Things I've Noticed Lately

• I've never seen a "fancy" Mexican food restaurant.



• If you're not on Facebook......Who's NOT on Facebook?



• A very popular fiction book has a glaring grammatical error (at the top of page 9) that jumped out at me as soon as I read it. I had to re-read it several times before I was able to accept it and move on.



• I like to use these dots: ... to let you know that I am pausing, but I'm not yet done with my thought (I just learned they're called elipses - who knew?)

Put Your Head on my Shoulder....OUCH!

Yesterday I discovered why Carter has been chomping my shoulder and gnawing on his hands all the while drooling down his chin and pouring from his nose...(sorry, that's probably gross and could be a little TMI)

TWO NEW TEETH!!! He now has two more teeth on the top on either side of those famous "two front teeth" This brings his tooth total up to seven.

He will eat about anything within reach. Or at least give it a good try. It's amazing how quickly he can take down the food. Why he's not a big chunky baby, I'll never know. Perhaps he's just too tall or maybe too active.

I guess I won't be buying baby food much longer. If only I didn't have to buy any more diapers. Is he too young to potty train...?

She's the Best of Both Worlds

Maddie LOVES Hannah Montana! I mean LOVES her!! For Christmas, she got the Hannah Montana guitar, which she plays ALL THE TIME while she dances around and sings along. (She even carries the Hannah Montana doll around in her backpack wherever she goes.)

For her birthday, she got several Hannah Montana themed items including socks, underwear, a purse, a magic coloring book, trading cards and a music player. Oh, and one of the gift bags and one of the birthday cards even play a Hannah Montana tune!

Between the guitar, the music player, the gift bag and the birthday card, I get my fill of her music. In fact, I find myself singing it everywhere! In the shower, cooking dinner, changing diapers, when I'm settled in for bed at night...and many, many more places.

If I were to be completely honest, I'd have to admit, it's really starting to get to me.

Yesterday, I was explaining to Maddie that I was quickly growing tired of the few Hannah Montana songs that were continually being played over and over again.

Her response to my comment: "Mommy, you CAN'T be tired of Hannah Montana! She's the best of both worlds!"

And there you have it!

I Have NO Idea Where She Comes Up With This Stuff.

The girls sat down to play with their Loving Family Dollhouse for a little while earlier today. Maddie decided to load the "Loving Family" into the minivan at which time I heard the following conversation ensue:


Loving Daddy (in her best deep voice): "Why do I always have to drive?"

Loving Mommy: "Because I always do the laundry!"


I can honestly say this very conversation has never occurred between the hubs and me.

Do you think that's what she sees? I mean, he does always drive...and I always do the laundry.


(Now that I think about it......I might just be getting the raw end of the deal here! **HUMPH!**)

How Many Rooms do you Have?

In Maddie's attempt to reclaim dessert lost due to poor behavior, she came up with the following rationale.

Mommy, I have two rooms for dessert. One for today and one for tomorrow.

Right now, I really need to fill the one for today.

She's creative, I'll give her that, but I am NOT giving her dessert!

10 things I'm thinking on the 10th

1. I need a trip. I'm thinking a nice cruise or a trip to a great beach location would be nice...

2. Okay, I want a Shamwow! I've never actually touched one, but if it really works, I could surely sop up some spills!!! Is that thing for real or a sham?

3. The weather here has been driving me crazy. One day I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and the next day, it's jeans and a jacket. Which is fine, except the runny noses the cold snaps bring with them.

4. Shopping and three kids doesn't always mix; however, dining out sure does! Maybe it's just my spoiled kids...maybe I'm just fooling myself because I like to eat out.

5. I never thought I'd reach this point, but I actually look forward to taking all three of my kids anywhere (yes, by myself) - just to get out of the house - and see other adults.

6. I will strike up a conversation with ANYONE, ANYWHERE. Extrovert or desperate for adult conversation? That's a good question.

7. Hats off to single moms. I don't know how you do it. When Hot Rod is out of town, I struggle! Somedays, I just don't want to get out of the bed. I can't imagine that being my way of life.

8. Confession time - I still have most of my Christmas decorations up. (shhhhhhh!)

9. People often ask me if I am done having kids. My honest answer...I don't know! Have you met my kids? They're awesome! Who wouldn't want more???

10. Unwrapped is NOT the best show to watch late at night when you have the possibility of waking up your sweet tooth. What's your favorite candy?

I Promise it's Still Winter.

There's an old saying I'm sure gets used many places (especially in Texas): "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes...!"



Well, over the past few weeks, it's been back and forth between hot and cold temps. By the time we get comfortable with the "perfect" weather, a cold snap blows thru (usually following a good rain) giving Carter and Mommy a case of the sniffles, runny noses and so on...



