Mother’s Day 2010

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It came and went… nothing out of this world, but a nice relaxing day with just my family. My mom kind of refused to see me on Mother’s Day (except for at church) but that’s another story altogether. My husband cooked for me, and I got a Flip video camera which I LOVE! Few pictures of us before and at church-

My first Mother’s Day present/craft that Bailey made herself. Her Sunday School teachers put together this cute little flower craft for them to make. I almost cried when she gave it to me.

And the little girl who made me a Mommy!

Easter 2010

Filed Under Church, Easter, Family, Holidays, One Month- Taylor, Sick, Two and a half years old | Leave a Comment

I will admit that going into Easter this year, it was hard for me to stay focused on the real reason we celebrate Easter. It’s so easy to get excited about the egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, kids dressing up for church, opening their baskets, etc. I didn’t have this problem before I had children. But sometimes, I get more excited about my kids than about God. I admitted it. I was hoping for a touching, joyful Easter service at church to help me keep my heart in the right place. But we arrived about ten minutes late, and then got paged to pick Bailey up from the nursery after about 20 minutes.

She felt warm and just kept asking me to hold her. She looked miserable, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. We carried her to bed and she slept for about an hour, My parents insisted that they still wanted to come over so once she woke up, the whole family came over. Which was especially awesome when she ended up puking after lunch. They made a quick exit. We got a few pictures before church though:

Here are a few after the family came over…

And here you can tell she’s really starting to not feel good-

My parents let me bring Taylor over to their house and hang out the rest of the day/evening so that hopefully he wouldn’t get sick. It worked! Plus the coolest thing- my parents have a big jacuzzi tub and my mom was like “bring your bath stuff and I’ll watch Taylor while you relax” so I got to read for an hour in the bath. I haven’t relaxed like that since before he was born. Just a few shots of my mom with him

Christmas Morning 2009

Filed Under Christmas, Gifts, Holidays, Two and a half years old | 3 Comments

On Christmas morning Bailey woke up around 6:30 and I heard her fake crying in her room. I went in and asked her what was wrong and she mumbled something about wanting to see her presents and Santa Claus and Mr. Potato Head. And then I realized we forgot to put out cookies and milk for Santa… oops… so we headed into the living room to see what was under the tree. We had just put a few gifts out for her since we were going to my mom’s to do the “big Christmas” later in the morning.

Under the tree she had a new sled, some books, and her stocking filled with presents. She was a little tired and overwhelmed at first…

but she woke up and got excited quickly!

The first thing she got out of her stocking was the Reeses Pieces candy cane. It was the only candy we put in there and she was pretty sure she needed to eat the whole thing right. that. minute.

She opened all her stocking presents in about two minutes- necklace and bracelet, tattoos, sunglasses, water colors, bath paints, chapstick, stickers…

Then Jonathon and I took turns showering and getting ready, and supervising her with her new paints.

By 8:30 a.m. we were all dressed and ready to head to Grammy’s house!

More later!

Christmas Eve

Filed Under Christmas, Church, Gifts, Holidays, Toys, Traditions, Two and a half years old | 1 Comment

We had a really nice Christmas Eve. Nothing exciting or huge but just nice to be together as a family. I had been working a lot of hours at my mall job and really missing time with Jonathon and Bailey. So I was glad just to spend this night together. We spent the afternoon getting some last minute Christmas things ready and wrapping done during her nap. Then we got dressed up and went to church together. I was able to get a few pictures of her at church (in the nursery) when I remembered to get my camera out.

Afterwards we didn’t get to have the Jesus Birthday Party because my parents decided to go to the late service instead. We came home and ate snacks and let Bailey open a few presents. We decided that as a tradition our kids will get a new ornament and pajamas on Christmas Eve, and that we will get a “family gift” like a game or something we can all do together.

This year she opened the Mr. Potato Head (one of her favorite gifts) that our neighbors brought over for her. She became almost irrationally obsessed with him, wanted to keep talking to him and hugging him and bring him to bed.

Her ornament was a princess castle, all pink and sparkly, with her name and the year on it. I thought that would be a good representation of this year and this Christmas, since she has been asking for “A castle with a princess and a princess and a princess and a princess and a king and a dragon and a dinosaur!” She has also recently gotten really interested in her Beauty and the Beast book, her new Tinkerbell room decor, and playing dress up in general. I have been looking forward to this stage!

She got a Disney Princess Memory game which we attempted to play. Really she just wanted to keep stacking and organizing the cards- but at least it was something we could do together! I know one of my friends got her daughter (who is a few months younger than Bailey) the Candyland game for Christmas. I’m wondering if they had any luck with that.

These are her new snowman jammies that she got to open and wear to bed. I don’t know that I am going to do any sort of matching jammies for the kids in the future, since we’ll have one boy and one girl. I might just try to get ones they will each like. I knew Bailey would love the snowmen and I was happy to avoid “character” pajamas this time. She has one pair of Dora jammies and they are enough for now!

