Last Week of Summer 2010, Part 1--Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Monday
We went to a splash pad for about an hour. Apparently Amelia the Daredevil has moved beyond splash pads and was not very impressed. She kept asking, "Where's the slide?" I guess that's the danger of taking your kid to a water park when she is two. A slide is apparently now a requirement.

Anyway, after the splash pad, we had lunch on the road (kudos to Zaxby's for their awesome 1/2 grilled cheese kids' meal--it's the perfect size), and came home and began efforts to take a nap.

That's when our day took a nosedive for the worse.

Amelia has pretty much given up napping on her own, and now Darryl seems to be the only one who can lie down with her and get her to take a nap. After over an hour of trying to get her to lie down with me to nap, we were both cranky and frustrated. So to cheer us up, we decorated some cupcakes I had baked earlier that morning.
By the end of Monday, Amelia and I had butted heads about 483 times, and we were both exhausted at bedtime. Unfortunately for Darryl and me, she wandered into our room at 1:30 and slept in our bed the rest of the night because we couldn't get her to stay in her bed...and we were both too tired to care.

Tuesday
I had to go to school early that morning for a writing workshop, so Amelia spent about five hours at the sitter's house. (Am I a bad mother if confess that we both might have enjoyed that break a little?)

Afterward, I picked up Amelia and took her to get a haircut, where the stylist asked Amelia if she was going to be starting kindergarten. When I told her that Amelia was only two, her eyes bugged out of her head.

Amelia napped on the way home, and I made the unfortunate decision to try to get a sleeping Amelia out of the car when we got home. The only thing more ornery than an Amelia who hasn't napped at all is an Amelia who has been awakened mid-nap...so our afternoon after that point was pretty grim. (Should I stop here and clarify that I really DO love my daughter more than words can express? I'm just not sugarcoating the Terrible 2s, I guess.)

That evening, Darryl spent some daddy-daughter time with Amelia, and I went to my first kids' consignment sale with my friend Sabrina. It was fascinating! People were there with big laundry baskets for their loot. I bought just three things for Amelia; I was afraid to invest too much because I can never predict her growth pattern. Anyway, here's a photo from my phone:
I know you can't tell much, but that was the line--about 30 people long. Craziness.

Wednesday
Wednesday was a MUCH better day.

Amelia and I went to the aquarium. I liked it because it is easy to access and easy to find parking. It doesn't require a ton of walking, and it is also indoors. Amen.

I went to the aquarium with Darryl once the year it opened, but it was much more fun going with Amelia. (Sorry, Darryl.) She enjoyed it all. Here are a few pics. I don't think they really require any commentary.




Then, as if the aquarium weren't fun enough, we went to the mall and rode the carousel. Three times. Amelia was on a quest to ride the frog. She was much more excited about it than this photo suggests:
Then we went to The Disney Store (which Amelia calls "Mouseketools"...and that would make sense if you've ever watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) where we purchased some Tinkerbell figurines to entertain Amelia so I could walk around in peace because Amelia has really gotten into Tinkerbell lately. (You'll be happy to know they get along quite well with all of our Disney princesses.)

As I was walking around, I saw this:
Hello, Lover.

I have not really been much into purses since Amelia came along and I didn't like carrying a purse AND a diaper bag and went the way of the wristlet, but...BUT...I LOVED this purse. I'm not sure what it was about it...the color (deep plum)? The ruffle? Its total and complete combination of cute and sophisticated?

And then I saw the price, and our love affair ended rather abruptly.

But I'm still thinking about that bag. Obviously.

When I got home, we went to dinner (I was too exhausted to cook) and went shopping for Amelia's Big Girl Bed.

And now...
My goal is to do FREE stuff today and tomorrow. All this fun--not too mention all that comes with the Big Girl Bed effort--comes with a heavy pricetag.

The Weekend: Tennis, Spas...and Walmart

This past weekend was a really good one...the kind you don't want to end.

Friday night, Darryl and I actually had somewhat of a date night. Our next-door neighbors kept Amelia so we could watch Andy Roddick play at an ATP tournament here in Atlanta. Here he is:



After he won the match, I stalked him walked over to the ESPN2 tent and watched his post-game interview:

If you know me at all, and you are thinking, "Amy, I didn't know you were a big tennis fan"...the truth is, I'm really not. Darryl has gotten into watching it over the past year, but I do like some Roddick. He's hilarious on Twitter.

Saturday, Darryl and Amelia hung out for a while, and I used my Mother's Day spa gift certificate and had a massage. I got wild and crazy and added a 15-minute scalp massage. Let me tell you: It did NOT disappoint. I felt like a greasy pork chop afterward, but it was worth it.

Today, Darryl and Amelia went to the pool and I went to Walmart. It was the first time I had been there in months because I hate going to this Walmart. And in all seriousness, it isn't because I'm a snob and think I'm too good to shop there; it's the fact that when I do shop there, I have to go to all four corners of the store to get what I need, and then when I'm done, two lanes are open for checkout. But TODAY...today, my friends, the customer service was awesome. This Walmart is apparently undergoing a remodeling effort, and there were about 20 employees available just to answer questions about locations of items. And...AND there was only one person in front of me at the checkout. And to top all that off, I bought 55 composition books for 15 cents each! Score!

