OMG is she smart

sweet cheeks is really interested in writing letters lately. i knew she could do a few letters, mainly the ones in her name, but i really had no clue just how many she could write.

almost all of them.

i loved watching her do it. however, i was a bit sad at how critical she was of herself when she didn't do a "perfect" H on one sheet. then again, i have never doubted that she was an early perfectionist.

sorry for the not so great photo. i took a picture of it, rather than scan it.



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i know a lot of moms.

i know a lot of moms to toddlers.

i know a lot of moms to toddlers who have tantrums.

i know a lot of moms, to toddlers who have tantrums, who are struggling with them daily just as the husband and i are!

it can be tough.

you're my blue sky, you're my sunny day

sweet cheeks has been sick with a cough, congestion, and fever. i took her to the pediatrician yesterday to find out that she has a sinus infection. she is now on amoxicillin, zyrtec, and albuterol.hopefully she will feel better soon. during the day, she acts fine with the exception of the constant outpouring from her nose. it is at night that she is at her worst. poor baby!

today the husband and i took sweet cheeks back for her follow up appt on her stye & cyst to the pediatric opthamologist. the bad news is that she does still have them both. the good news is the size has reduced, so we will wait on the hopes that no surgery will be necessary. our next follow up isn't until january. i am glad of that because no parent wants their child to have to go through surgery. although, i do wish there was something else we could do for her eye, as i can tell it sometimes irritates her. she asks, "when will my stye go away?" she is a trooper though. keep the prayers coming! the other good news is that this eye doctor does not seen any signs in sweet cheek's eyes of her being a carrier for the ocular albinism. i am so happy about that for her.

here is my sunshine after her appt this morning!

pretty as a princess

i have spoke often about sweet cheeks and her love for dressing up. she was in total heaven sunday when she got to dress up for her halloween/fall festival at school. in fact, she even did her own dress rehearsal prior to her nap and the party itself. i have to say, she was the absolute epitome of a princess. she was feeling proud and that attitude definitely showed through in her pictures-

here she is coming down the stairs to show her daddy just how beautiful she looked-



what a pose! she loved wearing the dress, earrings, necklace, tiara, sparkly shoes, and glitter on her cheeks.


at her little school festival, they had a train, pony rides, and two bouncy houses. we enjoyed our train ride together.



needless to say, every princess has their breaking point. she was so tired by the end of the afternoon. i am pretty sure i only agitated the situation by taking a picture of her crying. bad mommy.



this was sweet cheeks and i before we left the house for her party. i love taking pictures with her, as i am so proud of her, but am always sadly disappointed when i see my wrinkles only getting worse. who knew 32 would be the age for botox!


***

i absolutely adore this picture of sweet cheeks in her cute halloweeny outfit. she is a skinny minny and the black only accentuates that. tiny and cute with such an amazing smile.



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i like sharing new songs that i am into. (new songs to me) here is a great song being performed by the corrs, featuring bono. my father in law might like it as he is the one who introduced me to the corrs a few years back. i know this song is a ryan adams song. i really like his music as well-

Pumpkin Patchin'

i totally forgot to share pics from our trip to the pumpkin patch. sweet cheeks and i visited a pumpkin patch two weekends ago with her nana, pop, aunt, and cousin. it was actually quite a bit of fun. my experience in the past with pumpkin patches is that there really isn't much to do, other than take like 100 pictures of your child either sitting with, standing with, or holding an orange pumpkin! this patch actually had quite a bit of things for the kids to do: hay ride, cow train ride, corn maze, john deere tricycle track, swings, slides, pig races(yes, you read that correctly), and a cornbox (much like a sandbox only with corn). the girls absolutely had a blast.

(the shots are mostly witness protection approved photos of sweet cheeks since this trip took place the day after our light the night walk, and she still has the face tattoos on. so i posted pics that you couldn't see them too well. the one on the train, i did my best to photoshop it out!)


action shot of sweet cheeks coming down the tube slide-


riding on the john deere trike. she was quite fast-


the cow train- sweet cheeks, her cousin, nana, and aunt-


a tractor just her size-


i love this shot of sweet cheeks and her cousin running to see all of the animals on the farm.


