New Pics

The infamous Polka Dot dress. I finally got a long sleeve shirt on underneath it and wanted to take a picture and can you just see how she is wagging her finger at me, hand on hip saying "no Mommy, don't take a picture".

Potty practice. She found the crossword while we were up in TN...just thought it was hilarious.

I put the potty in the tub bc we had people coming over awhile ago and she seems to like it there!

Working hard in the barn!!

Meredith and Aunt Kaci

Meredith and Noah (son of Chris' cousin)

Helping in the horse stall....it's clean!

Thanksgiving 08

Thought I'd give a Thanksgiving update. We left for TN around 1:30 on Tuesday afternoon to embark on the trip that would take what felt like an eternity! We had to make multiple stops for diaper related issues (no, no potty training yet), food, gas etc and then we came to a dead stop about 2 hours outside of Knoxville. We crept along at 2 mph for about 45 minutes and the reason we were stopped was because a Christmas tree truck had spun out and spilled the trees all over the road. Let's say I wasn't feeling the Christmas cheer about those trees at all! Anyway, a trip that usually takes 5.5 hrs ended up taking well over 7 hrs. Meredith was really great for the most part thanks to the dvd player and lots of snacks.

It was a pretty lazy trip in that we didn't really do much of anything. Chris' Aunt and Uncle were there as well as a cousin and his family for Thursday. His two step-brothers and step-sister-in- law came on Friday. The one brother and wife have a 9 month old and they announced they are already 4 months pregnant again! Yikes....they are NUTS! However, you could mistake their little girl for a doll since she doesn't ever make a noise or whimper, so somehow they got really lucky.

We were lazy, but Meredith absolutely ran herself silly. She would NOT take a nap, so by 8:00 she was ripe for bed, but still didn't want to go to bed...you know the drill. She got to help Kaci with the horses, like dumping the bucket of feed into the trough and lugging the hose around etc. I got some really cute pictures I'll try to post soon. She had lots of fun.

Chris actually went to the outlets at 3am with his sister and brother in law on Friday for their Midnight madness sale. I definitely didn't go, but he did bring back lots of goodies for me!! Good boy :)

Thank goodness the week is already almost over. Nothing else too exciting going on other than trying to get shopping done. Our first Christmas is next weekend in Greensboro, so better get crackin'!

Good friends

Just found this picture from a couple of years ago. These are the girls that got me through grad school!! We had almost every class together through the whole darn thing. I still say I wouldn't have gotten through it without them. Two of my best friends, Jennifer in the middle and Meredith on the right.

Ready for a vacation

We've had a mixed week this week. Meredith woke up puking at 11:15pm on Weds night and proceeded to vomit all night long. We finally all fell asleep at 4am and she didn't get sick again after that, but we were a sad, tired crew the next day. It seemed to be just a 24 hour thing because she was back to happy self late the next day. Chris stayed home and I had already planned to work from home that day anyway, but had tons of work to do, so it made for an interesting day. I seemed to get by without anything, but Chris started it on Saturday night...ugh

Chris went to the UNC/State game on Saturday, which was a total waste of time for him since his beloved heels got trampled. Meredith and I had a good time going to the library, grocery store and then making pumpkin bread together (she is a big helper these days). I'm a little embarrased to say that I've only recently discovered the Durham public library that is only about 6 miles from my house. We went there for early voting and it is a lovely little library, so I finally got my library card and we've been getting lots of great books for Meredith ever since (The favorites seem to be 'Fancy Nancy' and the 'If You Give a Pig a Party' collection). The most recent topic of choice for my books is potty training...lord help me. I think I'm moving in the direction of the 24 hr method of having a potty party all day. The key is finding a day that I can dedicate the entire day to it... I'm going to pretty much leave the topic alone with her until then and hope it makes a big impact since she adores parties.

Meredith and I went to Sunday school and church yesterday and had lunch with my dad and Allison at Brueggers. My Mom was down in Georgia finding her inner hippie and protesting/picketing at Ft. Benning, which is where there is something called 'School of Americas' (www.soaw.org) where the US military basically trains Latin American troops on combat tactics to take back home to continue the repression in those countries...lovely isn't it? I honestly hadn't heard much about it until my Mom told me about it. I'm really proud of her for standing up against such a terrible thing.

