First haircut

Yesterday Noah received his first hair cut.  While I would have loved to have waited and let his curls grow, I have be honest, my boy doesn't have any curls.  Unless it rains and is muggy, then we get a few....like 2.  So yesterday I loaded my man up to see Ms. Lauren and cut away his wings.  She was shocked he was almost 2 and this was his first haircut.  What can I say we had a mohawk for a long time with little other hair.

Here is the before....see those wings over his ears.

Mom are you really going to let that lady near me with those scissors?

Now that I have a sucker, she can do anything she wants.

Ladies Man!

My handsome little boy and our favorite hair dresser!

Becuase you had a bad day...

You know that song?  This one...

Because you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
 
Well it's Meredith's favorite song.  Seriously.  If you come into my house any given day, you may just catch her naked except for her underwear, belting out this song at the top of her lungs.  And not because she constantly has bad days, I mean how many 3 year olds have bad days?  Especially ones that often munch on Happy Meals for lunch, goes to dancing school, play school, has multiple play dates and owns 3 pairs of red shoes.  Exactly, not this three year old.  No sir-ree, no reason for a bad day here.....at all.
 
Today though was a different animal....she had a great morning.  Dropped her brother off at school, went to dancing, then we went to get a 99cent sonic mini oreo sundae, then to Hobby Lobby (her favorite store - no idea why, because it's not mine), then to lunch and then to Mimi's.  Where she played all afternoon.  She played with her dolls, rode on the golf cart, fed the ducks, and all kinds of fun stuff.  She even got ice cream for a snack for the 2nd time that day.  Which is unheard of normally.  I am the healthy snack momma, I tell ya.
 
Anyway her day was busy and the plan was to have her daddy pick her up on his way home from work.  But when your dad is constantly on call as her dad was tonight, sometimes those plans have to change.  So I went to pick her up and head to get her snack for school tomorrow.  Do you know what can cause a 3 year old's world to come crashing down?  Changing plans on them.  Plans they were looking forward to.  When I walked into my mom's to pick up my daughter that I had dropped off 4 hours earlier, I was met with Satan's spawn instead.  Okay not really, but it was so not my child.  Not the one I left earlier.  Not the one I went through 19 1/2 hours of labor with no epidural just to wind up with a damn c-section anyway.  Yes, not that one in deed.  Instead I got one with a surly attitude, on the verge of a complete breakdown and drowning in tears and other fluids draining from the senseless fit being thrown. 
 
I did what any good mother would do.  I threatened a punishment, I told her I was NOT happy with her choices and I told her I was disappointed in her behavior and then I left her there and headed to get her snack without her.  The snack I specially ordered for her class to go with the "I'm going to Disney world and you're not" theme I have going on for snack day tomorrow.....but that is a post for another day.  Anyway I left her.  I was bewildered. I normally get tears and a fit when she has to leave Mimi's but normally she straightens up when I correct her.  Today not so much.
 
About an hour or so later I met back up with the devil's spawn said child.  We looked eye to eye, she told me I was mean. I told her to go to time out and think about it.  She cried, I banged my head on the counter.  Five minutes later I sat her down to talk to her.  She said she was sorry and hugged me.  Then she threw another fit with screaming and crying and real BIG tears.  I'm not even sure why.  Can 3 year olds have PMS? 
 
I sent her to her room.  She stayed there screaming for a while.  She finally emerged and we hugged and I told her I loved her and she sat on my lap and she cried about crying and then I told her enough....move on.....you had a freaking bad day.  Sing that damn song you are always singing at the top of your lungs.  She didn't want to because she was having too bad a day to sing.
 
So about 6:30 we had both chilled out.  Josh went back in to the hospital and the tikes and I went up to start an early bed time routine.  Once everyone was in bed, stories were read, songs sang and prayers said, I tucked Noah in and then went to tuck in my girl.  She asked me if I loved her, I responded as I always do "to the moon and back."  She asked me how far that was, I told her as I always tell her "as far as she could ever imagine."  I kissed her and told her I was sorry, she said she was sorry too.  I looked into her deep brown eyes and saw myself looking back at me.....God bless me when she is 16.  I am going to need it.
 
