"Eww, I don't want to touch the yucky stuff" "I help you daddy"
"I'm tired, I think I will take a seat on this here pumpkin you are caving. I'm a helper, huh daddy?" The finished product. Adam's is the big one on the left, Grace's is the monster in the middle (to match her pink monster costume) and mine is the one on the right. Turned out pretty good! I never thought in a million years that Grace's attention span would allow us to carve pumpkins but she absolutely loved it. She got right in there and helped Adam and was very in to it the whole time. I am not sure how much Adam appreciated her "help" but it was so cute to watch her actually be able to participate in a holiday activity.
I love holding her hand... she spotted the rooster or "doodle doo" as she calls it.
Where are we and why is it so cold? That goat is scary but those chickens are hilarious!! I am a happy girl! A happy girl on the move!!
We went to Flavor Fruit Farms last Saturday. Just call me "Mom of the Year" right now because this was literally the first weekend in October we had available to go. Lets just say it was a little disappointing. The place didn't have hardly any pumpkins left (at least not any good ones). It was a little desolate. No pumpkins, no hay rides, no sunny fall weather, no swarms of people. Even the staff was looking at us like, "What are you doing here, don't you know Halloween is in a week?" Luckily for me, I have a one year old who really doesn't know the difference and didn't mind that her mommy and daddy were dragging her out in the freezing cold to get non-existent pumpkins and look at some animals. She did like the animals. The rooster and chickens were her favorite. She loves birds, they just crack her up. We did go inside for a donut and cider and she put that away no problem. We also got an apple pie, caramel apples, and cider. Yum. She is so happy and easy to please. God, I love this kid.
(click to make larger) Dorks. Seriously BIG dorks. We think we are funny though. This was our one night out on the town. Lets just say we can't quite party like we used to. But, we did manage one night and had a great time. Note to self: "Sushi is not a good idea before a night on the town". HAHAH.
And the video. This was on the way to the mall when we had no idea that Ilene was videoing us from the back seat. A pretty good example of what dorks we are and how we have fun just being together. Period.
My favorite part is when we bust out the robot half way through in perfect unison. Nice Work :)
(okay for some reason the video won't upload, will try again later)
I am still here. You wouldn't know it by my utter lack of blogging. I am not feeling well, super tired, my head hurts, achy, and just plain yuck. I guess my 10 day travel stint is finally catching up to me. Here are the updates coming soon:
the rest of my girls weekend including a funny video
fall pics of Grace
pics of our visit to Flavor Fruit Farms on Saturday
a new banner
And other random updates: I finally scheduled my gallbladder surgery- December 5th. My other option was the day before Thanksgiving, uh no thanks :). The work meeting went well, you get a bunch of sales people together and mix it with alcohol and boy things can get interesting. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be and I actually learned some pretty good stuff. We had a good weekend, a visit to the pumpkin patch, watching the Spartans beat Michigan, and scrapbooking with the girls at Nicole's house. I think that is about it- pictures and more interesting posts to come soon. I promise! My head hurts too much right now...
I will post more from my girls weekend when Lindsay sends me the rest of the pics. I think there might be even a few funny videos in there. I had such a great time with my old college friends, it's like we don't even miss a beat. There is something about having friends that love you no matter what. They mean the world to me and I think we have started a new yearly tradition of a get together.
Now, back to the real world. I am home and working today but not for long. I leave tomorrow for Arlington, VA for a meeting until Friday. Yuck. I always dread these things. One, I am away from my family and I will miss them terribly (esp after being gone this past weekend) and Two, I hate being couped up in a conference room for 8 hours a day and when we are finally done being forced to socialize with other drug reps. It is very competitive with everyone trying to show off how smart and great they are and that drives me bonkers. Jeez, I sound like a barrel of fun. Lets put it this way- I love my team and the people I work with but really have no interest in kissing you know what. Know what I mean? I always feel this way before I go but it usually ends up not being that bad I am re-energized about my job and products and kind of enjoy the socializing aspect. We shall see how it goes this time around :)
Shopping together and everyone buying the same shirt at Express. Wine tasting at Chatam Hills WineryWe made a scene as usual and the lady at the winery was so annoyed by us. She still agreed to take our picture even though we were taking obscene pics in her winery. So mature.
Dinner at an Italian place called Daniel's. Great pasta with pink sauce.
The best part of the night. We played games and this one was kind of like telephone. Everyone writes a phrase or statement down on a piece of paper. You then pass it and the next person has to draw it, then the next person writes the phrase and so on and so on. This was hilarious, especially the more wine we drank. Somehow everything became really perverted. Typical- LOL.
Day one of our girls weekend in Cary, North Carolina. Here we are in the car after Julie picked us up from the airport on our way to Julie's beautiful new home. Mere, Petey, and I flew in from MI and Ilene met us from New York. Lindsay and Lori are getting in tonight from Indianapolis and New York respectively.
We went for the grand tour of Julie's house and then went on a little walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the 86 degree weather here today. We then hit up a local nail place for pedicures and wine!
