Slave to the pager

Earlier today my husband called to ask how my day was going....I had one word for him....BUSY! I have been getting ready for a "Holly Fair." I will have a table there and sell stationery as well as take orders. It is in three weeks so a lot of preparation for that has been going on around here. That and we leave for Disney the next day and Delta decided to cancel our direct flight, so I have been talking to them all day today too. Busy, that is exactly how I would describe myself. There is not enough time in the day to get everything I need done, done.


So my loving husband said "don't cook, we can go out or I will pick up take out." Great, no cooking, one monkey off my back. But I forgot that tonight we were "slave" to the pager. Just as we finished telling Meredith we were going out to dinner and getting everyone in the car, the wretched thing went off, blaring in my ear. That is always the way it works, so the kids and I went to eat out alone. As I was turning around at the entrance of our subdivision to bring my husband back to his car it could go 1 of 2 ways. I could go back home and try to whip something up with no groceries in the house and no plan or go out by myself with two kids and make a mess for someone else to clean. I opted for number 2.

I pulled up in the parking lot of our favorite local pizza haunt and two babies started crying for me to carry them, one that actually needed carrying and one that was heartbroken her daddy would not be dining with us. So I lug in all 58lbs of children, plus my purse and diaper bag. Then I remember I forgot Meredith's cup that we brought along for free drinks and had to lug them back to the loser cruiser to get it. Yes body building and weight lifting are my past time.

I then struggled to get the door open and carried the 2 tikes to the counter where I politely told the older tike she abso-freaking-lutely had to walk because my arm was about to fall off. I then ordered a pizza and salad and drinks for the three of us and my absentee husband. I dug into my purse while holding my twenty pound octopus and looked for the ever-missing credit card. I finally found it before he emptied the entire contents of my purse and diaper bag and paid. I then carried the twenty pound octopus and a high chair while navigating a two year old to a quiet table in the back. It was no easy feat, but I made it look easy, I must have.

I listened to the "wow, how does she do it" and "she is one brave lady" the whole time while I thought to myself.......Yes I am super-mom that is how I do it, not to mention I am charged on pure anger that you lazy, gentlemen-less ass did not get up to help me. There were at least 5 tables of able bodied men and women who watched as I struggled to carry the damn high chair and two children and not one offered any assistance other than snarky comments.

I then lugged the said octopus and his sister to the drink machine where I filled up three cups and maintained my sanity again while others just stared and talked loudly about me. My kids were damn good, they sat like a little gentleman and lady and waited patiently for their pizza. I then fed a hungry baby who really wanted table food and simultaneously cut pizza for my two year old and managed to enjoy three slices of my own.

When we finished I flagged down a box and again carried my two kiddos and a pizza and salad out to the car. I know you won't believe me when I tell you no one even got up to open the door, but it is true. What the hell is wrong with you people!

I wanted so badly to shout..."Please don't feel sorry for me, I chose to do this. I can do this! My husband does love our family but there was a more pressing matter in the ICU or something and that is why I am here by myself..........SO OPEN THE DAMN DOOR FOR US YOU LAZY SHIT!"

But I didn't, I maintained what sanity I had left for the day and had a slice of pizza. I will tell you this though, when I see a "supermom" struggling and in need of some extra super powers I damn sure will lend her mine, I hope you lend her yours too!

What she says....overheard

"Its otay baby, don't cwry!"

"Its otay, I know momma and no-wee are sca-wry it's okay"

"Shhh, Mizzie make it all better!"


***

"Daddy I want some apples"

"Alright I will cut you up some"

"Mmmm, dese are good"

"Can I have one?"

"Uh-huh, dis one"

"Which one can I have now?"

looking them over "none, I'm gonna eat dem all"

***

"Bubby doodle did you have a good nap?"

"did you have a good nap, bubby doo?"

"good boy, son! I'm impwessed!"

What she says....somedays she blows my socks off

This weekend has been rough, really rough. But today things are better, the kiddos are on the mend and my father-in-law went home a day early. I guess he realized how exhausted we were with two cranky kids who weren't feeling well and how what we really needed was sleep and not a house guest. So he had a short and sweet visit. Anyway in the midst of the craziness, my two year old really shocked me with things that came out of her mouth this weekend.....

Poppy Greg had brought them presents. Noah was indifferent about his and just wanted the paper and box. Meredith loved hers even thought it was a little old for her. It was a type of handheld electronic alphabet thing. She loved it. While he was filming and Noah and I were opening his gift, Meredith marched right over to him and said unprompted...

"thank you poppy."

I was shocked and proud of her and of Josh and I. Most days we have no clue what we are doing, but that comment made by her own volition really shows me we are doing something right.

###

Today I was in Josh's office catching up on blogs when Meredith walked in....

"Mommy look at my cup" there were two stacked together and one had a lid on it and she was drinking

"I see you have two cups, how silly"

"Yep, this one (pointing to the bottom cup) is like a twrundle"

"Like a trundle?"

"Yep a trundle like my bed"

And she is right, it was under the other cup, like her trundle bed is under her bed. Her vocabulary is amazing, I know this, but some days it really blows my socks off!

Calgon take me away...

