Pooh Drama

Maya's classroom has a Winnie the Pooh doll that has a suitcase filled with all sort of things (clothes, toothbrush, books, bottle, hat, game, videos, etc.) I was so excited about this because I thought it would be so much fun to have him. The first time we got him was back in the fall and we took him with us to her soccer game and she danced with him, we wrote about it in his journal and took pictures...oh the fun! But afterwards, I didn't really care if Pooh ever came back.

Yesterday while Maya was at school I thought of Pooh and had a feeling. I just felt like he was going to be coming back to our house soon. And shock and surprise when I pick her up from school she has his rolling suitcase! So we bring Pooh home again, she goes through his updated suitcase, plays with him awhile and then we dressed him for bed. So today in all of my cleaning frenzy for the three showings of my house in 24 hours I think, well we have to take Pooh with us when we leave the house. We have to have some adventure to write about in his journal, right? Sigh...yes an adventure.

I took the kids to the mall. I knew Landon would fall asleep on the way there so I was hoping to get a little down time in the parking lot. And yes he did fall asleep, as did Maya. She's of course programmed to automatically wake up as soon as the van is put in park though. And then she wants to walk around the van. And just when I think she's finally sitting quietly with her Leapster and I open my book, I look in the mirror and she's hugging Landon's head. It would've been a sweet moment if it hadn't WOKE HIM UP!!! So now we have a crabby toddler, a cranky mom and a 4 year old who just wants to go in the mall. We go inside taking Pooh with us.

The mall visit was a success! We had lunch, we played at the play area, rode the little ride on things, had ice cream, visited the family rest room, all in all an enjoyable visit.




Until we get back in the car. After I've got the kids in their car seats and I'm unloading the stroller I hand Pooh to Maya. And then I realized, wasn't Pooh wearing a bib when we went in the mall? Yes, yes he was. And she knows she took it off but she doesn't know where. Maybe it's in the diaper bag? Nope, not there. So I did the unthinkable...I told her she would just have to tell her teacher she lost it. OMG! The world crumbled around her! We have to go back in the mall she cried!! Nope, not gonna do it. I just got you both in here, not dragging you back out to retrace our steps. After many tears I decided to call the mall and check with lost and found. I circled the parking lot and grabbed my "Family Parking" spot again in case I had to go back in. But alas, no, nothing had been turned in and we should call back later.

So I decided to put my "Nice Mommy" hat back on and call 411 to get numbers for the consignment stores in Medina. And boy oh boy how lucky was I to find one that had not one but two Pooh bibs to choose from. You see everything in Pooh's suitcase is Pooh related. And the bib he had was a Pooh and Piglet bib that tied in the back. So we drive there, I have to keep Landon awake* on the way because I have to take him inside. We get there, we choose the Tigger bib, pay the $1.05 and we're on our way.

Looking back it really wasn't that big of deal. I'm sure lots of other families have lost pieces of Pooh in the past. I guess it was her loud sobbing and crocodile tears that made it seem so much worse at the time. But the smile on her face when she knew it was all better...priceless. :)

*Keeping Landon awake became an issue when we got home because after only having a 30 min nap on the way to the mall I knew he needed more. It took him over an hour to fall asleep. Ugh!

Pooh at home chilling with his new friends. And Bitty Baby wearing the brand new bib. :)

2011....a year for change

I have several resolutions this year..which is funny because I've never really had one before. I guess I always thought it was just something to say and then break. :) This year there's going to be a lot of change for my family...moving to another state, Landon turns 2, Maya turns 5 and starts school...but mostly the move. No, I mean selling the house and being a single parent in the process.

I don't feel like I've had a lot of experience selling a house, I moved out of both that I've sold prior to actually selling them. But I certainly have never done it with two small children. Its going to be a miracle to keep the house in "show" state. I did manage to do several rooms with them around but then left the rest of the house unshowable. And so of course I got a call from the realtor that someone wanted to see it just days after Christmas. After a quick trip back to Ohio Tom and I had the house in good shape. Well....now we're home. And I don't think we were in the door for ten minutes before Landon threw a Christmas bulb at the fireplace. Yup, smashed glass everywhere. Stop unloading the car to clean that up, go back for another load only to discover Landon put a hand towel in the toilet. Seriously????

AND the only reason I was unloading the entire car was because I was on a mad hunt for Polly Pockets. Maya asked for them over and over and over and over and over on the way home and I couldn't find them ANYWHERE! I knew I had packed them but couldn't find them. Which threw my original plan out the window of only bringing the Christmas loot in one bag at a time so that I could put it away in an organized fashion. Clearly I couldn't search the bags in the garage because Landon was in fine form. I did find the Polly's eventually. In my computer bag...no idea what made me put them in there.

