I just found 'blog' in my phone contacts and I totally forgot about blogging via texting! So this is a test...only a test. :)

Fun with glasses

While Daddy was busy picking out new glasses Peanut thought it would be fun to try on the childrens glasses too. I think she looks pretty darn cute in all of them. :)

A little TMI...but funny!

I just saw that I haven't posted at all in 2010. Geez..what's wrong with me??? I guess I may have a little much on my plate lately, I don't even have time to read my friends blogs! :( But I'm working on organizing myself and scheduling blogging time is most definitely on the list.

But I do have to share a story from yesterday. Peanut comes running into the kitchen "I have to go potty, I have to go potty!" So I set her up on the potty and she asks me to close the door. All normal. I decide to hang out outside the door because I figure she's going #2 and will need a wipe. :) The following is what I hear from behind the door:

"That's Daddy's magazine. I hate magazines. I hate magazine reading.....(grunt)." "Squeeze....squuueeeeeeze.....squeeeeeeezzzzeeee my butt." Plop. :)

I was almost laughing too hard to wipe her butt!

Our Elf on the Shelf

This year we decided to start a new tradition with The Elf on the Shelf. Peanut was so excited about it last night. We had a little issue with her wanting to change his name frequently, but we decided on Sparky the Christmas Elf. I thought he would work better for bedtime, but we're getting there. It is nice to remind her that he's watching so she needs to be a good listener. The best part was this morning..I was in the shower and she was watching TV in my bed. All of a sudden I hear stomping feet running into the bathroom. She says "Mommy, the elf is gone!!" I had to remind her that after he flies back from the North Pole he sometimes sits in a different spot. She was so excited to get back down there and find him!!

A little later I hear her saying "I love you." So I said I love you too. And she says, "I was talking to the elf." Geez!

So Funny

If the book is as funny as these few pictures, I can't wait to see it!!

Absent

Forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned. It's been 6 weeks since my last blog. It's not that I don't think about it, I do. I've wanted to post things but hadn't found the time. Maybe it's the house or the kids or the husband or the MOMS Club or the Pure Romance or the free lance meeting planning or Facebook or...well, I guess its all of that. But I'm back...at least for now. :)

Buddy is now 8 months old, crawling, sprouted a tooth and just recently pulled himself up for the first time. Time sure is flying by. He has bundles of energy and LOVES to take Peanut's toys. :)

Peanut LOVES preschool and has increased her vocabulary even more than I thought possible. Her imagination is out of this world even more so since we're reading a book about the solar system! Her imaginary friends Tika and Rajn are still a part of our lives as well.

A look back at my babies:

And where they are now:

Our future

In our house we love to listen to music and dance all around. This has made Peanut quite the dancer. I can only assume the dancing bug will be passed down to Buddy. This video is a glimpse of our future...LOL!

**The previous video was removed for whatever reason so I just found it again!

Bad words for toddlers

The other day Franklin said something mean to me. He was basically being a smart ass. Anyhow, I called him an A-hole. And I said it just like that, I left out the s's. And then Peanut, who was sitting right there, says "Daddy, you're an acorn!" Yes that's right Peanut, sometimes Daddy is a total acorn. :)

One of these things is not like the others...

Hmmm.....whether you're a fan of HGTV or the NRA..this store is for you!!

MOMS Club at Work

I've been part of my local MOMS Club for the last 2+ years and we've done many fundraisers to help local charities that benefit women and/or children. This past Spring we decided to take on a VERY large project. We wanted to raise money for new playground equipment at one of our local parks. Because the city recently spent a lot of money on this park putting in a splash pad they don't want to use any more for awhile. But the playground at the splash pad is awful! So as a club we decided to do something about it. We had a small fundraiser this Spring but we're going to continue our effort, especially because a local reporter heard about what we were doing and did a story about it!! You can find the article here. Hopefully things will get rolling and we'll be able to have new equipment soon!

Buddy is 6 Month's Old!

Can you believe my baby boy is 1/2 a year old already??? I sure can't! His check up was yesterday and he's a whopping 18 lbs 3 oz (70%) and get this... 29 1/4" long! Greater than the 95th percentile!!! He gained 3 lbs and grew 3 inches in two months! He's officially WAY bigger than Peanut was at this age. And I'm doing my best to keep him immobile. :)

The words parents dread....

Last night we decided to go and get some ice cream after dinner. It's about a 10 min trip and just over half way there Peanut said those words I've been dreading...."Are we there yet?" Ugh!! While this may not be a big deal to some, with all the travel we do I can see this being a BIG annoyance in the future. God help me!

This is me...if I could rap

Super Wet Kitchen

I've just learned that my baby boy is ready to have his baths in the bathtub rather than on the counter. I learned this the hard way. Not only am I soaking wet, so is the kitchen window, the napkins, the phone, the plant (which desperately needed water anyway), the floor and Peanut. Poor thing wanted to watch and had NO IDEA she would get wet!

Alas, another milestone to tell me my baby is getting bigger. :(

Reasons you don't try and photograph children

Yesterday sitting at the mall an employee from Kiddie Kandids comes over and tells me I can get a free 5x7, no obligations to buy anything else. My first instinct is to say "No thanks," I mean there was a reason I stopped going there. My second was like "Okay, a free pic of the two of them would be nice." I told her I would think about it but would have to wait till my Mom got back. Yes, I felt like I was back in school again waiting for my Mommy's permission. But I can't lift my baby right now so it was fact.

