What to do at home all day!

Sometimes I need a day to just stay home and rest.  We had a day like that yesterday.  We just played inside, did laundry, cleaned, dressed up and recovered from the fun weekend we had. 

This is a little of what went on!!

Selah insisted on having EVERY bow she could find in her hair.

Then she proceeded to use her phone as a camera just like mommy!

We got out our "jewelries" and dressed up.

And that is pretty much what girls do all day at this house!

Disney Duds, Dora Panties and more

We're in full blown Disney planning mode and I'm making a few new outfits for the girls with the help of my sweet friend Jenn.  Here is a sneak peak...

The dress Sophie is wearing is also one I finally finished just in time for the end of summer.  Still working on the Selah version of this dress!

We had a short but sweet visit from some of our favorite people and Sophie got to get her hands on this little man!

I always have pictures like this of Selah.  She has always enjoyed wearing "Sosie's pannies" outside her clothes.  =)

She is a hot mess!

Sophie during her 3 hour stomach bug.  So glad it didnt' last long! 

Indoor photography in my house is a CHALLENGE to say the least because we have terrible lighting most of the day, so please excuse the "photography" if you could call it that!

Hope to be back Monday with some fun pics from this weekend!

Fake Smile

Alright, here it is!  This is my very own signature "fake smile."  I'm not sure how long I hung onto this gem, but I remember it driving my mom crazy.  Why didn't I just stop?  Why couldn't I just smile normally?  I am not sure... But, it must be genetic because Sophie apparently inherited it from me, she just put her own spin on it.  Oh well, maybe by the time she takes her high school graduation pictures, she'll have outgrown it!

Abby - upper lip tuck smile

Sophie - lazy eye, don't show your teeth smile=)

Picture of me at 4

Wow, so I stole this picture from Elaine's blog. I am on the right and Elaine is on the left.  I am guessing she is one and I am four.  That would make me the same age as Sophie is right now!  I am not seeing too much resemblance except in the eyes.   And for those of you who read my previous post where I whined about my kids not cooperating and smiling for the camera, the word payback comes to mind.  I'll have to find a picture of me doing my very own unique fake smile that I always did where I curled my upper lip under.  My mom LOVED that.  Imagine a world without digital cameras... I wouldn't have a single decent picture of my kids.  Thank Goodness for Digital!

Great Last Minute Deal on Christmas Cards!!

I've been back and forth on whether or not to do Christmas Cards this year.  Mainly because we just don't have a great family picture to use.  I know, I know.  I've taken no less than 10,000 pictures of my kids this year, but somehow Trey and I managed to be in about 5 total.  In those 5 pictures, someone's either picking their nose, screaming, fake smiling or looking lazy eyed.  I'll have to post a few of my recent attempts to at least get a picture of the girls together.  Pretty funny.  Too bad you can't see the steam coming out of my ears as I was trying to take these pictures.  Trying to get a "wild woman" 15 month old and a "fake smiler" 4 year old to sit still and smile beautifully is pretty much impossible especially when you are alone!

So, rather than buy the cards where you just stick a picture on with tape and voila, I had to use shutterfly.com to create a card with multiple pictures, since I only had good individual shots. 

So Here's the DEAL!

Holiday cards are 20% off anyway right now, so I chose to buy 50 of the 5x7 photocards.

First - HOLIDAY30 to get free shipping on an order of $30 +.

Then - I used a coupon code from a home mailer, but I just found one even better - "fifteenoff" to give you $15 off your total order.

Last - BORDERSOFFERPP will give you 25 free 4x6 prints with your order!

Not too shabby.

I got 50 Christmas cards with 4 photos on the card and 25 prints for a grand total of $23.

Here's a few bloopers from my latest picture of the girls together.

This is the classic "lazy eye, fake smile" that Sophie does when she's trying real hard, topped off with a little "blank stare" from Selah.

While this one is cute of Sophie, Selah seems to be eating my lens cap and refuses to sit down.

This was actually cute.  I told them to look for Santa. 

I think Selah is just going "hot, hot, hot!" looking at the fireplace.

This picture all around just did not work. 

I guess Selah was letting Sophie know to back away from the rocking horse!

After much frustration, Selah all out tackled Sophie who was lying limp with picture exhaustion on the hearth.

If you know my kids, then you know the little one is the fiesty one.

This too was sweet!  Selah taking a time out to give mommy a "kiss."

Watch out though!

Sometimes she'll throw in a little drool or surprise you with an open mouth kiss at the last second!

These are actually much funnier now when I am not behind the camera foaming at the mouth, bribing them with treats and then begging them to sit down and smile.  Gosh, with that scenario, I am shocked we didn't get a keeper.  Note to self:  next time, fewer props, more candy and lots of helpers!  Better yet, just let someone else take the pictures!

