I ^ Faces.

I ♥ Faces always does a weekly challenge. I thought I would play along this week. The theme is "Autumn Beauty". I immediately thought of this picture of Caroline. I took it in a random hay field one day.



Head over to I ♥ Faces to enter your "Autumn Beauty" picture!

Not Me! Monday.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
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I did not have a mild panic attack yesterday. Emma has not been running a low-grade fever for about 3 days. I did not immediately think that it was because I gave her the H1N1 vaccine. Not me! I would never think such crazy thoughts.

Emma does not have 2 molars coming in. We are not blaming them for her fever.

I did not eat too much Moose Tracks ice cream last night while watching Brothers and Sisters.

I have not started 4 different posts and finished none of them.

Caroline did not come home from preschool today in a preschool shirt. She did not spill juice all over herself. I did not take her extra shirt out of her book bag and forget to put a new one back in. I am more on top of things than that.

I did not feel like a rockstar when helping Anna with her math homework. I did not answer a super hard problem in less than 30 seconds. Yayy me!

I did not check my e-mail last night to find that I won TWO Christmas card GCs. I am not super excited and my Christmas cards are not going to rock this year.

I did not steal borrow money from Ryan's pant pocket this morning. I was not too lazy to cook breakfast so we had BK Cini-minis for breakfast once again.

I did not just look up to find Emma pulling every wipe out of the pack. What is the deal with a child's fascination with wipes?

Speaking of Emma, she does not know how to climb the stairs. It is not super annoying. What is the deal with a child's fascination with stairs? I don't know either.

Caroline is not in the terrible 3s. They are not awful. You don't believe people when they say the 3s are worse than the 2s. So far, it has not been sooo true! At three, they do not know how to talk back. It does not suck.

I did not decide today to get tickets for Caroline to Disney on Ice. Fun times!

I am not going to get the kids down for naps. I am not going to take Christmas pictures today. I will not blog later.

Colors of fall.

Christmas Card.

I am on the search for the perfect Christmas card.

I can't find anything I like. I know in my mind what I want and I can't find it anywhere.

Where are you getting your Christmas cards this year? Where have you purchased them in years past?

I feel like I've looked at every online retailer. I am overwhelmed. I need help.

Help me!
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PS- Head over to Spearmint Baby for your chance to win a $60 Paperspring gift certificate. They have the cutest cards I have seen so far. They also have the card that is closest to what I am looking for. Check them out. Their cards are awesome. More than likely, I will order from Paperspring if I don't win this contest.

Randoms.

My newest guilty pleasures?

The show Weeds on Showtime. {Actually I'm watching them on DVD.}

So good!

We are also in love with Netflix.

So convient. So easy. So fun.

Not only do we get DVDs to our door, we can watch movies instantly online.

I'm addicted.

Not to mention, I can't get this song out of my head.

Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and lawyers,
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

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It hasn't been a fun week. Yesterday was super stressful. It has been rainy. We have only taken one walk to the playground. So, there is nothing to really blog about.
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Emma has given up her morning nap. Well, not completely yet but it is coming. It makes me want to cry. She naps from about 10 to 10:20. We still have the 2 hour afternoon nap though. {Thank God!}
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Speaking of Emma, in a few more months I feel like I will be potty training. She brings me a diaper when she needs a diaper change. My motto: if you know when you need changing, you can teetee in the potty. Caroline was completely potty trained at 22 months. Maybe Emma will beat that.
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Caroline is out of school today so we have a few things planned. Of course it is raining and nasty outside. We are sure to have cabin fever by the end of the day.
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I have taken no pictures this week and I'm having withdrawals.
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I forgot to watch the first episode of RHOC last week. I am still bummed about it.

Izzy comes back to Grey's this week.

I love TV.
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Ok. I'm off. Children are crying and there are chips all over the floor. Is is naptime yet?

Super Sunny Saturday

Today we took a field trip. We went to the Nature Center {no pictures... the snakes and other animals freaked me out so the camera never took any pictures}, the planetarium, went on a train ride and played on the playground. My friend Arrin and Addison went with us.

We had a great time!

Here is part of our day in pictures.

The sun did not want to cooperate. Every time I saw a moment for a great picture... the sun was in their face. Oh well, they are still adorable.


Addison, looking super cute.


Again, the sun did not cooperate with us today.


Caroline found a leaf sticking out of her pants and she thought it was hilarious!


The girls waited patiently as Bug had a diaper change.


We touched the static ball.


We even touched tornadoes!



We made colorful music.



We played the biggest game of operation I've ever seen.


We played in moonsand. {That stuff is so weird to feel. Have you ever felt it? Strange.}



Caroline played in the "hospital" and pretended to cut the baby's leg off. Hopefully, she will have a better bedside manner if she decides to go to med school.


