It's the little things...

...that drive me crazy.  I have decided to vent a few things that are currently driving me to drink...if I drank, which I don't, but these things are pushing me to reconsider.

1.  A parenting website I check in on once in a while dedicated an entire post on the evils of the word "No."  And how a less harmful option is saying "No Thank You."  Pushover said what???  I'm just putting it out there...if you heed that advice I foresee this in your future. Just sayin'...it's a slippery slope.

2.  We went to our neighborhood block party on Saturday and it was a lot of fun sitting and chatting with our neighbors Ms. Linda and Mr. Gene.  Coincidentally Ms. Linda and Mr. Gene are the parents of Sayler's babysitter Dana (whom we adore and who looks like a super model each and every day when I go to pick up Sayler...I would hate her, if I didn't like her so much!!!).  There was a bounce house, and face painting and these...

Just pasting that picture into the text box made my creep-o-meter go off the charts.  Why would the home owner's association ruin a perfectly good block party by tainting it with clowns?  Needless to say I kept my child far, far away from the creeper clowns...I was afraid someone might call CPS had I taken her over to the clown station as that is just straight up child abuse.

3.  Dear Mr. DJ,  Next time you are hired to provide your DJing services for a neighborhood block party please leave your Soulja Boy at home.  I'm not positive but I am pretty sure it is still considered inappropriate to encourage 5 year old children to dance to a song where one of the main lyrics is "Super soak dat ho."  Call me old fashioned but Niel Diamond has some catchy tunes...or throw all caution to the wind and bust out some Lionell Richie...you can't go wrong with a little Dancin' on the Ceiling. It's a fan favorite.

4. The Duggar's.  Nuff said.

5.  Why do people on Facebook like their own status?  Isn't that a bit redundant? (I'll have you know I just had to go to Thesaurus.com to find the word redundant. Obviously the 7 years of college and law school education have paid off in spades...seriously).

6.  Getting to number six in a list of ten and having absolutely nothing else to write.  It is not OK to end a list at six.  Five...fine.  Ten...terrific.  Six...pathetic.  So I push forward my friends.  I'm sure you are overcome with joy.

7.  DVR...I will kill you.  If you cut off one more TV show in the final 2 minutes you will be dead to me.  I'm not sure what I will do to you as you are the wind beneath my wings.  But I foresee some harsh words and dirty looks coming your way in the near future if I miss the scenes from next week for any Real Housewives programming ever again.

8.  We moved into our house over 2 months ago and all of our shoes are still in suitcases sitting in our closet.  What does this reveal to me?...my reliance on flip flops for any and all occasions may need some rethinking.

9.  Progressive.  We all hate Flo.  Wrap it up why don't you?

10.  I thought all day today that it was Thursday.  And then pacified myself by saying "well I was only one day off."  Next thing you know I will have a little post-it on the fridge that says, "In case of emergency dial 991."

 Tylenol PM...here I come lover ;)

My future's so bright....

So some time ago I learned of a Chinese tradition where on a child's first birthday the parents of the baby place several items in a basket or out on a blanket and allow the baby to chose an item.  The item the child choses first is supposed to signify the career path they will follow (i.e. a stethoscope for medicine,  expensive pen for business, bells/chimes for music, etc.).  So while I realize that Sayler has not yet reached her 1st birthday, I am a bit concerned that nothing brought her more joy (she was literally squealing with delight) than playing with this yesterday afternoon...

Wait...what???

Is that a.....????

Yes, yes it is....

A pair of thong underwear. (see the squealing and unabashed delight?)

She refused to put them down.

Her Dad is thrilled.

Please pray for us as a family as we navigate past this unexpected development milestone.

