Ballet Day

Kaitlyn had her second ballet class today! She had to bring a teddy bear to class. They practice balancing their bears on their knees and heads for balance and posture. They also line the bears up against the wall to "perform" for them. After ballet we went to our friend Tamara's house for lunch. Kaitlyn loves playing with Jeannette, Cecilia, and sometimes Luke. :) The kids played and Tamara helped me create a chore/behavior chart for the kids. After much hard work, they have really cool charts with clip art and pictures. Hopefully it will help remind them the stuff they are supposed to get done everyday. While all this was going on, Alyssa had her first time in an exersaucer! I was thinking she was getting big enough and Tamara had an old one hanging around. Alyssa really liked it! She seemed perfectly content in there for a little while. We got a newer style one for Christmas from the Happy Grandmommy. It has the seat that goes around the play center part instead of sitting in the middle. When she gets bigger, we can remove the seat and she can just play with the center part. It is pretty cool. They didn't have them like this when Kaitlyn and Alex were babies.

Emma's 3rd Birthday!

Today was Emma's 3rd Birthday party at Pump It Up in Marietta. Alex was at school, but Kaitlyn had lots of fun! She loves the inflatable jump places! After the party, Christine and Catie came over to play for awhile. Kaitlyn loves Baby Catie too!

What Kind of Yarn Am I?

You are Acrylic.

While you are very versatile, your plasticky countenance can be offputting.

You are very good with children but can become a pill if left alone with them too long.

You are very flexible but don't give in to manipulation.

Sounds about right doesn't it? What kind of yarn are you?

http://www.quizilla.com/users/bisybackson/quizzes/What%20kind%20of%20yarn%20are%20you%3F

Brenda & Ricky

My Dad's first cousin Brenda and her husband Ricky were in town for a few days, so we drove down to Grandmommy's house to visit. Quida, my grandmother's best friend was also there. We haven't seen her since my grandmother passed away and she hadn't yet seen Alyssa, so we were glad she was able to stop by. Brenda wanted to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We all drove over to the one by Perimeter Mall and the wait was an hour and forty five minutes! We ended up going to the Olive Garden down the street instead. I ate a new special--Shrimp and Stuffed Shells. It was awesome!

While I Was Out...

I got up this afternoon to use the restroom and when I came back the kids were standing around Alyssa giggling. I looked around them at her and this is what I saw......

She was totally enojying the attention from the other kids and smiling away, oblivious to the stickers all over her face. :)

This is what happens when semi-sick kids are stuck in a house all day. Alex and Kaitlyn were both running extremely low grade fevers, so neither went to school and they all drove me crazy all day.

I had a telephone conference with Kaitlyn's preschool teacher. She is doing very well. She knows her ABCs, numbers in English and Spanish, she interacts well with other children, shares, recognizes her name. Her teacher said she is an absolute delight to have in the classroom. Isn't that wonderful!? Her teacher said she is absolutely ready for a full-time pre-kindergarten next year.

A Pretty Princess!

Kaitlyn got this princess outfit from the Happy Grandmommy for Christmas. Isn't it bee-uu-tee-ful?

A Sick Baby!

Jon went back to work for the first day today after being terribly sick for about four days. Alyssa didn't nurse too much in the night, so I was wondering if something was wrong. This morning, I noticed she felt sort of warm. I took her temperature by mid-morning and she was running one of about 102. Since Jon had been so sick, I made her a doctor's appointment for later in the afternoon. We went there and they swabbed her nose and she definitely has the flu. The doctor recommended that Alex, Kaitlyn, and I go ahead and get flu shots to hopefully prevent getting sick too. I took the first one like a champ to show them how easy it was. Kaitlyn got hers next because Alex was busy hiding under a chair. She did okay, but cried a lot. That didn't help with Alex's fear though. We had to drag him out kicking and creaming and physically restrain him. I hate being part of the whole barbaric process really. Why do I have to hold him down? Alyssa had a rough night, but is doing reasonably well for having her first flu. I started feeling like crap tonight, but hopefully it will end swiftly. Mommy can't ever get sick.

