What's Peeving Me Wednesday

Ok, I realize it's supposed to be "What I'm Loving Wednesday", but my mood has taken me in a different direction. :)

Today, I wish to share with you some deep profound thoughts I like to call my:

PET PEEVES!

*Be warned, these are very serious and should be taken as such.*

*Be warned again, the above statement is highly sarcastic. :)*

1: When a man's tie does not reach his belt. (See, very serious stuff here.)

2: When someone calls you to tell you they just left you a voicemail. (Hmm...cuz I can't see that on my phone?)

3: Bugs splattering on my windshield directly in my line of sight.

4: Pop-ups.

5: When people don't blog. (Don't you know I have nothing better to do than stalk my blogger dashboard waiting for new blog posts?) :)

6: People who walk down the center of the aisle in a parking lot. (Yes, my sister posted about this the other day, but I just encountered it yesterday myself.) Argh!

7: Facebook games and requests to participate (sorry Farmville users). I just don't need any more excuses to be on Facebook. :)

8: Boxers left on the bathroom floor. (Ahem, husband!)

9: Does 100 degree weather count as a pet peeve? I think so!

10: The fact that there is a chocolate chip cookie in the kitchen, but I am not in the kitchen. :)

Now, I'm sure you all feel so fullfilled knowing these things about me. I'd love to hear some of your "pet peeves".

Happy Wednesday!! :)

17 Months

I know I say this every time, but I can not believe my little boy will be a year and half next month! To say "time is flying" is an understatement! I feel like I can see him grow up a little bit more each and every day. It's amazing to me to watch what he learns and then see him act those things out. He's like a little sponge! :) I have to say this past month comes in pretty close as my favorite month with him (the 5th month is my other favorite). I can't put my finger on it exactly, but he's just become a little person over the last few weeks! I know that sounds weird, but he's not a baby any more. He's talking, running, climbing, dancing, cleaning, helping, loving, etc. And he is an absolute BLAST to be around! I love to just sit and watch him play. His mind is always working, and it's usually thinking "what can I get in to?". Haha.

So, what is Levi up to now? Well, at 17 months Levi is...

Picking his nose... :)

Not afraid to touch anything...

Throwing EVERYthing...

• Weighing in at 28.6lbs and measuring 33 3/4 in long!
• Climbing any and every thing
• Shimmying to music (still trying to catch this one on video)
• Telling people to "shh" (again, must catch on video) during church or when you turn out the lights
• Saying "hop" for rabbit and has just recently started "hopping" too (can't quite get his feet off the ground yet)
• Walking down steps by himself (with mom's hand VERY close by)
• Drinking out of regular cups (without getting it everywhere) and especially enjoys Tervis Tumblers :)
• Bringing us things he knows he's not supposed to have
• Climbing out of the bathtub-the GARDEN tub!
• Back to normal eating-thank goodness!
• Being good in church and restaurants
• Finally shaking his head yes! Jeffrey worked on this with him one night when I wasn't home, so the first time I saw him do it was in response to "Do you love Mommy?". Heart=melted!

And finally, Levi is...

Continuing to be the love and light of our lives!

I Am Oz

You ever wonder what makes people "toot their own horns"? You know what I mean...those that talk about how great they are at "fill in the blank". Or those that talk about how much they love something or somebody that it makes you wonder who they're trying to convince?

It reminds me of the great and powerful Oz in The Wizard of Oz. Here this guy is hiding behind smoke, lights and mirrors, talking about his greatness. Turns out, he's insecure and unsure just like the rest of them (and us)!



I am a Christian. I love God. You will hear me reference God, prayer, the Bible or church in converstations. You will not hear me saying "God" or "Jesus" every 2 seconds. You will not see "God" or "Jesus" in every post on Facebook. You will not see me wearing a t-shirt that says "I am a Christian". Why? It is my desire that you see Christ in my actions. That you hear Christ in my words. I want it to be obvious by my life that I love God and strive every day for a home with Him in heaven.

I am a Mother. I love my son, and I love being a mother. You will hear me talk about Levi or refer to him in conversations. You will not hear me gushing about how perfect he is or how wonderful of a mother I am. You will not hear me say "I love him" every 2 seconds. I want you to see that though! I want you to see it on my face when I do talk about him. I want you to feel it when you see us together. I want him to know that I love him and think he is wonderful, not just by my words, but also by my actions.

