Friday Pictures in a Meme

I was tagged a while ago by Happy Working Mom for the Real Moms meme. I am finally getting around to doing it. So here are my Friday pictures...


Real Moms have bedrooms that look like bombs exploded with laundry...(and no, we have no headboard or footboard for our bed; prior to moving to North Carolina we had a canopy bed. That bed didn't fit up the stairs in this house and we haven't bought a new one yet).

Real Moms have family rooms that look much the same, except with toys...

Real Moms spend a lot of time in these chairs...

Real Moms let their kids go without shirts after dinner...

Real Moms let their three year olds drink chocolate milk pretty much all the time...

Real Moms like the fact that drugs help their kids feel better...

So, if you want to join in the fun, have at it!

All the Bad Stuff Did Not Come From Me

You know how your life feels kind of like when you are driving down a highway and the car in front of you suddenly swerves and then you are faced with some huge metal thing in your way with little time to move and you just know you are going to hit it at 60 mph? First off, that did actually happen to me on Saturday and I did damage to the bumper on the van. Luckily, the tire was okay. But this week leading up to April is kind of like that. April is going to be nuts for us. Ray is going away for a few days for a conference, I am going scrapbooking one weekend, I have my teaching exam, Easter, you name it, it happens in April.

And then last night Audrey was up all.night.long. Kind of like she was when she had ear infections. It has been 85 degrees here the past two days and the pollen count is through the roof. On Monday Audrey had goopy eyes and a slight fever. Then Tuesday just the regular runny nose and a cough. Then last night she didn't sleep at all. Ray took her to the doctor today. Asthma and allergies which totally come from Ray. See? I have no allergies, nothing. Ray? Lots of allergies to include peanuts and seasonal allergies. Ashley has never had a peanut butter sandwich for fear her throat will close.

So they did an inhaler for Audrey in the office and put her on Zyrtec and a steroid. She goes back in three weeks for her 15 month and they will re-evaluate her then. One more thing for me to worry incessantly about...

Superstitious

Monday I went to work with my underwear on inside out. Not really a big deal, but proof I need more sleep. Audrey is teething and getting up once or ten times a night.

Then Ray and I made the mistake of trying to go to the grocery store Monday evening with the kids. We thought the free cookies Harris Teeter gives out was enough. Nope. Rookie mistake. Ray jokingly showed Ashley a jar of pig's feet (only in North Carolina!!) and told him we were going to buy them to eat. Well, she really wanted those pig's feet. And about feel apart when we told her no. Ray ended up taking her home while I finished the shopping.

Then Monday bedtime was a nightmare - Ashley alternating yelling my name or screaming crying (but she did stay in her room, small steps). All while I was trying to get Audrey to bed who only wanted to head butt me and laugh. And then cry hysterically when I put her in her crib. Finally about 9:30pm they were both asleep.

I admit it, I'm superstitious. I hold my breath when passing a cemetery. I touch a screw when driving over train tracks. I attribute Monday's bad luck to the penny I found tails up that day. Pennies are only lucky heads up.

Toss me a heads up penny today, would ya?

Thinking Blog Award

I am completely humbled and thrilled for the award That Chick Over There nominated me for. Here's what she had to say:

"I heart Amy for many reasons: she's a twin (with a twin brother even!), she lives in small town North Carolina (and doesn't get mad at me for freely admitting I don't understand why) and most of all, she is not afraid to say, "Hey, what would you guys do in this situation?" if she's having a problem with whatever. Because a lot of bloggers try to act like their kids are just these perfect little people and never have any kind of issues and yeah, I totally don't believe that at all. She's totally okay with not being a perfect mom, and I am totally loving her for that. Also, Amy posts thought-provoking issues, is a Weight Watchers success story, and she's a total band geek. She totally rocks."

Cool, huh?

So I am supposed to nominate 5 blogs that have not been nominated. I wish I could nominate you all, I really do. You all make me think for some reason or another. So here goes:

1. Michelle at Scribbit - She posts really cool tips and recipes and book reviews and movie reviews and craft ideas and had goldfish that ate each other. If that doesn't make you think, I don't know what does. Oh, and she lives in Alaska. 'Nuff said.

