Amazing Grace. Abounding Joy. Abundant Love.

Project Life 2012 - Week 6

2012-02-13T20:58:00.000-05:00

After six weeks I'm still caught up on Project Life 2012! I'm still taking a picture every day! I figure if I can remember to take a picture every day until Baby Roo gets here, then the picture taking will come even more easily. HA :)

I love the way my album is turning out so far. I am giving myself a goal of taking more artistic pictures though and not relying completely on just the pictures of my family doing fun/cute/new things. I'm going to start paying more attention to the "Photo of the Day" ideas that Becky Higgins posts on facebook for some inspiration.

And I'm still trying to remember to put in small details from actual life!

Monday 2/6

Aaron fell asleep on the sofa and luckily Scoot's quilt that I made her was right there for him to curl up in. I love seeing something I made being used and loved by my family! Now I need to make a sofa quilt so that Scoot's can go back in her room.

Tuesday 2/7
A 10 minute nap in the car ruined Scoot's regular nap. And then Lala came over to watch Scoot while I went to the doctor so there was no way she was going to sleep then. When I got back from my appointment she was so grouchy but cuddly. She ended up falling asleep in my lap for a good hour.

Wednesday 2/8
Aaron took the day off and we took Scoot to the Children's Museum. There were a TON of classes there on field trips and Scoot was quite overwhelmed with so many 'big' kids. We had a good time though and can't wait to go back!

Thursday 2/9
Today Miss B turns 3! Scoot thought the cupcake was super yummy!

Friday 1/10
We bought this huge stuffed dog to use as a size comparison when we take weekly pictures of Baby Roo. Scoot is having a good time cuddling it when she isn't wrestling it or tossing it around.

Saturday 2/11
For my birthday I got SNOW! And served a special breakfast. And some special cupcakes. And lots of family time. Hubby and Scoot made sure I had a wonderful day!

Sunday 2/12
I decided it was about time for me to wash the carseat cover for Baby Roo. I've been putting it off because I'm scared to death that it won't ever fit back on the right way. And at this point Baby Roo better not be early because it's going to take the next 4 weeks for this thing to air dry like the instructions require.

36 weeks with Baby Roo

Project Life 2012 - week 5

2012-02-07T08:02:00.001-05:00

Monday 1/30

Scoot was up early this morning playing with her Valentines Day sensory box. There are tons of heart shaped tiny toys in here and she loves sorting them and putting the little hearts into the bigger heart containers. This little box will keep her busy for 30 minutes - an hour!

Tuesday 1/31
We went out to dinner with our friends. B's birthday is next week and when she saw a kid at the table next to us sitting in the saddle for his birthday, she wanted to have a turn. Since it was a slow Tuesday our waitress had no problem letting her sit on it an announcing her birthday!

Wednesday 2/1
I found a new bow seller on etsy and got a little bow crazy. Scoot is getting really into bows these days and likes to wear one every day now. I also had to copy Jessica's idea and use a jewelry organizer to hold all of her headbands so I can see what she has at a glance.

Thursday 2/2
Aaron surprised me with a Strawberry Slush from Sonic's (which I've been craving!!) and got a chocolate shake for himself on the way home from work. Scoot went back and forth, sip stealing from both of us, but she liked the shake better.

Friday 2/3
I love the way Scoot takes care of her babies. This was the first time I'd ever seen her trying to put a diaper on her baby though. She was so determined to make it work and she had a really good idea of what she was suppose to do!

Saturday 2/4
Scoot insisted on wearing her coat and shoes over her jammies while we were playing and waiting for breakfast to cook.

Aaron also decided to clean out his closet. It has to get worse before it gets better right? That's always my cleaning philosophy!

Sunday 2/5
Scoot and Little B were not interested in the Super Bowl at all. But they loved playing together!

35 weeks with Baby Roo

Toddler All-Nighter

2012-02-02T09:23:00.000-05:00

My sweet daughter pulled her very first all-nighter last night. On one hand I'm thankful that we made it to 19 months with this being the first time I've seen every single hour on the clock. On the other hand, last night was a challenge!

She sat on the couch with me either talking or bouncing for hours on end. She was in a perfectly lovely mood. And if it had been daylight I would have been perfectly excited that she wanted to spend so much cuddle time with me. Scoot is not sick, she did not take an extraordinarily long nap, she got plenty of activity yesterday. I was sitting there some time around 3 AM trying to rack my brain to figure out why she was awake....

...wait...

Do you think it had anything to do with the medium sweet tea from Chick-fil-A she drank at 7:30?!?!

Umm, probably. Parenting fail! It was all my fault that she and I were awake all night!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It is not a regular practice around our house for Scoot to drink sweet tea no matter what time it is. Aaron's mom was admitted to the hospital yesterday for some heart issues and we went to visit her last night. Our visit lasted a little longer than expected and by 7:30 we were very very late for dinner and Scoot's bedtime had come and gone. Aaron's dad got back to the hospital with his mom's essentials and a sweet tea for all the grown ups. Scoot started sip-stealing from everyone and by the time her thirst was quenched, we're pretty sure she had had almost a whole cup to herself. We left not long after that and went home to eat and get sweet girl in the bed. After she ate she went right to bed (only 2 hours late! AHH!) so we thought we were in the clear with the tea. A short 3 hours later and Scoot was up from midnight - 5AM.

The moral of the story - No more sweet tea for our sleepy tot!

Project Life 2012 - Week 4

2012-01-31T06:03:00.000-05:00

First, I celebrated this weekend because I finally finished my 2011 album! It's done! I put all the supplies away that specifically go with that kit. I filled in any spaces that were empty. I'm DONE journaling. It feels like the year is finally complete! And it only took a month into the new year! HA! Even though there isn't a picture for EVERY single day (I'm missing about 50) this is the first project life that I consider complete. 2010 has the pictures in the album, but I only did about the first 8 months of journaling ... and there are a lot more than 50 missing pictures!

On a related note... my inspiration and determination for this year are stronger than ever! It will be a LOT easier to just keep up with it every week than to go back and fill in 5 months at the end of the year! It will be a lot easier to just take a picture every day than to go through and cut coordinating card stock into 4x6 and 3x4 cards to fill in blank spots!

Since I was doing about 5 months worth of journaling for my 2011 album I've got a question. When I'm writing the cards I found I was using "I" a lot. I think it will be pretty obvious that I was the one putting the album together, but should I be using my name/mommy in the journaling instead of "I"?

...also in my journaling, I noticed that I use an awful lot of exclamation marks!! :)

Last comment before we get on with the pictures. I would love to have my pages done and pictures of the layouts for Project Life Tuesday, but I don't get my pictures printed that fast. I usually print several weeks to a months worth of pictures at a time so that I don't have to pay shipping on 7-12 pictures every week. So even though I want to share my completed layouts, this is what works for me. This is what gets my pictures and words documented every week so that hopefully I don't get behind this year!

Now, the good stuff for this week...

Monday 1/23

Scoot was playing in the kitchen cabinet while I got her more juice and pulled a glass jar down on her little tiny pinky toe. That was the worst I've ever seen her in pain and it broke my heart that I couldn't make it better with a kiss.

Tuesday 1/24
Baby Roo is a surprise but I wanted to make him/her an appropriately colored blanket. So I made two. And a nice neutral yellow one. Scoot has a pink one and her special blanket is white. The yellow one is made exactly like Scoot's special white blanket so we'll see if Roo likes it as much as Scoot.

Wednesday 1/25
I made Scoot a strawberry smoothie to go with her cereal and banana breakfast. She sucked down that cup full of smoothie before I could even get to the table to eat my own breakfast. I'd say she liked it!

Thursday 1/26
It was a beautiful day today so we played outside for most of the afternoon. Scoot is taking a break after wearing herself out playing a game that involved going up one side of the porch and down the other - repeat 358271638591 times.

Friday 1/27
Scoot and Daddy sit on the couch and read the paper together. As long as he gets to read the sports section first, Daddy doesn't mind what part Scoot reads and/or tears up. :)

Saturday 1/28
The inside of the laundry basket became Scoot's little cave to hide in. She laid with her blanket, read a book, talked to her baby, talked on the phone, and even watched some TV from inside. It's the simple things!

Sunday 1/29
We took Lollie and Pop out to dinner for Lollie's birthday. Scoot was a really good girl the whole time and loved sitting with Pop after we all finished eating. She even taught him to play the trumpet on a straw, which both of them thought was hilarious!

34 weeks with Baby Roo

Friday Fragments

2012-01-27T20:56:00.000-05:00

My brain is full of random tidbits bumping into each other while floating around in there. Time to let a few of them out into the world....

* When Scoot was born a year and a half ago it cost us less than $500. Baby Roo is set to cost us more than an arm and a leg (not to mention the stretch marks and scars that are certain!) all because of a tiny little insurance change.

* I've been slightly addicted to Strawberry Slushes from Sonic for the last week or so... YUM!

* I lot the crochet pattern that I used to make Scoot's special blanket. She's so attached to it that I am starting to get worried about what happens if she loses it or it rips, so I was going to make a back up travel version. Now that the pattern is lost I've become paranoid about anything happening to that blanket!

* I'm obsessed with Valentine's Day this year... which is NOT like me! Scoot is already wearing lots of pink, red & hearts. I've made her a valentines sensory box and some valentines games. And of course I'm already craving chocolate!

* Scoot has an ABC puzzle that she loves to put together and sing the ABC song with. Tuesday a week ago, the H piece went missing. I'm starting to go C.R.A.Z.Y! looking for that piece. Our house (and more specifically, the living room) is not that big. There are not but so many places it could be. And every time Scoot does the puzzle, we get to the H and she shrugs her little shoulders with her hands out/ palms up in front of her and says "where go H?"

home vs. work

2012-01-25T20:54:00.000-05:00

I've probably got nothing to say on this subject that hasn't been said a hundred times by hundreds of women. But I still feel compelled to think through this conflict here on "paper."

In May I made a decision not to sign my 2011-2012 teaching contract. It was honestly the hardest decision I've ever made. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to stay home with Scoot, but I didn't want to do my family a disservice by withdrawing my income. I didn't want to put the extra stress of being the sole bread winner on hubby. I tried to talk about it with hubby. That went no where. Hubby didn't want to sway me either way so that I wouldn't be able to blame him later if I didn't like the decision made. I understand his point, but it made me feel really isolated and lonely in my struggle. I finally made the decision to quit based on the theory that I'd always be able to get another job later, but my sweet baby would only be little once.

I LOVE being home with her! I love not having to wake her up in the morning and shuffle her off to the babysitter. I love knowing what she's doing all day. I love being in control of what she eats & when she naps. I love being able to take her to play dates, story time, and lunch dates. I love being the one who watches and helps her learn about the world. I love being the one to kiss her boo-boos. Being her mommy is by far the best job I've ever had!

So, if it's so wonderful, why do I miss my job so much? I know that I've got this rose tinted memory of what it was like to go to work every day. Kinda like how I don't really remember how painful labor was. But I miss having a classroom full of kiddos that love me. I miss having my co-workers close by all day. I miss doing fun projects with the kids and I miss seeing them light up when they learn something new. I miss seeing them get so proud of themselves with a new discovery. I miss feeling important and needed. I miss having an outside purpose. I miss being appreciated and having someone tell me that I'm doing a good job. I miss the paycheck.

I don't miss all the paperwork and dealing with crazy new rules that change every other week. I don't miss getting up at 4:30 every morning. I don't miss all the planning and work that I had to bring home with my every night. I don't miss the drama. I don't miss packing a lunch every day and then trying to eat it in 20 minutes. I don't miss crying on the way to work some days because I hated dropping off my baby.

I'm harder on myself about how I'm doing as a wife, housekeeper, and mommy. I have all this time during the day that I didn't have before, so in theory I should be a much better housekeeper. The dishes and clothes should always be clean, dinner should always be planned, the groceries stocked, the floors vacuumed, toilets scrubbed, and beds made. I should be singing educational songs to Scoot all day, not letting her watch any TV, playing games, reading books, teaching her letters, numbers & colors, making sure she gets plenty of interaction with other kids and outside play time. I should have extra time for my husband and making sure that all his needs are met since he's taking care of us. It's a lot of pressure, and I'm not living up to these crazy standards at all!

I'm pretty sure I'll feel some kind of guilt no matter what I'm doing. Whether I'm home enjoying my sweet girl or working I'll feel like I'm missing something. I know deep down in my heart that I made the right decision. Scoot (and Roo) will only be little once and I'm much rather look back on my life and have missed some professional moments that to have missed a day with them. If I can't have it all, then I'd rather have my kids! I just hope that someday I won't feel such guilt over my choices. I hope it gets easier and I won't always feel so torn.

Project Life 2012 - Week 3 and going strong!

2012-01-24T06:00:00.106-05:00

Week 3 and I'm more motivated than ever to make this year's album awesome! I've been working on finishing up my 2011 album and while I thought I had done terrible at getting pictures during the fall, I've found that I didn't miss as much as I thought I did. I still wish I had done a little better, but that just gives me something to strive for this year!

*Blogger is being a pain about the pictures, so things are not lining up like I want them to, but I'm too tired to fight with it anymore.*

1/16/12 Scoot is 19 months old today. She use to fit completely on this little blanket. And now... now... well now she barely fits at all and is not interested at all in laying on the blanket for mom to take pictures!

The next picture is 1/17/12 but I can't get Blogger to make a space for me to write directly above it. I'm trying to just go with the flow here... but it's hard. ANYWAY!!

1/17/12 Baby Roo had it's very first test. A non-stress test. I started these pretty early when I was pregnant with Scoot too, but it was because of high blood pressure. This time I still can't figure out why we are doing these. I get to sit and concentrate on my sweet baby for at least 30 minutes twice a week though, so I don't mind so much!

1/18/11 Scoot has a favorite book - I'm a Big Sister Now - and she reads it all day long! When she's not asking me to read it 7 times in a row, she reads it to Elmo or her baby. I love listening to her tell the story.

1/19/12 (pictures above and below -- another spacing issue) Our 2011 album has been out constantly while I steal a few moments here and there to work on finishing it up. Today I "caught" both Scoot and Aaron looking at it at separate times. That's why I do this! I'm so glad they enjoy looking back on these memories!

1/20/12 Scoot loves bath time!! All the bubbles are gone and her water looks a little dingy, but she's still having a great time and a nice long bath is a good way to spend a nice chunk of time on a cold day where we don't want to be outside.

1/21/12 We don't always make smart planning decisions. It was pouring down rain but we decided that today was actually the best day for us to go to Williamsburg. This was our first stop in Colonial Williamsburg to check out a toy shop for a hard to locate toy. There were very few other people as silly as us - out in this rain! We went to the outlets after this and the rain did finally let up.

1/22/12 Church sure did wear this poor girl out! I love that she has her sunglasses hanging on her face and her book is still open to the page she was reading when she dozed off. Scoot always takes her shoes off in the car, so no surprise there!

33 Weeks with Baby Roo and a 19 month melt down.

Project Life Tuesday 2012 - Week 2

2012-01-16T21:37:00.000-05:00

1/9/12 Playing peek-a-boo with Mommy in the most dare-devil way she can come up with! We may have to keep the curtains closed until she is done with this climbing in the window phase. She doesn't play with the window at all if the curtains are closed.

