Happy New Year, I'm Back!

Oh my goodness I am actually able to post now from the comfort of my own home! Santa brought us a new computer for Christmas and it is awesome. Sorry that I have been gone for so long. I know a lot has happened since I was last able to really post. Work installed a new firewall and were monitoring our internet usage for work/personal and since I need my job, I decided it best if I let this site rest until I could post away from the office on my own time. Soo, here I am posting in the comfort of my den. I have been trying to get caught up on everyone. My goodness you all have been busy. So have I! I had this wonderful post all planned out in my head, but now eveything is just running together, so I will just get down as much of it as I can.

I will just tell you that a 2 year old is so much fun, most of the time. He keeps me running! The babe talks non-stop now and you can understand most of what he says. One of his favorite places to go on Saturdays is the bakery. Those ladies just love him! His favorite restaurant is Chick-fil-A, I can't say that I blame him, the boy has good taste. He is still very much a mommy's boy and I just love it. Okay more on him later, you know I could just go on and on.

Christmas was wonderful. We had such a good time, the kids loved all their stuff and getting to spend time together. I loved all the yummy food! I got some new wheels for Christmas... She is beautiful, that was the only thing that I really asked for from hubby and the kids and they came through. Of course it has been raining since Christmas, so I haven't gotten to ride her much, but I can't wait for the skies to clear and it to warm up a bit so I can ride. Here is a picture of my new wheels.

Isn't she beautiful. I think she needs a name, what do you all think? Help me name her. Hubby has been calling her the Cadillac, but I think she needs her own name.

I also told Hubby about my blog. I know, I know I should have told him about it a long time ago, but hey, I made a mistake, so sue me. Anyway he was a little hurt, but he went on and read some posts and realized that this is harmless, just something that I like to do. So he is alright with is now. Maybe I will get him to guest post for me sometime. I just love him! Also, it was my 3 year blogaversary in October. Oh my goodness I cannot believe that I have been blogging for 3 years!

Alright I have to go now and do some Mommy stuff. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve. I look forward to more posts in the New Year.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night...

I miss you all, having issues. Be back soon!

A few pics

Wearing a hat, undershirt and diaper.

Before the haircut.

After the haircut.

I tried to upload some more pics, but I was having some issues, so maybe soon I will get some more uploaded. Tomorrow is the babe's 2nd birthday. I cannot believe that he will be 2! We had his party last weekend and he had a blast. It was Cars themed, he had a McQueen cake which he could not wait to eat, unlike last year when he would not eat any of his cake. He blew out his candles and dug in this year! He also opened all of his gifts and played with his new toys for HOURS! He did not care much for his new clothes and shoes, but he needed them anyway! It was a wonderful birthday party and he truly was a good boy.

Sorry that I have not written much lately, things at work have been crazy. I feel like someone is watching over my shoulder, so I am trying to limit my personal time online while I am here. Anyway, if you are still reading, thank you for sticking around. I miss my regular reads and I hope to get caught up with everyone soon.

First Haircut

Okay, so the babe is almost 2 years old and had never had a haircut. He hadn't really needed one. If you can remember, he was quite bald for a long time. He finally started getting hair but it is naturally curly and very baby fine. It had started taking on a look like the Donald, which isn't a good look for anyone, much less my sweet boy. So we decided that it was time for a haircut. Hubby has been going to a woman that he really likes and she has a son almost the same age as the babe, so he called and made an appointment for last Saturday. In preparation for the big day, we talked to him about it and made it seem as fun as going to the zoo. I was nervous that he was going to freak out and therefore get a very bad haircut, but much to our surprise he did wonderful. He sat very still on his Daddy's lap. Hairdresser woman introduced hin to the scissors and comb and told him what she was going to do. I sat quietly across from him, trying to choke back my tears. My little boy was getting his first haircut. We left his curls in the back, and just had the sides and front trimmed. He still looks like a baby, but also like a little boy. I love watching him grow, but sometimes it is hard on my heart. Here is a before and after pic of the hair. I did good and left the camera in the car for the actual cut, I thought it might freak him out if I was snapping pics like the paparazzi.

