photos from THE night

Shoes

jewels

dress

put them all together is this is what you get



plus a handsome husband

good friends

some 'caught off guard' snapshots

lots of laughs

makes for one great evening
(minus the fact that my dress broke open in a room of 850 people-that
wasn't great, but besides that I had a 'BALL'!!)

A new walker in our midst

We got down to business and have been seriously practicing walking for the past three days. Marvelly has been taking her "first steps" for over a month now and not really wanting to do much more than that. Just two steps here and there and then will plop back down and crawl. Everything is a process for Marvelly. Much different than Sydaleigh who just started walking one day-just like that. Not so with Marvelly, it's a process, a little bit at a time, goes at her own pace, and starting this week she decided she was ready to do a little bit more, and a little bit more. And now Marvelly wants to show you her moves!!! So give it up for Marvelly!!!......

Birthday Ball 'Bust'

Quite literally, a bust, as in my dress busted, not even half way through the evening.

But lets start at the beginning....

The evening was going great. We started the night off with cocktail hour. We mingled, took pictures, did lots of "oohing" and "aahing" at all the beautiful dresses, especially those worn by my mod squad! Everybody looked so glam!

They finally ring the bell for the last time and we make our way inside and sit down at our
table. The formal ceremony begins, we pay tribute to the POWS, toast everyone under the sun, lots of standing up and sitting down, and then finally we get to stay seated to enjoy our dinner. Mmmm, vegetarian entree on the menu for me tonight. We're small talking it up in between mouthfuls, I'm half way through my food, annnnnnnnd.....

POP!

followed by...

"HUH!"

"CRAP!"

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!!!!!"

I lean into Isaak and in my best frantic but don't draw any attention to yourself whisper, I say "Honey, I think my dress just broke!"

"Let me see!" Isaak says louder than I was comfortable with...

"Noooo," I respond talking through my fake smile, "just slyly put your hand on my back and walk me out to the restrooms, OKAY?!!!!!!!"

I scoot out of my chair with Isaak behind me and walk to the exit thanking God every step of the way that we were seated right next to the door.

We make it to the hallway and my dress comes undone EVEN MORE!!!!

"HURRY"!!!!!

We are BOTH having to hold it together in the back-but still staying calm on the outside even though I'm FREAKIN' OUT!!

I make it to the restrooms, Isaak dashes back inside, finds Holly and tells her to make a beeline for the bathrooms.
I'm waiting oh so impatiently in a stall and next thing I know I'm surrounded by my whole group!

Holly told Brandi, they haled down Kara, D'ashe, Liz, and Kristine and they all showed up-for, moral support, and to-

laugh hysterically!!!!

The zipper claws came apart all the way down to my undies!

I laughed, because friends are contagious, but I was crying inside. Why me??!!!!

Sooo, they jimmied the zipper back down, zipped me back up, laughed at me some more, as only good friends do, and we headed back out.

The whole restroom was buzzing after that one...everyone was "oh my gosh can you believe that", "poor girl, she's sitting at my table"

Thank goodness this ball is only once a year, it's gonna take that long for the sting of embarrassment to wear off before I can go back again.

So, I sit back down at the table, super self conscious, smile politely at the table behind me who undoubtedly saw everything when I stood up, and PRAY that it doesn't happen again.

The evening passed at the rate of a snail after that but I made it to the closing remarks, stood up and headed to the back of the ballroom to breathe a sigh of relief with my girls that it didn't happen again-

AND THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN!

A-GAIN!!!!

You.have.GOT to be kidding me!

The zipper broke open in the back and right at that moment for an added cruel twist-the band started playing Dancing Queen!

Dancing.Queen. That is my song!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Not one to go down without a fight Holly and Kara convince me to let them fix it real quick so we can go dance. A human wall forms, surrounds me, fixes me up, and sends me off to the dance floor.

I quickly bust out some moves and then WABAAAM!

Breaks again! On the dance floor this time! OH COME ON!!!

Alright, that's it-I'm going home! Third time is clearly NOT a charm tonight.
I'm getting out of there with the small amount of dignity I have left.
I mean a girl can only take so much unwanted exposure for one night before enough's enough.

Oh, this was so not the way I was envisioning last night to go-having multiple wardrobe malfunctions!

So, thank you Holly for breaking it down with me on the dance floor even if it was only ten seconds,
thank you Kara for lending me your jacket so I could escape to the car with relatively minimal embarrassment,
AND THANK YOU Brandi, Kara, Holly, Liz, Kristine, D'ashe for getting my back-ha ha, literally, getting my back!-not once, not twice, but three times-you're the BEST!

(AND, for keeping it real and laughing at me.)

Pay attention!

Errrrr.

I'm not super thrilled to be starting the post this way but I'm a tad on the peeved side following gymnastics this morning.

