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I have limits.  I know this.  And when I’m too exhausted to go on, I typically fall into my bed and crawl under the covers to snuggle with my pillow, despite the hour.  Unless, of course, my sweet little one is preventing that.  Then I push on and just deal with it.  “Suck it up and deal with it,” as some of my 7th grade coach-teachers taught me.  Her limits, however, well… when she hits that wall, it’s time to go – from wherever we are and whatever we are doing, and just get her some sleep.

Yesterday was no exception.  We had a fabulous day planned, but Saturday night, a new variable entered the scene.  A tooth.  FINALLY!  Her first molar to break through entered the world around 7:45 Saturday night.  (Tooth number 9 if you’re keeping track.)  Sending her into a whirlwind of pain and exhaustion.  So, we changed the Sunday plan.  Becca wouldn’t be attending her first tubing trip- she’d be hanging out at the clubhouse pool and taking a nap in the clubhouse instead.  Except she had plans of her own.

Nap?  HA!

This girl is a FISH.  She LOVED kicking her legs, floating along, walking along the ledge hanging on to the side, and jumping in.  Yup.  She really knows how to make a splash!  We had SOOOO much fun!!!!!  I’m not sure how many hours she spent in the pool, but it was way more than planned after she decided to give everyone a headache and scream through her naptime.  I decided that a nice swim would wear her out!  HA!  We made it to dinner time and still no nap.  And that’s when the fits began.

She wanted to walk around while eating.  Now, remember – I still haven’t made a post with the fabulous news that she’s now totally independent and walking on her own… because she isn’t.  So, she’s wanting to walk, with food all over her hands and food in her mouth, hanging on to the couch of this clubhouse we’re renting out…. yeah, not a good plan.  After she tripped and went down with a mouth full of food, mean mommy instated a rule of you-sit-in-my-lap-to-eat-or-else-you-don’t-eat.  Yeah, that went over like a lead balloon.  Sigh.  The result found Cody and I both cleaning yogurt out of the clubhouse carpet from the food slinging.

Bless his heart, enter Daddy to the rescue!  We got her cleaned up together, and he took her for a walk down to the river so that I could eat and start packing our stuff.  Because despite the fact that everyone else would be visiting for hours, as a parent the number one cardinal rule is – know when to fold ’em.  When it’s time to go, it’s time to go.  No matter what YOU personally want.  We got packed up and hit the road, and within three minutes of being in the car, she was knocked out.  Whew.  Finally.  She slept most of the way home (abt 45 mins of sleep), and then when we got home, we did her normal nighttime routine, and she was out fairly quickly – around 8:00.  Not too far off schedule!

Whew.  One of these days, I’ll have this mom thing down to an art… as for now, I feel pretty much like a gambler.  I place my bets, based on what I want to do and what I think is possible, and then I take hold of the hand I’ve been dealt.  Thankfully, I’ve got a really good partner standing behind the dealer to help me know when it’s time – time to fold ’em and take what I’ve got and run.  I can’t imagine doing this by myself.  Teamwork folks, it’s all about teamwork.  Teamwork, and having the most supportive husband God’s ever created.  Somehow, together, we’ll get through these “terrible twos” that have already hit.  And, in the process, we might get better at our gambling, too!  HA!

You’d never guess that this sweet sleeper was a holy terror at times, would you?
Sigh.  I love this girl so much.  Even when she makes me want to pull my hair out!

The mentality of humans amazes me. We rush thru life to get “fast food,” “fast passes,” and “flash drives.” We buy computers that run faster than previous models, phones that connect to everything faster than before, etc. And in that rush to get everywhere and everything faster, not only do we miss the small things, we find ourselves standing in longer lines, waiting longer, and complaining more. Not sure how to solve this problem, but I must say I’m anxious to hurry up (ha!!!) and get to my tropical island destination and let life slow down for a while. Apparently the throng of people who stood at my gate and waited 20 minutes for boarding the plane instead of sitting in a seat and relaxing til their group number was called were anxious too. Me? I sat back and enjoyed my tall skinny carmel macchiato and fat free blueberry muffin. (Fat free and skinny to make up for all the fat I’m about to consume this trip! Ha!!)
Getting ready to board. Still sittin in my seat.

Crickets sing.
Birds chirp.
Airplanes fly.
Bats slumber.
Coyote howls fade.
Spiders weave.
Roadrunners drink.
Cat collar jingles.
Ants crawl.
Armadillos root.
Wasps buzz.
Cars hum.
Cows chew.
Dogs bark.
Clouds move.
Air is still.
Sun rises.
Shadows lengthen.
Day begins.
My morning.

