21 and fun!

Dear Miss Too Cool for School,

Do you realize that this rapid rate of growing up has left me very unprepared for your quickly approaching big 2nd birthday?! How can I even begin planning for that big day when I have yet to grasp the fact that I'm going to have a two-year-old running around the house in three months. I've been doing some preliminary planning (searching for themed decorations, plates, etc.) but I always end up putting an end to it quickly after I start. It just can't be. I'm gonna go all clique on you and say that it literally seems like just yesterday that I was dressing you in your big birthday tutu and watching you stare at your birthday cake. It really does. And it almost seems like the day before yesterday that we were at the hospital dressing you in your going home outfit and loading you up in your incorrectly installed carseat base (that the nurse fixed for us idiot new parents). You are both a mystery and an open book all at the same time. I love a good mystery and I sure do love a good book....so in short, I just love you to pieces. Here's a little bit about your 20th month of life....

A few of the things you have been loving lately: baths, brushing your teeth, watching Dora the Explorer, playing tea party, reading your Elmo and ABC books, helping me with household chores (score!), organizing your zoo animals, spinning in circles, acting like a puppy, riding in daddy's big truck, slamming doors, turning knobs, picking up rugs and relocating them, reorganizing my shoes in the closet, eating (big shocker!), stealing my Sonic drinks...and the list goes on.

You have so many new phrases and silly sounds that it is getting increasingly difficult to keep up with you. We have been working hard on your ABC's and 123's. We've hit a road block though. Ya see, your current version goes something like this: "B, B, B, B." But you've got the right tune down! You sing your B's while moving your head back and forth with each letter you say. Your number skills are very similar to this....you love the number 2! "2, 2, 2." We count your ladybugs in your book every night and count your toes and fingers. We also like to point and add up all the horses in the field by our neighborhood....forty horses if somehow always "2." You are able to hold up your two pointer fingers when asked to show how old you are. Of course you are a little bit ahead of yourself but I guess you are just preparing to be two. Silly girl.

Your favorite word by far still continues to be cracker. This goes hand in hand with your hardy appetite. This is one thing that has ramped back up this month. You are still the queen of grazing. Most of the time you can be found munching on a bowl of grapes or a banana...and of course your beloved peanut butter crackers. I've almost cut you off from your favorite snack....but you somehow always manage to sneak them from your generous dad. So back to your vocab....you are now able to say family member's names fairly clearly. I can't recall all of your new words because let's face it, you repeat everything. Here are a few new words you've tacked onto your vocab list this month: movie, move, bubble, cake, play (sounds like pay), hot, okay, paper (sounds like "paypoo"), mouse, remote (sounds like "mote"), food (sounds like "foo"), bee, bow, hat, Elmo (sounds like "Melmo"), toothbrush (sounds like "toof"), foot, eye, nose (sounds like "no"), rock...and the list could go on but my memory can't. ;) But I do have two expressions left to tell you about. You have recently picked up on my habit of shouting "woohoo" anytime something good happens. You say it with he same enthusiasm and inflection as I do...and it cracks me up. "Wooooah" is another one I love! As far as two word phrases you have been giving simple commands by combining a name with an action. Here is your favorite: "dog move!!"....and your dad's favorite is "no dada!" ;) Our favorite phrase out of your mouth this month by far has been "nigh nigh, uv ew." That's "night night, love you" for those who are not into baby decoding.

You have been binky free for three weeks now which has only helped you spout off all those new words. I must say it was probably the easiest transition imaginable....but keep in mind that I thought it mind be the end of your world as you knew it. Thank you very much for that. No really....THANK YOU!!!! But we have traded the binky for some very unruly characteristics. Behavior wise this month has been...well...dare I say.....DIFFICULT?! The terrible twos are creeping in and honestly leaves me a little bit scared if this is just the pre-terrible twos. Wowza!!! Your tantrum throwing (most often in public, yippee!) has become more frequent. We've been leaving the room and letting you cry it out on the floor. And cry you do. And cry. And cry and cry and cry. You get the point.

