The weather outside is frightful...

When Paige and I woke up this morning at 7:30, it was raining and sleeting just a bit. By 8:30 this morning, my Explorer and the rooftops were partly covered in snow/ice! I decided that we should go ahead and get out quickly and make our way to the grocery store and Dollar General...love that store! I hope that the weather holds off long enough for me to have my hair appointment today at 5:00-oh how I hope that the weather holds off!

Stephen and I are taking Paige to Little Rock tomorrow for her follow up appointment with her pediatric gastroenterologist. I imagine that they will start taking her off of her medicine...I'm thankful for that, but scared at the same time. I don't want her to hurt when she potties!

I had a really rough day yesterday at school...class picture day for one and I had a naptime issue with my own daughter and my new little boy. My Nanny ended up coming to get Paige and taking her to her house. She just absolutely went hysterical when I tried to lay her down for her nap at school and kept telling me "Home, Mommy, Home!". I just cried. I want her with me at school so badly, but I'm realizing that it may just be too much for her still. I'm really hoping that our program goes from 3 days to 2 days next year, with the days being shorter as well. I think that would be a great thing for Paige, as well as the other kids. Three 6 hour days is a lot for 2 and 3 year olds! Anyway, when we finally got home from school yesterday, Paige laid down for a good nap and I was able to rest as well. I didn't cook supper like I was supposed to, but my Mom called and had ordered pizza...I really needed a pizza night!

Kind of a blah day around here....I'm going to get supper going in the crockpot shortly.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my Mom's 46th birthday! That's right, I posted her age. I told her on Saturday night that she should be proud that she's only 46 with 2 grown daughters and a nearly 2 year old granddaughter...not many people can say that at the young age of 46.

On my Mom's birthday, I thought I would write down a few of my thoughts about my Mom...beceause I don't tell her often enough how much I depend on her or how much she means to me. My mom and I are entirely too much alike! We are both obsessively clean (which I swore I would never be when I was in High School and hated cleaning my room EVERY Saturday morning!), we're both coaches wives (she warned me, but I didn't listen!), we both get homesick quite easily, but most of all, we both love our families more than anything. I absolutely had no idea how much my Mom loved Leslie and I until Paige entered my life. I now understand why she would do the things she did and I appreciate the lessons that she taught me. I'm now a pretty descent cook, a good housekeeper, and a devoted coaches wife because of my precious Mom. My mom is not perfect and we butt heads sometimes ( I believe it's because we're so much alike!), but I know that even if I'm not dealing well with my mom that she's the first person I could call on for help. She's walked me through being pregnant, changing diapers, giving baths, and the best ways to clean up baby vomit. She's taught me to be a great Mom and I can only hope that I pass on half of what she's taught me to my Paige. Speaking of Paige....Mom is just about as good as it gets with Paige. She's every kid's dream in a "Nanny". She gives Paige everything she wants, but still makes her obey. She knows when I need a break and will just come get Paige and let her spend the night. Paige adores her and I know that future grandchildren will too.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, MOM! You're the best and we love you VERY much!

Paige and "Nanny" at Magic Springs-June 2007

Mom and Leslie-June 2007

The Miller/Banning/Harris families on Christmas Eve 2007

Weekend Reflection

I thought that we had a very uneventful weekend until I started uploading the weekend's pictures onto my computer! On Friday, Paige and I stayed at home and I cleaned...seriously cleaned the house. I'm talking down to taking the blinds off of the windows and soaking them in the bathtub...that type of cleaning! It felt good to have it done, but boy was it tiring! Paige saw my camera sitting on the end table in the living room and said "Money, Mommy!"...which meant she wanted me to take her picture. For some reason, telling her to say Money gets her to smile at the camera. These pictures are the result of our impromptu photo session:

She's a natural, don't you think? On Saturday, we were supposed to go to Conway for my Mom and Carrie's birthday celebrations, but the weather had other plans. It was just not worth any of us risking life or limb to get to Conway, so we are re-scheduling for Feb. 9...the weekend Stephen is out of town at a coaching clinic (but that's good because it will keep me occupied!). Anyway, we basically did nothing all Saturday except go to WalMart and take naps. But, on Saturday night we took my Mom to Rivertowne Barbeque in Ozark...incredible....that's just all there is to say! These pictures are from that night: First-Paige wearing my sunglasses on the car ride to Ozark. The next one is on all of us waiting to be seated at Rivertowne...Paige was staring at her Papa and NOT the camera. Ugh. The third one is of Paige devouring her pickle! And the last on is just her being silly...imagine that!

