A Very Jammies Christmas

All that preperation and it's over.

Ivy spent the day in her pajamas. The whole day, travel and all. She isn't feeling well, and honestly, either am I.

Nathan's parents came for dinner Sunday night. It was nice. I love cooking for company.... I don't understand why I find that enjoyable but loathe cooking dinner every night. I made a ham, broccoli and cauliflower casserole, wilted spinach salad and a chocolate pie for dessert. Yum.

Christmas Eve was very uneventful. I did go to church at 11pm.... it was different than the service at the church in Brecksville, but still nice. The sermon actually made me tear up. The pastor was talking about having a place to belong and not shutting people out. It was moving to me.

Christmas morning -- the best one yet. Ivy is so into the whole Santa thing, it makes me smile just thinking about it.

Susie and Jack

While we were in Cleveland last weekend, Ivy started calling my sister Suzie. She's had an obsession with the Laurie Berkner Band lately, and I think the nickname came from this obsession, but I can't quite tell. Jessica, in an effort to call Ivy something silly in retaliation, began calling her Jack.

I find the whole thing absolutely adorable. For the longest time, Jessica was convinced that Ivy didn't like her, as many times as I tried to explain that Ivy didn't know her. Now they are quite the pair, bickering like an old married couple and coming up with loving pet names like Suzie and Jack. I love it.

Jessica hates this picture, but it's all I could find when I googled her. Any resemblance? Perhaps slightly.

ETA: Jessica made me change her picture. She contributed this one.

I want to Officially Say....

...that Ivy is reading. She's been really "getting" the whole letters and sounds thing for awhile and I've been saying that she is starting to read. Today we went to the library and got two Thanksgiving books out. She asked to see one in her carseat.... so we hadn't read it at all yet. She read the last page outloud.... "Come one, come all and fast (feast) with us this Thanksgiving Day." I think I will always remember that sentence!! I can't believe my thirty nine month old is reading.

Dance FX

Ivy takes dance class on Thursdays. She loves it. It's a combination class of tumbling, tap and creative movement. Isn't is ALL Creative movement when you are three?

This Thursday was Parent Observation Day. Of course, I forgot my camera. Another mom was great enough to e-mail me the pictures she took, and Ivy was next to her daughter, Claire, so there are quite a few. Here's the slideshow.

Failed!

I get a big fat "F" for National Blog Posting Month! At least I blew it on the 2nd and didn't get all the way past Thanksgiving and mess it all up. I have less to live up to now.

I am learning to crochet. Because, you know, making bows and sewing clothes and trying to be Susie Homemaker and SuperMom is not enough for one person. Which may explain why things end up half finished an awful lot. Anyway. I bought the pattern to make this adorable hat for Ivy. So I figured I better learn to crochet so I could use said pattern.

I've been watching videos from NexStitch and also found some how to videos on You Tube. Apparently, I have been watching them more than I thought. I found Ivy sitting on the couch with my laptop, a crochet hook and a skein of yarn, literally saying "yarn over, pull through two" just like the lady in the videos. She's a sponge, all right. Here's a picture or two.

National Blog Posting Month

According to another blog I read (and you all know, what you read on the internet is akin to the gospel ;o) ) November is National Blog Posting Month. In honor of this event, I am going to try to post every day that I am home. I hate to set myself up for failure like that, but I think it could be fun. Zoot is posting daily prompts, so I can't say I don't know what to write about. Plus, I have quite a few things that I've been wanting to write about, but never get to because I always end up "updating" instead. So, Happy NaBloPoMo!! Come celebrate with me!

Halloween 2007

It's over! Ivy had a fantastic time.... we went in our neighborhood, just us, for the first time. We've always gone with Brandi and her boys, but that didn't come to fruition this year. Our neighborhood is actually really good for trick or treating, though. We started out on our street.... at the end of the block, Ivy took off running, tripped and slid across the asphalt. A nice lady saw it happen and took us back to her house, since she lived closer than us to the "scene". She got paper towels and ice so I could wipe the blood off of Ivy's face and try to stop it from swelling. Her husband let Ivy pick her own candy from the bowl. Of course, Ivy wanted nothing to do with the paper towels or the ice, but I got her cleaned up pretty well. She kept on trucking. We made it up and down several streets and back to our house around 7:15. Now we are holed up in the basement so no one rings our bell. :) Here's the "after" picture of her bloody lip.

