mommy boo of two

Boy or Girl?

2009-12-14T21:44:00.000-08:00

So it's been just a little while since I posted (so much so that my blog is still decorated for Halloween). Lizard started walking about a month back and that is where my time has gone. Oh my gosh is she a climber! Noodle was never like that, never. I will post more about the last month later, though.

My real reason for writing tonight??? We had our ultrasound today. And today we found out we are having a boy! While this wasn't exciting news at first (to me and noodle, that is. husband was thrilled right away) it's very exciting now. My initial reaction was similar to that of when I found out I was pregnant, minus the tears. Noodle flat out told the tech that she wanted a girl baby.

Once we got home and showed my Dad the pictures Noodle told him that we could keep the baby outside :) All we could do was laugh. Once I composed myself I knelt down to her level and told her that it really will be okay having a boy (i even believed it myself! i was so convincing). I also reassured her that she would still have Lizard. And that, I believe, was her turning point. It was almost like she forgot she has her sister.

Not to cut this too short, but it's almost midnight here and I'm very tired. Sweet dreams to you all and I'll try to get you all caught up throughtout the week (and probably next week).

Happy 1st Birthday?

2009-10-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

Friday morning started off with the girls and I heading over to pick up Grammy and make our way to Costco to get some odds and ends for Lizard's birthday party Saturday. And while we were getting ready that morning Husband calls and tells me that he doesn't feel good, he has a fever and the chills and he thinks he's getting the flu.

Jump ahead to that evening when Husband calls again and says, just for good measure, he's going to go to the convenience center and get checked out and make sure it's just the good ole fashioned flu because by that point he was coughing pretty bad, on top of everything else, and it was making him really dizzy. The doctor checks him out and says, 'yep, you have the flu'. Well no shit. But was it the regular flu or H1N1? Because Husband does not fall into any catagory of being considered high risk they didn't test to find out. Ok. But, Husband failed to mention to the doctor that he has a pregnant wife and two kids ages three and under and do we need to be concerned about getting sick. So I had to call the convenience center and talk to the nurse. Her recommendation was that it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to keep our distance. Otherwise, use common sense and wash your hands often, cough and sneeze into your arm, blah, blah, blah. So the girls and I ended up having a sleep over at Grammy and Poppa's that night.

The next day was Lizard's big party day. Or what should have been her big party day. Husband, obviously, wasn't able to be there. My Grandma called that morning and my Grandpa was sick so they wouldn't be able to make it. Cousin called shortly after (or before, i don't remember now) and she had had a fever the last couple days and her youngest was coughing pretty good so they wouldn't be able to make it. My other Grandpa wasn't feeling great so he laid down to take a nap and woke up at 6:30 so he wasn't able to make it. None of Husband's family showed up except his parents. And even then they totally bailed after about an hour. And while Lizard did not know the difference it really bummed me out.

The girls and I stayed at my parent's house one more night. Mainly because it was late by the time we finished cleaning up and the girls were tired and ready for bed. Noodle fell asleep on the couch around 8 and my youngest sister played with Lizard while I got ready for bed. Around 9:00 or so Noodle woke up with a fever and shortly after that Lizard threw up her cake all over me. The next morning everyone was fine and we headed for home.

Two o'clock Monday morning roles around and Noodle wakes up with a fever. At 3:00 Lizard woke up with the same fever. They were both back to sleep within an hour or so and woke at a more suitable time feeling just fine. No fevers, nothing. By bedtime that night Noodle's fever was back and stayed for the next 24 hours.

All of this being said I had nothing for my baby girl on her actual birthday, which is today. She had no presents to open from us. We didn't do anything fun or special to celebrate. It was like any other day. And it broke my heart because while she won't remember it, I will. Being she doesn't have any concept of today being her actual birthdate maybe we'll do something fun this weekend when everyone is 100%. That's my plan anyways.

Happy 1st Birthday, babygirl! Mommy loves you so much.

Things Kids Say Thursdays

2009-10-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy and eventful week. So, unfortunately I didn't write all of Noodle's quotes down, but I did remember my two favorites.

This first quote requires a back story first. We have been having some pooping issues at our house (she doesn't want to go on the toilet all of a sudden. so were doing pull ups for the time being). So my Mom made a deal with her that if she starts pooping on the potty again she will buy her the Little People Nativity set (last Christmas all she wanted to do was play with my Mom's good Nativity set. And, obviously, she couldn't do that). That being said, we were at my Aunt's wake Sunday evening and Noodle and my Grandma went for a little walk around the funeral home. And on their walk they came across a picture of Mary and Jesus. This prompted a conversation about who they were and a few other things. A little later I'm talking to my Grandma and she tells me that Noodle told her 'I have Jesus on my underwear.' I had a little explaining to do.

As we were making the rounds before we left the wake Noodle noticed my Aunt Lil (the one who passed away). She wanted to go see her so my Mom took her up there. She looked her over and commented on her jewelry and lipstick and whispers to Mom, 'Don't scream. You'll wake her up.'

My favorite one of the week was just a couple days ago. Twin sister stopped over to borrow some nail polish and as she was walking to her car Noodle stood in the doorway yelling, 'Hey, come back here! I need to tell you something!' She yelled this a few times so Twin sister came back and stood on the front porch (she didn't come back inside) and asks, 'What did you need to tell me that was so important?' Noodle slams the door in her face and yells, 'Nothing!' Husband and I both thought we were going to pee our pants we were laughing so hard.

