A little funny

Tonight, while waiting "patiently" for me to serve dinner, Riley was having a panic attack because she wanted marshmallows. She keeps yelling and screaming "Mushrooms!" at me. In the middle of one of her screams, she had some intestinal issues. To which she stops mid-scream and calmly tells me, "Gas," very matter-of-factly.

Both of us erupted into laughter. It was a good moment.

You see, I had to teach Riley the difference between gas and poopy. We are trying to teach Riley when her body signals to her that she needs to use the potty. I finally realized that every time she yelled, "Poopy" at me, she was usually just having gas.

Just another hilarious moment in the life of this stay-at-home mom.

In other news...Riley is now putting her baby doll and animals in time out. It has been a rough couple of days for both of us as you can see.

Changes Are A-Comin'

After the whole crib/mattress on the floor debacle, I set out the next morning in search for a toddler bed. After meeting up with "Missy" at Dunkin' Donuts, we headed over to the local consignment store, Once Upon a Child. While they did not have any toddler beds, the ladies working there were so kind and agreed to take my name down should one come in. While I was there, I also picked up an adorable wooden, giraffe child's chair for Ms. Riley.

After that, we met up with my Mom who had already scouted out a couple of other places in search for a white, wooden toddler bed. Finally, at BabiesRUs. we located what we needed and were on our way.

After Riley went to sleep (on the mattress, on the floor) my Mom and I began assembly in the living room. At first I was pretty hesitant about the whole thing but then my Mom reminded me, "You changed a lock yesterday, you can do anything." She was right, I didn't have to wait on Dan.

A short while and a few pounds of the rubber mallet, we had assembled the bed. Now we were just missing the key components - Riley and the mattress.

After sneaking in and taking a peak at Sleeping Beauty, we discovered her on the floor once again. That was enough for my Mimi to see as cries of child neglect came pouring out of her mouth. While she was sleeping, we brought in the bed, moved the mattress, and then placed Riley on the bed. Here she is in her full glory:

After that, we decided, why stop there? We then proceeded to take apart her entire crib in the room while she slept, and no, it couldn't fit through the door, I busted a tape measure out for that one. Riley was not roused by our swearing and banging and slept like an angel the whole way through. With the last piece being pulled from her room, she awoke to find her crib gone and that she was sleeping in her big girl bed! She seemed surprised but still happy.

Since then, we have had some interesting moments with the toddler bed. One night I watched on the video monitor as she she tossed and turned. Finally, the weight of her head caused her to topple over. It was hilarious I must say. She sat on the floor, confused and bewildered until I came in and placed her back in bed. During nap time one day, we discovered this:

I can laugh because I am her mother. :)

Last night she slept great in the bed, hopping quickly in it to go to sleep and not once falling our or relocating to another corner of the room. She is definitely getting bigger and bigger everyday, I can hardly believe it.

Next stop: Potty and Paci Land

The battle that is known as: Nap-Time

My usually great sleeper has been testing me as of late. She has been insisting to get "OUT" of her crib, throwing her things out of the crib, climbing out (almost successfully today until I walked in) and screaming at the top of her lungs.



While I normally would just let this go on - there now is the safety factor. They no longer sell those net devices to go over he crib so I have been left to my own devices.

Today, she finally made a break for it. She had just managed to get her entire body out of he crib when I walked her to bring her back down. "That's it," I told her, "I am clearing this room out."

I picked up everything off of the floor, cleared her nightstand, and plopped her crib mattress on the floor. I piled up her blankies and baby onto the mattress, told her good night again, and walked out.

Wouldn't you know it but she worked the knob and opened the door?! I was stunned. One by one, she began clearing the contents of the mattress and relocating them to the couch. Without saying a word, she had successfully moved everything out of her room. I stood in silence.

Just then, my go-to-advice-giver/best-friend and mom of three, Melissa called. I told her the situation. She suggested that I turn the lock around. Thinking it was going to be a harder job, I said I would have to wait for Dan. "No," she insisted, "You can do it."

A couple swear words later and about a half hour of work, I finally got the lock turned around. I told her to lay on the mattress, told her good night, and I locked her in! (I have Mom-of-the-Year written all over this one).

