Silver Lake & Pentwater

Yesterday, definitely had its ups and downs. It was nice taking a drive thru Pentwater and over to Silver Lake, but Reyna was acting like a brat. I don't know how else to describe the way she was acting. It was bratty-ness as the main entree with a side dish of whining. She never napped, which probably did not help.

When we got to Silver Lake, Jade got the girls and I settled on the beach and he went into the lighthouse. I was going to go into the light house after he came out, but chickened out. The first thing he said was, "you are not going to like going up there." He knows me all too well. I guess it was a spiral staircase the entire way up and you can look down the higher you get. I am deathly afraid of heights. No thanks. Not for me. I took pictures of Jade and that was good enough.

Oh, did I mention how windy it was at the beach? It was gorgeous + hot, don't get me wrong, but it was blowing like crazy. Our stuff was covered in sand. The minute we got back to Ludington, we all bathed to get the sand out of every little crack and crevass.

I know I mentioned Reyna was being a  spoiled brat slightly difficult, but the worst of it was when we stopped for lunch. She was ticked at me b/c I wouldn't wait all day for her to get her socks and shoes back on. I finally put them on her and she was ticked. We sat down, looked at the menu and she announced she wasn't eating lunch b/c I wouldn't let her put her shoes on. A little while into lunch, I saw this lady coming our way. She was a pretty large woman with a tank and shorts on and this crazy looking hat. Reyna is at the age where she blurts things out and it's one of those, OMG, put me under the nearest rock so I can hide comments. I decided to make mention about the ladies hat before she said anything.

Me:

"Reyna, look at that ladies very nice hat."

Reyna:

"Yes, and look at her very nice boobs, too."

Okay, so in the end, I did not deter her from making a comment about this ladies huge ass hat, instead she decided to comment on the ladies very large chest! Even worse.

I didn't get the greatest of pictures yesterday during our excursion. It was too windy to bring out the camera for a long period of time at the beach. I was too afraid it was going to get covered in sand. I should mention Reyna's bathing suit in these pics. Why does she have a swim diaper on instead of her bathing suit bottoms? She was mad at me for packing that bathing suit and not her little mermaid one, she threw the bottoms on the floor and we left them behind and I was not aware of this until we were gone. So, it was either her only pair of panties or a swim diaper. Gah!!!!

D.O.N.E

 I hit that point this evening where I was done parenting for the night. I felt so drained that I couldn't wait to put my children to bed. Kristin was here today, which was awesome, but of course, my children were way off whack with their schedules. Go figure, right?

Anway, I have lots of cute pictures from today, but zero energy or patience to post them. I am off to pick up a paint brush and start painting some tables.

More tomorrow when my battery has been recharged.

The smoothie was delicious, just for the record.

So, am I the only one who has a two year old who doesn't like to behave when it is time to eat out somewhere? Please, tell me that there are other mama's out there struggling with this.

Jade & I needed to grocery shop. I fed Reyna before we left and we decided to grab a bite to eat before shopping. Jade mentioned Olive Garden and I said let's when we can go w/out Reyna. We decided on Panera. We usually don't eat at Panera when Jade and I are together. I am not sure why, but it's more like an afternoon induldgence of mine. I will go there all by myself, order a bagel and coffee and just enjoy my alone time.

Anyway, I ordered a strawberry smoothie so Reyna would have something healthy to snack on while we ate our food. Plus, it came in a cup and straw, so I knew it would keep her occupied.

We ordered, found a seat next to another family who had a little boy about Reyna's age. They were having fun looking at each other and making silly noises. Reyna loved her smoothie, but we had to kindly remind her to keep her straw in the cup. It was the type of cup where it was open on top, the straw didn't slide in and fit snug. Oh, and the straw was fat. It wasn't a normal straw size, it was probably double in diameter. Do you see where this is going yet???

Minutes later, it was like slow motion. Strawberry smoothie coming out of the cup and straw above our heads in the air. Jade was sitting next to her and couldn't have stopped her if he tried. It happened too fast. She had taken the straw out, it hit the edge of the cup and shot into the air all over us. I was mortified. I was trying to figure out who I needed to apologize to who might have been showered with berries. I said I was sorry to the family next to us, but they said that it didn't get on them and that stuff was common since they had a little boy Reyna's age, too. I felt a little better.

Seriously, it was a scene out of a commercial, I kid you not. We were done eating at that point, so we cleaned off our trays and hurried out of there. I got to the van and just started cracking up. It was funny thinking back to the situation, but I was still mad.

So, there's my Panera story. Please tell me I am not the only one who dreads going out to eat somedays with our little lady. I love her dearly, but I also like to enjoy my meal.

:(

There are many days where I would love to post how I am really feeling about whatever it may be and then I end up stopping myself because I know that I have family reading my blog and I am sure they do not log on here to read about how horrific my day was. They would rather see smiles, pictures and updates.

In a nutshell, this morning is not going so hot. Reyna is sitting in her room as I type. I am feeling super guilty for the fact that I actually did send her to her room screaming and crying. She wasn't listening and was acting quite naughty. I am sitting here feeling guilty due to the fact that I have not been home and I am home and she is in her room and I am wishing I was anywhere, but here at this exact moment.

Like I have said, I am happy to be working a little extra during the holidays, but I can't say that it isn't stressful. I have art projects that I would like to do, cleaning that isn't getting done and a load of Christmas crap sitting in my dining room that I would just like to disappear.

Okay, I am feeling a tad bit better. Until later. I am heading back to see my little lady.

Tired.

Yesterday I was thinking how lucky I was because the time change wasn't affecting Reyna. She woke up around her normal time, took an awesome nap and went to bed on time. Fast forward to 3 am.

I decided to check on Reyna when I heard her crying @ 3. When she saw me walk into her room, she got excited and acted like she wanted out of her bed. She was wide awake. Not only was she wide awake, she was ready to get out of her crib and start her day. I made her lay down, which only pissed her off even more. I figured she would quiet down and go back to sleep.

Nope.

3:30 back in Reyna's room. I get her out of bed and try to rock with her. She was squirming out of my arms because she wanted down. She kept asking for her books. I put her back into bed for the second time and leave the room.

4:00 back in Reyna's room. This time, I am a little annoyed. I am wide awake and my child is screaming. At this point, I do not know what to do. I am the mama, I should always know what to do, right?

I finally just had to leave her in there to fall back asleep on her own. Yes people, I let her cry it out. Of course I felt bad, but I was at a loss what to do.

This morning I was greeted by her adorable little voice yelling, "mama, mama." I went into her room and immediately felt bad for how annoyed and frustrated I felt in the night.

Needless to say, I am tired. I am tired in such a way that not even my good Columbian beans could help. Now that's tired.

Ain't she cute!?

Reyna went to her babysitter's yesterday. She did take a nap, but she was extra cranky and very testy by the time we arrived home. She was into everything. The phone rang while I was putting clothes in the dryer. I went to grab it, came back and Reyna was in the dryer. Yes, completely in the dryer. I took her out, she screamed, "NO" at me. She has always been a little fiesty, but lately she has been little miss attitude.

Fast forward to after dinner. By this point, I was hoping Reyna would stay awake until 7:00. Well, @ 6:20 I decided it was time. So, we put our jammies on, brushed our teeth, read a book and it was lights out. I never heard another word from her. I snuck in and found her snoozing before 7.

Aren't they adorable when they are sleeping?

The rest of the evening, I enjoyed being a slouch. I watched a few things I had on DVR and read a new magazine. I was snoozing by 10. It felt wonderful.

BTW...I need a new banner. Guess I should start working on that.