A Day of Firsts For Alex!

Alex had a couple of great firsts today. When I picked him up from school we went by the library because I had a couple books on hold. He wanted to check out one of course, so I decided it was time he got his own library card. It was very exciting for him of course and we discussed how important the responsiblity is. Now he just needs a wallet to put it in! For his first checkout he got a book on deep sea creatures and a video about dinosaurs. Let's see if he remembers to return them!

The other first was......Alex lost his first tooth! It has been loose for a little while and Jon checked it and the little thing was barely hanging on! We wiggled it around for a while. Jon wanted to tie and string to it and tie the other end to a doorknob and shut the door. Alex was horrified. I tried to get it out for a minute, but was being super gentle and not getting anywhere. Jon went and got a washcloth, grabbed the tooth, and PULL! It came right out! So exciting! Alex put it under his pillow and the next morning....a shiny JFK coin was there in its place!

Kaitlyn's First Day of Ballet

Kaitlyn went to her first ballet class today! We signed her up with the local Parks & Recreation Program so it was really affordable. She absolutely LOVED it! The parents had to wait outside, but some of us peeped through the classroom window to watch. Kaitlyn had a wonderful time dancing and leaping about. She told me that her favorite part was when they all held hands, dancing in and out of the circle. She can't wait to go back again next week!

It was such a beautiful day today that we decided to go to the park after ballet. We met up with our friends at East Cobb Park for a few hours. Needless to say, Kaitlyn was exhausted at the end of this day. (Did that sound like a line from a Dr. Seuss book or what?)

Imagine It! Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum again today and Kaitlyn got to meet Arthur! It was so exciting! Kaitlyn loves to play in the pretend grocery store. We spent a good portion of our time there. She packs up her grocery basket full of "food" and then carries it all over to the "microwave" and cooks it all together. I see an E-Z Bake oven in our future!

I tried a new meatloaf recipe. I have always made the same meatloafy recipe with Lipton's Onion Soup Mix and I am getting sort of bored of it. I tried a new sweeter recipe and it was pretty good!


Brown Sugar Meatloaf
8 servings.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan. Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar. In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the ketchup. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.

A Day At Home With Friends

We spent the day at home with Melody, Devin, and Jay. I was pretty darn cold outside, so the kids played video games, board games, and with their toys. When the kids were playing in Alex's room, Melody and I watched Old School--one of my favorites!

Kaitlyn often feels left out when I am tending to the baby, so I threw her into the sling today. She loved it! It made her feel so special!

Jon came home sick from work today. He has been coughing in the bed all day with a fever!

A Sleepover

This morning I met Celeste at the Cozzi Cafe. She is a consultant that I have been in touch with about the Natural Family Boutique. I am really giving some thought to selling for them because the products are awesome!

www. naturalfamilyboutique.com

I already have a couple friends that have assured me they will buy if I sign up, so....don't be surprised if in a few weeks I am Jennifer Worrell, Arbonne AND Natural Family Boutique Consultant!

Tonight Melody, Devin, and Jay spent the night. The kids had lots of fun playing and Mel and I had lots of fun eating the brownies that we made for the....ummmm....kids. She didn't get there until sort of late and we all stayed up until about midnight.

Melody wore Alyssa is the meitai and Big Baby Jay got a little jealous. :) It was so cute!

I made a new recipe tonight that was awesome! Here it is!

Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini
8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

In a 5 quart Dutch oven, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings. Saute onions and garlic in drippings. Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini and parsley. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.

Postpartum Appointment

I went to my postpartum appointment this afternoon and everything checked out out okay. I got fitted for my very first.....diaphragm!! Exciting stuff, huh?

This is a picture of what Jon and Kaitlyn were doing while I was gone.

