A Natural born Hiker

So one of our many adventures during our Spring Break week was to take a hike around the beautiful Lake Martin.  It was roughly a 4  mile hike.  Maybe a little more, maybe a little less.  Anyway we all started off strong.  Meredith ran ahead and was the Leader of the pack with Uncle Alex and her Nanny.  Noah hiked a little with them and a little with his dad and occasionally hung back with me and his Mimi.  Approximately three quarters of the way through, Margot decided she wanted to be carried and Noah decided he did too.  Unfortunately Alex was way ahead with Meredith and Margot had secured the prominent position on top of Josh's shoulders.  Which led to Noah having to hike with me and his Mimi.  Now let me just say this hike was a rugged hike.  Mimi fell once...and we all laughed.  She used a walking stick for most of it.  You went up a lot of steep hills and down the same.  You walked along the edges of some pretty steep drops down to the lake.  You went over trees and log bridges.  It was very natural and rugged terrain.  Probably not the best hike for a 3 and 6 year old, but the views were breathtaking.  That being said we were thinking we were almost through and then we kept going....then we thought it has to be almost done....and nope.  So after doing this thing of psyching ourselves out...out of the blue....Noah chimes....


When I started this hike I was Awesome....and now.....now.....now I'm just BULLSHIT!  BULLSHIT, that's all I am.

And everyone who wanted to go on this hike is BULLSHIT too!

My mom and I were rolling, it almost became impossible to finish due to the hysterics... but after another mile or so we and Mr. Bullshit had completed the hike.

Mardi Gras Mambo...down in New Orleans.

The timing could not be more perfect...Mimi bought a condo!  That's right....in New Orleans, right on St. Charles Avenue.  Which meant we spent Mardi Gras in style this year.  The kids loved it.   Lucky for them all the Saturday parades were rained out, so they rolled Sunday with all the others, which meant a day of nothing but parades for the kiddos.  And that day couldn't have been better.

The tikes loved the new condo and loved having a big sleepover.

On her balcony with her amazing view.  As you can tell, we paraded on the Neutral Ground side.

A fund day with friends.

Taking a brake between parades.

And Margot is a mardi gras pro!

She sat in her ladder with her arms in the air and screamed, "HEY!"

The clouds rolled our mid-morning and turned into a gorgeous day!

Meredith was amazed by all things Mardi Gras, especially the marching bands.  She had been before, but she didn't remember any of it.

After spending Mardi Gras at Mimi's condo, it will be hard to ever spend it any other way.  Thank goodness we are family and she can't get rid of us.  

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Mimi's birthday

On Sunday we celebrated Mimi's birthday.  It was very low key, we went out Saturday night and then on Sunday Mimi and I cooked dinner and I made her a cake. I'm not a baker, cooking is more my specialty.  Happy Birthday Mimi our lives would not be so colorful, fun and fulfilled without you.  We love you to pieces!  

The memories I want to last forever

Tonight my little man made a very big milestone....no not potty training....we did that a few weeks ago.  No tonight marks his second night of going to bed WITHOUT his pacifier.  The pacifier I dreaded taking away for a few reasons....

1. I am pretty sure he was more addicted to it, than his sister was, if that is possible.
2. My hands are pretty full and this was one more thing I was putting off.
3. There was no Disney world trip planned to try and bribe him with.

However Mimi and Poppa came to the rescue with number 3....no we aren't going to see Mickey Mouse....but they did promise to by my boy a "shewiff car" that he had been eyeing in the toy store for his birthday IF he got rid of the paci.  And I was not sure who was more excited....Noah or Mimi.  Noah was pretty stoked someone agreed to get him a "shewiff car" even though he already has a gator.  And Mimi is always excited when she gets to spoil her grandchildren...which she does quite well.

So yesterday, Mimi kept all 3 tikes while I went to a meeting.  When I got home they showed me a bag of pacifiers.  A bag that Noah had willingly collected and put his pacifiers in.  He then gave them to Mimi to take home.  Later on that day he found one....under his bed...he put it in his mouth....and when I found him he told me that Mimi forgot one....then he asked me to hide it with him under his covers so Mimi and his Daddy couldn't find it.  I guess he knows who lets him slide in the family....me.

I laughed and then I took his paci and said he could only have it at night time OR I could call Mimi and give it to her so he could get his sheriff car.  He told me to give it to Mimi and so I took it downstairs and hid it. 

That night he went to bed.....WITHOUT a pacifier.  And he slept all night WITHOUT a pacifier. 

At 7am the next morning, Noah was ready to call Mimi and report his news.  And as promised Mimi and Poppa picked him up from school today and took him to get his sheriff car.  He then stayed at Mimi's that afternoon to work on it with Poppa.  When I picked him up around 3, the sheriff car was finally finished, however it needed to charge for 24 hours before it could be driven.  Explain that to an almost three year old without any tears.  He was genuinely heartbroken as was his Poppa seeing this.  Poppa promised that as soon as the sheriff was full of gas he would bring him over the next day.  And with that promise we finally got him into the car to head home.

