Some more Top 10 Fun!

Makayla has done some pretty cute things lately that I thought deserved another Top 10 List! Enjoy!

1. It could be a horrible day where she acts crazy and runs around and never listens, but after bath time when it's time to settle down for bed, she will get all quiet and snuggle right up to me and we cuddle together. This is absolutely the BEST feeling ever.

2. The way she just makes up random phrases. This week it has been, "Mommy, are you ready to rock?!" Ha! Love it!

3. When she gets excited about dressing up in a pretty outfit.

4. The way she dances..it's awesome.

5. When she sees that I have a "boo-boo", she loves to kiss it and try and make it all better.

6. The fact that she loves to be in the kitchen and helps me cook.

7. She is an outdoor girl. She loves to be outside, playing with sticks. I did too as a child.

8. Our youngest cat has finally warmed up to her, and she loves this! They now cuddle together and he sometimes seeks her out for a nice rub down the back!

9. When I come home the days she is not at school, she usually runs to me and gives me the biggest hug!

10. When she gets excited over the least little thing, like bubbles. It's adorable.

Happy 3rd Birthday Makayla!

On this day 3 years ago, my OB was telling me at this exact moment that my blood pressure was too high, but the baby was doing ok. She felt though, it was time to get the baby out before my bp went up anymore and put the baby in stress. I was totally floored. My due date was still more than 2 weeks away, I had left everything at home. This was supposed to be just a routine Dr.'s visit and it turned into my baby's birthday. They asked me to go straight to Labor and Delivery and check in. I immediately called Phil and told him to go straight home, get the bags, the car seat, all the cameras and rush to the hospital. Luckily my mom was with me on the particular visit, so she kept me calm. Otherwise, I would have totally lost it. As soon as Phil got to the hospital, we started calling everyone on our phone tree list! They still had a lot of things to do to get me prepped for the emergency C-section, and most of my friends were able to make it to the hospital before Makayla was born. At around 5:15, they wheeled me into the delivery room and gave me my epidural. They got everything ready and at 5:52 pm, our beautiful, precious angel came into this world. She was 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 20.25 inches long. She had jet black hair and was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

One day old..

She was 7 months old here, we are visiting the Pumpkin Patch 2006

I love this picture, she was not quite 2 yet

Christmas 2007 She was 1 here.

At 6 weeks old, Makayla started sleeping through the night, and started getting some teeth at 6 months. 2 weeks before her 1st birthday, she started to walk! After that, there was no stopping this girl! She is fearless! At 2, the stubborn streak kicked in. (BTW, I have NO idea where she gets that from..) She is a perfect mix of all-girl and tomboy rolled into one! One day, she is all about the Princesses and the next, it is all about cars and trucks and climbing everywhere like a monkey! She loves forts, animals, dressing up and eating at Chick-fil-a! We have loved every single second we've had with her and look forward to enjoying many many more birthdays and precious moments together.

Makayla's 2nd birthday! She got a trike!

Feb. 8th, 2009 Her 3rd Birthday!

We love you Makayla and thank God every single day for giving you to us and letting us be your parents.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Birthday Parties and Toddlers...

So today is the day. The day I decided to invite 13 toddlers to run around a gym and act like crazy people... all for my daughter's expense! I hope she knows how much I love her...

Yep, although today is not technically her birthday, we are having the big party today! Whohoo! (The big day is actually tomorrow.) So in just a couple of hours, I will be surrounded by 2 and 3 yr. olds and people dressed like clowns! (We voted for circus themed party, minus the clown make-up.)

Wish me luck that we all survive today! I will post pictures later after we've recovered!

Memories...

**WARNING**

This post is gonna be a little sappy on my part. When you read why, you'll understand. Just deal with it.

My baby, no, my toddler is getting ready to turn 3! THREE people. I am freaking out. My child is growing up way too fast!! Here is why I am so frazzled by this:

-When my husband and I moved into this house, Makayla was 4 months old!!!
-Makayla started walking, talking, going to school while in this house.
-It's only been three years! Where did the time go?
-Makayla will be in the grade level I teach this next school year! Ahhh!

Now let me give you some visual perspective....

Makayla only 1 day old!! She was already smiling!!

She was one cool cat....

And happy, did I mention that??

4 Generations at Makayla's 1st Birthday Party

This was at her 2 yr. Birthday party!! She finally got some hair!!!

Fall 2008, she is 2 in this pic!

Makayla over Christmas 2008! What a cutie pie!

So this is the year of me losing my mind! Makayla turning 3, and I am turning the big 3-0 as well!! 2009 is shaping up to be one heck of a year!!

