Ode to the Paci

Well, Savannah is now 3, and a half, and a little too old for her paci. But, we have had a terrible time trying to get rid of it. So yesterday I had a fabulous idea.
We took a trip to the local build-a-bear, and Savannah picked out her own new stuffed animal. When they got ready to put the stuffing in it, she placed the paci inside too.

She has decided she is officially not a baby anymore. She then gave her new animal a bath, picked out an outfit, and made its birth certificate. The bear is named "Myah."

When she gets lonely for her paci, she can feel down in Myah's foot where the paci has a new special place.

So far, so good. There was only mild protesting. We shall see if it continues...

Wordless Wednesday

We've been busy!

Whew, things have been crazy here lately. I thought I should catch you up...

Daddy has been working a lot! He is always staying busy at work... not sure why they say the housing market is down! His basketball team just finished up their season on Sunday and they won the championship. He was proud! He is currently drawing up plans for a kitchen remodel here... whoohoo for more cabinet space in the works!

Momma is now in the second half her semester at school. She aced her midterms, much to her excitement. She is now working on two research papers for her final projects and is very much looking forward to the end of the semester in May. We also joined a gym as a family, and Momma has enjoyed going each day and dropping the kids off in the nursery while she works out and takes an uninterrupted shower. And she's lost three and a half pounds, whoohoo! She started her garden over the weekend and is looking forward to warmer weather.

Savannah is enjoying preschool and keeping everyone on their toes. She just reenrolled for next fall and will be going 4 days each week. She wants everyone to know that she is now three and a half (the half is very important). She is a very good big sister. Her current obsession is Tinkerbell (the movies, the dolls, the costumes, the lunchbox...). She is learning about her emotions and cracks everyone up when she declares that she is feeling very angry (complete with crossed arms and a scowl). She has been such a big helper at home lately cleaning her own room.

Brooklyn is growing like a weed. She is now babbling more (she says da-da, uh-oh, and bye-bye) and is learning to drink thickened liquids from a special cup that her speech therapist brought. She is taking 1-2 independent steps when coached, but isn't really walking everywhere quite yet. She adores Savannah. She is very much a Momma's girl and does not like to be separated from Momma for very long at all. She is starting to attempt to feed herself and thinks she is a big hot shot. She continues to be the happiest baby.

Date Thirty-Five

For date, thirty-five, we stayed home to do the dinner and redbox movie thing again. I know, I know, its a rule-breaker. I said we weren't going to do the same date twice in a month, and now we have. Well, due to extraordinary circumstances, no babysitters were available, and we had to settle for another in-home night.

But, to jazz it up a little, I had a little surprise/invitation waiting on the hubby when he got home...

Yes, its on the back of the toilet. What can I say? I know exactly where he goes first when he gets home. Ha, ha!



Then we had a taco dinner. I had to take a picture of how Darren eats his "tacos" because it is truly unique.

And then we watched a Redbox movie. We are very much looking forward to going out on another real date soon. :)

Seeing Double.

I think Brooklyn looks like a mini-Darren. Add camo, and voila!

Well hello, Hollywood.

Wordless Wednesday

Walk This Way

Brooklyn is walking and walking. They are just tiny steps, and sometimes failed attempts, but we weren't sure when this day would come... so there is lots of excitement around here (and now a whole lot more work, I'm sure!). Hooray, Brooklyn!

Hello, Officer.

I got to see my brother graduate from the Criminal Justice Academy yesterday.



I could not be prouder of him!



This group of guys went through so much pain and sweat to get their badges.



And guess who was the top of his class? My brother, the recipient of the Top Gun Award.



In the words of the sheriff, "Someone always has to rise to the top, and in this class there was a gentleman whose shooting average was an exceptional 95.7%." Yep, thats my brother.

Look at that badge!

His class motto was "Smart. Tough. Focused."

And in the past week, he has been both pepper-sprayed and tased.

And after 10 weeks of running, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, boxing, shooting, driving, fighting, being yelled at, and having daily inspections...

Its official. He is certified to protect our community.

Way to go! So proud of my brother, the officer!

The Best Day...

Its the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs...
...Daddy is smart and Mommy is the prettiest lady in the whole wide world...



I don't know why all the trees change in the fall...
I know you're not scared of anything at all...



Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away...
But I know I had the best day with you today.

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall...