Meredith remember always that I love you! I am sure there will be times when you don't like me and I don't like you, but I will ALWAYS love you.  No matter what!
 
**By the way you love that song, because the chipmunks sing it.  I love it because you sing it!

The cheerleaders and the hunk!

This past weekend we took the kids to the USM game.  It was Noah's first game, since his previous games were when he was in my belly!  It was also Meredith's "first" game, since she didn't remember ever going before.  It was also her first time to bring a friend somewhere, I have to say that is a pretty big girl move!

Here they are all dressed up in the USM garb, making funny faces!  Look at the happiness in those smiles.  To be young and innocent again!

The girls trying to get Noah to sit by them....he was too cool for that!

Gearing up to go!  Eagles to the TOP!

Best friends!

Pre-game we tailgated with the masses at USM.  We watched the bands, the cheerleaders and dance team and the kids were very interested in people watching.

The game was alot of fun.  We didn't have the typical game experience though, we watched it in a catered suite that Josh's office owns.  Talk about style.  The kids loved that.  They were right in the end zone with only glass between them and the field and several hundred feet of course, since we were on the third floor!

The girls played, cheered and had a ball.  Noah watched the game intensely, clapped, cheered, flirted with the girls both big and small.  Overall we all had a great time, it will be hard to go back to watching the games in the stands.  At one point during the night, Noah tried to crowd surf in the stands.  He had 5 adults up and out of their seats trying to catch him, someone did, I guess the boy knew what he was doing.  He also tried to climb over the glass railing the entire night.  Finally he took his shoes off and stacked them against the glass to get some height, he then climbed on his shoes and tried to boost himself over the edge....he came close.

At half time we headed out to get the three tikes home and in bed.  It was a great game.

The homework begins

On Friday, Meredith came home with homework.  I know who gives homework over Labor Day weekend?  Apparently the three year old teachers at Meredith's preschool, that's who.  The homework was to complete the silhouette with some of Meredith's favorite things.  Like her favorite colors, hobbies, food, animals, games, toys and so on. 

Thankfully this little homework project was easy, because in true Mandi fashion I waited until Tuesday to complete the assignment due no later than Wednesday morning.  I actually had to take my SD card to get pictures developed this morning.  Nothing like last minute.  I know as she gets older these projects will become a little harder and more involved so I will have to work on this procrastination thing. 

And yes, I said I will have to work on the procrastination thing because we all know homework and projects is as much work for the parent as it is for the child.  Just ask my mom and the endless science projects she had to do for us.

Here is my girl working on her silhouette....the other random worksheets are homework sheets she assigns herself daily.  My girl lives for homework!

Checking out the final project.

So proud of her work.

The finished product!

Here is what it all means.

Things Meredith likes...

- dancing

- Brownie-her dog

- her family

- coloring

- pencils for homework

- spaghetti and meatballs

- cooking

- baking

- dressing up

- princesses

- her favorite animal - monkey

- going to work with her daddy at the hospital

- oatmeal

- cookies

-the color pink!

I know these will change one day, so I love that I will have it documented at the age of 3!

The ants coming marching 10 by 10....

After a very busy, but very fun weekend....Monday rolled around.   Even though it is a holiday and I have an extra set of hands home to help with the Monday, it is still a Monday.  Since Noah went to bed at 6:30pm last night due to skipping his nap, he was up bright and early at 7am.  This was not his usual 8:30am, therefore I was forced to drag my tired ass out of bed an hour and half earlier than usual.  It nearly killed me since I couldn't sleep last night.  Josh had left to do rounds so he could get back home and spend the day with us, otherwise I would have made him get out of bed and get him.

