We did it!

I finally did it! I ripped off the band-aid!

Last week, Matthew and I went on our very first trip ALONE since I was pregnant with CELIE! Yes, 5 years. I had been away from Celie for a few nights 2 times, but never for 6 DAYS!!!! It was monumental for me. Clearly, I have never been away from Libby.

Matthew was invited to a conference for Music Pastors in Dallas, TX called METRO. It was SO much fun. It was the kind of week you have that you know every word that was said was just for you. I think the break-out sessions were really just for me! I really needed it. And man! Was it refreshing to see and hear from hundreds of other ladies just like me. Don’t even get me started on the pampering, too. Not in a “spa package” way, but in a “coffee and tea bar every where you went” type way. And meals prepared for you. No cleaning up all week! It was much needed! One of the best parts is: this year is the first of many METROs for us. We get to go every year. Next year – New Orleans.  

The whole week had the pot sweetened for me since my very best/dearest friend of many, many years lived about 10 minutes away from where we were staying. I got to spend every single afternoon with her and her girls. What a TREAT! It felt like we were back in college, except with kids and homes. AND we got to spend Friday night with another very dear friend and HER family! It would have been a great time to have the girls with us – they each have 2 girls the same ages. It was a memory making week, to say the least!

I was very nervous about leaving the girls. And not because I was scared of how they would be cared for. They had 2 grandmothers watching them…. I am SURE they were very well taken care of! I was nervous for ME! I did cry pretty much every day because I missed them, but it got a little easier as the week went on. When we got home, Celie was thrilled! Libby could have cared less. She was just upset my mom was leaving. I’m so sure….. She finally came around, though. I think it really impacted Celie, though. I have not been able to go anywhere or do anything without her right by my side. I can tell she was ready for her mommy to be home. My bug missed me!

I can safely say it may take a full year for me to want to leave them again for that long but I came home refreshed. I am tired, don’t get me wrong. But I have found I am MUCH less irritable since I had a little break. I know it was good for all of us. I know it was great for Matthew and me! We got to spend REAL time together. And worship together. I don’t think there is anything better.

Some Funnies…

Celie is really a mess these days. Libby is too, but on different terms. They are both too big for their “britches” (side note – that word makes me gag).

I started walking this morning. I have to do something. I am so sick of looking the way I do. So I loaded up the girls and we went to a walking trail in town. We walked for about 30 minutes and then I let them play on the playground. On the way, I told them we were going to the park. In true parrot fashion – Libby repeated every word I said. She is so smart! She kept saying park over and over and every time I would say “Libby, that is where we are going right now.” After Celie heard it about 2 times she said – “Libby be worried about a park, now.” It really cracked me up because it was said the EXACT way I say something sarcastically when I have been badgered about it nonstop. She also says “Libby be lovin’ her milk” any time she asks for it. Maybe this doesn’t translate to a blog – but it is really cute in person.

Libby has really taken off with word usage! It is almost out of control. We are currently in the “what’s this” phase. She, like her sister (and mother) is very inquisitive. She LOVES books and has a favorite she looks at in the car. It’s your usual “ABC” book with the letter and pictures that start with that letter on the page. She just started asking “what’s this” to the camel picture. But she will do it over and over again. She did it last night and when I told her I could not see the picture she was pointing to – I was driving, after all – Celie looked over and, very matter of fact, said “OK, let me see Baby. Oh. That is a camel. Can you say camel? Say it with me: Caaaaa-mmmmuuuullllllll.” She sounded just like me. I laughed about it and then teared up a moment later. She is the sweetest big sister!

Lately, Celie has been VERY interested in wanting to read. Guess what we are starting at home after Spring Break is over? That’s right, I am going to try my hand at teaching her how to read. With correct literature of course. I am not going at it alone! I told her one of her best buddies was learning to read and she was appalled that he was going to be able to read books on his own before her. I believe her exact quote was “well, if he is learning to read why aren’t you teaching ME to read right now. When can we start? Tomorrow?” I mean, as long as she is ASKING me and willing to learn, I will teach her all I can. Right?

