Parenting from Scratch

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Summer is wearing me out already! I took today off from work so I could go to Sadie's field day. Yes, Sadie's school had field day for the early childhood center, and it was pretty hilarious. The P2 crew only participated in two events:...

Taking One for the Team Something I've realized about becoming a parent is that it really highlights the dominant elements of my personality. If I was introspective before, now I'm an absolute naval-gazer. A curious web-surfer?...

This is What an Evening Can Look Like Well, I managed to buy some $91 worth of groceries, yet made it out of Kroger without a single meal to prepare for the week. Sadie screamed (and hit and kicked) for at least five minutes before I made...

Bigger than Yesterday To all the people out there who told me Sadie wouldn't want to be patted and shushed to sleep forever: You were right. It only took two years and nine months. Your browser does not support the video tag

A Princess, Even in Red First, a special shout-out (not that they'll ever read this) to the ladies at Vintage Socialite in Hillcrest. They were so kind to let a pleading Sadie not only try on some shoes, but they also didn't...

Cookie Pants We took Sadie to a drive-through holiday light display tonight. It was amusing, to say the least. When we finally hit The Line, Sadie started her stoplight chorus of "TURN GREEN!" (Oh, yes. Trevor has...

Sweet Nutcracker [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="We took Sadie to see the Nutcracker Ballet for the first time. We had front-row seats, because Sadie's cousin had the role of Clara."][/caption] [caption...

Photo update [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Yoga mats are considered princess dresses in some parts of the world, yes?"][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="No,...

This Kid Calls everyone her Best Friend, except for people she claims to be afraid of. Speaks lovingly and longingly of her Best Friends. She misses them, wants to love on them and SQUEEEZE on them. Appears...

Halloween! It's Sadie's third Halloween, but it's really her first to fully participate. I was worried about Sadie not having some big kids to trick-or-treat with. We made a few practice runs at friends' houses,...

Thatta Be A Great Idea I asked Sadie where she would go if she could drive the car. "To the store to get some more candy." Clearly Halloween season is upon us.

Life Imitates Art Nope, that's not just Sadie watching a little TV. That's Sadie reenacting the beginning of Alice in Wonderland. I didn't grab my phone quickly enough to catch the start of her performance. Ah, well.

Even though purple is my least favorite color I'm feeling pretty grown up about our new bedding. We've maintained our old sense of style by adding the wrinkles. Here's hoping the dogs don't trash it.

Favorites Sadie's just discovered the joy of back scratches. I'm in for a long few years.

Her Arkeysaw I took off a bit early today and picked up some bakery cookies on my way to get Sadie. She's really become enamored with the Arkansas state capital building, and we drive to see and go through the tunnel...

Best of Intentions Want to know what not to get your kid to celebrate no more diapers (!) and being 2 and a half (not two and ever, as Sadie would tell you)? A fish in a tank. Sadie loved the idea of the fish, who...

Duck Duck Goose Fall 2011 Disclosure: I received 20 Duck Bucks to use while creating this blog post. However, the statements and opinions contained within the post are mine. I certainly wouldn't consider myself a hardcore children's...

So, I went to South America. I guess I forgot to mention it. I went to Peru and Ecuador for work, and I blogged a lot about it on the Heifer blog. I've actually still got more posts coming, but below are the posts I've done so far. My...

Maybe they Should Work on Getting This Crap Out of... NPR.org » Weekly Standard: Kid Tested, Not FDA Approved. I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport, and I remembered this link I'd emailed to myself. It's really great and all that the Obama administration...

A short, but long-overdue update. We had a day of several firsts today, and I thought I'd share them here. Sadie made her first prank call this morning. It was pretty funny, actually. We have a land line for the purpose of having our...

I make granola bars, what of it? I just read this post at Becoming Sarah, and it struck a chord with me. I can relate to the hesitancy toward letting people see just how uptight I am about food. It all started with a college course...

Don't Mind Me I'm just testing some Wordpress themes for another project. Things will go back to normal(ish) soon.

In the Flesh Some people find the Virgin Mary on their toast or Jesus on a water-stained wall. Me? I find Harry Potter's scar in my cantaloupe.

Ode A belated Father's Day ode to Trevor, my partner in: Crime. Just kidding. Fun. Getting shit done around the house. Making the moneys. Paying the bills on time. Keeping Sadie alive. Keeping Sadie...

De-wizened. Well, I finally (!) had my wisdom teeth pulled today, at the ripe old age of 30. While the oral surgeon kept telling me during the consultation that I should have had these out way earlier, I'm rather...

I Watcha Birds So here's a little secret. Remember when I mentioned that we've let Sadie watch a bit more "TV" than we'd planned to at this point? Well, a certain member of the household (who shall remain unnamed...

Wordless Wednesday: Belated Birthday Shots

An update for May. Wow. I feel like things have been going a mile-a-minute lately. Here are some ramblings to catch you up (and so I can at least sort of remember what life was like with a 2 year-old Sadie. Verbal, verbal,...

It's impossible not to laugh When your toddler says her first swear word. Sadie, Trevor and I were having lunch yesterday at the cafe at my office. Sadie wanted to take over peeling the orange, so I handed it to her. After a few...

Mighty Two A happy birthday, indeed, was had by miss Sadie Diane. We are all wiped out (and still awake, cripes!), so here are just a few phone snapshots for now

Somebody's Turning Two-ooooh. I've been busy working on Sadie's birthday party this Sunday, and I'm definitely getting excited. It's going to be much smaller than last year, just family and a handful of friends. Since Sadie's favorite...

Tommy Baby World, meet Tommy Baby (aka Teeny Tiny Baby). Sadie found Tommy Baby at an estate sale a few doors down the other day and insisted on taking him home. I believe he must have been a somewhat large Baby...

It's World Water Day Are you doing anything for World Water Day? Here's my contribution: http://blog.heifer.org/2011/03/world-water-day-lets-unite-for-clean.html

Heritage I was trying to get Sadie to say, "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" this morning. Instead, I got two kisses.

Yay for video on my new phone! Now I can capture adorable moments like this: Somebody is REALLY into birthdays these days.

More than you want to know: Thought I was having implantation bleeding and morning sickness. Instead, it's an early period and a stomach bug. Oh, and a SUPER cranky toddler.

Penguins! In Little Rock! So, I've kind of always had a thing for penguins. I still remember the first time I saw a penguin exhibit. I was 20, and it was at the New Orleans aquarium. They're just so darn cute. Naturally, I wat...

Wordless Wednesday: When did she get so big?

Now that it's warming up... Here are some way belated snow day pictures. That I stole from Carrie's Picassa album. Thanks, Carrie! Okay, so these actually aren't really of snow. They're of Sadie and me proving that we can still...

Austin We're in Austin for Trevor's birthday and the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. We've been enjoying ourselves, indulging in things like TV, making a mess of our room, French fries, milkshakes and general...

Penguin teaser post Just a quick preview of the sweet new penguin exhibit opening at the Little Rock Zoo. I'm waiting on an info sheet with more details about the penguins and the exhibit, and we're going to be out of...

Self-centered. It's been pretty quiet around here lately. I don't think it's just me, but I've really noticed that there's quite the dearth of photos of me in existence these days. I'm not super crazy about being...

