Back From Vacation

We're back from a fabulous to week visit to my sister Amy's in California.  If I weren't being lazy I would write an entire post about the trip. But.... I AM lazy so here are some pictures instead.

Gracie and Sarah with their hair braided to look like Doc McStuffin

Gracie and Auntie Amy at the playground

Nate and Sarah on the way to the beach

Dock Weilers State Beach

Auntie Amy and Uncle Kevin's trailer we stayed in at the beach

Gracie and Sarah checking out the beach

Oooohhhhh, Sand!

The water was chilly!

cousins

my beautiful girls

beach

Sequoia National Park

Jones. Flaherty and Walsh families

The Flaherty cousins

Gracie and Uncle Dennis

Look at my walking stick!

The whole clan needs a walking stick!

Cousins

Gracie and Jakey, best buddies

My two godson's Nate and Jake

Meghan, Sarah and Gracie

Are you done making us pose for these dumb pictures?

Having a little fun

Need a ride Meg?

My favorite picture of all

Braids-Year Two

I have had this post written for a week in my head. In my head it was going to be all about Gracie getting her braids done this year.  In my head, things were going to go swimmingly. Better than better.  This year was going to be a 360 turn around from last years hair braiding debacle.  This year I was going to link to last years post and tell you all that last year was history and this year Gracie was cooperative, easy going and delighted by the whole process.  I was absolutely positive that we had passed the freak out point at the hairdressers for good and it was going to be awesome.  And it was............in my head. In reality..........ugh! It was a grade A disaster.

All week leading up to the appointment she was very excited unlike last time when she sobbed the whole way to the salon.  This year she was excited all morning and couldn't wait to get there. Then at 12:30 as we were driving to her appointment she told me she wanted to take a nap in her bed.  Well, that was going to be a problem, because her appointment was at 1:00.  For the most part, she doesn't nap anymore.  However, she decided that today was the day she was going to make an exception.  In truth, I had wanted to schedule her appointment for first thing this morning but she had a kids sports class this week and Friday morning was the make up session.  Since we were having some rain this week I didn't want to take a chance that we would have to reschedule since they don't do kids braids on Saturday and this was our last chance to have them done before we go on vacation.  I have already told my sister that if I make an afternoon appointment next year, she has my permission to commit me.  That's assuming they let us back in.  I'm mostly kidding about that comment.  I think. Mostly.

So, we get there and we walk in and another little girl is having her braids finished and she is crying.  Grace looks at me and says "I don't wanna do this. I want to go home and take a nap in my bed.".  I hope this will wear off.  I try to point out that the little girls braids look lovely and look, she has beautiful colored beads on the end of those.  Wouldn't you like those on yours? First I get the stink eye.  But I kept on with telling her how happy she would be when they were done and she was so big and grown up and this would be easy.  Since I clearly wasn't picking up what she was layin' down she said "No! I want nuffin! I want to go home and sleep in my bed." Now, you might be thinking why in the name of Sheldon Cooper didn't she scoop her up, cancel the appointment and go home? That's a fair question to ask.  However, if you have ever had the pleasure of combing her hair even one time in your life, you would know the answer to that.  And it's called the Flaherty girls need a hair combing vacation.  For me, this is like looking forward to the two action packed weeks of the Olympic games.  There are no losers in the hair vacation.  There are no bronze medals.  Just a tie for gold with Mommy and Gracie joyfully sharing the podium and thanking the hair stylist who brought us to this miraculous moment.  In this case, it does hurt to be beautiful but those two blissful weeks make it worth it.  It's hard to remember that when she's throwing her shoe's off and yelling at the stylist "You're supposed to gentle.  You're not being GENTLE!!! This is rude!!!!" In the stylist's defense, how is she supposed to be gentle when the child, whose hair she is trying to gently hold is thrashing around like she's about to be sent to the electric chair.  She's yanking her head all over creation and is blaming the stylist for her lack of gentle touch.