Once Mom got back she thought it was a good idea. Never mind that the children are in totally clashing outfits or that Peanut didn't have a good nap or that Buddy has a bad diaper rash. So we head on over!

It started out fine, Peanut does love getting her picture taken so she was all for it. The tears started when it was Buddy's turn and she couldn't be in the picture. Trying to get the both of them was fun because she wanted to look at his face rather than the photographer and of course she had just been crying. Buddy didn't give his big usual smiles, could've been the diaper rash or the three crazy women making weird noises at him.

And then it was over, and I was once again reminded why I stopped going there. BUT I did make it out of there with just the free 5x7 and I was very proud of myself. :)

Radioactive

On our way home from MI I wasn't feeling well. I thought it was just indigestion but it wouldn't go away. After awhile I suspected it was my gall bladder. So after an ER visit, an ultrasound and bloodwork they determined that it was the cause. Even though I didn't have any gall stones (Thank God!) it still seemed to be what was bugging me. They had me go for a HIDA scan two days later.

The HIDA scan wasn't so bad, they injected me with the radioactive material to go through my body and show up in pictures. I had to lay under a big machine for a LONG time. Even though it wasn't the most comfortable place, I fell asleep. :) I don't get that much time alone having to lay still and listen to the radio. I probably could have stayed there all day!! LOL

The fun part began as they were taking my IV out. The guy asks if I have any small children at home, I say yes. He says, "Well, you can care for them, but you can't hug them or hold them for two days." Umm.....WTF??? How can I care for my infant without holding him??? And why didn't anyone tell me this was going to happen??? After my initial shock and anger, I realize I'm just going to have to pack up and head to my parents. Franklin HAS to work after being on vacation for so long and I can't really take care of my babies without touching them. So I head BACK to MI after only 2 1/2 days at home. Technically it was only a day earlier than I had to planned to go back, but still. I hadn't packed ANYTHING! I wasn't even done with laundry!

So there I was at my parents, not being able to hold or hug my children. It sucked. I really should've enjoyed it more, but I didn't. LOL If I had had some extra money I would've spent the day at the spa!!

Vacation...continued

After less than 24 hours at home we continued our vacation by heading to MI. It was 4th of July weekend as well as Peanut's 3rd birthday. Basically the vacation consisted of three parties for Peanut!

The first was a party with her "friends" at Chuck E. Cheese. I say it that way because it mostly consisted of MY friends with children the same age as her!! LOL Oh well. The kids had a great time and didn't care that they didn't know each other. :) And Peanut loves Strawberry Shortcake so we had that on the cake.

We spent the 4th of July at my parents and celebrated Peanut's birthday with my family. Here are my very patriotic children:



Another birthday cake! This one was strawberry flavored..basically because Peanut LOVES pink.
And then on Peanut's actual birthday we went to Franklin's parents to celebrate with his family. And yet another birthday cake!!



As much fun as I had on the vacation I COULD NOT wait to get home.

Happy 3rd Birthday Peanut!!!

I can't believe my baby girl is three years old. Much of the day Franklin and I thought back to the long day in the hospital waiting for her to come out. I guess I'll probably always think of that day on her birthday. Even now it makes me teary eyed.

Peanut, you're so smart...probably too smart for your own good. You're so imaginative. Even though Tika seems to break things a lot and Rajn is always at the doctor, I love your imaginary friends. And some days I would like to throw all of your dress up clothes away, I wonder why I even bother putting you in regular clothes some days. BUT, you do make a beautiful princess and I do love being Queen Mama.

Happy Birthday Peanut!! We LOVE You!!

Our vacation...so far

We have been traveling..A LOT! Here is a little bit of what we did the last week of June, before we continued our vacation in MI.

We decided to make a stop on our way down to Virginia instead of driving straight thru. We went to The Wilds, its an animal safari nature preserve in southeastern Ohio. It was so beautiful and Peanut loved seeing the animals.




That night I found out we were staying at a hotel owned by friends of our family!! What are the odds! And the next morning we went to breakfast at their restaurant too, it was so surreal.

Then we headed to Virginia to meet up with the rest of the family for the Deel reunion. This is an annual event for my Mom's side of the family. It's always held at Breaks Interstate Park which is a beautiful park that connects Virginia and Kentucky. They have many overlooks that you can walk to, I've been doing it for years and now Franklin loves it too!



I used to see this side of the family three times a year, now its only one, but with the blessing of Facebook we are able to keep in touch much better!


This year also marked the wedding of my cousin Shana. Her and David went down to Florida to get married on the beach a week before and then had a reception after our reunion. She was gorgeous, the venue was beautiful and we all had a great time! Congratulations Shana and David!!!


The morning after the reception we headed back to Ohio. We weren't going home, only continuing our vacation in a cottage at a state park. The first two hours of our drive were all in the mountains. And along the way we saw many interesting things...buckets for mailboxes, Christmas lights and this bridge:


Once we got out of the mountains the adventure didn't end. As we were driving on the highway in West Virginia we saw a wild turkey fly into someone's windshield!! It was a HUGE mess with feathers, glass and turkey blood everywhere! I felt so bad for those people.

We absolutely loved the cottage we stayed in at the park. It was quite homey and comfortable. Peanut loved helping Daddy make breakfast.


We went to the lake, the indoor pool and the playground. We were only there for two nights but had so much fun we plan on going back as soon as we can!




Stay tuned for the rest of our adventures and the celebration of Peanut's 3rd Birthday!!!

My baby boy is getting so big!!