I think my ass has left the building

I mean that's the only thing I can come up with for the pain radiating from my hind end. It must have been cut off and the gaping wound is in pain, right?

No, no it's still there, in all of its giggly dimply mass... but it DOES hurt. Why? Because I’m a masacist and have decided to do a 30 day boot camp before I go to the beach in 30 days. I have two a days and I start sweat from minute 3 (the first 6 minutes are "warm up"). By the time I hit minute 10 or so I’m sweating so bad when I get on all fours I decide to make a game of seeing how far I can blow the sweat as it drips off my nose. Hey it entertains me!

Last night as I’m huffing it through mountain climbers I freak my dog out and make her think someone is knocking at the door, OBVIOUSLY I’m not going to be getting a request anytime too soon to be a spy since I am not a stealth climber, imagine an elephant jumping back and forth with its ass in the air... that's me. So as the dog starts barking at me the Cowboy wants to know what the heck I’m doing... HOPEFULLY WORKING MY ASS OFF I say... he shrugs and goes back to one of his survival shows. 

So I will be putting myself through this torture for 29 more days... hopefully I will lose my ass in the end and be gifted with a new one!

Or at least a smaller belly... having a toddler lift your shirt to poke at your jiggly belly with squeals of delight does not do the self esteem good.

Here's K... more details on the Zoo to follow!

I feel jipped.

Yep I really do. Yesterday was THE LAST DAY OF THE OPRAH SHOW! OMG what has the world come to?!?!? What are we supposed to do everyday at 4pm now? This is monumental. I think this is what all of the theologians were predicting by the "end of the world", they were just off by a few days. Because since we won't get our daily dose of "God is okay with you living with your boyfriend who you refuse to marry" everyday, the world OBVIOUSLY is over.

So I did what every other person in the world did and made sure to DVR it. Come on, I don't get off work until 4! So i won't be home until 5, and i'm surely NOT going to take off work for this final episode, you would think it's a Royal Wedding or something. No, I DVR'ed it and sat down ready to force the boyfriend to watch it with me. I got my dinner, the baby was asleep (or at least throwing shit quietly across her room in a fit of rage since we forgot to give her the baby to sleep with), and i hit play. Oh this is going to be good! THIS is going to be like a Favorite Things episode! I can just feel it, except this time even the people at HOME will get a new car!

But then she wouldn't SHUT.UP! She was all "empower you this" and "platform that" and "dream dream dream. THEN she had the nerve to talk about episodes we had already seen. I mean COME ON, doesn't she know we only watch her for makeovers, couch jumpers, and free shit?!?!? I don't care how she started, I ALREADY KNOW, now give me stuff!

So to say the least I was deeply disappointed in this finally episode. What can I say I go for the shock factor...


I'm PREGNANT!



Ha, kidding, I'm really not. Not even trying... I just like the SHOCK of it all! See? Fun!
I'll will go drink wine now... well no it's time for breakfast, i'll wait until tonight... then wine, and sushi, and anything else to disappoint your thrill of thinking i'm baking another Cupcake... because I'm disappointed that i won't get a free washer and dryer.

I don't wanna be fat.... but i'm a donut kid....

I don't wanna be fat, but i'm a donut kid. There's a million flavors of ice cream, with sprinkles and fudge. From vanilla to chocolate to rocky roads, there's a million flavors to eat. I don't wanna be fat, But baby I am, it's true I'm a donut kid. (sung loosely to the Toys R us theme song).

I've been working really hard (for me) lately. Has my eating been as good as it could be? No... BUT i have been doing better and I've been working out pretty hard. 5-7 days a week? No but 3-4! And when i'm in there i am SWEATING! It's not a leisurely stroll on the treadmill, it's the elliptical at a speed of 8 with sprints up to 13 (i even hit 16) for 30 secs. I do upper and lower body weights where I always lift an amount that makes it so by the last set i have to lower the weight. And i do abs, abs that make it hard to laugh some days... so I WORK IT!

