1st outing in PANTIES...

...no not me, Wilkins!!  Yes that is correct.  We are potty training and she is getting the hang of it, for the most part!!  She still hasn't figured out the whole pooping part yet or should  I say the part where she does it in the toilet!!  If you ask her if she pooped in her panties she will say "yes" or "no" depending on whether or not she did.  We just have to figure out how to help her figure out that she needs to tell us before she does it...  did ya get that?!!  Anyway, she is doing pretty good with the rest especially since she loves her Minnie Mouse panties!!!  Hopefully within the next few days it will all come together for her...

Now I have to share this funny story with you....

So me, mom, Wilkins, and LeAnne are in line at Walmart tonight when this younger, not so bad looking (maybe 22) guy comes up to LeAnne and says:  "I can't let you walk around and not tell you that you have a popsicle stick stuck to the back of your skirt."  LeAnne's face got bright red and I just busted out laughing!!  It was hilarious...no telling how long she had been walking around with it stuck to her either!!  She told him thank you and I asked why he had to tell her?!  Her face and neck were bright red and of course, it is WALMART....we weren't the only ones in line!! 

Only LeAnne...glad I got to be there to witness it and laugh at her expense!!

Taking a step in the right direction...

Since the day Wilkins was born I have not been content with my job.  Don't get me wrong...I make good money, I am good at what I do, and I genuinely like my job.  The problem is it is no longer making me happy because of the kind of hours I work, the time I miss with Wilkins.

My goal before I had Wilkins was to become a GM and I have been asked numerous times to do so by my own bosses.  But I have more than just myself to think about now.  Whether I would be good at it or not is not the question...I already spend way to many hours there now!  I can't imagine if I were to become a GM how many more hours I would be working and how much more stress and responsibility would come with that.

I have been talking about going back to school to get a degree in education because I love kids and it is just more realistic for me as a single mom.  So I am starting to move in that direction.  I start classes on June 17th to get my basic college courses taken care of.  I have to go for about 18 months which is one night a week for 4 hours. 

I know y'all are thinking "don't you have enough going on without throwing school on top of it?"  The answer is "YES"!  In the long run though, it is only going to benefit me and my daughter.  I want to be a mom that can be involved in her school activities and sports.  If I continue with the job I have that will never happen.  If I get my degree then I will have weekends, week nights, holidays, and summers off.  I don't know that the money will be as good but in the long run it is better for her and I.  So I am gonna do it!!!  And I must say I am pretty excited about it too.  I feel like I have a new direction and something to reach for. 

Then last night was Jordan's graduation party...Wilkins bought him this hat while we were in Disney World.  Wilkins was born on Jordan's 16th birthday and his birthday party was actually her first outing!!  It was a lot of fun and very interesting seeing everyone try to climb the bouncy rock wall!!!  You should have been there...I literally laughed so hard I about wet my pants.  Sherry, Tammy, and Gina were absolutely hilarious...I am not sure that any of them actually made it all the way to the top and actually slid down.  They did however, roll all over the place and almost smush Terina!!  Like I said, hilarious but you had to be there!!!  Unfortunately because I was laughing so hard I didn't get any good pictures of them which is good because they probably would have killed me!!  Wilkins also got to play with her boyfriend aka Caden...  I know too young but he calls her his girlfriend and they are just too cute together!

He is giving her "bye kisses"!

How sweet!

I have created a little DIVA...

...or a little monster?!  I am not sure which one!!  I bought these little house shoes for her and Addy at the Barrel because they were called "princess shoes".  Addy is big on anything "princess" so I knew she would love them and Wilkins has to have whatever Addy has!!! 

Who knew she would not take them off for any reason at all??!!  I have to pry them off of her just to put her in the bathtub...  On top of those little silver sequin princess slippers she is also very attached to some little pink sequin shoes (that have no backs) that I bought her at Epcot in the Morocco store!!  Between these two pair of shoes I am losing my mind!! 

Tonight my little diva/monster realized that she didn't have a hairbow in...why would anyone have a hairbow in to go to bed?!  I mean, seriously, she was already in her gown and her silver princess slippers why would I put a hairbow in her hair??!  Unfortunately, she saw a hot pink hairbow laying on the table and brought it to me so I could put it in her hair so I did!! 

What have I created?!  I am a little worried...she is only TWO!!  What do I have to look forward to....
Check out this little DIVA and her attire while in the comfort of her own home  (lol)....

So Wilkins is feeling better...

...but I still didn't get any sleep last night!!!  Oh yeah, she is all confused.  My mom kept her yesterday and Wilkins literally laid in her bed all day!  She would sleep and watch tv and when I got home at 330pm she got up only to lay on me or the couch.  I could tell she felt better but she didn't have any energy because everything she had ate had come out one way or another for two days.  About 7pm I gave her a bath, washed her hair, lotioned her all up, and gave her a cup of milk.  She laid her head on my mom's shoulder and fell sound asleep on the couch.  I put her in her bed at about 10pm thinking that I would head to bed too but I got caught up watching some tv and fell asleep sometime around midnight.  So at 230am when I heard Wilkins saying "mommy" I went to check on her only to find her jumping up and down with joy to see me. 

