Iron Bowl Readiness

Ooooh yeeeah, baby. Can we get a 'War Eagle'?

PS: All I want for my anniversary is an Auburn win!

On Giving Intentionally

Christmas is right around the corner, and this year I have tried to be more intentional about gift giving for our daughter. It is so easy to go overboard with Christmas gifts, especially (I think) with an only child.

After these first few Christmases with Maggie, as we are slowly being pushed out of our home by excess, I realized I needed some guidelines for myself when choosing gifts. Friends have shared the “Jesus got 3 gifts so you get 3 gifts” philosophy. Initially, I thought this was brilliant, but I have struggled with the ambiguousness of just ‘3 gifts’. Me? I’m a rule-follower. I like things clearly defined and ‘3 gifts’ leaves too much room for stuff.

Stuff is not intentional.

I went into the shopping season with this as my loose guideline, though always hoping to come across a better philosophy for our family.

And then I found it.

It is perfect in its simplicity and scope.

                One thing you want,

                One thing you need,

                One thing you wear,

                One thing you read.

There are so many aspects of this that I love (especially the fact that not everything is a toy) but the one I really want to focus on is ‘One thing you need’.  This made me realize that my intention to be intentional with gift-giving had not yet reached the place it needed to be.

Maggie knows what Christmas is about. Just ask her and she will tell you, “It’s Jesus birthday.” She has her own nativity set so she can touch and play and learn.  We have been reading small sections of the birth story in her children’s bible each night at bedtime. We observe the feast days of St. Nicholas and St. Lucia (though this year was a miss with Lucy). I have a print out and am hoping our little family can begin the O Antiphons in just a couple of days.

We are doing our best to incorporate Jesus and the Church into every aspect of our Advent and Christmas, but I realized there is one place they are glaringly absent: in our gift-giving.

‘One thing you need.’

This simple phrase was my reminder that what my girl – our family – needs is only Jesus. Gifts are a fun but unnecessary part of Christmas, so if I want to be intentional with her gifts, I need to remember her spiritual needs first. 

A good reminder for us all.

A possible 'One thing you need' gift. My girl loves nesting dolls and these are beautiful Marian versions that will facilitate conversation as we play. Perfect!

Random Thoughts

It's after 10 p.m. My girl is sound asleep, Hubby is at his mom's packing up gear from the recording session he had today, and I am enjoying the benefits of wireless internet (I'm sitting on my sofa in my pj's as I type).

I have a lot of random thoughts clogging my head these days, so I thought I'd take a minute and get them out:

* Maggie is trying to potty train herself, it seems. This past week she has asked to go poopy on the potty almost every day. I should note that we have not technically started potty training yet. She's growing up so fast. It's like I blinked my eyes and she sat up ... crawled ... walked ... talked ... potty trained. Where did all that time go? I still can't believe she is two.

* Our seminarian friend, Scott, was in town last weekend and we saw him at Mass. He looks so fantastic, the best I've ever seen him.

* One of my friends from high school emailed me last week about our 20 year class reunion coming up next summer. Am I really old enough to have been graduated from high school for 20 years? Bah.

* Regarding the reunion, my friend added me to the reunion facebook page, so I guess now I am track-downable. I tend to fly under the radar where all of that stuff is concerned. Don't get me wrong - I loved high school. I didn't want to graduate (though I did, with good grades and everything), and would randomly go back and visit a couple of favorite teachers during my college years. Now, though, I like my memories of high school, and don't want to tarnish them by tallying them against current reality.

* The one person I did think of when I heard about the reunion is Eric Motley. I wonder about him from time to time - he is one of my all-time favorite people. He's one of those friends you couldn't help but love. Just thinking about him makes me smile. I remember him being so kind and generous and genuine, and hope that life hasn't changed any of that. I know he's a success - I can't imagine him as anything else.

* My two best friends - Ashli and Mary - are engaged and planning weddings. It's so exciting! I love these ladies so much, and miss them all the time, and am thrilled to be a part of each of their special days. I wish I could be there (in the South) to help with all the shopping and running around. Since I can't, I have a new appreciation for email and the internet. I can still 'ooo' and 'ahh' over everything, just from afar :)

*We are road tripping with Maggie for both weddings - one is in Louisiana in December, the other in Alabama in May. I'll have to let you know how that goes.

