life has changed so much

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Tiffany

Around 1:30 in the morning last night, I woke up with a child staring at me in that creepy way children insist on waking you up in the middle of the night. I jumped and sucked in my breath (because even in my subconscious fright I’d never let out a yell that would wake the kids!) and then realized it was just Rory. Too exhausted from being up with ear pain to put her back in bed, I just threw her in the middle of us. She snuggled up and immediately started snoring and I smiled in delight over it.

That is when it hit me. Life has changed so much.

Rory has officially, until last night which was honestly totally not her fault, slept ALL NIGHT BY HERSELF IN HER BED for a month straight. No waking up. Sleeping until 6 or later.

I don’t know if you realize… its not like I have ever talked about sleep issues here, ha!… but this is the first time in her life that she has slept so well.

And it is life changing.

I realize that sounds dramatic to those of you who have never had legitimate sleep issues with kids, but it really is.

What is funny is the first week this all started, Andy and I were SO TIRED. We went to bed at around 9 each night and would wake up more tired than ever. Our bodies (especially mine) were so used to no sleep that it took well over a week to adjust to sleeping all night. I swear I had a sleep hangover big time.

And since Rory is sleeping, so is Ryder, especially now that she has zyrtec every night. That has been such a relief too because she’s finally not miserable.

It’s crazy how sleep makes life more bearable.

Last week was Rory’s last week at her “preschool”. She only goes two days a week, but just those two days changed her life so much this year. She wasn’t labeled the “problem” anymore and her confidence SOARED. What an answer to prayer and a burden lifted off this momma’s shoulders. She LOVED going to school to see “Miss-us” Sharon and Miss Bonita.

Here she is first day of preschool and last day of preschool. My, my , my how she has changed. She’s taller, she’s losing that baby face, and SHE IS SLEEPING. Things that are the same- same bow, same sassiness (but with that pose, seems to be growing), and still bruised up legs from playing hard!

Tuesday was her last official day of school because Thursday was Preschool Fun Day. Tuesday we went for our favorite after school treat to get frozen yogurt! Rory loves the catfish out front!

Then Thursday we had a wonderful day with all our school friends! I wish I could’ve gotten a picture of the entire group.

This past weekend I was invited to a (very southern) Sip and See for a dear friend from Starkville, Kathryn and her new baby Mattie Grace. I was so excited to go, and everyone was bringing their kids, so I decided to bring Rory and Ryder along too. Well the day before I realized I’d be in the car for 6 hours for a two hour shower and that made me a little crazy to think about so I decided to get a hotel on Friday and spend more time with friends. Then after booking hotel I went a little crazy because I was SO WORRIED about how the girls would do since their track records for hotels isn’t the greatest and I was going to be BY MYSELF. So insert panic attack moment.

But, much to my surprise, the girls were DELIGHTFUL. Their behavior, sleeping, and their mostly calm car riding SHOCKED ME if I’m being honest. It was the most fun weekend I’ve had in a long time. I loved getting to be able to take the girls to Starkville and letting them meet all my friends and their little kids.

hotel fun (they insisted on sleeping together and it worked well for half the night, then Ryder wanted to sleep ALONE…)

We met up with my sweet friends Kristen and Lydia at Chik-Fil-A first and the kids all had a blast playing in the playground area and eating together. Then we somehow managed to get all five children down for a nap at the same time.

JUST CALL US MIRACLE WORKERS/BABY WHISPERERS/SUPER MOMS.

After nap we went to our hotel and swam our little hearts out and ate some pizza! It was such a fun day and night!

As you can see, Ryder became OBSESSED with Reed and the feeling was MUTUAL to say the least. Bless their hearts, they were down right smitten. It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. Guess we will just have to arrange a marriage or something. HA!

Saturday was the shower for Kathryn and y’all it was the best time ever. I loved getting to visit with my sweet friends from way back when we were in college.

This group of girlfriends have been through so much together. Incredible joys and incredible losses, devastating divorce, infertility and miscarriages, cancer, job losses, extremely sick babies, and I could go on and on. But even in MY darkest times, these girls have always been the first to tell me they are praying for me and I know they mean it. I’m so blessed to have them, even if we don’t see each other as often as I would like, I love knowing they are there no matter what.

