Growing Up

My girls are quickly growing up around here!

The most recent newsworthy event is that Belle has finally given up her pacifier!  I had been really talking up the Paci Fairy with her.  I told her how if she left all of her pacis on the table overnight the Paci Fairy would come pick them up and leave her a present.  The pacis would be given to new babies who didn't have pacis yet.  Belle was instantly interested when she realized she would get a gift. 

I was finally able to get Belle to make the plunge by letting her know that I spoke to the Paci Fairy and she promised to bring Belle two Barbies.  We even made a phone call to the Paci Fairy (thanks to my dad who played a pretty good fairy for us :-) ), and Belle told "her" she wanted to give up her pacis.

Our first night wasn't awful, but it sure broke my heart.  I put Belle to bed and as I sat downstairs I started to hear her cry.  She was crying to herself in her room and genuinely sad.  She said she went to find her paci and then realized it was gone and asked if she could have it for "this many more minutes" (while holding up five fingers).  I totally felt like she had said goodbye to a really good friend she had for the past three years.  She eventually fell asleep and we got through that first night.  The next morning she was MORE than thrilled with the Paci Fairy's gift.

Since then there have still been a few tears, but overall Belle has officially moved beyond her pacifiers.  Evie takes the same ones, and she hasn't even tried to sneak hers, although she did ask me if she could have one of Evies.  It has really not been as painful as I anticipated, and she has done so well!  Now, if we can only get her to quit peeing her pants....

As far as Evie goes, she has been quite the communicator lately!   Yesterday I brought her downstairs and as soon as she saw Paul she exclaimed, "Dada!"  Tonight she was crying in her crib and when I walked in her room she said "Mama!"  I truly believe she knows that those are our names, and it isn't just her babbling anymore. 

I am learning that Evie is a very headstrong child.  This may also be her age, but that girl can throw a tantrum.  I really need to video it some time, because it is quite the performance.  There is insanely loud screaming, a ton of stomping, arm waving, and throwing herself on the floor.  Really, I can't help but laugh.  Her tantrums are almost choreographed. 

Evie is learning to communicate to us what she wants more and more.  Today she brought me a water bottle and then walked over to the sink and made some whining noises to get my attention because she wanted me to fill it with water.  I LOVE that is is getting easier and easier to figure out what she wants.

My girls are growing quick. Each stage has its pros and cons.  Some stages I am happy to see pass, and there are others I feel a little bittersweet watching go.  Either way, I'm glad I get to hang with these crazy girls all day and get my own private concerts like this:

Living Up To My Blog Name

I just read a blog post of a friend of mine where she showed everyone pictures of her house and it's mess.  It was awesome, and inspired me to do the same.

We live in a world where we so many of us strive for this ideal concept where we have to have an immaculate home, an amazingly healthy dinner on the table when the hubs comes home, flawless bodies, and children who behave perfectly.  I have to admit that I took a picture of Evie today and quickly moved some toys, a spoon, and a rag because I didn't want people to actually KNOW I had a messy family room...and *gasp* let my children play in it!

Now, I understand that MANY people are gifted at keeping a tidy home, and this is definitely something they are really good at.  The rest of us are all jealous of you :-)  My sisters and my mother are natural housekeepers.  Things are clean, tidy, and have a specific spot.  I, however, was not gifted in this area.  Clutter doesn't bother me as much, and for the life of me I CANNOT seem to find a place for every random piece of junk that enters my home.

I have learned different systems to keep things manageable in my house.  My house usually looks like a tornado during the day, has a nice quick picked up look to it by the time Paul gets home, and by the time I got to bed I try to have all the toys put away and counters cleared.   It doesn't always happen like that, but if my kids are alive and the hubs is happy it's a good day, right?

The pictures below were literally taken 10 minutes ago:

My counter looks like this daily.  Random pot, book, markers, Meijer bag...and I am guessing I am hoping the flowers detract from the disaster. 

This is actually pretty good for my family room during the day.    Evie:  "Mom, would ya clean up my mess?"

Our side room.  This room is easy to walk passed without looking in.  Today Evie wanted to play with the beads, and apparently throw them everywhere.  The towel is left from cleaning up the dog water that she spilled, and the cards are what she decided to pull out of our craft cart.  Walking tornado.

My sink.  I guess I am hoping the candle takes away from the smell of soggy Lucky Charms.

