She ain't hefty, she's my baby!

My precious 7 month old baby girl was described as “hefty” this past weekend. She’s never been called that before. Chubby, yes. Soft and squishy, of course. But hefty? No, that’s a new one. When you think of the word “hefty”, you don’t often think of a beautiful and healthy infant. At least I don’t. But I’m not upset about it. In fact, I’m just the opposite. Every last one of her 17 pounds was the result of eating nature’s perfect food. Every soft and cuddly roll was formed because my gorgeous babe is given only the best nourishment a baby can get.

See these rolls?



And these thighs?



Yeah, it’s a result of this.



You think she’s hefty? I think she’s perfect. And I’m one proud mama.

Cheese!!

Her “smile pretty for Mommy” smile.



And her new favorite hairdo.

Love

Letting go, moving on, and becoming a better person

That is my mission. There are some people, situations, and things from my past (recent and not so recent) that I really need to let go of, get over, and stop harboring ill will towards. I'm not one to easily forgive and forget. I know it is commanded of me, but it is not easy. Instead, I hang onto it, let it fester, and then get mad again over and over. It's miserable. And, honestly, I hate letting it have so much power over me. Well, not anymore, folks. Yessiree I'm letting go, moving on, and becoming a better person. I have no control over other people. They are responsible for themselves. I can only change ME. And that's what I intend to do. I am already changing the outside. I've been exercising and eating better. And I'm doing that for ME. NOT for the people who like to focus on my weight. Seriously, people, get a hobby! Get another issue to focus on! In addition to my ever changing body, I'm also about to give myself a mini makeover. Hair cut, new make up and new clothes. I always feel better when I put a little effort into my appearance. The inside change will take a little longer. I really need to DEAL with some of the things that have happened. I'm actually kind of scared to deal with it, because I don't know what kind of emotions are waiting to get out. I know it's for the greater good, but it's going to be ugly for a while.

But watch out, because when the new and improved Mrs. Taylor emerges, she will be better than ever. Just hide and watch.

Project 52 - Week 2

At the pediatrician's office...and a naked C-Diddy in the background as a bonus.

Project 52 - Week 1

This post has been edited because I am lame and can't commit to a daily task. A weekly task...maybe.

E$: Are you gonna take my picture, Mommy?
Me: Yes, ma'am, I am.
E$: I like taking pictures, Mommy.
Me: I know you do, Honey.

Poley Moley!!

My friend, Birdy, and I have been taking the initiative to get our booties in shape! We've been alternating between running/walking and pole walking. I really like the pole walking because not only does it work out the upper half of my body while walking, but it also is much easier on my hips, which haven't been the same since I was pregnant with C. It's a great overall workout. The only downside to it, is that we look like we're skiing. Yeah kind of ridiculous...but we don't care. However, it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. Birdy and I were trekking down the street on our way to the walking trails, and a van FULL of people pulled up beside us. The following exchange ensued:

Man: Excuse me ladies, but could you tell me which way the slopes are?
Me: [pauses] Heh.
Man: [insert uncontrollable laughing here]

Yeah...I'll bet that was the highlight of his day.

It's Important!!

Let me set the scene for you: Daddy is in the bathroom, and E-Money is right outside the bathroom door.


E$: [knocks on door]
Daddy: Yes?
E$: Open door!
Daddy: I'm using the restroom!
E$: I need to tell you something!
Daddy: [opens door slightly]
E$: GRRRRR!!!!

Guess it couldn't wait.

Daddy did my hair!

More Conversations with with my Toddler

Me: Okay, E-Money, let's pick up all of your toys so I can vacuum.
E$: What?
Me: Let's pick up all of your toys and put them in the toy bin so I can vacuum.
E$: WHAAAAAAAAT?
Me: Let's pick up your toys and put them in the toy bin so I can vacuum the living room. We want the house to be clean when daddy gets home!
E$: (gives me a sideways glance) What are you talking about???
Me: *pauses* Eh...never mind.