We're heading to TN tomorrow for Thanksgiving and then when I get back home I'm on my own at work again for two weeks while my partner goes to his grad program in another state....I get a little bitter since I had to do my entire program on my own time and I get to do his work while the company gives him most of the time to be away as' development'. Bitter...

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

It's been awhile

I realized that it has been awhile since I've posted much of substance. No promises tonight, but I'll get something out.
Work has been working me non-stop for well over a month now and I'm really worn out. I'm finishing my biggest project of the year by the end of this week, so I'm hoping to be able to re-claim a little more time. I have to go back into work in about an hour to run a report...I don't like to interrupt my evenings, but it makes my life easier in the morning, so it helps me somehow. It is also year end review time, which means writing out all of your accomplishments for the year so that the 'powers that be' can all go in a room and decide who gets what kinds of rankings and raises. Somehow, I have gotten rather lost in the shuffle of that whole process over the past few years because I always thought that your work should speak for itself and I work my tail off and it just isn't enough since I'm not a pro at brown-nosing. It frustrates me when I'm trying to instill good values in my child when I know how the real world works and as long as you do enough work to get by and kiss up to the right people, you get the most recognition.....can you tell I'm frustrated? I guess that's life.
Meredith is frustrating me to no end with potty training. She really could care less about it and I'm just not sure what to do with her. She will be great every now and then, but overall she just isn't interested. Otherwise, she is just a hoot and makes us laugh all the time. She hears everything and we have really had to start watching what we say around her since she is a little parrot. She has also gotten very picky about what she wears. She has this one summer dress that I bought on clearance at the end of this past summer for next year that she wants to wear all the time. I guess that wouldn't be a big deal, but it is sleeveless and it is a freezing cold November! She literally gets home from daycare, hunts down that dress, takes off all of her clothes and puts that thing on like it is her 'housecoat'! Little miss picky has definitely entered the scene!
We are heading to Tennessee for Thanksgiving next week. It's hard to believe it's already here. I really need some time off, so hope it is relaxing.....well, as relaxing as it can be at your in-laws :)

History has been made!

Barack Obama has won the presidential election (despite NC still be undecided). Even though I was pretty sure it was going to happen, I am speechless now that it is a reality.

I just saw this quote on another friend's blog and thought it was incredible, so this says it all.....

"They say that Rosa sat so that Martin could walk.
Martin walked so that Obama could run.
Obama is running so that our children can fly."

When I kissed my sweet sleeping baby goodbye this morning, I had tears in my eyes for the hope of her future....

The Big Rock

So, we were in the car the other day behind a car that had an Obama sticker. I said to Meredith, "Can you say Obama" to which she quickly replied, "NO". So I thought, that is kindof a hard word to say, so I asked, "Can you say Barack" and she quickly replied, "NO Mama, Big Rock". So I repeated it several more times thinking that she just didn't hear me right, but she was very insistent that I was saying it wrong and that what I was trying to say was 'Big Rock'. I affectionately refer to Barack as the Big Rock now!

One way or another, today will be history making. We voted early on Friday and I have to say it was the first time in my life that I literally smiled as I filled in the circle :)
Go Big Rock!!

Halloween 08

Halloween was the topic of discussion in our house for weeks. Meredith was so excited! When the day finally arrived it did take some coaxing to get her into her costume, but we did it and off we went. Well, at the 4th house we went to the man had dressed up as the grinch who stole Christmas in full mask and suit and answered the door with his head right down at Meredith's level. I have never seen my child launch backwards into my arms so quickly. The poor child was totally traumatized. The man felt really bad and quickly took of the mask, but it was too late, she was hysterical. She wanted to go home in the worst way, but we knew she'd be disappointed (and her dad would be too since he raids her candy!) if we didn't go any further. So, with much reassurance and coaxing, we made it a bit further down the street. Monsters have been a topic of conversation ever since, so hopefully she isn't forever tormented on Halloween by the 'scary monster'!
Here are a few pics of our cowgirl:

Babysitting

We babysat Ryan last week so her mommy & daddy could go to the State game. She was really good, but don't get excited...it didn't send me into a baby tizzy or anything. It was nice, but good to send her home with her mom & dad and be happy with my big girl!
Here is a fun picture of the girls :)

2006 vs 2008

2006 vs 2008
Same Pumpkin Patch, same glazed look, just lots more hair!!

