we are sorry, meijer

Guess what happens when you don't change your child's diaper all morning and then give her more to drink in the grocery store to keep her quiet because she is thirsty...

You look down and realize that the puddle on the ground in front of your feet is from your child and it is streaming down her leg, over her shoe and out the top of her pants. Then, you look around to see if anyone is watching. They aren't. So, you reach in your purse for baby wipes realize you forgot them. You take off to the nearest restroom.

You change her diaper, but have to leave her pants and shoes off, so now you look like a horrible mom that took her daughter out in the cold weather with barely any clothes on.

Awesome.

trust the gorton's fisherman...

We had a pretty low key weekend. Friday night, the kids and I went to my parents and hung out there for a while. Maggie took her first REAL tractor ride with my Dad. She loved it. I think she went up one notch in Papa's book because she is now an official John Deere fan. ;)
Saturday, we woke up early {because my kids are insane and always get up early!!! Agh!} and got ready for soccer. It was chilly {love it!!!!} out and drizzling rain, so I opted to stay home with Mags while Eric took Levi to play. Didn't think Croup + cough + rain {and cute shoes that would get dirty easily} = a good idea!! As soon as Eric and Levi got home, I put Maggie down for a nap and headed out to get an impromptu pedi with my Mom! She called and said she was going and I invited myself along. Yay! Love me some soft pretty feet!!

{Insert SCREAM here!!! Colts just scored! YEE HAW!}

This morning, we had an I N C R E D I B L E church service. It was one of those days when God and I showed up at the same time. He is always there. I am usually there, but not focused. Today, He had words to say to me. He needed me to hear some things and gently remind me that life is not about me. I have to admit something here, and I'm gonna be venerable. Lately, I have fallen into a pity-party funk. My BFF moved away. My husband is gone...a lot...and I don't like to do all this "stuff" on my own. I have kids that invade my house all day long. Life is just really different right now and most days are pretty hard. BUT, I need to choose to be proactive and rise above all of this, because my happiness should not be dependent on other people, but on the love of Christ. We were singing a song in choir today called "Your Grace is Enough" and while we were singing, I pretty much came to a crossroad with God. It is like He was asking me "Are you sure? Are you sure that MY grace is enough for you? If so, BELIEVE it." Bam. That hit me hard. I am a work in progress and I am so thankful that God allows me to mess up and is right there to help me put myself back together. :)

Speaking of messing up...
This afternoon, I locked our only key in the van. Oops. Eric was really happy with me! ;) We were standing out in the driveway with a crowbar thingy trying to break in. Then, it started to rain. Um, my big umbrella is in the van. So, I'm trying to hold the crowbar thingy while Eric sticks a coat hanger through the door. Levi, bless his heart, brings me his Incredible Hulk umbrella {that is made for people who weigh 40 pounds!} and it barely covers my big head!! Eric went in the garage and got his raincoat. I was cracking up because he looked like the guy on the Gorton's commercials. "Trust the Gorton's Fisherman"... He didn't think it was that funny, though. One of the Sellersburg cops swung by and left to get his kit to professionally break in our van.

Eric still wasn't happy, but I snagged a picture {like a good blogger!!!} of him, our neighbor, Todd and the officer working on the van...in the rain...with his raincoat...purely for your enjoyment. Love it!

And, the Colts are heading into the half up by 3. Hey, we'll take it!!! ;-)

more cute pics

I never get tired of seeing pictures of my cute kids! I'm glad you don't either. ;) Eric took a couple days off work to stay home with Maggie while she has had Croup. It freed me up to help watch the other kids up at Natalie's house. Throughout the day, Eric would send me pictures and I have to be honest. It was like he was taunting me!!! Letting Maggie do things I don't normally let her do just because she was with Daddy. ;)

He sent this one first and said "Look Mom, we are playing outside in the rain!" Yes, her pajamas were soaked and muddy. And her socks too!

Thankfully, he did change her clothes! He let her eat all by herself, too. {I usually feed her because she loves to throw it on the floor. I'm sure I will still be spoon feeding her when she is 21 because I don't want to clean up a mess!}

AND, {gasp!} he snuggled with her and let her fall asleep with him on the couch! Knowing how he sleeps, she could have ended up on the floor or smashed between him and the cushions!!

In all seriousness, I'm SO thankful for my baby Daddy!! I'm thankful that when I am in a bind, he is more than happy to help out.

And, my Dad came to pick Levi up Monday night and took him to their house for dinner. He sent me this pic {sorry its blurry!}...

Poor little guy! School wears him out!! :-)

trying to keep a 1 year old happy wears.me.out.