And i've been proud of myself. Many days my clothes DO look better, AND my legs are looking much better too... way more toned. But the scale is NOT moving. It'll go down for a bit, but then up it goes again. So i told myself that i must have lost inches... so i decided to check. no... NO!

I've gained. Yes I lost 2 inches in my boobs.... my waist? up my thighs that are looking better? up my upper arms? up.

I mean what the hell! I just want to give up. I really do. There are all of these skinny bitches (okay they aren't bitches, they are actually VERY nice, I'm actually kinda pissed that their outsides match how beautiful their insides are...) in my neighborhood that have had kids and look amazing and I WANT TO BE THEM!

I am TIRED of looking at photos and trying to figure out a way to crop them to make me look skinnier. I'm tired of faking a smile when I really want to cry. I'm tired of not wanting to be in a swimsuit because i'm embarrassed by my weight. I'm tired of spending money to make myself feel better.

All i can think is that it's the eating... but i have NO NONE ZERO accountability with myself and my dear darlin Northern Cowboy is NOT helpful since he's pretty lean and mean without any stress about it.

Anyone have an idea?

Just like with my Dad!

When i was young my brother and I used to go to the park with my Dad while he would play church leage softball. It was SO much fun! I would get to see my church friends, play on the playground, spend time cheering on my Dad, AND I would get to pick weeds flowers and take them home to my Mom when she didn't come with us!

Well, Chris is on a team that was formed by some guys in our neighborhood! The last few weeks have been rainy or he's been out of town so we haven't been able to go, until this past week! It was just as good as I remember, except better because it was MY Northern Cowboy and MY daughter! And I was the one being given flowers, except Kinsley was giving me ROCKS! Magicial I tell you! She had a blast talking to everyone, petting random dogs that were scared of her and playing on the playgound that jumped up and gave her a welt on her forehead! We can't WAIT for next week!

30 before 30!

I'm 28. I'll be 29 on September 28, 2011. I will be 30 on September 28, 2012 and here are 30 things I've never done or haven't done in so long I NEED to do it to feel like me again by the time I'm 30~ Let me know if you want to help! Purple means i've NEVER done it!

1. Run a Half Marathon
2. Spend a whole day at a spa!
3. Go on a vacation (length at least 2 nights) with husband
4. Teach Kinsley how to pray
5. Take Kinsley to Sesame Place
6. Go a month without spending a penny (except real needs, like food and gas)
7. Have a movie marathon day (hire a babysitter)
8. Go to a state i've never been to (or driven through)
9. Spend the weekend at a B&B
10. Go camping
11. Organize my photos FINALLY
12. Order my photo scrapbooks, FINALLY
13. Have one sponsored blog post
14. Meet a fellow blogger!
15. Pay for someone else at a drive thru
16. Pick up K early from daycare and take her some place awesome!
17. Host a theme party
18. Cook a lobster!
19. Go to a rodeo
20. Dye my hair a shade of red
21. Have every wall in my house painted
22. Do that complicated paint by numbers I saw
23. sew a quilt
24. Go on a girls only Vacation
25. Get a bike and take Kinsley bike riding
26. Have a dinner party with a 5 course meal! (sorry there will be limited seating!)
27. Finish my family tree
28. Participate in a flash mob (no idea how to do this one...)
29. earn enough money to go and buy a REAL camera (DSLR with lenses, etc)
30. Have a KICK ASS party thrown for me!

I have an obsession...

I'm sure you deal with this too... it's dressing my child in beyond cute clothes that SCREAM southern! I mean, you deal with this too right? Oh good, I thought I was the only one... since we're stuck up here in Northern land where it's okay to attend birthday parties in t-shirts (no offense if you do/did)! I mean don't parents know that birthday parties are like a child fashion show?!? No? Just me? Well regardless Kinsley looked cute, I mean she would look cute in a t-shirt too, but COME ON! Look at this child!

Look at the level of concentration with this one... can't concentrate without using her tongue, just like here Mama!

See? Right there? The Green Kinsley! ADORABLE!

Yeah that's MY child sitting in the middle of the circle at another child's party... in her defense she was one of the youngest and we were just at THIS little gym the day before for class where they let them sit anywhere...