Mama G

Rest in Peace Sweet Angel

I am not sure if I ever mentioned them in this blog, but we have some good friends named the Olsen's. They are the sweetest family with 2 adorable girls. Mark and Tammy (parents) are probably about 10-15 years older than Phil and I, and Phil and Mark used to work together at Phil's current job. Mark took a better job out in Phoenix back in 2005. During that time also, Tammy was pregnant with their 3rd child, a girl they named Briannah. Well, Tammy's due date was right around the time Hurricane Rita came blowing through, so while they were evacuating, Tammy went into labor. Briannah was a beautiful little baby. Tammy and the girls finally made their way to Phoenix and they were all doing great. But several months later, in December, Tammy noticed Briannah was not hitting the typical baby milestones and was not gaining much weight. They took her in for some tests and found that she had an inoperable brain tumor that wrapped itself around her optic nerve. The news was devastating, but they vowed to help her any way they could. They heard about the controversial Burzynski clinic here in Houston and made an appointment. (This was after several other failed attempts of treatment.) The clinic offered some hope, but not a cure and started her on some powerful medications and treatment. For the next year and a half, Briannah made huge progress! The tumor started shrinking, she was gaining weight, she was starting to talk, she could finally sit up by herself, and lots of other things! We were all so hopeful that she would have some wonderful quality of life and be able to live with this tumor. One of the side effects though, was the medicine affected the sodium levels in her body and she didn't retain enough, but they were fixing that through medication. She was also having seizures, but was not having as many since being on the new medicines.
However, 3-4 nights ago, Tammy noticed Briannah was very lethargic and not her typical self. She immediately called 911 and an ambulance came to take her to the hospital. She died twice in the ambulance, but they resuscitated her back both times. When they go to the hospital though, she was not breathing on her own, so they immediately put her on life support. They found that now her body had way too much sodium and apparently that is much much worse than not having enough. Her kidneys started to fail and the situation was not looking good. However, on Friday Briannah started to breath on her own and she seemed to start improving just a little, but by Saturday morning, she got worse again. They tried to put her on dialysis, but couldn't get the tubes into her little body. Mark and Tammy made a gut-retching decision. They took her off life support. They didn't want her to suffer anymore. Our precious little Briannah went to be with the Lord at 6:30 pm, January 24th. Our thoughts and prayers are with our dear friends as they go through this terrible time.

If you would like to read their journey or send condolences, you can visit their website here:
http://www.easysite.com/babybriannah

Please pray for our sweet friends as they deal with this tragedy.
Mama G

Things I have learned being a home owner....

So June will mark our 3 yr. anniversary of living in our first home! Our house was built in '69, so we knew there would be some maintenance issues we would have to deal with, but there were some other things that really surprised us! Here are just a few:

• Older homes probably need new paint jobs every 3 years. When we first moved in, there was not one crack...now there is at least 1 or more in the majority of the rooms!
  
• Just because you replace your AC doesn't guarantee a lower electric bill! The house itself is not energy efficient, so that definitely hurts the wallet! Ouch!
• Some Homeowners Associations just suck.... end of story.
• Having to deal with wild animals...we have seen possums, rats, armadillos and raccoons all in our yard/garage.
  
• Having some good friends move away :-(
• Making some new friends! :-)

So all in all it has been a pretty good experience! It will be nice when we eventually move into a bigger house though! When we get pregnant again, we really feel like we will need a lot more space, so we will definitely get a 2 story house! I'm sure that will bring on a whole new set of surprises!

Here's my question to you all: What things did you encounter as a new home owner?

Don't forget to follow!

Hey friends,
Just wanted to send out a quick reminder that I have put up a place here to the right where you can follow this blog! Just click it and it will put you up on my board. This will also help generate some advertising for your own blog! When someone clicks your picture, it will show them what blogs you have!! Hey, you can't beat free advertising right?! Ok, so I hope you all will help me with this! Thanks!!


Mama G

Toothpaste...really?

So, some interesting things have been happening around here. We've made some New Year's Resolutions and I am happy to report that we have made good on at least one of them! One of Phil and I's big resolutions was to clean up our house and garage, and I don't mean just a regular ol' cleaning job. I am talking about a complete overhaul of the house. I think I have mentioned before that we do not have a functioning attic for storage. There is no room since all the ac insulation takes up all the space up there, so we have no place to put our boxes except our closets. This is a MAJOR problem. This is compounded by the fact that since we do have our own home, both of our parents decided to give us all our childhood stuff to keep. Ugh.

