The Overwhelming Love and Support of Tiny

BG and I recently had a conversation that sounded like this:

BE: Hey you are on Gmail you know you could be my first blog follower!

BG(Playing Black Ops) : Yeah I know.

BE: Sooooooo?

BG(Not looking away from game): Yeah I guess so.

BE: (STINK EYE )

Nuff' Said!

Little just likes seeing her picture on the Internet.She also likes seeing pictures of people we know on the Internet. Before the Blog she was a Facebook junkie.  Gonna have to watch out for that. Adding it to my list of parental worries.

Oh the Worries!!

Tiny is currently playing Peek-a-Boo behind my laptop screen. At least someone in the family is overjoyed at the fact the laptop is now always within arms reach. She keeps trying to chew on it. Maybe that's not a good thing? But she chews on everything. Now she is chewing on my phone. I will be so glad when teething ends. Tiny loves to help type and listens when I need to read something out loud. It's like a sarcastic bedtime story. Tiny really is a trooper and I can't believe she will be 10 months old on Friday. So, THANK YOU TINY PTERANODON! I LOVE YOU ! I love you BG and Little too but Tiny is acting the cutest right now.

Peek-A-Boo!

I have to go cook dinner now. The natives are getting restless and apparently you are actually supposed to FEED your children...huh? Who knew?

Nourishing My Miniature Humans, 

BE

Photo Shoot - Post Baby Shower Edition

These are just some pictures of the girls I took a few minutes ago. Today I felt like a photographer. Just humor me. Thanks.

It helps when you have the most beautiful models in the world.

BE

Stickers, Sangria, and Black Ops??? Really??

First of all I want to say Hello to my international readers...yes I have international readers! I TOLD you this was a highbrow blog! Second of all I have started writing this while Tiny is pulling my hair yelling "DADADA". BG is playing Black Ops and has not clue what Tiny is doing. You think between the screeching of "DADA" and me periodically yelling "OW!" he would notice....yeah right.

EDIT :  Also, Thank you very much to my Hurricane Irene readers...if not for the storm you wouldn't be bored and if you weren't bored I would just be typing to myself.  Please come back when the rain stops and you aren't scared for your life. Please. Thanks a bunch.

BG. ALWAYS aware of his surroundings. Yes, that IS Dora.

Little is spending the night at The Cruisers house. They are preparing for a cruise and wanted some Little time before they left. BG and I wanted some romance time. Again, BG is playing Black Ops and I am writing while Tiny pulls my hair. VERY ROMANTIC! Ahhhh it's ok...I have Law & Order on in the background. Romance would interfere. I love Law & Order SVU so much that Tiny's middle name is after a character. I know that's super duper cool of BG and I, right ?!?!?!?!?!

Little dressed as Rapunzel. With her Dora watering can.

We did have dinner with The Cruisers and the girls played in the pool. It was a great way to celebrate our "end" of summer. Fall wont really start in the area until October but September is a busy month around these parts. Had a little Sangria and fed Tiny mashed sweet potatoes and apples out of a jar.Yum. Not Gerber. Yay! Little watered every plant on the deck ten million times and BG and I had a little water fight. I love the times we spend out on the deck.

Hello there.

I just wrote a sentence and Tiny deleted it ...time to go. Baby shower tomorrow for a friend. I am sure I will have cute pictures of my kids that you all MUST see...


Fare Thee Well,

BE

This Moment - A Moment of Reflection

{this moment} – A Friday ritual.  A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

 

 

Mom I just wanna PLAY SOCCER !

Little had her first soccer practice tonight. It was fun and it is 6:55 PM and she is already asleep....that totally makes up for having games at 9:30 on Saturday mornings.

My Soccer Girl

She really loved to kick the ball and making goals but she did not like stretching and warming up. "Mommy I don't want to stretch. I just wanna play soccer!"  On the way home she asked "Mommy, Can you teach me how to stand on one foot? I don't know how!" So that is our goal for the week. I am going to teach Little how to stand on one foot. I am also going to recommend we have soccer practice 5 nights a week so bed time will continue to be 7 PM  AND I will seek out a way to also have Tiny practice soccer...oh wait, so she needs to be able to walk first? Well dang!

she likes to kick the ball

Overall my first soccer mom experience was a good one. Little really loves it and making her happy is all that matters...well that and the 7 PM bed time.

Crashed!

One down. One to go.


BE

If you throw a tantrum... No shopping for you....

So its been a few days and at least 3 screenings of Tangled since I have had a chance to write. We had a busy weekend and this has been a busy week so far. I love this time of year because I can see Fall approaching and Fall is my favorite season.