1/10/12 A nice warm January day calls for some quality park time! Scoot is a huge fan of climbing the steps to any and everything. She is not at all fond of the swings right now.

1/11/12 Right after bath time Scoot went to find her 'bank' while I dried my hair. When I was done I went to find her and was surprised that she had climbed into Mommy & Daddy's bed, gotten under the covers, and was saying "night night." I love that she has 1 foot outside the blankets -- just like Mommy sleeps!

1/12/12 Miss Scoot kissed her first boy today! J loved the hugs and kisses, but Daddy was not so happy when I texted this picture to him at work! Scoot is grounded until she's 30 according to Daddy!

1/13/12 We went to Bass Pro Shops to watch the fish (and pick up some stuff for Daddy). I love the was Scoot talks to the fish and watches them so intently. I was taking a ton of pictures and didn't realize I had caught this sweet Daddy/daughter moment until I downloaded the pics to the computer. My heart melted!!

1/14/12 Scoot has been protesting our car rides lately because the low winter sun is in her eyes almost all the time. Today was the first time that I put her sunglasses on and she actually kept them on for more than 2.6 seconds.

1/15/12 Aunt Catharine was home for the weekend and was more than happy to sneak in some snuggle time at dinner on Sunday night.

32 weeks with Baby Roo (I print these weekly shots small and put them in the 8th journal card space.)

32 Weeks

2012-01-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

At 32 weeks we are down to a single digit weekly countdown until the arrival of Baby Roo.

This seems quite impossible to me! Not only because I feel like these last 8 months have FLOWN by, but because I feel completely unprepared to bring a baby home! More unprepared even than I felt at this point before we brought home our first baby! How can it be that we're 19 months in to raising Scoot and I feel unprepared for a newborn?

Why WOULD I feel prepared? We haven't actually had to prepare anything! We have all the big accessories that come along with babies - carseat, stroller, swing, bouncy seat, pack & play, and baby carrier. We also have an over abundance of baby toys stored away from Scoot's infant days.

We did not decorate a nursery since Scoot and Roo will share a room. The room already has a gender neutral color scheme and isn't too baby-ish or big-kid-ish. (yep, I just made up that word!)

We haven't bought a single outfit, blanket, or bottle. We have TONS of blankets, bottles stored from the 7 short months ago that Scoot stopped using them, and totes full of baby girl clothes. Of course IF Baby Roo ends up being a boy we'll need a whole new wardrobe, but we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.

My shopping list of items to get in the next 2 months is short... super short.
*Going home outfit (maybe 2 - 1 boy & 1 girl)
*Rear facing carseat mirror for the car (Scoot is still rear facing and using hers.)
*Small can of formula (I plan on breastfeeding, but just in case)
*Crib (Ok, that sounds like a big one but it's not going to be an issue for several weeks/months after the baby is born.)
*Pacifiers

That's it! And really none of those are NECESSITIES! We've got clothes the baby can wear home from the hospital. It's only a 10 minute ride so not being able to see the baby in the mirror for 10 minutes won't hurt anybody. The hospital usually sends home a sample bottle of formula if things get tough with breastfeeding and the grocery store is only blocks away - the baby won't starve! The baby is going to stay in the pack&play in our room until we get to know each other better and see how Scoot reacts to the middle of the night wakings. We don't need a crib until we're ready to move the baby into Scoot's room - that could be 4-6 months later. And finally, we still have a few of Scoot's pacifiers that we could use in a pinch. I just WANT new ones BUT who's to say the baby will even take a pacifier?

We have done two - only 2 - things to get ready for Baby Roo. 1 ~We bought a case of size 1 diapers. 2~ I crocheted a blanket & hat especially for the baby and I am in the process of making a quilt especially for Baby Roo.

I feel like Baby Roo is getting the short end of the stick already being the second child and coming so close in age to Scoot. I know that we won't love the baby any less just because we didn't go through 9 months of intense preparations. Heck, the baby won't even know how much time we spent getting ready. Some of my "mommy guilt" over short changing the baby is that I'm afraid other people are going to do the same thing. I just want to make sure that Baby Roo knows how much we LOVE him/her and are SOOOOOO glad (s)he is joining our family!!

Renewed Commitment

2012-01-10T10:22:00.000-05:00

A new year has started and I am ready to renew my commitment to Project Life. I really believe in doing this project for the memories and record it will leave for my family. But somewhere around July/August I usually fall off the bandwagon a bit. I love the new year and having a new kit to work with and the sense that I'm not behind yet!! My 2011 book is still missing about 6 months of journaling cards but I did put in my final order of pictures. There are plenty of gaps, but that's just how life goes so I'm not going to stress about it toooooo much.

I've found that the layout I like best is to keep the weekend together in one spread. So my weeks run Monday - Sunday. That means this year my book will actually start on January 2nd. I like the picture a day format, but realistically that doesn't always happen so this year I'm going to try to give myself a little leeway to use weekly layouts for those times that I just don't remember to get my camera out every day. My theory this year is to keep it open to find what will work best for me and get the most of our story recorded.

Monday 1/2/12

Scoot eats cereal with milk all by herself for the first time! The things she can do these days (with ease) amazes me daily!

Tuesday 1/3/12
Aaron went back to work after being off for 11 days. Scoot has missed him terribly today and is waiting by the window for him to come home.

Wednesday 1/4/12
Giving a squeeze to the baby she got for Christmas. Scoot is a very loving little momma. She hugs, kisses, pats, feeds, and takes her baby on walks. I can't wait to see how she is as a big sister!

Thursday 1/5/12
We have a little monkey on our hands! Scoot climbed up on a footstool and then walked down the windowsill to get on top of the kitchen! I think it's time to start a gymnastics class!

Friday 1/6/12
I finished the quilt top that I've been working on for Baby Roo. Next up is to baste, quilt, and bind it. I've got 8 weeks to get it done! I can do it!

Saturday 1/7/12
We held off for awhile due to family history of allergies, but Scoot got her first taste of peanut butter today. She liked the jelly side of the sandwich a lot better.

Sunday 1/8/12
31 weeks pregnant with Baby Roo. Yes it's January, but I'm ALWAYS hot!!

We unofficially declared it "Take Your Daughter To Work" day when Scoot wanted nothing more than to cuddle with Aaron, but he was on-call for work and had an emergency come in.

Day 15 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-15T19:56:00.000-05:00

Today Scoot played with a little Christmas Tree counting activity I made for her earlier this week. I made a chart with the numbers 1-10. Each number had it's own row and I placed the correct number of velcro pieces in the row next to the number. I used small foam Christmas Tree cutouts with velcro on the back as the counters. Scoot put the trees on the velcro in each row as we counted together and pointed to the number.

It was WAY over her head, but she did like playing with the little trees. Her favorite was sticking & unsticking them over and over again. At least it gave us something to do while we counted to 10 a bunch of times. I figure it couldn't hurt to jump into something that is too hard - especially since I'm sitting right there talking to her about it the whole time. It will be perfect for next year I think.

Day 14 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-14T22:29:00.000-05:00

Today we went and let Scoot pick out her ornament for the year. I just *knew* she would pick Elmo, but wouldn't you know they didn't have a single Elmo ornament in the entire store! I was shocked! Of course she ended up picking out a Tinkerbell ornament that they were completely out of. I think she liked it because of the music it played. Being the overly accommodating parents that we are, we went to 2 more stores looking for this Tinkerbell ornament that she had gotten obsessed with in our 10 minute visit to the store. But both of those stores were also out. Secretly... I was just fine with that! I ended up "talking her into" getting an ornament that I'm much happier about! She got a Guess How Much I Love You book & bunny ornament. I feel like that will have some meaning to her since we read the book often and I tell her that at least 320508365802 times a day.

(I would have been fine with Elmo since she is actually obsessed with Elmo right now in her life. But the Tinkerbell just didn't sit well with me since she has never shown ANY interest in Tinkerbell until she saw this ornament that played a catchy little tune. I really think it was the music that drew her in.)

I also got her a photo ornament with the year on it. I think that kiddos should have an ornament with the date on it (bought or better yet home crafted) until they are 10 or so. I just think it makes getting the ornaments out every year so much fun. Scoot has several with last years date since it was her first Christmas. I couldn't let this year go by with no dated ornaments!!

Day 13 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-13T20:19:00.000-05:00

Tonight I put together a little game for Scoot to play with. I took an empty parmesan cheese container and stuck some candy canes inside. Scoot could dump them out of the larger opening or hang them in the holes of the other opening. We practiced counting them. And she even chewed on one. I took the paper off so she could really try it. At first she was giving these great big grins every time she sucked on it. Then she accidentally bit a piece off and got scared. She did not like having the pieces come off, but she still liked the flavor.

Day 12 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-12T20:26:00.001-05:00

Tonight we finally got our Christmas tree out of the attic and set it up. Scoot is thrilled with the lights. So much so that the ornaments are a distraction to her. At least that's what I'm figuring since she keeps taking them off and laying them on the floor across the room! Its a good thing we only put about 20 on the tree so far. This year most of our ornaments are staying safely boxed and only the soft, non-breakable, hook-less ornaments made it onto the tree at Scoot level. I'm also kinda sorta afraid that she's going to topple the tree over completely, so we will leave it at that. I can only imagine what our tree will look like next year with a 2 1/2 year old and a 9 month old!

Day 11 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-11T20:06:00.000-05:00

Tonight we went to the Yankee Candle store. On the surface, this doesn't sound all that exciting. But the Williamsburg store is a flagship store which means it is HUGE and has tons of Christmas stuff out year round. It snows there twice an hour and Santa is even hanging out. Of course they have all the candles you could ever want, but they go extra heavy on the Christmas scents this time of year. They have Christmas trees everywhere decorated in a bunch of different themes. It is a pretty cool place to visit. We were excited about taking Scoot since she seems to really like lights and trees. Surprisingly though, I think her favorite part was the train they have running through all the Christmas rooms on a track a couple of feet above your head. Whenever it would come into the room we were in, she would YELL "chooo choooo!" It was the cutest thing! We didnt stand in the LONG line to see Santa, but she did watch him for a few minutes. I hope that she won't completely freak out when we take her to see Santa... but we'll see.

I forgot my camera (even though we had to go back home to get Aaron's wallet after I had remembered that I left it... doh!) so all the pictures are from my phone and not the best quality, but they are better than nothing!

Day 10 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-10T22:11:00.000-05:00

Tonight we had some fun with Scoot's dessert. I made her a funny looking little snow man using whip cream and M&Ms. I'll be the first to admit it doesn't look much like a snowman, but Scoot loved it anyway. She's a big fan of M&Ms and whip cream so this was a perfect little dessert for her! We also read a book about snowmen.

Day 9 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-09T22:08:00.001-05:00

Tonight Aaron and I went to his Christmas work party and Scoot got to stay home and have her own little party with LaLa. It was not exactly what I wanted to do for our 9th day of the 25 Days of Christmas, but it was a super busy day and we didn't have time to fit anything else in. To hear LaLa tell the stories when we got home, Scoot must have had a good time though!

Still trying to decide if we want to brave the crowds, traffic, and frigid temps to go to a parade tomorrow morning...

Day 8 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-08T20:35:00.000-05:00

Tonight we gave Scoot her very own Nativity set. This was originally going to be one of her Christmas presents, but we talked about it and thought it was better for her to get it early and spend the Advent season playing with it. (Target also had a deal where all Little People sets were buy one-get one 50% off. So she'll still get some Little People for Christmas.)

She really loves the Baby Jesus, Mary, and the animals. Now I just need to know what a camel says. She holds up the sheep and says "baaa," the cow and says "mooo," and the donkey and says "eeeohhh." But when she gets to the camel I have no idea what to tell her!

We also read the book "Christmas in the Manger" by Nola Buck

Day 7 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-07T22:17:00.001-05:00

Wednesday is our busy night, but before we left Scoot took a few minutes to color a page in her Elmo Christmas coloring book.

-mommy helped-

And we read a quick little Christmas board book.

It wasn't our most inspiring Christmas moment, but we had fun and we all spent a few minutes together. I think that's what matters and what these 25 days of Christmas are really about.

Day 6 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-06T21:45:00.001-05:00

Tonight we watched Charlie Brown's Christmas. It was on TV last night after Scoot's bed time so we recorded it. Scoot cuddled up with Daddy and her blanket on the couch and watched while I made dinner. A great time was had by all!

Day 5 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-05T21:22:00.000-05:00

Tonight Scoot played with play dough for the very first time. We got out some green play dough and 3 cookie cutters (star, snowman, and tree). The very first thing she did when I took it out of the can was put it in her mouth! HAHA But after I took it out of her mouth and told her no, she didn't try that again. I bet it didn't taste too good!

She liked taking it in and out of the container and making finger prints in it. She didn't really get the cookie cutters, but that's alright. She did a good job of keeping it on the box. Overall I think she liked it. Every time there seemed to be a dip in interest and I ask if she was all done she would say no and play with it some more. I've got some red to try next time and a bunch of other shaped cookie cutters.

We also read the book "The Christmas Baby." It's got a ton of animals and baby pictures -her two favorite things- so she was thrilled with the book!

Day 4 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-04T21:36:00.000-05:00

For Day 4 I made a Christmas Sensory Box ... well I started one. I couldn't get all the little trinkets I wanted, but I got enough to get started.

*side note* when I went to Michael's they were in the middle of a 5 hour sale and the place was CRAZY! The Christmas stuff was already picked over and the lines were super long! I'm going to try to get to Wal-mart to see if they have the rest of what I wanted to get.

I started with an extra plastic storage box we had laying around and dumped a bag of cotton balls in as the "base". Then I added 6 small wreath ornaments, 2 small nutcracker figurines (plastic), 4 winter erasers, 6 huge jingle bells, 4 gingerbread boy stickers, 4 gingerbread girl stickers, 6 foam tree cut outs.

The pieces I started with.

Scoot was pretty excited about it and dug right in. She started taking out the little pieces but left the cotton balls in the box. She didn't love the way the cotton would stick to the wreaths or glitter bells and then stick to her, but she did like to pull the pieces apart a little.

There are a ton of different textures in this box already. When she was holding 2 different textures at once, I could just see the little wheels in her brain spinning.

Scoot definitely found a favorite. The huge jingle bells were a big hit. She took them out and put them back in. We counted them. She closed the box and put the bells on top. She matched the 3 different pairs. She even tasted them!

I can't wait to add a few more things if I can find them! She seems to like it already and I'm excited about making more of these boxes for other holidays and themes!!

We also read the book, Snowbear Countsdown to Christmas.

Day 3 - 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-03T20:26:00.000-05:00

Tonight Scoot used foam ornament stickers to decorate a quick little tree that I cut out of green scrapbook paper. She liked picking out the stickers, putting them on, taking them off, and rearranging them. I waited a little too late in the day to do our activity today - note to self! Then we read the book "Bear Stays Up for Christmas" by Karma Wilson. She liked all the animals in the book.

Day 2 of 25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-02T22:27:00.000-05:00

Tonight we went to Christmas Town and Busch Gardens. I've enjoyed going for the last 2 years, but this year I LOVED it! The first year I was pregnant with Scoot and then last year she was just 6 months old (and it was FREEZING!) so while it was fun and beautiful, this year was so much more special because she is really starting to enjoy stuff like this!

