Couponer in Training

Check out my post here about Grace and coupons. Too funny! That girl cracks me up, I tell you what.

My Two Daddi-os

Well, not my two Daddi-os, but the two Dad's in my life. I am overdue on a Happy Father's Day post - it's just darned near impossible to get to the computer over the weekend, so this is a belated catch-up post.

I didn't hear about a radio contest like the "My Mom's the Bomb" for Father's Day, so I thought I'd do my own little version and tell you why - "My Dad is Rad." And then I'll write why "My Kids' Dad is Rad"

My Dad is Rad...

My dad is a rad dad. He's not only rad, he's intelligent, he's wise, he's quick-witted, he's hysterically funny, he's lovable, he's loving, he was smart to marry my mother, he was a great father to me when I was growing up and I am enjoying him even more as an adult, myself. He is a great granpda to my daughters.

My dad has a rad sense of humor. I can say that because I have the exact same one!

Dad always made me feel valued and loved as a kid, as a teenager, as a college student, and now as an adult. I believe that a woman's confidence and self-esteem begin with her father and growing up, Dad made me feel beautiful and special.

He took care of me when we were first battling the early stages of asthma - he used to make me laugh in my horribly long doctor appointments and we always had some joke on the doctor that made things seem a little bit better in that wretched hospital.

Many people tell me now, that I have a lot of the same traits as my father. I have my mother's eyes, but my dad's sense of humor...(and his hair!) I am proud when people tell me this, because I love my Dad. He's not only rad, he freaking rocks!

Why Grace & Annemarie's Dad is Rad

When I first started dating Clint, the first thing that people would tell me about him was that he's going to make an awesome father. They observed him with our niece, Madison, and were impressed by his love for her and the way that he handled himself with her.

Well, turns out - they were RIGHT. Clint is an awesomely rad dad. He loves his little girls more than they'll ever know. He will always stand up for them. He is kind, he loves to brush their hair, he loves to wrestle with Grace and snuggle with Annie, he tells them how beautiful they are and how much he loves them every single day.

Clint is very good with keeping his cool around the girls, because - let's face it - they are 1 & 3 and a bit on the demanding side. He helps me around the house, to care for them. He works hard to provide for their needs. He doesn't ever, EVER want to spend one minute apart, if it could be spent together. He is devoted to making memories with his children and enjoys establishing traditions during Christmas, summer, the WaterFestival, etc...

When I ask Grace who she is going to marry, she always answers "Daddy" and I know without a doubt that she loves him just as much as he loves her and someday, when Annie can talk - she'll answer the exact same way.

Happy Belated Father's Day to my two wonderful Daddi-os!

GEEZ! Where have I been?

Right so - last blog post about the kiddos was almost 3 weeks ago?? Bad Amy. I also have a Happy Father's Day post that I need to get written up, eh? Believe me, they're all in my head - just have to get them out.

Update on the kiddos:

Growing a ton. I took Annie to the ENT with me (oh, yeah, I have to have surgery in September - blech...) and had him check her out. We had some suspicions of fluid behind the ears and possibly enlarged adenoids - ANYTHING to tell us why she was waking up and puking that stretch during the spring there and good news! He gave her a clean bill. She's completely clear in her E, N & T. But he did tell me that she's cutting about 4 different teeth - 3 of them being the back teeth. I gotta tell ya, I just don't think she handles pain well and that's why she's waking up. Seems like she's been teething forever, but these suckers are taking their own sweet time, so yeah - she's been teething for about 7 months now! And waking up at night in the process. Case closed.

Annie is also going through a VERY HUGE "I want my MOMMY" and "ONLY MY MOMMY" phase. It's quite exhausting, but very flattering at the same time.

Grace is officially a kid. No longer my toddler baby. She's using words like "enjoy", "relax", "Mom, you're driving me NUTS!", "Annie's makin' me CRAZY!" Seriously - she talks so well, I forget that she's only 3 1/2. It does come screaming back to me whenever she has a potty accident, though. I am proud to say that, when I took her to a park in Lawton on of our playdates with the Hunts, that she befriended a 4 year old girl (Anna) and Anna's mom commented to me on how sweet and polite Grace was. (Wha-a-a-t?) She was SHOCKED when she asked Grace how old she was and Grace told her, "I'm 3!" She said she talks amazingly well for a three year old. Well, phew! Grace knows how to be socially acceptable. (On the playground at least)

We've had a good summer so far. We've been on a couple playdates, made a few new friends, been to the park umpteen times. Last Friday we went to the Water Festival Parade and Grace reigned in a ton of candy, while Annie sat fairly contentedly on my lap, although she did not care for anyone dressed up as a clown or animal, or the sirens either. They all scared her. We went to the pancake breakfast at the FireStation the next morning (that was a first for me!), the old car show, the flea market/vendor area and the KidZone. It was quite a morning! And it was a lot of fun to start traditions of normal "family-type" things. We are no longer just trying to keep Grace out of stuff, she can control herself (for the most part) and obey and enjoy activities, which in turn allows us to enjoy ourselves, and Annie was content to stay in the stroller and watch everything go by. Ahhhh....we are looking forward to vacation!

