Thanksgiving Day!

This year was the most relaxing Thanksgiving I have had in a while!
Michael and I originally were planning on going to North Carolina to spend T-day with his family. But everyone ended up not in NC, so we decided to stay home as well. Typically I have ALWAYS had Thanksgiving dinner at my moms house, THEN we go over to the older girls Grandparents house, THEN to the tree lighting, and THEN home. And quite frankly the thought of doing all of that running around, packing up pack-n-play, high chairs, baby's food, clothes and the other half of the house I have to take with me when we go anywhere, made me exhausted, before it even happened!
So we decided this year we were going to stay home all day, and I was going to cook my very first Thanksgiving dinner all by myself!
As you probably remember, I was very nervous about everything coming together correctly. I had a busy week before hand, and didn't feel very prepared.
Well as usual, all that worry for nothing! Dinner was a SUCCESS =o)
The night before I worked with my mom, got home at just about 10pm, and Abby and I went to work on cleaning and cutting the collard greens!

She was up till almost midnight helping! She loved it! I did too, not only was it extra help for me, it was nice getting to cook with my oldest daughter! Especially such an important meal. Gave me even more to be thankful for!




After I sent her off to bed I was up till about 3am! I got all the greens going, the cookies baked, the pumpkin and sweet potato pie cooked, and most of the prep for the rest of dinner!
Thanksgiving morning we woke about 8am. We decided to do dinner @ 4 so babies could have a good nap while I cooked, and we wouldn't be too rushed. It worked out pretty perfect! While I was in kitchen making all the delish side items (mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, dressing (cheated- my mom made that for me), mac & cheese, greens, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls) Michael and Orlando (his cousin) fried the turkey and hens! YUMMY!



We invited his cousin and wife, and 6 children to come down and eat with us! (the only live a few house down the street!) They brought a ham and dessert! So we had tons of food, and TONS of hungry bellys waiting on it!


Everything was delicious! Couldn't have been better! I was SO proud of me! and Thankful for everyone who helped out too!
After dinner we had to continue tradition. Ever since I can remember we have always gone to the lighting of the tree in downtown Lawrenceville. Michael decided to stay home with the babies, I didn't think they would enjoy sitting in a stroller the whole time, and they were starting to get ill. Plus Michael has never been a big 'fan' of going. lol. Men. So we just met my Mother, Sister and niece there!


It worked out perfect! We got there right in time to start singing and then the tree lit! It just so happened where we were standing, when it was time for Santa to come we had the best spot! We were right on the top step of where he walks up to. I told the girls to get right on the rail so no one could get in front of them.
When Santa came, he walked like a foot in front of the girls, and he reached out and touched Aaliyah's chin and said "Hey there hun"!! The girls were SO excited!!!
The tree was beautiful, as usual! We walked around the square a little, before heading home for dessert!

It was a fabulous day!! Even though I didn't get to spend alot of time with my extended families, and even my mother, sister, aunt, and so forth. I still feel like it was worth doing dinner at the house. Plus, I AM THE ONE WITH 4 KIDS, I think I deserve the right for people to come over to my house and see us, instead up driving around to everyone else's house while they are sitting arond relaxing, you know what I mean?? lol.
We will probably do the same for christmas too!

Challenged Week- need to vent!

Let me just begin by saying, I have been nicotine free for 10 days now! woot woot! I tried the patch for 2 days, and got really sick on them, so I went cold turkey! With that being said, I will say this. I would not have wanted to live with me this past week! lol. I feel so bad for Michael. I haven't been the best wife (even though technically I am not a wife, ACTUALLY technically I AM a wife, legally I am not, yeah there we go i like that!)
On top of quitting smoking, and dieting, I started pmsing, ALL within a week of each other! I don't normally admit fault very well. But this time I am more than willing to admit it! I have been SO snappy. Everything bothers me, nothing is clean enough, no one listens to me, no one helps me do anything, no one appreciates what I AM doing, blah blah blah. Not that all of that is true. But that is how I felt ALL week.
This pic was them being silly, but I am sure it is how they felt about me too LOL)

One awesome thing this week did happen! We took the girls to the Christmas wonderland at the Fair Grounds. It was awesome! The lights were beautiful! The girls got to ride a pony, feed sheep, jump in bouncy houses, see santa, roast marshmallows, and have hot chocolate! It was so much fun!!

