total bliss with a little chaos

it's the best of both worlds, if you consider chaos to be a positive thing. today involved an emotional trainwreck... more about that later!see this? THIS is total bliss.

it lasted for all of ten seconds.

it was a blissful ten seconds.

look closely... notice anything a little off?

no, my daughter is not an amputee. it just appears that way.

it's what happens when you sit like this in your exersaucer.
silly baby.

now, amid the chaotic bliss, i've done a few things to appease my "creative" side. they've been added to my green vanilla baby site and will eventually be in stock at my etsy shop. but you don't have to wait for them to be in stock... you can visit green vanilla baby (see the link to the right?) and request one there. hop on over for details!
just a sneak peak...

and now for the mama-drama, the afore-mentioned emotional trainwreck.
the day started out amazingly: the kids slept until about 7.45 (very rare) and we headed to appleton to have a birthday lunch for sarah at olive garden. the food and company was amazing, as always... and we made it through with minor incidents. madison behaved perfectly and cole tried his best. emphasis on tried. both kids stayed awake most of the ride home (cole fell asleep about two minutes before we pulled into our driveway) so i was anticipating some decent naps. ha! there's where things went horribly wrong. cole slept all the way into the house and up to his room and promptly awoke to throw a fit as his head touched his mattress. eventually he simmered down and looked like he'd drift off, so i took madison up and laid her down. i anticipated a little noise from either/both of them, but was fairly hopeful that they'd soon get a visit from the sandman. that sandman... he never showed. thanks a lot, dude; not a nice trick! long story short, i desperately needed a little break so i left the kids to their non-nap. it was pretty quiet, except for the occassional outburst. i forgot one little thing: cole learned to sneak. as in, exit his bedroom and navigate the stairs without being heard. pretty impressive, since we have the creakiest hall and stairs ever. when i finally caved and went to get the kids, i found that cole had dumped all the diapers into madison's bed. not only that, but all his clothes too- his socks, pj's, shirts, pants and shorts from the dresser. madison was literally neck-deep in diapers and clothes. she was sitting, not laying. after having to deal with this one too many times, i lost it. cole got a good scolding and i burst into tears. just let it all out, while cole looked at me like i had three heads and madison giggled to herself as she spit up all over the diapers. spit up- that's a whole other can of worms... i could go on. and on.
so- it seems that to feel cleansed and ready to tackle the chaos once again, you need to have a messy meltdown.
bliss -> chaos -> bliss.
it's a vicious cycle.

"and all the monkies aren't in a zoo..."

the tom pease reference is for elissa... miss you already!! she and coy left friday evening, but before they did, we had one last trip out with the kids. actually, we did it on thursday, and we went to the special memories zoo in greenville. it was coy's first trip to a zoo, so that was pretty neat! the weather was perfect and it wasn't that crowded- i've never seen a zoo this nice! in my opinion, it's better than the n.e.w. zoo in green bay. anyway, we had fun; elissa said that we were probably enjoying it more than the kids. she may have been right, since two out of three of them had no idea what we were doing and the third, well, who knows! cole was happy to run around and point out the "puppies" (basically anything with fur and four legs), but he does tend to absorb more than we realize.

elissa, this will SO be you in about a year! two boys...

cole was pretty insistent on helping push the strollers. such a big helper!

this little guy befriended coy... aww, two little guys!
(and both cute to boot)

coy petting the goat, who was kind enough to just lay down and let people pet him (or her, i'm not sure which it was. cute, though).

cole also got the pet the goat. poke would be a more accurate term. not a mean poke, just an "i'm not too sure about this but curiosity is getting the best of me" poke.

my favorite part of the petting zoo area? the tortoise. i've never seen one this close before- what a neat creature! he was THE man...

... but cole didn't think so.

seriously- this child is surrounded by goats, chickens, pigs, ducks and a pony (which was taller than him), and he was afraid of the big turtle.

funny.

but i understand where cole's coming from; having never seen a turtle before, it's normal to feel a little leary when faced with one big enough to ride on.

he didn't really cry, just kind of fussed and said "up up up" while holding onto my leg for dear life.

giggly coy

and giggly madison!

we got to see a monkey eat a popsicle. what did cole think of it?