To read more funnies head over to Mud Pies for Mommy.

Things Kids Say Thursdays

2009-10-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last Friday afternoon my Mom and sister babysat so I could run and get Husband an anniversary present. Once I got home and settled in Mom and sister packed up and were getting ready to leave when Noodle asked Grammy to beep four times (she's very particular these days) before she drove away. Their conversation went something like this...

Grammy: 'OK, look out the window and I'll beep for you.'

Noodle: (standing in the doorway) 'Beep four times, Gramma!'

Grammy: 'OK, close the door. It's cold outside.'

Noodle: (still standing in the doorway) 'Beep four times, Gramma!'

Grammy: 'OK! Close the door!'

Noodle: 'Beep four times you two faced son of a jackal!'

By that point Mom was already in her car and didn't hear Noodle say this, but I made sure to call and tell her right away :)

Last night at dinner we were all sitting down and I realized I forgot to get the girls their drinks. So I get up and refill sippy cups and Husband took Noodle's to hand it to her. Well, he failed to realize that she had gotten up and was standing next to him, but behind him a little bit waiting for me to hand her the sippy cup. He didn't see her and turns to give her her drink and elbows her smack dab in the middle of her forehead. It very obviously hurt (there was a nice red bump front and center) so he apologized. However, that wasn't enough for her and she hit him back. At this point I intervened and explained to her that Husband hitting her was an accident and he said he was sorry so she needed to let it go. This evidently was not an acceptable answer to her so she turned to Husband and tells him, 'Go to work Dad. Just go to work.' And went back to eating her dinner.

For more fun reads head over to Mud Pies for Mommy!

Five Years

2009-10-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

Today, Husband and I are celebrating our 5 year anniversary. We aren't the same people we were then.

But, I wouldn't trade who we are now or how far we've come.

Happy Anniversary to the best Husband in the world :)

Things Kids Say Thursdays

2009-10-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

I happened to stumble upon this at Mud Pies for Mommy while checking out all of the You Captures this morning and thought it was a great idea! The idea being that you simply keep track of the funny things your kids say throughout the week and share with others. So here is my favorite Noodle quote of the week...

We were driving home from the grocery store Tuesday afternoon and we just made the turn onto our street when I hear Noodle (age 3) tell Lizard (11 months), 'It's ok sweety, I'll keep you safe from rhinos, IIII promise.' And if you ask me that's a promise I think she'll be able to keep :)

You Capture. Red.

2009-10-08T08:00:00.001-07:00

For You Capture this week the theme was red. And while I had every intention of getting some beautiful red fall pictures that just didn't happen. So I settled for the next best thing and went for the yummy tomatoes from my Mom's garden that are sitting on my kitchen table. This picture was taken at the beginning of the week and the bowl of tomatoes looks nothing like this now (it's actually pretty empty). Head over to Beth's and see all the red you can handle :)

In The Clear?

2009-10-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the second morning in a row that I have not thrown up (that has been my morning routine for ooooh 6 weeks now) :) So I'm really hoping all of my first trimester 'fun' is coming to a close. I will be 12 weeks on Friday and I was right around that when I started to feel normal with Noodle (Lizard was more around 14 weeks). Overall I have felt better with this pregnancy than I did with my first two. I think more so because I have two kids and, therefore, don't have the luxury of laying around as much as I could first times around. So it has forced me to stay busy and not have time to focus on feeling crappy. And at the same time I think you get smarter with each pregnancy. You know what did and didn't work first times around and you learn from those experiences.

I have been more tired the last couple weeks, but I think that has more to do with the fact that Husband has been working an unbelievable amount of hours. His official clock out time for this past week was 65 hours! Where he works they are horribly understaffed and some accounts had been pushed to the wayside, which caused them to get backed up that much more. I know he's nervous to go back to work tomorrow and find out just how bad it still is. But, at least he's working, right?

On a happier note I had my first doctors appointment and found out baby #3 is due to arrive April 24th! I was able to hear a quick little heartbeat (and there was indeed only the one) and it was wonderful. With the girls it wasn't until my second appointment that I was able to hear a heartbeat. So I was pleasantly surprised. I go to the doctor on Monday and will have a little more to report. Until then, this will have to do.

You Capture. I Heart Fall.

2009-09-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

The quest for the perfect pumpkin (we must be picky about these things).

If Lizard were looking at the camera it might have been the perfect family picture.

Noodle thought these were hilarious.

For me, fall is the single greastest season of the whole year. If I could have it all year long it still wouldn't be long enough. The weather is beautiful, the colors are GORGEOUS, what's not to love about fall? So when I saw that this was the theme for You Capture I was thrilled. We made our first (of many) trips to the pumpkin patch. It was a beautiful day to spend outside and we had so much fun. I hope you all had as much fun with fall as I did :) Head over to Beth's and see everyone else's fall captures.

