Monday, July 30, 2007

Back By Popular Demand.....
























































Okay I know I've been a slacker these days.........I really do apologize- I'm getting some grumblings of complaint from both the Buffalo and Detroit crowds, so back by popular demand is the Grupp Girls' Blog!!!! Actually I'm quite flattered, I had no idea that this little sanity journal was so widely read!
Sooooo we started potty training again. Really, this is getting silly- it's a battle of wills, and boy is Emma stubborn! But I will win, yes, I will win. She was doing great again for a couple of days (thanks to a play date buddy who used her Dora potty while at our apartment- Emma was so thrilled by this that she gave the little girl a standing ovation and insisted on giving her a treat). Well, the whole potty thing got old, and now we're back to peeing in the timeout corner and saving all bathroom breaks for the bedtimes (that's the only time she gets to wear a diaper). Those poor diapers just can't cope with what she brings to them......so now we only get to watch t.v. when we are potty successful and all treats other than potty treats have been eliminated...........Emma could care less. Oh well, at some point she'll break down and get sick of peeing all over the place right? RIGHT? Let's hope so.
Little Bela is still waking up at least 3 times a night for milk (pay no attention to the rolls on her arms and legs, the girl is starving!), and is crawling so fast we can't keep up. One of us is always pulling her chubby little hands out of the cat food (I'm not sure why that's her favorite) or peeling her out from some dangerous spot she's managed to get herself into (so far she's gotten stuck in the entertainment center, under the coffee table, and many other tight little spots). She's just so darn fast. And the girl loves to eat.....it never fails that whenever we sit down for lunch or dinner together, Bela gets so mad and starts to cry. She wants what we're eating so badly she can almost taste it. We usually try and feed her at the same time, but since we eat at 6, the starving baby doesn't usually make it until then (5:30 usually brings the starving mad cries). And we have yet to find a food she doesn't like. That girl will eat avocados, prunes, any vegetable.....it's crazy. It's pretty much just whatever we have in our fridge that I can mash :) so anything goes!
Emma found her veggie tales video (from Niki almost two years ago!) and it is the bee's knees again (it used to be her favorite for a long time, but then it got pushed to the side for awhile, well it's back!). And now that she's singing full songs, she is singing every one of these songs! We've probably watched it three times since she found it last week, and yet she struts around the house, shakin her little foo foo to "You his hangaber" (You're His Cheeseburger). And she knows (or thinks she knows- really don't we all make up our own lyrics?) to the intro song, complete with "ber, ber, ber, ber, ber ber" (that would be Larry the Cucumber playing the tuba that she's singing). The day she discovered it in the closet was the first day she just couldn't take a nap. She spent the entire hour and a half in her crib singing "Veggie Tales, Veggie Tales, Broc-o-wee, Cell-a-lee, gotta be veggie tales". Believe it or not, Bela just sawed her logs right next to this show, complete with song, dance, and crib jumping. I just left them (for sanity's sake) in there until Bela woke up from her nap. When I went in there, Emma announced "Ohhh, sleep good!" She must think I'm dumb. But I got a break, and she had fun, so all is well.
Last night was Emma's first night in the big girl bed. She was having the time of her life. When we heard all kinds of rucous going on in there, Braden peeked in and Emma bolted like lightning, monkey, horse, and blanket in tow and jumped back in her bed. Busted! Later, I checked in and the noise stopped......but where was Emma? The bed was empty so I checked the tent. She had all kinds of books, a pillow, blanket and monkey in there. Apparently she was planning on a slumber party. When I peeked in she guiltily said "hi" and then slowly made her way back to the bed. Once darkness set in and she could no longer see any of the 3000 books she had strewn about, she must have made her way back to bed and passed out because about an hour later we heard a loud BOOM and then shrieking. Apparently Emma had fallen off the bed. Hmmm.....guess we overlooked the bed rail thing. So we piled some pillows and blankets at the bottom (since it was about a 15 inch drop) and put her back to sleep. An hour or so later we heard a soft thud, a grunt, and a little snore. Turns out she had fallen off the bed again but it was so soft that she fell right back to sleep on the floor. We're such good parents that we laughed hysterically and left her there, until about midnight when Bela woke up to eat.
Overall we're keeping very busy with play dates and fun little outings (we've checked out all of the area fun stuff to do for toddlers). And the closing of the house (which has been so chaotic) has given us girls a chore list nearly every day. On Friday we had more than usual to do, so I told Emma our list "First bank, then post office, then if you're good girl, ice cream shop". We did great at the bank, but by the time we got to the post office she was so excited that she had become loopy and couldn't help but be a Denis the Menace. So we overlooked the little misbehavings and headed to the ice cream shop, where she chose blue ice cream. Really, who serves blue ice cream to a toddler? She brought out all the songs she knew- she was dancing all over the place, singing "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes", and jumping "like a fwoggee". Despite polising off an unusually large helping of sweets, she managed to eat more than usual at dinner! Impressive.
I'm keeping busy doing the Mary Kay thing, and now Emma knows that whenever I hop in a dress, it's "mommy go bye bye time". Obviously I hang out in pajammas way to much.....But it's fun and keeps me busy (like the girls don't right?)
Aunt Danielle- sorry I missed your call. Thanks so much for picking up my dress, and I'll get it altered and mail it to you! Thanks so much!
Love, hugs, and kisses from all (including the broken record who is saying "monkey, monkey" in my ear over and over so I better jet) of us in Sunny South Carolina!
By the way, I really wish I could plug some videos on here- Grandpa you are a trip in the videos we have of you jumping with Emma at Monkey Joe's!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Whewwww!

I can't believe how fast the last couple of weeks have gone! It has been absolutely chaotic at the Grupp homebase (which is starting to feel like a very cramped two bedroom apartment as of late). We had an amazing week with Grandma and Grandpa Cobb that we were all very sorry to see end. And of course, in Charbonneau form, it ended with a parade of tears and sad goodbyes......and a few days of grumpiness from all since we got used to all of the attention and fun that the grandparents brought with them.
Emma fell in love with them all over again, crawling in Grandpa's lap every chance she got. And Bela fell in love with them for the first time, falling asleep so peacefully in their arms no matter what went on around her!
Okay, was planning on this being a nice long warm-hearted entry. But the newly crawling Bela is eating everything in her path- and she's like a zamboni! So, I'm going to go pull some cat hair out of her mouth (okay gross I know). Will finish updating later.
But very quickly- I have a new facet to my life now- I am a career woman (part time of course!). But I even have business cards (so that makes it very business like right?) I've been involved with Mary Kay in some form for most of my life and am finally making the turn to become a consultant. So check out my new website (also makes it business like right?) at www.marykay.com/mgrupp where you can check out all of their stuff! I also get a lot of free samples, so if you ever want to try before you buy, just ask! Oh by the way- I am learning to walk in heels for the first time in my life. Even Emma is better than me at it (she took them ALL off the shelves at the shoe store and tried them on, so this is how I know). If you have any advice for a novice, please let me know! Now back to my zamboni!