Thankful Heart Thursday {...or Saturday}

Each Thursday,  the Simple Moms host a series called "Thankful Heart Thursday".  I love the idea of slowing down and just being thankful for what I have.  I need {and want} to do more of this everyday, so this is a great way to express what I'm thankful for.

Today I am thankful for hand-me-downs, and the AMAZING people who keep sending them our way.  We have a bunch of girl cousins close to Sydney's age, so lots of goodies continue to find their way to our house.  

It seems that each season, once Syd grows out of something, there is a plethora of the next size to go through and choose from.  Now that it is socially unacceptable too cold to put the kids in their crocs, I assumed I would have to go out and get a whole new slew of shoes.  Nope!  I just walked upstairs to her closet and went shopping.  

These little treasures are not just limited to shoes...Sydney gets to sport this adorable new winter coat courtesy of her super cool cousin Charlotte! (and Aunt Amy's good taste!)

{November 2011}

So Aunt Stacy, Mairyn, Aunt Amy, & Charlotte...thanks for all the great things you keep sending our way.  Not only does Sydney get to look so cute, but you are saving us from shopping!  We are so thankful!

I'm linking up at The Simple Moms for Thankful Heart Thursday!

She is THREE!

Happy Birthday to the coolest three year old on the Planet!  Sydney Claire, you are quite the handful and you challenge me every single day, but I wouldn't trade you for the world.  You are amazing...just the way you are.  We love you!

(I'm not sure why this photo is the thumbnail for the video...?)

The twin bed debacle...

Now that Sydney is in pre-school, totally potty trained, and about to turn three, I decided it was time to re-do her room and get that big girl a new BIG GIRL ROOM! Woo-hoo!  I didn't want to spend a fortune, so I decided to just focus on the bed, and the rest can be re-purposed and re-used.  (more on that later!)

I was so excited to drive out to the Stage Coach Barn Sale and look for something fun.  I found a twin bed that was already painted and looked adorable.  It was only about $125, so we brought it home with us!

 {along with this super cute little baby cradle...who say no to this?!}

We weren't quite ready to start the remodel, so it sat in the garage for a few weeks.  I was feeling so confident in my new purchase...until we decided to put it together. 

Problem #1:  I did not bring home the side rails that came with the bed.  I didn't realize they were part of the bed frame, but luckily, the owner and I found each other through facebook and told me she had them.  Had to drive back out there to pick them up.  Minor set back.  No worries.

Problem #2:  Once the side rails were installed, I realized there should have been slats for the mattress to sit on...and I had no such thing.  So we improvised, bought some boards, and had them cut to size.  All is well. 

 Let's get the mattress on there and make the bed!

 Oh wait...what's that?  You sold me a Twin XL bed and neither party knew?  Oh, that's cool.  So I now have a twin mattress, and a ghetto XLong bed that looks RE-DIC-U-LOUS.  Now what do we do?

Well, we went to all that trouble to get the head board and foot board to work, we figured we would just get a regular, run-of-the-mill bed frame and just attach the headboard and foot board to it.  Perfect! {except once you connect the headboard to frame, there is no where for the foot board to be connected.}  Seriously? %#@&

So...we had to load everyone back up, bring the twin matress to the store to return it and purchase the twin mattress/boxspring set.  Super simple.  Seriously, this was fun...ha!  (insert sarcasm)

At this point, our options were very limited here, and since we now owned:
1. Freakishly long twin bed
2. Twin mattress/boxspring set
3. Basic bed frame
4. Cute twin bedding that had already been washed and dried.

I WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE THIS WORK SOMEHOW.

 

So, if you could have seen our family out in the backyard this weekend...I'm happy none of us lost a limb, or an appendage.  {I am convinced we are single-handedly bringing down the property value of our neighborhood...seriously, our dead christmas tree is still back there rotting.}   Um, I digress...

I made Dan get out some form of saw and we just went to town and started cutting things.  Picture him with a hack saw (???) (that broke two blades during the cutting process) and me straddling the bed rail trying to keep it steady as he cut.  It was...interesting.  But alas...

