Life...as I know it...

So my life is CRAZY right now...to sum it all up.  I noticed that I had not posted a blog since Feb 4, and it feels like I just wrote that one last night!  This is how my month of February has gone:

Became a consultant for Thirty-One

Had 5 parties during the month!!

Discovered the house across the street...and really liked it!

Made an offer on the house...and it was accepted!!

Posted an ad on Craigslist to rent our home and had a response in 5 min from posting!

Going through the application process right now, but it's looking like we are about to be landlords!

I'm out of breath just reading that through.  I'm super excited about the upcoming changes, but I'm nervous too.  My prayer is that my kiddos will adjust to living across the street, and that I will adjust to having stairs in my home for the first time...yikes!  

Stay tuned...

It's Opposite Day!

We have moved on from "You're Fired"
Now the cry out is, "BUT IT'S OPPOSITE DAY!"

Lilly has recently learned the meaning of the word opposite.  She has been dabbling with the word for a few months, but it has now taken on yet another way to give her a feeling of power.

Just yesterday at the breakfast table I said, "Lilly eat your eggs or they will get cold." 
To which she responded, "No, I will not"
As I set my fork down to begin the discipline process she quickly retracted, "BUT IT'S OPPOSITE DAY!  No means yes, yes means no."  (spoken with a sweet smile)
I said, "Ok baby, now eat your eggs."
She responded..."no mama, say Lilly do not eat your eggs, and I will not eat them."
At this point I'm completely confused.
"Ok baby, do not eat your eggs" 
Then she responded with a sly smile, "good, I'm done anyway" 
WHAT!!!!!  She is way too smart for me. 
If this continues...I'm in trouble.

New year...same school bus

There is an exact time of every morning that I dread...consciously and sub-consciously.  That time is 6:47am.

This should be a quiet time of morning.  One filled with only quiet sounds...like showers gently running, or rockers quietly gliding putting a baby back to sleep. 
This should not be a time for the sounds of a distant grumble followed by extremely loud screeching brakes heard two neighborhoods over.

This time of morning is still dark, and should stay that way until the sun decides to make its beautiful appearance.
This should not be a time for strobe lights that are so bright you awaken from a dream thinking you are in a 1970's disco.

Yet each and every morning I am greeted by these lovely sights and sounds...and it's from a school bus.

It really wouldn't be that big of a deal if I lived here...alone...but I don't.  There is a little girl that stays just down the hall and IF she happens to still be asleep at 6:47am the lovely screech-wagon jolts her out of her bed.  This jolt usually causes her to catapult into my room where we begin the day on a super high dose of adrenaline.  So if I wasn't awakened by my subconscious doing the robot to the beat of screeching brakes...I am now!

Lilly Holland or Donald Trump?

Attitude is a big deal in our home.  We do not tolerate talking back or any other form of sassyness from Miss Priss. 
However...
Lately she has taken on a whole new form of attitude...and the only way I know how to deal with it is to look away and laugh.

I'm really not sure where she heard this, but Lilly has picked up on the phrase "You're Fired!"  We don't talk about people getting fired from work, and we don't watch The Apprentice.  Yet somehow Lilly uses the phrase "You're Fired!"  all the time, and in the correct way. 
For example:  the other day Lilly said to me, "Mommy...if you don't let me sleep in the living room tonight I'm gonna fire you!"  or how about when she told Tim, "Daddy...come play with me or you're fired!"   And she often fires Dave and her other guys from whatever game they are playing.
These little statements have completely caught me off guard.
On any normal day (ha) I would correct Lilly if she spoke to me with a sassy attitude.  If the sassyness continued she would get a timeout or spanking depending on the way she spoke to me.  But this little "you're fired" phrase has given her a little wiggle room.  In her own little way she has been able to "tell" me what to do and then throw in the fired phrase to save her hide.  It's also the way she makes her voice sound when she says it.  She puts this silly little high pitch sound at the end of each demand...and makes herself even more adorable.
Now I know I cannot allow this Donald Trump-likeness to continue, but for now I will giggle under my breath and try to keep the sassyness at bay.

        What's even crazier is how she was
able to get a Trump comb-over all on her own!
Now I'm really starting to wonder...

A Year of Love

 Graham's first year of life has been full of love.  Big sister Lilly loves him so much and calls him "her very bestest friend."

A Lesson in Shopping

You know that sign that says "You break it...you buy it!"  Well does that really count for a toddler throwing the item and then it breaking? 

