Monday, December 30, 2013

Terrible-Two, Tater Tot



Tater, Tater, Tater!

Where do I even begin?  You turned 2 a couple of weeks ago before Christmas and unfortunately it was also one of my busiest days at work where I worked a full day and then  was on several calls through 1:30 am through the next day. But my love for you still miraculously found time to bake you a cake, and I still spent every moment I could next to you. 

So let me tell you a little about yourself at the two year mark.

You talk-- like really well!  This morning you said, "Where's my Elmo?  Oh!  There it is!"  Although it sounded more like "Wes my Almow? Oh Deh- is"  Those are full sentences in my book, little dude.  You're rockin!

You're becoming a picky eater like your brother was at this age, but you're not going on a Ghandi-like hunger strike like your brother did.  You'll still put any food in your mouth, but now you've learned to chew out the nutrients and discard the rest (usually into Mama's hands).  Sometimes you even walk up to our garbage, lift the lid and spit right into the can. 

You have a problem with the bottle, to which I mean you just WON'T transition to sippy cups. 

Bottles and your blanky - you still need both to take a nap.

Your tantrums aren't nearly as bad as your brother's were (yet - but we're still just starting off the year).  But you'll stand your ground, scream "NO!", cry and throw yourself on the floor to get your way sometimes.  And sometimes it works.

You really love Thomas the Train and stacking toys, but you'll also entertain your big brother by fighting with a pair of his Godzilla or Dinosaur toys.

Last year you were just barely learning to walk.  This year you are just learning how to pedal on your tricycle and jump with good balance.

When I sneeze, you say, "Bess you, Mama"

When you sneeze, and I say bless you, you say "Thank you Mama".

Any letter or number that you point to, you proclaim as the letter "E".

You and your brother fight by wrestling, but when shit gets real, you'll bite him.

You want to do things by yourself.  You want to feed yourself, you want to close the car door by yourself, you want to clean the table yourself with a napkin.  You often refuse my hand when we go on walks and get pissed when I grab your jacket hoody as an alternative to your hand (you don't get that cars and roads are dangerous). 

You love Mickey Mouse and scream, "Mickey!!!!!!!!!!" Anytime you see him. 

After I had you well trained as a crib sleeper, your Dad felt sorry for you sleeping alone a few months ago,  and invited you to our bed.  Since then you demand to sleep with us, and we're now a 100% co-sleeping family and the nursery is just toy storage.  --> This is probably another post entirely.



Happy Birthday Tater, as you enter into your terrible two's!  I just ask that you take it easy on your Mama for this phase.  Your brother beat me up pretty badly already. I'm still traumatized!

-Shirley (Mama Ruff)




Thursday, December 26, 2013

Dear Santa: What will I do without you?!



Dear Santa,

It's been a crazy month, and I didn't get a chance to blog so many things since before Thanksgiving even.  But now that you're gone, Santa, I'm at a loss.

What will I do without you?!!!!!

Your power over my children was a godsend!  I threatened my children with coal at every turn, and the amazing thing is that they behaved every friggin' time.  I even enjoyed a stress-free dinner at a fancy restaurant WITH THE RUFFIANS at my side!  You are an amazing, jolly fat-man!  I love you!

Please stay, dude.

You're the best.  Don't leave me!  I need you.


Shirley (Mama-Ruff)

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Pumpkin Mexican Wedding Cookies


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A good friend on FaceBook tuned me into this pumpkin recipe to help me figure out to do with all those pumpkins we got.  It was another hit.

Just ask the boy below who NEVER eats with such gumption!


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Amazing! - Shirley (Mama-Ruff)

Friday, November 1, 2013

White Elephant

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It's rare that I ever make a cameo in a high quality, non-blurry photo taken by someone else.   So let's ignore the white elephant in the room, because clearly he was ignoring us as well. We're lucky he even glanced in the camera's direction!

He DID NOT want to wear his costume!

Luckily, with a bit of a struggle I was able to successfully get him in the costume later when we went trick-or-treating at the mall.
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And he had fun.  What do you know?!  He's been talking about it all day.

We passed out candy afterwards.  Diego had fun when kids came up to our glass storm door.  But there was someone else who anticipated it more (after he got tired of barking, of course).
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-How was your Halloween?
Shirley (Mama-Ruff)
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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Angry Pumpkins Part Deux

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It seems we can't get away from Angry Birds pumpkins.  Hubs and I have decided that we'll put our feet down next year and implement an Angry Birds pumpkin carving STRIKE!  Wish us luck!  We're going to need it!

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Happy Halloween!

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I hope you have a day full of Tricks & Treats!

These vampire pics have sort of become a yearly tradition for me now. I think I like them so much since it brings out my Ruffian's true colors!



Those evil little pumpkin assassins!
-Shirley (Mama-Ruff)

Click here for last year's pics  

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Halloween Nails

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 I thought these fancy skull nail stickers were awesome and edgy and was super excited to put them on.  I didn't notice that the box said that they would only last a week.  So I figured I'd put a top coat on them for extra endurance, and I managed to ruin a few by doing that.  Luckily I had extra stickers so I just re-did them. 

I'm kind of disappointed that they started peeling within a couple of days, but honestly Halloween is only one day (even though we're celebrating it for the whole month!), so I guess it's acceptable. They're no match while blow drying my hair, and I've been wearing gloves to wash dishes all in hopes that they last 'till tomorrow. 

If you're wondering, they are Kiss brand nail dress stickers.

Shirley (Mama-Ruff)