Hey Its Tuesday!

1. Can someone tell me on what planet is it OK to take out someone's wet clothes from the dryer, put your own clothes in, and after your clothes are dry, just leave that persons wet clothes sitting there right next to the dryer ? Because apparently , my husband has traveled there.

2. We've had a stretch of just gorgeous weather- uppers 80s.

I'm sitting at my computer, looking out the window and I can't believe weather.com when they say its currently in the 50's right now. Boo!

3. I found a preschool for Maddie that I love! Its right around the corner, we could walk there every day if we want. I like that the kids in her class will attend the same elementary school . If she gets picked in the lottery, she will attend Universal Pre-K at this school for free when she is four... so its possible we will only have to pay for one year of preschool. Nice.

4. For my brother, who complained that he got a " My Sister Went to the Planting Feilds Arboretum and All I Got Was Lousy Pictures of Maddie"

If you want to see PFA, then come down and visit and we'll go to PFA.

5. How do three year olds know that saying I'm Sorry is admitting defeat? Maddie will not say it. Until yesterday. She was a little fresh with her friend G. so I put her in Time Out. She came out and I asked if she was ready to say sorry. " noooooo-wuhhhh", she said with her head hung low... and marched herself right back to the Time Out spot. Its hard to discipline when you are laughing.

6. Thongs. Can you wear them? I'm talking about the shoes, silly. Flip flops, if you will, with the thing in between the big toe and the ... um, second in line to the Big Toe. I never could growing up. They always made me sick to my stomach. Sounds weird, but later when I learned that there is an acupuncture point in between those toes that has to do with nausea, it made sense. Eventually, I got over it and flip flops are my favorite shoes ever. Anyway, I gave Maddie a pair of shoes that are flip flop-ish and she is in love -probably b/c they also have a little heel -"They make me taller, Mommy"

7. Why do they make kids size nine shoes with a heel ?

8. May and June are super busy for us

9. I can not believe how tan Madeline has gotten in 4 days of beautiful sunny weather... despite 60 applications of SPF 50+ . Its insane.

10. I can't think of anything for ten. bye?

Planting Feilds

I wait all year for this, a beautiful spring day to bring Madeline to the Planting Feilds Arboretum. Even better, the cherry blossoms and dogwood trees are in full bloom. Not sure which is which and what is what, all I know is its conttonpuffs of white and varying shades of pinks all against a bright blue sky. Doesn't get better than that...

My wonky camera, but I like the moment 'Jemm" captured

another Jemm shot

Ten on Whatever day it Is

1. Is it really April 16th already?

2. I should be cleaning my house.

I'm not.

3. Easter was fun. Cold, well, freezing ( see post above about it being April... hear that Mother Nature? April!! Warmer weather, please). Madeline enjoyed her basket and loved the egg hunts. We had one here and then one at a neighbors house with her BFF ,G. Uncle Jimmy came to visit and Maddie became a card-carrying member of the Uncle Jimmy is the Best Uncle Ever Club. Mimi and Papa were here to attend to her every " You be the bus driver, i be the kid, Okaaaaayy? or " Tell me the story of Cinderella, okaaaaaaay?"

4. I have been struggling with something lately. Actually a few things. I debate posting it on here because its a hot button issue for most people, and even though I have about 5 readers, those are probably the people who have the most vested interest in what I'd say. The other thing is more personal and life-changing, I just am not feeling like much good would be done by putting it out there. Its really more of my own issue. So why I am telling you that there are things I can't post? Because its been weighing heavily on my mind and kind of preventing me from the free flow that i enjoy about blogging. Time to hit the diary.

5. Good Mom or Bad Mom? I'm letting Maddie ride her tricycle around my dining room. No, its not raining outside- in fact , its supposed to be beautiful today...

6. I bought Madeline for her birthday a kids digital camera. Its pretty junky, but I didn't pay much for it, so no biggie. She does so much better with my old point and shoot Nikon camera though. The other day she went on a safari and used the camera to take pictures:

Not bad for a 3 year old, right?

6. Wanna know something sad? Greg and I went to a wedding on Saturday night and it was the first time we've gotten dressed up to go out since... well the last wedding we went to when Madeline was 7 months old. Yipes. Sure we had an occasional romantic trip to Lowes or *maybe* out to dinner once or twice... but it hapens so rarely. It was a great wedding... and once again , taken with my point and shoot.... me and my little sis, Janine, the beautiful brideShe's not really my sister. We became friends when we used to work together , and everyone used to ask if we were sisters... even twins sometimes ! We're nine years apart! It was a great wedding, hope the bride had fun too!

7. Yesterday we went to the playground. Greg did most of the chasing of Madeline, but I was beat when we got home. I lay on the couch and fell asleep while Maddie was playing around me. I kept going in and out of consciuosness. When I got up and looked hte mirror, this is what I saw- Maddie must've decorated me. Good thing i checked the mirror before going out, I don't always!

8. Maddie the Bubble Gladiator9. A picture that has nothing to do with the story I am going to tell, but I am posting b/c its cute.

Today because its so beautiful out, I put on my flip flops. Maddie looked at my feet and said ' Mommy, your shoes have no roof!"

10. Just pictures because , as stated above, she's cute.a bonus #11- you know how I know I'm a loser? because I stumbled upon something on TV last night that got me so excited and its pretty loser-ish... the American Idol After Show !!! Did you know it existed? Its on the Fox Reality Channel, they tape it right after the show. They interviewed all the finalists( including my fave, Matt Giroud) and I got good background info. Told you, I'm a loser. that made my night.

