Abby go?

Andrew said his first 2 word sentence this morning and it was "Abby go?" Not Mommy go, or Daddy go, but Abby go? He was sitting on our bed this morning and Abby was playing in the bathroom hiding behind the shower curtain and Andrew looked at me and said "Abby go?" with his arms thrown up like where did she go. It was too cute. He loves his sister and is constently calling for her, so much so that it drives Abby crazy. She will tell him "Andrew you're peating (repeating) yourself" Sibling love.

Already?

This morning on my way in to work my car turned over to 100,000 miles. My little Honda Civic that Marty and I bought in August 2001. We traded in my sport black 2 door Cougar for the more practical 4 door Honda Civic. It was a good move but sometimes I do miss my little sports car.

The first one

Well it’s official; I have bought my first Christmas present. Yes, I know it is a little early but I just had to get it. Isn’t it cute? Abby loves loves loves taking pictures but she has gotten turned off of her camera because she likes ours better since she can see the picture on the back (my how times have changed) Somehow I stumbled upon this cute little Fisher Price Pink Digital Camera and knew that we had to get it for Abby. I searched on line and found it ranging in price from $59.00-$129.00. Walmart.com had it for $59.00 but of course was sold out. So on my way home yesterday I stopped my Wal-Mart and was pleasantly surprised to see that not only did they have one, but it was also on sale for $54.98. I love a sale. For all you mamas of boys, they also have them in blue.
I am so ready for Christmas. I love the Christmas tree, the decoration, the kids in their matching Christmas jammies and I really love seeing the kids’ excitement on Christmas morning. It will be crazy this year, Andrew will be more into it and I can’t wait to enjoy those 15 minutes of pure craziness and wrapping paper tossing. Bring it on!

Our week in review

First and foremost, I am sorry that it has been over a week since I posted last. It’s been crazy here at work and only having dial-up at home, I refuse to do anything major on the computer. So here is our week in review.
The kids were battling a cold early last week but thankfully everyone is on the mend now. Andrew’s asthma kicked back in with just the slightest bit of cold weather (ok, so it was 33 degrees here with frost covered grass) and we had to start giving him breathing treatments again. Poor little man. He doesn’t mind them too bad; I guess he knows that it will make him feel better. Luckily, we haven’t had to give him any treatments since last week though. He did go to the doctor on Thursday for his 18 month well check and for a sick visit too. Poor thing screamed the whole time during the exam. He just doesn’t like strangers. He weighs 21 pounds 2 ounces and is 30.5 inches long. He is now in the 3rd percentile for weight and the 5the percentile for height. At 18 months Abby was 20 pounds 9 ounces and was also 30.5 inches. Andrew has actually lost weight since his 15 month appointment, but I’m not too worried about it because it was the difference between two different doctor’s offices. One was done fully clothed and the other was with just in a dry diaper on. If you have ever seen Andrew eat then you wouldn’t be concerned either, he eats more than Abby most days. We were much happier at this doctor’s visit. I’m glad that we did give them a second chance because we really liked the doctor that Andrew saw (the one that saw Abby couldn’t take Andrew, so we went with another and in fact are going to change Abby’s doctor now because we liked her so much) We also noticed small blisters on Andrew’s hands, they looked like ant bites but new ones kept appearing. So we also had the doctor check those out. It ends up that he has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, no relation to Hoof and Mouth disease in cattle. It’s a virus and it just has to run its course. The little blisters are going away and they haven’t seemed to bother him at all, more bothersome for mommy and daddy. Poor thing also has this HUGE blister on his thumb from being the thumb sucker that he is. I have no idea how he can still suck it, it has got to be very painful.
On a fun note though; Eddie, Gidget, Bailey and Matthew (BIL, SIL and niece and nephew) came up for the weekend. We had an awesome time and it was just what we all (especially Abby) needed. We didn’t do too much, we let the girls play and play and they really played good together. It was good to see them playing together again. We did go over to the Opryland Hotel and eat. We saw the water show which is pretty impressive. During the show, Abby, Andrew and Bailey were sitting on the bottom step being big kids and all the sudden the water shot way up in the air. You have never seen 3 kids turn high tail and run so fast in your life, it was one of those moment that you really wish you had your video camera. After the hotel we went shopping at Opry Mills and then took a stroll through the grounds of the Opry House. Before shows at the Opry, they always have a band playing at the entrance, so we let the kids go listen and dance to the music. I feel sorry for the band because I’m afraid the kids were stealing the show. Too cute.
That is our week in review, believe it or not but that’s the condensed version. I will do better on keeping you updated.

