Big Girl Bed

I almost cried while Jerry took apart the crib. Ambria was more than excited to get a big girl bed and she couldn't get enough of it and laid on it for about an hour after we put it up.

She is laying out her blankie...

Trying out her new bed, with her blankie...

Fast asleep in her new bed, with her blankie,

and her two babies with their blankie.

An Evening at the Beach

There are more pictures on Jerry's blog.

"Bad" Movies

*Mariah: Dad, what are you watching?
*Jerry: Rambo
*Mariah: You mean Rainbow? Like Reading Rainbow?
*Jerry: NO. Like Rambo. (taken a little aback that Mariah would compare Rambo to Reading Rainbow as she adds estrogen to the testosterone filled movie).

(A few minutes later we realize that Mariah was watching the movie during a fighting scene from behind the corner of the wall, so Jerry quick turned off the movie. I took a moment before bed to talk to Mariah about what she saw).

*Me: Mariah, what did you see on the tv?
*Mariah: The guy told the woman he couldn't take her down the river. I also saw a fight. Mom, DAD SHOULD BE IN THAT MOVIE SO HE CAN TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS because fighting is BAD!

10 Year High School Reunion

I had my 10 year high school reunion last night. It was weird. It was weird seeing familiar faces after ten years. I was nervous that I was going to forget people's names, but I did pretty good. Matt? Matt who? Who is that girl with short hair over there? Everyone pretty much looked the same, no one gained an insane amount of weight, no grey hair, no bald heads, not too many wrinkles. Overall, it was a fun night and it was great seeing some of my high school friends again, even though it was pretty weird. I wonder what people are saying about me? :)

Patience vs. Precious--Life With a Two Year Old

Patience
Ambria likes to pick out her own fork for meal time. This is about a five minute process. Then she decides on a spoon. She tries to eat pancakes with a spoon and figures out quickly that this doesn't work very well. ...Start the fork picking process all over again...

Precious
Ambria loves to look for deer by grandma and grandpa's house. We get real quiet in the car and whisper. Last night our headlights lit up a spotted baby fawn as we watched its big brown eyes stare at all four of us. For ten minutes after we drove away, Ambria continued to whisper as she kept saying "shhhh, look for deer." Her soft voice just melts your heart.

Patience
Bed time is another long process. Ambria insists that her blue blankie be laid out flat and her pink blankie be laid out flat. She needs her baby doll and Minnie Mouse to lay on the blue blankie, and then she lays her own head on the pink blankie. Oh wait, it isn't over yet, Ambria needs to be covered with a blanket and her baby doll and Minnie Mouse need to be covered too. THEN she needs kisses from Mariah and a bedtime story from Mariah and THEN she needs kisses from me and/or Jerry.

Precious
After the long bedtime process, Ambria ends with "Night, mom, I love you, mom. Night, mom, I love you." And then it turns into a whisper as I close the door and I can still hear her whispering, "Night, mom, I love you." It makes the bed time process worth it just to hear those words.

Ambria is finding her independence.

Everything just takes a little bit longer.

A little more patience.

Ambria's First Hair Cut

What a big girl!

Sitting sooo still

Loving getting pampered

Thanks Christine!!

My "Be Careful What I Eat" Diet Plan---Big Failure

This was my meal plan yesterday. I reflected on what I ate last night in bed and I started laughing so hard....

Brunch---Granola Bar
Late Lunch---Pop tart
Dinner---One cookie
Dessert---Ice Cream
Bed Time Snack---Two cookies

When a 5 Year Old's Temper Flares

I was giving the girls a bath tonight and Mariah was adamant about washing Ambria's hair as well as her own hair. Well, this process wasn't going the best as Ambria was screaming because water was getting in her eyes, but Mariah didn't stop, as she is very persistent.

*Ambria: Scream, scream
*Me: Mariah, I will do it (as I start rinsing Ambria's soapy head)
*Mariah: (temper starts flaring) MOM, NO! I WANT TO DO IT. (Under her breath) I wish I didn't have a mom.
*Me: WHAT? Dad and I will have to talk about that comment tomorrow!!
*Mariah: (crying now) I SAID, I am GLAD I have a mom!
*Me: nothing (I disguised my smirk)
*Mariah: MOM, I CARE ABOUT YOU!
*Me: nothing (still disguising my smirk)
*Mariah: MOM, I LOVE YOU AND I WILL CARE ABOUT YOU ALWAYS! (still crying)

Ambria's Waterslide "Walk"

We were at my parent's house yesterday and Ambria decided that going on the waterslide was SUPER fun. She couldn't get enough of the slide and her little "strut" is too cute. She was so proud of herself and was showing off to all the other cousins. Ambria also enjoyed swimming in the pool nonstop and was a little water rat all day.

Garage Sale Weekend Reflections

DAY ONE

Forecast: Mostly Cloudy, a chance of rain later in the day, 75 degrees.

Ok, we can handle that. It took forever to get everything from the garage into the driveway but I figured we would make more money if we were out in the open. I was RIGHT!! We doubled what we were hoping to make and our most expensive item was $25--everything was priced to sell! For two hours straight, we had over twenty people in the driveway at all times and a line to pay for stuff. I was loving it.

*Ambria's Garage Sale Day Menu: Breakfast-Skittles, Lunch-Pop tart
*Mariah's Bedtime Snack: Somehow she coerced the babysitter into putting a whole unsweetened pack of lemonade into a water bottle. Nice.

Some highlights from Day One:
*An old lady got stuck in our recliner for sale and couldn't get out.
*Mariah screaming out: "Mom, why are you selling this piece of junk (holding up a baby toy). No one wants to buy junk!"
*Mariah's first Lemonade Stand (check out her blog for pics)

DAY TWO

Forecast: Thunderstorms for most of the day, 80 degrees.

Yup, it poured! We were forced to stay in the garage. Some people braved the storms and came to the sale anyway (now those are die hards!). We didn't make even close to what we did the day before, but we still got rid of some more stuff and made a little money. Mariah changed her clothes four times from getting soaked, but she had fun.

Highlights from Day Two:
*Talking with all the neighbors as we walked to each other's sales. We had seven sales just on our street!
*It was actually relaxing to sit in the garage and watch the rain.

So, all in all, it was a very successful sale and I can't complain because of the rain. It feels great to clean out the house and get organized.

Kindergarten Here She Comes!

Mariah: Mom, what is college?

Me: It is more school after high school. You go to school for four more years to after high school.

Mariah: Ugh! That sounds BORING!