Freakishly long bed rails are  now normal twin size.  Now we just have to figure out how we are going to get the bed together.  To be continued...

Guess what's been going on over here??

Ok, we are still SO FAR from being out of the woods, but to see urine come out of my sweet little 2 year old babe and land in the toilet was one of the greatest things my eyes have witnessed.  Shoot!  Once she is out of diapers, I need a new excuse to make a "Target Run".  You know...for the necessities!

Just the Girls

With Bryce at school a few days a week, Syd and I have been able to spend some time together...just the two of us.  

This day in particular was Bryce's first day of school, so I wanted to do something fun with Syd.  We went to Frederick Meijer Garden and had very nice morning.

Of course this one had her own agenda and insisted in pushing the stroller around the entire time.

So sassy, this one!

Since we were moving at a snail's pace, we had plenty of time to admire all the sculptures

...and all the flowers

...and even read the little signs that we normally would have walked right past!

Amazing what you can find when you just slow down a little bit! :)

We've been coming to the gardens for 2 summers, but it is usually hot and we don't make it past the children's garden to splash in the water or dig in the sand pit.  Today, Sydney and I discovered the arch, the farm, and so much more!

It was a very nice morning.  She was sweet.  She was enjoyable.  She was quiet.  Then as soon as  we picked Bryce up from school, she was back to her old self again.  At least I get 5 hours a week of the enjoyable Sydney while we spend "quality time" together.

My Sydney Claire

Nope, she is 21 months old, and yet I have a full blown 2 year old on my hands.  There are days where she is so incredibly sweet I just can't get enough of her, and other days, I've had more than enough of her by 9am.  Overall, Sydney is a good little girl, but when she gets upset...oh my goodness...you would think the world is going to end.  Is this what having a girl is all about.  Sheesh!

She is stubborn, naughty, persistent, LOUD, funny, silly, fearless, snuggly, LOUD, sassy, sensitive, sweet, all rolled into one little solid body.  That is my Sydney.  I have a feeling she is going to be a difficult teenager.  I'm not going to lie...I'm a little scared.

Some of my favorite quotes right now:
Mama...I wuh you  (I love you)
Goot Moooowning (Good morning)
No, no Bice (no Bryce)
Mama...I ree-dit  (I read it)
Saaaa-yeee Mama  (Sorry Mama)
Sits on Potty..."wook Mama, wook...I pee, I pee.  I Wipe. I  fush it"

Some of my least favorite quotes right now:
NO!  MY do it!
My Paci??? My Paci??? My Paci???
My Boo-Boo huuuuuuuwts (8000 times a day)
I moeey mama, I moeey mama (I want more mama, I want more mama)

Stuff she is doing right now:
She screams...all the time, about everything...happy, mad, frustrated, etc...
Walks down the stairs all by herself.
Rides her bike by pushing on the ground.
Sings the "words" to tons of songs.
Taking her diaper off by herself (even though I tell her not to all the time)
Showing interest in the potty.
Loves to dance.
Sasses me all the time.  Tells me NO!  >:(
Loves swimming
Obsessed with her blanket and her paci
Loves reading books (favorite is chugga-chugga, choo-choo)

ABC's with Sydney

Man, when this girl isn't screeching or throwing a tantrum, her little voice melts my heart.  She is too smart!  She sings her ABC's, says them along with me, and can even point to a specific letter when asked.  Ok, not many of them, but she knows "W".  That's huge!  She can be such a good girl a very small percentage of the time.  :)  Maybe my heart is just extra soft towards her because I accidentally poisoned her with her antibiotic overdose yesterday.  (note to self...don't leave medicine on the edge of the counter...lesson learned)

Sweet Memory to Save

The kids and I were running errands yesterday and I ran into someone that I used to babysit for when I was in college. The dad and I were talking for a minute and catching up on what everyone was up to. It just hit me when we talked about their oldest who is about to graduate from high school and will be heading to U of M next year. CRAZY! She was just a kid...I was just in college...like yesterday??? Talk about feeling old?!?

