Happy Holidays!

I know this time of year is busy for everyone, so I will make it short and sweet. We are very thankful for all that we have - and we miss everyone so much. I will have plenty of pictures and possibly some short videos to upload after Christmas. The girls are so excited that they are beside themselves! We were going to Jacksonville for Christmas but plans for that changed so now we are staying here. We plan to visit with our neighbors on Christmas Eve and watch the classic movies while drinking hot chocolate and making cookies for Santa. We hope everyone has a great holiday.

Lots to update

I started the new job - same old story with that one. Halloween was great. We went to North Carolina for Thanksgiving and now we are gearing up for Christmas and the end of my school semester. I start UAB in January for my master's in teaching. Sorry, I don't have time to update more, but here are some pics.

That thing called time...

So much has happened in the last month that I find it difficult to wrap my arms around all that has gone one! For starters, Maci turned 2 on October 25th and boy has she really hit the terrible 2s! She is talking extremely well now and is meaner than ever. She really has this sense about her that just reiterates – my way or the highway- and that is not going over too well in our household! Now it’s time to start back on the potty training again.

We had lots of visitors over that weekend!! Thanks to everyone that came up! I know we all had a great time. We went to the pumpkin patch, the Sloss Fright Furnace, and to see Fly-By Radio in concert. I had a blast and am still recovering!

I started my new job a week ago today. It’s going well – haven’t quite gotten into the swing of things just yet though. It seems like there will be a lot of room to use my organization skills, and possibly do more than I was at Liberty. That is great because I love to be busy and productive! Speaking of which, I am finished with one of my classes this term – I got an A!! My biology class has about another month and I am going to try to finish it early. We will see.

I have pictures from Halloween to post – Madelyn as Minnie Mouse and Maci as a devil (how fitting) but I will have to wait until I get home to post them. Take care – and I can’t wait to see who wins this election!!

Madelyn's post

Madelyn has never had any tact when it comes to saying things that she shouldn't. Remember the time she saw the man with a patch on his eye and she said, "look Daddy, a Pirate! ARRR!" Yes, that was quite embarrassing. Well, she's done it again. The other day the pest control guy came for our quarterly service. He is such a nice guy - he lets the kids follow him around the house asking questions. The three of them were in Maci's room and Madelyn was showing him her drums and guitar. She told him she was going to be a rockstar when she grew up. The bug guy proceeded to say that he wanted to be like her when he grew up, to which our lovely daughter responded, "you can't be like me when you grow up, I have a white face." Oh, did I forget to mention that the bug guy is NOT WHITE! OMG. Well, chuck it up to another weird moment - but funny story! Here is a video of the future rock star - I had to bribe her with a cookie!

Well...time flies whether fun is involved or not

I know I have been terrible updating this. Between work, school and my oh-so active social life (KIDDING) I just don't have time! Really, but not really. School really has been taking up a lot of time - and football season started (no need to mention last night's game). So there aren't many new updates anyways. The kids are still being kids - Madelyn has learned the beginning sound of so many letters, so I know she will learn to combine them in no time. She really loves her daycare - and so do we!

Maci has been talking a lot too. She says the funniest things and had the funniest expressions. She is such a comedian - her dad up and down.
I almost forgot - Saturday (the 27th) was our 1 year anniversay as Alabamians. Here are pics from when we first got here:

And from now:

Did I mention the weather?

Last night it ws 62 at night and today, it's only gotten up to 75. I know those aren't exactly fall temperature, but they surely aren't summer temperatures either. It was such a nice day - it was cool enough to eat outside or just BE outside without sweating. Ah...fall is near everyone!

My husband, the humanitarian

JD is in Texas right now with no power, no water, no anything. He went there for work and is helping everyone out down there. He said it's more than you could imagine. We sure miss him, but are very proud that he is doing this. Says a lot about his character, I think.



On another note, Maci busted an nice gash in her bottom lip. I should get my MAT results this week, and I CANNOT wait. Will post as soon as I get them. :)

Maci brushing her teeth

Of course!

Whew!

I did it. I took the MAT. The test was hard, a bit harder than I expected actually. I won't get my scores for 2 weeks, but I am hoping for the best. That was the first time I have been to the Montevallo Campus and it was beautiful. It's an older campus, but I was really impressed. I am actually quite excited about possibly going.

I know, but something has to fall by the wayside

It's so hard to keep up with so many forms of communication when you are BUSY. Between email, chatting, and real-live-talking, sometimes I forget to come here and post what's new. So, here is what's new. I started school about 2 weeks ago and that is really kicking my butt. Not so much the school work, just trying to study for the MAT (the entrance exam for graduate school - which I am taking tomorrow) plus do all of the assignements for regular school - it can all be a bit much to deal with. But, after tomorrow, I should have a huge weight taken off my shoulders.


