Sunday, October 28, 2012

My Big Girl, Maddie

I couldn't do a post about Sadie and ignore Maddie :)

Maddie has been amazing us over and over again.  I really had no idea a 4 year old could be so smart.  Now, I'm not trying to say she's smarter than other 4 year olds, I don't know...she might be, but I just had no idea their little brains could comprehend so much at such a young age!

Lately Maddie's been trying to sound out words to write them.  She made a picture for Murphy (the dog) the other day and wrote "MOF" on the top for Murph.  Not bad, eh?  This morning she was playing with a doll and she decided to name her Ruby.  On Ruby's "school folder", Maddie wrote "Rbe".  I was seriously impressed!

She loves to learn and is always really excited about going to school and learning new things.  She's constantly impressing us with how much she's learning too.  She really impressed Eric the other night when he was reading her a book and she told him the author wrote the book and the illustrator drew the pictures.  It's just these little things that are the coolest to hear her say!

Of course, she continues to make us laugh with her silly little expressions and comments.  Her little brain is in overdrive and she's becoming more and more creative with what she says.  Last night I was getting her ready for bed and she tooted.  She said, "Woah, excuse me.  I'm a Tootie McNoodle!"  I couldn't stop laughing!!

Probably the BIGGEST, most exciting news about Maddie these days is that she no longer sucks her thumb!!  On the morning of September 24th, she came downstairs and told me she doesn't want to suck her thumb anymore.  She brought me her two snugglies and her two favorite stuffed animals that she used to suck her thumb with and told me not to give them back.  I reassured her that if she really wanted to be done that I would take them and she would NOT get them back.  I knew it was going to be hard on all of us, but it seemed she was ready and I had to take that opportunity to help her.  Well, her "sucking hazards" went up on top of my armoire in my room and they are still there.  They haven't moved...(I'll put them in her keepsake box so she can have them forever!).  We've been so proud of her taking the initiative to be a "big kid"!

So now I'll leave you with some pictures of our sweet, sweet 4 year old!

First day of Preschool!

First dance class.

Maddie loving on the T-Rex at the zoo.

Sweet girls at the campground in Grapevine.

Working on a painting project.

We had to stop by Target after dance class and she was so excited to see her favorite Disney Princess :)

Mommy and Maddie sleepover night.

Maddie got a prize after not sucking her thumb for 2 weeks.  She chose this fun gumball machine!

Being a silly goose at the zoo!

Here's a shot of Maddie in May of 2011 and again in October 2012.  She's grown quite a bit :)

She got this tent in her room for Christmas 2010 and still likes to nap in it some times.  I love it!

Here's our big girl the first day she wanted dropped off in the car line at school.  We're so proud of her!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Oh, My Sadie...

Sadie is no longer my baby.  Yet she's not quite a big kid either.  She's in that in between phase that can be frustrating to maneuver.  When Maddie was around this age (maybe even younger), I started giving her options so she could be a part of the decision making process.  In the morning I would hold up two outfits and ask her which one she wanted to wear, let her chose her shoes for the day, let her decide what she wanted for breakfast, etc.  Well, somehow between those couple of years I forgot all about that philosophy. With Sadie, I get her up and put some clothes on her, I hand her whatever *I* think she wants for lunch, stick a pair of shoes on her on the way out the door.  Ha!  That's backfiring on me now.  She has become quite opinionated.  If I put a bowl of cereal in front of her in the morning she just might swipe it off onto the floor if that's not what she wants!  I've gotten good about asking what she wants for breakfast now!  I still just get her dressed in whatever I want her to wear for the day and I'm not sure that's a bad thing :)  So far she hasn't really complained about what she's wearing.  There was one day that was orange day at Maddie's school so I put an orange shirt on Sadie.  She didn't seem to like it until we walked into the school.  Weird.

