A Day In the Life of LILLY MAE

7:15 wake up angry.

7:16 immediately begin yelling for daddy.

7:17 mom enters room to get me out of bed and explain that daddy is at work.

7:17-7:27 walk around the house looking everywhere for daddy because mom is a liar.

7:28 realize mom was telling the truth and begin to cry because "i wamma dadddeeee"

7:29 climb on top the kitchen table to pound on the computer. mom takes me off the table.

7:30 - 7:32 repeat table/computer activity repeatedly till mom threatens to duct tape me to the wall.

7:35 breakfast.

7:37 throw breakfast on the floor.

7:38 scream for more breakfast.

7:39-7:45 eat food, throw food, feed Riley, throw cup, repeat.

7:45-8:00 scream bloody murder as mom changes diapers, clothing, and puts on shoes. Oops, mom put on the shoes that I hate today (even though I LOVED them yesterday), pick out other shoes and make mom put them on immediately.

8:01-8:45 generally speaking just make trouble for mom and do things such as jump off the couch, climb back on the table, bounce a bunch on the dishwasher door while it's open, find a butter knife on the counter (which mom still has no idea how I even got it down) and throw it at the dog, finger paint the tv (don't ask what I used to finger paint. Let's just say it's light green and salty and comes from my nose).

8:45-9:005 Ride along in the car while we take Jayda to school. If there's no movie on the in car then I scream like someone is pulling each hair out of my head very, very slowly.

9:00 - 9:15 drive back home after dropping Jayda off at school. Yell "SHESHE" (or sissy/jayda) for the entire 15 minute drive because I'm extremely ticked off she's at school and I'm stuck with my mom.

9:15-9:20 mom runs up stairs to pee. Silly lady. I use this time to pick up the dog food bowl and dispense dog food anywhere and everywhere I can think of. I also dump all the dog's water on the kitchen floor so I can pretend it's a slip'n'slide. Later, mom will find dog food in the pots and pans (which were inside the cabinet) when she goes to cook dinner. Surprise!

9:20-9:25 mom runs downstairs to start a load of laundry. HA! She'll just never learn. I use this time to open the refrigerator and place the shredded cheese, milk, and pickles all over the kitchen floor. Then I poop. I run like clockwork. Every morning at about 9:30 OR 11:30 I make a dookie. Then I scream while mom changes my diaper.

9:26-10:00 watch The Fresh Beat Band on tv because mom needs a few minutes of "downtime" to get stuff done without me trying to pick the dog up and put her in the dishwasher.

10 - 11:35 run errands with mom. I hate it. So I scream. And scream. And throw things out of the cart. Then I wave at people walking by so they think I'm cute and angelic and that my mom is a big ol' meanie. It's kind of evil of me. But hey, that's how I roll.

11:35 - 12:15 drive to and from getting Jayda from school. Repeat activity done during 8:45 - 9:00 time frame.

12:15-12:25 mom helps Jayda get in some comfy clothes, go pee, wash her hands, yada yada yada. So, while I'm not being watched like a hawk I find a marker that my sissy left out. I use it to draw all over every one of mommy's checks in her checkbook.

12:25-1:00 lunch time. It's just like breakfast, but with lunch food.

1:00-1:02 my mommy tries to do the dishes. While she turns her head for a minute, I kick down the baby gate that is blocking me from getting out in the front yard. I escape for about 60 seconds (which makes my mom feel like the WORST parent ever because something very bad could have happened). While I'm FREE for 60 seconds I decide to run over to my next door neighbors house and play, while still in all my clothes and shoes, in their hose. I'm soaking wet.

1:02 -1:05 My mom comes and picks me up. She's pissed. And scared about what could have happened. And mad at herself. And I think its funny. So I laugh and giggle the entire time I'm being scolded.

1:05 - 1:15 While we were outside drying me off, a neighbor came over to say hello. While my mom was holding me and talking to the neighbor, I unzipped her sweater and showed the neighbors my mommys boobs and bra (keep in mind these are her boobies that were a 34c, but after she had me they became a 34long...not pretty). My mom was pretty mortified. I found it hilarious!

