Ooo A Sneak Peek!

For my sister, my niece and nephew. Aren't they gorgeous??

Back to Life

I can't read that title without hearing Soul II Soul's "Back To Life". {♫Back to liiiife, back to reality♪...you know, that one.} I honestly feel like I'm back to life, and, er, back to reality though. {You will now have that song stuck in your head all day. You're welcome.}

Let's say back to "normality". Shall we? A new normality. A life with a family of 6. I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that there are four beings that are genetically linked to me, yet my offspring are fitting in my life like a puzzle piece that I didn't even know were missing in the first place.

I shiz you not, life has been anything but normal the past year. I spent most of it throwing up. Or in bed. My house went neglected. My mother duties were non existent. I thought having clean, fed, and loved children were enough. Fudge the house, and responsibilities like homework and personal hygiene. {For myself.} If my teeth were brushed I considered myself presentable for the day. Trust me, it could have been worse. Thank god for hair bands to throw greasy, unbrushed hair in and yoga pants. That's all I'm saying.

The time of superhard pregnancy and c-section recovery is over and I feel human again! A milk-providing super human actually.

I can't begin to tell you what a rockstar I feel like when I am able to vacuum the floors, clean, fold, and put away laundry, wash dishes, sweep the floors, clean the counters, change diapers, feed the kids, nurse the baby, and help with homework. Add clean hair and fresh clothes and you may as well put me on the cover of a magazine because I feel like HAWT SHIZ. Magazine cover worthy hawt shiz.

 {This is a perfect visual of how I feel when I get life done and do things that a normal individual does on a daily basis but to me it's an amazing accomplishment, so I sing to the mountains of my awesomeness.}

But seriously, that's what happens when you go from a worthless lump that does nothing but grow a human, back to a mom. A real mom. And a real wife. And a real human, who DOES things.

SO NICE TO SEE YOU WORLD! It's been too long...

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Wave Pool PICTCHAS!

Remember a few, or 10 days back, my little post about the joys of PJ pant wearing, sideline sitting, with a T.I. relative sighting? You know, The Wave Pool?

I know that was, like, FOREVER ago. I had meant to add pics forever ago, but today I just realized, "Oh my gosh! I never added the pics!". So without further ado (because I know you've totally been on the edge of your seat waiting to see these), I give you...

The Wave Pool Pictcha's

Okay, so really they're "kids in bathing suits" pictures. But it's all I got! the wave pool was like so far away, and I wasn't going to leave my shady post to get pics of my kids having fun and splashing around. I tried, I did, but there were all these other people in my way all the time, blocking my kids beautiful faces with their own unattractiveness. I just didn't want my pics ruined! Don't judge me! Anyway aren't they oh-so-cute in their suits?! Okay except for my nephew Michael, he is officially too old for the cuteness factor anymore, so I'll say, doesn't he look all tough and manly?!

And yes, they're black and white. You're just gonna have to deal with this new obsession of mine. It can only last so long I'm sure. The color shall return eventually.

Oh and one more thing.....

IT's NEW FRIEND FRIDAY! Woo-hoo!!!

The Oyer Family Portraits | Ballantyne, NC

A sneak peek from last nights family session! Yet ANOTHER beautiful family that I had the pleasure of capturing!*

*I may have to post some color shots as well. I was able to capture gorgeous rich summer colors!

Love Their Faces, Adore Their Hearts

Leah is just full of herself these days! She is not slow to hit you with a, "Because I said so!". She's quickly approaching "preschooler" and not "toddler" and I'm really not sure how I feel about that. It seems like every day we have more and more conversations. She's starting to get to the stage where I can almost reason with her.



"I want a movie!" She demands while driving down the road.


"You want to watch a movie?" I ask, to confirm her demands.


"Yes!" She replies. {Really it's more of a YESTH.}


It feels like, “I want the car keys!” Is just around the corner. Where did the time go?!

**


Hailey scares me to death. She is beautiful. Like, GORGEOUS. I know I’m biased, but it still worries me. And her spunk? Oh my goodness this girl is the DEFINITION of spunky. No really, look:


spunky


Pronunciation: \ˈspəŋ-kē\

Function: adjective

Inflected Form(s): spunk·i·er; spunk·i·est

Date: 1786

: full of spunk

See? I’m surprised there is not a picture of her there. I should recommend this photo be used:

** Does she not just LOOK super spunky?! Or maybe this one:

** She did that pose on all her own, which I believe is proof of her spunkiness.



Today Hailey told Leah to, and I quote, “Shut your pine hole!!”

”Hailey”, I inform her, “It’s PIE hole, not PINE hole.”


She rolled her eyes at me, and sighed.

Somehow I was left feeling like I was the wrong one. She made me feel stupid. And small.

Joshua is having such a hard time with 2nd* grade. The mama bear in me wants to sweep in and save him and make his world perfect and fair. But that’s not how life is. Life is full of trials and tribulations. I am just SO not ready for him to be facing them yet. Part of wants to home school him, but I feel like he would be miserable. Plus if I wanted to be a teacher, I would be in schools getting paid for it. I wish I could be a home schooling mom. But I don’t think it would be beneficial to either of us.


He’s so incredibly smart it’s scary.

I have never met a more caring young by that could be so cool at the same time. He is truly a boy after my own heart.

Today he said his favorite movie was Zombieland. And he loves dinosaurs.


He’s too awesome for his own good.

