Light

The past few weeks I've felt...heavy.  Not sad.  Not angry.  Just heavy.

Heavy with the weight of a lot going on at work.  Heavy with a house that never seems to get clean and a yard that never seems to look nice.  Heavy with the pressure to exercise or take time to run.  Heavy with a toddler who is pushing the limits and testing my patience daily.

Heavy.

Which is ironic, because the past few months I have worked hard to become about 12 pounds lighter.

But today?  Today I made a conscious choice to try and feel lighter.

I upped my patience level with my toughest kids at school and we all did great.  I came home from work and started pulling some of the thousands of dandelion weeds from our front yard.  Because of my 9 mile run yesterday, I got a rest day today.  And best of all, my toddler was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. for me tonight.

No power struggles.  No temper tantrums.  Just a happy-go-lucky little girl, turning me into an elated and relieved mama.

I don't know what tomorrow or next week or next month will bring, but I'm thankful for this feeling today.

Okay, self, let's keep it up! :)

Weekend Wrap-Up

Hmmm...what to write about the weekend...

We really just bopped around as usual.  We find that being home too much turns a certain toddler into either a little monster who we affectionately call "Destructo-Cal."

So it is really just easier to be out doing stuff most of the time.

We went out to dinner on Friday night and just hung out as a family.

Chris worked on Saturday, so Cal and I headed to Southdale to run around and, of course, ride the choo choo.  And do "crazy eyes" in all the pictures Mommy tried to take.

MMMM! Foothie!

We swung by the condo that afternoon where we took turns being on toddler-watch while the others napped.  That evening Cal and I had a movie night (Strawberry Shortcake!) and a jammie walk.  The 2nd half of the jammie walk was me trying to carrying a screaming, flailing toddler and dragging along a sniffy boxer until we finally made it home.  Longest. Block. Ever.

I had a really good 9 mile run to the condo this morning, and then while Chris took Callie to the "Childrens Zoom Zoom," I tackled THIS monstrosity in the back:

UGH

It looks much better now, though the furniture still needs to be cleaned and the forest that is our backyard needs to be tamed.

Much better!

We're hoping to get the backyard looking decent enough to get some fun outdoor toys and have another place to hang out this summer.

Tonight we headed over to Andy, Jenna and Charlie's house for some BBQ and hanging out.  They are expecting their little girl in a couple of weeks, so it may be the last time we all hang out before there is an itty bitty one around.  Can't wait!

Callie and Charlie were ADORABLE playing together, especially outside in their little playhouse.

They were "having a nice meal" (as Callie said multiple times) and she also got to use her newest favorite phrase "Um, I forgot!" multiple times. She would go in and out and purposefully forget to shut the door, and then say it after she pretended to realize it.  So funny.

Later on, they ganged up on Chris and there was an all-out toddler vs. 30-year-old wrestle-mania in the basement.

Now we're battling sleepy time and will hopefully win soon.  :)

Blogiversary

Happy Blogiversary to Baby Goose!

Three years ago today, I wrote the first post on the blog.

Tonight I spent a little time reading some of the earliest entries...the nostalgia crept up on me as I remembered how I felt.  How excited we were.  All the little fun and not-so-fun details of pregnancy.

It seems like it was a long time ago, but life has only gotten better.

Since then it has become a place to share highs and lows, document milestones, and keep those near and far up-to-date as we continue to learn how to do this parenting thing.

Speaking of parenting, if you follow the blog these days, you know that we're deep in a phase that is popularly known as terrible twos.  And in one of our new music class songs, the terrible twos are mentioned:

Nothin' is wrong
Me and my baby just get along
Can't seem to lose
We got those nothin' blues

Rain or sunshine
Can't get over that child of mine

No terrible twos

I got the nothin' blues.

We listen to that song often in the car, and I may or may not have reminded her a few times that she's in the terrible twos stage (jokingly of course...).