Sickness is for the birds. Maggie has been coming down with something all weekend long. I'm at a loss because she is on an antibiotic from strep. Sunday night, she got pretty bad with fever and coughing. I called the doctor this morning at 8:30 sharp so I could try to get an early appointment and see what the heck is wrong!! Here's what happens when the receptionist says "Can you be here in twenty minutes?"
Yep! Threw on clothes, brushed my teeth and we took off.

I've mentioned before how much I am crazy about our pediatrician!! As we were sitting in our room waiting, Maggie started coughing. I heard her doctor down the hallway say, "Oooh, someone has Croup!" That would be my little someone. Yes, Mags has Croup. It is viral, so the antibiotic didn't touch it. The treatment? Give her Tylenol for fever and keep her hydrated. That's it?? That's it. OH, and **TRY TO KEEP HER FROM GETTING UPSET**! Whaaa???? The doc told us the more she gets upset, the more her cough will act up. Keep her happy, give her what she wants. No problem, right? HA!

First things on the list of NOT making her happy was a big ol' shot of steroids in the bum!!! She screamed bloody murder and if looks could have killed, the nurse would have been dead on the floor! ;)


So, we left for home and I did all I could to make Maggie happy. She got to eat whatever she asked for...

...she got to pull all of the wipes out of the container...

...she got to drink out of Daddy's water bottle...

...she got to climb in chairs...

...and she napped on me, so I got to watch some mindless tv...

...Oh, there was also peek-a-boo...

...and more peek-a-boo {I know you are jealous!}...

...and more mindless tv...

...and more climbing on furniture...

...and even a visit from Daddy!! He had to check on his little bebe girl. ;)

The best time of the day...

...too bad it only lasted 20 minutes! She is not much on napping today. :(

Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day!!

i cooked

As I sit here and type about our day, I can hear Eric downstairs with the kids. Levi is asking him for something and Eric's response is "Hang on a minute, Buddy, I have to watch Maggie and do everything else..." Wow. I want to {politely} scream "Really, welcome to my world!" But, I refrain. ;) Wonder how long it will take for Daddy to bring Maggie up to stay with Mommy??!

Ok, so today was our annual Pierce family reunion. It is on my Dad's side of the family. I cooked!! We all know I struggle in that area. I am so proud of myself when I cook something AND it tastes good!!! I made a strawberry pretzel salad - yum-o b/c it is sweet and salty!! and I made peanut butter fudge. Yes I did! I felt like I was cheating a little because it was sooo easy to make! It is called One Minute Fudge and it literally is the easiest thing I have ever made!!!!

So, on to the reunion. {Beth, where were you????} We have a large extended family and it is kind of funny because each year, we all just kind of sit with the family we know and stare at the other family that we don't know. You'd think we would branch out and go visit with our family, but we don't. Creatures of habit...

Here is my sis and her sleepy girl, Bailey

Dad took over and helped with Maggie. Give her some homemade mac n cheese and she will be your BFF! She was QUITE moody when we got there so the mac n cheese made her happier.

Now, here is my family - the ones we know and talk to. ;) My Mom, sister, and my cousins Christi and Toni.

I thought this pic was funny. This is my cousin's husband, DJ. He had this look on his face for quite a while as the girls all sat there talking. He played golf this morning and I guess he was due for a nap!!! {He was good, though, and didn't tell me the score of the Colts game since we were taping it.}

And these two little guys LOVE getting their picture taken. Griffin and Levi are best buds and adore each other!!! I love it!

Playin' some football....

...and more football with the bigger cousins!

And more football. These kids will sleep good tonight!!

My Aunt Frances {sorry about her being half cut off!} Old Man Reid and my cute sis-in-law Jenny

Precious. My Granny and Maggie

Maggie was being a crab apple and my cousin, Toni finally got some smiles out of her!!!

More of the family

Kisses from Daddy

And then my brother decided to grace everyone with his presence. He had some lame excuse about being in the O.R., blah, blah, blah. Everyone was all like "Hey Trav! There's the Ironman! Travis is wonderful, blah, blah, blah!" Kidding! I love my brother. ;)

Little Miss Thang...She didn't want to be around anyone or want anyone to hold her. She acts like her Daddy.

And check out this girl...Emmy was playing in the dirt.

Look at her bum!!!

Me and my baby girl. I love her.

And, me and my big boy once we got back home. I love him, too.

It was good to have the reunion to occupy my time today. Otherwise, I might have been throwing objects at the tv and cursing!! Seriously...losing to the Browns? Ugh. ;)

a typical evening

I am so thankful that Levi LOVES school! He talks about it all evening long { Sorry Gretchen! My boy does tell me details! ;) } and I love hearing his interpretation of everything he does throughout the day. I have gotten two very sweet emails from his teacher saying how polite, respectful and well mannered he is and how he loves to help other children in the classroom. She brags on our parenting! People, that is such a HIGH compliment. While I do try my best to be a good parent, I certainly have my BAD days and nights. It is very hard with Eric being gone so much, I won't lie.