Pictures

Wanted to get some pics up while I'm waiting for an incredibly slow progam to run at work!

At Buffalo's for Randy's bday. Sara, Meredith & Aubrey.




New swingset...via a co-worker.


Making brownies!

Pumpkin patch up on Leesville.

Lucas!

My good friend Karen had her little boy, Lucas Michael, yesterday at 12:53pm. 6 lbs, 15 oz.

Welcome to the world little guy :)

What a little blondie!

Funny girl :)

I'm here

Work is really kicking my tail this week, so I'm keeping this brief (yeah I know, probably shouldn't blog while I'm at work anyway!) Actually, I think it's going to be like this for the next month or so and I'm not excited about it. I'm working on some pretty high profile projects, which keeps things interesting, but I'm STRESSED! ( I can always tell when I'm getting stressed bc my left eye starts to twitch...it started this morning).

Good weekend. Colin's 1st bday party on Saturday (our friend's Brian & Deirdre's little boy). Mer & I went to church on Sunday and she did well in Sunday school, but again refused to go to the nursery during 'big church'. I just can't inflict a kicking and screaming girl upon the poor folks in the nursery even though she'd probably be fine 30 seconds after I left. We ended up leaving before the service was even over since she was being so squirmy and uncooperative. Then when we got home we had a 'beach day' in the backyard since it was so nice outside. We got out the sprinkler for Meredith to run through, sat in the lounge chairs and even got a little sun! Lots of fun for Mer and she slept very well too!

Ok, my spreadsheet is calling my name....adios for now

Pullen Park is cool

I haven't been to Pullen Park in years until today, and I've never been with a small child ever. It is just plain cool. Meredith and I went to Sunday School and church today (not quite as successful as last week since she would NOT stay in the nursery during the service) and then we met Chris at Pullen Park for a Bojangles picnic and lots of fun playing! The playground isn't quite as great as some of the other local parks, but the other amenities totally makeup for that. We rode the carousel and Meredith wasn't digging getting on a horse, so we rode in the bench seat section, but she still thought it was pretty awesome and I think she'll be ready for the horse next time (that thing really moves, I even got a little dizzy!) Then she did the boats, which she liked at first then got a little apprehensive about toward the end, and then we all rode the train and she loved that too. The slides were the favorite part of the playground and she was nice and worn out by the time we left, fell asleep in the car and took a nice long nap this afternoon. Anyhoo, we'll definitely be back :)

We had some friends over to watch the UNC/VT game yesterday, which was lots of fun (except for the outcome of the game!). Meredith was really excited about having a friend to play with, but it seems that Emma has outgrown playing with 2 year olds since we saw her last and poor Meredith was sad a lot of the time that Emma was ignoring her. I felt really bad for her, but you can't make kids play together and I suppose that 6 year old isn't really all that interested in a 2 year old. They did ok toward the end of the evening, but it took a long time and hearing lots of 'she keeps pushing me' etc (Meredith literally wanted to touch her all the time because she thought Emma was so cool), and Emma would run away from Meredith and so on and so on. Still a great time, but it's hard to see your baby feeling left out :(

On another note, today's adult Sunday School had an immigration lawyer come and talk about how difficult it is to gain legal status in this country. I knew it was difficult, but this really opened my eyes to how hard it really is and why there are so many illegal people here and how upstanding families are just torn apart because local law enforcement can now act as immigration officials, deporting people right and left....so much for family values. There was a lot more to it, but that is my soapbox for now...point is that immigration law really needs to be revamped, big time.

A few pics

The computer magically turned back on again, so I uploaded some pics while I could last night.







Thoughtfully sitting on the singing potty












This would appear to be a celebratory dance, but oh no, this is just how potty training is going in our house!

Having a tea party is her most favorite thing right now!



















Ready for Sunday School

?!?!

So, I'm cooking dinner tonight (pulled chicken bbq sandwiches that turned out quite well despite all else) and Meredith comes up to me, holding her pink stuffed horse and says 'mommy, my horse is wet'. Yep, it was wet....along with the other 2 stuffed animals that were immersed in toilet water. She dragged a sopping wet stuffed animal accross the carpet into the kitchen and it only took one wiff of the bleachy smelling water to know what happened (guess that's better than another possible smell). Ok, off to start with the next battle..bedtime.

