Our Life: Narrated by Lacey

Before & After!

2011-04-19T13:30:00.001-05:00

Oh, the wonders of photo editing software. I’ve had this rather old and beat-up picture of my Granny for quite some time. I wanted to have it refinished professionally but them thieves wanted something like $75! Um, no – I do have children to feed, you know!

I FINALLY gave it a shot with my trust HP scanner and PSE8 program and here are the results!

BEFORE AFTER

About the narrator: #35

2011-03-08T21:02:00.001-06:00

I DO NOT like to pump my own gas and try my best to avoid it at all costs.

- When I have someplace to go, I am generally not excited to take a detour from my trip just to stop at a station to pay a ridiculous amount of money for gas, a necessary evil. The cost of gas these days is enough to make me lose my lunch. ugh!

YIKES!

- I never want to touch the grimy pump handle that’s been ‘handled’ by who knows WHO?! and because of this I keep antibacterial goodies nearby to douse myself when I’m done. I often fear that I am one cold away from holding the handle with tissue paper.

Fact: Bobby’s grandmother has never pumped her own gas because Bobby’s grandfather happily does it for her. They’ve been married for 55 years. Call it spoiled. Call it silly. Call it whatcha want. I call it sweet. Bobby fills my tank I would guess about 75% of the time and I appreciate is so very much. Mostly because he’s driving when the pump goes to ‘E’ but I have been known to leave a post-it here and there reminding him of my low tank. Just like his grandfather, he happily fills my tank for me. I’ve got a good man, y’all! <3

ehhhhhhh, Mardi Gras!

2011-03-08T01:25:00.001-06:00

We don’t really “do” Mardi Gras. No parades. No purple, gold & green decorations. Nothing. Well maybe some king cake, but that’s it!

gasp!

Yes, it’s true…all you fellow Louisianian readers whose heads just exploded from reading that audacious statement. How is it possible that we live in Louisiana and NOT like Mardi Gras?! It’s just not our thing, I guess. I can’t explain it.

Well, yes I can, but forgive me in advance because all you Mardi Gras lovers won’t like what you’re about to read. Let it be known that you were forewarned.

I just don’t get the point of waving your hands in the air, screaming “throw me something, mister!” – the ‘something’ being a piece of useless plastic garbage the likes of a cheap toy or purple/green/gold beads. Even if you don’t go to ‘catch’ anything, making the plastic garbage argument a moot point, the crowds are still too big and the music is still incredibly loud and obnoxious for my comfort and taste. Not to mention all the garbage that liters the street after a parade! I can’t stand to see it…so much so that I try to avoid Main Street all together during the two and a half weeks of Mardi Gras. The entire parade route looks like this!

What would the crying Indian think? I bet he wouldn’t be so fond of Mardi Gras either. So it ain’t just me!

It’s just not my kind of party. And that’s exactly what it is…a free party for folks to go nuts before the Lenten season begins (a ritualistic 40-day fasting…a Catholic thing) Here’s an explanation for those unfamiliar.

Look, I get that it’s tradition and that I shouldn’t be such a party pooper….

…which is why I got over myself and brought my babies to a parade tonight. A parade. Singular.

…just like we did last year, so Jack could experience his very first parade. I guess you could call this Molly’s first parade too, I was 8 months pregnant.

Yep, I remember that night very clearly. We stayed for all of 30 minutes before I had a severe panic attack after a bass drum stick [from one of the local marching bands] got swang too close to my precious baby’s head. F-that! We’re out!

But this year, he was a year older and I knew he would appreciate his mother putting her silly fears and hangs up about the stupid Mardi Gras tradition aside so that he could put HIS hands in the air for what is, in his opinion, the best thing since Christmas morning!

And because I don’t mix my camera with crowds, cell phone pictures will just have to do.

He sure did put his hands in the air and probably batted his sweet little eyes at the ladies riding on the floats because he got something from every single float! A baby at a parade is like a single guy with a dog at a park…bait! The ladies can’t resist them and boy did he rack up! It’s just the nature of the beast. Don’t judge.

By the time we got home, he’d forgotten about the big bag full of beads and goodies we left in the car so after he went to bed, I laid it all out for him on the living room floor so when he wakes up in the morning his face will be sure to light up. Ok, so Mardi Gras is starting to look up. Free entertainment/toys for your two year old, you can’t beat it!

As for Molly, she snuggled up with my dad. Like her Mama, she didn’t really “get” what all the fuss was about.

You know, it wasn’t so bad after all. When the babies are involved, it’s hard not to have fun when they’re enjoying it so much. By they, I mean Jack because like I said…he was the only one that cared. This year at least. I’m sure both of them will be on each of our shoulders next year screaming “Trow me sumtin’, misser!”

doesn’t Jack’s “bangs” look like the cutest little old man moustache!?!

See, if we wouldn’t have gone to that silly parade, I wouldn’t have this blurry, overexposed cell phone picture that I LOVE SO MUCH! He doesn’t have to go to work tomorrow because around these parts, Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday, is a holiday.

YAY for yet another bit of silver lining!

Happy Mardi Gras, Everyone!

5x7 mini vacation album

2011-03-06T00:50:00.001-06:00

Back in 2007, Bobby and I went on a five state, 30-hour road trip. We took LOTS of pictures and saved a crapload of souvenirs and postcards. It’s all been sitting in an empty scrapbook, separated and organized in sheet protectors for over 3 years. I’ve been dreading the project and have put it off for so long because I was looking at close to 20 layouts total to complete. I just don’t have that kind of time anymore. I couldn’t just ignore it though. It was such a FABULOUS trip, I simply HAD to make a scrapbook to encapsulate it all. It’s been three years – probably the longest I’ve ever put off a project.

Until today….

Only I didn’t wake up thinking about this project. Nope. It was so rainy and dreary ALL day, starting first thing in the morning – the last thing I was thinking of this morning was getting creative. Until I plopped down on the sofa, with my laptop in my…uhhh….lap and started searching my favorite resource website, pinterest.com. I found the most genius scrapbooking idea in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD! See it here.

I waited until the babies started their nap to take a shower because I always feel craftier after a good shower and getting dressed in my most comfortable pajamas. The creative juices started to flow and I got to work in my newly cleaned craft space.

AND DON’T YOU KNOW I FINISHED AN ENTIRE 5x7 MINI ALBUM IN ONE AFTERNOON?!?!?!?

HOLY F-ING SNAKETANK!!

So yea, I totally scrap-lifted this idea and I soooooooo don’t EVEN care. It was so quick and easy! I may never do anything BUT recreate this exact album style for any future vacations we need a scrapbook for. Here’s a peak inside…

Second stop: Branson, MO

The third stop on our road trip was meeting up with a dear friend in St. Louis, Missouri. Kindred spirits we are…as she was waiting for us with the most fabulous itinerary. If you know me well, you’d know I am nothing, if not a scrupulous planner. Her thoughtful planning really warmed my heart. This is her hand-written itinerary. love, love, love!

I <3 you, Hollie!

4th stop: Memphis, TN

There you have it…the result of about three good quality hours of *ME* time. As it turns out, this nasty, rainy day wasn’t so bad after all.

Thanks, Converse!

2011-03-03T22:55:00.001-06:00

As I’m sure you can tell by looking at my longstanding blog header, we are a family that loves a good, classic pair of Converse Chuck Taylors. They come in a multitude of colors both classic and unique. They are so light and comfortable and they last forever! The brand has be around since the early 1900’s and I think that says a lot.

This is my current collection:

I got my first pair, the red high tops, as a gift on my 16th birthday. They are special to me. I may never get rid of them no matter how ratty they get. The blue ones are my go-to shoe…second to my all-time favorite, my Reef flip flops. But this blog isn’t about the flippies. Focus, Lacey! Back to Converse. Like I said, they’re durable and last forever…typically. I did have to replace the monochromatic black low tops once back when I was in college because I wore them every day when I worked retail in the mall. They couldn’t keep up with all the miles they were getting, I guess. Do the monochromatic high tops look familiar to you? Remember Benny ‘The Jet’ Rodriguez and the shoes he wore that were guaranteed to make you run faster and jump higher? Yep….that’s them! If you don’t know who Benny ‘The Jet’ Rodriguez is…pessshhh! Google yaself an education on one of the best cult classic movies evuh and then rent it!

Jack has been wearing his baby-sized chucks since he was a wittle bitty baby – though oddly enough, this is one of the only pictures I can find of him wearing them. Weird. He’s barefoot in 99.9% of his pictures.

As you can see in the header, everyone has a pair but the youngest lady of the house.

until now!

Molly girl and her brother both got a brand spankin’ new pair of chuck taylors today - to grow out of in record times I’m sure. We don’t mind. There’s no question or debate about it. They will each always have them in every new size they grow into. It’s basically a necessity in this family.

Molly is already quite fond of them. <3 She thinks they look fabulous…and taste GREAT too!

Could someone PLEASE tell me why they don’t make sparkly zebra print chucks in MY size?! GEEZ!

Looks like we will have to reshoot her quarter of the header so she matches the rest of us. There’s an expected 90% chance of rain this weekend so it may be a few more days until it gets changed OR if I’m feeling creatively juicy, I may put a spin on it and do it indoors with all of us included. Who knows? I typically like to leave things alone when something is already working just fine. I rarely make changes to my current blog design because I say…if it works, it works! {plus I hate dealing with html coding….bleh!} BUT! I simply must make an exception this time an update that outdated header because Molly’s sweet little toesies look so dang cold compared to ours! She has officially joined our Converse-wearin’ pack!

OH, Maw-dee! Congratulations! You’re a big girl now!

9 months+

2011-03-02T22:19:00.001-06:00

At 9 months old, she…

prefers table food over baby food
can walk as long as she can hold on to something
sleeps at least 12 hours a night
has recently discovered that bibs come off when pulled on hard enough…and she insists they come off at every meal. My guess is she thinks they don’t match her outfits.
says ‘da-da-da’….A LOT!
is very friendly and smiley.
she really enjoys a riveting game of peek-a-boo
will also respond to Maw-dee, Mah-ee, Molly-girl, Honey, Honey-girl, and/or McMolson.
drinks from a straw or sippy cup
must be cuddled for at least 15-20 minutes after she wakes up, in the morning or after a nap [we don’t mind, of course]
has been teething for at least four weeks - those front two chompers just won’t come through!
will head-butt you if you let your guard down. She apparently thinks this is hilarious!
is the wiggliest wiggle worm you’ve ever seen when you’re trying to change her diaper. It almost takes two people.
can finally withstand a car ride longer than 15 minutes without melting down
wears a size 3 diaper and shoes somewhere between sizes 2 & 3
is pretty awesome…and by association makes us pretty cool too just by being her parents

We love you our sweet, honey girl!

Before and After

2011-03-01T00:09:00.001-06:00

Wanna know what I did after I tucked the babies into their warm beds this lovely evening?

I FINALLY GOT MY BUTT IN GEAR AND CLEANED MY ROOM!!

If I only have enough time to make a quick greeting card or spend 10 free minutes on an unfinished layout for the scrapbook, I don’t usually have the time to clean up after myself. This is the result of about three months of neglecting my favorite space EVAH! There were unfinished projects in all directions and toys that migrated from across the house. After a quick and focused hour, all peace has been restored once again.

It continues into the closet where our scrapbooks and photo albums live – next door to my giftwrapping mini station and unfinished projects that are patiently waiting their turn for my attention.

I even set up Jack’s craft and train table in there so he and Molly can let their creative juices flow with me when I jump in head first tomorrow.

Do something for yourself. Make something. Happy Crafting!

Randomness out of boredomness.

2011-02-28T00:34:00.001-06:00

I recently organized my container cabinet with containers for my containers. ooohhhh, all this container talk….SO SEKSY!

I find myself opening this cabinet to take a quick peak all the time…just because.

The ball pit has now turned into a ball/snake pit thanks to Oriental Trading.

One thing I’ve learned…Molly, just as I expected she’d be, is WAAAAAAAY MORE EMOTIONAL than her male sibling counterpart. When she’s pissed, SHE. IS. PISSED! It’s actually kinda cute. How can such a itty bitty baby body contain all that raw emotion? Apparently it doesn’t. It leaks right out of the face!

Even with ALL that bed, the boy insists on sleeping on his pillow and ONLY the pillow. hhmmmm

-L

The God’s honest TRUTHS.

2011-02-24T15:23:00.001-06:00

Last week I started the game Two Truths and a Lie. The votes are in and heeeeeeeeeeeere are the results:

#1 with ONE VOTE for false: “I got my tongue pierced when I was 16” is…….

TRUE!

I remember being annoyed that my mom insisted I take a picture of it. Now…I’m so thankful she did. Otherwise my kids and grandkids may not believe me when I’m all old and out of cool points.

This was back in the late 90’s when it was “cool” to pierce things on your face. I was the first person at my school to do it so I definitely racked up some cool points. It wasn’t until two years later when I was 18 when I finally decided to cash in my cool points by taking it out. I was meeting a boyfriend’s parents for the first time and I didn’t think it helped with my first impression. I took it out, moved on from that phase and never looked back. silly teenagers – they do the darndest things.

Moving on…

#3 with SIX VOTES for false: “When I was around 10 or 11, I got the best pet I ever had, a Burmese python named Pete” this is…….

TRUE!

I really loved that snake! This picture was taken when he was still a baby. He grew to be over 6-7 feet long and had a torso the width of a softball! I had to get rid of him when he escaped from his cage and slithered his way into my parent’s bedroom! Needless to say, my mom [who found him] kicked him out of the house. He ended up moving in with my uncle where he lived and grew a few more years before he escaped there too. He was killed by a neighbor who found him in their front yard. :(

and lastly….

#2 with NOT A SINGLE VOTE for false: “When I was in junior high, I jumped from a swinging tree rope and landed on the bayou’s bank, breaking my leg in two places. I had to walk on crutches for 10 weeks”

I sure fooled you!! That is NOT true! gotcha, suckas!

Well, hold up….it’s not ENTIRELY false either….just mostly. What really happened was…When I was in the 3rd grade, at recess I jumped from a playground swing at it’s highest…uhhh….swing, landing on my elbow, breaking my arm. I had to wear a cast for 8 weeks or something like that.

yes, that IS a scrunchy in my hair! and YES that’s me…sitting with my knees in my shirt so it looked like I had boobs. I was only 9, give me a break!

There you have it, the God’s honest truths.

Tag yourself, playa!

4 MINUS 2 in Williston

2011-02-21T13:14:00.001-06:00

Here’s how you make a not-so-favorable situation in Williston, North Dakota….slightly favorable.

#1 - Make a snow angel in the middle of an Albertson’s parking lot.

Rest assured, this WILL creep out the locals. Do it anyway, it’s fun! Just make sure you wear snow pants or a second layer on your butt because if you don’t, your butt and the back of your thighs will be a block of ice for AT LEAST two hours post-angel. Trust me, I speak from personal experience. ;)

#2 – Go downtown and search for really cool landmarks – like this original Penneys sign from the 60’s!

#3 – Make a snowman - even if the snow just so happens to be slightly unfavorable for snowman production [fluffy and dry as cotton balls], a 2-D model will work just fine.

#4 – Be incredibly grateful that the toy plane they put you on to go home managed to keep itself in the air long enough to get you back home to your babies!

4 minus 2

WE ARE FINALLY HOME SWEET HOME!

