Words to remember

One of the purposes of this blog is to chonicle the every day memories that I know will be forgotten if they are not written down. This post is more for me and my memory, so bear (bare?) with me...

K sings: "We miss you a merry Christmas, We miss you a merry Christmas, we miss you a merry Christmas and a happy new EAR!"

When talking about the bathtub, sink, or toilet drain, she calls it a "dream". "Mom! Don't let J fall down the dream!"

K still calls Mickey Mouse, "Nicki Mouse" and I LOVE that for obvious reasons.

K names all of her babies and toys. The other day Gma and Gpa Morgan left after a visit and K was picking up her toys. She told Daddy, "No Daddy, that's not Elmo...that's Gma Morgan!" (Her rake is also named Sally and her stick horse is named "Sally's daddy".)


J's vocabulary still just consists of "Maaaaaaaaaa!!!!" (and I secretly love it!)

I'm coming back

My plate is full right now. Did I say full? I meant, over-freakin'-flowing right now. Thanks for asking about me. I'm still here. Just too busy and scattered to formulate a post. I promise pics and a holiday update in the coming days. In the meantime, think about your resolutions for next year. What were they for this year? Did you fulfill them? Mine were:

Go to church regularly

Exercise MOST of the days of the year

Did I meet them?

In a word......





uhhhhh...



no.


It's okay though, the year's not over. ha ha ha

I promise to get back to blogging regularly soon. I miss it. I just can't get it together enough right now. Stay tuned...

Good Parenting 101

My daughter is in this picky-eater stage. After being a good eater her whole life, she is now less likely to try new foods and refusing to eat certain ones. She eats very little at meals and has been eating more at snack time, which drives us crazy. So this morning, she refused to eat her breakfast again. She asked to get down long before her belly was full and I told her that if she didn't eat her breakfast, then she wasn't getting a snack. She would have to wait for lunch and be good and hungry.

An hour later, she threw up.

Just when I thought I had some sort of clue on how to parent, I completely miss the boat, and discipline my daughter....for being sick. Feel free to nominate me for "Parent of the Year"...

Oh and don't think I show favoritism...I took J in for his second flu shot last week. As he stood in the waiting room playing with the bead table, horror struck me as I realized his pants were on backwards. And it was completely noticeable. So I had to change them around, just as the nurse called our names (of course!).

The great paci search of 2008

Note: If you are at my house and cannot find a paci to calm my son, check his crib. On this day, I found no less than SIX in or around his bed.

Is it just me?

Or is anyone else APPALLED by the fact that the 8 year old boy accused of murdering his father and another man was interrogated by police without a family member, counselor, or legal representation present??????

J's first hair cut

Thanks to Aunt "Gigi" for giving J his first haircut this weekend. He did great and looks like a big boy now! (sniff sniff)

Miscellany

Is that a word? Tim Gunn uses it, so I say "yes it is!" He is my new favorite television personality. Seriously, every morning when I open my closet I sigh, "Tim Gunn would be sooo disappointed." My clothes are atrocious (?) and if he went through them I am SURE he would throw them all out with a turn down of his nose and a swoosh of his hand.

Dear Tim,

Please pick me. I am a thirty-something mother of two who needs your help. I don't need designer, I don't need a high end bag. I am not a size six, nor am I a size ten. I am a normal size woman with a dusty house, a car full of dried out cheerios, and a closet floor littered with shoes ranging from Payless to Foot Locker. I just need.... uh....help. The kind of help that tranfers to Kohl's and Macy's because that is unfortunately, the shopping opportunities available in my town. And that is my price range.

Please pick me. I will appreciate you more than any other woman ever has. Please pick me. (Hi Greta...LOVE you!)

Your's truly,

Me

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I am happy that the Hershey's kiss bell ringing Christmas commercial is back on television. I know it is not even mid-November; I am still happy to see it. It's like an old friend.

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I filled up my gas tank today...over thirteen gallons. TWENTY-SIX DOLLARS PEOPLE!! Wow.

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Miscellany. It's a word. It's this post. It's my life. Full of miscellany. But I love it. It is my miscellany.

Earning His Keep

J decided to earn his keep, too. Thanks for sorting those kleenex for me, babe.

Earning her keep

We have a big yard. With lots of leaves on the ground. Daddy decided to break out the leaf blower to give her some help.

Cluck Cluck Cluck

Tell me, how many cans of chicken, beef, or vegetable broth do you have in your pantry?


One of the funny little quirks about my husband is that he is a "stocker-upper." He comes by this honestly. As a chef, he also tends to do the grocery shopping. He is a sucker for the 10 for 10 deals at our local supermarket. He stocks up on whatever is on sale that week. As such, we have an ongoing joke about how many ketchup bottles we have in the pantry at any given time. I tend to raz him about it and he is a good sport. Truth be told, I am happy we never run out of ketchup, or mayo, canned fruit, or salad dressing.

