Blood Thirty Mama!

Okay first Happy Halloween! I have to make this post fast so I can make an M for Matt's shirt so he can be a green M&M with the girls tonight! The baby is going to be a red M&M mini (I'm putting the small M on my baby bump...hehehe). We're all excited about having fun as a family and getting some candy!!

So let's get right to this "blood thirsty Mama" thing. Okay I am a pretty neat person, most friends and family would say I'm extremely neat and clean, but I know that as my family has changed over the the last four years my housekeeping has slowly slipped down the totem pole of importance. But I never thought it could get so bad...okay I'm being a little dramatic here.

About a week ago we started noticing some fruit flies in the kitchen- that happens, not a big deal. They come in on the fruit from the store and they usually don't last too long. Well, we started noticing more and more. I felt like I killed the one or two I noticed and figured I'd taken care of the problem but oh no I hadn't. It was about one week ago that Matt and I realized that we must have something, somewhere in the house that was unnoticed where they were living, breeding, and thriving (gross!). So I set up my usual trap of apple cider vinegar mixed with a little dish soap to trap them. Well that is when I changed from normal everyday Mama to BLOOD THIRSTY MAMA!!! I was just going insane because they just didn't seem to be going away and I just couldn't stop myself from excitedly killing these little suckers. I'm serious when I say that on Saturday I had a kill count going. Last night Lauren was running through the house proclaiming "Mommy's the bug killer! Mommy's a killer of bugs!" I was mortified to hear her say this! I abruptly told her that I only kill bugs inside our house and nothing else (yikes- look what I've become!). Maybe it's the season or the Mama bear coming out as I feel my nest/den is being attacked. All I know is that I've become a fruit fly killing machine!

This is the woman who desperately wanted to learn to shoot a bow and shotgun as a kid (my father was an avid deer hunter back then) but deep down I knew that I could never kill a deer or any living creature purposefully. Yes, I eat meat and love it and don't mind eating the meat of animals others kill but I'm not sure, unless life depended on it, that I could do it. I did have a fatal accident with a deer once driving down a rural road. Poor thing had just eaten breakfast in the apple orchard and then dashed across the road too fast for me to react, making full contact with the front of my vehicle. Oh I was a wreck. Sobbing in some stranger's arms- a man driving the opposite direction than me on the road saw everything that happened, stopped to help out and stayed with me the whole time. Oh I wished after that I had gotten his name- he was a true "good Samaritan" to me. The state trooper came and had to shoot it twice to put the deer to rest so it didn't suffer anymore. It was a very traumatic experience and I felt awful. Of course my dad wanted to know why I didn't bring it home with me- oh fathers! So I'm not a hunter by nature, no no, but this last week has taught me different.

We have since located the onion house the pesky little things had made and gotten rid of it (oh I almost tossed my cookies when Matt found it- so disgusting). We also got rid of the bananas we had at the time- thus eliminating all of the possible food homes. I've killed a billion by hand and another billion with my vinegar traps. I'm slowly seeing less and less. All the produce I purchased last night at the store is now being housed in the fridge. So in our near future I can return to just being normal, everyday Mama and I can let the hunter return to the gatherer. But it just goes to show you that you never know what you will do or become in any given situation- all the more reason to never go on a reality TV show!

Now I'm off to make a few more M&M's. So have a sweet Halloween and not a blood thirsty one!

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build" Ecclesiastes 3:1,3

That Moment When...

...you realize it's 2:30 in the afternoon and you haven't brushed your teeth.

...you wonder if you're making a difference.

...you put socks on your feet so you can't feel the mess on your floor.

...you think, "didn't I just do the dishes?"

...you wonder how the day flew by so fast and you couldn't tell a living soul what you accomplished.

...you wonder how the day could be going so slow...is daddy home yet?

...you walk by that mess for the seven zillionth time and wonder if it will ever just clean itself up!

...you're just so tired.

