Monkey See, Monkey Do...

A recap, memory, and advice needed:

A little recap from our weekend - it was my weekend off from basketball and it was so nice! Noah and I hung out and played together all day! I felt like a bad mom because I didn't take him outside because the weatherman said it was supposed to be 60 degrees. That night we went out to eat for Nathan's dad's birthday and I didn't feel so bad for not taking Noah out, IT WAS COLD! Apparently the weatherman was mistaken. Nathan said it had been cold all day - he had been outside working on his equipment. I dropped Noah off with my mom because we were going to a nicer restaurant and Noah is still in a bad going out to eat stage and I didn't want to ruin the birthday dinner. We had a nice dinner, the food was great! The we hurried home to get Noah - we missed him and Nathan wanted to spend some time with him before bed since he had been working all day. Sunday was a good church day - the lesson was awesome! It was about God blessing our finances. I really need help/blessing in that area. I don't want to be rich, I want to be comfortable. I feel better after this lesson, I have faith I can do it.

He makes Blue and Mickey kiss all the time - I tried to explain to him they are both boys -
I gave up and just decided they are from Europe.

Money Man :)

Noah is at such a funny stage that I had to write it down for my memories. He is such a repeater of actions, but not words. He repeats everything I and Nathan do - it is so funny and amazing to watch. He "helps" me with laundry (which really consists of him emptying the basket out so he can play with it) and I will shake the clothes out before I fold them and he does the same thing. If Nathan burps, he "burps". I will be holding him and want to get the cat out of the room and to do that I usually clap and they know that means to get out - well, if I am holding him I can't clap so I slap my leg - Noah reaches and slaps his leg too. If I am brushing my teeth, brushing my hair, blowing my nose, or washing my hands - my mini-me is right there doing it too. Now, with that said - he is a one hit wonder when it comes to talking. He will say most anything once - and he will not say it again, ever! He has said some of the cutest and most advanced things (and says them at the right times) - then he will not repeat it and looks at us like we are crazy when we try to get him to do it. I think he is doing it on purpose - the stinker. He does talk, but just the same 10 words he started off with, he refuses to consistently expand his vocabulary. I keep hearing that one day he is just going to start talking and never stop - and if he is storing up all the words he has been saying once lately, he will have a huge vocabulary to take off with!

Peek-a-boo!

He loves to wear hats and gloves right now too :)

I dared take Noah to a basketball game last night for the first time since he started walking. When he was smaller he didn't care to sit there and watch and play. From the time we walked in last night until the game was over he wanted down to run around and play about every 5 minutes. I played Mickey Mouse on my phone and fed him snacks the entire time as a bribe so maybe I could watch my nephew play (who did awesome by the way!). After the game was over I let him run all over the court and he just squealed with excitement! The boy loves to run - future track star? Future Forrest Gump? Anyway, my question is - have I waited too long to try to take him? Is it even worth the fight right now or should I just wait until he is older and understands better that he needs to sit - and understands bribes better? I will have other times that I will want go to games, but not an every week thing, as it may be later. So sports moms - what advice do you have? Wait until he is older and try again? Keep taking him and eventually he will get better? Something else?

Daddy chasing Noah around the basketball court

Tell Me I'm Normal

* My son has random melt downs and I cannot figure out why and I do not try to hard to figure it out. I just chalk it up to him being 1.

* I don't like some people. I have tried, really I have. There are just some people I do not like. I hate this, but have yet been able to shake it.

* I have noticed that the people I don't like, like each other or like the same things. I feel this makes me a consistent hater disliker (hate is such a strong word)  :)
* I do not feel cool enough for the current fashion trends. I have to convince myself I am too cool for clothes I have had for years.

* I cannot stand to watch a child get spanked in public - it makes me literally ill. I am not an anti-spanker but I think it should be a last resort.

* I can say anything behind a computer, but struggle with what I want to say in person.

* I own my favorite song on CD, and it is on my Ipod - but to hear it randomly in a store or on the radio makes me smile.

