Jarrard Juice

Broken Arms, Dogs and Firetrucks.....

2011-02-12T12:43:00.002-05:00

Two Sundays ago Addyson broke her right arm jumping on the trampoline. She came in whimpering and I took one look at her sagging forearm and knew it was broken. I wanted to cry, but, since I'm the mom, I was strong! So, we headed down to Children's at Scottish Rite, downtown. Since her arm had to be re-set, they put her under. We had to wait for the orthopedic surgeon to get out of surgery, and that wasn't until 12:30am! She was a trooper, though, and patiently watched the one Spongebob video they had for hours! Travis told her that she was a tough cookie, and she said "I'm not a cookie, I'm a pumpkin". haha. She was excited about her cast being pink and about getting princess stickers. The staff was great. After they re-set it, it was hard to wake her up, so the nurse kept putting a cold-pack on her belly. Poor baby! When we finally left the hospital at 2:30am and the valet that brought my car around had my door handle in his hand. REALLY?! My daughter broke her arm, it's 2:30am and my car handle is broken? Too tired to care!

So, not only was my car handle broken, but I need to get a new oil tank, as mine was cracked and leaking. I took my car into the shop, so I had my mom's car. I had dropped Sydney off at school, come home to get some work stuff and then I planned on dropping Addyson and Rylin off at my babysitters house. As I was getting back in the car, Addyson tells me that she has to go potty. Rylin and the dog are in the car, so I leave my keys in my seat, get Addy out and take her potty. We go to get back in the car and it's LOCKED!!! The dog had jumped in my seat and stepped on the remote to lock the door! I was so mad!! I called my mom to get the extra key, and the extra key was on the key chain that was locked in my car. At this point Rylin is screaming for me to get her out and all I can do is smile and wave at her. I call the locksmith and they tell me that if a baby is in the vehicle, that I have to call 911. GREAT! So, I call 911, and it takes them 10 minutes, which feels like an hour, to get there. When they get out to get their equipment, THEIR door is BROKEN and they can't get the lock equipment out. GREAT! So, they have to call ANOTHER firetruck. One of the firemen actually has the gall to ask me if I have another set of keys in the house. NO, SHERLOCK! What do you think? That I just REALLY wanted to look stupid and have two firetrucks come to my house for the fun of it. DUH!! So, 30 minutes into this, I have a screaming child, a dog scratching the door to get out, TWO firetrucks parked outside of my house and one little girl with a broken arm who has started taking her clothes off, and I'm late for work. Lovely. Fun Day.

I just laugh.....what else can I do?

GA Snow = GA shuts down!!!

2011-01-12T22:54:00.000-05:00

We got quite a bit of snow here in good ol' Dixie this week. Since the city of Atlanta, and the surrounding areas, only have about 5 snow removers (or whatever they are called) for 5 million people. That means we are basically stuck in our homes until the temperature warms up and melts all the cold stuff away. The girls were THRILLED about the snow and couldn't wait to get out there and play in it. Of course, GA snow is VERY WET, unlike Utah/Colorado/etc. snow and the temperatures were in the 20's. Inevitably, the cold dampened their winter wonderland spirits, and they only lasted about 1/2 an hour the first day. The next day, they weren't so thrilled about going out, but still wanted to. I think they made it 15 minutes. Addyson, sweet Addyson, has to do everything with her shoes off, so before I know it, she's run out into the snow with bare feet....that didn't last as long as she thought it would.....5 seconds maybe. Rylin was so excited to go out in the snow too, so I bundled her all up, sent her out laughing and running into it....then she fell and felt the coldness...then came the tears...for, I swear, 30 minutes after being inside trying to get warm. She hasn't beckoned to go out again.

The girls, however, were bound and determined to go sledding, so we took the Tupperware lids off of our big containers and Travis took them out to one of the hills on our street. They had a blast!!! We've watched a lot of movies, made cookies, played games, driven each other crazy, but also have enjoyed being shut in together. I've LOVED having Travis home!! I get to sleep in! We get to hang out all day! He, on the other hand had to "try out the roads" today...just in case he needs to go anywhere. ha ha. I think he's had fun too, but he's also itchin' to get back to his wrestlers. He's stressing out on how much weight they are gaining right now by not practicing. ha ha!

So, the snow has been fun, but GA is not equipped for it, and this GA girl is not equipped for it either, so BRING ON THE SUN!! Melt this stuff already!

2011-01-05T20:46:00.000-05:00

Here are some Christmas pics of the girls.

Family is what matters most!

2011-01-01T20:40:00.008-05:00

So, I haven't blogged in over a year. I realized that adding a third child and a part-time job made me prioritize my time differently, and blogging wasn't a priority. So, why am I blogging tonight? Not quite sure, but since Travis is downstairs watching the Bowl games and the girls are asleep, I thought I'd give it a go. I'm sure I have zeeeeero readers, which is fine. This blog is actually just for myself. Of course it's a brand new year and we all begin to think of ways to make our lives better this year than last. Last year I had a tough go, and am still in the throws of it, but a new year brings about new hopes for better things to come. That being said, last year also came with renewed blessings that I sometimes take for granted, like my incredible husband and my 3 precious, gorgeous little princesses. The princesses being the reason I need to start a blog again. I need to post their pretty pictures and goings on for me, and for my out of town family.

One of the things that I've realized this past year is that friends come and go. Friends who I thought were friends weren't. My BEST friend, my husband, is the most important friend and the only friend I should really care about. I realized that my mom is one of my best friends and I'm so blessed to have her. I've realized that it doesn't matter what others think of me, but it does matter what my children think of me and how I raise them. I realized that I need to go to church for spiritual reasons, not social reasons. DUH. It's hard for me, however, sometimes to go when I don't have any friends there. Shallow, but true. It's hard when you feel invisible to everyone around you except your children. But, how blessed I am to have 3 wonderful children to think I'm the world.

So, is this a poor me blog? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe it's a poor me/ lucky me post. :) Poor me b/c I'm sad about a lot of things, but lucky me that I'm so blessed in my life. We aren't rich in money, but Travis has job he loves and he HAS a job! I get to stay home with my girls and not worry about someone else raising them! Of course, it might be nice to have someone else to blame if they act up. ha ha. just kidding. I'll take the blame if I can have the time and memories with them!!

I'm sad my parents are having a lot of health issues, but I'm so lucky to have them, be great friends with them and live close by to them so that my children can have the experience of grandparents. My parents love my kids and play with them almost ever day.

I have the true gospel of Jesus Christ in my life, which is priceless beyond measure. He comforts me when I'm low and I know I am loved.

As the holiday season comes to a close, I realize that all in all, I'm more than blessed. I need to be nicer to myself and believe in myself the way my husband and children do. My resolutions are pretty much the same as they are every year! I need to make my life healthier...my body, my mind and my spirit. I need to make sure I continue to cultivate relationships with my children, husband, parents and siblings. I need to love myself more.....which is the hardest part! Hopefully if I strive to do the other things, this will come along with it!

My ultimate resolution....spending more quality time with my family, teaching them the gospel of Jesus Christ through loving them.

So, I'm going to post some recent (and not so recent) pictures of my blessings. They are what life is all about.

Number 1 is, of course, MY #1! My wonderful hubby, Travis.

My beautiful, wonderful, spirited girlies

My awesome, fun parents!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-07T20:04:00.013-05:00

I'm finally posting our Halloween pictures!! Better late than never! They aren't even in chronological order, but, hey, they are up here!

Travis and I went to a costume party dressed as an incompetent doctor and nurse....I'll leave some of the detail out in case I might offend anyone.....
These are Sydney's and Addyson's pumpkins that they carved with Daddy.

Sydney and Addyson were really good about saving the pumpkin seeds, so we could roast them. YUMMY!

This is Addyson's gymnastics class. They got to wear their Halloween costumes the first part of class. This is Halloween night.....

Rylin zonked out about 1/2 way through trick-or-treating.

The cutest "chick" in town. Ariel AddysonDorothy Sydney Our friends, the Kudlas's, go trick or treating with us every year. It's so much fun!

Poppy and ArielBefore changing into their costumes.

Sydney's kindergarten class had a little Halloween party that Rylin and I were able to go to. Here are the rest of the pics from the party....

White Trash , Hannah Montana, Marilyn Monroe, Zombie bombshell, incompetent nurse, surgeon.....Brittney and K-Fed showed up later.The other half.....

Billy Ray Cyrus, surgeon, Bubba, incompetent doctor, Joe DiMaggio, Zombie

Cousins, fair, and dancing

2009-10-22T16:24:00.012-04:00

In early October, Travis's mom, Di, or "G's" came down from VA to visit us with her sister, "Crazy" Aunt Barb and our niece, Kayleigh, who is Sydney's age. We had a great time. We went to a little fair like thing at a shopping center near our house, then the next day Addyson's dance class performed at our county fair, so we went to see her dance, then spent the day at the fair. It was so fun. After Di, Barb and Kayleigh went back home, we had another chance to go to the fair in the evening. It was a great start to October!

"G's" and Rylin

Standing in line waiting for the pony ride
Eating cotton candy

The awesome playhouse we bought a raffle ticket for...we didn't win. :(

Aunt Barb, Rylin and G's

Face painting

Arts and Crafts

Dancing at the fair!

Poppy and Annie met us at the fair.

Addyson is the 3rd car from the front. She loved it.

The big rocking pirate ship. Sydney was liking it until she almost threw up all over everyone!

Addyson is 3!!!! Can it really be??!!

2009-10-20T20:05:00.017-04:00

My little baby girl is 3!! I can't believe it. Where has the time gone? We love you so much Addyson. You keep me on my toes, as I can never let you out of my sight or trouble will be brewin', and you keep us laughing hysterically! You are definitely one of a kind and we are so blessed you are ours.

So, Addyson wanted a princess party, so I decided to go all out with the cake this year. My talented friend, Lisa C., showed me how to make fondant and showed me how to decorate a cake with it. She rocks!!!! Addyson loved her cake and didn't mind that the towers looked like they were falling down! :)

We got to do some of her favorite things...dress up like princesses, paint nails, put on makeup, spray glitter in her hair, eat cake and open presents. Cinderella even came by to put their makeup on. They were just so excited that she came all the way from "Far Far Away" to see them. Her best little girl friends were there, which made it just perfect for her.

Addyson's Castle Cake

Addyson, or should I say BELLE, is awaiting her party guests!

Addyson was jumping up and down when the first 2 girls came and brought presents.

Our dear friend Stacy dressed up like Belle for the party. She's a riot! The girls loved it!

Ariel (Sydney), Belle (Stacy R.) & little Belle (Addyson)

Sydney was such the big helper with the little girls. She took it upon herself to help them with the games and get them their refreshments and make sure that they all felt included. I see a great future babysitter!

Cinderella and Queen Mommy putting makeup & nail polish on the princesses.

Getting Glitter sprayed in their hair by "Belle".

Cinderella and Addyson

Rylin was tired out from all the fun.

Sydney lost her 1st tooth

2009-09-20T14:45:00.004-04:00

So, she lost her tooth a month ago, but I've been slow about getting things posted!!! She was soooo excited, as you can see. She pulled it out Monday of the 2nd week of school in Spanish class. she wanted the tooth-fairy to leave her tooth for her, give her $$ and candy. I thought that leaving candy wasn't very responsible of the tooth fairy, but she did it anyway. :) Sydney was so happy.

She wanted me to take pictures of her lost tooth, and it turned into a Sydney-Addyson modeling session. :)

1st Day of Kindergarten!!!

2009-08-10T12:44:00.002-04:00

Sydney and Daddy before he leaves for work. They were both excited for the 1st day of school. :) My little ham. She loves the camera! She is wearing her "crayon" dress that Annie got her special for the 1st day of school, and her "school" bow that has a little backpack in the middle of it.
Her backpack is so big for her!!

My beautiful Kindergartener....She's the prettiest one in her class, I'm sure! :)

Her teachers are so sweet. Miss Marks and Mrs. Lile.

They saw us walking down the hall toward them and Miss Marks (the one on the left) said, "SYDNEY!! Come and give me a big hug!" Of course, I loved that! We found out at Open House that Miss Marks specifically asked to have Sydney in her class after Syd's initial screening. I'm, of course, so proud. :)

Summer visit to Virginia

2009-08-08T20:39:00.017-04:00

It's so fun going to VA every year to visit Travis's parents "G's and Pops". Not only is it fun for us, but the kids have an absolute blast. Kayleigh and Sydney are the same age and are best of friends. Addyson and Madison are the same age and just love each other. They are so cute, but so full of mischief. Travis dubbed them the "giggle twins" because they were constantly giggling together. Next time we visit at Christmas, Rylin will have a buddy too! Tawnya's newest addition, Mckenna.