This weekend was pretty awesome too! Friday I got my nails done, did some Christmas shopping, exchanged some jeans I had bought for a size SMALLER (7lbs down!), took girls to the mall, then we all went to dinner! Score! Saturday was Abigail's party with her cheerleaders at Stars and Strikes. My mom kept M&M so Michael, Me, and Aaliyah could go with her. It was alot of fun, and they both had a blast!

Then the girls spent the night at my Moms fo some much needed Nana time! Michael and I went ahead and took on grocery shopping for Thanksgiving. Seeing that I am going to be SUPER busy this week, I had no idea when I would be able to shop! I am so glad it is over with now. $102.53 on nothing but stuff for Turkey day! Jeeezus. And I still had to by groceries for the rest of the normal week too! Next week will ALL be leftovers! lol

This week is going to be such a challenge. I hope I can hold up, without losing my mind or becoming 'bitchy' again. To start with, while at the nail shop on Friday I learned that my children don't have school AT ALL this week. Not the traditional off Wed, Thurs and Fri for Thanksgiving. This week they get the WHOLE week off. Which is all good and gravy for them, BUT I made my work schedule for Mon-Wed!! And as you probably know, Michael works nights. He doesn't get home until sometimes 4-5am. Then on days I work he gets up with babies all day when girls are in school. Well now he is going to have all 4 home everyday! Eeeeks!
I have worked out for the big girls to spend 1 day with my aunt, and 1 day with a friend. But that still means alot more running around for me!
On top of ALL of that. We decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner this year at our home! Which I am really excited about! I have a great menu planned! But I am a little concerned about having everything ready on time to eat! Seeing that I am working Mon-Wed, plus Wed night, I am not going to have much time to do any pre-cooking. AND I am completely OCD about my house being spotless when people are coming over. So I HOPE everyone KEEPS it clean during the week. I am not going to have time to clean the whole house AGAIN. But I have faith in myself. I can do this =o) As long as the food is served and the family is happy, I will be happy!!
We are having some of Michael's family over so I will be feeding 5-6 adults and 8 kids. Here is my menu- Tell me if this sounds yummy to you! =o)

Meat:
Fried 20lb Turkey (Michael's job)
Baked Hens

Sides: (all completely HOMEMADE, by me!)
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Stuffing
Dressing
Collards
Mac&Cheese
Cranberry Sauce (ok-that is canned)
Dinner rolls

Desserts:
Pumpkin Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
Aut-YUM Leaves (for kids)

So tonight, I am going to do as much laundry as I can, finish up cleaning as much as I can, then BREATHE, drink a cup of cider (BTW, warm apple cider is my new addiction.. it's much tastier than a cigarette!) and get ready for a crazy, fun-filled, family-filled WEEK ahead!

I hope everyone of you have a great week, and a fabulous Thanksgiving =o)

This year I am thankful for such an amazing family, who make me smile daily!!


I had to add this adorable picture of Maggie snoozing away. Lol. What a peaceful life babies have. =o) I am so thankful to have 4 beautiful precious angels I call daughters!

26th birthday, and start of NEW Megan!

