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.

Baby Palmer!

Congrats to Randy & Katy Palmer on the birth of their baby girl Ryan! She was born yesterday evening around 9:30pm, weighing 6 lbs 14 oz. She was a week late, so mom & dad were really ready for her to be here! Chris and Randy have been best friends since middle school, so this is really special. We can't wait to go meet her when we get home.

The beach has been great. The first day and a half were kindof a mess from tropical storm Cristobol. Since then it's been good weather, fun times and family. Life is good.

EI

We are off to Emerald Isle in the morning. My sister, Elizabeth, and her family are en route from Michigan as I type. It's going to be a fabulous Smith family extravaganza with my entire family for the week! Last time we went, Meredith was just learning to crawl, so this time will be quite different to say the least. I can't wait! I am hoping that the weather forecast improves, but we'll have fun no matter what. I wish bags could pack themselves too, but guess that's out of the question :) Off I go to pack!

Mommy, I stopped crying

I realized that I haven't really done a good post on just Meredith lately. So, here are some of the funny things about Miss M these days.

-The funniest one lately is that she tells me when she is done crying over something. One minute she is having a total meltdown and then she tells me 'Mommy, I stop crying' and then she is as happy as a clam. It is like someone flipped a switch! It makes me laugh every time because she is so darn upset and then she just decides she is done.

-Back in May, Meredith was sick several times and we made a couple of trips to the pediatrician within a very short period of time. We talked a lot about how we go to the doctor when we don't feel well, but also when we feel fine so that we can be sure we are healthy etc etc. Now, she will just start spouting off things about the 'dodor' now about how they look in her ears, and eyes and mouth, all while pointing to each thing and using the funniest inflection in her voice. You can see the Ped office from 70 (it's in Brier Creek) and she points to it and starts talking about the doctor. Funny kid.

-She has a baby doll that she has randomly named baby Lucy. I have no idea where that name came from because we don't know anyone by that name and I'm not aware of any characters on tv with that name either. I'm guessing it came from someone at daycare, but it cracked me up when she was asking for baby Lucy and I had no clue what she was talking about until she went and got the doll. Random.

-She recently got her first Barbie doll courtesy of her Mimi and she calls her 'Bahby'. I guess it's the 'Bahston Bahby'.

-She has some play money at my mom's house and then she'll drag out some index cards at home and call them her moneys. She has decided that everyting costs $2.99. I'll ask her how much something is and she quickly replies with $2.99...where did that come from??

- She plays in her pink tent that is in her playroom a lot. She often wants you to get in there with her, but that is a different story. She always wants to zip it up, but she can't say 'zip', so it comes out as 'Mommy, Yip it'.

-No matter what store we are in, she will find a backpack and put it on while we walk around the store. Of course, she thinks she is Dora with it on, but it is hilarious because they are always huge on her and it will hit her on her calves while she struts around the store talking about how she is going to get on the bus with her 'packback'. Hey, it keeps her occupied for awhile. We've only gotten roped into buying one so far and it had a beach towel in it, which she needed anyway!

- There are two horses by our house in two separate fields that we drive by every day. Chris decided to name them Pinto and Bean, which I thought was hilarious. So, every time we drive by we wave at Pinto and Bean...she loves it! If they aren't in the field we'll make up a story about how Bean is taking a nap or Pinto is eating dinner. I think one day we'll have to knock on the owners' doors and tell them how much Meredith looks forward to seeing Pinto and Bean every day :)

Ok, that's enough for now. Off to Emerald Isle next week! Hope the forecast improves!!

Pictures

I finally got around to uploading our recent pictures. I'll post Hilton Head first and probably put more up over the next few days.

Back to the grind

We had a great trip to the Hilton Head and I think the only thing keeping me going is knowing that we go back with my family in 2 weeks to Emerald Isle!

Chris and I ended up going into Savannah on Monday, which is only about an hour from Hilton Head. We ate at the Paula Deen restaurant, The Lady & Sons, and it was just wonderful. We actually went there in 2005 when I was pretty newly pregnant and I remember feeling like I wanted to pass out or puke the whole time we were there, so needless to say, it was a better experience this time! On the way back to HH we stopped at the outlet mall and went the the Coach store to get my anniversary present...yes, I am the proud new owner of my first Coach bag! Trust me, there was a reason we went to the outlets and don't believe for a second that my husband would ever pay full price for something. It really turned out to be an excellent bargain and I'm pretty pleased :)

The rest of the week we pretty much just baked in the sun at the pool and watched my little water baby swim. We got her some water wings and it was the best dollar I've ever spent! She even has a little tan line where her wings were! We ate some good seafood, relaxed a lot and I got to finish a book and a half (reading just never seems to happen at home for me and I LOVE reading at the beach. This was the first year since Meredith was born that I actually finished a book on vacation!)

