Besties

Ingrid and Otis have been having a lot of fun together.  I got some cute pictures of them over the past couple days and thought I'd share.

Not that she's always pleased, but they have fun.

Otis likes to climb.

ridiculously LOUD ball toy, they love it so I can't get rid of it.

Homeschooling After All

Ingrid is home right now, playing with fabric and her stuffed animals.  We just did puzzles together and read in bed while Otis is napping.  She's not sick, it's not a day off.  We just didn't send her back to school after the holiday break.  I couldn't be happier.

The past month or so has been very trying.  Lots of temper tantrums and crying, lots and lots of yelling on all of our parts.  I felt a real disconnect and was just not happy.  I didn't understand why my daughter was acting out, why our house felt so stressful, why my life felt like nothing was getting done. 

And then we had the holiday break, and after our travels to MI and the kids getting over sickness (more or less) things calmed down.  We had our nice slow mornings of coffee, breakfast, playing, reading, games, and happiness.  Otis' naptime was time for Ingrid and I to spend together, or for her to have rest time and me to get things done.  There was peace in the house, there were so few temper tantrums I've almost forgotten how horrible they were.  Tears are still there sometimes, but only when it's time to eat or rest. 

So when school started back up again, we just decided not to send her back.  Instead, we painted.

And then threw the kids in the bath with some shaving cream to "paint" with.

And did more puzzles.

And went to story time, which Otis LOVED!  He thought singing songs and clapping hands was pretty okay. 

We'll try again in the fall, but if it gets back to being that stressful, forget it.  I used to wonder if I could be a homeschooler, if I had the patience, or could follow through with it, but now I know I can do it if it's what's right for us.

It's Sunny! No, It's Cold. No, it's Snowing...

The past few days have been pretty crazy, weatherwise.  We had some super nice sunny days, where we were out in our tshirts and loving the backyard.  We enjoyed the flowers, took nice long walks, felt like winter was a bad memory.  And then this morning we wake up to...SNOW?  Huh?

Good thing we took advantage of the nice weather while we had it.  Our backyard is pretty great.  We have a nice big cement patio, great for drawing with chalk and riding the trike.  There's also a pretty good amount of grass and trees and flowers for exploring and rolling around. 

Saturday was our good friend Poppy's first birthday party.  Cupcakes, balloons, and babies, oh my!

Ingrid had a ton of fun, as usual.  That girl loves her cupcakes!  And I liked the fact that most of my mom friends here in Milwaukee are cloth diaper, baby wrap using crazies like me!  It was nice to sit and chat and compare which diapers our babes were wearing.

Otis was worn out after the party.  He and I cuddled on the couch afterward and I managed to sneak my way out of the blankets to take this picture.  He slept like that for an hour at least.  It looked so cozy.

And in sewing news, I finished my Sound of Music inspired dress for my friend's daughter's Sound of Music inspired birthday party coming up.  It turned out so cute, if I do say so myself!  Can't wait to see it on her.

But now it's snowing, and I have to get groceries, which means I actually have to get out of my pj pants and put on real clothes.  *Sigh* 

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Our Thanksgiving was...fine?  Or it would have been, had any of us been in a good mood.  Which none of us were.  Our day started with Ingrid getting up early and instantly being whiny and crying over everything.  It did not go uphill from there.  Since she doesn't nap anymore, if she's tired at 7:30am, she's just gonna be even more tired at 3pm.

The idea was that we would stay home, be cozy, eat lots of food, and relax.  The reality was that I was exhausted and begging for naps, Ingrid was throwing tantrums every five seconds, and Brendan was crabby because he just wanted to have a day off and watch football. 

We did manage to have a nice afternoon, with lots of good food and pumpkin pie that came out perfectly because I used canned stuff instead of trying to be fancy and cooking a real pumpkin like I did last year.  We were sufficiently stuffed, I got a good nap in, we tried to go for a walk in the rain to look at holiday lights that are already up in the neighborhood.  But none of us were feeling it.  Something was off...

Oh well, it's done.  And today was better.  I am not one for Black Friday, like EVER, I hate the idea of crowds and all that buying stuff no one needs.  You never really get that good of a deal anyway, and you have to fight people over it, or wait in line for hours, or whatever.  Just not my cup of tea.  BUT...Joann Fabric was having a sale on flannel and fleece, both of which I use a lot of in my sewing, for so cheap that I couldn't pass it up.  I woke up early anyway and decided to check it out. 

How naive of me to think I could just zip in and out!  Who really goes nuts at a fabric store on Black Friday?  Aren't they all at Target buying $2 Barbies or something?  Ha, how mistaken I was.  I got there around 6:30am and the place was packed.  I looked through the fabric, luckily I had a list to remind myself of what I needed, then I got in line for the cutting table. 