2. All the Moms at Working Moms Against Guilt - I am not going to be tacky and pimp out the Working Moms blog that I write for (even though the other contributors also make me think with every post they write). I will pimp out a great Working Moms Collaborative blog that not only posts tips and such for dealing with working in any capacity and dealing with the guilt, it makes me think with the issues it presents. And you know there are a ton of issues in the news dealing with Moms and working or not working.

3. Jennifer at Jippy Jabber - I read her site and sometimes I cry and sometimes I laugh. Every day it makes me think about how other people persevere through such things as having a son with a pain disorder. She amazes me with her strength.

4. SJ at And All the Jones Men - She makes me think that I am glad to have had girls. Ha! Just kidding, sort of...She is a great photographer and makes me laugh with her stories and also like me knows her kids get into trouble and has no problem sharing them with everyone.

5. CPA Mom - Talk about thought provoking entries. She writes so that I can feel what she's feeling and makes me take a step back and look at my life. Especially with all that she's been through in the past month.

As I said, you guys all make me think, otherwise I wouldn't be reading you. Some of you make me think, "hey, that's happened to me" or other times I think "I should try that."

So those of you tagged, here are the rules:

1. If you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

3. Optional: Proudly display the Thinking Blogger Award with a link to the post that you wrote.

Fun Monday - How I wish to Wake Up in the Morning

This week's Fun Monday is brought to us by Tristan. His challenge this week to to explain how we would like to wake up in the morning.

So as not to make you throw up in your cereal, I won't get sappy and say how I wish to wake up every morning next to my husband and my kids. Because I do get to wake up every morning next to Ray and on occasion one of the girls.

Rather, I would love to wake up every morning with this view from the foot of my bed....

This picture is of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It is a dream of mine and Ray's to own beach property at some point in our lives. We love the beach. Ashley loves the beach. Audrey better love the beach or she's screwed.

Tomorrow - I won an award from That Chick Over There. Seriously. Details tomorrow.

Friday Pictures - They Finally Are Playing Together

The girls are finally playing together. There are still times when Audrey reaches out and pulls Ashley's hair or Ashley tries to pick Audrey up and drops her head first onto the hardwood, but they are still interacting. And it is cute to see this (well, not the head into the hardwood thing, but you get my point). I have a twin brother, but growing up he wanted to play in the sandbox while I wanted to play school. And Ray's brother is eight years younger than him. This is why we wanted the girls close in age, so they could have each other.

Band geekiness

Even though we are the Raleigh area, our town has a great small town feel. It has a little downtown area that includes a brand new library and cultural center (where the community band I play in practices and plays). Since the cultural center opened in December, they have had a ton of things to do with families. Every Saturday they show a movie for free. The library has story hour a couple of times a week. There are art classes, cooking classes, you get my point.

Last night, the Air Force Band's Clarinet Quartet was playing in the cultural center. Seeing how much Ashley loves my concerts, I took Ashley to see them. And they were AMAZING. I know, I am totally a band geek (band camp, anyone?) but it was really cool to see them. And Ashley loved it as well. It was a little past her bedtime, so we left at intermission. I am hoping to breed my girls into little musicians against Ray's objections.

So yesterday I ordered a shirt from here that will say "Bassoon Chick" because I am a geek like that. Although I really wanted "Bassoonists Blow Big Wood", but I am guessing I would have received a lot of mean looks from other Moms for wearing that one....

Weight Loss

Thanks for all the advice and well wishes from yesterday's post. I was feeling pretty bad and guilty about the bedtime issues with Ashley, but you guys not only made me feel like I'm not alone, you had some great advice. I will let everyone know what works and what doesn't. As for last night, well, I just let Ray take over. I did hear some crying but eventually she went to sleep.

Onto more happier, lighter news!

I haven't mentioned here how much weight Ray has lost. I don't know his starting figures, but the guy only weighs about 10 pounds more than me! And he looks great. He went from a 38 waist to a 32 waist. Last weekend, I made him buy a "cool" looking pair of jeans to celebrate. We went into Banana Republic and after getting over the sticker shock, I told him he deserved it (and that was the only damn pair of jeans from there he was going to get).