Everyone loves a good parachute!

K can walk on the beam all by herself...  yeah she's a star!

She's also no dummy. She learned VERY quickly to follow the lady with the bubbles rather then wait for her to come back around!

Hanging around is her new thing.

that and stealing others balls...

So see, was Kinsley a little more done up the other kids, sort of... but i like to think she was just done different, not up ;)~

If she wasn't so cute when she smiled...

I might try to trade her in!
I swear people i NEED help! I love this little girl more than air but WHOA! She is in a SERIOUS Mommy phase (Cowboy just looks at her and she'll start screaming!) AND she doesn't want to sleep unless she's in my bed kicking me and playing with my hair.

Here's where i need your help.

She's been a good sleeper off and on... I think we'd fall off the wagon when she would cut a tooth. Lately she cries when we lay her down (didn't use to), will wake up crying in the middle of the night (sometimes even once she's in our bed because i'm a living zombie at this point and have surrendered to the Toddle assault inflicted on me at 2 in the morning), AND without fail will wake up between 415-5 crying and will NOT be soothed back to sleep unless she's with me, then MY last hour or so of sleep is ruined. We tried it, this morning. She cried from 4 until 515 when i finally just got her up (because I was NOT going to let her go back to sleep at that point since she was going to have to be up to leave the house anyway at 6...

So here's our schedule (typically)
6am wake and get her ready for the day (at least that's when i wish she would get up)
630 drop her off at daycare
she'll take around a 2 hour nap, typically, from 12-2 or around there
5 pick her up from daycare, we'll play eat dinner then do our bedtime routine and she'll typically be in bed around 7 unless she's uber cranky/didn't have a good nap that day, etc then it might be 615-630.

What am i doing wrong? what can I do differently?

Help!

Here's the little turd princess on mothers day... hard to be mad at that face~

Cowboys Grandmother, Mother, and daughter... lots of women in his life~

Mounting to-do list

(** this is a long post of begging, whinning and pleading, please be warned... pictures are at the end of it**)


So the hubs and i have lived in our house for 5!!!! years now! WOW! And sadly we haven't done a lot. Whether it is lack of time, money, or motivation, we just haven't. We bought it knowing it was the best we could afford and was in a great neighborhood, but needed some fixing up.

I'll let you in on what we have done (pictures coming) first, since it's shorter

• replaced bathroom lighting... not a fan of what we chose anymore
• painted the kitchen and put on new countertops... again wishing for something different
• painted the whole main floor, trim, etc... except for the ceiling.
• put up waynes coating with a chair rail in the dinning room (Pictures now!)
• installed a new kitchen sick
• painted our master bathroom and installed new towel hooks
• Painted Kinsley's room
• Installed ceiling fans in our room and K's (it gets HOT in there!)
• had a deck built
• got a new HVAC
• re-landscaped
• Painted/fixed front of house
• bought stuff to make new screens with
• replaced a patch of carpet on the landing that Sadie destroyed

I think that's mostly it... okay, so that's not TOO bad, but there's still so much to do and the list is only growing!

To-Dos

• Paint upstairs hallway
• paint doors and trim
• replace all door knobs
• finish the basement, including creating a laundry room and half bath
• Stain deck
• make tiny office into Kinsley's Toddler room
• Eventually (like in the next year, but not for at least 6-8 months) make her nursery into another baby's nursery (work pending actually TRYING to make that baby... not yet... and if it's a boy or girl.
• replace carpet upstairs
• replace laminate floors so that they actually are installed correctly
• replace tile to match whatever we replace the laminate with
• replace the vanities in the master bath, children's bath, and half bath
• retile the master bath
• have fire place fixed
• replace the stair poles that Sadie used as teething toys when she was a puppy
• Paint our bedroom
• Install curtians in our bedroom
• Sew curtians for den
• Get a new couch that isn't a dog hair magnant
• install a better closet system in all of the closets
• repaint the kitchen
• possibly redo the counter tops
• have walkway to house repathed
• install ceiling fan in K's future room (it's HOT in there y'all!)
• recover the lamp shades in the dinning room chandalier (done!)
• replace the lights in the bathrooms and kitchen

I THINK that MIGHT be it... but i'm sure the hubs would say i'm missing about a million things.