We got super lucky and got discount tickets for only $5 (normally $24) so we plan on going one more time before they close up over New Years. It was nice to be able to take our time and only do half of the park since we know we'll be going back. That made it so much easier on Scoot too.

The Clydesdale horses are my favorite! As soon as Scoot saw them we knew they were her favorite too! She was pointing and squealing "HOSS" and "NEIGH" - it was ADORABLE!

One of the shows is "A Sesame Street Christmas" and once again we had a squealer! ELMO! ELMO! ELMO! This kid almost came right out of her seat and over the rail in front of us trying to get closer to Elmo. The show was a perfectly timed 20 minutes.

I wore my Ergo baby carrier and Scoot did enjoy riding in that on the longer walks (to & from the car, on the way to dinner) but for the most part she much preferred walking. Especially because while she was walking she could reach out and touch the millions of lights on the hundreds of trees lining the walk ways. It was so pretty! And she just wanted to express her appreciation by touching as many as possible! Whenever she was in the Ergo, she would call "Dada" about every 3 steps to make sure he was still there. SOOOO cute!

We took a little time to admire baby Jesus. A beautiful Nativity display!

Scoot was ready to walk and touch and did not appreciate me stopping for a photo op or trying to hold her!

She was starting to fall into the zone (it was WAY past her bed time) and sitting on the polar bear meant that she could reach the tree above her head so she didn't mind when I picked her up this time. Even without a smile, I love this picture!!

25 Days of Christmas

2011-12-01T20:25:00.000-05:00

25 Days of Christmas ---- I feel like I'm on the ABC Family Channel here! haha

I'm on such a roll after the month of November that I'm excited about keeping it up! Since this is the first Christmas that Scoot will have any inkling of an idea about what's going on I want to make it extra special and carry on some traditions. Starting today (12/1) we are going to try to do something Christmas related every day and read a Christmas book. This will NOT be very involved this year. I'm keeping everything very simple. Scoot is still too young to actually get it and her attention span is seriously limited. I want the things we do to be age appropriate. Then every year we can make it more involved and appropriate for a growing girl (family). I want to keep track of what we do this year so that I won't have such a hard time thinking of 25 things next year! And maybe if I take a picture of each activity daily we can make a little scrap book that we can get out with our Christmas decorations each year and look back on with Scoot's future boyfriends! HA!

Since tonight was the first day I kept it really simple. We read "Jingle Bells" and played with a little bracelet with 10 silver bells on it. (I made it with craft store bells and some left over yarn.) This was a cute little book to start off with since it is just the words to the song with pictures. Scoot loved pointing to the horse on each page. And she thought the little bell bracelet was awesome! I held her hands and shook the bells while we sang the song and she thought that was pretty hot stuff too.

Day 1 - a success!

She's got a tight little grip on those bells! Her face in this picture is so totally her! I love it!!

Wednesday Night Dinners

2011-11-30T21:35:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for the Wednesday night dinners we have with our friends. These friends have a daughter only 2 days younger than Scoot and an almost 3 year old. The girls all play well together. The adults get adult time! We eat pizza (or spaghetti) and then there is always dessert! It is wonderful to have a night in the middle of the week to look forward to. I'm thankful we have set aside time to grow our relationship with these friends. It is so easy to get busy with life and forget to take the time to work on our relationships, but having this weekly date really helps keep us connected. I'm thankful that they feel more like family than friends. I'm thankful that the 3 girls have 2 sets of adults that love them. I'm thankful that the girls have each other as friends already. I'm thankful that tonight is Wednesday!

Christmas Cards

2011-11-29T19:59:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful that I got my Christmas cards ordered today! I'm starting to get into the Christmas spirit little by little. Tomorrow my job is to gather all our Christmas books to start a Christmas book countdown list. And I'm going to make a list of something Christmas related to do every day through Christmas Eve and pair it with a book to read. We don't have any decorations up yet, but that will be part of the list. I'm so excited about continuing/starting traditions with Scoot as she starts understanding the magic of the season!

car title

2011-11-28T20:42:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful that we got our car title in the mail today! That means that we have NO CAR PAYMENTS! :) Right before Christmas is the perfect time to pay off the car!

spiritual family

2011-11-27T20:57:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for our church family. I've been going to the same church since I was about 5. I was baptised there, went through confirmation there, got married there, and had my Scoot baptized there. The people, and the preachers, have changed through the years but it is home to me. I've missed large chunks of time during college and changed services but the family that we have created there is always glad to see us. I'm thankful that we are surrounded by people who are so much further in their spiritual journey and are wonderful leaders. I'm equally as thankful for the visitors and those new in their faith who are welcomed in and nurtured by the members. The Advent and Christmas seasons are among my favorite times to be a part of this church and I'm excited for the weeks to come!

father - daughter bond

2011-11-26T20:21:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for the special bond between my hubby and my sweet girl. I love watching them together. I love the way they curl up and read books or sprawl out and build towers. I love the way he whispers to her every night as he puts her to bed. He's just loud enough that I can hear little whispers over the monitor, but not loud enough that I can tell what he's saying. I love that they have that special time together. I love the way she runs to him when he comes home from work - squealing the whole time. I love the way she looks at the screen saver on my phone and says "dada." I love the way she snuggles up to him early in the morning when she gets up before we're ready to start the day. I love the way she listens to him with just one warning. I love the way she stands in the window and waves every morning until his truck is completely gone from sight. I love the way she tickles him, steals his hat, and helps with his shoes. I'm so thankful for all the love I get to experience just from watching these two together!

black friday

2011-11-25T20:06:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for all the deals that we scored during black friday shopping today. This year, with me not working, we are really focusing on the real reason for the season and trying to get away from the overly commercialized gift giving part. I've wanted to do this for several years because it just feels silly to scrounge around to come up with something to give someone who already has way too much stuff, but I always felt guilty for some reason. This year - we have no money - so I don't feel bad at all!

Even though we came home last night after dinner and did NOT go back out for midnight madness (or earlier since some places opened as early as 3 pm around here!) and we slept until after 7 this morning, we still had plenty of time to go black friday shopping. And we got some great deals! That means the small gifts that we are giving to family and friends this year didn't break our thinly stretched bank account.

I'm thankful we got plenty of sleep last night and still got to be part of the crazy black friday fun!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T20:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!
Today I am thankful for all of our extended family. We had a wonderful time enjoying their company today and eating way too much yummy food!

step back - breathe

2011-11-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful that for the most part, even through crazy pregnancy hormones, I can see when I'm being unreasonable or getting angry over nothing. That doesn't necessarily change my feelings in the moment. But I can recognize that I need to take a step back, keep my mouth shut, and approach the subject again when I've had time to cool off and think rationally. Sometimes I can see it but don't care. I'm thankful for forgiveness in those instances. Today I am thankful that I kept my instant anger and disappointment to myself, because in the end it wasn't a big deal and not worth getting into an argument over.

24 weeks of perfection

2011-11-22T20:18:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for a baby that is perfectly healthy and growing quickly. Baby Roo had a 24 week check up today and everything looks wonderful. The little one is growing a bit ahead of the curve, but that's not completely unexpected. My blood pressure and blood sugar are both looking good for now but are being watched carefully. Our ultrasound tech was really good and even gave us a little 3-D glimpse of Baby Roo's face. It's a cute one for sure!! Now if I can get the scanner to work, I'll upload a picture soon!

2 hour nap

2011-11-21T20:32:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for 2 hour naps that little miss decides can not be taken anywhere but on me! It's been probably 8 or 9 months since Scoot fell asleep on me and I hadn't realized how much I missed it. I love to cuddle with that little butterbean!

weekend escape

2011-11-20T21:18:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for the weekend we just spent with my family. On Friday we packed the car and drove 3 1/2 hours into the mountains to my sister's house. My parents and uncle met us there and we celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday. It was a blessing to be able to spend 2 whole days with family. Just talking, eating, napping, playing, walking, and enjoying each other's company. I love this tradition!

twice a week

2011-11-17T20:55:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful that a friend of mine lets me watch her little guy 2 days a week. Jacob is 4 months older than Scoot and they get along really well. It is so cute how they play together, dance, chase each other, "read" to each other, and just sit together watching Elmo. I love that Scoot still gets some toddler interaction even though she's home with me. I'm thankful that those extra few dollars a week help me feel like I'm contributing to my family.

help wanted

2011-11-16T20:42:00.001-05:00

I'm thankful that I can find things to laugh about in the simple everyday things.

This morning I went out to the car to get dog food. Scoot was following me until she was distracted by the newspaper. She made a bee-line for the paper, picked it up and walked back in the house. She went straight to the bathroom and laid the newspaper by the toilet. (It's especially funny since no one at this house reads the newspaper in the bathroom!)

When Scoot woke up from her nap she walked right into the bathroom with purpose, picked up the newspaper and took it to the living room. She took the whole thing apart like she was looking for something specific. She settled on the "help wanted" section and laid down on the paper looking at it intently for more than 5 minutes. I told Aaron that she must be tired of spending all day, every day with me but I don't know if she was looking for a job for me or her.

The whole series of events was hilarious to me! I'm so glad I get to be a part of her funny little world and that I can see the humor in the every day moments.

Thankful on a hard day

2011-11-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for a gracious God and that tomorrow is full of new beginnings!

beautiful weather

2011-11-14T20:06:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for the beautiful weather we are having right now! I love that it is warm enough to be outside without coats on. I love that we are not trapped inside, but can get out and walk and play. I love that my toes have not been stuffed into socks at all yet. I love that Scoot loves to play outside. I love that we can enjoy the beautiful colors of fall while being out IN the colors and leaves. This beautiful weather is is certainly lifting my mood lately!

Reading

2011-11-13T20:56:00.000-05:00

I'm so thankful that Scoot loves to read! She looks at books throughout the day. She brings books to Aaron and I all the time to read to her. She has books stashed in the living room, my bedroom, her room, the car, her diaper bag, and even the bathroom. She loves books with animals or pictures of babies. She has just started a new game where she'll bring me a book to read, but sit a few feet away and look at another book while I read, but I KNOW she's paying attention to me because she gets upset if I stop or skip a page. I hope that her love of books and reading will continue to grow with her. I love books and I'm thankful that she does to!

family photos

2011-11-12T20:42:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful that I have a friend who is a budding photographer, who takes great pictures, and is affordable. Today we had a mini-session photo shoot with my friend. We're going to use the pictures for our Christmas cards. I was so excited about our outfits and the location that Maggie chose. Scoot wasn't very cooperative in the smile department, but she did get happy for a little while. I can't wait to see what she got! I'll post some pictures as soon as she sends them to me!!

The Military

2011-11-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Veterans Day!

I'm thankful for the brave men and women who selflessly spend their time to protect me, my family, and this wonderful country. I'm thankful for their families who give up time with their loved ones so that I am free to spend time with my family. I'm thankful for their families who keep things running smoothly at home while they are deployed.

I'm thankful that I live in an area full of military bases. I'm thankful that I am reminded of the cost of freedom every time I walk into a store and see a soldier, marine or airman in uniform. I'm thankful that I often have the pleasure of watching jet practice or listening to jet noise. It really is a beautiful sound.

I'm thankful that my husband, while not in the military, plays a pivotal role through his job in the way the military protects our country. I'm thankful that the military keeps the economy in this area constant without the large fluctuations of other parts of the country.

God Bless the U.S.A!

Education

2011-11-10T21:40:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for the education I received.

I have fond High School memories. I had a bunch of great teachers.

I LOVED college. At least the last 2 years of it. I went to a small school where I knew no one for the first two years and then transfered to a Virginia Tech (where I should have gone in the first place). I'm thankful that we have the time and opportunity to go back several times a year and now Caroline gets to share in the good times!

I am also thankful for my time at Old Dominion University where I got my Master's in Education. The professors there were amazing and I'm thankful for all they taught me.

And right now, I'm thankful that my very favorite college football team just went into half time with an 8 point lead. GO HOKIES!!

Girls Night!

2011-11-09T20:48:00.001-05:00

I'm thankful for fun nights out with the girls.

Tonight I got together with some of the teachers from my school (I'm still allowed to call it that, even though I don't work there right now because I love the school and the people there! {That's for Aaron who says its not "my" school anymore.}) for book club.

Just try to figure out that crazy train of thought.... I'll give you a second...

Ok, ready to move on?

I'm thankful that Aaron is able to have some father/daughter bonding time while I'm at book club. I'm thankful that going to book club has got me started reading again. I'm thankful for the good food that everyone brings to share. I'm thankful that I get to see these ladies on a regular basis. I'm thankful that while we do talk about the books we read, we also spend a lot of time just chatting and connecting.

I haven't been posting pictures with every post like I planned, but sometimes there just isn't a picture. We didn't take a picture of book club tonight.

I voted!

2011-11-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for my right to vote today. We went as a family this afternoon after Aaron got home from work. This was Caroline's second time going to the polls with me. I was going to take an adorable picture of my sweet girl wearing my "I voted" sticker to put up with this post... but my precinct didn't have any stickers! I guess budget cuts get in the way of everything these days!

sleep

2011-11-07T21:00:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for a smooth time change! Scoot seems to be right back on schedule and barely even notices that anything has changed. Just the way it should be! Thank you sweet girl for not getting totally crazy with the time change - your "still-easily-exhausted pregnant" mommy appreciates it!!

turning parents into grandparents

2011-11-06T21:05:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for the way my parents love my daughter. They are always doting on her. They brag on her like she is the best, smartest, cutest kid in the universe. They spoil her rotten. They are always willing to give us a night out and watch her for the evening. Watching them as grandparents is one of the joys of being a parent.

Friends

2011-11-05T23:05:00.000-04:00

I'm thankful for my dear friends. An old friend that I've known since preschool and recently started reconnecting with came into town this weekend. I'm thankful that they were able to make time in their busy schedule to go to dinner tonight.

*We were so busy talking, reminiscing, and catching up that we never took a picture of us together. We're getting together in a few weeks when I go up north so I'll make sure to get one then!!*

Home Sweet Home

2011-11-04T21:08:00.001-04:00

I'm thankful for our house. When we first bought this house, I was only planning on living here for 3 years. It's a small house and we didn't plan to have kids while we lived here. It's been almost 6 years and baby #2 is on the way.

Plans change. And a house became our home.

We don't have a ton of room, but it forces us to be organized and picky about the things we buy. It also forces us to spend all of our time in the same space. I always hated to see families living in houses where everyone was always in separate rooms and never interacting. That is not an issue for us.

Scoot and Roo will eventually share a room and I'm kind of excited about it. I shared a room with my sister for my entire childhood and I think it was an integral part of our relationship. Baby Roo will bunk with us until we establish a good night time schedule and are confidant that them being together will not keep everyone up all night.

It's true that..... Our dinning room is gated off and the dogs stay in there while we are gone. The kitchen only has 2 drawers and 4 cabinets. There are only 2 closets in the whole house. We never have enough seating when people visit. My sewing machine sits on the table 99% of the time because there's no where else to store it. Our living room is full of kids toys & books. The washer & dryer are in the kitchen. We only have 1 bathroom.

But it is also true that... Our home is warm and cozy in the winter and cool and comfortable in the summer. Our house is safe. This is all the space that I care to clean. We still have a ton more stuff than we really NEED. We can live here within our means even with me not working. We have an enormous back yard for the pups and babies. Hubby has a garage for his man toys. We feel completely at home here! We have made it our own, and I don't see us leaving for several more years.

