Spring Fever

We have had a wonderful weekend of hanging outside, Mommy getting sunburned (yes, I can get sunburned in March), and lots of summer clothes.

Abby has pretty much decided that she is over the papparazzi called Momma.

Here are the pictures that I did manage to get.

Friday night, Stu was under the weather. So, instead of eating at home, we went out to eat. Abby picked this ensemble for a night on the town. Love the pink crocs.

Saturday, we went to lunch with Bella and Michelle. After, we walked 4 miles on the Greenway. Talk about exhausting. Abby (who didn't walk) wanted to work out after.

She put on my socks and shoes and then said she was ready.

Sunday morning church outfit.

I told her how cute she looked, so of course she had to look.

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With all the nice weather, we are having house envy. We still have about 4 months stuck in this apartment. But we can still look!

We drove around Smyrna, LaVergne and Nolensville. Still not sure what we want/can afford, but it is very fun to look! Stu has a rental jeep right now, so we took the top panels off and enjoyed the weather. It put Abby to sleep very quickly. Since she boycotted her nap yesterday, it was great to have some quiet time today.

Dinner at the parents with Jess and JD tonight. Lots of fun wedding talk - can't wait!

Sleeping

Abby is on a 2 day stretch of no naps. On the weekend, this can be standard at least one of the days. But never 2 days in a row.

It is taking a toll on our nights.

She gets to my work about 5ish and her favorite thing to do is hang papers in my cube with thumbtacks. This has earned me the title of "Best Mom Ever" for letting my child play with thumbtacks. Knock on wood, she hasn't pricked herself.

Ride home - fine.

Once we get home, it is on.

Last night Stu was here, so he was able to help. But she did get "swatted" for throwing pearls in my face. She hid in the closet for about 10 minutes. Tonight it was a time out for throwing food.

Bath time is a struggle. Tonight she refused to get it in the tub. I feel that she needs a bath every night. Maybe that is strange, but I do think that. There are a few rare occasions that she doesn't get a bath, but it is pretty rare.

In the middle of her tantrum, she screamed, "I want my paci".

Yes, I gave in.

But really, have you ever seen a sadder face than this?

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Lately, Abby has started talking more and more. And more and more.

She constantly asks if we can go see people. Nena, Poppa, Gammy, Riley, Bella.

I started off just telling her that no, we had to go home.

But she is persistent.

Now, I just have to tell her that they are sleeping. I don't know why it works, but it does.

She just says, "Nena, sleeping, Shhhh". And then drops it.

My sweet little baby.

Laundry Basket Fun

Abby is obsessed with our laundry basket. She brings it to my all the time and wants me to drag her around in it.

I do want to point out these adorable new pj's. All of Abby's pj's are the long sleeved flannel ones. Her "summer" ones are all 18 month. They still fit, but I wanted to get her new ones. These are so freaking cute and fall right below the knees.

Here she is waiting for me to push her.

She started to get a little upset when I wouldn't stop taking pictures.

Really upset.....

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Eventually we did slide around in the house for a bit. She is still not feeling so great, so we didn't get to play long.

The Mouse and Bella's Bday

On Sunday, Abby and I met Tracy and her girls at the Discovery Center.

I was super excited because the mouse from "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" was there! I have a special place in my heart for this book. It was actually my second blog post that I did. I love this book. Everything about it.

As you can see, Tracy's kids were more than excited to see the mouse. They kept saying, "Just let me hug him one more time".
Abby.....not so much. She did manage to wave at the mouse twice.

Then we went upstairs and played on the truck. She kept saying, "Mommy, sit here."

Her favorite part of the Discovery Center is the coal mine. She spends literally hours organizing the shovels. Apparently, it is very important that they are organized.

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On to sweet Ms. Bella's birthday. She is 6! I really can't believe it. Her favorite place to eat is Toot's, so we met there after work tonight.

Opening presents from Tracy's girls.

Opening the card from Abby and I.

I have to say that I love hanging out with Tracy and Michelle. Between us we have 5 girls! Imagine the looks that we get walking with all of them. I think people just feel sorry for us, lol.

