I'm Tagged (Cuz I'm a Dork)!

Since I am a dork, and I automatically assume that because someone has the name Brie on their blog, it means they are talking about ME... I have been tagged. Here's how you play~

1. You go to the 6th file of photos on your computer

2. You choose the 6th picture

3. You post it

4. Write what it's about and all that jazz

5. Tag people

This picture is when we were doing a photo shoot for our Christmas cards that we ended up not getting. She was tired, but I had to get it done so we could use the Snapfish discount. Needless to say, if we would have used the cards I created, this was NOT the picture that was on them! Plus, her bangs were really long, and looked kinda shabby. Don't you just love how she sits like a little lady with her legs wide open in a dress? We need to work on our little lady skillz! :o)

So... I tag

Grace

Erica

Becky

Seriously, Please Pray!

This is poor little Abby. She is 4, and is suffering from Leukemia. Her little face breaks my heart. She's going through such a hard time, and she needs as many prayers as she can get. I know a lot of people look at my blog, I AM BEGGING YOU TO PLEASE VISIT THEIR SITE (YOU CAN GET THERE THROUGH MY FIRST BUTTON ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE) AND TELL HER FAMILY THAT YOU ARE PRAYING FOR THEM!! I would give anything to know that more people are praying for this precious little girl!

True Life: I'm the Mother of a Toddler

My precious girl has been making me smile an extra lot lately, so I thought I'd share some of the sweet, cute, hysterical things that come out of her mouth ~

*"Amornin, Mommy, I meeessssed yeeeeew"

*"Howa yeeeeew, Mommy? I gooood, kank yeeew"

*"Sing, Mommy, asses asses all faw doowwnn"

*After being told she didn't have a choice when she didn't want to do something, she tried to stick her feet in my face and tell me to "mell my feet, Mommy". Upon telling her I didn't want to smell her feet, I was told "yewww no have a choice, Mommy"!

*Lately, we've been deciding when we don't want to eat dinner that "I no yike it anymore, bocci, Mommy" (I don't like broccoli anymore)

*"I wubba yyeeeewww, Mommy"

*"I no sit tine out!"

*"Ouch.... I bumpa hed! EEEEET huwt"

*"I fina waisin, Mommy"

*"EWWWWWWW, Mommy, iiiiit nassy and diwty" (She's a little OCD like my MIL ~ YIKES)

*She loves to tell me "seep, Mommy" and have me pretend like I am sleeping... then she'll tell me "lake up, Mommy.... lake up, pease"

So, there are some of the fun things I hear day in and day out. I decided to throw in my favorite picture of her from all of the ones I took of her at Christmas. It's hard to believe she'll be 2 in a month from today!

Not Me! Monday

Wow... it has been a long time since I've done one of these suckers! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the things I so totally have NOT done lately!

* Upon going to one of our really good friend's house last Thursday, I didn't fall in love with her little critters, and totally didn't buy two of them for myself! My little munchkin doesn't enjoy watching the "mousies" running around their cage, and shrilling with delight! They are actually Siberian Dwarf Hamsters, and they are the softest, cutest little things! (That is until one of them clamps down on my finger with it's chompers, then you'll hear a different story) So now, Lucy and Ethel (yes, from "I Love Lucy") DON'T reside in our home. :o)

* We did not start a game with our princess because we were trying to find out where a certain smell was coming from. Upon getting a whiff of the afforementioned odor, we did not search the living room high and low for this raunchy smell. And, once we found it, we totally didn't crack up at realizing that it was our kid's FEET! She doesn't now like to come up to us and say "Mell my feet, Mommy, pease" because it doesn't crack her up that we smell her feet, and tell her that they stink! (Any tips on getting the kids feet to be less raunchy? She takes a bath every single day, promise!)

* I totally didn't get a good laugh out of making a kid get totally skunked by his teacher today... because the brat didn't walk in to indoor recess in my room with a major attitude, didn't keep asking me to go to the bathroom every 30 seconds, and didn't snicker when I forewarned him that he was going to have a surprise visit. Then, when his teacher came to my door (she is only known as the meanest teacher in fourth grade), he totally didn't turn bright red, and scurry off to his seat to try and act like he was innocent. She also didn't let him totally have it for showing himself in my room! ROCK ON! Working with the meanest teacher in fourth grade is beneficial, I'm tellin ya!