So here's the problem, we just don't have the money FOR these projects. Why?

1. have you seen the cost of living in and around DC? OMG!
2. daycare
3. i SUCK at over spending
4. anything we do save needs to go to a future down payment
5. Sadie is the dog that is never well = big vet bills
6. Finishing a basement SUCKS because of all the permits, etc you have to get = plans you have to have drawn = time you have to invest = inspections you have to pay for... NEVER ENDING!

So that's where we're at... except I'm looking for help! Here's what I'm looking for:

(yes this will be in a list format because List make me all giddy inside!)

1. Anyone that might be able to tell me where to get AWESOME coupons/free deals on paint, etc
2. Anyone will to "sponsor" us putting in the sweat and labor and documenting it all for your viewing pleasure and we'll totally pimp you out on this blog, my facebook, and twitter!
3. Anyone who might want to take a look at some of the awfulness and offer me on tips on how to fix what i have for little to nothing!

OKay? So... PLEASE! I have the skills! Can you help me?

here's some K for your viewing pleasure~

This is Kinsley saying "PEEEEEASE!" (she doens't use the L.... the L is over rated)

My Neighborhood is awesome... I'm just saying

So once the sun comes out and the weather starts to warm up, my circle starts getting all excited. They are getting excited because they know that Block Parties are coming!

We run around the first few weeks chatting like school girls giddy with Beiber Fever! We have Block Party Fever.

And this year, we upped our game! See I really think my street is on a well system, despite the bill from county i get for using city water. Because once you take a sip from our powerful elixir it's only a matter of time before you will be pregnant. It's true! We have around 8 babies under the age of two and around 3 more pregnancies! Seriously, if you're not interested, go for bottled!

So since we have SOOO many children, especially ones that don't understand the meaning of Stay on the sidewalk, we shut it down! That's right, we coned off the circle, rolled out the grills, set up the chairs, and had a good old fashioned block party.

Everyone had a glorious time, the kids played, the adults joked, even the dogs enjoyed themselves! But once the sun went down the fun really started!

See we live in townhouses so we're very close, our circle is smaller and well, we figured out that Baby monitors have decent range! (Oh don't even act like you're anything but jealous you single family house owners!) So we all put the babies to sleep and regroup in the middle with baby monitors in hand! And that's when this happens...

These two cuties heard about all the fun and just had to check it out... don't worry she drank bottled water!

Sippy cup is a serious game!

The dogs even played their version.

It's true, we play flip cup, in the middle of our circle. Or as we like to call it "Sippy Cup".

Yep I have a pretty fun neighborhood. We have people of all ages joining in (all above 21!) and before you call child services, there's always one responsible party per house, just in case the kids wake up.

So right now we don't have any houses for sale if you want to join the fun, but you're still welcome to come, and I'll always bottle the water for you if you want to try your luck!

When is it okay to give up?

Some days I just stare at my workout clothes like evil playground kids taunting me. Okay, MOST days I look at them and think that. I'm just so over trying! I'm over the fact that I cannot eat burgers and fries without feeling guilty. I'm over the fact that I can't have a big bowl of frosted flakes for breakfast without knowing it's going to make friends with the fat above my knees. I'm over the fact that when my husband wants to have a beer I automatically think about what I ate that day and what is did to workout and will it fit into my weightloss plan.

I JUST WANT A FLIPPING BEER WITH MY BURGER AND SPICY FRIES!

And please don't email me saying, well you can have that burger without cheese or mayo, OR have fat free Mayo! AND LOAD it up with veggies!

Because you know what I want? I want a 1/3lb burger from Fuddruckers with swiss cheese, grilled onions and mushrooms. I want to layer it with mayo, ketchup, and honey mustard. The only veggies i want near it are lettus and pickles (I don't think that's even a veggie). That's what I want and i don't want to be told I can have that but only once a month and after I've ran 10 miles.

