Notes I would Like To Send Out:

On any given day, there are multiple things I would like to say to people or things. Yes, things! lol. Just little tidbits of information that I feel like passing along, but don't. Mostly b/c it would not do any good. For example,

Dear car,
Please stop beeping at me. I promise I will be okay- even though I am low on wiper fluid! It is not urgent enough for you to beep at me every 5 minutes- you keep making me think I need gas! Thank you,
Your owner

or

Dear Milk,
Please quit upsetting my stomach. I really like my Starbucks frappuchinos and you're making it so that I can't enjoy them. I would appreciate it if this lactose intolerance would go away. So please, can't you and my tummy just agree to get along? Thanks!

Dear husband,
You know those new granola bar commercials where the ppl go around sticking giant wind up keys in other people's backs so that they can turn them on and give them energy to go again? Do I need to put a giant wind up key in your back and turn you on so that you work? Sometimes I swear you're broken. But I still love you. :)

Dear rude girl online,
Next time you decide to write a smarta** email, you might want to consider that the person you're emailing could
a- not be very receiving and willing to help when she gets rude emails
b- be sick and exhausted
c- have a whiny, also sick 2 year old hanging onto her leg and screaming.
So if you're wondering why you got a not-so-nice email back, it's because you didn't take into account what kind of day someone else might be having. And you sent that little smart mouthed email to the wrong mama. Better luck next time.

Dear house,
When are you going to learn to clean yourself?

Dear cats and dogs that reside at my house,
When are you going to learn to clean up your own poo or use a toilet? Come on- the cat on Meet The Fockers could do it. And you're all smart animals... Well, most of you! ;)

Dear whatever sickness has taken over my body,
Please go away. I do not have time for you. Come back later, after I am done with school, retired from teaching, and all my children are grown. Thanks so much for your understanding! :)

and last but not least...

Dear God,
Thank you for everything I am blessed with- annoying car, broken husband, lactose intolerant tummy and all. :)

Changes....

Wow. The changes that are going on in this house and in our lives right now. There are so many. Abbie will be starting PRESCHOOL this week. Now she's only 28 months old, so I'm not completely freaking out about this... yet. It's not like she's going to kindergarten yet. But after our first Parents' Night, it may feel real and I may have a meltdown due to the fact that it feels like she is growing up too fast.
She also just finished her last week of daycare on Friday. She has been there since she was 9 months old and all of her best little girl friends are there. So I am going to try and keep those relationships in tact while she stays home with me for atleast this semester.
Yes, let's not forget this semester. I am praying (HARD) that the 10 hours I have cut my schedule down to will feel easy breezy compared to previous semesters (and it defintely beats the 19 hours that I WAS signed up for!). I am really hoping that this semester goes by at a manageable pace. Cus that's not usually how my semesters go. No- instead, by the time it is Christmas/ summer break, I am at my wits end and Jeremy and I are usually on the brink of divorce. Not really, but you get what I mean. It is stressful. So I'm hoping that not working as much, having a more flexible schedule, and taking less hours will be better for our whole family.
So it looks like I'll spend this fall studying, substitute teaching (hopefully- I STILL have to hear back from BISD! grr), tutoring, continuing my Mary Kay business, and doing a little babysitting here and there. And that's an EASY schedule- lol! But I'm super excited to stay home with my precious girl 4-5 days a week. That's a big, positive change for us compared to other school semesters.
Also, it looks like the hubby will fly to Orlando in January for his classes that will solidify his readiness for a general manager position (i.e.- a better schedule and a much better salary! YAY!)
Reflecting on all these things, I realize that this summer has really changed our lives for the better. If I hadn't put Abbie in daycare part time and stayed home with her 2 days out of the week, I wouldn't realize how much I did not want to live without that time with her. I probably wouldn't have cut my school schedule down and I wouldn't be making the financial and family changes I'm making that are for all 3 of our best interest. Alot has just changed. I've found a much more sound way to balance our priorities and I'm incredibly happy about the direction we're headed. There are a lot of changes in the near future for our family, but I'm excited about every one of them. :)
Melissa

That's It- I'm getting these finances IN ORDER.

Allright, ladies... hold me to this. Yes, I am a coupon clipping, deal-getting, frugal lady.. But I have been leading a double life. The truth is I have a problem with credit cards. Whew, I said it. The first step is admitting, right? When I get too stressed out about saving money or just have the urge to go and shop (which also comes from getting stressed out about money), I end up charging way too much money on credit cards. For as much as I have saved over the last few months (particularly this year), I have charged hundreds if not thousands more on CC's. And it has got.to.stop. So I'm cutting up atleast one and putting the others in a bag that will stay at home. Locked up. I'm making myself poster boards documenting how much I pay off and anything I charge (I don't plan on it, but if I have to, then I am accountable b/c it is there in writing). I am going to set goals and meet them. It will be hard, but I know I can do it. So that's what I'm doing. *sigh* That's all. Pray for me!