1:16-mom mumbles something about one of us needing a nap.

1:17-3:00 I sleep. My mom recovers (and by "recovers" I mean does the dishes, laundry, plans dinner, pays bills, reads to Jayda, and vacuums).

3:00 I wake up angry.

3:01-3:20 snack. you can guess how this goes based on what breakfast and lunch were like, right?

3:20-4:00 play with my sissy. There'a lot of screaming and hair pulling involved (from me). My sissy takes it like a champ because she's awesome...but I sense she's getting a bit tired of my attitude.

4:02 (notice the missing two minutes??) I escape for two minutes only to have my glorious alone time shattered when my sissy screams for my mom to come help. My mom finds me standing in the bathroom sink drawing on the bathroom mirror with toothpaste. It was fun AND it tasted good.

4:03-4:05 My mom starts dinner and finds the dog food everywhere. I try to help by pulling out pots, pans, and pantry items. I can tell my mom is thrilled. Mommy looks so defeated when she's happy.

4:06-5:00 Mommy calls this the "witching hour." It's when I'm at my finest and she "barely holds on till daddy gets home." I try to make this time go by super fast for her so I keep her busy and entertained by trying to ride the dog, climbing up on the barstools and getting stuck and them screaming for help (I do this one over and over and over again till mom throws the bar stools on the front porch out of desperation), then I throw my gold fish snack on the ground and step on them to make sure they're really smashed into the carpet. I take a few minutes to find two rolls of toilet paper. I drop one in the toilet and it gets reeaalllly big! Then I take the other one and toilet paper sissy's bedroom. My mom starts yelling at my sissy for leaving the bathroom door open allowing me to do said activity.

5:01-5:10 play with mommy for a few sacred minutes, change diaper and get ready to go pick up daddy.

5:10-5:30 pick daddy up from the bus stop. I tend to yell a bunch while we drive there. Then I see him and act really, really angelic. Again, sorta evil of me to do, but it's worked for me thus far so I'll probably keep doing it. Dad gets in the car and says "what smells in here?" Mom looks like she's gonna cry.

5:31-6:00 eat dinner. yes, it goes about as well as breakfast and lunch. Only now daddy's home so he's angry because I keep throwing my food and screaming like a banshee.

6:00 - 6:30 play with daddy. It's my favorite time of the day. Mom usually rocks back and forth in a corner sucking her thumb during this time. I hear her repeatedly ask herself why she even bothers to clean or straighten throughout the day since it looks like WW3 in our house...which is CRAZY because it was clean 2 hours ago.

6:31 - 6:55 shower, brush teeth(try to throw my tooth brush in the toilet, but mommy catches it), put on PJ's.

6:55-7:00 song and prayer. Yell at anyone who doesn't have their arms folded just right. Yell Amen. Give kisses. Go night night.

7:01 - 7:09 - cry and whine that I'm in bed. then scream for help because my blanket is not exactly over my feet the way I like it. Dad comes in and fixes the blanket once last time.

7:10 fall asleep and prepare my body to do it all again tomorrow.

Luckily for us all, there are a TON of sweet kisses, big hugs, priceless smiles, and warm embraces that make this all enjoyable and very, very sweet.

WE LOVE YOU LILLY. WE WOULDN'T TRADE YA FOR THE WORLD (I was just kidding earlier today when I said I'd trade you for a half eaten girl scout cookie). :)

Look Whoo's Having a Baby

Heather and I threw a shower for our dear friend Sarah. She was expecting her first baby (a little boy named Dallas who was born a few days ago). We used owls as the theme and it turned out pretty cute! The games were actually fun, the food was simply amazing (I can say that because Mallory and Heather did it all), and the turn out was great.

