Starting out

Every where we go, people ask..."Has he just started walking?" And like the proud mother I am, I nod my head while beaming..."he has isn't he cute?" Most times I don't even have to add the "isn't he cute" part, people just add that in before I finish the head nods and replying yes.

My buddy, he is on the move. He walks with the biggest grin from ear to ear....beaming "look at me mom....I did it....I'm on the move." He occasionally will clap for himself and his whole face lights up.... as if saying "hey guys still a huge accomplishment...it isn't old yet!" And it definitely is not old. I could eat him up in his adorable toddling cuteness.

It's been a while since I have had a toddler....well not really, but it seems that way. There was so much of it I forgot. The awkward little steps, the looks of uncertainty but excitement simultaneously, the quick steps when they are on the verge of falling, they way they get back up undeterred when they fall, the arms up in the air as they take those steps, the way they struggle to stand on their own, the way they holds their breath when they're almost there. The way each and every time they stand and take off it is a new adventure.

I cherish these moments, because this time around I know they will be gone before I know it and in no time he will be running circles around me. Hell he already is.

My baby is growing up right before my eyes, and I'm just gonna take it all in.

Paying it Forward

My friend Brandi is doing this "pay it forward" thing on her blog and I thought it was pretty neat. I know the economy is in the toilet right now and it amazes me how people are still willing to pay it forward at times like this and it made me want to do the same.

So here are the rule....I am copy and pasting this from brandi's blog!

here are the details + rules:

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!SO, REMEMBER... Pay it forward!

Living in a glass house

So our house has been on the market for I don't know........
1 week, 4 days and 39 minutes. Yes I have 8 weeks to sell my house so I have 6 weeks and 3 days left....I like numbers. No pressure right?

Anyway for the first week of that 1 week and 4 days, my house was ma-tick-u-lus! Yes meticulous. You could have eaten off the floor if you so chose, which is gross so I doubt you would have. But that week if you wanted to it would have been okay. Any other day that I have lived here I definitely would have suggested otherwise even on Thursday afternoons, when the cleaning girl leaves.

Yes I have been cleaning my ass off and by cleaning I mean baseboards, cabinets, grout, and everything in between. This house has never shined so much. All of that effort and not a single bite. No quick showings, no calls, nothing. So each day my very impatient self started getting more and more discouraged. I knew this was not going to happen in 60 days. And I also knew their house probably wouldn't move either, but still it was discouraging none the less. I get the economic climate right now I do, I was trying to be realistic. It had been a week already....can you tell I have never done this before? Patience.....never my strong suit.

So Sunday reality hit, the economy is in the toilet, the moving isn't going to happen, I will probably go 60 days without a dam showing....my reality. I'm such a positive thinker. So with that I decided to have friends over in my freakishly clean home. Not a party just a handful of friends and 5 kids under the age of 3 who played outside in the wet and muddy yard. Yep, I had thrown in the towel. No one called once while the house was ma-tick-u-lus! So what the hell.

I tell you what the hell was...on Monday at 9am the phone rang....

"Hello Mrs. Pessimist, yes so and so from so and so realty wants to show you home today at 1pm."

WHAT! Ummm no see I gave up on that. I let my family actually live in my house, which means cheerios are strewn all over. I had friends over, friends with kids like mine who just want to be kids, which means the floors are dirty. I didn't do laundry, which means their are piles in the laundry room. So with that I realized I had 1 hour and 30 minutes to get the house clean and get 3 people dressed and out the door for gymnastics and would have no time after to come home and clean. So I did it. I got it presentable I called Josh who ran home at lunch and got what I missed and the house was ready...not meticulous but ready.

That night we got home and once again lived in the house. I cooked dinner and the kids littered the dinner all over the floor. We played, we lived, we messed up the house.

This morning I got up in time to throw on a bra, brush my teeth, make 1 tike very cute and adorable for school and then threw them both in the car to drop off Meredith. I then headed home with every intention of showering and catching up on work, but that just didn't happen. The showering part. So I picked Meredith up in my same funky clothes. Came home and began to tackle lunch and then do more work at nap time. And low and behold the phone rang again. Another showing....seriously. Two in two days? What the hell? Do these people know that last week my house stayed spotless because I forbid anyone who lived here to such much as breathe?

So I did it again. I cleaned the dishes, put away laundry, re-mopped the kitchen floors, picked up the toy room, made beds, wiped down counters and windows and doors. I did everything but get a shower. Right before it was time to show I loaded up two sleeping tikes who woke up very grouchy and headed to mimi's with a bag of clean clothes for me. I took a shower there and then our little family met some friends for dinner.

I wasn't taking a chance on a third day. We were eating out and not dirtying the kitchen just in case. No one was coming back in the house to mess up my hard work again! I am pretty sure that tomorrow their will no showings because I am prepared.

I don't know how people with two tiny tikes do it. How do you constantly live in the glass house? How can you be prepared to have your house ready to show on the drop of a dime? My toddler's greatest joy is to throw his lunch onto the floor. Did I mention that Brownie went to stay with Lily during this selling process? I have no labrahoover anymore!

I'm ready to move out of this glass house and into something a little more private. Selling a home is not for me. I really suck at it!

He is on the move!

Hey there mom......Here I come!

Just a week shy of his 15 month birthday and the man is on the move!

Not that I was worried or anything.....of course I was worried....I'm a mother. However I knew you would walk in your own time....their is no rushing you my boy.

Look how big you are my boy!

And you haven't fallen once despite the flash going off continuously in your face!

Congrats my little man! I am so proud of you! I'm sure you will be running in no time.

Friday the 13th crazy

Last night before Meredith went to bed she asked to sleep with me because her ears hurt. I knew for a fact she had an ear infection. Her normal m.o. for faking an illness is "my teeth are coming out." About a year ago, she was very crabby and restless while cutting her molars and she over-heard me tell Josh that I knew she wasn't feeling well because her "teeth were coming out....all 4 at once." Since then she has used that line daily when she didn't want to do something or didn't want to go to school or wanted her pacifier outside of her bed or wanted candy to eat instead of lunch and you get the point.

Anyway when she told me her ears hurt and not that her teeth were coming out, I knew the child really was not feeling well at all. So first thing this morning, I removed her foot from my rib cage and then called the pediatrician. At 8am. Yes, that time is very important. I called first thing and told them my daughter had an ear infection. They fit me in at 6:40pm. I am not kidding. At least they didn't make me wait until Saturday or even Monday, they have been known to do that. I was a little perturbed they couldn't see me sooner, but my favorite doctor was working the after hours clinic so I didn't complain too much.

