Saturday Morning Scene

After a little blog hiatus due to summer vacations....we're baaaaack and we're linking up with Katie over at Loves of Life. We made it home to Haiti, I mean Oklahoma...we stepped off the plane and it was 106. We left Frisco, Colorado where it was 56. Quite the adjustment, but it's good to be home. I missed my Okies! Isabelle is glad to be in her own bed and catching up on some much needed sleep... Happy Saturday!!! What are your plans for the weekend?

What I'm LOVIN right now!

Looking at the past 11 months has made me realize how quickly life goes and how much I wish I would have started writing this blog when I got engaged, married, pregnant, became a mom. It has been such a fun outlet for me and I am really excited for the future when ALL my kids can read this and make fun of me. I really hope they make fun of me, then I'll know I've made it as a parent.

What I'm loving right now. Today, June 22, 2010

• The way Isabelle bosses her juice cup around. She loves to swing it around and then toss it down when she's done. My bum has gotten tighter from constantly doing squats with her in my arms to pick it up and my abs have gotten stronger from laughing at her laughing at herself throwing her cup.

The way Isabelle goes some place where she can be alone, and finds something to hold on to while she poops. Her face also gets a little red and her eyes water. It's awesome. Just awesome.

Exhibit A: poop face in her PJ's in a restaurant

• Knuckles, knees and elbows so chubby that they barely resemble a human joint. More like dimples.
• Being busy the entire day, yet when Mr. T gets home, I can't name one thing that we really did. We just stayed busy
• The way my love for Mr T. has grown. We've added tag team to the marriage resume. Grab her sippee cup, where's her pacifier, where's her baby, do we have snacks...OK we got it all? Crap, she pooped her diaper and it's all over her clothes. Time to start again.  
• The way Isabelle walks with one hand constantly in the air. When she was first learning to walk, we held one of her hands to keep her steady. Now, I think it's a habit for her to hold her hand up. My mom says it looks like she's praising Jesus. I think it looks like she constantly has a question."Who farted?...Isabelle!
•  Open mouth kisses. Isabelle's, not Mr. T's. I wouldn't share that info with you..that's just creepy. 
• The way Isabelle flaps her arms and smiles so big that her eyes disappear when she sees her daddy come home from work. Melts my heart every time.
• The smell of a clean, lavender covered baby after bath time, so tired that the only thing keeping her awake are her chubby fists rubbing her sleepy eyes.
• Isabelle's love for her puppies. Before her, they were our babies. Now...they are her babies. One of her first baby signs (taught to her by her Uncle Dan) was a made up sign for puppy (patting her thigh).
• The summer months. I love everything that comes with summer time. Ice cream, snow cones, water, the long days, night races, morning runs and family vacations.
• Running. It has always been such a huge part of my life, and during pregnancy it was something that I dearly missed. I did run my entire pregnancy...but it wasn't the same. It was waddling. I like to actually RUN. Get my heart rate up. Sweat. Get a runners high....before I got pregnant, I thought I would never get a runners high again. I thought I just ran too much to get them anymore. Then when I was unable to actually "run" I realized how much I actually loved it and how lucky I am to be able to do it. The runners high came back.
• Her natural love for other babies. She gravitates towards them and as soon as she gets her sticky little hands on them, she leans in for a kiss. She also gets concerned when she sees other babies crying. Its so apparent that God placed little mothering instincts in her. She will be a perfect big sister...some day.

What are you lovin' right now? 

Vacay in Pictures

After I come home from vacation, I always get the "vacation blues". It's so weird but I get really sad and feel like my home life is so boring. Note: I love my life, I wouldn't change anything in it (unless we are being completely honest, I would prefer it to be 85 and sunny every day but Christmas. Christmas can snow. And I would have a maid that would do dishes for me. I hate dishes) but for some reason when I get home from a trip, it takes me a few days to get back into the routine of things.
Today, I feel like myself again and happy and ready to REALLY look at San Diego pictures without being sad about the trip being over.