Well, I guess you could say I’m finicky.  Or maybe, more like I just haven’t been satisfied with the overall look of my blog… like ever.  Sigh.  Perhaps I need to invest in the ability to customize every single detail.  Or maybe, just maybe, this new look will satisfy me for a while.  We’ll see.  Hmmm anyone want to place bets on how long it’ll stay before I switch to something else?  ha! 🙂

Yesterday was an interesting day.  FULL of heart-stoppers.  Seriously, ya’ll – it’s a wonder I lived through them all.  As if Becca actually calling me “mommy” for the first time the night before wasn’t enough (she normally says “mama”), she woke up 45 minutes late all snuggly and sweet and just laid her head on my shoulder for the longest time.  Be still my heart.

Then, we get to take Cody to lunch, and she decides to snuggle with Cody while in the line at KFC.  I mean, serious snuggles.  Again, my heart stops.  Nothing gets me like seeing my two loves together.  Snuggling.  (come on, let’s all do a collective “AWWWW”)

After her nap, though, came the REAL heart-stopper.  She’s getting good at going up AND down the stairs.  Which was our summer project after she accidentally ended up halfway up the stairs a few weeks ago after sneaking UNDER the gate … and realized she had no clue how to get down.  She was petrified.  So, she’s been doing good on stairs with lots of practice.  She even did the stairs at a friend’s house this weekend.  Except when Miss Independent takes over and she decides to do it her way.  I was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, and she was at the top.  Thankfully, we have a short set of four stairs and a landing, then a turn and the long set of stairs.  Because she decided to stand up, holding on to the railing, and then try to walk down the stairs!  The girl who has taken at most four steps alone. And before I could do or say anything, she was on the landing.  This is why we are still in practice mode and mommy always sits on the stairs when she’s on them.  The tears that ensued took about 20 agonizing seconds to hit, and I still wonder if she didn’t briefly get the wind knocked out of her.  I ran up the stairs so fast that I’m not even sure if my feet touched all the steps.  I was in a hurry.  I picked her up and did a quick check – everything LOOKED fine.  Except for the bright red face that had crocodile tears pouring down it and of course, my ears, that were temporarily deafened by the screaming that was going on.  Poor thing.  She was a mess.  But I immediately realized that I had to make her go down the rest of the stairs.  Otherwise, she might forever be petrified of them!  I had to make her get back on “the horse and ride.”  So, despite her protests, I sat her down on the landing, and slid her bottom down every single step.  She finally calmed down and did the last two on her own, until she was sitting on the wood floor.  Thankfully, George was within sight inside her room, and she immediately took off for him.

Because of the stress of the situation, all she wanted to do for the hour and a half til her daddy got home was sit in my lap (with George), play on my phone, and listen to me read EVERY SINGLE BOOK SHE OWNS.  I happily obliged.  This girl doesn’t sit still in my lap that long – ever – in the history of her life!  I’ll take all the snuggles I can get!  Be still my heart.  Snuggles!!  Twice in one day!

Then somehow when it was time for bed, we just couldn’t get the normal rhythm.  I’m not sure what was wrong, but apparently EVERYTHING was.  Tears.  And tears.  And tears.  Finally, I went to check on her again and thought maybe she needed to potty.  So, I sat her on her potty and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  While she looked through all of her magazines – TWICE.  I asked if she was all done, and she didn’t say anything, but leaned forward, like she does when she is done… So I grabbed her hands to help stand her up… and… TEARS.  Heart stops again.  Warm shower on my leg.  Sigh.  Noone told me potty training would be THIS much fun.  In the dim lighting I was unable to see the fact that she was mid-stream.  My leg, her legs, the chair, the floor, her nightgown, and the pull-up do NOT thank me for failing to turn on the light.  Bless her heart, she was petrified.  Little Miss  Neat-and-Clean-Big-Girl-Who-Potties-On-the-Potty?  Yeah, notsomuch.  Sigh.  Thankfully after that trauma, she went to sleep fairly quickly.  I guess the stress just finally wore her out!

It’s a wonder my heart made it through the day yesterday.  What a roller coaster! But, I wouldn’t change ANY of them for ANYTHING in the world.

Here’s my sweet snuggle-bug yesterday morning sporting her new-to-her Elmo p-jammers and waiting on breakfast.  I just love this girl so much it’s crazy!