We went and saw our doctor and sure enough she confirmed that Meredith indeed had a double ear infection. She was thinking it may have been a residual infection from last month. Great! So she called in some antibiotics and numbing drops to the pharmacy, checked out my Noah real quick just to make sure his ears were clear and then sent us on our way with two lollipops!

We got to Target to fetch the prescription and Motrin and then headed to the checkout line. While we were in line Josh told me to turn around and grab Meredith who was standing right behind me in the middle of the aisle. I wasn't sure why he had a look of panic on his face, she was only 3 feet behind me. Target was busy though, very busy, lines were 10 deep, so I turned to tell her to stay by me and then I noticed why he had that look on his face.

Meredith was dancing in the middle of the main aisle with her pants and panties around her ankles singing......"See my heiny cakes....you can see my heiny cakes....heiny cakes....heiny cakes....heiny cakes!"

I ran over and started pulling her panties and pants back up and telling her that she couldn't show everyone in Target her heiny cakes. "Why momma?"......"Because you just can't baby"....."But I want to momma"....."later, not tonight!.....must be those ears making you do this"......"okay momma, later."

With that we pulled up the pants, checked out and headed to the car. I am assuming her ears are so clogged that her brain is not functioning normally, that or she is channeling her inner stripper. This was a first, I was shocked. Her audience at Target had a quick chuckle and thought it was cute.

The night life!

It was about 6pm, just turning dark. We turned off the country two lane road from our subdivision onto the only and main drag in town. About a 1/2 mile ahead were lights...red lights, street lights, a digital billboard, lights from various stores like Target, Wal-mart, Chick-fil-A, Friday's, Old Navy, Smoothie King, and so on and so forth.

"MOM IS THAT THE CITY LIGHTS?!?!?"

I have given up trying to explain to her that we don't really live in a city, but more a town, or a suburb of a missing city, because this really is not a city. When I say we are going to the city, I mean New Orleans. Somewhere that has interstates and overpasses and actual traffic....not just stop and go lights. But yes I still bitch about the traffic like everyone else here, I am becoming a small town girl.

"Yes baby, those are the city lights."

Squeals and laughter explode from the back of the van. She starts and Noah follows suit. Their laughing is infectious. The other cannot help laughing when one starts.

"Noah we are in the city! Look at the lights!"

More squeals and laughter and lots of happiness.....I love it. Josh and I look and one another and smile. Life is good.

Hey Mom!!!

Yeah I just wanted to let you know I got up here again.
YAY!!!!! And then he claps for himself proudly!

My little Noah is quite the handful.....mischievous, daring, adventurous and for all of those things every bit as lovable. The other day he was touching the dvd player for like the 8739th time, and I corrected him for like the 12,942th time and then for the first time I slapped his little hand and firmly said "No....No touch!" Not hard, but enough to mean "no touch". He looked at me like I had suddenly grown three heads and was speaking Greek. He then went right back to the dvd player. So I redirected him to another room and like usual that worked.

Today we went to lunch with Mimi. I took Noah's cup away after he decided to pull the straw out and make a mess. I firmly said no and put it way out of his reach. He stood up in his high chair, leaned over and slapped me on the hand and said "nah!" I guess he did take in more than I thought the other day, too bad it was very ineffective for both him and I. I didn't give in to the slap, he then stuck that bottom lip out and the waterworks began. Life is so hard.

Melting my heart....what she says

"Momma come lay with me"

"Baby I have to go clean up, you go to sleep now"

"But Momma I need some lovin'.....just a little"

"Move over love!"

*****

"Momma....when I grow up, I'm gonna be Peter Pan.....okay!"

*****

"Momma, you wanna come to my birthday party last week?"

"Sure I do!"

"Great!"

*****

"Oh Noah man you are such a ham!"

"No Momma.....Noah's a boy!"

*****

"Momma, is Peter Pan a boy?"

"He sure is"

"Well one day when he grows up, he gonna be a girl"

In hiding?

Internets: Hey Mandi where have you been?

Me: Oh me, no where

Internets: Good we were thinking you possibly had broken all ten of your fingers and couldn't type since you haven't blogged in like forever.....I mean you didn't even take such a long break when you had that second tike!

Me: Yeah, I know. See I've been busy with work, but I already mentioned that and oh I put an offer in on a house and listed mine with a realtor. Yep I did, even in this crazy real estate market, because I just want to torture myself having to go through an "average of 120 days" of getting it ready for showings with two tiny tikes underfoot. Yep, that's why! It has nothing to do with finding my dream house, well Josh and I's dream house. Uh-huh we sure did!

So Internets wish us luck and join me on this wild ride of house selling. Josh and I have never done this. We are real estate virgins(this word will get lots of creepy visitors to the site....please leave!) Anyway we have never sold a house before and only bought once, so we definitely need some luck and sell your house vibes. We have 60 days......it will be a long two months or perhaps a very quick two months it depends on which side of the coin you look at!

An embarrasing work at home mom moment

As most of you know I own a stationery business and do stationery out of my home. If you don't know, you should and you should check it out....see how I shamelessly put a plug in for myself. Anyway I do, I work from home. I often take orders over the Internet and ship them out, but I also do lots of local business too. In which case customers have to come and pick up the stationery.

This week I have been exceptionally busy, don't get me wrong busy is good. I have had lots of orders, lots of big orders and managing a household and two tikes and the business can sometimes be a challenge. Today I had to really get things done, not a great day for my printer to screw up, but that is the way it normally goes though.

Anyway I sent the tikes to Mimi's so I could really get things accomplished. So I am in my pj's, no bra, haven't yet brushed my hair or teeth. In fact I haven't even looked in the mirror. What can I say....I am in my typical stay at home business woman's attire. I look a mess, there you go I said it.

I am enjoying my peace and quiet and cutting stationery when the doorbell rings. I knew I had several customers coming by to pick up stationery, but I was pretty sure it was this evening. So I thought it was maybe someone selling something or a UPS man needing a signature. I answer it and it is a nice looking young man who tells me his name....let's say Jim.

"Hi I'm Jim"

I gave him a pretty puzzled look, because he came back with...