Another thing we recently figured out about Sadie is that she seems to have a fear of heights.  I picked her up on my shoulders last night and about had my eyes gouged out from her death grip!  She was really nervous being up there.  Eric said she does the same thing to him when he puts her up, but I guess this was the first time I had done it.  Later I was upstairs and I held Sadie to look down at Daddy and she got nervous with that as well.  She kept telling me she wanted down.  Poor kid!  She doesn't seem to have a fear of coming down the stairs, though as she willingly comes down them all by herself.  Today she even tried to walk down them without holding on!  That's when mommy got nervous!!

Now I'll leave you with some pictures of my growing girl!  (These pictures range from August 27th through Oct 9th)
I love how green her eyes are starting to look!

Here's our sweet girl on her birthday!  We spent part of the day at the pool having lots of birthday fun!

 I HATE these shopping carts.  But...it was the only way to cheer her up after her 2 year old check up so I sacrificed :)

We went up to Grapevine, TX in mid-September and "camped".  Sadie wasn't afraid of holding this caterpillar.  She loved it!

I always love taking bathtub photos :)  Sweet baby!

This kid can cross her eyes on demand.  She's been doing it since before her first birthday...it's the strangest thing ever!  (But we love it)  :)

Enjoying some Tutti Frutti!

Just looking sweet so Mommy had to snap a picture.

Sadie told me, "Mommy, take a picture." Then she posed like this.  Doesn't she look like a little baby super model??

The biggest boo boo she's had yet.  The good news is it looked about 85% better by the next morning!

Steering the boat at the zoo.  She just looks so big to me with her big girl pony tail!

Posing with big sister and a giant snapping turtle at the zoo.



Thursday, October 25, 2012

A Potty Training Update

Sadie officially began potty training on October 18th, exactly one week ago.  She has been having about one accident per day.  Not too shabby!  One day she had two accidents, but yesterday she had NONE!!  It was a good day :)

At the beginning of our training, I was consistently asking Sadie if the pee pees needed to come out.  She would tell me yes or no.  If she said yes, she always went.  I was amazed because I really didn't think she was going to know how to tell.  Then I kind of lost interest in training her and I had other things to do so I put a diaper on her.  Well, wouldn't you know...that kid would NOT pee in her diaper!  She insisted that she pee in the potty.  I kept telling her, "It's ok, sweetie.  You have a diaper.  Just pee in your diaper."  Nope...she wouldn't have anything to do with it.  Ugh...so much for mommy having a day off from running to the potty all day!

Now Sadie is consistently telling us she has to pee.  Of course we drop everything we're doing and run her to the bathroom.  If she's gone a couple of hours without a potty break, we'll ask her if she has to go but other than that, she's doing it on her own.  I'm almost ready to say she's trained.  We even take her out of the house in her undies now and so far so good!  We're so proud of our big girl!!




Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Being a Mom

*I wrote this post last night but forgot to publish it* :)


Today has been one of "those" days.  I have struggled with loving my kids today.  I mean, of course I love them, but I've just had a hard time showing it.  I've had a lot going on lately and have been stressing myself out to be the perfect mom and it's having a negative affect on my patience.