Long Weekend

Chris was gone to Nags Head for a very long weekend (Weds-Sun) on a golf trip with the guys (The 10th annual Mosquito Bite Golf tournament). I thought I was big and bad and would have no problems by myself with Meredith (since I usually do most everything for her anyway). I even had the grand idea that I should take Friday off and spend the day with my girl. I must say that I thought several times that I should have just taken her to daycare and worked instead. Don't get me wrong, I love my girl, but she broke me this weekend. She has gotten so mouthy and sassy, specifically with me, and you just can't reason with the child. I know she's 2 and you can't really reason with 2 year olds, but the answer to everything seems to be a sassy 'NO', followed by the screaming and running away from me and being downright ugly. Ugh, I was really ready for Chris to get home and at least distract her a little. So, Sunday afternoon I passed her off and escaped to Target and when I got home, they were both asleep at 5 pm! Translation: she should NOT have been asleep so late in the afternoon, which led to her not falling asleep until after 10pm last night! I think we had to put her back in bed at least 6 times last night. Oddly enough, I was ready to go off to work this morning. I truly don't know how stay at home mom's don't go totally nuts!!

The weekend wasn't a total loss. We had some small successes like a little action in the potty, fun play at the park with a few of the other 'golf widows' and kiddos, playing very nicely with the daugher of a friend of the family, being a good girl in Sunday School, Children's visit and doing well in the nursery during church. The overall theme here is that she is great when she is with anyone other than her mother. Why is it that the one that gives the most gets the least in return?

My computer is really acting up lately, so pictures are few and far between right now. It just decides to turn off and you can't turn it back on and then magically a few days later it just comes back on. One more thing on the long list of frustrating things in my life!

Chris & Ryan

Thought I'd post this sweet picture of Chris holding Ryan (Randy's baby girl) last week. He said it was amazing how tiny she was and she's almost 2 months old! I think she weighs now what Meredith weighed at birth, so she is pretty tiny! I held her when she was only a few days old and could hardly believe how tiny she was (around 6 lbs). Guess that's what happens when you have an 8.5 lb baby! Meredith just skipped the newborn size all together!

Who needs a clean house?

Meredith has been home since Monday and my house looks like a tornado hit it! I have to admit it was nice to have a clean house while she was gone, but it's better to have my baby home :) Chris drove to Tennessee to get her on Sunday and drove back on Monday. I had a baby shower, lunches and a wedding to go to, so he went solo. I definitely had major mommy anxiety while they were on the road and was thrilled to see them pull into the driveway on Monday afternoon. It was a nice break, but it was too long for my girl to be away.

This week has been hectic at work. The week of a holiday always seems to be more work that normal weeks, plus my partner has been out sick most of the week, leaving to manage several big projects and meetings alone...thanks. I'm so happy tomorrow is Friday!

I picked Meredith up today from daycare and she told me that 'Gracie has a booboo', so I asked if she had anything to do with that booboo and yes, she did. Gracie was trying to take a toy from Meredith, so Meredith scratched her across the face....it wasn't pretty. I really thought we had crossed this bridge and were done with this agression, but I guess not. I feel like it's probably partially my fault since she's had such an inconsistent schedule all summer and she hasn't had to share anything at all (and her father lets her get away with anything!). I'm hoping that as she gets back into her normal routine, she will drop this bully thing again. We talked a lot about it, but I'm not sure how much of that sinks in with a 2 year old. I keep trying to think about how I'd feel if it was the other way around and she came home with a scratch across her face from another kid and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it too much, but I guess these things happen when kids play...ugh. She really is a good girl, I promise!

On another note, we had a great success the other day when Meredith did a #2 in the potty!! Then about 15 minutes later, she went and peed in her Dora chair....one step forward, two steps back.

So Lonely...