**Okay, so for whatever reason I am unable to upload the pics, I will try to post them later.

Real answers about mothers

Someone emailed this to me and I thought I would share it with you. I hope you enjoy it!

WHY GOD MADE MOMS
Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of ?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1 We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom?
1. My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goofball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet - you know, her hair. I'd diet maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Pictures from vacation

Cabin that we rented for the week.

Vacation anyone?

Sorry for my absense, I was on vacation last week and spent the week before that preparing for it. Am I rested and refreshed? Not so much! The babe is getting his 2 year molars and he and I were both sick with a cold/allergy/sinus illness. It was hot and we did not pack clothes for hot weather, so it was miserable wearing the same 3 outfits over and over. I felt like I was constantly doing laundry. The mountain vacation that I had envisioned as relaxing, cool, and just plain awesome was none of the above. Because the babe was sick he only wanted me, to do everything! Everywhere we went I had to hold him, he would not ride in his stroller or let anyone else carry him. He was whiny and just plain awful! I know it was because he did not feel good, but we spent too much time and money on this vacation for it to be so bad!

There were some good things that happened during the week. We went to BabyLand General Hospital and saw a Cabbage Patch baby being born, it was neat. I had never been, so it was really cool to me. Our cabin was beautiful! We went to Dollywood. It was way nicer than I thought it would be. Hubby and I rode 2 roller coasters, which we had not done in about 7 years. It was awesome. We also went to the Dixie Stampede, dinner and show and it was wonderful. It was really better that I had anticipated and the babe was really good while we were there. We also rode go carts on this awesome track. I had the fastest car and it was a lot of fun.

I was very glad to be home on Friday and believe it or not I am very glad to be back at work. At least the people here don't want me to hold them all day long. They do whine and complain a lot, but I can deal with that. I will try to get some pics posted later on in the week.

I won an award

I won an award for being nice! I cannot believe it. I never win anything, really, not contests on the radio, nothing. I feel so honored. Thank you Just a Girl, I would link to you, but I still don't know how, one of these days I will figure it out. She is in my Daily Distractions as Nothing to Show But This Brand New Tattoo. She is a wonderful person, who has so much going on right now, but still manages to throw us a post every now and then. What am I talking about she posts more often than I do. Thank you so much for my award.

Alright, now I am supposed to award this to 5 other bloggers that I think are nice. You know I can't link to you, so you will just have to look for the links in my Daily Distractions. I really just want to give this to all of my readers because I don't want anyone to feel left out, but I guess I will follow the rules. Just because I didn't pick you doesn't mean that you aren't nice or that I don't like your blog or anything else. You see I feel bad about having to only pick 5!

Here are my 5 picks:

The Princess, although she seems to have disappeared momentarily. Maybe she is polishing her tiara (just kidding). I just love her blog.


The "strongly opinionated" life of me. I live vicariously through her stories of single life in the big city. If I were a single girl, I would totally want to be her. She is really a nice person. She is also really skinny and has LOTS of great, expensive shoes!

Comments from the Peanut Gallery. Very funny woman with 2 of the most adorable kids.

Fluent Brittish, she is not in my Daily Dstractions, I am lazy and have not updated her new blog info over there yet, please forgive me.


Curtis from Canuckville. He is such a great writer and he is such a nice person. He never has anything bad to say.


Now, to all of you that were tagged, copy that picture, post it and pick 5 of your own.

6 years

It is hard to believe that it has been 6 years, it seems like just yesterday. All of those images are still so fresh in my mind. It is a day that I will never forget.

