Photo Challenge Day 2

Day 2 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

Well, no surprise here really. Cody and I have been together for ten years now. Wow. Just writing that sounds so strange. How many people found the person they were going to marry in high school? Although, I do tell Cody all the time if he had come to our high school any earlier there was no way he would have married me! :) I cannot imagine a life without Cody now. He is always there for me when I am sad or if have good news to share. He lets me vent, lets me be crazy, and loves me through it all. Above everything else, he makes me laugh every single day and I love him so very much for that! I cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives together!

30 Day Photo Challenge

One of my friends on facebook posted a 30 day photo challenge that she is doing for the new year. It seems fun, so I thought I would do it. Let's hope I'm better at this than I am with my days of thankfulness! Ha! :)

So Day 1: Post a picture of yourself and list 10 facts about you.

1. I love being a mother. Kaitlyn has brought me more joy than I knew I could ever have in my life. Each day is a new adventure and it just keeps getting better.

2. My husband is amazing. Nobody else in this world could make me as happy or frustrated than he can. He's my best friend and continues to make me laugh even when I don't want him to. :)

3. I'm doing exactly what I know I'm called to do. I love teaching and love knowing I'm making a difference in kids' lives.

4. I do not think my daughter will resent me for not being a stay at home mom. More power to the moms who do that - no judgment here, but I expect the same in return.

5. I don't let lots of people close to me. I have trust issues and this is why I don't. I have a few close friends who I adore, but they live way too far away from me. :( My sister-in-law lives in the same city as me and she's awesome. She's my saving grace!

6. I am not patient with most things in my life. I know, you're thinking, "And you're a teacher?" But rest assured I am VERY patient when it comes to my job. You have to be or you won't last! But I want instant gratification in other parts of my life. If I decide I want a new car or a new appliance I want it that day. I hate waiting for days for something.

7. I love montages. Seriously, I can not know a single person in them, but if the music and pictures are good I will still tear up.

8. My favorite color is blue. That's not very deep, but it's a fact. So there. :)

9. Shopping really is my therapy for a stressful day. I. love. it.

10. I love pictures. Always have and pretty sure I always will. I love taking pictures, editing pictures, looking at other people's pictures. I just love pictures - they tell so much. Hence my doing this challenge. :)

Christmas Time

Being a teacher is the best job ever. I cannot even go into all the benefits it has to my heart, but one of the things I love most about it is that it's perfect for moms. I get to have summers off, spring break, and two weeks at Christmas time. Of course I've enjoyed the last two Christmas breaks with Kaitlyn, but this year it's so very different. She's beginning to know more of what is going on now. I'm not quite sure she understands the whole Santa thing, but she can recognize him and we keep telling her he's bringing her presents on Christmas. I love how when we drive by houses at night she'll scream for joy and say, "Oh! Look Mama! Lights!" Or how she'll point out a snowman or reindeer in someone's yard. She loves the song "Jingle Bells" and will sing it to you over and over. She's still a bit mixed up with parts of Christmas though. In nativity scenes she can name baby Jesus and Mary, but as of now Jonah is with Mary - not Joseph. And she doesn't call Christmas trees, Christmas trees - instead they are "trick or trees." :)
Christmas is always such a fun and exciting time, but there is nothing like experiencing it as a parent. I am always counting my blessings, and this year more so than ever. I can only imagine the joy that will come next year as K is even more aware of what Christmas means, and then one day the joy of knowing she has learned the true meaning of what God did for us all and why we celebrate Christmas each year.

Thankfulness Day 2

Today I am thankful for my husband.

Cody is amazing. No other word can describe him better. He makes me madder and happier than anyone I've ever met. He calms me down and sets me off faster than I can blink. I cannot imagine my life without him!

Love you honey bunny. ;)

Month of Thankfulness

So I know that lots of friends are doing the whole post something you're thankful for in your facebook status each day in the month of November. Instead of posting it on facebook I thought I would blog it so that I have a record of my month of thankfulness. :) So here goes...

Day 1: I am thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. Because really what would anything else posted after this mean without Him?

Sewing Attempt

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not the most patient person in the world. I 110% blame this on my job. I have to be more than patient when dealing with young children all day, so I always feel like I deserve not to be patient in other aspects of my life...trust me, I already know how ridiculous that sounds. And trust me, God is always working on me and my patience.

All that to say, sewing takes patience. A lot of patience when you sew the way I do, which for the record is not very well. And if you know my mother you know how heart breaking this fact is for her. She is an amazing seamstress and has always wanted me to sew. I've sat down a few times and tried to learn, but honestly it's just all kind of technical boring to me and I have lost interest.

Then came Kaitlyn.

And my love for craft fairs and things like Holiday Magic at the Arlington Convention Center grew. I used to pass over all the baby booths without a care. Now I gawk and stare...and maybe sometimes drool. But then I'm slapped back into reality by the price tags on some of the things. Now, I'm not too proud to say that I've mentally copied a few things down in my brain and then asked my more than willing mother to make them. But I got to the point where I thought to myself, "It can't be that hard."

Shows what I know.

So I must have talked a good talk because Cody ended up buying me a sewing machine last Christmas. And it's taken me until now to actually do something for Kaitlyn that I haven't thrown away. So here you go. Don't expect much. All I've done is a beanbag K and a Christmas applique sweatshirt. Hey - we all have to start somewhere don't we??

Just don't look too close....

Etiquette

So one of the things I really want to teach Kaitlyn is etiquette.

What? She's two Heather - get a grip. I know that's what you're saying.

Trust me, I'm not pushing anything too hard right now, but I am going to start her young so that it's more of a habit than a chore. There is just something sad about the loss of it in today's culture.