Tonight Noah went to bed at his usual time again without a paci.  However he got up three times to use the bathroom.  Finally after asking a fourth time to go potty in an hour, Josh told him no and the tears started flowing as well as the "I want my paci" cries.  My heart broke a little, but I knew better to give in.  He did it the night before and now he was the proud new owner of a sheriff.

So I laid with him and his daddy laid with him and we both listened as he cried broken heartedly for his paci and the sheriff he never got to ride today.

I finally asked him if he wanted me to tell Poppa to bring his sheriff back to the lady at the toy store and I would go get him a paci and he shook his head no while sobbing "no I a big boy."

Right now my two favorite guys are upstairs sound asleep side by side and neither one of them has a paci.  These are the memories I don't want to forget and the stories I want to one day tell Noah.  How much everyone loved him and wanted to celebrate this accomplishment.  How very proud of him we were at what may one day seem as very small accomplishment....because today, right now....this is huge.

One for the record books

Yes, today was officially one of the hardest days so far this year....I know it is only January, but it was hard dammit. It started out with a 7:30a.m. trip to the dentist to fix my still pestering tooth. I could stop right there and the day could totally blow, really is there any reason to go on. Anytime I go to the dentist it is like paying someone to torture me, both physically and financially. Yes the damn dentist.

When I got home from the dentist, my mom told me Meredith had just woken up around 9am. I knew then we were in for trouble. She has been running fever, coughing with a runny nose and being quite miserable all day.

Noah on the other hand has been feeling fine and is going full speed ahead and not slowing down at all. He even took 6 steps today, see it is one for the record books.

After I thanked Mimi for coming over so early in this frigid weather.....okay so it isn't frigid to all of you, but this is south Mississippi where if it drops below 40 we think maybe we should stay in all day due to the abnormally cold weather. We also wear heavy coats and put hats on our kids and if we could find two mittens in our house we would probably put those on them too.

So right after Mimi left, the numbness in my mouth started to wear off and that is when I noticed that my mouth was killing me. Like as in I want to rip my freaking head off or at least my tooth out, killing me. Yes it was that bad, but I opted not to take a pain pill by myself with two small kids. Instead I opted for a couple of Advil and busied myself with other time consuming tasks like making dinner, making lemon squares from scratch, unloading the dishwasher. Yes, unloading the dishwasher should only be done by very responsible individuals unlike myself. At that point I dropped a glass on the granite counter top and that glass shattered and bounced and a big piece stabbed me right in the finger. It was awful. My finger looked and still looks awful. Meredith panicked, I panicked and that is when I called Josh and then Mimi, because I was going to pass out at any minute from the sight of red oozing out of my finger very rapidly.

So Mimi rushed back, she took care of my tikes, while my husband made a house call to take care of my finger. My husband then went back to work, while the Mimi helped to take care of the house and littlest tike while I took care of the big one with my botched finger.

Around 5:30pm I thought things were starting to look up, Noah was eating like a champ, Meredith was finally sleeping peacefully, Mimi was doing the rest of my dishes, Papa was cutting the grass and bringing in all my neighbors trash cans and Josh was walking in the door. Did I dare say things were looking up?

About 6, Mimi and Papa had left, Meredith was waking up telling me she was fam-ished, Noah was being Noah and crawling all over the place and Josh was on the phone with a friend talking about my finger and whether I needed stitches or there was glass in it. That is when Noah decided to take 6 steps. I stood there in awe. I didn't clap or jump up and down, I didn't do anything but count to six and point to make sure Josh saw it too. He did! Noah then sat downed and crawled and hasn't done it again. Yes the boy who refuses to stand on his own, much less try to take a step on his own......stood up, let go of the ottoman and took six perfect steps to the coffee table while holding a bag of baby wipes. I told you it was one for the record books.

So things were really looking up at that point. I then made Meredith some toast and fruit and then Noah demanded more fruit as well, so I set him up with some. I got them both some water and was thinking....it's been a hell of a day thank goodness it is over. And that is when the powers that be told me not to be all smug and turned our world upside down again.

Noah pooped and was abnormally cranky due to being overtired, my finger started bleeding and Meredith turned her cup over spilling water all over herself which is the equivalent of the world ending in her little princess mind. And the pager......the freaking pager went off. A patient was crashing which meant no matter how bad shit was at home, Josh had to go and take care of someone else. That's what it means to be married to a doctor. You take the very good with the very bad. And off he went and there I sat ready to cry and wishing I could just crawl into bed with my sliced up finger and aggravating tooth. But that is the amazing thing about how much a mom can withstand, no matter how physically, emotionally or mentally exhausted she is, she always has a little reserve to help her continue to push through.