* Our friends, Steve and Jess, are expecting their second baby (a boy) on our wedding anniversary, which I think is fun :)

* Our newlywed friend, Joe, was deployed to Afganistan about 3 weeks ago. He and Lisa have been very much on my mind and in my prayers.

* Hubby and I both want to go see HP7.5 again. We saw it a couple of weeks after it came out and I wanted to stay in the theatre and watch it again right then, so hopefully that will be a date night sometime soon.

* I am so ready for fall to get here. This endless heat is exhausting. The lows are about 89, so there is not much relief at night. Add in the humidity and it can get downright miserable. Come on, October!

Well, I hear the key turning, so Hubby is home. Hope y'all have a lovely Sunday tomorrow.

Just Catchin' Up

Hello, there. How are you? Things here are pluggin' along, vacillating between crazy-busy and peaceful. (I prefer peaceful, in case you wondered.)

It occurred to me earlier today that I haven't been here on me ole blog much lately. Oh, there have been pictures of Maggie and videos of Maggie and quips about Maggie, but I haven't spent much time here since before Advent other than to keep up a few "baby book" type things. Which are important to me, of course. I just mean I haven't really chronicled our little family very well (or very much), and I'm of a mind to change that now.

At least until my next lapse :)

I'm just going to list a few things to get them out of my head:
* One of my Super-Friends, Ashli, got engaged over Christmas. Yay! She and her honey are tying the knot next December, so I get to travel to the South - finally! I cannot tell you how excited I am about going home. For the past 4 years every time Hubby and I would try to plan a trip back, I got pregnant, so (3 pregnancies later), I'm finally getting to take a very long-overdue trip to the land of sweet tea and "y'all". I can't wait! It's been years since Ashli, Mary, and I were all together at one time (and big sis, Misti!) I also get to see my godsons when I go home in December, the oldest of which has apparently grown taller than me since I last saw him - I'm having a hard time seeing Ian as a teenager. Where did all that time go? And the youngest still owes me a drawing - he's told me he's the best artist in the family but I have yet to see proof, so I plan to collect on this trip (heads up, Noah!)

* Hubby and I attend 3 weddings in February and took out a 2nd mortgage to pay for all the gifts. Kidding! But man, it was a lot of weddings for one month! Two of them were Catholic, and really, there is no liturgy more beautiful than a Catholic wedding Mass. They just fill you up inside with Jesus. It was wonderful.

* Maggie's 2nd birthday is coming up so fast! What's up with that! She's having a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party, and I've been throwing ideas around for months and months, and now it is upon me and I must get busy!! My Mom has done sooooo much to make this event awesome - one thing I can't wait to do is share pictures with you. In less than a month. Good grief, where's my list?

A Little Hallelujah

Billed as a "Random Act of Culture" by the Opera Company of Philadelphia, singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" is actually praising God ... in Macy's! What a beautiful, amazing experience ... wish I could have been there :)

Group Nap

Hubby woke up from his afternoon nap this past Sunday to this ...

I have nothing more to say ;)

Bring on the Cream 'n' Sugah

I drink coffee.

I’ll wait a moment while those of you who really know me pick yourselves up off the floor.

Better? Okay, let’s continue.

I don’t know what has gotten into me, but for the past 2 months, I have had 2 cups of coffee every morning at work.

Y’all need to understand that, while I like coffee (real coffee, by the way, not Starbucks-burnt-beans-too-strong-to-drink-unless-it’s-froofy-coffee), I rarely drink it, and even then I only drink it in the winter. Because coffee is hot, you see, and winter is cold, so they go together nicely.

But now I am drinking coffee everyday. In Arizona. In the summer. During 110 degree days. And I’m at a complete loss as to how it started and why it continues because, as you may remember, I hate heat.