***

did you guys know that the store american eagle now has a kids shop? i just recently saw this. the line is called 77 kids and they begin at size 2.

i thought they had a few cute things but the prices were a little high for garments that were kind of simple, plus they have a mature look about them. almost a bit too grown up for the toddler size. i think it seems perfect for kids about 6 and up though. let me know what you think.

i thought these few items were cute though:

i'm an indian outlaw

well i am not really an indian, or an outlaw for that matter, but i am a fan of tim mcgraw (indian outlaw is a song of his) and country music. sweet cheeks has borrowed a cd from her cousin. it is taylor swift and she absolutely loves it. i am thankful for the break from miley cyrus. it is cute to see sweet cheeks rock out and sing to country music. not that taylor swift is way country, as they do play her on pop stations too.

we moved to georgia from new jersey when i was 11. i vowed at that age that i would never like country music. i was too wrapped up in amazing artists who would be around forever like debby gibson, richard marx, terence trent darby, and the bangles. i didn't listen to country the entire time i lived in the country. what a rebel i was. it wasn't until i moved to atlanta that i started listening to it. i think i first liked dwight yoakam, faith hill, and the dixie chicks. now, i still really like country music, not so much the dixie chicks anymore. though i listen to a lot of other music as well, like coldplay, snow patrol, and incubus. i am a fan of country singers like tim mcgraw, rascal flatts, carrie underwood, and of course, wynona judd.

i have heard many times about crossover artists. artists who are originally pop and cross over to the country music world, and vice-versa(ie- jessica simpson- poor her- stinks in both realms) well i recently heard another new one that i guess you could call a crossover since he started out pop-like when he was in a band. now he has ditched the band and you'll find him singing country.

i don't like it though.

sorry darius rucker who will always be known to me, and many others, by the name hootie! go back to the blowfish since your music was much better then. i really loved "let her cry" and "only wanna be with you."

what do you think of his new work:

and the hardest part was letting go, not taking part

i have no problem admitting when i am not good at something. in high school, a friend’s father tried to teach me how to play tennis. i was so bad. about 7 years ago, the husband took me skiing for the first time. i was horrible and have had no interest in trying it again. i did however love the snow & the hot chocolate. sweet cheeks has me participate in her concerts quite often and i do it to have fun with her. i openly admit to being one of the absolute worst singers in the world. no talent there.

but having someone critique and criticize you for something that means everything in the world to you and that you genuinely thought you were good at really hurts beyond reason.

i, like every other mother out there, took on the role as a mother without any training or knowledge. it is kind of scary to think about it that way, the fact that i didn’t have to take any classes, pass any tests, or have any sort of license to raise a child. i just did it. jumped right into the unknown waters hoping for the best. it is such a huge responsibility that all parents take on when they decide to have children. but i did it, love it and still think i do everything with sweet cheeks best interest in mind.

i admit that i am not a perfect mother. i have made so many mistakes along the way. so many. i expect to make many more. sweet cheeks cannot go to sleep on her own. either the husband or i lay with her nightly until she falls asleep. probably not the best thing i could have done for her, but certainly not the worst. being a mother is something i honestly love and believe i am really, really good at. which makes it that much harder to hear that others might doubt my judgment, decisions, and capabilities. it hurts to think that the mistakes i have made are what others are using to judge me by. holding me under a microscope to openly expose the things i am doing wrong. as if any of them are or were done intentionally.

it hurts. it really hurts.

a mountain for an apple

before i get to the details of our absolutely fabulous weekend in the mountains, i want to ask a question- do you have a house keeper? i am beginning to think the husband and i are the only ones in the world without one. man how nice it would be to every other week have someone come over to sweep, mop, vacuum, dust, clean toilets, sinks & tubs, windows, etc. all of the things that never happen at our house since the current house keeper we use, me, is quite slack!

***

so we had the chance to go with 3 other couples, who all have kids, to the mountains of north georgia this past weekend. it was seriously a perfect weekend with the most amazing weather. one of the couple's parents owns a house up there that is already toddler proofed, so it made it so easy to have a relaxing weekend at someone elses place. (thank you so much beth!!!) the other couples we were with all had children as well. sweet cheeks included, there were 6 kids up there. i know sweet cheeks absolutely loved having friends to play with nonstop. she isn't perfect and had a few moments here and there when she just didn't want to share, but for the most part, i was quite happy with her behavior.

the house we stayed at was so beautiful. the porch on the house completely wraps around it and the gates remained locked so no one could escape. so the kids could all just play outside, while the parents remained worry free. it was a big track for them to ride around on bikes, etc. they were quite fast!

just a sample of what they did around the porch track-



a cute pic of all of the kiddos together-



we also went to the apple festival on saturday. due to several issues in a row, we were not able to catch the parade. it was quite the let down since i know all of the kids were really looking forward to it. i think the bouncy houses & face painting semi- made up for the missed parade though! we even got sweet cheeks several pieces of crap that she didn't need like a yoyo balloon (lame water balloon with a rubber band tied to it for $2. she does still use it though) and an umbrella with her name on it! festivals always have the most interesting finds, don't they.

sweet cheeks and her friend-



sweet cheeks was a bit apprehensive at first to get her face painted but in the end, decided to go with a small butterfly on her forehead.



to get to the festival, we parked and rode a school bus down to it. i think the kids really enjoyed the bus ride the most. it was a real highlight for all of them. i love that they can still be so easily amused.

sweet cheeks and her daddy on the bus-