A little worn out.

My friend, Amanda sent me this picture earlier. This is pretty much how I feel right about now! I am having a tough time with Noah. Maybe Noah is going through a rough time? I don't know, but yesterday, was probably the most frustrating Mommy days I have ever had. Everything that happened, by itself, totally sounds like nothing, but put together in succession made for just a bad day. The only thing I can even think of to mention is the colossal meltdown he had in Target. Oh, you know the ones. Screaming, jerking, mess of a boy. The one where you get 2 looks, either the, "OMG! You are the worst mother ever! Take him out of this store!" Or, you get the, "Oh, dear, I have been there before" looks. Thankfully, in store fit throwing is a rare occurrence around here, but yesterday's fit, well, it probably made up for some we've missed. Anyway, I headed to the check out to just leave with what I had, not getting through the list of what we needed. I was holding his head as I unloaded groceries (with Emmy riding in her Baby Bjorn on front of me...I was a sight, I tell ya) so that he wouldn't bang it against something. You get me now? It was a FUN time. So anyway, I headed to my car, and when I got there, a mom with her two small children had followed me out to load my groceries into the car for me so I could deal with Noah. It was so sweet, and something I definitely plan on doing for someone else in the future. Because everyone has those days, right? Please say yes.

John suggested we just go to dinner since the house smelled like smoke and burnt plastic. Oh wait, I didn't mention that, did I? While the dishwasher was on the heated dry cycle, a plastic lid fell onto the heating thingy and it burned and melted right through it. Anyway, our house smelled like smoke and burnt plastic. (Can we just gloss over that?) So, we met him for dinner where John vowed to be on "Noah Duty" the whole time. Which was nice. But, even nicer was when after dinner, he said he would take all three home and put them to bed while I walked around some stores all by myself. It was good. He is good.

I don't know what Noah's deal is right now. He cries and fusses a lot. He is really pretty mean to most everyone. He is not sleeping well. Not  napping at all. And he is having a really hard time falling asleep at night. I don't know if it is part of getting closer to three, or what. We were potty training, but we just completely stopped. He is not ready. Could that have triggered this? I actually feel like I can pinpoint when all this started as when he punctured his eardrum a few weeks ago. But, shouldn't that have healed? And he doesn't say his ear hurts or anything. I just don't know. I just want my sweet, happy Noah back.

Emmy Love is 6 Months old!

Ok, actually, she is almost 7, but, she is STILL officially 6 months old. Hey, take the updates when you can get them, ok?

 Emmy, You are the easiest baby my world has ever known. As long as I am holding you. You do not ever cry. As long as I am holding you. You are never hard to figure out. As long as I am holding you. You love everything! As long as I am holding you. :) Sometimes, you make it just a little hard for Mommy to get other things done, or for Mommy to help take care of your brother and sister. But, on the other hand, it is just pretty awesome to be loved like that. To be able to make everything in your world ok just by holding you? I think I can handle that. I wish I could always make your troubles go away just by being near.

But really, you are such a happy girl. When you get oh so excited, your legs kick, and you turn and bury your head in my shoulder, hiding your big, open mouth grin. It is my favorite thing.

You can sit up for a few seconds, but I certainly cannot walk away from you just yet. You are getting strong, though, and I know you are about to get it.

You have no teeth. Which is right on track with my babies. BUT, you have had these little teeth buds since you were born. Everytime I have taken you to the doctor (No, really, EVERY time) the doctor says, "Oh, and her bottom teeth are about to break through." I just smile and say, "Oh really?" They haven't broken through. But, they still look like they could at any second.

You can eat! You love baby food, of course, but you also want your own food to hold and chew. Your current favs are Baby Mum Mums and Gerber Wagon Wheels.

We left you. This month I have left you in the care of others. Which is hard. For me. You have visited a drop off day care (I did this once before, but you cried until they called me to pick you up...) and you were perfect! You also started staying with your little friends at MOPS. I have always taken you with me to the meeting, but it was time for you to go and play. Again, you were perfect. Then we got really brave and left you at Parents' Night Out at church. They say you were perfect. You went to sleep at your normal bedtime (7ish) until we picked you up. I gave you extra snuggles when we got home because I missed you so much. You also went to the nursery at church for the first time. You worked the system this time, because they said you wanted to be held the whole time. Way to go, sister.

You are a snatcher. You have much better hand control now, and you will snatch things right out of my hand. i.e., the sandwich I was eating last week.

Your favorite place to be (other than attached to me!) is on your play mat. You don't roll much, but you can get to the little toys on the mat and play play play.

You also love your bed. I love you for this. I just put you down awake. You stare at your mobile and kick and giggle until I turn it on. I walk away, and you go to sleep! It is seriously the greatest thing ever.

Emmy Love, I love you my baby girl. I never knew how much I needed you.

Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

I have talked about our Valentine's Day tradition on here before, but it's been a few years, so I am telling it again! Sorry.

John and I met while we were in college. When our first Valentine's Day rolled around, John was employed as a Youth Ministry intern, and I was living with a family that I provided child care for in exchange for room and board. So, we were basically completely and totally broke (but happy! :) So, we decided to make each other's Valentines. There were no rules given, just that you had to make it yourself. John's first Valentine to me is my favorite. It kind of looks like a first grader made it :) It is heart shaped and has glitter and buttons on it! He still remembers the other folks in the Youth Ministry department giving him a hard time about making his Valentine. The next year, we decided to do the same thing, and it's been our tradition ever since! I like to decorate our mantle with some of our creations. There are so many now, we don't have room for all! (Plus, I cannot find the ones we made last year, anywhere! This is causing me some anxiety...) We make them for the kids too now, and they make ours as well. Hope is very into it this year. She has been super secretive about what she is working on. I do know that she has used a TON of glue, so I am a bit nervous to see what exactly she has been gluing! In Target today she "Some people don't know you can just make a Valentine. You don't have to buy them." Although she did let me know that she does like heart shaped chocolate ;)

Remember The Time Our Parents Thought it Would Be a Good Idea to go see Life-Sized Dinosaurs? What Were They Thinking?!