Just a cute pic of Little

 My weekend started with BG surprising me with flowers and letting me go get a pedicure while he picked up the girls. I had a great time all by myself as I had not been alone at all for 8 days. We had a party to go to Saturday night so I sprang for a manicure too. I haven't gotten really dressed up in a really really really long time so my friend's 30th birthday party was the perfect excuse. The theme was old Hollywood and we had a great time at the party.

Before...Mom

And After...Lady

 See how I cleverly made the better picture bigger....no cobwebs in this here brain.

 Also on Saturday we got Little her first set of cleats.Little, however, missed out on the experience because of a tantrum at The Cruisers house moments before we were to leave. The person who came up with terrible twos didn't know anything about the tyrannical threes. My brother,Tiny, and I went and had a great time picking out the cleats and some soccer shorts. Thanks to Unc for the wonderful cleats! She is so excited for her first practice on Thursday and continues to tell everyone about her "tie-shoes".

BG and I also became the proud owners of a certified, masterpiece of plastic engineering, the one and only (well Panther's Fan has one too) BABY JAIL!!!!!! We love Baby Jail and as long as BG has to travel Baby Jail will be my best friend. See Little was the kind of baby that stayed put and didn't really wander but Tiny...well you can just call her Dora and give her a monkey named Boots. I am just glad to have a safe place for Tiny that she doesn't mind playing in so I can get some things done around the house.Well I could now that I have Baby Jail...stop laughing.

BABY JAIL!!!!!!!!

She likes it !

We had a great weekend and I can't wait to report on Little's 1st soccer practice! That's right I am officially an soccer mom now......oy !


BE

This Moment- Little Sister Dreams

{this moment} – A Friday ritual.  A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

 

 

 

Flower Gleam and Glow....

My favorite scene.

You were all almost subjected to a post about how the movie Tangled has taken over our household. We have now watched this Disney masterpiece three times in the last 5 days. I looked all over the house and found Rapunzel staring back at me from almost every room. Then I thought about Mandy Moore and my never ending girl crush on her. I mean how can you not have a girl crush on Mandy Moore?

See !?

 Ok, back to my point. So I decided NOT to subject you all to commentary on Tangled even though I can now sing all the songs along with the movie. BTW Mother Knows Best is my fave. So as I was taking some pics of Rapunzel from around the house I realized it. I have girls. This became even more apparent to me once Little told BG on the phone her favorite color is Pink but only in the summertime. WHAT!?!?!?!?! When did that happen?

Hello there characters from Tangled

 You know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. Neither would BG. If we have a boy at some point we will be happy if we don't and we have another girl nothing will change on the happy scale. It is interesting though. We are trying to raise well rounded girls and we are making sure they are exposed to a variety of toys and activities. Our goal is to raise women who see their own value. I recently was listening to the radio and they were quoting a study about kid's TV shows and how the core values that have been a part of TV for the last 5 decades have just now changed. The focus and lesson for 5 decades was community and doing the right thing for all involved. The lessons now are about fame, money, and what people can do for you. This of course is not in preschool programming but in the school age shows. It is our job as parents to counteract what they will get from outside sources. I will tell you this, BG and I will fight the battle for our girls to respect themselves and others no matter how much they end up disliking us. :)

There you are !

As mother I spend most of my time tired, dirty, worried, and always thinking about how life should be for my girls. All of the major things we teach them will be passed on in the way they live their lives one way or the other. All I can do is hold on and pray that the lessons they receive from the community that is raising them is enough. Heavy stuff because parenthood isn't an easy job. They are sleeping now. They fell asleep watching Tangled. I am ok that tonight they will dream about a girl in a tower that didn't need a man to rescue her. All she needed was her kindness, a frying pan, and some kick ass magic hair.

Yep, here too!

On a lighter note Little made up a song to sing while I nurse Tiny:
"She's workin' on the Boob , she's workin' on the Boob. Hi Ho the Dairy-O she's workin' on the BOOB!"

Little watching Tangled, again.

Workin' On the Boob,

BE

My Kindle My Love

You may ask yourself, self, how might one have time for two children, a full time job, and a blog? Welp, here is my personal answer. My house is a mess... but here is my rationalization. I needed something to do for myself.

Damn girl! You so fine!

I do like to read but I go through books so fast my Kindle and debit card are not in agreement. My Kindle says "Yes! Buy!" and my debit card says "Hold Up! You have no money. Ever."

If you don't get the FRIENDS reference you suck.

