Pumpkin Patch: A commentary.

We went to the pumpkin patch and had the best day! Here are a few pictures of us enjoying the day! You believe me don't you? When I got home and looked at the pictures, I was almost convinced that we had fun too. The trip was to a great place, was well organized and I totally appreciate the work that went into planning it, but for me it was not what I was imagining. I can now find humor in it and since I love to laugh I can say it was worth it to me. It serves to remind me that as I flip through the pages of the recently received Pottery Barn Kids Christmas catalog I should understand that ordering the cute pink kitchen set doesn't guarantee that my child won't slam her finger in the refrigerator door or that ordering the perfect bedding doesn't make my child want to stay in the bed all night. I seem to forget that when I see pictures of cute kids named Taylor and Madison standing outside of their ski lodge with all their monogrammed luggage. In our world, we would lose a piece of the luggage or one the kids would plummet off of the lodge porch and break his arm. I, being a planner and a dreamer at the same time, usually set myself up for disappointment. You get my point I think. Well, here are the pictures.

PBK (Pottery Barn Kids) Version: Just a fun group on a farm having so much fun.
Reality: Standing in line in the blazing sun only to end up facing the sun (notice the squinting) while someone takes your picture with a fun saver camera.

PBK: Sydney frolicking amongst the pumpkins as she tries to pick the perfect one.
Reality: Sydney tripping over roots and uneven ground as she cries, not caring about the pumpkins.

PBK: The cool breeze was so nice, look at how my hair blows across my face! The perfect day for jeans and corduroy. I am glad I have Morgan close to me so I can keep him warm from the cool weather!
Reality: My hair wasn't blowing anywhere. It was actually stuck to my face due to the sweat from the heat of the blazing sun and carrying a 16 pound baby on the front of me. Glad I forgot my sunglasses!


Ok, I do love this picture because she loves animals and it just shows her excitement upon seeing a turkey. (Note that the sweater was on for the very beginning pictures) Sydney basically ran from us most of the time and as the guide lady said "some of you may not be accustomed to forming lines".

PBK: Pumpkins for sale!
Reality: Free kid with purchase of pumpkin.

PBK: I want this one!
Reality: I just fell for the 5th time.

PBK: Let's get a bunny for Easter!
Reality: First we should find the bunny from last year and then we will talk.

PBK: Having kids is so great!
Reality: Having kids is so great. Even when you have a rough day or two.

Reformation Party

Here are some pictures from our Party at church. Sydney and her cousin, Mara Brantley, wore Medieval gowns for the occasion.

Fun in the Barn

Crafty Copy Cat

Ragan and I have planned for some time now to make shadowbox art for our kids' rooms. I have to tell you that we got the idea (ok, ripped off the idea) from Maggie. Thankfully, I don't remember what hers exactly looked like so I had to come up with my own stuff. The one thing I do remember is that Maggie used cardboard for the letters (by peeling the top layer off a piece of a box), but it was too cute and perfect for a boy to not copy that part. So thanks Maggie for your inspiration. I wish you could have seen me and Ragan crafting away and making a huge mess. It was fun though and I think we are going to make craft night a regular occurrence. Anyhow, here are pictures of my shadow boxes.

As you can see, I opted for a transportation theme in anticipation of a quilt that Morgan is getting for Christmas. The train, car, and letters were all drawn and cut out by hand. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. You can't tell from this picture, but each one has a three dimensional element to it with either the cardboard and by using raised stickers on the back of the train, hence the need for the "shadow box". Ok, so you can tell I am excited about this. I just really needed something for his walls and I am so glad that this worked out!

