"An official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and 'this thing' which tells time"

Every year, usually on Thanksgiving, my Mom & Dad give us all a new ornament. They always get one that means something special to the person receiving it. It's always fun to see what they've found each year, and this year Micky's was even better than usual. Check it out!













Who doesn't love Ralphie?!? If you've never seen A Christmas Story, don't worry, you'll get your chance! Every year they show it on TBS starting around 8:00 Christmas Eve and it plays on a loop all through Christmas Day. Now, that may annoy some of you, but not us. We're that crazy family who leaves it on that channel all day and night. Occasionally we'll mute it and turn on some Christmas music but that doesn't happen too often.
My favorite character is the mom. I love the way she protects Ralphie when she sugar coats the "fight" story to his dad, the "blue ball" (bowling ball) she gave "the Old Man" for Christmas, and I absolutely crack up every time I think about her breaking that tacky leg lamp!
Anyway~ we had our own personal "Randy" here on Wednesday night.












She's been wanting to wear her pink puffy jacket all season, but it just hasn't been cold enough! Wednesday morning I told her we were going to see the lights at the zoo that night and that she could wear her puffy jacket. Her response was, "It'll be snowing?" (Starting in September she would ask to wear that coat everyday, so I finally told her that it was only for snowy days!) So~ we got her ready to go the zoo--complete with scarf, mittens, tights under her pants-- and as I was putting her shoes on, she actually fell over (just like Randy!) and had to be helped up. I thought I would go into labor right then from all the laughter!
Lucky for us, they had "snow" at the entrance to the zoo and she had a blast getting to see all of the "bewdiful wights" at the zoo with her Daddy, Grammy, Nonnie, Nano, and Uncle Tyler. Merry Christmas!
Oh--and don't shoot your eye out! :-)

You serious Clark?

I'm quickly learning that there are indeed times when I just need to nod my head and say, "Is that right?". This is my #1 response when faced with 3 year-old logic that is extremely difficult to argue with. Those of you with kids know that they never run out of good reasons for why something should happen just the way they think it should. For example, Chloe walked in to the den about 20 minutes ago carrying a plastic golf ball and an apple--and this is the conversation that followed.

me: "Let me guess, you want to go outside and play golf and eat that apple?!?"

Chloe (looking at me as if I were crazy!): "No mom. I's just thinking that since I have this ball I should pwobabwy get a wittle puppy to play with it. And since I have this big apple, I should get a horse. 'Cause horsies wove apples."

me: "Is that right?"

Chloe: "That's what my Nina told me...... So, can we go get them?"

me: "Not today. We've got laundry to do."

That's my way of "creating a diversion"! Yes, there's plenty of laundry to be done--but I don't plan on doing it today, and Chloe happens to love playing in the hamper as I sort clothes--so she dropped the ball and apple and ran to my closet to await the fun! Trust me, I learned long ago not to question the logic of Chloe or what she says her best friend Nina said. All it leads to is 10 minutes of me saying,"that's fine" or "guess so" and Chloe trying repeatedly to convince me by saying,"uh huh, that's right" or "but, but, but..."!!! With this prego belly restricting my breathing these days, I really don't have the breath to go back and forth like that! Eventually (probably when she's 27!) I'll try to explain that if we had a little puppy or a horse, then it would be ok to ask for a ball or apple--not the other way around!

Blue Hair Convention

I made reference in my Thanksgiving post to having attended a "Blue Hair Convention." I've been asked a lot of questions about that and have finally found the time to answer them. In the "sbsturkie dictionary" a blue hair convention is defined as: any gathering of 100 or more persons wherein there are only 4 individuals, including your 3 yr old daughter, that are under the age of 65 and that have never tried to dye their hair silver--and thus end up with a nice blue shine to it--giving them blue hair. At this particular convention, the 4 individuals under the required age were myself, Chloe, my mom, and Aunt Marsha. We attended the "Christmas Show" at the Alabama Theatre in Myrtle Beach, SC.



Background: we drove to Myrtle Beach after picking Chloe up from school, spent the night, and the next day went to find a new beach house to rent. Apparently the two men who own the beach house we've stayed at for years have decided to retire to the beach--therefore, we needed a new house for our annual trip. Anyways, mom had given me fair warning that we may try to go to the show so I wasn't completely shocked when we pulled in to buy our tickets before checking in to our hotel. However, I was surprised to find the show packed later that evening. You see, there were only 10 other cars in the parking lot when we arrived 20 minutes before showtime. What I had failed to realize was that all of the tour buses that transport the "blue hairs" parked behind the theatre. So, the only cars in the parking lot with ours were those of the employees.
I don't want to sound like I'm a blue hair basher. On the contrary, some of the people I admire most fall in to this category: Sir Sean Connery, Micky's Nana, Jimmy Carter, and of course, Bea Arthur. I think I could live quite well with these people! I enjoy a good seafood buffet, love to take naps, and I thoroughly enjoyed this show. The singing and dancing were amazing, and I found myself completely lost in the show. So lost, that after about 20 minutes the glare bouncing off all of the blue/silver hair didn't bother me anymore. It's amazing what you can get used to when someones singing a mind-blowing version of "Mary Did You Know".