We went back to the Atlanta Vineyard's young adult service, Revision, again tonight. Adam discussed what being a child of God is. He used an analogy that really made sense to me as a parent. He has a toddler and he said that when Levi (that is his son) acts up and has to be punished, that he immediately runs to Adam for comfort afterwards. Even though Adam is punishing him, Levi knows that Adam still loves him and runs to him. We, even though we are adults, have a similar relationship with God. We should know that no matter what we do, God will always love us and protect us.

A New Name

Today was an errand day for us. I had to go to the Cobb County courthouse and reschedule my court date for a speeding ticket I got back in August. My court date came when I was in the hospital, so I missed it. It is rescheduled for February, so hopefully I can get the judge to reduce the speed or something. After that, I picked Kaitlyn up from school and went home for lunch. Then we went to the DMV so that I could FINALLY change my name on my identification from Harwell to Worrell. I have only been married for a year and four months, so I figured I could probably go ahead and get it out of the way. :p That took forever, although Kaitlyn was very well behaved. We tried another bottle for Alyssa. I bought an Avent, which is more breast-shaped. She took it a little, but wouldn't drink much and fussed until I gave her the real thing. I have heard of some breastfed babies that refuse to ever take a bottle. I hope she will eventually take one!

I met Carrie for dinner at Chik Fil A, so that she could drop off my bridesmaid dress for her wedding. It is really pretty, but I need to either do some crunches or buy my first girdle before the wedding because I still have some baby pudge on my tummy. :) I also will definitely need a tan because the color of the dress does not look great with super pale like I am now!

Alyssa's First Bottle

We tried giving Alyssa a bottle of expressed breast milk today. Eventually I will go back to work part-time and need to get her used to the bottle. Well......she wouldn't take it. She looked really confused about what the heck we were doing. :) I am going to get a different sort of bottle with a more nipplely-shaped nipple and see if that work.

Scrapbook Crop

Today we went to a scrapbook crop over at Julie's house. I was feeling pretty frazzled and remembered all my scrapbook stuff, but forgot the pictures I wanted to work on. Duh! So I just sat there and gossiped for awhile while Kaitlyn played with the other kids. We came home and Jon had come home from work early, so we spent the rest of the night doing family time.

Today was Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Alex has learned about him in school. He came home a couple days ago and I asked him what he had done at school that day. He said he learned about these "white people" that had killed a King. I was confused for a minute before he realized he was talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. We talked about it for awhile and he told me that MLK, Jr. wanted everyone to be friends with each other. He said he didn't remember who shot him, BUT he did remember who killed Mr. "Ham" Lincoln--John Wilkes Booth. I told him that it was Abraham Lincoln, but he insisted it was not, that the first name was Ham. Whatever!

Imagine It! Children's Museum

Kaitlyn, Alyssa, and I met Ann, Will, and Ciera at Imagine It! the Children's Museum downtown. It was our first time going and I thought it was really awesome! There are tons of interactive stuff to do that is geared towards younger kids. It was too bad Alex couldn't come, but he spent the day with his Dad. They were also having a Martin Luther King celebration, so Kaitlyn and Ciera made a little white dove to hang up with their display. Kaitlyn played with balls, trains, water, and lots of other stuff. I can't wait to go here again!

http://www.imagineit-cma.org/home.asp

After the museum, we headed over to Whole Foods. I love the healthy stuff they have there, but who can afford to eat like that all the time? Kaitlyn got her Grandpa to buy her all her favorite organic foods like yogurt, hot dogs, and oatmeal. Poor Grandpa! Those grandkids always hustle his money away. :)

After that, we drove up to Gwinnett to have dinner at Grandad and Teri's house. We ate fried chicken, mashed potates, and creamed spinach. It was a long day and we were all pooped when we finally got home!

Nico's Birthday Party

After Malcolm's Birthday Party, we headed over to Chuck E. Cheese for Nico's Birthday 9th party. The kids ate pizza and cake, played the games, and won lots of tickets. We waited forever to get a picture of Georgia with Chuck E., but it was worth the wait. At CEC, the parents and children all get a matching hand stamp when you come in to make sure nobody tries to leave with a child other than the one they came in with. When we went to the door to leave, we realized that my hand hadn't been stamped on the way in. The children all had, but I hadn't. The door person had to go and get a manager and we had to convince her that my children were actually my children before we could leave. Thank goodness Alex can talk because I don't know what would have happened otherwise. It was sort of a hassle, but I was glad they did it. At least I know that they are really on top of protecting the kids! They gave us a little stuffed Chuck E. to apologize too!