Our average day goes something like this...
Sadie wakes up, I make my coffee then Maddie and I go up to get her up.
Girls play in Sadie's room for a few minutes while I sip my coffee and enjoy watching them get along.
Bring the girls downstairs, decide what's for breakfast.
Girls eat their breakfast while I make my breakfast, pack a lunch for Maddie (if needed)
Clean up from breakfast (I'm usually eating my breakfast while cleaning theirs up)
Let the girls play for a while while I take my shower
8:45 get the girls upstairs to start getting dressed for the day
9:00 come downstairs and turn on the tv for the girls.  They usually watch either Doc McStuffins or Imagination Movers.  I finish up last minute lunch stuff, or get Maddie's backpack ready or finalize my shopping list if Sadie and I are heading out for shopping
9:20-ish we head out the door to drop Maddie off at school.  (Maddie finally let me start dropping her off in car line so this process is much shorter)
9:45-ish Sadie and I get home.  We try to do our preschool lesson of the day if we're in the mood for it.  If not, we do a puzzle or read a book, or Sadie gives me a "check up", just something to give her a little one-on-one attention.
11:00 Sadie eats her lunch
11:30 Sadie watches Barney
12:00 Sadie goes down for her nap
12:00-1:30 (some days, longer on some days, shorter on other days) I go up at regular intervals to put Sadie back in bed for her nap.  This is a new habit that is driving me crazy...
During this time I'm trying to eat my lunch, clean up the kitchen from lunch, work on laundry, do a chore around the house, work on a project (like Sadie's Halloween costume), etc.
After I do something productive I feel like I can relax.  I watch a show that I have on the DVR or try to get in a quick nap.
2:10-2:15 it's time to go pick Maddie up from school.  We have to get there early to avoid waiting in the middle of the road to get into the parking lot...but we end up waiting until they start bringing the kids out at 2:25-2:30 anyway.  During this time Sadie looks at some books and I work on a crocheting project.
2:45-ish we're home from school and the girls want a snack.  While I'm preparing a snack, Maddie wants to show me what she's brought home from school and Sadie wants me to hold her (usually because she procrastinated on going to sleep so I had to wake her up to get Maddie so now she's cranky...)
3:00 try to breathe.  I try to give the girls attention and focus only on them while we have our snack.  I let Maddie tell me about the exciting things that happened at school that day or anything she wants to talk about.
tv comes back on (Doc McStuffins, Imagination Movers or a DVD)
I start working on dinner.  If I can do some prep work earlier in the day, I try to get it done so this time of day isn't so busy.
3:45 Eric calls to tell me he's on the interstate on his way home.  Asks if I need anything from the grocery store and lets me know if he has any planned stops on the way home.
4:15 Eric gets home (most days).  By this time I'm ready to pass the girls off to him and call it a day!  HA!!
5:00, or soon after we have dinner
Eric usually does the kitchen clean up after dinner.  I use this time to try to relax a little, but the girls are running around like crazy screaming their heads off or putting on a "show" of some sort.
6:30 we generally start our bedtime routine.  Thank God we don't give our kids baths every night...that would just put me over the edge!
7:30 most nights the girls are in bed and the night belongs to the grown ups...
We watch tv or I work on a project (like Sadie's Halloween costume, or making plans for our upcoming road trip, or making Christmas plans, or just browsing Pinterest)
8:30 Eric's in bed (and usually asleep).  If I'm in bed by then, I'm watching tv.  If I'm not in bed, I'm watching tv in the livingroom.  I usually like to stay up to watch the 10:00 news...I feel like it's my only window to what's going on in the outside world!

Of course this is just a rough draft.  Some days we have outings and play dates, some days we stay in our pjs and snuggle on the couch longer than usual.  Some days I let the girls fend for themselves so I can catch up on laundry or house cleaning.  Even though that always backfires on me!  Someone always needs something.  Maddie's getting pretty self-sufficient in most things by now but Sadie's getting to the age where she wants to be self sufficient but can't quite do it all...

Today was just a day that I didn't have the energy to take on all the things that the day required.  I did manage to grill a yummy dinner...even if Eric only had a pork chops with a side of another pork chop, he didn't complain :)  Other than that I don't feel like I accomplished much.  I tried to nap but Sadie had other plans...Maybe tomorrow?  Well, I won't plan on it because it could lead to disappointment :)

Tomorrow I will put less expectations on myself and really try to enjoy my girls.  I really do love them to pieces and I want them to have memories of a loving, caring mom who did things with them. I want them to remember reading books at the breakfast table, mommy sitting on the floor helping with puzzles, mommy stopping whatever she's doing to see the latest and greatest masterpiece they've drawn.  I also want to remember these times.  I don't want to wish their childhood away and look back in 15 years wondering what we did when they were my babies.  I've already seen them grow so much, without me really noticing because I was too busy.  I don't want to miss out on more memories!  One day they'll be grown and out of the house and I will wish I had taken more time loving my girls and less time trying to be "perfect".

