"Bree Tanner"

www.breetanner.com

OK...I'll read it. Especially since it will be offered for free for a month.

I refuse to read the graphic novel that they published - it just doesn't interest me at all, but this newborn vampire story could be interesting. Not to mention that Stephenie Meyer said that they worked some of it into Eclipse, which of course interests me. (FYI: 91 Days left until it comes out...but who's counting?) Eclipse was my favorite book...they better do a good job! I'm just sayin'...

Just a little rant...

Dear Clothing Manufacturers,

SEW SOME DANG BOY CLOTHES, WOULD YOU?! (And make them friggin' adorable!)

Go into TCP, Gymboree, Gap Kids, Target, Kohls, etc...the boys are hugely misrepresented in the clothing department!! I can tell you that moms (and dads) want to dress their boys in cute stuff just like they want to dress their girls in cute stuff! So give us more choices for boys!! Especially dressy clothing...there is usually a decent selection of play clothes...we need more dressy clothes.

Easter is this Sunday, and I still have not gotten my Little Man anything to wear for it. I have been disappointed by every store I've gone into. He is in a wedding Saturday night, and I am thisclose to having him wear his tux to Sunrise Services!

We really need a good selection of boys' dressy clothing, okay? And not just varied colors of sweater vests paired with khakis and a collared shirt. Give us some dressy rompers to choose from. (And don't put animals on all of them...leave some plain!) Give us awesome collared shirts and polos that are cute enough to stand on their own and go with some nice pants. Maybe even colored pants paired with said cute shirts. Just give us a variety, please!

If you don't do this for us, my BFF and I are prepared to make millions of dollars by starting a clothing store chain only for boys. We will take you down and leave you in the dust...you best believe it! So, just sew some handsome little boy clothes and we won't take a bite out of your profits. Consider yourselves warned.

All the best,
Ashley

Little Man

Every single day I think that I couldn't possibly love my Little Man more than I already do, and every day I am proven wrong. He is amazing, and he brings so much joy and laughter and love to our life.

I am getting to spend this whole week with just him since we are not keeping our neighbors' children this week, and I am loving every second of it!! We have so much fun together!

So...today's blog will be a bunch of little random thoughts about my sweet, rambunctious, funny, and lovable Little Man.

• He is talkin' up a storm these days! His current favorite words are: Mommy, Daddy, monkey, messy, blank (blanket), car, go, open, mine. His current favorite phrases are: "Oh no! What did you do?," "Ready to go," "Nite-nite," "all done," "come back here!" It is unbelievable how much his speech has picked up in the last two months or so. He says something new every single day. Sometimes he'll just say random words he knows over and over and over. Last night it was, "nana, apple, nana, apple, nana, apple, Barney, Thomas, Barney, Thomas, car, go, car, go, nite-nite!" (P.S. I am trying to curb his love of Barney. We hardly ever watch it, but boy does he light up when it comes on. Darn that purple dinosaur.)
• He loves to go in his closet and sit in his old car seat and play while I put away his clothes.
• When he hears airplanes, he points up in the sky and says, "airpane!" He once heard a motorcycle crank up and thought it was an airplane. When we have the windows open and he hears birds, he points outside and says, "bir!"
• The child loves a banana. More proof that he's a monkey! He also loves mini blueberry muffins.
• He also loves monkeys. We can be in a store and there'll be a basket full of stuffed animals, and he'll automatically grab the monkey even if it's not on top. When you say monkey, he makes monkey sounds. (Which is friggin' adorable.) :)
• He loves naked time. A lot.
• He loves to be outside. All day long he constantly goes over to the door and points and says, "outside!"
• He has a special bond with his Nana. (My mama.) Boy does he love her! And of course she loves him! MamaSherry tells me it's a lot like the bond Mama and I had when I was a baby.
• He doesn't want you to give him just half of a graham cracker. If you only give him half, he looks at it and frowns and then puts his hand on his forehead in frustration.
• He loves to wash his hands in the sink.
• His hair is starting to get a reddish tint. And it is growing, growing. It curls up.
• He has been known to put himself to bed. Sometimes when we have friends over on the weekend, he stays up with us and plays with everyone. One night he was playing and having a good time and then he went to each person and said nite-nite and then walked to his room.
• He likes to shop - as long as he's riding in a buggy. Sometimes he enjoys the stroller, but mostly he just likes the buggy. So, Target, Kohls, Bi-Lo, Babies-r-Us, etc...are usually fun and easy trips. Going to the mall or out to outlets or anywhere else where he'd have to ride in a stroller is a crap shoot. He may do fine, or he may demand to walk or be held. I'm not sure why...maybe because he can look directly at me and see all the stuff around him at the same time when he's in the buggy? I do know that he definitely takes after his father in the shopping area...if we are in the mall or at the outlets, he cries and kicks immediately when we cross the threshold into a store. hahaha!
• Sometimes we'll be relaxing and sitting together and he'll pat me on the arm or leg and look at me and say, "Hey, Mommy." I love it!
• He is getting really good at the shape puzzles with the pegs in the pieces. He is so smart!
• Every afternoon when he hears Andy's key in the door, he gets so excited and jumps up and down and stands in front of the door. When it opens, he says, "Daddy!!" in the most excited voice you've ever heard. Then he lifts his arms up hubby picks him up and he tells Daddy about his day.
• His favorite way to bathe is in the shower with Daddy.
• He makes up funny sounds and says them over and over, cracking himself up all the while. At dinner the other night, he started going, "biddy biddy biddy baaaaahhh!" and he'd laugh and laugh. So, Andy and I started doing it and our Little Man laughed so hard that no sound was coming out and then he'd let in a big breath and resume the laughter. All three of us had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard.
• He has the sweetest personality. He is rarely in a grumpy mood, and if he is in one, he is either tired or hungry or sick.
• He doesn't like it if he has to stay in one spot for too long. haha! He is a boy on the move, people!

