Dressing Up & Craft time

Here's what happens when you leave a very nosy dog and a two year old alone for a few minutes....

... and here's a few of Hannah "painting" for the first time.

Hannah's birthday (part 2)

Sorry I've been such a slacker. It takes literally almost an hour to upload photos to this thing lately... and I can't figure out how to put them in order so these are out of sequence. Here are some pics from Hannah's 2nd birthday party.

Birthday Party Fun

Here's what happens when you dangle a cupcake in front of Hannah. She wasn't fond of the fact that we had to finish the whole verse of Happy Birthday before she could dig in. More pictures to come soon!

Happy 2nd Birthday Hannah!

For Sale By Owner

So in order to prepare for Todd's deployment in March we are selling all of our houses (yes, that's plural... we own a few). If you know anyone who is looking to move (or maybe, maybe rent) please send these websites on to them!

www.929WConfederate.com

www.3324River.com

www.933center.com

Could it be?

Maybe?

Is it time?

Will she do it?

We'll see....

Halloween (a little late)

Thankful

Happy Veteran's Day! Since my husband so rarely checks our blog I wanted to leave a little special note for him so he can see it in like a month when he gets bored enough to take a look:)

On days like today(Veteran's Day) I am reminded of how blessed we are to have soldiers like Captain Todd Lyle fighting for our country. I know first hand how much hard work and dedication he gives to the US Army and I sleep better at night knowing that it is men and women like him that are fighting for our freedom.

He and many other soldiers sacrifice so much to make sure we are safe. I can't wait for our daughter to grow up knowing that her daddy has served our country. We love you and we are so proud of you Todd!

( PS. we had to take this picture for his ID card, it's not like he normally stands at attention up against random walls in our house.)

lost in translation

Todd and I were talking about all of Hannah's cute words and phrases last night. I want to write all of them down so we can remember them. Here are just a few:

- "Noop-see" - Snoopy

- "Meeeer"- Come here (she is very bossy)

- "Didy"- Lily (the dog)

- "Happy Dada"- Happy Birthday (the only birthday we have celebrated since she could really talk is Todd's so she just shortened the phrase to fit him specifically.)

- "Dee Dah" - Cartoons (don't ask where she got that)

- "May-mins"- Raisins

- "Mean-ah"- Banana

- "Tickle you"- When she wants to be tickled

- "Hold you"- When she wants to be held

- "Dear"- there

Other milestones to remember: She can count to ten but often skips seven. She has figured out that standing on her little chair makes her about a foot taller so she pushes it around to get to things that she can't reach (ie the sink, bathroom counter, any drink of mine). She loves dressing herself, but loves undressing herself even more. She always tells me when she poops, often after she has pooped and most of the time she'll bring me a diaper and lay down on the floor also. She loves to color, especially when I let her use a pen. If she is doing something that she needs to be careful doing she'll look at me and say "careful monkey". When we sit down for dinner she'll insist upon us all holding hands to say a prayer... and she always says "amen" when we are done.

CAST YOUR VOTE volume 2

It's that time of year again for the annual Halloween Pumpkin Carving Contest between Todd, Bill and I. Please cast your vote by commenting on this post!

All three together



PUMPKIN #1


PUMPKIN #2


PUMPKIN #3

Catching Up (Part 2)

She decided that putting the sweatshirt on half way would be just fine.

Catching Up (Part 1)

So it's been awhile. Working from home doesn't leave much time for blog posting.

A week or two ago Todd and I took Hannah to the Congaree State Park. It's really cool and has a great boardwalk that went all through the forrest. We even saw a deer! Hannah had a pretty good time, especially when we let her push the stroller... and run amuck.

My Favorite Muse...

I never thought I would....

1. use a crock-pot this much.
2. look forward to going into the office to work (even if it is only like 5 hours a week).
3. kind-of enjoy watching a cartoon featuring a ghetto dude named "DJ Lance" dressed in an orange jumpsuit (the spandex kind, not the death row kind.)
4. appreciate a good playground as much as I do.
5. dream of the nicer vacuum or steam mop.
6. sing "Wheels on a bus" about eleventy-million times a day (and yes, eleventy-million is an exact figure)
7. want to hug a total stranger who is willing to take my empty buggy from me in the store parking lot so I don't have to walk it back to the buggy corral.
8. consider 7:15 am sleeping in!
9. say the following...
" put the poo poo in the potty"
"no, we don't ride the dog"
"no screeching! no screeching! no screeching!"
"leave your shoes on in the car"
"no, that's mommy's toothbrush. it doesn't belong in the trash"
"we need to let the kitty cat sleep"
10. describe things as yucky, stinky, dirty, silly or smelly.