Crazy is the new Black

I think we can all agree that since it is 4 AM, I should be sleeping instead of obsessing over how I should spend my Saturday. My plan is to run a 5k this morning though the only reason to do it is that I have made plans to do it with myself. I don't have anyone else depending on me to be there. A friend is having a garage sale this morning. In fact, her whole street is. It is the perfect time for me to make some money and get rid of a huge box of things that we cleaned out last Monday. So make money or spend 18 dollars to get a t shirt that basically says that I followed through with plans. I feel like I will be disappointed either way. Miss out on a garage sale (I just can't have my own. Our street is so narrow and our driveway is too. My mom is too overloaded with stuff to even think about having one.) or back out on a goal. I guess not doing the 5k doesn't mean that I can't run 3 miles. This is crazy! I should have looked around my garage and noticed that getting stuff together for a garage sale was much more important to my well being than running yet again. I guess part of the problem is that the last garage sale I participate in on left me with $40. I left there and ate lunch and then spent the remainder getting things monogrammed down the street. I guess I didn't have good enough junk. I really feel like I have some good stuff this time and that I can make a little money. Maybe I could run after the garage sale and Adam could present me with a t shirt or something. I guess technically I would win first place in my own race. Ok, garage sale it is. Now, to price my stuff... or should I run...

Now, I bet I could make money on the fact that you will return to this site to see which one I did.

Budgy's Campaign

Does that title grab your interest? Let me tell the story of how "Budgy" came to be his nickname around town and why you may hear the phrase "Budgy McBudgerson for Governor". Budgy comes from Budgy Pudgy, because that is just what he is. Naturally, Budgy needs a last name so McBudgerson made sense since Sydney was Lovey McLoverson (I say "was" because we eventually start calling them by their intended names. Ok, sometimes we still use her cute names.). Adam and I are pretty silly when it comes to the kids. We make up songs, names, and sometimes even commercials. Very early one morning I, in a delirious state, remembered all the campaign commercials I had been watching during the late night feedings and holdings and came up with a commercial for Budgy. It went something like this..."Hi, I am Budgy. Budgy McBudgerson - for Governor. I care about Mississippi. It seems like yesterday I was just born here. Vote for me Budgy McBudgerson." (then in a quick voice overhead) "Paid for by the friends of Budgy McBudgerson for Governor." Ok, so just to amuse my family, who have found the thought of him running for Governor pretty entertaining, we took a few campaign shots of him wearing what is absolutely the cutest hat I have ever seen (given by Morgan's Great Aunt Tracy. There is actually an entire outfit, but he doesn't fit in it yet...give him a few days). I can promise that there will be many more pictures to come in the hat, because Adam has a hat just like it (though plaid) that I bought him last year from Banana Republic and I want Morgan to wear the entire outfit for those pictures. Sigh. It is just all too adorable for me to handle. Anyway, here he is in a onesie that I just had to buy for him a few weeks back. Ok, enough silliness. Enjoy.

Hallelujah...Paci!

We are making strides, I repeat, we are making strides. Morgan has been harassing me daily around noon to eat again...or so I thought. He just ate two hours ago and you can see that this is frustrating to me. I just tried the paci and he has had it in his mouth for at least ten minutes. It just fell out and he accepted it again. This really means something to me. It is like he is saying "Hey, I get it. It isn't ALL about me. I CAN meet you half way. You and Sydney have lunch and then I will have mine. " Amazing that just taking a paci can say all that, isn't it. He even took 2 ounces of formula for me last night too - from a bottle! I need a night out without him and without Adam at home having to hold him all night or call me 7 times. Maybe we will get there. Yes, I believe we just might.

She plays

Sydney and I built a tent using Morgan's play mat and her chair. Why is this so fun? Speaking of playing...On a side note, I of course stepped on the scale this morning as I always do (at least 3 times a week). I try not to let it discourage me earlier in the week, but as Tuesday approaches (that is my official weigh day) I start to worry. This morning I was down 3 pounds from yesterday morning. Either I have not hit a plateau (which Adam says can only be considered when one has not been able to lose for at least a month and they are doing all they should/can - again, a skinny person's definition) or Sydney has been playing on my digital scale again and has essentially broken it to my favor. I considered the latter at first so I tested it with a five pound weight added to mine and it seems to be ok. Is that an accurate way to test it? Not sure, but I choose to believe that it is real. So maybe no plateau for now, but I still need to be good today. Good thing we have nothing that I would want to eat in the house.

Roll over

I think Morgan has set a record. He just rolled over from his stomach to his back. I knew he wasn't advanced (code for chubby) for nothing! What does even mean? For nothing? Guess it is just something people say. Anyway, here is a picture because a friend told me once that people only read the posts that have pictures. Just in case...

Couch!