Top picture- left to right: Ashley, Kristen, Lydia, me, Emily, Amanda, Martha Ann, Kathryn

Bottom picture- left to right with kids: Lyda (Jake and Reed), Ashley (Peyton- not pictured?), Kristen (Collette), Me and the stinkers, Emily (Olivia and Riley, Sam not pictured), Martha Ann (Emma), Kathryn (Mattie Grace), Amanda

Ryder, Riley, Olivia, Rory- these girls had the best time together. Riley and Olivia were like little babysitters. They did such a great job watching the girls during the shower and at lunch! Rory has asked for them every day since!

I just had the best time in Starkville. On the way out of town Rory said, “Momma, I just love Starkville.” Oh me too baby, me too.

Since Ryder was so insistent that she sleep ALONE in the hotel room, I decided to go ahead and take the dive into a big girl bed. I was so worried she’d wake up scared or wake up not wanting to be in it since she is already such a good sleeper in a crib as long as she is feeling good.

Well. Easiest transition EVEERRRR. (I’m using the word ‘ever’ a lot in this post, yes?) Anyway- seriously, she loves it. She has slept so good in it, sleeping all night and later than normal. So thankful! Doesn’t she look so tiny in that big ol’ bed?!

The other big news associated with the new bed is that I’m able to just lay her down again and walk out and she goes right to sleep. AMAZING! Isn’t she precious?!

I’ve always hated the guard rail things but had to break down and get one because the daybed was higher up than I expected. Well, little miss was just like this and sound asleep when I went to check on her this morning! So much for guard rails! ha!

It was an awesome weekend with my girls and we loved coming home to Andy on Saturday. This week has been busy too, I will post more later on that. Right now my kids just went down for nap without a fight and I’m heading to bed myself for once!

Happy nap time!

I am my mother.

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Tiffany

For Mother’s Day we headed to Jackson to spend some time with my mom and dad. My sister and her family came over too and we just had a great time. It was a totally stress free time for me because Rory is at an age where I don’t have to worry about every move she makes anymore and Ryder was so totally obsessed with Jacks that I was basically kid-less!

God blessed me with the best mother. She, along with my dad, has always been my biggest cheerleader.

But more than all that, I think the most important lesson my mom has taught me is to laugh. Laugh through the hard times, the good times, and all the times in between. I’m so thankful that my parents weren’t rigid and too serious. I grew up in a house where my mom said things wrong (for example: she was asked once, “what did you do while Tiff was in surgery?” and she replied, “oh, I just read a good boob!”… you can imagine the laughter that followed. in fact, I’m still laughing about it.) and had funny blunders. (don’t worry- my dad had them too!) Instead of crawling away in a hole and acting crazy about it, she just always laughed. In fact, she laughed harder at herself than anyone else could. There are so many more hilarious things she did- I will tell you about the time she believed she found “the marijuana” in my car another time, it is a personal favorite of mine …

So, when last week I had a major blunder, I couldn’t help but think of how I AM MY MOTHER.

You see, I went to Lowe’s to get some paint, and was texting a friend on the way to the car. I threw my paint in the car and walked around to get in the driver’s seat. When I went to open the door, I was startled because A MAN WAS SITTING IN MY CAR!!!! So startled, in fact, that I screamed in fright.

Only… it wasn’t my car.

So, naturally, the guy is DYING FROM LAUGHTER and I’m still so shocked at everything I have no idea what to do. I walk around (WALK OF SHAME) to the passenger side, get my paint, mutter “have a great day!”, and basically run to my car. I glance back and the dude’s car is shaking so hard and he’s wiping tears from his face.

And I start crying.

As in, I CAN’T BREATH BECAUSE I’M LAUGHING SO HARD TEARS ARE SHOOTING FROM MY FACE.

I literally am laughing right now writing it again. (I know a lot of you already have heard this story…)

And that is why I love being Debbie McIntire’s daughter. Because I have the upmost confidence that laughter heals and makes everything so much better thanks to her.

Now, my choir director might not be so fond of this giggle gene, but that’s another story for another time as well…

So, yes, I am my mother. And I couldn’t be happier about that.

