Sybil

I hear voices in my head.
I have self diagnosed and am absolutely certain that I cannot be clinically classified as having a dissociative identity disorder.
Yet, the voices remain.
There are many voices:
Those that tell me to smile politely;
Those that tell me to bite my tongue;
Those that tell me that carbs really are not my friend;
Those that talk me through backing out of the tiniest of parking spots;
Those that ask me why I ever bought such a long vehicle if I hated parking so much;
Those that tell me I need more rest;
Those that tell me it's okay if I'm having a bad day - other people do too;
and
There are many, many more voices;
One voice in particular told me that there is no shame in hoarding buying three pairs of Lelli Kelly's because they were on sale and braces might just fit into the Lelli Kelly's and that I was smart to buy three pairs at one time.
I like that voice. That voice makes me happy.
Oh, just for the fun of it, we'll call that voice..."Patti".

It's one of my happier voices.

Chunky Monkey's Surprise!

Chunky Monkey got a surprise when we got home tonight!

She loves what was in that bag....

It's Patti's fault.

She emailed me while she was stuck in traffic at The Summit to let me know that Little Soles just so happened to be having a sale on Lelli Kelly's.

Huh?

Sale?

Nobody can pass up a sale on kid's shoes!

Why should we have to wait until Monkey is out of braces before she gets to wear glamorous shoes?

We shouldn't have to wait and so we didn't.

Sweet, sweet Baby Boy of mine!

Where's our blue pair?

Little Soles was all sold out in Monkey's size!

Check out our Bergen!

Our sweet Bergen was on Fox 6 the other night!

We are so very, very proud of Bergen!

Look at her go!

Each and every one of these sweet children work so very hard each and every day to accomplish tasks that we tend to take for granted.

We are very sad that Addie won't be out there participating in the kid's race this year, but we will be there to cheer for everyone!

(Don't forget you can pause the music on the blog so that you can hear the video)

I forgot to mention...

That Chunk felt the need to wipe down the drink machine at the mall.

We were standing around talking when Chunk took the wipe, went over to the machine and started giving it a good cleaning.

Poor thing, we left her rubber gloves at home...there's no telling what all that hard work did to her cuticles!

And finally...

Monkey wanted to know just exactly why Bergen got a pair of Lelli Kelly's and she did not.

I wasn't about to tell her that it was because when we went to buy a pair, her Daddy just about had a cow because they were so GIRLY!

Never mind the fact that HE wouldn't be wearing them.

Then there was some lame excuse about how her braces wouldn't fit in them...what a very minor detail.

She won't be wearing braces forever (contrary to what one former PT said - too bad for her she is wrong {and annoying}).

Maybe in celebration of the end of braces we can join our friends in the world of glamorous shoes - there is a pair of blue Lelli Kelly's that will look beautiful on Monkey!

"Evil" employee!

One of the sweet employee's brought around a bear on a leash and skates and she just had to stop right in front of Chunky Monkey.
Had the bears skates not been so heavy, I think Monkey would have been out the door with the bear before anyone could have caught her!

Lets not forget Baby B!

Sweet Brock had a great time just hanging out and watching his Big Sister celebrate on her big day!

Just a few more!

We are all familiar with...

the Soup Nazi...but there are other forms of dictatorships as well...such as:

The Little Monkey who felt the need to Mother each and every child and show them how to give their bears a bath

She had to monitor their progress

She even had to show the little ones where to stand in order to properly administer a bath to a bear.

What a pro!

Monkey's Pictures of the Day!

Monkey is working so hard at learning how to pick her feet up to step over or on objects.

It's a big, huge work in progress! Sweet little Monkey bathing the Bear!

My little explorer!

Monkey is such a nosey an inquisitive little thing!

After patiently waiting...

The Bears started to come to life!

Not a clue!

This poor lady had no idea how things could have turned badly and quick.

One thing (of many things) that you don't do is take a book away from Monkey.

Check out the look on Monkey's face!

There was Mommy intervention taking place just seconds later!

Monkey didn't have a come apart and she didn't attack, but I could see the look in her eyes...I think she would have went for the jugular.

Waiting ever so patiently!

Bergen's Birthday was held at Build-A-Bear.

Patti is the perfect party planner and she never ceases to impress me.

On this night, for whatever reason, the entire state of Alabama was gathered inside of Build-A-Bear at the same time we were trying to enjoy Bergen's Party.

Had we not all been in fabulous moods, it could have been a disaster!

People were literally shoulder and shoulder, but after three years of practice, we were able to tune out the rest of the world and the bystanders and just enjoy our children!

They were so sweet and waited so patiently for their turns!

Patti and Bergen!

Addie was content to sit with her book and wait for the party to begin!