All birthdayed out

I am tired of birthdays. In the past 2 weeks, we have had 3 birthdays. My SILs birthday was the 28th of August, we went to Atlanta the Saturday before to surprise her for a late lunch. Then the following Monday we had a small party and dinner for her at our house. Wednesday was my MILs birthday. We had dinner and a party for her at our house, too. Then yesterday was hubby's birthday and we went out to eat with MIL and SIL for his birthday and we are having his party tonight at his grandparents. I still have to go pick up his cake and get everything ready for his dinner and party! I have been so busy the past few weeks buying gifts, cards, and cake for all of these birthdays. I know, I know we could celebrat them all together, but they all mean so much to me that I try to make each one of their birthdays special and all about them. Thank goodness we don't have another birthday for 2 months, but then it will be my sweet baby boy's 2nd birthday. I am trying to be prepared early for his day so I won't be so stressed out, maybe!

Bullets and sunShine

So much has been going on, but not enough about any one thing to write an entire post, so I thought I would update you, bulletstyle!

• How about the Warner Robins Little Leaguers winning the LL World Series? That's my hometown, we are so very proud of them. They did such an awesome job! Congratulations boys and coaches.
• I have not been exercising for the past few weeks because something is going on with my knee. It is popping when I walk up stairs or bend it too much. It feels swolen on the inside and it hurts some, but I am afraid to go to the doctor about it because I don't want a shot in it or anything else that will hurt, so I have just been dealing with the pain.
• Sciatica sucks! My back/hip have really been hurting lately. I guess I need to find a good doctor that can treat this as well as my knee. I wish I wasn't such a baby about things like that, but I am. I am trying to work up the courage to go have it seen about.
• The babe was in a wreck yesterday! Someone rear-ended my MIL and Grand-MIL and the babe as they were slowing down in traffic. They are all alright, but until I knew for sure that my baby was alright, I was FREAKIN' out! I was crying uncontrollably and having all sorts of REALLY bad thoughts. I thought about banning him from ever riding in a car with anyone other than his dad or me driving. I know how ridiculous that is, but that child is my heart and when I thought that he was hurt, it scared the hell out of me. When he got home I just hugged him and showered him with kisses. He is bad sometimes, but he is my baby and I just love him so much.
• My bestest friend got a job. A pretty good job, too, with benefits and at such a nice place. I am so happy for her. I was really worried about her lack of income and I know she was too, but now things are looking up. YAY!
• It has cooled off here. The high today will be 90 and rainy and overcast. Hooray for cooler weather. I am ready for the fall. Fall and spring are my 2 favorite times of the year. I like 70 or 75 degree days and 50 or 60 degree nights.
• We have planned our vacation. We are going to Gatlinburg, TN for a week at the end of September. I know it will be cooler by then. I am so excited. I have not been there since my honeymoon. We have a nice cabin with a jacuzzi and pool table! The kids have never been to the mountians, I am sure that they will love it. I am a little sad though because we are not going back to the beach for vacation. Our last 3 vacations have been to the beach Oh how I love the beach, but since we went for Memorial Day we decided to go somewhere different for our vacation.
• The babe is still sleeping in our bed. The last time I tried to put him in his bed to sleep, he cried and screamed until he threw up. Yeah, I am not into making my child that miserable. I think he does not like to be alone, so I guess until I can come up with a solution that works for us, he will continue to sleep with us. It is nice to snuggle up with him at night and to see his little face first thing in the morning. I know when we go back to the doctor for his 2 year check-up he will not be happy about this, maybe I just won't tell him!
• In about 3 months my sweet little baby boy will be 2 years old. I cannot believe that he will be 2! He is already acting like he is 2, what with the meltdowns and terribleness and all. He can count to 10. He is making sentences now and he has such funny pronunciations for some words, like a dinosaur is a da-seen. He also says "I a mess", and he really is. He runs everywhere and likes to jump off the sofa into a pile of pillows. He is fearless about some things and then other things scare him.
• My neice is having post partum depression. She is not really taking care of her baby, if it were not for my sister and mom I don't know what she would do. My mom said that she has not really bonded with her baby, which is not good, that makes me so sad! She is also thinking about quitting her GREAT job, that pays really well and has great benefits so she can go sell insurance on commission. That makes a lot of sense to me. I just can't talk to her, she doesn't listen because she already knows everything. You know how 19 year olds are. She is on an anti-depressant, but I don't know if it is working yet or not. I hope it kicks in before she quits her good job. I just hate for her to make such a big mistake, good jobs are really hard to find around here. Some people have to learn the hard way!