Love you, Mom! Don’t be mad at me forever for exposing your boob blunder to all your bookkeepers. (PS- Hi bookkeepers!!)

tooting arguments

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Tiffany

Lord have mercy, y’all, is it a full moon?!

My children are insane.

But let’s discuss something we don’t already know, shall we…

This week has been plenty crazy without the kids’ behavior issues coming to play. Monday was Ryder’s big allergist appointment. She had 33 pricks and was allergic to all but one thing (and I can’t even remember what it was). She is mostly allergic to trees and grasses. So basically, I need to put her in a bubble.

After the appointment I was heading to get Ryder’s blood work done and BAM! I came down with the stupid stomach virus. My parents were absolute saints and let me stay there and watched Ryder for me while I slept it off and ran to the bathroom every few minutes. Rory was at Andy’s parents until Monday night and then he took her to school on Tuesday for me. This was definitely a time I’m so glad we live close to grandparents now!

Andy has been working non-stop after work on the girls’ playset. Last night, he finally finished! Here he is “Tebowing” in front of it in celebration:

That picture makes me laugh so hard.

We may or may not be goobers.

Again, let’s discuss something we don’t already know…

It occurred to me this week as I was trying to wrangle my children, who by the way have become little devils, that maybe I’ve been thinking ALL WRONG about this parenting thing.

What if (and yes, maybe I’m reaching a bit on this one) the most frustrated, sometimes frazzled, not perfectly put together moms are actually the best moms???

Okay you can laugh a little.

Now, here me out…

I am all the time looking around at these women who seem to have it all together and I am SO NOT that mother. I look on pinterest or other blogs and see these super moms and it always makes me feel so bad about myself.

But then lately I’ve been noticing some of the moms (NOT ALL) that aren’t the least bit frustrated/frazzled with their children are also not concerned with how their children are acting. Their children are tearing things up, pitching fits, hitting, etc and the moms just don’t do much about it.

That’s when it occurred to me actually. I was busy telling Rory for the 209230913 time not to do something when I thought, “hey, I’m actually still trying to get her to be obedient and respectful after ALL THESE TRIES…. I’m still hanging in there and fighting this battle and not letting her win.”

The truth is, it’d be so easy for me to give up and just let them do whatever they want. THAT would be the easy thing to do, but instead I’m fighting a battle so I can be able to relax a little more later when I know they have been raised to do the right things and be respectful.

So I will take frazzled. At least I’m still fighting to better my kids.

And speaking of fighting…

One thing I’ve really worked on with the girls is to treat each other with kindness.

Well today has been one of those days where they are determined to fight with each other. They have fussed and argued over anything and EVERYTHING.

For example.

This morning the girls were eating breakfast at the table and I was getting a jump start on some cleaning while they were semi-contained with their waffles.

I start hearing them fuss and started listening more to what is going on.

Rory: Ryder, stop saying that! It wasn’t you!

Ryder: I TOOT! MEEEEEE! ME TOOT! ME! I TOOT!

Rory: NO YOU DIDN’T! IT WAS ME! I TOOTED! I DID IT!

Ryder: NOOOO MEEEEEE! MINE TOOOOOOOT!

Rory: MOMMMMMMMMMM! RYDER IS SAYING HER TOOTED AND HER DIDN’T TOOTED, IT WAS ME! I TOOTED NOT HER!

Ryder: NOOOOOOOOOO ROOOOORY- MINE TOOOOOOOTED! MEEEEEEEE MINE TOOOOOOTED! ME! ME! TOOT TOOT!

Rory: *sob wail sob sob wail* RYDER BE QUIETTTTT IT WASN’T YOU! YOU NOT TOOTED!

Sigh.

Really girls? Arguing over who tooted?

Sigh.

Does this happen at your house?

It’s funny how they can go from worst enemies to best friends though.

I will leave you with some uber cute pictures of the little stinkers.

Playing tag- their new favorite game.

oh. and meet Dixie.

Happy Weekend!

choosing joy

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Tiffany

In the midst of motherhood, there are times when the days and nights run all together. Sometimes I can’t decide which is more unbearable, the days or the nights.

