Positive

I cannot believe how little our sweet Muffin was just two years ago when this happened!


Today is the two year anniversary of the day that we found out we were expecting Baby Ellie!

The first person that I told was my mommy-friend, A. She was the one who told me (at Kindermusik) that I just had to take a test that day.

Telling Big Daddy and seeing his excitement was priceless. I can still remember going on a walk and sitting in the sandbox with Maggie as we discussed everything baby.

Throughout the whole pregnancy, watching Maggie grow into her role as a big sister was the best.

Having two is positively the best...even when it feels not so good.

Over My Head - With Pictures

For some reason I cannot get myself together these days. I blame it on the kids or the fact that I'm getting less sleep per night than ever. Luckily, for the most part my sleep is uninterrupted. I'm starting to think that it's just the way things are and I should get used to it. I feel like I'm in over my head, but it's just life.

We have added another day of preschool and it has thrown my whole cleaning "schedule" off. I really just clean when things get dirty (umm...every single day) but I used to use Friday mornings as the time to make sure that everything was clean and I'd steam mop the floors during nap. For some reason, I'm off.
Lucky for me, I have a little help!
Ellie has become a total daredevil lately! I have to really watch her because she will climb on anything. I cannot even count the number of times I've had to get her off of the kitchen table while I'm cooking dinner over the past couple of weeks. I had to move her highchair further from the table because she tries to move the table enough to make Maggie's milk spill. Just yesterday, I caught her trying to do the same thing to our very heavy dining room table. Her new nickname is "Hercules"! All of that being said, I get nothing done around the house while Maggie's at preschool.
She looks sweet and innocent, but she's a handful!

Once Maggie and Ellie are in bed (and asleep) I fold laundry, wash dishes or make pancakes for the next day. I also use this time to watch tv and if Big Daddy isn't too busy we watch tv together (while I fold laundry). More often than not, his nose is stuck to the computer screen or he's upstairs reading for school. If that happens, I enjoy alone time.

Now...a few pictures of my lovelies!
Maggie on her way to the grocery store. She decided to wear her Halloween costume. She's Aurora/Sleeping Beauty, in case you didn't know.

I'm not sure how this happened, but Maggie & Ellie ask for hair bows after they get out of the bathtub. So...they run around in pajamas and hair bows!

I feel like I go to preschool just as much as Maggie does! Last week we had "Picnic Day" and this week it's a field trip to an apple orchard.

This is a picture from last Monday when Maggie was taken to school by her Daddy. One of the highlights of her week!

My Dream Job

I try really hard to not to be negative or come across as a "woe is me" kind of person, so I just wrote a whole blog post about a few things that are happening right now, published it and then went back 5 minutes later and deleted it. I feel much better knowing that I didn't put a whole bunch of negativity out there and I'm going to try my best to focus on the positives.

My sweet Muffin is having a hard time. (Along with all of her little friends that are starting back to preschool or going to kindergarten.) She likes school and wants to go and I'm very thankful for that. Unfortunately, her attitude stinks when she's at home. I'm trying to parent her a little differently and we've had several lessons on thankfulness and positive attitudes, Little Engine That Could Style. As if the attitude issues aren't enough, she also likes to say "I just really don't feel like you love me anymore" about 10 times a day. I can tell that she uses this as a way to manipulate the situation that we're in and I'm glad that I can recognize this thanks to that parenting class that I took last winter at Church. It breaks my heart. I have been encouraging her, reassuring her and then making her carry on with whatever is causing the issue. I think we are making progress and I'm pretty sure that she knows that I still love her. ;-)

Ellie has had a runny nose for a week now and been fussy and had a few nights of great difficulty sleeping. On Monday, her nose was just so snottyrunnystuffy that I decided to make a doctor's appointment for her. I do not make doctor's appointments lightly, especially since we changed pediatricians and I have a 30+ mile drive to get to the office. I was worried that Ellie was having ear problems and I was really tired of wiping snot, so...we went to the doctor and it's "just a cold". Just a few minutes ago she started fussing and then climbed in my lap, nestled her head on my chest and fell asleep. Thank You, Lord. I needed to pee so I put her in bed after a few minutes, but I got to cuddle with my not-so-snuggly second born. Sweet. I'm thankful that she has only a cold and I enjoy cuddle time with her.