You still enjoy the park and are becoming braver with each trip we take. You are almost to the point where I can leave you be and quit chasing you up every step. It's those drop-offs that scare me! I see many, many days spent at the park this summer!

You have a new nighttime routine as of late. You've been taking a bath in the "big girl bathtub" (aka mommy and daddy's bathroom), brushing hair and teeth, playing and watching Dora in your playroom and then I swoop you up for your beloved bedtime books. Your favorites to read before bed are Goodnight Moon, Llama Llama Nighty Night and Happy Easter Mouse. Sometimes reading isn't on your mind though. Prying you away from your toys doesn't always leave me being your favorite parent.  So many toys, so little time I guess.....

Hallie's your name. Silly is your game. I mean silly. Like super silly. Sillier than the silliest. I have several examples of course. Like this moment on our bike the other evening. This must've been your best attempt at seeking shelter after swallowing your first bug on our ride....

Hiding in my shirt

On to more silliness. One thing has stayed constant.....you are not a huge fan of going on jogs with me. I still attempt it almost every evening but only sometimes do we get further than a block before you protest and make it clear that running will only cause a headache. BUT I have discovered a sure fire way to keep you smiling while in the stroller. It involves popping a wheelie and doing a lot of zigging and zagging. I must say it adds a new dimension to my workout but it seems to guarantee me a partner. 

"Keep up the zigging with a little more zagging!!"

You LOVE accessories. You've taken to your bow and hat drawer this month. In fact you know that your outfit isn't complete until we do a looksy through the bottom drawer. Take you new hat for example. You picked it out, put it on your head and came out of your room with it cocked to the side. Should I be alarmed??

Gangster Hal

Speaking of accessories, does Dada's camo count?? You were having a pretty good time sorting through his gear out in the garage with him the other night....

You have a pretty solid and steady sleep schedule. Up and at 'em at 7:45 on weekdays and 8:30 on weekends and down for sleepy time at 8:30. I think if you had it your way you'd stay up until you passed out on the couch. Or the floor......

Pretending to be asleep in the living room with your baby

I have so many silly/cute/funny/memorable stories for you. But this story is one our our favorite moments from this month. It's no secret that you are not the type to fall asleep anywhere but your crib...in fact I think you've only fallen asleep while playing one time and that was at Paula's house. So this momma has never witnessed such an occasion with my eyes. Until the other night. The three of us were reading on the couch when we told you it was time for bed. You wandered off down your hallway and we found you lying on the your tiny rug all curled up sleeping. I immediately melted into a puddle on the floor. Your dad picked you up and put you in your crib while I stood back in awe of what had happened. My hyperactive toddler had fallen asleep voluntarily. This was a small miracle. 

NEWSFLASH: You are turning into a big girl right before our eyes. 

Your feet are growing at an exponential rate!

You are truly my very best friend in this whole world. My heart goes pitter patter every time you reach for my hand to hold. Promise me you'll still hold my hand when I'm old and gray. I love you.

Love,
Mom

"Make My Day"

She's armed and dangerous. And she ain't afraid to use it.....

"You talkin' to me??"

The ladybug clad chick was showing off a very threatening pose one evening this week as I snapped pictures of her in her sweet little demin jumper. This picture made me giggle...and worry just a little. It wasn't I who needed to worry though. It was those poor canines. She shook her mini stick and hollered her famous "no no dog!" at them. Don't let the ladybugs fool you....the girl means business.  ;)

A Lil Hard Work and a Whole Lotta Play

I'm excited about this post. Really, really happy about it. Not only did this weekend seem to stretch on and on but we also had a perfect mixture of work and play. Productivity gets my blood flowing. Unfortunately productivity has been at an all time low lately when it comes to getting things accomplished around the house. This weekend was exactly what I needed to kick me into gear. To top off all the hard work we had plenty of play. It started a lil like this.......