The girls are doing well - Maci has started to get her last 4 teeth in - vampire teeth like Madelyn's. She has been so whiney lately though - I know JD and I are both at our wits end with her. She really needs to learn to talk so she can tell us what is wrong!


We got a new dog - Jackson. He seems to be smart - well, besides eating a fishing weight a week ago that he still hasn't passed. The girls love him - Maci thinks he is just the funniest thing.


JD and I are doing great - he goes to the doctor on Tuesday to find out about the clogged arteries in his neck. I am hoping they can treat him with meds, I've heard the surgery for that is really difficult to deal with. Lets all hope for the best for him.

The end of an era

Tomorrow is the BIG day. It's the day JD gets "fixed" and our child bearing days become a think of the past. I know, it's sad to think that we won't ever have another little bundle of joy to bring home and rear like the two wild little monkeys we already have. Looks like it's the RIPE time for Tiffany and Justin to jump on the "it's your turn to pop out one" train.

Where do you shop?

The other day Madelyn asked me where I got her. I asked her to explain her question because I didn't quite understand it. She then said, "did you buy me at the kid store?" I laughed it off and said yeah, I got you at the kid store. Last night she says to me "I picked you out." I asked what she was talking about and she said, "at the mommy store - I picked you out, you're the best mommy." And it's moments like these that melt my heart and remind me just why it's worth it to have the little leeches in the first place. :)

More pictures from Mad's birthday & the hummingbird

Here are some pictures from the small party we had for Madelyn on Saturday. Also the pictures of the hummingbird we found in the garage. Enjoy! Don't forget to click them and they get bigger!

The big day!

Madelyn's 4th birthday was yesterday. I cannot believe how time has just flown by. We woke her up with a cupcake and gave her a little present and card. She is having a little mini-party on Saturday and she will get the rest of her gifts then. The girls and I made cupcakes the day before and Madelyn took them to daycare to share with everyone. She had a great day - except on the way home she said to me that she didn't want to be 4 anymore, she wanted to be 3 again. Welcome to the "chasing that fountain of youth" club!!

The TILE!!

As you may or may not know, the tile in our house is cracking. In our kitchen, our master bathroom and our laundry room - there are all of these cracks that have recently appeared in the tile. I called the builder who was super nice - he said he would come look at it when he got back from vacation. I emailed him the pictures below in hopes he might have some idea about what is going on. He mentioned something about a sinkhole, but the previous owners said they had to have the tile replaced in the same areas once before. I am hoping that doesn't mean there is something wrong with the foundation!

In other news, I am going back to school! I got accepted into the master's degree program at the University of Montevallo and am trying to determine when to talk to my manager here about possibly being able to leave on Tuesdays and Thursdays to take class. I am waiting to findo ut if I can get aid to take the classes online through FCCJ.

Madelyn turns 4 in a week and a day. I cannot believe it! She is getting so grown up! I hope to post some new pics of the girls soon. Take care!

Potty training, here we come!

Wow, I can't believe this - but I honestly think Maci is on the road to being potty trained. We have been putting her on the potty in the mornings when we wake her up - and over the weekend she actually told me she had to go a few times. She came to me yesterday and took me into the bathroom and she went poo on the potty! I am so happy becuase this is the first step to her getting in touch with that feeling and understanding the need to go. I hope by her 2nd birthday that she is off diapers. One less cost in that ever expanding grocery bill is a welcome deletion!

Pictures from our visit with the family!

Maci's Hair!

I know, I know

It's been like forever and a day since I have posted. Things were a little hectic and crazy over the holiday - but very fun! Tania and the girls came to visit and we had a great time! We hung out, watched movies and went to Oak Mountain. I will try to get some pictures up either later today or tomorrow.

Not much going on here - I cut Maci's bangs because she was driving me crazy with her inability to see where she was going. I think she looks cute and the lady at daycare likes it too! Tiff was right when she said Maci resembles Matilda with her new do!

Madelyn had a big adventure on Saturday! She has been asking me if she could hang out with this little girl from school and although the girl's mother and I had attempted to exchange phone numbers, we never really got together. Saturday she called and asked if Madelyn could go to the lake with them and I let her go. She had a great time and now she wants Kaylie to come to our house and play. Angela at work is supposed to be giving Madelyn a bunch of dress up clothes, so that will be fun when she finally does come over.

I can't believe Madelyn's birthday is in 3 weeks! She will be 4!! I bet she is smart enough to start shool at that age. :)

Frustration!

