weekend updates, and my #1 pet peeve...

I am so sad that this weekend is over! It was so nice! We had great weather both days and even saw the sun (gasp! the sun! what's that?) On Saturday, Jason let me sleep in while he fed Lauren her breakfast and got her dressed. Then we all went over the flea market in Sweetwater. (I know, small town life is soooo exciting!) Lauren loved just being out of the house and she was so happy riding around in her stroller, looking at all of the people and unusual things! (It's an indoor flea market)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then we ate lunch out and Lauren took a 3 hour nap when we got home. So Jason and I used that time to finally get our poor yard in shape. We were able to cut the grass, clean out the flower beds and even trim up our roses while Lauren was snoozing. She woke up in a bad mood, and was not happy about putting on her Easter dress for some pictures. What do you think? No smiles here!

Jason and I finally watched the Da Vinci code Saturday night. Hmmm... it gave us a lot of things to think about. Although I don't agree with points that the movie brought up, I did think that the plot was very interesting and reminded me of the National Treature movies. (which I love)

Sunday afternoon we hung out around the house and changed many poo-poo diapers. Apparently the antibiotic is giving Lauren some diarrhea. Yippee! Jason grilled hamburgers, I got several loads of laundry done and we even got to see Jeff Gordon win the Nascar Race! Yeah!

Lauren got to eat some mashed potatoes by herself for the first time. She didn't want me to feed them to her off the spoon, so I plopped some down on her high chair tray and she was sooo excited! She kept grinning and kicking her feet and saying "mmmmmm" while shoving them in her little mouth (and hair and nose and forehead!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall, a very relaxing, fun weekend just with our little family. But I have to say that at the flea market, I saw something horrible!! My number one pet peeve is people smoking around children. Ugh, it's disgusting. It's one thing to kill yourself with that nasty habit, but forcing children to breathe it is unforgivable. When I drive down the road, I hate seeing the adults in the car smoking, while the chidren are in their carseats breathing it it. I don't care if the windows are cracked! Come on, that's just ridiculous!

Anyway, as we were leaving, I saw this woman who had her VERY little baby strapped into a Baby Bjorn-type front carrier, right up against her chest. And in her hand was as cigarette!!!!!! It's a good thing that Jason had the child-proof locks on, because I seriously contemplated jumping out of our (slowly) moving vehicle and slapping that woman upside the head. (and then kidnapping her baby and taking it to someplace safe!) Oh.my.goodness. It made me so mad to see that! I pray for that poor child.

Anyway, off my soapbox now and about to get ready for bed. Just thought I'd update the grandparents and any other people who read this blog about our thrilling lives! :)

trip to AL

We got to visit good old Marion and the in-laws this past weekend. We all had a good time, except that Lauren's runny nose went from clear to ewww...and she ended up with an ear-infection the first of the week.



Lauren loved watching Alli, Jackson, and Logan run circles around her. And she really loved all the new toys at Granna and Pop-Pop's house. (I proposed a trade since she is soooo bored with everything that we have!)

We also got to meet our new baby cousin, Will who is 2 weeks old. What a sweetie! (I can't believe I forgot to take pics!) It felt so strange to hold such a small baby again. I literally cannot even remember they way that Lauren felt when she was that small! (how quickly we forget. I think that's why most people have more than one)

Here are some cute ones of Lauren and her Daddy. You will notice by the look on her face that she does NOT enjoy spending time with Jason, NOR does she love him the least little bit. HA!!!

Lauren is 10 months (posted late!!)

At 10 months, Lauren weighs 19+ pounds and is 30+ inches long (she won't be still long enough for me to measure!) She is a generally happy, although sometimes clingy, baby girl! She wears 12 month clothes and size 3-4 shoes. She is in a size 3 diaper. And her hair is really growing and getting so thick! (It sticks up straight whenever she wakes up because the girl sleeps ON HER

FACE!!)