This was Chloe's first "big show" and she loved it--what she saw of it! Another thing that shocked me was that this show lasted from 7:30-10:15. By 9, Chloe had climbed on my mom's lap and drifted to sleep. I had no idea the blue hairs could party so late. Guess that explains all the napping!!

Big Gulp Eh?!?

This time every year there's a day that I look forward to more than any other--- and today was that day!!! Every year, one of the oral surgeons Micky refers patients to sends the most beautiful Christmas gift to us (actually just to Micky, but he knows how I love it and is sweet enough to bring it home and let me be the first to open it!).
Check it out!













Yes, please wipe the drool away from your keyboard! That is indeed 2 lbs. 13 oz. of heaven on earth :-) Lucky for me, my camera's on the fritz and Micky couldn't take a picture of me lying on the couch with my feet propped on pillows (got some nice swelling going on!) and this huge box of chocolate propped on my prego belly so that I could make myself ill eating so much chocolate that I needed a half gallon of milk to wash it down! Oh how I love Golden Chocolate Day!!!!

The Sweetest Sound Ever!

I've yet to figure out how to put video clips on this blog (Ross I need help!), so you'll just have to imagine what this sounds like! I'm driving Chloe to school this morning, and from her perch in the backseat, this is what I get to hear (again keep in mind that the "r" and "l" sounds come out as a "w" from Chloe):

Chloe: "Mom, I'm gonna sing your favorite song."

me: "That would be great."

Chloe: "Away in a manger no cwib for a bed. The wittle word Jesus way down his sweet head. The stars in the sky wook down where he way, the wittle word Jesus asweep on the hay, the wittle word Jesus asweep on the hay."

Chloe: "How was that?"

me: "Perfect!"

She's taken to repeating the last line of songs for "emphasis"--
This is definitely the way to start your day! And even though it was such a busy, hectic day, when I sat down tonight to talk to Micky about the day this was the first thing I told him, and by far the best!

Turkey, Al Roker, and some Dap!

Sorry it's been a while since I posted on here (Wendy!:-)), but after Thanksgiving we were a bit busy with Carolina losing, a birthday party, and the "Blue Hair Convention" I attended Monday night in Myrtle Beach--I'll be sure to write a post about that soon! Any old way~~ Thanksgiving was, to quote Chloe, "FANTASTIC". If you ever get the chance to host Thanksgiving while your 8 months pregnant I highly recommend it! Other than the cleaning up before everyone got here (which Micky helped me with), I pretty much didn't have to lift a finger! We had my family and Micky's for dinner--everyone brought a dish, Micky fried the turkey, and between my mom, Micky's mom, and my Aunt Marsha I didn't have to clean a thing. Mind you, I'm still perfectly capable of cleaning--but who am I to deprive those women of the joy of cleaning up after 25 people! I almost felt bad about it, but then realized that in 2 years-when it's my turn to host again--they'll all be busy playing with the kids and I'll be the one cleaning up!! Seriously, it was very nice of them and I greatly appreciated it!

Giving Thanks. I'm a bit embarrassed to say this, but sometimes I will go days without telling God thank you for all the blessings he's given me. I'm working on fixing that! As for telling you all the things I'm thankful for this year--that would be impossible! So, here are a few funny things from Thanksgiving Day that I'm thankful for:

1. My gangsta' daughter-- Chloe slept late Thanksgiving morning and when she finally woke up she called her dad in to "snuggle" with her. After a minute I hear Micky laughing pretty hard so I had to go see what was so funny. Apparently, she told him a story (he couldn't quite understand all of it but thinks it was about a dream she had), and at the end of the story she held her fist up to him and said, "Give me some Dap!" (for those of you who don't know, this is what my brother, Scott, says when he wants her to do a fist bump with him). She proceeded to ask for some "dap!" all day long! Imagine her dressed in a pretty skirt with cute pink tights (thanks Leah!) and completely ruining the dainty princess image with the "give me some dap!" request! Needless to say, her great-grandparents were a little confused!

2. My husbands humor-- After we had given Chloe her morning "dap!" we all snuggled together for a while watching the Thanksgiving parade on NBC. We realized we are definitely getting old when we were actually enjoying the corny singing and dancing numbers. Well, Al Roker came on to introduce the next act and when he got done Micky said (with all seriousness), "You know, no matter how we dress Mr. Potato Head, he always ends up looking like Al Roker." I almost choked on my chocolate milk! And yes, we know we talk about Mr. Potato Head too much, but we spend a lot of time putting outfits on that guy!

3. My dad's narcolepsy-- Most of you know that my dad can fall asleep anytime, anywhere: standing up, sitting at a loud football game, sitting on a bar stool playing Trivial Pursuit (he actually did that at the beach one year and fell to the floor from the stool--it was hilarious!--and he wasn't hurt!). Here's a picture of him at about 3:30, two hours before he even had any turkey!