Moonlight Meanderings

We went to the zoo tonight for a special program called Moonlight Meanderings. Basically, they let you in the zoo after closing and you get to see some animals sleeping and see the animals that are nocturnal and are usually sleeping when you are visiting. We ran with wolves (next to the cage) to see if they followed us... they did. We also got "stalked" by a tiger. It's amazing to see the animals exhibit their instinctual characteristics. Sometimes I forget that they are wild animals and not just big pets in cages.

Ivy enjoyed herself thoroughly. I think she may have been a little young for the information, but she made a littel friend. One of the librarians from the branch closest to us was their with her family and we were chatting. Ivy latched on to Mick, her son and they held hands for the evening. Very cute. Ivy also got to touch a gi-normous centipede, a dead bat, a guinea pig, a tiger skin and an elephant foot. Definitely a great experience.

Mama's Girl

Long Awaited

First thing first. I started a new blog to showcase my crafts so I don't clog things up here. I plan on taking pictures of the things I make for work as well as for Ivy, although lately it's all been for Ivy. I am loving my sewing machine!! Anyway, check it out at crafty-me.blogspot.com. Bookmark it. Leave comments. Whatever. :)

So.... what you've all been waiting for.... an update. I don't even know where to start, so I guess I'll just go. Forgive me if this turns out disorganized.

Ivy is really growing up. Physically, she looks like a five year old, I swear. At her three year check at the beginning of September, she was about 41" and 42 pounds. That's off the growth charts, but still on her curve. She's always been a big girl. She's wearing a 5T, though.... just seems so big to me! We were reading the book I made her shortly after she was born today and I teared up... she was just so little.

Intellectually, she is growing up, too. I don't even know what to work on with her anymore. She knows pretty much everything I taught my preschoolers, so now I'm stumped. She does like to work in workbooks, and I want to set up a "homeschooling" corner somewhere in the house. I don't necessarily plan to homeschool (although it's something that I plan on researching) I believe that everyone with a toddler or preschooler is homeschooling every day. At this age, children are constantly learning and absorbing. I want to keep more materials in the house that can help her in that journey. I also really want to have an art nook somewhere in the house. She got an awesome easel for her birthday and we don't really have a "home" for it yet, so it is being neglected. I feel bad about that, because I know she loves the thing. She loves to create.


Speaking of, she is still very creative. Right now, she is sitting behind me just chit chatting with a bunch of toys. I believe her new kitty is going ice skating if I heard her correctly. :) She loves playing pretend with her stuffed animals and My Little Ponies.... and her hands and discarded papers and anything else she can give a voice to. She is rarely, rarely quiet. My dad says that's karma.

Oh gosh, now she is singing Veggietales songs.... adorable.

We go to story time at the library every Wednesday. She loves Mr. Eric, the librarian. She is normally really well behaved there and has a little friend, Molly, that we usually sit by. Thursdays she has "dancing school." It is adorable. Right now she is in the Star class, which is a combination tap/tumbling/creative movement. She looks forward to dance class and Miss Michelle all week. It's a very good motivator as well.... "Ivy, if you don't start listening you can't go see Miss Michelle!" Works every time. Here's a picture of Ivy before her first class.

I'm really trying to be the mom I wanted to be since she was born. I wanted to be the mom who did things, who went to story time and music class and had playgroups. Instead, I've struggled with a lot of things. Some things I think were always a part of me (the sloppiness) but a lot had to do with depression. Things are improving around here, from Ivy and I getting out of the house, to me keeping things nicer. I'm proud of myself, and hope I can keep things the way they are. I love Ivy too much to not give her the kind of childhood she deserves.

Quick post

I hear it all the time from multiple sources that I don't update here anymore. And I know, I don't. And I need to. But it's not going to be right now.

Right now, I am just going to share a couple pictures of Ivy in her Halloween outfit/costume. Super cute out fit by day..... add a cape, broom and hat and it's a witch costume for trick or treating at night! Ta da!