Unanswered Prayers

2009-09-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

First, thank you to everyone for the wonderful baby congratulations. They were a lot of fun to read. We truly are excited and looking forward to adding to our family. And I have heard from many people that going from two kids to three kids is nothing compared to going from one kid to two kids (and i believe it!). Noodle will be a fantastic helper and Lizard will learn to roll with it (i hope. she's my mama's girl so i'm a little apprehensive about it. but it will be fine. no, really it will). If this weren't to have happened how it did, though, I honestly don't believe would have had another baby. We were very content with our family of four. And even more so it was starting to get easier. Like next summer if we wanted to go to Indiana Beach for the day we could do that. Or if we decided on a whim to go to Chicago over night we could easily do that as well. And Husband and I felt like we were starting to get our life back a little bit. Just little things, but, our life all the same.

Very unfortunately last week there was a heartbreaking death in husband's family. His cousin in Colorado lost her ten and a half month old baby boy. From what I know (i'm not sure of the complete details) he had a fever that turned out to be Group A Strep (they didn't know this until the received the autopsy results) that then caused an infection in his blood stream. They took him to the hospital, but, by that point it was too late. He passed away on the chopper going from one hospital to another. Neither of his parents were able to be with him because there wasn't room for them on the helicopter. They had to find this out when they got to the second hospital. This was an extremely rare case of this happening.

Husband and I hugged our girls tighter than we've ever hugged them the night we found out about Hunter, especially Lizard. She is exactly one week younger than him. I couldn't imagine losing her and my heart hurt more thinking about them losing him.

I have never been more thankful for my girls. And I am even more thankful for our unanswered prayer...the wonderful baby we thought our life would be complete without.

You Capture. Something New.

2009-09-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

So the theme for You Capture this week was to take a picture of something you've never photographed before. At first this sounded tricky, but then quite the opportunity presented itself.

Now (to be very truthful) I was not necessarily excited when we found out. In fact I cried for a day and a half (because when you have a three year old and an at the time nine month old and you find out you're going to have another one...FUCK). After a few days of the initial shock wearing off we felt a little better about it. And after a few weeks we finally stepped back and thought 'if this is the curve ball God is going to throw our way then we are unbelievably blessed.' And I say curve ball because this was a 'surprise' not an 'oops.' The difference being that a 'surprise' happens despite your best efforts to be 'careful' (i think you all know what i mean). There are so many more things I could say right now, but I'll stick with the short version for the time being. Make sure you head over to Beth's blog and see what everyone else captured.

The little tornado that was...

2009-08-20T09:04:00.001-07:00

So in our little town last night a tornado paid us a visit. Where our house is you would never have guess that any of this happened (and we're only 10 blocks out from this picture!). It rained heavily and then at 7:32 p.m. the National Weather Service flashed an emergency message on the television screen saying that a storm with strong rotation would be in our town by 7:35 (not enough time to get to mom and dad's; ya know, because they have a basement). So I round up my troops to get to our bedroom closet, but by the time I got them the storm had already passed us. Thank goodness, right? Then our power went out, came back on, went back out, came back on, went back out...and stayed out. I packed up the diaper bag to go to Grammy's (figuring they had power) and we were on our way. As we got closer to town (which, again, is only 10 blocks) Husband and I realized that a big storm did indeed go through town. As we got even closer into town we realized that it was, indeed, a tornado. Trees were down (some uproooted)everywhere, power lines were down, and firetrucks and police cars were driving around with their sirens blaring. At the local middle school the roof was taken off the south end and almost all of the windows were shattered. Mom and I went out early this morning and took lots of pictures before they started closing roads. These ones are from when little sister and I went out. It was quite a sight. The girls and I ended up staying at my parent's house that night. It helped to keep Noodle's mind off the fact that she couldn't watch a movie. But, Husband went home to sleep because he had to work this morning and all of his work stuff was at home (with the entire town out of power, 8800 people to be exact, I didn't feel the need to be driving around and trying to get into my house in the unbelievable darkness. It was freaky how dark it was outside!). Mom will have more details on her blog because she saw the actual cyclone above her house! Freaky deaky. I'm hoping our first tornado experience is also our last.

Check out Bacardi Mama to see more pictures (i'm not sure when she'll have her post up. you might have to check back later. her pictures will be worth it).

Party on, Wayne!

2009-08-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

So we finally had Husband's 30th birthday party, and it was a blast! To say he was surprised would be an understatement. Two hours before the party, though, I thought for sure I had blown it. Husband was doing his P90X workout in the family room and I was in the kitchen talking on the phone with my niece (the one who babysat that night). And I'm going on and on about details she needs to know being I wouldn't see her when she got there. And half way through telling her about bedtime it occured to me that Husband was in the next room and quite possibly heard our conversation (well, my half of the conversation anyways). Now, that normally would not have been a problem. Except he was under the impression that I was out to lunch and a show with my sisters and would be home around 7:00. So why would Niece need to know about bedtime? Luckily for me, Husband was in his own little P90X world and didn't hear a thing.

When I left the house I stopped by a local florist to pick up three bundles of balloons. And as I went to pay I realized that I had left my party shoes sitting in the mudroom of my house. Again, why would it be a problem for me to run home and get them? Because by the time I realized I forgot them I should have been halfway to the restaurant for lunch with my sisters. I had no choice, though, but to go home and get the shoes because the shoes I left the house in would have looked sooooo stupid with my party outfit I took with to change into. And again, when I ran home to get my shoes Husband didn't even know I had been back in the house (which now scares me a little to think about that).

