Resolutions for 2013

My New Years Resolutions 2013 edition:

1. Make SURE Colton brushes his teeth everyday. Twice a day. (I know you're cringing at the thought of his skuzzy unbrushed teeth...but try as I may we miss days. Gross, but honest.)
2. Create a new bedtime routine that does not involve back rubs,belly rubs OR the three little pigs.
3. Rent a summer house at the beach for at least a month (holds pinkie up while sipping non-fat latte')
4. Attempt to rid myself of all clutter that is visible to the public.
5. Go outside, even when its hotter than the surface of the sun, for at least an hour a day. 

That's it. I'll be sure to make a quarterly update as to how our progress is going!

Christmas 2012

Honestly I havent been in the mood to blog lately. What with terrible goings on in the world and the pressure of the holidays. I just havent been feeling it. So to get back into the swing of things I give to you our Christmas!

We had...

Matching Jammies:

a spider man bike!!! 

 

Sweater Vests....

& lots of family time fun :)

sickymcsicksters love story

We've been MIA from the blogosphere recently due to multiple illnesses. First it was the flu. Then it was the grumps. Turns out the grumps are actually double ear infections in both kids...fun stuff. While were on the mend let me share our most recent holiday adventure:

Brandon, Nolan & I had the pleasure of attending Coltons class Christmas party on Monday. This is always fun because we get to observe the boy in his natural school habitat. Upon arrival he promptly fell on his face while doing the extremely athletic motion of walking. This was the first indicator that Colton may be the little ladies man. 2 little girls, one twice his height in the only dress up outfit they had that would fit her and the other a teenie little thing with white hair, both rushed to his aid tripping eachother while trying to reach him. He-Man wouldnt accept Big Bertha or Whispies tireless efforts to help him up. This started the trend of the two little girls following him around anywhere he went. Sometimes trailing at a distance, other times getting up close asking him to play or sharing a toy. (He of course was a butt-head to both.) Well turns out Colton prefers older women. While hugging his assistant teacher goodbye he laid a big snotty kiss on her. Pretty sure I heard two little hearts break. Such is life girls...such is life.

WW: Remembering Christmas (2010)

the lazy santa...

Growing up Santa never wrapped my presents. I would wake up and my gifts would be strewn across the couch naked for the world to see. It is my understanding that Santa and the elfs like to wrap gifts for other little boys and girls though. They even get super creative (those crafty elfs...) and give each kid his own individual wrapping paper. Well...not in this house they wont. Santa can just haphazardly throw those presents all about for the world to see and it will be A-ok with me!

You see, this year is the important one. Colton has finally grasped the concept of Christmas and who that fat man is that pulls a B&E on us every year. So whatever we choose to do this year will set the bar. Perhaps that is why I decided to put up our Charlie Brown Christmas tree, rather than our highly complex 9 footer...yup setting that bar nice and low. Although I guess we could have taken it one step further and just gone the Festivus route. Airing of the grievances could have become a lovely family tradition...

Little Music Man

WW: smooches

Santa Success!

perhaps not their best photo...but I'll take paralyzed in fear over crying hysterically anyday!

feed me seymour

Colton is going through some sort of crazy growth spurt. That or he has a tape worm. The kid is eating everything and anything. He begged me to order pizza yesterday (& who doesn't love pizza right?) then he ate FOUR pieces. I tried to cut him off at 2 but he insisted starvation was inevitable if he didn't consume bread and cheese immediately...If it's this bad at 2...whats it gonna be like when he's 16 and Nolans 14? I'm thinking I'll start stock piling pop tarts and Doritos now.

6 hours in the car...

We have returned! Our 6 hour car ride home turned into an all out traffic battle lasting a very long 8 hours...but we made it all in one piece and thats something to be thankful for. Our trip to Maryland was fantastic. We saw family that had yet to meet Nolan and my Auntie Barb made a delicious meal. Fun times. Barb is a photographer and owner of Studio Eleven Photography so we had fun making a little stop motion movie. Very fun. Very exhausting. Now onto the Christmas festivities! Bring it on.

my bff...

My best friend Katie is moving 20 minutes away from me. For the past 7 years she has lived an hour and a half away.