Malcolm's First Birthday Party

This morning we went to Malcolm's 1st Birthday party! It was a football theme and his big cake was a football field and his fist cake was a football. They were really cute. Jessalyn (Malcolm's mom) gave away little Nerfy footballs for party favors which I thought was a great idea! (Georgia also had a good time. He got kissed by little Fiona!)

Coffee at Dunkin Donuts

Today Alyssa and I met some of our Atlanta Mommas friends at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and well....donuts. I was running late, of course. I ended up looking in the total wrong place for the Dunkin Dounts, getting back on 75 going in the wrong direction, turning around, and finally making it there. Very late. One great thing about meeting other moms is that they totally understand when you aren't on time. Christine and Catie came over to hang out afterwards and stayed for the rest of the afternoon.

Alex brought home a special friend from school for the weekend. The class mascot, Georgia! Georgia is a stuffed giraffe from Build-A-Bear that the kids all had made in the beginning of the school year and every weekend, Georgia goes home with one of the students. We are supposed to take pictures of everything that we do with Georgia and put them in his journal. Georgia has his own suitcase with lots of different clothes. It was really exciting for Alex. (Kaitlyn too for that matter.)

AND......saving the best for last....Alex was put into the Accelerated Reader Program at school! He gets to bring home special AR books home to read and can earn points based on his comprehension of them. I don't know what he can do with his points yet though. I am very proud of him!

Georgia Aquarium

We went on our first visit to the Georgia Aquarium. It was amazing! We saw all different kinds of fish, sharks, jellyfish, penguins, sea lions, and beluga whales. Among other things that I don't know the names of. :) Kaitlyn has never even been to an aquarium before and Alex hasn't been since I was pregnant with Kaitlyn so I doubt he even remembers. They seemed to really enjoy the tunnel that is under the water. That is where Alex spotted his favorite "fish"--the hammerhead shark. Kaitlyn's favorite was the "nemo" or clown fish. Alyssa slept almost the whole time in her carrier, but I think that she would have liked the jellyfish. Some of the rooms, I could have sat in forever, just watching the fish swim back and forth. I can't wait to go again. We already have reservations for February 17th to go with Ann and Will. Can't wait!

Jon went to a meeting for a newish multi-level marketing company that Dr. Willis signed him up to sell for. The company's website is www.agel.com . He will be selling vitamins suspended in gel. Supposedly, this is supposed to get more of the nutrients in your body than a pill, since the pills don't break down in time before they are passed through your body. Things that make you go hmmm.......

La Leche League

I went to my La Leche League meeting this morning. It didn't seem like we had a set meeting discussion. There were two pregnant women there that had a lot of questions about various things, so we spent the majority of the meeting answering them. The leader talked about a conference coming up in the spring that will be somewhere in Atlanta. I think that would be really great to go to, so I will have to check into that.

IHOP Breakfast

This morning we met our Atlanta Mommas friends at IHOP again. Again, it was totally wild and crazy. There was noise and pancakes everywhere! The girls pushed the chairs in a row and made a train. Kaitlyn was the conductor!

After breakfast we went over to a nearby park with Jeannette, Cecilia, Tatyiana, and Parker. There aren't too many days that are warm enough to play outside, so the kids had lots of fun playing together!

We tried another awesome recipe last night! Here it is!

Hummus Pizza
Makes 1 pizza

INGREDIENTS:
1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
1 cup hummus spread
1 1/2 cups sliced bell peppers, any color
1 cup sliced red onion
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS:Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Roll out pizza crust and place on a pizza pan or baking sheet. Spread a thin layer of hummus over the crust. Arrange sliced peppers and broccoli over the hummus, and top with shredded cheese. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the crust is golden brown and cheese is melted in the center. Slice and serve.