"Jim Smith"

My look was about the same, by this point old Jim thought I was a nutcase I am sure.

"Yeah, Jim Smith, here to pick up the stationery!"

I think Mr. Smith was thrilled when the light switch finally went off in my head....yes....I got it now. We have only been emailing back and forth for a week now....I should know your name. I rushed over to get his stationery that was ready and waiting for him and ran it back to him, covering my bra-less chest with my arms.....yes way to draw attention to oneself.

So to Jim and his wife in case you are reading this....sorry. I am not an airhead....just a mom....a busy mom, but isn't the stationery nice?

Trying to grow up too fast - what she says

"Where do you guys want to go to lunch today"

Mimi says..."I don't care"

"Well if you don't pick we will wind up at McDonald's"

"MOM I wanna go to Fox's and have pizza"

"Okay then....Fox's good for you mom"

Mimi says... "What about Oscar's Meredith"

"Oscar THE GROUCH?"

Mimi says... "No Oscar's the mexican....you can get a chicken enchilada"

"I no want a chicken empalada....I want Fox's....I want pizza"

"Mom do you mind Fox's?"

Mimi says... "No that's fine"

"Meredith are you sure you don't want Oscars?"

"No, I want Fox's.....I no matter.....I no matter mom"

"It doesn't matter baby?"

"Yeah....I no matter"

"So do you want a taco at Oscars?"

"No mom....I WANT Fox's....I no matter"

Her first crush

"Momma....I LOVE Peter!"

"You do!"

"Yes, he is my friend boy!"

Every girl loves Peter Pan once upon a time!

A real man's man

Noah has a big sister......it is a fact of life. And due to this fact there are pink tutus, pink princess dresses, pink purses, tiaras and various other girly things lying around all the time. It is inevitable that one of Noah's favorite things to do is play dress up. Here he is the dress-up drawer.....

Hmmmm, what goes with this sparkly tiara?Awe, this earring goes perfectly!
I may not be able to point to my eyes, nose or ears on command, but I know where to put this earring.

Mom....please put down the camera and help me put my earring on dammit! -- Dont' you love the pink paci! Somewhere in blogland, Jeff Fitzgerald is cringing as he reads this - he has a sister it was bound to happen!

And to be honest, Noah has been dressing up for quit some time! He's also loved pink for quite awhile.

And while I was looking for those photos I came across this one, which describes Noah right now to a tee! It's okay mom, I'm not doing anything....you just go on about your business and don't worry about me at all.

And this one made me smile! Look at my happy baby boy! His smile is infectious! He makes me want at least 2 more!

When you are a mother, sometimes you eat your words

One of the few things I have learned about motherhood is to never say never when it comes to your children. If you do....you WILL inevitably eat your words. I don't make statements like... "my children will never....", "I will never do ..... for my children", or any other sentence with the words children and never anymore. Yes I have eaten my words....probably more than once, but last night I ate them big time!

When I was pregnant with Meredith we didn't think we were going to find out the sex so I did a really generic nursery (yellows and greens). I know not very creative or chic like this one, but cute. I also did that nursery on a budget, a resident's budget if you will. My mom bought the crib, the changing table was $25 from a baby store that was on clearance and the dresser was a built in so all Josh and I did was buy the bedding, the rug and the chair. I know, we did spend some money, but no where near what I did with Noah's nursery and Meredith's big girl room.

When my baby turned 17 months she moved into her big girl bed. She has always loved it, never gotten out of it, still doesn't get out of it and I would say transitioned beautifully from day one. So when we bought her "big girl" furniture I went all out and went all out for her bedding too. I had custom bedding, drapes, a shower curtain and window seat made. I spent a small fortune....now I realize this was not the wisest thing to do. However I chose a pattern that wasn't too babyish and could grow with her. That way I wouldn't have to change it again until she was like 10. I am laughing at myself as I type this.

Yes I even did the bathroom to match....a glutton for punishment.

When we discussed the possibility of moving I told Meredith if we moved she could have a pink room. Did I mention my child loves pink? Well she didn't quite get that we aren't moving and so the room stays purple idea. All she heard was PINK ROOM GET! So I told her for her birthday I would make her room pink and make it a princess room. This really made her happy. She has been talking about it for weeks. "Mommy I'm getting a pink princess room?"

Like all 3 year olds she has been brainwashed by Disney and now lives, breathes and eats all things pink, princesses and sparkly. It really is overkill. I extremely dislike Disney. UGH. So when I said Meredith could have a pink princess room I was thinking of this....of course the walls would be pink instead of green, but you get the idea.....

Because no way was my child getting a cartoonish type of bed spread with Disney princesses. I hate those. Don't get me wrong they work fine if you like them, but me.... I have a strange aversion to them and that is where eating my words came in. When I was picking out the fabric for her big girl bedding and she was too little to have an opinion I said...."My child will NEVER have a Disney princess bed spread." Yep, that is what I pretty much said, and for Noah you can insert....batman....spiderman....cars...etc. I don't mind the cute things with cars/trucks on them or fairies/crowns, but the cartoonish ones with the actual characters just make me want to break out in hives.

So yesterday I took my two tikes to Target to get a $16 dry erase calendar. I decided to browse the kids bedding to see if they sold canopies to put in the princess room I dreamed of. We started off by the bathroom stuff and ran into the princess shower curtain, towels, rugs, toothbrush holder and all the other over priced crap. My daughter went nuts.

"OH MY GOSH MOMMA.....LOOK AT DA PRINCESSES! It's for my room?!?!?"

And with that she started shoving it in the basket. So I obliged. I hadn't originally planned on redoing her custom bathroom, but what the hell. I had sold a lot of stationery this month and it was for her birthday.

Then we headed to the bedding aisle to see about the canopy and she saw this.....

Holy mother of God, she had just hit the princess jackpot. I have never seen a 2 year old so happy. Her whole little body lit up and started shaking with excitement and that was it. She was on a princess high that even I couldn't bring down when I refused to let her put it in the basket. She grabbed the twin comforter and cradled it to her body while shrieking in delight and started heading to the check out line. I priced it $32.99. Much cheaper than the pottery barn one I had my heart set on, but this was the one she loved. I thought about letting her getting for .02 seconds and then I told her no. I grabbed the matching sheet set off the shelf and told her she could get that instead. She didn't get discouraged or upset, she simply told me....."No momma, I get dis one for my pink room and my pink bed. I get dis one. I LOVE dis one."

