Perfectly Imperfect..

saturday slam-up

2012-01-28T12:02:00.001-05:00

No idea. But "Saturday brain vomit" didn't have the same ring to it.

My child went down for a nap at 9:30 this morning completely shooting in the foot her Mom's desires to shop in town today. Well played little one. I feel like you and your Dad are working on the same team on that one.

Speaking of shopping, I have officially picked out the theme for BG's second birthday. But I'm not telling you yet. Not because I think you'll totally copy me (ha!), but because I need to make sure I can make it happen first. That way you don't show up expecting one thing and then get shocked when I hand you an Abby Cadabby favor bag that I put together at the last minute when my original theme flopped. Keep up with that? I almost didn't.

My instructions from Mr. P on this party are to "not spend too much money". So I'm bound and determined to do 99% of this on my own. Which I did a lot of it on my own last year and thought I did very well fiscally but apparently we have different ideas on that. Fantastic. Good thing I'm up to the challenge.

I've managed to make it almost two years with no poop disasters. I think to date, BG has pooped in the tub maybe once. Mr. P doesn't have the same luck. I swear he manages to get it on him every. single. time. he changes her. No joke. He'll tell you that. I don't know what he does. Then the other day, BG came to me begging to go "pee pee on potty" so we headed over there. I had already gotten her diaper halfway off when I realized it was full. And not of pee pee. Poop everywhere as she sat on the potty and then got up with it smeared all over her. TMI? Oh well. Somehow I didn't learn my lesson after handwashing a potty that day and I let it happen again last night. Only this time? It managed to somehow get all over her run too. In her room. We have ridiculous skills in this house of taking a small mess and making it epic. Freaking disgusting.

We aren't really on the potty training wagon. And that's okay. Because my kid is hard headed to the core and I know that if I push her, it will backfire. So for now, the potty is out and she can sit on it when she wants. I try to get her to sit on it when she gets up and before and after bath time just to get the feel of it. That's it for now. Any tips y'all have would be appreciated.

BG is currently obsessed with writing. She has a pen in hand most of the day. Give her a piece of paper and she's happy as a clam. I was the same way. It makes this Mama heart happy that she may just have inherited my love for writing. ::fingers crossed::

She's also obsessed with her little pals at school. I absolutely LOVE picking her up in the afternoon and hearing about all the fun she had with "Zoie! Emry!" over and over. It's not quite as cute when she is hollering for them at night when she should be sleeping however. She's growing up so fast. I'm sure it will be no time before she'll be having friends over for sleep overs and such. Sigh.... it's going so fast.

Be sure to check back early this week for a giveaway I think you just might love.

That's all I've got for now. Sunshine is up.

Our New Year's Eve

2012-01-26T22:25:00.000-05:00

Yep. The one three weeks ago. I am never going to get caught up...

We had a pretty quiet weekend. I keep thinking in my head that I want New Year's plans that involve being dressed up and out in a crowd somewhere and well, that never happens. But at this stage in life, these quiet weekends at home are just about as good as gold so I'll take them for now. But... I'm holding Mr. P to big plans one year. Soon. Before I'm too old for this mess.

We did not do a thing on New Year's Eve. Or if we did, I can't remember (this is why you don't recap a month later M...). Mr. P wasn't feeling too well so BG and I kind of hung out and did our own thing. He did make us pancakes with his little helper. Sure hope she gets his skills in the kitchen and not mine.

On New Year's Day, Mr. P cooked a traditional dinner of black eyed peas, pork, cabbage, and corn bread for lunch. We invited a friend of mine from work to come over and we spent the rest of the afternoon eating, watching football, and playing outside with BG.

She got this Cozy Coupe for Christmas and she loves it. Big time. It's one of her favorite things at the minute.

A very quiet, but nice afternoon.

Before we dismantled the tree, I wanted to try and get a few pictures in front of it. This one was a complete accident, but I LOVE it.

And yes, I did got dig out BG's Christmas outfit just for these pictures. What are Christmas tree photos without Christmas tree clothes??

**new favorite picture**
I got the bright idea to attempt a "full" family shot. It went well(ish).

Somebody remind me to put on make up next time. Scary Spice alert.

So we began yet another year in true Imperfect fashion. But is there a better way to start off a year strong than by hanging out with your favorite people?

I think not.

are you my mother?

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

Okay not really, because I do know who my mother is, but do you guys know which book I'm talking about? This one.

That book kind of breaks my heart. That poor bird spends the whole book looking for his Mom that he can't find. Thank God he finds her in the end or I'd be a hot mess of insanity, but still, he spends the whole book looking.

At one point, I think near the cat, I'm all like "just let him stay with you for the love!". But the cat doesn't. And he keeps looking.

The poor bird just doesn't fit in anywhere.

Making friends as an adult kind of makes me feel like that poor bird. Like I'm walking from group to group, just looking for someone that will accept me. It sucks sometimes.

See in high school, it's very easy to find your "group". For me, I was an athlete. My good friends were all athletes of some sort. We all knew about long practices and competition and there was an automatic common bond. For some reason, even though we didn't have everything in common, the love of a sport brought us together and kept us together. Then I was also pretty smart (what had happened?!) and so I fit in immediately with the "smart crowd". We weren't sitting around quoting Dickinson or anything, but we all had advanced classes which lead to things in common and.. friendships.

You were in class for hours a day followed by practice and what not and there was plenty of time to form said friendships. I mean, what else could you do for forty five minutes in class but talk?

Ha.

It's different now. There aren't classes and lunch breaks. There's Little Gym and such but you spend most of that time wrangling your crazy child.

No? Just me? Awesome.

Sometimes I meet a group of awesome women and I just want to holler "please be my friend!", but I don't. Because that would be lame. And weird. But what's the next step?? I just want to give them my Facebook, phone number, ~~first born~~, email or whatever I can to ensure another encounter.

It's sad.

I will say, that the friendships I have made in my adult life are way more meaningful than most I had in high school. And for that I am so thankful. Because the friends I do have? They are amazing and so special to me.

I'm also a huge fan of my blog and Twitter pals. Now if I could just get all of you to move onto my block that would be fantastic.

Project 366: 2012 edition

2012-01-22T22:12:00.001-05:00

Well here goes nothing... I'm giving this another shot.

As per usual, I need to do a bit of a catch up first so you get three weeks for the price of one this week!

Oh and because it's fun and I like joining things, this go 'round I'm linking up with one of my blog pals as she hosts a little Project 365 "get together" if you will each week.

Make sure you check out Laura's blog to see some of the other posts.

WEEK 1: (here we go again...)
Sunday, January 1st:

There are about three million toys in this house, but apparently the little one prepares to play in the disassembled dog crate. And she can't play alone. You should have heard her bossing Lacy around to get her in there with her.

Monday, January 2nd:

BG got these fairy wings for Christmas and she loves them. I think it's hilarious to see her walking around in them.

Tuesday, January 3rd:

When Daddy works late, the girls get Chick-fil-a. Oh yeah. Then we dip it in Ranch because BG currently dips everything in ranch. Or wants to. I do try to help her exercise some self control.

Wednesday, January 4th:

Surgery day. :( Look how big and brave my girl looks before going back!

Thursday, January 5th:

Poor Elmo :( She was playing with him, and then she just left him. He looked so sad sitting there. Reminded me of Toy Story 3 when all the toys get "left behind". I've officially lost it.

Friday, January 6th:

My Grandma always loved the sunsets looking out her back door over the water so I find it no coincidence that on the night she left us, we were graced with this beauty. This is a cell phone picture y'all. It doesn't even come close to doing it justice.

Saturday, January 7th:

Just hanging out in Savannah.

WEEK 2
Sunday, January 8th:

Rare photo of Mom and child and neither is paying a lick of attention. Typical.

Monday, January 9th:

Favorite place on Earth.

Tuesday, January 10th:

Watching some tv while Mom and Dad get ready for the day.

Wednesday, January 11th:
:)
Well now that didn't take long...

Thursday, January 12th:

Dinner.

Friday, January 13th:

BG and I went down to Myrtle Beach to see my brother and his fiancee while he was on R&R from Afghanistan. We did Christmas with them while we were there and in true BG form, she was more than careful as she pulled each piece of wrapping paper off one by one. No craziness from this one with paper flying everywhere. No way.

Saturday, January 14th:

She's my favorite. Even if she did stop waving leaving me to look like a moron in this picture.

WEEK 3: (yay!!)
Sunday, January 15th:

Back down in Savannah with Pops. We are traveling fools y'all.

Monday, January 16th:

Playing with her Little People zoo.

Tuesday, January 17th:

Visiting Daddy at work. Our Tuesdays always look the same; I pick up BG, we go see Daddy at work (he works late this day and won't see her if we don't), and then we hit up CFA. I love Tuesdays.

Wednesday, January 18th:

Dinner. Again. I take a bunch of pictures at dinner because it's usually about this time that I realize I haven't taken a picture yet that day. Oops.

Thursday, January 19th:

Apparently she doesn't like carrots...

Friday, January 20th:

Some cheese toast for breakfast. Very, very early in the morning.

Saturday, January 21st:

A Saturday afternoon ride.

That just took me forever. How about I keep up next week??

project 365: catch up part two & end scene.

2012-01-21T20:00:00.000-05:00

WEEK 50:
Sunday, December 11th:

Decorating the tree with Mom.

Monday, December 12th:

Always doing at least three different things.

Tuesday, December 13th:

Hanging out at the doctors. Again.

Wednesday, December 14th:

Hanging out watching a little tv.

Thursday, December 15th:
Oops.

Friday, December 16th:

This girl is always such a happy kid. You cannot help but smile around her.

Saturday, December 17th:

Hanging out with her pal T.

WEEK 51:
Sunday, December 18th:

The cute reindeer thumbprints BG made. How cute are these?!

Monday, December 19th:

Just cuddling my sweet girl late one night..

Tuesday, December 20th:

Dressed and ready for school! Why does she look so big?!?

Wednesday, December 21st:

BG had a Christmas party at school and had a blast. This is her and her best friend at school enjoying some cupcakes (at ten am; ~~crazy~~ brave teacher).

Thursday, December 22nd:

My favorite picture from our family Christmas Eve. Good thing she's not sassy at all.

Friday, December 23rd:

Stopping for some lunch on the road to Savannah.

Saturday, December 24th:

While we were in town for the holidays, we stopped at Mr. P's old workplace to talk to some of his old employees. Somehow BG manages to acquire a sucker every time we go see Daddy at work. Apparently that is also the case at the store in Savannah.

WEEK 52:
Sunday, December 25th:

Me and my sweet, sweet girl on Christmas. Man I love that girl.

Monday, December 26th:

Ready to get on the road back to South Carolina. Little did we know we'd be headed to the ER.

Tuesday, December 27th:

A sick day at home means a collander can be a toy. No rules on sick days.

Wednesday, December 28th:

Doing her nighttime breathing treatment with Daddy. She is completely zonked out while doing this.

Thursday, December 29th:

After a few days locked inside, the little one had the cabin fever bad. So I bundled her up and took her outside for a bit. It totally did her modd some good.

Friday, December 30th:

I'm obsessed with this child's perfect face. I admit it. I cannot help it.

Saturday, December 31st:

Helping Daddy get dinner ready for the next day.

...and CUT!

While I missed a few days here and there, I am SO glad (and shocked) that I stuck with this.

Also, just for grins and giggles...

Holy cow. What a difference a year makes.

Christmas Recap- part two

2012-01-18T19:47:00.000-05:00

There's not too much to say about the day after Christmas, but I do really want to get these pictures on here for memories sake.

BG woke up with a 103 fever that morning. She was on fire. She'd had a runny nose and I could tell she was slowing down the night before, but I figured she had caught a cold. But this day, she also was coughing non stop. Basically she breathed; she coughed. Fun.

In true BG form, she still wanted to play and cut up and go "oudide" over and over. This would be the other reason I just thought she had a cold.

**Looking at these pictures now makes it obvious how bad she felt. And just makes me feel horrible all over again. :( **

We spent the afternoon playing; inside, outside, inside, outside. Lather, rinse, repeat. BG loved having so many people at her beck and call. Truth? Mama did too. Gives this girl a break.

Coughing. Nice huh?

I loved having Little Man around with BG. These two were hilarious. He's in the not sharing stage so he would fa-reak out anytime she came near something. Thankfully BG is a pretty laidback child and would just walk away from whatever toy he wanted. Then he'd move to the next one she found. Fun times. But they had a blast together.

We were keeping her fever down with Tylenol, but after nap time, we couldn't keep it down for anything. We called her doctor back home and were told to up her Tylenol and add Ibuprofen. I was a bit nervous to get on the road with her feeling so bad, so we stuck around a bit longer to see if we could get it down. We kept doing her treatments to see if we could get the cough to chill out, but nothing was helping.

I had a gingerbread house in the car that we had never got around to making so I pulled that out for the kiddos to make. Kept their attention for a good five minutes. Win.

BG thought it was more fun to eat the supplies.

Eventually we had to go. Boo hiss. I hate leaving family and heading back home. Hate it.

No sooner had we got on the road than BG started doing this funny breathing thing. I just knew we were going to get halfway home and have to find and ER in some town we didn't know, so we turned around and headed back into town to hit up the hospital in Savannah. Our poor dogs were stuck in the car for the next three hours (thank goodness they are good and it was perfect weather) while BG sat around in her diaper eating popsicles, getting x-rays and breathing treatments, and testing positive for RSV. Oh yea. RSV. M's mothering skills for the win. I've now missed a double ear infection and RSV. Amazeballs.

So her cold? Not a cold. Thank goodness the other kids around her didn't get it.

We ended up leaving town at three am and driving all night. We stopped in Columbia to sleep in the car for a bit and make it home about eight am. Just in time for this girl to go to work.

Right.

I spent the day curled up in bed with my girl instead.

Thankfully, she's a trooper. Who got to spend the next week at home with her Daddy while Mama brought home the bacon. Good Mama.

Maybe next Christmas she'll stay healthy??

Christmas 2011 Recap- part one.

2012-01-17T12:55:00.001-05:00

I think life might be returning to life as normal here. Well, our new normal.

A week after the loss of my Grandma, our dear family friends lost their daughter. So to say 2012 has been a bit of a doozy so far would be quite the understatement.

Obviously I'm a bit behind on the 'ol blog so let's back it up a bit shall we?

Warning you now, there is an insane amount of pictures in this post. But I'm so glad to have them so there on here. K.

We ended up going to Savannah for Christmas this year. I was really torn on this as I have always said that when we had kids, we would always do Christmas at out house. But this year was special because of how sick my Grandma was. Now? I am so glad we had that time with her.

We headed down there on Friday after we did our little family Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, my grandparents neighbor and a dear family friend came over to bring BG a little surprise.

To say she enjoyed it would be putting it mildly.

Mr. P, BG and I went back to our old church for the Christmas Eve service that night. Unfortunately they didn't have a nursery, so BG and I spent most of the time out in the lobby with the other toddlers and their parents. It was good catching up with some old friends though! Mr. P was nice enough to come out there with her for me to hear the candlelight hymns. Those are my favorite.

Christmas morning we woke up at Aunt P's house and then headed back over to my grandparents house after a quick little pick me up.

I kid.

My Aunt and Uncle and their grandson were coming in from Texas that morning so we let BG open a few presents but wanted to save most til they got there.

Finally the rest of the family got there. Then the kiddos both passed out for hours. This girl was dying to open presents.

And I do mean me... Big kid.

While the kiddos napped, we adults did our gift swap.

The pile waiting on the kids. Spoiled much?

Finally the kiddos were awake. Bring on the presents. Unfortunately, BG was beginning to not feel so hot by this point. Looking back at the pictures, it's obvious how terrible she felt. Poor baby...

Little Man Skyping with Nonny and Pops.

My best friend brought her little girl by for a bit for a quick visit.

It was such a perfect day. I am so glad we got to have that time with most of us all together. I wish my parents and brother had been able to join us though.

Sweet babies...

Eventually we were all spent. So we headed back out to Aunt P's house for the night only to get up and do it all again the next day.

to be continued....

Messy Mom Monday

2012-01-16T17:47:00.001-05:00

Two bloggers whom I enjoy reading are hosting a different kind of link up today. When I saw Jess' and Brittany's posts today, I was all over it. I actually scrapped the "plan" for today and decided to hop on their train of thought.