PS, Marty has a valet job now at Maggiano’s. Good pay and great flexibility. He needs his time out of the house too.

You want to eat where?

Yesterday we took at road trip to Chattanooga (more on that another day) On the way down Highway 24, Abby says "we need to go to the owl place to eat"
me: "what honey, what do you mean?"
Abby: "the owl place, we need to go there to eat"
me: "honey where?"
Abby: "The owl that I just saw on the sign, we need to go there and eat"

Then it hit. She was talking about Hooters. Oh my!

The open road

Yesterday I was able to do something that I haven't done in a very long time. My boss is on vacation this week so he left me his Tahoe because I had to make a trip to Chattanooga to set up for the AIA Conference. I left yesterday set with 308 songs on my Ipod and I was ready to sing my heart out. And that's exactly what I did. I actually enjoy road trips by myself, it's nice to have your thoughts to yourself and not have to fight over the radio or a movie for that fact. I sang anyhting from 311 to Chris Tomlin to Little Big Town to Justin Timberlake (did I just admit that) you name it I sang it. I will say that my favorite song to pretend I can sing to is the new song by Carrie Underwood Before He Cheats. Thakfully I've never had to experiene it but I'm not sure that I wouldn't have a similar reaction. I just love this song right now

Right now he's probably slow dancing with a bleached-blond trim, and she's probably getting frisky...

right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink cause she can't shoot whiskey...

Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool-stick, showing her how to shoot a combo...

And he don't know...

I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up 4 wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seat...

I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights, slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

And maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Right now, she's probably up singing some white-trash version of Shania karoke..

Right now, she's probably saying "I'm drunk" and he's a thinking that he's gonna lucky,

Right now, he's probably dabbing 3 dollars worth of that bathroom Polo...

And he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up 4 wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seat,

I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights, slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

And maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

I might saved a little trouble for the next girl, Cause the next time that he cheats...

Oh, you know it won't be on me!

Ohh... not on me...

I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up 4 wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seat...

I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights, slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats. Ohh..

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats...

Ok, so it's not the classiest of songs but it lends itself to one heck of a car ride all out singing fest.

I told Marty that Mike's speaker had probably never been that loud and I made the comment that thank goodness no one could hear me singing. He then graciously reminded me that Mike has OnStar. Well, if they were listening in then they got one heck of a concert.

Our old house

Abby has been going through a funk lately. That's the only way I know how to describe it. She had been missing people and things really bad lately. The other day Marty put on a CD that Ella and Evan gave her for Christmas, Hide 'Em in Your Heart. Ella and Abby used to listen to it on the way to school most every morning. Well, Abby came into the kitchen when her favorite song came on and she was in tears. She told Marty that she missed Ella and she wanted to listen to the song in Keri's vancar (for some reason Abby calls their minivan a van car) Marty's heart broke. Then last night Abby told us that she missed our old house with the pretty flowers. Mental note: plant pretty flowers for the fall. She also said that we used to have beautiful trees. We have one lonely tree in our front yard now. She remembers and it is so sad that she is so heart broken. Marty told her that we will move back to GA in a few years and yes we will move close to Ella, Abby said "Thank you for making me so happy daddy" Poor thing.

How could anyone not like the cow?

