Sweet Sweet

No matter what my day is like or what kind of mood Mallory is in, I love being a mom & more importantly, her mom.  Today though, happened to be one of those days where she was in the sweetest mood ever. 

She will look at me with this sweet little face {with the dried ketchup around the mouth & the birthday cupcake hair bow that she wanted me to wear} & say 'kisses mommy.'  That's when my heart melts.  Sometimes, she will also run up to me & say 'hug!'  I'll take either a hug or kiss anytime. 

I was folding clothes & Mallory kept pointing at something saying 'sigh sight, sigh sight, sigh sight' over & over.  Finally, I realized she was pointing to & saying flashlight.  I gave it to her & she proceeded to sing into it like a microphone - 'Gooo Agooo {Diego} Gooo'  while dancing.  Too funny.  If Patrick was home he would have remembered to get the video camera.  I never think about it, until it's too late.

Here is Mallory sitting in our blue chair when she was 3 months old:

Tonight, 15 months later, as I was washing dishes I looked around for her & she was sitting in the same chair.  She had crawled in it all by herself & was sitting there watching tv like such a big girl.  When she sees me looking at her.  She says 'Mommy, chair' & motions for me to come sit with her.

Patrick's dad is always calling Mallory 'Sweet Sweet'.  I think the name fits.

Love

Luckily we've had decent weather today & whenever we do I try to go outside & take pictures of Mallory.  One, to practice with my camera & two, I can never have enough pictures of little boo!

One thing I REALLY need to work on is lighting.  I have a lot of issues with the pictures I take but one of the biggest is harsh lighting.  I tried to go outside earlier today {9:30 this morning} to see if it helped.  I only really got one good picture:

However, I think it might be my favorite so far!  I love it & can't get enough of looking at those sweet cheeks.

Preschool & Splotches

Shew!  What a week this has been...I am finally getting around to blogging about preschool. 

Monday (her first day) went great.  Patrick & I both carried her.  

Leaving home

Daddy & Mallory at school

This was the best I could do at getting a pic of her in front of school by herself.  This girl will.not.stand.still.for.a.second!

As soon as she became occupied playing & looking around at all the new things, we snuck out of the room.  I called to check on her later, & got a good report that she only had one brief crying spell & had only asked for mommy a few times. 

First preschool crafts

Wednesday was even better.  Patrick dropped her off & she took off playing.  I called her teacher half-way through the morning (Mimi Betty - love her!) & all was well.

I met her babysitter there to pick her up at lunch & asked how things had went.  Her teacher said, "She did really good, but does she break out in red splotches on her neck & chest sometimes?" 

Ummm, no.  But, Ohhhh poor baby I thought, bless her heart she is just like Mommy there :(  She will have to deal with that whenever she is nervous, embarassed, mad or upset.  {I can vividly remember my first boyfriend asking me what was wrong with me, when he came to pick me up on a date.  I was broke out in hives all on my neck & chest from being nervous!}  This terrible trait is going to lead to wearing turtlenecks to every interview, public speaking situation, first date, & any big test my little girl faces.  TRUST ME, I KNOW.  I had to take medication {along with a glass of wine} on my wedding day to make it down the aisle hive free. 

Poor thing, why did she have to inherit her Mommy's anxiety issues?!? 

Sunday Funday

We've had a busy day! 

Here are some pictures of Mallory coloring in Sunday School this morning:

She was really concentrating ;)

 Trying so hard!

After church, we went to Grandma Jean's for Sunday lunch.

Mallory had a good time playing (you can see where she got into the stickers)

After coming home for naptime, we went to Greenville to see Patrick's little sister, Whitney.  She cooked spaghetti for us & we stopped by Fresh Market & picked up red velvet cupcakes, yummmm. (BTW, those 10 pounds have not gone ANYWHERE.)

Whitney let Mallory do something that we never let her do - play with her computer!

Mallory was WOUND UP.

I had to snap a picture of this.  Patrick was 'creeping' (as Whitney called it) on a guy that she is talking to checking out all his pictures on Facebook!  He was doing his big brother duties.

