Only One

She's one.  A year old.  365 days.  Yesterday I was sitting by myself in her room, 9 month pregnant, just imagining if we would have a boy or girl, what he/she would look like, what name we were going to use, what it was going to be like with two kids, and now she is one. 

In so many ways, she and Bug are exactly alike, she... 
has killer blue eyes

loves strawberries, bananas, cheese, yogurt, pasta, chicken

is stubborn
is high-maintenance
is not the best sleeper
loves to go for walks in the stroller

is happiest when she is outside playing

Then there's the differences...sometimes I can't believe that they are sisters because they are so drastically different...but, trust me...they are definitely the perfect mix of both of their parents! 

She is the one that...
loves people, yet she's very shy
is 100% a mama's girl
crawls
pulls up on things
has blond hair (that took forever to grow in and is so hard to work with!)

is a peanut, she's so tiny! 

is on the quiet side
makes the biggest mess possible when she eats
gets into everything
is ticklish everywhere
you can't get a diaper on, let alone any clothing because she never sits still

loves having me push her in a shopping cart and go as fast as I can without embarrassing myself

fits into clothes that are actually the accurate age...Bug was in a 2T on her first bday!

has always been an extremely happy baby (happy genes from her dad rather than mom's moody ones!)

And although I cried when we celebrated Bug's first birthday, I have a different outlook on it now...she's only one and look at all the memories we've created already...we have so much to look forward to in the many more years ahead of us! 

("This is delicious!")

("I LOVE birthdays!")

("Wow...this was awesome, but I'm a mess!")

bring it on, baby

I'm going to go ahead and blame it on the "2010 Snowpocalypse"...the fact that I currently have 15, that's right, 15 friends who are pregnant and due between today and January.  I can't get over it!  Everyday someone new pops up with their fantastic news and I am so excited and happy for each one of them.  So, due to the high number and even more so because my memory is absolutely horrible, I am going to use my blog to TRY and keep track of everyone and try to put them in order of when their little ones are to arrive...so, here we go!  (I am also updating when the babies do arrive)

• Tara-we will welcome baby Molly tomorrow!  yay!  (she waited an extra day & came on Monkey's bday!)
• Regina-end of May-Ethan born 5/20
• Meghan-Madison born 5/25
• Kristen-Carson born 6/17
• Beth-Julia
• Emily-Preslie
• Angie-Chase
• Christi-Hanna
• CaSandra-Nolan
• Sabrina-Brody
• Corey-Emerson 10/21
• Amy-Beginning of November
• Kelly-End of November
• Karen-End of November
• Jackie-Beginning of December
• Mindy-January 2011
• Nicci-January
• Jen-February
• Molly-February
• Sarah-Feb/March
• Corrin-June

And...it doesn't end there...as I'm hoping that this post will send good 'baby' luck to yet another few handful of friends who I know are/will be trying to get their name on this list in the next couple months as well!

My Favorite

I found it...my favorite color on Monkey...

with that blonde hair and those big baby blues...

I can't get enough of her!

She will be living in this all summer!

May 11th...11 Years Later

Some of the best moments of our amazing eleven years together...

'99  Jimmy Buffett concert
'00  Senior Walk
'01  Lying on the floor of "our" first apartment without a single piece of furniture
'02  La Jolla, the grass, Twenty-Nine Palms
'03  Goodbye to Palm Springs
'04  New Years Eve, Belle Road, Sting
'05  October 22nd
'06  The Butler Wedding
'07  September 6th
'08  Our brand new start in Cincy
'09  May 21st

Here's to many, many more best moments in our many, many more years together! 

Where Did It Go?

As we are beginning to teach Monkey "please" and "thank you", I am reminded of how important manners are and how I really hope to instill good manners in my girls.  Being a teacher has opened my eyes to so many ungrateful, unmannerly children out there and even though the words 'please' 'thank you' 'excuse me' and 'sorry' are so little, they mean so much.  I was told once by someone that Bug was the most polite and mannerly 2-year old they had ever come across (of course, now that she is approaching 3, that has gone out the window for the time being...and I am praying it returns soon!).  This was one of the nicest compliments I think a parent could receive.  It makes you feel as if you have really taught your child something positive and meaningful. 
In addition to manners, I write this post as something for me to look back on and use as a reminder of another characteristic I am very passionate about my children possessing:

Courtesy.