Super Bowl, Sadie Style Having spent three days last week in day care, it's no surprise Sadie came down with a cold just in time for Super Bowl Sunday. Rather than drag her along to a party an hour away and infect the other wee...

Sadie's POV

Too Big Baby Meet Sadie's new, 7 month-old baby sister, Too Big Baby. Sadie insisted on taking Too Big Baby home with us from my sister's house Sunday night, and they've been attached on my at the hip ever since. This...

Oh, right. I have a blog here. I've, uh, been blogging somewhere else. And there's so much more to do over there. Here are links to the Heifer Blog posts I've done about my Africa trip so far. (If you make it to the bottom of the list,...

Reconciliation Okay, so to make up for the negativity from the other night, here are examples of Sadie being her usual, exceedingly adorable and awesome (albeit excessively busy) self. I let her have a jammies morning,...

This is what nursing a toddler is like. It's almost 2 in the morning. I've finally convinced Sadie that she wants her dad instead of me. I'm paranoid that as soon as he tries to put her back down in her crib, she's going to start crying again,...

Heifer Blog | Biogas in Uganda Heifer Blog | The Official Blog of Heifer International: Biogas in Uganda. Here's another one, y'all.

Heifer Blog | The Storks of Kampala Heifer Blog | The Official Blog of Heifer International: The Storks of Kampala. Hey guys, here's my first post on Uganda. If you're interested, please leave comments! Comments are lacking on most of...

Nine thousand cottleston pies. Well, more like 9,000 miles. That's about how far I'm going to be from my family. For real. In case I haven't talked to you lately, the big news is that I am traveling to Kenya and Uganda for work....

Our little music snob. Alright, alright, I know Sadie's not REALLY a music snob. I'm sure it's totally normal for toddlers to get fixated on something, like the same song, and practically refuse to diversify their interests....

Nursing Sadie, the Mother-in-Training At about 6:00 Thursday morning, I nursed my first babydoll. I'd been wondering when it was going to happen, and figured it was bound to at some point, with Sadie still nursing and with her growing attachment...

Where are you going to be at midnight? I'll be watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Suckas. Of course, I'll be the sucker at 5:45 in the morning when Sadie is up for the day. Or at 2:00 in the afternoon when I can't think...

Dreaming my dreams. So, remember when I said that I'd probably have tornado nightmares after our absurd pumpkin patch trip this year? I had the Mother of All Tornado Dreams the other night. Y'all, it was scary. And bizarre...

Halloween! Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love costumes. I love candy. I look forward to when Sadie is really old enough to fully enjoy it. I think she's going to love it! She might have had a little bit of...

Sadie + Jasper = Want to see some seriously cute pictures of Sadie and her friend Jasper? Go to Stephanie's blog and read her post. We had the best day at the Memphis Zoo! Only wish it were longer or that Stephanie, Sean...

Heifer International to announce new top executive... Big stuff happening at work, y'all. Heifer International to announce new top executive - Forbes.com.

Swept up. I tell you what... It sure never gets boring around our house. But I think Trevor and I are definitely out of the running for 2010 Parents of the Year. Remember the box car accident? Well, since then Sadie...

Over there. Hey, guys. I was asked to write a guest post for the Arkansas Women Bloggers blog. And I did. You can read it, if you want.

Wordless Wednesday: Wiwwow

These hands Babys hands by MademoiselleChipotte on Etsy. These are creepy, no?

Principles of Healthy Diets Principles of Healthy Diets. This is really fascinating stuff. I've been thinking more and more lately about my diet (and Trevor's and Sadie's), and while I think we are generally doing really well,...

The Oil Cleansing Method - A simple, cleansing facial... The Oil Cleansing Method - A simple, cleansing facial massage for clear skin!. I cleaned my face with oil last night. Strange concept. Olive Oil (EV) and castor oil (not just for inducing poos or labor)....

Snaggletooth That's what my younger sister, Meg, used to call me. Snaggletooth. I really did have some effed up teeth when I was a kid. Thanks to braces (but no thanks to my inability to continue wearing my retainer),...

On why I never post. I have very little energy for blogging lately. Add to that the fact that I made the egregious mistake of downloading Peekaboo Barn for Sadie during a DESPERATELY long doctor's appointment and can no longer...

I can't wait to answer questions like these for Sadie. Kids' Questions About Turtles. If she's as inquisitive as I seem to be, I'm in for a real treat!

One What I like about the weather getting colder. --The water from the tap is deliciously cold at our house. That, uh, pretty much sums it up.

Rawr Sadie, I miss you more than T-Rex misses his little arms.

Returned Good morning, Sadie; we're back in Hogsmeade.

Quack quack. I miss you, Sadie; look, some ducks!

Waka waka I miss ya, SD; you'll love the Muppet 3D show some day.

Terrifying I miss you, Sadie; mama and Leah just rode this, and it was REALLY scary. We're gonna ride it again.

Wanyed I love you, Sadie; I found Mr. Potato Head.

Dessert I miss you so much, Sadie; this is a cauldron cake. Sleep tight, baby.

Downpour I love you, Sadie; it can really rain hard here in Florida.

Marvel I love you, Sadie; they say you're having a great day at daycare.

Suessical I love you, Sadie; I can't wait to bring you here when you're older.

Castle I miss you, Sadie; this is Hogwarts Castle.

Wordless Wednesday

British I miss you so much, Sadie; I'm eating baked beans with breakfast this morning.

Upside down. I miss you, Sadie; the palm trees are fantastic.

Some things I've failed to mention. For the most part, the fact that I never get around to posting hasn't meant too much. In other words, although Sadie is cutely chugging along through toddlerhood, most of the things in our lives are pretty...

Schooled. I learned two valuable lessons from Sadie Diane tonight. First. Never put an enraged toddler to the breast. She will bite. You will bleed. Second. Don't confuse informed force with providing options....

Sadie's short-lived big kid room. So, last Thursday morning (What is it with Thursdays lately?), right when I was about to leave for work, I went into Sadie's room and discovered this (this is taken a few minutes later): Yep, Sadie's...

Fat Goat Challenge Update Alright. So, I took down the Fat Goat Challenge page. It was kind of stupid. But I haven't forgotten about that dreadful picture of Sadie and me, and I haven't quite stopped my quest at becoming a less-fat...

One of those weeks. Wowza. I'm glad it's Friday. This has definitely been one of those weeks where, if it's not one thing, it's something else. I don't like being a Master Complainer, but I need to get this off my chest. This...

Wordless Wednesday: Petite Pirates

A sneak peak Just a preview of the cuteness and fun that shall be the 7th Annual T&A's Homemade Boat Race and Pirates and Portwhores Party. That is, if I remember to take and post pictures. These are the onesies I...

Wordless Wednesday: Consignment WIN

Either-Or Does the fact that Sadie talks to and kisses (okay, I might have encouraged that one) the baby on her yogurt cup make her totally awesome or a little bit crazy? She doesn't even bother learning the sign...

Starts with a V and ends with a-cay-shun. Heck, yeah! Summer vacation. The last time I took one of those, I was seven weeks pregnant, got a nasty head cold and spent approximately 96 percent of my time in a dark room watching a marathon of a show...

Some tidbits. I just wrote a massive blog post about our vacation to Branson. But I don't want to publish it just yet, in the hopes that I'll score some more/better photos from family members in the meantime. So here...

