Here are some pics of our new nursery. Michael is so proud that he got to help. When we started working on the nursery, the first thing everyone wanted to know was "what colors"...well, telling them "BLACK and pink" made for some pretty unique expressions. so, I hope now that it's all together everyone will enjoy our color scheme and not be entirely shocked by it! LOL WE LOVE IT!!!
Humm...how to celebrate? I remember in elementary school we used to celebrate the 100th day of school my decorating our clothes. I remember wearing 100 safety pins on my shirt (not so bright now that I'm looking back), 100 cotton balls glued to my shirt in the shape of "100", and having treats in class to celebrate the milestone.
Thinking about this post got me thinking about other milestones in my life...memorable milestones. I haven't displayed them in any order, but here are a few of what I consider my most memorable or meaningful milestones in order to celebrate this not-so-meaningful one!
1) I graduated highschool with a 3.7 GPA (and still wasn't in the top 10)! (2003)
2) I married the sweetest man in the world, my best friend. (2004)
3) I graduated from APSU with my bachelor's degree. (2006)
4) We had our first child together, Michael, and changed my life forever. (2006)
5) We found out we are expecting our second child, a daughter, in late March. (2010)
My life has always been defined by my family, both immediate and extended. I may not have had the "Beaver Cleaver" type family, but we've always had love. My parents taught me by example and through life lessons that you really don't need much in this world to be a happy person. I don't need a mansion, or a brand new car, or even brand name cereal (LOL). All I really need is a positive attitude, to be true to myself and the woman I want to be, and love for and from my wonderful family. I hope that in the future, what ever milestones I am fortunate enough to cross, only bring me closer to my family and closer to being the woman I was raised to be.
Cheers...
I no longer have a computer at home and haven't had a lot of chances to update, so here's the "low down" Quick, Fast & in a Hurry!!!
1. My little sis' 21st birthday is coming up the 15th of this month so HAPPY BDAY LES!!! Sissy loves you!! SHMILY?!
2nd. Dustin and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversery the 18th! So, Congrats to us!
3rd. My nefew also has an upcoming bday the 18th, so HAPPY 2nd BDAY HAYDEN!
4th. Michael is growing and talking and learning faster than I can keep up.
5th. Last, but not least...WE'RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!!! WHOO HOO!!! Due date is April 3rd, although Dr. Hart seems to think that the baby will make his or her first appearance in late March. We've already seen a strong heartbeat and gotten our first ultrasound pics, but we won't know BOY or GIRL until probably late October or early November. I'll try to get back to post asap!
I'm trying to get some fall/Halloween activities together for Michael. Any ideas would be great!
Adventure #1: Daddy & Michael's Lunch Date
Dustin and Michael go out to lunch together every Saturday, usually to McDonald's, (Michael's favorite place). It gives the guys some quality time hanging out and gives me some much needed quiet time. Since this Saturday was so busy, the guys lunch date was changed to Sunday, which was fine. However, there was one change that Michael was not fine with...Dustin had decided to go to Wendy's instead of "Donald's". So, in protest, Michael starts yelling, "No, Daddy, I wanna go to Donald's". Dustin tried to tell him that it was the same thing and he could still eat his cheeseburger with ketchup and french fries on it. Puffed up and pouting, Michael blurted out, "Michael wanna drive!" I guess he thought he'd just drive himself if Dustin wasn't going to!
Adventure #2: Gum Ambush
Michael went to his cousin Allison's fourth birthday party Saturday. He had a great time and left with a Hannah Montana gum roll as a party favor. He had forgotten about it and I found it in the truck the next day. While I was sitting outside talking with Dustin and watching Michael play, I got busted chewing a piece of his gum. He seen me chewing and ran to me yelling, "That's mine! I wanna bite!" I really didn't know what he was talking about at first. Then, it happened...he GRABBED my mouth and pulled it open, grabbed the gum and stuck it in his mouth. I was laughing so hard I couldn't even compose myself to ask him what he was doing! He ran off playing like nothing had happened and I was left there with no gum trying to pick Dustin up off the ground from laughing at me. I told Dustin I felt violated! LOL!
Adventure #3: Pool Hopper
Our neighbors were getting their pool set up yesterday evening and Michael was getting excited watching her two kids play and splash in the water. He kept asking me, "Michael swim?". Company had just arrived at the house and we were about to eat dinner, so I told him no, to sit down and eat his pizza. He kept on until he was in a full blown hissy fit over the pool. So, the rest of us went inside to get our plates and left the backdoor open where Michael could go in and out and play. While inside, I hear the neighbor SCREAM my name! I jumped up, but Dustin had already beat me outside. I assumed that he was crying to swim and she was going to offer to let him (she has several times in the past and once already that afternoon). Dustin came back inside carrying Michael and holding him awkwardly. He was bear hugging him around the back like something had scared him. When I asked what was wrong and why the neighbor was screaming, he said that when he got outside, Michael had CLIMBED THE CHAIN-LINKED FENCE AND ALREADY HAD ONE LEG OVER THE TOP WHEN THE NEIGHBOR PICKED HIM UP OFF OF THE FENCE!!!!! When I asked Michael why he was climbing the fence, he said, "Michael wanna swim"! What!?!?! Did my TWO YEAR OLD BABY really just CLIMB a 4-foot tall FENCE to go SWIMMING!?!?! I'm still in shock! What do you even say about something like this? He's TWO, not TWELVE!!! Whatever's next, I don't want to think about it! :D
Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms in my life! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and know how much I love you and admire the women you are! Hopefully I will have more time to post later. For now, though, I do have a few new pics to share...