I could go on and on about our son. And I probably will in a future blog. :)

"If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart." I'm just sayin'...

Spray Tan in a Can!

I have mentioned the wedding I'm in in previous posts, and that wedding is fast-approaching! It's next weekend and I am wearing a strapless dress and I have zero tan. Really, I am p-a-l-e. Which is technically supposed to be the "new tan," but it is my personal opinion that tanned fat looks better than white fat. Just sayin'. :)

SO...I call a salon to inquire about their spray tans and it was going to be expensive (we don't even have cable and I expect Andy to understand my need to spend money on a spray tan that lasts for a few days? I don't think so.) and for best results you'd really need to go with a person airbrushing you rather than going for the booth. I decided against it and gained a promise from my BFF that she'd help me acquire a decent-looking fake tan.

Let the experimenting begin.

I go to Target, where I buy two different kinds of spray tan in a can - Neutrogena and Banana Boat.

Smart me had the genius idea to test it out on my legs first...I never wear shorts, and I made sure (kind of) to spray above the capri-pant line. Let's just say that I am oh so thankful for long pants. As my BFF stated, I look diseased. I can't believe I am doing this, but I will post a picture for reference...The left leg is Banana Boat and the right leg is Neutrogena. (Keep in mind that carpet cleaners always suggest using it on a hidden patch of carpet first to test color-fastness. I was using the same idea here. :))

The Neutrogena not only ran, but it is also pretty orange-looking! The Banana Boat is better, and would probably look tons better if it weren't next to the Neutrogena and would also look better if it had been applied evenly and over my entire leg instead of just the random patch that I sprayed yesterday.

So...I am not sure if I am brave enough to let BFF spray my upper body (the dress is long - you won't see my legs, anyway, so I am not as concerned about them as I am about my back, arms, and chest...oh and neck and face because I suppose I would look even more ridiculous if we left those out). It says the color lasts for only a few days, so it should be gone by next week and if I like it I can apply it again (well, BFF could re-apply it). But, do I want to risk potentially looking like a deranged orange zebra?

Stay tuned...We are making the decision to spray or stay tonight!

If I can make it through the wearing of this pretty dress between the MiracleSuit and the Spray Tan in a Can, I will feel like I can make it through anything! I'm just sayin'...

