I'm a complainer

So, the kids are gone to my parents'. They left yesterday morning and will be home tomorrow. They were supposed to be gone til Friday, but my mom is just too exhausted to take care of them anymore. Whatever. I'm big time bummed. Today I did major cleaning, but didn't get everything done that I wanted to because I thought I had another day to do it. Oh well. The downstairs is spic and span at least.

I'm still in a down, down, down kind of mood. I was up, up, up until I found out my kids are coming home tomorrow. That makes me sound like a bitch, doesn't it? They just wear me out. I don't think I am cut out for this whole motherhood thing.

Rain Rain Go Away

I hate rain. I hate mud. I hate all that comes from the rain and the mud. I have given up on cleaning my kitchen floor until the rain stops. My dogs are determined to track in as much mud as possible.

I want Kensie to walk. I am sick of watching her crawl on the floor. It's so gross. Oh, and for the record, she isn't allowed in the kitchen, so she isn't crawling through the doggy prints. Plus, I am tired of carrying her everywhere. Walk, kid. Just don't take as long as your brother did. J was 18 months before he finally decided to walk. I want Kensie to walk before summer. No crawling at the park, thank you very much.

I feel blah these days. Very blah. I need a friend. I have friends, but I don't have friends. I have no one to confide in and I have so much bubbling inside me. I feel like I am going to break very, very soon.

I need opinions. Does Kensie need bangs? I think she has a big forehead and needs them, but I don't want to cut her hair and I don't want to deal with the hassle of bangs. So, does she need them?

Not a great shot, but this is Kensie with hair on her forehead:















Kensie with no bangs:

Strike

So, J is on a nap strike again. He went through this in December, but has consistently napped daily for at least 6 weeks. Two days in a row have been no nap days. I need him to take naps. J needs his naps. I need the break. He needs the sleep. The only good to come of the nap strike is that he goes to bed earlier at night and he sleeps a bit (not much, but a bit) longer in the morning. However, he is such a bear without his naps. Short of knocking him out, though, there is nothing I can do about it. Kids are so dumb. I would love to be able to take a nap every single day. I did when I was pregnant and it was heavenly. Naps are awesome.

I Mean Seriously

Do kids have no sense of time? Every school day, I have to drag J's butt out of bed at 7:30. I have to deal with his crabbiness, his, "I don't wanna go ghoul", and his snail's pace. However, the other five days of the week that the child doesn't have school? He is in my bed before 8. Every. Single. Day. "Mommy, wake up. Mommy, I hungry. Mommy, I wanna go outside. Mommy, I gotta go pee. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy." I just want to strangle him! Way back before he was in school, J was on a much later schedule. He went to bed around 10 and woke up between 9 and 10ish. Now he is always up before 8. I would love one of those sleeping in kind of days again. It seems that along with going to bed a bit earlier he also doesn't need as much sleep as he did when he was littler. I guess that is to be expected, but still. I shouldn't complain, though, because I have a nephew who is up at 4 every morning. And another one who considers 5:30 to be sleeping in. What is with these kids?!

Kensie is getting closer and closer to walking. She stands alone a lot now. She doesn't even realize it most of the time. Now she just needs some confidence.

We just got done watching "The Secret Life of Bees". If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It was fabulous.

Now it is off to bed with a book and then some sleep before my alarm...er, three-year-old greets me in the morning.

Birthday Princess

Yesterday was Kensie's first birthday. I can hardly believe it has been a year already. How is that possible?!

We had her party at a local pizza place. It's hard to plan a party in February. Once she gets older, we can do more things, but at this age, it's limited. We just had family there. She was indifferent about the gifts, but loved, loved, loved the cake. We learned today, though, that when a baby eats pink frosting, her poop also turns pink. That was quite the surprise!

I can't call her a toddler yet. Kensie is so tiny. She is only 19 pounds. She doesn't walk yet. She just doesn't seem like a toddler to me. So, she's still my baby.

Here are some pictures from the party:



So, Happy Birthday, my Kensie Leigh. You are my precious baby girl and I love you.

Sorry for the absence

I have been horrible about blogging. I don't think anyone actually reads or cares, but I just thought I would apologize anyway.

J is good. He is a three-year-old and that's about all I have to say about that.

Kensie will be one in ten days! Where did this year go? Gad, she will be a toddler. However, Kensie is teeny-tiny. She looks more like an eight or nine-month-old than an almost one-year-old. So, that makes her a baby.

I know nothing else. It is damn cold here in NE Wisconsin. I am sick of cold. I am sick of winter. Just three or so more months til spring!

Christmas is done, it's the New Year, and now what?

We had an awesome Christmas this year. J was so into it. He ripped into his gifts, anxiously awaited Santa's arrival, left a sandwich and milk out for the big guy, and was so excited about the whole thing. Yes, there were meltdowns, but those are expected. J got the three things he wanted the most: Helmet Heroes, Candy Land Castle, and GeoTrax Grand Central Station. Kensie liked the boxes.

Chris and I dealt with the stomach flu that plagued both J and Kensie. We ended up missing out on Christmas with the in-laws (boo).

I am ready for things to return to normal. I have lost track of the days. I need pre-school and other regular events to break up the week for me.

We also had the pleasure of meeting our new nephew on New Year's Day. Chris' sister and her husband have been trying to adopt for years. After a failed adoption, they finally got their baby. Micah is from Ethiopia. He is beautiful, sweet, and a wonderful addition to our family.