So, November 8th, I celebrated, kind of celebrated my 26th birthday. This year I already has mixed feelings about my birthday, and the day of proved me right. TWENTY-SIX.. seems so close to 30!! I knew it was going to be the start of the not so young feeling years, and I was right!
The night before, at midnight. I went outside and smoked a cigarette. yeah yeah yeah I know!! Not a smart thing to be doing. And after the 2nd puff I wanted to cry! I have NO idea why. But this birthday also started the beginning of change for me. I guess that alone is a little depressing. (Explanation coming)
SO anyway. I had to work the day of my birthday. Work was surprisingly EXTRA awesome. I made almost $30 more than normal. Plus I got to do a wine tasting, take a shot, and drink a glass of wine before going home, SCORE! lol.
When I got home, my mom had made me a cake and it was at my house! We were going out to dinner, so we did gifts and cake with the kids first before they had to go to bed. Michael had taken the girls shopping for me. They decided they wanted to get me a red picture frame, and put a picture of "my babies" in it. So he went and had a collage made with a picture of him, Abby, Lele, Maggie, Madison, and Newman! It is super cute!! He got me a pretty candle holder that hangs on the wall, and money to go shopping for boots, and jeans that I desperately needed! So I was very proud of them all, they know what mommy likes!
My mom and sis came over (to watch girls while we went to dinner) My sis got me a beautiful statue of two sisters, with the phrase "Sisters by chance, Friends by choice!" Love it! It is SO TRUE! My momma got me the first box of Nicotine patches (will explain in a minute) some yummy bath wash and lotion, and this awesome dvd that turns your tv into a fireplace! (She also chipped in for me getting my hair cut and colored the day before!)
Michael took me to Papadeax! I love that place, dinner was delicious, service was kind of sucky, but still, it was very nice, and delicious!!
SO yeah again, about the change thing. I have had my 'secret' addiction, forever! Smoking. I know it is SO bad, and nasty. But honestly I had been smoking off and on since I was like 16. I was supposed to have quit when I was 25, but that didn't last very long. All my friends smoke, so I was always tempted when I was with them. my strength gave in, and before long I was still smoking at least 1-2 a day. Honestly it was my getaway. When I got annoyed, I smoked, bored, I smoked, drove in car (without kids) I smoked. At night when all the kids went to sleep, first thing I did was smoke a cig! Even though I didn't even enjoy it anymore, I just needed that everyday. My body depended on it. I know it is probably ALL in my head, BUT if I didn't have that ONE a day, I turn into a total bitch. BUT me and myself had a little talk. I decided this year, being 26, it was time to kick the habit completely, lose 30lbs, get a new hair style (check!) and work on me a little. Since having the twins, my life has pretty much been consumed of nothing but kids kids kids, michael michael michael, house work x10, and everything else. I was always put on a back burner. And quite frankly, even though I have never been happier in life, I was not happy with myself. After losing my first 6lbs, I realized I can do anything I put my mind to and so I AM! I have 4 beautiful girls to live for, and let's be honest, smoking for almost 10 years, is nothing but fatal. I was once told that in order for my lungs to start healing from the damage done, I needed to be QUIT for a year, for every year I smoked. THEN once you hit 40 your chances of issues, and cancers jumps up in percentages. SO being 26, I need a good 10 years to heal my lungs up, to have 4 extra years before 40! That to me is reason enough to kick the habit.
So I have been procrastinating wearing the patch. Today is actually the first day I put in on. And honestly, I HATE IT. It leaves a horrible taste in my mouth, my eyes feel heavy, my head feels spinny. Almost as if I had just smoked a joint, or had 4 shots! 10 yrs ago I would love this feeling, nowadays I DO NOT! BUT I am going to stay strong and get through it. I don't want to be a smoker. I don't like setting an example that like to my children. And I am just ready to say goodbye to it for good! But I know this is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done! I am already feeling the stress of it. If I can get through a solid week, I think I will be OK. But as of right now, this sucks so bad! Michael is not a smoker, and hates me smoking, so he is a good support team to have at home. Now if I can just talk all my girl friends into quitting too, I will be good! lol
So while I was not ready to turn 26, I am ready to get back in shape, get healthier, and move on to the new me! So when 30 does come around, I will personally already be where I need to be, physically anyway!

(sorry no pics this time!)

Halloween FUN!

This past weekend was excellent!!
It started Saturday. We had a football game @noon in Dacula. Poor Black Knights got beat by ONE point. Therefore, NO more football =o( Actually who am I kidding :) :) :) :) I am SO looking forward to having my Saturdays free!! it's been rough getting up early and getting 6 people ready EVERY Saturday morning for the last 3 months! Even though I am happy about it, it was still sad knowing that was the last game for this year, UNTIL next year! (When I will have TWO cheerleaders, and TWO football games every Saturday, and TWO TWO year olds!! WOO HOOooo)<-total sarcasm on that one BTW!


















SO ANYWAY- After the game I took girls to the Fall Festival in downtown Lawrenceville. Michael took the babies home for a nap. I knew they would be TOO sleepy to skip naptime! Plus there isn't a whole lot to do for babies who can't walk!

Yeah it was a total rip off, and a waste of 20 minutes to walk around it. Actually not a TOTAL waste, I got some coupons and FREE samples. But as far as the kids go, nothing fun to do but jump in jumpy house for 10 mins. SO we ditched it, and drove a little further down the road to The Avenues festival. Much better!! They had a marshmellow roasting station, face painting (which we didn't get to do),pony rides, necklace making, digging for gold, ringing a rope over horse head, balloon making, lots of candy, GOOD coupons and MORE! The girls enjoyed it MUCH better than the 1st stop. Plus we stopped by Gary's Bistro (my job) and said hello to a few folks! It was a success!