Now, if you're a friend of mine and I have wronged you in the etiquette department I'm sorry. I try my hardest, but I know I'm not perfect.

But I am going to try harder with my daughter. I want her to be a proper lady. A proper classy lady. Laugh if you must, but I don't care. :) Emily Post would want to be my friend. So there.

So one of the things my mom instilled in me was writing thank you notes. So I decided to let K help me out a little with her thank you notes for her birthday party - to make them extra personal. I would tell her exactly who each card was for and she would "draw" on it and repeat the name...over and over...and then probably a few more times than you're thinking as well. As you can see she took her job very seriously.

Emily Post would love my daughter too.

Except for the fact that her party was more than a week ago and I won't get them in the mail until probably tomorrow. But that's my fault not K's. :)

My Little Family

Cody took this picture with his phone as we were walking into Best Buy back in July. I just love it. I found it on my computer and just had to post it.

Clean up, Clean up!

So my little Miss Independent loves cleaning up by herself now. We've pretty much established where all her toys go (that was until her birthday and now we're going to have to revamp that) Most of the time cleaning up is easy and is usually accompanied by the clean up song Nonnie taught her that starts out, "Clean up! Clean up! Everybody do your part!" But every now and then...


...it's just a little bit harder to put our favorite toys away. These are the moments I love so much and I know I'll be telling her when she's older about having to tell each Yo Gabba Gabba character that she loves them before putting them back up. Have I mentioned I love being a mom?

School

So I've been beyond bad at updating this blog since school started back up, but in my defense I switched grade levels and am learning all new curriculum....so there. Don't judge me.

Kaitlyn has been loving her "school" and I'm loving all the benefits!!! She is coming home with so much more vocabulary now and talks about her friends (that's my favorite part!) She is having a blast and the teachers there are just beyond amazing! My sweet little girl is even picking up a little bit of Spanish which I'm thrilled about!

The other bit of assurance I needed came last week. I've been so worried I'm not doing enough for Kaitlyn at home. I know how to teach five and six year olds, but I wasn't sure I was teaching Kaitlyn enough when it came to the basics. Well, one of her teachers said that she has to teach Kaitlyn things other than the normal curriculum for the class because she is ahead of the other kids. (Insert sigh of relief here please) I know, I know, I'm the crazy teacher mom. But somewhere deep inside me is the fear of moms saying, "Well, she should know more - her mom IS a teacher and all." Well, no worries. I'm feeling pretty darn proud of my little goober right about now. Now if we could just get her to not dump dirt on her head each day at the playground.... :)

Her "gear" for school the first day. I LOVE shopping for Kaitlyn!!!

Getting ready to leave on the first day of school.

She walked right in and was ready to play - and that's my girl going straight for the books! :)


I think every single mom out there should buy these dishwasher safe name labels. They are awesome! I've already washed them SO MANY times and they are showing no signs of coming off. Love them!

(A More Real) Love Story

Love to all my mama friends out there! :)

(A More Real) Love Story from renfroe3 on GodTube.

Where Does the Time Go?

Today my daughter is 23 months old.

23 months.

That means she's only not two for a month. Um...how did this happen so quickly?? There is no way that it's almost been two years since we had her. Seriously - time must slow down.

But time won't slow down, and I'm actually afraid it's only going to keep getting faster from here. K will be starting a real preschool in two weeks as well. My baby - at a school. She will be having a set curriculum and even a chapel time - which I know will just be beyond cuteness.

But there's a part of my heart that hurts so much. My baby is no longer a baby. She's turning into a little girl. Gone are the days of being able to rock her (not that she was ever really big on that anyway...but just go with me on this) Gone are the days of cooing and those cute little baby giggles. My baby is almost two.

Now, don't get me wrong - this time has been so much fun. Seeing her discover the world is like nothing else. But man, going out is so much harder. I thought it was hard with a baby. Nope - I'd take baby any day over toddler. Just today at lunch she is screaming out, "Hi purple!" "Hi green!" "Hi red!" over and over. Yeah - you probably just smiled at the thought of that right? So cute right? Maybe the first ten times. Then it gets old - oh and usually a bit louder. And let's not even talk about what happens when she's not happy. I try to block those times out of my mind.

While it is heartbreaking to think of my baby as no longer a baby, I know what lies ahead will be so much fun. I can't wait until we can truly talk about her day together. I can't wait until she can tell me exactly what is making her so upset. I can't wait for her to ask me to go shopping. :) I know this is just the beginning of lots of mommy/daughter days ahead, but I sure am going to miss my baby days.

And here's a little preview for her upcoming birthday. We decided to do a fish/ocean theme since K loves fish right now. I already made her bow because I know my free time will get pretty scarce once I start teaching again. Plus, I'm really on a bow making kick right now - not like she doesn't have enough already. But big girls need bigger bows right? ;)

Bow Helper

Kaitlyn has been on this helping kick lately and I must say - it's adorable. Just yesterday I brought home some things from school that were laminated and I was cutting them out in the living room. K picked up a piece that I had cut off and said, "Trash?" I told her that it was and she preceded to take that piece into the kitchen and throw it away for me. We have one of those trash cans that opens when it senses motion, which is part of the reason why I think she likes to throw trash away so much, but it makes me feel better about her doing so because I know she's not getting her hands all dirty. :)

So today I got out my bow making "stuff" (for lack of a better term) and she literally sat down on the mat and said, "Kaitlyn help." Oh I love her little heart right now. Makes me proud. :) So, she "helped" me as much as she could. I can't wait until she's a little older and we can start doing more craft projects together. Hmmm....maybe she needs some basic craft supplies that are just right for her age. Santa better get on that.

So here are some pictures of our progress.Helping measure.

