Nesting

I finally started decorating Mary Ellen's room this weekend. We had painted the room (a color called gleeful that Sean picked out, and I loved the name, so I went with it) about a month ago, but up until yesterday, we hadn't done anything else. It was starting to loom over me a little. I am by no means done. I still have bare walls and need some more furniture, curtains, and a rug (if I can find a cheap, cute one that matches - no easy task!), but here are a few pics of what I spent my Saturday morning doing......


got the idea to do the above garland at The Nesting Place, my new fav decorating site!



The pictures in the above photo were given to me for FREE from my sweet sister in-law about a year ago, and even though they didn't match Hattie's room, I couldn't pass up the fact that they were free, and I'm glad I didn't because they look PERFECT in Mary Ellen's nursery. Thanks, Missy!

And speaking of those pictures, thanks to Mimi for providing an extra pair of eyes and hands for helping me hang them since I got it in my head that I wanted them straight across from each other on the longest wall in the nursery. With her by my side, I didn't put too many holes in the wall before we got the job done!

And thanks, Honey, for taking Hattie away for the day so I could decorate without little hands curiously getting into everything behind me :).

Question: Where can I find a cute (cheap) white bookshelf? I got Hattie's two years ago at LOWES for about $30, but they don't carry them anymore. Target's are too expensive. I haven't checked Walmart yet, but after that, I'm out of ideas.

Hopefully I'll have more pictures to share of a completed nursery in the next couple of weeks!

And then a sweet, new baby GIRL (she better come out a girl now!) to put into the nursery a few weeks after that.

Update

Not too much going on, but it's been quite a few days since my last entry, so I thought I needed to update on the happenings around here:
1.) I got a call from the Mother's Day Out coordinator at our church last week, and they have a spot for Hattie for next year!!! They had so much interest that they added another teacher which opened up a few more spots in the class, and since Hattie was #2 on the waiting list, we got a spot. She'll be going half days to "school" on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting in September. I'm excited for her to have the social interaction two mornings a week while I get to rest at home with her sister.

2.) We've painted the nursery and have the crib (that we're borrowing from my parents) up, and that's it. Tomorrow I'm going to look for a dresser at IKEA. I'll share pictures once the nursery is all done.

3.) I have not really started potty-training Hattie like I said I was going to. I've been lazy about it. Diapers are just so much easier. I am planning on giving it a "go" soon. Last night after her bath, Hattie was running around in her birthday suit and said, "Hattie go tee-tee in the potty." I rushed her to the potty, and thought it would help her if I went first (plus, I just really had to go, too.) Well, she ended up going on the rug at the same time Mommy was going (I guess she really had to go!), so I know she's getting there - and that's with minimal effort on my part.

4.) Speaking of birthday suit, my baby will be TWO next Friday. I can't believe it. We've been telling her that her birthday is coming, and she's really excited about it. I don't know how much she understands, but when I ask her, "Hattie, when's your birthday?" She says, "In July." And when her daddy leaves to go to work in the mornings, instead of telling him "bye-bye" or "I love you," she's been saying, "Happy Birthday!" to him before he walks out the door.

5.) I have my eight month checkup tomorrow with the ob. Things are moving along. I can't believe it's getting so close yet still so far away. I go back and forth between wanting her here and wanting her to stay put. I know as I grow more and more uncomfortable in the next few weeks, my desire for Mary Ellen's debut will increase. I am so excited about seeing her for the first time and cuddling with her, and smelling her tiny head as she nurses, but I am nervous about the sleep deprivation, balancing two children, and healing.
6.) And we've just been hanging out with friends and family and spending lots of time playing outside in the pool to stay cool.


7.) And the whole discipline thing: Well, I have my good days and then a bad day will show up in there. She has definitely reached a point where she's craving lots of discipline in her life right now :), but she gets it. She understands the consequences of her actions, and we're just taking it one day at a time. Luckily, most of our days for the past week or so have been filled with laughter and fun and good times and OBEDIENCE. And on the other days, I just take deep breaths and pray a lot.

Discipline

Hattie seems to be less of a whine queen this week. What is working for me right now is putting her in her room in time-out when she misbehaves to the point of needing discipline. I have only had to do it once so far, and I think it works better than time-out on the rug because she is away from me, something she does not like at all, so it's true punishment for her. And thank you to all the moms who emailed me or posted comments about ideas with discipline. I have a few new tricks up my sleeve now!

Now, a new dynamic to discipline:
Discipline is so much easier at home than in public. I cringe when Hattie disobeys when we're out. I know I HAVE TO address her behavior whether we're out or not to be consistent, but I just get so embarrassed when she misbehaves in public, and I'm shy about it because you never know who is watching and what they think.

