Enjoying our Vacation

We're still enjoying our vacation in Florida. Here is a list of the things we did today:

1. Took a walk around Siesta Key. We went with Gaby on her daily run to feed the cats that she is pet-sitting. Arielle enjoys this part of the walk. I like to see all of the tropical plants and palm trees on the island.

2. Visted Gaby's work at the hospital. Everyone was so complentitive to Arielle and one lady even gave her a pretzel rod. When we left Arielle said, "I told you everyone was going to like me. I like when people like me."

3. Ate lunch at Chipotle. This is a big deal because it is the first time we have been able to do this in Florida. Arielle ate every last bit of her cheese quesidilla and a whole lotta chips & guacamole.

4. Shopped at Old Navy & Marshalls. This is just a neccessity whether we are on vacation or not.

5. Ate Ice Cream at St. Armand's Circle. We go here every year to walk around. This time Arielle ate almost all of her chocolate ice cream and all the gummy bears on top. I found my new favorite flavor of ice cream thanks to Gaby, Toasted Coconut!

6. Went to Coquina Beach. There was the most amazing spot to take photos so that is the first thing we did. Then we were so excited to collect so many beautiful seashells that we almost didn't notice the DOLPHINS swimming off the coast! This was so fascinating to me as I had never seen dolphins in the wild before. They were relatively close to us but moving so fast that it was hard to chase them down. I managed to snap a few pictures as proof.

7. Ate Rico's Pizza for dinner. This is a little pizza shop that we drive by everytime we come here but have never eaten there before...neither had Gaby or Tee.

It was a great day and I am so happy to be spending time with my family. Arielle is just so talkative and it's fun to have real conversations with her even if the subject matter is somewhat repetitive. I love listening to her talk to other people and hear her perspective on things. I am starting to realize that there are just certain things about her that are part of who she is and they are never going to change and I wouldn't want it any other way. Spending this much time with her is a blessing.

~Momma to Bug~

Vacation, the Beach & Good Manners

VaCaTiOn is wonderful! No work for 11 days straight is cOOl enough but throw in two trips to the beach in the middle of that and I am one happy MoMMa! We had LOTS of fun in Disney World and Sea World. Despite feeling totally exhausted at the end of the second day it was an exciting weekend and a fantastic start to our vacation. Arielle is getting at least 2-3 less hours of sleep than she is used to getting on a daily basis and it starts to take a toll on ALL of us around 5 pm until bedtime. This is NOT a fun part about vacation but we are all trying to work around it.

She is so HAPPY to be spending time with GaBy, tEE & NiPs and is doing everything in her power to impress them. Something she has not been impressing anybody with is her manners, which is to be expected of a 3 year old, however I am working frantically to teach her to have good ones. Just a couple of hours ago when we were saying goodnight she told me, "I'm going to use good manners everyday and I'm going to sing the good manners song so I remember." She even found a way to incorporate Please, Thank You and Sorry into our bedtime routine. It was a great end to another day on our vacation and I can't wait to wake up in the morning and spend another day at the beach!

~Momma to Bug~

~Momma to Bug~

We're going on vacation!

It's almost time...just 2 more days left and off to fLoRiDa for vacation we go! We go there each year to visit Gaby & Tee, our favorite Beach Family! Last year was the first year that we took Arielle to Disney World. We spent one day at Magic Kingdom and one day at Animal Kingdom. For only being two years old Arielle held up extremely well but we were all very tired and ready to leave the park by lunchtime on the second day {well, everybody except Zak!} Now that Arielle is one year older I think she'll be able to handle a full two days in a row. This time we're going to Sea World the day after Magic Kingdom.

After our adventure at the parks, we drive down to Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota and spend the rest of our vacation at Gaby & Tee's! While we are there we go to the BeAcH as often as possible; this is where Arielle has the time of her life! Last year she spent a lot of time chasing seagulls, letting the waves hit her in the face {much to my surprise because she hates water pouring down on her face} and playing in the sand.

Here are some highlights from last year's vacation {most of which involved meeting princesses and other favorite characters}:

Here's TiGGeR at the Charactar breakfast!

We met the Jungle Book Gang & MiNNie MouSe at Animal Kingdom!

Princess Jasmine kissed Arielle on the cheek

{and ARIELLE TRIED TO KISS HER BACK ON THE LIPS}!!!

While in line for the DiNoSaUr RiDe, we were chosen to be the "Family of the Hour" and received a free mask, a pass to the front of the line and two turns on the ride!

Arielle was loving life at the BEACH!

Although it may appear that she was on a photo shoot for a swimsuit magazine in some of these pictures, I assure you that was not the case! She was just extremely relaxed.

LooK OuT Florida...here we come!

~Momma to Bug~

Focus on the Good

This past weekend took a toll on me as a parent. My sweet, beautiful little three year old decided to test our patience to the fullest! It started out when she decided to cut her hair. This could have ended up with a before and after shot which shows long beautiful golden locks in the former and a very short, bangless bob cut in the latter. However, what she did is easily concealed so fortunately that is not going to be the focus of this blog. Besides that {as if that wasn't enough to make me pull my own hair out}, Arielle was very vocal about the fact that she didn't like us telling her what to do. She told us more than once, "If you keep telling me things to do than I will NOT do them!" I listened to her say this and saw how she reacted everytime she disobeyed us and we punished her...and my heart was breaking. She seemed so angry and frustrated; children do as they see so she must have know that I was feeling this way.