My daughter has officially............

Tried to eat poop. Yep, it's true. Apparently, a single little terd dropped next to the litter box (which I am unbelievably anal about keeping clean, including the surrounding areas). Abbie apparently picked it up and as I walked in on her 5 seconds later, I could tell she had tried to put it in her mouth. She waited 2 years to develop the habit of picking up random things and putting them in her mouth, but not it is in full swing. I could tell by the way she was moving her mouth around that she had probably tried to stick it in her mouth. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEW. That's all I have to say about that. She got her hands washed and her teeth brushed immediately, but I am sooo grossed out. I am a huge mess/germ-o-phobe, and this is the ultimate fear of mine. Okay, it would have been worse if I had found it in her mouth of if she had eaten it. But still...
And it's almost comical because she's sitting here next to me (doing "work" on her kiddie laptop). And I ask her if, indeed, she did try to put the poo in her mouth. "Mm hmm," she says, still playing with the computer.... as if it's nothing. Just another day in the life of Abbie. And now she's putting on my chapstick... I have to go.

A Great Bedtime

Tonight, as I pulled Abbie out of the bath and dried her off, she jumped into my arms. She loves to cuddle when she gets out of the bath. So I hugged her, cradled, her and rocked her there on the floor. She looked at me, smiled, and said "Mama, you have your baby in your arms" :D My heart just about burst. I smiled and said "Yes, I do. You're my baby." Of course, then she went into a joke about how I was a baby. Lol.
Then we read our bedtime prayer book. The book talks about how everything calms down at night (the sun, the flowers, the trees, the dogs, the cats, mommy and daddy) and goes to sleep to get ready for the next day. The end of each page reads "Night, night ____" And she started kissing the pictures good night on each page and saying "night, night sun. Night, night birds. Night, night doggie" After we were done, she gave me a BIG hug and kiss and told me night night. I am so in love with that little girl. :)

The Blonde and The Red Head Eat Green!

So, I have a problem with eating vegetables. The problem is I don't. For years, the only vegetable that has entered my body is corn. However, since having Abbie, my body has been screaming at me to eat veggies. I have been craving things that I know I don't even enjoy. Add to that the fact that Abbie is imitating my distaste for anything green (or for any vegetable, really) and I knew something had to give. Ironically enough, I am SUPER anal about ensuring that Abbie gets plenty of veggies. I hide them in nearly everything since she won't eat them.
But lately, I have started finding more discreet ways to hide them. And I have been eating the disguised recipes as well. :) For example, veggie pancakes. I am IN LOVE. I puree green beans or whatever else and you can't even taste it in the pancakes. We pour a little syrup over it and neither one of us can tell that we're eating vegetables (despite the fact that the pancakes are green- lol).
I have also tried shakes/smoothies, which work out better for me than Abbie. I mix up fresh fruit, veggies, and yogurt in a blender (sometimes with flax seed oil and whey protein for mommy) and enjoy!
But I think our biggest feat would have to be that Abbie and I are both eating fresh spinach salads. We went to dinner a few nights ago with my best friend and her family. And I remembered that she had turned me on to this spinach salad a few months back, but I had never gone and bought any myself. Well, after seeing how Abbie ate the spinach with no complaints (I wanted to jump on top of that table and yell PRAISE GOD! But I didn't.) I had to go buy some. So for the last couple of days, it's been chicken salads for lunch. And I am pleasantly surprised at how much we both like the spinach more than lettuce. We have also both started eating tomatoes over the last few months (yes, it's a fruit, but it's also progress).
Now we just have to tackle brocolli, squash, peas, and maybe some zucchini. I'm so glad that both of us are headed in the right direction. I pray that I haven't damaged my body by not eating vegetables for so many years, and I will not even give her the option to do that to herself. So that's what's going on at the Garner kitchen table! :)
Melissa

What should I do with my laundry?

I got to thinking tonight about my laundry. I've got a HUGE hamper full in my bedroom that needs to be washed, an equal amount in my living room that needs to be put away, and then a couple loads downstairs in the washer/dryer. I've been meaning to get to it for about..um.. 3 weeks or so. My husband is getting annoyed. (Yes he can do it, too. But his crazy controlling wife keeps him SUPER busy on his days off :)) So I got to thinking what I should do with all of this laundry. So far, I have thought about...
Burying my head in it so that the screams I need to let out don't disturb my child.
Sleeping in/on/under it.
Seeing if I can set a world record for the largest pile of laundry.
Doing an experiment to find out if, in fact, the laundry fairy really does exist.
If you have any other ideas, you just let me know. And take your time brainstorming... my laundry and I will still be here. :)

