Surprise!

I usually bring backup clothes/shoes with me to the gym to curb my fear of forgetting something (happened), realizing that what I brought was dirty (also happened), having clothes that are inappropriate to my days schedule (I changed my shirt in the parking lot of Community Services Agency just last week) or uncomfortable (yep). This morning the first pair of shoes I had on hurt my previously injured foot, so I changed to a backup pair of boots that happened to be in my bag (FYI: my purse is filled with an extra shirt and sweater, just in case my dress shirt and vest – yes vest – start to feel too binding.
When I stuck my foot in my boot I was shocked to find this:

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Now… I am sure Josephine stuffed this in my shoe. What I am not sure about, however, is where this delightful big eyed plastic pony came from. I certainly did not buy it, yet here it is in my shoe at 7:30 on a Tuesday morning. Is it yours? Want it back after it has been living in my boot? No?! Ok, guess I’ll just keep it then.
Oh, and because I know you just can’t live without it… The Vest:

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Rrrrribit!

It’s raining hard here in Oakdale, however, this morning it was crazy windy and clear as day. Josephine and I popped outside after breakfast to play with the wind. I was de-thistleing around the playground (oh yes, I will bore you with tales of de-thisteling as I have no doubt bored you with tales of breastfeeding and Josephine and the gym and blah blah blah), when all of a sudden I heard Josephine scream, “Help! Mama! I saw something!”.
Thinking it was a worm or a spider I sauntered over. Lo and behold, it was, a tiny FROG!
We picked it up and it hopped around, much to Josephine’s delight! You’d have thought Kermit the Frog himself was in our back yard. What fun!
Immediately, Josephine wanted to make a place to keep him, so we put some water, rocks and leaves in a bucket and made him a room.

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She named him hocus pocus, after her favorite stuffed rabbit. I’m thinking he’ll be gone tomorrow, but what fun we had, what fun indeed!
On another note, yesterday was a year since our house closed. It seems like just yesterday we walked into our beautiful laundry room and I knew I wanted to live here. Crazy! 1/30th done with paying the place off :). Hooray!

From the mouths of babes

My kid says some funny stuff. Imagination’s a brewing…

My imaginative child while talking to an avocado pit she extracted and befriended: “Come on friend, let’s go in living room. We could play freeze tag.”

Me: “Come here baby.”
Josephine: “I’m not a baby, I’m captain hook!”

Me: “I’m going to go get in the shower, baby.”
Josephine: “No! Don’t! You are not stinky!”
(I beg to differ)

Josephine (every time Taylor makes dinner): “Thank you for baking a lovely dinner Daddy!” (no joke, those exact words).
Josephine (every time I cook dinner): “This dinner YUCKY!”

Josephine after she was told it was time to come inside for the night: “No, I’m a outside dog.”

Www-weekend!

Sleep. Lately it seems like we are all suffering in this department. Josephine has been having nightmares a couple/few times a week, either waking her up soon after she goes to bed or at 3:30-4:30 in the morning. It’s almost always that she thinks someone is outside her window. Creepy! Usually she just needs a little rock and calm, safe words and she goes back to sleep. This doesn’t take too long, but since I have trouble sleeping anyways, getting myself back to sleep is a process. One that keeps Taylor awake. It’s a family afaaaaaair!
So now, add into the tired equation Josephine’s current mama obsession that makes her hyper-mama needy. Not that I mind, it just makes me sad and only the tiniest bit guilty. This sleep challenge + needy equation = Josephine up Friday morning at 6:30 (yeah I know, not bad overall, but muuuuuch earlier than usual) after being up with nightmares at 4:30 am. To deal with our (my) tiredness, Josephine and I laid on the couch snuggling until the sun came up and the day started.
It was quite sweet. Both of us thought so.
So sweet, in fact, that this morning when she got up at the much more reasonable hour of 7:30 after a full nights sleep, Josephine requested we lay on the couch while the sun woke up, just like yesterday (it’s overcast, so it looked like the sun was still coming up).
I have to say… Not a bad way to start a Saturday morning. Not bad at all 🙂

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One million doll-hairs

I’m combing the shit out of Josephine’s Easter doll’s hair so that she’s ready for her Easter Basket in a couple of weeks.

