Jerry Maguire Kid

Kiddos Having Fun

Family dinner was at Jamie and Kaylee's last night. As usual, Mallory couldn't get enough of her cousin. She was Kaylee's little shadow, which was a nice break for me. They were rolling around on the floor in a bunch of blankets and pillows while watching Mrs. Doubtfire. Just a couple of kiddos having fun as us parents sat back, entertained by their merriment. 

Who Wore It Better?

I'm jealous of my husband. I want Mallory to look like a mini-ME, not a mini-HIM. Don't get me wrong I think my daughter is adorable, but I truly look forward to the day that she looks a little bit more like me. You know, so when people see us together they say, "She looks just like you!" I could probably hand Mallory over to any blonde hair, blue-eyed girl and she would look more like my daughter's mom than I do. I know that she'll transform eventually, so until then I'll make her my twin by coordinating our outfits. Who wore it better?

Sunday Breakfast Out

Since we were able to make it to the 4:30pm service at church last night, we got to do something today that we haven't done in a long, long time: Sunday breakfast out so early in the morning that we stayed in our pj's. And because there was hardly anyone in the restaurant, Mallory got to run around (literally) until breakfast was served. Early birds definitely do get some good perks.

 

(please excuse all the boogers)

Crabby Monster

Mallory had her 15 month check up this morning and she is one healthy, little girl. She's 25.6 lbs. (90th percentile) and 31.75 in. (80th percentile); still my short and stout teapot.

Aunt Jamie bought Mallory a t-shirt from Seattle that has a crab on it and says, "I'm a little crabby!" How fitting that after I put her in it this morning, she was cranky and whiny as we were getting ready to go to the doctor's. And then once the shots came, she was WAY crabby. Love my little crabby monster.

Paper Snow

Mallory very much enjoys tearing paper, especially tissue-like paper. She turns it into paper snow within seconds, scattering it everywhere and leaving trails of where she's been.

Breezy Sundays

Neat and Orderly

I love organizing. So much so that I will organize and reorganize an area over and over and it really never gets old to me. Instead, with each reorganization that I do, I find it a challenge to myself to see if I can come up with a more efficient way. If I had endless money, I would go nuts with creating custom closets and cabinets all over the house and garage. Neat and orderly makes me oh so pleased. But even on a budget and with a little creativity you can still be organized.

I’ve found that the biggest step to getting your surroundings in order is to purge; you have to get rid of stuff that you don’t or will not use. My rule: if I haven’t used it in a year, out it goes. Most people have a hard time letting things go, I have a hard time keeping things. During the time that I had off at the end of last year, I made it my mission to completely reorganize the spare bedroom. It was too easily becoming the catchall for the items I either didn't have time to put away or didn't know where to put. No longer does it look that way. And the best part is that I didn't have to spend a penny to reorganize it because I was able to re-purpose storage solutions that I already had. I was very happy. 

So the other day when I came across a post on products to get you organized in 2012, I audibly let out an excited “ooooooh” and got myself ready to learn some new tricks. Most times the products shown are too expensive for me to go out and purchase, but it can still give me ideas on how to go about organizing. Sometimes even looking at photos of organized spaces can stimulate concepts that you might not have thought of trying before. A few of my favorite products featured in the blog post that I am tucking in my back pocket for future use are: the wall calendar from PB Teen (you could actually make something similar for much cheaper by using chalkboard paint), the pan organizer from Rubbermaid (uh, hello it's less than $8), and the household organizer from Lilypad (I can totally see this helping as Mallory gets older).

Tagged

Though I’ve been blogging now for over a year, I still consider myself to be at a novice level when it comes to knowing all of the cool tricks and features that blogging entails. If I had more time to devote to it I would love to learn all of those fun details; in time. So because I’m a little behind the knowledge curve, I just happened to come across my friend Gina’s post about being tagged and realized as I was reading it that I too was being tagged. How fun! Who doesn’t love to play games?! So here is how it works:

The Rules:
1.  You must post the rules.
2.  Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3.  Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 5 new questions for the people you tagged.
4.  Tag 5 people and link them on your post. Don’t forget to let them know you've tagged them!

