Pres-a-lina....

Presley is in the full toddling phase. You know the one. The one where you get out of the shower and find your Tupperware bowl on the floor next to the open bathroom drawer. You head to the living room and find your mascara next to an empty basket of toys. You find a stray toy next to the dumped over garbage can. You then find empty wrappers next to your shoes in your closet. Your shoes......blah, blah, blah. Point is, you can trace the girls steps by following the items you are missing. My floor is covered with paraphernalia from various locations. I can't keep up. It takes me 30 minutes every night to replace all her findings. And because I'm not really into this kind of pick-up game, it takes longer when I actually get around to it. Crazy. It's happened with every one of my kids. And I know that it lasts until close to age 2. This time I'm trying to appreciate it. She's got to learn somehow. Even if I am tripping over spoons and spatulas in my bathroom.....

She loves to eat. Anything really. I feel like I put her in her high chair countless times throughout the day. Goldfish is a favorite. And they vacuum easy.

She has started to fight sleep. What do kids think they are missing? Honestly. So. She tends to fall asleep when she's contained longer than 10 seconds. Like car rides. And during lunch...

But her favorite. And I'm talking absolute favorite thing to do. Find stuff in the garbage can. Yesterday I was folding laundry and she came in sucking on a used drinkable yogurt container. When I ran into the kitchen I found the garbage can tipped on it's side and everything we'd eaten the previous 12 hours spread all over the floor. Lucky me, she had diced pears for lunch. She hadn't finished them. Yuck. I didn't take a picture. But I should have. This afternoon I was making sugar cookies. (Don't praise me, they are for Young Women's) Landon was helping out (by eating the extra dough) and Presley was just toddling around. She came around the corner giggling like she was having the time of her life. Trouble. She had the empty sour cream container I had just thrown away and was drinking out of it like a cup. I took it away and screaming ensued. Mean mother that I am, I went to find the camera. Then gave it back to her for the photo op. She was pleased as punch. Until she realized I was once again taking it back. The photo was worth it.

We all love this little miss. Pres-a-lina is her nickname. It's fun to say. And she's fun to have around. Keeps me on my toes. But fun to have around..

Think-a-bility...

I've lost my ability to write coherent sentences. And the desire to try to do so. Sad. I used to love this little blog. I've got pictures backed clear up to early September that I haven't even written about. I didn't include them in my September montage because I thought they deserved their own post. They still do. But will they now get completely left to gather dust? Can they gather dust if left on the memory card of my camera? See. Scattered thoughts. I'm all over the place lately. To give myself some credit, I have taken on a few new things this last month. I got called to be a counselor in the Young Women's presidency at my church. I'm over the beehives. (No, not the buzzing kind that produce honey. That is code for the 12-13 year olds) Though, they do buzz with excitement. I also joined a little preschool group for Landon. He is going to a bonifide-accredited-I-pay-tuition preschool on Tuesday and Thursday. But these girls asked. And Landon really could use at least 4 days of interaction. So. I teach every 3rd week on Wednesday and Friday. It's really low key. And there are only 3 of them. Perfect little group. And I'm enjoying watching Landon interact with the other kids.
Little miss Presley is toddling all over the place. She walks with her front half leaning forward like a little old woman with a back problem. Shawn says it's because she's just learning to balance. Whatever the case, she's adorable. It does always startle me when I'm trying to escape her (what kind of mother am I?) and as I go to shut the door to which I'm hiding behind I discover her right on my heels. Walking gets her places faster than crawling. It's taking some getting used to. And I've had to speed up my escaping.
I find myself being pulled 384,652 directions at once lately. Like I am constantly doing, only nothing ever gets done. If you asked me what I do in a day I don't really think I could tell you. But. I could tell you that I never really sat down. Except for when I'm in the car toting people to and fro. Crazy. Cry me a river. Life is good. Really good. Unless you hear how it really is from my oldest Ethan. "I hate my life. I hate all the rules this family has. Why can't I just do what I want! I can't wait until I can move out and make my own decisions!" Hmmm. I feel like this is starting a little early for my taste. Not even 10 yet. I guess he has always been a little advanced. But this is ridiculous. I've found that my heart isn't as soft as I thought it was. I find it easier to stick to my guns when my kids are argumentative rather than apologetic. Or whiny rather than kindly questioning. Good thing Shawn is able to make appearances more frequently than he used to. This parenting stuff is starting to get hard. I remember back when I thought 1 year olds were so hard because they just wanted to be wandering everywhere. Presley is in that same phase and she is by far my easiest.
My time in the blogging world is up for tonight. I have 7 loads of laundry to fold (I only wish I was joking), and a book for book club that I haven't even had the chance to start yet (it meets tomorrow night). Truth? I started this post 48 hours ago. It only took me 2 days to finish writing this tiny little bit. Sometime this week I will escape from all my duties and blog about Kennedy's baptism, the Royals Game we attended, and put some pictures up of my toddling beauty. Unless someone decides to get sick. Or I decide to run away from home.