Will the list never end?

We're going on vacation soon. I started a packing list and was a little overwhelmed when I realized that now that we have Meaghan, it's not as easy as just throwing a suitcase and the dogs in the car and going. I searched- "packing list for traveling with a toddler" and really didn't come up with much, so here's my list.I feel like I'm packing to go to Mars, not a week long vacation! Michael keeps telling me that other states do have Target, but I really want to make sure that we have everything we need to keep her royal highness happy on a very long car ride. Do you think I'm missing anything?

For Meg

Blue blankie- A must have comfort measure
Buzz, Woody, Jessie and Bullseye
Shirts x12 (all coordinating)
Shorts/pants x12 (all coordinating)
Socks x 12 (plain white)
Dress x2
Sandals
Athletic shoes
Crocs for the beach
Diapers
Night time diapers
New wipes container with refill*
Sunglasses
Sunhat
Backpack with toys
Bathing suit and cover up
Swim diapers* (in beach bag)
Box of toys for Meaghan- Little People, Beads, books, crayons, activity books*- I've been collecting Target clearance & dollar bin toys and dollar store stuff
Orange jacket

Food
Peanut butter
Jelly
Bread
Raisins
Goldfish
Fruit
Cheese sticks
Pretzels
Crackers
Cheerios
Milk
Juice boxes- Apples & Eve*
Water bottle from Dave & Busters
Bottle Water
Tea for Michael*
Cups
Paper Plates
Napkins
Plastic silverware
Cereal bowl*
Cheese curls for Meg (2)*
Spoon & fork for Meg*
Sippy cup
Straw cups

In 1 zippered tote

Cell phone wall charger/car charger
DVD player with cords
Lots of DVD’s in  carrying case
DVD’s- Toy Story, Monsters Inc. Chicken Little, Tinkerbell, etc.
Camera
Extra Camera Battery & Charger
Camera card
I pod and speakers (extra batteries for speakers), I pod cord for car
Laptop and cord

In 2nd Zippered tote
Sunscreen (spray)
First aid kit with
Band aids*
Baby Tylenol*
Grown up Tylenol*
Excedrin Migraine*
Tums*
Pepto Bismol tabs*
Antibiotic ointment*
Anti itch cream*
Baby benadryl
Scissors*
Baby wipes*

In 3rd Zippered Tote
Plastic Ziploc bags*
Regular plastic bags
Roll of Paper towels
Large rag towel
Spray cleaner
Travel size laundry detergent/quarters for laundry*
Tape
Sewing kit
2-3 reusable bags

Beach bag
Beach toys
Beach towels (3 only)
Bathing suits
Swim diapers*
Big blanket to sit on*
Inflatable Ball*

Collapsible/mesh tote for toys- toys for the back seat (new toys in this tote)
Travel Tray
Comfy blankets & Extra Meg blankets
Meg’s pillow
Stroller
Soft sided cooler- Ohio State Cooler
Big cooler
Confirmation packet
Map quest directions

Finally....You can leave us a comment!

I've been trying to find the solution and I finally did! YAY!

So....I'd love to know who is actually reading our blog. Leave us a comment, please!

Or as Meg would say "piddy peas!"

:)

Elmo Potty Chair

So the Meglet &  I went to Babies R Us last night to search for a headband for her for her 2 year pictures (a whole other story!) and here she and I are, Meg in the cart, holding her sock monkey, me, reliving Meg's babyhood and wishing that they had had some of the cool stuff they had now back when Meg was tiny, when she gasps "Ooooo...Elmo potty!"

The cart comes to a dead stop. We have been watching the "Elmo's Potty Time" movie that Grammy (my mom) had gotten her and we've been trying to get her used to the potty I bought- a nice, $10.00 biodegradable, Earth Friendly, neutral colored potty. See?

I thought this potty was great. Not horribly noticeable in the bathroom and it won't stick around for a 100 million years in a landfill. Meg did not agree. In fact, she uses this to stand on, or to shove her stuffed animals into but little else.

Back to Babies R Us for a moment. So we slam on the breaks and Meg sees Elmo and falls in love.

I'm not so in love, but I gave in because she was desperatly in love and hugged the box and said "Awww, Elmo potty!"  and so now there are two potties in a house where our toddler still doesn't use the potty and probably won't until mid June. I'm such a sucker.

 But, it does say "good job" in French, Spanish and English. So maybe I'm being a good parent by exposing her to multiple languages! Yeah, that's it......

