My latest obsession

My subscription to Entertainment Weekly often gets me into trouble. Due to some random article, I will become suddenly intrigued with a tv show, movie, series, or book of which I have never been interested in before. Examples: HGTV's show Design Star, Bravo's Project Runway, Showtime's Dexter. All really great shows that I cannot recommend enough! However, my recent EW issue actually featured a book on the cover. (Almost unheard of nowadays, except for Harry Potter of course). I read the article and was surprised to see that it was a story about a young girl who falls in love with a vampire. Now, I am not really into vamps and stuff, but hey, the article said this is the next greatest thing since J.K. Rowling, so I thought I would give it a chance. Stopped at the bookstore on my way out of town to the beach for a week and had my first inkling that I would like this book. The cashier asked me, "Are you just beginning this series?" Yes, I replied. "Get ready, everyone that works in this store has ready every book of the series and can't quit talking about it." OK, now I was really intrigued. I started it a few days into my trip and halfway through, I knew I was hooked! Finished book 1 and rushed to a book store to grab book 2. I bought the last copy in the store! Finished book 2 yesterday and rushed last night to grab book 3. Sold out. Went to another store. Sold out. AGGHHHH! Today's agenda - book store 3. Let's hope they are not sold out. If so, I will have to order it online today and wait an agonizing week!

So, what is so great about these books? I am not really sure other than it is the sweetest love story I have read in a long time. The girl is in love with a vampire. You know this story cannot end well, but yet, they have to be together. You need them to be together. I guess I've always been a sucker for ill-fated romances. Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge, Titanic. Lovers that try to overcome obstacles at any cost just to be together. I just didn't expect it to happen with a vampire. I guess that is part of the charm. The great thing about the books too is that they barely even have kissed. Wow, a love story without graphic sex, or any sex for that matter. Fabulous!

I am also completely intrigued by the author, Stephenie Meyer. She is a stay at home mom of 3 boys, 8 and under. What? She's like my age! She had this idea one day and started writing. Here she is 5 books and 1 movie later and she's set for life. Her website is awesome and she even includes things like a song playlist for her books. She listens to music as she writes and then gives a playlist that follows the story lines. And they are all of my favorite artists like Coldplay, the Fray, the Killers, and My Chemical Romance. Time to start my Twilight playlist!

Anyway, enough about this obsession. The bookstore opens in 1 hour and I have 3 kids to get up and moving. One night without Bella and Edward was enough!

It's all about the little things

One of the main reasons I started this blog was to help keep me organized with a diary type journal of what goes on with my kids. This is supposed to inspire me to journal more and to actually complete some scrapbook pages. You know those moments you think you are going to remember forever, but then, well life happens and we forget the little things that made us smile along the way. So in honor of that thought, here are a few little things this past week that have made me smile along the way!

1. My hubby celebrated his 36th birthday. Wow, we are getting old! :) 23 when I met him, and yes he is still making me smile! Avery was so cute, when about halfway through the day, she gasped and said, "Mom, who is making dad's cake? What about his party?" Ah, the birthday mentality of a 4 year old. So the girls and I hightailed it to the mall while dad took care of the little man. A few carefully selected discounted clothes and one cookie cake later and we had a party!




2. My little man hit his first big milestones: 1 month old, can lift his head while on his tummy, and his first smiles! Nothing warms your heart like those first toothless little grins. I wish I could say I got a picture of it, but alas, the camera was not at the ready. I can't believe he is a month old!


3. Avery loves to cook. Every day she asks if she can help in the kitchen. 9 times out of 10, I say no. I'm just in too much of a hurry. This week, I remembered why I am staying home with my kids and I said yes. She had a ball making her first batch of banana nut bread.







4. Big sister moments. The girls are really enjoying their little brother. I have to document it, because it may not last long. They love seeing him smile, love holding him, and fight over who gets to give him the pacifier. Poor little guy didn't know he would have 3 mothers! :)


Up next? Our big family trip to Destin. More little moments to come!

Nothing better than great friends!

Has God ever provided something for you that you did not even know you needed? It is the most wonderful thing! Sometimes it may be something big as in extra money, a new home, a new job or sometimes it is all about the little things such as a sweet family bringing you dinner. If you read the previous blog entry, you can tell the constant cooking and feeding was getting to me. Out of the blue a friend called me yesterday and wanted to bring us dinner. Wow! A night with no cooking. I was not going to turn this down. She didn't say what they were bringing, but it could have been frozen corn dogs for all I cared! However, you should have seen the eyes of my little family when they showed up with: (get ready for it) turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, macaroni and cheese, key lime pie, and homemade candy coated pretzels for the girls. WOW! Like Thanksgiving! Of course, food is always about more than the meal. What this couple didn't realize and could not predict was that I had a terrible afternoon with the baby. Couldn't get him satisfied or to sleep, the girls were kind of climbing the walls and I had gotten nothing accomplished all day. Actually, I was pretty close to tears when they showed up with the feast. Miraculously, after dinner, the baby fell asleep, the hubby entertained the girls, I had no dishes to clean up and I was able to get so many things accomplished. Granted, it's not like I cleaned my whole house or did an art project or anything crazy like that. But I did get a few loads of laundry done, balanced the checkbook, and went to bed at a decent hour. Now today, I actually have had time to check emails, update this blog and may even get to do a little scrapbooking! It's a chain reaction and one that only God really knew that I needed. He used this sweet, sweet family to show that he cares about every little detail of my life. All I can say is THANK YOU!