4. Cousin Eddie-- If you've never seen Christmas Vacation, you are missing out! I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't love it--and I think that's partly because everyone can relate to it--we all have at least one "Cousin Eddie" in our family. (We have 2!) We're planning on having a Christmas Vacation themed Christmas party next year, and I'll bet that over half the guys show up with white shiny shoes and a white sweater with a black Dickie showing through underneath it! It's been tradition in our family for years (ever since mom laughed so hard she could've used Depends in the theater!) to watch Christmas Vacation on Thanksgiving night. It kicks the season off for us! And we all have our favorite lines. One of my personal favs comes from the snooty neighbors, "I don't know Margo!"


Thanksgiving was a hit and I'm doing my best to remember and thank God for everything that I have and all that I am. Thank you!

He makes me laugh!!

Micky and I have been together for 13 years--8 married, 5 dating-- so that's almost half of my life. People will often ask me how we keep things "fresh," or do we still feel "crazy" for each other (I know I do). I find these questions annoying but try to understand that most people asking them are really young and just haven't met that person you love enough to look at everyday for the rest of your life! In my mind a good marriage takes trust in God and each other, respect, love, passion, and a ton of laughter! Some days we may not get to experience a ton of laughter or passion (not everyday is perfect!), but the 3 main things--trust, respect, and love--are always there. That's not to say we don't disagree or argue every now and then--I personally think that's healthy for a relationship. It's in those times that our personalities can feed off of each other--I can actually calm down a bit, and Micky can actually get loud over something! It's great, and so far it seems to work for us! But I have to say that since we've had Chloe in our lives, the thing that has kept us happy more than anything is all the laughter! And he can really make me laugh! Not just at the funny things that she does--trust me there are plenty!--but also watching how we react to her or things she's done can be hilarious! Lucky for me and Chloe, Micky is a great dad, and there aren't too many things sexier than watching the man you love playing and getting dressed up in all of Mr. Potato Head's gear by your 3 year-old! Anyway, the point of this post was not to go on and on about my love for Micky, but to share one of our funny (you'll probably think gross) moments from last night!

*WARNING--NEXT PARAGRAPH NOT INTENDED FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH A WEAK STOMACH!*

Let me start by giving a little background information: 1. as you may know, Chloe has had the "crud" for a little over a week, no fever just a nagging cough and runny nose. We've been giving her cough syrup at night to help her sleep. 2. This may shock some of our "organic only" eating friends, but we had hot dogs for dinner last night. I love them, Micky loves 'em, and Chloe will eat anything she can dip in ketchup! We don't have them very often, and don't worry we only gave her one tablespoon of bacon grease and 2 shots of tequila to go with it! Fast forward to 9:45pm Micky and I are in our room talking when we see a little head peeking around the corner. Usually this is Clyde coming to get his 15 minutes of play time, but last night it was Chloe asking to sleep with us. Again, this may shock some of you, but we said sure, come on in. She doesn't ask often and there's usually a pretty good reason when she does. This should have warned us! Fast forward again to 3:15am, this is where it gets gross, Chloe sits straight up in bed and says I need to go potty. Micky picks her up to take her and before they're out of the bed--blughhhh-- you know it, we get to see the hot dog again! It's on the bed, carpet, hardwoods in the hall, door frame to the bathroom, all over Chloe, and a little actually made it to the potty! Trust me, she could've given Linda Blair (The Exorcist) a run for her money! My first comment was, "pull her hair back!" All of you ladies know how annoying it can be to get that stuff in your hair, especially when there's a tequila scent to it!(just kidding mom!) Now most of you know that even though I'm a nurse and love blood, guts, maggot infested wounds, etc.,--vomit and mucus just aren't my areas of expertise. I can't stand them. So, while I was cleaning up Chloe, Micky tackled the rest of the house! I thought to myself--God I love this man. And then, he actually made a joke about how hot dogs apparently don't digest much. You know it's love when you're both on your hands and knees cleaning another persons puke and can actually be laughing about it! Well, we made it back to bed and as soon as the lights were out Chloe popped back up and needed to go potty! I ran faster than any 31 week pregnant woman ever has, and she made it to the potty this time! We get her all cleaned up, she seems to be fine--no fever and is also joking about the nasty goo, and we head back to bed. The lights go out and Micky says, "Take two!" Looking back, that comment isn't quite as funny now, but at 3:45am this morning I thought it was hilarious!

Big Ears

Now that Chloe has reached the "why?" stage in her life, there's usually not a day that goes by that we don't have at least 20 conversations that involve her asking one, if not all, of these questions, "why, how, why not, how come,"--and my all time favorite, "are you sure mom?"! I try my best to stay patient throughout these conversations, but after about 20 minutes of trying to explain why you can make a right turn on a RED light (because you know that red means stop!), I usually end the conversation with one of these statements, "just trust me on that" or "that's the rules" or my personal favorite, "we should ask your dad that when he gets home!" Let's face it, I don't know all the rules of traffic, how can I be expected to explain them to a 3 year old?!? Anyway, I thought I'd share one of our most recent "why/how" chats. This one was surprisingly short, and it took place a week ago on the way to Chloe's doctors office. Yes, she officially has the "crud"--don't you just love paying the co-pay to hear that brilliant diagnosis! But, hey, the cough syrup is at least helping her sleep now!
Let me set the scene--we're driving on I-126 going over the bridge. Please keep in mind that for Chloe any "r" or "l" sound is replaced by the "w" sound!



