The Good and the Bad

Let me be perfectly honest: I am horrible at keeping up with a blog.  One post a month? Sheesh!  But (and this is a big but) I like to think that I am an amazing person,wife, and mother.  I just don’t talk about it often.

A typical day for me consists of cooking all three meals for Ellie and myself (I use the term “cooking” very loosely because I get sick of cleaning up and sometimes cheerios or oatmeal count), working on the laundry in some form or as I like to call it winning another battle in the war that can never be won, reading book after book after book and some times it is all one book, cleaning (again, very loose. Cause, really, how much “cleaning” can be done with a toddler ruling the house?) and then prepping all Coles food and snacks for the next day.  I just got back from filling the car with gas and cleaning it out.  Brownie points!

Remember when Cole would do that for me?! it is still one of the best ways to show your love for your spouse.

Am I perfect Mama and Wife? H to the ELL no! But I am good and I can always try to be better tomorrow.

Ladies, I have news for you. So are you.

Open your eyes and go learn, never be complacent, research, discover, dig, and then pray for direction.  In all things.  it makes life so much better when you KNOW why you do what you do, and how you do what you do. You can take criticism gracefully and disregard it if you so choose or take it and learn from it.

AGAIN, I know I can keep working on this, but as part of my new thing of being positive and being humble, admitting what you are is not boasting, it is part of humility.

Here is my soap box and this is me stepping off now.

Night!

Somewhere Sunny and 75

It was 75 here today! How about where you live?  I took the bug for a walk in the sunshine where she found many treasures for me to hold and put in our back yard.  She scraped up her knees, came and told me all about it, and was over it.  I feel so accomplished and proud!

I have been working out hard this week with candy and am starting to feel really strong! I love it! I don’t think I’ll ever be skinny fit, and that is ok with me.  Cause, I like food.  Ok, ok, I love food.

I have this way of letting Ellie do things on her own that I think freaks people out.  I was watching a little girl earlier this week, and it was:

B:Molly! your baby is playing with the dryer! She wont get away! come get her!

Me: That’s fine, she can play with it.

B: Oh. But not in it.

Me: She can play in it. that’s fine.

B: WHAT?

And this little gem:

B: Molly! She just ate food off the floor! She’s gonna have to go to the doctor!

Me: Nope, we don’t go to the doctor unless we are really really sick or have a broken bone. She eats food off the floor all the time and doesn’t get sick.

B: she does?

Me: She eats dirt sometimes too.

B:WHAT?

I am sure people think I am straight up crazy. Maybe I am.

Bad Mama.

We are officially having our first bout with a sickness.  There is a fever involved that is not from growing new teeth, There have been tears from both parties, and snuggly naps.  I feel like a bad Mama for letting her get sick, and not holding her enough today, and not letting her eat only crackers today . . . the list could and does go on really.  I made her drink bone broth with raw garlic, and Braggs apple cider vinegar (that went over REAL well) and drink tons of water.

I did let her read all her books today and nap on me for two hours.  I guess it was bound to happen at  some point, but seeing her sick did not make it any easier.  And can I just say, Ellie is one tough cookie! She has still been pleasant, sweet, and full of her manners that we taught her! Full of Pleases and Thank-You’s to everyone we have been dealing with and have meat on our times out of the house!  I LOVE HER!

Today because she has been so good, we went to Costco and bought her a watermelon. her absolute favorite food! She was so happy as we were leaving! I had put the melon in the shopping cart seat right next to her, and she was loving on it, and giving it kisses! it was the sweetest thing! She got lots of complements from the other shoppers.

Side note: Yeah, we bought a watermelon, IN season, IN February, IN California! Summer for the WIN!

Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

While my daughter might not be fully able to say actual words, I can totally understand her.  I am sure it has something to do with being around her ALL. DAY. LONG. but there are times when other people can understand her also.  Daddy for one can get the gist of what is is wanting. Candy, because she is with us everyday. Yes her name is Candy, and she is the BOMB!
But the best thing, is that Ellie has a great grasp of ASL.  I am sure that if I knew more signs to teach her, she would be all over it! I need to look up how to say Butterfly for example.  As this is her new and current obsession.

We took a trip to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary this week, and not only did the weasel love watching things flying all around her, one even landed on her head an hung out with us for a bit.  It was great!  Ever since then, she has been running around the house with this book that has pictures of Butterflies trying so hard to say butterfly.  My Mama heart just loves watching her learn and do new things.  The last real big thing for her to learn till she is in full on toddler mode is talking. I can hardly wait to hear all she has to tell me in her sweet little voice!