On Sunday, we went to Sunday School and church and then went out to eat with Stephen's family. After we got home, we put Paige down for her nap and I went to my Gran's house to fix her hair and then back to WalMart...I hate going there on the weekends and yet I managed to make 2 trips!!! When Paige woke up from her nap we decided to take her to Gran and Papa's to swing and slide since it was such a nice afternoon...Thank you Lord for sunshine!

Paige trying to climb the ladder to the slide

Paige picking up sticks and playing (much to my dismay!)

Paige LOVING the swing!

Her hat might be a tad bit crooked!

I just love this picture of her...so Paige.

After playing outside for awhile, we went inside to EAT, of course! Paige loves to eat buttered toast and popcorn at Gran and Papa's house, so that's exactly what she got!

Paige after eating her buttered toast...she was pushing the butter up her nose and YES, I did stop her after I got this picture!

Paige and Stephen TRYING to share the popcorn...I don't know who wanted it more!

This is just too funny...I think Paige was going to feed Stephen the popcorn, but this picture certainly doesn't convey that. Paige's face is just hilarious, though!

Paige with popcorn-filled chipmunk cheeks!

And, finally....Paige eating the popcorn off of the kitchen floor with Kipper, the dog. I know, I know, but it's really funny!!!!

I think that about sums our weekend up! Paige is staying with her MawMaw on Monday and Tuesday of this week because Nanny has bronchitis. We hope she feels better soon!

Menu Plan Monday (January 28 edition)

Ok, I know it's not Monday yet, but if I don't do this now I'm afraid that it won't happen at all. So since I know you all are sitting on the edges of your seats.....here's our menu for the upcoming week.

Monday-Beef Stroganoff with veggies and Italian bread

Tuesday-Chicken strip wraps with lettuce and Ranch dressing

Wednesday-Skillet Burgers with bacon and potatoes (it's super easy and not as bad for you as it may sound!)

Thursday-carry over from last week....Mexican Crockpot dish. ( I have a hair appointment and need something Stephen can just come home and eat. We didn't get to have this last week because Paige got sick and it just never got made!)

Friday-eat out before my Dad's basketball game!! GO WARRIORS!

Working out--

I've decided to start working out again! I'm tired of feeling sluggish and I need to feel better about myself, so I've got to be committed. I'm starting out slow-I ran for about 15 minutes inside the fieldhouse tonight (about 1 mile), which for me, who hasn't worked out in awhile was pretty good. I also did 3 sets of 15 sit-ups. I'm going to be much more conscious of what I eat and drink (not AS MANY Cherry Dr. Peppers from Sonic!). Stephen is very supportive and knows that I want to feel better about myself. The hard part about all of this is finding the time to do it. Stephen gets up at 4:45 every morning and runs (he's training for the LR Marathon on March 2), so mornings are out. Evenings are difficult because we're going to ballgames or eating dinner or doing softball. So, I may not get to run everyday but I can at least do the sit-ups and eventually some push-ups.

I'm going to post some pictures from this weekend, but I'm too tired to do it tonight so I'll try to do that tomorrow during my kids naptime at school.

We've got a really busy week coming up...Monday we've got school and Hannah's basketball game, Tuesday is my Mom's birthday and Dad's basketball game (plus school!), Wednesday is school and our only night at home, Thursday, Paige and I will be at home but I have a much needed hair appointment at 5:00, and Friday we will travel to Little Rock for Paige's appointment with her pediatric gastroenterologist plus Dad's basketball Homecoming game. Phew! BUSY WEEK INDEED!

My new comforter arrived!