Yes it has been that kind of weekend. Well it started out with my father-in-law arriving about 4pm on Friday and has all been downhill from there. But he is a nice man and my kids love to see him and he doesn't get to see them that often so I can deal for a weekend. Even though he brought enough clothes and suitcases for a month. Oh God, please don't let him stay a month. His just staying until Monday is killing me, please tell me he is going home Monday. And if you want to be real nice, let him go home tomorrow, I need a break.

Then last night while at my mom's having dinner she mentioned that Noah was feeling a little warm. He was definitely pretty fussy, he is usually a pretty happy guy. I felt him and thought his temperature felt fine, well low and behold when we got home he was burning up. I guess mom's really do know what they are talking about. We gave him some tylenol and tried to get him to sleep, but my poor little man was so restless and so miserable. We kept alternating the motrin and tylenol and it was giving him and his fever no relief. Josh and I tag teamed the night duty and one of us was up with him throughout the night.

So bright and early I took him in to the pediatric clinic, thank goodness for weekend office hours. And we now have a diagnosis of Hand, Foot & Mouth disease. I know, poor little Noah. The pediatrician informed me it last for about 7-10 days and is highly contagious, don't worry I don't plan on bringing him all over town, but that means my two year old who has never had this......does now.

Well I don't have a confirmed diagnosis by a pediatrician, but her mood and the symptoms fit the bill. Josh tried to look in her throat but couldn't really see. And she has been telling me her nose and mouth hurt. That is the right area for this virus.

The best part about today was going shopping with my mom while the kiddos napped, I got out the house and Josh got some bonding time with his dad. Did I tell you the man drives me nuts, I won't go into the details here, my kids may read this one day and really I have to think about that. But if you ever run into me on the street feel free to ask, I love spilling the beans even to random strangers.

Well I am off to bed, I have disc 3 to season 1 of Gossip Girl in the dvd player, both kids are asleep for right now, my father-in-law is in the living room with my husband talking about God knows what. But before I go, here is a sneak peak of the pictures from the Womanless Beauty Pageant. It was for charity, the American Heart Association. The cardiology department at Josh's clinic put it on and the 10 contestants are all doctors at the clinic. I post more, but my office has been taken over by a crazy, old goat that talks way too much and has table manners worse than Brownie Jane....wow I think I said way to much, I'm tired forgive me.


Here are Miss Mya Grain & Miss Ima Johnson-Phyxer (look at Ima checking out Mya's chest)
And my husband....is he not way to into this? maybe I should be afraid? good thing he makes a really ugly woman.

Where have a I been, where have I been...

Well tonight I went to a Miss America type pageant, well not really. More like a Miss Mississippi pageant, well no, not really like that either. More like a Mr. trying to be like a Miss on Bourbon street down towards Esplanade Ave. if you know what I mean. And for those of you that don't, I mean a drag beauty pageant. My better half was a contestant. Yes it was a night of many firsts. The first time my husband dressed in drag, what he did before he married me is his business and if he did it before....I don't want to know.

But yes tonight Josh was Miss Mya Grain.....get it?

Meredith also had a first tonight. I got a baby sitter to come and watch Noah so she could attend her first pageant....it was her first even if it was in drag. And she was all about it. All about her daddy painting his finger and toes like hers. All about her daddy having pretty hair and a pink dress and shoes like mommy's. Yes she was all about it until Miss Carrie showed up. Carrie walked in and swept Noah away into a playroom so we could get going. I love it how she just comes right in and does that.....that is my kind of babysitter.

Anyway Miss Carrie comes in and right then and there Meredith decides she is not going with her Mommy and Daddy she is staying with Miss Carrie. Apparently I am less cool than Carrie. That was the first time she wanted to stay with a babysitter and not go with me. And this was the first time that someone was cooler than me. Oh well, it was bound to happen.

Well good night all and tomorrow I perhaps I will post a picture of Miss Mya Grain and her fellow contestants. That is if she doesn't mind. And no he didn't win. There were much prettier men than my dear husband, which is fine with me. I like him better as a man anyway. He did great though, must have been all that practicing at work Tracy.

What she says...from the bathroom......this one is for you Tim

"Mommy, Mommy I gotta go poop!"

"Okay bug go, hurry!"

"I gotta poop, I gotta poop" running to the bathroom

"Mommy come see my poops, hurry!"

"Mommy, come see dare is A LOT OF POOPS"

"Mommy!! dare is a baby poop, a mommy poop, a daddy poop, a bawudda poop...........dare's a whole family poop!"

"Mommy, dare's a whole family poop, COME SEE!"

And go see I did, and yes there was a whole little family of poops. She was so proud of that family and I immediately thought of her paran. I now know where he got the saying "dropping the kids off at the pool!" I wonder if she does this at school? What do you think?

The blog

Dear Meredith and Noah,

I am sure that when you are all grown up you may wonder "what the hell I was thinking" when you realize that I took intimate moments and milestones in your life and published them on the wide world web for the whole word to see it. I promise you this though, the whole world is not reading it. Not even close. But yes I am sure one day you may want to know why.