Chloe: "I can't see the wivew mom"

me: "It's too low right now. We need some rain."

Chloe: "Doesn't God make it wain?"

me: "yes"

Chloe: "God?"............."God?"...................."GOD?"........."Mom, he can't hear me."

me: "yes, baby, God can hear you anywhere remember?"

Chloe: "oh yeah, God has weally big ears. God?, can you pwease make it wain so I can see the wivew?.................. Mom, he's not answering."

me: "Well.... we can't always hear God, but I'm sure he heard you and is working on getting us some rain soon."

Chloe: "Is it because I have small ears?"

me: silence (trying not to laugh)

Chloe: "I wish I had big ears like God and Dumbo. Can God fly like Dumbo? Does God have a mouse friend too? Was God's mom sad when he was a baby because his ears were so big? When I get growed up, will I have big ears too? Can Nina get big ears too so we can both hear God? How come you can't hear God--did your ears not get big yet?...... I don't want to go to my doctor's office. Can my doctor hear God yet?"

me: "We're here"



I like to refer to that as a rapid fire questioning session. And trust me, she didn't forget a single question she asked, and I had to try to answer all of them as we waited forever in the waiting room!

WOW!

Last night I had the privilege of hearing the Benedict College Gospel Choir perform, and they were amazing! My friend Ellen, who I feel the need to thank yet again, invited me to a women's event at her church, Gateway Baptist in Irmo. First off, that place is HUGE--and they haven't even built the permanent sanctuary yet! The whole event was first class, and it was so nice to have an evening with ladies! There were about 415 women there, seated at some beautifully decorated tables, and there was of course a fabulous meal! Before and after the meal and speaker, there were tables set up in the back selling Bead for Life merchandise. There was some of the most beautiful beaded jewelry, purses, and other accessories I have ever seen. A friend of mine even found some handmade, stuffed safari animals that will go great in her future baby's nursery. The funds raised help support "community development projects in health, education, employment, and housing to the impoverished in Uganda."
After dinner, the Benedict Gospel Choir performed 4 songs-- and I was blown away! There were only 20 of them singing, (4 musicians joined them--1 on drums, 1 on bass guitar, and 2 on keyboards) but when they sang it sounded like a choir of hundreds! They weren't loud, they were just commanding, and the beauty of their voices brought tears to my eyes. If you ever have the opportunity to hear them--don't pass it up! As a matter of fact, some of my friends who were there last night have suggested we try to see their Christmas concert. Count me in!

www.BeadforLife.org

My good friend Matt!

For those of you who missed my wonderful time spent with Matt Lauer this past April, check this out. I need to thank my cousin, Natalie, in Florida for putting this together! You can pretty much see me, Beka, Christy, & Carol the whole time over there shoulders, but if you'd like to skip ahead to the really good part, just go to 5:20 on the video. :-)
just copy & paste this to your address bar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7sbUFVfeiU

And, yes, I am fully aware that I look like a complete idiot--but I was completely shocked when he spoke to me and wasn't quite sure what to do!

Gotta be kidding me!!

OK, so, yesterday I got an email from the people at Google giving me some info about an ad program they have. Basically, you let them put some ads on your page and you can get about a penny if people look at it enough or something like that. They're pretty strict about what they'll put up--no vulgar ads or porn or anything like that. They scan your blog to see what you're into and then THEY pick ads they feel are appropriate. Well, I said sure, why not? Maybe one day I'll receive a check in the mail that will actually pay for a tank of gas! Well, I told Micky about it and was all proud of myself for "discovering" this amazing thing. THEN IT HAPPENED! The FIRST thing I did after I got up this morning (besides empty the bladder of course :-)) was check my blog to see what ad they thought would be a good fit. The NEXT thing I did was laugh hysterically for about 5 minutes--which caused Micky to get out of bed and see what on earth was going on. Apparently, all the recent blogging about Chloe and her silly Aunt Christy's school :-) has put Clempson at, or near, the top of key words that popped up for the ad guys. Oh the JOY! From here on out, they will be referred to as "the school who shall not be named"! Micky got a good chuckle out of it too, and his only comment was, "I'm glad you haven't been writing about sex toys or something like that!" Don't worry mom, I never will! Although, at this point, that might have been better :-)!!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

Anyone with kids will tell you--once they're old enough to know what Halloween is about-- it's not an event that last for just a day...it can go on, and on, and on! We've still been very fortunate that Chloe hasn't gotten too crazy with it yet. I'm sure it's coming. It only seemed to last about a week here. And like my good friend Carla said--at least it wasn't a 3 week event like last year. I totally agree-- this year was much better and actually went by without too much fanfare.
Last Wednesday, the 24th, we took Dorothy and Tinkerbell (a.k.a. Chloe & Nina) to the "Halloween Happening" at our church. Due to some much needed rain we finally received, the festivities had to be moved indoors. The girls did not let this spoil their fun, and proceeded to have a dance party right in the middle of the Fellowship Hall. Mind you there was no music, but when you've got moves like these 2, who needs it?!?











