Wednesday, April 30, 2008

family pics



here are some pics of the fam from this past weekend.













































mini c



have you ever seen a child look more like their parent?

Monday, April 28, 2008

opposites

i think we have a genius on our hands :) (of course i say that, i am the mom) BUT my 13 1/2 months old child said "opposites" today. she and her daddy read this book (among others) all the time. and today she said opp..ssss. right after he read the title to her.



she said it again and again today when we asked her too :)

hehe. so cute!!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

best shot monday ~ pickle face


how about these for my best shot monday?? my little bug eating a pickle for the first time :) she kept making these faces but she also kept reaching for the pickle. i think she liked it!!





mm eats a pickle

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

surprise visit from the dad (stop the presses)

Hellllooo everyone out there in blog land the dad is putting in his 2 cents tonight. I know you haven't gotten a chance to hear from me quite as often as some would like, as Erin has told you MaggieMae is just a mommy and daddy's dream. We feel so blessed to be her parents. It's amazing to see all the people that get to check her out on a daily basis I know Erin loves to keep everyone up to date and it really makes her day to know that there is a connection out there with all of the visitors. Well, I will make it short and sweet and let you know that daddy is very proud of the little bug and loves his family very much.

thank you,
the dads

update from the mom

here is a list of things that the babe has been doing lately:
  • not sleeping :) seriously i think the girl must be in a serious growth spurt or about to embark on a new milestone bc she is really off her "routine" ~ if you know me then you know i say routine in quotes bc we are not structured people. but she does sleep on a pretty routine basis. AM and PM naps and then night night between 7-8 and up between 6-7. well today she took ONE 1 hour nap all day. i thought for sure she would be a bear at 5:30 tonight. nope she went strong until 7:45!!
  • not eating very much. i am finally weaning her from her bottle during the day in the hopes that she will eat more food. well not so much. yet anyway. we will see what happens bc it has only been a few days without daytime bottles.
things she is doing that are fun!!
  • talking a lot!! she can say up, bubble, dog, eye (s), ball.
  • she knows what it means when i say lets go take a bath. she will walk up the stairs and into my bathroom where we have the big fun tub.
  • she can find and bring me her shoes, water, paci and pajamas when i ask her to.
  • she can climb up onto a chair and then balance with no hands. (not the safest i know but cute and she likes it) see super maggie video below.
  • can open and close the VCR (we are a little old school still)
  • she loves to read her books. she really likes these new look and find books that have things you pull out to see stuff under. we got them from a friend for her birthday. thank you erica, shaun and jack!
  • she loves to play "get the doggy and get the kitty" i will have to get it on video. but basically she will head butt the doggy and kitty like she is trying to get them. it is adorable. she "got " mommy the other day.
  • she loves to dance.
  • she loves to spin. and will spin on request now.
  • she likes to play chase and will run around the house while you try to get her ;)
basically she is amazing and i am constantly in awe of the fact that i get to be her mom.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

sorry for the lack of posting

work has been insane. the babe is fine. she is off her schedule so we are not sleeping well in our house. more updates this weekend.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

for my mommy

rocks in my dryer is hosting a contest ~ you have to write a haiku for your mom.

so wrote this for my mom :)

now that i have her
i see now, why you love me
more than your own life

Sunday, April 13, 2008

what are you doing to help the planet?

so i read a "green" mom blog often and her recent post was challenging her readers to watch "the story of stuff" i have tried to watch this before but since it is sort of long i have not taken the time. well i just watched it. VERY CHALLENGING!! a lot of it is political and some of the stuff is over my head but the basic premise is we have too much stuff, we are making more stuff and we are running out of places to put the stuff we already have to make room for the new stuff that we really dont need anyway.

so i encourage you if you have time to watch this video. it is 20 minutes long but worth it. i watched it and now i know how i can make a difference. here is a list of facts from a print out you can get from the site.


Facts from
The Story of Stuff

• In the past three decades, one-third of the planet’s natural
resources base have been consumed.
• In the United States, we have less than 4% of our original
forests left.
• Forty percent of waterways in the US have become undrinkable.
• The U.S.has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of
the world’s resources and creates 30% of the world’s waste.
• If everybody consumed at U.S. rates, we would need 3 to 5
planets.
• There are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals in commerce today.
• Only a handful of synthetic chemicals have even been tested for
human health impacts and NONE have been tested for synergistic health impacts.
• In the U.S., industry admits to releasing over 4 billion pounds of
toxic chemicals a year.
• The average U.S. person now consumes twice as much as they
did 50 years ago.
• We each see more advertisements in one year than a people 50
years ago saw in a lifetime.
• In the U.S. our national happiness peaked sometime in the
1950s.
• In the U.S., we spend 3–4 times as many hours shopping as our
counterparts in Europe do.
• Average U.S. house size has doubled since the 1970s.
• Each person in the United States makes 4 1/2 pounds of garbage a day. That is twice what we each made thirty years ago.
• For every one garbage can of waste you put out on the curb, 70
garbage cans of waste were made upstream to make the junk
in that one garbage can you put out on the curb.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

alcohol ~ a love/hate relationship


attention long post ahead.

since i mentioned the other day in my weigh loss post about doing it one day at a time like my sobriety i have been asked by a few people how i did it. AA, church? what worked for me? well it all goes back to a day in 1999 when i was about to graduate from college (FINALLY after 9 years, hence the need to stop drinking). i was working in a bar (go figure) and all of my "friends" came up to me one day and said you have a problem. i said no i dont, i can stop anytime. so i did. for them. not for me. it lasted a few days. then finally one morning after my best friend had to come get me from somewhere i should not have been and didnt remember going to I realized that i did indeed have a problem.

