Awful Beautiful Life

NEW Blog...Again.

2010-09-26T17:04:00.001-05:00

Things have changed. I've changed.
Who Am I

Blog, What Blog?

2010-08-11T16:29:00.004-05:00

You mean I have a Blog? Says who?!? :)

HI!! I've been without internet for sometime now. I did, though, purchase a Blackberry so you can keep up with me on Facebook. I still do not have internet at my apartment because I don't want to pay 40$ extra dollars when I already pay 30$ for my data package on my Blackberry.

The girls are GREAT! Cami had surgery a couple weeks ago for a swolen lymph node. I think they called it "cephalitis" or something like that. She is much better now. Carrah is talking like a champ!! I swear sometimes she talks better than Cam.

Hmm... not sure what else to throw in here right now, but just wanted to update. I have so much on my mind and so much I want to blog about. It seemed to be my release for so long and now it's all building up in my head :( Maybe some day i'll be able to get the internet turned back on. Hugs and Kisses to all!!

Wordless Wednesday - Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth

2010-02-24T08:15:00.003-06:00

Where 'Imma Be'

2010-02-23T13:23:00.004-06:00

I thought i'd let yall take a little peak inside our new apartment. I've already posted pictures of it on Facebook, but for some reason, hadn't gotten around to doing it on here.

It's a two bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment and I love it! It's so nice to have somewhere to call my own. I guess when you're married, it should feel like your home, but it never did to me. i woke up angry every morning because things weren't where I wanted them. That's silly, but for someone like me who has an issue with things being out of place, it was a real problem!

Here is our kitchen. I believe it is my favorite part of the apartment. It's just so homey and cute.

The living area. {note the kiddos playing in their PBK chairs? ha!}

Yes, I realize I need a large picture to hang above the couch. I haven't decided what I want to put there yet. I was thinking of letting the girls go to a pottery works place and painting a big picture and using that.

Here is the girl's room. Sorry about the lighting. I should've stood in front of the window..Ah well.

My BORING room. lolZ! I don't even have a bed frame. BOO!

Love this closet though. The picture does not do it justice. It goes so far back and has little shelves all throughout it. <3!

So, there ya have it. This is where imma be for a while.

Such a Wonder{ful} Place

2010-02-20T13:58:00.004-06:00

I've discovered my new favorite place to take the kids. It's called The Wonder Place and it is nothing short of wonderful!!

Last weekend when Jake was down with his girls, we took all four of them and they played for about 2.5hours and loved every minute of it. It's filled with so many imaginative play places. There is something new and exciting in every little corner. It's targeted at kids under , I would say 6 years old, so it was perfect for our girls. We took all four of them on Friday, then when my girls were with C, we took his two girls back on SAturday. Then this weekend, a friend of mine and I took her two boys and my girls. FUN stuff!!!

Enjoy the pictures below. :)

Hi, I Think You're Supposed to Push That

2010-02-19T08:40:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, I had to run to Wal Mart for a "few" necessities, or so I thought.

I walked out with

two step stools {pink and purple..Tinkerbell and Princess}
three toothbrushes {Tinkerbell and Barbie for the girls}
toothpaste
wipes
Minnie Mouse sippy cups {pink and purple, but of course}
an electric can opener
Tutu and Leotard for Miss Priss' cheer&tumble class

, but guess what I forgot?... FREAKIN' Toilet Paper!!! Are you kidding me? I bought all that junk, but no TP? I would forget something that major in a house full of girls. {blonde moment}

So, i'm walking down the main aisle and I see this woman pulling her buggy beside her. Know what I mean? She isn't pushing it by the handle like every other person i've ever seen push a buggy, oh no, she's pulling/gliding/maneuvering it beside her. In the process of doing this, she takes up the entire isles and bumps into people!! What are you doing woman? I mean really.. I never figured out the reason. It was just weird.

Wordless Wednesday - A Naughty Spot

2010-02-17T19:54:00.004-06:00

{Not a very smart place for the dishwasher}

Wordless Wednesday - Stair Pictures

2010-01-14T09:29:00.002-06:00

An Appreciated Prayer {& a Praise}

2010-01-13T13:51:00.003-06:00

Another melancholy post is on it's way..just to let you know. But this time it isn't Me, Me, ME!

Someone I know is going through something major in her life right now. She has been on the "wrong path"for a few years now. She chose the wrong crowd and became addicted to some things. Her daughter was born in 2007 and she is a sweetie! We all love her dearly, especially Miss Priss. They are besties. We all thought having her daughter would change her ways, but it didn't. She has been to numerous rehabs and counselling appointments, but always ends up in the same places.

This time though, it's gotten bad. She is 6.5months pregnant with a little boy. She didn't know she was pregnant with him until she was 4.5months. How? I have no idea. But she didn't, until she showed up in the hospital for trying to OD(allegedly)

Well, it happened again. She is 6.5mos. and ended up in the hospital with 3 different meds in her system. The baby's heartrate was to high. They did an u/s and found out that HE has a hole in his abdomen and brain and possibly has chromosomal defects. {sad face}

I'm sick. Literally sick. It disgusts me. I have no other words. Just please keep your opinions to yourself and say a prayer for this BABY! He does not deserve this.

{ps. If you know who i'm speaking of IRL, please, please DO NOT go around gossiping!!!! This does not need to be known. I decided to post it here for prayers.}

*****************************************************************

Now for the Praise!

I think I got a JOB!! Are you silently saying "You think??" Yeah me too.

Well, here's how the phone call went.
"Hi KC! Can you come in at noon tomorrow?"
Me. "YES absoloutley!"
"Great. We want to introduce you to the doctors and staff and have you fill out some paperwork."
Me. "Okay great. Thank you!"

Now, hmm. Does that sound like I got the job or just an interview? She sounded very positive and upbeat, so i'm praying that I got it! Woo Hoo!! Don't want to get my hopes up to high just yet though.

Care Bear Opthamology Appt 4

2010-01-11T17:22:00.003-06:00

We had to take Care Bear in for her fourth Opthamology appointment at Children's. It was another scheduled routine visit. Both C and I were anticipating this visit as the visit where they'd schedule "the surgery."

We were right. I'm not sure if that's unfortunate or fortunate. It is fortunate because she needs it. Her poor little right eye is slowly failing. It's lagging behind the left eye quite noticeably. Last time we were there was in October and both eyes were equal, but now, three months later, her left eye is much stronger. It is unfortunate though, because I don't want my baby to have to undergo surgery. It's such an intense feeling of anxiety and it's still 2 months away.

I've waited for this day, for when they told us she needed the surgery because I want her to have it. I don't want her eyes to continue crossing and have even more reason for hateful kids to pick on her. I don't want her to lose vision in one of her eyes. However, I also don't want her to have to be put under with anesthesia. {sad face}

They gave us more patches {sigh} and this time they sent us home with Teragard tape that you put on top of the patches so that she can't rip them off as easily. Oh and if that doesn't work,they sent us home with arm braces that won't allow her to reach up and pull the patch off. Cruel much? I know.. right? That's what I thought, but if it helps to strengthen her right eye, I will do it.

For some reason, i'm emotional today. Everything sort of hit me hard. I'm excited to start a new chapter of my life, but at the same time on days like this when CB or MP need both of us, it's difficult to think of what you'll do at the next visit. Will we be there together? Will we still be on friendly terms? I hope so. For today though, we were. It was all about CB today. Lil princess as one of the nurses called her.

Stinker. She was so good through the entire process. They had to dilate again and that is just terrible for a 14 month old. Especially one who is already sensitive to the sun. She couldn't even open her eyes in the car, but she was a trooper and decided to just fall asleep. {smiley face}

The UnMom Side

2010-01-10T19:41:00.002-06:00

Yes i'm a mom and my kids are my world, but I do go out sometimes. So what?!
On New Year's Eve we went to a friend's house then out to a club. I guess it's called the club. I'm not sure about the proper lingo.
Here's a group shot of all the guys. They cracked me up all night.
My bestie Brian. I've known him since I was seventeen and we've discussed many things in our lives. He's a great friend.
This girl is awesome. She married a friend of ours and we never hung out much, but that night I got to know her pretty well. She also has a little girl that is 2.5. She's precious with bright red hair!
This was Girl's Night Friday night! The two girls on either side are my sisters {yes the oldest one is hanging out with me now..yay!!} We had such a great time. I just let myself be me for the night and had a great time with the girls.
Dancing like nobody's watching ;)
Cheesin' much? Yeah.. it was fun times. I love to dance, even though i'm awful!
My sister Traci. So glad they are a part of my life now! It's like i've known them forever.

Big Like Hannah Montana

2010-01-08T13:17:00.002-06:00

Miss Priss has a slight obsession with two "people". The first one being Tinkerbell, the second being Hannah Montana or "Mahley" {her southern way of saying Miley.}

Most of her Christmas gifts this year consisted of products of these two "people's." Mostly Tinkerbell, but there were a few Hannah Montana and Miley things in the mix. She loves the music! Girl can shake her booty if there's a good jam on.

She knows every somg of Miley's that comes on the radio and she lets you kow "MOMMA, that's Miley!!"

So.. quick change of pace. We've been trying to teach her how to wipe her own bottom. She's been full potty trained since April 2008 and it's high time she learned to wipe herself properly. She doesn't want to learn. She likes to holler from the top of the stairs "I'm DONE!!!"

We said "Don't you want to be a big like mommy?"
"NO!!"
"...big girl like Destiny {her cousin}?"
"NO!!"
"..big girl like ..... Hannah Montana?"
"... huh? Yeah! I gonna be big girl like Hannah Montana."

{wink} Success.

Wordless Wednesday - Miss Priss' "Friends"

2010-01-06T15:45:00.001-06:00

I Don't Want to Talk About That

2010-01-06T10:21:00.003-06:00

As I mentioned, we are going through some "ups and downs", what I did not mention was that my entire life as I know it is crumbling before my eyes. But I don't want to talk about that.

I was finally able, after three years of struggling, to open up and tell my husband that I did not feel that I was in love with him and that I never had been. I told him that I loved our children, but that I was miserably unhappy in our loveless, emotionless, chemistryless{sorry that isn't a word} marriage. But I don't want to talk about that.

We decided to "separate" for the time being, even though we have nowhere to separate to because we are so incredibly broke. But I don't want to talk about that.

He told me he knows he is in love with me and that he didn't want to have to go through with this because it makes him feel like a failure. He is angry with me, but wants me to be happy where ever it may be. I feel such guilt and extreme sadness to have done this to him, but I needed to be honest. It has been to long that I have been keeping this inside and it's spiritually, mentally, and physically hurting myself as well as my kids. But I don't want to talk about that.

Edited to add: I must get a job now. I don't mind. I've always enjoyed working, but i'm terrified to put my girls in daycare. Plus it's expensive! The big problem is that I haven't worked a single day in five years. I'm a certified Dental Assistant, but that was also five years ago when I completed my training. I never got a job as a DA because I had Miss Priss! I'm so scared that I wont get hired anywhere because of not working in so long. But I don't want to talk about that.

When I went to balance our checkbook today, we were in the negative and still hadn't paid all of our bills. But I DON'T want to TALK about that.

I don't want to talk about any of this, but I need to. with all of my heart, I need to get it out. The world is against me right now. My family, my friends, everyone that knows me is angry with me because of my decision. They think i'm not putting my kids first and that i'm being selfish. Which I am, in a way. Because I think that I can be a better mom if i'm happy. Right now, I don't think i'm being the best mom I can be. I feel that I ignore my kids at times because i'm in such a deep depression. It's the most withdrawn I've ever been. And it's hard. That is such a simple word to use, but it's accurate. My body feels defeated. But I don't want to talk about that.

I've prayed about this for three years..almost four. Since Miss Priss was born, or before even. I've prayed that God would let me love him, that we build a stronger relationship based on love, etc.. We got married because I was pregnant, not because we were in love. I felt like my body was kicking and screaming when I said my vows because I didn't want to do it and I've been paying for it for almost four years. For some reason, a few nights ago, I had to be honest. I couldn't hold it back any longer. I told him I just wanted him to know the truth because I hate lying to him everyday of our lives. I'm sad that i'm hurting him. I do care about him. We have a great "friendly" relationship, but I want to see him be loved!

This is such an overwhelming post and I may delete it, but I needed to say it more than I've needed to ever say anything in a journal. Like I said, most people are against me right now and it's breaking me down further. It just seemed right to "write" it down. I still don't feel like it's all out, but I also don't feel so compacted with emotion either.

But.. I don't want to talk about that.

Thorns

2010-01-05T19:01:00.002-06:00

It's been a week since i've posted. I hate going that long without posting. BOO me!

My family is going through some very difficult things at the moment. I'd rather not go into details as i'm not sure what the outcome will be. However, I wanted to let you all know that we're all healthy. It isn't a lack of health that is keeping me from blogging. Praise God! Just some hard times.

I'll be back with lots of details and pictures etc.. soon!! Hugs and Kisses.

Wordless Wednesday - Ponytail Girls

2009-12-30T12:11:00.001-06:00

{Comparison from November 2008}

My {Grown Up Christmas Gift} Faves

2009-12-28T20:56:00.003-06:00

Just taking a little break from all of the overwhelming amounts of Christmas pictures to talk about a few of my favorite gifts I received.

Number 1 .. The 3 or 4 outfits from my momma! She bought me 3 pair of leggings, 2 pair tights, 4 shirts, a scarf and some jewlery. They are all around the same shades of color so I can mix and match them so many different ways. Yay! She knows my style to a "T" and I can always count on her to hook me up! Love my new stuff! Don't worry, i'll take pictures when I wear them.. you know I wouldn't pass that up. {wink}

Number 2 .. The mp3 Auxiliary car cable that C bought me for my iPod. I can hook up my iPod directly to the Auxiliary outlet in my car and my tunes play over the radio. Best gadget EVER! I loathe commercials, so this little dude is perfect for me.

Number 3 .. My super awesome new boots shown in the last post. I also got a black pair of mid calf black boots with a gold buckle. My dad gave me money to buy some new boots. He wasn't about to venture out and try to pick something out that I would like. Nope, he doesn't know my style like my mom does. One year when I was eighteen, he showed up with a baby pink Branson sweatshirt with a little bird on the front. Sweeeet!

I got a few other pretty cool things, but those were my top 3 faves! What can I say, i'm still a kid when it comes to Christmastime {smile}

Wrapping Up the Christmas Parties

2009-12-28T08:53:00.005-06:00

Are you tired of Christmas pictures yet? If you are, don't worry, this will be the last post..I think. Can't promise anything.

On Christmas day afternoon, we went to my dad's and stepmoms gathering. I should've added those pictures with the last post, but that's okay. They had the biggest food setup and it was all so good. Someone smoked a turkey. YUM! We already ate all of our leftovers. Boo.

Care Bear quickly getting back into unwrapping gifts. She would pull the paper and say "ugh. ugh!" It was really funny.
Miss Priss got boots because Papa T's house always floods. lol! Now she can wear big ol boots like he does when they go to feed the horses.
Good gravy, that pile of presents is as tall as her. She tackled them with ease though.

In LOVE with this picture. They love eachother so much. I can't believe they both looked at me like they actually hugged for a picture. Awww.
Opening gifts at my grandma's on the day after Christmas. She bought a few gifts for them to keep at her house, which is a GREAT idea to ME! That means nothing to take home. ha!

Miss Priss wanted to wear her scarf and ear warmer so I clipped a Bow to the side of it. She didn't mind..until it got itchy.

