Seatbelts and racing junkola

I hate putting my seat belt on. I hate it. I know you should because it's safest, blah blah blah, but it's annoying. When I had the Infinity and the truck, I would slack off occasionally and not buckle myself in. But with this Durango, there is an alarm that sounds within seconds if you don't buckle up. I despise this alarm because it's so obnoxiously loud. But when Justin and I had Lauren, he made me promise to wear it at all times because Lauren needed her momma. So I agreed and I have done so faithfully.

So anyways, a few days ago, we were getting into the Durango and I had started it up before putting my seat belt on. Well the stupid alarm started beeping to "remind" me to buckle up. Annoyed, I turned and asked Justin "Is there a way you can disable this dumb alarm?" to which he replied" Yeah, it's called bucking your seat belt". To say my husband is a smart a$$ would be an understatement. Good thing he bought me a Slurpee that night or he'd have been sleeping on the couch :)

I guess while we're on the subject of cars, I will share a couple photo's of the Hubster in all of his Street Stock Glory. If you've never seen Dirt track racing, you're in for a special white-trash treat because these pics are the epitome of what high class racing looks like...Ha!! And although the main course entree at the dirt track is hot dogs (with mustard if you're lucky!), and the fact that most of the drivers are named "Bubba" and the fact that most patrons there are missing a few teeth, we have a pretty good time. I just wear my best flannel shirt and clean overalls and I fit right in with all of the other Rednecks :)

Anyways, here's my #36 a few months back. Justin's quite proud of the condition his car is in...he lives by the motto "Rubbing is Racing" so having a few dents and dings on the car is supposedly a good thing. If we had to repaint the car every time the paint got messed up, we'd be broke...hence, the flat black spray paint he has goin' on :)

Her playroom exploded...

How is it possible that at 9 months of age, this child has more toys than a freaking toy store?!?!?!

I'll tell you how...because every little toy, whether it's pink or blue, is deemed necessary for Miss Princess herself. A tractor? Yep, she needs it. A kitchen set? A must. A Sit-N-Spin that she won't be able to use for another few years? Another necessity for Piddle. This child has more toys than she knows what to do with.


So after alllllll of her 9 million gifts were opened Christmas morning, the Hubster and I began piling them into the playroom because we literally have no where else to put them. Her exersaucer is still in our Master bath because it entertains it while I sneak in a quick shower. Her jumperoo is in the office (the future baby's room) because it's so cumbersome that it's the only room that accommodates it. Her activity table sits in the living room because it occupies her while I make dinner. And her baby swing in the formal living room, because it's pointless to pack it up seeing that it will be used again when Baby Brownie arrives. And so, with baby paraphernalia cluttering up my home, you can bet her Christmas stuff got put into her playroom, behind closed doors.

So where to put more stuff on Birthdays, Christmas', etc??? Do you see where the Big Screen TV is on the right hand side of the picture above? I know Justin will have a Heart attack when I break the news to him, but at this rate, we're going to need to store toys there. I'm afraid (wait, I could care less....Justin will be the one that's afraid!) that that TV will be outta here in a few months. That or there will be a flat screen in our garage I suppose :)

Lauren's very FIRST Christmas!!!

Warning: Today's blog today is loaded with pictures so feel free to skip over many of them. I just couldn't resist documenting details of Lauren's first Christmas. And actually, I didn't take near as many pictures as I had planned because prego brain got the best of me and I forgot my camera when we went to Judy's later that day. Oh, and Miss Piddle wasn't' exactly cooperative near the end of gift opening so alot of pics were excused.


Whew!! What an exhausting day it was...first trimester exhaustion + lots of excitement + chasing after Piddle all day = one very tired Momma! The day started off at 6 am, when Miss Piddle Pot decided the day should begin. And while I know there were many parents up at that time, I thought I had a few more years before she decided to get up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning... but apparently she didn't get the memo. So we all woke up, the Hubster and I got dressed (Miss Busy Body stayed in her new Christmas Jammie's) and then we headed to the tree to open gifts that Santa had left!

The stockings were opened (see above picture) and then we began tackling the gifts, one by one. I thought Santa had done a pretty good job at getting Miss Lauren plenty of presents this year..until my mom came over. As she began bringing bags and bags of presents in (plus donuts for brunch!) I knew we were in for a very long morning! There were presents everywhere!


