So much on my mind...

I feel like my mind is thinking about a million different things every second of every day. From silly things like, does my child know just how cute she is? Could her painted toes be any cuter? Will my little girl ever understand just how much I love her? To bigger things like crib or toddler bed? When do we transition, do we transition to the crib size bed with toddler rails or just go to the full size bed? Which leads to bedding...I am a planner. I had the fabric for Alex's bedding picked out before we even knew she was a girl. Once we found out, I went full force ahead with her room. So much thought and love went into getting it ready for her. I still love her bedding fabrics, so I'm thinking about making a duvet cover to match the toile fabric that was used for her bumper. I've been working on her bathroom (which is also the guest bathroom) to make it a little girlier. I have a soap dispenser and accessories picked out, but they are way over priced (thank you Restoration Hardware Baby). Am I ever going to be able to find something I like as much or more that is a more reasonable price? On the bathroom note, when am I going to bite the bullet and start really focusing on potty training? Is Alex ready or am I pushing her too soon? Still on the bathroom note, will I be able to get the bathroom how I want it before the wedding shower we are hosting in 3 weeks? Oh the shower...will I ever have my menu finalized? I've changed little details so many times...will we have too much food? Not enough food? Will I have time to make everything I want to? And food thoughts lead back to Alex. She has been so picky lately. She doesn't eat like a toddler, she eats like an adult. She eats black beans, hummus, loves balsamic vinaigrette, anything with lots of flavor and spice. She despises "kid food," chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and french fries. Her eating habits are wearing me out and cause much worry on my part about her getting enough to eat. See, my thoughts just never end and continue to lead to new questions. It's no wonder I am so scatter brained, I can't concentrate on one thing for too long before my mind wanders to something totally different.

Mommy's Little Helper

Alex is such a great helper. She loves helping to unload the dishwasher. I pull all the knives out first, then she will go through each drawer and remove all of her things. She hands them to me or if I'm busy, she will place them on the counter. When she is finished with her things, she will help with everything else. I used to unload the dishwasher while she was napping now I wait for her to wake up so she can help me. I love it!

She loves it when I wheel the laundry basket from our closet to the laundry room. She stops whatever she is doing to come help. I put whatever I am washing on the floor and she will help me put all the clothes in the washer. When she is done, she will close the door then push the button to turn on the machine.

I love my sweet little helper!

Her last cuspid broke through the gums yesterday! Now we are just waiting on all four 2nd molars!

stuffing it all in!

close the door

turn it on!

Bathtime Cuties

I've changed up our bath time routine a bit. Alex always got baths at night before bed and one day she started getting soo fussy and cranky at bath time. By the time we ate dinner, cleaned up and got her in the bath, she was overtired. I've started giving her baths in the morning after breakfast. She can take her time and play while she is wide awake. Abby brings toys in the bathroom and sits and plays while Alex gets her bath. This morning, when I asked Alex if she was ready for her bath, Abby got sooo excited I decided to let her play in the bath with Alex. They had so much fun splashing around. Abby loves having water poured on her head so of course, Alex kept her entertained by pouring water on her head. When Abby tried to return the favor, Alex was not having any part of it. She doesn't mind water on her head, but once we put the soap on and try to rinse it, she stands up and wants out of the bath. I love seeing them have so much fun together, I know Abby's last day is going to be sad for both of us!

my bath time cuties!

happy Abby

more water please!

my crazy kid!

they look like they are up to something!

Sunday Funday

Sunday we relaxed in bed a little, then we got up and I made breakfast. We had yummy blueberry waffles. We've started giving Alex her own plate and utensils and she will feed herself while we are eating. Since she was having waffles, without any syrup, I gave her a little bowl of yogurt to dip her waffles in. She LOVED it. She was soo cute picking up her waffle and carefully dipping it, then looking at it to make sure she had yogurt on it before she put it in her mouth. If she got any yogurt on her fingertips, she was not happy. She hates her hands being dirty. My mom said I was the exact same way. I would come to her so I could wash my hands anytime I got dirty. After breakfast, we went to the park. It was completely empty so we had the whole place to ourselves. The park was kind of old school and had metal slides. Alex loved the small one since she would just zip right down. We let her try the tall spiral slide. Josh took her to the top and let her go down alone. When she made it to me, she was half on her side, upside down. She was not a fan. Josh slid down after her and he ended up on his side too. I guess parks are moving to the plastic slides since they slow the kiddos up a bit! She loved the swing. When Josh got her off the swing, he put her down and asked where she wanted to go and she took him right back because she wanted to go again. Josh tried getting her to go across the chain bridge and she was not a huge fan, but tried it anyway. Before we headed to the car we took a little walk to the pond and let Alex look at the ducks. Instead of going back to the car, Alex decided she wanted to run in the opposite direction because she was not ready to leave!

