Tantrums

My mother reminded me tonight that I have a blog.  Yes, I know this.  But, there has been a reason I haven't had something thoughtful, nice or witty to say.

Oh, you might think it's sweet and cute that mommy and baby are taking a little nap together, but the before events are what you would shake your head at.

In the last few days, Haylie has become demon possessed at nap/sleep time.  I wish I were joking, but she has started screaming, thrashing, arching of the back, hitting, drooling, etc. to not have me leave her alone to sleep.  The first day I laid down with her and she went right to sleep.  The next day, I did the same thing because I couldn't stand to hear her cry so...violently.  But then I realized that that probably wasn't so healthy to start so I am back to just listening to her sob.  It breaks my heart but I know this is the best thing to do - right?!  Today was another rough day when she went to sleep relatively quickly but then woke up after an hour to only throw the biggest tantrum of her life.

*sigh*

I wanted to throw in the towel today on motherhood.  I apparently went from having a sweet, calm, go-to-sleep-on-her-own to a daughter that I just might need to call a priest for an exorcism.

This too shall pass, right?  I want my sweet baby girl back!!

You've Got a Minute To Win It...

Uh oh.  This guy turns the big 3-0 today! To celebrate, we had a gathering of friends and a few Minute to Win It games.

Here is Miss Princess getting ready for the party.

 And who needs to be cute when there is a pool to splash in - fully clothed!  (Good thing I waited all day to put her in that super cute outfit for it to get soaking wet in the first 20 minutes.  Sigh.)

So Justin wanted to play some Minute to Win It games at the party.  I had a fun time trying to find some good, fun ones and scoured the internet for others who did a party like this.  I found most of my inspiration at The Picky Apple.

I had couples pair up and pick a team name.  We then played 7 games - Bottoms Up, Face the Cookie, Stick the Landing, Penny Hose, Separation Anxiety, Paper Dragon and Tipsy.  I wish I had pictures, but of course every bloggers nightmare happened and our camera battery died.  Most everyone was saying how easy these games seemed, but surprisingly not many made it within the 60 second time limit.  The best time got 3 points, the next got 2 and the third best time (if we got that many) got 1 point.  Then the winner got the grand prize!  (Which were some awesome do & don't pregnancy/child raising books.  Hey, I just needed to find them a new home.  They are actually pretty funny.)

The Tall Guys section



During all this excitement, Haylie and B had their first cookie date.

 I wish I had fun pictures of everyone participating, but oh well.  We got it on video camera instead!!!  I had a good time and I hope everyone else did too.  It would have bombed if our friends weren't willing to cut loose and have a little fun at their own expense. :)

After everyone went home, our friends Tim & Krystal were staying with us and we had some more fun with Just Dance 2 on the Wii.  I'm really intense on this game.  I heart it.

My hair always looks like this but this time I have a reason.  I threw a party for the hubs and played some serious rounds of Just Dance.  I'll worry about a comb later.



Happy 30th Justin!!!

Just the Two of Them

This photo didn't warrant it's own post (or does it?) but it's too funny not to share.  Side pony-tail, no shirt, one shoe.  That's the way we rock it at our house.  Or just Haylie.

Moving on.  So last weekend when I got some free time for shopping, Justin and Haylie decided to go visit Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Cornell in Neosho.  I was a little hesitant about Justin going on a 4 hour car-ride by himself with our little yeller, but hey, it would be him - not me.

They had a good time though! Miss H is not happy unless she has several strands of hair in/near her mouth.  Maybe we should get this checked out?

 Great-Grandpa and Haylie

 Two beautiful ladies!

 Ahh, back home.  You don't even want to know what she is sitting on.

So, since he is fully capable of handling Haylie for 3 whole days, I see more girls trips in my future.  Hooray!

All By Ourselves

This past Memorial Day weekend, a few girls from my rockin' small group at church decided to take a trip to the Frisco/Dallas, TX area.  We had to get approval from all the hubbys to make sure our children would be taken care of and surprisingly, we got the okay to go.  I was actually really surprised that we actually went.  Sometimes girls trips usually get talked about, but never happen.  Not this time!

There were 5 of us with 2 babies. We loaded up in a mini-van and headed out of town.  Once down there we hit IKEA and Sam Moon.  I could have spent all my time in both, but we only had half a day.  I was hoping to buy more accessories for my house, but didn't find as much as I thought at IKEA.

Sunday we were lazy and skipped church (don't tell anyone) and went shopping at the Allen Outlet Stores...all day.  We went the entire way around the loop of stores and shopped til we dropped.  I swore to myself that I would never buy anything from Coach because it's so expensive, but I found this little number for...$20!!!  It's a little wristlet and perfect!!  This picture just doesn't do it justice on how cute it really is.

After the outlets, we went to Home Goods/TJ Maxx.  I was thoroughly dissapointed with Home Goods.  I thought they would have way better prices and instead was just the "home" section of TJ Maxx blown up to a whole store.  So sad.

Monday we checked out of the hotel and went to the mall.  Not much shopping there though and soon we were on the road back to OKC.

We had a good time, stayed up way too late talking, got some time to bond, hated on our hotel staff who were so rude to us, didn't take any pictures and took turns with the babies.  My friend Tara and I might have even come up with a good money making idea...you'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks friends for an awesome time!  Who's in for next year?!

Part 2

Part 2 started right after Part 1 (duh) and we were on the road to Grove, OK for Justin's cousin's wedding.  It was a 3 hour ride and a perfect time for a nap.

 Stephanie was just beautiful.  I saw her walk down the aisle and then let Justin sit and enjoy it as I raced around with Haylie.  She was not about to sit still any longer.

 At the reception with Great-Grandma Cornell.

Love this girl!!

Part 1

I used to be so good at blogging - especially right after an important event happened.  Well, last Saturday we had a whirl-wind of a day and Part 1 started out with my sweet niece's 1st birthday party.  We were only there for about 15 minutes of the party because of Part 2, but we got to at least see her for a little bit!!

My sister did a phenomenal job with the party.  And delicious party favors too!

Happy 1st birthday sweet Evie (a week late)! I can't believe you are already one.  Love you and that blue twizzler face!!

I'm finally cooling off.  And not just because it's 95 degrees outside and it still technically the morning...it's because today we were going to have a fun morning with our friends Erin & Liesel at the zoo...and it turned out to be a scream fest.  I love my little girl to pieces but she can be so frustrating.  My first mistake was letting her out of the stroller because she kept whining.  She wanted to walk, but not at our pace so it made it unbearably slow.  She got tired, so she wanted me to carry her.  I try to put her back in the stroller but alas, that's when the tantrum began.  So, to avoid looking like the crappiest mother of the year, I carried her to keep her quiet.  Finally my arms are burning from her weight and I am sweating in places that shouldn't sweat.  I try to wrestle her back in the stroller.  Her world comes crashing down and she loses it.  Screaming, crying, thrashing, hitting, you name it.  Some woman in too loud pants walked by and casually commented, "they never want to go back in once they get out of the stroller."  Thanks lady.  You just keep walking.

Since we were at the furthest point from the exit, we had to endure the screaming and crying all the way back to the entrance.  I got several looks, but honestly, I just kept walking and acted like nothing was going on.  She finally fell asleep as we were leaving.

I know she was tired, and she was probably hot.  But she wouldn't drink her water or just lay back to relax.  I basically have no idea how to handle this and/or discipline in public.  It might help to figure it out since this happens almost every single time we go out and do something fun.  I don't want to be scared of my child's tantrums but at the same time I don't want her to ruin all the fun things we could be doing with friends.

You know you have some advice.  I'm askin' for it.