Another Good Day

Even though we revisited some naptime trouble this afternoon, I still consider today another good day. It's hard not to have good ones when you get to spend all day with such a sweet girl.


I was so excited to finally find a pair of classic red shoes for Grace, but her daddy thinks they look like clown shoes.

Pretty Perfect

To think I was almost driven to drink a couple of days ago. My day today was pretty darn perfect. Lots of snuggling and I love you's from my favorite girl. Beautiful weather. And another day of an easy nap and bedtime routine. I'm not naive enough to believe I'm in the clear with the naptime troubles, but I'm going to enjoy every good day I get.

107

Today was better. Much, much better. Grace and I enjoyed a lovely walk around the neighborhood collecting as many leaves, acorns, and pine cones as we could find. We made it through a grocery trip without any whining/complaining from her or bribery from me. I tried out a new recipe for dinner and it was deemed a success by both my husband and my child.

But the biggest reason why today was better was naptime. She actually napped easily this afternoon. That wasn't the case yesterday.

The problem all started with this...
We converted her crib into toddler bed. Her first night in the bed went surprisingly well. Mike and I read her a bedtime story, tucked her in and kissed her goodnight, and then we didn't see her again until the next morning when she was knocking on her bedroom door to be let out.



Naptime, however, has been a completely different story. Where I once had an easy child to put down for a nap, I now have one who has figured out she can get out of bed whenever she wants. And yesterday, that's exactly what she did. 107 times.

Yes, I counted.

And it went on for two and a half hours. After about the 50th time of putting her back in bed, I opened up a bag of M&M's- to give me energy and to reward myself for not completely losing it and screaming like a madwoman. When I reached the 100th mark, I had run out of M&M's and I could feel my patience starting to run out as well.

Maybe some people would've given up the idea of a nap at this point, but I desperately needed her to nap so that I could nap- I woke up that morning not feeling well and all this back and forth had left me with a whopping headache.

But the girl would not give up. She would yell out, "Yoohoo, Mama!" or "Mama, I see you!" or "I'm stuck!" When I heard that last one, I wondered, what the heck she could get stuck on since there is no more crib rail to climb anymore. Once, it was her hamper, which she has completely destroyed. Another time, she had climbed onto her changing table and got her hand stuck in the wipes container.

After the 107th time, I compromised by sitting beside her bed while I rubbed her back and hummed a lullaby. That finally did the trick. I tiptoed out of her room and straight into my bed for my much needed nap.

Only to have her wake up 40 minutes later. And grouchy, too, for the rest of the day. So was her mama.

Thank goodness today was a new day and Grace did not get up once when I put her down for her nap. And bedtime was once again a breeze as well. My fingers are crossed that yesterday's horrific nap time experience was just a fluke.



This is what I got when I asked her to 'just close your eyes'. She'd oblige for about two seconds and then burst out into a fit of giggles.

Two and a half hours later and she's FINALLY asleep.

If Only I Could Drink

If I wasn't allergic to alcohol, I would definitely be drinking tonight after the day I had. Really, our morning went great. It was after lunch where it all went downhill. So downhill that I can't even blog about it right now. I'm too exhausted. And I have a headache.

I will write more details tomorrow. Let me just say it's a good thing Grace is so darn cute. It was her saving grace today.

Helping daddy with Ruby's oil change.

Sunday Stroll

When she puts these glasses on, she says, "Super star!"

Today was the first day where I finally saw a hint of fall weather. Lots of sunshine, no humidity, and a bit of a nip in the air. It was absolutely gorgeous out!

We went to church where Grace was quite the wiggle worm. At one point, she was rolling around underneath the pew and trying to touch people's shoes! I was tempted to head into the baby cry room, but believe it or not, she actually behaves better when we stay out of there.

After church, it was back home for lunch and naps. Then we headed to the beach to enjoy the rest of the day. We went to a new beach that required a ferry ride. I thought Grace would love the novelty of it, but she was indifferent to it. She loved the actual beach though. And so did Mike and I until we got in trouble for accidentally venturing into the bird sanctuary! Ooops.

By the time we got home, it was getting pretty late (for Grace), but I somehow managed to whip up some dinner that didn't involve leftovers or mac and cheese from a box. While I was fixing dinner, Mike and Grace were busy cleaning out the car of all the sand Grace tracked in. How a little thing like her can bring in so much sand, I have no idea.

It was a lovely Sunday!




Our family picture.

Super Star Saturday

Even though we were nearly blown away by the gale force winds, we all had a wonderful time hanging out with friends at the Farragut picnic today. There was tons of food, a clown, a bouncy house, a few dogs, and lots of bubbles. A sweet lady gave Grace some super star sunglasses the moment we arrived and she loved them! If the wind didn't keep knocking them off, she would've kept them on the entire time.

We were tempted to go home and take long afternoon naps after the picnic, but instead we powered through and went to a home show looking for kitchen renovation ideas. Grace was a trooper considering the lack of sleep, but it probably didn't hurt that I was bribing her with lollipops.

A quick stop at Lowe's and Costco almost caused a meltdown, triggered by a battle of wills over sitting down in the cart, but we quickly learned that a good compromise was sitting in her all-time favorite seat- daddy's shoulders. She was perfectly fine once she was perched up high.

We had a dinner of leftovers to complete our super star Saturday, but if you set the table nicely and arrange the food on a pretty platter, it doesn't seem so bad.

I can't ask for a better day than one spent with my family.

A New Trick

Most of the time, I'm quite happy when Grace learns a new little trick- dancing, singing, etc. This new one I could do without. She's learned how to take off her own diaper.

I was desperately trying to get her to take a good, long nap but she was being anything but cooperative. She climbed out countless times, got stuck on the rail more than a few times, and then I heard the sound of velcro and her saying, "pek pek" (Filipino for a girl's private part). That last one required immediate investigation and, sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed. The girl was swinging her diaper in the air and proudly pointing out her privates.

Is there a way to baby proof a diaper???

Thankfully, she didn't show her babysitter those new shenanigans while Mike and I were out at his boss' dinner party. Of course, her babysitter was my dear friend, Nellie, and baby Deacon. Nellie is such a sweetheart that I think she would cover up for any of Grace's antics. One thing is for sure, Grace had an awesome time hanging out with her second mama and adopted baby brother.



Thank you, Nellie, for having the foresight to take pictures or else the only ones I would have had for the blog is the one of Grace playing with her diaper.