Lauren sleeps 11-12 hours at night (from 7:30 pm until 7am usually) and takes an hour-long morning nap and a 2-3 hour afternoon nap. She crawls super-fast and pulls up on everything. She has figured out how to go from sitting to laying down on her stomach so that she can reach under things (like her crib or our bed or the coffee table). She reaches for the long-lost paci or toy and then is back on her way, never slowing down! She cruises along the coffee table and the air mattress that is in her room. She also likes to climb onto the air mattress and our very steep stairs! Toys hold no interest for her, but she does like to tear up paper towels!

Lauren sticks out her pointer finger now and presses buttons with it. This includes the buttons on the phone and remote and DVD player. Needless to say, she hears the word "no" a lot. She LOVES all things electronic, especially the telephone. She knows which button puts it on speaker phone and that is always the first thing she does if she can get her hands on it. (I guess she likes the sound of the dial tone?)

Lauren is eating anything and everything. She still will eat some baby food, but she prefers table foods. She likes Gerber "puffs" and apple dices; cheerios, crackers, vanilla wafers and letter cookies, tortilla and mashed potatoes, cooked carrots and green beans, bananas, strawberries, and she LOVES yogurt and cheese. (this may explain how she gained 1 and 1/2 pounds in one month!)

She still is nursing 2-3 times per day and we are hoping to master the sippy cup (helpful for weaning!) soon! She will NOT be still when we are changing her, so I have mastered the art of putting diapers and clothes on her while she is moving (and sometimes crawling!!)

She loves to take baths and to splash in the tub! She also loves to be outside!! She is still not very interested in the TV, but she does love MUSIC!! If she hears any type of music (including singing or tapping), she immediately will start wiggling and "dancing" (aka shaking her booty around like a hula hoop)

She says "dada" and started saying "mama" yesterday. I don't really think she knows what either of these mean, but she says them both overandoverandoverandover!! Her favorite games are peek-a-boo and "I'm going to get her" in which Jason or I say: "I'm going to get her" and she crawls crazy fast across the floor, laughing, so you will "chase" her.

She is such a sweet girl and we cannot believe how fast she is growing!! She has her first ear infection right now, but even for a little sickly girl, she's awfully cute!

Have you ever known something deep down in your heart, but your mind doesn't want to get on the bandwagon? I'm so there. I've gotta make a big decision soon....whether or not to go back to teaching. (I am on a "Unpaid personal leave of absence" meaning that my job will be "held" for one school year) If I choose not to return to teaching next year, I am still "tenured", meaning that if I were to apply for a teaching position somewhere else in the system, I would have to be given priority over another applicant without tenure.

I always thought that I would go right back to teaching. It's just something that I love. Try to be open-minded...it's not something that I love MORE than Lauren...but I do love teaching- a lot. But in the past few months, Lauren has changed so much...she has gotten on a better schedule, she has become so much more interactive and just plain fun to be around. And so now I'm really not sure. Maybe I want to be a stay at home mom? (Did I just type that? Wow.)

All my friends that are S.A.H.M.'s tell me that they know that this is what they were born to do, it's all they've ever wanted to do, it's what God has called them to do.... Ok, ok, I get it. But I don't feel the same way. Never have. That's why the whole heart/mind disconnect thing.

I want to provide the best life that I can for Lauren. I wouldn't be willing to put her in daycare while I was teaching. (no offense to anyone who does use daycare) But one of my teacher friends who just had a baby in the fall turned in her resignation and is wanting to keep another baby at her home. So she offered to keep Lauren. And it made me catch my breath. This is what I wanted, right? Down deep in my heart, I wanted to go back to teaching and have someone take care of Lauren who would give her lots of time and attention. But now I don't know.

Down deep in my heart, I do trust that God will provide for us if anything were to happen to Jason's job (he works in the automotive industry, and in case you've been living under a rock, cars aren't selling...so therefore, his company does not have as much business to make parts for cars!) And it's not like my teaching salary would cover all of our bills alone. But I think in my mind that I would feel more secure if I were working as well. It's such a frustrating place to be.

