when i am a parent, i'll never....

Admit it, we have all said this at some point....and most of us have eaten those words at least once.
Yesterday was one for me.  I spent hours sewing a dress for my daughter's third birthday.  We made a big deal out of picking the fabric together and everything.  I had made her dresses for both her first and second birthdays, so I felt I needed to continue this tradition. We moved to our new house 3 weeks before and I intentionally left my sewing stuff behind so I could finish her dress in time.  Then came time to wear the dress for her portraits we do no her birthday each year.  Major tantrum time.  Refusal to even look at said dress.  Expressions of how she doesn't like it, etc.  Mommy trying really hard not to be hurt.....Saved by blizzard and studio closing.  Rescheduled session, canceled by snow again.  Yesterday was take 3 :)
Prepped her all week that I was picking her up from school early to take her for her pictures.  Showed her pictures from past years.  Talked about how special the dress was to mommy.
Pick up from school went great, and she got dressed without much fuss.  Then it took 30 minutes to drive to the studio in traffic.  Then the I do not want pictures started.  "Mommy, I do not want my photo taken, please"  Much harder to deal with reasonable requests than baby tantrums because she has a point.
Discussion ensued while driving that this was really important to mommy, etc.  Then it happened......yep, I offered her a "treat" if she sat for her photos.  I bribed my child.  Not proud, but it did work.....and it's not bribery, it's situation specific motivation....
She first asked for candy.  I said she could pick out food, or maybe a new toy, dvd, jewelry, etc.  Ended up with a princess toy cash register with fake food.  But at least she is now "ringing up" apples, grapes and milk instead of eating candy.

Ah sigh...but i'll post the photos when I pick them up.  They were worth it :)

snow days

How does everyone manage to deal with the major changes from snow days? This week was a Monday holiday (MLK Jr Day), so it was already a short week.  Almost 10 inches of snow on Tuesday led to no school Tuesday or Wednesday and late arrival on Thursday.  Thankfully I was off work Wednesday anyhow, and my husband could go in late Thursday so neither of us had to call out, but what a disruption.  Not to mention the gym was even closed so we got to workout at home as well :)  Ended up doing some squat technique work at home, and a quick workout with squats, push ups and situps (5 rounds of 5 pushups, 10 situps and 15 squats) since we have zero equipment available in the new house.
Managed to entertain the toddler and we all stayed sane (as much as we were before anyhow) and happy to have her back on her normal schedule today.
Still waiting on FedEx to show up with my advocare order that was supposed to be here Monday but got delayed by the storm...but otherwise things seem to be almost back to normal.
Then, poof, it's the weekend already.
 Excited about a potential new part time job opportunity that would be an excellent merge of my interests in fitness and nutrition....we shall see if it works out for all involved :)

like mother, like daughter

My just turned 3 year old has turned into something of an opinionated DIVA.  Trying to find her new balance between wanting to be a baby and wanting to do everything herself translates into a daily battle.  Add in everyday stress of 2 full time working parents with different schedules and a long commute since moving into our new house last month, tantrums are happening on both sides of this relationship.  

Trying to find my inner calm and be patient with her while we are 20 minutes late getting out the door is a real challenge to say the least...
In our continuing to unpack today, I ran across the baby book my mom wrote for me.  Along with the guilt for  not even starting Lil's book and her now being 3 aside, I opened to the section on Threes.  Found a passage my mom wrote about me having to get dressed myself and how stubborn I was and realized that I could have written that exact passage this morning about my daughter....guess the apple does not fall far from the tree :)