Meredith ended up doing quite well on her little blow up mattress. Her bedtimes were late all week long, but hey, we were on vacation! We also found out that she *HATES* fireworks. We walked down to the harbor, which was just on the other side of our condo, just in time for the fireworks to start. It is a really neat area called Harbour Towne and there are all kinds of restaurants and shops right along the marina, but it gets really really ultra crowded on the 4th, which is why we waited until the last minute to go down there. Chris put Meredith up on his shoulders and the first two went off and at first I thought the look on her face was excitement, but it quickly turned to shear terror and tears soon followed. She just kept saying 'I don't wanna, I don't like it' with tears streaming down her face and reaching for me. We decided not to force it and just went inside and she loved watching them on TV! She quite happily said, 'I like fireworks' while comfortably sitting on the couch...that's my kinda girl :)

That pretty much summed up our vacation. Now I'm back to work and I'm not all that thrilled about it. Hopefully the next two weeks will fly by and I'll have my feet in the sand again before I know it!

6 years!

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary! We spent awhile at the pool and ended up getting pizza for dinner. We know how to party after 6 years! Actually, I think we'll be heading to Savannah later in the week for a real dinner out. We walked down to the harbor and had dessert and drinks though. Meredith made it to bed by 10:30 tonight, so at least it's moving in the right direction...

11:17pm

11:17pm...the time my daughter finally decided to go to sleep tonight. We are at Hilton Head, had a very uneventful, good trip down, but she has been bouncing off the walls since we got here. Guess 6 hours in the car will do that to a 2 year old. We are trying out the toddler aerobed (blowup air mattress that has a raised edge all the way around, so she won't roll out) for the first time and so far the bed is great, she just won't stay in it! I ended up having to sit next to the bed until she fell asleep so she wouldn't get out. I just pray she'll sleep in tomorrow so she won't be in pieces all day! Hope this isn't a preview of the rest of the week!

Ahhh

With my summer schedule, I was able to leave work today at 11:30 and went for a facial. I had a gift card from Skin Sense that Hillary had given me for graduation in December and I just got around to using it. I've never had a facial before and I must say that it was lovely (well, there was the extraction part that wasn't so lovely). My skin feels so nice and smooth and clean. The girl was very sweet and asked me if I exfoliate very often....um, nope. She politely recommended that I do that more often, which translates to 'girl, your skin looks terrible!'

I feel nice and refreshed and now it's time to pack for the beach. We leave tomorrow for a week at Hilton Head with the Simpson family (Chris' mom). I'll bring the computer and maybe I'll get to post some if they have wireless.

Thought I'd post this funny picture from a few weeks ago. Yes, the shirt says 'Warning. I am two.' If I remember correctly, she was living up to that phrase quite well at the time!

Happy Birthday Chris!

Today is my sweet husband's 38th birthday. I'm working at home today, so took a break to make his cake with Meredith and she has been talking about it about every 5 minutes, telling me how much she likes cake. She has been totally into birthday's lately and proclaims that every day is her birthday. She spontaneously bursts into the birthday song quite a bit. One day recently she was sitting on my lap and she put her hand on my face and as sweetly as possible said 'Happy Birday Mommy'...it was so precious even though it wasn't my birthday and it isn't until August. That's just how much she loves birthdays lately. Too bad she has to wait until February for hers. We've been talking about who has the next birthday, so today is finally daddy's birthday and she said 'my birday next'...well, in about 7 months sweetie :)

Happy Birthday Chris!

Hydrangeas

I'm loving that our hydrangeas are going crazy this summer and we have been able to pick lots of them and enjoy them in vases around the house.
Yesterday Chris was kindof messing with Meredith's ever-growing vocabulary and pointed at the flowers and said "Meredith, say hydrangea", knowing that is a pretty tough word for a 2 year old. She looked at him very seriously and without missing a beat said "Daddy, say flower". Maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious!

Cute Picture

My mom read my pity note about never having pictures up and she sent me a picture of Meredith at her house from Feb....SO funny!!

Let's play catch up

Ok, time to catch up. Now I have to remember everything that has been going on with us.

First off, the funeral for Chris' grandfather went as well as it could. We had the end of the year party for all of the teachers at Chris' school the same day as the visitation. The timing of everything was incredibly odd considering that exactly one year ago we had just found out about my own grandmother's death and we hosted this doggone party then too. (I think we are going to bow out of hosting this thing anymore in hopes that nothing bad happens on that day again!) This was all during the 100+ degree heatwave, which just made everything harder.

Meredith was a complete trooper for the entire weekend. She totally lightened the mood for everyone in the family. Friday night at the visitation she was going up to complete strangers and holding out the skirt to her dress and saying 'look at my dress, I a princess'. Needless to say, she made a lot of people smile :) She had a good time playing with her second cousins (?-or whatever Chris' cousin's kids would be) She was bossing around these 8 and 9 year old boys and they were being very sweet with her. We drove back to Raleigh Friday night and drove back for the service on Saturday morning. It was a lot of driving, but we just needed to be in our own beds.

