Fine Wine and Diapers

The Magic Kingdom

2012-02-13T20:36:00.014-06:00

On Friday, we went to The Magic Kingdom...the most magical place on earth....er sort of. One thing I learned was that going to Disney as a child and going as a parent are COMPLETELY different. I want to go ahead and thank my parents as well as apologize for any trouble I caused them!! That said, it was still a great day, and when I look back, I will not remember anything bad. I will only remember the magic in Colt's eyes when he saw his first parade, or rode a ride he liked.

We arrived right at opening. We actually did Disney pretty cheap. Colt and Sula are under three (free yay!) and my grandmother had some tickets from 2000 that she hadn't used. Only one of them worked, but hey, we will take it!

After getting our tickets, we took the Monorail over which Colt loved. I had made a tour guide based on the unofficial guide to Disney and what I knew Colt couldnt ride. We headed straight for Fantasyland to ride Dumbo which is one of the most famous rides so the line can get long. As mentioned yesterday, Dumbo was torn down (temporarily.) So after my disbelief and aggravation wore off, we headed to the Merry Go Round. It was a great ride to start off on because we aready knew Colt would love it and he did!

We then did several other rides in Fantasyland. We did them completely wrong at first, taking turns riding with Colt while the other stayed with Sula. Then I got behind a couple with an infant and toddler and after talking to them realized that Sula could ride anything that Colt could. So I got the back pack out and Sula got to ride her first Disney ride (It's a small world.) She slept through it though.

After, Fantasyland, we headed to the Haunted Mansion. What.a.nightmare. Colt cried the whole time. Was it because he was scared? No. Our weirdo kid cried because he didn't get to pick his seat. After the ride, he proceeded to continue throwing the biggest tantrum he has had in six months or so. People were making comments like "someone needs a nap." I was so frustrated. Colt is generally the kid that we get compliments on. (I know I am biased, but he is a good kid.) This was the worst part of the trip. But after my saint of a husband finally got Colt calmed down, it was like Colt got out what he needed to get out, and he was an absolute angel for the rest of the trip.

We headed to lunch at a place in the park (Liberty Tree Tavern.) I made all our reservations ahead of time at some of the Disney sit down restaurants. It was nice to be able sit down and relax for an hour.

And that we did.

Loved Colt's lunch!

After lunch we headed to Adventureland. Colt and Daddy rode the Magic Carpet ride which he LOVED while Sula and I chilled.

We then rode the Jungle Cruise.

After that, we walked over to one of the train stops and Colt and John rode the train across the park while Sula and I walked to meet them.

We rode a few more rides before it looked like it was going to rain

And then as it was getting dark and still threatening rain, we took some family pictures with the castle in the background.

We had dinner reservations but decided to skip them and get out of the park before it rained and before the parade crowds were heading out. Plus lets be honest, we were beat.

Looking back, it was such a great day. Sula was a rock star! I dont think she cried one time all day (except for when she got a little wet on Pirates of the Carribean, which woke her up, but she went right back to sleep.) Colt was great too. I think he just got a little overwhelmed (like his mama!) But once he got the hang of it, he loved it.

Tomorrow...Animal Kingdom

We survived!

2012-02-12T21:06:00.012-06:00

We survived 0ur first (mini) trip to Disney. We had so much fun but let me just say, I didn't do Disney and the stress all that well. John summed up nicely when he nicely said "Heather, I think you need a few drinks to handle Disney." Right he was. I will get more into Disney when I recap those days over the next couple days. Lets just say that being a Type A person who did lots of planning; I didn't do all that well when things didn't go according to plan. Now dont get me wrong, I knew with two small children that we had to be flexible (and we were) but it was easy to get frustrated when we head to the first thing we wanted to do (the Dumbo ride) and it had been TORN DOWN.

Moving on...to the first two days in Orlando, the kids and I visited family while John worked. The day before we left, Colt was quite excited. My sweet boy is going to be three this week!! He looks so old now!

On Wednesday, we headed to visit John's parents. It was my Mother In Law's birthday. We enjoyed a relaxing day seeing their Florida home in Merritt Island (they have stayed in the same house for the last three years during the winter months and this was our first visit.) We went out to eat. I love Florida seafood restaurants. SO GOOD. We then headed to a park which had a playground and was right on the beach. Colt loved playing in the sand and collecting seashells. We then relaxed till dinner. I even got a NAP!!! I was so bummed that I forgot my camera. So many good photo opportunities.

I did snap some pictures of Sula in her sweet dress. I bought it for Easter before she was born but I think she is going to outgrow it!

On Thursday, we drove three hours (there and back!) to Fort Myers to visit with my Mamaw and her boyfriend Bud. My grandmother has been going to Florida in the winter for as long as I can remember but this was the first time I had ever been to her place.

Bud loves kids and had fun hanging with Colt and Sula when we got there.

Bud got some serious smiles from Sula

Mamaw made us lunch. She makes the best food! We had homemade chicken salad on top of fresh tomatoes (Colt had macaroni and cheese :))

For those that dont know, my mamaw's name is Sula. She is an amazing lady and I am so happy that baby Sula gets to spend time with her.

It was a beautiful day, so we went for a walk around her park. She lives in a 55 and up community and was very excited to introduce us to everyone.

They had a stroller for Sula. It was her first time in an umbrella stroller and she LOVED it!

We had such a good time. Three hours each way was a little tiring. Sula slept the whole way down and slept part of the way back and then proceeded to SCREAM for the last hour and a half. I stopped every fifteen minutes or so to feed her, or change her diaper or just give her her paci and soothe her. It was a little tiring but Colt was an absolute rock star both there and back. He helped me keep my sanity!!

When we got back, both kids got a bath and then conked out. We had a big day ahead!

Although, we had lots of driving, we were SO glad to get to visit with family.

Both kids also did GREAT in the hotel. Sula slept through the night every night. Colt was always a great sleeper until we traveled, then he would NOT sleep. Sula didnt seem phased by a new place or bed. Colt slept great with us once we turned off the lights and TV, otherwise he was riled up.

More coming tomorrow! Right now I am pooped!

Bon Voyage

2012-02-06T20:50:00.003-06:00

I am going to be out of blogland for a little while. We are leaving tomorrow to go to ORLANDO! I am so excited but have oh so much stuff to do. I turn into a type A planner when we vacation, especially if we go to a place where there is a lot to do. And there is A LOT to do in Disney. We are only doing two parks (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.)

This trip actually came about because John has to be in Orlando for work, so we are coming along with him! On Wednesday and Thursday, the kids and I are going to visit with family (John's parents and my mamaw) who are all in Florida while Joh works.

Friday and Saturday we are doing Disney. I have been studying my "Unofficial Guide to Disney" book today and trying to come up with the best "way" to do Disney. Which rides to skip, which ones to ride, when to ride them, where to eat and so on and so on.

On that note, I am off to fold clothes, pack and do some more Disney studying. Let me know if anyone has any helpful hints!

What's been going on

2012-02-05T21:01:00.014-06:00

I haven't written much about our week. Despite a bout with RSV with Sula, its been a low key, good week.

So indulge me as I post lots of pictures of the kids!

Sula says "Arghhhh!"

We have enjoyed a lot of tummy time

And a lot of blanket time. Sula has really gotten into laying on a blanket and playing with her toys.

She also worked reallllly hard in the beginning of the week to turn over. She was almost asleep here after several attempts to roll over.

Finally she gave up and DID go to sleep. (She did successfully roll over on Thursday from her back to her tummy!) She has rolled over from tummy to back several times now but not the other way around until this week. I am thinking she will be a roly poly in a few weeks. Yikes!!

After a long week, we had a great Saturday which started out with Chick fil a. They are ready for V-Day with their heart shaped biscuits.

Colt approved

We then got dressed and bundled up (It was cool this weekend). We headed to a nearby park to feed the ducks. This is so much fun to do with Colt. He loves it!

After a little shopping, we headed up and worked around the house for a little while. Its coming along more and more every day!

Today we chilled until Super Bowl time and then headed to a Super Bowl party in our neighborhood. It was another incredible party!

I didnt get any pictures of the party but I did get a few of Sula beforehand. She is so much fun!

We have a VERY exciting week ahead of us so I better get some stuff done tonight! More details tomorrow!

Looking back

2012-02-03T20:38:00.002-06:00

I have had this blog now for almost 2 and a half years and this is my 560th post. I am so glad I have kept this blog because it is really nice to be able to look back and see what was going on at a certain time of our life.

I thought I would take a trip down memory lane tonight and see what I wrote for posts 60, 160, 260, 360, and 460.

Post 60

Date: November 16, 2009

Blog Title: How we paid off our debt - Part One

Picture: None Taken

Summary: John and I are debt free (other than our mortgage, or two mortgages right now, ha!) I talked about how we got there in two separate blog entries. This was the first one. I talked about making sure that you and your spouse (if you have one) are on the same page. You can't pay down your debt if everyone isn't on board. I also talked about how important it is to pay off your credit cards every month.

Post 160

Date: March 15, 2010

Blog Title: Top Two - Tuesday (Monday)

Picture:

Summary: I participated in a link up. It was Top Two celebrity styles. My two were SJP and as a joke The Jersey Shore women. The link up did not say BEST styles.

Post 260

Date: August 8, 2010

Title: Welcome Home Steven

Picture:

Summary: My brother got home from Iraq and we took Colt to the homecoming. It was such a great day. I can't get over how little sweet Colt looks. He was a year and a half.

Post 360

Date: January 23, 2011

Title: Luckily I Didn't Get in a Fight...

Picture: None taken

Summary: I talked about how stressful it was going to birthday parties with an almost two year old. I had picked up another kid who was attacking Colt and yelled at him! (I hadn't announced it but I was pregnant so I had plenty of hormones.) I was for sure that the little boy's mom would not appreciate me yelling and picking up her son but she was no where to be seen.

*We actually ended up meeting the little boy's parents at ANOTHER birthday party that both Colt and this little boy were guests of. I kept Colt far away prompting John to ask if I held a grudge against a two year old to which I replied "Yes!"

Post 460

Date: August 18, 2011

Title: Book Club Friday - Nefertiti

Picture: A picture of the book cover

Summary: One of my first book reviews. I liked the above book but it wasn't one of my faves.

And that's that. Thanks for letting me take a trip down memory lane on this calm Friday night.

Book Review - Good In Bed

2012-02-02T20:59:00.004-06:00

I started off 2012 finishing "Good In Bed" by Jennifer Weiner

From the Back

For 28 years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadephia Examiner. She's even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.

But the day she opens up a national women's magazine and sees the words "Loving a Larger Woman" abover her ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.

My Thoughts

What a way to start of the new year of reading! I loved this book! The main character was easy to fall in love with and the story line was completely unpredictable and unclique'. I loved how the main character grew so much over the course of the book.

The book opens with Cannie reading and article written by her ex-boyfriend called "Loving a Larger Woman." One of the first lines of the article is "I never thought of myself as a chubby chaser, but when I met C., I fell for her wit, her laugh, her sparkling eyes. Her body, I decided, was something I could learn to live with." I love while reading a book when I feel for the characters and I was immediately angry for Cannie. A LOT happens to Cannie over the book. She goes from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows (I dont want to give anything away!) and then finds her way back again.

I loved this book and would highly recommend it.

Linking up here!

Kids These Days

2012-02-01T20:59:00.002-06:00

Ok, am I just getting old, or are kids rude these days!?!?!

We live in a neighborhood with lots of kids, and lots of kids selling things. I am a sucker to anyone selling things and have a hard time saying no, especially to kids. I remember going door to door trying to raise money for various school fundraisers and it wasn't easy!

A few weeks ago, I had an experience with some kids that just sort of rubbed me the wrong way. It started off with my doorbell being rung over and over, probably like 10 plus times back to back before I immediately ran to the door because Sula was in her swing sleeping. There were a few kids standing there. Two of them apologized for the younger child (by younger I mean maybe 7?) who rang the doorbell several times. But the kid continued to ring the doorbell until I had to ask him to quit because I had a sleeping baby. He said "I like ringing the doorbell." I mean, wtf?? Really? My two year old acts better than that most of the time when I ask him to quit doing something. I had to basically say, "I dont care if you like to, dont ring it again."

So these kids are raising money. They tell me what they are doing and hand me a form. They did not ask me if I would help, they handed me the form like they were entitled to my help. So I donated $20. After I had filled out the form, and started to shut the door, another kid shoved his form in my hands. So I took the first form back and changed my donation to $10 and gave the other kid $10 as well. Then one of them said "I need to collect more than he does." Or something along those lines to which I just said "I am giving you all the save amount."

There are several things that irked me about this. One, you ASK for a donation; don't just expect that everyone will give you one. Two, split up or take turns. There should only be one person to hit a house at a time! Three, say thank you!! Dont be ungrateful!

Is it just me? Unfortunately, being the new neighbor, I felt like I couldn't be rude or even say "no" because I dont want to start off on the wrong foot here. I will remember this when one day Colt has to go door to door.

Anyways, off my rant and onto a couple happy things.

Sula is feeling much much better today. I think she is on the mend.
We have a contract on our house in Tn. Yay!!! If the inspection goes well, then we should be able to close in a couple weeks. It will be nice to not be the owner of two houses anymore!

A new first

2012-01-31T21:22:00.003-06:00

Sula had a new first today. Her first sick appointment :(

She has had a cough for a few days but I figured we would just ride it out. This morning though, Sula woke up with a terrible cough. She was gagging, choking, turning red and just having a hard time while coughing. I went to give her her bottle (She had been asleep for seven hours and would normally be starving), but she had no interest in the bottle and it was just making her choke and cough more.

I decided to take her in to the doctor. Poor girl has RSV. The doctor thinks that she is at the peak of this virus and is probably the worst she will get. I was very concerned at first but the doctor didn't seem to worried and after talking to him, I think Sula is going to be fine.

Even feeling crappy, she was still all smiles today. She smiled at the nurses and doctor. He commented on how sweet she was.

See (this was right after we got home.)

Hopefully she has a good night and gets through this. I hate seeing my baby sick :(

Another Weekend Bites the Dust

2012-01-29T22:20:00.006-06:00

We had a nice relaxing weekend here in the big D. The weather was a little chilly Saturday but nice today. We had no plans, but still ended up having a full weekend.

On Saturday, we took it easy and then went and looked at a playset for Colt. We decided to forego the big birthday party and instead are getting him a playset. Is Colt really almost three?? Poor John's flight was delayed and he did not get home until about 5AM on Saturday morning, so he was tired! But he was still great with the kids and quite the trooper.