Once I got to the party destination, decorating and setting up tables went fairly quick. Twin sister and her husband and my mother-in-law came early to help (which was a great help). Everyone arrived around the time I asked and then it was just waiting for the guest of honor to arrive. Once he pulled into the parking lot with my accomplice I made the big announcement and everyone got in place and were ready to yell surprise when he walked in (I made sure I was standing front and center).

When Husband walked in and everyone yelled 'surprise' I thought he just might pee his pants. It took him more than a couple minutes to take it all in and realize all of the planning that had gone into the one event. Once he got his barings he said 'i need a drink' and proceeded to walk straight to the bar....didn't look at me, didn't say 'hi' or 'thank you', didn't even acknowledge that I was even there. It got a good laugh and I saw the humor in it as well. Immediately afterwards my Mom went over to him and made the suggestion that he should maybe go over and thank his kickass wife (ok, so she didn't say it quite like that. I adlibbed a bit).

All in all, the party was a big hit. Because of Husband's work schedule I had to have the party on a Sunday. That, actually, worked out quite well. No one was out really late (or got really drunk) and we were home at a reasonable time as well. The girls had a great time with our niece and the icing on the cake was that Noodle was in bed when we got home and Lizard was soon to follow. It was a great night.

You Capture. Friends.

2009-07-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

This is my Godbaby and Noodle. They have been buds since the day Noodle was born.

I took this one of us on the Tilt A Whirl at the fair just a few days ago. Not too shabby, eh? These are my sisters-in-law. It's impossible to get a group picture in Husband's family and have everyone with their eyes open. That would be too easy :)

And, finally, these are two of my sisters and my "big sister" (also Godbaby's mommy).

These are some of my favorite people in the whole world. See everyone else's favorite people over at I Should Bd Folding Laundry.

Catching Up

2009-07-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

Oh, where to begin??? It's been about a million years since I actually wrote something. Ok, so that might be a small exaggeration, but you know what I mean. June got off to a very rough start. On June 1st, our Grandpa John passed away after suffering from Alzheimer's. It was bittersweet because he had been sick for so long, but it was hard to let him go all the same. And then on June 15th husband's Grandma (Dad's mom) also passed away. She had congestive heart failure and had had more frequent issues with it in the last six months. She was 96 and had mentioned before that she was ready whenever He was. So in both cases it was a blessing. A positive spin on Grandma Rose's passing was that all of husband's siblings (6 to be exact) were able to be there and then stayed for a long weekend. We hadn't seen his brother Bill in over three years or his sister Lisa (my favorite sister-in-law) in almost a year. So, in spite of everything, we ended up having a fun weekend.

On a positive note Noodle is completely potty trained!!!!!! Back in fall I had bought a seat to go on the big potty (I think the little potties are disgusting). And then Lizzy was born and that went to hell. After her third birthday it was time to hit it full force. Well she wanted nothing to do with it. So we went to Target and I let her pick out her own seat (thinking she would pick Dora or Disney Princesses or something along those lines). Can you guess what she picked? She wanted the little potty that played music when she sat on it :) Go figure. Within a few hours of us getting home and getting the potty out of its box she had to pee. And wouldn't you know, she went on the big girl potty. It was a nice reminder that I need to let go and let God way more than I have been and that things can't be my way all the time. There were a few accidents the first week, but it didn't take more than that. As far as pooping, she went for the first time when Husband and I were out to dinner. Mom called and let Noodle tell me all about it. And her exact words were, 'I just pooped a little. I'll poop big later.' She is nothing if not honest. And with that there were some set backs as well. The final draw with that was a week and a half ago when I called her into the family room from her bedroom and she tells me, 'Don't check my underwear, Mom.' To remedy this we printed up 'Noodle's Poop Chart'. She has three stickers to go (out of ten) and then when all ten stickers are on her chart we are going to take her to Toys 'r Us and she gets to pick out any toy she wants. I'm slightly dredding this trip. As of right now she is saying she wants a new baby doll. I think, though, once she sees all the toys she can choose from she might change her mind.

Lizard is growing by leaps and bounds. She will be nine months old on Tuesday. How in the hell did that happen?! She is crawling (quickly) all over the place and is pulling herself up on anything she can get a grip on. She is growing way too fast and I don't like it one little bit. What are you going to do, though?

Lastly, Husband turns 30 at the end of August. I have been planning his surprise party for a few months now and it is finally coming up next weekend. I am getting really excited! I've received many RSVP's this week and I am going to run to my in-laws this weekend to rummage through some baby pictures. I am going to have an embarassing banner made :) Not too embarassing, though. I'll give you more party details (and pictures) once it's all said and done. Well I think that is enough catching up for one post. Have a great weekend everybody!

You Capture. Black and White.

2009-07-22T20:49:00.001-07:00

From left to right that is Noodle, my neice Lea, my neice Abby, and their friend Corrine. This was this past weekend at Abby's birthday party. They were on their way from one clue to the next during the treasure hunt. What's a pirate birthday party without a treasure hunt?