If we were a band. This would totally be our album cover.



Izzy and Aunt Jessie

Loving life as a California beach bum

Mr. T's sisters..minus one.

All of the sisters and the birthday mama!

The TERRIBLE view from our balcony. Gah, who would ever want to live here?!

OK. Now, I'm getting sad again.

Papa John and Isabelle....giving someone the stink eye

I haven't mentioned it before, but Mr. T's family is ridiculously good looking. I know, annoying. They're also really nice and all get along perfectly. I know, double annoying. We had a lot of fun together without any family drama and I don't know many people that can say that (I can't even say that about my immediate family). Mr T's dad and step mom deserve medals. They raised THREE daughters and a son (all one year apart in ages. Do the math..They had FOUR kids in college at the same time) without going bankrupt and still actually enjoying each others company. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

Family trips can be a tricky thing now-a-days. When I was younger if there was a fight between siblings, my dad just lined us up outside our creepy blue van and spanked us (gasp!). It worked. Now, when families fight they don't speak for years and lose millions of irreplaceable memories. Sadly, I have dealt with that in my family (it's all good now though..things are peachy. Fake it til you make it folks) and I pray that my kids never experience that. Big families can come with a ton of big challenges. How do you deal with yours?

TV recap

I have a guilty pleasure...I LOVE erasing shows off the DVR list as soon as I watch them because it gives me some weird sense of accomplishment. It might be a serious case of OCD or it could be just because I'm lame, but it feels like I get to check something off a to-do list or that feeling I used to get when I would finish my homework. Super lame.

Since we were out of town all weekend, we missed TWO Big Brothers (Christmas come early!). Big Brother is a show that Mr. T and I both equally enjoy unlike The Bachelorette and Shark Tank. Guess who likes The Bachelorette more...I will save Mr. T's man card and say "I do". You know the real truth though don't you honey). Do you watch Big Brother? It's only on during the summer months when NO other shows are on. Last summer, when I was pregnant, I loved the show and couldn't wait for it to be on (it's on three days a week). I lived for that hour where I could escape being a whale and just enjoy dumb entertainment. I loved it so much, that I honestly was sad to miss the shows when I went into labor. I know, I told you I was lame.

The Bachelorette has been really disappointing lately. Since Bentley the d-bag left, it has been smooth sailing without any drama. Hey ABC, I don't watch this show to see two people "find a connection and fall in love" I watch it for the drama! Spice things up would ya?! Mr. T and I have resorted to doing a look a like competition for the contestants.

The Glee guy (sorry, not a fan of Glee so I don't know his name) and Ryan (the creepy, happy guy). Because Ryan is so annoying and looks just like Glee man, I honestly find the Glee guy annoying even though I don't know anything about him.

 


Ames, The Smarty pants, and Austin Nichols from One Tree Hill. Mr T. thinks Ames looks like The Beast from Beauty and The Beast, when he turns into a man.

Personally, I thought The Beast was cuter as a Beast.

And my personal favorite:

 
Bentley the D-bag and Sean, my brother in law...He's not a d-bag. So what are you watching this summer? Oh wait, you're outside playing? Well don't judge me for being a couch potato. Now excuse me, I have to go check some things off my list.

We survived!

Yay!! I won the Crazy Joy challenge! If you haven't read about the challenge, you should definitely check it out! I've had a lot of fun trying to capture the word in a picture.
Sorry for the short hiatus in the blog world. Lately, life has been insane! I mentioned that last week my nephew came in town so we pretty much spent every waking moment with him. Isabelle loved having him around for some entertainment and Carter loved having Isabelle around because she literally laughs at everything he does!