Chloe got to pick an outside and inside pumpkin this year. Micky and I decided it would be fun to let her paint the inside one. So~ Tuesday night when Micky got home, he and Chloe proceeded to create this masterpiece!



Halloween day was pretty busy. Chloe had school in the morning and of course had a party there. I'm not sure how the other parents would like it, so I won't be putting any pics from that party on here--but they had a policeman, Batman, Superman, 2 Tinkerbells, Wendy (the twins were Tinkerbell and Wendy--how cute!), Snow White, a witch, a fireman who didn't want to put his suit on!, and of course Dorothy. They were all very cute and had a great time at their party. Halloween night we did our usual--our families came for dinner and to help us ridicule the kids who were too old to be trick-or-treating (just teasing)! It was a nice night, and we were actually done by 9!! I'm already trying to think of what Chloe and her baby sister can be next year?!? I think I've got plenty of time to come up with something!

Blown Away!

Everyone knows that Micky and I are BIG Carolina fans. Always have been, always will be. Now, that's not saying we're psycho about it. We don't paint our chests garnet & black (although I'm sure that would look great on me right now!), and we don't pick fights with people who happen to pull for other teams. We do enjoy cheering for them, and I can't tell you how excited I was when I realized our season tickets were on the side that gets to yell Cocks during the Gaaame--Cocks chant! Where else can you just shout that word out?!? Just teasing, but we will always pull for them and hope that some day we'll get to see them achieve sports greatness! I compare it to my family--who have always pulled for the Braves, even when they were worst in the league (late 80's), and then we finally got to see them win a World Series and they still remain pretty darn good!

Anyway, what I'm about to tell you may not come as such a shock to you, but you can imagine why it blew us away! Last Friday, I picked Chloe up from school and we were on the way to meet Micky for lunch when this conversation took place--it was initiated by Chloe out of the blue:

Chloe: "I like Clempson Tigers."
me: "yeah, they're nice. I like the Gamecocks too."
Chloe: SILENCE
me: "yeah, I really like the Gamecocks."
Chloe: "I don't like Gamecocks, yeah I don't like 'em."
me: SILENCE

So, I was a bit shocked, but figured this would pass. We've been talking a lot about Clemson since Chloe's Aunt Christy started going there. And for awhile, she didn't like Tigers (thanks to the mean tiger on The Jungle Book), and we've been convincing her that Clemson Tigers are nice. Apparently, we did too good of a job on that! I didn't tell Micky about it right away. I actually forgot about it until later Friday afternoon when we were checking out at K-mart--the home of the huge pumpkin we had to purchase for Chloe to stuff all of her crayons and magnet letters in later that night! At the checkout they had a ton of Carolina/Clemson "stuff" on display. I chose this time to break the news to Micky. I repeated the above conversation to him while he looked on in utter disbelief! He finished paying then pushed the buggy to me and scooped Chloe up to go look at the Carolina stuff. He handed her a squishy, soft Carolina pillow (the kind we know she loves), and asked her what was on it.
Chloe: "A Gamecock. I don't like Gamecocks!"
Micky: "Well, then, put it back."
She DID! WITHOUT A FUSS! We knew we were in trouble then!
So, we spent the rest of the weekend walking around the house periodically shouting GO GAMECOCKS!--Just to see if she'd repeat it. Luckily she did and seems to have come out of her temporary insanity :-) But, hey, we'll love her just the same if she grows up and decides to go to Clemson--we just won't pay for college! :-)
(JUST KIDDING Nonnie!)

SC State Fair

Last Monday, Micky and I took Chloe to one of my favorite places on earth-- The South Carolina State Fair! Where else can you get a Pronto Pup (corndog for you laypeople), cheese pizza, Fiske french fries--soaked in vinegar, cotton candy, elephant ears, gyros, and of course Trudy's soft serve ice cream?!? All things that I indeed ate during my 2 trips to the fair (we went back after the Carolina game Saturday and ate our way from one entrance to the other side exit!). It's probably a good thing that it's only here for about 10 days or else I could have my own booth there as the largest human being ever! Then again, I could probably get all the pronto pups with mustard that I wanted!! Anyway, we took Chloe last Monday and met up with her best friend Nina and her parents and little brother. I'm the slack mom who forgot my camera, so let me thank Carla for sending me some of the pics she took.

Just chillin' on the firetruck!










Contemplating riding the swings










They decided on the swings, and let me say--this was the best part of the ride for Chloe...before it started. I like to refer to this pic as The Calm Before the Storm! I've never seen her so scared and hope to never again! I was about ready to leap the barricade and push the big red button for the carnie worker so I could get her off. Unfortunately, my belly was in the way of me lifting my leg high enough to jump the fence!










Girl after my own heart--Fiske fries AND cotton candy--yum!!










Chloe's favorite part--petting the animals :-)









If you could see my hands, you'd probably see a pronto pup in one hand and fried mushrooms in the other!