Have no fear...

SUPER BABY is here!!!

Pretzel Rolls

Imagine a pretzel. Now imagine it in bread form. Now imagine it as a sandwich. That's what I'll be having for lunch tomorrow. A yummy sandwich on a pretzel roll. If you haven't had a pretzel roll before, then you are surely missing out. They are so good! I found the recipe for mine here. She really lays it out for you step by step. Yes, this is a fussy recipe. But, let me assure you, it is well worth it. Try it....you'll probably like it!!

Success!

E-Money is COMPLETELY potty trained! She actually has been for a while, but I've been reluctant to declare it publicly! We're talking dry through naps and at night, pottying (#1 and #2) on the BIG potty with NO potty seat. Potty trained. She's a rock star :)

Pound Cake Cupcakes

These are so yummy! Nice and buttery...mmmm.

The original recipe came from here. Credit where credit is due.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 large eggs
• 2 cups softened, not melted, butter
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 2 teaspoon vanilla


Pound Cake Cupcake Recipe Directions

Combine all of your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add butter, milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed then mix at medium speed for about 4 minutes. Scrape bowl.

Add eggs one at a time and mix on low speed for 30 seconds after each egg. Once all eggs are in the batter, mix at medium speed for 1 minute. Batter will be thick and fluffy.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spoon batter into cupcake liners until 1/2 full. If you fill them any more, you risk having a mess in your oven.

Bake your cupcakes for 20 minutes or until a cake tester, or toothpick, inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Cool your pound cake cupcakes completely in the cupcake pans. Store in an airtight container.

I didn't want a whole bunch of cupcakes, so I halved the recipe. I knew from the look (ok and the taste) of the batter that they would be yummy. And they turned out great!! I found that 1/4 cup (or 2 scoops with my 2T scoop) of batter for each muffin cup was perfect. I baked for 17 minutes. Try these. They really are great!

RAWR!!!

In an effort to forget the terrible two-ness that currently abides in our home, I'm remembering the wonderfulness of having a toddler.

* She loves me. No, she REALLY loves me. She told me so. "I love you SOOO much, Mommy", she told me the other day. I love you too, baby girl.

* She loves my cooking. She eats with such delight. I love watching her eat. She is very much like her daddy in that aspect. I love watching him eat too....he eats with such gusto. Like whatever he's eating is the most wonderful thing ever made. But E-Money really does think that whatever I make is the most wonderful thing ever made. She is always telling me how good it is.

* I just walked into my bedroom more than a dozen times so she could jump out from behind the door and scare me. And I had to act surprised every. single. time. It was so cute because I could hear her giggling before I would even make it to the doorway.

*She sings. All the time. She'll even try to sing along with you to a song you're making up right then and there. Yeah, she's THAT awesome.

* She tells me "Big girl!!" when I go potty. :)

Ok...now I remember what's fun about this age. Terrible Twos?? Nah...TERRIFIC Twos!!!

Until she writes on the walls again. *sigh*

Dear Terrible Twos...

I hate you. Please go away.

Sincerely,

The Taylors

5 Minute Showers

Five minute shower, how I love thee. It's not often that I am able to get away from the pulls of daily life. The constant "Mommy!", "Honey!", and "Mrs. Taylor!". The ever present "What's for dinner", "Do I have clean clothes?", and "I poop!". But there you are. Waiting for me. To envelop me in your steamy goodness. To cover me in your warm embrace. Where I can laugh, cry, pray, and sing. Where for five minutes, I'm whoever I want to be. Not that I don't want to be wife and mommy....not at all. But for five minutes, I can remember who I am. I can recharge, regroup, and de-stress. Thank you five minute shower. Until next time...

Sister Love

Why I believe...

