Oh good gravy, I just had to update. For those of you with weak stomachs, skip ahead to the next update for this is one disgusting story.
Elizabeth and I were watching a movie this afternoon and as always she got bored half way through and began to move around the room while watching. She loves the Christmas tree and enjoys examining each ornament closely asking questions and pointing out her favorites. So it was no suprise that half way through the movie she made her way over to the tree both watching the movie and looking at the ornaments. I heard her toot and then giggle. I ignored it. A few minutes later she tooted again. I told her to go sit on the potty but she assured me she didn't need to go.
Fast forward 10 minutes and it hits me. This oder akin to a sewer plant. It fell upon the room with a quiet calm. Lizzy was standing beside me. She plopped down on her belly next to me and I look over... And gag.
Understand that she was wearing underwear, tights, a skirt and shirt. As well as enough poop to fertilize a field. This child had exploded up her back OVER her shoulders, down her tights behind her knees. It was in her armpits, her belly button. It was everywhere.
But wait. Just when you're gagging in your seat and thinking "I'm so glad I wasn't there" it gets better. I rush her into the bathroom, turn on the water in the tub... But nothing happens. Yes, today. Of all days in my 3 year olds life when she just happens to have the biggest poop imagineable. Yes today is the day the water company is replacing pipes down the street. Our water won't be back on until 6. Brilliant.
So, I used an entire box of HUGGIES wipes cleaning up poo from all the various parts of my daughters body while she sat absolutely still not saying a word. It hit me that she must have had a sick stomach so I couldn't be upset with her but I don't think she knew that I'd come to that conclusion for she was being very very cooperative in the operation cleanup recovery efforts.
So alas, I bathed my arms up to my elbows in alcohol and lizzy is now sleeping reeking only slightly like a sewer plant but mostly like HUGGIES baby wipes.
Oh what a day.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
2 months later...
Wow I've been terrible at blogging lately! Sorry! Let me get right to it, two months have gone by and so have two holidays!
We all dressed up for Halloween and enjoyed the holiday with friends and family. Liz went as Minnie Mouse and Maddy was a super cute chicken. Jay went as Joe the Plumber even though we lost the election a few days later. And I cheaped out by going as a cat. (black pants, black shirt, $3 cat ears and some eyeliner on my nose. Voila! A cat.) lol
Halloween was great but the real fun was Thanksgiving where Jay and I took the girls to Ohio to be with all my extended family for the festivities. We left at 4 am on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving which turned out to be a great choice. The girls slept until 8 which put us 4 hours closer to Ohio before I had to start entertaining them for the last 7 hours of the trip. I drove the first leg then began the rotation of movies, toys, songs, threats, you know... Anything to keep chaos from breaking out in the back seat. Lizzy was a bit of a nightmare during the whole trip. But to her credit she didn't get a good nights sleep the entire time due to the four of us sharing one room at my aunts. You see, Jay snores. Like a freight train. Maddy kicks her bed while trying to fall asleep. And Liz usually chats herself to sleep. Meanwhile I slept on the bottom bunk of my cousins bed and knocked myself in the head every time I sat up during the night to settle the girls or threaten Jay (who blissfully slept solid every night sawing his logs while I was up every 30-40 minutes every. Single. Night.) So having said all that, poor Liz, who desperately needs a good nights sleep to function properly was a bossy, non listening little stinker the whole trip.
However... And this is a big however, I am SO thankful that my aunt allowed us to stay with them. It was so nice spending time with my awesome cousins and getting to celebrate the season with them. We had an absolute blast while we were there. Madeline was an angel the whole time which helped a lot. We shopped, played games, ate more food than I should have had all month (which explains the 3 lbs I gained back in one week). Thanksgiving day we piled 21 people into my aunts house. With some creative decorating and name placing we managed to get everyone seated with 3 tables set up for all the amazing food. My aunt Debi made 8, yes 8 pies. I made 2 pumpkin rolls so we seriously inhaled a bazillion delicious calories over the course of a few days.
Black Friday I woke up early and went shopping by myself, I scored a few good deals but missed out on the two things I went for (I didn't get in line at 4) but then the girls hit the town and boy did we clean up on bargains! I scored some super cute shirts for myself from Old Navy for $5! Love that!
Friday night we all went out to dinner for Aunt Jill and Bethy's birthdays. YUMMY! Marchella's (sp?) was insanely good. It was this great little Italian restaurant with the strongest (and perhaps coincedentally best tasting) cosmo I'd ever had. The food was incredible and we all left there wishing we'd worn elastic waist pants. LOL
Saturday brought both frustrations (we got lost in Mansfield for an hour) and so much fun! Jay and I gathered our girls in their adorable Christmas dresses and took off for Jeromesville to find the worlds largest Sycamore tree. (you know my husband and his facination with trees) And we found it! On a dirt road, over the river and through the woods. (not to grandmothers house, that was later in the day) No, nestled in the heart of some No Trespassing acreage which we trespassed on stood the worlds largest Sycamore. It was beautiful and worth the trip. However since we were trespassing and in a tiny little town in Ohio, we didn't stay long. (I wasn't about to get shot over a tree!) So on to the Gauls house! After getting lost in Mansfield (10 years of being gone completely erased all memory of how to get around in my old home town) we arrived at the Gauls just in time to pass around some hugs, say a quick hello then back in the car to head to my grandparents with mom and dad leading the way this time. All this was acomplished by noon and we arrived at my grandparents with ravishing appetites and a huge spread of Christmas foods for our first Christmas party! We had a great time, some of my cousins where there that I hadn't seen in YEARS! The Christmas party was fun but before we knew it it was time to make the hour and a half drive back to Dublin.
Sunday brought more Christmas fun, I got to sleep in a bit after being up ALL night with the girls. So Jay took pity on me and let me have a couple hour nap before the next Christmas party at my grandma's house!
Once again the food was overflowing with flavor and abundance. What a great time! We spoiled grandma with gifts and pictures of great grandbabies and enjoyed every moment of our time together! Sunday night we hung out at the Embassy Suites in Dublin (where my parents stayed the whole trip) free cocktails and movie madness made for a fun last evening with my family. Monday was a long ride home but other than a couple major blowputs by Maddy (I had to change her on the side of the road in the snowy mountains, poor baby was freezing but she didn't complain, she was happy to have clothes that weren't covered in poop anymore. LOL)
So now on to a few updates. Madeline is standing! She walks around furniture now and has this "O" face that looks like she's suprised, she makes this face ALL the time. Its so funny! She also has two teeth now! They're so cute, her bottom two teeth. She smiles with her bottom lip down to show off her little beavers all the time. She'll be walking in the next couple months I'm sure.
Lizzy is SO excited for Christmas this year. She's been helping me wrap gifts, playing with the nativity every day and in general learning what this season is all about.
Life is great but crazy. My girls make every day an adventure. Jay talks about baby 3 a lot but we decided to wait a couple years as we're trying to buy some land right now for our tree farm. We're running out of space at our house so we're looking for a growing field along with a place we can build our future home. With all that going on, I definately do not want to be pregnant right now.
We're planning on visiting Disney in January so hopefully that works out. It'll depend on how busy our business stays.
Anyway, this was a long overdue update. I'll be sure to post some pictures soon! Our Christmas picture turned out super cute! :)
We all dressed up for Halloween and enjoyed the holiday with friends and family. Liz went as Minnie Mouse and Maddy was a super cute chicken. Jay went as Joe the Plumber even though we lost the election a few days later. And I cheaped out by going as a cat. (black pants, black shirt, $3 cat ears and some eyeliner on my nose. Voila! A cat.) lol
Halloween was great but the real fun was Thanksgiving where Jay and I took the girls to Ohio to be with all my extended family for the festivities. We left at 4 am on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving which turned out to be a great choice. The girls slept until 8 which put us 4 hours closer to Ohio before I had to start entertaining them for the last 7 hours of the trip. I drove the first leg then began the rotation of movies, toys, songs, threats, you know... Anything to keep chaos from breaking out in the back seat. Lizzy was a bit of a nightmare during the whole trip. But to her credit she didn't get a good nights sleep the entire time due to the four of us sharing one room at my aunts. You see, Jay snores. Like a freight train. Maddy kicks her bed while trying to fall asleep. And Liz usually chats herself to sleep. Meanwhile I slept on the bottom bunk of my cousins bed and knocked myself in the head every time I sat up during the night to settle the girls or threaten Jay (who blissfully slept solid every night sawing his logs while I was up every 30-40 minutes every. Single. Night.) So having said all that, poor Liz, who desperately needs a good nights sleep to function properly was a bossy, non listening little stinker the whole trip.
However... And this is a big however, I am SO thankful that my aunt allowed us to stay with them. It was so nice spending time with my awesome cousins and getting to celebrate the season with them. We had an absolute blast while we were there. Madeline was an angel the whole time which helped a lot. We shopped, played games, ate more food than I should have had all month (which explains the 3 lbs I gained back in one week). Thanksgiving day we piled 21 people into my aunts house. With some creative decorating and name placing we managed to get everyone seated with 3 tables set up for all the amazing food. My aunt Debi made 8, yes 8 pies. I made 2 pumpkin rolls so we seriously inhaled a bazillion delicious calories over the course of a few days.
Black Friday I woke up early and went shopping by myself, I scored a few good deals but missed out on the two things I went for (I didn't get in line at 4) but then the girls hit the town and boy did we clean up on bargains! I scored some super cute shirts for myself from Old Navy for $5! Love that!
Friday night we all went out to dinner for Aunt Jill and Bethy's birthdays. YUMMY! Marchella's (sp?) was insanely good. It was this great little Italian restaurant with the strongest (and perhaps coincedentally best tasting) cosmo I'd ever had. The food was incredible and we all left there wishing we'd worn elastic waist pants. LOL
Saturday brought both frustrations (we got lost in Mansfield for an hour) and so much fun! Jay and I gathered our girls in their adorable Christmas dresses and took off for Jeromesville to find the worlds largest Sycamore tree. (you know my husband and his facination with trees) And we found it! On a dirt road, over the river and through the woods. (not to grandmothers house, that was later in the day) No, nestled in the heart of some No Trespassing acreage which we trespassed on stood the worlds largest Sycamore. It was beautiful and worth the trip. However since we were trespassing and in a tiny little town in Ohio, we didn't stay long. (I wasn't about to get shot over a tree!) So on to the Gauls house! After getting lost in Mansfield (10 years of being gone completely erased all memory of how to get around in my old home town) we arrived at the Gauls just in time to pass around some hugs, say a quick hello then back in the car to head to my grandparents with mom and dad leading the way this time. All this was acomplished by noon and we arrived at my grandparents with ravishing appetites and a huge spread of Christmas foods for our first Christmas party! We had a great time, some of my cousins where there that I hadn't seen in YEARS! The Christmas party was fun but before we knew it it was time to make the hour and a half drive back to Dublin.
Sunday brought more Christmas fun, I got to sleep in a bit after being up ALL night with the girls. So Jay took pity on me and let me have a couple hour nap before the next Christmas party at my grandma's house!
Once again the food was overflowing with flavor and abundance. What a great time! We spoiled grandma with gifts and pictures of great grandbabies and enjoyed every moment of our time together! Sunday night we hung out at the Embassy Suites in Dublin (where my parents stayed the whole trip) free cocktails and movie madness made for a fun last evening with my family. Monday was a long ride home but other than a couple major blowputs by Maddy (I had to change her on the side of the road in the snowy mountains, poor baby was freezing but she didn't complain, she was happy to have clothes that weren't covered in poop anymore. LOL)
So now on to a few updates. Madeline is standing! She walks around furniture now and has this "O" face that looks like she's suprised, she makes this face ALL the time. Its so funny! She also has two teeth now! They're so cute, her bottom two teeth. She smiles with her bottom lip down to show off her little beavers all the time. She'll be walking in the next couple months I'm sure.
Lizzy is SO excited for Christmas this year. She's been helping me wrap gifts, playing with the nativity every day and in general learning what this season is all about.
