My Sweet Girl

I could write about how we were late to church because of a last minute mandatory clean up session, thanks to a certain little lady. I could write about how I was thoroughly embarassed at church when the same little lady decided to play ring-around-the-rosies as I was trying to receive communion. I could write about how I chose to be lazy with a capital L during naptime and started a new Nicholas Sparks novel instead of tackling the laundry and crumbs on the floor. Or I could once again whine and complain how my husband's work schedule completely stinks.

Instead, I'm going to just say that I love my sweet girl. I absolutely adore her. Even when she's making a mess and embarassing me in front of the entire congregation. I never knew I could love this much.

I am so grateful and blessed that God chose me to be her mother, and I pray every day that He grants me the strength, patience, and wisdom to do my job well.

Fantastic Friday

Our favorite guy is home! We picked him up from work around lunch time, enjoyed an awesome Cuban lunch at Mambo's, and then headed home for long afternoon naps for all three of us.

This tour with Farrah has been brutal, that's for sure, but I can tell you one important lesson it has taught us- enjoy any family time you have. Don't take a single second for granted. Which is why, even though Mike just had to run a few mundane errands and it would have made more sense for me to just stay home to get things done around the house and start dinner, Grace and I hopped into the car with him and tagged along.

Farrah is only loaning Mike to us for a couple of days before she whisks him off again for a couple of weeks, so our time is precious. I hope Mike enjoys having a couple of extra shadows because Grace and I are going to be stuck to him like crazy glue.

A Fishy Dress and Big Girl Panties

I wasn't going to put Grace in any of her new outfits until it was officially spring, but she dragged her stool to the closet, found her fishy dress, and asked if she could wear it. I just couldn't say no to that face. And quite honestly, I was just as excited to get her into the dress, too.

I woke up this morning amazingly well rested because Grace didn't have a single coughing fit last night. I'm so glad she's getting better because taking care of a sick baby makes me nervous, especially when I don't have my husband around for back up.

The sugar overload therapy must have worked it's magic because the icky feeling I was starting to get yesterday is gone. I celebrated by reorganizing Grace's closet. And then hurt my back when I tried to lift fifty pound plastic containers to the top of her closet shelf.

I realized halfway into my lift that I might have bitten off more than I could chew, but I figured, I was already halfway there so I might as well finish the job. Two Motrins later and I'm feeling much better. I'm going to end the evening with some more sugar therapy, just in case.

A quick potty training update: It's been slow going, mostly because I've been pretty lackadaisical about it, but there IS some slight progress. Before, she would tell me she needed to go to the potty after she had already gone in her diaper. So I bought her some 'big girl panties' to encourage her to tell me beforehand. Now she's telling me she needs to go to the potty AS she is going. Like I said, slight progress. We made a quick trip to Walmart this afternoon to buy her more undies because she is going through them too quickly for my laundry loads to keep up.


A little peek at her quiet play. This picture is my reminder that she isn't always making a mess or getting into things that require constant clean up on my part. Although it sure does seem like that sometimes.

When He's Gone, I Eat Cereal

It's a good thing Mike is coming home soon. I eat horribly when he's gone and I know I don't have to cook. I whip something up for Grace and then rummage around for something easy for me. Tonight it was two bowls of cereal. The first one was Cranberry Almond Crunch with skim milk. The second one was dessert- Cinnamon Toast Crunch with whole milk.

It's also a good thing Mike is coming home because I'm starting to feel a bit 'off'. It may just be from lack of sleep, but it could also be because I can't resist all the kisses my girl gives me and I have now gotten whatever she has.

I'm hoping that if I eat a bunch of sweets (I found a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups minis at the grocery store today that I'm going to break into in a minute), I can kill the germs with sugar overload. It's worth a try anyway.

Grace must have enjoyed the on-the-fly dinner I served her tonight because the girl asked for seconds. That almost never happens!

"Can I have some more broccoli, please?" Yes, this girl loves her some broccoli.

The sun went hiding today and it was a little too chilly for a coughing Grace to play outside, so I brought the fun indoors. If I knew how much she would enjoy this slide, I would have bought it a long time ago. The bonus? It even matches my decor.

Ballerina Baybing Suit

Grace saw her bathing suit hanging up in her closet and begged me, "Mama, can I please put on my ballerina baybing suit? Please, please, please!" (While jumping up and down) So that's what she wore around the house today, prancing around and looking adorable.

Twirling and twirling. Please ignore the pile of laundry and vacuum cleaner in the background.

I, however, looked like a hot mess. That's what happens to me when I lose out on a couple of night's sleep.

Grace feels and acts fantastic during the day and that scary high fever from the other night has not made a reappearance, but that nagging cough is still there. The cough is rare during the day, but it makes up for it's daytime absence by coming back full force at night. So much so that she'll end up getting sick. I've had to change her bedding at least twice a night. I'm so thankful I have four sets of bedsheets.

