The First Born Reigns Supreme and Sappy Stuff

Cooper LOVES taking baths - actually both the kids do. Olivia will ask you at 3pm to give her a bath. She doesn't care what time it is, as long as she can get in. And Cooper wants to get in the tub *right* time he gets home from daycare. No eating first Mommy....I want a bath NOW! So, I usually kill two birds with one stone and throw them in the tub together. It's worked really well so far (except for the occasionally "why does Cooper have a wee wee comment" from Olivia) until last night. Cooper will probably NEVER get back in the tub now.

Little background story....Al and I bought a new tub for our house the year after we moved in. We even splurged a little and got a jacuzzi tub. We love it....I don't use it as much as I use too but that's because my tub has been taken over by two little monsters. So anyways....

Back to last night. Somewhere in the mist of them playing and me trying to wash the 4 layers of dirt off Cooper's little body, Olivia hit the button to make the jacuzzi come on. Water shot up everywhere, it made a loud noise and shot poor little Cooper right in the head from two different directions. The poor kid climbed UP my shirt and had us both soaking wet. He cried and clung to me like a wet, little monkey. Olivia just sat there and coolly said "Sorry, it was an accident. No spankings Mommy." Hmmmm.....was it really an accident or is this part of Olivia's plan to get her own bath time back? I'm sensing a Bad Seed vibe from her. Ha ha! I put Cooper back in the tub to try to show him there was no reason to be scared but he just cried. So, I took him out. Mean, mean little girl! Olivia - 450246450 Cooper - 2.

Anyways, after the excitement had died down, Al and I dressed the kids and got them ready for bed. I have to admit, I have the same routine every night before I go to bed. I creep into Olivia's room and make sure she's covered up and kiss her goodnight and whisper "I love you to the moon and back" and then I just look at her. I do the same thing with Cooper. Sometimes I catch myself tearing up looking at their beautiful little faces because I can't believe they are mine. Really mine. I know I'm a mom, but shoot, sometimes I still don't feel like it and still don't feel like I'm *worthy* of having two great kids. I still feel like I'm learning and God knows I make mistakes with them. I feel so blessed and I thank God everyday for them. I don't know what I did to deserve them. I must be doing something right since I'm Olivia Grace's best friend huh? Anyways, that's me being sappy.....

Wow, I wrote a novel today.....

Nothing...

I have nothing.....can you believe that? I have nothing really funny to write about that my kids did over the weekend.....boo on me! I did take a short video of Cooper on the Dora 4 wheeler but I don't think I can post it on here. Bummer.

Anyways, I weighed today and I'm down 4 pounds from last monday! Woo Hoo! That gives me a total of NINE pounds in the first 3 weeks on Weight Watchers. Al is opting for weighing tonight so I'll post tomorrow and let you know how much he's down.

Oh, and the girl that LIES at Emmanuel still hasn't called me back.

Liar, Liar...

PANTS ON FIRE!!! That chick from Emmanuel *never* called me back!

And she works for a Christian school...she should be ashamed of herself!

Forgot something....

I knew there was something I wanted to blog about but kept forgetting! Olivia managed to con (although it's really not *that* hard) Nanny into buying her two "twin" babies the other week from Target. They are really cute but guess what Olivia named them?

Thelma and Louise!

How stinking funny is that? Of course, she doesn't know why everyone thinks that's funny, but I had to laugh when she told me their names. She is too much sometimes. Oh, and I called Emmanuel to ask if Olivia had been accepted. I think I royally offended the girl that answered the phone because I called not once, but twice. But come on, she first tells me she's sending out letters and I'll know something in 2 weeks? Well hey, that's not really fair because if you reject my kid, I want to be able to get her into another pre-school program. So, we had a little "disagreement" about that and she's promised to call me back. Of course I haven't heard a darn thing from her. And I probably won't. GGGRRRRR

I just hope that Olivia's name wasn't on the "accepted" list and got moved to the "rejected" side because I called and asked if there was any way they could let me ASAP. Oh well! I'm beginning to really not like this school!

