Meet the new Smith....

                            Fishy!!

I stayed home with Makenzie today since she has fever! She woke up this morning burning up!!

Poor baby! I feel so bad for her when she doesn't feel good!! We laid around and played and then ran a few errands! Kirbydog needed new dog food so we went to PetsMart!  Makenzie caught sight of the fishies and got so excited! "Mama fishy, Mama fishy" so......we got one!!!  She loves him!! Scotty and I had a beta before, I just hope this one is as good and last as long as Gus Henry did! 

Sick again

My poor sweet girl is sick......again!!! Yesterday she was pretty cranky and whinny when we got home! I got a little frustrated and had decided it must be daycare that makes her that way after the wonderful weekend that we had!! She went to bed fine but woke up SCREAMING about 12:45. After I turned down the volume on the monitor (just a little....) and rolled over to wait on her to lay back down, she started screaming MAMA MAMA......I'm a sucker for that! I can't take hearing her calling/screaming for me Iike that! I went in to get her and thought to myself how hot it was, I woke up sweating. I got her and she was burning up! I took her temp and it was 101.9--poor girl!  I changed her diaper and gave her some Advil and brought her in my bed! That girl will just not sleep anywhere except her bed! She rolls, and fidgets, and talks, squirms! After about 10 minutes I checked her temp again and it was down to 97.9.....I figured she must have just been hot from screaming and her room being so hot....I took her back to bed(and left her door open to let air in) and turned the air down a little--she was out!

She woke up crying again about 6 so I got up and checked her temp-normal! I put her in my bed and she snuggled up and went back to sleep! I thought it was a little odd(since she never has done this) but LOVED the snuggle time!! 

I took her to daycare since she didn't have fever and she seemed to be fine when I woke her up!!  They called me about 12 and said she had 100.6 but was going to let her take a nap and check it again when she woke up! It had gone up to 101.7 when she woke up so I went and picked her up and brought her back to work for an appt! Dr said her ears and throat looked great and she couldn't find a source for the fever and decided it was just a virus!!!  Poor baby!  Virus' are frustrating! I almost would rather have a cause so you know you can treat it and move on!!! Oh-well! I get to stay home and love on my sweet baby tomorrow!!!

(She looked super adorable today! Little plaid shorts and a halter shirt)

Side note: yesterday when I picked her up her shoes were off! Her teacher said they "prefer" closed toe sandals or tennis shoes to protect their toes and they stay on better! I said/joked that those weren't cute with skirts and dresses, and she said/joked back that it wasn't a fashion show there! Ouch!!! She obviously doesn't have a little girl to dress up!!!  I guess I have to go shopping and get a few new pairs of shoes!!!

    (Coloring while waiting on the doctor)

Memorial Day

First and foremost--Thank you to everyone who fights, or has fought for our country!  Today we celebrate you.  

It was just me and Kenzie today and we had a great day! I'm not sure what got in me, ok--yes I do it was emerge(energy booster, fate burner, mood enhancer and appetite suppressant--pretty much speed! I love it) I woke up and cleaned the whole house! I mean EVERYTHING! I dusted(even the blinds), vaccumed, mopped and organized every cabinet in the whole house! This week would be the perfect time to have showings on the house!! All of this was done before noon, and with a 21 month old running around "helping"! We went to Walmart to grab a few groceries for the week and then came back home for lunch and a nap! While she slept I finished doing a few things that I couldn't do while she was awake--mop the kitchen and hall way. She slept for about 2 hours and then we played the rest of the afternoon! We played with her sticker book--she was actually really good at putting the stickers were they were supposed to go!

I got dinner prepped and in the oven, and we went outside to play while it cooked! She loves to pick all my flowers!! Then she found a ladybug crawling on the brick! She wanted to pick it up but I was afraid she would smash it so I got it and put it on her tummy! She didn't know what to think at first, but then she loved it! I put it on the ground and she followed it all over the driveway until it finally flew off!

Im glad to see my love of ladybugs has rubbed off on her!!LWe came back inside and ate dinner--pot pie, spinach and macaroni (of course).  She ate really good and I only had to bribe her with "cheese" a few times! For dessert I gave her strawberries and whip cream! She LOVED it! She ate the whip cream one finger at a time!

I love the bottom right picture of her shoveling it in her mouth! Little piggy!!

