Sienna's Party- part 1

I have lots of catching up to do here, we've been so busy this week celebrating our birthdays. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures till I get a chance to do a whole recap :)

When heartburn keeps me up...

Oh heartburn....I hate you. 

Its bad this time around - maybe this baby will be born with a head full of hair unlike sister Sienna...just a silly wives tale. The only relief I get is sitting upright...so instead of sleeping I'm up on the computer making video montages. Hey, atleast I'm being somewhat productive and preserving special memories...and if it wasn't for heartburn I probably wouldn't have had the time to make this otherwise...after all its 3 months late.

Here is a recap of our Christmas, 

better late than never right? ;)

Christmas 2013

What my toddler eats

Since day one, I've tried to be strict with what Sienna eats...we didn't even introduce solids till after 6 months. But of course there are moments {especially now that mama has been pregnant} that I let her have a bite of my chocolate, cookie or whatever 'not so healthy' thing I'm shoving my face into. Why? because I believe in not letting this whole organic thing get to my head and drive me crazy...because I believe that kids should be kids....because realistically, I realize I can't keep her away from certain things for ever. I can restrict them, sure. But there is no such thing as forever.

With that said, there are certain things I am quite particular.

 Like milk...we only drink raw.

Sienna is SUPER picky, she eats a lot of the same stuff over and over again.

For breakfast: its always either a soft scrambled egg, banana, toast with butter, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt and the occasional pancakes on the weekend. For a while I've been pretty anti cereals because of how processed they are, almost always GMO and how much sugar they usually have. Lets face it, the ones that are a healthier option taste like cardboard.  Recently we discovered one that I feel good giving her and one she actually like...the cute animals on the box help. She asks for "the panda bear cereal" 

For lunch: I'm a big soup lover, so I always try out new ones or stick to old favorites...Sienna enjoys them and its one of the only way I can get her to eat veggies. I could totally eat nothing but soups everyday for the rest of my life, my husband on the other hand doesnt consider soup a meal...so when I make a pot for lunch I still have to make something else for dinner. She loves mac and cheese, what kid doesnt? I like to get the aunt annies brand. She'll also eat almond or sunflower seed butter & jelly sandwiches, sometimes she'll lick it off and leave the bread...depends on her mood. Also, hummus & pita bread

For dinner: I find dinner to be the hardest, She doesn't really want to try new things...so when I make some sort of lets say...stew, meat & potato or pasta dish she wont even try. I know they say you're not suppose to make them something separate and they should eat what you eat...but I still do, whatever it takes to get this girl to eat. Usually she'll have soup again that I've made for lunch, homemade chicken nuggets ( I make big batches and freeze them) I've always said my kid will never eat hot dogs....well, she does and they're our saving grace when she doesn't want anything else. These are the only ones we get.

 

Snacks: the girl loves fruit, kiwis, apples, grapes, frozen wild blueberries (messiest snack ever), pineapple. Smoothies (I sneak veggies into them), cheddar crackers, fruit gummies.

Drinks: probably the only kid whose favorite drink is kombucha, we started making our own or we'd be broke, lots of water, and of course milk.

she has her good days and bad days with eating, as with anything else..but I'm learning to be calmer about it and not freak out like I used when she skips a meal...or doesn't have something organic.

dogs and babies dont mix

Atleast mine don't

the whole thing is just frustrating to say the least. 

Now I won't even sit here and try to vocalize how much that dog meant to me before Sienna came along....and don't get me wrong I love the little stinky-breathed little guy. I've had him since I was 16, just lately hes making us want to rip out hair out.

He's like taking care of 2 additional children, no joke. 

Let me give you some recent scenarios:

1. we made burgers for dinner, nice grass fed pricey beef mind you. 

Sienna is having hers and sets it on her little table to take a drink....Charlie whos been watching her eat as per usual, hoping for her to drop it....snatches it not even a split second later. The result of this scenario: hysterical toddler who is a picky eater & was actually eating for a change, dog whos gonna have diarrhea later (probably all over the house), and no extra burger to give her. Wouldn't that make you wanna rip your hair out no matter how much you love your dog?