If I am being honest, this particular stylist is not my favorite. In fact, she is the only one I really haven't cared for.  She does a gorgeous job braiding but she made me feel like a complete dummy.  We get Grace to sit on the chair and Grace immediately tells me she doesn't want to do this.  Then she pulls out the hair dryer and she put some kind of spray on a paddle brush and used it to somewhat straighten out Grace's curls to make it easier to braid,  It would have been really interesting to watch if Grace wasn't screaming and trying to jump down from the chair.  I tried everything.  I offered her the toys we brought, my phone to play with, an ice cream when we were finished.  But nope, she just kept screaming.  She screamed for her bed.  She screamed for her favorite blanket, she screamed for me to call Auntie Kate to come pick her up and bring her home. The stylist told me I was feeding into her and I should go sit down.  I actually think she was right about that but it still hurt to hear it.  So I sit down about 15 feet from Grace but right in her sight line and then she starts screaming that she's scared and needs her mom.  I try talking to her, I try not talking to her.  Other stylists try to talk to her.  It was a disaster.  Then she screamed "I want you to hold my hand mommy, I scared" so I said screw this and I got up and held her hand.  Did I feed into her? Yup. And I would do it again.  Then she says I have to go potty.  I said you went right before we came in, you're OK.  She screamed it out this time.  Two ladies in the salon both told the stylist to stop and let her go potty.  Both the stylist and I said, she's fine, she's stalling. When the stylist finished the braid she was working on I took her to the bathroom.  She had a trickle and was done.  We went back out and she was still fighting mad but one of the ladies brought over the four month old she was holding and eventually she stopped screaming.  And then she smiled at the baby and made silly faces at him.  At this point we were about half way done and then all of a sudden she was the most helpful child on the planet.  She sat still.  She handed the beads to the stylist to put on the bead tool.  She looked at herself adoringly.  I sat on a chair reminding myself that some day I will laugh about this.  Someday it will be one of the stories that start with remember the time we had your hair braided and it almost made both of our heads explode? Yup, those will be good times.  Just not today.  Today I apologized to the entire salon and so did Grace.  The owner gave me a hug and said oh, you did so good.  I'm so proud of you.  This is so hard to watch but it gets better.  The other people in the salon nodded as if they too had been through hair braiding hell.  They watched her shake her head and smiled as she laughed and laughed over the jingling sound the new braids made.  I gave a 40% tip, again, because she really deserved combat pay.  And as we walked out into the sun Grace marveled over her beautiful braids and I thanked all that was holy for the foresight to schedule my own hair appointment for tomorrow as my gray hair ratio multiplied by 50% in that God awful hour and seventeen minutes (but really, whose counting).

Was it worth it? You betcha! But let's just say that I'm happy to have a year to recover before we try this again.

The Beginning of Summer

Nothing like starting a Sunday with church and breakfast with the grandparents and  then getting new sunglasses.

I'm ready for my closeup

Auditioning for the US Synchronized swim team

waiting to go to the pool

Two peas in a pod trying to be patient

Happy!

Bubbles!

Running

I'm gonna wash that kite right out of my hair

Things have been busy with us but good.  We had a couple of weeks where the tantrums reared their ugly head again but we seem to be back on smooth grounds again.  After a week of rain we were happy to get outside for bubble blowing and kite flying. I think it was more a glider than a kite, but unfortunately, the maiden voyage of the Cinderella princess kite was the last.  She was playing with it inside after we were done and she popped it.  Very sad, but she handled it well.  She said "I think I made a bad choice to sit on it". We live and learn.  

Sunday Sillies

We have been blessed with incredible weather this weekend.  This morning Gracie and I went for breakfast and then spent some time at a local playground.  What a great way to start the day!  When we left the playground Gracie said "Mom, I really love this day!" She is off with her cousins this afternoon to a local carnival which gives me a couple hours to clean, with a little blogging thrown in for good measure.

Yesterday I had an opportunity to attend a tea at a good friend of mine's home to raise awareness and funds for the Fistula Foundation.  Hope for our Sisters is a non-profit that is partnering with the fistula foundation to provide surgery for women afflicted with this condition.   A fistula is a medical condition brought about by obstructed labor and/or trauma leaving a woman with incontinence, resulting in isolation from family, friends and society, a lack of dignity, and a loss of hope. There is a powerful documentary called A Walk to Beautiful that follows five women on their journey to seek treatment and healing for fistula.So far, Hope for our sisters has raised enough to fund 48 surgeries but their goal is to fund 100.  Fistula has been eradicated in much of the world but many women in Africa and some poorer Asian countries are still suffering from it.  I was amazed to learn that the surgery and hospital stay, plus a new dress is only $450.  That seems like nothing here but is a massive amount of money for many of these women.  If you're interested in learning more I would highly encourage you to visit their website.

