The princess dress

Andrea says these are the dresses. I LOVE them both, especially mine, lol. :op

Here is my dress:




Too bad I don't look like the model, lol.

Here's Ivy's dress.... had to save the best for last, because it really is just about the most beautiful flower girl dress in the world:




Beautiful, no?

What Andrea Has Been Waiting for

This post SHOULD have been posted about five months ago. Whoops. This is take 6 and I was DONE with the video taking, so it's as good as it's going to get. :o)



So October 18th, 2008, Ivy will be in her second wedding and I will be in my first... unless you count mine. :o)

I'll share when the important decisions get made, like Ivy's "princess dress".

Day three - we have pee!!

This afternoon, Ivy peed next to the potty, on the step stool we have in front of the sink so she can brush her teeth and stuff. This also included peeing on the roll of toilet paper that was sitting on the stool. Did I mention this is directly next to the potty? I was pissed (no pun intended). I put Ivy in a time out for four minutes (a full minute longer than normal, so you can tell I was mad, lol). After she was done with time out, I talked to her about how it's not okay to pee on the floor and pee belongs in the potty. If she puts her pee on the floor, she's going to have a time out. She understood.

I know that might seem harsh (it sounds harsh when I read it back) but I really feel that she isn't having accidents.... she's choosing not to pee on the potty. So I was trying to give her incentive, ya know?

So, a couple hours later, I was cooking supper. Ivy came into the kitchen whining that there were no diapers. So I said "well, go sit on the potty then," and reminded her what would happen if she peed on the floor. SO SHE PEED IN THE POTTY. Completely on her own then ran back into the kitchen to tell me about it.

There were a couple messes after that, but I really feel this is the beginning of the end of diapers. I can't freaking wait.

Another First

Ivy had her first "manicure" today. Every time I have ever tried to paint her nails, she flips out. She's ASKED to have her nails painted and then freaked out. Today she told me that she changed her mind and she likes nail polish. So I gave it a try and lo and behold, we have matching nails. I will get a picture later.

Oh, and happy birthday to me! We are going out to dinner and bowling with Ken and Lisa.

Yesterday's final score.... three pees on my floor, no pees in the potty. Today.... one pee on the floor so far. Sigh.

Operation: For crying outloud, you are too huge to wear diapers!

After seeing Dr. Amy a couple of months ago, I had backed off the whole potty learning thing. We had talked, and decided that Ivy is stubborn and will do the potty in her own sweet time. Well, fast forward to now and I am just so sick of this!! Her diapers are getting too small and they don't MAKE them bigger. They leave marks on her sometimes. She's almsot four years old, for crying outloud and there's SO many things she can't do because she doesn't use the potty. Something has got to give.

So, the new plan is to just not wear diapers (at home) any more. Tomorrow is my birthday and we are going out for supper and probably bowling, so she will have to wear a diaper then, but after that.... we will stay homebound until dance next Thursday and just wear all those cool new underwear we picked out. Ivy keeps saying, "Mommy, are you making me wear underpants again today?" What a turd.

Today's count so far - 2 pees on the floor, no pees in the potty.

Too much computer?

Ivy LOVES to play pretend. One of her new favorites is putting one of her blankies around her shoulders and morphing into Super Ivy. Of course, since there are three blankies, I need to become Super Mommy as well. So as we were "flying" up the stairs the other day, having fun in our imaginative, not electronic or battery powered play, what does Ivy say?

"If you want to learn more about Super Ivy or Super Mommy, just click on them."

Apparently, the computer has done more than help her learn her alphabet and other educational things.

Mini Me

Well, not mini me, but mini Aunt Jessie.

Ivy loves helping Aunt Jessie get ready to go out. She watches Jess do her hair and put on her makeup (or as Ivy calls it, "frosting") and the Jessica lets Ivy put on a little makeup, too. Last weekend, Ivy really liked Jessica's earrings, so she took the two bracelets that were sitting on the counter and made her own earrings. They could be twins, no?



(Definitely click the picture to see the big version.... it's way cuter!)

Three Year Old Logic

My friend Lisa is pregnant. She's due February 20th, so she's getting pretty big. When baby comes, and Lisa goes back to work, I will be watching the baby, so I've been starting to talk to Ivy about babies and how to treat them. She knows there is a baby in Lisa's tummy.

Tonight, the baby was rolling around a lot... you could see it if you looked at Lisa's stomach. Lisa was showing Ivy where to put her hands to feel the baby move. Ivy, of course, lifted Lisa's shirt numerous times to see the baby. Then, the best quote ever:

"Let's squeeze it really hard and see if the baby pops out!!"

Smart ass

Pardon the language, but there just isn't a more appropriate title for this post.

This afternoon Ivy and I went out to lunch. While we were waiting for dessert (lucky girl that she is) we were playing I Spy. You know.... "I spy with my little eye, something [insert color here]."

Fast forward to bed time. Ivy picked out a book, hopped into bed and announced we needed to play I Spy before reading Burger Boy. The following conversation ensued:

Mommy: I spy with my little eye something..... [pause]
Ivy: RED!!!
M: Okay, I spy with my little eye, something red.
I: Your zits!!!! Your zits are red, Mommy! They are really really red.

Thanks, kid. Way to stomp my self esteem.

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!