Homemade laundry detergent Is not that hard to make. I recently made my second batch, and I remembered to take some (not so awesome) pictures while I was at it. All you need to do is: 1. Get a clean container and a scoop; 2....

Sprinkler + potting soil + Sadie = best Arkansas summer... Oh, we are having a good time! I truly loved Sadie's first year, but this summer is taking the cake of all the summers I've had in my life (okay, so Sadie and I spent most of last summer napping on...

Gone baby, gone. Trevor shaved his goatee (affectionally known in this family as his goat beard) this morning. He last shaved his chin before moving to Arkansas to volunteer at Heifer Ranch. Nearly SEVEN YEARS AGO. I have...

Wordless Wednesday: Do not adjust the color on your... (Post walk/run, post hydration, post shower. Still red.)

Waiting. How sad is it that this is the first chance I've had in a while to post, and I'm posting from my phone while waiting in line to get my passport renewed. Pretty sad. No, I am not about to be whisked away...

Wordless Wednesday: Independently Silly (Some of the only photos I thought to take on the 4th.)

Wayback Wednesday: Crush Okay, so I'll admit that I've been boy-crazy my whole life. I always crushed easily, and I typically took it in stride. I had this theory: if you didn't put yourself out there, it was almost certain...

The Fat Goat Challenge Let me begin by making this disclaimer: I know that I am not overweight. I have a healthy BMI, and the vast majority of the foods I consume are very healthy. Having said that, however, I will admit that...

Millions of Peaches. Okay, maybe not millions. But WAY more than I'd anticipated. When I ordered a half bushel. Which is about 25 pounds. Give or take. Which is A LOT of peaches, FYI. I have Bartered 10 of them...

BG Stands for Big Girl [caption id="attachment_878" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption=""It's cool, Mom, I got this." (At buddy Nash's gymnastics birthday party.)"][/caption] One of Sadie's many nicknames...

T-Dawg on a Blog Turns out I'm not the only one in the family blogging. Well, I guess I'd have to actually post to be "blogging." I'll get back in the saddle here soon, I promise. I hope. I think.

Wordless Wednesday: This can't be a good phase (Black beans, then blueberries; not pictured, cereal.) (Oh, and the next-to-last one, her mouth is open so wide, because she's exclaiming, "YEAH!" after fitting the big berry in there.) (Parenthetical...

Shoes. Let me tell you something (Heather, if you're reading, that should be read with a Michael T. accent). This girl loves her shoes. I would have never imagined. Sometimes she'll just bring me a pair, out...

Cannot wait. Cannot wait cannot wait cannotwait!

Water water. Water water. So, I'm getting a little worried about something. Water. And Sadie. Not mixing so well anymore. Apart from her first bath, Sadie has pretty well liked bath time, and I seem to remember her really digging...

Violet. Sadie is a blueberry-eating machine! So we went to the farmers market the other Saturday. And I bought some blueberries. Lots of them. I intend to make more jam, but we also like just munching them. Sadie, apparently is a blueberry fiend....

Baby love. Everything I just typed disappeared into the Interwebs clouds. It's 11:17, and I'm really tired and burned out from thinking. So here's the bulleted version of a sweet post I wrote about Sadie and her...

I try. I try to take pictures of Sadie in her cloth diaper; I fail, because she wants to take the diaper off. I try to take pictures of Sadie' 11curling hairs; I fail, because she wants to know what I'm doing...

Wordless Wednesday: Friend to Felines Edition

Camping or bust. In a moment of spontaneity, we decided to take Sadie on her first camping trip this past Saturday. Trevor had a bike race on the Womble Trail, just outside Mt. Ida, Sunday morning. Trevor's first race...

Coffee ice cream is caffeinated. Somehow, my hair managed to frizz up cute tonight. Why can't it do this on demand, is all I'm sayin? Scary, however is my super shiny forehead. And the fact that I took like four shots before I felt like...

Sadie's Bento-ish lunch. I've been making Sadie's lunch to take to daycare for quite a while now. The other day, though, I kind of started to panic (okay, maybe panic is a strong word) that a) I wasn't sending her with enough...

Cooling off. Whew, it's starting to get hot here in Arkansas! The Greek Food Festival was this past weekend, and we took Sadie for dinner Friday night. Sadie loved the lamb, and she also enjoyed some ice cream with...

Hard at work. I've tried to commit myself to never posting about not posting, but here we are. Things have gotten BUSY at work--the busiest since I started in October. I've been learning a new program (since I'm on...

Vote early and often. Or, on time. Tomorrow is primary day for our midterm elections here in Arkansas. I don't dabble too heavily in politics, but voting has become increasingly important to me. In fact, you can just ask...

A quick lesson from my mistake. I feel like many people, before Sadie was born, talked a lot about how after we had Sadie, we'd be doing laundry all the time. Of course, we're cloth diapering, so that was a no-brainer. But all along,...

Bloggers Without Makeup Day I don't know how widespread this is, but Mummy Mayhem has declared today Bloggers Without Makeup Day. You can read about her explanation here (I learned of this via Good Goog, in case you were curious). Now,...

Our milk conundrum continues. So remember when I was all, I'm grossed out at the thought of Sadie drinking cow's milk? Right. Well, now I sure wish she would. I had my last pumping session last Friday. I had been considering it, and...

Tuesday lunch date I think you can see why Tuesday is my favorite day of the work week.

Keeping up. Every few months or so, whenever I notice how much Sadie has changed, progressed, developed, I kind of panic. About her toys. We've been very discriminating about what toys we keep in our home, in part...

Mother's Day Recap Despite the cold and rainy morning, we took Sadie on her first bike ride. She was a little less than thrilled about donning the helmet. Suck it up, kid. Them's the rules. Snuggled with...

Life from the couch I'll spare you the details, but this week I've either had some sort of stomach bug, or I have managed to give myself a touch of food poisoning. Twice. Today I worked from home, which means I was glued...

Reply turned post: Sleeping in the Gray Area As you know, we've been back-and-forth some (okay, a TON) over Sadie's sleep. Well, I am happy to report that things are still going swimmingly. Even in the face of some major teething. Sure, there are...

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday I can't believe I almost missed THIS. Somebody's off the hook for Mother's Day this year! Best present ever.

Sadie's Heifer Heritage Once upon a time, there was a girl who decided that, instead of working retail for the summer, she would spend her time volunteering at a ranch; Heifer Ranch, to be exact. It was the summer before her...

Weekend Links: Things I think you should read. If you need a little inspiration for changing the way you eat, go watch the trailer for the PBS special, Nourish: Food + Community. Rixa of Stand and Deliver has highlights from her conversation with...

Hazard Looks like someone missed the memo about driving & chatting. Oh, she's a silly one, that Sadie! We have a drawer in our coffee table with all of the clickers (remotes, buttons, whatever) for...

Doldrums Let's take a moment to shake off yesterday's totally lame post. Whew! And, regroup. So I've realized that I totally didn't do a letter to Sadie for her first birthday. I've been feeling kind of bad...

Suction bowl fail. Or win, if your names are Willow and Nari.

Difficulties Our internets are down. The in-laws are in town. Going to be a quiet long weekend at Parenting from Scratch. I'll leave you with a blurry shot of Sadie Diane, looking like such the little Borden.

Seven US Dollars Or thereabouts. That's how much it cost to get my dang period to reappear. According to my little iPhone menstrual calendar thingey, I should have started back on the 14th. I know that since I'm still...