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And speaking of, I mentioned that three of my friends are all pregnant and due within about 5 weeks of each other. Only about a month until the first two find out the sex. Then another few weeks until my bestie, Amanda, finds out.

I am thinking 2 boys and 1 girl. Generally, our group has ALOT of boys, so I would love to see more girls though.

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Abby was pretty flushed at dinner and had quite a few snot bubbles that were quite appetizing. I got her home and she was burning up! I took her temperature (she hates the butt thermometer!), and it was 101.3. I am really hoping that she feels better soon.

Friday Night Ramblings

Why does my child call me by my first name?

She started it last night. I pretty much ignored her until she climbed into my lap 3 inches from my face.

Then I told her "I am Mommy". Serious face.

She has been doing it on and off again tonight.

Very disheartening, lol!

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Sorry for no update on the teaser. I am still waiting on pictures to do a post about it.

There is nothing in the world that makes me smile more than seeing a group of military members on a plane ride home (hint, hint)!

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Tonight we had leftover spaghetti. Abby was a hot mess with it in her hair, on her nose, all over. I tried to take a picture, but she screamed bloody murder and told me "NO CAMERAS".

I video taped her screaming "No" as it was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen. Hopefully, I can get that uploaded on here.

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Click her for an update on Julie and Mike. Keep the prayers coming as they start new treatments tomorrow. But they did have a special visitor today!

Yeah....Not Good

The hair cut that is. It looks like a backwards widow's peak. But c'mon, you have to admit, she is still a little cutie!

Playing dress up.

She got these Minnie Mouse slippers for her birthday. She got the pearl necklace from her beloved "Manda".

Eating spaghetti tonight.

I am not even sure how I convinced her to wear a bib (it has been months and months since she wore one). But it was a good call and she made a huge mess.

What Momma's Reading

I don't think that I have done a post on what I am reading lately, but I just finished an awesome book.....so I wanted to share.

Why I Stayed by Gayle Haggard

About 5ish years ago, there was a preacher in Colorado that was accused of homosexual indiscretion. This is his and his wife's story. This is the most amazing story that I have ever read of forgiveness. Her story about their fall from the church and how they recovered from it is remarkable. Although it is a religious book, it is a great story as well.

The Secret

I read about 2 pages of this and was bored. I thought it was some phenomenal story that is on all of the Best Sellers lists. I am not sure what it was that I hated, but I just couldn't read it.

Secrets of a Shoe Addict by Beth Harbison

I am always looking for a new chick-lit author and I think I found it! It was silly and just a fun read. I am really looking forward to more of her books.

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

This is by far my favorite author. I have been waiting for her new book forever. She covers controversial topics mixed with courtroom stories. This new one is about gay rights. I am about 20 pages in and so excited!

(Also, my first major Nook purchase - $14.99 eek!)

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Any suggestions for my next reading??

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I personally want to thank everyone that has contacted me with their well wishes for Julie. I know that it means alot to her and I have passed along everything that has been said to me.

If you are interested in sending a card to them, she has posted her address on her blog. They are staying strong and just taking it one day at a time.

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A quick teaser......I have some GREAT news that I can share in a few days (I am NOT pregnant....no, NOT at all). But I am excited about something that I can share that is near and dear to my heart.

Indoor Crafts

Inspired by Kelly's Korner, I have been working on some indoor craft ideas for Abby. I have been wanting to do this for awhile to give her something more to do when she is stuck inside all day with Daddy (on cold days).

Speaking of cold days....what happened today? It was like 30 degrees outside (maybe more, but it was freezing).

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These are from yesterday afternoon:

Playing with ice cubes.

I stole this idea straight from Kelly's blog. Stuart told me I was crazy, that Abby would never find this fun.

Boy, was he wrong.

Sorry for the weird angle, I was trying to not disturb her.

But she didn't catch on right away to use the spoon. She kept trying to pick up the cubes and put them in the spoon and then move them.

Eventually, I got her a bigger bowl and it worked for her.

Until she tried to pick up the bowl. She spilled the entire bowl on her pants. So, those had to be removed.

Up next....marshmallows and toothpicks. (Note that the boots had to come back on. Also note, a curious little dog that just wanted one bite).

Oh My Goodness. 45 minutes of no talking from her .

