The Traveling Turtle

Holiday Wrap-up

2011-12-13T15:41:00.001-05:00

We have been going non-stop since Thanksgiving!! It finally seems to be slowing down, and we are thrilled.

- We went to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving. My Bother and his family were there as well and we had a really nice time seeing them. Celie had a complete blast playing with her cousins and Libby enjoyed being in the mix of a lot of people to give her attention.

- We did Black Friday shopping. I know a lot of people are very against it. I am not and here’s why…. we got ALL of our shopping done in one night. All of it. While the girls were sleeping and at pretty great deals. So we started at 10:00 Thursday night and shopped our hearts out until 7:30 the following morning. We got home right as the girls were waking up. Yes, we were worn out but we went to bed that night at about 8:00 and all 4 of us took a nap that afternoon. My dad was at home with the girls while they slept that night, don’t worry.

- We got home Saturday evening and had a busy week. I left for a Beth Moore conference the following Friday in Pensacola with my mom and some ladies from our church. It was AWESOME! Truly, it was amazing.

- I got home Saturday night from that and we had another busy week full of rehearsals for the Children’s program at church, decorating for the performance and normal weekly activities. The rest of the week was a blur… complete with an all day cookie bake with our dear friends. By all day, I am taking about 11-8 cookie baking. Crazy. I could not even look at another cookie. (I could now, though ).

- Sunday was the performance for Celie and the other children. I am one of the choir teachers, Celie was in the program and Matthew played a big part in it as well. Yeah, we were a little busy. It was the first and last time all 3 of us will be in the same thing. At least until the girls are older. It was rough on poor, sweet Libby.

- last night we had 21 people over to our house for steak and all the sides. We don’t have a huge house so it was a good time. We know that we can safely feed and fit 20 people now, though. It was a lot of fun. And work. But mostly, fun.

- You know I have to post a video of Celie singing her very first solo at church. I can’t tell you how many times we have listened to and practiced the song at home. I was a total stage mom…. it did pay off, though. Punkin took the video and it is so sweet. I cried. Of course. Matthew and I were both VERY proud of her for doing such a great job. For a 3 year old, she was very calm and collected. Our church was packed. I think the final head count was around 200 people. And she seemed to love it.

Celie’s solo–Oh Come all Ye Faithful

Here’s a ton of Celie pictures

2011-11-17T00:18:00.001-05:00

I am so overdue on posting. These pictures were taken about 3-4 weeks ago. I have more taken a few weeks earlier than that and I am in love with some of them, but I have not sorted through them all yet. Maybe I will have those up in another 4 weeks.

Celie looks so old in a lot of these pictures. She is such a sweet, sweet girl. Don’t get me wrong, she is still a 3 year old. She has her moments of ignoring my voice. I am sure that will just escalate over time, though. She is really mature. Sometimes I forget that she is only 3 and expect a lot more out of her. I am all for expecting a lot of my children. I think that if you use the “they’re only children” excuse and don’t expect anything… that is exactly what you will get. They are very capable little people. Anyhew.

These were taken on a random day of playing outside in the back yard. Libby would play outside forever if you would stay with her. Most of the time I stay out as long as I can. She is into climbing stairs these days and it is not that relaxing or fun, to be honest. Don’t get me started on the piles of poop she must have a radar for. She can zone in on them from across the yard. And of course she goes to pick it up. It’s really classy. We have not been outside too much this week. Somehow it feels like 90 degrees outside still. I am not a fan of sweat.

Here is my little sweetie. I am trying my best to get pictures of Libby but she is too smart for me and my camera. She will smile, laugh and look right at me if the camera is down. If I pick it up, she does everything possible to ignore me. Typical 15 month old.

Review

2011-10-24T11:26:00.001-04:00

You know I don’t usually do reviews on things unless I am REALLY in love with them? And the reviews I do have not been things I have been given. Until now.

I am a Buzz Agent and get sent stuff occasionally to try out and give my opinion on. Last week I got an AWESOME package in the mail with Frederic Fekkai Technician Color Care Shampoo and Fekkai Technician Color Care Conditioner. I used it for the first time yesterday and I LOVE IT!!!!! I am so picky about hair stuff so I went into it thinking I would not really like it. My hair is SO soft and shiny. I can’t stop touching it. Matthew said it looks like I just left a professional blow-out. That is serious, folks.

At first, I thought the shampoo smelled odd but after I used it, I love how my hair smells. I usually use Pureology so I am used to using salon quality stuff on my hair. This product just really makes a difference. I am a huge fan and will be buying much more of this for myself.

Words cannot describe the love I have for this line! I am serious. I adore it. Even the day after, my hair is totally luscious! (that was purely for my sister)

I highly recommend the Fekkai products and if you have color treated hair, you should get at least a sample size of the Technician Color care line. You will be going back for more, trust me.

Busy week

2011-10-10T15:16:00.001-04:00

We have had a busy, busy week. Actually, somehow, we have all been busier since Matthew got his job at the church. I think part of it is just timing because it happened to line up with the beginning of school and children’s choir. And the Beth Moore Bible study I am doing on Revelation (seriously awesome if you have never taken it before). 5 out of 7 nights a week one of us is out of the house. It is usually Matthew, but since I am a choir teacher this year, I am also out on Wednesday nights. It has been interesting.

Anyhew, last week was abnormally busy. And Celie had her second Dental appointment. She rocked it! From the time we got to the office, signed in, got her teeth checked, got a prize, made an appointment for the next visit and walked out the door…. it had only been a 13 minute period of time. Her teeth were perfect. They required no scraping or scaling and she got rave reviews from the Dentist for not sucking her thumb anymore. Her teeth have gone back to almost perfect in just 6 months. She stopped at just the right time before any permanent damage was done. And I cannot say enough about her Dentist. I LOVE HIM and his staff. They are wonderful and so great with kids. Dr. Berry is just a fantastic guy. I am so glad she goes there. Since she was so great at her appointment, I let her pick a special treat out at Sam’s. I needed to go there anyway and they have some really great kids stuff there right now. She chose a Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD/CD combo. I even let her watch the DVD in the car on the way home. Truth be told, I only did it to try and keep Libby awake so she would take a good nap when we got home but it did not work. She could not be less interested in TV. She just doesn’t like it. Even trapped in a carseat, she turned her head away and read a book. And then went to sleep, of course.

We were extra bummed b/c we were all set to go see my brother and his family on Saturday. Celie and I were going to go alone b/c Matthew had a lot to get done and Libby did not need to make a day trip like that the day before church. That would have been a nightmare for everyone involved. I ended up getting sick to my stomach the night before we were supposed to leave and did not go to bed until 6:00 in the morning. BOOOO! You see, Matthew and I have been on Weight Watchers for a month now (I am down 7 pounds, Matthew is down 10) and I am not used to eating heavy food anymore. We had pizza on Friday night and it just made me sick. I had 2 small pieces with hardly any cheese (no meat at all) but it still did me dirty. Celie was super bummed b/c she really wanted to go play with her cousins. I was bummed too, I was really looking forward to seeing my family.

That brings us up to speed with today. Libby is getting her first real cold. She had a little runny nose about a year ago but this is going to be the full blown ordeal, I have a feeling. I am thankful this is the first real time she has been sick. Not too bad for a 14 month old! Celie is such a sweetie with her. I just love to hear her talk to her when she is being sweet. It melts my heart. And Libby has really taken off with walking. She has picked up some major speed and is quite fast. We joke all the time that she was Liza Minnelli in her former life. I am serious, she LOVES accessories and being in costume. We got Celie’s duck costume to try it on Libby and she walked around for a while just laughing and patting the duck belly. She loved it. (so did we.) Celie was only 8 months old when she wore it so she was not walking. Since Libby is so much smaller, she is able to wear it now and it just adds another level to the cute factor to see her waddling around in it.

Libby also got her first big hair cut this weekend. I could not take the scraggly bits any longer. I don’t really like the baby mullet so I don’t plan on letting her hair grow long until the sides can get all caught up. She and Celie will have the same coif, I am sure. Not that I mind. I think I cut about an inch off the back and just trimmed up the pieces on the sides by her ears. It looks a million times better! I will post cute pictures later this week.

Pictures

2011-10-04T21:28:00.001-04:00

I wanted to post my favorites from the day at the water. I already posted the final shot of Libby, but this one of her teeth really gets me too. And my Celie Bug…. when did she grow up?

Blurry but cute

Imagine this…

2011-10-04T20:03:00.001-04:00

Being 15 and playing your heart out in Carnegie Hall on a once in a lifetime trip to New York City. I could not fully appreciate it as a 15 year old kid, but I can now. We played 3 songs, each about 8-9 minutes long. They were beautiful and difficult, yet rewarding to learn and conquer. I mean, just imagine practicing and rehearsing in the same rooms as some of the greatest performers of all time. And then actually performing on the very same stage. It is just too much. Honestly.

I really cherish the years I was in the music program. Not only did it teach me about music and develop certain parts of my brain, but it taught me a lot about hard work and dedication. Being part of a huge team and doing what you had to do to make all the parts work as a whole. I paid for every single red cent of every trip I ever took. Do you know how many houses I had to clean and kids I had to babysit to do that? Of course that was in between school, church and after school practices (which equated to at least 7 hours a week, at a minimum.) I learned so much about things a lot of other people don’t get the opportunity to. And I really loved doing it. I still maintain that the best teacher OF ALL TIME was my middle school band teacher, Jeff Adams. I could really go on and on about all of this, but I am going to just go ahead and post the clip of one of our songs at Carnegie Hall.

Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral. One of the most moving songs you will ever hear. Seriously, I cry every time I hear it. And it is not because I am reliving that wonderful time in my head. The actual music is so moving. My favorite part starts around 5:45. Love.

This was our Assistant Band Director (who also taught my older brother when he was in Junior High, oddly enough.) This happened to be one of her favorite songs to. Can you imagine conducting one of your favorite songs on one of the greatest stages in the world? Overwhelming.

Please listen to the whole thing and enjoy. Keep in mind it is not perfect, these are 14-17 year old KIDS performing, after all.

Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral–Richard Wagner

one picture

2011-09-30T23:39:00.001-04:00

from our day by the water watching the bird.

I. Love. Her. Teeth. Gap. This picture is so Libby.

We made it.

2011-09-30T21:14:00.001-04:00

And it is even a month earlier than I thought it would be in my heart.

Libby is a full time walker. She even got a few new pair of shoes this week. I can’t say she was happy about the shoes. At all. She has not worn shoes one day in all 14 months she has been with us. Until Thursday. Not a fan. I seem to remember thinking I would make sure I had shoes on her all the time from the time she was born so she was used to wearing them when she was finally walking. Never happened. I just love those chubby, bare baby feet. I would say tiny but she has never had tiny feet. At 14 months old, I am buying her a SIZE SIX shoe. Her feet and head are the only big things on her body.

We had a special treat this week because my mom came over for a few days to stay with me and help out with the girls/keep me company while Matthew is at Worship Expo. He has been looking forward to this week for ummm….. 2 years. I can’t wait to hear about his time there when he gets back. And I miss him so much. The girls were thrilled that Grammy was here. Libby has been pointing to and grunting at the pictures of her for a few weeks now. She grunts in syllables, she is really trying to say Grammy.

I have been working on getting the girls’ closets cleaned out. I stay on top of it really well, if I do say so myself, but this week I went ahead and put about 90% of the summer/hot weather clothes in containers. Libby has finally made it to the 12-18 month size so I got all of those clothes hung in her room. Well, 12-18 in tops and dresses only. Pants and shorts are still a 6-12. My little lamb chops.

We also went to the park to watch people fish, have a picnic and let Libby walk around and talk to the birds. She loves birds. Almost as much as she loves cats. I am not a fan of birds. At all. AT ALL. I love to hear them chirp and sing outside but that is where it end. Those talons just gross me out. And since animals know when people don’t like them, birds naturally gravitate towards me. Much like green tree frogs and lizards. I think I got some really cute pictures there, but I can’t be sure just yet.

We have had a busy week and I think we are all worn out. Celie capped off her week by getting to wear her “winter snow” pajamas to bed tonight. It is supposed to be pretty cool here tomorrow night so she is just gearing up. I know I am ready for cooler weather. I am taking advantage of tomorrow night by opening all the windows and finally being able to clean the oven! I can’t wait to air the house out!

On the wagon…. again

2011-09-26T15:39:00.001-04:00

If you remember back to about 2 years ago, Matthew and I were doing Weight Watchers. Then I got pregnant and just never picked it back up. So we are back on the program again. It is such a pain being overweight. Literally. We are in our second week now and have had one weigh in. Of course Matthew lost double the weight I did (how annoying is it that men lose weight so much easier???) but at least I lost any at all. It is a start.

Luckily, I am in a better place this time where I am actually burning a lot more calories during the day since I am not sitting at a desk, sedentary. Maybe one day I will incorporate lunges into my dusting routine, but for now I hate dusting enough just the way it is – there is no need to add insult to injury.

Speaking of dusting…. I have been doing hot, soapy water and a rag for dusting for about a year now. It really cleans much better but MY GOODNESS it takes so much longer. Last week I decided to break out the swiffer again and just give it a go that way. What was taking me about 90 minutes ended up taking all of about 20. I am back on the swiffer now. It doesn’t do the job like wiping it with the water and soap, but I am OK with doing it more often if needed.

We had an uneventful weekend. Friday was a day of cleaning that we don’t usually do. All of our soft surfaces have now been steam cleaned: all rugs, carpets and upholstery is done! It feels nice. You don’t even want to know about the black water that we emptied time after time. Saturday was a quick trip to get groceries and then Celie and I had a birthday party for one of her buddies, Jakob. She loves him and he had a really cute pirate party. I was proud of Celie, she really played a lot and even did the piñata (that was a first for her). Every party we go to just jazzes her up for her #4 birthday (yes, that is 5 months away). She has decided she is having a Strawberry Shortcake birthday party this year. It is funny about SS and this age…. I was over the top about her when I was little. And I had my own SS party when I turned 4. She is just the best. Celie is also dressing as her for Halloween. We found the costume last week while shopping for Jakob’s gift. It is too small for her but she could care less. It is complete with a trashy pink wig and short dress. Help me!

Sunday was church and resting. Libby has been really sleepy the past few days and took an awesome 3 hour nap after lunch. I found out yesterday that she is really taken with birds. Even when I just sign bird to her, she goes crazy and squeals. Cats, goats and pictures of Celie have the same reaction.

We did an entire wall of canvas prints of the girls. WOW. It is really a lot to see. I love all of the pictures, of course, but I am more minimalist. We have a few more that we need to get to complete the set, but it takes up an entire wall. The moment Libby spotted it she started squealing and walking as fast as she could to the wall. Yes, walking. She is something at it now. She can do long distances very well but is slow. She still crawls quite a bit but is walking more and more every day. She has not given up her speed just yet. I think that day is coming really soon though.

More pictures

2011-09-22T15:08:00.001-04:00

I could not leave Libby out of the mix. My sweet lamb chop. I had to capture one of our mornings this week since I have been doing such a bad job lately.

She LOVES riding on the car. It only took her about 3 tries to figure out how to make it go forward. I think Celie worked on it for about a month. I also tried to get a few of her walking, but it is hard b/c she is getting faster.

The ice cream cone is a lip gloss and she is really into it. She carries it around with her all the time. One end used to come off and there is a pen on that end, but I gorilla glued that baby up. Too dangerous (for her and every surface of the house).

gotta keep it real with the crying picture. It is part of the day. In this shot, one of her books was stuck and she could not get it out. Tragic.

Pictures

2011-09-22T11:31:00.001-04:00

I finally got around to getting the pictures of Celie downloaded. The last pictures I even took were more than a month ago and those were even weak. I have to turn this around!

The pictures of her outside are my favorites. I managed to capture a REAL smile. It really personifies my Bug. The other pictures are just some shots I took Tuesday, trying to get her earrings captured. She is still so proud of them. I was watching her talk to her friends in bed last night and she recreated the whole ear piercing scenario over again. “Ok, ready? 1…2…3…CLICK. You did SUCH A GOOD JOB!!!!” She is such a mess, I love her imagination and spunk!

Putting it out there

2011-09-19T15:39:00.001-04:00

I am going to put this out there, even though I know some people may judge me for it. I am OK with that, because I know I am coming from the right place. That is what matters to me.

The day after Matthew lost his old job a friend of ours called me with a job possibility. The job sounds really interesting and like something I would actually be really good at AND be able to use my degree with. Imagine that. It would be a great fit for us IF I was meant to go back to work. I am not going to go into too much detail on the position, but it really would be great if it was meant to be.

Right after that call Matthew and I both began praying for God’s Will in this situation. So that is key here, it is His will, not mine. Would I like to go back to work and contribute financially to our household? Sure. Do I really have a strong desire to leave the house and my 2 precious girls? That is tough. I have loved every single moment of my time together with them this past year. I would have a really hard time leaving them. Libby has only ever stayed with our pastor’s wife, that would be the hardest. Celie is old enough to get it. She would probably love staying somewhere a few hours every day, to be honest.

I know there are people that think you can only be “the best” parent if you stay home with your kids and I really disagree with that. I will leave it at that. I know that IF I do get the position, it was what God has planned for us. If I don’t get the position, I feel the same. It means that I was meant to stay at home with them longer. I don’t feel like I need to justify anything any further. I have prayed for God’s Will and that is what I will follow. The end. I will keep the blog world updated.

On to the girls. My word….

Celie had her first day of school last week! She LOVED it. She was so excited and ready to go. Matthew and I both dropped her off. It was nice that we were both able to be there. I actually DID take pictures of it, too. Her school is only 2 hours a week, but I think that is all I can handle. I had no idea I would cry when she walked in the door. It just snuck up on me. She had a good report from her teacher and is excited to go back this week.