When I'm not cleaning up throw up- on her, on me, on the bed, on the floor leading to the bathroom- I'm holding her upright so she can sleep without coughing. As much as I hate the tacky things, it's times like this when I wish I had a big, comfy recliner. Then maybe we could both get some sleep.

Other than that, things are looking good over here. We're still enjoying the fabulous 80 degree weather with lots and lots of sunshine. She has been asking to go to the playground, but I don't want to risk infecting other children while she's still got the crud. So I went and got Grace her very own slide, which is her favorite piece of equipment at the playground.

I'm a sucker for kids who are sick! Especially sweet ones who apologize for getting sick. It tears me up that she feels the need to say, "I'm sorry, Mama, it was an accident," whenever she throws up on her bed. How can you NOT get that kind of girl whatever her sweet little heart desires?

Feeling Fantastic

As you can see, Grace was feeling fantastic today. I, on the other hand, was a walking zombie. Her fever finally broke at 5:30 in the morning which means I didn't get a wink of sleep. That's okay, though, as long as my girl is feeling better. After a trip to the pediatrician, Grace is now on antibiotics and steroids to finally kick this lingering cough and crud.

And now I am off to crawl into bed and try to catch up on some sleep!

Her Sweet Heart's Desire

Our day started off great. We made it to church on time and Grace was exceptionally well behaved. Instead of acting like a little monkey trying to climb all over the pew, she was content to sit on my lap. And other than loudly singing Barney's "I Love You" song during the blessing of the bread and wine, she was pretty quiet. We even had a successful trip to Old Navy and Costco (no whining, crying, or trying to escape the shopping cart).

Maybe her extremely good behavior should have been a clue that something was off.

My girl is now running a temperature of 103. After an afternoon of fun, running around the house playing, she crawled into my lap at 6:30 and promptly fell asleep. I've been holding her and catering to her since.

Which is why it's 10:30 and she's still up watching 'Finding Nemo'. While I hand feed her a popsicle (and type with the other hand). And as soon as I'm done with this post, I'm off to make her some pasta because she just asked for it.

If Grace has to be sick, then I'm going to do everything I can to fulfill her sweet heart's every desire to make her comfortable and happy.

Lotsa Frosting

When I was dressing Grace for the day, she told me, "I like this dress, Mama. It's got lotsa frosting!" I guess all the frills do kinda look like frosting on a cupcake. That got me so tickled. And craving cupcakes.

I headed back to that consignment sale this morning because it was half off day. I found a few more dresses that I must have somehow missed my first go through. This was only my second consignment sale and I must say I'm addicted now. Grace's entire spring/summer wardrobe cost less than $80. Not bad, I say. And there's enough frosting to please my girly-girl.

Speaking of girly-girl- I washed and then hung up the dresses in her closet this afternoon. Grace dragged her stool over to the closet, ran her fingers through all her new clothes and said, "Look at all my beautiful dresses!" She stood there for a long time admiring her clothes. I love that she has an appreciation for such girly things, but watch out, Daddy, because I have a feeling we won't get by with consignment finds once she reaches adolescence.



We were waiting in a long line at the Chick-fil-a drive through when I heard fits of giggles coming from the back. She had taken off her socks and shoes and was sniffing her feet, cracking herself up and saying, "That's so stinky!" So much for being a girly-girl.

Bittersweet Friday

We enjoyed gorgeous 80 degree weather today. Grace and I tried to spend every single minute outside soaking up the fabulous sunshine. It is the start of a three day weekend and, miracle of miracles, Mike doesn't have weekend duty.

Sounds pretty fantastic, but here's the kicker- we had to drop Mike off at the ship before the sun was even up this morning. The underway schedule changed at the last minute and now they have to go out for a while, during a rare three day weekend in which Mike didn't have to go into work (for a change). Goodness gracious, we just seem to have the worst luck with Farrah. We can't ever catch a break!

But enough about that. Grace and I will keep busy and our number one guy will be back before we know it.

We picnicked on the lawn,

brought out the gallon sized bubbles and went crazy,

collected shells on the beach,

and got good and messy with all the sand.

Grace the Hair Twirler

Grace is a hair twirler. It started when she was a little over a year old, but she only twirled her hair when she was sleepy. She never needed a pacifier, a blankie, or a special toy to help her fall asleep. She just twirled her hair.

But now the hair twirling has spilled into waking hours as well. And when her hair is in pigtails, the twirling just gets insane. She can't seem to stop herself and it's hilarious to watch.
She'll even double twirl.

Tis the season for consignment sales! It seems like there's one every weekend for the next month or so. I hit up a huge children's consignment sale this morning and I'm quite happy with the deals I found. So was Grace. She scored a high chair for her baby dolls, a princess castle playset, and a bunch of spring and summer dresses.



Such fantastic deals! My favorite find is probably the first dress- nothing screams "Summer is here!" like a watermelon seersucker dress. The bonus is I only paid three bucks for it.

More hair twirling from my happy girl.

Maybe One Day

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." ~Phyllis Diller

I used to pride myself in keeping a clean home. It was almost always 'guest ready'. That was before Grace came along. Once she was born, the house slowly started to fill with baby paraphernalia.