...it's you, not the kids, that dropped the fruit in the grocery store aisle making a royal mess- secretly you're grateful you don't have to clean it up.

...the house is quiet...

...your child's smile lights up your heart.

...the giggles and laughs from the other room make you feel like you're doing something right.

...you see your child learn, grow, and love.

...your baby falls asleep in your arms and you wish you could stay in that moment forever.

...the perfect person shows up at the perfect time and you just praise God.

...you actually wish to slow down time because the realization that they're growing up so fast overcomes your inner soul.

...the hug comes out of no where and it makes your day.

...everyone is in bed and you give thanks to God for each blessing, each struggle, and each moment of weakness where you saw His grace, mercy, and compassion and you can't wait to get up and do it again!

Where is Cinderella Hiding in YOUR House?

Okay so this is another silly one...

It is no news if you know my children at all that my first born daughter, Lauren Shea is not into what our society would consider girly things. She loves Thomas the train and other trains, Cars movie and all cars/trucks/construction vehicles, tractors, Nemo, and Bug's Life. Her favorite colors are blue and green. And I'm sure other things but these are the few that stand out against social norms. She has a 'feminine' side and enjoys a pretty hair bow and dresses. She's excited to take a dance class in the fall and likes to be neat and organized. She's just her, and I love it. God made her perfectly and I love that she just loves what she loves because it makes her happy. But with this said, you would think that we wouldn't have much in the form of girly toys since she doesn't ask for them. Her birthday list to boot (which is just a few months away) has all trains, cars, and Bug's Life stuff on it. We do have 'girly' toys. Like the doll house with accessories that Santa brought. She has lots of mommy stuff for tending to her lovies (not much into baby dolls), amongst other things but for the most part our stuff is not very girly.

So...our sweet Olivia Jean comes around and she's just starting to find things that she likes and enjoys different from her sister. She still loves cars and trains and Nemo and bugs but we're starting to notice new things. It all started with the Vtech laptop Lauren was given as a hand me down from a sweet girl at church a few years back. Lauren loved listening to the music on it and Olivia has found the same love. Olivia will just crack up watching the little mice or cat dance on the screen to the music over and over. She yells with delight and wants you to come join the fun- no matter that your hands are sopping wet from dishes or what not. Well she must have picked up on the Cinderella part of the laptop experience, whereas Lauren could have cared less. 

A few weeks ago I took the girls to the $ store while Matt was mowing the lawn on Friday night (we're a wild and crazy bunch around here). Lauren found the magic washcloths that are super small and then once you get them wet they are the size of a normal wash cloth- so she searched and searched the bins (there were like four bins throughout the store...we stopped at each one). I can't remember who she was hoping to find but she left with Francesco Bernoulli from Cars2 movie. Well Olivia was so excited to pick out a Cinderella wash cloth. I was excited for both of them and thought it was interesting to see Olivia's choice because it hadn't dawned on me yet that she had been connecting Cinderella with the laptop.

Well that's when it all began. It was from that moment when we started finding Cinderella EVERYWHERE in our house. We had two plates given to us for Lauren, who could have cared less. A spoon- which came with one of the plates. We had a pencil container, a Little People Cinderella, a shirt, a drink stir stick/wand?, a change purse, a cup, two snack containers, a book, and a doll stroller. All shown in the picture above, minus the baby doll stroller. Out of all of that I personally purchased the cup and stack containers from a Tupperware party I went to while pregnant with Lauren. But that is it. The rest were presents given to Lauren from people in my family or hand me downs from our lovely friends. 

I told Matt I've been a little creeped out as Cinderella has started emerging from the shadows of our house over the past two weeks. We didn't realize how much Cinderella we had but Olivia is finding it everywhere. It's been like a Where's Waldo experience (random thought....Lauren and I were 'obsessed' as she would say with Where's Waldo last week and man for a three and a half year old she's good at it- but I could go INSANE looking for the correct Waldo on the page full of Waldos, he always eludes me!). 