P.S. I am NEVER leaving my babies again. I know….never say never, but for now, my wound is pretty fresh and I am just not interested. We even went so far as to cancel our upcoming trip to NYC we planned to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary [april 1]. We can celebrate our special day anywhere and plan to do just that…with our babies in tow!

Two truths and a lie

2011-02-18T11:26:00.001-06:00

My buddy Emily tagged me to play a game. You post five things about yourself – 4 are false and 1 is true and YOU pick which is true. Sounds like fun and since I have some extra time on my hands, might as well play! Only, the way I remember it when I played this icebreaker with my students on the first day of every semester, it was called Two Truths and a Lie. I think I’ll play it that way.

1. I got my tongue pierced when I was 16.

2. When I was in junior high, I jumped from a swinging tree rope and landed on the bayou’s bank, breaking my leg in two places. I had to walk on crutches for 10 weeks.

3. When I was around 10 or 11, I got the best pet I ever had, a Burmese python named Pete.

So tell me…which do you think is the lie?

INK, take 4

2011-02-18T10:55:00.001-06:00

My Valentine’s Day post received several inquiries about my gift – an upcoming tattoo appointment. The appointment is just a consultation at this point. I have a few ideas to throw at my artist who I trust will draw up something AMAZING!

I want an antique/ornate frame – like this…

[flickr]

or this…

[flickr]

Inside that frame, I want the profile of a woman…

but not just any woman, a queen!

only young, beautiful, girl-next-door-that-just-so-happens-to-wear-a-crown-and-have-lots-and-lots-of-power ;) – but definitely NOT the Queen of England, though she will serve as inspiration for the piece.

I really do love the work from Angelique Houtkamp. Her style is so classically beautiful.

I’d like to incorporate a bit of her style into the piece as well.

I’m SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!

Point A to Point B

2011-02-18T10:20:00.001-06:00

This really puts it into perspective.

That’s a 30 hour drive time and/or a 6 hour flight with two layovers.

Oh! btw, it’s currently –5 degrees outside with an eventual low of –18! Do people really LIVE here?! And like….survive?!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad we don’t have to live here.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Glad We Don’t Have To Live Here!!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO GLAD WE DON’T HAVE TO LIVE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

2011-02-17T18:40:00.001-06:00

Fact: I have NEVER left my babies for longer than a few hours at a time.

Fact: Currently, I am in Williston, North Dakota, 1,800 miles away from my babies – day 2 of a five day trip.

Why?

Let me start from the beginning with a ‘long story short’ explanation. Bobby manages the manufacturing branch of his family’s business. Ok, so how does that bring me to Williston, ND? Well, Williston is currently experiencing an oil boom and is in need of the services my husband’s company provides. It was brought to my attention about two months ago that we may have to soon move our little family cross country – to be more exact…50 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico to 50 miles from the Canadian border!, in order for him to expand the company to do more work in Williston. YIKES! A business trip was planned and I tagged along so I can see the “new digs” – basically so that I could determine the appropriate level of anxiety and panic about uprooting our family. Long story short again, a conversation or two was has and as it turns out…WE DON’T HAVE TO MOVE AFTERALL!!! [not for the foreseeable future at least] YAY, a thousand times!!! It looks like all the business can and will be done from my home sweet hometown of Houma, Louisiana.

I am stoked about not moving here [more than words and all the exclamation points could ever express] but unfortunately I am still stuck here for three more days while Bobby works out more business details. I miss my babies terribly. For me, there is something VERY unnatural about a full-time mom leaving her babies EVER! They are my routine. They are my entire day. They are my entire world! I don’t know what a day looks like without them. I do now, but two days ago when I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of leaving them, I was having mini panic attacks left and right. They are staying with my parents and [as it should be] are being spoiled to tears by them and having a grand ol’ time. All the while, I’m here in a rather toasty hotel room wondering ‘what the hell do I do with myself NOW?!’ I haven’t had this much free time since…gosh…probably since I was 15, before I got my first real job in the mall! I am on a vacation from my job in a hole in the wall tall town that just experienced a mini blizzard [in my definition at least]. humpf!

You can’t see it, but in this photo the winds were gusting up to 30 mph AND this was taken right when the snow started to fall. As I type this now, six hours later, that parking lot and those cars are covered in a white blanket of snow. It is currently 9 degrees outside and there’s more snow on the ground than I think I could ever be comfortable with being as it is currently in the 70’s back home. That’s what I’m used to. The last time I saw snow was in 2006. It snowed for 30 minutes and melted the second it touched the ground. I actually thought the snow would be pleasant, like a winter wonderland where snowmen live. That’s no winter wonderland, folks! I don’t want to be out in that. So hotel room it is….good thing I bought my mom and dad a webcam before we left!

We’ve skyped three times and I’ve cried every time. We blew kisses! Sha! As much as I appreciate not changing 8-10 diapers a day and having uninterrupted time to think, blog, and waste mindless hours cruising the interwebs, I would still much rather be home with them. What I wouldn’t give to clean his snotty little nose right now and what I wouldn’t give to clean up one of her diaper blowouts. Ok…now that I put that into words. Let me just say…I’m no Mommy Martyr. The quiet is nice and the time to relax is equally nice. But it’s no picnic either. It’s a struggle to say the least. How do you relax when you have the sinking feeling that you forgot something? It has also been really nice to spend more quality time with Bobby. It’s always comforting to know that when you take babies out of our busy equation and we are able to really stop, talk and cuddle and smooch, we snap right back to where we were before the babies brightened our world. He’s like…my boyfriend again! After all these years, we still really do like each other. <3

Lollipops, flowers & hearts, on my!

2011-02-14T22:59:00.001-06:00

This VERY sweet day was full to the brim. There was laundry, cleaning, blahdy-blah-blah. That’s not what you’re here for. I know, I know…bring on the babies and hearts!

Want to know how a little boy reacts to his VERY first lollipop? It goes a little something like this…

I felt terrible, as if we got him a crappy V-day gift, when he quickly became confused by the whole thing, as he has never encountered hard candy before. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t eat this deceivingly sweet treat in big ol’ bites.

He got bored with it quick [sorry, kid] and didn’t mind sharing it with his sister.

Though he did lurk just a tad.

I couldn’t decide which I liked better…so you get both!

…and then he tried giving me a lick.

Fast forward a few hours and a doorbell ring….

Good thing I had Molly on my hip when I opened the door, because what the delivery guy brought wasn’t for me…it was for MOLLY-GIRL!

I didn’t mind though. I’ve never been a fan of flowers on Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, birthdays…none of it. I generally like to stretch the money we spend on gifts for each other further than the 4-5 days it takes for these beauties to wither away. But because I think it’s etched in man-code somewhere that every man has to buy a woman flowers on Valentine’s Day, he somehow found the sweetest loop hole in the system. He didn’t buy me flowers, as instructed. Instead, these were for MOLLY! According to Bobby, only if SHE let, would I be able to display them on MY kitchen table. ;)

My dad always bought me flowers when I was a little girl, back before I knew how to agonize over the cost of them. He would have them delivered to my daycare center and then to my elementary school. I used to feel so very special. I’ve never told Bobby that story – so of course this warmed my heart in more ways than one. <3

btw, my valentine did get me something – something more permanent than flowers….AN APPOINTMENT for a another TATTOO!!

-------------------------------

For dinner, we had heart-shaped pancakes! I found these nifty pancake molds months ago and have been anxiously awaiting this very day to use them.

Our first few were some hot messes…

…but then we found a technique that worked.

Dear Molly,

Thanks for letting me use your flowers as our table’s centerpiece.

Love, Mom

P.S. Your Valentine is super-dooper silly!

I honestly thought she would just eat a nibble or two. I mean, c’mon, she only has two teeth – what more could she do? Well, as you can see, she broke that little heart down to it’s meager little crumbs!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, from our hearts to yours!

We can’t seem to resist the temptation

2011-02-13T19:03:00.001-06:00

Aquarium of the Americas Photo Booth

June 2009

February 2010

Our day, start to finish

2011-02-11T01:00:00.001-06:00

I often wonder what other full-time moms and their babies do throughout the day. [Notice I said ‘full-time’ instead of ‘stay-at-home’. I boycott that phrase.] What time do they wake up? What do they eat for breakfast? Lunch? When do their babies nap? How long? How often and how long do they play outside? Where do they go? What does their nighttime routine look like? You know…that sorta thing. I know I read quote unquote Mommy blogs, but the posts are always tidbits from a day – never the day as a WHOLE. Start to finish. What I really want to do is be a fly on your wall for just one day – not in a creepy way [though I’m pretty sure no matter how I spin it, there is no other way but a creepy way]. So let me alleviate your ‘willies’ by letting you be a fly on our wall first.

Our day, start to finish:

7:30 – 9:00am: We wake up. Don’t shoot! Don’t unfollow! I can’t help it. [and wouldn’t if I could!] Yes, sometimes my babies sleep until 9am. Sometimes they don’t. Ms. Molly sets the alarm clock in this house.

For breakfast: I could eat Frosted Mini Wheats EVERY SINGLE DAY and usually do. My coffee tumbler fills up at around 16oz. of the yummiest Community French Vanilla coffee – to which I add a teaspoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of french vanilla creamer. Jack will usually settle for eggs in any shape or form – boiled, scrambled, fried in a blanket [toast], omelet with cheese. Other than eggs, he’s a ‘grits instead of oatmeal’ kid, like his Mama. Pancakes are a favorite too. Molly starts her day with a mashed fruit of some kind.

Molly takes her first hour-long nap exactly two hours after she wakes up. Jack watches Sesame Street every morning while I check my emails, read blogs and drink my coffee.

After Molly’s nap and after Jack starts to get bored with my face and all the toys at his disposal, I have a decision to make. IF we are leaving the house today, now is the time to do it. If I wait too long to make this decision, it won’t leave much time for our outing before Jack’s needs his first and only nap and Molly needs her second nap [anywhere between 12:30 – 2], It’s a small window of opportunity. This is when I am most anxious. If I decide to leave, I have to move fast. So I usually rush out the door sweating and panting from getting the two of them dressed and ready to go in record speeds all the while forgetting 5 million things because if I don’t hurry to get our sunshine, our smidgen of Vitamin D, the babies WILL melt down and demand their nap in their typical collaborative 2 under 3 style.

So…we will either:
A: decide to stay home to…

make play dough shapes and/or play with any of the other gagillion toys the kids own

tackle the general housekeeping chores of the day while including Jack in as much of it as I can. He is so cute when he is eager to help. It makes the chores that much easier to bear.

B: rush like fiends to leave the house and…

go to lunch with my mom and run various errands with her help
go to Target

Which is just what we did today! I always love an excuse to go to Target and it just so happened to be that Jack needed more balls for his pack-n-play ball pit. He just NEEDED them, y’all!

…and I got a new purse! WOO-HOO! At first glance, you may be wondering….”so what, it’s just a purse.” What may seem irrelevant to you is what made my week! I NEVER buy purses. Maybe one every two years…if that. I’ve been looking for a new one to replace my Converse bag for weeks and today I finally found one – the right size, the right color, the right amount of pockets, the right EVERYTHING!

Silly me! I forgot to mention…the right PRICE!

Wait, where was I? Oh yea, our day…

Lunch: Almost always leftovers for me and Jack. Molly gets a mashed vegetable of some kind.

12:30 – 2 : Naptime: With both babies napping, I either start supper, clean house, waste time on my computer or play in my craft room.

2:30 – 4:30: This is the hardest part of the day. This is when we [or just I] stare at the clock waiting for Bobby to come home from work. I am usually cooking while trying to keep Jack entertained and trying to stop Molly from eating carpet fuzz or something equally weird [that child will find the strangest things in the strangest places to put in her mouth]. If I pull my hair out, this is the time I do it. If we go outside, this is the time we do it.

5:00: We eat at 5 o’clock sharp with all members of the family at the table in their chair because that’s just how I like it.

5:30 – bedtime: This is when Bobby and I double-team. We tag each other in and out. “It’s your turn to clean the spit up out of the carpet.” “It’s your turn to stop Jack from sitting on Molly’s head!” Occasionally we find ourselves both on the floor with one of the two children on top of us pretending to be an airplane and laughing so hard their drool is falling into our mouth OR we take turns building castles out of legos OR we watch Toy Story 3 or Cars for the 1,209th time. Bobby bathes them. I dress them in their jammies.

7:00 – 7:30: Molly bites the bullet first.

8:00 – 8:30: Jack gets one to three books, a sippy of milk and a thorough teeth brushing….then joins Molly-girl.

So there you have it, my little flies on the wall. That’s about it.

Your turn!

Pinkalicious

2011-02-05T00:43:00.001-06:00

We’re all sick…

AND IT SUCKS!

Babies are coughing up little mini baby storms. Daddies are trying to act like they’re not really that sick. ha, yea right! Mamas are hoping this cold suppresses the appetite just enough to be able to fit in those ‘a little tight lately’ jeans. It’s a sad sight around here. Sad!

As sick as I am and as winey as I am, I had to pull it together and swallow those big ass DayQuil pills because this little girl….

is having a birthday party tomorrow.

A PINKALICIOUS party, to be exact! And her Mama asked ME to make her some pinkalicious cupcakes.

uuhhhhh, YEA!!! I don’t care how sick I am – that girl is getting her cupcakes! UNDERSTOOD?!

I did my very best to turn this idea…

into this.

Y’all, I could’ve SWORE that icing was pinker in the bowl! And for some reason, the little bit of pink it is…the camera isn’t picking it up in contrast to those cherries. I hope she doesn’t notice. ;)

My head was in such a over-the-counter-drug induced cloud while baking these cupcakes that when I finally finished and took a good look around, I had myself a good laugh.

If Bobby would have EVER done this to my kitchen, I probably would have needed to be detained to stop the physical violence I would inflict {joke, folks! Just a joke!}

I have NEVER been this messy in a kitchen! NEVER! And this is only two pictures, I was too embarrassed to show the rest. If any of my former students saw this, they would have every right to wag their little studious fingers at me because I would’ve taken SOOOOOOOOOOO many points off their cooking lab score for doing just this! {I was once a FACS/Home Ec teacher}.

In my world, double standards are ok with me as long as CUPCAKES are involved!!!

Groundhog Day Syndrome

2011-02-02T22:44:00.001-06:00

Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? With the guy [Bill Murray] who relives the same day OVER AND OVER AND OVER again? Well, I can’t speak for Bobby with his busy work days, but the three of us have been suffering from a serious case of GDS, Groundhog Day Syndrome.

Lately,

it’s either too cold {though not nearly as cold as I see it’s been in most of your neck of the woods – here? not so much as a flake on the ground!}

too expensive to leave the house. {ahem…Target!}

We’ve been feeling awfully cooped up. I don’t know what your daily routine looks like but around here…I swear we’ve doing the same things at the same times EVERY. SINGLE. DAY! so….in an attempt to break the monotony of day-to-day child rearing, I threw the babies [and myself] a curve ball, also known as J-ello! Seems like harmless fun, right?

Sugar + cold, squishy things + baby = that smile!

And if you’re wondering what flavor…Mixed Fruit. [I would’ve wanted to know.]

“uuhhh, enough with the camera already. I’ve got work to do, MOM!”

Slow down, son! I promise it will not go away when you blink.