All about Meg

1. Favorite Food:  Birthday cake (she eats only the frosting!), cheeseburgers, strawberries and tomatoes
2. Favorite Show/movie: Toy Story, of course!
3. Favorite Toy: Her Toy Story dolls- We had Buzz & Woody and this weekend, we picked up Jessie and Bullseye. Needless to say, it's an armful, but they go everywhere with us!
4. Favorite Book: Any book....she loves books! Our current bedtime favorite is "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie"

5. Favorite Characters: Toy Story Characters & Elmo
6. Favorite Songs: "Stacy's Mom" (to which she sings "Stacy's Mama, goin' on"), the Toy Story soundtrack and anything Daddy sings
7. Favorite animal: Her doggie, Allie and she loves monkeys.
8. Favorite thing to do: Play with her Little People (she calls them "Lil PEEple") and hang out with Mama and Daddy
9. Favorite Moment: Helping Mama make chocolate chip cookies- she dumped the measured ingredients into the bowl!
10. Favorite words: Fell down, monkey, cuppy, cookie, Buzz, Woodie, Grandpa, please, thank you, Mama, and occasionally (and remarkably appropriately) damn it. We're not so thrilled about the last one, but we're working on breaking that little habit! There are  far more than I can list. Michael and I were talking about it and we think she uses about 200 words and knows far more than that.  I just really enjoy the full sentence babbling!

As heard in Meglet's house

Mama- "I'm gonna get you!" (Said while chasing Meg around the dining room, attempting to tickle her)

Meg- "Grandpa come...get you!"

Grandpa is her posse now!

Happy Girl

Enjoying the weather

Yesterday, we went out to enjoy the 65 degree weather. We had such weather in the early part of April, and have been craving some time outside. We pulled out the sidewalk chalk and the Meglet and I enjoyed decorating the sidewalk.

We also enjoyed following a baby ant on its travels through the cracks in the driveway.

Look at our garden grow!

Our plants have sprouted! Look at 'em grow! Meg did such a good job planting. She's such a good little farmer! 

Our green peppers are the only things that haven't grown. If they don't pop soon, we may just have to buy them instead, but we've got some time. I don't think we'll be planting until the middle of May.

This is where I'm spending my evenings...

Meg  & the bed are not friends. I'm starting to regret this bed thing, although I know it has to happen eventually. Michael took these pics before she started yelling when I left. Ug.... I hate these transitions....

One of our favorite stories...Little Puppy. If only she would go to sleep like Little Puppy!

Time flies

In exactly a month, my little baby will be 2. Officially a toddler, with all the rights and privledges of that position, like tantrums, pointing and yelling, along with sweet snuggles, "love you Mama"'s and amazing curiousity. I can hardly believe that we've gotten her to almost 2 and she's as wonderful as she is. She's growing so fast, but I have to say that I've loved every new stage more than the stage before. All of the things she has learned and is learning never ceases to amaze me. I love you little girl. You are everything I could have ever wanted in a daughter and so, so much more.

A girl in boys underwear?

Now that we're clearing the hurdle of sleeping in a big girl bed, my mind is drifting towards the next big one.

Potty training.

(Even typing it gives me butterflies. This whole mom thing is really fraught with all these "things" that you have to teach your child and do for your child that you have no idea how to do. I've been reading books and there are literally at least 10 different ways to potty train a child. And the caveat is that they all have the disclaimer "what works for one child may not necessarily work for another". Well, thanks a lot! Okay, (deep breath) rant over)

One of the big suggestions is to take your child to pick out his/her new underwear and let the child choose them. So, Meg and I went to Target (our favorite store!) to look at some brand spankin' new skivvies for the Princess. She's pretty excited at this point because I've made a huge deal out of it. So we sit down in front of the display and I pull down one of each package that I'd be willing to buy. (I just don't like Dora or that Ni Hao Japanimation critter, so we weren't even looking at those!) They had Hello Kitty,Tinkerbell, Disney princesses, Elmo & Zoe- all sorts of cute stuff that I knew she would like. We sat and inspected each package. At first, she was pretty interested in the Tinkerbell package, but she looked up and lo and behold- Buzz and Woody Toy Story underwear caught her eye.

Tinkerbell doesn't hold a candle to her beloved Buzz and Woody. Toy Story is her favorite movie and her Buzz and Woodie dolls go everywhere with us. As soon as she saw them, it was over. None of the girl underwear held any interest after that. She wanted Buzz and Woody. Unfortunatly, they were boys briefs.

I can't let her wear boys underwear. First, it's for boys. Second, her grandmothers (all of 6 of them) would protest. Loudly. Third, Meg still doesn't have much hair, so if she's not wearing pink or purple, she still gets mistaken for a boy. I don't want to reinforce that she's a boy by putting her in boy undies. Fourth, I would have been humiliated as a kid to learn that as a toddler, my parents had put me in boy underwear, even if I had wanted it. (I can just see her as an adult, explaining to her therapist that all the bad things in her life have stemmed from her parents putting in in boys underwear as a toddler!)

So, my guess is that I'm going to have to buy plain white undies and make iron ons for her to have Buzz and Woodie undies. I wonder if the iron ons will last through multiple washings though. Any experience with iron ons and multiple washings?

Any other ideas?

