Just Like You

I think I probably tell Maggie & Callie to "stop saying that" or "don't do that again" at least a thousand times a day. Most of the things they are doing aren't that bad, but I try to remind them that Ellie watches everything that they do.

Maggie usually has quiet reading time after Callie leaves each day and Ellie often joins her.

(They are reading two of the new books that we bought at the book fair- Taylor Swift-Her Song and Purplicious...yes it's one in the series about Pinkalicious which is our most-checked out Library book!!)

This morning there were three Taylor Swift's singing "You Belong with Me".

It's something new every single day.

BIG Weekend

We had a busy, fun and exciting weekend and here are a few pictures (in totally random order)!Before leaving for Bible School. We had so much fun, but we were very tired when we got home last night.

It's always fun to ride the rides at BabiesRUs.

We went to a Birthday party at Bounce U. Maggie & Ellie had lots of fun and I went down the big slide more times than I can count.

Ellie loved the tunnels!

We finished our necklaces...finally.

Ellie has decided that she likes "silly bracelets" so much that she'll grab a handful and run away and squeal if you try to take them from her.
And...we finally put the new car seat (seen in the background) into Big Daddy's car. He has to pick Ellie up from Nana's while I'm teaching VBS, so we bought a new seat. It has brought HOURS of enjoyment while it's been in the living room/kitchen/bedrooms this week. It seems car seats are more fun when they're not strapped into a car.

Happy Monday!

Accomplished

We have finally finished the extensive art project that we started last week.

I did most of the bead-rolling, Big Daddy drilled the holes, the girls painted and I put the beads on strings and covered them in a clear sealant. It took several days for the beads to dry and then several days for Big Daddy to drill the holes. If I didn't have children that insist on being fed, changed, played with and entertained it would have taken a lot less time!

I'll try to post pictures of our necklaces next week, but first I have to complete mine! I did a turquoise and chocolate brown combo that I think is really cute. I'll be wearing it to Church on Sunday with a denim dress, so we'll see how it looks.

I'm getting ready to make a menu plan for next week and a grocery list for tonight. Our Week of Wonder (VBS) starts on Sunday, so I'll be busy in the evenings. I'll be taking Ellie to Nana and Pawpaw's and Maggie & I will go to Church for WOW. Big Daddy will be picking Ellie up and putting her to bed each night. He has never put Ellie to bed, so I'm a little worried. Of course, all I do is carry her to her room and lay her in the bed and then she grabs her sister's old receiving blanket and goes right to sleep. I can only hope that things go okay without me.


Happy Friday!

Spa Party!

Just look at this face!!

It's safe to say that the Spa Party was a success!

I think Maggie enjoyed it even more than the birthday girl herself!

Maggie was a little unsure of having make up put on...

but it was very age appropriate with just a few sparkles here and there.

Her favorite part was the pedicure!

Ellie enjoyed watching the big girls and exploring the spa.

Callie loved it and is already asking her mom for a spa party of her own.

All the girls had on dresses (except Callie) and everyone wore little robes while they were getting their spa treatments. The tiaras and wands came home with us and Maggie told me (at 6:30) this morning that I could borrow them for my birthday celebration.

(No pictures of other people's children for privacy)

I'm in the mood...

for Fall!

It all started a few weeks ago when I went to a certain store and saw lots of Fall decor on one row and Christmas decorations on another. I thought it was way too soon to have out these sorts of things, but it definitely made me start thinking. Since then, I've had pumpkins, colorful leaves, spice scented candles and yummy cool weather food on my mind. It doesn't help things when the temperatures have been in the upper 90's and the humidity always feels like it's at 100% here in NC!!

I will soon be shopping for new candles and pumpkins and...a new crock pot.

Enter CSNStores.com! I was asked to review one of the many products that they offer in over 200 of their on-line stores. Did you know that the store that has everything from dining room furniture to luggage also sells crock pots ? Oh yes they do!! I'll be ordering my soon and I'll let you know if it can make my cooking any better! CSN Stores has become one of my favorite places to shop while I'm in the comfort of my living room.

Of course, I'm not ready to say goodbye to Summer just yet. We still have our family beach trip coming up next month.

Wordless Wednesday

A Spa Party?

This song is so stuck in my head! It's one of my favorites and we did at Church on Sunday and it just plays over and over in my head! (pause the music at the bottom and press play!)

Anyway...

So...tomorrow I'm taking my girls to a Spa Party for Maggie's friend Sara's fourth birthday. I've had mixed reactions when I tell people that we're going to a children's spa to celebrate the birthday of a four year old. Callie wasn't invited, but when I told the mom that I was keeping her during the summer she insisted that Callie join in the fun. Needless to say, Callie was fully prepared to do her own nails and make up before the party!!
We do hair, nails and make up on a regular basis around here, but I don't put a lot of emphasis on it. I never want Maggie or Ellie (Callie either) to think that they have to wear make up or do their nails to be pretty, loved or accepted. I do insist that hair is out of eyes when we go anywhere where it might get in the way. (nothing worse than trying to do art at Church or preschool while your hair keeps getting in the paint!)