Just when I was all ‘la-de-dah, this is great!’ – Molly-girl gave me a slimy, sticky reality check by reminding me that giving J-ello to an almost 9-month old isn’t a great idea and that staying home, doing the same thing day in and day out, in a CLEAN house doesn’t seem so bad after all.

[Mom, I know you’re reading. Remember – your definition of clean is not MY definition of clean. *wink wink]

Are you looking at this picture screaming “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” in slow motion too? Yea, me too. If only I could stop what happened next. If only…

Most of it ended up in her seat and IN her diaper, btw.

And just like that, Groundhog Day Syndrome suddenly has a perk!

I shouldn't complain. Really. It was a welcome change, mess and all. The babies really enjoyed their sweet snack and hey…at least we were able to change our routine a little bit - a bath after breakfast instead of after dinner. These days, I’ll take what we can get around here.

mmmmmmmm mmmmmmm, Shia!

2011-02-01T21:19:00.000-06:00

My dishwasher is not loaded.

The toys in the living room are not picked up.

The laundry in the dryer is not folded.

Instead of doing all that, I chose to spend 2.5 hours watching a movie I didn’t even like JUST because the teenage girl in me couldn’t stop drooling over my celebrity crush.

Yea, that’s right.

In my mind, Shia is my boyfriend. Don’t worry about Bobby. He knows. And you know what, I don’t care if he laughs at our love. What Shia and I have [ahem…you know, in my mind] is real!

I can’t explain it, ladies. He’s just so damn yummy and so very ‘guy next door’ charming. Not to mention….kind of a bad ass.

Be still my heart. Be still!

mmmmmmmm mmmmmmm, Shia!

Journey to the Center of the Couch

2011-01-31T21:07:00.001-06:00

I’ve had a rocky relationship with our living room furniture since the day we met six and a half years ago. I love them. I hate them. I love them. I hate them! Bobby spent a ridiculous amount of money on them for his ‘bachelor pad’ many moons ago, long before I became a contributing factor in his purchases. He wanted something chic and cool yet still uncomfortable so his buddies wouldn’t want to sleep on his couch after late-night partying. He really thought he was thinking forward, but unfortunately he didn’t think far enough. Many years later, they are still uncomfortable, freezing in the winter, tacky black leather, and heavy as elephant shit! UGH! He won’t let me replace them because…[I think]…he doesn’t want the new furniture to be a daily reminder of the epically bad decision he once made. I get that. I’ve had to learn how to love them. I must admit, it has been shockingly easy to love them since we’ve introduced them to our children. The black leather makes it incredibly easy to wipe clean the daily milk splatters and snack crumbs. Unfortunately though, the design of these stupid sofas is so weird that just as easy as they are to clean the exterior, they are a nightmare to clean the interior, between the cushions. The back cushions come off but the bottom cushions are stitched to the sofa – leaving a narrow, deep crevice in the middle.

I put off the excavation of this crevice for as long as I could. I couldn’t put it off any longer. I was starting to worry that the alluring scent of all the puffs and cheerios would be irresistible to bugs and the like. Nuh-Uh! Not in my house! So….with my butter knife in hand and vacuum cleaner plugged in and ready to help, I got to work and what I managed to remove after 15 minutes of digging made my jaw drop.

I’m still not quite sure what possessed me to take these pictures and write as much of this blog as I have. Can you say…embarrassing?!

[Minus the mound of crumbs that Jack contributed to the mix, I also found…

$3.17 – 5 crayons – 2 hair ties – 2 paper clips – 1 safety pin – 1 bobby pin – 1 rubber band – 1 coffee straw – 1 lead pencil – 1 comb – 1 bottle cap – 1 bread tie – 1 barrel of monkeys money and 4 popsicle sticks

[Bobby is in BIG trouble as soon as I get ahold of him! I know the popsicle sticks and about a handful of honey roasted nuts [not pictured] are his contribution to this collection of garbage.]

I’m afraid there isn’t a whole lot that can damage these sofas enough to justify a replacement set. They are practically indestructible and [I guess] worth every penny in that sense. Looks like I’ll be fishing for God Knows What in those deep canyons between the cushions for many more moons to come.

P.S. You know you’re in a dry blogging spell when you write a post about the nastiness you find between your sofa cushions. I’m working on it, folks! But unfortunately, cleaning out our sofas was honestly the highlight of my day. :(

Maw-Dee

2011-01-31T00:02:00.001-06:00

She found her voice. May God Have Mercy On My Soul!

It’s here! MY BLOG BOOK IS HERE!

2011-01-28T01:27:00.001-06:00

Here you have it, my brand spankin’ new blog book!!

Gee, youtube…thanks for the lovely freeze frame. ugh.

When do you read blogs?

2011-01-26T23:49:00.001-06:00

I just checked my blogger stats out of curiosity and noticed something…

Check out the spikes – page views and how they correspond to the time of day.

If I had no clue who my followers were and I had to guess – I’d be willing to bet that my followers were mostly moms that wake up with their babies around 7 – 7:30am and read their favorite blogs while drinking their coffee. I would also guess they have babies that nap between noon and 2pm. –AND- they check their dashboard or google reader before they go to bed around 10-11pm.

What do you think? Would I win that bet? What time do you usually read your favorite blogs?

My Listography – Chapter 3 – Things I like/don’t like about myself

2011-01-26T23:27:00.001-06:00

Things I like about myself:

- I make the people that ‘get me’ laugh – a lot. Anyone outside that circle…eh…not so much.

- I’m silly. [in a ‘oh no she did not just start doing the Tootsie roll in the middle of Target!’ kind of way]

- Bright red lipstick – yea, I can work it.

- I am not afraid of bugs. They’re one of the few things I can say I’m bigger than which means I can squash them with my dainty size 6 shoe!

- My 6th sense? I can usually tell if someone is lying or telling the truth.

- I think aging is beautiful thing. I doubt I will ever take action to reverse the signs of my aging.

- I am incredibly tolerant of other lifestyles because I only ever wish for people to be happy and true to themselves.

- I treat others as I expect to be treated. Seriously.

- I can pluck my own eyebrows.

- I am not capable of lying. I always crack under pressure – though that rarely happens because in many situations I usually tell the truth when I’m feeling guilty even before I’m asked.

- I commit whole-heartedly to the decisions I make.

- I have a great memory. I can often remember conversations word for word. [yet I couldn’t tell you where my keys are right now if it meant saving the existence of cupcakes!]

- I know what my personality flaws are and actively try to work on them.

- I shower my babies with love and affection. I am 100% convinced they will be well-rounded, successful adults because of my (Bobby too) hand in raising them.

Things I do not like about myself:

- I keep myself too busy, I rarely relax. Just when there is nothing to do, I create something.

- I procrastinate.

- I can only accurately name a handful of state capitals. [I have NO idea why this bothers me!]

- I am not as friendly as I could be to strangers, especially cashiers! I just don’t see the point in having small talk with someone you will NEVER talk to again!

- I am WAAAAAAAY too short.

- I miss out on a lot of great food because I hesitate to try anything new.

- I wish I had more freckles. The few I do have look out of place.

- I wish my skin were paler and my hair were naturally red.

- I’ve been told that I am intimidating. I don’t like that.

- I wish I weren’t so afraid to call people out on their shit. I rather avoid the conflict but it burns my ass that they don’t know that I know their bullshit.

- I feel awkward talking on the phone to anyone other than my mom or Bobby.

- When it comes to food, I do not order anything new from restaurants we frequent (same thing every time) I also do not deviate from recipes when trying something new. Experimenting with food means wasting money and I HATE wasting money…ESPECIALLY on food! [yes, Becky…it’s true. I know you gasped!]

- I fear that I am one traumatic event away from struggling with OCD/germophobia. I already use tissue to open doors, avoid shaking hands and sanitize incessantly while in public.

- I make snap decisions when I shop and return things….a lot!

- I tend to be too open and honest. I reveal too much of myself [ahem…this list….hello!] and that makes me feel vulnerable.

Next list: Favorite childhood memories

Blog book and a new way of blogging.

2011-01-26T00:39:00.001-06:00

Since January 1st, I’ve been working to compile a blog book with all my posts from 2010. I’d been anticipating the end of December for what felt like EVER because I couldn’t wait to go through and pick all our favorite posts to put in a professionally bound book for our bookshelf. It took hours, among hours, among LONG, late-night hours of reviewing online sites specializing in making blogs into books and sorting through and editing blog entries before I finally found the right site to work with. I published our book a few days ago and received a delivery confirmation email today and I AM BEYOND WORDS EXCITED!!! So excited in fact that I plan to conquer my fear of vlogging just to show you “face-to-face” the book when it comes in and to tell you all about how I made it. [to hopefully encourage you to make one too.]

If our book turns out like I hope it does, then I will have gained a valuable lesson…any photograph featured on this here blog does not need to be developed at Walgreens [my developer of choice] then tucked away in a dusty photo album but rather published once in our annual blog book with its corresponding captions and text. I don’t know about you but I develop EVERY. SINGLE. PICTURE I take that doesn’t get deleted first. Cell phone pictures included. I somehow justify keeping every memory I can capture with a lens. I can’t help it. I fear forgetting things and I love the feeling I get when I look at an old photo and a miniscule detail in the background reminds me of back when.

Sooooooo, what does this mean?

Now I have the option of deleting a photo from my computer once it makes the blog. I won’t delete all of them of course – just the ones that are important enough to keep in an eventual blog book but not important enough to clutter up my C:/ drive. I don’t need to have a photo on a blog, in a photo album AND on my computer. I can’t stand the clutter and it just seems too unorganized for me. I want everything in one place. And if not in our actual scrapbooks, then here…in a weekly recap entry. Once a week, I’d like to share all the latest photos from either my cell phone or those taken with my camera – just to show what’s been going on – a snapshot of a week in our lives. And when I’m done, the pictures from each week will either be deleted, saved for future reference or developed for our actual scrapbook. This should save us a ton of money that would’ve normally gone to Walgreens. I will still post pictures with more story between the weekly recaps.

I’m explaining all this because a while back I wrote this long, annoying rant about how I wasn’t going to blog about things that I felt didn’t matter or belong in our blog book and how I wasn’t going to address my readers as much. I have to say…I wish I could take it back. Not the part about trying not to post junk but rather not addressing my readers – which would essentially mean pretending like you guys don’t exist. Now, how much of a jerk does that make me?! A BIG ONE! You are loyal, always supportive, always kind and I figure…if you’re still reading, that must mean you are actually interested in what I have to say and enjoy our ‘story’. Not to mention the fact that I didn’t even listen to my own rant because I ignored it and have been posting as I did before that rant anyway. ugh! So please accept my apology. I am sorry for being a jerk. I will not ignore you. You are special to me and I cherish this space we share.

Now that I got that off my chest….

It’s time for my first Week In Review post [or rather two weeks in review – I'm catching up.]

Mon., Jan. 10th

- Bobby found Jack holding hands with ‘Big Baby’ a.k.a ‘Mah-eee!’. That’s right, I found a custom BIG BABY doll on eBay – like the one in TOY STORY 3! Big Baby is his favorite character so I couldn’t resist. It comes complete with one broken eye, no clothes and the exact Sharpie marker “artwork”.

Wed., Jan. 12th

- I woke up to a loud thud on the baby monitor followed by the sound of a very upset Molly. I rushed to their room to find that Jack somehow scooted his bed closer to Molly’s temporary pack-n-play. The thud was from him jumping into her bed – landing on her! Jack has never gotten out of his crib before. I removed his crib bumper and stuffed animals long before he was able to figure out how to use them as lifts. [I learn a lot from other Mom bloggers – they are sometimes better than google!] This was his first escape and how cute is it that he escaped to play with Molly?! SHA!

This was the scene of the ‘crime’.

Thurs., Jan. 13th

- We made the decision to move Jack out of the crib and Molly into the crib. We bought another mattress and put it on the floor in a corner to create a nook. We plan to get him an actual bed, maybe even make him a custom one, when I can trust that he won’t fall out. I know he will fall out eventually and yes I know there are bed rails but I’m not ready to trust those either. So for now, we feel safer having him six inches from the ground instead of…well, anything higher than that.

This was his first successful nap.

Tues., Jan. 18th

- at the pediatric dentist for his 2-year check up

- We received an A+ report on his cavity-free choppers and got praise for good brushing. He did such a great job during his cleaning. I was expecting screams and maybe even a bitten finger or two. I attribute his cooperation to the fact that his dentist is a genius and had TVs set up with Toy Story playing for the kids to watch as a distraction. Pure GENIUS, I tell ya!

Fri., Jan. 21st

- I just LOVE pink and blue combos on a girl. I think she looks like a baby doll here.

While the babies were sleeping, I made an attempt at recreating this…

I’m satisfied with it – my first Valentine’s Day decoration. Though I may still add a few more details to dress it up a little. Suggestions?

It was pretty easy to make and at $3 for a styrofoam heart and $4 for the yarn [already had supplies for the arrow]… it was pretty cheap too!

Sat., Jan. 22nd

- A photo shoot: a marriage blessing for one of Bobby’s co-workers.

I’ve had many successful photo shoots with my spare camera and lens sitting in my car in case of emergency. Well, a few months ago I sold my spare camera and on this very shoot I made the stupid decision to forget my spare lens for the very first time. And don’t you know, for the very first time my lens malfunctioned and would not autofocus?! I had to learn manuaI focus on the spot! I somehow made it through the session without any major hiccups. With the exception of a handful of out of focus images, the shoot went relatively well...considering the massive amount of panic I was trying to hide. To all the camera gods smiting me for not following basic photographer protocol, yes, I have learned my lesson. ALWAYS HAVE A SPARE camera (if possible) lens, set of batteries, hell…even a point in shoot!

That’s all for now. I’m thinking Sunday is a good day for the ‘Week In Review’ posts. Yea, Sunday.

I hope you all have a great week [and to the few of you who actually managed to get through this entire post and find yourself reading this sentence…wow! You’re awesome, you know that?! If I could give you a gold star for being a great friend I totally would!]

A day in the life of….

2011-01-21T23:14:00.001-06:00

This morning, I woke up before the babies. With my eyes half-opened, my vision blurry, I looked for the time time on my phone – 8:57am! Holy shit! Startled, I rubbed my eyes in one swift and painful move, checked to see if the monitor was still on. It was. I INSTANTLY SWITCHED TO PANIC MODE, almost busted my ass in the hallway as I RAN into their bedroom to find both of them awake and quietly laying in their beds. Their faces lit up the second I barged through their bedroom door and screamed “MY BABIES!!!” Molly laughed and screeched a little. Jack jumped to his feet and asked for juice. I wonder how long they laid there. Did they talk to each other for a while and maybe I just didn’t hear them on the monitor? Baby whispers? Or MAYBE they could sense that their mom stayed up late scrubbing the stove and folding laundry and could use an extra hour of sleep. Good babies, I have – GOOD babies!

I made french toast for Jack and me. Molly had bananas. Dressed the babies. Dressed myself. We were out the door by 10am. First stop: Michael’s. I don’t have a single Valentine’s Day decoration to speak of and I’ve been itching to make something. I went to Michael’s looking for a Styrofoam wreath in the shape of a heart to make this:

…but I had no luck. I have a few more places to look for the foam before I have to break down and get REALLY creative because I WILL have this on my door come Feb. 14th. I will!

I did, however, score a tub of peel ‘n stick ornament foam stickers for .87! I have plans to use them in a craft project next year with the babies. It’ll be something similar to this:

And because the babies were already in their stroller AND Old Navy was conveniently next door AND I had two sweet coupons to use there….

