About Me.

Thought I would join Emily over at Nation's Nest in answering a few question about myself.

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while blogging?  My current addiction is the Quaker rice cake minis.  Chocolate flavored of course.

2. What is one thing you wouldn't want to live without? My baby blanket.  I pretty much freak when I can't find it at night.

3. Beach, Mountains, or Farm? Farm!  Thank goodness I married a city slicker with an inner farm boy just dying to get out!

4. What is your least favorite household chore? Vacuuming!  Luckily the hubs doesn't mind to do it.

5. Who do people say you remind them of?  Not really anyone famous but most of the time before I can open my mouth and say my name I hear, 'oh you must be Melinda's daughter.'  Apparently I look like my mom.  I don't see it.  Heehee just kidding Mom.

6. Prefer parties and socializing or staying home with the fam?  Depends on my mood.

7. What is your all time favorite movie? Shawshank Redemption

8. Do you sleep in your make up or remove it like a good girl every night?  Most of the time I wash my face at night but there are those nights I fall asleep with C and forget.

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something you've never had a chance to learn? What is it?  Would LOVE to learn to play bongo drums.

10. What is one strange thing that you're really good at?  Not sure.

11. What first attracted you to your spouse?  I wasn't really attracted to Brent at first.  He was kind of a jerk the first time that we met.  We later became really good friends and because of that friendship I started to fall for him.  I guess I was attracted to him because he was such a good friend to me and we have fun being goofy together.

12. What is something you love to smell? A baby fresh out of the bath.

13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people.  I've been told it annoys people when I'm bossy, which apparently I am lot.

14. When you have extra money, what's the first thing you think to do with it?  I typically save it until I find something I'm just dying to have like a new purse or shoes or nail polish.

15. Are you a silent laugher or a loud laugher?  I would say loud.

16. Where is your favorite place to shop?  Tough one.  If I'm in need of something I typically hit up Target or Forever21 but my all time favorite is Ann Taylor Loft.

17. What's one thing you would do more often if you had more time?  Sew.  I have all these plans to make C some dresses but haven't found the time.

18. Are you a big spender or frugal?  Frugal.  Oh that's another thing that irritates people (aka Brent)...I'm a tight wad.

19. Who is your favorite character of all time (from a movie or book...can't be real)?  Seriously?  I read too many books and don't watch enough moives to have a favorite.

20. Would you want to be famous?  Negative.

Weekend Recap

Friday after school, C and I had appointments to get our nails done.  This was her first real manicure and she loved it!  She sat so still and watched every move the nail tech made.  I took her to a place here in town that caters to little girls but was a little disappointed in the whole thing.  Although the girls were really sweet, the place was a little shabby (not in the good way) and I have definitely walked away with better manicures.  The good thing was Cecilia had nothing to compare it to and was so proud of her nails.

 

 

I let her pick out her own color, a light purple, and she has showed everyone her nails.

 

After we got our nails done, we took Brent dinner at work and came home for our favorite Friday night activity...popcorn and a movie! 

 

Saturday morning, we had a ton of errands to run.  One of our stops was Lowe's and someone found the kitchen area.

 

 

She had to look at EVERY kitchen set up and open EVERY cabinet and drawer that she could reach.  We finally made it to where we needed to be and C was kind enough to help her daddy carry the load.

 

Our last stop was the grocery and even with 2 of us, it is hard to keep C entertained and in the cart.  This time we found our golden ticket and will be grabbing this cart from now on.

 

Seriously, the girl didn't move for this car!

 

 Sunday, after church C got a special treat for doing her "business" that morning.

 

Pure delight.

 

We are struggling in the #2 area and will use any means necessary to get her to use the potty instead of her Fruit of the Looms.

 

And to wrap our weekend up, we took C to my parent's church for their fall festival last night.

Our little princess.

 

She had fun playing all the games they had for her age and really enjoyed watching the little dancers do a jig to The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

 

The princess in her castle, er barn.

 

And of course we had to decorate a pumpkin to look like our favorite animal.

 

Kitty. 

I would like to take this time to thank Mo and Leslie for introducing my child to cats.  She is obsessed with their cat (even though it lives a mere 1300 miles away) and bless her heart I just don't do cats.  I'm fine if other people have them but they aren't my favorite.  Maybe one day they will move closer and she can go to their house and play with Kitty.  (hint, hint) :)

 

After everything we had going this weekend, we were beat last night.  C passed out quickly and I wasn't too far behind.  Brent raised an eye brow when I announced I was going to bed at 8:30.  I just can't hang like I used.

