Crazy Joy-Wish

Today, I am linking up with Lesley for a crazy joy challenge. This weeks word is "Wish".

This picture is of Isabelle after we headed to The State Fair on Saturday.  We usually let her out to walk around, but with all the interesting people things on the grounds, we decided to just keep her in the stroller while we there. We live about a mile from the fairgrounds, so we just walked to and from the fair. By our walk home, Isabelle was DYING to get out and get her "wiggles" out so we let her. This is her running down the middle of the street without a care in the world. Nowadays, it is nearly impossible to get a non blurry picture of her because she is generally running, swinging her arms or doing some kind of new dance.

My wish is that she will continue to have this carefree attitude towards life. Life is amazing and the world is full of fun adventures that are waiting just outside our door, which she seems to understand. I wish that she continues to long for the new adventures, endless possibilities and love for life.

Who knew that a one year old could teach you so much about the simplicities of life?  

Medal of Honor

I'll be the first to say it. Single mothers deserve a medal, 10 weeks of paid vacation, and a college fund for their kids. Mr. T was gone 4 days and I about lost my mind. I'm a wimp. I am quick to take for granted how much easier it is to have a little help around the house. Even if they aren't constantly there to change diapers, it's just someone else (someone that doesn't wear diapers) that you can talk to. Parenting is hard. That's no secret. I don't believe it was made to be done alone. I understand MILLIONS of people do it alone daily because of different circumstances and I applaud them. I am weak.

I am blessed to have my parents living 20 minutes from us, but again...it's not the same. They raised me and my brother and sister like a million years ago. Times have changed and they have become more laid back. Plus Isabelle isn't their responsibility. They are done with the hard work of raising 3 wild kids and believe me, I put them through the ringer (sorry mom and dad. I regret it, especially now that people tell me that I will get what I gave as a kid. Stupid what goes around, comes around thing).

I have also realized that being a single parent would be tough not only because of the added responsibilities, but also because you don't have anyone there to share your joy with you. Everything Isabelle does, I want Mr. T to see. Thanks to smart phones, he can see her new skills immediately, but it's sad to think, "what if I didn't have anyone to send the pictures and videos to?"

Now don't get it twisted, we didn't sit around and mope over Mr. T being gone (Sorry Mr. T)...us girls know how to party.

A little ice cream date is always good for the soul. 

Living on the Edge

As I have posted about before, we are selling our house. Have you tried selling your house with a toddler? Not easy. To add to it, Mr. T is out of town for work so this mama is doing it all alone. Not easy. I am not wanting a pat on the back, but a back rub would be nice. Since I am sweet lady I would like my readers to know that if you are thinking about doing this....stock up on wine contact your prayer warriors now. It's tough! Isabelle and I are back out at my parents house (that sentence alone sends many people to the liquor store so that we can keep our house clean. STRESS CITY!

You know what they say (who is "they" by the way?)...Laughter is the best medicine. And this picture is JUST that for me.



Weekend In Pictures

Is it Monday already? This weekend FLEW by! We started it off with my sister and nephew, Carter, coming in town to visit and go to the OU game with us. Isabelle is Carters biggest fan, so she was laughing at him (or just staring at him waiting for him to do something hilarious) for most of the weekend. As cool as Izzy thinks Carter is, Carter gets pretty bored with a baby so he invited my other nephew, Isaac,  to come over and stay the night.  Isaac is 8 and Carter is 6, so they are pretty close in age which makes for a perfect dynamic. Before bedtime we caught Isaac reading Carter a bedtime story. Seriously? Boys are so sweet..

Who doesn't love to read "Darth Paper" before bedtime?

On Saturday we woke up early to run a 10K with my dad. Mr. T and Isabelle were our cheering section while my dad and I ran the race. It was perfect weather for 6 miles, and I ran my fastest time I have ever run! I finished 2nd Female overall (BY 3 STUPID SECONDS) and 1st in my age group with a time of 38 minutes flat. There was a little hill at the end and it finished inside of the Zoo so it wasn't so awesome smelling elephants when you are trying to not die going up a hill. Seriously elephants, light a candle when you're done.  

After the race. Please excuse the scary/exhausted lady holding my cute baby who's saying "CHEESE"



She seriously LOVED cheering for all the people. When she saw her Papa pass, she ran after him.



Immediately after the race, we got ready for the big OU game and headed to Norman. The game was pretty boring (62-6) but we had fun shopping before the game and watching the boys play football.

On Sunday we rested for most of the day and then headed out to the Pumpkin Patch in the afternoon. Can you believe fall is here? The weather here is amazing, the fair is in town and our mums are blooming. Fall is officially here...and welcome.

Our ladybug ready for some Pumpkin Patch time.

She was more interested in the ugly, warty pumpkins.

The Goats that she insisted were "birds". And the Turkey...See ya next month fella.