Where do I even begin with Libby? I get tickled just looking at her. She is too cute! Her personality is one of a little fire cracker! She keeps me on my toes for sure but at the same time can be so sweet! She is like a little sponge right now. Maybe this is normal, I haven’t read milestone stuff for her age at all since she I got freaked out at her not walking and crawling early enough. Anyhew – she already knows some of her shapes: star, heart and circle. I think that is pretty good. Like I said, maybe it is common for a 19 month old. I don’t remember.

I am trying to do a little Spring Cleaning at our house this month. I am washing the stuff that doesn’t get done every week: curtains, shower curtain, pillow shams, etc. Let me say this while I am on it: I purchased some Kate Spade sheets on clearance at TJ Maxx about a month ago. These were $100 sheets that I paid $20 for. I felt really great about it! Then I washed them. And found out I have to IRON the top sheet and pillow cases every time I wash them. UGH! They are SO soft. I thought I was in love. 4 washes later – I am ready to throw them away ( maybe just the fitted sheet.) They peel like CRAZY where your feet are. I mean, it feels like there is dirt in your bed. I am pretty certain that is why they were on clearance. Beware. Don’t waste your $20 on Kate Spade sheets. But her purses and wallets all day long – just leave the sheets alone.

Tap, Tap, Tap

Is this thing on?

I’m not even sure I know how to blog anymore. It has been a long time! There is nothing really new and exciting to say. Except both girls are crazy these days. And Libby just learned how to master flipping (somersault style, of course) and repeating any word you say. Nothing like saying “crap” and having your 19 month old repeat it after you to make you feel like mother of the year. I really don’t say words like that at all around Celie and try not to around Libby, but to be fair, I had just dropped a huge pile o’ junk on the floor. Other banned words in our house include: stupid, hate, and obvious others.

Anyhew. We just celebrated Celie’s FOUR year birthday party! She wanted Strawberry Shortcake. I was thrilled. I love Strawberry Shortcake. She is just so good. And cute. Don’t get me started on her sweet scent. I was a little sad that I did not get to do all the decorating I wanted. And it is really difficult to make such a boring, sterile room look like anything cool at all, but it was a lot of fun to do!

Celie had a blast and that is really what mattered. She’s told me pretty much every day since last week that she “just loved my beautiful party”, she knows how to win people over.  

 

I won’t post all the pictures, but you get the idea.

Holiday Wrap-up

We have been going non-stop since Thanksgiving!! It finally seems to be slowing down, and we are thrilled.

- We went to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving. My Bother and his family were there as well and we had a really nice time seeing them. Celie had a complete blast playing with her cousins and Libby enjoyed being in the mix of a lot of people to give her attention.

- We did Black Friday shopping. I know a lot of people are very against it. I am not and here’s why…. we got ALL of our shopping done in one night. All of it. While the girls were sleeping and at pretty great deals. So we started at 10:00 Thursday night and shopped our hearts out until 7:30 the following morning. We got home right as the girls were waking up. Yes, we were worn out but we went to bed that night at about 8:00 and all 4 of us took a nap that afternoon. My dad was at home with the girls while they slept that night, don’t worry.

- We got home Saturday evening and had a busy week. I left for a Beth Moore conference the following Friday in Pensacola with my mom and some ladies from our church. It was AWESOME! Truly, it was amazing.

- I got home Saturday night from that and we had another busy week full of rehearsals for the Children’s program at church, decorating for the performance and normal weekly activities. The rest of the week was a blur… complete with an all day cookie bake with our dear friends. By all day, I am taking about 11-8 cookie baking. Crazy. I could not even look at another cookie. (I could now, though ).

- Sunday was the performance for Celie and the other children. I am one of the choir teachers, Celie was in the program and Matthew played a big part in it as well. Yeah, we were a little busy. It was the first and last time all 3 of us will be in the same thing. At least until the girls are older. It was rough on poor, sweet Libby.

- last night we had 21 people over to our house for steak and all the sides. We don’t have a huge house so it was a good time. We know that we can safely feed and fit 20 people now, though. It was a lot of fun. And work. But mostly, fun.