My weight loss keeps costing us money too. I had to take my wedding band and engagement ring to be resized. They were pretty much falling off my fingers. And now I am finally wearing a single digit size clothing in pants. Yea for me! Although that just means I need to buy more clothes, outlets, here I come...

I need to get my act together (aka Ashley needs to go to bed on time)

Normally after the kids go to bed each night, my schedule includes all or some of the following:

Exercising (running on the treadmill or doing a work out video)
Prepping dinner for the following night
Studying for the teacher's exam
Doing schoolwork
Watching the few shows I still manage to watch (anyone watch Dancing with the Stars last night?!)
Cleaning up dishes, house, fold laundry
Mini-sewing project (making curtains for most of my house)

For the past couple of months though, I can't seem to get my act together. I will be really good one week getting dinners done, then the next week not so much. One week I exercise, the next I eat Weight Watchers ice cream every night. I have been trying to at least study for the exam since it's in April for 45 minutes a night, but some nights even that is hard. And TV watching? We are three weeks behind on Lost and two weeks behind on the Amazing Race. The only reason I am caught up on American Idol is because I can fast forward through all the CRAPPY performances. I have been good at getting dinners made these past two weeks, only because now that it's nice outside and light later, the kids want to go out as soon as possible. It is really easy to just pop something into the oven.

And maybe I can't seem to get it together because we are battling with Ashley at bedtime. She just won't.stay.in.her.room. We feel like we have tried everything from taking TV time away to taking toys away to reward charts. Last night Ray wasn't home (congrats to his brother Sean and now wife Krystal on their marriage!) so I was battling with Ashley. I get so frustrated with her and end up yelling and stomping out of her room and then immediately feeling guilty for losing control of my anger. And then I end up crying and she sees it which I know isn't good. I hate losing control of my anger, I don't want to do that and it sucks.

Fun Monday - A Day in the Life of Me

This week's challenge has been brought to us by Enidd - stop by her place to see the list of participants.

We are supposed to describe a day in the life of ourselves. And make it interesting and funny I suppose, I just don't think my day would be that interesting to you guys, but here goes: (but I am TOTALLY interested in everyone else's days, particularly how the heck do you do it all?)

On a normal working weekday my alarm goes off at 5:50am. I hit snooze once (really shouldn't even do that). Up, in the shower, dressed and then wake up Ray to get ready. Then I either go downstairs and leisurely get ready to go, or wrestle one of the girls if they happen to wake up. Then I am out the door by 6:45am. Ray gets the girls up and dressed and drops them off at school at 8:30am. I normally pull into the employee lot at the hospital I work at by 7:15am (25 miles in 30 minutes, not bad). Then the long walk to my office, and I am starting my day reading blogs working by 7:30am. I work through my lunch so that I can have every other Friday off. And no, that doesn't mean I don't eat, it just means I am stuck to my damn.cave.of.an.office for 9 hours a day. Fun times.

Out the door at 4:30pm, at school to pick up the girls at 5:00. Then we go home, I make dinner while the kids play and we are normally sitting down to eat by 6:00pm. On a normal warm evening, then it's outside to play with friends until about 7:30pm. Wrestle the kids in bed (baths, books, etc) and then I start all my stuff I am currently working on - school, making curtains, studying for the teacher's exam, exercising. Plus throw in a little prepping dinner for the next night and any chores like laundry, and its late before I climb into bed. Oh, and any TV watching like American Idol and Lost.

No, my house isn't immaculate, and sometimes there are ice cream bribes to Ashley to get her butt inside in the evenings, but it's my life. And I love it.

Friday Pictures - Everyone Loves a Good Bath

I love it when Mommy gives me a bath!
Don't make me come across this tub....
Pretty Please? Can I splash you?
Ah hell, I'm just cute.
Splash Time!

Questions Answered

Glad to hear I'm as boring as some of you :). Want to go get a burrito?