She saw me put a pin in my mouth while I was working with ribbon, so when she did it I couldn't really tell her no. Way to go mom. Do as I say not as I do right? ;) But it sure makes for a cute picture. (And for all the gasping mothers out there - relax. I took it away and all of the clips, pins, etc. are oh so out of reach)

She was pretty much disinterested towards the end. Her tiger was much more entertaining. And please know that the tiger in NO WAY means she will like LSU. If she does she can hang out at Grandma and Granddaddy's house during college football season and not ours.

The finished product!

Twinkle

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is by far Kaitlyn's favorite song right now. She sings it probably 300 times a day.

I'm. Not. Kidding.

It's to the point now where I found myself humming it when I'm not around her. But then a big smile creeps up on me because I remember just how darn cute my daughter is. I love her and her excessive singing. :)

The other night Cody and I went to a movie and Cody's mother kept Kaitlyn. Caleb was back in town and was there too. When we went to pick her up K was already in her pjs, but not tired so we hung around for a little while and Caleb got out his guitar to play.

When he played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star K was in love and was just singing away. I asked Caleb to play it one more time so I could video it and below is the result.

To say I love this video seems like an understatement. It just makes me tear up every time I see it. It's nothing too special just looking at it, but I know it's one that in a few years I will look back on and wonder how in the world she was ever this small.

SIDE NOTES: Yes, my daughter looks like a little girl version of Alfalfa in this video. Welcome to my hair nightmare that I go through with her each day. Now you know why she always has her hair pulled back in some way. Thanks Bush genes. Thanks.

Cody also moved at the beginning of the video which threw K for a loop. She thinks her Daddy hung the moon - and what little girl doesn't? But she had to make sure he wasn't leaving her before singing and jamming to the rest of the song. :)

Morning Park Visit

This morning when K got up it was very overcast. I had already made plans to go to the grocery store, but I told myself that if they weather would hold out I would take K to the park right before lunch. Lately it's just been too hot to do it during the day and by the time it cools off it's just about her bedtime. So around 10:00 we headed out to the park that is literally a minute from our house and it was perfect. There were only three other kids there so it made it so very nice. We went to check out the ducks first. Kaitlyn was waving and saying hi to them, but of course not while I was trying to film her. :P And for some reason I can't get that video not to crash when I try to upload it (I'm still learning this new iphone 4 thing) but hopefully I can get that one put up later!Well, it's halfway there - just no sound, but I'm not going to mess with it now. I'll try later.


Then we headed to the playground area. Kaitlyn has just recently found her love of sliding independently and probably climbed up the stairs and went down the slide at least 20 times by herself before I asked her if she was ready to go. And to my surprise she actually said, "Yes" and came right to me. I was worried she wouldn't want to leave, but poor baby must have worn herself out! She got her water and headed to the car.

Here's a video of her doing the slide all by herself. She scared me a few times, but she was just fine.


I know mornings like this morning are few in the Texas summers, but I'm so glad we squeezed one in there before school starts back up!

Cake Balls

One of the things I told myself I was going to do this summer was try a bunch of new recipes. I feel that since I'm a mom now I owe it to my family to cook more meals, so we've had some new dinners this summer - some that I will make over and over again because they are just that good...and some that I will forever block out of my memory. But part of my new recipe trying has to include dessert of course! So I decided to try out cake balls. I've heard a lot about them lately, but frankly the time that goes into them made me not want to try them. But I finally bit the bullet and made them. I must say they were pretty darn tasty - they weren't much to look at, but my mom always said the best desserts are the ones that are ugly and fall apart. :) I used cream cheese icing, so they were pretty rich - I could barely finish two and Cody couldn't finish three which is not normal for two people who have a sweet tooth like we do. But next time I think I won't make them as rich..or maybe a strawberry and chocolate combo...oh so many choices!!! But here is my first ever batch of cake balls in all their glory! :)

Paging Rebecca Bloomwood!

So yeah - summertime. Time for organizing, time for cleaning, and of course time for shopping. During the school year I hate shopping on the weekend. It seems like everyone is always out so I try to squeeze it in on a random weeknight. But in the summer I can go out several times in the middle of day and am met with less crowded stores - ahhh...perfection.

In my quest to find the perfect birthday present for my precious little almost two year old (wow...typing that makes me sad) I ended up at the Mattel factory store in Fort Worth. This week was their "Girl Stuff Sale." I knew exactly what I wanted to get and that's all I was going to get. But shortly after I arrived and looked around, I realized they didn't have what I wanted. But then my mind starting working....

- But I drove all the way out here....
- Kaitlyn is at the sitter today and any other day I'd have her with me so I might as well look while she's not here....
- Christmas is not that far off...
-Oh! Disney dolls are on sale too!

Yeah, I totally had a major Rebecca Bloomwood moment. I justified buying things that I told myself I wouldn't. When Cody called later, he asked me if I got the dollhouse I told him I was driving out there for and I told him no. He didn't ask if I got anything else. :)

Then he got home and went into the back room. He saw my two bags of stuff and just smiled and kissed my forehead. I love that he can be my Luke Brandon to my inner Rebecca Bloomwood. :)

Date Night

One of the things Cody and I decided to do when Kaitlyn got here was to schedule a weekly date night. It would be a time where we could get out and be "grown-ups" and we would alternate the grandparents getting to have their Kaitlyn fix. I've always heard one of the best ways to be a good parent is to work on your marriage. After the first few months of Kaitlyn's life we were really good about date nights. I think we were at the point of going crazy from not getting out! :)

Then after a while things changed....the school year got busier....Cody changed jobs....we both had church things several nights a week....we just got tired.