Today was one of the better days. In my opinion, it was about perfect --- 70 degrees, partly cloudy, slightly windy. The pictures speak for themselves...


Yes, as a matter of fact, we did stay in our jammies all day.

I think this one looks like the kids are all fighting over who gets to climb the slide first. LOL!!

The girls enjoyed the see-saw (a.k.a teeter totter)

The trampoline (I finally found something positive to the net being "broken" - Never before have I gotten good jump action pictures - But, I'm still upset with the yard guys, don't they do that for a living? Shouldn't they know how to move a trampoline without pulling it apart?)

Carter had plenty of toys to keep him occupied.

The puppy (okay, he's 8, but he's still little like a puppy) relaxed under my chair. Not too different from where he'd be if we were inside.

And Mommy? Well, I started on a new book.

I finally caved. After hearing about it EVERYWHERE, blogland, facebook, friends, family, television, I bought THE book. It's been sitting on the shelf in the study since sometime before Christmas and I decided I could take it no longer. I had to see what the fuss was about.

I get it.

WOW Wednesday (WithOut Words)

A little game we like to call Hide & Seek. LOL!

(He had no idea she was under there!!)

The Importance of Today...

Six short years ago today, I officially became a Mom and my life has never been the same.

I can still remember the excitement leading up to the birth of our first daughter, Maddie. She has brought us such joy. I can't imagine my life without my precious little girl.

She has the most amazing ability to light up any room.

Her giggles resound in my head even when she is sleeping.

She is absolutely hilarious.

Watching her grow and mature over the past year has been amazing. She has come so far in school just in the few months since we started. It's hard to believe that my "baby" girl is reading. What's incredible is the fact that I was able to be there with her every step of the way. Together, she and I reached this milestone. Absolutely amazing!!!

She is the most gorgeous little blonde I've ever seen. (I really don't think I'm biased here)

Maddie loves to sing and dance. (Look out Hannah Montana!)

She's always been such an easy going child (after we got past the colic!)

She has this uncanny ability to make people like her. (I think she gets this from her Daddy) In fact, she can convince any adult or teen to play with her. She's just SO MUCH FUN!! And boy does she have some energy!

We celebrated her birthday today (well...four of us did) starting with breakfast at Panera and finishing off with dinner(?) at IHOP.

We had a fantastic day together. I think today she really felt like a Princess.

She enjoyed her favorite cinnamon crunch bagels for breakfast.

A movie instead of nap time (while Carter and Hailey slept) with Mommy was her midday treat. She picked Kung Fu Panda. We truly enjoyed our quality time together **just us**

For dinner, she made the difficult choice between Chili's and IHOP...breakfast again! Our waiter really topped off her day when he delivered a special hot fudge sundae - made just for her.

I think she went to bed happy...I KNOW I will! I just celebrated the sixth anniversary of the second best day of my life!!

I love you, my Princess! Don't ever change who you are. You are perfect just the way GOD made you!!

(P.S. I love you more than that, plus 21 to infinity and beyond, plus one!)

Tall and Skinny

The girls and I took Carter for his 9 month appointment today.

(the above picture shows off his 5 teeth!!)

Dr. Bel checked him over and was very impressed with his development. According to "the list" he should be (and is) sitting on his own, crawling, pulling to stand, using words with multiple syllables (MA-MA, DA-DA, etc...), waving, responding to pictures, picking up things with thumb and forefinger, holding two objects in hands and hitting them together - well, that's all I can remember.


He eats like a champ! There is nothing he won't try. It's funny, though...when feeding him, we always know what he likes and doesn't like by the faces he makes. This little man has more faces... We're finally starting to get him to drink from a sippy cup, but he still gets choked a little.


On to the real reason you are all here...His current stats are as follows:



Height: 29 1/4 inches (90%)
Weight: 17 lbs 13 oz (10%)
Head: 45 cm (40%)



Like I said, tall (no idea where that comes from) and skinny (wonder where he gets that? LOL!! What can I say, he IS MY boy!)


He LOVES his bath time:

Check out his mad splash skilz:

And I should add...lately, he has become SO kissable. He's gets in these moods where he just gives kisses non-stop. LOVE IT! I don't even mind all the slobber (from teething) and snot (from all the weather changes.)

Well...They ARE Both Green!!

Hot Rod was helping Maddie get ready to go to the reception for Dad and Tanya a little over a week ago. She had begged to wear the new dress that they had given her for Christmas. So when he pulled the shirt over her head, the collar was up.

In a slight whine, she asked him, "Oh, Daddy...is this one of those frog neck shirts?!"

"No, baby...it's not a frog neck...but it IS a turtle neck."