Today, a neighbor invited us over for brunch. We ended up staying for over three hours! They moved to the neighborhood a month before us from New York and have four year old twins. Colt had so much fun playing with them and when they blew up the jumpy castle in the back yard, Colt was in heaven! I am LOVING our neighborhood. It is so social and we have met some great people!

I didn't take a lot of pictures this weekend, but here are a few that I did take.

Sula tried out the exersaucer. She loves it! (And so does Colt. Its like a new toy for him. He has forgotten how much time he spent in there!)

Colt got an easel from my brother for Christmas. He LOVES it. Its about time to get some more dry erase markers because he has worn them out!

We are working on organizing our playroom. It is really coming along! And now I need to find something for the walls. I found something I love but of course it was $199 from pottery barn and I wanted two, so hummm, back to the drawing board.

A rare picture of me and my sweet baby girl. Of course my necklace was messed up because I had moved it out of her reach, but I still love a picture with my baby.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Back to the grind tomorrow.

Friday Weekly Pics

2012-01-27T22:05:00.006-06:00

We had a low key week and I hardly took any pictures. But I did take a couple.

Sula is now really interested in toys, especially the one below. She doesn't look at the camera nearly as much as she used to.

I bought the bow below for Christmas but due to Sula's dainty head, it didnt fit. It is still a little loose but it made for some cute pictures. It fell off right after these pictures were taken.

And here is my little stinker. We had a great day going to the park and feeding the ducks.

Its been a good week and Texas got some much needed rain.

John has been out of town and I am waiting for him to get home. Unfortunately, his flight has been delayed and isnt even taking off until 1:50AM. Yikes!

I am off to get some sleep. Sula will be up in a couple hours...sigh :)

Book Club - Misery Loves Cabernet

2012-01-26T21:21:00.003-06:00

Another Friday has rolled around (well will roll around in the morning!)

And with that, another book to review:

From Amazon.com (along with the cover picture.)

Charlize “Charlie” Edwards finally has it all: a house in Silverlake, L.A.’s
hippest neighborhood, two fabulous best friends who always have her back, and a
great (though hectic) job as the personal assistant to Hollywood’s hottest movie
star, Drew Stanton. But best of all, Charlie has a newly feathered love nest
with Jordan, the sexy photographer she recently started dating. Maybe Charlie’s
journal of smart-alecky life advice—which she’s always been better at writing
than following—has finally helped put her on the right track.

Unfortunately for Charlie, Drew is causing complete havoc on his new movie
set, her eccentric family is descending upon L.A. for the upcoming holiday
season, and her love life may be back to square one. Jordan has left L.A. to
work on a film shooting in Paris, where the women are gorgeous, sophisticated,
and possibly after her man. And Drew’s handsome new producer, Liam, is an old
crush who has reappeared to tug at Charlie’s heartstrings. Charlie’s torn
between the misery of waiting for Jordan and the tingly feelings she has for
Liam. But there’s nothing misery—or seduction—loves better than a great glass of
cabernet.

My thoughts

This book was the sequal to "A Total Waste of Make Up." I felt about this book about the same way as I felt about the first book except I liked the ending much less in Misery Loves Cabernet. In fact, I think they are virtually the same book. There were times that I wanted to strangle the main character and tell her to get her act together. (We are the same age.)

My favorite part of the book is reading about Charlie's relationship with her boss Drew, a crazy actor whose antics are always putting him (and Charlie) into interesting situations. Frankly, I wish they would have gotten together (this isn't a spoiler as the book never even hints that they will be together.)

One thing I didnt like about the book was that the first book ended on such a happy note, and this book took the happy ending from before and basically wrote it off and started all over again.

It was a cute book and a quick read but its a little forgettable. Still if you liked the first book, I think you will like this one as well.

Linking up here!

Me in a bikini

2012-01-25T22:07:00.002-06:00

So, yep, you read the title right. I am going to post a picture of me in a bikini!

In a minute....

Today was a dreary, rainy (much needed) day. The kids and I took it super easy just hanging around the house. Colt helped me cook banana bread (yum!) and dinner.

So since it was a dreary day, I am day dreaming about warmer summer weather. And I thought what better time than to share a picture of me in a bikini!

Wait for it...

Did you think it would be current?

I believe I was nine here. I had just gotten a new pair of water skis, but LOOK HOW SKINNY I WAS! Holy moly! Also note my haircut. My mom tricked me into doing it and everyone thought I was a boy. It was horrible!

I am loving looking through old pictures. More to come in a future post!

Four Month Doctor Appt

2012-01-24T21:55:00.003-06:00

Sula is 17 weeks today and will be four months on Friday, whaaa???

We had her doctor's appt today. Her new pediatrician grows on me more everytime I see him. He is very laid back which is what I was looking for and his office staff is very friendly and accommodating (they gave me three cans of formula today!!)

So anyways, here are the stats:

Height - 25.5 inches (82%) [Colt was 26.25 inches]
Weight - 14 lbs, 3 ozs. (50%) [Colt was 17 lbs, 2 ozs. He weighed 14 lbs, 7 ozs at two months!]
Head Circumference - 39.5 cm (10%)

She still has a small head but it is definitely growing!

(Look at this face)

She had a great report. She has a little eczema, but we already knew that. Everything else looks great. We can start food at anytime but I am going to hold off for a little while. (Partly because I am lazy and partly because we are finally getting into a good eating routine.)

She had two shots today. I love how they do the shots at her doctor's office. Two nurses come in and they do them at the same time, one in each leg, so its over more quickly! She handles shots like a champ. She cries when it happens and then she gets calmed down and is back to her old self the rest of the day. So far, knock on wood, shots don't cause her to get fussy.

Just a few things about our sweet girl this month:

She LOVES to look at herself in the mirror. She just laughs and laughs and laughs. Such a girl ;)
She doesn't spend much time doing tummy time as she immediately flips over, but she has not flipped from back to tummy yet. She is close though! She can roll on her side.
Sleeping is going well. She is getting up once but then sleeping until around 7-8AM and is waking up happy and can coo in her crib for a little while. She goes right back to sleep after her middle of the night feeding.
She loves her hands. I have tried to keep her attention on her paci because we can take that away but I think she may be a thumb sucker. Its cute though.
She is so smiley. Much more than Colt was.
She does well sitting in the bumbo
She takes little cat naps during the day but then usually takes a long nap in her swing from about 4-6PM which works out nicely because I can cook dinner.
She is still my little baldy but she does have some sweet blonde peach fuzz

We love you little girl!

12 things for 2012

2012-01-23T21:01:00.003-06:00

**I am totally stealing this post from Kristen's blog!**

~12~

Random Stuff

1. I am routing for Jennifer on the Bachelor, primarily because she is an accountant and...

2. I am also an accountant. We get a bad rap though.

3. I have been in an Opera

4. I have been to an Inauguration and Inaugural ball. My parents were really involved in politics.

5. I went to the Junior Olympic trials for Syncronized Swimming

6. My husband and his friends were super intimidating to me in high school.

7. I am shy until I get to know you and then I am the opposite of that.

8. I have no poker face.

9. There have been several times that I have been called out for making faces in meetings. Primarily for smiling when someone says something that sounds dirty. Ha.

10. My dream job would be to write pranks for a prank type show.

11. I love pranks but I cant ever pull them off because I have no poker face but I can usually find someone who will do it for me!

12. There is no worse trait than being jealous of others in my opinion.

~11~

Things I do every single day

1. Get up too early with Sula.

2. Hug my kids

3. Read

4. Laugh with my son

5. Give Sula a bottle

6. Pick up after Colt.

7. Take a shower

8. Do dishes

9. Play on the computer

10. Tell John and kids that I love them

11. Get Sula smiling and laughing

~10~

Most recent purchases I (or John) has made

1. New Tory Burch boots! The last pair in the company that were my size. Yay!

2. Lunch out with friends

3. Tickets for Colt to ride rides at the rodeo

4. Centerpiece for our dinner table

5. Present for a birthday party

6. Chutes and Ladders for Colt

7. Diet Coke

8. Nipples....haha, seriously. Sula needed a quicker flow

9. Place mats

10. Groceries

~9~

Future Vacation Destination

(Planned to take this year)

1. Orlando, FL (IN TWO WEEKS!!)

2. Austin, TX

3. Vegas Baby (Our Christmas gift to each other!)

(Hopefully in the future)

4. Costa Rica

5. Hawaii

6. Italy (Ancient Rome)

7. French Polynesia (In a hut over the water!)

8. Destin, FL

9. Northern CA (San Francisco, Napa Valley, Santa Cruz)

~8~

Currently in my living room

1. Fireplace

2. TV

3. Couches

4. Swing

5. Basket full of toys

6. Clock that need to be hung

7. Large mirror on mantle

8. End tables and lamps

~7~

If you came to my house right now the TV would probably be on

(If I was watching)

1. The Bachelor (or some other reality TV show)

2. Modern Family

3. Live with Kelly

(If Colt was watching)

4. Dora

(If John was watching)

5. How I Met Your Mother Reruns

6. Two and a Half Men Reruns

7. Pawn Stars

~6~

Some of my favorite foods

1. Steak (med - medium rare)

2. Chopped salad

3. Shrimp

4. Pizza

5. Pasta

6. Warm Desserts (Souffle, bread pudding, etc.)

(All the real healthy stuff..sigh)

~5~

Things I Accomplished Over Christmas Break

1. Traveling with both kids on an airplane

2. Putting up and then taking down Xmas decorations

3. Continuing to unpack things

4. Quality family time

5. Going to our first neighborhood party (I guess this is an accomplishment??)

~4~

Music I Cannot Stop listening to

1. Whatever is on the radio

2. The Dora theme song

3. Lily Allen

4. The Wheels on The Bus (thanks to Colt)

~3~

People who I would want to be friends with in real life

(Kristen used other bloggers but that was too hard to narrow down so I am using celebrities or characters)

1. Kelly Ripa

2. Emma Stone

3. Phil Dunfy (sp?)

~2~

Things I can reach from where I am sitting

1. My wine

2. My book

~1~

A Picture I Love

Busy Weekend

2012-01-22T21:08:00.020-06:00

We had such a good weekend! I love busy weekends and its really nice to get back to busy weekends again. We have been so lucky to have met so many people in Dallas.

We went to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese on Saturday. You would have thought is was Christmas; Colt was so excited. Maybe I am weird, but I love going to birthday parties. Its something fun to do for Colt and is a good way to break up the day.

Colt loves to "help" others with their games

Pizza!

I sat back with Sula. I was worn out after carrying her the whole time. Sula loved Chuck E Cheese as well. She loves to people watch so I walked her around for an hour or so. She loved looking at all the lights and kids running around.

It did wear her out though!

I got a little frustrated Saturday after the party. Colt just wasnt being very nice. After a day all about him, he was acting out and just not being very nice to John and me. It makes me not want to take him to do anything fun because he doesn't act appreciative.

And then I remember that he is two (almost three) and this is just part of things. He is sweet for the most part but he can really do a 180.

He made up for it today though and was an absolute angel. We went to the Fort Worth Rodeo and Stock Show. It was my first trip to Fort Worth and I really enjoyed not only the city but the Rodeo as well! We met up with Sara and her sweet family while there and spent the day with them. Colt and Hudson get along so well and are so much alike.

It was another perfect day in the upper 70s! I am loving this January!

They had fun riding horses

Sula spent alot of time in her carseat and was a champ! I think as long as she can see you, she doesn't mind too much.

We all rode the Merry Go Round and then Colt and I rode this big slide. I wasn't sure what Colt would think but he liked it. He was in my lap and felt safe. Plus for some reason our slide went pretty slow.

Then he rode the train. I didnt get a great picture but he and Hudson sat next to each other. Colt wasn't a big fan. I dont think he realized that I wasn't riding this one with him until it was too late. His face tells you how thrilled he was. No tears though!

He and Hudson DID love driving their own car though!

After rides, we headed out to eat to a place called Joe Ts that was awesome! I love Texas Mexican restaurants. So good!

Not to be outshined. Sula wanted a chance to show you her new trick.

Look at me!

I have been pulling her up from lying on her back but instead of sitting she immediately stands up. This girl is ready to be on the move...you still have a little while sweet girl :)

One last picture with her crazy eyes!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Friday pictures

2012-01-20T21:56:00.007-06:00

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day in Dallas. A high of 78. We spent so much time outside. First we went to the park and then came home and after some quiet time (Colt rarely naps anymore), we went back outside and played in our backyard for a while. It is hard to believe that it is January! Sadly, it is shortly lived. Tomorrow will be cold again...well, a high in the mid 50s I think.

Here are a few pictures from our last couple days. I haven't posted many pictures lately.

Colt serenading Sula. I love the way she is looking at him. This kid loves the guitar.

Sweet smiles

My favorite chair to pose in. Sula will be four months in a week from today. Her outfit is nine months! I have put all her three months clothes away and her six month clothes are getting snug in the length! I cant wait to find out how tall Sula is!

My everything...

Look how mad Colt looks. You would think that I am the one who made him pose but he is the one who wanted to hold Sula and have his picture taken.

A little better :)

Happy Friday everyone! I am off to finish my wine!

Book Club - Social Crimes

2012-01-19T20:53:00.003-06:00

I recently finished Social Crimes by Jane Hitchcock

(Cover from Amazon. This is the Audiobook however I read the actual book.)

From Amazon.com

When her husband dies, New York socialite Jo Slater is shocked to learn that he
left his sizable estate to a mysterious French countess. Obsessed with
recovering her place as queen of New York, Jo concocts an audacious scheme of
revenge. Can she pull it off?

My Thoughts

I loved this book. In fact, I listed it as my 6th favorite book I read last year. I just couldn't put it down. I loved how it took place among New York City's richest (I am all about living vicariously.) The very first line of the book whic is told in first person was "I never thought I could kill someone..."

As the description says, the main character is shocked when after her husband dies, he has left her basically nothing and left everything to a young French Countess whom she thought was her friend and pretege'. My stomach was in knots for much of this book as Jo goes from having it all to having nothing to then plotting her revenge.

Good stuff. This was the first I read from this author and I definitely plan to read more!

Linking up as always here! Click on the icon to see what others have read. I have found so many good books here!

