Our little pumpkin princess is 2 months old!

Our little pumpkin princess, according to her brother, is 2 months old today. Unfortunately, our pictures aren't that great because our photo shoot was short and sweet for 2 reasons.

Reason 1: Larson hates to take pictures.

 Reason 2: Larson hates bows.

 One thing she DOES love is to be naked.

 LOVES to be naked.

In honor of her 2 month birthday im going to share some of our likes and dislikes.

LIKES

Bath time

Eating

Snuggling

Her brother

To be talked too

Rocking

Me singing "You are my sunshine"

Her changing table

To sit up and look around the room

 

DISLIKES

The hiccups

Dirty diapers

Bows on her head

When her bottle runs out

Laying down

Sleeping in her own bed

Taking pictures

 

We love you sweet girl!

 

P.S. How cute is her pumpkin tutu?



Peanut butter cookie time

Guess what we decided to do last night?

That's right. Landon, Larson, and I decided to make peanut butter cookies. Technically I decided to bake some cookies and I MADE Landon help me. He had played on his ipad and watched tv for the majority of the day yesterday so i made him put away the electronics and get domesticated. As you can tell, he wasn't very happy. Larson, on the other hand,  was thrilled.

 

I gave Landon the responsibility of reading the instructions (he loves to read) and that seemed to lighten the mood.

 Larson had an important job as well. She had to sit there and be cute. She took it very seriously.

The further into the process we got, the more he was willing to help.



Before I knew it, he had practically made the cookies all by himself.

They were delicious and I think he may have even had a little fun.....

But we will never tell him that.  :-)





The Hall's and their Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Against my better judgement we decided to take our almost 2 month old to the pumpkin patch. Our church goes every year and Landon loves to go. This year was no exception. Now keep in mind, Larson has only been out of the house a hand full of times, dr. appointments included.

 Before leaving the house we did a little photoshoot.

 Landon got a little silly.

  Larson got a little silly.

 

 

Landon was loving on his little sister.

Daddy even decided to join in on the fun.

Naturally I couldn't help but think this was going to be a wonderful day. We arrive to the pumpkin patch and holy moses, It.Was.Packed. After taking out the stroller, hooking the carseat to it, feeding a baby, changing a diaper, packing up the diaper bag AFTER going through said diaper bag to make sure all items are accounted for, putting baby in stroller, covering with shade to avoid wind/ sun, we were ready. Whew, are you tired yet? Me too. As we chased Landon around to all the different activities such as the zip line.... 

the super slide,

 the race carts,

and the ponies just to name a few, 

Larson was pretty content hanging out in the stroller.  (P.S. how cute is her candy corn outfit?)

But then, she decided she was DONE with the stroller. She wanted to see what was going on outside of her little carseat which is understandable. She's a baby and babies are curious. However, it was really windy and I didnt feel comfortable with her being out in the wind so I tried to prolong the carseat ride. She wasn't having it. This is where the crying began and the pictures ended. We loaded up on the trailer crammed with people sitting elbow to elbow pulled by a tractor (once again against my better judgement) and headed to the field to pick out our pumpkins. At this time Larson usually has already had around 3 naps, but on this day she had 0. Getting her to sleep was near impossible due to all the noise and activites going on around her. Im to the point of tears, threatening to take the long hike back through the fields by foot, Larson is crying, the wind is blowing, we are surrounded by people looking at us with that sympathetic look and germs, oh my gosh the germs.

 

 We finally make it back to the truck and Jason realizes he has lost his phone. After searching for what feels like an eternity we find the phone. In the truck. Sitting right next to me.

Now, if you have never been to the pumpkin patch in Blue Mountain, MS, you truly are missing out. It's very family oriented and there are so many fun activities to enjoy. We are thankful for the church providing us with such precious memories. Although this trip wasn't the best, it's definitely the most memorable. We look forward to next year....when we have a toddler and a 7 year old :-)







You're doing okay mom.

“I think this is a good time to tell you, you’re doing okay mom.”

“I can call you mom, right?”

“I know we haven’t known each other very long, but you seem like a real keeper.”

“You’re not perfect, but you’re trying.”

“Anyway, I want you to know how much I appreciate you. You know, right? How much I love you?”

“You’re doing okay mom.”