It amazes me all the time how much love my heart has for her.  There are days when I am just so content sitting on the floor reading books! Well . . . more like reading the same book over and over and over again.  I really can only handle so much Mother Goose before I go crazy.

On another note, Daddy is doing so well in his classes! I really hope he passes with super high scores so we can get going in life! IE, start building a dream home! Everybody pray for him! We’ll be Back to UT in 11 months.

Also . . .

I went to the beach today and got some sun. Somewhere Sunny and 75? Eat that Winter! I win again!

Telling it Like it is.

We do a relaxed Elimination Communication in out house. The theroy is that Ellie will show signs that let me know she will be needing to use the potty soon. Pee and/or poo. She is really great about peeing on her potty.  Pooping was doing great, now, not so much.

Quote of the Day:

A few days ago she cam to me with her Potty book and let me know she wanted to sit on the potty. Yes, this is a bit of a game for her.  When she does go, she gets a high five and she gets to flush the potter herself. So we go up to the bathroom, I lay her down on the bed to take of her diaper (still dry, WOOHOO!) take her to sit on the potty, and she goes pee. YAY! High five!
Me-“Ok, do you need to pee more?”

She shakes her head no.

Me-“You are sure you are all done?”

She Signs all done.

I let her climb down off the potty after wiping her clean and she flushes. I close the lid and stand up to go back and grab her diaper while she goes to look into the tub for her toys.

LITERALLY 5 SECONDS LATER

I walk back into the bathroom to find that Ellie is standing RIGHT in front the toilet with the biggest pile of poop I have ever seen come out of a person let alone a child! She looks at me with the biggest smile on her face.

Ellie-“Poop!” while raising her hand for that high five.

I put her on the potty as she pooped even more after that and she was just so pleased with herself.

After a shower and a deep cleaning of the bathroom floor, she napped for two hours.

Ah life, you are good to me.

No Rest for the Wicked

Shadow slept from 9 to 11 and unless she was nursing, she was awake.  She was awake awake from 3-6 just ready to play, and then finally went back to sleep in time to get up at her normal potty time and was ready to start the day.  Moral of the story? No one got sleep last night.

Which brings me to my post for today: So tired. There was so much to do today, and it just didn’t happen. Hubby took the car today, and it was raining so walking was out, and try as I might there was just no keeping ahead of the small hurricane that is my toddler. I was a bad mom and totally let her play in the rain in our backyard for a good thirty minutes, till she started to shiver. She loved it! I could not bring her in without a fight! I do believe this was day 12 of rain since we have been here.

I have this idea in my mind, that although California is very much in need of this rain, mother nature is making the weather awful, so I have to stay in and clean the house. I hate cleaning, and she knows it, so she is trying to keep me in till it gets done, like I am grounded or something.  It’s rude. And I still didn’t clean the bathrooms today. Maybe tomorrow.

Just another Sunday

Church at 9, just might be the hardest thing I have to do in my life.  There was just so much that happened between the hours of 8 and 9 that just made it impossible to get to church on time.  Here’s how it went:

7am-get a wonderful, warm, wet sensation from a leaking disposable diaper on a sleeping Shadow.  Seriously, who ever is getting paid for the phrase, “Live and learn and then get LUVS” should be tried for treason, and hanged.  Potty Training can not come soon enough.  Side note. We Cloth diaper, but have yet to find something that will hold how much pee she lets loose in the night. I have just resigned myself to waking up to pee for the next few months.

7:15-After Daddy bringing us a new diaper and failing, miserably, to get that last 15 minutes before the alarm goes off, we get up to go make breakfast. A good hearty Sunday breakfast of eggs, toast, oatmeal, cereal, pancakes? Yogurt? No? You want no food? Great! Mama will eat it all.  What? now you want food? A carrot, you get to eat a carrot.

7:45-Back the diaper bag for church. So. Much. Fun.  As I put it in, Shadow takes it out. In go the books, out go the books.  In go the diapers, out go the diapers.

7:55-Give up on the diaper bag and start getting ready for myself. Hubby said he had the baby, so I grabbed to Coco powder and ran upstairs.  Side note: I don’t use shampoo. I have been reading about Coco and how it works as a dry shampoo for those with dark hair. Today was not a wash day, but I was looking a little greasy, and thought, “what a great time to try a little coco!” Bad, bad, bad, bad idea. The whole point was to avoid wasting time showering this morning.  I did too much and looked like a well dusted chocolate cake. I hopped in the shower rinsed it out and shaved my legs. New Razor! Just as I get out, Hubby comes up stairs and puts Shadow in her room to play.  “I don’t know how to tell you this, but we can’t put things where she can reach them. That new soap you bought is all over the floor.”  I had put this Peppermint soap, out of reach, on top of the toilet, mind you, but that is neither here nor there.

