Cute Kiddos

My kiddies are too cute! Just to prove it, here are pics!


Livee LOVES her bathtime! She has really started splashing a lot lately!



My sweet boy before school one morning. Look at all that hair! It will be gone this summer!

"Mom" Mode

Well, today I did it. I moved one step closer to being a "soccer mom", as Dave calls it (and my kid's not even in soccer). We bit the big one and got the van. I know we are going to enjoy it, but in my mind, I am not old enough to drive a minivan. It did keep Hayden entertained for 2 1/2 hours straight, though. :) The little things in life. He put both seats back, opened and closed the doors a million times, opened the back hatch several times, helped Dave try to program the garage door, and jumped from front to back to front again. I'm just glad he didn't crank it and try to drive away.

He is pretty funny these days. The other day he told me that he wanted to sit next to me on the couch. I asked him if it was because I smelled good and he said "Yep, like chicken wings."

???

Then, the very same day, I told him my hair was looking funky and he said I needed a Bumpit.

!!!

They FLOOD the kids' cartoon channels with infomercials, so this is not the first time that he has come up with something like that. I just laughed, but now every time he sees the commercial for the Bumpit he tells me I need it! He's hilarious.

And, now, I am going to bed because I did not get a nap today and I have been up since before daylight.

P.S. I kind of fibbed in the last post. I went to 2 consignment sales last weekend. At the first one I got a sweet dress for Livee for this fall for $6, a glowworm for $1, and a toy baby drum for $2.

Monday Monday...

Since I'm up so early this Monday morning, I thought that I would update you on my consigment sale shopaholicism (and yes, I just made up that phrase). I did end up consigning my maternity clothes last weekend. I have offered them to everyone I can think of and no one needs maternity clothes right now or they are the wrong size, so I guess I'll sell them. Consigning maternity clothes is kind of a hit or miss situation, and I apparently missed this weekend. Oh well, we do have a permanent consignment shop in town, so I think I'm going to take them there along with some of Dave's things and some of my old clothes. Anywho, I did end up selling the bouncy seat and a playgym and maybe a few of my clothes, so I made $15 (70% minus $5 for participating). Except that I spent $25! Isn't that always how it goes? I couldn't find a push thing for Livee, but I did get a fantastic deal on a toddler slide ($22!) and also picked up a Cinderella costume in a 2/3 for $2 and some boxing gloves for Hayden for $1. Never fear though, I am not in the hole! I made $270 from sales in Muscle Shoals! And....I *think* I have spent less than that. It's hard to keep track because of buying on Ebay and then several different sales this year. Hopefully I can sell the other clothes I mentioned and make a little more this summer. :) Happy Monday all!

We didn't really need the swing, but it was too good of a deal to pass up!

Heavy, but Hopeful Heart

Our church recently started a campaign called Love.Loud. It's all about showing God's love through charity. Our LifeGroup class has chosen to help with a place called Alice House. It's a home for orphaned children. They need mentoring and everyday items that kids with parents take for granted, like a left-handed baseball glove. I am really looking forward to getting started with these kids. It's opening my heart to pray for where I want my life to go. Like many people, I sort of feel lost sometimes. I love my kids and am so very very thankful that I get to stay home with them, but sometimes I wonder if there is a bigger contribution that I should be making in this life. I've decided that I am going to pray in earnest about this and be totally open to where God wants me to be and what He wants me to be doing.

I feel abundantly blessed to have two healthy, thriving children. My heart has been so heavy lately with hearing of losses from parents: a 4 year old last year who succumbed to cancer and, most recently, an infant who died only 7 hours after birth due to a birth defect that they knew about for 20 weeks. It makes me so sad to hear of these precious children's lives being lost and reminds me of how close we came to having a similar situation with Livee. This morning in our LifeGroup class, one of our members told us that her 20 week gestation baby boy has not 1, but 3, heart defects. I'm not writing this to bring you down, but to remind you of how fragile we are in this life, and to Love out Loud. Please remember this special family in your prayers too. I have hope for them, because I know our God can work miracles.

"For it was You who formed my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139: 13-14

Tired of it...

Here's how the conversation goes most of the time when I have Livee out somewhere:

Them: How old is she?

Me: 8 1/2 months.

Them: She's little!

Me: She is little. (While thinking of saying "Thank you Captain Obvious").

Okay. So Livee IS little. But seriously, everyone everywhere I go says it after I tell them how old she is. What is an easy way to answer this? Should I just lie and say she's 5 months? That's probably not a good idea because we are trying to teach Hayden not to lie or "sneak" as he likes to call it. So what to do? Anyone? Anyone? I know it's petty, but I guess I'm just tired today so this is something I could gripe about. :)

Nothing else is new in our world, except that our lease is running out on our Fusion and we want something bigger. I really really really want a Ford Flex, but I can't afford it unless they come out with a super good rebate in April.

So, the next vehicle we are looking at is (drumroll please) a Honda Odyssey. Woo to the hoo. Note my lack of excitement. It drives really well and is pretty nice since it has leather, a 6 CD changer, a moonroof, climate control, electric doors/tailgate, and seats 8 comfortably. BUT it's a minivan. Seriously? Dave has already made fun of me, so feel free. I started negotiating with the dealership yesterday, so we'll see if it pans out or not.

Hello, my name is Bethany...