Little Slow Today

So~it's only about 3:30pm, but I feel like I could go to bed now and sleep for at least a day. I know a lot of pregnant women get tired easy and all that, but today I actually have a reason--it's name is CHLOE! Now, to be fair I haven't been sleeping that well for a while now--with all the bathroom trips during the night and 3:30 Fudge Round cravings (gotta love Little Debbie!). Last night I was especially tired--I think because I so wisely decided yesterday was a good day to try to play golf again. The weather last week psyched me out--see I thought it might actually stay in the 70's, boy am I dumb! But, hey, my doc said I could play as long as I could swing my clubs and Micky had the afternoon off so I was ready to give it a shot. The temp at our tee time (2pm) was ~86, which on the pregnancy thermometer equals ~190. So it was a little hot, but not unbearable. It took a few swings for me to figure out how to hold everything with my new belly in the way. Putting actually proved to be the most difficult thing, and if Micky's laughter was any indication--it was quite comical to watch. Anyway, by the time we picked Chloe up and made it home my back was already screaming at me and I just wanted to soak in the tub and get into bed. Of course, it was only 7 so Chloe felt we all needed to play together for a couple of hours! Fast forward to bedtime. As some of you know, Chloe has taken to sleeping with just about anything that will fit in her bed--stuffed animals, umbrellas, small (soft) baseball bats, golf clubs--you get the idea. Now, it's about 2:30am and during one my trips to the potty I look at the monitor and there's no Chloe. After a moment of panic I prepare to dart upstairs only to find her sitting on the stairs (about halfway down) surrounded by 4 stuffed animals, a princess bat, and her Dora umbrella. She's just sitting there staring straight ahead, half asleep when she notices me. She explains that she was trying to come down, but kept dropping all her "stuff". She just looked pitiful, so I told her I'd help her and that she could come sleep with mommy and daddy now. BIG mistake. The rest of the night I spent dislodging kids size 9 feet from first my legs, then my back, and even my shoulders. I swear that kid must play Twister in her sleep and when she landed on right hand yellow that was apparently right where my left kidney is located! So~ I'm a little tired today and let me tell you, I look GREAT!!! Do you remember those afternoon specials that used to come on that Tracey Gold seemed to always star in, dealing with life issues (drugs, eating disorders, abuse, etc.)? Well, I look like I could be the ghetto pregnant mom scrounging for food. I'm sure Micky can't wait to get home to see this!!

The ORANGE Sea

As most of you know, Chloe's Aunt Christy is a freshman at Clemson this year. Chloe has been dying to go see her and find out what "college" is all about--so~ last Monday Chloe, Nonnie, and I drove up to visit. Chloe was super excited about wearing her purple shirt with a tiger paw on it, and she couldn't wait to see TigerTown. We got there around 2 on Monday--just as Christy was finishing class--and got a chance to walk around some of the campus. It's a beautiful campus (once you get past all the orange :-)), and if it hadn't been 90,000 degrees we probably would've walked a little more. What was up with temps in the 90's, in the upstate, in October?!? Go figure! Chloe absolutely loved Christy's dorm room and the loft beds. We took Christy and her friend Sally Anna to dinner--all you can eat crab legs yum! Sally Anna was very nice and I'm so glad Christy's already made some great friends up there. Our stay in a hotel room was another exciting event for Chloe. She thinks of every hotel as a beach house--not sure why-- and her first words upon waking Tuesday were, "Can we go to Nonnie's beach now?" The only down side to the trip for Chloe, besides there being no beach, was that there were no REAL tigers to see. The statues weren't cutting it, she wanted a real tiger to roar with and pet! We helped to ease this pain by purchasing a cute "baby" tiger from the bookstore that has already joined the ranks of the special stuffed animals that get to sleep with her!
It was a great trip and hopefully we can make it up there again soon--after the little one comes of course!

Future Fashion Designer

If you've ever wondered what would happen if we let Chloe dress herself... wonder no more! She put this lovely ensemble together all by herself. We got home from church Sunday, and Micky and I were changing to go to Nonnie and Nano's for lunch when we realized Chloe had gone upstairs. I called up to her to ask if she needed any help getting out of her dress and she replied, "No thanks, I got it done and I'm dressing myself for lunch." When she came downstairs we could tell by the way she was prancing that she was extremely proud of herself--so we suppressed the urge to laugh and instead told her how beautiful she looked. Let's face it--even in a pink princess shirt, too short black leggings, white socks,garnet Gamecock Crocs, and last years winter hat--she still looked adorable! She wore the outfit to Nonnie's for lunch and then to Grammy's house for dinner. She just had to keep the hat on, even though it was about 90 degrees outside! The outfit was made complete when Aunt Beka and Uncle Scott gave her a killer pair of pink boots they had bought for her! She loves the boots and I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty of them this fall!