I would lie and say I am doing it all for you, well I am, but also for me too. I love to write, I think I could have been a journalist if I wanted to, but at 18 I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and so now I am trying on many different hats and seeing what fits well. This is one of those hats. I don't get paid to write it, hell only about 100 people even read it, but to me that is pretty impressive. So writing this blog is an outlet and letting me reach a dream of being a journalist. Even if it is only your lives I am chronicling. Believe it or not, people are very into your lives or into my writing. Either way I am doing it for you. Like many blogger friends of mine, I am slurping the blog into a book. In fact I have already done the first year. I titled it The Beginning...how deep. This way you know all about your childhood even the mundane things that happen as well as the pretty exciting things. I would have loved to read a book like this, I am hoping you will one day too.

But here are some things you may wonder about this blog....

Between 80-100 people read your blog daily.

We have 3 followers...I think that means they read it through blogger.

We are listed on several other blogs as blogs they read.

We are saved in some peoples favorites.

Lots of people Google your blog daily to get here, I wonder if they know it can be added to the favorites and save them the trouble.

Some read the blog through some sort of blog reader.

Some stumble upon it from funny things they Google. Want to hear a few....

"an intergalactic emergency"

"clap, clap, clap your hands"

"red nail polish+hooker" yeah kind of wish they weren't reading the blog

"toy story party"

"bringing home my baby bumblebee"

"father daughter relationships"

"toy story cakes"

"wiggles concerts"

"potty training and pull ups"

There are people all over this country reading it, as well as some from other countries as well. Yes I wrote all about your babyhood and childhood on a blog, you can send me any therapy bills due to this. I'm hoping you won't mind and I am sure by the time you are old enough to read this, blogs will be a thing of the past.

Love,
your crazy blog addicted mother

Frustrated......

My two year old monster is back. Today she has thrown tantrum after tantrum for no good reason. Well her other two year old molar is halfway out so I am assuming it has something to do with her crabbiness, but come on. If you look at her wrong she gets a sour look and a loud whiny scratching your nails on a chalkboard type of whine. If you put the sippy cup lid on or if you don't put it on, if you cut the apple or you leave it hole, if you look at her or if you look over her, either way it is tantrum time. It is driving me insane. Today at lunch she threw a tantrum because I wouldn't let her take of her clothes in the restroom. She wanted to take them off because they were wet from my hands lifting her to wash her hands...... give me a freaking break!

I am seriously about to lose my mind. And it isn't just me she is ornery with, her dad, her brother and her Mimi have elicited the exact same reactions as well. Today my mom walked in the our house and she started immediately, not sure why. I just figure it must be so hard to be two.

And the whole time she was whining this morning all she whined for was her paci. Her pacifier that a few weeks ago was only needed for naps and nightime and she was so okay with that. Now she wants and sneaks the damn thing all day long.

I know we have switched to a big girl bed with absolutely no problem, potty training was a breeze, we weaned from the boob to a bottle in three days, we took the bottle away in three days (of course she has never drank milk again), she went from sleeping downstairs in the room next to ours to upstairs all the way across the house by herself with no problem, at she gets in her bed at night and for naps on her own sometimes requesting to go to bed or to take a nap.............so why is this pacifier so damn hard to get rid of.

I know the paicifier is just a way she uses to sooth herself, I really do get that. I get that her mouth probably hurts, but the damn pacifier is killing me. When I see toddlers in US weekly with them in their mouths I think they look ridiculously too old for them and then I realize they are younger than my child. I have listened to others tell me it was time to take it away and thought to myself, back off, it is my child I will do it when I am ready. And I am ready, but I am scared to death to do this. Maybe because it will screw up her nap routine or her bedtime routine and with one child not sleeping very well, I am scared I will have two not sleeping and that will be way too much to handle at once.

I have heard the suggestion of cutting it until it was gone, well that resulted in a puzzled look and a request to "go get a new one mom!" Followed by a full blown tantrum that I just couldn't deal with. The real problem is I can cut the damn expensive pacifiers all I want, but Noah still has his and she thinks nothing of just taking it from him. So I guess the answer is to just take it away from both, but do I have too!?!?!

Noah likes his even more than Meredith likes hers. What the hell am I going to do? We leave for Disney in less than a month. We will all be sleeping (hopefully sleeping) in the same room, it would be stupid to try to do this now right? When should I do it? Does anyone have any advice for this? I will go back to beating my head against the wall now, I feel like I have been doing that all week! The bottom line is whether Meredith is old enough or ready to get rid of it yet, secretly I am not. I know with every change I enforce upon them, comes with their own change in their behavior. I have to take the good with the bad and really I hate change it is no wonder my kids do to. Any advice appreciated.

A little bait, a little tackle and 4 fish

A container of live crickets......$4

A princess fishing pole........$12

Seeing your daughter catch her very first fish......Priceless!

This morning when Meredith woke up we asked her what she wanted to do today. Her answer was immediate and she didn't hesitate one bit....."I wanna go fish with Peepaw and his hat." Peepaw is Adalyn's grandpa and he took Adalyn fishing this week. Meredith saw a picture of that fishing trip where Adalyn had a caught a fish with Peepaw and he was wearing a hat. So this morning, that is exactly what she wanted to do too. Well we didn't call Peepaw, but she settled for a fishing trip with dear old dad and mom and Noah too.

Here is the proud dad and his daughter.....he's delightfully happy she wasn't wearing a pink, frilly tutu on this fishing trip.