Big Daddy took the day of work on Monday to get his license renewed and catch up on lots of school stuff. He's trying to spend more time upstairs in "his" room and less time with us. It's no fun. He was able to take Maggie to school in "the red car" and we picked her up as a family and then had lunch together. It's already looking like he'll be pretty busy at the Library this weekend, so I'll be flying solo. :-(
I'm thankful that he is staying motivated even though his job is so demanding and school is taking up all of his free time.

A few weeks ago I kept hearing a clip on the Christian radio station that I listen to talking about how we as women give into our emotions. I was convicted (of something Big Daddy has been telling me for years) and I'm trying to pay more attention to how I react to how I feel. I've tried to tell Maggie that we can't always say or do the things that we want to and now I'm paying more attention to that as well.

I have a husband that is pretty good to me.
I have two healthy kids.
I stay at home (or somewhere) with them every single day.
I cook or prepare three meals a day.
I teach a class of preschoolers at Church.

Sometimes I just have to remember that even though I have bad days at work, this is my dream job.

Change of Heart

Vaccines- What was I thinking???
This has been a crazy week and in the middle of it all I feel like flu shots are every single place I go. They were even doing flu shots at the grocery store the other day!
When Maggie was about 8 months old (her first Christmas) my mom had a horrible case of the flu. I immediately called my pediatrician and felt an urgent need to get Maggie vaccinated. She has had the flu vaccine each year since and I was vaccinated while I was pregnant with Ellie. This year, I have made the decision for all of us to skip it.
I've read LOTS of information on it and just feel comfortable with my decision. I also get the "what was I thinking" feeling when I think about our vaccinations in the past. I've read all of the data, but when I found my shot record this week and saw the small amount of vaccinations I had as a child compared to the vaccinations offered now, I was blown away. I think it's a very personal decision and I think it's fine if all the other children get all of their shots "on time". I just don't feel right doing it to my kids anymore.
I'm not exactly anti-vaccine, but I think the AAP uses a one size fits all approach that makes me uncomfortable. If I had realized why some vaccinations were given I would have refused them starting at birth. (I know it's not necessary for my just born baby to be vaccinated against an STD that neither parent has.)
Maggie is not "up to date" on her shots because we did refuse some vaccinations at her 4 year old check up. It isn't really a requirement that children receive all of the shots to be admitted into public schools and I think I gave her former pediatrician an education on that. Maggie has never received vaccinations against certain sicknesses like rotavirus.
Ellie has a doctor's appointment on December 23 and she will not be getting the flu vaccine. I'll do my research before the appointment and decide what others she will get/skip.

More babies & midwives- Decisions, decisions!
I feel completely comfortable saying that we will not have anymore babies ever.
Tomorrow, we may change our minds. We both say never, but permanently preventing babies is completely off-limits.
That being said, I need to find an Ob/Gyn office in the area that has midwives (because I HEART midwives). I have an office picked out that would deliver at the hospital that I want to have any future children at and of course, a hospital that our new (very well-liked) pediatrician has privileges in. I am having major issues with the thought of never seeing my precious midwives again. Peg, Rita and Wesley were all three wonderful. Of course, Peggy totally saved Maggie's life, delivered Ellie and was a major advocate for me when Ellie was stuck and I was trying desperately to have a VBAC. Right now it would be very difficult to drive the hour for my yearly appointment and find childcare for Maggie & Ellie, so it makes since to find a new provider.

There was one more thing on my mind, but I cannot remember what and now nap time is almost over!