Life is great but crazy. My girls make every day an adventure. Jay talks about baby 3 a lot but we decided to wait a couple years as we're trying to buy some land right now for our tree farm. We're running out of space at our house so we're looking for a growing field along with a place we can build our future home. With all that going on, I definately do not want to be pregnant right now.
We're planning on visiting Disney in January so hopefully that works out. It'll depend on how busy our business stays.
Anyway, this was a long overdue update. I'll be sure to post some pictures soon! Our Christmas picture turned out super cute! :)
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Growing Pains
Ever want to put your kids in a bubble so no one can ever hurt them? I do. I know its unreasonable and they have to learn and blah blah blah, but last night was extrememly hard for me. It was also a glimps of the future and how cruel life can be.
Lizzy is just entering the age of realization. She's begining to grasp that her words can hurt others and that she needs to be kind, not only because she'll get in trouble if she isn't but mainly because other people can be her hurt by her unkind actions. Because of this newfound realization I'm able to glimps a bit of who she really is and its both scary and neat that I see a lot of myself in my daughter. One thing I've noticed is that she reaches out to everyone. She loves kids the same age, younger and older. She sees no colors, hears no accents and could care less what a childs "status" is. That's not to say she doesn't notice the differances but as I watch her study people I can see her mind go from curiosity, to acceptance with no boundries to extending kindness. Now, having said that, she's 3. She does have bad attitudes and bad days but fortunately she directs those at me and rarely other people.
So... Where does all this lead us? Well, for all
her faults (and they are many) she is a kind child. And I absolutley love that about her. We were in Walmart on Sunday and there was a black woman decked to the nines in her Sunday best, pastel suit, matching shoes, big hat. Totally normal for Sunday around here. Anyway she was standing by us in line and Lizzy looked over and said, "oh mommy, oh she is beautiful mommy" it was completely unprompted and out of the blue. The lady said "thank you so much, really... Thank you" I have no idea what was going on in that lady's life but she was so appreciative that a random little girl thought she was beautiful. Liz often tells women they're beautiful when they're dressed up and it never fails to make them smile.
Anyway, these are just a few instances of how Liz reaches out to everyone.
And that's probably why it was so hard to watch her feelings get hurt last night when one of her dearest friends was continually nasty to her over and over. I really wanted to step in and say something but I wanted her to learn from it as well. But I have to say it hurt that nothing was said by her parents. I know I'm being sensitive, but its hard not to be, she's my little girl.
So here's what happened. I'll leave out names because these are our friends. So we get to dinner last night and Liz sees her best buddy and runs over to give her a hug. The girl pushed Liz away and said "I don't want to hug you." Liz was hurt but hey, they're 3 I chalked it up to a bad mood. So I go to set Liz by her friend at dinner and the little girl throws a fit and says "no! I don't want you to sit by me." Liz was completely confused... And hurt. But the part that gets me is instead of correcting the behaviour with telling her to be kind and identifying that she's hurting another childs feelings her mom (a good friend of mine) merely said "if you want to choose another seat you can" so she did! She moved across the table and at this point Liz had tears in her eyes. She wouldn't even eat her dinner. Now at this point I was getting annoyed... But I didn't say anything. After dinner the kids went upstairs to watch a movie while we had small group. About 30 minutes in I hear Liz crying upstairs so I go up to see what's going on and she's sitting about 10 feet away from the other kids crying. I asked her what was wrong and the gist of it was that the little girl didn't want Liz to sit with the group while watching the movie so Liz had walked 10 feet away and sat by herself. At that point I was getting mad, I said to the whole group "guys we need to be nice, everyone is included in movie time" I waited until Liz had gotten herself settled again (albeit a few feet away still) but she was watching the movie so I figured all was fine. Then as it was time to go Liz tried to give her friend a hug goodbye and the girl ran off and said "no" her mom was standing right there and said "we give her the freedom to choose if she wants to hug people or not" which, I respect... Somewhat. However watching my 3 year old with her arms out trying to give her friend a hug was heartbraking. All in all I was really bothered by the whole evening. I know I'm being sensitive but on the way home lizzy was very quiet. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I'm sad... ___ doesn't like me."
*sigh* It made me cry. Jay was furious with the whole evening he wanted to say something so badly but these are good friends of ours and we don't want to sever that relationship so we figured we'd better cool off for a few days and then I'll mention how hurt Liz was to my friend. But watching Liz get her feelings hurt was awful. I wish I could put her in a bubble and protect her from the meanness and hurtful things of the world.
But... This is where I have to trust that God is watching over my girls. He alone can heal their hurts and shelter them through the storms of life. As mild as this was in the grand scheme of things it still broke my heart to hear my baby say "I'm sad."
Lizzy is just entering the age of realization. She's begining to grasp that her words can hurt others and that she needs to be kind, not only because she'll get in trouble if she isn't but mainly because other people can be her hurt by her unkind actions. Because of this newfound realization I'm able to glimps a bit of who she really is and its both scary and neat that I see a lot of myself in my daughter. One thing I've noticed is that she reaches out to everyone. She loves kids the same age, younger and older. She sees no colors, hears no accents and could care less what a childs "status" is. That's not to say she doesn't notice the differances but as I watch her study people I can see her mind go from curiosity, to acceptance with no boundries to extending kindness. Now, having said that, she's 3. She does have bad attitudes and bad days but fortunately she directs those at me and rarely other people.
So... Where does all this lead us? Well, for all
her faults (and they are many) she is a kind child. And I absolutley love that about her. We were in Walmart on Sunday and there was a black woman decked to the nines in her Sunday best, pastel suit, matching shoes, big hat. Totally normal for Sunday around here. Anyway she was standing by us in line and Lizzy looked over and said, "oh mommy, oh she is beautiful mommy" it was completely unprompted and out of the blue. The lady said "thank you so much, really... Thank you" I have no idea what was going on in that lady's life but she was so appreciative that a random little girl thought she was beautiful. Liz often tells women they're beautiful when they're dressed up and it never fails to make them smile.
Anyway, these are just a few instances of how Liz reaches out to everyone.
And that's probably why it was so hard to watch her feelings get hurt last night when one of her dearest friends was continually nasty to her over and over. I really wanted to step in and say something but I wanted her to learn from it as well. But I have to say it hurt that nothing was said by her parents. I know I'm being sensitive, but its hard not to be, she's my little girl.
So here's what happened. I'll leave out names because these are our friends. So we get to dinner last night and Liz sees her best buddy and runs over to give her a hug. The girl pushed Liz away and said "I don't want to hug you." Liz was hurt but hey, they're 3 I chalked it up to a bad mood. So I go to set Liz by her friend at dinner and the little girl throws a fit and says "no! I don't want you to sit by me." Liz was completely confused... And hurt. But the part that gets me is instead of correcting the behaviour with telling her to be kind and identifying that she's hurting another childs feelings her mom (a good friend of mine) merely said "if you want to choose another seat you can" so she did! She moved across the table and at this point Liz had tears in her eyes. She wouldn't even eat her dinner. Now at this point I was getting annoyed... But I didn't say anything. After dinner the kids went upstairs to watch a movie while we had small group. About 30 minutes in I hear Liz crying upstairs so I go up to see what's going on and she's sitting about 10 feet away from the other kids crying. I asked her what was wrong and the gist of it was that the little girl didn't want Liz to sit with the group while watching the movie so Liz had walked 10 feet away and sat by herself. At that point I was getting mad, I said to the whole group "guys we need to be nice, everyone is included in movie time" I waited until Liz had gotten herself settled again (albeit a few feet away still) but she was watching the movie so I figured all was fine. Then as it was time to go Liz tried to give her friend a hug goodbye and the girl ran off and said "no" her mom was standing right there and said "we give her the freedom to choose if she wants to hug people or not" which, I respect... Somewhat. However watching my 3 year old with her arms out trying to give her friend a hug was heartbraking. All in all I was really bothered by the whole evening. I know I'm being sensitive but on the way home lizzy was very quiet. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I'm sad... ___ doesn't like me."
*sigh* It made me cry. Jay was furious with the whole evening he wanted to say something so badly but these are good friends of ours and we don't want to sever that relationship so we figured we'd better cool off for a few days and then I'll mention how hurt Liz was to my friend. But watching Liz get her feelings hurt was awful. I wish I could put her in a bubble and protect her from the meanness and hurtful things of the world.
But... This is where I have to trust that God is watching over my girls. He alone can heal their hurts and shelter them through the storms of life. As mild as this was in the grand scheme of things it still broke my heart to hear my baby say "I'm sad."
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Picture time! (Video below)
Okay, here's what's going on in our lives... Princess dresses, scottish highland games, and lots of fun hanging outdoors in this beautiful weather! Maddy is getting chubby... just look at those cheeks! :)
The tail of Madeline...
You know how it's funny to watch a dog chase its tail? Well this is kind of like that... but with my kid. And please excuse the laughter in the background... I was dying laughing and my goofy baby running in circles.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Winds of change...
Ah, so its been more than a little crazy around here lately. Maddy is up to 16 lbs and is trying to crawl! She gets up on all fours but then she just rocks back and forth and eventually face plants herself into the carpet before pulling herself back up and trying again. She's sleeping very well, most nights are at least 10 hours. Our only problem at the moment (and I mean that quite litterally as she's screaming in the other room as I type this) is that she HATES nap time. Hates it! It is so annoying! Once asleep she'll be out for 3-4 hours in the afternoon, but getting her to slow down long enough to actually fall asleep is darn near impossible! And frustrating to boot as she keeps Lizzy up when she starts screaming meaning I have two miserable nap needing kids every afternoon, which really, really sucks!
In between that last sentance and this one I finally gave in and rocked her to sleep, so now my house is blissfully quiet. For now anyways...
So what's new around here? I can't remember if I've mentioned Princess Charming but that's what Lizzy calls prince charming, which cracks me up. In school this month they're teaching the kids their parents names in case the kids would ever get lost they can tell someone who they're with. So lizzy likes to call us "Dessica Cwemmons" and "damie cwemmons" but they funny one is when you ask her Maddys full name... "Maddy Goose!" she'll reply. I guess I need to start calling Madeline Maddy Jane instead of Maddy Goose.
I ordered Jays birthday cake from Publix today, its the same flavor as Lizzy's cake but the theme is all green with a tree stump in the middle and a chain saw laying on the stump... I cracked up when I saw the picture of it in the Publix cake book. I just knew I had to order it for him! His birthday is on Friday so we'll be celebrating at small group. I'm making lasagna and we'll have garlic bread, salad and then ice cream and cake for dessert, should be fun! He told me he wants tools for his birthday which translates to a card from me and whatever he wants from the catalog of tools he always has laying around. Lol
Oh yeah, another lizzy moment: Liz got a camera for her birthday from her uncle, it came with a camera case. Yesterday Liz walks up to me and asks where her suitcase for her camera is... It took me a minute to realize she was asking about her camera case. Too cute.
Anyway! I need a nap, its been a looong morning. More updates to come!
In between that last sentance and this one I finally gave in and rocked her to sleep, so now my house is blissfully quiet. For now anyways...
So what's new around here? I can't remember if I've mentioned Princess Charming but that's what Lizzy calls prince charming, which cracks me up. In school this month they're teaching the kids their parents names in case the kids would ever get lost they can tell someone who they're with. So lizzy likes to call us "Dessica Cwemmons" and "damie cwemmons" but they funny one is when you ask her Maddys full name... "Maddy Goose!" she'll reply. I guess I need to start calling Madeline Maddy Jane instead of Maddy Goose.
I ordered Jays birthday cake from Publix today, its the same flavor as Lizzy's cake but the theme is all green with a tree stump in the middle and a chain saw laying on the stump... I cracked up when I saw the picture of it in the Publix cake book. I just knew I had to order it for him! His birthday is on Friday so we'll be celebrating at small group. I'm making lasagna and we'll have garlic bread, salad and then ice cream and cake for dessert, should be fun! He told me he wants tools for his birthday which translates to a card from me and whatever he wants from the catalog of tools he always has laying around. Lol
Oh yeah, another lizzy moment: Liz got a camera for her birthday from her uncle, it came with a camera case. Yesterday Liz walks up to me and asks where her suitcase for her camera is... It took me a minute to realize she was asking about her camera case. Too cute.