**


* Not grade wise, but OCD wise.
**Photography by Dimples & Curls Photography

I'm Ba-ackkkkk!

It has been 3 days I have looked upon my computer screen. That means three entire days without blogging, editing photo's, designing, or tending to my Farmville fields. My crops are all withered, Photoshop is sitting lonely and untouched, and my body is beginning to shut down as I have not been able to healthily express my feelings in blogging. If it weren't for the blackberry I would be going through complete technological withdrawal. Luckily I have been able to keep up with the emails, and twittering, and even a tad bit of Facebook during this weekend long "break". I'm scared to see how many posts are on my Google reader! I wonder how long it's going to take me to read them all. Here's a brief update at what's been going down the passed 3 days:

Friday was way too long ago to remember, so I'll start off with Saturday. We woke up and got a few things done around the house before getting ready for the day and heading to my sisters to pick up loads of trash to take to the dump for her. While the hubs and bro-in-law did the dumping, I hung at my sisters house for a bit and just had fun visiting and talking, and going through her eleventy-million purses. After choosing a super cute Vera Bradly bag, we talked it up a bit until our hubbies returned. Upon their arrival my sister left for a baby shower, taking Hailey with her, and Mel, Joshua, Leah, and I headed out to run some errands. After an awesomely delicious brunch at IHOP, we headed on to Sam's, and then Napa, then back to my sisters for Mel to get his truck. On the way home we hit up Walmart to grab our groceries for the week. That's when the most awesome thing happened! I won't share now, because if it doesn't work out then I won't have to be all publicly mopey and what not. But if it works out I'll tell you all about it! :D After the grocery trip we headed home and headed outside to push Leah in her new swing that we acquired at the store. (Gotta love Walmart, go for groceries, leave with a swing, groceries, and God knows what else.) Anywho, Leah LOVED her swing! We're having a really hard time keeping her inside these days. She throws tantrums everytime we come inside. After the swinging we went to a friend of the hubs for my first official "Pig Pickin'"! It was AWESOME. It was seriously some of the best barbecue I have ever had. We chowed down, and the kiddo's did an Easter egg hunt, and then we headed home. The kid were POOPED. Then some of
our BF's T&A came over and we caught up while watching Dewey Cox and Superbad.

Okay, so Saturday was super busy and tiring which may be to blame for Sunday. I seriously just drifted in and out of consciousness all day Sunday. The hubby was literally stuck in the recliner all day with his messed up back, and I hardly got off the couch. I seriously felt like I slept the day away. I took advantage of the fact that the hubs was stuck in the recliner and made him watch New Moon. I felt kinda guilty, but he said it wasn't that bad! I wonder if I'll get him to watch Twilight one day...

Anywho, that is my incredibly boring life that has been keeping me away from 'ye olde computer screen. I have missed the so, and will be back to my computin' days momentarily.

Ew this post is so long, and there's not any good pics to share, so I randomly inserted a pic that i put together for one of my bestest friends ever! She always says we're "two peas in a basket of jelly beans", well I setteld for a pic of a bowl of jelly beans, and threw in two peas! ^_^

Hailey's 5th Birthday Party

1. Hailey chose a Hello Kitty theme three days before her party, and Party City was out of the majority of their Hello Kitty supplies! This is the "Happy Birthday" banner from Party City.

2. The super awesome, super huge, HK Birthday Princess balloon. We still have it, and the body is deflated, but the head is still floating around. "We all float down here." Okay, now I just creeped myself out.

3. The pile of loot Hailey scored! Super cute clothes, and what not.

4. The birthday cake! It was sooo cute. It had HK rings, and the middle HK was a bubble holder with wand!

5. Hailey's cake, and strawberry ice cream. On the rest of the Hello Kitty supplies that we were able to find at Target. Didn't really match but Hello Kitty is Hello Kitty. Right?

6. The birthday girl enjoying her cake and ice cream. She was just gorgeous for her party. Aunt Kay Kay did her hair and make up.

7. Opening presents with Aunt Lauren. She was SO happy to get her DSi from Aunt Kay Kay!

8. Singing the infamous song. You know the drill, make a wish baby girl!

9. The presents before she tore into them.

10. The cute little balloon holder.


Okay, so these are just random pics from her fun little party that we had. I realize now that I did not put them in order. Oh well. I just wanted to share with the loved ones that couldn't be there!

She had a complete attitude problem that day, but it was fun, and by the end of the day we were pooped. :D She's already planning her party for next year!

Tag! I'm it!

Heidi over at From 3 to 5 tagged me in a fun little blogger game!

In your picture folder post the tenth picture in the first folder and give the story behind it. Then tag 5 people to post their tenth picture.

Okay, so I was like SO scared to see what that pic would be! Because it could have been a drawing of a tiger in a tutu, or a streetwalking tube of toothpast. Or even worse, a photo of ME doing God knows what. *shudders* SCARY. Since I have like a billion of photo's, I have tons of folders, so I had to open my pic folder, chose the first folder, and keep opening folders, and choosing the first folder, until I finally came to photo's. I then chose my 10th photo which turned out to be this:

This picture was taken September 10th, 2008. 2 days after Miss Leah was born. I think this was the first time my sister, Katie, held Leah. Leah was a chubby tunkin's weighing 9lbs at birth. She was still in the NICU, but clear of IV's, and most other machinery. I only see one wire down by her legs. Can't remember what it was for, but anyway... I had forgotten how jaundice she was! Looking back at this pic is crazy! She's grown so much, and time has just flown. I can't believe she's 18 months old.

