Cold-Rainy Day Activites

What do you do when it's rainy and cold outside and you have a toddler? You think of as many activities to do indoors (that you haven't recently done) before resorting to the TV. With this pregnancy I haven't been able to go more than two days of feeling "good" (let's be honest, most women are never good during pregnancy- we're always at some level of discomfort). So Babycake and I have been spending a LOT of time at home and inside. Today though, I feel only the slight sensation of discomfort. Too bad it's a crummy day outside. What can I do to entertain my 2.5 yr old?

We started our day with making snow flakes to decorate our kitchen with. With it being cold we would much rather have it snowing than raining. So to display our hope for snow we made a ton of snowflakes. Babycake was very excited to do this activity as I let her decorate the snowflakes with glitter glue- a new and exciting crafting material this year. She managed to keep her face and clothes clean while covering her hands and the table in glitter. There may have been more glitter on the table than the snowflakes... Oh well, baby steps.

Babycake placing pom
onto slide

Once snowflake crafting was over, it was still only 10 am. Now what? I mused for a moment  trying to recall activities we did last winter while cooped up in the house. I remembered a fun little activity that kept Babycake and her pals busy for hours. We call it the ball slide. All you need is some tape, scissors, empty wrapping paper tubes (we always seem to use up all our wrapping paper each Christmas and end up with empty tubes which are great for multiple forms of toddler entertainment), and small balls- we use pom balls.

Babycake at top of this year's ball slide
(it is along the bottom of the wall)

When making this fun activity, the first thing you want to do is cut the tubes (wrapping paper, paper towel, toilet paper, etc.) in half. This makes for more length to the slide as well as entertainment for the little ones to watch the ball go all the way down. You also want to make sure to lay the first tube into the second tube at the connecting points. Last year I quickly learned that balls will get stuck on the lips of tubes and become clogged if the second tube is laid "on top" of the first tube. Then you just tape the separate tubes together, tape the slide to the wall at multiple points, and let the balls roll.

Empty tissue box at bottom to catch pom balls

Last year Babycake was much smaller and I so the height and length of the ball slide was much smaller. This year however, we made the ball slide go the length of our stairway, ending with an empty tissue box to catch the balls at the bottom. 

Last year's ball slide

This was a great success! I'm not sure which will come down first, our Christmas tree, or this slide. If it's a huge success it may last until February!

Christmas Card Display

I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME. I love decorating the house, getting the tree set, driving around finding houses decorated with Christmas lights, and the wonderful smells of cookies and pine trees. Despite my love of all things Christmas, it does perturb me when store have Christmas decorations out way before Thanksgiving let along before Halloween....

If you'd like to try this out check
check out Holiday Kids Crafts

Anyway! On Black Friday we get all the decorations out. We're often at a family member's home (we live out of town from the rest of the family) so I get to decorate their home and then come back to our house and decorate again!

Last year I scoured Pinterest for a creative way to display the Christmas cards we receive each year. I found this really cute DIY wreath that had painted clothes pins to hold the cards. Needless to say my wreath did not look so nice and was a total Pinterest fail. Due to much frustration and failed fixing attempts, I was not eager to search for and attempt another Christmas card DIY display.

I think I waited a total of three days after Thanksgiving to begin this year's Christmas card display search (This is honestly late b/c despite my unwillingness to acknowledge the commercialism of Christmas before Thanksgiving, I do love getting a head start on decoration and craft ideas for the holiday).

After only a few short minutes of searching (again on Pinterest) I found the cutest and most fun way of displaying Christmas cards on the blog Thyme is Honey by Danielle Bruflodt. Now Danielle's tree was a washi tape card tree. I don't have washi tape (let alone have bothered to look into what it is.. shocking I know). So, I used some ornament garland I got from the $ store. I also used the painted clothes pins from last year's failed card wreath. We don't have a large wall with empty space for such a display so I put it on our card tree on our front closet.

I think it turned out pretty well! I look forward to when the cards start to come in and can be put on display! I'll post another pic once the tree is full.

Letter of the Week(s) Mm & Nn

Well we're back in the swing of regular learning lessons and crafting. At this point we're in the middle of the alphabet and have reached letters Mm and Nn. 

Nest, Numbers, Noodles, and Night

Mountains, mouse, and Monster

Amazingly, I've realized (maybe for the third time) that when I prepare the crafts and have them cut, separated, and in little baggies ready to be assembled, they don't seem to take much time (in comparison to Babycake saying "I wanna make a craft," and then having to wait for me to get it all ready.) So I've started preparing the crafts in the evenings, or during nap time, when Babycake will not see me and immediately want to do one and whine that it's taking too long to get ready.

