PURE TORTURE

I hate the beach!

I hate the sand!

I hate everything about it!

Sorry to be so blunt. But I absolutely can't stand it!

It was so bad in high school that when I played softball I had to keep soap and water in the dugout so I could wash my hands in between innings. And that's bad!

Most people travel from far far away to visit such attractions as the beach, I on the other hand, try and stay as far as possible away from anything that involves sand. Despite my simple efforts to avoid all talks of visiting the beach on this vacation, I finally had to succumb to the requests of my husband. Me being the loving wife I am decided to appease my husband and his request to visit Cocoa, where he lived as a child. We went to see his old house and then to Cocoa Beach, and Ron Jon surf shop. I tried up until the very last minute to avoid going onto the beach, but was gently coaxed by my husband. We were on the beach for all of about 10 minutes and I have to say it was complete torture for me, every second was torture. Kaylee seemed to have the same "love" of sand as me. At first she barely put her feet down. Then she wouldn't even walk in the sand. Finally she got comfortable enough to walk and she wanted to touch the sand with her fingers. But then she hated the sand on her fingers so she tried to wipe it off. When we got down to the water she wanted to get her "baben suit" on and get in. Thank heavens I didn't bring one or the torture would have continued. Sand would have been in all the unmentionable places! We snapped a few pictures before walking back to the shower area to rinse our feet and hands. But it wasn't enough, I could still feel the sand all over me, even hours after leaving I can feel the sand, ugh I can't stand it! And what's even worse is we had to pay $9 in tolls to experience such unforgettable moments.

Tell me what is it about the sand and the beach that everyone loves so much?!? And am I the ONLY one who can't stand even the thought of sand?

Water Slide

BTW I'm not picking her nose at the end of that video, she bumped her lip on the way down and I was checking to see if it was bleeding. It surely didnt slow her down any.

Kaylee is such a little dare devil, there is no fear in her whatsoever. She wants to go down backwards, sideways, with her eyes closed, or anyway that is not straight forward. Other people in the pool were amazed at how much she loved the water and loved going under. I'm going to try and get a better video of her going under water tomorrow.

Ainslee is my little water baby in the making. She was so happy in the water kicking her fat little legs and smiling the entire time.

Here is all of us, well minus mom who was taking the picture, and John who was playing volleyball attempting to get some girls to notice him so he could eventually flirt with them. I apologize if my whiteness blinded you!

Water Monkey

Well we arrived in Orlando (Kissimmee) at Orange Lake...my parents Time Share location that is about 16,000 acres...wow, thats big!!. As Marcus states....847 miles in 15 hours (including all the diaper changing, food, and fuel stops) and the Merc averaged 22.8 miles per gallon. Kaylee was already asleep so we didnt see her until Saturday morning...Marcus got her when she woke up and she was sooo excited to see him and then me when he brought her back to bed. She laid in the bed with us cuddling and wanted to wake up Ainslee....like that was going to happen. She asked if Amma and Abba had left....she was confused since we arrived.

After breakfast we took the girls to one of the resort pools...the one with the water slide. Needless to say Kaylee loved the slide...that is all she wanted to do. She would ride with one of us, go down by herself...as long as someone caught her when she hit the water. When she rode down with Marcus she would sit on his lap facing him then lay her head all the way back on his knees and ride down with her eyes closed....she loved it and Marcus swears that is what she wanted to do when he took her up to the slide. I think he was scared to let her ride down by herself.

We took the girls back to eat lunch in the condo then put them down for naps, while they napped Marcus and my brother went and played golf at what one of the resort courses and when the girls woke my Mom and I took Kaylee back to the pool (Abba stayed with Ainslee!!)...guess what Kaylee wanted to do..yes, ride down the slide again and again. Marcus and John joined us after their round and Kaylee had a blast going down the slide taking turns with each one of us.

Kaylee is having so much fun and has a wonderful tan already....she is going to be so dark by the time we get back to Memphis.


this post was actually written by Marcus, trying to impersonate me

Voting time

I posted another poll. Mostly due to the fact that people can't make up their mind. One day she looks like me and another day she looks like Marcus. With Kaylee it was so completely obvious.

So let me know who you think she looks like......I wont be offended.

Let me just point out that yesterday after her bath her hair curled up. YES SIREE! She had the biggest curl right on the top of her head. Sadly, once again, I didn't get a picture of it. But I am definitely going to get one and show you all. Wont that be so cool if Kaylee keeps her blue eyes like me and Ainslee has curly hair like me. Because the way I see it that will be the ONLY things that remotely resemble their momma, physically that is.

I can't wait

Tomorrow is our 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!
Has it really been THAT long?! This year we also hit the 11 year mark of Marcus and I being together.....that's just crazy when I think about it! I LOVE YOU BABE! More than ever!

We will be celebrating our anniversary in the car, yep, that's right, just the way everyone would like to celebrate 5 years of marriage. Maybe, John will sit with Ainslee at a different table in the restaurant, as we stop on the way to Florida, so we could have a "romantic" dinner. HAHAHA the thought of that makes me laugh! Maybe, we can postpone our anniversary dinner to another night while we are in Florida. Then we could celebrate just the way I would like, with BOTH our girls.

I cant wait to see Kaylee. I am so excited for our vacation to begin and to see her. It has not been that long that we have been away from her, and we have certainly been away from her for much longer periods of time. But this time is a little different for me. I don't know why. Maybe it is because of what she said on the phone to me today. The conversation went like this
Hi mommy, where's Ainslee?
Hi Kaylee, Ainslee and Mommy are sitting at Ceire's house.
Hi Mommy
Hi Kaylee
Mommy come over here see Kaylee
YES baby, Mommy is going to come over there
After nap?
YES baby, after nap tomorrow Mommy is coming (everything to her is "after nap")
Mommy and Daddy and Ainslee come her after nap
YES baby
Mommy, Kaylee jumping jumping!!!
(I hear her as she is screaming and jumping around)
Grandma gets on the phone and explains how incredibly big of a smile she has on her face and how she has been talking about seeing us ALL day

She makes me so happy, I cant wait to see my baby girl!