Jabs and Flips

2011-11-03T20:25:00.001-04:00

I'm thankful that I have the pleasure of feeling our little Baby Roo rolling around in my belly. I LOVE the feeling of these little jabs, pokes, kicks, punches, flips and flops. I love being pregnant in general and this is the main reason. It is such a blessing to be able to experience the growth of a baby from the most intimate angle. I'm especially aware of how wonderful it is because of the number of women I know who would LOVE to feel this and haven't been able to yet.

I treasure each and every time I feel my Baby Roo move.

Me at 21 weeks with Baby Roo (I haven't scaned any of our ultrasound pictures yet.)

My Sweet Caroline

2011-11-02T21:17:00.000-04:00

I'm thankful that I get to be Caroline's mommy! She makes me laugh every day. She is a smarty pants and is learning new things every day - things that I had no idea she would learn this early. She gives the best kisses. I love when she pats my back and lays her head on my shoulder. She likes my singing. She takes my finger and leads me around when I don't know what she wants. She takes off her shoes when we're outside, but wants to wear them when we're at home. She loves to dance. She stops and points when ever she sees a dog, on tv or in real life. She takes care of her baby just like a real little mommy. She makes me want to be a better person. She makes me want to give her the world. She makes me feel like all is right in the world. I love my sweet Caroline!

let's start with the obvious

2011-11-01T20:22:00.000-04:00

I'm thankful for my husband. He loves me even when I can't figure out why. He lets me be exactly who I am with no explanation needed. He is hilarious. He brings home special treats on the days that have been the hardest, even without me saying a word (thanks for the krispy kreme donuts today babe!). He works his tushy off to provide everything we need. He supports my decision to stay home this year to raise our daughter. He LOVES our daughter more than life itself. He'd give anything to make her feel loved and safe. He's passionate about football. He's loyal to friends and family. He'd drop everything to help someone who needs it. He is generous with his time and means. He has big dreams for the future. I'm thankful that God made him just for me!

Double Duty November

2011-11-01T11:42:00.001-04:00

I'm going to use November as a double duty month. I'm setting this month aside to make a commitment to remembering the positive things in my life and documenting them. Every day for the entire month of November I'm going to post something that I am thankful for. Some days it might be a single sentence. Other days, I'm sure I'll need an entire essay to share the depth of my thankfulness. Some days the topic will be deep and thoughtful. And some days it will be more lighthearted. Every day I'm going TRY to post a picture.

I'm a little intimidated, but I'm also really excited! I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks and I think it is just what I need right now in blogging and more importantly in life!

First installment is coming later today!

Friday Fragments

2011-10-28T15:03:00.001-04:00

Pregnancy brain means that my whole thought process is in fragments these days. My poor husband can barely keep up in a conversation with me because I switch topics frequently and randomly. I'll lay it out with bullets so that it's easier for you to keep up!!

I'm a dream target for obvious, over the top, advertising ploys. I can be talked into buying almost anything. Infomercials could be a disaster for my budget! And if you give me a coupon I'll most certainly run out and buy things that I don't need, don't want, and probably cant use.
I find it very awkward when I find the neighbors' mail in my mail box. Sadly, it happens about once a week around here. Makes me wonder how much of my mail is ending up somewhere around the neighborhood.
I decided to rearrange our living room (mostly the kid clutter) while hubby was at work and he came home right in the middle of the "it-has-to-get-worse-before-it-can-get-better" phase. Luckily he understands me enough to know that it was time for him to take the little one and play in another room till I was done. It looks much better now by the way!
I have fallen WAY behind on my picture taking. My project 365 is in a sad state for the last 10-12 weeks. I'm sad about all the opportunities I've missed to document my Scoot's life during that time.
I think I'm ready to leave Scoot over night for the first time. Now I just need to find a time and some funds to plan a little weekend getaway for me and hubby!
Naming a baby is seriously the hardest thing in the world for me to do. Good thing babies take 40 weeks to cook, because there is no way we will have chosen and agreed on a name any sooner than that!

If you've got bits and pieces of stories bouncing around in your head, hop over to Half-Past Kissin Time and link up your own post of fragments.

Fall Weekend Fun

2011-10-17T20:05:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we went to a Harvest Festival at a local farm. During the day they had a petting zoo, a hayride, carnival rides, carnival food, and a pumpkin patch. After dark they change the whole place into a haunted farm. There were SOOOO many people there that we only did the petting zoo. It was the first petting zoo we've been to where you actually get IN the pen with most of the animals. Scoot thought this was heaven on earth. This girl squeals with delight whenever she's close enough to touch the animals. Surprisingly, most of the animals were not alarmed by her at all and kept coming back for more. She was one happy cookie!

This was her favorite goat and she followed him (her?) around and ignored most of the other goats.

The chicken coop was CRAZY! They actually allow you to pick up the chickens, and the chickens don't seem to mind. These guys made Scoot squeal, but she didn't really want to touch them.

When she found the sheep she actually talked to it. "baa baa baa"

Since we didn't get a pumpkin at the festival due to all the people, on Sunday we visited the church in our back yard that has a pumpkin patch every year. We've gotten our pumpkins from them for the last 4 years. But this year they had the biggest pumpkins I've ever seen for sale. I was afraid they'd have fewer or smaller pumpkins this year due to Hurricane Irene and T.S. Lee, but they were fully stocked.

Little miss independent would rather help push the stroller than ride. It actually worked out really well this time because then we had plenty of room to haul pumpkins.

Scoot playing peek-a-boo with Daddy and showing off our family of pumpkins. One for Daddy, Mommy, Scoot, and baby Roo :)

Friday Fragments

2011-10-14T15:01:00.001-04:00

There are a bunch of little things that happen during the week that don't all deserve their own blog post, but they are still worth remembering, or they make me think, or they just plain amuse me and I want to share. So Friday Fragments is a great way to get all those little things out!

*The mail man came to my house THREE times yesterday! First he brought regular, everyday mail. Then he came back and brought a package. That wasn't too weird since he normally brings packages back by truck after they walk the route. But then he came back, again in the truck, the third time to bring 1 tiny political flier. I could have done without that one!

*Caroline is almost 16 months old and already knows that when she takes her clothes off they go in the hamper. Proud mom! Lets see if this continues into her teenage years.

*I want to make Caroline a Halloween costume this year, but I can't figure out what I want her to be. Last year she got too hot in the costume we bought because it was still almost 80* here and I think it's going to be that way again this year.

*Since we are not finding out whether Baby Roo is a boy or a girl I'm crocheting a pink blanket and a blue blanket so that we can use whichever one is appropriate. I started with blue... and I'm only 1/2 done. Time to pick up the pace because I still have a quilt to make too!

*I'm super picky about any purse that I buy. And I'm not one to spend more than $50. So I've been carrying around a purse for the last couple of weeks that has 2 rips and a zipper that is almost completely falling off because I can not find one that I like to replace it. I'm to the point of just toting my wallet instead of carrying the whole purse.

*Shopping for Christmas this year is giving me hives already! I'm much more excited about figuring out what we're going to do for a Christmas card photo.

Come on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time to link up your own Friday Fragments if you've got random stuff bouncing around in your noggin!

Dinner time

2011-10-11T21:04:00.001-04:00

Since I'm a stay-at-home-mom now, I feel more responsibility and pressure to make home cooked meals and keep my house cleaner. Neither of which I am actually very good at.

My standards for a clean house are not that high. Everything is tidy and safe for my sweet girl. But I could care less about the dust on fan blades or washing base boards. I hope to get better about that by getting on a cleaning schedule, but that's not what I'm working on right now.

The current focus of my attention is cooking more. Making more "real" food and staying away from the frozen convenience food. Hubby sure does like that fake food though. He's pretty picky -ok, extremely picky- when it comes to eating, and he basically only likes that fast fake food. He's giving me some grief about this new plan, but I know its best for us all in the long run. Especially for my sweet girl. She is developing her eating habits now and I don't want her to be picky like Aaron. I want her to be adventurous. I want her to enjoy veggies and have a favorite meal that she requests for birthday dinners.

Anyway, I've been working on it for the last week or two, but this week is really backfiring so far. Last night I made spaghetti sauce from scratch instead of opening a jar. I used my mom's recipe, which I LOVE. But I used twice as much tomato sauce as I was suppose to and it ended up being kinda gross. (I'm blaming it on pregnancy brain.) I didn't make any strides in convincing Aaron that this cooking was a good thing.

Then this morning I set up the crock-pot nice and early to make chicken & dumplings. It didn't turn out anything like the recipe said it should. I actually thought it turned out pretty tasty though. BUT it didn't look good at all! Caroline ate it up. Aaron, again, was not impressed at all.

Tomorrow night I'm making my favorite homemade mac & cheese... and for my Kraft blue box guy, I don't think it's going to go over well. If I just keep it up, he'll get use to it right? Eventually I'll be able to change his decades worth of conditioning to like over processed, frozen food... I hope. Until then I'm going to enjoy these real foods, because I've missed them for the last 5 years. And it's time for a change - I'm so tired of eating the same stuff over and over and over again.

girlfriends

2011-10-09T21:49:00.000-04:00

In high school I had 2 close girlfriends. Most weekends Sara, Aimee and I were hanging out at football games, going to the movies, shopping, going out to eat, or spending the nights at each other's houses (never mine, but that's another story). We talked on the phone for hours each night. I had shoe boxes full of notes that we wrote to each other during the school day. We were tight.

But I didn't tell them everything. In fact, I didn't tell them much of anything that really mattered. I keep my feelings, worries & excitement, close to the heart. I blamed it on being an introvert. But the truth is, I don't really trust anyone but myself with my deepest feelings and thoughts.

My trust issues were highlighted when I went to college and had to make all brand new friends. It was HARD! Since I don't open up easily, not many people want to open themselves up either. I stayed at my first school for 2 years without any close friends. There was no one that I could talk to about everything. No one that I shared exciting or sad news with. If I needed to tell someone something I called my boyfriend 4 hours away or called my mom. If I just needed to get something off my chest, I wrote it down in a journal.

The point of all this... finally... is that I haven't had "close" girlfriends in more than 10 years. And even then, I wouldn't say that they knew me inside and out. As I'm getting older I am realizing more and more how wonderful those relationships can be. And I'm feeling left out. I'm feeling like I'm missing something important.

I have lots of friends, but they all have other best friends. It's my fault. I don't open up. I make it hard to get to know the real me. It's the way I've been all my life. But now I want to change. I want to open up and have a best friend. Someone that I can talk to about anything, any time. Someone that knows me better than I know myself. Someone that I can talk to when I'm frustrated with my husband or when my daughter does something super cute.

This isn't going to be easy for me. And I need to start slow. So I'm going to start being more open and honest here. Like a journal would be. I hope that if I can get in the habit of sharing my life more easily with the unseen, unknown people of the internet then it will translate into me being more open in the rest of my life.

*I don't know how my husband ever got me to open up to him. It must have been a God thing. I'm incredibly happy that I can be myself with him and that he knows me better than I know myself. But sometimes you just need a girl to talk to. A girl's perspective. Someone to talk about your husband to. :) *

need direction

2011-10-06T10:42:00.000-04:00

before i get started let me say that i am blessed to be able to stay home with my sweet girl. it is something that i've always wanted to do. i love being here with her! and i'm over the moon thankful for my amazing husband who works his tushy off to make it all possible.
now, with that being said, let's get to the point. i'm lost.

for the first time in my memory i don't have a schedule or an agenda. and i've come to realize that i have no idea how to budget my time without the influence of a job or school to guide my time. my to-do list keeps getting longer, but i'm not getting anything done.

of course there are things that need to be done around the house like dishes, grocery shopping, cleaning and laundry.
and more importantly there is the time i get to spend with my girl. i want to play with her, teach her, create with her, and explore with her.
there's crafting time. i've got closets, drawers & a brain full of ideas, fabric, paper, pens, wood, batting, thread, ribbon, buttons, stickers, paint etc and it is sitting there more neglected now that i'm home all day then it was when i had a full time job.
hubby time. my guy is working his tushy off to make it possible for me to be home and i want to make his life easier if & when i can. not to mention carving out time for date night.
me time. now that i'm not around adults all day 5 days a week its more important for me to carve out the time to get together with other adults and recharge my batteries.

waiting around hoping i will figure this out hasn't worked for the last 4 months so its time for a plan. this is going to be a work in progress for sure. but its time to get back to some of my teaching roots and start some "lesson" plans. as soon as nap time is over we're headed to the store to get a planner and make this official. but while sweet girl is still sleeping i better get the dishes washed so i can check 1 thing off my to-do list!

Caroline's 15 month stats

2011-09-29T13:14:00.000-04:00

I should have been doing this after all her checkups just to keep track of how she's growing, but better late than never! (All the pictures are from my phone and the main subject never sits still - please excuse the quality!)

Just before we left for the doctor yesterday Scoot pulled my water bottle down off the table and gave herself a giant bruise on her forehead. Add that to the black eye she has from running into the side of a chair and I'm surprised they didn't question me for child abuse! Bruises are part of the package though when your kid is half monkey - half clumsy. See what I mean?!

On to the stats:

23lbs 2 1/2 oz.
31 inches tall
words she signs : more, all done, milk, juice, please, thank you, eat, help
words she says: dada, mama, pop (for my dad), up, all done, thank you, bye bye, night night, apple, ball, dog
she eats any and all fruits, but is "taking a break" from eating any veggies. meat is also on her "maybe, maybe not" list, but she's always up for crackers.
she doesn't like to drink milk at all! and she prefers for her juice cup to be full all the time, if it gets to halfway she signs "more"
she's obsessed with elmo, even though we never watch elmo. the new rock-n-roll elmo commercials & target displays get rock star reactions from her!
she just learned how to get on the couch by herself. nothing is safe!
she loves her "bank" and sleeps with it all the time. i'm thinking of making a smaller, travel size blanket just to have as back up.
she sucks her thumb when she is tired, but ONLY when she is holding bank.
favorite toys: my cell phone, the remote, shoes, DVD cases, balls, crayons, books & her baby.
she's going to be a GREAT big sister in March!

my 'duh' moment

2011-09-24T20:39:00.000-04:00

The three of us were sitting at dinner last night and Aaron was telling a story which involved very important hand gestures, sound effects, and facial expressions. One of those sound effects was making a fart sound with his hand. Wouldn't you know, with just one demonstration, my sweet, innocent 15 month old daughter picked up that lovely talent perfectly!

And I thought, I want to remember this. I want to write this down. I want this recorded. But I didn't want to put it on facebook or in her baby book. Well DUH I do have a neglected blog where I could document such simple every day funny moments!

my girl and her daddy

So here's to remembering that I have this place to record the moments of my family's life!

an end to the 5 month hiatis

2011-07-12T11:45:00.001-04:00

Where are you even suppose to start if you've been outta touch for 5 months?!

Let's hit the highlights real quick ...