Right now, at 8:37pm, Noah is tuckered out in his bed, Meredith is bathed and cuddled up beside me watching Peter Pan and I am thanking my lucky stars I made it through the day and that I people near me who love me and my tikes so much that they are always willing to do whatever they can to help. Thank you mom and Josh. I don't know what I would do without either of you.

what she says......should be censored

Today Noah went over to take a chomp out of Meredith's chest. Why? My son likes to bite, anything. I am trying not to be the mom of a biter, we'll see how it goes. We gave him the standard "no, no!" and then moved him away. Meredith then proceeded with this....

"Mommy I have milk"

"You do, where?"

"In my boobies"

"Oh....do you have big or small boobies?"

"small boobies"

"What about mommy?"

"big boobies"

"What about Nanny?"

"big boobies"

"What about Mimi?"

"She has BIG HOLY BIGGIE BOOBIES!"

I nearly spit out my coke and then Josh and I were rolling on the floor laughing. Why....my mom's boobs are significantly bigger than mine and my sister's, but we have never really had this conversation with Meredith. Oh well she calls them like she sees them.

Wow....Look at Mimi!

So this morning my dad called to tell me to look at the paper, because my mom was featured in it. Well I don't get the paper, but I do get the internet. Congrats Mimi! That was a fantastic interview and very awesome of you to give so much of your time. Lots of people talk about volunteering, but very few ever follow through. I'm proud to have such a great role model and that my children do too!

Check out the story here.

Tea cups!

Everyday when Meredith woke up she wanted to do one thing, ride the tea cups! Here she is riding on the tea cups with her Mimi.

Mimi's early birthday gift

This year for Mimi's birthday Meredith and Noah gave her an apron and a cooking class. Not that she is a bad cook, but who doesn't love cooking classes. So Meredith and Noah set up a date for Mimi to cook with Meredith, Meemaw and Adalyn. I think Mimi was thrilled and everyone had a great time! Noah was able to stay home and have his mommy all to himself he was thrilled too!

Here is the gang, ready to start cooking. It was a pirate themed cooking class, they made pirate hot dog ships, pirate's teeth, and shiver me timbers juice. Very cute although these two girly girls would have rathered princess hot dogs, fairy wands and posh juice. Oh well, maybe next time.



Mimi with Meredith & Adalyn

Food is always on the brain with this child!

Don't you love this smile? I do!I think this picture is so hilarious, mainly because it fits their personalities to a tee! Meredith is looking rather cautious and nervous, waiting to find out (impatiently I am sure) what is going on. Adalyn on the other hand is just waiting, because she is pretty confidant she can do whatever it is they need to do, she is thinking she doesn't even need the instructions the lady is giving. I guess that is why their friendship works so well. Meredith brings caution to the friendship and Adalyn a bit of a wild side!

Yummm this taste good!

Thanks Meemaw and Adalyn for helping us make Mimi's birthday a special day! And Happy Birthday Mimi! Have a wonderful year!

My mom and dad....can't live with 'em.....

Can't live without 'em!

Well if you know me, you know that I probably could not physically live with them again. I like being out on my own. Well as much on my own as I am. See my parents live here in town. Five minutes from door to door. They moved here after Katrina, took their home. I was thrilled, but like all mothers and daughters we do butt heads....a lot. Well I say a lot, but not a lot. I guess as much as moms and daughters do.

Last week I got mad at my mom, because she helped too much. This week I needed her help. I realized how wrong I was last week. Josh has been out of town since Thursday. We are leaving in 10 minutes to pick him up from the airport. While he has been gone, my mom took and became my partner in crime. 2 tikes 2 and under are not easy. One always needs something when the other is having a fit. Is it manageable for one person....definitely. Is it hard work on just one person....hell yeah! But with my mom taking care of my 2 kids while Josh was gone, was breeze. Other than the occasional "I miss my daddy" tears, we had a great time.

With my mom in tow here are some things I didn't have to do....
- I never changed a diaper while she was in the room.
- I never lifted a spoon to feed either tike
- I got a night off of the bedtime routines
- I didn't have to wake up at 5am to get a fussy Noah back to bed
- I didn't have to bathe them
- I didn't have to dress them in the morning
- I didn't lose my freakin' mind with my husband going for 4 1/2 days, in fact I'm not real sure about what I did....hmmm....not sure why I am so exhausted now that I think about it.

Thanks mom and dad! My dad was a big help too....he rocked bubby boy....he played with Meredith. She was trying to tell him the name of all her Toy Story people and he was naming them what he wanted. It was really neat to watch him playing with her. Of course he does have a habit of naming people whatever he wants. We have had our chocolate lab for 4 years and since day 1 her name to us has been Brownie Jane, but to him she has always been Brownie James. If you know my dad, you know this about him.

