Ryan's New Chair-A present for her or for ME?!

When my mom came to visit one time and saw Ryan taking over the recliner and then the couch she casually mentioned, "Ryan needs her own chair." Hmmm, I initially blew this notion off cause honestly where in the hell would i put it? But if I heard, Move mommy" or "Mommy sit on the couch" one more time I was going to freak out. This child has taken over all the furniture and we ended up on the floor most of the time-NOT RIGHT!
So my mom bought her a great chair/ottoman combo sized just for her! I honestly thought it was going to be tougher than it was for her to start using it-but she really likes the idea of having her very own chair. The only problem is she still has to have her pillow (that she usually uses on the couch) but now drags to her chair-but it is pretty big and takes up most of the seat so she ends up sitting straight up...but hey, whatever she wants and whatever gets her to stop yelling at me to MOVE MOMMY!

I'm 2 Years Old!!!!!!

If you go back and read about Ryan's 1st birthday (which I have all but blocked out) you may find a word or two like STRESSFUL or OVERWHELMING or AM I A CRAZY PERSON FOR DOING ALL THIS???!!!! (Ok, that is more than one word). In any event, I was going to take all my energy this year to AVOID having a repeat of last year-first step was having my tubes tied (NO chance of a shocking pregnancy to ruin this birthday!) and I was all prepared to keep it extremely low key (No losing balloons to insane wind meltdowns). Well, as they say-they best laid plans. My Uncle Scott wanted to come down and bring his girlfriend and my grandma. Ok-still planning to keep it simple I agreed. It wasnt until my mom said she would come a few days before they arrived to "help" me get ready that I realized that this was going to be more than simple gathering. All of a sudden I have to come up with a theme, order a cake, balloons, and GASP actually really clean my house (and not just Jenbug clean, which is pretty clean, but "Mom" clean clean clean-which involves baseboards and such).
So my stress free birthday was stress free no longer and I didnt have the "I just found out I'm pregnant" excuse to fall back on for any meltdowns. YIKES. Thankfully I didnt need them-it went perfectly! Mom came in, cleaned my house for me (always welcomed) and once Scott, Rhonda and grandma came it was very casual and Ryan had a great time.
Aunt Judy sent Ryan a very special crown & tutu outfit that was very pretty, and for once let Ryan dress like a little princess-sort of (I wasnt sure what to put underneath it, so I did the best I could with pants and a t-shirt. We all went outside to color with chalk (Ryan LOVES to color), we opened presents and then had lunch and cake! It was very pleasant but the best part was coming-The Wildlife Center-any chance I get to hear Ryan say, "Trurttlllle"! I was so thankful to have Rhona with us as we toured because she taught Ryan so much (it is her normal job in Columbus) and Ryan stuck very close to her side! As much as I was dreading another birthday bash for Ryan-this one turned out to be perfect. ON the list of presents Ryan got-A sit-n-spin (my fav as a child), a vacuum (oddly it only picks up white/red styrofoam balls), clothes, Rhonda made cute blankets for both girls, and even ABBY got in on the gifts with clothes and a brand new stroller! Ryan loved it all and had a really great weekend!
I should also mention that for the first time Ryan said "Grandma" over and over over and over (careful what you wish for Grandma) again. Anytime mom would leave the house, Ryan would ask, "Wheres grandma?" I think she really liked the sound of it-both of them!

Who is this Easter Bunny and Why is he Looking at Me?

Good Lord the drama of decisions that we have to make as parents is exhausting. On this particular day we wanted to take the girls to the Wildlife Center for the Easter Egg hunt that afternoon. Seems easy enough, but check this out-here is the list of events/questions that would dictate which direction this day would take:
*The event started at 1-this falls into Ryan's normal nap time-so do we wait on her nap until after the event, or try to get her down early so she would wake up before we leave? (which is easier said than done-ever try putting a wide awake 2 year old down early-it is like giving a cat a bath)
*It was threatening thunderstorms, raining off and on and the event was outside-this was the biggest factor that set off a domino of other choices and backup plans all of which had consequences. Here is how that goes:
If it was raining we would take the girls to the mall to meet the Easter Bunny-which would mean that they would have to wear their fancy Easter Dresses instead of just a cute play dress that I was going to put them in for the Easter Egg hunt. If after the mall it wasnt raining, then we would go to the Easter Egg hunt but I would change her outfit to the previous outfit so she could play, but we cant stay long in case she didnt nap early, she is going to get tired and need a nap. If however, it is still raining, then we can stay in the fancy dress and walk in the mall shopping. WHEW! Exhausting isnt it?! Here is what ended up happening:
No nap, we got dressed up in the fancy dress and headed to the mall because it was raining, the Easter Bunny FREAKED Ryan out and so Jamey (who didnt shower because in all our preparation, didnt leave time for that) had to get into the picture (hysterical picture), we noticed it had stopped raining, but forgot the other play dress so we heading to the Wildlife Center with our fancy dress on. Upon arriving there was another Easter Bunny, after keeping a wide perimeter around the bunny (they ARE sneaky Ryan)we found out we missed the Egg Hunt, disappointed, we headed over to the playground, but it was wet from he rain, still dressed up, we decided to let her play (you try telling her NO). After a brief playground episode in her fancy dress, she got tired and fussy and wanted to go home. So after all the debate, deliberations, and preparations-we ended up going home with a bad picture of the girls with the evil Easter Bunny, a dirty dress and a cranky child!

My Boo-Boo

By the looks of these pictures you would never have guessed the sheer trauma of her skinning her knee. In her defense, while she has skinned her knee at daycare before, this one was bad, this was the worst one yet. Please dont tell her I am laughing about this now, but it was all pretty funny-until the meltdown of epic proportions. She fell at the park-fine, she got up, dusted herself off, and continued on toward the car-NO TEARS. It wasnt until we were just about home that the pain must have set in, cause she all of a sudden looked down at her knee, saw all the blood and FREAKED out! And of coarse the worst was yet to come because I had to clean out the wound. I cleaned it, the earth shook, I put on the Incedibles and then all was right in the world. Kids are funny-if that only would work for adults. I myself am calmed by House, but whatever...
I wanted to document the occasion of the bad boo-boo that made her scream bloody murder but once I got the camera out she starting pointing at it, and showing it off like a war wound...like it never hurt and she was just "so brave". Uh-huh Ryan, I was there...I remember the screaming! :)

Just Another Day at the Park!

I know it seems like we go to the park all the time because I post pictures of them there quite a bit. But for the record, between the weather being uncooperative and Jamey's schedule also uncooperative these trips are few and far between and quite special. This day in particular because both girls could "stretch out" so to speak. Of coarse Jamey forced that damn soccer ball on Ryan again but she seemed much more interested in running on the path, climbing a tree (well, looking up the tree then picking at its bark), performing the fitness trail equipment (or trying anyway), then kicking that ball. (SCORE one for mommy). Leah seemed at total ease once her eyes adjusted to the light (like a vampire for the past few weeks, the light took her by surprise I think). We tried in vein to get past the playground without Ryan noticing (who knew a 2 year old wouldn't fall for-Hey, look over there, its Santa!) but we were loudly persuaded to let her play on it for a bit. Good times!

It Aint Easy Being Green

No pinching my girls-I dressed them in their finest St. Patty's Day GREEN! Now I, on the other hand, realized I had absolutely nothing green to wear to work that day-do you think a 3 month old covered in clovers, worn on my hip counts as an accessory and can keep me from getting pinched? I mean, I bruise like a peach!