 I. Am. Stoked!!! So without further a due I present to you: Muh BFF

Yayyyy!!!

ketchup face

Were heading out of town for a turkey day adventure. 6 hours in the car...wish us luck!!! Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving :)

 

Creeper TV Characters

Colton has been on a Bob the Builder kick here recently...Its an alright show. But this one character gives me the heebeejeebies

His name is spud. Look away if you need to take a moment.

Why? Why? Why? Did they decide to add his character to a construction show with talking trucks?

This got me thinking about other TV characters that make me uneasy...examples:

 

 

In the wee hours of the morning Nick Jr. likes to play the show Oswald. It. Is. Scary. Disagree? Take a little looksie...

The seal is OK, weenie the dog..eh no biggie. Now please notice the pumpkin head man. He's not the worst. See those paper people in the background? Yeah they're alive.

 

 

I love Sesame Street just as much as the next 80's baby, but you have to admit...

If you ran into this guy at 2 years old you'd freak.

 

 

Which brings me to The Muppets. Honestly I'm not a fan.

Not appealing.

 

 

What about an oldie but a goodie? Mr. Rogers. I have no issue with Senor` Rogers. He rocks. Its his demon puppet Lady Elaine that has inspired plenty of nightmares.

WHYYYYY????

 

Then his human always on the run delivery man/child snatcher

Mr. Mcfeely

nuff said.

 

 

Last but not least is one childhood show we all wish we could forget. Be warned  what you are about to see is disturbing. Mature audiences only.

 

 1 in 3 readers just slammed their laptops shut.

 

 

 

Lately (in pics)

Nolans 1st lesson in trucks



And now his lesson on crashes...



the swede being super swedish



spagetti face and his loyal sidekick tooter



???



I promise we give him a bath at least once a week :P

Nolan 7 mos

WW: naptime

What I didnt know

We were the first of our immediate close friends to have a baby. Then we had another one! Every time someone announces they are expecting, I think back to my life while pregnant with Colton and those first few months as a new mom. I just *wish* I could tell myself what I know now:

1. The greatest day of your life is coming. You will have dirty hair and no make-up on. 
2. Hate to break it, you don't turn out to be one of those all belly pregnant girls.
3. Prepare thyself for the unexpected bumps in the road during pregnancy and delivery. Or at least have a bag packed by 32wks...no seriously go pack.
4. You will fall in love with your husband all over again the day your son is born.
5. Feeling like you're gonna die everyday after work is a good indicator that, indeed, you might die after work! Listen to your body chick!
6. Your family will take turns babysitting you in the hospital. Appreciate them.
7. Just because you think you know about preemie babies from work does not mean you know about YOUR preemie baby. (sidenote: calling your boss while on a pain pump & mag to tell him the nurses stole your baby is a bad idea, see #14)
8. Cloth diapers are a great investment. You rock!
9. When they tell you in the NICU to let the baby rest and quit holding him, ignore them. Cuddle on mama, cuddle on.
10. Speaking of...when wheeled into the NICU just after surgery you will insist on doing the Miss America wave the whole way. Your entire immediate family will see this. So remember elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist...
11. You will go apeshit slightly crazy when you have to leave the baby with your Gammy and go back to work. She loves that baby as much as she loves you; ALOT.
12. One day in the not so far future you get to stay home with your children. For real!
13. It's OK that he isn't even on the growth chart. He's cuter longer.
14. Do yourself a favor and have someone take your phone away from you while in the ICU. Calling your bff 4 different times to tell her you had the baby will one day be an embarrassing story.
15. Your body is never the same, its better!!!
16. You're going to love being a mommy.
17. You're never going to sleep again.
18. Just kidding...
19. But really...
20. Sleep now. Sleep for 12+ hours if you can. Then after you've been awake for a good 3 hours, lay down and take a nap. In your clean no baby puke bed! btw baby puke is gross, your babies puke is grosser. yay!!!

rambles and such

Brandon and I recently stumbled into a conversation about "weird" kids and how different our upbringings were. I never considered my childhood as being different from the norm up until recently. Apparently having a rock collection as a 12 year old girl is not the thing to do. Who knew? By the way, I still have that collection at my moms house and it includes fossilized dinosaur poop. I dare you to say that's not wicked awesome. I also didn't learn to ride a bike until I was 11. Yes ELEVEN. He discovered this while we were vacationing and I attempted to ride on sandy terrain. Car. Car. BRAKE LEIGH ANN BRAKE!  (insert me jumping off and putting the kick stand down...) Per Brandon it is also not usual practice for one to watch The Exorcist in 4th grade or know all the lyrics to every song from The King & I by age 7. Hmm...