I can picture Noah and Hope having this very conversation one day. Possibly while sitting on a couch together talking to a therapist. We heard that a local museum here had and exhibit called Dinosaurs Alive. They advertised life-sized dinosaurs being outside along their nature trails. Two weekends ago, it was 70 something degrees outside, so we thought it would be a great time to go see what it was about.

This first dinosaur was tame enough. He didn't move. The kids oohed and ahhhed for a bit.

 As we headed on down the trail, we came upon the next one, who was animated. Meaning, he growled a little bit. We let Noah out of the stroller to check it out.

 Enjoy this moment, because it was pretty much the last moment on the rest of our adventure where he was not screaming, "NO DINOSAURS!!! I WANNA GO HOME!"

 Emmy was happy, though. As she was attached to me for the whole hike.

 This is a very old tree. I love big old trees. A sign near the tree said it was over 250 years old and that it was sprouting at the same time the Declaration of Independence was being signed. Very cool.

 The dinosaurs kept getting a little bigger, a little scarier, and a little more animated as we kept going. Hope even started getting a bit scared, and she completely understood they weren't real.

 She was still her silly, old self, though.

 Does it look like Noah is loving the dinos? No? Hmmm.

 He is absolutely screaming in his Daddy's ear right here.

 Standing as far away as they could.

 Ahhh, a break in animated dinos for one to sit on. We liked that.

 And, of course, the trail ended with the big dog T-Rex. Noah was loooooosing his mind right about here. Hope did not want to stand in front of it, but I was all like, "Oh, honey, you will stand in front of this huge scary thing if I have to hold you upside down by your ankles." Or something. She really was scared. Poor girl. At least we took the picture while his head was way up there, because his head also came down close enough to touch as well. See, we are such good parents. Okay, okay, I will put away some more money for their therapy jars.



Who's Up for a Random Post?

If you are, you are in luck! I am feeling quite random! It is probably due to the fact that we have been stuck inside since MONDAY night. I have not left the house since MONDAY. Are you kidding me. My cabin fever has turned to cabin pneumonia, and it is only getting worse.

Before I start, 10 bonus points to whoever can guess what craft I made today...

So, here is a little of what has been going on with all of our togetherness!

Hope learned to blow a bubble with bubble gum. She has been trying really hard since Christmas, and she stood in the bathroom mirror for the longest time practicing. After she ran to us a few times trying to show us the bubble, I finally went to her to catch her on camera.

 The problem with Hope blowing bubbles is that she is a giggler. She gets too giggly, and blowing bubbles is not easy when you have the giggles!

 Sweet success!

My Noah loves the Wiggles. The Wiggles are apparently not so popular any more, and Wiggles toys are not easy to find. I found Captain Feathersword's sword recently knowing he would love it. Noah does not enjoy potty training. He has gone potty numerous times, and he absolutely knows what's going on. He just doesn't want to go. I thought I would bribe him with the sword. It sits on top of our mantle. The understanding is that when he does go #2 on the potty, the sword will be his. And he wants it bad. Just not bad enough to go potty yet. So, there it sits.

John and I have been having a discussion over highchairs for a long while now. I am a fan of highchairs. For as long as possible. Containment is my friend when it comes to 2 year olds. So the question was, do we buy a new one for Emmy, or promote Noah to a booster? Noah has destroyed his highchair cover. De.stroyed. It is so ugly. So, part of me wanted a new chair, just because I didn't want to sit my sweet itty bitty Emmy in her brother's destroyed seat. John, knowing me like he does, suggested we find a new cover for it. So, I found a seller on Etsy who made one from my favorite fabric! So, John really won the battle, as Noah is now in a booster, but I am pretty happy with the new cover, so I'm good. So is Emmy.

Back to the weather. What we got Monday night was ice. It didn't melt as the temps have been crazy low for Texas. But, we woke up this morning to 6-7 inches of beautiful, powdery snow! I did not go crazy with the camera, but I did feel the need to put my snow angel in the snow this time, since I didn't last time.

She really didn't mind it. Her siblings, however, do not enjoy making snow angels...Ok, so I forced them to lay down. Mother of the year, right here folks.

So, my son like the Wiggles, right? I am pretty sure you don't understand just how much. When the Wiggles were recently taken off the Netfix for Wii line up, my husband called Netflix to voice his complaint. We couldn't find any DVDs anywhere, so we did finally order some online. And, again, Wiggle toys are hard to find. So, Noah improvises. The poor baby walks around all day long with 4 large legos. 1 yellow, 1 red,, 1 blue, and 1 green. No, there is not a green Wiggle, but, unfortunately, there are also no purple legos. So, he has chosen the green one to be Jeff Wiggle. I looked at Ebay for Wiggles figures/dolls, but they are too pricey for me! Apparently they are somewhat of collectors items now. So, back to my cheesy craft.(I you are a truly crafty person, look away. I am not crafty.) I made these today...

 Yes, I made toilet paper roll Wiggles. What about it?

It was seriously like Christmas morning when I gave them to him though. He immediately set them up like they were on stage and started singing and dancing!

 Hope found a red bowl that became "The Big Red Car" and he went to work setting them up exactly like how the Wiggles sit.

Oh, toilet paper roll Wiggles, how I love thee.