Back to "normal"

Things have been looking better in the Smith household.  Makenzie is doing much better and has only had a few "mild" tantrums and has even calmed herself down pretty quickly.  Friday night we were going to eat with Jessica and Eric when Scotty got home, but Makenzie started in right when we got home, about 5:30 and was still going crazy when Scotty got home.  This is the first tantrum he has gotten to see (he's worked late all week).  I think it freaked him out.  He even mentioned taking her to see a doctor.  He was able to calm her down by taking her outside and playing on the swing set, after we canceled our dinner plans.  Saturday morning I had a few errands to run and decided to be brave and bring Makenzie.  I have been so nervous about taking her anywhere, not knowing how she would act.  We went back to the nail salon to have a few toes touched up.  I had gone Friday before I picked Makenzie up and must have smudged a few.  She did great so we ventured out to the next stop.  We went to Claire's to get some earrings and then to Target.  NO TANTRUMS.  She was actually funny and really good.   We had to run back home and drop off some groceries and headed back out for a few more stops and then went to Mimi and Papa's house.  She kept saying papa the whole time we were out.  Every time I picked up my phone she said Papa, I guess thinking I was going to call him.  We played there for awhile and then Me, Kenz and Mimi headed to Babies r Us to look for a new diaper bag.  She fell asleep before we were even off Mimi's street.  I ended up getting a new bag--I love it!!! We stayed at Mimi and Papa's until about 6 and then headed home.  She LOVES them so much!!

Sunday we slept in.....until 7:30 haha!!  My wonderful husband stopped up the toilet so we spent our morning plunging and flushing and plunging and flushing--nothing worked.  We quit and got ready to go to brunch and do a little shopping.  Makenzie looked so freaking cute today.  I did her hair in piggy tails with bows.

We went to Primo's and then to Firewheel.  I got some great stuff on sale at Old Navy--6 shirts for $30, I never buy myself anything so I was pretty excited!!!  We stopped off at Jessica and Eric's on the way home.  Makenzie had fallen asleep and stayed asleep on my almost the whole time we were there, even getting her out of the car and walking up stairs.  (Jessica is 35 weeks pregnant and fell down the stairs Saturday and luckily only sprained her ankle--thank god.  I brought her my boot to try and see if it helped)  We came home and went after the toilet some more.  Scotty got a toilet-snake-thingy and made a face time call to my dad.......



it worked!!!  Yay!!  The only good thing that came from this was that it made me clean the bathroom!!!  All in all it was a wonderful weekend. 

Her new big thing is to say "cheese" every time she sees me get my phone out.  Her "cheese" face isn't exactly the smile that I want in my pictures, but it's still cute.

 This is her "cheese" pose for a picture!!

She was singing Twinkle Twinkle in the car today and I tried to be sneaky with my phone to video her.....she caught me!

Tantrum update

I think I won tonight!!!  Yesterday is a different story though! I picked up Makenzie and we went home to change and pick up Korie and Dallas to go swimming! She threw a tantrum in the car, but I just ignored her! We get to the pool and this kid cried the entire time! All of our friends and their kids were there playing and having the best time, and my kid--screaming, red face, snot everywhere, crying! We lasted about an hour and then I had to bail to get her home! I was so embarrassed and angry--defeated! I called my mom on the way home for some advice and I think she got worried I was going to kill her and came over to help!  We get home and I stripped off her bathing suit, she pees on the floor, I take her to the bath, se cries the whole bath, I change her and put pajamas on waited on Mimi outside! She was a completely different kid when Mimi got here! All smiles and giggles! I ended up doing a strep test on her just to see if maybe that's why she has been acting so crazy and I haven't been able to get to eat either! It was positive! A Dr from my work was able to call her in some antibiotics to start and said hopefully this is why she's been acting so crazy! She  played and read books, danced and jumped with Mimi!  Stinker! I'm so glad my mom came over anyways! I missed her!  

This morning I got her up and laid her in bed and gave her my phone to watch Doc McStuffins! No crying, no screamin--it was wonderful! (Scotty made me strep her again just to make sure it really was positive, again it was positive)I picked her up about 4:30 and her teacher said she had a great day!

We made it about halfway home and then...

