July 26th and July 28th

July 26 - Kevin asked Makayla what kind of birthday party she wanted to have.  Her response...Pancakes and Gum.  Everytime we ask her she has a different answer.  Some of her answers have been Princess, Blue, Star Wars - but I think Pancakes and Gum have been the funniest.

July 28 - Last night Kevin was on the couch watching the Cardinals game when Makayla asked him if he wanted a hotdog.  Not paying attention, he said yes and went on to "eat" the hotdog.  When he looked down to see what this hotdog was made of, he saw a Double A Duracell battery wrapped up in a panty liner.  Of course, Kevin said that he was glad that there wasn't any ketchup on his hotdog...

Parrothead Memories

I've got my hush-puppies on,
I guess I never was meant for
glitter rock and roll...

It's a magic kind of medicine
That no doctor could prescribe...

It's those changes in latitudes,
changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same.
With all of our running and all of our cunning,
If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane...

Think about how many times I have fallen,
Spirits are using me, larger voices callin'.
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten...

Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest places if you look at it right...

And wrinkles only go where the smiles have been...

I blew out my flip flop,
Stepped on a pop top,
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home.
But there's booze in the blender...

I want to go back to the island...

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While Kevin and I were lucky enough to spend our weekend in Chiago with a few fabulous friends enjoying the music of Jimmy Buffett and rocking our souls "caribbean style", Makayla and Mason got to spend the weekend with Grandma Allen.

Kevin and I's weekend:

• Eating yummy food that Andy grilled - corn, shrimp, beef, onions
• Drinking delish island drinks
• Dancing
• Singing
• Laughing
• Sweating really bad
• Enjoying a night as a Parrothead
• Making wonderful memories

Makayla and Mason's weekend:

• Going to the park
• Taking walks
• Going to Wal-mart
• Eating popsicles and popcorn
• Reading books
• Going to McDonalds
• Having a great time being spoiled by grandma!

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Sunday night as we were winding down from the weekend, I was giving Makayla a bath and out of no where, she brought her hands up to her eyes and said "Oh, my contacts"!  I asked her what she was talking about. She said "My contacts!  They are bothering my eyes".  She continued to talk about her contacts, with her hand up to her eyes, for the next three minutes.  I was cracking up.  Since my mom can't wear her glasses around Makayla (since Makayla asks that she remove them because she looks too much like Santa Claus), my mom has to keep her contacts in until the last second possible.  So...Makayla obviously picked up her contact problem from my mom this weekend!



 

I Didn't Know

So...I am taking these words from another mommy...but it's perfect.  The words are true and they speak deep...and I'm pretty sure that most of my mommy friends would say they feel the same way...that they didn't know...


Before my children were born, I dreamed of all of the ways that I would show them love. I knew that I would comfort them, dry their tears, offer encouragement, and be their safe place to land.

What I didn’t know is how they’d offer me those same things in return.

I didn’t know that waiting for Makayla would teach me a level of patience beyond anything I could have ever imagined...

…that she would help me to learn to trust my gut...

...and that she would stretch my heart beyond all comprehension.

I didn’t know that Mason would teach me that I don't always know best...

…that he would melt my heart in a way that only a son could...

…and that he would help me to grow stronger.

I didn’t know that on those certain days, when I am the one with sadness, or hurt, or filled with questions, that my babies would comfort me and be my safe place to land.

This parenting thing teaches me something new every day. Oh, how lucky I am to be their mother.

The Things They Say

Makayla:  How did you make me?

Mommy:  How do you think I made you?

Makayla:  With hair.

Mommy:  With hair?  Yes.  You're right.  With hair.  Hair for your head.

And here's little Miss lifeguarding.  She loves to sit in the bumbo on Mason's rocking chair and be a lifeguard.  She even blows her imaginary whistle.

2 In 1

Happy 10 months, Mason

Thank you for these past 10 months. I thank God each and every day for my life with you and Makayla.  I love you to pieces.  I love that you are the happiest boy I know.  I love your beautiful smile that makes me smile all the way to my core.  I love that our cheeks fit perfectly together when we cuddle.  I love that you melt into me when I hold you.  I love exchanging our own I Love You's. 

I love you little boy.     

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Another weekend on-call means another weekend spent at home.

BUT...before call started, we headed up to the East Peoria waterpark - Splashdown - for night swimming.  We were joined by Kevin's aunt, uncle, and cousin.  It was a beautiful night - weather, family, and ice cream at Twistee Treats...pure happiness.

