Absence...

Makes the heart grow fonder??? I hope so! Sorry my posts have been so few and far between. I feel like I cannot catch up with life here lately!
Last week passed by like a whirlwind and I am ready to stay home for a little while! I went to the lake with some girls on Saturday and spent the night, we called it a "mom support group" meeting. We had fun, but I missed Hays and Margaret Anne.
Speaking of MA, she decided Saturday and Sunday that she didn't want to nap. Saturday she wouldn't nap at all, and Sunday she fussed for 45 minutes before finally sleeping for about 45 minutes. Has anyone else experienced this? Maybe it was because she was out of her usual routine. Who knows. I am anxious to see if she naps well today at daycare.
We are getting excited about Easter and I hope MA gets excited about the Easter bunny coming to see her! I think he is going to bring her some good stuff ;) It is my prayer, however, that when MA gets a little older that she will love her Father and appreciate the real reason that we celebrate during this Easter season.
I hope you guys have a great day. Happy Monday!

A Zoo of a Weekend!

We have had a very busy, but very good weekend! Yesterday we went to the zoo with Hays' cousin Bre and her kids, Carter and Bentley, and his cousin Chad's wife Ginger and her kids, Camden and Emerson. We had a blast! Margaret Anne was really good about staying in her stroller, too. It was SO crowded and I didn't want her to fall or anything crazy. I did take her out to see some of the animals that she couldn't see while sitting down, and she seemed to like it! Here are some pics from the day.

"Just making sure you are back there, Mommy!"

Bentley, Carter, and Camden

Waiting for the ride to start, obviously not a great picture! You can see sweet Emerson though!

Before the train ride

I was really excited to see what Margaret Anne would think about the train ride. You can see for yourselves!

At first she was really excited, obviously! Then she got used to the fact that we were moving and actually seemed interested in the animals that I pointed out. It was so fun watching her.

Today we have had a pretty lazy but nice Sunday. We didn't make it to church this morning, we were all just dragging. But we slowly got productive and made a grocery run. Also, MA got a little surprise this afternoon! Our wonderful neighbors Jason and Leigh brought her a new Elmo! She is OBSESSED with Elmo.

She really likes him! He blows kisses and calls her his sweetheart. BTW, this is our casual Sunday "about to get a bath" look.

After her bath, she modeled both of her Elmos for you guys.

Happy Sunday!

BP OH-'10

As promised, here are some pictures and a brief review of our cruise!

We boarded the Carnival Sensation in Cape Canaveral, Fl on Thursday morning. That process went very well. From the parking attendant to our room steward, to our waiters, we experienced the BEST service. Everyone that worked there was SO nice. Also, I could not believe how CLEAN everything was! And the food was really good, much better than I thought it would be. Our room was even larger than expected. Corrie, Missy and Natalie's room had the most people in it though and was really small and WAY down the hall from us. It had no window and was very tomb-like.

We had a blast the first day, but a few of us started to feel really sick because the weather was bad and the ship was pretty rocky. But that did NOT stop us from getting our picture made at one of the many extremely cheesy photography stations. Can you tell that the photographer kept telling us to look "sexy?" We had a very hard time controlling our laughter.

 The next day we went to Nassau, shopped, and went to the beach. It was really fun! Here are Corrie and I before we left for our little excursion.

And then Natalie and I on the beach. The weather was beautiful and warm, but don't let that blue water fool you. It was SO COLD!

We went out again in Nassau that night so that we could fully embarass Corrie and do a little dancin.' No pics of that yet, but hopefully soon!

And then finally our last day on the ship was a day at sea. We laid out and relaxed on the boat. Then we had dinner and went all over the ship that night. We met some pretty funny characters along the way, too.

This guy was on his bachelor party.

We took another group picture (ourselves), but some of us were missing. One was sick and one was having great luck in the casino!

Kelly thought the dangly lights looked like the tree of souls.

We had such a good time and I wish I got to hang out with these girls much more often. We will need many more excuses to vacation together after everyone gets married!

Still here

And recovering from my 4 day whirlwind awesome cruise to the Bahamas! We definitely know how to do a bachelorette party right. It was very fun, very NOT relaxing, so I am spending my time loving on Margaret Anne and resting when I can. Margaret Anne decided to spike a 103.3 temp the night I returned, so we had to go to the Dr yesterday (he said she had a "fever virus") and of course she hasn't had any more fever since yesterday morning. I really missed her and have been loving on her (and Hays) nonstop. Pictures to come SOON!