What the heck! I didn't yell or try and stop her, I just turned up the radio and ignored it! She threw her cup, blanket, and ripped off her shoes and threw them--I ignored it! We get home and I tried redirecting her to sorting shapes with me--it worked! We played for about an hour with no tantrums! 

I was able to fix dinner in peace and she fed herself her entire dinner!!

Towards the end of dinner she started melting down! I let her down and it was tantrum time! I ignored it until it was excessive and then put her in time out! I would kneel down and say calmly that we don't scream like that and she needs to sit in time out and calm down! I went in her room to organize her closet and she would make her way in there crying! I ignored it until she screamed-swatted her booty and walked her to time out again saying that its not nice to scream! This happened about 3 times but I stayed calm and consistent! I changed her and put her in bed about 6:45.....since I have to get her up so early and she plays so much during the day, we thought maybe an earlier bedtime would help! She talked an sang in her bed until about 7:20 and then finally went to sleep! At least she was quiet!! I think if I stay consistent with her she will realize her mama isn't playing games anymore! It will be a rough couple days but I am determined to stop these tantrums!!

Temper tantrums!

**warning** This post is a ramble, but I wanted to put my feelings on "paper"

I'm losing the battle of temper tantrums.  My almost 21 month old is whooping my butt.  We have had a few here and there, but this week they here with a vengeance.  We decided that she cries "less" in the mornings if I get her up and ready.  I will get her up and put her in my bed to lay with Scotty while I brush my teeth and finish getting ready and that lets her wake up a little before I'm changing her and shoving clothes over her head.  It worked great last week, but Monday morning--nope!!  She cried and pitched a fit the whole time, the whole car ride there and while I walked her in.  AHHH!  When I picked her up that afternoon, she was all smiles and laughing and her teacher said she had a great day.  She waved bye bye and blew kisses to everyone on the way out like a little angel, and then......

Holy crying!!!  I try so hard to ignore it, and then my anger boils out of me.  It is unacceptable to cry scream like that.  She is being hateful.  A normal cry, or a whine wouldn't bother me....but this??  CRAZY.  So then I end up yelling, or swatting at her.  Doing the whole 1-2-3 which she cares nothing about.  By the time we get home I am so frazzled and angry I put her strait in time out and set the timer on the oven for 1 minute--this is the first time trying the timer approach.  Every time she got out I would take her by the arm and walk her back.  When it was time to get out she would run to me and want me to hold her.  I love holding her and would hold her all day, but she has to learn she can't cry like that.  Every time I put her down she threw a fit which in turn made me yell.  She was so crazy I checked her over to see if she was hurt, I checked her temperature, I gave in and gave her cheese--she loves cheese but even that only calmed her for a second.  It was awful.  I finally put her in the bath and she was fine.  Laughing, playing, giving me kisses.  She was fine the rest of the night and went to bed peacefully.  I on the other hand was exhausted, frustrated and crying because I felt bad and yelled all night.  This parenting thing is hard work.

Tuesday morning I woke up and decided to start on a clean slate.  I woke her up and laid her in my bed and she immediately started crying.  Red face, growling, body stiff--crying.  We left and she proceeded to temper tantrum the whole way to school.  I told her teacher that we were having a rough morning and asked if she was having tantrums there but she said no that she is perfect at school.  She did say to give it a few weeks and when she realizes that they care for her and she can act "bad" and they still care for her she will start throwing tantrums.  At the same time a little boy came in and when the teacher tried to pick him up and put him in the table he got stiff and threw himself on the floor--looked familiar--she told him "Noah when you are ready to come to the table you can" and left him on the floor.  He got up on his own and came to the table (but he kept throwing his milk cup on the floor which prompted my daughter to do the same--I'm sure she's picking up great habits watching all these other kids).  Another mom came in and said she's going through the same thing with her daughter.  It's nice to know I'm not the only one with a screaming kid, but I need to know what I can do to stop it.  I asked for suggestions on facebook and got some great ideas from other fellow mama's that I'm going to try. 