Wayback Wednesday For this week's Wayback Wednesday, we're not going too far back, but it seems a lifetime ago for me. These are some of the first pictures I took of Sadie with my phone. Look ab how tiny she was! It's so...

So Sadie Sleeps Okay, so remember how they always tell you never to say never? Right. So I kept on reading about babies and sleep, trying to figure out what the best thing for Sadie truly was. And some of the conclusions...

Sweet, sweet Arkansas Here's a great reason to love Arkansas: the strawberries. It seems a little crazy that we've been munching on our first quart of the year, and it's only April, but you won't hear any complaining out of...

Cooking from Scratch: How the Internet has changed... Last Monday, I shared a post with you about how we've adopted an online menu planning service as our method of improving the healthiness of our dinners. Now, I'd like to show you another tool that I use...

Bleh. Despite all of the glorious sleep I've been getting (more on that soon), I'm feeling kind of lame these days. Maybe it has something to do with the period that was supposed to have started (no, don't start...

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Feels So Good

Duck Watch 2010 One thing I LOVE about my job is the moat at the office. Yes, you read that right: a moat. Okay, so it's not a true moat, because it doesn't go ALL the way around, but it does go most of the way. And the...

Cooking from Scratch: How the Internet has changed... Before Sadie was born, I knew I wanted to change our eating habits. But then, you know, we had a baby. And that plan sort of went on the back burner. A typical week's menu looked like this: Monday--(microwaved)...

My Day Without Shoes Was pretty uneventful. I didn't get any cuts, not even a stone bruise. I'm fairly certain I did not pick up any worms or contract any diseases. It was a bit cool (in the 40s when I left for work), but...

String bean Sadie and I went to her 1-year check-up at her pediatrician's yesterday morning. It was pretty uneventful, but a few things worth mentioning: Sadie weighs 20 pounds! She's mostly been on the upper...

One Day Without Shoes: Tomorrow! Tomorrow is One Day Without Shoes day. I think I'm actually going to take the challenge. Working for an international development organization certainly makes me more aware of the struggles of the...

Knowing is half the battle. The trouble is, we're not even winning this half. For those of you who are not parents, let me go on the record saying that making decisions that affect your child can be really, really tough. Sometimes...

This is what happens, Larry. So it turns out I'm not always an effective communicator. This is a big problem when you are trying to raise a child with someone else. Take last night, for example. I'd come to the conclusion that...

Messing around. Instead of going to bed early, and instead of posting pictures from Sadie's birthday party or from the Easter activities today, I've been messing with the design of my blog. I thought it would be interesting...

Happy Birthday!

Sadie's birth in pictures: Part VIII Okay, so I'm just going to clump the April 3rd pictures together. Because this is taking forever (I mean, nothing compared to the birth itself, but you're likely getting bored with this). Plus, you've...

Decorating destraction It's after midnight on April 3rd. One year ago I had just transferred to the hospital. I remember it like it was yesterday. The car ride was awful. Getting into the wheelchair, having pushing contractions...

Sadie's birth in pictures: Part VII [caption id="attachment_520" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="April 2, 2009, 9:46pm. I'm so glad I'm able to laugh a little about this picture, too. I'm thinking, "Sonofabitch,...

Sadie's birth in pictures: Part VI Okay, so I'm skipping a couple, because they're blurry and it's just more of me looking scaryfat in a pool of water. [caption id="attachment_517" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="April 2, 2009,...

Sadie's birth in pictures: Part V [caption id="attachment_514" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="April 2, 2009, 4:50pm. Okay, so we all see the humor in this photo, right? My homebirth is so uneventful, it's boring at this point....

Sadie's birth in pictures: Part IV Okay, get ready for this one. It looks like my face and neck have merged into one giant glob. And I'm not 100 percent clothed. [caption id="attachment_510" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="April...

Sadie's birth in pictures: Part III [caption id="attachment_506" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="April 2, 2009, 1:53pm"][/caption]

Sadie's birth in pictures: Part II [caption id="attachment_501" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="April 2, 2009, 12:54pm"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_502" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="12:59pm"][/caption] [caption...

Sadie's birth in pictures: Part I [caption id="attachment_494" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="April 2, 2009, 9:48am. Hanging on the couch, sleeping a little between contractions (which started around 12:45 that morning)."][/caption] Okay,...

On my mind. One year ago today, my labor with Sadie began. At about this point (6:30ish), my midwife had just arrived at our house. My contractions were very manageable. I was on the couch, snoozing between them. You...

Some tidbits for today. I haven't talked to Trevor about this yet, but I totally want to do this. I used to think I wanted to be a pet photographer, but this has given me new inspiration. If you're interested in a free...

Nighttime woes. There's a pretty interesting conversation going on over at Stand and Deliver right now. The author's son is about a month younger than Sadie, and his night-waking sounds pretty similar to hers. As in,...

Wayback Wednesday: Not so wayback edition Fifty-two Wednesdays ago, it was my last Wednesday before Sadie. I'd already taken off from work, and I spent the day relaxing at home and playing my best April Fool's Day prank ever. My friend, Kat,...

A typical morning scene Yogurt: in the hair. Bib: on the floor. Fruits and vegetables: fed to the dogs.

The countdown begins. It's less than one week till Sadie's birthday. Till she'll no longer be an infant. We've been in get-ready-for-the-party mode, and things are shaping up nicely. The thing I'm nervous about, though,...

Nibble, nibble Wow. We are in the opposite of a sweet spot with Sadie right now. I think we're entering the "testing the limits" phase. Not so easy. Sadie is starting to pitch mini-fits when she doesn't get something...

Wayback Wednesday: Due date edition One year ago today was my due date. I know it's a pretty subjective term, but it was important to me at the time. Here is what I wrote: It is 8:03 on my due date, and there's no Baby Edwards. Not...

Mooving on from breastmilk? I've mentioned before that feeding Sadie is a heavy responsibility. And I've done a lot of it by following my own instincts, as well as trusting Sadie to follow hers. I think, for the most part, Sadie...

Mini road trip Sadie and I had quite the Saturday this past weekend. We hit the road for the Memphis Zoo, where we met up with my blog friend, Stephanie, and her lovely family. Stephanie's son is one week to the day...

Impromptu hair experiment I just took a quick pre-bed shower. Washed my hair with: two eggs laid yesterday. Conditioned my hair with: apple cider vinegar. Curious about: what kind of crazy 'do I'm gonna have in the morning!

Wordless Wednesday: Paparazzi Edition [caption id="attachment_414" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Hey! I SAID no more pictures!"][/caption]

Raining cats and dogs... When it rains, it pours. Tonight was to be Sadie's first night sleeping in her own, newly rearranged and coolified bedroom. She went down pretty easily, according to Trevor, and it seemed all would be well in the world. Or at...

Sadie's Big Girl Room So, we're considering moving Sadie's crib into her bedroom. I really don't like Trevor sleeping on the couch, and I think the nights are getting warm enough that it'll be fine for Sadie to sleep in her...

Big City Girl Something that I think I'm really going to love about being a parent that I hadn't yet realized is getting to re-explore my city. I've always liked Little Rock, and it's been undergoing some exciting changes...