Mallory will finally be starting preschool tomorrow.  She was supposed to start two weeks ago, but with all the snow that week & then the holiday & me being out of town one day last week, we still have not started.  I hope it goes well...I'm not sure I will be able to leave if there are tears! 

Hello Photoshop

Wow.  What a big difference, right?! 

I FINALLY broke down & purchased Photoshop Elements.  My friend, Natalie, who is far more knowledgeable at photography than I'll ever be, suggested Elements to me during the Christmas card fiasco.

I've had it for a while now & it has taken me this long to sit down, work with it & produce just a few pictures.  I swear, it concerns me how much technology challenges me these days, ha!  I would be embarrassed to tell how long it took me to even get to this point, but I am proud I made it. 

Baby steps, baby steps over here people :)   

Rambling

Nothing really interesting to write about {as usual} so far this week, so I will just write about what we did over the weekend & so far this week.

Saturday, Mallory & stayed home all day during the day while I attempted to get some things done around the house.  Most of the time it is really difficult to get things done with her because she does not play on her own at all or entertain herself.  We are hoping preschool might help with this.  That night, Mallory stayed with Grandaddy & Grandmother while Patrick & I went to a 60th birthday party.  Sounds like it would be really boring, but not this one.  It was for 3 different men all from our hometown & Spare Change played!  Basically all of Jones County was there & we had a blast.  It was pretty much the first time I have really gone out & partied in over 2 years!

Patrick worked on Sunday morning too {boo}, & I met Mom, Dad & Mallory at church.  They said Mallory did great, but it made me SO happy to hear my mom say, "I don't know how you get anything done!!"  Because, sometimes I wonder if it's just me.  I told her that is why my house is never clean anymore, ha!

We had lunch with Granny Pat & then dinner with my parents.  A day full of family & strangely I took no pictures.

Even though most everyone else in the country was off work Monday, I had to work :(  Then we celebrated Patrick's stepmom's birthday last night.  They cooked fishstew - their favorite meal, it seems.

Patrick got off work before me today, so he picked Mallory up & cooked hotdogs & hamburgers on the grill.  The hotdog being for Mallory of course.  She walked all around the house tonight wanting to try on every pair of shoes she saw.  She had spilled juice down her shirt right before Patrick picked her up, so I changed her when I got home.  For some reason, she refused to wear any pants, but wanted shoes on at all times.

Tomorrow I will be in Raleigh all day for a seminar.  Too bad it's for work & not shopping, haha.  It's going to be a looong day & I miss little boo just thinking about it! 

18 months

Mallory was 18 months old on Thursday!  I really wanted to do this post on Thursday, but I had to work, she had her 18 month check-up & then we had a funeral to go to that night so it didn't happen.  Better late than never, so here goes.

She weighs 24 pounds (50-75%)

She is 33 inches (90%!)

I don't remember her head size but it was in the 25-50% range.

She had to get one shot & she did & always has done amazing with shots.  She cries for a few seconds & is over it.  I shoudn't even say she cries, it is really more of a whine.

Per her pediatricians advice, the bottle is gone!  I knew that would mean no more milk because she refuses to drink milk from a cup, but her pediatrician said at this point that is ok.  Thursday night, was her first night without getting a bottle & it really was no different than any other night.  Our challenge will be the paci.  She has always seemed like she could care less whether she gets a bottle or not.

We had a long discussion about Mallory's diet.  It has stressed me out because the number of healthy foods this girl eats is very limited.  Her doctor assured me that it is very common at her age & to just keep trying.  Thankfully, she does eat apples, grapes & bananas well.  The biggest problem is getting her to eat any vegetables.  She would live off of goldfish & animal cookies if I let her.

On to her smarts - Mallory can count to 13, she knows the shapes - circle, square & triangle.  She knows a few colors - green, blue, pink.  She knows pretty much every animal there is & what sound they make.

A few things she loves are stickers, sunglasses, shoes (she loves to try to wear mine), Ni Hao, Kai-lan, Barney, helping me around the house (she tries to do whatever I am doing like sweeping, folding clothes, etc.), swinging, playing B-Ball, & loving her baby dolls.