Makayla had a great time playing with Ashley!!  Ashley was a wonderful sport and went up and down the slides over and over again with Makayla.  Watching them come down the slides brought us all a lot of laughter!  Makayla loved swimming with Ashley and can't wait to swim with her again.

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This weekend was also filled with fun in the park and you guessed it...more swimming!

 A park in town offered a family fun day.  There were a lot of inflatable blow up toys for the kids to jump, run, and play on.  There was cotton candy, hotdogs, and sno-cones.  A dream for a little kid! 

 Makayla had a blast jumping (even in the 100 degree heat) and Mason enjoyed his time watching the kids play and eating sno-cones. 

 We enjoyed an evening of swimming at Great Grandma Mac's house.  We got to swim with Grandma and Grandpa Curry and Mike and 'Tole. Again - another beautiful night!

 Mason sitting poolside with Grandpa Curry, cheering his sister on as she counted to three and jumped in the pool.

...Another beautiful weekend with Makayla and my 10 month old son!  Crazy how time flies!!!



Bank Drive-Thru

You're supposed to yell "Woooo" and "Aaaahhhh" and "Hey" when you walk through a tunnel so you can hear your voice echo.

Well, we take nightly walks and with one of our routes, we walk through a bank's drive-thru.  It's a long covered drive-thru and whenever we walk through it, Makayla and I start war-hooping and hollering.  It's fun.

...Anyway, tonight as we started to approach the bank, I looked down at Mason and he was almost asleep, so I told Makayla that we couldn't yell or be loud.  As we walked under the drive-thru cover, she asked "why?  WHY?"  The first "why" was normal voice and the second "why" was a yell.  I told her that Mason was trying to sleep and we didn't want to wake him up.  She replied with an "ALRIGHT".

She's too smart for her own britches.  I told her that we couldn't do our normal Wooooos, Aaaaahhhhs, and Heeeeys, so she just talked to me and answered me in a YELLING tone. 

She still got to hear her voice echo...

Oh My Makayla

In the mind of a 2 year old:

• Last night, Makayla was laying down with Kevin and she said "Daddy, you have hairy boobies!" Today she told me that I had big boobies (boooy, do I have her fooled) and that Mason had baby boobies.  She said that she has 'almost big' boobies and that Mickey Mouse doesn't have boobies. 

• She is spreading the news that Papa Turry (Grandpa Curry) is going to have a baby.  She always runs up to him and pats his belly and talks about his baby (and sometimes, his two babies).  He does have A Belly, and if I didn't know better, I too, would think he was having a baby

• She doesn't like it when Mama Aa-yen (Grandma Allen - using her spanish accent again) takes out her contacts and puts her glasses on.  Makayla says she looks too much like Ho-Ho (Santa Claus) and kind of politely demands that my mom take her glasses off.

• It's funny that sometimes she thinks - with all of her heart - that she is a grown up. 

...it's funny for now, anyway...

Lake Arlan

What could be better than hanging out at the lake with your family?

Nothing, really - especially when you add in swimming, fishing, eating, visiting, laughing...

Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family. 

 ~Anthony Brandt

We are so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful, loving family and friends.

Playing on Lake Arlan at Aunt Julie's house.

My lean, mean Fishin' Machine!  Makayla has learned the sport of fishing and she absolutely loves it!  Her favorite part of fishing is touching the fish (ICK!).  She immediately asks to touch the fish as soon as it is reeled up from its home and gets upset if she's not the one to throw it back.

While sissy is busy fishing, Mason enjoys apple juice on the dock and dangling his toes in the water, all the while making a friend in Tucker, the dog.

Of course, mommy and daddy forgot to bring swimsuits so Makayla had to swim in her underwear.  But, that's okay!  She loved the huge raft and slide.  She could slide down that slide over and over again from dusk until dawn. 

Besides spending time at the lake, we spent our weekend swimming, playing in the hose, swimming some more, and enjoying those yummy summer treats...popsicles. 

We decided to go out early in the morning to play in the hose and enjoy popsicles for breakfast.  This was Mason's first time for enjoying his very own popsicle all by himself.  It was a pleasure to watch!  Just watching his eyebrows lift and his lips pucker was great, but as soon as he started moaning after each lick and sucking away at the juice, I couldn't help but laugh out loud and give him a couple more.  P.S.  - Notice the tattoo on Makayla's arm.  It was her first tattoo and it did wonders on her attitude.  It was funny to see how much rougher, tougher, and "cooler" that tattoo made her.  I know she's looking forward to her next one!

