Its My Birthday

Its the BIG one. The big 4-0. No i am not depressed. I am owning this baby!!! Im in a great spot. I have a great job that i love. I have a great home. And most importantly i have a great family that is all safe and healthy. What more does a girl need?

TJ took me to Indy for the weekend. We stayed in a corner suite at the Canterbury Hotel with valet parking. I could get used to that! But it turns out I am content with cookies and milk or beer and chips; neither of us were too keen on the champagne although i enjoyed the strawberries. We had dinner at the Palomino and went to Crackers for a good ab workout. It was a fun night.

And the kids enjoyed themselves spending the night at Grandma Connie and Grandpa Jakes. They swam in the bathtub and camped under the pool table.

On my birthday, the folks at the office took me out for Mexican for lunch. They even brought out the Monster Sombrero. TJ made me tacos for dinner and an angel food cake which resembled Crater Lake but was delicious with strawberries and whipped cream.

And i got about a million well wishes on Facebook plus emails, texts and cards. It was a good day.

Tucker Lost His First Tooth

On a Wednesday afternoon Tucker told me he had a loose tooth.  Of course, my first reaction was: Did you get hit? Did you fall down? Do we need to go to the Doctor?Because surely you are not old enough to start loosing your teeth. 

But he assured me that he was not injured and that he WAS indeed getting to be a big boy. 

So speed up to Saturday.  He was sitting on the floor watching cartoons and he just turns to me, holds up his hand and says: Hey Mom, I just lost my tooth.  Here it is.

And sure enough, there it was.  And there was the gap in his smile.

I couldn’t believe how little it was. 

And then I get a lesson on how we have to put it under his pillow so the tooth fairy can come and leave him money.  I didn’t even get a chance to tell him.  Where does he learn this if not from Momma?

So that night we put it on the table beside his bed, since it was so tiny.  And I assured him that the tooth fairy would use his (yes he’s a he, Tuck said so) scanner to find it.

And the next morning, Tuck came running into our room, upset because there wasn’t any money on the table.  But instead the Tooth Fairy put the $5 under his pillow. 

We are still negotiating with the Tooth Fairy on the price of the remaining teeth.

One Hot Momma, If I do say so myself

TJ, upon my strong suggestion, got me a makeover and photo shoot for Mother’s Day.  This, to make up for the IOU that I got last year for the mother’s ring which conveniently arrived under the Christmas tree.  But I digress.

This Mother’s Day package was with our Photographer: Photographed by Ed and the lovely ladies at the Main Street Hair Company. I gave Kyri carte blanche with my hair; my only criteria was that I had to be able to blow dry and go once I was released on my own.  They talked me into highlights and I am so glad that they did. They turned out so nice. I’d forgotten that blondes do have more fun.

There ended up one other lady that was doing the same gift package at the same time. We ended up tag teaming in front of the camera and we had great fun “helping” each other with poses. I was on the receiving end of more support, I must admit. Ed told me I was his only client who had ever asked for a cleavage shot (which I think is good since he does mainly families and seniors) but  I figure that one will be TJ’s next gift.  And I must admit it was more of a challenge to get said shot than I imagined.  Thus all the previous mentioned “help”.

This is a sneak peek that I was given. 

I asked Ed later how much Photoshopping he had to do and he claims it was all done with lighting and makeup.  But I know there should be chubbier cheeks and multiple chins.  I don’t know what kind of magic he pulled to make them disappear!! 

This was such a great experience and one of the best afternoons of “me time” that I’ve ever had.

Many thanks to Ed, Missy and Kyri for making me one Hot Momma.

Kora is …

Kora is:

…starting to talk more. Her favorite color is “lellow”. And she often calls Tucker “ca-ca”.

…taking speech therapy with Angie and First Steps.

…jumping with both feet off the ground although her landings are less than graceful.

…a tomboy. She prefers to wrestle with Tucker to playing with dolls.

… a blue-eyed beauty.

…full of attitude.

… a choc-o-holic.  She LOVES the stuff and can sniff it out of a cupboard.

…sleeps with her Dolly and polka dot blankie. She is such a good sleeper, usually from 845 to 630.

…a good helper.  She picks up her toys and throws things away and sets the table.

… a silly kid.  She teases and has the BEST laugh.

…31” tall and 23 pounds.  My little shrimp.  But the Doctor has finally taken us off the watch list since she grew 3” in 6 months.

…still in a size 3 diaper and could likely wear a 2 still.  She is using the potty a lot but still not reliably.

…has figured out how to take off her clothes, all by herself. Now she shows up sans clothes randomly throughout the day and we find clothes all over the house.

…a milk lover.  Her recipe is half whole milk and half half and half.

We love you, my sweet!

Graduation Play

This year we had three friends graduating from Missy’s. AJ, Behn and Ollie will be missed.

Missy had just the right number of kids and decided to brave a Disney production.  The kids did Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. (Or Dorks, according to Behn: “which dork are you going to be?”)

Tucker was the best little Sneezy there ever was. I made all the dwarf hats and sewed the patches on all of their shirts.

And Kora, along with all of the others her age, were small woodland creatures.  This was Kora’s pose through the whole play; she didn’t move.

This is Prince Charming and the Dwarfs at the mine, waiting for their big entrance.

“Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It’s home from work we go”

Look out Kora Bunny.

And Snow White awakes and –Most- of the Dwarves are hiding.

And Snow White rides off into the sunset (or the scorching temperatures as the case may be).

Behn, Cole and Tuck with their mining tools. And the witches tower in the background.

Missy was so brave to even attempt this. The kids did great even in the 90 degree temperatures.  

The Shrimp is Finally Growing

My little shrimp is finally growing.  She is 15 months old next week and I am finally putting away the 6-9 month clothes.  She is now too long and the jammies scrunch her toes and ride a little low in the crotch.  Once it starts to warm up though I think she will be all right in them since the shorts and dresses will still fit her slight frame.  It’s just the high water pants that I just can’t bear to make her wear.

She is now just tall enough not to be able to clear the kitchen table.  She clips her head every time but doesn’t have the peripheral vision to know it’s going to happen.

For documentation sake: at 14 months 3 weeks she is 18 pounds and 27 inches tall.  She is in 9 month clothes which are still pretty big around. She is in a size 2 diaper. She is signing “more”, and “please”. She points at whatever she wants and says “dah” for everything. She helps unload the dishwasher and knows where everything belongs.  She helps set the table and although she can’t hardly reach the table top she can get the plates and napkins up there. She lays down so well for naps and bedtime and is sleeping through the night.

Miss Kora Belle, I know you are just going to be a tiny little thing but sharp as a tack.  I love you Button.