My mom and I also got to do a lot of girl talk. She told me lots of stories of things that happened when she was growing up. Memories she had of my grandparents, memories of high school, memories of my dad and her dating and memories of us as tiny children.

Thanks mom and dad for all your help this weekend, I could not have done it so smoothly without the two of you!

Thank you Mom

Thank you Mom for what you do for me everyday. I am sure you could think of 1 million better things to do today besides going through Meredith and Noah's closets and helping me sort and pack away clothing.....I sure could have. Thank you for always watching my tikes and for coming here to watch them knowing I would never get where I needed to be on time if you did not. Thank you for helping us to get through our busy days and being there when we need you. Thank you for loving my children as much as I do and for always looking out for the best for them. Thank you for being you.

Thank you for being the kind of Mom I can look up to, the kind of mom I can bring my problems to, the kind of mom that always said I love you.

I know raising me was not always an easy task, but one you did like it was the best job in the world. I know that when we were growing up although you loved me and I loved you, there were days we did not like one another very much, but we survived, thanks for teaching me how to survive. Thanks for always making sure that I had more than I needed, because I know there were days that you did with out to do that.

Thank you being a wonderful supportive and loving mother..... and thank you for teaching me how to be one too. I love you!

Sleeping out

Last night Meredith slept over at her Mimi's. I know she had a wonderful time, she always does. I mean she gets donuts and Mimi and Poppa's undivided attention, and Mimi gets on the floor and plays with her. And magically, Mimi always has "pwesents" hidden throughout the house. The Meredith used the potty pwesent, the you ate all your dinner pwesent, the meredith is sick pwesent, the because I LOVE you so much pwesent....they are hidden everywere. So yes, sleeping at Mimi's is a blast. But I miss her so much when she does, I miss rocking her to sleep and getting those great snuggles in the moring. This morning when she called me bright and early to say "good morning" she started crying for her mommy and daddy when she heard my voice.....I have to say a little part of me was thrilled she missed me so much too! I hate to hear her cry, but somewhere in me there was a smile. (no offense mom!) Of course when I called back 10 minutes later, Poppa had arrived with her chocolate covered donuts and she was all better! Little booger! I cannot wait to see her and get my "best kind". (best kind of hug that is!)

a Mimi, a Mee-Maw, a Roux, and a Zoo!

Whew! What a day! Mimi and Mee-Maw came over to make chicken and sausage gumbo for Noah's christening this weekend. I have to say my house never smelled so good from home cooking. While the Mimi and Mee-Maw were cooking, I had 4 children to watch over. My own 2 tikes along with...Adalyn and Ian who came to play. I can't complain, they were very well behaved. It is cold and rainy here so we couldn't go outside, but between the playroom, the potty and the train table we were pretty occupied. Yes, i did say the potty, ever hear of monkey see monkey do? well i had 3 little monkeys in line to use the big girl/boy potty! I did reach the decision that 4 children were too much for me. I stayed busy....I changed 5 diapers in 1 hour. It was like an assembly line, line them up, by the time I finished the 4th diaper change, Noah needed another one. Thankfully the Mimi and Mee-Maw got the stinky ones that came later. We had a good time and survived, I did feel like we were at the zoo with the kiddos running around. But they are so sweet and such good kids and honestly they entertained one another. Whew! Daddy is on duty tonight!

What would we do without Mimi?

Do you have a Mimi in your life? We do, thank goodness! If you don't you may want to know what a Mimi is, well let me tell you.....

Mimi is the one who gives tons of hugs and kisses. She is also really good at buying "pwesents" and surprises. You can always count on Mimi for desserts too, even instead of lunch! She loves to give us baths as well. In fact, mommy & Daddy have been known to wait to give baths because they know Mimi will! She cooks dinner for our family at least once a week. She also gets down on the floor to play with us! We love it at Mimi's. We always get to watch the Wiggles, Tubbies and Elmo! She changes any kind of diapers even the messy ones and she is always there to watch us when mommy and daddy need to go somewhere. She makes sure to have our favorite snacks and foods in the pantry and fridge. She also gets lots of new things for us to try. And when we spend the night, she sends Poppa to get us "No-nuts" in the morning. And Mimi loves us more than anything in the world!!!

Mommy loves Mimi because she is a BIG help! She is always willing to tag along to help us when we need it. She even changes poopy explosions in the car for mommy! She is an extra set of hands to love and comfort us when we need it and mommy's are full. She loves to watch us to give mommy a break. And Mommy loves her because she is her Mommy and she has shown her how to be a great mommy too!

Thanks Mom! Even though we are on one anothers nerves occasionally, I don't know what I would do with out you! So yes, this blog is about you!