I mentioned that we were going to do something special with her for her first day of school? We were supposed to go to see the lion king in 3D (no one in our family has ever seen a 3D movie before, oddly enough) but we just did not have enough time. Instead, she went and GOT HER EARS PIERCED!!!!!!! She was so brave. The ladies that did her ears said she was the best 3 year old they had ever had in their chair. She was very still, very calm, and did not shed a tear. I was really shocked. I thought she may back out once she saw what was going to happen. We told her every step of what would happen in great detail so I feel like at least she was prepared. Maybe that helped. She was so excited to help us pick out some new earrings that she can wear when we are allowed to change them (in 2 months). She feels so fancy with them. It was really important for me that she be the one to ask about getting them done. I don’t have a hang up on it being too mature for a little girl (I am not judging you if you do) I just wanted her to make the decision on her own. She went to Sissy’s house for the first time in months last week and a little girl there has her ears pierced. She could not stop asking for them after that. Oh, and Blair has her ears done too. She got earrings about 3 months ago. You know Celie is all for it if Blair has something. It is sweet.

It was really nice for us to both take Celie for a special trip on her first day of school. She just grew up all of a sudden!

Libby Lou. My word. She is really making short work of the walking. She does more and more every day. She still prefers crawling due to speed, but she is getting steadier on her feet as every day goes by. She is really into getting into tubs/boxes/bags right now too. Like a little cat. She just crawls right in and plays with whatever she is sitting on. When she is not walking and getting into boxes, she is reading. It is something. She truly ADORES books. Celie loves books now but only tolerated them as a baby. Libby will get book after book, walk it over to me, plop into my lap and read for, literally, hours. It is her favorite thing to do. I hope both of them keep a love for books as they grow older. She is also a milk machine. I was so concerned about weaning her and she was really no trouble at all. She probably drinks too much milk every day, to be honest. Our pediatrician told me 18-24 ounces a day but I think she takes about 27-30. I am fine with that as long as she is eating well. I have started to try to limit her to 2 cups (18 ounces) a day of milk and do the rest with water. She is also an egg machine. She will make short work of (no kidding) 3 eggs and still want more.

I will post pictures of school tomorrow.

Milestone…..

2011-09-14T10:34:00.001-04:00

I wanted to document a new milestone for Libby today. She actually stood up all on her own and took 4 steps. Her steps are wobbly and very slow, but she is making it. She usually just plops down and crawls because she is much faster at it, but one day that will change. I was so excited for her. I even looked at the clock so I could see the time. It was about 8:50 (am) and we were in Celie’s room playing with blocks. She just popped right up. Who knows, she could have been doing it in her crib for a while now without us knowing. No matter, this was the first time she has done it outside the safety of her mattress. YAY LIBBY!

It is funny, I actually got to see Celie stand on her own for the very first time, even though she was in daycare. We were taking her one year pictures. Libby is just a few months behind Celie, but still right on track for her age. Celie has no idea what will start happening now that Libby can get around on her feet. It should be interesting.

Bulk junk

2011-09-12T14:35:00.001-04:00

I am to the point where I don’t even know where to write b/c I have been so out of touch. It’s a bummer. I have to get better about pictures and blogging again.

Today was not our normal Monday. Usually, Monday is floor day. I have to split up the household chores per day so I can actually tackle them and get them done during nap time. And still give myself a moment or two to take a break as well, let’s be honest. Instead, we went to do our weekly grocery shopping today. Mostly b/c the blueberry hound ate an entire 2 pint container of blueberries ALL BY HERSELF in 2 1/2 days. Yes, her poop is indigo. And her nails have a bluish hue around the cuticles, no scrubbing will get it off. So we went to Publix and Sam’s Club first thing this morning. I like to go early so we can be home in time for at least a good afternoon nap.

I have had a deep seeded love for Sam’s since I was in about 6th grade. So, what is that, about 21 years? I just love bulk. It gives me the same feeling that writing on a new, thick pad of paper with a new, great pen does. It is just great. I don’t know that I would buy the same stuff that I do these days if we actually lived close enough to go to a real store more often, but I am used to getting things when we are down to about only 1 week’s worth of stuff.

Our local Sam’s has been undergoing a MASSIVE renovation for about a year. It is mildly annoying b/c things move almost every time you go, but it is nice. I guess the larger size means they have more things to choose from. One thing that I really enjoy is the cooler of ready made meals and salad they have. We have tried many of them…. the general’s chicken is by far the best. It is SO good. We also enjoy the rotisserie chicken they sell. We have been on a 2 chicken a week buying pattern with them since Libby was about 7 months old. SHE LOVES THEM. (And eat the chicken 2 times a day. Every day. No lie.) I would call myself a seasoned pro at deboning it now. I have it down to a science and it takes me no time. It is pretty awesome. We have finally talked a few other people into getting them to. It just makes life easier. Casseroles, chicken dinners, chicken salad, etc. You name it, you can use those babies for it.

And the diapers, don’t even get me started on them. They are the only ones we use. The name brands all leak, but not the Sam’s brand. They recently changed names on the box, and it seems the actual diaper has changed a bit too. Only for the better though. Adore them.

Their produce = AWESOME! I mean, I could go on. But I won’t.

The girls have been able to enjoy being outside lately. It was SO nice for about 4 days and now it is pretty hot again, but not nearly as bad as it was in the middle of the summer. Matthew power washed the porches off for us last Friday so everything is really fresh and nice. If only all the bugs and biting insects would die. Libby LOVES being outside. She always has. I am looking forward to picnics in the yard when it cools down a touch more.

Celie starts school this week! She is beyond excited. Matthew and I are taking her to do something very special after we pick her up from her first day, I am not telling her anything about it because I want it to be a treat. I had a mom meeting last week and got to show Celie her folder for school when I got home. She has asked to hold it and open it about 50 times since then. No backpacks or lunchboxes are allowed, so this folder is a huge deal. I can’t believe it is almost time for her to go to school! It is bittersweet. I know she is going to love it and have a blast, but it doesn’t seem like she should be old enough to go just yet. My big girl.

Libby is SO close to walking. Every day she takes more and more steps on her own. She is still not interested in being helped along, she prefers doing it on her own. And I am happy to let her. It is interesting and frustrating to see her personality develop more and more. She does a lot of stuff differently than Celie did, so she is a bit of a challenge. Her temper is really what we are trying to work on. She can really throw down. I mean, really. I just ignore it the best I can and hope she will just move on after she sees she is not getting what she wants or the attention she was seeking, but that doesn’t seem to work all the time. As frustrated as I get about that, it is different to not have to worry about her getting into cabinets or messing with decorative items that are not toys to be touched or played with. Celie was the opposite. I remember redirecting her a ZILLION times when she was this age. They are both just as sweet as they can be, though, and they are such joys to be with. I am really thankful I have been able to be home with them this past year.

Long weekend….

2011-09-06T14:57:00.001-04:00

Even though it rained all weekend, we had such a nice time hanging out together.

I have some sweet video of Celie singing “how great is our God” on our way back from picking up Libby’s new carseat on Saturday. She and I went alone and Matthew stayed home while Libby napped. I have been working with her every day on using her whole mouth when she speaks and sings, I tell her not to have a lazy mouth. She is really funny when she actually does it, she really takes it over the top, but it does get the job done. Matthew said I “stole” doing that with her so I can complain when EVERYONE and their grandmother tells HIM what a great job he has done with her singing. As if. I mean, it has already started. And I get it, he is a music leader. Everyone just assumes he is the only one that sings with/to/influences what she hears. Actually, it is just the opposite. So I did not “steal” the work from him, it is just something I started with her because I want people to understand her when she sings and speaks. Not so I could complain when he gets all the kudos for it. I just expect that to happen. Annnnyhew….. she also added in some interpretive movements with her singing and it was so sweet.

I also want to do 2 product reviews. I am not getting paid for these. I was not given anything for it, and was not asked to review them. I just love the products and wanted to share.

About 7 months ago, we ordered the Eureka Floor Steamer. It is AMAZING! I am serious. I tried 2 other brands before getting this one and it really is the nest one I have used. The cord is pretty long, it holds a lot of water, the surface area it covers is pretty large, and the actual heat/steam gets hotter than almost all of the other ones on the market. I was steaming 1-2 times a week with another brand and was also doing the swiffer wet jet 1-2 times a week. The first few times I used this steamer you would not believe how much extra dirt and muck I got up! Now, I just get the normal, weekly build up dirt up. And you can tell a marked difference when you walk, barefoot, on the floor. You get 2 cleaning pads with it and can wash them (don’t dry) in the washing machine. I just do mine every other week with straight bleach in my machine. It gets the pads clean AND washes out my washer.

The other machine I love is the Hoover Steam-Vac floor steamer. I had not used any other brands of floor steamers, but did a LOT of research on it. I looked and read for about 7 months before we got this. Amazing. As if you need me to tell you above the 2,063 other reviews you can read on Amazon. And all over the internet if you look. We boiled the water we used before using it, as directed in the reviews, for best results. Matthew did the seats and floors in his car and I should have taken a picture of the water that came out of that bad boy. It was pretty much just a container of black mud. And the seats and floors look AMAZING. Truly. Like a new car. It did take a while. He did his car while I put up/canned some peas. And cleaned up all the mess. So, it was about 60-90 minutes, including cleanup, steaming and water boiling. Celie’s carpet is next. I am super excited to see how it turns out. I will take some pictures of that, I know you will be so excited to see them.

So that’s all I have right now. Boring, I know. Sorry.

The only pictures I have taken on a real camera

2011-08-30T21:21:00.001-04:00

These were taken on August 14. I feel terrible.

I wanted to get a picture of my 2 sweet monkeys in their matching pj’s. It thrills me to say that Celie loves to have on matching stuff whenever possible. It is really sweet.

Where oh where have I been?

2011-08-30T15:25:00.001-04:00

I have not posted in a lifetime. Believe it or not, I have really not taken any pictures either. It is unreal, I am not sure what the deal is.

The past 17 days, we were all hanging out at home as a family. The company Matthew worked for had a big (20%) workforce reduction and, unfortunately, he was part of the 20%. It was basically b/c he officed in PSJ instead of the Northeast, but that is neither here nor there at this point. You know, it is funny… when he called me, I could tell he was in his car and I asked where he was going. He told me he just lost his job and I did, momentarily, start crying. In the back of my head I knew he was going to be let go but I guess I , uncharacteristically, just pushed it from my mind. I was on the floor playing with the girls so I did not prolong my tears, I was just shocked. Not one single second was I ever worried. It is amazing what having Faith will do for your nerves. There have been 2 other, very distinct, times in my adult life that I can say that I was at complete peace b/c I had Faith that the Lord would guide me, and this makes #3. (This is not to say that I have not had Faith in other times, but I am saying in really rough times. Times where most people do the blame game.)

We were able to truly enjoy the time we had together as a family while Matthew was home. We went swimming, had people over for dinner, took day trips, just spent time together - and it was really awesome. Before being let go, Matthew was working at least 55-60 hours a week, being able to spend time with him all day was a huge treat.

Our church just voted last week and moved Matthew from a part time Worship Leader to a full time Worship Leader, although that is not his official title (I have no idea what it is, to be honest with you). He could not be happier. Neither could I. This is what he has wanted to do since he made the decision in 2000. And it means we will get to see him a LOT more. We will not complain about that. So, without dwelling on all of that for too long, I will move on.

The girls are great. Celie is set to start school in a few weeks. She is only going one day a week and she is excited beyond words for the time to come. I know she will do wonderfully when she starts, I am so excited for her. She also got her second big girl haircut a few weeks ago. While she was there, she had a blue feather added to her hair. It is very subtle, kind of a peek-a-boo. She LOVE LOVE LOVES it! You don’t even know. She continues to blow my mind with the things she knows, my little sponge. She also started children’s choir at church last week. One of her teachers is Mommy Connie and that is a BIG hit. I have been practicing her song with her at home and she is a pro already. She is going to be a vocalist like her Daddy. I believe Libby will be an instrumentalist (like her Mommy). She still goes to church with Matthew at 7:45 every Sunday morning and really has a good time watching the Praise Team and Praise Band rehearse. Every now and then she gets to join in by playing something herself.

Libby. Sweet Libby. She is changing by the day. Although she has 8 teeth already, I think she is cutting a few more. Believe me, the teeth she has now get an extreme workout every time she eats. She can really power down the food. Raspberries are her favorite thing right now. It changes by the month, although it is generally a fruit. Sometimes we call her “Choppy Wayne”: Choppy for her big cheeks and Wayne b/c that is Matthew’s middle name and she 1) is built JUST like him 2) is a jealous eater. Not that Matthew is now but I have been told he would smell food and lose his mind when he was a baby. Libby is the same way. She would probably love fish sticks and bologna too. GROSS. We are 100% off the bottle with Libby now. I weaned her within one day for all except her bedtime bottle. It was actually not bad at all. I thought she would be like Celie and be a complete nightmare to wean. Not the case. At all. I gave her a bedtime bottle until we ran out of formula, which was 2 nights ago. All of her bottles have been packed up and taken to the attic for storage. Never to be used by her again. It was bittersweet. The crazy thing is: now we are those people that have to buy 2 gallons of milk every week. It is strange. I don’t drink milk at all. I use it with cereal and for a rogue cookie dunk when the mood strikes. Matthew generally doesn’t drink the stuff we have, mostly because it is whole milk. You may as well melt ice cream and drink it. Nasty.

Libby is SUPER fast at crawling and will step around tables, people, stationary objects lightening fast. She can really move. I have tried so many times to hold her hands and make her walk with me. She is not interested. She IS interested in just walking on her own, though. She will get up and walk to me if I am 3-4 steps away. She has really been doing it today. She just doesn’t want any help. At all. She wants to walk on her own, thankyouverymuch. Poor Matthew has 3 Sarah’s at home. Seriously, Celie is Sarah Jr. (which she gets called many times a day… it is unreal. But can I just say that I am AWESOME). Libby is such a sweet baby. I could (and do) just snuggle her and kiss her cheeks all day long. She is so funny, truly, really funny. She is pretty serious and reserved if she doesn’t know you that well, but if she is comfortable with you, she will talk up a storm and laugh her way through the day. One of my favorite things to do is listen to Libby and Celie play together. Celie likes to tell Libby no, but Libby enjoys saying it right back to her. It is cute. (I am sure I will rue the day that I said that.)

Lilly had to have a tooth extracted last week. Poor Lilly. And we even brush her teeth allll the time. Our vet said it is just an issue that short snouted dogs seem to have. She was gone for a complete day. I missed her so much. We all drove over to get her. What a treat. They had a big grate with 2 kittens in it and both girls went NUTS! I mean, insane. I think Libby loves them more than Celie, to be honest. She was really carrying on. And when she saw a taxidermied (is that a word??) bobcat in our Pastor’s office yesterday, she would not stop blowing it kissing and wanting to pet it. And the fox right beside it. (I was a little creeped out, to be honest but what do you do???) Lilly is back home and doing great, bless her heart. I am glad she had it taken out, I hope she will be with us for many years to come: stank breath and all.

Art

2011-08-08T11:00:00.001-04:00

Celie has been drawing and coloring up a storm lately. She has done several drawings of Libby, herself, our family, spiders (gross), various shapes we have been working on, etc. I had to save the one she did this morning and share it.

Now, you would think the circles at the top are eyes. They aren’t. They are another part of the female anatomy – if you catch my drift. The circle with a dot near the bottom would be my belly button. The square at the top is a hat and the squiggly stuff is my hair, naturally. Arms are straight across and I seem to only have one leg. Maybe I am jumping?

I got a kick out of her picture and had to post it.

More One Year Stuff

2011-08-03T15:02:00.001-04:00

Libby had her well check today. Here are her stats:

Weight – 20.12 pounds – 54%

Length – 29 3/4 inches – 90%

Head – 46.5 cm (big )

She did great. 3 shots were given and some tears were shed, but they did not last long and she was such a trooper. She is right on track for everything except fine motor and verbal skills…. which she is slightly advanced in right now. She was very busy while we were there, the paper that covers the table keeps her occupied every time.

Libby also had her one year pictures taken yesterday morning. Amanda met us down at the beach where we began to sweat like we were sitting in a sauna immediately. We did not get all the big, classic, Libby smiles but she did get some SUPER cute pictures that I am in total love with! Celie was with us as well and got a few shots taken. But the pictures were all about Libby so that is what I will show here. What a precious, sweet face!

I had her in the same dress Celie got her one year pictures taken in, I just love it so much!

Party People Everywhere

2011-08-01T15:35:00.002-04:00

e had Libby’s big #1 on Saturday. Family was invited and we did the standard birthday party food: burgers, hotdogs, baked beans, potato salad and chips. And drinks, of course. We had pretty much everything done the day before so only a few last minute things had to be done. Have I mentioned before that I like to have things planned out? My dad was the grill master and did an excellent job and my mom took care of the girls while Matthew and I did last minute stuff on Saturday morning. Having help was awesome!

As far as decorating goes, it was par for the course for me. I always have these ideas for things and end up making them and have no real plan for what I want to do with them when they are done. This year was no different. I did circle garland, I have really been in love with it for a while and just needed to have it. I did not measure out the space or have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with it when I started. I just got 20 sheets of paper and started cutting circles. About 200+, to be exact. It was WAY MORE than I needed, but we ended up putting them up anyways. With all the other stuff, it did not leave a visual space for balloons. I was kind of sad about it but not for long. The other addition I did this year were the large tubs/buckets with chalkboard paint and other details on the top portion. Those took kind of a while, mostly because the chalk board paint had to cure for at least 3 days before I could use it. They did not turn out too shabby for my first attempt, though. And I will be able to use them for anything. Yay.