Anyone notice that this girl is always eating? It keeps her entertained.

PlayDoh!! Man, that was a big hit. Glad it isn't coming to our house. {wink}
Me and CB trying to figure out MP's new laptop. I think CB likes it more than MP. They are so smart to know what a laptop is. {OH! See my new boots?! I bought them at Kohls on the early bird special that very morning! I used my Christmas money from my dad. They were regular $79 and I got them for $35.}

Me fake smiling it up. CB looking oh.so.cute!
She got a CUTE Surprise Cabbage Patch baby from my BIL and his girlfriend. I'd never heard of these, but they're so cute. You take them out of the bundle and see what color diaper they have. Hers was BLUE!! His name is Leonard Kyree. Ha! Ha! I'll have to get a pic of him later.
So excited..or just being cheesy when I said to smile. She just HAD to wear her Christmas dress at least once. We never made it to Sears for pics this year :(
Wow! An art easel. She liked opening that one, but she hasn't played with it once.
That's the end of our party events. It was a long Christmas this year, but like I said before, much less stressful, which is always a plus. I stayed up last night putting up toys. The house looks much better and everything has found a place. Once again, Merry Christmas! Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve!

Oh and thank you for the advice on the blue mark on C's face! That totally makes sense. I'll be more careful with the red eye fixer next time.

Christmas Eve Traditions and Christmas Morning!!

2009-12-27T20:00:00.004-06:00

It's taking me a little while to get all of this posted because we're still partying!! Well not partying, but Christmas partying. Today was our last one though. Whew. I'm worn out and I feel like our house is about to burst with toys.

Christmas Eve after my family christmas party, we come home and do our yearly Eve traditions. Open jammies and ornaments then take pictures. Love it!
Care Bear saying "Cheeeeeese!" She's such a good little cheeser for momma.
My all time FAVORITE picture of my girls togetether..to date. So precious. They were being very well behaved and had the most fun week of their lives, I think.
Such a happy little thing. I swear, she has laughed and smiled more this week than i've ever seen her do. She's always happy and smiley, but this week she was extra giggly. Oh and the cookies helped.
Family jammie picture. Gotta love self timers.
Mmm. Love santa cookies!
One of the only pictures I have of the two of us together. {I don't know what that blue is on C's face? Maybe it's just on my computer}
Note to Santa. Miss Priss wrote her name all by herself. Go girl!
The Christmas morning setup. Loved playing Santa's elf!
When I woke MP up! I said "Santa came!! You must've been a good girl." she came up out of the bed so quick, I missed her face. ha!
Taking it all in. So much fun!
SOO excited! That is the coolest baby ever. She laughed out loud for a while.

Checking out their stockings. See what all we can fit into PB stockings..LOTS!

A new scarf like her momma!! Woo Hoo! She loved it and had to wear it immediately.
Our Christmas morning was amazing! We had a stress FREE, relaxing, fun holiday with our family. I hope you all had a fun time with your family. We are still re cooperating from all of the parties. Hopefully life will get back to normal soon. {wink}

Christmas Eve Cookies and Parties

2009-12-26T11:37:00.006-06:00

Well a BIG Merry Christmas everyone!!!! I hope everyone had as great a holiday as we did. It was the best yet, by far! Our girls had the most amazing time with family. We've been so blessed this year.

We've also been very very busy as many of you have been i'm sure. Our events started Wednesday night {christmas eve's eve} at my mom's. We opened gifts with her that night because the rest of the week was packed.

Christmas Eve morning the girls played and played with their toys. So much fun for two little girlies.

Miss Priss showing off her new PJ's from Nini..and house shoes! They came in a little pack with pj's, house shoes, rubber duck and rubber frog. Cool!
Me modelling my new outfit from my mom! She got me several and I LOVE them all. They are SO me.
Miss Priss and I baked cookies and brownies on Christmas Eve night. They were GFree of course. Betty Crocker is now making these Gfree mixes at Target. YAY!
She is the most amazing big helper! She really does help a TON.
Me and my mini bakerella. Love her.
Yum! How can you not lick the beater, I mean come on..
then you must get messy and have a chocolate smile.
Yummy GFree cookies! A bit crumbly, but seriosuly good! They were GONE at my family Christmas party.
Our second party, my families. We have such a big family, we draw names. These are the girls opening their gifts.
Cutie. They both got dolls.
With their {my second} cousins that are about the same age as each of them.
Ha!! Crazy girl.
These are the events leading up to Christmas. I'll get our Christmas morning and afternoon post up soon. I'm sorry it has taken me so long. We've been buried under a large pile of TOYS!!! Oh and playing with lots of stuff.

The Reason for the Season

2009-12-24T14:26:00.003-06:00

I've fallen into the money trap of Christmas. It happens every year and every year I say i'm not going to do it again the next. But I do. This year has been no different, until now, that is.

We spent money here and there trying to get the kids so many things to unwrap, but guess what happened? We ran out of money! Remember I said that about my dad's gift? I wasn't lying. We literally were at a $0 balance. I prayed about it hard. I didn't let myself stress or get bent out of shape. That's what I normally would have done, but this time I put it all on God. I knew I couldn't do it myself. C and I have not been this broke ..ever. It's hard, but you know what? We are able to pay our bills and we have a home and food and that is all that matters at the end of the day. Presents are a bonus, not a necessity.

Well, God came through for us in a very unexpected way. I got a letter in the mail with no return label that said MERRY CHRISTMAS! and had a $100 bill. I opened it and started shaking and had tears running down my face. I don't know who it was from, but whoever you are, i'm eternally grateful. I haven't had anyone do anything so generous for my family in a very long time. Praise be to GOD! I'm so so thankful. I just cannot express it enough. This week was tough already because C was short almost an entire day so this money will buy our groceries for the week. YAY!

Point of my post. Let's remember the reason for the season. If everyone could do something generous for someone else, the world be a much happier place to be. Merry Christmas everyone. Happy Birthday to Jesus Christ!!!

Care Bear 14 Months

2009-12-22T08:14:00.003-06:00

I typed this up last night on the 21st {CB's bd}, but forgot to publish it.

My Care Bear girl has been here fourteen months. Wow. It has gone by to fast and it isn't slowing down anytime soon.

I feel as though she has been with us forever, but then again, I remember taking those two to three pregnancy tests like it was yesterday. None of my BBC girls saw the second line so I had to prove it to them with a "Pregnant" reading on a digital test. My pregnancy with CB was amazing. I exercised the whole 9 months and I felt great! Her birth is still fresh in my mind as well, but in case you have forgotten or never heard about it, here's the story and pictures{OMG I was HUGE!.}

Fourteen months must be a big age in development and learning. Care Bear has started doing and saying so many new things. I love to just sit and watch her every day.

She says

Daddy (It's never been DaDa..always Daddddeeee)
Momma
Seee sy (for sissy)
Ball
Bite
Shoes
Quack Quack
Uh Oh (Her FAV! and she knows the proper way to use it too)
Barney
Book
Fish
Mmm! Aww!
Baby
Juice

Those are all words that everyone can understand, she says a few things that only I can understand, but I wont count those. She is able to take commands such as "Bring momma your paci" or "Get another book"

She only knows two animal sounds.. Dog = Woof Woof, Duck = Quack Quack.

She loves to dance and pretend like she is jumping. She'll squat down really low and pop up like she's jumping super high of the ground. It's so cute! She likes to sing songs and do the motions. She has a great memory!! Also, as I mentioned before, she loves to Call the HOGS!! Wooo Pig SOOie!!

Miss Priss and CB are started to play very well together. It's my favorite thing to see. MP likes to play with CB a little more though. CB gets mad and pushes her and tries to knock her out. She is almost as big as MP!

She's just like her big sister in that she loves Barney, but different from her sister in practically every other way{still.} CB is extremely independent and gets angry if things do not go just her way. She'll scream out arch her back and throw herself down. Att-i-tude!! We like to call {affectionately of course} Miss Drama Queen!!

All in all, this age is so much fun! I'm loving living it again with my second girl!

Presents Under the Tree

2009-12-21T14:04:00.003-06:00

All of the girls and C's presents are wrapped and tucked away under the tree. They have been for about a week now, but i'm just getting to posting pictures. Miss Priss has been more than excited about them. She has done her fair share of shaking them. Not only hers either, she has shaken every last present under the tree.

I for one, cannot wait for "Santa's" presents to appear under the tree!

Here is the gift we made for my dad and C's dad. (Two separate ones of course) It's the girls handprints on a Santa cookie plate and a poem that I found online. We ran out of money for buying gifts so we decided to make this. One for each of them.

It isn't finished. We're going to laminate the poem and hang it with ribbons from the bottom of the plate. The tulle will be glued to the plate right above the poem.

Here are a few posts from last year around Christmas time. Here and Here

Bond of Sisters

2009-12-20T16:03:00.005-06:00

I'm not talking about my super cute sister girls, i'm talking about my very own sister. My dad's older daughter.{He actually has two, but I only talk with this one}

I was told about them my entire life, but never met them. It was a big deal, a long story if you will. They married young, had two kids, her parents disapproved, they divorced, he was told never to come around again and he complied. Stupid, yes very, but that was his way of dealing.

I'm almost certain I will never understand his logic, but I respect him because he was an amazing dad to me and he talked about them non stop. He loved them very much and missed them with every fiber of his body. But he was to bull headed to look for them and apologize when they were grown. He always kept up with them though. He had many of his friends and family keeping him up to date on how they were.
I always wanted to know about my long lost half sisters. I was an only child to my mom and dad, so I wanted a sibling more than anything. I had seen pictures of them when I was young. Some pictures my dad had from when they were still married, then some cut outs I find in the newspaper of my sister playing softball etc..

When I was 18 I worked at a cafe and one of my customers took my breath away. I looked at her and knew it was my sister! She looked just like my dad. It was so surreal. I told her who I was and she laughed and said "HI" then went on with her day not saying much more. I was heart broken because I wanted to know them so badly, but they obviously didn't want to get to know me.
Fast forward to 2007 when I was 21. My mom saw the same sister (the younger of the two) in Chili's, where my mom is a waitress, and got her number. She said she wanted to talk to me and get to know me. So we finally talked on the phone and setup a meeting. We all met at the same cafe where I first saw her. It was very neat! I don't know a good word to use, but it seemed so natural. It wasn't awkward, other than them referring to all of "our" biological dad as "your dad" when they spoke of him. You see, they hadn't seen him since they were 4 and 2 and wanted nothing to do with him. They had a deep hatred for him, understandably. But I love my dad. He was always there for me, so it was hard for me to hear them talk about him, but I got through it. We didn't speak again for a year or so. In that time, the older sister decided she didnt' want anything to do with me, but the younger one definitely wanted a relationship with me. I was thankful!
We talk all the time now and have become great friends. We see each other more as friends than sisters, but that's okay. At least she is in my life now. It's very strange to see yourself in someone else other than your parents. She is 32 and I am 23, so there is a big age gap, but we get along fine. I hope to always keep her in my life.

This is she and I in September.
And this was this passed weekend. Her name is Traci. My older sister looks nothing like either of us in my opinion. Her name is Shauna. Traci's fiance tells her that she and I look more like than she and Shauna and they have the same mom! Lol..weird!

Here is a picture of my dad with Care Bear back in September. See the resemblance?

Back to Scheduled Programming

2009-12-20T07:59:00.002-06:00

I've been very sick for the last couple of days. I have the 24 hour stomach bug. Ugh.

It was the most painful, disgusting, agonizing stomach bug i've ever had. At times, I swore it was more painful than labor. It felt like aliens had taken over my body. I kept saying "Help me. Please. Somebody." out loud, even when I was home alone. It was awful.

Thankfully, I quit vomiting after about 12 hours, but the stomach soreness stayed for the next twelve hours. I'm finally myself again. Yay. I'm very happy that I got it now rather than next week during Christmas. I pray my kids do not get it.

So, that's where I've been. :)

Random Thoughts for Thursday

2009-12-17T21:34:00.003-06:00

First of all, i'm loving the new Blogger reminder things. Sorry no idea what that is called, but when I go to type in a familiar title, it has it saved for me.

It's been a busy December. I can't even believe Christmas is 8 days away..yeesh! Where did October and November go?? I've had tons of Bow orders (thankfully), we've done many crafts, and i've been trying to squeeze a daily run in for the passed week. I didn't get to today and I feel like a slob. I guess that's part of my life long eating disorder..ack.

Miss Priss has stayed the passed two nights with my grandma. I miss her SO much more than I ever thought possible. It's loud and crazy when she's here, but it's lonely when she isn't. I can't wait to go scoop her up tomorrow morning. The reason she has stayed is because CB has been running a low grade fever and been increasingly whiny and clingy. It's exhausting. I'm praying that she's teething and not sick.

Do you know what stinks? Not literally stinks, but "stinks." Reruns. Most of my favorite shows are over until next year. {wink..i love saying that} The one good thing is that I've been watching The Vampire Diaries reruns and I love them! I'm totally sucked into that show now and can't wait for new episodes.

Next Wednesday, I have two appts. One is a visit to the salon and the other to the Optometrist. I'm excited about both of them. I really really really want to go darker with my hair. Something like a chestnut, warm, rich brown color, but i'm such a chicken. We'll see what I do. It's also time for my annual Optometrist visit. I'm finally getting new glasses. I haven't gotten new ones since I was 16! Ha. My vision has changed so much in seven years. I'll show you tomorrow how I wear those glasses now.

Finally Friday tomorrow. So happy. We're doing nothing this weekend. Every penny counts this time of year. Hopefully they'll be some good Christmas specials on the teev. Have a great weekend everyone.

Wordless Wednesday - Cute Girly Christmas Pictures

2009-12-16T21:28:00.003-06:00

Crafty Corner with Miss Priss

2009-12-15T22:50:00.004-06:00

Yall know me and Miss Priss like to get our craft on. She is all about arts and crafts. Glueing, Taping, Coloring, Cutting etc.. any of that and she's over the moon.

Last week, I think it was Monday(?), when Care Bear was taking a nap, I pulled out some supplies that we had laying around and we created a very Merry Christmas Tree!
She was thrilled!! She drew and colored all of the ornaments. I drew the candy canes, but she colored them. Then I made little Bows out of ribbon and garland out of string to "hang" on the tree. Lastly we cut little pieces of (whatever that gold is?) to make an Angel! Isn't she a doozy? Love her. Miss Priss also glued everything on.

Here's our finished product. It is now hanging on her bedroom window, so that we can see it from outside when we pull into the driveway.Awww..we love it.

Excercise and Energy

2009-12-15T15:22:00.002-06:00

Cold weather is upon us and i'm loving it. Summer time is not my favorite thing, therefore, when the outside temps drop to the 40's and 50's, i'm a happy girl!

This week I started the Couch to 5K program. I haven't followed it to a "T", but I have been jogging/walking in increments. It has given me so much energy and my metabolism has sky rocketed. It's fabulous. Not only am I feeling it in my body, but also my energy level. I've accomplished tons of chores around the house. I'm bouncing off the walls like I downed a gallon of coffee.

Why do I not keep a workout routine up? It makes me feel wonderful and it is so healthy for my body. I hope I's trying hard to stick to it this time. And hopefully you'll see me running a 5K in the near future. That would be awesome.