I simply couldn’t stop myself from a little gratuitous clearance shopping. I hit the clearance racks HARD, y’all!

For $135 (after a $103 savings!), I got Bobby a pair of jeans, myself a pair of jeans and a $4 shirt, Jack two pair of pants for next winter ($1/pair!), much-needed socks for Jack, (4) summer t-shirts for jack, a heavy winter coat for an upcoming trip to North Dakota, a pair of shoes for Jack, a cute belt for only $2!, a pair of pajama pants AND a pair of ballet slippers for Molly. Not bad, eh?

Many thanks to the IRS for taking too much taxes from Bobby’s check this year and for giving us a ‘new baby’ credit – your return was very generous this year. You will be paying off this Old Navy card balance in 7-14 business days when our tax return arrives in our checking account. We thank you!

Anyways, moving on….

It was right around the time I left ON [around noon] that I realized in the rush of the morning routine to leave the house, I forgot to have my coffee. And what made me come to this realization? A caffeine withdrawal headache! Have you had one of those before? Oh man, they suck! I literally caught myself speeding on the way home so that I could get my caffeine fix to relieve the brutal headache I was getting. Within 20 minutes of my last sip of lunchtime coffee, my headache was gone. My body is being awfully bossy, don’t you think?

So after the coffee and lunch, the babies took their naps, we built houses out of Legos, we reviewed our ABCs, had a hunt for heart-shaped items in the house, and waited for Daddy to come home so we could have dinner before grocery shopping as a family. All-in-all it was a good day. I am grateful.

My Listography – Chapter 2 – Bucket List

2011-01-20T22:38:00.001-06:00

- Ride in a hot air balloon
- Try to win a generously sized jackpot at a slot machine in Vegas
- Be in Times Square for New Years Eve
- As a family, take a train ride to anywhere
- Put my hands in Marilyn Monroe's 'hands' on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Become fluent in Italian…one word at a time
- Get arrested for doing something completely harmless that probably meant I was having way too much fun
- Provide my children the opportunity to visit a landmark of some kind in all 50 states
- Take a 365-day challenge
- Grow my hair to my lower back - then cut it to donate to Locks of Love
- Win a ‘Teacher of the Year’ award
- Open a business
- Go on a cross country road trip in a Winnebago
- Sit in the audience on a TV show
- Watch a meteor shower
- Learn to swing dance with Bobby

…

- Participate in a zombie walk
- Defeat my fear of large animals; ride a horse [this is doubtful, though I will still try]
- Eat at Medieval Times
- Make a delicious cherry pie with a lattice top; give it to a new neighbor
- Watch the "10 greatest American films of all time".
                        Citizen Kane
                        Casablanca
                        ~~The Godfather~~
                        Gone with the Wind
                        Lawrence of Arabia
                        ~~Wizard of Oz~~
                         The Graduate
                        On the Waterfront
                        ~~Schindler's List~~
                        Singing in the Rain
- Renew our vows in Vegas with Molly as my maid of honor and Jack as Bobby’s best man
- Create enough recipes to compile a Moate Family Cookbook
- Enter a talent competition and win
- Find my very first 4-leaf clover
- Start a food fight for my kids to enjoy – ONE TIME ONLY!
- Successfully grow my very own mini pumpkin patch
- Take photo booth pictures with each of my children

Next week’s list: Things I love/don’t like about myself

and the winner is….

2011-01-19T00:23:00.001-06:00

For those of you who entered my ‘vote for us and I’ll donate to your charity of choice’ contest…

first of all, THANK YOU so very much for voting for our family. You are all so kind! Unfortunately, We totally got our asses handed to us by family #9 but your vote did count in my heart…where it really counts.

second of all, please forgive me for not picking a winner on the day I said I would. I need to stop using the ‘but I have two small babies who keep my head spinning at all times’ excuse, but before I hang it up to dry, I’ll use it one more time. “I have TWO SMALL BABIES who keep my head spinning at all times!”

I did get to it. That’s the important thing, right?

Here we go. I put the five entrants into a list randomizer and Voila!…just like that, Mandie of Bringing up Bug & Bee won!

Mandie has already decided that her $25 donation will go to the Humane Society – and what a great organization it is!

According to their website, the Humane Society is the “nation's largest animal protection organization, backed by 11 million Americans. We work to reduce suffering and improve the lives of all animals by advocating for better laws; investigating animal cruelty; encouraging corporations to adopt animal-friendly policies; conducting disaster relief and animal rescue; and providing direct care for thousands of animals at our sanctuaries, emergency shelters, wildlife rehabilitation centers, and mobile veterinary clinics.”

Mandie and her family recently lost a special member of their family, Ralph a.k.a ‘the Ralphinator’. But with help from an animal shelter [that I would bet receives funding from the Humane Society], they were able to widen their smiles and their hearts to make room for the newest member of their family, Rodger! And for that, the Humane Society is a winner in my book and receiver of $25 from my pocketbook. Ha!

Mandie, I want to formally make the donation in your name – or Ralph’s name if you’d like. Could you email me at laceymoate [at] gmail [dot] com [or you can contact me on facebook - http://www.facebook.com/laceytm1] with your address and the name you’d like to use? Thanks again for voting, you rock!

A first time for everything.

2011-01-13T00:04:00.001-06:00

After multiple attempts at cutting his hair on my own, I finally decided to opt out of the headache and just pay a professional to cut my boy’s fast growing locks. Let it be known that I am the biggest sap in the entire world because when the barber started to spray and comb his hair, my eyes started to water.

“Really, Lacey?! REALLY?! Crying over a hair cut! C’MON! Pull yourself together!” – That was exactly what I had to tell myself right before I sucked it up, roughly rubbed the tears from my eyes and focused myself enough to start snapping pictures.

In typical Jack fashion, he was a trooper with not a tear shed. [unlike his pathetic overemotional mother] I give a lot of credit to the barber who was very calm and workin’ his A-game. [You could tell he’d done this a thousand times.] I think Jack was able to read his energy. His station was very kid-friendly with a small TV set up to play cartoons and an overflowing box of matchbox cars. Every time Jack wiggled or pulled at the drape – he’d get another car. By the time he was finished, he had almost 10 cars on his lap! If it works , I say – ‘Keep ‘em coming!’

After I dried up the tears and put the camera down, I sat and paid CLOSE attention to his method because I really wanted to learn how to cut hair properly. I’ve cut Bobby’s hair many times before but I never actually taught myself the right way. I just cut until it looks good – with the exception of that one time I trimmed Jack’s hair and it basically looked like HE did it himself. Seriously. I know I can’t learn everything I need to know in one appointment but I am confident that I know enough to at least come close to recreating this. If I do, I’ll put the $20 I saved in Jack’s piggy bank. But if I totally overestimate my ability and it looks like Jack cut his own hair again, then I’ll know that Mr. Ronnie is only a phone call away.

Facebook.

2011-01-12T15:17:00.001-06:00

Are you on facebook?

I am. www.facebook.com/laceytm1

Let’s be friends, k.

It’s amazing what a mom can accomplish when her babies are asleep.

2011-01-12T00:59:00.001-06:00

Several of you have asked to see more of the layouts I complete for our scrapbooks.

Your wish is my command.

“I don’t worry that Jack has no other boy cousins or siblings to play with because I know the girls will teach him how to be a great husband one day.”

This one is not yet complete. I still need to add the journaling (on the far right) that explains how to boil the seafood trinity (crawfish, crabs & shrimp) in one pot at one time. My father-in-law has the ‘recipe’.

I also made a greeting card using the scraps of this layout. I can’t show it because I’ll be sending it to a reader in a few short months.

How I love thee, Target? Let me count the ways…

2011-01-11T00:12:00.001-06:00

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Target Soooooooo Much:

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#1 – My new Target REDcard Debit card that saves me 5% on EVERY SINGLE PURCHASE – NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!!!!
- It’s a debit card, so all my purchases come straight from my checking account which means no incurring interest or debt. I get to save 5% savings off the top for no reason other than Target is THAT awesome! I also can opt to donate 1% of every purchase to any school participating in Target’s Take Charge of Education program. Jack & Molly’s eventual elementary school is a participating school so that’s just where I’ll be donating.

#2 – Target brands
- Archer Farms, Merona, Xhileration, Up&Up! Seriously, the Up&Up baby wipes are just as good if not better than the higher priced wipes.

#3 – Always clean & organized
- I am always pleased with how clean and neat the store is compared to others (*cough, Wal, cough, Mart*). I feel calm and comfortable instead of anxious and overwhelmed by a need to clean. I can always find what I’m looking for because the store’s layout just makes sense.

#4 – One Stop Shop
- It is not uncommon for me to spend well over $100 every time I go to Target which is AT LEAST once a week. I buy everything from laundry detergent to birthday gifts to holiday decorations to the cutest hair accessories - they have anything and everything I need in one place. Unfortunately we don’t have a SuperTarget in my little ol’ town so I have to buy my produce and a majority of our groceries at our local grocery store but I don’t mind. It’s worth the reason to get out of the house one more time during the week.

#5 – Oh, the clothes!
- Target is the ONLY place I buy clothes for all of us...and boy, do I buy some clothes there! Ok, ok…I do occasionally shop at Goodwill, Old Navy and the Children‘s Place - but that’s it! Target has the best styles, the best brands and not to mention the best prices so it’s almost guilt-free!

#6 – The hot dogs!
- Oh man, the Target Café hot dogs….makin’ my mouth water just thinking about them!

#7 – The birds in the parking lot
- Unlike the other parking lots in our town full of nothing fun and everything gross, the parking lot at Target is always clean and full of the nicest, popcorn or stale bread eating birds that love to entertain Jack! He could feed those birds for hours if I’d let him.

#8 – The Dollar Spot
- You won’t find Dollar Tree junk in the Dollar Spot section. Oh, no. I always find good quality children’s toys, learning tools and books, holiday decor and lots of crafty things.

#9 - COUPONS!
- Target gives the best coupons! I get a really good one every time I shop and I always get a bunch in the mail too. I once got a coupon for $7 off the baby formula brand we use! Not bad, not bad at all.

#10 – Extra large target plastic bags
- You know, I’ve never mentioned this before though I could probably write an entire blog about how much I DESPISE plastic shopping bags! The folks at Target never give me a hard time when I ask to use my canvas bags or when I ask them to put everything in one extra large bag – they double as garbage bags for us.

Oh, Target….I LOVE YOU with all my heart!

Next week’s list: Top 10 Things on my Bucket List

A man and his children.

2011-01-07T00:03:00.001-06:00

Look what I found…

Jack – 4 days old

Molly – 19 days old

You can’t see it in the picture, but both babies are hovering right above our bed and this pose was only for a SPLIT second. They were completely safe, I promise!

I can’t believe I haven’t done a side-by-side until now. This is definitely going in the scrapbook!

BUSTED!!

2011-01-06T01:02:00.001-06:00

My boy is hardly ever mischievous. He is well-behaved, does what he is told (most of the time – he has his 2-year old moments) and is typically never out of my sight. With the exception of a few minutes on Christmas day when we were in a new house (grandparents’ new digs) with uncharted territories abound.

One second he’s right in front of me…the next second I’m in full-on panic mode screaming ‘OMG, WHERE IS HE?! MUST. FIND. HIM. NOW!!’

…only to race into the kitchen to find him not in harm’s way but IN THE CANDY BOWL!

How could I possibly be mad at him for doing exactly what a little boy should do – sneak candy whenever possible!

I took one look at the pile of about five or six destroyed candy wrappers in front of him and his puffy cheeks full of Hershey kisses and peanut butter cups and my heart melted. My gut parenting instinct would have been to correct him for sneaking off and getting into something he shouldn’t have, but in this moment…on Christmas day, I smiled, quickly grabbed my camera and let him have his moment.

Oh, the joys of being a kid, eh?

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Did you vote for us yet?

2011.

2011-01-04T23:32:00.001-06:00

Every year around this time, the word ‘resolution’ gets thrown around a good bit.

Resolution [rez-uh-loo-shuhn]

-noun: A course of action determined or decided on.

Though I fancy the idea of having a resolution ready and waiting to reveal when someone asks “what’s your new year’s resolution?”, I usually don’t have one. I avoid them because I know how disappointed I’ll be when I don’t follow through.

If I were to have one it would probably be something on the more responsible end of the spectrum; be more organized, eat healthier foods, create a better budget and stick with it, etc. Here we are, January 5th and I came to the conclusion that, as usual, I wouldn’t have a resolution this year. I decided I’d continue on my merry way, as if the ball never dropped.

That was until just now when I ran across a mini photo shoot sitting in my camera that looked something like this…

…and then it came to me…my NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION FOR 2011!

BE LIKE JACK!

It’s brilliant and pretty simple actually. All I have to do is promise to smile often, laugh A LOT!, look at everything as an opportunity to learn and grow, find excitement in the small things, roll around on the floor and bang my head against the sofa pillows because well….it’s fun!, spend less time on the computer (Jack doesn’t even know how to operate one so yea…I’m shooting for FAR, FAR, FAR less than what I do now.)

and most importantly…get my hands dirty.

I can’t even remember the last time I stomped in a muddy puddle or got a grass stain on my pants. I know for a fact Jack would love that! I want to turn the music up really loud and dance around the house until I’m out of breath. I want to make mud pies and enter into staring contests. I want to teach myself lots of new words (Italian words, preferably).

I’ve always been “the responsible one”. Which is fine I guess because it most definitely has its place. I’m not resolving to lose my mind and start acting like a two year old. (No poopin’ in my pants or nap time streaking, I promise.) I am, however, resolving to be inspired by my little man – to see more of the world through his innocent set of eyes.

Who knew…

I can be a serious, responsible adult, wife, mom AND still have fun in the process…

and all because I SAID SO!

Thanks for the inspiration, dude! Here’s to a new year and a new way of thinking.

Hear, hear!

New business.

2011-01-04T21:00:00.001-06:00

Hey there little lady, whatcha got there?

There…in your little baby mouth…

BEHIND that slippery tongue?

Would ya looka there?!

TWO BRAND NEW TEEFIES!

Keep smiling, baby girl!

You’ve earned those two little enamel nuggets!

Could you do me a favor?

Could you vote for us?

And then do yourself a favor and enter my charity giveaway?

I’ll love you forever.

We need your vote + a charitable contribution

2011-01-03T21:22:00.001-06:00

Our [very big] family takes group pictures EVERY year in November. It’s our “thing”.

We’ve used a different photographer every year because we’ve never found one that we were truly satisfied with.

[If it wouldn’t mean an hour’s worth of work to find and scan all the pictures we’ve taken, I’d totally show them all to you. I’m not really on my blog a-game right now.]

We finally found one! Her name is Jamie Heyl and she is AWESOME!!

She took Molly’s newborn pictures…

and more recently…our big ol’ annual family picture(s)…

When we left our shoot that day, we all came to the consensus that Jamie will be our designated photographer (when I have to be in the picture).

So….the point of me rantin’ and raving about how awesome our new photographer is?

Well……….

Jamie is hosting a contest and WE ARE IN IT!

The prize? A free photo shoot for our family!

You all know how much I LOVE photos of my family, right? It’s unfortunate that as the family historian, I am often behind the camera lens and never in front. This is one more chance for me to prove that I actually existed hundreds of years from now when our great, great, great, great, great x10 grandchildren are researching their family trees.

