The fancy yard

The husband and I have started trying to salvage our dead, crappy looking weeded yard. I seriously think we can kill any plant no matter how hard. For the first year since we moved in, we have actually taken the initiative to get outside "before" the 85 degree weather. Well, hello, 85 degrees. So apparently starting in March even can be to late. This is our plan of action.

First, I am SO tired of the reason our yard looks like crap is because The Husband doesn't have "the right tools." So, I thought I'd fix that. I marched him into Sears and told him to buy whatever it is that he needs. After looking at me like I was crazy for about ten minutes, he got really excited and started picking things out. You see, my friends, I think the "man brain" took over and the excitement of new toys kicked in and he forgot about the fact that once we buy these things, they will be used. Two hundred dollars later, we are cramming everything into the Corolla. Don't worry, thats just a chainsaw beside B's carseat. But in a box! Anyways, so we're on our way and the entire ride home, I'm giving him "The List."

As soon as we got home, he just has to "cut something!" So he starts on the side yard. The next day, I got out and started pulling weeds while he was cutting things again. Meanwhile, Bentlee was playing in the street. Kidding, of course. Anyways, so now that we have the beds almost all cleaned out, I have decided that we may as well go ahead and paint the foundation of our house. The people before had painted it some odd color and now it's faded to a pink color. So then I decided that if we were going to paint the foundation, we may as well paint the shutters and our front door to match. THEN I decided that if I was going to do that we should buy a whole new screen door since I've been wanting an all glass one anyways. And since I was already thinking about paint colors, I may as well pick a cute new color for the kitchen since I want to replace the kitchen counters and the backsplash. And while we're at it, we may as well stain the back deck to get it looking really good. None of this has been done of course, and may not get done, but right now, Hubby needs to nap even when I start talking about it from his head spinning so fast.

You should have just done the yard work Husband. Without the fancy tools.

Silver Shoes and Her Own Opinion

I yelled at my child this morning. My tiny, little sweet 18 month old who has no reason to be yelled at. And that is how I started my day. I was getting her dressed and it was cool out, but I put her in shorts. I decided to put her tennis shoes on becase I was afraid her feet would get cold in sandels. She apparently didn't want to wear her tennis shoes, so she started throwing a tantrum and wouldn't even let me tie her shoes. I finally made her even though she was screaming. She went into her room and dumped her shoe box out and was picking every other weird shoe to wear including her dressy church shoes. I was ignoring her and going about getting ready as she was following behind me screaming and crying. Finally, I had enough and I yelled. I told her that I didn't have time for her to be acting this way this morning. She cried some more and I finished getting ready. I realized that I needed to try and get ahold of myself before starting my day so even if I was late, I needed to take a minute. So I sat down in the floor and asked her what we could do to fix it. What did she want? I asked if she still didn't want to wear her shoes. She immediately stuck her foot up to tell me she didn't. So, I took them off and threw them across the living room. Then, I put her sandels on and she was SO happy. They are new and sparkly and apparently she really likes them. If her feet get cold today, so be it. They make her happy. On the way to drop her off, I apologized to her for yelling. When we got there, she was extra sweet to me and hugged me for about ten good minutes. I asked if she was mad at me and she kept hugging me so I guess she forgave me.

It was on my way to work later when I was reflecting on the morning that I was so very sorry for yelling at her. And I realized that sometimes I need to step back and remember to choose my battles wisely. Why couldn't I just put the sandels on her and pack the other shoes in the bag for later? She loved these new shoes and kept calling them "pretty" and "silder" (they are silver). The answer is- I could have. I could have avoided upsetting her and myself. Also, I realized that sometimes even though I don't want to, I may yell at her. It doesn't make me a bad momma. It just means I'm human. And she showed me when we got there and she hugged me for so long, that she won't hold it against me. I think she understands that I still love her even when I'm mad at her. And that to me is amazing. That in her 18 month old world, she knows that momma may yell, but that I still love her very much.