 

Below are two pictures of why I love my baby girl so much.  As she fell asleep in our bed, I went in to carry her to her own bed and this is what I found all cuddled around her:  A huge hard plastic doll, a soft baby doll, a school bus, a puppy dog, a purse filled with toys and makeup, and a plastic Wal-Mart bag filled with toys and gadgets.  I couldn't help but smile.  The second picture is of her gum piled on a graham cracker.  As crazy as it makes me because I wish she would just throw it away, it still makes me laugh as the places I find her gum.  It's always a funny surprise.

Favorite: February 2011

I finally finished the month of February for our blog book and almost every single post was my 'favorite'.

(The words in "yellow" are links you can click on that will take you directly to the blog)

If you want to read something funny, read Barbie Pooped.

If you want to read something heart-warming, read Laughter Is The Best Medicine.

If you want to read how I thought I could make an early bedtime one night because I was tired, read What's An Early Bedtime?.

Or if you want to learn a little something about my chitlins, read A Little Bit and A Little Bit More.

Words That Make Me Smile

It Just Comes Natural...

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 Torn on the Tob (corn on the cob), Bum (gum), and Doog (good). 

 Makayla talks a lot and she has a huge vocabulary.  She is very understandable (except maybe on the phone) and surprises me with the words she says and the conversations we have.  I really feel like I'm talking to an adult.  And it's not just the things we talk about that impress me, but it's her facial expressions.  This girl can talk with her face, and especially her eyes, better than anybody I know.  When she cares what she is talking about, she can make you feel it.  I love it!

  When I was pregnant with Makayla I craved mexican.  We literally ate at our local mexican restaurant 3-4 nights a week.   Although we don't visit quite that much anymore, we still eat there often.  They have wonderful hospitality, not to mention awesome cheese dip!  From an early age, Makayla knew where she wanted to go for tacos and always exchanged an adios and gracias with the workers.  So, when Makayla speaks some words with that 'spanish sound', I blame it on that Mexican food.

Umbre-ya (Umbrella), Makay-ya (Makayla), and Sa-yed (Salad).

It's just the few words, like I mentioned above, that she says incorrectly and her natural spanish accent that make me smile...

 

Let Freedom Ring

So much to write about!  So much to share!  It's been a week since my last entry and so much has happened.  I'm going to try my best to keep this short and sweet and to just write about the best of the best!

Makayla finished up her swimming lessons!  The first week was bitter cold outside (in the 70's, maybe high 60s)  and the water temperature was near freezing.  While it didn't seem to stop any of the other kids, we learned that Makayla is just like her mama!  It took her a good 10 minutes just to get her toes dipped in the water.  Once her toes were dipped in and she never got used to the water, she decided she wasn't getting in.  I didn't force her.  The second week of swim lessons, however, was a big improvement.  The temps were in the 90s and the pool water warmed up a bit.  By the end of her two week class, she accomplished the following:

Jumping in, swimming and reaching for the side (the thing that was stressed the most), blowing bubbles, going under water (up to her nose), walking along the wall, and most of all - just becoming more comfortable with the water.

Once swim lessons were done and over with, we headed down to the cabin at Lake of the Ozarks.

We did a lot of playing, swimming, boating, eating... 

It was a great time with the family. 

We continued on with a tradition that I started last year with Makayla.  Every year for the 4th of July, I want to tie-dye shirts with my kids to wear over the holiday.  We did it again this year, but included grandma, grandpa, and Aunt Nina.

One of my favorite quotes:

Tradition is a form of promise from parent to child.  It's a way to say, "I love you", "I'm here for you", and "Some things will not change".

-Lynn Ludwick

We spent some time out on the boat and Makayla and Mason loved it!  They did such a great job on the boat and didn't even seem to be bothered by their life jackets.

We did a lot of swimming, fishing, and relaxing.

We had a wonderful time together and I am so thankful that we have a place to go to with the people we love to make wonderful memories.  Even with the 5 hour drive, it was still good.  My kids did great in the car and Makayla was cracking us up.  It was so funny that she all of a sudden had to "pee so bad it hurts" every time she saw a  McDonalds!  Oooh, she's a smart little girl.

On our way home from the lake, we got to meet and hold baby Evan for the first time!

He's a perfect baby boy and we look so forward to watching our kids grow up with him.  Congratulations to our friends, Kim and Dwayne.

A baby is a bit of stardust blown from the hand of God!

After meeting Evan, we went on to celebrate our Independence with family and friends!  We cooked out, played games, laughed and watched fireworks. 

*Notice the earmuffs on Makayla ~

The loud booms scared her and her "racing" headphones comforted her!  They cracked me up!!

Finally -

To end a lovely long weekend, we spent some time at the pool.  Here's my little Mason loving the water!