Libby was a doll. I think she was not a huge fan of the hotdogs, but she was fine with it. There was a communication error when I ordered the cake. I actually ordered a sheet cake and a CUPcake, but I ended up with a sheet cake and a 6 inch smash cake instead. Oh well. She had a good time smearing all of the icing around. And then pooing it out about 2 hours later. (you’re welcome). She did not really eat the cake and that is super with me! She seems to prefer savory/salty over sweat. For now, at least. I am certainly not going to force the sweets issue on her.

We went straight to the bath after her cake and then she opened her gifts. And by she, I mean, the older kids did it for her. She was not interested. Of course. And of course, Celie thinks she needs to play with all of Libby’s toys non stop now. I know this is just the beginning, right? I was pleased that she did well with not having her OWN gift to open. I told her many times that it was Libby’s day and she got gifts. She was cool with it.

Anyhew, here are the pictures. I can’t believe she is ONE! It is not possible!!!!! It is hard to believe I have been home with her for a year now. Crazy. I actually had someone tell me I was like a first time mom now that I was at home with Libby. I know they did not mean it in a rude way but it did leave me thinking…. I do not feel like a first time mom at all. Not that I know everything, but just because you work outside the home, it doesn’t make you ANY less of a parent. Trust me. I figure if that was the most offensive things I heard all year, I was doing well!

Looks like someone else had a little taste too.

Libby is ONE

2011-07-31T08:30:00.000-04:00

(I just love those huge front teeth and her big smile)

My sweet Libby. You have been with us for a year now and we could not imagine our days without you! Here is a brief list of all things Libby.

you hiss. Just like a little cat. You hiss when you are happy and sad. It makes us laugh and is oh so you. I think it is easy for you to do because of the sweet gap between your 2 front teeth.
you LOVE music. And I don’t just mean you are fond of it. You literally get mad when I turn it off in the car. I have listened to music loudly since you were in my belly and it has always surrounded you.
you love to dance. You kind of bob your body up and down to the beat and laugh with your cute grin. You have rhythm.
Celie is your favorite person around and you two have your own language. She loves you so much and you have always laughed, kissed, smiled for and played with her the most.
you are a really good baby. You don’t really mind who is holding you and love to be around people. Crowds don’t seem to bother you at all as long as someone is holding you.
you LOVE the vacuum. Usually, you are riding on my hip while I vacuum the house. You started out that way when you were really tiny b/c you had to be held a lot. Now, I have to hold you to keep you from yanking the cord out of the wall. You also love cords.
you LOVE food. You never really ate baby food at all. I started you on baby food when you were about 6 1/2 months old and you really seemed to like cereal and fruit. I think that lasted all of maybe 6 weeks and then you were on solid food only. I took back all the baby food we had b/c you refused it. You did not seem to care for the taste but you really did not like someone else feeding you. You wanted to do it yourself. So I let you and you have never looked back. Strawberries are your favorite. You see the container coming out of the refrigerator and you start kicking your little legs.
you can only drink out of cups that have a straw. You have been able to drink from a straw since you were 7 months old. Maybe a little younger. I don’t think you understand the concept of tipping your head back to drink from a normal sippy cup. You never held your own bottle, so that is foreign to you.
you have held your bottle to feed yourself a total of maybe 5 times in your life. And those have been in your carseat or when we were out to eat. You prefer someone else holding it for you. No need to put all of that effort into doing it if someone will lovingly do it for you. You are a smart cookie.
And I mean you are SMART. I love to watch you process things. You will watch what is going on around you very closely and then copy it. You can see the thought process going on, it is really something!
you are very expressive with your eyes. You have been that way since the day you were born. A little flirt.
you really seem to love dolls and barbies. You always choose to play with them and babble non-stop when you are holding them. It will be interesting to watch you with them as you get older.
you are really funny. And you love to laugh at yourself and cheer for yourself. I guess you have heard Celie and me cheer for you so many times, you just started doing it on your own. I love your little silly personality.
speaking of personality…. you can really throw a fit. For no reason at all sometimes you will get really upset and start throwing a little fit. We are working on that.
you really understand what people say and tell you. You are really good at pointing out eyes, nose and mouth. You give kisses on command and can do some of the itsy bitsy spider with your hands. I think that is your favorite game to play. Pat-a-cake is right up there. And peek-a-boo. Especially with Celie. It always seems to make you laugh hard when she plays with you.
you are an excellent sleeper. From the moment we brought you home, you have always done really well at night. You had your days and nights confused for about a week when you were a newborn, but once we worked that out, you were awesome. You sleep from 7:00 pm – 7:45 am (or 8:00) every night. You nap from 10 am – 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm every day. You usually always wake up really happy and play in your bed for a bit before you are ready to get out.
you are VERY active when you sleep. You move all over your crib and always have. That is the #1 reason we had to move you to your crib so early. I think you went to your own room at 4 weeks to sleep at night. You are a wiggle worm. I think you preferred being in there, to be honest. You move from one end of the crib to another and roll from your back to your side to your belly. It never wakes you.
you had acid reflux as an infant but we stopped treating you for it when you were 5 months old and you have been fine. You grew out of it. You took Zantac 2 times a day.
you still take 4 bottles a day. About 32 ounces, total. And you eat like a maniac. You drink about 6 ounces of water a day as well. You should have been weaned down to 3 bottles long ago, we will work on that.
you have 8 sharp teeth; 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.
you love books. Your favorite books right now are: I love you, Goodnight and an ABC book with letters and pictures. You also love books that play music when you open them. You will look up at your table, whine and point at your books when you want me to read one to you.
You sleep with white noise. You always have and I am glad you do. It helps.
you are excellent at playing on your own or with your sister. I give you time to yourself every day and you thrive.
you are a really fast crawler. You seek me and my legs out every place we go and crawl to me as fast as you can so you can try to climb up my legs.
you understand “no” very well and are actually pretty good at obeying when I say “no, no” to you.
you go one day a week to “Mommy Connie’s” house and you do really well. It was very hard for me to leave you the first few times but you have really taken to it. Mommy Connie and Grammy are the only people that have ever watched you for an extended period of time. You don’t seem to mind who is watching you, just as long as you get attention.
you are very vocal and love to be heard. If anyone is ignoring you, you make sure we still know you are around. (not that anyone ever ignores you).
you LOVE the water. You loved your bath from the beginning and really get your legs going when you know you are about to get in any body of water. You also try and drink from the source (or a stagnant spot of water) when you get in.

Party People

2011-07-28T21:52:00.001-04:00

I have been really slack on posting lately. I guess I have been pre-occupied with other things. One very important distraction: Libby’s First Birthday Party!!!!! Her actual birthday is Sunday, but we are celebrating with family on Saturday at our house. Just a small gathering and the usual birthday fare – burgers, dogs, chips, baked beans and potato salad.

It has been raining every day lately. It has been AWESOME! We spent so long with no rain, it has been nice to hear and watch it fall a little every day. The one big turn-off? ALLLLLL of the mosquitoes that come after the rain. Poor Celie has my allergy to biting insects and it seems that no one else EVER gets bit by them because they are too busy biting us. We were outside Tuesday night for maybe 3 minutes while Celie got out of the car and I came back inside with 7 bites. Celie only had one but it is massive. Poor baby! Clearly, we are the sweetest ones around.

In other news… Celie has been going to church with Matthew every Sunday so she can go to Sunday School. They leave at about 7:45 and she stays in the sanctuary with Matthew while the Praise Team and Band practice and then at 9:00, she goes to her class. SHE LOVES IT!!!!! She never stops talking about her teachers and what a great time she has. We have been given a great report back on her and I get to see glimpses of her being helpful when I drop Libby off before the service. She is such a good listener. Especially when teachers are involved. I am anxious to see how much she loves school this year!

Yes, that is right. She is starting school for REAL this year. They don’t start until September, but she is looking forward to it already. I think she will have a blast! It is only 2 hours a week, but I think that is great for her to start out with. I don’t want her to dread going every day. I don’t think she will, but still.

Pooh

2011-07-25T22:00:00.001-04:00

I took Celie to see Winnie the Pooh last week. It was her very first movie and she was a rock star. She was SUPER excited to go and had been waiting ever since I mentioned it at the beginning of JUNE. That is a long time for a 3 year old.

Libby went to Mommy Connie’s on Thursday and Celie and I spent our first date time together just the two of us, since Libby was born. It was really nice for both of us. When I put her to bed Thursday night she said (word for word) “Mommy, thank you so much for this great day.” She melts my heart.

I talked with her for a while about using our manners and being respectful during the movie. She knew that if she started talking, whining, walking around, etc that we would get up and leave. I don’t believe in making anyone else sit through a movie they paid (a lot of) money for just so my kid can watch a movie. Or not watch. Whatever. There were other parents that did not share the same consideration and that is a shame, but we had a great time anyways.

She belly laughed at Pooh’s belly grumbling and really seemed to understand what she was seeing and hearing. It was cute. Owl reminded me of my dad and that made me laugh. She sat on my lap for some of the movie and then sat in her seat for a while. She did ask a few questions, but really was a very good girl.

Here are a few pictures I took with my phone. The one in the seat was before the movie and the rest were after. I wish the one with the movie poster would have turned out better but what do you do?

just 2 pictures

2011-07-19T14:35:00.001-04:00

Libby after church. Before her meltdown at lunch. Sunday’s stink for her. She is always WAY tired and WAY hungry. This little smile gave no indication that she was about to throw down. Of course she was perfectly content when I picked her up and started walking around with her. We ended up taking our food to go. It is silly to have one person eating alone or rushing their food while the other holds a baby and waits to eat. So we just took it home. And Libby tore it up! She must have been starving. This picture makes her eyes look green, they aren’t.

This was taken yesterday after her afternoon nap. You see, she CAN hold her bottle. She just doesn’t want to do it. Sweet little baby.

It’s a shame she has my hair

2011-07-15T15:25:00.001-04:00

I will say what my mom always says to me when I complained about my hips and thighs…. “I gave you the best of everything I had.”

It may have taken a long time for Celie’s hair to grow in, but I really think she has my hair type. It is really getting thick and it is definitely unruly when it is humid outside or it gets wet with her heavy sweating (another sweet trait I passed along to her).

We went out to play at the sand table yesterday afternoon. I had to get a few snap shots of her hair.

Here is her best “pained actress” face.

Classic Celie Bug. I feel like her bangs could be a commercial for Du-Wop!

Oh my

2011-07-12T10:14:00.001-04:00

Celie Bug. She is the sweetest. Really, she is. She is so loving and kind.

And her daily need to choose her own clothes makes me ~~cringe~~ laugh. This was yesterday’s outfit. Actually, it was one of 3.

And the shoes. What can I say? I LOVE shoes. Celie was born loving them. Seriously. We are a perfect match. So when I see an adorable pair of toddler shoes, I pretty much know she is going to love them as much as I (do). That was the case with these wedges. What is not to love, right? She wants to wear these shoes pretty much every day. As you can tell, they are not really play shoes. Just church/dressy shoes. I am about 100% positive she would break something (a limb or something else) if she was allowed to play in them. She is a little clumsy.

So here is my sneaky pirate in her garb yesterday afternoon. Couldn’t you just eat her up?!?!?!?!

We are on the way to a backsplash!!!

2011-07-08T11:20:00.001-04:00

It may actually happen in about 4 months at the rate we are going, but that is awesome!

I have been buying a rogue sheet of tiles every time I go to Panama for a long time now. I have recently stepped it up to 3 tiles each trip. I have no idea how many we need, but I am guessing around 35-40 of them. At $11 a tile, it adds up. We don’t do credit cards, so buying a little at a time is the easiest way for us to get the job done without realizing a massive pinch on our bank account. I mean, let’s be honest. I lost my job almost a year ago but we still have alllll the same bills to pay each and every month, so we have had to curb the way we do things at the White house.

I can’t wait to get the job done! I have also shown Matthew that painting the hideous cabinets will make a huge difference and really make the kitchen look better. The bones of the cabinets are nice, I don’t want to get new ones. Just change the look of the ones we have so they don’t match our floors (gag). Lots o’ projects on the horizon!

I also have some projects I want to work on for the girls, but I will write about those as I start them. I have enough to keep me busy for a while.

I forgot to write about it…. but Celie made the move into her big girl booster 2 weeks ago! She was SOOOOO excited when UPS delivered the box! I was excited seeing how excited she was. She really loves it. We let her pick out the exact color she wanted, so we have a hot pink and black seat now. She is getting so big! We got the Britax Frontier 85. I liked that it still had a 5 point harness for toddlers up to 85 pounds and then has a safety clip you can add to the seat belt after that and up to 120 pounds! She may be in this booster until she goes to college. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the seat. I did a lot of looking before deciding on this one. I am really picky about seats. We know 3 couples that have had pretty major accidents (cars being totaled) and it was the that the children were in that kept the safe. I just can’t imagine a booster you just put in the car and wear a seat belt with right now.

Of course when Celie moved out of her “baby seat”, Libby moved right into it. She pretty much loves it. She is able to sit up higher and see out the window as we drive. One thumbs down???? She can’t have her little toy clipped to the seat anymore. Maybe it is just a bummer for me because she is now old enough to be in a big girl seat and not an infant seat anymore. I did not even have time to say goodbye to the other seat. Matthew was in the attic putting stuff up there and all of a sudden I remembered that I wanted to put the infant seat up there so I went to the car, got it out and immediately hoisted it up to him. Libby was watching it all as it happened and I think she was confused b/c she got a little angry when she saw her seat being put away. It is hard to believe she lasted 11 months in it, but she is pretty small. And it was harder for me to let go of the infant stage, too. It seems like she should only be 4 months old.

My mom got Celie this hat last weekend and I was really not sure she would wear it. SHE LOVES IT. It is her new sun hat. It really does keep the sun out. And she looks cute/funny in it. I snapped a few pictures of her before she headed next door last weekend for her cousin’s birthday party. Can you tell she digs it?

So call me lame….

2011-07-06T15:40:00.001-04:00

I have one day a week that both girls go to someone else’s house. In theory, it sounded so nice. And it is nice to have some time alone, don’t get me wrong. But now I am having issues filling my day. What do people DO all day when they are at home and don’t have kids? I forbade myself from cleaning so that is out. I have been doing my weekly groceries and errand running but that has to come to an end. I think that wears me out more than anything else. Not nearly as much as it does when I am doing it all with 2 little ones, mind you. But it is not quite what I had in mind for a relaxing day. I feel so lame not knowing what to do! I miss the girls terribly when they are not with me. I guess that is what it is all about. We all need a break from each other and one day a week is the perfect amount of time.

I have pictures I just downloaded from 3 weeks ago. Maybe that is what I need to be doing on my day off? Getting all of our mementoes in order. Ugh. BOR-RING! Anyhew, there are a few of Libby that I just adore. She is just too darn CUTE! Her personality is what gets me. She is really funny. And very sure of herself.

Here is a smattering of the ones I have uploaded.

I could not decide which one I liked better so I just published both!

This little dotted number was her 4th of July church attire. She can’t wear dresses right now b/c they impede her crawling.

Now, I am really very against just wearing a diaper but for 5 minutes of water playing on the front porch, I am not wasting my time with a bathing suit. Sorry. She LOVES the water. Any form you give it to her. My mom was spraying her down and she loved every moment of it!

Libby Lou

2011-07-05T15:23:00.001-04:00

I was on the fence…..

Do I get invitations made for Libby or just get the fill in the blank style? I mean, after all, it is only going to be a family party. I could just call everyone and invite them that way. I was thisclose to picking some invitations up at Target the last time I was there. But I didn’t.

Celie had real invitations so Libby will too. Although, I saved a ton of money by only having 6 made and shipped. I always ended up throwing some away when I ordered Celie’s.

So we will do a whale theme for Miss Libby and her invitations got here today! I just ordered them on Wednesday (and it was a holiday weekend – I am really impressed).

I did have some special things I was going to make and craft for the occasion, but I DID end up taking that stuff back. I mean, she could care less and I am pretty sure family could as well. So we will just use our standard party fare and be done with it. Grill out and eat cake. I can’t wait to see her eat her cupcake (that I scrape 90% of the icing off of). She is such a food lover, I can just see her little legs kicking in delight!

It seems so strange that we will be celebrating Libby’s first YEAR in less than a month. It doesn’t seem real. Where has all the time gone? I have loved every second of it. (the colors are pink and navy, the picture makes it look like pink and black)

Long week

2011-06-24T14:26:00.001-04:00

I have to say, I have a whole new appreciation for the spouses of Military Personnel.

Matthew has been gone all week with work. Just a week, but it has been a LONG week. I really don’t know how people do this all the time. Especially those with kids. I mean, Matthew was only gone for 5 days. Not months or years like so many men and women that work to give us freedom. Any time I got tired or run down at the end of the day, I kept all of those brave men and women in mind. He goes out of town kind of a lot, too, so it’s not like this is a new thing for me.

It was not that I minded being home alone all week. I didn’t. I am home alone all week every week. Matthew works 2 jobs and is often away from the house until late at night. If he has to go up to the church for something, he chooses to come home first and spend time with us and then go to church after the girls are in bed. It seems like the best case scenario since he gets to see them so little. But at least when he is here and coming home late, I know that he will be safe and home, laying next to me in bed. When he is gone for work, I let my mind wander to the “what ifs” and it is just not good. Like I said, any time I started thinking about that I had to stop and think about the brave soldiers who are actually placing themselves in very dangerous situations FOR US. And then I thought about their spouses and what THEY must go through for long periods of time. Several times. I really tip my hat to them.

