Why o why...

...DOES SOMETHING HAPPEN EVERY GD TIME WE HEAD TO THE BEACH? Yeah, this year, day numero UNO, Little Bit gets pink eye. Now the child has spent 2 years of her life in germ infested daycares and has NEVER caught the eye funk. Apparently the 1st day on vacation is the best time to catch it. NICE! Thank god Sophie's doctor was on call this weekend. I had to drive aroud all of North Myrtle Beach to find an pharmacy but I finally found one and her doctor called in a script. Anyone know how long this thing lasts? This seriously puts a damper on the picture taking. Maybe I should buy her an eye patch and she can sport the pirate look.

10 on T

1. I have a million and one things to do before we leave for vacation and I've yet to do one single thing!

2. Little Bit is doing much better in Ms. PJ's room. Nap time is still a little rough and she's been crying herself to sleep because she wants her Brenda. Poor little thing, it makes me really sad.

3. I had to take Gracie to daycare this morning and I gave her and Sophie M&Ms at 7:40 in the morning! HA! 

4. How much would you pay a six year old to water 5 flowers for a week? I need to employ my little neighbor while we are gone but I feel bad that her mom will probably end up doing the watering!

5. Can I tell you how much it PAINS me to drive my SUV to the beach. I think I need a mini-cooper but Steven thinks I'd be squished on the interstate. Whatever.

6. Have you seen previews for that show "The Baby Borrowers?" I would love to sign Sophie up for that show! Just this past weekend I told my cousin that I should get a tee-shirt made that says "birth-control" to put on her when we go shopping. 

7. I think my child is turning into a hypochondriac. Yesterday morning, her "wegs" (legs) hurt, her belly hurt, her eye hurt, AND her elbow hurt. I think she was trying to get out of going to school!

8. Our trash company is going to get a LOVELY phone call tomorrow morning. The haven't picked up our recycling can in 3 weeks! AND Stephanie witnessed them dumping the recycle can into the same can as the regular trash! A-holes!

9.  Sophie has been obsessed with Shrek lately. I guess there are worse movies out there.

10. Ok, I'm going to do SOMETHING to get ready for vacation instead of surfing the web!

On a side not, I'm glad that this one isn't driving us to the beach!

What's this?

A kid that  LOOKS at a camera! Well hello, Tyler meet Mr. Nikon, you are going to be seeing a lot of him in a few days at the beach!  These two got in a few practice laps at the pool on Sunday. Check out Sophie's pruney foot! 

And for those of you who were wondering about the state of the Juicy Couture dressing room, after my initial shock wore off, I was able to act fast! Thank GOD I just happened to have a few paper towels in my camera bag (I'm usually the most unprepared mom on the face of the planet.) So I mopped up the pee (which luckily didn't seem like pee), then scrubbed it with a wet wipe. I think we got away with it. Unless the sales clerk saw Sophie carry her sopping wet Dora croc to my aunt and say "Here, DeeDee, I peed." 

This girl....

...got in her mind that the dressing room at Juciy Courture (i was looking for some shorts with the word "Juicy" written across my butt, HA!) looked an awfully lot like a bathroom stall. Who  cares that if it was missing one important key feature, the TOILET! Uh yeah, the words "oh she's just playing in the dressing room, what trouble could she possible get herself into" came out of my mouth one minute to soon. I opened the door to find her squatting in the middle of the dressing room, undies pulled down, taking a pee. And looked at me like I was CRAZY when I totally flipped out! How freakin' embarrassing! 

The next day this girl....

...took a tumble into Aunt Amy and Buncle Sean's (notcie the B placed in front of "uncle") pool, taking a few years off of PapPaps life and mine! Yeah it was a crazy weekend and we are all three worn out! Me from shopping with a two year old. Sophie from shopping AND swimming. And  Steven realized that he's 30 and bachelor parties are best left to the twenty something crowd! 

Wordless Wednesday

Ten on Tuesday

I have to admit, these are fun to do! 

1. Little Bit and I have an all girls weekend planned! Steven is helping to host a bachelor party in PA on Saturday so Sophie and I are going to ride up with him. Then the plan is to ditch him and Oscar and head to my aunt's house. We plan on doing some shopping and I'll be learning what's currently "in style" from my two cousins. I'll also be learning how NOT in style I currently am. Although Sophie does look pretty hip.

2. The transition into the big girl room at day care is not going well. This morning Little Bit informed her daddy that, "PJ go bye, bye. I go see Brenda." Yikes.

3. We are 10 days away from the beach, YES!

4. Sophie now has a Dora big wheel thanks to GiGi and PaPa. The thing has more bells and whistles than a Mercedes S class. And unlike a Mercedes S class, it speaks Spanish. 