When the nights are so long- for example, last night I literally only got thirty minutes of sleep- I feel like I just cannot do it anymore. I can’t be a mom. I can’t be a wife. I just can’t do it anymore. The darkness comes in like a crashing wave and knocks me down over and over again. I pray in the darkness for whichever kid is having a hard night to please just be able to go to sleep for just a solid hour. I pray for God to help me be able to cope with no sleep. I plead for sleep, rest, and peace for just a short while.

But sometimes it just doesn’t come. Ryder’s pain was too great after eating the tiniest amount of dairy and she just couldn’t settle down, just couldn’t get comfortable. I quietly sob in the darkness that is engulfing me, remembering our journey and how hard it has been. I sometimes say in a pleading tone, “why can’t she just catch a break? why can’t she just feel good?”. This precious child of mine, the most pleasant toddler on the face of the earth, who has dealt with more pain and prodding and procedures than most people will ever go through seems to be in a constant state of discomfort with no real answers as to why. As much as I feel sorry for myself and the absolutely-no-sleep that I’m enduring, I can’t help but let the tears fall down my face as I’m soothing her and letting her sleep on top of me because it kills me that she is in so much pain.

When daylight starts to come in and I realize all hope of any more sleep is dead, I start to sob. No sugar coating it, I have myself an all-out ugly crying pity party. I think of ALL the nights I have done this with Rory and occasionally Ryder or both and how its just not fair that my kids don’t sleep. It’s just not fair that everyone else has kids who sleep all night in their own beds and sleep past 6am. It’s not fair that I don’t get to ship them to daycare and go to work.

All of those things are sinful and selfish, but I won’t hesitate to tell you that I did think them and I struggle with that all the time. No sleep and my natural born sinful nature just aren’t a pretty combination.

I come back into my room after I’ve sobbed all the tears I can out of me and think terrible thoughts on how bad the day will be because we will all be tired and grumpy, but something stops me in my tracks.

There they are, my two precious girls, snuggling each other in my bed. They are both saying, “Good morning!”, to each other with such joy and love. They don’t care that they didn’t sleep much, they are just happy to be there together. When they see me they hold out their arms and Rory says, “Let’s snuggle a little!”, and all those selfish, ugly feelings start to fade.

It is in those precious moments that God speaks to me the most, pulling me back toward Him and showing me what He has called me to do. He has called me to THIS mission field of motherhood.

So in that moment I have to take a deep breath and make a decision I can either CHOOSE to be happy and determine how our day is going to go, or I can CHOOSE to be a selfish butt all day.

And I’m not going to lie- there have been many days after long, sleepless nights that I have chosen to be a butt. MANY DAYS.

But today I chose to be happy.

I decided before we even ate breakfast that TODAY would be the day I didn’t let my temper and loss of sleep rule me. Today I would show mercy. Today I would choose to not raise my voice. Today I will say yes to my kids when they want to color, play tag, play dress up, watch a movie, or whatever it was that would be fun and not cause damage (ha).

And guess what- it was a wonderful day. We snuggled and watched movies which was special because of our new-ish no TV rule. We played tag in our princess dresses. We colored and drew funny pictures. We laughed. A lot.

Tonight I am able to crawl into bed and breathe a sigh of relief that everyone is sound asleep in their beds (including Andy who is currently sacked out with Rory but I don’t have the heart to disturb him) and I am able to smile and say that I DID A GREAT JOB TODAY.

It isn’t every day that I can say that, but today I can. Today I chose joy and chose to show mercy as God shows me every day, and tonight I will sleep well (if the heifers let me! ha!) knowing that I am a good mom even through all my failures and selfishness.

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” – Lamentations 3:22-23

PS- If you are a mom/dad/wife/husband reading this- you are doing a good job too. Choose joy, I promise you won’t regret it.

oh Sh… ??

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Tiffany

This past weekend we met our friends Sam and Katie and their two little boys at the zoo. It was the absolute perfect day. The weather was PERFECT- not too hot or cold. There was a constant breeze and the sun was shining. Just perfect.