I quit my job. I won't be going back to teaching in August. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. I'm going to miss my kids, the teachers, and the school! But I just couldn't stand the feeling of leaving my girl every day. I wasn't giving my kindergartners my best. I wasn't giving my daughter my best.
I'm hoping to start an Etsy shop soon! I'm working right now to build up an inventory. I want to be able to give people choices right from the beginning so I've got to get busy!
I've been in a major decluttering mood and anything in our house that isn't breathing is subject to being trashed, thrifted, or sold.
Scoot celebrated her first birthday in June. That has to be the fasted year in the history of my life!! She is amazing and I'm so excited and blessed to be able to spend every day with her now!
I'm actually up to date with my project 365! I've taken a picture every day for a little more than the first half of 2011! wowzers! I love this project!

My goal is to start recording more of life here. To keep my "journal" more updated and not let 5 months go by before I tell a funny story about my sweet girl.

Project Life Tuesday 2 for 1

2011-02-08T20:19:00.007-05:00

I completely missed last weeks Project Life Tuesday, so this week I'm doing a 2 for 1. This week is up first.

Monday January 31, 2011

Is there a 12 step program for moms who go way overboard with little girl hair accessories? Aaron sure thinks I need one!! But my little hair challenged baby girl *NEEDS* all these bows and flowers so that I don't get those annoying "what a cute little guy" comments.

Monday February 1, 2011

I miss my little Scoot soooo much during the day while I'm at school. When I get home I need a little snuggle time to make my whole day better! So glad my little munchkin is so willing to oblige my snuggles and smooches!
Wednesday February 2, 2011

The weather today was beautiful so I convinced Aaron to go on a walk with me and Scoot. We put the stroller away when we finished the walk and Scoot was obsessed with her reflection in the dirty car window!
Thursday February 3, 2011

Happy baby surrounded by her toys and working on getting those socks off!
Friday February 4, 2011

Scoot's first time using a straw. We got her a sippy cup with a straw but she really did not understand how to get the water into her mouth. She loved drinking water through the straw this way though!!
Saturday February 5, 2011

Scoot pulled herself up between my legs to check out the project life book from 2010. I'm still going back and filling in some of the journaling.

Sunday February 6, 2011

Aaron and Scoot in the midst of their relaxing Sunday afternoon between church and the superbowl.
*And now we take a time warp back a week*

Monday January 24, 2011

My tiny baby is getting so big so fast! When did she get big enough to sit on my shoulders?
Tuesday January 25, 2011

Washing bottles is a major part of my day. Bottles and pump parts must be washed 3 to 4 times a day. I love weekends when I can take the pumping and washing down to 2 times a day - max!! But it's all worth it for my baby girl!
Wednesday January 26, 2011

These little knit hats are a wonderful way for me to make something and feel a little crafty at the end of the day when I have no more brain power. These require no thinking/counting/pattern.
Thursday January 27, 2011

We've been trying to remember to take weekly pictures of Scoot on this little lamb blanket since she was 1 week old. It was much easier before she was mobile!!
Friday January 28, 2011

We've been "Partners in Hope" with St. Jude Children's Hospital for several years now, and it has only gotten closer to my heart now that Scoot is here. I'm so glad there is a place like St. Jude to take care of these families who are facing a tough road. Our local radio station is gearing up for their annual St. Jude radiothon and I got my newsletter in the mail today.
Saturday January 29, 2011

We met my mom and dad at Red Robin to celebrate mom's birthday with burgers and singing! Scoot LOVED every time she heard them singing (there were a LOT of folks celebrating birthdays there tonight) and she never took her eyes off them while they sang to my mom.
Sunday January 30, 2011

Scoot moved up to her big girl car seat today. Her little tootsies were hanging out of the infant seat and I was always afraid I was going to bang them into the door frame while taking the carrier in and out. She already seems to be much more comfortable in this bigger seat. She's growing tooooo fast!!
I'm linking up over at The Mom Creative. Come visit and see who else is doing Project Life Tuesday!

Project Life Tuesday 1.17.11 - 1.23.11

2011-01-24T21:21:00.003-05:00

Project Life Week 3! I am so excited about this whole thing!

*So far I'm caught up on all my pictures and journaling for this year!

*Project Life is reminding me to get my camera out daily and take pictures of any and everything. Some days it is really hard to pick which picture to highlight from the day! I love the habit that I'm getting into of having my camera everywhere I go AND remembering to use it!

*I'm trying extra hard to make sure that I have pictures with me IN them. I want Scoot to have proof that I was around when she's looking back on these books in 10, 2o, or 30 years! I'm not just the one behind the camera. Who cares that I haven't lost the baby weight or that my hair wasn't perfect?!

*These pictures are of our real life - there's clutter! and dust! and sometimes we wear pjs ALL day!

I'm linking up with Jessica over at The Mom Creative for her Project Life Tuesday fun. Come see how a bunch of other folks are using their Project Life kits and be inspired!

Monday January 17, 2011

Scoot pulled herself up on this box of diapers that we just had cluttering up our living room after Lollie and Pop very generously gave them to us yesterday. This time she stayed upright long enough to pose for a photo shoot. Thank goodness for Martin Luther King Jr. day and my day off so that I could be home to see her milestones!

Tuesday January 18, 2011

Scoot was having a rough night *staying* asleep. Daddy has the right stuff though! Stretched out on Daddy's chest with her blanket and she was out for a couple more hours. Daddy got in a nice little nap too!
Wednesday January 19, 2011

Mommy was checking facebook when Scoot decided to get in on some of the action! It's crazy to think how far technology has come since I was her age and I can't even imagine where it will go by the time she is a grown up! This picture will probably be laughable by the time she's ready for college, just like 3.5in floppy disks are now!
Thursday January 20, 2011

A 50's housewife? Nope, no heels or apron here. Just getting some chores done before we went out to eat with friends and Lollie came over to stay with Scoot.
Friday January 21, 2011

In an effort to not eat out as often I put a monthly menu on the fridge. It's also been a fantastic tool to help Aaron help me. He can see what's for dinner and get it started or even make the whole thing while I'm otherwise engaged with a certain nursing baby!
Saturday January 22, 2011

We found this Leap Frog table at a consignment shop for $18. It's in perfect condition. Aaron says it's not a deal unless we know how much we saved. He checked Walmart and Target to find out they are asking $49.99 for it new. And check out those standing skills!
Sunday January 23, 2011

We are only eating out if we have a gift card or our parents call us for a grandbaby fix. Coxie called for her fix tonight and we were thrilled to get a nice dinner at Smokey Bones. Scoot was fantastic while we ate and very social after we finished. She especially loved eating her shoes! Aaron and Grandaddy were just glad that the football games were on all the TVs.

Project Life Tuesday 1/10/11-1/16

2011-01-17T21:50:00.007-05:00

It's Tuesday again and time to share my pictures for the past week. I already love that this is helping me keep up with my pictures AND journaling each week. And one week at a time is SOOO much easier than a month at a time!

I'm going to keep myself accountable by linking up with Jessica over at The Mom Creative. Be sure to visit and see what some other folks have been up to this week.

I have a hard time picking just one picture from each day. Especially with Scoot on the scene now, I usually have at LEAST one picture of her and then possibly something else. I've decided that to help me use more of the pictures I'm taking I will have one for each day and then have one spread of "Monthly Leftovers." Maybe at the end of the month I'll share my Monthly Leftover spread.

Monday January 10, 2011

I big-puffy-heart LOVE Scoot's little tiny feet! She LOVES to stand up all the time now, so I get this view quite often. This girl also will NOT keep socks on her cold little toes. I feel so bad for her purple piggies, but she takes off everything that covers her feet except if she has a sleep sack on. This girl will even pull her feet out of footie jammies by putting her foot through the space between the snaps! Even as a tiny baby she would fight her legs out of her swaddle before she went to sleep. Looks like we are destined to have cold feet around here.

Tuesday January 11, 2011

We've had the coldest winter I can remember in a long time. The snow has been frequent and heavy, but luckily we haven't had too much ice. When I got in the car to leave work and checked my mirror before backing up these icicles caught my eye. The ice makes the trees look so pretty, but I'm glad no limbs have fallen on any power lines around my house and that it's not on the roads so far.
Wednesday January 12, 2011

My Project Life Kit for 2011 finally came in the mail!! I've been stalking the delivery guy for several days just waiting for it! Aaron does think I'm slightly nuts for wanting a picture of me with the box, but it's just part of the whole process!
Thursday January 13, 2011

While changing Scoot's diaper tonight I notices that she had a light rash on her tummy. It's nowhere else, not spreading, and not bothering her. Not sure if it was something she ate, crawling in a 2 piece outfit with her tummy right on the rug (as opposed to wearing a tucked-in onsie), or a new shirt she wore today.
Friday January 14, 2011

An unexpected package on the front steps today was a Christmas present for Scoot from Papa Frog and Annie. She loves unwrapping gifts... and sometimes chewing on the paper. She got an adorable outfit! And how appropriate that she is wearing a froggie outfit to open a present from Papa Frog! Perfect!
Saturday January 15, 2011

Scoot is enjoying the box that her gift from Papa Frog came in. It's always more fun to play with boxes, bags, cords and shoes than the box full of toys! And check out the drool on the chin. This girl can slobber with the best of 'em!
Sunday January 16, 2011

Scoot is 7 months old today!! Where did my baby go? She pulled herself up to standing today, but I was too slow with the camera to catch it. Here she is instead, headed for the cords to Daddy's game. Just checking to see how much longer she had to get to those cords before somebody scoops her up and redirects her to the mountain of toys just behind her.

Project Life Round 2

2011-01-11T18:22:00.011-05:00

In 2010 I attempted to take a picture every day! I just finished putting all my pictures in my Project Life album and I'm proud to say that I only missed about 20 days for the whole year. I'm pretty proud of myself!! Now if only I had kept up with the journaling... I'd be done with 2010. But my journaling is only complete through the end of April. Ooooopps! My hand will be sore by the time I'm done with all that writing!

I love the end result (even with most of the journaling missing so far) that I'm doing it again for 2011. And this time my goal is to stay on top of the journaling. Every day is a stretch, but once a week is completely doable.

To keep me accountable (and to spice up my neglected blog a little) I'm going to post my weekly photos and journaling on Tuesday. I'll be joining Jessica at The Mom Creative who sponsors Project Life Tuesday. Follow along and take a peek into my day-to-day life.

Monday - January 3, 2011

It's amazing to see how much Scoot has grown when I compare this picture to her "first bath" picture. I love the way she's just relaxing in the warm sudsy water.

Tuesday - January 4, 2011

We've made a resolution to eat out less in 2011. Aaron is chef for the night and waiter too!

Wednesday - January 5, 2011

Scoot was up a lot last night. Aaron got up for the 3:30 fuss and very soon discovered a HAZMAT diaper situation. They both stayed up until 5 when I got up to shower and then they zonked back out.

Thursday - January 6, 2011

I finally got the rest of my 2010 pictures printed and I'm ready to put them in my 2010 Project Life album. Now I need to get busy on the journaling!

Friday - January 7, 2010

Scoot loves the dogs! She crawls over to check them out and always talks to them when we get home or after she wakes up from a nap. Can't believe Aaron got a picture with 2 dogs and a baby looking at him! woohoo!

Saturday - January 8, 2011

Scoot tries solid food for the first time!! We decided to go with green beans for the first meal. She seemed to like them. No yucky faces and none spit out!

Sunday - January 9, 2011

Scoot has mastered crawling and is now climbing *into* her toy box to get whatever she wants out. She's also learned that if she takes it ALL out she can switch between toys without missing any play time.

(I can't get this one to show up. I'll try to edit later.)

My Sweet Girl is 6 Months Old!!

2010-12-16T18:05:00.003-05:00

How have 6 months gone by already? My sweet girl is 6 months old! She amazes me every day and I am beyond blessed to be her mommy. Between work and spending every spare moment with her when I get home, I have very little time for anything else. Since there hasn't been a post here since October, I probably didn't even need to spell that out! And now, lets go bullet style so that this doesn't become a 4 page post!

At 6 months Caroline...

*is still exclusively breast-fed. We'll start solids sometime after the beginning of the year and her 6 month check-up. I'm in no hurry.

*does not sleep through the night yet. But I'm honestly not missing much more sleep than I was at the end of being pregnant. She's so easy in the middle of the night that it's no different than getting up to pee several times a night. When she cries I get her from her room, bring her to bed with us, she nurses back to sleep and I usually drift off too, then I take her back to her room.

* can roll anywhere she wants to go.

*is a tummy sleeper.

*We put her to bed awake, she rolls over on her tummy, grabs her blanket and sticks her thumb in her mouth. She's out in just a few minutes.

*sleeps best with a white-noise machine on all night. When she first goes down at night we play classical nursery rhyme music.

*can sit up all by herself.

*favorite toys are the ones that make crinkle noises.

*loves bath time. I can't wait till we can do some "mommy & me" swimming classes.

*has 2 pearly white monsters who have taken up residence in her lower gums.

*loves animals. Clover and Dolly love her back and she plays with the dog and 3 cats at the babysitters.

This girl is the light of my life! So glad we had a snow day today and I got to spend her 6 month birthday snuggling her at home!!

We got a new rug for the living room and Scoot and Daddy had to test it out before we moved the furniture back in.

Here I am practicing my sitting up in my Christmasy outfit.

Babies in hats make me swoon! And a baby in a hat with a big grin ... I'm mush!

not a bottle washing fan

2010-10-24T20:37:00.002-04:00

Scoot's blood sugar was low when she was born and the nurses gave her a bottle of formula in the nursery right after delivery. Of all the reasons that I wish I hadn't had to have a c-section, this is the one that makes me wish I could change it the most.

I'm thankful that this was the only issue that Scoot had at birth and that it was something that was so easily fixed. I'm glad the nurses fixed it so fast and that the bottle calmed her instantaneously (according to Daddy who stayed by her side the whole time).

Despite taking a bottle first, we have had a very successful breastfeeding experience. Since that first feeding, Scoot has been exclusively breastfed and God-willing she will be for at least two more months before we start solids. Simply being able to breastfeed at all is something that I feel blessed to be able to do.

Obviously, she had to be taking a bottle when I went back to work. I pump at work and she happily takes a bottle for the sitter, or Daddy, or even me. Luckily she has adjusted her eating schedule all on her own to accommodate nursing as much as possible. She eats less during the day and then cluster feeds in the afternoon/evening until bed time to make up all the calories she needs for the day. I love it! It gives us an abundance of nursing/bonding time and means that I don't have to have as much pumped for the sitter each day.

Being able to provide this for my girl is something I'm very proud of and incredibly thankful for. But I haven't been able to bring myself to nurse in public yet. We always take a bottle (or two) with us whenever we leave the house in case we're still out when it's time to eat. And so far it's worked out just fine. Scoot can eat and we can stay out longer than two hours.

But one of the selling points of breastfeeding is the convenience. The milk is always ready and always available. I want to be able to cut down on all the pumping (and bottle washing!) by getting comfortable with nursing in public. It's just not a big thing around here. I've never seen anyone nursing in public around here and I don't know how it would be received. I don't know if I'm strong enough to stand up to someone if they made negative remarks to me. I don't know where I should start to increase my comfort gradually. But I'm going to work on it because the way I see it, between Scoot and her future siblings, I hope to have years of breastfeeding in my future!

First Game

2010-10-19T20:44:00.002-04:00

On Saturday Virginia Tech hosted Wake Forest in an ACC match-up. Aaron has seen VT play & beat every ACC team except Wake and Florida State. This was the ONLY game he wanted to go to this year, and he'd been talking about it since last season.

