The Chronicles of Our Nina

What she does in her free time....

2012-01-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

and I just like Cameron's face in this one.

"I cut my tongue"

2012-01-01T20:39:00.000-08:00

so naturally she would need to put a bandaid on it.

A trip to the bank

2011-12-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Nina has been giving me (and her teacher at school) a lot of grief lately. I am hoping that catching up on her blog will be therapeutic for me. That and I wanted to have a full arsenal of blackmail just in case I ever need it.

So anyway. Yes. She did put this outfit together especially for our trip to the bank.

Our thief in the night

2011-12-16T21:37:00.001-08:00

It's such a great feeling to walk downstairs after we've put the kids to bed. Matt and I usually enjoy a snack and a show or just sit and chat. It's just wonderful to sit together and relax. Then when we are good and tired, we head back upstairs and check on our babies. Our visit to Nina's room is more to assess the damage than to check on her. We usually find that she was busy after we kissed her goodnight. It could be a pile of books on her bed, lipstick on the mirror, several changes of clothes on the floor, hearts drawn on the wall in sharpie. Nothing surprises us. Not even when she gets into the pile of teacher and friend treats we put together for Christmas.

See the little bag to the left of her?

I'm pretty sure she had sweet dreams that night.

Jekyll and Hyde?

2011-12-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

Nina had a very fun morning. She and Matt had a little daddy/daughter date at Evergreen Lake where they tried their luck ice fishing. Even though they only caught 1 fish, a neighboring fisherman gave them 2 of his fish to take home and eat. Nina LOVES to bring fish home to eat. Doesn't she look happy?

With a house full of boys, I find it strange that the lone girl is the one who watches with a freaky amount of interest as Matt fillets the fish. I heard her say, "Whoa, that squirted some blood on me." Not even phased.

And her life is perfect.

Until later that afternoon. Here is her mug shot:

She went on a little naughty binge with the scissors and some of my fabric remnants.

Cutting me some lovely hearts.

And then cutting holes in her pajama bottoms so that her "legs could get some air".

And with all that hard work, she naturally needed some refreshment

Just when I was thinking she was growing out of her naughty ways......

What did your daughter have for breakfast?

2011-12-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

Because our little lovely thought that opening a packet of Dream Whip powder would start her day off nicely.

Nope.

2011-10-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't even get into the food coloring.........except this little part on my thumb.

Innovator or mess maker?

2011-07-10T19:17:00.001-07:00

The allegation is that there were stains on her carpet that she was trying to remove. Maybe she will be an inventor of a magical cleaning product. Or maybe this is all part of a plan to get that ugly carpet out of her room.

Either way, she continues to drive me crazy.

5 a.m. wake up call

2011-06-23T21:58:00.001-07:00

It was actually Rex who woke me up. He was a little hungry after having slept for 10 or so hours. I get that boy fed and situated back in his bed when I notice some lights on. I follow the trail of lights and discover this:

So now we know that Nina can microwave her own popcorn. Even at 5 a.m.

Miss Preschool Graduate

2011-05-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

We are so proud of Nina. What an accomplishment! The requirements to be a preschool graduate are quite demanding. First she had to find a sponsor willing to shell out a lovely load of money every month. Matt and I decided we would do that for her. Second, she had to get dropped off and picked up no more than 3 times a week. I offered to do this, although Rachelle ended up taking a large share of this responsibility. And third. I'm pretty sure she just needed to show up to the graduation night last week. We were able to make that happen as well.

Nina really enjoyed preschool this year. Her favorite things were art, snack and going outside to play. I found it very interesting that she was put in time out only 1 time. At the very beginning of the school year. For talking too much during circle time. She seemed to learn to follow the rules right away. I can't think of a day at home where she hasn't been in time out at least one time. Usually for stealing something, drawing on something, hurting someone or lying about something. These lessons at home are seeming to take a little longer to stick.

Loving every phase

2011-04-15T19:05:00.001-07:00

People always tell us to enjoy our kids while they are little because before we know it they will be grown. We have been taking that advice to heart. We are soaking up all the phases kids go through. In fact, we consider ourselves blessed that some of these wonderful childhood phases last a little longer in our family than in other families. Take potty training for instance. I'm sure there are so many parents out there that are literally crying at night because their kids no longer need their "accidents" cleaned up and they don't get to pile their shopping carts with diapers and wipes every month.
And this phase:

It occurred to me that you might not be able to tell that this is marker on the wall behind one of the couches.