Olivia is also enjoying Clifford too. That I know started from the Chick-fil-a books in her crib that she reads. She was so sweet when we went to Barnes and Noble the other day and she found him and snuggled him like she just met her best friend. She likes to get Clifford books from the library or read the gillion we have at home already. Today after her doctor appointment she got a Clifford sticker and she was so proud of her find.

Oh this thing called parenthood can be so fun at times. Yes, trying, exhausting, and frustrating but it is times like this when all that stuff seems to melt away and we're reminded of what an amazing journey it is to raise kids! 

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7

Sugar & Spice and Things that are Nice

My last few posts have been heavy and so today I was thinking I needed to trap some fun/crazy things that have been going on here.

Let's see, last Saturday we had a family date night at Target, one of our favorite places to just browse, although most of the time we leave with something. Anyway, we usually spend a fair amount of time in the dollar area. Lauren was able to spot $20 worth of things she would love to own. But we narrowed it down to three. Olivia was browsing but only seemed to care about this crazy ball that when you throw it, it lights up like a crazy disco light and it had stretchy koosh ball hair (remember koosh balls- it was like elementary school time for me when they came out and they were the thing, oh and snap bracelets- those have come back into style...oh the memories!). So back on track here...I let her play with it in the cart but figured I'd just tell the cashier we didn't want it, oh she's still at that sweet/innocent time where this trick works. Well anyway we spent tons more time in the rest of the store and then headed to the checkouts, well on the way I got distracted by something and Matt continued on (this happens a lot, and then I wonder where Lauren gets it- but more on that later). Well by the time I realized I better go and meet up with the rest of my family, Matt and the girls already paid. Oh another side note, I was bummed since I had bought a basket for books this school year and the cashier had put the purchases in the basket instead of bags (see basket and Olivia below)- I love Target bags about as much as the store. I know you must be wondering why on earth you read my blogs at this point, but they are the perfect size for our garbage cans in the bathrooms. Grocery store bags are too small and if you're lazy like me and don't change them regularly it's nice to have a bigger bag to last that much longer. So I expressed how I was bummed she didn't use bags and you know what...she just took a whole big stack of bags and put them into my basket- how cool was she. Well Matt said he thought there might have been a few screws lose since she played with everything and commented on it too. Which brings me back to the point of all of this. Since I wasn't there at the check to give the ball back we purchased a $3 ball thingy for Olivia! Oops. She is amazed by it and today she just started bouncing it hard enough to get it to light up on her own. I mean it's not going to win toy of the year but it makes her smile, so it wasn't too much of a waste but not quite as useful as the socks and shark ice pack Lauren settled on. So now every time she plays with it, smiling the whole time, I just laugh and enjoy.

Olivia doesn't think that the basket is for
books but it's her personal play pen!

She loves getting in there! Good thing it's sturdy.

See the smile I just don't mind seeing OVER and OVER-
I told you it's worth a $3 goofy toy from the $1 section.

Speaking of laughing. I was laughing at myself today in the car. I had completely forgot until today when I spoke with Garrett about having Caiden over that I still hadn't gotten his birthday present. And even though Matt and Lauren took a fun trip to Barnes and Noble last night I didn't tell them to pick up a gift certificate for him. So the girls were up from nap at 4:30, giving us plenty of time for a quick trip over and back and still have dinner ready or at least close to ready when Matt got home. Lauren was overjoyed at my idea and Olivia just rolls with the flow, gotta love her! So I pulled into a parking spot that was between two cars, the one on my right had a lady in the drivers seat, which I noticed. I put the van in park, took my foot off the brake, looked to the right and gasped in horror! Why did I gasp, well the lady started pulling out and my brain interpreted her car going backwards as mine going forward. I thought I didn't put the car in park and were going to hit the car in front of us- YIKES! Of course Lauren asked "Why'd you say HHUUUUU mama?" At that point I was laughing at myself, coming down off the adrenalin rush, and being thankful that my brain was wrong and we were indeed safe and sound. Oh goodness, so maybe it isn't that funny now but it was to me.