I wanted to go too, but there was no way that I was leaving Scoot over night (and other obvious plans, like leaving her a mere hour and a half away with my sister did not occur to me -- mommy brain I suppose) so we decided to take Scoot with us.

I was really very excited about it at first, but as the time got closer, I got more nervous. We ended up having to buy 4 tickets because we needed 3 (can you believe a 4 month old needs a ticket?!) and couldn't find anybody selling only 3. Were we going to end up wasting all that money because we had a fussy baby? Would Scoot be too hot/cold? Would she get a sunburn? How was I going to nurse her in the middle of a stadium full of people?

Well, we went. And it was FABULOUS! We were sitting up high in the stands and with 4 seats we had plenty of room. The people around us were calm(ish), the sun was just going down behind the stadium, it was cool, but not toooo cold, and Scoot ate right before the game (nursed in the car) and during half time (a bottle). The loud cheering and cannon caught her attention, but didn't seem to scare her at all.

The most amazing part? She slept through the entire second quarter. I had her tied to me in the moby wrap. After looking outward to see what was going on for the first quarter, I turned her around to face me when she started getting a teeny tiny bit restless. It didn't take her long to find her thumb, tuck her head into the wrap, and fall asleep. Even amidst all the talking, cheering, and moving.

We left at the beginning of the 4th quarter. VT was already ahead by 5 touchdowns and the second string was in the game. It was starting to get cold and we wanted to beat traffic since we were driving 5 hours back home.

Overall it was a perfect introduction between Scoot and VT. I see many many many more trips in our future!

*Pictures to come once loaded on the computer*

All the A's

2010-10-13T20:50:00.003-04:00

Amanda starts with A.

Aaron starts with A.

Caroline starts with C.

From the very beginning of time, when we started talking about baby names, I insisted that NONE of our children's names start with A. I'm a little bit (okay a lot) picky when it comes to names. And I'm even more crazy about starting and sticking to themes when planning the names of your children. I love a well thought out theme... even more so if you have to think really hard to find the connections... like literary characters or song lyrics. Letter themes can also work, but mostly for smaller (3 or less kids) families.

I'm the oldest of 6 cousins on my dad's side. We all have A names. Amanda, Alan, Allison, Alden, Ashley, and Aaron. Then I went and married an A man. Who has 2 A cousins of his own. Ashleigh and Abigail.

If we had 1 child and gave him/her an A name, we would be *required* to name all of our children A names. Not doing so would be risking irreparable damage to their self worth. We would be leaving them out of the "A" club. All of our children with their own letter means that we planned it. 2 or 3 with A names and one with a different letter means we're leaving you out.

With all that being said, I couldn't leave Caroline out of the A trend all together. Her middle name is Avery.

And now I feel torn. I like far more girl A names than number of children we'll ever have, but I don't like many boy A names at all. And we won't reuse any that are already used in our families. So do we continue the A middle name trend for our own children? Or do we leave it at what we've got and give the rest of our kiddos their own set of initials?

It will probably all depend on whether baby #2 is a boy or girl.

The Sitter Delima

2010-10-11T21:01:00.004-04:00

Scoot's first day at the sitters was on her 10 week birthday. I get that I was able to stay home with her a lot longer than a lot of other moms get to stay home with their babies, but that doesn't change how I feel about it. I want to be the one taking care of her day in and day out. I want to stay home with her.

(All that being said, we are very lucky that we found a good babysitter with reasonable rates and a low child/provider ratio. I feel comfortable leaving her there every day. I just wish I didn't have to.)

Her first weeks were a little rocky. She's only a baby and she was staying with someone she didn't know. Carole didn't know what her sleepy signs were or how to hold her just so to get her to sleep. She had to take a bottle when she was use to breast feeding exclusively. They worked it out in short order and the fussy reports from Carole got fewer and farther between. The biggest thing was that Scoot started sleeping again during the day.

When I dropped Scoot off this morning, she looked at Carole and smiled. My head told me that I should be thrilled. Scoot likes going to the sitter. She's happy and comfortable.

BUT

My heart broke just a little. Those smiles that use to be just for me and daddy are now being shared. I thought about my parents and Aaron's parents. They are the grandparents, but they don't see Scoot as often as Carole. Carole knows Scoot better than they do. Carole gets the smiles and they don't. They're family.

It is a Monday and those are the hardest days to leave my sweet baby. I'm so glad I got to see that beautiful smile before I left for work. I just wish it had been directed at me.

It doesn't help that I have to wake up this sleeping beauty at an un-Godly hour in order to take her to the sitter and get to work on time. Here she is passed back out for her morning "nap" at 6:00am after getting up, diaper change, dressed, and nursing.

Back to Basics

2010-10-09T12:46:00.002-04:00

Even though no one really reads this blog I feel pressure to write something meaningful and well put together when I do write. More often than not, that leads to me writing nothing at all because if I'm not going to write something that hundreds of people want to read, why write at all?

But that's not why I started this in the first place.

I started this blog to be my journal. Each and every single night during my sophomore year in college I wrote in a journal. I love having that to look back on now. The kicker is that while obviously that was an important year in my life, I doubt I'd ever look back on it and think it was anywhere near as important as my life is right now.

I'm raising a child for crying out loud!

And I want her to know that I think that she is the most important thing going right now. I want to remember all the little things. I want to know what day she started rolling over and when she cut her first tooth. I want to remember the way she sticks out her bottom lip and her sweet little dimple.

So from now on this space will go back to being what it was meant to be all along. My journal. At this point I don't plan to make it private, so those few people who do follow me are welcome to stay along for the ride. But I don't promise to be interesting to anyone but me.

Hopefully giving myself the freedom to write boring stuff with run-on sentences means that I'll keep better track of my life now!

aunt lucy is here!

2010-08-14T08:28:00.003-04:00

My sister has been in town and I have not had time to do the rest of Scoot's birth story justice yet. It is also simply much harder to write than I thought it would be. I'll get back to it soon, but for now, I leave you with this picture of Scoot and Lucy.

Project Life Tuesday 7/26 - 8/1

2010-08-10T22:00:00.006-04:00

Monday, August 2, 2010

Aaron and Scoot both fell asleep in the living room. Scoot is still easy to transfer to her crib. Aaron usually waked up grumpy and is not so easy to transfer to his room! HA!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Aaron's attempt to keep up appearances in the neighborhood. He's hacking up the grass (ahem, I mean weeds) that's growing up between the sidewalk.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Scoot and I went to our best friend's house for a playdate. Bristol is only 2 days younger than Scoot, but look at that size difference! yowzers! Scoot is a little big for her age, but Bristol is also quite small for her age. They are laying on the quilt I made especially for Bristol.
Scoot's weekly growth photo. She's looking mighty long in this picture.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

I love watching storms come in. If we had a porch with a big swing and some rockers this would be even better! A porch is on my check list for our next house.

Friday, August 7, 2010

My car started acting up when I tried to go out this afternoon. I was positive that by the time Aaron got home it would be fine and make me look like a liar once again, but it was still broken so he called his dad to help him work on it. Luckily they were able to fix it and save us the time and money of taking it to the shop.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Clover tore up the dog bed that use to be making her crate comfy. I hope she doesn't mind sleeping on the hard plastic pan because it will be a few days before I can get her a new one.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

We got together with some of Aaron's family to celebrate his sister Catharine's (on the right) birthday. Abbie was thrilled with a chance to hold and bounce Scoot since she hadn't seen her since she was 2 days old.

Not Me Monday

2010-08-09T22:19:00.002-04:00

In the months that I couldn't record my Not-Me-Monday confessions on this here 'ol blog, I occasionally told my husband what I would have written here. He thought I was crazy. Plain and simple. I'm so glad to be back in the world where people understand what I'm talking about!

*I do not have 5 loads of clean laundry on my bed right now waiting to be folded and preventing me from going to bed. This is not especially sad since folding clothes is one thing that I can easily do while wearing Caroline in the baby carrier.

*I have not been thinking about (and dreading) the fast approaching return to school so much that it has been keeping me up at night. Since I'm already getting up anywhere between 1 and 3 times a night, I'd really prefer not to be consumed with back to school worries when its still 3 weeks away!

*Caroline will be 8 weeks old on Wednesday, so I am certainly not already thinking/wishing/dreaming about having another baby. Good grief! That would be a little bit crazy. People would cock their eyebrows at me if I dared to tell anybody! So lets not talk about it now, kay?

*My sewing machine has not been sitting on my kitchen table for the last 3 weeks. With a baby I never know how much time I'm going to have to work on a project, so in order to steam line the process and actually be able to get something done once in a while, I don't just leave everything sitting out. That would be so messy and make my husband so frustrated!

* I did not ignore people I know in Walmart tonight. Just because I remember them from 10 years ago, doesn't mean they'll remember me. And it would be just great to go up and make small talk just to realize that they, in fact, do not remember me. Good times!

I'm starting to confuse even myself by talking in the negative, so I'll leave you with that for tonight and come back tomorrow with a week's worth of pictures!

melt my heart

2010-08-05T21:15:00.004-04:00

Just about everything that Caroline does is precious to me. I could sit for days on end and do nothing but watch the many different faces that she makes. Getting up in the middle of the night for a feeding or two and cuddles doesn't seem so much like a chore as a privilege. Taking her in public and accepting compliments makes me glow with pride. Even changing diapers is an activity I'm not likely to pawn off on hubby or my mom.

But hands down the one thing that melts my heart each and every time is when she grabs on to us. It could be her little fingers wrapped around my finger, or her hand clutching a handful of my shirt as she nurses, or hanging on as she falls asleep. {I know its a reflex at this point, but that's where I believe God is amazing!}

Don't even get me started on seeing my husband with her!

Hubby's To-Do List is Getting Longer

2010-08-04T21:22:00.002-04:00

Growing up we had exactly 4 TV channels that came in clearly enough to be able to follow a 30 minute show from beginning to end. My sister and I spent summer days watching movies while my parents were at work. I knew nothing different until I went to college. My dorm room, and later my apartments, came with cable. And suddenly there was too much information at my disposal. Too many choices. Luckily I moved back home before I became a permanent couch potato. Then Aaron and I got married and could not afford an expensive cable bill on top of a mortgage, car payment, student loans, and necessary bills.

Now apparently, we've come into huge riches. Since we were changing internet providers, we decided to go ahead and *save* lots of money by bundling services. We got home phone (which we NEVER use), internet, and CABLE. I won't mention that the *deal* we got by bundling all these services could have been even better by ONLY getting internet!

So while I'm nursing and cuddling my little Scoot I have 400 channels to entertain me. More often than not, my remote lands on HGTV. And Aaron is not happy at all! Since watching HGTV I've gotten ideas for how I want to redecorate our master bed room (I even went so far as to find the fabric to make a new quilt), overhaul our bathroom, completely gut our kitchen (this one may involve removing part of a wall!) and sprucing up our front yard.

We have no money or time to do any of this, but it sure is fun to dream! I probably will make that quilt - which will clash terribly with our sage green walls - but at least I'll be able to justify all the time I've spent glued to these home improvement shows this summer!

Project Life Tuesday 7/26 - 8/1

2010-08-03T13:56:00.008-04:00

Project Life Tuesday! I've been keeping up with my picture a day habit through my blogging absence, but I probably won't be going back to do a post about all those missed weeks. I tried to post a Project Life Tuesday post right before our internet went belly up, but it was already on the fritz and I never got pictures up for that post. I'll have to go back and remedy that soon. For the last 6 weeks I've had some very good subject matter! My challenge now is to not take the exact same picture each day.

Hop over to The Mom Creative to see the pictures Jessica has taken each day and visit some of the other lovely blogs that are linked up.

Everybody does their Project Life differently. I decided to keep the weekend pictures together, so my weeks go Monday - Sunday. Here goes...

Monday July 26, 2010 It's been super hot here, so Caroline spent all of today in only a diaper. She really doesn't mind though, this girl loves to be nekid!

Tuesday July 27, 2010 Caroline prefers to take her naps in a lap, but I can trick her into sleeping in the swing if I swaddle her up nice and tight.

Wednesday July 28, 2010 Today is Caroline's 6 week birthday! Each week I'm taking a picture of her on this lamb blanket wearing only a diaper to watch her grow.

Thursday July 29, 2010 Aaron got back from a business trip at 2am. He got to sleep in a little this morning and Scoot couldn't resist taking a snooze with Daddy.

Friday July 30, 2010 Caroline has been trying super hard to get her thumb in her mouth. Usually she ends up cramming her whole fist in her mouth, but today she managed to get just the thumb in there.

(Please forgive the fact that these last 2 are out of order. I uploaded them in reverse and can not get them to switch places! It doesn't help that I'm working on my Mac from school and I'm much more familiar with our home PC.) August 1, 2010 Daddy and Scoot are enjoying a quiet rainy Sunday afternoon by watching some movies and snuggling (and Scoot is napping).

July 31, 2010 We took Scoot on a little outing all the way to Richmond. We ate dinner at O'Charley's and then indulged Daddy in a trip to Bass Pro Shops.

Introducing...

2010-08-02T20:05:00.004-04:00

We finally got internet back at our house after 4

months of paying for non-existent service. I'm happy to say that I'll be able to stay in touch now! A lot has happened since the last time I posted. Most importantly, we became a family of 3!

Caroline joined us in the middle of June! We were truly surprised and thrilled to be blessed with a sweet little girl. I was absolutely, willing to bet money, positive that we were expecting a little boy. But we didn't find out before the birth so that we would be surprised in the delivery room, and boy were we ever surprised! I even asked Aaron to verify after the doctor announced "It's a girl!"

Life has been busy and amazing in the six weeks since Caroline arrived. I'm loving every minute of being a mommy and spending my days with her. I still have a few weeks, but I'm already dreading going back to school at the end of the month.

I will be filling in all the details slowly as I hope to be back in the blogging grove and posting every week day in August to catch up. There are so many unread posts in my reader that I'll never be able to catch up there! But I'll be popping in and commenting a whole lot more now! I'm so glad to be back!

Good to know the 5th graders have faith in me!

2010-02-23T20:09:00.002-05:00

The very first thing my mother-in-law said to me when we saw her on Sunday was "I can see the baby!" as she touched, rubbed and patted my stomach. Maybe I wouldn't have minded it so much except that I'm actually not showing at all. I can still wear my regular pants to work even though I've had maternity pants since New Years Day! On Friday my boss commented that I could have still gotten away with not telling anyone, and there are still a few people who don't know. I want a little baby bump! I want to look pregnant! But when my MIL made her comment on Sunday I was a little offended and I'm not sure why!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday I had an all day competition with seven 5th graders. After they performed but before the scores were ready we had a lot of time to wait. One of the girls came up to me and said, "Faith and I were discussing it and we think you'll make a good mom." (They only found out I was pregnant on Saturday during the competition.) Then they turned to the other coach and said, "We didn't discuss you. Since you don't have a boyfriend or anything." Kids say the craziest things!!

crying over dirty dishes

2010-02-21T21:41:00.002-05:00

When I get upset (especially with my hubby) the thing that can almost always calm me down is washing the dishes. This is STRANGE to me since dish washing is my absolute least favorite chore. But since I hate to do it and put it off at all costs, that means there are usually plenty of dishes for me to wash whenever I do get upset. So I get a clean sink and time to think & diffuse which saves a fight (which is good since my frustration is almost always due to my own over reaction).