(And that is rare....she talks from the minute that she gets up to the minute she goes to sleep).

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Please pray for one of my best friends. She was at the hospital when Abby was born. She and I have talked for hours over the years. Moving from NC was probably one of the hardest things that I had to do - leave her. But since our friendship is so strong, we still regularly talk.

Now, she is going through something that I would not wish on anyone. You can read all about it here.

I firmly believe in the love of God to everyone. He does have a plan for everyone. And when you are going through something tough in life, He is carrying you. So, I just ask that you pray for them.

Pray that radiation and chemo help Mike.

Pray that Julie remains strong through this.

Pray that Audrey gets to spend as much time as possible with her Daddy.

Pray that the Lord shows Himself to them. And lets them know that even in their darkest house, He is there.

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After church today, we had lunch with Michelle and Bella. Poor Bella. Abby says her name about a hundred times when we see her. Bella will be 6 this month and really just doesn't get why Abby does it. It is too funny.

After that, we went to the craft store. Then, Abby fell asleep in the car. This is such a rare moment that I had to snap a picture.

How precious is she bundled up in her coat??

One of the "crafts" that I got her were beads and pipe cleaner. It did keep her busy.

But....she said, "Mommy Look" no less than a thousand times.

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I gave Abby a hair cut tonight. I figured that since we have such bad experiences, might as well have them at home. She sat very patiently for it, but Momma is no hair dresser. It looks horrible. Very short and uneven. I am embarrassed to show pictures! I am sure I will soon though.

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We are watching 127 Hours (instead of Desperate Housewives, which I am not happy about). This movie is crazy. I can only watch some parts. I love James Franco, but this is pretty brutal. Pretty sure that I will not be hiking anytime soon.

Night of Bowling

Tonight, my work had a bowling party. I decided to take Ms. Abby with me. It was from 6:30 to 8:30, so I figured that she would at least make it halfway through.

Girl made it all the way and then did not want to leave!

I didn't get a good picture, but one of my co-workers makes animal balloons. Abby got a dog, a rabbit, and a hat. The hat did NOT go over well, as I tried to warn him. But he did make it into a dog that she loved.


Then it was on to the bowling!

I called it "mini bowling", but apparently it is called duck pin bowling.

It was mini bowling balls on short lanes. The pins were on a string of some sort that fell over, but then came back up.

I do think that Abby's favorite part was the balls coming out of the shoot thing.

She finally figured out that by running further down the lanes, she could knock down more pins.


She REALLY hit her stride when she went all the way down to where the pins were.

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All in all, she knocked down 496 pins. Pretty sure that is the best bowling record ever! I had to wrestle her out of there about 8:40. Then an hour drive home. The entire time of very sleepy "Hi Mommy" and "Hi Abby" back and forth.

Once we got home, we discovered that that Ali (not surprisingly) pooped in the foyer. I put Abs in pj's and the entire time she said "Ali Pood".

But, I have not heard a peep since. Hoping that she sleeps in tomorrow. Stu and I just got done watching some Rock movie, but it is still late and Mommy wants to sleep in!

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About 3-4 months ago, we lost the cord to our external hard drive. I mentioned to Stu tonight that I really wish we could find it as I have a new post idea.

Let me just mention that our couch eats things. Seriously. There is a lip of some sort that things just seem to fall into.

We cleaned it out and this is what we found.

Minus the camera cord (which was already on the arm of the couch), we found 2 bracelets, 5 crayons, nail clippers, cell phone (old), 1 marker, 4 pins, a wind up toy and *AHA* the cord!

So soon, Ill have a blast from the past sort of post coming.

Happy weekending!

My Favorite "Dress"

I may have reviewed my Oscars picks (see below).....but my favorite is everything that Abby wears of course!

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I have really been trying to let her be more independent and work on dressing herself.

She was working on her pj bottoms last night.

She ran up to me and said "All Done" just as proud as she could be!
As you can tell, she had put both of her legs through one of the holes and let the other leg hang off the back.

Truly a Red Carpet look.

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It truly took me about 30 minutes to convince her to let Mommy help with the pj bottom's. She was prepared to sleep that way. Love her!