What Happens with the Girlfriends....

...stays with the girlfriends (unless, of course, your mother has a camera and a blog)! How absolutely cute are these outfits that my mom made for Kate and her girlfriends?!!! To die for, they are. We were sad that Taylor wasn't with us today for the great demonstration of cuteness and attitude, but the girls did their best to carry on. (Although, let it be said that Taylor is the Queen of 'tude -- and damn cute, too.)

Grandma rocks and all the girls say thank you! All the girls are absolutely ADORABLE in their outfits and all loved them, except for Emily who was only in the mood to wear either her bathing suit or birthday suit. She's the one who later decided to strip and wear the curtains, calling them her "tutu".

Note to Caroline, mom to Emily: No Spring Break for Emily -- EVER. hee hee hee

Here are "the girls" (aka Kate, Abigail, Emily & Ashley) in all their glory:

Above: Abigail, sporting the shirt from "Grandma Judi" -- what Kate's grandma is known as from the other kiddos.
Above: Emily thinks, "Thanks and everything, but you can't make me wear the outfit!" (Minutes later, she was naked and pulling curtains over her saying, "my tutu.")

Above: After Kate's foot touched Emily's leg, Emily pushed it away. Kate shoved back. Then they gave each other this priceless look. They all but said, "she's breathing my air."

Above: Kate and her mussy hair, after swim lessons. Still pretty damn cute, if you ask me!

Above: Sweet Abigail

Above: The girls pretend to nap. Notice that Kate and Emily (far right) leave a gap between them. Apparently, they're not over their little tiff.

Above: Ashley, the beautiful

Above: Trying to create a "flower" -- Easier said than done.

(And yes, that is a book in Kate's hand.)

Above and below, from left to right: Kate, Ashley, Abigail, Emily

Above: Ashley and Emily practice their ballet moves.



Above: Kate, put the magazine away already!!!!

Above: "Pardon me, Miss, may I take your plate?"

(I snapped this photo before saying, "EXCUSE ME, what the heck are you doing?!!!!")

So far, so good!

Kate and I both woke up after a full night's sleep and so far, things are looking up. Thanks for your nice comments and thoughts. I'm also so very grateful that those days are much fewer and far between than they used to be. Kate has really come a long way (and so have I)!

And for your viewing entertainment, here are a few pics from a recent swim lesson with her teacher, Miss Karen. Miss Karen is so good with Kate and is teaching her many survival skills. The real bonus, to me, is that all of her motor planning improves the more she swims. I think it's something about having to use her whole body in the pool. Also, she's getting so much stronger -- thanks in large part to all the swimming.

One of those days

Good God, but today was one of "those" days.

Little Miss woke up before 6am and could not be convinced to cuddle with Mama & Papa -- even if we put a favorite show on. She was loud and crashing and demanding and well -- wide-awake.

By 9am, she was tired and way-cranky. I was trying to get a bit of work done, so I pretty much ignored her. Bad move.

At 9:15am, I look up and see about 9 puzzles and their various pieces strewn about the livingroom. She had also taken all the diapers out of their bag and crayons out of their boxes.

Hello?!!! You are 3 years old now -- no more of this.

We put on our swimsuits, me thinking that she needs to be physically worn out. Just getting the livingroom picked up and her into her swimsuit is painful today. She's hitting herself, screeching, etc. Every screech equals a time-out, so it takes us a while to get to the pool that's about 10 feet away.

At one point, she looks at me, screams her head off and then says "aye, aye" (bye-bye) and puts herself into time-out. If Kate had more words, I'm pretty sure that she would have cussed me out and then put herself into time-out.

Right back atcha, kiddo.

11:45 we come in from the pool and a sheriff is knocking on our door for the second time this week. Kate is naked, I'm soaking wet, but I'm grateful the puzzle pieces were at least put away at this point.

Over the next 20 minutes, the sheriff and I have a conversation about some guy who cloned my mom's cell number (which is on my family plan) and then used that number claiming to have information on an abducted person from Wisconsin and how she was dragged across the country and was in my house. Um, what?!

Two officers were at our house at 3am the other day investigating this, thinking that I was harboring this missing woman. It was very, very nerve-wracking to be grilled at 3am for something you are clueless about. I had no idea what was going on, but having a sheriff use his big officer voice with me made me feel guilty anyway. It didn't help that I kept saying "that isn't my phone number" until it dawns on me that it might be my mom's. Of course, Kate was screaming through all of this, the dog was barking, etc.

I'm hoping we are done with the sheriff's department, as our neighbors are probably wondering what we've done. I've also been told to monitor my credit report in case this is the beginning of identity theft.

Lovely.

12:30 Lunchtime -- Kate eats well, we have fun signing different words to each other and I think that things are looking up.

1:30 Naptime

2:00 Kate is whining / screaming / stomping her feet / being a total painintheass and still not sleeping. I'm ignoring her.

2:40Kate wins. I can't listen to it anymore.

2:40- 3:30 Sensory activities, reading, puzzles. Kate's attention span today is that of a gnat and even the sensory activities that normally help are basically useless.

3:30 - 4:30 We watch Winnie-the-Pooh and I say an extra prayer thanking God for television, dvd's and all the other things I said I'd never use to "babysit" my child.

4:30 - 5:30 Back in the pool. I wear her out!

6:00Dinner. Kate eats a ton (she swam a lot) and seems in a good mood.

6:30 Meltdown -- Kate wants more milk (which I gave her), but she can't pick it up unless she lets go of one of the two balls in her hands. I offer to hold one ball for her. This makes her wail. Then she proceeds to put both balls down. I'm thinking, YES! Then she hits herself with both hands, bends over and picks up the balls again. That's right, folks. My daughter will not put a ball down so she can get the milk that she wants BUT she'll put them down so she can hit herself because she's so frustrated at not being able to hold all three things.

These are the types of things that break me some days. You can't speak? Fine. Major motor planning issues? No problem!

Whining / hitting / wailing -- it just wears on my very last nerve.

In an act of self-preservation, I go to the bathroom, shut the door, stick my fingers in my ears and make the very mature statement: "I can't hear you, I can't hear you." Such a grown-up.

6:45 Kate has both balls and her milk. Not sure how she figured it out, but whatever....

7:00 Happy Kate watches Laurie Berkner videos on the computer with Papa. All is well.

7:20 Kate launches into a new hissy fit when Papa tries to change her diaper. "Mama, mamaaaaa, mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

7:45 Kate whimpers and whines and hits herself when Scott tells her that he is putting her to bed and not me. She should be happy -- he stays longer than I do.

8:15 I'm wrapping up this post and I think Kate is asleep. Please God, let her be asleep and let her sleep through the night.

I know I will. I took a couple of Tylenol PM's and am ready to sleep through anything.

Below is a typical Kate meltdown (and ignore the hair -- she fought the hairdresser so much that the way short bangs were the sad result). Looking back, I remember her having these EVERY DAY -- and a few times a day. I'm grateful that these are not nearly as frequent. This video is from the end of February and Kate has definitely come a long way since then.

What is it that Annie said?
"The sun'll come out, tomorrow.
Bet your bottom dollar that, tomorrow, there'll be sun.
When I'm stuck with a day,
that's gray,
and lonely,
I just stick up my chin,
and grin,
and say,
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow
You're only a day away."

Maybe tomorrow we'll find Daddy Warbucks.

Click on the Picture