Why is it so hard to lose weight and WHEN can I give up? When can I be happy in a size 10/12 body? When can I look at another woman who is so much smaller then me and enjoys working out and not be envious?

I DO NOT like to workout. I'll talk to fitness buffs and they'll ask me what do i like to do as a workout.
1. I wouldn't look like THIS if there was some form of fitness i really liked
2. Does lifting a glass of wine to my lips count?

So when is it okay to give up?

I have a secret

I have a boyfriend and boy is he HOT!

See him? He's that one in the middle wearing big bird. I tell you, NO ONE can pull off big bird sexier then him! A man wearing big bird for his daughter's first birthday... sexy!

Check him out here, holding the little 4month old butter bean. Swoon

This one made my uterus start jumpin, oh i want to see that again! SOON!

This is one of my favorites. This is him watching me walk down the isle. God I love him!

Best Daddy and Husband... I mean boyfriend~

He really takes care of us!

So I know you're wondering when did he become my boyfriend instead of my husband.... but see you have it backwards. He's Always been my boyfriend, now he is ALSO my husband. Remember that float yourself across the ocean high you used to get when you would first start dating someone? Yeah that's why he's my boyfriend. Because when i see him playing with Kinsley or cleaning up the kitchen or helping out a neighbor... I beam with pride because he is MINE. I get all giggly because HE chose ME! Despite all the reasons he shouldn't have, he did. And I want him to ALWAYS be my boyfriend because I always want to look at him the way I did when he was JUST my boyfriend. Because even though he has many hats now, husband, father, provider.... he is still a sexy husband!

is it bad....

That i normally only get 2-3 hours of awake time with my daughter, but last night all i wanted was for her to go to bed early and stay asleep?

Oh she's been in rare form this week. I know part of it has to do with the fact that her classroom at school still has a big hole in it so she's in a different room, shared with very loud older children. So she doesn't get good naps and is in a smaller space then she's used to. But really, those are just excuses! She needs to buck up!

Last night after we got home and i threw a barely eddible dinner into the oven we went outside. Things were going well until she wanted to play on another little girl's three wheeler and the other little girl tried to help push her. Enter meltdown.

After her second meltdown we left.

We get inside and I promise her deck time with BUBBLES (since dinner isn't ready). After 3 tempertantums at least i'm crouched on the floor of the deck trying to get Kinsley to look for a Daddy that isn't in the house just so she'll quit throwing bubble wands at me that i can't magically put back together. I send her in the house to look for her passy by herself so i can hear just the end of my neighbors story about her wonderful job news. I just want her to STOP. Finally Northern Cowboy does make an appearance and gives her baby crack pasta pick ups. He then has to get ready for softball, so i administer the 2nd round of baby crack. Only to have a folk chucked at my head again and pasta flung at the ceiling. Repeat from previous night where she puts herself to bed... or rather climbs the stairs where i have evily place her passy at the top where she can see it so she has to come upstairs. Once there i swoop her up, change her, rock her and lay her down.

Off to dream land she goes... until 10pm. WHAT?!?! Yeah she start stiring at 10pm! By 11 we're at a meltdown mode. So up i get, I rock, I sooth, the hubs is STILL at softball. I lay her down, asleep. But apparently the crib sheets have razor blades shooting off of them because as soon as her first hair touches the sheet she wakes screaming.

Got it, coming to my bed.

Cowboy gets home right after we've dozed off to sleep so that we can be jerked back awake by barking dogs.

He comes upstairs and asks why K's in our bed, i give him the condienced version of it (She sreamed like hell until i brought her in here). He thought it was cute that she "missed him"... i told him that he gets the privilage of putting her into her bed now.

She cried... for a bit...

Then she was fine, until 530 this morning.

I'm more tired then when i had a new born.... suggestions?

New 30 day challenge!

Okay, so NOT like this past one. i will have an assignment EVERY day, but it's not something i have to DO every day... it's something i have to NOT do.