Ode to the Elusive Hair

I shaved my legs today. (Hey, it's the 25th...that's the day of the month I reserve for this task. Kidding, kidding.) And, surprise, surprise, the same thing that has been happening to me since I started this task (which I actually used to consider fun when I was young and stupid) happened again today.

So, what's the problem? That one elusive ankle hair. Yep. Every time. I hop out of the shower, dress, sit down and put lotion on (or in today's case - a trial run of spray tan in a can (oh, yes...that will be it's own blog later, friends)) and look at my ankle and there she is. Stupid long brown hair. The thing could wear a bow or a pony tail! How do I miss it every time?! Really. It's dreadful. And today, guess what? There is a group of about 3 teeny-bopper hairs hanging out on my other ankle. Why do I call them teeny-boppers? Cause they're shorter than their mother. I'm assuming teeny-bopper age here. So, the ol' girl is reproducing and building her clan! I think I am going to have to start shaving all the way down to the top of my foot. Next time I will get her...and her little clones, too!

Just for fun.

Stay tuned...you're gonna want to know if she escapes the razor next time! I'm just sayin'...

Ridiculous FB Statuses

I slacked off again, friends, and I am sorry! Keeping my neighbor's kids from 7:15 in the morning until 5:30 in the afternoon is a little tiring! haha! I know there are many many women who take care of multiple children all day every day, but I am fairly new to this, okay? Give me some time...and then maybe I won't want to just crash every night instead of writing a blog. :)

I have some inappropriate FB statuses for you today. These are saved up over the last few weeks.

• _____'s child is an idiot. And I have no problem telling her so. (This one flat-out ticks me off, people! Wrong, wrong, wrong!!)
• _____ just really needs some. You know...SOME! Any takers? (Hmmm...are you talking about SOME milk or SOME rest? I am guessing NO.)
• _____ is like a leaky faucet. I have probably produced and blown out 11 gallons of snot today. (This is just disgusting.)
• _____ wishes my mother-in-law wouldn't criticize every little thing I do. She hates me. (Please go vent about this to your BFF...don't put this out on FB for the world to see, because...guess what!...it's getting back to her and things will just get worse. Note: I did notice later on that the post had been deleted...I just hope it was before any damage was done.)
• _____ doesn't know whether to sit on the toilet or hang over it. D&!n this stomach bug! (Really? We needed to know that?)

Oh, people. Really. I thought we'd covered this. Your status is a precious thing. Put something meaningful up there. Not something offensive or disgusting or that will start a fight with someone or that gives us horrific visuals. I'm just sayin'...

Errryyyone who seen the Leprechaun say YEAAAHHH!!

This will make you laugh. Just sayin'...

Just a little FB rant...

OK, you crazy kids...I understand that texting has done away with proper grammar and spelling. I sort of understand why you'd want to shorten something you are having to type with your thumbs on a tiny phone. BUT...if you are at a computer with a real keyboard, why do you still need to talk in text code? It drives me insane! Maybe it is the teacher in me or something.

I can tolerate LOL or OMG or even TTYL, because those are actual abbreviations for longer phrases. But I cannot tolerate using 4 for "for" or c for "see"...those words are already short, people! How much time is typing one letter versus 3 actually going to save you??

And, for Heaven's sake, please oh please do not misspell words on purpose. I don't know why you think it's cool, but it's not. Tyme is not how you spell "time" and lyfe is not how you spell "life." When did we change from i to y?! (The person I have in mind when thinking of this one is 28 years old, anyway...way past the point of "coolness" as it is!) And don't use a k when it's supposed to be a c...krazy is spelled with a c, folks. (This one holds a special place in my heart because...bear with me...this will be hard to tell...Well...when I was in 5th grade, I was in a Spelling Bee and my word was clown. The teacher said, "Clown" and I started sounding it out and immediately said "K-l-o-w-n"...hang on a minute...have to dry my tears from this painful memory........................ok, I'm back. I knew clown started with a c but that pesky /k/ sound got me under the stress of the Spelling Bee! So, please...help keep this painful memory from resurfacing every time I see you use a k for a c...just don't do it.)