So that also reminds me of my little "Mini Me" we have in our house. Lauren has a very similar personality to me and sometimes it can be sweet and adorable, and other times it can be a scary look into the mirror. Matt often tells me of things that she does or things she says and when she does them Matt replies to her "Okay, Jennifer." (I'm sure he does in with love on his mind ;-) So tonight after bath Matt and I were getting the girls into their pj's and we were nearing the end, so I was combing through Lauren's hair (my it has gotten so long). She was playing with a toy that had gotten away from her and Matt pushed it back to her with his foot. I told Lauren to thank daddy and tell him how amazing he is (a common phrase around here, thanks Peg + Cat for that one). So she did and he replied "Oh your welcome baby. You're amazing too" and her reply..."I know" LOL, really child. The best is when Matt replied to her statement with "Okay, Jennifer." It had me laughing and Matt rolling his eyes at me. Gotta love my family!

Oh another random thing about tonight. So Thursday is Zumba night and I love going. But I guess my brain was on vacation or something because after dinner we were sitting around playing and I didn't pay a lick of attention to the time and at 7:40 (when the class starts) Matt looks at me and says "Oh...Zumba." So what does a girls do since she missed her working out- oh I head to Sonic and get onion rings and a milkshake. Not all for myself...Matt and I shared. Just justifying my indulgence. But as we sat there after realizing I had missed class and I guess we were both thinking about food, dinner must of not been to satisfying for us, and Matt mentioned milkshakes and I said I could really go for some onion rings. Then Matt looked at me with a smile and said "Sonic has half price milkshakes after 8!" So off I went on my covert operation to get an evening snack? Who does this? Not something we do regularly around here, but spontaneity is good for the soul (just not so much for the waist line). Matt started the girls on their bath while I was gone and then we took turns going down stairs to "look at something" once I got back while the other one watched the girls (we're so sly,...hehehe or not). Guess I'm going to have to swim extra at the pool tomorrow with the girls and Caiden to work off our spontaneous fun. 

Oh well. I've been meaning to do a top ten list of the girls and all their cuteness these days. They're growing and changing so much- it's a little sad and a lot exciting all at the same time. I'm hoping writing it here will give me more incentive to do it. This week I'm starting to remember what life is like when you're not going 110 mph for weeks on end. This was the first week I haven't had a to do list taller than Olivia. I'm done going places for a bit, I'm done recouping from being places, I'm done planning/organizing for school this year (we start September 8th...Lauren and I are both super excited for school- I'm so glad I get to be part of it with her), I'm done catching up on house work (except dust, oh I hate dusting- they need to invent a Roomba for dusting! I love vacuuming so I don't need a machine to do that for me, but dusting NOW that I would invest in! Maybe I should have Matt invent it so we can afford it too). But really it has been an adjustment for me to remember what it is like to just have a lazy day around the house. Oh it was nice. 

But things will pick up soon enough with school around the corner and we have Matt's parents coming in Labor Day weekend, we're looking forward to that. Then we have CBS on Thursday mornings (community bible study) that the girls and I are doing this year, and Wednesday nights start up at church too. Matt and I have been talking about just doing the dinner part since we're already doing Sunday school, CBS, and there is a bible lesson every day for school. But we'll see. Then mid September we're off to Day Out with Thomas, and Percy lucky us, with my sister and her family. So life never settles for too long, but that's okay it means were building memories, visiting with the ones we love, and enjoying what God has blessed us with- each other. I feel very blessed and sometimes I get upset when I'm not enjoying life and these blessing to the fullest, aka getting wrapped up in the little things or the business of it all. But not today, today I embraced the blessings and let that other stuff roll away. Amen to that and all God's gifts!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

25 Random Things About Me

This is from 2009- Found it funny to look back at my answers.