As for this one their matching bottoms were just too cute to not take a picture. To see everyone else's black and white captures head over to Beth's at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture. Shapes.

2009-07-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

I took a very literal approach to this weeks challenge. Having little ones made it very easy :) I hope you all had a fun with the challenge as well. To see more Shapes head over to the You Capture homepage.

You Capture. Independence Day and Food

2009-07-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! We started off the day by going to the parade with my family and then to my sister's house afterwards to sort out our loot we accumulated while we were there. Later that afternoon we celebrated at my cousin's house with a cookout and fireworks. I, unfortunately, missed the them due to two fussy girls who needed to go home and go to sleep. My sister took some amazing pictures of them. And I'm reasonably certain she'll have them posted for this challenge. Check them out at Just Another Reason to Eat Chocolate. And to see everyone else's Independence Day captures get scootin' to Beth's blog.

You Capture. Photographer's Choice.

2009-06-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

So, my choice for this week was my girls. They are two of my favorite things to photograph and they are such great subjects :) I, also, had a lot of fun playing with the brightness and contrast and things like that. Hopefully they look alright. I hope you all had fun with the challenge this week as well. Now take a peak at what everyone else captured at Beth's blog!

You Capture. Summer.

2009-06-24T21:27:00.001-07:00

The hot weather came just in time for this weeks challenge :) It's been a hot few days here so we've been spending them in water.
She is swimming all by herself this year. It's very liberating for us.

She loooves the slide at Aunt Kay's pool.

And, as it turns out, Lizard loves the water, too.

Enjoy the other You Captures at Beth's blog.

You Capture. Emotion.

2009-06-17T21:25:00.001-07:00

Head on over to Beth's blog and see what everyone else Captured.

You Capture. Nature.

2009-06-10T17:59:00.001-07:00

They are sooo close to blooming
Get out your magnifying glasses! I uploaded the wrong one and can't figure out how to delete photos. Oops!

Lizard took a nap so Noodle and I had fun outside

I swear we were having fun

How can you not love this shot? This is Lake Michigan looking out towards Chicago

There are more You Capture's to see at Beth's blog. Enjoy!

It was a great day for a birthday party

2009-06-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what the theme was?

She loved opening her presents
and loved singing happy birthday

She actually sang happy birthday to herself.

Well, we had Noodle's birthday party this past Sunday and it was fantastic! The food was delicious and the company was even better. This is the first year that she had a grasp of the whole birthday concept and it was so much fun to see. She loved every minute of it.

And just a little side note here, if anyone wants a great brisket recipe check out the pioneer woman. It was soooooo yummy!

You Capture. Family.

2009-05-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

My sweeties

My gorgeous sisters

He's such a great daddy

Snuggle time with my baby

Gosh, I love her!

Check out everyone else's pictures at Beth's blog.

You Capture. Sweet.

2009-05-21T21:20:00.001-07:00

This was from a fun day at Coffee Creek

This one is pretty self explanatory

And this is from my baby girl's birthday today

Check out the other You Capture's at Beth's blog.

Queen of ALLL Things Awe-Summm!!!

2009-05-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

My friend at Together We Save chose me for the Queen of Alll Things Awe-Summm award! Here are the award rules: list 7 things that make you awesome then pass the award on to 7 bloggers you love. Make sure you tag the recipients and let them know they've won. Also, link back to the Queen that tagged you.

7 things that make me awesome:

1. I make my husband's lunch every night.

2. I'm left-handed

3. I'm very green (recycling, energy conservation, and water conservation)

4. I'm humble (which made this incredibly difficult to do)

5. I'm artistic

6. I'm a great housekeeper

7. I'm a stay-at-home mom so I can be with my kids

7 blogs I follow:

Bacardi Mama

Show Some Lovin'

Just Another Reason to Eat Chocolate

I Should be Folding Laundry

Mimi's Toes

The Naughty Spots

The Story of Fynn and Paige

Happy Birthday, Noodle!

2009-05-19T20:48:00.001-07:00

As tears begin to fill my eyes, I can't believe my baby girl is three years old today. Where did the time go? And how did it get there so fast?

Wasn't it just yesterday I found out I was pregnant? Didn't she just take her first steps?

It's unbelievable how fast the time goes by. Happy Birthday, baby girl!!! I love you more than you'll ever know.

Chia Obama?

2009-05-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Has anyone seen the commercial for the Chia Obama that you can buy? All I could think when I saw it was 'what?!' And they play it up like it's this great piece of history you can be a part of when you purchase it (and at the same time I could really see my aunt buying one!). I, personally, think the original Chia pets are kinda stupid. So this just really crosses that line for me. And if I were Barack (that's right, he and I are on a first name basis) I would be a little offended; wouldn't you think? That's just my opinion. What do you think???

The Prom Dress

2009-05-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

I had many requests to see the prom dress from my You Capture post, so here's the whole dress......

My beautiful niece in her beautiful dress :)

You Capture. Colors.

2009-05-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

So, this one turned out a little fuzzy, but, you get the idea.

This is the pink hyacinth's neighbor.

These are in my backyard behind the shed.

And this one is my favorite! This is the detail on my neice's prom dress. Isn't it beautiful?!

Now head over to Beth's blog and check out the other You Captures!

Happy Belated Mothers' Day!