I hope u have learnt yo lesson. 2 missuse grammar is a str8-up shame. Git wit me 4 a tyme we can git 2gether. I want 2 c yo face. We can meet @ tha spot. Holla!

You Can Find Me in the Club...In the back, where the floor isn't vibrating as hard...

Alright, friends. I had a new experience over the weekend. As I mentioned in my MiracleSuit post, I am in a friend's wedding in a few weeks. Well, Saturday night we celebrated the end of her Bachelorette days with a night out in the big ATL. We stayed at a hotel in Buckhead and went to Opera, which boasts "Atlanta's hottest dance floor!" (Oh, sure...it was muy fuego!)

Let's start at the beginning...

Until Saturday night, I had never spent the night away from my son. I was feeling anxious about that, but I wanted to be there for my friend as she celebrates her upcoming nuptials. Last week Little Man had a stomach virus, so by Friday I was thinking, "A break will be just fine!" So, Saturday morning I get up and clean the house and fix the boys lunch and get all my stuff loaded in the car. I say good-bye to my boys and get in the car, turn the radio up and head out to my night on the town. Oh, wait...but I had to turn around to go get my prescriptions. That's right...on my way out to a night of dancing and fun, I had to turn around to get my daily medications. (Let's call this sign #1 that this may not be Ashley's "thing.") My husband laughed at me when I walked back in the door and he saw what I was getting.

On my way to meet the girls, I stop by BFF's house and get her to do my make-up. (I am not so good with the make-up...and hubby doesn't like make-up, so I don't wear it, well, ever. So I entrust my good ol' BFF when I need to be dolled up for any reason. Thanks, BFF!)

I meet the girls, and we head to Atlanta. By the time we get to the ATL, I am feeling nauseated and thinking, "Surely I am not getting that stomach virus now." We had plans to go eat at The Cheesecake Factory, but since we got a later start than we expected and needed to be at the club by 11pm to get in free with the guest list, we decide to just run over to Chick-Fil-A, where I proceed to be nauseated and not eat. By the time the taxi arrives to get us, I am thinking I should stay at the hotel, but I suck it up and head out to the club, and I do end up feeling better by the time we get in.

Long story short about getting into the club...we ended up having to pay $30 a piece to get in! Wooooo that's expensive, right? But, we were out celebrating, so we went for it. If my hubby had been the one going in with me, we would have turned around and left and went to play Putt-Putt or something.

We get inside, and the first thing I notice is that the floor is vibrating. The music was loud, and they were playing MJ's Billie Jean and we all go straight to the dance floor and start dancing. We get up on the lit-up stages and dance for a long time before getting down to go in search of the bathroom.

The bathroom. Woo. There was an Opera staffer who sat in the bathroom on a chair the whole night playing on her phone...not sure if she was just monitoring or what. There was a black lady who helped you out by handing you your towel to dry your hands. There was a basket on the counter for you to put her tip in, and she told us that that is the only money she makes. Well, I gotta tell ya...she wasn't hurtin' that night because the basket was full and there was a random selection of bills in there. I mean, think about it...you have drunk girls going into their wallet to get a tip, and half of them probably didn't know what they were throwing in the basket. Also, on the counters were all sorts of hair products, make up, lotions, and candy. I am not sure I would want to use a "communal" eye shadow or mascara, people. That's kind of gross, and, let's face it...a health risk.

The drinks. One drink cost $8. $8!! I had ONE and the glass was itty bitty. For $8!! After that, I had a bottle of water that cost a wopping $5. And it wasn't even special water. Just plain ol' bottled water. For $5! Do they know I can go buy a whole case of it for $2.50 at Wally World?!

The crowd. Unbelievable. You could not move. This was a big reason that me and the clubbin' thing were not clickin'. I can't stand to be squished up amongst strangers. Heck, I don't like to be squished up amongst anybody unless it is for a hug or other good reason. Also, because of the close parameters to your fellow clubbers, you got groped by random people...and that is just unnerving and annoying, and makes you want to slap someone, only you don't know who to slap because there are too many suspects.