I know you are on my side even when I am wrong...

And I didn't know if you knew, so I'm taking this chance to say...
I had the best day with you today.
- Taylor Swift

Date Thirty-Four

For date thirty-four, I forgot to take any pictures (so sorry!) but we went on a double date with dear friends of ours to dinner and then we went bowling. Let me just say about the bowling lanes on Friday night after 10... hello, children, where are your parents?! Ahem. I am proud to say that the ladies dominated the men in the first game. Its all fun and games until someone's ego gets bruised. So, we had to play a second game and the boys whooped us that time. Thanks for a very fun time, Steve and Christy!

And, here is your friendly reminder. Don't forget to wear green today, people! Nobody likes to get pinched. (Shout out to my cool Irish friend. I only know one Irish person, but she is the coolest. So, Happy St. Patrick's Day, Aisling!)

Overheard At My House

"Momma... know what Brookie is doing right now? Her is just a splashin' in the tool-let (toilet)!"

"Uhm, what did you just say?"

"Mom, listen. I said Brookie is splashin' in the tool-let (toilet). I had to go potty, so I went pee... and I forgot to flush and I was washin' my hands and I guess Brookie likes leddo (yellow) because she just crawled over and sawed my pee and is splashin' and splashin'. I told her to stop but her is laughin' so I think she likes it."

Mmmhmm, true story. Kids are gross.

Not Me! Monday

Oh, my, what a week we had last week! Or rather, in the spirit of Not-Me Monday, what a week we did NOT have!

Brooklyn did NOT get her sixth ear infection since October this past week. She is NOT being referred to a specialist to discuss placing tubes in her ears. Not me!

She did NOT, 24 hours later, run a fever of 103.2 and break out in spots from head to toe. I did NOT load her into the car to rush her to the pediatrician. She did NOT have a seizure in route to the doctor's office. The pediatrician did NOT conclude then that she had the chickenpox. The pediatrician (not our normal pediatrician, because she was off that day) did NOT maintain that we couldn't link it to the vaccine that she received 10 days prior (really? does anyone else not believe it was the vaccine?) and NOT report it as a reaction because "we just will never know."

I have NOT decided that Brooklyn might be THE medical exception. I'm going to start listening to the warnings of, "this really never happens, but we should just warn you in case"... because it will most likely happen to my sweet baby.

In the meantime, the pediatrician did not have Brookie's neurologist paged, who was concerned about the seizure and did NOT schedule a sleep-deprived EEG the following morning. I did NOT stay up half of the night (4 hours to be exact) sleep-depriving a child who had an ear-infection AND chickenpox, only to take her to the neurologist the following morning and be told by the receiptionist, "Oh, well, if she has the chickenpox, we can't see her today. The doctor never told us she was sick. But now the doctor feels a lot better anyway, because babies with seizures seize a lot more easily when they have a high fever... so that probably explains it."

Sigh. Communication, people. Talk to each other. Preferably BEFORE sleep-depriving a sick, miserable baby for no apparent reason.

That was NOT my week last week. This was NOT how I spent my grad school spring break. Not me!

Growing. Up.

First of all, thank you all for your encouragement about my Lent experience. :) I have such wonderful friends and family, and I didn't even have to get on Facebook to find that out! ;)

And while I've been growing in that way, someone else is growing too. Growing up! I can't believe how big she is getting... sometimes when we talk, I feel like I'm talking to an adult. Other times I feel like I'm going to pull out my hair, but we won't touch on that today. This weekend has been so sunny and warm, and Savannah enjoyed riding her bike around the nearby pond. I think this spring is going to be full of outside playtime! Who wants to come over?! ;)





[And Katie, I'm sure you are laughing at the image of the blinged-out bike, because you are probably saying with a chuckle, "hello, little Lauren." But just so you know, SHE picked this out all by herself...we might be in trouble with two of me in the world!] ;)

Lent.

So, lent started this week, and I've actually never participated. But this year I thought... well, maybe. Now, if you aren't familiar with Lent, it is a Christian (mostly catholic) tradition where one gives up something from Ash Wednesday until Easter (40 days). Some people think it gets them in favor with God, and I don't really agree on that part (because we are saved by faith, not works...) but I do think its good sometimes to give up something and concentrate on things with eternal value instead.

