Christmas has arrived!

Ok - much to tell, but I'll stick with some pictures for now. First of all, Santa came! He brought lots of stocking stuffers and toys for the little ones, and Jacks and Nealy have had a wonderful day playing and playing and playing. Jacks is, in fact, still in his pajamas at 4:30 in the afternoon. When he woke up this morning, I think he expected Santa to be there waiting for him, so his waking words were, "I can't find Santa!!" Very cute.

And check out my new bike that Santa brought me!!! Sweet!!

A quick Twilight update.......no me likey, y'all. I'm going to stick with it, because I am going to treat it like an assignment, but I am failing miserably. I was sure I'd be through 2 of the books by now after about 3 nights of reading, but I'm still trudging through book 1. I was hoping things would start to get interesting by page 300 or so, but I'm still waiting for something good to happen other than page after page of descriptions of how gorgeous the boy is, how plain the girl thinks she is, and how much they are in love with one another because of the scent of one another's pheromones, or something like that. You know when you see a movie, and the romantic leads seem altogether wrong for each other, so you wonder why you care about their story? Yeah, it's like that. I need more, Twilight people. Much more.

Also, we spent a night with Joe's grandmother in Huntsville over the weekend. The kids were so well behaved, I didn't know what to do with myself. I'm always terrified that Jacks will go running toward one of her beautiful china cabinets at top speed and break all of the contents in millions of pieces, and he did manage to manhandle a few things that he shouldn't have. And there was that one time that he ran smack dab into Granny ON PURPOSE because he was playing with her (we were really scared she was about to fall over!). But overall, they were really great. I couldn't have been prouder. And Granny gave Nealy the cutest little baby tiara! Have you ever seen such?


We will be headed to Pensacola tomorrow to spend a few days with my family, so I'm sure there will be more to post about. Before I leave you for a while, I just HAD to post this picture of Nealy in her monkey hat. Have you ever?


Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. Sorry for the erratic nature of this post. I've had a major search for a missing Transformer going on around my feet. I'm so easily distracted.

Nealy is 8 months old!!!

Well, we did take these pictures on or around the actual date of her 8 month "birthday." But, they were held hostage in Joe's work camera for a while, and I didn't get them for myself until today. Unfortunately, we attempted to use a spotlight to offer additional lighting since our house is so dark, but it made Nealy look a little eerie. So, while I am anxious to tell you about all of our wonderful Christmas festivities and fill you in on how I'm doing with Twilight (not good, I'll tell ya that), I really need to blog about Miss Nealy Bug before her 9 month birthday arrives in a few short days.


Little one is crawling all over the place and pulling up to stand more and more frequently. And of course, her cheerful nature cannot be denied. She smiles and laughs and smiles and laughs. We can hardly look at her without being flashed a wicked grin. I'm not sure what she's up to, but I have a feeling it's something BIG and HILARIOUS. Stay tuned for Christmas updates......

An Assignment

Ok, I admit it, I saw Julie and Julia, and I'm feeling all inspired to chronicle an assignment on my blog. Of course, I'm over a month overdue on writing a blog post for my cousin, but I have a major problem with focus and procrastination. Plus, I can't seem to stick to the assignment she gave me. I keep digressing into discussions of baby poop and snot. Apparently, these are not appropriate topics for the general public. Who knew? (sorry Robin - I will come through for you when you least expect it)

So.....can you see my tendency to wander? Let's get back on topic....an assignment!

I have not read the Twilight books. I have not seen the movies. I do have a strong grasp on the general content of these stories, and I have maintained a snobby ignorance of them. I previously decided that I DON'T DO Twilight. But, everyone loves it so much, and my students (all girls - big surprise) are SO into it.

All I know is that the stories are about vampires and werewolves with six-pack abs and carefully, messily coiffed hair-dos, sleepy eyes, sloppy clothes, and uber-pale skin (but glowy in all the right places so people will find them attractive). Blogs are generally writing about these teen-aged stars every single day as if they are the Beatles - here they are getting off a plane, here they are leaving the gym, OMG is he going out with her? And so on.

What is the draw? I'm not sure I get it. But clearly, I want to. I want to know why my tween aged students are super in love with some boy who plays a werewolf and looks like sasquatch, and why do they hate the other one who is much better looking but needs an attitude adjustment (which I have determined he needs based on the butt hole look on his face).