Have you ever...

Gotten everything ready for a trip while your baby plays in her exersaucer when you hear "THE sound"? The sound I am referring to is the sound one learns to dread, the sound of a baby's poo smearing up her back, out of the diaper, and onto her clothes. You quickly rush to see if you could catch it before the aforementioned actually happens. But you realize that you were TOO late. So you might as well give the baby a bath. After the bath it is about bed time, so kisses for everyone then off to dreamland. The baby falls quickly to sleep, almost too quickly. Momma starts a load of wash, because the poo stained clothes cant sit for 10 days while everyone is out of town. Then as the mother anticipated the baby awakens, the mother tries to calm the baby, then she hears the "dreaded sound." She holds her breath and looks, thinking "surely not AGAIN!" A better look reveals that it has happened again. A sponge bath, new diaper, new clothes, a huge smile and laugh for the momma, and ANOTHER load of wash. Back into the bed for the baby who wants nothing to do with going to sleep. Nearly 2 hours past her normal bedtime she still has not settled. Does she realize she needs all the rest she can get before being in her car seat for 14 hours in one day.

I had never experienced this either, until tonight! Thanks Ainslee!

Meehan Family

My grandmother had 5 children, all of which are able to make it to the reunion every single year. Pictured above is my Uncle Denny (sitting) he is the 2nd oldest. My grandmother is sitting next to him (as if you couldnt pick her out). Uncle Tom is on the far left (light blue shirt) he is the 2nd youngest and vet at the Chicago Brookfield Zoo. Uncle Tim (AKA grizzly Adams) he is the baby of the family, lives in Wyoming i guess he keeps all his hair to stay warm in the winter, and apparently hasnt had a hair cut since September, honestly I dont see how he even eats with all that facial hair. Oh well he sure is fun to be around! Then there's my dad in the back with the white shirt., he's the middle child. And last but not least, my Aunt Nancy, she is the oldest of the group. Isnt it funny to see all those brothers with beards?! I'll never forget the look on Marcus' face the first time he joined us for the family reunion.

Picture Perfect

As promised here are recent pictures of "A"

she is definitely going to be my brown eyed girl

she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth

including her thumb

Laughing at Tahoe

Ainslee is growing so fast! On top of rolling, scooting, babbling, reaching for toys, putting everything in her mouth, and laughing, she has finally noticed her big brother. And she LOVES him! I think Tahoe is trying to "lay low" with Ainslee hoping that maybe she wont notice him and maybe, just maybe, he wont be tortured by his other little sis. HAHA! Well I'm sorry Tahoe despite your efforts, she found you, and she wants to play. This video was taken at the end of a laughing marathon. I wasnt able to capture the biggest laughs she gave me. Darn that phone is never around when I need it.

Update on Tahoe: He had his final set of stitches removed today, and according to Marcus he did remarkably well. They didn't even have to sedate him or keep him for a few hours as planned. Tahoe is happy to be home and be "stitch free." My goal is to keep him far far away from the vet until he is due for his vaccinations.

St. Louis

We went to St Louis this weekend for the Meehan Family Reunion. As always it was SO SO nice to see everyone again. Especially my grandma! We werent able to squeeze in as much fun as we had planned but we still had a wonderful weekend. We got an early start (4:20 am) Friday morning, so we were able to go straight to see grandma when we arrived. We had a short visit with her, before Marcus and I went to check into the hotel and put Kaylee down for a nap. After naps and dinner we took Kaylee to the Magic House, she had a BLAST! we only got to stay about an hour because it was so incredibly packed and it was way past bedtime. I'll post pics later hopefully, our internet at the house is acting up so not sure when I can get them uploaded.

Saturday we went for breakfast, then to the reunion which is held at the park near my grandmas house. It is such a nice park, with a water play area, and age appropriate playgrounds for all ages. We had a wonderful day! I was most proud of Kaylee who, despite skipping her nap entirly, behaved extrordinary!

Sunday morning, Father's Day, we woke up early and the girls gave Marcus his father's day gift. Marcus and I took the girls back to Kirkwood park to play. Then we packed up the car and waited for them to wake up from their naps. We decided to eat a late lunch at a restaurant we just happen to pass by, it was called HuHot Mongolian Grill it was SO yummy! We would have all enjoyed our lunch a bit more if Kaylee would have been cooperating, I guess every kid has to have a complete meltdown every now and then. Man she was sure in RARE form that day! After lunch we dropped mom and Kaylee at the airport. Marcus, Ainslee, and I stopped by grandma's one more time to visit and pick up some elk and buffalo meat my uncle brought from Jackson Hole, WY. On the way home we stopped at Outback for dinner. When I asked for a gluten free menu, I was given the manager who has Celiac, like me. She stayed at our table talking about her condition and gluten free foods for a very long time. She turned our "quick" stop into a 2 hour pitstop. She did tell me about a fabulous gluten free bakery in St. Louis that I am now dying to try. We finally made it home about 1am and all three of us crashed, happily in our own beds.

The beautiful rainbow we saw on the way home

Ainslee did great in her seat this trip. I think after spending 3 out of the past 4 weekends in her seat she has finally figured out that she might as well be happy.

This is what the line outside Ted Drew's looked like Saturday night when we made the boys go get us custard. Man is that stuff good! If you are planning a trip to the St Louis area you HAVE TO pay Ted Drew's a visit, you definitely wont regret it.

I'll try and get the pictures from our camera uploaded before this weekends trip to Florida.

Kaylee's "news zroom"

Yesterday Kaylee napped in her "new room" for the first time and it went great! I read her books in her old room, mostly because it has a chair and doesn't have things that need to be packed all over the bed. Oh and Ainslee wasn't napping in her room at that time. Then after books I rocked her as usual and walked her the 10 yards into her "new room". She went down without a fuss! I thought to myself "MAN that was Eeeazzzy!" After nap she bragged to everyone about sleeping in her new room, by everyone I mean both grandmas, uncle John, Auntie Ceire, and grandpa.