What is a parent to do?

I decided that we needed to do less focusing on the bad stuff and MORE focusing on the GOOD stuff that she did. Tonight we are going to make a ReWaRd ChArT and start giving her rewards for the good things that she does instead of punishing her for the bad things. As a parent, you read about so many discipline methods and try to make them work for you but I found that in the end your child will guide you to do the right thing. For example, it is so apparent to me that Arielle does not like to be WRONG...that is just the type of kid that she is and I can't blame her because I am the same way. In her case, telling her she is wrong all the time when she does something bad {whether accidentally or on purpose} just makes her feel horrible from the start. She loves to do things right and expects everyone else to do things right so I am going to start showing her just how it feels to have someone acknowledge all of the hard work that it takes to be GOOD and do things right!

I can't wait to start rewarding her for all the gOOd that she does!

~Momma to Bug~

A lovely surprise!

Has this ever happened to anyone? I peered out my window at the garden last week and discovered that one of the GlaDioLuS bulbs had started to ReBLOOM! This made me very HAPPY!!! I quickly went out and cut them down before the frost could stop them from blooming {because after all we live in Colorado}. I am going to miss having these beautiful, fresh-cut flowers around the house this winter.

This is the weekend that I will have to dig up all of the glad bulbs and transplant any flowers that are overgrown or poorly placed in the garden. It is not a chore that I look forward to but it will be worth it next year when I replant the bulbs and have my own, replenishing stock of my FAVORITE SuMMeR FLOWER!

~Momma to Bug~

Is it still today?

Try answering that qUeStIoN to a three year old on a daily basis. Arielle hasn't quite figured out the concept of a day or the difference between today and tomorrow. We keep having the same conversation over and over again...

Arielle: When I wake up from bed will it be today?

Momma: No, when you go to bed at night and wake up in the morning it is tomorrow not today.

Arielle: Is today tomorrow?

Momma: No, today and tomorrow are two different days.

Arielle: Is it tomorrow yet?

Momma: No, it is still today.

...on and on and on.

It sounds quite humorous as I sit down typing it but it can be very frustrating as it is actually occurring. Perhaps it is time to buy a calendar for her room...maybe that will help teach her about ToDaY & tOmOrRoW.

Anyone else have a suggestion?

~Momma to Bug~

7 things about me

This is a FuN diversion from my normal everyday life which almost entirely revolves around Arielle. I have been TaGGeD by a good friend of mine, Megan, who has the two cutest little boys that I have ever seen. She and I used to work together and (by chance) we got pregnant with our first kiddos at the same time. Well, not only was something in the water at that place but whatever it was it gave us both very HEAD-STRONG, TALKATIVE & SELF-ASSURED gifts from above...GOD love them!


The RuLeS of this fun little game are simple, short and sweet...just the way I like em' so here it goes:

FIRST: Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

SECOND: Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

THIRD: Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

FOURTH: Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 THINGS about ME:

1. I am an only child. So is my husband. Our daughter does not have any biological Aunts or Uncles (technically this is three things but they are all related).

2. Before I got pregnant my hair was naturally CURLY; ever since my daughter was born it is not.

3. In college I was a member of DELTA SIGMA PI, a co-ed business fraternity.

4. I can remember EXACTLY where I was and what I was doing when I met each of my three closest friends...one from sixth grade orientation and two from my freshman year in college.

5. I have lived in three different states, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Arizona.

6. My mom and three out of four of her sisters were pregnant at the same time and each of them had girls. One of my aunts decided that they were going to name their daughter DESIREE (the name my mom had chosen for me) if she was born first. I beat her out of the womb by 14 days but if I hadn't then my name would have been THERESA.

7. I RAN the entire Bolder Boulder in 2002 in spite of having recently developed exercise-enduced asthma. It is one of my proudest achievements.

TaG...you're it!

Mommy + Me

Princesses & Pearls

Baby Kemler

Bam Bam's World

H-Squared

Little Man on the Go

~Momma to Bug~

Two of a Kind

I feel as though I have been in a blogging slump lately, mostly due to the fact that all I do is spend time at my computer so it's the last thing I want to do when the day is done. I haven't had a shortage of things to take pictures of though that is for sure. Lexi has found a new favorite spot in the house. She puts her front paws up on a storage cube/end table that we have in front of the window and stares out at the neighbor dogs from there. When she is out in the yard she can usually be found sitting or running along the neighbor dogs fences. Lately she has started whining really loud I guess because she wants to meet her fencemates face-to-face. This window is the perfect view to Hooch (our name for him because he looks just like the dog in the movie Turner & Hooch) and the weiner dogs yards. Lexi must be thinking it is heaven to have such a fantastic view to their yards. Arielle was happy to participate the other day too. The photos are just too cute!

~Momma to Bug~

Do you see the resemeblance?

Arielle has recently decided that she likes to dress up as Hannah Montana! I guess she found out who she is from one of the older kids at her school and when they took her school pictures they had Hannah Montana dress ups! Now she asks me if she can dress up like her at home so we root through her closet until she sees something that resembles Hannah Montana clothes. When I first asked her what type of clothes are Hannah Montana dress ups she told me a soft coat. Every outfit she chooses now has a coat of some sort. One day she told Zak she was dressed up like Hannah Montana and I told her, tell him what she is {instead of Rocker Chic} she said "A State"!

~Momma to Bug~