What can you do to help us win? I’m so glad you asked! [Gosh, you’re kind!]

You can go to her blog [here] and vote for us by leaving a comment that looks something like this: ‘family – #8’ ‘#8 in the family category – FOR THE WIN!!’ ‘The #8 family is the best and most deserving of your awesome talents once again!’ Any of those will do.

When you finish leaving the comment, head back this way to enter yourself into my BLOG GIVEAWAY!!!

I thought a while about how I’d like to say ‘thanks’ for your support and your help getting us one vote closer to winning precious, priceless [literally] memories of our family. I considered free blog advertisement for x amount of months, a handmade gift, and even cold hard cash. They all seemed “done before” if you know what I’m sayin’. I wanted to do something different. Something far better and much more generous than any of those things. At least I think so. I’m pretty sure you’ll like what I came up with.

If you win, I will donate $25 to a charity of your choice. I will make that donation in your name [or any name you choose – possibly a loved one]. I will provide proof of this donation. Sure, $25 may not make much of a dent but it will still make a difference in some way no matter how small.

Here are some charities to consider in case you win:

Make-A-Wish Foundation

Susan G. Komen For the Cure (one of my mom’s mammograms was paid for with funds from this wonderful charity)

Locks of Love

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Other great charities can be found here: http://www.more4kids.info/652/top-childrens-charities/

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You don’t have to choose any of these. These are my personal favorites that I donate to occasionally.

For a chance to win your charitable donation all you have to do is:

1. Leave a comment voting for our family (#8 in the family category) on this blog: http://jamieheylphotography.com/main/archives/5324
(One person, one vote.)

2. For one entry: Leave a comment on this blog telling me you voted and also telling me the charity you’d choose to donate to if you win.
(If you’ve already voted for us on facebook, please still leave a comment here so I know you want to be entered into this contest.)

The last day to vote on her blog is January 10th.
I will pick a winner on January 11th regardless of the outcome.
I will make your donation on January 12th.

Happy voting and good luck - to the both of us!!

Our Wittle Bitty Babies

2011-01-02T11:37:00.001-06:00

made their way into our hearts

and now into our scrapbooks…

Actually, Jack made his scrapbook debut a while ago. I’m just getting to Molly’s first layout now. I’m a little behind. I put them side by side and had a ‘moment’. They’ve both grown SO much in such a short period of time.

Now that the holidays are over, I’m finding that I have a lot more free time on my hands. My goal is to be caught up scrapbook-wise by the end of the month. I’m not sure so I’ll ask…are any of you actually interested in seeing the layouts I complete? I know some of you could care less but maybe some of you are scrapbookers yourself and don’t mind the inspiration??? Just wondering.

Blogarage Sale V.5

2010-12-31T15:37:00.001-06:00

Up for sale this week:

12 random DVDs for your bay-bays!

Price:

Individually = $2.50/each + $1.50 shipping

[will combine/discount shipping]

SOLD: The CAT in the HAT, Berenstain Bears, 350 Classic Cartoons, All About Vehicles, Mighty Machines

Mod Mum Baby Sling

http://www.modmum.com/item/Madison_64_sale_34/224/c51

http://www.youtube.com/user/modmumslings

Price:

$15 + $2 Shipping

Photography Books!!!

The Art of People Photography: Inspiring Techniques for Creative Results

~~$5 + $2 Shipping~~ SOLD!!

Photographing Your Family: and all the kids and friends and animals who wander through too

~~$5 + $2 Shipping~~ SOLD!!

BABY LEGS!!!

Price:

$4 + $1 shipping

Brand New – Never worn!

I know it’s early for this one but I figured I’d put it up before someone snags it at my upcoming garage sale.

Jack’s Pumpkin Halloween costume

Some bay-bays may like playing dress up in this one!

Size: One size fits up to 24 months

Jack is 11.5 months old in this picture.

Price:

$5 + $3 shipping

(Paid $19.99)

If you’re interested in anything, email me at: lacey00 at bellsouth dot net.

I accept payments through PayPal or money order.

W.W.Y.D?

2010-12-30T00:56:00.001-06:00

I do not keep anything I don’t think I’ll ever use. Not much survives my monthly, sometimes weekly, purges.

This was until recently when I ran across something I would’ve normally threw out but hesitated right as I was about to throw it in the trash and thought to myself….

“I don’t know what to do with this but I imagine something can be made out of this. I bet my blog readers would know what to do! I’ll ask ‘em.”

I’d love to pick your brain for some crafty inspiration.

The item in question is a pair of green denim scraps from the lady jeans I cut for Bobby to wear at our friend’s Tacky Christmas party.

So….

W.W.You.D.?

I googled ‘denim craft’ right before I started this post and ran across some ideas.

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How cute would these ornaments be with my GREEN denim?! aaahhhh, love it!

DEFINITELY making these!

This coffee cup sleeve looks easier than easy to make.

Maybe a tag toy for Molly?

Sha!

I am still open for more ideas. I could make all these and still have an entire leg to make something with.

Ideas?

Nekid.

2010-12-29T01:11:00.001-06:00

Fact: My boy likes to sleep naked.

Shocker. Who wouldn’t want to, really?

Whatever floats ya boat, Bubba. But uhhhh, yea…could you do me a solid and wait until AFTER you’re 100% potty trained to start engaging in skinny sleeping?!

Until then, we’ve got a problem on our hands.

If we put him down for a nap or for bed at night wearing a two piece outfit of any kind, rest assured…it’s coming off. Most of the time, by the time I catch him he is already asleep. If I wake him to put his clothes back on (thus preventing pee-pee messes/an extra load of laundry), he won’t nap and well…that’s just not an option.

We seem to think that it isn’t so much the clothing he has a problem with but more just the diaper.

I thought maybe he couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep with a wet diaper. I’ve tried to preempt this issue by giving him an opportunity to use the potty before his nap (which he usually does) only for him to prove me wrong five minutes after putting him down for his nap when I usually find his dry diaper on the floor!

Maybe he just likes to feel the breeze on his derriere. Who knows?

It is truly a mystery.

Whatever the reason, we need solutions.

We tried putting his diaper on backwards. Shoooo, he basically laughed at us when he passed that test on our first attempt.

Our next option:

TAPE!

AND

one-piece sleepers.

It’s not always convenient to have to change his clothes from his day-clothes to pajamas before his nap but hey…it works.

It worked so well for a while there that we refused to put him to bed without a one-piece EVEN if they were all in the dirty laundry…as was the case this day…when we had no other option but to put him in one of Molly’s 12-month sleepers.

BUWAHAHAHA!

Oh, Jack. I love you, my boy. You’re such a trooper. I hope you forgive me for this one day.

The tape was successful for oh…about a week, when we made the mistake of thinking he could handle sleeping in a two-piece as long he was taped up.

uuuhhhh, apparently not! He figured out how to tear the tape.

We threw out all his 2-piece pajamas and stuck to the one-piece union suits.

Just when we thought his one-piece jammies were the ultimate solution, we found him one morning like this!…

See that bulge around his left knee? Yea, that’s his diaper! He somehow managed to take if off UNDER HIS CLOTHES and slide it down one leg of his pajamas.

At least he was still WEARING his clothes.

Until now….

this is how I found him last night.

I knew it had to happen eventually. He finally figured out how to operate the snap and zipper.

I give him credit for at least keeping the bottom half ON. I’m just a little nervous to see how much he has on tomorrow morning. Will he figure out how to take it off completely?

At this point, we’ve officially run out of options.

He’s still too young for nighttime potty training. He HAS to have that diaper. Period.

I’ve considered the idea that he may get hot. Though I really don’t think that’s the issue. We keep the thermostat at 68 or 69 because any warmer than that at night and his room does get a little toasty. So I usually just keep a fan on to circulate the air. He shouldn’t be hot. – at least I don’t think he is.

I just don’t know what else to do!

Ideas?

Naptime Craft time

2010-12-27T16:58:00.001-06:00

Bows to Molly was like cupcakes to me this Christmas.

She really hit the bow mother load.

I had to do something to organize all of them.

It took me all of 15 minutes to turn this….

…into this during naptime.

It was SUPER easy and cost me only about $12 in supplies to make. [and that includes the $7 staple gun I had to buy]

Maybe this will remind me to put a bow on her head every time we leave the house to folks stop thinking she’s a boy.

I’m off to make an etsy order for plain headbands for me to clip these bows to since she still doesn’t have any hair for them to hold on to.

HOLY CUPCAKE, Santa!

2010-12-26T22:28:00.001-06:00

“WOAH!, are all those cupcakes for ME?!”

“YUSSSS!!!!”

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A necklace,

A pack of cupcake scented hand wipes,

A jewelry box (for Molly),

A brand new set of cupcake pans for more efficient cupcake baking. I had two before – now with four, I can really blast through a batch.,

A calendar,

A set of tea light holders,

A set of photo holders,

A headband,

A set of ornaments,

A recipe book,

A box of cupcake band-aids! (very cool),

and my favorite…..

A set of four cupcake-CUSTOM and PERSONALIZED drinking glasses/tea light holders for Bobby, Jack, Molly and me!!!!!!

I am overwhelmed and so very lucky to have such wonderful family and friends who knew exactly how to fill my cupcake-lovin’ heart.

It’s full of love, y’all. FULL!

Thank you all for making my year!

There are some cupcakes in the very near future with YOUR names on them!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T21:40:00.001-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ALL!

- From our rowdy family to yours.

Two things.

2010-12-19T17:07:00.001-06:00

Never in my wildest imaginations of what it would be like to be a parent did I ever think I would have to utter the following six words together in the same sentence…

Molly. Stop. Slipping. Me. The. Tongue!

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I have this wreath I hang on my door every year. I think I got it during an after-Christmas sale at Target for $5 or something cheap like that.

I think it’s pretty.

Bobby thinks it looks like an inflamed, hemorrhoidal…..uuhhhh….{blushing}

I can’t say it…take a look, I’m sure you can put two and two together.

My mantle

2010-12-18T15:32:00.001-06:00

I’ve always wanted a mantle…

…to hang our stockings with care during the Christmas season.

I finally got my very first mantle last year and I still can’t hang our stockings just yet…

you see, we have a two year old with just enough reach to pull each and every stocking & 5 lb. stocking holder down on top of his head. All the time outs and concussions in the world wouldn’t keep him from wanting to put those “shocks” on his feet. So I won’t even fight that battle – up on top of the bookshelves they will go.

Aw well, it’s a great place to display the gagillion christmas cards we got this year.

We are very loved.

I bought FIVE!

Lacey TM Photography

2010-12-16T23:46:00.001-06:00

I don’t have much to report other than a sweet engagement photo shoot I did for one of Bobby’s co-workers.

I don’t usually share my professional work here but Bobby urged me to reconsider sharing a ‘before and after’ that he was apparently impressed with. I won’t argue with that. So here it is….for Bobby. ;)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

While I’m sharing….here are a few more of my favorites:

[Yes, I realize none of these are watermarked. She’s getting all the original files anyway and well…I guess I just don’t care if anyone else wants to claim them as their own. Though I will say…that’s pretty pathetic if someone did want to do that. Do people really do that?! I just don’t see the point. Anyways…moving on…]

Gripey McGriperson

2010-12-15T00:46:00.001-06:00

Want to know what burns my ass…what REALLY ticks me off?!

When you dress your baby girl in a pink shirt, a pink jacket and girly/frilly jeans and folks STILL say….

“aawww, look at those cute little boys.”

I know she doesn’t have much hair.

I know I often times forget to put a lacy headband on her head. (hehe…I said ‘lacy’)

I know she looks JUST like her father, a male.

BUT C’MON!!!

I want to scream and shout every time it happens.

“That baby you’re calling a BOY is WEARING PINK YOU IDIOT! Take another look!”

Actually, I’ve never corrected them. It’s just awkward.

– but then again, it’s NO MORE AWKWARD than a stranger not having enough common sense or tact to avoid using gender specific pronouns when CLEARLY the PINK OUTFIT isn’t enough! Sarcasm, much? yep.

UGH!

It happens at least once every time we leave the house and today it happened twice. I’m at my limit – hence the bitching.

She could be wearing pink from head to toe – once she was WEARING A DRESS - and it still happens.

It never happened with Jack. EVERYONE knew he was a boy no matter what he wore. Apparently he just has a boyish face.

My poor Molly Girl. I think a little more hair should do the trick.

Oh, and one more thing…

I think it’s funny when people react to our double stroller as if they’ve never seen one before?

They comment as I walk by. They stare.

They get real nervous and act as if there is NO possible way I can make it down the aisle or through the doorway without their help.

I appreciate the help. Really, I do. It’s just that I can actually fit through the doorway so much easier without an extra body taking up more room.

I don’t think they realize that though. It’s just funny, that’s all.

AND…I also think it’s super-dooper funny when people ask me if my babies are twins!!!

Yes, you read that right. TWINS!

I have to try my best to mask my gut reaction because if I didn’t, I’d look something like this…

“WHAT?!”

I’d like to say…

“You’re kidding me, right?! One is 10lbs and 10inches bigger than the other! Take another look!”

I refrain because the entertainment value of this question is well worth the awkwardness of having to explain to a stranger that my babies are actually 18 months apart!

Silly strangers!

This has happened a handful of times. I giggle every time. Not to their face, of course…but definitely as I am walking away.

I think the stroller throws them off and plays tricks on their mind.

Oh man, I feel SO much better getting all of this off my chest.

Can you tell I don’t like strangers much?

6 months, 3 weeks is not 6 months, 0 weeks.

2010-12-13T23:19:00.001-06:00

Dear Molly,

Yesterday you turned 7 months old. You cut your very first tooth the day before that. You’ve been a trooper about that, btw. So then where is your 7-month picture?

Um, yea…it seems that with all the chaos the holidays brings, your normally diligent Mama dropped the ball last month and didn’t take your 6-month picture until last week when you were 6 months, 3 weeks old. Whoops! I guess the only solution to this hiccup is to take your 7 month shoot when you are 7 months, 2 weeks old. Your 8-month when you are 8 months, 1 week. We should be back to square for your 9 month shoot.

Let’s see…what have you been doing?

First of all, you are FAST!! With you crawling on all fours, following your brother as fast as you can keep up, you’ve been keeping your Mama on her toes and leaving no end in sight to my latest caffeine addiction even though I still fight those pesky caffeine sensitivities with every cup of coffee. I don’t mind though. Really, I don’t. I’ve really grown to LOVE my French Vanilla flavored coffee every morning. It’s a great addition to my/our morning ritual. Keep on movin’ girly, I’ll chase you all day long.

You are also sleeping through the night, every night. 8pm to 8am is your average – and Girlfriend, I am impressed! (Though last night and tonight, you did wake 2-3 times for some baby orajel. :( I think I know your secret. Your brother, maybe? It’s the only thing I can think of. Do you wake up in the middle of the night, see your brother sleeping nearby and go right back to sleep….resting assured that he’s got your back? I could be wrong but I really don’t think I am.

Christmas is right around the corner and I have NO idea what to tell Santa to make for you. You’ve been REALLY enjoying your brother’s toys – the ones he doesn’t play with anymore. Well, except when you’re playing with them. I know, I think it’s funny too that his interests suddenly peak when he sees you playing with a toy that used to be his. I guess they are special to him and I think he REALLY enjoys playing with you and showing you how they work. I know, I know….he’s a great brother! You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m sure Santa and your dad and I will come up with something great for you.

