The Life of a Toddler Mom or just a grumpy lady?

So, I often find myself frustrated with Ella, and even raising my voice more than I would like. I especially noticed it after being together all day today. Ella is 2 1/2 now and is starting to flex her independence muscle. She wants to do everything, and she wants to do it her way. This works most of the time, but when we need to get somewhere, or when something needs to be done (or if it needs to be done in a particular way), I find that it's very hard to get her to do it, or to listen. We haven't made a habit of spanking, or using any kind of physical punishment, but are thinking that maybe we need to use a little to get her to respond. I often find myself yelling her name in exasperation.

So, is that what life is like as the mother of a toddler, or am I just a grumpy lady? Those of you who have raised (or are raising) toddlers, what do you think??

My Biggest Goal Yet - Can I do It?

So, most of you know that in the last year I have hit a lot of health/fitness milestones in my life. I feel like it's finally time to conquer my last fitness fear...running. For my whole life, I have been horrible at running and have hated it. I have a hard time breathing, my body moves too much, all kinds of excuses. Well, I am in the best shape that I have been in for as long as I can remember, so I think that the time has finally come.

My goal isn't to run a marathon, or even a half-marathon, but I would like to run a 5K. On September 20th, Nashville will be hosting the Chick-fil-A 5K. So, my goal is to be ready to enter as a participant in the 5K. I began this morning with a 2 mile walk along with a 1 mile walk/run. It felt good, and I have a REALLY long way to go, but I look forward to meeting this goal!

So, sometimes life makes you a little jaded

In the past few weeks and months, I have noticed that I have been approached by more people asking for food, money, clothes, etc. Even people coming to our door. We usually try to give people at least something, a meal, a few dollars, etc.

Last night, we took a quick trip to the grocery store, and while there, we took a pit stop at the restroom. As Ella and I were washing our hands, a woman came up and asked if she could have a few dollars. She told me that she had three children and would just like to get some bread, chips, etc. for them. She said that she has been asking God for a blessing and thought that I just might be it. I told her that I didn't have any cash, but that we were getting ready to check out, and if she wanted to get a few things, I would be more than happy to pay for them. She said that would be great and that she would meet us in a few minutes at the front.

We waited 10 minutes, and she never came. Obviously she didn't want the food, she wanted the money. For some reason, I felt really let down, betrayed almost. I was more than willing to help her out, but she lied to me. It led me to ask, how many people that we give help to lie to us? Should we still give anyway? What is my responsibility as a Christian?

Starring Ella

Our good friend, Jenny Selvidge, came over to visit tonight, and Ella let Aunt Jenny take some video of her. Prepare yourself for one of the cutest things ever!




Just in case you need a translation:

I had a little turtle, his name was Tiny Tim,
I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water (gulp, gulp, gulp)
He ate up all the soap (chomp, chomp, chomp)
And then he went to sleep.
With a bubble in his throat.
Big, big bubble pop, teeny tiny bubble pop!

When I Grow Up

A few months ago, I got a book from the library for Ella that talks about what we want to be when we grow up. Since that time, we've occasionally asked Ella what she wants to be when she grows up. We were delighted when she said that she wants to be a teacher like Ms. Allison (which means that Ms. Allison must be doing a good job as far as Ella was concerned).

In the last week, Ella's answer has changed. She was sitting at the dining room table this week, and I casually asked what she wanted to be when she grows up. She quickly answered that she wanted to be a mommy. She then qualifies it by saying, "I want to make dinner, I want to make breakfast, and have a baby in my belly." She's obviously thought about it. I wonder about it sometimes, but then I remember what an important job it is to be a mother, and I'm excited that Ella is looking forward to it.

Pictures from Poland

I could be a good person and upload lots of pictures to my Blog, or I can just be lazy and send you to my Facebook Album. I don't think that you need to sign up for Facebook to look at pictures. So, try these links:

Album 1

Album 2

I didn't take all of the pictures that I would have liked, but I think that this will give you a good sense of what we did in Poland. It was amazing, and we're planning to go back next year. Brad even gets to go with me!

Because I was Tagged

Movie Meme
One of my favorite California friends, Andrew, tagged me:

1. One Movie that Made you Laugh: Juno

2. One Movie that Made you cry: Cadence

3. One Movie that you loved when you were a child: The Labyrinth

4. One Movie that you've seen more than once: Sweet Home Alabama

5. One Movie you loved but were embarassed to admit it: Bring it On

6. One Movie that your hated: The Devil Wears Prada

7. One Movie that Scared You: What Lies Beneath

8. One Movie that bored you: The Golden Compass

9. One Movie that bored you: Castaway

10. One Movie that made you miserable: Evan Almighty

11. One Movie that you weren't brave enough to see: Inconvenient Truth

12. One Movie character that you've fallen in love with: Josh Lucas as Jake, Sweet Home
Alabama

13. The Last Movie you saw: The Golden Compass

14. The Next Movie you hope to see: I don't even know what's out!

15. Your Favorite Movie: Juno (I don't really watch movies all that often!).

I tag: Andrew S., Becca, & Jaime (because they are the people that I know read my blog!!)