My husbands childhood was slightly picturesque. His parents are still married, he grew up on a farm, he ate his pets...SAY WHAAA??? Yeah round the apartment communities I dwelled in growing up we did not have a Bessie milk cow and Pete the dinner steer. nah ah. Brandon also drove a car to the bus stop and has been dove hunting.
True story: We would have meet eventually had our paths not crossed when they did. His Granny and Paw Paw and my Pa Pa Bill grew up together in the same orphanage.  They have literally known each other majority of their lives and have remained friends sharing stories and pictures of Brandon and I throughout all these years. We had no clue when we started dating until Granny put two and two together a few weeks into the relationship. Small world :)

Given our very different (but the same) backgrounds we still agree on our parenting Do's and Don'ts: No, they will not watch life changing terrifying movies at the age of 10. Nor will they have a pet cow (maybe a chicken). Nolan better like rocks because I'm leaving them to him in the will. They'll have to share custody of the dino poop. They're going to ride bikes and even learn to roller blade before middle school. When asked if they can drive a stick shift they will say yes!

and they will be productive members of society who love and respect others and all that good stuff too....

WW: the outdoorsman of the family

curious vs nosey

Colton is at that stage where he can't just accept that something is the way it is. Colton take a bath. Why? Colton eat your dinner. Why? Colton keep all hands feet and noggins in the wagon while it is in motion. But WHYYY? This I understand and it doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that the kids not just curious he's nosey. He doesn't just want to know the facts, he wants juicy details on all the happenings so he can report them back to Nolan (no way that ones spilling any secrets...)

Today our neighbor across the street had a maintenance man of some type at their house. Colton, being the curious kid he is, wanted to know who he was and what he was doing? Oh and of course why his hair was gray, why his truck was white, if he has no teeth like Nolan (his new discovery of Nolans lack of teeth is very disconcerting)??? etc...I was busy feeding the baby and simply told him he was working and I wasn't sure about his age or favorite color. Which then lead to this...

(Colton opens front door and begins to yell at the top of his lungs) Hey worker man!!! Why you doin dat!?!?!? You gots Teef??? His voice was quite alarming as it rang throughout the neighborhood. I made it to the door just in time to catch the I bet you let him play with real hammers and nails in the street too look I've become oh so familiar with. Guess he'll be asking Santa for a monocular this year.

Hangin' @ the patch

Halloween 2012

I present to you:

 

Coltonosaurus & Baby Tigger

 

Halloween 2012

 

 

 

 

WW: Real Monsters!!!!

nightmare on fox street

Brandons birthday was this past Saturday so I decided to throw him a costume b-day bash!

We had spookity themed food...

 

 

 

Matching themed costumes...

 

 

 

All types of pinterest inspired decor...

 

 

 

And of course fun friends!

 

 



 



Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Democracy don't rule the world, You'd better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that's better left unsaid.

-Bob Dylan

October is an important awareness month. We wear pink for breast cancer, we walk for our buddies with Down syndrome, and we talk about domestic violence.

Just the facts ma'am:

1. According to the CDC, domestic (or intimate partner) violence can be any physical, emotional, sexual, or psychological action that one person uses to gain power or control over another.
2. Anyone, anywhere, regardless of age, race or gender, can be affected by intimate partner violence.
3. An average of three women in America die as a result of domestic violence each day.
4. One in four women and one in thirteen men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
5. In the last year, one in 10 teens have reported being physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend.
6. As for women in college, one in five young women have been sexually assaulted.
7. Women age 20 to 24 experience the highest rates of dating and domestic violence.

8. Females ages 16-24 are more vulnerable to intimate partner violence than any other age group.

9. Almost 70% of female rape victims were first raped before the age of 25, and over 40% were first raped before age 18.
10. Young women age 16-24 are victims of rape at almost triple the rate of women age 25-34.
The number of teens physically hurt by a dating partner has not declined between 2001 and 2011. The same is true for the number of teen victims of sexual assault.