Riley's employee, Tracy, had some major tornado damage and was in need of a lot of help getting things cleaned up indoors and outdoors. She lost her fence, garage door, front windows, pieces of her roof, the tree in her front yard as well as gaining a layer of dust and fiber glass that needed to be cleaned up inside. A group of administrators, managers, physicians, nurses and spouses met up at her house early Saturday morning with plenty of gloves, tools, rakes, and plenty of energy and manpower. Oh and water....and donuts. Can't forget the donuts. ;) Matt, Heather and BJ showed up to help as well which was nice to be able to catch up with Heather while we did some cleaning. It just made it all the more real while digging through debris in Tracy's front yard when we found bricks that had been chunked through the air and literally planted into the ground as well as a huge 2x4 that had been driven into the dirt. Incredible force of nature. I wish I'd taken before and after pictures of the house. It was awesome how much of a difference was made it just four short hours. It felt great to be a part of such of a hard-working and generous group of people.....

I had dropped off Hallie for a morning with Nanny and Carmen. She had a full belly and tired eyes by the time I picked her up. She went straight down for a nap and I got to work on something very necessary. My car. One hour later I had removed every last speck of cracker crumbs, dried fruit, milk spots and sticky unidentified substances from my seats. Every piece of trash was disposed of and the bows and shoes that had accumulated in the backseat were removed. I kept on going and going and going until every surface of the car had been sanitized. Holy moly, how I let it get that bad I'll never know. I continued my cleaning spree indoors until Riley pulled in. He was sunburnt and sore from swinging a sledge hammer. But that didn't stop him from putting us both to work outside. The weather has not been cooperating very well lately so we haven't been able to finish the house painting process. That all changed this weekend. We were able to paint the house AND more! Hallie was up and running on a full tank of energy later in the afternoon just in time to open the package that had arrived on the porch for her. Cousin Aaron had sent her the final animals to finish out her zoo collection. We were in business thanks to Amy who is a certified zoo animal stalker. If it weren't for her efforts our zoo would look pretty sad. But no longer. Check out Hal and all of her pals!!!

"Mom, I kinda think you might be more excited than I am"

Riley had been doing a lot of talking and thinking about "finishing one project at a time." We've been known to jump from room to room and project to project without finishing something completely. While we were in the middle of painting he suggested that we do some landscaping. I was jumping up and down waving my hand saying "me, me, me!" Heck, I just wanted a break from painting with that brush. So we loaded up munchkin and headed out to pick up some rock border and mulch for the front of the house. It wasn't hard to find some great entertainment in the gardening tent outside. 

We made a few quick and surprisingly easy decisions and were loaded up and back home working before I could say "when is break time?" This picture I took of the flatbed truck loaded down with bags and bricks says it all. Let the landscaping begin......

The trim on the house had already been given a rough coat of dark brown but we still had to do detail work and put a second coat on......

Here is a before picture of the color. Not that it was all that bad but the trim was this peachy color that we weren't too fond of with white guttering....

Riley removed the big bush full of bees in front of the left side of the house. The guy is all about making things "symetrical" and this bush was ruining his vision. So it had to go. I kinda think he just wanted to use another manly tool. Hehe. It really does look a lot better minus the big bee bush and it allowed us to put a border around the other bushes on that side. I haven't taken an official after picture yet because I've still on a mission to add color to the front of the house as well as furnish the porch. When we get to that point (which will hopefully be very soon) I'll share some more pics. For now I've got plenty shots of our busy landscaping apprentice.....

She was having some trouble staying put and keeping away from the edge of the yard so I asked her nicely to please "sit on a rock".....so she did.

At that point I felt like a meany so I went inside and brought some fun back outside with me. This is after she emptied her bowls of water onto her pile of crackers and smushed them into the sidewalk....

She was lathered in sunscreen because of the plentiful sunshine we were blessed with but I guess she saw it fit to cover up a little bit more....

"Haven't you heard mom? Empty mulch bags are all the rage this season in fashion."

Once it was time to spread out the mulch she got to work pushing it around with her tiny hands. With all of the work going on rest breaks were very much needed for the landscaping cutie....