So after I fetch a Noah man, we got in my bed to snuggle.  Noah's idea of snuggling and my idea of snuggling are very different.  Before long we heard Ta-ta coming down the steps and that was when I decided to get up and make oatmeal....much to Noah's delight. 

As I opened the pantry door there they were.  Hundreds, or thousands maybe.  They were having a standoff  and I was armed with my Method cleaner...what else should I have used around all the food?  The war on the ants began.  Thankfully the kids didn't pick up on my anxiety or start screaming with me.  They took the ants in stride and looked at me like I had officially lost all of my marbles.  If Josh would not had arrived on the scene and confirmed it, I may have thought I was seeing things, that's how lax the children's responses to the ants were.  Yes, even my Meredith who cannot stand a tiny bug within a 25 foot radius of her, did NOT react to the ants.

So there went my Monday, by 8am, I had made 3 bowls of oatmeal (2 for my growing boy and 1 for Meredith), unloaded an entire pantry of food, threw out 4....yes 4 garbage bags full of ant infested foods or foods that were at least a year or two out of date.  I had wiped down the entire pantry with bleach cleaner, used several of my finest choice words, text my husband about the dire ant/pantry situation and begged him to leave his patients in the ICU and come and help me....for the record he didn't. And cried...I did I cried over the ants.  I even thought about putting the house up for sale, because at that point it seemed easier than getting rid of them.  All of this by 8am. 

Yes, it is a Monday.  I don't even know what holiday it is today, because by golly I celebrated it yesterday and today was a typical Monday morning at work for me.  Stay at home moms don't get holidays, vacation time or sick leave.  I think I may put in a phone call to the union sometime today....oh wait I bet they have the day off.  I guess I'll quit crying now and go back to battle the ants.  I googled how to kill ants, but those websites weren't very optimistic and were making me realize just how many ants were hiding below the surface where I couldn't see.  My Monday morning had been bad enough already without reading that....so I quit.  

Anyone have any advice on how to get rid of them?

What she says....the fairy

 Blair this one is for you....

So a few weeks ago a friend of mine and fellow blogger posted a story about a special fairy.  This fairy is the clean up fairy.  After countless days of begging and pleading for Meredith and Noah to pick up their toys....and threats of throwing their toys away if they didn't pick them up, I took Blair's idea and went with it.  I told Meredith about the fairy.  I told her how she came at night and picked up any toys that were left out and gave them to boys and girls that didn't have any toys.

After my preschool explanation of this fairy and how she worked, my daughter began to cry.  At first I thought it was because she was so sensitive to the fact that some boys and girls had absolutely no toys.  I went into lots of detail about that and here she was sobbing about how some kids had no toys and she was going to share them.   I was impressed.....about to pat myself on the back...who said parenting was hard?  It wasn't but a few seconds later and then I realized that she was crying because she didn't want that fairy to come and give her toys to anyone.  It wasn't that she wanted to share with others who had no toys, it was that she didn't want to share with anyone....toys or no toys!  I know I will continue to work on that sharing thing, right after I get this clean up thing working.

Anyway I digress....back to the fairy.   So I go into detail and explain and re-explain how it works.  That night when the tikes are in bed, the play room, and their bedrooms are spotless.  I helped, but they did the bulk of the work.  Meredith worried about the fairy and Noah picking up due to his sister's persistent begging so that the fairy won't come.  The next night same thing.   In fact their have been times where we couldn't leave the house with the play room a mess in fear that the fairy would come by while we were out. 

A few days go by, the picking up continues and I realize my child is genuinely afraid of this fairy.  She is losing sleep over it, literally.  She can't sleep at night in fear of the fairy coming in her room at night to get her toys.  I am frustrated.  I didn't paint this fairy out to be the bad guy.  I didn't say she looked like a wicked witch and pulled toes.  So I really didn't want to have to say she was pretend and go back to living in a pig pen, but let's face it....we all need sleep....and by sleep I mean in our own beds.   So I did it, I broke down....I told her the damn fairy wasn't real.  She was just pretend.  She could sleep, there was no fairy coming.  It was just me and I was just going to throw those toys away if they were left out. 