* I have not admitted total failure in my New Year's Goal to be less of an Internet junkie. Because, you know, my husband should come first, and I should pay attention to him instead of being on here stalking all my blogger friends peruzing the net as much I do.

* I did not make a total fool out of myself today at an after school professional development dealing with how to encourage kids to become more active. While learning a new version of tag which involved running to a hula hoop, picking up a rubber pool floaty stick thingy, then gently wacking someone beneath the knees, getting back to the hula hoop, throwing the rubber floaty thingy in the hoop while the person you tagged is trying to get it from you, then making it back to the opponent's spot without getting hit by the opponent (whew!, long description, but it was necessary to visualize all of the steps, and then to read the next part) ~ I didn't totally kick the hula hoop clear across the circle, almost fall on my rear end, and lose the game! :o( boooo meeeee!!!

* The last week-ish, I totally haven't acted like an insane princess drama queen because I've had bronchitis. My husband DIDN'T do as much for me as he did our almost-two-year-old-pretty-pretty-princess. Because I am an adult, and I can so totally take care of my own self thank-you-very-much!

* I am not praying, doing snow dances, and everything else imaginable to encourage the winter weather that we are supposed to be getting to COME TO MY HOUSE SO I CAN SLEEP IN TOMORROW MORNING! I don't like staying in bed until 9:30... nope, NOT ME!

* While doing a read aloud to my class, I didn't accidentally read a swear word OUT LOUD to my class. The class didn't react with "ooooooooo's" and "ahhhhhhhhh's" and "you're bad, and you need to go to the principal's office"'s!!!!! YIKES

Well, I think that is enough confessing for one night! If I keep going, I might look like a horrible person for all of the things I haven't done! Check out MckMama's blog to see more people who totally haven't done anything at all this week!

Pray

I came across another blog of another little girl who desperately needs our prayers. Abby is suffering from cancer, and is on chemo right now. She has having a really, really rough time, and the pictures on her family's blog are heart breaking! Please, pray for her, and go to her family's blog and let you know that their precious angel is in your prayers! http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/ Her site is also on my sidebar ~ first button!!

Inside Information

I don't know if any of you are big jewelry fanatics like I am, but I thought I'd tell you of a pretty rockin website I found that has all kinds of jewelry. The bracelets have been my favorite, and they aren't badly priced, either! www.icraft.ca is where you want to head! Check it out!!

Second Obsession

And here is my second obsession: New York City. I want to go and spend about a week there, and get to all of the destinations I didn't get to when I went before. I especially want to go during Christmas!



The Plaza Hotel (you know, the one in Home Alone)

















St. Patrick's Cathedral ~ one of the most amazing
buildings I've ever been in... it took my breath away
















Times square rocks















I so want to go here!



















Downtown shops and eateries in Manhattan

I also absolutely want to go to like 10 broadway shows, too!!

Simple, Yet Whole-Heartedly

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for Mitzi, and Gayle. Thank you for taking care of us while we wondered how we were going to eat tonight because our extra checks haven't come, and the last four checks we have written are still bouncing all the way to Las Vegas. You never fail to take care of your children, and we will be eternally grateful to you for your love, and care for us!

Explanation for Picture # 2

The explanation to picture #2 is simply one of the coolest things you do while you're in Ireland. If you don't do this while you're in Ireland, you haven't "done it all". What that guy is doing is kissing the "Blarney Stone". This stone is constructed in the Blarney Castle in Cork, Ireland, and to kiss it, you have to lay on your back, use the iron rods to stablize and hoist yourself up, then you kiss the stone while you're upside down. It's an old Irish fable that it brings you luck and love (a lot of people say that you will get "lucky" the day that you kiss the stone, too). To read a little bit more about it, go here.