Okay enough for now, is your head spinning yet?

Dreaded news

I got news today that I had been anticipating, but hoping and praying that it wouldn't happen. One of my Daily Distractions has lost her battle with cancer. My heart is just broken. She is in my sidebar as Emptying my Head, her husband is over there too under Canuckville (I still don't know how to link). He is my only male reader. I began reading Ellen (and Curtis) several years ago and she was such a great writer and a wonderful person. She was always so positive, even when it would have been easy to give up. She fought a great fight, but in the end she lost to the beast. My heart goes out to Curtis, her husband, and her family. I know she will be missed greatly. If you have a moment go by and say hello, send him a prayer. I am sure he needs all the support that he can get right now.

The heat

Oh the heat! It is unbearable! For the past few weeks we have been breaking all kind of records with the high heat and honestly folks I am sick of it. It is so hot in my office that I just fantasize about laying on a big iceberg somewhere very, very cold. That is just not me because I don't like cold weather either. I can handle the mid 90s, but 103? Come on, give me a break. I think our air conditioner must be about to die at work because it is barely keeping the place cooler than the outside. I have my fan on, blowing right on me, but it offers little relief from the heat. When will it cool off? On the weekends I don't want to leave the house because the thought of having to get in the hot car and drag the babe out and in places in this heat is just more than I can stand. I know the old saying, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen, well please someone show me the door!

Safe toys

Is there even such a thing anymore? So far we have several of the toys that have been recalled due to high levels of lead in the paint. Of course these were all small toys that most children would love to put in their mouth and chew on. Thank goodness the babe is not too bad about putting things in his mouth. Most of the time he has his "pa" (paci) in there, which I guess is a good thing, at least it isn't filled with lead paint for him to suck on.

I am so infuriated with these toy companies. I remember a time when things were actually made in America and we were proud of that fact. Now most of our stuff is imported from foreign countries who for the most part don't really care for America and they don't have many safety and accountability standards in place to ensure that the products that they are creating are safe. I worked in the manufacturing industry for 5 years and I watched our jobs being sent overseas to other poor countries that had plenty of workers willing to work for nothing compared to our salaries. I also saw the work that came back from those countries, far below the quality of work that the american factories were putting out. Yet still, more and more of our jobs are outsourced and now with all these recalls we are beginning to pay the price. I say let's bring these jobs back to America, put our people back to work and stop importing so much of our stuff from foreign countries. I am so afraid now for my sweet little boy to play with most of his toys because what if it is painted with lead paint, what if the toys that make him so happy are harming him? These past few weeks have really been an eye opener to me and I hope they have to you all too. I will be looking on the packages from now on to see where things were made before I spend anymore of my hard earned money on things Made In China. I also know that things can be made in America from parts that came from China and there is no way around that, but I will be more careful now.

Miracle Treat Day is Thursday

This Thursday is Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen. They have pledged to give all of the proceeds from the sale of their blizzards to the Chidren's Miracle Network, which helps alot of the children's hospitals. This is a great cause and you get a treat for yourself also! So take the family to DQ and enjoy a blizzard. We could all use something cool in this horrible heat!

Breaking out of my comfort zone

Okay so I took someone's advice and signed up on meetup.com to meet some local mommies and children in a playgroup. So our first meetup was planned for Saturday at a local park. I WAS SO VERY NERVOUS. I have major social phobias, so I just usually pass on any sort of thing that would actually require me to leave the house and interact with strangers. I was excited, but nervous. I wanted to back out of going several times, but how am I ever going to meet other people and have some children for the babe to play with if I don't take a chance. So as the time neared, I was dressed and ready, but nervous. Was I overdressed? Did I look frumpy? What about my hair, was it okay? So I loaded the babe in the car and off we went, to the bank and then to the park. Well the babe was in an especially cranky mood, since he was sleepy and had been up way past his bedtime the night before. Of course he went to sleep in the car, so I got to the park and got him out of the car and as I was walking up to the park I thought it looked rather empty. There was one other woman there with a baby. So I approached her and asked if she was M, the group administrator. She was! So I introduced myself and the babe and we put the kids in the swings and pushed them. Well we kept pushing the kids and waiting for other mommies to show up and they didn't. There were at least 7 other RSVPs that said yes and yet none of them showed up. Everytime I tried to take the babe out of the swing he would whine. He would not play with the other little girl or on any of the playground equipment. He just wanted me to either hold him or push him in the swings. So after an hour of playing we decided to go, it was hotter than hell and the babe was ill. Maybe next time more people will show up and it will be more like a playgroup. At least I put myself out there and tried.