The guys in my office have been keeping the temperature hovering just above freezing since the beginning of July, so inside it feels like winter but still … coffee everday? Hubby continues to be dumbfounded by my newest habit because it’s just so out of character for me, a very hot-natured gal who begins complaining about summer heat in April, to be consuming any type of warm beverage before December.

I actually don’t know the ratio of coffee-to-water to make a pot (because, in case you have not deduced this on your own, I don’t normally drink coffee), so when I asked Hubby to make some last weekend, he was so surprised he actually muted the golf channel to look at me. That is serious, y’all.

My coworkers are just as confused by my new coffee-drinkin’ ways. It has become funny, really - there have been so many “what’s up with you drinking coffee?” and “are you pregnant?” discussions because of this. You would think I was in charge of a nuclear event or something, with all the talk-time this has gotten.

(I would like to clarify that I am NOT pregnant.)

(Nor am I in charge of any nuclear devices.)

So, I guess now I have to call myself a coffee drinker.

On the up-side, drinking coffee as my caffeine beverage of choice has caused me to almost completely quit drinking coke, so ‘yay’ for that nice little silver lining.

Well, I've got to run now. It's time to start my coffee-drinkin' day. Chat with y’all later!

This 'n' That

Hubby and I started our summer ritual last month – we watch The Closer together on Monday nights. We don’t have much TV that we really watch – Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the golf and food channels seem to be flickering most frequently – but we look forward to The Closer each summer, and have since the beginning of the series.


We both like trying to figure out the who’s and whats and whys of the case each week. Plus, we are constantly in awe of Fritz’s patience with Brenda.

Is it sad that we discuss a fictional character’s relationship with his flaky, work-centered (but talented) wife? And that I thought enough to add those modifiers when describing said wife?

I think we may need a hobby.

We are in vacation countdown mode here. In a little less than 2 weeks, we’ll be leaving on our yearly trip to California. Hubby has had to go one whole year without seeing the beach since we’ve been married, and it wasn’t fun for him. The boy needs the ocean! So, off we go.

Me? Eh. The weather is great and I always enjoy the non-beach stuff we do, and Hubby has family there we enjoy spending time with. I do very much love the sounds of the ocean and sitting on the beach with a book, but I have to be honest: dealing with sunscreen and sand is not my cup of tea. In addition, this year I will have a toddler, which means I will actually have to get wet (I’m a beach-sitter not an ocean-swimmer). We go in the mornings, so we can get it over with shower and clean-up for the day’s activities and not be all gritty and gross, but if I didn’t go to the beach, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings.

Hubby might go into shock, but I would be okay.

Plus – and I know this is the worrier in me coming out – I constantly have to check on where Hubby is when he’s in the water because I'M TERRIFIED HE'LL BE EATEN BY A SHARK. Shark Week was on the Discovery Channel last week, which has only served to increase my fear.

Irrational? Perhaps. He, of course, thinks I’m nuts.

I just hope a shark doesn’t decide to prove him wrong.

The temperature here will be back up to 110 by Thursday. I never thought I would utter these words, but I will be glad when the temp is consistently under 100. Who am I kidding? I want to have 60 degree days again. Come oooooon, Winter!

I have been on an Oldies kick lately with regards to my music preference at work. Pandora has thrown out some fantastic tunes for this genre: Jackson 5, The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder (a personal fave), The Temptations … great stuff!

Maggie said "kiss" yesterday. According to Nana. Mommy and Daddy have not yet heard her say it because The Doodle is not a performer and just smiles when you ask her to say something. Sometimes I think there is an awful lot going on inside that noggin' of hers but she just can't be bothered to actually say any of it. Stinker.

Okay, I’m off to work now. I will leave you with this quote:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye. ~Miss Piggy

Happy Monday, Y'all

Well, I spent most of the weekend working on Christmas gifts. I try to start this early (or earlier) every year - I find it easier to spread the expense over a few months instead of cramming it all into November.

So, I have Christmas on the brain. I'm not the only one, though - we went to lunch at Cracker Barrell yesterday after Mass, and they had Halloween and Christmas froos-froos out already. Egad.