Well, Meredith is spending the week in Tennessee with my mother-in-law and my house is BORING. I know I need to enjoy the peace and quiet and all that good stuff, but it's just plain weird. I got home after work last night and just kinda sat there like, now what? It sounds like she is having a good time up there. She is way too busy to talk to her old parents on the phone, but we've gotten a few words here and there.
Chris and I went up to the DC area this past weekend to see a really fun band, Great Big Sea. I would describe them as Celtic with a Rock twist. We went with our friends Brad and Stephanie and surprisingly Randy came too (they have a month old baby, so didn't think he'd get out of the house). We had a really good time and I went to Ikea for the first time on the way home...wow, that is a cool place!
I've been pretty bad about posting lately, but nothing too thrilling has been going on. Oh yeah, turned 32 last Monday... see, nothing too thrilling.

Big Girl Bed

About a month ago we finally got Meredith a twin bed. We had transitioned her crib to the toddler bed in May, but the girl is so tall that she almost looked cramped on such a small mattress. It also did not come with a rail, so I was constantly worried she was going to fall out. I think she only fell out about three times in the two months she slept in it, which I thought was actually pretty good!

Anyway, it's been up and down with the new bed, but overall she has done really well with it. She has been spoiled this summer by being able to sleep in so late, which I suppose is a consequence of her slack parents not getting her to bed at a good time. It was kinda nice to not really worry so much about a schedule since we knew she didn't have to get up early to go to daycare. Chris started back to teacher workdays this week and let's just say that sleeping beauty is not happy to be awakened so early. Re-establishing a more normal bedtime has not been easy this week, so I'm taking the small wins of 10-20 mins earlier every night!

Here is the progression of beds over the past 2 1/2 years!

Meredith has a big weekend this weekend. She is going to spend two nights with her grandparents in Thomasville (High Point/Greensboro area). This will be the first time she's spent the night, so we'll see how it goes. Tony, Chris' dad, just had a birthday and he said that all he wanted for his birthday was to have all of his grandkids for the weekend! I think he's a little nutty, but sweet! I'm sure Luann (Chris' step-mom) will do most of the work, but it's still a nice gesture. Chris and I are excited to have a kid-free weekend...I might get crazy and stay out past 10:00!!

Two and a half is beautiful!

Recent pics from JCPenny. I wasn't too confident in the photographer, but they ended up turning out quite well.

Mama Bear

I won't go into details, but I had my first real experience with the Mama Bear in myself today. It's kinda like I can make fun of my sisters, but if anyone else does, the claws come out. Don't say totally unecessary stuff about my kid if you want to continue to be my friend. I am probably being overly sensitive, but it really hit me hard today. Just had to get that out.
Ugh, do I really have to go to work tomorrow?

Better cousin pic

I just found a much better picture of the girls. All happy and hair mostly out of faces!

More beach pics

Here is the whole Smith Crew

This is the best one of the three cousins: Abigail, Jessica & Meredith...my child was the one that would NOT cooperate for pictures at all....see above. (You can't really tell, but I got them adorable matching outfits)

Beach

At first, Meredith HATED the water at the beach, but by the last day she was totally loving it. Her Aunt Hillary managed to do something to finally get her to like it.

Here is beach day 1-6....'Nana, don't take me one step closer to that water!'

Here is beach day 7 (yes, that is a big wooden spoon...)

Con-artist..

This summer we have been sending Meredith to daycare about one day a week since Chris is out of school. It is really nice because we save some money and she still keeps the connection with her daycare provider. We had been on vacation to the beach, so she missed a week and then last week Chris went to pick her up and Prissilla commented on how we must be doing a great job with potty training at home because Meredith told her all day long when she needed to use the potty and they never even needed to change her pullup because she was dry all day! WHAT??? I mean to tell you that when we are at home she wants NOTHING to do with going potty. So, yesterday I just went ahead and put her in training pants with some rubber pants on top to see how it went if she got wet with a lot of proactive asking and putting her on the pot. Well, she wet through twice, I mean really wet, not just damp...and she could care less! We also have been trying the m&m rewards, which hasn't helped one bit. So, all you child psychology folks out there, tell me what this means??!! Is it the peer pressure at daycare because 'the other kids are doing it', she just feels safer and more at ease at home? or is she just the ultimate 2 year old con-artist? She was 2 1/2 yesterday, so it is prime time to get this done, but I'm afraid we have a ways to go!!

I'll try to post some beach pics soon... just getting them uploaded today.