Suspense is killing me!!!!!

When is Emmanuel going to let me know if Olivia has been accepted or not? They are KILLING me! Everyday I run (ok, so that's an exaggeration) anxiously to the mailbox in hopes that I'll see the E letterhead, but *nothing*. You have no idea how bad I want to call up that lady and say "look, just be straight up with me here and tell me if you want her or not!" - ha! I have faith that she'll get in....no news is good news right?

Oh, Week 2 of Weight Watchers went well. I lost another two pounds and Al lost six. *eye roll* Again, I'm happy for my hubby, but COME ON!!!! I've lost 5 stinking pounds to his 14....it's just not fair. I'm just going to have to get lipo. :)

Aaaannnnndddd....Cooper is doing really well with only have his paci at nap and bed time. I'm hoping to 1. break him of this habit and 2. get him talking more by keeping it out of his mouth. Have I mentioned that my 18 month old son is addicted to Spongebob? Now that's a word he can say clear enough. Too cute right? Yeah, until he goes to the doctor and I have to him that's the *only* word he says....ha ha!

The words of the day are.....

IMPRESSIVE and SURE. Here's each used in a sentence by our very own Olivia Grace.

O: "Mommy, that was IMPRESSIVE that she gave me chocolate candy."
and
Me: "Olivia, do you want some chicken nuggets?"
O: "SURE."
This word of the day may be used after EVERY single question you ask your soon to be 4 year old. It replaces the normal "yes, yes ma'am, yeah," etc.

Where does my kid learn this vocabulary? I mean, wasn't it just the other day that I was commenting on her usage of the word "actually"? And when is Cooper going to pick up on this stuff? I know I shouldn't compare kids, but man, Olivia was talking up a storm at his age. Oh well, he's my sweet little man. I guess he doesn't need to talk when all he has to do is point and grunt for whatever he wants huh? Although, Cooper can say ball, hey, bye bye, uh oh, blue....and that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there are more and I'm just forgetting them.

Oh, and as I am typing this, Olivia came in asking for her play plastic scissors so she can "cut Poppy's hair". For those of you who don't my dad (aka Poppy), he's BALD. Ha ha!

Yay for us!!!

So, Al and I are on Weight Watchers for Week 2. Let me tell you - the first few days on Weight Watchers is pure TORTURE!!! But, I do have to admit that it gets easier every day. And I think Al and I are really learning how to eat healthy for a change. I haven't had a single piece of chocolate in almost 2 weeks and I'm drinking water like it's going out of style. I do have an occasional diet Dr. Pepper to give myself a boost of caffeine. AAAANNNNDDD when Al and I did our weekly weigh in on Monday, Al had lost EIGHT pounds (go Al!!!) and I had lost THREE. :( Ok, so I'm jealous my hubby lost more but I am very, very proud of him. If I can be consistent with three pounds a week, I'm happy with that and I just might make my target of losing 35 pounds. Wish us lots of luck!

In other news.....Cooper is addicted to Olivia's Dora 4-wheeler. He loves to ride around on that thing! Nana said Olivia was driving it around at top speed w/Cooper hanging on laughing his little heart out. I wish Poppy had taken a picture because the image in my head is too cute! Oh well!

Oh, and no news yet if Olivia got into Emmanuel.....

The interview Part 2

Olivia had her interview for Emmanuel this morning and she did pretty well. I was proud of my Baby Girl. She said her ABC's, counted to 10, talked about her brother, named all of her colors and shapes CORRECTLY. What can I say? I have a genius on my hands - ha ha! I would like for Olivia to get into their pre-school program, but I'm not stressing if she doesn't. There's always Thomas Hart to send her.

The weekend was perfect! My kids got to play outside and they loved it. Cooper learned how to drive Sissy's Dora 4-wheeler. He is the funniest thing to watch on that thing. He has to stand up to hit the gas and then it almost throws him off. But he loves it. I definitely think Al and I need to get him something like that for his birthday this year. Oh, speaking of birthdays, I think I may have found a place that sells Spongebob candles and Ariel stuff. So maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to make Olivia's cake after all!