2009-05-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

I had the best Mothers' Day to date. Last year, I'm not gonna lie, wasn't the best. Only because the weather was super crappy and I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy with Lizard. So I was still throwing up in the morning and was just, in general, not feeling the greatest. This year, however, was perfect. Husband works Wednesdays to Sundays, but, he was

home by 9:30 in the morning and was able to go to brunch with us and my family. So that was a very special treat. And before he got home the girls and I played and had a really great morning, just the three of us. Brunch was a lot of fun as well. I had a lot of laughs with my sisters and their husbands as well as my parents, aunts, uncle, and grandparents. I'm so blessed to have all of them. And later in the evening we went over to my in-laws and had a cookout with them and my sisters-in-law and their families. Noodle ran all over with her cousins and had an absolute blast! When we finally made it back home we had a nice night, just the four of us, before the girls went to bed. I don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful family, but, I'm glad I did it :) I'm so incredibly blessed. I hope everyone elses Mothers' Day was just as great and wonderful.

On a side note, Lizard had her six month check-up this morning and is doing great. She is an even 27" long (yikes) and weighs 16 lbs. 3.2 oz. What a healthy girl! And her first tooth has made it's arrival with the one next to it soon to follow.

You Capture- Expression

2009-05-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

Who loves who more?

Noodle's personality is as big as those glasses.

Husband started out with a full goutee (?) and we had a lot of fun shaving it down into different mustaches before it was completely gone. He looks a little bit like a serial killer in this picture, but, this was my favorite stache.

Noodle was hanging out with us while the 'stache party' was in progress and provided much entertainment. (ignore the dirty spit-up diapers and bibs in the background)

Mom, this is the face I was trying to get her to do for you yesterday.

She's my favorite baby in the whole wide world. Could she be any cuter?!

So, my kids don't look their best, but, this is how most of our 'photo shoots' go.

She sure does love Grammy's hot tub

Now head over to Beth's blog and check out the other You Capture's!

Now head over to Beth's blog and see what everyone else captured.

Count your blessings

2009-04-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

A friend of Husband's has a little girl who was born with hydrocephalus (I don't have an exact definition, but, it has to do with fluid, causing swelling, around the brain) and developmental delays. She was taken to the emergency room Monday night because she was non responsive and her eyes were bloodshot and very dry. When they first got to the hospital they could not get an IV started so they went to plan b. That involved drilling into a bone to get marrow (new procedure evidently). And that, also, did not work. From there she was flown to Riley's and was immediately put on a ventilator because she couldn't breathe on her own (and actually stopped breathing on the way down there). The doctors think that she has/had a UTI that spread through her body and caused a blood infection. She is going to be on a ventilator for a while and was given blood today because she has been throwing it up. And they were going to do a lumbar puncture today to make sure her shunt hasn't become infected. If it is that will mean another surgery to replace it. She is a little over a year old and has already gone through so much. Please pray for her and her family that they GET THROUGH THIS. They need as much support as they can get right now.

The Great Potty Seat Mishap of 2009

2009-04-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

So in my last post I forgot to tell you about the great potty seat mishap of 2009. I was in the back bathroom cleaning when I hear Noodle yell, "Mom, I need help!". So I head to the front bathroom where I see that the door is closed. Naturally, I think that is why she needs help; because she can't get out. But, I did not expect to see what I did. When I first saw her I started laughing so hard I cried. Then I tried to get the seat off and it would not come off. That was when the tears started for her. So I called for reinforcements (a.k.a. Grammy). And the whole time we're waiting for her to get to my house Noodle just cried, "Grammy help me, where's gramma?". I sound like a terrible Mom, but, I could not stop laughing the whole time this went on. So Mom finally gets to my house and scopes out the situation. She's tries to pull the seat up like I did and it still didn't work (imagine that). After a few different attempts, Mom has her tilt her head back and stretch her neck like a giraffe and voile! After that I called Husband and Noodle told him the whole, long story. It was quite entertaining to say the least.

Catching Up

2009-04-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

Boy have we been busy! So busy that I can barely remember what has even happened. I think I mostly feel that way because husband has been working anywhere from 12 to 14 hour days (good for the checking account, bad for my sanity). So it's been the girls and me all day, everyday. My saving grace is that Noodle has officialy accepted Lizard as her buddy. They are so sweet together now. Noodle plays with her when she's in her exersaucer and keeps her company when she's just chillin' on the floor with some toys. It's been wonderful! It's made my life easier anyways. Today, especially, Noodle had Lizard laughing so hard when she was in her high chair. We were all cracking up.

Noodle has been on a big kick saying she wants to go to school. Now, she has no idea what that even means. But, she does know her favorite cousin goes to school so it must be something fantastic. When she brings it up I tell her that's great she wants to go, but, she can't wear diapers there and she has to listen to the teacher (aka, Grammy). She changes her mind very quickly once that is said. As far as potty training goes she has been wearing big girl pants but has yet to go potty on the big girl potty again. It'll happen when she's ready I suppose. When she does have to go she just tells me she wants her diaper back on. So atleast she knows when she has to go. It's a start anyways.