She was all messed up because she was ready to get up and play!!  And because she had been sick for a couple of days my sympathy got the better of me and I let her thinking she would tire out pretty quick (maybe 30 minutes)....NOT!!  So I ended up cleaning her room while she played (didn't work real well) at 330am!  I got her a cup of milk and tried to convince her that it was night-night time where she answered by shaking her head, pointing her little finger up, and saying "no no momma"!  Too cute but so regretting it now!!  I finally just put her in her bed and left her to watch tv.  I got in bed at 5am only to wake up to that precious voice (AGAIN) at 9am saying "get out momma"!! 

Needless to say I am wore smack dab out!  I have to be at work at 1 until about 11 or 1130pm tonight and I hope to get some sleep after that!

Gonna try to doze a little on the couch now while Wilkins is playing in her room (actually she hasn't came out of her room yet...she is making up for lost time I guess).

SICK BABY...YUCK!

So Wilkins has just kind of been laying around all day...not really playing like she normally does.  Now I know why!!

She woke up from her nap, came in the living room, laid her head over on the couch on top of her blanket by my mom, and then just started puking!  Bless her heart...she didn't even cry.  I got her a towel and just held her while she finished and then she said "I ok".  So I cleaned her up and she just laid around...

She got up in mom and dad's bed to watch Ni Hao, Kai-lan and about 20 minutes later she came in the living room again and started whining so I picked her up and she started gagging.  I took her to the bathroom and again she threw up again in the toilet without crying again.  The only difference this time is, it was coming out the other end too!!  Poor thing...her 2nd birthday and the week after has not been very fun for her.  She is finally asleep for how long, who knows??!  I don't think that I have ever been around a child (especially at 2) that comes and tells you when they are gonna be sick.  Or doesn't cry during or after getting sick but says "I ok" when it is over...

Anyone who reads this please say a little prayer for her because I have to be at work at 5am and my mom is going to have her.  I would really like to think this is just a little bug and the worst is behind us! 

Mother's Day Recap...

This is what our mother did most of the day but isn't that what she should be doing on Mother's Day.  She watched us clean out her flower beds and trim her shreds and now this morning my arms feel like I have been lifting 50lb weights!!!  But at least one mom had a nice day of relaxation!!!

We grilled out hotdogs and hamburgers, the kids flew kites, got ice creams from the ice cream truck (yes they still exist!), and just enjoyed the day! 

Here are the pictures from a wonderful Mother's Day...hope everyone else's day was just as wonderful!!

 

Happy Mother's Day....

Ok so I could be all sentimental and say that I wouldn't be the mother I am today without the influence of my own mother (which is true) or I could let the sarcasim flow....probably a little of both!! 

We are a very close knit foursome because of everything life has handed us and how we watched our mother play the cards she was dealt.  Not always the best hand either.  I can't say that I have always agreed with how she handles everything and I know if I said I did, my sisters and my mom would bust out laughing and call me a liar!!  I will say that I wish I could handle things a little more like my mother to an extent but at the same time I handle things the way I do because of my mother. 

I am the oldest and I have always been very protective of my mother...sometimes I say the things she would like to say but has enough sense to keep her mouth shut!!  And I am almost certain that she wished I would keep my mouth shut a lot of the time too....lol!  Truth be told probably won't ever happen...I tend to be brutally honest and I will always blame my mom...ha ha ha!! 

But in all seriousness I am very grateful for my mom...I know that I don't always show it and we are not a very lovey dovey bunch.  I mean we show our affection by making fun of one another or pointing out one another's flaws but that's ok because we know how we feel about each other.  Every once in a while things get a little heated and we might break down and write a few words to one another because that is the best form of communication for us...you can say what needs to be said in a more constructive way and we don't tend to push each other's buttons as much.

I am a lot like my mom in a bunch of ways, which is why we butt heads and have disagreements, but we also see eye to eye on the important things.  Such as morals and values she instilled in me on how I should raise my own child....

I can only try to follow in those big footsteps to be half the mom she is so that 20 years from now my own daughter will see me like I see my mom....a true inspiration with loads of strength and courage.

So my sisters and I are going to spend the day with our mom cleaning up the yard, planting flowers, cooking out, and just being together goofing off tomorrow.  Should be fun and interesting (I don't think any of us have a green thumb)...I mean think about it my mom and Haley can design and sew like nobody else, I can scramble up some mean eggs (thanks to CB), and well, LeAnne, we still ain't sure what she is good at other than being a goofball (jk...she can design some of the best flower arrangements you could ever see), but actually planting and growing flowers the jury is still out on that one.... :)

                                                      HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

Tiny kink in my armor....