Then when it was time for bed at night; this was a much different story. Kaylee seemed ok with the fact that she would be sleeping in her new room up until the point when I placed her into the crib. She wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted to sleep in the "big girl bed". It took me about 20 minutes to get her settled, when usually she goes down without a fight. I figure if this keeps up we might just be moving into the big bed before too long. But she settled nicely, with a pillow in her crib for the first time ever, and slept the whole night. I guess this is what my friends were trying to warn me of when I told them I was going to switch the girls' rooms. I hope that Kaylee adjusts well, as she has with every other change in her life. It makes me think what vacation is going to be like after 2 nights in a hotel, an all night plane ride, 7 nights in one condo, 7 nights in a different condo, then a 900 mile trip home. Whoa that's a lot! I keep telling myself "kids are resilient, she can handle it". Because if I don't think that way then we wouldn't go on vacation or have fun experiences until they are grown. So I am hoping that she adjusts well and that we all have a great time!

Today nap and bedtime were much simpler. She asked to go to sleep in the big bed, she even asked if I would sleep in the big bed, but she went down fairly easy. I sure do hope that both girls get a full nights rest so we can start this vacation off on the right foot. Marcus packed the car, took Tahoe to Ceire's house, and I have been getting all the last minute things together. I have to get the girls up and load the rest of the stuff up in the morning before heading to pick Marcus up from work. UGH I hope I don't forget anything, I have a list a mile long. As if all the stress of a trip isn't enough, when we got home from our play date today I realized that our A/C was no longer working downstairs. It kept getting hotter and hotter. Finally I went to check the breaker and found that the one outside was tripped. I turned it back on and the unit came on immediately. We finally got the temp down to a comfortable level. I hope we don't come home to a furnace.

Fat and Happy

Not quite as fat as her big sister but just as happy!

Ainslee had her 4 month check-up yesterday and is weighing in at a whopping 15.5 lbs and measuring 24.5 inches long. That puts her in the 90% for weight and the 50% for height.

By this age Kaylee was already 19 lbs and wearing 9-12 month clothes. Ainslee is fitting pretty nicely in her 6 month clothes now.

Despite the differences in size they both are/ were HAPPY babies. Ainslee is laughing more and more these days. I had her going the other day so good. Even in the doctors office, one of the nurses came in our room after hearing her laughing so hard. There is nothing sweeter than a baby's laugh! We will see if she grows up to have her sisters sense of humor.

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As for everything else......

I've been busy mentally and physically planning/ packing for our upcoming trip(s). We are heading to St. Louis this weekend for our family reunion. We will also be hitting some fun places for Kaylee, including the Magic House and the Science Center. Kaylee will be going straight from St. Louis to Florida with my parents for a week. I will be back to being a mommy of 1 for a few days, until Marcus, Ainslee and I drive down to Florida to join them for the second week. That means Kaylee is getting 2 weeks in Florida. She is going to have so much fun!!! And we are too! I am looking forward to all the swimming and sun. I just can't wait!

Oh and in between all our last minute play dates (and everything else) I have been trying to spend a little time working on "the big switch." Each of the girls' clothes are in their respective rooms. Kaylee's new crib is set up, organic mattress and all (I was really happy when I found this one at Target for $100). The lanterns are hung. The curtains are finished and hung. Now all that needs to be done is the circles on the wall. Hang light in one of the lanterns. Make hamper liner. Picture frames filled and hung. Purchase big girl mattress and box spring. And, well, I think that about does it.

I am going to try and put Kaylee down for her nap tomorrow in her new room and see how that goes. I'll let you know. And if all goes well, she just might start sleeping in there at bedtime too.
Yeah! Then Ainslee can move to her new bed and Marcus and I can have our room back to ourselves. How exciting!

Nursery Rhymes

Does anyone know the meanings behind some of the nursery rhymes out there? Kaylee recently got a "big sister gift" of a collection of little nursery rhyme board books. She is obsessed with them! She literally reads them all day long and asks for us to read them at nap AND bedtime. Some of them are quite disturbing. Here is one that is in her collection, I have never heard of it, but it goes like this

Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children are all gone,
All except one, and that's little Ann,
For she crept under the frying pan.
Thats just a little too frightening for me to read to my 2 year old!

Then there's "Ring Around the Rosy," which is about the Bubonic Plague.
"Humpty Dumpty" what's all that about? Kaylee's book shows an egg sitting on a wall, but in actuality the rhyme was written about a cannon named Humpty Dumpty in the English Civil War, but now it is portrayed as an egg. Who comes up with this stuff?
"There was a little girl" the rhyme is all good until the last line.
I was talking to my sister-in-law about this subject the other day and she told me was a "diddler" is. Like in the nursery rhyme "Hey diddle diddle", I couldnt believe what she said it was......and children SING about that?
"There was an Old Lady", this rhyme is a little more modern, so it really doesnt have any history behind it. But the lyrics crack me up. At the end of each verse it says "perhaps she'll DIE." Yet again another song that doesnt sound too comforting to the ears of a 2 year old.

I say that nursery rhymes need a make-over! I have decided! Im not the best rhymer in the world, so I think that someone, anyone needs to come up with something more enjoyable to teach our little ones.

Does anyone know any other nursery rhymes that have strange meanings, or strike you as odd?

Concert -What I should've said

Friday night 2 hours before the concert started some Keith Urban tickets fell into my hands out of the blue I figured I wouldn't go because it was so last minute and all, I HATE last minute plans. Plus hurricane Elvis Part 2 was about to hit Memphis. And on top of that Marcus would not be able to go with me cause of the golf tournament. I was "talked into going" by pretty much everyone, so I called up a friend and asked her if she wanted to join me on the floor. I wasn't quite sure what to think about having floor tickets until I saw how incredibly awesome our seats were. Let's just say we were so close that I could have touched the performers if I wanted to! So anyways we had a fabulous time the entire night, but I was kicking myself the next day. After only getting about 3.5 hours sleep and that wasn't even all in one stretch. Ainslee has not been the greatest of sleepers lately.

