Clean Up and Clean Out

Anyone need some old Christmas tins, a VCR, clothes of all sizes, toys, books, and on, and on, and on??? Time for some house cleaning and tossing.
I was looking around the other day and thinking "there's way too much STUFF in this house that we just haven't touched since we moved in here 4 years ago!" So during a couple naps, and one quiet morning at home, I began to dig in. It's not that we are even close to those "Hoarders" they talk about on tv. We are just two people who combined two households when we married, and throw in 3 kids and voila - STUFF.
So far, I've been pretty productive. I've tackled most of the basement storage room, the laundry room, the dining room, the kids tv room (we call it the "front room"), and our walk in closet. I still have the rest of the basement storage shelves, my craft room, AKA dumping ground, (that one's gonna be a doozy!!) and the garage (which I refuse to do in 95 degree heat!!).
So, what am I doing now?? Blogging....
Ok! Purple Heart, VVA, Lupus Foundation, and anyone else who wants to do a pick up! Who's going to get to the donations first!!

Father's Day 2010

Today is Father's Day, and while every day of my life I am thankful for my Pat, today I have a chance to share why.

My husband and Jocelyn's father, is such a kind, generous, giving, supportive, loving man, and the most incredible example of that, is our daughter. When we met, in 2003, he already had two kids, but he knew I wanted to be a mother, and despite thinking he was done with babyhood, he was willing to give me the chance to drag him through it again.


We had no idea what we were in for... fertility treatments, pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy health scares, emergency c-section, and an 8-week preemie. That year and a half or so between pregnancy, the NICU, and the first months of Jocelyn's life, were a whirlwind we'll never forget.

Jocelyn is almost 2 1/2 now. We are hanging on for dear life through the terrible twos, but loving every minute of it. Pat, in his always giving way, has made it possible for me to stay home and share every moment of every day with our daughter. I love him for that, and so many other countless reasons.
Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful father, and husband in the world.

Butterflies!

Today we joined some friends for a visit to the Brookside Gardens "Wings of Fancy" Butterfly exhibit. I had my hopes up that Jocelyn would be completely enthralled, however, she didn't want any breakfast, so between the hunger and the heat and humidity in the room, she didn't last as long as I had hoped, before meltdown. However, we still had a good time, and the butterflies were beautiful!!

You have to be careful where you step on the walkway, not to step on the butterflies. We found this one testing his fate on the path, and Jocelyn was very happy to have him all to herself to look at.

She was really good about not touching, and just watching.

All in all, it was a fun time. Once we left the Conservatory and got drinks and a picnic lunch, Jocelyn was herself again. I would love to try this again with her sometime. I think, as with other new activities, she would enjoy this even more the second time around.

The Evolution of the Lovey

Many of the parenting books I have read for kids Jocelyn's age, have said that you should encourage your child to attach to a "Lovey", something that they can use for comfort and security. Well, Jocelyn's lovey has been around since day one, and isn't going anywhere!

From the first day Jocelyn came home from the hospital, and throughout bottle feeding, we used these burp cloths under her chin while she drank.

We soon discovered how helpful they were in getting her to close her eyes and fall asleep.

Then she started cuddling with them, and the Lovey was born,

One led to another and another and another, and now...


We couldn't get through a day without them.

Gus Photos!!

Since the day Jocelyn came home from the hospital and until she turned 2 years old, Pat and I took photos of Jocelyn with Gus, the stuffed turtle, at her monthly birthdays. We've talked for a while about putting them together in a sequence. Well after much struggle and strife (and one unreasonably late night!), my brilliant Hubby figured out how to get them into a slideshow on the blog!! (Thank you Hubby!) See below left.
Gus the turtle, AKA: AsparaGUS was given to me many years ago by Jocelyn's sisters, Shelby and Allie. He's got his own family history! But when Jocelyn was born, we thought he would make a great comparison to her as she grew in size and skill, and he certainly has. Each month we took the pictures with Jocelyn and Gus and whatever new thing she was doing: when she first used a sippy cup, when she had her first food, when she started climbing the stairs, and when she started walking. Or with her current favorite toy: the ring stacker, books, the tunnel and trains. In the beginning, she was so much smaller than Gus, and now she can carry him around!
So after 2 years, we decided there aren't enough changes to justify pictures every month, but stay tuned for July as we think it will be time for the 2 and 1/2 year photo op! Maybe we'll take Gus to the playground?

Pigtails! For 30 seconds.

As some of you know, I have yet to have the heart to get Jocelyn's first haircut. She has very odd hair so far. What's on top is original baby hair she didn't lose as an infant, and it's getting long, but coming in mostly straight. However, all the back hair is new hair that has replaced what she lost as an infant, and it's coming in with very cute ringlet curls!





The other day, I managed to distract her long enough to attempt to put in pigtails. (Forgive the crooked part, she didn't make this easy!)




Brushing her teeth was a good distraction. She likes this activity a lot.



But no sooner were the distractions over then she threw herself on to the kitchen floor crying and begging "NO MOMMA! OUT MOMMA! OUT!!!" So out the pigtails came. :-( And that was the end of that.... for now....

Getting Dressed

For some reason, today was the day Jocelyn decided SHE WAS GOING TO DRESS HERSELF!! Didn't matter how tough it was, didn't matter that Mommy was offering to help, didn't matter that she had to work at it for 1/2 hour at least (fortunately we weren't in any rush to get anywhere!). She was determined to do it herself!

Hmmm.... this doesn't look right, let me try that again, and again, and again...

Ok, I'll get back to that shirt thing. Let's try the pants... Hmmm... that doesn't look right. Let me try that again, and again...

and again, and again...

Maybe the socks will cooperate? Eee, forget the socks.

Whew!! Finally got the shirt on right, now back to those pants...

TA DA!!! SUCCESS!!!


This was incredibly entertaining I must admit, but she was SO proud of herself! And of course, her Mommy is mighty proud of her too!

We LOVE Grover!

Daddy and Jocelyn at bedtime.

Reading is a BIG thing in our house. We read before nap time, we read before bed time, and there's a box of books sitting in the livingroom for any time the need to read strikes. In addition to the box, we can have 40 + library books in the house at any given time, and we are back every week to return and replenish our selection. At the moment, our absolute favorite library books are the ones based on some of Grover's adventures. Now if you don't know who Grover is, then you need to watch some Sesame Street episodes to catch up!

Grover is the goofy, lanky, superhero monster muppet that brings out the silly in every one of the books we've read. You can play "Hide -n- Seek" in the pages of one, or admire his efforts as the "Messenger of Love" in another. But our personal favorite is "Resting Places" where Grover introduces you to his collection of colored circles that are used for resting parts of the body, ex: forehead, thumb, elbow, ear, chin... Now you have to realize this is an interactive book requiring participation by the reader. We look mighty funny placing the book on the appropriate body parts! But you can see why this is a favorite.

Time to go enjoy another Grover adventure!

Our Grover Favorites.