Ah, children

Life with a three-nager (think teenager) has been interesting lately.

To give you some idea of what it's been like, Lala is currently yelling and crying at me because I asked her to clean up the duplos....that she dumped out....and told her she couldn't watch Caillou (ugh...Caillou). 5 minutes later, she's all cheerful and has moved onto cleaning up because there is the promise of hot chocolate (not a bribe, I've got a playdate with my local moms club).

Out of her mouth have been such awesome phrases such as:

• Momma, you've really got to stop this angry stuff.
• I'm not listening to you because I only listen to Daddy.
• Wall-E told me to (insert questionable activity here). (As in, jumping off the couch, performing the high dive onto her bed...etc)
• I never want to sleep in my bed because it's too comfy. 

There is never a dull moment. She is incredibly stubborn, and coupled with selective hearing when being asked to do something, it makes for a frustrating mom. 

Gogo has taken a page out of Lala's book and immediately throws tantrums if told no, or moved away from an activity she was doing. 

I have virtually no patience right now. Thank goodness for that blessed hour where I get to workout. As much as it hurts....it's a bit of an escape for some me time out of the house. 

Day trip with Tutu

This weekend, I got the rare treat of getting an entire day to myself. The Hubs had the girls all day so that I could go on a mini road trip with Tutu to go visit Uncle Bubba (my brother), Auntie Eheh and Cocoba.

What a trip. I don't think I've come home from something feeling as relaxed as I did. Even after 6 hours round trip in the car.

The town they live in is beautiful and the weather cooperated so that it was warm (70s!! In January!) and we had blue skies! My sweet niece was so excited to see me. We really only get to see her via FaceTime (thank goodness for technology!) but when we got there, she started yelling "daddy! Chouchou!" I got several hugs, snugs and kisses throughout the day!

They took us out to their favorite little coffee shop for a latte, then to lunch at an amazing restaurant called PokPok. SO GOOD. I don't love spicy things usually, but I ate 5 of their chicken wings...and these aren't like the "wings" you get at American restaurants...these are the full thing.

After we were totally in food comas, we got to go see the venue that they're hoping to get married at this summer! If I were living where they are, and was getting married again.....oh my gosh. I'd go here. It's a beautiful venue  with rustic flair. Lots of reclaimed wood, metal and kind of a vintage/modern appeal to it. it is absolutely perfect for them. I cannot WAIT to see them get married there :)

I had great conversations with my sister (Eheh) and with my mom in all the various car rides we had. Lots got put on the table and lots of feelings were shared. It was really cathartic!

Hopefully I can escape down to see them again!

The hubs had cleaned while I was gone (what a wonderful man!) and told me about all the adventures they had while I was gone. He had a soccer game, so he dropped the girls off with Grandma. She later told me she has no idea how I do this everyday, that they have so much energy she couldn't keep up! It i s a skill, that's for sure!! They had tons of fun and obviously did quite well without me for the day! Bring on more trips away for me!

Birthdays birthdays birthdays!

We had two wonderful birthdays over the holidays on top of ALL the craziness the holidays bring!

First up was Lala! THREE! When did that happen????
Her birthday was a Tutu party. I made tutus for EVERYONE. 30-some-odd tutus. I was practically bleeding tulle. However, it was a complete success. Even her uncles wore them proudly. She was beyond the moon!

The tutus in process. It was a LOT of tulle.

 

Everyone's tutus

Birthday girl running around

The snacks even had tutus.

Inspecting ALL the guys.

The birthday Girl!

Next up, after Christmas and New Years was Gogo. For her first birthday, I fell in love with a sprinkle idea I saw on Pintrest. We kept it really small, with just our families and the girl's legal guardians. Tutu embellished a dress we found at Gap for the party so that it had little embroidered "sprinkles" around the hem. I think she was pretty adorable! As for another learning lesson (like the tulle) those tiny nonpareil sprinkles? They are the glitter of baking. I'm STILL finding sprinkles a week later.

We gave sprinkles out as favors

I edged glasses for drinks with frosting and sprinkles. Super easy and a fun idea. I'm going to do this for more parties!

The birthday girl!

Her cake. Those sprinkles are still everywhere.

Since then, we've been busy with potty training and swim lessons for Lala and walking EVERYWHERE and eating EVERYTHING for Gogo! Never a dull moment in our house! 

Coolest Dishes Ever

Recently, I backed my very first Kickstarter for a product called ez-pz Less Mess Happy Mats. Little kid plate/bowl/placemat all in one? YES PLEASE. They were touted to stick to surfaces and stay put so that kids couldn't take them off the table. This was a dream come true! It was fully funded and I received my mats just before the holidays.

I adore them. They're awesome and work incredibly well. At least for Lala.

Here are some of the issues I have with them:

• We have an old table that has a crack in the middle so that it can expand with leaves. If the ez-pz mat goes over a crack, it won't seal to the table properly.
• Gogo figured out you just need to peel the corner to break the suction. On day one. We're not the only family having this issue and the makers are in the process of creating one for infants that should be trickier for them to move. 
• They take up a bit more space than the normal kid dishes we have. Not a deal breaker, but it's true.

All these issues aside, I love that I only have to clean one thing after meals now. When Lala wants cereal, all the mess stays on her and the mat. No more scrubbing the table! For Gogo, it's an easy way for her to learn to feed herself, with low edges and three spots for snacks. You can also actually make faces in the mat because it does look like a happy face. Pretty fun for toddlers with huge imaginations!

I want to order their bowl version and their craft version next. These make our meals a lot of fun.