Why I believe:

My children. As I watch my children grow and learn, I think of how it all began. A little cluster of cells that grew inside my body for 9 months, then let my body know when they were ready to come into the world (well, with Chloe at least). The instinct to suckle at my breast, their tiny hands, feet, fingernails, etc. As I look at my children, and feel an overwhelming sense of unconditional love, I think about where those instincts come from. Maybe I’m naive to think my emotional and physical instincts (love, compassion, protectiveness, nurture, etc.) were deliberate instead of a product of happenstance.

Nature. Where did it all come from? A big bang? The whole world and everything in it created from a single organism? The complexity of even a strawberry makes me think there HAS to be something much bigger at work here. The inner-workings of the human body, photosynthesis, the water cycle: all things that make me question the single organism argument. I don’t know....maybe I’m simple minded. Maybe I’m weak and need a “crutch” to stand on when it comes to creation. Maybe I’m unintelligent to think that an almighty God is at work here, instead of a random bang in the sky that came from essentially nothing.

My husband. Maybe we’re just compatible. Maybe we have similar interests and personalities, and therefore make a good pair. Maybe I’m not strong enough of a person to accept the fact that it is all coincidence. Maybe I need to believe in a higher being because I’m weak and need to give someone else the power because I can’t handle it, or feel undeserving of it.

I believe because I’ve been spoken to by the Lord. I believe because I can see Him at work in my life. Some may call that coincidence. Some may say that I’m giving credit to a ‘god’ for the things that I did, or that would have happened regardless. But I call it having faith in an almighty power. Maybe if I hadn’t felt His presence, seen His will at work, heard His voice and urging in my heart...Maybe then I would think there might be something else at work here. Maybe I really am so simple minded and weak that I need to believe in a God that saves. Maybe. But I do believe. I believe in an all knowing, all seeing, POWERFUL God. And I thank Him daily for my blessings and for saving my soul. And if that makes me any less of a person in the eyes of the world, then that is a trade off I am happy to make. Because at the end of the day, I am responsible for my own destiny. And I chose life. Everlasting life.

Free Money, baby!

I ordered my first 2 Amazon gift cards this week. Hooray for free money!!!! Who knew that SwagBucks would be so easy and fun?? Have you signed up yet? You haven't?! What are you waiting for?

Do you Swag?

Swagbucks.com is the web's premier rewards site. Powered by Prodege LLC, Swagbucks.com allows web users to earn virtual currency by doing the things they do every day - search the web, shopping at their favorite retailers, and by engaging in other activities such as phone recycling, submitting polls, and completing special offers. Swagbucks.com is the only place on the web to get what you want without ever having to spend a dime.

Do you swag? It's easy as pie to earn swag bucks. Go here to learn how!!

Edited to add:

Swagging 101 (By Ames)

1. download the toolbar. you'll get 1 buck each day just for doing this.

2. use their search engine like you would any other. don't search extra just trying to get a hit. i usually get bucks about 2-3 x day. mostly 3. you'll know you got bucks because a nice little swagbuck dollar pic will show up on your screen telling you whether you got 10, 20, 30, or 50...or more. mostly you'll get 10s. i've gotten two 20s.

3. become a fan on fb. that's where i learned most of my swagaliciousness from. stalk the wall off and on throughout the day and when you see lots of 'thanks tsg' you'll know that a code is out.

4. the codes are worth swagbucks. i've seen them range anywhere from 3 bucks to 20. when one is out you have to search around to find it. they are hidden in a few different spots that you can access from swagbucks.com ......such as the blog, twitter (i do not have a twitter account but you can see their updates by just clicking the link), comments (from the blog), discussions (on fb) and other places. IF you download the swidget (i just put mine on my blog) though you can just check it and it will tell you where to look. for example, when the code was out on the toolbar, it said 'code in toolbar'. so.....no searching about for it.

5. do not oversearch because it will lock you. been there done that. and i didn't even think i searched that much. apparently they disagreed.

6. supposedly at midnight swagbucks are easier to come by.