Until Monday...

A Brand New Day

I once read an article written by an experienced mother shared her parenting advice. I cannot remember when or where I read it, but I will always remember one of the things that she said: that if something doesn't work today, do something different tomorrow. I've always known that it's never too late to try something new and different when you're parenting/educating a child. It may not be easy to throw something new at them, but consistency will pay off...eventually. I try to remember this, but sometimes it's hard.

One of the main reasons that I didn't want Maggie to go to preschool five days a week was because I wanted her to be with me. (now I would say that I can't handle the drama in the morning!!) We enjoy Storytime on Thursdays and I wanted our Tuesdays to be free so that we could have a field trip or just do nothing at all. I don't really think that she needs preschool every single day either. Unlike a lot of the kids in her class, she recognizes all of her letters and numbers and can write them too. She loves learning and doing work, so she can practice some skills at home with very little help from me. I won't lie, the cost had a little to do with it too. Lots of people do not realize that some things must get sacrificed to live well on one income. I don't get to be a SAHM and eat my cake too!

Most of our time after rest time is sort of busy. The girls wake up, eat snack, play and then before you know it I'm in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove. We eat dinner and then I usually try to wash the dishes and pick up all of the tea set/pots and pans/plastic food/puzzles/seashells that are all over the kitchen. Sometimes we just leave the mess and I take care of it after we come in from outside (you should see Big Daddy's face on those days) , but that's hard to do while giving baths, settling down for bed and being the only parent on duty while Big Daddy is at work or upstairs doing homework.

Anyway...
I blew off everything today (we did make up the beds before we left) and we went on a field trip. I put dinner in the crock pot while Ellie was eating snack and Maggie was watching "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That" (what is it with that show?? she loves it, even though she's only watched two episodes!) and we were dressed and out the door shortly after 9:00. We were on our way to a nearby farm/greenhouse and a cemetery (Maggie wanted to "visit" my Pawpaw and my dad's brother) when we decided to go to visit family friends at their "farm" in stead. Maggie was excited about everything and Ellie couldn't wait to get out of the car once she saw the dogs Bailey & Speck. (We're going on a preschool field trip to the farm and greenhouse in October and we'll save the cemetery for another field trip.)

It was just what we needed.

I have no doubt that Maggie will have major issues come tomorrow morning (pray for her) but it was so nice to have a happy today. The girls came in, had a big lunch, rolled around in the living room floor and then went to their rooms and fell fast asleep. I was able to sweep the floors, clean the bathrooms, dust the living/kitchen/dining/master bedrooms and put my Fall wreath and scarecrow outside.

I love happy days in parenting!!

31

Big Daddy and I had a delightful little trip to the beach. We really couldn't have asked for a more perfect 31 hours away from our girls. We both wished they were right there on the beach with us...except for when Big Daddy fell asleep and I was able to just be there with my eyes closed and not have to worry if someone was eating seashells or throwing sand. I had a headache that was thisclose to being a migraine and it hung around all day on Saturday, but it did not dampen our day at all. We were able to talk uninterrupted and listen to conservative talk radio and ride with the windows down. It was delightful. I'm pretty sure that we are one step closer to a decision on homeschooling...and where to rent a house at for next summer's beach trip.

We went for VERY long walks on the beach and drove around without worrying about the little people in the back seat being bored. We had dinner late (later than 5:30 is unheard of in our house because Ellie likes to eat early) and stayed out until 9:30 which is pretty late for us!

I stayed busy last night trying to do everything to make Monday morning a little easier. I failed.

Maggie's having a few issues on school days that are causing me to have a few issues and I would really appreciate your prayers for her. It has to do with socks and shoes and I think we all know that there's something else at the root of the problem, but I won't go into that.

Now, I have to (try again) to prepare for teaching my Awana class on Wednesday, read Awana emails that came in over the weekend and send an email to our Church secretary and let her know that I signed up for the wrong Women's Bible Study. Silly me, signed up for a Wednesday night class when I'll be teaching the kids.

