Mother of the Year

Yesterday was not a stellar day here at casa de phillips.

Both kids (and their mother) were a bit on the grumpy side, we had to attempt to get 15 bright red iced cupcakes to preschool without mishap, there were lots of things to tend to on the home front, and a particular three year old little boy absolutely refused to take a nap.

Did I mention that everyone was grumpy?

Part of our morning involved a hurried case of shoe shopping for one Miss Evelyn P. Sunday at church she complained of her shoes being too tight, so much so that she left services in her socks. Yesterday morning as I attempted to put on her adorable little Keds tennis shoes (purchased brand new at a consignment sale for $5) she had a complete meltdown about "My shoe too tight!". Being the kind and compassionate mother that I am, I told her they were fine and to stop fussing.

We went through our morning, managing to deposit Isaac and his cupcakes at school, and eventually found our way to a store in hopes of finding cute white church shoes at a great price. Apparently no one purchases white dress shoes for little girls after Easter weekend because they are NO WHERE to be found. As we dashed into a few stores, Evelyn attempted to hurry along beside me, all the while fussing about her shoes.

Fast forward to yesterday evening (after many tears, many cries of injustice, and some frequent visits to Time Out...seriously, it was not our best day) when the children were being excused from the supper table. I happened to catch a glimpse of the back of Evelyn's foot and what did I spy....a nice, red, shiny blister.

And with that I would like to thank the Academy for my nomination as "Mother of the Year."

It seems as if her little feet have grown overnight and her shoe drawer filled with cute size 5's has been rendered useless. I made a quick run last night to Kohls and scooped her up some new shoes and some pretty band-aids to cover that icky ol blister.

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Monday was E's birthday. Here is her look when her immediate family popped into her room that morning to wish her a "Happy Birthday."

It is hard being two, huh?

Fortunately the attitude changed when she was told of presents and a waffle waiting for her in the living room.

Before Christmas I found the Rose Petal Cottage on mega-clearance so we purchased it and saved it for Evelyn's birthday. It only took me two days and bucketloads of patience to put this thing together. I have now come to understand exactly why it was on clearance...

Having children close together is a really great thing sometimes and a challenge at other times. Isaac has done really well with this whole birthday thing but has been plotting a strategy as to when he will get a long, uninterrupted turn with the new toys Evelyn has received.

Despite a monsoon that hit our area on Monday morning, the children and I stuck with the plan of meeting friends at Chuck E. Cheese for some birthday fun. I have a secret about CEC....go early (they open at 9am), don't order any food (really, it is not that good), and just let the kids play games. A good time was had by all using this formula.

The one comment Evelyn gets a lot is about how tall she is. I believe this picture conveys just how long those legs actually are.

This morning I took Evelyn for her two year well visit. After a complete screaming fit over having to be weighed and measured, it was determined that E. is somewhere between 37 and 38 inches tall. Supposedly, if one doubles their height at the age of two that is how tall one will be as an adult.

People, double 37 inches and you have over 6 feet.

I have no words for that statement at this point in time.

The well visit did confirm that Evelyn indeed has horrible, horrible allergies and eczema. I was quite honest with our pediatrician and simply said, "Our daughter is grouchy a lot. We think she does not feel good the majority of the time." It is hard to admit one's child is a grump, but I am hoping if we can clear out all the snot in her sweet head she will be a bit perkier. Her feisty streak will still be there, but hopefully the grumpiness will be gone.

Evelyn is getting a blood test done tomorrow to determine the extent of her allergies and we are taking some new directions with medications to see if we can eliminate the crud she deals with on a daily basis.

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I mentioned cupcakes at the beginning of this post. Because Isaac has a summer birthday, he does not get to celebrate his "regular" birthday at school. Therefore, he celebrated yesterday with these car themed goodies. It was nothing short of a miracle that these iced treats actually made it into school without leaving traces of red frosting in their wake.

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Isaac is still grumpy today. He is having some sleep issues, which makes him a big mess of emotion. This morning was Cowboy Day at school. Below is the expression he gave me when I requested a smile for the camera.


At least his sister managed to smile....

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Well, I am off to polish my trophy for "Mother of the Year". Talk to you later!