Kayleigh & Sydney

Rylin & Tawnya

Rylin & me

Pops at the parade

Filling up water balloons

Madison, Addyson, Sydney & Kayleigh eating ice-pops

Addyson & Madison

(the "Giggle Twins)

G's 4th of July Red (& blue) velvet cake

All the grand-girls

Kayleigh, Rylin, Sydney, Addyson & Madison

Kaden, Kayleigh, Sydney, Addyson, Kylie & Madison

4th of July pararde

Addyson......

2009-07-26T21:02:00.005-04:00

So, Addyson is our 2nd child and we love her dearly. She makes us laugh so much and just has one of the best personalities ever. She is just so dang cute....which is a good thing...because if she wasn't, I'm not sure if I could keep my sanity! I'm just going to name a few things....good and bad...that Addyson has done/said this month. I"m leaving quite a bit out because there is so much, but I just have to write some of these things down! These are not in any particular order, but they all happened in July.

1. Cleaning the toilets with all of our toothbrushes. (she and her cousin Madison did this).

2. Scooping out the toilet water with a bowl and dumping it all over her head and the bathroom floor.

3. Climbing up to the top shelf in the pantry, finding the chewies (fruit snacks), getting the scissors and cutting them all open, then dumping them on the floor.

4. Running out of the house completely naked.

5. Taking her poop out of her pull up, throwing it against her wall, smashing it in the carpet with her foot and putting money from her piggy bank in it. (This one almost pushed me over the edge!)

6. She likes to sing the Darth Vader song while she's doing these things. She'll tell me..."I love Darth Vader. I love the Emperor" (From Star Wars for those who might not know).

7. When I sing her a song before bed, she wants to me sing the Darth Vader song..."bum bum bum, bum ba dum, bum ba dum".

8. I tell her to stop making messes and she says, "No, Mommy, that's what I do."

9. Says,"Mommy, I feed Adam (our fish) A LOT!" and I find she's poured all the fish food in the bowl and put her granola bar in there as well.

10. Puts pillows and blankets over Rylin's head....which means Rylin will probably be 5 before she walks b/c I'm constantly carrying her to keep her out of harms way!

11. Give herself permission to do things....actually says "I'm going to do this, okay? Okay, I can".

12. When I call her name, she says..."No! I Luke!" (from Star Wars). I have to call her Luke.

13. Today when we got in the car to go to church it was really hot in there and she said..."Daddy, I hot...like Mommy!" (Because Travis is always saying I'm hot).

14. She'll get lotion and squirt TONS of it all over her body and clothes and is so proud of herself for putting lotion on..."Look Mommy, I put lotion on by myself!"

15. Putting gobs of toilet paper in to the toilet, then taking it out all and throwing it all over the walls.

16. I hope I'm not jinxing this, but the past 3 or 4 days, I haven't hardly mentioned the word "potty" and she is going all by herself and hasn't had an accident. So, if I suggest it, then she won't do it. It has to be alllll her. Which is a great trait to have....just very difficult for Mommy and Daddy!

Addyson's mischevious face.

Rylin is looking at me thinking..."Mom! Get me out of here!"

This is Addyson rubbing lotion all over her body and her clothes. I wasn't able to take a picture of the other shenanigans because I was too crazy to think that positively in the moments.

1st time in 3 years we were all together....

2009-07-14T17:41:00.017-04:00

My brother, Quinn, and my sister, Kelly, and their families were all in town at the same time! That hasn't happened in over 3 years. We had so much fun watching the kids play and get along togther. It makes me so happy that they have cousins to play with that are their age. That is something I never had growing up. So, here are quite a few pics I took during their stay. We just love the Grant cousins from Texas and the Robinson cousins from Oregon! Y'all live too far away! Isn't Georgia on your mind??? okay, that was cheezy, but I couldn't resist!

Quinn is the oldest. He is married to Kjirsten and they have Liam (10), Caleb (5...almost 6), Luke (3) and Claire (1).

Kelly is next and is married to Jon. They have Jenna (7), Allison (5), Lauren (3), Caroline (2), and Sarah (2 weeks). Sarah is not seen in the pics b/c she's in Kell's belly. :)

This first pic is of Addyson eating the famous Grant family Chex Mix, which, unfortunately for us, only gets made when my siblings are in town.

Some of the girls!

Addyson, Jenna, Sydney, Allison, Lauren

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At the Zoo. The Pink Ladies

Jenna, Sydney

Addyson and Travis, watching the lady with the snake.

Addyson is reaching up to touch the snake. The other girls are cleaning their hands off after touching him.

The petting Zoo.

Poppy climbing the rock wall.

The kids' table at Annie and Poppy's

Monkey Joes

Addyson and Caroline

Sydney & Addyson

Liam & Caroline

Poppy & Caroline

6 cousins going down backwards

Liam, Jenna, Sydney, Luke, Caleb, Allison

Kjirsten & Claire

Pizza Night...the kids were the chefs...it was actually really good Pizza.

The next picutre is definitely my favorite day and a memory that will last a lifetime. We went to the Atlanta Temple to seal my Grandma to my Grandpa, Grandma to her parents, and Grandma to my Dad. It was absolutely amazing.

Me, Kelly, Mom, Dad, Kjirsten & Quinn (Travis was on Jury duty, so couldn't be with us the whole week! :()

Coloring at our house after swimming at our pool.

Getting messy eating watermelon and spitting out the seeds.

We went horseback riding and had our family picture on the same day. Not a good idea considering it was the freakin' hottest day of the year!! BUT, it was a lot of fun.

Addyson, Sydney & Luke

Sydney

Sydney, Jenna, Quinn, Luke & Lauren

Syd trying to fee the horse apples. Our friends, the Johnsons, happened to be there the same day and were able to let us feed their horse and ride her. It was great!

Addyson & Liam...look how red their faces are!

Caleb just chillin'

Syd taking a practice ride before the trail

Addyson's practice ride

Luke & Sydney

Luke & Annie

Addyson's favorite part was playing in the dirt. Go figure.

Our friend, Kelsey, and Caleb

Jenna riding solo

Liam & Sydney

Yep, still playing in the sand.

Poppy, the natural

Petting the horses with Uncle Quinn

Winding down watching a movie:

Jenna, Luke, Caleb, Allison, Sydney, Lauren & Caroline

Poppy's company picnic
The face-painting, water guns, cotton candy and snow cones were a huge hit.

Addyson getting her face painted.

Claire and Annie

Sydney getting her face painted the first time.

Syd's 2nd face paint, since getting squirted with the water guns made the first one run off.

Rylin just chillin'

All the grandkids with Annie and Poppy.

I'm only in there b/c I was holding Rylin.

Addyson with snowcone all over her shirt & face-paint running off, trying to open more candy.

Rylin - 1 - 3 months

2009-07-09T13:23:00.011-04:00

March & April 2009

4 Days Old

One Week Old

Memama & Rylin

Poppy & Rylin

Annie & Rylin

Nat & Rylin

She's our smiley girl

One Month Old!!!

May 2009

Growing too fast!!

With sister Addyson and cousin Madison

2 Months Old!

Pops & Rylin

Sweet Baby!

At the Zoo

3 Months Old!

Where has the time gone?

Father's Day - 3 months and 1 day old.

Pre-School Graduation

2009-06-01T20:35:00.004-04:00

So, Sydney has "graduated" from pre-school. Travis and I were talking about the whole idea of graduating pre-school. Don't get me wrong, it's fun for the kids, but it's like saying..."Good job! You turned another year older, let's have a graduation". We just think it's funny that now-a-days they have a graduation from pre-school, kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and highschool. "Back in my day......" we only had high school graduation. I'm so old. haha.

We got some really cute pics of Sydney singing. This first one is a favorite of mine. Getting her "diploma" - which was a stuffed animal. These are her teachers announcing that Sydney wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.
Leaving the Chapel with their stuffed animal and singing.

Addyson trying to see Sydney.

After the ceremony with her class

Addyson ran up there to give her a hug. It was really sweet.

Her Class

Her school party. She's talking to Adam, who introduced her to Star Wars....he always wanted her to be Princess Leia, and now she's obsessed!

Sydney's 5th birthday

2009-06-01T17:34:00.009-04:00

I'm so behind on my blog!

Sydney turned 5 on May 5th! I can't believe it!!! She had her horse party on May 2nd, and then we had a small family party on her birthday. I made a cake for the party, one for her birthday dinner and cupcakes for her class at school on her birthday. I was caked-out!!! BUT, she had a blast that week, and I have to say, so did I.

This is the cake I made for her actual birthday.

This one was for her party. I had to make a really big one to feed 40 people at least, so it was actually 4 cakes all together. There was a cute fence of pretzels around the "pasture", but it got knocked over. Oh well!!! Sydney liked it, so that's all that matters!

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Sydney is such a joy in our lives. She is funny, smart, creative, dramatic, girly, tom-boyish, loud, full of energy, sweet, caring, helpful, silly, and just so darn cute.

Rylin's Blessing: April 19th, 2009

2009-04-26T13:01:00.008-04:00

Travis gave our new baby girl, Rylin, a wonderful blessing a few Sunday's ago. She was one day shy of being 1 month old.

In our church, we give our baby's blessings and then when we are 8 years old, we are able to make the decision whether or not we want to be baptized.

It was great to have my brother, Quinn, out for Rylin's blessing.

(In this picture: Travis, me, Rylin, my Dad, Sydney, my Mom, Addyson & my brother Quinn)

This blessing dress is very special to me. My mom, Nancy, had 3 blessing dresses made out of her wedding dress, and gave each one of us kids a dress to have our babies' blessed in. All three of my sweet girls have worn this dress, and Rylin will be the last to wear it! I'll have it preserved, and maybe one day give it to my girls.

Easter

2009-04-19T21:21:00.009-04:00

I'm a week behind, but....here's my Easter post finally!

We had a fabulous Easter. Sydney had an Easter egg hunt at her school and Addyson had one at our church playgroup. Our neighborhood had a little Easter egg hunt the week before Easter. Then, my mom's neighborhood had a FAB Easter egg where the girls got tons of eggs, hit pinatas, pictures with the Easter bunny, cookies and got to play on the playground. It was so fun. They also dyed eggs earlier that week with the Busse's. It's tradition to do that with them. The Easter bunny came to our house AND to my mom's house for them, so I think Easter might just be one of their favorite holidays now. :)

Sydney helped me pick out the girls' Easter dresses. They HAD to be blue. She was bummed that I couldn't find one in Rylin's size, but it's hard to find "newborn" dresses to match a 2 year old and a 5 year old. Especially when Rylin doesn't even fit into the 0-3 month clothes yet.

Easter Egg hunt in our Neighborhood.

Sydney got her face painted like a dog. Addyson got hers painted like a cat.
Dying Easter eggs with the Busse's

At Annie's house before the big Easter egg hunt.

Annie hid eggs for them in the backyard so they could practice.

The Big Hunt! :)

Trying to break the pinata.

Easter Morning....Trying to find eggs and baskets.

Modeling their Easter dresses right before we left for church.

Modeling after Church.....what a pretty day!

Rylin's first Easter

G's and Pops came to visit.

And it was Memama's (my grandma) 90th birthday.

The "F" Word

2009-04-03T20:44:00.002-04:00

I have been VERY careful not to use the "F" word in our house around the kids....the word is "FAT". I just don't say that word. If I have to say it around the girls, I always spell it out. You might think this is a bit odd, but I'm paranoid that they'll grow up with a skewed body image like I did. I vow never to call myself the F-word in front of my girls. Even if I feel that way, I know I'm not really fat, so why make them believe that I am and give them a skewed view of what is fat and what isn't?

So, that said,....I was SHOCKED when yesterday, my little Sydney...who is almost 5, said

"Your legs are fat Mommy", then proceded to say..."well, it's not really your legs that are fat, it's your bum that is fat and it's on part of your leg."

NICE

I told her that when you just have a baby, your body is bigger than usual, but that eventually it will get smaller, but that Mommy isn't fat at all, I'm just bigger than I was before I got pregnant.

So, she asked me that since my boobs were so big, if they would shrink too. I'm thinking..."unfortunately, yes, they will shrink so much it will look like I don' t have any", but I didn't say that...I just said "Yes".

So, tonight, while I was nursing, she saw my back and said...

"Mommy, your back isn't right....it's got like bumps in it, it's not right".

So, we had to have the talk again about my body "shrinking", but I added this time, that it will shrink after I start exercising.

Just so everyone knows...I do still need to lose 20 pounds to get to my pre-preg weight, so she really is concerned about mommy looking different!

So, where did she start hearing about this "fat" stuff anyway???? I'm assuming the kids at school. I don't know! but, I'm not happy about it.

I do have to add one funny thing Addyson said too, since we're talking about my body here. I was leaning over picking something off the floor, and Addyson put her hand up to my cleavage (Yes, I have cleavage when I'm pregnant and nursing)...."Mommy's Bum?"

I just busted out laughing.

Hey, at least I have cleavage for one more time in my life!!

