It's a good thing mommies aren't graded daily...

Because if we were, I would get a great big F with a "See me after class" remark today.....

Yes, it's been that kind of day. The kind of day where I woke up SO THANKFUL to be able to stay home with my kiddos today instead of going off to work, but in all honesty was ready to pull my hair out and cry (which I did, at one point) because of how frustrated I was by noon...

Teething (in addition to ear troubles) has hit our household, and we are hanging on by a thread.Not to mention we have had quite the sneak peak at the Terrible Two's as well (yes, she just turned ONE a few weeks ago) so we are very familiar with 'head throwing back/whole body going limp/ screaming crying on the floor tantrums as well. Keep in mind that I genuinely love my children to pieces, but today - Piper and I have had our battles. This morning was actually really good. It wasn't until lunchtime came that things really hit the fan. My sweet little Piper has actually not been feeling good off and on for quite a while. She's been on antibiotics for an ear infection, she's got molars coming in which are super painful for her, and just in general has not been a very happy girl for long periods of time. But today, there was honestly no soothing her. If I tried to set her down for the slightest second, tantrum. If I tried to show her a new toy to distract her, tantrum. If I dared put her in her highchair to eat, tantrum. Needless to say, at one point she was crying, I was crying, and Max and Ryder didn't have a clue what to do. I can laugh about it now because I know I was just so caught up in the moment and although it really wasn't a huge deal, I just wanted to throw my OWN tantrum. So I did. And then life moved on, we "made up" and daddy actually got a few (not many!) bites of chicken and edemame in her. Later, after stressing for like an hour whether or not I should give her a  dose of infant tylenol (Can you say mommy guilt?? Seriously I have no idea why I stress about this so much. I can assure you that I myself would never sit through a toothache without popping something for the pain, so why in the world would I make my sweet little girl suffer through it without any medicine??--Again, mommy guilt.)  we packed up our things and made a trip to the library to get some new books and play, and Ryder and I made a well-deserved stop at MCD's on the way home (peppermint mocha for me, kiddie cone for him). Now she is sleeping and as I wait for the laundry to finish, here I am blogging my sorrows to you!

Hopefully you are having a better day than what I just described, but if you aren't --just know that you are not alone... It happens to the best of us. I've come to know that even those mommies that you are fairly certain NEVER lose it, have EVERYTHING under control, and have PERFECT lives--simply don't exist. And thank goodness they don't, because man would I really look bad then!! :) Pray for my little P to feel better....Or at least pray that her mommy makes it through all of this with her mind still in tact!

A couple funnies...

Piper just went down for her nap, and somewhere between playing with my little man, cleaning up the house, and maybe even sneaking in a shower, I hope to finish some blog posts that I've been  meaning to do... However, I had to sneak this one in so I can look back on it someday and laugh.
This morning I was giving Piper a bath and Ryder was working on 'art' in the kitchen. I decided that little P was just being such a ham that I was going to take a picture of her on my phone and send it to her daddy.....
Her daddy got a picture alright, although not the one I originally envisioned! :)
Piper was all smiles for me, and then she got this super determined look on her face and started grunting a little. Just as I realized what was going to happen, out popped a dozen little 'pebbles' just floating around in the bathtub..... (I hope no one is eating as they read this!)
I began hysterically laughing and P got super freaked out so I scooped her out of the tub and began cleanup duty... Yes, that was my morning.

On another cute little note, the last couple nights Piper hasn't felt that great, running low grade fevers and just being a little crankier than usual. So, when it comes to bedtime, she's been crying. We usually lay P and Ryder down at the same time so we are usually in Ryder's room reading his bedtime story as Piper lays and fusses in her crib. The last few nights, Murphy (our newest, but not-so-new-anymore pup that I have a love/hate relationship with) hears her crying and runs to the backyard and barks outside her window. She loves it and quiets down for him right away. We just love our little dog-loving girl..... :)

Our Adventures...

How can you not love fall in Minnesota?! There are many things I don't necessarily love about Minnesota, but fall is definitely not one of them. I haven't been blogging (surprise, surprise) but that is okay because we've been busy taking advantage of this amazing time of year. It's amazing what is right outside your doorstep.... :)

Heading out on Darwin/Dassel Park Trails!

And that hunk of a man, folks, is my hubby.... All flannel shirt and scruffy beard of him! ;)

Again....Fall in Minnesota, is simply amazing.

My handsome little guy leading the way!

Our final destination, where we enjoyed a picnic supper....

And Miss P crawled around and got a little "exercise" in too :)

More to come soon- we've got lots to catch up on these days!