So now, every time she hears them sing "terrible twos" she proudly exclaims, "HEY! THAT'S ME!"

Haha...oops.  She's definitely a "terrible two" right now, but she is OUR "terrible two."

And we love her like crazy. :)

Thirty / Three

Today I entered my 30s.  It was as wonderful day.  I got all sorts of sweets at work.  My 5th graders managed to pull off serenading me with the birthday song on their own.  Chris and Callie sent me birthday texts/pictures all day.  Facebook messages poured in throughout the day as well.  We had dinner with both families (missed you, Laura!).  My mom made a delicious pink lemonade birthday cake.  And though Chris has training tonight til 10, he's bringing me home a bottle of wine to have before bed.  I am one lucky 30-year-old!

But what makes April 24th more special, is the fact that it was early in the morning THREE years ago that we found out we were having a baby.

And now that baby is a little girl who loves her some cake (her concerned face in the above picture is regarding the fact that cake was being passed around the table...and not in front of her).

Thanks to all for the lovely birthday wishes, texts, phone calls, cards, messages.  I feel very loved. :)

Weekend Wrap-Up: The 28-Month-Old Edition

It is April 22nd.  A certain toddler is 28-months-old.  A very dramatic 28-months-old.

I'm telling ya, this 2-year-old business is so great and so hard all at the same time.

The great:
*Watching her vocabulary development and all the learning and thinking that takes place in her head
*Watching her start to interact more with other people and other kids (though she is still REALLY shy, it is getting better)
*Getting the hugs, cuddles, and kisses (when we can slow her down enough to give us the time of day)
*Her yearning for independence and being SO proud of herself when she does something by herself
*How much she loves our family and how much they love her
*The fact that she is still little enough to want me the most when she is upset (unless it is me that made her upset, then I'm out)
*When I look at her beautiful little face in AWE that this little person came from me

The hard:
*The mood swings (O.M.G...the mood swings!)
*Her yearning for independence when it is for things that are still just too hard for her (and she doesn't understand that they are still too hard)
*The way she pushes boundaries, making us really work hard to be consistent and not give in (even though it would be So. Much. Easier.)
*The way I sometimes feel like Jan Brady from the Brady Bunch Movie when she says "Am I invisible?  Do I not have a voice?" (shout out to my sisters- they are probably the only ones who will know that reference)...basically, more often then not I talk to her or ask her do something and she either ignores me or does the exact opposite

So, there you have it.  The great and the not-so-great things about 28-month-olds.  Thankfully, the great things FAR outweigh the hard.

On to the weekend...

Friday
We were sad to find out last Monday that our friend Alison's mom passed away after a very brave battle with cancer.  Chris and I were thankful to be able to go to the funeral on Friday afternoon.  It was a wonderful celebration of her life.   We spent the rest of the evening home as a family, just doing our normal things.

Saturday
We weren't very exciting on Saturday, which may be the cause of our toddler being Little Miss Moody.  Or maybe we weren't very exciting because our toddler WAS Little Miss Moody.  Who knows.  But by early afternoon, we needed a change of scenery so I took her over to see Boom and Bops.  She helped Boom wash bird poop off their car (Backstory: Callie noticed the bird poop on Friday when driving with my mom, and was VERY interested in it...so she was excited to help.)

On Saturday night I went out with my friend Adrea, so Chris and Brent hung out with Callie.  Brent is one of the few guys that Callie will actually warm up to really quickly.  I heard that she even wanted him to put her down for sleepies instead of Daddy...

Sunday
We did a lot of activities to avoid mood swings.  Grocery store.  Muffin making.  Etc.  Then we took her to G-ma and G-pa's house for some play time and nap time so we could get our out of control laundry situation under control.  G-ma and G-pa were also babysitting a 4-month-old baby, Zinnia, and Callie loved her!

Sunday afternoon we were walking around the neighborhood and ran into our neighbors, so Callie decided to help them out and pull Ben and Hannah in the wagon. :)

Sunday evening, while Chris and Bops went to a T-Wolves game, Cal and I headed to Auntie Cat's for a delicious soup dinner and fun at Lake Nokomis.