So, I started considering what I could give up. And I discovered that I'm incredibly selfish and have the willpower of... something that has no willpower. But I finally decided on Facebook. And I know, that makes me sound even more shallow, but let me explain.

Facebook and I have a love-hate relationship. And since giving it up, I've decided it was more an addiction than a relationship. It didn't really become an addiction until I got Facebook on my phone... and voila! the ability to know at any time what everyone is up to! Do you know how wonderful this is to a social person such as myself? It made me feel so connected to everyone and actually helped alleviate a lot of my loneliness (working at home can be incredibly lonely sometimes). So, I got on it a lot. And it didn't even seem like that much because it would always been at down times. You know, while waiting in the car pool line at Savannah's school, while giving Brooklyn a bottle, while sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office... etc. But it filled my life up with a lot of busy-ness. But I did feel all encouraged that people were praying for me and missing me and wanting to plan stuff with me... because they would contact me on Facebook.

Facebook and I also have a hate relationship though. Sometimes people on there annoy me (like, seriously, do I really need to know the boring details of what you ate for lunch?), and sometimes I've gotten my feelings hurt (hey- I'm a girl, and we are shallow sometimes). And sometimes its made me jealous of other people and all of their friends that love them and their awesome lives or their husbands that sent them flowers just because... are you catching my drift?

So, I started thinking maybe Facebook and I needed to part ways for a while. And then I thought... oh no... but then people will forget about me. And I won't know what is going on.

And then I was struck by another thought, "Do you really love me so little?"

If it was really that difficult to give up something frivolous, what did that say about my priorities? I really don't care enough about my relationship with God to give up something as small as a social networking site? Really?!

So, I kicked Facebook to the curb. I deleted the app off of my Blackberry. Adios!

I might go back after Easter. But maybe not. I kind of feel liberated. And a little lonely. But mostly just free. And in my free time that I'm not on there reading what you are doing, I'm talking to Jesus a whole lot more.

Now somebody tell me this isn't a positive change. Wanna join me and give up something for 40 days? ;)

Dates Thirty-Two and Thirty-Three

Date Thirty-Two: Giftcard Date
Dinner, Ice Cream, and a Movie, all purchased by giftcards.

And apparently, Tuesday night is the time to come to the movies!

Date Thirty-Three: At-home Date

Homemade dinner, Redbox movie, and Oreos with Milk... :)

After posting these, I'm starting to realize why we are gaining weight! ;)

Wordless Wednesday

Tiny Miss America 2011

This crazy girl kept me so busy that I didn't take many pictures. So sorry!

On the last night, they had a mardi gras party for all of the contestants. I helped chaperone, and these girls had sooo much fun. It was fun to watch them all dancing, eating pizza and cake, and playing games. I even took a video of this girl's moves. You're welcome. (And I know its sideways, but I'm not a techie and don't know how to rotate it on youtube... rotate your own head, please.)

What's that? You want to know how she did?

She placed 3rd runner up (at a national pageant, thats pretty good!) and won Miss Congeniality (sportsmanship) award for being the sweetest contestant. I think that might just be better than the crown! ;) Way to go, Savannah!

Here She Comes...

We are off to Tiny Miss America to let Savannah compete for the title. Wish her lots of luck, and a fun weekend with her friends! We are so proud of her!

Overheard at My House

Savannah: "Mom, I one time saw a lady wearing rainbow colored curlers in her hair at Target."
Momma: "Oh. Really? Was she old? Old ladies sometimes do that."
Savannah: "Hmm. I dunno. I didn't ask her if she was old."


Savannah: "Mom! Oh my word! That BOY has EARRINGS! And a PONYTAIL! Oh my word! Hey! Boy!!! Boys don't have earrings! Or ponytails! This is just too crazy for me."


Momma: "Savannah, on your Tiny Miss America application I have to put your ambition. That means what you want to be when you grow up. What do you want me to put?"
Savannah: "I can't decide between a doctor and a princess, but I think I will go with the princess."


Savannah: "Where is daddy today?"
Momma: "Daddy is at work."
Savannah: "Oh no. Not again. How about we tell him to quit working. We don't need more money. I have a lot in my pig bank."


Momma: "You need to thank Jesus for your food."
Savannah: "You said He knows everything, so He already knows I'm thankful."


Momma: "Goodnight, booger."
Savannah: "Mooooom! I am not a booger. I don't live in a nose."

Wordless Wednesday