While I was out for the afternoon yesterday, Gracie spent the afternoon at my parent house.  Gracie sees them all the time and adores them but she still anxiety being at other people's houses without me.  She's generally fine a little while after I leave but the lead up is always hard for her.  She was anxious in the car on the way up and I thought we were in for a full throttle tantrum.  But once we got in the house, she relaxed and 5 minutes later I said I was going outside to put her car seat in Baseball and Grandma Judi's car and she said "Oh wait, Mom! First I need a kiss!" I gave her a kiss and that was it.  No crying, no sadness, just excited to go on an adventure with the grandparents to get their hair cut.  They said she was fantastic and they really enjoyed having the one on one time and so did she.  So much so that when it was time to leave after we had dinner with them she was in tears and begged to stay. It was a really good feeling for all of us.

Next weekend should be extra fun for us.  Gracie's Auntie Andrea and Uncle Rob are coming to town and we'll spend Friday afternoon together and then Uncle Rob will go meet up with the guys and Auntie Andrea will have a sleepover with Gracie and I.  Gracie was so excited and said "Auntie Andrea want to sleep in my bed?" I said I was sure she would appreciate the offer but she would likely take the couch over the toddler bed.  On Sunday Gracie and I are going to Maine for the day.  My parents are up there for the weekend and have invited us to come up and spend the day with them at their hotel pool.  So it should be a great weekend!

Pierced Ears

Today Gracie and I went and had her ears pierced.  I had thought a couple of times over the last year that I might have them done but just figured she was too young.  Yesterday we were at the mall and we walked by a Clarie's and she saw two little girls sitting in the window on big stools.  She asked what they were doing and I said they were having their ears pierced.  She said "ooooohhhhhhh, I like to have earrings too!  I like to do that!" We watched for another couple of minutes and then continued walking but we spent most of the rest of the day talking about pierced ears.  When we got home I sat her down and explained what happens.  They put you on the big stool and then they clean your ears really well.  Then they take a pen and make a mark on each of your ears so they know where to put the earrings.  Then they take a tool and put in on your ear and they press down and it makes a hard pinch on your ears.  I thought that would scare her off but she said "oh, a pinch doesn't hurt right mom?" I said that it would sting for a minute but then it would go away.  I asked if she still wanted to do it and she said yes.  This morning she woke up and asked me when she could have her ears pierced.  I said how about when you are five? she said "oh no mom, I think today!"  I mulled it over for a couple of hours.  I know there is no age for when you should do it but I always imagined I would be one of those moms who said wait until your 11 or 12 because I had a mom who made me wait until I was 12.  In the end, I figured we'd give a shot and if we got there and she wanted to run we could do that. We went to the counter to ask about having her ears pierced and they directed us to the stools.  She walked right over and said "Mom, you have to lift me up." I put her on the stool and while we waited she looked at her earring choices.  She was immediately drawn to the Hello Kitty One's so that's what we ended up with.  Then the sales person came over and I had to show my license and sign my name and initial in about 30 places.  I think there is probably less signing for an organ transplant than there was for this ear piercing.  She explained all the aftercare, asked what earrings we picked out and then asked if I wanted both ears done at the same time and I said yes.  She started to clean off her ear and Grace said "oh yes, my mom telled me you going to wash my ear." Then she put the mark on her ear and called the other salesperson over.  They counted to three and then they each pierced an ear.  She had a momentary look of surprise on her face and then said "can I see my Hello Kitty earrings please?" No crying, no remorse, just a big happy smile.

In other news, the potty training is going really well.  She is only in diapers for napping and sleeping.  She has had one small accident in the last 10 days so I'm thrilled.  No success with number 2 on the potty but we'll get there.  She also refuses to use her princess potty seat "because I am a big and tall girl and big and tall girls use the big potty." I can't really argue with that.

Well, we've been busy around these parts lately.  Last week we got a new car.  Well, new for us.  My 2001 Camry had served us well, but it was tired.  About a year ago I was having a lot of trouble with it stalling and the engine light had to be checked 5 separate times.  Whatever they did the last time fixed it for close to a year and I was hoping to get another year at least out of it but two weeks ago it started stalling again and then the oil light decided to make an appearance.  I figured that if I waited much longer I would run the risk of getting next to nothing for it in a trade.  So last week I bit the bullet and did my research, figured out what we could afford and pulled the trigger.  We got a dark gray 2009 corolla with far less miles and a warranty which makes me feel better. We love it so far.  Every time we go to the car Gracie asks me if we're going in our new car.  And every time she tells me how much she loves our new car.  It's such a relief not be worried about the car and I hope we'll be able to do some road trips at some point.