I'll leave you with a (cell phone quality) video of Callie sort of singing her new favorite song: Fun.'s We Are Young. She calls it the "Whoa Whoa Song."  If you listen to mainstream radio, you probably hear it every 15 minutes.  If you don't, here's a snippet:


It also seems appropriate to post a song called "We Are Young" as I currently only have one day left in my 20s. :)

Vocabulary

Listening to a toddler's vocabulary development is AMAZING.  And sometimes highly frustrating.

Most recently, Callie's favorite phrases include (but not limited to) the following:

1) No WAY, Mommy, No WAY! (despite constant reminders to say "No, thank you")
2) Hey, what's that? (for E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.)
3) OH MY GOSH! (When something is funny/crazy/cool)
4) Kona Hope Gwozlin BIRT-DAY (for some reason, ever since Kona's birthday, she adds "BIRT-DAY" at the end of saying Kona's name)
5) I see a ______ (when observing anything)
6) I DO I-SELF!!!  (for most things)
7) SNACKS PLEASE! (usually after refusing to eat much for dinner 15 minutes before)
8) JUICE!!! (all the time...despite constant reminders to say "Juice please Mommy")
9) Thank you Daddy (not all the time, but getting better)
10) I wuv you Mommy (at surprise times...melt my heart)

And she has started rockin' the nursery rhymes, like Jack and Jill:


And there's a book at Boom and Bops' house about a noisy farm, and the cat always says:

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Traveling to Tucson with a Toddler Edition

WHEW!!!!

We are home from a whirlwind 4 day trip to Tucson, AZ for our dear family friend Ellen's wedding.  It was SO much fun to be able to spend so much time with my family and the Suurmeyers.

And we also learned that traveling with a 2-year-old is...shall we say...challenging. :)

So I'll start at the beginning.  Of course, I took many more pictures than I could share on one blog post, so I will post a link to the rest of the pictures at the end.

Friday
11am flight...Mommy was nervous about nap time, but a certain toddler was excited to be in an airplane!

Waiting to hear from "the lady" when to put our seat belts on.

How nap time on the plane went down...for 40 minutes.  At least it was something.

After we landed, we had to wait to get into our hotel (a LONG time), so we went to explore a little bit of the U of A campus.  Palm trees, running and sunshine were awesome!

After a failed attempt at a 2nd nap, we headed to Ellen and Vince's house for a fun groom's dinner party!

Hanging out with cacti

Hendersons

All the Hendersons and Suurmeyers!

Saturday
Somehow, the weather in AZ was 20 degrees cooler than the weather in MN.  And rainy. We didn't do enough research and assumed the pool was indoors.  So we trooped down to go swimming, and alas!  It was outdoors and rainy.  We put Callie in for about a minute so she wasn't too disappointed, and then she went swimming in the bathtub in the hotel room.

So cold!

We had some time before nap time and the wedding, so we headed to the Tucson Children's Museum.  Definitely not as cool as the one in MN, but still fun.

Shopping with Boom

Fire truck!

Thankfully (and amazingly) despite a 2-hour time change and lots of routine changes, Callie was a really good sleeper the whole trip.  So after a 2+ hour nap, we headed to the wedding!!!

Congrats Ellen and Vince!

Fun wedding!

Sunday
On Sunday morning we headed to the zoo with Mari and Boom.  The coolest part of it was the "Giraffe Experience" that we just happened to walk past at the right time.



So fun!

Then we headed to a "Food Truck Roundup" and got some great food.

Mmm...corn on the cob!

After another good nap we got some ice cream...

Too focused on the sherbet to take a good picture

 ...and then headed to the Suurmeyer's rental house mansion and enjoyed spending more time with them.  I snapped a pic of the scenery on the way there.  Not what we're used to in MN!

