Friday, May 29, 2009

The Kiss of Death - STATISTICS

For anyone who knows me in real life, you all know I am not good at math...okay, fine, I'm awful at it! Erik will tease me because I get stressed out doing multiplication. Quick math in my head, forget about it! When I was younger and in school one of the MOST STRESSFUL things was those darn Mad Minutes in math class, where you had like 100 problems to try to do in one minute. Oh my gosh, I'm getting palpitations just thinking about it.

So, it's no surprise that in my undergraduate schooling I took the bare minimum for required math. I took Math 105 and I even took it credit/no credit so a bad grade wouldn't mess up my GPA.

Well, it's officially back to bite me! For my graduate level classes, two of them require this little pre-requisite called STATISTICS! Run for your life! Since I never took this in my undergrad, I have to do it now! And, I am taking it online! And, there are 9 tests during an 8 week class! And, flipping through the book, I've come to the conclusion at least half of it is in a different language. Are you noticing a pattern of nothing good coming from this?!

I've asked almost everyone I know, including the smartest person in the world, my Grandpa, if they were good at STATS! He was a Chemist and he didn't have any good things to share about STATISTICS! Everyone seems to remember their first STATS class as the one they failed, dropped, cheated, cried, whatever. Fill in the blank with any negative bad word you can think of!

So, wish me luck as I embark on this awful 8 week journey! I need all the help I can get!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Splish Splash...The Waterpark!

We had a great weekend. We wanted to get away, so we took Jenna to an indoor waterpark resort. We played and played and were all exhausted! It's a little easier getting in a bathing suit when you don't know anyone else there and when you aren't the worst looking one there!

Also, to see the excitement and fun on Jenna's face was SO worth it! She talked about it for three days before we went and is still talking about it this morning! She was like a little fish in the water!

Enjoy the pictures!













Thursday, May 21, 2009

Friends Forever

Jenna is a social girl. She loves her friends at school and also the few she has playdates with and we get together with their parents. Evan and Kate are her good friends and we are good friends with their parents.

Jenna and Kate dress up and Evan watches from the sidelines!



Jenna and Evan holding hands in the car! If they ever date or get married this picture is SO coming out! So cute!




Snack time!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Dear Jenna: 29 Months

Dear Jenna,

Where has my little baby girl gone? You have turned into a full fledged, independent, assertive, toddler. You are such a character, I often wonder where you get a lot of these things from. Your sense of humor is the best and you have such a great memory. This month we've had our great times and also challenging times. Your vocabulary does not include the work patience or the understanding of "No." If you've set your mind to it, you want to do it, get it, eat it, whatever the case may be. With the remark from your dad or me of "not now or no" we are faced with a full blown tantrum. This usually takes all of 45 seconds and then you are over it and onto the next thing, but still, it's a challenge.



We are working on potty training with you and you know you will get a treat if you use the potty. The other day you sat on your potty and said, "I go pee pee and get a treat and present....pee pee, come out, come out wherever you are!" You say the funniest things, when we got done brushing your teeth last week, you ran over to daddy and smiled your big cheesy smile and said, "My teeth are shiny, sparkly, and gold!" It was so funny. Your imagination is so fun to watch and explore with you, and I credit a lot of that to your love of books and reading. I hope that stays with you forever.






I love having conversations with you. It's so fun to just be able to talk back and forth. Although, you do tell me you had oranges and granola bars everyday for lunch at school. I REALLY HOPE we are not paying $180 a week for you to eat that! You will often say things like, "Okay, no problem" or "Don't worry, I'm okay." Your latest involves you yelling, "Help, Whoa...I'm going to blow away!" Although, in your defense, it has been pretty windy here lately.



You are just such a big girl now, physically and emotionally. I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the events of this last month that are worth documenting, but just know, I LOVE being your Mommy, it's the best job in the world. You are such a light in our lives. Every night after we put you to bed, we say how cute or funny you are. Oh, and speaking of putting to bed, please don't wake up at 3am and yell that your foot is stuck just so I'll come into your room and the proceed to tell me you want to go outside and ride your bike. Sorry honey, not gonna happen!



Love always,

Your Mommy

Monday, May 18, 2009

The World Through Jenna's Eyes

A few posts ago, I posted pictures of Jenna throwing a tantrum because I took the camera away from her. Here are the masterpieces she was photographing. I think she has a future...in an abstract kind of way. Enjoy!


This is the view from Jenna's favorite spot on the couch!



The Wonder Pets sitting in her princess scoop chair.



Part of Daddy...we like his pj pants!


A view of the couches


Pretty exciting stuff huh!?


