Let's Party!!!

You can tell that there are friends in our lives that aren't as into Gator Football games as our family is. Today the kids were invited to two birthday parties...on the same day as a Gator Football game!!! Are these people nuts??? haha So Jeff and one of his co-workers are currently watching the football game in person, as I sit and type my blog entry while watching the game on TV...because this morning Kendall, Carson & I went to a birthday party (3 years old) for Jonathan L., and this evening we will be going to another birthday party for (2 years old) Nicholas T. Not that both of us could have gone to the game if we wanted too...because there isn't one babysitter that is on our list that is able to babysit on Gator Football game days. So, although I do laugh at the fact that people actually have birthdays, weddings, etc. on game days because I know that it decreases the attendance level, it didn't really affect our family because we are still able to have representation at each event. :)

I wanted to include in this post before the memory leaves me, some cute things that Kendall has said in the last few days. Whenever she sees a McDonald's restaurant, she says "Can we eat at Old MacDonald's?" (like the song "Old MacDonald had a farm.." It is hilarious!!) And...today at Jonathan's party, she was running trying to catch up with Lily G., and she yells out "stop right there mister!" She heard this phrase on the movie Finding Nemo. Kelly (Lily's mom) and I just about died laughing...just not the expression you think you would hear out of the mouth of a 2 year old! haha Kendall has also told me that she wants a "yellow birthday". Her favorite color is yellow, and she was telling me that she wants a yellow cake, yellow balloons, yellow hats and yellow presents. How cute is that?

Well - although I wasn't happy with my second cake from class - it is more because I didn't have time to do more to it. But - it did turn out cute. And...Jeannine had me do a cake for her for a birthday party for one of her gal pals. Although I'm not 100% happy with it, Jeannine LOVED it. One more cake for this class to go (and I'm supposed to know how to do roses by the end of it...). I think I'm going to take the level 2 class either in October or November...and in that class there is only one cake total that is done. But...I'll probably still do one every week or so just so that I can keep practicing. I am actually going to make a cake for two different baby showers that I am helping organize - so the more practice the better!!! So...without further ado - here are pictures of the cakes (the chocolate one is from class, the one with pink flowers is for Jeannine).

And...here are pictures of the kids as promised.

Miss May (our babysitter) took these pictures of the kids eating a snack. I just LOVE their smiles!!!

The following are pictures of our Gator girl at Jonathan's party.

Our little guy at Jonathan's party this morning - I think we will have to surgically remove his thumb from his mouth! haha

Kendall, Lily & Ty awaiting a piece of Birthday cake.

The feeding frenzy that was the aftermath of the pinata being opened. :)

How many kids can you fit into a tube?? Hmmm

Who was that masked child??? Jonathan's party was a "Batman" party, and they all got in on the fun.

Lily finally got her mask.

Even baby Trevor became a bat-baby!

Confessions

Ok...I am finally ready to admit it on the world-wide-web...where everyone in the world can see it... I, Amy H., am a nail and finger biter! There...I feel much better now...

For as long as I can remember, I have always bitten my nails. I would bite them down so low sometimes that it would bleed because I actually got to my skin. Eventually, I stopped biting them that bad...but then I started biting my fingers...meaning mainly my cuticles. You know how sometimes you get that little piece of skin on your finger that pokes up...I would bite it off. Then...when it didn't seem "even" enough...I would keep biting. I've bitten my cuticles/fingers so badly that the ends of my fingers around my fingernails looked red. It is really a very disgusting habit. I've sat next to a nail biter in church before and it took everything in me not to hurl. However...I can not keep myself from doing it myself. The the other day I was cutting Kendall's fingernails...and I noticed that one was significantly shorter than the other ones...now I'm not saying that she is biting her nails...but I do know that her hands are in her mouth a lot. Which leads me to believe that she is learning this behavior from me. So...I've taken action to hopefully remedy the situation...even if it is just a "band aid" on the problem.

