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Eggs & The Mags

Spring is in the air and it just makes me utterly giddy! A few days ago I boiled a dozen eggs with the plan that we’d spread out some newspaper and go to town dyeing those suckers, but life got the better of us and we continually opted to be outside. And then yesterday, while walking Sydney, I had an epiphany and realized that we should dye those dang eggs outside! Duh!

I started to talk to Maggie about the ‘project’ that we were going to do when we got home and how much fun it was going to be. I told her all about the table that we were going to set up and how we were going to carefully move the eggs outside and make them change color. She seemed excited at the idea of a ‘project’ and when we got home she instantly hunted down her apron like we’d talked about.  She got a bit distracted by her baby dolls and I used that time to fill the dye cups and get them ready to transport. I also went to our back room to change my lens and within less than a minute, Maggie stopped playing with her dollies and found the blue dye on the counter top.

I came around the corner to see her ‘holding’ the blue dye cup and standing in a huge blue puddle. At first I wanted to laugh really hard because….well, it looked funny. But the next thought was about our hardwood floors (Funny that I didn’t worry about the ugly linoleum in our kitchen…) and if we were now forever destined to look at a blue stain. Thankfully it wiped right off, but the dye on Maggie’s hand? Not so much. We’re working on it, but I swear that she must have soaked her hand in that blue dye trying to get it off the counter.

Once things got set up outside, we were ready to rumble. Asking an almost two-year old to wait a few minutes while some eggs soak in colorful water felt like a mean, mean trick. We went and added coats and hats to our wardrobe, in hopes of distracting ourselves a bit, but Maggie practically sprinted back outside to “watch de eggs.”

And watch she did……there was something about that blue that she just loved. I eventually gave up on trying to have her use the tool and just let her dig her hands right into the dye. It’ll come off soon, I hope.

When Barry got home later in the day, Maggie instantly wanted to show him her eggs and was very proud about her work, dropping one or two in the process and wondering why they broke. I totally understand why she’s so proud, look at those colors! You’ve got to wait a long time to get such vibrant colors!!

So, Spring is springing up around us. We mowed the lawn for the first time this week and actually spent time pulling weeds in the garden, it felt good. We still have our winter coats close by, but I can feel the weather shifting and it makes me hippity-hoppity-happy!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!


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Nighty-Noodle

As a part of our nightly routine, I rock Maggie to sleep every single night. Most nights I really enjoy the feeling of her little body in my arms and the feeling of her falling asleep. The other nights, the ones that are less enjoyable, often carry a funny tone by the next morning.

For example, last night she just didn’t want to fall asleep even though we’d read numerous books, had milk, turned off the light and sang a billon songs. After I stopped singing and rocking, she continued to chant and sing her own songs about me, Barry and Sydney.

Eventually she fell asleep and I transferred her to bed, only to find that she wasn’t fully asleep and was still willing to put on a concert for anyone within listening distance. I fake-slept my way through a number of songs, wondering when my little song-bird would drift off.

But of course last night was the night of making up lyrics that go on forever and ever. I learned very quickly that I am not a Cry-It-Out mother. Many of my friends swear by it, but it just wasn’t  something that we’ve been able to do at our house and that has always meant that getting Maggie to sleep takes a bit longer before I’m free to do as I please for the rest of the evening.

I’m typically fine with this; however, as Maggie busted out song after song and poke after poke, I found myself increasingly frustrated with the fact that she just wasn’t sleeping.  I fought the urge to get up and rock her again, instead quietly let myself lay next to her trying to decipher the meaning of her songs. I should have written them down, because I found myself cracking up a few times.

She ended up giving me a 40 minute sing-along,  28 “Hi, Mama”s, 3 farts and at least 9 “Papa, are you?????”s. Then she passed out and I was able to slink away.

And tonight? She didn’t even make a peep as she instantly feel asleep in my arms. There wasn’t a single request for a song and she was snoring after about 13 minutes.

Sometimes bedtime can be frustrating or funny, but it sure can be sweet too.

*I wrote this post (about breastfeeding, I warn you) and said at the end that I’d only rock Maggie until she’s two…yeah right. Read it here.

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Boots & My Babe

I can’t really explain my passion for cowboy boots. I also can’t explain why I don’t currently own a pair that I’m in love with. You’d think that I’d have a few, right? Wrong. I did try some on while we were shimmying ourselves around Las Vegas…they fit comfortably, but it just didn’t quite seem like the right time to be buying boots. How would I have gotten them home since we only did carry ons? I guess since I left my cell phone charger and keys there I would have had gobs of room.

Maggie has been gifted a few pairs of  cowboy boots, and with each pair, she has loved clicking up and down the hallways and stomping around outside. I don’t blame her, because we all know that cowboy boots are the best. Barry’s mom gave her a pair of red ones last year and they’re still too big for her; however, she noticed them right away when they moved in her closet and fell in love. More than once she’s put in a request for ‘new boots’ and insists on only the big, red cowboy boots. Admittedly, I feel proud that she sees the perfectness of the cowboy boot as well, just like her mama.

I know I had a stage in my life  that I wanted nothing more than to dress like my older brother. Actually, I really wanted to be on his T-Ball team and wear the really cool hat that came with a mesh back. Being two years younger, it wasn’t really my place to be on the team, but I so badly wanted to be in the dugout high-fiving the other kids as they came in from running the bases. Instead I watched from a distance and every opportunity that I had, when Phil wasn’t looking, I put on the coveted hat and wore it like my own.

So when Maggie insists to me that she wants to wear her ‘new boots,’ it doesn’t take too much prodding on her part to get me to pass them to her and help her put them on. Plus, I figure some day there will be worse things to argue about when it comes to her wardrobe. At this point I’m happy as a clam to see her tromping around wearing too big boots and some day soon I hope I’ll be tromping along side her with some boots of my own that I love just as much as she loves her  little-big “new boots!”

Update: More about boots here and here!