On Thursday afternoon we left for San Diego with Mr. T's family. We surprised his step mom for her 50th birthday party. Her and Mr. T's (the original Mr. T) went early and we showed up later in the evening in her hotel room. She is a tough lady to surprise so it was amazing that they pulled it off with 5 (Mr. T has THREE sisters and a brother in law) people and a baby traveling across the country! This was our first trip to Cali together and Isabelle's first trip to the beach. She looooved it! I will be completely honest, I was really nervous about traveling that far with her. It took 6 hours of flying and we lost two hours due to the time change. That can spell disaster for an 11 month old (did I just say 11 month old?! Jeez, she's getting old!), but just like the trooper she is, she rolled with the punches and partied like a rock star! I'm pretty sure me and Mr. T were more exhausted than she was!

Our first day in San Diego, we rented beach cruisers (loooved them! Side note: If I lived in California. I would completely be a hippy. A hippy that showered. I would ride my bike everywhere and never own a car. I might even skip a few times shaving. So not much change there) and rode up and down Pacific Beach. Mr. T rode with Isabelle on the back and the rest of us got to ride solo. I was pretty excited about that after he complained that she kept kicking him in the butt (like mother like daughter), probably because he was going too slow (atta girl).

Happy with Mr. T and Papa John.

Not so happy after Papa John decided to tap her helmet like a football player.

Yup, you could call it paradise. Also, take note at Izzy's foot placement. I told ya, she's a slave driver.

On the second day of our vacation, the boys went golfing at Torrey Pines (which they said was ridiculously beautiful) and us girls went shopping! I didn't take any pictures of that, because who wants to see pictures of shopping? Not this girl. I am too busy at work looking for good deals. I should post pictures of Torrey Pines, but golf courses don't excite me either. So if you're curious as to what it looks like....watch the PGA. Or google it. Google knows everything. (side note: What is this google+ thing all about? Why is it so cool and better than facebook?)
Mr. T's sister is preggo and we roomed with her and her husband. Preggo lady in the summer=room at 45 degrees at ALL TIMES. I promise you, a few times, I woke up and I could have sworn I could see my breath. Have I told you how happy I am that I'm not pregnant this summer like I was last summer?
I've never been to a west coach beach and it was completely different than what I have been to before. The water was freeeezing (I'm a huge wimp with cold) so I didn't get in, but that didn't stop Isabelle! She got her daddy's sense of adventure and toughness ability to handle the cold so she LOVED to play in the water. She mostly liked the way her feet sunk in the sand.

Mr. T's step mom, Isabelle and Mr. T

She's just awesome.

I only ran ONCE while we were in San Diego! The weather was perfect for a run and I kept wanting to go, but other things just seemed to take the place of running. I ran when I came home and felt right back at home. I ran 3xmile with a 4 min recovery (5:48,5:55,5:59). I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest the entire time. It's really hot and humid here which makes for a tough run and a loney run  because it's too hot to take Spike and Mr. T was still sawing logs (I don't know why we say that. It doesn't actually sound like you're sawing logs). It was 85 this morning at 6am!  I can see why people are so in shape in California though...the weather is perfect! The high everyday was 70 degrees and the lows were 65. When we flew back home, the heat immediately took our breath away as we stepped off the plane. It was apparently 110 here all weekend. Why in the world do people live in Oklahoma?? 110 summer days and -30 degree winter days. On Thursday we are leaving with my side of the family for our trip to Colorado...or as Mr. T likes to call it "Fat Camp". We are going to be there a week where we hike, go for bike rides, run, shop and eat some delicious food! CAN'T WAIT! 

We had such a fun trip and everything went smoothly with Isabelle....until the plane ride home. We barely made our flight leaving San Diego to San Antonio (Mr. T's family doesn't know what "hurry" means. They're super laid back, which is what I love about them and what can also drive me crazy). The flight was 2hrs and 45 min (Isabelle slept the entire time...hallelujah! So did I...ouch neck), but then we had to stay on the plane from San Antonio to Dallas, which made the trip seem longer than a Transformers movie! THEN when we got to Dallas (late) we had to sprint to catch our flight, only to sit down and then have the flight attendants that there tell us something wrong with the plane ("it's not a big deal, but it is illegal so we can't fly with passengers"...what?!) and so we get off the plane and wait for another plane. The new plane's phone doesn't work, so we have to wait on ANOTHER plane. Awesome, we finally get on the last plane home and arrive at midnight instead of 10:00. That makes for a LOOONG ride home.