2. peeing on everything, this is my biggest annoyance yet. We have gone through THREE rugs in our dining room in the 2.5 years we've lived in our home. For whatever reason, he made that area of our home his bathroom. Underneath the table to be exact...just what we want to smell when we eat meals right? Now - he gets a walk every day, and has access to the backyard all day long....no reason why he needs to pee anywhere else. Why does he? I'm pretty certain its because hes being spiteful, whenever we go somewhere he always wants to come...cute right? yeah no. Obviously we cant take him everwhere we go, so to show us hes mad he goes and urinates on the rug. The stains & the smell never come out. Believe me we've tried it all...hence why we are on our 3rd rug.

3. hair hair everywhere, not sure why this didn't bother me before. Maybe because with having a child now...I have enough cleaning up to do everyday as it is. Nothing is worse than finding his hair in our food.

4. He bit Sienna, to his defense she messed with him as he was eating but still...I was infuriated. He hasn't been very nice to her lately and vice versa. He's old and wants to be left alone, shes a toddler and wants to play. It just doesn't mesh.

At the end of the day, as frustrating as it is....as often as Danny and I say to eachother "no more dogs after him" he still belongs to our family and I would never give him up as much as I really want to at times. Deep down I'll always have a loving spot for this animal, remembering how many times he's made me excited to come home after long work shifts or days at school.

**We have no intention of getting rid of our dog, however please don't judge those that have.**

Sienna-isms - 23 months

*Documenting some of the hilarious things our little sass has been saying lately*

While driving in the car with the windows opened, 

 "Daddy open it the other way" (meaning close it)

After pinching her finger in a buckle & crying over her boo boo,

 "can I have a new finger?" over and over again...I felt terrible laughing because she was crying as she was saying it but gosh..It wasn't bleeding, but daddy put a band-aid on it. She stops crying & looks at it happily "look  mommy I got a new finger!"

As I was making her lunch the other day, she says "can I have a snack please?" I told her no and that it was lunch time.  With an annoyed tone she responds with "I asked nicely!"

"Chawee (charlie) dont look at me I'm eating"

Everytime I change our bed sheets...

 "wow mommy got a new bed"

If you ask her what any of her stuffed animal or dolls names are, 

the answer is ALWAYS "Diane" (her grandmas name)

Sienna, can you sing a song?

 "no I'm too full"

Sienna, do you want oatmeal for breakfast today?

"no, only a chocolate cupcake" (only time she ever gets to have cupcakes is at birthday parties)

Its not always rainbows & unicorns around here...

We had a lovely long weekend.

Err, mostly lovely.

Sunday I would not have qualified as lovely.

Rather, it was anything but.

Someone  woke up on the wrong side of the crib in the morning and was miserable from then on.

I have yet to figure out how to handle a grumpy toddler without becoming grouch myself. I feel bad for my hubs on those days.  (sorry babe)

Point being though, its tiring putting someone else's needs before your own and while I would never go back to life before Sienna, I sometimes long for the days of simplicity of just Dan & I. Some days I cant wait for her bedtime. Selfish moments, for sure. However even those days, the frustrating moments, with a toddler that is whiny and wont nap, with saying goodbye to spontaneous plans, with anything negative you could say about life as a mama, it doesn't take long to remember why I wanted this life so badly, and why I truly love this life so much.

Motherhood is a journey. Thats one thing I've learned, it's a journey with bumps in the road, detours ahead and the occasional train wreck. Some days can't end soon enough, some days aren't long enough

It is definately not always rainbows and unicorns,
 but its real life and I think its better that way. 
It takes a  rain storm to see that rainbow folks.

 Just had to get that 'real-ness' out there, amidst the mushy gushy that can sometimes be blog-land. In fact, while we're getting all honest around here, let me just add that I'm writing this while still in my pjs, with bed head uncombed hair, and dishes in the sink. How's that for real life?

;)

Sienna's second Valentines day

So hard to get a good picture of this busy girl lately, 

bribes are a must. We will be making some crafts for Daddy today :) hope you all have a good one!!