I tag-
Classicly Amber
Sustaining Creativity
Holy Moly Toledos
Marvelous Mommy
Our 6 Ring Circus

Can't wait to see everyone's pics, and hear the stories behind them! Thanks for tagging me Heidi!! ^_^

What Happened?

Somehow along the way my sweet little babies turned into mean little monsters! What the crap?! They can be SO mean sometimes! It's awful. You think you're doing great, teaching manners, and trying to teach them to be loving, compassionate children, and the next thing you know they're beating the crap out of each other! Leah's hitting Hailey, Hailey's hitting Joshua, Joshua's throwing stuff, they're busting holes in walls, it's INSANE. I feel like I'm running a delinquent center at times!

The attitude. Oh the attitude. I don't recall acquiring an attitude until at least middle school. But Hailey? She is he sassiest, sass master, I have ever met in my life! She is the definition of attitude! (Okay, maybe not, I don't feel like looking up what the actual definition is....) "Do I look like I'm hungry mom?!", "I am not wearing that!", "Ugh, oh my God, whatever mom." This is what you would typically expect from a middle schooler, true? Yes, well she just turned 5. I know I can't believe it either.

One blessing to all of these grown up attitudes is the humor. My kiddo's are SO flippin' funny! They seriously make me laugh every day. Weather it's making faces, or jokes, or dancing or singing funny songs, they are constantly making me laugh. It certainly makes up for the bad times. :)

Well Hello There!

Joshua in all his 7 year old glory is SO completely jealous of a boy in his class who is 9 years old and has a mustache. First, and foremost, isn't 9 a little old for 2nd grade? And secondly, a mustache?! At NINE? Holy crapola! Is this similar to the whole "getting boobs in 3rd grade thing"? Or could it just be his heritage? Apparently he's from Mississippi, maybe that has something to do with it? Either way, it's giving the boy a complex way before he should be getting any sort of body hair complex.

Today, I had a lovely parent teacher conference with Hailey's preschool teacher. Miss Thang has come a long way since her first few weeks of preschool and is most certainly ready to embark on her Kindergarten adventure next year! The question is, is Kindergarten ready for her? I know we're going to need a very firm, yet patient and loving teacher for her. Because of past experiences with psycho-witch teachers, I'm so worried about who the kiddo's are placed with.

I walked into the living room the other day and this is what I found:

She had crawled up into the recliner, and pulled the laptop on herself! It was too cute. And let me tell you, she FLIPPED when I took it away from her! Sorry Leah, but that's alllll mommy's.

I'm in complete disbelief that there is only two months of school left. (Give or take.) Where has this year gone? I'm only a mere 5 months away from being the mama of a kindergartner and a THIRD GRADER. Un-friggin'-believable. Leah is get this, EIGHT DAYS shy of the cut-off for preschool. Many have told me that I should ask for the the school to make an exception for Leah because it's only a short 8 days, and she's (what they think) is "so" advanced. Truth be told, I don't want to! One reason, public school won't make such exception, and therefore it will eventually catch up to us, and she'll be a year behind her classmates and have to redo her 4 year-old year at preschool. Another reason, and probably most importantly, I don't want her to go! :( She's my baby! I want her home with me as long as possible! Especially since Mel seems so adamant about her being the last.

Okay, so before I close, I just want to say that I had SUCH a fabtastic weekend! Saturday was just BEAUTIFUL, and couldn't have been a more perfect first day of Spring. Also, something very, extremely to the mostest, awesome thing happened Saturday. I'd love to share, but sorry I can't. And won't. (Maybe one day.) It was just an awesome weekend!

Coming Up This Week:
*Moaning Monday-I'm BAAACK!

*Hailey 5th Birthday Party Post!! Gonna be pic heavy!

*Thursday's Before&After Blog Hop with Pixel Perfect.

And who knows what other shenanigans I'll be writing about. Happy Monday ya'll!

The Thursday Thirteen That Almost Never Was

Ahhhhhhh! So I'm in the shower today, when suddenly I realize, IT'S THURSDAY!!! AND I DON'T HAVE MY THURSDAY THIRTEEN READY!!!! In fact I was only up to like 6 or something on the list and still need....7 more things!! *GASP* What to do?! What to do?! SO blog readers, I decided to do the most logical thing and make a NEW Thursday Thirteen list! I give you:

Thirteen Reasons I Didn't Have my Thursday Thirteen Post Ready

1. I almost died. (Almost.) Last Thursday, around the time it was time for me to go to bed I started having stomach pain. It was one of those, "Wow, this is very uncomfortable. Not severely painful, but definitely uncomfortable. My body is unhappy about something." So. I lay down and tried to fall asleep. Which didn't help. My body quickly went from unhappy to pissed off. Therefore it became more than just uncomfortable, it became painful. By 3 am, I couldn't move without grunting or groaning in pain. I really wanted to see a Dr. like RIGHT THEN. But it was 3 am. And I did NOT want to drive to the ER. So, I lay awake all night until exhaustion took control and I finally fell asleep. I woke up an hour and a half'ish later hurting even MORE. So I told Mel what was going on and that I'd be going to the Dr., got the boy off to school, dropped the girls off with my mom, and headed on over to our family doctor. Dr. sent me straight away for a cat scan, and blood work. Both came back normal. So he did what I'm assuming most other Dr.'s would do, and called me in a prescription for pain pills so that I could sleep Friday night. Saturday I woke up and sometime during the night, things went from painful to 1,000% sure I'm dying. My body was enraged, and was not being shy abot it. I tried to push through because Hai's birthday party was Saturday and we had to get the house clean. All I was able to do before giving up was dust the mantel. It friggin' hurt! Okay, to make a long story not as long, I puked on Mel, and threw up blood, freaked out and had my sister take me to the ER. They gave me what they call a "GI Cocktail", and whalla, I'm cured! They saved my life! They were like 99% it was gastritis AGAIN. They also thought it could have possibly been a bleeding ulcer. (Turns out it wasn't.) Anyway, so that took up a few days of my life right there.