Christmas in Our Home

2009-12-14T10:23:00.002-06:00

So we decorated our house two days after Thanksgiving, but i'm just now getting around to posting the pictures. I usually go all out decorating the house, but this year I was not all about it. I kept thinking.. "eww I will have to take all of this down later!" and then I stuffed stuff back into their boxes. {hehe!}

Here is the day we started it. Miss Priss loved decorating the tree {the bottom 1/4, you know?}
Here is her section. Pretty good!
Care Bear was napping for most of the tree decorating, but woke up when we were almost finished and got in on the action.
The kitchen bar. Not to fancy, but it gets the job done. This is the top of our small two shelf bookcase. Cute little village houses. I'd love to have an entire village, but i'm not sure where i'd put it.

LOVE this! Pretty little fiber optic ice skating village. It has a water fall and an ice skating rink. So cute.

The almost finished tree. I still haven't taken a picture of it completed. We now have candy canes and icicles on it! Pretty!! I made the ugly tree top Bow. {blush} It was my first try..clearly I need practice. We really wanted another real tree, but couldn't come up with the money, so we just stuck to our little white tree.

Our wreath I made 3 years ago to match all of our living room decor. Still love it!
Fireplace mantle. Hanging the stockings is always one of my favorites.
One of our end tables. Blue, blue, blue!!
Okay, well that wasn't a very exciting post, but I had to get these Christmas pictures up. I'll come back later and link to the passed two years Christmas decor!

Fashion Item of the Week{Month}

2009-12-11T16:28:00.003-06:00

Scarves!!! I absoloutley ADORE them. I've never been a jacket person, so scarves are perfect for me. I think I have one in every possible color. I am ready for some new ones {ahem Christmas wish list} there are so many new styles and ways to wear them, that I must update.
{excuse my lip. That's gross I know. They get SO chapped and normally i'd have lipgloss or lipstick on, but didn't in this pic. Ugh!}
They keep me toasty on a cold day. I'm looking for the best/easiest way to tie one. Funny story, C came home the other day and You Tube was up on the computer. He looked and saw that I was searching "How to tie a scarf" lol! He made fun of me.

Had to show off my kicks too. I lurvv them. They are Sketchers that slide on. I am obsessed with white shoes. If mine get a little dirty, I immediatley have to wash them. I've had these since September. These boots I had to show because they've been with me for a long time. I bought them at Old Navy and I flippin' love them too. They look good over jeans or under them. The best part is they are oh.so.comfortable. But they're scuffed. {sad face}
Hahaha! Had to show this one. They saw me taking the above pictures and wanted in one. So cute!

Random Thoughts for Thursday

2009-12-10T13:44:00.002-06:00

I've been pretty lax when it comes to blogging. I'm usually one to post multiple times per day, but lately I've been good to post once a day. I guess we've been busy around here. I have yet to post pictures of our Christmas decor, but I will tomorrow!

C and I have decided that Fridays through the month of December are the night we will go looking at Christmas lights around town. Fun! That may sound boring to some people, but we love it! We've been doing it for the passed three years and it's always one of my favorite traditions of ours.

Speaking of Christmas, I am mostly finished with shopping. It's been so hard this year. The economy sucks. I still need to get Care Bear's house shoes, C's pj's and boxer shorts (sorry TMI), and the girls' ornaments. I've felt awfully greedy this year because when everyone asked me for a Christmas list, I gladly offered one up. {blush} If someone wants to buy me something, i'll let them.

Have I mentioned how much I love Lady GaGa? Yes, she is weird, wacky, and kinda crazy, but she is an artist! The girl is talented beyond words and you have to admit, she is pretty darn smart. She knows that dressing outrageous is going to land her all over the news, leading more people to listen to her {amazing} music! Have you heard this girl sing live? Awesomeness.

It's no secret that I love Sweet Tea right? McDonalds was never a favorite of mine because their food disgusts me, but when they started selling $1 Large Sweet Teas, I had a change of heart. Now, I visit them several times per week. Can we say addict? Yee-ah.. I am. However, lately i've been trying to save that extra cash and make tea at home. I live in the south, so sweet tea is a staple in our home anyway, but I quit making it for a long time. It's back though now! Mmm! Love the stuff.

Jumping back to music. I have a few current obsessions. Just in case you care, here are some of them.
Jay Sean - Down
Ke$ha -Tik Tok
Britney Spears - 3 {it's naughty though}
Lady GaGa - Bad Romance
Jay Z (feat Rihanna and Kanye West) - Run This Town
Boys Like Girls (feat Taylor Swift) - 2 is Better Than One

Care Bear climbed out of her crib again last night. {STRESSED!!!} It does lower another level. I didn't think it did, but turns out, it does. Go figure. I feel awful. She wasn't hurt at all though, thank God. She scares me so badly every single day!!

C and I may get to have a date night Saturday night! What to do, what to do.. Got to think of something fun that doesn't cost a lot. I'm thinking ice skating {smile} I love ice skating, even though i'm not very good. Anyway, my mom is supposed to maybe stay the night here at our house and watch the girls. They'll have a blast.

Facebook Addict

2009-12-09T15:00:00.003-06:00

Need I say more? I'm sure I don't, but i'm going to anyway.

I along with {what was it?} 3 million others am in love with Facebook{or fbook as I frequently call it} It's so much fun and very informative, might I add. I've reconnected with many old friends. My step sisters and I changed schools when we were going into the 10th grade and we had lost touch with many people from our old school. But now i've found them and am so excited to see what is happening in their lives.

I use my page to update people on my everyday happenings, sort of like celebs use Twitter. {smile} I also have a page for PrissyMiss Boutique, to update on New Products and specials going on. Secretly, I love the Chat. There is only a select group of people that I chat with, but I love seeing when they're online so we can chit chat.

My favorite thing is seeing updates on all of my friends who are newly pregnant. That is always so much fun to watch. First, their announcement, then belly pics, then a baby! Facebook is awesome.

The only downside to it is {well, ok there are two}, the first one being, we all have so much interaction through the web, but no actual physical social interaction. That's the weird part for me. I may talk to people on fbook all the time, but when I see them in public, I don't know what the heck to say. The second being, i'm on it WAY to much!! I like to just leave my page open while i'm cleaning or reading to the girls etc. and wait and watch for people's statuses to change. I guess i'm what they call a "Facebook Stalker" {wink} Watch out, you may be next.

Christmas Card Dilemma

2009-12-07T17:35:00.003-06:00

This is going to be short and sweet..

Do Christmas Cards have to feature "Christmas" pictures or can they be any 'ol pictures?

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but I have no Christmas pictures of us this year and i'm not sure I want to be so brave as to try and take some myself. It is so difficult and stressful to get pictures of my girls together and even more difficult to get a good picture of the four of us together. Then factor in the problem of CB not being able to be photographed in a dark lit room because her eyes will appear red. I have to either get shots of her outside in the late afternoon or inside with the outside light behind me. It's VERY difficult! Not to mention trying to get them both to smile.. ha! That's a feat within itself.

Anyway, I printed out some cards with our Thanksgiving picture as the primary picture and the picture of the two of them in the jeep as the secondary picture. It's cute, but not Christmas looking at all.

Am I over thinking this? Should I really try to get a decent Christmas looking picture of the four of us and the two of them together or just keep the cards I already have and try better next year?

Baby It's Cold Outside, but No Snow

2009-12-06T17:13:00.002-06:00

We had one of the most boring weekends in the history of weekends. But i'm not complaining, it was n-i-i-i-ce! We had a relaxing Saturday and Sunday with our girls and nothing beats that.

Friday night, C had to work late, but when he got home we all jumped in the car and went riding around looking at Christmas lights. That's one of our favorite Holiday things to do. Some of the homes around here Deck the Halls to the max. It's amazing and so much fun to see. One of the homes had their lights programmed to the local Christmas station and Miss Priss was in awe to watch the lights flicker along to the music.

Saturday, we again hopped in the car to ride around,b ut this time it was to look at the houses themselves {not the same ones of course} We went house hunting for a new home. We're still in the process of repairing our bathrooms and as soon as they're finished we're listing our house. I'm so excited and ready for something new. Don't get me wrong, i'm incredibly thankful for our home. I'll miss this house, i'm sure, but we need something better for our family.

Today was a cold day. It started out decent, but ended up bitterly cold. C mowed our yard. Yes, I said mowed in the middle of winter. He hasn't done the yard since probably October. {grin} He's a bit lax when it comes to yard work. Who can blame him? I wouldn't want to do it either. The girls and I sat outside and watched him like we normally do. Gives him company, ya know? Anyway they played in the jeep and I got a couple cute pictures. Hope everyone had a grand family weekend.
They both love this thing. One of the best investments we've ever made. Miss Priss gets a little peeved because I make her drive in the low gear when Care Bear rides, but CB loves it no matter how fast {or slow} they're going.
See, she prefers to ride solo at times. She can go as fast as she wants..and she does go fast! Such a pretty little thing might I add. Anytime I ask her to smile for a picture, she gives a perfect little "cheese!"

Goofball baby in her winter parka. {wink} I couldn't tear her away from the fence. She loves to watch our dogs. One of them was out running around, but the other is naughty and won't listen so she stayed in the fence and CB was amazed by her.
We bought both of the jackets the girls have on two winters ago from Old Navy when they went on sale. Can you believe a size 18-24mo still fits Miss Priss? Yes, both jackets are the same size and both girls fit semi comfortably.

Good gravy..I can't even stand the cuteness.I could just smoochy her little cheeks all day long. She was so much fun to watch trying to walk in this getup, but she was warm, therefore my job was done.

Dreaming Out Loud

2009-12-05T09:50:00.003-06:00

I rarely have normal dreams. They are either scary, where i'm about to fall off of a cliff and being chased or they are about ex boyfriends. What?! I know. What is up with that? It really ticks me off.

This morning I woke up and had the most vivid dream about my ex of almost 2 years. We broke up about 5 months before I met C, so he was the most current. Our relationship was fun, but he was very controlling. I had only just turned 17 when we started dating and I was a little more than 18 when we broke up. He was a momma's boy at best. We were always with his parents, never did anything outside of their house. It was sort of weird, now that I think about it.

I did have a lot of fun with him outside of the house though {when we got out} We rode four wheelers all the time, went to the lake in his boat, fished, hunted etc.. Lots of outdoor things that he liked to do. We never did anything I wanted to do, it was all about him and his family. I was so dumb. I went to his house after school every day at 3pm and stayed until around 8pm. I never saw my family because he didn't want to be around them. He was also extremely controlling of everything I did, wore, people I talked to.. and I let him. Once again, so dumb.

Anyway, when I had the dream last night, it was C and my 5 yr anniversary and we were having a redoing of our vows or whatever and Matt and his brother showed up at a store that was in the same building. I saw him and was speechless. He is married now too {IRL}, but I didn't care. He hugged me and told me he still thought about me all of the time and I told him the same {even though I don't IRL!} I coudlnt' go through with my 5 yr anniversary thing with C because of my "feelings" for Matt.

I woke up disgusted! Even though I truly did care about him back then, he was a butthead to be with. Why would I have that dream? Argh! It will not get out of my head right now. Go away dream!

Rag.A.Muffin

2009-12-03T12:49:00.004-06:00

Well, that's a fun little word huh? Yes possibly, for a doll, but not when it is being referred to you!

I went to my grandma's this morning to pick up Miss Priss, who stayed the night with her last night and she informed me that I looked like a "cute little Rag a Muffin and you look like you need to be on TV"

Ehm..err..thanks, I think? I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult. She was a teensy bit rude about it, but smiled when she said it.

"You know those girls on TV that aren't orphans, but just little..Rag a Muffins. They just throw whatever they have on and make an outfit. You paid money for that skirt?"
Why yes, I did. It was on sale though! $19.99 rather than $49.99 {American Eagle back in Sept}
I like fashion. I would like to be trendy and down with the latest styles, but guess what? I'm not! Surprise. I've never been one of those "it girls"{like Molly at Stilettos and Diapers} with the latest fashions. I like to look at them and wish I had that sense of style, but it just doesn't come natural to me. Today though, I thought i'd give it a shot. This is the best I came up with.. a Rag a Muffin. {snicker}
I tried and succeded to manage a real smile. People always tell me I make too many faces and never smile straight on. But I can do it! See, see!!

But I like fun faces like these.. {wink}

..and these!

So, I may not have it altogether fashion wise, but I had fun with it..Rag a Muffin or not.

ps..if you're considering hiring my photographer, you may need to think again, unless you don't mind violating child labor laws. ;) Yep, 3.5 year olds are quite talented with the camera. She even told me to pose by the little tree.

New Products and {special}Girly Gifts

2009-12-02T22:43:00.007-06:00

Here are a few new products from PrissyMiss Boutique, they are not yet listed on the website.

A new color Big Girl Bow - Bubblegum Pink

We always buy the girls a few new outfits for Christmas and this year was no different, but I wanted to go a little further and personalize their gifts with a special touch from me. I made them Hair Bows to match each outfit and i'm so happy with the results. I know Miss Priss is going to be so thrilled to see her new Bows to match her outfits on Christmas. {She's an oddball and loves to get clothes as gifts :) }

The first three are for Miss Priss and the last three are Care Bears.

Love this one!! She's going to be over the moon for the cute little panda bear!

An Itty Bitty Bow for my {not so}Itty Bitty!

My favorite one of CB's! It is like a track suit type outfit and she will look oh.so.cute in it!

"You Always Do Sumpin"

2009-12-01T22:06:00.002-06:00

After Miss Priss' bath tonight, I swaddled her in the towel and scooped her up like I always do. {They're so cuddly after baths aren't they? Love it!} I walked toward her room and banged her foot on the doorway when I was walked through. She cried and said "You always do sumpin!!"

Laugh.Out.Loud! The reason she said this was becasue this morning I was carrying her in the same position, down the stairs, and bopped her head on the railing of the stairs. She cried then too. I told her I was sorry a million times, but it obviously stuck with her. {frown} I feel really bad, but it was the cutest thing when she said that. "You always do sumpin!" meaning "Listen here momma, you've bonked me a bunch of times today and i've had it!!"

It.Never.Fails

2009-12-01T08:32:00.002-06:00

I'm having a stressful day today, but I can sit down and laugh about it now.

Last night{around 3am actually}, I took some cold medicine and it knocked me out! My body doesn't handle meds very well. I did get up this morning and go about my regular activities, but around 9am when CB went down for a nap, I napped too. I'm not a napper, but my eyes would not stay open. It felt good to sleep and the meds wore off, but I felt like I let half the day slip away without getting anything done. I woke up angry at the world, when really I was upset with myself. I tried to hurry and get ready, get the girls ready and get out of the house because i had some errands to run.

The girls were being crazy whiney! I mean both of them wailing at the same time for thirty minutes. AHHH!! I got all of us ready and left the house, in a heaping mess. We got all of our running done and came home. CB was sleepy, so I took her upstairs to rock her and she fought me, with everything in her, she fought me good! Miss Priss shows up at the doorway, whispering, "I need you wipe my booty" So I have to get up wipe her booty, then go back to start the rocking process all over. Ugh. Then Miss Priss shows up again whispering "I come in there, I be quiet, Care Bear go to sleep, and you come put my movie in." I tell her "No ma'am, you wait just a minute and she'll be asleep" She continues to show up at the door.

Thirty five minutes later, Care Bear is finally asleep. I went in and talked to Miss Priss, helped her with everything she needed and then tried to start cleaning the house. Nope. Not happening. Miss Priss wants juice and a different movie because she doesn't like that one. Then she wants a snack. Arghh. I can never get anything done around here. I gave myself a little break just to sit down and eat a bite. It never fails that when I try to do something or rock CB, something always comes up. So is motherhood right?

