TOT SCHOOL - WEEK OF JUNE 14

Join us over at our Tot School blog to see what we did this past week!
http://www.harttoharttotschool.blogspot.com/

TOT SCHOOL - WEEK OF JUNE 7

I am just now getting around to posting our Tot School week from last week .... all about flowers..... on our Tot School blog: http://harttoharttotschool.blogspot.com/ Go check it out if you would like to know what we were up to last week!

SLEEPING UPDATE

Yeah, well, things aren't going so well again. I had hoped that taking her off the allergy meds would help, which it seemed to for a few days, but now we are back to the crying and screaming at nap/bedtime unless we are in the room with her. She is now also waking up around 11:30 every night crying. AND, she wakes up in the mornings and after naps (if she even sleeps for naps at all) crying. She normally is a child who we can lay down in her crib, walk out of the room, and not hear a peep from her, and she used to wake up happy all the time. This tells me she is not getting enough sleep. We now are just standing by her crib until she calms down and drifts off. At least we've graduated from holding her hand to just being in there. I am so hoping this is just a stage, because I miss my dear little dream sleeper! Oh, and she has been waking between 6 and 7 in the mornings now when she usually sleeps until 8 or 8:30. I know......I was spoiled. But that is why it's even harder..... For any of you who know me well, you know that I am such a routine "freak." So, this is wearing on me. Pray that I will know how to handle everything "properly" (whatever that is) and that I can just take it in stride and realize that this is only a tiny blip in the course of her life and I need to just cherish each day no matter what it holds.

COOKIES FOR DADDY

Morgan and I made cookies again yesterday. Good thing she hasn't figured out that it's yummy to eat since she can't have them.....She just loves helping out!

It's a good thing they were just for Daddy since Morgan's fingers were in the batter quite a lot! I love how she was trying to pick up the flour that had spilled on the counter. And when I told her to dump in the chocolate chips, they didn't all come out of the bag, so she was trying to pick them out a few at a time from the bag with her hands.....

Then, she helped me "wash" the dishes. She probably had more fun doing this than making the cookies. The girl loves playing in water.....especially soapy water.

Then we had to "mop up" all the water that ended up on the floor.....

We had a fun time, and Morgan kept saying "Cookies for Daddy."

MORE SWIMMING

I just thought these pictures were too cute not to post. Notice the bikini.....Yeah, I can never wear a bikini, so I'll have fun dressing my child in one....at least for a year or two while it's still somewhat cute and "appropriate."

FARM PARK

We went to the Farm Park today with my friend, Janelle, and her two kids, Tehya and Tobias. We had a blast! I didn't think Morgan would last more than an hour or so, but we were there from 10:30 to 1:00! We had a picnic lunch there, too, and though it was very warm out, we had a great time. On the way home, Morgan told me, "I tired."

They gave us "feed cones" filled with animal food to feed the animals. Morgan thought this was hilarious. (Though, I had to keep telling her the cone was for the animals, NOT for her!)

She loved the horsey, obviously. But when she went to feed it, it gobbled up her whole cone filled with food in one bite so fast she hardly knew what had happened!

Her favorite animals were the goats, though. She loved sticking her fingers in the fence and having them lick her. She kept running away from what we were looking at to go back to the goats.

I had to throw this picture in, because look at the girl next to her.... I swear their hair is the same!

They had an old one room schoolhouse, and there were places for them to sit and color.

She wasn't too sure of the tatoos they were giving out. I think she thought at first she was going to get a shot?

But she loved her butterfly once it was on.

They had games, too, around the park for the kids to play. This one she just enjoyed playing with the ducks in the water instead of picking a duck to see what prize she got.

Just too cute!

After lunch we played on a playground for awhile. I decided to just take her shoes off since they were getting filled with sand anyway. This was the first time she's really experienced sand, so she had fun exlporing that sensation.

What a daredevil! :) But she never actually went down the slide herself.

We had so much fun and will definitely be going back again sometime this summer!

WHAT A FUN DAY

Yesterday was just one of those days where life seems .... ideal. We were once again back in a good routine, and Morgan was back into loving "schooltime" big time! She did so well with all her activities (like making Fruit Loop flowers!) again, and we had so much fun doing them together. Then, we went for a walk to the park (the one close to us this time), and Morgan once again had such a fun time going down the big slide, swinging, climbing the stairs, and riding the merry-go-round. (This is her new favorite park activity.)