The girls loved every second of the zoo. They were so well behaved and fun. They loved looking at all the animals and running from one animal to another. We even got to feed some giraffes which was hilarious. Rory got the courage to do it but then the giraffe wrapped his insanely long tongue around her arm and she was DONE. Ryder just threw the lettuce at them instead. HA!

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On the way to Memphis, Ryder kept saying something that was shocking us. Andy and I were looking at each other with huge eyes like, “IS SHE REALLY SAYING THAT?!”. We couldn’t figure out who taught it to her (because really, I’m not perfect but this phrase I really don’t say! ha!) or where she heard it.

She was saying, “oh sh**”.

Now you see our surprise.

Finally, I turned around and realized that every time she said it she would hug her Shrek doll really tight. HA!

So she was actually saying, “Oh, Shrek.” while hugging him.

She’s been doing that nonstop for several days now. This morning I got it on camera because, y’all, it is HILARIOUS and I wanted to make sure I got it on camera before she started pronouncing it correctly, haha!

Now tell me that isn’t the cutest cursing baby you’ve ever seen.

We also got back to our church this weekend after two weeks off from being out of town. The girls loved seeing their friends again.

I took a little blog break last week because there was just SO MUCH going on. I was so burdened by everything in Boston and West, TX and on top of that we found out that Ryder is severely allergic to pineapple.

Like, we had a little trip to the ER.

So it was just a hard week and I decided to just take a week off.

Things are looking up though and Ryder has an allergist appointment next Monday finally. Poor thing has been just miserable and itchy this week.

The kids only have one month left of MDO so I’m trying my hardest to use Tues and Thurs to get some projects done and to just relax by myself. This week I’m hoping to knock out redoing two pieces of furniture (painting, antiquing). Can’t wait to show y’all the end result!

Happy Monday! Hope y’all have a great week!

marriage is so funny.

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Tiffany

Well, people, the outage is OVER. I couldn’t possibly be more excited. It fell on a week where Rory was out of school and things were chaotic around here. I’ve been through worse outages before though, so I really can’t complain.

One thing I always realize with great appreciation is how much of a team Andy and I are. We tackle bedtime together. We do chores as a team (um hello- trash out the wazoo because he was gone for over a week!). We bathe kids as a team. Need I go on? I’m fortunate enough to have a husband who really does help so much, sometimes it just takes an outage or a work trip for me to realize it again.

The thing is, this stage of life can get so mundane sometimes. Especially since I’m home all day and by the time he gets home I’m ready for a BREAK most days- BUT when he gets home he’s ready to relax and take a break too. Neither one of us thinks it is very fair if the other person takes a break, but we go back and forth and give each other that time.

True, there are times when I’m busy getting everything ready for bed or everyone ready to walk out the door, and Andy is playing on his phone and I just want to punch him a little…

In fact, there are times when I look at him and I just want to hit him. Or at night when I’m up with the kids and he is snoring so loud no one can sleep and I think for a sort moment, “maybe it won’t hurt him too bad f I put a pillow over his face”.

But equally as much I will look over at him when he’s snuggling the girls or when he has fallen asleep during a show and is quietly snoring beside me and I think, “MAN, how did I get so lucky?”.

Marriage is funny like that. One minute you are on the verge of poisoning their dinner and the next minute you can’t imagine a single second of your life without that person.

Surely I’m not the only one who feels this way? Ha!

Anyways! I’m so glad I get my person back to the regular crazy schedule! Life is so much better and easier when Andy is around, that is for sure.

Now. I would like you leave you with a few random things after all that mush about my husband.

1) Rory has become a pro at riding her bike. Here is a video to show you:

2) I am getting to go on a trip by myself this weekend to Paris! I can’t even tell you how excited I am to see my TX friends!

3) I love ecards so much, so I thought I’d share a few that have made me literally laugh out loud or holler “AMEN” lately. You’re welcome.

Dear TLC- I’m ready for my show.

Happy Wednesday!

Rory Fun Day, Part 2

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Tiffany

Today has been another “Rory Fun Day” and I will be honest, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. See on Tuesday, we went somewhere special and she felt special all day because we were doing fun things all day, and today I knew we would just be home so I wasn’t quite sure how it would go.

