Boxes, Boxes and More Boxes

Only about 10 more days until we close on our house!

In the meantime, I feel like all that I see are boxes.

They are everywhere. In my bedroom, in the living room, in Abby's room, and in the hallway.

At least Abby has a new place to sit. Note how unhappy she is to have her picture taken.

(Also see Abba-Cadaba in the stroller. Abby is forever wanting to take her babies for walks. At the pace of a snail.)

Family Reunion

On Sunday we went to a Family Reunion in Soddy Daisy, TN.

It is about 2 hours away which can be a very long ride with a 2 1/2 year old.

She did keep her self entertained with Mommy's glasses though.

Note the sippy cup. It is Toy Story. Buzz, Boody (Woody) and Jessie. We have to wash this durn thing multiple times a day as she loves it so much. It is not even hers - it is her cousin's.


Luckily, the family reunion was a senior center that had a playground.

Abby was loving the swings.

She loved them even more when Jessie was swinging with her.

Or Uncle JD.

(Apparently, I am not a photographer. There was some setting on the camera that was making the pictures dark. I managed to fix it, finally.)

One of the highlights of the day was my Mom pushing JD on the swings. That is her "Good Boy".

Abby looks a little jealous, Nina!

They had a very old-fashioned merry-go-round. However, it was so old-fashioned, it didn't move. Abby liked it for about 2 minutes.

After the playground, gal was pooped!

She is not asleep, but she did lay in that chair for a bit.

My grandmother is on the far right. Her two sisters are next to her and her two brothers behind her. The brother in the red lives in Oregon. It took them 4 days to drive here. My grandmother and her brother haven't seen each other in something like 15 years!

I am hoping to get more pictures of the reunion. We did individual family pictures and then a giant picture of the entire family that was there. It was interesting....I have never even met some of these people.

Sorry, but I just can't resist more pictures of this little cutie.

That face just gets me every time!

Saturday Night...It's Random

It's Saturday night in the Staples house, Stu is playing ball/drinking beer, Abby is sleeping, and I am catching up on Monday's The Bachelorette. So what better time to ramble.....

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House is going really, really well. If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I walked by the other night and saw a giant "SOLD" sign in the yard. Warmed my heart.

Speaking of that night, on the way back, it started pouring. I was freaking out (shocked? you shouldn't be). We started to run home. I saw a lady in her driveway and demanded that we use her phone to call Amanda's husband. As soon as we got the phone, it stopped raining. So, we decided to go for it. Of course, it started pouring again. Imagine a 6 month pregnant lady pulling a fat dog. Another completely out of shape person pushing a stroller and dragging an extremely overweight dog that is terrified of rain drops. It was comical.

Yet, no one stopped. Nice.....

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This show, The Bachelorette, is ridiculous. This is like season 52 or something and this is by far the worse. Even the blogs that review it (one of the main reasons I watch) think it is stupid.

ABC lost its touch with picking this Bachelorette.

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I have been really into biographies lately.

I am currently reading Barbara Eden's Jeannie Out of the Bottle. It is so interesting to hear stories about "old" Hollywood. I plan on doing a "What Momma's Reading" soon, so you can see the other great books I have read.

I actually have so many books that my library overdue charges are adding up.

Instead of putting a hold on the books that I want to read, I made an Excel sheet (read: nerd). It is currently at 20. Eek!

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My favorite conversation today:

Abby gets very quiet in the tub and is squatting.

Me: What did you just do?

Abby: I pooped.

Me: What? You Pooped?

Abby: Yes Momma

Me: Well, where is your poop?

Abby: In my Butt.

Me: So you pooted and didn't poop?

Abby: Yes, I pooted water.

I had to leave the room, I was laughing so hard.

For the record, she has never pooped in the tub before.

And you might think this is graphic talk for a 2 year old, but it is what it is.

There are too many males in our family for certain words to be banned.

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I am headed to a family reunion tomorrow. Can't wait to see my aunt and uncle that live in TX. Hopefully Abby behaves!!!

SUYL - Teesha!

Once again, Kelly at Kelly's Korner is hosting Show Us Your Life - Show Us Your Singles!!

I wanted to take the time to introduce my dear friend, Teesha.

Teesha is 30 and lives outside Nashville, TN.

She is one of the most amazing people that I know. She is an awesome friend, an amazing daughter, a sweet "aunt" to all the kiddos in her life, and an inspiring Christian.

Here is a picture of Teesha celebrating her birthday in NYC.