On a good note, the city Christmas parade is tonight! Yay, that'll be fun, even though it's 54 degrees out right now.

Catching Up - Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T12:48:00.007-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'm a few days late, but that's to be expected when you've had as much on the agenda as we have. I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend with your family. We did! It was much less stressful this year and that is always a bonus.

Our first stop was at my dad and step mom's house. Her family and our family was there. It went off without a hitch. A great time was had by everyone! It used to be a bit awkward, but this year everyone seemed to get along and have fun. We had tons of food! Much to my surprise, a lot of it was Gluten Free. Woopie!! That's all I needed was another excuse to eat. I feel it today, believe me..right in the hip area.

The girls frolicked, played, and ran around. They fed the ponies carrots and the ducks bread. They played chase and swung in the porch swing.

They also looked like little dolls. Everyone agreed with me. My step mom's family couldn't beleive how precious their outfits were. Any old blog readers recognize Care bear's outfit? It's a recycled Miss Priss getup. She wore it exactly two Thanksgivings ago in 2007. I wish I could find the picture, but sicne my desktop crashed I lost all of them. Boo! "Rocka Rock" that's what Care Bear says.. she loves to swing.

MIss Priss didn't want to sit still long enough for a picture. She was all over the place!

CB watching the ducks very intently. She loves ducks. Anytime she comes upon one she exclaims "Quack.Quack!!"

After the first part of our day and my dad's , we went to my inlaws. It was just C's immediate family there so it wasn't nearly as eventful. MIL cooked though and we ate .. again! Stuffed much? Yes, we were. The girls were awake all day with no naps. You better believe they conked out in the car on the way home.
*************************************************************************
Black Friday recap.
I'm one of the Black Friday crazies. I am proud of it too! I love me some Black Friday sales!! I understand if you don't need the things that are on sale , you don't save any money, but if you do need something{like a Tom Tom} then you will save a generous amount of money. And I did. ;)

I left the house at 5am. My first stop was Wal Mart. The parking lot was reDONKulous. I went it and walked right back out. There was nothing there that I absoloutley needed, so I didn't want to fight for nothing. I headed to Target, Kohls, and Old Navy {they are in the same strip mall..thank goodness!} I rushed to the electronics at Target around 5:25am and stood in line for about 35 mins..which wasn't bad at all! They were almost out of the TomToms on the floor, but thankfully I got one of the last three. Score! C is going to be so happy. =) I didn't buy anything else there, but I did find some awesome deals on clothes for the girls at Old Navy and a pair of $15 jeans for me. Although, the 1 hour wait in line almost made it unworthhy.

I went home after that. C and I took the girls to my inlaws and we headed back to Kohls. We found more great deals on clothes for both girls and their Christmas dresses and PJs! Woo Hoo!!! I'm so excited for our Christmas pics this year. We normally go to Sears, but I think we will go out ona limb and try the new Portrait Innovations Studio {just in to Arkansas} this year.Wanna peek at their dresses?! {Don't mind MP's headband..she will have a pretty and prissy Bow!}
Like Care Bear's Red Mary Janes? I got them at PBK on clearance! They were regular $48.00 and I got them for $12.99!!

Saturday and today{Sunday} we've been working on our Christmas decor. We have an upstairs tree that we do every year. It is white with blue decor in our living room. All of that is finished. Every year, I do less and less because I don't like the clean up after Christmas. Man, i'm a bummer. Just a touch of decor still gets the job done. I'll post pics of that later. This post thas gotten really long.

Cooking with Miss Priss - Chex Muddy Buddies

2009-11-25T14:48:00.004-06:00

Chex Muddy Buddies

What you need:

Rice {or Corn} Chex
Butter
Peanut Butter
Vanilla
Chocolate Chips {or White Choc like I used}
Powdered Sugar
I also added Pecans and Coconut Flakes

First, combine the Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Butter, and Vanilla..
Put the bowl of the mix in the microwave until smooth. Remember to stir often because the Chocoalte can be misleading. It doesn't look like it needs to be stirred, but it does!

{I forgot to take a picture of the next step. Pour the Chex into the microwaved mixture.}
Then, dump it in a Gallon sized Ziplock bag and pour the Powdered Sugar on top! Shake Shake Shake!!

This is the finished product! YUM!! {It's Gluten Free too ..woop woop!}

ps.. Miss Priss got tired after the one picture and went upstairs and laid down. Poor sweets.

Projects and Products

2009-11-24T09:01:00.005-06:00

I know this looks eerily familiar, but I changed it up a bit. We hung the Solid Bows on lattice rather than keeping them hung from the piece of ceiling tile I bought {ha! sounds silly} It looks much better and gives me a ton more room.
Look at this little doozy that the Hubs made for me!!!! Fantastic right?! He even painted it Light Pink for me {Awwww!} It's so functionable and easy to use.

Here's my super awesome "early Christmas present" from my mom! LOVE LOVE it!! It's a cute, stylish, modern little craft tote. I'm giddy over it. My favorite colors plus crafts equal FAB!

A few new products from PrissyMiss Boutique

Stacks - Holiday Cheer

Pinwheel - Pink Ice
Pinwheel - Satin Glove
Custom Carrah's Bow - Santa's Boots
Toddler Bow - Morning Snowfall
Toddler Bow - Snow Angel
Stacks - Cherry Cheesecake
Stacks - Blue Lagoon
Custom Made Hair Bow Holder {she said the wing broke when it was shipped :( I'll have to wrap them in bubblewrap}

Fancy Boutique - Smooches

Ice Cream, Iced Tea, Ice Pops, and Ice Cubes

2009-11-23T11:58:00.003-06:00

Those are the things i've been living off of today. Yep, I got it too. Whatever Care Bear has, she so graciously passed on to me. Let me just tell you, it is painful! I can't believe my poor baby girl had to endure this kind of pain in her throat. It hurts to swallow, eat, and even talk. My entire face and jaw looks swolen. I called the doctor and they are "double booked today", so they are going to call me in something to the pharmacy.

My mind is vacant tihs week. I feel like all of the stress and sickies have finally overwhelmed me for a minute. You can tell we've been through a ton of junk this week by looking at our house. It's pitiful. I plan on tackling it before Thursday because I want to go to our family functions without the overhanging thought of a messy house. I know I let it bother me far to much, but I can't help it. It's part of what makes me me. {wink}

We had such a good weekend despite everyone feeling ill. C and I completed a few projects and my mom showed up with an awesome early Christmas present. Pictures to come of all the neat things later.

A Rough Week

2009-11-20T10:33:00.002-06:00

I know it's been a minute since i've posted. We've had a really rough week around our house.

Wednesday, Care Bear woke from a nap around 4pm and was burning up! I took her temp and it was 102. She had no other symptoms though. By that evening, it had risen to 103.5!! I freaked out of course. Neither of our girls have ever had a temp that high. {We took Bear to the ER back in Sept for a fever of 103. It was a "virus"}I told C that we needed to go to the ER immediately. They got us in pretty quickly. The doctor came in and did nothing! She briefly looked in her ears and attempted to look in her throat, then laughed and said "Mom, I think you may have overreacted a little. Go home and let her sleep it off. It's just a fever illness." I was pissed!! We went home and were up all night. Care Bear didn't sleep at all!! Her fever went down alittle, but shot right back up after a little while.

Fast forward to Thursday morning. She still had fever and was acting unlike herself. She wouldn't shut her mouth and she was profusely drooling. She would not drink a drop of anything or take her paci. That's when I knew somethign was really wrong. Her paci is her comforst and for her not to want it, something has got to be going on. Like I said, she didn't drink one drop of anything and only had two wet diapers all day long. I was so scared that she was going to dehydrate.

Around 6pm Thur night, she became extremely fussy and was drooling everywhere! She has never drooled, so that was really weird to me. I called her on call nurse from her Pediatrician's office and told them what was going on. They said go back to the ER now! Oh.My.Gosh! I could not believe it was happening,but I figured it would come to that.

When we got there, the again took us seriously and got us in quickly. The nurses were much nicer than the night before. So.Was.The.Doctor!!! They came in and evaulated her and said "she does not feel well. You can see it in her eyes." They checked her throat {like I told the dr the night before to do!!} and guess what they saw? Big sores all over the back of her throat! I started crying and told the doctor I was so angry because I had just told the other dr to check her throat and she said it looked perfect. Ugh! She was also pretty dehydrated. =( I knew she would be. They came in to do an IV so I stepped out of the room. I heard her start screaming and I almost fainted. The doctor came by and gave me a char and some gatorade so I wouldnt pass out.

Once they got the IV started, they started fluids and let them run for 2 hours. Then they did an Xray on her throat to make sure it was swelling and the virus wasn't moving down her throat. {It wasn't, praise God!} After that they gave her more Motrin because her fever kept going up. She was laying there like a limp noodle. We just held her and rocked her. It was so sad, she looked pitiful. Oh I forgot, they also drew blood when they started the IV. When it came back, her white cell count was a lot higher than they were "comfortable with" so they also started her on an antibiotic.

We got to the hospital at 7pm and didn't get to leave until 12:00am. Then guess what we had to do this morning? Wake up at 6am to get Miss Priss back to Children's for her 2 year Cardiology appt. Snoooooooze! I'm so so tired.

Care Bear is doing well this morning. I've been alternating Motrin and Tylenol every 3 hours. Antibiotic every 8 hours for 10 days and Pain meds every 6 hours. Whew. Long.Long.Week! Please pray that Care Bear starts feeling better and will start drinking some fluids. If she doesn't, she will have to be admitted to the hospital.

Sexiest Man Alive?!

2009-11-18T14:58:00.004-06:00

So apparentley, i'm the only woman on the face of the planet that does not find Johnny Depp sexy..in any way whatsoever. He looks grungy, dirty, and messy. Yuck! People Magazine doesn't agree with me either, they just named him their #1 sexiest man alive for 2009. Blah.. I always look forward to this magazine, but they have been disappointing me in the passed few years.

Let's go back to 2006 because that's when I had Miss Priss and started staying home and thriving on these magazines to get my yearly fix or hotties! {wink}
2006 - George Clooney. I'm sorry I am not on the Clooney train. Perhaps it is my age, but his gray hair reminds me of someone my dad's age. I've actually never found his cockiness appealling.
2007 - His good buddy Matt Damon. Um. Really?! There is nothing about him that is sexy. He looks like a school boy. He's not even cute, muchless sexy.
2008 - Hugh Jackman. Okay, he has a little bit of sex appeal. I understood him as their choice. He looks strong and masculine.

Now, a few of my choices for sexiest man alive. I havne't seen the magazine yet, but i'm hoping they make the cut!

Alex Meraz, the actor who plays Paul in New Moon. Whew! He makes me sweat a little. I first saw him on the Rachael Ray show. After that, I saw him a few times here and there. He is so wonderfully easy to look at. He's a year older than me, married, and daddy to a 19mo old little boy. Sweet!!
Simon Baker, Aussie actor who plays Patrick Jane on the Mentalist. His character is hilarious and very clever. His blonde hair and blue eyes make his sexiness more subtle. Love a guy with brains as well as looks. He's super cute!!

Michael Buble, crooner of classic, pop songs. My goodness, just hearing his voice makes me melt. The toussled hair and puppy dog eyes are an extra bonus. I know he isn't traditionally good looking, but his voice puts him on my list! He also has an awesome sense of humor and down to earth personality.

I'm going to head to the local Cafe tonight and check out the magazine. Hopefully my hotties make the cut. {btw.. I didn't mention my crush Shaun Sipos because I talked about him last week! Love him too!! Last nights epi of Melrose Place made me love him more. wink!! Still love me some Makim Chmerkovskiy too!! HOTness!!}

Wordless Wednesday - Their Own Hiding Spot

2009-11-18T14:52:00.001-06:00

{I know i've been a slacker when it comes to posting. I'll be back with some good stuff soon!}

{Vogue Again} Child Number 1

2009-11-16T15:05:00.004-06:00

Lucky duckies yall are. You get a double dose of absoloute vogueing cuteness today. I just picked Miss Priss up from school and had to take some pictures of her too!

She was more than willing to strike a pose for the camera. I don't know where she learnes this stuff, but she has some definite potential. This is the hand in pocket, half flirty smile, cool girl look.
She is rather tall for her age. I'm just sayin.. {wink}

C got home just as we pulled in the driveway from the post office. He offered to take a picture of the three of us in our warm jackets. So sweet! They're both smiling, can you believe it?! Daddy's home, they were excited to see him.

See what I mean? She's got it. The hand on the hip, look over the shoudler shot. You can't tell it by the pictures, but she bats her eyelashed while saying "cheese" Adorable and hilarious!

Don't forget about the fake smile. Every good model has one of those.

{Vogue}

2009-11-16T12:24:00.003-06:00

Did I mention that I LOVE Fall/Winter and all of the clothing trends that come with it? Well, I do. It's an obsession, i'll admit. I cannot go into Target, Old Navy or Kohls without throwing down some doe on clothes for my Pretties. They're the most divine models, so I feel compelled to dress them as such. How do I resist? Not sure, that's why I don't. {wink}

{Okay, so you noticed, I sometimes buy myself a little something as well} I'm an accessory diva. If I could have 300 Bags, 100 Hats, and 500 pair of shoes, I totally would. But for now, we'll forget about {me} and just look at this deliciousness! Don't you just want to squish her cheekeys!? She belongs on Baby Vogue.

It's worth $9.99 right{it's Tar Jayy folks!} I'm a tiny bit in love with it. I've always worn hats, really outrageous, off the chart hats. My mom used to buy me at least one every Christmas and i'd proudly display it, even if others wouldn't dare wearing it wearing it in public. I am a hat kind of girl.

And just in case you wanted to see the other side, i've gotcha covered. Tyra would be disappointed in my modelling skills. Haven't quite figured out how to smyes. When I do it, it kinda makes me feel like my eye twitch is back. I'm taking advantage of it not showing itself today.

Back to the doll baby that is Care Bear. She's so much fun to have around. We were in Target for almost two whole hours and did she make a peep? Nope. Just sat there in her stroller, kickin' it with her Rice Chex and Paci.

Mini Model in the Making. Old Navy would be happy to have her as their spokeswoman instead of the Modelquins for this jacket. Dontcha think?

Our Sponsor Child

2009-11-13T15:47:00.003-06:00

We got our letter in the mail today with little "Walter's" (Ling Qianjun) picture in it. He was born January 15 2009, so he is only 3 months younger than Care Bear. I know his special need is a Post Op Anal Atresia. I had no idea what that meant. I googled it and read that it is a birth defect where the rectum is malformed. He looks perfectly healthy to me!!

He's such a cutie! I looked through many pictures of children that needed to be sponsored and when I saw him, I just stopped and smiled. I'm not sure if it's the fact that he's sucking on a pink paci or that his little right eye turns in a bit like our Care Bears. Either way, we get to make his life a teensy bit better for a little while. Praise God! I can't wait to get updates every 4 months. I'll keep yall updated here as well. How could you not want to see pictuers of this guy?

And isn't this just too cute? I took a picture of the picture they sent me with my Web Cam and put a little Christmas background around it.. {hehe!} He's like our little Christmas present..or maybe we're his.

A Composition of Care Bears Journey to a Diagnosis

2009-11-12T16:00:00.007-06:00

Here is a composition of some of the posts I wrote during the first few months of Care Bear's life, when I was desperately trying to figure out what was "wrong" with my baby girl.

