Just Precious.....

My cousin sent me this picture of Reagan from her shower this weekend. She was so happy eating all the bows!!!

Quite Possibly the only Christmas Card we will get to this year....

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9619868483

Words for my next Resume

In case any of you out there are wondering what a "stay-at-home-mom" does with her time, here is a little piece from a conversation I had this morning.

Keep in mind this conversation occurred at 9:30am, three hours after Addison woke up. All three hours, of which, she and Reagan had my undivided attention. I had just put Reagan down for a nap and told Addison I was going to dry my hair......

Me: Mommy needs to go dry her hair now.
Addison: My babies are sick....them need you play doctor
Me: Soon, I can be the doctor again.
Addison: Mom, mom, I want that toy, way up top on that shelf
Me: (stop drying hair, get said toy) Here you go.
Addison: Mom I need some water.
Me: (stop drying hair again, go downstairs to get the water) Here you go, now Mommy needs to dry her hair.
Addison: Mommy, I want to go downstairs and watch Dora. Please go start my Dora (don't you just love that she says please.)
Mommy: Addison, I am not doing ANYTHING else until I dry my hair.

Okay, so now insert the funniest, sassy voice you can imagine. Not smart sassy, just cute sassy.

Addison: Okay, Mommy, you dry your hair, then you going to do your job???
Mommy: What is my job????
Addison: Just turn the TV on and off for me!!!

Well folks, there it is, my life's pursuit! A cum laude graduate with a Bachelor of Science and I am little more than a remote control!

Little Cowgirl

We braved the cold at Pappy's house this weekend, so Addison could play in the barns. She is crazy about the horses! We went out a few times each day, so she could give them carrots, pet them and brush them. Pappy and Miss Debra have a mare in training, for Addison to show next year. We had planned for her to have her first actual ride in the saddle this trip, but it was too cold. She didn't mind though, she was happy just hanging out in the barns.

Let it Snow

It snowed!!! Yes, it sure did! In Arlington Texas, on Thanksgiving day, after having been 80 Degrees for the first part of the week, snow was falling! Big, fluffly white snowflakes.

Now, don't laugh at me....we are Texans through and through. I know many of you have yearly ski trips and frequently visit places like Utah and Colorado, but we have never even been to a cold state.

So, even though it didn't stick, it only lasted for a few minutes, and you can't even see it in the picture....we loved it.

Thanksgiving Day Milestones

We had a fun and busy Thanksgiving holiday. We started the day at my aunt's house, with my Dad's family and then went to Tommy's aunt's house to celebrate (eat more!!!) with his Mom's family. After all the turkey we headed to my Dad's to spend a few nights at his house. We hung out, let Addison play in the barns, braved the mall, and had a bridal shower for my cousin. The girls did so well, perhaps the best experience we have had traveling! We are happy to be home and resting (catching up on laundry!!!) today.

Reagan had the busiest Thanksgiving. She chose my Aunt Tressia and Uncle Bryan's house to display all manner of new tricks! First, I put her on her back on the floor, to play by the table while we were eating lunch. When I glanced down to check on her she was sitting up! Milestone #1, gets self to sitting position. Next she continued to play in the floor and worked herself over to their coffee table. I watched as, Milestone #2, she pulled herself to stand! Finally after I told everyone there that she refuses to eat solid food, she polished off plenty of Thanksgiving goodness herself. Turns out, she doesn't like baby food. Mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese, macaroni and cheese, bread....these things she loves!

Giving Thanks

This year I am thankful for.....

God's grace, love and salvation! I am so blessed to be a child of God, don't deserve it, never have and never will, but he loves me anyway!

My sweet husband and my girls' sweet daddy and all he does for our family.

Tommy's job, which provides for our family and allows me to be a full-time Mommy!

Our health!

Our extended family....our girls are so blessed to have grandparents who love them and who make time to be a part of their lives. Addison loves them so much, talks about them all the time, and counts down days when she knows she will be seeing them. In addition to the grandparents we have countless sibling, aunts, uncles and cousins who love us and our girls.

Our home, church, friends and neighbors here. We have truly grown to love this sweet town we are in. I can't imagine a more perfect place for our family to be.