2. Hai's Birthday Party. As mentioned above, we had Hailey's 5th Birthday Party scheduled for this weekend. Because my body is an a$$hole and turned against me, we had to reschedule it for Sunday afternoon. Which was nice, because I totally needed Sunday morning to rest up. Luckily the meds that the ER Dr. gave me worked very well, and by the time the party time rolled around I was able to be up off the couch taking photo's and what not. The part was fab, and totally worth a blog post, as all my kiddo's parties are. So that post will be coming up eventually.

3. Cleaning Up After Hailey's Birthday Party. Monday was spent cleaning up after Hailey's birthday party. I know most normal family's do that after the party, but we're not normal. And we were tired, and I was EXHAUSTED, and just getting over a close brush with death. So I cleaned the next day instead.

4. Playing with Hailey's Birthday Presents. Okay, so now that Hailey is five she's starting to get really fab toys. So naturally, after cleaning Monday, and after school Tuesday, and pretty much every day since, we have been playing with her new stuff! Zhu-Zhu pets, and a DS, and DS games, and what not! They're fun!

5. A Sick Day for the Boy. Joshua stayed home sick Tuesday. He woke me up around 4am with a tummy ache, and then spent about 1/2 the day on the pot. Poor kiddo. :( Luckily he woke up Wednesday just fine! And was off to school again!

6.. A Yucky, Yet Short-Lived Tummy Bug. I caught what Joshua had and was stuck on the pot half the day yesterday. :( It was awful. Just awful.

7. A New Table! Oh yea, we got a new table that we found on Craigs List! That took away my time because we had to go get it and what not. And move our old table. And move in the new table. And clean it really good.

8. Daylight Savings Time. Is a WRETCHED SHREW! I completely loath DST. LOATHE IT I SAY!! It completely messes with me all of Spring, and I really don't ever recover from it! I am pretty much tired, and cranky through Spring and Summer.

9. Laziness. Pretty much sums it up eh?

10. VERY SERIOUS forum. I joined this forum. There is entirely too many funny things to look at and read! And from this forum I found new funny blogs to read also, therefore taking up even more time.

11. A Doctor's Appointment. To follow up with the whole gastritis thing. That took up pretty much my whole morning, so that by the time I got home all I had time to do was clean before getting the kiddo's from school.

12. Taking Sister to Airport. I had to load up my sister and her family and her friend and take them to the airport. Since they were going on a month load trip the van was literally full as full can be! That took up lot's of valuable list making time.

13. Lunch with My Best Good Friend. Okay, so I can't remember the last time we hung, and did lunch, AND she still owed me a birthday lunch! Therefore there was NO way I was going to reschedule! We were well overdue for friend time, and it was much needed, and sooooo lovely!! Way more important then list making. Sorry.

So those are my 13 reasons why I didn't already have my Thursday Thirteen ready in advance. But technically there's still a Thursday Thirteen, so I really did get the list done now didn't I? This is all so very confusing.

Before & After Blog Hop w/ Pixel Perfect

 {BEFORE}

{AFTER}

Do you have a snazzy little "Before&After" you would like to share? Head on over and see Monica at Pixel Perfect Blog and link up!

It's okay Moms! It's okay...

Let me share with you a little about my mad parenting skills.

My kids eat lunchables out of a box, spaghettio's, and McDonalds at least once a week. We drink Great Value (Walmart) brand milk. I don't buy organic, free range, farm raised ANYTHING. My son goes to a public school, and so will the girls when they get old enough. My son also takes ADHD medication. (If you're a "Kids don't have ADHD they just need to be disciplined" people, Please, PLEASE spend a week with my son. You will change your mind in less then 24 hours I GUARAN-freaking-TEE it. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if it took less then 12.) Heck, my kids have all of their vaccinations, and they take antibiotics when they have an infection. My 18 month old eats chicken nuggets like they're going out of style, and she drank Diet Coke today. My 18 month old also says, "Dang it", the son says, "Oh M Gee", and the 5 year-old has a horrible, "Oh Puh-lease" addiction. The 18 month old isn't potty trained and wears pampers, not cloth diapers. Oh and we celebrate Halloween, and loooooove Harry Potter.

But you know what else? My kids eat candy only twice a year. At Christmas and at Halloween. They've never had a cavity, they're not overweight, and they only drink milk, or 100% juice, or water. (The 18 month old still will sneak Diet Coke, the other 2 know better by now.) They eat well balanced meals everyday. They're respectful. (More so with other adults, then with the parents.) They know their manners and say "Please" and "Thank You". Even the 18 month old. They LOVE our church, and know that Jesus died for them. Oh and all three of them were boobie babies and were breast fed for as long as possible.

