She's growing up too...

Whelp she's three... and I'm not going to sugar coat it... it SUCKS. She's still an amazing and fun little girl but the girl has got MAJOR tude. Three sucks because you're stuck between a kid who is trying to be bigger, which means attitude and better words, and a kid who is still young and still a little bit of a "baby" so that means tantrums, meltdowns, and lack of "fairness" understanding, etc. It's awesome... throw a little potty training in there and a one year old baby brother and you have a recipe for disaster.

Despite three being a HORRIBLE age, it can also be fun... sometimes... rarely... but sometimes.

She know how to help and when she chooses to it's GREAT!
"Hey Kinsley go and get that sippy cup for Mommy in the other room so I can wash it"
K: "I can't"
Me: "Why?"
K: "Because I can't"
Me: "Yes you can now GO"
K: after begrudgingly bringing me the cup and telling me 10 times she doens't see it even though it's right there in the middle of the floor where I can see it! "Look Mommy I helped you!"
Me: in my best I'm trying to encourage you to do it again and not be sarcastic to a three year old voice "Yes you did! What a BIG helper you are" enter eye roll...

She will surprise you by saying really nice and fun things "I just love this face so much"... often times though these things come out while she's trying to find a way NOT to go to bed.

She is very independent and likes to do most things herself... unless I'm helping Parker then she wants my help so that I pay attention to her and not him.

She LOVES her brother, aggressively so, and enjoys giving him hugs while she pins him to the ground and makes him immobile.

She forgets NOTHING and I mean NOTHING. The kid has an annoyingly good memory... Many people will tell their kids they can have or do something later and the kid walks away and forgets about it... not mine. She'll remember FOREVER. Also, if she has a sippy cup or doll she wants and she's in bed I tell her I don't know where it is... despite her not playing with this doll, etc for HOURS she'll tell you it's downstairs behind the TV under the table, blah blah blah... SMART! Don't say ANYTHING to her that you don't mean to follow through with, she'll NEVER forget... even DAYS later... trust me... I know.

She helps me feed the dogs and dry the dishes!

She is fully potty trained during the day (with accidents few and far between). But when one happens she'll look at you and say "It's okay Mom, accidents happen" and nod her head in understanding... lol

One of Kinsley's new loves is showers, I found a hook to lower the shower head to her height and she LOVES to just stand in the water... don't blame her I do too.

She can point out pretty much all of her letters and on a good day her numbers too. She can associate most letters with a name or something like that. And she can spell her name for you.

She can count to 19, maybe 20, not sure.

She LOVES her babies still and will take care of them like any good Mommy. She also loves watching Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Princess anything.

She will eat anything at school and at home she'll find a pea that I hid in 3 macaroni shells and spit it out.

Kinsley's table manners are okay when she wants them to be... the other day she surprised me by twirling her spaghetti around her fork! And then just as quickly eats with her hands...

She likes icing and not cake.

She is in dance class and when she's paying attention is very good! But her favorite dance is to "shake her naked butt" a little thing she started at Sasha and Pop Pop's for a laugh but will now tell me in the supermarket (luckily fully clothed) that she's shaking her naked butt.

She knows how to pray before dinner and she knows more songs then I do.

Kinsley can dress herself and will often do this multiple times a day and rarely matches... she beats to her own drum that one, and I love it!

She supports the Wolfpack (NC State!!!) and the Redskins! Even when another team is playing, if they have our colors she gets very excited and says "GO WOLFPACK!"

Her words are starting to sound more like they should and less like the cute baby words she used to say.

And all in all, I love her to pieces... I just can't wait for these bi-polar toddler mood swings to be done!

My Hansom Devil

I realize I've been a bit of a slack Momma when it comes to the updates of my kids and their developments, etc. I was SO on top of things with Kinsley doing a monthly photo shoot, but some time around Parker's 8 month birthday or so it all kind of went away... I lost motivation in a lot of my life. I lost myself I feel like. I am feeling the motivation and happiness returning slowly; not for any particular reason, maybe it just missed me and it's time. Maybe it's the winter blues and the few nice days we've had here and there are helping... I don't know but I'm going to try to roll with it!