Anyway! I need a nap, its been a looong morning. More updates to come!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
New Stuff
Yes I realize that's not the most creative title but the title "birthday parties, well check visits and other things going on in our lives" seemed a bit long. So it is what it is. Moving on!
Let's go in order, last Friday lizzy turned 3 which was lots of fun. We didn't do too much on her actual birthday as she got an upset tummy after her lunch (she wanted Chinese... Ew, I blame the chicken) so she had an accident (a very messy one) while we were at small group, in front of 15 kids. Was she embarassed? Not my kid. Nope, she merely said "I feel better mommy" when she was through ruining the carpet. Fun times.
Saturday morning however brought lots of stress for mommy and great times for Lizzy. The reason I was stressing was that we had 50 people RSVP for her party... Which I wasn't expecting, and most of which RSVP'd the night before. Oh and it was from 11-1 which meant we needed to feed everyone so I was stressing about that big time. Linda took care of the fruit which was wonderful (huge platters of watermelon, grapes, canteloupe, strawberries and honeydew. I made a big platter of cheese cubes and picked up 6 lbs of popcorn chicken. We added some goldfish and things like that and then topped it all off with palmtree coolers of capri suns, apple juice and bottled water.
The cake was vanilla with raspberry filling and whipped buttercream frosting which was the best cake I'd ever tasted. Seriously, better than our overpriced wedding cake... Lol we also had an ice cream bar with peaches, rasberries, chocolate chips, gummy bears, bitterscotch chips and sprinkles for toppings. That was a huge hit with the parents and kids both. I had some games planned but we had 25 kids there so we didn't end up playing any games as it was too chaotic. I did however have a rub on tattoo station for the kids which was a HUGE hit. The kids loved getting those and the parents sll thought it was fun as well. Due to the ginormous guest count the gift table was out of control. She got more than any 3 year old should ever have so I'm putting the things we got her, back for Christmas. And we'll be donating an old toy for each of the new ones she opens.
All in all it was a blast although both lizzy and I were overwhelmed with everything. Jay hung out with my brothers and Maddy had a great time with all the attention while lizzy and I tackled the mountain of presents. It took us 2 days to recover from all that fun.
Then today was Maddy's 6 month well check visit. Her head is in the 10th percentile, her height and weight around the 40th percentile. She's up to 16 lbs 3 oz now! She got 3 shots and only cried while she was getting them. As soon as I picked her up afterwards she started smiling at the nurse. It was sad and cute, big ol tears streaming down her cheeks and a grin on her face... That's my baby.
I have to say I am SO thankful that she is a good baby. Lizzy is proving to be a handful these days and I don't know what I'd do if Maddy was a difficult baby on top of that. Fortunately I don't have to worry about that. Maddy is angelic and so sweet to be around.
Lizzy's an awesome kid and I love her more than life, but I swear she'll be the death of me. She is so sassy these days and independant! (which is the nice way of saying she doesn't listen worth a darn most days and its driving me ape wall!) I'm working with her though, Jay says I'm too soft on her. I just say I choose my battles. If I were to correct her every single time she didn't listen or talked back I'd spend all day putting her in time out and taking away privledges. Instead I try to pick the things I most want her to learn (good manners, kindness, and listening skills) and I overlook the bossy boots comments or rolling of the eyes. (which I realize both of those fall under good manners, but seriously, she's 3. I'll take please and thank you even if its sometimes said more like "please I want that this very instant" or "please but I'm really just saying please because I know that's the only way to get what I want even if I don't have a thankful attitude at all right now" yeah, its a lot to put into one little "please" but trust me, they can do it)
I guess she's just really trying her boundries right now and is looking to me to set the guidelines for all future communication between us. Its hard, but no one ever said parenting would be easy. And its definetly not.
But to end on a happy note. Lizzys preschool is working on safety right now so they're teaching the kids their full names and their parents full names in case they ever get lost the kids will know what to tell a police officer. So tonight I asked Liz, what's your name? And she replies "Wizabeth Doy Kwemmons" then I asked her "what's mommy's name?" she replied "Jessica" I said "what's mommy's last name?" she replies... "mommy... Jessica mommy" so I tried two for two of that cuteness and asked what daddy's last name is... She said "daddy. Daddy's name is Jamie Daddy" lol gotta love it.
That's all for this update but I'll upload some pics soon. :)
Let's go in order, last Friday lizzy turned 3 which was lots of fun. We didn't do too much on her actual birthday as she got an upset tummy after her lunch (she wanted Chinese... Ew, I blame the chicken) so she had an accident (a very messy one) while we were at small group, in front of 15 kids. Was she embarassed? Not my kid. Nope, she merely said "I feel better mommy" when she was through ruining the carpet. Fun times.
Saturday morning however brought lots of stress for mommy and great times for Lizzy. The reason I was stressing was that we had 50 people RSVP for her party... Which I wasn't expecting, and most of which RSVP'd the night before. Oh and it was from 11-1 which meant we needed to feed everyone so I was stressing about that big time. Linda took care of the fruit which was wonderful (huge platters of watermelon, grapes, canteloupe, strawberries and honeydew. I made a big platter of cheese cubes and picked up 6 lbs of popcorn chicken. We added some goldfish and things like that and then topped it all off with palmtree coolers of capri suns, apple juice and bottled water.
The cake was vanilla with raspberry filling and whipped buttercream frosting which was the best cake I'd ever tasted. Seriously, better than our overpriced wedding cake... Lol we also had an ice cream bar with peaches, rasberries, chocolate chips, gummy bears, bitterscotch chips and sprinkles for toppings. That was a huge hit with the parents and kids both. I had some games planned but we had 25 kids there so we didn't end up playing any games as it was too chaotic. I did however have a rub on tattoo station for the kids which was a HUGE hit. The kids loved getting those and the parents sll thought it was fun as well. Due to the ginormous guest count the gift table was out of control. She got more than any 3 year old should ever have so I'm putting the things we got her, back for Christmas. And we'll be donating an old toy for each of the new ones she opens.
All in all it was a blast although both lizzy and I were overwhelmed with everything. Jay hung out with my brothers and Maddy had a great time with all the attention while lizzy and I tackled the mountain of presents. It took us 2 days to recover from all that fun.
Then today was Maddy's 6 month well check visit. Her head is in the 10th percentile, her height and weight around the 40th percentile. She's up to 16 lbs 3 oz now! She got 3 shots and only cried while she was getting them. As soon as I picked her up afterwards she started smiling at the nurse. It was sad and cute, big ol tears streaming down her cheeks and a grin on her face... That's my baby.
I have to say I am SO thankful that she is a good baby. Lizzy is proving to be a handful these days and I don't know what I'd do if Maddy was a difficult baby on top of that. Fortunately I don't have to worry about that. Maddy is angelic and so sweet to be around.
Lizzy's an awesome kid and I love her more than life, but I swear she'll be the death of me. She is so sassy these days and independant! (which is the nice way of saying she doesn't listen worth a darn most days and its driving me ape wall!) I'm working with her though, Jay says I'm too soft on her. I just say I choose my battles. If I were to correct her every single time she didn't listen or talked back I'd spend all day putting her in time out and taking away privledges. Instead I try to pick the things I most want her to learn (good manners, kindness, and listening skills) and I overlook the bossy boots comments or rolling of the eyes. (which I realize both of those fall under good manners, but seriously, she's 3. I'll take please and thank you even if its sometimes said more like "please I want that this very instant" or "please but I'm really just saying please because I know that's the only way to get what I want even if I don't have a thankful attitude at all right now" yeah, its a lot to put into one little "please" but trust me, they can do it)
I guess she's just really trying her boundries right now and is looking to me to set the guidelines for all future communication between us. Its hard, but no one ever said parenting would be easy. And its definetly not.
But to end on a happy note. Lizzys preschool is working on safety right now so they're teaching the kids their full names and their parents full names in case they ever get lost the kids will know what to tell a police officer. So tonight I asked Liz, what's your name? And she replies "Wizabeth Doy Kwemmons" then I asked her "what's mommy's name?" she replied "Jessica" I said "what's mommy's last name?" she replies... "mommy... Jessica mommy" so I tried two for two of that cuteness and asked what daddy's last name is... She said "daddy. Daddy's name is Jamie Daddy" lol gotta love it.
That's all for this update but I'll upload some pics soon. :)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Not so long ago...
Not so long ago I knew this was almost it. The moment I'd been waiting for since I was a little girl who loved swaddling her cabbage patch doll. It was within reach, my contractions had started and in my mind I could picture this amazing little person. My first born, my Elizabeth Joy. There was no way of preparing myself for the mass of emotions that comes along with seeing a new life that God, my husband and I had by some miracle created but it was the most amazing feeling I'd ever had.
Not too long ago I was waking Jamie up with a panicked "this is it."
Not too long ago I got my first glimpse of the rest of my life. As she lay there in my arms flashes of first steps, backpacks, proms and weddings were dancing through my imagination.
Not too long ago those first steps became a reality as I watched the world come alive for my little girl. As she toddled over with an expression of one who recently won an Olympic gold medal, full of spirit and excitement as she mastered this new life tool, I knew this would change everything. And it did. We've moved on to backpacks and no more diapers. She has manners and attitudes, preferances and a voice. A beautiful voice which often grates my last nerve but can melt me in a heartbeat with a whispered "I love you mommy." or "want to play with me mommy?"
Today my lizzy will be turning 3. I'm so proud of her. Not only for her accomplishments, which are growing in number every day, but for her heart. She is a passioniate little girl who loves life and is full of laughter and sweetness. Not so long ago she was 7 lbs 11oz and relied on me for everything. Now she is growing more independent by the day, both breaking my heart and giving me hope that someday she'll be an amazing woman.
For now however she's my sweet angel, the voice I look forward to in the mornings with my favorite words in the whole world. "I love you mommy."
Not too long ago I was waking Jamie up with a panicked "this is it."
Not too long ago I got my first glimpse of the rest of my life. As she lay there in my arms flashes of first steps, backpacks, proms and weddings were dancing through my imagination.
Not too long ago those first steps became a reality as I watched the world come alive for my little girl. As she toddled over with an expression of one who recently won an Olympic gold medal, full of spirit and excitement as she mastered this new life tool, I knew this would change everything. And it did. We've moved on to backpacks and no more diapers. She has manners and attitudes, preferances and a voice. A beautiful voice which often grates my last nerve but can melt me in a heartbeat with a whispered "I love you mommy." or "want to play with me mommy?"
Today my lizzy will be turning 3. I'm so proud of her. Not only for her accomplishments, which are growing in number every day, but for her heart. She is a passioniate little girl who loves life and is full of laughter and sweetness. Not so long ago she was 7 lbs 11oz and relied on me for everything. Now she is growing more independent by the day, both breaking my heart and giving me hope that someday she'll be an amazing woman.
For now however she's my sweet angel, the voice I look forward to in the mornings with my favorite words in the whole world. "I love you mommy."
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Its that time again!
Back to school! Oh how I despise getting up at the butt crack of dawn to wake up my toddler who is 3 going on 13 with her little morning attitudes of "5 more minutes!" and "I don't wanna go to school." and all the drama that goes along with getting her up before she's ready. However, she needs to go to preschool, she learns SO much and she has a really fabulous teacher this year. First day back was a huge success, no tears when I left and she got a great report after school. Today they had a sub who was very sarcastic, and Liz doesn't do well with sarcasm so she got in trouble for pushing the subs hand away. When I asked her about it on the way home she said "well she pointed in my face mommy" which, I know Liz is the kid and should never push her teachers hand away but I'm not really cool with a teacher pointing in my kids face either so we had a light talk about it and hopefully her regular teacher will be back next week.
In the mean time, Lizzy started ballet and tap dance! She LOVES dancing. I worked with her all week on her positioning and pointing her toes, heel toe and all that fun dance stuff and last night her teacher said she came alive in class and did an excellant job. Yay! I love those reports!