First day of "school"

Hannah had her first day of "school" last week. She is going to a Mother's Morning Out program on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9-12. I took these pictures before taking her to her first day. I did take the camera with me to school but I didn't take any pictures there because it was just easier for both of us if I didn't stick around for long. Maybe I'll take the camera once she gets more adjusted and I'll get some pics of her in her classroom.





Overall she did pretty good for her first week. The teachers said that all of the kids cried off and on. They said that Hannah was very smart and they were impressed to see that she knew all of her animals already! Hopefully this week she'll do even better and not cry at all.

Sleeping Beauty, part II

Warning: There is partial nudity in this post!


So the other day I slipped into Hannah's room to get some pictures of her sleeping, and this is how I found her. Please note, she did have a shirt on when I put her to bed.

Count to 10!

You'll notice she starts with 2. However, she does say 9 twice so really it just evens out:)

Hannah loves Lily!

So Hannah is really in love with Lily now. She chases her around the house and pulls her collar. Poor Lily is so great about it although occasionally I'll see her hiding from Hannah so that she can be left alone. Notice the look of desperation in Lily's eyes.

Catching up!

So I realize it's been almost a month since my last post. Chasing Hannah has really started to take up a lot of time. Here's what we've been up to in a nutshell.

1. We took a trip to Hilton Head with the entire Lyle/Williford clan. It was a great time! Hannah got used to the beach by about the second day. She got to play with her cousins. I got a little bit of a tan. Definitely still very white compared to most folks but it's a little tan for me these days. Todd got to rest a lot, which he really needed. It was wonderful to hang out with everyone and we are already excited about next year.

2. I took a girls weekend trip to Charleston with 4 of my greatest mommy friends! We shopped until we dropped, ate good food and got to lay on the beach without any children to chase! We all fit into one hotel room and we were really excited about the prospect of sleeping in... however, it turns out that even sans children it's just not that easy. We did find a really good thrift store in Folly Beach and I think we spent about 2 1/2 hours shopping there. I'm pretty sure the employees of that store are still talking about it:)

3. Todd had surgery to repair a hernia. He is pretty much completely recovered now. He was off his feet for a few days and still isn't supposed to lift heavy things. As much as I hated seeing him in pain, I did kind of enjoy taking care of him. He never lets me pamper him.

4. Hannah is growing up so fast! She has a ton of words now. This morning before I got in the shower she pulled my towel off the rack and said "mommy's towel". This is the first time she has put two words together that I can understand. It's pretty crazy. She has started "attack kissing" me. This is when she rams her kissing face into mine and then just holds it there. This usually makes me laugh and she just loves it! She does not stop moving until I put her down for a nap or to go to bed. Then, she's actually pretty good at resting. She'll start a mothers' morning out program in September so I wonder if that'll calm her down a little bit.

Time to post some pics!

Mmmm. sketti!

Everything is better covered in tomato sauce.





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Chores

So we decided that Hannah is old enough to start pulling her own weight around the house. First chore on the list: Dishes!



Next week: Laundry:)

A great response

I recently had a single friend tell me that she wished she could be a stay-at-home mom so that she could "just cook dinner every night". It hurt a little to hear that that is what she thought we did all day. My sister-in-law sent me this great article that was printed in the Washington Post and I thought I'd share it all with you. It sums up my thoughts exactly.


By Carolyn Hax
Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Dear Carolyn:

Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .

Okay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.

Tacoma, Wash.

Dear Tacoma,

I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.

So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself

Lumpy Bed

Can you see it?


There is something in the bed making the left pillow a little off...


Hum, what could it be?


A little closer?


Ah-Ha!


Our dog was so worn out that she would not move out of OUR bed when I was trying to make it the other morning... so, I made it anyway.