Channeling the Pioneer Woman...or not

2012-01-18T20:59:00.012-06:00

Over the past week, I have dusted off my Pioneer Woman cookbook and tried several recipes. I have mixed reviews, but its most likely me. I have a feeling that if the Pioneer Woman made these recipes that they would be MUCH better. But I thought I would share my experience with the recipes I tried.

1. Simply Perfect Chili

Loved this recipe! Super easy; quick for chili and so tasty. I think this will be my go to chili recipe in the future.

I love how the cookbook takes pictures of every step. I also liked how this chili recipe had main ingredients as well as optional ingredients.

A few pictures:

Ground beef, tomato sauce, and spices simmering.

Optional ingredients added (I added rotel, kidney beans and pinto beans.)

Ready to eat...almost

Ahhh, needed the cheese! Now it's ready to eat. Success!

Recipe 2 - Chicken Spaghetti

I have been wanting to try this recipe FOREVER. In fact, this is even on by 31 things to do while 31 list.

But, I just didn't love it. I liked it alright but maybe I just had too high of expectations. I have seriously wanted to make this for a good four years or so; back before the cookbook even came out when I saw the recipe on the Pioneer Woman's website. My biggest complaints are that the onions didnt cook well enough. They were a little crunchy in the casserole. I also thought it was a little bland. I added salt and I hardly ever add salt.

This wasn't a total fail by any means. Just didn't add up to my high expectations.

I forgot to take pictures but here is the final product after we had dug into it

3. Meatloaf

This was my least favorite. It just didnt like the consistency and it didn't cook thoroughly. Seeing red ground beef after an hour of cooking just kind of ruined it for me. Oh well.

I did love the sauce and the bacon (who doesn't love bacon!)

A few pictures

Colt is my little helper. Here are all the ingredients before being shaped into the loaf.

In a loaf and wrapped in bacon

One out of three isn't too bad I guess.

Ahhh learning to cook....

Who Will Be My Friends

2012-01-17T20:22:00.003-06:00

(Warning: This is a long one!)

The first book I ever read on my own was Who Will Be My Friends by Syd Hoff. I vaguely remember that the book was basically about a little boy who walks around trying to find friends. He asks several kids to be his friend and then finally finds a friend at the end of the book....I think.

I have been thinking a lot about Colt growing up and making friends. Sometimes there is nothing worse than seeing your child struggle to make friends. We went to the park this weekend and while John was playing with Colt, I was standing back with Sula in the stroller. I was standing next to a man who was walking two dogs. I smiled at him but didnt say anything as I was watching John and Colt. We made eye contact and the man said "It's so hard to watch your child, who is an only child, make friends." I saw the pain in this sweet man's eyes. His son was 5 or 6 and was trying to interact with a group of kids. While they weren't necessarily being mean to this kid, they weren't really including him either. I could tell that his father felt so helpless.

Even though Colt is only 2 (almost three), I already think about this and worry about it. I wonder what my role is. How much do I stand back and watch and how much do I try to help Colt? Of course with him being only two, I help him as much as I can. Colt is so much like me. He takes a little while to warm up and if he comes into a situation where there are already groups of kids playing, it can be hard for him to make the first move. After about ten minutes though, he will usually warm up and is running and screaming right along with everyone. We went to Chick-Fil-A last week and after we ate, Colt and I went into the play area. I always go in with him and it always surprises me that I am usually the only parent in there. I am there for support and encouragement for Colt. There is a car that he loves to get in and peek out the windows at me. Its a decent size car that could fit three to four kids. He peeked in the car and there was a little boy and girl already in there. They were probably around four or five. As soon as Colt peered in, the little boy started yelling "Go Away!" and the little girl started calling him names...something like "Poopy Butt Monster." My blood started boiling and I immediately got to where I could see the two kids and said in my best angry teacher voice, "Do you all want me to go get your moms?" They looks shocked and said "No" which hung heads. I then said "Then you both better start being nice. That is not your car and anyone else can go in if they want to." Luckily Colt isnt really old enough to comprehend that they were being mean to him.

Colt is going to have his share of mean kids. That's just part of growing up. I think a lot about bullying as well. There is so much on the news about it now and I just read a book about it (Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult.) As much as people are talking about bullying; bullying is nothing new (well CYBER bullying is), but good old fashioned bullying has been around forever. Kids are mean. How do you parent that? Do you tell your child to walkaway? to fight back? to tell an adult? I dont know what the right answer is. I can only go on what my experiences growing up were.

What worked for me? I dont really think I was ever bullied. I (sadly) was probably more on the bullying (or mean girl) end, but I do recall a time at church of all places when a girl who was bigger than me started picking on me. She became somewhat of a ringleader and had others in the class all making fun of me as well. I was probably around seven and I remember how awful it felt. After church, I found her walking to big church in a crowd of people. She was walking and her back was towards me. I ran up to her, punched her as hard as I could in the back and took off. Right or wrong, who knows, but I will tell you this - I NEVER remember her ever being mean to me again.

Sometimes, I think sticking up for yourself is what you may have to do. I have a friend who told me that when his son was three years old, he came home from school upset that one of the boys had hit him at school. My friend (who is male) told his son, "Next time that boy hits you, you hit him back...harder." He made sure to tell him that it was not ok to hit first but that it was ok to defend himself. I love that story.

I certainly dont think that violence is the answer but sometimes kids need to stick up for themselves. (Boys in particular. Girls have a whole nother "mean girl" bullying they have to deal with.) However, there are times that teachers need to be notified as well. I think when teachers or school administration gets involved, it can really help. I can think of situations in high school that teachers got involved and it made a difference. Sadly, I think the older kids get, parents getting involved can make things worse.

I only have a two year old and a three month old, and I have a lot to learn I know, but I already worry. I am probably being overanalytical and overworrisome, but I just want to give my children the tools they need to survive (and LOVE) being a kid and teenager. I dont have a plan. My only plan is to let my children know they are important; to let them know that I love them whether they succeed at something or fail at something; to help them find their strenghs and help them overcome any weaknesses; and to give them the confidence to let the words or actions of others roll off their backs.

Whew, thats a heavy one folks!

What are your thoughts? Am I the only one who thinks about these things?

Awarded!

2012-01-16T20:55:00.004-06:00

I got an award yo! From the Fabulous Jenni @ Well Shut the Front Door! Jenni is HYSTERICAL! If you dont read her, you should. Plus she writes the best book reviews.

In receiving this award, I am supposed to list seven random things about myself. So here goes...

1. One of my new favorite things to do is to take pictures of people doing um...interesting things. (Or showing their cracks - see yesterdays post!)

Over Christmas, I was able to take this awesome picture. Its a little hard to see, but this lady was doing the downward facing dog in the airport. She did yoga for a good thirty minutes. The weird thing is that she was stretching and laying on an airport floor, but then before she got on the plane she put a mask over her mouth. If you are worried about germs, why are you rolling around on the airport floor?

2. I used to be able to put my legs behind my head....I may have a picture of this.

3. My brother and I are fifteen months apart and he is seriously one of my BEST FRIENDS. He is the guy version on me and we have a lot in common. We are fifteen months apart. I dont know how my mom did it but I am glad she did!

4. My favorite indulgence is pedicures. My mom spoiled me when I was younger and always painted my toenails for me. She couldnt stand chipped toenail polish. So now, I never paint my own toenails. There is nothing better than a pedicure. I cant wait to take Sula with me someday! She has already been once and just sat in my lap. It was pretty surreal getting a pedicure with my DAUGHTER. I am still in shock that I have a daughter!

5. I love love love my kids and their ages, and I certainly dont want to wish time away, but part of me can't wait until they are older. I look forward to some great vacations, and nice dinners out with my kids.

6. I am currently watching the bachelor. I will never give this show up. It is my guilty pleasure and John knows that on Mondays, I will be in the zone and its best that he just have a project to work on!

7. I dont like girls trips. I have no desire for one. I have great friends, but one of my best friends is my husband. I would rather use my money and vacation (back when I had vacation days) with my husband. I would love a couples trip and dont mind splitting up during the day but getting back together for dinner. That being said, I dont really care for guys trips either. Luckily John feels the same way that I do!

So thats a little about me. Thanks Jenni!

The Dallas Aquarium and the Rest of the Weekend

2012-01-15T21:15:00.017-06:00

On Saturday, the family and I headed to downtown Dallas to visit the aquarium for the first time. Colt turns three in just over a month so we have to go to all the places that are free for kids under three now! Plus it was something fun to do after a long week of John working long hours. Beware of picture overload....you've been warned.

I loved the aquarium. And Colt was pretty interested, however, his favorite parts were not what you would expect....I'll get to that in a minute.

Looking at penguins

Much time was spent on Daddy's shoulders

Colt loved this bird. The aquarium is very open and birds are just flying around. Right after this picture was taken, this bird flew right over Colt's head which Colt loved!

Who knew the moon would come out so early!

My favorite part was the manatees. They are just so big and fun to watch.

Here is Sula chilling with the manatees. She slept the entire time.

This was one of Colt's favorite parts. "THE MAN IN THE WATER!!!" He could have stood here watching the diver the whole time. Want to guess what the diver was doing? Cleaning the tank. Exciting stuff people.

Colt's other favorite part, the commemorative penny he got.

There was an underwater tunnel which went under sharks. This lazy shark was seriously laying on top of the glass, until he literally fell off. He then swam right back and laid back on it.

Again, lounging around. It looks like he has quite an angry face if you look closely.

Me and my boy

Look at this guy. I think this might be the ugliest fish I have ever seen. (At this point, Colt was done looking at the fish. He was happy carrying around his penny.) (Just a note...its a good thing I proofread. I originally wrote "he was happy carrying around his peeny.")

He did like the flamingos though

We had a great time at the aquarium. I would highly recommend the Dallas aquarium. They have some great exhibits.

While this girl slept the whole time, she did wake up later and was happy to play!

While she slept all during the aquarium, she was up for the rest of the day and she slept from 7:30 until almost 5:30 last night. Yay!

Here she is hanging with her daddy after we got a great sleep.

Today was another great day. We went to my favorite store, Target, and then headed to the park. It was a new park for us and it had a huge pond where there were several birds. Colt loved chasing the birds around. I really wish I would have brought my camera!

Its been really warm here this weekend. Its been in the 60s but it doesnt really feel like it. I am having a hard time getting used to this Texas wind! It drives me crazy.

Anyways, another weekend come and gone. Hope everyone had a great weekend as well!

Thirteen

2012-01-14T20:56:00.011-06:00

John and I went on our first date thirteen years ago today. Where has the time gone! We have really grown up together. I look back at pictures of when we first started pictures and its amazing how young we look...and here we are now, in our (early) thirties with two babies.

This was one of the first pictures ever taken of us.

Prom! I actually still love my dress. It was beautiful. And it was completely backless.

Other pictures from our first year of dating...

During New Year's Eve from 1999-2000, we ran into the ocean after the clock struck midnight. So much fun!

John's MBA graduation

Right after we got engaged. We got engaged 12/26/01 in Destin. (I was trying to figure out why I look so weird here. I am so used to seeing myself in massive sunglasses that these small ones look weird to me!)

College fun

Our first Christmas morning as a married couple.

I love you sweet John. I look forward to what the next thirteen years bring. Colt will be 15!!! and Sula 13!!! but we will probably be getting some sleep :)

Colt updates

2012-01-13T21:50:00.005-06:00

Colt is doing so well in school. He has now completed two weeks. After being in school for the first almost two and a half years of his life, I think Colt was happy to be back. He was a little shy at first but he warmed back up. He is going two days a week for 5 hours. His teacher told me that he fit in really well to the class and he is already making little friends. I love hearing this. So Colt is doing really well at school and mama is enjoying some one on one quality time with Sula.

John and I are awful. Last night John put COlt in his jammies....

I still giggle when I see this poor kid. John and I got a lot of laughs last night, but no fear, Colt was laughing right along with us!

And I finally bit the bullet and took Colt to get a haircut. It had been about four months and was just getting unruly.

Before

After

I love his sweet new haircut and its still not too short. I had them keep his sideburns and keep some of the length.

He is growing up too fast.

TGIF everyone!

2011 Books

2012-01-12T21:08:00.006-06:00

So I read 28 books in 2011. I know some people read over 50, 75 and even 100 books in 2011 but 28 books is by far the most books I have ever read in a year. I read some great books and some not so good books. I thought I would list out the best, worst and well, the others.

The Best

1. The Help by Katherine Stockett (Loved this book. Most people have read this now so I dont need to go into anymore detail.)

2. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson (The final book in the Stieg Larsson trilogy. Such an awesome ending. I was sad to see this series end.)

3. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (A book that I am still thinking about. It really has stayed with me. Such a great book written from several points of view.)

4. True Colors by Kristen Hannah (Love Kristen Hannah. Her books are hard to put down but bring tissues, they are tearjerkers.)

5. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffen (I love Emily Giffen. I have read all of her books and like the others; I loved this one as well. Like Kristen Hannah, Giffen's books are hard to put down.)

6. Social Crimes by Jane Stanton Hitchcock (Reviewing next week. Such a fun book!)

7. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner (Just a relevant book and very cleverly titled as children do shake up your world!)

8. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok (Great story about a young girl who immigrated to the US and ended up working in a sweat shop at night while studying hard and going to school during the day. There is such hope in this book. I loved it!)

9. Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah (Another great Kristen Hannah book. I probably would have liked it better but I was early in my pregnancy and I associate this book with being constantly nauseas!)

10. Savages by Shirley Conran (I remembered my parents reading this book in the 80s. Although it was an old book, it was so good. Its about executive wives who have to fend for themselved in a tropical jungle after their husbands are murdered.)

Honorable Mention - Spin by Robert Rave (I loved this book as well and wanted to include it. Such a fun easy read.)

The Worst

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Snore, couldnt even finish this book.)

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner (Such a lame story line and the characters were VERY similar to the Best Friends Forever characters.)

The Others

This Day in the Life by Joni P Cole

Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Rumer Has It by Jill Mansell

The Stand by Stephen King

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

About the Author by John Colapinto

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Redemption by Karen Kingsbury

A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Greunenfelder

Remember by Karen Kingsbury

Misery Loves Cabernet by Kim Gruenenfelder

Return by Karen Kingsbury

Linking up here!

Pictures!

2012-01-11T20:49:00.009-06:00

Ugh, today was one of those days. Nothing too bad. Its just the third day in a row that John has worked late (like till 9PM and later.) So everything has been on me and I think it just wore a little thin on me, especially after Sula slept awful last night. Thats what I get for bragging on her!