Our in flight entertainment."Izzy rappin, Izzy rappin" It's an original song written by her cousin for Isabelle.

Isabelle was really excited to sleep in her own bed and I was really excited to be reunited with a house that wasn't 45 degrees.

Once again, July is flying by! As soon as we get back from Colorado I will be planning Isabelle's first birthday party and making sure I have all her party things together. Where did the summer go? I remember when I was a kid, summer seemed FOREVER. Before you know it, fall will be here and that means college FOOTBALL time and pumpkin spice latte's at Starbucks...ahh the life.

Prayers

This weekend James Camden went to be with the Lord. Please keep his family in your prayers.

Crazy Joy-Renew

The Crazy Joy word for the week is renew. This week my nephew is in town so we are showing him all the fun stuff we like to do in town. We took him to one of our favorite splash parks so we could escape the heat and he had a great time "renewing" and refreshing himself with the buckets of water.

Anything renewing in your life?
This week has been pretty busy for me with family in town and a million things to do before we head out of town. Holy moly, why did no one tell me that a 10 month old requires 2 carry-on's and a large suitcase? It's like babies are tiny premadonnas! Sometimes with the hustle and bustle that life brings, I can get lost in the "busy work" and lose track of things that are truly important. On Monday I caught myself kind of going through the motions during my quiet time and reading my bible quickly, just so I could "check it off my list". This week in church we learned about praying to the Holy Spirit and really listening for His response. Before I started my devotional, I prayed a quick prayer asking that the Lord would really teach and show me what it is that I need to be doing in my life to really glorify him. Then BAM the Lord showed up in a big way. duh like always.

My devotionals key verse was:
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe..." Ephesians 1:18-19a (NIV)

This verse was exactly what I needed. When I was growing up, I went to one of the largest high schools in Oklahoma. I graduated with over 700 other kids and just like any high school, there was a lot of drama, pressure and competition. I had a group of friends that were great girls, but I did see so many of them fall to the pressures of trying to fit in so much that they were losing their self worth. They tried to find confidence in things and people that were never going to give them that love that they were craving. I have no doubt in my mind that the only reason I didn't fall pressure to those things was because of my love for Jesus and my praying mother.

Now that I have a daughter, I hope that she also finds that unconditional love from the Lord and not seek it from people. I struggle with what I'm sure every mother struggles with... How do we give our children that assurance that they need to make the decisions that lead to God's best for them?

The verse really shows me that I need to ask God to enlighten ME and MY heart. Then I will see the hope the Lord calls ME to and I can share that with Isabelle. I pray that when she sees me live out of the hope and love of God, then she will see that she can make choices based on His love for her and seek the hope only He can give.

I look back at when I was really young. I sat through so many boring sermons and crazy youth pastors doing insane things to keep to teach the young kids. They did entertain me and really impacted my life and I had a lot of fun while memorizing verses, but the person that really opened my heart, without jamming it down my throat, was my mother. She has such an amazing LOVE for people and she is constantly showing compassion and grace that can only be attributed to her love for the Lord. I knew at a young age how much she loved her Jesus and how much He loved her. I longed for that relationship that she had with him. I got it. And now I pray that I am able to show Isabelle those same things that my mother showed me because I know that God loves her and wants even MORE than I or she can even imagine.
What do you hope for your kids?