They attack the one man with their hate and their shower of weapons. But he is like some rock which stretches into the vast sea and which, exposed to the fury of the winds and beaten against by the waves, endures all the violence.-virgil So this is the month! Go walking while wearing pink and talk about the hard stuff. Especially share some DV info with your kids, your little brother, your neighbor...whoever! Talk to change.

WW: Loading Swag... ████████████████ 1000% Complete.

 

Just a boy and his guitar...

 

 

The REAL most wonderful time???

I really enjoy Halloween. In fact, out of all the holidays I might enjoy Halloween the most. Not for the usual reasons either. Candy is great. Dressing up is fun. Placing my children in a pumpkin patch awkwardly and taking photos is WAY up there on my idea of a good time. Honestly, I really like Halloween because of one thing; It is NOT overwhelming.

I have crashed and burned every Thanksgiving and Christmas since the age of 3.

Why? you say. The holidays are a joyful time full of family togetherness and wonderful imaginings! Every feel good feeling wrapped in shiny paper with a bow!!!

Yeah...no. Every major holiday I have had the privilege of going not to one. not to two. but to at the very least three places to eat drink and be merry. I get so excited and so exhausted all at once that eventually I crash. Like seriously I have a melt down. As in puffy faced crying while eating pumpkin pie speeding down the interstate meltdown. Its go big or go home when it comes to my crazy lady style. My poor kids will one day understand that mommy isn't crying because shes filled with the Christmas spirit...meh. Disclaimer: All family readers, Don't think I do not enjoy our family and the majority of our time together please. I really do!

Halloween on the other hand has zero expectations. Do we see every member of our family on Oct. 31st? Nope! Do we plan and plan for 2 months ahead of time and make elaborate laminated schedules of what we will be doing all day long? Heck no! We go about our daily business, dress the kids up, snap a few photos on the porch and trick or treat the night away. This year Brandon and Colton will be doing the leg work, while Nolan helps me pass out candy. When they return with their spoils we'll inspect and make sure to taste test (making sure Brandon and I eat the poisonous candy of course...a selfless act for the good of the children....) Then we can go to bed. The end. Its over. We don't have to return numerous decorations to the attic. There are no toys. Thank you Lord there are no toys...Just cute pics, the memory of a relaxing fun evening, and that. is. it. I know I know BAH HUMBUG! 

WW: king of the playground

 

WINNER!!!

I'm one of those average people who hardly ever win anything. Its not for lack of trying, I'm just not one of those lucky I win everything don't let me touch you for you might turn to gold people. So you can imagine my amazement when I won not just one but TWO contests this week! Big shout out to one of my favorite blogs Everything and Nothing From Essex (really awesome blog about a lady and her 2 kiddos one of which happens to rock an extra chromosome) for the awesome canvas print (from Photo-Canvas) and Breakformoms.com for my new Holly Yashi necklace!

Oh and I've been approached to do a product review and giveaway myself...not sure if that's the direction I'm wanting this blog to go, but we'll try it out just once for fun. Look for it around December.

Oliver

I have neglected to shine the spotlight on our amazing furball Oliver (aka Ollie).

Background: we have had Oliver for 3.5 years. He was a birthday present from Brandon...3 months early. Then do you know that when my actual birthday came that joker didnt even get me a card??? I got you the dog! Thats one rookie mistake he'll never make again. Anywho, Oliver was born on a farm in the pottery capital of NC. When I spoke to the breeder, I had visions of rolling hills and shih tzu puppies running free with a plethera of biscuits and love. Yeah, no.

Oliver day 1

We arrived at the farm. It was indeed a farm. It had a barn, a house, animals...Only they werent roaming free as the wind blows living the good life. The lady with no teeth took us to the barn and in there were a ton of puppies in cages. One stacked on top of the other. Not just shih tzus either. Pugs, poodles, puggles, chihuahas, all types. Don't get me wrong they werent like the puppy mills on TV or anything. They had tons of food and she kept the cages clean and around back was a free roam area for the mamas and daddys. It was just really really overwhelming. In a cage right on top at eye level there he was. My sweet little 3lb Oliver in a cage with his brother. His brother was a growler and picking on my baby.