Maggie's sleep was all off this weekend. She is usually an 8:30am to 9am waker-upper ... and yes, Hubby and I realize and appreciate how lucky we are. Saturday she woke up around 8am, which isn't so bad, but Sunday morning she was sitting up in her bed at 7:10am. She refused to take a morning nap (which means we had an active Mass) and didn't eat much lunch, probably due to the overwhelming need for sleep. She finally took a 2 hour nap after being up for 7 hours straight. I finally put her down for the night at about 8:45pm (a full hour before she would normally go down) because she was stumbling around. At one point she laid down on her blanky amidst her toys and I thought, that's it, she's done, only to see her pop up less than a minute later to continue playing. I don't know why kids fight sleep so much. As an adult, I would love to get back all the naps and bedtimes I missed.

The Doodle has really started to enjoy the swimming pool. She'll jump to us from the steps and kick her feet and even get in her floaty, which is a great improvement over how we started the summer. She loves to chase the chlorine duck, too. That's her newest word - duck.

She's so stinkin' cute I could just gobble her up!

Happy Monday, y'all,

This & That

We're having a nice little Alabama morning here ... 83 degrees and muggy as all get-out. This kind of weather makes me appreciate my curly hair, and that's something because we don't always get along.

The Doodle has officially cut a top tooth (did I tell y'all that already?) but this one is causing her a lot more discomfort and/or pain than her bottom ones ever did. And I think because they hurt her so much, her emotions are a bit hypersensitive. A little trip and fall that she has done a hundred times and she would usually bounce back up from now leads to lots of tears and sadness. It's heartbreaking. So, we have lots of cuddle time now.

We are LOVING walking, by the way. Maggie's feet are in a constant state of dirty ...

Every diaper change also gets a foot washing and lotioning now. The dirt doesn't faze her in the least but Mommy can only take so much before we have to wash up ... even if those toes are just going to get dirty again.

We are having dinner with some friends of ours this weekend and I'm so excited about it. Our friend, Scott, is on summer break from seminary but his schedue is so packed that we don't get to see him much. So, along with Maggie's buddy Jack and his parents, we are all getting together Sunday evening for dinner and fellowship. Hopefully this time I will remember my camera.

I have an update about Josie coming soon. Continued thanks for all of your prayers for her.

I recently culled my bookshelves at home and down-sized my collection. I have a bad habit of buying books. I know there are worse things to spend money on but it dawned on me that, instead of buying, I should get books from the library first. That way, if I don't like it, no money involved. Duh, right? My only issue with the library is that I have never been good at adhering to return dates. Which is why I have Netflix for my movie rentals. But, I found a library close to work (so I can go at lunchtime) and found out that I can renew my books online up to 4 times, so this should help me get them back in a reasonable amount of time. I don't know what my hang up is with getting books and movies back on time, but I've probably spent a small fortune in late fees since high school. So far, though, I have not had one late book - and that's an accomplishment, let me tell ya. I may have to reward myself with a pedicure or something :)

Well, I think that's enough randomness for one day. Thanks for hangin' in there with me.

April Showers Giveaway

Y'all know I'm trying to find my "blog design identity". Doesn't seem like it's that big a deal except that the one and only time I paid for a blog design I tired of it fairly quickly. It was quite pretty, just not me at all (the designer asked fave and least-fave colors, then used one of my least faves as the main color ... duh!) And since revisions to 'her' vision cost $$, I left it as is and lived with it as long as I could.





So, all of that to say that I came across a delightful blog designer this week whose work is right up my alley. April Showers may just be who I'm looking for! In addition to blog design, she does stationery and business cards and whatnot, and works with an illustrator to totally personalize your stuff. How cool is that?!

She's having a giveaway for a complete blog makeover - open until tomorrow - so hurry over and check out her offerings.

And sign up to win, while you're there.

Or don't. It'll give me a better chance :)

Moving Furniture

I've figured out something. I tend to treat my blog's design like I want to treat my living room. I change stuff around and live with it awhile before realizing I really want something different. So I change it again.

We have some home repairs and upgrades Hubby and I are planning to start once the fall gets here, so I should be able to update our home a bit in the near-ish future, but until then, I am playing with my blog again.