Chaos, Carving and Celebrations

We had several things going on this weekend.  It was Brent and Cecilia's last few days of vacation and we tried to squeeze in as much fun as we could with C and I both fighting colds.

 

Friday, I took half a day of vacation in hopes of doing something fun as a family but sadly it was cold and overcast.  Since C and I both were coughing and snotty, we decided to have lunch, do a little shopping then spent the rest of the evening snuggled up watching movies.

 

Saturday, I decided it was time to clean the carpets.  We rented a carpet cleaner from Lowe's and Brent got busy cleaning all the bedrooms.  I was extremely pleased with the results but very unhappy that my house was a disaster for 24 hours!  Apparently I didn't consider drying time so my house looked like this...

 

Nice photo bomb Brentie.

 

 

Both bathrooms were also crammed full making it very difficult to actually use the bathrooms.  My brain immediately shut down the rest of the day because I couldn't handle my house looking like this.  Thankfully my parent's called and offered to take us to dinner otherwise I'm not sure we would have eaten.

 

Sunday, Brent put our house back in order before church because he was tired of crawling over the hamper, my jewelry case and a trunk to get to the shower.

 

After church, we had a busy afternoon full of pumpkin decorating and birthday parties.

 

 

 

 

It took Brent FOREVER to carve his pumpkin but we both thought it turned our pretty good.

 

 

C had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese for one of her little friends at school.

 

She has been pumped about the party ever since we got the invite.  Every time she saw it on the fridge, she would say "Ella birthday."

 

 

She had a big time as did all the other kids.

 

 

C and the birthday girl having some fun.

 

 

 

 

By the end of the party I felt like I had run a marathon.  I was beat and my nerves were shot.  I'm not a big fan of Chuck E Cheese because I can't handle parent's not keeping up with their kids or letting them run around like wild apes.

 

We both were out like lights when we got home.

 

Today, we are all back to reality and Cecilia wasn't happy about it but that's life.

Girls Night Out

My friend Kelly got a bunch of us girls together last night for a girls night out. 

 

 

We threw on our boots and headed to the Dierks Bentley concert that was being held at Diddle Arena.

 

 

None of us are huge country fans but we were all excited for the night out with friends.

 

We were all a little disappointed when we found out that Dierks wasn't coming on until 10.  10 is late for us old folks but made it through it and had fun once he got on stage.

Even though it was a late night and the opening acts were hit or miss, I needed the distraction.  I needed to forget what Oct 18th means to me for just one night and have fun with the girls.

Ups and Downs

This week has been a whirlwind.  One minute we are all happy as little larks, the next we are wiping the tears of a sick kid.

 

It all started on Saturday.  That morning C and I went to Emily's to have our monthly book club meeting.  We had a good visit with the girls and right before we left she kind of started crying.  It was close to her nap time and she has been fighting allergies all week so I thought she was just tired.  We had plans to go to a pumpkin patch so I was going to let her sleep on the way.  Well she didn't sleep but she magically perked up a bit when my mom got in the car.

 

 

We had a nice time and bought a few things but C wasn't into this one as much.

 

 

The only thing she did like was the animals.

 And of course she found a cat that she fell in love with.

 

After the patch, we had a dramatic ride home.  Lots of crying and screaming.  C finally got settled down enough to sleep and when she woke up she was a whole new girl.

 

We got her tent out and she was bouncing off the walls.

 

Sunday, was another up and down day.  She acted like she didn't feel good but then 10 minutes later she was running around like a crazy person.  She did mention a few times that her ear hurt so I knew an ear infection was nearing.  But it was kind of hard to take her serious when she kept making these faces...

 

 

By Sunday night, I knew she needed to go to the doctor.  The doctor confirmed she had an ear infection and loaded us with meds.  I wish I could say she has been better ever since but she hasn't.  She goes through spells where we think she is fine but the next minute we are cleaning up "messes."  We have been so lucky that this all happened on Brent's week off.  I hate that he has to spend his vacation with a sick little one but I have no idea how we would have juggled this otherwise.  He has been such a trooper and SO helpful around the house and with C.  He has earned major brownie points this week!  :)  We are both hoping she feels better soon.

 

And because I want to leave on a good note, apparently this is what I look like when I have mini jam sessions in the car...

 

 

I was rockin' in out in the car with C the other day when I looked in the rear view to see this.  Guess I do a duck face when I jam? 

Out of Whack

This week I've been a little off.  My emotions are running wild and the most of the time I just want to curl up in a ball and have a good cry session.