I took Maci to the doctor again today (5th time) and they still aren't sure what is wrong with her skin. They did blood work which all fell within normal limits. I am not so much as worried about what it is now - unless it's something more serious that bloodwork is not showing. And to top it all off - it's freaking hot up here!!

Yes, that temperature reading says 100 degrees!

Another of the rash

The infamous rash

Any ideas?

It's CHAOS!

Life at our house has been total chaos for the past few weeks. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but Maci has a terrible rash on one side of her body that is not going away and is spreading. We have spent well over $200 at the regular doctor trying to figure out what it is and trying creams and meds that aren't working. She finally has a dermatology appointment today, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will get some answers.



The outlets went out again in my car, so I am going to have to take it back up to VW. Apparently something I am plugging in is causing the outlets to blow.



Maci decided to taste test her poopy diaper last night - and now I am hoping she doesn't get rotovirus from that. I remember how terrible it was to go through that with Madelyn - and having the i.v. fluids pumped into her. I don't want to go through that again!



We are hopefully having family up for July 4th - which would be great since I think Madelyn misses Ashtin and Allissa. Hopfully they come and we can have a nice holiday - I know we sure need one! :)

Kid's notice the strangest things

On the way to work this morning JD was driving in front of me in the Landrover. There is a spare tire on the back of it and Madelyn says to me - "that tire is not supposed to be on the back of the car, it's supposed to be on the bottom!" Well, she does have a point.

I am attaching the pics from the weekend, just 2 of the girls' smiles, but they are such great pics I couldn't resist not putting them up.

We got the car, it was a fuse (apparently missing fuses-not sure where they ran away to though) and now we just found out our AC is going to be upwards of $400 to fix. Seriously, we really can't get a break, can we?

Where’s the Twix when you need it?

Was it the Kit-Kat or the Twix bar that so graciously offers a “break?” I need to know because surely that is what we need right about now. If Murphy’s Law was not written for us Lockwood’s, I am not sure WHO it was written for. Just in the past month our hot water heater had an issue, our air conditioner broke, the faucet in the girls’ bathroom got broken, the washer is leaking, the knob on a cabinet in our kitchen got ripped off – and yesterday we had to have my car towed to the dealership. Really, when can we just get a break!! We aren’t sure what is going on with the car – it won’t get out of park and the outlets aren’t working. Hopefully it will be covered under warranty, but knowing our luck, it WON’T!
Speaking of needing a break though, Madelyn was absolutely terrible yesterday. She was testing my patience about listening – she was blatantly ignoring me and not listening. Yesterday was not the day. I had a sore throat and felt weak on top of all the car stuff. I am hoping for a better week this week – I know I need it.

I have some pics to put up from our weekend, but I won't be able to get to that until tonight. But here is a picture of our neice - what a beautiful girl!! She has grown so fast!

The weekend that wasn't

This weekend was supposed to be an extended weekend full of fun and sun. JD had to work every day of the weekend - so it didn't seem like an extension of anything except the work week. We did manage to do mexican night on Sunday with delicious homemade margaritas and then went to a rather fun party on Monday. Madelyn was playing the drums and loving it - so now I am wondering if she should get a drum set for her birthday - but then I come to my senses.

A busy weekend

We had a busy weekend this weekend with the wine event on Saturday. JD ended up going and we had a decent time. It wasn't the greatest of venues. Sunday we just hung around all day - I washed my car (I know, heart attack) and the girls swam in our teeny tiny pool - but they had fun. Maci fell asleep while eating her lunch, and we found a turtle that we kept for half the day - then JD let it run away. :)

Two feet in the right direction

I took Mad to the Otho today to make sure her clubbed feet were growing properly and the doc said he hadn't ever seen clubfeet look at good as hers. A compliment, I guess? He knew of the doctor that treated her in Jax, even said he was world renowned for his work with clubbed feet. I didn't bother to tell him that we were frustrated with that doctor and weren't very happy. Apparently he has done a lot of work using Botox in the heels of children with clubbed feet while they are in the healing process. Makes sense to me. I was just extremely happy that we were in and out within 20 minutes. I think that just might be a record for a doctor's office.

Life moves quickly at a slow pace

It's strange how quickly life moves when you are accessing it in retrospect. I often think about how much easier life will be when the girls are older (approaching the double-digit ages)and I think about how far away that is. Then things happen tht help put me in my place about just how fast they have grown. I was going through my cell phone pictures and found two pictures of the girls - when they were younger - and I thought to myself - HOLY COW time sure has flown by. Seems like just yesterday that I found out I was pregnant with Maci and here she is telling me about her bodily functions and declaring every toy in our house as "mine."

I have attached some vintage pictures for your enjoyment.