Hello, Tantrum Three's.

When Autumn started walking I exclaimed loudly that my life just got a million times harder. I was told it was just the beginning. 
When Autumn first yelled "No!" at something I had asked her to do, or rather, not do, I shook my head and laughed.
When Autumn started to refuse to do anything but the opposite that we asked of her, I was introduced to the terrible two's. 

Just last week, a month before her third birthday, I become fully aware of TANTRUM THREE'S.

Holy Hell.

I remember when I was pregnant and I would see kids crying in the shopping cart, chair, floor, wherever, and thinking "I'll never let my kid cry like that. I'll just hold her and she'll stop." 

Yeah. Right.

The first time she threw a tantrum went like this:

Autumn open's the hallway closet and see's her collectible retro toys. 
*pointing to the top shelf*
Autumn: "Daddy daddy daddy daddy gimme my toys!"
Daddy: "Ok Autumn, give me a second, my hands are full."
Autumn: *throws self on floor* *starts kicking floor* *screaming*
Daddy: *looks at me*
Me: *looks at him*
Me: "Autumn, get up, come here, he didn't even say no! Come here, come play with your toys."
Autumn: *kicking* *screaming*
Me: "Aw, come here Autumn." *giggle* "Let me hold you. Calm down, it's ok!"

That's when I learned my lesson. 

I reached down to pick her up and she bit my arm, spit on me, and then continued to scream.

A few explicitives later, I sat down on the couch, open pinterest, and ignored her. 

Ten minutes later, she crawled on the couch, cuddled under my arm while holding her toys like a baby, and that was that.

Now, this phase should be fun. It'll test every last nerve that I have. I know I can ignore it, but I can't ignore it in public. Which happened the night before 4th of July. Except this time it was at a water park, after dark, and in the restroom. The waterpark announced the fireworks, and of course, we have to go to the bathroom. So Autumn and I head over there and as we walk in the bathroom the fireworks start to go off. Autumn gets so scared that she begins to army crawl under the stalls on the nasty wet bathroom floor and then locks herself in the stall. This continues for quite some time until, like the great parent I am, I scared her by telling her a monster was in the toilet. Once she got out she was so dirty that I stuck her whole body in the sink and used hand soap to clean her off. By the time I was done, everyone was leaving the park and the fireworks were over.

Needless to say, I was over her at that point. 

There's about half a dozen other crazy moments she's had in the past week, but I'm exhausted from being up all night, because obviously her new sleeping schedule has her awake all night, so I won't go into it. 

We're having a rough patch, apparently. 
I just want sleep.
and more sleep.

5 Tips for Introducing a Kitten to a Toddler.

Just a few days ago we adopted a kitten from a neighbor. On the way home from choosing said kitten, we found an abandoned kitten in a bush. Autumn *had* to rescue it. She said "My baby is hungry and wants me to hold it." So sure enough, we took them both inside. I thought cats were easy. They used a litter box, they were pretty self-sufficient, and they liked to sleep a lot. Right? 

Oh God was I wrong. 
I feel like I have a newborn. Or two.

5 Tips for re-homing kittens:

1.Kitten proof the place. Hide away cords, wires, and small children's toys that may be accidentally eaten by the cat. When we let them loose the first thing they ran to was the wires to our stereo system. We have now safely secured them in boxes. 

2.Have everything set and in place. Have the kitten's items in the place that they will stay prior to having kitty come home. I.E. The bed, the food/water area, the litter box. Take them on a tour, and then let them get comfortable in the home. They hid for a while, and it was definately difficult teaching Autumn to leave them be, but they finally felt safe enough to hop on the couch and watch TV with us yesterday evening. 

3.Find a vet and schedule an appointment for vaccines and a check up. This should be done within a week of them coming home with you. Wether you got them in a shelter that would be full of germs, or from a family, or from the alley- get them checked out and up to date. Also, this gives you a chance to become familiar with a vet so that you can have them as a provider in case the cats ever need care. Discuss with them the plan for spay/neuter and also check their policies to see if they accept payments in cases of emergencies, or if you qualify for any type of pet insurance. Also, after discussing rates you should begin to save money for possible health expenses. 