Here they are selecting a good cricket.

And now they are baiting the hook.

And ladies and gentlemen we have a "fisher-princess", I can't call my two year old a fisherman.

Here she is with her 2nd fish of the day. (Being the control freak I am I stepped in to show both Josh and Meredith how to cast the line and she caught her first fish with me.....this is her second fish! Meredith caught 4 fish in all. There were a group of young boys with their dad and Mimi who came by. Their ages were from about 7-11 and they were so impressed that Meredith caught a fish right in front of them with a princess pole. They just couldn't believe she did it with a princess pole......who would of thought that could ever happen! It was really funny to hear them go on and on about the pole.

And of course my Noah was there fishing too.
Okay move over guys, I got a pole now.

Fine take away my pole dad, I'll just dive in a catch the fish with my bare hands! Lemme at 'em!

Fine, I will just catch momma's camera!

Noah was all over the deck and if I didn't have him by the tail he would have went in more than once. Brave little thing! I'm afraid he is going to be my wild child!

Safety in numbers!

"Mom we aren't sure where the muffins came from!"
"Shhh! I am sworn to secrecy!"

"Ah-hah I have caught the culprit."
**She was truly the one breaking cheese muffins in tiny pieces for her and Noah. although she did tell me she wasn't sure how they got the muffins, she did share with her brother....so no time out was issued.

Ta-Ta

While there is no official definition of the word ta-ta that I could find, I will tell you what it means or meant in our house. Ta-ta meant to "give it to momma" or whoever was saying ta-ta. For as long as I can remember that is what my family would say when a baby had something they weren't supposed to or was playing and requesting the item the baby held.

If Meredith had a remote and I wanted it I would say "Ta-ta Meredith" and she would know to give me the remote and did. Or on the other hand if when Meredith was a baby and I had a cookie and Meredith wanted it she would say "ta-ta" and I would give her the cookie. Basically it is a word we used to facilitate communication in our family. And it worked, very well....well at least with Meredith.

Meredith has long out grown the use of the word ta-ta. In fact she is pretty good at "Mom I want a snack, Momma I want ice cream, I WANT ICE CREAM!" Yeah we haven't used ta-ta in a good while.......until recently. Meredith noticed Noah would take toys and she would yell "Give it back to Mizzie!" Or when I would encourage her to share she would give Noah something and then say "give it back to Mizzie, No-wee!" Well you can imagine that Noah wasn't in to giving the object back which only lead to my 2 year old's frustration, so she pulled the famous word ta-ta out of her repertoire for words. For a few weeks whenever Noah touched anything she would get down on his level with her hand in his face and say....
"ta-ta"

"ta-ta No-wee"

"TA-TA NOAH!"

"Noah, Mizzie says TA-TA --- TAAAAAA-TAAAA!"

Then she would promptly grab the item out of his hands and leave me with a screaming 9 month old. Yes, Meredith teaching Noah what the word ta-ta meant was working like a dream and giving me a headache.

For weeks she went around yelling "ta-ta" at my poor son and he would just look up at her like she was crazy and then shoot her a devilishly, handsome grin and army crawl in the other direction with the toy she wanted so badly. Ta-ta was not as effective with Noah as it was with Meredith. But eventually he caught on, he had no choice. Meredith was yelling ta-ta in his face all day, he was probably thinking "what the hell if she wants to be called ta-ta so bad, fine with me."

Now whenever Meredith comes into Noah's line of vision he starts saying "Ta..Ta" "Ta....Ta..."

When we wake up in the morning and go into Meredith's room to wake her up, he starts jumping out of my arms saying "Ta.... Ta...." "Ta.... Ta...."

When we pick her up from school on Tuesdays he looks over at her car seat and says "Ta.... Ta...." "Ta... Ta..."

When she hands him a toy and she wants it back and yells TA-TA in his face, he grins and says "Ta.... Ta...." "Ta... Ta...."

I am pretty sure she will be known as Ta-Ta for a while. Afterall she asked for it.

Is it different to raise a boy than a girl?

Raising a boy and a girl are very different. Well at least the 10 months that we have been blessed with a boy have been very different. He is much tougher, he doesn't think things through, he is determined to reach his goal, he isn't afraid that he may fall out of his bucket swing doing so.....


Yeah mom, this swinging stuff is lots of fun!
Sure it's fun, now how exactly am I going to do this?

Well I am pretty sure these chains go all the way to the top, so....if I just grab them I can get out of this bucket and climb up to the top and have a seat up there. Yeah that is a good idea, let me hurry before that mom lady comes back.

After I snapped this last shot I ran over to grab my monkey out of his swing, yes he had started to pull himself out. I guess next time I will need a rope to tie him down. He was determined to hoist himself out of the swing, while it was swinging high in the air. Boys.....a whole new world for me. Meredith was nothing like my Noah man, very cautious, very careful, thought things through. We will most likely be at the ER before he is two with a broken bone.

I'm not an overachiever I just try to be

What are these you may ask.......why they are cheese muffins. Why did I make so many and put them in a cute Tupperware.....because it is Meredith's turn to bring the snack tomorrow.