And I know" blah blah blah free books blahbittybloo " but COME ON there is nothing like hitting that BUY NOW button and knowing the book you never knew you needed to read was on it's way through the cyber air to your house. I loved the 99 cent sale Amazon had recently but after almost two weeks in bed for a Cholecystectomy (look it up this is a high brow blog) I have read all the 99 cent trashy romances a girl can stomach. They only set you up for failure (poor BG with all my high expectations for romance). So when I buy books it gives me something to do while I nurse Tiny. Favorite slogan while I was feeding Little "Hon, I'm gonna read and feed!".  Harharhar I am a riot. It's great because when she is on a marathon feed I can get a few chapters in and before I know it all of  Lord of the Scoundrels is done. Yea I read it...you got a problem? They trap you ever further with this "Kindle App". Now anywhere I have my phone I also have my Kindle. I love love love it. Female Cruiser just got a Kindle so when she cruises she can now Kindle. So bottom line if you need to get me a gift, which is always appropriate, Amazon money it is.

You didn't believe me?

What was the point? Oh yeah, Blog...well I can't afford to buy a bunch of books right now ...so here I am nursing Tiny.

Tiny with her nursing buddy.

Lovey Bubbles!


BE

The Leaky Boob

Sounds like the name of a really cool British pub right? Seriously, if it was I would be there ALL THE TIME. Alas, The Leaky Boob is not a pub with awesome dark beer choc full of prolactins (but I am at The Leaky Boob a lot).  It she is a person and/or blogger weblady. AND let me tell you she is like my Justin Beiber. NO Lie. You can find the magnificent Leaky Boob and the community of "Leakies" at www.theleakyboob.com or on Facebook. Why would you consult the Leakies? Well it helps if you are of the mothering sort. Either lactating, pregnant, thinking about becoming pregnant or starting to lactate, or the spouse or life partner of a woman who would be doing any of the aforementioned activities (yes, lactating is an activity). If you need any information, want to learn something new, have a question, want to brag, want to complain, need support you should turn to these women. Breastfeeding is not easy but it is normal and it is free. Don't fall into the "boobie" traps and think you can't do it. If I could I would feed ALL THE BABIES...but Tiny would get mad and BG would wonder why there was a line of babies in front of my boobs.

Remember Jesus was Breastfed

This is my PSA on breastfeeding. Do it. I am. Right now. ( it's called NAKing all the cool Leakies do)


Loves!

BE

When the cat is away...

BG is out of town this week for work. Every time I get used to him being home for a few weeks away he goes again and it takes a bit to get back in the swing of "single" parenthood. I don't know how single moms do it and truthfully when BG and I got married and had kids I did not sign up for a baby daddy that traveled. Male cruiser has always traveled for work and although he has always been the consummate provider and a wonderful dad we missed him. A lot.  BG now travels for work because...we need to pay our bills plain and simple. This wonderful economy we now live with left him unemployed for 2 years and now we do what we have to.  We miss BG when he is gone but technology has given us Skype and we use it often.

Little on the phone with BG *tear*

SO....on to the fun stuff... Little, Tiny, and I are not going to waste this opportunity to live it up a little with the boy parts out of our house. We have sleepovers and ice cream planned. There will be dancing to pop music. Hell, we listened to the Jack Johnson Pandora channel during bath time on Thursday.

Little reading this blog...she says PBSkids.org

 Today was massive day of fun and on the go don't leave me alone in a house with these kids madness and excitement. We  started the day buying a vacuum cleaner, At Toys R US. For little with her ...if your good while Mommy has surgery we will take you and get whatever you want with a giftcard from your birthday. She wanted a vacuum cleaner, she got it.Thanks Aunt & Uncle C in the North! Hope you got off the Parkway by now !

Child Labor

Then I procured us a picnic lunch. At McDonalds. We then headed off to Martha Rivers for said picnic. Soooooo Much Fun! The girls are great and We colored and played Play Dough and listened to more pop music. Cue crazy montage of cute!

Eating Puffs? Grass? Play Dough?

Mommy's Home Cookin'

Markers!

We play with Play Dough outside.

Yeah,Cute.

*heart*

 We went to Northlake Mall and I found a dress. Well not a dress but a Dressssssss for a certain lady's 30TH BIRTHDAY PARTY. I did not take ANY pictures because I had to keep saying "Little don't touch that!"  100000000000000000000 times. So here is more cute.

We went to see the Cruisers and celebrate the Panther's game. The girls had fun and there were more cute pictures. There were also some sunburned Mommy pictures...blah. Damn park.

See we party hard.