And I'm a consignment shopaholic. Just thought I would make that little confession. I have bought waaaaayyyyy too many clothes for Livee this year. I honestly can only hope that she will wear everything at least once either because of size or the type of outfit that it is. I especially want her to be able to wear all of her sweet little dresses. She has at least 15 hanging in the closet. And no, I am not exaggerating. I did the same thing with Hayden when he was a baby. Even though he had a closet full of sweet clothes, I still bought more. It's just too good of a deal to pass up! And, don't gasp, but I am still considering going to another sale next weekend. I only want to look for a pushing thing for Livee to practice walking with, but I KNOW I will end up looking at the clothes and probably buy something. At least I'm honest, right?

In other news, Hayden is away for the weekend and I'm bored. Livee is cute and all, but she's not nearly as entertaining as Hayden...especially when he pretends to walk into an invisible door that's shut or starts break-dancing for no reason. He just cracks me up. Livee does have a tooth that is trying to burst through also, so she's not in the best mood. She did get pretty lively this afternoon when I stripped her down to her diaper for a while. Gotta love being naked, right?

Livee is 8 months old!

We're well over the halfway hurdle and moving on to the one year mark. Livee is making new funny faces every day and blabbing away. She is still not crawling, but enjoys standing quite a bit. She plays well in her exersaucer and jumper most of the time, but probably a little too often since she tries to let go whenever she's standing up holding onto something. I guess she thinks there will be something there to stop her from falling even when she's not in the exersaucer. She plays in her playpen quite a bit too. I think she's starting to outgrow the bouncy seat though because she gets kind of bored in it now...unless she's not buckled in. Then she will scoot herself down to where her legs are hanging off or flip over onto her belly with her legs hanging off. That was quite a sight the other day! Wish I had had my camera handy, but I didn't think it would be very wise to leave her like that for very long.

This was my Feltman Brother's dress and bracelet.

My mom made this dress for me as a baby. It's Livee's Easter dress this year!

I took her to have her pictures taken yesterday in Marietta. It's about a 30 minute drive, but I felt like it was worth it because we got some great pictures. She was sooooo good and smiled right on cue even though she would fuss in between pictures! The photographer and I were cracking up. I can't wait to have her 1 year pics done and get some with Hayden as well! Otherwise, she is growing like a weed even though she is still small. She will go back to the doctor for her 9 month checkup in April so we'll know her weight gain then. She has started eating 3 "meals" a day in the last few days and still nurses 6 times a day. She drinks water from a sippy cup intermittently throughout the day also. She is getting really good at using her "pincer" grasp to pick up puffs and yogurt melts. She also grabs anything that is within sight. She's really quick at doing that too. We have to watch our phones, cameras, remotes, etc. pretty closely whenever she's near. She's sleeping from around 7:30 until 6:30 every night and taking two naps a day, one at 10 am and one at 2 pm roughly. I try to stick pretty close to a time frame because I don't want to mess up "the schedule"! It is so much easier to plan things when I know her sleeping eating times! Tomorrow we head back to Muscle Shoals for consignment sale bonanza on Friday night. I have a list and I hope I'm able to get everything that's on there. She doesn't need any clothes really, but there are a couple of things I would like to get. I'm also planning on trying to go to Martin's clothing store because I met a young mom yesterday who had gotten the sweetest dresses from there for $12 each for her two girls! Maybe I can find a good deal there, too. :)

This is her Tiffany's spoon that Dave's boss sent to us for her birth. Just thought it was a cute prop!

I made this blanket for her a couple of months ago, so I'm a goober and wanted a picture of her with it!

GoInG CrAzY

Well well well. We got back on Sunday only to have a sick Daddy on Monday and Tuesday. He thought he was better on Wednesday, went to work, but came home with the chills with no fever and an extremely sore throat. He called in sick on Thursday and Friday. That was when I made him go to the doctor. I thought he probably just had a sinus infection, but he has Strep! The doctor told him no work until Monday, and he is off Monday and Tuesday (still), so he will not go back until Wednesday. It would be a great little vacation if he weren't sick and I didn't want to just lay around like he is doing so the house is a wreck. All that to say, I am going crazy. We were at home all day yesterday and Hayden is driving me NUTS! It is so bad that I will go to Wal-Mart when I put Livee down for a nap TO HAVE SOME PEACE AND QUIET! Wal-Mart & peace and quiet usually don't mix, but for today it will have to do. Then, this afternoon I am going to FORCE Hayden outside. I don't care if he doesn't want to play by himself. I can't stand it anymore. Whew. I already feel a little better just for venting. Maybe the rest of the day will be better. :)

Oh, AND it snowed again last week. So here are a couple of pictures. And yes, I guilted Dave into taking Hayden outside. I would feel really bad about that now, except that when I had a sinus infection a couple of weeks ago I took Hayden out to play in the snow. We are such sacrificing parents. Ha.

Birthday Trip to Muscle Shoals

Mmmmm....cake.

The party hat was not a favorite of hers.

It was a little chilly in the church.

Future cheerleader.

Carley Grace, our sweet niece, turned 1 last week! Hayden, Livee, and I traveled to Muscle Shoals to celebrate her big day. Unfortunately, Dave was working so I had to make the 4 hour drive alone. *Insert crazy face here.* The drive up was pretty rough. We stopped in Fultondale so I could feed Livee and change her diaper only to discover that there was no changing table in the Arby's bathroom and that I had left the wipes at church last week. It was not fun. The ride back home was less eventful, I am very happy to say.

We didn't have much time for frolicking while we were there, but we did manage to go to a cool new sushi place and shop at a little specialty boutique that was having a great sale as well as attend the birthday bash. Carley Grace got plenty of toys and sweet clothes, so she should be all set for a long while! We had a great time with food, family and cake and are looking forward to seeing everyone again next weekend when we travel to hit up the Muscle Shoals consignment sale.