Sarah is a good friend. She is a pediatric nurse and works at the hospital where I had both of my kids. When I had Lilly (remember how horrible that was!) she was there to come in and check on me and make me feel better. Not just to check on me physically...but to make sure I was okay emotionally. She's pretty awesome and it was GREAT to "shower" her with love and support.

Look how cute Sarah looks pregnant.

If I didn't love her so much I'd totally hate her.

Heather, along with helping decorate, coming up with the games,

and making most the food, spent a bunch of time making these cool paper hangy thingy's.

They really make a party look cool. (Please note that she's gonna kick my butt for putting this awesome picture of her on my blog. I can guarantee I said something to her and she's giving me her sideways "you're crazy" look....I get that look a lot). :)

The cupcakes were made by yours truly! Shocking, I know!

Aren't these little cinnamon bun candles cute? Perfect parting gift for our guests. The tag read "thanks for celebrating Sarah's bun-in-the-0ven. We had a real hoot!" Cute, eh?

Singing in the rain

It was warm one day last week and it felt WONDERFUL! We decided to have a picnic out front and decorate our tiny tree with easter eggs for the upcoming holiday. However, the girls saw the hose sitting on the ground and just couldn't resist an impromptu water session!

It was so much fun...we can't wait for summer!!

2wo

Yes, I know you can see the snot in her nose in this picture. But I don't have editing software and this is truly what she looks like every day so I think it's pretty appropriate!

Lilly Mae is 2!

My 5lbs 1oz, 7.5 week premature baby is now 2 years old! She weighs 30lbs, fits in size 2 or 3 clothes, and wears a size 7 shoe (Jayda is only in a 9!). She's healthy and growing like a weed!

She is also fully enjoying her TERRIBLE TWO's! She's feisty, pissy, temperamental, energetic, mischievous, and funny. Our little "Angry Elf" likes to yell at her sister, push her around, pull her hair, and throw her toys. But she also likes to snuggle, give kisses, and grunt when she gives super big hugs. She's absolutely perfect.

She's still in speech therapy every other week and is doing well. She calls Jayda "sissy." She can say Jayda, but she prefers to call her Sissy (sounds likes She-She) which is the cutest thing ever. She says daddy, mommy, riley, grammy, papa, baby, bath, and a bunch of other words...but she still prefers to scream and point. Either way...she's communicating!

We had a yummy dinner and I made a ladybug cake for her birthday. It was a sweet evening and we enjoyed the family time just being together and celebrating our sweet Lils.

Happy Birthday Miss Mae!

Sneaky little Leprechauns

I love St. Patrick's Day. I love that the wee little leprechauns come and visit our house to play tricks on the kids in the middle of the night.

This year they were especially sneaky.

First, Jayda woke up to green toilet water.

Then, when she walked downstairs she saw that the leprechauns had hung her barbie and her pink pig upside down from the chandelier!

We decided to make pancakes for breakfast, but when we poured out the bisquick...dog food spilled out instead! Well, we were lucky and we found the bisquick in another bag in the pantry so we pulled it out to start making our pancakes. But when we went to pour the milk in...it was green!

After feasting on green pancakes and green milk for breakfast, Jayda went up to her room to put her clothes on for school. She always picks out her clothes the night before. But when she went upstairs they weren't laid out on her chair like usual. She was a bit confused...until she saw her American Girl Doll, Elizabeth, sitting on top of her chair wearing Jayda's school clothes. Those sneaky little leprechauns took her doll out of her bed and dressed her in Jaydas clothes!

Luckily, the wee little leprechauns are super nice so they leave little gold candies at each spot they do a trick.

I think being sneaky is fun. Those leprechauns are pretty lucky they get to do tricks on the kids!

Hope you all had a fun, trick filled, St. Patrick's Day!

Dog food instead of pancake mix!

Here Jayda is cracking up because she found her American Girl doll wearing her school clothes.

This is one of my favorite pictures. . She was laughing so hard that she started crying!

My house is not this messy everywhere I promise! But I love this picture. Can you see the little splash of green flying out of the bowl on the left?

