Friday, September 16, 2011

i *need* it

September is passing by so fast.  We're over halfway through with it.  Time we'll never get back.  Where has it gone to?  What have I been doing?  Time seems to go so fast these days, and I look around & can't figure out where it all went.

I'm always so delayed in writing about our life.  I like to find time to reminisce about the exciting events & add pictures where I can.  But with 2 small children, extra time is as rare to find around here as a clean shirt.  But every now & then, you luck up & find both.  So here we go, time to catch up.

*****

Labor Day weekend came & went.  Where were we, you ask?  The camper, no doubt.  The last hoo-rah of summer turned out to be a beautiful & hot.  Brandon was able to join us for most of the long weekend.  My sister & her little family also made the long journey down to join us as well.  It was very nice to have everyone together & see the kiddos play.  The days were spent with time at the playground, pool, & Dollywood, along with some delicious food to go along with it.  It may be only 2 or so hours away, but its so nice to get away & change it up a bit.

Not long ago, he was so small he'd fall out of this float.  Now he's filling it up quickly.


Thanks Brandon for the smile.  She'll go far in life with what you taught her. haha!

She was exhausted, but she loves watching videos on youtube.

Yes, I do have the cutest little nephew.



We love spending time with the Brown family.

haha!  I would love to know what's on these 2 girls' minds. :)

That's a bee full of cuteness.


I swear, I just love this kid.

Jonathan driving the cars for the first time.



Why yes, he does have me wrapped around his finger.  This picture is for all those people that said my baby was too small.  Look at those cheeks.

I was scared to death she was going to scream on this ride...

... and she absolutely LOVED it.

*****

Last week we started something new.. gymnastics!  Rainbow Gymnastics started a new class for 2 & 3 year olds, & its been GREAT.  Olivia loves doing these type of things, loves being around other kids, & she definitely loves rolling around on a big cushy mat. haha!  Its teaching her more than just gymnastics, its teaching her life lessons she needs to learn such as sharing, patience, and other virtues I wish I possessed more of.  After both classes, she's ran right up to me saying "That's fun" and "I *need* to go back."  *Need* has become her new catchphrase, one I doubt will leave anytime soon.  Like when she's 4 and *needs* that toy, or 10 and *needs* that new CD, and 16 and *needs* the car.  Oh my!  But anyway, gymnastics = two thumbs UP.  She loves telling me all about it & she definitely loves to show me. The teachers are amazing & very patient with 20+ two & three years olds.

My little gymnast.

She was SO excited.  See, she does know how to smile. haha!

Not even close to the whole group.  There's so many little ones.


Afterwards, when she ran up to me.
*****

That's all for now.
Its after midnight so Happy Friday, folks!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Transformation

Lately I feel like I've changed - changed as a person.  Sadly, the excess baby weight I'm carrying on the outside hasn't changed, but I've changed on the inside.

My second pregnancy was hard on me.  I wasn't down a lot with morning sickness (thank goodness, had enough of that the first go around).  But I ached more than I have ever ached in my life.  I used to wonder if someone would run me over with a bus, would that feel better than what I was going through.  I used to have extreme back pain that I couldn't do anything but lay down & cry until it went away.  Now with all that, you add in a stressful pregnancy and a small toddler, and of course there were going to be some ups & downs.

So I slacked in the mommy department.  I put on that extra movie, I warmed up whatever was in the fridge to satisfy, I did whatever I could to get us through the day.  But I didn't go that extra mile.  I wasn't that mom I dreamed about, heard about, seen in the movies & on television.  Don't get me wrong, Olivia has never been deprived of her fair share of attention in all her life.  But we just didn't do all the extras because I was too tired or too achey.

And sadly this continued into our land of "newborn-ness."  We didn't do a lot of the extras because we were tired, run ragged by feedings, diapers, a two million doctor appointments. (what, not two million.. close enough).  Side note:  we did go on plenty of trips this summer with lots of family fun, so we did do some extras.  But that took away any extra energy we were storing up for hard times.

Recently, that has changed.  We do more than we ever have.  We read more books than ever, we talk, we sing, Olivia helps me cook when time/safety permits, we go to the park, we go for walks, we dance for no reason, we load up in our "momma-mobile" & we do whatever our little hearts desire.  Life is better, life is fun.  These are the memories I will hold on to, the messes, the unplanned trips to nowhere, the laughter & sweet i love you's.  Olivia is older & is able to have a little more freedom.  Jameson will be 5 months old soon and he's truly the best baby ever.  Never hardly cries, goes with the flow.  He's still a spitter more than you can even imagine, but it doesn't phase his attitude a bit.  That makes life better as well.