Anyways here are some of the things I would have liked to say to the other "guests" at the concert. To the girl in the short short SHORT dress or as I would like to call it, a shirt that you are wearing as a dress. "Does your dad know you are out in public wearing that? And better yet does he know that you are trying to stand on a chair while wearing it." This dress was so short you could see the bottom of her butt cheeks without her even bending over.
To the guy spilling beer, "if you are too drunk to hold your beer without spilling it on EVERYONE around you, you should not have gotten another one!"

To the chic using my shoulder to hold yourself up, "I'm not here to hold drunk people in a standing position, please go and sit down!"
To the woman on crutches standing on a chair, "if you need the crutches when you are on solid ground why you you think it is a good decision to stand on a chair?"
To the woman in front of me dancing, " PLEASE please dance in YOUR personal space not mine! And certainly don't come close to putting your finger in my face again!"

To the chic who asked to stand in MY chair, "did you really think that I would agree to letting you stand in my chair? Honestly you are already standing too close to me and now you want to be practically on top of me. I don't think so!"

To the grumpy old men who came with your wives who OBVIOUSLY don't like country music, or is it that you don't like your wife goo gooing over another man, "If you knew you weren't going to have fun, and that you would sit there crossing your arms all pissed off the entire night, WHY DID YOU COME?"

What are these people thinking? It is absolutely beyond me!

Sugarland was AWESOME! I would have loved for Kaylee to have seen them play "ooh ooh". They are such great entertainers! We didn't think to bring our cameras, so these pictures were taken on our phones.

And Keith Urban, he was great too! Not quite as good as Sugarland in my opinion though.

My friend took that last picture

Oil and Diaper Changes

I figured I had 2 things to post about today so why not combine them. First I'll tell you about my oil change experience yesterday, then diaper changes......keep reading til the end it's hilarious! (unless you have a weak stomach then you might want to avoid the 2nd half of this one)

This week while Marcus has his tournament truck, we decided it would be a great time to get an oil change in the Jetta. As usual we were going to take it to the VW dealership. So I called to make an appointment. When the man told me I didn't need an appointment and to just "come on in whenever," I didn't think it would be a problem. I walk in by myself, Marcus was waiting in the truck, and when asked, I tell the man why I am there. He takes my keys, scratches my name and contact number down on a piece of paper, and tells me he will call me when it is ready. I thought it was a strange situation. They usually look me up in the computer, print off a piece of paper that tells me what is included with this oil change, take me out to do a "walk-around" of my car, and then I sign something. NONE of that happened this time.

I get back in the truck with Marcus and I said, "that was really weird, they didn't even make me sign anything or walk around my car with them." He said "they didn't do a walk around? Then we get a FREE oil change!" And he points to the huge sign I walked right by that says, "If we fail to do a thorough walk-around review of your vehicle at the time of write up, we will give you a free oil change." So Marcus gets out and goes in to talk to them about our free oil change. Let me just say that an oil change in the Jetta ain't chump change! So he approaches the man I spoke with and asks him if our oil change is going to be free. The man asks why he thinks that. Marcus told him what the sign out front said. The man got all defensive, and blamed everything on me. He said I walked out before he could do the walk-around, then he said I didn't have an appointment anyways, then he changed his story and said "well I haven't done her write up yet." Marcus was like "you took her keys and phone number, told her you would call her when it was ready, but you HAVEN'T written it up yet? AND you are blaming the customer for you not doing YOUR job!" The man was speechless. To make a long story short we got the oil change for free, but we surely wont be bringing our car back there anymore.

Now for the diaper story!
Lately I have been hounding my little brother (he's 17 years old) about changing the girls diapers. He always leaves the room whenever a diaper change is necessary. Part of me is just messing with him, but part of me wants to really see him change a diaper. So yesterday when I was at moms with the girls the time came when Ainslee needed a diaper, I knew it was poopie so it was a good time for him to learn. Mom made him come in the room with me, she figured I would make him do it. I was nice and decided that he should watch and learn first. He stood to the side while I opened the diaper, and he about gagged. Keep in mind Ainslee's diapers hardly smell, so I'm not exactly sure if it was the unusual color yellow or what. As he is holding his nose and gagging I am explaining the rules of changing a babies diaper.
Here's how the conversation went....
1st rule is only wipe front to back
Ok got it front to back
2nd rule be sure to clean in between all the fat rolls (my girls have tons of fat rolls, so this is an important rule)
fat rolls check
3rd rule you only need to use 2 wipes per diaper change
WHAT 2 wipes, that's ALL
Yes John 2 wipes
he is talking to Ainslee saying "AZ why dont you do your poopies on the potty? AZ that's GROSS!" (this is how Kaylee talks, it was quite funny)
After throroughly cleaning her, check to be make sure she doesnt need any diaper cream. (i figured that was a little much for his first time, but why not go ahead and mention it) I finished up the diaper, and I could see the look on his face it was something like, if that's what MY babies are going to do I might just reconsider. He was trying to soak in the whole experience.

Today was a different story, this time Kaylee needed a diaper change after her nap. And man was she s-t-i-n-k-y!!! John decided to take an attempt at this one, by HIMSELF as I watched. I looked down at Kaylee's face, she wasnt too sure about this idea. He proceeds to take off her shorts and open her diaper. Man I wish I had a video camera for this one. As soon as he opened her diaper he jumped back turned his head and this time I really thought he was giong to throw up.
Here is how this one went.....
JOHN you cant step away from a baby on the changing table!
OH SORRY and steps back so Kaylee doesnt fall off
Kaylee is still trying to figure out what is going on at this point, she has a look on her face like "it's ONLY poop Uncle John!"
I say, "John remember the steps?"
YEAH "FTB"
What is FTB John?
Front to Back
Good job, now go ahead and get a wipe
I CANT - I CANT - I JUST CANT DO IT!!!
So I take over, but he bravely stands nearby to watch, gagging the entire time and holding his nose. As I am changing her we review the steps again, and John says
That's just not right. That's like REAL poop!
"John what do you expect? She eats food just like you!" Just about this time my dad enters the room. Dad surely doesnt volunteer to change diapers, but if noone else is around he will do it. Dad is laughing his butt off at this whole situation. Meanwhile John is STILL holding his nose and gagging every few seconds.
After I am finished I give him the dirty diaper to take to the garage, and he hands it to Kaylee to take outside. I nearly peed in my pants. I guess you had to be there, it was SO FUNNY! But since you guys werent there to see it I thought I would share a video with you that is sorta similar. Someone sent this to me in an email a few weeks ago, I laughed, and thought nothing of it until now. John is going to be one of these dads in the video

Get out the Camera

SHE'S 4 MONTHS OLD!!!