- You know I have to post a video of Celie singing her very first solo at church. I can’t tell you how many times we have listened to and practiced the song at home. I was a total stage mom…. it did pay off, though. Punkin took the video and it is so sweet. I cried. Of course. Matthew and I were both VERY proud of her for doing such a great job. For a 3 year old, she was very calm and collected. Our church was packed. I think the final head count was around 200 people. And she seemed to love it.

Celie’s solo–Oh Come all Ye Faithful

Here’s a ton of Celie pictures

I am so overdue on posting. These pictures were taken about 3-4 weeks ago. I have more taken a few weeks earlier than that and I am in love with some of them, but I have not sorted through them all yet. Maybe I will have those up in another 4 weeks.  

 

Celie looks so old in a lot of these pictures. She is such a sweet, sweet girl. Don’t get me wrong, she is still a 3 year old. She has her moments of ignoring my voice. I am sure that will just escalate over time, though. She is really mature. Sometimes I forget that she is only 3 and expect a lot more out of her. I am all for expecting a lot of my children. I think that if you use the “they’re only children” excuse and don’t expect anything… that is exactly what you will get. They are very capable little people. Anyhew.

These were taken on a random day of playing outside in the back yard. Libby would play outside forever if you would stay with her. Most of the time I stay out as long as I can. She is into climbing stairs these days and it is not that relaxing or fun, to be honest. Don’t get me started on the piles of poop she must have a radar for. She can zone in on them from across the yard. And of course she goes to pick it up. It’s really classy. We have not been outside too much this week. Somehow it feels like 90 degrees outside still. I am not a fan of sweat.

Here is my little sweetie. I am trying my best to get pictures of Libby but she is too smart for me and my camera. She will smile, laugh and look right at me if the camera is down. If I pick it up, she does everything possible to ignore me. Typical 15 month old.

Review

You know I don’t usually do reviews on things unless I am REALLY in love with them? And the reviews I do have not been things I have been given. Until now.

I am a Buzz Agent and get sent stuff occasionally to try out and give my opinion on. Last week I got an AWESOME package in the mail with Frederic Fekkai Technician Color Care Shampoo and Fekkai Technician Color Care Conditioner. I used it for the first time yesterday and I LOVE IT!!!!! I am so picky about hair stuff so I went into it thinking I would not really like it. My hair is SO soft and shiny. I can’t stop touching it. Matthew said it looks like I just left a professional blow-out. That is serious, folks.

At first, I thought the shampoo smelled odd but after I used it, I love how my hair smells. I usually use Pureology so I am used to using salon quality stuff on my hair. This product just really makes a difference. I am a huge fan and will be buying much more of this for myself.

Words cannot describe the love I have for this line! I am serious. I adore it. Even the day after, my hair is totally luscious! (that was purely for my sister)

I highly recommend the Fekkai products and if you have color treated hair, you should get at least a sample size of the Technician Color care line. You will be going back for more, trust me.

Busy week

We have had a busy, busy week. Actually, somehow, we have all been busier since Matthew got his job at the church. I think part of it is just timing because it happened to line up with the beginning of school and children’s choir. And the Beth Moore Bible study I am doing on Revelation (seriously awesome if you have never taken it before). 5 out of 7 nights a week one of us is out of the house. It is usually Matthew, but since I am a choir teacher this year, I am also out on Wednesday nights. It has been interesting.

Anyhew, last week was abnormally busy. And Celie had her second Dental appointment. She rocked it! From the time we got to the office, signed in, got her teeth checked, got a prize, made an appointment for the next visit and walked out the door…. it had only been a 13 minute period of time. Her teeth were perfect. They required no scraping or scaling and she got rave reviews from the Dentist for not sucking her thumb anymore. Her teeth have gone back to almost perfect in just 6 months. She stopped at just the right time before any permanent damage was done. And I cannot say enough about her Dentist. I LOVE HIM and his staff. They are wonderful and so great with kids. Dr. Berry is just a fantastic guy. I am so glad she goes there. Since she was so great at her appointment, I let her pick a special treat out at Sam’s. I needed to go there anyway and they have some really great kids stuff there right now. She chose a Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD/CD combo. I even let her watch the DVD in the car on the way home. Truth be told, I only did it to try and keep Libby awake so she would take a good nap when we got home but it did not work. She could not be less interested in TV. She just doesn’t like it. Even trapped in a carseat, she turned her head away and read a book. And then went to sleep, of course.