you would think i would have figured it out after i got into a fight (a real hair pulling, slapping on the ground fight) with another female co worker. or after many nights of lying to my boss that i was just fine and we were going next door

to eat so just give me my keys and then didnt go eat and drove myself home barely able to see. or after years of dysfunctional friendships and relationships. not to mention the 9 yrs of college....anyway i digress. so i realized i had a problem and went to an AA meeting that next morning with my friend. i cried the whole time and then picked up a white chip (this is what they give you when you decide to surrender to your addiction and try the sober life) so i got a chip and started going to meetings. i told all of my coworkers and customers that i was not going to drink anymore and even if i begged or paid them, they were not to serve me! so fast forward to about 6 or so months in to this sober life. keep in mind i am still working in a bar SERVING alcohol. hello anyone see a problem here?

i met someone who went to church. this person knew i was trying to stay sober and would share stories with me about church and how their family had struggled with this problem and that problem. we would talk for hours about God and how He would help me with my drinking and staying sober if i would just let him. well i kept "working the program" "doing my step work" "got a sponsor" all that AA stuff and was still miserable.

so i shared that with my friend after i had been sober a year. i said i am still miserable i dont want to die but i dont want to live either. so they shared with me "how to accept Christ" into my life and encouraged me to just let it go. you know in AA they tell you about "let go and let god" but i just couldnt grasp the whole "higher power" thing when it was compared to a pillow, a pencil and a tree.

now hear me clearly i am NOT knocking AA if you read this you go to AA and it works for you please dont post here and chew me out bc i am glad that it is working for you. but for me i needed something more.

so that conversation happened on a monday afternoon. i sat on my floor and prayed, this time to Jesus.

and after my room stopped glowing bright white light i got up and it was better. my tears had literally evaporated off of my face. i felt all tingly and i just knew it would be alright.

so tuesday i went to work. i quit my job. i borrowed money from a friend. i broke my lease. i moved in with my bff. i found a church (not NPCC or BC yet) and started looking for a "real" job.

so here we are NINE YEARS LATER! i have an amazing husband













that led to the most amazing child in the world.













i have a great relationship with my parents. i have honest, loving friendships. i my friends dont have to worry that i might stab them in the back. i LOVE my job. life is just good.

yes i miss drinking. not every day but a lot. when i was planning my wedding i was very stressed out about what we would do about the toast and all that. so we just didnt have one. it worked out.

when i go to sports events, concerts, parties, etc. it is hard. but then i look at my family and think about my job and it just isnt worth it.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

better late than never


i keep forgetting to post this. i made this shirt for the babe for her bday.








here she is wearing it. she would NOT look at the camera that day no matter what i did. i think she liked her shirt.









here is a rocking chair that my mom painted for her bday. this was my chair when i was little. she loves it!!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

so....

attention long post ahead...

so tonight i cleaned out my closet bc i read this great article that suggested packing for a 2 month trip where you need warm and cool clothes (2 suitcases only) and put the rest away to go get if you want it and if after 1 yr. if you dont miss it, get rid of it. great idea!! so i started going through things. well i found all of my pre baby and even early pre marriage clothes!! UGH!!!

when i met c i could fit into this:


my waist used to be so small that i had to buy 0-2 sized skirts bc the other sizes would be too big. now this was only for skirts. bc i have always had hips and a butt. (sorry guy readers)





anyway. my waist was this big then:










i also fit into these when i started working at the church 4 1/2 yrs ago:




this is a dress









these are a pair of pants







now my waist is this:










now i would give anything to fit into a size 8-10. what happened? i know i know i had a baby, but i had a baby A YEAR AGO. i guess i just got lazy and comfortable in my marriage. c loves me no matter what. but i want to be that girl he married. my wedding dress was a size 6 too.













i used to be able to wear a medium sized tee shirt and a size 6 pair of jeans and NOT look like a street walker. now i am lucky to fit into a size XX tee shirt. (i know some of you are thinking it must be nice, well not so much)

i just wanted to get this off my chest bc i am so serious this time. i am going to the gym this week to sign up. i am taking the stairs at work. i am not eating any more chocolate. no more fast food. i am going to take it one day at a time just like drinking. if i can not drink today (i have been sober 9 yrs this coming thursday) then i can eat healthy and exercise today.

hold me accountable!

daddy read to me

so this video is a little long but it is worth it. and it also proves that i do have a husband and babe does have a daddy, since he does not make many blog appearances :)


Friday, April 4, 2008

why i love my job

i get to work at the amazing place that is highlighted in this video. how could you not want to be a part of what God is doing in this place and through these people!!


just some pics of the babe



she loves to take a bath and just hang out in it when she is in her clothes












here she is trying to get in it herself












nose dive :) (there isnt any water in there)










first fort!











why do i buy toys?








mohawk baby!











these are from school ~ they love her! ms tatum did her hair like this

Thursday, April 3, 2008

rocking horse



look what girl did all by herself :)

































Wednesday, April 2, 2008

tricia is getting new lungs

you may remember when i posted a while back about tricia and gwyneth. well, a new set of lungs has come in for tricia. you can follow their journey here!

if you think if them tonight please say a prayer for her. this is huge!!