Poor Trenton on the other hand, just needed a reprieve!

Yes, we were sitting on the floor in the middle of a store...the things we will do for our children!

Happy 3rd Birthday Bergen!

We had the best time at Bergen's 3rd Birthday Party!

I am sorting through the 132 pictures that we took to capture these beautiful memories, but had to go ahead and post this picture.

Sweet Bergen was just precious as she was standing there looking in awe at the candles on her birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Bergen and thank you for blessing us with these last three years!

(More pictures coming soon)

Sweet Baby Girl!

Pictures by Kim

More pictures from Kim!

More pictures courtesy of Kim!!!

Who's in control now?

Monkey thought about sharing her smartie with Julien for all of about a second before she changed her mind!

She thought is was hilarious!

I just love this picture sequence!

The Vominator

Doesn't she just look so sweet and innocent?

Well, as we all know...looks can be deceiving!

We went to see Kim for Addie's 3rd Birthday Pictures back on Addie's Birthday - December 31, 2009.

As many of you know, Kim is very special to our family and knowing that she is there to share in our special day with us each year, means so very much to us!

The week leading up to Addie's Birthday was so very difficult and we had to decide if we were going to continue on with our tradition of seeing Kim or not.

In addition to that, Kim was sick too, but in the end, I had to go on with the appointment.

Going into our session, things were just "off".

Chris and I were definitely not at our best and it was very evident (hence no pictures of us). Julien was fine, but Addie-Pa-Tattie was having an evil moment.

She was still trying to recover from her terrible sinus infection and wanted absolutely no part of this silly picture making business.

There came a point when Kim decided we would bribe Addie with smarties (watch for updated header - from Diana - with Julien, Addie and the smarties coming soon).

I thought the smarties were a fabulous idea and Addie was thrilled with it...until

THE VOMINATOR

emerged!

Right smack in the middle of picture time, Addie got sick.

What a precious Kodak moment.

It was in Kim's studio and we were totally unprepared for the moment.

I was however, very pleased with how Kim and I improvised and then finished up the session.

Once again, Kim managed to come through for us by capturing sweet pictures of THE VOMINATOR and her sweet big brother!

If anyone is looking for a fabulous photographer who can withstand whining, fussing, mess-making and vominators and still manage to capture the beauty of your family - give Kim a call!

We think the world of her and you will too!

We're moving!

Well, not yet.

Chris and I have a permanent ongoing "joke".
We are moving to Homewood.
Not right this minute, obviously
but,
seeing as how we spend 68.72874% of our time running to and from Homewood, we might as well move there.

It has gotten to the point that when I call a new provider, store or restaurant, I don't ask them, "where are you located?",

I ask them, "where in Homewood are you located?".

Seriously.

94% of our providers are in Homewood.

I think that Homewood is eventually going to have a huge sinkhole open up and just swallow it whole because of everything that is located there.

Can the earth handle that kind of centralized mass?

So, we may have to rent a cottage to get us through until we make a permanent move.

Don't tell Julien - he will have no part of moving...I wonder how quickly the state could build a raised bypass to Homewood for us...I guess holding off on the move is a good idea, I don't think my thighs could handle living in that close of proximity to Pastry Art - they would explode!

After I get my vacation to Whidbey, Fidalgo and Vancouver Islands, then we can put our house on the market and move.

A girl can dream...right?

Modification of goals!

(I do not have permission from other parents to post this video, but I don't think anyone can really get a good enough look at the other little ones in the class to be able to identify who they are anyway.)

Addie's teacher tried something new during this class and brought out the "Ring of Fire!"

All the parents got so tickled and I started thinking that I should modify Addie's PT goals.

Sweet Addie is unable to step over objects in her way. It is something that we are really working on.

Instead of one of her PT goals reading:

"Consistently step over objects"

it should read:

"Consistently step over objects while walking through a ring of fire".

Sweet Baby Girl is trying so hard!

It makes me so happy just to see her walking and being able to participate with her peers!

(The video was taken on the iPhone through a two way mirror - not too bad.)

Happy Birthday to Me!

You know you're getting old when you want nothing more for your birthday than just to come home from work and do...nothing.

I told Chris that I was taking the night off.

After the kids had their baths, we cuddled up to watch the end of Up, which I had been trying to watch for three days.

(Yes, I look rough in these pictures, but I try to capture everything in pictures regardless. I'm just tired, didn't even care how my make-up looked. You'll forgive me...right?)

Preview Day

My family came over to celebrate my birthday.

My Mom made awesome Mexican (food) for dinner and my husband picked up carrot cake from J. Alexander's.

It was a very, very laid back evening.

It was nice not to have to do much of anything!