Well, we rearranged our guest room and den and completely clean out our garage! Whohoo!! We are not done with all the rooms, but we have made a really good start! I am really proud of the work we've done so far!

Makayla had some resolutions too and apparently one of them was to eat more toothpaste in the year 2009. You heard me, eat toothpaste. We have caught her several times in the bathroom squeezing the life out of her Little Bear toothpaste and just going to town. Last night when we dropped her off at my in-laws she promptly went into their bedroom while we were talking with them. After a minute, I asked where she was. We went looking and found her hiding in their closet behind their mini trampoline with my MIL's toothpaste in her mouth eating it. It was all over her face too! What is this about?! What in the world possesses her to eat this stuff?? I mean, I guess I can't complain too much.. at least it is keeping her breath fresh! I have a friend who's sister used to eat dirt!! Seriously!! She would just take a handful and just shove it in her mouth!! At least Makayla doesn't do that!!

So that's the lastest at our house! Fun times! So tell me kind readers, what were some of your resolutions for the New Year??

Merry Christmas To All!

Merry Christmas Family and Friends!
We have had a wonderful Christmas so far! Last night we went to my parents and opened most of our gifts there! That is also where we got our Wii!!!! WHOHOOO!!! So excited!! Seriously, BEST. PRESENT. EVER!!!!! I know I am a little behind on the times in getting this toy, but hey, better late than never right?! Makayla has definitely picked her favorite gift so far as well...she got a really awesome tent from my parents, which she loves! But, she also got a Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) costume from my brother and his fiancee and she has LIVED in this dress for the past 18 hours!
Anyway, just wanted to send out a little update before we head out for more Christmas celebrations! We are going over to my parents for lunch, then out to the in-laws to open our gifts with them! So, it will be a very busy day!

Have a wonderful Christmas!
Mama G

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hello all! Well, it's officially Christmas Time here at the Graf's! We have put up the lights, the tree and some decorations. We also decided it was Christmas card time as well. This always entails a lot of fussing, tantrums, forced smiling, yelling and threatening. Doesn't that just reek of Christmas spirit?! Well, it started off ok.... a few pics turned out very well as you can see below. Another exciting event this past week was that it snowed in Houston! Yeah, I know.. I almost thought it was the end of the world! We have been experiencing this lovely pattern of hot one day/freezing cold the next! It's been great... my head really appreciated it when it decided to get a massive sinus infection that kept me out of school one day. It has unfortunately affected my class as well. At least 2-3 kids have been out sick, so I have been constantly surrounded by all these lovely germs.
Anyway, back to the snow....so it snowed for a day and this caused mass hysteria in Houston. Seriously, if any of you knew anyone in Houston and they had a Facebook account, I can almost guarantee that every single one of their updates on that day mentioned the snow. This also caused Makayla to run around our yard like a crazy person saying, "I'm dancing in the snow!" I included a video below for your amusement! And of course, I couldn't resist putting the snow pics on here! Enjoy!
**UPDATE**- The video of Makayla running around wouldn't upload for some reason, so I'll try again later, sorry!!

This is the official pic....! We got a winner!

Second runner up...looked too generic....

It's snowing! Can you see that one teenie tiny little flake to the right of her??

Here it is at night with our beautiful lit up house!

It accumulated a little on Phil's truck....

More snow!!!

Daddy and Makayla out in the snow!

Why I hate health insurance companies....

Well, for the last 2 days I have been feeling pretty gross. Yesterday I lost my voice so that made dealing with the kiddos lots of fun! Last night though, I just couldn't sleep and when I woke up this morning, I felt really awful. I called into work and decided to try and find a Dr. to go see. I had not yet picked out a Primary care Dr. so I went to Unicare's website and started researching. They gave me a list and I started calling all the doctors closest to me. Well, the first 3 I called were either completely booked or were leaving early, but I got lucky on the 4th one. They said they could work me in, so I was elated! I went and of course the Dr. told me I had a really bad sinus infection. He wrote me out a Rx for a Z pack and some Singulair. So I went to my local Kroger's at 4:30 (right after my appt.) and tried to fill my Rx. The pharmacist said they were kinda backed up and said it would take about 2 hours. I really didn't have the energy to argue or protest, so I said fine and went home to rest. After 2 hours, Phil went up there to get something else from the store and after waiting another 15 min. they told him it still wasn't ready. Seriously? They said it would be another 30 min. So we did our normal bedtime ritual with Makayla and put her down and by that time it was 8:30, so 4 hours from when I originally dropped off the Rx. I go up there and they said... you guessed it... IT STILL WASN'T READY!! I was like, um.. excuse me.. what seems to be the problem.. these are 2 well known drugs, not something weird.. this shouldn't be a problem. Well of course one of the ladies wasn't working the computer right.. so they had to call their Asst. Manager in to come help them. The Asst. Manager started yelling at the ladies who was screwing up on the computer... but hey... they should know what they are doing so I kinda didn't feel bad for her! Well, they come over to me and say they have filled the Z pack, but my insurance company has rejected the Singulair. I am telling you, I almost lost it. I asked them why and if they had called them, they said that this was normal that there is a list of meds that Unicare wouldn't fill. UGH! I asked them what I was supposed to do and they said that I would need to call my Dr. and ask him to write another Rx for something comparable to the Singulair. I then told them that this would have been nice to know earlier in the day since now I would have to wait until tomorrow to even call my Dr.!! What the hell?! Man I was so mad! But isn't this just typical...
I started my Z pack and will hopefully sleep better tonight, and will pray my Dr. will write another Rx tomorrow. I think I will then take the Rx to CVS and hope for better service...