Oh, laundry room/bathroom.  How I despise you.  Belle likes to drop trou  here,  and I believe that is a diaper Evie pulled out of the garbage and dropped there.  On top of the dryer is my hair and make up.  Obviously the laundry room is the best place for that.

My TV stand.  Yes, that is a can of Cream of Chicken soup on top of it.

There ya have it.  How my house looks today....well my main living area.  Hopefully I made some of you feel better about your mess, and hopefully I didn't give others of you anxiety attacks.

Oh, and if anyone wants to chip in for a live-in housekeeper, or just someone to follow Evie around all day to pick up after her I am all for it :-)

Things I Never Said As A Kid

There have been so many times lately I hear Belle say things and I think to myself, "wow, there is something I never said as a kid."  I finally decided to write some of them down.  Please feel free to comment with your own!  I know there are more, but this is all I could come up with at the moment.  

1. "Mom, you need to find it in the App Store"
2. "Can I bring the iPad up to my room to read my book?"
3. "I have to wait because it is loading."
4. "Are you checking your email?"
5. "Is that your Facebook, Mom?"
6. "Can I play a game on your phone?"
7. "Mom, will you type in the password?"
8. "Can I watch a movie in the car?"
9. "They have Dora on Netflix."
10. "Mom, are you downloading that?"
11. "Let's FaceTime Elmo."
12. and, she swipes her finger across EVERY screen she sees, because she thinks everything is a touch screen.  

The Other Stuff I Do--MOPS

As we have gotten back into routine after all of the Christmas and holiday hullabaloo, I realize that I rarely talk about the other stuff that I do OTHER than being a mom.  I thought I would make a few posts about the other things that I am involved in.  Right now I am in MOPS at our church, sing in the group Alive, workout in Body and Soul, and volunteer in various roles at our church.  So, my next few posts are just going to be explaining the other things I am involved in that you may not already know :-)  Today,  I am going to tell you about the fabulousness of MOPS :-)

I have heard all about MOPS when I was pregnant from my sisters.  They had told me it was the greatest ever and that once I had Belle I NEEDED to find one.  During this time, Paul and I were between churches.  We were searching for our church home, and started attending Cornerstone Church.  At that time it was right next door to our neighborhood, and we could actually walk there! 
I can honestly say that MOPS is what sealed the deal for me on attending Cornerstone Church.  Paul was certain he wanted to go to the church, but I still wasn't quite sold on it.  MOPS made me feel connected and allowed me to get to know many of the other women in my church. 

We had probably been going a couple of months when I was approached by Cheryle.  Cheryle was the MOPS Coordinator at the time.  I was probably a few weeks out from my due date.  She introduced herself and encouraged me to consider joining MOPS.  I knew that MOPS was supposed to be all sorts of amazing per my sisters, but I wasn't sure about joining a group where I didn't know a single person.  Eventually, I contacted Cheryle and took the plunge.

I always laugh because my first ever MOPS meeting I was HUGE pregnant and overdue.  My second ever MOPS meeting I brought Belle with me and she was just over a week old.  It was the first place I ever brought Belle to on my own, and I was SO nervous.  I look back now and realize I had no clue that MOPS was actually the IDEAL place to go to my first time out with Belle on my own. 

So, what is MOPS?  Many groups might do it differently, so this is my experience with MOPS at Cornerstone Church.  Our MOPS group meets every other Monday for a couple of hours in the morning.  We have amazing people who watch our children, while all of us women eat breakfast (and it is always delicious), talk, play games, listen to speakers, and share life.  It gives us the opportunity to socialize with other women going through the same stage of life.  Other than meeting every other week, we have table play dates, we do group outings, we have Mom Nights Out, and stay connected via Facebook.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have leaned on the support and advice of my fellow MOPS women. Just recently I received at text while at a MOPS meeting about my nephew, Kahsay, and some serious health issues he faced.  At the end of each meeting we get in a circle and pray.  I cried as I lifted him up.  I could hear the other women begin to sniffle.  I had women put their hands on me, and when the prayer was done I was given hugs and the promise of so many more prayers.  In the weeks after those same women would ask me how he was and how my sister and her family were doing.  The women in my MOPS group hurt for my family when they saw me hurt, and they all rejoiced when I was able to share good news with him when things were looking good for Kahsay. 