Well, y’all, I gotta tell you… it has been wonderful.

She has been such a precious sweetheart child.

So much so that I feel incredibly guilty for getting so frustrated with her so much.

As you all know, she is quite the strong willed child. As in, she is completely 100% the definition of strong willed. And man, that is HARD to deal with because you have such a fine line between disciplining correctly and crushing their little spirit.

So it has been so nice to have her all by herself and SO EASY. She has helped me clean, cook, and do laundry. She and I were able to play her LeapPad together today for a good long while (and I was shocked at how good she was at all the games and apps on there). We have had long, uninterrupted talks about anything and everything. We had a little spa time and got mani/pedis in Mommy’s bathroom.

So I thought today I would do some Rory-isms that have come from this week. This child is hilarious and so smart it is scary.

- Today at Walmart a lady with a SHORT skirt and HIGH heels walked in as we were walking out and Rory yelled, “Her needs to put some clothes on!”. Hahahaha! Indeed she did. But that stems from us saying that to her if she strips down around here. So she thought she’d say it to a stranger! ha!

- Apparently I have called Ryder a little turd out loud in front of them (most of the time I do it behind their backs, ha!) because Rory has started calling her that. But it isn’t in an ugly way as you would assume- she says it like I do, as a term of endearment. For example: Ryder is running from her as they play and Rory says, “You come back here, you little turd!”, all while laughing hysterically. I can’t help but laugh myself.

- Today Rory put a shirt on with a pocket in the front. She said to me very seriously, “Momma, you know what pockets are for?”. I said, “No! What are they for?” and she said, “Pockets are made to hold money, so I probably need a bunch of money in this pocket right here.”

- At lunch yesterday Rory wanted to play with my phone while we waited for our food. She clicked on Netflix to watch something and it was taking a minute to load up. She looked up at me and said, “Its okay, Mom, its just loading. It’ll take just a minute.” Ha!

- One of her very favorite things to say right now is, “That is CRAAAAzy.” She says it about everything and when she says it she closes her eyes and does a little chuckle then says, “that. is. crazy.”- it is so cute!

- Last night I snapped my fingers and Rory had a big ol’ contemplating frown on her face. She said, “I can’t snap. I wish I was bigger already so I could snap.” Bless her heart. ha!

- This morning at 5:15 I started feeling lots of taps on my face. It was Rory, standing over me with a huge smile on her face. She said, “Hey Momma, I got a big idea! Let’s go eat cheese and dip with Daddy today!”. It was PRECIOUS. Unfortunately, Daddy is on outage week so we couldn’t do it this week. She has said that several times today again, though. “Hey Momma, I got a big idea! Let’s paint my toenails!”, “Hey Momma, I got a big idea! Let’s get me some money!”, “Hey Momma, I got a big idea! Let’s play dress up!”. Seriously so so so sweet.

I am just loving this time with my big girl!

Now if you will excuse me… I have a nap to take seeing as I’ve been up since 4 am after being up several times with Ryder.

Apparently my children conspire against me in the sleep area. If Ryder sleeps through the night, Rory will be up. Rory has slept 3 nights in a row in her own bed until the sun comes up (HUGE, Y’ALL) and Ryder has been up all night every night and waking up for the day around 5ish.

Little turds.

I don’t do much.

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Tiffany

I get asked a WHOLE lot, “what do you do all day?”, especially from my working mom friends.

To which I reply:

hahahahahahahahahahaha

haha

hahahahaha

Apparently stay at home moms are such a mystery.

So let me divulge a little, if you will.

After being up all night (every night…) despite all my efforts to make those heifer children sleep, I wake up bright and early (meaning if I get to sleep until 6 it is a true miracle) every single morning. Now, my children are not like most people and wake up slowly and want to snuggle or be lazy.

NOPE.

My children bound out of bed ready to embrace the day.

And for some reason they expect me not to hold a grudge for keeping me up all night.

Selfish turds.

So I have to wake up as happy as they are and pretend I got a full 8 hours of sleep.

The rest of the day consists of me cleaning up messes… and there are A LOT OF MESSES… over and over and over again.

I also have to feed them, bathe them, and make sure they don’t kill eachother or themselves all day long.