Alyssa's Two Month Checkup

Alyssa's two month checkup was today! I said this the last time too, but I can't believe how much and how fast she is growing! Of course, she is twice the size of many babies her age. :) She now weighs in at 14 pounds and 9 ounces!! That is in the 98 percentile! She is 23.5 inches long and that is in the 80 percentile, so she is not only big. Also pretty long. Her head circumference is 15.5 inches. That is just over the average in the 59 percentile. The doctor said she was a healthy breastfed baby! She had a little bum rash that had been getting increasingly worse over the past couple days. I had tried A & D Ointment, Boudreaux's Butt Paste, AND Aveeno Baby Diaper Rash Cream. Nothing was working and it was only getting worse. It turns out it was a yeast infection. Neither of my other two ever had anything like that, so this is a new one for me. She was given a prescription and it started clearing up almost immediately. Alyssa also got her first round of vaccinations. She got three shots to protect her from diptheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, polio, & pneumococcal conjugate. There is such debate about whether or not to vaccinate children. I asked my doctor since I know a few people that opt not to and she reaffirmed that it really is best for children to get the vaxs that are available to them. My thinking is that--what if I didn't and one of them was in the small percentage that caught whooping cough or any of these other rare (but deadly) diseases? I think better safe than sorry!

We went to Longhorns for lunch today, courtesy of our friend Christine. The children were amazingly well behaved considering that there were four of them. (My three, her one). We went over to her house afterwards to hang out. I was commenting on how much Alyssa wants to be held all the time and she offered to let us borrow her swing. When we got back home, I out Alyssa in it for her maiden voyage. It is the most amazing swing I have ever seen. It is the Fisher Price Nature's Touch Cradle Swing. The seat is a little papasan chair. It plays music, rain sounds, bird sounds, among others. There are little birds, bugs, and leaves that move around over her head. Awesome. She totally loves it too!

Julie's 26th Birthday

Julie's 26th Birthday was this week on the 4th, so we went out tonight to celebrate. Julie has just recently moved back to Georgia from New Hampshire, so we needed some reconnect time. Her friends Brandy and Tara were also with us. We went to Houston's in Dunwoody for dinner. I had a prime rib medium rare. YUMMY! I wanted a medium rare steak the whole time I was pregnant, but didn't because of the risk to the baby. They brought Julie a brownie with ice cream that we all shared. It was really good too! We had a great me with good conversation! I am so glad Julie is back down here!!

Bryson's 4th Birthday

Today was Bryson's 4th Birthday Party. His actual birthday is January 9th, but his McDonald's Birthday was today. The kids had a great time as always. The children and I were actually on time for once to everyone's amazement. The boys were wrestling around on the floor together. This is something they have been doing a lot lately when they get together. The sun was shining right through the glass, so Bryson took off his nice button-down shirt and wore his wife beater undershirt with his new underwear sticking up out of the back of his jeans. He wouldn't even put the shirt back on for pictures. It was so funny! The kids ate Happy Meals and cake. It was completely silent in the room when the kids were eating because they were shoveling the food in so quickly. :) Bryson opened all his presents and the kids did a Batman pinata. Kaitlyn fell asleep on the way home. Too much fun!

The Best Ziti Ever

At Michelle and Jossan's playgroup the other day, Allie made ziti that everyone raved about. I didn't get a chance to eat any because it was gone before I finished nursing Alyssa. Well of course I had to get the recipe from her and we tried it tonight. Oh my! Absolutely the best ziti that has ever crossed my lips! If you are reading my blog, you must try this recipe. It is pretty involved, but well worth the extra effort!