Why am I saying all of this? Sometimes, I hear people gushing about God or their children, and it makes me reflect on my own life. Do I talk about them enough? Do I say "God", "Christ", or "Levi" enough? And then, I realize that I don't have to. I am confident in my relationship with God for the first time in months. I am sure that my son loves me when he hugs my neck every night. I feel like people hide behind their words sometimes. Perhaps they feel like if they say it enough, others (and maybe even themselves) will perceive it as the truth. It is not always necessary, or good, to stand on the mountaintops and shout your greatness. Humility is a precious personality trait, and God rewards us for it as stated in Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the humble, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven".

So my goal: Be proud of who I am. Be proud of my God and my son. Be proud of my spritual life and my motherhood. Be proud, but be humble. :)

Date Night

Tuesday night was supposed to be my Girlfriends Bible Group meeting. However, it got cancelled (sad) so I was left with a free night. I immediately called my wonderful mother and asked her to keep Levi so Jeffrey and I could go out on a date. A what? A date? Is that even a word? I feel like I haven't spent quality time with him since our anniversary in May! Anyways, she agreed, and the plans were made!

We saw "Horrible Bosses" in Mt. Juliet (thanks to my boss, we had free tickets). :) I have to say, it was pretty darn funny. However, they went way overboard with the bad language. I hate when movies do that-just ruins it for me! Maybe if they had an edited version...yeah, don't see that one happening. We laughed a lot though, so I consider it a success!

After that was "dinner" at Marble Slab. Lol. I got a red velvet cake milkshake, and man was it fabulous! I mean, look at this thing:



Red velvet ice cream, chocolate cake and white chocolate chips! YUMMMMMY! :)

We headed to get Levi after that because I hadn't seen him all day. On the way home, Jeffrey said it felt like back before we were married and went out on a regular basis. That made my heart smile! It's nice to know we can still act like we did while dating. :)

I do have to tell you a funny story...Driving back, this car of 3 guys pulls up beside us. We had the windows down, and I guess the sun was blinding them or something, because they start hollaring and grinning at me. Yeah, um doofus, see the man beside me? Now, they were all of 17 years old, so I just found it amusing. My husband, however, did not. He got MAD! I mean, MAD! I have to admit, it was kind of funny. My laughter did not help him. After I stopped laughing, I realized the sweetness of it all. (Yeah, I know that sounds weird.) But seriously, it made me feel good to know my hubby still gets posessive of me (but not in a psycho way). :)

Anywho, for those married folk out there (especially with children), I want to encourage you to go on date nights. Make time for yourselves. It is more than worth it. And hey, I'll be happy to babysit! ;)

Fiddlin, Fishin and Fireworks!

For the 4th of July weekend, we rented a cabin on Center Hill at the Sligo Marina. Me, Mom, Courtney and Levi went up Friday afternoon, and Jeffrey got to come up Sunday and Monday. We had an AMAZING time! It was so nice (especially after a week of sickness) to get away and just relax with family. Unfortunately, Levi got sick Saturday night. :( I was so glad to have Mom and Court help so I could be with him. But...he was better the next morning, so we stayed and enjoyed the rest of our time together!

*WARNING: There are a LOT of pictures in this post!* :)

Friday consisted of getting to the cabin, playing with homemade bubbles, going to the Smithville Jamboree and a very longggg trip to Wal-mart. If you've never been to the Jamboree, I highly recommend it! We're already making plans to go back next year. It is like they took my favorite parts (food, exhibits, music) of the Wilson County fair and took out all the other stuff (rides, games, thugs, etc.)! I loved all the booths of handmade and local goodies, not to mention the delicious "fair" food! (Yes, I ate fried chicken on a stick! Yum!). :) They also had contests for everything from fiddlers to square dancers. It was so much fun! In fact, we had such a good time (and missed so much) that we went back Saturday night too! :)

I do have a Levi story to tell (of course). :) They had a "train/trolley" for the kids/big kids to ride. I wasn't sure what Levi would do since he'd skipped a nap, but we went for it. He seemed to just take all the sights in. Every once in a while, he'd smile, but he mostly just observed everything. I had my arm around the back of him so that my hand was on the outside part of the cart. About halfway through the ride, he looks over to my hand, takes it and puts it on his side, then pats it while smiling up at me. He didn't let me move it the rest of the time! I have to say that goes down as one of my favorite moments of his life so far. :)

We were supposed to have a boat Saturday, but it didn't work out, so we hung out on a houseboat at the dock (thank goodness for Courtney's friends, Sierra and Luna). :) We swam a little bit, laid out a little bit, but mostly chased Levi with his water gun. He made a fast friend when Sierra filled it up for him. :)

Dancing with Aunt Cece



He stayed like this for almost 3 hours!