A post where I can admit that my house is usually not perfect and that it's noon and I haven't showered yet? So right up my alley.

I think we're all guilty of sometimes pretending we have it more together than we really do. I'll admit; I'm not posting pictures of my Christmas decor or a new arrangement in the living room without ~~throwing crap in the closet~~ straightening up first. I like to pretend that my house isn't messy more than it's not.

I admit most of the time I don't feel like I have it together. Currently? this is my living room. Even I'm not sure what most of that junk is. I'd like to blame this all on the fact that I haven't been home in what seems like weeks, but truth be told it looks like this more often than not. I'm just bad at picking up and during the week, we all come and go like hurricanes so when we're home, we like to relax.

I sent the little one to her school for a while today so that I could tackle my ever growing to-do list. See that list? Nothing is crossed off. I took that picture at noon. Fail.

I still haven't showered. I'm rocking two day unwashed hair, a three sizes too large sweatshirt and glasses. I'm a hot mess today.

Apparently the bar is where all things currently come to die. It will be days before I deal with this. I've actually managed to clean up the living room by this time, but this mess? still hanging out.

The playroom currently looks like ToysRUs threw up in it. But that's normal. And this is actually way better than normal. I'll take this.

The poor kitchen becomes a catch all way too often. There are toys everywhere and boxes. From when we moved. Nine months ago. Still want to be friends?

I'm awful at cleaning the kitchen. I kind of hate it. I will leave dishes overnight more often than I should. And loads of laundry have the tendency to be washed three times before I finally move them to the dryer. And take days to get in closets. Oops.

There's my truth. Sometimes my house is scary. Most of the time I'm scary. But I'm surviving. I'll call that a win in Motherhood.

a few days later....

2012-01-12T10:16:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, I attended the funeral of a very close family friend.

I sat a few rows back and watched the family that I'd spent my entire life admiring for their closeness as they came together to say good-bye to their family matriarch.

As I watched, I couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to be them at that moment. With all the attention and the love and the outpouring of support. That would surely make all this a bit easier no?

No.

Fast forward a few years and it is my turn to be the family. Not so fun.

What sucks is the days after the funeral and all that jazz. When the texts, email, tweets, and Facebook messages stop coming. When the food is no longer being delivered. When it seems that everyone else is back to their normal.

Only what is now normal for the family?

How do they get on with their "daily lives"?

The next time I walk into my Grandma's house, for the first time since she started having hearing issues years ago, the first words out of my mouth will not be a loud "Hi Grandma!" to alert her I'm there.

I'll never again ask for a piece of gum only to have her dig in her humongous purse and pull out half a piece (covered in lint no less. I'll never understand why she only ever chewed half a piece).

I'll never leave her house with a $20 stuffed into my hands again. I never got out of that house without money. I can still hear her telling my Papa he better "find her more than that". A $5 wouldn't do for her.

I'll never sit for hours in a bookstore while she let me peruse the aisles for a few to bring home. She never rushed me.

I'll never ride around town with the country music blaring. Or try to switch it up on her only to have her switch it right back to country and away from "that mess".

It's a few days later and I'm stumped. I'm stumped at how to go on for the first time in twenty nine years without my Grandma. She's everywhere. My long, bony fingers that type out this post are just like hers and when I apply my makeup, I'll peer into green eyes also just like hers. My closet is full in large part to her and her desire to shop and also to give me a handful of clothes every time I went home.

At the funeral home the other day, my precious baby girl let us all know that she got what was going on with a few simple words. And while she was able to utter "bye bye Grandma. I love you", her mother seems to be having a problem saying the same thing. I'm at a loss.

But... I'll figure it out.

a good-bye

2012-01-08T16:47:00.003-05:00

Obviously I've taken a few days off and I'm going to take just a few more... You see, my sweet, sweet grandmother who has been battling cancer since June, has gone home to be with the Lord. My heart is a bit tender right now as my grandmother was one of the best people I had in my life and I just plain miss her. So I'm taking some time.

I'm thankful that she is healed for the first time since June and that is she in the arms of our Lord as we ~~speak~~ type, but it plain sucks being left behind. Please pray for our family as we move on from this.

21 months

2012-01-04T22:28:00.002-05:00

Oh sweet girl. This month has been an absolute blast. You are such a little spitfire and your personality has exploded this month. You are by far the most fun little person to be around (you're also the most exhausting kiddo). You makes us laugh and smile so much. Sometimes too much when you're acting out but we can't quit laughing enough to discipline you. You are very dramatic. You might get that from me. You can also cut your eyes with a quickness (also from me, oops). Every month you surprise us with how quick you are changing and growing. So what have you been up to this month...

You've gotten a little bossy. You like to point your finger at us (okay me) and say "no!". Or push me and say "go!". You do that to the dogs as well. They take it better than I do. You also like to tell the dogs to "back up!" and "get out". Better be glad they're nice dogs...

You're getting a bit more picky with what you will eat. You do not eat meat. Well, that's not true. You eat very, very little meat. Hot dogs are your favorite. Which actually sticks with the no meat thing (ga-ross).

You still love you some Abby and Elmo.

Little Einsteins is by far your favorite cartoon. You love those guys. It makes my day to see you going "pat pat pat" on your legs and then holler "BAST OFF!!" (blast off). It is so cute.

You love all things sparkly and girly. You got a pair of Squeaky Shoes for Christmas and you fell head over heels for them. (You guys should see her prance in these things. So adorable!).

You prance around the house doing this football player meets ballerina walk. I've got to get it on tape. Hilarious.

You are so, so funny. And you know it. You love to make us laugh and it just makes you laugh harder and harder when we get going.

You drag us around by the fingers and say "Come!".

Your words are taking off. I guarantee once you get your tubes in, you'll be using phrases like nobody's business.

You've had a lot of problems with your ears and your R.A.D. this month. We've been hooked to a nebulizer almost non-stop. You went to the ENT and he recommends you get tubes and have your adenoids taken out, so we'll be doing that. We ended up in the E.R. on NYE and found out you had RSV. Fun night. Here's hoping to a healthier month coming up.

You move all day every day (I'm pretty sure this is my new reality and I can copy and paste this on every recap from here on out).

You like to sing your ABC's and can even recognize a few letters. We're working on numbers now too. You can tell everyone you're one and will sometimes tell people you're "almost two" (how is that possible?!?).

You now say "I love you Mommy" or "I love you Daddy". Melt. My. Heart. Pretty sure your Dad teared up when you first said that to him. No lie? I still tear up almost every time you say it.

You tell us "bye bye" at bed time.

This month has been a doozy as we're definitely seeing some tantrums. I thought we somehow missed the whole throw yourself on the floor and scream thing, but apparently not. You will throw yourself down and kick and scream "no! no! no!" when you don't want something. It's fun I tell you. It's why time out has become a daily thing around these parts.

You are just such a sweet girl. You love to give hugs and kisses and say "I wuv you". It makes everything better, cannot lie.

STATS:

Height: 33 3/4 inches

Weight: 30 pounds (you've lost about 3 pounds this month thanks to RSV and a week and half of not eating. Your rolls are disappearing with a quickness which makes this Mama so sad. :()

Sleep: Sleep has been iffy this month as you've felt like tail, but you still go to bed around 7 or 7:30 and will sleep til 8:30 am if we let you. One nap a day around noon for 2 hours.

Teeth: 14. Another eye tooth made it's appearance this month.

Clothes: 2T and some 3T. In pants you usually need 3T because you're pretty long. You wear a 6 1/2 shoe and a size 5 diaper during the day and at night.

Favorite foods: So weird this month with your eating, but you still like french fries, oranges, avacados, oatmeal, yogurt, Goldfish and cheese the most.

Favorite toys: Abby and Elmo dolls, alphabet train, shoes, remotes, some blocks for a second, and your new kitchen.

Bring it 2012

2012-01-03T10:00:00.000-05:00

I usually fail miserably at New Year's Resolutions, but being it is a new year and all that jazz, here I am resolving to do better this year.

You can see 2010's and 2011's here.

1. This is the same as last year; I just want to continue to grow in my relationship with God. This goes hand in hand with getting involved more in our church. I want to be on fire in my faith again. I want to build a solid foundation in my faith so that BG has something to look to. This is by far my most important resolution.

2. Work on financial freedom. I want everything paid down and get us back on track with budgets and saving and all that jazz. Economy sucks. Money sucks. Budget needed. Enough said.

3. Get healthy. I lost most of the weight that I wanted to lose in 2011, but I now want to lose some more. And get back out on the pavement. I feel so much better when I'm running and being active. I've got to get back out there. I'm also not a big fast food eater anyway, but I want to cut it out for good. And diet soda. That might kill me. I just want to make better food and lifestyle decisions. BG is at the point where she watches you like a hawk and I want her to see me making good decisions. So I should probably start doing that...

4. Find a sitter here in town and go on date nights. I would love to say weekly date nights, but that will never happen with our schedule. So maybe twice a month? At least. Is that sad? That's about twice a month more than we're doing now so there's that.

5. Figure out what I want to do with my life (career wise) and make it happen. I'm making that decision this year. To be continued..

They aren't much but they're all things I need to work towards. I know it's a total cliche to make these resolutions, but I like the idea of a new year bringing a clean slate. So here we go 2012. Please be nicer than 2011 was.

Christmas Recaps: Our Little Family Christmas

2012-01-02T20:52:00.000-05:00

You know what's awesome?

Searching and searching for the perfect gift for your little one and finding it.

Which we totally did.

Although it wasn't the play kitchen that I researched and shopped for for months. It was a tiny 13 inch Abby Cadabby doll that I bought to go with the Elmo doll I picked for her. And that tiny 13 inch Abby doll was the hit of Christmas.

It really is the little things isn't it?

This video is really long and is more for us, but check out the beginning. You can see her excitement upon walking in to see her gifts. And you can also see how quickly she finds Abby. She really does love that fluffy little creature.

Christmas was awesome. Playing Santa for my kid is way better than I ever thought it would be.

Is it bad that I'm already sort of excited for next year?

Watching BG walk from present to present, rip the paper off tiny piece by tiny piece, and smile at each new gift she received made my morning. Hearing her learn to say "Happy Birthday Jesus" made my holiday. Dang y'all... this parenting thing sort of rocks.

That smile? Says Family Christmas 2011 was a success. Yes.

2011: a look back

2011-12-31T10:35:00.001-05:00

I'm kind of in awe that I'm writing a look back at 2011 when I can distinctly remember just writing 2010s. This is insane. So for grins and giggles, lets look back shall we? I loved doing this in 2009 and 2010 so here we go again.This year was kind of a doozy. And to be honest? As it ends, there is still so, so much up in the air. I'm actually ready for 2011 to be over. I'm going to need some answers and some closure in 2012, please and thank you?But at the same time, 2011 was sort of awesome. So many changes. Some good, some bad. It will be interesting to see what happens next...January:We started the year quietly, in our tiny little apartment, just the three of us and the pets. I set some 2011 goals, that I didn't do too bad on. Could always do better, but at least it wasn't a total fail. My little one turned 9 months old. I started Project 365. We had our first snow day which was HUGE to this Georgia girl.We ventured to the park for the first time and the little one got to check out the swings which she loved. I got to meet one of my favorite bloggers in person and began what has become an "in real life" friendship. We headed down to Savannah for a big 'ol visit home.February:BG had her first real sick day. Boo. BG turned 10 months old. We celebrated the little's first Valentine's Day. BG and I had a couple of really fun park play dates.BG and I made the trek up to Maryland with Uncle Marine to spend some time with Nonny and Pops. March:BG turned 11 months old. As BG's first birthday drew closer and closer, I got all kinds of reflective about my first year with her. We went on our first family trip to the zoo. BG and I went to Savannah for her first St. Patrick's Day and had an absolute blast. I spent the month getting ready for BG's first birthday and trying not to lose my mind. I got to meet Anne for the first time and begin another great friendship thanks to blog land. I decided it was time to get the baby weight off for good and joined Weight Watchers. April:My sweet, sweet girl turned one. We threw an amazing party to celebrate the first year of her life and were surrounded by our amazing family and friends. The little started taking some hesitant steps. Mr. P and I struggled to find our family a new church home in our new state. We celebrated BG's second "first" Easter. BG and I got up really early to watch THE WEDDING. We went down to Georgia for a big 'ol celebration of April birthdays with AP's family. We took our first family hike.May:BG turned 13 months old. I celebrated my second Mother's Day. BG started walking more and more! Mr. P and I celebrated our sixth anniversary. We moved. Again. Mr. P celebrated his 34th birthday. BG and I headed down to Georgia to go to the aquarium with family and also got to meet up with Lyndsey and Tracy and their sweet kiddos. My family came up to celebrate Memorial Day with us in South Carolina. I hit eleven pounds down thanks to Weight Watchers.June:BG is now 14 months old. We headed south to BG's buddy's birthday party and then north to a wedding all in one weekend. Mr. P celebrated his second Father's Day. We found out my sweet Grandma had stomach cancer. I took a leap of faith and began taking pictures of people that were not my family. I went back to work part-time. July: We traveled down to Florence to spend some time with Uncle Marine as he began to get ready to head overseas again. BG is 15 months old. We had an incredible Fourth of July weekend. We checked out the splash pad for the first time. BG's fierce love of accessories and all things "girl" exploded. We switched BG to forward facing in the car and she LOVES it.August:BG is now 16 months old. We did whatever we could to survive the hot summer days. I continued to lose weight slowly but surely on Weight Watchers. We went to a "Princess Night" and BG loved it big time. I left BG for the first time to head home for my high school reunion and my Mom came down to hang out with her for the weekend.September:17 months. Hold me. I turned 29. Hold me again. We took BG to see Sesame Street Live. Mr. P and I had a long overdue "date day". Mr. P traveled to Orlando for a week for work. We headed to Savannah for a second birthday party and some family time. I went to a "tweet up" in Atlanta and got to meet one of my blog "besties" for the first time.October:Uncle Marine headed back overseas. BG's sitter went back to work and she started attending a "real" daycare for the first time. I also redid her room to a big girl room. The little is now 18 months old. We ventured to the pumpkin patch. We let BG attempt pumpkin painting for the second year in a row. We went to Boo in the Zoo. BG got her first ear (double) infection. We ventured to another pumpkin patch (and another). We celebrated Halloween.November:BG and I checked out the Balloon Festival here in town. She turned 19 months. We checked out Cabbage Patch Land with AP. BG got diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease. BG and I made another Savannah trip. We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving just the three of us. We got to spend some time with my Dad, Mr. P's parents and Mr. P's cousin who lives overseas and his family Thanksgiving weekend.December:We kicked off the Christmas festivities with our town's Christmas Tree Lighting and Christmas parade. I now have a 20 month old. We went to see Santa. We picked out our perfect (?) Christmas tree. BG had her first hair cut. BG had her first Christmas program at school. We celebrated Christmas here a few days early and then headed to Savannah for a few days. BG came down with RSV and Mr. P is battling some sort of yuckies. It's New Years Eve and I'm watching tv and drinking some wine while my sickos rest. 2011 is done son. Looking back, it's been an amazing year. I am ready for 2012 though. Bring on the clean slate!Happy New Year to you all!

time-out

2011-12-29T22:08:00.003-05:00

So we've started trying time-out.

I'm not here to discuss discipline methods or what is right and wrong, I'm just trying to figure out what is right for us.

Now we're not above spanking. I got spanked. Mr. P got spanked and we both turned out fine. But... I don't think spanking is the answer for everything.

So we're trying time out.

Apparently BG goes in time-out at school, or has seen other kids do it because she totally knows what it is.

She'll go right into that corner and stick that little nose against the wall. Then she'll start side eyeing you. Based on how you appear during that side glance, she'll either start giggling, or crying. And when I say crying, I mean a break your heart "Mommy..." with a shaky bottom lip.

Oh yea. She's totally playing us.

But it's sort of working. After she gets out, she'll come running to us and say "I sorry Mama" or "I sorry Daddy" and we talk about why she went into time out. I think she gets it. I do.

Then tonight, she got popped on the bottom. It was actually a little play pop from Mr. P to tell her to get out of the fridge. It actually was more of an attention getter than anything. No sooner had he done it than she whipped around, pointed that little finger at him and said "Uh uh!!".