Lauren was really good Christmas morning, considering she got very little sleep the night before. On Christmas Eve, we went to Church and then headed over to Judith's and Uncle Brad's, where we had Tamales and other yum-o food. Both Justin and I assumed that Lauren would have been asleep after going to Church, but we were so wrong! Not only did she stay awake for all of Church service, she stayed awake for the car ride to Judith's, and the 3 hours we stayed at their house. Of course, she was the center of attention with our family and there was no way she was going to miss out on all of the festivities (and food!). So when we finally got home that night, it was 10 pm and we were certain Lauren would sleep in on Christmas morning. But once again, we were wrong, as she's discovered she calls the shots at this house. So her 6 am wake-up time meant that she became overstimulated and cranky as the day went on and although she never managed to take a nap, alot of attempts were made :)

Anyways, the gift opening had begun. At first, I helped her with her gifts:


But after a few presents, she was ready to tackle 'em on her own and soon, the wrapping paper and boxes were flying!


Honestly, this little girl made out like a bandit! She got tons of books, a bazillion of toys of all shapes and colors, a few new dolls, a plethora of balls, packages of stackable blocks and plenty of clothes. She also got a few really special things, including a personalized Piggy Bank from her grammy, an adorable pink Ride-a-long Pony that sings and moves from Grandma Apps (see the previous posts), a Fisher Price Computer Learning System from her Aunt Judy and Uncle Grumpy, and a few big ticket items from Santa and her parents, including her Sing-a-long stage and activity center. If I took pics of each and every gift she received, we'd literally be here all day. So I took a few pics when I could and here are just a smidgen of the wonderful gifts she received:


And I took this picture special for Lauren's Grandma Apps, because I know it's the only horse thing her daddy will ever buy her :)


And although Justin and I insisted that neither of us needed anything, our incredible family went all out and brought us some awesome gifts! Here's a short list of a few gifts I received, followed by a few pics: A license plate cover (with the exact wording I wanted) that Justin had personalized for me. Plus, he picked my favorite color, which was an added bonus :) I also got a set of niiiiice pink dishes, which were featured on Oprah's "Favorite Things" and they have quickly become my favorite thing because they are very sturdy, yet lightweight and have a non-skid bottom. And to go with my new mixing bowls, I got Jessica Seinfeld's new cookbook "Deceptively Delicious", which I had been hoping for! I also received a few new piceses of Princess House Crystal to add to my collection, which by the way, looks stunning in my Curio cabinet (thanks Mom!). Add to that maternity clothing, scrapbook supplies, a new few cooking utensils, perfumes, lotions and oh-so-Heavenly dark chocolate truffles, and my Christmas was fan-freaking-tastic!


Please disregard Piddle Diddle's bottle of bubbles in this next photo :)


Justin got a bunch of gifts also, and although they would have would bored me to tears, he loved them! He received a Stephen Colbert book from Moi (he loves Colbert and actually started laughing out loud while reading through it), a new jack and set of tire stand thingies, a couple new shirts because the man ruins them within minutes of putting them on, a retractable cord extension thingy that hangs above the POS race car in the garage (thanks Uncle Brad; I searched and searched to find this thing and couldn't find it anywhere!) And I know there were more gifts but because they were all "boy crap", I apparently have blocked it out. If I go into the garage though, I'm sure I could finish his list off with no problemo!

Here are a couple of pictures I managed to sneak in...the first one with his new watch and my aforementioned Heavenly truffles:


And the two of us got a few "couple" gifts that included a "date night" basket, complete with Sparking Cider, snacks for us both, a movie to watch, an Outback gift card, and an invitation for Judy and Brad to babysit Lauren overnight...yeah, how cool is that?!?!? We also got a Griddle and few household items that were addressed to us both, but most likely excited me a bit more :) But I think our most favorite "joint" gift were pictures taken by Todd and Lori. They are truly very gifted photographer's and somehow managed to take a few candid pics of Lauren without me knowing and then had them framed and signed...I haven't taken any pictures of them yet but they will leave you breathless. Certainly a gift that we will always treasure :)


And even Baby Brownie got in on the action! He or she (although my gut tells me it's a HE!) got some newborn clothing, a couple infant toys and a baby book especially for this newest addition! It was SO surreal to see newborn clothing again and so soon! But boy, seeing those sweet little baby gowns got me super excited again!


After all of the gifts were opened, Miss Busy Body went in search of toys that she could knock over, manipulate and try to eat. So Justin, being the good daddy that he is, set up her singing stage and let her go to town!


And when the stage no longer interested her, she headed over to her activity table where she played and played and played.


After all was said and done, this little girl was pooped! See the sleepy eyes??