I think there is something powerful that happens when women get together.  I find that in our group we are able to open up, let down our walls, and see each other in the same way we want to be seen.  We are all raising children and hoping we don't screw up!  We are all trying to live up to the all new perfect "Pinterest Woman" who has it all together.  In actuality we head to meetings with laundry on the floor, jelly in our kid's hair, and feeling rather surprised our hair looks halfway decent for not washing it in two days. 

MOPS has become my support group in more ways than one.  It is an opportunity for me to get out of the house and socialize with adults more than just on Facebook.  It is the place I know I can go to with all of my junk and find women who won't judge me, but nod their head in understanding because they remember when they were dealing with something similar.  It is also something that has given me some purpose that is outside of my home, which I think can be very important for many SAHMs.  I am part of our MOPS leadership team and I am putting my social work degree to work by helping plan our service and outreach.

If you aren't in a MOPS group, I HIGHLY encourage you to find one.  I'd LOVE to invite you to ours at Cornerstone, but we currently have a waiting list and need to find more workers to help with childcare so we can bring in more moms.  I hate that we have to tell women "no" because we don't have enough volunteers to support more growth in this ministry.  If you have a desire to spend time with children a couple of times a week we can totally use you.  It would allow so many more women the opportunity to have the experiences that I mention above.

To all the women in my MOPS group, thank you to each an every one of you!  You are my support group, my friends, and often my sanity!

Things to Remember

I just wanted to make sure I documented what the girls are doing right now, which is the purpose of this post.  Belle is all sorts of 3 years old, and Evie is giving us all a run for our money at 14 months.

Right now Belle is still working on the whole potty training bit.  Frankly, I am over it.  She could care less about sitting in wet pants all day.  I thought we had tried it all, but little did we know the power of Disney Princess Polly Pockets.  We have had three days dry, and she actually has something worth staying dry for.  I am not getting my hopes up, but it is major progress compared to the past couple of months!

Belle is still loving preschool.  She is one of the youngest in her class, so I try not to compare her too much.  I am working really hard with her at writing her name.  She can recognize her name, and she is really good at writing a B.  The lower case e tends to be tough for her and she gives up rather easy when I try to make her practice.  It will come :-)

Currently, Belle is still into anything crafty.  She loves nothing more than to paint pictures, draw on our windows, and color.  She LOVES doing mazes, and is actually really good at them!  When she isn't crafting, she singing or dancing.  Someone get this girl a stage!  Takes after her mother a bit :-)

Evie.  Oh, Evie.  Lately, it seems her new name is "Stink."  Short for "Stinker."  Evie is into everything, yet so much fun.  Right now these are her newest "tricks:"

1. She dances when you ask her to.  This involves stomping her feet and flapping her arms
2. She will gladly put her hands together when you say "clap, clap, clap!"
3. She melts hearts with all of the kisses she blows
4. She throws her arms up when you say "Sooooo big!!!"
5. She loves to do something naughty and look at me while shaking her finger and saying "No No!"
6. She is really good at grabbing a book off the shelf and handing it to me, all while backing herself up to sit on my lap.  Melt.  
7. If you ask her what a cow says she buzzes her mouth together like an elephant.  I can't decide if I want her to learn that a cow actually says "moo" or not :-)
8. She loves to mimic me when I say "aaaaachooo!" and pretends to actually sneeze.
9. She will wave anytime she sees someone new or thinks we are leaving.  If I am lucky she will say "buh-bye!"
10. I am so thankful I got a little snuggler.  Belle was never much of a snuggler, but Evie so easily lays her head onto my chest and cozies right on up.  

Evie is also REALLY good at pulling hair (sorry, Rory!) and loves to lay down in the tub and flip around, which means her entire face goes under water.  She comes up smiling and it makes Belle laugh hysterically!

I love the stage my girls are at.  Evie is busy, but it is so much fun to see how much she is learning.  Belle is my little buddy and we play dolls and color more than I ever imagined.  Sure, there are days I lose my cool and want to pull my hair out, but when I head to bed each night I am so thankful for the sweet girls I am blessed to mother.  I kind of love that neither of them are sweet little perfect angels, because there is just something about a naughty little stinker that makes me smile and cringe all at the same time.  

Each day I am thankful for my girls and being able to watch them grow up.  They make me crazy most days, but that's motherhood right? :-)