In general I am just blessed, blessed, blessed! Life is just good. We are healthy happy and having fun! I am exactly where I always planned and loving it!

Saying Good-Bye to a Dear Friend

Addison gave up her beloved pacis last night. I am so proud of her. We didn't have to take them away, we have just been encouraging her to be a "Big Girl". Last night, she told Tommy to put them on the dresser. She made it through the night without them, and this morning she said she was giving them all to Reagan.

I can't even believe how easy it came! I truly thought that taking these pacis away was going to be the most difficult thing we have done as parents so far. She was in love. As soon as she was old enough to put her own paci in her mouth we started letting her sleep with tons of them, in hopes that she might sleep through the night. The habit stuck. She is used to sleeping with one in her mouth, one in each hand and many beside her. Each night before bed she asks for her "lot of pacis". She carries them with her when she comes to my bed in the morning, she wants them when she is hurt, and if she gets grumpy during the day, she might retreat to her room (or be sent there) and calm herself down by playing with them. They have most certainly been her security blanket!

This came upon us just like potty training did, because Addison wanted to do it. She has such a driven little personality. She wants to be a "Big Girl", she wants to please us, and she is always so proud of herself. Tommy and I are both very goal oriented and set high standards for ourselves. I guess she got a little of that.

She put herself to sleep in about 30 minutes last night. There was some crying, lots of chatter, begging for a snack and calling for Mommy. However, she never once asked for the pacis...I was ready to give them to her at the moments request! Tommy and I forgot about the technology of the baby monitor, which could have kept us comfortably on the couch, and sat outside her door listening to her. She sang, she counted, she talked to herself and then she finally got quiet and went to sleep. The verdict is still out on naptime. I put her down 30 minutes ago and she is still chatting away, quite loudly. I had to call Tommy and let him listen through the monitor...all the internal dialogue coming out is too funny!!!

While I am so proud of her, and happy to be over this hurdle, I am also a little sad. Pacis were the very last baby thing left of Addison. She is fully potty trained, in a big girl bed, dressing herself and becoming fiercely independent. I have tears in my eyes thinking that sometime right before my eyes, she became a little girl. She thinks I threw the pacis away, but I can't do it. They are in a baggie, safely tucked away with a few other treasures from her sweet baby days.

Kissin' in the Tub

This is what bathtime looks like around here these days! They both love it!!! It is usually the first time in the day that Tommy and I can actually have converstions with a few full sentences. We get them bathed and then can sit by them and chat while they play for awhile.

ZOO

We took the girls to the zoo on Saturday. Reagan had her first real ride on the carousel. I think she liked it, although she may have just been so excited because she was out of the stroller for the first time the whole day! We had a great time. Addison loved all the animals....a big improvement from this time last year when she thought the all the poop was the most exciting thing to see!

Life, in Complete and Total Chaos, Continues...

This morning, we headed to the library for storytime.

Ooops, Veteran's Day, no storytime.

So, we headed across the street to the YMCA to cancel our membership, since I basically have been just making monthly donations to them since the early months of my pregnancy with Reagan. We cancelled our membership and headed to the car. Addison wanted to go play at the mall for the rest of the morning. Great, right?

Wrong, the car won't start! Now I had a very similar problem a few weeks back at Chick Fil A. The car would try to start, idle really hard and then die if you put it in drive. On that particular day Sherry's sweet mom came to pick us up for a ride home and the good folks at Goodyear somehow managed to get my car across the shopping center to their building without a tow truck. They resolved the problem quickly and I walked the girls up there later that night to pick my car up.

All is better in car world, so I thought, until today, when the exact same thing was happening! Now, I am way to far from home to walk and I don't have the double stroller with me anyway. I sat in my car praying the Lord would intervene. No luck with the car starting, but at least my dear friend Michele called. She was calling to invite us to play, but instead she immendiatly loaded up her own kids and came to rescue us. I lugged my girls back into the Y to wait, while I called Goodyear and a tow truck.

When Michele got there, we began the process of transfering my carseats into her car. Thank goodness she has a TV in there, so at least Wesley and Addison were occupied. I manuevred the girls carseats into her 3rd row! This act was enough to again make me seriously consider if I ever want a 3rd child. Certainly not until Addison is big enough to crawl in the back and buckle herself. We loaded everyone up and I got instructions to meet back with the tow truck driver in about an hour. Let me also interject at this point that husband is in Dallas in meetings and unreachable, so when they ask me things like four wheel drive or two wheel drive and what was broken last time, I literally have NO IDEA!