She also gets to be the line leader, bring a book to share at snack time, and be the teacher's helper tomorrow. I'm so giddy I could scream with glee. Because tomorrow is also my first day of bringing the snack. I can't wait. I made these muffins from scratch, just like Bree would. I am trying so hard, I have to make up for the fact that I forgot to send her money for the weekly reader last week and she didn't get one. So yes, they are from scratch and were super easy.

However I made several dozen of them, because I am truly trying to be the over-achiever....and I did forget the money. Notice I only needed to make a snack for 8 children...see below. I probably could feed the whole 2 year old preschool program with the amount of muffins I made. Do you think this will make up for forgetting the weekly reader money? Tell me it will.
See how easy, just throw some ingredients ina bowl. All that cheesy goodness and mix it up real good and then.... throw it in the oven!

I made 48 muffins, not sure why. I really don't think 8 kids can or should eat 48 muffins, so I snacked on a few. Sent 24 for the kids and put 12 in a bag for Mrs. Jenny to bring home. I am pretty sure by tomorrow she will have forgotten all about how Meredith's mom did not send the weekly reader money last week. Oh yeah I got this one in the bag.

Meredith I did go all out for this first snack duty of ours. I am trying to be the bestest mom possible. Please forgive me when I screw up, I will, but remember I am always trying my best. Love you kiddo!

Diva I tell ya!

This is how she went to the grocery the other day! The pink boots actually matched the dress rather nicely. And the hat was a must with the boots! She is two, very opinionated and has a great fashion sense.

I think he surprised himself

Tonight at 10pm, Noah started crying in bed. That is a little unusual for him, but since I was up I went in to top him off thinking it was just those top two teeth coming in. When I walked into his room he was sitting up in bed looking at me like....."how the hell did this happen!" I laughed, laid him down and he peacefully drifted off to sleep.

He is getting bigger each day and reaching milestons faster and faster, time is flying!

Such a little boy

I've heard of security blankets and even security stuffed bears or other animals, but have you ever heard of a security ball? Me either! Here is my little Noah man sleeping.....with is security ball. Yep, a bright orange, plastic ball. Just like the ones found in ball pits.
I put it in his bed for him to play with while he was in his crib one day and since then he has held onto it whenever he falls asleep. I tried to move it once and that proved to be a big mistake, now I just leave him and his ball alone. Isn't that such a boy thing! I wonder if we will have to start bringing it on vacations to get him to go to sleep.

The Women

If you get the chance to grab some girl friends and see "The Women" than do it! I went last night with some friends and it was great. A real girly flick, one you definitely have to see with women and one every woman should see. The whole theatre was laughing out loud, well except for then one man that was dragged there by his significant other. He didn't laugh or even watch the show, he texted throughout the whole movie. I felt bad for him. But it was a really great movie and there was not one man in it, it just proves that women can run this country without men. Okay so it doesn't do that, but women so could run the country....absolutely could.

My kids also had a great time, Miss Carrie came to watch them since Josh was on call. Meredith told me she had so much fun with Miss Carrie and was looking for her this morning. She was heartbroken when I told her Carrie went home last night. I'm hoping Carrie had fun too. Neither tike cried when I left last night and they were both peacefully asleep when I got home. Carrie was amazed how easily they went to bed, me too. I know they normally do that for me, but sometimes they give other people trouble. However they did great, which means Josh and I will be getting some more date nights in soon!

Well have a great Saturday, I just sent Josh and the kids to pick up some fast food breakfast while I chill in my bed....it's shaping up to be a great Saturday.

No one rocks a Mohawk like my Noah

Is he not the most handsome little man! Look at that Mohawk, a good 2 inches tall!
Momma, chicks will dig me with this Mohawk.....they love bad boys and bad boys rock Mohawks!
The sweetest little Mohawk head
And look at those eyelashes to go with the Mohawk, he will be a ladies man!

Noah wakes up looking this good, no hair products or other products were used in the creating of this Mohawk. It happens all on its own!

To my Meredith

Oh my sweet Meredith, you are quickly approaching 2 and a half years...Wow how the time has flown. It honestly feels like I found out yesterday I was pregnant for you. I remember the exact details of that moment and will treasure it forever. I knew that my life would change for the better from that moment forward and boy has it! You are one of a kind my girl.

At 2 and almost a half years old you are very smart. Your have a very precocious vocabulary and everyone comments on it. You have always been a talker, well except for that time I thought you were deaf and banged pots in your room at night. I did do that, I was a new mom, forgive me. But seriously you have an amazing vocabulary. You talk non-stop and almost everything you say now is understood by everyone and they are often amazed when they find out you are only two.

You started your new preschool this year and I really think you are loving it. You tell me you do often. Your teacher's name is Ms. Jenny and you love her, but this week you told me you also love Ms. Shannon, she is the other 2 year old teacher at your school. She is the one who sings the line-up song you said. You really like that song. You are very studious, always have been. You have craved structure from day one. You love to sit and paint or color or read books and you love it when everyone else does too. I am sure the whole school thing is right up your alley and always will be. I was the same way. Your dad thinks you will grow up to be a hall monitor one day, I disagree you are more like student council president.

You also started real dancing school, you love it. I can threaten you with dancing and you will automatically shape up. Last week you told me you were going home with Ms. Lori, your dancing teacher. That was a first for you, before that you always, only wanted to go with me. You get so excited on dancing and gymnastic days. You look forward to it all week and ask to go everyday.