Three Meat Bake

•1 cup minced onion
•1/2 cup minced celery
•1/3 cup minced carrot
•2 tablespoons olive oil
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•12 ounces ground veal
•12 ounces ground pork
•12 ounces lean ground beef
•1/2 cup white wine
•1 cup beef broth
•2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (or 2/3 tsp dried rosemary)
•1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
•1 bay leaf
•salt to taste
•ground black pepper to taste
•2 egg yolks
•4 tablespoons butter
•4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•2 cup milk
•1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
•1 ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
•1 can diced tomatoes
•1 can tomato sauce
•1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
•16 oz ziti or any other pasta you prefer, cooked al dente

Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet. Add onion, celery, and carrot, and cook over moderate heat until softened. Add the garlic, and cook 1 minute. Add veal, pork, and beef. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add wine, and reduce for 1 minute. Stir in broth. Add herbs, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover, and reduce until almost dry. Discard bay leaf. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour for approximately 2 minutes (mixture will be extremely thick). Whisk in milk, grated nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Set aside.Transfer the cooled meat mixture to a large bowl. Mix in egg yolks. Mix in the cheese sauce. Set aside. Combine the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and cream, set aside. In an 8”x10” pan, layer the cooked pasta, then the meat sauce and then the tomato mixture. Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 10-15 minutes, or until bubbling.

*This is the actual recipe, although I used 1lb of ground beef and 1 lb of italian sausage and it was still fabulous!

Who Is the Center of Your Life?

We attended Revision at the Atlanta Vineyard Church tonight. We used to attend Revision on Sunday nights before we moved way out to Marietta. It was called VSN back then and it is the AVC's young adult service. The pastor was young, so we found many of the messages very relevant to our lives. Since I was working Sundays and now Jon is working Sundays, we haven't been able to go to church as a family for quite awhile with the exception of Christmas Eve. I recently found out that Revision has moved its services to Thursday nights which is fortunately Jon's only day off every week. Last night the pastor, Adam Hoar, discussed plans for the future and reflecting on the past. Many people are doing a lot of that at this time of the year, making New Year's resolutions and the like. He basically asked us if Jesus was at the center of the plans we were making. Some people feel a lot of pressure to meet certain goals they set for themselves, but to let Jesus be the center and you will end up exactly where you are supposed to be. I thought it was a great service and definitely took something from it. There are a lot of plans I have had in the works for my life and need to put them in God's hands. I have been giving a lot of thought to going through doula training over the last several months, so I am going to do some more praying about that and see if that is what God wants for me as well.

Jesus be the center
Be my source
be my light Jesus

Jesus be the center
Be my song Jesus

Be the fire in my heart
Be the wind in my sails
Be the reason that I live Jesus Jesus

Jesus be my vision
Be my help
Be my guide Jesus

Michelle and Jossan's Going Away Playgroup

Our friends Michelle and Jossan from Atlanta Mommas are moving to Lake Tahoe. Michelle's husband got transferred with his job, so they will be leaving us soon! We had one last playgroup with them for everyone to say good-bye. Alex was an absolute angel. When we first got there, another mom was getting out of her van at the same time as us and Alex went up to her and asked if she needed any help with anything. He can be such a gentleman when he wants to, can't he?


I finished the trashy romantic suspense novel I was reading tonight. It is called Cold Target by Patricia Potter. I haven't done much reading since the baby has been born. I just haven't made the time for it really, so it was nice to curl up with a mediocre book. It was an interesting enough plot. Somewhat suspenseful. The only thing I really didn't like was that at times, I felt like I was reading something I had already read because she overuses some words and phrases. This is a short synopsis of the book:

In the dead of night, Holly Matthews--the wife of a New Orleans senator--takes her son and flees for her life...

At her mother's deathbed, lwyer Meredith Rawson learns that she has a sister--and promises to find her...

As Holly and her son try to start over in Bisbee, Arizona, Meredith begins a desperate search for information on her long lost sister. Almost instantly, her life is threatened and her house ransacked. She finds help--and passion--from an unexpected source. Detective Gage Gaynor is investigating a closed murder case that dead ends at Meredith's powerful family. As sparks fly between them, they begin to rebuild the past, linking Meredith and Holly in a conspiracy of lies that could shatter their lives--and the dreams they never had a chance to dream.