Just as I am about to get in Michele's van to go somewhere besides the Y parking lot, I decide I should give the car one last try. What do you know? Conveniently, it works! Now I am glad that it worked, but seriously, couldn't it have been 30 minutes sooner.

I scramble to cancel the tow truck driver before I owe him any money and Michele follows me to Goodyear. She has ALL the kids and I have a nice quiet car! Michele told me later that Addison filled the ride with stories about how she cries when we spank her, which, let me tell you, is oh so often!!! I decide since the car is working just fine now, not to leave it at Goodyear and spend my life savings letting them explore the problem. At least not while Tommy is out of town. I handed Michele my garage door opener so she could take the kids to my house, while I picked up Chick Fil A for us. It is the least I can do, since she dropped everything to come to my rescue.

Well, all is well again, until I get to the Chick Fil A window and realize that I have lost both my AMEX card and my debit card. Now, I am a little embarassed. I have no money, no credit card, no check....nothing, just the eager lady trying to take my money and get me out of the way from the long line behind me. Thanfully I know the folks at my local Chick Fil A pretty well! Who and I kidding? I know them really well and they let me go on my word that I would come back to pay.

At home, I thankfully found the debit card in yesterday's pocket. And, there was a message on my phone from the nice lady at the YMCA telling me they had found my American Express on their floor. Now, how did I drop that while holding Reagan, the diaper bag and Addison's hand all while on the phone with the tow truck guy?

At least we got to spend the rest of the morning playing with Michele and her kids. And on a happy note, this weekend my house got accidently cleaned by my former cleaning lady, for free!!! Tommy accidently left the house unlocked and she accidently cleaned the wrong house. Few things could make me happier!!!

Picture This...

It all started out so well! The baby fell asleep in the car on the way home from our morning activities. When we got back to the house, Big Sister wanted to walk to the park. It is a beautiful day and I love being outside, so I happily agreed. Reagan never even stirred as we snapped her carseat into the stroller. We put Addison's "Baby Susie" in the doll stroller and we were off.

We had such a great walk. We stopped to look around, gather acorns and talk. We stopped at the turtle pond, to look at the turtle and to toss all previously gathered acorns into the water. Around this time, Reagan woke up. She smiled happily and was content to continue riding in her stroller. After Addison finished all she had to do at the turtle pond, we continued on our way to the park.

Now, this park is probably a quarter of a mile away and across a large street, so it is a big walk for her. Only recently would I even consider letting her walk all that way.

As we neared the park she was so excited, she talked about how we would park our baby's strollers and head to the swings. With her excitement continuing to build, we unstrapped our babies. First baby Susie then Reagan.

Here is where it all fell apart.....

I smelled the stench as soon as I lifted sweet Rea from the carseat. The child had vast amounts of poop all up her little back. More poop then you could even expect one Pamper's Swaddler to contain. And the bad news, organized mother that I am, I do not carry a diaper bag on walks to the park.

So, I realize I am about to have one sad little toddler on my hands, when I tell her we have to go home. She was already running for the swings when I broke the news. Just as I expected this resulted in all manner of fit throwing; tears, stomping, anger and general unhappiness. Now, I can't say I blame her. I also, don't like my plans being suddenly changed, or having something I looked forward to being instantly taken away. But, most times, I keep my tantrums contained inside!

You can imagine the walk back didn't go as well as the walk there. Addison continued to cry, cough and choke (result of so much crying). She begged to be carried and insisted her "Baby Susie" was too heavy for her. I coaxed her as far as I could, then did the only other thing I knew to do. I hooked "Baby Susie" and her doll stroller over the handle of my stroller. I picked up poop soaked baby under one arm, and tossed large for her age toddler into the infant seat of my stroller. With my remaining empty hand I pushed my packed down stroller home, while she cried that the carseat was too small (duh) and Reagan's poop soaked into my own cloths. I know we got some looks as we made our way home, but who cares! I actually was proud of my craftiness. I bet the folks at Graco never had this in mind when they designed that stroller!