Fast forward TWO HOURS.  It was finally my freakin' turn.  Two effing hours for fabric, I must be crazy.  I did get some really good stuff and the bottom of my reciept said I saved $109, but really, two hours to wait for cutting fabric.  Never again, I don't care if they're giving away flannel!  I am just thankful I didn't try to lug Ingrid with me, oh my god.

When I got home I washed and dried and ironed all of the fabric I had gotten, all with a little help from my wee helper.  She loves doing laundry with me for some reason, it's awesome.  She played by herself a lot today, which was a nice change of pace.  Brendan and I got to do what we wanted to do.  It was what we wanted Thanksgiving to be, at least it only came one day late.  And now it's back to reality and hoping to hear something from Brendan's job interviews!!   

Labor Day

So bummed I forgot my memory card this weekend!!  We went to visit my mom and it's the most beautiful place ever, complete with a mama deer and her three babies meandering through the backyard.  But no, stupid me forgets the most important part of the camera...

Anyway, after some discussion with Brendan about our Labor Day weekend and finding out he planned on working, I was loathe to sit at home by myself.  Ingrid and I packed up the car and headed the three hours to my mom's.  She has this great job of dog/house sitting for a very generous woman who lives on a horse farm and small lake.  So there are tons of things for kids to do and Ingrid had a blast!  Gramma took her on a golf cart ride to meet the horses, they went swinging and playing in the play house, we found a basket of maracas and tambourines.  Non stop action!

My sister and her family and brother and his family all came on Monday.  Instead of being 81 and sunny, it was rainy and 60, so we put the kids down in the basement with toys, lit a fire in the fireplace, and had a great day.  In the afternoon it finally cleared up and they got to go fishing and swimming in the pool (seriously, this place is like a kid heaven!!).  I got to cuddle with my one year old nephew, which Ingrid was very unsure of.  Graham was all cuddled up to me with his blanket, Ingrid came up from the basement and stopped short when she saw me.  "Mama!  Put that baby down!"  Oh honey, are you ever in for a rude awakening...

Ingrid did pretty well this little road trip.  She napped on the way there and was cheerful until just before we got to my mom's.  For some reason she started crying "I don't want to go to Gramma's, I wanna go to the area."  I still have no idea what "the area" is, but she was adamant we go there instead!!  She forgot all about it once she saw the horses, though.  She loves to play with her cousins and eat food, and despite whining that she was soooooo tired, she made it through the day in a fairly good mood. 

We're starting a new nap regime tomorrow, trying to get her back into the napping game, since she cannot function on 10 hours of sleep at night alone.  Hopefully the "I'm soooo tiiiiiiirred, Mama!" will cease and she'll go back to being a cheerful person...

Back to "Normal"

From how things were going at the beginning of the week to how they are now, it's like a whole different family lives here!  I haven't been on my prozac for a month or so and it's been so hellish.  I have been on this medication for years and thought, after forgetting to take it for a week or so, why not see what it's like off it?  Oh my god, not good!!  I am such a bitch without my meds, I yell and get crabby and, therefore, Ingrid is in a bad mood and upset and Brendan gets that way as soon as he comes home to a houseful of stress.  Aaaahhh!  The other day I finally broke down and wanted out of my life.  I just wanted to not be a mom, and certainly not a mom of two.  I wanted to be able to SLEEP and take a break and watch non cartoons on TV.  I started to cry and then suddenly it hit me--honey, your depression is coming back with a vengence.  Take your stupid pills!

Two days later and here we are, happy as can be.  Ingrid and I had a lovely day today.  We went to Trader Joe's and they have these little kid sized shopping carts that Ingrid just loves.  We did a lot of block tower building and coloring and reading books.  We played outside after lunch in the amazing cool windy weather.  Ingrid's obsessed with the rocks in our driveway lately, she will sit for an hour just looking at each one, putting it in her little wagon, and then going on to find another perfect one. 

We had a gift certificate to a local brewery so we went to dinner.  Ingrid was a model child, coloring quietly at the table and eating her veggie soup.  Brendan and I got to have a conversation and it was just so pleasant and I realized how awful the past few weeks have felt. 

Another thing that helps in the calm is putting Ingrid back in diapers part time.  For two weeks she boycotted the toilet so I was changing her clothes and mopping up pee at least five times a day.  Not fun.  And the horrible thing is even though I KNOW you're not supposed to yell or make a big deal of it, after the third or fourth time a day, after days of this happening, I would yell.  Why didn't you tell me?  Why won't you go on the potty?  And then I heard myself and stopped and read up online about setbacks and how common they are and how you just have to let them have their time and they'll get around to it.  So back in diapers she went, but she now will tell me when she has to go.  And I haven't had to worry about pee on the couch or rug for two days!  I see a major change in her attitude already, so here's hoping she'll get back on the potty train soon.

Dress Up

Ingrid loves to get into my closet and find things to dress up in.  Her favorite?  High heels.  She gets more use out of them than I do!  She'll grab a purse and tell me she has to either go to work or go shopping. 

She also put on a blanket as a cape the other day and went flying.  So funny!