....yes, kinks do exist in my armor!  I have a pretty hard exterior and I will, in the end, ultimately regret this post if I do publish it! 

Don't get me wrong there are definitely perks to being a single mom.  The biggest thing is I can raise her however I want to!!  There is no man to tell me what should be done, no in-laws to add their two cents, no competing between grandparents, etc...  It is just me and her against the world!!

The kink... no one to share "those" moments with.  No one to be as excited as or disappointed as the other parent would be.  The older Wilkins gets the more I recognize "those" moments, the more I ponder what is missing.  Going to Disney World was absolutely wonderful, but it was also very depressing at the same time.  Haley and Bradley would get up and go do their thing with Lucas and Logan, Michael would get up and take Bryson and Will out early while LeAnne slept in, and there I was with a sick little girl.  Don't get me wrong my mom offered to stay in the room with Wilkins and I am sure everyone would have stayed at the hotel that day if I had asked but that just wasn't an option for me.  However, it would have been nice to have someone to help share the load with.  Someone to go wash the clothes that Wilkins threw up all over or someone to help clean Wilkins up when she had poop all the way up her back.  I had my family but sometimes I feel that Wilkins and I are a burden instead of a daughter or sister and grandaughter or neice. 

So yes there is always a kink...nothing is ever perfect.  I know the grass is always greener on the other side.  If I had someone to share in "those" moments I would probably be complaining about that to.  Truth be told I think that I would rather be complaining about that than experiencing "those" moments alone....

Home Sweet Home....

...with lots and lots of water!!   I had seen the news while in Florida and had talked to a couple of people about how bad it was here but I guess I didn't really grasp how bad it really was.  IT'S BAD!  Flying over Nashville and looking down all you could see was water and more water with a rooftop here and there!!  I am glad that I wasn't home when all of this happened because I think I would have been a little on edge.

I can't tell you how lucky we are to have come home and not personally been affected by all of the flooding.  I can literally look out my back door to my neighbor's yard and realize just how lucky we were.  There is water all around us but it doesn't look to have touched our home.  The water is standing at least knee deep in my neighbor's yard and at least waist deep on the opposite side of the road...

Only 3 or 4 houses down water is up to the door of the people's camper...all I can say is thank goodness and take a big sigh of relief.  I will do what I can to help anyone else that has been affected by this because it so could have been me or my family. 

On a different note...I am super happy to be home!  Why is it that when you return from vacation you are so tired that you just want to sleep for hours?!  Makes no sense at all!  I dread tomorrow and Friday because I have mulitple suitcases to unpack, tons of clothes to wash, lots of pictures to go through, and worse I have to return to work on Saturday!!  I only work Saturday too because I guess my boss thought he would be nice and give me Mother's Day off...I really could care less about being off that day but oh well, I will take it!

And my little walking attitude of a daughter turned 2 while in Disney!  Can't say that it was a good birthday for her because she was absolutely miserable!  Bless her heart but at least everyone else celebrated her birthday for her!  She is super happy to be home in her own bed tonight...she is such a home body!  My fault, though I never intended on her being that big of a home body.  We walked in the house and she just ran right upstairs to her bedroom.  She likes familiarity I guess!  I swore I wouldn't take her on another vacation until she was like 6 or 7 but guess what...we are already planning our next trip to Disney!  I know we are nuts!!  But can you really get to much Disney World?! 

I will try to post more pictures on here tomorrow...

Nighty night for now...

Happy 2nd Birthday Wilkins...

....to bad you are too sick to enjoy it!  Yes you read it correctly!!  Wilkins is in Disney World for her 2nd birthday and she was pretty much too miserable yesterday to enjoy it!  You could tell she wanted to...like at the Beauty and the Beast show she would stand up and dance for a little bit and then would just lay over in my lap.  Bless her heart and mine because it is breaking my heart to see her like this when she should be having the time of her life. 
Everyone else is gone to the Animal Kingdom today but I chose to stay in the room with her so maybe she would get better.  She slept until about 1pm, then she was coughing and threw up which she probably needed to do anyway.  Now she is up playing and it doesn't appear that she has a fever, thank goodness! 

If she continues to play and stuff then we are going to get out later on this evening and hopefully go to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.  Even though she has been sick yesterday and today it has still been a good vacation despite the record highs in temp and not knowing how our homes are in Tennessee due to the flooding.  I am a little concerned about getting home on Wednesday because they cancelled all flights into Nashville today.  Even if our flight isn't cancelled will my truck still be there or did it get washed away?!  Not knowing really sucks!  Oh well we are going to enjoy the rest of the time here and worry about the rest on Wednesday.

Here are a few more pictures for ya...
Sorry...somehow the pictures are all out of order!!!