It also occurred to me that you might not have heard that 3 days ago someone took a sharpie to the passenger-side of the car.

On the wall she wrote Kapten Rex.

On the car she wrote BYU.

I'm so glad we get to enjoy this phase longer than most parents.

And I'm also glad that we still get to see her like this sometimes too.

It was 9 o'clock

2011-04-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

and I knew where all our kids were. I just didn't know what they were all doing.

Correction, I just didn't know what Nina was doing.

She was just trying on a new shade of lipstick. No big deal.

What a creation

2011-03-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

That's sometimes what I think about Nina. But let's stay on topic here. Nina has been digressing in some areas and we have been brought to our knees. Thus the reimplementation of a "rewards system". I am happy to report that Nina achieved her goal and we celebrated. In this case, the term "celebration" is the in eye of the beholder. If someone gave me this heap of a mess as a celebration, I would never ever want to celebrate anything ever again. But Nina is happy and maybe she'll start thinking about improving. Maybe.

A clean thing of beauty

2011-03-11T08:27:00.001-08:00

Ever since Lexi passed along this piece of comfort, Nina can be found lounging in it most mornings.

Tea Party question

2011-03-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

Are tea parties supposed to involve shredded cheese, water and smashed up grapes all mixed together in a creation of nastiness?

Because I'm pretty sure these two lied to me. I expect this from Nina, but Cambri? I'm thoroughly disappointed.

Heaven Sent

2011-03-01T07:56:00.000-08:00

There have been times when I think Nina's special qualities are too much for me to handle. She is oozing with creativity, spunk, love, curiosity and emotion. The way those traits sometimes manifest themselves makes me shake my head. And take a picture. And issue threats. And eat chocolate. So it has made me feel grateful that an absolute gem has entered our lives. There have been countless times where Patty has shown up when I'm at my end and whisked Nina away for a day of fun. She showers Nina with love, attention, treats, conversation, hugs, sparkly things and time with her dogs. Nina loves Patty, and has said, "Mom, I think you're the best, but Sister Lillmars is my favorite." She is my favorite too! She has been a lifesaver for Nina and for me.

A new hiding spot revealed

2011-02-13T12:47:00.000-08:00

All of Nina's secret hiding spots are generally used for consuming various forms of sugar or cutting things into ultra-fine pieces. All but one. This special spot is used for disposing of portions of Nina's meal. The use of this space gives the illusion of her eating all of her food and qualifying her for dismissal and perhaps a future treat. Clever girl. As you can see, I was duped several times this week.

This is a cozy little nook located between the base of the table and the table top. It looks like it was made for stashing unwanted food.

Some fashionable photos

2011-02-13T12:33:00.001-08:00

I hope I can relinquish any desires to control Nina's wardrobe when she starts kindergarten in the fall. It seems a little closer since I just registered her a couple of weeks ago. She's still pretty particular about what she will and won't wear so it could be interesting. Here are two fun choices.

Sparkly dress, high heels and two guns all compliment each other so well.

Yes those are pajamas that she is wearing to a basketball game. She was pretty sure "no one will suspect it".

The Opportunist Strikes Again

2011-01-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

I had just turned on the water to take a shower when I hear the chair in the kitchen being moved across the floor. I went ahead and hopped in the shower anyway figuring I would just clean up whatever mess she made when I was done. Those windows for a shower are so tiny these days. When I came downstairs to assess the damage, I found these:

And they weren't neatly lined on the counter. They were hiding in a spot she uses to carry out her naughty deeds. The reason for the big fork is quite simple. This was a new bottle of syrup that still had the top sealed. She cleverly found a way to puncture the seal so she could fill her plate with syrup, then promptly lap it up.

It's such a bummer to have your plans foiled.

This will have to do for now

2010-12-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

I am so overdue in updating Nina's blog, but this is the best I can do today.

Look how long her hair is getting

2010-11-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

Little Fashionista

2010-11-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, Nina is looking a little more presentable these days.

My attempt at taking a picture of Nina twirling.

And a glimpse into what I have in store.

N - Mom, can I please help you pick out your outfit for church today?
M - Thanks Nina, but I already picked one out.
N - Oh mom, that dress is so ugly. You can't wear that one!
M - What's wrong with it?
N - It's just too ugly.
M - What do you think I should wear?
N - Well let's have a look in your closet.