Dresses & pumping don't mix Obviously. So, why am I sitting in the Mother's Room, way more exposed than usual (not that there's anybody to see me)? Because today was The Very Important Day. Today was Interview Day! In the space of...

Feeding Sadie with love and respect This post is part of the 2010 API Principles of Parenting blog carnival, a series of monthly parenting blog carnivals, hosted by API Speaks. Learn more about attachment parenting by visiting the API website. Trevor...

Sadie's first tornado drill Sadie had another first tonight... Her first tornado drill. We were about to put her to bed when the sirens started going off. I am SUPER cautious when it comes to tornados. I have a bit more than a healthy...

Wayback Wednesday: Way, way back edition These are the women of my family. My mother's side of the family is pretty dominantly female, both in numbers and in character. Some of these women have already passed, but I hope to at least pass some...

Just can't get enough of this girl Something tells me this is going to be my favorite spring ever. Last spring was great and all, since Sadie was born. But this spring I won't be recovering from surgery. This spring I won't be glued to...

Musical beds This is the kind of fun you have the day after your baby sleeps SIX HOURS IN A ROW! It's what I would call a shabooyah kind of day. Trevor would call it a boomshakalaka moment. How sad is it...

Weekend Links: Personal challenge edition I've been a little short in the motivation department this week, so weekend links are a bit sparse. I'm trying to get myself to commit to two personal challenges for the month of March. The first is to...

Eleven down, one to go. Darling Sadie! You amaze us daily, I tell ya. As usual, you have had a big month. Your appetite is getting bigger and bigger, and today you surprised me by eating a little bit of our leftover casserole...

Wordless Wednesday: Piano time with cousins

How to clean hardwood floors, naturally I'd really like to be able to tell you how to do this. The thing is, it's a HUGE challenge to get my floors even ready to be cleaned. I have to work like mad during Sadie's naps (which I did this past...

Baby signing: Helpful online resources Ever since one of my sisters introduced our family to signing with babies, I knew I wanted to do it whenever I had a baby. We started signing with Sadie about the same time we introduced solid foods. We've...

No Weekend Links Heads up, y'all. No weekend links (obviously). Instead, I'm playing with themes. Hopefully I don't make the blog look like crap.

Should grapes get choking-hazard labels? Hot dogs get... Okay, so this is totally insane. Apparently the American Academy of Pediatrics wants to change the way hot dogs and hard candies are designed and to mandate choking-hazard labeling on "chokeable" foods....

Happy Birthday, Trevor To the best dad and partner we gals could have, happy birthday.

Wordless Wednesday: Finally caught on camera.

Pay it Forward This part of my day was outstanding, so I want to share it: This morning I was alerted to the fact that today was IHOP's "Free Pancake" day. It just so happened (Don't you love it when it does?) that...

Less and less a nursling. [caption id="attachment_288" align="aligncenter" width="491" caption="Ready for the Tour, guys!"][/caption] It's so hard to believe she'll be a year old soon. I was with a gaggle of women last night--mostly...

A quick question: If you left your last job (mostly) to take care of your new baby, what do you put on your next job application as reason for leaving?

The car seat debate continues. Geeze Louise. Just when I thought we had it all figured out. I mentioned before that we'd gone ahead and bought a convertible car seat, because Sadie is getting to be too long for her infant carrier. And...

Weekend links: Exhausted edition Holy moley, I am tired. Let's just say that Sadie has not been sleeping so well. Even by her standards. And I've got so many good links to share. So I think I'll be lazy at first and just post them without...

Ctrl + A, Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V Because I like joint pain, I have been painstakingly moving my old blog posts over one-by-one. Crazy! you say. Yes, indeed. I tried to do it the automated way, but it said it's all too much. Plus, there...

Planning a one-year-old's birthday party from scratch:... In the past week, some of Sadie's birthday party plans have become more solidified. We're definitely going to have it at our house, and we're not going to limit ourselves to the number of people we...

Wordless Wednesday: Valentines Doughnut Hole Edition

She returns. Until today, I hadn't had a period since mid-June 2008. That's a long time. And it's been rockin awesome. I've never been a big fan of the ol' monthly, not since my first one (April 1, folks... no joke)...

Choosing a car seat: possibly worse than shopping for... Shoe shopping is one of my LEAST favorite types of shopping. I'm not one of those people who sees a pair of shoes she likes and buys it, figuring the right time to wear it will eventually arise. No, I'm...

Weekend Links: Three-day weekend edition It seems crazy that I've got a three-day weekend, after having only worked two days this week. If you're looking for something to pass the time on this long weekend--or something to warm your brain back...

Life and death Here's something you might not guess about me: I have purposefully taken the life of an animal in order to eat it. Okay, more than one. And I don't mean in the existential I-eat-meat-therefore-I-take-lives...

Planning a one-year-old's birthday party from scratch:... Okay, so this is the part where I plead for help with planning ideas for Sadie's first birthday party. I keep rattling it around in my brain, and I feel like I've just got some idiot hamster in there on...

Wayback Wednesday: Shout-out edition [caption id="attachment_112" align="alignnone" width="572" caption="This was on one of our hikes. I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but I think we did a 13k. If you look closely, you can see my...

Another snow day. It's another snow day here in Little Rock. We've been doing some early spring cleaning around here, but otherwise, there's not much going on. If you're stuck at your office and looking for something to...

Back story: Excerpts from previously-written posts... Somehow this feels like I'm cheating, but since my old blog is too big for me to easily import the posts, I thought I'd move certain posts over to serve as back story and context. The story of Sadie's...

Weekend Links I'm not a vaccination-activist, but we are having Sadie vaccinated, and I thought this post was interesting. Having worked with children with serious mental illnesses, this is kind of alarming. I mean,...

From Scratch: Puffed Oven Pancake Some mornings I wake up and immediately know I want something delicious for breakfast, and yesterday was one of those mornings. Sadie woke me up at 5:45 (yikes!), and I could practically taste homemade...

MOMcation 2010: A retreat just for moms. Fellow Little Rock blogger, Fawn at Instead of the Dishes, has organized a springtime retreat just for moms. It sounds like a great way to re-charge, and I just might be able to swing the Saturday-only...

Ten Months! Sadie, Sadie, Sadie. You are one fast-moving little babe! Yesterday, when I got home from work (you had been home all day with your Dad), you nursed and then turned the turbo-speed on your crawling and...

My first Mom-do Before and after. I'd been having conflicted feelings about my hair for a while, but my sudden need for a change won out. I am not one of those curly-heads who's always wanted straight hair. I love...

Blogging from Scratch I know this is the fourth blog I have started, but I think this should do it! I came to blogging as a sort of let's-try-this-out kind of thing, with no real topic or objective in mind. Most recently, I've...

Friday Links Hold the phone. So, it's Thursday night, and I'm getting this post ready for Friday. And I've just realized that Sadie has been down in her crib for three hours. That may sound like small potatoes to some...

Wayback Wednesday Oh, there are just so many things that make me sentimental when I see this picture. Although my short-term memory has always been horrible, my memory for the little details of my life is deep. Okay,...

Mine It's getting harder and harder to get Willow to come in from the yard (that is, when the ground isn't too wet for her prescious paws), now that we have the chickens. I honestly am not sure if she's watching...

On the other side We all survived a night of Sadie not nursing after midnight, and it went more smoothly than we figured it would. Sure, we didn't get much sleep after 3:30, but Sadie was by no means unmanageable. Her surgery...