Her shoe size is a 6 & she wears 18 months clothes.

She sleeps from about 9 each night until 7 in the morning & takes a 2-3 hour nap every afternoon.

Her favorite new phrase is 'What happened?'

We have finally had a day with beautiful weather, so I took lots of pictures!  Hair bows are still a no go :-(  I tried.  She says 'like it' (which she says when she does NOT like something) & pulls it out every time.

What I'm Loving Wednesday {01-12-11}

After two sad & blah posts, I am ready to write about something positive!
We are half-way through the work week & this is what I'm loving:

I'M LOVING this site for shoes for Mallory.  They are a great deal at $12-$15 a pair which includes shipping!  Here is one pair I ordered for her.  Love! 

I'M LOVING BabyGap!  I posted on Facebook about a week ago that I had gotten my Baby Gap fix online.  My package arrived Monday with the following items:

I could explode from the cuteness of Mallory wearing these miniature oversized glasses.  Don't worry pictures are coming soon.



I'M LOVING that the days are getting longer.  It is so nice to NOT leave home at dark & get home from work at dark.  Yay for staying daylight until close to 6ish!


I'M LOVING Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush lip gloss.  I feel like I HAVE to have something on my lips to moisturize them at all times & after trying what feels like a bajllion different brands, this is my all time fave.  It stays on the longest & I love the colors too.

To link up or see what other people are loving click here!

Broken Hearted.

Or emotional wreck.  Either one would describe me today. 

I got a text as soon as I got to work this morning from a friend saying that a girl we know had been killed in a car accident.  I read the text & thought that it had to be a mistake or a rumor.  I wish it was, but it was true. 

I met Paula about 12 years ago.  We went to the same community college & we worked part-time together at the same bank.  We were never close or even friends for that matter.  I knew her when she started dating Patrick (who is my husband now) & I remember always telling her what a great couple they were.  (I really did think they made a good couple at the time).  We were acquaintances & over the years we have often run into each other on lunch hour, at the mall or running errands.  Sometimes we would speak if we made eye contact, but most of the time we wouldn't.  It's not that I disliked her, it just tends to be that way when you are with that person's ex. 

She has three beautiful children.  One little boy around 4 & a set of twins who are about 2 years old, I think.  I can't even think about them without breaking down into tears.  I KNOW she was a wonderful mother.  We happened to be at the same restaurant for lunch a couple of months ago.  She had her kids & met her husband for lunch & I watched her handle three kids under the age of four with grace.  I sat back & admired her for that, even commenting to my co-workers how well behaved her children were.  I hear Ashley, who goes to church with her, tell stories each week about how Paula's oldest son is one of her favorite kids ever & how smart & funny he is.    

It isn't fair that her kids have to grow up most likely not even remembering their mom or how great she was.  I read a friend's Facebook status today that said 'The one thing you can always do for someone else when you think there is nothing you can do for them, is say a prayer.'  So that's what I've been doing all day for this family, her children & all her friends. 

Please pray for this family. 

Sick Snow Day

I can't believe how much snow we are getting this year!  It started snowing this morning about 7:00 & snowed the entire day.  The weird thing is....it didn't snow at my work which is about 30 minutes away.  I decided to not go in because Patrick had left home before me & called & said that he had slid twice & the roads were pretty bad around our house.  I knew it wasn't going to stop anytime soon & it wasn't just me getting out there...it was Mallory too. 

However it has not been an enjoyable day.  Somehow I have gotten sick again.  I'm talking the worst cold I can remember having in a long, long time.  My head & nose stopped up to the point where it feels like they are going to explode but yet my nose still has a slight drip.  SO.ANNOYING.  Not to mention it is bright red & raw from blowing & wiping it so much.  UGH....I don't do well being sick.  I tried taking DayQuil, Tylenol Cold, Tylenol Sinus & Mucinex.  None of it budged this congestion :(  Finally, our neighbor who is a veterinarian bought me some nose spray & an antibiotic.  The nose spray has worked wonders thank goodness.  The antibiotic may or may not be for dogs.  At this point, I could care less, I need some relief, ha! 

