a mess of fun

i have so many fun pictures of sweet cheeks to share. seems like we have done so much in the last week or so, and as a result, lots of good photos. i will preface this post by saying that sweet cheek's 3rd birthday is exactly one week from today, so i find myself a lot more sensitive these days. i am so excited to be the mother to such an amazing almost 3-year old, but it still makes me sad to see how quickly time is flying by. i miss her being so tiny. i miss my baby. i miss her being dependent upon me for many of her daily needs. i am proud of her for being so strong, so opionated, and so independent, yet it is a bitter sweet. this baby of mine is in fact not a baby at all. she is 100% kid.

i have mentioned it before but sweet cheeks has this constant need to always carry her bag with her. i am told this is normal, as lots of my friends kids do the same thing but i think it is kind of funny just the same. here she is with her bag that i always see her put stuff into but never really take anything out!




we had great weather on sunday so we met sweet cheek's aunt and cousin at the park for a little playtime. i was pretty impressed with sweet cheeks and how well she did on a lot of the "big kids" stuff. i was nervous to let her but she did really well. how do parents with more than one keep their eyes on both kids when at the park? i was worried the entire time about loosing her and she was the only kid i had to watch for.






sweet cheeks and i spent more time outside on sunday. she was snacking on a rice cake, just walking around the front yard. the way she was standing in this picture is a real precursor into her attitude later in life. i totally see it.



i love this picture of sweet cheeks taken at the aquarium last weekend. she truly is this happy.



the aquarium has a 3-D movie. it was hilarious seeing sweet cheeks in these funny glasses but she really enjoyed wearing them. i was impressed with how well she did during the movie itself. there were several moments in the interactive show that made us both jump, and she removed her glasses a few time, but she did great.



sweet cheeks got this shovel/bucket from a birthday party she went to. she was desperately looking for something to shovel, so i entertained her for a good bit by allowing her to shovel jelly beans. she loved every minute of it.



i really find myself loving every picture i take of this girl but i sincerely love this one. sweet cheeks was trying on her birthday tiara the other day when i took this shot. she is perfect, but she looks so big to me. this is the photo that had me seeing just what a big girl she is. again, i am excited and proud for the little girl she is becoming, but i do miss the little baby i had not that long ago.

ignorance can be bliss

sometimes i wish i didn't ever hear the news. i do my best during the week to avoid watching the nightly news, but often on my way to work, the radio will give a quick news report. today's story made me sick to my stomach. it was a story about two marines wanted for a you tube clip of them supposedly petting a sweet puppy, then tossing it off a cliff. why and how could anyone do such a horrific thing? why aren't people who harm animals punished more severely? it was just a sad thought. i know it doesn't end there for animal abuse. i know there is enough out there that animal planet has a few series about those animal heroes who daily have to rescue abused & neglected animals. yes, neglect is a form of abuse. tethering is a form of abuse as well- tying a dog to a rope or chain where it remains to poop, pee, eat, and sleep all in the same area. it is sick and severely disgusts me. this is one example of why i think ignorance can sometimes be bliss. i just want to avoid the news for this reason. it is such a sad world sometimes and i do not want to acknowledge that since i willingly brought my daughter into it.

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ahhhh.. speaking of my daughter.. the cutest thing in the entire world! my beauty is nearing the great age of three already. time is sure flying. she was kindly pointing out the wrinkles on my forehead the other night, and i quickly responded to her that those wrinkles are there because mommy is getting old. she asked if daddy is getting old, and i replied that yes he is getting old too. sweet cheeks thought about it for less than a second and said that she is not getting old but is "new." i love her.

we went to the zoo this past weekend to enjoy the beautiful early march weather. sweet cheeks loved it with the exception of the roaring lion and the fighting lemurs. and now it is picture time-

-here is sweet cheeks coming out of the panda exhibit & posing with mommy & baby



-we got to ride the carousel. funny she chose for us to ride the exciting bench!



-funny face with daddy in the petting zoo



-sweet cheeks on daddy's shoulders. note the giraffe behind them.


-i was surprised but she wanted to brush the pig in the petting zoo. already such the animal lover


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one of sweet cheeks daddy's friend had his daughter over our house wearing a cute poncho. we commented on how cute it was and would you believe he had his wife's mother make one for sweet cheeks. it was the nicest thing, considering this person doesn't even know us. sweet cheeks loves to wear it, plus it looks so cute on her.

make it a pina colada!

we are back from a week long excursion to jamaica. i, to no one's surprise, stressed way more than i should about the flight and the trip itself. thankfully, my kind doctor sensed this and gave me a prescription for xanax to handle all the stress. i must admit, it helped... a lot! i was stressed about a bad sinus infection i have been battling with for weeks now. i had a ct scan the night before we left and it showed that i was indeed very full in the head. it made the flight a bit uncomfortable, but not near as bad as i expected it to be. i was also stressed about just being away from the comforts & convenience of home. i was stressed about traveling with a toddler. i was stressed about being stressed.

boy... hindsight will always get you. the trip was as perfect as could be. sweet cheeks did an amazing job of traveling. nothing bothered her. how sad a picture to see me, the mother, asking my 2-year old what she sees out the window as i was too scared to look. anyway, we didn't have any issues with boredom or snacking! it is nice to have a toddler who adjusts well to change. she was great and had more fun than i could have imagined. the beach was her friend. she had fun covering me, many times, with tons of sand. she had fun picking out her food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from the buffets that we ate at. even with the huge selection, most meals for her consisted of french fries and black olives, both of which she dipped in ketchup. she also loved the many pina coladas that we consumed at the pool and at the beach.

the only negative to the trip was the rooster living at the resort. i kid you not, it was a rooster that lived right there on their grounds. i took it as their token rooster that they found gimmicky but i tell you as one on vacation with the opportunity to sleep past 4am, i did not find it gimmicky at all!

she is seriously the cutest thing in her swimsuit and glasses.









we of course had to set the camera up on auto to get this quickie family shot.