Typical Day in the Life of a Working Mama

Over at Kelly's Korner she is hosting a "show us your life" on what your typical day is like. I like this one, because my days are SO predictable and so NOT predictable!
Here goes:
5:20am - My alarm goes off. I hit snooze at least twice.
5:40am- Shower, get out, get dressed
6:05am- When I get out of the shower I can hear Margaret Anne babbling in the background. After I get dressed, I make her milk and snuggle a little while and she drinks her milk.
6:15am - Daddy gets up, comes in, gets MA dressed and brushes her teeth while I fix my hair and put on my makeup. They go downstairs to watch Blue's Clues and Hays usually starts my car and makes me a coffee. He is AWESOME!
6:40am - Leave for work and Granvon's house. MA usually watches Praise Baby on the way there.
7:10am - Arrive at Granvon's, kiss my baby bye bye. She loves Granvon and is never upset about this :)
7:15am - Arrive at school, get my things ready for the day.
7:45am- Bell rings, I am bombarded by students. Every day is very much alike and very different at the same time. There is NO WAY to predict what will happen in a typical day at CCHS!
3:00pm - Final bell rings and I wrap things up in my classroom and attempt to clean my desk off a little.
3:30pm - Arrive at Granvon's. MA is usually happy to see me!
4:15pm - Arrive home. Mama/daughter play time! Sometimes I get dinner going during this time, too.
5:30pm - Dinner time for Margaret Anne. Daddy usually gets home while she eats dinner. Then he gets her bath ready. Bath time is Daddy's fun time with MA. During her bath I either a)sit and relax or b) get ready for Pure Barre.
6:00pm - MA loves to watch Dora, then Diego Mama and Daddy play with her during this time, too (unless I am at PB)
7:00pm - Bedtime. This has become so fun lately because Margaret Anne loves to cuddle before bedtime, when she didn't used to like to snuggle at all.
After bedtime, Hays and I are usually starving and we eat if we didn't get to while Margaret Anne was eating. Then we settle in for our fave TV shows, which means I usually end up falling asleep on the couch at about 8:30.

This is my most typical day. Today, for example, is not typical and I will be going to judge a dance tryout right after school, so Hays will be picking MA up from daycare, and hopefully I will be home before she goes to bed. During tryouts, there were several nights that I didn't even get to lay eyes on her after school and that was pretty sad. I will tell you though, I feel like I really appreciate the time that I am able to spend with her! Summers and breaks are much appreciated and enjoyed!

Stats...

Margaret Anne had her 18 month check up yesterday, and the doctor said she looked great! Here are her stats:
97th Percentile for height (WOW!)
25th Percentile for weight (Dr. says this is great because she is staying right on her same growth curve)
90th Percentile for head circumference (what a noggin!)

She did really well and only cried for a second when she got her shot. I hate that part. But the good news is that she doesn't have to go back until she is two. Can you believe that she will be TWO this year? That is crazy! Where did my little newborn go??

And some more stats, this time, a few of my own. I decided to weigh today (I always use the Wii fit to weigh because I feel like it is pretty accurate). I haven't weighed since before Christmas (which, lets be honest, is never a good time to weigh for anyone after all of the Thanksgiving-Christmastime eating that occurs) and I just wanted to see what my progress has been. To be honest, I was scared to weigh because I know that I have lost inches but gained muscle, and I was afraid that only a slight drop in the numbers would discourage me from continuing. I was going to HAVE to weigh at my annual doctor's appointment, but I had to reschedule that for after my cruise and if I don't gain at least a pound or two on vacation then I must not be vacationing correctly ;)
SO I did it first thing this morning. Drumroll please....
I am down 15lbs from November. FIFTEEN POUNDS!!! I started my diet in January so I feel like that is really good progress, since like I said I know I have gained some muscle. I am currently 3 lbs away from my prepregnancy weight. I can't believe it. I have 2 more pairs of jeans that I have yet to fit into (but more importantly are the 4 pair of jeans and the NUMEROUS pairs of work pants that I now CAN get into). I am just so excited. Now that it is T minus one week until we girls' trip it to the Bahamas, I am going to go hard core for a week to see how much closer I can get to my goal before then.  I will keep you posted!
Pure Barre is going to be so sick of seeing my face...

Busy Busy (the one with all the pictures)!

That is the ONLY way that I know how to describe the last 2 weeks! A week of tryouts (I love my dance team but I HATE tryouts) and then many showers and parties! It has been a BLAST. But I am ready for some REST. Oh, who am I kidding? I don't do good with rest.

First, we had a baby shower for my very good, very old friend Stephanie. It is so nice to be around my old girlfriends! It's always like no time has passed between us. There were some we missed though. And Stephanie has some very sweet friends of her own, too!

Gorgeous decor by Rachel, of course!

Hostesses and Steph  (minus a few that couldn't make it, we missed y'all!)

Then, it was straight to the lake for a girls' dinner and lingerie shower for Corrie!

For some reason, Corrie brought Benjamin. FLAT Benjamin.

But he didn't make it to dinner.

Man, I love these girls! At the restaurant the SpringHouse (fabulous new restaurant at Lake Martin), there was a man celebrating his 72nd Birthday! He and Corrie had something in common. Can anyone see what it is??

If you guessed fabulous head wear, you were right!

Then it was time for Corrie to open her lingerie. Here you see Flat Benjamin modeling some of her more, ahem, TASTEFUL gifts.

Here is a close up of Flat Benj so you guys can see just how handsome he is :)

BTW, Flat Benjamin courtesy of Natalie.

The next morning, I got to sleep til 8:00! That is late for me, so Jennifer snapped a GREAT pic.

After I got home on Sunday, it was gorgeous outside, so Hays and I took Margaret Anne to the park. I think she liked the swings.

And she loved the slide. Daddy helped!

And I think she liked just being able to run around. She would YELL AND YELL at the kids that ran past her!

Mom, what's with all the pictures???

Well, internets. As you can see, its been a busy but fun-filled time. Hopefully I won't have to let so much time pass between posts.

Now, time to change a toddler's stinky diaper. Oh, the glamorous life.

Please Excuse Me

So sorry internets. I know I have been absent from blog world lately. We have been awfully (well, actually, wonderfully) busy around these parts lately and I have not had it in me to sit down and blog. But that will change tonight. I have lots to post and lots of pictures, so prepare yourselves for some ultimate posting from me later. I hope that it makes up for my absence!