This week I reorganized the cabinets that make up our "pantry" as it was more and more difficult to find any specific canned good. As I reorganized, I found....ummmm...lots of broth. I cracked up about it and took a picture to torture him. Before I even had time to post the pic and write this blog, we had the following conversation:

Me: What should we have Dad bring for the dressing?
Him: Bread, celery, onions, apples... and chicken broth. Have him bring some chicken
broth.
Me (laughing): I think we've got that covered don't we?
Him: We have a couple of cans, but it's the holidays, we'll use alot.
Me: Babe, we have SEVENTEEN cans of broth.
Him: What? We do not.
Me: Seriously, I counted today. And took pictures.

We also have like 11 cans of tomato products and 11 cans of beans. Just in case. If there is an emergency, feel free to come over. We're covered.

Love you babe! ;)

Today is the day

And I am a nervous wreck. Perhaps it is the disturbing dreams I've had all week, or the venti Starbucks latte from this morning...but my stomach is in knots and my hands are almost shaking. Today is election day. I have never been so nervous about an election in all my life, even when I was nominated for Junior Class Homecoming Princess. (ha ha ha)

Why the heck don't all states have early voting? We voted two weeks ago and thank goodness! We took the kids and were allowed to vote by paper ballot so that we didn't have to wait in the hour long line (Thank you election worker lady!). K wasn't sure what it meant to go vote, and asked if the "vote would be in the water?" LOLOL Well, I sure wish I could drop some people's votes into the water, but no, sweet girl, a vote is not like a boat at all. Even though they sound alike. We tried to explain to her what an important right, no RESPONSIBILITY, voting is. It is a responsibility and a right that we take for granted. This year, I think people are pausing to think about their right to vote and what it means.

What an historic day. A warm, sunny, 75 degree day today here in Indiana. A day where a black man is on the ballot for the highest office in our nation. A day where a woman is on the ballot for the second highest office in our nation. It makes me teary just thinking about it. A day that I hope you will take seriously enough to use your voice and cast your vote.

I have been an Obama supporter since 2004 and am PRAYING that the American people will support his cause for change. We are on our way to better days! Go Obama!

A princess and her prince

Fall fun

Birthday pics

A little late, but better than never right?

Happy Birthday, Son!

To my sweet boy,

You turned one last week and I can just now compose myself enough to write to you. My week was an emotional roller coaster, filled with happy tears and moments of pride. You, K, and Mommy and Daddy celebrated together on Wednesday and then we had family and friends over for a big party on Saturday.

This year has flown by! You have grown so much and I cannot believe twelve months ago you were snuggled into my chest and could be carried around in one arm. Now you are on the move all the time, but aren't quite ready to take those first steps yet. We don't push you as Mommy is fine with you staying little for a little while longer. Sigh. Don't hurry too fast, baby. In a few minutes you will be running away from us...making your own path in the world. And every time you look back, we will be here waving to you.

You don't like being contained and go go go! Travelling in the car is getting trickier as you only last 20 minutes or so. It should make our holiday travels interesting. You are off the bottle now and feed yourself almost anything. You are a great eater and like fruits, veggies, meats, and grains. Yay! You are a big fan of Mickey Mouse and Handy Manny. And everyone who knows you knows that you love all things with wheels. You pretend things have wheels even when they don't. You are getting very interested in books and really enjoy the ones with the little flaps to open and close. You also love music and like to shake your legs and dance! You are a big fan of your big sis and follow her around all day long. She loves you right back and spends her days making you laugh. You also love love love your Daddy and are forever watching him to see what he is doing. You cry sometimes when he leaves for work because you would rather us all be together all day long. And so would we.

You are Mommy's boy. And I wouldn't change one moment of our time together. I have only known your face for the past year, but you have always lived in my heart. I knew you there long before you ever opened those beautiful blue eyes. We've had a wonderful year together and I can't wait to see what next year brings!

I love you, sweet.

Love, Mommy

Our story

Five years ago, my fiance and I made the trek to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to get married. It took us a long time to get there, and I'm not talking about the drive to North Carolina. :)

Do you know our story? Well here is the "quick and dirty" version: D and I met while we both worked at a retirement community. He was the chef and I was the social worker. We were part of a "group" of young troublemakers...er..I mean progressives, working there among management that was old, outdated, and set in their ways. A few months after working there, I was in a terrible car accident. A truck ran a red light and T-boned my car. I went to the ER in pretty bad shape, but nothing life threatening. My jaw was broken in two places and I had to have it wired shut to heal. It was the best weight loss technique EVER! :) Anyway, I survived on liquid vitamins, Carnation Instant Breakfast shakes, soups, and Jello. D was very sweet and used to puree up peaches and other foods for me so that I had "variety" in my diet, at least for lunch. Very sweet. We started dating a few months later.

He was in a very bad motorcycle accident a few years later. He was laid up for weeks. After he healed, we took a cruise together to Belize. One night, the night of the Captain's Gala, we were all dressed up and went for a walk on the upper deck. It was there that he proposed. Beneath millions of stars and right in the middle of my favorite place, the ocean.

Halfway through our wedding plans, I got a little freaked out. Nothing seemed to "fit" right for us. So, one night while freaking out, my dear fiance asked me, "If you could get married anywhere, where would it be?" And I said, "the ocean." The plans for the big church wedding that never seemed to fit for us stopped. And the plans for a wedding on the beach for just us, our parents and siblings, and closest friends began.