9 Months Old

Nine is fine little Miss!!!  Can you even stand the picture above???  How I live for that toothy grin...it is what I get out of bed for in the morning.  Here is what you have been up to lately:

• I realized today that you are 39 weeks old.  It struck me that I was pregnant with you for 39 weeks, so that means you have been outside of me as long as you were inside of me.  Wow pregnancy is LONG!!!  We have spent every single day of the last 78 weeks together and what a glorious 78 weeks they have been my tiny.
• You go to the doctor tomorrow for your 9 month appointment so I will come back and edit this post to give your stats...you also get your 9 month shots :( ETA:  You weigh 19.4 lbs (55%), 30 inches (above 95%) and you head circumference is 18 inches (90%). You didn't have to get any shots this time (yay!) but Mommy was not crazy about the pediatrician you saw.  I think mommy will be writing a post about it shortly ;)  You are perfect in every way and growing and developing right on track.
• You LOVE the food!!! You have really been transitioning to table food a majority of the time.  You have tried and loved:
• Green beans
• Carrots
• Apples
• Mandarin Oranges
• Pineapple
• Corn
• Peas
• Peaches
• Pears
• Grilled Cheese (you seriously could not get it in your mouth fast enough)
• Ice Cream (mommy gave you a few tiny spoonfuls of ice cream the other night and you kept screaming for more...we all scream for ice cream right???)
• You are still taking 3 - 4 sometimes 5 bottles a day...and I love that time we get to snuggle together.  I know you will wean yourself in the next few months or so...but you can take as long as you want :)
• You are still in a size 3 diaper
• You wear 9-12 month clothes.
• You are way into your Daddy right now.  You guys are 2 peas in a pod.  He loves to play wild and crazy with you playing the "flip game", chasing you all around while you crawl like a mad woman, and bribing you for kisses.  Daddy will put one of your puffs in his mouth and give it you you like you two are birds or something...and then he says you gave him a kiss.  Daddy is always waiting to wrap you up in a towel after Mommy lifts you out of the bath and you give him the BIGGEST smile when you see him.  The other night Mommy was getting ready to lift you out of the tub and Daddy hadn't quite made it into the bathroom with the bath towel and you, in anticipation of him being there, started smiling so big...and then when he wasn't there you looked at me like, "Hey?  Where's Daddy???"  And started looking all over for him until he got there.  When he leaves a room you crawl right out the door after him...a think we have a true Daddy's girl in the making and there is a certain Daddy that does not mind it at all!!!
• You sleep through the night every night 12-13 hours straight.  You have given up your morning and late afternoon naps for the most part, but on the weekends when you are at home you sleep more than during the week when you are at Ms. Dana's.  I think it is because when you are at Ms. Dana's house you are entertained by all of the kids...and when you are home with Mom and Dad we are a little boring in comparison. Ha!!  We are so happy that all of your hard work learning to sleep through the night paid off.  You are a great sleeper.  We took you to our friend Marty and Emily's the other night for dinner and they just set up a pack and play in their guest room and we put your noisy on and you went down without a peep.  We are so proud of how well you sleep.
• You are a chatter box.  You are always babbling and I love to hear you talk.  I repeat everything you say right back to you and I think you like having out first Mommy/daughter conversations.
• You know how to wave when you hear someone say "bye-bye" and you clap when you hear someone say "Yayyyyyy."  Daddy and I do it like 20 times a day and we just think you are so smart!!!  We can't wait to see all of the new things you will learn this month.
• You are on the move every minute of the day.  You will sit and snuggle with me for a few minutes, or if I have a bottle for you, but other than that you are to busy to sit still with your mama.  You are cruising around all of the furniture and are getting very close to standing on your own.  I know it won't be too long before you are taking your (gulp) first steps!!!  So exciting!!!
• You are starting to smile all of the time and when you get excited you do this little breathy squeal and I live for it!!!  When I go to pick you up at daycare and you see me you make a b-line right over to me and when I pick you up you make that little squealing noise and it is just the best thing I have ever heard.  I think it is your little way of laughing...and it is precious.

You are just growing and changing every single day and we love seeing all of the new things you do...sometimes we just wish we could push the pause button for a little while.  You are the best thing I have ever done my love and my heart is so full of love for you.  I love you tiny...and I can't wait to see all of the exciting things month 10 brings!!!

Love,

Mama

Snot, So Long Summer and Soaking it all in.