Playdate with the Lawson Twins

Kaitlyn had a playdate with the Lawson twins from her preschool today. We all met at Chik Fil A and had lunch. I learned something I never knew before too. If you give back the Chik Fil A Kid's Meal prize, you can get a free ice cream! I can't believe Alex is 6 and I have never known about this! Since Alex is still out of school, he played with the girls and the other kids in the play area.

After the playdate we had to exchange a Christmas gift at Kohl's that didn't fit and Kaitlyn got two new shirts and two belts and I only had to pay $0.21 with the store credit. Awesome! Her belts say Daddy's girl on the buckle and she is so proud of them.

Alex and I also got haircuts today. We had a coupon for buy an adult haircut and get a free child's at Great Clips, so you can't beat two cuts for $13! Doesn't he look handsome?? I can't get over how grown-up he looks everytime I cut his hair! I got almost 7 inches cut off myself!

Later we met my friend Tamara and her children to play at the McDonald's play area by my house since she was in the area. Her oldest daughter Jeanette is 4 and has a total crush on Alex. They were all playing air hockey and we caught Jeanette with her arm around Alex's shoulders! Can you believe it? I tried to take a picture, but I couldn't get the camera out in time. She came up to us and said that she was wearing her wedding dress so she could marry Alex. Tamara later told me when they were leaving, Jeanette screamed, "I love you! I love you!" from the inside of their van. I tell all my friends to watch out for their daughters in a few years when Alex decides it isn't disgusting for a girl to like him!

Cloth Diaper Playgroup

Today we went to a cloth diapering playgroup. The purpose was to discuss different sorts of cloth diapers, trade for sizes we need, sell anything we can't use, etc. Kaitlyn, Alyssa, and I went over to Julie's house. She has two sons named Miguel (2.5) and Finnegan (6 months. Julie used to make cloth diapering supplies like cloth wipes, wetbags, and such. I have purchased wipes in the past, but got another couple dollars worth of really pretty pink ones because we are always running out of wipes before wash day. Julie let me borrow a couple of diapers to try for overnight use too. I have been putting Alyssa in a disposable at night because we have a lot of leakage problems. We had a really good time and I ate about a million of Julie's peanut butter oatmeal balls. At least a million. :)

New Year's Day

Today was New Year's Day. Jon had to work, so we went up there to eat a super late breakfast. Alex and Kaitlyn ate these funny face pancakes. Well, Kaitlyn ate hers. Alex only took a couple bites of his before he didn't want anymore. I will agree that they look much cooler than they taste. :) Nim came to pick Alex up and he went home with her to open a couple more Christmas presents since he hasn't seen her since then. Kaitlyn, Alyssa, and I went back home. We ended up driving back out to Gwinnett to be with our friend Melody for awhile. She was having a rough day and needed her friends! We went over to Melody's mom's house for awhile too. Her mom fixed Kaitlyn a little bag of carrots for the ride home. I asked her if I could have one and she obliged. She ate a couple and then gave me the rest of the bag. It was dark at this point, so I started eating them without seeing them. When I grabbed the second one, I noticed there was something all over it. I turned the interior light on in my van and saw that Kaitlyn had spit a bite of chewed up carrot back into the bag! GROSS! Wasn't that considerate of her to give me the rest? :) We got home and ate our collards and black-eyed peas for good luck and money. I have been eating these things my whole life and still haven't seen the money. I am going to keep trying though!

Jon and I made New Year's resolutions this year. His was to utilize his gym membership more. He goes regularly, but wants to go more frequently. I want to dedicate more time to keeping this house more organized. I clean SOMETHING every day, but with the five of us, we are always making new messes. NONE of us are that great at cleaning up behind ourselves either, so part of my resolution is to be better at that and helping the kids to be better too. There is this website that is supposed to help people get organized. It is www.flylady.com . I have tried it a couple times, but never stick with it. I am going to try to make it work again though. Let's see if we stick to these resolutions!!