You are still my shy child though. You will often tell me that too. "Momma I went to daddy's work and I be shy!"...."I no say hello, I put my head down and I be shy." Yes my dear your vocabulary is great, your grammar still needs a little work. Seriously though you are still my slow to warm up child. You take your time getting to know new friends, you wait until it is almost time to leave before you join in the fun. Sometimes I worry you miss out on it because of that, but your warm up time is getting shorter and shorter. You are just like your mom in that regard, I was the same way so I'm not too worried. When you are warmed up though, look out world here you come. You have such an amazing spirit about you, you can bring a smile to any one's face all the time.

And for all your good points my dear, I have to say you are not always a bed of roses. You can wake up on the wrong side of the bed and have the most hellish morning. Those are the days that nothing your dad or I do is right and you let us know by throwing tantrum after tantrum. Noah and I just want to crawl back in bed and leave you in yours when that happens. I'm hoping these tantrums are a two year old thing that you outgrow soon. God help me when you are a teenager if you don't outgrow them.

You are also a "I'll do it when I damn well please" sort of child. Your dad and I purchased you and Noah a great new swing set or big ass play structure as I like to call it. It has 3 slides, one being a tunnel slide. We have owned that play structure since January of this year, and this past weekend was the first time you went down the tunnel slide. You went down the other two the first day, but the tunnel slide took 9 months for you to try it. You loved it and were so proud of yourself. I knew you would love it, but there wasn't a chance in hell I could get you to give it a try until you were ready. You are that way about most things. I know this about you so I don't push you anymore unless I have too, I encourage others not to either. You will do it, I know that, just when you are ready. It took you six months to ride your battery operated little four wheeler, now I can't get you off of it.

You are also in a phase where things are "scary". I have no idea where this came from, you ask me 1000 times a day if something "is scare-wy" From bugs, to trucks, to some of your clothing. It is driving me a little nuts and I am hoping you get out of this phase soon. If not there is always therapy right....oh I kid.

You are also rapidly changing from a toddler to a little girl. You used to ask me to come "lay you momma?" at night....now you say "momma come lay with me?" When did that happen, is what I thought to myself. It was literally overnight. You also reach around my neck and give me a big hugs and say "I love you so much!" You do this out of the blue and it melts my heart over and over. You have also started dressing yourself and putting your own shoes on, often backwards but still by yourself. You can drink out of a big girl cup and feed yourself anything, making a mess of course. You can go to the bathroom alone and can even get the stool if it is in another room. It is really weird not having you need me so much, but my time is occupied because your brother is getting to be a handful quickly. But don't get me wrong you are still my baby girl and still need me plenty.

Which brings me to another point you are starting to be a little momma. I knew it was coming. You know everything in the house Noah is not supposed to touch and you follow him around saying "No, No Noah!"...."don't touch that Noah." It really is sweet you aren't mean about it, but more concerned. Well at least that is what it appears to be. Now if I could only get you to pick up your own toys that are dangerous for him or get you to pick up any toys without begging and pleading or singing the clean up song. You will automatically pick up anything with that song, I really ought to sing it more.

You are starting to really get into pretend and dress-up. You love to pretend, not that you are Cinderella, but that you are other people we know. You are often Patty, which is what you call your cousin Nathalie. Or you also like to be Grace or Maggie and sometimes Adalyn. Grace and Maggie are your friends from gymnastics and school. You feed me the script that I am supposed to say when you are pretending it is quite hilarious. You also like to pretend to be a dog, you bark and I have to call you like a dog and you pretend to eat out of a dog bowl on the floor. Your imagination is so much fun.

Your favorite toys these days are still Woody and Jessie. You will carry them around and read books to them and play with them like they are real people, I guess to you they are. You also like to play with "your people". You must have 50 2-3inch figurines that you carry around in a big bag. You love "your people." If you don't have Woody and Jessie you are most definitely playing with them. Recently you have gotten into playing with baby dolls too. You are very nurturing with them and love to take care of them. And you love to dance. You will come home put on your tap shoes, grab you microphone and dance to "Terial Girl" all day long if I let you. You can shake that little booty of yours, one day I will be in trouble or you will, however you want to look at it.

Well my girl at 2 and almost a half years old you are so incredibly fun and sweet. I hope you stay that way forever, it will work well for you as you get older. Hugs and kisses my baby girl and remember I love you so much too.

Love you,
momma

Oh Brownie

Today Brown started off as a really bad day, I thought about giving you away or dropping you off at the kennel.....something....anything. I will admit your habits of opening pantries and cabinets to eat whatever you please is very annoying. Especially when there is no bread to make a sandwich and I don't really feel like driving to the grocery. Today you ate 1/2 bag of buns, there were about 12 originally, you left me 6. I guess as Meredith would say your "belly was full." Seriously your helping yourself habit is driving me nuts.

That was not the thing that put me over the edge today, you truly eat something that you help yourself to on a daily basis. No, I am not kidding. And the fact that you drink out of the toilet, despite having a bowl of fresh water is not what did me in either. No the driving point today was the lack of pooping in the correct location. I'm not talking about a certain area of the yard or on the neighbors yard, I am talking about the house. You have been house trained for 4 years now, if not more. It was no easy feat, but we survived and accomplished the task and that was when I knew I loved you.