We finished the night at PF Changs for dinner. As usual we are having so much fun together. We don't even have to be doing anything and we just laugh and are crazy and feel like we are in college again. More posts to come...
I was uploading pics from my point and shoot and came across this video. It is from a while back but it made me laugh so I had to share. She got this toy from her aunties at her birthday party and I have to say this is one of the best toys ever. It can be a rocker, has a removable guard and foot rest, it can be pushed, or the child can use their feet. Oh, and did I mention it plays music and honks? It grows with the kid- ingenious!! Thanks Mere, LT, Linder, Petey, and Lori!!
We went to two first birthday parties this past weekend. One of them was for Noah. I know that there are a couple of you who read the blog who couldn't make it so I thought I would post some pics. For the rest of you, Beckie is Noah's mom and Adam's cousin. She is kind of like the sister Adam never had. Beckie and I were blessed to be pregnant at the same time and have our babies only two months apart! These two are going to have so much fun growing up together.
Opening all sorts of good presents. Lots of books and little people. What more could a little guy ask for?
The birthday boy. Noah is so fun to take pictures of because he is always smiling and has these beautiful blue eyes.
Oh, and you know I had to sneak in a few of my little pumpkin. She impressed everyone with her walking abilities and squeaker shoes. She loves this little bench her Aunt Nancy has in her yard. She really liked trying to stand on it.
And here are the two trouble makers in action. I can see the future of this dynamic duo already and we might be in for it :)
Noah: "Hey, I just got all these really cool presents but this bucket full of ice and pop is way more fun."
Grace: "Do you think we can climb in there?" Noah: "Gimme that, I wanna play with it."
Grace: "Hands off mister, get your own!" Grace is going to be very good at holding her own with the boys. She will have Luke and Noah to thank for that. I just hope the boys can survive her. The drama I tell ya...
So, like I said before, this was a dream come true. Seeing Oprah live and in person. Her head was really big, you don't really realize that on TV. The studio is a lot smaller than I expected too, it only holds about 300 people and there really isn't a bad seat in the place. Oprah was very real, which was a relief. I would hate if I met one of my favorite people in person and she was some crazy diva. You could tell she really cares about what she is doing and the topics and people she discusses. I still love her!!!!
I won't try to recap the day here because Nicki did such a good job here: What An Experience...
OPRAH!!!! I have been given the chance to go to Oprah by my friend Kristen who won 4 tickets online. She is bringing her mom, Nicki, and me. How lucky am I? I absolutely love Oprah, I DVR it every day, and it has always been a dream of mine to go to a show.
On my way to Chicago now for the 11 am taping. I am so excited! Will post more complete with pics later...
"Hey Jane, just wanted to call and leave you a message in case you needed a smile today. Your daughter just climbed up on the arm of the couch and tried to stand up and balance. 14 months old. Sound like anyone you know?"
HAHA! This was my favorite thing to do as a kid. I would walk along the back of the couch and dance in front of the oven door (where I could see myself). There wasn't a car seat that could contain me or an obstacle I couldn't climb. I was such a handful my mom put me in gymnastics as an outlet. 18 years and a full ride scholarship later- I was still doing it. My mom was always terrified watching me compete and hated seeing me injured but let me do it because I loved it so much.
I just know my mom saw Grace do that today and thought "oh no, not again" :)
First, the random drawing from the comments from my 100th post. And the winner is...
Kristin!If you could send me your address I will get that gift card in the mail to you ASAP.
And in the name of comments, I took all of yours to heart and I will be trying to do more:
Thoughts For Thursday
Telling you more about me ( I am a little obsessed with that little girl of mine, I know)
Making it interactive- questions, polls, and giveaways
Videos
and of course Pictures.
And second, I have decided on this car. I ordered it today in dark gray metallic. Thanks for all of your input! Here are the results of the poll, looks like I chose a winner!
It all started with this. Organizing my work storage unit. It was an absolute mess and it felt so good to get it under control....
So then I moved on to my closet this weekend.
I change my closet out according to season because not everything fits. Does anyone else do this? It makes it a good time to reevaluate my clothes. After my closet I moved on to my sock drawer, and then my underwear drawer, my shoes, and then all the totes in the basement. And before I knew it I had 4 bags of stuff to donate to St. Vincents. I didn't know I had so many pairs of dress pants. I now know I have no winter casual shirts. I went shopping today to fill the holes and got a few shirts from Ann Taylor and some Nine West boots.
Speaking of shopping, I am afraid I will never again have a leisurely shopping trip. Either I have a grumpy, no-nap toddler with me who wants to get out of the stroller and run around the store or I have to get home to said toddler, or I am on my lunch break, or some other time constraint. NEVER again will I shop in peace- BOO HOOOOOOO. Does this ever change? Will I ever have time to get everything I need in one trip again?
We were tired of having a toddler running around our house, hiding the phone on us, yelling at the top of her lungs, getting into everything! I mean, really, Grace is 14 months old now and it is about time she got her own place.