25 Random Things About Me
1. I love to clean my house. I know it sounds crazy, but it really is one of the most satisfying things!

2. I don't miss college. I hate that people say that it is the best and they wish they could go back. All I remember is that I studied all the time. I guess if I was smarter I would have liked it better.

3. I live for Monday nights at Zumba- I call it my happy place since the only thing racing through my mind is "where the freak do I put my foot next!"

4. I love pizza for Friday dinner, and I get sad if we don't have it.

5. Bones is my favorite TV show and last night David Boreanaz had his shirt off!!

6. I love to read magazines.

7. When I see a Pepsi vending machine with those big buttons, I love to just push them. I am not sure the fascination, but they are just calling to me..."Push me Jennifer!"

8. I wish I had a private jet so I could travel the world.

9. I love chips and dip too!!! I also never buy them because they would be gone in no time.

10. Hugs from my husband make me a better person.

11. I treat my cat like a child and love her to bits!

12. I love to watch movies; there is just something about escaping life for 2 hours and having everything end happy that just sucks me in.

13. I miss living near a big lake and going on boat rides. Being on the boat is my most cherished pastime and I miss it deeply!

14. Snakes give me the willies, so does seeing a lot of insects in one area- GROSS!!!

15. I'm glad that my relationship with my sister is the healthiest it has ever been and I hope that we continue to grow into good friends.

16. I love a good pair of jeans and comfy sneakers. 

17. If I were an instrument, I would want to be an acrostic guitar- I love the way they sound.

18. I love having my hair played with and my scalp rubbed- I hope that is what it feels like to be in heaven because it is the best! 

19. I'm a horrible speller and often ask my brighter students how to spell a word I can't.

20. I would love to learn to be a photographer. I just love to enjoy a good photograph and wish I could be artistic like that.

21. I enjoy sports and sporty things more than my husband.

22. My favorite number is 2. I was born 2/22 and was married 10/22. I also favor even numbers over odd numbers.

23. I love juice and really don't like pop (soda for you southerners) except Ginger Ale, which my friend Heather always has so I kill my cravings at her house and don't buy it. (Thanks Heather)

24. Lazy Saturday mornings are the best! I love not having to shower right away and just relaxing.

25. My favorite smell in the whole wide world is that of a campfire! I love going camping and when you come home your pillow and clothes still smells of it. I've always wanted a real fire place, so my house could smell like it. (Yankee Candle has a "campfire" candle but it is not good enough for me).

"You're such a mother!"

This is a quote that came right from my sweet husband's mouth tonight as we were getting the girls out of the van at our local frozen yogurt shop (we tend to frequent there since they always have a dairy free option for Olivia). I was quite proud of him saying it, even if I knew it was a bit of a mocking tone behind it. Well you see I'm an over packer, I'll be the first to admit it- I've always been this way. From as far back as I can remember when we would head to dad's house every other weekend, my sister and I would pack up our bags for our overnight adventure. My sister's bag always looked sickly and deflated since it contained only what she needed in it- but not my bag, no sire! My bag was busting at the seams. 

So this crazy need to have anything I just might need at a moments notice has spilled over into motherhood. The diaper bag is always over equipped for most trips out of house. There have been times Matt says he doesn't even try and zip it for fear of breaking it. I on the other hand, I never have any problem because it's all about placement- if it's all in the right spot it closes with no problem. Esther recently went diaper bag diving for me when I was mid diaper change- didn't realize I needed some rash cream until after the fact- and she was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I had in there. 

I know, you're thinking- where are you headed Jennifer?!? Okay, I'm getting there...so tonight we headed to the frozen yogurt place and it was in the evening after dinner, sun going down, so I sheepishly snuck some coats in the car without Matt noticing- for fear that he would mock me for bringing them. So it wasn't until we were unloading the girls that he spied my coat stash. He's laughing at my need to always be over prepared and teasing me about it. I do have to say I do this often, getting a chuckle from him every time. But do you know what... tonight IT WAS COLD!!! All three of us girls were nice and cozy in our coats while he was cold. So for that one time when I was saving our girls from freezing to death, I mean we were practically hypodermic here! Okay so not really...but if that makes me 'such a mother' I'll take it!  