I knew I was now competing with the damn princesses. Damn Aurora in all her pink glory....go ahead and brainwash my kid into thinking she needs all this pink stuff.....her room is a beautiful shade of purple....Why hasn't Disney made a purple princess yet?

So I told her..."Meredith we aren't getting that, it is ugly. Momma picked out a different princess one for you. We will get the sheets and paint your room pink and get the stuff for your bathroom, but we are putting that back." Her heart literally broke right there on the aisle in Target. And I thought to myself, let the girl get what she wants this is her room not yours. And so I did. I ate my words. My daughter has a princess bed. And I am okay with it. Although I am still in love with this one from pottery barn.

When we got home from school today her room was all finished. The first thing she did was run up the stairs to see it. She was in awe. It was the most beautiful things she had truly ever laid eyes on in her mind. She looked at me and said...."See momma, it's not ugly....it's beautiful!"

I have learned not to call anything she loves ugly ever again. And now her room and bathroom look like this. In two weeks, I will paint he damn room pink and I will lay in bed every night wanting to order that damn pottery barn bedding, but I won't. This is her dream room, not mine.

little noah

Dear Noah,

It's been a while since I have given an update on you. You are my busy bee. You keep me on my toes and running around. You are the happiest, sweetest baby around. You will go to just about anyone to give loving to, but are definitely a momma's boy. I love that. I can fuss or correct you and you just flash a sweet smile my way and the world is right. It takes a lot to correct you because of this and most days you get away with it all.

You still won't walk. You have walked multiple times unassisted, but still prefer to crawl or be carried. Except for when we are in public places like the library, Target, the grocery. Then you definitely want to get down and go, but you can't because you refuse to walk. Last night I said you may actually crawl to college, your Poppa thought that was hilarious and right on the money.

You are a climber, you can climb into and out of my bed, which is 3 1/2 feet or more off the ground. Your sister still has trouble getting in sometimes. You can climb onto your train table to play with your light switch. You climb on your little people garage and sit on top like it is your throne. You can climb up and back down all 18 steps.

You are very verbal. You make your wants and needs known. You say "bye-bye, dada, mama, uh-oh, bad girl & good girl (only to the dogs), sucka, and many many more things. You have no problem communicating at all. You love to talk to your Mimi on the phone.

You love to play outside, you climb up the ramp on the play set and come barreling down the top slide by yourself head first. You are fearless, which has me scared to death. You have now figured how to stand up, up top turn around and come down backwards on your belly, this too gives me a heart attack. I stand at the bottom ready to run to the side in case you fall. I don't go to the top with you anymore, because you will barrel down the slide even if no one is there to catch you at the bottom. The first time you did this I went after you holding on to your leg and we both slid down. We fell at the bottom on to the ground and you killed yourself laughing. My sweet boy. You also love to ride the pink jeep in the driveway. You drive it better than your big sister, she is still afraid of it. Not you, we have to keep you in the driveway or you would be off to Target.

Your appetite has increased dramatically. You are going to eat me out of house and home. You will eat anything and lots of it, as long as it is homemade. You don't care for take out or restaurants that much. You hate anything frozen or out of a can like skettie o's. You love my meatballs, meatloaf, rice and gravy, spaghetti, pork chops. Just about anything I make you will inhale. Kraft macaroni, you could throw it away without touching, homemade mac and cheese you devour. I cook more now because of you!

You are not quite my snuggly boy you once were. When your eyes are open you want to go. You only snuggle with me early in the mornings, otherwise you are busy hitting the road. You try very hard to do things independently like brush your hair and teeth. You try very hard to put your own shoes on, you get mad when you can't. It is really sweet.

You also love all things pink. I think this is from your sister, maybe you secretly like to torment her. You love to put on her shoes, her dress up, carry her pink purse, use her pink heels, cook in her pink kitchen, ride in the pink jeep and carry her pink babies. I'm okay with this and so is your dad.....we know you are all boy.

You are boy through and through, you are determined to get what you want. You don't give up. You don't care if you are messy, crawling through wet and muddy grass does not deter you. You always find a way to make a mess before we head out the house. You are boy through and through.

I keep calling you my baby..... you are definitely my baby, but I guess you are starting to be a toddler too. You are growing up so fast. I just love you to pieces my little guy!

Love,
momma

It's part of the job

So there is a situation of sorts going on here in our town that has made my insides churn and literally made me sick. It has brought so much emotion forth in me and made me want to put my tikes in bubbles and never let them see the light of day so they will never be hurt. I realize that this solution is not realistic nor is it what I really want. I want them to grow up free of dangers, illnesses, predators and anything scary. That is also not realistic, so I am going to just do the best job I can and pray for the best outcome.

I think my number one job as a parent is to love my children, to be there for them, to be honest with them and to keep an open line of communication at all times. No matter what choices they make or the roads they take, I will always love them and be there for them, that is my number one responsiblity. I also have to instill moral values in them, good values, values I was taught and raised with. I need to teach them to value life, all life. Their own, their neighbors, their families. I want to teach them right and wrong. That sometimes doing the right thing is the hard thing and the wrong thing is much easier, but that the right thing is the one that counts and they will be rewarded for one day. I want to teach them to dream, but at some point you have to start trying to achieve those dreams. Dreams are great, but they wont' pay the bills or buy you a new car. A person who only dreams and never goes after it, is just as bad as someone who settles and never dreams.

I want to teach them that every action has a consequence or a reaction. That these consequences and reactions are not always good, but necessary. I want to teach them that they will not always make the good choice or decision, but the most important thing is to learn from this bad choice and move forward with a lesson learned. I want them to know the world is a dangerous place, full of dangerous people. That the dangerous people don't always seem dangerous. I want them to listen to that little voice in their head, it is often correct.

I want to teach them to respect themselves first and foremost because if they don't do that, no one else will respect them either. I want them to respect their elders and their peers, even when they may not deserve their respect. I want them to be happy, to smile, to enjoy the little things in life. I want them to live life to the fullest and not waste one minute of this precious time here.

I want to cuddle them and protect them, but since one day they will be on their own and independent I want to give them the tools and knowledge to protect themselves. Even at the tender ages of 1 and 2, I'm going to start doing that. It is never to early to do that and you should to.

