Date Night = Cancelled

So instead of going on a date with my hubby... We (Charlee and myself) crashed Nina and Papaws outing to Greenwood.  We hung out with them all day and all night! Im sure they were tired of us.  Bravo's to go = perfect!

This was outside waiting on our dinner... Charlee spilled all the blueberries about two seconds after the picture was taken.  My cat-like reflexes didnt kick in fast enough to save them.  So we had to find something else to do because dont think my girl wasnt about to eat them from out of the dirt!

 She has been obsessed lately:

 Laughing very hard at the shoe counter!

 CHEESE!! She is crazy-town at this point! This is when we decided that dinner would need to be carry-out! It is what it is.

 Im letting her re-fuel on diet coke! Im aware of what your thinking... and if this is the worst, im good with it.  I could go on and on about things I cant stand when it comes to parenting... and maybe giving diet coke to a 17 mo old is your "thing" - I get it, its just not one of my deal breakers.  moving on... and sorry to dissapoint (not really sorry though)

 New green crocks... She picked them out all by herself... promise.  Gavin said "green? why green?" I dont think he is buying the whole "she picked them out" why would I lie about her picking out crocks... I would have gotten black! I would have only objected to pink... because seriously, its not a favorite of mine and lord knows she has a ton of it anyways.
She is doing her "Shaka Shaka" dance in Old Navy! It scares me a little that she is NOT shy.  she was greeting everyone who walked in Old Navy.  She would wave and say "HIIIIIII" The child is fearless.  I tried the trick where you say "Okay see ya, Mommys leaving, bye bye" and she just turned around and walked the other way to the escalator or the stairs  or the ramp, anything different she needs to stay and play on it.  Oh and I got over the embarassment of public fits.  I used to think it was my parenting that allowed this.  Im sorry, but it doesnt matter what I do... she is throwing a fit. Where is "time out" in the mall anyway? And you cant put her in "time-out" when you get home? Im not a spanker, but really she just crys for a min then she moves on so I can deal with that.  Its just comforting knowing that the second a child/baby cries... everyone in an earshot is checkin the situation out... and judging. I do it too.  I dont think I would be as judging on a mom carrying her child away from the escalator... thats just for her safety! Haha...

 My little buckets has NEVER been a drooler... not in 16 months.  Hello drool, she is all of a sudden bustin it out... those back teeth must be killers.

 This was actually how she wanted to be carried around the mall.... for whatever reason, she decided to stop walking and let Nina and Papaw drag her. 

 Seriously? Who does this? She is dying laughing by the way...

 And dont think that she is opposed to throwing a fit when they rain on her parade. (We already talked about this) Action shot:

 So back to our date night that got cancelled!! Friday we ate at a fan favorite in town and Auntie Meggie came over for some margarittas. 
 This was a gift ironically from Meghan to Gavin congratulating him on his new job last year.

 unopened.... just waiting for a night like tonight!! And im so glad Meghan came to hang out!!

 Can I just say that I love.... this belly.  When else in your life is a buddah belly the cutest thing?

Long story short: Gavin got food poisoning early Sat morning.  It was horrid, Im so sorry to anyone who has ever had food poisoning. Charlee and I stayed at Ninas just in case it wasnt poisoning and was the flu... I guess we will never know exactly what it was, but he thinks it was the food and no one else has gotten sick so.  I am so glad I didnt eat what he did... I dont know if I will be able to eat it after this weekend.  No more ******* for us.  So thanks to ******* my date got cancelled.  Im holding them responsible.  Anyways Gavin had a little Gatorade:

Gavins 4-day weekend was a bust.  He is better now and back to normal (tues).  We all rested and took it easy.  A short power cleaning took place when we came home and he was looking at me like I was being rediculous, but im a nurse so I know how to disinfect... to the Nth degree. Probably overboard, but I couldnt help it. 

And mommas favorite thing in the AM:

Popeye comes to mind when I get coffee... and the funny thing is I find myself gulping it because when I go to take a drink... its cold and needs microwaved... this happens about 4 or 5 times with my coffee. Its such a bummer because I would love to sit and just sip away like im in a commercial, but there is always something needing done so it doesnt happen... this is why I gulp. Its the fastest way to get the caffeine into the system because im just not a morning person.

Just trade the spinach for some coffee (sugar+cream... sugar free french van) Its basically a milkshake... still...

I miss Popeye!!