I think way too many mom's get caught up in what OTHER mom's are doing and don't take the time to realize what a good job THEY'RE doing. If your children are fed, loved, nurtured, and happy you are doing a kickass job!! If you are hanging around with other mom's that make you feel bad or guilty for the way your raising your kiddo's then get new friends. I have friends that raise their kiddo's COMPLETELY different then I do, but they NEVER make me feel guilty or act like their way is better. Just like I never act like my way is better.

T U E S D A Y!!

I've been so busy reading other fantastical blogs that I haven't been paying much attention to my own! That's just unacceptable.

Today is Post-It Note Tuesday and I only have one single solitary post-it today:

Okay so it's two, but really it's only one. The only reason there is two is because there wasn't enough room on one post-it.

Okay, so am I the only mom out there that isn't really liking "Princess and the Frog"? I mean, I just don't like it at all. Normally I'm all about some good Disney, but I don't like this one. At all. Did I say that already? I would say that perhaps I'm just too spoiled by Pixar, but that's not it. The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast weren't Pixar and they rocked my face off! I think the story line in Princess and the Frong is just predictable and stupid. And the characters aren't lovable at all. And I hate the music. Yuck. It's playing right now and it seriously makes me feel gross. Like I want to kinda sorta throw a tantrum. But I need to set a good example for my children. It's not fair for their mother to throw an tantrum if they're not allowed.

Sometimes I think it's crazy that I have offspring. They're so dern awesome though that anyone could tell that they're definitely mine.

Speaking of offspring, wanna see some cute snowbunny pics of mine?! :D I know you doooooo! ^_^

Hailey is FIVE!!!!! FIVE PEOPLE!!

 

She Came Into This World Posing! This is her  Hospital Photo. It was so good that they wanted me to give them one to put up. But I didn't because I'm selfish with my kids awesomeness. And I'm sure they tell that to everybody. BUT it seriously is a good hospital pic, most other hospital pics I see of newborns are ugly. They look like wrinkly old men/raisin hybrids. Hailey looked like an angel.

Five years ago today miss Hailey reluctantly came into the world! I say reluctantly because, she was very stubborn in being born. We tried the induction thing, Hailey said "No", so after 3 days in the hospital, (and after being dropped from a psychotic doctors care, long story, I'll have to share one day.) I get sent home. At the point that my water broke I didn't have a Dr. so I went to the hospital and told them my water broke and pretty much an hour or two later Hailey was cut out of my uterus. When they grabbed her by her head she pulled away from them and they had to work to get her out. My stubborn Hailey. It doesn't surprise me, it was just a precursor to what she would grow up to be.

Hailey is something else. I know everyone says that about their kid, but you would have to meet Hailey to understand. Or just ask anyone who knows her. If I believe in reincarnation I would totally say that Hailey was some sarcastic, bitchy, diva'ish, female wrestler in her past life. She was making me feel stupid at only a few months old. She would give me looks that made me want to cry when she was only a year old, and by the time she could talk she would give me the whole, "Really?" or "Seriously" thing that made me feel about an inch tall. (Yes she would say, "Really" and "Seriously" when she should be learning her colors.)

 

She was born posing. As proved by her hospital pic. Photography by Dimples&Curls Photography.

Hailey is mean. She's not a bully, she doesn't go out of her way to be mean or hurt feelings. She's just very brutally honest, and blunt, and does what she feels is "just". If you push Hailey she'll push you back twice as hard, if you slap Hailey she'll punch you in your throat. (FYI I don't condone this behavior, I'm just sharing with you.) Where as some kids wrestle or have their tits and tats, and parents will tell them to "fight it out", I have to pull Hailey away, and warn parents to make sure that their kiddo's don't playfully hit Hailey. Like I said, she wouldn't intentionally beat someone up for no reason, but other little kids need to be warned about who their messing with. Joshua has gotten beaten up by his little sister too many times to count. (Yes she gets disciplined and punished, but that's not the point, I'm just telling about my kiddo here.)

 

Hailey did her own hair that day. {She did it to get a laugh out of me, God love her!}

Hailey is funny. She is a champion one-liner maker. In fact, this whole blog was started solely because of the funny things Hailey used to say to me on a daily basis. Of course now that I'm having to write about them I can't think of one, but trust me if you go back through the blog, or look at the "mini posts" page there's some lines somewhere.

Hailey is G O R G E O U S. Again, I know everyone thinks they're kids are beautiful. (Some people are actually stupid enough to think that ALL kids are beautiful. Sorry I have just seen a LOT of ugly babies and kids in my lifetime.) Anyway, yes. Hailey is beautiful. And I do worry about what she will be like as a teenager. Maybe she'll be like the opposite of the ugly duckling and grow up to be homely. I doubt it though. I think it's her eyes. She has the most gorgeous eyes. They range anywhere from grass green, to slate blue, to grey, they're amazing. They change color, and are just WOW. Also her eyelashes. They're like 2 and half feet long. They look weird when you put mascara on them. That's how long they are. And if you put mascara on them and she blinks before it's dry she ends up with mascara on her cheek. No exaggeration at all. She also has a beautiful head of hair. It's chopped short, but it's thick, and soft, and wavy  and gorgeous. She was born with the most thicket, longest BLACK hair I have ever seen.

 

You can kinda sorta see her hair in this photo of her coming home from the hospital, but it really doesn't do her hair it's justice.

 

You can see her little 'fro in this pic. She's between 3 and 4 months in this photo. 