I had a gut instinct that something just wasn't right with her eyes. Nobody believed me, not even my family, but I continued with my search and finally got our pediatrician to refer us to an Optomestrist, who later referred me to an Opthamologist at Children's Hospital.

When we learned the diagnosis, I felt that I could exhale. Finally, when my baby was four months old, we had an answer and it wasn't the awful one that I was preparing myself for. She had Oculocutaneous Albinism, a lack of melanin resulting in lack of pigmentation in the eyes, skin, and hair. She is a unique little thing. 1 in 17,000 people have this condition. It is a genetic condition passed on from both parents. We have a 1 in 4 chance with every pregnancy and she happened to be that one. THE One for us! =)

Post from December 13th 2008 titled "A Few Concerns (Care Bear)

Not sure why i'm worried, but it's just an eery feeling i've been having.

Care Bear doesn't really make eye contact or smile. She has smiled a few times, but rarely ever. She is most always crying,s leeping, or just sitting there. She doesn't like the swing or the bouncy seat. She doesn't like to be laid down, she only wants to be held.

I know Miss Priss was smiling all the time by this age and she was making eye contact with me all the time. She would look at me when I talked to her and just smile, but Care Bear doesn't. She will stare at me while i'm giving her the bottle, but never smiles while looking at me! I'm so worried that something may be wrong with her! :(

Anyone have any advice? I read somewhere to not worry about their eye contact until around 3 months, but I can't help but think twice.

Post from December 21st 2008 titled "Not Sure.."

if i'm ready to open up and talk about this, but I just want some input and thoughts.

Care Bear cannot see. She may be able to see a tiny bit because she responds to light and moves her head and eyes *like* she is looking, but i'm pretty certain she can't actually see.

Obviously, i'm heart broken, but I know that God gave her to me for a special reason. I love her so much already. I instantly bonded with her, whereas it took me a very long time with Miss Priss.

I'm so sad that she cannot see me. Every once in a while, when i'm giving her a bottle, she seems to be looking right in my eyes, but the next second she is back in her own world.

The happiest time for her is when she is laying on her changing table. There are two canvas pictures hanging on the wall that I could almost swear she sees because she gazes up toward them and smiles.. every single time we change her diaper! But that's pretty much the only time she's happy. She never really smiles. However, she does coo and "talk" a lot.

It brings me to tears to even type this, but I just wanted to let you know why she is sort of always "off" in all of the pictures of her. I think she is beautiful and otherwise healthy. I will be taking her to the pediatrician about it soon to see what she thinks. Until then, please pray for my baby girl and our family. It's a really hard time right now, especially for me. I'm beginning to find peace with it, but I just want her to have the best life possible.

Post from February 5th 2009 titled "Diagnosis" I'm not posting this entire post because it was a completely inaccurate diagnosis!!

Well, Care Bear's eye diagnosis is not the best, but she CAN see!{that's a blessing within itself!}

She has Optic Nerve Hypoplasia and Ocular Albinism {updated: We NOW know that she does not have ONH or OA, she actually has OCA Oculocutaneous Albinism}

Post from February 16th 2009 titled "What We Know Now"

We took Care Bear to the Opthamologist at Children's and he confirmed that she does have Albinism, but it's Oculocutaneous rather than Ocular. She is lacking the pigment in her skin and hair, as well as her eyes. He doesn't believe that she has the ONH , but that the pigment behind her eyes is so light that they weren't able to accurately see the nerve. She stil has an MRI scheduled to rule that out. But she definitely has Albinism. And she can definitely see! :) He said he thinks of vision on three levels.
1. Functionability, such as walking out of the bedroom down the hall.
2. Interacting with other children and going to school
3. Driving
He said he is fairly certain she will be able to do 1 and 2 with no problems, but driving will have to be determined as she gets older. We also take her back in 4 months to check her vision. He said we should know about how she sees by a year old. Also to watch her over the next few months and see if she is better. That's the good thing. Albinism can't worsen over the years, but it can improve as the brain matures.

As for right now, she is doing great! The jiggling eye movements {known as Nystagmus} have slowed tremendously and she is grabbing for toys, everyones faces , and her feet. She's just perfect to us :)

The hardest thing is flash photography. Her pupils turn out read from the flash. I know the reasoning behind this, but I can't explain it now. Even when she looks up at light, her pupils appear red.

********************************************************

Now, we all know how this turned out. GREAT!!! Praise the Lord for my little Bear with Albinism. I've learned so much from her sweet little self. She is amazing and never lets her lack of vision get in the way of what she wants to do. As i'm typing this very moment, she is peering around the computer watching me type and pointing to the picture saying "Momma!" {hehe} LOVE this baby girl!!!!!
Me & Care Bear then and now! =)

Changed the Wall Paper

2009-11-12T15:27:00.003-06:00

Thank you SOO much to Kelly at Two Kids a Minivan and a Lotta Love for making over my blog. She's awesome x TEN! I told her my vision, she listened and ran with it. I'm loving my new look!!

If you need a blog makeover, I highly recommend her!!

Random Thoughts for Thursday

2009-11-12T08:39:00.003-06:00

Oh MAN am I glad it's Thursday!!

To say that i'm exhausted is an understatement. I'm TORRED! {That's country for extremely tired.} Care Bear has been playing the bed hop game. Remember "And the Little One Said" Yeah, I think it's becoming a habit. A habit that I, for one, do not like. She is a rowdy sleeper that likes to hit and kick..in the face! Last night, I got kicked square in the face then head butted in the lip. Ow! This is how it all went down.
She finally went to bed around 9pm. Then she woke up at 2am and wanted to play. You'd think she'd know the difference in night and day by now. I didn't want to play, so I took her to our bed and she fell asleep..sort of. If you consider eyes closed while rolling and punching sleeping {and I do because I have to} then yes, she fell asleep. Only to awake at 6:20am for good. Wahhh!! My eyes are burning they are so sleepy!

Speaking of my eyes, I still have a twitch going on in my left eye. What is that about?! It's been almost a month now! Is it from lack of sleep or something else? Yeesh, it needs to stop because it's driving me insane {possibly literally..maybe that's what it is.}

Speak Can we discuss TV for a moment.
So, Gossip Girl's much anticipated {by the media, not by me!} 3 Some was a joke! I can't believe the media{?} threw such a big fit over that. Oh well.
Melrose Place. Love.Me.Some! I have a teensy{er..huge school girl} crush on David. He's just so cute with his puppy dog eyes and blond hair. {hehe}I'm in shock that Ashlee Simpson got fired, but i'm also kind of happy because I can't stand her character. So annoying!
CMAs Great show! Brad Paisley is so funny. Carrie Underwood seems like a biz.. , but I like her music. Who's amazing? Billy Currington is amazing. Mmm. I like to listen and look at him. His voice is the epitomy of sexiness. Cannot believe Taylor Swift won Entertainer of the Year. Okay, maybe I can. I know her following, but dang really?

Miss Priss has taken an obsession to Fancy Nancy books. They are really cute and feature many "fancy" words. I'm not sure why she likes them so much, but we checkout a new one every time we go to the library. I think they are like $16.99 at Target. Can we say proud of their books? They also have all sorts of Fancy Nany Dolls and accessories out now too.

Did yall TwiHards check out the pic of Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart holding hands walking off the tarmac in London? Are they or aren't they? I kinda wish they weren't. She's really cute in the movies, but no so much in real life.{hehe}.. the funniest part of that picture scandal was Kellan Lutz and Peter Facinelli's tweet that made fun of it. I saw it on people.com Check it out!

PrissyMiss Boutique news. You can now order Beanies in either size, Infant or Toddler. I'm also adding a Build Your own Flower Beanie and Build Your Own Bow Beanie Feature. In December, I will start doing a Bow of the Month, where if you order so much{TBD}, you get the Bow of the Month for FREE with your order.

New Products from PrissyMiss Boutique

2009-11-11T22:26:00.004-06:00

View pricing at PrissyMiss Boutique

Carrah's Bow - Twinkle Lights

Korker - Fall Retreat

Mini Korker PiggySet -

2 Color

Christmas - Toddler Bow - Snowflakes

Big Girl Swirl - Rockstar

Crochet Beanie - The Eden

Crochet Beanie - The Lucy

Crochet Beanie - The Evie

Crochet Beanie - The Ruby

Crochet Beanie - The LuLu

Crochet Beanie - The Ivey

Wordless Wednesday - Misc. Cuteness

2009-11-11T10:25:00.002-06:00

Adoration for 'Jammies

2009-11-10T08:02:00.004-06:00

There's just something about kids that make them extra cute in pajamas. I'm a sucker for Carters pajamas. I love the way they fit the girls. They're also just the right thickness to keep warm, but not get sweaty.

We went to Kohls 2 weekends ago and saw all of the amazing sales they were having. I got a new calf length white petticoat? I think that's what it's called. And we bought the girls some snuggly new jammies! They are on sale right now{online} Buy One Get One Free {or $9.99 a piece as it said in the store}

These are the ones we bought for Miss Priss. I picked out 3 different pair and let her decide which ones she wanted. Monkeys it was.
Here's Care Bears. I did the same method with her and she{I} gravitated toward these. It was the bright colors, you know. {hehe} Seriously though, aren't these the cutest? I would have bought this pair for both girls, but they didn't have MP size.{Sometimes, I think there was a baby boom of girls the year she was born!}

Here they are sporting them on a Saturday morning. They {MP} were both excited about their new jammies and totally wanted to model them for me. {Please note whose bed they are in!! lol!}

Care Bear is missing her pants because she pottied through her diaper in the middle of the night {don't worry, the next day we switched to size 4! Yes FOUR! That's the size MP was wearing when she was PT at age 2.5}

Nice. Goofy smile for one. "Seventeen" pacis for the other. Pacis she doesn't even use, mind you.

She's still cute and snuggly looking though. A rare picture of her without her glasses. As you can see, her right eye is still turning in. It has improved a teensy weensy bit, but i'm almost positive she will still need the surgery.

Con {Wo}Man

2009-11-09T15:44:00.003-06:00

I'm sorry, I thought I had a 3.5 year old living in my house. I think I may be wrong. Apparentley, I gave birth to an adult with years of life experience.

Experience in the life of a Con Woman.

While playing in the floor this afternoon, Miss Priss decided she wanted to play with the toy Care Bear had, but knew she couldn't take it away. So what did she do? She bribed her sweet gullable little sister with a different toy.
"Here CB, look at this telephone. It's cool, watch *beep beep beep*"
CB takes the phone and lets her toy drop to the floor, then *snatch!!* it's gone. CB never noticed, but I did! I instantly told MP that there was a better way of getting a toy that you want. WAIT. Don't bribe! lol.

No, i'm joking.. that isn't what I told her, but I wanted to. I told her "CareBear was playing with that toy. That means she was having fun with it. You know when you're having fun with a toy? {Insert head shaking by MP} Well you wouldn't want her taking your toy would you? {No} Okay then, just wait your turn and you'll get to play with it too." {Hmph}

That's not all though.

If Miss Priss is being told to take a nap or pick something up etc.. etc.. She will say "Moma, I want a big hug." with arms outstretched and a huge smile on her face.
Ohmigosh. Who taught her that?! Who says no to a big hug? I don't.

That's What I Love About Sunday

2009-11-08T22:00:00.005-06:00

I woke up late this morning. My first thought was "OH! I've got to get ready for church." But then I got distracted and let a few things get in the way. But, I did manage to tear my mind away from those "other" things and get my hiney ready. We were a few minutes late, but we made it!

I enjoyed today's sermon, much like every other Sunday. Our preacher is awesome! The girls went to Sunday school. Miss Priss loves it and asks to go back all week long. Care Bear though is not used to being away from us or other family, so she has a rough go of it. She managed to stay in there though, so I think she is getting better.

After church, we decided to go the park to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and snap pics of the girls . I feel that it was a success. We got a few good shots {read..potential Christmas card photos!!!}

Miss Priss is so.very.photogenic!! I can take a picture of this girl covered in mud and messy hair and she still looks gorgeous in photos. It's just comes natural to her.
{Let me know if you think I over edited these pictures. I just changed the Contrast and Color Temp}

As most of you know with two or more children, they are exact opposites. Care Bear is not.so.easily.photographed. It isn't completely her fault. Her Albinism plays a big part as she cannot open her eyes all the way in bright sunlight and her nystagmus makes it difficult for her to look directly at me for long periods of times. Oh and the transition lenses in the glasses are so darn dark outside! Plus, she is one year old and loves to explore!!
Once again, model much?! I can just see her at age 16 posing for pictures like this with her friends. =) I know because, this was me at one time. I was the same exact way.
Another almost impossible task. Getting a decent picture of your kiddos together. Yeah, it's not going to happen. You just gotta live with it.
Care Bear has learned a new thing. She now loves to "Call the Hogs" If you aren't from Arkansas, you may not know what that means. But if you are, say it with me "WOOOOOOOOO PIG SOOIEEE!! RAZORBACKS. Go HOGS!!!!" Mm hmm, my one year old can do that and does quite frequentley and it's stinkin.hilarious!
These black shoes {from Wal Mart} and I are not getting along. They fall off of ONE foot only. Every time she tries to take a step in them, they will just fall off. The sizes are the same, maybe she just has a wonky foot..or maybe their cheaply made. {I'm going to go with the latter}
What was that about never getting a decent picture of your kiddos together? I take that back. This is pretty sweet. I sorta love it.
This one isn't bad either. {yes we did let her walk around the park with no shoes. We got tired of putting them back on, only to watch them fall off .2 seconds later.}
Did I say she was absoloutley gorgeous and oh.so.photogenic? Oh right, I did.
See, I think I over edited this picture. It was so dark and dull looking. Now it's bright and perky, but a little to bright maybe? Either way, she's such a happy girl and I love this picture. It shows her essence completely.
This is how most of the day went. She ran away from us no matter where we went.
At home, later in the evening, I tried again with a more subtle light for Care Bear's eyes. {Oh and she modeled a new hairdo and shoes! Way.to.cute for her own good right?}
This might have been a keeper if that darn paci wasn't in the shot! Girl loves her paci..no doubt!
Really? REALLY?? She waited all day, up until the last shot to give me this angelic, amazing picture? Of course she did, that's how she rolls. Make mommy stress all day then BAM. Perfection.

Love my girls so much. We had a fabulous day together. Oh and daddy had a good time too. He was the wrangler. hehe! He also finished the 1/2 bathroom this weekend. Go hubs!! I'll post pictures soon.

If you're wondering about the girls dresses{that's always what i want to know when I read a blog}, they're from Target! Of course, where else{besides Old Navy}..I loveeee me some Target! The one that MP is wearing was on sale for $6!

This is what I love about {this}Sunday!!

New Products from PrissyMiss Boutique

2009-11-07T21:27:00.005-06:00

View pricing at PrissyMiss Boutique

For some reason, since getting my new laptop, i'm not loving the quality of my pictures. I'm not sure if it is the difference in lighting that the computermakes or if the quality of the photo editing software i'm using is just bad! lol! Anyway, all of my Bows look much better in person! I'd never sell them if they were anything short of perfectly Prissy!! =) Attn: NEW Korker and Mini Korker PiggySet coming soon! Perfect for FALL!