Things are getting better

Hence the title! Meg has been napping in her big girl bed during the day and sleeping in it at night as well, although we spend about half an hour together in her bed, reading books and rubbing her back with her music playing. I actually fell asleep in bed with her last night. Michael came up at about 10 p.m. wondering where I had gone to. I'm imagining that must have been a sight- Meg and I curled up together in her tiny toddler bed!

Hopefully, we will continue on in the right direction and she'll get used to sleeping in her bed. I have to say though, she climbs into her bed very willingly. She just wants me right there in with her! I think she really enjoys the quiet at the end of the day with me. I know I do!

Uggg.. what a night!

Sunday night was not such a good night. In fact, it was one of the worst nights since Meaghan was up every 2 hours to nurse as a newborn. It was bad. Buoyed by nap time on Sunday, when she happily fell asleep in her big girl bed, I  believed that she would give me her sweet smile, curl up with her blue blankey and fall asleep.

Silly Mama.

No... that didn't happen. At 7:45, she & I went upstairs, put on jammies, and got into bed. Yes. She and I both got into her toddler bed. You know, the one that still the crib mattress in it. She wanted me in there with her. We cuddled, I rubbed her back and hoped she would fall asleep, all the while praying that the mattress wouldn't collapse! The princess was having none of that. In fact, every time she looked sleepy enough for me to get up and leave, she would roll over and grab me with some sort of wrestling move that I am convinced her father must have taught her. So, after about an hour, I gave up. I did a "bad mommy" thing.

I put her in bed with me.

I know... it defeats the entire purpose of her even having her own bed. In my defense, I knew Michael would put her in her bed when he came up to bed. (We've both acknowledged that the 3 of us can't fit in our bed together without someone getting kicked in the head!) And he does when he comes up to bed at 10:30.

All is well until 1 a.m. when Meg awakens and starts crying. So I go and try to get her back in bed. She walks to the stairs and yells "downstairs!" So she and I go down for a cuppy and some tylenol (maybe it was her 2 year molars- they're coming in...) and she refuses to go back to sleep until 15 minutes before my alarm clock. And let me tell you, a toddler is NO FUN in the wee hours of the morning.

Needless to say, I went to work on Monday on 4 hours of sleep. I got the solution at work, from a guy with 3 kids of his own.

Last night, we put up a baby gate in her doorway. We still snuggled in bed, read stories, and then I left. She howled.

And howled.

And it was bad. For about 15 minutes. Then, she got tired and crawled into her bed and fell asleep. And we all slept. Thank God!

Any ideas anyone?

Big Girl Bed!

Meg's crib is a 3 in 1 crib, meaning that it converts from a crib to a toddler bed to a full size bed. Since we're starting potty training in the summer, I thought we'd move to the big girl bed now, since she's going to need to be able to get out of bed to go potty. We ordered a toddler bedding set that matched her room and this morning, Michael changed it into a toddler bed. As you can see, she loved it!

(her first "look" a la Derek Zoolander!)

She quickly gathered her stuffed animals and put them on her new pillow and said "night night" Nap time went well, I cuddled with her until she fell asleep. When she woke up, we made a big deal out of her being in her big girl bed and she was really proud of herself. We'll see how tonight goes and how many times she wanders into our room! Wish us luck!

The official picuture of her new bed...

Our little gardener

We started Saturday by going to the Farmer's Market and Trader Joe's to stock up on Cranberry Oatmeal dunkers and a yummy cinnamon roll purchased from a Amish vendor. Then, we went to Home Depot and  bought some of our typical yard neccessities for the Spring. I bought a tray to start plants from seeds. Meg and I picked out organic tomato (2 kinds!), carrot, lettuce, green pepper and sunflower seeds to grow in our mini green house. We put soil in each cell and then added seeds.

She put the seeds in the little holes I made. She did a great job, although she put some cucumber seeds and green pepper seeds in the same cell.... I guess we'll see what happens there!

Then she watered them with her new little watering can...what a great little gardener!

More Easter Pics

We colored Easter Eggs and she thought it was pretty fun.

Here are our finished products! Aren't they pretty!

The Easter Bunny brought her a beautiful basket full of fun stuff.

The first thing she did was to lick all the pink sugar off her peeps. Love the stylin' sunglasses!

She really liked both the chocolate bunny and the stuffed bunny!

Daily Dose of cuteness

Do I need to say more????

Up to bat

Michael gave Meaghan her first lesson in hitting a ball- he was a baseball coach, after all. Who better to ask?

She likes to use the wrong end of the bat, but we're just excited to see her hit the ball.

Taking a break in the garage after a tough practice.

Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!

The Easter Bunny came and left a basket full of goodies. Her favorites, by far, were the chocolate bunnies and the pink Peeps.

We had a wonderful Easter, full of family, friends and lots of fun...

Plus one little girl who hung the moon.