If she's going to keep up with her daddy then she's going to have to get used to putting in a full day's work on the weekend. It felt good. It felt real good. 

Us girls were ecstatic when we found out we had plans that evening to go Hallie's boyfriend's (aka Steven and Rachelle's house) for a cookout with friends. Yippee! A nice relaxing reward after a day in the sun. We made sure to leave enough time to get Hallie all prettied up in pink. After all, Kyler had been asking his mom if he could "take Hawie for a ride in da Jeep."

I swear this girl is as much in love with my camera as I am. She sees it around my neck and does things like this.....

Silly girl. Each tree in the front yard received a big hug and a kiss. I can only imagine that she was practicing for her date that was right around the corner. We were excited to find our new friends Chris and Lauren already there with their two cute kiddos. We were sad that Lily was gone but there were plenty of friends to get busy playing with. The two sweet girls enjoyed their hotdogs inside together...

Then it was time for fun in the backyard in the Jeep.....

Kyler took Hal for a spin but I think she let her true colors show and he bailed on their date....

So lady-like ;)

I just giggle everytime I look at this next photo. It looks like he's getting an ear full from Hal gal...

Steven grilled some delicious burgers and we somehow managed to eat them after us girls had stood inside and devoured the smorgasbord of appetizers that Rachelle had made. You would have though that everyone would have full bellies by this time....well, everyone did except for these two food beggers.....

"I'll get the bananas if you grab us a burger to share."

We sat outside by the fire while the kiddos played until they began to wind down. They all picked a couch of their own and stretched out to watch Nomeo and Juliet. This movie watching quickly turned into toy scattering and mess making....which then turned into one very cranky and tired Hallie. This was one of those occasions I mentioned in my previous post when we had to make an early exit because of a meltdown. In her defense it was well past her bedtime but I must say that these nightly tantrums are not going over well with Riley and I. It was after 9:00 when we got her home and into bed. She passed out before I had closed the door to her bedroom. 

A well rested and chipper young lady emerged from her crib on Sunday morning with an appetite for Jesus...and Cheerios of course. I have had this unhealthy obsession with this dress that's been hanging in her closet just begging to be worn....

At first glance it appears that I am supporting a certain state school that has an affinity for orange. This is not the case though. Notice the fuschia colors on top and the bow....it tones down the orange a bit, dontcha think? ;) Either way, OSU colors or not, this dress makes my heart go pitter patter. I'm still obsessed....

Pastor Charlie gave a wonderfully inspiring message which kept my mind off of what was to come that afternoon. An insanely long run by myself. The word dread was not even appropriate to describe my feelings. It was something worse. But by the grace of God I was sent an angel named Shawna. Hehe. We ran into her as we were leaving church and I invited her to join me on this ridiculous adventure. She is running the half marathon as well and was needing to fit in one last long run before the race. Hallie was all for my plan to hold her nap off for awhile until I left for my run. My two sweeties laid down right as I was dragging my feet out to the car. I may have been imagining things but it appeared that they were attempting to make me jealous of their sweatpants and loungy-ness. ;)

I met Shawna and Kate (who had also agreed to join) at the trails. I was feeling very blessed at that point having gone from planning to run by myself to having two friends willing to train with me. All in all, it was not bad at all. Plenty of talking and a few rest breaks made the nine miles fly by. I figure if I can run nine at this point without training then four additional miles won't be too out of the question. After all, Laura and I have a lot of catching up to do so we've designated our 13.1 miles as time to chat. The long Sunday afternoon run seemed to ignite a fire in me....a fire that has long been put out by self-defeat and insecurity. I miss running. And thankfully these girls have reminded me why I love it so much. I told Riley I would have definitely been singing a different tune had I ran by myself.

