Monsters

Ok, so I know I'm supposed to be typing up some catch-up posts (homework given to me by myself), but I have to write this one before I forget it, because it's just too funny. And too long to write in a status update on facebook. Here goes.

Gianna's imagination has recently taken off. I am loving seeing her develop and grow up, but it's also one of those things that baffles me a bit, how she can get caught up on things. Just the other day, Gianna came running out of her room, screeching like a banshee some unintelligible rant. I calmed her down, asked her to take a few deep breaths and use her words. She obliged, and said, "There's a monster in my ROOM!" (Now, I know this is a typical fear of most children, imagining monsters in their rooms and being scared of them. I just didn't expect it to come so early.)

"Okay," I said, "where is it?" Gianna: "In my ROOM!" (Duh mom!) Me: "I know honey, where in your room? Why don't you show me?" She led me back to her room, and the whole time I was thinking there must have been some kind of bug in there, because I had absolutely no idea where she got the "monster in my room" thing from. The only "monster" she's been exposed to is Grover in "The Monster at the End of This Book." We hadn't read that book in a long time, so that's why this new fear seemed so out of the blue to me.

I expected her to point to her closet or under her bed. But she took me to her room, stood in the middle of the floor, and pointed at the carpet next to her foot and said, "Right dare! Isssa MONster! I am SCAY-uhed of MONsters!" And she proceeded to run back out of her room and hide behind me.

Trying to take her seriously, and play along, I said, "Well it's just a little monster. I bet you could scare it away. Why don't you just tell it to go away?" I swear the look she gave me I didn't think I'd see until she turned 12 or 13. The "Mom you're an idiot" look. Oy vey.

After a little coaxing she put one foot in her room, stuck her hand out in front of her and yelled at the top of her lungs, "Go 'WAY monster! No NO MONster!" After a few times doing this she looked up at me and said, "It won't go 'way." and hid behind me again. So I went in her room and pretended to stomp on it and I said, "There. Mommy got rid of  it for you."

She seemed satisfied so I walked out of her room and she started yelling hysterically, "Der's anudder MONster! Go 'WAY monster! Go 'WAY!" I told her to stomp on it and get rid of it, and she did. She continued to find more "monsters" in her room for the next several minutes, and yelled and stomped on them to get rid of them. It kept her occupied for quite a while, and was pretty funny to listen to.

Yesterday I got out of the shower and I heard thumping coming out of my room, and Gianna yelling. I came out expecting to see her making some kind of mess. I was wrong. Little did I know it, there was an infestation of tiny little monsters all over my room that had to be erradicated right then and there. I wish I'd had a video camera, her intensity from the days before had increased ten-fold. She was ferocious. I had created (dare I pun it?) a monster (stomper).

Because I didn't have a camera, I staged another "monster stomp" in her room this morning. It didn't quite capture the hilarity (is that even a word?) of yesterday, but enjoy anyway:

"Go 'WAY monsters!" It's the hand out in front that gets me. Not the best action shot, but the best one I was able to get.

Gianna the Monster Slayer and her trusty sidekick Piglet.

 Monsters beware!!

So, if you come by our house and hear all kinds of thudding and thumping, screeching and hollering, don't worry. We're just being overrun by imaginary monsters :)

The Last Baby "First"

It was not too long ago that my little munchkin was completely bald (for way too long). And I don't exaggerate. She was well past her first birthday when she finally grew enough hair to even pull back with a little clip... How time has flown.

Wasn't it just last week that I was lamenting about not being able to do anything with my bald baby's hair?

It was just yesterday I had her sporting the "Pebbles" look for the first time, right? Right???

Sadly, no. I was hanging onto the last little part of my "baby" for probably much too long. Poor thing has had a baby mullet for at least six months, if not, longer. She was always pushing her bangs out of her eyes, or just running around looking like a wild animal was nesting in her hair. Finally, I called a trusted friend who Gianna is very comfortable with and made The Appointment.

 At two and three-quarter years, it was time for her last "baby first."

Drumroll please...

I present to you...

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Gianna's First Haircut!!!

Before:



Playing with her friend Polly, who was born two days before her. Look at her thick, luxurious hair. Sigh. Someday, Gianna, someday. This is why we have hair product. 

 Look at that glorious baby mullet...

 The last picture of her teensy little baby curls...

During:



 Snip!

 Snippety!

Snip! 

 She has bangs!!!

 First blowdrying experience. She was not a fan.

 First flat-iron experience...

 Getting primped...



 Almost done!

 Finishing touches...