5. I finally found Sophie a white dress to take pictures on the beach. I must be a lunatic because this year I am going to attempt to take photos of all 5 grandkids on the beach. I think I'll title that little project, "Mission Impossible."

6. Speaking of photos, my friend Jenny has volunteered to be my pregnant ginny pig. I'm going to attempt to take some maternity shots for her. I've already warned her that out of 200 shots, I might get 2 or 3 keepers.

7. I have Friday off because it's "West Virginia Day." I plan on getting a pedicure with my mom, possibly hitting the pool, and yes Sophie will be at daycare. 

8. I went to the doctor today and learned that I weigh 12 more pounds this year than I did this time last year. That's definitely a bummer but I'm sure that I won't lose too much sleep over it. 

9. Steven put together Sophie's new doll house bookcase for her big girl room over the weekend. It's definitely the most adorable piece of furniture in our house and even even looks cooler in person than it does online! 

10. And finally, our most exciting news this week. About 30 minutes ago, we booked 2 roundtrip tickets to Puerto Rico!!! So come December 13-20 I'll be laying on the beach for my fourth wedding anniversary! We are going back to the place we got hitched, the El Conquistador.

Here are my peeps after dinner this evening. Oscar is seriously like 2 times the size of Little Bit but size definitely doesn't matter. Girlfriend tells that poor dog when to jump! 

27 Months

On the day that you turned 27 months old another big even happened in your little world. You started transitioning into a new room at day care. Although it's time, over due in fact. And although you are ready, more than ready, for some reason  a part of me is upset about it. 

Maybe it's because I know how much you love your Brenda and I know how much your little heart is going to break when you have to move out of her room  so that makes my heart break for you as well. Or maybe it's because I look in the older room and see big kids. Really big kids who can carry on philosophical conversations with you (ok not really) but regardless, they don't seem like babies any more. And I'm just not ready to let that part of you go. Granted, you'll always be my baby, my one and only, but sometimes it's like you're telling babyhood to suck it.  But when I least expect it, every now and then you'll lay your head on my shoulder and say "rock me mama." So at least you throw me a bone here and there to let me know that your not a 100% certified big girl. 

You seem to have lots of self confidence and quite the ego these days. Your daddy had you in Walmart a few weeks ago and you felt the need to say "I PRETTY" to another shopper who happened to be walking by. Almost every morning, you admire what you have on said say, "wookie daddy, i really cute!" 

Your little voice cracks us up. You're hopeless with the letter "r", and you sort of remind me of Elmer Fudd, weally you do. And your "Fs" are a hoot. Doesn't every fish eat Pish pood (fish food)? And oh my god, the way you butcher Stephanie's name. It's so out there that I can't even repeat it!  Good thing we know a few speech therapists in case things don't get straightened out! 

We STILL have not set up your big girl room. For almost 2 months now, your big girl bed has been sitting in a box in the basement. We are petrified to give up the jail cell like confines of your crib. I'm guessing that it's a form of child abuse to physically strap you to your big girl bed. But we seriously have to get a move on. We are going to be giving your crib to baby Ruby and she'll be here before we know it! So when we get back from the beach, sitting up your new room is #1 on the "to do" list. 

Lets see. We've now watched 987 episodes of Dora, and  we've listened to 1, 283, 743 Wiggles songs. In fact, cars driving by probably think I've lost my mind when they pass us on the interstate and see a crazy woman "Move Like an Emu" in the car. 

So that my darling has been month 27. Nothing too off the wall.  Oh and one more thing. I hope you never loose this cute little gap between your teeth. It's totally working for you. 

 

Happy Father's Day

This makes #3 for Steven so he's an old pro at this Father's Day thing. So what did he do on his special day? Yard work. Power washed the shed to get it ready for painting and burned a ton of old branches while Little Bit and I chilled at the wave pool. My mom and I  had to drag her out of the waves kicking and screaming but we thought she was going to pass out from sheer exhaustion right in the middle of the pool! 

So would you like to see what Sophie B. got her daddy for father's day? It's like the coolest thing ever, so are you ready?

TA-DA!

Doesn't everyone need them a good garden gnome? And a WVU garden gnome at that! 

Row Your Boat

Now if I were a betting person (like a certain husband of mine who shall remain nameless), I would bet you a million dollars that if you told a little girl named Sophia that she had to wear a life jacket in order to go on a boat trip she would fight you to the death before she would allow said life jacket to come within five feet of her. And then, for spite, she would prove me wrong and I'd have to cough up that million. 

