Ten.

I know that the number ten may not mean much to you. 

But to me it's one hellava nice number. 

Ten is the number of words that my sweet baby boy said to me this morning while we were getting ready for work/daycare.  My 15 month old is moving right along in the vocab department and Mommy couldn't be happier.

Actually it was just last week that I said to his babysitter "Owen really hasn't been saying many words.  Shouldn't he be kind of talking by now?"  She smiled and said that he talks all of the time and says quite a few decipherable words.  Boys' got a mouth like his mama. 

Sure enough...the next day I began to pay more attention to him as he babbled and there were actual words coming out of that cute little mouth of his.  Now usually he doesn't like being treated like a circus animal and will not say words on command.  This morning he sang a new song.

As I changed his diaper and got him dressed he repeated after me and with each word that came, a smile and clapping followed.

At 15 months Owen can say the following 10 words: mama, dada, papa (which is actually puppy), pop pop, GG, ball, baby, Elmo, shoe, and choo choo (which means train). 

I know that there will come a day when I will wish he wasn't such a talker, but for now, I will enjoy the sweet sound of his toddler words and constant babble of sentences that only he can understand.

And what post would be complete without a photo of my lil' tot.

Midweek Confessions

Hi There.

Today I am linking up with E Myself & I for Midweek Confessions.  Each week she opens up and lets everyone in on her little confessions.  It's a fun little way to get things off of your chest.  And, hey, everyone's not perfect, right?

This week I will let the pictures do the talking.  After you see these there will be no words necessary.  I'm just keepin' it real, ya'll.

No judging...at least out loud.

Here we go.

This is what I have been up to this week.  Wait!  Who am I kidding, it's been much longer than a week.

And there ya have it folks.  What I have been up to haven't been up to this week.

Night Terrors

Oh what a night we had.

Let's back up a little bit, shall we?  It all started after I picked my son up from my parents house.  They were so gracious to watch him overnight so that the hubs and I could go out for our anniversary.  He was in a great mood!   A perfect mood!  I brought him home and had planned on getting him ready for nap right away since it was about that time.  But he had other plans.

He ran around the house, played, and did some bootie shakin' to Elvis.  That's normal, right?  We didn't force the nap issue (although we attempted to put him down on 3 seperate occassions) because we hadn't seen him all night and he was in such a good mood.  ( I have the best video on my phone, but can't figure out how to post it....can someone tell me how?)

So needless to say, yesterday was a no nap Sunday.  Boy, are we regretting that decision!

We put him to bed around 8:00 and he crashed pretty hard.  Once we were all snuggled in our beds, we awoke 3 hours later to a SCREAMING child.  I gave it a minute to see if he would settle himself, but no luck.  I walked into his room thinking that he just couldn't find his paci or something, but he was asleep in the fetal postion with his little butt up in the air.

How can he be asleep and screaming at the same time?

I have heard about night terrors from other moms, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that it would be as heartbreaking as it was.

I rubbed his back and reassured him that Mommy was there, but that did nothing to calm him.  I remembered my mom friends telling me not to wake them up while they are having the terrors.  That they would come out of it, go back to sleep, and not remember it in the morning.  But how can I just leave my child alone in his crib screaming bloody murder. 

I felt helpless.  I finally did pick him up and tried to rock him with no luck.

The weirdest part of it all is that his eyes were open as if he were awake, but he was not alert.  He was really restless and just cried, screamed, and did some more crying and screaming.

So, there we were using Dr. Google at midnight trying to figure out what to do.  Anything.  We were searching for answers.  We wanted it to stop.  It's true that once you are a parent, there is a natural instinct to never want anything bad to happen to your child.  My literally heart ached for him.

He finally calmed down and went back to sleep after about 45 minutes.  According to Dr. Google, these episodes can be caused from lack of sleep, over stimulation, traveling, change in schedule, etc....  There is nothing that you can do to get them out of it:  just reassure them that you are there and make sure that they don't hurt themselves.  Apparently sometimes the children thrash about in their beds.  I thank God that Owen didn't do that.  oh my.  I probably would have lost it, loaded him up in the car, and drove straight to the ER.

Needless to say, it was one hell of a stressful night for all of us.  He seems to be fine today like nothing ever happened.  I on the other hand have droppy eyes and am still trying to recover from the anxiety and heartache that it caused.  Apparently, the parent will become more traumatized than the child will ever be.

Any moms out there ever experience this?  Any tips?

Confession Time

Welcome to my first attempt to follow along with E Myself & I's weekly midweek confession session.  Try to say that 5 times fast. 

Moving right along.  Elizabeth is currently taking a "fast" from her blog, but she will be back very soon spilling her guts to her fabulous followers.

