No shoes to bed

For some reason, E has become obsessed with shoes. Normally I would think this is cute and she was being a girly girl but she has taking it to a new level. Now she wears them to bed every night.  Not flip flops either...full fledged shoes.  Last night was Toms and tonight was Converses.  

I know this is not a major issue or anything but she sweats and sleeping in shoes each night does not help those stinky feet hahaha!!! "Shoes mommy! Shoes!"  Tonight I tried to coerce her into wearing her kitty socks instead, which she agreed to.  She also has a kitty obsession since being over her Aunt Liz's and met two real cats. However, this backfired and she ended up wanting to wear shoes too.

What can I say...this girl has a mind of her own and loves clothes and accessories.  I guess she isn't much different than most girls or women even ;)

Terrible Twos are FUN

After being at the beach for a week, I am now back to reality and not enjoying it.  This means an overload of laundry, no food, trying to get the kids back on their normal routine and my pants are just a little tighter.  WELL WORTH IT ALL THOUGH!  Emily had the time of her life at the beach and pool.  She has however hit the "terrible twos" a tad bit early.  The whiny, temper tantrum phase is not fun at all.  I absolutely hate when she does this in public too.

Our first trip to Funland, my dad bought 100 tickets and Emily got on 1 ride, which was all of 1 ticket.  This time, after she through a FIT, would not get in the stroller, wanted french fries but they were too hot, but ended up getting on 2 rides, both of which I had to get on with her.  I mean who would have thought the mini roller coaster would be what she loved.  I mean it was pretty fast and I did not enjoy it one bit.  The irony...it is the one she liked.  We used all our tickets since that ride required 3 tickets for me as well.  What a rip off!  Her and my mom played a few games next and had a blast.  Not sure how but they won this one game twice, which resulted in this massive purple and orange ugly squirrel (i think).  But she had fun so that is all that matters.

Next public tantrum occurred when we got to my FIL's country club.  All these kids are playing nice in the pool and like a little diva, E hates the bathing suit I put on her (had the long sleeve shirt) and insists on taking it off.  Nothing like being at a nice country club pool with a screaming naked child.  After some food (once again) she let her guard down and ended up having an amazing time.  Thank god for adult drinks there :)

Next was the beach!  She LOVED the bay and playing in it earlier this week but this time was a different story.  With only a short nap, cranky pants did not like the water or sand.  She just wanted me to hold her in the water... "up mommy". She eventually warmed up here too.  Then we pushed our luck by trying to go to dinner and ice cream.  Oh well.

She is a sassy little girl filled with personality, but we love her to pieces and could not imagine life without her!

Do we need all this?

Going on vacation for a week with two little kids is awful to prepare for! There are so many little things, like pacifiers or Disney movies, that could make or break our trip.  God forbid little E wants to watch Belle and it is still in the DVD player at home.  Little C is easy since he is only 4 months old.  All he needs is clothes and bottles.  I think he will be a minimalist like it poppy and dad! What is even worse about the amount of stuff we have sitting out to pack is my parents beach house and my in-laws both have a pack n play, toys, bouncy seats...you name it.  You would think all we need to pack is the little stuff.

I am not even confident everything is going to fit.  I am sure my mom will take some stuff but still.  The poor dog has been confined to a minuscule amount of space in the back of our new, what we thought was bigger and more spacious car.  In reality, the bigger the car, the more sh!t you bring.  I find the same thing happens with my purse.  If I have a small bag, I am forced to only bring what can fit.  If I have a huge tote-size bag, it is amazing what you will find in my purse HAHA.

Either way once we get to the beach and unpack, I will be relieved, especially since we will be there for a week.  I hate having to pack back up a day or two later. All the hustle and bustle is worth it to spend time with my family and away from work.  I am praying there are no meltdowns in the car like the last trip.  Now I know why everyone else is driving themselves...I would if I could find some way to ship/mail my kids to the beach :)

Toddler Talk

People always warned me about the "mine" phase toddlers go through or the "what's this" and I have to say it is quite an annoying stage. Rushing out of daycare on a 95 degree day with a bag and heavy infant carseat, then having to hold a toddler's hand who has not grasped the concept that you have to look where you are walking as she asks "what's is" (her way of "what's this") as she points to a wall multiple times is not so much fun. Don't get me wrong, this is a fun stage and she has developed her own little personality, 75% of the time which is sassy or whinny. 

I do love how she tries really hard to talk, mostly sounds like Japanese or any foreign language. Everything is yellow or "yewelo" and she has forgotten about the number "1" and goes right to 3 and 4. The funny part is all last year all she said was "1".  My dads favorite is "more" or as E likes to say "moyeee". 

You just have to laugh and be glad she tries and is advancing. I am secretly hoping she is a genius so she can make tons of money and buy us a retirement house in Florida someday. I don't think she will ever be professional ballerina or anything that requires good coordination. The girl is a major klutz. I have noooo idea where she gets it from haha.

Miss sassy pants gives us a run for our money but I could never image life without her.  She is filled with love and personality and thinks the world already of her little brother.  That makes all the temper tantrums and stress well worth it (most of the time haha).