I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!

As you know I have been HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, and well 100% NEGLECTFUL of taking good pictures of Ainslee's first 4 months. Yeah I have hundreds of her on our cell phone, but hardly any on the big camera. It makes me sick to think about it. I promise I will do better. I need to get the camera out at least a couple times a week and pop a few pics. Here is my starting point.........

Kaylee is not quite sure about Mommy getting the camera out, she just might capture another one of my Chandler Bing smiles again

How cute is my baby girl?!

She is all about the hands in her mouth these days, and the DROOL. Man it flows freely

Up close and personal

"Hahaha! I've got her right where I want her. She cant escape me now!"

BEST FRIENDS!

Here's Chandler Bing again!

Kaylee is always telling Ainslee to get her hands out of her mouth. I think she should listen to her own advise and STOP biting her nails!!!

Kaylee thinks "Ainslee is crying, what should I try to get her to stop?"

CHANGE POSITIONS! Great idea mom! Why didnt i think of that?!

She had to throw in one last Chandler smile, cause it just wont be a complete phoot shoot without it. (what do you think Kaylee will say in 10 years when she sees these pictures of herself? hahaha! that makes me laugh!)

THE TUB!

Kaylee has figured out by herself when she "thinks" she is in a perfect photo op. This was one of those times. She begged for me to take her picture as she lay in the water.

I will try and keep my promise of a few pictures per week. You will be begging me to stop posting them, well that is unless you are a grandma, grandpa (he doesnt even read this blog), auntie, or uncle (they dont read this blog either).

Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC weekend! I'm excited to get my husband back on Monday, after the golf tournament. We have been lucky to see him for 30 minutes each day, for the past week. Let me just say I'm ready for him to give me a break.

here's a picture of Kaylee and daddy at the "golf Turn" as Kaylee calls it. She's not having any fun riding the golf cart with her daddy

And another silly picture Uncle John captured with his phone the other day

Just a little something to make you laugh

Today I was working on the computer when I got a little side tracked. I left the lap top open on the couch, I usually dont do this. Kaylee climbed up on the couch and began watching the screen saver on the computer. We have the screen saver set to run pictures, mostly of the girls. Well one picture came up.....

and Kaylee says "Mom, LOOK! Man bring daddy's truck back!"

If you look closely you can see Marcus' old white truck in the background. She remembered that I told her the "man" bought daddy's truck. HAHAhaha! When she saw the picture of the truck she thought that the "man" brought it back. It makes me laugh to think about it!

The Point of NO Return

Ainslee has been rolling over now for weeks. She doesn't do it all the time, but she has the capability of doing it whenever she likes. She can go from front to back much easier than back to front. She has only gone from back to front about 3 times. That is the problem! When she is in her tiny little bassinet, that she has just about outgrown, she can roll onto her back and then she has trouble getting back onto her belly. And my kids are "belly sleepers". I know all the studies show that it is safer to put your child on his/ her back to sleep, but neither of my kids like sleeping on their back. So for the next couple of weeks while Ainslee learns to roll back onto her belly, we are going to have one of those "adjustment" periods. I really hope this one doesn't interfere too much with her sleep though. I think it is strange how Ainslee started rolling over almost 2 months before Kaylee ever rolled. I wonder if Kaylee was just too fat to roll her chunky little self over. Haha! I LOVE fat babies! Ainslee does have a couple little rolls going on her arms and legs, but nowhere near as many as her Michelin sister! She has some BIG shoes to fill!

I am getting the rooms ready for

THE BIG SWITCH!

Lately, my days have been filled with getting Kaylee's "new room" ready for her, and Ainslee's "new room" (AKA Kaylee's old room) ready for her. There is still much much more to be done in the new room, but it is coming along quite nicely, just slowly. I have finally settled on a decision about Kaylee sleeping arrangement in her new room. After going back and forth about 100 times, I decided to leave Kaylee in a crib. I feel more comfortable with her in a crib and she LOVES being in a crib. So I figure dont fix it unless it's broke! She does not ever try and get out, so for now I am leaving her in one. I will have her big girl bed in the room as well so that I can make the switch whenever we are both comfortable with it. I have a feeling it wont be too long until she is in the big bed. Kaylee talks about her new room all the time, and is VERY excited about moving in there. Let's hope the transition goes smoothly.

Oh and Kaylee is now able to put her own shorts on properly. She gets both legs in the holes and can pull them up too. I'm so proud of her! I'm sure it won't be long until she is telling me what she wants to wear, and the arguments will be soon after that.

Birthday Dinner

Last Friday was just a regular ole day for me. I woke up as usual, had breakfast, got the girls ready, and headed out to run some errands. First on the list was the drivers license renewal place. I figured I had procrastinated long enough, and considering my license expired that day, I thought that was the best errand to start with. The process proved to be quite painless, and Kaylee gave me one of her many birthday gifts during the process. She was on her best behavior for the 20 minutes we were in there. She listened to everything I told her to do, I was quite proud of her actually! When we got back into the car Ainslee fell to sleep immediately so I rearranged our errand running schedule to accommodate. We got shots first then met my mom, dad, and little bro for lunch at one of Kaylee's favorite restaurants. After lunch I was able to run the rest of my errands while the girls slept soundly at my moms house. Actually Ainslee slept so well I had to wake her up, after 3 hours, to go home.