A few new Itty Bittys

Gumdrop

Collidascope

A Lotta Lime
Snowbell

Paint Ball

These aren't listed yet, but they are a division of Itty Bittys

Itty Bitty Pinwheel - Uptown Girl

New Christmas Carrah Bow {two more to come soon!}Halloween Carrah Bow {sorry so late!}

Christmas Big Girl Swirl

Hair Clips - Sweet Potato Pie

Mini Korker - Beach Umbrella

Big Girl - Pink Passion

Big girl Swirl - Team Spirit

Big Girl Swirl - Jolly Lollipop

Big Girl Swirl - Chocolate Taffy

Fancy Boutique - Gossip Girl

To Me, November Means Thankful

2009-11-06T21:17:00.007-06:00

Sometimes, I tend to get wrapped up in our wants {and needs too} and forget to mention the things i'm {so very} thankful for! I've never been one to think my life was great because i've been through a lot, however, recentley i've begun to realize that my life is great. It isn't the worldly things that makes life great like I used to imagine, but rather the people and blessings in life. I know this is sort of a deep post for me, but I feel that God has blessed me in more ways than I am worthy and the least I can do is spread the word about Him.

I'm thankful for so many things in my life, but I will only name a few today.

Obviously, my family. They are my WORLD. I can't imagine where i'd be today without them. Probably.. well I honestly don't know and i'm glad I didn't have to. I do have them and that's what is important. I found a wonderful guy, whom I married, bought a house, and built a life with. My girls are so much more than my children, they are my heart. They are what I wake up for every morning. I.Love.My.Family.More.Than.Words! Thankful.

C came home from work tonight and immediately{after eating supper} x started working on our 1/2 bathroom. We had to gut it a while back and are just now getting to redoing it. We decided that we would finish it this weekend, so we could put our house up for sale. He was a trooper. The only Kilz we had was oil based and he stayed in there painting with the door closed so the girls wouldn't smell the fumes! He almost passed out before he took a breather outside, but he got it done. Thankful.

A few days ago, I received a letter in the mail from Arkansas Children's Hospital. We have many many bills due to them and I sighed as I opened it as I just knew it was going to be that $1134 bill staring me in the face. Much to my disbelief, it wasn't. We had applied to a program that ACH generously offers to help with bills and we were approved..100%!!! All of Bear's outstanding bills will be covered as well as bills that we may have in the next 6 months. This is completely of God yall. I have been struggling for the longest time trying to figure out how we can pay this bills. Finally, I just quit stressing and gave it to God in prayer. Not long at all after that, I got this letter in the mail. Thankful.

Speaking of Care Bear's bills and Children's Hospital and all that jazz, we are doing well with the patching of her eyes. She doesn't mind the patches and actually sits still while I put them on. She'll wear them for over an hour and never bother them until she is tired. She amazes me every day. To think that a year ago this time, I thought my baby was blind. I was angry all the time because she wouldn't look at me and her eye movements confused me, but now she is the most fearless and happy child I know. Thankful.

It's the Holiday season and my family is healthy. I will be drinking yummy coffee while shopping this season's sales. I will see my realitives. I will watch my girls giant smiles on their faces when they see their new gifts. I will say a prayer for all of the children who wont have as wonderful a holiday season as us. And most importantly, I will thank God for making this Christmas verse possible. I John 4:9 "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into this world, that we might live through Him."and I John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." {So incredibly} Thankful.

Phone Photo Friday

2009-11-06T10:00:00.002-06:00

This was Wednesday of this week. Care Bear outside at a local cafe. My cousin works from his laptop there and we aways go around and visit him. She prefers to be on the ground running arond these days, so it was much easier for her to explore outside than in. Miss Priss was in "school."
Tuesday at the park. It's been so pretty this week, we've been out of the house every single day{except today..i'm being lazy and cleaning} We only stayed about an hour, but the girls both seemed to have a good time. Care Bear is getting to the age where she wants to climb the steps to the slide and slide down on her own. EEK! Scares me to death.

She also loves the swings! Especially when Miss priss swings next to her and makes her laugh out loud. Love.it!

Here's a funny video from Care Bear's birthday. Remember it was the day I had to take her to the doctor for shots on her bday?! Poor girl. But she had a good time in the waiting room anyway. Ha! She cracks me up with the things she does.

Random Thoughts for Thursday

2009-11-05T13:09:00.003-06:00

It is 65 degrees outside today. Yeah, I said it. 65 and sunshine!! Gorgeous weather. Amazing weather. FALL weather. Yeesh, have I been waiting for this. I love it. My automatic response is to shop {oops!} I don't, but my inner frugalist and saavy Christmas shopper nags at me all throughout the day, so I just go an look in the stores. I'm pretty good at looking and not buying. I've gotten better since having Care Bear. When Miss Priss was a baby, I couldn't say no to all things cute for baby. Now though, only a few things slip into my buggy. It is impulse, what can I say? At least most of them come of the $1 or sale rack. I most always buy things on sale, nothing ever comes from the full price rack. So that's a plus for me, right? I know I need to quit griping about not having money when I have a serious shopping problem. What's money good for if you can't spend it though? I mean, our bills are being paid, kids are fed, happy, clothed and have a roof over their head and we have our family. That means the most to me. =)

Changing gears.. Miss Priss spent the night with my grandma last night. It's the first time she has EVER spent the night away during the week. She's 3.5 years old and it's the first time. I was so lost. It felt extremely awkward and eery for her not to be there in the bed digging her little feet into my side all night long. When I went to pick her up this morning, she was beaming. They had the best time and she didn't cry to come home even once. Go Miss Priss and go mom for not having a meltdown without her!!

On to PrissyMiss Boutique news. I've discountinued PiggySets and Layered Bows; however, the PiggySets are now on sale while products last. I will be adding a category soon.. Stacked Bows. Since our Beanies have done so well selling individually, i will now add Flower Clips for sale individually through Christmas. I'm also reopening an Etsy shop for my bigger Bows {Carrah Bows, Fancy Boutique, and Novelty} I had originally planned to open November 1st, but I wasn't ready. It will now open on Nov 10th and for the grand opening, every order placed on that day will receive a FREE set of Christmas Red and Green Hair Clips. Oh, I also made a newborn tutu for a local woman. It's so stinkin' cute. I'll show pictures soon.

Me and Miss Priss have been playing board games lately and she loves them. Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders are the games of choice at the moment. You know, they really are fun. I enjoy playing them with her.

Hmm..I think that about covers it. Watching One Life to Live now. Girls are napping. Target runs always wear them out..score!

Oh wait, one more thing. Why can't I and wear do I find a can of Pumpkin?!! Last year it lined the middle isles at Wal Mart and now I can't find it ANYwhere!

National Adoption Month

2009-11-04T23:07:00.003-06:00

As I mentioned some time ago, C and I have been discussing adoption for a while now. Initially we decided that we wanted to go the Domestic Infant Adoption route. C really believes in helping all of children here in America that need homes {as do I} However, i've recentley learned of all of the orphans/waiting children overseas that need not only homes, but also forever families to love and care for them.

I've been searching through all of the waiting children lists and it truly breaks my heart to see their gorgeous faces sitting there , just waiting on someone to take them home. I found a little boy , Care Bear's age, with Albinism that I fell in love with as soon as I saw his picture. However, I learned that he is from China and their laws striclty state that you must be 30 years old to adopt a child. We all know that I am nowhere near 30, i'm 23. That broke my heart. I pray that he finds a forever home. It was obvious that wasn't God's plan for us. But He does have a plan for us and I cannot wait to find out what it is.

For now, we obviously cannot adopt from China or any other country{other than USA} because most require a minimum age of 25 years old. I realize I am quite young, but I know where my heart is and I want and feel a need to save these children from a life that no child should have to endure. C is onboard with adoption. We have disucssed it very much and I pray every night about it. This isn't a spur of the moment decision. It has harbored much thought and prayer. It will happen when God decides it is right.

As for today, I have found an adorable little boy named "Walter" from China at the Philip Hayden Foundation that C and I have promised to sponsor. We will receive updates on him periodically. We can send him care packages and other things that let him know our family cares about him. It's just a small thing, but Lord willing it will make a giant change in his life. If anyone knows of any children with Albinism that need sponsoring, please let us know!

We are still looking into adopting from the United States. Yes, we are broke, but I feel that if it is God's will, the money will come..some way..somehow.

November is National Adoption Month. If you have a minute, take the time to look through the Waiting Child list at RainbowKids.org or just say a prayer for all of the children all over the world who need a family. They need them.

2 Days Completely Gluten Free

2009-11-04T19:30:00.002-06:00

..and you'd think Miss Priss was a different child. I'm so thankful to one blogger/fellow May mom who mentioned that MP probably did not have ADHD, but a Gluten allergy like myself.

I listened to her and completely {and I mean completely} elimated Gluten from Miss Priss' diet and she has done so well. I did this a couple months back and remember how calm she seemed, but I thought mayeb in was all in my mind and we slowly reintroduced her to eating gluten. Our families wouldn't quit feeding it to her anyway, so we figured we may as well let her eat it.

The passed two days she has been a different person. She has been listening to everything we ask of her. She has not thrown a meltdown fit not even one time! She's been sharing with Care Bear. She is sitting in our laps and focusing very closely. It's truly amazing. I can't believe I didn't keep her on this "diet" when I started her on it.

I now have to keep reinforcing our families to keep her gluten free. They feel bad for her when she asks for a cookie or wants a biscuit, so they end up giving in.

It's hard work to find things a 3 year old will eat that is gluten free, but it's soooo worth it!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the mom out there who made me think of it again =)

Wordless Wednesday - New Rug Love

2009-11-04T10:36:00.000-06:00

Tight Fittin' Jeans

2009-11-03T20:33:00.002-06:00

Anyone know that good ol' song? I love it. Anyway, it has nothing to do with this post. ;)

Since the Halloween overload of candy has entered our house, i've started feeling a little puffy and pudgy. I didn't get that way by simply eyeballing the girls candy. Oh no, I have extreme weaknesses when it comes to candy, especially chocolate. I am a girl afterall.

Today when getting ready to get out of the house for our daily errand run, I first jumped into my comfiest sweats, but then I reconsidered and squished into my tightest jeans. I bought them at Old Navy about a month ago. They were tight then as well, but not as tight as they were today. Ugh. However, the reason I wanted to wear them was to keep my mindless snacking to a minimum. You see, when I wear big baggy comfy clothes, I tend to snack uncrollably to the ponit where I can't even remember what all I ate that day. But when I dress up in cute (read tight. ha! jk) clothes, I keep track of what i'm eating and I make sure it is healthy, all natural things that i'm putting into my body. I even up the amount of water I drink during the day.

It's crazy how much different a pair of jeans can make you feel.

Crafty Corner with Miss Priss

2009-11-02T15:19:00.003-06:00

Miss Priss is a high energy child. I've never talked about this on my blog because i've always been afraid to talk about it and didn't want people giving me a hard time, but there are tons of signs and symptoms so I decided to say a little bit about it.{Please no judgments or opinions.} I'm considering having her evaluated for ADHD and OCD. She is very difficult to control. She does not like to look you in the eyes if you're talking and discussing things with her and she has trouble concentrating for longer than a few seconds. There are many many other things that i'll go into at a later time. The one thing that does keep her attention is crafts. She loves them! She could literally sit in a chair and do craft type things for hours, especially painting.

Last Wednesday, after I picked Miss Priss up from Mother's Day Out, she didn't want to nap. So we pulled out the Home depot apron, some paint and little wooden crafts. She sat there and painted her little Halloween cat and star all by herself and did a wonderful job.
Another super FUN craft! I found a Princess Craft book at Hastings on sale for $4! It has a ton of different ideas in it. We chose the Princess Wand.
What you need

Wooden Dowel
Aluminum foil, a bit longer than the dowel
Piece construction paper
Piece of tissue paper
Curly ribbons
Scissors and glue

MP helping press the tissue paper onto the construction paper.The finished product. SO cute!! She loves it.It looks a lot prettier in person. I couldn't get a good picture of it.

How to make it:

Wrap the aluminum foil around the dowel. Twist the ends and fold them down.
Cut a circile or heart shape out of construction paper.
Cut tissue paper to match your shape, then glue on top.
Tape the back of the shape to the aluminum covered dowel
Tie your ribbons around the wand.

Ta Da!! That's all there is to it!

Dare I Say..The Best Halloween Ever?!

2009-11-01T18:43:00.008-06:00

Yes, I think I will. This year was the best Halloween ever!! My girls were simply adorable and had a blast running around in their costumes ALL day Saturday.

We decided to dress them up early in the day and head to the Rivermarket. It was beautiful outside. NO rain whatsoever and lots of sunshine to make for an awesome day! The girls ran around playing, screaming, climbing, laughing, and just being kids! Ahh..so.much.fun!

C and Miss Priss looking just perfect. This pic makes me all teary. Love it so much!
Climbing higher, higher and higher up the wall tunnel! MP was so excited on all of these unconventional park toys.

Care Bear watching sister climb.

Another long tunnel to run through and both of them did it, over and over and..

over! It was pretty cool, I must admit. I ran through it a few times with them.

Wheeeee.. daddy loves to play with his girlies

and they love it too.

A smaller tunnel that was very difficult for daddy to maneuver. LOL! So hilarious to watch.

My new favorite picture of me and MP!! She actually sort of looks like me here.

Me n my Care Bear on the big bridge.

Trick or treating at dark.

Around our neighborhood

CB with my mom. She lives way far out and would take us forever to get to her house, she just rides along with us every Halloween.

Another family picture, Halloween night.

My grandma that i'm always talking about =) She'd prob beat me if she knew I posted this picture because she didn't have her teeth in. Hehe! The girls love her so much though, I had to get a pic.
Side not: Look at CareBear's little "treat"

Their candy loot. That's a LOT of candy for two little girls.

Some setting I found on my camera when I was messing with it. I hate that it's blurry, but still was pretty neat.

and lasty Miss Care Bear without her glasses playing with candy and snacks that fell in the floor.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T09:33:00.003-05:00

It seems weird for Halloween to be on a Saturday. For some reason, when I think about Halloween as a kid, I think of being in school all day, then getting home and rushing to put my costume on, then going out at dark. It feels funny today just sitting around. I sort of want to dress the girls up again and run around town. lol!

What are you supposed to do all day the day of Halloween while anxiously anticipating that night? Like i said before, i'm really not a fan of Halloween, but i'm excited for all of our family and friends to see the girls in costume and to watch the girls get super excited about candy. Yes I used girls plural because Care Bear likes candy too {ooops..i swear it's so much different with the second child. No way would I ever let MP eat candy this young!}

You know, i'm even thinking of something I could throw together for myself to trick or treating tonight. It just doesn't seem right to go out without having a little something on. Mom or not. My dad asked me what I was going to be and i said "Um.. ring leader?" He said "How about.. stressed out mom? That fits you well." Ugh, thanks.

I guess you just never know what i'll do. We'll see. I'm charging my camera so I can take lots of pictures. Have a Happy Halloween everyone and be safe!

Phone Photo Friday

2009-10-30T14:18:00.003-05:00

I kept my word and let the girls wear their costumes today. They were so good they got Chick Fil A fries.
We went by and saw Papa T and nana Vicki.

Both the girls had a good day and were so so sweet. My mom thinks Miss Priss looks like me here.

Having a very Care Bear party this morning. lol! She loves this blanket. She'll lay down on top of the Bears and say "Awww"
On Care Bear's birthday.. she is forward facing now!! Big girl. She loves it. Sits there and kicks her feet laughing the entire car trip. lol!

Brave little girl she is.

Miss Priss' artwork at school So cute! They have all their work hanging outside their classroom.