The one regret I have about Christmas Eve is that I completely forgot to read the Christmas story to her! I was going to read it from her Jesus Storybook Bible and then we got all busy at bedtime and she was so wound up and kept running around her room and jumping from her bed to the beanbag chair. It completely slipped my mind. I am going to have to be more intentional about that next year because I don’t want this to just be a “gift holiday” and nothing else. We have been talking about the Christmas story and Jesus’ birthday etc but I was just disappointed.

We’re ready for the zoo!

Filed Under Halloween, Holidays, Talking, Two and a half years old | 4 Comments

Tomorrow we are going to the trick or treat event at our zoo. Bailey is so excited. We tried on her costume tonight (yes, for the first time!) and it is a little big but it looks cute anyway. It is a Cinderella costume but she has no idea who Cinderella is- she just wanted to be a princess. She keeps saying “I want to wear my princess!”

I think we are going to have to layer it with a shirt and pants underneath. It’s supposed to be chilly but that’s not going to keep us home. She was so excited to put her jammies on and go to bed so that we could wake up and go to the zoo sooner. Let’s cross our fingers that she doesn’t get up at 3 a.m. now. She keeps saying “It’s a holiday Mom!”

Here she is all jammied up and ready for bed. Nite nite, princess Bailey.

I can tell you right now

Filed Under Holidays, Patriotic, Two Years Old | 4 Comments

My child is NOT a fan of fireworks. At least this year. We tried to go see them last night. She was fine with a few that were shot beforehand, way in the distance. But once the real ones started, the screaming started. As in “Mommy fireworks GET YOU ALL DONE NOW MOMMY!!!!!!” We went into a nearby store and watched out the window. She tried to venture outside once and then a firework went off. She hit the ground like a bomb was dropped.

We may or may not try again next year. Thank goodness tonight when they were going off outside, she thought they were drums. Silly kid.

Father’s Day, a little late

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I realize I am a little behind on posting. I’m still getting caught up from my week without WordPress (Thanks, Jonathon!) and from being so busy with my Avon cruise sale! Something that I mean to say to Jonathon a few weeks ago… and I might have, but it needs to be on my blog too- Thank you for being the best father to Bailey that I could possibly imagine. Thank you for playing with her for hours, and being silly with her, and teaching her, and loving her. There is no one in the world that I would rather have a family with. And I am so thankful for my Dad and Grandpa, too!

And of course it wouldn’t be a post without sharing some pictures…

My dad, Jonathon, and my grandpa- a.k.a. Papa

Daddy gets hugs from his girl

Mother’s Day #3

Filed Under Being a Mom, Daddy, Holidays, Two Years Old | 3 Comments

I can’t believe I have already celebrated my third Mother’s Day. (Yes, Bailey was born about a month before Mother’s Day in 2007). I am so, so thankful to be Bailey’s mom. She is better than anything I could possibly have dreamed of. She is not “perfect” but she is perfect for me. I have so much fun with her, I love to hear what she has to say and to watch her learn. I just adore her.

Here she is in her new Mother’s Day outfit. She always wears a new dress for a special occasion before it goes into the clothing cycle. I know I am weird about her clothes but I love dressing up my little girl!

My mom and my grandma… yes they are wearing the same shirt in different colors… not planned that way. I love them both and I am so blessed to live so close to both of them.

This was our dessert. I thought it was such a cute idea. Little votive holders for flower pots, chocolate ice cream, and silk flowers. Very simple but it was fun for something different. My mom is always crafty and comes up with neat food ideas. She used to sell Pampered Chef back when it was first popular (like early 90s maybe).

Bailey and Daddy They surprised me with a sweet card that they made together, and breakfast in bed on Sunday morning. I even got to sleep in late! And for dinner I was surprised again- with stuffed crust pizza and cinnamon sticks! My favorite. My gift is, um, still being decided upon. Don’t ask, it wasn’t worth the fight.

Silly monkey face girl! I love her!

Easter 2009

Filed Under Holidays, Twenty-three Months | 1 Comment

We got up and went to Easter service at church. Then everyone came back to our house for the Easter Egg Hunt (where Bailey was the only hunter). It was basically a bunch of adults sitting around watching her. It made me think of two years ago when I was still pregnant on Easter and wanted to meet Bailey so badly. I can’t imagine NOT having her now.

Jonathon’s parents were in town, and my grandparents and my parents came over as well. We had ham, deviled eggs, stuffed celery, potato salad, and beans. Then for dessert I bought an apple pie and ice cream. No time for baking but you will see why in my next post.

Here are a few pictures of Bailey opening her basket. She didn’t pose for any pictures- we couldn’t get her to settle down and do “nice” Easter pictures because of the chaos.