Pink Ladies

One of Chloe's new favorite things to do is to figure out everyones favorite color and then show them as many things as she can that are that color. This got interesting on one of our many trips to Food Lion last week when Chloe spotted a rather large woman wearing a purple dress, (think of a Wilma Flinstone type dress--only purple and about 20 sizes too big for Wilma) and proceeded to point and shout, "Mommy, Mommy it's your favorite--a whole bunch of purple..." I moved as fast as I could from the Little Debbie section, praying this woman hadn't heard. The whole time, Chloe was baffled as to why I wasn't enjoying this display of purple and kept saying, but it's your favorite color mommy--look! I'm pretty sure we made a clean get-away and pray we didn't hurt the woman's feelings, but a 6 month pregnant woman can only push a loaded down buggy with a 3yr old in it so fast!
Anyway, (that story took a lot longer to write than to tell verbally!)Chloe's favorite color is pink--and it just so happens that's the color we decided to paint the new babies room. Chloe woke up Saturday morning, and as usual, her first words were, "Is Daddy at work?" I told her no, that he was getting ready to paint her sisters room. That kid moved faster than I've ever seen her, and without even asking for a cup of juice, she was in there asking to help. We let her help us tape the trim work--she did some great work on the closet door :-) And then we let her help stir the paint.

That's when she realized she needed a brush to get started and we realized this was not going to work!!! I called my mother, who was on standby for this call, to please come get Chloe before the whole house was pink. Lucky for us, being with my mother and her cousin, Kristin, is another of Chloe's favorite things--so she didn't even put up a fuss over leaving while there was still painting going on. Scott and Rebekah, future Godparents :-), were nice enough to come help--and they brought doughnuts!--so we were done by lunchtime.
Chloe loved the finished room and has decided that pink will definitely be her sisters favorite color too!

Sweet old ladies!

Due to the recent break in the heat,(it no longer feels like 103, just 93) I decided it was time to visit the zoo again. This is one of Chloe's favorite places, and it's always good for an hour or two of entertainment. So, we decided to go Thursday and we took one of Chloe's best friends, Iris, with us. We met up with Chloe's other best friend, Nina, and her mom(Carla) and little brother. The zoo, as always, was a hit and the girls had a great time looking at and talking to the animals. There was a moment of disappointment when Chloe realized there were no pumas or baby jaguars, (like on Go!DiegoGo!) but that quickly passed when she remembered they do have penguins at the zoo and she recently saw Diego and Dora rescue a baby penguin!
Watching the girls talk and interact with each other is always a treat and usually proves to be quite comical. The funniest part of the day, for me, was on the car ride to the zoo. Chloe and I picked Iris up, and before I could even back out of the driveway--they were busy comparing boo-boos! Our little nurse Chloe started it off with showing Iris her bandaids on her heels. Keep in mind--there was nothing wrong with her heels, but she has decided that she always need bandaids on them when she wears her Crocs, due to the one blister she had 6 months ago that cleared up in a day!:-) Then Iris had a boo-boo on her knee to point out, and Chloe, not to be outdone, had to point out her "awesome" ant bite on her ankle. They went back and forth like this for a few minutes and I found myself actually laughing out loud. I think if I had closed my eyes I could have easily pictured two sweet old ladies comparing their ailments! My sudden laughter broke their chain of one-upping each other with the boo-boos, and they decided to move onto more important conversation--deciding which DVD they "had" to watch for the 4 minutes we had left before we reached the zoo! (F.Y.I. they decided on "Lady and the Tramp") These 3 girls are some of the funniest (and for their age, smartest) people I know. If you're ever searching for something to make you smile or laugh, I strongly suggest listening to some sweet little ladies' conversations!

The Locomotion!

I just thought I'd do a public service announcement, or PSA, to promote the continent with the nicest people on the planet--Australia! I should probably start by thanking the late Matthew Flinders who not only was the first to navigate that beautiful continent, but he also named it "Australia"--what a name! Without him--we may never have come to know and love some of the most famous Australians--like--Ned Kelly, Mic Dundee!, Mel Gibson, Slim Dusty, and of course--Kylie Minogue-whose 1988 remake of "The Locomotion" changed dance styles forever! I know you're singing that great tune in your head right now. I like to think of that song as a happy place, although it'll stay in your head for about 4 days! That's how long it's been in mine--since Misty and I met our nice Australian auto man Tuesday. As soon as he spoke I started singing (in my head)..."dooo the locomotion with me--you gotta sway your hips now---come on baby"... you get the idea. So you're probably wondering what brought this mysterious Camry driving Australian into our lives--well, it was Misty's inability to close her back door/hatch! :-) We met to shop and hang out for a couple of hours Tuesday, and when the kids informed us it was time to leave--by behaving like they were REALLY having a great time--we decided to pack it in and go home. The Sequoia had other plans! Once Misty maneuvered her way into the back of her SUV by crawling over seats because we couldn't open the back door!--only to discover there were no jumper cables, but she did have a very nice roadside blanket--we decided we could handle this. After all, we were in front of Target who happens to sell the item we needed. I pulled my car in beside hers and we decided to pop the hoods and take a look. ENTER our Australian auto man. We're assuming that he, like everyone else who saw us gazing under the hoods, felt sorry for the prego lady with a 3year old hanging out of her car window and for the mom with twins hanging out in their stroller in the one shady spot we could find!
He asked Misty to try and start it (like we hadn't tried that, we just wanted to see if Toyota was making HEMI's!), and he also decided YEP it must be the battery. We didn't really need him for that, but when Misty got back with the cables we realized we had never done this and weren't exactly sure where things went. I think this made him feel great--he stepped right in and hooked the cables to our cars and watched as the 4Runner brought the Sequoia back to life! (Just so you know, the cables are color-coded black & red and hook to the matching black & red thingies on the battery--always good to know!) He was super nice and was indeed the only of the "concerned" bystanders that offered us help. So--THANK YOU--Australian auto man. You are now ranked with Mel and Kylie in my top 3 Australians!

