Dear...

Dear Lucy...know that when I recorded videos of your tantrums, I did it out of love. :) I just wanted to let you see what you will have to deal with someday. Also, I want you to know that I earned every one of those gray hairs that my future self will have.

Dear Mom...I think it is absolutely awesome that you have rescued two dogs from being put down. I wish I could do more too. Buddy (her new chihuahua-wiener dog mix) is absolutely adorable! I think I love him more, knowing that he is a rescue pup. How could anyone not want him?!

Dear Grandny...I cried last night again, over something touching and completely ridiculous to cry over. It made me think of you and smile. :)

Dear Facebook...Although you are kicking out baby photos, belly photos, and baby updates left and right, I am simply not fulfilled. I need lazier friends to update their statuses more often. See what you can do about that.

Dear Lucy...You are a princess. You will always be a princess. And, princesses can achieve any dream they choose!


Dear Olive...I am sorry if you don't like chicken wing sauce. You seem to kick a lot when I eat it. I am hoping those are kicks of joy.

Dear Heath...I think that you secretly put Lucy in bed with us sometimes, just so when it's just you and me it feels roomier. 

Dear Sonic...Thank you for giving us half-priced drinks at 4:02 pm the other day. I really appreciated that. And, the strawberry slush was delicious! :)

Dear Lucy...when I take pictures of you in "time-out," I do it out of love. :) I am hoping that this spot, on top of the toy box, does not become a routine thing. Hopefully I am documenting some long, lost childhood memory of yours that won't be so clear. Also, I think that mommy and daddy are pretty awesome for letting you sit with Aurora and Miss Alex, the puppy purse, in time-out - enough said. :)

Dear Pinterest...I sure do love you sometimes. You give me the most helpful, daily tips and you make me motivated to craft and organize my home. However, you make me feel completely inadequate as a homemaker. I have also discovered that I am not that crafty...whomp, whomp.

Dear Weekend...Can you please pick up Friday-day as a regular staple? That would be lovely. Think about it.

Unsolicited Advice

No - this won't be a complaint session about people telling me how to parent, completely unsolicited.  Like today when I was told by someone that I should just take Lucy's pacifier away and she'll learn to live without it. Or, that Lucy should be in pull-ups already; this particular person had "both of her boys potty trained by 18 months." Of course she echoed "boys!" after that.

Yeah, yeah.

Anyway, I could continue on; but, this is a post about me giving you unsolicited advice. haha.

Don't let your children hang out in the front seat of the car when it's not moving (and definitely not when it is moving!). It will result in:

1) A tantrum when being put back in the car seat to drive home.

and

2) Passenger windows that look like this:

It's my father's worst nightmare! haha.

I give you that advice; but really, it certainly does make waiting in the car at the grocery store more bearable and Sonic eating in the car easier! 

Windows wash and tantrums last only a few blocks. But, chil-cheese tot stains on tan interior last forever. :)

Terrible 22 Months?

Lucy is taking this "terrible twos" thing to a whole new level.  Apparently she misunderstood and thought since she was 22 months this month, she should start with the "terrible twos."

When I told my daycare provider how Lucy was acting, she said, "She's too young for that." 

My thoughts exactly. Perhaps we are getting a jump start on this and it will be over sooner as well. :) 

The other morning I tried to get Lucy ready for daycare. She was a mess. If I tried to brush her hair, she batted my hand away. She wouldn't let me brush her teeth and kept yelling, "No!" Even putting her in the car seat was a struggle...literally.

I think Heath considered it to be a bad mix of inpatient, tired Cori and stubborn, tired Lucy.  I tried to tell him that she was just being testy, and perhaps she was a bit sleepy. That would help explain the extreme testiness.

He then got a taste of it that evening. Lucy was acting up at the dinner table. She was spitting water out and laughing. I told her, "No. Don't spit water." She laughed and continued. This went back and forth a few times, until I threatened to take the water away and ended up doing so. She thought that was hilarious and spit in my general direction.

Heath told Lucy to "tell Mommy sorry."

Her response? "No!"

This was followed by an eyebrow dip and a stern head shake. He insisted that she tell me sorry and she insisted on not doing so...I think he was finally starting to understand what I was talking about.

You see, Heath doesn't discipline Lucy much. He is completely wrapped around that little girl's finger. If she wants to eat bananas, pineapple, and peaches for supper, so be it. If she wants to sleep with us, while sleepily kicking Heath in the head and pulling my hair, so be it.

He'll see. Pretty soon, he'll see. I have a feeling the terrible twos have just only reared their ugly head. We have a year or more to go of unpredictable fits...in the grocery store, while putting her in the car seat, in restaurants...

I simply pray for patience. Please Lord give me more patience. Remind me to speak calmly and try to explain myself to her. I know she doesn't understand; but, it is good practice.

"I love you; but, you can't have that."
"I love you; but, you can't scream in the grocery store."
"I love you; but, you need to eat your ham first."

Please Lord give me the patience to not just turn the radio up when she is screaming in the car seat, after miles of pleading.

I feel like a bad mom admitting that I don't handle her fits well. I don't like raising my voice to her. I don't want her to think I just yell all the time. I try very hard to be cognizant of my own behavior during the fits. But, sometimes, I can feel the annoyance. Perhaps I need practice? Perhaps I will learn how to deal with these situations as time passes?