She was at Koko's house yesterday afternoon and she said she didn't have any tantrums at all.  I got there around 4:00 and about 4:10 she threw one.  WTH??  It must be me....she's trying to get my attention or knows I'm her mama and that's what toddlers are supposed to do, I'm not sure.  I ignored it and she ran into another room and did her thing.  I could hear her and see her pacing running back and forth yelling.  She would come running up to me and I asked her if she needed a hug and put my hands out and she would swat at them or push me away, so I would turn her around and give her a nudge to go back in the other room.  She would run back in and repeat the process 2 more times.  I finally had to go in there because she started ripping papers off the wall that Korie had hanging up.  She got a spanking swat on the booty and told her we don't do that and walked her back into the living room with me and redirected her attention to coloring.  She did good for a little while and then had another melt down a little while later.  

I made a plan and I'm going to try my hardest to stick to it.  When she starts her tantrum I'm going to tell her calmly that "Mommy doesn't like it when she acts that way and would like for her to stop", and try to redirect her attention.  If that doesn't work, I'm going to ask her if she would like to sit in time out or stop crying--I'm sure she's not going to answer me "Sure mom, I would like to stop crying", so I'm pretty sure we will head to time out and I will set the timer for 1 minute and tell her she can get out when the timer goes off.  If she gets up I will walk her back and tell her she has to stay there until the timer goes off--in a calm voice.  When the timer goes off I will tell her she can get out and that I love her and give her a hug and hopefully that will be the end of it.  The goal is to not yell and to ignore it.  If it reaches the excessive point--she goes to time out.  Scotty and I talked about it and agreed to ignore her in the car and not try and stop the crying.  It does nothing and only makes us more angry that she doesn't respond. 

Makenzie is such a good girl.  She is friendly and outgoing and makes me laugh all the time.  She is sweet and sensitive and all girl.  She is so smart and I love playing with her and discovering all the new things she has learned.  She is not a bad kid at all--just a toddler.  I know this is a phase and we will get past it and that every (I think) kid goes through this.  We just need to find a way to work together and get her past these tantrums.  I think when she can talk more it will be easier to get her feelings out.

Any suggestions.....let me know!!!

Stormed in

We have been having awful weather around here lately.  Oklahoma had horrible tornado's on Monday....demolished a whole town.  It's so sad.  Yesterday, we were projected to have violent storms pop up around 2'ish.  I think everyone was extra sensitive from the situation in Oklahoma, because schools started closing and canceling after school activities.  That never happens around here.  I, of course, freaked out.  I had this awful vision of Makenzie having to take cover at daycare, and the teachers, having stronger bonds with the kids that have been longer, protecting them first and my poor girl having to fend for herself.  I know that would not happen and she would have been fine, but I still wanted her with someone we knew.  Scotty went and picked her up before nap and brought her home to nap until Aunt Koko got home and then he took her to hang out with her.  I watched the radar all afternoon and headed home a little after 3.  It was mostly just heave rain and wind.  I did see some flooding on my way home, but all in all it wasn't too bad.  

This is Kenzie (can barely see her little head at the top right of the picture) last year taking cover in Mrs. Jennifer's bathtub during a tornado outbreak.

She had a blast hanging out with Aunt Koko and Dallas.  When I got there we colored with crayons on a big poster board, and markers--Koko is brave.  We attempted picking up pipe cleaners, excuse me "Chenille sticks", and putting them in a pot--but my daughter was in mid temper tantrum--a whole post about that later, Dallas did very good at it though.  I made us some sloppy joes while they had a band with spatulas and pots and we all ate as a big family (with no husbands).  After dinner the kiddos had pop sickles in the bathtub and played for awhile. 

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful sister in law (and nieces and nephew) so close and who care about me and my family so much!!!  I felt so much better having Makenzie there safe with them!!!  The plan was just to stay through the storm, but we had 2 showings on the house.  We haven't had any showings in almost 2 weeks and then we get 2 showings in one day in the middle of an awful storm.  The last one was from 6-8pm which is right in the middle of our dinner, bath, and bedtime routine--not great for us.  It was nice to be able to stay at Korie's house and do dinner and bath there and bring her home in a pair of Dallas' pajamas and put her strait to bed!!! 


This silly girl cracks me up (and her crazy aunt laughing in the background)....singing "baby got back"

Birthday, shopping, and swimming

Wow.....what a busy weekend.  Friday was Aunt Koko's birthday!!!  Makenzie and I went and got her kolaches before I took her school and left them on her porch with flowers and a bottle of wine and some cards.  We are very blessed to have her in our lives and hope she had an amazing birthday!!!  After work we met Shannon, Presley, Koko, Dallas, and the girls at the pool. 