Glory Days

On the way home from the mall about an hour ago, Madeline fell asleep in the car. I'll admit, ever since Maddie dropped her nap , I am kind of obsessed with her NOT falling asleep. This is because if she sleeps durng the day, it is a struggle to get her to sleep that night. She used to take 3 hour naps and still go to sleep at 7pm. That all changed one gray November day 9 actuallu I think it was October and sunny, but it sounds better the other way)

So why am I letting her sleep today ? Because I'm not the one putting her to bed tonight ! We have a wedding to go to and Mimi and Papa are here to babysit, read stories and give goodnight kisses. I won't have her sleep much longer, but I am reliving the glory days of a napping toddler- especially since its all cozy and quiet, raining outside. Makes me want another baby, all snoodley and sweet, sleepy and snuggly. Right now I have a demanding three year old who has discovered the word " Why? why? why? why?why?" . Where did my baby go ?

Picture #10 of Me WITH my daughter

Doing her "Cinderella's Mean Stepsister " face

Doing her " cute Maddie-Pie face"

shhhh

listen...

{madeline banging two hard boiled eggs together}

"Its a butterfly song" , she tells me.

I know Mimi will like that one.

"Mommy"

me: what , Madeline?
M: Mommy, you're my favorite lady

awwwwwww

Leporiphobia

Its always struck me as odd that people say they don't have memories before the age of 5. I remember tons of stuff from when I was 2, 3 and 4 years old. We went to Disney for the first time when I was 3, I remember bits and peices of that trip, including asking my mother where babies came from. My brother and I used to share a room, and I remember breaking him out of HIS crib, so I must've been really young for that one. I also recall how we used to sneak out and watch TV after my father fell asleep on the couch ( my mother was out working or bowling). I remember having recurring dreams as a youg child- one in particular was about skeletons that lived in my wall and would push me out of bed at night, and I would wake up on the floor. I guess they didn't have bedrails in the mid-70's, huh?

Another recurring dream I had that I remember like it was yesterday was about a band of renegade Easter Bunnies. You know those bendy , long easter bunnies they sell at easter time, the ones you can bend in all sorts of ways... yeah they were like that. They broke into our house, tied up my parents and robbed our house. I couldn't have been more than three, but it set of a lifelong fear and hatred of the easter bunny. I think he's creepy. Bunnies are supposed to be small ,fat, fluffy and cute- not 6 feet tall and long- and don't even get me started on bunnies that walk instead of hop. Its just freaky. Some people are ( rightfully) afraid of clowns, I am afraid of the easter bunny.

I put my leporiphobia ( yes, that is the official name for fear of the easter bunny, I googled it) aside and took her to Breakfast with Bunny at our local firehouse. Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as madeline was terrfied too. Look at it, wouldn't you be sared?

Just sitting there, waiting for kids to sit on his lap. *shudder* Madeline wouldn't go near him . I tried to be encouraging, but she looked at me like this:

"Whatchoo talkin' bout, Mommy? "

No harm( I think ) done. I am not one of those parents that has to get pictures of my daughter with the Easter Bunny or Santa or Mickey Mouse at Disney. Out of anyone, I understand her fear. It seems perfectly rational to me.

Sleep

Up until Madeline was promoted to Big Girl Bed, the going to bed process was relatively simple. We used to read her a few books in the rocking chair- then place her in the crib , say ' Goodnight sweetie pie" and walk out of the room. We'd hear her playing and talking to herself, but she'd be out in about 5 minutes- tops. Easy-Peasy.

I have to be honest here and tell you that that particular stage- the five minutes till snoozyland- that only lasted for about 8 months. Prior to that there was a very elaborate set up that involved specific songs at designated times, rocking in the chair until she fell asleep, then the transfer to the bed, in which she would usually wake up... and before that we had swaddling and extra pacis strewn about the crib. So it hasn't always been easy. Not sure if I am the one who made it harder- but I have to say, my girl liked structure from Day One, so that is what I gave her. I would have stood on my head for an hour if that made her sleep through the night. Once you have a child and experience sleep deprivation you will do anything you can for uninterupted sleep, probably for the rest of your life.

With the big girl bed came some...ahem... disruptions in our rotutine.

Now we have to:
-read multiple books, which are signifcantly longer than " Goodnight Moon"
- I have to do 'voices' for the books and she knows if I try to skip a page ( this comes into play a lot when I read the Little Mermaid. For this book I am not only expected to read , I am also asked to sing Ursula the Sea witch's signature song " Poor Unfortunate Soul" )

- haggle for the amount of books to be read

- after we are done with books, me or Greg has to lay on the floor next to her bed until she is alseep

-if you try to sneak out before she is alseep, she will cry and tell you to lay down( and you will do it, because you want her to SLEEP!

- she will ask for some water

- she will keep peekign over the bed rail until I tell her I am going to leave unless she goes to sleep

- this goes on a few times until she realizes I am serious( well, as serious as I can be. I mean she's already got me laying on the floor)... and then she is out in less than a minute.

...and Greg is always asking me why I get so upset if she naps during the day- um, because bedtime takes for freaking ever if she does !

Thats my girl

4:20 am

maddie: Mommy, I need you

me: whats the matter, Maddie?

maddie: Mommy, I need a book

me: Maddie , its early I can't read you a book now

maddie: no, i want to sleep with a book

I gave her 'Ariel's Beginning" and we both went back to sleep :)