My evenings are so busy! All the daycare kids are usually gone by 5, so I have two hours to feed the kids, do homework, give baths, pick out clothes for school the next day, play a game, read books and then get Levi in bed. He goes to bed at 7 and our times FLIES by!!! Once I get him down, I concentrate on Mags. We cuddle for a bit, read a book, sing a song and then she goes down around 7:30. Once she is down, I usually make Levi's lunch for the next day, do a load of laundry, take a shower and then it's MOMMA time! I sit my rear down and watch some mindless tv. Ohh, and can I say how excited I am that the fall shows are starting back up??! Yee haw!

Ok, in my effort to be a good mom, I am really trying to curb the amount of tv that Levi watches. While he loves tv, he loves "doing stuff" even more! He loves crafts, games and reading. This week, we worked on painting some airplanes. It was fun...but messy! Oy.

I don't have pictures yet of the finished products, but he did a good job.

And, little sassy girl wanted to do something fun, so I put her in the high chair, gave her paper and markers (washable, of course!) and let her have at it!!

She thinks she is 5 and wants to do everything her big brother does! So cute!! I love my kids to the moon and back!

one "hot" momma

The smell of coconut oil. The best 30 minute nap you'll ever get. The wind blowing all around your hair to keep you cool. The little heart (or playboy bunny!) sticker that you inconspicuously place in a private place. Yes, peeps, my first job was at a tanning bed. Best perk ever??? Free tanning. That was back in the day when the beds were normal - 30 minutes - not all the high tech stuff they have now where you go in, push a button and in 43.6 seconds you come out bronzed. ;) I loved my job. I do (of course!) have a funny story to tell about working there.

Picture it. Jeffersonville. 1991. (Nice Golden Girls reference! Ha!) I was going to prom. My boyfriend was a senior, I was a freshman, and my parents were letting me go! (We had to "double" with my brother and his girlfriend, tho.) I really wanted to get my ears double pierced so that I could match my 2nd earring with my prom dress! (Oh the things I had to worry about back then!!) My dad was against me getting my ears double pierced. Period. He told me for years NO. Well, my mom told me if I would save my money, she would take me to get my ears done. Be still my heart! I was excited. Insert my first job. I saved my money {I'm guessing like $10 for the week??? Lol!!} and she took me to get them pierced. Prom was awesome...me in my sapphire blue dress with matching earrings and gorgeous tan! Ahh life! Fast forward four years. I had my hair up in a pony tail and was sitting in the living room. My dad was talking to me and said "Tracey Leigh. {you know it is bad when he uses a middle name} I thought I told you you were not to get your ears double pierced. When did you do this?" I just kind of stared at him. "Uh, Mom took me 4 years ago, Dad."

Haha! Good memories. ;)

thankful

Just thought I would share a few things that I am thankful for this morning!

• I am sitting on the couch; it is 7:28 and Mags is still sleeping! That means 30 minutes of Mommy time this morning!


• Levi loves going to the bus stop and to school.


• The Colts played their first game of the season and it can't get much worse! Only better from here!!! :) Ha!


• The weather is turning cooler.


• I don't have to get into the nasty 65/64/71 traffic!


• Special K Strawberry cereal bars


• Diet Mountain Dew

first game

Today was Levi's first soccer game!! Have you ever seen a professional soccer game? Or, even a high school team play soccer? Well, there are two things to keep in mind here. #1 - Levi's team is made up of 4 and 5 year olds! And, #2 - Our opponent is made up of 4 and 5 year olds! Ha! Besides the the little kids kicking the ball in the wrong direction and the one little kid that kicked past the goal and just kept on kicking...almost to the parking lot!...they did a pretty good job. :-) It was a lot of fun to go and support the little kiddies!!!

My little guy

Look at this: Levi looks tiny and intimidated next to the kid he was supposed to guard! I wanted to scream "I'm watching you, Boy...", but I didn't. I politely clapped and rooted "Go, Levi!"

Way to hustle!!!
Love this little guy!!

Levi and Ian - little buddies!

Getting a pap talk from Dad (GET OUT THERE AND KICK THE BALL!!) If I was giving the pep talk, I'd be saying "are you ok? do you have enough water? did anyone hurt you, cuz I will take them down!!!..."

Giving high fives to the other team! They don't keep score at this age, but I think we won! ;)

Thank goodness for Grammy who came to watch (but ended up being on Maggie duty)!! She kept Mags occupied by feeding her goldfish and cheerios and let her clean everything in sight with baby wipes!!! :-)

Little man having a snack after the BIG game. ;)

And, Papa was there to cheer Levi on and toss Mags around!

Love this!!! Maggie fell asleep on the floor while I was changing her diaper when we got home. She looks so sweet and innocent!