Letters to Seeley

Seeley,

Oh my sweet little angel!  I don't even know where to start on your letter this month.  You are such a big boy now; I did a double-take this afternoon when I glanced at the calendar and realized you'll be TWO YEARS OLD in just two months!  You've kind of lost that "baby look" and are pretty much a full-fledged toddler.  I know you don't understand, but this makes Mommy kind of sad.  I miss my sweet little chubby baby!

But it's also a lot of fun to watch you grow and explore.  You are absolutely fearless; a real adrenaline junkie like Mommy.  Part of me loves this.  The other part of me in cringing in horror. :)  Now I know how Nanny felt when I was growing up and always in the hospital with broken bones.  Luckily you haven't broken any bones yet (knock on wood) but at the rate you're going I'm sure there will be casualties at some point and time.

Last month was your second Easter, but the first Easter where you really understood what was going on.  You, Emma, and Parker had a blast at the church Easter egg hunt.  I love watching you with your sister and cousins.  I really hope that you will all grow up to be good friends.

And yes, you and Emma wore matching shirts.  Cause that's how Mommy rolls.  At least until you're big enough to stop me!

You also had an Easter Party and egg hunt at school.  You totally kicked the other kids' butts at egg hunting!

You also discovered a love of Easter candy.  Robin's eggs and Peeps seemed to be your favorite.

Besides Easter candy, you're also really into Elmo and baseball here lately.  Elmo is your "go-to" snuggle buddy at night, along with your kitty from MeMe.  And you always seem to have a bat in your hand lately.  I think this obsession started when Emma began t-ball.  If you had your way Mr. Big you'd be right there on the field with her.  It's all we can do to keep you occupied and out of the way while Emma is practicing; you want to play SO BAD! 

You've also decided that Uncle Brian is hot stuff.  Every time we go to MeMe's house we hear three words: "PopPop", "snack", and "Brian".  In that order.  I think the sudden and intense love of Brian is due to this:

He supports your need for speed.  Now Daddy wants to buy you a mini-dirt bike like Holton.  I still think we need to start with a tricycle and work our way up . . .

This past month you've become very territorial.  For instance, if you're sitting in my lap and you see Emma coming you'll spread your arms and legs out wide to take up all the room in my lap and tell Emma "no"!  So, we're working on that pesky sharing thing.  And Mommy is trying really hard to make sure both you and Emma get some one-on-one time each day.

Pancho and Bella have fallen in love with you.  Mainly because you like to share your snacks with them.  I almost died when I caught you sharing a sucker with them!  We immediately brushed our teeth and got a new sucker.  And sat in Mommy's lap while eating it to make sure no more doggy germs were shared. Ugh!

You are sooo ticklish, just like Daddy.  You love to play "this little piggy" because I tickle your toes.  And you have THE BEST tickle spot on your neck, just under your ear.  You laugh so hard that Mommy and Daddy laugh until we cry.  It is so cute and precious.



You're such a sweet little boy and I love you so very much.  I can't wait to watch you grow up.  I want you to always know that Mommy loves you!

Love,
Mommy

Letters to Emma

Dear Emma,
Mommy has been a big ol' slacker lately; it's been three months since I've written you a letter!  And a LOT has happened in those three months!

Mommy started back to school in January, and you have been such a big girl about it.  You don't complain when I have to go to class, and you only interrupt me about 10 times an hour on the rare occasion that I'm doing homework while you're awake. :)  I think it helps that Daddy always let you eat McDonalds and completely trash the house while I'm at school.  Mean old Mommy always makes you pick up your toys before bedtime!  But it's ok, and I love to hear about the stuff you did with Daddy while I was gone.

You can also write your last name now.  And again, it only took you a few tries to get it down pat my little genius!  You also achieved another milestone- you got your ears pierced!  You did such a good job of wearing Daddy down on that one, I was one proud Mommy to see you work your magic! Good thing those blue eyes and pouty lips don't work on me-I'm on to you sister!  You were so sweet and nervous about getting your ears pierced.  You did really good right up until she pierced the first ear.  And then you were like "Oh no.  That's not happening again!"  Apparently it stung a little more than you were expecting.  You finally let us pierce the other ear after deciding that you didn't want to walk around with just the one earring.  And literally two seconds after your second ear was done you were just fine and dandy.  And now you are so proud of your earrings.  And already asking for new ones to coordinate with each of your outfits.