* I do not understand racism to the point that it angers me. Racism to any race drives me insane. It is 2012 and I cannot believe some ignorance still exists.

* I don't understand Pinterest. I feel so lame. It may be the same thing as me not being cool enough for the current fashions or it may be that I am just not crafty and I don't cook. I will catch on and probably love it once everyone else it over it. Story of my life.

* I think cigarettes should be illegal. They are killing people and I do not see a benefit of them being available legally.

* I don't like constantly being told to enjoy my time with Noah because it flies by - I enjoy it more than anyone knows. It makes me feel like I am under pressure or not smiling enough.
* If I hear "just you wait until Noah starts (fill in negative comment here)" again I am going to scream. I once read "we will decide our own future" and it is so true. Just because one kid is a brat or doesn't like something, doesn't mean all kids are like that. Noah is capable of being a brat, but he is SO good 90% of the time. He is very unique too. All kids are. Don't compare.

I may be the only one who does these things, but I am always wondering if I am the only one who thinks like I do. I am sure to an extent I am, but humor me please! :) If you can't tell me I an normal, at least tell me I am sane!

I have to go - Noah made a Dorito castle - such a creative boy! AHHHH!

Long Weekend Recap...

We had another good busy weekend. Friday night after my basketball practice Nathan called and said we were going to meet at the local Italian restaurant for dinner with our friend Laikken. We got there and there were 13 tables to be seated ahead of us! This is crazy for our small town!  So, we decided that we could just go to Russellville, 30 miles away, and eat quicker than there. Plus, Noah was with us and he wold not make that wait. So, we headed to Dixie Cafe - one of our favorites! They have a soda fountain area with televisions (always playing cartoons) so it was our best bet for Noah. Noah did pretty good. He is just at that difficult age to take out to eat. He hates the highchair so he sit/stands in the booth beside me and plays with everything on the table. He is also obsessed with dropping everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, under the table followed my a cute little "oh-oh". We all survived and headed home where I got Noah ready and put to bed and us "adults" (that sounds weird) watched a movie.

Saturday I had ballgames all morning  - we won all our games again! Go LAMAR! I then hurried home to pick up the boys for a birthday party. It was at the local recreation center. Since I had ballgames we were about an hour late so all the presents and cake had been done, so we just played on the basketball court. Noah was in heaven! The boy just loves to run! He is happy to just run around everywhere. After that we headed home and Noah and I stayed the rest of the day. Nathan went to a benefit poker tournament for a local softball team. Noah and I went to bed by 9:00, we were both tired!

Air Noah!

Watching the big kids play ball :)

Sunday was an awesome church day! Our church had 260 in attendance! Full is 200, so we are over-full! God is doing great things at the Journey and I am so glad he put this church in my path. It has made changes in my life that are beyond explanation. My prayers have been answered in so many ways lately. God is good, all the time.

Monday was Martin Luther King Day so I was off work. I had an amazing lazy day with Noah! We watched cartoons, ate junk food, and played all day! It was so easy just to be there with him and love him and watch him. He is such a happy baby. I love getting these extra days with him - they are very special. I will cherish these memories when Noah is too cool to spend a day off with me - so I am trying hard to soak it all in!

Cheese :)

He started doing weird looking yoga-like things with this ball!

Wrestling with Daddy before bed :)

DVD OCD

I can't stand things being out of place. I was told once I had a child I would get over that - but not me. I still like everything to be picked up and put back where it goes every night before bed - toys, clothes, etc. I am not as much of a clean freak as I wish I was. I wish it bothered me more so my house would always be spotless - but I was once told that happy kids have a dirty house - because they "live" in it and mom is playing with them and not worried about cleaning it all the times. So, I try to balance that out. I just feel very lucky to have all I do and want to take care of it.