This afternoon, Amelia and I went to the mall. PTL she has warmed up to sitting in her stroller again! We picked up her "big girl bed" bedding (more on that later), went to the Disney store to purchase The Princess and the Frog figurines (Girlfriend likes some princess figurines), rode the carousel, and had frozen yogurt. And she was good. I praised her like all get out in hopes it would encourage some goodness this week.

And we finished the evening with a little mother-daughter movie/popcorn night, where we watched Sleeping Beauty, better known in this household as Princess Asleep. (This was right after she stripped down to a diaper. Given our pitiful potty training efforts this week, there is NO way she is sitting naked on our furniture.)

Potty Training and Everything Else

I'm not going to lie: this week has been a tough one in the motherhood department.

Potty Training
I have put some effort (admittedly, probably not enough) into trying to potty train Amelia. Oy.

I don't think she is quite ready. I don't know if that is the truth or something I'm telling myself as an excuse to put it off a little longer.

We tried "naked time"--a tried and true method of many of my friends--but she wasn't a fan of it after about 30 minutes.

So then we bought some princess underwear, and she was super excited about it.

Then she spent about 40 minutes deciding which character she wanted to wear--Princess Belle? No. Princess Water (Ariel)? No. Wait, maybe Princess Belle...

She wore panties for about 20 minutes, and then we had to leave to go somewhere, so the diaper went back on.

The next day, she sat on her potty for about 30 minutes with nothing to show for it.

She has yet to produce anything in the potty. (Can I also add that I absolutely detest the word "potty," and having to say it about 500 times a day is like nails down a chalkboard for me?)

Everything Else
Amelia has also spent a lot of time in "time out" this week.


She also has swimmer's ear, which means we haven't been able to go to the pool...which was pretty much what I was hoping to do this week. It's too hot to do anything else outside. And when we stay inside...we both get cranky.

Amelia has also lost interest in napping. I don't think I need to elaborate on why this isn't good.

Yesterday, I did go up to the school to start setting up my classroom. I took care of one task I hate: recovering my bulletin board with paper. If I were an elementary school teacher, I would stink. I cover my board once, and that is it. No change of the seasons for me!!

Afterward, I had lunch with my friends Max and Tim. I ate so much that I had to stop and buy Tums on the way home. I was soooo miserable, but the food was awesome and I enjoyed catching up and having some adult conversation.

Last night, even though it was 93 degrees at 7:00, we took Amelia to the playground. She loves to play outside.
But For the Record...
As trying as this week has been, I want to add that in between all the less-than-stellar times, my girl does gives some awesome hugs and kisses, and the more she talks, the funnier she is. One of my favorite moments this week occurred when she walked up to a mirror and said, "I need to see me." Ha!

Next week, though, the plan is to get out of the house as much as possible. That might not help much with the potty training effort, but it will definitely help out with our sanity!

Week at the Beach

Last week, our family was back together again and we spent a week at the beach. We had SUCH a great time.

First of all, here was the view from our condo. Pretty awesome, huh?



Part of what made this vacation so fun was that we were close enough to some friends and family that we were able to have some visitors throughout the week.

Amelia got to spend a lot of time with her cousin Mary Katherine, and we finally got to meet Mary Katherine's baby sister, Lauren:


We went to a nearby shopping area one evening with all three girls, and the pic of them riding in this stroller cracked me up!


We also were able to hang out with our nieces and nephews and had a blast with them. Can I tell you how difficult it is to get five kids all looking in the same direction for a photo?
My friend/colleague Rebecca and her family were also vacationing in the area, and Amelia was super-excited to see her friend Tanner!
My parents also came over one night and were able to watch Amelia swim in the pool and eat dinner with us. We enjoyed seeing them, too! (And we're still very grateful they kept Amelia for us the week before. One day this week, I'll have to post all we accomplished at the house while she was gone.)

Here's a rare family pic of the three of us. It isn't the greatest photo in the world, but these photos are so few and far between that I have to post it.
We also enjoyed some good seafood while we were there. Here is Darryl with some chargrilled oysters from ACME Oyster House. (Note: I am not an oyster person and enjoyed some delicious fried catfish instead.)

One evening, we took some obligatory beach photos. I love this photo of Amelia at the edge of the waves. (For my parents...Darryl was close enough to grab her if we needed to.)

Our schedule every day was pretty much get up, swim at the pool, eat lunch, take a nap, play, then go out to dinner. I could definitely get used to that!

Working on the To-Do List

Amelia is spending the week with the grandparents so I can chisel away at my ever-growing to-do list.

Our house, which has been in a state of chaos since the whole "house-sale" started mid-April, desperately needs to get back in order. Not only was it just messy and yuck, but it was also affecting my mood. I busted out with a big Oprah-type revelation a couple of weeks ago and told Darryl that I felt the chaos of our house was a physical representation of the chaos I was feeling inside. (Deep, huh?)

So this week, I've been working on getting things back in order. Almost all the boxes are unpacked and things are put away. We bought a new kitchen table, and I made room for a small desk.

I've also managed to get my hair cut and my eyebrows waxed. Priorities!!

Today, though, I'm having some fun and am meeting up with a friend to do a little scrapbooking. I'm looking forward to it.

So I'm very grateful to my parents for keeping Amelia this week so I could get this stuff done. I think they are having fun, but I also think Amelia might be giving them a run for their money!