     Anyway, I started thinking about how fast time is flying by. Bryce will be THREE next week. Three??? That is insane. I really want to treasure everything as it is now. Even when I am up to my elbows in poopy diapers and puking kids. When we have to leave Target because of meltdowns and shoes are constantly on the wrong feet. When every little thing is a struggle from what to eat, to buckling seat belts. I know this time is short lived and will be over in the time it takes to blink.

(these pictures were taken some silly evening that we were just hanging out and we took about 20 of these because I couldn't get one where I wasn't cutting Sydney's head off.  We were laughing so hard!)

This year, I chose the word "Present" to kind of keep me on track and I have really been making an effort to appreciate everything I have, do, and feel right now.  Mother's Day is a few days away, and while we all love on our moms and tell them how much we appreciate them, I am very thankful that I am one of them.  As much as I bitch about these two and how miserable life is...I really am one lucky mom.  Love these two to pieces.  :)

What's the best part about cousins?

Ok, that might not be the coolest part about having girl cousins, but it certainly ranks up there in the top 5!  Thanks to the generous folks over at the J.Peterson house, Sydney is set for the summer (and much of the fall).  We have some awesome cousins with the cutest clothes that no longer fit and we are the lucky inheritances (is that a word?) of quite the summer wardrobe.

Would you believe all three of these girls have birthdays within 2 weeks of Sydney?  Know what that means?  That's right...everything is the right size for the right season!  Woo-hoo!  (This pic was last 4th of July)  These 4 could all be sisters, don'tcha think? (well, 3 of them are, but Syd the Squid fits right in!)

Thanks girls for the cute duds!  We love you!!!!!

Love this girl.

Sydney has been babbling so much over the last few weeks, and finally it is starting to sound like something.  She has been counting, although she only says a few of the numbers. 

I love it! :)  Happy Friday

Baby girl hair

Since around October, Sydney's hair has really started to grow.  I was so excited to see that I could finally pull her hair back into piggies, or barrettes.  Sydney, on the the hand, viewed my efforts to make her look like a girl as a challenge.  "How fast can I rip whatever mom just put in my hair...out?"  With that being said, her hair usually looks like the above picture. 

However, the few times she actually humors me and keeps the piggies in her hair, she is so frickin adorable, I can't even stand it.

Lately, she has been waking up with some ROCKIN bed head.  Since I'm not usually motivated to bathe her but once every few days (or so), you can often find my sweet little girl looking like this...

{poor thing}

Just a few short weeks ago, her pretty little locks laid down so nicely...

this was taken Christmas morning, and look...no crazy bed head?

{...and no, my daughter does not smile when I have a camera in my hand}

So for now, we are in this awkward stage were it's really long in the back, kind of "mullet-esque" and not so feminine.  I was looking at her hair the other day, remembering the day she was born and first hearing that I had a girl.  I pictured her with pretty blond hair, and imagined us spending girl time together and putting beautiful trinkets in her fine little girl hair....

then it hit me!!!

I suddenly realized who this crazy hair makes her look like!

Jeff Daniels...as Harry Dunne.  From Dumb and Dumber. Fantastic.

{images from imdb}

Let's hope her hair continues to grow this winter. Otherwise I think I know what someone is going to be for Halloween this year!

Monkey see, monkey do

We had a busy weekend around here (by "we" I mean Dan).  We hadn't cleared the driveway in a while, so he took Bryce outside to snow blow with him.  Bryce LOVES helping out in the yard, and since the bubble mower is in "hybernation" for the winter, he found the next best thing...a shopping cart.  He pretends this is his snowblower.

The cold didn't bother him one bit.  He kept walking up and down the driveway with Dan pushing that little snowblower of his.

It was so cute to watch them out there.

Then while Bryce was napping, Dan next project was cleaning the carpets.  Of course Sydney had to help out too!

She thought she was pretty cool with her little purple vacuum.

Glad these two are finally pitching in around here! :)