How do you keep a straight face with that?!?!?

She's a spit fire. That's for sure. And while I love her spirit, I know it has to be guided. So we're figuring out how... daily. By trial and error. Good times.

So time out. How do we keep her still in that corner. And how do we not laugh when she is such a ham?!? Even when she's getting in trouble!

our little family Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T20:49:00.002-05:00

Since we headed down to Savannah for Christmas this year, we decided to just move our family of three Christmas ahead a few days so that we could still have that time just the three of us. Since we moved Christmas up, we had to move Christmas Eve up as well right??

So that's what we did.

Last Thursday when Mr. P and I got off of work, we took BG to a local place that does a big light display every year. It was raining but I was bound and determined to see some lights, so off we went. We got out for a second to check out Santa for the second time. I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't slightly hoping for the "terrified toddler does Santa" screaming picture, but alas, this does not appear to be my year for that.

Where did this cool, calm baby come from?

After her visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, we hopped in the truck to check out the lights. I climbed in the back and pulled the little out of her seat to sit with me and we "oohed" and "ahhed" as drove past the lights multiple times. Who only goes through once when they have an excited toddler with them?!? Not these guys.

Afterwards we headed on home to get ready for Santa. Thankfully for BG, her Daddy worked out a deal where Santa went ahead and came a few days early so that he could visit her before we left. That nice, old man. ;)

We didn't get around to making cookies, but we did have some in the house to leave out for the big man. Getting BG to put out the cookies instead of eat them was quite the battle.

BG moved her advent calendar mouse for the last time this holiday..

We battled it out over eating Santa's cookies for another go 'round (my child loves the cookies y'all)...

trying to convince her that Santa wouldn't come if there were no cookies...

...and then finally we curled up to read a few pages of one of her Christmas books before calling it a night.

It was off to bed after that so that Santa and his elves could build a baby girl's kitchen and work some more magic for our family Christmas the next day.

to be continued...

checking in..

2011-12-27T14:29:00.001-05:00

I'm in a bit of a post Christmas funk. It's cold and gray here and I already miss my family.

But more than that, my little one managed to get pretty sick last night while leaving Savannah and we've had quite the night. But more on that to come.

She's fine. We're all very tired. And we're all feeling very, very blessed as we sit and enjoy this quiet day together. (Only plus of a sick kid? lots of cuddles and an extra day off work).

Hope you all had the merriest of Christmases! I know we did.

Christmas program

2011-12-22T23:52:00.003-05:00

Daycare has managed to become both the bane of my existence as well as a saving grace. Crazy right?

I hate waking BG up in the morning to get her there in time. I also hate being away from her all day and having her come home overstimulated and overtired some days.

But I love that she is learning and drawing and making little friends which shows her growing social skills. And I really love that she gets to be involved in fun things like Christmas programs that I can attend and take way too many pictures of.

Last week, BG's school put on a program for the kiddos. It was a "pajama party" of sorts where the school headmaster lady read them all a Christmas book with songs thrown in.

We went ahead and hooked BG up early with her Christmas jammies and some amazing new kicks to wear for her first performance.

That would be her "I really, really like Elmo, but I'm not so sure about the little dude on my feet" face.

The older kids did most of the program which was pretty cute and sort of hilarious. Way too many children, but they behaved well. I kept finding my mind wandering as I tried to figure out how in the world I became old enough to have a child in one of these things. I still remember being in these programs.

Finally it was time for the little ones to come out for the last two songs. BG walked out with her teacher Miss B and was in awe. Check out her face!

We were on the front row (duh), so she saw us immediately and tried to make a run for it. Thank goodness all it took was us asking her to go back to her teacher and she did. Love that girl.

Y'all she did so good!! Obviously she was pretty much frozen and spent most of her time staring out at everyone, but she stayed up there and behaved and, oh, I am so proud!

Then it was over and the girls in her class headed back with their teacher for pictures where two of them melted down and my always cool, laid back kiddo sat on the couch and waited for the others to cool it and say "cheese". Nothing about the night phased her.

Cross that one of the "Mommy Bucket List"; I've officially been to my daughter's first school "play". And loved it.

snip snip

2011-12-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

It was time.

BG actually doesn't have a lot of hair. While she may have gotten every single other physical characteristic (okay not all) from her Daddy, one thing she did not get is his thick, amazing hair.

His hairline? yes. His lack of a part? yes. But not that thick hair.

Instead, the apparently ONE contribution I made to the little (besides her coloring and that amazeballs smile), would be a head of thin, doesntwanttogrowatall hair.

Fun.

So BG is almost two (gasp!) years old and is still rocking basically no hair up top but was starting to rock a fierce mullet in the back.

I've trimmed up her little baby bangs a few times but I was not touching her sweet hair to give her her first actual haircut.

So last Saturday, I picked up the phone, called a local salon and made BG an appt for that afternoon.

Right during naptime. I have amazing timing.

After multiple tantrums and looks from Mr. P saying he had zero faith in this decision, I finally got the two of them to the salon.

Where BG happily took a sucker from the nice lady, climbed in a chair, and froze.

I know my kid folks. She is always better for other people than she is for us. I so knew this would work.

While the other ladies in the salon "oohed" and "aahed" over her, BG sat wide eyed, sucker forgotten, as the lady took a few snips of that baby fine hair. I cannot tell a lie when I say I totally choked up a bit at just how big she seemed while still looking like my tiny baby in that big 'ol chair.

We took a billion pictures and smiled when the ladies remarked on just how good she was doing, while we let ourselves just soak all that in (and tried to block the hell we went through to get her there out).

It was over in five minutes. I managed to grab a handful of tiny, baby hairs to keep forever and BG hopped out of the chair and remembered that sucker.

We took her to Chick-fil-a to celebrate her being so good. And just like that, we accomplished another first. Man this is flying by.

the tree.

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

So we got a tree.

My plan was to drive us out to a Christmas Tree farm, look around, take tons of pictures and then hit up Lowes on the way home and buy one. Because that's how we do. And I'm cheap. And Christmas tree farm trees are not cheap.

But.... that didn't happen.

Well, I didn't drag us out to a tree farm for pictures (which could still happen..), but we did hit up Lowes and got us a tree.

BG was super excited to pick out her tree. Or she was super excited to wear the awesome hat I got her out of the Target dollar bin. One or the other.

We walked around for a little bit while we ~~begged~~ asked BG to focus and pick a tree. Finally she did.

It was perfect. It was full and tall and ~~cheap~~ green. What more could you ask for?

Well then we got home and found that it's trunk was crooked. And Mr. P cut a good two feet of it off. So now? we rock a Charlie Brown tree. Which is fun in it's own way.

We dragged out all the Christmas ornaments and waited two days for the tree to fall and Mr. P to put lights on it. Finally, it was time to decorate.

This little creature got to put the first ornament on. She was pretty proud of herself too.

Charlie Brown tree and all... I think it turned out perfect.

project 365: catch up (part 1)

2011-12-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

I am bound and determined to finish this thing up, so here's a little catch up.

WEEK 46:
Sunday, November 13th:
Fail. Nothing like starting a catch up post off strong.

Monday, November 14th:

Spaghetti. It's whats for dinner.

Tuesday, November 15th:

This girl KILLS me. She is so full of personality and I LOVE it.

Wednesday, November 16th:

Love.

Thursday, November 17th:

Oh you know, just accessorizing for bed.

Friday, November 18th:
Fail. Again.

Saturday, November 19th:

Hanging out with T. And always on a phone. Such a girl..

WEEK 47
Sunday, November 20th:

Happy place.

Monday, November 21st:
:)

Tuesday, November 22nd:

BG's new machine. She's such a big girl about it now.

Wednesday, November 23rd:

Spending the afternoon with Mrs. Tiffany and T and having an absolute blast.

Thursday, November 24th:

Excited to help Daddy make Thanksgiving dinner!

Friday, November 25th:

BG was doing a little "decorating" in her room. She has a major love of stickers right now.

Saturday, November 26th:

Just doing some rearranging at Granny's house.

WEEK 48
Sunday, November 27th:

Had to take a call.

Monday, November 28th:
:)

Tuesday, November 29th:

We get excited about dinner around here.

Wednesday, November 30th:

She was fascinated by all the lights.

Thursday, December 1st:

Yep. Still decorating.

Friday, December 2nd:

Santa attempt numero uno.

Saturday, December 3rd:

Eating with family in Greenville.

WEEK 49
Sunday, December 4th:

Trying to take monthly pictures of this one is not such a good time anymore.

Monday, December 5th:

Uh yea. Apparently decoration containers make awesome trampolines.

Tuesday, December 6th:

This is how she brushes her teeth. Whatever. This is a battle every night so as long as it gets done, I do not care how.

Wednesday, December 7th:

So our potty lives in the hall. Which is fine since it's ridiculous clean. Know why? Because it's never been used. We've got plenty of time for that though..

Thursday, December 8th:

My version of the curl down.

Friday, December 9th:

Doing a little reading.

Saturday, December 10th:

Loving her new hat. I love her.

Almost caught up......

Christmas Tour

2011-12-16T22:51:00.006-05:00

Today I'm linking up with one of my absolute favorites, Erin, in the Oh What Fun It Is series, as well as with Kelly to show you a bit of my Christmas decor.

I've tried to be toddler friendly with things, but I also didn't want a bare house so I have spent a lot of the last few weeks saying "no" and "put that back" and "Baby Girl we do NOT eat the tree!". However, she loves the lights and such so I'm glad we did it.

Her snowflake decorations

Baby Girl's Room:
There's a small tree in Baby Girl's room as well as a few other little touches. Her tree has a few pink and green ornaments on it. I think this tree is Mr. P's from before we even got married. We may need to invest in one of her very own one day.

There are about a billion lights on that little tree which is why it kind of resembles the burning of Atlanta. Oops.

Our Dining Room:

Christmas china that was a gift from my mother in law.

The Living Room:

We let the little one pick out the tree. It was a lot larger when she picked it out. However, we got it home to find out the trunk was all twisted so we had to cut about half of it off. So now we have a Charlie Brown teeniny tree. Super fun. Oh. And with a huge stalk up top that Mr. P was supposed to trim down but I don't see happening...

The bar between the dining and room living room. And yay! Christmas cards!

Our nativity set and a few other random decorations.

I really had all the best of intentions to make a Christmas card holder but, well, I didn't. This has really grown on me though.

Last but not least, our advent calendar which BG gets to switch each night before going to bed (clearly not tonight though....ooops).

So that's that. It's not much, but I love it. There's something about Christmas decorations that can make the home seem so much more homier. Love it.

traditions

2011-12-15T21:39:00.005-05:00

I've mentioned on here ~~three million times~~ once or twice that I love a tradition. In fact, I'm such a fan that I usually put too much pressure on an event and end up disappointed. I'm getting better at that, but slowly.

Christmas time is full of tradition and today I'm linking up with AP to talk about some of my families growing up and some we have now.

Growing up there was cookie baking and Christmas parties with friends. We did a "Dirty Santa" party with our neighbors and their family each year. Christmas Eve included the candlelight service at church followed by heading back home to read "The Night Before Christmas" and the Christmas story in the Bible before getting to open our smallest gift and then heading to bed. Christmas morning, we sang "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus before any gifts and then made our way to the grandparents for lunch. I always loved spending the morning with my parents and my brother and then getting to see everyone else in the afternoon. It was just a great day with family.

When you get married, it can be a bit tough to figure out how to mesh traditions. Before Mr. P and I had BG, we were a bit lax on tradition and were pretty go with the flow. However, now that we have BG, we're working hard to start our own traditions.

It's important to me to send a Christmas card each year. This will happen every year and it will include our family picture each year. I'm sure I'll be bribing Mr. P and BG for pictures for years to come.

There will always be church on Christmas Eve. Always. In fact since we didn't have a church home last year, I searched high and low for a church that had one. I love the candlelight service. It gets my mind right for the next day. Plus singing those hymns to candlelight? Chills.

"The Night Before Christmas" and the Christmas story will be read before bed. And in lieu of opening the smallest gift on Christmas Eve, I want to start the opening matching pajamas so we can all look adorable(ish) on Christmas morning. I just love that tradition.

I was given a holiday Barbie ornament every year by my Mom from the first year they were released on. I still love those things. I want to find an ornament collection for BG so that she can have one for every year and eventually take with her when she leaves (when she's fifty). Mr. P and I also pick out an ornament each year that we think best represents our year (ie: new baby, new home, etc). It's fun, even though I'm always the one that ends up picking out the ornament.

Of course there is the yearly Santa picture. An absolute must. Along with riding around looking at Christmas lights.

Can we talk about how awesome this picture is?! Man I heart that child!

We bake cookies to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve and this year BG will also get to leave out reindeer food. We will always sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus on Christmas morning first thing.

We don't do the Elf on the Shelf yet, but I kind of can't wait til BG's old enough to get it. I think that might be on the agenda for 2013...

There's so many fun traditions and I'm sure we have more but I think that's enough. The thing is, it changes every year and I kind of love it. We're figuring out what is important to us and starting new traditions as we go. These are just some of the ones that we truly love. Can't wait to read some of yours!

Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-14T22:14:00.002-05:00

Today I'm linking up with Faith's Christmas Card Carousel.

I LOVE sending out Christmas cards. Love it. And if it were free (or if I were rich whichever happens first), I would send one to each and every one of you. Although I'd buy return labels because I so dropped the ball on that one and walked around with a curled hand for half a day.

Anyway. I also love getting cards. It's kind of like those school pictures that you traded back when you were in middle/high school. I loved that too. It made me smile each time I got one (especially if it had a super awesome note written on the back). Checking my mail during Christmas time? Makes me happy. I've been known to do a little squeal when I open the box and see lots of happy cards.

I save all the cards we get each year. I also save and frame our card from each year. It's just so fun to look back at all of them. We used Shutterfly again this year and as usual I was more than pleased with the quality of the card.

Our card. Even though we never made it to have photos done, I think it turned out pretty awesome. Probably just because the adorable toddler makes it. :)

Also a huge thank you to my pal AP who saved my tail when my computer took a brief timeout and helped me to get my picture card ready.

wordless wednesday: dancing with Barney

2011-12-14T12:49:00.001-05:00

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-12-13T13:55:00.004-05:00

Well it has happened. We are in full out Christmas mode here in the Imperfect household. Our house is finally decorated. Our cards have been sent. Our tree is up (as of one day ago but who's counting?).

It's Christmas. And I lurve it.

At the beginning of the month, Mr. P and I took BG to see our town's Christmas tree lighting. It was kind of iffy thanks to a toddler who was dangerously close to past her bed time, two adults that had just worked a long day and a jazz band that just would not quit playing; but we went, and we survived.

Yes. That would be me begging her to behave.

And her little face when that tree lit up?

Priceless. We might just go again next year.

Santa showed up. We decided to use this as a little practice session for when we go see Santa for "real".

Didn't go so well. But we laughed because isn't that what parents of these little people are supposed to do? And because that face is hilarious. Let's be serious.

That Sunday I took BG to the Christmas parade while Mr. P went to work. I was a bit nervous as she tends to be balls to the wall insane most of the time and I had visions of chasing her through a marching band dancing through my head. But she was amazing. Sat right in my lap and "oohed" and "aahed" as everything went by.

We even managed to catch a few pieces of candy. Win.

All these Christmas activities are so much more fun with her around. Even though she still doesn't "get it" and sometimes I swear she's trying to stress me out because I so want her to enjoy it and she doesn't seem too.

Then I remember her gasp as that city tree lit up. Or she says "Chee" when we start talking about Baby Jesus and the real reason for Christmas. And I get it. She's getting this. It's fun. It's Christmas.

20 months.

2011-12-12T19:00:00.000-05:00

So raise your ~~hand~~ thumb if your Mom dropped the ball on your 20 month post??

Alrighty then...

Man child. This month has been a blur. Probably because we have been in constant motion trying to keep up with you. You NEVER sit still.

You still love Elmo, but dare I say Abby may be your favorite?? You also call your Barney dvd Abby too though and ask for it multiple times a day.

You still love music. And you LOVE to dance. You don't even need music most of the time. We just have to ask you to dance and you get that little booty shaking.