Time to Learn About My Obsession(s)

I decided to do some "glimpses of my obsessions" posts. This will give you the opportunity to learn some new things about me, and see things that totally intrigue me. The first thing that I am totally obsessed with (it's probably more than an obsession) is Ireland. I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I will look at any picture, or read any book I can possibly get my hands on that tells me more about this glorious place. I am absolutely going to make it there one of these days, and if I don't, I will die trying. The beauty, sereneness, the castles, the vibrant greens, the cows, the alpacas, the pubs... I love it all. I would be content moving there, but I think our parents would have a slight problem with that.. plus we don't have the money to make such a huge move, either! I am so excited because my birthday is Feb. 2, and one of my presents is tickets to go see Lord of the Dance in Raleigh, NC at the end of April. I am giddy with excitement already, and I still have 3 months to wait!

Do you have any specific place that enthralls you? I have 2 more to show you in two new posts!!

You Might Need.......

........ to suggest to someone that the sanctuary of the church needs cleaned when your 2 year old picks up a "waisin", and eats it.... that would be the exact same "waisin" she dropped on the floor 2 weeks ago!

SpOiLeD RotTeN!

When you have a spoiled rotten princess living in your house, these are two things that she just might get has sent to her front doorstep for her 2nd birthday. My parents didn't stop at the gorgeous table and chairs that she absolutely loves. They also had to go and get her the kitchen, too. I guess that's what happens when you are the parents of the first grandchild on both sides!

Dilemma... I Need Opinions!

I need opinions, opinions, opinions. Here's the situation ~ Our princess will be 2 at the end of February (tears, tears). For being 2, she knows a lot~ she is putting 4-5 word sentences together, knows all of her animals (including zebras, lions, monkeys, caterpillars), most of her colors, can "read" a book by looking at the pictures, knows 60% of her ABC's, can almost count to 20, and SO MUCH MORE.... OK so on with the story... the babysitter that she currently goes to is the mother of a girl that I teach with. Usually, we are pretty happy with how our kiddo is being taken care of, but we've had some issues. Remember this post , and how our kid got plowed over? And, there have been many occasions when Morgan has come home with poop left in her bottom from not being cleaned thoroughly. This lady also has 2 newborns, 1 7 month old, 2 2year olds, 2 3year olds, and 2 4year olds... in a trailer all by herself. Morgan loves this lady to death, and we are basically happy with the job that she's done. But, with the amount of kids she has, and some other things that have happened, I've gotten a little ticked here and there; although it's nothing that I haven't gotten over.

Now, here's the dilemma part of it... there is a daycare in town that is amazing. Totally amazing. The kids do a craft every single day, they have circle time, they get to play with rice, shaving cream, all other kinds of stuff, they are constantly taking pictures of the kids and making something for the parents, and the schedule that the kids are on really rocks. I also have 3 other "friends" that take their kids to this place. My parents have agreed that, starting this August, if we are willing to put another $60 toward what we are already paying, they will make up the difference of about $180 a month to send Morgan to this other daycare. From an educational point of view, I am totally on board. I want her to make crafts, and have constructive play. They also teach sign language, Spanish, go on field trips, and so much other fun stuff. I also worked in daycares, and know that the amount of kids our babysitter has now is totally illegal, and probably not the safest. But, we're kinda attached, and don't want to hurt her feelings because we love her. Here is the link to Stepping Stones, where she would be going... take a look at the schedule and the pictures of the activities the kids do!

So, I need opinions, please. What would you do? Help me to rationalize this situation! I want my daughter to be more educated, but she's comfortable where she is, and we really don't want to hurt our babysitter. I'm a very emotional person, and wrench my guts over making hard decisions. My dad just told me yesterday, and I've cried over it already! HELP ME!

Inhale-er

So, I found out that I have asthmatic bronchitis.... better than a heart attack, I guess better than pneumonia, but it still stinks that I can't play with my girl because I'm contagious. How does a mother that is crazy about her child not hug, kiss, and hold her munchkin? Especially when the munchkin sweetly looks at you with her big blue eyes and says "mama, I wuva yewww"?? This is gonna kill me! Plus I have to use an inhaler... ick. Only good thing is, I get a 5 day weekend! Hoooray for that. Another perk of the day was that one of my little boys brought in me a coffee cake muffin from Starbucks this morning. I coulda kissed him!

Prognosis

*Thank You to those of you who commented/prayed!! It's nice to know that people care! :o) Anytime you have prayer requests, I also make sure to pray for you, too!!