My birthday is coming up soon and I'd love to spend a little time with my out of town Mommy-friends at a spa! (More details on my upcoming birthday celebration later.)


What do you think, is a Spa Party for a four year old appropriate??

Busy, Busy, Busy

I had a nice trip to Sanford on Friday with Maggie & Ellie hanging in the backseat! Ellie slept half of the way there and Maggie couldn't hold her eyes open for the last ten minutes. Once we arrived at my old office's new office and I said the words "Gammy Gladys" they were up and ready to go!!

Ellie was a little unsure of Gladys because there were SO many people around, but Maggie was thrilled to see her Gammy! We spent some time there touring the new office and talking to my old co-workers before leaving to do a little tour of the town. We drove around for about an hour and Maggie showed Ellie all of our old places. We were surprised at the new restaurants and gas stations that had been built since we were last across town in November.

Maggie wanted to play in the fountain at the Depot and go pretty much everywhere that we used to go! I talked her into having snack at Sonic. It seems like a slush can fix a lot of problems!! It was Happy Hour and my girls were very HAPPY!

Maggie talked my ears off the entire hour drive back home and Ellie took another nap. Maggie is already talking about when we'll go back and I can't stop thinking about it myself!

It Was A Good Day

We decided to skip the summer program at the Library and get a head start on an extensive art project.

I saw this project on Kristen's blog and decided to try it.

The girls did quite a bit of bead-rolling before lunch. I've been working on the beads and steam mopping the hardwood floors during nap time and thoroughly enjoying myself!

I hope that I can post pictures of the necklaces that we make early next week.

Homesick

I have been missing our old hometown even more than usual lately. I miss everything from our house and neighborhood, Church and old co-workers to our favorite green house and grocery store. I'm not sure if I'll feel better or worse after me, Maggie & Ellie go for a visit on Friday.

We are excited to say the least.

Maggie wants to see Gammy Gladys so bad and we're going to a pig pickin' at the real estate firm that I used to work for. They are relocating and making changes and we're excited to share in the celebrating. Since Gammy Gladys used to work there too, we're going to crash the party together.

In Ellie news...she gives real kisses now!! Cute, sweet, wet, smacking kisses on the lips. Sweetest. Sugar. Ever.

Pictures & Answers

We had another fun and exciting weekend! Maggie is all about fun and exciting, so I made it extra special by calling it "Family Date Night". We started our evening by having dinner at Panera. Big Daddy and I both got our "usual" and Maggie had her own bowl of French Onion Soup. (Her favorite restaurants are Panera & Logan's Roadhouse...both very grown up.)

After dinner we went to a cruise-in in a local small town. They close part of the streets downtown so it was a lot of fun to be able to walk and explore. The highlight for Maggie was a toss up between visiting the ice cream truck and finding "the real cross where Jesus died". I tried to explain that the little Church had just put a cross up on the lawn, but she was very adamant that Jesus died on that exact cross.

On Sunday, we went to Church, had a picnic in the backyard, took a family nap, paid a visit to the river and went to one of our favorite places for dinner.

Now for the answers part of the post.

How did you end up in Sanford??
Big Daddy is from a small town almost exactly halfway between Sanford and my hometown. He always liked Sanford and sort of wanted to live there. After he graduated, he was offered and accepted a job about three hours away. He didn't like the job or the city and quit after three months. Right after he had moved in with his parents he was offered the job that he had really wanted in Sanford. He moved into "our" apartment and then I moved in with him after we were married in 2000. I think we'll always think of it as our hometown because it's were we started.

How did you become a babywearer??
Big Daddy and I bought a Bjorn type front carrier right after we found out I was pregnant. it was on clearance and I thought it would be cute to carry our baby around in it. It wasn't really suitable for a newborn, but I thought we would enjoy it later.
Maggie was a terribly fussy baby. She seemed to have tummy issues and sleep issues right from the start. The doctor mentioned colic a lot earlier than what she wanted to, but it seemed to be the best explanation for what was wrong. I did a lot of research on fussy babies and what helped them. The one thing that seemed to be consistent was that wearing the baby seemed to help. I was so proud when I told Big Daddy that I'd found the "answer" to our problems!! I bought a pouch sling and started using it right away. I mainly used it around the house and when we went for walks. Once Maggie was able to hold her head up well, we started using the front carrier. I liked it for the grocery store, walks and doing yard work.
When I became pregnant with Ellie, I knew that I needed a way to hold her and keep my hands free for Maggie. I had read a lot of information about the front style carriers (lots of sling & wrap users refer to them as crotch-danglers, with good reason) and how they weren't good for extended wearing because of the way they support/don't support the baby. Not to mention that many babies get fussy because of the over-stimulation of facing out. I decided that I would use the pouch sling and add a ring sling for extra versatility. Of course, I also added the Baby K'Tan a little later. I discovered that using the slings and the K'Tan were easy and completely pain-free. I always had shoulder pain when I used the front carrier.

And now someone is up from there nap and I must go before I can finish up.