Friday links and a few random thoughts. I thought I'd share some links of things I've been reading this past week. Maybe it'll become a regular thing on "the new blog," which I promise is really going to happen. This is amazing. Super awesome...

Read all about it! I thought surely I'd be posting on my new blog by today. And I've been saving my big, great news as my debut post over there. But it's taking a bit longer than I expected to get the new site built out....

This is the giving spirit I hope to instill in Sadie Seven Year Old Girl Raises Money For Heifer International.

A whole-food baby [caption id="attachment_1096" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Munching on a Sadie-sized pear."][/caption] Okay, so now that Sadie is nine months old, this isn’t going to sound like the major...

Reply turned post: Horrible parenting advice I wrote this response after reading this article in Children's Health Magazine (hush, it was in the Mother's Room at work where I pump) called "10 Lies Every Parent Should Tell." Okay, so I'll be the first...

Way Back Wednesday: late edition I'm kind of on a Way Back Wednesday kick. It's a little late on Wednesday, but it IS still Wednesday. This is one of my most favorite pictures of all time. It was taken by my friend, Jes. That's...

Post script, I’ve thought of some more things I wanted to tell you about your nine-month old self, Sadie, so here they are. Your memory has really been developing over the last month, and it’s been fascinating...

Nine Months! I'm not even sure I can believe it, Sadie. You are nine months old! You've been "outside" almost as long as you were "inside." I'm pretty sure you're learning about five new things a day, so you're definitely...

BRAT Bananas, RICE, Applesauce, Toast. These are the foods you feed your baby when she has diarrhea. So, why is rice cereal the recommended first food for babies? Heck if I know. But let me tell you, we've...

What's wrong with this picture? I'm sorry if it seems like this blog has taken a turn for the dismal. I promise, there'll be more cheery posts and pictures of Sadie in the near future. It's just that I'm in a bit of a funk lately....

A massive diaper (post): on cloth diapering I've been meaning to write a post about how cloth diapering is going for quite a while (I've even had a blank draft, titled "On cloth diapering" saved for weeks), and I think today is the perfect day...

Bundles of Joy! We're excited to welcome Sadie AND Seth Edwards, born 4:01 this morning. We'll post more later! Gotta rest up!

Another uneventful update. Still no baby action. I know, it's disappointing. We've been getting lots of calls and emails from family and friends who are all anxious to meet and hear about Baby Edwards. It's all very exciting,...

Due date belly photos! It is 8:03 on my due date, and there's no Baby Edwards. Not too surprised at all. Instead, here are some 40 week, due date photos. And some other ones, just for kicks. Gotta love the red, shiny...

A brief update In case you've been on the edge of your seat all weekend (though I doubt it), I just wanted to let you know that I have not had the baby yet. I'm still quite pregnant! I took a walk on Friday, and while...

Our cloth diapering plans Call us crazy. Or old fashioned. But we're planning on cloth diapering little Baby Edwards. We've put in a lot of research and thought into it all, and I think it's going to pan out pretty well. ...

39 weeks!!! And I'm a nutter. I...am...huge. HUGE. This baby is huge. Probably about seven pounds at this point. Okay, so that's not really all that huge. My stretch marks, which were hardly there just a few weeks ago, make...

Dream a little dream Wow. Pregnancy dreams are WEIRD. And stressful! Alright, so I've always had weird and stressful dreams/nightmares, but they've taken on a definite theme these days. Here's what I dreamed last night: Trevor...

Not the usual belly pics...and some others to share Here come some belly pictures taken under different circumstances than usual. And some other pictures I've been meaning to share. This first one I had Trevor take, because I wanted to compare it to...

A few updates on posts past... I know I should be posting updates about my actual pregnancy (week 37, people!), and I will...with pictures...eventually... But I've got a few updates on some posts I've recently done, and I wanted to...

Email turned post about our crazy morning So this isn't exactly baby-related at all, but I just have to share this crazy story. As if getting up two to three times a night to pee isn't bad enough, apparently Trevor and I also have to be crimefighters: I...

Attack of the marshmallow feet! If you're squeamish about feet, this isn't the post for you.' Okay, so I had a busy couple of days. Tuesday we had a little potluck dinner to celebrate Trevor's last pre-fatherhood birthday. Trevor...

Edwards Family Road to Homebirth: Post Three This is the third post in the Edwards Family Road to Homebirth series. Read about how we decided to grow our family and how we got pregnant here. And read about how we came to the midwife model of...

Edwards Family Road to Homebirth: Post Two This is the second post in the Edwards Family Road to Homebirth series. Read about how we came to the decision to grow our family and how we came to be in the family way here. How we came to the midwife...

Baby belly pics: 35 weeks! Can't believe I'm just 5 weeks from my due date (alright, 5 weeks, 1 day). Crazytown. I've been horribly negligant about posting belly pictures, because it's kind of a hassle to take them. I'm actually...

Edwards Family Road to Homebirth: Post One I realized when I was writing my last post that I actually haven't done too much writing about how we've gotten to where we are so far. So, for posterity's sake (aka Baby Edwards), I'll start from the...

Variety is the spice of life. And, apparently, the... We had our last homebirth class this week, and it was the "reunion" class, where homebirth families who have already had their babies come back and tell their birth stories. First, it was fun to see...

Breastfeeding: what boobs were made for, after all... I had my first dream about breastfeeding last night, and today seems like the right time to finally write this post about breastfeeding I’ve been cooking up for forever. In the dream, I wasn’t having...

Maybe it's a Julian after all... According to this Chinese Lunar Calendar table, I'm having a boy, not a girl. All I'm saying is, if we do have a boy, be prepared for delays in the name decision. I strongly suspect that we'll go into...

But our cats aren't basement cats... Crossing my fingers I don't end up with a situation like this: more animals

Meet my family Well, the family so far. Don't worry, we haven't had the baby yet (thank goodness)! I just thought it might be fun to show off the family we've created over the last few years. I promise, I'll only...

Comfort level: not so great, actually Warning: I'm kind of going to complain a bit in this post. Maybe a lot. Right now, while I'm sitting at my computer desk (now in the dining room--we're making room for baby in the "second bedroom,"...

Happy New Year! We're on vacation! Horray! The missing post has been discovered! Thank you Becca and/or Tara--I'm not sure which of you left the comment, but you win the gold star for finding it! SO, here is a post that is a little...

Assume the position! Wow. We are counting down the weeks now! I'm 29 weeks and 3 days or so. In just about 7 weeks (ghasp!), the baby could be born and not be considered "preterm," and I can deliver at home. In just...

What a girl wants Baked goods!!! This morning, my work friend, Cade, was sooo kind to bring me some Mickey's chocolate cake. It was delicious! He and his wife have two daughters, so they know the ropes when it comes...

Get over it, already I think there's light at the end of the tunnel for the general discomforts of the first trimester. Sure, my stomach still almost never feels normal, and I'd rather sleep longer than spend time conditioning...

Welcome! Hello friends and family who are new to the blog! I'm sorry you were kept out of the loop for so long, but we tried to wait out the first trimester before making the big news "public". Or, we were...

A slew of updates We made it back from our Tennessee vacation, and now I need a vacation. We've finally told Trevor's family about the baby, and they're very excited! Drinking expired milk, even if it smells and...