Today though, today you tested my patience to the farthest limits. I was home all morning and you pooped on the floor. What the hell Brown? I mean, I tried to let you out to potty three times before I left. I was only gone an hour and when I came home I found poop, on the floor, the brown floor no less! Seriously, do we need to buy potty prizes for you too?

So yes today was the day I was seriously considering giving you away.... I mean I have my hands full lately. I just got down to one kiddo in diapers I was not going back to two. At least not yet!

And just when I thought you had driven me to the furthest extreme.... you went ahead and melted my heart. Tonight it was just me and the kiddos. As usual you protectively followed us around and helped me with corralling the kids up the stairs to get ready for their bed and bath time. And then you did what you do best, you were the world's greatest dog.

You laid on the floor in Noah's room while Meredith played with your ears and tried to put a pony tail holder on them. While Noah, being such a boy, pulled all the dog hair off your ass by the fistfuls. Well not your ass literally but that general region. Yes it totally grossed me out and I moved him several times, but he just crawled right back to that end and started grabbing hair of your hind legs and pulling at your tail. After several unsuccessful attempts at giving you a pony tail, Meredith started pulling at your nails on your front paw, which you hate by the way, and talking about painting you fingers and such. And you just laid there and let it all happen. They were being your aggravating little brother and sister and you were okay with that.

They were tormenting you to no end and fully enjoying it and you let them. You didn't attempt to move, you didn't growl or pull away, you just laid there and let them. At one point they both had their head on you laying with you peacefully, Meredith on your belly and Noah on your butt and that is right about when Meredith crawled up to your ear and lifted it up and screamed "WAKE UP BOWNIE!"

You being you, just lifted your head looked at her with those big brown eyes of yours and laid back down. All was well with you, you were surrounded by the kiddos you are completely jealous and depressed over, but the ones you love more than anything and would die to protect. Yeah I guess we'll let you hang around. But if you are going to poop inside, learn to use the toilet and not drink out of it!

A rite of passage

Tonight I took Meredith to her weekly dance class. She went right inside with Ms. Lori and Noah and I hung out in the hall with the other moms. There are 12 girls in her dance class, 3 of which she started out with in gymnastics, so they have been together since day 1. Which means, us moms have also been together since day 1. While one of the moms is someone I hang out with socially outside of waiting for our two year olds to finish dance the other two are not. But for one hour each week we are friends. Two of us have a child younger than a 2 year old. One of them is pregnant and the other has a child older than a two year old. During that hour we swap stories of our children and motherhood and talk about how wonderful and convenient it would be to have a Starbucks next door. And in that hour we grow and learn from one another and gripe about how far out it is, but we talk like school girls again.

Tonight we were talking about the girls' recital and reminiscing about our own recitals some 25-30 years ago. We were talking about what we did as kids in dancing and things of that nature and I couldn't help but think how these total strangers came into my life and now I share 1 hour a week with them. I don't talk to them outside of dancing. Until recently I wasn't even sure of what they did outside of being a mom In the past 9 months I have watched their daughters grow as I have watched mine and I am amazed at how far these four little girls have come.

I know that people will continue to come in and out of my life and my children's, I hope they are wise enough to spend time with people and take something away from that friendship, no matter how insignificant the friendhip may seem.

I now go to dancing as the proud mom instead of the little ballerina. Tonight I imagined Meredith doing the same with her daughter one day, and thought about my mom sitting there watching me years ago making some friends of her own. I relished in the fact that today it was my turn to take her... my turn to be the mommy, to use this hour to make new friends and swap stories watch my daughter and I grow together. I was honored to be there tonight with Meredith as her mommy.

I don't know how long our girls will be in dancing together or how long I will sit in the hall with these ladies, but I do know that I have thoroughly enjoyed being a mom of a ballerina with them and I look forward to seeing them on Monday nights.

Man on the move

Today we had some friends over for the Saints game, it was a lot of fun. At one point all of the moms were in the play room with the kids. Noah was crawling around on his belly playing when all of a sudden he looked up and saw someone other than me. Tears developed instantly, followed by a sweet little whimper. I quickly called out to him from the other side of the room and like a little salamander he did 180 degree turn on his belly and started slithering toward me knocking away the debris of toys in his way. He slithered right into my lap....oh how I love my little man. Noah, mommy is always right here baby. One day you will say back off you helicopter mom....you are hovering again.... and I will try, I promise to try.

A Friday Recap

The day was long,
Mommy is tired,
We saw Elmo and friends on stage,
Meredith danced,
Noah almost jumped out of my arms,
Adalyn and Burke loved it too,
Smiles were on every one's face,
We were happy to spend solo time with Mimi and MeeMaw,
We were hungry and got lost at lunch
We found the place and ate,
Meltdowns almost occurred,
The girls had icecream,
We shopped and spent daddy's hard earned money,
He was totally okay with it,
The boys got toys,
The girls got shoes,
We filled up the car and our bodies with junk food
We headed out on our long drive home,
It rained,
Noah cried,
No one napped,
Mommy is tired,
Meredith is tired,
Noah is tired,
Mimi too,
Meltdowns occurred when we got home by ALL!
It was a long day,
Hopefully a good one!
The kids are in bed sleeping,
Meredith is waking up crying,
Never a good night sleep when they are over tired,
Daddy is upstairs trying to soothe her back to bed,
It will be a long night,
I'll be back tomorrow with coherent sentences!