Thursday, May 14, 2009

Getting What You Want 101

It's amazing to me how quickly toddlers learn the ways of manipulation and getting what they want. I sometimes think Jenna must teach a course in daycare, something like, "Getting what you want 101", because she is so good at it. Or maybe one of her partner's in crime, Kate, is a co-teacher!

We were at my parents the other night and from their backyard you can see a playground. Jenna loves parks. These are the conversations that took place.

Jenna: Mommy, I go to park!
Me: No honey, we are going to stay here and visit, it's getting late.
Jenna: I go ask Grandma and Grandpa...
(She stomps off)

Jenna: Grandpa, I hold your hand?! (places her hand on his)
Grandpa: Sure
Jenna: We go for nice little walk!

Moments later they are off through the field headed to the park. I swear, she didn't even ask Grandpa to go to the park, she just asked to hold his hand! Who could turn that down?

I am greatly fearing the tween years I hear so much about!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Funny Things

I wanted to get these things down on paper (or the Internet) of funny things Jenna has been saying lately. She is such a little adult. She hears us talk and tries to do the same.

When Erik or I get home or pick her up at daycare she will ask, "How your day? I had good day."

She always says, "What are you doing daddy?"

When you ask her if she wants to do something she will say, "I'd like to!"

She will tell people to have "sweet dreams."

Last night, we took a bike ride to the ice cream place and she kept saying, "I having pretty good time." Oh my, it was so funny.

She also is speaking Spanish thanks to Dora. She counts in Spanish and the other night in the car she started yelling, "HELP ME, AYUDA ME!" Erik said what the heck is she saying?

She definitely knows what she wants and wants to do it herself. Almost everything is faced with "I do it MYSELF!"

But, she is also still a goofy toddler. Where she learns some of this stuff I don't know. She has this chair that she flipped over and sat on it and said, "I am cowboy! Yeah haw!" It was so funny, I tried to get a picture but she got off before I could.

So, my little baby is growing up but also still my little baby! (and still doing that goofy "cheese" smile)

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Two Great Awards...the winners are...

Thanks to two great blogging friends, I am the recipient on two blogging awards.

That Girl gave me this Mom of the Year award! I am honored to get such a wonderful award. Being a great mom is top on my list of priorities. Even though I don't always feel like I balance everything right, I try! THANKS!


Rules for Mom of the Year Award:
Admit one thing you feel awful about involving being a mom.
Get it off your shoulders. Once you've written it down, you are No Longer allowed to feel bad. It's over with, it's in the past. Remember, you're a good mom!


I feel bad that I work full time. I am doing it for Jenna's benefit and for our family. But, there are days and weeks when I really feel like I don't spend enough time with her. I do value our evenings and weekends though!

Remind yourself you are a good mom, list seven things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you.
These are the things to remind yourself everyday that you Rock!


1. I LOVE that Jenna gives me unsoliciated hugs all the time and says, "Mommy!"
2. I LOVE her laugh and the funny things that come out of her mouth.
3. I LOVE playing outside with Jenna.
4. I DON'T LOVE when she sometimes wakes up at night, but I DO LOVE cuddling with her
when she is tired like that.
5. I LOVE Saturday and Sunday morning, relaxing together on the couch watching cartoons.
6. I LOVE how Jenna makes me feel.
7. I LOVE being a mom!

Send this to five other Mom's of the year that deserve credit for being great moms and remind them that they are the best moms they can be!! Remember to send them a note to let them know you've selected them, and add a link to the person who nominated you.

I nominate:
Lynsday at I Used to Be Witty
Rachel at Sippy Cup Chardonay
Jaime at Jamee and Jaime
The Rambler at My Rambling Thoughts
Tara at Too Much Information

All of these Mom's are great at wearing a lot of different hats and I love the humor they share of their everyday lives on their blogs. That is why I am also giving them this next award too! Okay, fine, you got me, it's also because I'm a little lazy and should be writing my paper for my grad class right now. Thanks so much to Jenny at The Tale of Two Coins for this award! I am supposed to award this one to five great super blogs, and so the same great ladies above also are getting this award.




Okay, if you got through all of that, Thanks!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

It's my party and I'll cry if I want too!

Okay, it's not really Jenna's party today, although she does think it's her birthday fairly often, but I digress. Here is a little glimpse into what a tantrum of a 2.5 year old consists of. A lot of my blog readers say how great of a kid she seems to be, she generally is, but nobody can be perfect all the time!

Keep in mind this all started when I took away my expensive Canon Rebel camera from her. The pictures she took are for another post soon.