My "Big Girls"

2009-04-01T14:13:00.004-04:00

I wanted to share some great pictures of my "big girls" that my friend, Stacey J., took in the fall. They LOVE "new baby Rylin", and are trying to be good helpers. They are my angels and I just love them so much. After I started to create this post, I feel down my last step on my stairs and sprained my ankle pretty bad. Sydney was so great. I really couldn't move because it hurt so bad, and Sydney got me ice packs and kept the pacifier in Rylin's mouth until Travis could get home. She was awesome!!!!! My 4 year old was taking care of me and her baby sister. She got scared at first when mommy fell and couldn't get up, but she kept her cool and only let me know she was scared after Travis got home.

Addyson was napping at the time, thank goodness! I'm just so grateful for my girls. Wish me luck being on crutches for at least a week!! I'm so glad that it's spring break next week and Travis will be home to help me!!! I'm so frustrated with myself.....seriously....who does that? At least I know I have Sydney to help too!

The best ones were of Addyson...the ones below. She is such a cutie...a handful, but a cutie-pie. She is having a hard time adjusting to Mommy having been gone so long in the hospital having the baby, and the new changes in the house with Rylin. She loves Rylin, though, and isn't upset at he....she's upset at me, but she doesn't know why. It's so confusing for a 2 year old. She's clingy to me, but also mad at me, so it's difficult for me because I have to discipline her for acting out, but I also want her to know that she is still my baby and still very special to me. I try to spend some one on one time with her, but it's hard right now!! Any tips from some veteran moms who have dealt with this same situation? Sydney wasn't like this, so this is new to me!

Introducing Baby Rylin Grant Jarrard!

2009-03-24T19:14:00.026-04:00

Rylin Grant Jarrard

was born on Friday, March 20, 2009 at 3:27AM at Northside Forsyth Hospital. Her due date was April 5th, so she was almost 3 weeks early. She weighed 6 pounds 13 oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long. She has lots of black hair like Travis and the normal slate-blue baby eyes. She is so tiny!! Addyson seems so huge to me now. She's a really good baby and is the sweetest thing. We all just want to gobble her up.

Me in the delivery room the night I delivered Rylin.

This is either before or after my epidural...I can't remember!

Travis was listening to the NCAA wrestling tournament on his computer and filling in brackets while we waited for me to dilate from a 6 to a 10.

Here she is! Her first picture taken by Daddy! Getting her lungs sucked out. She looks pretty mad.

Rylin's 1st "Weigh In" as Daddy likes to say.

6 pounds 13 ounces

Her First Bath...She loved getting her hair washed and combed. My kind of girl.

All clean now and Mommy gets to cuddle with her.

We are so proud!

Me, Rylin, Dr. Angela Nix, and my good friend Emily Slaugh who was the nurse who helped deliver Rylin. It was so great having a friend there with me the entire time, and Dr. Nix was there a lot too. I lucked out!!

The whole delivery gang.

We are all dead tired....I think this was taken at 4:00AM or close to it.

Our little Sweet Pea. Travis texting everyone to let them know she had arrived...it was too early to call you all!

Our sweet Sydney holding her tiny baby sister. She was soooo excited to hold her!Addyson was so sweet and didn't want to let Rylin go.
Sydney and Rylin

The Jarrard Girls

Addyson, Kate, Sydney, Rylin

The Family!

Addyson, Kate, Sydney, Rylin & Travis....is he outnumbered or what!?

SISTERS!

Rylin had some more visitors!

Thanks you guys for coming to see us! It made me feel loved.

Lazette kept my girls the entire time! She was such a blessing to us.

Andrea came by to snuggle Rylin too!

And Kristan came by to bring Mommy flowers and to, of course, hold Rylin.

It was tough for me not having my parents there at the hospital, but having my wonderful husband and friends there made it such a great experience.

Proud Daddy....Wonderful Husband

I love you Travis.

On our way out the hospital door and to home sweet home!!

Random Thoughts and Feelings

2009-02-18T15:39:00.018-05:00

Okay, so I haven't been in the blogging world in a while. Why? Not sure. I stopped the frequency when I was suffering with morning/night/all day sickness with this baby, and just haven't gotten back into the groove. Maybe I'm just tired and cranky....not sure!

So, I'm sure I have about zero readers right now, but that's okay. I felt the urge to right down some thoughts.

I'm pregnant with our 3rd and last baby.

I'm excited to have her in my life, and for this to be the one to complete our family. I loathe most of pregnancy, I can't lie, but as I feel her moving around in my belly, I'm getting a little nostalgic and wanting to make sure I remember this feeling forever, as the next few weeks will be the last time I feel this. I have such negative thoughts about my body while I'm pregnant, but lately, I've been looking in the mirror and trying to cherish this body that I have right at this moment b/c of the miracle it is performing and realizing that it really is beautiful. I only have a few more weeks until she arrives, and I'm nervous, scared, excited, anxious, tired, giddy, hesitant and a whole slew of emotions with it. I know that I want this to be our last baby, so it's not me mourning that this is our last child, it's just me wanting to remember. Remember Kate, remember! I know I won't, though. I know it as well as I know my own name. I won't remember the details of exactly how I felt and looked while pregnant. It's frustrating.

I feel so blessed to have this opportunity for 3 times in my life. I feel inexplicably unprepared to have 3 children.....and even though I'll have had approximately 10 months to prepare.....you're never quite prepared.

I am feeling a tinge of regret that I haven't cherished this pregnancy. With two other children, this pregnancy has seem to go by almost unnoticed except when I go to get dressed in the morning and have to pull on maternity clothes. I am going to consciously try and make an effort to focus, at least once a day, on this new little life inside me, while she is still inside me.

And, no, we still haven't settled on a name. Our favorite right now is Rylan. Sydney is insisting that we name her Lexi, though, and always calls her that.

So, on to other things.....

I'm thinking of this b/c Addyson is yelling at me from her room right now trying to delay her nap.

Ways Addyson tries to get out of taking her nap:

"Mommy I stinky"

"Mommy I have boogies"

"Mommy Potty!!" (which she never ends up going)

"Mommy I awake!"

"Mommy I need you!"

"Mommy my clothes off!" (that means she's stripped naked)

"Mommy I need to be princess!"

Ways Sydney delays me going out of her room at bedtime:

"Mom, I have to tell you something important.....ummmmm....."

"Mom, I'm really thirsty"

"Mom, can we talk about Jesus?"....this one gets me all the time...I just can't say no to this!

"Mom, what are we doing tomorrow? and the tomorrow after that? and the tomorrow after that? It's really important that I know".

"Mom, just one more song? please? you sing so pretty."

"I have a secret I have to tell you and you can't tell any of your friends." (then she proceeds to whisper nothing in my ear....just heavy breathing and saying...uhhhhh).

"Mom will you count my webkinz and make sure they are all in my bed" (the answer to this is always, no, b/c she has 21 freakin' webkinz!)

Cute Sayings the girls have said lately:

Addyson: "White Horse, I ride it, really, I did!" (she says this whenever she sees a horse - which is every day - about when she rode a white pony over Christmas).

Sydney: "Those aren't circles under my eyes, mom, they're semi-circles."

Syd: "Mom, when we go to live with Jesus after we die, will we be able to play with the whales?"

Christmas and New Year pictures...YES, I'm a tad late.

2009-01-21T20:48:00.019-05:00

So, I posted this without writing anything....oops! Here are some pictures from Christmas and New Year's eve that I hadn't posted yet. I'm not keeping up with the blog like I used to, that's for sure! Sorry Mom and Dad Jarrard!

This is Addyson and her friend Alayna

Acting out the Nativity with the Busse's

We had planned to go to Stone Mountain to see the lights/fesivities, but it was so freakin' cold, so we went to Chucky Cheese instead and then to Lake Lanier to see the lights that night. The kids had a blast.

Pony rides at Lake Lanier.

Christmas Eve, Acting out the Nativity at my parents' house.

Christmas Day. The girls were so excited!!

My brother and his family came to visit the day after Christmas, and my girls had a blast with them! Below is what we call quadruple trouble.

I just had to capture a picture of my brother picking his nose.

I couldn't resist. Addyson loved her cousins' Dallas Cowboys football helmet

My dad with the two little ones.

Family Home Evening

"Stir with Love"...a little family tradition.

New Year's Eve!

Fireworks and a pinata thanks to Uncle Quinn & Aunt Kjirsten!

New Year's Day

Ice Ice Baby.....

2009-01-05T23:35:00.003-05:00

So, for some reason I think I need pictures to post on here....BUT, after getting a new camera for Christmas...thank you Travis...I'm a little slow at downloading, etc. I need help in the technological field.

Anyway! I have lots of pictures to post from Christmas, etc., but it won't happen tonight.

So, our little family is about to say our nightly family prayer when Sydney starts ....well...she starts rapping. I wasn't sure what she said, but Travis was like..."what are you teaching our daughters? What are you guys listening to?" (he is totally chuckling), so Sydney keeps doing it and Travis says.."She's doing Vanilla Ice". Of course, I was like "No, honey, I haven't listened to Vanilla Ice in a long time, so she can't have heard him". Then I remember......I RAP IT TO MY KIDS! I'm such a dork.

She was saying "I'm back with a brand new addition".

You're all probably thinking I'm a big dork too, but it works....you should try this when your kids won't listen....just start out with Vanilla Ice, and then make up whatever you want to say to them by rapping it....seriously, it works...here is an example of what I do....

"STOP! Collaborate and listen, Mommy's back with a brand new addition. GET in your car seat NOW, so we can go to Grandma's HOUse".

They start giggling and then get in their seats...seriously, try it.

You can thank me later.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-18T15:55:00.012-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful time and Santa treats you well. :)

Here are just a few pictures of some things we've done this month to celebrate the Christmas Season so far.

This is Sydney the night of her Christmas dance recital.

Sydney's pre-school class played the bells during a church service at the Lutheran church where the preschool is held.

Addyson wanted me to take a picture of her during the service as well. :)

Sydney and Addyson got to have breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

And they got to have their faces painted.

Addyson is devouring a candy cane.

Some friends of ours were there too, which made it even more fun!

Sydney and I were invited to a mother/daughter Nutcracker dinner/ballet party. We had dinner at around 5:00, then the girls all got their own nutcracker, had the story read to them, then changed into their pretty dresses and we went to see the ballet of the Nutcracker at the Gwinnett Event center. It was so perfect. The girls all loved it.

We didn't head home until after 10:00, so the girls zonked out in the car....which is pretty much unheard of for Sydney to sleep in the car. I had to take a picture of it for Travis to believe it. :)

FINALLY!

2008-12-07T20:21:00.005-05:00

I've been waiting for this for almost 2 years....my girls are finally playing together NICELY!!
I've been worried about my girls getting along ever since Addyson could walk. They just didn't get along. Mostly because Addyson would always mess up Sydney's stuff. But now, that Addyson can talk and play without totally frustrating Sydney, it's GREAT!!!

Now...I just hope that I didn't just jinx myself by writing this!

So, are you noticing the music? Yes, it's probably one of the most annoying songs in the world to some of you, but to me....it's my feel good Christmas song. It makes me laugh, and I can listen to it over and over....like I am now.

Enjoy! :)

My girls latest sayings and Thanksgiving...

2008-12-02T22:05:00.022-05:00

So, my girls say certain things all the time that I think are kind of funny. I had to write them down.

Sydney:

"That's SO SO cool".

"Um, I have a better idea."

"Can I tell you something? Let me whisper it in your ear".

"Um, yes, I think we need to do this".

"Mommy, I need some gum".

"It's game day baby!"

"Addyson, do you want to sing the Scooby Doo Christmas song? I'll teach you".

"Addyson, I need some alone time."

"Mom, you're not so smart sometimes." - okay, this one has started to make me feel bad, but I realize that I try to make her think I don't know how to do something, so she can do it and feel like she is smart...yeah, it's backfiring on me...now she' thinks I'm a dummy!

Addyson:

"No Way Ninnee!" (Ninnee means Sydney)

"MY mommy" (if someone even looks at me, she says this to them).

"It's late!" (with both her hands on her cheeks)

"bootball!" (football)

"mo lights!" (more lights....Christmas lights)

"I DID IT!"

"Cute".

"Push Play mommy".

"nigh-nigh geen light." (night night green light, to her smoke detector light)

"on noooo!"

"Annie house?" (Annie is what she calls my mom)

"Addie do it." (she calls herself Addie)

"Addie hold it."

"no mine, no mine, no mine" (really fast)

She's also learning how to negotiate...the other night I had made brownies, and she wanted one, so this is what she said....

A: "mo bownie?"

me: "no more"

A: "ONE bownie?"

me: "no"

A: "baby one?"

Travis and I just started laughing. It was so cute.

Thanksgiving

Yeah, I gots skillzzz...haha. j/k. It was fun to make this turkey cake for Sydney's pre-school "Thanksgiving Feast". The Feast consisted of turkey & cheese sandwiches, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top, green beans, juice boxes, chips, apple slices, cake and cookies. The kids had a blast.