At least this is free :)

Extreme Heat Equals No Energy for Blogging (or Anything Else)

It hit 114 degrees yesterday.

Today is supposed to be 115.

That's all I have.

Total Randomness

This one is all over the place. Fasten your seatbelts and put your tray tables in the upright and locked position.

We celebrated Father's Day the same way we do every other holiday ... with massive quantities of food. We all got together Saturday night for amazing burgers (with the onions!!), grilled potatoes (we marinate in Italian dressing between the stove and the grill) and the best corn on the cob you've ever had. This corn is my go-to recipe for potlucks now, and I always get compliments on it. Y'all should definitely try it. We also had homemade ice cream with strawberries but I could not partake due to a broken tooth. It sure looked yummy, though.

Maggie was in rare form yesterday. Super active and wanting to touch everything that she knows she's not supposed to touch. When I would tell her 'no', she would smile at me, possibly thinking her cuteness would win me over and allow her to play with the cord / plug / PS2 / cable box / remote control. She was wrong. I know she's cute but am now immune to its power. I'm thinking Time Out may be in our future if this continues. I'm sure that will be a fun day.

Maggie had only one nap yesterday and by 8:30pm she was so tired she was crying without reason. It was pitiful. When I laid her in her crib she didn't even roll over on her tummy and stick her bum up in the air like she usually does, she just lay there on her back. I think she was asleep before I got to the bedroom door.

I am having oral surgery on Thursday and am unbelievably nervous. I have a broken tooth and impacted wisdom tooth (right next to each other) that are coming out, and because of how long my wisdom tooth roots are and their proximity to my sinus cavity, they are giving me IV anesthesia for this. I have had it twice before and never had any adverse reactions, but now that I have Maggie, I tend to worry about those things more than usual. Crazy.

Maggie's Baby be Blessed doll came in the mail on Friday and oh my, it is the sweetest thing ever. I'm tucking it away for Christmas, but if I can remember, I'll snap a picture to share here. The doll's hair is so soft, I just kept rubbing it and rubbing it. I finally had to wrap her up and put her back in her box before I made her bald-headed.

Do any of y'all watch The Secret Life of the American Teenager? I don't, but I see their teasers / trailers all the time because I watch Gilmore Girls on that channel and I just have to ask:  is there a need for a second pregnant teen on that show? It really bugs me. I would be appalled if Maggie were watching this because, coming from someone who has never seen one episode, it doesn't seem to promote abstinence much (other than the holy-crap-I'm-pregnant-and-will-never-do-it-again angle) and I think they've all slept with the same people. Is that creepy to anyone else? I'm not so naive as to think teens never have you-know-what, but I think showing a dad helping his teenage daughter get birth control behind the mother's back is just wrong. I don't even know why I'm writing about this. Guess it just stuck in my craw.

Why do kitchens never seem to stay clean? We went from spotless to messy in the one meal. And I'm still trying to figure out how we used that many pots and pans? *sigh*

Both kitties were on the upstairs landing this morning, hollering outside my bedroom door. They do this every time their food dish gets low. Low, not empty. It's like they're afraid of a cat-food famine or something. 5am is not the time to voice your displeasure, however, as it does not make mommy happy. There are lots of times I wish they weren't so darn talkative. We have super-chatty kitties. Ya want one? Anybody? Anybody?

My parents got back in town safely from their trip to Alabama to get my Aunt, who is moving in to their little house. The next day they realized the air conditioning wasn't working, which isn't good when you have 100+ degree days. The a/c guy was supposed to be out yesterday, so hopefully all is up and working well now. Welcome to Arizona, Aunty!

Okay, I think I'm tapped out. Lucky you :)

Hope y'all have a Happy Monday!

Just a Couple of Sleepy Heads

See this face?

This is the face of a girl who loves her Mommy.

How do I know she loves me, you ask?

Because this sweet little bundle of cute slept in until after 9am both days this weekend.

I was so happy about that, I could cry.

Now, I'll admit that Hubby and I have the easiest baby on the planet, and I really don't think I am exaggerating here, folks. Maggie is normally an 8-8:30am waker-upper, and to quote Cousin Bino, that's pretty stinkin' awesome, especially when friends of ours have a 9 month-old who is happy as a clam every morning at six.