Terrific Tuesday

Today my nephew from Nashville is in town so we are going to a big water park here in town to escape from the heat and make up for some lost time spent with my little man. He is my sisters son and they lived in Kansas when I did, so I got to watch him grow over the years. I feel so old saying it, but time really does fly! He is starting kindergarten in the fall and I feel like I was just changing his diapers! Watching him grow so quickly really has made me appreciate the little things with Izzy. 
 My sister and her family moved to Nashville a few years ago so there is a little hole in my heart for them because we don't get to see them as often as I would like to.  My nephew is quite possibly the sweetest, most hilarious little man I have ever met and he is being so adorable with Isabelle! I have LOTS of pictures and stories that I will share on another post....for now it's time to PARTY with my little man!

Ah yes, I am getting a taste of parenting more than one kid and it definitely is a challenge. Isabelle is obsessed with Carter so anytime she hears him speak she gets really excited (even when we are putting her to bed) and it's next to impossible to quiet a 5 year old that is trying to postpone bed time. Mr. T  and I also had to split up our runs this morning. I did 1 mile hard and then 8x400's in my neighborhood all alone. It's not only boring, but I felt like an idiot sprinting by my neighbors that were outside drinking their coffee. When Mr. T. is with me I don't feel like the only idiot in the world sprinting down the street when no one is chasing them. We're the crazy neighbors everyone talks about.  HAPPY TUESDAY!

Weekend Wrap Up!

Another busy weekend down in the books! I feel like I should get really used to saying that, considering if we are actually in town on the weekends we always have a million things to do or enjoy at home since we are out of town most weekends. Sometimes I feel like a Clark Griswold. Like, "come on, we have a gazillion fun things that I want to do (check off my box) and only two days to do it! I don't care if you are tired! We're doing it!"

On Friday we went to Chick-fil-a for dinner again. It's turning into being our new Friday dinner date with Isabelle because it's always caraaazy packed with kids (she loves that), it's clean, the workers are nice ("my pleasure") and the food is clean and delicious so I don't feel bad about eating fast food on a Friday night. Man how times have changed! After some chicken nuggets we went out for some Cherry Berry. Holy, highlight of our night! That place is heaven on earth! I don't know who loves it more..Me or Izzy. She definitely got her love of ice cream jean from me. She becomes an addict! If she catches you eating it, she will  immediately resemble a little puppy and start begging. She even made friends with an old man once because she saw he was enjoying some ice cream. Sure honey, it's okay to talk to strangers if they offer you sweets. I mean look at the Ice cream Man truck. He looks shady as crap, yet we all run toward him when we hear his creepy van and music coming! She's the biggest mooch of all time I tell ya. She also gets that from me.

Next weekend we are going to be in San Diego (holla 70 degree weather!) so we tried to stay home as much as possible. I can't believe it, but we are planning Isabelle's first birthday party! Ahh! This year has FLOWN by! As you know, you can't plan a birthday party without a little "Party City" stop and as you also know, you can't shop with your husband and your baby without a little of this happening.

Priceless face. She's already embarrassed of her parents. Awesome

She is teething too, so her diapers have been ga-ross!! Runny, and generally so bad that she has to change outfits a few times a day. Her dad got to dress her this time. Bless her little heart.

Mr T used to spend hours at Bass Pro buying useless awesome fishing supplies. Now he buys uselesss awesome fishing supplies and onesies?

She looks like a tiny hillbilly with the no teeth plus mullet she's rocking. Sorry sweetheart.



 

She is FINALLY getting a tooth though. She will be 11 months old on the 18th and she will have ONE tooth! That has to be some sort of record right?  

This weekend I tried to take it easy on the running stuff as well. I don't know if it's the extreme heat we're having or a stomach bug that I have, but I have been feeling nauseous when I run. I feel full during the day and then when I run I feel like I'm going to throw up. I'm not pregnant. So get that out of your head. I have been chugging lots of water in case it's dehydration, so we'll see if that helps. It's ticking me off! Bring on that San Diego weather! Do you guys ever have this problem? 

"BYE! SEE YA TOMORROW!" 