My friends and family make fun of me for this, but I alphabetize my DVDs. I remember having all VHS tapes and reluctantly switching over to DVDs. It just seemed like it wasn't that big of a deal to have it on DVD, but once I started not having to rewind things and skipping parts with the push of a button. I still don't know about the whole Blue Ray thing - I am always so far behind the times, so maybe someday! I started buying more and more of them on Black Friday sales when they are less than $2.00, so I got me a little DVD shelf at Wal-Mart 6 years ago. It has worked great, until Noah got mobile! Noah would go over and just start pulling all my DVDs out and throwing them everywhere! We eventually got him trained to stop doing that, but our collection outgrew our little shelf. After I could not fit them on the shelf anymore I would just pile them on top - it looked awful!

Our 5th wedding anniversary came last May and it was the "wood" anniversary. I told Nathan I wanted him to buy me a DVD shelf that had doors (to keep Noah out) and held alot more than our current shelf so we had room to grow. I told him I wanted one that had spots in the doors to hold DVDs - but he informed me that would make it to off-balanced and it wouldn't work. I told him to just make one with doors then. Well, 7 months passed and no DVD shelf, so I informed him that I was buying one with our Christmas money. I found one that matched the other wood in our living room and even had doors that held DVDs - go figure! ;)

Before...

After! I love it!

All in alphabetical order - it only makes sense that way after-all!

Nathan did most of the assembly - with a little help from Noah and his tool set :) I love how it turned out. The difference is amazing! My OCD approves!

Best Weekend Ever - Worst Blogger Ever!

We had one of those weekends that was so busy it wasn't really much break - but it was full of awesome family stuff so it was very worth it! I of course had ballgames Saturday in Dover. We won every game - GO LAMAR! We have so many talented kids this season and it is so much fun to watch them play. After my games were over I had to hurry home to get ready for Trinity's (Noah's babysitters daughter) birthday party. We took off to the party and halfway there I realized I left my purse that had my camera in it - so I have no pictures of this party or the rest of that day! BAD BLOGGER! Noah's babysitter was taking alot of pictures so I hopefully will be able to post some soon. The party was Tangled themed and it was SO cute! There were long braids everywhere and wanted posters of Flynn Rider (the bad buy) and the kids even got to play pin the frying pan on Flynn Riders head! SO fun! Poor Noah goes to daycare with all girls and one baby boy (who isn't old enough to play yet) so he is all the time playing with girl toys. As Trinity was opening her gifts he would play with them. Nathan was beaming with pride as Noah played for an hour with pink pom-poms!

From there we went to my Mom's house for her birthday dinner. My step-dad cooked an awesome dinner and we all just sat and visited, it was nice. My mom got a new Iphone and I got her the otterbox for it. It will be interesting to see her with her new phone, she has an older flip phone, so this is her first smart phone. I expect many phone calls for help - and I have a droid, so this may be tricky.

The next morning we went to church and it was an amazing message. God has never questioned whether we deserved him or his help or not, he just gave it to us. We should not question whether others need it either - just give and help. After church we went and picked up my dad and nephew and headed to a special boys birthday party. It was at an awesome bounce house - we had so much fun! Noah just loves to run around, he didn't even care too much about bouncing. Even at home, when we go outside he just wants to run around. He doesn't care about the toys, just how far and fast he can run. Noah didn't take a nap this day either - too much running around, but he did good with it.

Sliding with Daddy

He rolled around everywhere - he got high-centered on his gut a few times :)

Noah loved the play house at the bounce place :)

The Birthday Boy!

It was a great weekend full of children and family - two of my favorite things!

My First Tattoo Story

This weekend marks the 3 year anniversary of my tattoo experience. I wanted to reshare the story, and relive it a little. It was quite the trip!

Here is our Miami Ink story. My mom wanted a tattoo for her 60th birthday and I wanted to get one with her. I thought it would make for good memories some day.  We had been planning this trip for about a year, and I told her that if we were going we might as well go all out and get it done at Miami Ink (a place that had a popular tattoo show at the time). So, in September I called Miami Ink and spoke to a very nice woman. She informed me that they had a $200 shop minimum and that no appointments were taken, you just walked-in. I asked her about Chris Garver, because that is who we really wanted to do the tattoos. She informed me that all the guys are in and out of the shop, but that the time we were looking at was a good time to catch him and that he should be there one of the four days we would be there. So, we asked her how much over the minimum our tattoos would be. She said she couldn’t quote it over the phone, but it sounded pretty simple (a cross-mine, and a dragon- moms), so not to expect too much more cost. She said they had thousands of pictures divided by category so to just come by early and we may find something we like better. We then found a hotel right down the road from Miami Ink and booked the flight. So, we were set! We had it all planned out - or so we thought!