My alarm goes off at 5:40am every morning during the week, so when the weekend rolls around I like to sleep in as much as possible. Usually, I'm up with Maggie around 8 o'clock, and that is perfectly fine with me. However, the past 3 weeks at work have been crazy busy, and by the time this last Friday rolled around, I was just beat.

I remember telling Hubby on Friday how I wished Maggie would sleep in at least one morning this weekend, so that I could stay in bed a little longer, but I wasn't very hopeful. (Hubby was gone at 5:30am for a church golf tourney on Saturday, and is always gone Sunday mornings early because he works for the church, so his help was not an option.)

Well, Maggie must have heard my plea, because I woke her up Saturday morning at 9:15 or so, and she woke me up Sunday morning at 9:30. I starting smiling when I heard her Sunday morning on the monitor, talking and babbling and saying "Mama". She was so smiley and happy when I went in to get her.

It was nice, the two of us together, a couple of sleepy-headed girls having a lazy weekend.

I will admit, though, that even when I had to get up with her every day at 5am, it was worth it to see that sweet face.

Tired and happy. A mommy's constant state of being, I think.

10 Guilty Pleasures

1. Bon Jovi - at age 12, I was convinced Richie was the man for me (Randy Owen had become 'too old' for me and needed to be replaced, though I still have a soft-spot for him). Bon Jovi my first non-chaperoned concert at age 13 and I have seen them 5 or 6 times since then. My love endureth ... and my Hubby and friends tease me mercilessly, but I don't care. BJ rocks!

2. Used Book Stores - I can spend more time roaming the shelves for a hidden gem than should be allowed. This activity has been seriously curbed since the arrival of my sweet daughter. It's hard to loose yourself in a search when you have a little one interested in eating whatever happens to be within reach.

3. Gilmore Girls - I even got Hubby hooked and we watched all the seasons back-to-back on Netflix last year. It was awesome :) I still watch the re-runs on ABC Family when I can.

4. Milk Chocolate Cashew Bear from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory - I think this one is self-explanatory.

5. Shakespeare - this one may make me sound smart or sophisticated (or uppity?), but I really think it shows what a big ole nerd I am. I enjoy reading and attending his plays, especially the comedies, and think I have seen most of the movies (I used my birthday as an excuse to see "The Merchant of Venice" a few years ago. Hubby wasn't thrilled about my choice, but admitted afterward that he liked the movie.) For the record, my favorite WS play is "Love's Labours Lost" ... and the Kenneth Branaugh-made movie s.u.c.k.e.d.

6. Pedicures - oh, how I love thee! I have a gift certificate in my purse that I will be using soon for just this thing. That little bit of pampering puts me in such a good mood ... I just love showing-off newly polished toes!

7. People Magazine - I know. I'm ashamed to admit that I love this magazine. I don't subscribe and only read it in the grocery or book store, but still ... I'd say it's for the heart-warming true-life stories tucked in amongst the gossip and fashion but well, that would be a lie. It's heavy on the guilty, this one is.

8. No Make-up - I don't wear much at all on an everyday basis, except on Sundays for church and if I think there's a chance I'll end up in a photograph (vanity, thy name is Jennie). It's become a time issue for me because, well, I'm tired and I don't want to get up at 5:45 am. It's hard enough to roll myself out at 6:05 (or 6:10, 6:15, depending on my level of apathy on a given morning). Sometimes I feel bad for Hubby because he didn't sign up for the au natural version of me. When we were dating, and even into our first year of marriage, I was good about always putting on my face and having coiffed hair and generally trying to look pretty for my honey. Now he's lucky if he sees me in anything other than my granny nightgown and a ponytail. I blame pregnancy. I stopped all kinds of up-keep when morning sickness hit me the very first time and I thought I'd been magically transported to a boat in the middle of the Bering Sea to die. I had no idea you could be so sick. That streamlined my morning routine like nothing else, and I have yet to really add stuff back to it. Maybe I should work on that :)

9. Infomercials - I have no excuse for this one, but if a Bare Minerals commerical comes on I am mesmorized for the next 24 minutes. I can't help it. Ditto hair care commercials and house-cleaning stuff. I do show great self-restraint, though, as I tend to be gullible and could spend more money on these things than the Queen does on hats. I lump QVC under this banner, as well.