 

Saturday Morning Scene

I am linking up with Katie at Loves of Life for some Saturday morning Scene.
I am making some crafts this morning and my little sidekick decided that she needed a say in the crafts (she is after all, the one I make the crafts for).

What does your Saturday look like?

The Princess and the Poo

I am having one of those weeks days where I just am feeling, "blah". Today has been one of the days to really top things off. 
When Mr. T bought our house, he decided it would be a "fixer upper". At the time I thought, "ohh that will be perfect. We can buy a house for cheap, make it the way we want it to be and sell it for more than we bought it. That's perfect!"
Then reality set in. The house was built in 1936 and was in great condition, minus the 6 layers of wall paper and the outdated kitchen and bathroom. After almost 2 YEARS of fixing this bad boy up, it is about done. F.Y.I. If you enjoy arguing with your spouse and want to understand what extreme frustration is like....buy a fixer upper.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love the house and all the changes we have made. Mr. T has done everything as quickly as he could, considering our past couple of years but since the house is older it seems like there is ALWAYS something that needs to be done.
Currently, our plumbing is backed up. When I run the washing machine gross, smelly stuff comes up from the toilet. TMI?! Too bad..this is my blog and my rant:) 

So we have the Poo Rooter man coming over. He tells us he will be at our house anywhere from 12-5. Awesome, thanks for the small window of time buddy. I have nothing else to do but wait. It seems like I am at mercy to them and they know that....live with a disgusting bathroom or waste your afternoon waiting on them.

Not Actual Plumbing van. But that name is a little ironic (my name is Melissa..a.k.a.Mel)Stay with me folks!

So now, the nice man that reeks of cigarettes decides that his good time to show up is RIGHT in the middle of my cranky baby's nap time. He sort of resembles Linus from Peanuts because there is hazy cloud around him from cigarette smoke, but I still like him. Anyone that knows how to get poo out of little pipes (insert a million jokes here) in 105 degree weather is okay in my books. I do, however, resist the urge to yell "wake the baby and I'll break your arm" to the man, so instead I simply invite the strange random man into my house while calmly saying, "sorry it took me so long to answer the door...I have a sleeping baby in the other room." HINT, HINT. Clearly he wasn't getting my drift because he clamors through in his work boots and continues to not use his "inside voice".
Isabelle has amazingly slept through this entire thing and I think I'm in the clear when suddenly our two big dogs spot the man and go APE *crap* on this guy. I don't want to hush them, because they should be going crazy at a strange man at our house. So I let them bark. And bark, while assuring the man they are only attack dogs when I want them to be. Sorta joking. But my tiny lady is so used to them that she sleeps through that. Hallelujah!
No. The noise level doesn't stop there. The man then gets on the roof (Isabelle doesn't know who Santa is yet, so she would be terrified if she saw this skinny,smoky man on our roof) and puts this long grinder looking thing through our pipes. It sounded like an earthquake in our house, which you think would wake a baby...but no. Still sleeping.

Then, the man comes through the house again to turn on all the faucets and tell me that he's still looking for the problem. You haven't found the problem? After all that ruckus and stomping around, we are still clogged? Awesome.  As he stomps out of the house again in his combat boots, Isabelle screams a scared scream and I of course run to her room to find her terrified because of the weird noises coming from the rest of the house.
Now, I have a confession to make. I was ticked. She desperately needed this nap and she is NOT a happy camper when she wakes up too early from her nap. When I picked her up she was scared and clingy to me. Isabelle is generally not a cuddly girl. She pushes me off when I try to hug her and now that she is a walker, she always tries to nose dive when I am holding her so I will let her down.
This time, because she was terrified, she clung to me. She stopped screaming, she just clung to me and buried her head in my chest. I loved it. I loved the loud, smokey plumber for making all that noise and I loved our backed up plumbing for making the man come out to make all that noise. It all became worth it when she just hung on to me. Am I a bad mother for loving that my daughter was terrified and only wanted me to hold? Who cares? I loved it. Thanks Poo man. You're the best.