So, here's the plan. I have 2 weeks of vacation and 4 books to read. I will even attempt to watch the first movie. Depending on my commitment to the series, I may or may not go see the 2nd movie at the theater (if it's still showing, and if I have any money, and if I can find someone to go with me). I will write about my reactions to these stories after each book.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all. Wish me luck in my endeavor. I hope I don't get any major injuries from excessive eye rolling.

Thanksgiving!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving feast here in Auburn! My parents came for most of the week, and Mom made ALL of the food (except for the fried turkey made special for us by a friend), and our friends Jenn and Dave came over to enjoy the holiday celebration. My mother used leaves from the Japanese maple in the front yard and camellias from the back yard to create a gorgeous fall centerpiece.....

We busted out the wedding silver, the bone china, and milk glass and crystal serving pieces - holidays remind me of why I collect these beautiful things.
Jacks was a little wound up and didn't sit still for dinner, but he was so excited with all the activity going on around the house. Nealy smiled rainbows and sunshine all night long - ain't no stopping that little miss.

She did a lot of grabbing at Jenn's face. They are new BFFs.

Overall, it was a wonderful night.

Hope all had a joyous and festive holiday......now we're over the hump into full on Christmas mode. So much more to come........

side note - okay, so this post has been sitting on my computer un-posted for weeks now, as are several other posts. I will be updating more soon - hopefully tonight, but no promises. I am noticing a pattern in my apologetic posts that involve eating crow for being such a bad blogger. I'll get back to you, faithful readers (Dad and Ashley) very soon. I have some vacation coming up, and I'm planning an extra special blog assignment for myself.

Nealy is 7 months old!!

Well, she keeps on getting older.

Despite my best efforts to keep her a baby. I tried waiting to feed her baby food, but it reached a point of irresponsibility on my part. And so she eats. And she grows and ages and moves and grooves and laughs and coos and steals my heart regularly.

I know you all think your babies are adorable and perfect and wonderful and amazing. But I'm afraid you're wrong.

Nealy wins.

(which is also my response when I'm told at her doctor's appointments that she's in the 95th percentile for length and weight. I say, "Yay, we're winning!!")

Okay, I'll admit all of your babies are great, too. But are they made of magic and rainbows and unicorns? Maybe, but maybe not. Seriously. Nealy is. Totally. All the way kittens and pudding. And lately she's added brute strength to her repertoire. She rocks the jam. And I'm pretty sure she's a UN Goodwill Ambassador and possibly in talks with the Iron Man competition. I'm not sure of all of her current projects. She's multi-networking.

Anyway, see the pictures. I'm sure you'll find yourself quite taken, as well.

It was difficult to get a good Bruno shot this month. She's not so keen on him, as we learned last month.
She really didn't want him to be wearing that stupid hat. Those aren't my words, they're clearly hers. Stupid freakin' hat, she seems to say.....


Here she is attempting to intimidate us all with her dynamic gymnastic abilities. Her expression is threatening and aggressive, I'm sure you'll agree. I think she's daring you to something - you'll have to ask her yourself just what exactly....


I believe Jacks is attempting to kiss her on the head here. However, it looks more like he is spitting directly on the top of her head, which doesn't seem like a wise choice the way she's brandishing that barbell.


That's all for now.....rest well. - K

Isn't she lovely?

Halloween is near!

It's that time of year again - the time for dressing up and eating candy and hoping the weather feels more like fall and less like an indian summer. There's nothing worse than breaking a sweat on Halloween, and yet I do it every year! So far, this week has been lovely. But I think today's rain will bring the heat and humidity with it. Damn rain. It could at least have the decency to flood and give us a day off!!!


Wait, what was I talking about?

OH - Halloween!

So, I really wish I could be one of those mothers who makes all of her kids' Halloween costumes (like the flamingo or the rocket ship as seen above...). And the thing about it is that I am totally capable (being so terribly crafty and all), but I don't have the time or the stamina. Plus, Jacks decided that he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story - for those of you who live under a rock, he is a spaceman character. I considered making a Buzz Lightyear long enough to do a google search on instructions, at which point I discovered step by step directions for transforming a cardboard box and some traffic cones into Buzz with several layers of craft paint and shellac. All of a sudden, spending $19.95 at Party City was sounding pretty good. Jacks and I made the trip to the store, made the purchase, and we never looked back. My mother's eyes got huge at the thought of spending $20 on a Halloween costume. If she only knew what some people are willing to fork over to transform their children into monkeys and robots and chili peppers.