This has helped me be able to enjoy our crafting and learning sessions so much more again. I can focus on Babycake and talk with her so much more than race against her attention span attempting to get things ready, set, and going.

Getting Big!

Well, Babycake is growing up! At around 18 months of age we began the journey of potty training. The initial experience of that is also what prompted this blog. Over the summer we had a huge regression in her potty training experience, which happens to be normal, but I of course assumed my child would never do that "she's so advanced. she's so amazing." Ah, she's a typical two year old. ;-)

I have never liked using candy to coerce a child to go potty (how are you going to stop giving them candy?) instead I've used and liked the sticker reward method. Babycake loves rewards and stickers- so brilliant! Well after her regression, which was in response to Mommy and Daddy "abandoning" her for a two week vacation, the stickers weren't really working anymore (which was surprising b/c before leaving for vacation she no longer needed the sticker rewards to entice using the potty, she'd go on her own and not even mention it). It was a huge battle for about a month, consisting of a lot of "Mama, potty" while standing there and peeing herself- seriously... just to spite me... Anyway, around the same time Babycake discovered Disney's Frozen. Oh man! I can't think of the last time I went  a whole day without singing a Frozen song at some point. So in my desperation to get Babycake back on board with using the potty, I bought some Frozen stickers. In two days time there was a complete 180.

Now after a month of Frozen stickers, I can say with pride that she is again excelling in the potty area. She rarely has accidents. She can clearly express her need to go. She wakes from naps dry, and tonight we are attempting our first diaper free night. Last night we exchanged her bathroom potty chair for a new toilet seat with child seat option on the real toilet. Hurray for no more potty dumping! Babycake loves that she gets to use the big potty like Mommy and Daddy. It's really not that big of a change since it's what she does when we are out and about, but it makes her happy and feel special.

Besides completing potty training, we also took down her bed railing this month. Babycake sleeps in a toddler bed, but when we switched her out of the crib setting (being enclosed) she couldn't handle the amount of freedom to get out of bed and needed the enclosed feeling to get comfortable and sleep. Since her bed in only about 5-6 inches off the ground, I've never worried about her falling out of bed, just her ability to lay there until she passes out. Since removing the railing we haven't had any falling out of bed experiences, though the second night of having no bed rail, we did check the monitor and saw her head on the bed while the rest of her body was kneeling next to the bed. Five minutes later she had climbed back into bed and was curled up comfy as could be. We don't know if she had woken and climbed in or done it in her sleep. Either way it doesn't matter as she was comfortable enough in knowing where she was that she didn't call for us for help and took care of the situation herself.

Next week we begin our big girl classes at the Y. Again Babycake is participating in Gymnastics Together which she happened to have a blast in this past spring. She will also begin taking Tippy Toe Tutus. I can't believe she is doing all these "big kid" things. It's so awesome to watch her learn and grow. I'm so proud, and yet a the same time my heart hurts a little knowing my baby is no longer a baby, and will never be a baby again. Well!.. Let's get tumbling and dancing!

Colors, Shapes, & Sorting

Well, this house has taken a little break from Letter of the Week. Life is slightly more busy now than our crazy summer so I haven't had (or made) the time to make lessons. Instead Babycake is learning on the go, or in the moment. The first "subject" I remember focusing on for a period of time with Babycake around age one or younger, was colors. She loved how I would point out colors of things we saw around us- where ever we happened to be. It was a bit of a game for us. After a while I started including shapes. "Look, that sign is a yellow triangle," "the store has a big red circle on it," etc.

Since I am taking a hiatus from creating lessons, this game we once so often played has returned. We've even made it into our own "eye spy." "Eye spy with my little eye something that is blue," and she runs to whatever blue thing she can find. Being two years old, it's too difficult to understand that when Mommy says she sees something blue, it is not the same blue object that she happen to see, or even the second or third blue thing. That gets very frustrating and the game is no fun. The whole point of our game is 1) to practice our colors and make sure we understand them 2) a little play interaction for Mommy and Babycake 3) a time for Babycake to be busy doing something and not getting into mischief. Really this game is a huge hit and a great game for when some of our little friends come over. Babycake also enjoys being the spyer, though this version is always played differently depending on the day and her present mood ;-)

Another activity I have been having Babycake do in the evenings (primarily at dinner preparation time) is to sit at the table and sort some foam shapes I found in the dollar section at Target. I love that section. My husband won't let me enter it on my own if he happens to be with me. Thank goodness I usually shop while he's at work! Anyway, The shapes are all different colors. So I'll ask Babycake to put all the green stars together, then once she's done that, all the yellow circles, and so on. This game is very fun and it's difficulty can progress after a few of the tasks have been accomplished. Like once she sorts all the shapes into separate piles, I'll giver her some toddler chopsticks (another $ section find!) and a small bowl. She then is to put each group one by one into to bowl using the chopsticks. When we first started this game a couple months ago she had to use both hands to work the chopsticks. Now she is able to use one hand completely gripping it, and eventually she will be able to properly hold and use the chopsticks. This is such a fun way to learn fine motor skills.