Here is the kicker - she is quiet and sleeping! I just went in to check and her body - half on/half off the bed, is still!

Sweet success! At least for today....

In Anticipation...

In anticipation of turning the big 3-0 in 15 days, and in anticipation of quite a few more blog posts reveling in this fact, I thought it was about time to reflect on the past 30 years of my life.

No, this isn't a memoir of any sorts, and believe me, I know that there is a whole lot of life still in store for me, but the New Year has reminded me that life is precious and that we must be thankful for all that we have in life: the good, the bad, the hilarious, and even the unplanned.

There is a country song that recounts a great line, "Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers." While God, yes, answers a lot of prayers, many of them that went unanswered have led me to where I am today.

I remember crying myself to sleep over some losers (I can say that because I dated them) that I dated or pined over in high school. Man! What a waste of tears, time, and prayers. I wish I would have listened to my Mom sooner.....

That leads me to the next man in my life - my dear hubby, Dan. You see, Dan came from New York to attend UF. If he would have followed his first dream to become a doctor, we would have probably never met that fateful night at the Pimp and Ho Party. I was a high-class ho by the way.

A party that I didn't want to attend - but a friend of mine begged me to attend. A friend that I met during my first job out of college - one that wasn't planned or wanted, but out of necessity....a receptionist. I used to joke that I would hang my Magna Cum Laude degree over the copy machine.

If it weren't for that amazing man, Dan, than we wouldn't have the next greatest thing in our life - Ms. Riley Belle. You see, after suffering a miscarriage, the furthest thing from your mind is the next child in your life. Doctors insist, "You're young, you'll have another baby," when all you want to scream to them is, "But I wanted this one." I am thankful to have been the Mom to our little angel baby, even for a brief time, and thankful that through experiences like that, it makes you really appreciate life.

Without getting too sappy, the past thirty years have also brought a great deal of fun too. I have the learned the meaning of a true friend and realize that it's not the quantity in life, but the quality. I have realized that sometimes your greatest idea doesn't always work out as planned and that adapting to life is a real skill. I know that it is better to just go ahead and cry because sometimes it feels really good to let it go. The same goes for laughing so hard that you snort and/or pee your pants. And, I also know that no one can stand up better for yourself than you.

I look forward to celebrating my 30th birthday on a big cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with a group of people who love me when I am a crazy, psycho lady who takes their kid to the doctor for a heat rash. And yes, I am working on that too.

Plus One

It may be time to think about a new name for my blog. Soon, our table for three will need to make room for one more! In July, we will be welcoming a new little one to our family. Dan, Riley, and I are very excited for our next appointment on my 30th birthday, February 4th. That day an "anatomy scan" ultrasound will be done to ensure the baby is healthy and hopefully he or she will cooperate enough to reveal its gender. We will be happy with either, as long as he or she is healthy.

Look for updates on our life preparing for Bambino #2 as we get Riley and our house ready....not to mention my growing belly and appetite!

S'Mores

Sunday night, in the middle of the coldest "winter" we have experienced thus far, I had the bright idea of doing a family s'more night. Dan went to the store to collect the supplies and after dinner we bundled up and headed out to the......grill. That's right my Northern readers. This is how we do it in Florida. We put our children as close as possible to a propane tank, roast marshmallows over the side burner, and melt the chocolate on some foil with the help of a fish basket. We are classy, we can't help it.

Riley enjoyed the "mushrooms", or marshmallows as most people call it, but not so much the roasted ones. She even sat on my lap, curled up in a blanket for all of 2.3 minutes. It was nice.

Dan of course, had a game-plan as always. He grilled while I supervised our unruly child by the flames. She also found it quite delightful to take my Rachel Ray spatula and use it as a scraping tool on the patio floor. Again, classy.

While it was great "family time" and I am so glad we dd it, we did learn some important lessons along the way:

1. Do not bathe your child before s'more time. It's sticky and marshmallows in fine hair are not so fun to clean out.
2. Send the hubby out to begin the s'more assembly ahead of time. There was too much time between the snacks and hence, the spatula incident. Family time - shmamily time.
3. Buy a fire pit.