Hello, Weekend!

Yesterday was a blissful day with the children. Blissful, I say.

Today...anything but.

Tomorrow, Big Daddy and I are taking Maggie & Ellie to my mom and dad's house and then we're heading to the beach. We'll be gone less than 36 hours, (I'll tell you exactly how long we're gone on Monday) but I am SO looking forward to it.

I'll be honest and admit that while I need a break and Big Daddy and I need a little time without the children, I do not want to leave them. I was awake at 4:00 this morning worrying about leaving Ellie overnight for the first time and leaving Maggie when she knows that we're going to the beach. I totally trust my mom and sister, but I don't like being away from the girls. I worry about something minor or major happening to one of them or my family letting Maggie watch too much tv or them feeding Ellie chocolate. I keep telling myself that they are in the best of hands since they are with the people that we want to care for the kids if anything ever happened to us, but it's still very hard.

This is the overnight trip that has been two years, seven months and two days in the making. No, we haven't been planning it for that long, but that's how long it's been since we've been away overnight together...without children...except for the hospital stay before Ellie was born.

Too Much!

I love the way that Ellie imitates the things that we do.

Of course, she's does a lot of cleaning, just like Mommy.

She gets mad and has little fits, just like her Daddy. (Ha!)

Most of all, she wants to be just like her sister.

Today at Storytime Ellie sat on a carpet square just like Maggie.

Sweetest. Thing. Ever.

First Day of Preschool (4 year old class)

Of course, she picked the outfit and the hair style.

What A Weekend!

We had decided to do something special on Labor Day, but then we decided to make it extra special and do it on Saturday! Maggie was very excited because she's always up for an adventure!

We decided to go to Pilot Mountain (or Mt. Pilot as Big daddy always seems to call it) for a little family hike. It was a little cooler on the top of the mountain and breezy, so Maggie was "just so cold". I wrapped Ellie in the ring sling and let Maggie use the tie from the Baby K'Tan as a scarf (I LOVE that these two babywearing devices are so multi-functional) and we walked around a little before finding a sunny spot for a picnic.

After lunch I put Ellie in the Baby K'Tan (two hip carry position) and we were ready to take the easy hike up to the big pinnacle, or "The Knob" as we like to call it.

After our hike, we drove to Mt. Airy and had ice cream and walked around a little. Maggie enjoys "The Andy Griffith Show" so she was excited to see where Andy "was borned" and also to see a replica of the squad car. We had to get home because we had a late birthday celebration (for my nephew) to attend, so we ended our evening having dinner at my sister's house.

Sunday was "Promotion Day" at Church and both of our girls moved to new classrooms. This is Ellie contemplating the big move!! Ellie was crying for me Sunday before Church (while I was trying to get dressed) and she went to her "special spot". When she's upset she goes to the window beside of her highchair and stands or sits in the floor until someone can comfort her. Her Daddy decided to take a picture of her pouting.
Ellie moved out of the baby nursery and into the toddler class. I'm pretty sure that she was supposed to move as soon as she started walking, but her teachers just wanted her for four more months! She was very happy in her new class and didn't cry when we left. She usually cries just until we get out of the room, but she didn't this time.

Maggie was a little nervous, but really like her new class. I know she'll miss Mr. Mark, but she's going to enjoy her new teachers a lot. They like to do art and were excited to find out that Maggie loves art too!

We celebrated a successful Sunday by getting dinner and taking it to a local lake for another picnic. We love picnics!! There were a ton of kids at the playground there so we drove over to my sisters house so that Maggie could see Callie a little more.

On Monday we had another picnic. We decided to eat lunch in the backyard this time before nap. I managed to squeeze in a two hour nap with the girls while Big Daddy worked on the school work that he neglected on Saturday and Sunday.