I really thought we were going to have an issue on our hands when we were handed this little beauty. But really she didn't fight it too much at all! Unlike the time I was three and I went on a a little field trip to a construction site with a bunch of other kids and our moms to visit our dads at work. We were told that we had to wear a hard hat before we could go out on the site. Well guess who flat out refused to put such an ungodly hat on her head, and instead sat in the office all day in defiance? Yeah, that would be me. I had a feeling that we would be waving from the dock as the boat pulled away. Wrong! 

Emmy and Sophie B. sharing secrets. 

On Location

We have a fish on our hands. From the time we walked into this place all we've heard is "I go swimming!" So before we could even check into our room we were changed and in the pool and had to drag her out literally kicking and screaming. And this morning, the first words uttered out of Little Bit's mouth were, "I go swimming!" Unfortunately, I'm not so sure there's time for us to go today. One day here us just not enough. But Grammy and PapPap are here to keep Little Bit company while I work for an hour or so. And Steven is on the golf course enjoying his father's day present, golf, golf, and more golf. 

So here's Little Bit getting some air action yesterday in the pool. I'll title this one "Fish Out of Water"! 

We Out

Once a year my work decides to take our show on the road for hearings. Of course we have to stay in West Virginia but there are some really nice resorts around this great state of ours. So tomorrow we are headed to Stonewall Resort. I've never been but it looks really nice and even better, it's on a lake! This year (unlike that last two years) Steven and Sophie are going to tag along. My friend from work is also bringing her two kiddos. And that's not all. Wait there's more you say? Yep, Steven's parents are also coming down since it's about half way between our house and theirs. So we'll be doing some swimming, boating, and s'more makin' tomorrow!

I forgot to mention in my last post that we finished off our Sunday with a trip to DQ. Yay for sprinkles!

Boy Toy

Sunday was a jam packed day. We tried out Sunday school with Gracie, which seemed to go well. I'm not really sure what all they did but I did hear some singing coming from upstairs at one point so there must have been some Jesus singing going on. After church Gracie came over to play and then a BOY came over! AHHHH! Actually, Ben is one sweet and adorable little 18 month old. Almost makes me want one of those myself. Ok so not really. Just trying to keep up the shock value. 

Anyway, what is it with kids wanting, in the pool, outta the pool. Outta the pool, in the pool. NON STOP. And along with the in and out comes the grass on the bottom of their little piggies. UGH. I seriously need to get a grip with the whole mess thing. 

So here's one of the "out of the pool" moments. Little Bit showing Ben how to take the sand from the "sand side" and put it in the "water side" because driving her mommy crazy is what my child lives for. (Again, I need to chill, big deal, what's a little sand right?)

I had to post this one because dude looks like some kind of bathing suit model pouring water over his head for a photo shoot. Ah, refreshing. 

And as for these two, I give up. They NEVER want to look at the camera at the same time. I probably now have 897 photos of their backs! 

Brace yourself....

for some serious cuteness. Are you ready?

This was one of those moments where I snapped the shutter and thought YES! I just happened to look up and Steven had put this little number on Little Bit's head. When it comes to hats, you literally have .02 seconds to get a picture because she rips them off fast! 

So it's been hotter than ten kinds of H-E-Double Hockey Sticks here. And since I've yet to get the one thing that I've always wanted my whole entire life, all 30 years that I've walked on the planet (an in ground pool), we had to opt for the giant baby pool. I wanted something that I could fit my giganto butt in but I didn't realize just how big this pool was gonna be (Janice I think you had the same one last year). It took poor Steven forever to pump it up with an air mattress pump! But it's perfect for Sophie to play in this summer. This morning Gracie and Ben came over for a swim. Pictures of them tomorrow! For now, here's another one of girlfriend in her cowgirl hat. 

VBS

So it's summer time and that means that churches everywhere will be having Vacation Bible School. I loooooved me some VBS when I was little. And I think that Sophie would be all over it, ESPECIALLY the singing. Actually, only the singing would probably interest her. You should hear her sing "This Little Light of Mine." She can "hide it under a bushel, NOOOOOOOOO" better than anyone! 

So I emailed a lady this evening about signing Sophie up. And this is the email I got back, totally cracked me up:

Hi Kimberly,
I'm sorry, we start at age 3.  We did 2 year olds a few years ago, and it ran off half my helpers. lol.  Last year, I had many specifically state that they would help, so long as they didn't have to help with preschoolers. So I had to move it up to age 3.  

I can't say that I blame them, but I just found this to be hilarious! Two year olds banned from the Lord's House. Go figure. Of course a group of two year olds would probably have driven Jesus himself crazy after an hour. These two would have him running on water. In the other direction. 