Monday
This morning was slightly warmer, so Mari and I tried to take Callie swimming again.  It was still cold.

Then it was time for brunch and VERY large pancakes before heading to the airport.

Blueberry pancakes!

The flight home was more stressful (i.e. toddler refusing to do what either of her parents wanted her to do...sleep!), so we handed her off to Boom and she promptly fell asleep.

So we're home safe and sound and thankful for a great trip.  We learned that traveling with a toddler isn't really a VACATION, per say, but she did really well considering the circumstances.  I'm very thankful to my wonderful husband for taking her back to the hotel early 3 nights in a row so I could spend time everyone (and do lots of awesome dancing at the wedding!).  And I'm also very thankful to my fam for stepping in and helping with our little one when she didn't want to listen to her parents anymore.  It was truly a team effort. And thanks to the Suurmeyers for throwing another rockin' wedding! :)

The link to the rest of the pictures is here: Baby Goose Shutterfly Site

Time Management

This spring is kind of kicking my butt.

Work is crazy and will continue to be until June 8th.

I had the brilliant idea to train for a half marathon that will be on June 3rd.

And, of course, there is a bubbly, rambunctious and adorable toddler to raise.

So right now, our basement entire house looks like this:

Laundry...Toys...Clutter...Oh My!

I need a magical cleaning fairy to come.

Anyone...?  Anyone...?

Weekend Wrap-Up: Easter Edition

This weekend was lovely.  We did many Easter-related activities and spent time with friends and family.

Friday
I had the day off, so Callie and I headed over to Auntie Cat's house for some playtime and brunch with her and Grandma.

Helping Auntie Cat play the guitar

Ladies in green

On Friday afternoon we met Jenna, Andy and Charlie at the mall to go see the Easter Bunny.  I talked about the Easter Bunny the whole day.  I showed her pictures of her previous Easter Bunny visits.  I tried to bribe her with a sucker if she sits and smiles with the Easter Bunny.  You can probably guess where this is going...

We stood in line.  She watched other kids sit on his lap.  She saw Charlie and Andy stand up by the Easter Bunny (he wasn't too excited either).  When it was Callie's turn, all we got were screams and her clawing at me when I attempted to go near the bunny.  So, alas.  No Easter Bunny picture this year.  But after that, we redeemed ourselves and the dads took the toddlers on the choo choo.

Then on Friday night I went to Titanic in 3D with my sisters and Mom.  Many of you may know that Titanic has always been my favorite movie (I saw it 7 times in the theater in high school).  My sisters and I can quote multiple scenes from the movie by heart. So it was fun to see it again on the big screen.  At last the first hour and a half was fun. And we got to wear these awesome 3D glasses. :)

Saturday
We spent the afternoon dying Easter Eggs!

Let's get started!

Eggs in the egg dye

Taking the eggs out

So excited about the colorful eggs!

Sunday
We started the morning with a visit from the Easter Bunny.  Callie was happy that he came while she was sleeping left her presents without her having to see him.

Then we headed to G-ma and G-pa's for the first Easter egg hunt and brunch with them, Dan and Anna.  She was excited about finding the eggs, but not about the raisins that were in some of them.  The the eggs with the jelly beans got a much happier response.

What's in the egg????

The Easter Bunny came to G-ma and G-pa's house too!

Why not play with some power tools after brunch?

After brunch we headed to Auntie Cat's church for a fun Easter service that included her telling her faith story.  It was great!

After nap time we headed to the condo for another Easter egg hunt and meal with Boom, Bops, Yoda, Mari, Great-Grandma and my uncle Larry and aunt Mary.

Annual Easter picture...the toddler was not cooperative

Easter egg hunt #2

Reading with Auntie Mari and Great-Grandma

Bunny ears with Auntie Yoda on the roof

There you have it.  Easter eggs, bunny ears, and the joy of experiencing all the fun stuff through the eyes of a 2-year-old.  So so so so so so fun!