Heart vs. Mind.

How's your "flame?"

Susie always jokes about how Jason and I act like an old married couple (ah-hem...it has been 7 years since we tied the knot!) She thinks it is hilarious that we don't (always) sit together in the living room (he stretches out on the love seat, I usually lay on the couch under a blanket). She also doesn't understand why we don't need to be right next to each other at all times. We even enjoy doing different things (ex. he watches TV while I read or scrapbook). She jokingly tells us "the flame has gone out" and we need to "rekindle the flame." Whatever that means.

See, Susie has dated (casually and seriously) more guys than I can count. And at the age of 26, she is now engaged to be married. So she's an expert on the "marriage flame?" I reflected on this, because, at first, what she said made me a little upset. But then I realized that while I got married at the young age of 20, (having only had 2 previous boyfriends...gasp!) I was ready for marriage. And married life suits me.

Sometimes Jason and I both get so busy (him with work or sports :) ) me with Lauren and family stuff, that I do forget that we have to keep our marriage strong. And that takes work. It takes commitment. We have a more mature love than Susie understands because she's not there yet. These things don't mean that our "love flame" has gone out. Same amount of love, just a different kind of love.

But I have to tell you- tonight I was coming down to the office to check my email and Oh.My.Goodness. There was the BIGGEST, SCARIEST looking spider that I have ever seen on the floor!! I yelled (quietly, so the spider wouldn't hear me) for Jason to please grab a fly swatter, or one of his big shoes, and come down here quickly!

He didn't ask why, he just walked away from his March madness, (and his carefully chosen brackets) came downstairs, and pulverized that big old tarantula-looking spider. (Did I mention that Jason is AFRAID of spiders??) Then he disposed of it's body, and calmly went back upstairs to finish his basketball game- saying, "love you, babe" as he walked away.

*Sigh* And that is just one example of how our flame stays strong. How I love that boy! :)

Confessions of a book-a-holic

I'm a reader. I LOVE to read. I love the way books smell, I love the way the pages feel and I love to "escape" and immerse myself in the pages when I am reading. Now that Lauren is on a pretty good schedule (and going to bed at 7:30!) I realized that I wanted to start reading some books that were not directly related to parenting/babies or that had rhyming text and pictures! (Note: Jason watches TV every night and I rarely am interested in anything he watches...so I read while he zones out!)

I'll admit that last year when these books came out, I had never heard of them. I wasn't interested in reading them. But after several of my FRIENDS (who will remain nameless to protect their innocence) told me that they couldn't put the books down, I thought...hmm..why not? I mean, books about teenage vampires are not my usual style...but I like a good story and was really looking for a good read that wouldn't require much concentration. (Sort of like when I read all the Harry Potters last year)

I started the first book last Saturday night. I finished the 4th book last night at 1am. Each book has no fewer than 400 pages. Once I read the first one, I scooted over to Walmart and bought the other 3. Don't panic, people....I'm not joining the fan club, and I don't believe in vampires or anything...but the books were really well written and once I read the first one, I had to find out how they ended.

Sooo......2446 pages and a whole lot of hours later, I am finished with the Twilight Series and would recommend them to anyone looking for a good, easy read. And, I'm also hoping that Jesus is ok with me reading books about Vampires..

And now I need something else to read. Any suggestions? (I'm not one to re-read books too quickly after I've finished)

Come on, Spring!

I'm sooo ready for Spring! Ready to get a little sun on my ghosty-white self, ready to go outside without layers, ready for flip-flops, ready to see Lauren's little arms, legs and toesies in some of her cute spring clothes and sandals. It has been in the upper 60's/low 70's the past two days...heaven!

It's so funny, when I open the door to carry Lauren outside, she starts practically hyperventilating! She LOVES to be outside. We have been taking short walks up and down our street in the stroller and she just takes it all in, loving every minute! Come on Spring, we're ready for you!!