Brandon eventually got rid of his bows

Brandon scooped him up payed the woman and we were outta there. On the way home we noticed some things about Ollie that were a little different. Different in an incredibly adorable way that is. #1 his tongue was too big to fit all the way in his mouth. #2 he was missing a few teeth (aka all of them) #3 he was panting pretty hard and had a croupy bark. We got him home and I immediately started treating him like a baby with the croup lol. I stuck his teenie little noggin in the freezer, called his new doctor to get an appt asap & of course snuggled.

The bestest vet ever saw Ollie a good 12 hours later and had some news for us. First thing was he had kennel cough and needed meds asap and no doggie contact for quite some time. Then he mentioned that if we were planning on breeding (never crossed my mind) he wasnt exactly stud material. Turns out that Ollies family tree is probably missing a few branches. Still, that dogs light shines bright and he is the most loyal little fella we could have asked for.

your words matter!

I believe that your day to day conversations are your lasting message. I talk about this IRL often with my sisters and their friends. I have zero problems talking about this with a rocket scientist should the need ever arise. Please allow me to take a moment and be a lil bit serious guys...

Imagine that you have brown eyes and the mass majority of the rest of the world have blue. You can't help that you were born with brown eyes can you? Maybe you were born with blue eyes then woke up at 12 years old and suddenly had brown? Your eyes may set you apart from the blue eyed people, but they do not make you less of a person do they? Now imagine that instead of using the word "ugly" to describe something unattractive, the blue eyed people say "that is SO brown eyes!" How would that make you feel? How would that make your blue eyed mom and dad feel? or your brothers and sisters? your friends? Anyone who believes your eyes are indeed unique and beautiful.

Now imagine that you have a subtype of intellectual disability. Lets say it's clinically diagnosed as mental retardation. You may have been born this way or maybe you sustained an injury. The mass majority of the rest of the world do not have your diagnosis. You are no less of a person because you've been diagnosed are you? Now think about how many times you or others you communicate with regularly have said "that is SO retarded!" In place of the word silly or "stupid." Get where I'm going with this? Just like it would be wrong to insinuate that someone with brown eyes is unattractive, it is wrong to insinuate that a person with a certain diagnosis is not intelligent. 

What I'm getting at is to make yourself aware. Although society does not react the same way they might if you were to use a racist slur or shout 4 letter words from the rooftops. It's still not nice and can genuinely hurt people and the ones who love them the most. Also, if you think people are just overly sensitive and trying to take away your 1st amendment rights, yada yada yada... you're not picking up what I'm throwing down here so you might wanna quit reading muh blog mmk.

I just wanted to put that one out there into the universe after hearing 3 people on 3 separate occasions this past week use the word retarded to describe something they deemed to not be working correctly or someone acting silly. So now you can't say you didnt know!

WW: Bring on the trick or treaters!

Talent Corner: Timeless Dreams Photography

We recently had some family photos taken by the awesome sister duo Jennie & Kristi of Timeless Dreams Photography . We were only prepared to take pics of the kids so can you imagine that our angels refused to participate without us?!?! hah. Well it turned out that maybe this time kiddos knew best. The #1 reason I really enjoy these pics is because we look like us. We aren't all matchy matchy with perfect hair and non-flip flop feet. We just are what we are. When I look back I don't want an unrealistic picture of what it was like.

I went to High School with Jennie and can tell you she and her whole family are good people. I would highly recommend them if you're in the area and looking to have some photos taken anytime soon (ahem Christmas cards...) Colton was anything BUT a happy camper the day of our shoot (shocking I know) and amazingly enough these ladies were able to keep him smiling and get some cute shots! I work with children and can tell you that even if people have children they sometimes claim of their own, not everyone can deal with a 2 year old and his crazy I'm gonna eat this grass and only make a pukey face whatcha wanna do about it? attitude. These ladies for sure can handle it and have an awesome presence and sense of humor that the kiddos can pick up on. So there you have it: kid friendly, creative, affordable, good people. Check them out & remember to support your local businesses.

Some of my favorites:



How ADORABLE is this? ^^



 

<3

 

Must. Not. Eat. Vegetables!!!!

 

(Ignore the unfolded laundry and the rest of the house)

 

Note: no squash was actually eaten during the making of this video

 

WW: memories that matter