So date nights got fewer and fewer. Then they turned into well - it's a birthday so we need to get out. But shortly Cody and I fell back into the old routine of either going out with Kaitlyn when we did go out, or not going out at all.

But tonight we decided to forgo a Sunday School social and have date night instead. We just both knew it needed to happen. So after Kaitlyn's tumbling class we dropped her off at Cody's parents' house and headed out. We already ate together while Kaitlyn was at tumbling - which was nice, but we were on a time schedule so we weren't truly relaxed. After we dropped K off we really didn't have a plan of where to go. So we ended up shopping at various places, which doesn't sound so great, but I had so much fun. Cody would hold my hand or come up from behind and hug me which doesn't happen when one of us is chasing K around! We got to talk and just be together. I loved every single second of it. We talked about anything and everything - but the important thing we talked about was that we needed to do date night more.

So here you go - I'm writing it in blog world - that totally makes it official right? Date night once a week is a rule now huh? :)

Word Explosion!

I was getting really worried about Kaitlyn's lack of words a few months ago. She was always gabbering and making up her own words. She had lots of inflection and could copy our's, but the real words weren't coming as much as I thought they should be. I even asked our school's speech teacher if I should be worried. She said at that point her receptive language was more important - did she understand me and do simple tasks that I asked her to and could she point to pictures when I asked her what they were. Kaitlyn was fine in that department so I was a little less worried, but I still thought she needed more words. Our speech teacher told me not to worry about it until she was two. She told me that's when there is supposed to be a "word explosion." Well, a few weeks into the summer I noticed a small boom of sorts. :) Now it seems as if every day Kaitlyn picks up several new words and I am no longer a nervous mama! Now, she still has her fair share of "Kaitlynese" words as we call it, but as I said, I'm not worried anymore. I thought it might be a good idea to try and make a list of some of the words that she is using right now. I'm sure I'll forget some, but it will be nice to look back at this a few months from now and see how far she's come. :)

Kaitlyn's current words: Mama, Daddy, Darcy, Nonnie, Papaw, Memaw (which should be Grandma...we're working on that one!), Granddaddy, yum-yum, cheese, milk, pizza, pancake, fruit, nana (for banana), apple, fish, turtle, puppy, elephant, monkey, cow, pig, horse, sheep, cat, octopus, crab, zebra, up, down, off, no, yes, poop, pee-pee, bye-bye, Casey, baby, book, bug-a-bug, purple, green, pink, Foofa, Toodie, Brobie, Plex, Muno, Elmo, Minnie Mouse, frog, clock, outside, shoes, cracker, phone, potty, hi, you okay, what's that, funny, oh no, bird, where "daddy" go (insert ANYTHING she wants to know where is for "daddy"), let's go, nose, eyes, tummy, feet, ears, head, teeth, mouth, hat, ball, tree, bus, spoon, fork, cup, this, please, bite, thank you, pretty, church, shake, stop

I'm sure I've left off some and I might add more later as it comes to me or I hear it! :) I just know that the list will be more than doubled in a few months!

My Faults

Yep - you read that right - My Faults. I have no idea what has possessed me to write this blog, but I actually got the idea yesterday while reading something and thought I'd better not write that, but it's still on my mind and I thought what the heck. I might regret this but here goes nothing....

I'm not trusting of people. I've been hurt too many times and in too many ways.

I don't let people get very close to me. That kind of goes with the first one, but it's actually been such a downfall for me lately. All my friends who know me inside out don't live close - as in not even in the same state. I have friends here, but not that know me like my best friends do. I long for the days when I could call up one of best friends and they just knew I was having a bad day and we would go out to dinner or even just to walk around Target for hours.

I'm terrible at returning phone calls. And library books that I check out at the public library for my classroom library.

I am OCD about the weirdest things - especially food.

I am horrible at starting up conversations with people - especially if I barely know them. Put me in a room with people my age and I secretly cringe inside (I also believe I have a slight social anxiety problem) Sometimes I get so nervous that my mind starts working faster than my mouth and I mix up all my words. Put me in a room with five and six year olds and I'll do just fine - and teach those goobers to read while I'm at it! :)

I set my expectations too high. I always plan out the way I want things to go in my head, which usually takes the liking of a romantic comedy, but as I have found out life is not like the movies.

I can act like a jealous junior high girl when it comes to my husband.

Geez - I have issues. I still have no idea why I'm writing this, but for some strange reason I feel I tiny bit better after doing so. Go figure. And I'm sure if I sat here long enough I could add plenty more. But I think I'll cut myself a break for now. Please don't take this as I'm a depressed person in any way. I'm not. I just felt like getting that off my chest for some reason. I'm also pretty darn random most of the time. :)

Dancing with Jaq and Gus

I'm thinking now I might have to do some sort of blog merge...I don't know. A part of me loves having one blog that is just devoted to Kaitlyn and then one for my thoughts and such, but now there is starting to be a lot of crossover. I guess that's okay - it just bothers someone as OCD as me. But for now I guess I'll just leave it. But this video goes with an entry from my other blog about my new washer and dryer, but it's actually K, so I'm putting it here. So there. :)

Birthday Surprise

Today is my 28th birthday - and I'm sad to say I actually had to think about that. I forget how old I am lately. I remember someone asking me at a friend's baby shower earlier this year and I got tongue tied. I felt so silly - who forgets how old they are? Luckily, one of my best friends, Ryley, did the same thing a few weeks ago so I know I'm not the only one. Wonder what that says about us though Ryley... :)

Anyway, tonight Cody has a big night planned. We're going to Texas De Brazil (oh my gosh yummy! The cheese...oh the cheese that they have..and the bacon wrapped chicken....but I digress...) and then to see Wicked. I am sooooo very excited about Wicked. Cody bought the tickets months ago when they first went on sale and got really great seats. He told me that was my birthday present and I was beyond fine with knowing way ahead of time. I would have ended up buying tickets myself for fear of it being sold out. But with that being my present I wasn't expecting what happened last night.