I definitely did a lot of thinking about my own family during this time since it was so reminiscent of a year ago. Chris' mom and his aunts have been dealing with a lot of really hard stuff because his grandfather had remarried and this wife really did some terrible things to cause some major riffs in the family. Unfortunately, his own children were unable to make some of the most important decisions concerning the end of his life and I'm sure there are plenty more unfortunate things to discover as everything else is settled. I hated to see his family go through all of this, but I also know that they are all so thankful that Bill is now with his first wife(and only real wife) and his final resting place is right next to hers.

We got back in town on Saturday in time to go to our neighborhood carnival. Chris' mom, step-dad, sister and brother in law all came to our house for the night before they headed back to TN. So we all ate bbq and watched wild woman Meredith jump in one of those bouncy house things and slide down a huge inflatable slide. I can't express how wild she was. It was like 98 degrees outside at 7:00pm, but she could have cared less. Even some of the other dads that were standing around commented on her fearlessness coming down that giant slide. I was secretly praying that we didn't end the night in the ER, but she had a blast and only ended up with a big blister on her toe.

We went to Myrtle Beach last Thurs- Sat, just the 3 of us. It didn't start off very well because of terrible traffic and just a comedy of errors, but we ended up having a good time. Meredith much preferred the pool to the beach and she really did a good job of learning how to kick her feet and swim (we really need to get her in some swimming lessons). She surprised us by totally refusing to sleep in the pack n' play that we brought, so she slept in one of the beds with me one night and Chris the next (she fell out of the bed on his watch!). It may have something to do with the fact that she is way too big for the travel bed, but she still sleeps in her crib at home, so we figured we'd bring it. Even though she is still content in her crib at home and there have been no more climbing out instances for months, we know that it is time to move on up to the big girl bed. We'll start with converting her crib and then move her into a full size bed from the guest room. I can visualize lots of jumping on the bed, but hope it will go well. If it goes as well as getting rid of the pacifier, we should be good. On occasion she still asks for her paci, but I can say that we are paci-free now!! My baby is getting so big!!

We had a nice, but very low key father's day. Meredith and I made 'toads in a hole' for breakfast aka eggs in hole in toast. Meredith gave daddy some good smellin' (that's what we always called cologne we gave our dad) and a tie (that he's already returned). Hillary made homemade pizza at her house and we went and got Locopops up the street from them. I had chocolate wasabi sesame and couldn't resist a second one that was lime coconut sesame. I love how creative they are!

Ok, I think I have bored everyone enough, so I'll say adios for now. I am terrible about uploading pictures, so I won't even pretend I'll have any soon.

I'm still here

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the planet... life has just been nutty. I thought I'd get a chance to write a nice long post today, but darn it, work has been keeping me slammed today again! Maybe tomorrow. Whew, off to finish a few more things before I call it a day.

Grandaddy Bill

Chris' grandfather, Bill Smith, passed away yesterday morning after being really sick for several weeks. He was 87 years old. It was 14 years to the day that Chris' grandmother passed away. There is a certain level of reassurance knowing they are together again.

Paci Update

Where do kids take lessons on pitiful? Meredith should have an Emmy, Oscar and Tony award for her performances over the past few days. She actually hasn't been all that bad during the day, but night time has been the hardest. The first night must have just been a fluke because she didn't make a fuss at all about not having her pacifier. Saturday night was another story. She kept finding different things for me to bring to her. She would holler "mommy" at least 15 times in a row and then I'd finally check in with her and she'd ask for milk or she'd ask for a teddy bear, or she didn't want a specific stuffed animal in bed with her....stalling...and asking for her 'pacifaser'...lip poked out, eyes down, lashes fluttering and that extra sweet, pitiful sounding little voice. She really didn't cry much, just took her forever to fall asleep. It must have been 10:30 before the child finally gave in. It took her forever to go down for a nap Sunday and then we lost our power after the thunderstorm last night. It was out from 7pm until midnight....fun. She kinda thought it was a cool adventure to have the flashlights out and shine them all over, but she certainly did not want to go to bed in the pitch dark. This was where extra pitiful came into play. She cried and asked over and over for her paci and then she looked up at me through teary eyes and said "Mommy, I sad". I almost went and got the stupid pacifier right then, but we made it through it and she finally drifted off to sleep. The good thing is that she seems to be sleeping well once she gets to sleep and is her normal happy self in the morning. I know it is just a matter of time now, but she has had this thing for her entire life, so it is a huge adjustment for her. She's not buying the 'big girl' thing when she wants that sense of security. 3 nights down....