While we were eating dinner last night, I heard the UPS truck drive up outside of our house and I got really excited! My comforter had arrived! I was disappointed, at first, because it was just one box that the UPS man was carrying (and I knew the complete order was shipped in 2 boxes). However, I quickly got over just receiving the comforter, bed sheets, pillow shams, and bedskirt....because it was so pretty! I immediately started putting all the new stuff on our bed and Stephen even liked it! Phew! Here's a picture of the new ensemble...I'm hoping to add some pretty new accessories when we go shopping on Saturday.

Today, Paige and I have just chilled out for the most part. We did get out earlier to buy birthday gifts for my Mom and my cousin's wife, Carrie. We'll celebrate both their birthdays on Saturday. After shopping for gifts, we went to the grocery store and stocked up on their sale items....sugar, ketchup, mustard, tea bags, vegetable oil, and barbeque sauce! (I know you were all dying to know that I stocked up on those items!) We then took Stephen some lunch at school and came home for our lunch. Right now I have to run and fold some laundry and start cleaning the house...the dust is killing me and my toilets need to be scrubbed! But I can't leave you without sharing a funny picture of Paige from this morning...last week I got so tired of watching Barney and The Donut Man on our living room TV that I wised up and set up our old 13 inch TV and VCR in Paige's playroom. I THOUGHT I WAS A GENIUS! Paige loves watching those shows and playing at the same time, and it allows me to put my makeup on without a 22 (Oh my, I just realized she's 22 months old TODAY!) month old crawling in my lap and saying "some, some!". In this picture, she sitting in her fuzzy, PURPLE Dora chair that her Maw-Maw got her for Christmas. If you know anything about our family, it's that we don't allow the color purple in our home....long story for another day! Anyway, she LOVES this Dora chair and will literally pull it all around the house and sit in it. I guess some blessings can be purple. Ha!

Return to Normalcy

Paige went to sleep at 7:45 last night and slept all the way until 7:30 this morning. She woke up asking for her milk and wanting to play. I decided to go ahead and return to school today since I was welcoming a new little boy into my classroom. (By the way, he's GREAT!) I've checked on Paige several times this morning and she seems to be getting along well with her Maw-Maw.

*An update on my washing machine...IT'S FIXED!!!! My awesome Daddy came over again last night at around 7:30 and stayed until almost 9:00 to fix it. Stephen even got to get in on some "manly tool action"! Bless his heart, I didn't marry a Mr. Fix-It. Anyway, there was a very small wire underneath the washing machine that split in two and Dad and Stephen were able to connect it again and Presto!...the washing machine came back to life! We've decided that we're going to go ahead and keep our eyes and ears open for an "In good condition" used washing machine that we can purchase and take with us when we move one day. It's amazing that we've been married for almost 5 years and only just a few months ago bought our first very own large appliance...our dryer!

I was online last night trying to waste time while Stephen and Dad were fixing the washing machine and I found a 25% off any one item coupon for Kirkland's Home store! My mom's birthday is next Tuesday, January 29 , but we are celebrating with the girls in our family this Saturday, the 26th in Conway. And guess what store they have? You guessed it....KIRKLAND'S HOME! I love that store! I'm hoping to get my new bedding in sometime before we go so I can look for some awesome new accessories to match it. And of course, I'm desperately wanting my new Leopard print flats! Can't wait until Saturday!

She's feeling better!

As of now, Paige is feeling tons better. She slept again this afternoon from 2:15-4:00. Shortly after she woke up, her Papa showed up and she perked right up! She's been playing ever since and she's even had a bit of an appetite. She's eaten some Goldfish crackers, pretzels, and apple. We're still going to hold off on giving her any milk until tomorrow morning.

On a completely unrelated note, my washing machine went on the blink tonight. I guess I should be thankful that I was able to wash all of the dirty laundry that was involved in the sickness of last night and this morning. My Dad looked at the washer, but wasn't able to figure anything out. I'll have the local furniture store come by tomorrow and see if it's worth fixing or if it's just better to buy a new/used one. The one that we have now is part of our rent house, but our landlord doesn't want to be responsible for the washer/dryer. The really old gas dryer went out several months ago, so instead of fixing her dryer, we just bought a new one that we can take with us when we move one day. I feel the same way about the washer. I don't mind to make minor repairs to it to avoid a large purchase right now, but I won't spend too much to fix something that isn't ours! (I know that sounds like I don't want to take care of what I USE everyday, but.....)

