Earning her cookies

So I am the first to admit that I have resorted to outright bribes for potty training. You want candy or cookies? Earn them. :) So far it seems to be the only thing that has worked. She has a sweet tooth and I totally exploit it. I guess the ends do justify the means sometimes.

As she is my first child I really had no clue or even expectations for her potty training. I decided that I didn't want to be a mom that pushed too hard too early and left us both frustrated. Anna however, it seems would be content in a diaper or pull-up until she is 12.

Anyway, so far 5 days of pooping in the potty and counting. :) I guess we'll keep stockpiling cookies and candy!!

P.S. You know it is a messy cookie when you need to strip down to really enjoy it...

laugh

This made me laugh. :) Poor cat...

...Hair Day

So Anna's hair has always been a mystery to me. It has a mind of its own and ususally ends up with a mixture of syrup, and love by the end of each day. She likes to be au naturel so there is really no hope at this point. I can remember vividly requiring my mom to get all the "bumps" out of my pony tails. I don't think that would be humanly possible on this little lady.

A SuNBeaM

So yesterday was Anna's first experience as a Sunbeam in Primary.  She is a pro at Nursery and I have been a little concerned how she would do in Primary.  She thinks that church is all play time.  Needless to say...it was a complete disaster!! She was dancing all through singing time and at one point was inside of the podium with the little door closed.  Luckily I didn't have to witness it since I was substituting for the 8 year old class. 

We have about 16 new sunbeams and she is by far the worst behaved.  :)

Luckily she is pretty cute and her new teacher adores her.  At least for now...

Little Red

So I already posted this on Facebook, but I just love this pic of her so I am posting it here as well.  My mom made this fabulous cape for Anna this year.  She is the best!!  Anna had so much fun trick or treating.  She got totally into it and got lots of loot. 

She kept saying, "mom, my basket is full of flowers and goodies to take to grandma's house." I guess she has heard this story too many times. 

Picking Pumpkins

I always loved picking out pumpkins each Halloween.

As it turns out...

so does Anna.

First Hair Cut....a little late

So in July, we finally cut Anna's hair.  I was afraid that her beautifual curls would go away, but thankfully they are still in tact.  She was so funny at the salon.  My sylist Kelly kept trying to get her to talk but she was very shy.  After we left Anna tured to me and said, "Mom, Kelly is so beautiful."  It was hilarious.  Man I love this little girl.  :)

Hayley is the best!!

You should check out my sister-in-law's sister's photo blog. :) She is amazing and was really great with Anna. These were taken almost a year ago...wow. I really need to get some new ones done. http://hayleyphotography.blogspot.com

BONK

So Anna fell and hit her head. She had to get stitches. She was a brave little monster about the whole thing. Except for the part when it took 4 adults to hold her still so that the doctor could stich her back together. I am so greatful for wonderful doctors. Maybe it is because my dad is one...but I think they are the greatest. I am so glad nothing worse happened to her...I am sure eventually something will and I am just glad that this time we were able to make it better.

I am sure that someday stitches and kisses from mom and dad won't be enough...

For now though they are.

I am just going to hold on to that...until I can't...

slacker...

So I am a total slacker when it comes to blogging. I always think of fun things to blog about and then I convince myself that noone is even reading so it doesn't really matter. Plus I have about a million and a half other things that I "should" be doing. But I really like reading other blogs even though I am usually too shy to leave fun comments and stuff. I am a little bit of a blog stalker. :) Not creepy just love to see what fun everyone else is up to anonymously. Maybe I am not the only one...oh well.

So it is June...holy cow...only 6 months until Christmas.

...and I have a two-and-a-half year old...and an almost 30 year old hubby...

no idea what to get him for his birthday next week...any suggestions?

They are my world.

Life goes by way to fast. Can someone please teach me how to slow it down?

These Boots were made for walkin...

I love how much she has grown. She is such a little person with such a personality.

She got these on all by herself...tried walking and then fell flat on her face

...true Anna style :)

PollyWogs...

Change is hard.

Usually when it comes to me it is unwanted and really hard to deal with. Even when it is wanted it isn't easy. I think that is the point.

When I was a little girl, I can remember playing in some kind of ditch while my brothers played baseball at the local ball field. We would catch tadpoles...or pollywogs as we called them. I would take them home and would get sad when they would change into frogs. (That is if they lived that long) Sometimes if I was lucky, I would find one still in the creek mid way through the transformation.

Can you imagine changing from a swimming fish like thing into a frog? That would definately be a hard change.

Lucky for me...I am not a frog.

I do however, have to deal with the changes in my life. I am struggling with making the changes I know I need to. Why is it that change is still hard even when it is for the best?

Sometimes I wish I were a frog. :)

Control

So Anna's Hair is totally out of control.

So is my life.

Nothing ever goes as planned.

Nothing happens when you want.

Nothing is as easy as it sounds.

But it is all worth it...every crazy minute.

I am so glad to have this little piece of heaven in my life.

She is mine...forever...and I am hers.

Cinnamon Toast

I love cinnamon toast. I would maybe even say that it is the perfect food.

I do not however, understand toasters. Why is it that my toast burns at a level 2.5 on the dang thing? I mean why are there 6 levels if 2.5 burns my bread to a blackened crisp? Is there anything worse to eat than burned toast?

I sure don't think so. I am one of those people who refuses to scrape the burn off. I have to start all over. But then I have to account for the toaster already being hot so I have to remember to reduce the level to about 1 so that I don't burn it again. I usually get it right on the second attempt. :) How about you?

Snooze...

Snooze is such a weird word when you see it spelled out.  SNOOZE, snooze, snooze.  See weird.  

I have recently dubbed myself Queen of Snoozing since I have a terrible habit of hitting snooze a ridiculous amount of time.  I literally set my alarms, yes alarms for 6:00, 7:00 and 8:00 am in an attempt to get myself up in the morning.  I have always been a night owl and can't seem to function early in the morning.  

I likewise have been blessed with a snoozy little girl.  She sleeps at least 12 hours a night and takes a 2.5 hour nap each day.  So she is no help with my problem.  I hear my various alarms go off and somehow in a dream-like coma rationalize away the need to get up, or even to stop the alarm from sounding EVERY 9 minutes for hours.  :)  I have set number of snoozes I can handle to determine what I am going to look like that day.  What hairstyles need less time/etc.  

Sometimes I look at my iphone (which I intentionally place far enough away from my bed to force me out of bed to turn it off) and think it is spelling snooze in a different language.  I stare and stare at snooze and always hit that dang button.  Finally when I resort to turning off the phone after a round of snoozing, i know I am safe because I have my real alarm clock set to go off a little while later...I really just think I need to go to bed earlier.

 There is something I love about hearing that alarm go off and knowing I can snooze at least 8 times before I am getting into trouble.  :)