This is what your baby would say to you if he/she could talk according to the Johnson’s baby commercial.  Isn’t that a nice thought? Larson might add “It’s ok that you dropped the bottle on my face, Mom, I know you didn’t mean too.” And Landon might add “That time I fell off the porch and you tried to catch me, I forgive you, Mom.” These are things that I hold on too, the times that I feel like I have let my children down.  When I dropped the bottle on Larson’s face, it didn’t hurt her. It was empty, but It instantly made me think of the time my then 4 year old nephew was at my house. We were going out the back door to swim and I pulled the door shut without knowing his little hand was still holding onto the door. I will never forget him looking up at me with tears in his eyes saying “Aunt Roo Roo, my hand.”  As soon as that thought popped in my head I called my now 10 year old nephew crying, telling him how sorry I was for accidently slamming the door on his hand. My mom and sister shared some laughs at my expense, but later my mom told my sister the reason I got so upset is because I try so hard to keep my babies safe and I feel like I fail them when they get hurt.  She couldn’t have been more right. I know being a mother is THE hardest job in the world. Period. The days of worrying never cease. You have so many sleepless nights that you forget what real sleep feels like. When your babies hurt, you want to be able to take the pain away from them, no matter if it’s just a boo-boo or if it's something more painful such as a heart break.  I can’t speak for all moms, but I often wonder if I’m doing a good job. If I’m doing the best I can to raise my children to the best of my ability, to raise God loving, successful children.

  My husband isn’t the type of man to hand out compliments freely, but he makes a point to tell me often that I’m a good mom. Out of all the things in this world, that’s what I want to be the most, a good mom. I take pride in being a mother, I always have. It’s an important job. Now don’t get me wrong some days my kids drive me crazy, to the point I think “If I ran away, would they miss me?” They would. But I would miss them more. Speaking of, isn’t it funny how you look forward to getting away for a while, maybe going to dinner with your husband or out with your friends? You build up the excitement and think I finally get a break from the kids, but then you leave and you spend the entire time missing them. Wondering what they are doing. You call every hour to “make sure everything is alright”.  

It’s true, no mom is perfect. We all fall short. The beauty of it all is that you’re children adore you, even on your worst days.

So kudos to you, Mom’s,  you’re doing okay!

Sneak peek

Tuesday my friend Madison and I went downtown to do a little antique shopping and thats when I found this little gem.

What am i going to do with this you might ask? Tune back in to find out :-)

Ebola...in my opinion of course.

Ebola. The word alone scares me. When I say it I instantly think of the movie "The lion king", you know the part where the hyenas say "mufasa" and it sounds so evil?  (You're saying Ebola in your head right now to the tone of mufasa aren't you? It's okay, me too. ) The scariest part about Ebola is the unknown. The CDC can sugar coat the word until it tastes like chocolate but I'm not buying it. I have read article after article about this deadly virus and every one seems to have a different opinion. That's okay, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it's just that, an opinion. I don't know about you, but I want to know FACTS. I think there is a whole lot of pointing fingers and sweeping important information under the rug, if you will. While I do believe some things should have been handled differently, such as Thomas Duncan being sent home from the ER the first time after telling the health care personnel he just returned from Liberia and the newest health care worker that tested positive being told it was ok to fly with a low grade fever because it wasn't quite 100.4, I do NOT believe its ok, under any circumstance, to blame either health care worker for contracting this virus. If you do, shame on you! I'm appalled that I even read that, as a matter of fact, I re-read it twice because I thought I was making a mistake.  Quick question. When its your family member that is sick, and you’re hiding out because you are afraid of catching something, who do you think is going to be at their bedside caring for them? That's right. Health care workers.  

The first word that comes to mind when I hear the word Ebola is misinformed. My husband, for example is a very intelligent man. Unfortunately he is misinformed. Yesterday he came home from work and he could tell I looked a bit frazzled. He asked what was wrong with me and I told him about the second health care worker testing positive and how it was spreading like wild fire. I kid you not, he looked at me with the most serious face and said Mandy it's 2 people, the stuff you sit around and worry about amazes me. See? Misinformed. What he doesn't know is that this ebola is "airborne" and I use that term lightly because the CDC has yet to prove that, it's just a speculation. The word "airborne" isn't a term that we nurses take lightly though. This is where that abundance of knowledge comes into play. Jason sees it as 2 people are sick. I see it as a domino affect. These people were around hundreds of people at the time of contracting this virus, unknowingly contaminating others which reproduces the cycle. Does this virus have the potential to be transmitted before symptoms are apparent? The CDC says no, but has that been proven? I'm not writing this to start a debate or scare people into hiding, I'm writing this to ask that we all stay informed. Make smart decisions. I pray for the two health care workers and their families during this difficult time. Just knowing the symptoms they are facing and the incredible pain they must be feeling breaks my heart. I also pray for our country, that we will pull together, one nation under God,  because friends that's the only way the word Ebola will become a little less scary. 