7. on the swagbucks search page you can also search under images and videos and the others. be sure also to click on every page at the bottom. i've had a few wins on page 2.

8. check out the special offers. there are task that you can do as well. be wary of the stuff that you have to sign up for though.....because they don't always award the points. i mainly stick to searching and the codes. if i have extra time i'll do a task.
**on the special offers page, click the no obligation offers button. hit skip or no on each offer and get your free bucks. you can do this everyday.

9. get referrals. you make money from searches when they do....well, for the first $1000 that they make.

Nemesis...

When E$ first saw the door knob covers and fridge lock in the package, she was really excited. A new toy!! Or so she thought. She eagerly watched as we installed them, often giggling and squealing. Such innocence and naivety. Then it happened. She tried to open the pantry in the kitchen. "I can't", she said, "Door...open". "It's locked", I said. "Yeah...I know", she said. Ahhhh sweet, sweet victory. No more bringing me jars of olives or tea bags while I'm nursing her baby sister. No more standing with the fridge wide open looking for snacks. No more bringing sodas to me, saying "Open....Coke". No sirree. She's been locked out. And it feels great :)

Today I married my best friend...

Today is the 3rd anniversary of one of the best days of my life. The day I married my best friend. Little did we know that 9 months later, we would be holding a precious little baby girl. Life happened fast for us! But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you, Gary! Here's to many more years of wedded bliss :)

Today I Will...

Today I will take time to count my blessings.
Today I will hug my baby girls a little tighter.
Today I will tell my husband that I love him a few more times.
Today I will seize the moment.
Today I will forget the nonsense and appreciate my friends.
Today I will think about and pray for people that I haven't thought about and prayed for in a while.
Today I will have more patience.
Today I will thank God that I'm alive.

You were taken too soon, pretty lady. Rest in peace, Jamie. May your spirit live on through your precious baby girl.

Comfy Crochet

Check out these hats...

Aren't they adorable? We just love them. We got them from Comfy Crochet . These are by far the best quality crochet hats I've ever seen. They use a high quality yarn, and are just really well put together. E-Money LOVES her flower hat. And C-Diddy looks ADORABLE in the pom-poms. Thank you Comfy Crochet for a wonderful product!

Oh, and just so you know.....this is how NOT to wear the flower hat....



It's still adorable though! lol Check out Comfy Crochet! And tell them I sent you!

What a spectacle!! Part Deux

I was at the DMV the other day renewing my license, and the following exchange took place:

DMV Lady: Okay, Mrs. Taylor, look into the black box and read line 5 to me all the way across starting with the first box.
Me: Sure thing. (Peers intently into said black box). Umm...there is nothing in the first box.
DMV Lady: Step back and try again. You may just need to adjust your eyes.
Me: Okay. (steps back, focuses eyes, and peers intently into said box, once again). Yeah, there's nothing in the first box.
DMV Lady: Okay, start with the 2nd box then.
Me: Okay. (reads numbers to lady)
DMV Lady: Okay, now read the first box.
Me: There's still nothing in the first box.
DMV Lady: You might want to put your glasses on.
Me: Ok. (puts glasses on) OH....there it is. (reads numbers in 1st box)
DMV Lady: Yeah...you're going to have a restriction on your license.
Me: *facepalm*

Restricted. Dang.

Why...

Google suggestions...you've heard of 'em, right? When you go to google to look up something and you start typing in a word or phrase, and as soon as you start typing, a drop down menu appears of suggested searches. Well, I was looking up a question the other day starting with the word "why". These were my suggested searches:

Why do men have nipples?
Why are black people so loud?
Why is the sky blue?
Why can't I own a Canadian?
Why is my poop green?
Why did I get married too?
Why do dogs eat poop?
Why are people posting colors on facebook?
Why do cats purr?
Why did the chicken cross the road?

What.....the....heck? Why can't I own a Canadian?! Who asks that?!

My Girls Are Getting So Big!

My Bebes