Yes, I am still not fully recovered from the library incident last week and in recent days, more situations have come about that have shown me how important it is to be courteous, but yet how much it has disappeared in everyday life. 
Two examples:
...Today was neighborhood garbage day...went to bring the garbage can back up to the house...when I went to pick up the lid, which had made it's way halfway onto the sidewalk, I see that someone had either rode their bike over the lid or pushed their stroller over it, crushing the lid.  Now, don't get me wrong...I'm not asking anyone to stop and pick it up or move it out of the way...but the least you could do is go around something that is in your path like I do each night when out for a walk with the stroller.  Just trying to be courteous...
...When I pass someone in the neighborhood while out walking, what happened to saying 'hi' or even smiling when you pass??  I get that you may want your quiet time when you are out walking/running, therefore many people don't even look, which is fine.  But when you look directly at me, see me smile and then I say hello to you and you choose to look down or away...really??  And this happens A LOT...(maybe I should take the hint!)  But I've tried that once and didn't speak or look at anyone and I felt horrible...can't do it.  Again, just trying to be courteous...
When did this happen?  When did people stop being courteous to one another?  I understand that people are busy, they have a lot going on in their lives, they have a lot on their minds, etc., but it just makes me sad to think that being nice to one another is the one that people give up on first.

My goal is to work hard to make sure Bug & Monkey are two courteous little girls even if no one else says hello to them  :)

I Hope It's a Good One

I usually like to keep my posts pretty positive so that I can look back at all the fun we've had...however, today I am taking the low road...sorry, but I'm so annoyed by this and I need to get it out there!  And this just happened within the hour, so I'm still in 'fresh anger' phase...beware. 
So we head to the local library this morning to what I consider a fun part of our week, Storytime.  The girls absolutely love it and it's a nice opportunity for them to play with other kids and for me to have some 'adult' talk time with the other moms.  Not the case today.  As we pull into the parking lot, we were following an SUV who cut us off at the stop light.  Of course I was irritated (I have a horrible case of road rage and hate when anyone does anything stupid or gets in my way...as you will see)...but I let it go...for about 5 seconds...until the SUV decided to turn the wrong way into the "One Way-Do Not Enter" circle in front of the library and pulled into a Handicapped spot...me=more irritated.  So I park our car, get the girls out, and we proceed to walk past the SUV, when all of a sudden I see a girl my age whip out a Handicapped tag out of her purse, throw it up on the rearview mirror, easily jump out of the front seat and pull her two little girls (Bug and Monkey's ages) and walk, what appeared to be as HEALTHY as could be (all three of them) into the building in front of us.  I was in shock.  I was staring so intently on her that I nearly burnt a whole in the back of her head. 
Now I know there are tons of people out there that do this very same thing everyday and have hidden issues we the public aren't able to see, but I also know there are many people who abuse this privilege and that is one of my biggest pet peeves.
So we sat through storytime...and as you can imagine, I couldn't stop staring..she was up and down, clearly not handicapped in ANY way, nor were either of the girls...and then it was back outside.  Again, she threw the girls back in their seats, as their artwork pages from the class flew out of the car...she watched them as they blew across the parking lot and then proceeded to light up her cigarette and off she went on her merry way...
I was LIVID.  If I wouldn't have had Bug and Monkey with me, I would have spoke my mind...but I don't do confrontation with them around. 
But what I'm secretly hoping is that by some chance this stranger anonymously reads my blog....and I'm hoping that she can give a good reason as to why she does the things she does...other than my reason for her: pure laziness.

I feel much better now.
After getting that out, back to the high road and packing for Monkey's Birthday Party Weekend!!!

Bring on the Sun

I don't know what it is about a sunny day, but it just seems to make everything around you seem pretty good.  It was an awesome spring day here and that brought about some pretty great things...

I decided to go with a '5 senses' theme just to make it a little more fun...

The sight of Monkey REALLY crawling for the first time...she has been 'army' crawling all this time and today she finally got brave enough to get up on those hands and knees and go for it!
...the warmth of the sun baking me while I sat outside and read "1001 Best Things to Do in NYC" in preparation for our trip in a few short weeks-yay!
...the taste of the delicious dinner I finally got motivated to cook this week...first one since last Thursday!
...the sound of Bug and Monkey hysterically laughing at one another as they chased eachother all over the house...(this was my favorite of the day)
...and lastly, but a very close 2nd...what I will call the 'smell of accomplishment in the air'....as my husband surprised me with a possible 'check' off of my bucket list in the very near future!!  I will leave this for a later post once it hopefully happens, but I'm ecstatic about it and will owe him big time!

Here's to many more awesome sunny days!