Since Babycake knows her colors, and shapes pretty well, this is also a great game for her to understand adjectives. "Put the blue square in the bowl." If you said put something blue, or put the square in the bowl, she would put the correct object in, but I've noticed that saying 'blue square' is really making her stop and think. She is starting to realize that more than one word can describe something- this thing is a square, it is also blue. Shapes have always just been shapes before, and colors have described anything and everything. This is a whole new concept of speaking/describing. We're moving from "the bird is blue," to "it's a blue bird."

As I'm writing this, I temporarily thought "well that's silly, those sentences are saying the same thing. This really isn't that big of a deal." Wow. Um. No. This is big. Babycake is learning our language and the different ways something can be described. Yes the message is the same in each sentence, but to understand that the message is the same despite word order changing, and a couple of words changing, is a very big step. It's also not simply that she hears what I say, sees what I'm motioning to, and understands the message, but she can now verbalize messages of her own in a similar fashion.

Watching a child learn and grow is so fascinating, exciting, and if you're lucky enough to be a part of it, it's incredibly rewarding.

Time to recoup!

Oh man! This was one busy summer! It was filled with ups and downs, highs and lows, and never seemed to provide a breather. We started the summer season by leaving Babycake for two weeks with my parents while we flew across the pond with my husband's family to Ireland, England, and Whales.

Stonehenge

No we didn't visit Great Britain b/c we visited the part of Ireland that is not part of Great Britain- I learned a lot of history and geography on this trip. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should seriously watch this video. It's informative and entertaining.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10

Wedding prep

So, we got back, had a week to attempt a normal routine again, and then left that weekend to Chicago. I had the honor of being a bridesmaid to one of my best friends while she married a really great guy. She of course looked beautiful and the ceremony was lovely. I just wish I had had more energy instead of still suffering from jet lag, and a toddler who happened to be WAY off her normal schedule and totally regress in her previously completed potty training.

Counting cars at snack time

The next week I went from nannying one toddler two times a week, to the toddler and his two older sisters, who were on summer break, three days a week. These kids are all great. They are kind and fun. Babycake and I had a blast spending our summer with them. We had many trips to the zoo and participated in the library summer reading program too. We got great prizes from the reading program- baseball tickets, state fair tickets, children's museum haunted house tickets, toys, and lots and lots of temporary tattoos.

The only downside I found to having four kids three days a week was that my workout routine suffered... a lot. Summer was not only busy in our daily life events, but my husband's work schedule lengthened as well. I was often left home with Babycake until 7 or 8 in the evening. So, after having 4 kids all day I wasn't interested in driving to the Y to exercise, and on my days off, it still sounded exhausting since I was playing single parent all day. This is not the first time hubby's schedule has become 12 hr shifts, but we had gotten used to having him home by 5 or 6 each night. Last summer it was incredibly frustrating when he worked this late as Babycake would be in bed, or getting ready for bed, by the time he got home. This year, she's so big and stays up until 8 or 8:30! (I'm interested in seeing if this will stick once the sun starts going down earlier and we aren't outside playing as late)

A rose for each year
in our marraige.

This summer my husband and I also celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, hubby got me a new computer since my old one was 4 yrs old, and beginning to turn off at random points while I was still working and battery life showed fine. Each year he also gets me roses- one for each year of our marriage. Somehow I always forget he does this and am surprised and touched by the gesture. He claims he does this so one day he can walk into the flower shop and order 50.

Liverpool FC vs. Olypiacos FC

My gift to him was a day trip to Chicago to watch his favorite football/soccer team Liverpool FC. While we were in England we got to tour Liverpool FC stadium, museum, and training grounds. It happened to be the off season for football/soccer while we were there so there was no chance of seeing any players or going to a game. The day in Liverpool was the best day of my husband's life despite not attending a game. I think this summer will go down in our family history as the best ever since he ended up being present at a game (even if it was an international friendly).

Fishin' at the State Fair!

To end the summer our little family went to the state fair. We ended up doing almost every activity/ sight we did last year, and added a few more. It was fun to look at the almost identical pictures from last year and this year and see how much Babycake has grown! Not only is she obviously bigger, but she was able to understand so much more, and follow instructions from the presenters of activities on her own too. Next year we will probably do the same things again b/c she will not remember and will be able to do more and learn more.