Cody and I were playing Trivial Pursuit (the 90's edition one) in our bed. Yeah, we're weird like that, but honestly some of our best conversations have been while we've been playing board games in our bed. I love it and wouldn't change it for the world! Anyone who has played Trivial Pursuit knows it takes forever and a day to play, and it was getting really late. I was getting really tired and Cody could see that. He told me he would be right back. I thought he was going to let Darcy out, turn something off, etc. He came back to bed and had this little smile on his face that meant he was up to something. Then from behind his back he pulled out a small box from Zales. I was shocked! Like I said, I wasn't expecting anything else for my birthday so he 110% caught me off guard. I opened the box and there they were....
Diamond earrings. Now, I normally don't consider myself a superficial person. I am beyond cheap when it comes to most thing...I did say most things because I'd being lying otherwise. But for the most part, I could care less about what label is on my jeans, shoes, etc. But when I saw this my heart just swelled. I've wanted diamond earring for so long. I had my ears pierced as a girl with fake ones and I wore them all the time. To me diamond studs are just the epitome of class. Needless to say I LOVE them and put them on right away...and I haven't taken them off yet. I'm in love - and not just with the earrings. I'm in love with a man who can still surprise me. I'm in love with a man that wants me to feel special on my birthday. I'm in love with a man who loves me enough to play board games with me in bed. And to me, that makes me one lucky girl this birthday! :)

A Day of Firsts

Wow - today was a really big day for Kaitlyn. At least in Mama's eyes it was. She had three first today...although she really only got to experience two of them.

1. She got her first potty
2. She (and by she I mean me) signed up for her first dance class
3. She got her first golf club (Very big deal for Daddy)

Now, with the first one - Don't think I'm a crazy mom pushing my kid that's not ready. She is showing signs of being ready, and well, honestly I had a coupon for the potty so I wanted to use it. :) She is able to say the "potty words" and knows what they are and can tell me after she has gone, which "they" say is a start. She also hides when she wants to go which apparently is also a sign she's almost ready. So Ms. Pam (K's sitter while I'm at work) let me borrow an Elmo Potty Training dvd. I put the potty in the living room while she watched it. I didn't expect her to use it there (I'm not that gross!) but I wanted her to feel comfortable with it and not be scared of it later. She watched the dvd and even put her Elmo doll on the potty. I guess I'll take that as a good sign??? But she only sat down on it for about two seconds and that was enough for her. I know I have plenty of time, so I'm not going to rush anything. But today was still a big day for her in regards to the potty! :) Wow...I just realized I'm blogging about a potty...when did I become a person like that....oh my!
Secondly was her dance class. I guess it's not really dance yet. That starts in the Fall. The class she will be taking this summer is tumbling. There is a really great studio here in Arlington that is actually based on Christian values. So as she gets older I won't have to worry about her dance group ending up on YouTube for their version of Single Ladies. (If you don't know what I'm talking about just google it...and know that WILL NEVER BE my daughter!) The assistant director goes to church with us and was really excited about K being there. She knows her from Sunday School and said she would fit right in! :) Trust me - my girl loves to dance! I know it won't be anything too spectacular for a few years, but man it's going to make for some cute pictures and videos! She even has to wear a leotard! I love that!!! Her first class was supposed to be this Thursday, but Cody is taking me to Wicked for my birthday so she will actually start next week. I can't wait!!!

Then third - her golf club. Cody went to Target to buy a few things we needed and ended up coming home with a golf club and ball. I've seen plenty of golf sets while I'm out shopping, but I told Cody I would let him pick out her first one. Golf is his thing. And we've both said we want K to play when she's older (if she wants), but trust me - I will be doing zero of the teaching. I've played once and gone to the driving range with Cody a few times. It's not a pretty sight people. Putt-putt is about as far as my golfing skills go and that's pushing it. But Cody gave her a few pointers and K was in love! She wanted to keep playing with the club inside, so it's now a toy that will be kept in the garage until outside time. :)

When did my baby get so big? A potty? Dance lessons?? Golfing??? Someone help me find the pause button on her growing up! I cannot believe she is almost two!!!

Kindermusik and My Mama Bear Moment

One of the things I love to do with Kaitlyn is sing. I'm convinced she loved music even when she was inside my womb. I used to hold the speakers up to my belly in hopes she would hear it. She loved her some Taylor Swift. :) As she has become older she has really started to show off with her ability to match pitch, sing tunes, and keep a steady beat. So I thought I would sign her up for a kindermusik class this summer. I've heard great things about the program and thought it would be perfect for her. And I must say I was right!

Today was her first class. Kaitlyn walked in like she owned the joint and there were already shakers on the floor for them to use as we were waiting for the rest of the class to come. K was in Heaven! She was shaking and singing and the teacher told me she was a natural. She might have been just making small talk, but I had a proud mama moment right there. :) Shortly after, the rest of the class came and we got started. Kaitlyn loved it all at first. Her teacher looked at me with amazement and said she had great rhythm - especially for her age. I was beaming...oh but I beamed too soon. Then it was time to play Put the Instruments Up. Kaitlyn was having none of that. She flat out told me no and proceeded to scream as I took the instruments away from her. Same thing happened when it was time to play Put the Seashells Up, oh and Put the Scarves Up...notice a pattern here? And don't think I wasn't the mama that put her daughter in time out in front of the other kids and mamas - I so was. She needed time out, so that's what she got. Only a minute - I'm not horrible! But then I got the ultimate slap in the face (verbally, not physically) The words I didn't want to hear, although I didn't know I didn't want to hear them until now....are you ready for this???