Flash forward to the house 10 minutes later. Addison is still crying off and on. Still complaining of tiredness, hotness, thirstiness and discomfort. I am ignoring all fit throwing and tyring to deal with the diaper issue. I unsnapped Rea's diaper and Addison ran up, ceased all crying and asked, "What color is it?" All unhappiness forgotten

Proud to be her Mama

Addison is such a doll right now. My heart swells with joy and pride as I watch her mature more and more into a sweet young lady each day.

She is my little helper. It makes her so happy to wash dishes or clean house with me. And, she is the best big sister I could imagine. Reagan is lucky to have big sis' helping change her diapers, feeding her, delivering pacis and playing with her.

Addison is also really starting to learn more about the Lord. She is memorizing verses and praying each day. Yesterday, as we were exploring outside I asked her why we had so many worms on our street. Her response, "God just made them."

Most recently I have enjoyed walking to the park with Addison. I push Reagan in her stroller and she pushes her beloved "Baby Susie" in her doll stroller. When we get to the park we put our babies in the swings and take them down the slides. On the way home she often says, "Baby Susie crying....her just need me hold her." Then, she carries her baby with one hand and pushes her stroller with the other. She definitely has the nurturing gene.

Finally, the girl loves her Daddy! After a full two years of her being a huge Mommy's girl, it delights me to see how their relationship has blossomed. She crawls in bed with me each morning and one of her first questions is "Where's Daddy?" When I tell him work, she immediately wants to know if he is working at his office or at home. Often we wait outside for him to come home. When she sees his car, she runs down the street motioning for him to stop. Then, she jumps in the front passenger seat, buckles the big seat belt and rides home to the driveway with him. After dinner each night he wrestles her and then snuggles her to sleep.

I am so blessed with my beautiful children and with being able to stay home and watch them grow! Thank goodness I get to be here all day, because it is all happening way too fast!

7 Months

Reagan was seven months old yesterday. She is such a sweet baby! The poor thing was battaling an ear infection for most of the month, and is actually still not completley over it. That made her uncomfortable, unable to sleep and pretty much miserable for a few weeks, but she seems to be feeling much better know. We are so happy to have her smiling and cooing again. Lately she is able to get up on her arms and legs in the crawling position. She rocks back and forth and has managed a few forward movements. I think in the next few weeks, I am going to be really in for it!!! I spent much of the month trying to get her to eat baby food, which she will have no part in. I am amazed at the willfulness of a baby so young! She clenches her jaws and lips COMPLETELY shut the moment she sees the soon (we had much the same reaction with the antibiotic). I finally gave up the baby food and started letting her feed herself small finger foods. She loves it! So far she has had avocado, banana, strawberry, cheerios and crackers. I think we may skip the pureed foods, which is fine with me. This sweet little one still isn't sleeping through the night, but I think I have finally just accepted that she just doesn't need that much sleep, quite the opposite of her sister. Her favorite things this month are chomping on any kind of paper she can get her hands on, playing outside, watching sissy play, bathtime, and loving on the dog!

Dear Mr. PBS President

Dear Mr. PBS President,

I am writing to request, as a result of the recent time change, that your television schedule be adjusted accordingly. You see, my children do not participate in Daylight Savings Time, so at our house 6:00am is the new 7:00am. As a result, my child has been disappointed each morning when she crawls in bed with me, because, "Sunshine is out," and Curious George and Clifford are not on.

This recent schedule change has really caused all manner of difficulty on our morning routine. Typically the baby is just falling into a good sleep around 7:00 am after being up for the previous two hours. Supermom I am, I had gotten quiet used to tuning in to PBS and snuggling my eldest child, without every really having to open an eye. That additional hour of semi-sleep is a crucial start to a good day.

Unfortunately I must report, that said eldest child has no interest in Mr. Rogers. I loved him as a child, but she apparently has no desire to, "be his neighbor". And, the Teletubbies, well they are just frightening! I know you must understand my plight and are probably more than willing to move our beloved Curious George and Clifford up to the 6:00 hour now that this has been brought to your attention. I have asked around, and am certainly not the only mother experiencing the wrath of early risers! I speak for a community when I plead for this change.

Thank you.