Chaos is the new norm

On Saturday morning we awoke pretty late....9am and decided to hit the open highway. Our cute little cousin Connor was having his first birthday back home in Louisiana and we were up for the adventure. We had approximately 3 hours to get ready, get packed and get on the road to have enough time to stop and grab fast food and make it to the party on time. We were out the house by 10 after 12, but what happened in those three hours were enough to make one's head spin.

We got everyone up and changed and started breakfast. Josh made pancakes, and the kids devoured them, so did Brownie and Maddie. Yes, Maddie was staying with us since my mom and dad were out of town. She is also a chocolate lab and takes up as much room as Brownie in the bed....thankfully she likes to sleep with Meredith when she is here.

Josh, who was feeling like complete shit was game for the trip and we were restless and ready to get out the house. We started getting everyone showers and dressing. Everyone was feeling better, but we still all had some coughing and runny noses going on. I attributed Meredith's less than stellar attitude to that simple fact. We also realized that in the weeks of sickness we weren't sure when the poor baby had went to the bathroom last and with that brought lots of tears, yelling, screaming and fighting trying to get her to go. Eventually we gave up and decided to deal with that issue when we got home, what's one more day right. (For the record she went after she did a little running at the party and all is better now).

Noah was also very cranky because he was up all night and ready for his one nap of the day. Instead of putting him down before we left, I kept him up hoping he would sleep the whole car ride. He thanked me immensely for this genius plan by crying and screaming and cursing me under his breath. When the boy wants to sleep, he wants to sleep, I will eventually catch on. He showed me what he thought about my plan by refusing to sleep until we were almost there.

We then got everyone dressed and ready only to have Noah find an open Hershey bar and get chocolate all over his shirt. I then chased him around with one of the stain stick pens and you know it really didn't do much for his chocolate stain. He was very curious as to what I was doing with it on his shirt collar that he decided to suck on his shirt to get a taste when I was finished. He is okay so I am going out on a limb to say it is nontoxic, even if the pen says otherwise. I realized that raising boys was very different than raising girls, Noah is always a mess by the time we get out the house and he is so okay with it. It is a mission that he is determined to accomplish.

Brownie decided she was rather upset we would be leaving her home all day alone and needed some attention. She decided to throw up in three different rooms, I guess she didn't think those pancakes were that great. Josh got the duty of cleaning up vomit, while I finished getting dressed. After my stain removal with Noah and dressing Meredith, I realized my hair had dried on it's own and had a nice wave look and went with it. My mom complimented my hair at the party, I didn't tell her I spent exactly .2 seconds on it, the time it took to remove the towel from my head after the shower and not another thing.

As we were about 30 minutes from take off, I realized that Noah was playing quietly in my bathroom. I went in to find he had broken my hot pink bottle of OPI nail polish and was in fact turning himself pink. He painted his face, his hands, my tile, the grout, but miraculously NONE of his clothes were pink and stained with nail polish. I know WHAT THE HELL! The tike is a genius, how did he do that? The bottle was broken and he was playing in the middle of glass and a bright pink pool of nail polish, and very eloquently painting his face and hands and everything else pink. Josh and I are so winning the Parent of the Year award for this one!

I yelled to Josh who came in to help with the situation. I wasn't sure if I could put nail polish remover on his skin or on his face. I did, I figured what damage the stain remover pen didn't do the finger nail polish remover would.....kidding....SO KIDDING. I only used a quick dab on his hand and when it proved fruitless because he had so many different coats on him I gave up and let him be pink for the day. His sister was pissed. I know life is unfair, she has only been wanting to be pink for months now and I let Noah be pink and not her.

After we cleaned the tike, the grout, the tile and finished getting ourselves dressed we got in the car. We then took a deep breath, said some choice words and then went back inside 10+ times to get everything we forgot. We realized that time was up and we were on our way, leaving whatever we didn't have behind. We made it to the party on time, it was fun, we saw our family and infected them all with this nasty bug. They will be thanking us next week. A few people asked if I spiked Noah's hair like that on purpose and why he was pink, I ignored them.

Life never goes as planned anymore, but that's okay. Josh and I have mastered adapting and overcoming. It is our new philosophy on life. One day at a time, one disaster at a time, one thirty minute interval at a time. After the party we decided to reward ourselves for a job well done and hit a favorite local restaurant. We sat there looking at one another and talking about how lucky we were and how grand life is and how good our kids were. They were playing with their food and drink quietly in their chair and we were thinking, life doesn't get much better than this. We then loaded up the car and hit the road for our long ride home. They were tired and exhausted and cried the last 30 minutes of our trip, we still thought we were lucky, we were just ready to fast forward this thirty minute interval and get home.

Like Meredith said, it was a good day. Yes a very good, ordinary, chaotic day....that's our life and we embrace it!

The end....finally

At the end of two hellish weeks of sickness I can say.....we are feeling better. Hallelujah! However Josh isn't feeling so hot.

In honor of our feeling better status we hit Target, went out to lunch, hit the ginormous play structure in the back yard, rode our ride on toys in the driveway, went out to dinner, went to the mall and now are all in our own beds. Now I am off to bed, let's hope we all sleep soundly tonight.

Tickled pink....what she says

"mom can you make me pink?"

"what?"

"I wanna be pink mom"

"why?"

"because I no want to be dis color no more, I wanna be pink"

"what color are you?"

"ummm dis color.....ummm white.....but I want to be pink"

"bug I can't make you pink, you just have to be this color and it is really close to pink."

"NO IT'S NOT!" Pinkalicious is pink....I wanna be pink....make me pink mom please"

DAMN you Pinkalicious! Damn you!

Those were pink cupcakes we made in an honest effort to turn her pink....it didn't work. She was crushed. DAMN you again Pinkalicious. As a compromise I am going to paint her room pink and redo it for her birthday....she is thrilled....I kid you not!

I told Josh since Meredith is outgrowing her clothes and will inevitably need new spring & summer clothes (because spring is summer here), I am making sure they are all pink. Everything will be pink. In fact I may just buy 7 of the same outfits in pink and wash and rotate. I am sick of the battle of only wearing pink. We have two pairs of pink sweat pants and if they are clean you can bet that is what we are wearing and if I don't buy pink summer clothes she will without a doubt throw massive fits to wear her pink sweatpants in the summer. And those pants are paried with one of her 3 pink shirts, her pink shoes, pink socks if we can find them and her pink snow hat if I let. Yes, the child really wants to be pink....damn you Pinkalicious!

Sweet kisses for his momma!