 

 

Here goes nothing.....and remember this is a judge free post.  Well, feel free to judge away, just keep it in so that I don't feel even worse about my mishaps.  :)

 

1.  I have washed the same load of towels 3 times now and can't seem to bring myself to move them to the dryer.  Why?  Because that would mean that I would have to actually fold the clothes that are in the dryer.  So I find myself on a vicious cycle of re-washing towels and turning the dryer on to "get the wrinkles out".  And instead of actually getting up and switching the laundry out, I will just sit here and pretend that I don't have the time. 

Thank God for vinegar!!

 

2.  I told you earlier this week here that I opened an Etsy shop.  Well, now that the excitement of hitting the "open" button is over, I am scared to death of it.  I have found myself perusing through different shops that sell the same items as me and just feel INADEQUATE.  I keep telling myself that these other shops are successful because their items are better than mine.  I keep telling myself that I don't want to do this only due to fear that I will be a failure.  The truth is that anytime I feel like I may not succeed with something, I just quit.  After all, it's better to quit than to fail, right?  It's kind of like quitting your job before you get fired.  I just use any excuse that I can find other than I AM SCARED.  It is my hope that I will actually sell something in the near future to reassure myself that my designs are just as good as others out there.  That as long as I put love into my work, others will see that and I will succeed without quitting.

 

3. I am meeting with my advisor at school today to discuss my "degree plan" for the 4th time.  Remember that one time that I told you about my need to quit when I fear something (hint....  see confession number two)?  Well, this is a huge one for me.  I have been going to college off and on since 1997.  I am about 4 courses away from having a teaching degree, but instead of hurrying up to finish, I drag my feet and threaten to quit because I am scared.  Scared that I won't get a job, scared that I won't be a good teacher.   Heck, I'm even scared that I won't pass my state exams to even get to fears #1 and #2.  I am sensing a trend there, that I desperately need to get out of.

 

4. Owen and I are leaving at 6 am on Friday for a long weekend and I have not packed one. single. thing.  Where did I miss the memo that it requires much more planning to travel with a 1 year old?  Gone are the days when I can just throw some stuff in a bag and as long as I had my birth control pills I would be fine.  If I left something at home, I would just buy new.  Maybe I should get some laundry done so that I can actually take some clean clothes with us?

 

So there you have it.....my first round of confessions.  Nothing super juicy, but I will be keeping this little gem in my thoughts so that when E is back from her blog/social media vacay, I will be ready to link up.

 

What do you confess on this fine Wednesday?

Oops I did it again.

In the words of Brittney, "oops I did it again". 

 

I have failed yet again at my goal to keep this little bloggity blog going.  But I have an excuse.  A maybe not so acceptable excuse, but an excuse.

 

I have been working on this little gem:

That's right!  I've opened an Etsy store.

 

I have been telling Darren for a while that I needed a hobby.  I needed something to do with what little idle time I do have.  While I was perusing Pinterest one day, I decided "I CAN DO THAT". 

 

So, I made my first sign(On Mountain Time) and gave it to my sister in law for her Birthday.  I had so much fun making it that I decided that I wanted to make more.  I don't know how successful I will be or if anyone will even see what I add to my shop, but it is my hope that Etsy can kill two birds with one stone: my boredome issue and help bring in a little extra money for this family of mine.

 

I have added some super cute burlap banners this weekend and hope to make some more signs in the very near future.  If you're reading this, go on over and show me some love on Etsy!

I won! I won!

Let me start by saying that I never win anything!!!  But today is new day! 

 

This morning I signed on to my email to find that I won this giveaway (which is now closed, cause I won...doing the happy dance) over at E, Myself, and I. 

 

I am beside myself happy and have already picked my winnings.

 

I have been looking for a new lunch bag and my girl Ashley, who sells Thirty One just happened to be part of the giveaway?!?!

Win Win!

 

That's all for now....I guess you have enough links to look at to keep you busy for a while.

Letters to Owen.

Dear Owen,

I CANNOT believe that you will be 11 months old tomorrow.  Where has time gone?  I was watching you play last night and was in complete awe in the fact that you are not a little baby anymore.  You are so smart, funny, curious, and lovable.  I love to watch the wheels in your head turn when you look at something as if you are trying to figure it all out.  Your little giggle is the most amazing sound in the world.  Well that and your sweet little voice when you speak your little language that only you can understand.  I feel certain that you know exactly what you are saying.

I guess it's time to start planning your 1st Birthday party for you are rapidly walking cruising into the fun toddler stage.  Everyday I thank God for the blessing that he gave us when he gave us you.  You continue to amaze me daily.  I love you monkey!

