In the Mind of a Two Year Old--More Artwork

"I like markers.  I like to draw on stuff.  I like pens.  I like to draw on cupboards and and chairs.  I'm not sure why mom doesn't like my artwork.  I told her I drew a 'baby' on the bathroom cabinet.  I'm proud, and she should be too."

Mom side note: The magic eraser does not get pen out of white bathroom cabinets.

Thoughts on Having Children

While tucking the girls in bed, kissing them good night, and saying prayers, Ambria interrupted my bedtime prayer with this...

Ambria: "I don't want to have kids" (proceeds to shake her head 'no' and stick out her tongue).

Mariah chimes in, "Yeah me either.  Mom, doesn't it stink taking care of us?"

Not sure where or why this fit into the bedtime prayer, but I guess Ambria had something on her mind that she wanted to share.  Thanks Ambria, and no, Mariah, it doesn't stink taking care of you (although it can be challenging at times and I continue to count gray hairs).

Oh the things kids say.

The Missing Sippy Cup

It is never a good thing when you can't find your child's favorite sippy cup.
And it is REALLY never a good thing when you know that missing sippy cup was filled with MILK.

You Know You're a Mom When...

The Mom Purse

*You buy a purse big enough to fit lots of snacks
*You always carry snacks in your purse
*You have more snack wrappers and used kleenex in your purse than money
*In your purse is your new phone...and the first thing you do with your new iPhone is download kid apps

I am such a mom.

Farts

Yup, I said it, farts.  We use the word "toots" with the girls, but there is just something about that "noise" that makes kids giggle, even girls.

The girls saw some weird putty at the store and it was only a dollar, so I bought some "noise putty".  Little did I know what exactly that "noise putty" was... (aka: putty that makes fart noises when you push it back into the container).

Let me tell you, that dollar bought LOTS of laughter.  It is just too funny listening to the girls' endless laughter over a silly noise.

Oh girls....

The putty is actually really easy to clean up, it doesn't stick to surfaces or hands, and it is pretty much fragrance free.  All three girls give the "noise putty" two thumbs up!

Sugar!

Not a picture of health, but a picture of a happy child.

No, this doesn't happen all the time, but friends kept giving Ashlyn goodies and she kept accepting.  She only had one sip of Mountain Dew and a few licks of the sucker. :)

School Project?

You know that school project I wrote about??

Note to self: Keep school projects out of younger sister's reach.

Deep breath, thankfully, it was only pencil, but I still had a minor heart attack.

Missing Bubble Gum

Ashlyn has a new addiction: GUM.  It is the FIRST word out of her mouth in the morning.  She usually only gets a small piece when we get in the car (or if she sneaks a piece without my knowing).  She has been doing a really good job of chewing her gum and we are teaching her to either give the chewed up gum to us or throw it in the trash.

It doesn't always make it to the trash.

I found a small wad of pink gum in the middle of our kitchen floor.  I know who to blame.

On another day, Ashlyn was chewing a piece of gum and I put Ashlyn in the ERGO carrier (you know where this is going) and we walked around for about an hour, talking to people, etc.  I just randomly looked at our reflection in a window....

WHAT THE HECK WAS ON MY NECK??!!

I had on a v-neck shirt and a blob of pink gum was stuck to my skin!!  NICE.

I guess it could have been worse, it could have been stuck in my hair.

Laugh it off...

Back to School Shopping

A Poem of Sorts

'Tis that time of year again...

Off I go,
with three girls in tow (definitely outnumbered).
Supply lists in hand,
each girl has their own special demand.
(Pink scissors, purple folders, glitter crayons, and Ashlyn gets bored so in the cart she stands).
Youngest screams, snacks go flying,
I am audibly sighing,
and my tongue I am tying,
and if I said this was fun, I would by lying.
(Side note: Most of the time, I love shopping with the girls, I was just stressed and unfocused and Ashlyn was crabby.  Ok, side note over, back to poem). 
Stores were pretty busy,
parents frantic and in a tizzy.
Shopping cart full,
the experience has taken its toll (on me and the bank account).
Lists complete,
and I need to get off my feet.

