Accidents Happen

Potty training is progressing pretty well considering I'm really not pushing it all that much. I let Grace tell me when she has to go and she's been doing so more and more consistently.

There are still a few accidents, of course, so I tell her that it's okay because it was an accident and accidents happen.

Grace loves to get on my bed and mess up my pillows. I'm okay with it, but after about the tenth time this morning, it started to get old. I guess she could tell I was starting to get upset because she told me, "Sorry, Mama. It was an accident. And accidents happen."

After dinner, I gave her a bowl of fruit for dessert. The next thing I know, all the fruit was on the floor. I have a sneaking suspicion that it was done on purpose, but the girl once again claimed it was an accident. And reminded me that accidents happen.

I don't know, but I kinda like her definition of accidents. I think tomorrow I'm going to accidentally go through the Chick-fil-a drive thru and accidentally order myself a large chocolate milkshake. And I might even accidentally go shopping for some new spring outfits. And if Mike questions the need for all the new clothes, I'll just have to tell Grace to remind her daddy that accidents happen!

A Baby Shower and Band Aids

Helping me roll diapers to make the diaper cakes.

The very first baby shower I ever threw was for my dear friend, Julie. Thank goodness I had an awesome co-host who really knew what she was doing because if it was all left to me, poor Julie would have had a very lame baby shower indeed.

My main contribution to Julie's shower was the obligatory pancit and lumpia, being the only Filipino girl there. Oh, and I also ordered the cake. And okay, okay...a small confession- I ordered the pancit and lumpia, too. What can I say? I was a career woman back then and didn't have much free time.

I still wish I could re-do her shower knowing the crafty and creative things I know now. And although I don't know if I could pull off making her a cake, I've at least learned how to make my own pancit and lumpia since then.

The baby shower today was a success. Again, mainly because I had an awesome co-host, Jen. The mamas-to-be were lovely and we all had a wonderful time sharing our birthing and new parenting stories. And the kids had just as much fun running around the backyard and doing the spring time crafts Jen had ready for them.

Notice the missing cookie on the top row. My helper did a little unsolicited taste testing.

The beautiful mamas-to-be: Jess, Becky, and Jenny.

I owe Jen a box of bandaids. During the party, Jen commented that she kept finding random bandaids around the house. Only later did I find out they were actually coming from my daughter. Grace had fallen down and wanted a bandaid, but I told her she had on tights and didn't scrape her knee, so a bandaid wasn't necessary. She somehow found a box of bandaids, opened them, put them on her knee (on top of her tights), and scattered the rest all over the house.

Later at home, when she was supposed to be using the potty, I caught her on top of the sink and checking the medicine cabinet for more bandaids.

Look at My Rain Boots!

When Grace woke up to gray skies, she immediately pulled out her rainboots from her closet and asked me if it was wet outside. The girl has been dying to get some rain so she can slip into her boots.

We ran errands all morning, and although the sky threatened rain, not a single drop fell during our outing.

In the afternoon, she had a follow up appointment with her pediatrician and it rained on the way there. Of course, she didn't have her boots on, but I promised her that she could put it on the second we got back home.

By the time we got home though, the rain had fizzled out and turned into a misty mess. Still, true to my promise, I put her in her rain gear anyway and we walked down to the mailbox. Grace was as proud as could be about her rainy day outfit and announced to the neighbors we passed on the way to "Look at my rain boots!"

The rain really started coming down later in the evening when it was time for me to go out to dinner with a few friends. The downpour didn't stop us from having a fabulous time.

And it didn't stop Daddy and his girl from enjoying their evening together either. They watched a movie, created play dough masterpieces, and played pretend.

Even with the dreary weather, it was a wonderful start for the week!

Church, Costco, and a Gun Show

That pretty much sums up our Sunday. We all went to church- the first time in a long while since we've been able to do that together. It was a nice feeling walking into church as a family. Of course, we were a little late and the only seats we could find were in the baby cry room. For some reason, Grace behaves pretty well when we sit out in the main part of the church, but the moment we set foot in the cry room, the little monkey breaks loose. But at least she didn't make a mad dash for baby Jesus this morning like she usually does when I'm in line for Communion.

This picture is not posed. This is what she actually does every week after Mass- she kneels down and prays to baby Jesus to "keep me safe and healthy and keep my Daddy safe on the ship".

After church, it was a quick trip to Costco where Grace's lunch consisted of all the samples she and her daddy could find. If she really liked something, it was my job to go back for seconds. Mike and I have no qualms about doing this. We consider the free food part of our membership fee.

This picture IS posed. Just in case my mom sees this and gets mad at me for endangering her grandbaby by letting her ride in the shopping cart standing up and unbuckled.

On the way home, we happened to see a gun show, so we stopped in for a few minutes. We were still in our church clothes so we were a bit overdressed for the event. I don't care much about guns, but it was interesting to see all the different kinds of weapons and military uniforms, many of which were antique and had lots of history behind them.