We have had a good week. I was kind of dreading it since it came right after a week of VBS where I was home alone allllll day long, but it was just fine. My mom ended up coming to see us for a few days and it was nice to 1) see her 2) have an adult to talk with 3) have a little help with the girls. I did not sleep a wink all week long but I am sure I will sleep like a queen tonight!

Wednesday was the first day I have EVER left Libby with anyone for the day. Our Pastor’s family is so kind and they asked if they could keep her on Wednesdays so I could have one day of the week to myself (since Celie has a play date already every Wednesday). I was immediately sold! I was really looking forward to having a day to do what I wanted to at my own pace. Then Wednesday arrived. I was devastated to leave her. I really did not see that coming. The closer it got to Wednesday, the more anxious I felt. And not for any reason except that I would miss being with her. I knew she would be in awesome hands and very well taken care of. I just had a really hard time leaving her. So I called on the way to their house and told Mrs. Connie that I would be very brief, not lingering at all. I could hardly make it out the door to walk back to my car without completely breaking down! The ugly cry, too.

I spent the day with just my mom, which was really nice. We tootled around stores and went to lunch where I got to eat a proper meal at a proper pace (without visiting any of the public restroom facilities, thank you!!!!) and just had a nice adult day. I started to get teary a few times while we were out, thinking about the girls, but I stopped myself and allowed myself to really enjoy the day. Libby and Celie were both super happy and had done well while I was gone, so it sounds like everyone won! Celie must have played her heart out because she could hardly make it home without falling asleep in the car. Needless to say, it took her all of 5 minutes to be sound asleep that night.

My Pass

2011-06-20T22:05:00.001-04:00

We went to dinner for Nanny’s birthday dinner and Celie got into bed later than normal. We were saying her prayers before bed and this was what she said:

“Dear Jesus, please make Britt and Paisley feel better soon and let me close my eyes and go straight to bed so I am not cranky.”

I wonder where she has heard that before?

I have given myself a pass recently. After talking with a friend, I realized I was putting WAY too much pressure on myself. I had someone else’s idea of perfect in my head and thought that if I did not live up to every detail of that, I was failing at being a wife and mom.

I have moved on. I do the best I can and that is perfect enough for me.

I refuse to beat myself up because I don’t make a hot meal for my family every night. If we are being honest, I don’t think many people do that anymore. I am not saying it is good or bad, I am just saying. I just had to tell myself: “you have 2 young children, one under the age of 1. What is more important, spending time with them and shaping their hearts and spirits, or making sure you have a hot meal on the table every single night?” Guess which one won?

I spend all of the girl’s awake moments WITH them. I am on the floor playing, talking with, feeding, cleaning up, bathing, etc. one or both of them. I went through a short phase of thinking I did not want to be on the floor playing with them all the time. And I don’t mean to say that I am hovering over them alllll the time. They still have sister play time and Celie has alone play time. But that is a short amount of the day in comparison to the time that they are awake. I let Celie watch about 2 hours, total, of TV a day. I am picky about it. I want her to know how to play and do things like use her imagination and FOR ME, that is just the way I choose to do things. I think it took me about 2 weeks to realize I wanted to be on the floor playing with and spending time with them. They will only be this small for a moment and I want to do as much as I can while they are still into me. It is a very small window of time. I still do my stuff while they are awake, I don’t completely stop the world because they are awake, that would be crazy. But I do things in the area that they are or I relocate them to the area I am going to be. It works for us.

So I gave myself a pass and stopped beating myself up for not living up to some strange ideal that people think SAHM’s should be. I do what works for us and I think my sweeties benefit from it. It is what WE do, not what I think everyone needs to do. Everyone has to do what works for them.

I have a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I can’t tell you how great it felt to hear that pretty much NO ONE I KNOW cooked hot meals for their families every night when they had very young children. I am really referring to Libby. I could manage a nightly meal if I had older children but to have one that is SO dependent on me for everything…. that is a different story. I am not saying I would do a nightly meal, but it would be about a million times easier if both of my kids were toddlers. And maybe some people DO cook hot meals for their families every night AND they have young children. But I can guess/bet that there is another area that they give themselves a pass on. No one can do it all. We each have our things that are at the top of the importance list when it comes to what we do for our children.

It made me feel normal and that I may actually be doing a good job doing what I could for our family. You have no idea.

Score

2011-06-20T11:48:00.001-04:00

Without even trying, we just ended up getting black out shades for our bedroom. Now all of the bedrooms will have them. I can’t imagine how nice it will be to not be woken with the sun. Both girls have the same issue so the blinds help some. You can still see it peeking around the edges but it is MUCH better than the alternative. And it has really helped keep their rooms cooler this year.

We ordered the blinds for Libby’s room a while ago. Matthew installed them the day they arrived. Her bedroom and our bedroom have a window that is wider than the average window, making that blind pretty expensive. About 3 weeks ago, we discovered that a few (like 2) of the cells in the blinds were a little odd. Matthew called the company ( Select Blinds.com) and they graciously sent us a replacement for FREE!!!!! We will replace the blinds in Libby’s room (since that was the intent of the email to the company in the first place). The great news, that I just literally thought of last night???? WE will be able to have Libby’s old “defective” blind in our room! We are well on our way to having most of the windows converted over. They are not the prettiest things, but the money they save is well worth it. And the sun/lights they block out are an extra bonus!

The only downfall? It’s all or nothing. Either you have them open or closed, there is no half way. Kind of a bummer b/c I do like to filter light so it is not glaring in the house but not a dark cave either.

Father’s Day

2011-06-18T21:15:00.001-04:00

Since Sunday is Father’s Day, I am going to dedicate this post to my sweet husband.

I read this article posted by a friend on Facebook earlier today and it really made me sick to my stomach. I am so thankful I have a husband who is so attentive and so ACTIVE in his children’s lives. I guess I just don’t understand “that Dad” that doesn’t know how to take care of his own children. What does that even mean? It unnerves me, really. I am really blessed to have the husband that I do who cares for his family above himself.

I kid a lot about Matthew but, in all honesty, he is the greatest man I know. He is loving, caring, thoughtful, gentle, gracious, everything you want a husband and father to be. He is also a great provider and care taker. Our girls light up when their Daddy comes home every day and it just make me love him even more.

Matthew is not afraid to get on the floor and play dollhouse, Barbie, cooking, or whatever else Celie is into at the moment. He actually thrives in that situation. He is not afraid to talk to her about anything, take her anywhere, tell anyone how much he adores her or be alone with her. The same goes for Libby, except the playing part since she is really not into that stuff yet.

He was never the hands off dad that refused to get up at night when the girls were infants, change diapers (even poopy ones), feed them bottles, etc. He sees it as his role as a dad. It blows my mind that there are still people that don’t feel this way and think that children are only for women to deal with. I mean, WHAT? Ugh. Those men make me nauseous.

Matthew is very aware of the fact that I need an “out” every once in a while. I go about every 8-10 weeks to get my hair done about 3 hours away from where we live. (Yes, I am fussy about my coif, what’s the big deal?) He generously takes time out of his day to make sure HE can watch the girls so I can go on my own and have adult conversation and time to relax without kids asking questions or climbing all over me. And yes, HE takes care of HIS girls all by himself. And they love it. He is not afraid to take them places on his own, he just rolls with it.

I am so thankful God sent me my sweet husband. I could not think of any better man in the world to fill the shoes he has to!

Just a picture

2011-06-16T15:21:00.001-04:00

since I have not really posted a picture of the bug lately. This was last night before VBS.

If I only had $20 for….

2011-06-16T14:29:00.001-04:00

Every time someone told us “you don’t need a sprinkler system in White City. It rains there every day”… we could have a sprinkler system by now. And grass that is alive. We DO have a pump that is fixed now, thankfully, but it would be AMAZING to have a sprinkler system hooked up to it!

Every time a mom told me “I remember what it was like when my kids were young like that”…. I could have had numerous massages to relieve tension. The truth is…You don’t remember. I promise. If you are a parent of children that are older now, times are MUCH different than they were when your kids were being raised. If your children are 2 and older…. you don’t remember what it was like to have a baby at home. I would bet a lot of cash on it. You forget what it is like to have NO time to yourself, or body parts for that matter. You forget what it is like working around numerous naps a day and you certainly forget how worn out you are at the end of every single day. I promise. I had forgotten before having Libby, so I was in the same boat. I love every moment of it and am not complaining an ounce, I am just stating a fact, Jack.

Every time I have had to repeat myself to Celie this week, I would be able to buy all the tile we want for our backsplash. My word. This week is our VBS at church. Celie is going for the first year. She LOVES IT! I love that she loves it. She comes home every day and tells me something new she has learned and it makes me so happy. She loves church and has told me about 500 times that her favorite book is the children’s Bible I got her a few months ago. I am thrilled. I hope she keeps that same passion her entire life. That is one of my goals as her Mommy. BUT OH MY WORD…. she is going to bed 2 hours past her normal bedtime and it shows. She simply cannot go to bed late. No matter what time you put her down, she wakes at 7:30. No matter what time you put her down, she lays in bed awake for at least an hour. I think it is mostly because she has such an active imagination. I do the same thing. I can be exhausted but it takes me about an hour to wind down and go to sleep. Celie got that gene. I am thankful tonight is the last night. 7:00 bedtime, we will see you again VERY soon.

Every time I have to bite my tongue instead of saying what I really want to get off my chest…. we could have our house paid off. In full. I am a work in progress.

Watch out world!!!

2011-06-15T14:44:00.001-04:00

Or should I say, every closet in the house? Libby loves to see what she can get into now that she has mustered up the strength to inch her way through the house. She has been plotting her plan for quite some time, I am sure.

She got into my closet this morning and thought she would rearrange some things for me. Clearly, tidiness means nothing to her (yet)! I will probably not allow her to play in my closet any other time, but this morning I had to snap a few pictures since my camera was right there and it was the first time. She also has a fondness for the fan in her room that makes noise while she sleeps. That is a huge no!

Anyhew, here are some of my little sweetie. She was too quick for me to get any great shots.

The girl is mine (mine, mine)

2011-06-15T11:33:00.001-04:00

As if there were any doubt, Celie sealed the deal yesterday by telling me “ugh, Mommy. It’s too hot out here, I don’t want to get sweaty. I just got out of the bath.” It was while we were waiting on sweet Lilly to make her 90th circle before doing her business. She continued to tell Matthew the same thing when we got in the car after lunch. “Daddy, it’s too hot out here. I don’t like to sweat.” He is in trouble. If Libby is the same way he is going to have 3 sweat haters on his hands.

She has pulled out some other Sarah moments recently, but that will be for another post.

Libby is on the move!!!!! She has been atempting the crawl for about a month now. On June 3, 2011 she actually made her first crawl where she stepped both knees and used both hands. It was a proud day! She only does stuff on her own time, I am just sucking it up. It was around that time that she also decided she would hold her own cup. Only a cup with a straw though, she doesn’t quite understand the other cups and I think it is too much effort for her to hold it back while tilting her head. I take what I can get. I happened upon one cup with a straw you don’t have to suck the life out of in order to get liquid out and thought I would let her try it. She loves it. Of course I could not find any other. When we were at my parent’s I went into their Wal-Mart and they had a TON of them. I now have 7.

What? Who wants to wash the same cups over and over? Not me!

We have about 1/2 a container of formula left and I am toying with it being the last we purchase. I may get just one more. I don’t know. It is kind of bittersweet to be honest. I can’t believe she is almost drinking whole milk! I also can’t believe I am almost done washing out bottles and shaking formula 4 times a day! What will it be like to be able to leave the house without packing bottles and formula? I am almost able to just wing it and swing in to buy milk from the store if we happen to be out longer than I provisioned for. What is that?

So nothing is safe anymore. She is a mover and is getting pretty quick. I guess the real fun starts now. I remember telling Celie “no no” about 4 million times when she started crawling. Although, they have different temperaments. Celie learned quickly, Libby knows better and likes to do it anyway. I am in for a treat. She is spirited, that little Libby.

Libby will also get her big girl car seat this week. She is going to LOVE it. I think Celie was 9 months when we changed her over. Libby will be almost 11 when she makes the change. Celie was a lot bigger, to be fair. It will be odd to have them both in big girl seats.

I sent some of the videos from my phone to youtube, but they are small. I am going to post a lot of them, dating back to mid May. You’re welcome!

Some time away

2011-06-13T11:06:00.001-04:00

We took a little family trip last week. Matthew took off from Wednesday – Friday and we went to see my parents. The initial plan was also to get Celie together with her BFF, Blair. Then we heard that Blair and her Mommy, Kelly, were not going to be in town that week and we were bummed for Celie. On Monday night, Kelly told me they WERE going to be there and then the plans began. We drove straight to “Blair’s Nana’s house” so the girls could play. We swam, ate and visited. I really like Kelly a lot so it was nice to be able to sit and talk with her while the girls played together. Matthew had never really had a chance to get to know her that well so it was nice for him, too. He is also a big Kelly fan. I think the girls played together for about 5 hours and had a blast! I truly love watching them. They don’t fight, push, argue, disagree… nothing. They just really love each other and play so well together. For girls that only see each other once every blue moon, it is pretty amazing how well they get along.

We had the pack n play so Libby could take a nap while we were there and she slept like a queen. She was such a trooper. She LOVED getting in the pool and floating around on the big floats. She likes being in the center of all of the action.

We traveled on to my parent’s house after Libby woke from her nap. Celie was really excited to see her Grammy and Granddad. Except Granddad was already at work. She was set and ready to see all that she could after we got there and was happy to be back at their house again. My mom had to work that night so we waited for her to leave and got the girls put down for bed. Libby sleeps in my mom’s closet while we are there and she sleeps so well. I think it is because she can tell it is a closed in area that is well insulated with clothes so she doesn’t feel so open in a big room. And it is pitch black in there. No windows at all, which makes for great sleep. She slept about 14 hours every night. We wound up having to wake her up around 9:00 every morning. Celie was a different story. She was wide awake and ready to play every morning at 7:00!

Thursday, we played around in the morning and then went to FWB to a little splash pad. Celie had fun playing in it, but not nearly as much fun as Libby. She would sit on the ground and lean over the spot the water shot up from, just waiting. She got shot in the face a few times but she loved it. The first time it happened, it made me nervous. I should have known she would be thrilled over it! We tooled around that shopping center for a bit and went into an embroidery place where I found the whale we will have done for Libby’s birthday shirt. Yep, I am doing a whale theme for her first birthday. I think it will be cute.

That night was supposed to be our date night. We were all set and excited to go see a movie. It has been since Christmas (the last time we were at my parent’s together) since we have seen one. I love movies. Anyhew, we ended up getting a call from Punkin about 3 minutes before we were set to buy the tickets saying the fire we had been warned about earlier in the day was about 2 miles from the house. Um, no way was I going to a movie after that. Who would be able to enjoy it? Instead, we tried to compose a list of what we would need taken from our house if they ended up evacuating people. I felt so helpless. If you know me, you know I have to be in control of situations to feel comfortable (most of the time). I was completely out of control in this case and it was scary. It is interesting what we chose to “save” in case of emergency. It made me think back to hurricane Opal evacuations when I was a teen. I was told to get the things that meant the most to me. I took alllllll of my jeans (I had a LOT of them) and all my pictures. Maybe some CDs as well. Then we Matthew and I evacuated our house after we were first married, I took all of our stained glass, pictures and other clothes. This time, I was not even thinking about myself. Not to sound like a martyr. It is just interesting how people change as their lives change. My main priority was the girls. I did ask for my jewelry box, but that was it of “my stuff”. I wanted the girls to have their stuff. I also had to be realistic. We were counting on someone else to do all of this for us and they had their own priorities. It was just a sad time for me. I think I held it together for a while and then I started to think about the girls and that they would have nothing. And what would it do to Celie? She would never want to go away again. Because when you go away, something bad happens and you have no home to go back to. That was when I totally lost it. I started sobbing like I have not done in quite a while. So much so that I was hyperventilating. Thankfully, we did all of that for nothing. The foresters and fire fighters were able to contain the fire and are just monitoring it now.

Friday was a fun day. We hung out all morning and then went back to Blair’s Nana’s house (also known as Cindy…). We grilled out, swam and played games. It was SO much fun. I don’t think we have laughed like that in a REALLY long time. It made Matthew feel the same way I did the last time I was there – if it were possible for him to work from home, we would move there in an instant. There is so much to offer and there are REAL people there. It is hard to put into words, but it is a feeling we both have. That is all I can really say. Friday night, my brother and his family came into town. Celie was really excited to see everyone. She calls them her “older cousins” but she really had a blast with them and her Uncle Chris.

Saturday we went to get our hair cut. I was SOOOOOO PROUD of Celie. At first I was concerned about what she would do while I sat in the chair for an hour or more getting my hair cut and styled. But she did great. She just stood (or sat) there and watched. She did not get into anything or touch anything at all. She was just a little lady. It is times like that that I feel rewarded for working so hard with her at home to be content doing stuff by herself and not needing constant entertainment. Next it was her turn and, again, she was awesome. She did just what was asked of her and got a cute little stack. Our hair kind of looks the same, actually. I told her that since she did such a great job and was so polite and well mannered, she could get an ice cream. I am taking her to get that today. I am happy to do it for her, too. I kind of still can’t get over how great she was.

June 3rd

2011-06-03T14:54:00.001-04:00

And at 2:00 in the afternoon it felt like it was 102 outside. In JUNE!