Not to mention trying to do “school” on the days they are home which consists of Rory writing her name 10939843 times and a fun activity to help get their creativity/imagination going.

I also have a couple of side “jobs” that I have deadlines for, the blog, oh and a husband to keep fed/happy.

So yeah. I don’t do much.

Rory is on spring break this week so yesterday we dropped Ryder off at school (and both children, but especially Rory cried a lot about this arrangement) and went to Florence to have a Rory Fun Day!

The whole purpose of our trip was to go to the children’s museum, but once we got there I found out IT IS CLOSED ON TUESDAYS.

I mean, really… I have the worst luck ever.

So, on to Target we went. Rory LOVED shopping with me because I didn’t get a cart and just let her walk beside me. She ran from one object to another saying, “Mommy, let me show you something!” or “Want to see something new, Mommy?”.

It was so cute.

Until she came running at me with the tiniest and most outrageously leopard printed bra EVER MADE and said, “Look Mommy! It is just your size and soooo pretty!”.

I quickly shushed her and put the clearly non-support item back and turned around to find a young couple and a pair of old lady friends laughing hysterically.

Such is my life.

I should totes have a reality show.

We then went to Chili’s to eat a little lunch together and Rory was so funny. I let her sit across from me in the booth by herself and after a minute she said, “Momma, I don’t like being so far away from you!” and came over to my side. She really is such a sweetie.

After lunch, I took Rory to a movie. She was SO CUTE in the movie. We got there and got popcorn and drinks and went to find our seat. (We were the only ones in there until right when the movie started.) Rory walked in and looked around and just kept saying, “oh wow, this fee-ater SO BIG”. She just had the best time. And much to my surprise, she sat and watched the entire movie. She also ate an entire bag of popcorn all by herself. ha!

I had such a fun day with that little stinker. It also reminds me that life is SO MUCH EASIER with just one kid. haha!

But dang, I wouldn’t trade stinker #1 or stinker #2 for anything in the world.

Especially when they pick me flowers and giggle the whole way to hand it to me.

Happy Wednesday!

Easter 2013

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Tiffany

Well after much crisis, I finally got the ol’ blog working again. I’m having technical issues of late that are getting on my last nerve.

Anyways!

Last weekend the girls had an Easter egg hunt at church! They had a blast and were so cute running around trying to get eggs. At first, Rory would go get one, open it and eat the candy, then go on to the next. Well that was taking FOREVER so we finally convinced her that the candy would still be in there at the end, ha! After that she was a speed demon getting those eggs! Ryder was hilarious because she could have cared less about picking up the eggs- all she wanted to do was carry her little basket/bucket around like a purse. ha!

This was the most precious moment- Ryder saw all of Rory’s eggs and started saying, “Yayyyyy Woah-wee! Yayyyy!!!!!”, and was just giggling she was so proud of her. Such sweet sisters.

This weekend we headed to Jackson for some time with family. It is really rare that all of us are together with all the kids at the same time, so it was a fun weekend getting to spend time with everyone.

Obviously, we had to get a sister picture. It only takes us 130945304923 tries to get one we can all agree on.

My nephew, Clayton, and Ryder are only two months apart and this time was so much fun because they really played together. They had the best time together (and Rory too!).

We came home from Jackson and I realized I had forgotten Rory’s sleeping medicine. I thought since she didn’t have much of a nap she would do okay without it and I was just going to drive to Jackson Sunday or today to get it.

Well, poor girl was up 2-5 and around 4 she started crying and said, “Rory girl, just close your eyes and go to sleep please.” I can’t tell you how bad that broke my heart. I just laid there and cried too because I felt so bad for her. She doesn’t want to be awake at all but can’t help it. So thankful for my doctor who is helping her sleep and feel better. Added bonus, I get a little more sleep too! ha!

So on Easter we got all dressed up and ready for church. The girls LOVED their dresses and were so so so cute in them. It was so nasty outside so we had to take pictures inside. Between them not wanting to take pictures and the bad lighting, I really didn’t get a good one but oh well.

Church was really good…. I guess.