Patrick & I both were sick the week of Christmas (but not this bad) & now with me being sick again, I don't know how Mallory can avoid catching it, but somehow so far she has.  (I'm knocking on wood right now).  She missed her first day of preschool because of the weather of course.  I'm sure all of the moms would appreciate me keeping my snotty nose away anyway.  We'll try again for Wednesday when hopefully my cold & the snow are GONE.

For the love of shoes

Anyone can take a look at my closet & see how much I love shoes. 

Friday night, Patrick & I were in the living room watching TV & Mallory walked out of our bedroom wearing these:

(Excuse her lack of pants...when daddy changes a diaper, he thinks putting pants back on is unnecessary)

We got to Grandma Jean's for lunch today & we were pleasantly surprised to see Cousin Dawson, his mommy & his grandmother were visiting.  He's such a sweet boy!

He loves a makeup brush just like his cousin Mallory

After lunch today, we decided to do some shoe swapping.  These are my feet with mom's shoe on my right foot.  She is always telling me that if I would see how comfortable her shoes are then I would like them.  Ummm...didn't work, ha!

 We convinced mom to try on Ashley's super cute shoes.  We thought they looked great on her, but she couldn't even walk, as I was having to assist her.  & look at that face!  Sooo dramatic.

Great Grandma Jean holding her Great Nephew Dawson

Grandma Jean usually cooks Sunday lunch for us every week.  It is most definitely one of the highlights of each week.  Today we had fried chicken, butter beans, cabbage, rutabagas, corn, stewed potatoes, & homemade biscuits. 

I can honestly say, she is the best cook I know!

"I Got Mommy's Hair!"

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it up here or not, but Mallory is OBSESSED with hair. 

On one hand, it's kinda cute & sweet & all, but on the other hand, when you have someone constantly pulling at your hair, it does get old.  I mean, sometimes...my head will be sore from it.  She has always done it since she was an infant.  It's how she goes to sleep.  It's her comfort.

She has been saying sentences for a while now...starting with "Hey, Riley!"  That was her first 'sentence' when she was probably 9 or 10 months old.  (See - I don't know for sure, which is why I should blog).  Since then, she says a lot of things that are two or three words long, especially the infamous, "I got you".  That's her favorite & most common.

Well, last night was remarkable for two things. 

1) Daddy was changing a dirty diaper while I was doing his usual job of keeping her entertained.  Of course, she grabbed my hair. (Patrick changing the dirty diaper was the remarkable thing, btw)

2)  Then, she said her longest sentence so far.  "I got mommy's hair!"  Patrick & I looked at each other wide eyed.  Patrick said, "She said her first sentence, go write that down!"  I corrected him & told him that she had been saying sentences for at least 8 months technically, but this was the longest one she had said, ha.

It is amazing how every day with a toddler brings something new.  We also notice that my name is now 'Mommy'.  Rarely now does she say 'Mama'.  I swear she sounds like she is 3 years old when I hear 'Mommy'.  I think I will just fall out if I ever hear 'Mom'!  I know I won't have a baby anymore.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Hump Day! 

I thought I would try something new for a change & participate in:

I'm loving leggings, leggings & leggings!  Especially the Midtown Legging by CAbi.  They are pricey (I got them half off for hosting a show) but ohhhh so comfy.  They are great quality, very thick (& warm) with a wide waistband that is flattering on the tummy.  I am so happy that this trend has come back in style & I'm probably wearing it out because chances are if you've seen me lately....I'm in these leggings.  That's how much I love them right now!

I'm loving that the holidays are over.  While they were a blast, it is so nice to not have somewhere to go every night of the week & to get back into our regular routine.  I actually cooked last night for the first time in a while!

I'm loving caramel mocha's from McDonalds.  There are a lot of days when I feel like I need an afternoon pick-me-up & these really do the trick.  I'm actually having one right now!

To participate or see what other people are loving, go here!