Oh, and we also went to the beach in the afternoon. But it hardly counted because we only stayed for about fifteen minutes. Just enough time for our little ballerina girl to get her hands in the sand and find a few shells.
Stomping on her Daddy's castle.

Whoopee

Mike was off today, the first Saturday in a long time, but the poor guy was out of the house for half the day running errands. And where we normally would tag along, Grace and I stayed behind so she could rest.

When Mike made it home, he had a whoopee cushion with him and he and Grace had a blast playing with it. She thinks it's the best toy ever and keeps trying to get me to sit on it so that we can hear 'the dogs barking' (what she calls that lovely sound).

While the two were sharing their love of bathroom humor, I hung out in the kitchen and tried yet another cupcake and frosting recipe. Regardless of how it turned out, I promised myself it would be my last try. I am all cupcaked out. It was fun, but my waistline and thighs can't afford to keep taste testing.

Change-of-Plans Friday

Mike and I were supposed to go out to a little work party tonight. I had an awesome babysitter coming over to stay with Grace, a cute little dress picked out, and high heels and accessories ready to be worn. All that was left to be done was my hair and make up.

But then Grace's pesky little cough that started earlier this week turned a little more persistent as the day wore on, and she has a tendency to throw up during coughing fits. I didn't want to leave our sweet babysitter with having to deal with that. We really like her and want her to babysit for us again someday and she may not do that if we leave her with an evening of throw up duty.

So I decided Grace and I would have a quiet girls' night in and Mike would go to the party solo. I had our girly movie all picked out and pizza ready to be baked in the oven, and Mike was ready for an evening of guy time (translation: enjoy a cigar with the fellas without my critical glare of disapproval).

But then after I tried to feed Grace dinner, I became concerned when she started wheezing and couldn't speak to me without sounding winded.

So off to the ER we went. A breathing treatment, some steroids, a chest x-ray, and a big bag of prescriptions later, Grace is doing fine. The breathing treatment helped immediately and the chest x-ray was negative for pneumonia.

It's hard to believe that anyone could enjoy a visit to the ER, but Grace did. She chatted up the triage nurse and was completely compliant with the charge nurse, who also happened to be the same nurse who took care of her when we brought her in for her burns a few months ago (Our heartfelt thanks, LT Crumpton!). She thought her breathing treatment, which she called her 'special smoky medicine', was great fun. She happily waved at every single person who passed by and was even given crackers by a nurse who happened to hear Grace say she was hungry.

She loved the wheelchair ride to the x-ray room and thought it was her 'special princess chair'. I explained to her that they were just going to take a picture of her chest because I was worried she might get a little scared being in the dark room filled with strange equipment. I shouldn't have doubted my fearless girl. I showed her the 'camera' to which she responded, "That's a big camera!" And when they snapped the picture, she even said, "Cheese!"

Mike followed us to the ER and when he asked about where we were, the lady up front asked, "Oh, do you mean the pretty little girl who talks a lot?"

Yup, that's my girl...

The Cupcake Quest Continues

After all the experimental recipes for cake and frosting that I have been working on, Mike asked if it wouldn't be cheaper to just go ahead and order the dang cupcakes from the expensive gourmet bakery. At this point, he may be right, but I can't quit now. That would mean all my work from the past couple of days will all have been for naught.

So the quest for the perfect cupcake continues. Even if it means gaining five pounds from all the taste testing I've been doing.




She is annoyed with me here because I kept telling her to stand still so I could take a picture when all she wanted to do was run around and look for bugs.

To Cut or Not to Cut

I have a dilemma. Nothing major. Just trying to decide whether or not I should get Grace's hair cut. As her hair has grown longer, it's starting to get a bit of a wave. Frankly, I'm shocked it's not curlier considering her daddy's hair and my mess of half straight, half wavy.

On the one hand, I'd like to see what it would look like long and cascading down her back. On the other hand, her hair twirling habit makes for some incredible knots sometimes. I'm also a little afraid that long hair will make her look even more like a little girl and less like my little baby. And I absolutely can't have that.

I guess I'll just wait and see what happens to it when the full on humidity of a Florida summer arrives.

Our morning was spent running errands and our afternoon was spent in the kitchen trying very hard to whip up some gourmet cupcakes. I'm in charge of bringing cupcakes to an upcoming baby shower. I would buy it from my favorite bakery, but they don't offer discounts, even if I buy a bunch of them, which puts it out of reach to stay within our budget.

I figured, I could probably try to make something and get a lot more for the money. Shoot, I worked at a bakery all through high school! How hard can this be?

It's a good thing it's still a week away and I have some time to practice. Maybe those gourmet cupcake bakeries charge $3 a cupcake for a reason. The cake part was okay; I need to perfect the icing. If anyone has a good vanilla and/or chocolate buttercream icing recipe they wouldn't mind sharing, please send it my way....