Well, Abby not only didn't like the cow, she was terrified of it.
We woke up on Saturday morning and Abby said that she wanted to go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, it's the only restaurant around that has a play area. It worked for us because we had some errands to run on that side of town anyway. We set out armed with socks, lots of little kid feet no telling where they have been, and run our errands. We finally, ok so it was 11:00 am, make it to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. We walk in and see that there is a birthday party. Ok, we'll eat quickly so the kids can enjoy the play area before it gets even more crazy with the birthday party. Then in walks the cow. I think, oh great free entertainment. Abby thought otherwise. She did not like the cow at all, remind you that the cow was way on the other side of the restaurant. We eat quickly and head to the play area, great the play area is in a seperate room Abby will be fine. Marty leaves us at Chick-Fil-A and goes to Home Depot, his play area. We get socks on and I try to send the kids off to play. Abby is still really preoccupied by the cow. And then it happens, the cow looks at her and waves. You would have thought that the world was coming to an end. I could not get her calmed down and had to call Marty to come get us.
Mommy guilt set in big time because instead of trying to help her work through her fears I just got frustrated. I shouldn't have and I feel really bad for the way I made her feel. Poor punky, she just didn't like the cow.

Love or Infatuation?

We are going to a Bible study titled Love, Sex and Lasting Relationships (can you say that in church) After I weed through all the over the top things and get to the basics, I am really enjoying it. Marty and I are in 2 different classes to promote a more honest discussion, personally it wouldn’t bother me if he was in my class.
Last week was a discussion on the difference between love and infatuation.

Love: (1) strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties (2) : attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests
Infatuation: (1) foolish and usually extravagant passion or love or admiration (2) puppy love (3) an object of extravagant short-lived passion

I hadn’t really given infatuation much thought until I took the class, but looking back, maybe I should have. I realized that I have had many infatuation relationships but only one love relationship (and yes it is with Marty in case you were wondering) It was like a light bulb went off, so that’s why none of the other relationships worked, thank goodness. There was a test per say that we took to determine if the current relationship we were in was infatuation or love. I knew I was in love but it did help shed some light on my past relationships. Here are a few of the ones that hit home.
TIME: Love grows with time, infatuation comes suddenly
I didn’t want to like Marty in the beginning, yes he knows this. It was something that just grew, even if I didn’t want it to and tried to make it stop.
SECURITY: An individual in love has a sense of security and a feeling of trust. An infatuated person tends to have a blind sense of security based upon wishful thinking rather than upon careful consideration, or he may have a sense of insecurity that is sometimes expressed as jealousy.
This one hit big time. I have never been jealous when it comes to Marty. It has bothered me in the past because I was jealous in my other relationships and I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t now. It’s because I’m in LOVE. I don’t feel the fear that I felt in the past, wow it’s wonderful.
PROBLEM SOLVING: A couple in love faces problems frankly and attempts to solve them. In infatuation, problems tend to be glossed over.
No need to elaborate
DISTANCE: Love tends to be constant. Infatuation often varies with the distance.
Marty and I haven’t ever spent much time away from each other but I don’t worry if we were to ever have to.

Some of you are going, oh what a sappy post, but it was something of such significance this week that I just had to share. It was such a great feeling to realize that I have in fact found my one true love. Sappiness over.

Parenting Super Nanny style.

I never thought I would do it, but I have. I am using a Super Nanny method. Ok, I will admit it, Marty and I like to watch Super Nanny. I will also admit that we like to watch it because it makes us feel better. After watching the show, we can say either thank goodness our kids aren’t that bad or at least ours aren’t the only ones that act that way.
Since Abby is having problems with going to school/church I have made a pretty little chart with her name on that hangs on the refrigerator. I have also made little smilie face and crying face magnets. Abby gets to put the corresponding magnet on the chart when she gets home from school or church. For every 8 smilie faces, she gets to go to the store and buy something. I’m thinking something from the dollar section at Target. The 8 smilie faces can be achieved in two weeks since we are usually at school/church 4 times a week. Yesterday was the first time that the chart was used and she got to put a smilie face on her chart. YIPPEE! Marty said that as soon as she came home she wanted to put her smilie on, of course she wanted to put another smilie on since Andrew had a good day too (Andrew didn’t go to school yesterday)
I have always said, I am not above bribing.

