Toddler Birthday Bash

We celebrated with three of our favorite little friends, as they turned 3, 3 and 2...yes, that's right 3 kids under 3 and no, they're not twins or blood related, but they are family.

Maggie was so excited about going back to Bouncin' Bears to celebrate Riyah, Adrian, & Tyger's birthdays.  We had the whole place to ourselves (all 60+ people)...kids had a blast and I'm pretty sure the parents had their share of fun too.

We are so blessed to have these 3 little ones (and their Momma and sister, too!) in our lives. Oh how we thank God for their sweet lives and pray that the Lord continue to protect and grow them up into wonderful young people!

Maggie with her jumping buddy, Adrian

 Maggie, Adrian & Riyah jumping with Dada

 So much fun sliding

 Maggie & Riyah going for a ride with Momma J

 Sweet Sariyah, the birthday girl

 The 3 birthday kids ~ Adrian, Riyah & Tyger

 I know that this sweet girl had a ball!

Pumpkin Carving with Daddy

Carving Extravaganza 2010...let the carving begin...

 Maggie's ready to help out

 Scooping out all the goop...

 Daddy finishing it up...she wasn't too thrilled with the insides of the pumpkin

 Watching very intently

 So proud of her Mrs. Pumpkin-head

 Yay for Maggie & Daddy ~ what a great pumpkin!

 Yep - she's a pumpkin hugger :)

TGR Exotics with Momma & Nana

We had so much visiting the TGR Exotics Ranch last year - we knew we'd have to come back...and we did. This time, it was just a fun day with Momma, Maggie & Nana.  We picked a gorgeous day to go ~ sunny and warm (yes, we're in shorts in October). Nothing like going to the pumpkin patch in shorts :)

Day with Nana & Dandy

I'm so thankful for my parents, aka Nana & Dandy, who love their grandchildren so deeply that I'm certain that when my mom says "If I had known having grandchildren would be this fun, I would've skipped parenting you" - she means it :)

Maggie just adores Nana and Dandy. She loves to go to their house and play in all the "treasures" - that would be the 2 huge cabinets full of trinkets, toys, games, puzzles, colors, crafts - dollar store heaven.

I'm also thankful for grandparents who are never too old or too tired to keep up with a very active little girl.  And thankful to have them close so that her Momma & Daddy can have just a little break every now and then.

Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?

Well, I am not even sure if anyone is even still out there. I'm more than certain of it...especially since the last 2 posts OVER THE LAST 2 MONTHS have been about how I was going to blog very soon...and failed to do so.

Life has just been...well...life. And I need to blog so that I can remember all of this in my old age (which is vastly becoming a daily issue!) and so that Maggie can have this as her memory book.

So it seems that I must blog about a few events before this year quickly ends - in just 23 days. How is that even possible?!  Where did this year go?

Since I last TRULY blogged, we've had Halloween, Fall Festivals, Thanksgiving and many more events in between...I am now off to blog and post about all these before Christmas arrives. :)

Horrible blogger

Coming up on a month of not blogging...I'm sure a horrible blogger these days. And my last post was basically saying the same thing :(

I really do intend to write a post about Halloween and all the fun fall adventures...seriously...really. I know many of you keeping checking in to find that there is nothing here. Oh, don't you hate that?!

I am currently covering for someone in my office while she is out on maternity leave, and this has basically doubled my work load. Because of this - gasp! - I haven't had time to blog during the day. Pitiful, right?! Then we have therapy 3 nights a week, so those nights are out and honestly, I've just been sooo tired lately.

But I just wanted to let you all know that I'm still here...Maggie's doing great....and I will post some fun stories and pictures of the beauty herself very soon. (Just not right now, because I don't have time to blog at work, which is where I am right now - at work, blogging about how I don't have time to blog). Gotta love it.

Life

Life seems to just be flying by these days.  I just realized that I haven't blogged in 3 weeks and now that I'm taking the time to do it, I honestly can't think of anything to write about.