We played outside in Libby’s baby pool and the sprinkler for about 45 minutes and that was all they could take. I was thankful, it is too hot to be outside unless you are submerged in a large vat of water. And I wasn’t. I knew it would not last long, I did not even bother with a suit for Libby. She went in her diaper. Celie, well, she had to have a suit. She is too old to run around with nothing on. She always gets excited to get suited up anyways. Almost as excited as she gets for sunscreen. I am a huge sunscreen nut, if either of them is out for any length of time, they need to be slathered down. We are actually going to invest in the arousal sunscreen. Has anyone used it? Opinions, please. We just need something that will not be as heavy and take SOOO long to apply.

Our poor yard. Matthew had it looking really nice at the beginning of the year and then it stopped raining. We have an irrigation pump, but it has been broken for a year or so. We did not need it last year. This year is a different story! Most of our yard is now deader than a doornail. Brown and crunchy. Celie doesn’t mind, though. She loves to run through it. I am so proud of her for doing the sprinkler at all. Last year she was not interested at all. Actually, she was terrified of it. We are going to try out the splash pad again, too. Maybe she has had a change of heart about it as well. Maybe if she sees her buddy Blair doing it, she will decide she needs to as well. That is my hope at least.

There is nothing else really eventful going on. It is so miserable outside that I am trying to stay inside as much as possible. We take a trip to the back porch every afternoon but even that is becoming gross. The combination of the wasps and heat is just not something that beckons me to enjoy it. It is a nice change from the same old thing inside but have I mentioned that I don’t like to be hot and am terrified of stinging creatures? (I have good reason, I am allergic to them)

Here are a few pictures I snapped today. Check out the belly on Libby! I love it!

addition

2011-06-01T16:28:00.001-04:00

I need to add something to that last post.

I DID NOT mean to sound like I think I am a wonderful, talented chef or cook. At all. I do not think that highly of myself. I was just stating that I have cooked for the past two weeks and that following a recipe is not hard. There are people that have an actual talent for making all things, I do not claim to be one of those people.

Food

2011-06-01T15:24:00.001-04:00

Well, I have done it. I have kind of shot myself in the foot. The secret is out…. I am a good cook. Really, I think anyone can cook. How hard is it to follow a recipe? I mean, really? I went through a phase last week where I made something almost every night. Actually, I think it was for 2 weeks. Wednesday was the only exception because Matthew has church and it is usually a busy night here so I just get pizza. It is easy and good. Score.

Anyhew, I made this (easy) wild rice and chicken casserole last week and now it is on Matthew’s must have weekly list. It is funny the things he gets so taken by (usually a casserole or some type of rice bake dish) compared to what I get taken by (usually some sort of Mexican fare or grilled steak). I am sure our Mom’s would say we have both always wanted those same things all the time. So tonight is casserole night, again. I mean, I like it but I am just not a huge casserole eater. I admit that this certain casserole is WAY better than the normal chicken casserole that most Southerners make so often. (I had never even had that dish before we were married, true story)

I have had a quiet day with Libby at home. I am amazed at how low key the day is with Celie at Jenn’s. She has not been in about a month, so she was really excited to go over today. She could hardly wait for Matthew to get ready for work so they could leave. She loves playing with her friends. Libby has enjoyed her one on one time with me. She was pretty bummed to see Celie leaving this morning though. If anyone is getting in the car, she thinks she needs to go as well. My sweet lady. She is a mess.

Not much new to report except how unbelievably excited Celie was Monday morning when she ran in to get Matthew and me. I was getting ready for the beach and Matthew was talking with me. Celie and Libby were playing in Libby’s room. Celie came speeding in our room to tell is Libby crawled to get a toy. Watching her reenact what happened and tell the story with her excited eyes and voice was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. She loves Libby so much. And she told us the story and happenings very clearly, kind of like a teenager. She is a good communicator. Libby did not actually crawl, it was more of a lunge on her knees to get something she wanted, but we are making headway. She really WANTS to crawl. I think in another week or so she will be on her way. Lazy bones is getting tired of being lazy I guess.

That was quick….

2011-05-31T11:04:00.001-04:00

And just like that our 3 day weekend is over. It was nice while it lasted.

We actually had a really busy/packed weekend of things to do until today. Today was our day. We purposely did not have any plans or agenda. Except to have chicken pita for dinner since I had been marinating the chicken since Friday morning. It was exceptional tonight, too. I am a pita machine! And Matthew is the best griller I know.

We went to a really fun birthday party Saturday morning. Some good friends of ours were celebrating their son’s #3 birthday and we would not have missed it. It was really refreshing being around normal people. No one “put on the dog” for anything. It was just a lot of real people having a good time. It was at an indoor bouncy house place and Celie had a blast. It was the site of the major panic attack she had about 6 months ago when we went with her bestie, Blair. She got stuck in this huge obstacle course. We talked about it before going this time and she decided that she would try it again because, after all, she was older now. I was so proud of her. She aced the thing. Over and over. And she went with her buddy’s Aunt, whom she had never met before but immediately loved. Actually, she loved all of the family that was there and if you know Celie, you know she usually doesn’t just play with strangers. They are just good people and I guess kids can just sense that kind of thing. Anyhew, she had a blast and Matthew and I had a lot of fun seeing our friends and making plans to get together again soon.

We got home and rested for about 2 hours and then were off to church for a dinner with a prospective youth pastor and his wife (for our church). The girls had a wonderful time and Matthew and I were actually able to enjoy dinner with just Celie. Miss Connie kindly took Libby so we could eat and enjoy/get to know the visitors. We got home and everyone went to bed straight away. It was a long day. But so much fun!

Sunday was the normal church day with an added lunch with Staff and their families after the service at a local place. It took 10 lifetimes. Seriously. THE slowest service EVER. Matthew ended up taking Libby home since he was done with his meal and mine was still on my plate, untouched. I stayed there and ate with Celie and visited. We got home and Celie went down for a great nap. I was shocked because both girls slept until 8:30 Sunday morning. I thought Celie would not nap at all, but I was wrong. Sunday night was another dinner at church. Seriously. It was a busy weekend. It would have been busy no matter who you are, but when you throw 2 children into the mix (one that still NEEDS 2 naps and is an infant), it makes it even busier.

Needless to say, the girls slept until 8:30 Monday morning as well. We beached it in the morning and Celie got to see a few of her friends while we were there. I am SO proud of her, she is really getting brave around the water these days. She is far from diving or running right in, but I would rather it be that way. I saw a HUGE shark very close to the shore while I was on a walk with the girls. I kindly ran into the water to get a lady that was snorkeling out of the water. She had no idea there was a big shark behind her swimming parallel to the shore. When I say huge, I mean it was about 4 feet. It was pretty big to be that close. Any shark is too big for me though. We had Matthew’s Mammaw over for dinner that night and it was just a really nice, relaxing, quiet evening. Quiet being #1 on my list. We are a quiet family. None of us cope well with a ton of noise constantly going on around us. It stresses me out.

All in all, we had a really wonderful weekend together. I took some cute videos of the girls that I will have to get here some day. I really find it funny that Celie is so much like me in so many ways. She is really funny. Most people would never know, because she is reserved around people in public. She is a lady. I am the same way, I would say only my immediate family, Matthew and very close friends know my true personality. That is Celie for you. When she is with her people, she turns it on and it is really something. She is too cute.

Here are some festive pictures from the weekend.

(I have to put one from last year in here just to see how much Celie has changed. She was such a baby last year!!!!!)

Finally!!!! I captured a real smile from Celie! It is hard to get those on camera these days.

Growth Spurts

2011-05-26T15:02:00.001-04:00

I think Celie has just gone through a small spurt. I just cleaned out all of the size 9 shoes and am going to go through her closet tomorrow. She wore an outfit (that she picked out on her own) today that is too small. It fit her the last time she wore it, too. I think that was about 2 weeks ago, which sounds about right with her eating habits lately. She has been a beast. Today’s lunch, for example, was pretty sizeable. Not a TON of food, but more than she usually chooses to eat. The menu:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, 2 fruit cups, a good portion of Doritos, 6 strawberries, a yogurt and a pudding. About 5 minutes after she ate, she was on the prowl again by the pantry door saying she was hungry. She had an applesauce and a string cheese. I mean, that is a lot of food. I don’t even think I could eat that much. All of that was after eating 2 waffles, 2 cups of milk and a cup of water for breakfast. Her tummy must have been very full because she kept asking if it was time for her nap and that hardly ever happens. She rarely sleeps for her nap anymore. That is fine with me, I just require that she has downtime in her bed. If she chooses to sleep that is great, if not, she goes to bed right at 7:00. If she takes a nap, I will let her stay up a little later. Maybe until 7:30 or so.

I had to get a picture of the outfit today. She was doing her best “flying dragon” when I took it. Bless her heart. I think we have been hot and heavy with Jake and the Pirates for about 4 1/2 months now (mid January, I would say) and now we have added dragons into the mix. What a sweet little girl. She is a perfect mix. She likes girly stuff like painted toes and shoes/purses/playing with her dolls. But she also loves “boy” stuff like pirates, dragons, trains, and cars. Thankfully, she doesn’t like to watch or see anything that looks like boy stuff though. She thinks it is gross and that is just fine with me.

Libby Lou is just right behind Celie with her eating. Punkin made some field peas the other night and brought them over for the girls to eat. Libby was double fisting them in as fast as her little T-Rex arms could move. Moaning the whole time, of course. She loves peas. Matthew brought her home some zipper peas last night and it was the same story. She was out of control. If I could just get her to have that love for anything GREEN! She is a machine with peas and strawberries though. And chicken of any sort. Actually, meat. Period. She needs all the energy she can get so she can try to keep up with Celie.

I don’t even know how she stands having these shorts buttoned. And the shirt is going to be hard for her to say goodbye to. Not me, since I don’t care for purple, but she loves the thing. Those shorts are a 5!!!!!!! Target stuff runs small on her, I guess because it is made cheaply, and Gymboree seems to run just right. She wears a 4 in their stuff at the moment. She certainly doesn’t look that big to me when I see her.

sweetness…

2011-05-25T19:39:00.001-04:00

I think that is what “Patch” used to call Kayla on Day’s, isn’t it? Or was it Beau and Hope? Why am I wasting my time trying to remember?

Matthew and I went to a surprise party for someone the other night. Punkin was sweet enough to put the girls down so we could both go and it was a really nice time. When we got there, the entire floor was covered in balloons! That is like the worst case scenario for me. Seriously. The sound of a balloon popping makes me want to tee-tee in my pants. If I know it is coming, it is not as bad. The all of a sudden, shot gun balloon pop is what gets me and that was what was going down. After the birthday boy walked in, all of the younger kids took great pleasure in popping every single last one of the things. I did not know whether to hold my ears or my bladder. Yeah, I feel a little old.

I have really been basking in a lot of sweetness lately. My mom came over so we could go out, Matthew took a LOT of time setting up my phone for me and downloading apps he thought would be cool, Punkin watched the girls so we could go party, and someone gave me a very unexpected gift. Actually it was 2 gifts in one. When I heard about it, I immediately broke down in tears and started crying. Celie was watching the whole thing. I think I must have leaned into Matthew while I was crying. I don’t remember. (I am crying even just typing about it). Anyhew, I was trying to compose myself so I was not crying for an eternity in front of the girls and when I got up to wipe my eyes, Celie looked hurt. She immediately pointed to Matthew and said “Hey Daddy. Be nice and be Mommy’s friend. Give her a hug, please.” I tried to explain that I was not sad but that I was crying because I was happy but a 3 year old totally doesn’t get that. So I just moved on.

We have had a lot of fun watching the girls play at the beach together. We went both Saturday and Sunday last weekend and plan on doing the same this weekend. Except on different days probably. They had a blast and it was so nice to enjoy spending time together doing a lot of nothing. I did have a really sweet and special moment with Celie that I will always remember. And it was so simple. We just walked along the beach holding hands and talking. Granted, most of the conversation revolved around pirates and shells, but who cares? It was so sweet and I could spend every day doing that. Libby will be right there beside us one day, enjoying a walk and shell searching. Celie has come a long way in the past few weeks at the beach. She even ASKED to walk down to the water and put her feet in. Libby, on the other hand, had a blast when she was in it. I had to wash all the sand off her and the waves were splashing all over her face. I thought it was going to scare her but when I looked over at her, she was laughing her sweet little head off.

Silly girls

2011-05-24T15:01:00.001-04:00

Celie is funny. There is no other way to say it. Her timing is the best. She takes everything we say in and uses it at just the right time.

The other day at Sam’s I was saying it would feel nice to get in the large freezers. I jokingly told Celie that I wanted to get in one. She said “well, go on then. Do it.” No doubt I have said that to her about a million times. It was just priceless hearing it come out of her mouth.

Miss Libby has a love for the vacuum (thankfully she is not scared of it like Celie is). Celie got out her play vacuum the other day and was cleaning her room. Libby got a kick out of it and showed off by laughing, clapping, and turning on her hiney in a circle over and over.

Celie was waiting (not so patiently) for me to finish doing something. While I was doing it, she was coloring. She kept saying she was done. I told her that she would be done when I was done and then she could watch Bubble Guppies on the computer. The last time I told her she sighed VERY deeply and said to one of her imaginary friends: “*sigh* every time I say I am done coloring Mommy says no, color some more and then you will be done.” It tickled me.

This is something Celie had heard COUNTLESS times but she is now turning the tables on me. The other night there was a mess in the floor that I made while I was playing with Libby while Celie cooked for us in her room. I left the mess there when I started making dinner. Right after dinner we went outside to let Celie run in the sprinkler and Libby sit in the baby pool. We all came back in and I told Celie she needed to clean up her mess before she watched the Pirate Camp episode before bed. She looked at me very matter of fact and said “No, Mommy. That’s YOUR mess, you clean it up.” Nice.

Libby has learned how to mimic the cutest things. When we cheer for her, she cheers back at us. Same pitch and everything. She will also say “shh, shh, shh” when we say it to her and claps at us when we clap for her. She really thinks she is something else.

I know there is more to add, but the comedy is really in her tone and timing. It just doesn’t translate to posts very well. I will have to get videos of some stuff and try to post it. I would love to have it documented for us.

Celebrate good times

2011-05-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

We had an awesome weekend! The girls and I went to Panama City Beach on Friday morning to meet my mom. I had to pick some stuff up from her and it is the best 1/2 way mark for both of us. Celie enjoys the outdoor rides they offer and Libby just likes being out. We met at 9:30 and I think were gone all day. It made for an interesting stop at Sam’s Club. I have arrived as “that mom” that has a baby screaming in the buggy. In all fairness, I had already done everything I could to get Libby to stop crying and it was not working. She needed a nap. It was 3:00 and she had not slept ALL day long. Couple that with being on the go in general and you have one tired baby. And Mommy. I just acted as if she was not there screaming and carried on as normal. I am SURE people around us loved me. Luckily the issue only started as I was checking out.

My mom, that I love and appreciate, was not planning on coming back to St Joe with us. The plan was just to meet up and then both go back to our respective homes. Out of the goodness of her heart, she decided to come back home with me (well, she followed me in her car) and stay the night so she could spend more time with the girls AND let Matthew and I go out to dinner for our Anniversary. We have been married 7 years! It really was gracious of her to do that because she had to leave first thing in the morning to get back to work Saturday night. I love my mom, have I said that already? She knows that we don’t get to go out on dates unless she is staying with us and she also knows how important it is for 1) me to get out of the house without kids 2) Matthew and I to spend time as a couple together without kids. We are both really dedicated to keeping our marriage first. A strong marriage builds strong families. Like I need to tell anyone that.

We had an early Anniversary gift from Libby… she slept in until 8:30 Saturday morning!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT NEVER HAPPENS! She is my early riser. Usually she is like a little rooster and she wakes right at 7:00. Celie is not far behind her, at 7:30. Both girls got up around 8:30 Saturday though and it was heavenly! Matthew made us grits, eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast and then after Libby napped and my mom left, we went to the beach. I think we got there around 1 and stayed until 3. It was just long enough. It gave us the rest of the day to clean up after all the sand and beach stuff that is required when you have 2 young children. It was a really nice, relaxed family day. We kind of just did what we wanted to do and did not have an agenda. I guess that is what most families do every weekend. It was nice to have a day like that.

We had these pictures taken before Easter (you can tell it was a while ago because Libby’s face is not as chubby these days) but I wanted to post a few of my favorites! It is hard to choose just a few, but it would be crazy to post all of the ones we like. Our friend Amanda is SO talented! Celie is comfortable around her since she has been shooting pictures of her since she was 5 months old. And I am sure Libby will acquire the same comfort in time. I actually took Celie to a party at the area we always do pictures last week and she asked if we were meeting “Miss Amanta” for pretty pictures when I drove in.

Windows

2011-05-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

We have established that I am a nut for fabric! I look at it every day. Maybe there is a better, more fitting word for that than nut. I am sure there is. Anyhew, I love it. I have been on a search for the perfect fabric to use for curtains in our living room, dining room and kitchen for about 3 years. Have I mentioned that it takes me a while to choose something I have to live with? Imagine my joy when I saw THE FABRIC I had been looking for. It is the perfect match for the green we already have inside and it blended perfectly with the backsplash tile we are buying (one 12X12 tile at a time to soften the blow of the massive purchase). I was on a mission to find the fabric. Of course it was a fabric Sarah Richardson used in one of her guest rooms on “Sarah’s Cottage” so I knew the search would not be easy. Little did I know it would also be insanely expensive. Before I tell you how much the fabric runs, just realize that we have to purchase about 25-30 yards of it. Possibly more.

It was $328 A YARD! No way Jose!

So the search is back on. Darn it!

To be fair, the fabric is embroidered and appliqued. And I don’t need all of that. I just wanted the design. Bummer. I had so many dreams and plans for it before my dream went down the drain.

Moving on to my sweeties.

We have had a lot of fun playing together today. And Libby has found a new love.

The piano.