After a very quick power nap, we all headed over to Judy and Brad's, where we ate, drank, opened gifts and were Merry :)

Lauren had a wonderful Christmas, full of love and laughter (okay, plus some crankiness thrown in for good measure!) She got tons of toys and so, needless to say, I've spent the better part of today organizing her play room. As her daddy always says, "Who knew such a little girl could have so much stuff?" But apparently, this little Princess needs it and finds her new toys so exciting and fun (well, for today at least..hehe)!

Christmas at the Brown's

Alright, so I'm no Martha Stewart...I didn't make any of my Christmas cards this year, I have yet to bake a single Sugar cookie because I fear the house might burn down, and our tree isn't lined with that delicate popcorn garland you see on TV, but gosh darnit, the tree is up, the house is decorated and the presents have all been wrapped!! Go me!

Actually, I've had the house decorated for quite some time...since the first weekend in December I think. Heck, I even wrapped the pictures to make Piddle's very first Christmas as festive as can be!


And I even managed to send the Christmas cards out on time this year (gasp!), but I will shamefully admit that up until last night, we were sporting the whole "Natural" Christmas tree look. You see, we got our tree last week...we did our Hot Chocolate tradition, we all bundled up and searched out the perfect Douglas tree, brought it home and let in sit overnight so that the branches would fall into place. Except this year, both the Hubster and I were incredibly lazy (and tired!) and we let the tree sit nekkid in our house for almost a week before I decided to get my buns off the couch and decorate the poor thing.


It's certainly not model material but it's a tree chocked full of memories and traditions. We decided to only put up the ornaments that had special meaning this year because we worried that Miss Fancy Pants would have a field day bashing and breaking the colorful shiny ball ornaments. We also nixed the idea of sparkly garland because I knew, without a doubt, that Lauren would be fascinated with it and would end up bringing the whole tree down as she grabbed for the forbidden garland.

But all of our most cherished ornaments are up, along with a few new favorites:

This ornament is our newest and greatest ornament for 2007. It's a personalized ornament for Miss Lauren with her name on it along with "Baby's First Christmas". The picture is blurry but trust me, it's very cute; something Lauren will treasure for many years to come! Thanks Grammy!


This ornament became my favorite 2 years ago when my cousin Brooke sent this to us. Being the Photo Wizard that she is, she had a picture of us monogrammed into this glass ornament and when the light hits it, it looks amazing! Again, hard to see in this pic but it's gorgeous. Thanks again Brooke!


This ornament really isn't anything fancy but Justin and I agreed that every year, we would add an ornament to our collection...one that just "captured" us. Now I can't say it captured him, but while Miss Piddle and I were out shopping a few days ago, we wandered by the ornament isle and Lauren immediately grabbed for this. I took it as a sign and this sweet Tar-jay ornament ended up in our cart, much to Piddle's delight.


This next ornament wasn't necessarily a favorite of mine up until about 2 weeks ago when my sweet Ellie Belle passed away. So this Boston ornament serves as a reminder of her and I placed it at the top of the tree, centered, so that our "Bunnies" would have a special spot, even on our tree. And now, without a doubt, this ornament is very high up on my important list.

And the last of the handful of favorites is this handmade ornament I made at Lauren's Tiny Turtles class. My mom still has one of my handmade ornaments, and I always looked forward to seeing it during the holidays. I'm sure Piddle will get a kick out of this one one day :)


And now onto the presents...I knew that wrapping the gifts this soon was a mistake...how in the world could Miss Fancy Pants resist opening them ahead of time? But I was in the wrapping mood and ended up wrapping them all...even Santa's gifts! Yeah, I figured this was the one year where I could get away with wrapping Santa's presents ahead of time so I took advantage of it :) Anyways, I wrapped them all nicely, attaching bows and ribbons to each and everyone and then stacked them up perfectly so that the tree looked elegant and complete. The next morning, I set her loose, and the little tornado came though and demolished the gifts...including wrapping paper, bows, etc... This is what was left of the beautifully arranged gifts:


And then there are the gifts from her devoted and wonderful grandma's including Pony's, Princess sofa's, Pooh clothing, 99 books and lots more to come, I'm sure. Here are just a couple of the "grandma" gifts which Lauren has been given:


I mean, c'mon...what girls doesn't need a ride-a-long pink miniature Pony? Certainly Miss Fancy Pants does!

And a Princess sofa that concerts to a bed? A must have for the "golden child".


Spoiled????? I'll let you be the judge of that one ;)