Killing me softly I hate to be a total complainer, but this first trimester thing sucks. Looking back, I've realized my stomach hasn't felt normal in over a month! And all I want to do is take naps all the time. Unfortunately,...

Dilemma of the moment Okay, so now here's my current worry: if I pay $2,000+ to have a homebirth out of pocket, will I be able to afford to take any extra "unpaid" time off so I don't have to stick my 6-week old baby in daycare? ...

Baby's not going anywhere The baby is just going to have to stay put. In the womb. Where it's free. Apparently, I'm starting to freak out about childcare for when I have to go back to work. It hadn't even crossed my mind...

ETA: March 24th Baby, we have a due date! Of course, only about five or eight percent of women actually deliver on their due date. We had our first appointment with our midwife, Kim. Things went just great. ...

Sicko So, there's been no vomiting. Yet. But, boy, has there ever been some nausea! Friday was pretty bad, and today has been horrible. I could hardly eat anything at lunch. Which means I'm hungry...

Don't knock that head I totally almost fainted at my desk yesterday. It was pretty scary. I went to get some more water from the office kitchen, and I noticed there were these little rice krispy thingies, which seemed...

Probably the first of many I had my first bad pregnancy dream. I started going into labor even though I was only 6 weeks along. Someone told me the baby would be alright, but I knew it wouldn't. That's all the detail I'll...

Cat's out of the bag Well, partially, at least. We had an anointing service for Aunt Margie last night at their house, and I'm not sure how many of our family friends came up to me to say "Congratulations!" I guess it...

That's the trouble with secrets... Secrets! So hard for me to keep. I know there's good reason not to tell everyone and anyone that we're pregnant, but it's really tough. And I'm not doing such a good job with it. I've purposefully...

This is the first day I found out today that I am certainly pregnant! I'm only about four weeks along, though, which means mum's the word. I'm only telling immediate family members and a couple of very close friends. ...

But Mom, Can't We Keep Her??? This is Willow. We're fostering her, and I lover her and want to keep her. She's so cuddly and cute and friendly. Plus, she's great with the rest of the furry family members. And she makes piggy noises....

that ho stole our cable! um yeah, so i hate it that i'm starting off my first blog in a looooong time with so much negativity, but seriously. we've finally gotten our cable/internet back today. the verdict on why it was out...

em-ployed hey folks. i'm employed! got the grant writing job i was hoping for. we're all moved in to the duplex (but far from settled), and we don't have internet yet...trying to figure out how to make it happen...no...

un-employ-ment yes. today is my last day at asyr. last time to post at work. because i don't have a job... well, sort of. i STILL haven't heard back about that grant writing thing, but i'm calling dude TODAY if...

buying the cow so...we're back. the wedding was great fun, and everything went smoothly. i don't have any pictures, so if you're reading this (ahem, leah, elizabeth), and you have pictures on your camera, be prepared...

you know you're at a progressive redneck birthday party... * the birthday boy gets presents from the oppelo flea market * nobody bothers to put the pbr in the fridge * you drink your wine from a mason jar * instead of hamburgers you have deer burgers *...

32 Short Things About Brooke Stapleton 1) i graduate in 11 weeks2) i have a migit toe3) some might consider me a tad compulsive4) my best friend in 6th grade once convinced me to take a splinter out of her bum (she didn't have one...just wanted...

shabooyah it's that time again. yep, time for another photo update. i don't know why it takes me so long to get around to putting my pictures on my computer from my camera. there's been a good bit going on lately....

1. wasabi...i want it anytime, on almost anything. dab some on a piece of sushi, cover some peanuts or freeze-dried peas. i love it. burns my nose. love it. 2. cookies and milk...oreos and nutter butters....

a saturday morning photo shoot yeah, so this is what you do in bed on saturday morning with your cat when you don't have to be up for much...

curried hummus and kitty snapshots i'm finally posting that recipe for curried hummus that some of you enjoyed at the survivor finale party. sorry it's taken so long to do so...busy and distracted and whatnot. i've been playing a lot...

the first of the last since i didn't have trevor take a picture of me on this first day of my last semester (that's right folks, last semester!), here's a photo of me from my first day of fourth grade at holy souls. well,...

to school or not to school...that is the question i am again at the decision crossroads. i've been thinking lately that maybe i won't go back for more school right after graduating (that's right people, just 4 months and one day till i'm a masta). ...

the cat that thinks it's a dog what a weird morning. at about 5:30 or 6 this morning we were awoken by the insane meowing of the cat across the way. now, i've heard this cat before...sometimes another cat gets involved and there's...

Summer is wearing me out already!

Posted on : 25-05-2012 | By : Brooke | In : Daily

I took today off from work so I could go to Sadie’s field day. Yes, Sadie’s school had field day for the early childhood center, and it was pretty hilarious. The P2 crew only participated in two events: running the track and tug-of-war.

Very excited about field day!

Off to a good start.

Finished!

I ended up running the last leg with her. Thankfully, no photos of this event have surfaced.

More interested in posing for the photo than truly tugging.

Pull!

They did boys versus girls for the tug-of-war. Apparently in all of the field day practices, the girls beat the boys every single time. For whatever reason (a very large audience, perhaps?), the boys took the girls down for the actual event. Ah, well.

To the mall (gross, right?)!

In the quest for replacement dress-up earrings, I unintentionally bought Sadie $10 Fancy Fancy clip-ons. With hot pink feathers. Woe is me.

Taking One for the Team

Posted on : 18-02-2012 | By : Brooke | In : Child Development, Sadie

Something I’ve realized about becoming a parent is that it really highlights the dominant elements of my personality. If I was introspective before, now I’m an absolute naval-gazer. A curious web-surfer? Now a total research junkie.

There’s just all this pressure to Get It Right. The French are doing it right. And so are the Italians. In fact, everyone is doing it right but me. Or you. Or anyone who is actually doing the naval-gazing at the time.

These new chickens are a-okay with Sadie.

Parenting Sadie is hard freaking work. She’s the most awesome kid I’ve ever known, but she can be a real handful for me a lot of the time. I do my best to convince myself that it’s no big deal that she hits and kicks me when she’s mad. That it’s normal that she nearly always does exactly the opposite of what I ask her to do, unless she’s in a magical mood. She doesn’t listen to me. She couldn’t sit through a meal at the table if her life depended on it. I can’t take her into any store without almost certain meltdown. She yells and screams at me, flings her Sadie-sized furniture over onto the floor or even strikes out at the dogs and cats when she doesn’t get her way.

And I’m no peach, either. I speak too sternly, raise my voice, lose my patience, forget to look at things through her eyes. There are a hundred-and-one answers to the “problems” I have with Sadie, and I’m not using them. In the moment, it is unbelievably hard to remember the tricks to making your “no” come out like a “yes.” Nearly all of the time, I’m winging it.

But you know what? I don’t sweat it like I could. Yes, I worry about what it looks like from the outside when people see me “not having a handle on her” at Target. And absolutely, I am SO TIRED. But I don’t worry about my parenting, and I don’t worry about Sadie. Why not? Because every single time I share Sadie with the other adults in her life, her behavior is nearly immaculate. She spent Friday night at my aunt and uncle’s house (her Mimi and Papa), and when I picked her up Saturday morning, my aunt said that I’d left her with a “perfect child.” Okay, nobody’s kid is perfect, so don’t think I took that literally. But there is a recurring theme to the reports I get back from family members who have helped take care of Sadie. It’s that she’s well behaved, well mannered, pleasant and easy.

