Thankful.

I have a lot of days when I wake up and realize just how much I have to be thankful for...I am one blessed chicka. I am thankful for every single morning where my baby girl wakes up hollering for me "Moooooommmmmaaaaa" that makes my day. And although I joke about her hollering for her Daddy....I still love hearing that too. I am very thankful that I have become a mother for a number of reasons, but the one that comes to mind other than the obvious one, BROOKE is that it has given me a completely new respect for my own mother. I now know the depth of her feelings for me, and it has brought an already close relationship even closer.

Being a mom myself has made me even more thankful for my mother in law. She is an amazing woman who I call Momm (for my second mom or mom miller, whichever). I never imagined I could bond with someone else's mom the way I have with her. I am thankful for the wonderful job she did raising her son. He is an amazing man, husband, friend and most importantly....father. I am thankful for the wonderful mother's, whether grandmother's, aunts, cousins, neighbors, etc...Brooke has in her life. Of course I am thankful for the men in our life too, I am just focusing on MOM's because of Mother's Day yesterday.

This is the first Mother's Day since I have been a mom that I haven't had one or both mom's here with me to celebrate. BUT, with that said Steven and Brooke made sure to spoil me rotten yesterday and not give me time to think about missing anyone. I could NOT have asked for a better Mother's Day.

Here are several pictures of us just enjoying our evening out in our backyard, just the three of us....in the beautiful weather.

Me and my love.

And now the picture is complete.

I used to avoid the camera at all cost, but have recently decided that even I won't care in 10 years how I feel I looked in the pictures, and that I want photos of ALL of us to help us remember just how blessed we always have been. Us making use of handy dandy timers.

Me and my angel.

One proud papa.

While I sat on my rump relaxing I giggled so much while watching Daddy work with help from Brooke. She was working HARD. Raking up weeds after pulling them.

Steven decided to use the reel mower instead of the normal gas guzzling, smelly one so we could all stay outside....and of course Brooke had to help by mowing right behind him with hers.

I am one lucky lady!

Before I was a Mom.

I am sure a lot of you have received this forwarded email. I do not know who the original author is, but it puts too many of my own thoughts into words. Enjoy this and don't forget about your own Momma tomorrow!

Before I was a Mom,I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at nightwatching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom .

I love you Momma and wish you were here!

A song that tugs at our heart strings.

I am a huge music lover, but catch myself falling behind on a lot of new music releases these days and instead listen to lots of children's music....go figure! What made me think of this song was one of those email quizzes you get that asks you the last time you cried....and it happened to be when listening to this song.

As most of you know, my wonderful, amazing, sweet, drop dead gorgeous (yep, could go on and on) husband Steven works two jobs so I can stay home with our angel. At times I feel sorry for myself because he is away a lot....and I feel sorry for Brooke and Steven too. The other night I was in a funk (but Steven didn't know it), was down in the dumps about my best friend working so hard and caught myself being almost short tempered with Brooke. Suddenly my phone rang and it was Steven. He told me to stop everything I was doing and go put it on 99.5, a local country radio station immediately and listen to this song. I did, and well the tears started flowing. Not only did it make me realize I need to stop and treasure our angel, but it made me realize that Steven is going through the same "don't grow up so fast" emotions I am.

The song is Darius Rucker's (formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish) song "it won't be like this for long." Listen and enjoy....sniff, sniff.

Salad or Cheeseburger?

I consider myself a pretty healthy eater. Yes, I have my moments of pizza, cheeseburgers, and candy cravings....but, they are generally controllable. Brooke has decided she loves cheeseburgers....which so happen to be one of my weaknesses, but I usually only give in on Saturdays. Well, we have had a really good, laid back week and today after music class I asked her what she wanted for lunch and naturally she wanted a cheeseburger. I asked where from and her response was "Uncle Donald's Momma" which in our terms is McDonald's and we don't go there very often, so I thought it would be a nice treat.
I decided when entering the drive thru line that I would not go for cheeseburger and fries, but instead get a very healthy salad....then I started reading the menu, and decided I am cheap. I ordered myself a cheeseburger happy meal (with apple slices) to go with Brooke's for $2.89, instead of the Caesar salad at $4.69. No WONDER people would rather eat fried, greasy stuff....it's CHEAP! Then I decided to do more research while Brooke was napping.....yes, I was completely avoiding work of any sort, so I looked up the data on their website and a cheeseburger is 300 calories, and the salad that I would have ordered is 220 calories. Sounds like I should have ordered the salad right? Well, add dressing and the lowest calorie dressing that they offer would still have added another 60 calories to the salad.... AND, doing more research one of their salads with the lowest calorie dressing has 560 calories, when the Quarter Pounder with cheese has 510 calories.....wow....