Goodbye to Summer!

So~according to the news I got from the great Ben Tanner (whom I place complete faith in on whether or not I need an umbrella), today is the first day of fall. Well, you could have fooled me--with the 97 degree temp I saw in my car around 3pm today! But, hey, we still tried to send summer off with a bang this weekend. One of Chloe's favorite people, her aunt Christy, came home from college this weekend. I told Chloe Friday morning she would be coming to visit and Chloe's first words were,"So she's done with college?". I tried to explain that no she'd be going back on Sunday, but I could tell she wasn't listening--her mind was already reeling with all of the things she was going to do with aunt Christy that afternoon! Christy did indeed stop by for ~30 minutes Friday and of course Chloe tried to cram 3 weeks worth of play into that time! She greeted Christy with a heroes welcome--you know, the long run to her with arms open wide yelling, "Tristy, Tristy!"(we still have difficulty with the Ch sound!) They drew with chalk, played chase, played hide & seek, and Chloe pitched a fit for them to read books together! Chloe didn't care that she was going to spend all afternoon Saturday at Christy's house--she was determined to get it all in right then.
Saturday was a bit crazy. We had all the normal "Saturday chores" to do, plus Micky & I were getting ready to go to 2 parties. First we hit a couples shower for Micky's college buddy Brad and his future bride. It was a really nice shower and all I can say is, anywhere that has a chocolate fountain is a great place to be! I guarded that fountain like a great Palace Guard and was able to use my pregnancy as an excuse for "needing" so much chocolate. Truth is, I'd have done the same thing non-prego! I love chocolate! From there we dropped in at a bday party for a friend of ours that we went to Vegas with last year. It was another great party with terrific food and an open bar--let me tell you what--that ginger ale rocked!!!
Today Chloe worked in a bike ride, which means she pushes with her feet on the ground-not pedals, and got some good rocking time in on the porch with Nana at lunch! Another of Chloe's fav people, aunt Beka, came back from LA yesterday and we got to see her today and Chloe got some great prizes! The Sleeping Beauty apron is currently laying beside her in bed!

Too bad we have to get up early for school tomorrow--I think she'd sleep until 9 after such a busy weekend! Hey, we're ready for fall now. I'm sure the 89 degree high tomorrow will feel like an arctic blast!

Pregnant lady+3year old+wet dog=BAD IDEA!

So, those of you who've been to our house will know some of what I'm about to write, but for the rest of you-- welcome to a small piece of what I like to call, "Living with Clyde". I must preface this with saying that we love Clyde immensely and could not imagine our lives without him (although I do dream of what it would be like to not see dog hair on my rugs). Overall, Clyde is a great dog who listens well, plays great with Chloe, and doesn't chew on anything he shouldn't. Having said that... Let me say this...being an English Bulldog can have its disadvantages. 1. He always sounds like he's just run a marathon--and this is just when he's been sitting still for an hour! Imagine how loud he gets when he actually runs around! Snoring doesn't begin to describe the sounds he makes while sleeping--and this is after he's had surgery to widen his palate and nostrils to help this problem--so he now has his own room to sleep in. 2. The cute folds around his face-while great for looking sad--tend to hold on to any water he's drank in the last 7 days. Therefore, he may be the only dog I know that has been trained to wipe his face on a towel in his room when he's done drinking. He doesn't always remember this, so then we get some great slobber shots thrown up on the walls whenever he decides to shake. (Seriously--I've had to use the step stool to wipe some of them off--he's got great reach with that shaking stuff!) 3. If he is not brushed daily or at least every couple of days, he can shed like nobodies business! Chloe now knows this and uses every opportunity she can find to go outside and brush him--a few times she's tried to do it inside with mommy's brush. What's really great is to brush your hair and then realize your brush was used on the dog right before you placed it in your freshly washed hair! Oh the joy! These are just a few glimpses of what life with Clyde is like!
But what brought this post about was my brilliant idea to give him a bath yesterday! I know, I know, I'm a genius--what can I say?!? Yeah, about the time I had the sprayer in one hand and the back of Clyde's neck in the other--I realized this was probably not a good idea. Too late, I was committed and I was going to finish--even if it meant Chloe and I getting soaked (which she loved) and having to come in and have our own baths when we were done. But guess what?--he's beautiful and shiny today, and under complete house arrest! I'm not taking any chances--you know he'll find the one ounce of orange clay/dirt in the yard and use it to paint himself orange like a Cleveland Browns fan! Hey, what can I say, we love our Clyde!

Happy Birthday Jenn and Uncle Scott!!!

Chloe loves her Uncle Scott and cousin Jennifer and she had a great time sharing their birthday celebration with them!





Interesting--wherever there's cake--Chloe always seems to find herself front and center waiting for a piece! Who can blame her when it's chocolate pound cake :-) yummy!! That's my girl!