Heartsick

I can't do a Favorite-Things-Phone-Dump Friday post today.  Not because I haven't taken pictures or can't think of favorite things from this week, but because all of those things have been completely overshadowed the the tragic shooting that took place today in Connecticut.

I work at an elementary school.  It is where I spend the majority of my time.  The children there are the reason for my life's work.  My colleagues are dear friends.  

 

What happened today is unimaginable.  I have spent today in shock and in tears and angry.

At my heart I am a mother.  Words can't even express how much my heart is broken for the mothers and fathers and families in Connecticut right now.  

It is Friday- the weekend- which means I get extra time to hug and kiss and love my sweet girl.  But it will all be so bittersweet because I'll be constantly thinking of those parents who can't.

 

So I will constantly pray.

 

As I was on twitter today I came across this blog post.  I had never read the blog before, but this post sums up pretty much exactly what I am feeling.

 

http://extraordinary-ordinary.net/2012/12/14/i-cant/

Peace.

Okay, I Need to Vent A Little. Please Forgive Me.

You guys...HELP.

Three-year-olds.  OHMYGOODNESS.

We're less than two weeks from having a 3yo and...seriously.  How does one little person go from this...

"Hi!  My name is Callie and I'm an ANGEL!"

to this...

"Hi!  My name is Callie and I'm a MONSTER!"

in 0.645 seconds flat?

I have mentioned a few things the past couple months...things like googling defiant three year olds, and subliminal messaging that have shown a couple of different "sides" to our toddler.  But I gotta say that the last couple of weeks has been challenging.  And that would be an understatement.

Once again I feel lame for complaining.  We only have one.  She's perfectly healthy.  We have tons of support.  But even with all of those things going for us, we're in brand new territory and we're trying to figure it out.  And we're learning that it is HARD, no matter how you slice it.

It's HARD when, for at least the last 7 or 8 mornings in a row, our toddler throws high-pitched-screaming-screeching-like-a-banshee-hissy-fits when we try to get her dressed.  Every. Freaking. Morning.

It's HARD when EVERY TIME we leave the house, we have to endure the same hissy fits just to get her boots and coat on.

It's HARD when most of the words that come out of her mouth are either screeching or whining, despite our calm reminders and consistent expectations that she use her "big girl voice."

It's HARD when, even when we try to be the models of consistency and patience, we still get nowhere.

It's HARD when she's screaming and flailing on the floor and I want to do the same thing but I can't.

It's HARD when we hear what an angel she is during the day with our parents, but is the opposite of that at home with us in the mornings and evenings. 

It's HARD when I'm a freaking TEACHER and EVERY SINGLE STRATEGY I try fails with my own child.

It's HARD.

I know it is a phase and everyone says that threes are worse than twos and we will survive it.  I know that.  And I know that tomorrow is another day and a chance to start over.  And I'm thankful.

I'm also thankful for 8pm toddler bedtime.

Okay I'm done.  Thank you for letting me vent.  I promise my next post will be full of adorable toddler pictures and anecdotes. :)

Happy Birthday Auntie Mari!

Have a great day off!  Enjoy playing with this crazy toddler. :)

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Oh-My-SNOW Edition

Well, after a very mild winter last year, we got our good taste of a normal MN winter this weekend.  Lots and lots of snow.  Ugh.  Thankfully it didn't ruin our fun plans.

Friday
We went out for a family dinner...and had an early bed time after a long week.

Saturday
We spent the morning at our neighbors Ben and Hannah's 2nd birthday party.  It was a fun Curious George-themed event.  Callie enjoyed the balloons, among other things.

Crazy static hair!

Curious George mask

"Helping" Ben and Hannah open their gifts

Later that evening we went over to Auntie Cat's house for gingerbread house making.  It was quite an undertaking but we did it!

Getting ready!

Attempting to make a stable house out of frosting and graham crackers

Such concentration!

All done!

Thanks for a fun evening, Auntie Cat! :)

Sunday
After Sunday School we headed to the condo for the day.  My parents, sisters and I went to the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus concert (probably for the 15th time in the past couple of decades...we LOVE those concerts!).  Our piano teacher, Tim, is the principal accompanist and it was fun to see him after the show. Later in the evening we were all together celebrating Auntie Mari's 24th birthday (which is tomorrow).  Most of the pictures were taken by an almost-3-year-old photographer.  The photo quality is hit-or-miss, but the overall artistry is quite fabulous, don't you think?