You have thirteen teeth. Only one of your eye teeth have made an appearance so far.

You are still sick. We've been battling ear infections and colds and coughs all month. But it has not slowed you down one tiny bit.

You love clothes and shoes. You also really like to tell me what shoes you're going to wear.

You are still such a good eater. I always feel so blessed when I see all the ladies on Twitter talking about how their toddler won't eat. That is one thing we have zero issue with in this house.

You love to run at our knees and give us "hugs".

You grab our fingers and say "up!" when we're sitting on the floor.

You still love to read and play with your tea set. You love your dolls. You are obsessed with phones and remotes.

You are a Daddy's girl. There is no getting around that.

We could sing the "ABC's", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Jesus Loves Me" all day every day and it would not be enough for you.

You're making little friends at school. It makes me smile to see them say "bye" to you at the end of the day.

STATS:

Length: 33 1/2 inches

Weight: 32 pounds

Sleep: Going to bed around 6:30 til 7, getting up anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30 am. One nap a day from 12-2

Teeth: 13

Clothes: 24 months and 2T. 24 months in pants usually. You have short little legs. You are weighing a 6 1/2 shoe and a size 4 diaper.

Favorite foods: Hasn't changed much. Still mandarin oranges, bananas, avacados, Goldfish, NutriGrain bars, peaches, oatmeal and yogurt.

Favorite toys: dolls, jewelry, phones, remotes, Elmo on the tablet

the rest of turkey day 2011.

2011-12-11T16:30:00.005-05:00

It was pretty nice to have a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home. No dressing up, no extra noise, and the ability to keep all the leftovers to myself. yep. I said it.

But we did miss our family. So the following weekend, we headed down to Mr. P's parents' house to spend some time with his family.

BG had a blast playing with her cousins. We rarely get to see these girls so it was so much fun to get all of them together. This was the first time they all met. Thank goodness they all got along...

After nap time and some fun times swimming in Granny's jacuzzi (for the little ones, not this girl), I managed to drag everyone outside for a few family pictures. Trust me, they were thrilled.

Mr. P's cousin and his family only stayed the one day but we stuck around because my Dad was coming through town on his way home from Savannah. So much family!

We met my Dad and my little brother's girlfriend for lunch in town.

I had big plans to try and take our family's Christmas card picture while we had some family around to take it. However, Mr. P and BG obviously had different plans as he didn't bring any clothes and she was just plain out uncooperative.

We did manage to get one picture that was halfway decent. Thank goodness.

Then I tried to get one of BG with her Dad and both granddads. Ha. My kid is such a ham.

She's crazy y'all. She then decided to spend the rest of the afternoon running around the porch, pushing people in rocking chairs while screaming "rocky! rocky!", making faces through the storm door and banging away on the piano.

Never a dull moment.

Eventually it was time for Pops (my Dad) to hit the road so the three of us decided to head on out too.

Fortunately, thanks to all that good grandparent loving, BG was out before we even got on the interstate. Score.

savannah trip.

2011-12-09T21:41:00.004-05:00

Guess who has a new computer?!?!

Yea, so let's play catch up shall we?

Last month (ay yi yi), BG and I decided to take a little weekend trip back home. I've mentioned on here that my Grandma is battling cancer, so we decided to take a trip to check in on her. Plus? Mr. P had to work all weekend and I really missed my bff's so...

My best friend since 5th grade invited us to come stay the weekend with her. Um okay. So we packed up and hit the road when I got off work Friday evening.

It's easy to roadtrip at night with BG because she will sleep the entire way. Awesome. We didn't even stop. Of course she was wired when we got to C's house so that was fun.

Saturday we headed to lunch with two of my favorite ladies and little T. BG was thrilled to see her little boyfriend that she hasn't seen since April!

It's pretty hard to catch up with two very active toddlers around, but we did our best and included lots of laughter. Man have I missed these ladies.

love this.

We spent a few hours with my grandparents and aunt Saturday afternoon but then headed back to C's for dinner, drinks, lots of laughs and movies. There are few things on this planet that I love more than down time with my girlfriends. They so feed my soul.

Sunday we got up bright and early thanks to BG and C's two kiddos. After breakfast and cartoons, BG and I headed back into town to eat lunch with my grandparents.

Yes, she was over it by this point. She did not sleep well at C's at all. Le sigh..

Before heading out of town, we hit the beach for a few hours with C and the kiddos. Unfortunately BG was done son by this point and it was just about a disaster. If the water hit her; she cried. Sand on her hands? Disaster. Drink spilled? O.M.G.
Can you see the meltdown face??? Because I can still hear those cries... Meltdown.

Fortunately C's boyfriend joined us for a bit and BG quickly decided he was the bee's knees and decided to act like a human being for a while.

But only if he was holding her. Fun.

Eventually we had to tear ourselves away and head home. Sob. Unfortunately we got about two hours down the road when I remembered that I had left all of BG's meds back at C's house. Not okay. Fortunately C's friend met us about halfway with her meds. That just lead to Meltdown 2.0 when BG saw him and realized he was not coming with us.

But we made it home. And I'm dying to go back.

goings on.

2011-12-07T20:00:00.002-05:00

Our computer is still broke. Not only is our computer broken, but Mr. P's Netbook crapped out too. So guess who has no way of uploading pictures? This girl. I can't even tell you the anxiety this is giving me. There is so much I want to blog but can't because there are no pictures. Plus, its kind of sad what I cannot remember without the picture to jog my brain. All this to say, expect blog overload when a computer returns to mi casa.

Speaking of a computer (yes, I am obsessed), Mr. P and I have just about decided that that is going to be ChrIstmas gift to each other this year. Truth be told, it is what we really NEED so maybe we should just do that. But I REALLY want a Life Planner too. Le sigh... We shall see.

Not sure if I have mentioned it, but BG is still rocking double ear infection. Yes, the same way she was diagnosed with back in October. My poor child. Last week, I got a call from her teacher about 30 minutes after dropped her off at school. Ms. B (teacher) thought that perhaps BG was rocking a case of pink eye. I had noticed that morning that her eye was a tad earlier than usual and she had rubbed it enough to cut her eyelid. But it looked like an allergy eye to me so I took her to school. Anyway, thanks to the advice of my girls on Twitter, I went ahead and took her in to the doc (I had zero clue about pink eye in humans, only animals. Oops).

Fortunately, she did not have the stank eye, but was still rocking those ear infections. We are trying our third round of antibiotics. Only reason he hasn't se t her to an ENT already is because she has never had an infection before this. But if it doesn't clear up after this, we're off to the big ear guy.

This past weekend with my girl was pure perfection. She was really calm and quiet (dang ears), which never happens so I got a lot of cuddle time. Lots of reading and watching some tv. It was awesome. My child is awesome. She just cracks me up. She laughs so much and will do anything to make us laugh. I am so in love with the little girl she is becoming.

We're pretty low key here holiday wise. My house is still not decorated. Somehow I am not freaking out. We don't have a tree yet. But that's on the agenda for this weekend. I'm trying not to freak. I just want to enjoy this time with my little family.

This is probably full of typos. I can't do blogging on a tablet. I need a computer....

acceptance.

2011-12-04T19:51:00.002-05:00

I have watched last weeks episode of Glee no less than five times this weekend. It so gets to me.

This afternoon I took BG to our town's Christmas parade. We managed to find a spot right at the front of the sidewalk in front of this really nice older couple and two young boys. At one point, a young dance troupe went by made up of a few girls and one boy. I heard the boys snickering at this boy but it was what happened next that floored me.

A conversation ensued about this young dancer and at one point I heard the older gentleman say "Oh we'll always be proud of you; unless you become a dancer".

My jaw hit the sidewalk.

But it gets worse; a certain group of people walked by in the parade and the man flat out told the boys not to wave at them.

Do what?!

There are certain things that I think are right and wrong, but it is NEVER my place to judge people. It is my commandment to LOVE them. I plan on raising my child with my beliefs. I want her to know as a child of God that there are ways she is to live her life. That as His child she is not to pass judgement. She is to be kind.

I would be lying if I told you that secretly I don't hope for a soccer player. For an outgoing child that loves music and people and school. But if she's a quiet child that hates sports?(horrors!) I will still love her and be beyond proud of her. That is my job as her parent.

It terrifies me that in a day and age where 11 year olds are committing suicide, that we as parents are not doing more at home to teach acceptance. That we aren't doing more to teach them to love one another. That this kind of pure hatred is still being tolerated. That we aren't teaching our children that is absolutely unacceptable to be just plain mean.

I get that there will be teasing. I get that. But if we as parents aren't drawing a line, then do we have any right to be upset about some of the headlines coming out of our kids schools?

My prayer is that the love of Christ will shine through my daughter. That she will be like Finn in this weeks Glee episode and genuinely care enough about another person that she will fight for them even when they don't know they need it. That she'll stand up for them when everyone else is turning their back. That she will love them, even if they are different from her.

That couple we sat in front of? Very, very nice. They went out of their way to help BG get some candy and even helped point out Santa to her. They were not bad people. If I were to make a snap judgement based on the two things I heard, I would have missed the good in them. And there WAS good. But isn't that exactly what they're doing by labeling that dancer? Or that group of people?

What gives me hope is that it is now my generation raising the kids. And I pray that we are teaching our kids that it is not okay to treat people badly. BG is so good right now. It is mine and her fathers duty to foster that and make her a beautiful person inside and out. The world desperately needs more of those...

Best. Saturday. Ever.

2011-12-03T16:06:00.002-05:00

Last night was iffy.

We decided to meet up after work/school and the little to our town's annual Christmas tree lighting. Perhaps it was the fact that it didn't start until 6 (really 7) which is pretty much bedtime, or the fact that it was cold, or just the fact that the dang band played for an hour while the entire town just wanted to see some lights but homegirl was a wreck. She wanted nothing to do with behaving or being the slightest bit cooperative. It was BAD.

**the entire night ended up being worth it with some pretty cute pictures but that post will have to be saved for a day I have a computer that works.

Last night I was feeling pretty down in the dumps about being a Mother. It is just plain hard.

But then.... She slept til 9 this morning and woke up with a smile. We played and laughed as we decorated her dresser with stickers(yes, that is okay when it makes her SO happy). We watched some Barney and did the "Happy and You know It" dance right along with him. We made eggs and toast for breakfast. We ran errands where she smiled and waved at everyone and behaved amazingly as she thumbed through a book in the cart. She is currently on nap number two for the day and my sanity is at an all time high.

Today? I am rocking this Mom hat. Tomorrow? Who knows I guess that's part of what makes this such an exciting ride.

what she's like.

2011-12-01T17:35:00.005-05:00

Every single day, BG makes us laugh with the things she comes up with. She is FULL of personality. She is dramatic and silly and sweet and outgoing all at the same time. She never meets a stranger. The other day we were at the store trying on coats and I turned away for two seconds to hang a coat, only to look back down to find BG had walked a few steps away to an older lady and was reaching her arms out to her to hold her. So that's not good... She is such a joy to be around. You can't help but laugh when you're with her.

She has always had a lot to say, but now she seems to understand so much more of what she is saying. Just some of the things we hear on a daily basis...

"Hold Me"
She says this when she wants me to hold her. I can never turn this request down.
A
"Bwess you!"
She says this anytime anyone around her sneezes. And if she sneezes and you don't say it, she'll turn to you and say "BWESS YOU!" until you saying to her.

"Thank You"
Every single time you hand her something, she will say thank you. Even if she is bawling her eyes out, if you give her something, she will stop long enough to say thank you. Love this.

"Ah phone"
Not sure what the "ah" is for but she tends to add it to the beginning of a word when she wants something. If she wants her phone, she hold her hand out and says "ah phone". A spoon? "ah spoon". Milk? "ah milk!".

"I Ove You"
Melt my heart. Sometimes it comes out just "love you". Now we're working on adding the Mommy and Daddy. That just might slay me.

"Bwue"
Her color of choice for everything. She can say the others but only after calling it "bwue" first.

"Up"
She likes to come grab your finger if you're sitting down and pull it while saying "up!". This can mean one of two things; she either wants you to get up and come look at something or she wants you to get up and hold her. If it is the latter, once you get up, you'll be greeted by the outstretched arms and the "hold me".
She loves to say her name and tell you how old she is. She can count to three (although she stumbles on three). She is very good with her alphabet (her favorite letter is "double u").

Her animal sounds are hilarious. She has recently decided she has to go to bed with a book. And she says "bye bye" when you leave her room at night and gets louder and louder til she dissolves in a fit of giggles (Mr. P eggs it on by hollering it back to her every time).

She never sits still. Ever. She has to be strapped down to eat or she won't sit still long enough. She loves Elmo, but on the tablet or phone. She rarely will even sit still long enough to watch him on tv anymore.

She is a big time Daddy's girl. She adores that man. But when she's super tired or sleepy? Its all about Mommy.

She is so full of joy. We just love her so much.

wordless wednesday:: thanksgiving photos

2011-11-30T19:16:00.004-05:00

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T22:15:00.002-05:00

I have a tendency to put a lot of pressure on holidays and such. It's true. If you look back at about half of my holiday posts in the past, I'm sure most of them start with that statement. They are also all followed by "but I'm not going to do that anymore". Ha. I do it every single freaking time. You would think I would learn.

So true to form, I put a lot of pressure on Thanksgiving. I was just really, really looking forward to a big family Thanksgiving with lots of kids running around for BG to play with. Unfortunately, our family plans got cancelled kind of at the last minute.

So I pouted for a few ~~minutes~~ hours and then I moved on. I sent Mr. P a text with a list of grocery items I wanted him to pick up and we decided that we would just do a nice little Thanksgiving at home.

And that's just what we did. Mr. P got up early with the little one and cooked while I slept in. Then I got up and watched the parade with my sweet girl. We ate a delicious lunch and then BG and I spent some time outside playing in the leaves.

After nap time, BG woke up in a mood. So I took her out for some fresh air with the intent to take some pictures of her in some leaves. She wasn't really having it and whined the whole walk. She didn't want to be put down and didn't want to leave my side.

Then we got to the leaves. I watched her jump around and laugh as she threw leaves in the air, covered me with them and ran and played chase with me. Man, the littlest things make this child so happy.

It was perfect. It was quiet and small and everything opposite of what I thought I needed to make it a successful Thanksgiving. But then I realized, you don't need the big plans. I needed this day more than anything. A day to be quiet and just focus on what I'm most thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T19:52:00.003-05:00

I'm about as full as they come at the moment but I had to pop in and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

While this year has been nothing like I expected, I am so, so thankful for so many things. But most of all? I'm thankful for my precious family and the fact that we're healthy (somewhat at the moment) and happy. I'm thankful we have a roof over our head and jobs to put food on the table.

But most of all I'm thankful that even though some things don't seem to be working the way I'd like them to, that I serve a God who will get us through our tough times.

Hope you're enjoying this time with your family. I've spent it chasing a toddler who is on the loose big time. Where did my tiny baby from last year go?!

tidbits.

2011-11-22T20:02:00.005-05:00

How on Earth is it the end of November? I'm serious. Halloween just happened. I feel like my life is freaking flying and I am not. a. fan. Where is the pause button?!

Baby Girl has been battling a "cough" for months now. And a double ear infection for about a month or so. We have not had a full night of sleep in weeks. When she goes to bed easily, she still wakes up multiple times a night crying or screaming or just basically unhappy. We've let her sleep on our chests, in our bed, on the couch with us; whatever gets us all some sleep. At her last appointment last week, we found out that she STILL has that ear infection and that blasted cough. Thank you Reactive Airway Disease. So now, we get to see this sad little sight multiple times a day.

I am SO ready for her to feel better.

The little one and I made the trek down to Savannah for the weekend. I can't tell you how good it was to get home and spend some much needed time with some of the best girls I know. I thank God that I've made amazing friendships in my life. It is so good to be around the girls who know me as well as I know myself. It does my soul good.

We made plans to come home about 3 on Sunday. I wanted to get back to South Carolina in time to get some stuff down that evening. We were doing so well and making great time until I got about 2 hours down the road to Columbia and realized that I had left all of BG's meds back at my best pal's house. Not even kidding. I was so upset. We stopped in Cola to eat and then headed back down South. Fun right? Fortunately, fortunately, fortunately, my friends boyfriend met us halfway with the good. Still, it took us eight hours to make a four and a half hour drive. Megan for the win.

