girly – bracelets, scarves, sunglasses, your “gold shoes,” your pink “bain boots” (rain boots), and your “Anna shoes” (the gold cross-strap ballet flats that you wore with your Anna Halloween costume).  You love to play dress up, you love to get your nails painted, you love Mommy’s makeup, and you love anything that’s pink, even though you usually call it purple.  We’re working on that.  Haha.

You love Anna from Frozen – she has always been your favorite.  Every time you see her on something you point and scream, “Anna!  Anna!!”  I love that you like the less popular girl more than the popular one. 

Even though you’re girly, you still love to play cars and trucks with Jacob.  It’s not uncommon to see you walking around decked out in your Anna dress with a bracelet dangling from your wrist and a Hot Wheels car in your sparkly manicured hand.  As a matter of fact, aside from your Elsa and Anna dolls, I would say that Jacob’s Hot Wheels Garage is your favorite toy right now.  After dinner you always say, “Hot Wheels GWAAAAJGE, minute?”  Can we play with the Hot Wheels Garage for a minute?




You are wide open… you’re not afraid of anything and that scares Mommy to death.

You love to sleep.  Oh my, how you love to sleep!  Mommy reads to you before bed, we say prayers, and then I put you down in your crib wide awake.  You never fuss and you never cry.  You just lay there peacefully until you fall asleep (which is usually pretty quickly) and then you wake up peacefully every morning as well.  Half of the time we don’t even know when you actually wake up because you lay there so quietly.  You never wake or cry in the middle of the night, and you usually sleep from 7:45 PM until I wake you at 7:00 AM.  On the weekends sometimes you don’t wake until 9! 

You are so incredibly smart.  You speak in full sentences, and you even use words like “though” and “already” and you use them correctly.  It blows my mind.

You have started using the potty some, though you’re not consistent yet.  I think that you will potty train much faster than Jacob did, and for that, I am so thankful.




You love to eat, but you have become quite picky.  You’re still not a huge fan of meat, and you’re gradually starting to shy away from vegetables, but you love fruit – all fruit!  Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, pears, blueberries, bananas.  I think you would eat fruit all day if we would let you. 

Your favorite food is probably pizza… it’s the one thing that you never turn down.  And your favorite topping on pizza?  Black olives.  You always pick them off and eat them first, and then you eat your pizza last, crust and all!

You love bread, but you don’t like biscuits.  Because of this, I can no longer claim you as my child.  ;o)

Right now you are obsessed with Chapstick, and boy does it get on our nerves.  You received a four-pack of Frozen Chapstick for Christmas and you also received a Sweethearts Chapstick for Valentine’s Day.  Three of the five are pink, and those are the only ones that you ever want.  You hold all three in your little hands and then you take turns pulling the caps off, swiping the Chapstick across your tiny lips and smearing it across your cheek, and putting the caps back on.  By the time you get done, you have a layer of Chapstick so thick that I usually have to wipe your lips so you’re not eating it for the rest of the day.  Is there such thing as Chapstick poisoning?  When it’s time to put the Chapstick away you always say, “Whyyyyeeee?” in your best whiny voice.  (Gosh, you sound like a teenager already!)  And then you sometimes throw a tantrum when we don’t let you carry them around the house.

You are a piece of work and I mean that in the very best way!  You are just so funny and sweet and spunky and you have the brightest little personality already.




Sometimes when I look into your eyes I feel like I’m looking at a real live picture of myself from when I was little.  It’s simply incredible how much you favor me, and it’s always a little reminder to me that you are all mine.  All mine.  How did I get so lucky?

You make me so happy.

You make me feel so blessed. 

You make me want to be a better person so I can set a good example for you. 

You made me understand that dreams can come true, and the world is a better place because you’re in it.

Happiest of birthdays to you, Olivia!  You'll always be my best girl.

I love you.

Mommy





*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.