I won't mention though that yesterday evening when the temperature was a little higher and I had Olivia and I in coats, Matt laughing at us again, and we might have been a bit over bundled- no I didn't just admit to anytime when Matt might be in the right ;-)

Good thing we can laugh at each other and ourselves- and if you ever need anything, ask and I'll just check my bag for you!

"...Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 7:20

My Phil Dunphy Moment

I had a moment the other day that reminded me of a funny episode of Modern Family (such a funny show)- it makes me laugh now but it didn't then! I was upstairs straighten up so I could vacuum. The morning was getting away from me as I rushed around and started to make Lauren's bed. That's when I heard the beep, the unmistakable beep that a smoke detector with low batteries makes. I stopped what I'm doing and listened- it didn't seem to be one upstairs. So I head downstairs...

Matt had just put up all new smoke detectors downstairs the night before so I was confused as to how one could already have a low battery. So I listen again, I could still hear it but it wasn't them. It was louder though so I thought maybe it was upstairs and it was louder because it was coming through the baby monitors. So I headed back upstairs...

No definitely not upstairs. I was feeling so frustrated as it dawned on me that I had just taken the extremely stinky garbage out that morning, setting it just outside the back door and the old smoke detectors were in there. So I headed to the back door and that's where the noise is coming from!

I call Matt, who's on his way to work, and ask him what to do. He made fun of me for this later. But I tried to explain later that I was too frustrated to figure it out on my own since I was about to go dumpster diving into a very, VERY stinky bag of garbage that had a nice poopy diaper sitting right on top- yuck! Matt informed me that I just needed to take the battery out. 

So I sit down on the floor just inside the door and begin to open the bag- apparently it looked like a fun activity since Olivia and Annabelle decide to join in. So now I'm elbow deep in the garbage fending back a toddler who wants to sit in my lap and a cat who seeing the wide, wide world just beyond her whiskers. 

I found the first of the three detectors- no that one already had the battery taken out. Then I move everything around a find another half way down, nope after removing the battery I still am taunted by the beep. Of course it had to be the one ALL the way on the bottom of the bag- bless my heart!

Let's just say I had my Phil Dunphy Moment that day!

Dinner from a garbage can

... ok the dinner did not come from a garbage can, but it might as well have. 95% of it ended up there! So tonight wasn't my night in the cooking department. I'm pretty sure I'd made this ham and spinach risotto recipe before, but I don't remember it looking or tasting so nasty.

It was doing fine until I added the spinach (or so I thought) and that is where my desire to eat the dinner went out the window. I just chucked it up to the pregnancy until Lauren took one look at it and said "I'm done" without a single bite taken. Matt and I told her to pick out the ham, which she did, sort of. That is what I did too. We're usually pretty strict when it comes to meals- "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit." But tonight I gave her a break. I think she played with it, but that is what I did, so I couldn't blame her. Matt, being such a wonderful and loving husband said "it's not that bad, if you don't mind crunch rice." Yes the rice was crunchy...I'm not sure what I did wrong. It was probably a bad recipe, yes...that's it. The 5% that didn't end up in the trash was eaten by Matt- sweet man, he must have been hungry. 

Guess I'm just distracted or exhausted or a little of both lately. I wasn't too hungry to begin with but I was forcing myself to cook food for everyone else. We were going grocery shopping after dinner (Matt, again being a gold star hubby, has been coming grocery shopping with us lately so I don't have to unload the groceries and put them away all by myself- 9 months pregnant). Our dinner options were pretty slim pickin's due to it being shopping night, so I just sucked it up and made the dinner I had all the ingredients for. Looking back, I'm not sure why. 