We've been enjoying lots of time outside lately, with the nice surprise of an early fall.  The weather has just been amazing and we've been soaking it up while we can. Lots of time in the backyard ~ playing in the sandbox, hitting the baseball, running around with Buddy, blowing bubbles, painting, eating lunch on the picnic table, playing at the park, lots of sunshine, lots of cooler weather.

Being outside is such a wonderful release for Maggie. She gets to release so much of her energy - and boy is there a lot of it.  She is just so happy to be able to be outside. I pick her up from school every day from the playground and immediately asks when she can go back outside at home.  She seems to have less meltdowns and tantrums when she is free to be outside.

So, if you don't see me blogging as often, just know it's because I'm spending more time with my sweet girl outside and praying for smoother/calmer nights to continue.

Thoughts....

These were the many thoughts that were going through my mind last night, as I laid in bed ready to fall fast asleep:

*Did I close the garage door after watering the flower beds? ~ Got up and checked. Sure did.

*Did I start the dishwasher? Yes, I did...but did I make sure that the stupid drainy-thingy was turned the right way so that all the water from said dishwasher will flow into the sink, instead of all over my countertops and floor??? ~ Got up and checked. A-Ok.

*Did I put coffee in the coffee maker this time? Instead of just putting water in the compartment and cleaning out the filter, but forgetting to put in the coffee...which made for an interesting morning the day before when my sweet hubs went to make it and only got hot, not so clear, water in his coffee cup. Sorry honey! ~ Oh I better get up and check...ok good. I did remember this time.

*Did I lock the door to the garage after checking to see if garage door was open? Pretty sure I did. Better go and check. Yep.

*Did I put the wet clothes in the dryer? Pretty sure I did NOT. Got up and put wet clothes into dryer. (wondering why I didn't check that when I went to lock the garage door)

*Did I pull out Maggie's clothes for tomorrow? Well, she's asleep so I won't go in and check. If I didn't, then I can just pick out one of the red polo shirts, khaki pants or shorts, underwear and white socks and be on our way.

*But wait, did I go and turn off Maggie's light? Why didn't I check that when I went to the garage and/or when I put the clothes in the dryer?

*I gave Maggie her medicine tonight, didn't I? Yes, I did. I mean, I'm pretty sure that I did. Yes, I did.

*Did I turn the A/C down already? I feel a little warm. It's 11pm and it's usually cold in here by now. But now, I've gotten up 3 times and each time I've walked by the thermostat and it never occurred to me to check the temp. Ugh. Oh well. Will suffer it out (until I wake up in the middle of the night sweating from not turning down the A/C)

*Did I brush my teeth? I know that I took out my contacts but I did that as soon as I got home, so I know I didn't brush my teeth then...and now that I run my tongue over my teeth, I'm fairly certain I did not brush my teeth.

*What will I have for lunch tomorrow? I don't think that I have anything to bring to work tomorrow. Might just have to eat something out.

*What day is it? Ok, it was Wednesday. How do I know that? Because we were able to come straight home from school, instead of stopping off at one of Maggie's therapy sessions. So, tomorrow is Thursday.

*Thursday! Which means the return of Grey's Anatomy & Private Practice ~ man, I sure am glad to have my TV shows back.

*Thursday...I must remember to tell Maggie's play therapist of the challenges she's had this week ~ especially with the temper tantrums.

*Why is she having the tantrums again? What is triggering them? How can we help her? What are we doing differently/wrong? Why can't we just have a calm/easy day? Not going to happen. Not right now anyway.

*She's coughing. Wait. Do I need to get up and give her some cough medicine or is it just a momentary thing? No more coughing. No medicine given.

*Wonder when we will be able to get rid of that monitor? I mean, I'm used to it but sure would be nice to not have to hear MOMMA/DADDY screamed at us at 6am on a Saturday morning.

*Wonder when/if Maggie will ever just lay in her bed and relax, read a book, play with her dolls/stuffed animals and NOT have to be immediately out of her room at the break of dawn?

*Sure would like to be able to sleep in some day. Just one day. Just for an extra hour. Don't see this happening any time soon.

*Sleeping in...hmmm...maybe I should just start by going to sleep first.

*11:32pm....man, 5:10am is going to be here before I know it. Close your eyes, Court. Good night.