After a nap and some fishing, we headed back to the Jamboree! We got to see some amazing performers, and I racked up on some Christmas gifts! :) The dreaded "throw up incident of 2011" happened when we got home that night. For those with weaker stomachs, I won't go into detail. Let's just say I didn't know a toddler, or anybody for that matter, could throw up that much. Yeah, not fun. Poor little baby. :( I think I slept 2 minutes that night just praying he didn't do it again.

Oh joy, the nose-picking stage...

We took it easy Sunday, keeping a close eye on little man. He never got sick again and was back to his usual self, so we headed out for some swimming! Jeffrey arrived that afternoon so we all went fishing before heading back tot he cabin for dinner and fireworks. The fireworks were great, but I was more amazed at the amount of boats and people! The marina was covered! Thankfully, we had a perfect view from our porch, so we didn't have to fight a crowd anywhere.

Testing the water

He loved his little chair!

My little fishing man :)

LOVE this picture!

Wasn't bothered at all by the worms. :)

We went swimming and fishing again on Monday (see a theme here?) before Jeffrey and I headed back home with little man later that day.

This picture cracks me up for some reason. :)

We are some fishin ladies!

I love spending time with my family, and to do it at the lake with fishing makes it even better! We all had such a good time, and I can't wait to go back next year! :)

We went over to Jeffrey's parents that night for a bit so they could see him. They got down an old wooden truck of Jeffrey's, and Levi loved it. :)

Helping Nana clean it up!

They had some poppers and a bottle rocket for Levi, and his reaction was more than I could've ever hoped for or imagined... :)

As you can see, he liked Poppa making the "motion of throwing" as much as he liked the actual throwing of the poppers! :)

Love hearing him say "wow"! :)

Overall, I'd say we had a pretty fabulous holiday weekend! So thankful we all got better to be able to enjoy it! :)

We're Alive!

I realized today you probably all think I've crawled into some dark black hole until my son gets past the terrible two stage. Fear not! Not only am I back, but I can officially say we have NOT started the terrible twos (thank the good Lord in Heaven!)! Turns out his little episode at Sunday lunch was the start of a VERY long week with a stomach bug. :( Now, while I had prayed that it was NOT the terrible twos, I definitely didn't want it to be this! It was horrible! He started throwing up Monday around lunch and again after nap. I went home and got him, and we stayed home until Wednesday morning when I took him to the doctor. Because he'd thrown up for almost 2 full days at that point, they gave him some Zofran. Now, I usually leave the doctor (or get off the phone) very frustrated when he's sick because it's always "viral" and we just have to "wait it out". Yes, that's what she told me this time too, but she took it seriously enough to give him medicine. Score for her! :) He was fine all day Wednesday and Thursday, then I went to get him Friday morning and he (and his crib) was covered! Poor baby had just laid in it all night not making a peep. I was so sad. :( But, he seemed fine! So weird! Anyways, we had a couple more episodes over the weekend, but I think it's finally all out of his system. I can officially say there is nothing worse for this mom than seeing her son sick or hurting and not being able to do a thing about it. Saturday was the worst of all, and all I could do was watch and comfort him. We got in the shower, fully clothed and covered in puke, and he just cried and hugged me. I realized then, with puke in my hair and on my new shirt, that a mother's love (biological or not) is unconditional.

I also realized from all of this that I have some AMAZING friends and family! Jackie had Levi Monday when he got sick, and bless her, she had to clean it up, resulting in her getting sick as well. Julie got him from his nap where she found him and his bed covered in puke, and she cleaned it up! Mom and Courtney helped out all week because Jackie was too sick to keep him. Then, poor things had to clean up Mom's car when he puked Saturday night. Amanda, Amanda's mom Angela, and Doralyn all pitched in to watch him so I could go to work. I know people do it all the time, but I can not imagine raising a child away from friends and family. I honestly don't know how we'd do it. We are so blessed, and we are so grateful!

I've got a ton of pictures from our weekend at the lake, as well as some from our company cookout Friday. So, be on the lookout for more posts soon! :)