I am so frustrated with so many things going on in my life. I feel like so much is out of my control right now and I HATE it. This frustration is showing in other areas of my life; my lack of blogging, my lack of tweeting, my inability to keep up with things. It's getting bad. But my thoughts are just stuck on other things. Freaking hate it.

I am so excited for Thanksgiving this year. I just can't wait to see BG running around with all the other eight million children in Mr. P's family. She's so different from how she was last year. I don't think his family has an idea what to expect.

Probably because of the sickness, but BG has developed the saddest way of saying "Mommy" over and over. And it kills me. But at the same time, it makes my heart swell that she loves me so much. She is so awesome.

I think that's all I've got. I'm so ready for life to be normal again.

project 365: week 45

2011-11-21T21:49:00.005-05:00

Behind much??

Sunday, November 6th:

She was getting her babies ready for a quick ride around the house. She melts me.

Monday, November 7th:

All dolled up for school. Girl loves her accessories.

Tuesday, November 8th:

She is ridiculous hard to take pictures of.

Wednesday, November 9th:

Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping babe?!

Thursday, November 10th:

A picture of the five minutes a day she sits still. I love watching her play by herself.

Friday, November 11th:

You mean your child doesn't watch tv on the coffee table?!

Saturday, November 12th:

She is just so full of joy. I love her so much.

wordless wednesday: 19 month photos

2011-11-16T22:13:00.003-05:00

cabbage patch land.

2011-11-15T20:30:00.003-05:00

So my bff has been ridiculously excited to head to the Cabbage Patch Babyland Hospital pretty much from the minute that little pink plus sign showed up on my pregnancy test. Good thing I had a girl. Figuring we had made her wait long enough to head down there, the three of us girls packed it up last Tuesday and made the short drive down to Georgia to check it out.

I find the whole idea of babies coming out of cabbage a tad creepy (and a whole building for this!?), but I'm all for taking one for the team so my daughter got to go. She better love me.

I have to say, pretty amazing. They were setting up for Christmas so the trees and all had been pulled out but weren't decorated. We were there on a weekday, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

BG wasn't sure what to think of at first. We walked through some of the front rooms and checked out the dolls that were worth thousands of dollars. This girl had checked out the prices of the dolls before we went. I was not about to let BG get her toddler hands on a doll that I would have to pay two hundred bucks for!

Once you get to the back of the hospital, you get the chance to watch a baby be "delivered". AP and I watched as this college age guy (poor soul...) came out to perform the delivery. I could not stop laughing. AP was horrified but y'all, they come out. of. cabbage. And the jokes? Oh my soul.

BG wasn't sure what to think. However, once the "doctor" took the baby off to be "measured" and "weighed" and stuff, she was fascinated. She took off to the window and just stared and stared. Every now and then she'd look back at us adults that had gathered and just smile. She was loving it!

BG and another little girl that were there got to name the baby. Her name is Ella Marie. BG picked Ella. Duh. It's one of the only names she can say ;). The other little girl that was there picked Marie. So if you go and adopt little "Ella Marie", we named her. Fun huh?

After she was "cleaned up", the doctor brought her out for the girls to hold. Oh my sweet soul is there anything sweeter than this?

I was afraid that BG wouldn't give the baby back (this is one of those two hundred dollar dolls y'all) or that I would soft Mama heart the situation and buy the dang thing if she cried, but she didn't; she was such a big girl as she handed the baby back. When did she get so big?!

Once she finally tore herself away from the window, we walked around a bit more and checked things out. BG had to go up to each doll and say "baby!", so it took a while for us to see everything.

And just in case you thought I was awful for not letting her "adopt" a baby of her own...

That's right. We did it. BG's the proud Mama of a baby girl named Sonja Irene. We call her Suri.

All in all, such a fun day. Totally worth the drive down. The best clue that the day was a success?

In five minutes. That's a record y'all.

halloween

2011-11-14T20:58:00.002-05:00

Better late than never right?

BG started Halloween off in her Eeyore costume from last year that she rocked to her school party. I was not letting her white lamb costume step foot in that school.

However, she was not in the mood for pictures. And apparently she stayed that way because when Dad tried to get pictures of her at her party, she lost it. Oh bless it...

Yea, no clue where her costume went.

I got stuck at work late so we decided to stay in town and just head over to a Trunk or Treat at my friend's church. We of course had to walk over to our neighbor's house to give them a chance to ooh and aah over the cuteness. ;) Then it was off to get the candy!

We had such a good time. I loved the Trunk or Treat thing. It was easier than her having to try and go up and down steps and knock on doors and such. She was not happy about being strapped in the stroller, but she was straight up pumped to take off on us. Toddlers are insane.

We met up with my friend D and her kiddos for a bit and then decided to call it an early night. Well, after one more stop at a neighbors to let BG actually get to walk up to a door.

It was such a good time! I thought I was going to be a bit sad since last year was so fun to trick or treat with our pals, but I'm finding that we're really carving out a life here. Making our own way and our own memories. At the end of the night as I watched BG jump around on a sugar high and Mr. P struggle to get her out of costume, I felt so blissfully happy. Life is the memories you're making with the people you love. Not where you make them.

Also, this thing was huge. How big does her head look?!?

tidbits.

2011-11-13T20:15:00.002-05:00

Project 365 will have to be put on hold for a day because my cell phone is m.i.a and most of my pictures are on there from this week. If I took any. I honestly can't even remember.

I was talking to my dear friend Amy the other week and she said something that really struck a chord in me. I mentioned something to her that I struggle with big time and she called me on it. Ever since she did, I can't stop thinking about it.

I sometimes struggle with letting things go. I refuse to become bitter about things though because I've seen what bitterness does to a person and it's not pretty. I've been dealt the cards I've been dealt and it's time for me to pony up, put my big girl pants on and whatever other metaphor means grow up and take care of business. I never want to spend so much time whining about things that didn't go my way, that I miss the lesson I'm supposed to be learning.

I still feel like we're in the middle of a "storm" and I'm getting oh so tired of it. But I think there may be a light at the end. Please oh please let there be a light.

It bothers me when people can just run their mouths and there not be consequences. I don't think it's okay for you to get to say "your piece" but then not be able to take it when others say theirs. I'm tired of grown ups not being grown ups. I'm tired of getting stuck in the middle of battles that aren't mine.

I'm tired.

I have a toddler. An exhausting toddler. But then there are days like today where she laughs so hard, dances like a maniac, gives abundant kisses and is just a peach and I cannot believe this is my life. That's the good can't believe it's my life as opposed to the "what have I done to my life?!" that I also feel very, very often.

We bought a potty chair today. If you need me, I'll be in the corner crying over BG's swaddle blanket.

My head hurts.

19 months.

2011-11-10T12:00:00.000-05:00

Oh Baby Girl, you are nineteen months old!

I can't believe how fast this last month went by. You are at such a fun, yet tiring age and we are loving this stage with you!

You are an ACTIVE little girl. You seriously do not sit still. Ever. It's sort of exhausting but you somehow seem to have the energy of ten people.

You say "love you" to us all the time and it is the sweetest. sound. ever.

You talk so much. SO much. You have new words everyday. I seriously cannot even keep up with a word count. You will give any word a shot and most of them you remember.

You are developing some good manners. You say "tank you" when someone hands you something. You say "bess you" when people sneeze and "amen" after night time prayers and after the blessing. You are learning to cover your mouth when you sneeze and cough. It's so stinking cute.

You've added the monkey sound and pig sound (sort of) to your animal sounds.

You are a great eater. I thank God daily that you aren't picky at all. Makes dinner time so easy.

You sing so loud along with the music while you're in the car. The louder we turn up the radio, the louder you sing.

"Mine" is a word we now hear multiple times a day. That's fun.

You give hugs and kisses still. Sometimes I ask you for a kiss and get a big "uh-uh" and a smile. Silly.

"Uh-uh" is another word we hear A LOT.

We've added toddler toothpaste to the bedtime routine. We don't quite get it yet....

You're getting more aware of the "potty" and you ask to in there or the "batroom" multiple times a day. You aren't going to the bathroom in there yet though. We're not quite there yet.

You are very good at helping us get you undressed. You also want to help us dress you so we're working on that.

You love, love, LOVE music.

You still really love the alphabet and we work on it as much as your attention span lets us.

By the way, the attention span is whoa... You have a very hard time sitting and focusing on anything for long. Hopefully you'll grow out of that.

You've started asking for a book at bed time. Love.

The attachment to the Wubby and blankie is at an all time high. I kind of regret not getting rid of that thing sooner now.

Stats:

Length: 33 1/4 inches

Weight: 31 pounds

Sleep: Going to bed around 6:30 or 7 or so and getting up around 7:30, sometimes earlier, sometimes later

Teeth: still 12

Clothes: 24 months and 2t, size 5.5 in shoes and size 4 diapers (5 at night)

Favorite foods: bananas, Goldfish, NutriGrain bars, mandarin oranges, avacados

Favorite toys: Elmo on the tablet, ABC puzzle, tea set, jewelry. You actually aren't a huge toy person. You're more into running around like a crazy person!

This is such a fun age and while it's also a struggle discipline wise (super fun), we are totally loving this stage with you. You are the light of our lives little one!

our halloween recap- boo in the zoo

2011-11-09T20:42:00.009-05:00

So I'm late with a recap. Same song, different day.

We went to Boo in the Zoo up in Greenville the Sunday before Halloween. I was dying to get up there after Erin told me how much fun they'd had at the one she went to the year before. Plus, I needed another excuse for BG to wear her overpriced costume.

Y'all, we had so much fun. Besides the fact that my toddler thinks the stroller is the uncoolest place to be ever and I had to carry her most of the time to keep her from disappearing. That was fun. And a workout.

She loved it. She really loved the giraffes and the monkey. In fact we heard "monkey?" in the saddest little voice over and over for hours. We had to keep telling her that the monkeys went away. Oh the lies start early huh?

The line to get in was ridiculous but it moved fast and we had such a good time checking out all of the costumes. BG laughed and carried on most of the night. Plus, she was just so darn cute.

One of the monkeys went a little bit nuts in front of the crowd and BG loved it. She laughed and clapped and just carried on the whole time. Man, watching her enjoy stuff is so worth the over priced candy and entrance fee. ;)

We'll be doing this again. I already kind of can't wait for next year.

the season.

2011-11-08T19:28:00.002-05:00

I'm a sucker for the holiday season.

From October to December, I am a happy person.

Then January comes and it's still freaking cold and ugh, but this isn't about that.

I am not a fan of going straight from Halloween to Christmas. I can't stand how the stores, the media and even the radio completely get hyped up on the materialistic side (let's be real, that's all it is) of Christmas the minute Halloween is over. I think it's hugely important to focus on Thanksgiving; the time to be thankful and remember just how blessed we are.

For me, Thanksgiving gets me in the right mind frame for Christmas. It's a time to slow down, to focus on family and to focus on what is good and right in our worlds.

Then it's time for Christmas, which is why my tree goes up the ~~minute~~ day after Thanksgiving.

I love Christmas. Love, love, love it.

I love buying gifts, visiting family, making plans, traipsing around looking for a tree. I love it all. However, more often than not, I wake up on the twenty sixth of December with a let down feeling. You might know what I'm talking about.

I spend the entire month of December searching for the perfect gift, making sure I got each person an "equal" present, stressing over how much money I'm spending and it makes for a stressful month. So stressful.

This year, BG is older and is more focused on me and what I'm doing. I do NOT want her to get the wrong idea of what Christmas is about.

I've said time and time again that I didn't want a child who wanted every thing at every store that they could get their hands on. I naively thought that avoiding tv and such could cut that out. Ha. Then I had a child and I found out that you cannot avoid that all together. If I could, my child wouldn't scream out "ELMO!!!" every time she saw that little minx in a store.

But if she sees me running through stores like a mad man or spending money I shouldn't on a gift that won't even be remembered next year; well, that's a sucky example huh?

You know what I remember about Christmases from being a child?

I remember one gift; twin dolls that laughed when together and cried when they were apart. Not because it was a gift, but because my brother and I were obsessed with them and everyone in the family played with them with me.

I remember Christmas dinners with my entire family. I can still hear the swinging door coming into my grandparent's dining room as we all gathered to eat.

I remember peeking over the banister to see my parents putting out the "Santa" gifts and doing it together and quietly so we wouldn't wake.

I remember sitting quietly listening to Christmas music as I waited on my family to wake up.

I remember a Christmas scavenger hunt with my Mom, Dad, and little brother.

I remember laying on the couch as my Dad laughed hysterically at the twenty seventh showing of that awful movie TBS plays all. day. long.

I remember a rug my brother got one year that was a "town" for cars to drive on that we played with non-stop for days.

I remember baking cookies with my parents and getting tins together to take to the neighbors with my Mom.

I remember Christmas Eve candlelight services and then dinner with our neighbors.

I remember singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus every year before gifts were touched.

It's never been about the gift. It's the time. It's about the memories.

This Christmas is an odd one. There is a lot going on around here. My brother is overseas, my Grandma is sick and other members of my family are dealing with things of their own. I have no idea what this season is going to hold for my family.

But I do know this... I'll be slowing down a bit. I'll be baking cookies with my little one. I'll be watching holiday movies with my husband. I'll be reading The Grinch and watching Charlie Brown. I'll be traipsing through the woods taking pictures of my girl on the hunt for our tree. I may make a wreath. I'll be decorating my house. I'll be focusing on my family and the true meaning of Christmas.

Will I stress out some? Well yes, because that's what I do. But I'm making sure that I'm an example of what the season should be to my little one.

It's time to slow it down....

project 365: week 44

2011-11-06T19:43:00.009-05:00

Sunday, October 30th:

We headed into town to check out Boo in the Zoo on Sunday. Such a good time. Although at this point, BG was over waiting in the super long line to get in.

Monday, October 31st:

Getting ready to Trick-or-Treat with my girl!

*I just wrote October for all of these dates. How on EARTH is it already November???

Tuesday, November 1st:

A day with Mom sometimes means candy while still in jammies. Hey, you got to do what you got to do.

Wednesday, November 2nd:

Heading to school one morning. Seriously, how is she so big??

Thursday, November 3rd:

Sprinkles before dinner? Well, why not?

Friday, November 4th:

What? You mean your kid doesn't run around at bedtime wearing one of your scarves and a diaper on her head?

Saturday, November 5th:

On Saturday, Tiffany and I met up to take the kiddos to a balloon festival here in town. They had all these inflatable things but very few were appropriate for T and BG's age. Ask Tiffany. She tried to carry the two of them to the top of an inflatable slide. I've never laughed so hard in my life. But I'm sure they appreciated your effort girl! Once Tiffany recovered from carrying about 45 pounds of baby up an inflatable slide, we found a bounce house and they loved it. We should've just stayed there the whole time!

happy birthday pops!!

2011-11-05T14:13:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to my best Daddy and the best Pops we know!!! We love you so, so much!!!

#winning

2011-11-05T13:07:00.003-04:00

For some reason that hashtag always makes me laugh.

I am way, way late, but I finally picked the winners for the Shutterfly giveaway. Whoop whoop!

I plugged in the numbers to Random.org and the winners are...

#9 - Dan & Liz :

"Oh man, I love this time of year! I'm most looking forward to this toddler of mine during the Christmas season. He is so curious and loves to learn, so I can't wait to see him on Christmas day. Even just seeing him watch the snow fall and talk about it is amazing:) We'll also be doing some holiday service projects and taking him with us!
BTW-your little lady is adorable."

( & thanks :))

#11- Jen McCrady:
"I can't wait for Molly to celebrate her first Christmas and see her first twinkle lights! :)"

and...

#4- Melissa
"I love the foooood!"

Congrats ladies! Please email me at perfectlyimperfectlife@gmail.com and I'll send you your codes!

let them be little.

2011-11-03T09:58:00.010-04:00

I'm not a patient person. At all.

On a daily basis, BG tries my patience. She is strong willed to the core y'all and we are ridiculously alike in attitude which is scary.

Sometimes I find myself wishing she would just feed herself, or dress herself, or heck, was big enough to walk up the stairs by herself just so that I could finish what I'm doing. Yea, bad huh?