You are a born shopper, which makes my little heart proud and my checking account sad.  You went shopping with Meme and I one weekend and were a total mercenary.  You were only supposed to end the day with two new outfits.  Instead you had six. SIX!!  Meme and I were total suckers.

Mommy had a birthday this month and you were super sweet about it.  I was very sick and couldn't really celebrate, but you grabbed my iPad, played some songs and danced your little heart out for me.  According to you we were "getting this party started".  You've got some serious moves kiddo.  Daddy is already stressing out about this.  But I've got to tell you- your little dance party absolutely made my day.  You wanted me to have a good birthday so badly, and thanks to you I did!

I've noticed lately that you've picked up a few of Mommy and Daddy's bad habits though.  Such as saying curse words.  Thanks Daddy.  And it should come as no surprise that you've got a temper.  Unfortunately it's a hair trigger temper like Daddy's so we're working on controlling those pesky little impulses like yelling and throwing things.  You don't want to grow up and be a little stinker sweetie pea, so hopefully all these time-outs will start working soon.

You're also extremely persistent.  As in you absolutely refuse to take "no" for an answer.  Persistence is a lovely quality, don't get me wrong, because it will help you achieve your goals in life.  But right now, all it's achieving is headaches.  I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you are so sweet and helpful one minute, and then making me want to pull my hair out the next!  So, that's another little character trait we're going to work on.

Luckily, none of these traits seem to show themselves at school.  Ms. Melba and Ms. Michelle brag on you ALL THE TIME.  They absolutely adore you, and are always telling Mommy how good you are in class and how hard you try to follow the rules and please them.  That makes me and Daddy so proud.

You and Seeley have developed a love/hate relationship here lately as well.  One minute you're both playing so great together and the next all hell has broke loose.  You're kicking him out of your room and slamming doors.  He's grabbing a bat and beating the crap out of you.  Not fun.  But, you still love him.  Even when he's getting on your nerves, which all little brothers are honor bound to do, you will always hug him and love on him after the final beat down.

You have another first coming up soon.  You're starting T-Ball next month!  Mommy and Daddy can't wait.  We've already bought you a glove, helmet, and bat (all pink of course) and we've been practicing so you'll know what to do.  We've even practiced some with Holton, Uncle Brian, and Uncle Justin.  You really got a kick out of that.  We also discovered that you've got quite the arm kiddo.  You can aim and throw really well!! 

And Uncle Brian has introduced you to motorcycles, Lord help me.  Now you're bound and determined to have a dirt bike just like Holton.  Slow down little girl!  I'm just not ready for you to be that big yet!  Can we please stick with the Dora Jeep a little bit longer?!

I love you my little wiggle butt!

Love,

Mommy

In the zone

Just in case you were wondering, school has completely sucked away my free time.  Gone.  Buh-bye.  How long has it been since I've blogged?  A year?  Not that my blog posts are riveting or anything like that, but I have had some family members start nagging.  Then I started noticing that my blog looks a little blah . . . I need to do some updating to give it a fresh feel.  Soooo, I'll just add that to the to-do list!

School update first.  The actual classwork isn't hard.  I find myself pleased that I waited to get my MBA simply because now I have all this real life experience that makes things just so much easier.  Marketing plan?  Pffft.  Can do one in my sleep, thankyouverymuch!  My classmates no longer give me the fish eye as if I'm some alien, the non-traditional student. They've figured out that I'm pretty handy to have around if an A is your goal! :)

The one difficult thing about school is the time sink.  I'm doing homework on my lunch breaks, after the kids go to bed, during naptime on the weekends . . . this is starting to get annoying.  I have a lovely craft project just waiting on me, and absolutely no time to do it!  But, there you go.  Hubs has been lovely.  When my Marketing midterm was due this past week he got the kids ready and to school so that I could do some homework at the unlikely hour of 6am . . . did I mention I don't get much sleep either?!