But that was nothing compared to the toddler destruction that is going on now.

Last night, I couldn't stand the perpetual layer of crumbs and stickiness on my floor and tabletops a second longer, so I went into full on cleaning mode. It's not like I don't constantly spray, wipe, and sweep during the day either. But it all seems fruitless because at the end of the day, it looks like I did nothing but sit on the couch and eat bonbons all day long.

You would think that the deep cleaning would at least be slightly noticeable less than 24 hours later, but nope. It's back to normal- crumbs on the floor, sticky fingerprints on my furniture, spilled milk splatters from those 'spill proof' sippy cups.

Maybe one day my house will stay clean for longer than fifteen minutes. But until then, I guess I better just get used to all the mess.

As I was in the middle of cooking dinner, I heard Grace asking me to "Look at me, Mama! This is fun!" But since I was sauteeing garlic and onions at the stove, I just told her, "That's nice! I'll be there in a second!" When I finally got the chance to look, I saw she had colored in one of her daddy's books and spilled all her juice on it, the table, and floor. And she was drumming on the table causing the juice to splatter everything within a two foot radius.


She dragged her chair to the kitchen and pulled the bag of chips off the counter. What you can't see here are the bajillion crumb pieces on the floor that she was happily stomping on when I found her. All of this happened twenty minutes after I had swept and mopped the floor.

***Update: My dear friend, Nellie, shared this with me and I love it! A little something to keep it all in perspective...

Babies Don’t Keep
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Happy Valentime's Day

Nope, the title is not a typo. I just wanted to document how Grace says it now. So sweet.

I wish I could say I was one of those mothers who makes pink, heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast and has crafty, creative, and fun ideas planned for my child on this day of love. I really aspire to be that kind of mom.

Instead, my child ate her usual- scrambled eggs and mini pancakes (no fancy shapes or colors). I did give her a few Valentine's Day M&M's for her dessert.

Then instead of some super unique crafting project, I busted out her box of crayons and let her color in her Hello Kitty coloring book. I did make sure we colored a page that had hearts on it.

Finally, instead of coming up with an activity that would reinforce how wonderful I think she is and how much I adore her, I made her walk to the playground and back (no stroller) so that she'd be exhausted and ready for nap time. I did, however, make sure she was all dressed in red, white, and pink in honor of Valentine's Day.

Maybe next year, I will become THAT kind of mom- a strong contender for Mother of the Year- but for now, it is what it is. I DO think my baby is wonderful and I adore her more than she'll ever know, and hopefully, that is enough for now.


Mike and I did sneak away for a bit to go out on a romantic dinner for two. In the seven years we've been together, this was only our second Valentine's Day together. For all the other ones, he was with his other love, the U.S. Navy. Our meal was divine and I gave him a present that I know he's been wanting for a long, long time. He loved it so much he said I never have to give him another gift for the rest of our lives!

She Did It Again

Maybe it's because I put sunblock on her multiple times a day so she thinks it's okay if she does it, too. Maybe she is so used to putting it on that she doesn't think adult supervision is necessary. Maybe it's because she thinks it's make up and, being such a girly girl, she enjoys pretending to put on make up. Maybe it's because I have run out of places to hide things from such a determined toddler. Whatever the reason, Grace got into the sunblock lotion and smeared it all over herself, her clothes, and her bedding. Again. At least Mike has been home all weekend so he was on clean up duty.

The rest of our day was wonderful. We went shopping for my Valentine's Day gift, a new point and shoot camera so I don't have to lug the SLR with me every day. I know it doesn't sound romantic, but in my husband's defense, he did offer a trip to Tiffany's. But I told him I needed a camera more than jewelry. This time. And probably the only time where something else will trump a gift from a jewelry store.

Then it was off to our friends' house where they were hosting a pre-Valentine's Day get together. Grace had so much fun hanging out with all the kids and pretending to be older than she actually is. I enjoyed some much needed adult interaction. And the big bonus? The party wore Grace out so much that bedtime wasn't an issue. At least tonight.

I Love You, Three

This is a picture of my baby completely heartbroken. We promised her a fun morning at an awesome playground. Mike and I talked it up all through breakfast and practically had a game plan of which playground equipment we were going to hit up first. Grace squealed with sheer happiness when we pulled into the parking lot. I was amazed at how empty it was for a beautiful, sunshiny Saturday morning.

Turns out it was empty because it was closed for maintenance. Talk about horrible timing. My girl cried and cried and cried. After we finally managed to buckle her into her carseat, we drove around to the parks the GPS told us were nearby. But they looked a little questionable. So after driving around all morning looking for a decent playground, we ended up back in our neighborhood, playing on the playground that is a two minute walk away from our house.

On the bright side, Grace told her first joke today. She and I were sitting in the car waiting for Mike to get coffee at Starbucks when she told me she loved me. Naturally, I told her I loved her, too. And then with a big old smile on her face, she responded with, "I love you, three!"