10. McDonald's Sweet Tea - Ridiculous that I pay for this when I know how to make it, but I get one almost every morning. I should make a pitcher of it for work, but Mickey D's got this one thing superbly right and I just love 'em.

So there you have it. Me in all my dorky glory! I could add the cookie dough I *ahem* sample when baking chocolate chip cookies, but I don't feel any guilt about that whatsoever :) Feel free to join me! Have any guilty pleasures you would like to share?

My Current Happy Place

I can't help but smile when this song comes on either the radio, Pandora, or my iPod. And if the Doodle is around, we totally dance :)

This & That

The weather has been creep-creep-creepin' up the past few days, and we had our first 100 degree day on Friday. However, on Monday we had the most glorious, perfect weather. Quite cool for an Arizona May day, but so lovely. If we had weather like that every day, I would never complain.

If we had weather like that every day, we'd have more people living here than we could handle, so I guess it's a trade-off.

Maggie has really gotten the hang of walking. That girl is everywhere! We discovered another big plus for the cloth diapers that she wears: padding! I don't know how her bum isn't black-and-blue from all the falling, but up she gets and off she goes.

The girl did manage to pull a tray table down before I could get to her the other day, and it landed right on top of her left foot. I knew that one hurt her, and there were lots of tears. The hardest thing to do when she hurts herself is to get a good look at the banged-up body part - she kept pulling her foot away from me and kicking it (I'm sure because it hurt) but hello! Mommy needs to assess the damage. The foot is pretty well bruised but all the digits worked just fine, and 3 minutes later she wanted back down to get to her push-car and hasn't looked back since, so all is well.

In just about 3 weeks or so, my parents are leaving for Alabama to pack up my Aunt Sister and bring her out here for good. Yippee! She's so great, and I'm excited that she's going to be easier to visit. My Southern accent is probably going to come back with a vengeance, with is fun (I've lived away from AL for so long, my accent seems to come and go depending on who I'm around) ... Aunt Sister has a rural accent that just lends itself to sayings such as "well butter my biscuit" and "slap full". She's a hoot, and will have us in stitches with her family stories. I can't wait to introduce y'all to her. Life around here is going to be alot more chatty :)

Maggie loves the sound of the velcro on her diapers, and we went through a time when she would end up nekkid on the bottom from pulling at them, but we got past it without any real issues. Until yesterday. Hubby got whizzed on and it didn't make him a happy camper. Maggie had pulled the velco apart under her shorts and when he went to pick her up, she whizzed. All over herself. All over Hubby. Maggie was happy and smiling and overjoyed that she was getting a mid-day bath. Hubby, not so much. All I could tell him was "welcome to parenthood, honey". Is it bad that it totally made me laugh?

I forgot to mention that after the James Taylor/Carole King concert last week, Hubby and I were in the elevator when Brett Hull got on. For those of you sitting there saying to yourselves, "who?", Brett Hull was a hockey player for the Phoenix Coyotes, our hometown team (and a few others, but I only got into hockey after moving to AZ). I must say, out of that padded uniform, he's much smaller than I thought he'd be, though I'm sure Mr. Skinny could kick out booties, no problem. He was very polite and quiet, and it was just kind of cool.

Lastly, I'd like to ask y'all to pray for a lady named Emily, and her husband and new baby. She delivered earlier this week and the baby is perfect, but she developed a condition called HELLP, and her prognosis for survival is not good at all. They are doing comfort measures at this point and just praying. If you would please lift this family up to God, I know they would appreciate it. All things are possible through Him. Thank you for being such sweet faithfuls.

Hope y'all have a great day!

The Best Concert. Ever.

Ah, James and Carole.

Hubby and I had the best time last night at the concert. THE. BEST.

We heard 2 hours plus an encore of some of the best songs ever written. No opening act, just an evening of James and Carole.