My Parker is a year old! HOLY CRAP~! I don't know where the year went!?!? He is not walking, however, he has taken a few steps. He could walk if he wanted to but he prefers to craw since he's still Frankenstein walking and when you don't bend your knees walking is slow going... try it!

He says Dada and AhDa ALL.The.Time. Like seriously, at times i question if he really does have more of a vocabulary. He will say Mama and Ellwa (Stella) but not as often. He also knows the sign and will say All Done "Ah Duh". And making his southern Momma proud he will say "Byeee" with the best southern twang and drawl you've ever heard!

This Kid is TOUGH. He Loves to bang anything to make noise, even if it's his head on the wall. He loves it! Pain (most of the time) is humorous to him. He's also had more blackeyes then I care to admitt, luckily many have happened at daycare so they are recorded if CPS ever is concerned. He's just wild!

He still follows me around like a lost puppy, crying until I pick him up.

I still baby him and let him have a bottle in the middle of the night if he wakes up... his bottles though are only 2oz of breastmilk... we're now putting 3oz of Whole milk (soon to be replaced with Almond milk in hopes of avoiding tubes). He does eat EVERYTHING though. They talk about teenagers eating you out of house and home... I think my one year old will do this. We have to cut him off sometimes because he's eating an adult portion of food! But he's not a fat baby, on the contrary, he's in the lower percentile for his weight! His favorites though are pasta, especially Spaghetti or Mac and cheese! Also a new favorite? Blueberries!

He is still not a napper, often getting in two 30 min cat naps a day... but at times he will take a hour or more nap, though rarely at daycare.

He's a charmer and likes to flirt with the ladies and give me open mouth slobber kisses.

Parker still thinks his Sister hung the moon, unless she's trying to pick him up or sit on him... he HATES to be smothered.

His favorite toys are Balloons, balls to throw, cars, and anything that will make noise! Oh and ANYTHING that he can climb up and possibly fall from giving his mother a heart attack.

Bath times are a huge love for him but he HATES post bath and getting dressed. Getting dressed and having his diaper changed are still huge battles.

He enjoys hearing his own voice and if he's not having a full on babble conversation with you then he'll be screaming at the top of his lungs and laughing after each scream. Also raspberries and sticking his tongue out to make noise is another favorite.

I know there's about a 101 things I'm forgetting still but there you have it... He's all grown up and I'm missing my little baby!


All his stats are coming on March 4 when he goes in for his 1 year well visit.

OMG my kid turned 1!!!!!

Whelp it was an amazing party and Parker had a lot of fun! He had most of his little baby friends there and his family. We kept this party smaller than the rest and only invited Family and baby friends, rather that EVERYONE. I was sad not to have everyone there but I also got to spend more time focusing on him so that was nice~

 

Now brace yourselves for picture overload. I did a "Ranch" theme. I wanted it to be cowboys with animals and I think it turned out great!

 

Cupcakes courtesy of my Mom... the Cupcake animals and birthday sign you'll see later are from R & R Creations on Etsy. They did Kinsley's party too and I LOVE their work!

 Sweet Tea, duh~

I don't know if you can see but below are these smoore things... they are marshmellows dunked in milk chocolate and then rolled in graham cracker crumbs... OMG amazing!!!

I made this sign years ago for a friend's baby shower and I've used it, strangely, MANY times!

Kid's favors: Hat, Bandanna, sheriff star, mustaches, stickers, crayon rolls from Mrs. Crafty R Ving, and animal tattoos.

K's Photo wall was such a hit I had to do one for Parker... everyone signed it too!

One of Parker's friends Joey. He was such a cutie in his hat!

My Parents, always happy to get into the theme!

Kinsley LOVED the mustaches! lol

Parker's BFF Collin from next door.