She teaches me things everyday. Her lesson today was- sometimes when life gets busy, I need to just stop. I need to re-evaluate and remember what is important. Her happiness is important to me. And I need to listen. I wasn't paying her enough attention. I didn't realize that the silver shoes meant that much to her. I thought she was just being a whiny toddler. But now I realize even more that she is her own person. She has her own likes/dislikes and opinions. And sometimes when its things that won't harm her, I need to let her be her own person. Because that is the only way she will ever learn some things. If her feet get cold today, maybe she will wear her tennis shoes tomorrow and learn that Mommy is usually right :)

18 Months!

18 Months!

Weight: 24.4 lbs

Height: 32 inches

Friday we had Bentlee's 18 month check up with Dr. Albert. Everything went good and she is in the 50th percentile for height and weight, which seems where she is going to stay. She had to get two shots, but only cried for a minute. Dr. Albert was very impressed with B's vocabulary and her ability to already speak in short sentences sometimes. She was not concerned that Bentlee still gets her night bottle (this is why I adore our pediatrician) and she said we'd talk about it again when she turns two. She said because Bentlee is already in a big girl bed when most babies are still in a crib, it changes things a little because I can't just make Bentlee stay in bed. She gets up and walks around. While we were there, Bentlee did all her animal noises and her body parts. This Mommy was proud!

Words she is using frequently: Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, cup, backpack, Elmo, Dora, moon, clouds, milk, bath, crack-crack (crackers), pretties (toes), home, fish, dog, shoes.. Just to name a few.

She can do all her animal sounds and they are adorable. My favorite is her bear sound. Her snake sound is more of a blow her spit at you. Not sure why, but to her, this is a snake.

She knows all her body parts and can count to three if you start it with one. She is learning her colors, but is still a little confused about them.

She is OBSESSED with shoes and likes to change pairs all day long. Sometimes, when she insists on what she is going to wear, there is no reason to fight with her because she will win. So sometimes we will wear a brown skirt with black shoes.

She is a CLIMBER. We have caught her on top of the table with Elmer's glue and a screwdriver. On top of the table helping herself to her "poop loops" and on top of the entertainment center touching the tv. Girlfriend will climb anything sitting still.

She loves Macy. I mean LURVES her. Adores her. And sometimes asks for her even when we aren't home. She will only call her Mimi. And Macy also adores her. Although she pretends not to. She doesn't let B get to close to her, but she will be the first one at B's door in the morning whining until I can get there. Macy also doesn't allow us to horseplay with B unless she is standing right there watching and usually whining until we put her back down on the ground.

She has started saying HI and BYE very clearly and it is the cutest thing. She will pop up in the doorway where we are and just say, "Hi." And its kind of drawn out and country. She also likes to pop out and say, Boo. But in a simple quiet voice which makes it even funnier.

This past weekend, she took came into the room where I was cleaning naked as a jaybird. She had taken her diaper off and didn't want to put it back on. It made us laugh all afternoon.

She is also very loveable and has started giving us hugs frequently even when we don't ask for them. A kiss on the other hand is different. She picks and chooses when she wants to hand them out.

She is very opinionated and stubborn. Traits I think she gets from me unfortanely. She is also very curious and inquisitive which are two things she gets from her Daddy. She is strong willed and independent and I think those are ok as long as she uses those traits carefully.