Sorry I have been MIA for a week or so...Say and I have had colds and I have been on snot patrol for the better part of a week now.  Do you have your "thing" as a Mom that you just cannot deal with?  Like dirt under the nails, or messy matted hair post nap?  Well mine is a crusty, booger infested nose.  I CAN.NOT.HANDLE.IT!!!  I try to let it go if we are just here in the house and not going anywhere, but inevitably I fixate on the nose crust until it is the only thing I can see...and I have to go in for the extraction.  Now I know most kids do not appreciate it when people pick at them or try and wipe their face etc., but my child wiggs out.  She thrashes around and really goes all cage fighter on me when I go on booger patrol.  But I am powerless to the urge to extract that booger bat from it's cave.  When my mission has been successfully completed...I feel a sense of well being.  A peace comes over me and all is right with the world.  Say on the other hand looks like she wants to jump on me like a spider monkey.  I have no idea why I have been going on and on about snot for so long here and I apologize for monopolizing the bulk of this post with booger banter...but I am just trying to keep it real yo.  There's lots of nose pickin' goin on up in here.

So I was at the grocery store a day or two ago and guess what I saw displayed on an end cap or two...Halloween candy!!!  Huh?  It is 103 degrees outside and you want me to think about candy corn???  It's just unnatural.  Wasn't the 4th of July just like last week? Oh my gravy....did I just say that?  This is how it starts.  It starts with little comments about how fast the time flies by...and the next thing you know your talking about your life alert alarm that your kids got you for Christmas and your fancy new "Safety Tub" that you're having installed so you don't take a spill and break a hip.  Pass me the Geritol with a side of Depends please...

I have been seeing all sorts of pictures this week of kids first days of school and they just warm my heart.  I LOVED the first day of school...even in law school I would get giddy preparing for the first day of class.  It's something about the cleanness of it all.  New clothes, new supplies (oh the supplies...don't get me started on my love of the supplies...I sometimes wish I was still in school just so I could buy new school supplies.  I never met a Trapper Keeper I didn't like), new classes, new teachers...it's like a new lease on life every August.  I miss it for myself...but I am seriously starting to panic just thinking about sending my little tiny muffin off to school someday.  I'm a special kind of crazy I know, as she will not be embarking on this right of passage for 5 more years...but I just get scared sometimes that I am not "soaking it all up" you know?  I mean that is all you ever hear veteran Mom's say..."Oh it all goes by so fast...make sure you soak it all up."  How do you do that?  I mean there are moments when I really try to be so present in the moment and try and etch it into my mind so I don't forget what it was like to hold her, and rock her to sleep.  How her hair smelled, how she makes these sweet sighs at night when I hold her before bed and that is how I know she is really tired.  I sit there and close my eyes and think..."I have to remember this.  I will never have this again with her. Soak it in...soak it in."  But I don't know if I am...it scares me.  It's a lot of pressure. I'm babbling now.  Who am I kidding...I've been babbling for the last fifteen minutes.  But at least I'm not talking about snot anymore right?

OK...going to check on my baby girl...and look down into her crib and hear her snot filled nose snorting through her sleep...and soak it all in.

Yippee Ki YAAAAAAYYYYY!!!

We had a great weekend and I am sad it is coming to an end.  My parents stopped by on Saturday before they headed  to the airport to drop off the coolest 11 year old on the planet Reese.  We are sad to see him go back to San Diego but we know his Mom and Dad were missing him something awful...we can't wait to spend some time together again soon.

Sunday, one of my best friends and mentor Steph Johnson stopped by on their way back to Lincoln after giving summer one last hurrah in KC with her girls and husband Mitch. I was Steph's nanny for 3 years beginning when the girls were 1 and 2.  Now they look like this:

Schyler 14

Kennedy 13

Excuse me while I go have an emotional breakdown for a minute or two...and take my daily dose of Geritol.  Holy decade Batman!!!  How did that happen???

Anyway, this family is just an amazing example of how to do it all right.  If Sayler turns out to be as sweet and respectful and loving as these girls...I will be so proud.  They are great girls with great parents and I just love being around them.  Their joy is infectious.

And here is something else that is infectious (the good kind...not the free clinic kind)

YAYYYYYY!!!! from Stephanie Doss on Vimeo.

She is just a spoonful of sugar isn't she???  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her!!!

Have a great weekend ya'll...

