Just following orders

OK, this post is a shout out to our two dear friends. James has been giving me a hard time about not sticking to my Ten on Tuesday ritual - and he's right. I've been super lazy about blogging. Funny thing is I hold such a double standard with the whole blogging thing. I get mad at everyone else who doesn't update their blogs regularly, but it's fine to let mine go.

And our girl Angela pegged me to do this list thingy, so here's a combo deal for you guys - and anyone else who may be reading.

So Here's Ten on Tuesday, with the first six points being the "Six Uninteresting Things About Me" that Angela requested. These should be good.

1. I hate peas. This stems from the repulsive casserole my mom used to force me to eat when I was a kid. I can't even call it a casserole. It was canned Le Seuer peas stirred up with some undiluted mushroom soup, baked. That's it, people. I would cry, literally, when I saw mom take those silver cans out of the cabinet. Ugh. It still makes my stomach turn.

2. I have broken two bones in my life, and both injuries happened right before dance recitals. Once in preschool - an ankle bone, and once in middle school - a foot bone. I was the kid in the audience wearing the cast. Twice.

3. My middle name is Fuller. I was named after a Dr. Fuller, who had a son named Lyndon Fuller. Dr. Fuller named his son Lyndon after President Lyndon Johnson. Story was that Dr. Fuller and Lyndon Johnson were college roommates in TX. Now as I type that, I'm not sure if I believe it. But it's what I've been told my whole life.

4. I minored in African American studies at UNC. And majored in journalism. Now I wipe butts and cook macaroni and cheese for a living. I wouldn't have it any other way.

5. I have an extra bone on the back of my head. I think I had a cyst on top of the extra bone, and a plastic surgeon removed that when I was little, but of course the bone remained. I remember having to get x-rays and other tests run when I was a kid to make sure it was nothing. Was this one too much information?

6. I can't believe it's true, but I want another baby. Truly.

And now, four other just as uninteresting things going on with us:

7. We're taking two trips this month to visit family. One to Eastern NC to visit my family, and one to Ala. to visit Eric's family. I don't even want to think about what we'll spend on gas.

8. Stella's first end of year preschool performance is Thursday night. She's been practicing her songs for us, and one of them is about a paw paw patch. We didn't even know what paw paws were. We looked them up on Wikipedia.

9. It's supposed to frost tonight in these mountains. Thanks, it's the end of April.

10. Our lovable, but off-color neighbor, came over for dinner tonight. It's always an experience hanging out with him.

And here are a few photos of our growing girls, by far the most interesting thing on this post tonight!

Buy Haywood Tomatoes

Our Meg, the EIGHT month old!

Eight whole months since Meggles came - so cliche, but I swear I cannot believe it. I mean, an eight month old baby is a bonafide, sitting-up, laughing, TV commercial-esque baby. Let me see if I can describe Meg for all of you who haven't met her yet:

*We thought early on that she would be a chill, laid back child. Wrong we were. This baby makes her presence known, not only with her teradactyl squeals and sounds, but now she wants to be looked at and engaged constantly. Let's just say I think she's a bit on the high maintenance side.

*There is nothing she loves more than being outside, and she loves riding in the stroller. Which is great for this mama who needs the exercise anyway.

*She doesn't like her booster seat at all and sometimes will sit in her Bumbo seat to eat. She prefers to sit on our laps while we feed her table food. It is so inefficient, messy and annoying. And she swats her arms so hard that she slaps the food right out of the spoon and onto everything. I hate feeding time.

*She has this bald spot on the back of her head that is SO bald that it looks like we shave it every night. Nary a hair is on that spot of her precious scalp.

*She doesn't like peaches or potatoes.

*She also doesn't like other people very much. If we're out somewhere and someone talks to her, there's a good 60% chance that she'll burst into tears. It makes it worse when I laugh at how absurd that is.

*She can sit up by herself and seems so much happier. Just to be able to reach for toys, play with her sister a little more, and get lots of applause for doing so.

*She also has more nicknames than any other baby on earth. Some include Meggle, Meggles, Meggie Sneggie, Meggie Bells, Meggies Bellsies, Schnookum, Bean Sprout, Beanie, and Boo Boo.

I can't imagine our family without that little lamb chop. To us, she is just about the most adorable thing on the planet. We love you more every day, little Meggie Sneggie.

Here she is with her look-alike pop:





And here she's sporting that intense brown-eyed Larson glare with added smirk. I think the smirk might be from my side of the family.


Happy Eight months, little bit! (oh yeah, that's another one)

Ten on Tuesday

It is a beautiful day in the NC mountains so this post should be, for the most part, uplifting and positive...

1. We are part of a program here called Parents as Teachers, or PAT. It's a free service through a local child abuse prevention agency that sends someone into your home monthly to essentially help and support you as a parent. Our assigned coordinator, Kim, brings homemade games and toys, hand-outs on child development, books, etc. that are age appropriate for Stella and Meg. Needless to say, she's become a favorite around here. And she's coming in just a few hours.

2. We had a picnic today at a beautiful field with some friends. Stella ran what seemed like miles through the grass. And Meg just sat on the blanket with us playing with toys. Is there anything cuter than a baby sitting on a quilt in the sunshine? Surprise Surprise, I forgot my camera.

3. I've slacked off on my Weight Watchers but am still proud to say I've lost 23 pounds. I now have motivation to lose the extra 15 b/c our dear friend Erin is photographing our family at the end of May. And you know I want to look back at those and think that I looked like a hot mom.

4. Eric is working hard as usual for the business. He's frustrated b/c he's quoted a lot of jobs but many haven't come through yet. The state of the economy is hurting everyone, small businesses like ours too. I am so proud of what he has built in just 3 1/2 years, literally from scratch and with no business experience. If anybody can make it succeed, he can.

5. Ugh, I just lost all interest in finishing this list. Why do I have adult onset ADD? I'm not even kidding.

6. I will leave you with a photo of our new niece, Lily Therese Jones. Thanks, Melissa, for taking these precious photos. Hope you don't mind if I posted them!



Have a good week people!

Family addition

Our new niece has arrived! Lily Therese Jones was born today, April 5, at 1:51 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz. Check out her blog for photos and to leave her a congratulations message. What a beautiful baby girl! We love you already, baby Lily. And of course your big bro too!