Hopefully Nina will develop a fabulous sense of fashion and keep me up to date.

Cheer clinic

2010-10-31T19:29:00.001-07:00

We registered Nina for what she believes was a piece of heaven. The chance to be smothered with attention by a whole squad of cheerleaders from Matt's school. As an added bonus, she learned some basic cheer moves, a little dance and had the chance to show off her new skills at halftime of the football game. During the whole experience she was all smiles and starry-eyed. Apparently we will be repeating this next year.

I guess I asked for it

2010-10-17T20:34:00.001-07:00

Matt was putting new sheets on Nina's bed when all of the sudden she starts screaming. Apparently he didn't let her jump on the bed before he put new sheets on (don't worry that it was sheetless all day). I go in to help Matt finish and she is hysterical. I try all kinds of things to calm her down, but nothing worked. So finally I was frustrated and I said, "Just pee on it tonight and we'll change it again tomorrow, then you can jump on it without sheets" (don't ask me why I said that, it's a long, painful story). We finished putting her bed together and went back downstairs. Later, I read a much calmer Nina her story and kiss her goodnight when she gets this little grin on her face. I asked her what was so funny and she said, "I think there's pee on the bed, so maybe we should change the sheets." Yep, after Matt and I went downstairs, she peed on her bed so that we would have to change the sheets again. Just like I told her to do. Score one for Nina.

A tough one for me

2010-10-05T19:41:00.001-07:00

Normally, as you all know, I have been okay letting Nina wear pretty much whatever she wants. But when she requested this hairstyle, I had a really hard time agreeing. She asked for one half to have a french braid and the other half to be in a ponytail because "we've never tried this one before". It boiled down to pride. I feel confident that nobody has ever accused me of picking out any of Nina's special outfits. That's not so obvious with this hairstyle. I thought it was possible that people would think I'd totally lost it and forgotten to finish her hair. So although it may be debatable whether or not I'm crazy - it's not because of this hairstyle. We're just trying new things over here.

A Sneak Peek

2010-09-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

Rachelle took our family pictures on Saturday. This is a small glimpse of Nina's level of cooperation .

To be fair, she did cheer up and actually had one or two decent shots.

Yes I let her wear this to school

2010-09-17T08:34:00.001-07:00

After all, she had a good day.

A little hint

2010-09-10T20:34:00.001-07:00

Here is how you can tell if Nina is having a good day. Most of you know what I mean by "a good day". The difference is subtle, so pay attention:

A bad day

A great day

Bummer, another bad day. Don't let the face fool you.

Most likely a fabulous day

Another good day

Excellent day

Yeah! Another good day!

Darn, not so good

Did you catch the difference? So here's the hint. If you see Nina dressed in an outfit that you would guess she put together herself - you can bet that she is having a great day. However, when you see her dressed in something that matches, that's appropriate for the weather, that doesn't include tulle or snow boots in the summer - then please console me and offer me some type of chocolate to cope.

Our little tradition

2010-08-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Last year Nina and I went to the Broncos game together.

We went again last night.

I think I like this tradition and I hope we can do it again next year.

Picture this in preschool

2010-08-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

This is what she looks like when she does her own hair.

This is what she looks like when she picks her own clothes.

This is what she looked like in the morning before we took the boys to school (Nina is in pm preschool). However, by 10:30 she was completely filthy. Day going as expected.

This is what she looked like at school with her best friend Kate. I think she will love going to preschool. Maybe almost as much as I will love it.

Creations

2010-08-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

Nina is showing off two of her latest creations. One is a mug that she designed and painted at Color Me Mine during a girls night out with her cousins. The other is her own hair creation she calls "a lot of braids and clips to make me beautiful".

And even though it is a nice, hot summer day, Nina insisted that her mug's inauguration be celebrated with hot chocolate.

I was thinking he liked it

2010-07-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's what Nina said as she continued to dump buckets of mud on Cameron's head. Just wait until he's bigger than you Nina.

Guess which butterfly Nina drew herself

2010-07-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

Look carefully, it's a very subtle difference

Daddy's girl

2010-06-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

Nina and Matt have always had a cute relationship, but lately she seems to be chumming up to him more than ever. She cuddles up to him on the couch, sits on his lap at church, and gives him lots of random hugs and kisses. I enjoy watching them together.