Saturday night we were thinking about taking the girls to go trick or treating at the mall, but then I decided they will get plent on Halloween night, and I would rather stay home and get some stuff done. We ended up grilling out som bbq chicken legs, frying some wings, made homemade mac&chs, and green beans!! It was nice making a big dinner for everyone! Since I have been working during the week, and Michael goes to work soon after I get off, it has been a while that we have all been home for a big dinner together! I highly enjoyed the time with family!I love these guys!! Well my one guy and four gals!

SO HALLOWEEN was Sunday! The girls were so excited all day, they painted their baby pumpkins, again, then decided to carve them, and ended up just ripping them open and playing with the guts! Mean while I made a big brunch, pumpkin pancakes! I cut the butter into triangle shapes for the eyes,and used syrup for the mouth! They were super cute and delish, and NO didn't take a picture!! (crap!) Didn't think about it at the time =o(

Unfortunately Michael had to work Sunday night, so he couldn't do halloween fun with us, but he was there in spirit! And I got lots of pics for him!! We started getting into gear about 6pm. Abigail was a punk rockstar! Aaliyah was an Angel! Maggie and Madison were baby lions!!




I got a GREAT deal on costumes. Babies lions costumes came from Sam's, for $9. Aaliyah's angel costume came from Ebay $2 + $5 ship= $7! And Abby put together her costume with her clothes she already had. I bought her red/glitter haispray, black lipstick and black nail polish, and red gloves=$8! SCORE. =o) Kids were VERY happy with their costumes, so Mommy was too!

I couldn't believe how awesome kids did! Babies sat quetly in their stroller the WHOLE time! Never moved, cried or nothing! lol I thought they were going to fall asleep, but didn't. They were just trying to figure out what the heck was going on! Big girls were awesome too! No one got lost, no one fell and got hurt, everyone got TONS of candy!



Total the night was WIN WIN WIN!!

So NOW that Halloween is over, next up MY BIRTHDAY! November 8th! 1 week and counting! Then Thanksgiving (going to North Carolina to be with Michael's family!) and then Christmas!

I am actually Christmas shopping for the first time tomorrow! Woo Hoo!!

Hope everyone else had a AWESOME weekend like we did! Family time is the best time!

i can't keep up with me!!

(New family picture!!)

It's been like 2 months! I can't seem to keep up with my life, let alone my blog!

So this will probably end up being another "catch up" blog. Promise next one will be about something interesting, and specific!

Let's see where to begin.
M & M turned 1 on October 6th!! I can still not believe my little babies are ONE already!! Seems like they were just born! Time flies by TOOO fast!

Michael's mother came down for the week of their birthday, and for birthday party. Which was nice! She is alot of help to me around the house, and she keeps kids so I can run errands! Which was even more wonderful seeing that I had lots of birthday party shopping to do! Plus I get along quite well with her =o)



Birthday party was a success! I did a M&M themed bbq in the park! We rented a pavilion in Bay Creek Park, right beside a huge playground! Weather was beautiful, babies were happy and food was great! My dear friend, Cyndi, who is an excellent photographer came and did pictures for me. Which BTW anyone who has children and feels like they never get to enjoy special events b/c they are always trying to get pictures of it all, a photographer is the way to go! I was SO relieved! I got to enjoy talking to family and being part of the party, instead of trying to snap a picture every 5 seconds!!

We took babies to get their ears pierced on their birthday! I know kind of bitter sweet for them! Pain on their birthday! But they look super cute now with pink ice studs in! It did almost break my heart watching them scream while dad held them! But I think I did ok. Them on the other hand... not so happy!












SO twins update!!- Maggie is currently 20.3lbs, and 30 1/4 inches long! She has 4 full in teeth, 2 on top, 2 on the bottom! And is everywhere! She is standing up on her own, and climbing! She can walk with her walker, but hasn't attempted any first steps yet. Which is OK with me!! The longer they wait to walk, they more prepared I can get!


Madison is 20.12lbs, and 29 1/4 inch long! (funny she is a few oz more than big sis, yet 1 inch shorter!) She also has 4 teeth fully in, but all on the top. She has one bottom tooth working its way in, but taking its time! She too is everywhere and into everything. No climbing for her, she is the more scared one. She stands up, but is scared to fall down. No steps for her either. Again fine by me!! She has a new obsession with trying to pull your nose and lips off. NO FUN.

(at 1 yr old check up, waiting to get shots!)



They are getting used to the word "NO". Maggie listens quite well, Madison, not so much! lol she laughs and keeps on. Lot of work for mom and dad teaching these basics in the next few months!




OH AND so much for plastic plugs to block outlets. First thing babies do when on the floor playing is head to every outlet in the room and pull them out! Then they play with them as if they are their toys. Shouldn't those things NOT be that easy to pull out for a baby? Geeez!