Ok so here is where the "birthday dinner" part comes in. I was planning on getting to spend a couple of hours with Marcus before he went to work, but instead I was greeted at the top of the driveway by Marcus dressed in not work clothes and told to get in the shower that we were going to dinner. I was told not to ask questions and let him know what he needed to do to get the girls ready to go to Ceire's house for the evening. As I spouted off instructions and a list of things to pack he listened and loaded the bags and car dutifully. We left as soon as I got ready and dropped the girls with Ceire. It was then, after a little slip up from his mommy, that I learned we were headed 'down south' for dinner. My favorite restaurant at the casinos is Jack Binion's Steakhouse at the Horseshoe Casino and that's where we were going! I was so excited! We had tons of fabulous food, but more importantly we got to spend time together talking, laughing, and enjoying each others company. I had so much fun and loved our dinner, especially because it was FREE (thanks GK)! Well minus the tip, but that's a small price to pay for that meal!

this is the last post about my birthday week extravaganza

Surprise! Surprise!

Ok I think my 30th birthday is FINALLY over!

Marcus surprised me with, what he says is the last surprise, a party. Saturday night we had my scheduled "birthday dinner" with my family. My little brother vehemently told me that he wouldn't be able to make it because he had dinner plans with his girlfriend. Apparently they hadn't been out alone for quite some time, so he didn't want to cancel (and looking back on it he was very convincing, which is SO out of character for him). My sister always works Saturday nights, so I didn't think anything of it when she said she couldn't make it. And my older brother called the night before to tell me he couldn't make it either, he had the lame excuse of "I'm going to the movies." So I figured ok, I guess it will just be my parents and our family for dinner. Less DRAMA, as Marcus put it. After a much needed nap, in an attempt to recover from the night before (oh yeah I still need to post about my actual birthday night surprise, ok that will be my next post), we sat down and enjoyed our filet, roasted potatoes, and zucchini. I thought it was kinda strange how my dad jumped up and did ALL the dishes in a FLASH immediately after everyone finished their meal! I mean my dad never does the dishes after dinner. My mom refused to keep Kaylee over night so that we could stay later, so we all headed home for bedtime. Marcus insisted that we get gas on the way home, which (looking back) was an obvious ploy to slow the journey back to our house! When we turned onto our street and came over the hill, I SAW IT! The crowd of people at the top of our driveway and the balloons! I was SURPRISED! Never in a million years did I think that he had organized a surprise party and at our house! Are you kidding me?!? My first thought was HOW in the world did I miss that? But I guess he is getting better at being a little sneaky. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Anyways, then my thoughts went to......HOLY CRAP MY HOUSE IS A WRECK!!! I had been out of town the 2 previous weekends and had not had much time in between to "get things back to normal." As I jumped out of the car to great my guests, I was quickly reassured that everything would be OKAY in that department.

So here I was completely surprised, with loads of people all at my house to celebrate MY birthday. I was SHOCKED! and HAPPY! and EXCITED for the night to begin!

I am so sorry to admit that I did not get 1 single picture of the night. I have however, asked my mom if I could get a few from her camera to post, but hadn't had the chance yet. We had tons of food and drink, and a whole LOT of fun!!! They even thought to get me my very own GF cake. And it was FABULOUS! Kaylee ran around with all her friends having the time of her life! She absolutely had a BLAST, and stayed up WAY WAY past her bedtime. But that was ok, cause it was momma's party!

After the night was over Marcus came up to me, asked me if I had fun, kissed me sweetly, and said "Babe I promise, this is the LAST surprise. I just cant do it anymore! I am so glad there are 10 years between 30 and 40!" Hahaha!

What a SWEET SWEET husband I have!!!

SO MANY THANKS TO JOHN AND CEIRE FOR ALL YOU DID TO MAKE THIS PARTY POSSIBLE!

I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL YOU DID!!!

I can't quite figure it out

I got my teeth cleaned yesterday and the entire time the hygienist was asking me questions. Here she is with a sharp pointy thing in one hand and her other hand holding my lips out of the way. And she expects me to be able to talk to her? It makes me laugh to think about that job, she has to sit there everyday cleaning out some funky mouths and she can't even talk to her patients. Well I guess she can talk to them, but they surely can't respond. At least I haven't figured out how to talk with one of those scrapey things in my mouth.

While I'm on the subject of doctors, I'll go ahead and give you the update on Tahoe. He had ANOTHER surgery yesterday. The hematoma in his ear was back, and it filled with blood again. When the vet went in to repeat the surgery, he found that 3 of the stitches didn't hold up, which was why it filled back up again. So while he was going to be under anestesia for that we decided to go ahead and strip him of his manhood too. So he lost his man parts without any warning, how sad. We figured it was better than dealing with these prostate problems for the rest of his life.

Marcus went to pick him up today and Tahoe was doing great! As soon as he sees Marcus he gets so excited and began shaking his head, blood spewed everywhere and they had to bandage up pretty much his entire head. Then they gave him a little tranquilizer to calm him down. When I got home and saw him for the first time he looked drunk. Marcus said that's exactly how the vet described the shot as "having one beer too many!" So he is BACK on antibiotics (oh wait he never really got off of them after his last surgery and from the cysts they found on his prostate). He has to go back 2 MORE times to have the stitches removed, I swear everyone in our vets office knows our voice when we call we dont even have to identify ourselves. I swear we are keeping that place in business these days! OH and we have been instructed to not let him lick his man-parts, or what is left of them. So now on top of my 2 kids I have to make sure he doesn't lick himself and give himself an infection or break loose the stitches. I feel like my plate is filling up again.

My Bath

Marcus made me......well talked me into getting a "bath" at BuckStaff, a local bathhouse. Apparently it is the only continuously operating bathhouse left on bathhouse row (that's the nickname for the area with all the bathhouses). I was quite reluctant to experiencing this. Marcus insisted and even agreed to keep the kids. Well I guess that's obvious, who else would have kept them. He was so sweet about the whole thing, he never once complained and insisted that he would be fine with the kids. He listened to all my last minute instructions and advice and happily walked me in. Here's what happened after that.