Our view of Miami as we were landing!

Mom and I enjoying lunch at the hotel when we arrived.

The original Miami Ink - now a souvenir shop!

We arrived in Miami on Wednesday January 7, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. We ate lunch at the hotel and headed straight to Miami Ink. When we got there, the door said - “Miami Ink has moved to its new location - LOVE HATE TATTOO & CHOPPER SHOP” and it was 4 doors down from there. The original Miami Ink is now a t-shirt shop, selling Miami Ink T-shirts for the grand price of $40 a shirt! So, we go down to the other shop. There is one guy getting tattooed by a guy (no one from the show) and a guy at the counter. We walked up to the guy at the counter and told him we were interested in getting tattoos and wanted to look at their samples. He said “there are some pictures in those books over there”. I asked if they are categorized or anything and he said “oh, they used to be, but not anymore”. So we looked through some dirty old books with torn drawing in them - and pages missing. There was nothing we were interested in them, so I went back up to the desk. I showed the guy the picture of the cross that I wanted and told him the size and color I wanted it. He told me it would be $500! I was shocked, I just said “Ok, well we were told Garver could do them if his schedule wasn’t full”. He laughed and said “no one from the show will be doing tattoos”. So, I told him I had to think about it. Then my mom showed him the picture of the dragon and a Tibetan prayer she wanted on her ankle. He told her he wouldn’t do it unless she made it a lot bigger. She asked how much, and he told her he would just blow it up on the copy machine. He showed us the copy and for him to do it, the dragon had to go half way up her leg and the prayer had to wrap around her ankle! We were both pretty pissed at this point, so we leave. The guy follows us out to the street and said “don’t let the price scare you” - and I just laughed and said “yeah, that wasn’t all that scared me here” and mom said she didn’t want a tattoo that big. He told her that if she wanted it done there, that is how big it needed to be done.

So, there we were. Thousands of miles away from home, sitting on the curb wondering what we were going to do! The shop was not only not in the same location, but Miami Ink no longer exists - the Love Hate Tattoo & Chopper Shop has taken its place (and yes, it looked like they worked on bicycles and motorcycles in this same shop as the tattoo chairs - not sanitary looking), the guys from the show were no where to be found, and they wanted way more money that we had been lead to believe! We didn’t know what we wanted to do. We decided to check around at a few other places and if we didn’t see anywhere that felt right, then we could always get one at home - especially if a stranger was going to be doing it anyway.

The next day we visited a few tattoo shops and then we found THE ONE! It felt comfortable as soon as we got there. The Salvation Tattoo Lounge (which happened to be right across the road from Miami Ink). The guys there catered to us and made the entire experience great! The place was clean - stainless steel and hardwood floors. Big clean glass cases and real artwork that the artist had done. He drew my cross and was able to make moms dragon and prayer just the right size. They gave us all the lotions and soaps and everything, gave us drinks and made sure everything was taken care of and they answered all of our questions and didn’t make us feel stupid for asking them. It was SO much different than the other place. We told them about our experience with Miami Ink (or Love Hate Tattoo & Chopper Shop) and he said that sadly they hear that same story all the time. He said they still answer the phone Miami Ink (which they did when I called), even though they are not supposed to, and they try to way overcharge people because the owner of the shop use to have a show on tv. He apologized that we were misled and hoped that we still were able to have fun in Miami. He went on to say that all of the people off of the show are very nice and do not know exactly what all is going on at the shop now because they rarely come back to Miami since the show is off now. He said that he is good friends with them all and hates to see the shop like that.

Mom getting hers done!

Mom's tattoo

Right after mom's was finished - the blood makes it look kind-of cool huh?