All of that said to tell you, MAN my cheeseburger was good!! I have decided I will save my salads for home where I KNOW what's in them and enjoy my eating out more often!

3 year stats.

This morning Brooke and I went to her yearly check up with her pediatrician. We love Dr. Z!

She currently weighs in at 40.1 pounds (big enough to sit in just a booster in the car, yikes), is 41 inches tall (3 and a half feet tall people), and is the 98th percentile for her age (mom, that just means only 2% of kiddoes out there are bigger than Brooke). I keep hearing that kids will slow down in their growth after they hit two, but in the last year she's gained 11 pounds and grown over 5 inches in height!

I've been saying she's growing like a weed, now we just have the documentation to prove it!

Love it when she makes a liar out of me.

My mother has always said that kids tend to make liars out of their parents, and this is yet another Mom saying that I am learning rings true. If I ever dare say the words, "Brooke won't do that" or "Brooke's never done that" or even more recently if I tell you guys via blog post just how ornery and argumentative she is....yes, she has decided to make a liar out of me and be an angel for an entire weekend!! WOO HOO!

The following picture proves she IS an angel....man, I can so tell I am going to be one of those mom's that watches my child sleep when she's a teenager. Don't get me wrong, I can just sit and stare at her when she's awake....but there is something about your sleeping child that is just priceless to watch. Makes any earlier orneriness go away.

This one just shows IF she does have horns, they are well disguised by all those curls! She loves to sing, and sings very loudly in her microphones.

3 going on 13?!

Life with a toddler can at times be....well, challenging. I told my folks that whoever came up with the phrase 'terrible two's' only said that because their child didn't live to be three!! I consider myself someone with patience, and I thought lots of it but whew she sure can try that patience! Below are just SOME of the things I hear these days.

~First thing in the morning she calls out, "Daddy" then when I walk in her room because he is already gone to work I get told, "not YOU, Daddy." Aw, I feel the love.

~I try to always give her choices when it's feasible. Things like clothing, hair styles, etc...here is what I get these days.
Me, "do you want pig tails or a pony tail?" Her "Braids."
Me, "do you want to wear this red skirt or the green one?" Her "the purple one."
Me, "please go get some sandals on, it's hot outside." She walks in wearing Ugg type boots and glubs.

~Just another example of her 'teenage' ways. The only way (without a battle that is) she would potty for me this morning when she first woke up was with sunglasses on, a necklace, and her socks on her hands....

~And oh my, the arguing. I seriously believed I would have until the preteen years to get prepared for how to win arguments with Brooke....boy was I WRONG! She doesn't argue with anyone else....yet, but when it comes to me she will argue about anything. According to her (only when talking to me) her Daddy does NOT work at the hospital, it's NOT hot outside just warm, she does NOT need sandals, sunscreen, insert your fav thing here, oh and my favorite she is NOT arguing.....

I have been trying to figure out when to let the craziness slide and let her be herself, and when to fight her about things....this is what tries my patience probably more than anything. As a mom I of course want to do it all right, want her to be on her best behavior, etc....the not knowing and ME having to learn how to deal with this is entertainment for sure. She has started this little attitude of folding her arms, turning her head to the side with her lips all pooched out when she is told to do something she doesn't want to do. Yes, it is cute 95% of the time....the other 5% I am not laughing. I try to regularly blame Steven for this, because I just could NOT have ever been this bull-headed....hahaha, yes I cracked myself up with that one. Wishful blaming I know.

I have been doing a LOT of praying. I want to handle her the correct way, the most loving way, and the way that will show her the kind of person she needs to be.

Not to harp solely on the negative, ornery ways. She is still the most loving, caring child. She has yet to meet a child stranger. She will walk up to any other child and wrap her arms around them and introduce herself, then proceeds to introduce anyone around she knows. She is mastering her please, thanks you's, take a turn, excuse me....etc, which is a nice change. She can be so helpful in her new found independence. She will put things away without me asking her (most of the time). She also can tell when she HAS aggravated me, and she will walk up to me, ask me very sweetly what's wrong, then proceed to give me the biggest hug and kiss and tell me "it's okay Momma, I wuv you." That right there makes me forget any reason she might have aggravated me. It is amazing how someone so young can already know how to make me forget about EVERYthing else.

We hope everyone has a great, patience filled weekend! ;o)