My moment of truth did not change the mind of my 3 year old.  To her that fairy she still exist and I am just saying that she is pretend so she will sleep.  We still pick up at night.  She still stays up at night in fear of her.  I guess I need to make sure that the fairy brings a few surprises to let Meredith know she is a good fairy.

But today, the fairy thing backfired completely.  Meredith, Noah and I were in the backyard playing outside, when they started moving the pea gravel that is in the sand boxes under the swing set and dumping it all over the yard.  I quickly halted this and told them we needed to pick it up and put it back.  PRONTO!  They just stared.....

"Guys....NO, NO, NO,  the rocks stay under the swing set!"

"but why?"

"Because....I do not want pea gravel all over the yard."

"but why?"

"Because....it will kill the grass"

"but why?"

"Because when we cut the grass it will get shot across the yard by the lawn mower."

"but why?"

"Because IT BELONGS in the boxes under your playhouse and that is where it needs to stay"

"but why?"

"because I freaking said so.....BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE!"

"but..."

"No...stop right there...let's pick up....RIGHT NOW"

"No mom, let's just leave it.  Da fairy will come when we are sleeping and just throw it away.  Okay!"

I realize I was outsmarted by a 3 year old this afternoon.  Lord help me when she is 16.

On days when she just dresses herself

My diva.  She has a fashion sense that is totally her own.  Some mornings we completely bat heads over the wardrobe.  Many of you may think like my mother, why on Earth do I give her the choice.  Well let me just say.  She doesn't always get to choose.  Sometimes when we are going somewhere or on Sunday mornings, I choose for her and that is that.  She knows that and typically does not fight me on this.  As long as the outfit meets her very picky standards.  Most of time I let her pick between two things.  And others I let her have free reign.  I figure what does it really hurt if she gets to pick her clothes for the day.  I'll tell ya, not a damn thing.

  It has gotten easier since I have gotten to know what she likes and what she does not like and will refuse to wear.  Remember when I said I only bought pink things, I did that way I didn't' have a drawer full of clothes not being worn because they weren't Pepto Bismol pink.  I started buying clothes that meet her very high standards of 1)not being tight around her arms  2)not being empire waisted and being tight across her chest 3)not being tight on her waist  and 4)not containing too much frilly stuff....then we got to a place where we are good.  I hated wearing stuff I did not like as a child.  I'm changing that with my own children. Here are some examples...

She loved this one....didn't want to take it off.

She totally put this ensemble together....do you love the shirt hair?  Yes, a yellow shirt she wore all day on her head like hair.....ALL DAY.  To the grocery, McDonalds, Target....ALL DAY!

Dress up at the discovery center.  She loves dress up and totally gets into character when she does. 

More dress up...this is my recent favorite princess ansemble she has put together.  We typically always wear her green dress, with a crown, heels and a purse.  See her side picture for an example.  However today, she totally mixed it up and had on a blue dress with two or three tutus underneath it.  This totally broke her no tightness around the waist rule, oh well.  I guess rules were meant to be broken.  Oh and when we are in princess garb, we have to play the part and refer to her as princess Meredith.  Today she waited for her little prince to wake up from his nap so he could dance with her.....he didn't cooperate when he awoke.

I wanted you to see the multiple layers under that dress.  I like to encourage her creativity and decision making skills.  I love it!

The kitchen wasn't the only room to get a makeover...

The kitchen and living room weren't the only rooms in the house to get a face lift.  I also re-did the "much in need of a new look" play room.  The room was originally Meredith's nursery, which was super cute and super gender neutral, since we definitely weren't finding out. 

That lasted all of 17 weeks.

Then Noah came along and both of them were bumped upstairs and it was transformed into the play room, or the room of crap that we own way too much of!And since it is one of the most seen rooms in the house, aside from the gorgeous kitchen, it needed an overhaul.