Time Flies

Time flies when you're having fun, but this week has flown by and I haven't had that much fun. I think it's because Monday was the end of the longest fourth of July EVER. I really thought the holiday would go on forever. Celebrations started around here on Friday and went on until Monday.

I'm not sure what I've done this week, but I did take a couple of hours away from the girls yesterday to pick up my new glasses and look at projects for our Week of Wonder (VBS) at Church. So, I have the new glasses and I really dislike them! I feel like they stick out and they just feel awkward. Big Daddy says I'll get used to them, so we'll see. Since my vision is still extremely well I only have to wear them when I'm doing a particular task for an extended period of time.

Anyway...I asked for questions a couple of weeks ago and now I'll give the answers!

Do you wear fingernail/toenail polish, and if so, do you wear the same color on both, or mix it up?
The last time I painted my fingernails was probably during a slow day stuck in the office when I was a real estate broker. I always end up with little chips in the polish so I only do my toes. In the summer I always have my toenails painted and usually it's a very light/neutral/nude color. I have never had a professional manicure or pedicure. Ever. My sister did my toenails for me during both of my pregnancies.

Are you going to have more babies? (MOST ASKED QUESTION EVER!!!)
We say no, but we could always change our minds, right? If we were independently wealthy and didn't have to think about college funds and paying for all of the things that living requires we might have another one. We like to be able to live a comfortable life and have a little wiggle room and I do not want to drive a minivan! Having one more baby would probably make our decision on what our next car purchase will be a lot easier!

Why don't you go to the Church that you grew up in?
We always thought that the Church I grew up in was fine until we found our Church in Sanford that we really loved. When we moved, we felt like we could find a Church that would work better for our family than going to that Church. We attended one Church for several months and then found the Church that we go to now. It was the third Church that we visited. We tried to evaluate the nurseries, the preschool classrooms and all of the things that the kids could be a part of as they got older. The Church we go to is very large (for us) and I didn't think I would like it, but we both enjoy going and have peace of mind knowing what the girls are doing.

How did you meet Big Daddy?
The easy answer is at the mall. We went to the same mall hoping to bump into each other. I parked my car near his truck and waited for him to get out of the movies. (He liked to go to afternoon movies when he came home on the weekends.) I ran into a friend, missed his movie letting out and ran to my car only to find him standing there waiting for me. We went to dinner and the rest is history.
The not so easy answer is that I dated (term used loosely) his friend and we met several months before we met at the mall.

What's your favorite & least favorite thing about being a SAHM?
I like not leaving Maggie & Ellie every single day. I admit that it would be nice to leave them once in a while! I like being able to get up and not rush to get ready for work. I miss getting ready and dressed up each day. I miss having my own money. I like to roll around in the bed with both girls after they are awake and come into my bed. I miss the weekends being special because now they just feel like another day. I miss having holidays off. Sometimes I'm a little jealous of Big Daddy because Maggie & Ellie both get so excited when he walks in the door. I never get that!

13 Months of Ellie

As every month passes I just can't believe how time is flying by.

You say "ma-ma", "da-da" and "baby", but that's about it. You don't try to say a lot, but you show us that you understand every single thing that we say!

You love pasta and bread, carrots and green peas. Sometimes you like watermelon and cantaloupe, but it depends on your mood.

You let me know if you're tired by laying your head down on the floor, a pillow or my shoulder. I am so thankful that you go to sleep at nap time and bedtime so easy (for now at least!) and I literally thank God for it! You fall asleep in some of the cutest positions and most of the time you are holding one of your sister's fuzzy, old receiving blankets instead of your "Lovey".

You are getting to be such a big girl. You let me know that you wanted your toenails painted when I was painting your sister's and of course, I painted them. You look at them and smile and I can tell that it pleases you when we say that they look pretty.

Baby Ellie, I have just convinced your Daddy that we do not need a mini van unless we're having another baby. I think it's safe to say that you complete us...for now at least.

Here, There and Everywhere

We have been a little busy this holiday weekend, but I thought I'd take just a minute out to write something.

I have been having severe, not-quite-but-almost-migraine headaches for the past few weeks. After my eye appointment last Wednesday I am hopeful that my new glasses will help with that problem. I'm not crazy about having to wear glasses, but I have decided that straining my eyes is causing tension in my neck which causes muscle spasms which leads to headaches. Anyway...if things go right, I should have them sometime this week. Until then, I'll probably be limiting my computer time.

We spent yesterday evening at my mom and dad's house and actually took a family picture! It's a very rare thing to have a picture of all four of us and this may even be a first!!Maggie, Mommy, Ellie with her bowl and spoon and Big Daddy

And then one with the women of the family...
My sister, Mom, me, my mom's baby sister (Lisa), cousin Amanda, my mom's oldest sister (Kathy), and then of course there's Ellie, Callie and Maggie in the front

And then the men of the family...
Uncle Wade (Lisa's hubby), my dad, sister's hubby (Uncle Duh-Duh), my nephew, Braxton and then Big Daddy

I'll be doing the question and answer post maybe this Friday. Leave questions in the comments or email them to me at maggielousmommy at yahoo dot com.

Quiet

A day of silence in memory of Baby Cohen.