 

Hailey at 6 months.

  

Sometime around 9-12 months.

 

Hailey around 18-24 months.

It's a Half Birthday!

Miss Leah is 18 months old today! (I know I've already posted this pics before, but I'm too lazy to track down my camera and upload newer pics...and this is only a couple of weeks old...)

Let's give a rundown on Leah's 18 month-old-life:

Favorite Food:
•BANANAS! aka "Nana" In fact just yesterday, while in the throws of a banana-withdrawal-attack she embarrassed the crap out of her father and I at Walmart. It was all fine until she saw the bananas in the cart in line right in front of us. It sparked something in her that I never want to see again. First it began with just repeating, "Nana, nana, nana, nana" over, and over, and over again. When that didn't produce the reaction she longed for, she began to grow louder in her demands, "NANA, NANA, NANA!!!" By the time we were paying our groceries she was in full withdrawal-mode, lashing out at others, pulling her hair, screaming, flailing, throwing her self about, all the while screaming, "Nana! Nana!". It was ridiculous.
•Cheese aka "Cheeeeeeshe". She has also thrown very similar tantrums for cheese. Mozzarella cheese sticks to be exact. Between the bananas and cheese, I'm surprised she poops!
•Chicken Nuggets! aka "Chick Chick" Leah eat chicken nuggets at least 5 times a week. Thankfully they are a good source of protein and fat. And they're always baked or nuked, not fried. Unless we get them from McD's, or Wendy's.
•French Fries! aka "Fwen Fwiesh" She LOVES french fries. But then again, not very many toddlers don't. Right? Out of all her fave food she eats these the least. Probably once a week.
•Meat. She loves me. Cubed ham, pork tenderloin, and ground beef. Everytime we give her spaghetti with meat sauce, hamburger helper, taco bake, shepards pie, or anything else with ground beef she miraculously picks out ever little morsel of ground beef and leaves everything else. It's really remarkable.
•Bread. Another definite fave is bread. She will eat the heck out of some bread. We have some sort of bread each night with dinner and she always eats at least one or two pieces, biscuita, crescents, Italian loafs, breadsticks, yeast rolls ,she doesn't discriminate in her love for carbs.q
•Cereal aka "Sherial" This is a new food on the list of fave foods. She just started loving cereal the past week or two. Fruit Loops are her fave.

Any food that she likes that she doesn't already have a "name" for is slimply, "Nummies". And when she eats, and she's enjoying her meal she looks and sounds like a cartoon. "Nom, nom, nom, mmmmm, nummie NUMMIE!" It's the cutest dern thing, but something I hope she grows out of before her first date.

She's up to 4 word sentences. Simple ones like, "I don't want it!", "I want a sip/bite/taste.", "Because I said so!" etc. There's not very much that she can't pronounce or say. She's a good little talker! She's also polite and says "Dank Do", and "Pease". She loves telling random people "Hi" and "Bye". In fact I think she might be able to read because just said "Hi". Maybe not, I pointed to the screen and asked her, "What does this say?" and she just said, "Say? What does it say?".

Her cast is off! It's been off for a few days. She's not walking yet. I think she's a little gun shy, and I'm sure it's a little week.

Leah loves to dance. She dances every time she hears what she feels is dance worthy music. It's the cutest thing, she bounces her head, and waves her arms, and moves her fingers like she's trying to snap. All of Leah's dancing is done in her upper half. Other then bending her knees and bouncing, she hasn't learned to incorporate her feet into any routine as of yet.  I love seeing her dance. It always makes me laugh. It makes me laugh even more when she dance at completely inappropriate music, like when they're playing a sad song on TV because someone died.

Miss Leah is the baby of the family and is very spoiled. She doesn't have her Daddy wrapped around her pinky, she has him wrapped around her pinky, ring finger, and thumb. She also has her brother wrapped around her pointer and middle fingers. I totally see through her manipulation, and so does Hailey. We agree that she's the cutest most cunning baby in the world. And we love her a LOT. We just know when she's pulling a con over on us. Daddy and brother are still in denial.

Leah is up to 12 teeth. Her two front top teeth have the cutest gap. I'm hoping to capture that gappage in some pics tonight while Christine from Dimples and Curls Photography does her 18 month pics.

If you ask to see her teeth she cheeses like a mo' fo'. She still does a lot of her other tricks. She loves TV, and has a longer attention span then Joshua and Hailey put together. She says, "I sowe" when she's hurting because we always say it. She still abuse "Alby" on a daily basis. She loves keys and has officially ruined our keyless remote. She loves being outside, and will throw tantrums when you bring her in. She can say "cigarette". (Thanks babe.) Her hair grows down into her face so the only way to keep it our of her eyes is with hats, or putting it up. She won't wear bows for long, but she'll wear hats pretty well, which I love. She looks fab in hats. She laughs at random things, and thinks that seeing Joshua and Hailey hurt is funny. She won't think twice about yelling, "STOP IT!" When she feels she is being mocked or made fun of, or if she just wants you to stop whatever you're doing. she crosses her arms over her chest, pouts her lips, and furrows her brown when she's annoyed. It's so cute that I try to piss her off on purpose. She cries when people she loves cries which reassures me that she's not evil. (Yet.) She loves "momies" too, but usually only watches them in the car. And usually it's only Tinkerbell. She HATES when the sun shines in her eyes. Not like going outside, but when the sun comes through the windshield and rapes her retinas. I think I'm going to try and get her baby sunglasses.