We headed home, grabbed the jogging stroller and Cooper and went to Lick Creek to walk the trails. It's a leash free area, but because Cooper is not the most well behaved dog, he stayed on the leash. We walked and walked and walked, then came to a dead end, so we turned around and walked and walked and walked some more until we made it back to the car. It was about 3 miles total. I was pooped...I should really start exercising more! Alex was getting so antsy on the walk back so I started pointing out all the bumps on the trail to her and would say bump bump as we went over. She started saying bump bump back to me! She finally fell asleep about 5 minutes from the car. We came home and had lunch. Alex's new trick is to hold on to her milk without using her hands so she can still hold toys or play.

Saturday: wedding

Saturday evening we went to a wedding for couple that works with Josh. We spent the morning running a few errands, then figured it would be best to let Alex take a late afternoon nap since we knew she'd be up well past her bedtime. Alex was great during the ceremony. We came armed with snacks, which we learned at her first wedding, keep her very occupied. She snacked a little then thought it was more fun to take all of her puffs out of the cup and put them in Josh's hands. During cocktail hour, she loved bouncing around on the dance floor at looking at the cakes. She eventually sat down for some cheese, crackers and fruit. We picked a table near the back and close to an open space where she could run. She had so much fun running around with Abby. She sat for a few minutes to eat, but was then off again. We stayed until 8:45 when it was becoming obvious that Alex was TIRED and ready to go. Overall she was great! She loved being around new people and just doing her own thing!

Potty Interest

So, I decided last week I'd really start concentrating on potty training in March. Why March? Well, starting March, I will no longer have Abby. I've known since I started watching her that when she was 18 months, she'd start school. As soon as I decided this, Alex has started becoming more interested in the potty. If I am in the bathroom, she follows me in and tries to sit on her potty. The other morning we went to get her out of bed and she had a super full diaper. She had taken her pants off and threw them out of the crib, I have a feeling had we waited a few more minutes, she would have taken her diaper off too. Tuesday when we got home from Austin, Alex was playing in the living room. I saw a diaper on the couch and figured I had just left an extra when I changed her diaper...nope, she took hers off and was prancing around with a bare booty! She is having a problem with the frog potty. It's hard for her to spread her legs enough to clear the eyes that stick up, so she prefers to sit side saddle! We are still working on helping her to sit on it by herself the right way.

Busy 6 Days!

Thursday evening my parents came in town. They got here around midnight because my Dad had some work in the area to take care of Friday. My mom spent the day with us. They stayed for dinner Friday night and we had fun playing games.

Saturday we headed to Grapevine. We had an hour to relax before we met some friends for lunch at Cracker Barrel! After lunch we went to Bass Pro to let Alex explore and burn some energy. She found a Barbie tackle box and carried it around the entire store for an hour so Josh bought it for her!

That evening after Alex went to bed, Josh and I went to Ojeda's for a yummy dinner with friends.

Sunday we went to Carrollton to do Christmas with the Stafin boys, wives and kids. I am so mad I didn't take my camera. Alex had a blast playing with her cousins!

Monday around lunch time, Alex and I headed to Austin to see my best friend, Shannon. Alex was great and slept the entire drive! When we got there, she was so excited to see their white lab, Wrangler. He is soo good with Alex. She even tried sharing her toys with him!
We ran a few errands that afternoon then went to dinner a little Mediterranean place. Alex LOVED it. She loved all the seasoning on the salad, ate the rice with yogurt sauce and ate hummus by itself from the bowl with a spoon! After Alex went to bed, we watched a movie. Alex ended up sleeping with me because she woke up crying. I hate letting her CIO when we aren't at home so she usually ends up in bed with us if she wakes up. This morning we hung out at the house. While I was in the shower, Alex played dress up with all of Aunt Shannon's necklaces!

We had a great time hanging out and catching up! I was sad to head home, but I was ready because I hate being away from Josh. I know it was just one night, but I missed him!