But all is well now. Both kids are down and I am currently ~~downing~~ enjoying a glass of wine :)

So, I thought I would post a couple pictures from the week (mainly of Colt since I posted all of Sula yesterday.)

Sweet curls

Making a pizza with mom

Tummy time with Sula

Who IS this kid?

Sweet sleeping angel

The light up balls we made.

And thats all folks! Have a good night everyone! Happy hump day!

Fifteen Weeks!

2012-01-10T20:53:00.013-06:00

Sula is 15 weeks today and three and a half months old! Where is the time going??

This girl gets more and more personality everyday. I love guessing what her personality is going to be like.

She is usually waking up two times a night but goes right back to sleep after eating so its doable. She goes down between 7:30 and 8:00. Gets up around 2AM and again around 5:30AM. Then she is up again usually whenever Colt comes bounding down around 7:30 to 8:30AM.

She has really good head strength. Its nice to be past worrying about her head snapping back.

She loves to stand up.

She has rolled over a handful of times from stomach to back but never the other way around, but she is so close and likes to roll on her side.

She is crazy about her dad! I am with her all day long but when he is home she just stares at him and when he looks at her she grins ear to ear. I see a Daddy's girl for sure.

She is still quite the baldy but she has a little bit of fuzz working its way out!

She is the smiliest baby. Colt wasnt near as smily. In fact, I looked back at his fifteen week pictures and there was not one picture of him smiling. He definitely smiled but not like Sula.

Sula is also a screamer. She screams when she is happy and SCREAMS when she is mad, which has recently been in the carseat. This girl is not loving the carseat right now.

She is getting more and more interactive with her brother. They took their first bath together tonight. I love it!

I know I am biased, but I think she is the most petite, sweet and beautiful little girl :)

She would be happy being held all day long. I took her with me to get a pedicure last week and wasnt worried about her getting upset at all. As long as she is being held, she is a happy girl. She LOVED all the attention she got and she got plenty :)

She loves her warm bath. I usually give her one every other day but I may start giving her one every night. Alternating, one where I actually wash her and another one where I just put her in a "soothing" warm bath with Colt. (I am not sure how soothing it is with Colt splashing about :))

Her fingernails grow SO fast. I swear I need to cut them everyday. Good thing she is my second. I never had to cut Colt's nails. Good thing because I was terrified.

She is still an easy going baby and I feel lucky to have such a happy, easy going baby.

And just for fun, here is Colt at 15 weeks.

I think they look a little alike but Colt was definitely bigger and beefier :)

Time is going way too fast.

Colt's Room

2012-01-09T21:08:00.008-06:00

I posted pictures of Sula's room last week and thought I would go ahead and post pictures of Colt's room which is also still a work in progress.

Colt and Sula have a Jack and Jill bathroom. Here is their shower curtain. Colt is a big fan of monkeys so this worked out perfectly. We got it at Target. I just LOVE target. They had the cutest kids shower curtains which made it hard to choose. Plus they just seem to be a better quality.

Walking into Colt's room, this is what you see. He has a deep window which right now just has various stuffed animals. I am not sure what I want to do with this yet.

THe pictures are both from Target. (One is of various cars and trucks and the other is of the alphabet.)

His armoire and crib are both Munire. I love this brand and love the crib to full bed conversion kit. His armoire contains various items including a football signed by Peyton Manning, pictures, a baseball collection, John's old baseball mit, and other mainly sports related items.

The picture in the corner is newspaper clippings from when John played baseball and went to the state baseball tournament. I want to hang it but I need a nicer frame. Its on the to do list.

While Texas is a football state, my husband (and I) went to a high school that is ranked nationally for its baseball program, so I wouldn't be surprised if Colt ends up playing baseball (but he can do whatever he wants to do!)

Entrance to the bathroom. The sign over the doorway says "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

The bookshelf is from Target. The letters were from Babies R Us and matched his nursery perfectly. The bins are from Land of Nod and he has various books and puzzles. (And then there is a box that still needs to be unpacked!)

Colts bed. I mentioned in Sula's room post that I plan to get both of their names custom painted over their bed on canvas. I just havent gotten around to it.

Colt's bed is his crib converted to a full size bed. The bedding is from the Land of Nod and pillows are from Target and Land of Nod.

And I have posted these before but the pictures are of John and me when we were in around first or second grade. You can see why Colt is blonde!

And thats Colt's room. Still plenty to do but definitely looking like a room!

Resolutions?

2012-01-08T21:20:00.004-06:00

Soo, I have pretty much decided not to do any resolutions this year. I did a list of 31 things I wanted to do while I was 31 back in August. I just want to mostly focus on that list. (I haven't updated it.) I plan to give an update for how I have done in July.

But I did want to take a look back at last year's resolutions and add some thoughts. We had a big year. When I made the resolutions, I had no idea I was pregnant (about two weeks!) or that we would move to Texas.

(What I wrote last year is in black)

I would still like to try and drink more water and less soda. I absolutely
love Diet Coke and there is nothing better than a cold diet coke but if I can
just drink a glass of water in between them that would be a step up! Well, I guess I can say that I did this but only because I got pregnant so I only had one soda a day and stuck to water for the rest. But now, I am failing miserably. What can I say, I missed my Diet Coke!
I hate working out and I burn enough calories chasing Colt around but I
would like to start doing sit ups every night just to tone up my stomach a
little bit. Ha, well I got pregnant so that was out. This would be a good one to start now!
No more pacifier! This is not something that we will do anytime soon, but by
2012 I at least want it gone for all of the day and hopefully night time
too. Completed in February 2011. Much easier than I thought!
Potty training. Those words terrify me. I dont know what to expect from Colt
and dont want to push him but if he is not completely potty trained then I want
us to at least be close. Started in August and pretty much done right away! We are still in pull ups at night but that is because I am lazy and changing the sheets is a royal pain in the rear. I have only had to do it once during naptime though and I think we could take him out of pullups. Again, I am lazy. Maybe that is a 2012 resolution? No more pull ups!
Create a better morning grooming routine. Brushing hair and teeth, etc. (For
Colt, not me :)) We had a great one when I worked and then we slacked a little bit after Sula was born but we are back to it.
I still want to cook more. I got a great new cook book and want to make
several things out of that cook book plus other recipes I find. I would like to
make a menu every week and stick to it. I failed at this while working but now that I am staying at home, I pretty much cook every night. I just need a few more staples to make.
Last year we paid down our mortgage. This year we want to focus on saving! I
wont say how much we want to save but its a good bit because we have most likely
decided not to sell our house but to rent it once we move, so we need to build
up a good down payment over the next couple of years! Well, this resolution is null and void. We moved to Texas, bought another house and our old one is still for sell. I am hoping it sells soon! We had an offer but it fell through. We have had a lot of activity so fingers crossed!
Visit Destin - For sure this year! Can't wait to see Colt at the beach. Went May 2011. It was a great trip.
Visit Pittsburgh - to visit John's family. Unfortunately we did go to Pittsburgh but it was not for the best of circumstances as John's grandfather died but it was great to see his family.
And take a quick getaway just us. We didn't do this and that's ok. I was pregnant and if I cant have a drink, I dont really want to go on a getaway. I know that sounds awful but I would rather save the money! Getaway trips for us are about great dinners out with a nice bottle of wine and well thats not going to happen while pregnant! We have had plenty of nights out and an over night locally just not an actual trip! This year we plan to go to Vegas though!
Read more - I have highlighted the books I have read in the past. I started
reading more this summer and have really kept to it and hope to read at least 20
books in 2011. Read 28 this year! I hope to read more every year so next year, I am aiming for 29. I felt like 28 was a lot for me and then I read a blog where someone read over 150 books in 2011 and they still didnt meet their goal!
Set my dining room table for at least one of the seasons. It normally sits
undecorated and I would like to add a season a year so that in four - five
years, I will have enough sets to always have a great looking table! Done with the help of my mom for Christmas!

I feel like, under the circumstances, I didnt do too bad!

I guess maybe my only resolution for the year is to get used to my new role as a stay at home mom. I still struggle occassionally. I actually really like staying with my kids but I just never thought I would stay at home (never say never!) So I am adjusting with how I view myself. I sometimes feel a bit of a failure. (NOT THAT I THINK SAHMS ARE FAILURES!) I just have always made money and I worked SO HARD getting my CPA and the job that I had. Its hard to say goodbye to all of that. I need to say and think "I am a stay at home mom", not "I am just a stay at home mom." But I am working on it!

Here's to a great 2012!

Seconds

2012-01-06T20:34:00.002-06:00

So someone asked me a couple weeks ago about having a second child - what it was like? did I feel guilty about Colt having to share our affections, etc, etc.

I thought I would pass on my biggest observations of having a second.

1. One of the biggest differences is that I dont get as worked up about difficult phases. With Colt, there was sometimes this feeling that things would never change; that things would never be normal again and that we would never get sleep ever again. With the second, I know that isn't true. I know that every bad stage has ended. So during tough stages, I never get as bummed and enjoy my middle of the night feedings with Sula (MOST of the time) because I know they end. I know that she will eventually not need me in the middle of the night anymore. They grow way too fast.

2. Why did I think a newborn was hard?? The toddler is the difficult one. They can talk back, pee their pants, throw tantrums, etc etc. I wish that I felt with Colt, the way that I do with Sula. I would have been so much more relaxed. (Not that I didnt enjoy my time with Colt. I was so happy and crazy about him. I just remember thinking it was so hard!)

3. I remember shortly before Colt was born, Angelina Jolie got a lot of slack for saying that their newborn Shiloh was a "blob." She said that she didnt do anything compared to her older siblings. This is SO TRUE. With Colt, everything he did was new and exciting. With Sula, its still wonderful, but during those first few weeks, she really was a little blob! Newborns literally eat, sleep and poop! When you have a toddler who you can have a conversation with, play games with and chase around, a newborn really does feel like a little blob!

4. Your first born will grow up so fast...at least in your mind. Colt was always my baby. But after Sula was born, he suddenly looked like such a BIG BOY! I remember looking at his sweet hands and thinking about how BIG they were!

5. Your first born will also be more annoying than ever before! I love my sweet Colt, but OH MY GOSH, there were days that I wanted to just lock Sula and I in the bedroom and hide out. Especially when I was trying to nurse. Colt was RIGHT THERE. Very curious. This was all fine and well until you are trying to latch on a screaming baby and your active toddler is jumping on the couch beside you making it impossible. This has all resolved itself now as the newness has worn off.

6. There were some feelings of guilt but because I wanted Colt to experience having a sibling, I always felt we were doing the right thing and that the benefits in the long term would outweigh any guilt I would feel about Colt losing attention. We have been lucky though. Colt has never really seemed affected. He was never jealous and has always loved his sister.

7. There is nothing better than seeing your children interact. Sula is only three months old, but already Colt loves to hug her and talk to her. She smiles and talks back. I cant wait to see what these two get into one day.

So there you have it. This is what I told my friend. Anybody else with a second have observations? Are yours the same, different or do you have others?

Book Club - Little Earthquakes

2012-01-05T20:42:00.002-06:00

Its book club time again!

I recently read Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

Summary (from Amazon)

Jennifer Weiner's richest, wittiest, most true-to-life novel yet tells the story of three very different women as they navigate one of life's most wonderful and perilous transitions: the journay of new motherhood.

Becky is a plump, sexy chef who has a wonderfull husband and baby girl, a restaurant that received a citywide acclaim -- and the mother-in-law from hell. Kelly is an event planner who's struggling to balance her work and motherhood while dealing with unemployed husband who seems content to channel-surf for eight hours a day. Ayinde's basketball superstar husband breaks her trust at her most vulnerable moment, putting their new family even more in the public eye. Then, there's Lia, a Philadelphia native who has left her Hollywood career behind, along with her husband, and a tragic secret to start her life all over again.

From prenatal yoga to postbirth sex, Little Earthquakes is a frank, funny, fiercely perceptive take on the comedies and tragedies of love and marriage.

My Thoughts

This summer I read my first Jennifer Weiner book, Best Friends Forever. It was one of the worst books I have ever read....that I finished. I am glad I didnt give up on JW though because I really really liked Little Earthquakes. It was even more fitting because I just had a baby and the story followed three women from pregnancy to birth, through about the first year of their babies' lives. There were so many relatable storylines. I laughed and cried and really liked all of the books narrators and their story lines.

I liked the book so much that I am now reading another JW book.

Click on the link the Book Club link to see what others read this week!

It's OK!

2012-01-04T20:46:00.003-06:00

I am linking up tonight with Neely's "It's OK" Thursday. Click on the link above to see what others write!

It's OK...

...that I am finally doing this link up! Sorry it took me so long Neely! Forgive me :)
...that I am awful with link ups. I usually have my kiddos to talk about.
...that I have lived in TX for almost three months and still dont have a new license or license plates (which have expired!)
...that I think its ironic that some people go to church
...that I am so bummed that football is almost over
...that I am actually looking forward to my first Texas summer! (Remind me I said this in August.)
...that I wanted all boys. (Even though its what I wanted, I am so glad I didnt get it. I am LOVING having a little girl.)
...that I stayed in my pjs all day.
...that I love a glass of red wine almost every night. It has antioxidants! I swear its why I rarely get sick!
...that I wish my brother would get married already so my kids can play with his kids!

...that I still need to include at least one picture of the kids for the grandparents!

Thats all I got folks!

Sula's Room

2012-01-03T20:21:00.010-06:00

One of the hard things about moving with a newborn is that I didn't get the chance to fix up her nursery. I knew we were moving when she was just a couple weeks old so there really wasnt much of a point. I spent so much time on Colt's nursery and just when my ideas for Sula's room started to form and we were about to start on Colt's new room (we actually even painted his new room), we found out we were moving.

I have been working on Sula's (and Colt's room) a little here and there since we got here. Its finally getting to the point where I am willing to show it (there is still work to be done though!)

But here is where Sula's room stands now:

The stand up mirror was a gift from Santa (Wayfair)

Both her chest of drawers and crib are the brand Munire which is the same brand as Colt's. I love it and the cribs convert to full size beds so the furniture will last for a long time. I found the furniture at a boutique in a small town near Nashville. The color was actually no longer being made but luckily there were still some available!

The glider was in Colt's room and the wood matches Colt's furniture. I sort of wanted to get a new glider that matched Sula's color of wood but it seemed a bit of waste for something that will only be in her room for a couple of years. Plus it is SO comfortable.