She best little toddler in the world!

Ewww, sick SUCKS

I hate being sick. Abso-friggin-lutely HATE it. I mean I know that everyone hates being sick, no one likes it. But I think I hate it more. Probably because since the flue hit 4 out of the 5 of us way back when a few months ago, at least one of us has been sick the entire time. From tonsillitis, to gastritis, to ear infections, and upper respiratory infections, stomach bugs, sinus infections, it's just ridiculous. Not to mention the smashed fingers and broken legs and all that other crap. If someone isn't hurt, then someone is sick. Last Hailey was getting over a double ear infection, Joshua was just diagnosed with an awful ear infection, and I started running a fever with some awful stomach bug type stuff. All while poor Leah is in  cast with a broken leg, and coming down with a croupy cough and nasty runny nose. Somehow, not sure how, but some how Mel has managed to dodge all of this crap! Sooo not fair. The thing is, is that before the awful flue that hit us all, we were hardly ever sick! I can name on one hand how many ear infections all of my kids have had together and here they are 2 out of 3 of 'em with ear infections! It's like the flue put such a whoopin' on our immune systems we haven't had a chance to bounce back before being hit by ANOTHER icky sickness! It's just getting really old, really fast. As of today, Leah had a super-mega-ew snot nose things goin' on, and Hailey is down for the count with a fever an a NASTY cough. I'm beginning to think we're all dying from an infectious mold disease. Except for Mel. He thinks he's so cool with his healthiness. Boo. "Oh look at me my immune system actually functions!" Okay, he doesn't say that, and I'm beyond thankful and grateful that he is healthy. If he were sick who would work around here? Anyway I'm wishing, and hoping, and begging, and praying for a new healthy start this spring!!! Since the Lysol and bleach alone have been deemed ineffective, we're moving on to other more extreme measures. What? Not sure yet...but we gotta try something!

{PS} see my little sick dude up there? he was my second sick dude. this was my first sick dude:

 

I just wasn't happy with him. At all. And besides, the thermometer looks like a cigarette anyway. So I went into more detail with the new sick dude. And I like him better. The thermometer  is much more obviously a thermometer. And I think the "sick" come across better. Maybe it's just me....

You be the judge:

  

Yea, I know...I'm right....

{PPS} or is it {PSS}??

I keep hearing barnyard animal noises comin' from the desktop 'puter where Mel is clicking away. I hope he's on farmville and not some strange fetish site...it has been confirmed, he is on farmville. Can't lie, gotta admit I'm a little relieved. 

{PPPS} or {PSSS}

Joshua just asked when we're having lunch. We ate an hour ago. Sometimes I worry about him...in a loving way.

Sunday Scramble the Third

 

Linkin' up with Justine!!!

-Tried my hand at the painting thing and the first two things I "painted" was a baby polar bear and a baby seal. Why? Well because they're really cute. The baby polar was my first try because being a bi-polar, polar bears are one of my favorite animals. So after doing a baby polar bear I was thinking arctic like and did a baby seal. Then I was all, "What am I going to do with this?!" So. I came up with this. If you don't get it, you don't get me. Isn't it funny? Well it is...

 

And if anything it's cute. 

-I really want to learn to sew. I want a sewing machine, and THEN I really want to learn to sew. I don't want to learn how to make clothes, or blankets, or other normal stuff that I should probably WANT to know how to make. I want to learn how to to sew so that I can make stuff like this:

 

 How cute are those?!

or THIS

 

I want one! I want one NOW!! It's  PLUSH ZOMBIE!!!!!!

I wanta an oompa loompa nowwwwww!!

The downside, my home would be run-over by random plush toys. Leah would be playing with plush everything. I think I'm going to ask for a sewing machine for Christmas next year. Or for my 26th birthday.

-While laying down with Hailey Jo the other night to help her fall asleep, a rather irritated Hailey proceeded to tell me, "Mommy, you OBVIOUSLY don't know what you're doing! Can please go get Daddy to lay down with me?". I didn't know there was an "art" to laying down with the kiddo's to help them fall asleep, but apparently their Daddy has perfected it. 

-A looooong, long time ago I mentioned having a conversation with my sister-in-law about the things that her dog, and my children have ruined by chewing on them.Yes my children chew on things. Like dogs. Or puppies. Either way, they have ruined many, many things over the years by chewing on them. Why do my children chew on things? I couldn't tell you. In fact it's only been once or twice that we've actually caught them chewing on things. Most of the things listed here were just found. And considering we don't own a dog it's just assumed that they are the toothy little critters chewing up crap around here! Here is a list of things that they have chewed on:

• Countless Nerf Balls
• Countless Nerf Darts
• Remotes
• Cell Phones
• Cups
• Hairbrushes
• Headphones
• Shoelaces 
• Hoodie strings
• Chapstick
• Candles
• Flipflops

Yes, I said flipflops.

-Due to unfortunate circumstances I missed GNO Friday and I am so incredibly disappointed. I am in desperate need of a GNO!!! If you are having a GNO anytime soon, please allow me to invite myself. Thanks!

-My birthday is in 6 days!!!! I'm going to be 25. It sounds so young, but I feel so old! I think I need to edit my "want" list....My Birthday List (Since I didn't do a Christmas list.)

