Fall Fun Weekend

We had a great weekend full of family, football, food, and fun!  My parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came to town for the Nebraska game!  Hotel d' Mencke was open for business!  It's harder for all of us to be together these days, so it was so nice to have a whole weekend with everyone!  Chip and Lauren came over to hang out too both Friday & Saturday night, so the whole damn fam was there!  We even managed to sneak away for a little adult time tailgating Saturday afternoon before the big Husker win!  Delaney and Chase had a great time playing together!  It's so fun watching these too grow up together!  Of course, we had a few battles over certain toys, but all and all they got along great!  Chase is at the stage where you can just watch him learn.  Every day he learns new words and figures things out!  I even think he called me "Auntie" a few times Saturday night!   It was sad to see everyone leave yesterday, but I was so thankful for some quality time with everyone after a rough week!  Can't wait to do it again!

A family of fans!

Check out these Husker cuties!

After everyone left yesterday, we took a little downtime for naps and the Chiefs game!  After supper, we decided to let Delaney get a little creative with her pumpkin!  We will post another picture in her costume with her masterpiece, but she had a lot of fun with it!  I think it turned out pretty cute too!

She started out cautiously with her little paint brushes!

Then, she figured out her hands were much more effective!

This was a little payback to our favorite neighbors (on the East Side of the street), who stole and painted two of our pumpkins last week!  We returned the favor last night!  I think that's Delaney's sneaky face!

Bedtime Battles

As I'm sure I've mentioned a time or two recently, bedtime is no fun at our house these days and hasn't been for months.  However, we have had a fairly good week.  She fell asleep Tuesday night within 30 minutes of going to bed (this is a record, as she hasn't fallen asleep that fast in months!).  Wednesday night was about an hour, but that is still better than her usual 2 hours plus of shenanigans.  The best part is she has sleep all through the night, and even slept in a little bit in the mornings (meaning past 7 a.m.).  I was beginning to think we had maybe turned a corner back to a normal sleep pattern...WRONG!

Last night, we put her to bed about 8:30 (on the later side of normal).  We have had a few neighbors over the past few Thursdays to enjoy Thursday Night Football as we are the only ones with the NFL network.  We all provide something to eat, and it's a good time.  Every other week, we have put Delaney to bed when it's time, and she's fallen asleep within a reasonable amount of time without much intervention.  Last night, I did the whole routine, put her to bed, put up the gate in her door, and went back downstairs.  A few minutes later, I hear a thumb, and go up to investigate.  She had kicked the gate down, and was standing on it with one leg in a ninja like pose.  I put up the gate, made a few threats of taking toys and blankies out, and went back downstairs.  It was quiet for a while...

Craig checked on her, and she was awake, but in bed.  Still quiet.  I went upstairs a few minutes later to put the dessert back in the fridge, and I discover my naughty little girl...bedroom light on, sitting in her rocking chair reading "Click, Clack, Moo", all of her stuffed animals out of their tub strewn about the floor, happy as a lark.  I asked her what she was doing, and she just looked at me all innocently without a word.  I went downstairs to summon her father to handle this, as I was about to lose my cool.  We return upstairs to see her still reading her book like it was no big deal!  It was one of those times, when I really wish I would have snapped a picture before the moment had passed, and it was adorable.  It will be one of those stories I look back on and laugh, even though I was less than pleased at the time.  

After we made her pick up her toys and put away her books, she went back to her bed and fell asleep shortly thereafter.  She even slept in until 8:15 this morning, so that late night reading must have really worn her out!  Here's hoping it's a more restful weekend at our house!

PuMpKiN pAtCh 2012

 Last Saturday we continued the tradition we started with Delaney was just 6 months old.  We made our annual trip out to the Roca Berry Farm Pumpkin Patch.  As always, a great time was had by all!

 Delaney school Craig on some proper goat etiquette and chicken speak!  She was timid with the animals for all of 10 seconds, and then she had a ball! 

 She had fun exploring all buildings and displays!  I think Daddy may have to build this little girl a playhouse for her backyard!?!

The bounce pillows provided a lot of entertainment for the whole family!  Delaney was hesitant at first, but as soon as Daddy slipped off his shoes, GAME ON!

 They bounced and laughed, I watched and worried.  They had a great time!

 Oh, how I wish Delaney's eyes would have been opened for this picture. 

 After the bounce pillows, Delaney & Daddy took a trip around the dirt track!