Today was Maggie's "Preschool Open House" and tomorrow is her first "full" day. I'm sure Ellie will miss her for the entire three and a half hours that she's away! I have another Awana meeting tomorrow night and then I'll start my countdown until the weekend! This is the weekend that Big Daddy and I are going away and I'm getting so excited! I need a break!

FYI- Yes, Maggie wore is wearing the same outfit on Saturday and Monday! She just couldn't resist it when she saw it all clean and folded in the laundry basket!

The Cuteness

I guess this is what I'll miss (in the mornings) when Maggie returns to preschool next week!!

There's nothing quite as sweet as catching them playing together. We have a lower set of cabinets that I keep empty just so that they have a neat place to play and hide. Luckily, we are blessed with enough cabinets to do this or they would throw my pots and pans out to make room to play!

We are now the proud and happy owners of two "eggs" of Silly Putty. Maggie & I saw some at the Hobby Lobby checkout a few weeks ago and bought it. I had no idea that it would provide so much entertainment for both girls. We bought more yesterday and Maggie wanted her picture taken with it.
I mentioned yesterday that I bought a few pretty dresses for the girls. I read on Tara's blog that Belk's was having a sale and it just happened that we decided to go to the mall and we got some great deals. My Maggie always picks out cute dresses and I really loved this one with birds. She'll probably wear some leggings under them this Fall and Winter and she can wear them to preschool or Church. The other one has ballerinas.

These cute sundresses were originally $36 and I got them for less than $6.

I always thought it was silly when moms dressed their girls alike, but I admit that I love it when Ellie & Maggie match. They like it too...for now!

I'm looking forward to Fall, but I like thinking about my matching girls at the beach in these dresses next Summer.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

It's Official...I Rock!

I left the house a little after 8:00 this morning and just arrived home a little after lunch. I think I wore Maggie & Ellie out since they are both fast asleep!

Our first stop was Maggie's preschool. She met with her teacher and we went over what kinds of fun things she'll be doing this year. They focus a little more on teacher-guided activities and also work on handwriting and phonics. Maggie has no trouble with phonics because I started "The Phonic Song" (what I used to call it when I was a preschool teacher) with her when she was a few months old. Of course, she would also write all.day.long. if I would let her. I think she'll have an awesome year! Ellie & I will also be going on some fun field trips with Maggie & her class.

We went to "just look" at toys after that. Maggie is in the "I want it" phase right now, but she did a fantastic job of controlling herself. I have tried to explain that we can't buy everything we want or we won't be able to pay for our cars, house, clothes and food. We are also talking a lot about need vs. want. I always tell her that it's completely normal for her to want, want, want but that we just can't give into everything that we want...or Mommy would be the size of a house and constantly go shopping! Ha!

We made a quick stop at Hobby Lobby to look at Fall & Christmas decorations, then went to the local mall. I hadn't planned on going there, but Maggie really wanted to and I wanted to do something special for us all before she started back to school. I read on Tara's blog that Belk's was having a great sale, so we stopped there first. I managed to get Maggie two dresses for Fall at 40% off and two matching dresses for each girl for next Summer at 75% off with another 30% off of that. So...I left with six dresses and spent $51 and saved $130. I'd post pictures of the cuteness, but the laptop doesn't feel like importing pictures at the moment. After all the savings we stopped at the little indoor playground. We had the place to ourselves so I let the girls run wild. Then we had Chick-Fil-A and Ellie fell asleep before we left the parking lot.

Maggie is going to the grocery store with Nana after nap and I'm going to enjoy Ellie, fold laundry and read over my Awana papers that I got from Church last night. I'm really excited about teaching one of the three year old classes and I think Maggie is going to have a blast in her class.

And by the way, Maggie saw the clothes that I had picked out for her to wear today and she said, "That's just what I wanted to wear! Mom, you rock!". I asked her to repeat it and she did. Maybe she'll let me pick out her clothes a little more often!