Happy Monday!

So What! Wednesday

Come on already, join me in some So what! Wednesday at Life After I "Dew". It helps to get some stuff off your chest and read other people with some freaky quirky tendencies that we have all grown to love, or at least be okay with.


So what if:
-Pinterest has become my new Facebook. I no longer care that "my baby ate peas! Here look at this picture of him with green poop on his shirt!" These posts seem to flood my facebook feed and nowadays I now would rather stalk people's recipe's and style.


-I have about 1402394098niner recipe pins on Pinterest and I have made 1. That one was delicious though. Lemon muddy buddies you have my heart. And don't make me feel as guilty eating a stick of butter because you taste fresh and healthy!


-I'm dying for fall to get here so I can wear boots and tights. That's my favorite attire. Until Spring comes, and then I crave flip flops and shorts again.


-If I picked Isabelle's Halloween costume MONTHS ago. I picked her first halloween costume before I even knew she was a girl...and it was glorious.



Lobster Anyone? Am I right or am I right...There is nothing cuter than kids in costume. Or men dressed as chefs.





What she's into

I am a little behind in this, but I love the idea of keeping a record of everything Isabelle is "into" at a year old. I tried to do this in her baby book and I lasted 3 months. Mother of the year right here! So, this is going to be a baby book for her. The best baby book ever...because honestly, who cares about the first haircut? Oh, you do? Well sorry, but my baby rocks a mullet so we don't need haircuts.

One Year

Loves:

Dora the Explorer

Eating breakfast as soon as she wakes up

Pushing her car up and down our driveway

Puppies. Any kind of dog get's this girl screaming

Dancing

Her baby sign (she'll wear you out with "more" and "all done")

Fake laughing

Fake crying

Bread

Mommy's earrings "Pretties"

Chugging Gatorade

Seeing Daddy's truck come home

Picking up sticks

Anything her cousins do

Waving "HI" and "BYE"

Bath time

Airplanes

Birds

Reading books while sitting on mommy or daddy's lap

Playing fetch

Running

Her Pacifier "Nuk"

Going to the park

Yogurt night

Looking at herself in the mirror (Such a girl)

Picking flowers for mommy

Not so much Loves:

Getting out of the bath

Diaper changes

Changing clothes

Someone bothering her when she's pooping (Who does like that though?)

Yelling

Any loud noises 

"The Map" from Dora the Explorer

Coming inside after being outside

Riding in the car

Nap time/ bed time

Being rushed (her and her daddy live on "Texas time")

Random people that try and pick her up

It's amazing to me how quickly her preferences can change and it's weird to think that in a few short months she will "Love" something else and "not really love" something that she likes now. Sad, but I guess it would be weird if she went to college watching Dora the Explorer with her pacifier and still wanted to sit on mom and dads lap to read a book. (I'm not going to lie though, I wouldn't be sad about that last part).

Whirlwind Weekend!

On Friday, Mr. T left to go do a little bit of this:

While we stayed home to do a little of this:

Yup, that's a picture of Isabelle and her little buddy, plus our two dogs riding in my car. We got a call that we had a showing for our house on Friday so we had to load up and move our party to my mom's house. Quite the crew we have right?

Mr. T went on a much needed fishing trip with his dad while us girls stayed home and played in the awesome weather we have been having. Since we had a few showings and an open house on Sunday, Isabelle and I just stayed the weekend at my parents house. I don't know why I used to complain about living with my parents..why would you ever complain about free room and board, no bills, and a live in maid/nanny? It was an awesome weekend.

My parents live on an acre and a half so our dogs love it out there just as much as we do. Isabelle's favorite thing to do is find sticks to give to Spike. She will search for the perfect stick and then bring it to him for him to chew on while he just sits there like a king, waiting for the tiny pink lady to bring him more toys.  Tough life.

My parents live out of city limits and more in the country than us city folk. I got up early to run (like usual), but instead of seeing the same houses over and over, I saw this:

It takes them about 30 minutes to drive anywhere in town, which to me would be annoying. But then when you are out there and there are no cars that whiz by, no sirens in the middle of the day, and no crazy neighbors (whole other story for ya there), you realize how quiet and relaxing the country really is.

Saturday was a day with Papa. We woke up and ran together and then went to Starbucks for some Pumpkin Spice Latte (or as most people call it Punkin Spice) and then went to the plant nursery to run around and get some things for the yard which wore the little lady out for most of the day.

On Sunday after church my nephew Isaac came home with us to play with Izzy, which is probably the cutest thing in the world to see. He is a BIG kid for his age, but when he plays with Isabelle, he becomes a gentle giant. They played tag together, hide and seek and laughed at each others funny faces. Isabelle is an independent woman that doesn't love to hold hands with anyone, but she doesn't  mind loving on her cousin.

How stinkin cute are they? Yeah, melts my heart every time.