We were extra bummed b/c we were all set to go see my brother and his family on Saturday. Celie and I were going to go alone b/c Matthew had a lot to get done and Libby did not need to make a day trip like that the day before church. That would have been a nightmare for everyone involved. I ended up getting sick to my stomach the night before we were supposed to leave and did not go to bed until 6:00 in the morning. BOOOO! You see, Matthew and I have been on Weight Watchers for a month now (I am down 7 pounds, Matthew is down 10) and I am not used to eating heavy food anymore. We had pizza on Friday night and it just made me sick. I had 2 small pieces with hardly any cheese (no meat at all) but it still did me dirty. Celie was super bummed b/c she really wanted to go play with her cousins. I was bummed too, I was really looking forward to seeing my family.

That brings us up to speed with today. Libby is getting her first real cold. She had a little runny nose about a year ago but this is going to be the full blown ordeal, I have a feeling. I am thankful this is the first real time she has been sick. Not too bad for a 14 month old! Celie is such a sweetie with her. I just love to hear her talk to her when she is being sweet. It melts my heart. And Libby has really taken off with walking. She has picked up some major speed and is quite fast. We joke all the time that she was Liza Minnelli in her former life. I am serious, she LOVES accessories and being in costume. We got Celie’s duck costume to try it on Libby and she walked around for a while just laughing and patting the duck belly. She loved it. (so did we.) Celie was only 8 months old when she wore it so she was not walking. Since Libby is so much smaller, she is able to wear it now and it just adds another level to the cute factor to see her waddling around in it.

Libby also got her first big hair cut this weekend. I could not take the scraggly bits any longer. I don’t really like the baby mullet so I don’t plan on letting her hair grow long until the sides can get all caught up. She and Celie will have the same coif, I am sure. Not that I mind. I think I cut about an inch off the back and just trimmed up the pieces on the sides by her ears. It looks a million times better! I will post cute pictures later this week.

Pictures

I wanted to post my favorites from the day at the water. I already posted the final shot of Libby, but this one of her teeth really gets me too. And my Celie Bug…. when did she grow up?

Blurry but cute

Imagine this…

Being 15 and playing your heart out in Carnegie Hall on a once in a lifetime trip to New York City. I could not fully appreciate it as a 15 year old kid, but I can now. We played 3 songs, each about 8-9 minutes long. They were beautiful and difficult, yet rewarding to learn and conquer. I mean, just imagine practicing and rehearsing in the same rooms as some of the greatest performers of all time. And then actually performing on the very same stage. It is just too much. Honestly.

I really cherish the years I was in the music program. Not only did it teach me about music and develop certain parts of my brain, but it taught me a lot about hard work and dedication. Being part of a huge team and doing what you had to do to make all the parts work as a whole. I paid for every single red cent of every trip I ever took. Do you know how many houses I had to clean and kids I had to babysit to do that? Of course that was in between school, church and after school practices (which equated to at least 7 hours a week, at a minimum.) I learned so much about things a lot of other people don’t get the opportunity to. And I really loved doing it. I still maintain that the best teacher OF ALL TIME was my middle school band teacher, Jeff Adams. I could really go on and on about all of this, but I am going to just go ahead and post the clip of one of our songs at Carnegie Hall.

Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral. One of the most moving songs you will ever hear. Seriously, I cry every time I hear it. And it is not because I am reliving that wonderful time in my head. The actual music is so moving. My favorite part starts around 5:45. Love.

This was our Assistant Band Director (who also taught my older brother when he was in Junior High, oddly enough.) This happened to be one of her favorite songs to. Can you imagine conducting one of your favorite songs on one of the greatest stages in the world? Overwhelming.

Please listen to the whole thing and enjoy. Keep in mind it is not perfect, these are 14-17 year old KIDS performing, after all.

Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral–Richard Wagner

one picture

from our day by the water watching the bird.

I. Love. Her. Teeth. Gap. This picture is so Libby.