The people. There was a huge range of people there. Some were the "typical" clubbers you would imagine. Others were older, younger, bachelorette and bachelor parties...almost any type of person you could think of was represented pretty much. I love to people-watch in general, and this was a new-fangled kind of people-watching for me. It was hilarious, and at times, disgusting, watching old men get grinded on by younger girls, or guys trying to hit on girls, or a girl trying to keep her drunk bachelorette friend from flashing everyone (not us, mind you...we were pretty tame, really).

The DJ. I'm not gonna lie...he was AWESOME...I do love me some good dancin' music, and he did a great job.

The special effects. I learned that I cannot walk when there is a strobe light flashing. I get too dizzy and stumble like I am drunk. The smoke/fog they blew out smelled funny. Thank goodness for the random bursts of cool air they set off every once in a while.

The outfits. Listen up, Girls!! If you are having to hold your dress down to keep your underwear from showing, then the dress is too short. And you obviously care because you are holding it down to keep from flashing people. So buy a longer dress, idiot. (I should state that there were some girls who did not care to hold their dress down and may or may not have enjoyed the fact that we could all see their underwear. Whores.)

The smells. If you have intentions of dancing your buns off, please invest in soap and deoderant. And the other smell that we got several wiffs of was weed. Yep. Ugh. But there were some good smells and that was men...some guys have the most amazing-smelling cologne ever. I wanted to ask what they were wearing so I could get some for hubby. I do love a good-smelling man. (Well, I love MY good-smelling man!!)

The taxi drivers. They were hilarious and put up with our girls night out craziness. I am so glad we got good ones both times.

My nausea. Off and on. Obviously after the dancing and getting hot I was feeling pretty crummy. I went to the bathroom several times just so I could sit down! I was pretty happy when it was time to head back to the hotel! I did end up getting sick at about 5:30am and then thankfully made it back home Sunday morning before getting sick again. Stupid stomach virus.

Me, sheltered? Maybe. I thought I had experienced a good bit, but I had never been anywhere like this before, and I can say it is just not for me. Some of the girls said they could go out like that every couple of months, but I will be okay if I never go back to a club like that. Just give me a bonfire with a truck backed up to it blaring music and I am good to go!! Besides, I missed my boys so much and it's easier to make sure you take your meds on time when you are at home. Just sayin'...

"Miracle"Suit...yeah, right!

I am going to be in my friend's wedding in April. I am so happy to be a part of her big day...and she chose black for the bridesmaids' dresses, which is awesome. So...in my quest to get ready to go have my dress fitted this week, I went to find shoes and also a strapless bra. The shoe-buying was no big deal. The bra-buying, however...

I decide to go to Belk, and head on over to the Intimates department. (Can I just take a minute to say that I am so very thankful that they have women working in this department? And not just women, but, normal, non-judgemental women at that!)

I start looking around and one of the sales ladies comes over and asks if I need help. Boy, did I. I told her that I needed a strapless bra and that I wanted something that would "suck everything in." She cracked up laughing and led me to the Miraclesuits. I chose one of the bathing suit kinds and she measured me and I took two different sizes to the dressing room.

I put on the bigger size first and it was a disaster and a half from the beginning. The cups were too big and just had big open spaces underneath my boobs...and, trust me, there are never any big open spaces underneath my boobs. So...I go to the smaller one. This one worked better in the cup-size department and once I fought with it to keep everything it was trying to suck in from bubbling back up, I decided it was probably okay.

Just in the knick of time, the nice sales lady knocks and says, "How is it working for you? Can I see how it's fitting?" And, without waiting for an answer, she comes in...I immediately grab my pants trying to preserve some modesty, but then give up when she looks at me and says, "I just don't like the way they're sitting." I told her that my hubby doesn't either, and she laughed and laughed. She told me to "grab the tissue and pull it in" and said that she wanted to see some more cleavage. No one's asked me to see more cleavage in years! I laughed and pulled them in and told them to "Stay!" She said I may have to tape them. This is getting better and better.

As far as it being a "miracle"suit, I have my doubts. I put my pants on over it, and they did fit a little looser.

I did buy the contraption, but I am thinking I better give it some trial runs before the wedding. I am terrified it is just going to explode. I'm just sayin'...