I was standing in Ross the other day debating some new wall sconces to hang in my bedroom.  It was just me and Graham and I had him in the stroller...so I thought I was safe.

Mistake #1:  Having a toddler in a stroller does not mean you are safe from fits or throwing things...his arms are still free.

So as I was standing there debating the sconces he started to fuss a bit...nothing major...just the usual "come on Mom I'm bored" fuss. 

Mistake #2:  Never stand and debate ANYTHING longer than 14 seconds when shopping with a toddler...make that 7 when you are on the breakable aisle.

To sooth his little whine, I handed him part of the sconce that I was STILL debating.  At first I thought it was just a plastic globe that goes over a candle.  Little did I know that it was really thin glass.

Mistake #3:  Never hand anything to a boy in a store...THEY ALWAYS THROW IT!

Immediately he was happy.  "Sweet...Mommy gave me something to break!!" he squealed with glee.  As soon as I heard that squeal I knew I was in trouble.  I was reaching to take the globe out of his hand before he could lift his arm to throw, but I was too late.  Some how a Matrix moment happened and he was able to lift it above his head and send it sailing across the aisle before I could grab it from him.  When it hit the ground it shattered.  

It was one of those sounds that cause complete silence from all directions.  

I knew that everyone in the store had heard it...and they were all wondering what I was going to do.

That is when the Good Brittney Angel and the Bad Brittney Angel popped up...right on cue.

" Why did you give that to him?  Now you can't debate these anymore and you have to buy them!" -Good

"Hold on a minute missy...you technically didn't break it!"-Bad

"So are you going to make Graham pay for it?  NO YOU BIG DUMMY!  You have to buy it now!" -Good

"No you don't.  Just set it down and walk away.  Half the stuff at this store is broken anyway." -Bad

(At this point I was leaning toward my bad angel...I know...I'm ashamed to admit it...but she had a good argument!)

"Listen...you really do like those sconces...just buy them so you don't feel bad later...because you know you will!"-Good

(At this point Graham must have heard my angels arguing because he turned around with his big beautiful eyes and smiled at me.  Even though he is only one I knew I would have to explain myself to him.)

So I followed my good angel.

And the sconces look great on my wall!

A Joy-filled Year

Tomorrow is the last day of 2010...wow...it's so surreal to think that this time last year I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my baby boy...and now he is almost one!
This time every year I love to recount all the joys that I experienced during the year...and since I'm blogging now I can write them all down!

Giving birth to my precious baby boy

The experience was so joyful!  We actually got to deliver him in the same room that we delivered Lilly!  Tim read scripture out loud, and peaceful praise songs filled the air.  It was so calm and peaceful.  He came into the world with no complications and even made me think...I could do this again!

Welcoming my first two nephews into the world

My sister gave birth to twin boys on May 13.  Thankfully there were no complications and the boys were healthy.  I never knew I could love two little boys that much that were not my own.  I am so happy to be an Aunt...and I have a fun aunt name...Aunt B!

Doing Preschool at home

With the turn of the economy we had to cut several fun activities from our budget.  One of those being preschool.  I was so nervous to do this, but God blessed me with the ability and curriculum to do preschool at home!  We started in the summer doing school-time while Graham would nap.  Lilly took to it very well.  Even though we have backed off of it considerably (do to the fact that Graham doesn't nap as much) Lilly has learned just as much from me as she would have at school.  Plus, it was precious time with her that I will never get back.  We are going to keep it up and then in August 2011 she will go back to preschool.

Turning Four

Lilly turned four this year.  We had a birthday bash for her at our home...and it rained like crazy!  Thankfully we were still able to do all the slip-n-slides in the rain.  She said afterwards, "I didn't mind the rain at all...it made it more fun!"  I love my positive little lady.

Welcoming my first niece into the world

God blessed us again in September with little Gracelynn Rose.  She was born to Tim's brother Stephen and his wife Melissa.  She was so tiny, but has grown considerably in her first little 4 months of life.  I love that little girl so much.

A White Christmas

One of the biggest blessings of all was getting to celebrate Christmas.  It was Graham's first Christmas and God blessed us with snow!  The first time in 128 years!  It wasn't much, but it was still beautiful.  And even more proof that God loves us and cares about the little things.  (I can't tell you how many times I have prayed for a White Christmas!)

These are just a few of the great milestones from this year.  I am so thankful to have this blog as an outlet to record all of Gods blessings.