Well, what I thought was a heart attack, and my possible death at the age of 28 (I'm dramatic, yes, I admit it) is either acute bronchitis or pneumonia. I have to go to Suicide General Hospital Southside General Hospital (the sucky hospital here in town, hence the strike-out name!!) and have a chest xray done tomorrow morning. I had an EKG and everything was normal, and all of my bloodwork was normal too! It is definitely scary having chest pains, and not knowing what it is caused from! As I find out more, I'll let my devoted readers know what's up! Thanks again.... it means a lot <3

Pray.Please.Like.NOW!

I have been feeling a little weird the last 24ish hours. Last night, I had a hard time getting to sleep because my heart just kept feeling funny. I can't take a deep breath, and when I do it's a struggle. While eating lunch today, I timed my heart, and it was beating at over 100bpm. NOT.GOOD. I have a doctor's appt at 7:15 tonight. PLEASE PRAY that everything is OK. It would be appreciated!

Ummmmm, Did She Say What I THINK She Said??

Our precious little munchkin had an ENT appt. yesterday afternoon to make sure that her tubes are still in place, and still doing their job. Fortunately, they are, and she hasn't had an ear infection for a long time. On our way home, we were stopped at a red light, and the little one blurts out "feeench fies, mommy, feeeeench fies..... pease" rubbing her chest like a mad woman to do the sign for "please" in sign language. That is the moment that the hubster and myself stop, look at each other, and kinda laugh about the fact that our not-even-2-year-old knows what logo McDonalds has and what she gets from there freak out because we feel like BAD BAD parents. No kid that young should know what McDonalds is, and what they get there. It was even more of a wake-up call for us to show that we absolutely NEED to get our butts in gear, and get our lives turned around. You never know the damage you're doing until your kid pipes up to let you know... maybe you need to change some things, parental units... like ASAP. Needless to say, there will be no more drive-thrus for us. Last week, we even exercised 4 out of the 5 days during the work week. I guess it's better to get the wake-up call now, and know we need to change; then have it be too late, and have her only want these bad things all the time. Then she'd end up in an unhealthy situation that could cost her her life.

**** Putting tail between my legs, my head is down, my ears are back, and I am hiding in the corner so the world doesn't know what a horrible parent I actually am! ****

Miss Me Much?

Our modem has gone kaput! So, needless to say, I am unable to blog, read blogs, stalk check on blogger friends, reread blogs.... it pretty much stinks! We should be getting our new modem Monday or Tuesday *keeping my fingers crossed*. Because, you know, being Internet-less isn't bothering me at all is driving me insane!

Chocolate Gives You Hips, Thighs, and a Butt Inspiration

I thought I'd share this little tidbit of information for all of you chocolate lovers. I found a new reason to eat chocolate today! As I was enjoying my Dove Dark Chocolate Promises, I got two messages that 1) encouraged me to eat more chocolate to see what else I would gain insight on and 2) gave me a pretty cool little inspirational blurb. Here they are ~

*Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can ~ How awesome is that? It's a way to challenge yourself. I have actually been doing this lately. Instead of watching TV or getting on the Internet, I find stuff to do around the house (with a 2 year old, that's not hard to do, anyway). I've also been exercising, and pushed myself last night pretty hard to reach the goal of biking 3 miles in 20 minutes. So far, I've lost 4 lbs!


* Keep believing in yourself and your special dreams ~ If you don't believe in yourself, who else will? Another great little inspiring piece of info.!!


So, go get yourself a bag of Dove Promises, and be inspired. Oh, yeah, and enjoy some pretty awesome chocolate, too! (I know how many points each one is, so I limit myself to a certain amount every day)

Have You Ever....

.... felt alone? Almost totally alone? Here in our Earthly life is what I mean. I'm really struggling right now. I have my husband and daughter down here, which is wonderful. But, other than them, I have nobody. I have nobody to talk to, nobody hang out with, nobody to have girl time with... it's driving me mad. It seems like every friend I've ever had has screwed me over in some way. I've only had like 2 really close friends in my whole life, and I moved away from both of them. I still keep in contact with one of them, but she lives where I'm originally from in Pennsylvania. Part of it is because my family has moved so much in my life that I've never really had the opportunity to make solid friendships, and keep the friendships I actually did make. The other part of it is that women are hateful and catty. Every time I feel like I can trust another female and tell them something personal, they think it's their personal duty to run and tell every single person they know. I would love nothing more than to find someone who I really connect with, who I can hang out with, who I can relate to, and who I can trust with my whole heart. It seems like that is never going to come :o( I love my husband an girl so much, but it would be so nice to have other friends in my life/our lives. We sat at home on New Years because we have no friends down here. It really stinks!!