Our children are our world.  We base our whole minute, hour, day, year, lives around them.  I feel better now that my mommy-mode is back.  Am I that Mom I see on tv, heck no!  But I learn from each day, & I get better each day.

*****

Some random photos I found on my camera.

Out shopping!

Being goofy in the mirrors.

Not sure which one to pick

She liked the pink heads. haha!

Bubby being a good sport.


Pushing Daisy in the stroller.

Of course Daisy had to ride every ride possible, too.  Sheesh, how did we find time for shopping.



*****


all ready for Wednesday night church service



Ready for church, waiting on Mom.

Park time.







Showing off her make-up!  Thanks Mamaw for buying her real makeup. {BBM Hand over Face}.

This is REAL paint, REAL paint on her, my carpet, furniture, EVERYTHING.  She found it & entertained herself after nap time instead of coming to wake me up.  Thankfully, most of the damage is gone.  Only one spot remains & we'll chalk that to visual memories.

*****

If you all haven't checked out Brittany's blog: The Story of our Rookie Years - you need to go like.. NOW.  Recipes, helpful household advice, plenty of humor.. one of my favs!  Anyway, I've tried a few recipes she's posted (she finds them, I try them. haha! Call me lazy), but this idea is my new fav.



Its a bowl made of cookie dough with ice cream inside (I put cookies & cream, talk about cookie-overload-fly me straight to heaven).  Mine doesn't look nearly as pretty (nothing I make ever does :( ), but it tastes YUMMY.  Its one of those "super easy, why didn't I think of that, but I'm so glad she did" kind of recipes.  Check out her post here.  Brittany - All of my dear family's stomachs thanks you for all your hard work.  :)

*****

Well, I'm catchin' up fast!
I'm done for the night!  Maybe tomorrow!
Goodnight, peeps! (What, they don't say peeps anymore.. WHAT-EV!)

Soccor Mom Status: Complete

Well, we did it.  I finally convinced Brandon we're a "mini-van type of family."  So after looking online for a few weeks, two Saturdays ago, we set out on the hunt.

Now there was nothing wrong with the Trailblazer, I loved it very much.  But this mom needed a less gas-guzzler & more space.  There's a lot of people out in the world that would say "ewww, I would never drive one of those."  Well good for you, that left more options out there for us.  I've always been the girl to dream of being a stay-at-home mom with a hardworking husband, quiet well-behaved kids, and a mini-van to go to & from every kind of activity & school event imaginable.  Well, now the dream is almost complete (darn, where are those well-behaved kiddos I've been looking for. haha!)  Maybe I didn't dream BIG, but at least I can say my dreams have came true.

So anyway, back to the van.  That Saturday we set out early to see what was out in the world.  Brandon has so many specifications before he'd ever walk off the lot with anything.  He's ALMOST impossible, but that's what's good about him, I guess.  I'd buy the first thing the salesman showed if it was me.  I do NOT deal well with large purchases.  We went to Bristol - Nada!  We went to Johnson City - Even Less!  We went to Kingsport - No such luck!  I was pretty discouraged & ready to pack it up.  After 5 car lots, we decided it just wasn't the time for us.

We stopped by McDonald's in Kingsport to get some lunch & let the kids stretch out since they had done so well.  Olivia made friends at the playground area in McDonald's & we were just enjoying watching her play.  We got back in the car for the drive home, and less than half a mile from McDonald's, I spotted one at a car lot we didn't even think about checking at (Granted, it was the only mini-van on the huge lot and I would spot it going 65 mph past).  We decided to give it one more go, make a u-ey, & check it out.  There it was.  *IT* was made for us.  It met Brandon's unrealistic expectations of price, mileage, year, etc.  It exceeded my expectations of dvd player, leather seats, seat warmers, automatic door openers, etc. etc. etc.  L-O-V-E, LOVE it!  Bonus points, we went to college with the salesman & he treated us right.  So that afternoon, we left the lot in our "new" (new to us, its used) Honda Odyssey.



We have found one pitfall since bringing home our new vehicle.  Since we have the extra row of seats, Olivia thinks all of her stuffed animals & babies need to come along for the ride.  And Heaven forbid we leave without buckling each & every one of them in. 

*****

We've been super busy & on the go a lot the last couple of weeks.  I'm trying to catch up, so more blogging in the near future.

Happy almost Friday, folks!!