She was so excited about the egg hunt. We used real eggs which maybe I shouldn’t have. It was fine, but she wasn’t exactly gentle. We heard lots of eggs cracking as she threw more into her basket. At least it was funny.

Mom, Dad and me

Happy Easter to everyone!

Happy Timey-nine!

Filed Under Holidays, Twenty-One Months | 3 Comments

Some things I want to remember…

-Bailey says “Timey-nine” instead of Valentine.
-She loves Barney, Baby Bop, and “B.G”
-Her favorite food is a Big Bird Bar (Earth’s Best Organic Fruit Bars) but she slurs it together and calls it a “Bee Barn” now.
-She loves to remind people about their manners. She says “Please… Nice… Manners!”
Her favorite phrase is “Look at that” said in a really high pitched voice

And just for fun, some pictures from a Valentine party earlier this week:

Bailey gave out Dora and Diego valentines with lollipops this year. She loves lollipops only pronounces it like “le-poop!”

Forgive my lack of posting

Filed Under Holidays, Parties, Twenty Months | 3 Comments

I have been busy obsessing over sewing patterns online, and finding new recipes to try. I must be becoming a housewife. Yikes. On to the real world…

We partied like rockstars on new year’s eve. All the way until 9:00 pm. We went to a party at Mae’s house.

There was a little time to chat with friends, and we spent a lot of time chasing Bailey around and helping her remember how to share.

They had an early countdown for the kids. All Bailey has talked about since then is the “dance party” and “happy happy happy.” Check out the countdown madness:

After that, we had a cake for Mae’s daughter Boo’s fifth birthday. They had a cool candle from China on top, it opened up into a flower and played music. Apparently, it’s still playing the music in the dumpster behind Mae’s house…

Happy Halloween!

Filed Under Eighteen Months, Halloween, Holidays | 5 Comments

I hope you appreciate the effort that I put into posting this picture. I could not get my scanner to turn on today and my computer genius husband is at work… so I took a picture of Bailey’s Halloween pics that we had done a few weeks ago.

We also had some adventures this morning. We went to see Nana and Papa (my grandparents) and this was the first time they saw her in her costume.

Then we went to the grocery store and a lot of people were trying to talk to her/touch her/give her candy… So we figured out that she does much better in this little grocery cart car, because people can’t get so close. She was getting a little overwhelmed.

After that, we went to see Daddy at work. He works at a school and all the students just loved Bailey. Some of the oldest kids kind of intimidated her because they were all screeching and crowding around her. But she loved the preschoolers and younger kids. Here is a preschool class who stopped in the middle of the hallway to see her. I just had to take this picture because all the kids were crazy about Bailey, and she was loving it.

Anyway, she is napping now so that we can trick or treat tonight! I hope you have a happy Halloween, and we’ll post pictures again this weekend!

Fourth of July

Filed Under Fourteen Months, Grandparents, Holidays | 1 Comment

We spent the fourth at my parents house. The night before, we went to see fireworks at Sarah’s house. Bailey didn’t cry, but she did not like them. They were shooting them up from a nearby park and we had a great view- but I didn’t realize they would be as loud as they were- so we decided to skip going to a fireworks display on the fourth and just hang out at my parents. It was just us and my grandparents over there. We barbecued and hung out and that’s about it. I decided I wanted to go see fireworks but by then it was too late and I couldn’t get anyone to go with me. My mom kept yelling at me that I was tired and needed to go home and go to bed. Yes, almost 30 years old and my mom still tries to tell me what to do.

“Hey, I wonder what’s under here…”

Raisins are her favorite snack. She likes having the “Fun Size” boxes because she can eat them all by herself. I think half the fun is digging them out of the box.

Helping Grammy get dinner ready

Outside while Grampa grilled our dinner

Apparently at that point I quit taking pictures. But I promise you aren’t missing anything exciting. I wish we had more family in town to get together with. It’s always the same people. But I guess it’s better than not having any family around at all.

Happy 4th of July

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I am very thankful to live in a country where we are free. Free to have our own opinions, to express ourselves, to worship as we choose, to work where we want to, to have a right to an education… I am thankful for the men who fought for those rights so many years ago. I am thankful for the men and women in the armed services who continue to protect those rights.

Happy Father’s Day!

Filed Under Daddy, Holidays | 4 Comments

Just wanted to wish Jonathon and my dad (who doesn’t read this) and all the other dads out there a happy Father’s Day!

Jonathon is so good with Bailey. From the beginning, I have trusted him completely with her. Which is saying a lot, because I am seriously a control freak. I have learned that daddies don’t always do things the same as mommies would, but their way is okay. Bailey loves Jonathon so much. He plays with her whenever he is around, and talks to her, and teaches her things. He even reads to her, and he HATES reading. I could not ask for a better father for my daughter. I am so proud of him and love him so much.

Just a few pictures of Jonathon and Bailey…