And now I sit in a quiet house pondering my resolutions. The obvious, sell the house and move to MI. The more meaningful...be a better friend. I'm HORRIBLE at keeping in touch with my closest friends. Sure there's email, facebook and an occasional IM, but I need to CALL them!! You know who you are...I'm really going to try and be better. #2 - another obvious, get an exercise routine started...lose weight. #3 - work on my patience with my children. Hopefully the bulb and towel events won't be daily to test this one out. And finally #4 - build my Homemade Gourmet business. I really do love these products and have so much fun selling them. It would be awesome to make even more money and pay off some bills. I could also add that I'll blog more too but we know how that one usually ends up! LOL

2011...please be an extra good year for me. ;)

Missing you already Franklin! XOXO

Peanut's First Visit to the Dentist

I've been putting off taking Maya to the dentist for a long time. It's pretty much just been the last year, but you see, I have a dentist phobia. I don't like them. I don't like the smell, the sounds, and a lot of times the people. It's not personal, I'm sure they're lovely people, I just hate going there. So the thought of taking Maya was a little frightening. I certainly couldn't have her go with me to my check up to see how things work...what would happen when she saw me tense with fear and cringing at everything?? That certainly wouldn't help her to not be afraid, would it? So I just went ahead and took her in blind. I did talk to her several times about what would happen and we read a book about it, but she was still nervous.

Yesterday on our way there she told me she was scared and wanted to know if it was a girl doctor. You see, that's very important to her. :) And thankfully we were seeing a female doctor. But she was very excited about picking out a new toothbrush! When we got there she LOVED the play area...pediatric dentists have awesome waiting rooms! But the mood changed once the dentist came out to meet her. It no longer mattered that she was a girl or that she would give her a new toothbrush. She was scared.


At first sitting in the chair was neat...not quite so scary, but then I think she started to look around at everything. And they did start off with picking out the toothbrush, I thought that would help but apparently a purple, sparkly Snow White toothbrush could not calm her.


And even though the dentist referred to it as a princess chair and talked about her princess teeth, she was getting more and more nervous.


And then all hell broke loose. She refused to lay her head back, even though they had a TV on the ceiling for her to watch! But I told the dentist to proceed. Yes, I'm a mean mom. And I held her down. Held her arms and legs while she screamed and thrashed through the entire cleaning. Thankfully there were no other kids in the waiting room because I'm sure they would've ran screaming out the door!


It wasn't fun for me, it wasn't fun for her and it wasn't fun for Landon sitting in the stroller next to her crying because his big sister was in distress. But we managed to finish.

If looks could kill!

But she did get over her hatred for the dentist long enough to pick out a prize from the super cool treasure chest! The dentist asked if this was how I expected it to go and I said "Yes." She acted like this for the last two years when the pediatrician tried to look in her ears!


To make things better I offered her one of two treats, Dunkin Donuts or ice cream.

She chose the Spider-man ice cream. Which she decided was actually Spider-girl.

And even though I'm sure she'll remember her experience for awhile she hasn't really talked about it. Only one mention today that she doesn't have to go back for 6 months! LOL

So, should I make the appointment for Landon now or wait a little bit???

The Guessing Game

Maya loves to play games. She really likes for you to close your eyes and guess what she has behind her back. Today we were playing that game and all was going well, and then the last one I have to guess she gives me this clue, "It neighs and has a corn on its head." Hmm...I was stumped. I really thought it must be two different toys, a horse and a corn cob. But nope, just one. A unicorn!! LOL I love that kid.

She remembers everything....

Today in the car Maya says she hears a jingling noise and asks what it is. I say, "Its in your movie." No, that's not the answer she wants. So I say, "I don't know what it is." First she says, "Will someone please tell me what that sound is??" And then she says, "You have to tell me Mommy, because you're the mother and you know everything." Hmm...I do recall saying that to her before, but seriously, no idea what the jingling sound is. LOL

Landon's Photos

I meant to add this to his one year post, but forgot. :) Enjoy watching him grow!

His first cries


Comfy and warm after his first bath



First time with Sissy


Three months old and at his first soccer tournament


Six months old and enjoying his new exersaucer


First Halloween


Nine months old and already taking steps


First Christmas


First Birthday

My Sweet Baby Boy

Well, the time has come...my sweet baby boy is 1. :( I've dreaded this day for months and even though it was a day without tears it still makes me sad. I couldn't even post this on his actual birthday (2/21)! He's just growing up so fast. He started crawling earlier and walking earlier and is into WAY more than Maya ever was! He's definitely all boy. Here are a few tidbits about Landon:

- He's currently 22lbs 15oz (50%) and 30 1/2" (80%) long.
- He had 3 teeth on his 1st birthday but the 4th one has broken through. He has two bottom teeth, one front tooth and one eye tooth on the same side. He's my little hillbilly. :)
- He loves rolling around in piles of laundry
- He is still soothed by me singing Old MacDonald. I truly believe this is because I sang it so many times when I was pregnant with him. It was Maya's favorite song at that time.
- He's affectionately known as Prince Trouble or Landinator
- He will play in the toilet any chance he gets
- He has no fear, even after a fall down some stairs
- He loves wrestling with big sister. Or better yet, knocking her down.
- He loves to dance. He's already in love with Taylor Swift
- He can eat an entire pb&j as well as an entire piece of pizza. This may be normal, but it never happened with Maya at this age.
- He enjoys pulling hair and biting...we're hoping to break him of this soon!