And five years later here we are. We have wonderful children, good health, fabulous friends, great jobs, and a beautiful home. I am lucky to be married to my best friend and my children have the world's best daddy!

Thank you, honey, for such a wonderful life. I love you!

Part II

No words needed

Ah-ha moments

I thought I heard muffled cheers of glee as I said goodbye to my kids this morning, reminded them to be good listeners for Daddy and take it easy on him....

"Vacation....all I ever wanted!"

"Vacation...have to get away!" (Go Bangles!)

Sigh. I already miss it. Especially the ocean. And the way my kids' faces lit up when they saw the ocean. I have tons of stories and tons of pics. But I am too lazy to tell you any right now. I promise to download some pics soon!

I will tell you that after driving 14 hours during the night, we arrived to Destin to find out that your's truly locked the storm door on our house back in Indiana. I was soo good at arranging dog sitters, providing keys, instructions, emergency contact info. And then, I locked the friggin' storm door. My dog sitters all had keys to the front door, just couldn't get to it. (Our house is 40 years old and every door has a separate key...how annoying!)

Oh yeah, and that was AFTER our credit card got declined at 2am in the middle of Alabama after we filled up on gasoline. (Can't complain too loudly though. Thank you Chase Visa for putting a hold on our card as soon as they realized that we 1. never used it at a gas station before 2. never used it in Kentucky or Tennessee before. We got that cleared up quickly while we played phone tag with several friends back home who were trying to break into our house. (Know what? We have a SECURE FRIGGIN' HOUSE!)

We finally got that figured out (thanks to several handy friends who figured out how to get it open without breaking it and without us paying a locksmith!) but had to wait two hours to get into the beach house. With two tired and cranky kids. And 90 degree heat. And two tired and cranky parents.

The good news is that the rest of the week went FABULOUSLY as we bounced from one coast of Florida to the other in between Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna. We spent hour upon hour on the sugar sand beach which was literally across the street and hours at the pool which was right outside our cabana house door. (K called it our "Cabama house"... isn't that cute?) The wedding was BEAUTIFUL and we are thrilled for our dear sister and her husband.

And yes, K got to spend 24 hours at her dear Mac's house in Jacksonville. I'm not sure what she talks about more, playing at Mac's house or the ocean. Thanks to Mac and family for their hospitality! And thanks to Jenn G, the Irwin's and the Wickens' for being such great friends as to give up their Saturday morning to help get into our house so our dog could pee!

Look... I told you some stories anyway, didn't I! I'm such a chatterbox. I will download pics soon. We got some great shots of the kids!

"Leavin'... on a jet plane"

Okay. It's too expensive to fly right now. So, we are "Leavin'... in a Ford Escape..." It still kind of works right? We are heading to Destin, Florida for my sister in law's wedding (yay!). Unfortunately, Hurricane Gustav is putting a wrench in it all, but we are staying positive. My SIL changed her wedding from Monday to Saturday and then we will likely have to evacuate.

We are also visiting K's first love, Mac. His mama posts over on "It's all about ME". He and K met at our "school" that my friend Kelly runs. K and Mac. They are two of a kind. She doesn't understand geography yet, so all she knows is that "Mac left on a plane with his mommy, daddy, and baby Eli to live in Florida." So, she thinks that when she wakes up tomorrow in Florida, we will see him. Well, that's not exactly how it will be. She will have a great time at Aunt Nana's wedding, the first one she has ever attended. She is very excited about that, too!

Oh yeah, and my dear, dear friend Kelly is having her baby. (She posts over at "Shades of Gray") Seriously. Like any minute. I am awaiting her news from her doc's appointment. I hate that we will miss her baby girl's arrival, and cannot wait until I get to snuggle her and smell her sweet baby smell. Ahhhh... babies.

Of course, I can't post without mentioning the BRILLIANT speech by Barack Obama last night. Did you stay up and watch it? If you didn't, watch it online. It is worth it. Believe me. An historic night and an historic speech. Made me feel very inspired and patriotic. Go USA!

Well, off we go!! With a 3 year old, 11 month old, and a hurricane on the way. There are bound to be a few stories to share when I return!

New Neighbors

While NOT washing dishes this morning, I noticed this moving object in our little pond at the end of the waterfall. It was a turtle! I got K and J and went out to welcome our new friend. (K was totally disinterested, as she is with all things that crawl). Then, as I was getting ready to download pics of our new neighbor I noticed something walking near our woods. I thought it was a cat, and then looked closer and found these two babies! Their mama was just off to the left, but not in the picture. The one looking directly at the camera saw me as I quietly walked out onto the upstairs balcony to snap a picture. I quietly said, "Well, hi there beauty". And I am not kidding. She wagged her little tail. Do deer wag their tails? Well this one did! So now I call these my beauties and will have to make sure there are some scraps out there for them to eat.

It's like a friggin' petting zoo over here. I love it! Maybe I could start charging admission?