The kids were the indians and the parents were the pilgrims. Sydney made this had for me and her teacher wrote my last name on it. She left out the last "r", so it's Jarrad instead of Jarrard. Why does everyone do this? Do they think there are too many "R's" in our name, so they just leave one out? If it was spelled like this, it would sound like "Jared"...which about 60% of people pronounce our last name anyway, if they are just reading it.

The little indians....my little Indian looks scared in this picture! haha. Her indian name that she named herself was "Shy Raccoon"....haha. yeah right!

We had another great Thanksgiving. It was just my parents, Travis, the girls and I, and my friend Shellie and her two kids, Kate and Dallen. Her hubby, Chad, had to work...bummer! I made the pies, Shellie made an awesome raspberry salad and my mom did the rest! Kate and Addyson are the same age and Sydney and Dallen are just a year apart, so they had so much fun together.

Honestly.....Thanksgiving always just seems like another meal to me. It's an awesome meal, and I LOVE it. It's special b/c we have things we don't normally have, like, cornbread dressing (it's a southern thing), sweet potato souffle' and turkey. The other things we have quite regularly...green beans, biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc.

So, is that bad? Should I feel like it's more special than I do?

This year, however, Sydney had a list of why she was thankful for Annie, Poppy, Daddy, Mommy and Addyson. It was cute.

I guess because I am blessed enough to see my Mom and Dad all the time and eat big dinners at their house all the time, Thanksgiving isn't much different. I get excited for it and I love it, but I love all the big dinners we have at my Mom's house. :)

Here Sydney is helping Grandma make the dressing...she's putting in the dry breadcrumbs before she does the cornbread. She was very proud of herself for helping.

After the "feast" my mom played 'go fish' with Dallen and Sydney.

So, as soon as Thanksgiving was over...the day after it was over....we got out the Christmas tree and the girls helped me decorate it. They had a blast. Sydney loved hanging the ornaments, and Addyson loved playing in the empty big tupperware bin that the ornaments were in. Sydney also helped me hang up all of our elves. But, like a loser, I didn't take any pictures. I did, however, take pictures of the girls helping my parents decorate their tree. I love tree decorating. It's so fun!! I also love that we always have eggnog when we decorate the tree. So yummy and festive. I love Christmas and am TOTALLY in the Christmas spirit. This year will be really fun now that Addyson is a little older.

Decorating Annie and Poppy's tree.
Cleaning up the MESS the styrofoam popcorn things made after getting all the ornaments out.

7 Things

2008-11-19T17:56:00.012-05:00

I have been tagged by my friend Angie to come up with 7 random things about myself that you may not know. I feel like I'm an open book, however, so this will be hard for me to think of anything "unknown".

Here it goes....

1. I used to play the piano and guitar fairly well. It's been so long, however, that I think I've completly forgotten how to play the guitar. My girls won't let me play the piano on my own, so I never get to practice that anymore. I'm going to take lessons for guitar someday and rock the house, yo!

2. If uninterrupted I could sleep for 12 hours straight any given night, and still wake up feeling like I needed more sleep, or like I've been run over by a truck, or that I'm being unnecessarily woken up. :) I would LOVE to wake up "refreshed"...just once in my life. I hear about it (from Travis especially b/c he always wakes up refreshed), but I have never experienced it. I don't know if it's due to allergies, hypoglycemia or what, but mornings totally suck for me. They are physically painful for me.

3. It's always been a secret dream of mine to be a movie star or a rock star.

4. I grew 1/2 an inch in college.

5. I was really skinny until I was 14, and then I became a bulimic and after I tried to "quit" being bulimic, I gained a lot of weight and was heavy (for me) from about 17 until I was 23. Then my metabolism finally evened out. To give you an idea...I'm 5' 51/2 " and usually weigh between 119 - 124. During the years 17 - 23 my weight fluctuated between 128 - 148!! It was craziness. Rachel H. knows all about this, though, so it's not unknown!

6. In elementary school, I was the fastest runner in my class.

7. I'm afraid of heights in a kind of insane way. If I believed in past lives, I think I must have been a bird b/c when I'm close to the edge of something extremely high (like the edge of the Grand Canyon), I have the strongest urge to run and jump off. Not b/c I want to die, but b/c my body feels like it can fly. This makes me incredibly scared of being high up b/c I don't feel like I can trust my body. I explained this once to my grandfather and he had the same exact feelings and fear that I have.....dum dum dum....

So here are the rules:*Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog. (yeah, I don't know how to do that)

*Tell seven random facts about yourself on your blog* Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs *Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Ok - tag, you're it: The Rachels...Rachel D., H., J. and M., Amanda W., DeDe, Michelle W. and Sherry D.

Halloween Pictures

2008-11-07T22:28:00.004-05:00

I'm finally getting these posted! Sydney was, of course...Scooby-Doo! And Addyson was her favorite animal....a "meow" as she calls cats. They were both so excited to dress up. They loved their makeup, but Addyson's ears kept falling off.

We started a tradition last year of going trick-or-treating with the Kudlas family. Sydney and Aidan have been friends since Sydney was just a year old.

L-R: Brenna, Sydney, Aidan, Addyson, and in front, Carsyn

My Mom wanted to make sure that Addyson knew what to do, so she practiced trick-or-treating with the kids a couple of times before we went out.

Addyson took full advantage of Daddy pushing her in the stroller. It's a good thing he brought it along, though, b/c not long after we left (2 minutes maybe) she was saying "home, night-night". She made it through the night just fine, though, and was so thrilled when people would just give her candy. She thought that was the greatest thing ever!

Here are a couple of "action" shots. :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! It's just so much fun with little kids!

GrosgrainStore.com Grand Opening & Giftcard Giveaway!!!!!!!!

2008-11-07T22:27:00.000-05:00

GrosgrainStore.com Grand Opening & Giftcard Giveaway!!!!!!!!

We're having a......

2008-11-07T09:32:00.003-05:00

Yes, there will be three.....

She's due April 5th!

Wicked Awesome!

2008-10-30T15:10:00.006-04:00

So, this is a pre-halloween/halloween post. First of all...the title of my post....is about the play "Wicked" that I went to see last night at the awesome Fox theatre with some friends of mine and my mom. It was FAB, and I mean FABULOUSIVIOUS! I loved it. I really didn't know much about it and was very pleasantly surprised. "I could go see it again and again...it was better than Cats"...okay, that's an old SNL joke for any old SNL lovers....which transitions us to my next statement and picture.

So, for a Halloween party, Travis and I dressed up like the SNL Spartan cheerleaders (you know with Will Ferrel and Cheri O'Terry). I thought it was hilarious, but I actually had to explain to some people who we were, so that was a real downer....I thought everyone watched SNL when Will Ferrell was on....oops! But, it was fun and I thought it was funny. The funny part? That I actually got Travis to dress up as a cheerleader. He loves Will Ferrell, though, so he was cool with it. Now to the FUNNIEST part.....Sydney tells everyone that Mommy and Daddy are dressing up as cheerleaders for Halloween, and anyone who knows Travis and his loathing for cheerleaders, thinks this is hilarious and shocking. We have to explain, but it's worth it to see Travis's face. I'm laughing right now thinking about it.
(Yes, Travis looks soooo freakin' young in this picture!)

These next pictures have nothing to do with Halloween, but I think are cute. Sydney decided to give Addyson and herself a "makeover" with her makeup, and this was the end result. They were so proud of themselves. Addyson kept saying..."pretty pretty pretty". Sydney kept saying..."Mom, we are so stylish and cool, aren't we?!"

Sydney even put makeup on their hands and feet! We had to take a bath shortly after.

Happy Halloween everyone!!! You know I'll be joining you all in the post-Halloween pictures posts.

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Addyson!

2008-10-19T20:27:00.008-04:00

My baby turned two on October 17th! I can't believe she's already two! We didn't really have a "party" for her, but I hosted her little joyschool the day before her birthday, so I made cupcakes for everyone and we played "tape the nose on the jack-o-lantern" to celebrate. The kids were all so cute singing to her and helping her blow out her candle. She kept saying "Happy Addy" (for happy birthday Addyson). They all made a complete "two-year-old" mess with their cupcakes which was so funny. It was so funny to see some kids devour it and others slowly savor it. haha.

The next day, on her birthday, we just celebrated with Sydney, Travis, Addyson and me. My parents were out of town, so we'll celebrate with them later.
We had dinner, then I took off Addyson's clothes for the cake, then we opened presents. Poor thing...all of her two year birthday pictures are of her naked with a diaper on!! Opening her card all by herself.

G's and Pops gave her her own baby stroller, so she won't have to borrow Sydney's. She was so excited about it!

In the picture below, I wish I could have gotten the front of her face, but she was jumping around and squealing b/c she was so excited about her next present...I wasn't quick enough!!!
She's running toward it now.

Her own truck!

Black just like Daddy's. She LOVES it. It was so dang cute to watch her be so excited.

Happy Happy Birthday our sweet baby girl. You make our life so much more exciting!

Oreo cookies and the Fair

2008-10-15T12:22:00.015-04:00

Okay, So the Oreo's have nothing to do with the fair, but I'm really behind on blogging, so I thought I'd post the two together. Nothing like the warm fuzzies that your children and husband can make you feel. When I saw Travis and the girls dipping their Oreo's in milk together, it was one of those moments, so I had to capture it. So cliche', but so dang cute. Speaking of dang or darn, I noticed that Sydney has started saying "darn". It's funny to me, but I hope her teachers are okay with it.

Of course Sydney had to make a silly face.Nothing to do with Oreo's, just thought it was cute.
Now to the FAIR! We love the fair. It's just a good old country home town fair that the kids LOVE. This year we went after Addyson's nap and were there into the evening. I loved it so much b/c the weather was PERFECT and I loved all of the lights. Sydney and Addyson loved all of the rides they went on, which just made me so happy. Okay, so one ride Sydney didn't like. It was the tilt-a-whirl. She saw it and said "Look! A popcorn ride, let's go!" I don't know why she called it the popcorn ride....maybe b/c it was red and white striped like the popcorn boxes at the movies...I don't know. But, I do know that when she and Travis were on it, it got going really fast and her face was so funny! It was of pure disgust. I couldn't stop from giggling...just glad she didn't see me. So here are quite of few of our pictures from the fair. We even got a funnel cake....which I had been craving...BUT, I was a little disappointed as it didn't live up to my memories. Oh well...

(The first 4 pictures are actually of a little "play in the park" day and the rest are of the fair. Like I said...I needed to catch up.)

Face Painting...this is a pink horse if you can't tell.

Addyson loved her "meow" on her face and was very sad when it washed off in her bath. Sydney was so excited to box "like Mommy". She did great! I was so proud of her. Feeding the baby pig and the tortoise.

Now we are at the fair......

Petting zoo

Rides....

This is after the "tilt-a-whirl" ride...see Sydney's face! Poor thing. Am I so bad for laughing?
Addyson and Daddy on the slide.

I'm back...I think!

2008-10-05T20:36:00.003-04:00

Hello to all my blogger friends!
It's been a long time, I know. I posted something this past week, but Travis felt it was too personal, so I deleted it. I know some of you were able to read it though. I made it through the week of two funerals and am looking forward to this week without any. It was a tough week, but it definitely made me grateful for what I have!

So, who's excited for Halloween?! I know I am, and Natalie is. :) So, I'm finally feeling a little better during the day, so I decided to decorate for Halloween. Now, remember, if I haven't felt like blogging the last month, then I definitely haven't felt like cleaning. Soooo....as I got up to put my fake spiderwebs up, I noticed that I really didn't need to....I had REAL freakin' spiderwebs! YUCK! I was a little disgusted, but I also thought it was funny that I was cleaning the real spiderwebs, just so I could put up fake spiderwebs. That doesn't' really make much sense, I know. But, if I'm gonna have spiderwebs, they're gonna be clean gosh darnit.

On another note....I just have to brag really quick about Addyson. As most of you know, she's been slower to speak than Sydney was, and it worried me a bit. BUT, she is doing great and talking more legibly now. But, what I have to brag about is that she knows all of her colors and she's not even two yet. I'm so proud of her. She doesn't know the abstract colors yet, like fuchsia or anything, so by 'all' her colors I'm mean....black, brown, blue, purple, red, pink, white, orange, yellow, green, etc. So, even though she can't express herself very well yet, I know her little brain is working hard and learning tons of things.

She and Sydney both LOVE their little schools and it makes me so excited for them. They are learning a lot and having a great time.

Sydney is miss busy girl. She has school Monday - Thursday from 9:00am - 1:00pm, swimming lessons on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and ballet/tap on Wednesdays. So, on Fridays, she thinks I'm soooo boring b/c it's my day to hang with her w/out anything scheduled. I found out, however, that she doesn't like that as much as being very busy. SO, I've been trying to make fun playdates. It's difficult when I feel like crap, but as the weeks go by, it's getting easier for me.

Now I just need some motivation to start walking in the mornings when I drop Syd off at school. Anyone want to join me? Let me know!!! I need to get this prego booty movin'!