Little mommy

2010-06-18T22:35:00.001-07:00

Not everything that Nina does gets her in trouble. Take, for instance, this moment when Nina found Cameron asleep on the couch. She rushed upstairs, got her favorite blanket and gently spread it over him. Then she proceeded to kiss him, stroke his hair and whisper things to him. It is important that we have these kinds of experiences to enjoy, they probably keep her alive.

I don't have a picture of when she woke Cameron up and he cried for 20 minutes. We'll just remember the good part of this afternoon.

Nina, did you get into my purse?

2010-06-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

"I don't think so. I don't remember mom."

Likes and Dislikes

2010-06-03T19:56:00.001-07:00

So I'm not so much liking the coloring on the wall/counter/lamp/dresser phase. It's lasting a little too long for my taste.

But I do like the way I find Nina sleeping sometimes

I love this girl!

2010-05-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

Nina has given me a lot of grief in her 4 short years of existence. She has also given me loads of joy. Every once in awhile I ask myself if it could be possible that the hardest part is over, but I'm quickly brought back to reality as I clean up some kind of mess. However, no matter the mess, this girl is pretty darn awesome.

Nina + scissors + curtain =

2010-05-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

Not so inconsequential

And she got hold of my camera. You look great in this picture Karen!

Nina + scissors + hair =

2010-05-05T09:11:00.001-07:00

one ugly Barbie

training her apprentice

2010-04-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

On Sunday morning I heard Nina calling down the stairs to me:
"Mom, Cameron got all into your make up. He put it all over me and then he put it on himself."
Riiight Nina, I'm sure that's exactly how it happened. Doesn't her expression just scream victim?

Then Tuesday I painted Nina's nails "like a rainbow".

Business as usual

2010-04-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

Nina is mad at me for not letting her soak herself with the hose today.

And she was mad at Donovan and Howie during their Easter Eggs hunt because one of them found a pink egg.

some good news

2010-04-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

There may be a reason for Nina's frequent accidents! I exclaim that because I was on the verge of madness. We have a treatment plan underway and I hope it fixes the problem. It's not a big deal, I promise. But there are just some things I don't like to talk about. I'm weird, I know. So in the diagnosis process, the doctor took an x-ray of Nina's stomach. I got a call that went something like this, "I just had a quick question. I noticed some small pieces of metal in Nina's stomach. Can you think of why that might be?" I asked Nina why the doctor found metal in her stomach picture and Nina told me, "I just eated some trophy. But I didn't eat all of it." Well that's a relief.

Along with the warm weather

2010-04-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

comes Nina and her fashionable attire.

Who knew?

2010-03-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Who knew that this little doorknob could cause so much drama? This particular knob is different from the one that was on her door this morning. That one included a feature that allowed her to shut herself away from the world and secretly engage in naughty behavior. Like tonight at 9:45 when she used that device to ensure her privacy as she emptied dresser drawers, scattered books, and did everything except go to sleep. We took that doorknob and switched it with one in the basement. Now we can keep the kids from getting into our food storage at 6:00 am on the weekends; and Nina can no longer lock herself in her room. Win, win.

Because Nina has a sweet and loving father who gently persuaded me to not post a video of her temper tantrum, I just have a few pictures to paint a small picture of the rage she unleashed with this new knob.

"What did you get into?"

2010-03-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

N - "Oh mom, don't worry. It's just some hot chocolate."
J - "You mean the packet I told you to save for breakfast?"
N - "Yes mom, but don't worry."

"Do I look lovely as a princess?"

2010-03-03T08:28:00.000-08:00

Most definitely.

I looked out the window and what did I see?

2010-02-23T21:50:00.000-08:00

Yes, it was like 30 degrees out
Yes, Nina had just thrown up all over the carpet in the living room
No, she is not wearing pants

On a warmer note, we are so grateful that at least one of Nina's babysitters still loves her. Thank you Kelli for the fabulous barbie cake! Nina absolutely loved it and Matt and I thought it was delicious!

Nina's Birthday

2010-02-18T12:32:00.000-08:00

I did a post on our other blog about her birthday festivities. Here are some of the same pictures.

