What's Wrong Little Pookie?

This morning was rough. As soon as I woke Lily up she started screaming. Nonstop. For no apparent reason other than she was just pissed off at the world. Kicking, flailing, screaming. Somehow, with the help of my ever patient husband, I got her dressed and down to her chair for breakfast (still throwing a fit).


Michael sets down her plate of yummy pancakes and strawberries and she just tosses it.

Uh.Oh.

I could almost see the steam coming out of Michael's ears. He is normally the calm one but this was just unacceptable. He promptly gets her out of the chair and carries her to time out. This doesn't seem to phase her or deter her from the fit. She continues on for quite a while. Full out screams! I tried on two different occasions to get her to calm down and she pretty much screamed louder. I would ask her if she was ready to come out and she would give me a go to hell look and continue on.

I couldn't leave for work with her acting like that. You know I believe no parent should be left alone with a half crazed child because those gut wrenching screams could send even the calmest of parents over the edge. So FINALLY Michael gets her calmed down enough and she starts sobbing for me (SCORE!) and I calmly get her into her chair and when I leave she is happily eating her breakfast and I even get a "Bye Bye Mommy I love you" as I am heading out the door.

But when I call Michael a little bit later to see how she did after I left his response was:

"She was okay as long as I didn't look at her. When I looked at her in the rear view mirror she screamed bloody murder."

It's okay sweetie, I get that reaction when people look at me too. But seriously I don't know why but this just tickled me. Looking at her is what set her off! Wow she should be in full fit 24 hours because who wouldn't want to eyeball that cuteness. I laughed so hard!

But really.... I need some help. We are basically ignoring the fit and putting her in time out to finish it. When she calms down (sometimes a really long time later!) we let her out. Any more effective tips on tantrums? Or finding out the root cause of the tantrum? I have no idea what set her off this morning!

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Tricycle Baby

We have declared Easter our holiday in the Eads household. We live about three hours away from the rest of Michael's family so it is safe to say not many holidays are celebrated here. Although we did get a Thanksgiving one year. But holiday's with the fam are not a normal here.

Everyone hopped in their cars and made the haul for some outside time and spring fun. I don't think we could have picked a better weekend! It was gorgeous. We stayed outside all weekend and watched the kids play. Okay and the boys.

Cousin Morgan and Lily played so well. They got to swim, play in the water table, and run around chasing balls all day.

Lily ended up having a little too much fun and puffing up her eye on the table. The night before Easter of course. It never fails. Right before a major picture opportunity some sort of injury occurs.

Lily drank a lot of water for a variety of sources. Her sippy cup, the water table, the pool. Might explain her sickness this week.

We got a special treat when cousin Renee came all the way from Florida. She is so grown up now! Do you think this little princess looks five? She has a big girl haircut and is so smart and precious!

Aunt Shannon and Mimi brought cookies for the girls to decorate. Lily loved that!

Well she loved eating the icing.

Look how hard she is concentrating! She is on a mission.

This is a picture Michael took. It is a running joke in my house that you can tell who takes which pictures. Well lets just say mine are a lot better. I am not be cocky I just have a knack for the truth. But Michael was quite proud of this action shot. Just so you know it was suppose to be a picture of Wayne. That didn't so much work out for him.

We dyed easter eggs. Even though I was freaked out about letting the girls near dye. I was more worried about them dying their fingers before easter than anything else. But little did I know the black eye would ruin those picture anyways. But I did give them both Daddy's shirts to protect the cute clothes.

We were hard at work making an Abby Cadabby Egg.

Elmo stickers!!!

Morgan and Wayne

Morgan swinging with Daddy

We decided to give the girls their Easter presents from Mommy and Daddy on Saturday. It was such a nice day. 

She was very excited when she saw what it was....

A brand new TRICYCLE!! 

"oh I am going to rock this out" 

Safety is big in our house. Lily is learning early about helmet safety. By the way did they even have helmets when we were kids? 

Lily loved the helmet so much I decided she should wear it in all outdoor play. Those water tables are rough. There is not telling what could happen! 

She did really well on the tricycle. She knows that her feet go on the petals. She is good about keeping them on there while she is moving. But she still needs to build some more strength to push down hard enough to get going without a nudge. 

So Big! 

Morgan got one as well. Of course the Mom's coordinated. Well Aunt Stephaine talked Mommy into getting Morgan one. Unfortunately the Eads genes produce big heads. Morgan's helmet didn't fit. The only reason Lily's fit is because I knew in advance to get her a bigger toddler helmet! 

Wayne and Tanya

Handsome Hubby

It was a great weekend! The girls entertained each other which meant Lily was in a good mood most of the weekend. She has been talking nonstop about everyone this week. 

After this weekend I am sure of one thing. The old saying it takes a village to raise a child is true. It seemed so much easier when everyone was hear. More eyes, more hands, more entertainment. It was nice not being the sole provider for once. It was great seeing Lily interacting with Morgan and Renee. She loves them so much. It was relaxing! This is how people have more than one kid! They have a village of support! Now I just need to get my village to move here. STAT! 

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Flawed Life: Terrible Twos vs. Sickyface

I had a rough parenting week. Do you ever have those weeks? The ones where you realize how people can beat their children. Not that I would....but I see how it happens. I thank god every time these days come that I have another, if not better, half to pass Lily off to. I don't know how single parents do it. Yes I have done the step away approach but that doesn't stop the fit that just moves you beyond hands reach. All I can say is I have a whole new respect for single parents.