Thursdays Thoughts

1. 90210 is off the chain right now. Crazy. I wish Liam's skank girlfriend would get busted being the phony she is. And Naomi's sister Jenn- stupid stuck up girl. I don't even care that they try to put a sweet sisterly spin on it. She's still a bitch.
2. So what that I renewed my tag in February exactly when I was supposed to and its still in my purse and not on my car. I have the little white lie all worked out, "but my husband has been out of town and I'm afraid I won't get it stuck on right, officer."
3. Bentlee still gets a night bottle. Stop judging. Until you've dealt with B's version of the screamies, you have nothing to say to me.
4. I ran yesterday for my entire lunch break. 30 whole minutes in a parking lot. And then ate two pieces of apple pie after dinner.
5. I think about vacay. Every. Day. 6 whole nights at the beach with my loves. Heaven, I think so.
6. I can watch the same video of my kid that her daddy posted on facebook and still laugh after 1584225422 times of watching it.
7. Macy has an appointment to get her hair did. That takes FOUR hours. #Puppy is a mess.
8. I'm using said grooming appointment to make The Husband take me on a date to Olive Garden. Hey, its four whole hours to waste and they have free refills of their salad!
9. We've been recording Wheel of Fortune everynight to watch while we eat dinner. #Who says getting old is bad?
10. I started my blog partly because I feel like my life resembles a soap opera most of the time.
11.  Teen Mom- oh how I miss you. I'm invested with these girls. I can't help that most of them don't have their lives together. At least its good for the ratings.
12. Last weekend we watched three movies. THREE. Dream house or something of the sort, The Help, and In Time. Any weekend where you get to watch three movies, I think is a good weekend. Speaking of- if you haven't seen The Help. Rent it today. It was so good.
13.  B came to work with me this past Friday. When we were walking to the parking deck, and she was holding my hand, I told her, "Mommy had the best day ever getting to spend so much time with you." I meant it.

How We Came To Be "The Batson's"

I feel like every good blog has a story behind it. And this is ours.

I met The Husband when I was 16 years old. No lie. Fairytales sometimes really do happen. It was         June 08, 2005. I will spare every single sappy detail, but for the most part, after that day, we were each others. We didn't date anybody else and we've always been together. He told me he loved me about a month after that to which I replied, "thank you." Not long after that, I realized I loved him too. My mother hated him. Partly because he was four years older than me and partly because sometimes thats just how my mother can be. I'll spare the details there too, but I will say the beginning of our relationship wasn't ALL roses and rainbows. We had to work at it. Not because of our feelings for each other, but other obstacles that stood in our way. We moved in together November, 2003. I was then 18 and a senior in high school. Probably the best decision we've ever made was to move in together as soon as possible. The day I moved in with him is the day I feel like I really started living my life. He proposed in on August 8, 2004 after I screwed the first proposal up the month before that. I will save that for another post. We had a ten month engagement and we said "I Do" on June 18, 2005. Which is tied for one of the top two happiest days of my life. Seeing him at the end of that aisle and walking down to take his last name completed me and gave me a family. We bought our first house in March 2006. We started talking about "maybe" having a baby and I came off my pill in September 2009 with the promise to him that "it normally takes FOREVER to get pregnant". In January of 2010, I found out I was already 8 weeks pregnant. The day I found out I was having a little girl changed my life. Of course, a boy would have too, but in completely different ways. I always knew we would have a little girl first. And so did everybody else. On September 3, 2010 Bentlee Marie was born at 9:03 AM. This is the other of the top two happiest days of my life. I looked into the face of the most beautiful, wonderful, amazing thing I had ever seen in my life. She has changed me. She has changed our family. She has changed the way I see myself. She has changed the way I see the world. She has completed us. So thats pretty much it. Things aren't perfect in my life. Far from it. But when I come home to these two- everything is right. They are the most important part of my story.

My First Post

So, this will be my first post. Soon, I will post about our story and our family. Let me preface my blog by saying that A) I'm a blog virgin so I have no clue what I'm going to write about and B) I have zero creativity. ZERO. ZILCH. Now, with that said, I may take others people posts and put my own spin on it. Now, I dont consider this copying. I just consider it "helping me with my blog." Also, I won't have many pictures. I don't have time to upload them. Oh, and last thing, I think I say LOL to much while writing. It is what it is. We all have quirks :) ... thats another thing. I use the smiley face an awful lot too. Also- my posts may be all over the place. I may skip around. Simply because I'm doing what everybody else does and usually won't admit. I'm blogging while at work instead of working. So be it. And LAST thing- I talk about my daughter. ALOT. I can't help it. She's the best thing since sliced bread and she is hilarious. I'm saying all these things upfront so that if you don't like zero creativity, a million lol's or a proud momma who talks about her baby, you can just stop reading now. Not that I have any readers or ever will have, but still. Maybe its just to give me something to make my first blog post look fun :)