l.o.v.e.

Two posts in one day. What is this world coming to? ;)

I just wanted to remember this moment. Love me a butt-up-in-the-air sleeping beauty. :)

sweet gifts

Last Saturday, my aunt Gail and her daughter Robin and kids came in town to meet Maggie. They did a little "shower" for us. My mom got me a gift card to get a manicure & pedi before vacation - saweeeet! My sister, Tricia & sister-in-law, Jenny got me a gift card to my hair salon - double saweeeet (I used half of it Monday for my first cut since before I had Mags). My aunt & cousin got Maggie an adorable outfit, a swimsuit and cover-up from Von Maur. h.e.a.r.t.
They also got her this silver serving set...
It has her initials and date of birth engraved on it.

How sweet is this?? We are to use it to cut the cake on her first birthday, again on her sweet sixteen, and then (tear...) on her wedding day. We can have new initials and the date of her wedding engraved on it. Oh my word. Adorable.

Thanks everyone for the fun day!! I L O V E my family and am so blessed to have each of you.

updates!

Yes, I'm doing a gazillion updates today! So, keep reading past this post. :) I'm so excited because as I sit here and type, Maggie is napping in her crib! Woot Woot!! She's been asleep in there for almost an hour. PEOPLE, this is huge! She sleeps in her crib for 3-4 hours at night, but never during the day. I'm also practicing with her sleeping on her belly (GASP!!!).....seems to be going great!

Two things on the agenda for today: McDonald's diet coke & pool time. Ahhhhh! :)

dad is cool

You know, I try to be a cool mom. Fix fun little treats for breakfast, play water games outside, let Levi use "big people" scissors instead of the little plastic boring ones....but, somehow, I never compare with D.A.D. It's like I want to scream "I carried you for 9 months and birthed you. I got up with you during the night. I pick the pickles and onions off your McDonald's hamburger just for you (not sure why I don't order them plain...)." But still, Levi loves his Daddy. He adores him. He is his best friend. His Dad is his whole world. :) I teasingly complain...but it is just pure preciousness.

Saturday, Eric (aka the Mayor) set up a special date for the two of them. We call him the Mayor b/c he seems to know someone everywhere we go! The Mayor used his connections and made plans for Levi to go to the Louisville airport and sit up in the tower to watch the planes take off and land. Oh my word. We had one happy little four year old on our hands!! He got to use "burr-nock-a-lers" and listen to the radio.

Love that little guy!! Thanks, Honey for making his day! You are such a great Daddy!!! :)

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Yes, it's been a while since I've updated! We've had a lot going on, but I haven't been taking any pictures - bad blogger!!! ;)

Last week was my dad's 59th birthday. His birthday falls on the same weekend as Father's Day each year...kind of cool! So, for his birthday, (yes, he cooked!) he made some homemade pizza's and we all went to their house for pizza, cake and swimming. My mom bought a chocolate cake from Sweet Stuff in New Albany! YUM YUM! (And, thankfully, she had the correct candles this time!)

Emily was all excited about singing Happy Birthday!! Too cute! She will be the next American Idol, I'm sure!
Of course, had to get a shot of my Granny with Maggie. :) Adorable!!

Don't you just love how kids want to help you open your gifts?? I'm not even sure if Dad got to see all his loot b/c the kids were eager to help. :)

Happy birthday, Dad!! I hope you had a great day. We love you!

Thanks, Jill!

Had to post a pic of Maggie in the cute little outfit that Jill & Janie brought over. Yes, she is sleeping, as always! This is how she sleeps...totally sprawled out and relaxed. So cute!!

Paci

This pic is for you, Gretchen! Look how much Mags loves her PACI!!! ;)

blog off...

I was in a little bit of a fog last month, so I missed the “blog off” on sports! I’m back…with a vengeance! ;) This month, our blog off is about your pet peeves! I’ve narrowed my list down to only 12! ;) Kidding!!