"She must be an only child right?"

At first I didn't even know what to say. I think I tried to smile and muttered yes, but something inside me started churning. What do you mean by that? My inner Mama Bear was about to come out. I wanted to scream, "At least she's not the boy kicking everyone" or "Well at least she's actually singing the songs and not crying and screaming 'Bye bye' to the teacher." But I didn't. I somehow kept my cool and finished the rest of the class. I know it's not a big deal, but it made me so mad! Yes, my daughter was having some issues giving the instruments back. I know it's a matter of following directions. I get that. I'm a teacher. But she's also 20 months old and still learning. Don't make rude comments. At least she was being told no by her mom and even got a time out. Can't say the same about the other kids in the class.

But with that said, K had an awesome time. She loved every single song and instrument (as I'm sure you can imagine). So we will be going back. We'll just see if mama is able to hold her tongue as well as she did today! :P

Jaq and Gus

Ah - my two new best friends moved into our house today. I love them dearly already. I have named them Jaq and Gus and you get extra bonus points as my friend if you can tell me why. :) Kaitlyn adores my two new best friends. She dances and claps for them. (Watch for a video posted soon)

Theme Song...for now anyway

So it's not really a big secret, but I can be a very introverted person. Shocking I know. But really, one would think someone like me would not go into a field such as teaching, but trust me - it's way different for me talking to a room of five and six year olds verses talking to a room full of people my age. I'd chose the five and six year olds any day of the week. That's the person I am. So one of my big "rechargers" is driving. Not just driving, but driving with really good music. And my music changes. Sometimes it's showtunes and I want to sing my guts out. Sometimes it's depressing music and I want to cry my eyes out. Sometimes it's just whatever I'm liking at the time. But I love it. Every now and then I just have to get in my car, turn the music up, and drive. Today was one of those days. I was physically and mentally exhausted from the last week of school. I needed to go to the grocery store to get some things for dinner and on my way back a song on my playlist came up that was just perfect for this time in my life. American Honey. If you haven't heard it you should. Lady Antebellum is an awesome group. This song is just so perfect - with summertime starting and me trying to unwind from many of the things that makes my life hectic. Here are the lyrics with my favorite part brought out for the blogworld to see.

She grew up on a side of the road
Where the church bells ring and strong love grows
She grew up good
She grew up slow
Like American honey

Steady as a preacher
Free as a weed
Couldn't wait to get goin'
But wasn't quite ready to leave
So innocent, pure and sweet
American honey

There's a wild, wild whisper
Blowing in the wind
Calling out my name like a long lost friend
Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh nothing's sweeter than summer time
And American honey

Get caught in the race
Of this crazy life
Trying to be everything can make you lose your mind
I just wanna go back in time
To American honey, yea

There's a wild, wild whisper
Blowing in the wind
Calling out my name like a long lost friend
Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh nothing's sweeter than summer time
And American honey

Gone for so long now
I gotta get back to her somehow
To American honey

Ooh There's a wild, wild whisper
Blowing in the wind
Calling out my name like a long lost friend
Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh nothin's sweeter than summer time
And American honey
And American honey

Okra!

In my never ending quest to get my daughter to eat green veggies I have finally come across one she loves and eats without hesitation! Okra! I should have known with her being Cody's daughter she would have loved okra! Cody was recently telling me that his grandmother makes this really good okra and tomato dish, so I found a recipe for it and made it. Cody and I were eating it with our dinner and I must say that I wasn't too sure about it, but I ended up loving it as well. Kaitlyn was at the table with us and she kept looking at it and saying, "Yum, yum?" So I let her try one piece and she LOVED it! So I went to the stove and put more on her plate and she ate it quicker than any veggie I've ever seen her eat. Finally!!! :)

And yes, I am a big dork because I took a picture of it. I knew it was going to be in my blog and that's the only reason why I did!

Families Are Us

This is a picture for the Families Are Us photo shoot that our church put on. It's my new favorite picture of me and K - which really there aren't too many out there. I need to be better at getting out from behind the camera and getting people to take pictures of us together.

The photographer is such a sweet friend of ours. Her name is Jennifer Smith and I just adore her! You can check out her website at www.unearthedphotography.com

Crazy Bargain!!!

All of this for $15! No lie! I went to the Scholastic Warehouse sale and there was one aisle that you could go down and anything you could fit into a box was $15. Crazy! I felt like I was stealing from them! Most of the books were hardback. If you look closely you can see I got five Scholastic Kid Dictionaries. I'm taking four to my classroom for next year and keeping one for Kaitlyn for when she gets older. The Clifford one is actually a boxed set of books. The Without You book (with the very cute penguin on it) is one I saw earlier this year and loved so I was extra excited about it - it came with an audio cd too! I was also able to get several cookbook/entertaining books. I was so pumped!!! When I totaled the retail value of the books it turned out to be $417! Bargain shopping always gets me excited, but this was just ridiculous!

Working Mama

Next week is the next meeting of a group that is starting up at my church and I am so pumped about it! We're a group of working moms that decided to get together to fellowship, vent, and support each other. I've never felt as at ease with people I barely knew than the first time we met. I barely know these women so far, yet I feel like they "get" me in a way some of my other friends do not.

It all started at a bible study several weeks ago. I was with some girls from my Sunday School class that are precious to me. But that night there were lots of comments that really, really hurt me. The girls doing it had no intention of hurting me, and I'm sure they still don't know that they did. But I left that night and cried almost the entire drive home. I felt so alone in my "working mom" status and some of their words really did sting.