Curtains and chair are from Pottery Barn kids

The lamp is from Target

The white end tables (there are two) are antiques that my mom gave me years ago. I think they used to be in a bed and breakfast because inside there are two names from the 60s I believe that have signed the drawer saying they spent their honeymoon there. So cute! I would love to know what became of these couples.

The pink basket, filled with various stuffed animals, was actually a wedding gift.

This is the barest wall but I have plans! I am going to find someone to custom paint Sula's name over her bed on canvas. I want to do the same thing for Colt. I just need to find someone! Her bedding and blanket are from Restoration Hardware.

Changing table and baskets are from Pottery Barn kids.

Rug is from Target

Above the changing table is John's maternal grandmother's baby quilt that we had framed. I love how it turned out.

The sign above the entryway to Sula's bathroom (Jack and Jill shared with Colt), says "Always Kiss me Goodnight." This used to hang above Colt's crib. We bought it before Colt was born at a baby store in Nashville.

Sula's dresser is full of picture frames and girly gifts. The mirror, cream frames and Paris picture are all from Hobby Lobby. Everything else is a gift. I love the carraige from my mom. Its engraved with Sula's name.

A close up of the framed quilt.

Closet pictures. I could really hang out in here all day. I buy a lot of things on clearence for next year so there are alot that Sula cant wear yet. There are so many things that I cant wait to put her in!

Here is Sula chillin in her room. She is pretty happy in here.

Still more to do but I am happy with how its coming along! Thanks for letting me share!

New Toys

2012-01-02T20:08:00.007-06:00

These last few days have been low key and so much fun. We had a great New Year's. We attended a neighborhood party that was the real deal. Full bar, bartenders, beautiful decor and kids were welcome. I am never throwing a party; there is WAY too much to live up to!

Anyways, I have a busy night tonight. Colt starts SCHOOL (or mother's day out) tomorrow. I am nervous!! Which is weird, because Colt was in daycare for the first two and a half years of his life. So, I am off to get everything ready so I will leave you with some pictures of the kiddos enjoying their Christmas presents.

Sula and her sock monkey (who Colt has borrowed since he left his monkey at granmommy's house! Its coming in the mail tomorrow hopefully!)

Colt cooking me a donut on his grill

Sula and her chair

She looks so big here! (And serious!) And now that I look at this again, is it just me, or does she look fake! Ha! She looks like a babydoll!

And Colt's trampoline from Grammie and Pap Pap (or jumpy castle as Colt says.)

This has been a big hit and we have since moved it inside while its cold. Its nice that it is small enough to fit in the bonus room.

Now I am off to make Colt's lunch for tomorrow. If anyone has any lunch ideas (no peanut butter!), pass on the ideas. I am afraid Colt will get the samething everyday.

Happy New Years! (And belated Christmas pictures!)

2012-01-01T21:15:00.017-06:00

Happy New Year's everyone! I can't believe it is 2012! I hope everyone had a good and safe New Year's.

And now just a bit more catch up from our Christmas vacation.

Colt and Sula Christmas morning in their Christmas jammies.

Sula with my dad the first time he met her

My brother's awesome Christmas sweater

We headed from Knoxville to Nashville on Christmas day. We enjoyed seeing John's parents and visiting with friends. Sula got dressed up the day after Christmas for a playdate with Colt's best bud from his old school and then dinner at our old neighbor's house (I forgot my camera...)

This kid is FLEXIBLE! Is this normal?

Sweet girl after she projectile spit up all over my mother in law. I am pretty sure she got a little stomach bug that she was exposed to on Christmas day but she handled it like a champ. Just a few nasty spit ups and that was that.

We enjoyed our time in Nashville and John and I even got an overnight at a hotel to ourselves while Colt and Sula stayed with Grammie and Pap Pap!

We came home and saw that Santa had come while we were away! Colt had just woken up and was a little grumpy when we got home but he got some milk and then saw his loot.

He cheered up really fast...

Colt has loved these forever and he finally got one of his own.

Sula was happy with her goodies as well (a stand up mirror, engraved chair and clothes.)

It was good to get home!

2011 in review

2011-12-31T17:54:00.018-06:00

On 12/31/10, if someone would have told me that in one year I would have a three month old baby girl, live in Texas, and be a stay at home mom, I would have told them they were smoking crack! That said, I wouldn't change a thing. Its amazing the difference a year makes.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Happy New Year's everyone!

I'm back with lots of pictures

2011-12-30T21:03:00.016-06:00

Wow, time flies when you're having fun. Time to dust off the ol blog. Be prepared for picture overload. I have a lot of catching up to do so bear with me!

We had a great Christmas. Both flights went really well. The kids were amazing. Sula slept both flights for pretty much the whole time and Colt played quietly. There were times when Colt was frustrated (he is two and its hard to sit that long!) I was proud when the flight attendent complimented us on how well behaved our children were. I remember back in the ol days when I used to sit as far away from kids as possible so I know how people are viewing us now!

We flew into Knoxville first and spent a few days with my side of the family. My brother came over and played the piano with Colt.

My mom got all of my brother's old cars out. There were SO many! Its wild to see all of our old toys being played with again. I will have to keep some of our toys for future grandkids (which is hard to fathom!)

Colt is becoming my little model.

Last Friday, we headed to my mom's bridge club (where they dont play bridge...) for a get together of all the members and their kids. My mom and her best friend have grandchildren both born in September. Here is Sula and Ford sleeping peacefully.

Sula got her first sink bath by grandmommy. Colt LOVED taking sink baths back in the day.

My mom got a bouncy seat for Sula. We dont have our attachment on ours that lights up but Sula LOVED when her new bouncy lit up. She smiled and laughed. I am thinking its time we put batteries in ours!

On Christmas Eve night, I have always had a formal Christmas dinner at my Mamaw's house. It was so nice to get the kids dressed up and we took LOTS of pictures!

Check out Colt. It may not be very Christmasy but I am still nuts over his outfit. It was a little struggle to get him in it, but not too bad (did I mention my son actually cares what he wears and has to pick it out everyday.) We told him for about a week that he was going to have to wear this outfit and he complained a little but no big battle...whew.

Time for posed pictures.

Me, Sula and Uncle Steven. I am so grateful, Colt and Sula have such a great uncle. He is crazy about my children and spoils them rotten!

(Sorry ladies, he is taken :))

Another model picture. This kid has my heart. That smile will get him in trouble one day.

I love that we got some good family photos in.

My mom and Sula

And my sweet baby girl.

I still have lots more pictures to post but I will do that later before this gets too long! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is having great weather. We came home to almost 70 degrees here in Texas. I love it!

Expressions - Colt

2011-12-21T20:59:00.010-06:00

Colt has his fair share of expressions as well so since I dedicated yesterdays post to Sula, today is all about Colt's expressions!

Love his eyes. He also needs a haircut but I love it long and just cant bring myself to cut it!

Colt thought this sausage and cheese gift set we got was a "snack puzzle." He wanted to keep taking it apart and putting it back together.

My little model! ha!

We are flying out tomorrow and I will most likely be out of blogland for the next week. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! Wish us luck on our first plane ride as a family tomorrow!

Expressions - Sula

2011-12-20T22:45:00.012-06:00

As Sula has gotten older (12 weeks today!), she gets more and more expressions!

Just looks at these faces (the first one is my favorite!)

Posting will be light over the holidays! We leave Thursday for Tennessee! It will be Colt and Sula's first plane ride. Hard to believe Christmas is five days away!

Random shiz

2011-12-19T21:38:00.011-06:00

I just have a bunch random pictures I have taken lately and some random things to talk about as well.

Number one and most important....SULA SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT LAST NIGHT!!! I mean, this schedule thing, is WORKING. It seems too good to be true. All I am doing is making her wait three hours to eat (sometimes its not quite three hours but only when she gets unconsolable.) An added bonus, I am getting quite the workout distracting her by bouncing her and walking her around. My hips and legs hurt. Sula slept from 7:45 - 5:30 last night, got up to eat and then went back down until I woke her up around 8:30. She slept until 4AM the night before. This is a HUGE improvement!

Now onto pictures:

Nutella = crack. Why have I not discovered this heavenly spread before. I could literally eat spoonfuls of it! Colt is a fan as well.

Hanging in the playroom. This room needs some work. Its so bare. I need to find some cute things to go on the wall. Colt LOVES it though. He loves having a playroom all to himself. I always had a playroom growing up so I am glad our kids will have one too.

Colt is so imaginative. He has made his own "car" he drives.

While Sula passed out during tummy time.

This weekend, we headed out to Grapevine, TX to ride the North Pole Express - a Santa train. Unfortunately when we got there, the tickets for the rides while we would be there were sold out and we didnt want to wait several hours with two little ones. There was still plenty to do though.

We had Colt pose on the train tracks. There was an old mill in the background, so the pictures turned out pretty cool.

Colt enjoyed a pony ride. We went to a birthday party back in July that had pony rides and Colt would not have any of it!! But he was all about it this weekend.

We ate at a cool little restaurant in downtown Grapevine. I love Sula's hat.

Colt on the nativity scene camel. Is it bad to let your child ride a nativity scene animal? I dont think it is....

We had a great weekend. We didnt get any pictures but I carried Sula the whole time in my new Ergo Baby backpack. I wanted something for the airport that would be easy. Apparently a stroller is a pain to get through security while you can walk through security if your backback (or frontback) has no metal.

I am seriously pumped about the Ergo Baby backpack. It can be worn in the front, back or side and can hold anywhere from a newborn (with an insert) up to 90 lbs. I saw someone at the mall and asked them where they got it because I just could never get the Moby Wrap to feel right. The backpack (frontpack) still takes some getting used to, but I think its going to be great for the airport and Sula conks out in it.

Three days until we leave. I cant wait!!

Old School

2011-12-18T20:44:00.002-06:00

I have a long post with lots of pictures from this weekend, but right now I have some laundry to fold and a few more Christmas cards to send (sigh!) So I thought I would post an old school picture of me and my brother.

Gotta love the 80s!

Scheduled

2011-12-17T21:02:00.003-06:00

In an effort to try to get some sleep, I am trying something new. None of my babies have ever been on a schedule per se. They eat and sleep when they want. With Colt, this worked fine as he slept through the night at seven weeks. But Sula, not so much. Sula wants to eat about every two hours and will only eat 2-3 ounces at a time. Already such a dainty little girl. I think this is part of the reason she just wont sleep. Her stomach just doesnt hold enough milk to sleep for more than four hours at a time or so. I certainly dont expect her to sleep through the night, but it would be nice if she would just get up once or twice rather than three times. As of earlier this week, she was getting up at 12ish, 3ish, 5ish and then up for good around 7. This wasnt too unbearable when she would go right back to sleep but now she is getting spoiled and it is taking longer and longer for her to get settled. There are many nights that I am up for about an hour and a half just trying to get her to go back to sleep!! I thought babies were supposed to get easier as they got older but Sula continues to get more and more difficult!!

So I have decided to put her on a schedule of eating every three hours, starting around 8AM and trying to get her to take 4ozs. This is working ok. Usually the last 30 minutes before three hours is up Sula is not happy. I end up bouncing Sula and distracting her (a great workout!) but once we get to the three hour mark she will take most if not all of the three ounces. This is keeping her up more during the day and she is now getting up only two times a night, but its only been a couple days so we shall see.

So moms, what do you think? Schedule? No Schedule? Any other sleeping tips? What has worked for you?

Book Club Friday - A Total Waste of Makeup

2011-12-15T21:39:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago I finished A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Gruenenfelder.
From Amazon:

Charlize "Charlie" Edwards certainly knows, in theory, what it takes to lead a successful and happy life. She owns a nice house in Silverlake, LA's trendiest neighborhood. She has glamorous and loyal friends who accompany her to the hottest clubs in town. And she works as the personal assistant to Drew Stanton, Hollywood's sexiest movie star. But she's also turning 30, chronically single, and faced with serving as maid of honor at her younger sister's wedding. Charlie finds herself struggling to juggle the chaos of wedding planning (while wondering if she'll ever wear the white dress herself), her all-consuming job for lunatic boss Stanton, and a serious crush on Jordan, a photographer on the set of Drew's latest feature--a man who might actually return her feelings. A page-turner from start to finish, A Total Waste of Makeup puts a fresh face on women's fiction.

My Thoughts

This book was a quick easy read. It was cute but a little unoriginial. It followed what is quickly becoming a literary pet peeve of mine - this story line: Girl likes guy who she thinks is WAY too good for her; guy likes her back but she misses all the obvious signs; the book drags out the back in forth between the two; they finally get together...with about two pages left. I guess I would rather read a little bit more about the happy couple once they get together! I am currently reading the sequal though so I did like it enough to read Misery Loves Cabernet which is panning out to follow a very same story pattern.

Overall, I liked it, but I have read other books recently that I liked much better. I plan to review them soon as well. I am a little behind.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

11 Weeks

2011-12-14T21:02:00.009-06:00

Sula was eleven weeks old yesterday!

Time is going way too fast! Sula is really starting to get a little personality.

She is smiling a lot and cooing a lot. She LOVES to be hold. Sometimes it is hard to get anything done because she doesnt want to be put down. I got a new backpack to hold her in and I think she will love it.

Look at this crazy smile. That smile says, "I am laughing because I know I am going to keep you up all night!" Let me just say....Sula is a GREAT baby but man oh man, she sucks at sleeping! I am still getting up at least two times a night, sometimes three. Its a good night if she makes it until 2AM but usually its more like midnight or 1AM. And then every three hours afterwards. Oh well...its amazing what you can get used to. I guess it just seems worse because Colt slept through the night at seven weeks.

As you saw in my post yesterday, Sula is holding her head up so well. She loves to stand on my lap which makes me think she may be a fast crawling and walking which Colt wasnt.

She loves her carseat and if she gets settled she will sleep in there hours at a time.

She even sleeps through her brother in her face...

Speaking of her brother, he is crazy about Sula, and has turned into such a good helper with her. He loves to make her smile.

And here is Colt at eleven weeks for comparison sake.

I think they look a little alike but there are definitely some differences. I think the older Sula gets, the less alike they look.

Like I said, this is going WAY too fast. Its fun, frustrating at times, but I wouldn't change a thing....except maybe the sleeping!

Lookie what I can do!

2011-12-12T21:48:00.003-06:00

All I can think when I see these pictures is "Hercules Hercules!"