Every time I've ever had acrylic nails in the past, I've left my fingers alone. I understand the nails part...you just can't bite through the acrylic no matter how hard you try...all you end up doing is breaking the acrylic. But for some reason, I also end up leaving my cuticles and fingers alone as well... So...last week I went out and got some nails put on me. First of all...they are TOO long...and I had them made the wrong "shape" (for those of you out there that don't know...there is like 3 or 4 "shapes" you can make your nails when you have them done - square, round, oval & natural - I think that is it...). I had them made square with a bit of a rounded tip (I should have had them done "natural"). Plus...I put on white tips (so it looks like I have a french manicure)...all in all...I feel so completely awkward with the nails on my hands. I feel like my fingers are 3 inches longer...like I'm Wolfman from the X-men. Just doing daily tasks is more of an effort...including typing. Let me tell you - you have to hold your hand different on the keyboard when you have nails that are 3 inches longer than your normal fingers...because otherwise you are hitting all the wrong keys. Plus - my fingernails grow really fast. So, for a person like me that liked to bite especially when I had a snag, etc...seeing the real nail under the acrylic is just like an invitation to bite. I can't tell you how strong the temptation is to start chipping away at the acrylics...but because they aren't cheap...I am doing my best to avoid the temptation. I think that most women go every 3 to 4 weeks to get their nails "filled in"...I think I'll be lucky if I can wait for 2 weeks... Anyway - for all of you out there that like to bite your nails...I'll keep you posted on how long the "band aid" works for me...

Isn't it funny what sticks in the head of a 2 year old? I am going to give you two versions of a story - one from Kendall (and the ensuing panic of her parents) and the other from her teacher (the actual account of what happened).

Kendall's version - A man called me princess. What man Kendall? Bob. A BIG man. A big man called you princess? Where did this happen? At school. We played pirate and we had a water break. (Now...imagine you are her parents...some big man at her school played pirate with her and called her princess...hmmm...we need some answers...so we called her teacher...and when we couldn't get a hold of her we called three other people we know whose kids go to the school to see if they knew if maybe a fireman was at the school or something that day...)

Miss Sherry's version - When the kids were playing on the playground, the 4 and 5 year old class was out on the same playground as the 2 and 3 year olds. A group of boys were on the slide/fort equipment and were playing like it was their pirate ship - but they weren't allowing anyone else on "board". So after being corrected by the teachers, Kendall was the first one up to play on it and was standing by the slide when one of the boys said to her "You are our princess", to which she got upset...then shortly thereafter, they had a water break (all the kids went inside and drank water from their cups).

We still don't know where the name "Bob" came from (according to Sherry, none of the kids were named Bob)...but we were almost embarrassed for getting so worked up...almost...

Carson is finally starting to talk! So far he says "down" (as he is lowering his arm like we do when we tell Rally to lay down), "up" (kind of...the only reason we know that is what he is saying is because he is raising one or both arms up into the air as he says it), & "uh oh" (which is the cutest sound in the world!!!!) He still won't say "Daddy" or "Dada"...which is really starting to bother Jeff I think. And we keep trying to get him to say his own name or even Kendall's name. But...we'll get there eventually I know. Kendall was so much more verbal at this age...that we were starting to get a little worried about his speech. But...as much as he babbles throughout the day - I'm sure we will have nothing to worry about very soon!!!

No pictures today...I have my cake decorating class tonight and I'll take some pictures of my cake and the kids and post them in the next couple of days.

Oh...and for those of you that have paid attention to the financial news - Jeff's company, Merrill Lynch, is merging with Bank of America. Besides the fact that the market is down significantly and Jeff is dealing with anxious clients...he isn't worried at all about his job (which means I'm not worried either...:)) So thank you to all of you that have kept us in your prayers and thoughts the last couple of weeks because of it.

Martha Stewart I'm not

So I decided to take a cake decorating class at my local Michael's craft store along with one of my girlfriends, Penny. I don't have any grand ideas of starting any kind of business, or even entering any amateur competitions...I just thought that if I could bake and decorate my kids birthday cakes from this point forward - it would eventually make up for the cost of the class. So...I've already had two classes, and baked/decorated one cake. The instructor assures us that by the end of week four (which is three decorated cakes) that we will be able to tell a BIG difference between cake one and cake three. Well...we've got a few weeks before we can see if what she said is true...but here is a picture of the first one.

As you can tell from the pictures...I still have a LOT of work ahead of me before I start my own bakery! haha

In order to have a more peaceful nighttime after putting Kendall to bed...we have taken away her afternoon naps. We would put her to bed at 8pm (normal bedtime), but she would stay up and play and call for us sometimes up to as late as 9:30/10pm...and then still wake up at 6:30am. So I figured that with the 2 to 3 hour nap she was getting every day...that it was just too much. So...Sunday was our first day without a nap, and she slept GREAT! She went to bed at 7:30 and with the exception of waking up one time, slept until 7am. Same with last night...and hopefully same with tonight.