Now for a Maddy update. We're fast approaching 6 months old and I still have to say I have never met such a pleasant baby. I know kids that are more advanced, ones that sleep longer and some that eat better but anyone who's ever met Madeline always comments on how happy, smiley and just generally pleasant she is. Its so great waking up to her smiles every day and watching her suck her bottom lip and grin at the same time. She's ticklish all over and completely adores her big sister, laughing and coo'ing whenever Lizzy looks at her. The girls are becoming fast friends sharing blankets while watching movies (yes Maddy watches movies with Liz) and talking to each other in the car. Lizzy's a huge help when it comes to entertaining the baby so I can make dinner or whatever.
Both the girls go in for their well check visits the first week of September. I can't wait to see how much they've grown!
I'll post some new pictures soon and update some more on our recent trip to Ohio. For now I need to go finish Lizzy's invites for her birthday party next Saturday!
In the mean time, Lizzy started ballet and tap dance! She LOVES dancing. I worked with her all week on her positioning and pointing her toes, heel toe and all that fun dance stuff and last night her teacher said she came alive in class and did an excellant job. Yay! I love those reports!
Now for a Maddy update. We're fast approaching 6 months old and I still have to say I have never met such a pleasant baby. I know kids that are more advanced, ones that sleep longer and some that eat better but anyone who's ever met Madeline always comments on how happy, smiley and just generally pleasant she is. Its so great waking up to her smiles every day and watching her suck her bottom lip and grin at the same time. She's ticklish all over and completely adores her big sister, laughing and coo'ing whenever Lizzy looks at her. The girls are becoming fast friends sharing blankets while watching movies (yes Maddy watches movies with Liz) and talking to each other in the car. Lizzy's a huge help when it comes to entertaining the baby so I can make dinner or whatever.
Both the girls go in for their well check visits the first week of September. I can't wait to see how much they've grown!
I'll post some new pictures soon and update some more on our recent trip to Ohio. For now I need to go finish Lizzy's invites for her birthday party next Saturday!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Stranded.
I feel stranded! We finally sold my car on Saturday and here I am with a bazillion things to do and no way to get around! What I *need* to be doing is cleaning my house instead... Which I plan to do... Eventually. Lol in the mean time I thought I'd update a bit. This was a crazy busy weekend complete with allergies for the whole family.
We're looking for a new van tonight when Jay gets off work, so I'm going to start packing for our Ohio trip. I sure hope we can go, we already decided on what we're willing to spend on what kind of van so I hope its out there! The market stinks down here for vehicle sales so I'm hoping to play that to our advantage and get a good deal on something.
Anyway! Not too much going on aside from that, we bought lizzys new car seat last week which goes up to 65 lbs with the 5 point safety harness. That makes me feel better about her safety. If the van we buy doesn't have a built in DVD player I'm going to invest in one of those dual screen ones so I can face one towards Maddy too as she is all about the movies right now. So cute! Lizzy and Maddy are sitting here watching Chronicles of Narnia as I type and both of them are glued to the TV.
Speaking of Maddy, she is a little fatty these days! She eats about a 1/4th cup of cereal every night and I swear it goes straight to her chubby little legs! My used to be tiny peanut is now a little marshmellow! I need to upload some pictures of her soon.
I've been searching for clothes for the girls on craigslist as all of lizzys old nine month items are summertime so I have no winter clothes for maddy, and lizzys legs are so long that she's in 4T jeans now. I found a gal last week selling 6 pairs of pants and 11 shirts for $20. They were all gymboree, childrens place and old navy so I was super excited about that find! I picked up another box of 3's and 4's fall/winter items for $15, there were several play outfits and preschool items in that lot. So Liz has a great head start on fall now. Thank goodness, the older she gets the more expensive her clothes get as well! I refuse to pay $20 for kids jeans, especially when she'll outgrow them in a couple months. Crazy!
I haven't had any luck with 9 - 12 month winter clothes for Maddy yet. But maybe I'll find some good deals while we're in Ohio.
This was a completely boring update but there you have it. I'll try to get some new pictures of the girls up soon! Maddy will be 5 months tomorrow!
We're looking for a new van tonight when Jay gets off work, so I'm going to start packing for our Ohio trip. I sure hope we can go, we already decided on what we're willing to spend on what kind of van so I hope its out there! The market stinks down here for vehicle sales so I'm hoping to play that to our advantage and get a good deal on something.
Anyway! Not too much going on aside from that, we bought lizzys new car seat last week which goes up to 65 lbs with the 5 point safety harness. That makes me feel better about her safety. If the van we buy doesn't have a built in DVD player I'm going to invest in one of those dual screen ones so I can face one towards Maddy too as she is all about the movies right now. So cute! Lizzy and Maddy are sitting here watching Chronicles of Narnia as I type and both of them are glued to the TV.
Speaking of Maddy, she is a little fatty these days! She eats about a 1/4th cup of cereal every night and I swear it goes straight to her chubby little legs! My used to be tiny peanut is now a little marshmellow! I need to upload some pictures of her soon.
I've been searching for clothes for the girls on craigslist as all of lizzys old nine month items are summertime so I have no winter clothes for maddy, and lizzys legs are so long that she's in 4T jeans now. I found a gal last week selling 6 pairs of pants and 11 shirts for $20. They were all gymboree, childrens place and old navy so I was super excited about that find! I picked up another box of 3's and 4's fall/winter items for $15, there were several play outfits and preschool items in that lot. So Liz has a great head start on fall now. Thank goodness, the older she gets the more expensive her clothes get as well! I refuse to pay $20 for kids jeans, especially when she'll outgrow them in a couple months. Crazy!
I haven't had any luck with 9 - 12 month winter clothes for Maddy yet. But maybe I'll find some good deals while we're in Ohio.
This was a completely boring update but there you have it. I'll try to get some new pictures of the girls up soon! Maddy will be 5 months tomorrow!
Friday, July 18, 2008
VBS
Every church has one, every kid loves going and every adult realizes that to volunteer during VBS (vacation bible school) week means submitting yourself to cleaning glitter out of your hair for weeks to come. And alas, this is our week for VBS. I admit I was hesitant to volunteer this week. I took a backseat when the sign up sheet went around and kept telling the director "if you need me, I'll come. If you don't, I won't." My reasoning for being so flakey is that I have 2 small kids who were too young to participate (its 4 & up) and didn't want to put them in childcare for a week. I thought that sounded like a fairly good argument but by the end of day one I was recruited, and now I'm so glad that I was. We showed up on day 2 and were blown away. Seacoast rarely does things half way and this was no exception. I walked into our sanctuary filled with 100+ kids praising God and having the time of their lives. The theme is Power Lab and the kids have been learning about how God gives us the power to be thankful, brave, strong, live forever, etc. (Aha!) the lessons have been fun and creative (the kids got to walk on water! Done that lately?) and lizzys had a blast. Oh wait did I forget to mention that? Staff kid privledge, she got to participate after all. Yes Lizzy has made goo, walked on water, learned what mentos do to diet coke (6 foot volcano of exploding soda all over the leaders... Did I mention I'm a leader?) and somehow we've brought it all back to the lessons of God giving kids the power to be ___ (fill in the blank with a different power each day)
Tonight is the final day and I'm both looking forward to it and sad that I didn't play a bigger role this year as its been a fantastic week. Its obvious that for some of these kids this is the first time they've ever heard about Jesus and to be apart of sharing that discovery with these kids has been amazing. So VBS rocks. Which reminds me, I need to go wash my hair before tonight, I keep getting sparkles in my eyes.
Tonight is the final day and I'm both looking forward to it and sad that I didn't play a bigger role this year as its been a fantastic week. Its obvious that for some of these kids this is the first time they've ever heard about Jesus and to be apart of sharing that discovery with these kids has been amazing. So VBS rocks. Which reminds me, I need to go wash my hair before tonight, I keep getting sparkles in my eyes.
Depth perception.
Most of what I post on here are blanket updates on my kids, which is what I intended this blog to be about. But there's so much more to our lives than milestones and growth charts so I plan on posting a bit more on what God is doing in our lives and some of the neat things we're up to.
One of the things I'm most excited about is the opportunity to begin mentoring one of the girls from our highschool youth group. The staff at Seacoast was presented with a challenge. 98% of all teens actively involved in church while in highschool go on to leave the church in college. But nearly 100% of teens who had a mentor while in highschool continued to be actively involved in church on through college and their adult lives. That is incredible, and touched me in a profound way. There are two girls I'm working with currently. One of them was "assigned" to me and the other is one of my nursery volunteers who isn't really involved in the youth group due to transportation issues. Both girls are awesome and I love talking with them. I'm only just getting to know them both well but am very excited about this opportunity. I wish I'd have had someone older when I first came to SC. In a way I did have an older friend take me under her wing but she passed away 5 years ago which proved to be the single most faith testing thing I'd ever gone through. However she made a lasting impression on my life and I can only pray that God works through me to these girls like He did through her to me.
Anyway, I'd like to see my blog take on a more personal level. Just a warning to any friends out there who read this.:)
God is doing some incredible things right now with our church, my marriage, and my kids lives.
One of the things I'm most excited about is the opportunity to begin mentoring one of the girls from our highschool youth group. The staff at Seacoast was presented with a challenge. 98% of all teens actively involved in church while in highschool go on to leave the church in college. But nearly 100% of teens who had a mentor while in highschool continued to be actively involved in church on through college and their adult lives. That is incredible, and touched me in a profound way. There are two girls I'm working with currently. One of them was "assigned" to me and the other is one of my nursery volunteers who isn't really involved in the youth group due to transportation issues. Both girls are awesome and I love talking with them. I'm only just getting to know them both well but am very excited about this opportunity. I wish I'd have had someone older when I first came to SC. In a way I did have an older friend take me under her wing but she passed away 5 years ago which proved to be the single most faith testing thing I'd ever gone through. However she made a lasting impression on my life and I can only pray that God works through me to these girls like He did through her to me.
Anyway, I'd like to see my blog take on a more personal level. Just a warning to any friends out there who read this.:)
God is doing some incredible things right now with our church, my marriage, and my kids lives.
Monday, July 14, 2008
little me?
So yesterday we're sitting in the nursery before church started and Lizzy picks up a toy cell phone and proceeds to ask the 5 adults in the room to "be quiet please, lizzys on the phone" at first we all laughed and thought it was cute but then she takes it a step further and says "daddy scoot over by mommy and smile! I take your picture!" she hold up the cell phone and proceeds to "take our picture" at this point we're rolling. Is there anything this kid doesn't pick up?
Which got me thinking. If my 2 year old is reflecting the things she sees in me then why doesn't she pick up a random book and tell us Bible stories? Or tell people she loves them, often? I know why... Because she doesn't see me do those things nearly enough. She sees mommy on the phone, taking pictures and that's all fine and dandy, but I want my girls to see more than that. So today I vow to be less phone happy and more example worthy to my kids.
Just my random thought for the day.
Which got me thinking. If my 2 year old is reflecting the things she sees in me then why doesn't she pick up a random book and tell us Bible stories? Or tell people she loves them, often? I know why... Because she doesn't see me do those things nearly enough. She sees mommy on the phone, taking pictures and that's all fine and dandy, but I want my girls to see more than that. So today I vow to be less phone happy and more example worthy to my kids.
Just my random thought for the day.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
My little character.
Scene: Lizzy drying my arms off after we got out of the pool the other day.
Lizzy: mommy it won't come off!
Me: what won't come off baby?
Lizzy: dis!
Me: honey that is a freckle, those don't come off they're marks on mommys skin. Look you have one on your hand.
Lizzy: ohhhh (pause with thinking look on her face) speckles no come off mommy?
Me: (trying not to giggle) no baby speckles no come off.
Later that night when jay got home, very dirty and was about to climb in the shower.
Lizzy: Daddys speckles stink.
Me:*snort*
Scene: today while Lizzy was watching nanny mcphee she runs into Maddys room while I'm rocking the baby.
Lizzy: (yells angrily) You nebber listen!!
Me:excuse me?