Sleepy head was still curled up in bed when I got home. The endorphins were flowing full force so I hopped up on the ladder and got to painting alongside my painting partner. We got quite a bit finished before Hallie woke up. I was outside doing some trim work when I heard Hallie squealing through the house. The squeals were suddenly drowned out by the sound of a couple Harleys coming around the corner. I looked down the street to see my dad and Uncle David cruising toward the house. Too cool for school. ;) Perfect timing too! Hallie ran outside and stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted the two rumbling bikes complete with biker dudes decked out in their biker gear. She didn't really know what to think at first and it was pretty comical watching her facial expressions. The two biker dudes had  taken a road trip to Shattuck to visit grandma. Aw, what softies....bikers going to visit their mom (in-law). How sweet. ;) It was two men and a baby all over again and I watched with delight as the two of them provided entertainment for Hallie. 

Hallie was initiated into their biker gang yesterday and I'm proud to say that she is one tough chick. And she's got the gear to prove it....

She's got the talk to go with the walk as well...

It was a nice treat to see these two dudes in Woodward. I told them next time I'd feed them well before they headed back to Enid. Hallie and I hope they take us up on the offer sometime soon!

Our weekend fun wasn't over yet! Katie and Luke invited us over for a cookout and we happily obliged. At that point I felt like I could eat an entire cow and I'm fairly certain that Hallie always feels that way so we made our way over to their house to find this smiley little angel waiting for us....

Riley stayed behind at home for awhile finishing the paint on the front of the house. We watched the girls run around/ crawl around in the backyard while catching up. Hallie and Aunt "Ka-yee" got some quality hangout time in....

She was not shy about exploring the entire backyard. She ended up soaking wet and muddy after putting her hands over the sprinkler and squirting water everywhere. Here's a pic of the little stinker pre-sprinkler fun....

Everything was so pretty and green with the sun shining on us. It was the perfect evening with those silly little cousins. Carmen was on the hunt for any yummy grass and sticks she could get her hands on while munching on her banana through her mesh teether. She was lovin' life....

Goofy girl

Papa Bill and Riley rounded out the crowd and we chowed down on hamburgers and beans. Luke's grilling was top notch as usual and Hal loved her grilled hotdog and banana. ;) As great as the perfect weather and great company was....I'm sad to say that the night ended a little too much like the night before. Cue meltdown for absolutely no reason....cue flailing in the front yard while screaming for "nanny!!!!"....cue flopping on the ground inside and burying her face in the carpet while screaming....cue multiple attempts to distract her from her pity party. Alas, we decided to spare everyone the screaming and headed home. Wouldn't ya know it, the moment we got home she transformed into a quiet, peaceful little gal. I just shake my head. And I'm still shaking it as I type this. But I don't want to end on a tantrum/meltdown note because this weekend was so much more than that.....


.....it was helping out those in need.

.....it was family.

.....it was friends.

.....it was fun.

.....and I can't forget to mention sweat. It was lots and lots of sweat.

Life is good. Good is life.

Playing Catch Up

Like I mentioned in my last post, I've been holding all of these blog thoughts in my brain for the past week. No wonder I felt like I was going a little crazy this week. The brain was too full....it's time to knock some of this stuff out and put it in the blogosphere. Mommy brain unload begins NOW.....

I'm traveling back all the way to last Wednesday. We will call this PT time and PBR time. Pre-tornado time and post-binky removal time. The week before this past week was a wee bit different than normal. I had begun training at work to learn our new paperless documentation system. Talk about a change of pace. Bye bye paper....hello handheld devices and foreign terms. I greatly missed my day off that week with my girl but couldn't swing it with all of the training sessions shoved into the beginning of the week. Hallie had a big week as well being that it was her first full week without a binky. She has done exceptionally well and it appears that she may have completely forgotten that her binky ever existed. Ask me how thrilled I am.....go ahead and ask!! I'll shout it from the rooftops! This is big success....for the both of us. I figured I'd cave and give her the binky just to avoid feeling like a big meany. But I just needed to have a little more faith in the girl. She did great. One question I've got to mention though....I wonder....where on earth did the 20,001 binkies that we had in our house go????? Binky heaven must be pretty full. So how did she spend her time that week???