To answer two questions that were asked - Rachel wanted to know if we were going to have more kids. And the definitive answer is NO. Actually, we did contemplate it for about 3 seconds once when Audrey was teeny tiny and sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old. We thought, heck, we can do this! Piece of cake! The she started cutting teeth, then she started getting ear infections and not sleeping through the night and that idea went right.out.the.door. Plus, I like to stick to man-to-man defense. I don't like to be outnumbered.

Swampwitch wants to know what a Hokie is. The origin of the word "Hokie" has nothing to do with a turkey. It was coined by O. M. Stull (class of 1896), who used it in a spirit yell he wrote for a competition.

Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy.

Techs, Techs, V.P.I.

Sola-Rex, Sola-Rah.

Polytechs - Vir-gin-ia.

Rae, Ri, V.P.I.

(V.P.I. stands for Virginia Polytechnic Institute).

The Hokie Bird, is modeled on a large turkey, has been the official sport mascot of Virginia Tech since 1961.

Intimidating, huh?

What I am really like

I tend to write about my kids and some have expressed an interest in me. Why don't I write about me more? I think I'm pretty boring. Run of the mill working Mom. Nothing exciting. But here are some insights:

• I like clothes shopping, but I hate shifting through racks and racks of clothes. It had better jump right out and hit me in the face.
• I feel the guilt of being a working mom every.single.day. Who doesn't? But I work through it and when I pick my kids up from school and they are happy and smiling and I realize, hey, they didn't watch TV for like 8 hours, I am happy.
• I try to be funny when I'm pretty sure I'm not.
• I was in a coed fraternity in college. That's how I met Ray.
• I am a really good friend and would do anything for my friends, but what girl wouldn't?
• I love movie butter popcorn and mexican food. Seriously, give me a burrito and I will love you forever.
• I hate watching movies at home. I can watch TV, but no movies. I get bored and fall asleep.
• I can not stand to be in the house all day without going somewhere, even if it's just to the grocery store or Target. Although I can just drive by Target and $100 flies out of my purse, but whatever...
• I am psycho about some stuff. I want my family to sit down to dinner every night, without the TV. Which we do for the most part unless Ray has a client meeting. I get mad when Ray tries to go through the mail as we are finishing eating. Everyone.must.sit.for.the.entire.meal. And act all family like.
• I am a registered Republican. Am I glad the Dixie Chicks got shut out of the CMA's? Honestly, who cares.
• I like my drinks without ice.
• Um, I like to play the bassoon? See, I told you I was boring.

Anything else you want to know about me? Ask away...

Good weather

Hooray! It's going to almost 80 degrees today and tomorrow.

Hooray! For the time change.

Can you tell I like warm weather? This past weekend was beautiful, we played outside most of the time. And for those of you not in the bible belt (I was told by one of my neighbors that there are three religions here in Raleigh; Methodist, Baptist, and Basketball), this past weekend it was the ACC tournament. On Saturday, Virginia Tech made it to the third round to play NC State. And since Ray wanted to be outside and watch the game, this is what he did.

Just call us rednecks, go ahead. I can take it.

Oh, and Audrey? Goes to bed SO FREAKIN' easy now (sippy cup, book, get into crib, nigh-night, leave, and goes to sleep). Whew. Ashley was easy to put to bed also, but she did that much earlier than Audrey started doing it. And Audrey is almost walking. She took a good 10-15 steps unassisted on Saturday and will walk holding onto one hand. Everyone keeps telling us to enjoy her not walking while we can, but honestly, we would rather have her walking. She will be so much happier.

Fun Monday

Today's Fun Monday assignment is to post a recipe. Go to Peppermint Tea to see complete list of participants. I originally got this recipe off of allrecipes.com, but I have adapted it over time. This recipe can make just one chicken boob or 100. As you can see from below, measurements are not necessary! And don't ask me about the name, I have no idea why it's called that.