I usually do pretty good during the first five minutes or so. I just need to learn how to prolong that...

Heath does well at trying to avoid any melt downs by distracting her with toys or television. I kind of forget about the "distraction" option. I am worried though that it won't work some day or that she will become spoiled and not actually learn to behave in public.

How do or did you all handle the unavoidable terrible twos? Fits in the middle of a restaurant meal? The flopping on the floor, rolling around, crying tantrums?

As of now, when I feel frustration, instead of yelling I usually huff. "Ugh!" 

Unfortunately, when Lucy is frustrated, she has started huffing too. It only reiterates why I shouldn't raise my voice!

Where did Heath and Cori go?

This is a rhetorical question. Don't think too much about it.

However, I do think a lot about it. Heath and I both do. We've reached a point in parenting where we are constantly being thought of as mom and dad; we are always a family. But, where did Heath and Cori go? Where did the couple go? When did 'relationship' become 'co-parenting'?

When we first had Lucy, it brought us so close - closer than we could have ever imagined. It was such a wonderful feeling to share the miracle of birth with Heath - to look at him and know that we created this beautiful baby out of love. Wonderful!

Since Lucy turned one year old and became a mobile, tantrum-thrower, who can't be left alone for two seconds...our relationship has shifted. It is all we can do to have an adult conversation in bed at night before falling quickly asleep.

Lucy goes to sleep at 8:30 pm, you say?

You are right. However, that time is when I can actually use a pen without someone crying and having a fit, trying to snatch it out of my hands. Or, when I can cut coupons without someone thinking they need to shred my papers or steal my scissors. Or, use cleaning products without having someone right behind me, digging in my cleaning bucket or trying to wipe her face with the Pledge towel I just used.

Alright, alright. I know. I can do these things, if I can distract her. However, let me give you a quick example of such a case. I wasn't watching her for a few minutes and left her in the living room. It should have been pretty safe - no exits, no electrical outlets, no heavy items, no swallow-able items. However, Heath found her.....sitting in the middle of the coffee table, watching television. She had moved a couch pillow over to the side of the table and climbed right up.

I wouldn't change a thing in our lives. I love my family so much. However, Heath and I need to find one another again. We need a re-boost of relationship energy.

We often feel guilty for having date nights. We feel super guilty when Lucy stays the night somewhere. And, when you feel rested and good the next day, you almost feel guilty for enjoying yourself so much. It's like you shouldn't be happy, if Lucy wasn't involved...

We recently went to Weston, Kansas and stayed at a Bed and Breakfast with my family. Lucy stayed at her Grandma Jeannie's. It was so relaxing. Heath and I had a great time. We found each other again.

Monday came and we went back to the old routine.

We know that we need to be more active in making date nights a routine. We need to. It's tough; I'll admit. Since we work so much, we don't get to spend as much time with Lucy as we want. Any time we get with her, we cherish. We hate to give up even a couple of hours to go out to eat.

So, perhaps we need to take one night a week to not do chores, not mow, not cut coupons, not work, not do all of the things we just 'have' to do. We could take one night to put Lucy to sleep, pop some popcorn, and just watch a movie, cuddling on the couch.

It's easy to feel guilty about not cleaning or making lists of to-dos. The weeds in my flower bed mock me. The unswept floor really grinds my gears. But, when it comes to our relationships, it's easy to put them on the back burner to these minuscule, unimportant to the big picture, things.

This weekend we are going away for our three year wedding anniversary. Hopefully we can start a trend of date night.

Have you and your significant other ever reached this bump in the road? How did you get over it?

Note: Heath and I are doing just fine. Family - don't freak out like we'll get a divorce or something. haha.

"Melmo" Addiction

Lucy is officially addicted to "Melmo".

What is that, you ask? It is Elmo from Sesame Street. Lucy, so lovingly, calls him "Melmo!"

It all started when Heath and I discussed Lucy watching television. As I've mentioned before, we weren't too keen on the idea of her watching television. The studies say that it isn't good for her. But, in the words of our doctor on the topic, "sometimes you have to shower!"

Needless to say, Lucy watches television sometimes. Heath and I went back and forth on what was good for her to watch. SpongeBob? Not so much. Sesame Street? Probably. So, we searched Netflix and found several episodes.

Each episode has a small portion of Elmo's World - Lucy's favorite! She sings the song, dances, and yells "Melmo" at the t.v. when it comes on. She loves it!

Elmo's World is the only thing that got us through our 12+ hour trip to and from Texas. May I please add that I never care to see Elmo's World: Wild, Wild West ever again, in my entire life!!?

To be honest, with Netflix on our iPods and iPhone, Elmo has saved us lots of times. Whenever we are in public and there is a major breakdown, Elmo flies in to save the day. AKA - We've created a monster! Now, whenever she sees my phone or one of the iPods she begins to chant, "Melmo, Melmo, Melmo!"

Since she is nearing the tantrum stage, she hates being told, "No." She will throw her head back, wail, rub her eyes, and occasionally flop on the floor.

We've decide to intervene. I think we need to call A&E...she has a problem. Intervention anyone?

To end this post, I wanted to add something funny that I saw in Walmart. It made me laugh. I should get it for Lucy, for when she gets older. :)

"It's Melmo!"