The Day Before Halloween

2009-10-30T07:42:00.004-05:00

Halloween Eve?!

The weather here is ridiculous. It has been raining for longer than I can remember. Last night on the news they said that we've had the most rain since 1882!! Wow. Just think about that for a minute. That is 127 years! Wow.

So, the ground is sopping wet and not at all fit for a fun night of trick or treating. However, we are going to brave it for the girls {Miss Priss'} sake. She is already talking about "knocking on Mr Jim's door and getting candy." He's our neighbor. She remembers going around our little neighborhood last year. All of our neighbors love her. They're all older and she is their entertainment.

Today though, I have a few errands to run around town. I think i'm going to let the girls wear their costumes for fun. Maybe some of the places will have candy to pass out.

I mean, really, how many times to they get to wear their $20 costumes? Once. Um no, we're going to get our money's worth!

Spaghetti and Fish...Together?!

2009-10-29T09:18:00.003-05:00

We have supper at my grandma's every Wednesday night. Last night we had fried catfish, fried potatos, coleslaw, and everyone else had baked beans and hush puppies {not me because they both contained wheat} Over our dinner, my grandma told us about the conversation she had with the man at the fish counter at Kroger.

He said "I married a Yankee. We went up there one time and her family was cooking fish and spaghetti..together."
Gma "Together?? Well, they just don't know how to eat up there."
Him "I know. Noone up there fries fish and potatos. I did figure out why they did the fish with the spaghetti though. They gave everyoen a tiny piece of fish and a big heap of spaghetti so everyone would get full on the spaghetti because the fish is so expensive."

LOL!! You have to remember this was two elderly people discussing people in the south versus people in the north. They're old school, you know. I just think it's funny that my grandma said people up there don't know how to eat. Whereas I think most people in the north eat much more healthy than us here in the south. She is so not worried about healthy foods though. she eats what she wants, when she wants. Forget about a diet or giving up her 5 daily Mountain Dews and steaks, burgers, and chicken fried-in-an-inch-of-oil .

I for one, would love to go north someday and just try out all the neat foods i've never heard of. Although, i'm still not sure why so many love clam chowder and hot dogs off the street. Those both sound yuck-O! Oh yes and the fish and spaghetti combo totally disgusts me. Maybe that was just that man's in laws thing because i've never heard of that.

Wordless Wednesday - Fall Things at Home

2009-10-28T12:50:00.002-05:00

Never Cease to Amaze Me

2009-10-28T11:13:00.003-05:00

I'm actually not talking about my kids this time {whom by the way never do cease to amaze me}, i'm speaking of the disaster we call our home.

Every morning when I wake up, I play with the girls, get them fed, then clean! And I continue to clean all throughout the day. Seriously, i'm picking up things ALL day! When I finally feel that it is decent {for my taste}, I will chill out and take a break.

In the afternoon, I really don't do much cleaning. We are usually running errands, playing, trying to nap, etc.. Then I have to cook supper and C gets home. That's when the major mess comes about. It seems like the houes gets ten times more messy when C is home than it does during the day. I just ignore the mess at night, though, because i'm exhausted from cleaning all morning.

The next morning, I wake up and start it all over. I look around and am in utter disbelief at the clutter staring me in the face. You'd think i'd become immune to it and accept it, but it truly does never cease to amaze me.

I do realize that i'm possibly the Queen of talking about cleaning my house! lol! I do have a teensy bit of OCD when it comes to our home. I can't stand any one little thing out of place. If a pillow, picture, or even an evelope is crooked, I have to straighten it, so you can imagine how picky I am about the clutter!!

The Great Pumpkin Family

2009-10-27T17:01:00.002-05:00

Sunday night was Pumpkin Carving night in our house. We do this every year (except last year because Care Bear was born 10 days before Halloween) Miss Priss was so very excited, but did not want to touch the "guts"

She tried to scoop them out with this spoon, but soon after gave up. C and I ended up doing all four of the pumpkins. lol. Care Bear woke up and we tried to get her to help with pulling stuff out, but she only wanted to eat it. silly girl.

Moma's pumpkin face! Isn't it just the most perfect little Jack O Lantern? =)

MP wanted to take a picture. She focused it pretty well. You know I love her when I post these kind of pictures of myself. {double chin and all..}
Finished punkin' family!! See Care bear's little glasses. Hehe. That took me a while to figure out, but I finally accomplished the look.

In other news, my computer crashed yesterday. I had the blue screen of death, which means {I think} my harddrive completely crashed! It wouldn't even let me open in Safe Mode. Today, I got a new laptop. Yes we are broke. However, my grandma used her CC to buy it and we are making her monthly payments. She is thebest right?! I know.

This laptop business is tricky! It's confusing the crapolla out of me. I think i've figured most things out on it. I am old school yall, i've had my destop since 2004 and it was perfect for me. So i'm new to all things laptop and it may take a minute to get it all soaked in.

{Care Bear} Party Time!!

2009-10-25T02:06:00.008-05:00

Care bear had a wonderful 1st birthday party!!! It was so much fun and everyone enjoyed themselves.

The fabulous cake from a local bakery! I LOVED it soooo much that I almost cried when we cut it.

The topper. Not as cute as the rest of the cake, but still cute =)

Top view of the setup. I was pretty proud of it, can you tell? lol! I found all of the stuffed Care Bears at a resale shop {except the tiny one that we won at the fair} and washed them up really good. They were perfect decorations!

MIss Priss was super excited about everything. She had to have a picture with all of the stuff. Care Bear played with her balloon while waiting on people to show up. Then she took a long nap. The 3rd picture was an hour into her party and I had to wake her up to open presents.

She wasn't tha i nto opening presents, but Miss Priss was. She got almost as many as CB!

Our family. Don't the girls always look so happy?
"Happy Birthday to You!"

Mmm time for cake!! She wasn't sure at first and just barely dipped her fingers in it.

But by the end, she had it all over her glasses and in her hair.

Big success! We all had a fun time!

Bitter then Better

2009-10-23T09:24:00.002-05:00

Let me start this post by saying i'm so very sorry for my crabbiness. I should've just skipped blogging yesterday because I obviously was not in the spirit. I was so sick that I layed on the couch the entire day!!! I'm so blessed because my girls were angels all day long. They played contently with eachother and didn't give me any grief. When C got home, he cooked supper and gave the girls their bath. My grandma took my car to get the oil changed. My step mom brought me some antibiotics last night. Again, so.blessed!!

I said a much longer prayer than normal last night. I thanked the Lord for every single blessing i've experienced in my life. Sometimes I forget about how wonderful my life really is. I absoloutley love my life and am so thankful for everything in it!

Now, onto this morning. I woke up feeling tremendously better. Praise God!! I got up, did Tae Bo, cleaned the living room {that was destroyed from yesterdays laziness}, {working on doing} 4 loads of laundry, swept, mopped and cleaned the countertops and sinks, vacuumed, and am about to take some stuff to Goodwill. I feel so accomplished!!

The one thing I want to do that will take some time is disinfect all of th girls toys they've been playing with the last couple of days. Yuck! I dread that. I'm sure I could spray them down with Lysol, but I think I want to soak them in the sink with some sort of disinfectant.

Anyway, my house is now ready for the Care Bear Birthday Party tomorrow!! Can't wait =) My MIL let me go pick out a cake of my choice from a local bakery and I think it's going to turn out super cute! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Random Thoughts for Thursday

2009-10-22T09:40:00.002-05:00

I only have two things on my mind..

I'M SICK!!!!! Ugh. That's about all I can think right now. The entire right side of my face is swolen and in pain because I have a massive sinus infection. Ugh! I've been through almost a whole roll of toilet paper from blowing my nose. Ugh!! I'm starting to feel achy and pray that i'm not getting a fever..or the flu. Ugh!!!

Care Bear's birthday party is Saturday and my house is a disaster! C has been working late every night and I have no idea how we're going to pull it all together. I'm just laying here today. Not.Doing.a.Thing!!

Oh yes, and Leah gave me a Blog Award a few days ago. Yall know how awful I am about getting these up, but i'm excited because it's my first one on this new blog!

So here are the rules:
1) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
2) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.
3) Share "10 Honest Things" about myself.

Hmm.. 7 of my favorite blogs. Yall don't have to post this on your blog, but i'm awarding you anway.

1. Kelly at Two Kids a MiniVan and a Lot of Love
2. Molly at Stilletos and Diapers
3. Heather at Step Inside
4. Mel at The Larson Lingo
5. Carrie at Mamas Going to Buy You a Mockingbird
6. Mel at My Charmed Life in the Sea of Pink
7. Jen at Staying in Touch with the Funny Noses

Ten Honest Things about Me..

1. I just read Breaking Dawn in two days. I freakin' loved it and now I don't know what to do with myself.
2. I hate Halloween. It's not a big deal to me and i'd rather sit home and do nothing on that night. We still have not gotten Care Bear a costume..oops!
3. My favorite thing right now is Matrix Amplify Shampoo and Conditioner!! It's amazing. Pricey, but amazing.
4. I have an issue with technology. It seems that everytime I get some new cool gadget, it breaks within no time! I had a Zune..it quit working when it was sitting next to my cell phone. I've broken about 3 cameras, NICE cameras! Cell phones, forgetaboutit.. I lose them, drop them in water, etc.. Brand new printer, hooked it up and something went wrong and it started making some awful noise! No clue why?!
5. I'm to sick to think. How bout I just do four and maybe I can think of more later.. I'm grouchy!!

"Shots on My Birthday? Someone's in trouble!"

2009-10-21T13:42:00.004-05:00

This is Care Bear first thing this morning after her morn nap. I told her she had to have shots and she started jabbering, I think she was letting me have it in baby language.

I got a few cute pictures of her, but she is just to busy to stay still for the camera.

I took her to the doctor and her ear infections are already starting to improve after only 2.5 days on the antibiotic. Yay! {yes I will continue to give them to her for the full 10 days}

She weighed 20lbs 9oz and was 30.5in long. She has consistently stayed right above average for her age. She also had to get 3 shots plus the seasonal flu shot, so four altogether. That has got to be one of the most traumatic experiences for mother and child. Man, I hate the act of shots, but i'm thankful for their purpose. {no debates!} She was so worn out, she crashed in the car on the way home.

Miss Priss is so excited that today is Care Bear's birthday! She thinks the party is today even though I keep explaining that "no it is Saturday.."

Happy First Birthday to My Care Bear!!!

2009-10-21T08:21:00.005-05:00

October 21st 2008
11:58pm
7lbs 4oz. 20in long

Wow, a year?! I can't believe my baby has only been here one year! It seems that she has been a part of our lives forever!

3 months

One year ago today, I was already in the hospital. I had started having ctx at 11pm the night before and we went in to L&D around 5am. She was born at 11:58pm on Oct 21st 2008. I could immediately tell she was bigger than Miss Priss. C called my name and said "She's a lot bigger!!" lol..he was in shock, but I wasn't. My belly was all the proof I needed. The nurses, our parents, and even C and I were amazed at her "blonde" hair. We thought she'd have dark black hair like MP did. CB was so beautiful th first time I looked at her. I remember saying that she looked like a little bug. Her face was perfectly round with chubby cheeks even at birth and I just coudln't beleive how much I loved her already.

6 months

The first few months of Care Bear's life were difficult for all of us, especially me and probably her too. I went through a lot of emotions.. depression, sadness, anger, confusion, but still happy and so blessed to have her. When we finally learned that Carrah had OC Albinism, it was like a giant weight lifted off of me and I could just have fun and enjoy her without worry. She has taught me more than I ever imagined a tiny little child could. I now look at the whole world differently. I've gained patience and understanding that I never had in the past.

9 months

Each day is a new adventure with CB. I've never been so panicked and stressed out in my life until she came along. When people told me each child is different, they were not blowing smoke. CB is a daring child. She has been in more accidents and incidents than any child i've ever known. I can always count on her to fall off, get stuck on, or climb up something. But I can also count on her to bring a smile to my face. She is so precious in every way and I love to just sit and watch her discover new things.

On her first birthday, Care Bear can now run and play chase with her sister, do patty cake, itsy bitsy spider, peek a boo, stand up and walk in circles (for fun!), say mama, daddy, barney, bite, sissy, baby.

12 months {not really in this pic, but i'll have to take one today when she wakes up from nap}

I love my Care Bear so incredibly much. I sometimes wish she could stay this sweet little baby, but then I wouldn't get to enjoy more and more special birthdays with her.

Happy 1st birthday my precious girl!!

Ice Cream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream..When?

2009-10-20T07:02:00.002-05:00

The girls and I are sick again. =( Bummer. They've both had a runny nose for about 3 days now and day before yesterday it seemed to be getting worse, so I took them to the doctor yesterday afternoon. Care Bear has a double ear infection and sinus infection and Miss Priss has a sinus infection.

Poor Care Bear sounds terrible! She sounds like she has a grizzly bear in her chest when she breathes. Tomorrow is her birthday too. So sad! They put her on Amoxacillin twice a day. Doctor decided not to put MP on anything because hers wasn't to bad.

I have the same thing they have. I'm assuming a sinus infection. Our throats all sound raw and we're coughing a litlte bit. The worst is the runny nose! Ugh!! My whole face is raw from wiping(sorry for the mental pic) blah!

This morning all of us sounded so hoarse , I decided we'd have ice cream for breakfast. That was a hit!! Miss Priss didn't know what to think. She looked at me like she'd get in trouble if she took a bite. lol! Speaking of her eating, she almost weighs 30lbs now!!! YAY, I never thought we'd reach that goal. On the flipside, CareBear already weighs 21lbs! Hehe.. crazy girls.

Puke, Pumpkin Patch, and Postponed Pampered Chef

2009-10-18T23:03:00.004-05:00

It has been one heck of a busy weekend! I'm not usually a fan of the letter "P", but this weekend it seems that the "P's" had it.

I was scheduled ot host a Pampered Chef party Saturday night {I think I mentioned that before}; however, most of my guests cancled on me. Boo! I'm not mad at them though, I know things come up. I wasn't completely ready myself. So I called my Pampered Chef lady and told her I would have to reschedule.

Saturday morning/afternoon, we decided to take the girls to the Pumpkin Patch. I had only taken Miss Priss one year, in 2007, but the one we went to had closed down. We found this different one online and thought we'd try it out. It ook us forever to get there! C took us the back way down some super curvy roads with lots of trees to look at. Well, Miss Priss started looking green and gagging. I thought she choked on a cracker, but she pointed to her tummy and said "My tummy my tummy" then "BLAHHH" everywhere. GAG! All over my hands, on her cute outfit, in my "new" car!!! *double gag* from me! We pulled over and cleaned everything up and sanitized our hands , then headed off again. We finally made it...

They had a Petting Zoo, that Miss Priss loved, but Care Bear hated. The pigs creeped her out!

The patch was flooded. We've gotten more rain lately than I ever remember before. C walked out so far with the girls then turned around and came back. I sat my booty on the haybell and watched.

Care Bear loved seeing all the little orange "balls" laying around the ground.

and Miss Priss found the tiniest little one she could find and declared it hers!

She also shared with her sissy since Bear couldn't heave them up high enough.

Do you love the Bow? I slapped it together in about 20 minutes. Yay mom!

Sweet picture. I wish CB would have been in the wagon too.

Me with my girls. My eyes were watering so badly because the wind was fierce!!

Family picture 09! If CB were looking, I might consider using this for Christmas cards.