As you can tell my days are pretty much filled with:

"Maggie no"

"Madison don't pull sisters hair"

"girls those arent toys"

"no mam, not nice"

"get down"

"come here"

"uh-oh!"

"patty cake patty cake"

"this little piggy went here, and that little piggy went there"

Oh the joy of having two! It is SO much fun, and I wouldn't change it for the world. It just requires a little extra patience from mommy, and a few advil too! (for me not babies!)

Big girls are doing excellent too!

Abigail is continuing her cheerleading. She recently had her cheer off. Which was a little disastrous! Just about every girls on her squad are in their 1st year. So none have participated in a cheer off before, and quite frankly had no idea what was going on! They tried their best and once they got going, hey did GREAT, and looked cute as a button too! BUT the mat they do the routine on has a bunch of white lines. To start, the girl in the front of line was told to go to the FIRST line. Well she went all the way to the front on the mat. They were supposed to be in the back of the mat to start routine, SO needless to say they were all confused and the routine got a little out of order in the beginning. They didn't place, but it was a learning experience for next year!

The football team made playoffs, so MORE cheerleading through November!

Aaliyah has had so much attending football games and practices, she has already decided she wants to cheer next year too! So I will have a 1st grader and 3rd grader on 2 different squads. Meaning two different practices, two different games, and so on and so on, not to mention twins almost 2 yrs old. LOL Next year is going to be so much fun (*wink*wink*)


Both girls are doing very well in school! Progress reports just came in the past week. All A's and a couple B's! Good enough for me!



This past weekend we went to the pumpkin patch! And next weekend we have 2 fall festivals to attend! Plus Halloween!! Twins are going to be lions, Aaliyah is going to be an Angel, and Abigail a rockstar!! Pictures will be posted!!

I am doing well too! Still working at Gary's Bistro part time. It is going very well! I enjoy the few hours out of the house, and making some extra money. Holiday shopping is just around the corner too! I am very much looking forward to that! Girls are getting older, and will be getting some big girls electronics from Santa! I can't wait!!

SO until next time, Happy FALLing leaves to you all!

BUSY bizzzzzy BEE! That's ME!

I haven't had much time to blog. Trying to catch up!! =o)

Today started the 2nd week of school! So far SO GOOD! Last week Abigail walked Aaliyah to her class every morning. She said Aaliyah started to cry just a little bit when she left :(. But this week she is all on her own getting to her class every morning! While I know she is fine. There is a part of me that is worried she never made it to her class and is sitting in the bathroom crying! But I am not going to think about that!!

We had a little mishap the first day of school. Aaliyah came home with her name written across the front of her book bag! When I asked who did it, she said her teacher did! Yeah, I was a very aggravated mom that day! I called the school, the teacher, and wrote a very "nice" letter to the teacher and

school. I couldn't believe that her TEACHER would have done something so inconsiderate, and dangerous! Needless to say they sent me home a $20 check to replace her book bag! Thank God! I was going to be up at the school if someone didn't do something. I mean it is 2010. There is crazy people everywhere, I did not need my child walking around everyday with her whole name in plain view for anyone to see! I am so glad I didn't have to go in angry mom mode, and they dealt with it exactly how I wanted them too!!

Abigail LOVES 2nd grade, and luckily has a friend from the neighborhood in her class!

But having the kids in school has been a nice break during the day. Except it means waking up again at 6:30am! I have never been a morning person, but I have to admit I am getting better at it!

The first day of school, was also my first day of work! Not actual work yet, BUT training for the real deal! I got hired over the summer at Gary's Bistro. Which is an amazing new spot in the Avenue off of Scenic Hwy. It opens September 3rd, and I strongly recommend everyone come check it out! I have been training 3 days a week, 10amish to about 2pm. Once it opens I will be daytime bartender M-Th (I hope!) 10am-4pm! Which will be great b/c I will have my afternoons at home with the kids, and weekends at home with the family! Michael works nights, so he will have babies, no daycare!!! Only downfall is I won't ever see my darling until the weekends. When I get off of work, he will be getting ready to leave for work :( But we will have Fri and Sat together! And it it worth it for us to be able to start saving money! We have a To Do List of thing we hope to accomplish in the next couple years! We have to start moving towards that direction!