Im THAT mom....

Im THAT mom, you know, the one that is a germ freak. The one that screens people before entering my house when they come to visit asking them of their last known sickness and what the symptoms were. I don’t usually go as far as taking their temperature before entering my home, but now that ebola is on the rise I might start making that mandatory. Speaking of ebola we will get to that in a different post, I have a whole story to write about my thoughts on that topic. Ok, where were we? Oh yes, germs. Im the mom that washes the pacifier every.single.time it falls out of the babies mouth. I know you are thinking “Aw this must be her first.” Wrong. This is my second baby and I might would argue that im worse with my second than I was with my first. It could be that im older and more knowledgeable or it could just be that im a nurse. I like to think im knowledgeable so we will go with that. I was looking through Landon’s baby book the other night reminiscing and apparently I took him to walmart when he was a week old, when I read that I judged myself. I was embarrassed and thought for a moment I was the worst mother EVER, then I reminded myself he is alive and healthy, but walmart? As soon as I walk into walmart I feel the germs crawling on me, I sanitize the buggy, no joke. Speaking of, here is a funny little story. I went to walmart yesterday, babyless, and I began wiping down my buggy. An older woman came in and was watching me with a look on her face that said “she is so strange”, after watching me for a couple of minutes she walked over to the wipes, grabbed a few and began wiping down HER buggy. I smiled and took off with my sanitized buggy while thinking I made a difference in one persons life today. I giggle at the moms that have hand made signs on their baby’s carseat that says “No touching please” or “Look don’t touch”. I must admit it’s a little sad that we even have to go as far as making a sign that says don’t touch my kid, but there is something about little baby’s that tend to make people want to grab their cute little hand or squeeze their precious little cheeks. While you are sitting there admiring my child and grabbing that cute little hand while talking to her in that ridiculous little voice (which im so guilty of… Landon once told my mother in law that Larson couldn’t understand her because she wasn’t talking in baby talk) all im thinking is thank you for passing on 1000 germs to my child who puts her hands in her mouth ALL the time. She now has germs circulating in her system that are building up viruses and/or bacteria in her very small, weakened immune system. But what do you say without offending someone? I don’t know either, that’s why I tend to steer clear of people when I have a newborn. Now before you go thinking im crazy, im definitely not to the point where I feel as if we should live in a bubble. Some germs are good and baby’s eventually need to be exposed to germs in order to build immunity. I’m a nurse and us nurses tend to have a lot of things in common when it comes to well just about everything, but as with anything there are some things that nurses do that most people wouldn’t understand. The nurse that says “My child has been running 104 fever for a week now, I guess I need to go ahead and take her to the doctor”, yeah that’s what I don’t understand. If my child is running 104 fever for more than a couple hours, im calling the doctor to schedule an appointment and by the time we get to the dr’s office I will be convinced that its meningitis or maybe even ebola because lets face it a high temperature isn’t normal. Its your bodies way of saying hey something isn’t right and im trying to work overtime to fix it. Nurses hold such a tremendous amount of knowledge that it’s scary, SCARY I tell ya. I make the joke often that being a nurse is a curse because it makes you look at the world differently. Obviously its not a curse, its actually one of the greatest blessings, but it does make you look at the world differently. Rashes are no longer just a rash and chigger bites are no longer just chigger bites. We think of a million and one other things that it could possibly be. Now with all that being said, I would like to point out that just because you take your newborn baby to walmart or don’t wash the pacifier every time its dropped or don’t screen people for sickness or don’t automatically take your child to the doctor for a fever, doesn’t make you a bad mom in my eyes. We all have our silly little quirks and mine just so happens to be that im extremely over protective of my children. I do know that God has a hand on my children and ultimately he is their greatest protector, but do you blame me for being over protective of such precious little beings?

 

Now excuse me while i go santize bottles and bleach the counter tops. :-)