Yummy!!

Well, the low country boil is usually reserved for New Year’s Eve, but we decided to dust off the fryer and pot and invite some friends over. After all you can’t have a low country boil alone. What could be better than chicken, shrimp, kielbasa, andouille, potatoes, onions, corn, garlic, lemons and Old Bay seasoning cooked together and then thrown on brown paper grocery bags on the table? Everyone gather around with some cocktail sauce and crusty bread and you’ve got dinner. I’m not sure what our friends though when they saw me making our “table cloth” out of grocery bags but they didn’t hesitate to eat.
The Falcons played the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome last night. The first game in the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina. We had to celebrate Cajun style. The food was good, the company was good, the football was not so good. The Falcons got stomped. I wish the Falcons weren’t the lucky, or unlucky, ones to be playing the Saints at home for the first time, the Saints were psyched. I was rooting for Atlanta but it just seemed right for the Saints to win and they did.

Thank you Thank you

Well, today's Thursday which means school day for both of the kids. It went like this:
Marty takes Andrew, he cries.
Marty takes Abby, she doesn't cry! Did you hear that, she didn't cry this morning. Marty said she almost got teary but she didn't. Marty gave her a hug and a kiss and left, she was fine. YIPPEE!!
Marty forgot to sign Andrew in so he goes back and Andrew is no longer crying. What a great day.
For everyone who added Abby and Andrew to their prayer list, thank you. It worked!

School Days

Well, this post is weeks overdue but better late than never right?
Abby and Andrew have started school here and it’s not going as smooth as we would have hoped. Abby goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-2:00 and Andrew goes only on Thursdays.
The first day of school we hyped it up big time for Abby. We went to meet Ms. Gayle. You should hear Abby say Ms. Gayle; if we aren’t raising a southern girl then I don’t know what one is. Abby didn’t understand why she couldn’t be in Ms. Trina’s class again, her teacher from last year. Nevermind the fact that we no longer live in Georgia, but Ms. Trina isn’t teaching this year. Abby absolutely adored Ms. Trina and Ms. Gayle looks nothing like Ms. Trina, so in her mind she isn’t going to like Ms. Gayle. Ms. Gayle is as sweet as can be; Abby just needs to give her a chance. At first I wasn’t sure of the school; Abby went to an awesome school last year so I was comparing Two Rivers to North Metro. But, Abby’s class seems really well rounded; she even gets to take a cooking class and a computer class. The computer class cracks us up. What is she going to do, check her e-mail?
Andrew’s class seems really good also. This week he gets to finger paint with red paint. Mental note, dress him in nothing I care about. Wow, those must be some brave teachers, 8 one and a half year olds and red finger paint. I wouldn’t do it. It was too cute though, the first day of school he glued the letters of his name on a piece of paper. It took a bit, but I did see that it was supposed to be his name, then he colored all over it.
So the first Tuesday rolls around and Marty takes Abby to her class. She screams. Thursday rolls around and Marty takes Andrew first, he screams. Then on to Abby’s class, she screams. They both missed the next week of school because we were in GA. So, yesterday rolls around. Marty takes Abby to her class, she screams. Andrew walks out with a very satisfied look on his face, just wait until tomorrow little man. See a pattern here? I don’t get it. Abby loved school last year. She tells us that she had a great time at school when Marty picks her us. I asked her last night why she doesn’t want to go to school and she said she misses us. Mental note, tell Marty to not make it so much fun at home. I am at a loss here. Not only does she do this for school but also for church. On Sunday we dropped her off at her class and she screamed bloody murder. We waited outside her class, out of view, and she stopped crying in less than a minute. Then our Sunday school class happens to have a window looking out onto the playground and we saw her running around having a blast. I’m sure 90% of it is for show but it’s the other 10% that bothers me. I know we turned her world upside down when we moved here. I just never thought she would react this way to it. She never went through separation anxiety so this is new for us; Andrew on the other hand goes through separation anxiety if we walk out of the room. I feel like I am running out of patience.