Lately I've spent a bit of money. See i needed clothes for work. Last years spring clothes didn't fit and the year before that REALLY didn't fit, or before that. These past springs/summers i've gone from a size 6-8, to pregnant, to post baby body, to me now... getting leaner but still in size 10 to 12. Not a size i enjoy being in, BUT it's my reality. Not to mention that my boobs are changing size monthly i feel like.

Plus I'm in a new job where i can't get away with wearing jersery sun-dresses and flipflops to work each day. So I needed clothes. I needed dresses, skirts, tops, and a few (but not too many because I can convert most winter office pants to summer office pants) pants. Oh and shoes because since i can't wear flipflops and i can't wear heels that are to small for my post pregnancy (because they grew almost 1/2 a size) cloppers.

I would look around and some things were okay and others were not. Some would be great for the office, but i really couldn't make it work for the weekend (and i need it to work for both so i don't have to buy double). So i went to ebay. A curse and a savior.

I would set my settings to my size, my designers, and my price range and away I would go! I got some GREAT stuff! Like a Lilly Pulitzer top, normally around $158... i paid $35! Or how about a $119 dress for $39.99! (tags still on everything!). OR an Ann Taylor Linen skirt for $13!!! I mean I got REALLY great pieces for REALLY great prices! The dresses i can wear to work with a cami and/or light sweater! The skirts i can wear to church and some on the weekends. The tops/blazers can be ready for slacks or jeans! It's a win win.

But the reality is when you're done buying, you still bought. Whether you needed it or not, you still spent.

Even though I bought two bras from Target for $10 each (rather than $50 Victoria's Secret bras), I still spent $20.

So I'm going on a spending fast! A thirty day spending fast!

Here's the way it's going to work/ here are the rules

1. I will not buy (or commit to buy.... still have a few things pending) anything for myself or Kinsley
2. The following are the only THINGS i can buy and only if we need it, not if it's just a great deal.

• diapers/wipes/etc
• shampoo/razor/tampons, etc
• a swimsuit (if i find one that is super awesome and makes me look skinny and i s super cheap and chris agrees) because i need one before June 25th like WOAH!

3. I can grocery shop but i must stick to the list and i must eat out the pantry/freezer
4. I can buy gas

That's it! To many you're thinking, um Erin this is NOT a fast... but to those who know me and my love affair for target, etc... it IS... OH it IS.

See when I’m out and about i have whole conversations with myself about items. Like yesterday, I got Kinsley two new sippy cups. Here's the conversation.

It all began by being in the isle getting her forks (which she did need)

I wonder if there are any Elmo cups.... K LOVES Elmo now. Hmm no, but she does NEED some new cups that don't look like bottles and are more "big girl" and don't spring a leak when she throws them across the room.
I really want to get her this no spout one but $4.74 for one cup seems like a lot. I wonder if she would like these cups... she kept trying to take Jackson's cup that is just like this one the other day. I think it would do and I don't think it would spill as much as her other cups with the soft heads. By getting this I'm really saving cleaning time AND i'm getting two cups for $7.64 which makes them $3.82, that's a better deal than $4.74. Almost a whole dollar a cup! Plus they are cute so I know she'll love them. I can just throw out a few of those cups that aren't our favorites and spill all the time.
Yeah we'll get this set, perfect!

Uh huh, that's all for a SIPPY CUP people! I do this with EVERYTHING! Because the hubs this is what he does.

Sees a new sippy cup. Hears: a;woeirthr4yhw[ejweo;dhj (that's the sound of all of them falling out of the cabinet) $$$$$$ (that's the sound of the last 4-5 sippy cups I bought adding up in his head) zldrj09wejl;sefjo ________________ (that's the sound of K throwing the new sippy cup and it not spilling and him not caring).

So I'm on a freeze. Not just that, I'm going to track and try to spend 2/3 of what i normally do at the g-store.

Who's in it with me?

Have I mentioned that K needs bigger PJ's.... No She really needs them! Because....

Day 27: Favorite Poem

It's a truth we must remember

It's a fact as sure as fate

Some things can't be hurried

and some things just can't wait

Oh my little button pusher!

