Cheers!! Happy Baby!!

I am an aunt!!!


I've never been an aunt.


I've had to do all the rule making.


Now I get to do the rule breaking.


So What do you do for hours upon hours of waiting for the cousin you've been hearing about for nine months?

Show everyone how you'll look when there's a baby in your tummy.

 Then when you break your mothers resolve, and the labor and delivery room floor is now an appropriate place to lay and draw..........

make beautiful greeting cards for your laboring aunt.

 

And if the monitor still looks like gentle waves instead of a hurricane 

you.........

eat an entire box of Sugar Babies (except the one you grudgingly give your aunt Jess and the few that Mommy took when you weren't looking).

And after a full day of excitement, patience, impatience, and fighting over the one toy you didn't both get for Christmas........you get this........

 

Charity Hope

19 5/8 inches

7lb 3 oz

born at 4:16pm on 

December 30, 2009

A beautiful perfect angel. 

Congratulations DD. You will be a wonderful mother. I love you very much.

A Picture Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Smile..

I'm sitting alone at dinnertime, looking at my half blinking Christmas tree. Half frustrated that it can't decide if it is supposed to blink or not. And half happy to see it in my new home, high on it's pedestal to make it look taller. The cat is me-owing, constantly pacing. The house is quiet.  I am reflecting on my day.

A visit with my sister for her thirty six week check up. Perfect. Textbook. A nice afternoon ride with my middle sister. Something we both hoped for for years and finally enjoy. I'm anticipating the arrival of my grandparents. They will be home tonight after driving eleven hundred miles to and from their vacation to visit my great grandmother for her ninetieth birthday. Hoping that at nearly seventy years old - I'll be doing the same. I miss them terribly when they go out of town.

I thought back on the births of my little girls after hearing the heart beat of my upcoming  niece. I wonder if they will ever know the love that I carry in my heart for them. Our Christmas tree shelters the gifts we bought. Everything we had, we gave solely to them this year. And I wonder when they have children- will they look back fondly on the Christmases we share now. Will they come back year after year for more.

A time will come that the traditions I hold so dear will change. That will be more difficult than anything I can think of. So tonight as I reflect on the past and hold dearly to the present- I want to etch in my mind these moments.So that while driving eleven hundred miles at the age of seventy and celebrating my ninetieth birthday, I will relive them. And smile.

pic while waiting....

on a post.

My brain is running short on creative thoughts.

Oh, and don't tell anyone - *cough* -Nana-

But we emptied our account to get the girls a trampoline.

And searched three towns for the perfect Legos.

And assembled a very heavy wooden kitchen.

And wrapped everything else.

Good night.

Did You Know?

My playlist on the right side panel has my favorite Christmas song- Mary Did You Know. Click play to hear it.

The first time I heard it I was a little girl. I remember listening to it and crying. To imagine the Almighty God sending his Son to save me was a huge concept for a little girl anyway, but I thought He is sooo big I guess he can handle it.

Then I heard this song and was thinking of Mary. She was a simple person. She didn't have much. She was just a girl. To be blessed with a new life straight from God and knowing in your heart the fate.....To imagine her ups and downs.

When she kissed his boo-boos was it heart breaking like it is for all mothers? Or was it relief that for now, a skinned knee was her biggest heart break?

Kenny Rogers and Dolly were singing it. I love the lyrics. And Kutless does a great job of pulling you into the lyrics as well. 
No other Christmas song touches me like this one does. 

Turn up the volume!

What is your favorite Christmas song? Why?

Potty ups and downs and a little peek into my world

In case you didn't know- putting waste in the proper location  is optional. My toddler teaches me something new everyday.


My  big girl may choose to use her new outfit as a disposal.


And her pretty ruffle panties as a dump *pun intended*.

Sweet Christmas tights with shimmery snowflakes are not very absorbent.


 Oddly enough- this behavior, blessedly, only happens at home.


The time-out-wall may be permanently shadowed by my curly top girl. But that was yesterday. And today is a new day. Poop-a-potty (her announcement that she needs to poop)has already been successful this morning!

No time-out-wall today? Maybe...Just maybe..

The poor girl already goes straightaway to her spot to sit and pout if she has to be changed.

I wanted to share a few tidbits of my life with you.

 My sisters. The belly is my upcoming niece Charity Hope. The sweet girl on the left is Jess. We have become best friends.