So here is the before....

And here is the after.....

I have to say it is much improved.  I also got some new plantation shutters in the toy room as well as the bedrooms, I love these things.  Mom you were right.

My cute little "by order of the management" prints that I got from etsy.  As well as Meredith and Noah's ugly dolls I picked up in NYC.  Meredith was happy to put hers on the wall she thought it was special.  Noah was just happy the damn thing was out of his room.  He hates that ugly doll.  When I first brought it home he whined and threw him down the stairs.  I went and got it and brought it back up and he slapped me, screamed, grabbed it from me and threw it down the stairs again.  I got the message, but I love to aggravate him with it....I know cruel!  Anyway the first couple hours he wouldn't go in the playroom without screaming.  But fear not Internets, he got over his fear and now is back to destroying the play room in 2.4 seconds!

Close up of the signs, aren't they cute!

Come on in and see what a difference one's sanity makes...

Oh Internets!  You have stuck with me through this horrendous renovation.  You have patiently waited and some of you may even continue to check the blog occasionally in hopes that I have posted pictures of the fruits of my labor and many months of blood, sweat and tears.  Well I did, it took almost as long as the renovation. 

I have lost my sanity through this process, I am slowly gaining it back.  But come inside and see what happened.  Realize that the living room is finished, but I am awaiting additional furniture.  I will post more pictures when it all gets here.  My photography skills are not the best....deal with it.  I also swear that I took better before pictures, but for the life of me CANNOT find them on my computer.  My organizational skills went out the window the day they started with this....

But alas we are finished. Things were not done on schedule, I cleaned better than I did in my entire life due to some peoples inability to use visqueen. And low and behold I survived. I guess I am cut out for that kind of work.

So here is the before......

And the after.........

Again the before.....

And the after....

Looking into the kitchen before.....

Looking into the kitchen after.....

The new brick wall on the living room side.  That mirror isn't staying there, I just don't know what I will put there.

Looking from the kitchen into the living room.

Before......

After.......

Looking toward the stove/cook top with the old island and floors and without the wall.

Before.....

After.....

The breakfast area before.....

After...

(I need a closeup of my new table, it is made from on old door from a house in Nola)

And now just some details.

My new chandelier over the breakfast table....

The new brick floors, I love them.

The new island.  I have bookcases on each end.

My new kitchen faucet.  Sorry it is blurry, but I love it!

The cabinet I had built on the brick wall on the kitchen side.  I use it as a china cabinet.

So what do you think?  Anything I left out you want to see?  My new hardware wasn't installed yet in these pictures, it is now do you need to see that?  Do I need a close up of anything else?  Please humor me, say something!

Preschool Photo Shoot

Today Meredith started 3 year old preschool.  She could not wait!  We have been waiting for this day for weeks.  I thought she would get a little nervous and change her mind, but as you can see..... that did NOT happen! 

What a difference a year makes.

Ready to leave...."Can we go now?"  This was after three outfit changes and tears over what she could wear.

Her cheesy grin....it's what I get when I say smile....or say cheese!

When I told her to pose like a big 3 year old going to preschool, I got this....hmmm.

The obligatory preschool bricks shot, I think I got this last year too.

The I have had enough pictures....seriously mom....my friends are in this parking lot.

Her new classroom.

She jumped right in and played.   I even got a you can go now mom. 

Here she is with Mrs. K! I love her already. I wish Meredith would have taken the time to look, since this is the only picture I got with Mrs. K. Oh well. I have lots of others from today!

Because I love this picture

Recently, my two tikes have become the best of friends.  They finally have gotten to a stage where they will play together for long periods of time.  Inevitably they will fight, but I have lessened my reaction time and have started given them time to work it out amongst themselves.  Meredith is normally doing the working out, she has gotten to be a fantastic big sister.  Noah adores her and loves the attention and soaks it all up.  I know that this bond between them is just starting to form and will grow throughout the years.