Love you lots my sweet honey girl,

Your mom

Thank you.

2010-12-12T21:38:00.001-06:00

Thank you, Sparkle…for making my day and making my kitchen just a little bit sweeter.

and

Thank YOU Burt’s Bees for the baby-butt-skin you’ve given me. Winter can be harsh on the face and your $7 jar of facial scrub has worked wonders.

I am slightly addicted, btw. Every day, twice a day.

AND

Thank you to our very best friends who enrich our lives in more ways than one – one of those ways being our 1st annual Secret Santa/Tacky Christmas party that will go down in history as one of the best parties we’ve ever been to.

You can see more pictures here on my facebook page.

Love.

2010-12-06T23:30:00.001-06:00

Dear Bobby,

Last week on November 29th, it made six and a half years that we’ve been together. I am incredibly lucky to have you in my life. As CLICHÉ as it is to say, I will anyways…you complete me, dude. I’ve always known that the best thing I’ve ever said ‘yes’ to in my life was to you asking me out on our very first date. Because from that day on, you have made me smile, laugh and feel loved every. single. day.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the many reasons why I love you so very much. Here is a short list of those reasons:

1. I love that we finish each other sentences ALL THE TIME. We are always in sync.

2. I love when we use facial expressions to communicate with each other when we’re in public. We don’t have to say it out loud to know what each other is thinking.

3. I love how incredibly smart you are. You are a walking encyclopedia and dictionary. You have an insatiable zest for learning and I find that incredibly attractive.

4. I love your silly jokes, even though I roll my eyes at them sometimes.

5. I love that you wake up with the babies and let me sleep as late as I want on Saturday and sometimes Sunday mornings too.

6. I love that you have not one enemy in this world because you are such a great and kind person.

7. I love how you are my live-in therapist and I especially love that I don’t have to pay you a gazillion bucks for your services.

8. I love that we agree on everything from discipline, to morals and values, to the importance of creating a wonderful childhood for our children.

9. I love how skilled you are. You are, as you say, a solution in search of a problem.

10. I love how you make me feel secure and safe.

11. I love how warm you are under the covers in the middle of night when it gets cold. I especially love that you don’t mind me snuggling up to you and tucking my cold feet under your warm butt. tehehe.

12. I love how diligent you’ve been about taking out the garbage every day and unloading the dishwasher every day.

13. I love how wonderful of a father you are. I knew you would be.

14. I love that you tell Molly every day how pretty she is and I love that you tell Jack every day how good and wonderful he is.

15. I love looking forward and knowing that you will always be there.

I love you more and more each day.

- Lacey

Adventures in making baby food

2010-11-29T22:15:00.001-06:00

I did something fun today.

I turned this…

…into this!

That’s 315oz. or approximately 5-6 weeks worth of baby food for my Molly-Girl!

I love making baby food. The benefits FAR outweigh the time spent in the kitchen steaming, pureeing, freezing and bagging.

Here are a few of those benefits:

1. No chemicals and/or preservatives!
2. I saved over $25 and lots of plastic garbage from ending up in a landfill. The Ziploc bags are reusable with each new batch.
3. It’s easy to make my own custom veggie/fruit combos. 1 cube = 1 oz. No more waste. I defrost what I know she will eat.
4. Gerber simply doesn’t make baby food with broccoli, avocado – a super food, and all the other fabulous fruits/veggies out there.
5. I’m saving prime real estate in my kitchen by storing these frozen cubes in my mostly empty freezer instead of in my kitchen cabinets.

My next batch should include:

Cherries, Blueberries, Green beans, Sweet Peas, Peaches, Beans, Spinach

I’ll still have a few organic Gerber foods in the pantry for when we aren’t able to feed her at home. The convenience of a prepared meal is still nice during outings and can’t be beat.

You’re welcome, Molly.

Black Friday

2010-11-26T19:44:00.001-06:00

Bobby’s side of the family is big…HUGE!
(at least compared to most families I know.)

Currently, this is how our branches align:

Generation #1 – 2 members
Generation #2 – 2 members
Generation #3 – 9 members
Generation #4 – 6 members

Generations 1 & 2 are very generous and like to do Christmas up big. But neither of them alone have the energy or full ability to do all the shopping for such a LARGE group. That’s where we come in – the matriarchs of the third generation - my sister-in-law, Bobby’s 1st cousin and me! My mother-in-law (2nd gen) is there too. We do what Queen D (1st gen) just can’t do anymore. She’s put in her time. It’s our turn now. Every year on Thanksgiving day, we ladies get together after the big meal has been served to scour the sale papers for deals. We make a list and determine our plan of action, our route for the following day – BLACK Friday. I am the navigator and organizer.

This year we started at Target when the doors opened at 4am! There were HUNDREDS of people and tens of buggies. We are no amateurs, that’s for sure. We came prepared with a solution to this common Black Friday problem: my double stroller! I wish I took a picture of how much we were able to pack onto that thing – more than the folks with buggies!

I did, however, get a blurry picture of the main aisle.

“bumper to “bumper” – shoulder to shoulder – impossible to move.

It took us 2 hours to get through that place but it was all worth it when we left saving more money than we spent!

We continued on to Bed, Bath & Beyond and afterwards had to head back to the house (base) to unload because we had not an inch of room left in the Tahoe we were in!

Our next stop was the mall…JCPenney, Game Stop, Children’s Place, Dillard’s, Toys ‘R Us, Spencer’s, The Limited.

Fast forward another five hours and this is what my mother-in-law’s living room looked like!

[The deals were so good today that we all ended up buying things for our selves and our homes too – so not ALL of this ended up being Christmas presents.]

to show scale…

(the SIL and MIL)

It took another 3.5 hours to sort through it all!

Can you imagine what kind of marathon the wrapping of all this looks like?! It’s intense.

All this was accomplished in the worst weather of the season. A nasty cold front came in during the peak shopping time of the day. We started with 70 degree weather at 3am and ended with 45 degree rain by 6am. Stupid me didn’t check the weather and wore short sleeves, flip flops and had no jacket. I guess I’m not as ‘pro’ as I thought. Next year I’ll be more prepared.

I got home 12 hours from the start of my economically stimulating adventure with sore feet, sore muscles and an achy back. I am in desperate need a shower and LOTS and LOTS of uninterrupted sleep.
(which I intend to get as soon as I post this)

I’ve actually had 95% of my shopping done weeks ago. I do it all online. Amazon.com is UH-MAZE-ING!! I still “do” Black Friday because I just think it’s fun. I love to see the crowd and all the hustle and bustle. Plus, I really love organizing it all. I still have HOURS of work ahead of me. I have to add up all the items from yard-long receipts to get totals for each person – it’s my job to see if more shopping needs to be done. It’s fun and all, but…geez, I really hope this is it!

Do it once. Do it big.

Get ‘er done!

(Unfortunately yes, I did just say that. I’m so tired, I don’t care.)

Happy Birthday TWO You!!!

2010-11-24T00:26:00.001-06:00

Jack:

This past Saturday we officially celebrated your 2nd birthday at a local park, the Bayou Black Park. I’m new to this whole planning birthday parties gig and I must say…I’ve learned a lot after planning this one, my second, your second.

Lesson Learned #1: Forget spending hours creating decorations that most of the party guests won’t even notice because all they really swoon over are the cupcakes!

Why wouldn’t they? Your adorable face was the centerpiece of these delicious treats!

Many of your guests took their “face” home as a party favor.

Want to know what happens when the birthday boy eats nothing but yellow and red food-colored cupcakes? They make his poop orange for two days after his party! How’s that for a lesson in mixing colors?! Blue’s Clues and Sesame Street ain’t got nothin’ on your methods, my son.

Lesson Learned #2: Scheduling the date and time for your birthday party was close to impossible. Any time before noon is too early for some of our family who well…aren’t exactly morning people. Any time after your nap puts your party during the hottest part of the day. This is South Louisiana after all, we are still pushing temperatures in the high 70’s – low 80’s in mid-November [which isn’t terrible weather, just still hot enough to break an uncomfortable sweat]. I went with 11am because that is before your nap and best for you and this day is all about YOU.

Only…it wasn’t exactly the best time for Molly-girl. No worries though. There were lots of arms to hold her during her naptime.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Boy!

Say ‘no’ to shoes…in the house.

2010-11-21T23:05:00.001-06:00

Is there anything sexier than a man operating a rug doctor?!

Oh, I think not!

That’s hot!

No, really…that’s REALLY hot water in that thing.

With two little ones that terrorize the carpet in the living room on a daily basis, we’ve decided to extend the life of this carpet for at least another 2 years before we either replace it or put down new non-carpet flooring. There’s no point in giving them something new to destroy. A $50 rug doctor rental and one happy wife later - you can eat your lunch off my carpet! [ok, maybe not…but you could crawl on it with Molly. She’d like that.]

Here’s the thing. Shoes are gross. Think about it. While on your feet, shoes collect dirt, they walk in dirty parking lots with muddy puddles, chewed gum, garbage, and even remnants of dirty diapers left behind by assholes. Shoes walk in grass and on sidewalks where all kinds of animal poop can be accidentally stepped in. Ok, I just googled and found a little tid-bit of poopy information that grossed me out even more. Here it is: “According to Wikipedia article for ‘pooper scooper’, dog droppings are one of the leading sources of E.Coli: One gram of dog feces contains over 20,000,000 E. coli cells.” Nuh-uh, I don’t want that. I mean, really, the bottoms of shoes are straight-up YUCKY POOTY! This is constantly on my mind so I NEVER wear shoes in the house. Ever since Jack started to crawl, I’ve tried to enforce the ‘no shoes on the floor’ rule but to no avail. It is even more-so on my mind that I have yet another crawler on my hands. Occasionally, Bobby will forget and by the time I catch him it’s already too late and he’s already tracked his dirty footpaws all over Molly’s territory. Men, whatcha gonna do?! As far as our guests go, I haven’t quite mustered up the courage to ask them to take off their shoes at the door. Martha Stewart suggests I put a basket at the front door with gender-neutral-colored house sleepers as a reminder for our guests to remove their ‘dirt/poop carriers’ and replace them with a cleaner, more comfortable alternative. Um, no. The basket is one thing but I am definitely not supplyin’ fancy little slippers. That’s just too much ‘Martha’ for my style. I am ok with socks or bare feet as long as they themselves aren’t too gross. So even if I don’t supply the slippers, I would still like a designated place for shoes by the front door. I can’t help but think that our guests will think this is rude no matter how I handle the issue. What do you think?

I don’t want to offend, but I want to keep the floor, where Molly explores most of the day, clean and sanitary so I don’t have to keep shelling out $50 every couple months to keep the carpet clean. Carpets can’t be mopped and carpet cleaners aren’t cheap.

“Keep our home neat - no shoes on your feet!”

"Please set your shoes on the rack, So no dirt will be tracked."

"Life is made up of choices.. take off your shoes or scrub the floor"

Thoughts?

SLEEP!

2010-11-21T18:10:00.001-06:00

Molly is 6 months, 9 days old and she recently downloaded her latest ‘update’

She slept ALL night last night!

9:00pm – 7:45am!!!

Woot!

That is all.

2 under 3

2010-11-18T00:31:00.001-06:00

Jack is two now.

I guess that means it’s time to retire my ‘2 under 2’ vest and start wearing my ‘2 under 3’ badge. A badge, smaller than a vest, but earned through hard work and dedication none-the-less.

I shudder at the thought of ‘3 under 3’ and how it is totally possible for us if I get pregnant again within the next three months!

Note to self: MAKE APPOINTMENT TO GET IUD “INSTALLED” ASAP!

A letter from me to you on your 2nd birthday

2010-11-17T22:54:00.001-06:00

Dear Jack,

Today was your 2nd birthday. 24 months - 730 days - 17,520 hours - 1,051,200 minutes – 63,072,000 seconds. No matter how you count it, I want you to know that we’ve loved every second of your life. You are one of the best decisions I’ve ever made – right along side marrying your dad and having your sister. You brighten our days more than you will ever know. Every day I kiss you and tell you I love you at least 100x’s or more because you are such a wonderful little boy. So kind, so gentle and so loving. I have never once seen you act out in aggression because I just don’t believe you have it in you to do so. You have a soft heart and I love that about you. Not to mention your adorable smile and tight hugs. I love that you kiss me every day - “mmmmaaah!” – when your dad reminds you to “kiss your mother every day, Jack.” You also give you sister kisses every chance you get, you watch out for her when you are playing around her because you don’t ever want to accidentally hurt her and you never like to see her cry. We didn’t have to teach you this because you just have it in your heart to be a great person. She is lucky to have you as her big brother. I know you will protect her and watch over her. I also know you will be a great husband one day. Woah, now! Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here. How can you be a husband one day when I want you to be my baby forever? I’m sure we’ll work something out. I’ve loved watching you grow from a baby to a big boy and I look forward to celebrating your birth for many, many, MANY more seconds, minutes, days, months and years to come.

All my love,

Your mother

(Jamie Heyl Photography – Houma, LA photographer)

resemblance?

2010-11-17T20:14:00.001-06:00

Every time Jack sees the ‘Big Baby’ on the TV when he’s watching Toy Story 3, he points and says “Mah-eee!”

I wonder if his baby brain thinks his sister is a celebrity.

I won’t tell Molly. She may not find it as funny as we do. ;)

bullets are quick and painless.

2010-11-16T23:41:00.001-06:00

I know several bloggers who use bullet points as a quick blogging method. I’ve never done it but always wanted to because it seems so quick and easy. No pictures. No paragraphs. Doesn’t take much time. Just a quick update. I dig it. Here we go…

Jack’s birthday is today! I’ll be singing “Happy Birthday” to him when the clock strikes 12:23pm.
I’ve decided I’m ready to start working as a substitute teacher. A day or two a week…if that. It’s a flexible schedule. I decide when and where I want to work. It’s perfect really. I have my application printed and my teaching certificate copied. Just have to fill it out, mail it and wait for the call. I’m SUPER excited about this!
I’ve also decided I’m ready to possibly, MAYBE join a roller derby team – or at least start skating at the local skating rink with a few girlfriends to see how I like it. I’m pretty sure I’ll embarrass myself until I get the hang of it but I’m willing to give it a try.
Molly and Jack have successfully shared the same bedroom for almost a week now. They are both able to sleep through each other’s wakings and they love talking each other to sleep and saying “good morning” and lots of other sweet baby things when they are waiting for me to get them out of bed in the morning.
I’ve been getting GREAT sleep lately! I’m talking 8-9 hours, folks!
Would you believe that just as the dust starts to settle again and we are finally sleeping all night, Bobby has the audacity to ask for another baby?! I almost punched him in the throat!
I’ve decided on the Mirena IUD for birth control. That sucker lasts up to 5 years. Sounds great to me! Mama needs a baby-making break.

I think that’s enough bullets for one night. I have a busy Birthday Boy day [weekend too] ahead of me!!!