Andrew says "No one told me I had to go too"

Abby the TV star

Last week Marty was in the garage with Andrew and Abby was inside. Marty went inside to check on her and she was in the living room crying. Not little tears, but full out crying. Marty looks around to see if she got hurt, nothing that he could see. He gets her calmed down and asks her what's wrong. She then tell him that she's sad because she wants to be on TV. What?!? Well honey, then why are you crying?
Because I want to be on TV.
Marty called me at work so Abby could tell me what she wanted. She tells me that she was crying because she wants to be on TV. I ask her how we should do that. She tells me to push her feet into the TV so she could be on TV. Why didn't I think about that? Isn't it wonderful how their little minds work, it's that simple, just push her feet into the TV. Well, since we couldn't push her feet into the TV, Marty did the next best thing and hooked up the video camera. Abby got to be on TV. She was the weather girl complete with her very own microphone, ok so it was a brush. She would give her forecast that went something like this:
Hi, I'm Abby Walters and it's 89 degrees in Nashville. Oh I think I feel an EARTHQUAKE.
She would then fall on the ground rolling all around pretending to be in an earthquake.
So the video camera made her happy this time, but I'm afraid of the future. She asked again last night if we could push her feet in so she could be on TV. She has always been quite the performer and I know it comes by naturally. She is her daddy's girl.
Watch out world, Abby Walters wants to be on TV.

Rocky Top you'll always be

Home sweet home to me, good ole Rocky Top, Rocky Top Tennessee.
Today's a big day in Tennessee, even here in Vandy country. The most dreaded game of the year, the UT-Florida game. For some reason even without Spurrier, the Gators are always tough. Ought to be a good game.
GO VOLS!!

September 11, 2001

September 11, 2001, where we’re you? I’m sure all of us remember exactly what we were doing that day 5 years ago.
I was at work. My boss called and told us to go turn on the TV in the conference room, one of the World Trade towers had been hit. What?!? How could such an accident happen?
We go into the conference room and begin watching the horrible truth unfold, it wasn’t an accident. At first we didn’t know that we were being attacked. Maybe it’s me being naïve, but how could someone purposely do that? I so wanted to believe that somehow, someway it was just a bad accident. Then a plane hit the second tower. No accident, we were being attacked. We all were crammed in our conference room eyes glued to the TV and saw the second tower get hit. Someone asked, what was that? I though, what was that, surely I didn’t just see a plane full of people fly into the other tower. How many more were there? It was such a scary though, how many more times is this going to happen. Then another plane crashes into the pentagon, our military headquarters. How, how how? I remember asking my boss what was going to happen to the burning towers? He said they were going to collapse, simply stated. Nothing had been mentioned about that on the TV, he was wrong. No, he wasn’t wrong. It collapsed. Then there is word that Flight 93 was hijacked, I was sick. How can this be? I remember wanting to see more, hear more, learn more.
It has been 5 years but I don’t ever forget. Remember and pray for the 2,973 that died and the 24 that still remain missing. Pray for the some 200 people that jumped from the burning towers to their death. Pray for the babies that will never meet their fathers, the littlest victims. Pray for the men and women fighting to keep our country safe. Pray for the terrorists that they see the wrong in what they are doing. Pray for our country.
Stand proud to be an American. We will always remember.

Quite comical. . .at least I think so.

