Ready to do it by myself

For the last several days Madison has balked at the notion of being fed (breakfast being the only exception). So, last night I decided to put her baby food in a suction bowl on her tray and let her have at it.....the results are below! :)

I took this picture just a few minutes ago.....what a little cutie pie! Her favorite position is standing! Doesn't matter what it is, if it's taller than her, she uses it to pull up.

The stroller had enough!

Sources close to the stroller report that its relationship with its owner's brother is tumultuous and run-ins often result in violent outbursts. It is still unclear how exactly the stroller ended up where it did and stroller-homicide has not be ruled out, sources report. Officials declined to comment on whether or not there was a suspect, but did say they had questioned a "person of interest." The POI's identity is being withheld because he is a minor and charges are not expected at this time.*



*The photographer who caught the crime on film was EXTREMELY happy to have replaced her digital camera earlier today. ;)

Woe is me

I scrambled an egg yolk for Madison and got the camera out to snap a pic. Much to my dismay, my camera is not working....after only being on for a second or so, the screen goes white---can't take or view pics. The thought of being without my Sony Cybershot is alarming. Scott said to figure out what I want and we'd get a new camera. Really???

So, has anyone out there had this problem?? I would like to investigate my problem online, but that's not possible until tonight.....

Evie-isms

Okay, so I know she's my little girl, but, really, she is the cutest thing ever right now!

Yesterday morning I asked her if she wanted to color and she said, "I'd be happy to. I like to color." WHAT??? I'd be happy to?? Yesterday afternoon I asked her to get a diaper for Madison and she said, "I'd be happy to help." Too cute!

This morning she said, "that would be great" and "that would be terrific." It's too cute not to share!

Tricycle

After sitting on all the tricycles at Wal-Mart and Toys R Us, Evie decided on the one she liked. Look how happy she is WITHOUT a helmet! :) Keep going.... She was so mad at me for making her wear a helmet, she wouldn't look at me. I kept asking her to turn around so I could take her picture--no such luck.
Well, I got her to look in my general direction, but she wouldn't stop crying. She'd love to ride her new toy----if we didn't make her wear a helmet. She'll figure it out...hopefully before summer's over.

Last day of school

Jared had his last day of preschool last week. When I called his name and told him I was going to take his picture, he put out his tongue. Nice, huh? Oh well....

Big M, little m, what begins with M?

Miscellaneous May pics of Madison! :) Perhaps I've read Dr. Seuss's ABC book too many times....(Can you relate, Renae?)!
This is the first time I let Madison out of the stroller while we were at OT. She had a lot of fun crawling around and playing in the lobby.

This dress was a "thank you" gift to Evie from Aunt E a couple of years ago. Scott took a pic of Evie wearing it when we first moved here (I think I was wearing the same outfit, too), so I just had to have a pic of me and Madison this past Sunday.

Dirty Girl Scout

Dirty Girl Scout?? You might be thinking inappropriate movie or alcoholic beverage, huh?

Actually it's the BEST coffee drink I've had in a really long time (maybe ever)---and that's saying a lot from the woman who frequents Starbucks 1-3 times/week.

A Dirty Girl Scout is Mean Bean coffee house's version of a peppermint coffee drink. It's awesome. I had my first one today and plan to see if it's as good the second time around sometime later this week.

Memorial Day Weekend

We went to a local ice cream festival this past Saturday. It was the BEST parade I've been to and the first for all three kids. The ice cream trucks came down first and gave ice cream to everyone on the street--they gave our family 5 full-size snickers dark chocolate ice cream bars. After much on-looking, I gave Madison a pinch of the vanilla ice cream. Scott was shocked, to say the least, and quickly reminded me of the polite "hiney chewing" he got for giving banana pudding to Evie while the Smiths were visiting us in Austin (remember, Tracey?) when Evie was only 5 months old. I have a real soft spot for the Shriner's stuff in parades. Jared loved (as you can imagine) the airplane trike.

There were several old tractors in the parade---which Scott really enjoyed.


On Sunday evening, after letting Jared play in the water in the backyard, we went to McDonald's for dessert. Madison had her first baby rice cakes and really liked them. I had forgotten how messy those soft baby chewy things can be.....

I've heard it all

This is a kind shout out to our dear friends the Johns'.

I guess George didn't want Renae to come visit and, instead of asking her not to come, decided to wreck his truck. This is the same man who once pulled my chair out from underneath me at my own kitchen table! :) I did not get hurt in my "accident," but the same cannot be said for George today. ((Poor George, the chair incident happened in 1999 or 2000 and I just can't let it go!))

Best wishes, George, for a speedy and pleasant recovery. Renae mentioned that she needed more to do now that she had the four kiddos under control!! :)

Just kidding, George. Get well soon and we'll be keeping you all in our prayers!