Anniversary Chicken
Chicken boobs (however many you need to feed your family)
Teriyaki sauce
Ranch Dressing
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Bacon Bits

Preheat oven to 375.
Put chicken in a baking dish.
Cover chicken in this order: teriyaki sauce, ranch dressing, cheese, bacon bits (however much of each you want)
Bake for 25-35 minutes or until juices run clear.
Enjoy!

Don't you wish you had more than two arms?

When I picked the kids up from school yesterday, the temperature was 70 degrees (sorry for all of you with snow and such up north). And since Ray was going to be home late, I decided to take the kids to a park and then to McDonald's for dinner. The park was a ton of fun and two of Ashley's classmates came as well.

Then we went to McDonald's. Does anyone ever have a completely positive experience there? I ordered our food to include one kid's meal with fries and one with apples. Ashley isn't a big french fry fan. Of course they give me both of them with fries, but since Audrey was pretty much gnawing her arm off at that point, I figured Ashley could make do. We were sitting down and Ashley was sitting across from me and Audrey was in a high chair to my left. Ashley decided after I had put her cheeseburger and fries in front of her that she wanted to sit beside me.

Right as I was carefully moving her cheeseburger wrapper with the cheeseburger and fries over all the other crap on the table (my purse, drinks, my food), Audrey decides to reach for the open milk container. AAAHHH. This is when more than two arms would have definitely been helpful. So what happened? I dropped Ashley's food which most of it ended up on the floor and Audrey managed to grab the milk and pulled it over before I could grab it. Audrey was pissed, Ashley was crying because Mommy pretty much threw food all over her. I got everyone calmed down, convinced the guy behind the counter to give me more nuggets, and we continued on.

Seriously, I'm not going to McDonald's again.

Some Success

Over the weekend, Audrey has gone from a few bottles at day to NONE. She even took a sippy cup when she woke up last night around 3:00am. Yea! Sippy cups rule! I know, I should be sad that stage of babyhood is gone, but honestly, I'm not. I loathe cleaning bottles. And I love how Audrey is big enough she is giving hugs and kisses and is such a loveable baby toddler.

And she has taken more of an interest in walking. No longer are we holding both of her hands and walking behind her, but we can hold one hand and walk beside her. And she has taken 5 or 6 steps between Ray and I. Then, when I picked her up yesterday, her teacher put her down and she walked probably about 10 steps towards me. And very stable steps I might add.

Anyone else with a cold that just won't go away? Ray and I have had a cold for over a week now and just can't seem to shake it. I don't feel particularly bad, I just don't sound too good. Over the weekend, Ray didn't have a voice at all (not good for a real estate agent).

Happy Hump Day people. May you get over the Hump safely.

Oh, and go read my good high school buddy SJ today. She has a really good post. And this post too had me crying.

Ashleyisms

Ashley brought home a "book" where she decribed what her family does best.

On my page - "she is best at cooking"
On Ray's page - "he is best at turning on movies for me"

Seriously, my child must only think about food and tv.

_________________________________________________________________

I was laying on my back on the floor the other night and a little bit of my stretched marked stomach was showing. Not only did Ashley come over and tell me I was soft, she also said my stomach was "bendy". I think I need to do some situps.

Fun Monday - Stay with me on this one....

So this week's challenge is brought to us by Mindy, here are the instructions:

To compose an exceptionally bad opening sentence for any piece of writing (not limited to novels...but not including blog posts) and to include a photograph or brief description of some aspect of that sentence.

Pulling on my purple and pink legwarmers, I blasted my Footloose soundtrack as loud as I could, all the while hearing Grandma in the back room yelling "where's the beef?" from the cheeseburger I brought her from Wendy's just as the Noid came on TV to tell me I should have gotten Grandma a pizza from Domino's.

I know, pretty pathetic attempt, but I should win for worst sentence, right?

Have a great Monday, I hope I at least somehow reminded you of the wonderful 80's!

Friday Pictures - Audrey sleeping in her high chair

Last Sunday and Monday when she was home with Ray, Audrey fell asleep eating lunch. Ashley never did that once, so this was a treat. And totally cute and scrapbookable...

Looks like I'm praying, doesn't it?

Mmmm, good foooooddd....

I am totally asleep with food in my mouth...