Time to blow the post up with super cute pics of my almost tot!

No Fast Food February

That's right, none...nada.....zip! 

Source

The hubs and I have decided that we will use the month of February to detox from the stomach junk and wallet sucker otherwise known as Fast Food.  It may be the winter blues or it may be pure laziness, but I have realized over the last couple of months that we have become fast food junkies.  It's easy, it's quick, and it's oohhhh so good.

So for the entire 28 days of February (like how we chose the shortest month?), we will not step foot in or drive our cars through any fast food establishments.  NO MATTER WHAT! 

What constitutes fast food, you ask?  We have limited it to anything that has a drive through.  So, Subway....yes, Panera....yes, Chipotle....yes (even though we have never been there), Chick Fil-A.....NO.  What?!?!  Oh my gosh....not sure I can do it...maybe we need to rethink our rule a little.  I love me some Chick Fil-A.  I even went as far as to have a "last supper" at the cow's house on the 31st.  Desperate?  Maybe.  But there ain't no shame in my game and you better bet your tooshie that I will have my, hopefully slimmed down, tooshie in line for some chicken on March 1st as soon as they open.

Here goes nothin.....  and Here's to hoping that my waistline and my wallet thank me when it's over.

Who's with me?  Who else is crazy enough to forgo fast food for a month?

Face Lift.

Please excuse the dust while I do some construction on this little blog of mine.  Why is it that every time I say that, I want to sing to the tune of "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine....."  Weird. 

 

Anyway, I am a learn as I go kinda gal.  So unfortunately I will not be winning the World's Best Blogger award anytime this year.  Don't count me out for next year though.

 

I still have some tabs to add.  Some side buttons.  And some updated photos.  Oh, and maybe a post that has some true blog worthy content.  Y'all wait here.  I will be back when I think of something worth your time.

 

What do you think so far?  Is anyone even reading this thing?  Hello....is anybody out there?  Any tips?  Anything in particular you think I could "rock out" on this bloggy blog?

Now I can see why posts without pictures are so boring.  Good thing I kept it short and sweet.

 

Peace!

Wild and Wonderful.

This weekend we got to take a little getaway to our sister's cabin at Snowhoe, WV.  Just a few hours away, we packed the car up full of baby, dog, and crap and were on our way.

A weekend of relaxation and beautiful views was just what the doctor ordered.

It was frigid 18 degrees.

While Darren went out to shred some powder, Owen and I stayed in to tend to the fire.  It's a hard life, I know.......  But someone's gotta do it.

After some relaxation by the fire, a morning jolt of Diet Coke, and a little reading, we were ready to go.

Once Darren came in, we bundled Owen up for his first excursion in the snow.  I am perfectly aware that he will soon be on a board following his daddy down the mountain, but for now we stuck strictly to the "bunniest" of slopes.  The ole' red sled did just the trick.

He loved it!

Even Burton went along for the family excursion in the snow.

And Mommy got some good pictures to add to the Memory Box.

And then we stopped to take some goofy pictures.  Can't let a trip go by without capturing the honest moments of our simple little life.

Why can't this picture be lighter...uggh.

We had dinner in the village and it was blustery cold, but so beautiful.

And then we waited....and waited..... for the shuttle to pick us up.

Finally back and ending the night by the fire with wine in hand.  What could be better?  And yes, those are the same pants I was wearing this morning.  Judge away.

All in all.....a great weekend in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.

Word for 2013.

I am sure that you all have seen the word of the year craze all over the blogoshpere, so I thought that I would jump in and share my own.  Now this concept is not new to me, I have just never put it down on paper the internet.  Along with all of those "resolutions" made each and every year, I come up with a word to live by.  It's not often that I succeed in living by my word for the entire year, but like the Little Engine that Could, I keep on chugga luggin'....

This year my word is:

con·tent  /kənˈtent/

Adjective: In a state of peaceful happiness. Verb: Satisfy (someone). Noun: A state of satisfaction: "the greater part of the century was a time of content". Synonyms: adjective.   contented - pleased - satisfied - glad - happy verb.   satisfy - gratify - please - indulge - suffice I have chosen this word as a reminder to be content with who I am and what I am doing.  With the outburst of pinterest and blogs this year, it has been so easy to feel feelings of being inadequate.  "She has prettier hair than me, look at that amazing outfit, what a cute crafty idea that someone else came up with, blah blah blah.....", So often I forget that I am worthy.  I am awesome.  In 2013, I plan on focusing on me.  And my family too of course.  I will work to become content with a life that has been planned and designed just for me. Source So that's it.  Do you have a word of the year?  Maybe something you would like to focus on to enhance the life you have? I would love to hear from you.