wordless wednesday

giving her the boot

since my groundhog kind of morning post, we have definitely had so many positive changes in our morning routine. thank you all so much for the comments and suggestions. i appreciate it all so very much.

i just can't even begin to tell you how much better my mornings with hadley have gotten. we are no longer experiencing tantrums and tears daily to get ready for school. that in itself is such a huge deal and just the icing on the cake. hadley has actually been wearing weather-appropriate boots, pants, and a jacket. it is nothing short of a miracle. i actually look forward to getting her dressed in the morning. before, with the exception of bedtime (i'll post on that issue another day), it was the worst part of my day. so glad that is in the past. maybe i am getting ahead of myself. you know how toddlers are a certain way one day and completely the opposite the next. in fact, we know that happens multiple times in the same day most of the time! maybe that will be the case but i am enjoying the ride while it lasts!

so i after that post, i started thinking about hadley and the feel of things for her. maybe it wasn't the shoes themselves that she didn't like, maybe it was the way it was tight around her foot. after all, she never had a problem wearing her crocs, which is quite a loose shoe. it could of been the velcro straps and laces going across the top part of her foot that she didn't like. i really don't know what the reason was for her strong opposition to all the shoes i tried. still don't. i decided to buy her a pair of loose boots, ugg style without the ugg price, from target one day. they are really super cute purple owl boots. maybe that  owl had something to do with it. sure enough, she put them on and wore them every day for a straight week. hallelujah! issue one resolved (for the moment).

i started getting her to agree to socks with leg warmers rather than pants. she agreed. so it was more like baby steps working our way up to getting leggings on her. a few days after sporting some pretty rockin' leg warmers, she agreed to leggings if they were pulled up. i was more than willing to compromise. fine, sure, wear your pants pulled half way up your calf. the majority of your leg is still covered from the cold so i will take it!  now she will still only do leggings with skirts, no jeans or overalls just yet, but i am taking things slowly and crossing my fingers. issue two resolved (for the moment).

and the jacket... it was never as big of an issue as her pants or shoes. this one was really one she decided on her own accord for two reasons. one being she realized that on very cold days without a coat on she was in fact.... COLD. a two year old apparently can grasp that. second, her preschool teachers taught her that amazing flip trick with her coat, allowing her to put her coat on all by herself. and for those of you that know my stubborn girl, you know she wants to do everything herself. so she is game for wearing a coat so long as she puts it on by herself and the sleeves are pushed up. plus, she just looks like a darn cool 2 year old on the playground. issue three resolved (for the moment).

i openly admit that i bribe my children. bribes work. so of course i do what i have to. maybe i won't call it a bribe in this case though. i think i will say reward. sounds sweeter and more positive, right. that is really what it is. hadley loves to be praised and rewarded. so now when she does a super job of getting fully dressed in the morning, including shoes and socks, i reward her with a candy corn or  m&m. it is a beautiful thing how happy she gets when i place that one little candy corn in the tiny palm of her hand. worth every bit of sugar! don't worry, she is a good tooth-brusher.

see for yourself.... fully clothed and no tears

  

she agreed to leg warmers. super cute on her

such a great sense of style 

(notice how she is wearing her hat!)

she has even moved on to wearing a second pair of boots

 i did try these ones before, during her no-shoe phase, but she quickly rejected them.

guess the owl boots prepared her for these

they are by far the softest boots i have ever touched

not only is the inside super soft and fuzzy, but the entire boot itself is soft, suede,

and very flexible. not a stiff boot whatsoever

and hadley is so good at putting them on all by herself

she loves the sound the zipper makes

(sleeves and leggings pushed up as always)

 so this is one happy post written by one happy mom. it really negatively impacts your entire day when it starts out with a screaming toddler who does not want to get dressed. and now that she is happy and dressed, i am super happy in the moment.

we will just have to wait and see what tomorrow holds.

for fun, enjoy watching hadley proudly put her coat on

wordless wednesday

memories up in flames

i think i have always known that it is the little things that seem to make such big memories but really remember this philosophy after the moment has come and gone, and i want to cherish it always.

phil and i agree that we prefer fun family experiences and vacations over toys and gifts. but don't get me wrong, i am well aware that my girls still get plenty of toys and gifts(i can call them spoiled, but you can't). i just know that it is the other things that they will remember, that really make up their childhood memories. pretty sure caroline won't remember a set of clearance bouncy balls that she got at target this weekend, or that capt. america shield but feel pretty confident that she already cherishes her disney vacation memories. that's the way we like it!

so two saturdays ago (and we actually did it again this past saturday with some cousins) we had a fun time roasting marshmallows, making s'mores, and enjoying the fire pit on a very chilly evening. but now that i say the words 'roasting marshmallows,' i wonder if i always say roasting. do i say toasting? what is the correct word, cause now that i say one, the other seems more right? do you toast or roast your marshmallows?

either way, we had a great time doing it. those are the kind of memories i want caroline and hadley to have, of us doing super fun things together as a family. i enjoy that so, so much!

i think our great time is reflected pretty accurately in the images below-

waiting to get their s'mores on

such the action shot

even blue got in on the fun

she looks busted, right! eating too much chocolate again.

she didn't even eat a s'more

i think she is taking her roasting skills pretty seriously here

memories. right here. made them. just like that