But I want to make something very clear - I am not ashamed of being a working mom. Not one single bit. I 110% LOVE my job and feel it's a true calling. My guilt comes from not feeling guilty about working if that makes any sense at all. But I am so very tired of being with the same girls that keep saying the same things to me and about me. There is one precious friend I have that is my Sunday School class who just happens to be a stay at home mom. She always has a way of sticking up for me when others make their comments, and I love her dearly for that. But it's been so hard for me this school year to relate to some of the other girls. In fact, I haven't gone back to bible study since that night for that very reason.

Something that my very close friends know about me is I don't sit around and feel sorry for myself for long. I make changes that will change my feelings. Sometimes that means shutting people out and I'm not proud of that. Sometimes it means starting up something new. Sometimes I get in over my head and it backfires against me. But this time I've got some pretty awesome girls that are along for the ride and I think great things are going to happen! The night of the bible study I went home an emailed the preschool minister at my church. I told her I think we needed to start up a Mom Time for working mothers. My church does a great job of supporting moms that are available during the day, but wasn't doing too much for the working moms. Our preschool minister didn't even think twice about it and was willing to put it extra work to make it great. So we met, came up with a survey, planned our first event, and made a list of people who might be interested in becoming a part of the group.

The first meeting was wonderful!!! For the first time in a long time I didn't dread the part of the night when we went around the table and introduced ourselves. I wasn't worried about being the only working mom like I was getting pretty used to. Now I was one among many - everyone at the table! I loved it! It made me so comfortable. We laughed, talked about our kids, talked about our hubbies, just everything. I had a blast!!! I'm so thankful for this new group and I hope that it continues to grow and supports more mamas like me! :)

All About Me??

Cody and I attended a marriage retreat that our church had a couple of weekends ago. I loved it! We found out a lot about ourselves as a couple and as individuals. One of the most eye opening things I realized is that I didn't have a hobby that took me away from home. Cody has softball, golf, and hunting - all of which are away from the home. It's not that I don't want him to do those things, but sometimes the time away made me even more mad because I never had an outlet like that. Cody has always told me to go do something for myself - shopping, trips, whatever. Yes, I go shopping, but I can't do that all the time or we would go broke! And honestly, how fun is shopping when you can't buy things you want? So I decided that I wanted to take a photography class. It's something I've talked about doing before, but never followed through. The afternoon of our last day of the retreat I came home and researched the class online. There was one starting at UTA the first Monday of May and goes until almost the end of June. So I signed up without any questioning from myself. But now the questions are coming - am I going to be so tired on the five Mondays that I have to go to class after I've taught all day long? How will I be able to read Kaitlyn her bedtime stories and still make it to class on time? What about Cody's softball games that are also on Mondays? What if I get there and everyone else knows way more than me about photography (which really isn't that hard to believe!) I'm trying to get all that out of my mind. I love classes - always have and pretty sure I always will. I was a big dork in school and loved to study. But something about this makes me nervous. Maybe it's because for the first time in a very long time I'm doing something for me. Not for my husband, not for my daughter, not for my students - for me. I guess I feel a little guitly, but I know I shouldn't. It's what we learned makes a marriage healthy. Do things together, but don't lose yourself in the process. So here goes nothing - Monday night is my first class! :)

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

When Kaitlyn was just born shoes were just a cute thing to add to an outfit here and there. She never really wore shoes during the day, but she would wear them to church and any holiday function. Then as she started to walk I started buying all kinds of shoes. I wanted to get the cutest ones I could find, but I also didn't want to spend a lot of money. I bought from the clearance rack at Target and Babies-R-Us, and really I was quite proud of myself for being such a bargain shopper. Then I started watching Kaitlyn's feet. Her big toes were the first to somewhat blister. Then one night we were out with Cody's parents. I looked down at her poor little feet and the sandals she had on had cut into her heel and it was actually bleeding. I felt like the worst mother on the planet. I took her shoes off right there in the restaurant and vowed to get her better shoes. That was on a Sunday night. On Wednesday I ended up having jury duty that got out at 10:00 so I had the rest of the day to myself. I took Kaitlyn to the mall and we ended up at Stride Rite. Oh. My. Gosh. I LOVED it! The lady there was so nice and Kaitlyn was just putty in her hands. She measured Kaitlyn's foot with that weird silvery thing which cracked Kaitlyn up. Turns out I had Kaitlyn in a half size too small. Again, just hand me the mom of the year award anytime. :P I didn't even know baby shoes had half sizes!!! (I still have so much to learn!) Anyway, I walked out of there with a new pair of sandals for Kaitlyn and a new pair of sneakers. Needless to say Kaitlyn's feet are in much better shape now. Did I spend more on baby shoes than I thought I ever would? Oh yeah. But I don't regret a single penny of it. Trust me - Stride Rite will have my business for many years to come!

Big Girl

Please someone tell me how Kaitlyn has grown up to look like a "big girl" so quickly!!

It's the little things that mean the most

I left choir practice at church a little early tonight to pick up Kaitlyn at my parents' house. It was pouring down rain and of course my umbrella was in the car. As I was walking down the hall my husband popped up right beside me which surprised me. Since we don't sing the same parts we don't sit together and I usually leave just a few minutes early because of K's bedtime. So I wasn't expecting to see him. Of course the first thing out of my mouth was, "What are you doing?" He answered so matter of factly - "It's raining. I'm going to get your car for you." I. love. that. man. So that's exactly what he did, and as I drove away in the rain and he was walking in it I thanked God for letting me be with such an amazing man that thinks of all those little things!