This child is completely cut from my mold... this I know. My parents remind me with every phone call home. Paybacks a Bitch.

Last night I got home to a happy sweet little girl playing outside with Grandma and other friends. Bubbles were plentiful and so were smiles!

Then Grandma had to go home.

And we had to go inside to eat.

That's when it all began.

I knew Kinsley was getting tired to I skipped the BIG dinner and gave her what she really wanted, Gerber Pasta pick ups (seriously i would LOVE to plant a big ol' kiss on whoever created those!). After one bowl was gone she nicely asked for MOOOORE! So I made it and brought it to her. She was halfway through when she decided she was done. But, instead of telling me she's done (LIKE SHE USED TO DO) so decided to throw her fork across the table like she's in a knife throwing contest and dump out her remaining dinner onto the table.

I tell her very firmly that's a NO NO and we do NOT throw things. I put the pasta back into the bowl and go to bend and pick up her fork when she grabs the bowl again and this time tosses it contents into the air. It is now raining pasta (much to the Dogs fortune).

I'm at a loss right now (because this is the first of many other trials from this evening) and I grab her hand and "Pop" it and say NO MAME! We DO NOT throw our food! NO NO! So what does my spawn of Satan darling child do? Does she cry like a normal child would? OH NO! That would be letting Momma win!

NO, Kinsley plays in the pasta juice and then claps her hands like she's spanking herself. She's Mocking me!

After she grabs her milk and chucks that too (within seconds of spanking herself) I snatch her up and place her on the other side of the gate and tell her to get upstairs, it's time for nite nite. (I know, well done Erin, telling a 17month old to go to her room, riiiiight).

I grab the basket of laundry I still need to put away in her room and march past her, and her now tears of angst, up the stairs and start folding and putting away her laundry.

Eventually she makes it up the stairs (I know, mother of the year award here...but she's REALLY good at stairs now, really!), quite happily and bounces into her room like nothing is wrong.

She plays with her shoes for a while. Then, THEN she starts taking the laundry I just folded and FLINGS it around the room. "NO NO", I tell her again, "We need to help Momma, not mess up things". So she giggles and does it again. Now, learning from downstairs, I tell her that if she does it again she will go to timeout in her crib. She does it again, WHILE looking me in the eye the WHOLE time. Oh yeah it's the Okay Corale and I'm Wyatt Earp and she's one of the Clantons. And we all know who won THAT showdown!

So as she's crying off and on in her crib I fold laundry.  She'll stop, randomly scream/cry/grunt at me, then cry again. After like MAYBE 2 minutes i get her out, hug her. Tell her I love her but she needs to listen to Momma.

She then sits down and helps me fold laundry... while slapping my leg.

I think I won?

I'll tell you what though, if when she's ever bad again, I'll tell her she better stop or she's going to give herself a spanking!

EASTER! I almost forgot!

Bad Erin, yes i know! How can i forget to post about Easter!?!?! After reading so many amazing post from others about Easter?!?! So here's Easter!

My Parents and Grandmother came up for to visit us for Easter weekend! It was wonderful! My Dad finally got to see Kinsley in Full Crazy at Little Gym! Her favorite is the climbing wall!

 Then they started the Easter Egg hunt! Kinsley KNEW what to do! It was great! This picture is a little blurry but i LOVE it!

 Later we went home and played and then took a nap and when she woke up we walked around the neighborhood (I'm REALLY hating that passy!)

 I LOVE her little bubble Easter outfit! So Cute!

 My Parents walked around our circle a few times with Kinsley and her baby!

 Then Kinsley wanted a bigger challenge, pushing her boyfriend. Dang a girl's always got to do ALL the work!

 Jackson ended up finding a mud puddle to play in so i stripped down K and let her join in... Hey she's got to be a kid right?

 Stomp stomp

 Splash splash

 Here we are decorating cookies, or eating them... lol

 Yum, Grandma's always give you the best treats!

 Sunday Morning the Easter Bunny came!!! YEA!

 Look Momma!

Yes i went out in my front yard looking like this...

Then it was time for church! My cutie patootie

cheese face!

then off to play!