Lately...

I have been such a crab-crab lately.  Ugh.  Blame it on the pregnancy.  Blame it on the 19 month-old who NEVER listens to the word "No".  She hears snack, bath, brush teeth, book, walk, etc. JUST FINE.  But "no"?  Definitely out of her vocabulary right now - until she uses it of course...  Blame it on stress at work.  Blame it on a husband who is busy a lot.  But whatever the reason, I haven't enjoyed being around myself lately!  ; )

But, let me tell you some happy notes as of late:

1.  There was a fabulous consignment extravaganza in our area this weekend.  And actually today everything without a star is 50% off... crazy.  JJ, MJ and I hit it up yesterday and scored a ton of good deals including M's big girl bed frame, three pairs of maternity pants, two pairs of shoes for M-girl and an assortment of clothes as well.  These items were all high quality, not dirt cheap, but definitely a lot less than brand new.  The bed frame, for example, was $40.  I've been looking at similar ones at Target for $150.  Woot!  Woot!  Now for a mattress and we're set!  That we just didn't want to do used...

2.  Hot Air Balloon Festival!  There was a hot air balloon festival in our area this weekend TOO!  We were invited to tag along with friends from Church for a picnic while the balloons took off.  They were supposed to launch at 5:30, but thank goodness it was a lot closer to 6:15 or even 6:30.  Traffic was NUTSO and we didn't even go as far as the actual launching site - we instead picked a spot at a local high school's lawn by some baseball diamonds - and ended up having the perfect place.  We didn't see the balloons take off, but each and every one of them flew right over our heads!  What a cool site to see.  M and her bud J just said, "Woooow!  Wooooow!" every few minutes.  M also did her classic, "more", when one went over us and a new one hadn't popped over the trees quite quick enough for her.  She wanted to be held the whole time and mimicked the "whoosh" sound the balloons made when the driver blasted the inside with fire.  (Definitely NOT the technical version of what happens!)  It was just awesome to hang out with people our age and just have some social time - for M too. 

3.  Aside from being a little stinker, M has done some super cute things lately.
*She requests her sun glasses in the van and then calls herself a "Cool Dude".
*Saturday mornings, when we go to wake up Daddy, I overtly "creep" down the hallway saying "Shhhhh!".  M is usually giggling so loud I'm sure our neighbors can hear it and then when we get in to "surprise" Daddy, the first thing she usually does is "shush" him like I've been doing in the hallway.  It is so funny!
*She prefers to drink everything out of a straw, but, well, and this is where Mommy needs to take a bit of a chill pill, she constantly STILL tips the drink even with the aforementioned straw.  Ugh!  EITHER tip it OR use the straw silly girl!
*One of her favorite things to do ever is sit by herself in a "big girl" chair.  It doesn't matter where we are, if she is sitting by herself on a chair she has the smuggest grin on her face ever.
*She is constantly saying "Bye-bye" to Daddy, much to his sorrow.  We have to remind her often if Daddy is coming WITH us or if none of us are going anywhere at all.
*SHE thinks she is so funny and if you ever make a remark close to that, as in, "You're so silly!", she just totally cracks up with this goofy laugh of hers.  Silly girl.
*We've still been contemplating the potty training stuff.  She loves the thought of toilet paper, so that's the big reward hanging out there.  If you use the big girl potty chair then you get to use toilet paper.  I know I just have to catch her once and she'll "get" it, but so far no luck in that department.  We've had lots of talk about bottoms, butts, poopy, potty, etc. and she has added all of those words to her ever-growing vocabulary as well... 

4.  We had supper at some friends from Church last week (I know... I wonder if there's a special badge these people get for hanging out with the new people.  JJ is totally perplexed by it, "Don't they know that we're not interesting??"  But seriously, this Church has done an awesome job of making us feel welcome and letting us know ways we can get involved.  I've been invited to way more small groups, book clubs, dinners out, etc. than I ever was at my "old" Church.).  C cooked an absolutely delicious Italian meal.  YUM!  You know what M ate?  A piece of bread and some cereal.  OH, and desert of course.  STINKER.  D, C's hubby, got me hooked on his catch phrase "Just sayin'".  I even used it back at him that evening, which he seemed pleased about.  We were discussing what kind of doc JJ wanted to be and another gal there, E, said, "You don't want to be an OB-Gyn?  I've worked with a lot of those doctors."  JJ said firmly and quickly, "Nope."  To which I replied, "And that's ok with me... just sayin'."  : )