Kissing Cousins...

This pic pretty much describes last week for me...it was a rough one kids.  Several friends/acquaintances had devastating situations involving the illness/passing of their children and it was just  almost to much to bear.  I didn't know how to express myself here with regard to my feelings and sadness so I just kept putting off writing a post.  But it is time to move forward and I will just say this: life is hard...and confusing...and unfair much of the time. And when this happens so close to you it feels scary and looming and awful.  But it is the price we pay for living a full life surrounded by those we care for...some days the love causes us pain...and there is nothing we can do to stop it.  So we press on...

And press on we did by golly.  My nephew Reese is 11 and he lives in San Diego with my brother and his wife Patti.  We rarely get to see them so when we do it is a BIG deal.  So Reese flew in to KC on Saturday to spend the week with my parents in Omaha...but since they were in KC already they spent Saturday night with us.  Let me just preface the comments to follow with this statement...I realize that Reese is my nephew and therefore I am apt to be biased about how amazing he is.  However, in the history of all 11 year olds...he is the best one by far. BY.FAR!!!

Channing cannot quit talking about how amazing this kid is...and I have to tell you friends, he has never been more spot on with a character judgment.  Let me give you a list of the things Reese did to render him the world's best 11 year old.  Here we go:

1. There is never a request without a please that follows.  And never a gesture made without a thank you offered.  You have no idea how high the please and thank you's are on my list of mandatory manners.  They are the magic words after all...and this kid uses them CONSTANTLY...without being prompted. Awesomeness.
2. He is not to cool to go in for the hug.  Need I say more?  I love me an 11 year old boy that will still give up the snuggles.
3. He is smart.  Like really smart.  He uses words like aviator, and unaccompanied minor, and "once I was in custody of Grandma at the airport I called my Dad."  Huh?  What 11 year old speaks this way...a smart one that's who.  His vocabulary just tickled me and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for this Einstween!!! (Disclaimer: I will not be held liable for the corniness of my play on words...it's how I roll people).
4. He goes with the flow dude.  The last time I saw Reese was in August of 2006...so he was 7. And Channing had never met him prior to this weekend.  But you could never tell from the looks of these pictures...

Sorry that the quality isn't great...but this is what they liked to call their "butt bump" victory move after                    creaming Mom and Dan at an intense game of Baggo.  They were fast friends for sure.

5.  He loves Sayler.  He was so smitten with her the entire time he was there.  She is teething and therefore the drool faucet is on full speed. We were all playing downstairs and Reese and Sayler were standing looking out the window when Reese got up and quickly ran upstairs.  We wondered what he was doing and then he came back downstairs with a paper towel to wipe Say's face.  Could you just die???  What 11 year old boy does that?  My nephew that's who!!!

6.  He cleared my Mom's plate from the dinner table without being asked to do so.  This one put Channing right over the edge.  We were finished eating and just sitting at the table chatting and Reese walks over to my Mom and says, "Grandma can i take you plate for you?"  I thought Channing was going to fall flat on his face from the shock.  I'm telling you...in about 15 years...this one is going to be a serious catch for some lucky girl.

7.  He never complained...about anything...not once.  When my Mom asked him to stop playing with his PSP for a while and come in and play with Sayler in the toy room he did it without an eyelash batted.  I cannot say enough great things about this kid.

8.  He is keeping a journal to memorialize his trip to my parents.  It is the sweetest thing.  He read some of the entries to us and Channing and I made it our goal to make the journal!!!  We finally did and felt like we had won the lottery.  After every entry he would keep track of his mood too.  It was too much awesome to handle for one weekend I am telling you...this is one gold star kid!!!

Here are a few more pictures from our wonderful weekend with Reese (oh yeah and Grandma and Grandpa too!!!)...

He taxi'd her around the entire day.  She just laid back and let him do all the work as she ate her puffs!!!

Evidence of he drool patrol...she looks a bit leery :)

The Baggo rivals

Morning pj lovin :)

One happy G'ma!!!

My Mom has been waiting for this picture for about ummm...forever.

Kissing cousins

We HEART you Reesey!!!  Come see us again soon sweet boy!!!