So far, Jacks has worn this costume 5 times. Only one of those times was to a party, the rest of the time he's been wearing it around the house and pretending that he's flying. He stands on top of the ottoman, holds one arm straight up in the air, exclaims, "To infinity and beyond!" (He actually says "imPinity) Then he jumps off the ottoman, rolls across the floor, jumps up and shouts, "I'm okay!" I think we've gotten our $20 worth.

I think he's taking the whole Buzz Lightyear thing pretty seriously....
Nealy on the other hand is getting whatever costume I can find that fits her and is free. I have her cousin Laura's pea in the pod costume from her first Halloween, which is so adorable but it is "mermaid style" in that the feet are in a sack. Nealy's getting a little too mobile to be constricted like that. I also have a pink leopard that I acquired through some bizarre course of events too boring to recount. And I have the pumpkin outfit that Jacks wore on his first Halloween. Of course, Jacks was 3 weeks old at the time and the costume was HUGE on him. See.....

Well, Nealy is nearly 7 months old, wearing anywhere from 6-12 month clothes, but that doesn't stop me from zipping that little chunk into that costume....


The downtown celebration is going to be on Thursday night this week, and I hope we can all make it through without any melt downs. Who am I kidding? At least there will be beer!

Nealy is 6 Months Old!!!

Well, she was 6 months old....about 2 weeks ago.

I can honestly say that the second baby gets the short end of the stick in nearly everything. I have not taken nearly as many pictures of Nealy as I did of Jacks, but that is really a relative statement. I think we took about 5000 pictures of Jacks in his first year, and we've probably only taken about 1000 of Nealy so far. So, there might not be as many pictures, but there are certainly enough, wouldn't you say?

Also, I don't think we ever waited a full two weeks past one of Jacks's monthly birthdays. I remember getting extremely agitated if we went more than 3 days late. This time it took me over a week to get truly pissy. Then it still took me a few more days to get downright ugly about it. I think I started threatening plague and pestilence on Joe on or about last Friday. (he makes the onesies.....)

So, here she is!


Let's see....what is she doing right now? She is sitting up like a big girl, she's scooting around - so close to crawling, she growls like a wild animal, she laughs like a crazy lady, she's starting to eat some cereal and fruit, she makes a perfect dirty martini, she's training to be a croupier, and she knitted those pants she's wearing!

Well, most of that is true.

But seriously, her teachers swear she said, "no," the other day. They say that she is freakishly smart, and they constantly marvel in wide wonder at her amazing cognitive abilities. I'm not so sure about the talking part, but I'm not even a little surprised at her preternatural genius. I mean, what can I say? (well, what they actually said was that she was smart and they think she said no - I inferred the rest of that stuff from that)

We make good'uns.

She and Bruno are not the best of friends.....


Ok, so.....

I know I've been slacking in my blogging lately, but I'm starting to feel the crunch of raising two babies, working full time, maintaining a household (barely), and losing baby weight (unsuccessfully so far....). I dream of a clean house with clean clothes that are all put away in the right place and clean sheets on all the beds, and counter tops and tables that don't have a sheen of stickiness, and floors that your feet don't stick to and also don't leave things stuck on your foot as you walk effortlessly through an uncluttered house, and a yard that is not in constant need of attention for fear that it slips into an abyss of yard-horribleness.

In the meantime I think I'll watch episodes of Glee on tivo in dirty yoga pants while drinking beers.


Oh yeah - Jacks figured out how to balance a quarter on his nose! So that's something....(Woody and Buzz Lightyear appear to be in a most compromising position, by the way.)

Love to all!!! --K

Jacks's Birthday Party

Ok - so I'm way overdue on lots of blogging. I have Nealy's 6 month photo shoot, but it's being held hostage in Joe's camera the whereabouts I do not know. So that will come later.....
But, big news - Jacks turned 3!!!!