A Season of Change...

So there has been a lot going on and with all this change I feel I need to get some things off my chest. The first and foremost important change is that the principal of our school has decided not to come back for the next school year. This is not unusual in the fact that teachers/staff/directors/principals come and go, but this particular change is going to bring about some things to be concerned about. When I started working at my school 3 years ago, Makayla was not going to school yet, since she was just 6 months old. By my second year, Phil and I felt that it was time for her to start going. I had heard rumors that teachers would get a discount on their child's tuition so I went to the principal to talk to her about it. Sure enough, I was right, but at that particular time, (since I am an aide) I was only eligible for a mere 20% discount. Well since Makayla wasn't going that much, that was ok. But this year, Makayla was in a different class and so I felt that the 20% was cutting it. (Lead teachers got a 50% discount.) So I again went to the principal and she really worked with me on getting me a 40% discount! That was huge! That really helped us out! Well, with her leaving, I am just worried about the next principal, will they keep that policy? We have heard that they can't just take it away, but as each year passes, the discount might be less and less. Well, as Makayla gets older, the tuition increases. We have also been informed that tuition will be going up a LOT next year. This is also a concern. Since I am an aide, I don't make that much, but enough to cover about half her tuition that we pay now...what if the tuition goes up to where my whole paycheck has to go for her tuition? Will it be worth it for me to keep working? Should we try and find a public school? These are all very real possibilities. I am really trying to just put this in God's hands and I will follow what I think he wants us to do.

The other thing that is scaring me is that I have been bitten. Bitten hard. Bitten by what you ask? Well, I will tell you.... the baby bug. Yep, that's right. Ever since Makayla was born I could not even fathom the idea of having another child. We knew we wanted more than one, but really couldn't imagine what that would be like. She has just been so wonderful and we have been perfectly content with her, but for some reason lately I have been having all these emotions and feelings about babies. Every time I see or hold a baby or even see a pregnant woman, I just feel this twinge in the pit of my stomach. I miss the feeling of being pregnant. I miss seeing the first smile, hearing the first laugh, getting that first hug etc. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE MAKAYLA with all my heart, but she too is feeling these effects. She has been asking Phil and I for a "baby sister" for many months now. I think she just wants someone to play with.. ha! Which I totally don't blame her for.. I mean how much fun can playing with your parents all the time really be? But is she really ready for this life altering change? Are we? I have been told a million times that even though you feel like you couldn't possibly love another child, you can. I really can't imagine loving another child as much as I love Makayla, but I guess I will just have to wait and see. We have talked about trying for next summer to get pregnant.. so that leaves us with only 7 months to cherish our time alone with our precious little girl. I really don't want this to come out wrong, because we really do want to have another baby, but for some reason I almost feel like this 7 month time frame is a death sentence in a way. Just for the fact that Makayla's whole way of life will be different. We will have to divide our attention as she won't be the center of ours anymore. She will have to share her toys and wait on Mommy when I have to take care of the baby. Will she still feel loved by us when things like this occur? I guess the only thing I can do is just pray and spend as much time with her as I can. Just to make me feel better, I need all you mommas with more than 1 child to give me some good advice and stories. Let me know how you got through it and I will be eternally grateful!

With a heavy heart,
Mama G

Another first for The Princess!

So a couple of weeks ago, I decided that it was time for Makayla to experience her first movie in a theater. Madagascar was opening that weekend, so we set out to go on that Saturday afternoon. We went to eat some lunch first and then headed to the theater! She was in awe! It was so cute to see her big ol' eyes just taking everything in. She called the screen, "A really big tv!" Haha!! Well, as a result, all she talks about is the animals that "went to Africa" and she also walk around singing, "I like to move it, move it!!" So stinkin adorable!! So here are some pictures from our movie experience! Enjoy!!