Apparently she's not to upset about moving out. Looks like she is cooking herself up some dinner. Or maybe she is baking something? Hard to tell. Maybe the Scotties can move in with her too :)
Grandma Ann got Grace this cool playhouse from a lady she works with and Grace absolutely LOVES it!! I caught her and Adam playing in it on video from our bedroom balcony. You have to turn the volume up kind of high to hear how hard she is laughing. I love that he is such a great dad and loves to get down and dirty and play with her. As you can tell by the squeals of delight Dada is so much fun!!
I got the best email ever yesterday! Time to order a new car! YEA!!!
For those of you who don't know I am a pharmaceutical rep and get a company car. My 2006 Mariner has 80,000 plus on it and I get to order a new vehicle but I need your help. We get a few choices and I have narrowed it down to these three. The Suburu Forester (AWD, cloth, heated seats, moon roof), Jeep Patriot (leather,heated seats, 4WD), or the Dodge Journey (FWD, cloth, 3rd row seat). Keep in mind I do A LOT of driving in both rural and city areas in Michigan's lovely weather- snow, ice, and rain. We will also (God willing) be adding to our family in the next couple of years so there has to be room for 2 car seats as well as all my drug rep stuff (samples, giveaways, food, etc.).
My first TFT (Thoughts For Thursday for those who were wondering).
Grace is getting to the point where we are having to tell her no. Typically it is because she is doing things that are annoying, or gross, but not usually dangerous. We find ourselves saying no a lot and she has started saying no to us in return. An example would be opening the cupboard the trash is in and pulling trash out and carrying it around the house or knocking the phone off the hook and putting it somewhere we can't find when it rings. The problem with saying no is 1.)she is only 14 mos old and does she really get "no" and 2.) we don't want her to hear it so often that when she really is doing something we really need her to stop (i.e. dangerous) she won't listen because we are saying it for every little thing.
So I guess the point of this post is to figure out how to discipline a 1 year old. Do we say no? And what age is it appropriate to say no? What should the consequences be for not listening? When did you start disciplining your children and how? Are there any books, shows, schools of thought you would recommend?
"Eww, I don't want to touch the yucky stuff"
"I help you daddy"
"I'm tired, I think I will take a seat on this here pumpkin you are caving. I'm a helper, huh daddy?"
The finished product. Adam's is the big one on the left, Grace's is the monster in the middle (to match her pink monster costume) and mine is the one on the right. Turned out pretty good! I never thought in a million years that Grace's attention span would allow us to carve pumpkins but she absolutely loved it. She got right in there and helped Adam and was very in to it the whole time. I am not sure how much Adam appreciated her "help" but it was so cute to watch her actually be able to participate in a holiday activity.
That goat is scary but those chickens are hilarious!!
I am a happy girl! A happy girl on the move!!
We went to Flavor Fruit Farms last Saturday. Just call me "Mom of the Year" right now because this was literally the first weekend in October we had 
Dorks. Seriously BIG dorks. We think we are funny though. This was our one night out on the town. Lets just say we can't quite party like we used to. But, we did manage one night and had a great time. Note to self: "Sushi is not a good idea before a night on the town". HAHAH.
Wine tasting at Chatam Hills Winery
We made a scene as usual and the lady at the winery was so annoyed by us. She still agreed to take our picture even though we were taking obscene pics in her winery. So mature.
Dinner at an Italian place called Daniel's. Great pasta with pink sauce.
The best part of the night. We played games and this one was kind of like telephone. Everyone writes a phrase or statement down on a piece of paper. You then pass it and the next person has to draw it, then the next person writes the phrase and so on and so on. This was hilarious, especially the more wine we drank. Somehow everything became really perverted. Typical- LOL.
We finished the night at PF Changs for dinner. As usual we are having so much fun together. We don't even have to be doing anything and we just laugh and are crazy and feel like we are in college again. More posts to come...
Noah: "Gimme that, I wanna play with it."
Grace is going to be very good at holding her own with the boys. She will have Luke and Noah to thank for that. I just hope the boys can survive her. The drama I tell ya...
So, like I said before, this was a dream come true. Seeing Oprah live and in person. Her head was really big, you don't really realize that on TV. The studio is a lot smaller than I expected too, it only holds about 300 people and there really isn't a bad seat in the place. Oprah was very real, which was a relief. I would hate if I met one of my favorite people in person and she was some crazy diva. You could tell she really cares about what she is doing and the topics and people she discusses. I still love her!!!!
Kristin! 
It all started with this. Organizing my work storage unit. It was an absolute mess and it felt so good to get it under control....
I change my closet out according to season because not everything fits. Does anyone else do this? It makes it a good time to reevaluate my clothes. After my closet I moved on to my sock drawer, and then my underwear drawer, my shoes, and then all the totes in the basement. And before I knew it I had 4 bags of stuff to donate to St. Vincents.
I didn't know I had so many pairs of dress pants. I now know I have no winter casual shirts. I went shopping today to fill the holes and got a few shirts from Ann Taylor and some Nine West boots. 