Nothing endures but change...

It's interesting how no matter how much time you spend planning or plotting...things change. That's one consistent element of life. Change happens. It can be good. It can be bad. It can be exciting, scary, overwhelming, sad, thrilling, or simply different. We've had some slightly scary, yet exciting changes these past few months. For example, we bought a house!... and then I got laid off work.

On February 27th, we purchased our home. We've been renting this house for 3 years and found out it was going to be sold as a "short sale" which allowed us to purchase the home for a ridiculously low price. We know we like the location (4 doors down from the school that Jayda will attend next year!!!), we love our neighbors, and we know what we're getting since we've lived here for three years. The real bonus (besides the price)...we didn't have to move! We truly feel blessed for this opportunity. We now own a home that we can call our own. Although the house is not our dream home, it's perfect for us at this stage in our life. It's pretty, safe, affordable, and we love it! It's funny how when we were renting I didn't really like the house. I thought it was too small, the floors creaked, etc, etc. But now that it's ours I truly love it! I'm having fun planning how to redecorate and organize now that it's ours. Russ has already redone our closets (he did a great job) and is excited to become Mr. Handy! We're super excited!

The day after we bought the house our dryer broke. And our toilet is leaking. Weird that now those issues are our problems. No more calling the landlord. No more having it fixed for free. Those times are over. It's our responsibly now. And ya know what? It actually feels really, really good!

The day after our dryer broke, and two days after buying our house... I got laid off of work.

Ouch!

Then Russ and the girls all got the flu. It lasted for 10 days.

Needless to say...it was a crazy couple of weeks!

Although getting laid off of work right after buying a house was a bit scary and overwhelming...we feel blessed it happened. I've wanted to be a "real" stay-at-home mom for years. I say "real" because I was a stay-at-home mom, but I was working from home which means I was spread too thin and not really doing anything as well as I'd like. We were all suffering.

This forced our little family to make some changes. Russ is now providing for us on his own and I am able to truly run the household and manage our family. Interestingly enough...I've never been happier! I'm able to manage the house (it's still messy in case you were wondering), do the laundry (although we still dry clean Russ' work shirts because I think ironing clothes is the worst thing ever), cook meals (which I'm actually enjoying now that I'm not taking work calls and trying to keep the kids quiet while rushing out the door to pick up Russ from the bus WHILE trying not to burn the garlic bread!)! It's been soooooo amazing to feel like I have 10 minutes to read a book to Jayda instead of running around sending emails or taking calls while shushing my kids. It feels great to be able to read my kindle at night instead of working on RFP's or policies. It feels sooooooooo good to not be constantly hooked up to my blackberry. I do miss the sense of pride having a fancy title at a cool company gave me. But I am finding much more happiness and much more pride being an effective wife and mother. Being laid off was sad and scary. But being able to focus on my family and realign my priorities is a gift. We're thankful for the opportunity.

Staff Pro was a blessing sent from above. I truly believe that. I was able to work from home for nearly 6 years. I helped put Russ through grad school. I helped save enough money to buy a home. Although it was hard as hell, I was able to be at home with my kids and snuggle then any time of the day. I was able to fly home and see our families because Staff Pro would pay to fly me out for work. Staff Pro, and it's staff, played a HUGE role in my life over the past 8.5 years. I've made some great friends and had some great experiences. I'm so blessed to know them and to have been part of that company. I owe so much to my uncle Cory for providing me the opportunity to work at Staff Pro and be a mother and an executive! I can NEVER repay sweet Suzanne who was my boss and is now one of my closest friends for what she did for me day in and day out. I survived and thrived because of her leadership and friendship. I will always cherish Adi for putting up with my crazy ways and helping keep me on track. We made a good team. I'll miss my Staff Pro family. I'll miss the experiences I had while working. I'll miss Staff Pro.

But change is good. I'm happy. My kids are happier. Russ is happier. Life is just plain better.

Weird how a scary change can turn into such a happy blessing.