Lizzy: (yells even louder) You nebber listen!!
Me:what are you talking about? I don't listen?
Lizzy: (perfectly calm now) dat boy just yelled at his daddy in dat movie.
Me: oh, was that a very nice thing to do? yell at mommy?
Lizzy: I jus kidding mommy sheesh. (rolls her eyes and walks away)
Scene:today at lunch.
Me:how old will you be on your birthday Lizzy?
Lizzy:(thinks for a minute) I be 23 mommy.
Me:*laughs* oh will you now? I don't think you'll be quite that old baby.
Lizzy: okay I be 21.
Me:*sigh* 2 going on 21 oh dear Lord save me.
What am I going to do with this child? She makes me laugh so hard.
Lizzy: mommy it won't come off!
Me: what won't come off baby?
Lizzy: dis!
Me: honey that is a freckle, those don't come off they're marks on mommys skin. Look you have one on your hand.
Lizzy: ohhhh (pause with thinking look on her face) speckles no come off mommy?
Me: (trying not to giggle) no baby speckles no come off.
Later that night when jay got home, very dirty and was about to climb in the shower.
Lizzy: Daddys speckles stink.
Me:*snort*
Scene: today while Lizzy was watching nanny mcphee she runs into Maddys room while I'm rocking the baby.
Lizzy: (yells angrily) You nebber listen!!
Me:excuse me?
Lizzy: (yells even louder) You nebber listen!!
Me:what are you talking about? I don't listen?
Lizzy: (perfectly calm now) dat boy just yelled at his daddy in dat movie.
Me: oh, was that a very nice thing to do? yell at mommy?
Lizzy: I jus kidding mommy sheesh. (rolls her eyes and walks away)
Scene:today at lunch.
Me:how old will you be on your birthday Lizzy?
Lizzy:(thinks for a minute) I be 23 mommy.
Me:*laughs* oh will you now? I don't think you'll be quite that old baby.
Lizzy: okay I be 21.
Me:*sigh* 2 going on 21 oh dear Lord save me.
What am I going to do with this child? She makes me laugh so hard.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Well it's been a month...
I know, I'm terrible at this these days! Maddy has come so far and I haven't been on here forever! She's now rolling like crazy! She's eating a *little* (as in less than a teaspoon) of cereal before bed and getting so big! I wanted to wait on the cereal but she just hit a point where she was drinking 8 oz and still hungry so that little bit of cereal seems to help fill her up and hold her off. She sleeps on average 8-9 hours before waking up, eating, and going back to sleep for another 4 or 5 hours. She's up to 13 lbs 8 oz now at 4 months... she's 25% all the way around which is SO weird. Liz was always so big but Maddy is just a peanut. Lizzy will be 3 next month so we're starting our birthday plans now. Elizabeth is completely potty trained now! (Well, we still have some #2 accidents, but she is 100% day time, night time and nap trained!) That is very nice. We started the week before last and within 3 days she had it down. She was obviously ready, and didn't have any problems getting in there and just getting it done! She loves going by herself. (such a big girl!) And it was fun getting to pick out all her big girl panties which she thinks is just the coolest thing ever... and has to show them to anyone who will give her the time of day including all her uncles - which is pretty funny. We're working on being a lady. ;) Lizzys manners are getting better all the time, she still sasses me some times but on the whole she's good about saying "yes mommy" or "please and thank you" without being prompted. We haven't really done the whole ma'am, sir thing yet as she's still pretty young and I'm from the north so that still feels weird to me... but as long as she says the person's name (eg: Yes Mommy, Yes Aunt Angela, etc.) I'm okay with it.
Madeline is such a ham these days - Dani from small group nicknamed her Smiley. Maddy just grins and giggles at everything and everyone! Well... everything but the camera... the second the camera comes out she tries to figure out what that box is that's flashing in her face... but if it's a person she's looking at (or herself in the mirror) she is ear to ear grins.
Life is good, and crazy and amazing. My girls are the highlight of my life and completely draining. But in a good way... I go to bed exhausted every night but loving my life. Jay and I are doing really well. I'm blessed, he's such an amazing man. We have come so far in the last couple years and I'm so glad we came through together. Our 5 year anniversary is coming up in September! Crazy! I would never EVER have thought 5 years ago that I would be married with 2 children in just 5 short years...
Our business is growing by leaps and bounds, we've recently added 2 major pieces of equipment to our company which has made Jays life (and his guys that work with him) a thousand times easier. We're hoping to have our tree farm up and running in the next year and a half which will mean less danger for Jay. I'm all for that... in the mean time my car is up for sale. (I want a van, I know I know we just bought the Volvo but it drives me ape wall and is not enough room for our family so we're getting another van) Hmmmm... what else is knew... we're going to Ohio in August! YAY! I miss my family! Then Lizzy's birthday is right after we get back, Jay's turns 29 in September, then our anniversary is on the 20th, October Jay and I are taking a cruise with just the two of us... I'm looking forward to that, November is back to Ohio for Thanksgiving and December is Disney for Christmas with my whole family and then January is Disney for the marathon with our small group! *WHEW* That's a lot of craziness!
Lizzy starts school the second week of August, so we'll be doing her school shopping here soon. I bought some preschool work books from Target today. She loves them. I want her to have her letters down by the time she starts back... that gives us about a month to keep working on them. She's getting there slowly.
Madeline loves her blankies... she cuddles them close to her face so my mom bought her a mini one that she can keep in the crib with her... Oh yeah! Maddy's officially in her crib now! Once she started rolling really well it became very obvious that she'd moved past the cradle. She was getting stuck in the corners of the cradle where the crib presents miles (well miles to a 4 month old) of space to move around... and move she does! LOL It's so funny, she starts out in the middle on her back but ends up glued to one side with her face pressed up against the bumper every morning. She's so silly.
Anyway, this is my monthly update. LOL I'll try to post again sooner!
Madeline is such a ham these days - Dani from small group nicknamed her Smiley. Maddy just grins and giggles at everything and everyone! Well... everything but the camera... the second the camera comes out she tries to figure out what that box is that's flashing in her face... but if it's a person she's looking at (or herself in the mirror) she is ear to ear grins.
Life is good, and crazy and amazing. My girls are the highlight of my life and completely draining. But in a good way... I go to bed exhausted every night but loving my life. Jay and I are doing really well. I'm blessed, he's such an amazing man. We have come so far in the last couple years and I'm so glad we came through together. Our 5 year anniversary is coming up in September! Crazy! I would never EVER have thought 5 years ago that I would be married with 2 children in just 5 short years...
Our business is growing by leaps and bounds, we've recently added 2 major pieces of equipment to our company which has made Jays life (and his guys that work with him) a thousand times easier. We're hoping to have our tree farm up and running in the next year and a half which will mean less danger for Jay. I'm all for that... in the mean time my car is up for sale. (I want a van, I know I know we just bought the Volvo but it drives me ape wall and is not enough room for our family so we're getting another van) Hmmmm... what else is knew... we're going to Ohio in August! YAY! I miss my family! Then Lizzy's birthday is right after we get back, Jay's turns 29 in September, then our anniversary is on the 20th, October Jay and I are taking a cruise with just the two of us... I'm looking forward to that, November is back to Ohio for Thanksgiving and December is Disney for Christmas with my whole family and then January is Disney for the marathon with our small group! *WHEW* That's a lot of craziness!
Lizzy starts school the second week of August, so we'll be doing her school shopping here soon. I bought some preschool work books from Target today. She loves them. I want her to have her letters down by the time she starts back... that gives us about a month to keep working on them. She's getting there slowly.
Madeline loves her blankies... she cuddles them close to her face so my mom bought her a mini one that she can keep in the crib with her... Oh yeah! Maddy's officially in her crib now! Once she started rolling really well it became very obvious that she'd moved past the cradle. She was getting stuck in the corners of the cradle where the crib presents miles (well miles to a 4 month old) of space to move around... and move she does! LOL It's so funny, she starts out in the middle on her back but ends up glued to one side with her face pressed up against the bumper every morning. She's so silly.
Anyway, this is my monthly update. LOL I'll try to post again sooner!
Madeline at 4 months...
Here's a sweet slideshow of some of Maddy's latest pictures... thanks Abbie.
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| Make a Smilebox scrapbook |
Friday, June 13, 2008
Summer Time!
Okay, I know I've been crappy at updating this thing, but in all fairness - our lives are NUTS right now! Summer time is in full swing and we're having a blast. Madeline is getting HUGE! And yes, I've got plenty of pictures to show y'all! My baby girl is 3 1/2 months now and is rolling, giggling, and smiling all the time. Elizabeth loves her little sister and is getting quite big herself. At 33 pounds she's as tall as ever and is quite the sweetie pie... most days... well... okay she's a drama queen but she's a good listener, so it all works out. ;)
Lizzy's done with school now. This year she learned to count to 25 and often much higher, she knows all her colors, and shapes - even ovals and rectangles! She can draw circles and straight lines, and smiled all through her graduation ceremony. *sniff* She's moving up to 3 year old preschool! LOL We got season water park tickets so we spend at least every Friday there, and sometimes another day during the week as well. Liz loves playing in the kids area of the water park, she's even getting better at the slides! Maddy just hangs with me under her sun hat and splashes in the water. Cutie pie!
So we spend lots of time in Mom's pool, Abbies pool or at the water park... and because of that Lizzy is already getting a gorgeous tan, little stinker, all I seem to do is burn, peel, burn, peel, and repeat... even with my spf 50! Oh well... As I type Madeline is laying here next to me, kicking my arm and cooing at me so that I'll look over and tickle her... she's so fun!
I'm still nursing, but weaning... she only nurses one or two times a day - Aunt Flo isn't back yet, thank you Jesus! I'm sloooooowly losing weight - very very slowly... ugh. But I'm hoping by the end of the summer I'll be able to fit into my "skinny" jeans for fall. (I can wear my "fat" jeans already, but that's not saying much... they were pretty fat. LOL)
Okay, now for some pictures!
We took Liz, Maddy, and Jack to Portrait Innovations yesterday and had some new pics of the 3 kids taken together... 
Monday, May 26, 2008
It's been awhile!
Well we're back. :) It was a great trip but it took us a whole week to recover. LOL Lizzy had a rough time with being off schedule, and this was the first time she really realized we were getting off rides and had to go to the next one - every time we'd get off a ride she'd start crying and didn't want to get off... bleh. She drove me ape wall but after a few days she started to realize we were just going on to another ride and she got better about it. Maddy on the other hand was a breeze. She stayed in our baby bjorn for hours and hours every day and would eat, sleep and play while sitting in it. She was a wonderful child - much like Liz was on her first few trips. I guess 2 years old is the cut off, once they hit two they need to wait a year or so until they have more self control. All in all it was a fun but exhausting trip. We met up with lots of family and friends and all in all had a great time.
As soon as we got back both my girls got a cold/allergies/sinus stuff. The doctor couldn't really identify it. But they both have red throats and sinus stuff. No fevers or bad coughing though, but they put them on antibiotics.
Now for some Maddy updates. As of this past friday Maddy's up to 11 lbs 1 oz! Big girl! Well... no not really, she's actually a tiny peanut. She's in the 25% for her weight. So weird. Liz was always so big. Baby Jack, my new nephew is up to 12 lbs already and you can totally feel the difference in them, he's so sweet and squishy and she's so long and strong! She loves to sit up now, still assisted of course but she definately likes to be up. She can roll from her back to her tummy now - it's darling to watch, she can't roll back though... and get's super agrivated when she tries. ;) She's a little giggle box too, she smiles and laughs it's so fun to watch her. I have too many pictures to post here so check out our new dropshots page... www.dropshots.com/TheClemmons
More updates to come soon!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Almost Ready!