Happy HEART Day

February 14th... Love! Much love is surrounding my family today.  We started off with the red outfits.  Visited Super Target for some last minute dinner needs and found some cute red heart plates on sale.  Charlee didn't really enjoy the trip to Target... many mini-tantrums even with grapes, juice, crackers, and finally a sucker at the check out that was everywhere... but I didn't care because she was happy and quietly getting red strawberry sucker all over the cart and somehow she mastered getting her hair stuck to her face even though it was pulled back in a pony.  Talent I tell you.  We then stopped by Moody Meats for some fillets for the one meal I will cook this month (yeah, my resolution already was an epic fail, Gavin reminds me all the time) Charlee's eyes were almost closed when we put it in park.  She liked Moodys and was at the tired stage where she just let me hold her and she quietly looked around and then watched contently as the nice lady wrapped and taped our steak.  She was snoozing well before we got home.  She didn't nap very long, but it was long enough for me to do some laundry, put dishes away, do a quick once over the house to make it seem like it was cleaner than it actually was.  When she got up she didn't cry out, she just played and I heard her talking to Minnie so I was peeking at her on the video monitor and she was just holding and trying to get Minnie to take her popski like a good little mommy.  She heard me open the door and so we just played and waited for Daddy to get home.

Oh yeah... I snuck a heart sandwich into his lunch with a note! He said I just took a bite out of his sandwich... rude. 

Outfit before she had mac-n-cheese:

After Mac-n-cheese: Still cute even if we are topless! Daddy brought her a Valentines Gift.

Doda and Boots!  She is in love with Doda and Boots right now.  Its a request sometimes and I didn't think the day would come where she didn't perch down and ask for "Mickey"

Hugs for Boots!

Daddy is the best because he got a Doda card with stickers.  I'm not sure she understands stickers yet, because I got one off and she acted like I just broke her favorite toy.  She doesn't like that its sticky so ... yeah, we aren't ready for stickers yet.

Confused face

Well I tried to jazz up her outfit, but putting clothes on her isn't the easiest job lately so we went with a headband with a flower/bow?  She left it on for exactly 2 pictures and the 2 pics weren't the best but it's all I've got.  It was so cute.  I tried to show her in the mirror how cool it was, then I tried to put it on... nada! I vaguely remember her giggling as she ripped it off and tossed it to the floor as she sprinted by with Doda tucked under her arm on her way to the toy room to shove her into the baby doll bassinet.

She sometimes gets really frustrated with her hair in her face, so rarely she will let me clip it out of the way.  She is still obsessed with jumping on our bed... to the point where I make her get down because she is so crazy when she jumps she gets like wayyyy too close to the edge and all those thoughts come into my head that are ridiculous.  Its not crazy (Gavin thinks I'm nuts) I can picture bad things happening if she slipped off the side of our bed... A tiny bit far fetched but still she doesn't need to jump on the bed anymore for my sanity.

Side note: I hope I'm not the only one who kinda freaks about things when my mind thinks about all the what ifs... scary town!

All our love cards!

Okay our plan was to make steak on the grill.  Gavin told me he wasn't sure the grill would work... I must have ignored this whole conversation.  When he got home and I told him to go fire up the grill... he just looked at me and calmly said "I told you the grill was a no-go, trust me, it wont work" Perfect I have steak and the only thing that is in my head is I'm not waisting them... so I happen to pull out my handy dandy cookbook for some ideas.  I pan seared them and then finished them off on the George Foreman... this is just typical for me.  But after the smoke alarms stopped ringing and the front and back door had to be opened for us to see across the living room... I topped them off with Blue Cheese crumbles! Your not going to believe me, but they were the best steaks I've ever had! Swear they were so good.  I want to make them again soon. 

Cookies and wine! What a combo. We all were fed and tucked in by 9:30.  I've been informed that I'm going on a date Saturday night, I think this is the 3rd official date since Miss Buckets has joined the family.  Exciting times are ahead. Happy Valentines Day.

My Mini Valentine

So a little clutter never hurt anyone right?  Our house is full of "messes" as Charlee would say.  What to do for Valentines Day?  Big question.  Its never been a big Holiday in our house.  I have told Gavin not to get me flowers and its taken a while for him to actually believe me.  Ya know... girls just say that and actually want them... Nope, but hopefully he downsizes to just a rose or two instead of the big dozen.  That sounds really rude that I don't want a dozen roses from my hubby... but realistically a card would be just fine because the roses die and sit in the water for days and then I don't want to throw them out because they were so expensive... so hence the problem with flowers.  I will love them if I get them.... don't be mistaken.

Anyways... I'm pretty sure Gavin is loving the newly decorated entertainment center.  What would look better than a string of girly hearts dangling down while you watch Sports Center? Pretty mommy...

She is an awesome helper...

We were fine until we wanted on the table... sitting is never good enough.

Her hair just looked so long so I had to get several shots... haha

Why is she getting so big? She is like a little adult sitting at the table. Aww.. sadness

Yes we had every intention of getting the Valentines mailed on time but we had to do drive bys to family in town to guarantee their Valentines Day delivery! its the thought that counts right? And to the Bogues and Armstrongs that we couldn't do drive-bys at... they are in the mail... sorry.  I know your shocked that I would be late at anything...

Bath time:

Rock star pose:

She is getting pretty good at washa washin herself:

Happy Happy pre-valentines day.