So, yesterday I’m at work and see that my old office is calling (love caller ID) I answer the phone and it’s my old boss, Mike T. I chit chat for a bit and tell him that Mike M. is not in the office but he can be reached on his cell phone. He then tells me that he’s not looking for Mike; he needs to speak to me. Ok, I know this can’t be good.
He asks me the very loaded question “What’s your schedule like next week?” How am I supposed to answer that? Either way is a no win. Either I’m too busy for whatever he needs, which at the moment I’m pretty busy, or I make it sound like I’m sitting here doing nothing. Does blogging count as nothing? Anyway, I tell him that we have a deadline next week and we are pretty busy now. He then tells me that he would like me to come down next week from Tuesday to Thursday to train the new girl that took over my position.
A little background, my position was filled when I left; it was filled by the office manager’s sister in law. I really liked my job, it was interesting and it kept me pretty busy. I would have some down time; remember that I worked 38 hours, not a 40 hour work week. Well, it looks like they hired someone to take over part of my job. Yes, part of my job. Donna is going to continue doing payroll and various other things and the new girl is going to be handling the accounting. There is NO way it takes 2 girls working 40 hours a week to do my job. Someone is getting snowed. Another thing, how come I am having to come back to train the new girl? I specifically remember Toni telling Donna “pay no attention to what Robyn is telling you, I will train you to do things the way I want them done when she leaves” Why isn’t Toni training this new girl? Suddenly I feel appreciated.
Well, it looks like we will be down Tuesday to Thursday. Marty, the kids and the dog are coming too. Why not, they have nothing tying them down, and hey the company is paying for it!

Jeans Anyone?

I know if you are like me, buying jeans is a dreaded event. I can never find ones that fit right, always either too big in the waist or too small in the hips, yes I have child bearing hips. I found a really cool website, http://www.zafu.com/ (ok so I haven't figured out links yet)
Go to the right side and "Get my Jeans"
It's really cool, you can pick how you want your dream jeans to fit. I haven't actually gone to the store to try them on yet, but I have big hopes.
Enjoy!!
What a trivial, non thought provoking, non informative post today. Well, that's what you get.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Ok, so I know it’s Tuesday, but here’s our weekend in review.
First off, I hope everyone had a great Labor Day and an even better long weekend. I know we did.
Marty’s brother, Eddie came up on Friday for the National Clogging Championships at the Opryland Hotel. For anyone who doesn’t know, Marty and I were both competition cloggers and Marty’s brother still competes. We were so glad to have a visitor. We spent the majority of Saturday at the hotel watching the competition. At one point, Abby asked me why those little girls got to dance on the stage and she didn’t. Note to self; find Abby a clogging class to take and look on Ebay for clogging shoes. She was so excited to watch the “show” For us it brought back memories of extremely long days of wait, practice, dance and do it all over again. For Abby, it was a new adventure. I guess she doesn’t remember the many competitions that she has attended. It was really good to see everyone again. We did miss it a little bit because I did like Abby growing up in the clogging community and I wish Andrew would have been able to do the same, but we didn’t miss it enough to get back into it. At least not now. Clog’n FX (our old team) didn’t do so well overall. They are going through a huge rebuilding right now and I’m afraid it showed.
Well, after this weekend you might even dare to say that we have friends. We invited 2 couples and their kids over for a Labor Day cookout. We grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs and let the kids play outside. Have I told you that I absolutely love our fence? We could leave the door open so the kids could come in and out and we didn’t have to worry about them running off. It was a fun afternoon and evening even complete with an impromptu jam session, hey this is Nashville.

Friday's Fives

Last time I did the Friday’s Fours, well here’s Friday’s Fives

5 Things in my Refrigerator:

1. Lunchables- I know, but they are easy
2. Leftovers
3. Whole and 2% milk
4. Cookie dough
5. Minced garlic

Marty says our refrigerator looks like a bachelor’s refrigerator since we lost everything in the move it’s pretty bare.

5 Things in my Closet:

1. Hokie Pokie Elmo
2. Sewing Machine
3. About 10 pairs of jeans, probably only 5 of those fit
4. An old bridesmaid dress
5. Marty’s clothes- Ok so we share a closet so it is technically his too.

5 Things in my Purse:

1. 2 baby spoons and 1 spoon for Abby
2. A pair of Abby’s sunglasses
3. Trident Tropical Twist gum
4. 6 lipsticks
5. Scrunchie- yes I do still own them

5 Things in my Car:

1. Lots of CD’s
2. Various bits of trash. I am such a car slob.
3. Toys
4. FedEx boxes
5. 2 more lipsticks