She will make her daddy proud. She strikes me as the type of girl that may play an instrument. Lord knows, the “music program” here in Gulf County is a joke. She has no hope for getting a solid foundation of it from school, which breaks my heart. She is lucky that she has 2 parents that are fond of music. And a daddy that is a music theory pro.

She had so much fun banging on the piano, I think it lasted for about 20 minutes. I took some video and pictures on my new phone but have no idea how to get the video off my phone and onto the internet yet. I am sure I will be able to when I can complete the activation of my phone, but I am locked out right now until my iTunes account is reactivated. Someone hacked into my account and stole $85 from us! I got it back, but in the process they had to deactivate my account. So we are waiting. And waiting. I will post both things when I can.

Taking it easy

2011-05-19T11:00:00.000-04:00

Since I have posted an (over)abundance of pictures the past few days I am going to take it easy on this post. You’re welcome.

I have started scheduling my posts through Live Writer. I have used Live for a while. I don’t feel like going back to the post where I originally talked about using and loving it, but it has been a little over a year probably. Maybe 18 months. Well, maybe almost 2 years. I don’t know, time is moving so rapidly since I have been home with Libby and Celie. Who saw that coming? I was doing a very poor job of keeping up with my posts and I found myself not wanting to do it at all because I had SO much to say and no will to actually get it all out there. I hope this helps.

I am writing this as Matthew cleans out his car in the garage. He did NOT want to do it. I offered him the super easy solution of just taking stuff out of his car when he actually gets out of it in the first place instead of letting it pile up for 2-3 months…. but he was not interested in that. A clean car always feel so nice! I really should be watering the plants on the porch instead of doing a post, but I will get to that in a moment.

We had a BIG talk at our house tonight about playing with food and not being interested in what you have been given to eat. ESPECIALLY when it was what was requested. Celie ASKED for peas. I gave her some peas (white acre peas, to be exact). She messed around and played with her food and kept trying to barter with me about how many more bites she had to take before she was done. I should say here, I am not down with that. It is not as if I give her gargantuan portions to eat. She gets a toddler size serving and I expect her to eat it. I REALLY don’t want my kids to be picky eaters. Nothing gripes me more than hearing kids complain about food they have been given. She finally got sent to her room with no more food or drink at the end of the whole ordeal. Not for complaining. She was playing with her food and ended up spilling peas (and the pea juice) ALL over the floor, my clothes, my shoes, the barstool, her clothes. Everywhere. I think she gets it. For a few days.

Matthew had a talk with her about boys and girls that have no food to eat. She was amazed that there were kids that went hungry every day. All the time. And here she is playing with her food and complaining about what she was given. Neither of us used the phrase “there are starving kids in the world” but her comments suggested that she was sad about that fact.

I said a few (probably 6) months ago that I was done making her what she specifically asked for. I have not lived up to that. But she will start eating what we eat. Or she won’t eat dinner. I am serious, too. I understand that not every person likes all food. I despise English peas and meatloaf. Or any red meat with cooked onions in it. Gag. I love onions and I love red meat. I do NOT like them cooked together (unless it is hamburger steak with onions). So I get it. We 100% REQUIRE that Celie at least try a bite of everything. If she truly hates it, we don’t push it. I can tell if it is a true hate because there is usually dry heaving that goes along with it. I don’t really know what else to do beside making her try things and telling her she can eat what was offered or nothing at all. I know that is how I was raised. And I ate MANY a lima bean and meatloaf meal that made me want to puke. But I either ate that or did not eat dinner at all. I hope it is just an age thing and that she comes around.

Birthday Bash!

2011-05-18T10:27:00.001-04:00

My birthday was Sunday and we celebrated on Monday night with cake and…. steak. What else? I could honestly eat it every single day. I am fairly certain Matthew would have vetoed the request had it not been my birthday meal. I just love the way he grills steak! They are the absolute best steaks I have ever had. Seriously. Even better than my beloved Coach N’ Four that I grew up eating. And requesting for every birthday. My love of steak started at a young age.

My Birthday weekend started out with..... you guessed it. Another round of the puke and duke. This makes SIX TIMES since Christmas! That is insane! I am so used to throwing up at this point, it did not even phase me. Libby must have known I did not feel well because she took rock star naps Friday! And Celie knew I was not feeling well so she kissed and cuddled me. It was sweet, even though I did not want anyone touching me. She was just trying to make me feel better. I had to crawl out of the house at 4:00 to get Celie's stuff for a fishing tournament the next day. It was a struggle, but as every other SAHM knows, there is no laying around when you have young kids at home. You just have to push though it and move on. The virus finally left my body later Sunday afternoon and I rebuke it entering this house again!

We had a low key weekend. Saturday we hung at at home and then took Celie fishing after lunch at this little dock a block or so from the house. It is the Intercostal Waterway and is, apparently, a hot spot for fishing on the weekend. Libby and I did not stay too long because she was ready for her nap, but Celie had a blast fishing with her Meme, Papa, Aunt Marci and Uncle Adam and cousins. And Matthew, of course. I don’t think anyone brought any fish home from that trip, but it was the fun they had that mattered.

Sunday we went to church and then I took Celie to a pool party for one of her little buddies. You would know that it was unseasonably cool and windy. VERY windy where we were (at the beach). She did not really get in the water but she had a really fun time. I was worn out when we got home. I guess it was being in the sun.

I had a really nice birthday and even got an early birthday present… Matthew blogged again! And it was even really sweet! If you know Matthew, you know he has it in him, but you won’t see it very often. I really appreciated his blog, though, and was happy to see he started again!

You know it is hard for me to publish a post without pictures of my sweeties. The one of Libby bending over to the floor is her mode of getting things. If they can’t be reached that way, she doesn’t need it! The one of Matthew and her was sweet. She was giving him a smooch!

TONS of pictures

2011-05-17T11:01:00.000-04:00

These were taken Sunday before church. I could not decide which pictures I wanted to post so I just posted ALL of them. Of course they are in matching dresses. I can’t help it! I really love Libby’s expression in some of these. And I love the look on Celie’s face as she is watching her baby sister. She is such a good and loving big sister!

I think my favorite of the bunch has to be the stink eye Libby is giving in one of the pictures. Inside I think she was saying “you FOOL! How many pictures do you need?!” I could be wrong, but it seems to be what she is expressing. I am going to dedicate an entire photobook to the stink eye pictures we have. I think they are so funny. She is really not an unhappy baby, I think she just dislikes having 45 pictures taken at a time. I can’t say that I blame her. The flash does get old.

Libby, Libby bo bibby

2011-05-16T10:37:00.001-04:00

This post will be all about Libby. I vowed to not be a “comparison parent” because I just don’t think it is fair. I try hard not to do more for one child than I do for the other and I want to be certain I say enough about Libby because we all know I have had a LOT to say about Celie. For 3 years.

My parents were (and still are) really great about not comparing their 3 children to each other and I really would like to follow in those footsteps.

Miss Libby Anne White.

I don’t even know where to start with our little sweetie. She really is a sweet little girl. She has the sweetest smile and disposition (unless she is tired or hungry) and I honestly can’t get enough of her. Her little smile lights up a room and her laugh is infectious. It’s actually more of a spit and laugh, but that is part of its charm. She has a sweet spot on my hip and once she is there, she is ready to go. If I don’t have her on my hip, she will push and shove her way right to her spot. She is a little monkey. I vacuum the house with her on her sweet spot at least 2 times a week. She loves the vacuum and it seems to be a double bonus if she can catch a ride while it is going.

She is REALLY smart. I know all parents think their kids are smart but I am serious. This little lady is bright. You can see her thoughts in motion when you look into her eyes. She will see you do something, anything, a time or two and will be able to do it. She is very expressive with her eyes and has been since she was born. You can tell just what is going on with her just by looking at her pretty little eyes.

She LOVES music. We were given a book that plays music when you open it and I think it is one of her favorite things to play with. She loves to open and close the book to start and stop the tune. She is a dancing queen when she really enjoys something and will wave her “4” in the air and/or shake her head from side to side. She also likes to wrinkle her nose and breath in and out really fast. That is her way of showing she is excited about something.

Her love of music is equally matched by her love of water. She starts pumping her legs when she hears the bath water start and ADORES splashing her feet in puddles. I am fairly certain she will be a little fish that never wants to leave the water. I know I was that way. I kind of still am. My baths border on ridiculous.

Libby is not really picky with who is holding her. She has her moments, as any baby does, but she generally likes everyone. Just as long as she is being held, she is golden. It seems that she will be a social butterfly. Or maybe just that really smart person that doesn’t mind people in groups. She truly just loves being held and loved.

She is also a really GOOD baby. All babies have rough patches, but she is just a good girl. She doesn’t cry when you put her down for a nap or bed, and she can play on her own without a problem. She will let you know when she needs or wants something. She has a very healthy set of lungs. Her average sleep at night is about 12 1/2 to 13 hours and she takes about 3-4 hours of naps a day. I would not say she loves to sleep like other babies I have heard of, but she gets what she needs and goes from there. Often, she wakes from her morning nap and plays in her crib for about 30-45 minutes.

Libby will not be overlooked. She makes sure of that. If Celie is doing something and attention is all on her, she makes sure she gets her say. It is really funny. And you know when you have hurt her feelings. She is pretty sensitive. Teething and shots have been a new learning experience with Libby. She just seems to have a few issues with them.

Oh the eating. She is a ferocious eater. She LOVES meat. A basic meal for her is: roasted chicken, corn, white acre peas, strawberries and yogurt. She loves food. Loves it.

I think she just loves life in general. She prefers being around Celie 100% of the time. I love watching them in their car seats. Libby is always looking over to see what her big sister is doing or singing. And she lights up when Celie takes the time to actually talk to her or play with her. Her giggle is so sweet and when she gets Celie laughing, too, it is just the sweetest sound I could ever hear.

Libby is really funny. She just is. She has quite a personality and I think people will love being around her. I know they do now. When my mom and dad come to visit, Libby lays it on thick with her smiles just to show them how much she loves them. She is a character. I think she may take a little more coaxing in the “do stuff for yourself” arena, but that is just who she is. I love every little piece of her! (Even her giant front teeth).

It is hard for me to believe that she will be 10 months old in a few weeks! Where has all the time gone? I would say that my baby is getting so big, but I have a feeling she will be a baby for a while. She still refuses to hold her own cup/bottle, although I know she can. She will do it on occasion, just to show you she can do it. And she 100% refuses to crawl. Mike and my sister never crawled so I am not letting it bother me. She is insanely strong and I know she could do it, she just really doesn’t want to. She sits and rotates her body in a circle to get the stuff she needs. And that is good enough for her.

I am sure I have left stuff off my list of Libbyisms, but I can always add to the list later. She is just a joy to be around. Her personality is so cute and she keeps us laughing all the time. What a sweet little girl!

Libby’s Dedication

2011-05-12T14:34:00.000-04:00

I wish I had pictures to post but last weekend pictures were the last thing on my mind. Sweet Libby is really having a rough time with teething. I am not even sure which teeth are bothering her at this point, but they are. She has the diapers and the temperature to show for it. The temperature is gone now. If she has one at all it is a low grade (below 100.3) and not something I would even classify as a real temp. Or give medicine for. Last week she went up to almost 101 and was just miserable. You could see in her eyes that she felt bad. The fever finally broke on Sunday night. Matthew was feeding her dinner and my dad and I were at the pirate ship park with Celie. He was trying to teach her how to swing and I was wishing I had a camera to capture it. She was funny but my dad was cracking me up.

My mom came into town Thursday and we had a really nice time. Celie always looks forward to Grammy and Granddad coming to see her. From Wednesday night until last night (so, a whole week), Celie was getting bare minimum sleep. She gets so worked up that there are people here to see her that she doesn’t want to sleep that much. I get that. We had a lot of fun with my mom here and we also managed to get Celie’s room done! She finally has a headboard on her bed now and poms hanging in the corner. She loves it, and it looks a million times better. I have some projects in my head that I would love to do for both rooms but I am certainly not starting them now. I am taking a small break from extra stuff.

My dad got in very early (I think it was 2 AM) on Sunday and was there to see Libby get Dedicated. Celie woke up extra early on Sunday and peeked around the corner to make sure Granddad was here. He was pretty much not allowed out of her sight after that. It had been a few months since she saw him last.

Even though I don’t have pictures to put in Libby’s baby book (that she doesn’t even have yet)…. I have really wonderful memories of the weekend. Meme and Papa came to church to see the event and we were all able to crowd into one pew. It was a very special day. Celie was thrilled that Libby got a new Bible and this one has DVDs that go with it to tell the stories. It is really cute.

Matthew made a delicious red sauce for lunch and we all sat down to enjoy that when we got home. He made it Saturday night so we just had to warm it and cook the pasta. It was perfect. I had a really nice day and appreciate my parents coming to see Libby get Dedicated. I also appreciate my wonderful husband that works so hard to make sure everything is just right.

Matthew works so hard at work all day and most nights he has to pick up his second job (but true love and passion…. Worship Leading). I never say this enough, but I am truly proud of all the hard work and effort he puts into choosing songs and leading our Church every Sunday and Wednesday night. And I am so proud of all that he does at home. He is a wonderful husband and a fabulous dad. He has 2 little ladies that think he hung the moon and it just makes my heart swell. He made it easy and nice to enjoy Mother’s Day last week. I hope I can return that in June.

In other news… I am really trying to become better about preparing meals. It pains me, but on the other hand, I love eating healthy as a family. I have Beef Stroganoff cooking right now and I hope it is good. I have only made it one other time. I am not a big casserole person and we get tired of eating chicken all the time. I could literally eat steak every day of my life, but who needs to? I am always on the lookout for easy/HEALTHY meals to prepare. I have read several recipes for stuff that is delicious, but it is so loaded with fat and calories, I would never make it. I hope Libby likes the meal tonight. I really want to expand her palate. I don’t understand it, but she LOATHES green beans. How is that even possible? I am pretty sure she also hates squash. She loves field peas and corn, but those are just starches… I need her to expand her likes to actual veggies. I am sure we will make it there in time.

Success

2011-05-04T14:53:00.001-04:00

I am pretty sure this is super boring, but I am so proud of myself. Last night, starting around 8:00, I snapped a whole hamper of green beans and got them ready to be canned today. I ended up cheating a little more than 1/2 way through. I used a knife. I had green stains all under my nails and my thumb is still sore from slicing the tip of it off Saturday. It went MUCH faster with the knife but I think that way is highly poo-pooed.

Matthew helped me do about 1/4 of the hamper and it went much quicker when he was there with me. And it was nice to have 2 hours to just sit and talk with him. No TV. No computer. Just us. We also cut up fresh watermelon and peaches. OH MY WORD at the peaches. They are the best I have ever had. I think they will make awesome peach ice cream.

I set off this morning at 8:00 to go start my lessons on canning. I don’t know why it is called canning b/c you put things up in jars, but whatever. I did 24 quarts of green beans this morning. I am SO proud. You have no idea. I also learned other great tips about how to save random foods if you are not using all of it and general great kitchen skills. Our Pastor’s Wife has really taken me under her wing and she is a fabulous mentor. She is teaching me so much about so many things. Some, just by watching how she handles life and situations. I have asked many people on many occasions if they would teach me how to make certain things in the kitchen but she is the first that is doing hands on with me, and that is how I learn. I feel so great about what I have learned. All from canning. How crazy!

Celie is at Sissy’s today so it was just Libby and me. She is my little trooper. I found a new food she loves today – cabbage! We are thrilled b/c Matthew and I both love cabbage. If we could just get Celie on board. I am sure she will come around some day.

I am still not sure what the throw up thing was Monday but I have heard of 2 others doing the same thing: soured, curdled milk throw up. It was gross and I hope it did no spread. So far we have all been in the clear.

some pictures

2011-05-03T15:29:00.001-04:00

I wanted to get some 9 month pictures posted of Libby. She is so funny. Matthew and I now call her a honey badger. Have you ever heard about those things? Nothing phases them. They just keep on keepin’ on. They do what they want to do. That pretty much explains Libby.

I had to post a few of her signature “4” dance move. She always waves that one arm and holds up a 4 while she dances. Celie does it back to her and that really gets her going.

I also LOVE the pictures of her giving the camera the stink eye. She looks at people sometimes like she will cut a fool! Honestly, in these pictures she was getting ready to blink b/c of the flash but I thought they were funny anyways.

I think Libby is starting to look more like my mom than my dad these days. I have seen it especially in the past few months. It still falls in line with me think she looks so much like my sister though b/c she has my dad’s eyes (so does Libby) and my mom’s other features. Either way, no matter who she favors, she is the cutest little thing I have ever seen!

Oh, the plastic baggy is so sad, right? I told you, Libby has gotten the shaft. Celie has a special pewter container her hair went in. Libby has a plastic bag. Poor baby. And I had to get a few shots of all of my squash. Green beans are tomorrow! I am excited! I am heading over early and will be taught how to can/jar the beans. We have an entire box here now that we have to snap in order fore them to be ready.

Out of the woods!

2011-05-03T14:44:00.001-04:00

Celie is feeling MUCH better today. She did not have any bowel issues so maybe it was just something she ate and not a stomach bug. I hope so at least. I have been washing my hands like crazy making sure not to get germs on them.

Since she was feeling so yucky yesterday, I did not get a chance to record this video and get it out to her sweet cousin, Lylah, who turned 4! I am sure she won’t mind, it just spreads the celebration out a little longer.

