Perfecting Imperfection

It started out as a threat that backfired.

"Danika Rae, if you don't stop your whining and crying until I'm done brushing your hair I'm taking you to get it all chopped off!!!"

"Okay, Mommy.  I want a haircut like you..." She actually sniffed a little and looked at me with her big brown eyes when she said this - so, I knew I was done for and she was finally going to get her haircut.

Now, with my boys I don't have a problem just shaving their heads because soon enough they will have enough hair back on their head to not look too goofy.  With Danika, though, I figured that I'd better call in a professional because there is NO WAY I was going to even attempt a trim, let alone a major haircut like this one!!!

The before shot - she had never had a "real" haircut, just a trim

Pulled back and ready to go - we decided on taking 11 inches off

She looks a little nervous as Amy starts the cutting

Here she is holding her ponytail that was just on her head

Finished product

Such a cutie

She only cried once last night before going to bed and told me that she wanted me to put her hair back on.  However, I know she understands that isn't possible.  I think she was just overtired and when she is overtired she finds the most ridiculous things to whine about . . . actually, she will whine about ANYTHING when she is overtired.

She was VERY excited to go to school today and show off her new do.  I've already heard that she's telling people not to worry . . . it'll grow back.  :)

I know I'm going to miss the long hair a bit because it was so cute and she always looked adorable BUT I'm not going to miss the fighting and crying and tears.  I would rather her be happy and she still looks cute, just a little more grown up than before.  And . . . it'll grow back!  hehehe

If you have been reading the blog for a while, you probably remember the whole story about Danika needing breathing treatments back in April.  She had gone to the circus with my parents.  She rode a pony and then was having trouble breathing that night and the next morning.  We ended up at Children's Hospital all day on Sunday.

The end results are that she is allergic to trees (quite a few), grass (but only when it is pollinating?), horses and dogs.  Nothing super surprising there - although the fact that she didn't seem to have a cat allergy surprised me a bit.  All in all, the doctor said that her episode in April was probably a combination of all 3 or 4 of the things that she is allergic to hitting her at once.  He called it a Double Whammy (but it would be more like a Triple or Quadruple Whammy).   He feels that the Zyrtec and inhaler are the way to go unless we notice a change in her.  He also said that we will be able to schedule a follow up visit with him in February to discuss how to handle her next spring.  Apparently, spring is the worst for the trees and grass she has problems with.

I'm glad we know.  I'm not sure I would put her through it again, though...but at least it's not worse than what we thought!  :)

Oh - BTW...I have one more major thing to get through this week - the TV repair guys are coming on Friday.  It's a LONG story but I will just say that I will be SO thrilled when Saturday gets here!  :)

 It was bound to happen ~ because she has 3 brothers, I was bound to have a little Diva on my hand.  That is not to say that she can't handle herself...because she can...but my, oh my, am I in trouble.

Today my little Diva turned 4.  You should have seen her face when Mrs. S put her birthday crown on at school.  She was beaming!  She was so excited to have the focus on her and be the center of attention on her special day at school.

We are celebrating with parties all weekend - but had donuts and cupcakes and sang at Nana's tonight anyway!  :)

Danika with Nate on their first day of school this year

Danika at her Christmas Party at school

Daddy's girl

Dear Danika,


     Today is your 4th birthday and I feel like I wrote you a letter just last night about your 3rd birthday!  You have grown so much in the last year and continue to amaze me.  You have become such a little lady and would wear dresses 24/7 if I let you.  You would also start wearing make-up and probably be the one to drag me out the door to get our hair done and mani/pedis!  I look forward to those days ~ but I'm also enjoying the right now, where Mommy taking 10 minutes to paint your nails means you are the perfect little princess.


     You are an amazing big sister.  You are always looking out for your little brothers and hate to hear them cry or be upset.  You are the first one to try to calm them down and always ask me if they are okay even after they have stopped crying.  


     You are also an amazing little sister.  I can't believe how you put up with Nate sometimes.  He can push your buttons for sure - but you always go right back to giving him that unconditional love and forgiving him no matter what.  I hope that it is always that way!  


     I am looking forward to so many things that you will start to enjoy and be doing.  Nate is starting to get involved in things that Daddy likes - but I get to show you all the things I liked when I was little.  I was thrilled when you said you wanted to have a Strawberry Shortcake party because that is right out of my childhood!


     Your teachers all love you and tell me what a perfect angel you are in school.  They tell me all the time that you love to sing and I believe it because you taught your baby brother, Dean, how to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  When we had our parent/teacher conference with your teacher, she couldn't say enough good things about you and what a big help you are to your teachers.  