Mom's tattoo a few days later.

Now it is my turn!

It felt like a bee sting (well, I have never actually been stung by a bee,
but that is how I imagine a bee sting feeling)

My finished tattoo! I went with a cross - I figured that was a safe choice
since I don't see me ever not loving God! 

I went with brown instead of the traditional black - I love it!

We got our tattoos and they are both amazing! I love mine and moms turned out perfect! I was worried that I was going to look stupid because I had said I was going to be getting a tattoo at Miami Ink and possibly by one of the guys off the show. Well, that is what I was led to believe, and unfortunately that is not what happened. I didn’t want to just go there and let them do it just because I had said I was going to. It just didn’t feel right, and I always trust my instincts. I just hope that anyone else planning on going there and getting tattooed gets informed on the truth about what once was an amazing tattoo shop before they go.

BAM! :) This is where I took mom for her birthday dinner!

So besides all that, Miami was awesome. It has beautiful scenery and the weather, even in January was so nice! We did some shopping and ate at some really nice places. I would like to go back someday and take Nathan and Noah. As far as more tattoos - I have always heard they are addicting. I don't know about addicting, but there is one more I want, but I have to be done having kids before I can get it done - and hopefully I am not done having kids.

Happy Blogaversary to me!

Today marks one year since my first blog! I have really enjoyed blogging and hopes others have enjoyed it too! I love having people (some I do not even know) tell me that they love reading my blog - makes me feel famous! HA! But really I love having a record of all the amazing things that have happened over the last year, and Noah can go and look at it someday. I know I would read one that my mom wrote if she would have been able to back then.
2011 was awesome. I won't do a complete recap - that is what the little list of previous blogs is for on the side of the screen. But, I will say alot of my Momma Dreams came true this year - I got to throw a birthday party for my child, have him an Easter basket, play Santa, and watch him grow and learn new amazing things.

To celebrate the new year Nathan and I stayed home with Noah. We just had a lazy day at home and played and watched movies. We waited to eat dinner until after Noah went to bed hoping that would keep us up until midnight - and it did! Nathan went to the grocery store and said he would cook me whatever I wanted for our last meal of 2011 - so I picked pork chops! Nathan makes really good pork chops! So, at 10:00 he cooked dinner and I wanted to watch a movie, but Nathan loves Phineus and Ferb and they were having a marathon so we watched that until about 11:30, then I turned it to Dick Clarks Rockin New Years Eve and we watched it until midnight and I was in bed asleep at 12:05!

Our lazy last day of 2011 - watching Mickey Mouse of course!

Noah having a snack before bed

Nathan cooking me New years dinner :)

How Noah rang in the new year! Noah's last picture of 2011!

The next day we went to church and I was excited - it was my first day to work in the nursery! I had 7 1-2 year olds and it was crazy! I wanted to work in Noah's room so he could get used to me with other kids in case we get blessed with another child. Noah warmed up to me holding other kids about 20 minutes into the hour, and it was fun. I was tired sore the next day, but it was so fun! After that we headed home to let Noah nap - but he decided not to nap! I rocked him for an hour and he just laid there staring at me. Then I put him in his bed where he squirmed around another hour. I finally just got him up. That was the first time ever he has not had a nap! Amazingly enough he was in a good mood all day, with no major meltdowns! After that we had to head to my moms for our annual birthday party for my brother Eli (he is a new years birthday), my mom, my grandma, and my papa. We had to eat our black eyed peas for good luck too! It was a good start to the new year!

I made vegetable squares and strawberry cream cheese pie!

The 4 generation picture!
From left: Savannah, Eli, Grandma Bobbie, Eliza Nell, Mom, Kesha, and Greyson

Eli loves vegetable squares but for some reason he hates Lamar Odom (and I love Lamar)
so I made him vegetable squares and wrote on the package that whoever ate them
admitted that Lamar Odom was the best basketball player ever! HA!

Me chasing Noah up the stairs at the party - the boy never stops!

I hope everyone has enjoyed my last year with me on my blog - and there is much much more to come!