The happy boy all dressed up~

Oh it's cake time! We weren't sure how it was going to go... but the boy did us proud.

it started off a little slow but he eventually got into it!

Shoveled it in!

And what would a party be without inappropriate drawings on the wall, especially when it's done by a 3 year old that has no idea what he drew... can you spot it?

an hour of my life lost...

I saw this funny post on facebook by a friend that put together Valentines Day bags for her daughter's preschool class and said that was an hour of her life she will never get back... and all I could think was A-F'ing-Men!

Last night I was doing the same thing. I saw this cute Valentine idea on the life sucker website of Pintrest (why do I even look on there?) and thought "That would be perfect for Kinsley because it's a cupcake and my Mom calls her cupcake!"... and then I did nothing.

So last night, realizing that Valentines day and quickly approaching, I started to cute out the damn cupcake pieces... That's right people, there are pieces, that will need to be assembled. WHY!?!?

I got the cupcake pieces for the girls cut out, still have to do the boys.... I'm buying the teachers something because my hands are developing carpal tunnel.

So after an hour of cutting I'm still not done... I will finish tonight... God knows how long this will take.

I know many of you are thinking "Why doesn't she get those crappy paper ones with Princesses on them that are sold in mass in the stores and shut up already?"... want to know why? Because I need to have something to blog about and despite it all, I love to see the smile on her face when I've created something just for her... and lets be honest... it makes me look like a rock star Mom, when I'm clearly lacking in other areas!

So are you doing anything to make you look like a better parent than you really are for Valentines day?

Well i think I've given up on my beloved Sean T of Insanity... at least for now.

My job's new space has a pretty sweet gym that cost only $10 a month to join... it's got all the equipment you could want and well it's in the basement! The thing is there was no accountability with Sean... At the gym (if you go often enough at the same relative time, you'll make gym friends that will ask you where you've been if you miss a few days... Sean isn't as good at holding me accountable! Mostly it was me making it a week or two then quiting and coming back and giving Sean a big F-U buddy for it still be so hard.

NOT that I'm taking it easy on myself in the gym! I'm sweating to the point where i WILL shower before heading back to the office AND it hurts. Stairs hurt, picking up my kids hurts, standing up hurts. I mean when the hell did I turn 80 and need a cain?

So the fat friend will be shrinking. It may not be quick and it won't be pretty but in the end... I'll be someone I'm proud of!

BAM!

despite it all...

Despite all of my complaining we do have some good nights at my house and well, my kids are flipping adorable! I'm just saying...

First guarantee of a good night? Spaghetti night. While my husband does not share my obsession love for spaghetti, luckily i think it passed it on to the littles while they were in utero. THANK GOD something makes them happy... I mean how can carby comfort food NOT make you happy?

I love seeing a face covered in sauce with two cute little blue gray eyes sticking out!

Second way to guarantee .. allow littles to demolish kitchen... See this face below? This is the face of sneaky enjoyment. This is how he looks at me when he's about to do something that he shouldn't be doing. What is he about to do? Take out all of my bowls and bang them on the floor so that they can be covered in dog hair so when i need something I have to take the time to wash it before i can use it... Thanks little man... well played.

Third way to makes sure the kids are happy? Boxes. Yeah lets buy the kids some awesome expensive gift that causes you and the hubs to fight over the fact that you're trying to show your kids love with over priced plastic wear made in China! Or just order diapers from Diapers.com and let them get pulled around in the box it came in... either works fine... one will not hurt your marriage.

So while I do complain a lot, when i have the energy, i know exactly how to make my kids happy... and really, how can you not try when you see this little crazies looking at you?

OMG they are eating my soul!

Hey girl!

I'm participating in a link up today at View Along the Way! Know those great photo's on Pintrest of celebrities that say "Hey girl!..." Well we're doing our hubbies!

 Enter Chris:

 

And because I couldn't help myself and was having so much fun... here's Parker man!