Juice Box

I'm not exactly sure why, but each time the girls ask for a juice box (which is usually just on vacations or days away from the house), I open it and take a BIG drink.

Well, I do know why. (Most things I do have a reason behind it). 
1.  I am thirsty
2.  I like juice boxes
3.  The less the juice in the box, the less amount that the kids can squeeze out and spill everywhere

It is so nice of the girls to share with mom.  No, actually they scold me for drinking out of their juice boxes. :)  Please and thank you.

Tap Shoes

In the recent exchange of Hand Me Downs, from oldest sister to middle sister, Ambria found Mariah's beloved TAP SHOES.  (Mariah never took dance, nor has Ambria.  These were a garage sale find years ago--bonus!)

Ambria was ecstatic about her "new" shoes.  Mariah, not so much.

Mariah had a difficult time watching her sister prance, dance, and tap all around the house in her new found treasure.  Mariah's jealousy grew but after a few days, the emotions surrounding the shoes subsided.

Ambria hasn't taken the tap shoes off her feet in days!  I made the mistake and allowed her to wear the tap shoes to a store and a restaurant.
My bad.
Horrible decision.
Ambria had a blast creating her own dance routines in the store aisles and beside our restaurant booth, but my face grew red.

Our quiet, timid Ambria was being LOUD.  She wasn't ashamed.  She was proud.  She didn't want to quiet down.  She was beaming!  I'm sure half of it was her having fun, and the other half was her trying to make Mariah more jealous.

Germs

I'm not a fan of germs.  I'm not a complete germaphobe, but a moderate one.  I wash hands, use hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, etc.  (Oh, and I don't like raw meat, hate the germs, and have only touched raw meat maybe five times in my life.  Eww, gross).

My kids have been known to eat things that have fallen on the floor in public places.  I cringe.  They survive.

Flu germs give me major anxiety.

I am getting better at coping with other kids' snotty noses.  Colds are one thing, flu is another.

The other day, I reminded Ambria to wash her hands.  Her response:
"I don't want to wash my hands. I want to be covered in germs."

Sigh.

I made her wash them anyway.

More Stories from the Grocery Store

Every time I take the three girls grocery shopping with me, I end up regretting it.  This time was no different.

I got one of those HUGE shopping carts with two extra seats attached, the kind that I can hardly push and can't see over.

First is the argument of who is going to sit where.
Ashlyn immediately starts asking for a snack.
Ashlyn doesn't like the snack option.
I pull out emergency snack.
All three girls want it.
Mariah disappears.
Ashlyn wants to switch seats.
Ambria starts climbing all over the cart like a circus.
Ashlyn wants another snack.
Ashlyn doesn't like snack option and starts screaming.
I don't have any other snacks so Ashlyn keeps screaming.
People look at me because Ashlyn is screaming.
I get Ashlyn out of the cart and hold her.
I attempt to push the HUGE cart while holding Ashlyn.
I am regretting taking the kids to the grocery store.
Mariah starts pushing the cart and knocks over 105 bottles of water in the aisle!! (No joke)
I stop to pick them up as they roll everywhere.
Ashlyn wants to walk.
Ashlyn knocks a jar of pickles off the shelf (and I held my breath hoping the jar wouldn't break-it didn't, phew).
Ambria's sandals fall off at the end of the aisle.  Must go back.
Ashlyn wants to grab all the tomatoes out of the bin.
Ambria wants to cool off by opening all the freezer doors.
Mariah doesn't want to push the cart anymore.
Ambria's sandals fall off again.

THEN, the forever long checkout line where the girls take just about everything off the shelf while they try to wait patiently...and I start to pull out my hair.

Shopping complete but all my hair is gone.


(I love my girls dearly, but man, is it difficult to go grocery shopping with all of them!)