Thought I'd post a mini update before we leave. Jay decided last night that he wanted to replace the brakes on my car before we left. So after we get home... At 11 PM... He takes my car apart only to find out at 1:30 in the morning that the parts store gave him the wrong parts. Nice! So he got up at 7 this morning and is still working on them. Then (because he's a wee bit OCD) he wants to go do 2 more bids before we leave. So! We probably won't leave Charleston until noon'ish putting us checking in around 6:30 or 7 as we'll be hitting Orlando traffic. Wish me luck! Driving with Lizzy at nap time will be a great adventure. Lol oh well she's running around the house trying to pack every Minnie she owns into her backpack. I'm letting her bring her 3 favorites but each time I walk by her room I see her stuffing one more in the bag. And how cute is this? She *had* to pack all three of her Bible's this morning. Crack me up. My funny kiddo.
So anyway! Just wanted to update. I might bring my laptop along so I can upload pictures. Maybe...
Catch up with y'all soon!
So anyway! Just wanted to update. I might bring my laptop along so I can upload pictures. Maybe...
Catch up with y'all soon!
Monday, May 5, 2008
So excited!
What a fun week we've had! My cousins came into town on Thursday and we got to spend most of the weekend playing, swimming and cooking out with them! Love it! AND we leave for our vacation tomorrow!!! So fun!
Madeline had her 2 month well check this week... along with 5 shots - YUCK. Poor kiddo barely cried though - my little trooper! She's up to 10 lbs 11 oz now! Still looks petite though as she's in the 90th percentile for height and in the 50th for weight. Cutie pie is growing into all her 3 month sleepers at a whopping 24 inches!!! Baby Jack is 8 weeks younger but is keeping pace nicely - he's almost 10 lbs already and side by side they look about the same size! His sweet hands and feet are more boy like though, wider and chubbier while Madeline's hands are delicate and her fingers are long. They're adorable together. Its so fun having babies with my sister! It's great to just sit around together and rock our little people and talk about how fast they're growing... so sweet. It's so special to share this with my sis. She's such an awesome mommy! She already looks like her old self, so not fair!
So this has been a crazy crazy week! I've had a blast with my cousins - but I admit I am ready for a vacation! (Not from them, if I could I'd stuff them in my suitcase and bring the whole lot of them! I don't get to see them nearly enough...) But we do need a vacation - Business is out of control, thank God! But being so busy takes it's toll on Jay and I. I'll have a gazillion pictures when we get back... I already have about 100 I need to upload and I'm not sure I'll have time before I go - so it may be a couple weeks before I have another update. We get back on the 18th. My birthday is the 12th and we'll be eating at the Whispering Canyon! We're spending mother's day with my MIL and BIL at 1900 Park Fare and walking the Boardwalk, so it should be a great day as well! Looking forward to updating y'all when we get back!
Pray for safe travels and that no one get's hurt or sick while we're gone... a smooth noneventful vacation is what we desperately desire!
Love you all! See you in a couple weeks! :D
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
What to say?
Y'all crack me up! I go for a week without posting and my email gets flooded with requests for more updates. Lol I love you guys too. ;)
The big news for the week?! I'm an aunt! Jack Bradford Singleton Joined the world late Saturday night making me the proud aunt to the most handsome nephew ever!!! Weighing in at 9 lbs 2 oz he's nearly the same size as Madeline! He is sooo handsome! Beautiful blue eyes and lots of blond hair! What a sweetie pie! Jack is most happy on his mommy's chest sleeping but he seemed to like his aunt Jessie too. Lol anyways that was by far the highlight of my week!
In other news Madeline is smiling and talking a lot now. She has a Minnie mouse rattle on her carseat that makes her giggle and laugh. I love her sweet laugh. It's so soft and just precious to hear. She's still sleeping well and nursing like a champ. I still suppliment too though as I'm lazy and like the feedom of whipping out a bottle in public instead of trying to find somewhere to feed her in private. But on the whole I stick with nursing. She's getting so big! I can't wait to see what she weighs next week at her two month visit! 2 months! Ahh! So crazy!
Well that's all for now. I need to take some more pictures of the girls together! And I'll get some good ones of baby jack to post too!
The big news for the week?! I'm an aunt! Jack Bradford Singleton Joined the world late Saturday night making me the proud aunt to the most handsome nephew ever!!! Weighing in at 9 lbs 2 oz he's nearly the same size as Madeline! He is sooo handsome! Beautiful blue eyes and lots of blond hair! What a sweetie pie! Jack is most happy on his mommy's chest sleeping but he seemed to like his aunt Jessie too. Lol anyways that was by far the highlight of my week!
In other news Madeline is smiling and talking a lot now. She has a Minnie mouse rattle on her carseat that makes her giggle and laugh. I love her sweet laugh. It's so soft and just precious to hear. She's still sleeping well and nursing like a champ. I still suppliment too though as I'm lazy and like the feedom of whipping out a bottle in public instead of trying to find somewhere to feed her in private. But on the whole I stick with nursing. She's getting so big! I can't wait to see what she weighs next week at her two month visit! 2 months! Ahh! So crazy!
Well that's all for now. I need to take some more pictures of the girls together! And I'll get some good ones of baby jack to post too!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Baby Dedication
Our girls were dedicated on Sunday... The girls were given their first bibles and then prayed over. The verse we chose to dedicate over our girls was Numbers 6:24-26 :
24 " ' "The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." '
25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." '
It was really special... there were also 16 other families dedicating children that sunday! (We've been a busy congregation.) :P LOL Anyways... after church we all went to Moe's with my family, my inlaws, and low and behold our whole small group shows up! So fun! We all had a great time, came home, napped ,then Jay, Linda, Bryan, the girls and I all walked the Aurthur Ravenel Bridge... for those of you non Charlestonians who read this - that's our new mega bridge... it's quite a hike, and excellant excercise with a great view.
This week was crazy busy and the weekend is only going to be busier... Tomorrow morning I'm going to Charli's garage sale... that'll be like shopping at a discounted Toys R Us - she has SO many toys! Then I have Danielle's baby shower tomorrow. Linda and I are getting her a swing. Then church Sunday, Shaun's going away party Sunday afternoon and a cookout on Sunday night with my family. AH! I'm tired already and it hasn't even started. LOL
Okay, on to the pictures from the weekend. :)
Saturday, April 12, 2008
6 week..
Not too much going on right now. We had Mya's birthday party today! So cute... it was princess themed at the park. Lots of fun. We spent the week moving in Abbie and Shaun into their new house. Holy cow is that thing big. 5 huge bedrooms with an office that could be a 6th! Crazy!
Daddy & Maddy
Mommy & Maddy again...
Angela and Sammy... or Calvin... or Sammy...
That's all for now... more to come soon! :)
I found a couple good deals on Craigslist for outdoor play things for Lizzy. So daddy got up early today and drove to Mt. P to pick them up in the truck. We got a picnic table with a bright colored umbrella for kids, and a Little Tykes slide and swing set. Lizzy had a ball with it this afternoon. I put the picnic table in the living room this afternoon while Liz was napping, I set up her tea set and a coloring book with her markers and crayons... she was ear to ear grins when she woke up. So we had a tea party with gold fish crackers when she woke up. Then we colored pictures for daddy. I may leave the picnic table in the house for a couple weeks until it really warms up more. It was 82 today but is supposed to drop to 65 tomorrow.
So tomorrow is the girls dedication. I'll post pictures...
Here's a few from this week and today...
Mommy & Maddy
Daddy & Maddy Mommy & Maddy again... Angela and Sammy... or Calvin... or Sammy... I can't keep the twins straight. LOL
Mya Grace! The birthday girl!
My swingin girl...
Lizzy's new playset out back... ignore the messy back yard...
My long legged beauty headin down the slide...
Mya Grace! The birthday girl! My swingin girl... Lizzy's new playset out back... ignore the messy back yard... My long legged beauty headin down the slide...That's all for now... more to come soon! :)
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Picture Time!
Okay... y'all didn't have to wait too long. I took some pictures last night and this morning so here you go! Oh and I'll sneak one in from her first bath... it's quite obvious how much she just Loooooved her bath. Ha. Enjoy girls!!!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Life...
AH! She's a month old!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!! Okay, crazy yell over. But WOW has this month flew! I have been SO bad about taking pictures the last couple weeks... I PROMISE I'll get some of my one month old (*sniff* I'll just keep saying 4 weeks... it sounds younger.) :P some time this week!
Life is just simply insane right now - but I have to say I'm loving every moment. Well... most moments, the middle of the night moments when Both... yes BOTH of my girls are up isn't so fun. Lizzy's still getting up in the middle of the night about 2-3 times a week, but we're making progress. Maddy however has been sleeping great - we're up to 7 1/2 hours some nights! And she's only up for 15 minutes or so before giving me another 4-5 hour stretch! WOOT! Love this kid.
The training for the 1/2 marathon is going well. I'm not a great runner by any means, but I'm working my way into it. My lungs still feel like they're on fire after every run but I guess that's normal. Last night was the first time the 4 of us ran together... I so love my small group girls! They're so awesome! Abby and Dani ran circles around Angela and I, but then again, they've been doing this for awhile so I figure eventually Ang and I will work up to their speed. For now, I'm just proud that I didn't pass out. :P The running part is miserable, I admit, but the feeling of getting my butt back in shape - along with spending time with some of my favorite people makes it totally worth it. I also joined the gym this week so on our 3 days off from running each week I can do some core training. (Hopefully I can make it to the Body Pump classes, that will REALLY help this weight to come off!) I weighed myself yesterday. *barf* LOL I'm down 25 lbs since I had Maddy, my goal is to lose another 25 - hopefully 15 or 20 of that before WDW. That's a lot I know but I'm really watching what I eat, and with all this exercise it shouldn't be too unreachable.
Anyways. I'm officially hired at Seacoast! LOL Even though I've been working there for a few weeks now, the paperwork came back and made it official this week. I love my room too. One of these days I'm going to remember to take pictures of Hidden Cove (it's Birth through 12 months) Granted I'm partial, but my room is my personal favorite amoung all the kids rooms. It's just beautiful. :) Tomorrow is First Wednesday, we have service once a month on the first wednesday night of the month - it's mostly all worship and includes a message by our campus pastor. (the weekly messages get tuned in from the main campus in Mt. P - so it'll be special hearing Pastor Phil speak.) Well... I may not get to hear much of it, as I'll be working, but just a glimpse of our church pulled together on a Wednesday night has me pumped. It's such a great place to be! I love these people!
On another note... I've noticed a shift in my personal style as of late. It sounds frumpy, but I'm really enjoying my tshirts, jeans and tennis shoes right now. LOL Jay loves it, I dressed like this back when we were dating and he says it makes me look sporty - but it's funny to see that style naturally coming back for me. The last few years it's been lots of heels, black pants, dressy shirts on casual days etc. And now it's all coming full circle. LOL Anyway, just something funny to note.
Oooooh! I think I'm getting my hair cut this week... remember when I was pregnant and wanted to chop it all off but didn't b/c I thought i'd get chipmunk cheeks while pregs and didn't want to look like Violet? Well... my cheeks (though always a bit chunky) have lost their swolleness. haha that sounds funny. Anyway, they have so I think I'm going to go get it chopped off. I'm excited about something different, though I'm sure I'll miss being able to put it in a pony tail while I'm running.
So what else is new? Lizzy got chosen as the start student of the month! They choose one kid each month who has good listening skills, played well with others and had respect for the rules... and amazingly my child was chosen! (*whew* at least she behaves well in public!) ;) So today in her little chapel she was given a certificate, a gold medal to wear all day and a special pencil with a bit star earaser on top. LOL So precious. I filmed the whole thing... it was really special. Although it has to be said the poor child saw me as she was filing into the chapel with her class and burst into tears when she couldn't come sit by mommy. *sigh* poor kid. Broke my heart... "Mommy pleeeease, come get me mommy! I wanna sit by you me mommy!" (Yes that's exactly how she said it.) But eventually she calmed down and was able to stand up on stage to receive her medal and certificate. Such a grown up girl I have...
The girls are being dedicated at church on the 13th! Should be a very special day... full of pictures! :D So that's it for now... watch for pictures to come soon!