8:15- Soap is EVERYWHERE! and smelling very strongly of mint. I do not want to waste it, so I ask Cole for a bowl and start scooping it with my hands.

8:20- Quote of the day-“Babe, I have never been so frustrated and turned on in my life.” I am still dripping water and cleaning up soap in an extremely small space. “Glad I can help you out there Babe.”

8:25-Still not dressed, and Shadow is upset with us because we won’t let her play in the bathroom anymore now that it is clean and smells AMAZING! I run back upstairs and get dressed in my new dress, do my make-up and blow dry my hair faster than I can believe. And just as I grab my heels, it hits me. The dress the I am wearing is NOT Breastfeeding friendly.  If/when I were to feed her, I would have to take of the entire dress.  Nerds!

8:55-New outfit, hubby dressed the baby, and we are ready to go! No we are not! she took everything out of the diaper bag! Pack the bag! grab some snacks! Where are the keys!? Where is Shadow? LET’S GO!

9:05-Drive to church

9:19-Arrive just in time to take the sacrament.

It was a great day.

A Goose!

I let Ellie run around naked, often. and her little bum is just too cute not to pinch.  tonight, she was goosed! And it is now her favorite game.  She loves it when I say, “I’m gonna give you a goose!!!” she squeals and runs away!! She is officially no longer a baby.  She is in the early stages of being a toddler.  I makes me sad, but only a little, because she is starting to become more like a little human with likes and dislikes, a sense of humor that makes both Cole and I laugh, and learning how to talk!  When she wants something, she’ll walk up and pipe out this little, “pees?” while patting her chest.  We are teaching her sign language.  it is slow going, but she is getting the hang of it and knows a handful of signs!

Yesterday, she got a handful of jalapeno seeds from me making cranberry salsa. By the time I could stop her, half the seeds were gone.  There were tears, from both of us, there was gulping down almond milk, and hair pulling.  She couldn’t help herself from just grabbing as much of me as she could and just squeezing so hard! She was looking to me to fix it, and I did the best I could. Needless today, she is wary of anything green.

All About That Babe

Tonight, there will be cuteness as I share about the day in the life of my Shadow.  Upon waking up at a rather reasonable hour, (7) and loudly reminding me, “Mama, when I wake up you wake up and we play. SO PLAY!!!!!!!” Not that she really talks mind you, but she deffintly knows how to tell me what she is thinking.  If I don’t open my eyes fast enough to her liking, she sure does start sticking her tiny fingers in all my face holes. Mouth, nose, eyes, ears.  We say morning prayers and then sit on the potty for about five-ish minutes.  Normally she poops on the potty, and I don’t have to clean it up later! Really it is a win win.  Today was not a poop day.

A brief note on baby poop: it is interesting what I find does not really digest in her tummy, and I have found myself thinking one more than one occasion, “when did you eat that?” or,”what is this mush?” Cole thinks I am crazy, but i can tell you what bothers her system based off what her poop does.  If you are grossed out right now, I don’t care.  You should look at your own poop and learn about what you are eating too!

Breakfast is usually eggs because she LOVES them.  She would eat eggs ever meal if I let her.  She then napped, and it was a good one. I should have taken better advantage of that nap. it went from 9 to 11:30.  that was the only nap she took today. but life goes on.

There is quite a bit of peek-a-boo in our house. But her favorite things are books. All of her books are her favorites. She plays with them on her own, she comes and asks me to read them to her one at a time, and she totes them all over the house. There is a reason I call her my Shadow, she has taken to following me all around the house.  She has to see exactly what I am doing and then try to do it herself. Today’s task was cleaning her new crib. When I set the rag down to grab something, I would turn around to find that she had picked it up and was using it to wipe things down.

She has free play from morning nap to dinner time. We cook every meal.  Every meal is made by us.  The last time we went out to eat, we hated it. We cook and are learning how to improve our cooking. Ellie helps by tasting everything as I am prepping.  Mushrooms are the best! Bath is anywhere from 6-7:30 and then we try to go potty before bed time and then we brush each others teeth before it is time for bed. She is highly independent, and gets rather irked that I brush her teeth right after she has brushed her teeth and politely tells me no thank you. She will lower her head, raise her eyebrows and shake her head no, and then run away.

We shoot for a 8:30 sleep time, but we are so far behind the schedule that I don’t even care anymore.  It’s not that important anyway.

I am so tired.  I love her, and there are days where I can’t keep up! Today was one of those days.  No house work was done, dinner was late, but tasty, and I am still not cleaning up from the day.  I chose to blog for the future! I am making zero sense.