I'll do it myself

You know when you ask your husband to do something "handy" around the house and he nods "yeah, i'll get to it" but never does.  Well, I am not patient enough to wait around, so I usually try to "do it myself." 
The end results of my latest projects include but are not limited to:
-unnecessary holes in walls, cabinets, columns on front of house
-mismatched planters hanging outside
-kitchen cabinets that are "adult proof" as well as "baby proof" 

Next time, maybe he'll listen. =)

Little Mommies

We took the girls to play over at Nana and Pop's the other day. Sophie rode her bike and she let Selah play in her car.

She loves dolls lately!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Going for a walk.  I said she loves them, not that she's always gentle with them=)

Sometimes she drags them by the hair.

Sometimes she loves on them which gives me hope that she can learn to be "gentle".

Check out those lashes.

She gets them from her Daddy.

Funny face.

Driving tips.

Sweet Big Sister.

Had to post these chubby legs!

Would've posted more Sophie pics but she kept saying, "no more pictures mommy."  She is a little camera shy lately!

Citizen's Arrest -Crazy Drama!

Something crazy happened today that I thought might be blog worthy!

Trey and I took the girls to Whole Foods to get a pumpkin and as we were leaving and getting onto 280 the light turned green but the cars in front of us never moved (we were way back in line). 
Then the guy in front of us starts backing up and trying to go around the car in front of him which was not moving.  We followed his lead, but just as we were passing the stopped car, I looked over to see a girl in the driver's seat slumped over like she was unconscious!  I screamed and Trey stopped the car.  I immediately jumped out and ran over to her window. 

"The guy" in front of us had stopped too.  He was already standing by her car staring at her limp body through the window.  I looked at him and asked, "Is it locked?" He shrugged, so I pulled on the door handle and it opened.  I guess she was passed out against the door because as I opened it she woke up, lifted her head and looked at me in a very confused way.  A cloud of funny smelling smoke also hit me in the face right about this time.  Not to jump to conclusions, but my first thought was, "this chick is either drunk or high".  It did not appear she was having some kind of medically related episode.  She looked ROUGH and when I say rough I mean rough.  After one look at her, I turned my head to "the guy" and told him to call the cops, which he promptly did. 
I asked her if she was okay and she mumbled something about being tired and having company over this weekend.  I guess it's possible she "fell asleep" but it looked more like "passed out" to me, just sayin... At this time I noticed that not only was she mumbling and disoriented, but she was shaking pretty bad in her hands and legs.  I asked her if she had any medical conditions and she told me she had anxiety.  I told her she should get out of the car and she kept saying her boyfriend lived closeby and she'd just drive over to his house.  To which I responded, "Um sweety, you were just passed out in your car, I don't think you should be driving."  She started to become agitated and nervous and I could tell she wanted to get out of there.  She kept saying she was fine and started fumbling around in her car for something.  But I was not about to walk off and tell her to have a nice day.  It really seemed like she was on something and I was afraid she was going to hurt someone or herself.  I asked her if she could call someone to pick her up and she told me her boyfriend was on his way to pick her up.  (Sorry sista, I've been standing here the whole time, you haven't made any phone calls to your boyfriend).  She said, "Well I'll just move my car over there."  I told her that was a bad idea and asked her if I could move her car for her.  She looked at "the guy" and said to me, "Who is he talking to?"  I said he'd called 911 to get a paremedic which was partially true.  At this point I was just stalling because I wanted the police to get there and figure out what was going on.  She started to get panicky and you could tell she wanted to get the heck out of there.  Thankfully we had a nice traffic jam keeping her blocked in.  As the light turned green again, cars started moving and she closed her door and started backing up the turn lane.  When she couldn't go any further, she put it in park, put the hazards on, grabbed some stuff out of the car and walked very briskly towards the front of Whole Foods.  Thankfully the police came swooping in at that exact moment with full lights and sirens.  They were just in time to get a peek of her going around the corner in front of Whole Foods. 
"The guy" had been slowly backing away from the car and had been on the phone the whole time with 911(had gotten her tag number in case she bolted) and had been telling the police what was going on.  Once I saw the police round the corner to Whole Foods I looked at him and told him I was leaving.  He waved thanks and stayed on the phone. 
In the end, I didn't get to have to make my citizens arrest after all.  But I am glad the police arrived quickly and hopefully caught her before she did any damage.  I so wanted to drive back around though to make sure!  But I knew Trey wouldn't go for that.  The rest of the car ride, we got to answer a LOT of questions from Sophie who I am sure was wondering what in the world mommy was doing!  I think we ended up explaining something about bad medicine and adults making bad decisions...