 Did I mention Grandma & Papa Farm came down to enjoy the festivities with us?  Delaney encouraged Papa to take a trip on the track with Daddy!  Only Delaney could have gotten Papa on that contraption...

 Honestly, those boys had even more fun and us girls laughing at them!

 The hunt for the perfect pumpkin commenced.  Delaney wanted a really, big one...and a little one.

I'm definitely out of my league in a pumpkin patch...these are hard-core experts here, and it took them a little time to find the "perfect pumpkin", but they did and it IS perfect!

See, I was there, just behind the camera all day!  We all had a great time and came home with quite a few pumpkins!  I'm hoping some pumpkin painting and carving will be next on the Fall Fun Agenda!  Happy Fall Y'all!

Delaney Jo-2.5

Our little peanut is now 2.5, and boy has she changed over the last 6 months:

• Height:  38.5" (off the charts), Weight:  36lbs (off the charts), BMI:  17 (perfect)...as expected, she's still a big girl that's bigger than most all kids her age.  The doctors say that she's perfect, and it's nothing to worry about...especially, since Daddy is 6'5" and both her Papas are over 6'0".  She's going to be tall.
• As the season changes we are transitioning into new clothes, size 4T, and new shoes, size 8.  We actually need it to start being cooler as her warm-weather clothes are almost embarrassingly small!  She has started having an opinion on what she's wearing.  This is a fun addition to our morning routine!  I try to be as flexible as I can and let her creativity shine through when practical.    I'm sure this will be a battle that will last years...
• We are fully potty trained, with a few accidents few and far between!  We're still working on the night time dryness...maybe by the time she's 3!  We also need to transition out of the rewards for successful #2 trips!
• We have transitioned to her big girl bed, and we are still working out the kinks.  Her stubbornness really shines at bedtime.  She takes on average an hour to fall asleep at night, wakes up in the middle of the night, and is up for the day as soon as our alarms go off!  It's wearing on all of us to say the least!  

• Her favorite foods are goldfish crackers, pasta, chicken nuggets, blueberries, grapes, kiwi, cheese, rice, and milk!  Meats (specifically beef & pork) are a battle, but usually with some bribery or ketchup we can get her to eat a few bites!  (Obviously, she's not hurting for food, so this really shouldn't be such a struggle!)
• She loves to read and sing songs.  She has picked up the words of most of our lullabies, and has started singing along! It's quite entertaining, but she won't perform for others yet. She is getting better at quietly reading books on her own, which is a nice addition to playtime! 
• She doesn't watch a lot of TV, but her current favorites are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Curious George, ELMO, and football!  The girl loves her some football!  She gets a little confused on what team we're cheering for when, but she does like to watch!

 

• Delaney prefers Spiderman over Princesses, and it was up for serious discussion for this year's Halloween costume.  In the end, Minnie Mouse has won out, but for a few weeks I thought we'd have a little Spiderman with a tutu running up and down the street! 
• She has started really enjoying coloring with both crayons and markers!  She is very proud of her artwork she brings home from Holly's, and runs into show Daddy every time!
• She has started "imaginative play" with herself.  She talks to her toys, tells stories, and sings.  It's so fun to be a fly on the wall when she doesn't know it and listen to her!   One of these days I'll bust out the video camera and records this!

•  She is still a challenge in all aspects!  She is incredibly stubborn, sassy, strong, and opinionated!  She definitely has "only-child" syndrome, and needs to work on quite a few things before our family grows!  She does turn into a little shy thing in new places with lots of people, which is good & bad! 
• Discipline is still a constant struggle at our house!  She doesn't like not getting her way (who does?) and makes it quite difficult to accomplish certain things!  Time outs are rarely effective, but once in a while we have a breakthrough!  
• She loves to be outside.  She is really getting the hang of her tricycle, and can actually make it go most of the time!  She has even tolerated the helmet we got for her for such activities!  She also really enjoys sidewalk chalk art, especially when she can tell her Daddy what to draw!  She really is quite bossy!

 

So, there you have it...Delaney Jo at 2.5!  While she does frustrate and challenge us every day, we still love her to pieces and wouldn't trade a minute of this for the world!  No matter how big she gets, she's always our tiny, little peanut that showed up to this party called life a month too early!  She smart, funny, gorgeous, and stubborn, and we wouldn't have it any other way!  We love you D!