Carson has discovered something...he not only likes but can climb to the top of Rally's box in the living room. And...of course...as the concerned mother I am...I run to find my camera before I make him get down...

And last but certainly not least...here is Jeff's idea of "watching" the kids. hehe

Now before someone runs off and calls DCF on us...they, of course, were playing and Jeff never left the room, and as soon as he took a few pictures, he opened the door, much to their chagrin.

Go Gators!

I have to admit...prior to meeting Jeff - I was NEVER a big sports fan. Living in St. Louis area growing up, I've always (and still do) love the Cardinal's baseball team - but even then I never followed any of the games, etc. Regardless of the sport, I've always loved going to games - whether it be baseball, football, hockey, etc. Something about all the smells and tastes (there is NOTHING better than a ballpark hotdog) and sounds...it really gets under your skin and it is hard not to get enthusiastic. Anyway - my point of all this...is that when I met Jeff I knew that he was a HUGE University of Florida Football fan. In fact, we scheduled our wedding (and almost our children) around football season. Heaven forbid that when our 10th anniversary came around that there was a big football game... Jeff tried to tell me when we first met that I would become a big Gator fan myself someday. I smiled and nodded, trying to appease his enthusiasm. However - I will say...after being a couple for 6 years and married for 4 1/2 years...he was right! I love going to the games and following the plays and I even read the sports pages sometimes when there is information about the Gators. I watch the other SEC teams, paying attention to who wins and loses so that I know how the Gators need to do to get the SEC Championship. I pretty much know the top 10 in the BCS standings at any given time...and although I may not watch any of those games, I anxiously look at the results section of the sports page so I can see if we moved up in the standings and hope each week that we get closer to being able to make it to the National Championship game again. This has all been said because the Gators beat the University of Miami last night, 29-3, for the first time since 1985!!! Go Gators!!!



Ok...onto family stuff... The kids started "school" this week...and I actually was able to get my hair done without having to hire a babysitter! Heaven!!!

Carson & I outside of Carson's classroom.


This next week should be even better, as I have a pretty clear schedule all week long. Friday night, we tried to see how long the kids would last at a football game. Answer - 1 1/2 quarters! Jeff's HS Alum, Oak Hall, which is just around the corner from us, had a home football game, so we decided to try and go. It was fun going to a high school football game again...I haven't been to one since I was in high school myself. And it was fun seeing the high school kids running around (did I really look that young???) Here are a couple of pictures we took at the game:

Its the most wonderful time of the year...

School has started again!!! This means several things in our household:

1) Kendall is in school 4 days a week for about 3 hours each day (Tuesday through Friday)
2) Carson is in school 2 days a week for about 3 hours each day (Wednesday and Friday's), which means that
3) Mommy gets two mornings a week all to herself!!! plus...
4) College students are back in town, which means that
5) Our babysitters are back in town, including May (our absolute favorite), which means
6) She is here on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon's to "help out", which means
7) Tuesday and Thursday afternoons I can write my book, or go to the grocery store (like I did today) or sleep or do a million other things that I haven't been able to do (like update my blog), which means
8) I'm getting my sanity back!!! which means
9) Jeff isn't having to walk on tip-toes to avoid my roller coaster of emotions from being locked in a house with two kids for the entire month of August when there was no "summer" school for Kendall and when there was no babysitters around to let us take a date night here and there, which means
10) Happy Days are here again!!! (Can't you just hear the music???)

So hopefully with the "extra time" on my hands, I should be able to update my blog regularly.



I don't normally put the following kind of stuff in my blog - but I really feel led to do so today. My heart is aching right now for my friend M. She and her husband, R. have been trying to get pregnant for some time. She sent an e-mail out that she just found out that she is pregnant...but is having a miscarriage (she is just over 5 weeks pregnant). Some of you know that prior to Kendall, Jeff and I were pregnant once and lost that child due to a miscarriage at 6 weeks. And although the pregnancy is still so early on, losing it breaks your heart into a million pieces, and there are no words that can comfort you - only time. So - please say a prayer for her and her husband tonight that they would get comfort in their time of need.



On a brighter note, here are a couple pictures and a video or two for your enjoyment.

Carson is wishing he knew how to ride Kendall's tricycle!

I don't know about you...but this barely looks like the Kendall I know...but then again...her mouth is shut in this picture and it is rare that her mouth isn't moving at a hundred miles an hour...like mother like daughter I suppose! :)