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I used to have one of these dolls when I was a little girl (I had the brown haired doll. This is the version my sister had), and since I’m such a sucker for nostalgia I just had to buy it at the thrift store when I found it (50 cents, y’all!).
But, seriously, this doll hair is a mess. What have I gotten myself into?!
**UPDATE!!**
Done! Although I am sure a nice tight braid is in order. Not doing that again!!

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Injured

I have injured myself by ambitiously shoveling out thistles from the side yard. The sole of my foot is bruised and I am limping around like a sad little puppy. Booooo. Feel sorry for me. That’s what I get for stomping down hard on a shovel. Aggravating.

Love is in the air…literally

Yesterday on the way home from work I serendipitously saw two hawks at the top of a tree having sex. It was CRAZY! I’ve never seen anything like it before. When I told Taylor about it he said it must be a sign. Of what, I don’t know. The animals are getting frisky! Spring is in the air!

Wednesday Morning

Today I’m working late, so I am going in to work later than usual. Instead of getting up at six and heading to the gym, I woke up at 7! And left the house. After 30 minutes on the gym floor and another 30 in the pool, I relaxed in the hot tub in the rain. It was AMAZING! What a way to start a morning… Now, if only I had a spinach omelet waiting for me instead of a pb&j sandwich 🙂

Another thought for the morning, one of Taylor’s friends passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer. I want to send my condolences to the Turnage family, Jason’s strong wife and children and all my friends who I know are hurting today. Please send love and healing thoughts Oakdale way, and remember to love each other. It’s all too short.

Water

The forecast calls for rain for the remainder of the week and well into the weekend. We need the water, since our pastures have been bone dry. Just so happens that yesterday was the first day of (early) irrigation. I guess when it rains (ha, ha) it pours.

It was a beautiful day yesterday, and we spent the bulk of it outside. Taylor ran the water and Josephine and I worked on maintaining the goat pasture (I will get you thistles…this is my year!). Well, I worked on it, Josephine mainly played various goat pasture games, including, but not limited to: Paint on a tree stump with water, paint on a goat with water, pretend goat trough fishing, three little pigs (which consists of pretending to build houses and then asking the wolf to come in to play), night night (consisting of Josephine laying in the dirt in the goat shack and closing her eyes), and peanut butter and jelly (which is a new game, where she pulls weeds and insists they are peanut butter and jelly while she feeds them to the goats).

If you have been around me recently, you may have noticed (or heard me complaining, rather) that I have not adjusted to having a two year old and all of the ups and downs that go along with that age. My patience is worn thin. I feel like my well is as dry as the pastures have been. This shall be known as the great patience drought of 2012. I am easily frustrated, and I am not the parent I know I can be or know that I want to be. I feel myself questioning what I am doing constantly. Consistency is taxing, and I feel like I’m always saying no, redirecting, fending off a tantrum. I don’t like being the bad guy. I know it can’t be fun for her either. I also know that she just needs more attention from me, so it’s time to slow down and do that. I need to get my head in the game, and I am trying to center myself and be a source of calm, but it is trying. I think it’s time for me to get back to the newborn/infant mantra that got me through: everything will change, the good and the bad, so enjoy it for what it is. I need to irrigate my mind, perhaps?

And now for some kinder, more enjoyable thoughts. It is nice this year to have a little more independence while Josephine plays by herself in the yard so that I can get some work done and spend time with her at the same time. It’s actually one of my favorite things, being in the goat pasture with Josephine and the goats milling around. She plays the abovementioned games, and I love her imagination, determination, and creativity. Her sense of humor is spot on, and she can make me laugh like no one else. I love the activities and play that comes with a two year old, and I will work on acceptance of the other stuff because, just like the baby stage didn’t last and now I kind of long for that again, this won’t last either and I’m sure I’ll long for this.

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Sunrise, Moonset

I was greeted by two spectacular views when I left this morning
A moon setting

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And a sun rising

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Pretty cool. Happy Friday!

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