Friday night photo dump

2011-12-09T21:28:00.009-06:00

Yes I giggled at the word dump...

Colt got a new belt. I asked him to show it to me but I got sort of a Marky Mark look from him. Who IS this kid?? He is so grown up!

Sweet Siblings

Ten weeks old!

Its finally happened. Colt is interested (somewhat) in a TV show. It Dora... I was slightly horrified about this but I sort of like Dora! I NEVER would have thought I would say that!

Sula hangin with Daddy

Sula's new 3-6 month jammies that she has grown into. She was not happy about her picture being taken obviously.

Like I said....WHO is this kid??

Our new game....jumping from the couch to the floor. I threw a bunch of pillows on the floor and Colt had a blast!

Hope everyone had a great week! So glad its the weekend!

Accessories

2011-12-07T20:41:00.005-06:00

Oh how I am loving little girl accessories!

Like hats...

Leggings...

Bows...

Good thing accessories are so darn cute because the sleep situation with this girl still stinks pretty bad and shows no signs of getting better. Sigh...

Santa!

2011-12-06T17:12:00.003-06:00

Poor Sula :)

Colt may not look it, but he was very excited to see Santa this year!

Just a few pictures (of the hizzie)

2011-12-04T21:08:00.008-06:00

So, I guess I should post a few pictures of the house. We still have a lot to do and will probably have a lot to do for years but I love seeing things slowly come together. I thought I would focus on the downstairs today.

I dont plan to post pictures of the front of the house. I dont know...that just seems a little dangerous (not that THAT many people read this blog, but you never know!)

So anyways, lets start in the office. I love the way this room is turning out. I wont be in here much but I can still like it.

John's wine (he also has another smaller wine fridge out of site.) We love our wine (hence the name of this blog!)

Our diplomas look great, even though I am not using mine at the moment :) We still have some boxes and things that we need to hang up in other rooms, but you should have seen this room just a couple weeks ago!

Next, the dining room.

Some of the kitchen. We have so much to decorate above the cabinets, but we have started adding things. Notice the elf?

Our breakfast nook and back stairway

The family room. You can see the lay out fairly well in these pictures. We love how open this floor plan is. It makes it much easier to keep an eye on the kiddos! (And yes, its a little messy, but thats just the way it is around here. We clean up a little before daddy gets home but this was earlier in the day. We spend a lot of time in this area.)

More to come at a later date. Hope you enjoyed the downstairs tour!

Small Town Livin

2011-12-03T21:59:00.009-06:00

One of the things about Texas that is different from Tennessee is the small town pride. Every town has a sign when you enter, has water towers everywhere and has its own little emblem. It doesnt matter the size of the town. There can be anywhere from 3,000 people to hundreds of thousands of people. The smaller towns list the population on all their signs.

Our little town had its annual Christmas tree lighting on Thursday. No one really went to the one in our small town outside of Nashville. We never went to any of the town events. This is partly due to having no kids or kids too small to care I'm sure. We decided to check out our little town's Christmas tree lighting at the city hall since there would be a Santa and we figured it was something Colt would enjoy.

Let me tell you. It was packed! We even had to shuttle from the high school to the city hall. The shuttle was a school bus. This might have been the highlight of Colt's little life. Colt serious sings the Wheels on the Bus over 100 times a day. I am not lying. Ask all his grandparents who have been around him recently :)

Here are Colt and Sula before we left. It took a good thirty minutes to get colt into that shirt. He only has a few shirts he likes, and none are red. Colt would be dressed completely different if I had a say so. Sadly, its not worth the battle. This is one of those things I never thought I would cave in on - letting a two year old pick what they wear.....ahhh parenthood. So much to learn.

Colt and Daddy on the bus. You bet Colt sang the Wheels on the Bus the whole time.

What a difference a year makes. Last year Colt was so unsure about Santa. This year he ran right up to Santa. He even told him what he wanted "a big truck!" We got a picture (for free!!) but I havent scanned it yet. I was so pumped to not have to stand in a long mall line!

They even had reindeer!

The lighting of the tree. Colt loved this as well.

Sweet Sula slept most of the time but did wake up for a picture with Santa.

This was another highlight for Colt. The firetruck. He could have sat in here all night long.

It was a great night.

I still have a long way to go before Texas feels like home, but things like this bring me that much closer.

Book Club Friday - Spin

2011-12-01T21:22:00.004-06:00

I am finally getting back around to Book Club Friday. I have quite a few books to review but I am just going to stick with one tonight for the sake of time.

Spin by Robert Rave

From Amazon.Com

The latest acid tale of people who sell their souls to the devil who wears Prada
comes from a former New York publicist. Debut novelist Rave plunges his naïve
Midwestern hero, Taylor Green, into the sweet-and-sordid world of New York
publicist Jennie Weinstein, whose gift for spin has elevated her to the top rung
of her profession. This, apparently, means endless nightclub openings,
coke-snorting, sexual escapades, personal betrayals and celebrity
gossip-mongering. Despite being used as Jennie's flunky in situations that range
from illegal to embarrassing, Taylor is hooked. In a series of incidents that
entertain through sheer outrage, he alternately succumbs and stands up to his
boss while losing much, though not all, of his integrity, and the ultimate
battle between them takes on truly hellish proportions. Taylor's awareness of
his own susceptibility adds at least an inch of depth, in contrast to Jennie's
unrelieved depravity. With its inside views of a corrupt yet glamorous lifestyle
and its witty tone, the book is sure to please fans of the sub-genre.

My Take

I loved this book! Its pretty crazy and it made me think about all the celebrity "trash" I read. How much of it is really true? I have always assumed "where there's smoke, there's fire" but after reading this, maybe not!! The fictional publicist could "Spin" anything to benefit herself or her clients. I actually have a friend who was a victim of celebrity spin! Your curious, aren't you? Sorry, but I gotta keep that one to myself :)

I would definitely recommend this book!

Wow!

2011-11-30T20:52:00.003-06:00

Can I just say WOW! I debated on even posting about yesterday's debacle. I thought that it would make me look like a pretty craptastic mom, but the comments and emails I got about it were overwhelming. Thank you everyone for letting me know that I am not the only one who gets down or has less than desirable things happen at the hands of a two year old!

And now for a less serious topic.

TEBOWING!! Sula has made her tebowing debut :)

Have a good night everyone!

Someday I will laugh about this

2011-11-29T21:38:00.003-06:00

I never had any desire to be a SAHM and to be honest, I am still struggling a little bit with redefining myself. I just dont feel like I am all that good at it. I was good at my job before plus I got paid for it! I could dedicate a whole post to this and maybe I will, but tonight I will talk about this morning.

Colt has been a bit of a challenge lately. The whining.....oh my god, it drives.me.crazy. And also the arguing. My gosh, does is really matter what cup and straw you have? Apparently to Colt it does. So anyways, suffice it to say, Colt can be a challenge. I get more down about staying home when company leaves. My mom left yesterday but it really hit today when Colt, who used to sleep to 9ish back in Tennessee and now gets up much earlier, came into my room at 7:15 right when I had fallen back to sleep after getting up for the third time with Sula. And for the first time in a week, I was alone.

In order to wake myself up and get to where I didn't feel like crap I decided to take a shower. We have had problems with our alarm system and a repair guy was supposed to come out. He called and said he would be at our house in a little over an hour. I got Sula to sleep and took her into the bathroom. I set up Colt with the ipad on our bed and had the door open to where I could see both him and the door exiting our room so I would know if he left. He never leaves though. Instead he spends most of my shower pestering me. "Mommy, I need a snack." "Mommy, will you get out now." Or just laying across Sula and waking her up. Showers just arent what they used to be. Sigh.

But today, Colt threw me a whole NEW curve ball. While in the shower, he started opening and shutting our bathroom door. He was slamming the doors and I told him to stop. He did stop but the doors were more closed so I couldnt see the door. About a minute later, Colt comes in the bathroom rambling something to me. After hearing "I had to go to the door.....and there was a man....and 'Is your Mommy home?" It hit me. Someone had come to the door and Colt had answered it (the door was locked too, I made sure before I hopped in the shower.) HE LET A STRANGER INTO OUR HOUSE! Oh and I left something out that makes it that much worse. Colt's pullup was bothering him while I was in the shower so I told him to just take it off and we would put on underwear when I got out. So not only did he let a stranger in, he did so naked from the bottom down!

I could laugh, if it wasn't so dangerous! I mean, how scary. I dont even want to think about it. Needless to say, he got a STERN talking to about opening the door and we are having a new deadbolt put in that he cant reach this week. No showers until then for me (at least not in the morning.)

Luckily, everything turned out ok. The "stranger" was the alarm system repair guy and he was early and I dont know if he even came in the house but when I got out of the shower, he was standing outside so I guess if he did come in he quickly went back outside.

One day we will laugh about this. It just goes to show, never under estimate what your child can do! I did not think he could unlock the door.

So that was my day, how was yours?

Two month Dr. Appt

2011-11-28T21:03:00.005-06:00

Sula had her two month check up today. I loved getting her stats as I had no idea how much she weighed or how tall she is.

Little girl has GROWN!

Height - 23.5 inches (90th percentile)

Weight - 11lbs, 8ozs (75 percentile)

Head - Still in the 5th percentile, ha! The doctor isn't concerned. Her head IS growing.

She got a great report. She is doing everything she should be doing and I liked her new doctor. He was very thorough and wasn't condescending at all. I have heard so many stories of condescending pediatricians! Luckily I have never encountered this.

Sula is smiling and cooing and just a great baby. Colt is still nuts about her as you can see here.

She is getting some blonde hair. I think she is going to be a blondie! Colt is blonde but I dont know how long it will last. It is already darkening. But Sula's is much lighter than Colt's was at this age.

Speaking of blondes, let me get off on a tangent. I went to pick out Sula's stocking last night. We got Colt a gingerbread man personalized stocking from Pottery Barn kids last year and I wanted a coordinating stocking for Sula. There was a ballerina, a doll and angels, and none of them were blonde! Not every little girl has dark hair. I ended up ordering her a sweet looking reindeer but I really wanted the angel. John did not think it mattered but I was (naturally) blonde until almost high school and all my dolls were blondes. I dont know why it mattered, but it did!! But I digress...

Anyways....here is my little blondie.

Sula got three shots today :( She is been pretty sleepy tonight but I just have a feeling that tonight may be a long night so I am going to wrap this post up and try to get to bed at a decent hour!! I have been going to sleep after midnight and its killing me. Gone are the days of sleeping in until 9 or 10, unless sweet John lets me, which he does on weekends but during the week, he is gone by 6:30.

We love you sweet Sula girl. Can't believe its been TWO months. Its going way too fast!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-11-27T22:20:00.012-06:00

First things first. Sula is TWO months old today. Look at this smile. I forgot how wonderful it is when they start smiling :) She has her two month doctor's visit tomorrow so I will update about her tomorrow....or Tuesday.

We have been doing a lot of decorating around here. You will also be able to get a sneak peak at our new house. We have been doing a lot of work so I am going to start posting pictures soon!One of my 31 during 31 goals (which I need to update or I would link), was to decorate my dining room table a few times this year. One is done! With the help of my mom (who am I kidding, she actually did it all), my dining room take is set for Christmas.

In the dining room is our wine holder. We bought this before we actually had refridgerated wine storage. No lie - my husband can store up to about 500 bottles. Its ridiculous, but I am not complaining! More wine for me. Yum. Anyways, now we just decorated the wine spots with unbreakable ornaments that Colt could play with.

Our tree with our little helper (by helper, I mean, little one who likes to turn the tree off and on and pull ornaments on the tree :)) We plan to get a bigger tree for next year after Christmas when they are on closeout.

The mantle. We went five years in our last house without a decorated mantle! It was one of my goals to get this one decorated. Its coming along and looks great for Christmas. (You can also get a sneak peak at our upstairs bistro table.)

Speaking of wine....a Christmas wine bottle.

And this year we are introducing the Elf on the Shelf. It is so fun to hide him every night and Colt is getting into looking for him each morning.

My mom spent the weekend with us. We got a couple of good shots of her with her grandkids. This is also a good shot of the entry staircase.

We are going to miss my mom's help as she is leaving tomorrow :( Grandparents in town always spoil me rotten!

I cant believe this long weekend is over!

Thanksgiving dinner and sibling love

2011-11-26T22:49:00.010-06:00

Colt is so sweet to his sister. He always wants to love on her (sometimes this means hugging her a little too hard but we are working on it). He has started asking to feed her and the other day she was crying and he picked up her bottle and started feeding her all by himself.

I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner with the help of my mom! It turned out so good and we stuffed our self for two days. Here is a table shot.

The menu:

Ham, fruit salad and broccoli salad.

Baked beans and sweet potato casserole

Peas (the only thing green Colt will eat!) and maple glazed carrots.

Everything was really good. We skipped the turkey because they take forever to make and I like ham better anyways.

Colt and Sula had a great Thanksgiving too.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving everyone!

Dallas Blog Love

2011-11-25T22:49:00.007-06:00

Since moving to Dallas, I have been lucky enough to meet up with two of the ladies whose blogs I follow.

Last weekend, I met up with Sara at the Dallas Arboretum. Her son Hudson and Colt are only a couple weeks apart and Sula and her son JR are just a few months apart.

It was so good to finally meet her. It was wild to see her and Hudson. I felt like I already knew them. Hudson and JR were both absolutely adorable. I loved Hudson's outgoing personality. Colt can be a little shy at first but he quickly warmed up to Hudson and they had so much fun!

I forgot my camera but luckily Sara didnt so I stole a couple of her pictures from her blog.

I look forward to heading out to Fort Worth in the near future to see them again!

********************************

Earlier this week, I had the chance to catch up with Neely. She even brought me a peppermint mocha from Starbucks. Yum! I have met Neely before back in January (I think!) but it was great to catch up with her.

Colt LOVED her. He is still talk about it. "Neely is a nice girl!"

I look forward to grabbing a glass of wine with her soon!

Dear Sula

2011-11-22T13:18:00.006-06:00

Today, you are eight weeks old

Last night you went to bed at 10

And then proceeded to wake up at 1AM, 3AM, 5AM and 6AM.

Baby girl....this is unacceptable.

Your brother was sleeping through the night by now.

Its a good thing you are cute. Otherwise, we would have a serious problem.

Love you baby girl,

Mama

Happy Birthday John

2011-11-21T22:07:00.002-06:00

Happy birthday to my sweet husband! We love you!