Our Antics For The Day

Maybe it is just red headed children. Or maybe it is just 2 year olds. But I feel that my toddler is equal to about six children. Seriously, if you added 5 more in there, I don't think I'd know the difference. That is what has been on my mind all day.
We woke up this morning. I had gone to bed around 1 or later and was not ready when Abbie came strolling in my room by 7. So I tried to keep her entertained with toys, breakfast, etc. while I shut my eyes for a few more minutes. But then we had to get up and going. We had lots to do. I threw some cereal in a cup (mobile breakfast is great!). By the time we got out the door, Abbie had claimed the cup and my breakfast was apparently over. Just as I had everything in my arms and ready to get to the car, Abbie spills the cup. Naturally. I drop everything and go to sweep it up. Of course, I reminded her that we don't pick it up and put it back in the cup. But I think she snuck a few bites back in there b/c the last bite I took had one of my hairs in it. EEEW.
We get out the door. I don't remember what all she did, but by the time we got from the house to the car, I already felt frazzled. I was catching newspapers that she was trying to let the wind blow away, putting bows back in her hair, and I don't even remember what else. And we were only parked 10 feet away. The song You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0QCCNCkvzI)was playing on the radio as let out one of my many heavy sighs of the day and put the keys in the engine. I had to smile. Lesson remembered, thank you.
We had almost made it down the street before the rest of the cup of cereal was in her car seat.
We ran errands for an hour or 2, stopped by a girlfriend's house, and came home for lunch. Pretty uneventful. Except that when I went to get my haircut, Abbie tried to put the 10 foot mirror down on her head and had to sit under a dryer with me. (which she naturally tried to put up and down about 16 times even though I told her to keep her hands in her lap) Lol.
At one point today, I found her sitting on TOP of my dining room table with a bottle of glass cleaner. Spraying it in her hair. "I do my hair," she told me as she ran the glass cleaner through her red curls. Uuugh, child, can I leave you alone for three seconds? Nope. So out the door we went again, glass cleaner hair and everything.
We did get a lot of shopping done today. And despite the fact that my rule is that you pick a place to sit and stay there, Abbie still managed to get in, out, and all over the grocery carts about 19 times each. And run up and down the aisles of nearly every place we went. And hide in the clothes sections. And of course, she had to try and unwrap some candies in the check out aisle as I was loading our groceries onto the check out counter. At least I did not find her trying to chew through the package of rolos again. We've been there before.
Yes, 2 year olds are a handfull. I don't have to tell anybody that. But of course, she constantly makes me smile with all her antics. Like when she jumped up from playing with her trains tonight and ran to get a bandaid from the bathroom... for the train engine. lol. Of course I had to know what happened to the poor train engine. She explained that he bumped into the floor and was in serious medical need. Whew, I thought, what a relief that all he needed was a bandaid. I can't imagine how much it would have cost to have a careflight helicoptor land in our driveway if something serious had happened. Like if he'd lost a wheel. And of course, then Abbie needed a bandaid. For the owie that she got 5 weeks ago. The same one that healed 4 weeks ago. I'm hoping by the time she's 12 we won't have to bandage it up on a regular basis anymore.

So that's our antics for the day in a nutshell. Of course there were many more in between, but I've rambled enough. Have a good night and remember- if you need a babysitter for your whole brood and you're in our neighborhood, just bring em on over. I promise it won't feel any different. ;)
Melissa

The Terrible Two's

I am sure that one day, many many years in the future, I will look back on this blog and smile. So that is why I am posting it. Okay, maybe it is also to vent a little bit. Let me start this blog with a disclaimer. I love my daughter more than anything in the whole world. I really, really do. But most days, I think I am going to lose my mind.
If I did not watch them test her hearing in the hospital, I would swear it doesn't work. That girl completely disregards every.single.thing I say. Seriously, it has gotten to the point where I start to tell her not to do something and these are the thoughts going through my mind:
A- "Why are you even speaking?"
B- "What discipline technique are you going to use when (not if- WHEN) she doesn't listen to you?
She IGNORES me.
But I know she can hear because when I say come here, she runs. When I need to get her dressed, change her diaper, get her in the bath, get her undressed, put her to bed, get her out the door, or anything else... she runs the other way. It's a game to her, no matter how many times I tell her that it is NOT a game. Seriously, the minute I say "Abbie, let's change your diaper", she heads for the door. I chase her down for EVERYTHING.
I have to physically restrain her to brush her teeth. I did have a few techniques that were working... until she figured them out and makes me resort to holding her down to brush her teeth.
And let's not forget the lovely toddler habits. Just tonight, Abbie tee-teed through her panties and onto the stairs. No problem; we're potty training. But did she have to run her hands all through the pee pee as soon as it hit the floor? And again after we washed her hands and as I was trying to clean it up?
Of course, meal times are always pleasant. Abbie refuses to sit in or be strapped down to her booster seat and then doesn't want to sit in her high chair. She is a picky eater. I still have to puree veggies so that I can hide them in her food and she pretty much refuses to eat leftovers.
And last but not least, she is attached to me. No, that is not always a bad thing. But she has gotten to the point where she will not let me out of her sight. I will literally go upstairs to grab one item that is sitting at the top of the stairs and she has to come with me. I love that she loves me, but sometimes it is just so much. I'm the only person she wants when she is hurting, scared, tired, or in any other mood. When I pour a glass of milk, she insists on sitting on the counter. Lord help us all when I try to cook.
I know I sound like an awful, unappreciative, whiny mother.I'm not. I know that I would take my high maintenance child over so many other scenarios. Sometimes I just need to put down all of my frustrations in one place. Anyway, that's my terrible twos rant for the day. I wouldn't trade her for the world, though. If I did, I'd go insane from the quiet. ;)