Now that summer has ended and school has begun, our nanny friends are all in school full time. It was sad saying bye to the kiddos, especially the little one since I've been watching him for over a year. Babycake had just turned one when I began watching him and can't remember life without him. She still talks about them everyday and saves seats at the table or couch for them. I think she's confused why they are not with us almost everyday anymore.

Hubby still works late, but I'm now going back to the Y. It's really nice to get back on a more relaxed schedule. Sadly this break is just that, a break. This fall we've got four weddings, a few showers, a trip to Lake MI, and to top it off, I've agreed to begin a business with my aunt. So our summer adventures have ended and our fall ones are on the brink. I'm just grateful for this breather.

Letter Weeks Kk and Ll

As were all the weeks of the summer, weeks Kk and Ll were no different. One exciting thing that did happen during week Kk, was that Babycake's Aunt Kelly came to visit. It was fun to see Babycake try to comprehend a person (or their name) beginning with a letter. I don't think she got it, but she went along with it and got excited b/c we were excited. 

For week Kk, we read books about kites, kangaroos, koalas, kings, and knights. Babycake loved reading about the animals, and most of our kite books involved Curious George so that was exciting. However, she didn't really get what a king was, and talking about a knight, but not night time and bedtime and darkness instead of light really threw her for a loop. It was a little funny to watch the confusion and misunderstanding while I attempted to make sense of it to my two year old. 

Our crafts here (sorry for the bad shot!) coloring a kite, and having Aunt Kelly draw one on a scrap of paper, create a kangaroo from the letter K, and color a K and koala and glue the koala on so it can climb the K.

For letter week Ll, we read books about lions, lambs, lobsters, and lamps. Did you know there aren't many childrens books about lamps? hmmm. Yeah, I just got a book with tons of pictures of different lamps from the regular section of the library. That was interesting enough for a two year old.
Here are our crafts of a lamp. lamb, lobster (this one was really exciting) and a lion (also super exciting to roar all day like a lion).

Letter Weeks Ii and Jj

Wow! I'm a little (or months) behind! Summer was super busy, and I'll share more of our adventures in another post. But now I'd like to begin catching up on our Letter of the Week lessons. With how busy our summer was, each letter we learned took about 2 weeks. This is b/c I was not as diligent about reading books related to the lesson everyday or doing a craft or activity everyday.

So, here is our crafts and lessons for letter Ii and Jj.

 For week Ii, we read books about ice, icicles, ice cubes, ice cream, and insects. Here you can see we made an ice cream cone, icicles hanging from our I, and insect, and practiced staying in the lines when gluing ice cubes to our I. As you can imagine, all the talking and reading about ice, meant we had to have ice cream and ice pops all week long!

For week Jj, we read books about the jungle, jumping snakes in the jungle, jaguars, jellyfish, and jumping. Here are our jauguar, jellyfish, and jumping snake crafts. I was very greatful for our jungle book that gave me the idea for the jumping snake as I needed one more day's activity! One day we talked all about jumping- jumping and dancing, jumping rope, jumping with hopscotch, etc.

Letter Weeks Gg & Hh

Well it's been more than a month since the last post. June was insanely busy. We remodeled the entire kitchen and a week later left for a two week trip through Ireland and Great Britain- no not the United Kingdom (I was continually learning the difference between the countries, islands, territories, and kingdoms on this trip).

Anyway, we've been back for two weeks. It's been so great to be home. I felt incredibly loved by all the friends we've made in our home away from family. The day we got back people began to ask when we could get together. Everyday we've visited someone. We even got to visit with some of our besties in Chicago since being back. It's so nice to know we were missed.

For the few hours when we have been home each week day, Babycake and I have still been able to keep up with learning our letters. The last two weeks have covered Gg and Hh. Our local library is doing a summer reading program and Babycake thinks it's fun to be rewarded with prizes for reading books that I would normally get for our weekly lessons. She was also super excited the first time I got the craft materials out for our lessons. Since the remodel of the kitchen I haven't put the baby drawer latches on, which used to be on every lower cabinet and drawer; Babycake can now get into all the craft materials when ever she pleases, sometimes to my dismay. I do have to admit though, she is a really great color-er! Overall I'm just happy to know she really enjoys learning and being creative.

Here are our creations:

Grapes, Goose, and Giraffe

Hippopotamus, hive, horse, and house

Another House Project

In the four years my husband and I have lived in our house we have completely gutted and remodeled three of our eight rooms. No room in our home has been untouched. Two months ago we did a complete overhaul of our landscaping. Last week it was the kitchen. We've needed a new floor since move in day, not just b/c it was ugly, but because it was  peeling up by the door and stained beyond repair. Sometime in our first year living here the range vent, which went through the roof, began leaking during a heavy rain or snow. That leak went down into the cabinets above the range which warped and molded the wood.