One more thing...if I haven't commented on your blog, then I truly apologize. I haven't been reading them, but I'm starting again. I have too much to catch up on, so I'm just going to start at your latest post. I feel so out of touch! But, I'm back and I've missed y'all!

First Day of School

2008-09-04T14:26:00.003-04:00

Sydney started pre-school on Tuesday. She has been so excited to go back to school and see her friends and have kids to play with! She is going four days a week this year from 9:00am - 1:00pm, so that is new for both of us! I'm wondering how we'll both do. She was a little clingy the first two days, but went right in without even telling me goodbye today. She's already gotten "tokens" for being a good listener, which is always good for me to hear! I'm not worried about her at all, but I was surprisingly sad when I had to say goodbye to her on Tuesday. I felt bad b/c she has scratches all over her face! She said that Addyson did it, which is probably true, but then she woke up with a new one and she must have scratched herself in her sleep. It looks like a cat got to her!

Addyson also started "school". A group of friends and I are doing a little "joyschool" for our 2 year olds two days a week. Two out of evey seven weeks, I'll teach then be the teacher's helper. The other 5 weeks, I drop her off. This was VERY hard for me, even though I know all of these gals and Addyson knows their kids. I felt almost guilty for not spending one on one time with her since Sydney is in school. But, we'll get that time on Monday's and Wednesday's, and I can't lie, it is nice to be able to lie down for a couple of hours without feeling guilty that Addyson isn't getting my attention. She has had a blast this week with her little friends and I think it will be really good for her.

Things I learned or realized last week.....

2008-08-31T21:59:00.006-04:00

1. It sucks to be nauseated and exhausted on your birthday....and not even want cake or icecream.

2. I have to shut the doors to the bathrooms or Addyson will try to flush Sydney's clothes down the toilet, dip her teacups in the toilet, or clean the toilet.

3. I have wacked out dreams when I'm pregnant and I wake up wondering if they were real or not.

4. I am miserable when Travis is out of town and I can't fall asleep at night if he's not in the house.

5. I cry at anything even remotely touching.

6. I feel like the worst mother in the world to my kids b/c all I feel like doing is laying down all day. I pray at night to be forgiven, but worry what damage I've done that can't be taken away.

7. I can go from shivering cold to sweating hot in 2 minutes and be sitting in the same place and not having moved at all.

8. Travis wants me to add that "I've learned that Iowa's offense still sucks".

9. That I really don't deserve some of my friends, and that they mean the world to me and I'm so grateful for their service and love. I don't think I would have made it through this week as well as I did without them.

10. That if I eat 3 bean and cheese burritos within a six hour time-slot that I will be in a whole heap of pain.

11. If I stay up past 8:30pm I will just want to lie where I am in the fetal position.

12. Pretending the laundry isn't there won't make it go away or get any smaller.

13. Sydney has a better memory than I do.

14. I don't want to be or feel like I'm 33.

15. Steak is great.

16. Don't mess with me or I'll either tell you off or cry.

What happens next Mommy???

2008-08-24T13:00:00.007-04:00

So, I'm pregnant, right? Sydney is very excited about this. She has, in the past, asked very specific questions as to how the baby gets into Mommy's tummy. We've discussed it thoroughly enough for a 4 year old...well, she was 3 at the time, but I probably approached it more at a 5 year old level. Not giving her specifics, but specific enough to satisfy her curiosity. So, the other day, she asks me how the baby gets OUT of my tummy. Ahhhh.... am I ready for this? I thought for about 10 seconds of how I should approach this, when it came to mind that Sydney is very bright and is actually probably ready for the real answer. SO, I told her. I gave her the real answer. She just looked at me with a little grimace/sideways smirk and a wrinkled nose and said (like she was a little disgusted)...."ohhhhh". Then she asked me how big the hole was that the baby came out of. I then had to explain that it's really small, but when the baby is about to be born, it gets big really fast. She asked if it hurt and I said, yes, but that it is worth it. She then gave me a hug and put her head on my tummy and said...."I'm so sorry that you have to get hurt Mommy, did I hurt you when I came out of your tummy?". It was so sweet! I hugged her and assured her that it didn't hurt Mommy that much because I had the doctor give me some really good medicine that took all the pain away. She was very glad about that. Then, she changed the subject, which I was glad for. I'm just waiting for her to go up to some pregnant, or larger, woman and tell her that she knows her baby is going to come out a hole in her privates.

A Gazillion Pictures!

2008-08-22T10:14:00.011-04:00

Here are some photos from my sister, Kelly's, visit this summer. There are so many! We had a blast with her and her four girls here. Sydney and Addyson have become such good friends with them. Kelly is my older sister by 20 months. She has four girls: Jenna is 6, Allison is almost 5, Lauren is almost 3 and Caroline just turned 1.

Kelly, myself and the girls

Jenna, Allison, Sydney, Lauren, Addyson and Caroline.

My Mom and the girls.After a Family Home Evening my mom taught and gave them each a sand-dollar and a starfish.
Here is my Dad with the girls "Poppie to everyone but Sydney, who calls him Grandfather".

Catching crabs on the beach at night.

Travis and I by the ocean our last night there.

One of my very favorites of my girls. Another favorite of mine.
Cute Addyson.
My Mom and Dad.....they just celebrated their 39th anniversary.
The girls with their Great-Grandma who we call Memama.
We're at "Farmer Dave's" property. He's my mom's cousin.
Hay Ride at Farmer Dave's.

2008-08-13T14:47:00.002-04:00

So if you have all been wondering how I've been feeling......see below..... But, I have to say that I'm not nearly as sick so far with this one as I was with Addyson. I'm praying that I won't be. Needless to say, I probably won't be blogging that much, but will try when I have the energy. Oh, I think I'm due around the end of April. I go to the Dr. on the 19th and will get a due date then.

Love you all!

2008-08-06T19:01:00.000-04:00

"Comment Me A Memory"

2008-07-26T22:09:00.006-04:00

We are finally home for a while. We were in Virginia and then turned around as soon as we got home and went to Florida. I've been out of the blogging world for about 3 weeks. We had a lot of fun, though, and are tired in a good way. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them uploaded, but not tonight!

My friend, Natalie, had this on her blog and I thought it would be fun, so play along if you'd like. If you don't have a "sign in name" don't worry, b/c you can still comment. :)

Comment Me A Memory.....
Come on, take a moment to think. (You know you want to.)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Non-related Pictures:

Addyson's hair is still SUPER SHORT, but I am finally able to get it in pigtails, so I had to post a picture of her with them!

Happy Be-lated Birthday Natalie!

2008-07-15T21:19:00.002-04:00

Natalie's birthday was on July 8th and, since I was out of town and, therefore, not blogging, I thought I'd wish her a be-lated birthday. Natalie is so awesome and is such a great friend to me. The first time I saw her I thought that she would be cool to get to know, and I'm so glad that I did. She is so talented, creative and very loving. Check out her blog! Just look at my "friends with blogs" and click Natalie L. She is awesome! I love you girl!!! I hope your birthday was awesome!

Dancing, Horses, Painting and Headgear....

2008-07-02T14:46:00.009-04:00

While Travis was out of town for a week, we "girled" it up. "Sweet & Sassy" was one of the "girly" things we did and so was Sydney's last day of princess dance class. I guess he thought they were a little too girly because the day he got home, this is what I saw when I got out of the shower:

Yes, little Addyson, looking like a little boy wrestler with Daddy's wrestling shoes and headgear. Sydney had to try them on a s well. She didn't like them quite as much as Addyson did.

Then they had a little "campout" with Daddy after they wrestled.

They next day Sydney had a birthday party to go to that was all about ponies. She had such a great time and wanted to ride the ponies the entire time. She got at least 4 rides from the ponies, and then they got to "dress up" and feed a miniature horse and a miniature donkey. It was really cute.

Playing Dress up with the miniature horse. Feeding the miniature Donkey.

Here is Sydney (in the middle) with her friends, Daelyn (left) and Marina (right) at their last day of their summer Princess dance class.

This is what I prefer Addyson to look like....a girl in a dress as opposed to a boy in wrestling gear. ha ha. She loves to paint.
Sydney does too.This was taken just before they started painting themselves.

"Sweet & Sassy"

2008-06-26T22:39:00.007-04:00

There's a new hair salon called "Sweet and Sassy" that just opened that is just for little girls. My neighbor and I took our girls to get their haircuts the other day (well, her girls and Sydney...obviously Addyson isn't in need of any of her hair being cut). It is the cutest most girly place and I LOVED it. The girls can choose between Dance or Cheer shampoo and their little smocks they wear have "Sassy Diva" embroidered on them. They get their hair washed and massaged, just like Mommy's do, then they get their cut and style. Sydney was very excited about the hair dryer, but told her stylist "no thanks" to the flat iron, as Mommy has been VERY clear that she stay away from my flat iron because it's extremely hot. After the style, they spray a soft glitter into their hair, then paint a little glitter star on their cheek, give them a pretty flower sucker and a balloon. It was so cute. Sydney was just miss chatterbox to her stylist (I guess I've taught her well). :)

Addyson was mesmerized by the buckets full of different colored flower suckers. I let her pick one out, and then she kept getting more out and taking them to everyone. It was cute.

They also have a little manicure/pedicure station with mini-couches with pillows and mini-spa pedicure baths. They have makeup stations, dress up stations, a dance floor and a runway. Of course, they sell a TON of girly stuff, so the store itself was so exciting to the girls. They have all different kinds of girly-themed birthday parties you can have there, and they even have a hot pink limo that will pick the birthday girls up. So, needless to say, I'm excited about this little store. Sydney wants to go get her hair cut every day.

Addyson was so cute and just followed the big girls around everywhere thinking she was just as big. She cracks me up.

So, if you live around here and haven't heard about it, you've got to check it out. It's in the Avenue off of exit 13 on 400. If you don't live around here, then you have to come and visit me and we'll take our girls there. :)

Sydney chose the "Dancer" shampoo.

The red head stylist on the right used to do my hair!

They had a Hannah Montana video playing on the TV in front of the chairSydney's still talking even though the stylist couldn't hear her.
If you look close you can see the glitter. She felt so pretty.

Yes, it was just a trim....gotta keep it long.

Addyson with her sucker and the buckets of suckers!Addyson in the Diva chair eating her suckerThey're saying "Sasseeeeeee".Little Divas on the runway.

Finally! A picture of us together!

2008-06-24T00:39:00.002-04:00

I made sure to bring my camera out with us on Saturday, so we could get a picture of us together. I asked our waitress to take a picture of us, so she took one, and then one of the ladies at the table next to us said she wanted to take our picture. We told her it was our 6 year anniversary, and she told us that we didn't look old enough to have been married for 6 years. When I asked her how old Travis looked, she said 25, then, I of course, asked her how old I looked. I was bracing myself for the answer since I'm really self conscious that Travis looks way younger than me. Plus, she wasn't drunk, but a little tipsy, so I knew she'd be honest. When she said I looked 21, I almost leaped up and gave her a hug, but then thought...hmmm....maybe she really is drunk, and people always look better to drunk people. It made my day anyway, and it made Travis happy that someone thought he looked older than me. ha ha.

6 years of unbelievable happiness...well, it's really 8 years...

2008-06-20T21:26:00.012-04:00

First of all, I am so lame because Travis and I don't have any digital pictures of us together. That is so lame! I need to get on it.

June 21st, 2002 at 10:30am in the Atlanta LDS temple was the beginning of my eternal family. It all started at North Forsyth High school in 2000. I was a guidance counselor, volleyball coach and soccer coach, and Travis was a history teacher, head wrestling coach, football coach and soccer coach. I met Travis in August, I suppose...that's what he says, but I don't remember the exact time. I was on crutches after tearing my Achilles tendon playing volleyball, so I didn't get around the school as often as I would have liked. Travis started coming in my office in October to talk about a student he was concerned about. Then somehow, he had a reason to stop by everyday. I thought he was fresh out of college. By the looks of him he could have been anywhere from 17 - 22. He surprised me when he said he was 25 and a whole month older than me. I thought he was so funny. He would come in and just crack me up. I was also impressed that he was a coach. Athletic guys and guys that love sports have always been a turn on for me. He was also VERY confident...bordering on conceited, but that was a turn on too. I didn't realize yet that he was extremely intelligent in other ways than coaching as well. When I found out how smart he was, it blew me away. I'm still blown away by how smart he is. I knew he was new to the area, and that he made me laugh, so when I was going out to an improv comedy club with some of my highschool friends, it occurred to me, while he was walking out the door of my office, that he might have fun. So I called out from my desk..."HEY, COME BACK" (remember, I was crippled, so I couldn't get up quickly). He popped back in and I invited him to come along. I found out later that he cancelled other plans to go with me. That evening, as he was driving to my house, where some of my friends were meeting before going downtown, we talked the entire time, and he was so funny and easy to talk to. When he gets to my house, I find out that some other people had not been able to come, so it was me, Travis, my friend, Holland, her boyfriend, my friend Micky and his girlfriend. So, it TOTALLY looked like I had asked him out on a date....which I totally didn't, but he thought I had. I felt so awkward and embarrassed, but couldn't let on to him that I felt that way. Anyway, we had a great time that night and that's the night when I decided that I really wanted to hang out with him more.