After about an hour of playing, we ate a picnic lunch again at the park. I really enjoyed this time. Morgan sat in her stroller and ate her lunch quietly, and I ate mine while reading a magazine as well. Then, when Morgan got done, she wanted to "read mahyazeen too," so I gave her another one I had along, and she sat there next to me, both of us "reading" our magazines for about 10 minutes. How relaxing!

After her nap, we got to break in our little kiddie pool for the first time! Jared had put air in it and filled it with water in the morning before he left for work, so by the late afternoon, the water was nice and warm from the sun. I pulled up a chair next to the pool, stuck in my feet, and relaxed for an hour while she played...and splashed me. I'm going to love this little pool. (Which I got last year at CVS at the end of the season for 90% off by the way! Oh, and the suit was a quarter at a garage sale, and the hat 50 cents! Heee, Heee! I just love this time of year!)

Oh, and yeah, the pool is on our deck (instead of in the grass) for two reasons: Jared doesn't want it to kill the grass, and I found out from going over to swim in our neighbor's little pool (and even in the bathtub sometimes) that Morgan does NOT like any kind of little floaty speck of any kind in the water with her....so getting grass all in it would have cut the fun short real fast.

When she got out of the pool, Grandma Faith and Grandpa Bob came to "play" while I got to go enjoy a night out to eat with some moms from my mom's group. (Jared was at the softball semifinal game.) It was just a really fun day overall for everyone!

TOT SCHOOL

After skipping a week of Tot School blogging, we're back with another post! Check it out at http://harttoharttotschool.blogspot.com/ if you are interested in seeing what we've been up to!

A FUN DAY WITH DADDY

We had a fun, normal, routine day at home....sort of. It was nice not to have to go anywhere or run around anywhere. We did our schooltime again, and Morgan was back to her old, happy self. She actually took a good nap with no crying and went down for bed without crying! Yea! We took her off her Singular medications after calling the doctor, and now after a few days of being off it, things seem to be getting better. Let's hope that continues. Anyway, we walked to a park close to Jared's school today....which was a much longer walk than I thought it would be! Things are a bit more relaxed for Jared at work now that the students are gone and most sports are done with. So, he came and met us at the park for a picnic lunch. Morgan enjoyed that.

I had wanted her to run and play and use up a lot of energy so she'd sleep better....but all she really wanted to do was swing or sit in the grass and play with the flowers...aka dandelions. Oh well. She ended up sleeping well, anyway, so I won't complain. She did end up having watery eyes and a runny, itchy nose while we were there, so unfortunately, without her allergy meds, something seemed to affect her outside. But it didn't stop her from having fun.

After her nap, Jared took her out for a run in her new jogging stroller. It was very nice to be able to cook dinner in peace. :) She seemed to like it, though Jared said he needs to look at the wheels on the stroller as something seemed to be out of kilter.

Then, before bed, Morgan got to take a shower with Daddy again, which she LOVES! It was such a great, fun day for Morgan again, and I'm looking forward to more of the same routine this week.

WHAT'S UP AROUND HERE

I have been trying to post this for over a day now, but Blogger has been down....

First I'll start with the "excuses" for why I haven't blogged in a long time....

1. I have been busy trying to finish up the Spring Cleaning around here. Yuk! It's taking forever!

2. Last week it was our turn to help serve the meal at church. (We have a Fellowship Lunch every Sunday after church and each Sunday three families are in charge of preparing and serving it.) Jared had graduation he had to be at, so he couldn't even be there to help. I'm always glad when that busy day is behind us.

3. It has been too nice outside to be stuck indoors.

4. We have been going with Daddy to some of his softball and baseball games. (Morgan has finally mastered, "Go, Birds!" It is so cute.)

5. This past week, my mom and I had a garage sale at her house. Whew! What a lot of work....but it was worth it. I made about $330.

6. Garage sales.....going to them, I mean. There have been some big subdivision sales around here that I went to this week....ones I wait for every year! Check out some things I got!

I have been looking for this game at garage sales for a long time. I thought she'd have fun at least putting the pieces in the slots and later we can use it for patterning and color sorting until she is ready to really play the game. I was super excited to finally find it this week!

I was equally excited to find this huge, wooden floor puzzle for 1.00! I will start by just doing one line at a time with her. But she already has enjoyed finding the pictures and the letters that I ask her to find.