Is it okay to pray for them to pass out?

I took Abbie swimming this morning with the hopes that I would get to enjoy a productive nap time. I was going to clean house, send emails, pay some bills, and even get some work done. Wanna know what I'm doing? Blogging. Because I'm trapped in my bedroom being a comfort to my 2 year old who is in my floor, curling up on a pillow and watching Elmo, still fighting sleep like she has been for the last hour and a half. The fact that she passed out in the car on the way home and then was allowed a leisurely 20 minute nap (thank you very much, Starbucks drive through! :S) does not help because it just gave her fuel to stay awake longer once she got home. Sigh. I have put her in her bedroom about 6 times, but she keeps getting out. I have put her in bed with me. I have put her in the pallet in the floor. She's got pillows, soft blankets, stuffed animals, and even Elmo. And yet I'm sitting here, not getting anything accomplished. Maybe I'll do some online shopping. That's productive, right? ;)

More Elmo and Screaming than I ever Want to Experience Again....

Abbie and I took a looong nap today. We probably slept 2-2 and a half hours. The reason? We are recovering forma lovely bout with hand, foot, and mouth disease. Yep, the first thing Abbie ever brings home from daycare after a year and a half of being there. And it was a doozy.

My child, whom I've never seen watch more than an hour of TV in her life, has sat in front of that television for the better part of the last 4-5 days. I am pretty sure we have watched Elmo Goes to Grouchland 18 times. We have also solidified our love for Thomas the Train and Barney, and had a brief fling with Calliou.

And for whatever reason (be it the rash in her mouth or an adverse reaction to sleeping in front of the tv), Abbie has not been sleeping well. Ok, let me rephrase that; Abbie has not even been sleeping badly. It has been that awful. Our formerly somewhat peaceful bedtime routine has been turned into an event that would deem our upstairs portion of the house as a certifiable natural disaster area. And all of this before we even realized she had the virus. There has been screaching, crying, banging, throwing, hitting, kicking. Did I mention screaching? Oooooh, the screaching. :( She has gone to bed hours too late and woke up hours too early. It became apparent very quickly we would have to make some sort of compromise with our distraught toddler.

So she has slept downstiars. On the couch. In front of the TV. With mommy. With daddy. In grandmommy and grandaddy's bed. In our bed. And you would think that she would pass out when it was already hours past her bed time, she'd only taken half a nap that day, and she'd spent 75% of the day distressed over something. But nooo.

We have had more late night slumber parties over the last week than I care to talk about. I have been blessed by God with understanding and love like I wouldn't belive I possessed some times.

I have layed in Abbie's room (on a good night after we got her medicated by the way), pretending to be asleep (so that maybe she would drift off). I watched her play, jump, read books, sing songs, and oh... let's not forget... play with diaper rash cream. Oh yes, they tell you you'll do a lot of things as a mother. They never mention that you'll lay in your toddler's floor, feeling like a bad spy as you inconspicuously peer at her out of one eye, watching her open a diaper rash cream tube and stick her finger in it. And then get up and wipe her hands off with a wipe. Yes, on a side note, that was part of one of our slumber parties one night. As I lay there in the floor, Abbie lay down on her fuzzy bear rug in her floor. Aah, I thought, she's finally going to sleep (we'd been in the room for an hour by this point) Nope; she picked up the tube of Desitin and meticulously opened it and stuck one of her tiny fingers in it. She looked at it, turned it, and studied it some more. Then she stood, took a clean baby wipe, and carefully wiped off the finger. She layed back down, got comfortable, and opened the tube again. She got up and wiped it off again. I watched her do this 18 times. And while I was laying there, I thought "people never tell you about this part of motherhood."

But alas, we are hopefully putting these experiences and so many more behind us. In fact, we are headed off to bed now. I am not sure how it will go, so pray for us. She is already requesting Elmo. *Sigh* And for the sake of my sanity (which depends on sleep to survive), ask God to ensure that Abbie does not get sick again any time soon.

Love,

Melissa