"no no, ucky!"

my guess is the dirt on the popsicle prompted that one.

photo with mommy!

frame that one, because mommy somehow escapes from every other shot... thanks, elissa!

so we enjoyed the zoo and were sad to have to say goodbye to auntie sasa and cousin coy. and yes, cole says "sasa"!

in other random happenings, madison pulled herself up from the floor today; she was scooting around on the floor and grabbed onto the chair i was sitting on and pulled herself from her butt onto her knees. what a big girl- growing too fast!!

thank you grandpa...

...for letting me play with that dove bar. it was a fun toy!

but don't worry, it's mommy's fault i got messy. she's the one who forgot to take it away when we left. at least i was happy in my carseat. and grandpa, you should have heard daddy when he saw how much fun i had! funny thing, mommy and daddy were a little shocked- maybe it would help them be less shocked if i played with chocolate more often? and maybe someday i'll taste it.

thanks again, grandpa- i love you!

love,

madison.

*ps: i forgot about posting madi's weight check to the blog. just to recap: at madi's 4-month visit she was 13 lbs, 13 oz.; at her 6-month visit she'd gone down to 13 lbs, 7 oz, a loss of 5 ounces. at cole's 2-year visit on the 20th, we had her weighed again, and she was back up to 13 lbs, 13 oz, but that was with her clothes and diaper on. so far, there's no cause for concern since she's developing on track everywhere else. as for cole, he's 29 lbs (63rd percentile) and 34 inches (41st percentile). for comparison, madison is in the 64th percentile for length and the 5th percentile for weight. she eats like a champ, so hopefully she'll start gaining soon. maybe she's just lucky and has a wonderful metabolism?

cousins, cake and a party

to start things off, elissa and coy came to visit from montana... they got in monday and will be leaving on friday. that means we get them for almost 2 weeks!! it was SO great to see coy, see how much he's grown, get to know him a little more and to see the bump that will be our nephew in about three months. oh, and it's been nice to see elissa too... and logan, for the weekend. the little(r) man himself...

great-grandma pheifer, grandma, coy and madison

with two little boys who both love to push things, tbere was a little competition as to who got to push which toy. after it got all straightened out, the boys had a blast pushing things across the yard at mom and dad's.

this is what i did friday night...

birthday cake!!

cole is fascinated with curious george, just LOVES the little guy, so there was no question as to what we should do for a theme for his party. originally, i'd wanted to buy an edible cake image with george in it but never got around to it. party america had the best selection (not THE best, but it was the best for the area) of curious george party stuff and they had this cake topper. i got some decorator's icing that was supposed to resemble wet paint and the package said it would dry quickly into a candy-shell type substance. well, it did... after it ran. thankfully i got a few photos right after it was done. once it started running, i got a little disgusted, but then remembered the pictures of george with paint all over and viola! inspiration.

the cupcakes had to match, of course!

madison stayed up to "help". by the time i was done, she was pretty sleepy!

once again, i've taken far too many photos. bad habit!! :) i wish i could share every last one, but y'all would be sitting here for quite awhile (or not... ). it's hard to narrow it down to just a few, but the one that we got of all the kids/babies who made it to celebrate with cole is a winner!

haha- only two cried!

cole and his birthday cake... notice the finger tracks on the side in front? he found it before the party and sort of helped himself. he was very quiet about it too...

two years isn't a lot of time to build up a decent amount of patience, so while we were getting the cake ready and singing "happy birthday", cole happily munched away on a cupcake. it was too windy for candles, so he didn't get to blow them out. there's always next year!

cole wasn't getting the whole "opening presents" thing- on top of that, he was a little tired and definitely overwhelmed, and all he wanted to do was run around in the park, so the older kids helped him open his gifts. they did a wonderful job of helping... it was pretty cute!

hmmmm- tired, much?

sunday we went to grandma and grandpa pheifer's for lunch with logan, elissa, coy, mom, dad, sarah, ted, mary and dale. it was so nice to all be together and see logan before he had to fly home.

the boys entertained us with a duet of sorts.

it's been a crazy-busy fun week, and i want to say thanks to elissa for taking the camera during parts of cole's party. i'd never have gotten those shots myself!

a huge thanks and virtual hug to everyone that came to celebrate cole's second birthday with us- we really really appreciate it and hope you had as much fun as he did! cole will be writing thank-you notes soon, but thanks again for the neat gifts he got. we enjoyed being with everyone!

happy birthday cole!!

two years ago today, at 2.58 am, our little man made his entrance into the world.

he changed it forever...