I'm planning on returning to work tomorrow and leaving Paige here at our house with Stephen's mom. I know she'll call me first thing if she thinks Paige is feeling yucky again. I'm welcoming a new student to my classroom tomorrow, so I pray that I have the patience to deal with him since I am running on little sleep.

Still sick...

My baby girl is still feeling really yucky. The 2nd round of Tylenol suppositories didn't go as well as the first. She yelled "help, help!" the entire time...heartbreaking, to say the least. She slept for 2 hours this morning and when she woke up, absolutely nothing would please her. Stephen even ran home from school to check on us, but that didn't make her happy either. Her Baby Einstein Baby Noah DVD finally helped calm her down a bit. She even tried to eat some Fruit Loops cereal, but only got a few down. I laid her back down in her crib, hoping that she'll catch up on some more sleep and feel better when she wakes up. Catching up on sleep is what I should be doing right now, but continuing to disinfect the house calls!

We're battling the stomach virus

Paige started vomiting last night at about 6:45. We thought, at first, that something just didn't agree with her stomach but we soon figured out that it was a bug (after she got sick 9 times in 2 hours!). She got sick twice more about an hour later and slept restlessly all night. Paige woke up this morning asking for juice,so I gave it to her thinking that she's got to try to keep something down. WRONG IDEA! Within minutes, she was sick again and running a temperature. I called the local doctor because I didn't want to drive 30 minutes down the road to her pediatrician because the weather is really "iffy" here today. We immediately got in (after a little nudging from me!) and basically they said it was a very contagious stomach virus that will just have to run its course. The doctor did prescribe some Tylenol suppositories since she can't keep anything on her stomach. I hope Paige can at least keep some water down so we don't end up in the hospital for dehydration. She's resting in her crib right now and I'm trying to disinfect the house with Lysol. I hope Stephen and I don't get sick, too!

Sometimes she reminds me of my Papa...

I need subtle reminders of how I remember my Papa...his actions, his body language, his scent. Paige has become a reminder of him to me. It's hard for me to write about my Papa-he died way too early in my life. He didn't get to experience any of my High School "happenings"-cheering, prom, graduation. He didn't get to meet my Stephen or attend my wedding. He didn't build me something magnificent for our home. He didn't get to see me pregnant. He didn't get to meet Paige Allison...his first great-grandchild. This may sound completely crazy to some, but I am reminded of Papa quite often through his scent. There was a certain scent on his bed sheets that I smell every so often and it literally stops me dead in my tracks. I smell it on t-shirts and my own bed sheets. No one else can smell it. Stephen thinks I'm crazy. But I know that it's my Papa-telling me it's okay, comforting me during a stressful time, or just reminding me of him. I actually remind myself of my Papa every once in a while...through body language. There was a certain way that Papa would sit at the kitchen table...with his elbow on the table and his forearm upright with his fingers holding a cigarette. While he was holding that cigarette, his hand would go limp at his wrist. I often find myself with my elbow on the table (Miss Manners would be disappointed) and my hand limp at the wrist. The only difference is that I don't have a cigarette in my hand! Most recently, my own daughter has been reminding me of my Papa...oh how I wish she could have known him. These pictures demonstrate her reminders of him to me. Papa would also sit at the kitchen table with one foot propped up on the table. If my Papa can't be here with me , it's nice to have reminders of him all around me.

And yes, she is in her high chair in the living room! She was being rewarded! She loves a little lunch and some Noggin channel!

Menu Plan Monday

It's my first edition of Menu Plan Monday! I'm super excited to make a master grocery list, go to the store with meals in mind, and actually execute that plan. Even if all the meals don't get made on exactly the day that I plan, it's ok, because I have the ingredients for dinner on another night. So without further ado....my menu plan for the week of January 21, 2008:

Monday-Texas style chili cheese fries (courtesy of Rachael Ray!) http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/dinner-size-texas-chili-cheese-fries/

Tuesday-Pork chops and potatoes with corn and green beans

Wednesday-Chicken spaghetti with Pepperidge Farm 5-cheese breadhttp://www.dianaskitchen.com/page/favorite/chicspag.htm

Thursday-Mexican crock pot dish (this is a new recipe for me...I hope it turns out good!)http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/beef-crock-pot-recipes/crockpot-mexican-dish.htm

Friday-Leftovers

I hope everyone has a great week! Back to school for our family tomorrow....sad! :( We enjoy being at home together!