I did not mention this (I don’t think) in my post yesterday but of course the day that I have to do copious amounts of laundry in order to get Celie’s bedding washed up, there was an issue with the washing machine. I went in after it ran for about an hour to check on the status only to find suds coming out ALL over the place. I wiped them up and stopped the cycle but it was too late. The damage was done and there was a code that popped up, keeping me from doing the laundry until it was cleared. Technology. Ugh. Matthew fixed it quickly after he came home (he has become SO handy the past few years) and also discovered the sud issue. Someone (ME) was not paying close enough attention at the store and did not get HE detergent for the laundry. I have been told it doesn’t matter before but this was my (accidental) test and I can say it does matter on our machine. I just finished up my last load of laundry this afternoon and am glad to say I am done for at least a day or two. I do have quite the pile of ironing that has to be done now, but that is fine. I can do it while I wind down tonight.

Here is the little video for sweet Lylah. (Pardon the Libby whines, it was nap time).

Happy #4 Birthday, Lylah!

What a weekend

2011-05-02T14:17:00.001-04:00

We had a busy weekend but it was really nice. It seems like we did a lot, but we really did not do that much.

I went to get my color touched up on Friday with a girlfriend and it was really nice to be out of the house AND have adult conversation. We got there right before the appointments and pretty much left right after we got our hair done, which made it a little rushed, but it was nice to get out nonetheless. We were trying to make it back by 8:45 for a ceremony here and I found out at 5:45 that it really started at 7:00. I heard that news when I was 2 1/2 hours away so I clearly missed the important part of the evening. I tried though.

Saturday I did something that I have never done before. It made me feel so Southern and domestic. I “put up” squash! We love squash in our house. Our pastor’s wife is teaching me how to put things up and can. I really enjoyed it. We went over to their house for a HUGE breakfast and then got to work. We took Matthew’s veggie slicer that is so sharp it could chop off your finger without you knowing. Matthew was slicing the squash for us at one point and got too close to the blade (we could not use the guard with squash) with his thumb and sliced it open. It looks like an animal bit the tip of his finger. After I was saying how dangerous it was to do that, I took over and at the very end of the box of squash we had to slice, a piece slipped out of my fingers and I sliced the top/side of my thumb and nail off. Ouch. I think I came home with 10 quarts of squash and some whole to use soon and I left the other half there. The next lesson I am learning is canning green beans. I am excited. I think peas and tomatoes are after that (peas will be bagged though). It was so relaxing to me and I was really shocked that I liked it so much!

Sunday night was the children’s choir presentation and it was so cute! We took the girls to that and they seemed to like it. Libby likes anything that allows her to be in the Bjorn strapped to me and Celie liked hanging out with her buddies at church and eating when it was over. It is hard to believe she will be up on the stage singing with them next year! Where has the time gone?

Libby’s second top tooth popped through Sunday morning! Now I think she is working on a bottom one. I think now that the ball is rolling, they will just all come in one after the other. Maybe that is just wishful thinking though.

Celie threw up all over the bed this afternoon. Poor thing. I am sure my days are numbered before I do the same. It was (of course) right in the middle of lunch and she said she was tired and wanted to lay down in bed so I was taking her in there. She started getting antsy when I put her down on her bed (I carried her because I knew she was not feeling well) and before I knew it, she was puking curdled milk all over her bed. THANK GOD I just bought a waterproof mattress cover for her bed last week and put it on! She was saturated with puke and milk curds so I took her to the bath and put her in there while I went to get Libby from her highchair and put her in the saucer so she could see us while I gave Celie a scrub down. And I would not have left her to eat by herself. Come on. Celie felt much better after throwing up and I believe she is done being sick to her stomach. I did give her some Sprite though and she quickly declared it her favorite drink. She has only had it one other time and it was a 75/25 ratio of water to Sprite. I gave her the full deal today. We don’t allow soda or caffeine to be given to the girls so that was a REAL treat. I hope the buck stops with Celie and that Libby and I don’t get what she has! We have Libby’s Dedication this Sunday and have family coming in town for it! And it is Mother’s Day! I would hate for anyone to get sick now!

Oh, Libby also got her first hair cut. I snipped her rat tail off the back of her head. She has the little “tail” that all of the Blazer women have so there is still a trace of hair there, but the long rat tail part is gone. She did not mind a bit. My sweet girl.

Stats

2011-04-28T15:07:00.001-04:00

We had Libby’s 9 month appointment today. She was such a trooper. Of course she did not do what the Dr. wanted her to when given blocks, but I think that is normal. It is normal for my kids, at least. They don’t really perform for doctors.

Weight – 18.12 pounds – 50%

Length – 28 inches – 60%

Head – 18.5 inches – 65%

She said she was not worried with the size of her head. I had never even thought about it to be honest. Matthew’s head is a little on the larger side and since she is shaped just like him I just knew her head was going to be big(ger). She had 2 shots and was so good for them. She whimpered for about 5 seconds and then she was fine.

I also had my fears of her not holding the bottle set at ease. The Dr. said a lot of her stay at home mom moms say that same thing. She said that many children from homes where children are attended to very well, they just see it as the mom’s JOB so they never attempt holding it. She said it was actually better in the long run because Libby would be less attached to the bottle. YAY! She likes babies to be weaned starting at 9 months so I am going to start adding a little whole milk into each of her bottles and then just switch her the rest of the way to whole milk in a cup, getting rid of the bottle altogether. It will be bittersweet. I know she will like milk because she has already had many sips of Celie’s from her cup and wanted more. I hope it is an easy transition but maybe since she sees Celie drinking from a cup and doesn’t seem to care one way or the other about her bottle it will go easier than expected.

I have been so tickled by Libby today. I was singing to her while she ate her cheerios this morning and she started dancing. I thought it was a fluke so I did it again. And again. And again. I even got Matthew to see it. It is the cutest thing. She has 2 big dance moves, one with a head nod and one with a hand wave. This is what I will always remember about her personality as she gets older. She really adores music and has always liked to move and dance. Let’s hope she got Matthew’s dancing skills and not mine. Celie having them is enough.

We have had a really nice week this week. Matthew has not had choir practice and has been home fairly soon after 5, which makes it so nice. Celie made a comment about Matthew always being at work or at church and I think it hit home. I know it did for me. Matthew stays very busy providing for us every week but we sure do miss him when he is gone. It has been a nice change to have him home every night this week!

Easter and a few other things

2011-04-27T16:00:00.001-04:00

Of course I got the girls matching dresses. Libby’s was just right on her, a touch big but not too bad. Celie’s was a touch short but that’s ok. They looked precious. The dresses would have been perfect for a monogram, but I would not be able to use Celie’s again for Libby in a few years if I did that. And I could not do just one.

As the video has shown, Celie had a lot of fun hunting eggs in the house. She loved her Easter gifts and thought it was silly that I made her ride to church in her panties. I did not want her dress to be all wrinkled up so I put it on her when we got there. She has also enjoyed playing with the stuff from Libby’s basket. I should switch the contents next year so each girl will want to play with what is really theirs! Libby has had fun chewing on Celie’s basket stuff as well. Except the candy of course, I do have my limits! I get tickled sometimes at Celie’s interpretation of sharing. She thinks that she should be all to “share” (take) all of Libby’s stuff all the time but that Libby should not take hers at all unless I have told her to share. I know that is just a 3 year old thing, but I hope we grow out of it soon. I am sure this phase will last about 13 more years!!!!!

Libby’s top left tooth cut yesterday and she was back to being her normal cute and happy self. And then there is today! She is fussy all over again because the right top tooth is making its way through. Poor thing. The tips of the teeth are like daggers, I am sure it hurts trying to break through.

We finally got all the flowers planted on the porch. And added in a whole pot of basil! YUMMY! It will go perfectly with my new found talent…. bread making. I made the perfect pita the other night. I got the recipe from my friend and was a little nervous that it would not turn out but it was seriously the best pita I have ever had. I am just saying. Our little Kitchen Aid may be getting quite the workout making it from now on. I have major plans for doing a deep clean on both porches since we are on them so much every day, but it has not happened yet. I think this weekend would be the perfect time to make it happen!

Saturday at the beach

2011-04-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

I can’t get enough of how adorable Libby looked in her frog suit. It is the perfect suit for her since she is shaped just like a little bullfrog. Sweet baby. She was so happy. Her sister (as evidenced by the pictures) was not. Celie is not the biggest beach fan. She is afraid of the SOUND of the water. It is actually really annoying because she will talk for days about wanting to go to the beach and when we get there she is terrified to go near the water. Maybe one day she will grow into it. Libby is a beach girl like me, I guess we will just go when Celie is in school and have a little alone time.

Let’s start with pictures from Friday

2011-04-26T15:08:00.001-04:00

There are way too many to post all at the same time so I will just split it up into days and do them when I can. I love taking pictures, but going through and editing them is so time consuming!

Here are some shots of Celie at Pier Park on all of the carnival/fair type rides. My mom was brave enough to take Celie on the ferris wheel but we did not get pictures of it. She said Celie loved it. It’s too bad because she won’t be able to go again until someone else is visiting and can take her. It was so unbearably hot outside already! The little chair is a beach/outside chair that my mom got for Celie and you can tell she is thrilled with it. She talks about this chair all the time. She really feels special in it.

There are also pictures from Mike’s homecoming. I only posted family shots. And pictures of the cousins.

Enjoy.

by the way…. get ready to see a LOT of that Tinkerbell nightgown. Celie ADORES it.

What a weekend!

2011-04-26T11:24:00.001-04:00

We have had a lot of excitement around our house the past week. My mom was here for the weekend, Matthew’s Dad (and Mom and Nanny) finally got to come home and we got to celebrate Easter. Libby had her first trip to the beach and loved it. I think she would have loved it more of the water would have been warmer and if we had not gotten out there right at nap time.

Matthew’s Dad has been in the hospital (in Atlanta) after a major surgery since the beginning of March!!!!!! We were so excited that he was well enough to come home and that we got to see him. And Punkin and Nanny. We had a nice gathering for them as they arrived and we were so very excited to have them all home safe! And well. I think one of my favorite moments of catching up with Papa/Mike was hearing the loving things he had to say about Punkin. It make me tear up just to write about it, but their love is stronger now than it has ever been and it is so sweet to watch them and listen to them talk about each other. Punkin has been quite the nurse! She may have missed her calling.

Celie also got to see her cousins for the first time and that was a big hit. They will be able to play together all the time now and I know she is excited about that. It has even sparked me being able to keep her from wanting to wear dress up/ballet outfits EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK. I told her that her cousins wear real clothes all day and that has seemed to help. We are on day 2 of wearing real clothes all day (except naps, which HAVE TO BE IN PJ’s).

Celie also got to decorate Easter eggs for the first time and she was actually really good at it. We did not do anything complicated or fussy, just drawing on them and dunking. Run of the mill stuff. She was a PRO at finding them on Easter morning inside the house but when it was time for the outside hunt next door with her cousins, she was not as swift. I think it was because she knows exactly how things look inside so she could spot the eggs right away. AND because I understood that she was 3 so I did not hide them very hard. Matthew hid them outside like there were 10 year olds hunting for them.

I will have more to say later but I wanted to get these little videos up of the girls doing their thing!

4/23/2011 first beach trip!

Celie’s egg hunt inside 4/24/2011

Dancing Queen

2011-04-20T14:38:00.001-04:00

a few weeks (maybe a month) ago I said I was not sure what Libby was passionate about…. Celie had/has her shoes. After I posted that I remembered Libby’s passion. SHE LOVES TO DANCE.

Before Christmas I started singing “I like to move it move it” (boy do I feel lame writing that sentence) to Libby and making her dance with it. She LOVED it. If she is ever upset, you can usually get her to calm down by dancing with her or making a beat box sound with your mouth and hopping with her. Laughs usually ensue after that.

I think she likes music just as much as dancing. She has always calmed down if I turn the music up in my car and she seems to prefer singer/songwriters to anything else. Good for her. I know I always played my music very loudly on the way to and from work when I was pregnant with her so maybe she has carried over from that. Or maybe she just shares Matthew’s and my joy for music. Or both.

She is also very close to crawling. Her personality really comes out when I try to make her do it, but she has got to learn. She WANTS to get down and explore when you are holding her but has too much lazy in her bones to actually make it happen. She got onto her knees today a few times but then plopped back down on her belly and decided it was too much effort. Instead, she just laid on the ground and sucked her thumb. She also drug herself ala army crawl to get a few items. I think crawling is coming soon. The tooth may actually break through sooner than I stated yesterday. Bless her heart, she looks forward to the times Matthew and I brush our teeth so she can put the electric toothbrush in her mouth when we are done (and have rinsed off the brush head, clearly). She just smiles when she hears it start! The vibrations feel good on her gums. I remember Celie doing the same thing.

Celie would be so bummed if she knew what we did without her today. I met Matthew and some friends for lunch (with Libby of course) at her all time favorite place – The Marina. Honestly, the food is not that great. I think she likes the pineapple she gets as a side there (we don’t do fries for her) and the walks we take her on to see the boats when we are done eating. We walk the docks and talk about all things Pirate. She also points out all the boats that have doors on them because she thinks it is so silly that they are there. “That is so silly, boats don’t have doors. Houses do.” Every time. She is nothing if not consistent. I will not tell her we went there without her. She asks to eat there EVERY time we go out. Not only is it not that great, food wise, but it is also not that cheap.

Just incase anyone was wondering…. she is still sleeping with her cotton ball every night.

I have been hoarding some really cute pictures

2011-04-19T20:40:00.001-04:00

So I thought I would get them put on the blog so friends and family can enjoy them as well.

We have not been doing much of anything this past week. Matthew has been really busy and we have been trying to spend any little minute we have with him. We hung out at the house on Saturday until the girls’ pictures and were invited to a WONDERFUL meal on Monday night as a family. Libby was the biggest fan I think and I have the welt on my finger to prove it!!!! I was not quite fast enough getting my pointer out of her mouth after putting some macaroni and cheese in for her.

It is so funny how different the girls are. Celie was not the biggest fan of table food and ate mostly baby food until she was at least 14 months old. Libby gets down right MAD if you are eating something and have not offered it to her. I have at least 20 containers of baby food that I am toying with taking back. The only reason I have not done it yet is because I keep holding out hope that she will come around and really LOVE baby food and want to eat it all the time. I don’t think it is going to happen.

I have recently refined our daily schedule. I don’t mean that it is so rigid that we HAVE TO do everything right when the clock turns ___, I just mean we have a flow to the day.

Wake up, talk and hang out for about 15 minutes, take a bottle/cup of milk, let Celie watch Bubble Guppies or Jake and the Neverland Pirates, eat breakfast (Libby does this while Celie watches her show and usually Celie gets bored with TV and joins us), clean up breakfast, have alone sister play time (Libby is in her saucer in a room with Celie and they play alone while I clean or shower), I join in the fun and play for 1/2 an hour – 45 minutes, Libby goes down for nap, Celie has her alone play time while I do more chores, Celie cleans up her room, Celie gets to watch a 30 minute show at 11, Libby is usually up by 11:30 and we eat lunch, then we clean up, play and both girls go down for a nap at 2. That is if we are home. There are some days that I just NEED to get out and go to the store or do something else besides the same old thing every day. On those days we keep the early morning the same and I try to be out the door before or by 10 so Libby can get a nap in on our drive.

It is nice that Libby is able to stay awake 2-3 hours at a time now so we can go into town to the park or to meet Matthew some days. I thought we would never make it to this stage!!!!!

I think Miss Libby is going to take her very first beach trip this weekend. I am pretty sure she is going to LOVE it. I know Celie will have a ball. I am half way dreading taking all of the stuff down for what I know will be a short visit, but you have to start somewhere, right?

Celie’s piggytails were from a week ago, Monday. We went to a softball game of a youth that goes to church with us and Celie ADORES her. I think she is such a sweet girl too and we were excited to see her play. I think Celie is so cute in piggytails. Especially with the little corker bows!

This has got to be one of my all time favorite pictures of Celie!

Can you guess what she was doing?

Happy as a clam

Those sweet clammy feet are either on this or constantly rubbing my legs while she eats.

We were doing playtime in Celie’s room, I could not resist that smile!

Celie wanted to get in a few shots so she decided she would sit behind Libby. Right when she started talking, Libby turned around to give her a big slobbery kiss.

I love this picture. And it shows off her barracuda teeth on the bottom. She is just about to cut her top left tooth. I give it 5-8 more days before it pops through.

This was a “VERY important meeting with a lot of busy stuff to do”. She loves to conduct meetings at her desk in her closet.

She has the EXACT same feet as me (I have the exact same feet as my mom). And goodness knows, those toes have to be painted! She was also sporting her “band aid” from some sort of imaginary injury. I think a pirate tripped her or something. It’s hard to keep them all straight!

It’s 10:15 at night

2011-04-16T22:49:00.001-04:00

I should be sleeping. I am up watching Food Inc. TERRIBLY disturbing. I should probably never eat food again. It would solve so many things, wouldn’t it? This just renews my interest in going in with another family to purchase a quarter of a cow so we can split it. A cow that eats grass, not corn. I had to stop watching for a while because I was too sad for all of those poor animals!

I also had a good interruption. I heard a soft cry turn into a sob coming from Celie’s room. I looked on the monitor and saw that she was distraught, laying and flailing all over her bed. Of course I was anxious as I ran to her room. Could she be sick? Did she have an accident in her bed? Did she have a nightmare? Nope. None of the above.

She lost her cotton ball.

Yes, her cotton ball. I repainted her toes tonight before we went to the beach to take a stab at pictures of both girls. She asked to hold the cotton ball I tore apart to separate her toes so the polish did not rub off onto their neighboring toes. She was in love right away. She is over the top with anything soft. I have some really soft shorts and pajamas that she likes to sit and rub. She has to have soft blankets to sleep with at night and she has this little soft froggie that she likes to hold onto in bed.