Thanks for trying to call her a couple of times Adam, sorry we didn't answer. Well, I am assuming that's why you called....Nina doesn't seem too sure in this picture

I left the kitchen to watch one Olympic event. Nina joined us a minute or two later with crumbs and frosting on her face. I asked her, "Nina, did you touch your cake." She told me, "oh just a little bit."

So maybe she's not all naughty

2010-02-12T08:03:00.001-08:00

I was beginning to worry if something was wrong. At storytime yesterday Nina stayed next to me the entire time. She didn't run ahead into the children's room. She didn't tell me I'm mean and dumb for not letting her play on the computer. She didn't push any kids out of the way so she could be first in line. She didn't argue with me about how many Angelina Ballerina books she could check out. She didn't run outside the library while I was checking out. She told the librarian thank you. She waited until we got to the car to open her sucker. She even said "okay mom" once or twice. Well as I thought about it, I began to wonder, maybe she's not always naughty. Or maybe she's turning over a new leaf. Maybe she will be the world's best teenager.

And for the record, I haven't heard one complaint from the librarians in the whole year that she's been going to storytime. Nor have I received a complaint from her primary teacher. In fact, they all say she's great. Like I said, maybe she'll morph into the pleasantest of all children! I wouldn't read too much into this mom, I think that for next month you should still prepare for the worst!

Two big N's

2010-02-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

Imagine the scene, if you will: A loving father sits down on the floor in the kitchen to help his only daughter write her name on a piece of paper. The girl takes a turn, then the father takes a turn. As the father writes out her name, he spells it:
N-i-n-a

Then it happened.

Nina - That's not how you spell my name!
Matt - Sure it is, your name is Nina, N-i-n-a
Nina - My name has two big N's
Matt - No, we write our names with one big letter at the beginning. Like this N-i-n-a
Nina - Nuh uh, it has two big N's
Matt - No, you just need one big N
Nina - You don't know how to spell my name! It has two big N's!

At this point I see Nina run past me in a rage up the stairs. I figured she was going to her room to cry, because sometimes she does that. "I'm just going to go cry in my room for a minute." A little bit later she runs back down carrying something in her arms. She returns to the kitchen where Matt is and throws something down at his feet.

Nina - See, I told you! Two big N's!

She had grabbed these letters from off the shelf in her room. I guess she had a point. There are two big N's.

Welcome Neighbor

2010-02-04T14:48:00.001-08:00

We were happy to find out that the family who moved in next door had a little girl Nina's age. Nina is especially happy. This morning I got a late start and didn't shower before the kids got up so I jumped in for maybe 4 minutes while Nina and Cameron where playing. As soon as I got out I looked out the window and what did I see? Our new neighbor escorting Nina and Cameron (who was still in his pajamas) back to our house. Great first impression huh?

On a different day Nina was hungry:

Good News

2010-01-29T07:54:00.000-08:00

Nina has had 2 clean/dry days in the past 1 month. And they have been in the same week. This is definitely good news! Maybe she is ready to move past this phase she has been enjoying.

We'll tackle her choice of clothing next.

translation

2010-01-21T13:18:00.001-08:00

What she said: "I'm being good mom!"

What she meant: "I'm doing something naughty so please don't come in here until I'm finished."

This time she was supposed to water the tree. Her only chore today. After she yelled to me that she was being good, I went in and found her tearing off the leaves from the tree. The pictures are a little dark.

Nina's past 2 days

2010-01-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick rundown:
6 pee accidents. Two especially lovely ones included one at Rachelle's followed by one at the grocery store.

2 poop accidents. Nothing lovely about either one.

Emptied my diaper bag behind Kelly's couch

Opened a bag of brown sugar and started eating

Opened a bag a powdered sugar. Didn't start eating until she dumped out a good portion on the basement floor.

Stole a box of Tic Tacs from the store

Dumped out 2 boxes of cereal

Got into 2 yogurt drinks, only spilled some on the floor

Ran off with a bag of graham crackers. I'll find out what kind of mess she made when I find where she hid to eat them.

Left a partially eaten apple under the table. This doesn't sound that bad, but she swore up and down that she would finish it and throw it in the garbage.

Told about 20 lies

Snuck downstairs at 4 in the morning, opened a basket of strawberries (that I bought for a baby shower), turned on the tv and downed half the basket.

Ran across three streets without me while taking the kids to school

Refused to put on her boots before we left to pick up Donovan and Howie, then proceeded to walk in every single puddle. Her shoes are still wet today.