 

My Ten On Tuesday

They'll probably be read on Wednesday but here's my Ten on Tuesday. It's all the rage these days. 

1. This morning started out on a rough note. I somehow locked my keys in my car. And guess what. My spare set was INSIDE my car! So as I was thumbing through the phone book to call a locksmith, Steven yelled that he managed to get the car open by using a coat hanger. I told him that I wasn't quite sure if I should be proud or concerned that he knew how to do such a thing.

2. Steven's "honey do" list is a mile long and it seems like I add to it everyday! Paint the shed, clean the garage, wash the windows. Maybe I should start calling him Cinderella! I don't say it enough but Sophie and I are super lucky to have such a good man around the house! He always stays on top of things like the mowing. Wish I could say the same about the house work. Most of the time he ends up pitching in on that too! 

3. So lately Sophie has been very mean and demanding when she wants something, i.e. "I want milk now!" So Steven and I have been telling to her to "ask nicely." She of course took that literally. So yesterday morning she came into our room and said "Daddy, juice, nicely." Is that not the cutest thing!

4. Yesterday we received a "thank-you" note from our nephew Jacob who broke his arm. We had sent him a get well card and some cash. So what did he do with his cash? Yeah, he bought a hermit crab and named it "Garbage." 6 year old boys are a hoot!

5. I desperately want to see that new M. Night Shyamalan movie with Marky Mark ( I know he's Mark Wahlberg but he'll always be the Marky Mark in the Calvin Kleins to me). I love all of his movies....except for Planet of the Apes, with that girl ape who looked like Michael Jackson.

6. I'm also trying to talk Steven into taking a soccer class with Sophie on Saturdays. Oh what I could do with two hours to myself! 

7. Steven is in charge of ordering Wiggles tickets in a few weeks (I'll be driving to the beach when they go on sale but he'll be flying down 2 days later because he's in a wedding) and he's a little nervous about the whole thing. No way we can be in the nose bleed section for Anthony, Murry, Jeff and the new fella. There was a time ladies and gentlemen that I'd be stocking Ticketmaster the day that Dave Matthews tickets went on sale. My how times have changed! 

8. I would really like to have some adults over for a GTG, especially now that our  patio is up to par. I have a whole bucket-o-margaritas and I'd hate to have to drink the whole thing myself. But I will. The 3 foot crowd is driving me to drink!

9. And I'm just gonna throw this out there, I know a lot of you like him and I personally have nothing against the guy but I'm calling it now. And i soooo don't want to start a political war. But Barack Obama just might be the anti-christ.  The man sure knows how to mesmerize people. Wasn't there another man like that once? Around the 30's? What was his name again, Rudolph? No that's not it. It will come to me later I'm sure. 

10.  Although she Hates it with a capital H, Little Bit looks ADORABLE in her Dora bike helmet. We finally broke it out over the weekend. 

Wide Open Spaces

On Saturday we headed over to the farm to visit my dad and check out "operation pumpkin patch." It's sloooowly coming along. But it's hay cutting season and there's over 200 acres to bale so that takes precedent over our little pumpkins.  

And you can't hang out in Lincoln County West Virginia and NOT ride a four-wheeler. And helmets? We don't need no stinkin' helmets! Of course they putting around at snail speed but Little Bit didn't want to get off of the thing.

Unfortunately, there was a little "incident" while we were visiting. Sophie accidentally tripped over a sleeping Boston terrier. Of course it startled the dog, so he turned around and snipped at the Soph, IN THE FACE! OUCH. It left a small mark and his paw caught the corner of her lip so of course blood went everywhere. Little Bit was a fireball of emotions. Hurt, scared, and TICKED OFF! She screamed "BAD DOG, NO HURT SOAPIE!" So for the rest of the day she left the little dogs alone and instead played with the huge weimaraners. Go figure, it was the little ankle biter that did the damage. 

Pooped

That would describe Steve-o and me somewhat, although he worked much harder than me, this evening. We worked like D-O-Double G's on our patio this weekend. Power washing, mulching, laying blocks, planting flowers. The whole enchilada! Now normally I'm not "allowed" to buy flowers because without fail, they wither up and die.  However, this year is different. It's different because my shadow, i.e. Sophia Carr, is a WATER NAZI! So our flowers have no chance in the world of dying due to lack of water.

Yesterday evening Sophie got a HUGE treat for helping out with the flowers. All of the sudden we heard music, and saw this fella....and yes, he's cruising around in a "short bus," rolling through the hood. 

And he was selling these puppies! 

Needless to say, she has a new best friend!