In front of the theater!

She was checking out the poster for another movie!

Movie is about to start!!

Afterward she got to ride on a helicopter in the mall!

Something other than poop

Ok, I realize that my last post probably didn't appeal to many people... sorry about that. I just really had to get that out there because keeping that all bottled inside was driving me nuts! So, on to better things here folks!
I am happy to report that as of last week we have had poop free incidents! Yeah! Last weekend, Phil went out of town leaving Makayla and I to have a Mommy & Makayla Weekend of Fun!! I decided that since she is almost 3 (sniff, sniff) that it was time to introduce her to the world of film. And no, not the dirty kind you sickos. I knew that Madagascar was opening so we went and saw it on Saturday. It was so cute to see her experience that! She was just so amazed at the "really big tv" as we called it! Ha! She did so great too! She sat there the whole time and never got up! I was very proud of her!
This past Monday we decided to go get her annual Christmas portraits done at the Picture People in the mall. We did this last year and were VERY happy with the results. (Just come take a look at our house.... tons of the framed pics line almost every wall in our den!) Well, not too surprising, these lastest pictures turned out GREAT!!! They are so beautiful! I will post some up soon...

Well, I am gonna wrap this up, but will leave you with an entertaining story from school today:
We were taking our class to P.E. and I usually stand at the back of the line to make sure the kiddos aren't trying to escape! Ha! I kid, I kid! Anyway, one little girl says, "Mrs. Graf you know what?" I ask her what and she says, "Um.. my mom died last night, but then came back to life. (Slight pause) Soooo, she's all better now."

The NOT so fun events in October...

It couldn't be all good and well could it?? Well, I waited a week to write this because honestly, it took me a week to fully recover from it all. It all began last Saturday, the day after Halloween. Makayla had a wonderful time trick or treating, so we assumed her weekend would be a good one. We were wrong. We woke up Sat. morning, ate breakfast and played for a while. It came time to eat lunch and go down for a nap. She was still in a good mood and didn't put up a fight to take a nap, which is always nice. Well, I put her down around 12:30. Phil had been out with some guy friends and came home about 1:30. Makayla was STILL up making noise, so I told him he'd better go in there and see what the deal was. The next thing I hear is, "What did you do?!?!" I run in there and once again, see one of the worse things ever. She apparently had a poopy diaper and instead of telling me, she took it off and painted her crib, sheets, blankets, bears, and walls with it. It was absolutely disgusting. She of course got disciplined and we spent the next 2-3 hours cleaning up everything. We were furious. We put her to bed early that night and thought that the discipline took care of everything. We were once again, wrong. The next day, Sun. it happened AGAIN. We had put her down for a nap, and after like an hour of making non-stop noise, Phil went in there and she had painted with her poop again. We were so shocked, we honestly didn't know what to do. Did the discipline from the day before not register?? So we once again, punished her and had a very long talk about it. Then we spent the next couple of hours cleaning.

Now fast forward to Tues. (Which is her school day.) We woke up, had a GREAT morning. No fights over clothes or what to eat, it was wonderful! She was being her old, sweet self again. I dropped her at her classroom and then went to my class. A mere 2 hours later, the director came to see me. She said that Makayla had pooped in her pants (no big deal right) but while she was in the bathroom waiting for the teacher to change her, (The teacher was finished cleaning up another child) she apparently got bored and shoved both hands down her diaper and then smeared it all over her clothes again. Then when the teacher turned around, Makayla accidentally got some on the teacher!!!! I WAS MORTIFIED!! You know that teacher is getting a BIG Christmas gift from us!! Anyway, I just wanted to cry! I couldn't believe she would do that at school!! Home is one thing, at least no one else has to be subjected to it, but at school?!?! So they cleaned her up and I went down there and had another talk with her. But there is some good news.... we have not had another poop incident since Tues.! Thank goodness!
So I am in need of some advice here people! I called my pediatrician, who assured me that this can happen at this age and it's not out of the normal, but for crying out loud, how do I STOP it from happening?? If any of you have had a similar experience, please give us a shout out in the comments! I really need to know I am not the only one going through this!!

Fun Events in October!

So October was a very busy, fun-filled month! I decided to make a short slide show to encompass all the fun things we did! Enjoy!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It's all the toddler's fault...