Emptied every one of Cameron's dresser drawers, plus all his diapers off the changing table (about 75 diapers)

That might be all.

And she's still alive.

And I'm still alive.

look who's talking

2010-01-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

Nina said, "Mom, I really don't like your hair that way."
I'm not offended. Really. But for the record, I just want to point out that she is no fashionista herself.

and I couldn't find one particular picture that I really wanted to use. Picture a lion's mane. That's what her hair looked like.

Tonight's gonna be a good night

2010-01-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

And how do I know this? Because our friends Rachelle and Aaron have custody of Nina tonight. All we had to do was take their 2 boys for the night. What a bargain! Nina is still struggling with all toilet related things, so I'm happy to share her with others. Unfortunately Rachelle's very much aware of Nina's disposition, so I'm afraid one night is all we will be getting. We're gonna enjoy every minute!*

*yes we do love our little girl very much

Thank You Nina

2009-12-24T22:26:00.001-08:00

for drinking the bottle of oil I was supposed to use on my hair clippers. That was awesome.

Is this troubling or impressive?

2009-12-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

I asked Nina to make her bed and clean her room before she could watch a Barbie movie. She jumped up and said, "Sure mom!" then ran to her room and got to work.

Not bad huh?

So this is where I'm wondering if I should be impressed or troubled:

I'm sure she'll learn in time that stuffing it all under the bed would give an even greater appearance of a clean room.

"Click"

2009-12-12T12:24:00.001-08:00

Me: Nina, please buckle your seat belt.
Nina: click
Me: Nina, that was your mouth clicking, can you make your buckle click?
Nina: Okay mom, click
Me: Nina, that was your mouth again. Please buckle your seat belt.
Nina: Oh, okay just one second. Click.
Me: Nina, seriously, buckle your seat belt
Nina: Just one minute. Click.
Me: Buckle your belt right now.
Nina: Okay mom, click.
Me: Funny joke, now buckle.
Nina: No
(me climbing back to her seat)
Seat belt: click

Mad that I buckled her myself.

Happy to have her picture taken. Did I just reinforce bad behaviour?

Maybe I should just throw in the towel

2009-12-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

Obviously I know the saying, "you have to pick your battles". There are somethings that don't matter in the grand scheme of things. I recently picked, and lost, 2 battles that I thought were fairly important. This leaves me wondering, do I even pick any battles with Nina? She was blessed with a ginormously strong will and she has an equally strong determination to keep trying until she gets what she wants. Was I being too controlling with these two battles?

#1

It was like 6 degrees outside when we were trying to take Donovan and Howie to school. I had Nina dressed in pants, a long sleeved shirt, shoes and socks and a jacket. She told me she hated those clothes "so much", but I told her she had to wear them outside. I also told her she could change when we got back home, but that didn't seem to sit well with her. As I'm ushering the kids outside, I turn and find this:

Yeah, we didn't walk to school this time. Round one to Nina.

#2

Last night as I was putting Nina to bed she was complaining about how thirsty she was. I gave her a small drink of water and that held her over for maybe 2 minutes. Then I gave her a sippee cup to drink until I finished reading to the other kids. I went back, took the cup (which was almost gone) and put it away. She was not happy, but I closed the door and she eventually quieted down and fell asleep. However, at 4 in the morning, Matt woke up and noticed several lights on. He went downstairs and found this:

Who knows how long this door was open, could have been 5 hours or 5 minutes. Round 2 to Nina.

Nina's still Nina

2009-12-01T21:40:00.000-08:00

I've been neglecting this blog, mostly because we are in a massive regression in potty training and I am partially insane. I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick her in pullups tomorrow and keep her in them until she goes to kindergarten...

Nina's on accident alert

2009-11-22T12:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday has been like most days lately. I am not sure how much further Nina can regress. If there is a record, I am certain she will break it. Let's just talk about yesterday:

1. poop in her underwear at home in the morning
2. pee all over the floor at Bass Pro Shops
3. pee all over her car seat on her way home from Bass Pro Shops
4. poop in her pull-up at the Chili Cook-Off

No extra underwear or pull-ups after that so we had to borrow a size 3 diaper. Awesome.

This is a picture from a game she and I went to last year. I wasn't in the right frame of mind to snap a shot of her and the puddle she made at the store. Love her!