The one with the belly and cute cheekbones is DD my baby sister. The poor girl isn't due till Jan 18th! I changed her diapers and now will gladly change the ones on her daughter. 

This guy, looking a bit like Zac Brown these days, is the love of my life. I can't say enough about him. He is the most wonderful husband. And the girls will probably never know how blessed they are that he is their father. 

While surfing the net with my hubby for a prospective hot rod (for him), I discovered this.

The Henry J. Love at first sight. I want to find one - keep the white walls, put in a scary fast motor and drag race it! 

If you laughed at this -as did my husband- don't bother to tell me. It won't change my mind.

  

So there you have it. Poop,blessings, and dreams, It doesn't get any better than that, ladies.

Happy Bithday to my LadyBug

Six years ago this beautiful creature came into my life. The more she grew the more I fell in love with her. 

I wish I had digital pictures of her when she was a baby. If I find that I do, I'll post them later but here are some from 2 yrs. and up. 

I thought I'd share my memory journey with you.

At her two year ballet recital she stole the show.

On a trip to our favorite ranch she found her inner 'cowgirl'. 

 

We love Tony Stewart and had to go see his car when it came to town before the Talladega race.

A trip to the beach.

Tired from all that running in the sand! But you have to eat at Lambert's.

Carving a pumpkin with Daddy.

 Playing with a lizard.

Ignore the Jr. racing suit- that was not my idea...

Going dove hunting with Daddy.

Cotton pickin' at Old Baker Farm.

Panning for GOLD at Desoto Caverns.

Fall picture day in 4K.

Last Christmas.

Big graduate from 4K.

Making stepping stones for Granna's mother's day gift. Well on her way to her dream of being a science teacher.

Hugging Mommy. I hope she still wants to do that when she is a teen.

Half asleep but she tied her shoe all by herself!

Lost her first tooth and gained five bucks.

Showing her skilz at her birthday party.

I love this child!

Christmas trees

I finally got the girl's trees up! 
They love them.


Our tree is up too....
I'd rather not show it :-)  Maybe we'll get a new one for next year.

I made Alex's ornaments.

 

 

Gracie Lu's tree turned out to be my favorite.

 

We also have my great grandmother's tree in the guest bath and next year I want one in my room too, for all the more sentimental ornaments. Too many??


Wishing for a happy, healthy Christmas season for everyone.

Confessions

Confessions.

I realize this is my second post today. But I needed to get a few things off my chest.




This just came out of my car.

 

None of this is new stuff. Three grocery sized bags of toys, missing blueprints, scarf, umbrella, some shot gun shells (I kid you not). The big bag? trash.

Apparently there were some items that may have been missing quite a while.

 

And apparently I am ever-so-slightly unsmart. I just added myself to my followers.

I forgot to feed my hermit crabs for a week.

My new house has that lived in look, pride of ownership is obviously fading fast.

My Christmas tree isn't up yet.

There, I feel cleaner and lighter now.

But~

Before you all send me letters or turn me in to someTV show like Hoarders or How Clean is Your House.....

I have set up a beautiful greeting station with all my prettiest Christmas decorations, potty trained my two year old, took my five year old shopping to spend her tooth fairy money, painted my peg board for storing craft supplies in my laundry/craft room, done some serious baking, helped my grandparents with their new cell phone, did a million bagillion loads of laundry, and moved my sofa for the million bagillionth time because the big honkin' sectional was not my idea and doesn't 'flow' in any direction.

There now I feel like I can face the world again.

Recipies to Share ~ desserts again

 from: food network

I recently made homemade honey buns and used this recipe.    It has a distinct orange flavor and for that reason my children(hubby included) didn't think they tasted like honey buns.

The rolls were great. To me the orange flavor gives a little something extra. A matter of taste I guess.

from: allrecipes

Yesterday I made homemade peanut butter fudge (oops, you'd better wipe off that drool) using this recipe. It didn't have the ultra smooth 'chewy' texture I wanted like you get from Homestead Hollow but that was my fault after further research, I over stirred the boiling mixture. The taste was all there! Simple pantry ingredients happens to be my demise. I have to try it right then if I have all the ingredients:) This time I'm going to try this recipe, it seems a little more goof-proof. I'll let you know how it goes.






I have a kindergarten Christmas party to plan(Dec 18) as well as my soon to be six year old's birthday party to plan(Dec 13). Oh, and her special birthday snack for school (Dec 16). If there are any ideas floating around out there I would love to hear them!