Thankfully, Grace isn't very picky (when it comes to sweet treats) and she enjoyed being my little taste tester. I got her to eat most of her dinner, one bite at a time, by alternating it with a bite of cake. A little food trickery for my picky eater!

Slow Down

The pictures from today have me a little teary-eyed. My baby looks like such a big girl! In the pictures she is getting ready to stay with our neighbors for a bit while Mike and I had an appointment to sign our wills, but she looks like she's off for a day of school.

Every single day I wish for time to slow down so I can enjoy these moments just a little bit longer, but time never listens to me. It keeps on ticking away. But that fact only makes me love every second I get to spend with my baby because I know this time goes by too fast.

When I told her she was going to play at her friend Grace's house this morning, she grabbed me by the hand, lead me to my room and ordered me, "Hurry up and get ready! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

My Potential Future Son-in-Law

Grace had a morning playdate with Ty today while his mama and I discussed plans for an upcoming baby shower. They play so sweetly together that Jenn, Ty's mama, and I joked how awesome it would be if they ended up getting married one day. It would be ideal match- he's a sweet and handsome kid and the in-laws would get along so well!

He read my little bookworm all the stories she wanted.

They had a lovely picnic in the backyard.

They watched for spiders crossing the patio.

He even taught her how to use a magnifying glass.

Grace Weekend

This weekend was all about doing everything that has been on Grace's recent wish list- ride in Daddy's car, see some alligators, go to Chuck E. Cheese, and play with her new friend.

Grace has been obsessed with alligators/crocodiles lately, so on Saturday we squeezed into Daddy's car and headed to St. Augustine to visit the Alligator Farm. She has been once before when she was ten months old, but she enjoyed this trip much better. She was so excited! And Daddy just had to get Grace her very own alligator before we left the farm. (The kind that is 6 inches long, stuffed, soft, fuzzy, and purchased from the gift shop) Someone's got her daddy wrapped around her little finger....

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we ended our perfect day with dinner and play time at Chuck E. Cheese. The one closest to our house was packed so we traveled all the way across town to the other location, which was only slightly less packed. I don't care if it's on the top of Grace's wish list or not, we are NOT going near a Chuck E. Cheese during the weekend. What a madhouse!

Then today it was church, a nap, and a playdate with our sweet neighbor, Grace. The two mamas sat on the couch and gabbed while the two Grace's played and ate tons of snacks. We finished our weekend with a visit to the ship to spend time with Mike and bring him some grub. It was an awesome way to celebrate the first official day of spring!

Slathered with sunblock, sunglasses on, t-tops down, music blaring, and the girl is ready to roll!





Time to leave the Alligator Farm kid zone- she had a bit of a fit when a little boy wanted to play on "her" rocking frog. Someone needs a lesson in sharing...

Her favorite ride at Chuck E. Cheese.


A tired girl.

Lessons on Milk and Patience

Grace has been very interested in boobs, or de de, as she likes to call them. More specifically, breastfeeding, which is also called de de in Filipino. I have no idea why since she has long ago been weaned from nursing. Maybe it's just her motherly instincts since she loves to play the mama to her baby dolls, but she has been asking lots of questions.

Grace: Babies drink de de?
Me: Yes.
Grace: Can I have de de?
Me: No, you're a big girl now.
Grace: You have milk in your de de, Mama?
Me: It's all gone because you're a big girl now.
Grace: I have milk in my de de? (examining her de de)
Me: No, only grown up mamas with small babies have milk.
Grace: (silence, but looking at me very curiously)

Later that morning, she came up to me exclaiming, "Look, Mama, I have milk in my de de!" And sure enough, the girl did...




Proven wrong by a two year old. This isn't the first time, nor do I think it will be the last.

Other than schooling her on the mechanics of breastfeeding, I've also been trying to teach her about patience. She has gotten into the habit of asking for something over and over and over again, often in a whiny voice, until she gets it. So I've been trying to teach her to ask for something nicely, just one time, and when I acknowledge her request, to wait patiently until I fulfill her request. When she is successful- which is rare right now, but we're moving in the right direction- I tell her, "Thank you for being so patient!"

I have babyproofed the doorknob to my bedroom door because she gets into all kinds of trouble in there, specifically my makeup. The determined child figured out how to take apart the childlock on the doorknob and was caught in the act of making a big ol' mess. But before I could work myself into a tizzy, she looked up at me, smiled, and said, "Thank you for being so patient!"

If her goal with that reminder was to get herself out of trouble, it worked. Like a charm.

Going All Out

We're usually not big on St. Patrick's Day around here. Sure, we'll wear the obligatory green, but that's about it.