Michael learning how to "climb trees"
Posing pretty for Mommy!
Michael and his friend, Lane in the tree again!
My crazy, Motorcycle baby!
I just thought I'd get in the Easter Spirit a little early this year. Afterall, what an amazing holiday! HE IS RISEN! Whoo Hoo! Also, the weather has been beautiful this week, I've been a in better mood than usual, and Dustin is doing fabulous. All in all, I'd say we have a lot to be thankful for this spring!
I would love to think of some great Easter crafts and/or games for Michael and his friends. Last year, Michael, Lane and Scribbie had fun with an Easter Egg hunt at Lane's house. This year, I'd like to have an "Easter Fun Day" and have his friends come over and make things and enjoy the pretty weather. Any ideas? Be sure to leave a comment!
Also, I have one quick "Bunny" story...Not so much "Easter", but still a little funny!
Michael and I dance and sing songs together every night before bed. He loves Dancing with Mommy and he's gotten pretty good at singing along. One of the songs we just added to our nightly tunes is the old VBS song, "He's got the whole world in his hands". After I finished the basics (Mommys and Daddys, Puppies and Kitties, Babies, etc) I asked Michael, "What else does he have in his hands?" He started crying and said "Bunny Rabbits". Not understanding the shower of tears, I asked him "Why are you crying? Do bunny rabbits make you sad?" He said, "Yeah, outside". I thought he was crying because they were outside (not in the house), however, after talking a few more minutes, Michael finally blurted out the missing pieces; "Roscoe ate bunny rabbit outside!" OH NO! Roscoe is our 5 month old BEAGLE puppy! They had been outside playing earlier than afternoon and Roscoe got out of the fence. I heard Michael scream, then come running to me...I thought he was just upset that he got out of the fence----I never thought he had actually seen him EAT a RABBIT! How terrible. Michael talked about the "bunny rabbit" for several more days before it finally died down. Hopefully he's forgotten about it and won't be traumatized!!! :) ...And all of this right before the EASTER BUNNY!!!! Just my luck!
My father-in-law's birthday is tomorrow, so I thought I'd leave a little shout out and say "HI" and "HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOB!" I wish I had an embarrassing picture or something to post but I haven't been able to find any! Boo!
For Dustin's 23rd birthday, we spent the weekend in Nashville. First we checked into a beautiful hotel just about a mile from the Opry house, ordered room service for dinner, and got ready for the show! We went to "Beaver Night" at the Grand Ole Opry and seen Little Jimmy Dickens, Josh Turner (HOT) and Carrie Underwood (Dustin's pretend girlfriend)! There were several others, but sadly enough I'm too young to remember any of their music (or names for that matter)! Little Jimmy Dickens is just a funny little old man who sings in between his jokes...Josh Turner was amazing, but Carrie stole the show! She was great! the crowd rushed the stage trying to snap photos of her performing. I tried to get some good pics, but we were in the balcany, so I could only get so close. Most of the pics a little "grainy", but here they are...
Just a quick shout out ot my honey turning 23 today!!! We have a nice mini-trip planned for tomorrow...Carrie Underwood and Josh Turner at the Opry, then spending the night in Nashville with peace and quiet and room service to top it off! Dustin has worked really hard, especially this week, so he deserves a great birthday. We're spending time with his parents and brother tonight, the Opry Saturday, then at home with Michael Sunday afternoon. Hopefully everything goes well. Everything has been a headache lately, so I'm looking forward to spending some quiet time with my hubby and trying to remember the love that started our whole world together. Sadly enough that all gets lost in our hectic life sometimes. It's nice to kick back and remember...
Happy Birthday Honey! Here's to you and all the Happiness we can find together! Love you!
I have always thought of Michael, now 2 years old, as such an independant little boy. Even as a baby we was never very clingy or needy. He has always done his own thing and enjoyed learning how to do new things on his own. My mother says that my younger sister exhibited the same traits as toddler. In fact, my mom swears that her first word was an entire sentence, "I do myself!" Similar to Michael's famous phase, "No, I do it!" Dustin and I have always laughed about how independent he is and how "bossy" he is about doing things his way. Here are a few "mini-stories" of our recent Michael Adventures...