After:

 Still kind of has a mullet, but it's a cute and curly mullet!

 All done! No more hair in her eyes :)

 I even saved the baby curls for posterity...

 Look how big she is!

And Mommy didn't even cry :)

Can I get a "woot" or a "hallelujah" for taking pictures and blogging about something the same day it happened?? Just a little one, please?

Super Duper catchup post # 2, 3 and possibly 4 to come (eventually), and pictures from our Colorado trip too! (Someone seriously gripe at me if I don't post something next week...)

Super Duper Catchup Post #1

I've been debating for a while now about whether I should just continue blogging from this point in my life forward, or if I should at least try to catch up on a few things. I want to just blog from here on out, but when I start a post, I just can't do it. I want to, but there's this little nagging thing in the back of my brain that won't let me think of anything to post about now, until I post the Super Duper Catchup post. And then I get all overwhelmed by the Super Duper Catchup post that I quickly shut off the computer and I just don't blog. And so, I'm going to post a Super Duper Catchup series to appease my inner OCD thing. Who knew I could be OCD? I know, it's news to me too...

Anyhoo, so here we go, all the way back to October of last year (I'm only going back as far as what I have pictures for) when Michael was home on leave. It was good times. And I'm actually kind of glad I'm writing about it now that he's home and we're very far removed from all the good-byes we had to say last year. Now this post might actually be enjoyable and entertaining, instead of me complaining about how much I missed my husband. (In case you're wondering, I missed him A LOT ;)

There are lots and lots and LOTS of pictures from those 2 weeks Michael was home. This post will focus on the trip we took together sans Gianna. We drove the Flint Hills scenic byway on Hwy 177 from Cassoday to Council Grove, and then over to a B&B in the country outside of Lawrence. It was nice to have some time to ourselves, and I'm glad we stayed in Kansas and got to see some of the beauty our state has to offer. It really is a beautiful place to live (in the mild seasons).

And here comes the deluge of pictures:

Random picture of vegetable stuffed shoes. What? You don't have one of these??

As we drove up Hwy 177 we stopped in lots of different places to take pictures of the Flint Hills. This was somewhere between Cassoday and Cottonwood Falls.



Beautiful sky.



Wild sage growing on top of a hill





It was sooooo windy on top of the scenic overlook area where we stopped. Michael tried to get a picture of how wild my hair was from my shadow. This doesn't do it justice. It was WINDY!

Cottonwood Falls:

Still windy...

And really, really bright.

We stopped at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. It was beautiful!

This hill was a pretty good hike to get up to actually get into the preserve. Our car is waaaaay down there.

The old house that they are preserving and will one day be a museum at the preserve. I want it.

Really old front door.

The back of the really old front door. It is much prettier on the inside!

Beautiful wood work on the inside. I love old houses. This is one of the reasons why. So much character!

A view of the house from the back. I really loved it. I could live there if they'd let me.

Pictures from the top of a hill at the preserve. These just do not do justice to how beautiful it was that day. It was just the beginning of the leaves turning to yellow, they sky was vibrantly blue, it was just gorgeous!

More evidence of the wind. And that we can't take a decent picture to save our lives.



On the way down the other side of the hill, more beauty...





More pictures of the grounds of the Preserve. I took these out of the back of the old barn on the property.



This is one of my favorites from the trip. Just the way the barn window is framing that pretty scenery behind it...

Next we stopped in Council Grove at the Hays House. It was delicious! (For the record, the steak salad was awesome!)

And then we stopped and took pictures of this really cool, old tree. Over 150 years old!

These next ones are on the property of the Circle S Ranch outside of Lawrence where we stayed the night. The sunset was really gorgeous that night, and again, our camera just doesn't do it justice.

The lit up window was the room we stayed in. I didn't get any pictures of the inside of it for some reason, but it was pretty awesome. It was a very relaxing getaway. I highly recommend this place if you are looking for a good getaway spot. And they do let kiddos come too, there was one there the night we stayed. I was really happy about that, we'd love to go back with G.

 This last one is from the morning we left. We couldn't see the sunrise because of the clouds, but it was lovely all the same. It was so peaceful and quiet. I want to go back. And maybe live there forever...

Thank you for reading and looking at my many pictures if you got this far. I know it was a lot of pictures of "nothing" but I really enjoyed it. It's really awesome to know that we have this beautiful place to drive and see things right in our KS backyard.

Here ends Super Duper Catchup #1. Next up on Super Duper Catchup #2- G's birthday, the pumpkin patch, and Halloween!