Picture Taking Experience

I attempt to take each daughter to get their picture taken at yearly milestones (3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year, 18 months, 2 years, 3 years, etc).  Even though I photograph the girls often, I still like to take them to a studio, pay $8 and get a package of pictures that I can send out to family members.

Seems easy enough.

Yeah right.

Picture day nightmares.

Mariah and Ambria were pretty easy.  Ashlyn, not so much.

Even when Ashlyn was a few months old, she hated the studio.  I'm not sure if it was the strange photographer, the small room, lights, or what, but it was never a pretty scene.  On most occasions, the photographer was able to get less than FIVE shots of Ashlyn.

Yesterday was no different.  Ashlyn will be turning TWO this month (oh my!!) so I had a spur of the moment idea to get her pictures taken when we were at the mall.  I packed an extra outfit, a comb for her hair, a sucker for bribing.

Ashlyn was skeptical the moment we walked into the studio.  She wouldn't stand or sit on the X and then she started to run away, cry, and resist.

Ugh.

I was stressed.  Ashlyn wasn't happy.  The photographer got TWO shots, one of Ashlyn starting to run away, and the other of Ashlyn looking scared.  Nice.

Well, that didn't work.

Thirst

Have you ever been soooo thirsty, and you look around, and all that can be found is this???......

Oh yes, I have been there.
Yes, I have drank out of my kids' sippy cups.  

So what.  :)

Cool Mom

I've accepted the fact that I drive a mini van. It's ok. It is convenient for our family of five and the various road trips that we take each year. I've accepted this and I can't be THAT cool because of this vehicle.

So, the other day, I was driving in my rockin' mini van, listening to some tunes on the radio. (Give me credit, at least I wasn't listening to a Barney CD). The DJ came on and said something like, "thanks for listening to our LIGHT ROCK radio station."

Hold it right there!

LIGHT ROCK??!!

Crap, my mom listens to light rock. What does that make me??!!

I will succumbe to this strike against my coolness, but I did immediately change the radio station.

What Do You Want to Be?

A common question that parents will ask their children is "what would you like to be when you grow up?" When children are younger, the answers to this question can be quite comical and random. It also isn't unusual for kids to change their answer to this question...they can change their minds every minute, hour, day, week...

Ambria, our 5 year old middle child, has been pretty consistent in her answer to this question and hasn't changed her mind in months.

Her answer:

A MUSKETEER

Eating Healthy

Our middle child, also known as Ambria, isn't the healthiest of eaters. She doesn't like fruit or vegetables...AT ALL!

We told her that once she turned 5 (which was last week) she would have to start trying more fruits and vegetables and she agreed to this. So far, she has eaten half a carrot, a bite of broccoli, and a small piece of cucumber. It's a start! We applauded her attempts as she tried to say "I like it" as she raced to the garbage to spit it out.

Ambria decided she likes peanuts and cashews, so I thought maybe I was on to something--trail mix!!

I bought some trail mix and Ambria was more than excited to have it for a snack. Every few seconds she came to me and said:

"Mom, I don't like these big things (as she pointed to the almonds)."

then

"Mom, I don't like these either (as she pointed to the peanuts and cashews)."

then

"Mom, I don't like these (as she pointed to the raisin)."

Yup, you guessed it, that only left the M&M's!!!

That's my Ambria.

A New Food Group

Guess what Ashlyn learned?

She can now get into the drawers in the bathroom and UNCAP the deodorant.

Guess what I learned?

Chewed up deodorant is difficult to get out of upholstery.

Nice.

Birthday Requests

The two older girls have birthdays coming up next month. (Side note: Mariah will be 8 and Ambria will be 5! I feel so old!) I keep asking them what they want for their birthday and they BOTH respond the same way:

A PUPPY or A KITTEN

Well...since both of those are not options, I have had to rephrase my question to them.

The new question is: If I go to Toys R Us, what do you want me to pick out?

Most of the time, they respond with the same absurd request.

This is not working.