Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Phone Dump

Easter pictures? Exist, yet I haven't gotten as far as pulling them off the camera. Some day.

In the mean time, how about a phone synopsis of what we've had going on?

Liv and I spent Mother's Day at my parent's house. Emily came over, we had lunch. Typical Mother's Day stuff. We attempted to let Liv finger paint. She did not like the part about getting dirty. We tried hand prints, and she cried. So yah, that's my girly girl!


Later that day, Liv had a wooden-handled, metal ice scream scoop and was playing drums on the kitchen counters. In the blink of an eye, she reached over and ... drummed on Dad's head. I heard the KONK, and I heard my Dad holler. And I tried really hard not to laugh, because it looks like it hurt.



And FINALLY the BIG day arrived! Chris moved out of my house. So we celebrated:


I've been trying to piece together some furniture, and haven't really taken pictures. You can see in the background (behind Liv's wonderful styling tips on shoes) a love seat I'm getting ready to recover. I bought a sofa, and still have a coffee table, so we at least have somewhere to sit.



One benefit of a big wide-open living room? BALL PIT! It's like a giant play room downstairs.



I also put a bench I had under the living room window, and just in time. A butterfly came and landed outside on the screen, and Liv just so happens to be obsessed with butterflies right now! She sat on that bench and talked to the butterfly, and sat so still watching it. She was so sweet saying, "Buwerfy?"



How's about a video to brighten your day? Because this one will. :-)

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

More June Cleaver



That is seriously as good as you think it looks. Look at all that sugary, cream-cheesey goodness!

I came across this recipe on Pinterest. Having some serious sweet tooth cravings, I clicked my way over to My Yellow Umbrella's Sopapilla Cheesecake recipe. Low and behold, I actually had the ingredients on hand! Seeing as I haven't been cooking in my kitchen since OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR, I was a little shocked and mostly super excited about this.

I was trying to half the recipe since I only had one can of croissants. Even though I messed that up, this was still to die for. My mother and my brother and I were fighting over this!

What I used:

1 can of Pillsbury crescent rolls
8 oz of whipped cream cheese*
1 cup of sugar**
1 teaspoon of vanilla**
1/4 cup of melted butter**
Cinnamon and Sugar to taste

*The original recipe calls for regular cream cheese. I keep whipped at the house because it has slightly less calories. However, in this recipe, saving calories is a joke.
**This is where I screwed up. I should have used 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/8 cup of butter, but I didn't even realize I had screwed up until well after we'd finished these off and licked the pan. I'll probably use the correct amount next time, though. Except the butter. The butter was juuust right. ;-)

I spread 4 of the crescent rolls, still together, across the bottom of a 9X9 pan. After combining the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla, I poured that in. I covered them with the remaining 4 crescent rolls, poured on the butter, and sprinkled (cough,poured,cough) cinnamon and sugar on top. Bake at 350 for 20 or so minutes, and you're in Heaven. HEAVEN.


Friday, May 11, 2012

That time I took a picture of my fridge...

....and pretended like I was an organized, got-it-together homemaker type? Yeah, that would be today.

I'm tired lately. I have big projects to finish like painting the laundry and pantry doors in the kitchen, grouting the last part of the back splash, and building the railing for my deck to name a few. Those things are overwhelming me. So in an attempt to do "something" every day, I've been organizing like a crazy woman. Last night's project almost didn't happen, but while I was waiting for my frozen pizza to cook, I actually got something done. I organized the fridge, and since I have a little girl, I used that as an excuse to use HOT PINK baskets.

These Pins are all over Pinterest:



I didn't get a before picture of the fridge, but here's a current picture of my freezer (gulp), and the fridge was similar (i.e. lots of piles, especially since my brother is staying with me):

That is a dried up carrot on the bottom, a left over gift from a certain cute little girl.


I'm pretty good about wiping down the shelves before I restock with new groceries, so it wasn't actually too dirty. I did take everything out and give it a good scrub down, though. Then I organized all the food by leftovers, pre-packaged foods, bread, milk, fruits, veggies, meats and cheeses, glass jars, and plastic containers (down low for you-know-who). I love, love, love the baskets! I am slightly obsessed with having an organized fridge. Cooking should not be stressful! Mine may not be quite as pretty as the original picture above, but it's organized and it's pink. :-)




Now I need to go back to Gibson's in Kerrville to get some more baskets for the freezer! What a lovely excuse to go see my Grandmother.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Thursday Thirteen - Mother's Day

Mother's Day is this Sunday, so my mother seemed an excellent theme for a Thursday Thirteen!