Her purple umbrella

2009-11-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

Not everything that Nina does is naughty. Besides the daily accidents we've had to clean up over the past couple of weeks, Nina has been pretty darn good. Of course we have some power struggles, temper tantrums, name calling and sneaky, suspicious behavior, but she is toning it down quite a bit. I searched the archives for some good behavior pictures of Nina. I liked these. Our old neighbor gave Nina a little purple umbrella. She wanted to use it all the time, but I usually told her to wait until it rained. That day finally came and Nina's reaction was priceless. When she saw the rain, a look of excitement mixed with panic came over her face. She froze for just an instant then rushed to her room to retrieve her umbrella. This was one happy girl:

I quit wondering why a long time ago

2009-11-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

It makes things a lot easier for me. So when I see how cute Nina looks with her pretty dress, and her hair all neatly done...

I don't even open my mouth when she finishes off the outfit with these

For some strange reason, she thinks this is a great outfit for church

Why don't you have a shirt on?

2009-11-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

"Because it was touching me"

Another busy day

2009-11-13T09:23:00.001-08:00

Yesterday my mom and I were getting ready for a birthday party for all the November birthdays in our family. The Opportunist was ready and waiting.

The first break in supervision:

In the two or three minutes that we didn't have her in our view, Nina climbed on the counter, grabbed the sugar canister, tucked herself away in her favorite hiding place and starting spooning sugar into her mouth.

The second break in supervision:

No, Nina didn't make this for us. My mom made Howie a turtle shell bomber cake(from Mario Kart). What Nina did do, I didn't get a picture of. We were all in the kitchen, but somehow we didn't see Nina move the chair to the counter and wipe a finger-full of frosting off the front of the poor turtle. Luckily Howie didn't notice.

Then the normal pee accidents, one downstairs and one in her room. She told me that grandma said she could pee downstairs.

Caught with the scissors again.

A little name calling, none worth noting.

Am I missing anything mom?

Accidents and Incidents

2009-11-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

Since yesterday afternoon, I have 3 accidents and 2 incidents to report:

accidents- nothing out of the ordinary, two pee and one poop. Maybe by the time she's in Kindergarten she'll be truly potty trained.

incidents - caught with a pair of scissors, luckily before any damage was done. Not like last week when she made a gave a few snips to our brand new bed spread. The other incident - gave Cameron a nice, bloody, fat lip in nursery by pushing him around on a toy when she was supposed to be sitting and listening to the lesson.

And she was totally posing for this picture. After I took it she smiled and wanted to see it. She didn't like the first one I took, so I had to take another one.

Uncle Mikey's Camera

2009-11-07T14:24:00.001-08:00

Now I know this post is similar to one I just did on my other blog, but it's a Nina story and now must be documented.

So last night Michael stayed at our house so we could go to our race this morning together. The kids were staying the night at the Milligan's so he stayed in Nina's room. Before we left for our race Michael asked me if he should hide his camera somewhere high in case Nina came home before we did. I told him to stick it in her top drawer because she hardly ever opens it.

Except I forgot that Nina has some crazy ability to sense opportunities for mischief. After taking the above pictures, Nina brought the camera downstairs. I don't remember the exact quote, but she said something like this, "Look what I found in my drawer! I get to keep it." When Michael and I told her it was actually his, she said, "I found it first so it's mine." Michael kind of had to wrestle her for it. Eventually he was able to retake possession of his camera.

Opening Post

2009-11-07T13:04:00.001-08:00

I have been considering creating this blog for a couple of years now. This isn't me playing favorites, maybe I'll get an itch to make a blog for each of the kids, but probably no time soon. No offence boys. This is different. I needed to create this blog for several reasons:

an outlet to channel my frustrations
a journal
blackmail
payback
a way to always remember what a unique and special girl Nina is

There is no one in the world like Nina. This blog will be collecting evidence to support that statement. I'm going to try to record all those fabulous Nina quotes as well as capture some of the naughty things I catch her doing. Now to be fair, I will also document the helpful, cute and great things she does too. My coverage of her will be fair and balanced, although it won't be my fault if the ratio between the good and bad things she does is not so balanced. Love ya Nina!

This is a picture of Nina sitting on the giant football at Invesco Field. Last year she and I had a girls night out at a Broncos game. She was a very fun and attentive date.