Sleeping Beauty

She is too precious!

Taydem is growing and learning every day. She's so dang cute!

Here are some of her new things:

~ She loves to get her ownself dressed, which amazes me! She's very independent! I will start putting her panites on and she'll say "I do it momma!"

~One day after church I took off her church clothes and told her to go put some play clothes on. I got busy and completely forgot about it. She comes running out of her room with a pair of sweat pants on and a shirt! She even matched! And she put her shirt on. That's the hardest thing ever to do!

~I've said this before, but the girl loves to sing. Every day in the car she'll sing for me. And she always starts off by saying "Momma!" She waits until I look at her before she starts.

~She's talking more and more, but it's still so hard to make out what she's saying. We try not to laugh, but sometimes she's so serious and it all just comes out jibberish!

~She loves to do whatever I'm doing. If I'm eating chips and salsa, she's going to have chips and salsa. If I'm folding clothes, she's going to fold the clothes. If I'm loading/unloading the dishwasher she's right there beside me. (just watch out for the knives!) Yesterday I was putting her sheets back on the bed and she was at one corner trying to tuck it under the bed!

~She adores her daddy and goes crazy when he gets home and walks through the door! Because now IT's PLAY TIME! Daddy and Taydem also feed the fish together. It's "their" thing!

~She also is asking where her Bubba is constantly. A lot of the weekends Trever will go stay with his Momma. Taydem doesn't understand this yet! She thinks I'm his Momma! And always looks so puzzled when I tell her where he is!

~She loves to GO GO GO! We will walk in the door and she's ready to go again. She also loves Trever's baseball games. We have to watch her like a hawk b/c she won't stay still for a second.

~Let's see....she wants to wear a dress all the time!

~She's finally in a size 6 SHOE!!!

~She's not much of a TV kind of girl. She was into watching Elmo, Dora and Barney there for awhile but doesn't care for them much anymore. She would rather run around the house, play with her babies, play chase with Trever, or READ her books!

~Her favorite foods/drinks: Cinnamon donuts, MILK, any type of cereal, bananas, chicken, orange juice, CHEESE, chips, strawberries, DR. Pepper (that's the bad one!), cheeseburgers, ketchup (loves to dip anything), anything Italian, Mexican food, hot dogs, any type of BEAN, rice, Chocolate, apples, WATER, and BEEF!

~ She wants me to paint her toes and finger nails ALL the time!

~She won't ever take her shoes off. She's so afraid we are going to leave without her!

~She can't get enough of her "Aunt Dain!" And lover her Nana and Papa!

~She loves giving KISSES!! And this is all the time! We will be in a conversation with anyone and she will run up to us ready to pucker! She's too sweet!

~She's very active and her eye hand cordination is very very good! She'll make a good athlete one day! And I might add, she's tough!

"Here goes my allergies again!"

Yesterday when we came home from work the weather was to die for! So we figured we would work in our yard until dark! We finally bought ourselves a riding lawnmower and Leven was more excited than I thought he would be. We also bought a "sweeper" that you pull behind your lawnmower that picks up grass, leaves, pine needles etc. My dad has one and while living at the lake house Leven loved that thing. So while Leven was out in the back yard "sweeping" up piles and piles of leaves and pine straw, I was in the house sweeping myself! I also cleaned all the ashes out of the fireplace and vacummed it out! Looked like new! After he was finished piling up everything, I went out back and helped him bag it all up. First we filled the back of his truck up until we couldn't get anymore in there. Then we filled 15 trashbags full of leaves and straw!! 15! He then fertilized the back yard and I cleaned out all the straw in our flowerbeds. We worked until almost 8! Wore us out! Here is a picture of the sweeper if you are interested! Best buy EVER!

Fire in March

Friday night we headed out to my parents farm and burned the last brush pile before it gets to warm. We knew the cold front was blowing in on Saturday so we thought Friday night would be a perfect night. We cooked hot dogs, at chips and dips and enjoyed everyone's company.

Taydem-Check out the face! She loves her some bean dip!

Ashby and I

Saturday night we headed up to Leon's Steakhouse for a "decade" reunion gathering for Tatum High School classes 1990-1999! There were only about 10 of my classmates that came out, but overall we had a good time seeing everyone.

On Sunday my niece, Austyn, got dedicated at church. We ALL grubbed up afterwards to celebrate the dedication and Darin's 32nd birthday!!

I've been doing push ups at night and every time I get on the floor Taydem joins me. The first time I started doing them I looked over at Taydem and busted out laughing. She was doing push ups too, or so she thought she was doing them. Check out the video below. This is her version of "push ups!"