18 months already

Can you believe Cooper is 18 months old already? Gosh, he's going to be TWO before I know it. *sniffle* We had his check up yesterday and he is 31 inches tall and 23 pounds. He's my little runt - STILL. Ha! But the doctor was concerned about his weight; she said as long as he was eating and was active, he was a perfect little boy. Which I already knew!

So, now my dilemma is what kind of cake to do for Ms. Olivia's birthday. She is insisting on having a pink cake, so I guess I will make a sheet cake and decorate it. However, she wants like 20 different characters on the cake, so I'm not sure what I will do. *sigh* Her interview for school is rescheduled for Monday morning so we'll see how things go with that. I'm keeping my options open for Thomas Hart or possibly leaving her in daycare for another year. We'll see though.

Oh, and I like to call the 2nd picture, "Monkey See, Monkey Do" - ha ha!

The interview Part 1

Well, I got a call today from Jennifer at Emmanuel. We (Al, Olivia, and myself) have our interview at Emmanuel on Wednesday at 12:30pm. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! I knew they said March, I just didn't realize they meant so early in March. I am so nervous that Olivia is going to act wild and NOT listen to me or her Daddy and these people will say, "you know what, here's your application fee back, we don't want her!" She's definitely smart enough to be there, I'm just not sure about her behavior! Ha!

So, has it really been almost a week since I last posted? Geez, I'm slack! Cooper has his 18 month check up on Wednesday as well and I'm anxious to see how much weight he's gained. He's so tiny to me, I may even talk to the doctor about what I can do to fatten him up. The kid eats like a horse so why is he so small? I'm just worried I'm not feeding my kid enough or something.

I'll keep ya'll posted on how the interview goes. Wish us luck that Olivia is on her best behavior!

Talk Time

No one can embarrass me like my children. They are extremely talented in the art of making Mommy turn bright RED. Especially the first born! Last night at dance class, a woman was sitting there with her two kids. Granted, they were a mixed family (the mom was white and the kids were mixed) but I didn't think anything of it since Olivia sees this lady almost every Monday. Well......the lady had her son with her which she usually doesn't, so Olivia marches her little self up to her and asks....*insert drum roll*

O: Why is your son dark and you white?

I could have died! I totally didn't know how to handle the situation. The lady just acted like she didn't hear her (thank goodness!) and I snatched Olivia away and told her to behave. After dance class, I had a long discussion with Olivia about how some families are different and that's OK, blah, blah, blah. I know she was just curious and she's totally innocent, and all , but it really embarrassed me to death!

Do they favor?

So, the 1st pic is Olivia at around 4 or 5 months old (I think). I can't believe she's almost 4 years old!!!! The second pic is Cooper at 4 months old. My little man is 18 months old already. *sniffle* It's hard to see his face in his picture, but they did kind of favor at that age.

Getting Prepared for the 4th

Olivia knows she's going to be 4 on her birthday in April. And she already has requests! They include (in no particular order):

1. her party be at Chuck E. Cheese

2. Chuck E. Cheese himself must make an appearance at her party

3. she wants a guitar and a ukulele (because Rooney has one and he's a Doodlebop and although he's blue and she HATES blue, she likes him)

4. a pink cake that play music (WHAT?) and has Cinderella, Belle, Ariel, Prince Eric (Ariel's man), and Max (Prince Eric's DOG) on it. OOOKKKKK.....like that's sssooo easy for Mommy to come up with OLIVIA!!!!

*sigh* I think that's it for the requests at the moment but I'm sure she'll come up with some new ones soon.

Oh, and Cooper has learned the word "MINE" - he says it all the time now. He'll grab something, cling it to his little body and scream "Mine, mine, mine" - I wonder which little thief at daycare taught him that? Little monsters! :)

"I swear!"