At least all these crazy pregnancy hormones are having one positive effect - I've been getting my dishes washed a little more frequently.

Wanted : A New Memory Chip

2010-02-12T22:47:00.002-05:00

We walked into the grocery store with one goal: I needed supplies for the 'fun Friday' craft I was in charge of coordinating for 80 Kindergartners the next day. I had a list in my pocket.

The main ingredient of the snack was apples. In order to accommodate 80 kids I was going to need 20 + apples. Trying to do the division, multiplication, and addition to figure that out almost did me in! But we went straight to the produce section and found the apples in bags and picked out 4 bags that would get the job done.

Hubby and I took our heavy apples and trekked clear across the store to get bread. As we walked back toward the check- out Aaron asked if I needed anything else. Cutting my eyes up to look at the ceiling (because that's where the answers always are!) I think for a minute and say "I don't think so" and we find a checkout with no line.

About the time I lay all the apples down on the conveyor belt and the cashier starts to talk to me the gears in my brain start turning. In hyper drive I think 'apples are the MAIN ingredient - NOT the ONLY ingredient!' but the cashier is talking to me too and I hear her say "do you have any coupons?" to which I think 'when are there ever coupons for bread and apples?' but I answer "No, no coupons."

About this time Aaron gives me a weird looks and leans over me to answer the cashier's real question with "Plastic."

As Aaron pays and we start walking away he's asking me all kinds of questions which equate to "What in the WORLD is the matter with YOU!?"

I, of course, respond by laughing hysterically. Which earns me a more worried look. We are almost to the car by the time I am able to catch my breath and wipe away the tears that the laughter have brought on. Aaron opens the door and I put the apples in the car then reach in my pocket and take out the list.

-apples
-frosting
-marshmallows

We went back in to get the missing ingredients, but I did NOT go back through the same checkout line!

*****
Then this morning I forgot the apple cutter at home, turned around 3/4 of the way to school to go back and get it. Got to work 30 minutes later than I wanted to. And STILL discovered that I had forgotten a gift for a co-worker.
*****
Where can I get a new memory card?!?!

Project Life Tuesday - Week 1

2010-01-12T19:12:00.002-05:00

I'm joining Jessica Turner at The Mom Creative and Becky Higgins in 2010 by taking a picture every single day of the year - at least that's the plan on this, the 12th day of the year!

Becky is the creator of this amazing kit, Project Life, that makes documenting your every day life easy and fun. Simply (well simple if I remember!) take a picture of something every day and write a little something about it on some super cute journaling cards Becky designed. The pictures can be of anything... the shoes you wore that day, your hubby/kids/parents/pets, a landmark you pass on the way to work every day, what you ate for dinner, a birthday cake... ANYTHING! It will all be an important part of your history in 50 years when your grandkids are looking through the book. Print your pictures and slip them into the page protectors. I love scrapbooking and watching the memories of my life take shape on a creative page, but I don't have time or space to drag out all my supplies frequently, so I get super far behind (think 5 years behind... yeesh)! Becky's kit makes documenting my life soooo much easier for me, which means it is more likely to actually happen!

Jessica is an amazing scrapbooker and I wish I had even a fraction of the creativity that she has. She firmly believes in telling your story. Since I already love scrapbooking and journaling, this is a great way to combine the two in an easy-to-keep-up-with project.

I'm going to be sharring my pictures for the week on Tuesday's (as will Jessica & many more! click over to Jessica's blog to be inspired by lots of creative people). The kit is very open ended and easy to adjust to your own likes & dislikes. I decided that I wanted to keep my weekends together so in my weekly layouts I consider my weeks to be Monday - Sunday. This isn't the same for everyone, but it works for me.