I've decided to get Taydem evaluated on her speech. I've heard all different reasons not to and reasons why I should. She had tubes put in her ears when she was 14 months and the doctor told me then that she would behind on talking. So after she turned 2 I asked the doctor again about it. He said that usually babies with tubes are about 6 months behind other kids their age. He said at 2 1/2 if you are still worried about it, call and have her evaluated. It's a free charge and they actually come out to your house. If they feel that she needs some help they will work with her until she's 3. Once she's 3 they will then decide if she needs further attention and will place her with a speech therapist either at a school district or she will have a private therapist. So this afternoon we will have her first screening. I'm anxious to see what they say. She is talking more and more, but we just can't make out what she's saying. Believe me when I say this, she knows what she's saying and gets frustrated when we don't understand her. I got her to sing for me last night and recorded it. She LOVES to sing! When she sings her ABC's you will be able to hear her speech. She's so sweet! Listen close for the "W!" So funny!

I wish I was a teacher...............

I haven't missed being a teacher all that much. I love where I'm working now, but this time of the year I wish I was a teacher! Spring Break was always a serious "break" from all those crazy kids in high school. It was just a time to relax and catch up on cleaning, shopping, visiting family/friends etc. Now I get to go to work every day and watch Leven sleep in! Sucks, bad! Today he's headed to Mexia to "catch up" and Trever is going to visit his mom/brother/sister! Tonight I get to go to Shreveport though and do a little shopping with Mom and Molly. I have really enjoyed all this extra money from coaching and selling Southern Living products. I have done a lot of shopping these past two weeks. Eventually it is going to run out on me! So I better enjoy it while I can.

Taydem is talking more and more and more. She absolutely loves to sing! It's so funny. I mean she will start singing a song and I will look at her and she's got her eyes closed and her head tilted to the side. She is all into her songs! Now if I can understand what she's saying!

Trever is doing so well this season in baseball. I think he's only stuck out three times since their first game. He's really hitting the ball this year. I really think by next year he will be even bigger and better!

I have only one more volleyball tournament left. It has really gone by fast and I've really enjoyed it. I have the best kids and PARENTS ever!

Miranda ROCKS!

I love this lady! She's an incrediable song writer and I love who she is! This song really is my all time favorite though. I can relate to this song b/c my mom and dad built the house I grew up in and they are still in it as we speak. Between us 4 kids and my family all around us, we made tons of memories in the Anthony house. Memories that will always be remembered, always.

Watch the You Tube videos above this blog post! Kelly Clarkson sings it awesome too.

Precious

Taydem has been dying to wear this dress since I bought it for her. So I figured today would be a more warmer day. She is too funny and is ALL girl!!!!!!

Dress ShoPPing!

Wedding dress shopping is so much fun!!! Saturday morning Danin, Brandi, Tay and I headed to Tyler to start looking for a wedding dress. My mom was in Houston so we thought we would just try and get an idea on what Danin was looking for. We found two really really pretty ones and of course she fell in love with them both. Today after work we are going to head back to Tyler this time with my mom and try on some more!

After we looked at the dresses on Saturday we went to the mall and bought a few more things we thought we had to have. The we drove all the way to Carthage to watch Trever play in the championship game in a tournament they were in. And they WON! Trever's been playing catcher and doing a heck of a job back behind the plate! After the game we went to a jewerly party at our friend's house in Tatum. We were slap worn out after we left the party! Needless to say, I was asleep before 10:00 that night! ZZZzzzzZZzzzZZZzzzzzzz

Dreams

I think about dreams often. What do they mean? Do you dream in color? Do they make you cry, real tears? Do they tell you something? Are they a sign of the future? I dream A LOT! Usually every night. And almost every dream, I will remember it. The past few weeks Taydem has been waking up screaming around the same time every night. It scares me to death every time I hear her. Last night when I went into her room she was trying to get the stuffed lion out of her rocking chair. She was mad at it! It took me awhile to wake her up. Once she was awake, she was even more scared. I had to lay with her until she fell back to sleep. But I think it's so crazy, b/c I can remember her having dreams as a little baby. She would jump and make faces when she slept. I wonder at that age what on earth could they be dreaming about??

"Pay attention to your dreams - God's angels often speak directly to our hearts when we are asleep."

Goin to the chapel......

A huge shout out goes to my little sister Danin! She got engaged last Friday and I don't think she's stop smiling since then! She's so happy and we are thrilled for her. Eric is a wonderful man and I can't wait to see them married! So now the wedding planning begins.

She's really different than me when it comes to stuff like this. I really could've cared less if I had a wedding and all the hoop-la that goes along with it. But she wants it all and already has most of it figured out! I guess I am wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to laid back. I was the same way when we were building our home. And according to Danin, I'm the same way with Taydem. Who cares if she has a bow in her hair or not!!

Taydem may be different than me too. Last night I was going to let her hair dry by itself, but she threw a fit. She wanted me to blow dry it. Oh goodness! And she thinks she has to have a bow in her hair all the time! She also walks around the house with her tutus on and her high heels. This is an every night thing for her. Funny!

So congrats again to my sister! We haven't had anyone in the family have a wedding since ME, I think! So it's time for a family reunion this summer!!