Do the "Terrible Twos" start around 20 months??

My sweet little man is growing and changing every single day. Most of it is good and so much fun...some of it, though...oh boy...

We have a hard time in restaurants now. It used to be no problem to take him out to dinner, but recently he has started screaming when he has to sit in the high chair for more than a few minutes while waiting on his food. Sometimes if we have a booth he will just sit beside us and play, but he throws toys and books on the ground and just wants to get out and be free. I try to keep new toys and books in my purse for him in the hopes that it will be new enough to keep him entertained, but it doesn't always work. And then when he is done eating, he is ready to get out and play, and he doesn't want to sit any longer than he has to to eat. He is a busy, busy boy and restaurants cramp his style, okay? If anyone has tips, SHARE them for goodness sake! I love going out to dinner, and will keep trying until we figure out what works - at the risk of being banned...hahaha! (Note: This is not every single time, mind you...sometimes it goes perfectly fine! I just need help with the times when it's not going so fine!)

I mentioned in my most recent post that we are now spending our days with our neighbor's children. The little girl is with us all day, and the little boy is here for 2 hours in the afternoon. Little Man loves watching the big boy play, but he does not want to share anything - including, and especially, me - with the little girl. Honestly, I was not looking forward to losing my carefree, do-whatever-we-want days with my son. But, I couldn't turn down the extra money I would earn from keeping the kids, and for the first two days, Little Man had so much fun. They were so sweet together and would just sit across from each other during snacks and meals and wave and say "Hey!" I was so glad he had a friend to play with every day. Then, Wednesday came. And my sweet boy was done sharing me and his toys with this little girl. He screamed when she wanted me to pick her up. He screamed when she touched a toy he was playing with. He screamed and clung to my leg while I changed her diaper. He said, "No" a thousand times. I thought to myself that this was just a normal reaction for a little boy who has had me and his toys all to himself for 20 months now, and assumed it would get better. It hasn't. It's Friday and he is still screaming and clinging to me at all times. I am trying so hard to ignore his tantrums. I mean, I know he isn't hurt, I know he isn't hungry or thirsty, so I know that it is just a tantrum. But, seeing my little man screaming like that hurts! I just want to hold him and tell him he doesn't have to worry about that cootie-infested little girl. But, I ignore it and teach him to share and tell him I love him and hope that this phase passes...soon.

Parenting is just as amazing as I thought it would be, but also a lot harder than I thought it would be. The love I have for this little boy is unlike anything I've ever known. And disciplining him is harder than I thought it would be. I mean, come on...I am a teacher. I thought I'd have the discipline part down pat. Not the case. I am learning every single day. I am figuring out what works and what doesn't, and finding out how to not cave in to his sad, hurt face when I tell him "no" or get on to him about something. The most amazing and wonderful thing is that no matter how bad I feel for having to be stern, he may pout for a little bit, but he always ends up running at me smiling and giving me a hug. So...when I'm in the moment of feeling like the "meanest mom ever," I remember that face coming at me for a hug.

My BFF reassures me that I am not going to "screw him up." She reminds me that one of the most important things is being consistent, and that is something I am working on. (Mostly because I have been known to cave in to the sad face from time to time.)

My hubby and I are, thankfully, on the same page when it comes to discipline, so we are working on it together. He is better at ignoring tantrums than me. Maybe because he has more patience than me in general!

I don't want this post to come off sounding like I have an out of control toddler, because I assure you I don't...sure, the jealousy is something that is happening every day right now, but I know that learning to share me and his toys with his little friend will be worth it once we get past this learning stage!

I will leave you with some fun Little Man stories...and trust me, these happen way more than the stressful stories!! :)

~ He is becoming quite the artist...check it out...

~ He is talking so much!! He repeats everything and will name things in the house and in stores. He even says some tiny sentences...one of his favorites is "Come here" and he moves his little hand like we do when we say it.

~ My hubby usually handles the bedtime routine and after he's done with everything, he sends Little Man in to tell me goodnight. Little Man comes running in the living room, gives me the biggest hug, then hops down and goes back to Daddy and waves and says "Bye bye!" on the way to his room. It is the sweetest thing.