Everyone has their breaking point and I have been known to have a short fuse. My breaking point with Lily is tantrums. I just can't stand it. Every time she gets into a crying fit I feel my blood pressure boil and my patience shorten. Now if something is wrong there is a biological response that kicks in that turns off my pressure and extends my patience. I don't know what it is! How does nature do it? But crying because I touched her Play-dough box sends me over the edge. AAaggghhh!

I swear the kid had a two hour tantrum a few days ago. How can you scream, kick, fall, hit, and cry for that long? How does she still have a voice? Her eyes were so puffed up she could barely open them. You know what set her off? Applesauce. She wanted applesauce. Seriously? TWO HOURS! HALF A DOZEN TIME OUTS!!! This is why I will be gray before my time.

There has been a lotta bitch slapping in my house this week. All performed by Lily. I feel like a slapping/kicking bag. NOOO! :Slap: NNOOOO! :Kick: Which has led to a lot of time outs.

And naps and bed time? HA! No more setting her down and peacing out.

Lily: NOOOOO! I PLAY!
Mommy/Daddy: It is night night time.
Lily: NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
:Kicking, slapping, screaming:

Although she is still sleeping through the night. But where it took us ten minutes to put her down last month it is now at minimum an hour process.

I will say the counting helps me keep my cool. I am very stern and consistent with my counting. 1-2-3 TIME OUT is becoming a frequent phrase in our house. We have transitioned her time out spot to a wall/corning facing stance. Previously we were keeping her in the crib. But as her fits have gotten more dramatic and spirited I don't think the crib will hold up much longer! And she is hiking her leg up on the rail now. So I am starting to question its safeness.

Have we reached the terrible twos? Do I want to even attempt to have another child. Yesterday my answer was hell to the no. Have you lost your mind! No more babies for me.

That is until I got a phone call yesterday from daycare. Lily had a high temperature and I needed to come get her. Wait? Has she been sick all week and I didn't know it? Did I put her in time out because she was sick fussy? Oh crap. There I go being a crappy mom again. Have my Mommy senses failed me? When I got there she was all puppy dogged eyes and snuggly like I was the only one that could make her feel better. Okay maybe we will have one more.....just one. When Lily is 18...okay 30.

I'll give her a break until she starts feeling better. But I am sticking to my story that we have hit the terrible twos. Hey I am going to do what I gotta do to sleep tonight. Where is my sweet angel princess? I want her back STAT! Actually I just want to stop feeling like a horrible Mother since I have zero patience.

Better luck next week I guess. I will write this week off as a FAIL! And I heard the three's are worse! This is why you should have your kids close together. Before you realize what you are getting yourself into.

Disclaimer: No children were beaten during the creation of this post and no applesauce was consumed.

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NC Zoo

On Good Friday we loaded up the car and headed to Asheboro, NC to visit our state zoo. It was a gorgeous day, although at times hinting at a North Carolina summer afternoon. Our family met us from Charlotte and we spent the entire day searching for animals on their huge plains.

NC's Zoo rocks because they give the animals such great places to live. They are not caged in and confined like some of the other zoos I have been to. (i.e. DC Zoo) The elephant and rhino habitat is huge and the giraffe and zebra area is lush with greenery. Overall I don't feel sorry for the animals like have in the past. It looked like a pretty sweet deal to me!



We got an up close and personal look at the elephants! Check out this awesome shot I got.

Most of the animals were out in the morning when we first got there but by lunch time we were really hunting for them in their exhibits. They were sleeping the day away after breakfast.

We found this awesome Rhino that Lily loved.

She is such a ham. I was surprised she wasn't scared but she sat right ontop of this guy with no fear.

We couldn't get Morgan on top of him but she petted him with Daddy.

The girls had fun together. Although I didn't feel like they got a whole lot of time playing together because we had them in their strollers most of the time. But we did find a little egg play area. Just in time for Easter!

Our girls!

Big Man in a little Egg!

These pictures help demonstrate exactly how sunny it was....they were a little over exposed because it was BRIGHT!

We visited the Giaraffe Feeding Deck but they were not close enough to feed. We were fasicanted by our friend Mr. Zebra. Lily wanted to go "play with zebra" and "ride zebra"

Mommy and Lily

Play? ZZZEEEEeeebbbrrrraaaaa play?

The only animal I was sad we didn't see? Penquins! I wanted Lily to Waddle Waddle for them. But they don't have them at this zoo. I know Morgan was upset that the monkey exhibit was closed for renovations. We were going to walk all the way back and see the baboons but  the Tram line was so long so we opted out of another 45 minute walk.

Finally we got on the Carosuel around lunch time. But Lily was exhausted...she literally was about to fall asleep on the ride. But she loved it as usual.

Morgan and Daddy!

The zoo was a lot of fun. But a lot of walking. I lost a few pounds that day. It was something a little different to do. But something you only want to do every couple of years. Basically giving yourself enough time to forget how much walking it really is!

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Little Helper on Week Off

I had the entire week off and while I didn't get everything done (including some relaxation!) that I wanted I did get my closet organized. This was a two day adventure by the way. Hubby added a few shelves and I organized our dressers and went through clothes for goodwill. 

The task was made easier with my little helper. Well easier may be overstating it. But entertaining is right on the nose.  She 'sorted' clothes and tried them on. She even 'straightened' my shoes.

This shouldn't be in goodwill pile Mommy; it should be in the dry cleaning pile!

I don't think this fits anymore!

Mommy's little house elf. 

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