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! The story I am about to tell is not going to portray me in a good light... just to warn you. I KNOW some of you have felt the same way and that is the only thing that is helping me through this. Here's what happened:
Today was Grandparent's and Special Friends Day at school. Makayla did not take a nap yesterday so I was somewhat worried about that...So I woke her up this morning and she was in an ok mood. I started to change her and put this very cute little outfit on her! I had washed it last night, so I was excited about her wearing it. She liked it too, but when I put her brown sandals on her, the fight began. She did NOT want to wear those sandals. I told her in a nice way that she didn't have a choice. Well that did not sit well with her so she started pouting and fussing. She threw herself on the floor on her tummy and wouldn't get up. I told her that I was going to the kitchen to eat and that if she didn't want to be hungry, she has better follow me. Well she didn't like that either, but knew I wasn't kidding. So she started crawling on her tummy into the kitchen. I let her do that because honestly, I didn't want to fight with her more than I had to, I was already running late. So she was still on her tummy and I told her it was time to get up and eat some breakfast. She stood up and the whole front of her dress and leggings were wet. I asked her if she spilt something on her and she said, "No, I went pee-pee." My heart stopped. I went over and took a quick smell and sure enough, pee-pee. I guess in the time she spent on her tummy, she peed a lot and it just came out the front of the diaper. I was livid. I told her that she completely ruined her outfit and that I was very disappointed that she layed down and got her dress all dirty. I took her back to her room and got her into something else. (Which wasn't nearly as cute... damnit) So after I got her re-dressed, we walked back into the kitchen to eat our breakfast. She refused to eat. My blood pressure started rising. I told her I was not kidding, that if she didn't eat this, I was not making anything else for her and she would be hungry. She took 2 little bites and said she was finished. I said fine, and threw it in the fridge and ushered her out the door. She seemed a little confused as to why I didn't give her something else to eat, but I was so mad at this point, I didn't care. We got to school and luckily she didn't pitch another fit, or else I think I would have lost my mind.
Why?? Why do kids have this sixth sense that when you are running late that they need to be as slow and uncooperative as possible??? This drives me insane!!! Here's the truth though, if you are a "late" person before you have kids, well then you're screwed because kids just make you even later to things. It seems my whole life, I am always running late. I hate this, but can't seem to fix it. I always think ahead about how much time I will need, but something always seems to come up and sure enough.. I am 15-20 min. late.... again. When I became pregnant with Makayla, this freak occurance happened the whole time where I was on time, if not early to everywhere I went. My friends didn't know what to think!! But wouldn't you know that the minute I had that child, I slipped back into my old habits.
Anyway, I hope you all know that I do love my child more than life itself and I would do ANYTHING for her. But there are days like today where I just want to strangle that child!! (Not literally here people, so please save your energy in calling CPS). She just knows exactly how to push my buttons. My one pet peeve with kids are when they are defiant. UGH! This just aggravates the hell out of me!! I am the adult and when I say to do something, then you had damn well better do it!!! It's like she doesn't take me seriously or something! I hate having to discipline, but what else am I supposed to do, let her get away with it? Um no, cause then we'll have one of those lovely spoiled brat kids running around. So, I guess I will just try and endure this time of toddlerville and hopefully with lots of prayer, we'll all survive it together!!

A trip to the Principal's office.....

So, Makayla has not had a good school week so far. First off, we are all still sick. Not enough to stay home, but just enough to feel like utter crap and be in a bad mood. When Makayla doesn't feel good, she ALWAYS acts out a little. So on Monday, we didn't have school so Phil and I took Makayla to Dewberry Farm. It is a cute little farm that has an awesome corn maze, a fort, swings, pumpkin patch, hay rides... the list could go on and on! The place doesn't open until 10, so we made sure to leave early because we wanted to be there right when it opened. We ended up getting there at about 10:20 and I think the whole freaking city of Houston decided to go too! We had to stand in line for 45 min. just to buy tickets and get in!!!!! But once we got in there, everything was great! Makayla had a blast! We ended up leaving around 2 because we needed to get Makayla home for a nap. We stopped briefly at my in-laws house and then got home around 3:30. We promptly put Makayla down for a nap and the child proceeded to sleep for 3 1/3 hours!!! So she woke up when she is normally going to bed! So we kept her up for a couple of hours and luckily we had no problem putting her back to bed.
This leads into the next day (Tues.) when she goes to school. I had to wake her up because of course she didn't quite get enough sleep, but she is in a good mood. So I take her to school and she seems fine. A little while later though, the Director of the Daycare center brings her down to me. This has never happened before. The Director, who is basically the equivalent of the Principal for that area, says that Makayla refused to do anything her teacher asked her to, and didn't listen and then went and hid under a table. So she leaves Makayla with me and she and I had a nice little talk. Anyway, the teacher said after that, they didn't have any more problems! But man alive, 2 1/2 and already going to the principal! Should I be worried for the future??