And I know that after I write this I will reread it and think, "it's not that big a deal", but for right now-I'm erked.

Today was parent observation day at gymnastics, they have this the last practice of every month.

I'm thinking cool, I'll get to watch Sydaleigh flip around and do her thing, see what she's up to.

However, not one minute into practice it dawned on me that Sydaleigh doesn't do so well with me watching, or others for that matter. She gets self conscious, wants to sit by me, I'm her comfort, I get it.

So, after she runs back to me for the second time I tell her I'm leaving, will be back in a little bit and she needs to follow the teacher's directions.

I go in the hallway for a few minutes and then go back to the door and look through the window just to make sure she's participating and what do I find.....

no Sydaleigh.....

I don't see her sitting with the group so I peak my head inside and there she is, sitting all alone, on a mat, on the other side of the floor.

The instructors not paying any attention to her, the assistants not paying any attention to her, so.....

I walk onto the mat up to Sydaleigh and reassure her that gymnastics is fun, not to be scared, and to go sit down by the teacher and follow her directions.

ERRRR! Come on people, I'm paying you to teach my kid! Take notice of her!

Is it too much to ask that seeing her sitting all alone, nervous and self conscious with all the parents looking on, that you could take ten seconds to hold her hand, walk her over to the group, and encourage her!

I don't think that's too much to ask!

I'm paying you to teach her, encourage her, and make her feel as comfortable as possible learning something new!!!

I'm so ticked right now.....

sticky buns

I lay Marvelly down in her crib this afternoon for her nap.
She always plays for a bit and then puts herself to sleep after a few minutes.

I'm down the hall snuggling Sydaleigh down for her nap when all of a sudden I hear Marvelly start wailing....

Well, this is out of the ordinary...

... so I make my way back to her room, open the door,
and see her laying on her stomach with both legs stuck in the railings of the crib all the way up to her thighs.

Her thighs!

How in the world she could even fit those honkin' things through the little rails was beyond me.

I pulled. They weren't budging. She was still wailing.

I seriously contemplated for a minute whether I needed to grease her up to squeeze her out.

I decided to give a couple good "heaves" and finally broke her free.

Poor kiddo. She yelled at me good after that one. I would have taken a picture but she was so upset I knew I wouldn't have time. Too bad....it was really funny. :)

Cuteness

Don't stop me now!

we're having such a good time!

Queen of Clearance

I got a new dining table!

Bought it at World Market last week for over 60% off
because they were going out of business.
This is my "forever" table as Isaak put it.
Super hard sturdy heavy wood.
Got the table with additional leaf, 5 chairs, and a bench for heinously cheap!
Love it love it-love that I got it for 60% off!

Spring kinda people

morning walks
early romps at the playgrounds
swingin', slidin', playin' in the sand, and makin' a mess out of our clothes all before lunch
back outside after naps for more playin', swingin', slidin', and rompin' all about
evening walks after dinner and relaxing in the cool breezy living room
we are a spring lovin' kinda people

so long winter?

Little tiny buds of green grass are beginning to peak their heads up all around my yard.
Six garlic plants have sprouted.
My trees are beginning to bloom.
I'm seeing bugs again.
And the temperature has been above freezing for over a week straight.
Dare I say we are moving into spring?!

Sydaleigh at 3

30 lbs. and over 3 feet tall
potty trained (whaaa hoooo!)
loves all things princesses
still crawls into bed with us every morning after she wakes
loves to have her back rubbed
is a follower
tad on the clumsy side
serenades us daily with everything from "I just can't wait to be king," to "Mamma Mia-here I go again"
tells me "Mommy stop singing, that's my song"
incredibly affectionate
loves to learn and do "school" with Mommy
counts to ten, knows her alphabet, shapes, upper and lower case letters, still gets confused with certain colors from time to time, and is learning to write
does all kinds of jumps and acrobats around the house
wouldn't be surprised if she becomes a professional stunt woman
loves gymnastics
calls the hoods on her jacket a "helmet"
has the cutest little kid voice ever
still twirls her hair
still takes her beloved paci at night (that's our next obstacle)
says her l's with a slight y sound
precedes everything these days with beautiful, "can I have some beautiful juice?" or "I want some beautiful ice cream" she just said to me
loves to fix her lunch, help with dinner, help with laundry, help with Marvelly, the helping never ends, which I love
is very matter of fact these days
talks in a rambling made up language when speaking on the phone because she's trying to talk fast like an adult
never sits still
extremely animated
asks to wear her while beautiful dress almost everyday
has yet to master taking her shirt off because her elbows always get stuck
loves to ride her bike with training wheels
what we do with Marvelly she reminds us instantly we must do with her
keeps us one our toes, has us scratching our heads, doing double takes, laughing up a storm...everyday we can't believe how big our first baby is getting