BUT Anyway (sorry got off subject!) Gary's Bistro. Amazing menu! It's definitely been a challenge for me. I am having to learn to pronounce names of things I have never even heard of before! But after several taste tests, I guarantee you, if you come visit once, YOU WILL BE BACK! And if you like Calamari, you MUST come. I love it, and this is by far the best I have ever tasted! OK- Now that I am done advertising.. lol.. back to family!

Abigail has been cheering for the last few weeks! She loves it and is doing SO good! She even won the spirit stick on the 2nd week! As expensive as it was ($400!!!) I am starting to believe it was worth every penny! I would be lying if I said it wasn't a challenge for mom though! 3 days a week she has practice 6:30-8, and every Saturday a game at 10am! Between school, work, babies, laundry, cooking, babies, feeding, organizing, babies, cleaning, laundry, cheer leading, babies, laundry, laundry and more laundry. Some days I feel like I have disappeared out of my body! It becomes a challenge to get myself showered and dressed! But honestly it hasn't been THAT bad. Just will take me a little while to get used to this new schedule! Over the summer we were pretty relaxed, and I had all the time in the world, now not so much! lol. But I wouldn't change it for the world! Kids are happy, Mommy and Daddy are happy! That is all that matters, right?

This past weekend was really nice! Friday we went to visit a good friend of mine who just recently had her baby girl, Addison, 9 weeks early! She developed preclampsia and had some issues with blood clots. They admitted her in the hospital last Monday and delivered baby on Tuesday! She was 2lb 7oz! But is so precious! And is a fighter! She will remain in the NICU for the next couple months, but I believe she will be just fine! Jessica is a first time mom, so anyone who believes in the power of prayer, please keep her in mind!

Saturday we took the girls to the mall! They love it! We bought Aaliyah a new book bag, and a few other things we went for. While there Bass Pro Shop was having a reptile show. We got to see and touch (which I was a little iffy about) an anaconda! The girls were thrilled! They love snakes. That they most definitely did not get from me! lol

THEN Saturday afternoon while the kids were outside playing, Aaliyah starts screaming and crying. As any mother who can tell the difference between cries, I knew she had to be hurt.

The little boy she was playing with was picking up the skate board at the same time Aaliyah was bending over to get it. He popped it up with his foot and BAM it hit her right in the cheek :( Poor baby. She has a puffed up cheek, scratch down in, and a big black bruise :( Picture day is Friday, needless to say we will be doing re-takes in a few weeks!!

Babies are now completely MOBILE! In to everything and all over the place! They are teething and have completely changed their schedules too! We are now on one nap a day. Not sure how I feel about that yet. I kind of likes their old schedule better! lol. Due to the teething they are getting harder to put to bed at night. Here lately haven't been falling asleep until almost 11pm! (usually would be asleep by 8:30) and they sleep 12-13 hours each night. SO only plus side to that is, they sleep until 10:30-11:30 in the morning!! Mommy does like that part! But once I start working a 'normal' schedule I will get them back on a more decent one too!

No more teeth YET but Madison's are right there ready to pop!

Maggie learned the word No, except in her vocab it is pronounced "DOE" lol. AND she is clapping her hands and says "Uh OH"! Madison is army crawling ALL over the place but can't quite get those knees up! They both are growing at rapid speed! I wish I knew how to stop them!!!

Until next time....

Shopping with 3 different opinions

After this past week, I realize how awful of a child I probably was, and am very sympathetic to my mother for putting up with me. I realize this because my children are JUST like me.
In the last week we have spent countless hours shopping. Everything I liked, they didn't. Everything they wanted was too short, too tight fitting, too teenage looking, and too PINK!
It took me back to the days when I begged my mom for daisy dukes, thongs, and halter tops!

We started our shopping trip Saturday up at the North GA Premium Outlets. This was personally my first time at these outlets. I was quite impressed! We hit some great sales, and enjoyed browsing! Best sale of all was Carter's and OshGosh. While I love their sales in my stores, up there was just as good, but better!! We hit some sale racks where everything was $1.99, $5.99 and under.. then you got 20% off of EVERYTHING, including sale prices! Luckily Aaliyah is only a size 6, so I can still shop there for her! She racked up and got some super cute clothing. Of course even though we were shopping for big girls, I had to snatch up some great deals for the babies too! They came out with a few onesies a piece, and new pj's!