What she says -- school days

"She had wittle man, wittle man, wittle man"

"She had wittle man, wittle man"

"Did you learn a new song at school today bug?"

"Yeah momma.....wittle man, wittle man, wittle man"

" I think it goes....Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb......Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow"

"No momma....SHE HAD wittle man, wittle man, wittle man......she had a wittle man, wittle man, wittle man who like snow"

"Ah I got it, I guess Ms. Jenny knows a different version than mommy."

The rain can make you do crazy things

So yesterday Katey and I decided that our children, who were bouncing off the walls from being confined to the house for too many days in a row, needed some fresh air. The only problem was South Mississippi looked like a big swamp land and the rain was still coming down by the bucket fulls. We decided to meet at our local chick fil la and so did every other mom looking to get her kids out the house. The place was packed. So packed that Meredith was very intimidated and wouldn't play. So we decided to head out and go to the bookstore. We got in our car and drove one strip mall over and that is when the heavens unleashed its fury. We sat there and texted one another debating whether to go in. I mean we were under flash flood warnings. Did that deter us? No way! I got my two kids out of car seats and headed across the parking lot into the store. I thought about running, but I was holding a toddler's hand and carrying a 9 month old. Let me tell you about 2 year olds walking in a rain, they don't walk very fast. And even if she did I wasn't capable of running while holding her hand and carrying my little sumo wrestler.

By the time we made it inside we were drenched. The entire store was looking at us like we each had a second head. I wanted to scream, do you know what happens to 2 year olds who haven't seen anything besides their home for 4 days.....they go crazy and so do their mommas! So we headed our sopping wet bodies to the kids section. That is when Meredith said she needed to potty...of course. I have no stroller, I am carrying Noah, we are all drenched, Noah's faux-hawk is now a dripping mess.....of course she needs to potty.

We walk in the restroom to find other bookstore patrons drying off their clothing with the VERY LOUD dryer thing. Meredith couldn't potty, it was "TO LOUD MOMMA!" I bet you had no clue two year olds couldn't potty with loud noises, of course they can't. We were in the bathroom with me bribing and pleading and reassuring for about two minutes when in walked my crazy friend Katey. She had her three year old by the hand and her 7 month old on her hip and they were also in need of a potty break.....of course. It was right then that I had my epiphany....Katey and I were made for one another. I don't know anyone else who would brave the extreme thunder storms and tornado warnings to hang out with us in a bookstore.

We are normally quite sane, it must have been the rain.

On the move...

Today I am re-baby proofing my house. Yes my Noah man is on the move. He has the funny army crawl thing going on and is pretty darn fast. He can get up on all four's but would rather get on his belly and go. He is also starting to pull up. It's only been a few days since he got really good at being mobile and already it's a whole new world. Now I really have to re-baby proof. All the stuff Meredith never touched, Noah has already gotten into and turned over if at all possible!

Sneak peak for Halloween!

Introducing...the rootnest, tootnest cowgirl around......Jessie & Bullseye! Loving their costumes!
Here she is galloping around! She did not stop dancing or smiling!

And my little Bullseye's tail!

She wanted them to stay in those costumes all night! I may have to get more before Halloween, in the morning that is all she wants to wear!

Noah's is a 12 month, I probably should have gotten 18month....oh well!

The answer to the question I am asked on a daily basis....

No I do not style Noah's hair into a Mohawk everyday! It is a completely natural Mohawk. He has had it since his hair has grown in. Then longer his hair gets up top, the longer his Mohawk is! (the hair on top is the only long hair he has, the rest is growing in). In fact when we take pictures professionally I try to get it to stay down with spit, but it always comes right back. The only day I can remember him not having his faux-hawk (which we call it sometimes) is yesterday....must have been the rain!

So there you have it folks! Seriously people stop me in target and restaurants and the grocery to ask me this question. My family that hasn't seen him in a while even asked me that this weekend. People generally ask me this more than they ask me his age.

If you look back through my pictures you will see he probably has it in all of them. I wonder what his hair will look like when he is two!

Back up and running

2 tikes under 2 is now back up and running, see Noah with his running shoes on! We took a brief hiatus to chew our fingernails and worry ourselves sick over Hurricane Gustav, but now we are slowly returning back to normal. We had no damage and our family has minimal we were told. Lots of them are still here in Mississippi, but expected to return home in the next few days. New Orleans was definitely spared and did not see the damage they saw with Katrina, thank goodness. Let's just hope that hurricane Ike and tropical depression Josephine, stay far, far away!

My mom has been the most gracious hurricane hostess and I hope those that took refuge there are extremely appreciative. I don't think she would have gotten the same hospitality that she gave. That is my mom and dad though, very generous people.

She housed over 12 people and 10 dogs, yes there is a place in heaven for her one day.

Meredith doesn't have school today and our evacuees headed out bright and early. Josh went in to work and so it is just me and kids. And of course Brownie and the rain! We are ready for some sunshine!