The red nails just show that she is a girl ready to have a good time. She loves to travel and hang out with her friends, but also loves the small town that we live in.

Teesha is our social butterfly. She loves to hang out with her friends and has tons of them from every part of her life. She has multiple life-long friends, gym friends, and work friends. The gal has never met a stranger and loves to meet new people.


What else can I say - the girl is gorgeous!

For just a little more info, feel free to read my last post about Teesha - it highlights even more about what a great person that she is!


Teesha's perfect guy would be a tall, handsome guy that shares her values and loves to go out for an exciting date, but also a quiet night in. She is looking for a guy that is fun to be around and will get along with all of her crazy friends. He would be laid back, yet strong-minded. He would have a relationship with God and be family oriented.
If you are interested in a beautiful, fun-loving, Christian, all-around wonderful person to be around, Teesha is the perfect girl. Please leave me a comment with your email address and I will make sure that Teesha gets in contact with you.
**And any girls that read this, if you know that a guy that might interested, please let me know. I will be happy to send you her email address ;)

Jessica's Night on the Town!

(Another title I considered was...."I have No Shame").

For the first part of the day, we went to The Art Mill in Lebanon.

It was a blast! These were the pics that we ended up with. I am not an artist by any means, not a creative bone in my body. But I was extremely impressed with the teacher!

I love my picture and can't wait to find a great place to hang it in my new house.

After painting, we went to the hotel. These glam girls decided that Mommy needs some extra lovin' for her night on the town.


This picture is a little out of order as you can tell by the look in my eye, but it is the best picture of the awesome job that these gals did!

Us at Verago's.

Then on to another place, can't remember the name.




That bride in the middle sure is pretty!

To get the party started, Jessica and I had a little "extra" drink.

Bottoms Up!

Smiling Jessica....

Crazy Jessica!......

And finally....Dancing Jessica!

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As the night wore down......

Meeting random people on 2nd.

Love that the bride sash has a different look to it now.

I think I was just tired. Yea, just tired.

And Jessica must have just been lovin' on me.


But at least I wasn't the only one that she loved on.



Because who only knows what she did once we went to sleep...




At least she brushed her teeth though!

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The night was so fun and I am so excited to have Jessica join the fam' in just a few short weeks!

Abby's Point of View

I do have pictures of my wild and crazy weekend to share, but these crack me up. Abby has been obsessed with my camera lately, so she has wanted to take a ton of pics. Most of them are of the floor or ceiling, but here are a few "money" shots.

Dad and Grandad chilling on the couch.

Her toys at Gammy's house.

Close up of the dog toy.

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I really just can't get enough of these sweet little legs. While I was looking through these, I just imagine that this is her view every day on the drive home.

She totally bit cement yesterday so her poor little knees are skinned. So sweet!

And are bruised as usual!


Can't stop laughing at this one. I love that gal to death!


And on the way home we just randomly drove by this beautiful home. Wish it were ours;)

Spaghetti Shirt

Growing up, I remember my brother and I having "spaghetti shirts". They were shirts that we only wore when Mom made spaghetti. Usually just an old t-shirt that we were OK to spill on.

Introducing.....Abby's Spaghetti Shirt!

It is the shirt that she got on her 2nd birthday at the Discovery Center. This was the smallest size that they had.


Personally, I think she looks adorable in it.

And as you can see, it is much better than wearing her normal clothes.

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Alot of people are probably thinking, "Why even put her in clothes at all?". Ha - I have tried that. If you think this diva is coming to the table with no clothes on, you are wrong.

One of the Reasons...

I Love My Daughter!

(Sorry to all of you boy mommas....I'm sure that you have your things as well!)

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But there is nothing better than getting a sweet mani/pedi!

Working on taking the polish off my toes.

It was by far the most gentle pedicure that I have ever gotten.

She was working so hard!

Then on to the nails (although I had no polish on them, she still insisted on taking the polish off).

This picture makes me think of what she will look like in 10 years.

Such concentration!

I hated to tell her that she had gotten all the polish off!

Success!

Mommy's toes and nails are good to go!

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After pedi/mani time, I brought out the "crack" while I made dinner.

Seriously, how does Mickey do it?

I can put on a 20 minute Mickey Mouse episode on the computer and Abby just wants to lie down and watch it.

I might have said that I wouldn't plunk my kid down in front of the TV/computer, but if I need 20 minutes to get stuff done, it is the only choice.

Any person that says they don't do it is either: not a parent or they are a grandparent.

Any parent that doesn't do it: Try it. It will change your life.