Mama G who??

Yes, I'm here...no seriously. I'm right here...I know, I know... I have been away for a while. It's been a little crazy around here since the hurricane hit. We have had tons of branch debris just sitting in front of our house...which really sucks. We have slowly gotten back into our routine, so it is very weird to look outside and still see remnants of the destruction. But luckily today, a nice big 18 wheeler came through the neighborhood and picked up everything! What a relief!

On a completely different note, one of the kids in our class had his last day on Friday. He went to be at another school that was better suited for their family, and it was just really sad. We had this little guy's older brother 2 yrs. ago, and we just loved their family. We will miss them so much! It is really hard when the kiddos leave at the end of the year too, because you know some of them won't be coming back. That is really the one downside of being a teacher... you just get so close with these kids and their families for 9 months, and then they are either gone, or on to another classroom. Luckily though, a good amount of parents keep their kids at our school, so we do get to see them again. This one just really hit me hard because we did have 2 of the kids and we really liked the family.

On yet another note.... I haven't been feeling too well lately. The stuff that this hurricane kicked up in the air has done a number on my allergies. Then a lovely stomach bug has been making the rounds at our school and of course I have caught a little of it. The only good thing is that I am not catching nearly as much as I had the first 2 yrs. at school. Man alive, when you immerse yourself in all the kiddie germs, it is horrible! You catch every little sniffle and runny nose... but after a while, you finally build up some immunity to it! Thank goodness!!
Well I have a Dr.'s appointment on Wed. to check my thyroid levels again. I really don't think the medicine is working... I think I need a higher dosage, so hopefully that will get straightened out then. Anyway, that's about it over here! Hope you all have a great week!

Babies, babies and more babies...

Ok, I might have added one too many babies...! So 2 of my best friends are pregnant!! Yeah!! They are also BOTH due in April, within weeks of each other! So exciting!! I can't even begin to explain how ecstatic I am about this!! There are several reasons why I am so excited, so here they are:
When I got pregnant many many moons ago (back in 2005/2006), none of my friends had kids. Not a single one. So my pregnancy was a pretty lonely one. I had no one to compare notes with or ask questions or anything. Luckily my pregnancy was a very easy one and I never got sick or had any complications. This did not however take away that very lonely feeling. Being pregnant is just an amazing experience and I could not wait until my friends could experience it too. It is truly a magical, wonderful thing to grow a baby inside you and just feel that connection. Ok, I know I am getting sappy, but it is awesome. I felt very sorry for my husband that he could not feel what I was feeling in my body. Another reason I am excited is just the fact that a baby truly does change everything. Your whole life revolves around that baby. Your feelings and well being come last.. now this might not sound too appealing for some of you, but it is totally worth it for the following reasons:

• First smile
• First laugh
• First roll over
• First crawl
• First steps
• First words
• First day of school
• Your child telling you they love you
  

I have personally experienced each of these events, and even now I tear up at the mere thoughts of them. There is absolutely no better feeling that having your child look at you and telling you that they love you. Oh. my. gosh. And believe me, you might think there are things that are better, but trust me, there isn't.

So knowing that my friends are about to embark on such events just makes my heart ache for them! (In a good way!) Ok ok, I know I need to stop now or the water works will really start flowing!

**To Kelly and Sara,
I truly love you both and I am so deleriously happy for you and can't wait to meet your little bundles of joy!!**

Mama G

We are alive and ok!

Hi friends,
Just wanted to let ya'll know that we did survive the hurricane and we are doing alright! We had no damage to the house or yard... just several branches come off our Magnolia tree. We lost power in the middle of the storm, and it only came back yesterday. We bunked in with my parents who only live about a mile away, and who coincidentally never lost power but had WAY more damage to their neighborhood! Go figure! My school is closed until Mon. which sucks for the fact that since I am hourly, I don't get paid when I am not there. So, that's kind of a bummer, but it has been nice to have a little break.

Well, it's getting late and I need to get some sleep! Hope you all are doing great, and I will talk to you soon!

Dr.'s Appt. and Hurricanes...

Will this madness ever end? For the last week, the news has inundated us with Hurricane Ike updates, letting us all know that we are pretty much screwed. Houston is going to be on the "dirty side" of the storm, so this weekend will prove to be very entertaining! The hubby went out tonight and got some supplies, just a few things in case we lose power. We didn't go overboard because these things have been known to change course at the last min. Several years ago when Rita was a big threat, we rushed out and got all this stuff and even taped up all our windows and guess what?? It lightly drizzled for the better part of a day. So be on notice Mr. Weather... we are not falling for your tricks again.. you have cried wolf too many times!