Lizard has been such a blessing to us. She has the biggest, happiest smile you've ever seen on a baby. I started vegetables and cereal with her a couple weeks ago and she loves them! It's so fun to see her personality develop these days. Being home with her full time I get to see so much. I worked part time with Noodle because, financially, it was a necessity. So being home this time around I cherish it sooo much more.

The only other exciting news is my new kitchen floor was put in this past Tuesday. Husband has a friend who has redone his entire house from top to bottom all by himself. And he was wonderful enough to help us out (i love husband but he's not very handy). He's going to come back on Monday and put up the baseboards. It will be nice to get my kitchen table and chairs out of my living room! That pretty much sums up our last couple of weeks. Busy, but no complaints :)

Thank you!!!!

2009-03-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you Adventures in Babywearing and The Story of Fynn and Paige. The last couple months with my girls have been.....challenging (to say the least). And in the last few days you each had a post that felt like you were talking directly to me about the issues that I have been having and, in general, how I have been feeling. And it made me feel so much better to hear other moms talk about the same problems and that it's not just my almost 3 year old who acts out against their sibling because they are jealous. Or that wake up twelve times a night. Or yell because you just don't know what else to do sometimes. I knew I was not the only person going through this, but, sometimes you feel like you are. So to hear that, indeed, I am not alone was so reassuring and made me feel better as a mom. Because, frankly, I have not felt like a good mom in quite some time. So thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

'hopefully there are no cops around'

2009-03-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

What a busy couple of days we've had! Saturday morning we left bright and early for our trip to Indianapolis for Husband's aunt's memorial service. I was a little more than nervous considering the fact that we've never traveled with Lizard and it's been a looong time since we've traveled with Noodle. All went great, though. Lizard slept the whole way there and back (about 2 1/2 hours) and Noodle slept the majority of the time. When she was awake she was wonderful.

After the service and luncheon, Husband went with his Dad to see the assisted living center where his Grandma lives. So my mother-in-law went with the girls and me to Husband's aunt and uncle's house. Being we didn't know where we were going we followed them so we wouldn't get lost (or so I thought). As we approach a stop light it turns yellow and his uncle goes through. Nervously, I floor it and run the red light. As I'm running the red light I say outloud 'hopefully there are no cops around.' Well that was the kiss of death because, sure enough, I check my rearview mirror and see flashing lights right on my bumper. Before the police officer says anything I immediately apologize and explain the situation to him. He was very nice about the whole thing, but, still needed my license and registration. I paniced even more because as I am looking for the registration in the glove box it is nowhere to be found. Luckily, the officer said he didn't really need to see it. whew! (it was located later thankfully) After he checked my outstanding driving record he very kindly gave us directions and didn't even give me a warning. As the officer walked away my mother-in-law and I had a big laugh and were able to find Donna and Peter's house quite easily. It made for a funny story the rest of the evening.

The last few days we have had beautiful weather and have spent a lot of it outside. Today, especially, I got a lot of yard work accomplished and the girls got a lot of fresh air. There is going to be a slight cool down, but, hopefully it won't last too long. We'll see, though.

Lizard and Noodle

2009-03-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

Husband is leary of me showing pictures of Lizard and Noodle, but, I figure they're 'incognito' so it would be ok. These are my girls!

Good Report

2009-03-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well, Lizard had her 4 month checkup yesterday and it went great! She weighs in at 15 lbs. even and is now 25 1/2 in. long. She performed all of her tricks for the doctor like a pro. Dr. Brogan's exact words were "she's perfect" (as if I did not know that already). Even though it was for a checkup it was really nice to have some time with just Lizard. With her being my second that doesn't happen too often. And while we were doing that Noodle had some one on one time with Husband. It worked out well for everyone. Other than that we haven't had a whole lot going on. Therefore, I really haven't had a lot to write about. No news is good news I suppose.

Today

2009-03-05T21:25:00.000-08:00

Today we had a really great day. It started off rocky (having a 2 year old and a 4 month old we run that risk everyday), but, it was really good. The weather was beautiful and husband pulled in the drive way at 12:59 this afternoon! He's been getting home, average, between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. So that alone was a treat. He took Noodle outside to play for about an hour so I could get a few things done around the house and get the rest of dinner going. Boy did she hate it when it was time to come inside. It was ugly, to say the least. We had my Mom and Dad over dinner, which was long overdue. Again, with husband working the long days he has it's been impossible to plan anything. Noodle provided plenty of entertainment and we had lots of laughs because of her. She has the best sense of humor. Because we had a busy day she crashed hard around 8:00. What a blessing compared to the night before. That gave me a couple hours to spend with just Lizard. With her being my second one I don't get anywhere near the amount of time with her that I had with Noodle. She is getting to be so much fun. Her smile is absolutely contagious and her giggle is the best sound in the whole world. She is gabbering up a storm and is so close to rolling over. She gets to her right side and then kicks her left leg trying to get all the way over and onto her tummy. I think it will be any day now. Maybe even tomorrow.

prayers please

2009-03-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

If everyone wouldn't mind we could use some prayers for my father-in-law's family. His sister passed away this afternoon after battling cancer. It was expected, but, still very upsetting. His Mom hasn't been told yet because they are trying to figure out the best way to tell her. She is 96 years old and this is the third child she has outlived. Please pray for them this week if you could. Much love and thanks :)

Remember when...