1. My wonderful parents. Married for ... a long ass time. 30+ years. My Dad is a lucky man, and he knows it, which makes my Mom a lucky woman!


2. My mother is my best friend. The picture below was taken on a vacation to Port Aransas one summer. I can't think of anyone I'd have more fun with anywhere, anytime! 


3.



4. Isn't she beautiful?!



5. I don't think any children fully appreciate their parents when they are young, and that's a shame. I knew earlier than most kids that I had great parents. The longer I live, and the more life experiences I have, the more I realize just how true that is.



6. My beautiful sister who got her good looks from my beautiful mother. Two of my favorite ladies!



7.



8.



9. Olivia's first Lone Star Roundup with Gigi and I. 



10. My daughter could not be blessed with a more loving, doting Gigi. I think she makes an even better grandmother than she did a mother, and that's hard to do!



11. Pebbles and Gigi ;-)



12.



13. This is one of my all time favorite pictures of both these girls. You can almost feel the love they have for each other just from looking at the picture. I know seeing my mother with Olivia that Liv will always know what it feels like to truly be loved. I also know, from being raised by this amazing woman, that loving your children is the best thing you can give them.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Bees go Buzzzzz

My poor, sweet, fragile baby was stung by a bee!

A few days ago, we were in the front yard. I was watering the grass, and Liv was playing in the dirt (yes, literally - with a shovel. What is childhood for, after all?).

She stands up and says, "A ba bla be ba?" and holds out her arm. From across the yard, I can see something crawling on her arm and some iridescent green reflecting off of it. I assume it's a fly and say, "Say 'Shew fly, don't bother me!'"

A second later she screams. As I'm coming through the yard to see what's wrong, I see her pull the bee off her arm, where clearly the stinger was being pulled from her skin as she rips him off of her. She throws the bee on the ground ... points down at him ... and yells at it! She's not crying at this point, she's MAD. Yelling at the bee, face all scrunched up, really giving him a piece of her mind. "Ah no baa ba NO! Bird NO ba ba NO!"

Trying not to laugh, I pick her up and look at the insect on the ground. It looks exactly like this:

Apparently a Sweat Bee? I've never seen a green, metallic bee before!

Only now does she start crying. I thought my Dad was allergic to bees, and I've never been stung by a bee (only a wasp, which is a Texas right of passage). I'm immediately on the phone with my parents, sure we're due for a trip to the ER. Except she's already quit crying, and only the tiniest little bump is coming up on her wrist. Dad is only allergic to wasps. Per Dr. Dad's orders, we put baking soda and water on the sting. Naturally, Gigi (accompanied by Granny Juju -my Aunt Jul) come running to the rescue with Benedryl Gel. Before baking soda, it looked like this:


30 minutes later, the baking soda had rubbed off and we went to put Benedryl Gel on it, but it was gone already! Liv was back to her happy self, and you'd never know she'd just been stung by a bee, and thereby conquering one of her Mommy's biggest fears!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

"Good Morning"

When I was pregnant, I had a routine with Bandit and Kimber. When it was time to get up and go downstairs (and therefore outside to potty), I'd always say, "Good morning, how are you?" in a sing songy voice. I had heard that a baby would recognize their mother's voice, and specifically things they said over and over. This phrase was the only thing I could think of that I said over and over while pregnant.


When Olivia was born, I wanted to say this to her, but thought I'd be too shy and embarrassed to do so in front of doctors and nurses. Not so much. It was the very first thing I said to her, and she responded! Not with words, of course, but physically. She looked right at me! My newborn baby looked right at me and responded with familiarity to the words I'd just said. It was amazing.

So for the last 16+ months, I've gone into her room every morning and sung, "Good morning! How are you?"