Today it was just Noah and I hanging out in the living room. His big sister was upstairs sleeping so he had me all to himself. Maybe that is why he only napped for 45 minutes. So we were playing and he was practicing walking and trying to get into a standing position on his own and then he walked over to me smacking his lips while looking up to me. I leaned down and he plopped the biggest open mouth kiss right on my lips. Then he hugged me and said "Awwww". Talk about melt a momma's heart.

After this he did it again, but this time he said "Bye-bye Ma-ma". I guess he was trying to get back to Mimi's house. It was a sweet gesture though, at least he wanted to give me a big kiss before he left.

This evening Carrie, our babysitter (who is a Godsend), offered to take Meredith to dinner at Chuck-e-cheese to get her out the house and give Josh and I a break. She was so excited when Carrie got here, she ran right to her and jumped into her arms. They quickly told us goodbye and headed out the door. With that Noah gave me another hug and told me "bye-bye" and then pointed to go out the door with Carrie and Meredith. He started to cry when I told him he wasn't going. He truly was broken hearted. Thankfully Mimi and Papa arrived at the same time to drop off snack for Meredith's school tomorrow. He was happy to just be held by Mimi instead.

Noah, Josh and I then had a quiet evening full of fever, sneezes, runny noses and a delicious dinner brought by a good friend.

Thanks Neely and Carrie - I appreciate the help tonight!

Yesterday....Today....Tomorrow

Last night my mom took both of my tikes home with her. I have to say I missed them dearly. I worried about my Noah, he feels like complete crap, I know....I feel the same way. I worried he wouldn't sleep and would miss me. I worried that I was being a terrible mother for not caring for him when he was ill. However I was ill as well. Very ill, in fact I can't remember feeling this bad before. My congestion is so bad even with all those meds, that at times I truly feel like my head may explode. Can you imagine how my poor Noah must feel? I know....heart braking.


However they went home with Mimi and I knew that Mimi would hold him all night if needed and snuggle him and take care of him like her own. Yes, that I was not worried about. So he and Meredith went and they had dinner and spent the night. I laid in bed feeling like death all night. I tossed and turned and thought about how miserable I felt and how I couldn't breathe and how I envied everyone I knew who was feeling well. I did, sorry.


This morning I woke up after about 6 hours of consecutive sleep. Maybe it was 5, but it was the most sleep I have had consecutively in over a week. So I woke up and it was weird.....I didn't have to get two kids up, I didn't have to make breakfast or feed anyone. I only had my own nose to wipe. The only thing I really have to do right now is put this computer down, get up take a shower, brush my teeth and perhaps get dressed. And really I don't even have to do that. Well I do have to before 10am when the kids get home if I want to do it uninterrupted.


And as I sit here here typing this I honestly can't remember what it was like to only have to take care of myself in the mornings. I haven't even been a mother for a full 3 years yet, but at the same time I can't remember what my life was like before they arrived. I feel like I have known and loved these tikes my whole life.


This morning I realized that life changes. Quickly. Tomorrow will never be like today. And even though we may look back on days with fondness, I hope we can look to tomorrow with hope. I believe that the President will lead this nation with his children in mind, with my children in mind, with your children in mind. I hope that he makes this world better for them, that is all I want President Obama. Let's make it happen.

A quick update...

So no post today because I feel like I am on the verge of death. I cannot remember the last time I felt this bad.....having a c-section was much easier.

Meredith is feeling better, she isn't her self yet, but I am betting by tomorrow will be pretty close to it. Unfortunately Noah is not. Poor little guy, he is so miserable, yet he is still smiling and won't stop or even slow down. This makes him feel worse, so it is a vicious cycle for the poor little guy, but he keeps smiling. He is even walking a little.....a very little.....while he isn't feeling well. I am betting when we are better he will be walking all over. Just say some prayers that better comes sooner than later.

I hate feeling like crap, but I really hate that my kids feel this way to and that there isn't much I can do about it. Thank goodness Mimi was around today and took them both home tonight. Maybe the extra rest will have me feeling better tomorrow and I will be back on my game. Good night all!

The bug has bit us again

Would it be so hard to believe that my children are sick again? Probably not huh? Well they are, or we are. Yes, this time I have whatever nasty bug is going around. Meredith started with it last Tuesday, she is just starting to climb the hill of feeling normal. She still has a nasty cough and bilateral ear infections, but she is on the mend.

Noah and I are a different story. Noah started with it Friday and I started with it yesterday. According to the length of time Meredith had it, Noah and I are in for the long haul. Today Josh took off of work to stay home with us. Yes, it is that bad. Fever, chills, coughing, sneezing, aching and there is no "so you can rest medicine." Trust me I have tried it all. They are all full of shit.

I hate being sick, mainly because I feel so helpless. I feel like death so trying to comfort them is so hard. However I can fully appreciate their bad moods, sleepless nights, and frustrating cries. Yes, I feel like crying myself. Thank goodness Josh is around, without him today I would be up a creek without a paddle. And really if mommy is too sick to care for you, who is next best in line.....daddy of course. I just hope he is spared.

Now I am back to bed to try to rest. Here is hoping we are all back to normal soon, or close to normal.

An age requirement

There are lots of things that require being a certain age to be able to do them in this house. They aren't necessarily bad things, but things that my kids will have to be a certain age to do. Like dating, driving, going out, curfews and so on. And those are a long way off and thankfully Josh and I have time to decide at what age that will be. And then there are some things that are going to come sooner like soft drinks, gum, sleepovers at friend's houses and son on. I never really thought about how I would be one of the people who decided when these things would happen.

Like gum, I made a rule one day because I was chewing gum and Meredith wanted some. Well at two I wasn't going to give her gum. I was fully aware that the gum would wind up in her hair, on her clothes and probably all over my house. So I made up a "rule" one day in the quick. You have to be 5 to chew gum. Then the other rules just followed suit. Like coke, "mom can I have some coke?" Nope you have to be 5 to drink coke.

Then there are rules that are set that I can't change. Like receiving communion at church. She watches each week very inquisitively. Each week she asks us what it is? What do we do with it? Why can't she have some? One day it was....

"Mom I want to eat that too."