Alphabet ~ Munchkin Style

Our friends got our little munchkin this rad Leap Frog alphabet thing-a-ma-jiggy for Christmas. It goes on the fridge, and it has all of the letters as separate magnets. When you place a letter in the big letter holder it says "every letter makes a sound 's' says....", and so on for the rest of the alphabet. This is something my princess LOVES, and she plays with it nonstop. I also sing her ABC's to her all the time.

While we were in the hall playing with the dog, she pipes up "a b c d e f g 8 9 10 l m n". I thought this was hysterical... combining letters and numbers. Who would have thought? I mean, the letters H I J K don't really matter, do they? I also think it pretty much rocks that my not-even-2-year-old knows 9 of her 26 letters of the alphabet. You gotta mix it up a little bit every now and then! :o)

Welcome 2009

It's here... a fresh start, a new beginning, time to try and undo all of things I did last year that I shouldn't have. I have a huge list of not-so-much "resolutions, but more like goals, that I am bound and determined to accomplish this year. I look at this year with much excitement, anticipation, and determination! Here are my 2009 resolutions ~

Personal ~
*Lose this weight, dangit ~ the healthy way!
* Exercise at least 4 days a week
* Walk at least 1 mile a day, and incorporate weight training
* Be able to jog/run in the next few months, and increase it to do a few miles a day
* Drink at least 100 ozs. of water a day
* Eat at least 5-7 servings of fruits and veggies a day
* Lower sugar and sodium intake
* Eat more veggies (the only ones I eat now are cooked corn, green beans, and raw broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and cucumbers)
* Be a better mother
* Be a better wife
* Wash my face twice a day
* Read more to my girl every day
* Play more with my girl every day *with blocks, Play-doh, baby dolls, singing
* Do crafts with my girl
* Spend less time on the Internet... this is gonna be hard!
* Be more active around the house, and watch less TV

House ~
* Keep house clean and neat (we've done an amazing job cleaning so far this week!)
* Vacuum and dust the house every Saturday
* Keep the kitchen floor and counters clean
* Get every single room in neat and tidy order (our computer room looks like a tornado hit it)
* Get the bathroom redone so the princess can bathe in the bathtub instead of the kitchen sink
* Get all of the dead bushes (the guy that lived here before us killed them, not us) out of the flower beds, and redo the flower beds
* Keep my house feeling cozy and comfy, not messy
* Get a new fridge
* Get a kitchen table and chairs (we don't have one!)

Christian ~
* Have a better relationship with God
* Emulate Him more
* Concentrate on Him more
* Read through the Bible
* Do devotions every single day
* Pray more
* Pray more with our munchkin
* Read Bible stories to her
* Encourage my husband to have a better relationship with God
* Read Sacred Marriage, Sacred Parenting, and The Beautiful Fight by Gary L. Thomas
* Make it to church more often... we use the toddler as a cop-out sometimes because during church is her naptime ~ hate to admit it, but it's true! And, she does sleep from 10:30-1:30 almost every Saturday and Sunday

Financial ~
* Keep track of both accounts (we're heinous at doing that)
* Stop overdrawing (because we're stupid and don't keep track)
* Get medical bills and orthodontist paid off
* Stop spending foolishly
* Go out to eat ONCE a month (not ten times)
* Start a savings account (shoulda done that LONG ago)
* Start tithing again (missionaries, a Christian food service at my parents church, and just at our church)


And there you have it, all of my goals for 2009! Hopefully at the beginning of 2010 (which will be here wayyyy faster than we think), you will read a post about how wonderfully I did on all of these resolutions! :o) With God as my source of strength, I know I can do this. I am praying many times throughout the day that He will keep me strong. By leaning on Him, all things are possible!

Do you have any resolutions? If so, I'd love to hear! :o)