This is one of the better family pictures we have had. Its hard to get everyone looking at the camera!

Bumbo fun

2011-11-18T21:15:00.005-06:00

Alternately titled: Big head vs. Little head

Sula tried out the bumbo today. She did really well. She has been great holding her head up. I guess having a small head (10%) helps!

Colt was six weeks older at almost fourteen weeks old when we first put him in the bumbo. His head is in the 90% so as you can see, he had a bit of a harder time. These pictures crack me up :)

How is this guy almost three! This seems like yesterday. Good night all!

Catch Up

2011-11-17T21:07:00.009-06:00

Where do the days go? I swear I just updated this blog but its been five days, so be warned this is a big ol random catch up post.

Sula is getting so big. She is smiling at me now. It completely melts me. I havent gotten a picture of it yet but hope to this weekend.

We started the brainwashing this weekend. Unfortunately, Tennessee football STINKS right now but Sula still got to sport her first UT outfit.

Colt is the most funny/frustrating kid I know. Its hard to explain how he can be both. I guess its funny when I hear him with John and frustrating when its me. For example, last night when John was putting a new desk together, Colt wanted to crawl under it. John told him it was too dangerous. So, he kept saying, "Can I crawl under it now?" Over and over and over, with about two seconds in between each question. We are not too far from "Are we there yet?"

Good thing, he is so cute.

Texas high school school football is the real deal. We havent been to a game yet but the stadiums are huge and they are all like this. Skyboxes? Really? I love it though.

I got Colt signed up for MDO starting in January. I am also signing him up for a little all sports class for two-three year olds. Soccer and tee ball start in the fall. I am so excited! We aren't going to do both so hopefully this little class will help us decide what sport Colt enjoys more.

Colt has gotten really picky with food lately. I need to start taking pictures of the lunches I make for him. There are usually five to six fairly healthy items. I find the key to getting him to eat is just to offer him lots and lots of choices. He will usually eat at least something! I will dedicate a post to this and maybe someone can offer up other ideas as well.

Bathtime is so much fun. I love baby bottom pictures. (See my tired eyes? Sula is still up about every three hours.)

Although Sula is sleeping in about three hour stretches, she is now in her crib! And she is doing so well. She goes right down after a bottle and soothes herself to sleep right away. Not having her in our bed, I am now sleeping so much better. I hesitated putting her into the crib because I thought it would be a tough adjustment. Who knew it would be so easy!

I think Colt's hair is the longest it has ever been. I think I will keep it this way. I love the curls.

I didnt get the greatest lighting, but here is Sula at seven weeks. Its going too fast.

Like I said: this post is ALL over the place. I need to update more often!

Brings a smile to my face

2011-11-12T20:00:00.009-06:00

As of late, these things have brought a smile to my face:

Sula is getting quite good at putting her head up!

Her big bald head and funny faces

A peaceful sleeping baby

Colt wanting to play with Sula's purse....

And knowing how it is worn. He must be watching mommy!

An intruder in Sula's crib

Sibling love (and another funny face from Sula)

Sula's new shoes (or pumped up kicks as we call them.)

Its about time!

2011-11-11T20:16:00.002-06:00

I finally had my blog redone. The pictures I had on there were from May of 2008 and August 2009. I still need to update the about me section and do a couple small things but I am glad to have a new look. Hope everyone had a great week. I will be back with more substance soon!

Spoiled Rotten

2011-11-09T20:40:00.002-06:00

After nearly three weeks (from driving up with us to staying and helping us unpack boxes), John's parents headed home today.

His parents were so wonderful and they spoiled me rotten. They are a great role model for how to one day be "in-laws" to Colt's future wife. They treated me like their daughter and were so helpful. I was able to take a relaxing shower everyday and even took some wonderful naps some days. They are SO great with the kids. And they unpacked COUNTLESS boxes.

When they left, it hit me harder than I thought it would. I just felt so alone in this big house and new city; away from everything familiar. I immediately started looking into Mother's Day Out programs for Colt to try and distract myself and that just made it harder. Its hard not knowing anything about the area. How do I know where the best places are? I think I bawled for two straight hours.

But then I pulled myself together and had a great day with both kids. I really enjoyed spending time with them. I am touring two MDO's tomorrow and spent some time at a neighbor's house while Colt played with her daughter. I got dinner on the table and the house cleaned up all before John got home. On top of that, we accepted an offer on our old house so everything is really falling into place.

I know I will have my ups and downs but I know I am going to be happy here. John and I are just hanging out drinking wine right now and things are starting to feel normal. I can be happy anywhere as long as I am with my family.

Still though, I cant think my inlaws enough for spoiling me, and more importantly my kids. We will miss you! See you Christmas day!

Six weeks / Good news

2011-11-08T20:46:00.006-06:00

First things first. As of tomorrow, I think we may have a contract on our house! HOLLA!!! I am super excited to not be in the double mortgage club. We have an offer in hand and I am pretty sure we will be able to reach an agreement. Hopefully I didnt jinx it, but I feel pretty good about it. We may be celebrating with a nice bottle of wine tomorrow!

And now let's talk about this little girl who is six weeks today! I mean, where did my newborn baby go? Look how big she is getting! She is a total chunk.

I am really enjoying this little girl. She is starting to get a little personality and I am starting to figure her schedule out.

She is still sleeping with us. I know that its about time to move her to her room, but I just cant part with her. But maybe this weekend, we will give it a try, at least for the first part of the night. This is another definition of "never say never" because I never thought I would enjoy a baby in our room/bed this much.

I am loving dressing her up!

Colt is still so in love with her. She is always hugging on her! As she gets sturdier, I get less nervous about it.

I swear she eats all the time. She is a nibbler. She eats a little here and a little there. I cant wait until her two month appt to see how much she weighs and how tall she is. She seems so long.

She is more bald everyday. Sweet bald little girl. Maybe she will have hair one day, ha!

She is out of newborn diapers and in 0-3 month cloths.

She is taking the paci more and more which helps us out.

She loves her swing and loves to look at the ceiling. I swear its the only time she smiles!

John was out of town yesterday and he was so sweet loving on his baby girl when he got home. I think he missed her while she was gone.

Love you little girl!

The Jeep

2011-11-07T21:40:00.011-06:00

This is my 500th post!! I cant believe it! I am thinking about doing a giveaway here in the next couple of months so be ready. It will be my first!

Now onto the latest obsession of my son...

His Jeep.

What is so funny about this is that he got this jeep for his second birthday. Here he is sitting in it back in February.

Sitting in it was all he has done though for the past 8.5 months. Colt is a pretty cautious child and sometimes it takes him quite a while to warm up to something. (I dont think this kid is going to be riding roller coasters with me anytime soon.)

Finally yesterday we brought the jeep out into our new back yard. Colt was happy to sit in the jeep for a little while this time too.

And then he finally decided to try driving it. And HE LOVED IT.

He was so excited, he ran back and forth.

He then ran to give his Pap Pap a high five. John's parents have given every grandchild a jeep for their second birthday so they were SO excited to be here when Colt finally took the ol jeep for a spin.

I suspect we will be spending many days in the backyard in the jeep!

Seconds

2011-11-06T21:23:00.004-06:00

I am loving the newborn stage this time around. I remember loving Colt more than anything but I also remember being stressed out over the newness and uncertainties that come with being a first time parent.

This time I am all aware of how fast it all goes and that I will blink my eyes and have a toddler. So, I am cherishing every moment with this sweet girl.

Sure, there is sleep deprivation and crying (both baby and mommy!), but there is just something really special about the innocence of a new baby.

Its already going WAY too fast!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T20:42:00.004-05:00

So I failed to mention what my husband got me for having this sweet girl...

John did good :)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:12:00.013-05:00

Happy Halloween from my little pumpkin!

We had a great Halloween!

Colt got to carve pumpkins with Dad for the first time.

He loved it.

I love the pictures of him looking at the pumpkins.

We didnt do anything fancy since getting Colt into anything other than a few outfits is a constant battle. He was hard to convince to keep that hat on his head so that people would know he was a cowboy. But I just kept holding candy over his head.

Eating said candy

After a little potty mishap, we did a little risky business action for a little bit.

The pumpkin outfit for Sula was a 0-24 months....it was a little big....

She only wore it for about two minutes for a picture.

Tonight was Colt's first night actually trick or treating. He had a BLAST. He was so into it and after the first house had it down. He got SO much candy.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

The past week and a half

2011-10-30T21:51:00.019-05:00

Beware...this is going to be a loooong post.

On Friday, we packed up (well not really "we" as we had movers pack up everything) and headed to Texas. What a group we were. Me, John, Sula and Colt plus two cats and luggage in one car. My in-laws in another car.

It was hard to say goodbye to our home and neighborhood. (Our house is still for sale if you know anyone moving to south Nashville!)

The drive went amazing all things considered. We stopped in Little Rock on Friday night and arrived in Dallas on Saturday. Both kids (and cats) did really well. My mother in law and father in law drove along with us and have been here all week helping unpack. I dont know what we would do without them!

Colt loved staying in hotels and LOVED the elevators. We stayed in Embassy Suites and I think that is where we may always stay if possible because it is great for kids. I remember playing on the elevators when I was a kiddo.

On Sunday, the movers arrived at the house to bring in all our stuff. We spent the day putting things together...

Sula spent a lot of time sleeping (do you see her in her bouncy?)

It was nice to be able to sleep in our own bed on Sunday night.

The rest of the week was spent pretty much playing with the kids and unpacking boxes. We have made a LOT of progress this past week, but still have a few more boxes to unpack and lots of decorating to do. I will post pictures as we get rooms finished.

In the meantime, here are some pics of the kids.

Sula at four weeks old on Tuesday.

Colt found his old bumbo and still fits in it.

Sula seems to like her crib. She isnt sleeping in it yet, but will be soon. (Whenever I can part with her!)

Tummy time (look at that face - my 80 year old daughter, ha!)

I caught her the first time she rolled over!

Brother and sister

I love this sweet picture. Look at Sula looking at Colt.

Holding hands

Yesterday, we went to a local pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin. It was nice to get out of the house for a while.

Colt loved the goats

Colt loved picking up rocks, while I took a picture of his coin slot, ha! Notice his undies!! This boy is completely potty trained and has been for some time. I didnt talk much about it but he did great with potty training and has been through for about two months now. He also never regressed once Sula got here.

Picking out the perfect pumpkin

This is a sign we were at the right place. It was called the "Big Orange Pumpkin Patch." Maybe they were TN fans.

Props if you are still reading! I think I am all caught up now. Hopefully I will be back to regular posting.

One Month

2011-10-29T21:02:00.002-05:00

Two days ago, on October 27, Sula turned one month old.

One year ago, on October 27, John and I went to my 12 week appt only to find out we had lost our baby.

What a difference a year makes. I will never forget that day. I was completely caught off guard and was devastated.

If we hadn't lost our second baby, Sula wouldn't be here. Sometimes, we don't understand why things happen at the time. I know now, that Sula was meant to be here. She is my miracle baby, my sweet angel.

Two days ago, Sula turned one month old. I didnt even think about the significance of the date. I only thought about Sula turning one month old and how fast this past month has gone.

I really believe that everything happens for a reason whether we ever understand it or not.

Happy one month baby girl. I love you.

Book Club Friday - Nineteen Minutes

2011-10-28T06:19:00.004-05:00

Its been a little while since I have participated in book club Friday. I have actually read several books. You have a lot of time to read when you are up in the middle of the night feeding a baby. So hopefully I will have plenty of material to review over the next few weeks!

I read my first Jodi Picoult book, Nineteen Minutes.

From Amazon.Com

Best known for tackling controversial issues through richly told fictional accounts, Jodi Picoult's 14th novel, Nineteen Minutes, deals with the truth and consequences of a smalltown high-school shooting. Set in Sterling, New Hampshire, Picoult offers reads a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes. As with any Picoult novel, the answers are never black and white, and it is her exceptional ability to blur the lines between right and wrong that make this author such a captivating storyteller.

On Peter Houghton's first day of kindergarten, he watched helplessly as an older boy ripped his lunch box out of his hands and threw it out the window. From that day on, his life was a series of humiliations, from having his pants pulled down in the cafeteria, to being called a freak at every turn. But can endless bullying justify murder? As Picoult attempts to answer this question, she shows us all sides of the equation, from the ruthless jock who loses his ability to speak after being shot in the head, to the mother who both blames and pities herself for producing what most would call a monster. Surrounding Peter's story is that of Josie Cormier, a former friend whose acceptance into the popular crowd hangs on a string that makes it impossible for her to reconcile her beliefs with her actions.

My Thoughts

I loved this book. It really made me think and I loved that the book was told from multiple sources. I also like how the story takes place in both the past in present. It seems like telling a story like that might get confusing but the author did so in a way that I thought really added to the story.

Bullying is really a hot topic right now, but its nothing new. I remember kids getting bullied and I remember those who did the bullying. Now as a parent, I think about how to approach this topic with my children one day. After hearing about school shootings, and the "monsters" who did it, you forget that these "monsters" are someone's baby too and were once innocent children. On the other hand, I have a hard time justifying school violence either considering my husband walked into a locker room at the wrong time in high school and had a loaded gun pulled on him. Luckily, that was all that happened.

Anyways, this was my first book by the author and I look forward to reading more. This book has stayed on my mind for quite sometime.

Glad to be back to Book Club Friday. I look forward to hearing what everyone else is reading!

Family Pictures

2011-10-26T19:33:00.017-05:00

We are officially moved in! More detail to come soon. Things have gone quite smoothly though and I think we are going to be really happy here. Things have been a little crazy and busy and we finally got internet a couple days ago.

In the meantime, our photographer (April Hollingsworth in Nashville) sent us our disc of pictures from our session we had right before we left. I love them!! I am sharing some of my favorites.

Sorry for the long break. I will be back to regular blogging and commenting when I feel like I can breathe again.

Two kids and an empty house

2011-10-20T09:02:00.012-05:00

I have neglected to mention this guy:

This guy has been an absolute angel. He has given me no problems over the past week while it has just been me and him. The last two days movers have been here, taking his world apart. I thought my little OCD kiddo might freak when he saw his toys and room being packed up but he seems to understand that the boxes are going to Texas.

He LOVES his sister. I really only have to get onto him for loving her while she is sleeping. All he wants to do is rub her head and kiss her. I cant wait to see them play one day.

He seems so big now. If he didnt seem like a big boy before, he definitely does now.