Emma looked on in horror.


Don't you just love the decoration on the stairs? Notice the glitter on the ceilings too!


Caroline colored at the planetarium.


Caroline kissed an elephant. {Fake of course}


I gave Emma water. {Don't you love that, as a mother, there are never any pictures of you. Then, when there finally is one taken of you... it looks like this?}


Of all of the activities they liked the cement deer the best. Weirdos.


We played on the playground and Caroline took breaks to get wood chips out of her shoes.


Caroline had mad skills on the balance beam. Be jealous.


Emma's hair was rockin' too!


Water breaks were essential. Have you ever noticed that kids will drink ANYTHING out of a squirt bottle? Oh, they will. Try it.


The day went great. I only had two new gray hairs when we got home.

Did you know he was famous?

I don't pretend to like wine.

I really like it.

I have said before, I don't "know" wine. I can tell you a little bit. I know how to "properly" wine taste but give me a cheap glass of Schmitt Riesling or a cheap glass of Duplin County Black River Red and I'm game.

Last weekend for date night I wanted to go to a little place called Southern Exposure. I love their pork chop with a BBQ drizzle. Served up with a mac & cheese noodle cake and collards. This is delicious at its best. So yum!! {If you live in our area and you have never been... you are missing out. It is fabulous!}

Anyway, Ryan had different plans. Since we had been to Southern Exposure before, he wanted to try something different. We went to The Bistro at the Duplin County Winery.

I was super excited.

First of all, I have been wanting to go to the winery for a while. It is about a 50 minute drive so it is never the first place to come to mind on date night. Secondly, as mentioned above I have a thing for their Black River Red. Their Queen Ann's Revenge is also delicious but a bit on the expensive side for a Duplin County wine.

So, off we went. Ryan called and made a 7:45 reservation. I was more than excited on the ride there. I pictured this big beautiful building, in the midst of a grape vineyard. I pictured this big beautiful bar with tons of people wine tasting.

I was obviously picturing something in Napa because when we got there, I said, "WTH? This is it?"

Ryan looked at me like I was crazy. "Yeah," he said, "What were you expecting?"

I rolled my eyes, "Not Cracker Barrel."

Seriously, that is what it looked like. Just an old wooden building off a little country road, in the middle of a town that no one has ever heard of. No big, beautiful building. No grapes. No Napa.

"Maybe it will be better on the inside. There has got to be wine," I thought to myself.

We walk into Cracker Barrel The Winery and this kid who was about 16 asked if we would like to have a wine tasting.

SCORE! I am all about a wine tasting, my friends. I am that crazy chick that drinks every glass and never use my spit cup. No need to give this wino a spit cup. I drink every drop.

After browsing the wines, I know what I want to try. So does Ryan.

We walk to the bar and there is no one around. Shouldn't a complimentary wine tasting bar on a Friday night at 7:30 be jammed packed? Nope. Not that night.

"Can we try "Sweet Caroline"?" Ryan asked the wine guy.

"Ummm. Yeah." the wine guy said.

Then he did it. He poured a sample for one of us. He never gave us the other glass. Ryan and I had to share one small sample of wine out of the same wine glass. WTH?

Then the guy just walked away. Never offered for us to try anything else. Never asked how we like "Sweet Caroline". Nothing. That was it.

Strike number two.

Seriously, this is NOT what I was expecting... AT ALL!

Whatever. I was pissed bummed and we decided to go to The Bistro early.

Good thing we made a reservation because there was only a total of 7 other parties in the whole restaurant. Don't you hate that? Everyone tells you that you better make a reservation or you will never get a seat. So you do. Then you get there and there is no one there. Ugh!

At least we got to sit down and drink wine {a beer for Ryan of course}.

We immediately began looking at the menu. Ryan decided on a Hawaiian ribeye and I decided on a Shrimp Sarah.

After ordering, we started looking around. The atmosphere was awful. The tables looked like something from a local country grill here in our small town. The chairs were those bright silver chairs with the carpet cushions. Oh, you know the ones. The ones in the conference room of your elementary school. Little things like that turn me off from a restaurant. {Side note: I don't like eating in the dining room of Rucker Johns because I hate the hotel carpet. If we eat there, we have to sit in the bar.}

Strike three.

The food better be awesome, I thought.

They brought our salads. I had a Caesar salad. It was good. It is hard to mess that up.

Then they brought crescent rolls. SCORE! My favorite!

Then it started happening. These women started walking by our table. They would get up from their table, walk by our table, walk out in the lobby, and then walk back by. Each one would only look at Ryan and they would smile. Ok. I had only had one glass of wine so I wasn't drunk. I looked at Ry, "WTH? Why do they keep walking by and smiling at you? How weird."

Then he said it... the dumbest thing he has ever said, "They think that I'm famous."