Olivia is picking up on WAY TOO MUCH!!!! We were over at my MIL's house over the weekend and my niece was there, along with my other SIL and my 3 month old nephew. Well, Loren was being a little mean to Cooper (what's new?) so Olivia turned to her and said (and I quote)....
Olivia: I swear Loren, if you don't start behaving, I'm going to go tell your Daddy and you're going to get a spanking worst that I've ever had!
Amy and I thought we would die laughing! It was too funny and Olivia was just as serious as can be. She found no humor in it whatsoever. Ha ha! Then later, the three of them were having a tea party and Loren was screaming and Olivia looked at her and said, "Loren, you don't have to yell, just talk to me." This kid definitely listens to her mommy! :)

And yes, Cooper was part of the tea party. Olivia and Loren were "pretending" to drink and eat their cookies, but Cooper really was! He's like his mommy, wherever there is free food - he's there! Ha ha!

Three Amigos :)

Yeah, this pic is a few months old but both my kids look pretty much the same. I'm not sure why NEITHER of them are smiling but whatever.....it's a good pic. Poor Al never gets his picture taken with the family. :)

Monkey See, Monkey Do

A strange occurrence has started in the Griggs household. If Cooper takes his clothes off and walks around in his diaper, Olivia must take all her clothes off and walk around in her panties. If Olivia gets something to drink, Cooper has to have something to drink. If one of them is doing something, eating, taking a bath, you name it - the other has to do it too. They are literally about to drive me and Al crazy. BUT I have figured out that if we buy them or give them the EXACT same thing, that leads to less fights. And trust me, they fight a lot. You would think since Cooper is only 17 months old that he would be a total push over, but my little man can hold his own! Ha ha!

I guess we're in the "copy cat" phase right now. Sometimes it's really cute - like when Cooper gets in my lap and Olivia sees him and jumps in my lap too. Makes me feel loved. But then there are times when it can drive you absolutely INSANE. Ah, the joys of having two kids!

Happy V-Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Olivia woke up in a very, very, very bad mood! First, she didn't want to get dressed. She wanted to wear her pjs to school - why? I don't know....I guess it's just one of those "Olivia" moments. She was full of those this morning! When I finally coaxed her into getting dressed, I gave her the card and candy her Daddy and I got her. She didn't like it - actually told me I could throw it away. CAN YOU BELIEVE HER NERVE?? I don't know why she was so crabby, but I was one glad mama to drop her off at daycare. I hope her attitude improved when she got there or those ladies are in for some trouble today. My daughter is not a morning person at all! Ha ha! Thank goodness Cooper wakes up smiling. *He* liked his card and candy....he's like his mama, he's not picky at all! :)

Thanks to all the chaos Olivia caused, I totally forgot to brush my teeth this morning. I feel nasty.

Credit Queen

As a parent I feel you should give your child freedom - freedom to play until bed time (and drive your spouse crazy).....freedom to watch Spongebob over and over and over and over (until you drive yourself crazy)....freedom to eat a hot dog weeny every night for supper for a month (but you better not let the ketchup and mustard touch on the plate or then it's "icky" and "yucky" and you have to start aaaaallllll over because the ketchup doesn't like the mustard and the mustard is jealous of the ketchup because he's red - ARGH!!!!) and freedom to have their own money. Or credit cards - especially credit cards.

Ok, so I'm lying. *gasp* About the money at least - the other things are totally true. My kids are strange....very strange. Anywho, Olivia found a plastic Spongebob card in her DVD and thinks that it is her very own "Spongebob credit card." AND if you ask her what her credit limit is, she'll tell you it's $700. Ha ha! That probably sounds like a million dollars to her right? She's so funny! She wouldn't even take that "credit card" out of her pocket when she got to daycare. I guess she was scared one of the thieves there would try to steal it and stick her with a big bill!

Cooper feeding and Olivia Chilling

Little Mama

Olivia told me this morning that she was Cooper's Little Mama. And she was serious. She even got mad with ME when I told her not to spank him anymore. Like how dare I???