~ When he wakes up in the mornings, he sits in his crib and talks and talks. When I go in to get him, he hands me all of the stuffed animals that are in his bed so that I can say good morning to them and give them a kiss. Then he runs back and forth across the crib, talking and pointing at things and naming them. When he's finally ready to get out, he lifts his arms up and says, "biaper!", which means diaper.

~ If you say, "Let's brush your teeth," he sticks his finger in his mouth and pretends to brush with it.

~ He thinks that every round fruit is an apple.

~ He loves, loves, loves bananas.

~ The top of the diaper genie looks like a potty seat when you open it up, and when I was changing the bag cartridge the other day, he was holding the top and opened it and said "Potty!" and put it on the floor and then sat on it. I am thinking we are getting close to potty training!

I could go on and on about him. I love that little boy to the moon and back. I'm just sayin'...

Let's Catch Up...

Wow...it's been a while since I last blogged. There are several reasons for that, none of which I intend to blog about, so suffice it to say that I am back and am going to try to do better about sharing my thoughts on random stuff with you, because I know you love it and miss it. :)

Here's some random thoughts to catch up for the past week or so...

• The Bachelor, Jake, chose...*shiver*...Vienna...to be his wife. Ugh. This girl is immature, bratty, trashy, and has crappy hair extensions. I hate the way she talks, and she has crazy eyes. I am pretty sure she's a gold digger. (As Kanye West says, "If you ain't no punk, holla 'We want pre-nup, we want pre-nup!") I know that all of this is very judgemental of me, but she rubbed me, and let's face it - the rest of America -the wrong way from day one. Tenley is such a sweet girl, and I thought she handled being dumped very well. And I wanted to jump up and hug the TV when she said, on the "After the Final Rose" episode (and this is a loose quote), "Do you think it was fair to Vienna to feel like you say you felt about me and then propose to her? Honestly, I have to say I am happy that it wasn't me if you say you were feeling that strongly for the both of us." Good. For. You. Stick that in your juice box and suck it, Jake! Why I think he chose Vienna over Tenley: a) Jake is, obviously, a very physical person. And Vienna has "do me" written all over her. b) Tenley has morals. She probably wouldn't have moved in with Jake quick enough for his liking. Vienna said on the "After the Final Rose" show that she is going to Texas immediately. Whore.
• I am now keeping my neighbor's children again. So, from 7:15am until 5:15pm, my day is filled with a 2 year old little girl and my own 20 month old little boy. There is lots of laughing, lots of crying (mostly by me! haha!), lots of lessons learned (both for the tots and for myself), and lots of playing. After school, the little girl's big brother (who is in Kindergarten), joins us and argues and whines with the little ones. He doesn't have much patience for them, and he tends to whine because he thinks it will help him get his way. It doesn't. If there is one thing that gets on my nerves, it is whining. Despite the whining, he is a funny kid who always comes up with the most hilarious things to say. When I kept them in the fall, he said to me, "Mrs. Ashley I don't think I want the kids to call me (insert his name here) when I grow up." "Well, hun, what would you like for them to call you?" "Oh, I don't know. Mike or John. Something like a man." It cracked me up that this 6 year old was already worried about his manliness. Just this week he said, "Do you know what the wonderful thing about me is?" "What would that be sweetie?" "I love to do homework. And I draw an American flag on it so that if it gets shipped to another country they know it is made in America. And it's got my name on it, so they know who constructed it."
• It snowed here on Tuesday. It was absolutely beautiful as usual, but I am ready for sunny, warm days where I can take Little Man outside for some fun. I am so excited about his first trip to the zoo and trips to the beach and mountains...I am just ready for warmer weather. Not hot weather, mind you...I don't want to be sweaty and miserable...just a nice 70 to 75 degree day would be perfect. Actually, a whole bunch of them in a row would be spectacular.
• Dr. Suess' birthday was Tuesday...I love me some Dr. Seuss! He has so many great quotes. Here's a link that will take you to some.

I leave you with this:

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." ~ Mother Teresa

I'm just sayin'...