I explained to her that you had to make your first communion before you could have communion. And that was when you were in second grade. And that communion was really Jesus and you had to be ready to receive Jesus. She looked at me like I was crazy. Clearly Jesus was the man on the altar talking, we were not eating him, we were eating "bread." Well this explanation didn't really fly, it confused her. She didn't know what communion was or second grade, but she totally got it when I told her she had to be 7. The wheels in her head were spinning now, I was talking in a language she fully understood. In fact last week when we sat down in church she looked at me and said....

"momma, I'm 7 today"

"umm, no baby you are 2 remember"

"no momma today I am 7, today I gonna get da bread"

See how quick she is. She is a fast thinker and is great with numbers. Really great, in fact she often adds and subtracts without knowing what she is doing. No wonder she got this whole age thing down pat.

Well this morning she is still under the weather. We were laying in bed and I asked her if there was anything she needed. She looks so pitiful right now I would give her the world if she asked.

"Baby do you need anything?"

"Some water momma"

"Are you sure? Do you want some lemonade or (thinking really fast about what else we have) or...... coke?"

her eyes lit up and she smiled from ear to ear.....I was starting to regret that offer, what if she took me up on it and then I had a wired, sick two year old..... and then she looked at me and with the biggest grin said....
"Silly momma you have to be 5 to have coke....I'm only 2!"

Oh how I love my little Meredith. She is such a smart cookie. And so we are laying in bed...I am drinking a coke and my two year old is happily drinking water.

Because this deserves a post of it's very own....

Noah DID IT! He took 6 steps on his own. He stood up holding on to his trusty ottoman and grabbed the bag of baby wipes and then walked.....unassisted.....taking 6 huge steps to the coffee table while holding his bag of baby wipes!

I am amazed and in awe. I started thinking this kid may never walk. He has no desire to and doesn't even really try. And he just stood up and did it. In fact he has never stood on his own, much less walk. I am so proud of you Noah man. I think my world is about to get a whole lot busier.

Congrats mommy's little man! I am very proud of you, you are getting to be such a big boy!

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.....a fever

"Mommy I no feel good" (cough, cough)

"What's wrong baby?"

"Mommy I have a feva"

"You do, where?"

"Right here" pointing to the right side of her forehead

"You do feel warm, let's go get the thermometer"

after confirming the diagnosis with the trusty ear thermometer

"Okay let's get some Tylenol to get rid of that fever and no school today"

"NO MOMMA, NO TYLENOL.....I wanna keep my feva!"

A force to be reckoned with...

This picture describes my little man perfectly. He is everywhere, all over, unstoppable! He is climbing on things I never thought he would. He is lunging head first down 14 feet tall slides. He is danger with a capital D! In fact me and Meredith's favorite saying these days is "Danger! Danger Will Robinson!" I say this all day long and yet the constant falls and tumbles do not deter this little monkey.

Today he started something new. He went to his first day of "Just Moving" Mommy and Me. It is a step up from the baby class and all of the kids in it except for mine are walking. Noah looked at all the kids walking today and decided to try it out. He stood on 3 separate occasions all by himself. He was all over, his lack of walking did not slow him down, he was determined to do everything all the other kids were doing, including walking on the balance beam.

He also made two little girls cry today. I guess one day he will be a heart breaker. He decided to be the most lovable guy in the room and hugged on all the other mommas. Two little girls did not think this was very nice and got very jealous when Noah plopped his bottom on their momma's laps and then turned to love on them. They took one look at Noah on their momma's laps and started crying huge crocodile tears. Noah thought it was hilarious, he made no attempt to move even when the little girls tried to pull him away.

Yes, my mam is always into something, but he always has a huge smile on his face and a great big hug and kiss for you! Oh how I love my little boy!

First day on the job

On the weekends, Josh frequently goes into the hospital to round, even when he isn't on call. Talk about a full time job. This weekend, he had no patients in the ICU and none that had any icky germs that he knew of to spread onto my tike, so she went with him to round. It was her first day at "wurk". She couldn't wait to go to work with her daddy, she was so excited and I think he was extremely proud as well. She even brought her doctor kit along with her. Here she is showing off her scrubs.

And this is so no one mistakes her as a nurse, she was very adamant about being Dr. Meredith. My baby girl is getting so big! I want to just hold her and rock her and keep her a baby for a few more years. She truly is a first child....so ambitious, so ready to go, so ready to soar.

Where have I been?

Well in a nutshell I have completely lost my mind. Truly. In case you don't do facebook or heard through the grapevine, Josh and I have decided to move. Not out of our quaint little town in southern Mississippi, but to a different neighborhood. In fact we made an offer, it didn't all pan out, which is fine....however it finally lit the match under our asses to get the ball rolling. Really who can buy or build without selling what they have first? So with that our home is for sale. If you are interested email me. If you know someone interested email me too. If you just want to tell me what a crazy, ridiculous thing this is to do, get in line behind my dad and again email me. No my dad hasn't said this is crazy, but I'm betting he might think it is.

Yes my house is huge and gorgeous and everything I ever dreamed it would be. If I could pick it up and move it into the neighborhood I want it in, life would be perfect. So that is where I've been. I showed my house once this week and it took everything right out of me. I can't imagine doing that for months, so wish us luck and then wish us luck in finding a new house.

I'll be back, we had a busy weekend and I have pics to share.

I'm guessing this is just the beginning

On any given day if you swing by my house you will inevitably hear.....

"NO! NO! MOMMMMM NOAH TOOK MY (insert random pink girl toy here)"

"MOMMMMMM HELP MEEEE!"

And then you will walk into the room where the reverberating screams are coming from and see Noah playing with the said toy while bearing a grin from ear to ear.

In the past few weeks this is happening more and more. And Noah could care less about how loud his sister screams or how big her tears are. He just goes on about his merry way and will produce his own scream of equal intensity until his sister gives him the pink, shiny toy he covets.

My kids are as different as night and day. Meredith is such a rule follower. She loses it if things aren't just so. She craves her routine and likes things the way they are supposed to be. The sun always rises in the west and sets in the east. That is my girl. Noah is the total opposite. He could care less about the word no, he could care less how many times you remove him from something or take something away. His determination is relentless, but my boy so is mine and I will instill rules in your life....I promise. You can alter his schedule and he will adapt with a smile. Very little rocks his world.

These very different qualities are what fuels these battles that have only just begun. I am sure I will referee and moderate them for years to come. I really didn't expect it to start this early, nor did I expect the screaming to be so loud. I was hoping they would be instant buddies and never utter a mean word to one another, just like me and my sister.....right mom.