     You can be a handful at times when you are at home - but I would worry if you weren't.  I'm so glad you are who you are and I can't wait to continue on this journey with you to discover who you will become.


I love you,


Mommy

My birthday turned out to be a pretty nice day - until my hormones kicked in and turned me in to a crazed woman (but that wasn't until AFTER the kids went to bed...so it's all good).  2 of the biggest highlights were that my BlackBerry went back to normal after being fully submerged in my husband's grandmother's toilet last night.  (stuck it in a bag of rice overnight) AND my daughter slept in big girl underwear for the first time with NO ACCIDENTS!!!  Having 2 out of pull-ups/diapers would be awesome.  Especially since this was the one I never thought would be potty trained.

After waking up and getting surprised with a working phone and dry daughter (and birthday cards from kids and Jerry), Jerry left with Nate to go to the auto body shop to get an estimate for the damage to our van.  We were in a very minor accident the Tuesday before Easter - minor but still $4,000.00.  The other girl's insurance has already contacted us and they will be taking care of everything.  On the way back, he picked up doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches for breakfast.  (Duh) Then he took the "big" kids to play outside almost all day which gave me some time to get some stuff done inside.  He also took them down to the corner store (yes, we still have one of those and it's within walking distance) and bought us sandwiches and cookies and little pizza pillows for lunch.  

After lunch, I went up to tackle the whole switch from winter clothes to summer ones.  We have been having really nice weather and need to get the shorts out.  I NEVER imagined what a gigantic task it is to go through dressers and closets for 6 people.  I'm not even done yet.  I spent about 3 hours up there and got the babies and "big" kids clothes situated.  I have a box for my niece and 3 boxes for Goodwill.  I also have about 4 baskets of laundry - so who knows what's in there.  My room...my clothes...I just didn't have the energy for it yesterday.  Plus, it's all pre-twin-pregnancy and that scares me.  I don't want to open these boxes and find clothes that don't fit...it's too depressing.  *sigh*  I did manage to find a pair of capris that fit quite well when looking for something to wear yesterday.  Maybe it won't be as bad as I think - but I still am willing to bet that I'll have another box for Goodwill when all is said and done.  I'm not holding on to things that I can't wear.  It's too much clutter and too much pressure. 

I have a question - if you are still reading my rambling.  Anyone ever have to teach someone to pedal who just doesn't want to pedal forward?  Danika LOVES her new bike...but she just won't pedal forward.  I've tried moving her feet in the right direction.  I've tried having her watch Nate do it.  Doing it for "pretend" while laying on the floor.  She just can't get it.  I know that it may just be that she needs to keep trying - but if there is some kind of trick, I'd appreciate you sharing it with me so we can get her moving!

Oh - and here...have a picture!

*I apologize about the absence of some of the pictures in this post - I have no freaking clue what happened or what's going on...but I don't have time to fix it right now!  :(

It's not a bad thing that I'm not finding the time to blog about my weekend on Sunday nights - It usually means that it was a great weekend and I just don't have the energy or that I am really busy with my family and don't have the time. It's not a bad problem to have! So - here's the low down on what went down this weekend.

Saturday we celebrated my friend, Derek’s birthday.  He actually turns 30 this week – but with Easter coming and all we just celebrated this past weekend.  (I run into a similar problem with my birthday, too…it’s the day after his!)

The above picture is only really funny to those of us who are “in on the joke”.  You see, when these guys were younger – much younger – they would spend HOURS kicking a bean bag around to each other.  HOURS and HOURS, night after night - “hacking”.  Well, it got kind of dark and they just couldn’t see that darn bean bag as clearly as they use to…you know eyesight gets worse with age.  So, someone suggested they use a bigger ball.  Much bigger…it was actually hysterical to watch them kick this thing around a circle.  I was just worried that one of them was going to break their ankle or leg…you know bones get more brittle with age.
 
This is proof that I had a glass (or two) too many.  I was drinking wine and really (really) enjoying it.  Here I am towards the end of the night planting a big old kiss on someone who is NOT my husband.  (For the record, my husband is taking the picture – totally not upset, I swear!)

The next day (Sunday) we had an Easter Party to go to.  I must add here that my husband was amazing yesterday morning.  It was further proof of my two (or three) too many glasses of wine that I was having a really tough time getting moving on Sunday morning.  My husband was great!  Took care of the kids and let me “recover” a bit.  He even made everyone breakfast!  What a guy!