'How could you possibly live with mold in your kitchen for three years' you ask. Well, we have no money and if you don't use the cabinet, the doors are always closed, and your husband never really looked at the mess in the first place so doesn't agree they need to be replaced, it's easy to pretend it's not there.

In all honesty the only way we were able to redo the kitchen is b/c the in-laws were getting rid of their basement kitchen which had perfectly good cabinets, sink, and stove/oven. We did all the work ourselves, and so we only ended up paying around $300 total for our new kitchen. The most expensive item we splurged on was the floor, which happened to be the cheapest we could find that also matched the counters (which we got from in-laws).

In one weekend we were able to remove all the old cabinets, install all our new cabinets, install our new sink with a garbage disposal, as well as install our new stove/oven and range. We were only able to get 1/3 of the counter done. We would not have been able to do all of this if my sister had not come up to help watch Babycake and keep her entertained and out of the way.

My husband happened to be working out of town the following week, so I ripped up and installed our new floor over the next two days. The night hubby got home and the following evening we worked tirelessly to finish the kitchen. Family came in town for the holiday weekend so we really needed to have a place we could prepare food and eat.

At this point, everything is installed and the kitchen is again usable. We only have the finishing touches that need to be done. We are incredibly happy with our new and improved kitchen. We have about the same amount of cabinet space, a much larger oven, and twice the amount of counter space. I think I'm in love.

We found pink paint and pink/green floral wallpaper behind the old cabinets.

The first area with cabinets
and counter finished!

Installing the first of the new cabinets.

My new work station,
I didn't have one before!
(still need to find places for everything)

New cabinets, counters, sink, and stove/oven.
Check out that floor!

A much more open eating area!

What's Currently Happening

This morning my friend shared with me it was just one of those mornings for her where she just wanted to yell "Shut the f*** up!" to her kids. I think any parent has had those mornings, afternoons, and evenings. I laughed and did the parent to parent shrug and nod expressing my understanding and sympathy.

My morning didn't start out as bad as hers. My morning was pretty normal with Babycake waking around 6:45, me stumbling to get her a sippy of warm milk with her allergy meds mixed in and then falling back into bed while she happily sings and drinks in her room. Then we did the usual breakfast, potty, dress routine and a little added bonus of me forgetting I needed to put the car seat cover back on after being washed from a pee soak. We then rushed out the door in order to make it to the Y in time for my exercise class. Rushing seems to be pretty normal for us. Something is always forgotten or misplaced and setting us back a couple minutes. In the end, we were early and I got to hear my friend expressed her frustration.

Class went well. Babycake and I had a great lunch play date with friends. Babycake had a good nap followed by a fun time in gymnastics and there was no major meltdown before or during dinner. We had a really good Skype chat with the hubs and Babycake went down for the night without too much fuss. So why do I feel so blah? Really the day, if typical, leans towards a pretty good day. Having a toddler means that by definition there will be tantrums and tears most days and today was no exception, but also not extreme.

Maybe I'm just exhausted, physically, mentally, emotionally. I wouldn't say I'm mad. I don't feel sad. I feel frustrated, but can't pinpoint why or what I'm frustrated about. Hubby has been out of town for a week and a half now. Babycake and I got to visit with him and some family for a 3 day weekend; but in all honesty traveling with a kid is not relaxing, not to mention I was not feeling well before we even got there.

We've had a leak from our roof to down inside our bedroom wall for months now, that we attempted to fix. However yesterday I had a roofer come to actually fix it, only to have it rain all day today and the problem is still here. With all the raining, our driveway is flooding again, meaning I will most likely wake to a flooded garage despite my setting up the sump pump outside and in our crawl space.

Also, I want to move. I'm done with this house. I want to live in a nice neighborhood with side walks and not on a busy street. To get our house ready to sell, we REALLY have to get new kitchen cabinets. Lucky for us the in-laws are getting rid of their basement kitchen to make room for a wine cellar.

Now, here's the fun time line part. We leave with the in-laws for Europe in June. Same time, we start renting our spare bedroom to a family friend in town for a summer internship. I want the kitchen done before then. Hubby doesn't come home to stay for another week and half. Yes, he is coming home this weekend b/c for my Valentine he got us concert tickets for Sat. Next weekend when he is officially back home, family are coming to town for the Indy 500. The next weekend we have 2 b-day parties, but we could definitely get more work in then, than the time we have in closer coming weekends; but that is the weekend before we leave for our trip. So... What to do... I don't know.