The other day I watched as she ran all over a pumpkin patch a local church had. I'd taken her up there to get out of the house for a few hours and she loved it. I told her she could pick out one pumpkin thinking she'd pick up one of the small ones. I had to laugh as the went for one of the biggest ones and tried to pick it up.

While I watched my little ball of energy run from pumpkin to pumpkin, a lady with a tiny baby walked up next to me. I watched as she set him up against the pumpkins for that typical "Baby's 1st Halloween" picture and I smiled. Then I realized I could hardly remember BG ever being that size.

Tears.

She's already growing so, so fast. Why would I want to rush it anymore??

Someday she won't need me anymore. Not like she does now. There will be no sweaty, toddler hand in mine as we go up the stairs. There won't be food on my hands as I try to help her figure out the logistics of her fork. There won't be a sweet little soul in my lap as I explain to her how to put on her shoes and socks. I won't have a soaking wet shirt as I try to wrangle a little one in the tub.

She's only little once.

This morning I took the time to really sit and watch her get ready. As I was getting her dressed I explained to her how to put on her pants, socks and shoes yet again. Then it happened; she stood up and pulled up her pants.

My lap was empty.

It's going so, so fast.

I find myself always looking to the next step, just waiting on it to get here. When she can walk, talk, and feed herself. I don't want to miss anything waiting for something else to happen. Today I need to focus on just that; today. I need to just let her be little. I need to learn to just be. To calm down and enjoy this time with my little girl.

Because at times when my patience is at it's thinnest and the days seems oh so long, the weeks and years are flying by. She's only this little once.

wordless wednesday: she's got the moves

2011-11-02T11:11:00.000-04:00

If this doesn't make your heart smile, you might not have a pulse.. Just saying.

pumpkin patch part deux.

2011-11-01T20:44:00.022-04:00

Apparently one trip to the pumpkin patch a Fall is just not enough for us because we totally packed it up and found another one here in town to check out.

We're pretty lucky to have two of these areas around here. This one actually had a corn maze as well which the little one had a blast running through. Oh, and a HUMONGOUS slide that she thought was the bee's knees. She also thought running across it in front of people was the bee's knees. I did not agree.

There were animals and swings and a cornhole board which BG loved (like mother, like daughter). She see sawed with another kiddo and ran around like a crazy person. She had a blast.

I could wax poetic about how much more fun things are with her, but I think you'll get that from the pictures.
Apparently corn hole is played by "dunking" the bags through the holes and then getting really excited and doing a little dance. It's definitely cuter that way.

Clearly somebody needs a hair cut...

So fun. Even though we never made it to the actual "pumpkin patch". Oops. But the big slide saw us multiple times. Clearly the kid dictated the activities at this park.

Fall activities rock.

happy halloween!!!

2011-10-31T21:51:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween!!

Love,
A sweet little lamb on a serious sugar high (thank you daycare).

project 365: week 43

2011-10-30T21:37:00.006-04:00

Sunday, October 23rd:

Lately BG is obsessed with being "outdide". Seriously, we hear that word over and over millions of times a day. This day we were running around in jammies all day since we were all sort of under the weather but BG had other plans. So she picked some clothes out and "outdide" we went.

Monday, October 24th:

I got the proof's back for BG's school pictures. Yep, we'll be ordering these. That smirk? Slays me.

Tuesday, October 25th:

I pulled out a basket for BG to make a "crib" for her Dolly. She wants to take it to bed with her now and then it goes off in the middle of the night, freaking us all out. I thought this was a better option. Til BG decided she'd sleep in that "crib" with Dolly.

Wednesday, October 26th:

The view around our house this week.

Thursday, October 27th:
Oops.

Friday, October 28th:

The little one wore her adorable Braylabee's creation to school on Friday. I thought long and hard about letting her wear it because I didn't want it messed up. But a cute outfit is supposed to be worn so she wore it. Of course she gave us quite the work out while getting her dressed...

Saturday, October 29th:

BG and I rode up to the pumpkin patch Saturday afternoon to look at the little "pumkins". She insisted on wearing her "pumkin" outfit again. Successful purchase.

my wish.

2011-10-29T12:21:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, they sang a song in church that really, really got to me.

As the mother of a little girl, raising her to respect herself and be proud of being a daughter in Christ is HUGE to me. In this day and age, I can't even tell you how terrified I am to let her out of the house. Ever.

My wish for her, is that this song will be a model for her life. I highly recommend you listen to it. If you make it through without getting a bit choked up, I'll be shocked.

the most wonderful time of the year.

2011-10-28T21:49:00.005-04:00

I pretty much cannot believe that it is time for Christmas cards again. Didn't we just do this?!?

But it is. Thank goodness for Shutterfly.

I've used Shutterfly for my cards for years. For Christmas, Halloween, BG's birth announcement; they're my old standby because I heart them.

I pretty much loved our card last year. How could I not with such an adorable subject?!

I just started looking at all the designs they have for this year and holy wow. Which one will I ever pick?!

While I'm over there, I really should work on BG's first year photo book. And you know, start her second year. Those photo books are amazing. I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Bring it back home girl..

The good news? I have three codes for 25 FREE cards for three lucky readers. What do you need to do?

Simple, no hoops. Leave me a comment with what you are most looking forward to for the holiday season and that's it. I'll pick the winners on Tuesday the 1st.

sometimes i wish there was a manual...

2011-10-27T20:21:00.002-04:00

I think I've mentioned that we really have been struggling in the sleep department here lately.

And if I haven't and you're dying to hear about it, well then follow me on Twitter because I know I've ~~whined~~ talked about it incessantly over there.

BG is an excellent sleeper. So when she's not? I cannot deal.

The last few nights she's been screaming her head off at bedtime. She doesn't want to go to bed and then when she does, she's not happy about it. Not only that, but she wakes up multiple times screaming at night. Once you go in there, she latches on like a spider monkey and will not let you put her down.

I mentioned this at her eighteen month appointment just two weeks as well as her tendency to pull on her ears and scream at getting her hair rinsed in the tub.

Everything looks fine my ped told us.

So no biggie. So why the screaming??

It's gotten worse in the past few days. So much so that at one point I yelled out "just let her scream! I've got to get some sleep" (yea, not proud but I was exhausted).I've spent a lot of time with her in the bed with me or sitting up sleeping so she can lay on my chest. It hasn't been ideal but at least it helped. Then yesterday, she woke up screaming her head off at four am.

I had a meeting that morning so I had to be up early but not that early. So I pulled her into bed with me. She wasn't having it. We tried to feed her; not having. Tried to get her dressed; not having it.

At this point, my Mama's intuition was kicking in. Something was not okay.

Mr. P made the remark about her having some "separation anxiety" but at this point I knew it wasn't that. We checked her temp. Normal.

While I got her dressed, she cried. She cried while I got her some milk. She wouldn't stop unless I was holding her to my chest.

I finally got her settled on the couch with her blankie, Wubbie and some cartoons. I hurriedly got dressed and made plans to go to my meeting and then leave early.

I left her at the front desk at school with the head teacher while I ran to the meeting (I would NEVER have left her if she had a fever or seemed contagious, but that was not the case. She just wasn't happy). I called to check on her as soon as it was over and they said she was just sitting by herself in a corner.

I knew something was up and flew to pick her up.

I made her a doctor appointment while I drove. I halfway thought I was overreacting. But I was out of ideas on what could be bothering her. I was stumped.

When I picked her up, she was a barrel of energy and greeted me with a big 'ol "Mommy!!". I was so confused. Where was my lethargic kid?

Well, she showed back up.

At the doctor, she sat in my lap and just looked around with those sad, sick eyes. How did I miss something?? What was going on with my kid??

A double ear infection. That's what.

As soon as the doctor told me how bad it was, my heart sunk. How had I missed this? How had I let her scream for over a week? How did I not know?!?

I felt like such a Mom fail as I walked out of there. But I just didn't know.

There were none of the "signs". She was checked two weeks ago and given a clean bill of health. She had no fever, wasn't pulling on her ears; how would I have known?

She slept all day yesterday. And just one day of meds later, she's feeling better. And we're all sleeping again. Thank goodness.

I'm licking my wounds over my horror at not knowing this. I know it happens. I just feel bad.

You know, they really should make a manual for these kids.

happy birthday!

2011-10-26T10:18:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to our favorite uncle!!! We love you Uncle Marine!!!

paint and pumpkins oh my!

2011-10-25T21:57:00.005-04:00

Last year we let the little one paint a pumpkin for the first time.

Well obviously it was her first time but it was also a first for the hubs and I.

The activity got rave reviews, so we pulled it out again this year.

Little priss wasn't sure about the paint on her fingers at first, but once she was okay with it; it was on.

After about five minutes, she was done. And I have the paint splatters on my kitchen counters to prove it.
Such a fun little activity. Although the little one has yet to let me take her picture with her work of art. Shy artist perhaps?

Or diva?

Yea. That.

little friends.

2011-10-24T21:03:00.012-04:00

I've only said it three million times, but it bummed me out so, so much that we moved at a time when all my friends and I finally had kids all around the same age.

But... we did.

And it sucked. But then? We started making friends here and growing a life here and all of sudden; there's little friends again.

Yay!

Last month (whoa, behind much) we did head back down to Savannah for a birthday party of one of BG's little friends and it was a blast. Although BG and her bff, Kathryn, kind of did their own thing the whole time, we still managed to get the the three girls together for one picture.

BG and Kathryn spent most of the afternoon running around and playing. K is three months older than BG and it is so fun to see the dynamic. When BG is around K, K is a force to be reckoned with and my little one takes a backseat. She plays and all, but she's more quiet and reserved to K's full out rambunctioness.

Then there was Mac's party...

I've had the opportunity to get to know Anne pretty well since we've moved up and here and I am beyond thankful for her friendship. She is just so easy to be around which I love and any time whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife get to hang out, I find that hours have gone by in what felt like a minute.

It also helps that her Mac and BG get along.

So Mac's party. We had so much fun and I saw a total different side of BG. Where she had been reserved at Gabby's party, she was the opposite here. She was loud and crazy and ran around a bit like a chicken with her head cut off.

You know, a total doll.

I really think it was because she was just having such a good time.

With her pal Hudson

Such a good time in fact, that she didn't want to leave and made herself right at home with Mac's entire family. She does know how to work a crowd.

Thankfully the birthday boy was amazing and even went out of his way to let her play with all his new toys after he opened them.

A true Southern gentleman for sure.

I almost couldn't get BG to leave. I'm pretty sure she had decided to up and join Anne's family. At one point, Mac took off down the hall yelling "Mimi, Mimi!!" and BG took off copying him. And then for the next two days, she walked around looking for "Mimi!" no matter how many times I told her she didn't actually have a Mimi. That was fun.

You ready for her again Anne??

I am so thankful for these little friends of hers.

I'm also pretty darn thankful for their Mama's who are amazing friends to me.

project 365: week 42

2011-10-23T18:52:00.008-04:00

Sunday, October 16th:

I wanted one decent picture of me not covered in spit up and what not. So after church, Mr. P and I attempted a "photo shoot" while the little one napped.

No bueno. This was the best I got. Nice sun flare over the boobage. I love him anyway.

Monday, October 17th:

How cute are these two? For real.

And how cute is BG's shirt?! Her bff, Kinley, has great taste. Thanks K!!

Tuesday, October 18th:

She watches tv in odd places..

Wednesday, October 19th:

Homegirl came out the other day wearing her Dad's hat and sunglasses that she found. She is an absolute riot.

Thursday, October 20th:

Crazy hair at the end of the day.

Friday, October 21st:

Baby Girl does this little chin jut smile when you ask her to "show me your smile". It is so, so funny.

Saturday, October 22nd:

We went to another pumpkin patch on Saturday (don't you worry, there will be a full recap) and I had to snap a picture (okay several) of my sweet girl in the corn maze. Afterwards I realized that we are way overdue for that first haircut milestone. Yikes.

i'm new at this.

2011-10-21T19:33:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I forget that Baby Girl is just eighteen months old. She is so smart in some ways that I forget that she has only been on this planet for just over eighteen months. That's not a very long time.

She's new at everything.

Everything is new, everything is different, every day has a new first.

There are times when I look at her and cannot for the life of me figure out what I'm supposed to do. When she's screaming for what appears to be no reason, when she's throwing a tantrum or when she's asking for something in some language I don't understand.

I adore motherhood. No wait, I adore being a mother to Baby Girl. She's awesome. She's the coolest person ever. But I don't always know what I'm doing. Most of the time I don't actually.

But I'm figuring it out. We're figuring it out together.

We're new at this. We'll get it eventually.

number 2

2011-10-20T12:36:00.003-04:00

I am obsessed with thoughts of number two. I cannot tell a lie.

I am talking about the second child y'all. I hope we're all on the same page.

Back when I was pregnant with BG, there were a number of pregnant bloggers with me (hi y'all!!), as well as a few coworkers and some dear friends. It was a total blast to go through pregnancy with all of them.

Now most of them are on number two and let me admit; I am so not there yet.

Truth?

I'm not sure I ever will be.

I think about having a second child daily, if not multiple times a day. When I pack up clothes that BG has outgrown, I put them aside for the "next one". I haven't gotten rid of baby gear and I sometimes plan out nurseries in my head.

But....

I am not one hundred percent sure that I ever see a second kid in our lives.

Amy posted a blog today that really got me thinking. In the video on her blog, a lady was basically saying how her first child was her favorite and in a way, she felt her second kid took away from her first. While I personally think that lady is crazy cakes, I also get it.

I do think there's something special about a first child. There's so much anticipation and the focus is all on that pregnancy. More than likely there are multiple showers and tons of new clothes. Not so much with the second one. So I guess actually, the first pregnancy is what is so special.

Do I make sense?

At this point in my life, I can't even imagine dividing attention between two children. Does that make me a bad parent? No. Does that make Moms with multiple children better mothers? Absolutely not.

I think if that mother in that video had given as much thought to number two that I do, perhaps she wouldn't be on Anderson Cooper talking about her preference for the first one. I just hope that second kid never sees that video.

As of right now, I am perfectly content with BG. And just BG. I want her to have the world and currently, I have no desire to have to divide between two (or more) kids. I heard of a friend with an IUD that ended up pregnant (scary!) and I panicked thinking "oh gosh what if that were me?!?". If that doesn't say I'm not ready for number two, then I don't know what does.

Am I dead set on never having another? No. If I were, I'd get rid of the baby stuff. I want BG to have a sibling one day. I think. See, so not ready. Will it be disastrous if we don't have another one? No.

Currently this little dynamic of three that we have going on is my idea of perfection. I cannot see it changing. I can't even imagine another kiddo in the mix. Only the Big Man upstairs knows if that will change. But right now, I can say that she's my favorite. For now.

(almost) wordless wednesday

2011-10-19T15:27:00.005-04:00

**This picture was a complete oops, but for some reason I love it. She just makes me smile.**

pumpkin patch 2011

2011-10-18T09:57:00.025-04:00

Last weekend (I think), Mr.P and I decided to take BG out to a local pumpkin patch for the day. Last year was her first visit and we had a total blast, so I had high hopes for this year.

I was not disappointed.

We somehow managed to pick "Clemson Day" to show up so the tiger was running around taking pictures with the kids. Of course we had to get BG's. Nevermind the fact that she is not a fan of costumes.

Unfortunately because of the lack of rain this year, the corn maze is barely a foot tall and a total bummer. But they had these "mini mazes" set up that the kids could go through. Of course my child ran around like a total crazy person in there. She was pretty proud of herself.

Seriously? That smile slays me.

The petting zoo was a bit lacking (as in "no petting"), but BG did like getting to check out the brand new baby pigs.

We met up with Tiff and her family for the hay ride and pumpkin patch. The kids had an absolute blast picking out pumpkins. I'm so glad to have a little playmate here in town for BG. She just loves Timothy!

It didn't take long for BG to pick out her very own pumpkin.

Such precious kiddos.

She wanted to hold his hand on the walk back to the farm.

They had so many fun activities there for the kids. BG and I found this monster slide that we have course had to go down. She wasn't sure about it until we got back down to the bottom. Then she couldn't stop laughing!

