18 Months Gone in a Moment

I can't believe my beautiful baby is already 18 months old. It seemed like only yesterday I brought my bundle of joy home from the hospital - and here she is walking, talking, and being so independant. Even though it's unfathomable for me to have a 9 year old and an 8 year old, Jada's super speedy jump into toddlerhood has had the biggest impact. It may be because I know that she is my last baby, it may be because I'm older and have appreciated more moments with her, it may be because I've been home spending much more time with her - but not enough to get over how quickly time has flown.

With every new day has brought something new and exciting from Jada. At 10 months old, shortly after learning to walk, she was dancing in front of the TV. Now that dancing has turned into remembering song lyrics and actually singing along to songs. From her first jar of baby food at 5 months old to dinner time with us, eating exactly what we eat on a plate just like ours with a "big girl" fork and spoon. Goodbye are bottles and sippy cups, as she drinks from a regular cup now. I don't even get the chance of rocking my baby to sleep, as she would much rather watch "Bob Bob" (Spongebob) in bed and fall asleep on her own.

I am not sad about all the things that my child has learned to do over the past 18 months, for every day is a new adventure for me, but it's a bittersweet time. Her personality has changed, her laugh lights up a room, and I feel proud to watch her try and put on her own shoes to go play outside. I know at the end of the day that I play a huge part in the molding of this beautiful child that amazes all by her smarts and vocabulary.

I don't want this entire post to be completely about Jada. I have two other wonderfully bright and beautiful children, and with every day of Jada's amazements bring on the truths of how big and grown up my other two children are. The other morning, Payton got Jada up by herself, and Brayden amuses Jada by playing outside with her or in his room. They are getting so grown up themselves. There are times that I want to bang their heads together, for they seem to fight with each other constantly - but I'm reminded of how my brother and I were as kids and know that it's my own dose of fate lurking in the wings telling me what my mother had to deal with when I was a child.

I have truly been blessed with so many things in my life, but my children are the meaning of my life. They are what I wake up in the morning for, go to sleep thinking about at night. They are my savior on stressful days and make me realize why I do the things I do. I strive to be a better person for them, so that in their future they will have someone to look up to. Some people find peace in praying to God, I find peace in talking to my children. Their wisdom, even at these young ages, can put perspective on the most difficult of problems. Their questions often boggle my mind, but their discovery for their own answers makes it even more amazing.

I love you, my children, forever!

Payton as a baby:


Payton now:


Brayden as a baby:


Brayden now:


Jada when she was born:


And my big girl now:

Softball Excitement

So, Payton has played softball for the past 3 years. The year she started, her team won all but one game and made it to the district playoffs. The next year, Payton had to stay on the 8 & under team rather than advancing to the 10 & under team with her team mates. Luckily for her, I coached the 8 & under team last year ;) Well, this year, she's on the 10 & under team, but the coach has gone to another team - so she's back with her original team mates, but not the original coach.

Ok, now I'm just plain rambling...ugh...anyways, Payton's team this season has only won 1 game and tied 1 game - they've lost all of the others. Last nite was the first night of the league tournament. The parents all figured, for sure, that it would be the only night that our girls got to play - due to their current standing. Well, we were WRONG!!! Our team played one heck of a game last night. Payton got to play catcher, a spot that she is VERY good at - but for some reason didn't get to play all season...but that's another story all together, don't get me started.

So, not only did they win - but they won 9-5!! The most runs they've scored in a single game all season. Every single girl on the team got at least 1 run. It was so exciting - I just had to share!! The next round of the tournament is on Thursday, but I have to be in Fayetteville all afternoon and don't know if I'm going to make it back in time. I sure hope so - cause I really don't want to miss that game. Will let you all know how it goes. :)

Zoo Trip - 2009

On Thursday, we took our annual zoo trip. I was really excited about it this year because even though Jada went last year - she was only 6 months old, so it wasn't really fun for her. This year, however, she got to walk around and enjoy looking at all the animals.

We went, like we do every year, with my parents - but my cousin and her husband and her new baby also went. This usually wouldn't of bothered me, but this year everything took so long I really wished we had just gone alone. It's not that we didn't have fun, cause we did, but it just seemed like we spent so long at each exhibit that Jada got impatient - and we found ourselves with a very cranky baby by 3pm.

Crankiness aside, Jada absolutely had a blast. She was so fascinated with seeing all the animals. We were really lucky cause it was a beautiful day, not too hot, so most of the animals were outside and visable. Jada's favorite exhibits were the elephants and the petting zoo. In the elephant exhibit, one of the elephants walked right up to the glass and stuck it's trunk up to it. Jada laughed so hard at seeing this huge animal right in front of her face. She got a little pissed when she realized she couldn't touch it though...LOL

Jada has always loved animals - so the petting zoo was great for her. She got to get up close and personal to some goats and sheep. That child had absolutely no fear walking up and petting each of the animals - it was very cute. She also enjoyed riding the carosel and the train. Here are a few pics of our fun day out"

Be Careful When Joking!

Mondays are most usually blah days, anyways, but today takes the biscuit!

This summer, I only have to work 2 days a week - Mondays and Tuesdays. I don't mind too much, but the days are long and the work is slow because not many people take summer classes - which means less work for IT to do around here. My main goal is to get thru the day the best I can without falling asleep, but it really makes for a bad day when someone ruins it for you.

This morning, I received a phone call from someone who was having problems getting into their account. No biggie, very common problem. So, I checked her account and made the very common joke "just need to make sure you haven't been fired". She laughs, I laugh, I help her with the problems - call over. An hour later, my boss comes in to tell me that the V.P. of our department received a written complaint about the joke I made to her!! WTF??

Moral to the story - don't joke around!! What I considered a joke got me into a lot of trouble. I'm totally dumbfounded by the whole thing - but now I'm on edge about who I talk to so that I don't offend anyone. Geez...I'm ready for this day to be over!

Allergies - UGH!!

So, I've always been a winter lover - and the main reasons for that? I hate hot weather, and I HATE allergies!! This year, we've had a large amount of rain - which has caused an even heavier amount of growth - which in turn causes a greater amount of pollen...leading to an unbearable onset of my seasonal allergies.


I've dealt with seasonal allgeries since I was a child, and each year they seem to get a little worse. The past few summers, I've ended up in the emergancy room cause of an allergy asthma attack - and I fear that this year will be no different. I've tried every prescription and OTC drug on the market to help with my symptoms - but with no avail. I wake up every morning like I've been beaten in my sleep - two swollen eyes, a swollen and red nose, and severe throbbing pain all over my face and in my head. To make matters worse, this morning I also woke up with a fat lip - because I've now developed blisters on my top lip from blowing my freakin' nose too much.


It's this time of year that I wonder to myself - why the hell am I living in the middle of the woods?? I'm killing myself living here - but unless I move to the other side of the country, I doubt that moving to town would help any.


This is the time of year that I should be enjoying the nice weather, taking the kids out, and making the most of my 3 months off of school. Instead, I dread going outside. I would love to be able to enjoy things like picnics, hiking, playing at the park - and I do - except for the fact that I spend the whole time sneezing, blowing my nose, and trying to see thru my watered and sore eyes.

Oh, well - I've complained long enough - back to my misery. :(