He ended the night so great too. As he was leaving my house it could have gotten a little awkward b/c it ended up being a date but it wasn't supposed to be....so....as he was leaving, he said he had a great time hanging out and the he said two words that just won me over..."High Five" and put his hand up. It was so cute and funny and perfect. And, if he had known me all through highschool, he would've known that I always used to give people high fives. But, he didn't, and he still did it anyway....he was meant for me.

He asked me to go out to get something to eat after the football game on Friday night. So, I go to the game and wait for him to get done coaching and we go out to a bar to meet some other football coaches. Well, when we get there, the kitchen is closed. I was starving! But, I had a good time nonetheless. I saw him in his element with the other coaches, and he was fun and a perfect gentleman. When we were leaving, he walked me out to my car and gave me a hug and the sweetest little peck on the lips. It was over....I knew I wanted to date him. So, we continued to date, but I was wary about dating someone from work, so I didn't want to get serious. He asked me "where we were" in our relationship and I just said "Oh, I'm just going with the flow"....he did not like that answer at all, so he brought it up the next time we went out. I told him that I thought it was unwise to get too involved with someone at work and it would be awkward if we broke up, etc. He then looked at me like I was crazy and said "But, what if we don't break up and it's wonderful?" I honestly hadn't even thought of that b/c I was so worried about what would happen if we broke up. After that, we were hooked. Even though, he thought I was a total snob....I don't know if I should tell that story or not.... But, I made up for that in wit and looks, right honey? ha ha We started dating the end of October, he met ALL of my family in December, he started going to church with me in February...which was a freakin' miracle b/c he soooooo hated organized religion and let me know right off that he would never go to church. I met his entire family in May and we were engaged in July. We were engaged for 11 months and 15 days. Which seems like a long time, and it was, BUT I had major issues with my dress and it honestly took 10 months to get the things the way I wanted it.

So, since we met, we've never had a fight. Yes, we disagree and get disappointed with each other, but we always talk about it and always get it worked out right away. He is SOOOO good with me. He diffuses me right away before I can blow up. I'm not sure how he manages to do that. He is so fun and is so perfect for me. I could go on and on, but I already posted my "100 things I love about Travis", and don't want to be too redundant. I think he should post 100 things about me...what do you guys think? haha

He is the best father and my best friend in the universe. I never imagined ever being loved the way he loves me, and before I met him, I never knew I could love someone so much. I had been in love before, so I thought I knew what it was, but with him, it was a whole new ballgame. Marrying him was the easiest decision I have ever made. I just knew. I used to HATE when people would tell me that b/c I didn't understand....until I met him. These last 8 years that I've known him have definitely been the best years of my life, hands down, and I am unbelievably thankful for being so blessed.

I love you babe. You rock. AND, you totally make me laugh more than Adam Sandler.

You can hire me for your next b-day party!

2008-06-17T19:48:00.005-04:00

Sydney came home from my Dad's company picnic with all of these long, skinny balloons and a little air pump and wanted me to make her some balloon animals. I, of course, had to try, and figured out that I can make decent balloon dogs and giraffes. I really didn't try anything else except for a butterfly and that was a big flop. Now the neighbor girls on each side of us want me to make them balloon animals. I feel like the neighborhood clown or something. ha ha. Just don't ask me to make anything fancy! Sydney was very impressed with Mommy, so I told her that I would display my "artwork" on my blog. (She is all about putting her picture on my blog). Sydney, Kayla, Sammy and Addyson with their balloon dogs and one pink giraffe.

I took this picture yesterday when the girls were sitting in their chairs all eating a popsicle. Addyson had been sitting down too, but once I had retrieved my camera she had moved to the grass. Oh well.

Father's Day

2008-06-15T19:14:00.011-04:00

Wow. I am so incredibly grateful for the father's in my life.

1. My Dad is so great. I am so grateful for his friendship, love, protectiveness, generosity, spirituality, sense of humor, education and eternal perspective. My love and appreciation for my dad has grown since I've become an adult and a parent. His birthday is coming up next month and I'm going to write more about him then.

2. My wonderful husband and father of our children, Travis. I love him more each minute it seems. I didn't realize the love my heart could hold until after Sydney was born, and I felt like my heart would burst with love for this wonderful man. It was as if seeing him as a father and seeing his love for me and for his daughter just skyrocketed my love for him. I am truly blown away sometimes by the level of love I have for him. I always thought the old cliche' "I love you more than the day I married you", was just that, a cliche', until I got married. :) It really is true. Someone asked me the other day which year of marriage has been the hardest, and I tried to think of one, and couldn't. There hasn't been a hard year of marriage. Marriage to me is so easy. We have never had a "fight". This is ALL due to Travis. As soon as one of us starts to get upset, he automatically lightens the atmosphere. I posted "100 things I love about Travis" on an earlier post, so, I won't repeat myself, but if you didn't get a chance to read it and you want to, check it out.

After Sydney was born.

After Addyson was born. Snow in GA

I love you babe. You're my hunka-hunka-burnin'-love!

Summertime

2008-06-12T21:49:00.007-04:00

Ahhhhhhh....Summer.

This is what our summer has looked like so far.............

Popsicles after every meal.

Water Slide addiction

(this is the water slide at our neighborhood pool, and the girls are addicted to it).Pool, Pool and more Pool. When it's over 90 degrees by 9:00AM, there is really not anywhere else we'd rather be....except maybe the beach.

These are some of Sydney's "best" girl friends from her pre-school.

Ryan Elizabeth, Sydney, Marina and Reece (Ryan Elizabeth's sister) Adult Swim....which is also snack/water break.

Hangin' out with Friends

Movie break: Addyson, Gavin, Sydney, Grayson
Just kickin' back, relaxin'

A Night Downtown

2008-06-08T12:12:00.004-04:00

Alyssa, Todd and Me

I have a friend from high school, Todd Alexander, who is a local artist here in Atlanta. He had an art show last night at his studio downtown at the Mattress Factory Lofts. I hadn't seen him in at least 7 years and it was so great to not only see him, but to meet his family and see his amazing artwork! He is great. I was seriously blown away by his art, and I'm soooo unknowledgeable about art. There were a lot of other artists displaying their art as well and it ranged from amazing (Todd's), to the almost insane. It was really cool, though. I also got to see my great friend, Alyssa, who has been one of my best friends since I was 14. She lives in the city limits of Atlanta as well and we don't get to see each other often, as I'm up in suburbia.
I'm not "into Art" that much, but Todd's art show really makes me want to go back to another show. I'll definitely be at his next show if possible. And, to be honest, if I had had $10,000 to spend on art, I would have bought one of his big pieces.

Todd and his family

Keri, Shellie, Lazette, Me, Alyssa

Of course, I had to bring along my posse....Lazette, Shellie and Keri. After we left the art show, we went out to eat in Atlantic Station at Ashton Kutcher's and Wilmer Valderama's restaurant, Dolce's. The food was fabulous and it wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be. Our waiter was great too. We wanted Dr. Pepper, but the restaurant didn't have any, so he went to Publix and bought us some. Way cool.

Shellie, Keri, Me, Lazette at Dolce's

Lazette, Me, Keri and Shellie grubbin' on some good food.

Different kind of Tag....

2008-05-29T22:19:00.004-04:00

I got this idea from Andrea S., and it made me feel so good when I read her blog, that I hope you will all feel good after reading this too.
Since so many “tags” are about me, I thought I’d copy Andrea S. and follow her “tag” by posting two things I love about those of you on my blog list. (See under “friends with blogs”). So, “friends with blogs”, this is for you who are so dedicated to reading and commenting on my blog. It makes me feel special that you take the time to read snippets of my life, so cheers to you all!

Andrea S. – You gave me this great idea and I just think you are beautiful inside and out. You are not only one of the SWEETEST and most talented people I have ever met, but you have such a great sense of humor and you always crack me up.

Chaunette – You are super creative and are always achieving your goals. You make me want to get my butt in gear and do more.

Emily S. – The first time I met you at Cinco’s you totally cracked me up about being kicked out of Pottery Barn. From then on, I knew I would like you. I admire your job as a labor and delivery nurse and I totally want you to be my nurse the next time I have a baby.

Jessie B. – The more I’ve gotten to know you, the more I think you are so cool. You have an awesome sense of humor and I really want to hang out more.

Jessie G. – You are beautiful and from what I’ve witnessed, you are a great mom and wife. You’re one of those people, like Chaunette, who is always achieving goals and even though I often feel like I could never be the creative home-maker like you are, I feel inspired to be better when I’m around you.

Kari C. – I have too much juice on you to post in two things. Ha ha. I feel like you are another sister even though I haven’t seen you in ages. Even though I can still picture you as little Kari Robbins following “dinosaur” through the halls at church when you were 15, you have impressed me with being such a great mom and such a strong woman.

Mimi K. – Meems, what can I say? You have been a great friend to me and will always hold a special place in my heart. Brass Monkey will live on in my heart forever. J You are one I can be completely myself around and I love ya.

Natalie L. – You just exude talent, and you have been SUCH a great friend. You have one of the most pure singing voices I have ever heard and could listen to it forever. You also have such a cute little laugh, and it’s contagious.

Paula R. – You are super cute and super stylish, and I need you to tutor me on how to look like a million bucks at all times b/c you do. It’s been so fun to get to know the bride of the missionary who helped changed my husband’s life. P.S. – I know you’re a former teacher; so don’t judge my grammatical errors too much!

Rachel D. – You have such a funny sense of humor and I didn’t expect it of you, which made it even better. You are so quick with your comebacks that I’m jealous! J You also make the gosh-darn-BEST chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had!

Rachel H. – I don’t know if I can reduce this to two things, but I’ll try. I feel like you will be my best friend forever and always even though we live a country apart (even if you did almost kill my dad…. he has never forgotten that). You are my soul-sista, and I can be 100% myself (whatever myself is at the time) around you and you will never judge me or stop being my friend, and I cherish our friendship. Wanna make-out now? Ha Ha j/k obviously!

Rachel M. – You are a super nurse and I think you are da bomb. You are so easy to talk to and have a conversation with. I have always felt comfortable around you and you are just cool.

Sam Z. – You are my #1 neighbor and I’m so glad that we are friends. You are thoughtful, funny, down to earth, and so cool (even if you are such a youngin!).

Shaylene L. – I’m so glad that we got back in touch after all of these years! You and Aaron were mine and Travis’s first “church couple”, and it was great for Travis and I to have you in our lives back then. I’m so glad you are back in my life!

Shellie K. – Shell! Homie! Sista! First you are freakin’ hilarious, as everyone knows, but you are also a great listener, great workout buddy, great secret-keeper and just a great friend. I’m so blessed to have you in my life. Peace out. I love your guts.

Sherry D. – You were our first neighbor as a married couple and you were such a great neighbor! You were always so selfless and helped me out so much when I was pregnant with Sydney and after Sydney was born that I will always be indebted to you.

Stacy J. - You are always doing something new and cool and I am always so amazed to find out what you are accomplishing next! I really don’t know how you are a mother of 5 and have 50 different jobs/ projects, etc. going on at the same time. AND you are sane! And your projects/jobs are always great. Your kids are great too. How DO you do it?

Stephanie P. – I miss you!!! I’m still mad that you up and moved to Tennessee, but I can’t be too mad b/c I love you and your family too much. You are so funny and I love your sense of humor. You have GREAT kids who are so well mannered. I love that you have such a strong faith in Jesus Christ and aren’t afraid to “shout it from the mountain tops”. You bring light to everyone who is in contact with you.

Tara P. – You probably won’t read this b/c you haven’t blogged since, what? February? But, I always looked up to you when we were teenagers and thought you were so super cool, and I still do.

Angie K. - I'm so glad that you have a blog now! I love you because you are just REAL. You are a wonderful mother (I adore your kids and want to Sydney to marry Aidan), and you are a wonderful friend. You are so talented and creative and I always have fun spending time with you and your family.

Okay, so if you read my blog and aren’t on my blog list, then let me know b/c I don’t want to leave anyone out! I love all of my Amigos/Amigas! I want to give you a shout out too, so don’t be shy!

Mama

2008-05-24T23:32:00.003-04:00

My wonderful Mom had her birthday a few days ago and I wanted to dedicate this post to her. There are so many things I love about my mom. I'll just name a few (in no particular order).

1. There has NEVER been a doubt in my mind that she loves me, my siblings or my Dad.

2. She's stylish.

3. She never meets a stranger and can strike up a conversation with anyone anywhere.

4. No matter where I am with her, we always run into someone that she knows. I'm not kidding...any state I've ever been in with her there has been someone she's known. Even when she and I went to Ecuador together she ran into a few people from the U.S. that she knew.