Isn't this little Radio Flyer wagon just the cutest thing? It was in great shape and very clean, and I knew Morgan would just love it. And I was right! She has spent oodles of time already taking her baby for "walks" in it. I heard her say once, "Go for a walk, Baby? Okay, let's go!" So cute!

Jared has been wanting a jogging stroller for awhile now so he can take her out on his runs. I've seen some at garage sales for anywhere from $40 to $200. The other day, I saw a couple of them, but just wasn't sure about them and didn't want to spend the money they were asking. Then, I happened to stop by a sale at the last minute close to our house on our way home, and what do you know.....there this one sat for only $15! It's a Schwin, and it folds up, too, better than any of the others. The only down side...no canopy to keep out the sun. I suppose she can wear her sunhat or something. I was a bit bummed, though, because the next day I saw another one at a sale for the same price that had a canopy. Oh well. Oh, and the Radio Flyer tricycle in the background..yeah, got it for a buck! Found out the parent steering handle doesn't work that great, but hey, for a buck, we'll get our use out of it!

I have been trying to figure out what to do for window treatments in this room since we moved in three years ago. I wasn't sure about color or what kind of curtains in general. I found these neutral panels for 1.00 each and decided to try it at least for a temporary fix. I just have them stuck up for now tucked into the blinds just to see if I like it. I need to get a curtain rod now, and I need to wash and iron the curtains. We can't decide, though, if they should be like this or put two together on each end. Any suggestions? At any rate, they will work for now until I can decide on something nicer. (Or until we move all this furniture to the basement and get new stuff upstairs.) That's the beauty of garage sales, if I decide to change it later, I am not out a gob of money.

7. Headaches....I've been getting a lot of headaches and just not feeling great.

8. Morgan has suddenly developed some pretty intense fears that are wearing on us....the biggest one being that she is TERRIFIED to go to sleep all of a sudden. She will cry and SCREAM her head off when we even just start her naptime or bedtime routine. Plus, she will sometimes wake up crying in the middle of the night. She has always been a great sleeper, and has NEVER, EVER acted like this, so we are a bit perplexed.....and tired. We are wondering if it is the new allergy meds she is on, as the doctor said a side effect is nightmares. I am thinking she is having nightmares and therefore is scared to go to sleep. The only way she will calm down is if I lay on the floor next to her bed and hold her hand through her crib slats. (I hesitate to get her out of the crib and hold her too much as I don't want her to get used to that. But then again, she is getting used to me holding her hand, too.....sigh.) I have had her cry it out a couple times, but it takes her 30 minutes or so to cry herself to sleep and it breaks my heart knowing she is scared. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

9. On top of all that, Morgan got her bottom two-year molars last week. She was not a happy camper.

Okay, here are some other things we have been doing the last few weeks:

1. We visisted a new library in a nearby town. It had a great children's area, and Morgan loved this big ABC rug. She'd run around the edge, stepping on the letters and saying their names. We got to check out a few board books that she has come to really love reading: "The Eye Book" and "I Went Walking" are her two new favorites. She can pretty much "read" them to herself now that we have read them so much together. "I Went Walking" was the first book in our reading curriculum every year that I taught first grade, so I am having fun reading that book and "teaching" her a few things along the way. :)

2. Like I said above, we have been playing outside a lot lately. Here are some things we had fun doing.

She loves flowers, so she had fun helping me water the flowers one day....and pick off a few petals in the process.

Taking a wagon ride with cousin Molly at Grandma's house during the garage sale.

Blowing bubbles....She tries to do it herself now. Every once in awhile she'll get a few out, but mostly she gets her mouth full of soap. :)

I took out a squeeze bottle one day full of water and showed her how to "draw" on the driveway with the water. It was a big hit!

Then, I "drew" some letters on the driveway for her and we worked on some of our new lowercase letters.

3. Morgan LOVES to play in the bubbles in the sink. She'd do this all day if we would let her. I think I need to try and find a water table at a garage sale.....

4. Morgan has finally "mastered" drinking from a "big girl" cup all by herself. It took Grandma's special little cup to finally get her to do it, but now she loves it! Oh, she gets plenty wet in the process (we only give her water for now in her cup), but practice makes perfect!

Hopefully, this week we can stay at home and get back into our normal routine. We haven't really done Tot School in about two weeks, so I am anxious to get back to that as well. But I have a feeling that this summer, it will be hit and miss with that. We'll see.