Marvelly at 1

weighs a whopping 18lbs 6oz.
she's a soaring 27.5 inches tall
will one day actually get to sit forward facing in the car
might actually outgrow her baby car seat
has three teeth
might possibly have more but clenches her jaw down with a mighty force whenever we try to pry it open with our fingers to see
stubborn little thing
got props for her lightning fast crawling speed in the nursery
is this close to walking independently
but knowing her she'll have us holding out breath on that one till she's 2
she likes to go at her own speed
likes to say, "no no no no no no no noooooo"
is mesmerized by the buttons on the computer, and likes to push them
is a huge scaredy cat
we just recently discovered she was frightened of the broom, fake flowers, and pine trees-I doubt she even knows why
haven't found anything she won't eat yet, including sand, dirt, cat food, crayons, and your occasional garbage delight
loves to turn the tv on and off-much to the dismay of her sister
knows her belly, feet, and arms
loves to babble
can say, in addition to "no", "ma-ma", "cat", and "ba" (for ball)
loves to dance
hates to be left out
mimics behavior and facial expressions
mastered the "Indian chant"....aww aww aww aww aww (while patting your hand on your mouth)
not one for sitting and watching tv
would rather bounce, roll, walk, or play
conquered the stairs (a month or two ago actually)
likes to sneak up them when she thinks no one is watching
uses a spoon in a very messy fashion
can use a crayon for its intended use of coloring when she's not busy eating it
uses toilet paper to blow her nose (but uses her mouth to do all the blowing)
gives very wet slobbery juicy kisses
not quite wearing a size 2 shoe
isn't super ticklish
claps for me when I sing
thinks everything is funny and smile worthy, even when she's done a "no no"
she's one tough cookie, thanks to a very hands on big sister
adores Sydaleigh while being equally fed up with her all at the same time
tries to crawl away from me the second that diaper comes off, or the clothes come off, or have to go on...she pretty much bolts whenever you lay her down to do anything
...has given us a very smile worthy first year of her life

Non-stop weekend

It all started Friday with a doctor appointment for me in the morning,
take girls to friends,
head home, lunch time, nap time, clean time,
head back to the doctors for Marvelly's 1 year well baby appointment,
come home, head back out to the park for an hour,
back home to get dressed,
baby sitter arrived, head out for an evening with friends,
dinner time at Taste, then church time for a marriage seminar with Mark Gungor,
flippin' amazing!
Saturday morning up at the brink of dawn to head back out with girlfriends for
thrifting, antiquing, and evening dress hunting,
back home, late lunch, quick break,
head back out for small group,
back home to go to bed early,
no sleep, Marvelly up on and off all night with fever from vaccines,
lost another hour thanks to daylight savings,
up way to early, off to church to work in the nursery,
hit another store, home for lunch time, nap time, ice cream, dinner time, get Isaak off to church again, and now,
I'm done.
I'm on the couch, for a minute, a hopeful break to blog, space out, quickly reboot for an evening alone with the girls, and then after bedtime....
I have a date with Mamma Mia! and some mindless crafts.
(sigh).

"Do you need some help?!"

The weather was so warm and beautiful today ( got up to 70 degrees!) that this afternoon when the girls woke up I decided to take them for another long walk to a park down the street from our house.

I put on warm up shorts and flip flops (because it was so warm!), loaded the girls in the stroller and started on our way.

It was only about a ten minute walk to the park, the sun was shining, no wind-perfectness.

"I love today, it's perfect" I couldn't help from saying to myself over and over again on our walk.

I can hear the birds singing.
I'm watching the girls laugh and bounce around in the stroller as we make our way,
"Thank you God for this perfect day!" I thought.

Almost there-we go around a corner, the shoppette is across the street from me, we're on our final stretch of side walk...

Oh, a little mud up ahead I can see.

No worries, doesn't look like a lot, I'll just push on through.

Why, at that moment, it didn't occur to me to go around, I'm not sure.
Even I surprise myself at how retarded I can be sometimes.
But, like I said, it didn't look like a lot of mud....

...so there I go, I just push the stroller right on into it, wearing my flip flops.
I quickly realized that this was a really bad idea.
I was stuck.
Like stuck stuck,
could. not. move.
My flip flopped feet had immediately sunk into the mud along with the four wheels on the stroller.
Mud is a tricky little thing-did I mention it didn't look like a lot.
Yeah, I was way wrong on that one.

I had quickly and unwantedly come across one of those moments where you're looking around and praying to God that no one is watching you.
Because it's that embarrassing.

Why didn't I just go around?

So there I am-still stuck, trying frantically to pull my feet out of the mud while simultaneously trying to push 70 lbs. worth of cargo through this trap.
I inch my way in front of the stroller, feet still buried, and try to pull it through hoping that will do the trick...
...and you know how you were hoping that no one could see you....
well, I looked so pathetic that not only did somebody see me, this man stopped his car in the middle of the road, didn't bother to pull over, stretched the top half of his body out his window and asked me,
"Do you need some help?!!" in a very concerned sounding voice.