I started on December 31st with the first layout having 4 pictures (Thursday - Sunday) then the first full week layout started on January 4th.

~~~My computer would NOT cooperate and upload more than one picture, so I'm including only a picture of my entire first week layout instead of individual pictures. Sunday is missing because I haven't developed that picture yet, but amazingly - ok, so it's only the 12th day of the year - I'm caught up through TODAY on my journaling! Hoping I can keep it up for another 353 days!~~~

Mon., Jan. 4th, First day back to work after almost 2 weeks off :(

Tues., Jan. 5th, My Barnes & Noble deals - Christmas books for 60% off!

Wed., Jan. 6th, My 16 week prenatal appointment

Thurs., Jan 7th, Krispy Kreme free donut cupons - great for the wallet, terrible for the waist!

Fri., Jan 8th, Alllll the snow we got last night - and I was expecting a 2 hour school delay - HA!

Sat., Jan 9th, Dinner with my mom & pop

Sun., Jan 10th, 1st grocery shopping trip since Christmas - whoa!

*Since the weeks of my pregnancy change on Sunday, I also took a "belly" picture (nothing has really changed yet), printed it wallet size, and used it in the extra journaling card slot of the layout . This is the week 17 picture.*

It's catch-up time!

2010-01-05T20:57:00.003-05:00

*Thanksgiving was low key this year and I loved it! We went to a Virginia Tech football game and had my side's Thanksgiving celebration the weekend before. That was also when we told my family that we are pregnant. That meant on the actually day of Thanksgiving we could relax and then make only one stop at Aaron's family's celebration. That's also when his family found out.

*Christmas was fabulous! I love being a teacher and having a week & a half off around the holiday. My sister & brother-in-law were able to come into town which was nice since we don't see them nearly as often as I'd like to.

*For New Years we went to Atlanta for the Chick-Fil-A college football bowl. The trip was so much fun, but way too short. We drove from VA down through Charlotte, NC and then into GA.
- We stayed a super ritzy hotel. I felt famous for a few minutes!
-The city was fun to explore for the very short time we were there.
- There was Chick-Fil-A food everywhere!!
-Virginia Tech won the football game!!!! :)
-The game was played inside which was a blessing since the weather was cold and drizzly.
-We missed getting back to the hotel lobby to see the ball drop by about 30 seconds. BUMMER! But I have it on good authority that the new year did indeed start that night.

*Back to school and work this week has been hard! I'm having a tough time getting back in the routine of things. Everything in the morning is taking me twice as long as it did before we went on Christmas break. My body just really liked an 8 am wake up much better than a 5 am wake up I think!

*There's a teeny-tiny chance that it could snow (about an inch) here on Thursday night. That would be BIG time snow for this area. hahaha so I'm hoping for atleast a delay in school on Friday morning. Don't really want to cancel since we'd have to make that up. But a delay is right up my alley!

*I'm on a decluttering, reorganizing kick lately. Just sitting in my living room I can look around and see about 14 projects I'd love to tackle to re-do the room. Maybe we'll start with some paint and curtains.

*I am seriously missing the Christmas tree and all the warm cozy feelings it gives me. At first I didn't even really care if we set up the tree this year, but I'm SO glad we did. Now I just wish we hadn't taken it down yet!

*The Biggest Loser is on and making me cry!

Now off I go to get some things done for school tomorrow. It feels good to be back!

looking ahead in 2010

2010-01-02T20:39:00.004-05:00

It's been almost 2 months, but my internet service is FINALLY cooperating! Looks like we're going to eventually have to switch providers because I absolutely can not stand to pay for the internet every month if it's not even going to work!

I've missed keeping up with everyone and I'm going to do my best to go through my 1,000+ unread posts in my reader. It'll probably take a while, and I can't promise to comment on all (or more realistically - any) of them, but at least I'll be caught up on your lives. Now that the internet is kinda back, I'll be much better about reading and commenting in a timely manner!

With that little bit of housekeeping out of the way, there's been something I've been dying to get back here and tell you!

In June I'm going to be a mommy!

I'm terribly sorry for shouting, but we could not be more excited! I'm being seen by my regular OB and a high risk doctor and have a more appointments than an average pregnant woman would, and so far everything looks great. Being seen so often provides a lot of reassurance that I've very thankful for!

There will obviously be some baby talk to come, but I do not intend to turn my blog into a one track ramble. I am very sensitive to my friends who are struggling and wanting so badly to make the same announcement. I pray every night for you!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and that you are already enjoying the New Year! I can't believe that it is already 2010. Wasn't it just a minute ago that everyone was worrying about what would happen in 2000?

I'll be back soon with more catch-up-updates, probably in a long bullet style post. For now, I'm off to enjoy the last 24 hours of this lovely break before heading back to work on Monday.

losing touch

2009-11-08T19:42:00.002-05:00

In high school I was lucky to have a good group of friends. Girls that would take me home even though it was 25 minutes out of their way just so I didn't have to ride the bus. Girls to lend me lunch money when I couldn't get my locker open to get my purse out. Girls that spent the entire weekend working on crazy history projects without so much as a shower. Girls that pushed me outside my comfort zone and showed me how to have more fun than I knew possible. Girls that forgave me when silly high school drama crept into our lives. Girls that I had a ton in common with. Girls that I still talk to and girls that I have lost touch with. Girls that could make me smile on a bad day. Girls that watched an insane number of movies with me. Girls that joined clubs and sports with me just so we'd have longer to hang out together.

Girls.

But my best friend was a guy. We talked about everything under the sun. He knew me better than any of the girls even though I spent more time hanging out with the girls. I planned on naming one of my kids after him no matter what my future husband had to say about it. We were teased some about being friends but not 'liking' each other... kids that age can be mean. But really we were just great friends.

I was afraid to go to college with 15 of my friends from high school. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to really find myself. {P.S. I was stupid!} So we went to different colleges. {Did I mention I was stupid?!} He had a girlfriend at the time that was still in high school and did not like him having female friends, especially me. So our talks got fewer and farther between. By the time I finally figured out how stupid I had been and transferred to the school with all my friends we were in slightly different places in life. Our talks were still wonderful and comfortable and we were still close, but something had changed and even though we were in the same town again {and he was crazy-girlfriend-less} we didn't go right back to how it was before.

After college it all kinda fell apart. He moved away. Our phone calls got farther and farther apart until they just stopped all together. I got married. And even though Aaron was really good friends with this guy too, it just didn't feel right to track down and pursue this friendship with Aaron on the sideline.

This entire life story has a point. This guy's birthday was last week. He was on my mind most of the week - wondering where he is now, if he's at the same job, with the same girl, happy? Same kinds of things I wonder about my other high school friends that I've lost touch with {and some that just give me glimpses of their lives through facebook}. Then the night after his birthday I had a dream about him. I actually don't remember any specifics of the dream, just that I woke up feeling like he's troubled, like he needs a friend.

I have no clue how to get in touch with him. I have no clue if my brain is just playing tricks on me since I was already thinking about him last week. All I do know is we were friends through a lot of tough stuff in high school and college and if he needs a friend now, I'd love to be there for him.

I don't plan on turning into a crazy stalker now and there's really nothing I can do about it, but it's just nice to get that out so that it can stop rattling around in my brain. When I told Aaron he just thought I was crazy, so maybe telling the bloggy world will make me feel less crazy!

learn something new everyday

2009-11-02T19:58:00.003-05:00

I'm currently in the midst of my longest stretch of not being enrolled in school (not counting those 4 years before I started preschool) and honestly I don't like it much!

I can definitely do without the homework. But I love figuring out all the connections that make a new (to me) topic finally click! I love feeling like part of the college community. I love the sense of accomplishment when I finish a paper or ace a test. I love knowing that I'm doing something to better myself. I love the opportunities that open up to me based on the papers framed on my dinning room wall.

My husband thinks I'm certifiably CRAZY! He hates school and couldn't wait to be done with his master's. I hated finishing my bachelors and my masters simply because that meant it was over. I want to go back again, but I'm not sure what I'd do. A Ph.D. sounds way toooooo intimidating but another masters seems redundant. Maybe a masters in a completely different field? After we have kid's I'd love a job that I could do part-time, but nothing in education really works that way, so maybe I'll get a whole new degree that gets me closer to something I can do part time eventually.

I've thought about just taking some classes to learn a new craft (because I reallllly need another one of those!) but for some reason, I'm more drawn to the academic side of it all. This whole thing started simply by reading a post on facebook about a friend sitting in class. Well thats what got me thinking about it tonight, I think about going back to school at least twice a month. Nothing will probably come of it right now since I can't make up my mind what to do, but it's nice to dream of being Amanda Ph.D. one day!

walk AWAY!

2009-11-01T20:27:00.003-05:00

Part of having rescue dogs living in our house until they get adopted is figuring out their quirks so that we can be completely up front with potential adopters in order to find a home where they will live out the rest of their days. Sometimes we get dogs that have virtually no issues and are only turned into rescue for reasons like the economy or a divorce. However, much more often dogs come in that have some pretty big issues that could have easily been avoided if they had been taught manners as puppies and been socialized.

*side note - our dogs are by NO means perfect little angels! They bark at the wind and jump up in the front window to protect us from the mail. They don't always remember that they aren't allowed on the couch and occasionally if there is a really really tempting paper towel carelessly left hanging out of the trashcan, they eat it. But we try very hard to make sure they know their manners!*

Our foster Wilson, who we've had since May is an example of the later. He was kept outside for his entire first year and because of that the family had no reason to teach him manners. He didn't interact with anybody or anything, so what would he need manners for? He obviously got no socialization either. And now we have a problem!

We've been working with him and have had him evaluated by several different professionals, but it looks like he will always carry some baggage with him. He is S...L...O...W to learn new things. It took him almost 4 months to learn sit and then another several weeks to be able to perform consistently when asked to sit. He's also very leery of new things, especially men. That is a big problem when the vet that we see is a man! So bad in fact that he needs to be muzzled for everybody's safety!

{shredded an entire dog bed while I was sleepin... and he was proud of it!}

Wilson does so well at home when nothing is changing; when he's comfortable. But on Friday my Father -in- law came over which in and of itself was a change that Wilson did not like. Add to that the fact that my FIL (drives me crazy with the way he) tries to get the dogs all riled up and you've got trouble. Dogs were at the fence barking when FIL got out of his truck. That's what the dogs do. They're letting us know someone is here. Instead of ignoring it like ALL of our other visitors, FIL walks over to the fence. The girls get excited when they realize that they know who it is but Wilson is showing increased aggravation. He's barking and growling and has jumped up on the fence. This dog weighs 130 lbs. If a dog that big was barking/ growling/ jumping at me I'd be outta there. But FIL keeps walking over towards him. Wilson barks at him a couple more times and then reaches out and pinches his shirt sleeve between his teeth. FIL was close enough to Wilson that if Wilson had wanted to hurt him he really could have bitten him good, but he just pinched his sleeve.

Wilson was definitely in the wrong here for nipping, but I'm more upset with my FIL. He KNOWS that Wilson has issues. We've warned him numerous times that he can not get in Wilson's face and tease him like he does with the girls. Hubby told FIL not to get too close to Wilson when he was growling/ barking/ jumping and FIL didn't listen. Instead of giving me time to get to the fence and turn the whole thing into a teachable moment for Wilson, FIL turned it into an threatening, react NOW situation.

If Wilson had actually bitten my FIL we would have had to report it to the rescue and then Wilson would have had to be put down. I'm so thankful that my FIL didn't get hurt and that we don't have to deal with the painful possibility of putting Wilson down. But now I am intensely worried about the next person who walks up to our fence. I just hope they have enough sense to walk AWAY from a huge barking/ growling dog!

Hubby gets the hint!

2009-10-27T20:39:00.003-04:00

If at first your hubby doesn't respond... ask, ask again!

Friday Aaron had donuts at work and came home and told me all about how delicious they were. I mentioned we should get some donuts over the weekend.

Saturday Aaron went out with his friends. The event they were at gave out free donuts at one of the booths they visited. I *gently* reminded him that I wanted a donut too!

Sunday we drove by the Krispy Kreme but the hot sign wasn't on. I sighed heavily and batted my eyelashes while asking Aaron to drive back by on the way home from church. BUT we came home a different way.

Monday I walked into the teachers lounge and found and EMPTY box of donuts on the table. Oh the torture! I texted Aaron and told him of my hardships!

Tuesday I made clear during breakfast that I didn't even need REAL donuts... donut holes or munchkins would do the trick too!

Ladies, I'm here to tell you that guys may be slow, but give them enough hints and they eventually come through... even if it's just to get you to "zip it about the donuts already!"

Thanks baby! They are just what I wanted! :)

to move or not to move?

2009-10-25T19:39:00.002-04:00

Right now we are busting at the seems of our house. Just the two of us {and 3 dogs}! This weekend we took stock of the "clean sweep" we need to do. It's not pretty!

I admit that I am a bit of a pack-rat and Aaron and I both collect various things. He's got more sports stuff then he'll ever know what to do with and sadly, I've probably got more yarn & fabric then I'll ever know what to do with. But those things alone are not causing us to feel cramped in our house.

We bought right at the peek of the market which certainly wasn't ideal, BUT that's when we got married and we had this little issue of having giant 'my little pony' dogs who made it nearly impossible to rent. We bought what we could afford... a two bedroom, one bath, less than 800 sq. ft. house. It's an old house which means NO storage. We use the second bed room as a combo dog room / storage room. The dinning room is the place we eat and the place I quilt and do school work. The kitchen triples as the place to cook, the laundry room (yay for stackable washer/dryer combos), and the utility room with the fuse box and hot water heater.

We know that when we finally start our family we'll be spilling out into the yard. So we are at a fork in the road. There are some things that this house NEEDS before we would be able to sell it given the market right now (new windows, new doors, new cabinets, bathroom redo, laundry room addition, fence repair). But after we sink all that money into the upgrades, would it make more sense just to make the addition a little bigger and sit tight for now (now being only another 3 years tops)? Or do we do the bare minimum for as cheep as possible and start looking for a bigger place?

Friday Fragments

2009-10-16T17:45:00.002-04:00

* I know no where else that I could come and admit that at lunch today we had a HILARIOUS conversation about old man balls! It's definately one of those "had to be there" moments, but let me assure you that I laughed so hard that I'm positive I burned enough calories to have a peice of cake with dinner!

* One of my co-workers is sick with the flu and I've taken her 2nd grade son home this week. Whenever he came in my Kindergarten class at the end of the day, my little girls just went ga-ga over him. Adorable!

* In a teacher's manual I'm using with some 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders after school, there was an actual example using Budweiser as the answer. Seriously?

*Aaron got creative the other night in his request for dinner. I was napping on the couch and it was almost dinner time, for the dogs and the people. Aaron would usually just feed the dogs when he sees them getting all worked up about it being dinner time, but he decided to let them nuddge me, whine, and pace so that I would get woken up. He figured that if I woke up to feed them, I'd feed him too. Think again, buddy!

*On Twitter I follow people who I've met through blog land and some celebrities, but only the ones who do their own tweeting. Blake Shelton is a favorite of mine because he's not trying to sugar coat anything. I can truely imagine him being just like this in real life, and if I'm going to stalk a celebrity, I want them to keep it real! HA But it's a little sad that I've made it a goal to get him to respond to one of my tweets! COME ON BLAKE, make my dreams come true!

Thankful Thursday

2009-10-15T18:06:00.003-04:00

1. I am thankful that even though I've been surrounded by the seasonal flu, H1N1 flu, and various viruses I have remained relatively healthy. A measly cold with a stuffy nose is nothing compared to what I've seen!

2. I'm thankful that we cancelled our field trip that was scheduled for today. The weather looked threatening on Tuesday, so we went ahead and called it off. It turned out to be the right call! Nobody wants to go to the pumpkin patch in rainy 55* weather. We also have over a QUARTER of the kindergarten students out with one of the above illnesses!

3. I am thankful that Aaron decided not to go on a trip for work this week. He was suppose to be in Michigan all week, but since he was sick he cancelled his trip. I've enjoyed having him home to cuddle with on these cold nights!

4. I am thankful that my doctor was able to fit me in on such short notice when I called this morning. I'm also thankful that she was able to calm my suspicions and that nothing is wrong! Praise God!

5. I am thankful that my cousin's baby was born healthy and handsome on Sunday night. Ryan Lucas 10/10/09 @ 7:31PM 7lb. 8oz. 21in. Congratulations Ashley!!

Not Me Monday

2009-10-12T21:33:00.003-04:00

Welcome to Not Me Monday! MckMama is the creator behind this bloggy carnival, so be sure to stop by and visit her and all the rest of the folks who linked up to MckLinky to share their own Not Me Monday adventures.

I did NOT become an "evil carrier monkey" and make my hubby sick.

I did NOT feel compassion for about... 4 days. Then I did NOT become my normal "suck it up" self and demand that he take me to a concert that I bought tickets for 4 months ago. To be fair, his fever had NOT been down for 24 hours and he did NOT say that he wanted to go.

Good thing it was NOT a concert on the water and it was NOT very windy & cold. Otherwise Aaron might be going to the doctor tomorrow to see why he is coughing and his chest hurts.

The light in our kitchen burnt out and I did NOT briefly consider leaving it dark in there and see how long I could get away without cooking/washing dishes.

That event did NOT leave me pondering why our dryer does have a light and our washer does not. I did NOT feel like a fool when my husband pointed out that the washer fills up with WATER!

I'm so glad we could all come here to be honest today! Now head over here and check out what everyone else has NOT been up to this week.

Checking in

2009-10-07T18:04:00.003-04:00

I feel terrible for being absent for so long. I'm being consumed by school stuff and pretty much have nothing else to talk about at this point. And I'm not so naive as to think that you'd like that! So I'll just share a couple of things and then go make comments on my progress reports.

*Several kiddos in my class have H1N1 and I've become the evil carrier monkey and delivered it to my husband with no more than a stuffy nose for myself (as of right now, but it could change!)

*We took EVERYTHING out of our attic last night so that we could get insulation sprayed up there today. Then they called {a full hour before they were suppose to show up} and said they had "no available technicians to perform our service." Great! Now my dinning room looks like this...

And it has to stay that way until Saturday or whenever hubby feels well enough to put the stuff back.

This mess is just adding to the stress that is building since I haven't had time to sew in 3 weeks. And now, I couldn't even if I wanted to. My sewing space is the dinning room table. HA!

I'm the only one who can see

2009-09-28T21:06:00.003-04:00

My husband is a wonderful guy and I love him with all my heart. He is a fantastic provider for our family and is dedicated and loyal to his job. He makes me laugh every day. He's got a soft side that he only shows to me. And I love knowing that I know a part of him that he doesn't share with anyone else. He is a great friend. If any of his friends, co-workers, or even acquaintances asked for anything, he'd do everything he could to help. He's passionate about things he believes in. He supports me in everything from my job, to relationships with my family, to crazy endeavors I get obsessed with. He doesn't complain about me not being a fantastic housekeeper. He's generous. He truly wants me to be happy.

BUT

I'm going to lose it if this happens one more time...
Me- "Babe could you clean up a little while I'm at PTA? It would really help me out and I'd greatly appreciate it!"
Him - "Sure, just tell me what you want me to do."
Me- "Ya know, just straighten up."
Him- "But what do you want me to do?"
Me- starting to lose it "Do you see anybody leaving me lists of things that need to be done. Just look around, I'm sure you'll see something that needs to be picked up and put away."

Does this happen at anybody else's house?!

Friday Fragments

2009-09-25T06:00:00.003-04:00

First, go ahead and scroll down to the last post... {then come right back - please}... see that? I haven't posted anything in a whole week!! Wanna find out what I have {and have not} been doing this last week? Here's the fast and dirty version...

*I'm overwhelmed at school with just getting lesson plans out and keeping my kiddos engaged for 7 1/2 hours a day, but for some unknown reason I went ahead and agreed to be the co-sponsor of our school's Odyssey of the Mind team. This was probably not the smartest thing I've ever done! I'm excited though since I'll get to work with 4th & 5th graders, which will be a completely new experience for me and OM will let me see those little minds stretch creatively. By about February, I'll probably be singing a different song!

*On day 64 of Amanda Jean's quilt along, I have exactly 55 blocks done. I went from being 2 weeks ahead, to 9 days behind. I'm going to blame this on school again. School gets a bad rap, but it's really my poor time management skills that have me behind on everything! It's really a shame too, since sewing calms me down & I'm guessing takes my blood pressure down a notch or two.

*Aaron truly believes that my real age should be somewhere around 85. Sure, I still get carded to buy lottery tickets or alcohol. And just the other day, a lady in the parking lot ask if my mom would be happy to find me skipping school. But I also like to quilt & crochet. I'm usually in bed by the time anything good comes on TV. And I'm now on blood pressure medicine. WHAT?! It's blowing my mind that I'm 26 and already on 'a pill for my pressure.'

*We laid down the law this week. No dogs are allowed on the couch any longer. I feel like a monster! The dogs may be taking it better than I am! :(

*After months and months and months and months of silence (to people I know in real life) about our struggle to have a baby, I've had the urge to tell our whole story on a couple of occasions this week. I'm not usually that open (again... in real life) but I'm tired of keeping it a secret. I still haven't actually told anyone, but I wanted to... and that's new!

*While I was watching my boys A & R this week, R (2) had a remote control car that A (3) wanted. R held A off right until the batteries were about to die and then handed it over and said "Your turn!" A could only use the car going downhill for about 45 seconds before it was completely dead. So SMART! And FUNNY!

*I recently discovered, and may be addicted to, dark chocolate covered soy nuts. YUMMMM!

*Packing lunches at night makes my morning so much easier, so much more streamlined, so why on earth do I resist actually getting it done the night before?!

*We were playing around at dinner the other night and I put ketchup on Aaron's arm. In retaliation, he placed a strategic swipe on my cheek. It immediately started stinging me. To the point that I had to leave the table and wash it off. I'm pretty sure that's not normal. I mean come on... I eat that stuff. If it stings my skin, what in the world is it doing to my stomach?!

*We are interviewing a dog/house sitter this weekend, and my house needs a complete cleaning before I'll be comfortable allowing someone else to stay here! Housekeeping has been a little too low on my priority list since school started!

If you made it all the way down here... Kuddos! Go have a cookie for me! And for tons more random fun, head over to Half-Past Kissin' Time. Lots of fun Friday fragments over there!!

Friday Fragments

2009-09-18T17:58:00.004-04:00

This is my very first time participating in Friday Fragments but it's been a long time coming. If you only knew how hard it can be for me to write in actual logical sentences instead of just bullet pointing my main topics, you'd be amazed that I even started a blog!

Anyway, you can head over to Half-Past Kissin' Time to get the scoop and check out a bunch more random stuff!

*I've been a long time, card carrying member of the expert-pill-swallowing-club. I've bragged to my husband that I can swallow upwards of 8 horse size pills in one swig. {Yes, that's right, I've bragged about THAT... I've never claimed to be interesting!} But recently I've completely forgotten how to swallow pills at all! Not only do I actually have to think about it and make several attempts, but I've decreased the number I take at one time, and they are still getting stuck in my throat! Dang, I wasted that specialized skill and now it's just gone!

*We had a play date with the Dane fosters that are staying down the road:Storm & George. Miss Storm looks just like my Dolly Llama. I told Aaron that we could adopt her and call her Minnie Mouse. {Minnie since she is a mini Dolly and Mouse cuz I add animal names to the end of all our pets' names. GEEZ it's not as funny when I have to explain it!} But how funny would it be to call a Great Dane 'Minnie'?

The ever graceful, Dolly Llama performing Downward Dog.

*I just paid $50 for the privilege of wearing jeans to work on Fridays. Comfort really does mean that much to me! At least all the money goes to the American Cancer Society. I'm so glad my new school is so active in Relay for Life!

*My mom texted me when we got back from our trip last weekend and told me to call her and tell her all about it when I got the chance. I'm ashamed to say that I still haven't called her. I guess she figures I'm still alive though, the missing person division of the police department hasn't shown up yet.

- In my defense, I've been working 10 hour days at school all week and I'm EXHAUSTED when I get home!

*We bought groceries at Wallyworld and we dutifully took in our reusable bags. I love them because you can carry so much more stuff in one bag and then I don't have the erupting cabinet of plastic bags, but they haven't caught on around here, so we're usually the only ones in the store using them. At the checkout the cashier actually refused to bag our groceries because we had reusable bags. I told Aaron I felt like we'd been discriminated against - at Walmart of all places!

I could go on and on, but I don't want to scare you off on my very first week out of the shoot. I'll be back for more next week! Enjoy your weekend!

It's NOT a turn on!

2009-09-16T20:46:00.002-04:00

There's something that's been bothering me...

I grew up in the country and went to a high school and college where the percentage of 'country boys' far out weigh preppy, rock, or jock guys. Trucks pulled into the school parking lot with full gun racks and the 'rewards' of an early morning hunt in the back. Half of my close circle of friends lived on dirt roads. Radios in parking lots are all tuned to the most popular station - country. Redneck is a compliment, and duct tape is the only kind of tape there is. It's seriously country where I'm from. And I love it! But there's one thing I don't understand about 'good 'ole country boys.' Why, please tell me why, do they think it's attractive to dip chewing tobacco?!?!

I've noticed a huge increase in the popularity lately. At the football game this weekend there was a guy sitting right in front of me who stuffed his lip and spit in a sprite bottle through the entire game!

Tonight I was at Barnes & Noble when a good looking, polite guy held the door for me. His bottom lip noticeably stuck out and he was carrying his spit bottle into B&N with him. FortheloveofGod! That shouldn't even be allowed! I know these guys have a lot of practice and (usually) have no trouble hitting the spit cup, but what if, just what IF they missed? GROSS!

Then Jake Owen, a country singer I enjoy listening to (and looking at) has the following lyrics in his latest single...
"...I said climb on up, but honey watch the cup that I spit my dip inside..."

Who is kissing these folks that use chewing tobacco?
What in the world sparked this popularity craze?
Don't even get me started on girls who participate in this habit!

I Wanna Go Back There...

2009-09-14T19:26:00.014-04:00

Last weekend on the way to VT we stopped and stayed at my sister's house. They live on a farm and I'd do anything to be back there right now... away from the city lights, asphalt, and noise that surround my house. We woke up to a foggy morning with a rooster sitting on the porch. I collected eggs, picked cantaloupe and grape tomatoes, took pictures of cows, and sat on the front porch. I actually didn't mind getting up early since I was surrounded by all the natural beauty & quiet.

We left there and went to watch VT take on Marshall in their home opener. I LOVE being back there and I'd go back to college or relive my college years in a heartbeat! Tech won and I have a promise from hubby of going to at least two more games this season. I'm beyond excited!

I'll be looking back over these pictures numerous times for the next few days when I don't feel like working and I'd rather be back on the front porch. Hope you enjoy!