Oh goodness, I'm hoping future dinners don't create such a flop! We snacked on rice cakes and grapes on the way home from the store and then I popped in a pot-pie we picked up so the baby didn't starve. I'm sure Saturday morning breakfast will make us forget this slop we "had" tonight.

Here's to not cooking that recipe again! (because I'm pretty sure it was the recipe and not my cooking ;-)

"I don't like food that's too carefully arranged; it makes me think the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting." Andy Rooney

Pie & Pants

Got the call from the doctors office today that I passed my three hour blood sugar test and all is well now! Amen to answered prayers and being able to enjoy some pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving.

Now onto the funny story. I need to give you some background first though. At story time today I almost forgot to tell Ms. Erin Lauren's exciting news. We haven't been to library time in a few weeks due to voting (the library was a voting center) and my doctor appointment last week so the news was almost lost. As I was getting ready to leave I remembered it and Lauren and I went over to her to tell her that...Lauren has started "reading"!!!!!!!!!!!!! The first book Ms. Erin ever read with Lauren was "Fright Train" by Donald Crews (she was 10 months old then). Lauren has checked it out of the library a number of times to bring home and we've read it a billion times at home. Well she checked it out again at the beginning of the month. 

As normal, in the car after library time Lauren looks/reads through all of her new books. This particular week I heard her saying the words to the book. I know the book by heart of course so I knew she wasn't just making up words to go with the pictures. They were the actual words on the page. It was amazing. Later that day I sat to read the book with her and sure enough she had memorized the book- an early sign of literacy. I was blown away. I told Matt and then showed him and he was blown away. I told and showed Matt's mom and she was blown away. This girl is just shy of 2 years old and she has memorized her first book. It is a book I know I'll need to purchase some day because it will forever hold a special place in my heart. She hasn't shown this awesome skill in such force with other books, but she definitely has parts of other books down. 



So on to the funny part. I squat down next to Ms. Erin who is sitting on the floor and I hear the worse sound come from my backside...my pant ripping!!!!!!!!!!! My eyes must have looked like a cartoon characters eyes! I slowly bring my hand around hoping no one else heard that noise and sure enough I could feel my undies. I was so embarrassed. So as I'm sharing this exciting news and watching Ms. Erin start crying over Lauren's accomplishment, all I kept thinking is how on earth do I get to other side of the room with no one seeing my underwear?!?!

I slowly get up and sideways walk over to my bag and our coats, and thank goodness Esther was standing and I'm side talking to her in the quietest voice I can "Can you please get me my jacket. I've ripped my pants" (because of course my stuff is on the ground). As she bends down to get the coat she says "Oh my, they did!" I wrap my coat around my ever pregnant belly (the arms just barely long enough to make the knot)  and we make our way out. 

Once outside I was able to laugh. I mean I had just bent over and split my pants- oh bless my heart!!! Esther and I brainstorm what to do. Our original plans were to head to the park to eat and let the girls play before heading to the second hand kids store. I wasn't about to show up anywhere with my pants in the state that they were. So we headed to her house, which is closer to the library and park than mine and she gives me a pair of her, very comfortable might I add, maternity pants. Nice and stretchy so I hopefully won't be splitting them! 

I called Matt, my mom and my sister to tell them my embarrassing, yet hilarious story as we made our way to Esther's. When I took the pants off I was laughing yet again. This rip wasn't just a little one, it was next to the back pocket and about 10 inches long. I thought about posting a picture, but I'll let you use your imagination on this one. It wasn't on a seam and the pants were by no means tight on me, so I'm thinking it was just warn out??? These are the only jeans I had purchased when I was pregnant with Lauren and I've worn them a lot, but still. 

Glad I can laugh and hope you enjoyed a few giggles yourself! Maybe I should seriously rethink that piece of pie for Thanksgiving...

"...'God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me'." Genesis 21:6 

(This quote is from Sarah about her being so old and bearing a child, but I think she would be laughing with me about this as well.)