5. Little kids and babies LOVE her. She can take anyone's crying baby/kid and make them laugh instantly and make them feel completely comfortable with her. It's amazing. I've tried to watch and learn, but I think it's just something she was born with.

6. She can do anything. Literally, if she decides she wants to do something, she'll find a way to accomplish it.

7. She's sarcastic.

8. She likes to have fun and she likes to make sure the people she's with are having fun.

9. She's bold. She goes after what she wants.

10. She's very creative and has great ideas.

11. She's an awesome teacher.

12. She knows the scriptures so well you would think she was a theologian.

13. She has an unwavering testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel.

14. She loves her family fiercely.

15. She has Parkinson's disease, but you would never know b/c she works out three times a week with a personal trainer and exercises the other days, so that she can move.

16. She's a very strong person with a strong personality.

17. She's a southern belle and did her best to instill that in me....which I love...I'm proud of my southern belle roots.

18. She's thoughtful.

19. If I'm having a bad day, when I talk to her I always feel better.

20. She's become such a great friend to me in my adulthood.

21. She taught me relish the moment and make the most of it and just to have fun in life.

22. She taught me to respect myself and to hold my head high in any situation that life throws at me.

23. She taught me to search for my own beliefs and knowledge and own them.

24. If the dictionary had a description of the "Perfect Mom", her picture would be next to it.

I love Mom so much and am forever grateful for her love for me.

Are we better yet???

2008-05-22T11:15:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I'm a little frustrated to say the least. Addyson, Sydney, and I all have strep throat. That would be bad enough in and of itself, but this is Addyson's 3rd time since April and Sydney's 2nd. They also both have ear infections. They both had one less than a month ago. The pediatrician is like..."It looks like they never got better from their last strep and ear infections...let's put them on a stronger anti-biotic".....duh! Why didn't you put them on the strong one to begin with D.A.! So, my poor little ones have basically had strep and ear infections for a month. Now Mommy has it and no one is happy. I'm such a bear when I'm sick and to top it off, the girls aren't sleeping well, so neither am I. I'm a bigger bear when I haven't had enough sleep. Travis was so sweet yesterday, though, b/c he came home early from work and took the girls out to McDonald's so I could take a nap and not worry about dinner or the girls for a little while.

This leads me to my next story.....

So, Travis hurries and get the girls, puts them in the car and heads off to M.D.'s. He gets there and realizes that he has to pee. So, he has to take both girls into the men's bathroom. He tells Sydney to hold on to Addyson and to not touch anything or let Addyson touch anything. Then he goes over to the urinal. Now, Sydney has only been in the men's bathroom when she had to go potty and I wasn't there. She's never seen a urinal, more or less seen anyone use one. So, while Travis is standing there, he sees Sydney come up by him from the corner of his eye, and she's like...."DADDY! What are you DOING! Are you going tinkle on the WALL???!!" When Travis told me this I just started laughing. SOOOOO funny! He said no one else was in there, which was great. He had to explain to her that this is a special potty for Daddy's when they pee standing up. I just hope she doesn't try it at home.

Girls' Night Out?

2008-05-18T22:52:00.007-04:00

You know you're getting old when you and your girlfriends go "out" to a wedding! HA! Actually, we had a great time. My friends' brother (Lisa's brother) got married, so Shellie, Lazette and I went together to his reception. We had a great time and afterward went to the bar at Cinco's and ordered virgin drinks. The bar-tender totally laughed at us, but we quickly became friends with him and he gave us our drinks and dessert for free. The place was deserted, actually. There were three very drunk people there and then us three. One of the women who was drunk off her gourd kept coming over and talking to us and trying to get Lazette to flirt with her son..... even after we told her Lazette was married, she still kept on and on and on. It was funny. Lazette was just laughing and shaking her head. It was a fun night. The bartender said he would remember us and our "sassy" drinks next time we came in with our families. We'll have to put him to the test. He made a mean virgin pina colada and virgin Mango margarita. :)

The "Fab Five" after the reception.

Shellie, Lazette, Lisa, Keri and me

MoiLazette

ShellieLisa and Aidan

Keri (in the middle) Lazette and the drunk mom
Shell and her "sassy" pina colada
Lazette downing her virgin mango margarita
Me suckin' down a very tame pina colada

The bartender who laughed at us and told us jokes.

Dancing Queen

2008-05-15T20:05:00.005-04:00

Sydney had her dance recital last Saturday. She had two performances...one for ballet and one for tap. She did a great job! I was so proud of her. Travis was out of town, but got to go to the dress rehearsal the day before (which was really bad), but I recorded her performances for him on Saturday which were MUCH better. My Mom, Dad and Memama came as well as my friend, Andrea Busse, and her family. Mom and Dad got her two red roses and Andrea got her an entire bouquet of colorful roses. Andrea made me so proud when she told me that Sydney was the best dancer in her class. Andrea was a dancer all growing up and even into adult-hood, so, needless to say...I was beaming when she told me that. I was only watching Sydney, so I really wasn't watching the rest of the kids!

The first pictures are ones I took when Sydney was getting her "professional" pictures taken and while she was waiting her turn.

These pictures are of her dancing at her dress rehearsal. I didn't get any at her actual recital because I was filming it.

She's looking in the mirror and dancing to the song "I feel pretty". That song has been on my mind all week. All I can think of is the movie "Anger Management" and the car scene where Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson are singing that song. Hilarious.
After the recital she got her award and her flowers.
Gavin Busse, Sydney and Grayson Busse. Sydney has known them since she was 18 months old. The STAR dancer and Mommy.
Sydney and Memama (Sydney is standing on a chair...Memama is short, but not that short).
"Grandma", Sydney and "Grandfather".

Sydney doesn't call them "Annie" and "Poppy" anymore.

Scooby Scooby Dooooo!

2008-05-07T21:33:00.017-04:00

Scooby Doo! Where are you?

Daphne

For Sydney's 4th birthday party she wanted a Scooby Doo party....of course. She's obsessed with Scooby Doo still. So, I decided to have a "Solve the Mystery" party. I think it turned out great and she had so much fun. She always calls me Daphne, so, I had to dress the part, right? It was fun dressing up as Daphne, and Sydney loved it, but some of the other kids kind of freaked out when they saw me with bright orange hair! It took them a little while to realize that it was really just me. Syd's friend, Grayson, asked me why I painted my hair orange. ha ha. I herded all the kids outside on the screened in porch so we could dance to Scooby Doo music, (which Travis burned on a CD for it the night before) and so the kids could color, but REALLY so the kids wouldn't see Travis hiding all of Sydney's presents. I tried to get a picture of everyone, but some of the kids didn't want to gather up, so I don't have a picture of all the kids together.

Travis gave me the signal, so I opened the door, and the kids all ran inside. Sydney noticed right away that the presents were gone. I gathered all the kids up and told them "We have a mystery to solve! Someone has stolen Sydney's presents!". In the place of the presents was a clue that Sydney found, so I read it and they had to play musical chairs to get the next clue, then they had to play "pin the collar on Scooby" to get a clue, then a pinata, then eat cake and icecream, and then they got the last clue to go into the front spare bedroom. The kids all went in looking for clues and then Travis, dressed as a pirate, jumped out at them. They all screamed and I started throwing these soft balls and stuffed animals at him, and so they loved that and really go into it. Only two kids got scared...one was only 2, so she didn't understand. The rest, however, thought it was hilarious. Travis laid down on the ground defeated and one of the kids grabbed the clue, and then we had to "un-mask" the pirate. Sydney thought is was so funny that Daddy was a pirate and the kids got all excited that it was Mr. Travis all along. ha ha. The kids finally found the presents, so we opened them and then played. It only lasted 1 1/2 hours, so it was great. I think it was definitely a success.

Musical Chairs

Pin the collar on Scooby

Another Clue!

Pinata!

Cake and Icecream!

The next clue is in here!

The Pirate stole the presents!!

Hitting the pirate with stuffed animals!

Unmasking the Pirate! It's just Daddy!!Finding the missing presents. (Thanks Andrea for recording this!)

It's amazing how much we parents do to make sure our kids have a good time! Who thought that planning a 4 year old's birthday party could be so much fun! I think I had as much fun as the kids! I think Travis did too. I was so busy that I didn't get a chance to take many pictures, but my friend Elena did, and my friend Andrea actually videoed the party. Isn't that so sweet??? Sydney loved watching it. I'll try and post it on youtube for my in-laws to see. I've never done that, though, so I might need some help from you guys!

Opening the presents!

Sydney Kathleen Jarrard is 4 years old today….May 5, 2008

2008-05-05T20:46:00.011-04:00

Sydney’s birthday party was on Saturday and was a blast, and I’ll post pictures, etc. later on that. Today I can’t believe my little girl is four years old. Was it really that long ago that she was born?? Time sure does fly. Here are 15 things I love about my little Syd. It’s definitely not an all-inclusive list.

1. She is hilarious. She is always talking in funny voices and dancing around and being an “M.C.” to her imaginary audience. The other day I heard her “M.C.-ing” a pretend show and she was saying…. “Now we will have a song from high-school musical performed by the Transformers. Let’s hear it for the Transformers. Everyone get up and dance”. Or she’ll talk like a valley-girl…which is funny because she doesn’t realize she’s talking like one…she’s just mimicking me when I’m being goofy.

2. She says very profound things. She is very mature for her age in a lot of ways.

3. She has a big heart. Whenever she seems someone that doesn’t have a friend or who needs help or is sad, she is so kind to them and tries to include them.

4. She loves to sing.

5. She looks just like her Daddy.

6. I think she is gorgeous.

7. She loves her family and is always hugging and kissing us.

8. She is a leader. I see her with her friends and they all follow her around.

9. She is strong willed – which is not so great at this age, but I’m so glad that she is as it will be great for her when she gets older.

10. She’s independent. She’s not shy and is always eager to meet new people and new friends.

11. She’s well behaved when I’m not around. It’s so comforting to know that she will behave when I’m not around to tell her to. She’s actually much better when I’m not there.

12. She has the best memory of anyone I know. I have to be VERY careful never to make empty promises to her because she never forgets… not even a year later. It’s crazy.

13. She loves for me to read the scriptures to her. She remembers the stories and talks about them at random times.

14. She loves books and we read to her as much as we can. She used to have to sleep with them. She never had a “lovey” like a blanket or a stuffed animal…it was her books. She had to sleep with them and have them around wherever she went.

15. She says the sweetest prayers. She always thanks Heavenly Father for her family and when she does this, she snuggles up to me and kisses my arm, then goes and snuggles up to Travis. It’s so sweet.

We love you so much Sydney. You are our sweet “baby” girl and we would be lost without you.

Doctor Creepy

2008-04-29T23:18:00.002-04:00

For those of you you who don't know...I've been having to go through series of tests to determine whether or not I have a thyroid disease. My internist thought I did after doing numerous blood tests, so he sent me to an endocrinologist. I guess those kinds of doctors are hard to get in to b/c I had to wait a month or more to get an appointment. The doctor that they recommended was actually booked until October, so I went with the one that was the least busy. Mistake? Maybe. So, I go in today...I got there very early b/c they told me to. My appointment was at 3:00pm, and I had to fast all day, so I was a little irritable (Kate without food = cranky lady). I brought my book with me, however, so the wait seemed less torturous. The doctor comes in and at first sight I was totally grossed out. Seriously. It was like a movie...."Kate meets the blob" or "Attack of Dr. Blob". This was me in my head....."This is my doctor? He's totally obese with a gray bob for a hair cut. He's a diabetes/thyroid doctor....isn't he supposed to be a role model to his patients and be healthy? He can hardly breathe!" So, he sits down and looks through my paperwork for like 5 minutes. I'm just sitting there waiting.

Dr. "hmmmm....interesting"

2 more minutes go by

Dr.: "hmmmm"

2 more minutes

Dr.: nothing

2 more minutes

Dr.: "so, why are you here to see us today?"

Kate's thoughts: "Didn't you just spend the last five minutes reading my paperwork? Can you not read?"

Kate: Um, because my doctor said I had abnormal thyroid readings and needed to see you. It's all on my paper work.

Dr.: So, why did you doctor send you here?

Kate: Because you're a specialist and he thinks I need a specialist in the thyroid area.

Dr.: So......

2 more minutes go by.

I'm not kidding...it was like this for 10 minutes. He's wasting my time here.

Kate: Can you just tell me what you guys think is wrong with me and what I need to do at this point?

Dr.: The test results are inconclusive.

silence

Kate: so, what do I need to do? Are you going to do more tests, am I fine....?

Dr." Um........Have you been online researching thyroid issues.

Kate: kind of, but do I have a thyroid issue? What kind of thyroid issue?

Dr.:"Yeah, most people are on the internet before coming in here".

Silence

Kate: "so....where do I go from here?"

Dr.: "What are your symptoms?"