One of the highlights of the evening (besides the usual family time and delicious dinner made my Boom), was watching my Dad "dust panning" the snow out on the deck so that they could get to the grill to make Mari's requested birthday steak.

Oh, how lovely that the mighty condo dweller was finally humbled by the MN snow.  Though tomorrow I'm sure he'll smugly drive out of his heated parking ramp to work while I work to dig my car out of the snowbank that it will be stuck in.  Sigh.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Safe travels in the snow, Minnesotans!

Favorite-Things-Phone-Dump Friday

Um, I did a TERRIBLE job of taking pictures again this week.  The three I took were from Wednesday when Jenna, Andy, Charlie and Mabel came over to play.

So my favorite thing this week is great friends. :)

Wrestling!!!

Tickling!!!

Drumming in jammies!!!

Have a great weekend!

"The Basketball Song"

I mentioned almost a month ago that the new favorite bedtime song was"The Basketball Song," aka "The Star Spangled Banner." 

Nothing has changed so Callie has heard us sing that song almost every night, as well as random times when she asks for it throughout the day.  One time when we were hanging out at the condo my whole family broke out into that song and she was thrilled.  She has sang bits and pieces of it with us on many occasions.

This afternoon she Rocked. It. Out.



What do you think?  Think she'll be ready to belt it out at a Lynx game this summer? :)

Weekend Wrap-Up: The I-Love-the-Holidays Edition!

Seriously.  I love this time of year.  The time of year when I can get out my Glee Christmas music on the ipod, gaze at our little Christmas tree and just smile. 

We were able to relax and enjoy the weekend as well. 

Saturday
Cal and I were up sort of early and I just watched her play in the glow of the twinkle lights.  There's nothing like a little creative play with the nativity set!



Later in the morning we went to "the garden store" for a holiday bazaar.  Santa was there, but a certain toddler didn't even want to look at him from afar.  She did get her face painted and agreed to take a picture by the little wooden Santa by the exit.

So another reason why I love the holidays is because of the awesome tackiness that comes out in the form of lawn displays.  I took Kona for an walk in the afternoon and we passed by some fabulously ridiculous holiday displays. 

Exhibit #1: The Inflatables that are never inflated during the day.

I apologize for the crappy picture.  But I didn't want to appear to be a creepy stalker taking a picture of their house.

Exhibit #2: Gigantic Santa and Reindeer Inflatables.

Ho ho ho-ly cow those guys are HUGE!

And last but not least, Exhibit #2:  The Inflatable NATIVITY SCENE.  Yes.  INFLATABLE NATIVITY SCENE.

Wow.  That is all I can say.

I texted all these pictures to my friend Adrea (who also enjoys the ridiculousness of these displays) and we had the following conversation:
Me: Inflatable nativity!!!  Score!!!
A: Noooooooooooo!!!! I love this game!
Me: Notice the tipped over animals that add to the class of the whole scene.
A: They are praying!  Wait...They are playing dead so people won't think they're involved in this ridiculous display...
Me: Hahahaha...gosh it's embarrassing to be an inflatable sheep around the holidays.
A: Imagine how it feels to be the ass (donkey that is...)
Me: Love it! :)

I thought those were pretty entertaining so I hope you enjoyed them too.  And I hope I didn't offend you if you have your own holiday displays.  They really are awesome. :)

Anyway...later in the evening we went to a party and Chris' aunt Karen's house and Callie had fun bouncing around on their big couches.

Sunday
There was Sunday school this morning and nap time.  During nap time my sisters and I went out to lunch and then to the salon I go to for a holiday open house.   It was great to get a little free pampering!  After nap time we headed to the condo to hang with Boom and Bops.

 And we finished the evening at G-ma and G-pa's for a little play time.

Animals in a bucket

So in less than 3 weeks we are going to have a three-year-old.  Unbelievable.  Seriously.  But obviously I'm loving that it is December.  So many fun things going on and so much to look forward to.