Honestly, I know for sure that the youth girls did AMAZING on their creative movement (whatever you call it?) to Arise My Love. It was so so good. I am so proud of them. Everyone was cheering and teary eyed. It was just wonderful- can’t say it enough!

After choir I had gotten settled in my seat and got a little whisper that Rory had an accident. So off I go to get her. Well, she didn’t have a true accident, just didn’t pull her pants down enough when she went potty, so I changed her underwear and brought her in church with us.

I guess I haven’t told you about the church dilemma. Apparently around here it is normal to NOT have children’s church and to bring your kid into church with you starting at age 3.

IS THIS INSANE OR WHAT?!

Last week was Rory’s last Sunday and it was a doozy. I sing in the choir so she SCREAMED the entire time I was in the choir because she wanted me. So much so that I had to come down out of choir and take her to the bathroom to discipline her for pitching a HUGE fit.

On the way out, she yells, “BUT I DON’T WANT THE PADDLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”.

Wonderful.

After our trip to the bathroom she was a perfect little angel the whole time.

She was actually really good this Sunday too after I had to bring her in. At the end someone said something out loud and she goes, “SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I got so tickled so she of course did it like three more times while giggling.

So in other words, I haven’t heard a single word that has been said by the preacher for two weeks now because I’m so busy trying to keep her quiet and entertained.

Sigh.

I don’t even want to know what it’ll be like when both girls have to come into the service. Lord, have mercy!

One day, in several years, I will be able to listen again.

After church we got a couple of family pictures which were kind of a bust, but whatever. We will take what we can get!

I decided to put some pictures together of us on Easter since having kids. My how time flies and things change!

(We didn’t get a group picture at church last year apparently! ha!)

Here are the girls last year- I can’t believe how much things have changed in just one year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

a few of my favorite things

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Tiffany

I know, I know… it has been over a week since my last post. I’ve been working hard on another website and was trying to not get distracted while doing that. And well, general life has happened which means lots of sleepless nights and the normal stuff. ha!

This weather has me down too… we had such a gloriously beautiful weekend two weekends ago and since then it has been DREARY winter weather and that just does nothing for the ol’ seasonal depression.

This past weekend we went to a birthday party for Rory and Ryder’s little friend, Addison. Both girls are still singing happy birthday to her and talking about her bunny. It is so cute! Ryder especially loves Addison- they are the same size and have similar personalities so Ryder is just drawn to her I guess. It is so cute seeing her at an age where she remembers her friends and talks about them.

After the party we went to an Easter egg hunt which is always big fun for the girls! They both had a blast. Unfortunately my blog isn’t letting me upload any pictures so I will have to share those whenever I get that fixed.

So since I can’t upload any pictures I thought I’d share some things that I’m really loving right now.

1) Love & Family by William and Glenna Marshall. My friend, Glenna, and her husband recorded an album that shares their story through marriage, faith, infertility, and the joy of their son that they adopted. It is such a beautiful album and I hope you click the link and listen to it and BUY IT. All proceeds are helping to fund their upcoming Ethiopian adoption.

In fact… I think I will give a CD away to y’all! All you have to do is head over to the bandcamp page they have set up, listen to the album and come back and tell me which song is your favorite on this post! I will pick a winner on Friday!

2) I LOVE deal of the day sites. I have no idea, but they thrill me to no end. Well, my new favorite site like this is Pick Your Plum. I am officially obsessed. I want to buy some of the wooden tags on there today but not sure when I would use them. But maybe I need them just in case….

3) I have found myself in a time of life where reading a book is nearly impossible. The only time I can read is at night but by then I’m so dog tired I can’t get past a single page without falling asleep. So, I just have been reading blogs mostly. One of my favorite post is this one- To the parents of small children: Let me be the one that says it out loud.

Hopefully I will have my picture uploading thingamajig fixed soon!

Don’t forget to comment on this blog post to enter to win a copy of Love & Family by William and Glenna Marshall!

Happy Wednesday!

The Harris Life

Author Archives: Tiffany

life has changed so much

I am my mother.

tooting arguments

choosing joy

oh Sh… ??

marriage is so funny.

Rory Fun Day, Part 2

I don’t do much.

Easter 2013

a few of my favorite things

May 2013
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