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before going on vacation, sweet cheeks cousins came over to spend the afternoon with us. she absolutely has a ball every time she is with them. here they are having fun blowing bubbles outside.




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sweet cheeks 3rd b-day is just around the corner, so i of course have cupcakes on my mind.

check this cutie gift out that you can buy here:



also, check out these cutie hairclips that you can get here:





i can't wait to do a birthday party full of cupcakes for her!

holy cow! more snow

we seriously never get snow here. year after year we may get a few cold temperatures, even a bit of ice, but never snow. now, in '08, here we are on our second round of snowy weather. this time it even happened on the weekend so we could get out and play in it a bit. sweet cheeks was a bit timid at first and would barely walk on the snow, much less play in it. finally after about 5 minutes outside all bundled up, she finally warmed up to it, growing to love it! so of course i have to share a few photos of her building her very first snowman ever with her daddy and doggies outside. it really was one of the best days ever, even in the 20 degree temperatures. and it is really hard for me not to boast just how beautiful my daughter really is, so see for yourself-






sweetcheeks, her daddy, and myself came inside to a nice cup of hot chocolate. she guzzled it right down!




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i can't believe i haven't seen this movie yet. i see it is up for an oscar for best movie. from what i hear, it is great and i want to see for myself.
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how cute is this doorknob sign for a sleeping/awake baby?



you can see them at eggigle.

it's candy?

sweet cheeks is already quite girlie. she is so interested in lip gloss and wants to buy some every time we are at target. thankfully she considers chapstick to be lipgloss. i love her imagination because a chapstick can easily convert into a baby bottle. necklaces are another thing she loves to buy. she has discovered candy necklaces (which target just has to sell in the checkout aisle!). the good news is that sweet cheeks doesn't know they are candy, to her it is just a bulk package of fun colored necklaces. here she is wearing all 6 of them, casually, while playing with her playdough.




we had snow last night. it was so fun to see. sweet cheeks enjoyed it for a little bit, until her hands started to freeze that is. but being the ham i am, i had to get a picture of her in the snow. then with her dad. then with me.





one of sweet cheeks favorite places to go is to a local airport to watch planes take off. they have a small park there as well and sweet cheeks love to swing. not sure who taught her this but she has discovered that she too can fly!




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i am so over this writers strike and am 100% ready for new episodes of my favorite shows to air.

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and once again, something great and wonderful for babies now that i have a toddler. dwell baby is an amazing line of baby decor that i have always loved and admired from the web only. now, for some lucky soon-to-be mommies, dwell baby has a new line coming out at target.
take a peek by clicking here.

an album of sorts

i will spare you too much reading and just go right to the good stuff. this post is dedicated to pictures from before christmas, during christmas, and after the new year. lots of good ones. all in all, we had an amazing christmas with sweet cheeks. she was so into the whole idea of it.

oh, and the best part of the holiday was that sweet cheeks gave up her beloved best friend of the past almost 3 years, her paci! she has gone a total of 4 nights so far without it and isn't looking back!

enjoy the pics.

-sweet cheeks with one of her cousins.


-sweet cheeks with another one of her cousins



-one of my best friends and my sister, who also happens to be my bestest friend




-me, my sis, and another best friend (who just so happens to be my first friend from the 6th grade when i moved to GA)

-sweet cheeks, her cousins, and my girlfriends two girls

-me and sweet cheeks


-sweet cheeks with her grandma (i absolutely love this shot)

-sweet cheeks posing as her silly self under the tree that she just decorated


-sweet cheeks making rudolph cookies



-and finally, sweet cheeks playing with her two favorite gifts from santa- her rose petal cottage and vacuum

she believes!

i am so excited about christmas. it is the most amazing time of the year. so, i as a mother felt it was my duty & obligation to instill the same belief into sweet cheeks that christmas is the absolute "most wonderful time of the year." it started late in november when we began listening to christmas music. she is quite good at "jingle bells." it then progressed into the first week of december when we hung stockings and put up the christmas tree. for a two year old, sweet cheeks truly amazed me at putting up the tree. she was great with the decorations. now onto the holiday movies, i had to record the classics for her to watch, as they are on past her bedtime. I had "rudolph" and "a charlie brown christmas" for her to see. sadly, it was "shrek the halls" that she loved! i think she has watched it a total of 15 times. she now has a favorite holiday movie as well, "the polar express."


i really thought this movie was going to be too old for her to enjoy but i was so wrong. she absolutely loves it. tom hanks did a great job with his many characters in this one. i love how excited sweet cheeks is about christmas already. we have been reading "twas the night before christmas" and "the story of christmas" to her quite a bit. she is excited for santa to bring her presents, though she isn't up for sitting on his lap just yet. she hopes he will bring her a vacuum and baby doll. i am thrilled to see the excitement for christmas through her new, young eyes. it is going to be just as much fun for sweet cheeks parents, as it will be for sweet cheeks.

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i don't have a little one, as we all know, but if i did you can bet i would be sporting one of these great slings. i love it! why didn't i know about the easiness of slings when sweet cheeks was a baby. what rock was i living under? they can be found here.



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one more sweet find, if only i knew someone with twins girls to appreciate these cute necklaces from violet gum drop dot com:



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a bonus photo of sweet cheeks for fun because there is just no better way to color than without your pants on!