Abigail is by far the most difficult to shop for. She is very thick. Her height/weight has not equaled out yet. So she has to try on everything. The entire shopping trip she was not worried about buying any clothes. All she wanted to buy was, bras. OMG. Talk about driving me crazy! She is only 7, but she does have a little "sumthin sumthin"sticking out, if you know what I mean! She has some of the halter/sports bras, but she was convinced she was buying the real deal. Well she got a rude awakening when I said no to triangle bras. She found some cute ones at Justice, but they were $15.90 for 2! After I explained that she was 7 years old and did not those, I convinced her to wait and get them from Walmart. That seemed to calm the water, a little. The other issue with Abigail is so far she had 4 PINK tops. I told her NO more pink! She had to find some different colors. That part was not so easy. Everything cute, was pink. But I refuse to have my child wearing pink EVERY day! She wanted the plaid skirts, lace tops, red and black checkered pants. The whole time I am thinking, when did my child turn emo?? Am I raising a punk rocker? That was until I took her to stores with the Apple bottom jeans, Enyce, Mecca, and other "hip hop" styles, as Abigail would call them. Then she was right at home, and Mama was a little bit more at ease with her style choices!

SHOES were not so much fun. Both the girls had 2 pair of sketchers last year, so I said NO to sketchers. I wanted them to have a nice pair of Nike tennis shoes. Well that got the storm going again. Trying to explain that to a 7 yr old and a 5 yr old was very interesting. While I thought it would have been easier just to give in and let them get sketchers (after all they are cheaper!) I knew I had to stick to my word, to prove my point. (I sometimes fall short of always sticking to my word when it comes to NO's)
So we went to Nike, Adidas, and Puma.. everything I liked for them, and they agreed to, didn't have their sizes. So frustrating!! After an endless search, we decided to head back to our side of town and hit up Discover Mills. (Abby's favorite mall) But not before of course, it started pouring rain!

Discover Mills wasn't much help either. After going through EVERY shoe store in there, still left empty handed. (besides the couple outfits we got Abby). Still no shoes.

Sunday I was too exhausted to try and go shopping, AGAIN. But I did hit up Walmart, ALONE. For the basic essentials. Socks, panties, BRAS, and hair stuff. It is so much easier shopping ALONE. Abby was very happy with her 'bras'. Thank God.

Today I got everyone ready to head out shopping, AGAIN. I was expecting to be gone the whole day, and took two Advil in advance. I was prepared for "NO mom I don't like those, I hate that, that's ugly, Ewww... OMG Mom". Well much to my surprise. It wasn't bad at all. They were actually somewhat cooperative and didn't complain much about Mommy's style choices!
I got a coupon from the Sunday paper for Shoe Carnival. Plus they were having a BOGO sale! Abigail ended up getting the Nike's she originally wanted, (whew!) And I talked Aaliyah into getting a super cute pair of Puma's! Even though they were BOGO and I had a coupon, they ended up still being a little more expensive than I had wanted them to be, but I was relieved to have finally found shoes I didn't care how much they were!!

We were in the shopping center off 124, with Target, Marshall's and TJMaxx. So while I had the babies already in stroller, we decided to browse around! Thank goodness we did! We ended up finding Abigail 4 more tops and another pair of shorts! I then declared we were FINISHED shopping.

After we got home, I put together all their outfits and shoes from recent shopping trips and things we had picked up in the last few months. Both girls ended up with 9 outfits a piece, and 5 extra misc. shirts a piece, 2 dresses tennis shoes, high top sneakers, two pair of sandals each, a pack a socks each, new panties, Abby's bras, new hair bows, new combs, new book bags each, and a million different school supplies! All in all, I think they did pretty dang good!! And didn't quite break Mom and Dad's wallets! Close to it though.

Now the biggest issue is, where am I going to put all this new stuff?? I just made room and got the old stuff organized. My girls need an extra room just for clothes and shoes!!
But I know I sure am glad I am done shopping! At least for a few months, once the weather cools down, I will be at it again =o)

I can't believe in 7 days my babies will both be in school, and I will be working again =o(
Where did the summer go??

M & M- this time last year.....

(Thank you Liz for idea!)

This time last year I was 26 weeks pregnant with Maggie and Madison. So far I had gained 19lbs, craving pizza, steak and soft pretzels! Both babies were approx 2 lbs each. Maggie was laying sideways in my lower belly, and Madison had her head stuck in my ribs (this continued the remainder of the pregnancy). This was also the time that pretty much changed my life! Just as school was going back for big girls, I was placed on 'strict' bed rest. I literally had to sign a contract stating I would follow guidelines to ensure the health of my babies. My cervix had starting to shrink, which put me at risk for dilating. I had to lay down 24-7! I was only allowed up on my feet for 15 minutes, every 2 hours. Already being a mother to 6 and 4 yr old at the time, this was one of the most difficult moments in my life. Michael had to cook, do laundry, and still work all night. My mother (my angel!) came over and cleaned my house for me once a week, AND took Aaliyah to school everyday. Michael had to wake up earlier than normal to go pick Aaliyah up from school, my sister had to come get Abby off the bus for me. I had to use my 15 min breaks to bathe the girls at night, and to do their hair in the mornings. Luckily they were old enough to dress themselves, and brush their own teeth! This continued for the next 3 months.. UNTIL....