All I know, at 11pm, is that I am over being a single parent. I need a break. The time Babycake was watched by her grandparents and aunt this weekend does not count in my book as I was attempting to regain good health. I'm simply tired of being sick. I'm tired parenting on my own. I'm tired of trying to make schedules and plans work. I'm tired of living in this house. I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

My Thoughtful Mother's Day Gifts

Hubby and I will be celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary this July. In October we will celebrate being together for 10 years. If you've been with someone special for a long time, it can be hard to come up with a new and thoughtful gift. For the last few years hubby has simply bought all my gifts. It's not that I haven't wanted or needed  the gifts he gets me, but they are always on my wish list and I know that's what I'm getting. It has been multiple years since I was surprised by a gift he came up with all on his own for me. This Mother's Day though I was pleasantly surprised by my gifts.

My gifts consisted of a full body sport foam roller from hubby and Babycake (which was number one on my wish list), a hand made card from Babycake, and a rose from my dad.






Now, Babycake is two, so there is no way she could have drawn that lion, painted it's mane, and come up with it's cute little phrase "Mom you're great and I'm not lion." Of course hubby helped her. He informed me that he went on Pinterest (yay!) to find something I would enjoy and he and Babycake could make for me.



He said he got all the supplies out, went in another room to check something, and came back to Babycake working away on the masterpiece shown on the inside of the card. There was no instruction needed there!


What thoughtful and heart warming gifts! I feel so special. I hope moms everywhere felt special this Mother's Day too.

Letter Weeks Dd and Ee

Well I'm proud to say that I was able to keep my promise of continuing the Letter of the Week Lessons with Babycake. This was a great feat for me as the last two weeks all I've wanted to do was curl up and hide under the covers thanks to allergies. Here are the crafts and activities we did for each week.






For Dd week we made a duck with a lower case d, a dinosaur with a capital D, a door from a capital D, and we colored a dog.

For Ee week we made an egg that cracks open and has a lower case e. Then we made a capital E out of envelopes. We made an elephant from paper plates, and then we colored some ears we could wear by putting them on a headband. We also played "eye spy."

This World is Literally Killing Me

While growing up I was always coughing, not like a little cough, but a deep bronchial cough that earned me second glances from those nearby. I remember my parents taking me to the doctor's office and trying to convince them I had asthma and I needed to be treated. I don't have asthma and didn't get treated for it. However, I didn't get treated for anything. I don't know if the doctor only looked for asthma or what but I was never diagnosed with anything for my horrendous cough.

I have memories of years upon years of dosing myself with cold medicine to try to relieve my cough and nasal congestion (any ideas yet what the cause could be?) I almost always claimed the family humidifier at the beginning of fall and kept it through spring. When I went to college I kept the same routine, cold meds and my very own humidifier.

It wasn't until I was 23 years old, and practically on my death bed that I drug myself out of bed and drove myself to a med clinic (not the wisest choice when your vision is a bit blurry). It was there that I was told for the first time I had allergies, that they looked pretty bad, and b/c my immune system was so focused on the allergies it wasn't defending well, and had I waited another 24 hrs to come in she most likely would have hospitalized me with pneumonia.

Hu. Allergies. Who'd have though!

I never considered allergies to be my issue b/c I didn't have the itchy/watery eyes, runny nose, or itchy throat. I had a horrendous cough and congestion/ sinus pressure all over my face. The allergy commercials don't talk about that. (ok, now they do, but 4+ years ago they didn't)

Anyway, I was told to go buy some allergy medication with the D on it. "Remember the D. That's important otherwise it won't do anything for you" said my saving grace doctor. It was amazing how much better I felt just 24 hrs later.

That was about 4 years ago. I've switched meds about three times since b/c I become immune to them. So I looked into what allergy shots do. Did you know that within 2-5 years of taking allergy shots 90% of people no longer need to take medicine to control their allergies? Um.... Sign me up!

I made an appointment and was told I had to stop taking my allergy medication a week before the testing to get accurate results. Let me just say. I have been miserable and useless for the last 4 days, and yesterday was my test day. The appointment took 3 hrs. Two years ago I would have been annoyed with a three hr appointment. Now? Nope. It was three hours free of responsibility of Babycake. She got to go play with her friends and had a blast and I got to sit and catch up on reading in the doctor's office.

For the testing, they did 69 scratch tests on my back. I reacted to 57 of them. Because I reacted to so many, the doctor wanted to be sure my skin wasn't overly sensitive and that I wasn't actually allergic to everything. So 20 mins later I received 10 shots on my arms. 20 mins after that it was confirmed that yes, I am allergic to everything.