#1…What, Where, When….are you kidding me????
My first pet peeve is when people schedule things for -Saturday at 2 o’clock-. Now, let me say this: I KNOW THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND ME!!! But, ever since having Levi, the hours of 1-4 are precious to me as a mom! NAP TIME! This is my time to either nap, clean, watch tv, or do whatever the heck I want. That’s just it. It’s MY time! Now, as Levi has gotten older, naps are no longer “do or die” for me. So, I don’t stress about them like I used to. But, I guess out of habit, I still cringe for a few seconds when I get an invite to anything in the mail and it’s “Saturday from 2-4”. :)


#2…We’ll call this one “Plate over dishwasher” just for fun!
Another pet peeve of mine is when Eric finishes eating something and he lays his plate on the counter just above the dishwasher. Um, HELLO…is it really that hard to open the dishwasher and just place the plate in there?? I mean, it does take a few extra calories to bend over, but don’t you think we all need that little help for our abs? Lord knows I do!! Now, this isn’t “bash the husband time”! To be fair, I’ll tell you something I do that is one of Eric’s pet peeves! Any time I get in the van and I’ve left an empty can or cup in the cup holder, I take it and put it on the steps in the garage! Eric doesn’t understand why I don’t just run it in the house. Touché, sweetheart! Touché!!


#3…5ish is not 6:30
I think a lot of people share this pet peeve with me! I get a little perturbed when people consistently run late. I try to be a punctual person. Now, there are times when I run late. It happens, people! But, my pet peeve is when this happens ALL.THE.TIME. Like when you have to tell that person to meet you an hour earlier than you need to leave just so that they’ll be ready on time!! Grrrr! Even with my two little darlings in tow, I try to respect everyone else’s time!


#4…girls, it only takes two minutes
If you choose to wear peep toed shoes, flip flops, sandals, or anything that will show any of your toenails, please, please girls, don’t let the look be ruined by allowing your polish to be chipped! Retouch if you have to. It only takes two minutes. I’m not saying you have to have a top notch pedi…not at all!! But, you do need to touch up more than once a summer!!! ;)


DISCLAIMER: This post was in no way intended to offend or upset anyone!! All names and/or situations were changed to protect the innocent. Please don’t stop being my friend because of a few pet peeves!!!!

I’ll finish by stating the obvious: If everyone was perfect like me, this world would be a better place! :) Hahaha!

Yep...

Ummm, so I decided to make cookies tonight for the family. You know how flour seems to last forever? Well, let me tell you..... my all purpose flour expired in August of 2004. HELLO! 2004?? Is that bad? I guess I can't really proclaim to be a cook when my flour has lasted me that long! So far, tho, no one has died from my cookies!!

impromptu date

This morning started out kind of "blah". Laundry. Dusting. Picking up trucks, cars, firetrucks, tow trucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks, motorcycles...OUI. Sometimes I just sit and stare and wonder how we acquired so many little boy toys! Oh wait, I know. Because Eric kept a lot of his toys (mostly matchbox cars...) and they have now been taken over by Levi. Levi...aka Little Eric.

Anywho...got a call from Gretchen and in the midst of chatting, I invited us over to play. :) Thanks, G!! I don't care if you wanted us to come over or not - I'm glad we did! So, we packed up Levi's bike and headed over for an afternoon of endless fun & bike riding with some occasional tattling and whining thrown in just for kicks! ;) It was kind of funny because while we were there sitting on the patio, there were some lawn care guys working and Gretchen made the comment that it kind of felt like we were the "desperate housewives" of the area watching them work. :)

Got a cute shot of my little angel!!
She is still kind of boring, but I'm enjoying the times that she stays awake for a little while. I actually got my first REAL smile from her tonight!!!!! She locked eyes with me and smiled a beautiful little gummy smile. And, no, it wasn't just gas! (Nevermind the fact that Gretchen got her to smile this afternoon and I missed it...)

And, got a funny shot of the Three Amigos!

The ever cute Hope in a dress, pink flip flops and a bow in her hair; Pierce on his sister's pink big wheel and some kind of old fashioned Patriots helmet on; Levi acting like a police officer with his gun on his side... Love these kids! :)

Thanks again, G, for letting us bombard your pad today. It was nice to be out and about!

hey chick

Right before school lets out each year, my mom's classroom does a lesson on chickens. She gets eggs from a local farm and her students anxiously await the hatching of the little chicks!!! I took Levi over to see if any of the chicks had hatched.

Here's the incubator and all 13 of the eggs
Excuse this picture - Levi took it!! Yes, this is the first baby chick that hatched. He really does have a head even though you can't see it! :) Tomorrow, the students will start naming the chicks.

Another chick ready to come out. See the beak poking thru? Also, each egg has an "X" on one side and a "O" on the other side. The kids have to take turns rotating them to X and O throughout the day.

This little chickie is ALMOST out! We thought for sure it would come out while we were visiting today, but no such luck!

Levi & Grammy holding the chick.

the pool is cool

So, how cute are these two?? I snagged this picture while they were watching tv together...
We spent today at home just kind of playing outside off and on...Momma is trying to work on getting some color. I took my sunglasses off while I was outside and almost blinded myself when I looked at my legs! Momma is w.h.i.t.e.