Testing out momma's old rocking chair. She's discovered that Dora the Explorer is even more enjoyable to watch from a chair that moves along with her....

Being an ornery little thing. She's come up with some of the funniest new expressions and phrases....

Enjoying the beautiful weather outdoors. Going outside in the nude seemed to be the trend....

Tending to her babydoll. She insisted that babydoll have a diaper just like she did....
.

Stroller rides galore. She's free as a bird.....

Buffalo/elephant races at the park with Aunt Ky.....

I survived training week at work with my brain still functioning (barely) and went into the weekend with a full tank of energy and some fun on the horizon. Despite the "life threatening" weather warnings lat Saturday I went ahead and made the trip to Enid to host my sister's bachelorette party. That night everything went haywire. The party was grand.....but what happened back home in Woodward was far from it. An F3 tornado ripped through the west side of town demolishing businesses and home, killing six people and leaving many with nothing but the clothes on their backs. This week has been heartbreaking, overwhelming and draining.....and we weren't even directly affected by the storm. Seeing the devastation and all of the people that need help....we spent the week helping out with cleanup, making meals, donations and attending a benefit concert in town. I found myself bursting out in tears several times during the week when I'd stop and think about how blessed my family was during the storm. I was busy snuggling my little lady last week and extra thankful for her pretty blue eyes and that smile.

I was able to spend a terrific Tuesday with her at home. Well actually we spent very little time at home. We had things to do and places to go. Most importantly, the park. She had a ball chasing the ducks and quacking at them. Her quack is pretty legit....it might have something to do with Riley's ringtone on his phone. It's this awful squawking sound that she has become an expert at. 

She chose her accessories for our morning at the park. Train conductor hat stayed on but the glasses didn't last too long.

The weather couldn't have been prettier. It was a shame that we had to go but it was almost naptime and this momma had a list of things to get done. On this list were the following activities: sit, watch mindless tv and last but not least blog. Good thing I managed to squeeze in that afternoon of rest and rejuvenation because the rest of the week was quite a blur. Just flying by the seat of our pants making it from Wednesday to Friday. When you add a very cranky and impatient child to the mix our lives tend to be a little on the chaotic side. We've had several moments this week and weekend when the terrible twos seemed to be making an early appearance. One of those moments happened to be at the benefit concert here in Woodward. Larry Gatlin traveled her to put on a show to raise money for those affected by the tornado. We met Papa, Katie and Carmen there and ran into my friend Amy and her husband JR. We all ate dinner and couldn't resist the dilly bars they were passing out to everyone at the concert. This is where things went south though. Dummy me for thinking that I could actually sit and enjoy a delicious ice cream treat without a meltdown from Hallie. She wanted her own dilly bar. Duh. Well that wasn't going to happen. Mainly because after sharing a bite with me she was dripping with chocolate. Carmen and Uncle Riley did enjoy their treat though while I was chased to the trashcan by a screaming and begging child who embarrassed the life out of me. I'm still not laughing about it. And don't think I ever will.

Pre-meltdown

We ended up leaving the concert before it even began. Let's just say that a certain little girl was not in her parent's good graces by the time we got to the car. I think we were all off our game this week and everything all added together created one big mess. My wisdom teeth have decided to make an appearance and have left me with little to no patience and a constant tension headache from the nonstop mouth pain. It seems that workdays were getting longer and longer throughout the week which did not help the Hallie behavior situation. Paula gave great reports about the little toot's behavior during the day and the whining would begin immediately after I picked her up. I guess I don't have to say anymore than that. It was a trying week. But as usual, for every cranky fit and tantrum there was an equally sweet moment to keep us sane.....

"I promise I'll be good"

"See! Only smiles from this girl!"

I'm very ready to put this particular blog post to bed. Hallie, if you are reading this right now, I want you know that you bring well more joyous moments to our lives that you do frustrating moments. But with that being said, I'm going to share some famous words with you that my mother always said to me: "I hope you have to child just like yourself someday." Well mom, it looks like you got your wish. ;)