Fat-bottomed Girls Make the World Go ‘Round

2010-11-15T22:44:00.001-06:00

I’ve been petite all my life. I stopped growing vertically in the 7th grade when I was 4’10” and I maintained a weight of 90-95 lbs. all through high school. I never thought about my weight. I ate what I wanted when I wanted and I never exercised because I didn’t feel I had to. I could run, play and keep up with the rest of ‘em so I just never did it. My body started to change when I started college and gained the ‘freshmen ten’ as they call it. I met Bobby my junior year in college, gained another 15 because that’s what happens when you fall in love, start going on lots of dates that involve lots of over-sized meals at restaurants, not to mention all the junk food you eat when you’re staying up late talking about all your future life together. We got married, started trying to get pregnant right away, ended up on fertility drugs and struggled with a bout of depression that added yet another 15 pounds. Fast forward to me having two babies, needless to say, I’m not “petite” anymore. So what am I then? According to the fashion industry I am considered ‘PLUS-SIZE’. And if you’re wondering what they deem ‘plus’, let me tell you because boy did it make my head spin….ANYTHING OVER SIZE 6 is considered ‘plus’! Wow. I guess I can’t bitch and moan about their definition too much because at least they actually acknowledge the plus-size market to begin with. I just can’t believe their ‘plus’ is size 6!

I recently read an article about a plus-size supermodel named Crystal Renn and I became enamored with her.

Maybe it’s just me but I think her full-figured body is GORGEOUS!

Did you know Marilyn Monroe was plus-size as well? She was a size 12 and is considered to be one of the greatest sex symbols of our time. Not bad for a size 12!

Now…here I am,

…a size 12 just like Marilyn Monroe and believe it or not I LOVE my curvy figure and the ‘plus-size’ title the fashion industry has bestowed upon me.

I can honestly guarantee that I won’t be looking to lose that title anytime soon!

Why?

Because being ‘full-figured’ means I don’t have to count calories and will never have to say “no” to a cupcake.

Because being ‘voluptuous’ means I get to feel sexy when I fill out a bra or a dress. Va-va-voom!

Because having a big butt and big thighs means my husband is very much attracted to me because he is a “booty-man”. Lucky me, eh? ;)

and…

Because being ‘curvy’ means I stay warmer in the winter.

tehehe!

I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that everyone has their own definition of beauty, but for me, curvy, confident girls catch my eye.

While some women may see this as disgusting and the epitome of everything they hate about their postpartum body,

I see a brave woman (Lizzie Miller) who looks real, like most women. I see my stomach, my stretch marks, my thick thighs. I see beauty. She is courageous and a pioneer.

Embrace your imperfections. Stay healthy. Be you. Love you. Because you’re beautiful and you’re worth it. Never let anyone tell you different.

That’s what I will teach my daughter.

half-birthday

2010-11-11T21:12:00.001-06:00

We Moates love traditions. One in particular that we thoroughly enjoy are half-birthday celebrations. On half-birthday celebrations, babies in this house get a custom, numbered pancake made for them. Molly will be 6-months old tomorrow and though she isn’t quite old enough to eat her #6-for-6 months pancake, she was still very interested in it…just like her brother was for his 6-month celebration.

Before I share Molly’s pancake, let’s flashback to Jack’s.

(May, 2009)

And here’s Molly’s…

Oh yea, I’m framing this one!

{it’s neat to see how much has changed in the last 18 months. new kitchen, new griddle, new dinnerware, new baby. ;}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Molly has been sleeping in our bedroom since the very first day we brought her home. I loved having her close and it was convenient to have her there for night-time feedings. Jack stayed with us until he was 6 or 7 months old too. Now that she only wakes for two quick feedings a night (and we usually feed her in the living room anyway), we decided to continue her half-year celebration by kicking her out! Yep, Molly moved on out and moved into her brother’s room right down the hall!

We have two other useable rooms in the house, but I really want them to sleep together and use the other rooms for other things like a craft/guest room and the other for a playroom. I may be wrong and a bit naive at this point, but I have hopes that this will help secure a strong bond between them. It may, it may not. It may just result in two babies losing sleep. Only time will tell. It’s worth giving it a try. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I just have this image in my head of them wanting to sleep in the same room eventually anyway, maybe even the same bed (i’m thinking a full-size low-to-the-floor type toddler bed will work perfectly. For now, a crib and pack-n-play will just have to do.)

So…why not start now, create the habit?

After all, in Toy Story Andy’s sister Molly slept in his room.

The Waltons shared bedrooms too…

“Goodnight John Boy, goodnight Mary Ellen, goodnight Mama, goodnight Erin, goodnight Ben, goodnight Jim-Bob...”

It’s possible.

As I type this, they’ve been together in the same room for over an hour with no fussing, no complications, nothing…with the exception of Jack calling out to Molly over and over and over again. I don’t hear her baby talking in return so she must be passed out already. He’s steady calling for her to talk to him - “Mah-eee” “Mah-eee!!!” I think she was all like, “dude, I’m sleepin’ over here!” because eventually he stopped and all got quiet in there.

“Mah-eee!”

They grow so fast, don’t they?

Happy 6-months Molly!

speaking of the number six, Jack turns 2 in SIX days! Holy crap!

P.S. This is my 200th post. ;)

shifting priorities

2010-11-10T10:53:00.001-06:00

Not one, not two, not three, BUT FOUR of my favorite bloggers took my bloggy words right out of my mouth this week when they all announced their break from blogging – not stopping entirely, just reevaluating their priorities. There must be something in the air because I’ve had a draft blog post in the works for quite some time – saying almost the exact same thing as them -
“it’s not you, it‘s me.”
“I want to spend more time with my kids.”
“I’m taking a break for a while.”

How did I get here? To this point of needing to reevaluate my priorities?

Let’s start from the beginning. I’ve been through several blog phases:

- Myspace: my first and most true blog – why did I ever leave? I wrote for myself and no one else.
- I made the move to Blogger in late 2009
- Shortly after moving to Blogger, I got my first stranger/unknown follower. Up until this point, everyone that followed me on myspace was a friend or family member. But now, strangers…”ooohhh, this is exciting!”
- Then I learned of Mr.Linky and the followers kept coming. I couldn’t stop. I was addicted to the growing number. {Now, not so much.}

It was right around the time I hit 50 or so followers that I started to feel the pressure to entertain and my posts started to change. Not entirely. I have some good quality preservation of family memories in this here blog. It’s all the “junk” that surrounds the gems that I’m looking to put a stop to.

My priorities shifted and my proof is in the fact that I recently had to delete pictures off my computer that I once had intent to post, pictures of the shoes I wear and pictures of how I organized my kids’ shoes. I had to ask myself “why in the world would anyone want to read about our shoes?!” and “Am I really taking time away from my family for THAT?!” I was posting garbage just to keep up with my self-imposed rule to blog often because I thought that’s what a good blogger did. I didn’t want anyone to get bored. But whether it’s a lackluster and unimportant post about our shoes or not posting as often, it’s inevitable that folks will get bored and I am finally ok with that.

So here I am, wishing I could start over. I want to go back to when blogging for me was a way to document our lives for our children to look back on years from now when all my blog posts are printed and bound in books on our bookshelves. After all, I am a self-proclaimed family historian. I doubt my kids will care to read through entries about my latest craft projects or mail swaps and blog giveaways. I’m not saying I won’t read YOURS when you post your latest craft endeavors. In fact, the inspiration is quite nice. Keep ‘em coming. I’m just saying that for me…it’s not in my bloggy cards anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my readers and appreciate all the love and support you’ve given me this past year. It’s like I said earlier, “it’s not you, it’s me.” I’m not asking you to stop following. I am, however, offering up a warning that things are going to get a little boring around these parts and I promise not to get my feelings hurt when I see my follower count drop. In fact, I believe it will release a lot of pressure and guilt. The pressure to entertain readers I don’t know and the guilt I get when I don’t post every day, post an entry without a picture, or when I don’t respond to every comment.

My pledge:

- I will post quality, not quantity.

- I will address my children more and not my readers so much. My blog is for them.

- When I am not addressing my children, I will write for me – my thoughts, my likes/dislikes – so I don’t lose myself in my blog. I want this to be a diary for myself as well.

- Occasionally, I will not object to using my blog as a forum of sorts when I need Mommy advice.

That’s all for now. I reserve the right to make further executive decisions and changes as needed in the future. ;)

Here’s to a new and improved blog, narrated by Lacey.

I feel better already.

Let’s play dress-up

2010-11-04T22:41:00.001-05:00

When I was a little girl, I was so envious of the kids on TV pulling princess dresses and cowboy hats out of these overflowing dress-up bins. I never had one and wanted one real bad. I guess I never had one because I didn’t have a sibling to play pretend with. I would mostly settle for what old clothes or shoes I could find in my mom’s closet. Which was fine I guess but now that I am a mother and have two kids of my very own, I am beyond thrilled to create a dress-up bin for them to play with.

I’ve been working on it for quite some time, picking up things here and there as I find them. All I needed was the perfect ‘bin’ to put it all in. I asked around and finally got my hands on a REALLY old cedar chest, like close to 100 years kinda old, that once belonged to Bobby when he was a boy. It was at his Mom’s house…tucked away in a dark closet…all sad-like…just begging to be played with. (Can you tell I’ve been watching a lot of Toy Story 3 lately? Yes, I know there wasn’t a talking chest in that movie but I always wondered why the toy chest didn’t ‘come alive’ and talk. That would’ve been cute.)

For now, we’re using it as a coffee table, but inside you’ll find hats of all kinds, feather boas, old Halloween costumes and wigs [like my street hooker/courntey love wig…I have no doubt that Molly can class it up], purses, pearls and much, much more! The chest is already almost full! Some of the clothes in there are old pieces from our closet, some from garage sales but most are things I’ve found on sale…like what I found today at Target in the 75% off Halloween section.

Angel costume: $3.75
Angel accessories: $1.25
Child’s afro wig: $1.75
Pirate costume: $1.75
Fireman costume: $3.00
Fake western moustache: $1.25
Shield: $1.00

Not bad, eh? All that for $13.75!

The spider web shower curtain isn’t part of his dress-up bin – just something I found in the Halloween section – it was a steal at $3! I look forward to using it next year. Bathrooms often get forgotten but no longer in this house!

The best part about the chest is that Jack has no idea about it. He just thinks it’s a new piece of furniture in the living room. He is going to flip when I finally reveal it to him when he is old enough to really enjoy make-believe play - which from what I’ve read happens around 30-36 months. I have a few months to add a few more things and make that heavy chest lid child proof so nobody loses a finger. I’m pretty sure they sell slow-close hinges for that.

Halloween: Part 2: Trick-or-Treat

2010-11-01T17:06:00.001-05:00

And now for the trick-or-treating…

I’ve been dealt the best hand. :D

These are our pumpkins. I wish I had a picture of the AWARD I WON FOR BEST CARVED PUMPKIN at our party but my camera battery died. That is such a big photographer *no-no* but yea…I won!! Classic pumpkins are the way to go.

I can’t wait until the babies can start carving pumpkins with us.

This is my favorite picture of them all. A big brother sharing his candies with his little sister. Oh man, that’s just too much. I’m definitely enlarging this one, framing it, and hanging it every year for Halloween.

I love Halloween. I’m sad that it’s already over!

Our Halloween Party

2010-11-01T16:59:00.001-05:00

I don’t know about you, but this past week of Halloween prep and Halloween festivities has got me beat. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Let’s start with the party we threw at our house the day before Halloween. I had SO much fun decorating. I may just have to do it again some time.

My cupcake creation. You like?

I love my new cricut machine!

We found two old dolls in a closet somewhere at my mother-in-law’s new house that was built in the 40’s. This was one of the dolls. I think she is circa 1940-1950. She was a wonderfully creepy touch hanging with a noose from our ceiling fan. The other one was hiding and peaking her head out from behind the sofa and her arms were tucked under the sofa cushions. They were both a big hit!

Our friends, Joe & Ellen – remember my post about the wedding I had so much fun at? It was their wedding! I mean, look at their costumes! They know how to have fun!

Bobby and I went as Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, a deceased Kurt of course. Only I looked more like a dirty street hooker and Bobby looked like he had the flu. We tried though. We really did. Maybe next year we’ll win the costume contest.

(Note to self: Next time find a dress that isn’t so unflattering. Gah!)

This year, the award for best costume went to Kelly, the “lady” in the blonde wig. Actually his name is Kris and he accompanies his wife Sarah, also known as Leslie Hall.

And if you don’t know who Kelly & Leslie are, here, let me introduce you…

And these two are our friends Rachel & Brian. Brian tied for 2nd place with Sarah/Leslie in the costume contest. Can you guess who he is?

He was Ash Williams from Evil Dead…

You’re probably wondering what’s up with the two tiger costumes. No, it wasn’t a fashion faux pas. They didn’t accidentally wear the same costume. They are Leslie’s two sidekicks from one of her videos. Check it out.

Waldo and his lady, Wenda, came out of hiding and made an appearance as well.

Can you find them?

There was a game of Pin the blood on the Zombie.

Did you know they sell Zombie Targets for use at shooting ranges?! When I found that out, I couldn’t resist creating this Halloween party game.

“Leslie” won!

It was a great night.

teeth

2010-10-28T15:39:00.001-05:00

Want to know what is the most annoying sound in the world?

No, it’s not this…

Oh no, not that….not even close.

It’s the combined efforts of BOTH your babies crying at the exact same time because BOTH babies are cutting teeth and they are not happy about it.

2-year molars and first baby teethies!

I feel bad for them and I feel bad for me too. All the baby orajel in the world can’t seem to fix our current situation.

Why, oh why, can’t we be born with all our teeth? I mean, seriously, they literally have to rip, shred and tear their way through already sensitive gums. It’s brutal. We are born with eyelashes, finger and toe nails, everything except teeth. I just don’t get it.

Dance Workout DVD Review

2010-10-28T01:33:00.001-05:00

Last night I tried out my new dance aerobics DVDs.

I started late – at 11:15p and would soon regret that decision when at 2a I was WIDE awake from all the built up energy that comes with working out. It was 2am when I read online that it takes 1-3 hours for your body to calm down enough to rest and that if sleeping problems occur, you should change your workout routine. Great! I ALREADY have sleeping problems! Can’t compound the problem. I thought the opposite would happen. That I would workout late and be so exhausted when I finished that I would have just enough energy to shower afterwards and pass out, having the best sleep, eva! WRONG! I felt like an idiot.

So anyways, back to the review….

I started with Julianne…

This one was intense. Not because I didn’t enjoy it or couldn’t handle the cardio – but more because I have no prior dance experience, except for what rhythm my mama gave me. It will take some practice to get the dance moves down until I can complete this one. I did, however, work up a sweat trying and that was still fun – awkward and funny-looking, but fun!

It was right around 20 minutes in that I realized working out in my pajamas wasn’t a good idea. I also, like a fool, didn’t even have shoes on! Silly, Lacey!

Clearly, I was not prepared.

I paused the DVD. Got a sip of water. Changed into a tank top and found some shorts in Bobby’s drawer that are too small for him and fit me just right because uummm, I don’t own shorts. Not a single pair. I also found some dusty Reeboks in the back of my closet.

I returned to my living room with proper “gear” and tried this one out….

…and had much more success! Her moves were easier to follow and having shoes on helped too! LOL. Duh!

All in all, I had a GREAT time working out! Can you believe that?! I didn’t know that was possible. I think I may be on to something here.

I went to the store this afternoon to purchase some cheap, cotton workout shorts, a sports bra (which btw, totally makes me look like I’m about to play softball or do some carpentry – nothing wrong with that, just not very ‘ballroom’ sexy, know what I’m sayin’?), and tried on some Rykas because from what I’ve read they’re perfect for aerobic/dance workouts. I didn’t buy any because I’m nervous about spending the money so soon. I want to prove to myself that I will stick with this before dropping $75+ on a pair of shoes.