Budding Comedian

Two scenes that have occured in the past month:

At Old Grandma's house. Ivy opens the fridge door and stares inside.
My mom: Ivy, what do you want? What are you looking for?
Ivy: An egg.
My mom: An egg? Okay, how do you want it cooked?
Ivy: In a cake.
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Ivy: Pee-me.
Anyone who will listen: what?
Ivy: Pee-me.
AWWL: What are you talking about?
Ivy: Pee-me.
AWWL: What are you talking about?
Ivy: Pee-me.
AWWL: Pee-you.
Ivy: Yeah, pee-yew. Hahahaha.

What a stinker.

Cute Quota

Here's a few cute Ivy stories from the past week or so:

After Ivy's balloon from the last post deflated (of course it was dead by the next morning), I bought her a mylar balloon at the dollar store to replace it. When I walked in the house with the new balloon, she said, "For me, Mommy? Oh THANK YOU. This one works!"
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I bought Ivy a new wooden food playset.

(On a side note, if anyone can tell me what the orange thing in the set is supposed to be, I'd appreciate it. I'm stumped.) She took all of the pieces off of the shish kabob and told me that it was a hammer. I said, "No, it's not a hammer. It's a... kabob stick." She repied, "Ohhhh, an Uncle Bobby stick."
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Her new fun thing to do is hide things. Of course, she always hides them in the same place: on her dirty clothes pile in her room. So Nathan was getting ready to leave for work and she took off with his coat. She cam back into the dining room and said, "You'll never find it now! Ha Ha Ha!"

Like mommy like daughter

While we were in Cleveland, Ivy discovered the Winnie the Pooh movie at my mom's house. She really enjoys watching it. I have always been a big Pooh fan myself.

We went to Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner a couple of nights ago. Ivy got a blue balloon from the hostess. She spent the whole ride home in the backseat saying, "Tut tut, looks like rain." How cute is that?

A New Year

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. Who am I kidding, I can totally believe it, I just don't want to admit it!

I've had a request for a Christmas update. :o) Christmas was great. Nathan's parents came over for brunch on Christmas Eve, then we traveled to my Dad's and spent the night at my Mom's. It was GREAT not having to do a ton of traveling on Christmas Day. Would you believe I don't have any pictures from Christmas? Me, the one who took over a hundred pictures in Ivy's first couple of weeks.... not a single picture from Christmas. I did videotape the festivities, though. I'm hoping my dear, sweet Dad will give me copies of whatever he's got. (Hi, Dad!)

Santa was good to Ivy this year. She got some classic toys like Playdough, which she calls "my colors." She doesn't play with it too much, but loves to watch us make things with it. She also got a Mr. Potatohead ("Mr. Way-toe head") that she absolutely adores. It also had extra peices so you can make him into a princess. Santa also brought Snap and style dolls, three extra outfits for those, two books for her Little Touch Leap Pad, a Read with me DVD with three books (I think I have watched the Corduroy DVD at LEAST 100 times in the past week), a mommy and baby dinosaur, and a sleeping bag. And that was just Santa!! Her big presents from the Grandparents were a drum set from my mom and the Little People Amusement park from my dad. She plays with them both a lot.

She is such a little person now and smart. I can't believe the things that come out of her mouth sometimes.... so creative. For example, we were coming downstairs from nap one day....

Ivy: Neigh!!! Neigh!! Listen Mommy. I hear a horsie.
Me: You do?
Ivy: Let's find him. Horsie! Horsie!

We got to the bottom of the stairs and she ran to her toybox and got out her "horsie pants" (her Halloween costume.)

Ivy: Oh! There he is!

Some current favorite phrases include "No way", "you're my best friend", and "just like you!!" whenever there is a mommy in a book.

She knows all of her colors, all of her shapes, all of her letters and numbers 0-10, although she confuses six for nine a lot. Her imagination is the best part of this age, though.... sleep is the worst. She has a big girl Dora bed, but she won't sleep in. She insists on sleeping in "my big bed", which is actually MY big bed. We move her into the Dora bed when we go up to sleep. The thought behind that was if she woke up in the toddler bed, maybe she would start going to bed in it. No dice. The child hates to sleep in general. She lays in bed and "reads." In fact, it's 10:24 right now and I still hear her reading. But really, you can't force someone to sleep.... although I do force her to stay in bed. I think I should buy a book about this whole sleep business.....