***SIGH***

How did it happen? When did it happen?

Last night, as Meg ran down the street to play with her friend, I cried. Why you ask? Because, as she was walking up to their front door, she turned back to me and waved. It was so sweet and innocent, but broke my heart into a million little pieces. It's just a small reminder that Meg is growing up. I'm no longer her favorite play mate. Don't get me wrong, she still likes to play with me, but it's only if her friends aren't out playing. I'm second best now.

I'll take second best though if that is what I get. I know that I'll only slip farther and farther down her list as she gets older. I should be happy that she's out playing with her friends, developing wonderful friendships and having a blast, but part of me wants to keep her to myself. I don't want to share her. For 3 years, she was all mine. And, now I have to share.

I don't want to keep her to myself, but at the same time I'm not sure I'm ready for her to be so independent.

The two pictures below were taken after she got home from playing with her friends. She's growing up so fast. I never want to forget these precious moments!

So, I did it...

...I always say that I should "pick my battles with Megan". Tonight, I tried to fight a battle, but I was no match for Megan and her daddy.

Here is some background. Jarrad and I have been telling Megan that she needs her hair cut for the past month. When we first started telling her this, she would get upset and tell us that she loves her long hair, then she would fling it over her shoulder and give her signature pose (chin down, lips in her kissy face).

The change of heart came right after I got my hair cut a few weeks ago. Ever since then, Meg has been asking for a hair cut - she wanted "to have five inches cut off like mommy".
So, tonight - I did it. I cut my sweet baby girl's hair. Not thinking straight, I didn't get a good before picture :( but, I do have the above picture from the back. The picture was taken tonight, so it's right before the big event, but her hair was in a pony tail.
I have to say that I didn't want to cut it...but, as I mentioned before, I was no match for Meg and her daddy! I can't cut a straight line, so I knew this would be no different. But, I did it...I cut about 2.5 inches off. It's a little straggly, not a perfect straight cut...but, it was what she wanted.

My Real Life...part 2

Jessica at Farm Fresh Iowa is hosting another Real Life today. Of course, I'm joining in. Today, on her list is curb appeal, junk drawer, favorite jewelry, blogging space, best feature.

CURB APPEAL

I love our house. We moved here two years ago and couldn't be happier.

JUNK DRAWER

Just opening my junk drawer gives me anxiety. It's always such a mess. When we moved in, I bought a handful of small drawer baskets, but it didn't seem to help keep it organized. O'well, that's why it's called a JUNK DRAWER!

FAVORITE JEWELRY

My engagement ring and wedding band have to be my favorite. I'm not much of a jewelry girl, but I always wear these rings.

FROM WHENCE I BLOG

My home office/scrapbook room. Although, I've been known to blog from the living room, the bedroom, the back patio, the driveway, etc. Thanks to a laptop with wireless capabilities, I can blog from anywhere I want :) Life's good.

MY BEST FEATURE

OK, so I know my feet aren't that pretty, but I like them. I know I already have a flip flop tan, but I usually have my flip flops on, so you normally wouldn't be able to tell. my feet have to be the only part of my body that wasn't affected by my pregnancy (you won't find any stretch marks here).

Wordless Wednesday

Hand foot and mouth...what?!?

Over the weekend, Meg started running a pretty high fever. I just assumed her little body was completely run down from the crazy busy week we had. Guess I was wrong. Turns out, she has hand, foot, and mouth disease.

You would think that someone would come up with a better name for a viral infection. Seriously "hand foot and mouth disease" sounds like something she should be hospitalized for. Fortunately, there is no hospitalization, only quarantine. So, Meg gets to stay home with me tomorrow.

So, what is this infection you ask...? I have of course, had time to do some research on it (the Internet is a dangerous, dangerous place for mothers).

HFMD (Hand, foot, and mouth disease) is a viral illness common in infants and children. It causes fever (yep, we had that) and blister-like eruptions in the mouth (yes, a little of that) and/or a skin rash (again, YEP). HFMD begins with a fever (yes), poor appetite (so-so), feeling run down (definitely) and a sore throat (yes - matter of fact, her throat is so red, they did a strep test while we were at the doctor - strep results...NEGATIVE).

Her day care director called me this morning to tell me that one of the little boys in Meg's class had it. Since I had told the director about Meg not feeling well over the weekend, she immediately called me to let me know about the little boy who had it.

I have to say, that the worst part of this whole mess is that she doesn't even feel bad. So, I keep telling her to rest up and drink water and she says "I'm not tired or thirsty". It's going to be a fun 24-hours :)

One time at band camp

Meg has been talking a mile a minute...so, every time she starts to tell us a story (which, by the way, don't really have endings - she just talks and talks and talks and talks and talks) Jarrad will say "One time at band camp". If you've seen American Pie, you know what he's talking about.

Last night, when I was putting Meg to sleep, she actually started her story with "one time at band camp"...then, proceeded to tell me something about bears in our backyard that we were going to have to hunt. I'm not sure what she was talking about because it didn't make any sense, but I guess when you're a 3 year old it doesn't have too. She seemed to know what she was talking about and that is all that matters.