They then did the run through of what I need to do to care for myself. No mowing the lawn, if I'm near someone mowing the lawn windows are to be closed and if I'm outside I need to wear a mask. My cat can no longer sleep in our room (yeah like I could get that to happen. Anyone know of a good home w no kids we can give her to?) The list seemed to go on and on, in the end it was a lot of washing, dusting, cleaning and avoiding I was told I needed to do.

Now I don't have a filthy home. I dust at least once a week and clean regularly. But I don't think the people at the doctor's office realize how impossible it is to have a pristine home with a toddler. There just isn't time to do it all. Also my husband is out of town for work for the next three weeks, so I'm the one left to mow the lawn. Maybe I'll mow while everyone is at work so they won't see the ridiculous mask.

In the end I left the office with five prescriptions and a promise that in a couple weeks I can begin receiving my allergy shots. I'm still feeling crummy 24 hrs after the appointment, but I can tell the meds are doing something b/c it's not as horrible as yesterday. I guess this is what I get for living in the Midwest. Maybe we should move to AZ.

An adventurous Day

Hubby got to join Babycake and I at gymnastics today. We heard that there was horrendous traffic so we left a half hour early. That however was not enough. We spent an hour finding new routes to get to class at our local YMCA. We arrived a half hour late but we still got about 15 mins of tumbling and pictures in. 

Practicing sideways walking on the balance mat.

Spidergirl spidergirl no one climbs like spidergirl!

Babycake did great for coming in so late to class. She really loves tumbling and running around. She caught on fairly quickly to the new stations set around to practice on.




She still needed me to hold her hand through about half the stations but I'm sure she would have mastered them and left me in the dust had she had the whole class time to practice them. Hubby and I are so proud of her and swell with pride  when we see her beam with joy when she completes a task.

Once class was over, coloring pages handed out, and hands were stamped with doggies and ponies, we headed out. Only when we got to the doors, we saw even more cars lined the road outside. We found out traffic was due to an overturned semi covering both southbound lanes on the highway. For some reason the northbound lanes were closed as well. So we decided to stay at the Y and let Babycake play in the indoor playground another 30 mins. We then grabbed some juice and chips for her afternoon snack to enjoy on the ride home and headed out.

Again we spent an hour detouring multiple roads in attempt to get home. Finally, at five miles from home I called it. "We're having McDonalds for dinner." We pulled over, ordered dinner, attempted to convince Babycake to eat, and then enjoyed watching her climb the mountainous playplace. Fifteen minutes into her play Babycake climbs out whispering "poopy." One of the few words no parent wants to hear their potty training child say in a play area. Especially, when we had been in such a rush to beat the traffic that we forgot to grab her bag of extra clothes on the way out of the house 3 hours ago. So I grab her and rush to the restroom trying to convince myself that what she was meaning was that she needs to poop and not that she had just done the deed in her only pair of pants we had available. (insert sad/evil laugh only parents know how to make) Why was I trying to kid myself?

Needless to say hubby's first gymnastics day was an adventurous one; ending with our poop cover, peed soaked, tired toddler crying that it was her turn to latch the car seat buckles when we climbed back into the car for a 5 min ride home. I'm not sure he'll want to go again.  ;-)

Babycake's Favorite Author

When I was pregnant and registering for all the new baby items we would be needing, I was thrilled to be able to register for some of my favorite books while growing up. The list of course included The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?

Well we didn't get all the books we registered for but I was very pleased to receive Eric Carle's Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? slide and revile board book. I was also happy when this became Babycake's favorite book, and stayed her favorite for over a year. I credit her quick learning of animals and colors to our constant reading of this book.

Recently we celebrated Babycake's 2nd birthday and she received Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar board book as a gift from a friend, as well as E.C's Head to Toe board book and some Curious George books. Babycake still loves her Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? but that has been replaced with The Very Hungry Caterpillar for number one must read every nap time, bed time, and any other reading time.

Babycake does loves to do all the moves the animals do in Head to Toe. She laughs while shrugging her shoulders like a buffalo, thumping her chest like a gorilla, and kicking like a donkey. We have a few other Eric Carle books and she enjoys them all.

Babycake is a huge Curious George fan so we also enjoy all of our Curious George books. I personally have found our Sandra Boynton books to be the most entertaining for me. Boynton does a great job making the stories fun and educational for the child while humorous for the adult as well. We are so thankful to all our family and friends who have filled our library with these wonderful stories.

If you've got a little one I highly suggest these authors. They're entertaining for both parent and child. Win-win!