We have been searching and searching for a couch and I just called The Vineyard in Clinton and they are offering 15% off of their special order furniture. We have been looking at Rowe couches and I think we have come to a compromise on what we are getting. Adam wants a modern look and I want a comfortable feel. Some modernish (I guess I really mean non-classic) or straight line sofas look uncomfortable to me, but I am happy with our decision. We looked at all the local furniture stores and thankfully sought the advice of a decorator friend who suggested Rowe brand to us. We are going to go this afternoon and pick out a RED fabric. That is scary to me. A red couch. It will take 6 weeks to get here. We may have sold our chenille club chairs (or at least someone is interested) so we won't have anything to sit on for a while! Ok, so we do have other furniture to put in here temporarily, but I miss my sofa (it got moved to the living room). Here is our decision, only picture it in red.

Furniture for sale

We are going to list the following in the paper, but I wanted to list it here and on the online thing at my mom's work first. In case you are looking for something...prices are negotiable. I hope this isn't tacky, but how else can I get the word out?

Mahogany 4 poster bed (double)- $50
Mahogany bedroom suite (chest of drawers, dresser with mirror, 4 poster bed) - $200
Art Deco double bed with dresser and mirror - $200
Desk with hutch and printer table/filing cabinet (from Target, very study, dark wood) - $100
3 small wooden kitchen chairs with carving (oak) - $30
White (porcelain or metal top, not sure) kitchen table. Small table with blue and white stripes around the side of the top. Needs some love (or glue) and a little cleaning. $25
Platform Rocker with carved wooden arms. Fabric (currently red gingham) seat and back. Unfortunately, the fabric is not on the back but it needs to be. Sort of an unfinished project.$25
Antique Occasional Chair (needs to be recovered as it currently has no seat or back. Wood arms. $10
Green arm chair (great for reading). $20

Chenille Club Chairs (Camel Color). Perfect condition. $200 for pair

I may add some stuff to this as Adam and I purge our home. Yea! A clean garage is on its way!

The Gym

So Adam and I joined a gym. We needed to do it by Tuesday to get the reimbursement from his work for this quarter. It is awesome that they are doing this for their employees. We decided to go with the St. Dominic's version of the Baptist Healthplex. It is called Healthline. It is considerably smaller, but much nicer in the convenience and equipment departments. It has a pool, which I may never use, but one thing that I am really excited about is the weight machine system they have there. Your information is programmed into the machines so you can enter your pin number and it will adjust to your settings, your reps, sets, and range of motion. It keeps track of your workouts and you can print them and your progress whenever you want. After 12 workouts on a machine it will prompt you to do a strength test and up your weight. It also sports mostly older ladies and gentlemen so I don't have that intimidation factor when I am trying to do my weights in the mornings. I go on Friday morning to get set up with that. Last night, I did my fitness assessment. Basically, a guy named Jason weighed me, pinched me, and timed me all to tell me at the end that I am basically obese (according to my body fat percentage), in "fair" shape (this based on me doing as many sit ups as I can in one minute with my post c-section abs), and that I am average in flexibility (no argument there, I feel as stiff as is humanly possible). Well, that was all great to hear coming on the heels of a zero pound weight loss this week. I guess I have hit a plateau. Good thing I am gym bound now. I plan to run outside as I have been doing and use the gym for weights, the occasional class, and doing my running on days when I can't get out during the daylight hours (I don't run by myself at night or early morning). I am charting my progress and dieting woes during all this so I can look back and laugh at it once I am a size 2. Maybe I will share it later to inspire someone else.

This just sums up my life.

I have had a tiny bit of glue on the side of one tooth (from my braces) for nearly 15 years and I have never mentioned it to my dentist (who happens to be my cousin). How is that for procrastination?

New Products I like

Thomas Brand Mini Bagel Bread. That is for you Laura and Amy. For the love of our bagel sandwiches.

Great Value (Walmart) Cranberry flavored sugar-free drink mix. All the flavor of a cranberry juice cocktail we love with non of the calories or sugar we hate.

Starbucks Frozen Light Frappe Bars. Enough said. Grocery store product.

Special K Protein Water. Single serving mixes have 5 grams of protein to keep you feel longer. It works.