Even though he causes trouble, he's so sweet and loving. Loves to give kisses. He'll definitely be keeping us on our toes for a long time to come!

We love you Landon!!

I just found 'blog' in my phone contacts and I totally forgot about blogging via texting! So this is a test...only a test. :)

Fun with glasses

While Daddy was busy picking out new glasses Peanut thought it would be fun to try on the childrens glasses too. I think she looks pretty darn cute in all of them. :)

A little TMI...but funny!

I just saw that I haven't posted at all in 2010. Geez..what's wrong with me??? I guess I may have a little much on my plate lately, I don't even have time to read my friends blogs! :( But I'm working on organizing myself and scheduling blogging time is most definitely on the list.

But I do have to share a story from yesterday. Peanut comes running into the kitchen "I have to go potty, I have to go potty!" So I set her up on the potty and she asks me to close the door. All normal. I decide to hang out outside the door because I figure she's going #2 and will need a wipe. :) The following is what I hear from behind the door:

"That's Daddy's magazine. I hate magazines. I hate magazine reading.....(grunt)." "Squeeze....squuueeeeeeze.....squeeeeeeezzzzeeee my butt." Plop. :)

I was almost laughing too hard to wipe her butt!

Our Elf on the Shelf

This year we decided to start a new tradition with The Elf on the Shelf. Peanut was so excited about it last night. We had a little issue with her wanting to change his name frequently, but we decided on Sparky the Christmas Elf. I thought he would work better for bedtime, but we're getting there. It is nice to remind her that he's watching so she needs to be a good listener. The best part was this morning..I was in the shower and she was watching TV in my bed. All of a sudden I hear stomping feet running into the bathroom. She says "Mommy, the elf is gone!!" I had to remind her that after he flies back from the North Pole he sometimes sits in a different spot. She was so excited to get back down there and find him!!

A little later I hear her saying "I love you." So I said I love you too. And she says, "I was talking to the elf." Geez!

So Funny

If the book is as funny as these few pictures, I can't wait to see it!!

Absent

Forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned. It's been 6 weeks since my last blog. It's not that I don't think about it, I do. I've wanted to post things but hadn't found the time. Maybe it's the house or the kids or the husband or the MOMS Club or the Pure Romance or the free lance meeting planning or Facebook or...well, I guess its all of that. But I'm back...at least for now. :)

Buddy is now 8 months old, crawling, sprouted a tooth and just recently pulled himself up for the first time. Time sure is flying by. He has bundles of energy and LOVES to take Peanut's toys. :)

Peanut LOVES preschool and has increased her vocabulary even more than I thought possible. Her imagination is out of this world even more so since we're reading a book about the solar system! Her imaginary friends Tika and Rajn are still a part of our lives as well.

A look back at my babies:

And where they are now:

Our future

In our house we love to listen to music and dance all around. This has made Peanut quite the dancer. I can only assume the dancing bug will be passed down to Buddy. This video is a glimpse of our future...LOL!

**The previous video was removed for whatever reason so I just found it again!

Bad words for toddlers

The other day Franklin said something mean to me. He was basically being a smart ass. Anyhow, I called him an A-hole. And I said it just like that, I left out the s's. And then Peanut, who was sitting right there, says "Daddy, you're an acorn!" Yes that's right Peanut, sometimes Daddy is a total acorn. :)

One of these things is not like the others...

Hmmm.....whether you're a fan of HGTV or the NRA..this store is for you!!

MOMS Club at Work

I've been part of my local MOMS Club for the last 2+ years and we've done many fundraisers to help local charities that benefit women and/or children. This past Spring we decided to take on a VERY large project. We wanted to raise money for new playground equipment at one of our local parks. Because the city recently spent a lot of money on this park putting in a splash pad they don't want to use any more for awhile. But the playground at the splash pad is awful! So as a club we decided to do something about it. We had a small fundraiser this Spring but we're going to continue our effort, especially because a local reporter heard about what we were doing and did a story about it!! You can find the article here. Hopefully things will get rolling and we'll be able to have new equipment soon!

Buddy is 6 Month's Old!

Can you believe my baby boy is 1/2 a year old already??? I sure can't! His check up was yesterday and he's a whopping 18 lbs 3 oz (70%) and get this... 29 1/4" long! Greater than the 95th percentile!!! He gained 3 lbs and grew 3 inches in two months! He's officially WAY bigger than Peanut was at this age. And I'm doing my best to keep him immobile. :)

The words parents dread....

Last night we decided to go and get some ice cream after dinner. It's about a 10 min trip and just over half way there Peanut said those words I've been dreading...."Are we there yet?" Ugh!! While this may not be a big deal to some, with all the travel we do I can see this being a BIG annoyance in the future. God help me!

This is me...if I could rap