Whether or not I’m Doing It Right, whatever I’m doing (and Trevor, too, of course) is working.

The all-important phase of lining things up: one of my favorites.

No, I don’t love how hard it is sometimes to parent Sadie. But I love her with every fiber of my being, and I want her to be a happy, successful person. So If I have to take one for the team and be the person Sadie tests every single limit (I mean every single one) so she can be well behaved, well mannered, pleasant and easy for the rest of the world, I’ll do it. Because it’s working. So far, at least.

This is What an Evening Can Look Like

Posted on : 24-01-2012 | By : Brooke | In : Child Development, Daily, Sadie, Sleep, Tidbit

Well, I managed to buy some $91 worth of groceries, yet made it out of Kroger without a single meal to prepare for the week. Sadie screamed (and hit and kicked) for at least five minutes before I made it through the checkout line, because I wouldn’t go back to the candy isle. Dinner was a total hodge-podge: I’m pretty sure Sadie had five olives, a little yoghurt, some mustard and a couple of bites of “burrito.” Must get back to meal planning and solo shopping on Sundays.

But I can’t even tell you how glad I am that bedtimes are mostly smooth. Pajamas, medicine, brush teeth, good night to Daddy, read three or five books, quick bedtime nurse, scratch back, scratch belly, scratch armpits (I don’t even know what that’s about), I Love Yous, kisses, cuddles, sleep. It’s such a good mending time for Sadie and me when we’ve had a rough spot. And it’s SO much less work than it was even a month ago, as hard as that might seem to believe.

Not all evenings are so rough, mind you. Yesterday was one of painting and goons, whatever that means. But this toddler thing sure kicks my ass sometimes. Oh, and Kroger, would it hurt to have the peanut butter on a different isle than the candy?

Bigger than Yesterday

Posted on : 17-01-2012 | By : Brooke | In : Attachment Parenting, Child Development, Sadie, Tidbit, Video

To all the people out there who told me Sadie wouldn’t want to be patted and shushed to sleep forever: You were right. It only took two years and nine months.

A Princess, Even in Red

Posted on : 09-01-2012 | By : Brooke | In : Child Development, Photos, Sadie

First, a special shout-out (not that they’ll ever read this) to the ladies at Vintage Socialite in Hillcrest. They were so kind to let a pleading Sadie not only try on some shoes, but they also didn’t kick me out when I (reluctantly) helped Sadie try on this big, beautiful red dress.

But, really, what I have to get off my chest is that I am completely worried that Sadie’s brain is being consumed by Princess. By our design, not any particular princess, but princess and pink to be sure. I do hope this is a phase, and it’s not something we’re discouraging, but I can’t help but worry (hey, I’ve got to do something my free time), especially when I listen to an interview like this.

For now, I’m focusing on things that are attainable, like learning ballet like her 13-year-old cousin, who is an all-around great role model for Sadie to choose.

Cookie Pants

Posted on : 23-12-2011 | By : Brooke | In : Daily, Photos, Sadie

We took Sadie to a drive-through holiday light display tonight. It was amusing, to say the least. When we finally hit The Line, Sadie started her stoplight chorus of “TURN GREEN!” (Oh, yes. Trevor has her believing that if she yells at the stoplights they will turn green for her. She’s hated stoplights since before she could hold her head up on her own.) And then, when we finally got to what was “the holdup,” turns out we were $4 shy of the $5 entry fee (oops, thought it was free). So a big Thanks to the folks in North Little Rock who gave us quite the holiday discount. We’re good for it next year.

All dressed up and ready to go!

There were a number of odd ducks on this holiday trail of lights. How a crocodile fits into the season, I just can’t say. My favorite part, though, was when Sadie saw a pair of gingerbread people. She called them “Cookie Pants.” I SO wish I hadn’t corrected her. She quickly took to “gingerbread men,” ditching what may be the best Sadieism of all time. I even tried to get her to go back to calling them “cookie pants,” but it was a no-go.

Sweet Nutcracker

Posted on : 13-12-2011 | By : Brooke | In : Daily

We took Sadie to see the Nutcracker Ballet for the first time. We had front-row seats, because Sadie's cousin had the role of Clara.

Sadie mostly loved it, but was distressed anytime Clara went offstage, and she was pretty scared of the mice and rats.

Sadie really wanted a crown and wand that were being sold in the lobby. If it's possible, she adores her cousin even more than before, frequently asking to go see her "be a ballerina" again.

I found an easy DIY tutu tutorial, so Sadie's all set to play ballerina dress-up. I asked her if she wanted to learn how to be a ballerina like her cousin. Her response? "I AM a ballerina."

Photo update

Posted on : 30-11-2011 | By : Brooke | In : Daily

Yoga mats are considered princess dresses in some parts of the world, yes?

No, this isn't an old photo from the spring. This is what Sadie settled on as an acceptable princess dress to wear in public. The day before Thanksgiving.

It only took a Walmart bathtub tea set and using Mama's special soap to reverse Sadie's months-long bath-hating trend.

Sadie really didn't like the tree being "stuck."

Always willing to lend a hand.

This Kid

Posted on : 19-11-2011 | By : Brooke | In : Daily

Calls everyone her Best Friend, except for people she claims to be afraid of.

Speaks lovingly and longingly of her Best Friends. She misses them, wants to love on them and SQUEEEZE on them.

Appears to have the same keen sense of direction as her dad.

Still asks to go trick-or-treating, but is also looking forward to Going to Thanksgiving to eat turkey and spaghetti and pie.

Is a lover of dancing, stirring things, painting, movies and candy, nursing, shoes, books about animals, her Arkansas State Capitolween Building.

Has a Southern twang like I’d never imagined.

Can be convinced to go anywhere there is a party and assumes party = cake and candy.

Once tried to convince me to buy two copies of the same Strawberry Shortcake movie.

Still is kind of a crappy sleeper.

Is interested in yoga.

Learned the word “hipster” last night.

After convincing me to steal a flower from an arrangement at a wedding reception, said, “This smells good. It smells like mustard. Dewishus.”

Halloween!

Posted on : 31-10-2011 | By : Brooke | In : Daily

It’s Sadie’s third Halloween, but it’s really her first to fully participate. I was worried about Sadie not having some big kids to trick-or-treat with. We made a few practice runs at friends’ houses, where instead of the traditional “Trick or treat!” Sadie just said, “Thanks,” and walked right in the door. We drove to the neighborhood across the way to the street of our friend’s parents, where nearly every house is a sure bet. After just a handful of houses, Sadie was trick-or-treating like a pro! And what a great time to practice her manners. She got so into it.

Oh and the candy…

We’re back home now watching the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin movie and eating a few select pieces of candy before bed. Good thing Trevor is off on Tuesdays!

I’d initially planned on Sadie being Ponyo, which she was Saturday night for a Halloween carnival. But she’d been saying she wanted to be an elephant. One wasted lunch break, a bunch of crafting supplies, and a call from a great friend later, Sadie had the perfect (albeit a touch small) elephant costume. With a little stage makeup from my college days, we completed Sadie’s look, and even painted my face white so I could be a ghost per Sadie’s suggestion.

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Sweet Nutcracker

Photo update

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