-A friend of mine, over at Oh Look at a Paddleboat! introduced me to Allie over at Hyperbole and a Half. I just have to tell you that I am in love. If I were a single of the male persuasion and lived in Montana I'd be all over that. And I'm not afraid to say it. She makes me laugh out loud in a ridiculous way. Seriously, I get very strange looks from family when reading her blog. I don't know if everyone would get her, but she has a "direct line to my funny bone".

Thanks for stopping by!! Now hop on over to Justine's at Stupid is as Sister Does and read her Sunday Scramble!! Link up yours if you wish! ^_^

How I Have Missed Thee So....

I don't feel right going so long without blogging! It's not natural for me anymore! I have just had the worst week that I have had in a long, long time. Of course you read all about my disatrous Friday, and my sucky Monday, but it didn't end there. Nooo, it couldn't just end there. So where did we leave off...Tasty Tuesday? Okay so Tuesday wasn't too terribly bad other than Haileys double ear infection, Wednesday wasn't horrible, I mean besides horribly missing my hubby, and my laptop, but not being able to find a charger ANYWHERE. But then there was Thursday. Thursday started out GREAT. I got up, and got the kiddo's off to school, got through an awesome class at the gym, and headed home to have a lunch with the babies. I'm fixing lunch, already planning another Tasty Tuesday post in my head, sit down with Milo, and Leah, and we enjoy a lovely lunch together, and then go about the day playing and having a perfect day! Except not...
Leah decided to sneak up onto the table to steal a chicken nugget from an unsuspecting Milo, and I look up from my lunch just in time to see Leah falling from the table. Of course because she's already in the process of falling I can't get to her in time. It's okay, she's fallen before, she's been dropped by Hailey tons of times, she'll be fine right? Well I could totally tell that something wasn't right. She was in pain, something was hurting her and I didn't know what. I checked her over and couldn't see any bumps, bruises, or cuts, but I could tell from her cry that she was in pain. That's when I went to set her down, and she fell to the floor screaming in pain. My stomach dropped when I realized she couldn't stand on her left leg. I knew something was terribly wrong. I stripped her down and checked her leg, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. I call my sister who happened to be getting Hailey from school and she rushed over to see what she could do. By the time she got there, Leah had finally calmed down. We could move her leg, squeeze it, touch it, but she couldn't bare weight on it at all. I just felt in my gut that something was wrong. I called the doctor to see if she could be seen. They said that she could be worked in, but they would have to send her to urgent care for an xray, so I decided to save the trip and just go straight to the closest Urgent Care. Big mistake. The doctor, was very short, very impatient, and after glancing her over for bruises or cuts, and checking her eyes to make sure she didn't have a concusion he sent her off for an xray. DIDN'T check her legs at all other than looking for cuts. Oh but he DID yank her, screaming, from my arms to make her walk to me. Which made me cry, and want to throw-up and/or punch him in his throat. (Seriously, just reliving that makes me sick to my stomach.) Anyhow xray comes back "normal", and he sends us home saying she's being "clingy" because the fall scared her, and to give her tyelnol, and that she probably just has a "bruise".

I knew that wasn't the case. I knew it in my gut that something was wrong. She COULDN'T WALK! I took her home telling myself that maybe she was okay, and just sore, and that if she wasn't better in the morning I would call the doctor. I was fooling myself. She was in pain. Bad pain. She didn't hardly sleep all night because of the pain. When it got to be about midnight I called the oncall nurse. I felt so helpless and just wanted to know what to do. She told me that she definitely needed to be seen, and gave some advice to help relieve the pain. So, first thing in the mornign I called and luckily they were able to get her in right away. They were very concerned with how much pain she was in, and felt that something was wrong as well. That the urgent care had missed something. So they sent us over the outpatient hospital for an xray. It turns out that the base of her tibea, in her ankle was indeed fractured. I was sooo angry with that Dr. at the urgent care. In fact I am STILL angry. I perfectly understand that it happens, doctors aren't perfect, things get missed. But for him to dimiss her pain just infuriates me. It's going to be a long time before I'm over that. (If ever.) So, to make a long story, not as long, lol, Miss Leah is home safe and semi-comfy, in a big pink leg cast. Good news is, because she's so young and will heal so fast, she only has to wear it for 3 weeks.

You know, of all my kiddo's I can't beleive that it's the baby to make it into a cast first. As crazy as the older two are, somehow they've made it the past 7 and 5 years without so much as a bad scratch, bump, or bruise. But Miss Leah has ended up with two bad injuries in less then two months! She's dong great now, and having the cast on seems to have relieved a lot of pain. She can't walk but she's scootin' around the house in an army man crawl like a pro.

Here she is all smiles with her pretty pink cast:

 

Disappearing Marshmallow Brownies

Don't think for one second that I forgot about the disappearing marshmallow brownies! I most certainly did not, even though I really wish I had. I cannot imagine how many calories are in these suckers, but I believe we deserve to indulge once in a while. Just a special treat. So the next time you feel deserving of said treat, whip you up a batch of these. But make sure you share! These things are called disappearing marshmallow brownies for a reason, they're so yum-o-licious that they don't stick around for long! {And if you're like me, you won't want the guilt of eating an entire pan of brownies in 2 days....}

Here's the recipe:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Using a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butterscotch chips and butter together in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the melted butterscotch chips, then the flour, baking powder, and salt until smooth. Stir in the marshmallows and chocolate chips last. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking pan.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in preheated oven. Cool, and cut into squares.

This is what you get:

An ooey gooey morsel of pure deliciousness.

Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking of them....