Life is just simply insane right now - but I have to say I'm loving every moment. Well... most moments, the middle of the night moments when Both... yes BOTH of my girls are up isn't so fun. Lizzy's still getting up in the middle of the night about 2-3 times a week, but we're making progress. Maddy however has been sleeping great - we're up to 7 1/2 hours some nights! And she's only up for 15 minutes or so before giving me another 4-5 hour stretch! WOOT! Love this kid.
The training for the 1/2 marathon is going well. I'm not a great runner by any means, but I'm working my way into it. My lungs still feel like they're on fire after every run but I guess that's normal. Last night was the first time the 4 of us ran together... I so love my small group girls! They're so awesome! Abby and Dani ran circles around Angela and I, but then again, they've been doing this for awhile so I figure eventually Ang and I will work up to their speed. For now, I'm just proud that I didn't pass out. :P The running part is miserable, I admit, but the feeling of getting my butt back in shape - along with spending time with some of my favorite people makes it totally worth it. I also joined the gym this week so on our 3 days off from running each week I can do some core training. (Hopefully I can make it to the Body Pump classes, that will REALLY help this weight to come off!) I weighed myself yesterday. *barf* LOL I'm down 25 lbs since I had Maddy, my goal is to lose another 25 - hopefully 15 or 20 of that before WDW. That's a lot I know but I'm really watching what I eat, and with all this exercise it shouldn't be too unreachable.
Anyways. I'm officially hired at Seacoast! LOL Even though I've been working there for a few weeks now, the paperwork came back and made it official this week. I love my room too. One of these days I'm going to remember to take pictures of Hidden Cove (it's Birth through 12 months) Granted I'm partial, but my room is my personal favorite amoung all the kids rooms. It's just beautiful. :) Tomorrow is First Wednesday, we have service once a month on the first wednesday night of the month - it's mostly all worship and includes a message by our campus pastor. (the weekly messages get tuned in from the main campus in Mt. P - so it'll be special hearing Pastor Phil speak.) Well... I may not get to hear much of it, as I'll be working, but just a glimpse of our church pulled together on a Wednesday night has me pumped. It's such a great place to be! I love these people!
On another note... I've noticed a shift in my personal style as of late. It sounds frumpy, but I'm really enjoying my tshirts, jeans and tennis shoes right now. LOL Jay loves it, I dressed like this back when we were dating and he says it makes me look sporty - but it's funny to see that style naturally coming back for me. The last few years it's been lots of heels, black pants, dressy shirts on casual days etc. And now it's all coming full circle. LOL Anyway, just something funny to note.
Oooooh! I think I'm getting my hair cut this week... remember when I was pregnant and wanted to chop it all off but didn't b/c I thought i'd get chipmunk cheeks while pregs and didn't want to look like Violet? Well... my cheeks (though always a bit chunky) have lost their swolleness. haha that sounds funny. Anyway, they have so I think I'm going to go get it chopped off. I'm excited about something different, though I'm sure I'll miss being able to put it in a pony tail while I'm running.
So what else is new? Lizzy got chosen as the start student of the month! They choose one kid each month who has good listening skills, played well with others and had respect for the rules... and amazingly my child was chosen! (*whew* at least she behaves well in public!) ;) So today in her little chapel she was given a certificate, a gold medal to wear all day and a special pencil with a bit star earaser on top. LOL So precious. I filmed the whole thing... it was really special. Although it has to be said the poor child saw me as she was filing into the chapel with her class and burst into tears when she couldn't come sit by mommy. *sigh* poor kid. Broke my heart... "Mommy pleeeease, come get me mommy! I wanna sit by you me mommy!" (Yes that's exactly how she said it.) But eventually she calmed down and was able to stand up on stage to receive her medal and certificate. Such a grown up girl I have...
The girls are being dedicated at church on the 13th! Should be a very special day... full of pictures! :D So that's it for now... watch for pictures to come soon!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Maddy's 1 Month Wellcheck.
Well, my little peanut had her one month well check visit today... and she's growing!!! Not that I doubted that... but she's grown an inch now placing her in the 25% for height, 25% for head, but 50% for weight! She's up to 9 lbs 2 oz already... I can't believe she's already 9 lbs! So crazy. My growing lady bug is getting all kinds of cute little rolls all over her arms and legs, and she's even got a bit of a double chin now! LOL I need to take some pictures of her tomorrow.
I'm headed to a BF class tomorrow, should be interesting, they weigh the baby, then we nurse, then they weigh them again to see how much they ate during that feeding. I'm curious to see how much Maddy's gained... BUT I still suppliment during the day after each feeding and I admit I'll be embarassed to pull out a bottle at a BF class. LOL So I hope Maddy can hold off until we leave. I'll let her nurse as long as she wants but I won't pull out that bottle until we get home. LOL
Anyway, just wanted to update! Little Miss is doing well! I'll post more pictures soon! :)
I'm headed to a BF class tomorrow, should be interesting, they weigh the baby, then we nurse, then they weigh them again to see how much they ate during that feeding. I'm curious to see how much Maddy's gained... BUT I still suppliment during the day after each feeding and I admit I'll be embarassed to pull out a bottle at a BF class. LOL So I hope Maddy can hold off until we leave. I'll let her nurse as long as she wants but I won't pull out that bottle until we get home. LOL
Anyway, just wanted to update! Little Miss is doing well! I'll post more pictures soon! :)
Mail & More
Well to answer the Disney question y'all have been asking... we're going to Disney over Mother's Day this year, with my MIL. Then the day before we leave my family is coming in for a week, so we'll be spending some time with them as well... it's going to be slammed pack with family, fun and craziness! YAY! I can't wait to take Maddy into the parks - and my MIL hasn't been in years! We'll probaby be at the hotel alot, since Madeline is so little still. But I'm looking forward to getting to spend some good time with Lizzy and Jay. I swear we all kind of high five each other hello and goodbye these days. Jay is staying VERY busy - which is great, but also means we can't plan an extended trip because he can't be gone too long since we're already backed up with work. So I'm really looking forward to seeing my hubby for a few days with no work interuptions (though I'm sure he'll be on the phone a lot booking appointments... but I'll take what I can get. LOL)
SO! I've been stocking up on fun outfits for the girls (I think I mentioned that yesterday, but I can't remember.) Anyway, I went to BRU this morning and found some great deals! I had a couple gift cards that I was planning on saving for diapers - but seeing as how I still have several hundred diapers waiting in the closet, I decided to splurge a little and do some shopping for the girls. Now, Madeline really truly doesn't *need* any new clothes - but that doesn't mean she didn't get any. ;) I got the girls two matching outfits from the Disney Pooh line at BRU. One of them is bright orange and yellow, Maddy's is a one piece sunsuit and Lizzy's has a shirt that matches Maddy's and then jean capri's with Pooh on the bottom cuff. SO CUTE! The other outfit matches exactly, I got them both lavender tank tops with white shorts - the tank has a big sparkly Pooh on it. Then I picked up a couple more outfits for Liz - they had a ton of them on sale for $7.99 - Love that deal! Lizzy needed new summer clothes as she really only had a couple of dresses so far.
Okay, onto the Mail part of the update! I've received 4 really fantastically fun gifts in the mail the last few days (weeks)!!! 6 if you count the two cards filled with giftcards and money from my Uncle Jay and Grandpa Fagan! But the gifts came from Chrissy, Nibbs, Aunt Jill and Aunt Sharon. (The Aunts being *my* aunts, the girls great aunts.) Chrissy got Madeline this wonderful Mustela gift set full of bath goodies for Maddy. Mustela is my *favorite* baby splurge. It all smells SO good and works SO very well! I love it! And she put in an adorable little lamb as well. Nibbs sent us a box filled with fun goodies as well, an adorable bunny hat and bunny slippers to match, some duckie bibs (which I found out match the one's she got Anya! So fun!) and Maddy's very first bunny rabit! (It even says that right on the bunny.) ;) And my favorite part of the gift, a note from Nibbs herself. :) Love you Nibbs! Aunt Sharon sent a box full of baby clothes she's been collecting, including some really cute sunsuits and a little red sailor outfit which I can't wait to put Maddy in! And a check for Madeline as well! :) Aunt Jill sent a huge box of goodies for both the girls, including a giant Minnie Mouse for Liz which *must* sit on her pillow every night right beside her head. Aunt Jill, Ally and Abbie put in a really cute Gymboree outfit with strawberries that I think I'll get Madeline's 3 month pictures taken in - it's SO cute, some carter's sunsuits, a ton of coupons and some socks for Liz. All in all our mail lady has been visiting our door a lot and Lizzy and I have had SO much fun going through all the wonderful things y'all have sent us! So again, a BIG THANK YOU! I love you all so much and your gifts were so thoughtful and sweet!
One little update about our lives as well... I've been having a hard time balancing my time between Elizabeth and Madeline. Lizzy needs sooooo much attention right now, more for her to mentally grasp the whole sharing mommy thing than anything. While Madeline actually *needs* me, but doesn't complain when I leave her in her seat to play with Liz. It's been a struggle for me as Lizzy has been acting out a lot in hopes of gaining any attention at all from me, be it negative or positive. She doesn't care - and now it's carrying over into her sleep habits as well... the last couple nights in a row she's woken up in the middle of the night coming into our room, slamming the door, waking up Maddy, Jay and I with yells of "I pee'd!" or "I can't find B!" (her blankie) it's been very frustrating and is causing her to behave even worse in the mornings because she's so tired all the time. She wakes up telling me she's tired and sleepy and wants to take a nap - but she won't go back to sleep. I spend SO much time with her, but it just never seems to be enough. I hate this. Any attention I give Madeline when Elizabeth is around turns into Lizzy doing something very naughty to get my attention... eg: emptying an entire bottle of lotion all over herself and then begging for a bath, making huge messes and then pretending to be hurt so I'll put Madeline down and go comfort Liz instead... and on and on. It's a constant battle. Liz will look at me while I'm feeding Madeline and say "Stop feeding her mommy. Put her down. Talk to me." It's heart breaking to hear and I feel like I'm doing something wrong. There's got to be a better way of communicating to Elizabeth that while mommy loves her SO very much, I *have* to feed, change, rock, etc. Madeline too! I fall in bed exhausted at night and most days just work my way through it. Elizabeth doesn't act out towards Maddy though. She always directs things at me. I'll pick up Madeline and Lizzy will rush over and yell "MY MADDY!" Another thing is that she's been having trouble when I drop her off at school. Remember those days at the begining of the school year when I would tear up because she would run off to play with her friends without so much as a backwards glance or goodbye mommy? Well those days are long gone... now I have to pry her off my leg every morning that I drop her off with major tears when I leave. They say she calms down within a minute or two and then is fine - but I hate seeing her so upset like that. Another thing is that when she get's up in the middle of the night, usually Jay's the one to put her back to sleep - we made a deal that I'd get up as much as needed with Madeline at night but that if Liz get's up, he'd get up with her so that I wasn't up ALL night long. Well Lizzy will lay in bed and cry for me until I get up and go tuck her back in bed. It's frustrating Jay, wearing me out and making for a generally miserable family.
Now... this isn't all the time, not at all. Just now and then. Most days we pull through just fine, and the time I spend with Lizzy seems to be adequate in that her acting out is mainly just when I'm feeding or changing the baby. But it's still the constant battle of "when will she go off next?" and "am I doing a good enough job?" or "what's wrong with my parenting skills that my toddler is doubting my love for her?" Those are the things I think about constantly...
SO! I've been stocking up on fun outfits for the girls (I think I mentioned that yesterday, but I can't remember.) Anyway, I went to BRU this morning and found some great deals! I had a couple gift cards that I was planning on saving for diapers - but seeing as how I still have several hundred diapers waiting in the closet, I decided to splurge a little and do some shopping for the girls. Now, Madeline really truly doesn't *need* any new clothes - but that doesn't mean she didn't get any. ;) I got the girls two matching outfits from the Disney Pooh line at BRU. One of them is bright orange and yellow, Maddy's is a one piece sunsuit and Lizzy's has a shirt that matches Maddy's and then jean capri's with Pooh on the bottom cuff. SO CUTE! The other outfit matches exactly, I got them both lavender tank tops with white shorts - the tank has a big sparkly Pooh on it. Then I picked up a couple more outfits for Liz - they had a ton of them on sale for $7.99 - Love that deal! Lizzy needed new summer clothes as she really only had a couple of dresses so far.