... going from such a tiny, innocent being to a spunky, brilliant, funny, frustrating, loveable, VERY energetic little boy. he now loves (curious) george, school buses, "goodnight moon" (or nooo-in, as he calls it), his baby sister, bananas, and has an amazing vocabulary. he learns and remembers things so quickly and we couldn't imagine life without him.
happy 2nd birthday, little man!!
we love you!

hello again!

it's becoming a habit- blog procrastination. BUT, in my defense (a little), i have been quite preoccupied with these flowers. speaking of which, they are done. d-o-n-e, done. thanks to a not-so-well stocked craft store, i wasn't able to complete the single ginormous blue flower or the larger pink/peach flower. everything else is done and i'm mailing them to toronto tomorrow. i realize that there is more than one craft store in the fox valley, but hobby lobby was the only one that carried the specific color combo i needed. fortunately for me, the designer i made them for is quite understanding and still paid me the pre-agreed amount and said that once her events are done and her investment is returned (and then some) she wants to pay more. wow.

and speaking of selling crocheted items, my hat and diaper cover that was listed on etsy was bought a few days ago!! someone from shawano bought it, so maybe in the near future i will see a precious little girl wearing it (assuming they frequent walmart).

anyway... back to catching up. again. sigh.madison is crawling (she takes a few paces at a time and does much better on carpet than our hardwood floors) and is spending more time on the floor. it's hard to let her down to play because she has a very loving and attentive older brother. sounds sweet, but in reality, it results in tears.

he means well.

silly girl.

we checked out the firemen's festival on saturday afternoon. we missed the parade in the morning but after the kids took their naps, we headed over to the park to see if anything was still happening. kelvin was four-wheeling near wisconsin rapids, so it was just mommy and kiddos. cole had a blast in the sandbox (they put up a makeshift one for some kind of treasure dig for the kids, which was long over with) and was intrigued with the firehose competitions.

we even got a fireman's hat...

he loves it.

then, since mommy was still flying solo, the kids took a bath together. now that madison sits up so well on her own (she's pretty steady- abs of steel, baby!) it's easier to tandem-bathe.

cole loves his "ghucky".

(being that it's wearing a cowboy hat, one can correctly assume that it came from auntie elissa and uncle logan)

last night mom and dad came over for some time with the grandbabies. they treated us to pizza and we had some good chat time.

unfortunately, there were other things to deal with that dampened the afternoon:

a sick baby.

poor cole- he was fine in the morning and for lunch, but halfway through his nap he woke up crying. by the time i got up there, the damage had been done. let's just say that i handled the mess much better than i thought i would and only gagged twice. i am no good with puke. poor baby- he was feverish and ended up tossing his juice (no cookies...) all over his understanding and sympathetic daddy, having an hour-long bath, getting a second wind in time for grandma and 'papa' to arrive, then looked pretty awful again after awhile. luckily, he ended up falling asleep and slept for 13 hours. today, he's back to normal. and then some. he's been making up for his lost 1/2 day. good thing he recovered fast. so far the rest of us are fine... fingers crossed!

i'm glad he's better in time for tomorrow- my baby's turning two!! brings back memories of two years ago, how we were in the hospital. let's see- it's almost 6 pm now, which means that it was about the time that things started getting pretty uncomfortable. oh, the memories...

*sniff*

no-no h2o...

go ahead, think me to be neurotic for making cole's shells 'n' cheese with bottled water. i'd label me as slightly highstrung too, unless i saw this:that would be our tap water.

doesn't look that bad, right?

look again.

this time, a glass of bottled water for comparison...
it's less noticeable in photos because of the lighting, flash, etc., but let me tell you, there is NO way my kids are getting any of that water. no way.
clintonville: winner of the 2005 best water award.
psh.
it was no different four years ago.
i have some major issues with the city water here, and now i have photographic evidence to back myself up.
really- as i listen to the sounds of my giggling children while i rant about the bad water, i'm committed to boiling their mac 'n' cheese, veggies and anything else in bottled water, if i have to. they're too precious to fill with nasty water.
then, i look in on them to see what it is that is SO hysterical and see cole bouncing his mickey mouse ball off of madison's head (while she's sitting in her highchair) and think maybe they've ingested a little too much of the wacky watah already??
ew.