I could NOT contain my laughter. If you know Ryan, you know that he looks like no one famous. Haha!

Anyway, about the time he said that another lady was walking by for the THIRD time and stopped to smile at him. It was the funniest thing that has ever happened to us! How random and strange!

Let's just say that was the highlight of my night. Well, that and the bottle of Black River Red Ry bought me.

Dinner was good. Nothing to brag about. Ryan's steak was better than my shrimp.

Anyway, if you decide to try it out beware of rude wine tasting people. There will be no need to make a reservation if you go on a Friday night. Don't waste your cell phone minutes to call them. Watch out for strange ladies that think your husband may or may not be someone "famous". Be sure to get a few bottles of wine. You will definitely need them when you get home.

We probably will not be making a trip back to Duplin County any time soon. Maybe next time I mention Southern Exposure, he will just take me there. ;-)

My little nuggets.

I was trying to find pictures to compare Emma and Caroline on their first birthdays. To me, they look so different. I have to closely examine to find traits that are alike. What do you think?

Happy Birthday (2 days late)

Anna,

I know how you like being on my blog.

I wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday... even though I'm a little late. I talked to you, saw you and we celebrated your birthday on time. I'm just late on the blog.

Anyway, I had no pictures of you at your birthday party that turned out good so let's just stick with this picture. {Well, unless you want me to post a picture with your eyes closed and your tongue sticking out.)


Happy 19th Birthday!!! I love you!!

Happy medicine did NOT make me happy.

I took a Xanax before I went today.

Emma had her one-year well baby visit. Why do they call them well-baby visits? I mean, they should clearly call them "baby-has-to-get-shots-so-mom-has-to-take-nerve-pill" visits. You know I have an adverse reaction to shots.

Clearly, Xanax is NOT the medication I need to help me during the shots. I totally laughed again today. I explained to the nurse, AGAIN, that I couldn't help it. I just laugh. She, AGAIN, told me that she totally understood.

Anyway, Bug had to get 5 shots. Count them. Five. Five shots that I had to laugh through. So not fun.

Dr. P also talked me into the H1N1 vaccine. I was totally against it.

"I gave it to my kids, my grandchildren. I gave it to myself, Hailey. We are seeing cases NOW. I highly recommend it."

"Dr. P, I'm just nervous about it."

"Well, blahblahblah," Dr. P explained the whole shot to me. Where it came from, what it was.

"Ok. Give it to her." I said.

He walked out. That's when I started having a panic attack. I'm talking, I didn't know what to do. I was tripping.

I called Ryan. No answer... of course.

The nurse walked back in. "He talked you into H1N1? Are you sure? I got it and Katie got it. But, if you are not sure..."

I don't know if I'm sure. I don't even know my own name right now.

"No, I'm not sure. Let's just do the regular seasonal flu shot today. Let me talk to Ryan about H1N1. I will call you at the end of the week and if you still have any, I will bring her back."

The nurse walks out.

Then there is yelling in the hallway. "NONONO! NONONO!" Silence. "NONONO! NONONO!"

The door swings open. It was Dr. P again. He held my hand. "Hailey, I just tried to call KK. I said "Let me speak to KK." They said she wasn't working." {FYI: KK is my mom. She works with Dr. P. Yes, he tried to call my mom.}

Anyway, to make a long story short... he talked me into it. After much explaining and promises.

I ended it with, "Well, if your arm falls off in three years at least I will know Emma's leg is going to fall off too. Yours will fall off first because you got the shot before her." He laughed and walked out.

2.3 minutes, 5 shots, sweat, and giggles later... my kid has the H1N1 vaccine.

Fabulous.

Now, I am just going to pray that her leg doesn't fall off.

I totally need a bottle glass of wine and it is only a little after noon.

As for Emma, this is what she looked like in the car on the way home...


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Emma's new stats

Weight: 20lbs. 9 ozs. (almost 7 times her birth weight)
Height: 30 1/2 inches

Lay underneath the harvest moon...

Totally sang this song all day {November 2nd... the day of the last harvest moon.} Ha!

Catch up time.

Halloween 2009.

Here are my rotting pumpkins. They were once really pretty. My fairy tale pumpkin rotted too. Oh well. Whatev.


First they were a ladybug and a mermaid. This was at the church Halloween carnival the weekend before Halloween.







We switched up for Halloween {Saturday} and Trunk-or-Treat {Sunday}

Emma was a butterfly fairy...


...complete with sparkle shoes.


Caroline was Fancy Nancy.



In conclusion, I have eaten all of the chocolate from the Halloween candy we received. I was a bit disappointed in the fact that chocolate was not the trick or treating candy of choice. I only got one Kit-Kat and one Snickers. What is this world coming to? I expect better next year, little town in eastern NC. I.expect.better. you suck