Weekend Reflections

I absolutely had no time to blog on Saturday, so I decided to wait until today and do my first edition of "Weekend Reflection". On Saturday morning, my husband ran 16 miles with Doyle, his friend and fellow coach. Yes, you read correctly-16 miles! They're training for the Little Rock Marathon on March 2. Anyway, he didn't get home from his run until after 9:30 Saturday morning, so we kind of just laid around until mid-morning. Leslie and Zach (sister and future brother-in-law) were wedding cake testing in Russellville, so we decided to go eat lunch with them and see the new house that they have rented. We also went to Lowe's and Hobby Lobby...great adventures! I got a new front door mat that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! When we got home, I had to go to WalMart and get ingredients for Amanda's (sister in law) birthday cake....more on that later. After I got home from WalMart, we took Paige bowling with us. We met up with another couple and had a blast! We came home and crashed after the eventful bowling. I must add, however, that I beat my loving, humble husband in both games! Bowling is the one game/sport that I am a little bit better than him. He will just say that he had an off night and couldn't find a bowling ball that suited him, but I know better!

We woke up this morning and got ready for church, attended Sunday School, and came on home. I had a cake to bake...or more like 2 cakes to bake! My mom got me the original Betty Crocker red and white cookbook for Christmas and ever since I've been wanting to try my hand at baking a cake completely from scratch. Amanda's favorite cake is plain white cake with buttercream frosting, so I decided to give it a whirl. The cake part has never been my downfall...it's that frosting that gives me fits. I've attempted several times before and always come up with runny, grainy looking frosting. I had a new recipe for the frosting today, too. I can say that I had a few moments of insanity while trying to cool and frost the cakes, but all in all, the whole process was a HUGE success! I have finally found a buttercream frosting recipe that works! I even got creative and used a frosting tip to make the cake look pretty, in addition to some gerber daisies and wired ribbon for accent. Here's some pictures of the finished products ( I made a 2 layer round cake and a sheet cake).

Amanda's Birthday Cake-aerial view

Side view of cake

Sheet Cake

I'm glad to be resting and relaxing now! Paige is asleep, the kitchen is cleaned up, and Stephen even cleaned up Paige's playroom for me! I'm thinking a hot bubble bath is in order tonight...we'll see how that goes. I'm also looking forward to not going to school tomorrow...only 2 days in the school week for me!

You'd think it was Paige's birthday or something...

Since it was such a beautiful day outside, I decided that Paige and I weren't going to sit around the house all day...we were going to get out and enjoy the sunshine! Our day started off with me attempting to make a Mickey Mouse shaped pancake for Paige to eat-here it is...

And here is Paige consuming the sticky mess....I had to give her a "spit bath" in her high chair after she was done eating. Her sticky hands automatically went to her hair...or what little she has!

After breakfast, I had to get showered and dressed, so Paige hung out on the bed watching Noggin...God bless the inventors of that Satellite channel! It allows moments of sanity in my day! When I finally got put together, we headed off for the park. It was cold outside (a whopping 35 degrees!), but we wanted the Vitamin D from the sunshine! Paige kept saying "Park, park.....play!" Here she is running toward the playground....

And here she is climbing the steps to the slides.....

The only problem was this......

That would be a very wet slide, in case you couldn't tell. With ICE still on it! Paige was very upset that she couldn't slide down the slides. She ran around the park for a few minutes, but I decided we would head off to the church and play inside the Activity Center where there happends to be a small jungle gym that Paige adores. There was a noodle left out and a basketball that she was able play with as well.

And this, ya'll, is my favorite picture of her from today, and possibly my favorite that I've taken of her in a really long time....drum roll, please........