I've been trying to teach her words, and it's always the words I don't expect that she comes up with. Yesterday morning when I went in to get her, she said, "Goomor!" I jumped up and down and oohed and aahed and gave her a great big hug and a kiss. It was to-die-for cute! So cute, that I might have caved and given her a little cookie before breakfast. ;-)

Is the above pictures sideways to you? Because I have rotated it 372 times, and even uploaded new copies of the f-ing picture, but Blogger keeps importing it sideways. I know punching my monitor won't fix the problem, but DAMN it would feel good right now.





Friday, May 4, 2012

El Fin




Written March 2, 2012:

Today I drove to the Travis County courthouse to file for divorce from my husband. My husband who still seems very much mine. He's been in my life for more than 9 years, although our marriage was a short one of 4 years and 1 month, to the day.

I'm nervous. I'm sad. I'm relieved. I'm relived that we've finally found a solution to our problems, I'm relieved the awkard conversation about how and when to do this is behind me, and I'm relieved, sadly, to be ending my marriage. There, I said it. There's no way to sugar coat something like that.

I wish Chris could be different. I wish he was the person I'd hoped he would become. I wish we saw eye to eye on how to live our lives. Those are a lot of needs on my part, and I understand that. His side is of course that I didn't hold up my end of the bargain. I changed. Obviously, I changed physically. I also changed my path. What Chris sees is a side of me that isn't nearly as fun or easy going as the girl he started dating 9 years ago.

My side is that he hasn't changed. He hasn't adapted to life as a "grown up." Maybe because I came into his life too soon and he never had a chance to find himself or sew his wild oats. Or whatever. Since this is an amicable divorce, that's where I'll leave that.



Today:

On May 2, 2012, 61 days after I filed for divorce, I drove back to the same courthouse and finalized my divorce. I feel very different than the day I wrote the post above. Being away from Chris has given me a different perspective. It's allowed me to accept how bad things really were in our marriage. I realize now how unhappy I was during that time.

Today, I feel like a different person. I feel happier and more confident than I ever have in my life. It's strange to be a divorced, single mother before I'm even 30, but I'm glad. I'm happy I've given myself the opportunity. I have my sad moments. May 2 wasn't quite the celebration I expected. I was sad for a lot of reasons (that didn't include not being married to Chris anymore). I felt relieved that the divorce and everything that led to it were behind me. Did I feel like celebrating? No. I also know that that is okay, and probably a good thing as far as recovering and moving on goes.

Today I feel happy. I feel free. I'm starting to feel like celebrating as my social calendar fills up! I think the real celebration will come when Chris finally moves his stuff out of my house (14 days!) and the refinance on the house is done. Technicalities, I guess.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Pity Party For One

A certain blogger that I read just announced that she's pregnant again. She was just a few weeks farther along with her first than I was with Olivia. Of all the days to hear this news, today stung. The day I'm supposed to finalize my divorce, she's telling the world she's having her second child and showing cute video of how she told her husband.

So, I'm feeling sad. Not sad that I won't be married to Chris. I know I've made the right decision in that regard. I'm sad that Olivia won't have a sibling. I'm sad that I don't have a husband that I want to have more babies with right now. I'm sad that my life isn't the picture perfect event I thought it would be.

I kind of feel like stomping my feet, and saying, "I should be having another baby! I'm good at babies, damnit!" But that would just be silly, so I thought I'd just do the online equivalent and write a long woe-es me blog about it. ;-)

I'm happy with life, don't get me wrong.

It's impossible to be unhappy when you are sharing your life with someone who can find the joy in a discarded cardboard box.


The sun was in her eyes, but you get the point. She carried that box from my mother's house, all the way home, and inside the house to fill it with toys.
Just look at this happy girl! She has so much fun, everyday, just living life.




Also, I'll be celebrating this afternoon by buying a new sofa! I have a whole house to furnish, plus I live with two sofa loving dogs and a toddler, so it's nothing fancy. It's stylish and comfortable and that is what matters, right?!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Fun in Home Depot

One of Olivia's favorite playgrounds happens to be Home Depot. She gets to ride on the carts, see doggies, and play with all kinds of new things. Seriously, she loves it there. Yesterday, she decided that the display shower stall was the awesomest of the awesome.



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South Austin, Texas, United States
Consider yourself warned ... I'm "that" Mom.

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