Thursday, October 18, 2012

2 1/2 Months of Catching Up!

I started a few posts during these past 2+ months that I've been MIA, but never got around to finishing them or posting.  So...we'll try again!

First, some updates on Maddie.

Maddie is now 4 years, 4 1/2 months old.  She's growing more and more every day.  She's not only getting bigger, but also so much smarter.  She LOVES school this year and is learning so much!  This kid can write all of her letters (most of them the right way), can count to 39 all by herself, and has started sounding out words to write them.  Today she wrote "MOF" for Murphy.  She told me, "first I wrote "MA" but then I sounded it out and I didn't think it had an "A", I thought it should be an "O"."  She's really thinking!!  I'm so impressed with the whole learning to read process.  It's so neat to experience this process with her!

In other news, Maddie started her first dance class on September 6th.  She was quite apprehensive the first day but has taken off since then.  She loves it and looks forward to going every week.  In fact, every Wednesday when we get home from school she asks me, "Mommy, do I get to go to my dance class tomorrow?".  I love how she's learning our schedule without me telling her!!  So impressive :)

Now for some updates on Sadie.

Sadie turned 2 on September 2nd.  We had a very low key birthday celebration for her at home.  No big party this year...next year she'll have her first party and I think it'll be a blast!  She definitely understood that it was HER day.  She enjoyed getting presents and blowing out her candle and seemed to really enjoy all of the extra attention that was given to her.  Of course for days after her birthday, she had to walk around singing Happy Birthday to everyone and everything.

Sadie is now talking up a storm. She's speaking in full sentences and is getting very demanding and FUNNY!  Her personality is really starting to shine lately, both the good and the bad!  She loves her babies and little toy animals and her doctor kit.  She gives check ups like you wouldn't believe.  It's so cute when she gives Mommy or Daddy a check up.  She checks our ears, eyes, listens to our hearts, checks our blood pressure. Then she has us sit up so she can listen to our backs.  She says, "Take a deep beff a me." (Take a deep breath for me).  So we take a few deeps breaths, then she says, "Good." and gets the shot ready.  She looks at us with the most serious look and says, "Dis a huwt wittle bit." (This will hurt a little bit) then gives the shot. We give a big dramatic "OUCH!".  And she tells us, "I weawy sowy." (I really sorry).  It's the cutest thing!

Today we started potty training.  Ugh...I really wasn't looking forward to doing this until after the holidays, but it seems she's ready.  I hate to not take advantage of this window of opportunity.  Just a couple of days ago I was really resisting.  I didn't think she was ready but today changed my mind.  I got Sadie up just after 7 and changed her diaper. After that the girls had breakfast, played a while, watched some tv, played some more, we went to a play date, got home around 1pm.  I took the girls up for a nap, went to change Sadie's diaper and it was DRY.  I couldn't believe it!  I asked if she wanted to pee on the potty and she did.  She sat there a while and didn't pee for a little bit.  I told her if she let the pee pees out she would get some candy.  Well, as soon as she heard "candy", she peed.  YAY!!!  After nap time I put her in undies and a dress and she kept them dry the rest of the night.  One time I asked her if the pee pees were ready to come out and she said yes.  I put her on the potty and she peed.  I was amazed!  She got her little Reese's Piece and was a happy little girl :)  We'll see how tomorrow goes...

Well, that's it for now.  I hope to get some updated pictures of the girls soon.  Here are a couple to hold you over until then!

Sadie got the whole Doc McStuffins cast for her birthday.  She was especially happy to get Chilly :)

Maddie enjoyed lots of rides at GrapeFest in Grapevine, TX.