1) Several weeks ago, Michael woke up sometime in the middle of the night. By the time he decided to wake me up, he was holding cereal in one hand and a cup of chocolate milk in the other. He got as close to my face as he could and started whispering, "Mommy, look...cereal". He was so proud. I kind of laughed and put him up in my bed. I wode up a little while later to find that he had gotten out of the bed. I found him in the livingroom in his recliner watching cartoons; this time with a bowl of cereal and his chocolate milk. He looked like he had everything he needed so I went back to bed! The next morning he was in his bed sleeping soundly. Appearently he had woke Dustin up on a separte occasion that night, so we had great stories to share that next morning while Michael slept of his late night parting!
2) I have had a rough week. With the news about my job, stuff going on at home, Dustin working until 8 or 9 every night this week...I've just been exhausted. So, when my friend, Penny, called to chat...I was well past ready! I sat down for not more than 10 minutes to talk to her before I started hearing Michael banging around in the bathroom. When I went to find what he had been banging on, I found out that not only had he stopped up my toilet with a blue plastic ball, he had scooped all the water out of the TOILET BOWL and tried to give the puppy a bath with it! Poor Roscoe! Michael was soaked, the floor was soaked, the dog looked like a drowned rat, and I was about half in tears when he looked up smiling and said "Look, Mommy...Michael Roscoe bath!" He was trying to help and he was so proud of the job he had done. I couldn't do anything but laugh (and of course, clean up the mess!).
3) Last but surely not least, this morning's circus! I overslept, but obviously Michael did not, so he continued on our normal routine without me. When I woke up, he had already made breakfast, his chocolate milk, fed the dog, and was watching cartoons! Let me explain...when I woke up, I found that Michael had gotten the butter out of the refridgerator (to use on his toast), put it on the floor up next to the counter by the toaster to stand on, but appearently couldn't reach the bread, so he opted for half a bag of mini-oreos for breakfast instead; had gotten out the milk, chocolate syrup, and his cup to make his chocolate milk, fed the dog the remaining oreos and a package of saltine crackers, put the frosting for Dustin's bday cake in the refrigerator (after dipping a few finger fulls out), and opened a pack of Sponge Bob cupcake papers and scattered them on the floor to JUMP on! All in all...I'd say he had a pretty good morning. I, on the other hand, had a mess to clean up, him to clean up, and I was runnning almost an hour late!!!
All I can say at this point is TGIF!!!!!!!!
There's an old country song that has a line in it that goes something like this..."someone told us wall street fell, but we were so broke that we couldn't tell". Up until this week I understood this line so much. I mean, that's us! When the whole county has been facing this recession for MONTHS, my family has been blessed enough that we hadn't exprienced too many effects. We don't have money invested in the stock market, the FDIC could probably LOWER the insured limit to almost nothing and we'd still be covered, and our gas and groceries have always killed our budget. That's just life for us. We make it...we're happy...we enjoy family time together...we're fortunate enough to have good health, great families, nice home, two vehicles... We're not privileged, but we are thankful for the good things we do have. One of those things, unfortunatly, is changing. I received notice this week that my salary was being decreased dramatically as of March 1st. As of July 1st, I will be unemployed. It is not certain, yet, but it is a very VERY likely possibility. This means I loose my retirement, health care, and life insurance on the entire family PLUS loose my income. I am trying to grasp what this change will be like. Can I get another job? Will it pay enough to cover the daycare? Can I go back to school? How can I afford to? Just so much...
I have thought for years about getting a second B.S. degree in Elementary Education. This seems like the perfect opportunity to be home with Michael through the day and go back to school at night to get my degree. The only problem I have now is whether or not I can afford to do it. FAFSA (financial aid) is based on LAST YEAR'S SALARY...not the fact that I may be laid off half of this year!
Even with the odds against me, I still feel like God will provide the right path. Maybe a better job opportunity will arise, or maybe teaching is the path I was really meant to take. I'm just finding it hard to accept that whatever will happen, will happen. Just keep our family in your prayers if you don't mind and any ideas or advice is ALWAYS appreciated! I pray for our country and the shape we've let our economy get into. My situation is very minor compared to some right now. Please keep those families in your prayers as well.
Once again, Dustin and I along with some family and friends, took Michael to the Bull Blowout Rodeo in Murray, Kentucky. It ended up being on Valentine's, so that's how we celebrated this year. Michael had so much fun. Last year we sat through quite a few of the events; this year, we stayed from about 7pm until around 12:30am! The only reason we left then was because Dustin was tired! Michael wasn't ready to go anywhere! He loved the horses, bulls, games...just everything! He rode in the first round of Mutteon Bustin' (riding sheep) and did great. He was so excited. When a second round came up, he wanted to go again! I couldn't believe it! When he got inside the chute, he started saying "No, Daddy ride". He did good the second time too although he got a little more upset that Dustini wouldn't ride with him. After the sheep, he ran around with Dustin and our friend's youngest son, Lane in the Calf Scramble. They were too funny. Lane almost caught one! Anyhow, it turned out to be a great Valentine's Day at the RODEO!!!
Me and Michael with my brother, John Thomas, sister, Leslie, and 
"Santa...Ho Ho Ho!"