Middle of May??

Okay, check out Madison in her velour pants and jacket---yes, a jacket on May 21st. Unbelievable. No, it's not your screen, she does have a small bruise under her right eye...the result of a playtime injury yesterday. Even I don't know exactly what happened! :)



Can my little girl cut her eyes or what?? She attempted to smell the sidewalk (versus "eat the pavement") in front of Jared's school this afternoon. One minute she was twirling around and the next she was tripping over the air under her feet! She skinned her face from her nose to her chin and busted the inside of her lip on top of that. She looks none too happy about it!

Weekend Pics

I took a few pics of Evie's new dress she wore to church on Sunday. Also, couldn't resist a few pics of Madison playing in her room and crawling in the hallway. Madi's baby-blues are quite the attention getter!

You, too, can be a rock star for $5.99

I bought Jared a mini skateboard this week for $5.99. He was so excited he couldn't sleep that night...he just kept talking about how great it was. Yay for mommy!

Happy Mother's Day to me!

On our way to dinner on Mother's Day, Jared asked Daddy how to spell a bunch of words and this is what he wrote for me: Jared said Mommy it's Mothers Day. The word "it's" didn't actually make it, but it was a fantastic effort and I loved it!!

Field Trip to the Zoo

Jared & Evie had a great time on Jared's class field trip. Group photo (left to right) is Kaelen, Jared, Caleb and an unknown picture-crasher who was not part of our group.

A little more than expected while gardening

We had a little visitor in our flower bed this afternoon. The snake startled me--as it slithered out from underneath a plant that was less than a foot from my hand. Jared was excited, to say the least. Scott caught the little guy (obvious from the picture) and let it go in the woods behind our house.

Madison at 7 Months

Yes, she'll be 8 months old next week, but here are some pics from this past month.



She is crawling all over the place and really enjoys pulling up to get a better view of things!

House Painting

We had the house painted a couple weeks ago. The guys that did the work did a great job. We used this as an opportunity to tone down the color! ;)

Grandma & Grandpa's Visit

Seems like it's getting harder and harder to take pics of the kids these days. I managed to get a few pictures while my parents were visiting.... Evie developed a real love affair with her grandpa.
It was very sweet to watch. Jared curled up on Grandma's lap the night before they left; he sat with her for more than 30 minutes, which is unheard of these days.

Graduating...sort of

It seems as though Jared has made such great progress in the last few weeks and is ready to "graduate" out of OT. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. Last week his psychologist said we could scale back our weekly visits and today our OT said she thought he was ready to end our weekly OT sessions and focus on group settings. It's a little scary for me, but I'm excited for Jared. I have an IEP meeting at school in a couple of weeks and I'm super-anxious to get feedback from his teacher. He's doing so much better in one-on-one settings; I hope this has translated into better behavior in group settings, too. Looks like I'll be finding out in the coming weeks. Yikes!

Mom really does have a life---no, really, I do!

Today Jared was pretending it was my birthday and kept giving me race car related toys for gifts. After several of these gifts, I asked Jared what he thought I would like for MY birthday. He didn't know so I asked him what mommy liked to do. He came up with three things, in this order: clean the house, drive the car, and mop the floor. :(

Mopping the floor??? I don't do that as much as I should and felt convicted...was he trying to tell me something??

I was shocked that he doesn't know I have actual interests. I was mostly surprised that "talking on the phone" wasn't at the top of his list. :-)

Confessions of a five-year old

So, my mom and I are sitting in Evie's room with Evie and Madison, playing on the floor. Enter Jared carrying a latex glove*. Jared begins placing small toys in the glove and announces, "I'm stealing stuff 'cause I'm a thief." What??

A few days prior to the clep's confession, Jared attempted to help my mom "clean up." As they were waiting at the bus stop, Jared asked Grandma why she had chocolate on her face. Upon trying to wipe off the chocolate, Grandma figured out that Jared had discovered her age spots. Nice.

*found an old pack in Evie's closet that I bought when I had an allergic reaction to some rash cream a couple years ago---felt the need to explain :)

May I have this cruise?

Okay, so the title only makes sense if you've seen the movie "Cars." I have had the pleasure of seeing the movie more than 20 times. :)

Here's a seven month update...

Speaking of cruising, my baby girl, Madison, is ready to go. Earlier this week Madison decided to try cruising and take some steps while holding on. Tonight she actually got going. She even tried to "walk" behind a walking toy tonight---the toy got the best of her when it rolled out away from her and she "ate" the carpet!

Yesterday she pulled up and let go! Amazing! I guess I have to mention that she only lasted 1/4 of a second.....

I'm convinced her motiviation to move comes from fear of being fallen on by a "short person."