She just had to have her face painted! She said "I want paint on my chik" Once again with the Bow. It's a hybrid. Big Girl + Korker!

2 little cuties! MP loved this thing!!

..and they were pooped!

=) I love FALL!!!

Brave Little Cookie Pushing the Limits

2009-10-16T09:52:00.003-05:00

I could not come up with a clever title because my heart is still pounding out of my chest. It has been that way for an hour now. Why, you ask? Well, let me just go ahead and tell you.

I rocked Care Bear to sleep and she was asleep, no waking up when I laid her down in her crib. I came downstairs to make hers and MIss Priss' Bows for their Pumpkin Patch outfits and I hear "THUD!!!!" The sound it made was as bad as when she pulled the armoire down on her face and we ended up in the ER with stitches and a broken nose. I sprinted upstairs to see what could have possibly made that noise. Miss Priss was laying in her bed too, but hers is so low to the ground and I would have heard her scream out if it were her. I heard a tiny scream, then I got there.

Care Bear was laid out on her back trying to muster up a cry. She was so scared that she couldn't get it out, it was like she was hyperventilating while trying to cry. I picked her up and she wimpered for a minute then she was fine. Smiling. laughing, walking, eating cheetos, etc.. I wasn't so fine though. She climbed out of her crib at not even a year old. WHAT? I don't know what to do because the bed is as low as it can go. I told yall she was a climber!!

I'm still in shock, like I said, but she is perfect. No crying, no sunk in bumps or poking out bumps, no different sized pupils, no sleepiness, etc.. She cries more if she drops a cookie than she did falling out of her crib. Our floor is very very carpeted though, so maybe that is why we were so blessed this time.

This girl, i swear, she is going to bring back every bit of anxiety that I thought I had overcome recentley.

Show Us Your Life - What You Make

2009-10-16T07:49:00.005-05:00

I recentley found Kelly's blog "Kelly's Korner", which I love! She is also a mommy from Arkansas and loves the Razorbacks, as do we. =) She's hosting a Blog Carnival called "Show Us Your Life" with different topics each week. This week it is "What You Make" and I thought i'd participate and show some more of my PrissyMiss Boutique Bows.

Here are some new Seasonal Novelty Bows.

Seasonal Korker
Seasonal IttyBitty
Pinwheel
Fancy Boutique
Carrah's Bow
Crochet HeadBeand with Bling Flower
Infant Crochet Beanie with Bling Flower
Cinderella Novelty

Arkansas Razorback Diaper case

Hair Bow Holder

Random Thoughts for Thursday

2009-10-15T06:17:00.004-05:00

So glad it's Thursday! It's the first day in my planner that isn't full. Whew.. I still have to go pick up Care Bear's birthday pictures from Sears, but that isn't a major appointment that I have to rush around for. I also like Thursdays because that's when our trash gets picked up. I hate trash. Blah!

Yesterday, I read about 300 pages of "Eclipse." I'm almost finished now..woo hoo!! I never ever get the chance to read, so I was so excited when my grandma told me to plop down on the couch and she would play with the girls for a little while. {We go to her house every Wednesday}

My hair looks good. I'm finally satisified with the girl that has been doing my hair. She's an old friend from middle/junior high school. We both have two girls almost exactly the same ages, so we have a lot to talk about while i'm there. I got high and low lights this time, so still blonde just a little darker for the fall/winter. And I got a trim because I really like this length.

You can see the color a little better in this one.

I haven't watched much tv this week. I'm not that interested in to many of the shows. Melrose Place and Castle are still my favorites right now.

It finally quit raining here yesterday. YAY! We got more rain in the passed week or two than we usually get in a year. It was rough. The sun was out and it was a little warm yesterday, which was s surpise because when I took Cami to MDO, it was drizzling. Arkansas weather.. I swear.

We have something scheduled every weekend of this month. This coming weekend we are taking the girls to the pumpkin patch in the morning, then that night i'm hosting a Pampered Chef party at our house. So exciting!! I've never been to one, but I love their stuff. Hopefully I can get something free. lol!

I finally found some old style Care Bear stuff online for Bear's birthday party!! My dad went into the Salvation Army just to browse and found plates, party blowers, and treat bags!!!! I was SO excited because I haven't even been able to find anything online until Sunday night. He bought it for me and wouldn't let me pay him back. So sweet. I'm really pumped ab her birthday party. It's not this Sat, but next. She'll be a year old next Wednesday. Craziness.

"My Teacher is Gonna See Her!"

2009-10-14T08:06:00.004-05:00

Care Bear always wakes up early! I try to get up before the girls and get stuff done, but it never seems to happen. No matter how early I wake up, she is either right before or after me. This morning it was about 7:00am, so not to bad really.

I changed her diaper, dressed her, and came downstairs to make breakfast. Miss Priss was still asleep, of course. I decided to patch Care Bear's eye this morning since she is usually in a pretty good mood. She didn't mind at all and just sat there while I did it. Then, she took off walking and clapping like it didn't phase her a bit.

Miss Priss woke up and came down the stairs, sat down in her chair then called for Care Bear. When she saw her, she burst into tears.
"Why you do that for moma?"
I said because Care Bear's doctor wants us to. It will help her eyes."
"No!! I don't want that on my baby. My teacher is gonna see her."
"Miss Priss, will you teacher not like that?"
"No. She will be mad too."

I almost cried too. That was the hardest part so far. I know it seems like nothing and almost funny, but it's just difficult to explain to a three year old that her sister's eyes are a little different and need some assistance.

The Hair Post

2009-10-13T21:59:00.003-05:00

Well folks, it's time for my next hair appointment. The thing is, i'm on the fence about keeping it short, letting it grow, staying blonde, or going more natural/dark. That's where you come in. A lot of you are my besties and I trust that you will help me make the right decision. =)

My appt is tomorrow morning by the way, so I need some good advice fast!! Thanks! haha..

Option 1 is almost au natural.. Medium to semi long hair with little to no high lights.
Option 2 is completely au natural.. short choppy hair with NO highlights {blah! don't pick this one}
Option 3 is mediium length hair with bangs and a lot of colors high and low lights.
Option 4 is very straight blunt hair with lots of highlights and red streaks
Option 5 is medium to long length hair, no bangs, and understated high lights.
Option 6 is what i'm currentley sporting. Short hair, side bangs, and lots and lots of blonde!!
Help me please! My opinion as of now is that I like what my hair looks like right now, but i'm always up for a change. I like having long hair too and I always think I want to go darker, but never have the guts to do it. What do you like best on me?

Yeah.. and that's a lot of me in one post, feel free to puke a little at my narcicism {you know because I think i'm awesome and all.. *wink*}

She Pulls it Off

2009-10-13T16:55:00.002-05:00

Miss Care Bear was fabulous at her appointment today. She played well with the Optician and Opthamologist. I think she is just used to the visits by now. It's normal for people to shine little lights with toys hanging off of them into her eyes. She enjoys the Barney stickers they reward her with as well.

We learned a few things while we were there, though the visit was surprisingly short and quick! Care Bear still has a lot of Strabismus {crossing} even with the glasses on. It's not nearly as noticable with her glasses on, but it is still significant enough to be concerned about. Dr. P wants her to "Alternate Patch" until January.

She has to wear these "cute" little patches for 1-2 hours per day on alternate eyes each day until January. When we go back in January, if there is still the same amount of Strabismus, she will need surgery.

The reason for surgery is that if she continues to favor the left eye, the brain will cut off the right eye. What I mean by that is, the brain thinks since the left eye is stronger, it does not need the right eye anyway and will quit sending information to the right eye, causing it to lose the current vision it has now. We don't want that to happen!

So..for the moment, we will wear the patches and pray that it helps some. I have a feeling that it will not change much because her Strabismus is so severe. Surgery is most likely our next step and that is fine as long as out little girl can see.

Personally, I think she pulls it off..the look that is. We'll see within the next hour if that statement can be applied literally. ;)

A 'Lil Sugar for your Morning Coffee

2009-10-13T06:51:00.004-05:00

Today is Care Bear's Opthamologist appt at Children's. I'm really nervous. I don't want them to to say she needs surgery, but i'm sure it will come to that. The nurse from the eye clinic called yesterday {one day before her appt mind you} and asked
"Is there any way we can reschedule for Wednesday?"
I said "No, we already planned our week around this appt and my husband took off work."
She said "Ok, i'll tell him."
Well, I get a call back on the voicemail saying "He can't make it at 1:00, you'll have to wait and come at 2:45. He has a meeting and this isn't his normal day to see patients."
Well WHY would they schedule us for that day? That makes no sense to me! Oh well, i'm going to call this morning and make sure they wont send us home without being seen.

Loving her baby! She says "Awwww" and snuggles it really close =)

She also has her 1 yr check up next week. I'm excited to see how much she weighs. It seems like forever since we've been to a check up. I'm so not looking forward to the shots though. I still haven't decided about H1N1.. I've heard contrasting advice.

See the pumpkin?! I love the old school trick or treat pumpkins and was thrilled when Miss Priss just had to have one! She picked purple {her new favorite color} and chose pink for Care Bear. I wish I would have had it in the room for this pic!

Me and my Bitty Girl!
This was last week when Miss Priss was at Mother's Day Out! I dolled her up in pink!!

Meal in a Minute

2009-10-12T12:02:00.002-05:00

Last week we skimped on buying groceries. We were trying to save every penny possible and when Thursday rolled around, we were out of ideas for supper. I found a few things in the fridge and threw them together and voila, we had a meal!

I started with ground beef (FREE ground beef, remember me telling you my dad bought it for us?) and diced potatos. Let that brown. Throw in some salt, pepper, cumin,and a little onions.

Then I sauteed Carrots, Brocolli, Cabbage, Garlic, and Onions in about a tsp of Olive Oil. At the same time, I steamed Brussel Sprouts. Set them aside.

On another burner, I cooked about a cup of Quinoa. If you haven't had this, you must try it! It cooks like Rice, but is a better grain in my opinion! I love this stuff!!

Dumped in the sauteed veggies. Stirred.
Then, mixed in the meat, and topped with brussel sprouts. How easy is that?! It was SO good too. C really loved it. {Oh yeah, I mixed a little salsa with ours too. Gave it that extra bite it needed}

Weekend Recap {with booth pics}

2009-10-12T07:48:00.003-05:00

It was a busy weekend around our house! Friday night was spent getting everything together for the craft show. And Saturday we woke up at 3:45am to get up and around. Got downtown at 6:30 and was setup by 7. Woo Hoo! It was a long day, filled with lots of visitors. I loved every minute!! It always fun to meet new people and talk about life. =)

My booth setup at first. See the large Bows to the right? They have a whole other side on the back filled with my smaller Bows, but people couldn't see them, so we had to change the setup a bit.
My front table. I keep my Beanies and Head Bands in that tote so I can watch people better. It's amazing how rude people can be with your stuff. They'll take it out, stretch it around, then just throw it down in a pile. Grr! {I had the Hair Bow Holders laying there at first, but then I got the idea to hang them on the tent.}
{btw.. don't forget Head Bands and Beanies go on sale individually today!}

Again, this is before I switched everything.

My back table, where I sit.

The entire booth setup after I was co mpletely finished moving things. lol! Oh yeah and C is back there eating Chick Fil A. YUM! He drove 15 minutes away to get us some. So.Sweet!

This is the way I switched it, so people could see everything at once when they walked up.

Me=Freezing!!! It was somewhere in the mid 50's if i'm not mistaken. I had on a sweater, jacket, gloves, scarf, boots and I was still bitterly cold.

Me and my Care Bear after my mother in law brought them back. It was to cold first thing in the morning, so she drove up to pick them up and take them to her house. Miss Priss' lips were literally blue before she got there =( I felt awful.

MP riding the train! OMG she loved it!!

"Hi Moma!, Hi Moma!"

It was a FUN day!! I loved it even though there were FIVE other Bow vendors there. Blah! See what luck I have? lol! Last year, there was only me and one other Bow booth. Figures.. I still had quite a bit of success though, so I felt very blessed.

Yesterday, we went to my dad and step moms with my two step sisters and their kids. We ate lunch, painted pumpkins, the kids rode the ponys, and fed the ducks and fish. Fun times this weekend! Hope you all had a great time too!

Craft Show, Here I Come!

2009-10-10T05:56:00.003-05:00

It's 6:00am and we are about to wake the kids up, then head out the door. I've been awake since 3:45am!! You know I was just so excited I coudn't sleep. Ha! Yeah right.. Care Bear woke up and I couldn't go back to sleep. The alarm was set for 4:45am, so I figured eh.. whatever, just get up. I'm glad I did too because I got a lot accomplished and no rushing around. My hair is having a good day too, so that always helps =)

I'll update when I get home tonight!! If you're from here, come by and see me!!

Phone Photo Friday

2009-10-09T14:50:00.003-05:00

Thanks to LauraC, I not have a reason to share all of my cell phone pics!

I already uploaded these to Facebook a while back, but i'm just now getting to sharing them here.

Our walk at the park. We always walk first and then play.

The swings are Miss Priss' favorite part. Oh, the hat.. Yeah.., she loves that Tinkerbell hat and wants to wear it quite often. I however, don't love it, but I always let her wear it when we go to the park.

Care Bear was laughing her little hiney off. Every time MP would swing close to us, she would chuckle so loud. Loved it!

This girl can dance! She loves to dance around the house and this little leotard is perfect for her.
We made a scary batman mask, but it was to small so she had to look through the mouth. lol!

Random Thoughts for Thursday

2009-10-09T07:32:00.002-05:00

I swear I typed this on Thurs night, but it's just getting published. It's a good thing because Care Bear is laid up in my lap drinking her bottle , making it very difficult to type.

This is probably old news, but I don't have cable so I was excited when I was at my grandma's and saw the "Death Cab for a Cutie's" premiere of New Moon. It's the first I've seen of anything that movie. It was exactly how I pictured it while reading the book {remember, I just finished New Moon a couple months ago} The only thing I didn't picture in the book was Edwards head floating by her in all of the dangerous incidences. I thought she just heard his voice.

The weather was everything Fall and fabulous for the most part of the week, but then yesterday it went back to 82 degrees!! =( Ugh! I was in a grumpy mood because I loathe hot weather and I got teased into thinking the cool breezes were here to stay.

Speaking of weather, I have a booth in a craft show tomorrow and I pray that the rain will cease.

You know what really bugs me? People that spell definitely "definantly." Now, I know I don't take the time to spell check everything on my blog, but I was huge into English and Grammar classes in schools. It was my favorite subject. So when I see that word spelled that way, it drives me insane. Honestly, I think the majority are people from the south because that's how we pronounce it. haha!

On to TV shows..
I'm still in love with Castle, Melrose Place, and the Mentalist. Everything is else is just so so. I don't kow what my deal is, but i'm not watching any reality shows this fall! That's not like me at all.

I have a few more new products from PrissyMiss Boutique that i'll reveal on Monday. {Oh and JenFen(I know you're not a contest junkie..lol!) and Lara, your clips will ship on Tuesday} All of my other orders will ship Tues as well.

Care Bear has another Opthamologist appt at Children's Tuesday. I'm nervous about this one because they will possibly be letting us know if she needs surgery for her Strabismus. In my opinion, it has improved since getting her glasses, but then again when she doesn't have them on for a while, it begins to turn in again. =( Anyway just say a quick prayer for her on Tues.

Dang, I gotta cut it short..err shorter than I wanted! It's lightening and made my comp flash. {yes I do have a surge protector, but still!!}