The kids seem to put up with my being gone two nights a week fairly well.  I think it helps that I also put off homework until they're in bed, etc. so I'm not taking any additional time away from them.  AND, when I'm at school Jeremy will let them eat McDonalds and destroy the house.  Perks of being Daddy I guess.  He'll usually pick it up too. Usually.

My little sweeties are getting so big!  I'll do their posts later this month, but couldn't resist a quick picture.

Your's truly is turning the big 3-0 this month and I've decided to do it in style.  How?  It'll go a little something like this:

Jeremy thinks I'm nuts.  Absolutely certifiable.  BUT, I'm so excited about doing a tandem skydive I can hardly stand it!!  I'll be doing it in Northwest AR, so hopefully we'll be able to see our sweet friends the Hollands and meet baby Jade (hint, hint) while we're in the area.

V-Day Review

Yes, I'm a little late with this.  But with my blogging track record this should come as no surprise. :)

Since my sweet Emma Lou is always down for a project, we tend to make little goodie bags for any of the preschool holiday parties.  This year we bought little plastic shovels, some candy, and attached cards that said "i dig you".  Both of the kiddos love to see their faces on stuff so I couldn't resist adding a picture.  And why wouldn't they love seeing themselves?  They're gorgeous, right?!

The teacher gifts were the platic tumblers that are all the rage now.

 

I seriously should have skipped See's party. He was so worried that I was going to leave that he didn't really have any fun. And of course, he freaked out when I left to go back to work. Sigh. So is it a Mom fail when I do go to the party and upset him when I leave, or when I don't go to the party? Ugh.

Emma did much better. Don't you love this forced smile?

Jeremy and I were very low key.  We picked up some take out and played with the kids.  It's amazing how absolutely normal romantic holidays become when you have kids.  It's a lot of work to be romantic!  Maybe when the kids get older we'll finally get back on track and put a little effort into Valentine's Day.  Despite that, not a bad day if I do say so myself!

Unacceptable

We finally have a snow day and I'm at work.  Cause we're kind of like the postman- the stinkin trains are always running.

Unacceptable.

The accutane has cleared up my face.  But now my skin is so dry that I look like a leper and I've gained 19 pounds. That's right- 19.

Unacceptable.

I'd forgotten how much time you have to spend on homework.  Instead of taking a nice little nap on Sunday afternoons, or perhaps working on one of my many projects on my crafty to-do list, or watching the Twilight movie that came out on DVD, I'm writing a case analysis.

Unacceptable.

Last month I was in Florida and it was 80 degrees.  On Wednesday I'm leaving for another work trip, Kansas City this time.  Expected temps are in the 40s.  My body can't take the shock.

Unacceptable.

Hopefully the week will improve; I would love to add some acceptables to my list!  Ugh, Mondays!

Setting a Goal

Last year I set a goal for myself to get my MBA, which meant going back to college after an 8 year hiatus. Ugh. So this semester I've put that plan into action, still not really knowing how I'm going to find the time to do this.  Time is such a precious commodity when you work full time, have little kids, and all those other day-to-day responsibilities that come with being an adult.  I only thought I didn't have time for everything when I was working on my undergrad degree!

Despite not having that tiny little detail worked out, I'm officially a Henderson State University Reddie as of this week.  What's a Reddie you ask?  I didn't know either until I looked it up here. Go figure.  I'm fortunate in that I have three universities all within an hour of my home/work.  Henderson didn't require that I take the GMAT because I had a high GPA- score!

Last night was my first class, Marketing Trends, and one of the two that I'll be taking this semester.  It was really odd to be on a college campus again, to have that little parking sticker on my car.  I remember feeling so at home on UCA's campus (where I got my Bachelor's degree), now I feel like a strange outsider.  This is possibly due to the fact that I am kind of an outsider now.  In my class of 13 there are 7 international students (all young), and the remaining 5 students all graduated with their Bachelor's last spring.  So I'm directionally 8 years older than everyone in my class.  The only one with kids and a full-time job. 