Dorky Mom

Yep - I'm a dorky mom now. I finally have come to terms with it. I was in line tonight at Target and I turned into that mom that I've seen for years. Whenever I bought a baby gift there seemed to always be a mom behind me that chimes in her two sense after the clerk said something about how cute it was. Something like, "I can't believe they make white shirts." or "My son hated/loved that toy!" Well - that mom is now me. I know! I'm so disappointed at myself, but when I saw the couple in front of me and their precious little son and the cute riding toy they were buying for him my words just started flowing like water. Now, if you know me at all I am not the type to just start talking to a stranger, but that's who I was tonight. Talking about when Kaitlyn starting liking those toys and that I bought this toy when she was this age, etc. etc. They were so sweet and didn't think I was crazy (well, at least I hope not!) but as I walked to my car after I checked out (buying a baby gift for someone else oddly enough) I thought to myself, "I am so that dorky mom in Target now." And pretty sure that won't be the last time my inner dork comes creeping out. But when you get me started about my K good luck shutting me up! :P

Why I love my job..

...well, at least one reason - trust me, I have several!

Today the math journal prompt I used was "Tell me everything you know about +" We're starting our unit on addition. So some kids put that it was a cross, one little girl put that it was a plus and we use it for math and that 2 + 2 = 4, but most kids put "I don't know." (Which in my class is just fine and my kids know that) But one little boy melted my heart. He wrote (in his kindergarten writing) "I don't know about that, my mom didn't tell me." Talk about a kid who thinks his mama hung the moon. I. LOVE. IT.

HomeGoods

Dear HomeGoods,

Where have you been all my life? I love you and am so glad I have found you. I see many, many, meetings in our future.

Love,
Heather

Yay for finding new shopping places! :)

Blockbuster Surprise

I moved up several movies on our Blockbuster queue that were more on the girlier side of things because of my being home during Spring break. I had been watching a few as I cleaned (see my last post) during Kaitlyn's nap time. But tonight Cody agreed to watch one with me, so after we put K to bed we popped in Love Happens. WOW. What a touching and great movie. I'm not great with words when it comes to reviewing movies, music, etc. but if you have not seen this movie - please do. It examines grief and human nature in an amazing way. I love that it shows how people can have a smile, but really be so hurt inside. That should remind us in our everyday lives to treat everyone with kindness. You never know why someone is the way they are - what happened the night before, the week before, or even years before. So the next time someone cuts you off in traffic, or in the grocery line, before you get mad take a second and think about what might be dwelling inside. We just never know.

Spring Cleaning

My Spring Break is almost over. If you don't get a Spring Break you probably don't feel that sorry for me, but man I feel sorry for you! :)

Anyway, each Spring Break I try my very best to do lots of Spring cleaning. I get more done than I would during the week after coming home tired from work and I don't want to spend the time I have with Kaitlyn and Cody cleaning. But this Spring break was different. This Spring break I watched a show called Hoarders. Yep, Hoarders. The name says it all, but you really have to see an episode to truly get the level of hoarding that some people do. It is down right amazing - but in a very, very, awful way.

Now, I do not consider myself a bad hoarder by any means, but there is a lot of stuff I have in boxes that I have to reason to keep. I've come a long way folks, trust me. I was a little girl that refused to give any of my stuffed animals up because I thought they all had feelings. (The Velveteen Rabbit did not help my theory out any either) And my parents had garage sales when I was younger and I would always end up in my room in tears because my stuff was leaving. Like I said - I've come a long way.

But now I'm at the point where I am a mom and I want a household that is organized for my daughter. I want her to grow up the way I did - in a clean, organized home. So that means getting rid of all the "stuff" every now and then. So I've gone through closets and got rid of clothes and shoes I don't wear (or have no business wearing for whatever reason). That part was easy. But then I came to downstairs "miscellaneous closet." (Feel free to enter a good DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN here.) Talk about stuff I didn't need to be keeping. I had three cameras in there that I didn't even use anymore. I had kept the first Canon Rebel I ever bought right after my high school graduation...it took film. But for some reason I've just never been able to let it go. Until I watched Hoarders. I kept thinking to myself as I watched that show, "It's just stuff. Just get rid of it already." Well, I wasn't practicing what I was preaching. Sometimes that is harder than it seems. Now, I still don't get the whole keeping pizza boxes and old jars like I saw on the show, but the stuff that has memories - that, I totally get. But I am proud to say that Mission Arlington now has a TON of my stuff - including cameras. And now we have more storage space - yay! I also talked my hubby into getting rid of the old Nintendo (yes, the original one) and his old x-box plus all the games. They just sat in the closet with no use at all...except for the memories for him. I did tell him he could go get a new softball bat if he got rid of all of it. But he REALLY wanted that bat, and the bat stays in the garage and I get even more storage space now, so I still think I end up with the better deal. Although I'm pretty sure my sister-in-law isn't going to be too happy with Cody, because he didn't take it to Mission Arlington with all my stuff - he called up his brother and asked him if he wanted it and of course he said yes. Sorry Candy!!!

So now some of our "stuff" is no longer ours, and really I'm very okay with that. I still have the memories and God willing I always will. And we are not finished making memories - not by a long shot! :)

Undercover Veggies

Kaitlyn did so great with veggies in the beginning. She didn't really take to green beans, but I could always get her to eat carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes. Now that she's eating all solids she has turned up her nose at several of the veggies she used to eat. She will eat broccoli and cauliflower, but she gets burned out on them very easily. I give her the veggie chips too, but I feel like a bad mom if I don't do something more. So now I've resorted to hiding veggies in her meals. At first I tried to just sneak them in, but she would pick around them. So now I mush them up and create a puree of sorts. But hey, it works and I feel better about her eating. Doesn't everyone like carrot and cheese quesadillas??? :P