2009-02-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

Well, it's 9:45 on Saturday night and everyone is in bed :) And I'm sitting on the family room floor having a cocktail and sorting through a bunch of cd's that I burned when I still lived at home (some of them I made when I was in high school). I know it sounds totally lame, but, I am having a blast. None of the cd's are labeled other than one or two songs (because somehow I thought that would make me remember every other song that's on there). Every song is making me think of being in high school or when husband and I were first dating and married and we went out and did whatever we wanted when we felt like it. It's funny to look back and remember how much fun we used to have. Don't get me wrong, I love where we are now with our family. But, it used to be soooo great when we could go out to dinner or go out with friends and have a few beers and watch husband's band play. Or go up to Grand Rapids and spend the weekend with my brother in law and his wife or go down to Indy and visit our friends that live just outside of the city. It's amazing the things I took for granted then that are almost impossible to do now. I am far from regretful of the direction my life has gone because we are so very blessed with our girls. But, I look back at how simple our life used to be and it makes me a little sad that we don't have our life anymore. Just me and husband.

one of those mommy days

2009-02-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have one of those days where you question if you're doing a good job parenting? That is how this day has been for me. Talking calmly to noodle hasn't worked, bargaining hasn't worked, yelling hasn't worked. These days are so aggravating! Thankfully, lizard is always good (for now). These are the days where I feel like all I do is look at the clock hoping husband has an early day (never happens). Most days that start off like this normally don't stay like this. So all I can do for now is pray and wait for the tide to turn.

pahi withdrawls continue

2009-02-23T11:41:00.001-08:00

aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness husband is home with me the next two days, because, they are going to be long ones. In an attempt to talk up being a big girl (and big girls don't use pahi's) I, excuse me, Poppa had the idea that she could have a dum dum sucker. So far that seems to be working. She's on her third sucker today :) and I don't even care right now. We'll see how long this lasts.

the joys of having a 2 year old

2009-02-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

Friday night husband, noodle, lizard, and I are sitting in the family room and I happen to pick up noodle's pacifier. And as I'm looking at it I notice that inside of the latex there is a lot of crap and food particals floating around in there. In total disgust, I tell noodle how gross it is and that we really should throw it in the garbage. Now, we've been somewhat working on getting rid of it because she looks ridiculous with it. So I really didn't think she would go along with this idea. To mine and husbands surprise she says ok. She then walks all by herself and throws away the pacifier. She very proudly walked back to us and had us go and look at it in the garbage. We played up the rest of the night, then, how proud we were of her for being such a big girl and she'll get a special treat and so on. An hour later we're getting ready for bed and she burst into tears saying 'pink pahi (pa-hee) baby puppy!'. The next two and a half hours this is all I heard. She finally goes to sleep and I'm somewhat optimistic that when she wakes up in the morning she'll have forgetten about her pink pahi. Well that was just a pipe dream. Within five minutes of being up she started asking for her pahi. And today was going much better up until about thirty minutes ago. She took lizards pahi and wouldn't give it back. So, as punishment, I told her that we needed to pack up the toys that Grammy bought her this morning and we were going to take them back to Kohl's. I walked around with a bag and we gathered up all the little pieces that go along with it. Once we had everything in the bag I gave her one more chance. She thought for a minute and still wouldn't give it back. I then started walking towards the mudroom and she finally gave it back. I under estimate the fact that, like me, she's a taurus and two can play that game. I think this transition will take longer than what I originally thought.

about me

2009-02-21T22:11:00.000-08:00

My Mom and two of my sisters have recently started blogging so thought I might give it a shot as well. I am 25 years old. I have been married to my husband for 4 1/2 years and we have two gorgeous girls. My oldest is 2 1/2 (i'll refer to her as 'noodle') and we have a 4 month old ( i'll refer to her as 'lizard'). Noodle is the first grandchild on my side of the family, so you can imagine how it went over when another baby came into the picture. After about two months she finally accepted the fact that lizard was here to stay. And she has been crazy about her ever since.

I was a hairdresser at a salon here in town until September when I decided to start maternity leave and have two months at home with my girl before my other girl arrived. That was the best decision I could have made. We had a blast, to say the least. The second best decision I made was to be a stay at home mom. I am very fortunate to have a husband who can support us and make that a possibility. I love being home with my girls! At the same time I do miss seeing my clients and having that social outlet with other adults. I think that is also why I decided to give blogging a try...something I can do for me and have contact with other adults (even if it is just over the internet). As much as I did love my job, being a mom was the job I was born to do. Since I was eight years old I have wanted to grow up, get married, and have babies. And, funnily enough, I was eight years old when I first laid eyes on my husband. Never in a million years did I think I would really marry my childhood crush. Funny how life works out :) I have three sisters, one of which is a twin, and the best parents in the world. Did I mention how blessed I am? They all live within five miles of me, which is great. I'm very close with all of them; my Mom and my twin especially. Husband doesn't understand how I can talk to them four times in one day and still have something to say to them five minutes after getting off the phone.

I'm new to this so it might take me a little while to get the hang of it. Be patient with me (i'll get the hang of it eventually). Well, I should wrap this up because it's going on one o'clock in the morning and the girls will be up normal time whether I am or not. Goodnight!