***In case you were wondering, Yes! my husband was sitting in the car watching all of this unfold. He later told me that he had been trying to move the car out of the way of traffic and by the time he had moved it, he looked up and she was awake and talking, so he decided she was fine and to stay put in the car with the kiddos. I guess the "super nurse"(LOL) in me had beaten him to the scene, but the "discerning doctor" in him told him she did not need medical attention. ***

Enter at your own risk...

We got a security system yesterday which I am SO HAPPY about especially with Trey being gone so much. I have never felt the need for one before, but recently I have wanted a little extra security.
We got a great deal from ADT with a $49 installation and only a 1 year contract. I am very relieved that it is now installed and fully operational.
However, as a cheaper alternative, Trey seemed to think placing this sign outside would have been just as effective. Beware intruders! We do have a double barrel shotgun and apparently Trey isn't afraid to use it.... HAHAHAHAHA=)

Ha-larious!

Elaine sent this to me... so funny especially if you have a baby this age and picture their face up there
http://www.evianliveyoung.com/#/en/4-Home

Sleeping Beauty

My sweet little Sophie's first ballet recital was Thursday night at Briarwood. The name of it was "A Royal Tea Party" and all the classes were different princesses. Sophie's class was Sleeping Beauty. The evening began with makeup, a ballet bun and a precious pink costume complete with a tutu. We arrived early for their dress rehearsal. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I was the crazy mom waiting first in line at the door so that we could get good seats when they opened the door.

We sat down about thirty minutes early and waited for the pitter patter of little ballet slippers to enter the auditorium. When the girls arrived, however, there was no pitter patter to be heard over the silly giggles, talking, and "hey mommy" from every single one of them.

When the recital began they all gathered on stage and sang a song together. Hearing 50 sweet little voices singing "Come into my heart Lord Jesus" was so sweet. After the singing came the dancing. Now, all along, Sophie has been much more excited about her costume and makeup than the actual dancing. I knew that going into this so I wasn't sure what to expect. She was absolutely precious though and I think she did a great job even if she did march to the beat of her own drum! Watch and you'll see what I mean... At the end, no recital would be complete without flowers and a ballerina musical jewelry box. All in all it was a great first recital!

You have to watch this....

This is Sophie reading Selah a bedtime story. There are so many little funny things happening in this clip, I was so glad I was videoing. I know we'll watch this many times in the future and laugh. I love my precious girls! You'll have to pause the musicplayer on the right side of the page to hear the video. (My favorite part is when sophie says, " I don't think this is safe. Is this safe?") Happy watching!

Beach Drama 2008

Family Beach Trips are always full of ups and downs. This year was no different. . . . .



Let's start with the basic components of this trip:
1. Great-grandparents in their 70s that don't like sun/sand. Check!

2. Father in law who just had knee surgery and no elevator. Check!

3. 5 hour car trip with a 2 year old and a pregnant woman. Check!

4. A condo that ended up being 3/4 mile away from the beach. Check!

It all worked out in the end and we had a great time. We did end up having to leave our original condo in Blue Mountain Beach and drive to Gulf Shores. But, my parents graciously let us stay in their new condo which was actually on the beach. We were a little tight, but isn't that what family trips are about? And, after driving back and forth, we were ecstatic to be able to see the ocean and sand at all from our condo. Thanks mom and dad!





Here is Sophie when we were in Blue Mountain. She is preparing for that first day at the beach. I promise she had a bathing suit on. She has all the necessary items for enjoying a day at the beach. Pink sunglasses, pink hat and a dora towel. What else does a 2 year old need?



I love these pictures of Trey and Sophie. The second one reminds me of Forrest Gump when he and his son both tilt their heads to one side.

Sophie loved playing with all her toys and building sand castles. She did however feel the need to rinse the sand off her hands very frequently! She let us braid her hair almost every day, which I loved!

On the way down to go crabbing!

Sophie thought this was the greatest thing ever to get to put her bathing suit on at night and go down to the beach! She was a little scared of the crabs, but she loved having running around with her net and flashlight. Then we went swimming in the pool, which she was probably even more excited about. Having kids at the beach, although not as relaxing, is very fun. You get to relive your own childhood a litle bit!

All in all, it was a great trip. I sure learned a lot of lessons when booking a condo. Never ever let someone tell you "oh yes, it's within walking distance." Ask them how many steps it is to the beach! Apparently 0.8 miles is "walking distance" to some people. I can't wait to go again next year with our new baby! Wow, two kids at the beach, that will be busy!