4.Keep your young one interactive with the kitten. Teach them how to behave around them, especially since they will be super excited upon their arrival. Explain to them that the kitten is in a new place and may be scared. Man handling, squeezing, and yelling will frighten them more. Whereas if they are gentle and speak softly the kitten will grow less weary of the child. Explain to them that kittens have sharp claws that only come out when they are frightened or threatened. Keep the child aware of the routine of the kitten. This means explaining that the litter box is for POOP and PEE and should not be played with, rather, it should be scooped out. Also, have them aware that the food/water area is not to be touched or tampered. It is only for food & water. 

5.Ensure the safety of your cat. Do this by having them wear a break away collar with a name tag & phone number. A collar with a bell is suggested so that they can't be too sneaky. Also, microchips are a great way to ensure your cats return if they were to sneak away. You can include this discussion in tip #3 and ask your vet prices for the microchipping. Click here for an example of the type of collar.

Busy Bee and Party Animal!

I am very into adventure and keeping busy.

Of course there are days when Autumn, her dad, and I all sit in PJS and watch movies and eat junk food all day- but those days are rare, because we are always getting into something.

I have a memory board in my dining room/kitchen and every time we go on an adventure I print pictures and hang them up on the board along with ticket stubs, brochures, and other paper memorabilia from the adventure. Autumn calls them "parties." Every time we go to an event, it's a party. Every Monday we make Monday Cakes.

Life is short, and life get's busy- I like to make it so that every moment is exciting. This is very easy to do since my awesome kid is so easyily excited! Here are some pictures I'd like to share of our recent adventures:

Visiting friant dam and lake. Definately in a drought.

Winning her first cake in a cake walk at Sacred Heart fundraiser.

At Casa de Fruta, on the way to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Autumn and her Aunt Savannah getting ready to head home from Fremont, Ca.

Autumn and her sugar induced crazy eye smile, and our Monday Cake.

Autumn steering the pirate ship at Renaissance Faire at Fresno City College.

I can't remember which "party" we were going to on this day, but Autumn was prepared with her pink ranger and polly pocket car in her purse. 

At Santa Cruz Beach on Valentine's Day.

Autumn's attire for St.Patty's.

Autumn getting face paint by a fairie at Wiccafest.

Hello there, stranger!

Hello there!

I'm back to blogging again, after a year long hiatus. 

I was going through some life changes, and now that I have become more stable (financially, mentally, and physically) I have returned to the wonderful world of blogspot! I've missed sharing the stories of my growing toddler, and I've very much missed the conversations I had with other mommas. Autumn is two and a half now, and very much so going on twenty one years old. I would have never imagined her being this goofy nor this mature. She suprises most people when they meet her because she acts so mature. Autumn is determined to be the leader of every situation- including our living situation. 

Sometimes I get so exhausted because she just DOES NOT hear me. Well... she hears me... she just pretends not to. I won't lie, I have thrown my hands up and cried face down on the couch while she sat in time out. However, I have to remember how I have chosen to raise her. I have chosen to raise her to have nothing but confidence in what she wants and who she is. So when you meet Autumn, just know that you are meeting 100% Grade A Autumn, because she chooses what she wants to do, what she wants to say, and how she wants to go about her day. She is fearless. She has no fear of anything- except fish tanks (which I'll have to discuss another time.) I admire her fearlessness but it's getting to the point where I look at her and think "Hmm... maybe just a little bit of fear may be good for her." 

Autumn will face many challenges in her life. Her mixture of ethnicity paired with the fact that she is female will present hurdles, wether she notices or not. I want her to be confident in everything that she does and everything that she is. She loves her big curly hair, and that makes me smile. She thinks she's "the most beautiful girl in the world" because her daddy says so. She thinks she's the oldest and wisest kid on the play ground, when actually she's the youngest and most petite. I am very proud of this. I am happy that she is so independent and proud of who she is, and I just hope this continues. And I hope that I have the energy to deal with it.

At the end of the day, my kid is amazing. Everyone feels that way about their child, don't they? I feel like everyone should hear about the things Autumn says or does, because it's hillarious. So I've decided to share my life with you all as readers, and I hope you enjoy reading!


Have a great day y'all!
-Brittany