Parental "aahhhhh" Moment #932

I can't remember the last time I had a pleasant dinner. I once read that a 10 minute dinner time period is all a toddler can handle. So once I get the little one served, I have about 5 minutes if I am lucky to scarf down the dinner before she announces she is done, and about 30 seconds after that announcement before the remains of dinner are scattered onto the floor.

This is the seat she has eaten in since she could sit up. We never had the traditional high chair- this one was much more space friendly, and not to mention portable. In the past few months we have tried different seating arrangements- the seat using the tray, the seat as a booster seat at our table, different placement around the table. Nothing seemed to prolong her dinner time frame- and frankly I am tired of cleaning the floor.


So after we got settled from Christmas, family visits and birthday parties I had a light bulb go off. How about putting her new table and chairs into the dining room and letting her eat at her own table. I mean after all, she sits at a child size table at daycare to eat.


Ahhhh, and here is the result. A happy dinner time, no food on the floor, and I think I actually tasted my food for the first time in months!

A side note- the chair is only there for dinner time. She has temporarily had her chairs taken away (except for dinner and coloring time)- she has taken to carrying them around the house to climb over or get into anything she pleases. Oh well, at least dinner time is enjoyable.

Happy 2nd Birthday To My Little Girl!!!!

My little girl turns the big "2" today.

As I remember back to this day 2 years ago, it makes me wonder "What did I ever do before I had her?" It seems that our lives revolve around her. We plan our outings around nap time, meals around her meal time, and decide whether to go someplace depending on how 'angry toddler' friendly they are. Luckily we have a few 'safe' places as we call them- places to eat, shop, entertain.

However, what I think I have done more than anything since I have had her is laugh. She does the funniest things. I find myself just laughing and shaking my head wondering what made her say or do that? Last night had she had 2 funny moments.

I have a collendar in the bath tub for her to put her bath toys in. It has been fun to watch her try to fill it up with water. But last night she discovered that it made a great hat. She insisted that 'I show Daddy,' but not even that was good enough. She insisted that the cat Ginger (or GiGi as she calls her) come and see her to. No surprise here, but the cat was completely uninterested.

Bed time came too early, so she played even after I shut her door and turned the light off. After about 15 minutes I heard silence, so I figured she was asleep. I opened the door to find her diaperless- well kinda- she had a swim diaper on. Well, sort of on...both legs were through one leg hole. She promptly stood up and said 'I wear pull up.' I told her she was wearing a swim diaper. She then had to walk into the living room to model for Daddy and tell him that she was going 'swimmin.'

She never ceases to amaze me. Everyday it's something new. Something funny. Something only a 2 year old would think of. Thank you little girl for opening my eyes to your world.

Ding Dong the pond is GONE!!!

When we bought our house in September 2006, this beautlful koi pond was the deal sealer. When we told people about the house, we always told them about the pond. It really was beautiful and made our yard probably the nicest looking in the neighborhood.

The the fall came. As you can see, the pond is build around 3 beautiful Bradford Pear trees- which lose their leaves in the fall. Skimming the pond and unclogging the pump became a daily job. Everytime I had to stick my hand in the cold water, I hated the pond even more. We were working hard to keep the pond maintained, but the final straw came shortly. My hubby was cleaning the leaves from the pump area, slinging leaves out. Later that afternoon he realized that his wedding ring was gone. After hours of draining the pond and digging through sludge, we found the ring- laying in a flower bed near the pond. But that was it, it was over. We unplugged the pump for good. We drained the pond a couple of times before we finally had the time to take out all of the rocks (probably 3 truckloads), and dig up the rubber liner. I don't have any pictures of this stage, but gross is all I can (lots of mud and muck- but hey, I'm an aggie, I've spent my time digging around in far worse).

Many hours of shoveling and moving dirt around led to this...


With the help of some warm winter days in Carolina (68 in Janaury???), we were finally able to finish leveling. Now we have a large flowerbed, mulched and ready to go for spring planting.