On another note, I finally went back to the Dr. after many, many tests and he finally figured out that I have hypothyroidism. Meaning an under active thyroid. He threw some sample meds at me and said to come back in 4 weeks. They will take some more blood and figure out if this medicine is not enough or too much... so that will be fun. I almost hoping that it is too much....maybe it will jump start my thyroid! That would be awesome!
I had an lovely experience in the waiting room though before my appoint and thought I would regal my dear readers with a story! So I get to the office about 15 min. early hoping that maybe the Dr. would be running somewhat on time... cough, cough... yeah right. So there are 2 other people in there waiting, a man and a woman. After signing in and sitting down, I notice that the woman is on her cell phone, which is no crime right? But it soon became apparent that she was, "Obnoxious loud phone talker person with no boundaries." Don't you love those types? So all of a sudden I hear her start talking about some crap about how the person she is talking to needs to come to some event at a church, that I later assessed to be a Baptism. Yes folks, she was that open with her conversation. Apparently though, the person was protesting about going to a church and so this lady starts tearing into him about how could he not come, what is he thinking, and how is knows nothing of this church.... SERIOUSLY?!?! Really... this is what you want all the waiting room people to hear? Then, when the nurse calls her name to go in the back, she says to the person on the phone, "Oh hey, they just called my name, but don't hang up ok." I am not even kidding, she actually said that. So my imagination starts reeling of how the lady is still griping to her friend while this poor nurse is asking her to step on the scale, and then tries to take her temp. and blood pressure....all while this idiot is chatting away. I don't know.. I just don't get people sometimes...personally when I go to the Dr. I want to get in and out as fast as possible. It was probably this lady that caused my Dr. to be 30 min. late....she probably wanted her friend to stay on the phone and hear everything the Dr. had to say to her.

Anyway, I will give you all updates in these next couple of days on what this hurricane will do to my weekend. I had planned on doing nothing but resting... now I have to start worring about my family's well being... geesh...stupid hurricane.

Infections, pulled muscles and allergies... OH MY!

Howdy friends! Boy has it been a week! School started a week ago and life has been busy!! Our class this year is great! Much better this time around! The kids are just as cute as ever, but my only complaint is that the school put 19.. yes 19, 3 yrs. old in our class this year. It is so chaotic in our class that we are having trouble just staying on track with our schedule. Oh well, we will get by!
So yesterday poor Makayla's allergies went hay wire! Her nose is running constantly and she is sneezing her head off! Poor thing! I have been giving her some medicine and she is being such a trooper! When I got home yesterday, I needed to edge the lawn because it was long overdue! We had bought a new weed eater and I was anxious to use it. I go out there and realize pretty quickly that this particular one is a little shorter than our old one. As a result I had to kinda bend over a little more which was not the most comfortable position in the world. So after I get through, my back was a little sore... but I brushed it off. This morning however, I woke up in horrendous pain! I am guessing that I have pulled something...yeah.. great. On top of that, my right ear closed up again a couple of days ago. I put some drops in and it opened up for 2 days, but this morning it had closed up again. The last time this happened... which was only 3 months ago mind you, the Dr. said I had a pretty bad infection. The only good thing about it was that I don't have any pain with the infection! Thank goodness!! So, I have started taking some left over meds from the last infection and hoping my ear will open back up SOON!!
BTW, if anyone medically minded out there reads this... if I start getting more and more ear infections, will I have to get tubes? Do they even give 29 yr. olds ear tubes?!?!

Happy Birthday To Me!

So my birthday was this past Tues. (19th) and I went to dinner with my family. We had a great time and took some great pictures! Enjoy!

Makayla and Mommy

Family Photo

Makayla being her goofy self!

Beach Fun!

Well friends, we're back from the beach! We went down to Galveston and spent 4 wonderful days at a beautiful resort! This was also The Princess's first time to the beach, and she LOVED it! We had lots of adventures, i.e.: sea turtle tour, seeing her first crab and jellyfish, spending time in an infinity pool, watching the sun set and many more things! I figure I will let the pictures speak for themselves.....

First steps in the ocean

Jellyfish

Dead crab, but still cool to look at

Me and hubby

Posing...

Beautiful sunset outside the Beach Club

Running into the ocean

Another beautiful sunset view from our balcony

Makayla with the Sea Turtles

Family Portrait in the Infinity Pool