Yesterday we had Gracie's 3 year appointment and she is doing great.  The best part is that she did not cry one bit.  She got weighed without an issue.  She let the doctor do the check up and she even gave her a high five.  There were no shots but we had to do a finger prick for the lead test. When we went to the lab the technician recognized us and whispered to her co-worker "we need to close the door because this little one is a screamer". Clearly our reputation proceeds us.  However, there was not a single cry or scream or an ounce of unpleasantness.  She was pleased to pick out a Dora band aid and admired it the whole way home.  What a difference from last year.  She is super healthy and they are pleased with her progress.

We started potty training again.  I initially started it about 6 months ago but she wasn't ready and truthfully, neither was I.  She is ready now in the sense that she can go for long periods without wetting her diaper and she knows when she's about to go in her diaper.  But she has been resistant to going on the potty.  In fact, I put her in underwear on Monday morning and she held it until 3:30 in the afternoon.  No Joke.  My sister kept trying to get her to sit on the potty and she flat out refused.  By 3:30 she could barely stand up she had to go so bad so she picked her up and put her on the potty.  She tried to fight her for a second but as soon as she sat on the potty she went.  Her potty sings a little song when she goes which startled her and then she said "I go potty! I did it! My mom be soo happy!!  I not gonna do it again! Tuesday she decided she would just prefer to wet her pants all day but by yesterday she started to come around and today was much better with less of a fight.  So while I think we're still a ways away, we're starting to get on the right track.

I am sad to report that in order to make the car payment fit into the budget, I had to give up the house cleaners.   It was really sad to make that call to cancel but let's face it.  It was a luxury but it was worth every penny.  It really allowed Gracie and I to have the extra time we needed.  I have tried to break down the cleaning into smaller chunks and just do a little bit every other night and so far it's been manageable, but yup, I miss it.  There's nothing like coming home to a clean house that you didn't have to clean.

I Love Three

Seriously, I know Gracie has only been three for two weeks, but I really love three.  It's like she has totally come into her own and we're having these great little conversations.  Here are a few snippets:

This morning while I was using a screwdriver to open the vacuum to replace the broken belt she said "hey, Mom! You have screwderer driver?" Yes, I do. "Oh, man.  I gonna have a screwderer driver too but mine is gonna be a PRINCESS screwderer driver!"

Tonight we went out to dinner at an Italian place and while we were driving to the restaurant she announced "Mom, I gonna eat all the bread myself for you can eat any!" and then giggled like crazy.

While at dinner tonight she looked at me and said "Mom, I really love my best friends." Who are your best friends Gracie? "oh, they are Ermiyas, Enatu, Enatu's mom, Ermiyas' mom, and my cousins." Who are your cousins Gracie? "Oh, Nate, Sarah, Meggie, Jakey and BINGO(my sister's dog).!" "Mom, Bingo is my cousin and he is a dog! That's so funny mom!"

Her new favorite book is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No good, Very bad day.  Or as she says "Alex and the orrible tebbile bad day".  This makes me especially happy because it was my favorite book as a kid.  We have read that book twice a night for the last 8 nights.  And every night I remind her that I love this book and it was my favorite when I was little.  Tonight she said "mom, dis was you favorite when you were Baseball's little girl?" Yes, Gracie. (Baseball is what the grandkids call my dad. "Oh mom, dat's so cuuuutteee!"

On Sunday my niece made her first communion and I had a terrible sinus headache.  I left the party a little early to try to lie down and Grace was upset that I left her there with the rest of the family.  I told her what was happening but she wanted to be with me.  Later that night I asked her if she was angry because I had to go lie down for a little bit and she said "Yes, I was angry". I said, was it because you didn't think I would come back? She said "no, I know you gonna come back." Then why were you so upset? "Well, because I just really missed you a lot mom!" This is a big deal for her.  She can often have a lot of anxiety when I leave and it's not just for work or something she is used to.  It took a while for her to learn that when I leave I will come back.  For her to know that now, and be able to express that is really huge.  Not to mention that it melts my heart to know she misses me!

Don't get me wrong, it's not all fluffy clouds and rainbows but overall it's been pretty fun. And in many ways, she's like me.  Especially when I ask her to do something and let her know if she doesn't do it what the consequence will be.  She'll  look at me with her hands on her hips and say "fine mom, FINE!!" Anyone that really, really knows me, knows that's my choice of words when I get mad and has been since I was a kid.  In fact, every time Grace says that to me I am sure I hear my mother cackling from heaven.  When I would pull that line on her she would often say, "One day, I pray you will have a little girl that's just like you so you will understand what it's like." I'm guessing she is pleased beyond belief because man, did that prayer get answered.  The first time Grace said "FINE" I thought, no wonder that drove my mother nuts! Sorry mom!