 

Monday most of the blog world was shaken when we learned a fellow blogger had lost her husband in a car accident over the weekend.  He was 32.

 

I was more emotional over the situation than I had expected to be.  They have no idea who I am but I have been following Julee's blog for several years and she seems like the sweetest thing ever.  I've read about her every life and struggles with infertility.  I was so excited for her when she finally got pregnant and gushed over her baby girl as if we were friends.  And my heart broke for her when I heard the news on Monday.

 

Blogging is a very unique world.  We read blogs of people who are our friends or people we know or people who are on the other side of the country that have no clue who we are.  We leave comments for one another and we grow to care about the person on the other side of the blog.

 

  I've thought about Julee and what she must be going through all week.  I can't even imagine getting that phone call telling me that everything I had hoped and dreamed for was gone.  That my best friend would no longer be by my side.

 

This has made me do a lot of thinking about my own life and priorities.  With things only getting worse at work, I'm wondering if it is all worth it.  We only get short time here and no one knows when that time will be up.  Decisions are probably going to have to be made in the near future and I pray that I make the right ones.

A Much Slower Pace

The past 2 weeks have been H E double hockey sticks at work and this week ain't lookin' any better.  I'm not sure what crawled up some people's hind parts but I will be glad when they crawl back out.  Good grief!

 

Anyway, since I was in a sour mood on Friday I wanted to do something fun with C.  Her and I were on the same wave length because as soon as she got in the car she asked to go to the park.  Wish granted my child.

 

 

But sadly our trip was short lived because there was a 10 year old there that didn't realize my personal space was larger than 12 inches and that asking annoying questions non-stop for 30 minutes might bother some people.  Thank heavens C had to go pee and the only potty was a port-a-potty and we all know there is no way I'm taking her in one of those!  My dad braved that when we were at the pumpkin patch last weekend and I nearly DIED!!! when I saw them emerge from the little blue box.

 

So we came home and enjoyed the rest of the night playing and watching a movie.  Oh and we watched a little bit of the Braves-Cards game beause Brent thought I was nuts for not watching it.  We decided to try to cheer Mo (my brother who is a Braves fan) up with this little video but I don't think it worked.

 

 

For those that don't know, she was trying to do that hand chop thing the Braves' fans do.

 

 

The rest of the weekend was filled with lots of sports watching, laying around the house and doing a bit of shopping with my mom on Sunday.  AKA a whole lot of NOTHING!

 

Normally I'm not into that much couch/house time but I think it was just what I needed.  Or it was until I came into work this morning.  Now I'm thinking I need a Xanax and a stiff drink.

"Every child is an artist..."

I hate to keep saying Cecilia is just like me but on a daily basis I see me in her.  We already enjoy doing some of the same things.  Take painting for example.

 

 

 

Our eyes light up when we see paint in little tubes just begging us to grab a paint brush.

 

She gets all excited and can't dip her paint brush fast enough.

 

Her methods are a little different than mine but no two people paint alike.

 

We both could sit for hours with nothing but a canvas and paint.

 

It's my happy place and who better to share it with than my mini me.

Mama, I Do All That?

Yesterday on our way home, C and I were talking about all the things we've done this weekend.  We started with our Friday activities.

 

After school, we had some time to kill before meeting Brent, so we hit up the library.

 

 

She really does enjoy going to the library and LOVES getting to pick out a new movie each time.

 

 

Later we met up with Brent to do a little fall clothes shopping for C and then grabbed dinner for heading to the grocery store.

 

Saturday morning after dropping Colt off at the groomers, C and I grabbed donuts and took them to the park.

 

It was perfect because there weren't a lot of people there yet and the weather was fabulous.

 

She was so excited about the park that she couldn't eat her donuts until we were off running our next errand.

 

I felt like I had conquered the world by noon on Saturday and was ready for some down time.  We capped the night off with popcorn and a movie.

 

Sunday after church, C and I headed to my parent's so Brent could sleep and have some time to chill.  He had inventory at work on Saturday night and didn't get home until 5:45am!

 

We took her to yet another pumpkin patch not too far from my parent's house. 

 

She loved rubbing the animals but her favorite part was the corn pit to play in.

 

We had a hard time dragging her away from the corn.

 

She wouldn't even go out in the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins with Mom and I.  Oh well, she had a big time and its not like we aren't taking her to 2 more pumpkin patches in the next few weeks.  My dad said she is probably going to think pumpkin patches are a part of her everyday life.  Ha!  It is this time of year!

 

So at the end of our conversation on Sunday, Cecilia looked at me and said, 'Mama, I do all that?'  Yes, honey you did.