And this sweet girl is three weeks old!! She is starting to get more and more alert. She is growing (and eating) so much!

She is getting a little more fussy but I think its because she is just so hungry. We have given her a couple bottles of formula and she has taken those great.

Nights are still a work in progress. I think I average about four - five hours of sleep a night. I know its only temporary though so it doesnt really bother me.

I cant believe its been three weeks!

As mentioned. Our movers are here packing up our house. The fact that we are moving seems so real now. I have been much more emotional about it than I thought I would. We have so many memories in this house and have the best neighbors in the world. I am so sad about leaving but am happy about our new beginning as well.

Here is what my house looks like currently. (See Sula sleeping :))

Colt's sad room.

I think we are staying in a hotel tonight. There isnt much left here.

Next time I post I will probably be in Texas (that is assuming that I survive the move!)

Out of Commission

2011-10-17T22:00:00.002-05:00

I am pooped.

Things are going really well, but still, I am pooped and because of that the blog has suffered a bit. I am trying to keep up. I also havent been great with pictures.

Colt has given up naps so I am entertaining him all day. This isnt too bad because Colt has been AWESOME. I love this little guy so so much. But no nap = no time to myself during the day. I usually get him down by 8:30ish, with hopes to have a little time, but this is the time that Sula decides to be fussy with the only thing making her happy being nursing. She finally gave it up at close to 10. John is back on the road so its just me for THREE MORE DAYS! And then, we are moving to Texas.

Just a few things to update.

Sula had her doctor's appt on Friday. She is perfectly healthy and is growing like crazy!! Here are her stats:

Weight - 7lbs, 10ozs (40th %) and over a pound from her appt two weeks ago!
Height - 21 2/3 inches (80th %) and over two inches (almost three really!) from her birth height.
Head Circumference - 13.5 inches (25th %).

I was very proud of myself that I was able to get both kids to the doctor on time. Poor Colt got a flu shot and I had both kids crying at the same time, but I successfully managed to get them both calmed down.

John got home Friday and we enjoyed the weekend together. We got family pictures taken and I cannot wait to see them. I am really excited with how I think they turned out. Both kids cooperated and the pictures were taken at our favorite local park.

I think I am still in denial that we are moving in four days. So much to do...so little time. Will try to get better blogging but no promises over the next week!

Wordless Wednesday - Sula and Sula

2011-10-12T22:01:00.001-05:00

Two weeks!

2011-10-11T21:52:00.007-05:00

Another week come and gone.

Baby girl is two weeks old. Since last week's post was so detailed, I am just going to add a few more details this week.

I am loving dressing Sula up. I make it a point to dress her up on her weekly "birthdays!" I didn't get the best picture today of her but her outfit was so fun. The onesie I got from Old Navy, the hairband was from Etsy and the flower from Target.

Nursing is still going really well. Still no formula. I have no idea how long I will go just nursing. I dont love being cooped up, but I also dont feel comfortable nursing in public. I am also interested to see how much weight she has gained at her appt on Friday.

I meant to mention my weight last week. I ended up gaining 35 lbs. At one week old , I had lost 16.5 lbs and I lost another 3.5 lbs this week. So, I still have 15 lbs to go but I am moving in the right direction!

These last couple days have been pretty emotional for me. After two weeks home, John went back to Dallas this week. I really miss him but he will be back this weekend and then the next weekend, we are moving. So ready to live with my husband again!!

Colt has been so good since his meltdown on Saturday. He is so funny. I need to dedicate a post just to his funny sayings!

Sula has still been a great baby! I think she hit a growth spurt this weekend because she wanted to eat all day long, but she seems back on schedule now.

Happy two weeks Sula!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

2011-10-11T08:40:00.006-05:00

I have a confession...

I wanted all boys. Girls just seemed to come with so much drama. Sure, I loved the clothes but I mainly saw myself with a couple boys. And I really thought it was going to end up that way. I looked forward to life with sports, wrestling, and other boy things.

And then I got pregnant. From the beginning, I just knew it was a girl. And sure enough, at the ultrasound, we found out it was. I was never disappointed, just not sure what to do with a little girl.

I am sooooo glad I was wrong and didnt get my way. My family is perfect right now with this sweet, dainty, girly addition.

I am so in love with this little girl. And I envision my future completely different. I cant wait for pedicures and getting our hair done. I cant wait to talk about boys and dates and watching John dread her first date while I have fun getting her all dolled up.

I look forward to her getting married and having children. I look forward to seeing her completely have John wrapped around her finger.

I look forward to her and Colt's relationship. My brother and I are very close and I hope she and Colt have the same thing. I even look forward to her getting crushes on Colt's friends :)

I look forward to ridiculous hairbows and overpriced outfits. I look forward to bikinis and getting her ears pierced. And so so much more.

How did I think I didnt want a girl. Thank you God for giving me what I didnt think I wanted.

I love you little girl!

(I also wanted to note that after my negative last post, I needed to mention that Colt has been an absolute ANGEL. Above is his monkey that he let Baby Sula borrow.)

Weekend randoms

2011-10-08T22:56:00.002-05:00

I really should be in bed rather than blogging.

Today was the worst day we have had so far. Colt was AWFUL pretty much all.day.long. I had a hard time dealing with his fits. We had a good hour full of blood curdling screams where nothing we did helped. Hopefully it was a one time thing.

I have John one more day until he goes back to Dallas....I am trying not to freak out.

We had our first outting today to Target. Colt threw a tantrum and Sula started screaming...BUT we did get them both calmed down and got everything on our list so I consider it a success!

Even though I said I wasn't going to, I called our photographer to do family pictures while Sula is still tiny. It may be the last time we use her so I wanted to get one more session in. The next one may be in TX.

Speaking of TX, we leave in 13 days!!

Sula is the BEST baby. Colt was a great baby too, so I didnt think we could get that lucky twice but we have!! She seriously never cries unless she is hungry. I love this little girl!

This post is so choppy because I am holding a sleeping baby and I am typing one handed!

Good night all. Here is hoping for a better day tomorrow!

Sula is one week old!

2011-10-05T10:54:00.007-05:00

Week one is over! I think that week one is by far the hardest week, especially after you get home from the hospital. I can already feel like I am getting back to "normal." A new normal anyways.

Here are a few pictures along with updates on how everyone is doing.

Sula

Colt was a great baby. A GREAT baby. I was pretty sure that Sula would not be. I just didn't think that I could get so lucky twice. But (knock on wood), I actually have. Sula is perfect. She literally eats, sleeps and poops. She very rarely cries except when she is hungry. And she is...alot!

Speaking of hungry, I am looking forward to her next doctor's appt. I am anxious to see how much weight she has gained. At her last visit (on Saturday), she weighed 6 lbs, 9 ozs, down from 6 lbs, 15 ozs, which the doctor was pleased with. She checked out perfectly healthy.

Her belly button has already fallen out. Only six days! Colt's took much longer!

Nights are getting much easier. We bought a little bassinet thingy that goes on our bed, but she prefers just to sleep next to me. Colt was in his crib from night one, and I think that a lot of my frustrations with nights stemmed from trying to get Colt back to sleep in his bed. Considering Sula doesnt even have a bed right now because we are moving, she had to sleep with us. I absolutely love having her next to me. I plan to kick her out in about a month or so but I will cherish this time while I have it.

She likes her swing and her bouncy, which is why I am blogging right now, yay!

She is still so tiny and wears newborn clothes. My sweet in-laws brought over some newborn sleepers because the 0-3 month stuff was swallowing her!

She generally wakes about two times a night to feed.

Other than that, she is just a little sweetheart who could cuddle all day long!

Colt

My precious other baby loves his baby sister but lets face it, he has had his moments. He has started to really test us but has luckily shown no aggression towards Sula. He has just become whinier and clingier and also quicker to throw tantrums. Daycare drop offs have been a little harder as well.

This is his last week of school. Next week he is home which will bring on a whole new dynamic.

Everyday Colt seems to get better. I blame myself partly because I dont think I was showing him enough attention. So I have started making a point to spend a lot of evening time with just Colt. I think this is really important to him to know that he is still my baby too. I always cuddle with him and hold him when he needs it.

He is a little obsessed with how Sula eats and has told numerous people that "Baby Sula eats Mommy's boobie!" Gotta love those two year old minds.

Momma

Everyday is getting easier. This weekend was tough and I had a bad case of the pregnancy weepies. Plus, I was just in some pain that comes along with childbirth. I will spare you the details. Your welcome.

I was also having a hard time being a mom to two. I just really wished there were two of me!

Nursing is going so well! Nursing was really hard on me last time. Colt just wasnt a good nurser and we had a really hard time. Its going so well with Sula. We have not supplemented any formula yet and had already started supplementing with Colt. I could go on and on about nursing but having two has just confirmed my opinion that every child (and every mama) is different, so dont be so quick to judge how someone feeds their child. Off that tangent.

I love night feedings now. I still leave the room so I dont wake up John and also, I just cant get comfortable in bed nursing. I would rather be in my comfy recliner with a dull light so that I can read or just stare at my sweet baby girl.

Speaking of staring that her, I could do it all day. This is my only week with just me and her. Next week I will be juggling two and baby girl will be spending more time in the chair and swing. While this makes me sad, I know that she is happy in them.

Daddy

Oh how I love this man. He has been so good with me, and sooo good with Colt. I dont know what I would do without him.

John has already moved to Dallas and was supposed to be gone with week but he worked it out so that he could work out of a Nashville office. He is still gone during the day but he is able to drop off and pick Colt up and help at nights.

I could go on and on about all he has done. I will also have to show you the push present he got me but I have to get it sized.

So excited to see what this next week has to bring!

Pictures

2011-10-04T22:01:00.005-05:00

Sula is one week old this week old! I plan to do a much longer post when I am not nursing a hungry baby and typing with only my left hand.

Proud daddy and mommy

Sweet Sula

Chicken legs. She is long and thin. So different from her brother who was a little chunk!

Yep. We are already totally whipped to these beautiful eyes.

Birthday

2011-09-30T15:18:00.006-05:00

First of all I want to thank everyone for all the sweet comments! I am slowly trying to catch up on the blog and reading everyone elses. Bare with me. Things are a little busy these days.

So because I love a good birth story and never want to forget it, here is Sula's story.

John and I were scheduled for an induction Tuesday, September 27 at 6:30AM. We got to the hospital at about 6:20am. I was so ready to get the show on the road and was hoping for a lunch time delivery. We got there and got checked in and were told to wait in the waiting room for a nurse. We waited and waited and waited. I brought a book but could feel my frustration level rising. I finally went back to check in and asked what we were waiting on (It was 8:00AM at this time.) I was told by one nurse that they were having problems with the computers and they had had several emergencies and that it didnt usually take so long. Then another woman at check in said that she had just talked to the nurses and they said it would be a while. At this point I could feel my frustration level just about its peak. I asked how long a "while" was and got no good answer. I also told them that my doctor had told me she would be by at 8:30 to break my water and asked how that was going to happen if I couldnt even get back to a room. Still, the receptionists could give no good response. At this point, I gave a very obvious eye roll and said "This is *&^&*%$ ridiculous." and walked off.

I sat back down next to John in tears and was immediately called back by a nurse. Apparently my frustration got some attention. So we didnt start out the best that day but things got better. We got back to the room and settled in and hooked up to all the various IVs. My doctor came in at 8:30 at broke my water (yowza!) I was only dialated to a one. Between 8:30 and 1:30, the pitocin was turned up and I went ahead and got an epidural. At 1:30 I was only to a four. Things progressed much slowly than I thought they would and I was starting to worry. By 3:30, I hadnt seen much of my new nurse (there was a shift change) and I was starting to wonder if I had progressed at all. My contractions seemed to be dwindling. A nurse came in and turned me more on my side, and that seemed to make a HUGE difference. The contractions started coming in full force. The nurse checked me at around 3:40 and I was all the way to a 7-8. What a relief! After that, I turned to my other side and literally in fifteen minutes was fully dialated.

The doctor got there and literally I had to push two times (so different from the two hours with Colt!) And at 4:13PM, precious Sula entered the world. She had no problem screaming and turned pink immediately. Her Apgar scores were both nine. She is so precious and petite!

After she was born, I had to be in recovery for a little over two hours before I was moved to my new room. Colt was brought up by his grandparents and we had a birthday party for Sula. Colt loved every minute of it!

I was so proud of how well he did and how loving he immediately was with his sister. When she would cry, he would say "Its ok, baby Sula" and would kiss her.

I have lots more pictures to share but wanted to get the birth story out there. Here is one more quick one of my brother holding her.

Many people have asked about her name. Sula is my grandmother's name. While it is unusual, its not unusual to me because I have heard it my whole life. My grandmother Sula is an amazing woman who I really look up to and she is so thrilled about us naming our daughter after her. Elizabeth is my middle name as well as my mom's first name.

More pictures coming soon!

Welcome to the World Sweet Baby Girl

2011-09-27T21:43:00.003-05:00

Introducing

Sula Elizabeth

Born 9/27/11 at 4:13PM

Weight - 6 lbs, 15 ounces

Height - 19 inches

She is absolutely perfect and mama and daddy are on cloud nine.

Will post more details later but right now I am a little pooped :)

She is waving to everyone in the picture above!

Family of Three Weekend (Day Two)

2011-09-25T21:54:00.008-05:00

What a great day with our family! We did something today that was a first for sweet Colt. We went to his first professional football game to see the Tennessee Titans take on the Denver Broncos. I think John was surprised when I emailed him last week with the idea, but we found great tickets that required hardly any stairs and were on the aisle! Yay for Craigslist. Colt did SO well and I loved watching him take it all in.

Here Colt is on the way to the game.

Walking to the game on Daddy's shoulders

Colt was mesmerized by this bunny in the stadium.

The view from our seats.

I packed a bag with a snack mix of pretzels, goldfish, craisens, fruit loops and a few chocolate chips (mama's trail mix, ha!) Colt loved snacking on that most of the game. He was also mesmerized with the man next to us who was yelling the whole time. Colt started yelling along with him and repeating what he said (nothing bad just "let's go blue!" and "Yay!".) He was also quite intrigued by the mascot and ahem...the cheerleaders. "Where did the girls go mama?" And so it begins.

By the third quarter, this little guy was pretty worn out so we headed out to beat the crowds and the traffic.

Another great day gone and um...TWO MORE DAYS! Who knows, my next post may or may not be a birth announcement!