Dentist and Circus

Yesterday, I took Ellie in for her first dental appointment. I had been preparing her for this for over a week by reading books about it and discussing it. Every time I brought it up, she would whine, "I don't want to go to the dentist! My teeth are clean! I don't have any cavities!" I tried bribing, cajoling, even threatening, but her response was always the same. However, I should not have underestimated Mark's amazing staff. His receptionist won Ellie over by letting her pick out two toys from the bin. While in the waiting room, Ellie accosted a poor businessman who was trying to read a magazine. She was all, "Hi! What's your name? Are you getting your teeth cleaned? Can I come sit by you?" and then she went and sat right next to him. Poor man. When it was our turn, Mark's hygienist, Lisa, totally put Ellie at ease by showing her the different tools and letting her play with them. Then, she counted Ellie's teeth and rubbed "bubble gum" on them. When Uncle Mark came in to check things over, Ellie looked at him in complete surprise and exclaimed, "What are YOU doing here?" Overall, the appointment was a complete success. When we got home, Ellie insisted on playing dentist. She put on her mask and glove and made me sit still while she counted and cleaned my teeth.

In the evening, we met up with everyone (Daniel, Mark, their families, and my parents) at the circus. Last year, Ellie got bored early, but I think that was because we had terrible seats. This year, we were like 3 rows back. It was awesome. Ellie loved it...especially the snow cones that my dad bought all the grandchildren, per tradition. Although, I am not sure she loved this clown:

An adorable sleeping moment

I am in the processing of redoing Ellie's room. Her toddler bed has been sold and her daybed is currently in the garage being painted white. Ellie always insisted on sleeping on the floor anyway (I'm hoping that changes with the new bed), so I haven't felt too rushed. I did buy her a new chair for her room and last night when I went to check on her, I found her sleeping in it! It was so adorable that I had to snap a picture before moving her back on safe ground.
I love how she tucked the pillow behind her, covered herself with a blanket, and then clasped her hands together and fell asleep.

Going a little crazy

Although I am still a few weeks shy of my third trimester, the sleep issues have already begun. I usually wake up anywhere from 3-4 in the morning and cannot go back to sleep for the life of me. Lately, I have been discovering unpleasant things when I wake up. Like Thursday morning when I woke up to discover that we had NO water pressure. And I was really thirsty, but someone (cough, Tom, cough) had put the Brita pitcher in the fridge with only 1/2 inch of water left. Apparently, we had a geyser at the end of our block that took ALL day to fix. I realized how I take the little things for granted, like showers, and flushing toilets, and glasses of ice cold water. Then, Friday morning I woke up at the crazy hour to discover our air conditioning had gone out. This is bad, folks, when you live in Houston and deal with 108 degree weather. I admit it, I broke down. I was a big, sobbing mess. Tom at first tried to talk me down logically, but that does not work with a hot, crazy pregnant woman who has been surviving on 4 hours a sleep per night. I had to get out. I took Ellie to the library as soon as it opened. Oh how I love the cool, air conditioned library with all of its free activities. Then, we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. Did not know it was cow appreciation day. I didn't really like the crowds, but Ellie loved all the people dressed up as cows. After enjoying a yummy sandwich and fresh squeezed lemonade, we went to Target so I could spend a little money before I lost in all in the great air conditioning repair of '09. After a few embarrassing episodes, we left Target to escape to Rosie's for the night. I was so relieved to find out today that our air conditioning was fixable and we didn't even have to sell Ellie to pay for it.

Speaking of Ellie, let's talk about all the ways she managed to embarrass me on Friday.
1. She does this thing now where she tells adults they are so big. No really, she says, "You are so big!" I think it is just a way for her to strike up a conversation with strangers and draw attention to how small and cute she is. So, when we were at Target yesterday and a VERY obese woman in a scooter was motoring past us, I was not quick enough to stop Ellie from loudly telling the poor lady how very big she was.
2. While waiting in the line at Chick-fil-A, Ellie lifted my sundress all the way up so she could talk to her baby brother. These public exposings are getting really old.
3. I have a few moles on my face and arms. Ellie once asked about my spots and I explained they were moles. When we were checking out at Target, the cashier was one of those fair people who have freckles all over their body. Ellie loudly pointed out multiple times that the lady has "lots and lot of moles! Even more than you, Mommy!"

I don't really mind Ellie embarrassing me. Before long, I am sure I will be the one embarrassing her. I am just really enjoying this age. I love how she comes up to me, takes my face in her two little hands, and emphatically proclaims me to be the "best Mommy ever!" I just think she is so freaking adorable, even with her occasional bursts of attitude and her habit of exposing me in public.

Why I am exhausted on a daily basis

Could also be titled, "My Effective Parenting Skills"

Summer daze

Yesterday, we got up early to drop my car off at the shop and then Tom, Ellie and I went to IHOP for breakfast. There we ran into Rosie and the girls so we kidnapped Aidyn to come play with Ellie for a couple of hours. Then Rosie picked us up for a quick trip to the library. I have been requesting all the children's books about going to the dentist in order to prepare Ellie for her appointment with Uncle Dr. Mark. I worry it will be like her haircuts where she keeps hitting the person with the scissors. In the evening, Ellie and I decided to accompany Tom to cross country practice because the park had new playground equipment that was supposed to be pretty impressive. Pretty impressive is right....it was like several stories high! I told Ellie she could not go on the tallest slide because it was too big. She busted out the attitude and informed me, "No! It's not too big for me. I big!" And then she raced to the top and threw herself down the slide in a series of bumps. It scraped up her ankle, but that didn't stop her from going down 3 more times.