Weekend Wrap-Up: The Mother's Day Edition

First off, Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing moms and grandmas out there!  Mom, Mary, Grammy, Grandma Henderson, Grandma Gosselin- we love you all and are so thankful for you!

This weekend has been something else. 

Friday
Callie's first Mother's day present to me was getting pink eye in both eyes so I could stay home from work on Friday and get extra time with her.  She was a trooper as we ran around to minute clinics and pediatricians and pharmacies to get everything we needed.  We spent the evening celebrating Mom's Day with my mom, dad and sisters.  Callie got some good snuggles with Boom.

She also got a little crazy, we are guessing from the eye drops, and she showcased the crazy without pants on.


Saturday
Though the eye drop battle didn't get easier, her eyes certainly cleared up and she looked MUCH better by Saturday morning.  We spent the afternoon over at G-ma and G-pa's house celebrating Papa's birthday, G-pa's birthday and Mother's Day.  It was beautiful weather and a fun time with family!

Lawn games!

Hanging out with Uncle Dan

The birthday Grandpas

Saturday night was a little rough.  There was some sort of house party going on a block away and they were playing ridiculously loud music until about 9pm.  I felt like I was living in a dorm again.  It made bed time a battle since the thumping bass was clearly audible in Cal's room.  She finally fell asleep, but then was up a few times between 11pm and midnight coughing like crazy.  Poor little girl. 

Sunday
Mother's Day!  Chris has been training for months to be a police reserve volunteer, and this morning was his first gig- directing traffic for the Susan G. Koman Walk/Run for the Cure.  So he left the house by 5:30am and I got my next Mother's Day gift from Callie- sleeping in til 7:45!  Later in the morning we headed to the condo and walked up to a park with Boom and Bops.

Bumpy slide

Water for Kona

My girl

When we got home, I had a fun surprise waiting for me- an iphone!  What a fun Mother's Day gift! :)

After nap time, we went to the dog park (or as Callie calls it, the "dog show!") and enjoyed seeing all the other dogs. (Video taken by new phone, so it is HUGE...haven't figured out how to use it that well yet!)


We ended the evening with bath time and another eye drop battle.  I'll be calling our doctor tomorrow to get the oral medication instead of the eye drops.  We won't be able to survive another week of 2-drops-per-eye-four-times-per-day battles...ooooooofta!

There 3.5 weeks left of the school year.  Unbelievable.  I love my job, but this spring has been brutally busy.  I can't wait for a couple of months where the stress in my life is purely toddler-related.  I can totally handle that. :)

Happy Birthday Pa!

No, you're not seeing double.  It is Grandpa's birthday the day after Papa's birthday!

We love you Pa!

Happy Birthday Papa!

It's Papa's birthday today!  I thought I'd find a throwback picture of him and Callie, just for fun.  Here is one when she is only a few days old.

Hope you had a great day, Papa.  We love you!

Papa's birthday starts out a busy weekend full of family celebrations.

This year, it was also the day that a certain toddler got pink eye.  In both eyes.  For the first time.  Along with a super runny nose, cough, and cold sores.  Thankfully, she's been a happy little girl despite all the icky stuff going on in her head. 

 She's going to be getting to eat a lot of M&Ms and Gummy Bears the next 10 days, because that is how long we have to do eye drops (4 times a day!).  And there is no way we'll get the eye drops accomplished without said candy.

Weekend Wrap-Up

It is May.

The time of the school year where the end is in sight, but feels SO far away.

The time of year where one day you can wear shorts and a tank top and the next you have to wear layers.

Such an in-between time and I like it and hate it at the same time.

Those are just my ramblings.  On to the weekend.

Friday
Chris went golfing, so I headed over to the condo after work and Cal and I hung out and had dinner with Boom, Bops, Auntie Yoda and Auntie Mari.  After dinner we decided to get frozen yogurt at Menchies!

YUM!!!

Saturday
While I went with Mary to a bridal shower, Chris took Callie to Charlie's 2nd birthday party!  Callie was VERY excited to pick out Charlie's gift and go over to his house.  She was really hoping for birthday hats, and it looks like she got her wish!

Callie and the Birthday Boy!

It was an "Up" themed birthday party- lots of balloons!

On Saturday afternoon, Callie had a shopping date with Grandma while Chris, Bob and I went to Menards to begin looking at stuff for redoing our bathroom.  Stay tuned!  Looks like Callie got the good end of the deal- she shared Gelato with G-ma!

This girl has a sweet tooth

Saturday night we went to pick up a fun new outdoor playhouse that I had ordered earlier in the week.  We got it home and put it together with about 10 minutes to spare before bedtime.  Hopefully this will be a fun place to play this summer.  I'll let her give you a tour:



Sunday
We took a family trip to the zoo this morning.

After an ALMOST 3 HOUR NAP (!!!!!!!) we took it easy, did yard work, and hung out in the playhouse again, this time getting a little stuck.

This picture makes me laugh

I got to enjoy a toddler-free dinner out with Jenna (baby girl is due in the next couple weeks!!!) and Bethany and then headed to church, where Callie was WIRED and my mom spoke as part of the sermon about the importance of our church community.  It was wonderful.

I'll leave you with a fun fact: It was today, 6 years ago, that we brought home our little 8-week-old puppy Kona Hope.

At the Park

I love our park.

You've probably seen dozens of pictures of Callie at our park by now.  On the swings.  Hanging by the slide. 

So far, it has been a place to go for Callie to play and get energy out, and for us to...hover. 

I wouldn't say we're out-of-control-helicopter-parent hoverers, but we hover none-the-less.  Parents just don't want their kids to get hurt.

Over the past few months, though, we've slowly backed off.  While we used to climb up on the playground equipment with her, now we stand back and watch, fostering her independence (at least I hope that is what we are doing).

While before Callie used to watch other kids from afar, now she's starting to get interested.  And brave.

On Monday, there was a little 4-year-old girl at the park playing alone.  Callie noticed her right away, and came over to me and said "Hey!  Who's that girl?"  I told her she could go say hi.  She thought about it while she did some more playing on her own.  Then, she got brave and went up to the girl and said "Hi!"  The girl said "Hi" back. 

Callie's face lit up, and she turned to me and yelled "SHE SAID HI!"

She followed the little girl around for awhile and then wanted to swing.

Then the little girl followed us the the swings and asked to play. 

So I watched Callie run off, following the girl, chattering away.  So excited.

"Wait for me!"

As a mom, especially a mom of a rather shy kid, it was magical.

I know (and I worry) that it won't always be this easy.  Having experience working in both elementary and secondary schools, I've seen how mean girls can be. 

I hope and pray every day that we are teaching her to NOT be a mean girl, to be PROUD of being herself, and to ALWAYS be willing to say "Hi" at the park.

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.  :)