Now my only hurtle is finding the RIGHT time to workout. For me, working out late, after the babies go to sleep won’t work. I already struggle with insomnia. But I’m a night owl so I doubt waking up at 5am will work either, hell, I doubt it’s even physically possible! From what I’ve read, 6pm is optimal for working out. But that’s super time and who wants to workout after you eat or when you’re hungry. I may just have to make it work for now until I find a better, more convenient, distraction-free time. A gym membership is another option. They even have a nursery so I could do it at any time during the day. I want to sharpen my dancing skillz before I embarrass myself in front of a room full of complete strangers and a wall-to-wall mirror.

I’ll get there eventually I’m sure. I am determined to find my groove because this was too fun to pass up.

That lady in the orange dress is a dancin’ fool!

2010-10-26T22:30:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, Bobby and I served in our great friends’ wedding.

(Where the hell is my right foot?!)

It was a special wedding for us, because, see….we introduced them!…and because we’ve been the best of friends for almost five years now. We have a long history ahead of us with these two.

As with every wedding, there was a reception…..a reception with an open bar! I knew this all along. I had a decision to make. Would I have my very first alcoholic beverage since trying to get pregnant for Jack almost four years ago?! You read that right. It’s been four years of either trying to get pregnant or breastfeeding! Not a drop of alcohol for this Mama. Granted, I was never much of a drinker to begin with so even when I did dabble, it was only a mixed drink or two. I’m a small gal, it doesn’t take much for me to start “woo’n”. You know, “WOOOOOO!!!, I WANNA DANCE!”

I decided it was time to let loose. To have a good time. To pump and dump! I don’t believe in PWI, parenting while intoxicated….at least not both parents at the same time….and especially not with two young ones like I have. It makes me nervous. My husband just so happens to be the best man I know and offered to be the designated parent for the evening so I could have a good time without worrying about a thing. That was just what I needed to feel comfortable having my first sip after a LONG dry spell. As it turned out, I only had two or three small drinks - just enough to get the party started and dance for three hours straight – but not enough to lose control of myself and my parenting abilities. I was sobered up by the time we got home to our babies. So it all worked out perfectly. No PWIs.

I almost forgot how much fun it was to just DANCE…free of any inhibitions. Once I started, I didn’t stop until my feet and thighs ached.

I danced with my friends.

I danced by myself.

I danced inside a dance circle.

I danced with my man.

I danced standing up.

I danced lying down.

I danced with my hair up.

I danced with my hair down.

By the end of the night, I felt like I’d just finished an aerobics tape. My heart was racing. My muscles ached. All the while having SO MUCH FUN!

I didn’t want the fun to end….so to keep the momentum going, I purchased these two workout DVDs.

I got them in the mail today and I am SO excited to get started. I plan to have mini dance parties in my living room after the babies go to sleep. My main motivation ISN’T to lose inches. If that happens as a by-product of all the cardio then so be it. I won’t complain. This is more about sharpening my dance moves and letting lose, minus the alcohol.

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” – Johnny Castle

Teacups & Cupcakes

2010-10-26T01:49:00.001-05:00

Remember a while back when I hosted my very first ‘Help Me With My Collection’ mail swap?

Initially, I’d decided I wasn’t going to play because I mainly set it up just so my readers who chose to participate could have some fun. But……as luck would have it, The Paper Mama sent me an email requesting to play just after I assigned partners – which meant the only person left available without a partner that could be her partner was ME! How fun?! Looks like I’d get a chance to play after all. I’ve been following Chelsey since the very beginning of my blogging habit, so I was excited to swap with her!

The rules were simple. Sum up your most favorite thing to collect in one word and your swap partner will search for an item or items to add to your collection.

Her word: teacups. It was a fun challenge putting together her package. I really want to do this again one day!

I’ll give you one guess as to what MY word was. (“wink wink)

Here, I’ll give you a clue.

Did you know someone out there makes teacup cupcakes?! That’s kinda neat and not to mention, the cutest blending of our two collections.

If you guessed my collection summed in one word would be ‘cupcake’, then you know me well. I got my package today and boy does Miss Chelsey know how to out-do herself!

Opening my package was a little slice of Christmas morning. The more I opened, the more I squealed!

She got me:
- Spooky cupcake liners
- Cupcake notepad
- Cupcake-flavored lip balm - how cool is that?!
- Cupcake-shaped crayons
And my favorites….the hand-crafted stuff!
- felt hair accessory
- baby bib
- The Paper Lady notecard and CROWN!

“Bow down to the Cupcake queen!”

Molly is going to LOVE this when she is older and into all things girly, especially crowns. Until then, this crown will be mine and will speak volumes in our house when I have it on. Oh yes, I plan to wear it – often! If the crown is on, that’ll mean I am in need of a moment to myself to feel special and like a queen! Bobby will probably think I’m nuts when he starts finding me in bubble baths wearing my crown on the daily. HA!

Want to be a queen too? Check out her etsy shop.

Thanks Chelsey for being my swap partner! I love ALL the great things you’ve added to my collection.

Thanks for the ideas!

2010-10-23T23:41:00.001-05:00

I’ve learned a lot from my friends in Blogland.

New recipes. Games to play. Photographic inspiration. Ideas for better organization. Just about anything you could imagine. My life is better, enhanced, by people I haven’t even met! That’s good stuff.

So anyways, lately I’ve incorporated two ideas into my home [and car] that I picked up from two GREAT friends.

This one is from Becky. Actually, I think this tip was posted on her facebook. [pause & return] – Yep, I checked. It was on her facebook. In an effort to conserve paper towels, she put her wash/hand towels on the kitchen counter in a jar to encourage folks with wet and/or dirty hands to use them instead of paper towels. Pretty great, right?

I thought so. Here’s my version:

I’m not quite ready to nix the paper towels all together but I try every day [it is a great reminder] to use hand towels and rewash them instead of paying for paper towels. With my towels hiding in drawers, it’s easy to forget about them and just head towards the paper towel default. I was inspired to use this tip when I once paid $18.99 for a large pack of paper towels at Target and didn’t even notice until I got home and looked at my receipt. “$18.99?!?! That’s ridiculous!” I almost returned them. ha! That’s when I decided to incorporate the glass jar into our lives and so far, it’s been working out great!

Plus, I really like the pop of pink these towels bring to my cupcake colored kitchen. Cupcake colored, you ask? The color of sprinkles, of course!!! Pink. Green. Orange. Blue. Purple.

The next idea I picked up in Blogland comes from my buddy Emily.

Here’s how you Say Goodbye To Your Diaper Bag. It’s simple and kinda “duh!” and makes you wonder “why didn’t I think of that?!”

In the back of my Acadia, I have a mini-trunk behind the third row that I’ve reserved for the following:

- diapers for both J&M
- baggies for dirty diapers
- change of clothes for both J&M
- Wipes
- Purel
- blanket
- sippy cup
- buggy/high chair cover

Since taking this picture, I’ve added small toys for Molly and books for Jack.

I ALWAYS [used to] forget our diaper bag when we’d leave the house…usually in a rush. And even when I would remember to grab it, I couldn’t see if I had all what we needed. This way, with it all laid out in the trunk, I can see with a quick glance exactly what we have and what needs to be replaced; be it more diapers or more clothes.

I even have a small rubbermaid container with ‘the basics’ in Bobby’s work truck too.

I’ve had this set up for a few weeks now and I’ve used it almost every time I leave the house.

Genius, I say! PURE GENIUS!

Because I’m not fond of using those baby stations in public bathrooms to change their diapers, I use the back of my car - where everything I need is stashed anyway. It’s perfect!

Thanks Ladies, for enhancing my life by making it that more colorful and money-saving and efficient!

Another free panty, coming right up!

2010-10-21T00:07:00.001-05:00

Y’all, I GOT ANOTHER ONE!

I have this fear that one day my doorbell will ring. I’ll open the door to find three busty Victoria’s Secret angels standing on my doorstep telling me in a very serious tone, all speaking in unison, that there has been a mix-up and they are here to confiscate the multitude of free panties in my underwear drawer at once or else I will be sentenced to spending all of eternity wearing ill-fitting, silky ‘Granny panties’! Oh, the HORROR!

I got one last month and the month before that and before that and another one before that and fast foward 15+ free pairs later, I have a drawer full!

I figure they’re probably on to me since I only go into the store to get my get my free panty and leave, never actually buying anything so I made sure to buy something this time just to alleviate my guilt and to get them damn indian-giving angels off my back…you know, the ones in my nightmares. I FINALLY allowed myself to buy one of those crazy expensive bras with my $10 off any bra coupon because the bras I have now are something seriously pitiful these days after all the extra washings due to breastfeeding messes. And guess what! I bought my bra in a color to MATCH my free panty. I haven’t had matching underwear since I was in high school!!! I can almost guarantee that when I do finally wear them together, Bobby will notice! Bow Chicca Wow Wow!

Maybe I should donate them to a battered women’s shelter or MAYBE I could give them to a blog reader in a giveaway. I don’t mind sharing the love. Why not? Victoria’s Secret is picking up the tab anyway. ;)

halloween is a comin’

2010-10-20T00:07:00.001-05:00

I’m getting SO excited about Halloween this year. For the first time EVER, this year Bobby and I are co-hosting a Halloween party at our house. There will be spooky treats, scary music, a pumpkin carving contest, and best of all….a trophy for Best Couple Costumes of the night!

Wanna know who’s taking that sucker home? uummm, well, more like keeping it home…you know, since the party is at our house and all. Bobby & Lacey are, THAT’S WHO! Yea, that’s right. Bobby and I are bringing our straight up A-game! We don’t play around and we most definitely plan to WIN! Might as well carve our names into that trophy right now! Oh man, isn’t trash talk the best?!

Bobby and I both agree to keep our costume a secret until game day but for the sake of posting a picture, any picture, I don’t mind showing a little sneak peak of Jack’s costume that I’ve been working on.

Shouldn’t be too hard to guess.

What will be your costume this year?

How to make a Countdown to Halloween using a cookie sheet!

2010-10-10T00:03:00.001-05:00

Last year I purchased a ‘Countdown to Halloween’ kit from a local scrapbooking store – one I used to work at part time. I couldn’t make the class where they taught you how to make it so the I just made-do with what I got in the kit they provided.

Anyways, I finally got around to assembling the pieces in the kit this year to make my very own countdown. Here, let me walk you through it. It’s not hard at all. You could totally make one yourself….if you wanna.

First you have to start with a 8.5x11” piece of cardstock [regular printer paper would work as well] and print a calendar-like table on it. I used the one that came with the kit but because it looked like their ink was running out when they printed it, I went over the numbers and lines with a fine-tip marker to make it darker. You could easily design this in Microsoft Word or any other processing software.

The kit also came with 30 small sticky-backed magnets. I used some of the Halloween charms in the kit but also made a lot of my own charms using my own Halloween scrapbooking supplies.

Put the charms aside for the time being and cut some Halloween patterned papers and ribbon to fit whatever sized metal cookie sheet you have. Mine was 11x17”.

Add magnet tape to the back…

Add some letter stickers, put it all together and you get this…..!!!!

Make some holes in the top handle. I used a hammer and a nail but you could also use a drill.

Add some ribbon, hang it on the wall and start your countdown!

[I plan to embellish it a little more with more ribbons and maybe even some glitter glue when I have more spare time.]

I keep the extra charms on the back and every day Jack helps me pick a new charm to add to the countdown.

The great thing about everything being magnetic, you can take all the pieces off when Halloween is over and still use the cookie sheet! When the time comes, I will probably make one for a Countdown to Christmas too – using the same cookie sheet! And maybe even a countdown to Jack’s birthday! The possibilities are endless.

I have it hanging in my kitchen because..well..it’s a cookie sheet..that’s just where it’s supposed to go! It’s fitting, I think.

Blogarage Sale V.4

2010-10-09T09:25:00.001-05:00

Up for sale this week:

(Click the blue title of each item for additional retail information)

Leap Frog Musical Instruments: [Both in ‘like new’ condition]

Learn & Groove Animal Sounds Guitar

$5 + $2 shipping

Learn & Groove Maracas

$3 + $2 shipping

(Purchased and shipped together = $3 shipping for both)

How To Photograph Absolutely Everything

GREAT BOOK – Learned A LOT!

All 384 pages for only $4 + $2 shipping

Newborn-sized Baby Legs

Retail $10 – Never worn – asking $3.50 + $1 shipping

Thanks for shopping!

Come again!

If you are interested in any of these items, email me at lacey00 at bellsouth [dot] net or leave a comment with your email address and I’ll email you back with the payment/address details.

Click here for the Blogarage Sale backstory

And I ran…I ran so far away.

2010-10-07T22:52:00.001-05:00

Sometimes when I’m bored….like really, REALLY bored, I put my hair in a stupid-high/backwards ponytail. Bobby thinks I’m silly. Jack looks at me funny. And I get a good laugh.

Whoa! Ok, maybe it’s not so funny, after all.

Two milestones – one day

2010-10-07T00:43:00.001-05:00

My head is spinning.

My face hurts from all the smiling and my hands kinda tingle from all the clapping.

Why?

My babies are meeting milestones left and right. They WON’T stop growing no matter how many times I politely ask them to stay babies forever.

Let’s start with Molly…

She started riding the ‘solids’ train today. First stop: rice cereal

And guess what…..

SHE LOVES IT!

Next stop: Vegetables! YUM.

I can’t wait to start making all her baby foods. I did it for Jack and had a blast doing it. He ate anything I could steam and put in a food processor – Brussel sprouts, celery, broccoli, mango – you name it, he ate it and loved it! If only I could get him to eat as much now as he did back then.

Moving on Jack’s latest, greatest accomplishment….

I’m sure all you seasoned moms know all about this because I’m sure you have a similar picture in your baby books as well.

My teeny, tiny, baby boy did this biggest, most grown-up thing possible for his little 22-month old self….he made POOPOO IN THE POTTY!!! (**insert happy dance here**) Not once, but TWICE - two days in a row! Woot!

Yes, I took a picture with my phone…immediately after we stopped celebrating with high-fives, happy dances, and lots of M&Ms (I got so excited, I just gave him the whole potty training rewards candy jar. I think he had like six of them! The going rate for peepee on the potty is one M&M. But for the first poopoo, “baby, eat all you want!”)

And yes, I texted that picture to Bobby while he was at work.

And yes, Bobby showed it to everyone at work.

Don’t judge. We are very proud parents. Is it weird that my baby boy meeting such a big-boy milestone made me shed several tears? All I could think about as I tried to drift off to sleep last night was the day we brought him home and how now it seems that he won’t stop growing. He’s learning new words every day. He’s becoming more independent every day. He impresses me every day with how kind and thoughtful he is. It won’t be long before he’s walking out my front door to take some ‘will-never-be-as-good-to-him-as-I-am’ girl to prom or calling me on the phone in the middle of the night to tell me that his wife’s water broke and that I need to rush to the hospital. Ok, seriously, I need to stop because I can feel my chest tightening up and my eyes starting to well up again.

I beam with pride!!!

Remember those Lightning McQueen slippers I bought for his birthday coming up?

Yea, I couldn’t help myself….

(Five minutes post-poop)