Oh my gosh! Somebody actually stopped!
Mortified!
Mortified because I am stuck in mud.
And of course the faster I try to move the slower I go.

"Um, I think I got it", I say back to him as I finally pull my feet out, minus my flip flops, and frantically make one last effort to dislodge us.

That didn't deter him-he still jumped out of his car, on some kind of rescue mission,
"Are you sure you don't need a hand?!" he said walking towards me.

I freed us..."No, we're good, but thanks!"
I push the stroller away, flip flops in hand, feet, calves and hands covered in mud and think to myself,

"this could of all been avoided if I had just gone around."

Slaushin' around

This morning was sooooo pleasant.
I put Sydaleigh in her rain boots, loaded Marvelly in the stroller, and we set off for a very messy walk through the neighborhood.
Sydaleigh splashed in muddy puddles till her heart's content.
It was warm and sunny and everything was covered in melty snowy mush-perfect morning for slaushin' around.

Gymnastics girl

Sydaleigh started gymnastics this week. I was so excited to get her into a class-I wanted something for her to be involved in so bad, and now that she is 3 she's able to participate in many more activities.
Unfortunately, parents were discouraged from staying in the gym area so that we wouldn't distract the children....
and being the photo taking freak that I am-this was a problem for me!
You mean to tell me I can't follow my kid around the whole time taking pictures of everything that she does?
I have to stand outside and watch through a little tiny window?
Tell me again how I'm going to take pictures of everything she's doing??????
(I'm a tad psycho when it comes to my kids and the camera)
BUT, this was not even an issue for the other moms!
None of them even brought their cameras-can you believe that??!
I was the only wannabe picture taking freak of a mom there!
Luckily Isaak actually got off work this morning so he could come hang out and watch Syd for her first class. (since I couldn't take pictures to show him)
What an awesome man....seriously, I just love that he doesn't want to miss anything. Such an endearing quality.

Sydaleigh super excited
(she loved her leotard so much she wore it all day long)

she walked the balancing beam, jumped onto the green
mat at the end, walked the floor beam, hung off the little bars,
practiced summersaults, hand stands, following directions, waiting her turn,
all of which will take much practice but I think this will be really great for her.

the only "action" shot I got as I was walking out the door to wait in the lobby.
(she's warming up)

and that's a wrap.
We practiced what she learned when she got home.
The summersaults are gonna take some practice-she can't quite get the hang of those-yet.

The Claw

Okay, after 15 months I decided it was about time that I got my toosh back to the dentist for a cleaning.
I was seriously overdue.
And having a dental assistant in the house doesn't help matters much.
I'm forever hearing about matters of the mouth...

"When are you going to get back into the dentist?"
"Are you flossing daily?"
"Are you brushing for two minutes at a time?"
"Okay, you say you're flossing, but are you doing it correctly?"
"Are you brushing correctly?"
"Are you feeling any cavity type sensations in your mouth?"
(in his very serious you need to listen to me because I work in people's mouth's all day long and I know what I'm talking about kind of voice)

Oye. (followed by- bless his heart)

Soooo after procrastinating for 15 months I decided it was time.

But, I was not really looking forward to it.

I'm not one of those people who are scared of the dentist or anything like that, but hey,
after 15 months, I could only imagine what my teeth looked liked!
Oh it was not going to be pretty,
nor was it going to feel good.
Not that going to the dentist generally feels good on your teeth anyways,
but hey, after skipping two 6 month appointments, it was definitely going to feel worse.

Which is where the CLAW comes in.
Burrrrrr.
Makes me cringe just thinking about it.

The Claw. You know what I'm talking about...

That crazy claw like device that the hygenist not so pleasantly scrapes across your teeth, jams underneath your gums, while you lay helplessly in the chair thinking to yourself,
"Is it over yet?!"

The claw.

Not my favorite part of the appointment process.

After 15 months-I knew there was going to be a lot of scraping.

So, I'm sitting in the chair-the scraping and jamming is going as expected, and then all of a sudden...
SCRAAAAAPE (ouch, that hurt a bit)...
followed by ,
"Whoops!",
followed by,
"suck on this for a minute,"
followed by an unhealthy amount of blood fleeing my mouth via "the sucker thingy".

Okay, ummm, some advice...
the last thing a patient wants to hear while sitting helplessly in a chair while being poked and prodded mercilessly is,
"WHOOPS!"

Oh my poor mouth.
I was clawed! clawed with the claw!

I think she left a bruise.
Next time I'm just gonna let Isaak have a go at cleaning my teeth.
At least if he slips and claws me I can burn his dinner or something.