Welcome to my diner!

After becoming a true stay-at-home mom 4 weeks ago, I also entered into a few new occupations without realizing it. The job that takes up the majority of my time is running my diner. Huh? Diner, you say? Yep. I serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and snacks with my hours running anywhere between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. The menu varies, but a few staples remain constant. Among these would be pancakes, macaroni and cheese, corn dogs, grilled chicken, and roast. Occasionally, something inspired will sneak onto the menu such as Grilled Salmon with Asparagus drizzled with Lemon Butter! Most of my customers (the husband, and 2 girls) will respond with delightful cries of "yuck, what is this? I am NOT eating that!". I also will make everything into special orders. Do you prefer grape jelly, strawberry, or perhaps apple butter? Do you like your syrup on the side of your waffles or on top? Whipped cream or cool whip? The one catch to this wonderful eatery is that the kitchen operates on a rotating schedule due to feeding demand of one newborn baby. If the baby is hungry, the kitchen is closed for 1 hour due to the employee being unavailable for cooking duty. Did I forget to mention there is only 1 employee? Yes, yes! 1 employee that serves as the head chef, sous chef (look at my food network addiction paying off with expanded vocabulary!), waitress, bus boy, dishwasher, hostess, manager and owner. The hours will be shifting slightly in late August due to the majority of customers will now want their meals packed "to go". Stay tuned for updated seasonal menu and hours coming soon....

what's with moms and poop?

After reading the blog of a college friend of mine, I realized that as mothers, there is one glaring interest that we have that sets us apart from the non-mothers of the world. That is our interest in poop. As a mother of a 3 week old, I can tell you that this interest starts from the first few hours out of the womb, when they begin to pass the lovely black tar substance that is their first poop. And then the nurses start with the questions: How many poops? What was the consistency? What color? Then come the breastfeeding poops. These are important because they let you know that your baby is growing and actually digesting your milk. At the first dr. visit - more poop questions! How many poops a day? Are they yellow? Seedy? Loose? Hard? Constipated? Moms quickly become experts in examining and dissecting every diaper. Sometimes we even have to write it down just to keep track. When you are not busy feeding a newborn (which is ultimately producing poop), or changing a newborn (getting rid of the poop), then you are probably doing laundry for a newborn. This brings a entire new aspect to poop because now you have to re-examine any article of clothing for poop stains and then determine the best way to stain treat the clothes. What fun!

As they progress into toddlers the fun with poop continues, as confessed by my friend's blog which had something to do with poop and walls. Enough said. Every day's victory or defeat is measured by the ending location of the poop. In the potty? Yea!!!! Great day! In a pull-up or diaper? Oh well, there is always tomorrow. Covering the bed, walls, clothes, or carpet? Don't even go there. What a lovely day it is when you realize you can go out without bringing pull ups and a change of clothes with you.

Preschoolerss bring their own interesting perspective to poop. It is usually decorated with wonderful, visual, descriptive words such as my poop is: slimy, stuck, mushy, or even green. Moms then become a poop detective as we trace over every last morsel our child has eaten in 3 days to determine the culprit. Not enough water = constipation ; Snow cones = green poop; diarrhea = too much juice; diarrhea + fever = virus, not good! The clues go on and on.

The detective skills in elementary age become more emotional. Although I haven't had to deal with bed-wetting or accidents at this age, I understand it to be very traumatic and bring its own set of issues to the table. My most recent experience with school age poop issues came this week with my 7 year old and swimming lessons. After a particularly bad swimming lesson for her, every day since has resulted in tummy issues. For the 20 minutes before her lesson, she just doesn't feel good. Then we have several trips to the bathroom with nothing produced. Then about 20 minutes into her lesson, she rushes into the bathroom and emerges with a smile after 15 minutes. Victory - anxiety induced poop. The rest of the lesson goes (sorry for this...) swimmingly. She gets herself all worked up into a panic about her lesson and then finally, when she relaxes she becomes more confident and capable. Amazing what poop can do.

Okay, can't believe I spent all this time writing about poop. Just an observation from a stay at home mom. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go change a diaper.