So – on to the Easter party. 
Unfortunately, it was raining – so the egg hunt took place inside.  Here are some pics from the party.

Danika (on the left) and my niece, Angelina (on the right) with their egg hunt bags!

Nate was lucky enough to only have one little boy with him in his age category!  His buddy Nicholas!  Boy did they ever make out with the eggs/candy!

My mom’s camera has a much better picture (one where it doesn’t look like I woke Dean up to take this this picture – even though I did).  I’ll have to get it off of her!


I have no idea what is up with the goofy grin. 




You will notice that there is no picture of Danika with the bunny.  This is where my Mama Guilt comes in.  She just wouldn’t do it.  No way – no how.  She was the same with Santa.  It’s not a big deal, really…but it’s not because I don’t WANT her to take a picture with these characters – it’s just that I DON’T want her to cry and scream any more than she already does.  I know that I shouldn’t feel guilty about not making her cry – but I kind of feel guilty that I can’t get her to not cry and just take the picture.  I mean I will have all these pictures of her brothers with Santa and the Easter Bunny (and hopefully Disney Characters some day) but none of my beautiful daughter.  I may have tried to make her take the picture, but I was holding a sleeping baby and there was NO WAY hubby was going to make her do something she didn’t want to…she has him totally wrapped around her finger.

Oh – and the prompt over at Mama Guilt w/Cop Mama was about picky eaters…I totally talked about that last week!  The Nutritional Habit of my Children!

That’s about it.  We ended the weekend eating dinner at my parent’s house and watching the Pens win in a shoot out.

We have a busy busy week ahead of us…so, I’m off to go get started.  First up – laundry…so we don’t have to wear the same underwear all week!  (BTW – I hate laundry…least favorite part is the putting the clothes away part…I hate to admit how much we live out of laundry baskets around here.)

It was just one of those weekends...everyone was sick and we had a lot of stuff to take care of this weekend.  Not a lot of places to go...but a lot of stuff to do.  One of the big things that needed done was digging out Jerry's car.  We dug the van out the day we got the big snow.  We didn't dig out Jerry's car.  I figured I wasn't going anywhere anyway...so, he could just take the van and I'd hang out at home with the kiddos.  I do have to go to work tomorrow, though.  So, we need both vehicles dug out.  Jerry dug it out yesterday....took him a little under an hour.  When he came in he looked at me and said, "I wonder how many pounds of snow I've shoveled?"  Without skipping a beat I responded, "I wonder how many gallons of snot I've sucked out of noses?"  That about sums up the last few days.  :) 

It was a good weekend, though.

We are continuing to have great Potty Success (if you haven't seen this video of Danika yet...it's hysterical!).  The only accident was one when she fell asleep on the couch - can't blame her there.  She even kept her Pull-Up dry at Nana and Pap Pap's house yesterday! 

Speaking of yesterday...I actually put real clothes on (make-up and everything) and went out with Jerry.  We went to the mall for a little bit and ate at Chili's.  I had their Quesadilla Explosion Salad and it was awesome.  I also had a few adult beverages - and they were yummy, too.  Which is probably part of the reason we headed to Best Buy next and made a few bigger purchases.  The one I'm really excited about is this:

I've been complaining about not being able to print from my laptop for probably 6 months.  Our desktop (which finally bit the dust) took forever to load any program and even longer to turn on.  One night I ended up not going grocery shopping until 9:00 pm because I couldn't get my grocery list to print.  No more, though!  I also got a new coat (80% off!!!), a new purse and a new pair of sunglasses.  All in all it was a great trip.

I just have to add these pics on to the end of the post - I think Matchbox cars lined up in a row by little hands are just adorable...Cars Matchbox cars are even cuter.

My son was incredibly easy to potty train.  We used a timer and just like Pavlov's Dog when he heard the timer go off, off to the potty he went.  After about 3 weeks of that he was fully potty trained.  My daughter has been working on potty training for about 2 months now.  It's partly my fault because I've been unable to maintain any kind of consistency with her.  There are the days I work and am not home to stay consistent.  There are the days when the twins need extra attention and potty training has to take a back seat.  Then there are the days when my oh-so-stubborn daughter decides she is just NOT going to do it.

Today, however, was not one of those days.  We had potty success...I video taped it.  I'm partly ashamed about it (because you can see the plunger in the back right corner) but it is too hysterical not to share.  I really hope she doesn't hate me for this when she is older.  Nothing too graphic - I didn't videotape the final product or anything...so, you've been warned and if you want to watch the video it's below.