Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Halloween Fun!

It was a festive Halloween for our family. Paul, Agnes, and I visited family in Saint Louis for the weekend and Agnes was a happy toddler the entire time.



This was Agnes' first Halloween with family. Last year, we didn't go out, but she did have a Tigger costume. This year we dressed her as an oriental woman (an outfit that was passed on to us by one of my older sisters). 


Agnes even got to go trick-'r-treating. Although it was freezing and we only went to one house, she had a blast! She held on to her pumpkin bucket for a long time before it was time to get ready for bed.








After pajamas, Agnes and Grandma, whom she calls, "Mimi", played with puppets. The next day, Mimi, "Daddoo," and Aunt "Arruh" were all busy so Pops took Agnes outside to help him rake leaves. She eventually overcame her fear of standing in the leaves...



She also had a good time chasing the family cat, Mittens. I've never been able to get as close as Agnes got so it was amazing to see how gentle she was with her.


Agnes went on the trampoline for the first time; she loved it. My fearless, brave, little girl.


Halloween = Successful

Monday, October 27, 2014

Evening of... Volume 3


Reading...

Tina Fey Bossy Pants. So far, it's pretty entertaining. I'm more of a Jim Gaffigan lover but Tina Fey is funny, too.

Wearing...

Pajama pants and t-shirt... I'm in bed, too!! 

Eating/Drinking...

A nice cold glass of milk and a whole Hershey's milk chocolate bar... oh, the life :)

Listening...

To the Gilmore Girls... it's a Netflix night (although, every night is basically a Netflix night for this mama)!

Agnes...

Is sleeping peacefully in her room.
Wondering...

How to be more healthy without giving up my evening dose of chocolate... ? :D  
Praying...

For single moms.  

Thankful...

For a hardworking husband and loving father. He works and studies like crazy and still has time to read  books to Agnes and rock her to sleep when she needs snuggles.

Feeling...

Happy. I'm just so lucky to be able to stay home with my beautiful little girl. 

Working...

On getting the apartment peppermint oiled, cleaned, and nice for the winter season. 

In the Kitchen...

Time to make the famous homemade Yummy Double Baked Mac n' Cheese for this week!

Outside... 

It's warm again! Agnes and I went to the park today and I wish I had put Agnes in shorts because she was sweating by the end of it. She did have a good time, though, playing in the dirt ;)

All hail the stick!

Dirt face... she was so happy playing.

Family...

We will be visiting Paul's family next weekend for Halloween and I'm excited to dress Agnes up this year! 

Excited...

About the Holidays. We already bought our tickets for a Colorado Christmas (well, Agnes and me). Paul will try his darndest to make it, but we are still planning. I'm also excited to be able to play Christmas music in a month... and decorate! 

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Night Time Routine with an (Almost) 18 Month Old

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's fascinating reading and talking about other people's routine they have for their children. I like finding out new and effective ways to get Agnes ready for the day or for a good night's sleep. If you are at all interested in our night time routine, keep reading... 

We usually give Agnes some time to hang out after dinner before bath time (which is around 7-7:20pm). We sometimes eat later since Paul gets out of work around 6:30 every evening.

I give Agnes a "bath." Which isn't really a bath because she won't sit in the tub. What ends up happening is the faucet runs and I'm wash her while she plays with her duckies and cup. Usually the water is draining but sometimes I will put the plug in and she can splash around for a few minutes before bath time is over.

Then she dries off and I put her diaper on... letting her run around the apartment some more before the rooster goes off (the alarm I use) and she needs to get to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Teeth brushing has gotten so much easier over the past few months. She sometimes tries to bite off the bristles but it getting much better at the actual brushing part. Mama still helps in the final seconds, but all in all, she is a master. This is also the time I brush and style her hair... for bed. Yeah, I know, but I want to train her hair to stay out of her face. It's hasn't worked yet, but I'm optimistic :P 



In the past few nights I've learned NOT to put her pajamas on until after her teeth are brushed... due to her fascination with water. I leave the water running a little bit for her to rinse her tooth brush while brushing, but she seems to also likes to wipe her hands on her clothes.

So after a good teeth brushing, Agnes gets to read some books with Daddoo or get lots of kisses and snuggles from Mama.



At 7:50pm, we turn the lights down, the white noise on, and we say night prayers. Then Agnes gives Daddoo hugs and kisses and Mama makes sure she has her baby doll with her before Mama puts Agnes in her crib. This is where she immediately grabs and puts her pacifier in her mouth and snuggles with her stuffed animals before falling asleep... Okay, so it takes up to a half an hour of her babbling to herself but she eventually doses off.

And before I go to bed, I check on her and rearrange the animals and blanket in her crib to give her more room to roll over. :) 

So that is our routine. We keep some white noise on throughout the night. When she wakes up in the morning, she has a while to play in her crib before I go and get her. This works for us :)




Monday, October 20, 2014

Fall in Middle America

And what I mean when I say "Fall in Middle America"...


is,



"Fall with Agnes in Middle America."













Feeding the goats!




She is so loved!

Getting tickled by daddoo.

It was nice to end the visit playing with Grandma L.

Deep in the Heart of Texas!

A few weekends ago (the weekend after Paul and I returned from California), Agnes, Paul, and I took a road trip down to visit our alma mater. While we were there, we got to see a lot of our friends and some family (even Paul's parents came down for a couple of days to attend a dinner hosted by the university). It was a busy busy trip, and Agnes can second that (she barely got any naps in... something I will not repeat the next Texas trip we take). It was a fun one, though, and I'm excited to be able to visit again next year!

This is where Agnes keeps her pacifier when she needs to eat and drink...

Getting some breakfast at the university's cafeteria.

Just hanging out in the cafeteria doing her own thang while mommy socializes with her frans.

Agnes has no fear when it comes to petting animals. This was at the State Fair of Texas.

Grandma and Pops came with us to the fair! They had a great time!



Her one and only nap of the whole trip... poor girl, she was so wiped out.


(I really wish I had taken more pictures of our time there.)

Paul and I gave each other one night where we could go out with our friends and the other would bathe and put Agnes to bed; it was a good deal (and one where my night ended at 11pm because by 9pm I was completely exhausted... oh, the life of motherhood). Agnes and I had a couple of play dates as well as college soccer games we attended. Great visit. With great friends. And great family! :)