After Eric got home from work, we headed to my parents for the evening. Their pool is officially open!! Levi has been begging to go swimming. :) Mags loved being at the pool!

Oh, you'll notice this is a different outfit than the earlier picture of her and Levi. This is because this little green onesie is the third, count 'em, third outfit for the day! Yep! Blow-outs and spit ups are so fun! Thank goodness for giant sized buckets of TIDE. Anyways...

While we were at Mom & Dad's, the power line people were there. Now, I'm not good with the details, but they recently buried their power lines so these guys were there taking out all the big electrical poles. Um, can we say HEAVEN for a little 4 year old boy?? He got to watch up close while these trucks pulled poles out of the ground.

Then, Eric decided to wash the van. Levi got to help spray it off. Each time Eric cleans my van, he makes some comment like "If you ever let your van get that dirty again..." and then I kind of lose track of what he is saying. Go figure...

No evening at Papa's is complete without a ride on the gator.

And, finally, a couple of pool shots!!! YEA for the pool. Here is Levi jumping in for the first time. I don't think he was prepared for how cool the water would be!!!

Levi & Daddy chillaxin in the pool. What a GORGEOUS evening! The weather has been such a blessing this week. :)

That's about it. Our day in a nutshell! I am getting ready to feed Mags and head to bed. Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll sleep tonight from 12-8..... ;)

eat.sleep.poop.

Ahh, the life of a newborn :)
Maggie has been a very different experience for me! When Levi was born, he didn't sleep like a newborn. He was awake most of the day. The wonderful thing about that was that he slept thru the night when he was 2 weeks old!! But, I didn't get to rest during the day or do things around the house that needed to be done. Maggie, on the other hand sleeps ALL DAY LONG. My mom said "Honey, that's what a newborn is supposed to do." For the last week or so, she has started to be more alert right after she eats. She will stay awake for about 30 minutes...sometimes an hour. She has such a wonderful temperament and is a very content baby. :)

My little sugar this morning... She was laughing at her brother. Or just staring at him. Probably wondering why in the world he is so doggone loud!!!

Life with two kids is really fun! I feel like I've worked thru most of my baby blues and am now really beginning to enjoy the sweet blessings of life. Don't get me wrong, it's hard, but we just keep pressing on! So far, Maggie has been to her grandparents house, church (3 times!!), the zoo, a couple of friends houses, and some short walks around the neighborhood. Oh, and she loves Dillard's and Target!! Tomorrow, she will be a whopping 4 weeks old! Man, how time flies.

Lets see...other things that are happening:

We just got word this morning that Levi will be attending the preschool program at our elementary school! That is exciting for us. I can't believe my little boy is ready for preschool...

Mom & Dad have officially opened their pool. YEA! We'll get to start spending some time over there having fun in the sun.

The basement is coming along quickly. All the drywall is done and Eric has started to paint primer in the large family room. We hope to have it completely painted in the next week or so! Then we'll just need the ceiling and carpet. :)

Oh, and I've been trying my hand more at cooking! Sometimes, it is good and sometimes Eric just looks at me with a blank stare. ;)

birthday fun

This weekend, we celebrated my Papa's 80th birthday!! My dad grilled out and it was FABULOUS. My dad makes some mean BBQ ribs. If you haven't had them, then I feel sorry for you. :) We all keep trying to talk him into going into business... we had chicken, sausage, ribs, hot dogs, baked potatoes, green beans, baked beans, fruit salad, mac n cheese, tossed salad and cake for dessert. I love our family dinners!! So much fun. :)

The girls played in the sprinkler......while the boys rode the tractor and gator.

And, the old people sat around the driveway. It looked like we were at the campgrounds!! Haha

Casey & Emmy were patiently waiting for Great Papa to open his gifts!! Actually, I think they were waiting for Grammy to cut the cake!

Now, let me explain the cake. Um, Mom didn't have 80 candles. She also didn't have an "8" to put with the zero. So, she saw a 6 and a 2 which equals 8. Only, it wasn't a 6, it was a 9. So, it looks like my Papa was 920... but he's not. Next time, we'll make sure someone else is in charge of the candles... :)

Singing Happy Birthday!!!

Here's what Maggie did all night...

...she was quite content!

Great Granny & Papa with all the little kids. How cute?!!!

At the end of the evening, Levi, Griffin & Emmy were building a house.

And, when we got home, Levi got a hold of the camera. ;)