pullin' my hair out...!

first of all, i got an extension on the flowers... i got an email from the designer yesterday telling me that the photo shoot for her designs had been pushed back, so i have an extra week. whew! i emailed her a photo of two of the flowers i had done (there are four different kinds in all- i have all the small ones done and some of another style are completed as well) and she said she loves them! double whew...

so anyway, i realized that i lied about not posting again till all those flowers are done, but since i have extra time, well, i'm squeezing one in.

this whole "pile-every-diaper-wipe-lotion-bottle-etc-into-little-sister's-crib" thing has started to go too far. remember the first time cole put all his old clothes on top of madi? well, the box of clothes was moved out of reach and ever since (every morning and sometimes after his nap) cole's put all the diapers and wipes in the pack n play. every. single. morning.

it entertains madison but mommy gets pretty frustrated!
you'd think that getting a time-out every.single.time. would discourage this particular activity, but it doesn't. seriously- whatever hair i HAVEN'T pulled out is going to be very, very gray by the time this child hits kindergarten...

friday we went to get kelvin's "new" truck after work. he bought a friend's older farm truck to use for going to work so that he doesn't put so many miles on his dodge. it was suppertime when we got back so we just grabbed some culver's... madison LOVES the mashed potatoes!! i had some (instead of the fries) and she ate at least half the container.

that's what happens when it sinks in that the potatoes are really all gone. she tried to get the lick out the container for a long time, though!

first time in the johnny-jump-up!!

she's so petite that she looks lost in it...

trying on daddy's shoes sunday morning!
i love, love, love the classic undershirt/boxers/huge clodhopper look! too cute.

bad haircuts make me want to cry. and it's not even my hair that i'm wanting to cry about...

last night i gave kelvin a haircut, and since he was there to hold cole (who could really use a straight-jacket for this) so i could trim up his hair too. stupidly, i forgot to double check which attachment i had on the buzzer, and this is what we wound up with. a 9mm buzz.

ok, so it's not really a buzz, but it's short. it makes him look like a very tiny twelve-year old. i don't like it. at all. the good thing is that his hair grows rather quickly, so it won't last long. and since it's been so hot out the last day or two, i guess it won't be so bad. AND, if he gets sand in his hair, it'll be quite easy to brush out. that, my friends, is the silver lining to this particular little cloud!

oh, and once all those flowers are done, i will post photos. i'd LOVE to post the drawings of the designs i was emailed (the designer included them so i could see what the flowers were going on) but i think that might be unsafe. you know, in case someone were to steal ideas. this IS the world-wide web, after all...!

oh well- come october, she'll send me real photos from the real show- for anyone who might know anything about fashion and what have you, these babies are going to be showcased at nolcha fashion week in nyc.

adieu- off to work on the flowers. of course. :)

*sigh* (again)

what happens when two small beings refuse to nap?

well, they start out being forced to take a little rest, move to whining (to try to convince mom that really, they should be up and playing), then give up and start entertaining each other. this part was my favorite, by the way, because they were contained AND happy. the last step is... well, there are really no words for it. see below.

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yes, that would be madison's head in a sea of clothes.

she's not laughing anymore...

... but cole is still having a ball!

(and yes, that's a muscle shirt and bitty little boxers he's wearing)

i wish i could say that it was only clothes that were piled on top of my very indignant daughter, but alas, that is not the case. cole also felt obliged to share with her the diapers, the wipes AND the wipe warmer they were in and other various odds and ends. i even found a baseball from the closet. i should have known something was up when madison stopped laughing and started crying. BUT... in my defense, the nap-avoiding behaviour has been pretty standard here lately, so i figured it was just the normal thing. oops.

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now that you've been briefly entertained, i have to tell you that there may not be another post for a little while. i have plenty of flowers to get done for sodaliscious, so i must spend all my free time on that. and i mean ALLLLLL of it... every spare second i have. i have a deadline and i must honor that. spare seconds belong to me, the thread and the crochet needle. starting...

now!