From now on though Santa will only bring pink, sparkly, girly toys for them both. The loads of dump trucks and blocks go untouched. But the baby dolls, strollers, makeup kit, pink kitchen, pink microphone and cd player and dress up are hot commodities around here. What can I say?

A day in the life.....

Tonight Josh was on the phone with a long time friend and Meredith is in bed reading.

"Hello....Hey Jon Shaw! What's going on?"


through the baby monitor
"jibber....jabber.....jibber jabber...."


"I've been good and you?"


through the baby monitor
"HEY DAD....ARE YOU TALKING TO ME? ARE YOU TALKING TO ME, DAD?"


"Hey yeah.....yadayadayada...."


through the baby monitor
"BECAUSE IF YOU ARE TALKING TO ME DAD....I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"


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Noah has taken to carrying around his sister's baby doll while hugging it tightly and laying his head on the baby's shoulder while patting her back saying...."Awwwwe!"


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Because clearly Tupperware drawers were meant to be emptied and sat in by little boys!

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And if you want to keep all of your fingers and sanity you WILL NOT throw away a finished cup of yo baby yogurt when the baby wants more. This will result in high pitched, shrilling screams that will leave your head spinning and cause years of therapy for both of you.


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It doesn't matter if you have a million things that have to be done....naps are purely negotiable.

Do you need the keys?

Today me and my tikes met Katey and her tikes for lunch. We didn't do your ordinary Chick-fil-a or McDonald's. No, we went for sushi. I picked the place and even though I was craving it and we all know how sushi cravings are.....irresistable.....it wasn't really a place to bring 4 children all under the age of 4. Yes, we obviously smoke crack on the weekends, that is the only really viable excuse for torturing ourselves like this. Seriously they were very good. Noah and Burke chowed down, they ate anything that didn't eat them first. Meredith and Adalyn ate a little, but mainly picked. Meredith decided to eat all the snow crab out of my rolls, which really made them less appetizing to me, but whatever I didn't let her eat at chick-fil-a, so I guess that's fair.

While we were waiting Meredith and Adalyn were practicing with their chopsticks. They actually did pretty good with them. Then all of a sudden their two heads were together making a plan. Meredith then piped up....

"Mom, me and Adalyn are going to Chick-fil-a.....okay"

Katey and I just looked at one another and then she offered for them to drive her car there. No problem at all. They are only 2 and 3, what are we going to do with them when they are 15 & 16?

I have a really good excuse

Yes I didn't blog on the first day of 2009, I am such a bad blogger. But I do have a great excuse, I couldn't find my computer because I was buried under this....

You maybe able to see my husband in the back and littlest tike on the floor. Yes we are literally being buried under all of our crap in our own home. Why? Because I plain old can't take it anymore. I am tired of having to duck and run for cover anytime you open a cabinet or closet. I am tired of stepping on toys and God knows what else. I am sick and tired and really because we have been toying with the idea of moving to a different home so I have to get things ready in case.

So that is where I have been. That and we have a house guest that we are trying not to strangle....I mean entertain. Yes my father-in-law is visiting since we did not make yet another trip to Memphis. I wasn't going to say anything, because I am fairly certain none of you would believe it, but I have a friend who can vouch for me since she heard me on the phone with the ENT's office calling in more meds for the ear infection that just won't go away. So once again we didn't make Memphis.....I know big surprise.

Yes the New Year arrived and I am starting off with a bang, in case you missed my big exciting New Years post listing my new year's resolution I will tell you, it was all about getting in shape. I am in the process of getting my house in shape. I hate clutter and thought we would start the year off with a bang, by going room to room, closet to closet and getting rid of shit. Josh has made a truck load to goodwill, another to the dump and there is another waiting to go to Goodwill tomorrow. And when I say truckload I mean truckload, we borrowed my dad's truck and filled up the bed an cab of the truck. Yes we still have lots more to get rid of too.

However tonight I am sitting down a little depressed and I have to say my excitement over this new cleansing process is being knocked out of me, because when I look around my house is still utterly a mess. I have a long way to go. I am about 2/3rds of the way through, but man does it look a bomb went off in here. The upstairs is finally starting to take shape though perhaps I should just camp out there for the next few days and let Josh finish the job. Yes it is a process and one that will hopefully be over by Sunday.

So while I get back to work or to bed so I can work again in the morning I thought I would leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from Christmas. I mean with two sick kids, an emergency room trip and countless calls and visits to the ENT there really is no reason it has taken me this long to get the dag gum pictures up right? So here are a few of my favorites and maybe I will post more if I can ever fine my computer again.

Christmas Eve at Mimi's....look at me rocking my skinny jeans.




Sweet tea vodka, thanks Carrie for telling me about this stuff, it is great in lemonade. Me and my dad had a few.


I swear we did not give Noah any. He was toking it up on chicken salad sandwiches. My boy likes to eat, just like his sister.

They even got to hang out with cousin Lily, awe we missed Lily

Then we went home to set out cookies for Santa and that is when all hell broke loose. Here is Noah taking a brief reprieve from screaming and thinking about passing out. I am guessing it is near 2am in this pic. Maybe later, who the hell knows, we did find time to find a camera and take a pic because Noah man I never wanted you to forget that you couldn't wait until morning to see your loot on your 2nd Christmas.

And the loot, yes there was plenty of loot. Either my kids were very good this year or Santa felt really sorry for all the screaming going on my house that night due to an ear infection. Either way my kids and I are truly blessed.

And in true Meredith fashion, she woke up and there was a shit load of toys and all she wanted to do was make sure we had gathered up all 100 of the $0.99 candy canes. That's my girl.

Then we made her rush to open a few gifts so we could rush bubby to the ER.

You can tell my little man felt like shit. We did pose him for a few pictures just to prove he was there. We then took him to the ER, where I almost strangled the doctor and came home with no meds, no diagnosis and nothing to help my screaming child. The rest of the day Josh and I took turns snuggling with my boy.

Later on that day, Noah was feeling a little better so him and his sister decided to put on their heels and kick up their feet. Notice the outfit change, his ear was oozing fluid and blood. Yes, it was doing that when the ER doctor told me there was nothing wrong with his ear. It took everything I had not to rip his head off. You can see the fluid on his left shoulder.

The shoes have inspired a whole new idea of accessorizing.

And that brings us full circle, me and my crap. I'll see you soon, hopefully with a much better view.