Moral of the story is that if you don't want your child repeating quotes from R-rated movies, then watch what you say. I can only imagine what she is saying at day care right now

My Real Life...

OK, I know I'm supposed to be working, but I couldn't help but want to join in on all the fun :) Here is a peek into my "real life".

• Below you'll find picture from around my house of the following:
• Fridge
• Closet
• Kitchen
• Toilet
• Favorite Shoes
• Favorite Room
• Laundry Room
• Self Portrait

FRIDGE

From the outside, it appears to be a normal fridge...the streaks prove it. I'd clean it more often, but it's a wasted effort, after all my daughter or husband will just get it dirty again. Meg loves to put her hands all over it and Jarrad always drips water from the dispenser when he's getting a drink. OK, not always, but more than I do :)

Inside isn't too bad...I mean, it's been a lot worse. I try to clean my fridge out every two weeks. I'm the queen of throwing stuff away. Jarrad gives me hell for throwing stuff away that has just expired..."Sorry Honey - I just can't make myself eat it if I know it's expired".

MY CLOSET

Please show me what's behind door number ONE.

Not too bad...
Getting worse...
It's rock bottom...
I'd like to pretend that my closet doesn't always look like this, but the truth is I don't like cleaning it because it will look like this in two days anyway...so, I just leave it messy. Of course, I will get to my breaking point, cave in, and clean it up...but, it won't last.

KITCHEN SINK
Yes, my kitchen sink is for the most part always clean. I cook in the kitchen almost every night, so I don't want to have to do dishes, then cook, then do more dishes...so, I just try to keep it clean. I think there is a wooden spoon, a cup, and sponge in there right now.

HIS THRONE

Well, at least that is what my husband thinks it is ;) I'm just excited that this toilet closet has a door. I'd open the lid, but I'm not sure what's in there and to be honest, I don't want to know. I don't clean toilets - just the thought of it makes me gag!!!

MY FAVORITE SHOES (right now)
These are my fave shoes right now. Actually, any pair of my TEVA flip flops would be classified as my faves. I wear flip flops year round. I love them. It also makes me get pedicures more often since people will be able to see my toes.

MY FAVORITE ROOM

My absolute most favorite place in my house has to be my scrapbook room. I love love love this room. It allows me to leave my work out if I want. Sometimes I just don't know exactly what I want to do with a lay out, so this allows me to leave it out and play around with it before sticking anything to the page. At times, it's horribly messy, but I like to refer to it as creative chaos. I actually sit in this office all day every day because it also doubles as my home office. I work as an EA from home, so I had to find a place to set up home office. I have two desks. One is my creative table top for bow making, scrapbooking, card creating, writing letters (yes, I still write letters - my grandparents don't have e-mail), etc. The other desk hold my work laptop, my personal laptop, and all my printers (all in all, I have three printers...one is for pictures only, the other for my personal computer, and the third is a scanner/copier/fax combo for work).

Even thought I'm in here at least 8 hours a day, I could spend 8 hours a night in here working on my creative arts. It sure beats the kitchen table ;)

LAUNDRY ROOM

Here is my laundry room. I'm in the middle of doing some laundry, so there are towels on the top (and in the basket) and, my sheets are on the floor. I have a door to the outside world in my laundry room - how easy it would be to skip out on my wifely/motherly duties...but, I know the laundry won't do it's self (bummer).

SELF PORTRAIT

UGH - I hate taking pictures...that didn't come out right. I LOVE to take pictures, just not of myself. I should say - I hate being in pictures :)

Men-opause Jewelry

I just had to post this e-mail that my mom sent me...

My husband, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring the other day so he would beable to monitor my moods.

We've discovered that when I'm in a good mood, it turns green. When I'm in a bad mood, it leaves a big frickin red mark on his forehead. Maybe next time he'll buy me a diamond. Dumb ass

If I only had known then

...what I know now! I would definitely have gotten Meg her first pair of high heels.

"Heelarious - noun
extremely funny, completely soft, fully functional high heel crib shoes for babies 0-6 months."

Now, I can't - for the life of me - figure out why a 0-6 month old girl would need heels, but I figure it will give her plenty to talk to a therapist about.

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Daddy - Happy Father's Day! There are so many things I want to thank you for, but mostly I want to thank you for sharing watermelon with me at my picnic table. I hope you had a great day. I love you more!

Love - the Duck

A Month of pictures

June 10June 11

What's in a purse...

I've seen this done on a few blogs and thought why not. Let's see what I have in my purse.

From the outside, it looks nice and clean in there :)
Below I have just dumped the contents onto the floor. OMG!!! Look at all that stuff in there. I usually have a book in there but had taken it out to read last night. No wonder my purse is so heavy.
It doesn't look too bad when everything is stacked into piles. From the picture below, you can see I have my wallet, two make up cases (the pink one has Meg's epi-pen in it), some gum, a few chapsticks (should be in my make up case), kleenex, a stack of receipts, a handful of pens, loose change, a Peter Rabbit book, some drugs (Advil and eye drops), my iPod, and some girly products. My cell phone is usually in there also.
So, there you have it. My purse content. I have cleaned it out and switched purses :)

His name was Tiny Tim

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