My next regular checkup was 10/6/09, at 4pm. The morning of the appt I felt real crappy. Wasn't sure if I was having small contractions, or if my body was just feeling the stress of being pregnant, all I knew was it didn't feel so good!! Anyway- my doc appt was at the same time Michael had to go to work, so he could not be there with me. I ended up leaving Abby with my sister and taking Aaliyah along with me!
When I arrived at doc office, he was visiting a patient and I had to wait till almost 5 before being seen. Which was torture. I seriously was starting to feel worse and worse every minute.
Once I got back to the exam room, the Doc comes in and of course asked how I was feeling. I basically told him I felt like crap. Everything was starting to get sore, and I was having some back cramps. So he starts checking me. Gets real quiet. Sits ups, takes his gloves off and says, "when did these cramps start?" I told him I didn't know I just felt ill all day and I noticed the back pain while in the waiting room. He then says " Well, you are 7 cm dilated, and I need to get you over to the hospital ASAP before your water breaks!" (ME- freaking out!! I knew I was going to have to have c-section, b/c both babies were breech, which is why he didn't want my water to break on its own)
I frantically call Michael to turn around and come to hospital, my mother to leave work immediately, my sister to come and get Aaliyah, and anyone else I could think of that needed to be there!!
By the time I got checked into the hospital and taken back it was about 6:30pm. They hooked me up to everything, checked blood pressure, the whole 9 yards. All the time all I could think was "Thank God I shaved my legs!" lol Then the nurse comes in and i ask her, "Do you know when I will be having c-section?" She replies, "In 45 minutes".

At this time I felt excited, scared, and extremely nervous. But I tired to hide all that and just smile, as I usually do!
Then it was time! They made Michael wait to come in, as they wheeled me in! I had to lean over table for the epidural. It wasn't too bad, until he told me he hit a vessel and had to take it out and do it again. Really?? I am in a little gown, FREEZING, nervous, and scared, and you tell me you have to stick a needle up my back a 2nd time??
Once it got in, I could feel the panic start building up. I had had an epidural twice before, for the vaginal births of my two oldest girls. But this was different! I didn't like that I couldn't feel my toes, they had me positioned like Jesus on the cross, holding my arms out. I was begging the whole time for Michael. They finally sent him in to me. Once I saw him the tears began. lol. He was on my left side holding my arm. I begged him the whole time to let go of my arms, I tried to move my feet, I wanted to move, I couldn't stand being held down. I was crying, I could feel pressure from the doctor. I was horrified.
Next thing I know- i wake up in a white room. I look around and see a nurse, I ask her where the hell I am, and where is everybody?? (I thought I was dead) lol. She informs me that I had a panic attack and they had to knock me out. The babies were delivered fine and were taken down to NICU for observation, my family was with them. The whole time I am thinking (why am I here ALONE??) Then the stupid lady asked me " Do you want to see the babies? " What kind of stupid question was that??? Of course!
So they wheeled me down to see the little LITTLE girls!!





They were so little and yet so beautiful!! I was wishing Abigail and Aaliyah could have been there to see them! Unfortunately it was flu season, so they weren't even allowed in the building. =o( I didn't see my big girls for 4 days!!
The babies spent the next week in the NICU. They were 100% healthy, they just had to be eating a certain amount before they could go home. Madison was the little piglet! She got to come home with me that Sat, 10/10/09. It was hard only taking one home, BUT I knew Maggie was strong and would be home soon! Michael went back to the hospital twice a day to feed her, and then the morning of 10/12/09 they called us to come pick her up!


Having them both home was more than exciting! They were such angels! Abigail and Aaliyah just loved to stare at them! and hold them of course! At that point of my life- looking at my 4 beautiful daughters, and realizing what we went through to get everyone into this world healthy, and everyone home together.. I don't ever remember being SO happy.

And that happiness is still glowing inside me today. Almost a year later! Everyone is still healthy and happy!!