T2T

top two favorite things about summer.

numero uno?

Saying PEACE OUT to my knuckleheads!

and HELLO! to two months of being a stay at home mommy to miss bunny foo foo!

two... reading chick lit books by the poolLooking forward to reading these page turners this summer!

BTW, my dear blog friends, do you have any other suggestions of books that you enjoy reading? I'm looking to expand my chicaliterature library. :) I'd be so thankful.

did the swing shrink?

Umm.......when did this happen?

4 +

See that over there? -------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Notice anything different?

I changed the 3+ to a 4+

Four years married. Four years happy.

top two? hmph!

Things I could not live without that are under $15...hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

C'mon! JOIN!

First and foremost-- I literally could not survive with out this. No really.

I'm kinda addicted to jewelry and accessories. Especially now, since I'm not really LOVING how clothes fit these days. I'm currently coveting these right now from AE. Kinda on a turquoise kick.

Lilly's a snot face these fine pollen filled days. These are crucial. Ok, more than two, but I CAN'T STOP NOW!

I love this stuff from Walmart. I use it all year round. It absorbs quickly and is $3.50. Holla!

Bare Minerals lip gloss. lurve it. Cotton candy is my color of choice. The stuff is very kind to your skin. So much so they say you can sleep in it. Which is good...cause my nightly routine is terrible. As in non-existent. What?
This little jobber is amazing. His name is Mortimer the Moose. Lilly will chew on him for at least an hour. He squeaks, crinkles, rattles, jingles and is pretty much awesome. Go buy one. Your life will be changed. This is turning into more of a top twelve Tuesday! Shoot balls.

Ahhhh... the plugs. :) Ca-ching! You know you love these....


It's the little things that make this teacher heart go pitter-patter and Mr. Sketch smelly markers do just the trick. Hey, I'm not around my baby, but AT LEAST I get to write with cherry and lemon smelly markers?! They are so much fun they get two pictures.


Ok, this headband is one of my top15thingsIreallyreallyreallywannabuyforthesummerbutshouldn'tbecausewe'reonabudgetitems from the Loft. It's over $15, but with my teacher discount it would be right at. Maybe when I lose 5 lbs I'll treat myself to it.

mkay, this was a bit overkill. super sorry.

How?

How do they do it?

I find myself asking this question all the time. How can they afford to stay at home with their babies, while I can't? How can they job share but not me? Did we really make that many mistakes in our finances? Do we really live above our means? My husband has a good paying job. How come they get to stay home with their squishys while I have to go to work?

How do they make it work?

I want to be the one to see her crawl the first time. How can I see that when I'm teaching all day? I want to be the one who knows how to get her to nap like a champ. How can I do that when I'm not around for her naps? I want to teach her basic sign language. I want her to do "more" and "milk" and "please". How can I do that when I'm not with her during the day except on the weekends?

Now that she's getting older it has become harder and harder to leave her each day. She's no longer the little lump of cute. She's moving. She's sitting. She's learning and reacting.

And I'm missing it.


I'm jealous. There. I said it.

Before I was a Mom

Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

tonight tonight tonight

You bet your squash and cereal she's excited for GLEE!!!

badaaaaah!

here's the story all about how...

THIS girls life got turned upside down!!!!


Ok. Story time. Gather 'round.

(if you know me in real life....run along. cause you've no doubt already heard this. at least 6 times.)

Ok. So i loooovvvveee carrie underwood a little too much. I'm a little on the 12 year old girl mind set of " OH mi goooodnneeeesss I heart her soooo much!!! Squeeeeeeee!!" But whatever, I'm okay with it. Scott, knowing this, surprised me with great seats to her concert this last weekend for Christmas. However, at Christmas they were not on sale yet. So using his super sleuth skills, he found that you could purchase tickets in advance IF you joined the OFFICIAL CARRIE UNDERWOOD fan club. So putting his man card aside, he joined. (if that's not love... i dunno what is!!)

Anyway, I've always known this, but this event confirmed my belief that my husband has a horseshoe up his butt. He is so dern lucky!! He always wins things and gets great deals and so forth. Well....surprise surprise about 3 weeks ago, he gets an email that he has won a backstage pass for a meet and greet with the divine miss carrie for the upcoming concert. So, for the sake of fun.....travel back with me......