ISN'T SHE ADORABLE??????? I think so! After we left the church, we took Stephen his lunch that he accidentally left at home this morning and then we headed to McDonald's! Yep, McDonald's....every child's dream and every parent's nightmare! We ordered our food and sat INSIDE so I could get Paige to eat before she got to go outside to Playland. She actually ate all of the meat from her hamburger and about 1/2 of her fries and apple juice. I thought that was pretty good considering all she could think about was playing some more. Here's a picture of her literally licking the yummy salt from her fingers after eating a french fry....that's my girl!

Once I was satisfied with Paige's eating, we bundled back up and headed to Ronald McDonald's PlayLand...and I quickly realized that it's really not designed for kids under the age of about 5. However, we managed to find a cool wheel thingy (that the technical term....thingy!) that Paige enjoyed turning over and over and over again.....

When I looked down at my watch, I realized it was already 1:00 and Paige was due for her date with her afternoon nap by 1:30, so I snapped one last picture of Paige and I together in PlayLand-

I have absolutely no idea what caught Paige's eye, probably an airplane. She loves airplanes! Anyway, we finally got home and she crashed in her crib! We had a great Mommy/Paige day!

I finally found a new Comforter Set!!

After looking for months, I finally found a beautiful comforter set that I bought! It even comes with sheets...WOW! Here's our awesome new set...

While I was a http://www.target.com/ I had to look in the clearance shoe section....and look what I found there-
I know...they're SUPER cute, aren't they? And may I tell you that they were 75% off? Yep, I paid a mere $5.74 for these amazing shoes! I was rather proud of my find and I cannot wait to open my UPS box and try them on!

Green Beans and Potties

Ya'll, my child LOVES green beans. I'm completely thankful that she is so taken with the vegetable, because I am NOT. I can't stand them....at all, for any reason. My mom used to liquefy them in the blender before she added them to vegetable soup just so I would eat them. They weren't so bad in that state...blended, that is. As I was folding laundry in the laundry room while Paige was eating her lunch, I quickly glanced around the corner to see if she was doing ok when I saw this and had to grab my camera! It's not everyday that you see a 21 month old literally licking the green bean juicy goodness off of her plate. She's hilarious!

This picture is of Paige on the big girl potty! I've realized that for some reason, she actually does better going on the "big" potty, as opposed to her training potty. I can actually hear her going to the potty and it's actually really cute to see her on it! She told me that she needed to potty (BIG potty, if you catch my drift) so I dropped everything and ran her into the bathroom. Unfortunately, I didn't leave her there long enough and literally within the minute, she had gone in her pull-up. UGH. Next time I'll leave her there longer. She's eating us out of house and home on the M&M's, too. Everytime she pee pees on the potty, she gets one "m" as she calls them. If she goes big potty, she gets 2 "m's". I think she's averaging at least 5-6 "m's" each morning, and at least that many in the afternoons. We may have to come up with a healthier alternative to her "m's"!

Bring on Softball Season!

Today at 11:30 am, our softball team's pitcher, Haley McCormick (on the right in the picture) signed with Southwest Community College in Memphis, TN. As softball season approaches, experiencing this huge even in Haley's life with her really gears me up to get the games going! Stephen and I love love love softball! He absolutely cannot wait until Paige is old enough to play. In fact, he realized the other day that she'll be able to play in 2 summers, when she's 4 years old. It fired him up! Stephen takes coaching very seriously. I love watching him coach football and softball, and it's incredibly rewarding to see him interact with each of his players. The group of girls that are Seniors this year on the softball team are especially close to our hearts. I say "our" because I keep the scorebook for our team and am the "team mom", so to speak. It's always handy to have a female around in certain situations! Anyway, about our girls.....they are very talented, extremely hard working, and most of all, they love us as much as we love them. I can't even begin to imagine what next year will be like without them around. For the past 2 years, our team has made it to the State Tournament FINALS, but we've lost both times in heartbreaking situations. We're very hopeful that this year will be different and we will come home as the Champions. I can't think of a better way to send off our Seniors....they deserve it more than ever. I have no doubt that Haley will NOT be the only girl out of this group to sign a letter of intent to play softball. Softball season begins on February 21....and so the countdown begins!