BG and I rode the cow train again this year. As we waited for it to start up, she started to get a bit upset. But the minute it started, she couldn't stop giggling. She laughed, she carried on, she waved. It was pretty much the cutest thing ever. Not so cute? The tantrum she threw when it was over. We let her ride it one more time and the lady driving let us sit up front. BG absolutely loved it!

Quite a difference huh?

After her second ride, it was time to call it a day. We had such a good time (as evidenced by the eight million pictures I took!). She is at such a fun age where her enjoyment of things is so fun to watch. She just gets so excited and it's hard not to have fun with her. I think before the Fall is up, we'll definitely be taking another trip out to the pumpkin patch.

we have a winner!

2011-10-17T19:33:00.003-04:00

::drum roll please:: The winner of the My Memories Giveaway is...

#2.. JILL!

And I tried forever to figure out how to post the picture of the thing on Random.org but couldn't do it so you'll just have to trust me.

So Jill (who by the way just had a new baby! eep!!), when you get a second, email me and I'll get you your code!

project 365: week 41

2011-10-16T21:27:00.010-04:00

First of all, how awesome is my new look?!? Thanks to one of my blog besties, Jess, I got a complete overhaul and I LOVE it! Check out her site Diamond Doll Design if you're jonesing for a new look.

Sunday, October 9th:

Just a quiet Sunday morning with some Daddy/daughter play time.

Monday, October 10th:

This is seriously how these two watch tv.

Tuesday, October 11th:

She was so tired after school one day that she wouldn't even hold her head up to eat. She's such a trip.

Wednesday, October 12th:

The after nap face.

Thursday, October 13th:
:)

Friday, October 14th:

She thinks you blow all flowers like you do dandelions. It's pretty stinking cute.

Saturday, October 15th:

Our poor dog.. This is how she decided she should watch tv.

The My Memories giveaway is closed! The winner will be announce tomorrow :)

the four that came first.

2011-10-15T10:00:00.000-04:00

There was a question the other week on BG's application for school that took my breath away;

"Any other children in the house?".

For just a second, I couldn't breathe. It was back. That suffocating feeling of the knowledge that there are four little lives whose laughter will never fill my house.

Then BG laughed and I was back. I was here and so was she. All was okay.

My first miscarriage never really registered with me. Hear me out. I was not in any way, shape or form ready for a child. Obviously we were excited and we were handling things but we weren't ready. In a way, when that loss happened, I could chalk it up to it not being the right time. Maybe that's weird, but it's how I felt. It also felt surreal. I can still remember the doctor telling me there was no heartbeat, but it's almost like watching someone else go through that.

My second miscarriage hurt. It hurt bad. It was a baby that we were trying for. It's different somehow. I know it shouldn't be, but it was. One week we're watching a baby bounce around on the screen and the next week I'm watching a doctor prepare his face to give me the worst news you can give a pregnant lady. Another hospital. Another surgical procedure. Another loss.

My third loss lead us to a reproductive endocrinologist. Our ob was out of answers and being at a third loss qualifies you for all sorts of fun titles in the infertility/recurrent pregnancy loss world. My heart hurt as we ran test after test and couldn't find answers for why this just didn't seem to be happening for us.

We took a few years off to let our hearts heal and to figure out our next plan of attack. In 2008, we got pregnant again. We were seeing our RE at the time and taking every precaution we could. After a few weeks, bedrest and multiple "scares" we went in for the appointment that changed it all. I laid on that table and knew. My oh so sweet doctor was silent for fifteen minutes while he looked around and took measurements. I was already crying when he said that he was sorry, but he just couldn't find a heart beat.

Gah. My heart still just hurts..

I hate that we had to go through that. I truly, truly do. I still can't think about it too much because I can't take it. The emotions are still so raw, still so fresh. Perhaps they always will be.

I was a mother for years before I had Baby Girl. From my very first positive test, I was a Mom.

Those losses do not hold me back. I can't wallow in them. I talk about them because talking about them makes others realize they aren't alone. Because when I went through them? I felt alone. It was awful and it made it ten times worse. More like a million times worse.

We came out on the other side. We have one adorable little girl and our lives and our hearts are so full. She made this family complete.

I'm so grateful to the first four. The ones who paved the way for BG to get here. She has some amazing brothers and sisters.

Everything about them is packed away. It's in a file. I don't take it out and look at it but I don't need to. They're in my heart and in the scars on my belly that show the journey that they took me on. Their scars are right next to the ones that BG left behind. All my kids have left a mark. I love it.

So today on Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, I allow myself a little more time to think of them. And to share with you again my story.

I'll also be squeezing my little one a bit tighter and thanking God that after so much loss, He gave me the biggest blessing ever.

Thinking of all the families out there who have lost an infant whether it be by miscarriage or something different. You're in my thoughts.

in the still of the night...

2011-10-14T20:10:00.002-04:00

Last night the little one couldn't sleep. She went to bed fine, but kept waking up screaming. When Mr. P and I turned in around ten (we are old), she freaked out. He spent some time in there with her trying to get her to chill, but it wasn't happening. After attempting to lay her down a few times, he tagged out and I was up.

The minute I picked her up, she clung to me like a spider monkey. You know, where they dig their fingers and toes into you and sprawl across you. Yea, no getting that off.

We trekked into the playroom to rock for a bit. I sat down and she laid her head on my shoulder and we just rocked and rocked.

We haven't done that in months.

I'm thankful that I have an amazing sleeper. I am, but... (ohgraciousicantbelieveimfixingtotypethis) a very small part of me feels robbed that we haven't had a middle of the night rocking fest since, oh, she was about six weeks old. There have been the occasional middle of the night wake ups, but they are so very rare. Sad.

So last night, we rocked.

Well, she slept on my shoulder (sigh) and I rocked.

As I sat there in the peace and quiet of the middle of the night, everything seemed so small and so trivial. Problems are minute when there's no one awake to harp on them. Sickness is quiet for a second. There are no bills to pay. No groceries to buy. And when the whiny toddler is asleep, there is no whiny toddler.

I get so caught up in everything going on so much of the time. I worry constantly. I stress like a pro (seriously, four pounds in a week loss kind of stress). Then I stress that my clothes don't fit and it's just not in the budget to buy more at the moment. See, I stress just to stress (are you stressed yet?). But.......

No stressing last night. Just a quiet moment to rock with my baby. To stop and smell her hair (don't knock it til you try it). To listen to her breathe. To thank God that she is here and she is mine.

Man.. I freaking heart my life.

I tried to lay her down once she fell asleep and she started banchee screaming again. So I brought her to bed with me. Yep. As I sat there and made sure she went back to sleep, I felt it again; my heart bursting with so much love.

Now lest you think I'm getting soft, I didn't sleep a wink so I'm a peach today, but last night? is burned into my memory. I needed that. I needed that quiet night.

Of course I don't need two in a row so please pray my child sleeps tonight.

18 months.

2011-10-13T10:00:00.000-04:00

Well hello toddlerhood. How nice to meet you.

You love to play pretend. You've been playing with your dolls for months but lately it goes beyond that. You love your tea set. You pretend to pour tea and then drink from the cup. Then you go "mmm!" and make us "try" it. Sometimes you just drink from the tea pot ;). You also like to take the bowls and the fork and "mix" stuff up to eat. It's pretty funny when you lick the empty bowl clean!

You have gotten really good at your animal sounds (dog, cat, sheep, and sometimes cow).

The whining has definitely stepped up a notch this month. Super fun.

You can point out so many body parts; eyes, nose, mouth, hair, head, ears, tongue, teeth, arms, legs, fingers, toes, belly button, and tummy.

You still like to "clean up" and like to use your wipes to wipe stuff down.

You say (and sign) "pwease" and "thank you". You say "bess you" when someone sneezes. Dare I say you may have good manners?!

You love being outside. You run to the door a ton of times a day and holler "outdide!!".

You have a pretty serious "Elmo" obsession. You used to call him "Belmo" but you've got it right now. You should. You say it plenty of times a day!

Remember that separation anxiety we battled last month Baby Girl? Yea, it lasted a grand total of about two weeks and hasn't been seen since. You walk straight up to the sitters' house now and straight into the arms of the nursery workers at church. However, when we come to get you, you run full out for us yelling "Mama" or "Daddy" and throw your arms around us. It is absolutely the best thing to return to.

You love your sitters' little girl, Erica. You ask for her constantly. And when we drive up to the sitters' house, you start squealing "Erca!". It is ridiculous cute. And Erica is a huge fan of yours as well.

You hand us your plate or bowl when you're done eating and say "all done".

You know when things are empty now and let us know as well by saying "all gone".

Your dancing has stepped up a notch. You dance all the time. You wave your arms around if you're sitting down, but if you're up, your whole body is moving. You've also started twirling in circles.

You've learned to pull your pants down. That's fun.

There are little acorns and pine cones all over the driveway currently. Whenever we get home, you have to gather a handful them on the way in the door. You love your "acorns" which you say with the sweetest little accent.

You rarely want to be held anymore. You have to be so tired you can't see straight to sit down at all. And if you're that tired, you just go to bed because you are a monster at that point!

You say thank you, "pwease", "bwess you" when we sneeze and "amen" after prayers. These are some of the sweetest things I've ever heard.

You are still obsessed with belly buttons, but you've also become pretty interested in backs and dare I say it, butts. Mine at least. Anytime I sit down, you're pulling at my top to see my back and then you'll pull at my waistband and crack up. My little weirdo.

You talk to everyone. Everyone. Most of the time you start saying "bye bye" the minute you see them. Then you will keep saying it. Over and over and over. They better say it back or you just get louder and louder. And you pop an attitude. It becomes more "BYE BYE!!". They really should just talk to you..

At your eighteen month appointment, the doctor was VERY impressed with where you are developmentally. Of course, I think you're the smartest kid EVER, but I'm you Mama. One thing's for sure; you are a very smart, very independent little girl. I can't wait to see what you do in life.

Stats:

Length: 32.25 inches

Weight: 30.8

Sleep: Going to bed around 7 and will sleep til about 8:30 am. Your naps are iffy at best these days. It's usually just one after lunch and can be anywhere from an hour and half to three hours.

Teeth: Still holding in at 12.

Clothes: Still can wear 18 month, mostly 24 month and some 2T. Your dresses are still 24 month in length.

Diapers: Still a 4 during the day and 5 at night.

Favorite foods: Bananas, toast, corn, avacados, sandwiches with mustard, yogurt, Goldfish

Words: "book", "ball", "doggie", "dat" (cat), "Dash" (Cash), "Yacy" (Lacy), "Ace" , "Mama", "Daddy", "Pop Pop" (my Dad), "phone", "hello" (herro), "doll", "bath", "bow", "shoe", "wawa" (water), "juice", "cup", "WubWub" (paci), "no no", "yesh" (yes), "milk", "block", "hot", "thank you", "gish" (Goldfish), "snack", "Nonny", "dress", "baby", "Teve" (Uncle Marine), "Mommy", "mote" (remote), "book", "spoon", "plate", "all done", "bubble", "bat" (hat), "seep" (sheep), "peez" (please) , "blankie", "nigh nigh" from before and new this month: toast, "nana" (banana), all gone, milk, amen, "bwess you" (bless you), bath, outside, Elmo (over and over and over), chair, down, go and so much more.

You are the light of our lives little one. No idea what we did with ourselves before you came around. We love you more than anything....

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!**

wordless wednesday: school picture day

2011-10-12T10:00:00.000-04:00

the little things.

2011-10-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

So based on my tweets as of late and this post right here, it's quite obvious the run for my money my kid is currently giving me.

Motherhood is overwhelming at times to say the least. But today; today I'm reminding myself how blessed I am just to be a Mom. Her Mommy.

I'm finding joy in the little things. In the fact that she likes tutus and dolls and jewelry.

... that she hugs you, hard, now. That she snuggles into your neck and squeezes.

... that she has a very similar laugh to me. It's loud and sort of obnoxious, but there's no ignoring it.

... that that laugh comes out a lot. That when she's around other kids, she just runs around at them laughing and they aren't quite sure what to make of it (Mama survived it sweetie and so will you).

... that her laugh is so loud and hard because she is so full of pure joy.

... that she's learned to twirl.

... that she dances in my backseat.

... that she covers her mouth when she giggles and man, that melts me.

Those are my puppy dog kisses on a rainy day. Those little things are why I hold out for the days of less whining.

Now I kind of want to go snuggle my child.

I won't though because I'm not stupid and I know you don't wake a sleeping ~~bear~~ baby.

And lest you think that judging by all these happy pictures I've shown you from yesterday afternoon I am lying about the tantrums...

..that's what I got from telling her it was time to go in. Little things Megan, focus on the little things

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

do what? a giveaway?!

2011-10-10T12:58:00.009-04:00

Yep. It's happening. It's my first giveaway!

When the lovely people at My Memories contacted me about doing a giveaway, I wasn't so sure at first (all honesty right?!). But then I took a look around and loved what I saw.

It's no secret that I've been working my booty off on some digital scrapbooks for BG's first year. This little ditty came around just in time because I was hard at work on her second year book (ignore the fact I haven't finished the first year yet).

With all the digital scrapbooking kits they have, it's easy to find something that will work with what you're wanting to create.

Or, you can easily go your own route and use the pages and embellishments they already have to create something all on your own.

Obviously I've just started. Way to go slacker Mom considering she's 18 months old!

So here's what's up for grabs; you get your own copy of the digital program!

There's a couple of ways to enter but I'll try to keep it simple;

Mandatory entries:
-Be a follower of this blog and go check out the My Memories and check out their digital kits. Then come back here and let me know which one is your favorite.

For extra entries (and leave a comment for each one):
-Follow My Memories on Twitter
-Like My Memories on Facebook
..and third
-in the spirit of fun giveaways, go check out AP's giveaway today and enter.

It's good times on this Monday y'all.

Get to entering y'all! I'll pick a winner this Friday evening.

I did receive a free copy of this software in return for me to review and host this giveaway. However, the legit product plug is all my opinion and such.

project 365: week 40

2011-10-09T19:38:00.009-04:00

Sunday, October 2nd:

I had a photo shoot downtown with a fun family of four today. This was just an idea I had while shooting and I loved the way it turned out.

Monday, October 3rd:

An outtake from our first day of school shoot. More of my pictures looked like this one than this one.

Tuesday, October 4th:

An attempt at an 18 month photo shoot...

Wednesday, October 5th:

Helping Daddy make dinner.

Thursday, October 6th:

Just watching a little tv..

Friday, October 7th:

Apparently this is what she wears when hanging out in the afternoon with Dad. Special...

September, October 8th:

My sweet girl looking all precious right after stealing my drink. Don't let her fool you.

funny farm.

2011-10-08T20:53:00.006-04:00

You know those perfect Fall days where the air is crisp, you wake up to the smell of coffee, you attend a football game with friends and your hair and outfit are totally adorable?

This was not one of those days.

I woke up to my husband telling me he had to run to the store for carpet cleaner since one of our dogs puked in the playroom. Only they didn't do it just once. No, about six times.

Then the little one woke up crying and wouldn't go back to sleep. So that was fun. I finally gave in and turned on cartoons and she laid around for a while while I got ready to head to the Clemson game to meet up with some of my favorites.

I let her play in her room while I showered and then let her watch some more tv while I got dressed. She decided to find other forms of entertainment. Good thing her Dad bought the value pack.

I finally scrounged up some purple for BG to wear (one purple item in the whole house for her. Clearly we're a Dawg house!) and got her dressed amid lots of screaming and tears. I went into the laundry room to stop the dryer and when I came back out, I almost threw up.

Apparently Mr. P and I missed a pile of throw up that BG found. I'll spare you the details.

After a bath, she was really in rare form. I managed to find another outfit for her to put on but by that time, she was done. I'm talking hot, blubbering mess done. So I laid her down and texted Anne to let her know ~~my toddler was ruining my life~~ we probably wouldn't make it.

Then I spent the next two hours praying for my sanity.

I'm not kidding y'all. This week, has just about reserved my spot on the funny farm. I feel like I'm losing my mind.

When we pick up BG in the afternoon, she is so tired that it is meltdown city. When we get home, it is non stop whining and crying until bed time. Which we make happen as soon as possible. In the past week, we've seen three less than desirable habits arise; putting her head up against the wall or counter and screaming, screaming "mine!", and doing the "grabby" hands while screaming. At the point of exhaustion she is at, there is no reasoning with her, no dealing with her, or teaching her. It is awful.