Now it is time for Mommy to go to bed. Tiny has stopped nursing  at this point of  this post and now she is attempting her own blog called  " Slam on the keyboard dkjfnhao tu'nE;wo eitynwiertu poiuTWEPOT"


Loves! 
BE

This Moment- Playing with PaPa

{this moment} – A Friday ritual.  A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

 

Now, Who are you again?

Nine years ago on a cold college campus a girl traveled from one dorm to the other to hang out and get drunk. As she entered the room little did she know the man  boy sitting there watching JACKASS would be her love, her prince, her soul mate. That night a bond was formed like no other and 9 years later the romance has never stopped.  Bus Guy (BG) and I met in a friends dorm room and by the next semester I had (how do you say quit politely?) removed myself voluntarily from the college situation. I came home lived with "The Cruisers" AKA Mom and Dad for a few years while I worked and took classes. Then one highly overpriced morning we made it official with 400 of our closest friends. The day BG and I got married was one of the top three days in my life. We "set up housekeeping" in the town we both grew up in and lived in a small apartment just around the corner from both The Cruisers and The Panthers Fan AKA my Mother-in-law. We lived, we loved, we never did laundry and were overall bad house keepers. Our first house is even closer to our parents and we were only planning on being in the great "starter house" for 5 years...5 years later and there is no end to this house in sight.

Little Girl

Little joined us on a hot and annoying May evening after MANY hours of Cervadil and no labor. We had been married almost three years at that point and just knew that anything our love could produce would be perfection. We were right, she was 9lbs 10ozs of sleeping through the night, breastfeeding, smiling perfection and she's cute too! Little breastfed for 7 months with supplementation then a switch to formula. Little is now three and some of the smiling has been replaced by scowling but she is even smarter then we could have dreamed. Most everyday I am astonished by her. On any given day she wants to be a teacher, princess, construction worker, and baby smothering machine. She does not listen to direction. At all. Ever. She does listen to everything else you say and wish she wouldn't hear. Sometimes, BG and I look at each other and say ...ummmm what do we do next ? The parenting decisions we never knew how to make are daily with Little and if nothing else she makes us laugh nonstop.

Tiny Girl

Tiny ...Tiny is our newest addition. Born November 2010, Tiny has just been one surprise after another. Although she was a surprise I knew immediately that I was pregnant and fell so deeply in love with our family of four right away. Tiny was, well Tiny, at 7lbs 3ozs and my planned c-section happened 9 days before I planned because of pre-eclampsia. She is now 9 months old and still exclusively breastfed with some table foods and some purees at The Panthers Fan's house. She is one serious baby but is now speaking up in this mad house and letting us know what she's about. The girl LOVES to eat paper. She will chase little specks of paper around the den. I see a lot of BG in this one. The good and the parts we would like to tweak. Nothing  lights up my day like Tiny yelling "MAMAMAMA". Again, perfection.

The Girls

Possible future baby somewhere in Heaven. BG and I had a looooooong talk recently about another child. This very serious discussion happened while I was in the shower and he was standing outside of the shower talking. I have not showered alone in 3 years now. Despite that fact BG and I have made a plan for possible baby 3 someday. NOT tomorrow and NOT before Tiny is potty trained. So please Panters Fan and Cruisers don't be scared. The bottom line is we are not done.

Tiny and Bus Guy

Bus Guy travels for work...he works on buses installing Mobile DVR systems so the school system can see when your kid beats the crap out of someone's kid. You would not BELIEVE what your children are doing on school buses. BG is great and a funny guy. He likes video games and to fish. He does not like to read quietly or go to art museums. Just sayin'. He is a wonderful father and both girls have him wrapped. Bus Guy is the guy for me.

Bus Guy and Little

Rosie and Miata are out two feline companions. They don't get catchy code names as they have no privacy to maintain. If you want to argue with me about this I can point out multiple examples of them licking themselves in public.

Tiny and I

And then there is me. The only blue eyed one in the house. 27, I  work in health care billing. I dream of the day when I can become a Lactation Consultant and Breastfeeding Educator. I educated my pediatrician the other day, she didn't know about lactation cookies.Yum. I read, I write, I wipe noses and butts. I hate house work but long to be Rachael Ray. The Male Cruiser says I am artsy fartsy and dramatic.  BG says I am a good mom. I wish I would cloth diaper. I am trying to ban Nestle in my house (You don't even know). I love entertainment gossip. I am forever googling. My Kindle is like crack to me and I am shy.



So this is our story and it is a never ending adventure.


Quote of the Day " Don't put the Cheerio box on your sister's head!"