Talia and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

This weekend was a struggle with my girl.  She is so challenging.  By far my biggest handful of a toddler.  She screams and throws tantrums like my boys never did.  She is stubborn and demanding.  She is not overly affectionate so if she gives you loves then they are extra special.  This weekend I just had had it with her.  Part of it was typical toddler stuff (not listening/obeying, wanting something every .3 seconds) and part of it was my hormonal state and part of it is just Talia's personality.  Needless to say I lost it for a little bit.

I'm not proud to say that I literally threw her baby doll stroller out the door when I tripped over it in the kitchen for the umpteenth time.  Or that I had to rearrange her bedroom so that she couldn't kick the blinds after her 3rd timeout of the morning.  Or that I had to go lock myself in my bathroom and bang my head against the counter before noon.

But I am proud to say that after banging my head against the counter I took a few deep breaths, left my head where it was and prayed.  I am not really a superfluous pray-er.  I probably should be, but it's not my immediate thought when I'm frustrated.  However, Saturday morning I was at the end of my mommy rope.  Ian was at work and I knew I had to somehow get Talia off her bed and move forward with our day.  Oh and not sell her on KSL.

Most of you probably pray all the time about parenting, but I am still kind of new to it.  Maybe that's because parenting my boys was always relatively easy.  Or because they were never really the problem--I was the problem--so it didn't really seem like I needed to pray so much about parenting.  Don't get me wrong, I always pray for patience (it's not my strong suit) and for guidance to be a good mom, but specifically about how to deal with a particular child on a particular day?  Not so much.  I didn't get some big revelation or anything, but Heavenly Father definitely answered my prayer.  I was able to feel peace and assurance that I could show the love I had deep deep down for my daughter when I went back in to get her off timeout.

It was a turning point in the day.  Not that the rest of the day was easy, but it was better.  So much better.  And all that kicking and screaming wore Talia out enough that she took a great nap.  She was a much happier girl post nap and I was a happier mommy.

She loves to listen to my headphones while I stretch after a basement workout.  Teenager in training.  Yikes!

I love Talia with all my heart.  When she is happy she is the sweetest, most adorable little girl on the planet.  And that is what I am going to choose to focus on.  And when she's not being so sweet I'm striving to not make it about me, but simply about her learning to fit into the rules of our house.  So today I wanted to share some of my favorite phone pics and videos of sweet Tal.  We love our girl and I am grateful for the things she is teaching me and the opportunity God has given me to be her mother.  I know He will continue to help me do a good job at it.

Tal loves her baby brother!

Talia loves to color!

Tal was so excited when Daddy took her along for some playtime in the snow.

We call this new hairstyle "both" because it's a braid AND a ponytail!

Time for a treat with Mom while the boys were at school this morning.  This girl has a major sweet tooth!

Talia has never watched the movie Cars, but she loves whatever her brothers have.

Talia telling us who her favorite princess is.

This is what bedtime looks like when your two year old takes a 3 hour nap from 2-5pm.