I'll admit it, I'm losing patience with a quickness. I can't handle it. I tweeted the other day about how I am just having a rough Mommy week and my amazing friends all reminded me that we've all been there. One of the "seasoned" Moms on Twitter, DD, said something that stuck with me. She said "God did bless us with the gift of motherhood, but it ain't easy. Fo' sho". And how true is that? But what got me is this, that motherhood is a gift. While it currently is one I would like to mark Return to Sender, it is by far the best gift ever.

I never expected this to be easy, I really, really didn't. But I didn't expect that there would be days that even as her Mother, I would be completely clueless as to what to do. I didn't realize that she would do (and scream) things that would make me want to run to the hills. I didn't realize that there would be days that I would seriously doubt if I could do this.

There's so much good and bad with this gig y'all. So many extremes.

We never did make it to the game. We also needed to go to the grocery store but that didn't happen either. What did happen is that we learned that BG's hair is now long enough for pigtails. And that she really likes the baby in the book, Love You Forever.

The good thing is, it's Saturday, which means tomorrow is the beginning of a new week. And there is no telling what next week might hold. That's the thing about Motherhood. It is some kind of full of highs and lows. Thank goodness with my little one, it's way more highs than lows.

transitions.

2011-10-06T19:31:00.004-04:00

Well this has been a week.

There have been about three million things going on these days. Every time I turn around, I feel like something else is popping up for us to deal with.

In the middle of all that, there have been some pretty major transitions with BG. We got word a couple weeks ago that the lady that has been keeping her was going back to work. We had been talking a bit about getting her enrolled in a more structured type program but weren't expecting it to be this soon. However, after that bit of news we bit the bullet and enrolled her in a church program here.

I know that it's not "school" per se, but the fact that my baby girl was heading off with a nap mat screamed "school" to me. And that fact made me tear up a bit. Okay, so it made me bawl when I dropped her off. Whatever.

It probably doesn't help that she also turned eighteen months the same day. What is she doing to me?!

She seemed to love it. And she came home with a perfect "report card". Okay, that's school.

Tuesday I decided to send her for a little bit while I got some things done around the house. She went right in without any hesitation and ran right up to her teacher arms outstretched. Absolutely nothing fazes this kids.

While she was gone, I decided to ~~emotionally torture myself~~ redo some things in her room. It's become almost a hazard to change the crazy kid on her changing table, so I did some rearranging to make her room more "little girl" friendly.

I moved pictures and gave her a "tea" table. The cradle of animals came out and toys went in. Bibs and burp cloths were packed away and play jewelry and tutu's now fill those bins.

Just a few small changes, but the room definitely no longer screams "a baby sleeps here!!".

Things are changing at a lightning fast pace around these parts. Good thing I'm so good at handling change huh?

wordless wednesday: me and my best friend

2011-10-05T21:42:00.009-04:00

K helping BG take her shoes off. So sweet...

a farewell (again)

2011-10-04T09:21:00.000-04:00

When my brother got out of the Marines last May, I celebrated big time over the fact that he was home safe and sound. And for good.

Don't get me wrong, the military is amazing and my family is military and I'm ridiculous proud, but I like my little brother in the USofA where I can keep an eye on him.

Then he got out and got a job doing something very similar to what he was doing in the Marines. Fun fun, whatever floats your boat and all that. Then? We got word that he was heading back overseas with this job.

Say what?!?

So he's leaving. Again. We have to say good bye. Again.

Seriously?

I hate goodbyes. Hate them. I'm such a child and want everything to stay the same and nothing to change and no one to go anywhere (cue feet stomping and whining). But unfortunately, I don't always get my way (I know, craziness).

A few weeks ago (or last month), Uncle Marine came down to spend some time with us BG before the craziness of getting ready to go set in.

She adored him. Like couldn't get enough. They laughed; they read books; they played. She flirted. Yep, she did.

His girlfriend came down with him and BG latched right on. She kept running up to her with a book going "Kis-ten" over and over. I think "Kis-ten" was a huge fan of hers as well.

When we finally got word that his departure was truly right around the corner, BG and I trekked down to his place to spend a few hours with him and my parents. Unfortunately Mr. P was out of town, but thankfully BG was a peach on this trip.

She fell asleep about twenty minutes before we met up with my family (par for the course), but was her amazing little self when she woke up. Since we were in town, we stopped by the cemetery to put flowers on my Nanny's grave. It's the first time I've taken the little one there.

After a quick lunch with the family, we went and spent a few hours with my inlaws while Uncle Marine finished packing (apparently waiting to the last minute is truly in our blood...). BG had a blast with both sets of grandparent around and this girl truly enjoyed being able to sit down for a few minutes.

After dinner, we packed it up and headed back home. Like I said, I hate saying goodbye so we gave a big "see ya later" to Uncle Marine and wished him well. It almost broke my heart when he told BG, "I'll see you when you're two". Sigh... But he'll be home soon.

He's leaving today. Only seven more months til he comes home...

project 365: week 39

2011-10-02T22:03:00.010-04:00

Week 39. So there's only 12 weeks left in 2011?? How is that even possible?!

Sunday, September 25th:

Somebody was loving the jewels she got from Gabby's birthday party the day before. She wouldn't take them off all day!

Monday, September 26th:

BG loves saying her ABC's so I ordered the Melissa and Doug ABC puzzle to help her learn them. So far, she prefers to use the letters as little projectile weapons.
That's fun. But we're learning to play nicely with it.

Tuesday, September 27th:

Sweetest face I know. Even with the dirt ring around her neck and the mosquito bite on her cheek.

Wednesday, September 28th:

Y'all. Seriously. My heart. So much joy.

Thursday, September 29th:

Odd picture, but the little was actually cuddling with me for the first time in months! So of course I made the Mr. sneak a picture.

Friday, September 30th:

The little one has been going to a sitter since I went back to work this summer. Until next week. BG is actually starting "school" next week so Khristy won't be keeping her anymore. The little girl is her daughter whom BG adores. Seriously, she asks for her all. the. time. I'm grateful she took such good care of my babe for me for so long. I think BG will really miss them...

Saturday, October 1st:

We spent the morning at Anne's for Mac's first birthday but I'll let her show you the pictures first. The afternoon was spent recovering from a sugar high and asking for "Mimi" (Anne's mom) over and over and over. I think she was so disappointed that I brought her home with me! **Oh, and her Dad dressed her. And I don't know how to explain that hair! ;)

my weakness.

2011-10-01T15:20:00.003-04:00

**This was supposed to post yesterday. Way to go Blogger. Grrr...**

I'm linking up this week with Kelly because she's talking about kids' clothing. And if there is one thing I love, it's shopping for my girl. I love it a bit too much. Just ask my husband.

I'll admit, I buy way too many clothes for her. But I cannot help it. She is like my little doll and I love getting her dressed up. Truth? Most of the time I look like a hobo while she looks amazing. My priorities are insane.

I like BG to look like a baby. I pass no judgement on how you want to dress your child, but for me, I want mine to look like a sweet baby until she's 20. Or until she can tell me what she likes. Until then? It is smocked clothes and appliques and monograms.

I rarely pay full price for the smocked clothes. Only for a special occasion like holidays and such.

About 95% of BG's "good" clothes come from consignment stores, sales and Ebay. Love Ebay. You can get brand new clothes for cheap. And used clothes are hardly used at all. I've also searched for monogrammed clothes and found some amazing pieces like that.

When I go to consignment sales, I only look for the "good" clothes. You usually have to get there early and look fast. We love our smocking here in the South!

Some of my favorite brands are:

Orient Expressed
Rosalina
Kelly's Kids
Peaches 'n Cream
Ragsland
Castles and Crowns
Bailey Boys
Petit Ami
Mom and Me
Anavini
... And I'm sure there are more!

I also really like customized clothes. I've ordered a few things from Etsy but I get the majority of her customized clothes from Ashley over at SheSheMade. I've gotten BG's first birthday outfits from there, holiday clothes from there and recently I've gotten a few smocked things from her. I LOVE her shop.

Recently I have gotten sucked in big time by the Facebook sales sites. There are a ton and they are cheap!

For 'play" clothes, I love Target, Carter's, Kohl's (Jumping Beans brand) and even Wal-Mart. Their Garanimals brand makes some awesome tees and leggings. For "everyday" clothes, I like Children's Place, Gymboree and the J & K brand at Belk. I don't get to much at the first two place but every now and then I find something olive. The J & K brand I LURVE.

So that's that. Clearly I have a major shopping problem.

Easy Canvas

2011-09-29T12:40:00.003-04:00

So I've never done a review before. Because I'm not reviewing something that I wouldn't truly enjoy myself. But when I was contacted to do a review for Easy Canvas Prints, I was all "heck yea! I'm on that" because pictures? Good. Pictures on canvas? Good. Why would I not be all over that?!

Easy Canvas Prints was ridiculously easy to work with. In fact, the thing that took me the longest to do was decide on a picture to use. Good problem to have I'd say. Daggum super cute kid making me not be able to make a decision.

It took all of five minutes to get my picture uploaded and my preview to show up. It took about that long for them to ship my item. It seriously was here before I knew it. That's my kind of service since we all know I'm a want it right away kind of girl.

I couldn't be more pleased with my canvas. I chose a favorite picture from the little ones first birthday. The colors are perfect and the quality was amazing. In fact, I've already got my next picture picked out to order.

Thanks again Easy Canvas Prints for being so awesome to work with. If you want one of your own (and who doesn't?!) be sure to check out their site and look around! There's a link on my sidebar to help show you the way!

*While I was compensated with an 8 x 10 canvas to review, the opinions in this blog are all mine.*

(typed) wordless wednesday: bathtime conversation

2011-09-28T10:42:00.000-04:00

*please ignore the fierce mosquito bite on her cheek and forehead*

random.

2011-09-27T22:11:00.002-04:00

Man. My head is a mess these days.

I decided to start "planning" some blog posts to try and get a few knocked out once a week. Ha. Ask me how many times I've done that? So my planner currently looks like BG got a hold of it with all the crossed out words. Fun.

I thought I'd "plan" some posts because I seriously have a ton to say these days but it's just not getting out of my brain and onto this page. Something isn't connected right I suppose.

We went to Savannah this past weekend to visit with family and to attend a birthday party. BG and my best friend's little girl had such a blast playing together. I'm not going to lie; it hurt my heart to watch them have so much fun and know that that life we had planned of them growing up together, isn't going to go exactly as planned. I need to look at it like KP does; she gets giddy about the fact that they'll have friends that they can go spend a weekend with and give parents a break. I should think like that. I just hate when things don't go the way I planned.

I drove to Atlanta last night to attend a "tweet up". I finally got to meet up with my dear friend Sarah, who I have been texting, emailing and tweeting with for a couple of years. We drove into town and met up with quite a few Twitter pals. It was such a good time! I got to meet some of the ladies that I've been "talking" to for a while and they were just as awesome in person. I hardly got to talk to some of them though, so we'll definitely have to do it again.

I'm surprised I went. I have the tendency to get throw up nervous when in situations like that. I'm pretty awkward in real life (okay, I'm awkward on here too) and I'm pretty sure I say about a million dumb things. Hopefully I didn't scare anyone away!

Last week while Mr. P was out of town, we had a round of pretty bad storms. The day after the storm, I noticed our tub was no longer draining very well. So for two days, I dealt with it. Then Friday morning, I decided to take matters into my own hands and attack that bad boy with the plunger.. Bad, bad idea. Next thing I knew, my tub was filling up with black stuff. I called Mr. P and broke the bad news that I "broke our bathroom". It got worse. When I started the dishwasher, it filled back up and added food to the black mix. Freaking disgusting. Since we were out of town some of the weekend, it wasn't a huge deal. But I was one pissed off female when I couldn't shower on Sunday and then had to bathe in the kitchen sink on Monday. Fun times.

Speaking of Monday, I slept until 8: 22 am that day. Guess what time I have to be at work? 8. The language was awesome that morning between that, the sink bath and having no coffee.

Sometimes I wonder how my husband deals with me. I think I'm getting crazier in my old age.

I bought a box of poptarts and ate the entire box in two sittings. Who does that?!

Speaking of eating like a man, I should do a weight loss post. Who wants to guess how that's going?! Kidding, it's actually going well somehow.

My Grandma got some excellent news on Monday. Her tumor didn't shrink at all in the stomach, but it didn't spread!! So the plan is to have surgery on the 4th and remove the stomach if all is still well that day. I cannot thank y'all enough for all the tweets, emails, thoughts and prayers. Seriously, if I could hug every single one of y'all I would. Well, I'd give you a high five because I'm an awkward hugger. Still love me?!?

No for real. I can't thank y'all enough.

project 365: week 38

2011-09-25T22:20:00.010-04:00

Sunday, September 18th:

This picture is blurry, but can you see that attitude?!

Monday, September 19th:

This face is making an appearance in our house far too often lately. Toddlerhood is rough y'all.

Tuesday, September 20th:

On Tuesday BG and I rode down to see Uncle Marine off before he headed back overseas. While in town, we took BG by to see where my Nanny was buried.

Wednesday, September 21st:

I walked away from the little one for two seconds to start her bath and when I came back, she had dumped everything and was shaking her water all over the place. So glad it was just me and her at the house all week so that I got to clean it up all by myself.

Thursday, September 22nd:

BG and I met Tiffanie and her little one at ChickFilA for dinner the other night. BG loved T and they had such a blast playing together. I won't tell you how many times I had to climb to the top of the play area to get a terrified toddler though.. Good times. :)

Friday, September 23rd:

Mr. P was in Orlando for a work conference all week and finally came home Friday afternoon. BG was beyond excited to see him. He managed to up that even more when he gifted her this Cinderella doll. Dolls are the way to this girls heart!

Saturday, September 24th:

We jetted on down the road to Savannah Friday night to spend some time with family and to attend a birthday party. As y'all know, my Grandma is currently battling cancer and is such a trooper. It more than made her day to see the sweet little one.

**Speaking of my Grandma, she has a very important appointment in the morning to figure out what happens next. Please pray for good news tomorrow. Thanks ladies :)

the blog land.

2011-09-22T10:10:00.001-04:00

Oh Blog Land. It's a crazy, crazy place.

I have to be honest; sometimes? I seriously want to pull out. It can be ridiculous dramatic. The thing is, 99% of the time, any sentence can get taken the wrong way. Where a writer means sarcasm, a reader takes it as truth. Where a comment can just be a general "amen", it can be taken as an attack. It's crazy.

I kind of feel like Twitter makes it worse. I'm not on Twitter much. I jump in every now and then, but I can't keep up. Until two days ago, I had barely touched Twitter in over a week. Apparently you can miss a lot in a week.. Oops.

I'll be honest, I tend to speak my mind before thinking a lot. But I try not to blatantly hurt anyone. But then again, you can take words any way you want. That's the good and bad thing about words; any person can pretty much spin any sentence to make it say what they want it to say.

Blah.

I've been blogging for three years now. Overall, I've loved my experience. More than anything I LOVE having this blog to look back at. It's so fun to look back at what we were doing at different days and see how different life was not that long ago. I have LOVED the relationships I've built. So many of my real life friendships have been formed through blogging. I have met some AMAZING ladies. I love the community. How I can hop on and get advice and help in basically any situation. It's amazing.

I do not like how people take my words and run with them and make them things their not. Or start bad mouthing me to others that I don't even know without coming to me first. That's kind of dumb. For real. But to each their own.

I had such a bad taste in my mouth last night about all of this. Then I read the comments on a dear friend's most recent post and I remembered why I blog... I blog because people are inherently good. That we all get irritated on days and can say mean things, but at the end of the day, most of us are still good people. People who want to get on here and vent about our kids, or being single, or our jobs because we've met real FRIENDS on here to talk to. We encourage each other on weight loss journeys, through infertility and through loss of family and friends. When my Twitter feed is blowing up with "I'll be praying"s and "I'm so sorry" s, I truly believe those people are just that. Because they care.

People are going to take things the wrong way. Until they invent that dang sarcasm font or until we can all be in each others heads (trust, y'all do not want in here), words can be misconstrued. Try to remember that.

Thanks for reading y'all. Thanks for making blogging something I so love to do and for making this such a great experience.