Kate: I tell him.

Dr." well, those are incongruent with your blood tests"

Kate: "So, what is causing my symptoms".

Dr.: "I have no idea"

Silence

Kate: "could it be this or that, etc."

Dr.: "I don't know".

Kate: "So, if my tests results say one thing, but my symptoms are different, then what does that mean?"

Dr.:"There is really no way to tell".

Kate: WHAT?!!!! WHY AM I FREAKING HERE THEN????!!!!! I really didn't say that, but wanted to.

Dr.: "Well, it looks like your TSI levels are high and your TSH levels are low and you have abnormal tests.

Kate: "So, what does that mean?"

Dr.: he repeats what he just said

Kate: Banging my head against the wall...or wanting to.

Kate: "I'm sorry, but I don't know what that means".

Dr.: "We need to do more blood tests"

And he just sits there for like 2 minutes. I'm seriously going insane.

Kate: "okay, so let's do the blood tests"

Dr.: "Let me check your heart beat and your neck for any thyroid protrusion. You'll need to turn around and I'll be behind you and check you out from behind."

Kate: on the inside I was freaking out. Dr. Blob is coming at me from behind!!!! AHHHHH!

Dr.: Okay.

Silence

Kate: Great. so....what now?

Dr.: I need to do one more test. and he leaves for about 5 minutes.

Kate: ugh!!!!!!!

Finally he comes back in and just rambles on about nothing related to my problem.

Kate: "My husband and I want to start trying to get pregnant, so is it safe for me to do so?"

Dr.: "Well, as long as these tests come out okay and then you'll have to be tested every month of your pregnancy to make sure the thyroid doesn't get worse, but sure, go ahead and get pregnant."

Kate: "okay, so is that it?"

Dr: "Oh, let me get you some information"

5 minutes later

Dr.: "read this and go and get your blood test".

Kate: Okay....where do I go?

Dr.: "oh, across the hall to check out then on the other side of the building.

Kate: JUST LET ME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I still have no idea what is going on with me.

He didn't even shake my hand or anything...not that I wanted to shake his hand, but still. He was soooo creepy and I can't even describe it. I tried, but it doesn't even come close. He couldn't even make a complete sentence. I felt like he had Paula Abdul's brain. I was finishing his sentences b/c he would just stop short of the end of the sentence, so I would just guess what he was trying to tell me. I'm more confused about what's wrong with me now than when I went in.

I know this was a boring post, but I had to get it out. I was going nuts today.

Wish me luck on my blood test results!!

Randoms

2008-04-25T11:04:00.002-04:00

My grandmother, who we call Memama, turned 89 a few days ago, so I wanted to share with you some pictures of her birthday. My mom got her a very cute dress, that I had to have her model for us!

Cute Memama!

I took this picture of Addyson vacuuming the kitchen for me. She loves to do it.

Sydney was "Daphne" from Scooby Doo for "crazy hat day" at school. We didn't have any crazy hats, but I had borrowed this wig and she wanted to wear it. So cute. She was so excited to be Daphne.

Of course Addyson wanted to try it on when Sydney got home from school. One day you'll have real hair Addyson!!

Any word but that one....

2008-04-23T20:25:00.003-04:00

Ya know how I was horrified by Sydney saying "porn"....well, today she decided to rhyme with "bucket" and the only letter she used to rhyme with was an "F". Need I say more?? ughh.

Airhead moment of the year....

2008-04-19T21:13:00.004-04:00

I really think these blond highlights I have in my hair are making me more of an airhead...I didn't need much more help in that department anyway, but today I could have been the subject of a blond joke. Granted, when I'm pregnant, I have one or two of these moments A DAY, but I'm not pregnant, but my brain must think I am and must be shrinking.

So, I'm at Adler's birthday party with my girls. The kids are all riding a little train around the neighborhood (except Addyson) and the adults are chatting. Brittany A. randomly asks me... "hey, Kate, what's up with the shoes?" I'm looking at Addyson's shoes trying to figure out what she is talking about.

Kate: "What are you talking about?"

Britt: "The shoes, what's up with the shoes?"

Kate: still looking at Addyson's shoes...."What?"

Britt: "What's the story behind your shoes?"

So, I look at my shoes and I have on two totally different sandals! One is black and has a little heel and the other is a brown ugly strappy kind of sandal that is flat. I had NO IDEA that I had on two different shoes!! I was totally shocked and just started laughing, along with everyone else around, except Brittany, who is so nice that she felt bad b/c she thought she had embarrassed me. I had been walking around on them for at least 45 minutes. After I realized this fashion disaster, it then occurred to me why my legs were so uncomfortable and why I was limping.....b/c one shoe was flat and one had a little heel. Seriously....is that not the DUMBEST thing you've heard this week that someone has done!

I couldn't wait to tell Travis what a dork I was.....he was out golfing all day, so I had to wait until 6:00 to tell him! He was laughing hysterically too and asked me if I was drunk at the party.

Nice, Travis.

I have to add some "Sydney sayings" as well....just can't resist.

The other day when we were visiting my grandma "Memama" at her assisted living home, a rather large nurse was sitting on the ground cleaning out a cabinet. It took her a while to get up off the ground...Sydney was watching all of this with a questioning look on her face. As soon as the nurse stood up, Sydney loudly asks...."Why is your belly SO BIG?!" Nice, Sydney.

This one made Travis so proud. After he got home from a golf tournament he was in today, he told us that he won $60 for coming in 2nd place. Sydney then asked...."So, did you have to go into that little house and sign the paper, so you knew you did a good job? and then did you get a green jacket?"

If any of you watched the Master's golf tournament last weekend, then you totally get this...if you didn't, then....I'm not going to explain it.

Travis was so proud of Sydney for paying attention to the Master's. We had no clue that she was even watching it.

Ahhhh...how I wish Travis had gone into that little house, signed those papers and gotten a green jacket....we would be filthy rich! Just insert Travis's picture here....

And one final thing I thought was hilarious....

My wonderful husband, Travis, has a very loud, deep voice that carries. When he teaches class, there is really no way a kid can fall asleep. The teachers next to him can clearly hear him through their cinder block walls. Well, one day he comes home and tells me that one of his students had told him that he is too loud. My response...."So, you're loud, what's new?". Then he said...well, it wasn't just any student...it was my DEAF student. I literally almost fell down laughing. My husband is too loud for deaf people. Now, tell me that's not funny.

And people wonder why my girls are so loud!!! They didn't have a chance.

What did she say??

2008-04-16T11:12:00.003-04:00

Sydney likes to make up her own languages ALL the time. She usually starts saying something and then just rhymes. Her words don't make any sense. She'll start off saying something like...corn, horn, sorn, zorn rikorn, susorn, and the latest she loves to say is PORN! So, Travis and I are like..."Sydney, you can't say the word porn b/c it's bad.", but we'll hear it again in a song and have to say..."Sydney, I love your song, but remember, we don't say the word Porn". The thing is, as all of you know that know Sydney, is that the child has no quiet/indoor voice. Her voice is very deep, very loud and carries very well. I'm just waiting to get a call from her pre-school teacher telling me that Sydney is saying porn. And you know....so many people will think..."hmmmm I wonder where she heard THAT word"...and you know they'll be thinking that Travis and I talk about porn or something. ugh!!!

When we were at Disney, we had to wait in many cramped-spaced lines. On one ride in particular...can't remember the line...Addyson was digging in her nose, pulled out a booger and wiped it on my mouth. It was so gross! I started saying...eeewwww...Addyson!! Sydney, of course asked what happened, so I told her that Addyson wiped a booger on mommy's mouth. She then started laughing and turning to everyone around her and said..."Excuse me, but my baby sister just put a booger in my mom's mouth! hahahahah". Lovely Sydney. Thanks for sharing. They were all just staring at me like..."that's so gross...why is this little girl telling us this?"

One day a few months ago, I was holding Sydney and she said..."Mom, I really like your cups, I want some cups" (That's what she calls my boobs), and I said, well, one day when you get a lot older, you'll get some too, but little girls aren't supposed to have them. So, the next day when we were out shopping, she pulls up her shirt, starts rubbing her nipples and says (in her loud voice for everyone to hear)...."Mom! I think I'm getting cups just like you...look! Look at my cups! Am I getting any??" Ladies were just walking by me giggling. I had to stop and explain again that girls don't pull up their shirts and certainly don't rub their chests, and that she isn't getting any cups yet and it won't be for a long time.

Now an entirely different subject. As you know, I was gone for a week, and I get back and I feel completely overwhelmed that I have to catch up on my blog reading! I feel so out of touch with my blogging friends. I just haven't had time to read their blogs and update myself. Now, logically, I find this really ridiculous that I feel the need to go and read everyone's posts since last Saturday, but I feel so much pressure. It's imaginary pressure that I'm putting on myself. Seriously, Kate...you are toooooooo weird. But, it's there. So, to all of you whom I haven't left a comment on your blogs lately...sorry...I might get there someday!

Disney World and SOOOO many pictures!

2008-04-15T12:53:00.009-04:00

We're back! We had such a fantastic time and I took WAY too many pictures, but I'm only posting a few! I know, it's still a lot. I'm not the best photographer or have the best camera, but these are still fun for me to look at!! I hope you enjoy as well. We first went to Seaworld where the girls had a blast seeing Shamu and the dolphins, the sharks, fish, penguins and more. They loved every minute of it. Sydney loved barking like the sealions, and barked almost as loud as they did! (see picture below). So, these first pictures are us as Seaworld.

Next Stop...Magic Kingdom... and it really is still magic!!

I think I love it just as much as the kids. We did have to stand in massive lines, however, due to the spring break crowd, but Travis got all the fast-passes that he could, so we did okay. We had to stand in three very long lines, however, to meet all of the princesses, but for Sydney, it was sooooo worth it. Sydney was also so excited to finally see the "magic castle" that's at the beginning of all her Disney movies. She couldn't wait to see Tinkerbell fly off the castle that night either. Although we had a blast, as I looked around at all of the kids asleep in their strollers and then at mine who were fully awake for almost 16 hours, I couldn't help but wonder...."What is wrong with my kids!" Addyson would NOT fall asleep in the stroller. She would start nodding off and just fight back the sleep. She didn't want to miss anything! We stayed until the park closed at 11:00 or a little later. After waiting for the ferry, we got in the car around 11:30, and the kids were out before the car started I think. Travis and I had gone to Disneyland out in CA before Sydney was born and I had forgotten how much bigger Disney World actually is. I was definitely overwhelmed when we walked through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, but in a good way. Thank goodness we had our planner, Travis, with us!!

Sydney was so excited to meet all of the princesses!

After our first "princess line", Sydney was a little disappointed that her favorite princesses, Ariel and Jasmine, weren't in the group, so, Mommy, of course was determined to make Sydney's "dreams come true". She was sooooo excited and just so enamored with Jasmine and especially Alladin!
Waiting for Ariel was long for me, but Sydney was able to play in the water with other kiddos while we waited and she got soaked! She had a blast. Travis had taken Addyson for a ride in her stroller while getting fast passes for us. I was so glad that this was the last line for princesses, but after seeing how giddy Sydney was while talking to Ariel, I totally would've stood in another line to meet one if Sydney has wanted to. She thought it was hilarious that Ariel started combing her hair with a "dingelhopper", and then proceeded to comb Sydney's hair with the fork as well.

We actually got some rides in too! Can you believe it?? Peter Pan was Sydney's favorite by far, but she loved all the ones we went on at Magic Kingdom except she got a little scared in the Haunted Mansion. It's a lot scarier now than it was when I was a kid. My favorite was Pirates of the Carribean...and now that they've added Capt. Jack Sparrow, it's even better. I kept waiting to see Orlando Bloom, but, alas, no William Turner!

I started to get a little burned...you can tell a little in this picture! But we sprayed the kids religiously, so they didn't get burned at all.

It was a long day and the kids were beat, and so were we, but the fireworks show and the the castle changing colors was so great and the girls loved it. I can't wait to go back!!!

Next Stop...Animal Kingdom!

I had never been to Animal Kingdom before and it was soooo great. The safari ride was the best, but Dinosaur land was great too. There were so many things to do that we just couldn't fit everything in. The girls LOVED seeing all of the animals....even Pluto! But, the real animals were the best. Sydney's favorite, though, was climbing on this dinosaur statue and jumping or sliding off. We were there forever. Addyson liked it too.

The picture above is of Sydney dancing at the Lion King show.

The dinosaur above is the one that Sydney loved. We totally need one for our backyard. The kids would play there for hours!!

The next pictures are of the kids digging for dinosaur bones. What a great idea! They had a blast!

Sydney entertained us the ENTIRE trip by singing her made up songs, so she thought it was great to have the drums to play. We had such a great time, as does everyone, I'm sure, in DisneyWorld. It's just so magical and it's not just for kids. There are so many things for adults to do too (not that we had time to actually DO any of those things..haha), but it's just great. Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

I miss Disney!