We had a great birthday party at the gymnastic studio where Jacks takes tumbling. Well, he takes tumbling there over the summer. During the year he takes at his day care, and the owner of the gym comes there once a week.
Anyway, I will totally take advantage of birthday packages at business establishments from now on. The guest list had to be limited, but they provided:
invitations
paper products
decorations
juice
party favors
staff to handle the kids

All I had to bring was the cake and some bags of chips! For that kind of service, I would pay nearly anything....well, not really, but sort of. Ok - I have to be quick about this. Jacks is at his swimming lesson right now. While he's gone I need to start laundry and do yoga, so blogging is totally going off schedule right now. Enjoy some pictures from the greatest party ever!!! Thanks to all our friends and family for joining us (don't worry - that isn't your real thank you). The cake (which was made by my good friend and work colleague Mandi) was TO DIE FOR!!!! It was a perfect representation of Jacks jumping in the foam blocks. Love it.
Sorry there aren't more pictures - trust me, we have enough from the party. I think Joe took nearly 500. Yes - you read that right. But I don't have time to go through them right now. Gotta run. Be checking in for Nealy's update soon. I hope I can get to it later tonight!

Love - K

Fall is here!!!

I love the fall. It is my favorite time of year with the exception of a really cold Christmas Eve. And it's not just because of the changing colors, the fun pumpkin patches and festivals, and the cool air.

It's the fact that there is no more sweating.

I am a sweater. I have no control over it. I tend to have mildly high blood pressure, and I lean on the padded side most of the time, so my intense discomfort is springing from my face like a water fountain. And I have some anxiety related issues about it. So whenever I start sweating in a social situation, I feel like I am becoming obviously uncomfortable, so I sweat more because I'm self conscious about the sweating in the first place. It's a conundrum.

And summer time does not help this situation in any way at all. See the evidence....

And these are some really a mild cases, because that's all I'm willing to disclose in photographic evidence for all to see.

(the photographic evidence also shows that I wear pink sleeveless dresses more often than I thought. Not the best choice with my propensity to turn pink paired with my matronly upper arms....)

So, although I am ready for a warm spring time every year after a season of bitter cold, I am generally done with it after maybe 3 or 4 weeks. Then it needs to be cold again.

And, of course, I also love fall because of the changing colors, the fun pumpkin patches and festivals, and the cool air. But mostly the cool air thing because of the no more sweating thing.

And for my next topic of the day, another reason to love the autumn is that our yard can look like this in the fall...

But right now it looks like this.....

(sorry about the poor quality - this was taken with my phone)

And this is a good thing! You see, the massive yard debris pile is gone. About three weeks ago, my mother graciously came up here so that she could work on (and supervise some day laborers) a major yard clean up and clean out while we were at work. And the hugest pile of debris in the free world created from the yard project was piled out front where the dead grass is.

Before I explain further, the clean up and clean out is awesome. I can see some possibilities for the back yard now that so much overgrowth has been removed, and I love it so much. But the gigantic shadow of the debris pile has been looming for weeks bringing more hassle than celebration.

The city claimed our pile was too big and that we had pieces within it that were longer than 6 feet. So Joe got busy with a chainsaw and broke it down as much as he could. The city came, removed a layer of it, which revealed a whole new level of extra long bamboo pieces, and they quit. After which they claim to have worked for over 45 minutes taking pictures of our offending bamboo so they could prove why they couldn't finish the removal. Joe got busy with the chainsaw another time and called the city back. We were told that we'd have to wait for the regular yard debris pick up day since they had already made the special trip to our house with a truck and everything, and we totally effed up by not paying attention to their rules. It seems we're criminals or enemy #1 for causing such a brou-ha-ha with leaves and branches. Leaves and branches. We sound absolutely menacing.

Oh yeah - and on the normal pick up day, no attempt to remove the pile was made. None. And no explanation given. Just a very loud silence. By this time we totally get it, city people. We suck.

Finally, one of Joe's students came by one afternoon and broke down the piles and made them more evened out and accessible for pick up. Then, the dude with the city who seemed hella put out with us went on vacation.

And, voila!! After three weeks and a whole heapa trouble, the pile is gone. Now it's time to mow the yard and water the hell out of it so maybe we can have some gorgeous fall pictures in the front yard. Like this...

I'm ready to get in the kitchen and make some orange food and a hot drink. It's time to get some fresh yellow mums for the front step and pick some perfect pumpkins.
So, let's get to pumpkin patching....

Happy fall, y'all!

BTW - all of these pictures are old, except for the shot of the house that I took with my phone. Just in case you were thinking Jacks looks a little small.....