I am officially that person.  The older student that we all remember having in our classes, and didn't really socialize with because we were on totally different planets because of all the differences mentioned above.  That's alright with me though; I'm counting on being a pretty hot commodity soon. See, our major project for this class is to work with a real client and create a marketing plan for their business.  Does this sound familiar to any of my UCA friends?  I'm fairly sure we did like 3 of these for undergraduate classes.  Plus my real life experience.  Oh yeah, if I were one of the young'uns in this class I'd be trying to be my BFF immediately! Ha!

One class down, and one more to go tonight.  At least now I can stop worrying about the classwork; and instead focus on finding the time to actually do the classwork!

Letters to Seeley

Seeley Bop,

Kiddo, I had to forgo the short monthly blurbs because you have been ON FIRE these past few months.  You have grown so much!  You're wearing 24 month clothes and a size 8 shoe.  Your big sister only wears a size 9.  So yeah, you're definitely going to fulfill the doctor's prediction and be taller than both your Daddy and I.  It's so funny to see you and Emma standing side by side; you are this close to being as big as she is!  No one believes us when we tell them you are only 18 months old.

At your 18 month check-up I was a little surprised to see that you hadn't gained much weight.  Well, I can assure you it's not because you go without any meals.  I swear that you are eating from the time you get home from school until we put you to bed at night.  Seriously.  One of your most used words is "snack?!".  You are also always on the go.  You're either climbing on something, running around the house, or climbing on something . . . you are a big climber.  Mommy has lots of gray hairs now.  Thanks.  Luckily, the Lord blessed you with balance and agility.  Otherwise I'm sure we would be making at least 1 hospital trip a week.

We turned your crib into a toddler bed this past month also.  Even though you love to climb you had never tried to climb out of your crib until recently.  And you didn't climb out actually, you climbed in!  So, Mommy decided it might be a good idea to go ahead and let you be a big boy.  Now you wind up in bed with Mommy and Daddy at least every other night.  When you were in your crib you'd just roll over and go back to sleep if you woke up during the night.  Now that you can get out of your bed you go to the baby gate and scream "Ma" until I come and snuggle you into bed with me. And if I don't come quick enough you start shaking the gate like some caged gorilla!  Spoiled much?!  That's ok though, you just want some extra Mommy snuggles.

And speaking of snuggles, you are the sweetest, snuggliest thing in the whole world.  Everyone agrees.  I love it when you snuggle up to me after your bath, or in the mornings.  You either wrap your arms around my neck and squeeze, or you tuck your little arms under you like you're trying to get as close to me as possible.  Melts my heart every time!  Pop Pop is one of your favorite snuggle buddies too.  You'll occasionally share your snuggle time with Parker.

Yes sir, you are sweet and snuggly . . . unless you don't get your way.  My sweet little angel inherited his Daddy's hair-trigger temper.  You have absolutely zero patience.  And when you get mad . . . the you-know-what hits the fan.  Sippie cups become projectiles, you turn your body into dead weight, throw yourself to the floor crying.  In all honesty, right now I can't help but laugh when you do these things.  Right now it's cute.  But we'll have to nip it in the bud pretty soon because it won't be cute forever.  Fair warning.

You've also discovered a love of music and performing.  At your very first Christmas program at school you had the entire audience in tears they were laughing so hard at you.  (And the reason this is not on film is because your Daddy forgot the camcorder.)  You were sitting with your class in your little chair on the stage and you were stomping your feet, swaying back and forth, shaking your head.  And smiling the cheesiest grin I have ever seen every time you would look at me.  It's like you were saying "Hey Mom!  Check me out!  I'm so awesome!" Absolutely priceless.  Random strangers were coming up to us after the program so that they could meet you.  My little celebrity!

You are also really interested in the dogs and cat lately.  You insist on feeding Jade every morning. And since you're giving her food, she decides to let you get away with pulling her tail and squeezing her neck.  You also love to squeeze on Bella, who also takes it like a champ.  Pancho, not so much.  He pretty much runs whenever you get close. You don't care for him much either, you're always telling him to "go" or "shut-up".

I'm so lucky to have you and I can't wait to see what new things you'll learn next.  I love you!

Love,

Mommy