pattin' myself on the back!

So just to update y'all.... I am DONE with Finals, Bible Study and MOPS are out for the break, and I actually got all my Christmas cards mailed out today! uh yeah, I am SO all over that! of course I'm just not ready to think about the fact that I have a mountainous pile of laundry, my house is a wreck (thank you Tornado Ryleigh) and I may not fit into my dress for Ryan's Christmas party next weekend thanks to all the stress eating I've been doing! lol! but oh well, for right this minute I'm feeling pretty accomplished! and since I have a few minutes I'm gonna blog (rant, rave, etc.) for you...

Back to Tornado Ryleigh... although she technically will not be two until March, she is in the midst of terrible two's behavior for sure! At least I'm hoping this is what everyone refers to as the terrible two's because if it's not, and we haven't even hit that yet, then I am gonna be a fat bald mess by the time she's three! This week alone she has done such things such as eat diaper rash cream FOUR TIMES (I only called poison control the first time, after that I just shrugged and spanked her booty!), sneak a RED paint pen out of the very back of a "child-proof" drawer in the kitchen that she shouldn't even be able to reach and proceed to paint herself, her bed, the carpet, and her brand new shoes, rip pages out of my bible, help herself to leftovers in the refrigerator and strew them all over the living room, remove a poopy diaper and set it on the carpet ick side down, remove her pj pants and diaper after we put her to bed and subsequently wet her bed MAJORLY, lick a primer/rust p.o.s. car we were parked next to, scream "NO MOMMY NO MOMMY NO" at the top of her lungs in Hobby Lobby until the security guard was discreetly following us aisle to aisle, rip her wipes warmer from the wall and remove each and every wipe and fling them around the living room, tear every single post it note from a huge stack and decorate the office with them, color on the tiles with crayons (yay for Crayola Washables), and generally pitch fits all over this town! uh yeah, see what I mean about the TERRIBLE part, even if she's not two yet?! I just keep telling myself that this is a phase, but it sure as hell better be a short one!! I just don't understand how she can be SO NAUGHTY, I mean, we don't spoil her or let her get away with brattiness or anything! We have tried every form of discipline we've heard of, but she just keeps being Destructo Baby! I swear if I turn my back for a second, I hear this ominous quiet, and I just KNOW she's racked up another incident! How can she possibly move so fast?! And how can her brain, which just months ago was struggling to form a single syllable, come up with such INGENIOUS ways to get into trouble?! I keep thinking of the movie Cheaper By The Dozen when Steve Martin's character tells his daughter she has a "dark gift"! lol! Funny in a movie, not so funny in real life!

On the other hand, she is getting cuter and cuter each day as well, so I guess thats' the reason we've kept from giving her to the gypsies! I have to brag a bit and tell you that my child says "bath" with precise perfection! seriously, I have never heard a kid under five say their "th" sound this well! And she is in a phase where she's so excited to learn people's names and when we see them she'll shout out their names like "aha"! And when we picked up our Christmas card photos she pointed out "mommy", "daddy", and then looked at herself kinda puzzled before saying "oh! Ilee Claus!" b/c she is dressed in a Santa Outfit! Now isn't that just the most clever thing you've ever heard?! She is still really great at bedtime, and when you tell her it's time for night night kisses she gathers up her binky, blankie, and heads off to her bed like such a big girl! We are so lucky not to have to battle about bedtime! Although come to think of it, it's probably just because she's so worn out from a long day of being naughty and wild! lol!

We are going to Cowboy Christmas next Saturday, and I'm sooooo excited to get some cute pics of Roo in her outfit I put together - jeans, a handmade top with bandana print, a red tutu, and red boots!!! She is so darn cute, I just can't wait! Maybe she'll like Cowboy Santa better than the one at the mall?! Anyways, I better go get some sleep... I'll leave ya with some more recent pics...