Letter of the Week Lesson Update

It's been a while since I've posted anything on this blog and even longer since I did my exciting new lessons with Babycake. As with most projects it was exciting and new and fun at the beginning, but then we had an irregular week, Babycake stayed out of town with grandparents, and life got busy. So I let my plans slide for a bit, and then a while, and now its been over a month,.. actually I really don't know what week it was that we last had planned/structured activities.

Of course we still read regularly, sing the ABC's and practice counting throughout our days, but it was so fun when we did a lesson everyday that related to a subject that continued to pop up throughout the week. I could really see the connections being made and the swiftness with which Babycake would learn a new letter. So I've committed to getting back on track. I've already made plans all the way through week Ii and we are only starting back up with Dd. (I obviously got far with this new phase) Wish us luck this time around lasts longer!

Finished crafts/activities from Weeks Bb and Cc.

Bat, Banana tree, Bumble Bee,
Butterfly, and Bus

Cast mask, Curious George,
and Caterpillar

Cc Week Cat masks with friends...
in a big box b/c big boxes are the most fun for cats and kids.

Bright Beginnings

School is now in session in our home. Children are constantly learning, so singing the ABC's, reading letter and number books, and pointing out letters or counting while playing is of course educating, but I wanted to start a more structured form of learning that could build on top of each lesson. So while perusing my favorite recourse site (do I even need to say Pinterest at this point?)I found this great site No Time For Flashcards by Allison McDonald. For someone who wants to start teaching little ones but doesn't know where exactly to start this is the perfect site for them. I've worked in day cares, religious ed classes, and elementary schools so the concept of teaching and lesson planning wasn't foreign to me. However, I've never taught a one-two year old in a "school" setting. As advertised, No Time For Flashcards is all about early education and creative play. Allison provides so many brilliant ideas and resources.

So with this new guidance I've started planning and doing mini lessons for each week. I've decided to start with the alphabet. So each week we focus on one letter. We've done three letters so far and Babycake and I have been having a lot of fun with it. 

For "Aa Week" I got as many books about the alphabet from the library as I could find. Like I mentioned, the youngest child I'd taught in an educational setting was five. So it makes sense that only about half of the books were a success with my toddler. (this is a learning experience for both of us)

Here is the list of the four books that Babycake enjoyed reading:

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z. This is a great picture book of fruit and veggies listed in alphabetical order. It is very colorful and eye catching.

ABC Safari. This book is great for kids who love animals. One animal is listed for each letter. I really like this book b/c it lists animals but also gives a short poem for each animal.

Curious George Learns the Alphabet. Babycake loves Curious George. This book does have a lot of wording and is a bit long so it might not be as interesting to most toddlers. However b/c it is Curious George, her favorite, Babycake happily sits and listens.

Apples A to Z. The perfect alphabet book for Aa week! This book is great for toddlers and older children because it provides one simple sentence that matches the picture and letter for each page, but also gives a short paragraph description. 

So for each day we add the books when we sit down to read (there's no set reading time, Babycake loves books so we'll read at different times throughout the day) and do one craft or activity that coincides with the week's lesson.

For activities we glued apples to an apple tree (glue is super exciting for a one year old), colored a lowercase A to make it an apple, hunted for acorns in the yard, made an Angle, and made an Alligator. Here are the finished products:

What Can Be Done While The Toddler's Away

Yesterday we dropped Babycake off with her grandma and grandpa for a four day weekend. As we drove away I felt like I was missing something and was a bit sad. We got home, stayed up until midnight watching movies (b/c we could actually sleep in!), and left her a video message to wake to in the morning.
When I awoke today, I was filled with excitement and vigor. Today we had a major project. We re-landscaped. I have hated the landscape of our house from the day we first saw the house let alone bought it. Today we didn't have a child to watch to make sure she didn't touch anything that could hurt her, that she didn't run into the road, that she didn't eat anything she shouldn't. Today, we could get all the work done with no worry of what our child might be doing. What an amazing feeling! Here is our work in photos. It looks so good!!!!! :-)

The back of the house. Flower bulbs are already planted and just waiting to bloom.
I forgot to take a pic of what it looked like before we put in mulch and the stone boarder. Oops! Oh well.

The side of the house  was bare with a few flowers planted.
We added the stones before I started taking "before pictures."

After with mulch. Flower bulbs planted and waiting to bloom!

Front of the house before.

Hubby, "Are you really taking a picture of this?"
Me, "Yes! This is exciting and you are rocking your new chainsaw!"

There goes the first limbs!!!!!

Bye bye ugly bushes!

All clear!

Arranging the plants before planting.

Just a reminder this is what it did look like. :-P

The finished product! Isn't it beautiful?!!

We still have a lot of clean up to do, but while hubby is at work, I'll be home taking care of it b/c you know what, Babycake will still be gone, and I won't have to worry about her. :-)