Just today I took Hattie to get ice cream on the way home from the library, and when I handed her her ice cream cup with sprinkles, she whined, "I want TWO!" Ungrateful much?!?! I said, in my sweet sing-songy mommy voice, "You can't have TWO. One is enough." She YELLED, "I want TWO!" This time (as I could see things were escalating to a frantic fit) I said, "Here is your ice cream with pretty spinkles. Now let's go find a table with a big girl seat for you to sit in. Do you wanna carry your spoon?" That worked. Today. She even said "thank you" when I handed her her plastic spoon to carry to the table, but I know there will come a time when I will lose these kinds of battles to her fits; there will come a time when she is not easily redirected and distracted. God, give me the wisdom to know what to say and the patience to deal with my child in those moments so that an onlooker will not question whether or not to call child protective services on me..........

The above shot did not make the cut for birthday invites.
Man, two comes around, and I'm realizing that things are getting hard on a whole new level. She's upping her game, and I feel like I'm fumbling to play a good hand some days.
I wish I could put her ear up to mine and tilt our heads and all of my maturity and morals and learned ways to be polite and thoughtful (especially in public) would drain into her little brain without any more work on my part.....or I just wish she would get it the first time I teach her this stuff in the comfort of our home......
But this one did!

We have good moments, too, though. I feel like I need to say that since these last two posts about Hattie have been about bad behavior. She can be so sweet and so polite at times, so I know she's learning.........and I'm learning, too........

Happy Father's Day

Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young, who loved thee so fondly as he? He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue, and joined in thy innocent glee.~ Margaret Courtney

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! Your girls love you so.

There'll Be Days Like This

This precious girl has been quite the challenge this week. It's just been one of those weeks where I find myself saying, "Stephanie, you have no clue what you're doing," at the end of every single day. It's fine to have ONE day like that every once in a while but a whole week's worth!?!?! AHHH!!!!

Hattie has been SUPER WHINEY all week. Morning, noon, and night. Things she never whined about before, she is throwing fits over. Small things. Anything. Everything. And the THING is that this week was supposed to be super fun. Being my first week at home with just Hattie again, I planned outings and things to do with friends every single day. We were supposed to have a BLAST. Instead, she's whining constantly and disobeying, and I'm finding myself so frustrated and embarrassed that my child is acting up so much.

So my question to all of you mamas is how do you deal with the whining? Do you ignore it, punish it, a combination? Please give me any helpful tips or suggestions that work for you in your household before I lose my miiiiiind!

{23 Months}

This is the face of 23 months - messy, silly, crazy, free. Every morning I wonder where I'll get my energy from to tackle this toddler's curiosities and frustrations. Some days are sweeter than others, but I just love watching her figure it all out.

The most common used sentence this month has been: "I don't wanna go night-night." She never said it before this month. I guess it never occurred to her that she could voice her opinion about it until now, but she says it constantly before nap and bedtime. Sean and I are just like, "That's nice; now let's go put jammies on and get in bed." Atleast there are no fits or tantrums that follow that sentence (yet).

Her favorite food: spaghetti. She could eat an adult male's portion of spaghetti and still want more. Strawberries and grapes are also huge favorites.

Her favorite accessory: Plastic jewelry - necklaces, rings, bracelets. This girl is BLINGIN'! Her sparkly red shoes are a close second, but they're getting too tight and uncomfortable. Beautiful does not have to be painful to Hattie yet (that'll change when she starts to care about her unibrow, which is already visible....poor baby got her Mama's genes in that department.)

Her favorite past-time: Watching Little Einsteins or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse , reading books, or going "bye-bye" with Mommy and Daddy.

Goals she has for the future: Going potty. We're gonna attempt potty training next week. If it works, great! If not, we'll put the potty and panties away and try again in a few months, like when her sister is sleeping through the night, and I will have some patience and my sanity back.

Happy 23 Months, baby girl! Sorry we had to celebrate by going to the doctor and getting your ear checked to make sure your ear infection is gone. You let everyone in the whole office know that you are not a big fan of doctors. But atleast you get Mommy all to yourself now for a while since yesterday was our last day with Gracen. I think you miss your playmate a little, though. Don't worry. You'll have a new, permanent one soon ;)!

Mama's Girl

Hattie loves when Mommy does everything for her. In her eyes, Mommy does it best! Not that I'm complaining, but I have felt that I needed to help her break that habit of thinking a little bit. So for the past week or so Daddy has been taking over bedtime completely. At the pediatrician's suggestion, because Hattie is such a Mama's girl, I either leave the house, or I go in our bedroom and shut the door. In the beginning she protested a lot, but now after a minute of realizing I'm not around, she is happy and content with her daddy putting her to bed.

Tonight I stowed away in Mary's Ellen's nursery to admire the paint job we just completed this weekend when I heard Sean laying Hattie in her crib. Before he shut the door to her room, I heard her ask, "We see Mommy tomorrow? We see Mommy tomorrow?" He assured her, "Yes, you'll see Mommy in the morning." Ugh. It just broke my heart. I wanted to run in her room and pick her up and hold her and then be the one to put her down for bed.

Creating space or cutting the cord or whatever you wanna call it is so hard. I know it's healthy for her to rely on her daddy to do things for her. Gosh, I want that, especially with a new baby due to arrive in a few short months, a baby that might need to be nursed at Hattie's bedtime. But I also realized tonight that I like being there and doing everything for her. I like that she's a mama's girl, but I know that this is all good and healthy for her, too........