 We came home and changed and then went to Saltgrass for Korie's birthday dinner.  The wait was forever to get a table and Makenzie was very restless.  We finally got a table and Scotty met us up there and it was delicious.  Kenzie fed her baby goldfish and was really good considering how late it was.

 

Saturday I woke up kinda early and speed cleaned the house before Makenzie woke up.  It hasn't been deep cleaned since we put the house on the market, so it needed a good scrubbing.  She woke up and we went to Koko's house and hung out in her bed.  It's my favorite thing to do at her house.  Everyone piles in her bed and we are just lazy and hang out.  We wrestle, Kenzie jumps, we eat, we talk, we watch TV--it's great.  Arielle had her cheerleading fitting so we went with them to that.

 

Kenzie and Dallas ran around while Korie helped Arielle, Destiny helped keep an eye on them.  I heard Makenzie squealing and realized she saw Mrs. Jennifer there.

 

She was so excited to see her.  Jennifer carried her around for awhile and then I got her right before we left.  Bless her heart.  She hates saying goodbye to her.  I think the feeling is mutual.  We left there and went and ran some errands.  Kenzie didn't have a nap and by the end of our shopping she had had enough.  She broke down at J.C. Penney and Aunt Koko finally was able to get her to fall asleep.

 









Korie dropped us off at my car and we rushed to Mesquite to help Jessica move out her storage building.  They are moving to an apartment in Rockwall and needed to borrow trucks to move their stuff.  I borrowed Scotty's truck for the day, so off we went.  Makenzie only wanted me to hold her, which wasn't letting me do anything.  We ended up sitting in the truck, in the air conditioning.  I'm glad I had that excuse--it was HOT. 

 

 

We got our trucks filled and headed to Rockwall to move it into the apartment.  It's a cute place and will be perfect for them.  We hung out upstairs with Jessica while the boys emptied the trucks and then headed home to meet Scotty when he got off work.   No time to rest though, we loaded up and met Korie, Lance and the kids and headed to Micocina for dinner.  It was delicious.  We got a corner booth so the kiddos could run around it and still be contained--it worked perfect!  We got home late and Makenzie crashed immediately.

 

This morning we slept in late.  Scotty had a fantasy football meeting, so Me and Kenzie picked up Koko and headed out to run some errands.  We met Shannon and John at Costco and did some shopping.  That place always sucks me in and I spend way to much moo-lah.  I gave Kenzie my phone to play with to alleviate a temper tantrum and got it back with 42 random pictures that she had taken.  She knows how to push the buttons and flip the camera around so that it faces her.  I heard her say "cheese" and sure enough took lots of pictures of herself, and everything else.

We came back and had a BBQ at Korie and Lances house and all our buddies came over.   Kenzie always has so much fun playing there.  I guess because all the toys are different and new to her.  I could tell she was getting sleepy so I laid her down in Dallas' big boy bed in his room.  She snuggled up and went to sleep.  I was very surprised. 

 

After nap, we all went to the pool and hung out for the rest of the afternoon.  Kenzie runs all over the place.  It's very stressful keeping an eye on her, but the guys sat out on the side so we had lots of eyes on the kiddos.

 

We had a wonderful weekend and it was spent with amazing friends and family.  We are loving life right now and are so blessed!

 

Thursday ice cream play date

Kenzie's nap mat was very popular today at school! All the teachers wanted to know where I got it. Kenzie loved it! Her teacher said she laid right down and snuggled under the blanket and slept the whole 2 hours! Little stinker didn't eat her lunch today! Only picked out the cheese from her sandwich and ate that! She is such a cheese head! Aunt Korie came and picked us up later that night and we took all the kids to Chick-fil-a for dinner and to play! 

She made a friend with a cute red head named Brady! She kept talking to him and he would say "what" and then make up something she said! She would answer him back and wave her pointer finger at him! She meant buisness about something!(I have a cute video but I can't post it from my app). We got ice cream cones on the way out and decided with the mess they were making we would eat them in the parking lot! Those kids had ice cream everywhere!

She came home and was exhausted! Way past her bedtime and crashing from her sugar high! I love nights like these! It's a nice to break away from our schedule and have some fun!!!  Love these kiddos!