Death to the Vizier...

We waited a REALLY long time but finally upgraded from a crib to a toddler bed for Tess. I picked the bed up at the store today and put it together while Tess was watching Toy Story 3 in our room. It may or may not have taken me the entire movie to put the thing together. Stupid wooden slats needing to be lined up between 2 boards and I've only got two hands and as soon as I get one slat lined up on one end, the slats on the other end start popping out, and then the pegs fall out and @#$%@!!! There was a little bit of swearing until I remembered that I was in Tessa's room with the monitor that sends a signal to the receptor in my room (where Tess was watching her movie). Anyhow, speaking of awesome kid movies, Tess and worrying about what she picks up...Jaime posted this on Facebook and it keeps making me laugh:

Here's my vignette for the day of life with a 3 year old: You think you're just letting your daughter watch a harmless innocent show like Care Bears version of the Nutcracker, and the next thing you know you're in the grocery store avoiding weird looks from strangers while she practices her ninja moves in the cart and shouts "THE VIZIER WILL DIE WHEN I PUNCH HIM, MOM!"

When this happens, your first reaction is: what the h*** is she talking about? 2nd reaction: Did she just say "vizier"? 3rd reaction (remembering that stupid Care Bears DVD) Ohhhh....

From previous posts (here) you'd think we're really into fighting in this house, but it's all Tess. I don't have the heart to tell her that putting your arms out in front of you while yelling "PUNCH" over and over isn't going to do any damage to any Vizier.

Back to the bed...I put it together in record time without making Tess aware, and when Jaime got home, I had them both close their eyes and come into the room for the big surprise.

It actually took Tess a minute to realize there was something different in her room, but when she noticed, she jumped onto the bed and exlaimed: "Now I can get out of bed...at night! This is just what I've always wanted!" Yeah! That's what we've always wanted too! We finally can't keep her caged in!

She was so excited about her bed, in fact, that she chose not to eat all of her dinner and act like a little monster just so she could go to bed early.

When I laid her down in the bed, I reminded her that we don't get out of bed until it's sunny. So far so good:

It's the season...

Jaime does joy school every now and then. And last week she made gingerbread cookies with the kiddos. There was a little leftover dough, and as you've seen from previous posts, I'm pretty handy in the kitchen. So, Tess and I decided to make gingerbread monsters:

Pre-baking


Post-baking masterpieces (I'm a little annoyed they turned into cute little chubby monsters)...Except for the snake which ended up looking like something that would be worse finding baked in the oven than a snake:

New Ultrasounds...

It's a boy! And here is the proof. I apologize if male genitalia makes you blush:


I think this is the head, or the face, or jaime's spleen:


Good lookin kid. Can't wait to force him into playing basketball!






Still working on potty training with the girl. Just to give you an idea of how it's going now--she's banished to the bathroom while I type this for having an accident in the living room. One of the victims of this particular accident: her sticker chart where we document every time she goes on the potty. Yep, she just peed on it.

She's not a baby anymore cause she can talk...

Tess celebrated her 3rd birthday today. We also participated minimally. After church, she made sure to tell every single person we walked past that it was her birthday. She's going to be as bad as her aunt Kellie--who celebrates her birth week.

For her birthday, she asked for candles. So, I got her some fancy ones that have the flame the same color of the candle. She thinks that we celebrate birthdays just so we have an excuse to light a stick on fire and blow on it. She LOVES it! So here are some pictures of our humble birthday bash.

Waiting patiently for the candles to be lit:



A couple of pictures of her blowing/spitting the candles out:





She won't admit to it, but in a pitiful attempt to turn back time, Jaime is sending Tess to bed in clothes that fit a much younger child. Looks like Jaime is having a hard time coping with her widdle baby being 3.

A couple of things...

We went up to Kentucky this weekend for the wedding reception of our friend, Laura. It was a really nice reception and we got to see a bunch of friends we never get to see. Afterwards we drove down to my parents and spent the rest of the weekend at their place and had a fun visit with them. Anyhow, we came home last night, and I know I have a bad memory, but apparently so does Tess. We got inside and dropped our bags and then I had this conversation with her...
Me: I need to use the restroom and then I'll help you with blah blah blah
Tess (following me to the restroom): We have two potties in my bathroom
Me: I know.
Tess: There are two of them (shows me on her hands). One is a little potty for me.
Me: I know.
Tess: Two potties. (Looks at me as if to say "Stop interrupting, chump") The other is a white potty.
Me: I know.
Tess: The white potty is for you. (Apparently I really wasn't catching on, so she started talking very slow) It's big...and white. That potty is for you.

And now we've moved into the bathroom.
Tess (very excited): Look! There it is. That potty is for you.

...I just couldn't get over how determined she was to give me this refresher course on the bathroom. Fortunately, the conversation ended with her finding some other lost soul in the apartment to set straight and didn't end up like this:

You just can't get a few minutes to yourself when she's awake!

And another thing. If you bothered to check out our new banner, you'll have noticed a new ultrasound there. Perhaps you remember back to Tessa's ultrasound and how ultrasounds are just inkblot tests. Well here is the one we just had:



I sent the picture to my Dad and he said he was gonna need some help telling what he was looking at. So, I tried to help him out, and below is what I see. How about you? Jaime and my mom are really big fans of this picture:


Here is another of the little alien waving at us. I love ultrasounds:


And one more conversation with Tess dealing with the monster inside her mom. I had this one with her while Jaime was leaving the house:

Tess: Goodbye, Selvin inside Mommy's tummy. I'll miss you. (Then as an afterthought) See ya Mommy. (It's a long story--not really--but we have been calling the thing inside Jaime, Selvin. I know a Selvin, and I knew Jaime wouldn't like the name, so I started calling the baby that. And it's back-fired because Tess now calls it Selvin too.)
Me: You know, when the baby comes, we're going to give it a different name.
Tess: Nope. He has a name already.
Me: But we don't know if it's a boy. It might be a girl.
Tess: It's a boy in mommy's tummy.
Me: How do you know that?
Tess: Cause his name is Selvin. I believe it.
Me: But we don't know what it is. Don't you want a little sister?
Tess: No.
Me: Will you love the baby if it's a girl?
Tess: No.
Me: You want a little brother?
Tess: Yes. Selvin.
Me: Why do you want him to be a boy?
Tess: Cause he's not a girl.
Me: Should we name him Trimpi-nursher? (Tess made that name up a couple of weeks ago.)
Tess: Uh, that's a girl's name.

Obviously. She must think I'm some kind of moron when we talk. Sorry Tess and my old friend, Selvin. We won't be naming the baby that.

I updated our banner...

That's all. I updated the banner.

Me: 1, Dora/Diego: 0

What's happening now at the Alley home:

After 20 minutes of heated debate, arguing, and both sides showing their angry faces, Tess has finally accepted "muchas gracias" as the correct pronunciation of thank you very much. She was adamant it was "munas gracias", even claiming both Dora AND Diego had told her so.

And yes, I will argue with a 3 year old for 20 minutes.