::insert hazy dream sequence::

I'm asleep in my bed at 9:30 on a Wednesday

( I know. lame sauce. 9:30?) . My husband, who loves to get me riled up because I'm a *tad* dramatic comes in wakes me up saying, "Laura, we've just won backstage passes to meet Carrie!"( No need for last names in our house. there is only ONE carrie.) I shoot up in bed. "SHUT UP! You're lying. This is NOT funny!" I run to the computer and read the email. I'm ecstatic. But quickly defeated when I read the line: Congratulations, Scott, YOU have won ONE pass to meet..... One pass? Not two??? Whaaaaa???? Then at the bottom the most depressing sentence, This pass is NON-TRANSFERABLE. Scott joined the fan club. Of course, HE WOULD win. A 29 year old avid country hater won a pass to meet his wife's favorite artist. of course.

I did not.

My. husband. was. going. to. meet. carrie. It was heartbreaking. I forced him to email this fan club and plead our case... he did. We even threw in the "my wife just had a baby and would love to spend this time...blah blah she's a teacher to America's youth....blah blah feel sorry for us....we're poor. we live in INDIANA of all places...blah blah. xoxo. "For three weeks. nothing. no response.

The first week. I was rather devastated.

Second week. I was rather bummed, but okay with the fact that my husband was going to meet the most gorgeous girl on the planet who just happens to by mah fave.

Third week. I had decided I would have a picture printed of me that Scott was ORDERED to hold next to Carrie while he had a picture with her so "technically" I was there. :)

Then. THENNNNNNNN!!!!!!! The sky opened up and God said "I love you, Laura." Scott received an email on Wednesday stating that they would make A ONE TIME EXCEPTION for the name on the all access pass to be LAURA instead of SCOTT. Hallelujah!!!!!!!!


So, on Friday. I met my girl. She was very nice. Extremely cute. and surprisingly VERY short. She was in flats. I was heels. I'm really not a giant. :) The concert was great. She changed outfits like 10 times. She sang all my favorite songs. aaaannnndddd to add a cherry on top of a great night, she complimented my outfit. I had silly crazy girl grin on my face alllllllllll night.

ohmifreakinggoodness

i'm going to meet CARRIE UNDERWOOD tomorrow.

no, i'm not kidding

yes, i'm freaking out.

promise to blog the craziness, and hilarious debacle of HOW i landed this earth shattering moment later....off to find something fabulous to wear to meet my favorite person in the whole wide world minus scott, minus lilly.

my reaction exactly miss carrie, exactly.

f-a-bo-u-l-ous "holla back young'n--woot woooo"

Remember that song? You don't?.....shoot.

What a Fabulous trip. Fabulous weather. Fabulous friends. Fabulous family. Fabulous beach. Fabulous food. Fabulous drinks. Fabulous sun. Fabulous lilly. Fab. Fab. FAaaa-aB!

Flying with an infant = SCARY. I was so worried I would be THAT crazy mother with THAT screaming infant. I was prepared to get dirty looks, evil comments, and eye rolls. But you know what? I was pleasantly surprised. People aren't the evil airplane baby haters that I thought they would be. There is good in the world!!!! Lilly did great and flirted with everyone she saw --flashing that adorable mushy squishy gum overloaded grin. Those of you worried about flying with a baby-- If dramatic-emotional-crazy-control-freak-momma can do it, SO CAN YOU. Bring bottles....lots of bottles. Lilly drank 4 in 6 hours. Flying apparently makes babies ravenous. Who knew?

Our days consisted of...

morning strolls on the beach

deciding between pool or beach...beach or pool

staking claim on beach chairs, only to have them stolen, stealing them back, stank eyeing the evil cranky over tanned old ladies who stole them

working on project GET TAN 2010

putting lilly down for a nap. putting her BACK down for a nap 10 min later. rocking her BACK to sleep.

fish the sand outta lils mouth x 2,000

sweet potatoes!!!!!!!!!

bath in sink.

gussy up time

nightly picture poses on the beach

dinner and drinks.

BIG OLAFS

Repeat for 5 days. :)

bribing myself

well, i've fallen off the wagon again. AGAIN! stupid pregnancy weight. stupid stupid. boo, laura. so i've dedided to set some "treats" to urge me to lose weight.

5 lbs- blog makeover!

10 lbs- pedicure

15 lbs - new bare minerals make up ( mah fave)

hopefully that will jump-start my weight loss. i've lost 40 pounds before. i can do it again.

aaaaannnnd my momma said she'd pay be $300 if I lose 40 pounds before Lilly's first birthday! Cha-ching! MOTIVATION.

It's funny what a week surrounded by girls in bikinis on the beach can do for your "get your bootie in gear" emotions. :)

Spring Break post coming soon. You're gonna ::die:: when you see lils on the beach. just die.