Okay, onto the Mail part of the update! I've received 4 really fantastically fun gifts in the mail the last few days (weeks)!!! 6 if you count the two cards filled with giftcards and money from my Uncle Jay and Grandpa Fagan! But the gifts came from Chrissy, Nibbs, Aunt Jill and Aunt Sharon. (The Aunts being *my* aunts, the girls great aunts.) Chrissy got Madeline this wonderful Mustela gift set full of bath goodies for Maddy. Mustela is my *favorite* baby splurge. It all smells SO good and works SO very well! I love it! And she put in an adorable little lamb as well. Nibbs sent us a box filled with fun goodies as well, an adorable bunny hat and bunny slippers to match, some duckie bibs (which I found out match the one's she got Anya! So fun!) and Maddy's very first bunny rabit! (It even says that right on the bunny.) ;) And my favorite part of the gift, a note from Nibbs herself. :) Love you Nibbs! Aunt Sharon sent a box full of baby clothes she's been collecting, including some really cute sunsuits and a little red sailor outfit which I can't wait to put Maddy in! And a check for Madeline as well! :) Aunt Jill sent a huge box of goodies for both the girls, including a giant Minnie Mouse for Liz which *must* sit on her pillow every night right beside her head. Aunt Jill, Ally and Abbie put in a really cute Gymboree outfit with strawberries that I think I'll get Madeline's 3 month pictures taken in - it's SO cute, some carter's sunsuits, a ton of coupons and some socks for Liz. All in all our mail lady has been visiting our door a lot and Lizzy and I have had SO much fun going through all the wonderful things y'all have sent us! So again, a BIG THANK YOU! I love you all so much and your gifts were so thoughtful and sweet!
One little update about our lives as well... I've been having a hard time balancing my time between Elizabeth and Madeline. Lizzy needs sooooo much attention right now, more for her to mentally grasp the whole sharing mommy thing than anything. While Madeline actually *needs* me, but doesn't complain when I leave her in her seat to play with Liz. It's been a struggle for me as Lizzy has been acting out a lot in hopes of gaining any attention at all from me, be it negative or positive. She doesn't care - and now it's carrying over into her sleep habits as well... the last couple nights in a row she's woken up in the middle of the night coming into our room, slamming the door, waking up Maddy, Jay and I with yells of "I pee'd!" or "I can't find B!" (her blankie) it's been very frustrating and is causing her to behave even worse in the mornings because she's so tired all the time. She wakes up telling me she's tired and sleepy and wants to take a nap - but she won't go back to sleep. I spend SO much time with her, but it just never seems to be enough. I hate this. Any attention I give Madeline when Elizabeth is around turns into Lizzy doing something very naughty to get my attention... eg: emptying an entire bottle of lotion all over herself and then begging for a bath, making huge messes and then pretending to be hurt so I'll put Madeline down and go comfort Liz instead... and on and on. It's a constant battle. Liz will look at me while I'm feeding Madeline and say "Stop feeding her mommy. Put her down. Talk to me." It's heart breaking to hear and I feel like I'm doing something wrong. There's got to be a better way of communicating to Elizabeth that while mommy loves her SO very much, I *have* to feed, change, rock, etc. Madeline too! I fall in bed exhausted at night and most days just work my way through it. Elizabeth doesn't act out towards Maddy though. She always directs things at me. I'll pick up Madeline and Lizzy will rush over and yell "MY MADDY!" Another thing is that she's been having trouble when I drop her off at school. Remember those days at the begining of the school year when I would tear up because she would run off to play with her friends without so much as a backwards glance or goodbye mommy? Well those days are long gone... now I have to pry her off my leg every morning that I drop her off with major tears when I leave. They say she calms down within a minute or two and then is fine - but I hate seeing her so upset like that. Another thing is that when she get's up in the middle of the night, usually Jay's the one to put her back to sleep - we made a deal that I'd get up as much as needed with Madeline at night but that if Liz get's up, he'd get up with her so that I wasn't up ALL night long. Well Lizzy will lay in bed and cry for me until I get up and go tuck her back in bed. It's frustrating Jay, wearing me out and making for a generally miserable family.
Now... this isn't all the time, not at all. Just now and then. Most days we pull through just fine, and the time I spend with Lizzy seems to be adequate in that her acting out is mainly just when I'm feeding or changing the baby. But it's still the constant battle of "when will she go off next?" and "am I doing a good enough job?" or "what's wrong with my parenting skills that my toddler is doubting my love for her?" Those are the things I think about constantly...
Monday, March 24, 2008
3 1/2 weeks already?!
Dear Lord this is passing so quick! AHHH! My baby girl is getting so wonderfully big... and yet she's still such a peanut! She still has the baby curl... that sweet back arching, knee pulling, curling themselves into a ball every time you pick them up. I adore it.
We're pretty much functioning just fine as a family of four - though it still seems weird at times... thinking that just a couple weeks ago I was biting my nails in aticipation for her arrival - and now nearly a month later it feels like she's always been here!
Our Easter was crazy, I had to be up at 5 to be at church by 7 - and didn't leave until almost 1:30 - I was sooooo tired. Three services and 30 babies later with just a handful of volunteers and I was yawning my head off, tummy grumbling and I desperately needed a nap. lol BUT After church we went over to Linda's and she spoiled me (us). We had a delicious ham dinner with these amazing cherry cheesecake chocolate chip cookie dessert thingies. I followed it up with nursing maddy and then passed out for an hour on her sofa. Bliss. ;) Woke up, cuddled with Maddy for a couple hours and we all watched Hook on TV. It turned out to be a very relaxing afternoon... which I was very thankful for.
Elizabeth scored 3 easter baskets this year! Woot! Nanny filled hers with summer socks, flower goggles, color wonder coloring books, bunny play dough, and some other goodies. Grammy got Liz two outfits, a color wonder coloring book and a chalk board table. Mommy and Daddy (and the Easter Bunny) got Lizzy some new froggy rain boots, snow white sunglasses, a float for the pool, princess bubble bath and some princess sippy cups. :) All in all I'd say she hit the jackpot this weekend. LOL Maddy got a new bunny, some clothes and a piece of chocolate from Uncle Bryan which mommy sneaked. :P
OH! And I found some new outfits for the girls for our Disney Trip - SO CUTE! They're Minnie Mouse and just precious. I can't wait to see them in their new clothes on our trip! Yes, I'm that goofy mom who thinks it's fun to buy new tennis shoes and clothes for my kids on vacation. LOL So I'm stocking up Maddy and Lizzy. I can't wait!!! 43 days until we leave. :D
Hmmm... other news? Well, I started training for the WDW half marathon next January! I'm not sure that I'll actually make it TO the marathon - but some other girls in my small group and I decided we'd give it a good try! Right now we're starting off at just 30 minutes on monday, 45 on wed and thursday and an hour on Saturday - and then working our way up over the next 10 weeks. Our goal is by week 10 to be able to run 180 minutes at aprox a 10-12 minute mile. Which translates to aprox 15+ miles. Obviously we're in no rush- we just want to be able to finish.. 13 miles baby. :D I can't wait! I've never been much of a runner but I love the idea of getting my butt into shape with my girlfriends and having Disney in January to look forward too! :D It'll be a great time I'm sure. :)
So anyways, life with two girls is busy, (which can be seen by me severe decline in posting updates.. sorry!) but wonderful. Lizzy is talking up a storm now, very rarely does she have trouble communicating something. For the most part she tells us what she wants, when she wants it and to hurry up if we're going too slow for her taste. Ha. My 2 y/o is a budding hormonal preteen most days, full of drama and suprises. But so funny to watch.
We're pretty much functioning just fine as a family of four - though it still seems weird at times... thinking that just a couple weeks ago I was biting my nails in aticipation for her arrival - and now nearly a month later it feels like she's always been here!
Our Easter was crazy, I had to be up at 5 to be at church by 7 - and didn't leave until almost 1:30 - I was sooooo tired. Three services and 30 babies later with just a handful of volunteers and I was yawning my head off, tummy grumbling and I desperately needed a nap. lol BUT After church we went over to Linda's and she spoiled me (us). We had a delicious ham dinner with these amazing cherry cheesecake chocolate chip cookie dessert thingies. I followed it up with nursing maddy and then passed out for an hour on her sofa. Bliss. ;) Woke up, cuddled with Maddy for a couple hours and we all watched Hook on TV. It turned out to be a very relaxing afternoon... which I was very thankful for.
Elizabeth scored 3 easter baskets this year! Woot! Nanny filled hers with summer socks, flower goggles, color wonder coloring books, bunny play dough, and some other goodies. Grammy got Liz two outfits, a color wonder coloring book and a chalk board table. Mommy and Daddy (and the Easter Bunny) got Lizzy some new froggy rain boots, snow white sunglasses, a float for the pool, princess bubble bath and some princess sippy cups. :) All in all I'd say she hit the jackpot this weekend. LOL Maddy got a new bunny, some clothes and a piece of chocolate from Uncle Bryan which mommy sneaked. :P
OH! And I found some new outfits for the girls for our Disney Trip - SO CUTE! They're Minnie Mouse and just precious. I can't wait to see them in their new clothes on our trip! Yes, I'm that goofy mom who thinks it's fun to buy new tennis shoes and clothes for my kids on vacation. LOL So I'm stocking up Maddy and Lizzy. I can't wait!!! 43 days until we leave. :D
Hmmm... other news? Well, I started training for the WDW half marathon next January! I'm not sure that I'll actually make it TO the marathon - but some other girls in my small group and I decided we'd give it a good try! Right now we're starting off at just 30 minutes on monday, 45 on wed and thursday and an hour on Saturday - and then working our way up over the next 10 weeks. Our goal is by week 10 to be able to run 180 minutes at aprox a 10-12 minute mile. Which translates to aprox 15+ miles. Obviously we're in no rush- we just want to be able to finish.. 13 miles baby. :D I can't wait! I've never been much of a runner but I love the idea of getting my butt into shape with my girlfriends and having Disney in January to look forward too! :D It'll be a great time I'm sure. :)
So anyways, life with two girls is busy, (which can be seen by me severe decline in posting updates.. sorry!) but wonderful. Lizzy is talking up a storm now, very rarely does she have trouble communicating something. For the most part she tells us what she wants, when she wants it and to hurry up if we're going too slow for her taste. Ha. My 2 y/o is a budding hormonal preteen most days, full of drama and suprises. But so funny to watch.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Nursing...
Well, I made up my mind to completely change my diet. (While still dieting) LOL So far it seems to be helping... though it's extremely bland. The last two days have gone better as far as the gas. Yesterday I had one of my 100 calorie snack pack's for breakfast with a bottle of water... crackers and water... easy enough on the belly.. then I had a bowl of oatmeal with skim milk and raisens for lunch... again... bland but perfect for her belly. Then for dinner I had a turkey sub and apples. Today has been similar, except I had a soup in hand and toasted cheese sandwhich for lunch to give me some dairy. SO... now that I've updated my boring diet. lol The nursing has been much smoother... and I've commited to nursing her for every feeding right now to get my milk supply up. Which has made me one sore mama... but I have a content baby who hasn't had any bad gas in 2 days now! That makes it all worth it. :) AND, if I can keep to this diet I should start shedding the pounds in no time. BIG YAY!
So that's where we're at for now... Madeline slept last night from 9pm to 2 am - nursed, and took 2 oz of formula (I wanted her FULL so she'd sleep for another long stretch.) Then from 2:30 - 6:00 am, then she slept till 10 this morning when I woke her up to give her a bath... so it was easy to nurse that middle of the night feeding as I'd gone to bed the same time as her and had a nice 5 hour stretch... LOVE THAT!
Okay, on to the fun stuff... I had some pics taken at Penney's last week of the girls... I don't like them - compared to the Portrait Innovations one's I had done of Liz - these suck, but still.. here's a few shots of my kiddo's! :)
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