Zoo fun

We took the kids to the zoo on Saturday. I had never been to the zoo in Atlanta, so it was a new experience for me too. We had a great time, but let me tell you that outdoor activities in Georgia in July are HOT! It was so hot, we drank plenty of water and ate some ice cream to help keep us cool. We also spent a lot of time in the air conditioned exibits. The babe could name most of the animals and the ones that he wasn't sure about, he just called them what they looked like. Lemurs are kitty cats and he meowed at them! It was cute, they do sort of look like very large cats. They are much larger than they look in the movie Madagascar. The babe did great and only had a few mini meltdowns, which were quickly corrected. We rode the carousel, but the babe will not sit on any of the animals or get close to any of them. We had to sit in one of the seats, but he enjoyed it. He also would not get near any of the statues of animals or the cut out things where you put your head through to take a picture. We did have our picture taken by the gorilla statue, but even with me holding him he was still screaming!

After that on the way home we stopped at TGI Fridays to eat supper since we don't have one in our town. They were very busy, after all it was Saturday afternoon. We had to wait about 20 minutes, but that was okay because the babe was asleep, so I just sat in the car with him until it was time for us to be seated. They called our number and we went inside to the hostess. When she got ready to take us to our table someone from the bar had taken our seat. The hostess told them that they needed to move, that the table was for someone else. They did not move and she called the manager over and told him what was going on and he looked at us and then looked at them and said that they could stay. The hostess told him that was not fair and he looked at us and said that life isn't fair. Talk about being pissed. We were all so pissed, we were about ready to leave. The hostess was so nice and she tried so very hard to find us another table in a hurry. We ate there, but then we asked our waitress for a number for the corporate office and the managers name. She gave us a card with his name and the number to call, so hubby took care of that yesterday. Other people were standing outside as we were leaving talking about the horrible service. They said their waitress just never came back and they had to go to the bar to pay. That place has some major problems!

Here are some pics from our adventures at the zoo.

The babe looking at the flamingos, which he called ducks and quacked at them.

Lemurs, or kitty cats as they are known in my house!

This was the babe's favorite. Marti and Melman!

My little boy

He is growing so fast, he is hardly a baby anymore. Some days I miss my baby, but I am delighting in the joys of watching him grow up.

Resting on Daddy's shoulder.

Do you see my frog (fwog)?

Playing a beautiful piano duet with my Sissy.

Now which one of these makes it go?

Pointing to something very important with a kitty in his hand!

Losing it

I am trying to lose weight. I think most of you know how hard that is, especially after a baby. My tummy is WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY too big and I need to be in control of my body, not the other way around. My pants are tight in the waist and I don't like it. So a few weeks ago I saw this commercial for an exercise show that comes on at 6 am on one of our local cable channels and it is 20 minutes of cardio and 10 of toning. So I got up early and started working out with this lady. It is very high energy, but I can feel the difference, not so much in my waistline, but in my energy level and mood. I can't do the whole 20 minutes of cardio, but I do about 10 minutes of it and then 10 minutes of toning. I did not do it on Tuesday and I felt so tired and sleepy all day. So now I have to do it. I am also trying to make healthier food choices and not eat out so much. I cannot give up my coffee in the mornings, but I have tried to cut back on the amount of sugar in it. It is the little things that add up. Anyway, hopefully I will be able to stick with a workout and get in better shape. After all, I need to be able to keep up with my children!