I promised her that I had a lot of cotton balls I could give her in the morning when she woke up, but that she needed to go back to sleep sans cotton ball for the rest of the night. She seemed a little bummed but I did not want to go through all of this in a few hours when the same thing happened again.

As I was tucking her back into bed, the cotton ball appeared. You have no idea how big she smiled at the sight of it. My little weird-o.

I will hopefully have some cute pictures of both of them to post. I know Amanda got good shots of Celie, she is pretty good at listening to instructions and posing now. Libby was another story. She is in a MAJOR time of separation anxiety. No one will make her happy but me. If anyone else is holding her and I am in her sight, she is not happy. It is all mommy, all the time. You can imagine me setting her down for pictures but being a few steps away was not cutting it. We did seem to get her to smile a few times by the end of the session. It took a grand amount of movement from Matthew and me to get her to smile. Seriously. We were doing the equivalent of jumping jacks and I thought we were going to pass out after about 75 seconds. We were breathing like we had just run a marathon.

Up next…. weight loss and getting back into shape.

Success

2011-04-13T16:28:00.001-04:00

We are almost at 2 full weeks with Celie not sucking her thumb! I am really proud of her. I know breaking yourself of doing that at night has got to be very difficult. And she was really attached to sucking it to get to sleep. I am glad to say her teeth are already going back into place like they should be instead of bucking out like they were. The Dentist said they probably would because her lip muscles were so strong from 3 years of thumb sucking. I am really very proud of her though.

It has been so nice here this past week. Our goal for the weekend is to get the porches nice and clean so we can enjoy being out there more. They are currently covered in tons on pollen. I am washing the cushion covers on our seating for the first time in 4 years so that is exciting. I can only imagine how lame I sound for being excited over clean outdoor cushions.

Since Libby has been able to sit up on her own we have been getting out a lot more during the week. It is just easier when I can put her in a buggy with Celie. Although she prefers being carried in the carrier 9 times out of 10. Matthew calls us girls on the go. He can never be sure where we are from day to day. I just don’t like sitting around the house all the time, I like to be on the go. Libby shares my love for sure. She sees me going to her closet for the diaper bag and she starts laughing and shrieking. Once I start walking towards the car, she gets her legs pumping. She LOVES being on the go as much as possible. I am glad. I love going to do stuff with them but I am pooped when I get back for sure. That is a lot of work by yourself! I think the drive there and back is what is the most exhausting though.

Celie is over the top about Pirates right now. She watches this Pirate cartoon on Disney every morning and I took her on a pirate ship one time so she thinks pirates are too cool. She wants to wear a bandana like Jake, the main pirate, but we don’t have any for her to wear so I gave her a little crochet headband to use. The headband and this rainbow dress she spotted from 2 aisles over yesterday are quite the combo. Matthew knows he is in trouble because Celie is so much like me. She HAD to have that dress and has had to have it on ever since we got home. She must have asked me to get it for her about 7 times this morning as I was trying to feed Libby (the 8 1/2 month old that refuses to hold her own bottle) and I told her if she asked me about it one more time the answer was going to be “no.” She found other clever ways of bringing the dress up though. Don’t worry. "Oh Mommy, did you know that rainbow dress that is in my closet is my favorite dress in the whole world?” “Oh Mommy, I just love my rainbow dress that you got for me yesterday. It is hanging in my closet.” “Umm, Mommy? What are all the colors on my rainbow dress that is hanging in the closet?”

Seriously. She is gifted!

pictures

2011-04-11T15:40:00.001-04:00

I have had some of these in my camera for 2-3 weeks. Not really a post, mostly pictures.

My two cuties before church yesterday.

Who? Me? I love those rosy cheeks!

This is seriously how she wakes up from EVERY nap. She is such a hot sleeper. She gets it honest, I am a little space heater every time I sleep!

Sweet Libby face.

Again, I could eat those cheeks off!

Me and my sweeties before dinner on Saturday night.

Breakfast! Actually, snacks after breakfast to hone in on her finger eating skills. She is a pro!

Libby seems so serious. And irritated.

Again with the serious face. Sweet baby.

Another sweet baby. Celie bug. This bow is her favorite because “Mommy! I AM 3, I have to wear that bow!”

Cute little turtle face!

What is that?

I thought she looked so sweet in this dress. Like a little doll.

Bad picture of Celie but her dress was BEAUTIFUL! Thank you TJ Maxx!

Cutie Pie

2011-04-08T15:38:00.001-04:00

I wanted to post a short little video of Libby. I was really taking it of Celie – trying to capture how cute she is singing her favorite song – but Libby stole the show when I was watching this back. She is cute. Such a personality. Most of her personality is in her eyes right now, but they really tell a story. That was one of the first things I noticed about her when she was born. Her eyes are very expressive. And she is VERY communicative. She is loud and not to be forgotten.

Celie is singing “Beautiful” by Nichole Nordeman. She is one of my favorite singers and her songs are so deep and meaningful. That was the song I chose for Celie’s latest slideshow and she is totally in love with it now. She shares my taste in music (thank goodness), the busier it is, the better. I don’t always think that but about 90% of the music I love is very busy musically. Just a lot going on to pick apart and listen to every moving part. I am a nerd. What can I say? She is really good at rhythm and beats. A shared talent Matthew and I have. I think she will be a good singer in time like Matthew, she will certainly be trained by her Daddy.

Right now her musical loves are: Nichole Nordeman, James Taylor and Jason Mraz. That’s my girl.

Don’t forget about that cute little girl behind Celie….

Tastes

2011-04-07T15:04:00.001-04:00

It is funny to see how Celie and Libby seem to differ in their tastes for everything. Celie was madly obsessed with shoes by the time she was Libby’s age. I can’t figure out what Libby is that crazy about – except for her big sister. She likes pretty much everything but really enjoys those little puffer balls you get in the $1 section at Target. We have had SEVERAL of them because she keeps popping holes with her barracuda teeth. I keep one in the car at all times to keep her occupied on trips to Panama City. She will bite and pull on it up until the moment she falls asleep in her car seat.

Speaking of – it is time for us to move on from the infant seat. I think Celie was right at this age when we switched her. Our plan (when I was pregnant with Libby) was to switch Celie into more of a booster seat and give Libby the seats Celie is using right now. Nope. Not happening. I am pretty sure Celie will be in the convertible seat until she is close to maxing out on height/weight. I just feel safer that way. So it looks like we will be dropping some coin on a few new seats soon. At least one for now. We don’t really NEED 2 right away.

The other tastes that shock me are taste buds. I know a babies buds are not developed until they are around 3, but off the bat Celie and Libby are very different. To be fair, what I ate during each pregnancy was different as well. I ate a LOT of Peppers and homemade guacamole when I was pregnant with Celie. I mean, like 2-3 nights a week I would make guacamole to eat. The more garlic and onions the better. With Libby I ate a lot of salad. Not really much else. I did not have cravings at all. Except for frozen dessert type things. I craved Klondike bars. Who doesn’t?

Celie LOVED guacamole at about 6 months old. She ate that and mexican rice all the time. She still requests Peppers all the time and 100% has my taste for (most) food. There are a few WT items she likes that I cannot claim (bologna being #1 on the list – puke). She adores: saltines with peanut butter, topped with a dill pickle slice. Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese with a wad of raw onion – one of the best snacks of ALL time. Garlic in every items she eats. French Onion dip. Lemons (I used to eat the whole thing, rind included). Tacos. She is a Blazer eater at heart. Don’t get me wrong, she does enjoy some of the southern stuff Matthew was raised on as well. She really loves peas and dumplings. I just think she prefers highly seasoned food.

Miss Libby. Well, she just likes FOOD! She will bite your finger tip off if you don’t move fast enough while giving her roasted chicken. She likes savory things. I have tried to give her southern style peas 3-4 times and she hates them but I think she will change her tune. She 100% hates guacamole. I have tried that several times and she was not a fan. She does love fresh focaccia bread though. Eats it like a champ. And she loves garlic in all of her baby food. Maybe she will enjoy food like Celie as well. I just peg her as more of a Southern girl than her older sister. I don’t know why.

We don’t do any southern style cuisine in our house. We grill and bake pretty much everything. Not a lot of frying or gravy making. I like that type of food every once in a while (I will request it sometimes) but for the most part, I like the type of food that we eat. I don’t even know how to describe it. There are not a lot of casseroles, 100% NOT meatloaf, just a good mix of stuff. We seem to like a lot of Italian style food.

Poor little Libby Lou

2011-04-06T14:49:00.001-04:00

It is the curse of the not-first child. Poor sweet baby. She doesn’t know any differently, but I sure do. And to someone that is so huge on treating each and every sibling the same – not doing more for one that you do for the other(s) – I have failed already. Booo.

I mean, there are worse things in this world. But as we were playing sidewalk chalk with Celie Sunday afternoon, I realized poor Libby did not have the FIRST thing with her monogram on it. I mean, what kind of Southern Mom am I????????? I don’t think she even has a single thing with just an “L” on it! Blasphemy! Like I said, there are far worse things, right? That is just one small example.

She really enjoys being an only child from an attention getting standpoint every Wednesday. She is usually happy as a clam to have all of my attention because as sweet and cute as Celie is, she still thinks she should get as much attention as she can at all times. All times. I do try to give her hew very own special attention time, but it can’t be allll the time like she would prefer.

Speaking of Celie – we have gone 5 nights/days of NO thumb sucking during her sleep. I took a little taste of the polish that is on her thumb nails! SO GROSS! It is the worst taste I have ever encountered. I am glad she thinks so too. I think it will take a good 2 weeks until she is broken, but we are on our way. Baby steps. My mom got her a special little gift for being such a big girl when she was here last week – a special STAR WAND!!!!! She was thrilled and I know she is very proud of herself for quitting the nasty habit (so far).

Sweet Libby is working on crawling. She is not really an individual that works up to something. She pretty much decides she is going to do something and just does it! It is cool and frustrating all at the same time. And she is such a little flirt. She watches people all the time, mostly her sister though. She loves Celie so much. I can tell she is a sweet little thing. Just loving, a big heart.

My mom surprised Celie by coming over Saturday night. She took a nap with her on Sunday afternoon. Well, Grammy napped and Celie played in bed. But at least she was resting. And Grammy, Libby and Matthew got some naps in. It was too funny to see them laying side by side in the monitor. They have the same face. It was really neat to watch. I think she finally fell asleep about 30 minutes before I had to get her up. I am not a fan of taking naps that go too late. It messes up bedtime (for us).

We also had a MAJOR milestone last night: someone other than family stayed with the girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Libby was already asleep. She was READY for bed at about 6:40. I went ahead and fed her and put her down and then left Celie with our Pastor’s daughter and son. They came over so Matthew and I could go to church together and have a quiet time of prayer. Matthew is able to do that weekly but I am not usually able to go because I (obviously) cannot leave the girls here alone. We got a good report back on Celie (I knew we would). She finished watching the DVD they had on, went to the bathroom and then crawled right into bed, never to be heard from again. When I woke up this morning I wondered why Celie was up so early. Usually she wakes around 8 but she was talking and singing at about 7:10 this morning. She thought her friends were still here and she was excited to be able to play with them all day. She was a little bummed to know that was not the case.

YAY Celie.

2011-04-01T14:52:00.001-04:00

Celie had her very first Dental visit Thursday morning. I spent a full week talking about what they would do while she was there and getting her ready. I was so proud. She did such a great job. She loves her Dentist and I have to admit that Matthew and I love him too! I am fairly certain Celie will expect Bubble Guppies to be on every time she goes to see him, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it, right?

They did X-Rays, a little scraping with that pointy thing to get her used to the feeling and having it in her mouth, polishing, flossing, teeth counting and brushing. And a fluoride rub.

We got a great report back on all of her teeth. She has this small chip on one of her incisors that has been there since she has had teeth. I don’t know how it chipped, but it did. They said we did a great job brushing them every day (thank you LORD she is much better about letting me brush them all the time. I guess threatening her with them rotting out did the trick). The only issue that was raised was the one I went in concerned about – the nighttime thumb sucking. It has not ruined her adult teeth yet but if she continues for a short time more, it will. We got the nasty nail polish that you paint on their thumbs and tried it out last night. I think it works on her. She doesn’t really know she is sucking her thumb. I know she doesn’t. It is just second nature at this point but the nasty taste (hopefully) fixed that. I am not sure how long we will have to paint on the polish to break her of the habit. Or how long she will lay in bed trying to go to sleep for hours. She was awake for about 3 hours last night because she could not suck her thumb. Bless her heart. She would put the thumb in and take it back out, making small gagging faces. It was funny to watch. Is that mean?

We have moved her bed back against the wall. It took 3 times of her falling out the other way to get us to change it back though. She is still in love with her big girl bed. And her twinkle toes. And Blair. Those are the 3 things I hear about allllll the time. It is pretty sweet.

We are about to go big or go home at the White house. We are getting a playset for the girls. Not just any playset, a PLAYSET. My friend has the same one and she loves it (so does her daughter) so we will fall in behind her and get the same one. I am really excited to have something they can play on during the day without having to trek all the way into town to go to the park just to slide a few times and swing. Libby LOVES to swing so it should be fun for her as well.

Here are some shots I took of them before church last week. It is so nice and springy outside. Perfect for all the birthday parties going on! Celie can still wear several of her dresses from last Summer (YAY) and Libby gets to wear Celie’s old stuff.

Whatever you do, DO IT

2011-03-25T23:15:00.001-04:00

I have been bothered by this a LOT lately. Matthew gets so irritated at me because I can’t turn my brain off and just go to sleep or relax, but I can’t help it. It is just who I am.

I have been thinking about my role as a homemaker and a mom. I feel that is what I was called to do. I LOVE working, don’t get me wrong. But I feel like I am supposed to be home with my girls right now and I want to do the best possible job I can while I am here with them. So I am a stay at home mom and I want to DO that. I want to BE a mom. As someone pointed out to me recently, there are worker bees and there are non worker bees. Well, the non worker bees really annoy me. That may be ugly to say but it is how I feel. And I don’t mean non-worker as in having an away from the home job. I mean, working in any fashion. I know a slew of people that are stay at home parents that don’t parent at all and then wonder why their kids are beasts. Really? Is it that hard to figure out? I am in NO WAY saying that I have it all figured out. I am still new on the scene and I have a lot to learn about life, parenting and my role. I know that. I am not trying to come off as “better than” anyone. But if you are going to be at home, don’t you think you should be caring for your home? I mean, it IS a representation of you, isn’t it? It tells others how you care for things whether you want to believe it or not. It does. If cleaning is not your thing… then do your thing and be good at it. Are you a baker? A crafter? A teacher? BE it. And be good at it. Don’t sit around and wait for someone else to do things for you. Get off your buns and DO IT yourself.

It is clear that I am a cleaner and organizer. I also really enjoy baking and decorating. I am sure these are the things my girls will learn from me. And a love a music. Good music. But not everyone is like me (praise the LORD). Some kids learn how to be great cooks by watching their parents. Or how to work on cars, electronics, carpentry. You get the idea.

I am not sure where this is going, but I had to get it out there. I am bothered by laziness. I don’t get it. I don’t want to get it.

In other news…. we have been having fun at the White house the past few weeks. Libby is moving out of her funk and Celie is on cloud 9 because she finally got the Sketcher Twinkle Toes like BLAIR. She wears them every day. They rest on a chair in her room so she can see them when she wakes. I am serious. Girl LOVES those shoes. Celie is in Atlanta tonight with Matthew and it has been Libby and me today. She has enjoyed all of my attention and we have had a lot of fun just hanging out, me and my buddy. She is such a good baby. I have a few pictures I want to post, really I have a ton I want to post but how many can one person put out there?

Celie got this blue dress up when we were at my parent’s a few weeks ago. She has worn it every day since. She loves it. I dressed the girls in matching green dresses last week (Matthew hates that) and while I was taking their Sunday pictures, they decided to have a little sister session of their own. Celie loves playing with her. If Libby is in her saucer, Celie likes to go in the room and ask me to leave so they can play alone. I oblige her because I know she won’t harm her and she is too sweet with her. I peek in when she doesn’t know so I can watch them play. *swoon*

Party Pictures

2011-03-18T15:16:00.001-04:00

It just occurred to me that I never posted any pictures of Celie’s party. Of people, that is. I have moved all of my pictures to an external drive and, well, I am just too lazy to plug it in so I am just going to use pictures my mom took.

The kids had a BLAST and Celie is still talking about it, a month later. Every time we go to church (where her party took place since we don’t have a great space for people to park) she thinks we are going to her party again. About 2 seconds away from the building she always says “well, maybe we can have another cool party like that next year!!!!!”. She is starting early to make sure she is heard and understood by the time #4 comes around, you see? She is too much like me. Remind early and remind often.

I gave Matthew his birthday gift last night. Celie told him what it was before he opened it – she doesn’t quite understand yet. He did not know what it was though and it was actually a great surprise. It may sound boring, but I got him a pair of shoes. Have you ever noticed that people (mostly men, it seems) tend to dress the way they did when they graduated college? I started noticing it about 12 years ago and it still remains true. Matthew and I kind of escape that theory b/c we are more classic dressers. I don’t really do trendy stuff. Purses and shoes, maybe. Clothes? Not so much. I like to stay classic. So does Matthew. But his shoes? I think he has had some of them for like 8-9 years. It is time to move on from some of them. The ones I got him were a smidge too big so guess what I get to do? Take them back to the “lovely” ladies in Apalachicola!!!!!!! I am looking forward to it. I am getting him the same ones, but I am going to order them from Zappos instead. They actually turn out to be $7 cheaper AND I am happy that the not so nice store people don’t end up getting my business. You can’t beat Zappos anyways. Even in podunk PSJ, we get the shoes the next day! It is really something to behold!