I was taken upstairs on an old timey elevator you know the kind that they moved the lever from side to side and they have to pull the metal door closed by hand. I was led into a changing room, and given a stall with a curtain door and a locker inside. I was told to take off all my clothes, place them in the locker, lock the locker, put the key on my wrist, and then turn my back to the curtain. When i was ready another lady came, opened my curtain, and asked me to raise my hands over my head. She wrapped a white sheet around me "Roman Style" and led me to my bath attendant. Ms. Maddie, a sweet little old black lady took me to my next destination, my bath stall. I had NO IDEA what was going to happen. She began asking all the usual questions "Is this your first time at our bathhouse? Have you ever been to Hot Springs?" Then she explained how it was all going to work. I was scheduled for the Deluxe Bathing Package ***hold on let me just skip back to the night before for a second....my dad called to make sure we arrived safely, and Marcus told him that I was getting a bath the next day. Dad offered to pay for my bath, how sweet of my dad! I wasn't keen on the idea of the bath, but after some encouraging words from Marcus and my dad offering to pay for any package I picked, we decided I was going to get the Deluxe Package. Ok, jump back to my private bath stall standing there in my white sheet with Ms. Maddie wondering what the heck Marcus got me into***

Ms. Maddie instructs me to raise my arms again, after taking my sheet off she tells me to climb into the tub. My package included a loofa mitt scrub so Ms. Maddie proceeds to scrub my back, legs, and arms with my very own loofa mitt (I even got to take it home with me afterwards). She then takes a board and slides it into the water behind me so I can recline in the old style tub. She took a towel, rolled it up, placed it under my neck for comfort, gave me two glasses of warm mineral water to sip on, and then she left my stall pulling the curtain door behind her. I sat there for 30 minutes in my comfortable warm 104° bath thinking. People really do this on a regular basis. People have been doing this for 97 years at this VERY SAME bathhouse, probably in the very same tubs. Then I look down at my fingers and realize that they are not pruny. You know how your fingers get pruny after being in the tub too long. I had been in the tub for 30 minutes and not the slightest bit pruny. You could feel the difference in the mineral water, they were right these waters were FABULOUS!

After my bath time was up, Ms. Maddie returned and brought my sheet. Once again I was wrapped Roman style and led to another area of the Bathhouse. It was time for my 10 minute Sitz bath. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this, and I swear it worked because I had ZERO lower back pain and my back didn't pop for the next couple of nights. After my Sitz bath, was the steam cabinet. This I was dreading and even considered skipping, I hate saunas and steam. I cant breathe when there is too much steam, it just isn't my idea of enjoyment, and the thought of being put in a cabinet with steam just didn't sound so good. Ms. Maddie took me to the cabinet and placed me in, I sat on a bench and she lowered the 2 sides that had a cut out for my head. So here I was with my entire body soaking up the steam and cleaning out my pores and my head was not affected at all. It was just the way I liked it, and I could have stayed in there longer, but Ms. Maddie came, once again, to take me to the next part of my bath. Wrapped in my sheet, she led me to a room with rows and rows of beds, and asked me what parts of my body were achy. I told her my back and shoulders. She put these STEAMING hot towels strategically down on the table and instructed me to lay on them. It felt so good! Then she places 2 more hot towels over my legs, a cold towel around my face, and handed me a cup of ice cubes to suck on. I swear Ms. Maddie knew exactly what I wanted before I even asked. She made my bath experience so great, but I still was not finished. I laid there on my hot towels for I don't even know how long, and fell asleep. When Ms. Maddie came to wake me I wasn't too keen on getting up to move on to the next step. I was taken to a 2' X 2' shower stall with 8 shower heads and got rinsed off. Then I was ready for my Swedish massage, which felt SO relaxing, I nearly fell asleep during that too. The final step of my deluxe package was the paraffin wax treatment. This part took place near the front of the building, and with the windows open I could hear Ainslee SCREAMING! I told the lady's that that was my daughter screaming, the one lady assured me that everything was OK. She told me that Marcus had the girls outside and she had just started crying. I finished my treatment and was led downstairs where Marcus, Kaylee, and Ainslee greeted me.

This was TRULY a memorable experience! And I will DEFINITELY be doing it again the next time we go to Hot Springs. $66 for 1.75 hours, I think it was quite a deal (even if my dad didnt pay for it)! I swear those waters really are therapeutic! I could feel the water as it softened my skin, it was AMAZING! And the staff was great, I never felt uncomfortable or nervous, even after standing sporting only my birthday suit in front of perfect strangers. I HIGHLY recommend this to everyone out there!!! Maybe I can talk Marcus into doing it too.

Things I saw today

Here are just a couple things I saw today that I would like to share with you........

1. Little boys at the water park running away from the water. They weren't running away cause they were scared they were running away to something more appealing........a huge mud hole. I sat there and watched one by one all the little boys escaping from their mothers all headed for the same place for the same reason. It was hilarious! And one by one the mothers brought them back to the water to rinse off. Some of them tried to go back to the mud hole and others thought one time was enough.

2. Someone left a dirty diaper in the parking lot of Hancock fabrics. I mean, who in the heck thinks it is ok to litter even the tiniest bit, much less leave a dirty diaper on the ground. That just drives me crazy! Who do litterers think pick the stuff up that they so nonchalantly throw on the ground?

3. Ainslee rolling over from back to front. And the true happiness and sense of accomplishment on her face after she did it.

4. My 17 year old brothers face when I asked him to keep Kaylee for me for 20 minutes while I ran to the store. You should have seen it, he was like, you want me to do WHAT with WHO. He did it and even took her on a walk in the wagon. What a sweet uncle my girls have!