Here's a couple of pics I managed to get of the girls. My camera has been acting funny lately, so I've not gotten a lot lately, but these were taken on my mom & dad's porch a couple Sundays back. Could they be any cuter?

Grace & Emmy Jo

Recently Grace "re-found" a toy she had been given a year ago for Christmas. It's this cute little doll puppet that Clint named Emmy Jo. Over the weekend, Grace asked me almost NON STOP if I could make Emmy Jo talk, so they could have a "chat." I'd put the puppet on, change my voice and talk to Grace about anything and everything - generally trying to throw in a few brainwashing thoughts like "We should NEVER bite our friends" and "Vegetables make you grow STRONG and HEALTHY!", etc...

Grace would asked me to get Emmy Jo a snack. "What do you think Emmy Jo would like to eat?" I'd ask. "Emmy Jo would like sweeties" she replied without even a second thought.

Huh. Funny - Grace loves sweeties.

A few times, Grace would put Emmy Jo on and would make her talk, she changed her voice to a weird-o high pitched Gracie voice and would have Emmy Jo say "Hi Amy!"

Wha-a-at? I looked at Emmy Jo, then I looked at Grace, eyebrow cocked.

"You know, like my friend Robby calls you Amy," Grace explained.

Oh. I see. That girl does not miss a beat, I tell ya.

So we were riding in the truck last Saturday, Emmy Jo in tow and I hear Grace's puppet voice and then Clint looks over at me and says -

"It really creeps me out when Emmy Jo calls me Clint."

I cracked up. I love my little Gracie girl and her mind. She's so fun to observe and figure out.

Can 1 year olds have fetishes?

Because if they can - Annie has one. For hair. That girl cannot leave my hair alone. I think probably the thing I will remember most about rocking Annie to sleep at night, will be her stretching her arms out at full length wildly grasping for a lock of hair to hold onto. (For Grace, my fondest memory is WRESTLING her to get her to go to sleep.) Annie likes to run her fingers through everybody's hair when she's sleepy. When I had longer hair, it wasn't so bad, but now with just the shoulder length, I have to cock my head (a bit uncomfortably) to one side to get the hair down where she can reach it. I've tried just keeping my head away, but her little hand will search and search and search until she finds it.

Pretty sure that's why she wants me to put her to sleep all the time, rather than Clint. Hair twirling is sort of *ahem* a no go with him.

Here's a sequence of Pics I took of Annie last weekend. We were outside all while Clint planted the garden. Grace was helping plant (sort of), so I basically just followed Annie around and took her picture.

I could be 10,000 richer!

I wish everyone could have seen what I witnessed on Tuesday night. It was so priceless and I laughed my fool head off at my poor younger daughter who was just distraught.

Both girls had fallen asleep on the way home from the sitter's, so I stayed home with them while Clint and his dad went out to eat - they were gone a couple of hours and came back home just when it was starting to get dark - around dusk, which incidentally is when our big, black, protective retriever, Apache is generally the most anxious. By that time, the girls had been fed and in their jammies and Annie had gone into the bedroom and was just walking out into the living room holding this metal tin full of dominoes. She loves these things! Just the perfect size for her little hands, and she had the whole box, face up, cover off, all the dominoes still laying in pretty little rows.

At exactly the time that she walked into the room with her cargo, Apache was heading over to her and at that time, Clint and his dad (in his dad's car) pulled up and the "strange" car always causes Apache to bark his loudest bark. It was so sudden, so loud, unexpected and right next to her that it just TERRIFIED Annie. She flipped out! She screamed so loud and all the dominoes flew high up in the air and crashed to floor - loudly. Terrified is the only word for the look on her face, just scared so much by that loud, loud bark. She screamed, looked at me with wide eyes, screamed again, looked back at the dog, screamed again and then just burst into tears, still holding the empty tin of dominoes in her little hands. I wish I had pictures.

It took a long time to comfort her and calm her down, and of course, like a good mommy, I waited till afterwards to crack up, but gosh - it was exactly like something you'd see right off of "America's Funniest Home Videos." Exactly.

Princess Anne

Annie has slipped into the copy-cat routine, she generally likes to be doing whatever her big sister is doing. I've seen her oh-so-proud to be standing on Grace's bathroom stool. It's so funny and so darling! I love it.

Grace was dressing up the other day and so I told her (Grace) to go get her old Snow White dress and we'll see if it fit Annie. It did. Turned out pretty cute, but Anne didn't exactly seem that thrilled with the results. I'm sure if she had more hair, the crown would've hurt my bald-headed little princess a little less!