I pretty much smiled the whole way through the concert, I was just so happy to be there.

I would complain about the atrocious traffic-directing by the Glendale police that nearly caused us to be late (due to a graduation in the football stadium next door) but right now I'm floating along, tired but happy, ruminating over last night's memories and I don't want to ruin that with mean thoughts.

I like my happy place and I'm staying there as long as possible.

It was truly the best concert I've ever attended.

P.S. I just wanted to note that security didn't check my purse and the metal detectors where turned off. The security lady at the door said they were using the honor system last night. So apparently it works like this:

*James Taylor and Carole King = Honor System
*Snoop Dogg or Metallica = Checking Every Pocket and Even Places They Shouldn't Touch

I'm sure it's an age-related thing. Hubby and I were definitely in the minority last night with regards to history :) It is actually part of what made the show so enjoyable - everyone was there to listen to music. Well, everyone except one woman about 4 rows behind us who, during the 2nd set, started screaming during the songs to the point no one in our area could hear, but she got put in her place. She ignored a few "shut ups" but when the mature lady behind us yelled back "Be respectful, please", the screamer put a cork in it and only opened her mouth in between songs. So, to the nice motherly lady sitting behind us: our section thanks you :)

P.S.S. James Taylor and Carole King were awesome!!

SUYL: Baby Names

Today over at Kelly's Korner, everyone is sharing the names they chose for their children (or future children) and why.




So far, Hubby and I have chosen our names on a pregnancy-by-pregnancy basis.

Our first pregnancy ended in the first trimester and we had not discussed names ... I call this baby Angel. It just seemed to fit at the time, and is how I still refer to this little one.

For our 2nd pregnancy, I was pretty sure we were going to name the baby Grace Marie, if it was a girl. Hubby's favorite girl name was Samantha, but I didn't want to use that name because I'd already had a Samantha in my life. However, when our baby was born suddenly at 19 weeks gestation, I was in recovery while Hubby was having our baby girl baptized. The name he chose? Samantha. I added the Michelle (my middle name), and am happy with her name. I would never have chosen it before-hand, but it seemed to fit her, once I saw her.

For our Peanut pregnancy (our 3rd), we again decided not to find out the sex of our baby. Hubby said if it was a girl I could choose whatever I wanted, since I hadn't really been in on Samantha's :) I had fallen in love with the name Maggie and decided that would be her first name, but wanted her to also have what I call a "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Name". One that, as she got older, she could use professionally if she chose. So, while we call her Maggie, her full name is Margaret Grace. I used Grace because I just think it's beautiful and didn't use it with Samantha.

Right now, my favorite girl name is Sophia Grace - Sophie for everyday. I'm thinking of giving all our girls the middle name Grace just because I think it's beautiful and seems to go well with every other name. Either that or a middle name that is one of the Fruits of the Spirit (probably Faith or Joy). Only time will tell, though.

(Harper was actually very short-listed for Samantha - as Harper Grace - because I am a huge fan of Harper Lee, but then it seemed like that name was everywhere, so I marked it off the list.)

You'll notice I haven't discussed boy names with you. I almost hope we only have girls so Hubby and I don't have to argue over boy names. It is a tradition in Hubby's family for the first-born son to have the initials JTW. I don't know when it started, but I know that Hubby, his dad and grandfather all have the same initials. I'm of the opinion it is time to let that go, but Hubby is adamant about continuing it. It is further complicated by the fact that Hubby is determined that the boy baby's middle name be Truman, after his grandfather. I appreciate the sentiment, but I just do not like that name. It's the source of our biggest argument, actually.

Hubby's boy name choice: Judah Truman

My boy name choice: Matthew Daniel

I like Judah, actually (how about Judah Matthew, for a compromise?), and would be fine with that except that, realistically, our next pregnancy is likely to be our last, and I just don't want to waste an opportunity to give our baby the best name possible.

And that name does not include Truman.

For a "J" boy name, I actually really like Jasper, too, but Hubby's not sold on it yet.

Maybe we'll both compromise and have a Jasper Truman. The poor little boy :)

What about y'all? Favorite names? Ones you just can't use?