5. My shower was nice and clean when I got home today. Thanks babe!

6. Ainslee laughing at her sister. And Kaylee so proud of herself for making her laugh.

7. Kaylee talking on the phone to Dr. Landers (Tahoe's vet) about the surgery he had AGAIN today. She was just pretending to talk to him, she walked around with the phone propped between her shoulder and her ear, like she was really having a conversation with Dr. Landers whom she has never even met. "Dr. Landers Kaylee give Tahoe water. Yes Dr. Landers. Tahoe boo boos ear. Ok. Daddy take him, daddy pick up in black car. Ok ok. Tahoe all better? Poor Tahoe! Kaylee kiss Tahoe......". She went on and on.

My Surprise Birthday Trip

Here is how the trip started. I wake up at 4am to feed Ainslee. When I go out to the living room I see Marcus he hands me a birthday card and tells me to open it. I was hesitant, because my birthday was a week away. And when you get this old you aren't exactly excited about getting another year older, like you were when you were a kid. I open the sweet card he pick out for me and it says "it ain't Boston and it ain't New York but it ain't home either - So get up and pack a bag. Hope you enjoy 30! ~Love Marcus" I know people- I'm old
*for those of you that don't know, that might sound a little strange so I'll explain. For Marcus' 30th birthday I surprised him with a trip to Boston to visit his sister and tickets to see U2 (his favoritest band EVER) at Madison Square Garden. I managed to keep this little secret up until boarding the airplane. So I guess he figured now that I am turning 30 he must take me on a surprise trip, but times have definitely changed. With 2 kids it was much harder for him to pull off a huge surprise.

So off I go packing our bags as the girls slept. He kept asking me "do you want to know where we are going?" I said "NO! But will we have a washer?" A mom needs to know that sort of thing, cause it drastically impacts the way she packs for 2 kids.

We decided to wake Kaylee up early so we could hit the road. After dropping Tahoe off at my moms we were off. I realized really quickly that we were heading WEST so I figured either Little Rock or Hot Springs. I was right!

When Kaylee asked where we were going, we told her on a trip. I didn't know exactly where we were going and Marcus didn't want to ruin the surprise so we were really vague. On the way there Kaylee kept screaming "I wanna go on a trip." Apparently the concept of a trip, was too much for her to grasp. When she wasn't screaming about going on a trip she was contently sitting in the 3rd row reading her books and singing. When she was bored she would try and get my attention by saying, "I kiss boys. Kaylee kiss boys. NO! Only abba, uncle John, uncle Joe, uncle Harry." About 45 minutes down the road Marcus and I were looking at ourselves and asking "is she ever going to fall asleep?" But as you know my kids aren't very fond of their car seats so NO she wasn't going to sleep. As soon as Ainslee woke up from her very short nap Marcus and I quickly realized that Kaylee's constant chatter just wasn't that bad compared to the screaming coming from Ainslee.

As lunch time approached the words "Eat eat, I EAT!!" echoed throughout the car. Kaylee was obviously starving to death in the back seat. And she was being tortured by the cashews that were in the box right next to her seat. But we couldn't get to them. So she sat there staring at a delicious snack that she couldn't get her hands on. I'm such a mean mommy!

We decided to stop for lunch in Little Rock we picked Jason's Deli. Yummy yummy. And a tiny pit stop at Best Buy to use a gift card that was expiring that day. Then headed on to Hot Springs.

When we arrived at the house we were staying at we unpacked, and then loaded back into the car to go downtown Hot Springs. We walked around for about an hour, we didn't have too much time before it was time to put the girls to bed. So we went back to the house put the girls down and enjoyed a fabulous meal and wine together. It was so GREAT! And Marcus was so sweet throughout the whole day: giving me random kisses, asking me if I needed anything, I had such a wonderful day!

On Sunday Marcus convinced me to go to a local bathhouse for a bath. I'll post separately about that later. After my bath we brought the girls home for nap and then went to the Mid-America Science Museum. Kaylee had a blast! She ran from exhibit to exhibit exploring everything. Then home for bedtime. After the girls were in bed Marcus and I enjoyed another delicious dinner together: salads, crab, steaks, baked potatoes, and wine. The best part was all I had to do was bake the potatoes, Marcus did everything else! We would have eaten outside, but there were just too many bugs for me to handle.

Oh I almost forgot to mention that Marcus bought 2 new DVDs for us to watch, he knew our nightly activities would be limited to the house because the girls would be sleeping. He even thought to buy me a bag full of a variety of my favorite candy. I have to have a little chocolate after I eat.

Monday when we woke up we went to the Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo. It was fun, sorta dirty and a little on the sketchy side at some points, but I think Kaylee enjoyed it, so that is all that counts. She got to fed deer, a donkey, rheas, and goats. One of the goats even chewed on her shirt. She had so much fun in the pen with the animals. I was excited to get back to the house and give her a bath. Marcus and I packed up as the girls took their nap, and then we hit the road when they woke up.

We have been trying to get back on schedule for the past couple of days. It is amazing how much even the shortest of trips can throw a child off their schedule. Not to mention a totally sleep deprived mom. We stayed up both nights until after midnight, I just enjoyed the trip so much that i didn't want each day to end!

For those of you that havent been to Hot Springs, it is DEFINITELY someplace you should visit!

Another example

Kaylee, Ainslee, and myself were upstairs playing in the playroom this evening. I must have thought to myself (out loud) about how I left my water cup downstairs. A few minutes later Kaylee said "mommy go downstairs get mommy's water cup. I watch Ainslee. And get Kaylee's cup too please." She says this as she is hugging (actually more like smothering) Ainslee, she was OH so convincing!

I obviously did NOT leave her alone with Ainslee, and that did not make her very happy. She got upset and said "go away go away mommy". And when she realized I was not going to leave her alone with Ainslee she decided to just play on the floor with us.

She is such a little mother!

PS I'm trying to get a post ready about our exciting weekend. Marcus surprised me with a trip for my upcoming birthday. We had a blast! Hopefully you can read about it soon. We are all busy trying to get back it the swing of things, so I haven't had a chance to gather my thoughts yet.