This year, I went all out. We made cookies to pass out to friends. I tablescaped in shades of green. And I cooked my first corned beef and cabbage. My house now reeks of cabbage, but my husband assures me I did a fine job on my first attempt at the St. Patrick's Day staple.

We stayed in today, not just because I was a slave to the kitchen, but because Grace has been running a temperature. The hardest part of the day was getting her to NOT help me in the kitchen. It was brutal when it came time for the cookies because all the girl wanted to do was get her hands all over them, especially when it came time to decorate. But since we were giving them away to friends, I didn't want to chance giving away her germs as well. So I tried to distract her and told her to make some cookies in her own pink kitchen.

Going all out for St. Patrick's Day was fun. We may have to do it again next year.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



Irish soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, and garlic herb potatoes.

Charming Charleston

At 8:30 the night before I planned on leaving for Charleston, I was still undecided whether or not the trip would be worth it. But after talking to another Farragut friend who was also going with her kids, regardless of our husbands' schedules, I decided to just go and make the most of it.

Grace was perfect during the drive up because I left right before her naptime and she slept most of the way. We arrived early in the afternoon and checked into our hotel which was in a perfect location, right in the middle of downtown and only a few blocks away from where the ship was docked. After settling in and checking in with friends, Grace and I ventured out to explore downtown a bit before bringing Mike dinner on the ship. It was a great start to our Charleston weekend.

The next morning was when the real adventure began. I startled awake at 5 in the morning and wondered whose alarm clock was blaring that loudly and why in the world wouldn't they just shut it off already. Then it dawned on me that it wasn't an abnormally loud alarm clock, but the fire alarm!

With my heart in my throat, I made a mad dash around the hotel room grabbing our shoes, jackets, and my purse. It was then that Grace woke up and sweetly said, "Good morning, Mama." And then with bewilderment at the alarm, "What's going on?"

I picked her up and rushed out of the room, down the five flight of stairs, and into the cold, dark morning. Where we waited for nearly two hours. Come to find out, there was no fire, but a glitch in the alarm caused by a water leak and neither the hotel management nor the fire department knew how to turn off the alarm. Fabulous.

I learned two things during that morning adventure. One, I will now always be prepared for such an event whenever we stay at hotels- make sure all of your essentials are in one place, readily accessible, in case you need to escape quickly. Two, Charleston firefighters are super cute! Where were these cute young firefighters when I was a twenty year old EMT riding on ambulances? All the ones at my station were definitely not Charleston quality.

Seriously though, the good thing about the whole experience was that it definitely started our day early and we were able to go out to breakfast with our friends and hit up the Aquarium as soon as it opened, before the crowds started pouring in.

By the time we were done with the Aquarium, it was time for Grace's nap, and Mike was able to get off work shortly thereafter. The rest of the day we spent walking around downtown and looking at all the gorgeous, historic homes in the area. We ended the evening with dinner with Mike Teeple and his lovely family, one of Mike's Navy buddies/roommates from back in his bachelor days and one of the groomsmen in our wedding.


SATURDAY


Grace looking at Daddy's ship- we had a great view of it from the Aquarium.


Bridget and Alicia- I probably would not have made the trip to Charleston had these two lovely ladies not gone as well.

I was completely charmed by these Citadel cadets. When we asked if we could get Grace's picture taken with them, they were so accommodating and even said they get asked for pictures all the time, but Grace was the prettiest little girl they ever had the pleasure of being in a picture with. Like I said, completely charming! And so polite! If only they wouldn't refer to me as ma'am and make me feel like I was a hundred years old....

As we walked around, we all picked out our favorite houses. This was my pick- so sweet with it's framed entrance, little porch, and ivy covered walls.

This one is Mike's choice.

And Grace giggled with delight when she saw this cute little pink house, which she called her 'pink princess castle'.

I love how all the houses had these pretty flower boxes.

Walking down Philadelphia Alley, one of the many quaint little alleys that have tons of history behind them.


Grace and the three Michaels- her Daddy, Mike Teeple, and his adorable baby boy, little Michael.


SUNDAY

Mike had to go into work Sunday morning, but he was back by the time I had packed up all our stuff for check out and Grace and I were dressed and ready for the day. We spent the morning walking around and exploring again (I just couldn't get enough of the beautiful houses!) and even found a Kid's Festival for Grace to check out. After that, it was off to visit with the Teeples for a bit before heading back downtown to grab some dinner, return Mike to his other lady, and then head on back to Jacksonville.

It was a wonderful weekend filled with much more family time than I had anticipated. I'm so glad we went and I'm already planning for the next time we go back. We are definitely coming back, Charleston. You charmed the Augustine family and we can't wait to visit again.





Getting a hula hoop lesson from Daddy.

We found this fountain, took off our shoes, and jumped in. It was freezing!

This picture makes me laugh. I don't know why.

Michael and Grace enjoying the swings.