12 Fun Facts About Me:
1.  I was never afraid to enter my 30’s and look forward to celebrating 31 this year. Each year has progressively become better so who cares about the number.
2.  I did track in high school and hated running. Over the past 10 years I have not only grown to love it, I can’t live without it.
3.  Our dining room table has never been used for what its true purpose is. Instead we eat standing up at the kitchen counter. It used to bother me but I’ve come to realize that it allows me to multi-task and that makes me okay with it.
4.  My husband makes me laugh more than anyone I’ve ever known. It’s awesome.
5.  I am a firm believer that God never gives us more than we can handle. It can sure be hard during those stormy times, but it’s amazing how strong we are if we just have faith.
6.  I would love to write a book one day. I don’t necessarily want it to be published; I just want to write one.
7.  I can't live without chapstick. Not the brand Chapstick®, just chapstick in general. The longest I’ve gone without it was a day and I thought my lips were going to fall off.
8.  I haven’t traveled to many places but by far my favorite place to go is New York. If I had my way, we would live there.
9.  I have a hard time chewing gum. Having the same flavor in my mouth for a long time makes me literally sick to my stomach. The same goes for cough drops.
10.  I had such an awful experience with pancakes as a kid that I will only eat ones that we cook at home. And even then I sometimes have trouble eating them.
11.  I play Solitaire on my old cell phone every night in bed before falling asleep. It’s the only reason I keep that cell phone around.
12.  I was thisclose to becoming a flight attendant with Southwest. I was hired and waiting for my training schedule when I received my acceptance letter to Sac State and decided to go back to school instead.

My Answers to Gina’s Questions:
1.  How did you meet the person who tagged you?
Gina and I went to high school together. Through the power of the Internet, we reconnected on Facebook and then became bloggers around the same time. I enjoy staying up to speed on her family and simply adore that little boy of hers!
2.  Favorite high school memory?
It's hard to remember the one that tops the rest so I'll put one that is at least in the Top Ten. Sophmore year in Mr. Sanchez's class, studying for each week's vocabulary tests. Guy, Lindsey, and I would play sharades in order to remember the words and their meanings. We had so much fun with it and to this day I will never forget what 'blasphamy' means.
3.  Favorite season?
Fall. I love the colors, the cooler weather, the fashion styles, the approaching holidays. And I especially love that it means Summer is over because I despise Summer. If I could redo our wedding, I would have picked a date during the Fall.
4.  Favorite reality show?
I would have to say that it's a toss-up between Top Chef and Project Runway. I enjoy watching both of them equally. I also really like Giuliana & Bill. I think they are such a loveable couple and I truly feel so bad for the struggles that she has been faced with.
5.  Favorite baby name (girl and boy)?
I have a lot that I like, but only a handful have made it to the "Baby Names" list that I keep on our computer. One of my favorites for a girl is Genevive, and Greyson for a boy.

Tagged Blogs:
1.  Positive Polly Posts
2.  A Crazy Beautiful
3.  Ted and Kim’s Blog
4.  The Hiscott's Journal
5.  Bluestocking

Questions for Those I’ve Tagged:
1.  What is one of your most beloved childhood memories?
2.  When was the last time you tried something new and how did it play out?
3.  What can you do today that you were not capable of a year ago?
4.  What is one thing you have not done yet that you really want to do?
5.  Which one of your responsibilities do you wish you could get rid of?

15 Months

Today marks 15 months for Miss Mallory, and boy has this little girl grown since just her one year birthday. Not so much physically (other than more hair filling in), but mentally she is learning and figuring things out so much quicker now. Every day it's something new. Whether it be a word/phrase that she says or an action that she does; it's already time for us to start watching what we say and do around this little monster. Here are some of the developments that have occurred over the past few months:

• She is a talking fool. Talks to us, talks to herself, talks to the TV, talks to the pets, talks to other people's pets, talks to her dollies/toys; talks, talks, talks. However, she becomes silent as soon as a stranger or someone she hasn't seen in awhile comes close. Then she freezes as though she's pretending to be a statue. When that person is a safe distance away again, she's back to talking and it's usually saying "bye, bye" to them.
• She is starting to understand you when you ask a question and she recognizes key words very well. It's so nice to get a "yeah" or a "no" answer from her when I'm trying to figure out what she wants. I've even been able to use my multiple-question-tactic to calm her down faster when she starts to throw a tantrum. It doesn't work all the time, but I still try every time now. 
• Speaking of tantrums, she's very good at throwing them. That tint of red in her hair is there for a reason. And she doesn't just scream and cry; she gets violent and if you're standing too close, watch out. I can't even tell you how many "Incident Reports" we've had to sign when picking her up from school. I'm almost afraid that if she gets too many they'll kick her out and we'll be known as "that family."
• She's a total mommy's girl. If she knows I'm around, she's my little shadow. It's cute and I love the attention, but there are times when it's not so cute. I've gotten pretty good at dancing around her when I'm in the middle of doing things and she's right at my heels, but every now and then I'll bump her with my leg and down she goes. She's a trooper and gets right back up, but whines out loud to let me know her patience is wearing thin and I better start paying attention to her soon. My favorite mommy-daughter time is rocking her to sleep at night; I soak it up with a big fat smile on my face.
• She has a love-hate relationship with Leo, or "Yo" as she calls him. She loves to play with him and cuddle with him, but she also loves to taunt him and push/hit him. They both get incredibly jealous of each other when we're giving one attention and not the other. I can imagine that if we have another child, Mallory would act the way she does with Leo to her sibling. We're teaching her to be more gentle, but it's not totally sinking in yet.
• With her personality becoming more strong and unique to her, Mallory has picked up a couple of new nicknames: love bug and monster. While they are names that you would see on opposite ends of a spectrum, they totally fit Mallory to a T. As Jody best put it, she is a child of extremes and you will always be able to tell what emotion she is feeling at that moment; heart on her sleeve kind of kid.
• While she started out as a garbage disposal eating anything and everything, she is now much more picky. And not only is she picky about what she eats, she changes her mind about what she likes/dislikes constantly. She totally likes something one day and if you give it to her again a couple days later, she might not like it. Sometimes I end up making three or four different dinners just to figure out one that she'll eat. I know that eventually she'll need to learn to eat what I give her the first time, but right now I'm more focused on getting food in her tummy. Her go-to meal if other options aren't working are Dino Nuggets and PB&J. Foods that I'm surprised she doesn't care for: McDonald's cheeseburgers, Oreo cookies, Cinnamon graham crackers (but she likes the regular kind), mashed potatoes (even if we loaded them up with butter or cheese), strawberries, and cheese quesadillas. Items she can't get enough of: bananas, yogurt (especially the Greek yogurt), apples, Cheerios, and scrambled eggs.
• She loves music and she loves to shake her booty. Her favorite "band" is the Fresh Beat Band and if the tour coming to Stockton next month wasn't absurdly overpriced, I would totally take her (and I'd be the mom dancing right along with her). She knows some of the lyrics and does little gestures for "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and Row, Row, Row Your Boat." At my mom's house last weekend we shared a room, and at 5:00am she woke up and started singing "Row, Row, Row..." to herself. I had to try hard not to laugh out loud, it was so cute. 
• While she shows signs of being totally girly (loves to carry her purse around, is gentle with her dollies, is very dramatic), she also is such a tomboy. Lately she's obsessed with diving and free-falling into piles of pillows or blankets or stuffies. It's all fun and games unless she does it and almost falls off the bed or couch. And her red chair is now either a tool to step up onto higher things, or a trampoline for her to jump on. No black eyes yet.
• I'm sure she's not the only kid who is fascinated with herself, but it's so funny how vain Mallory can be when she's watching herself in the mirror. Right before I put her in the bathtub I'll stand her on the toilet so she can see herself. She'll stand there and just act like she's the cutest thing she's ever seen; flirting and laughing at the baby staring back at her. Hilarious. I also saw her kissing herself in her closet mirror. And if she sees anyone at the computer, she wants to sit on your lap and watch videos and look at pictures of herself. Nothing else, just her. What a ham she is.

Jumping

Making a mess at Mamaw's house

Rolls are slowly disappearing :(

Taking over Papa's computer

Bananas aka "bambis"

In Dad's Shoes

Yogurt Moustache

Even up-and-coming rock stars can sport a yogurt moustache and get away with it. Maybe the got milk?® campaign would like to see these pictures.

Big, Little Girl

Mallory is LOVING the climber house that auntie Sasha gifted her. She explores every little area with a curiosity that only children have; peeking her head and arms through the holes, opening and closing the door, making sure to bend down when walking in as not to bump her head, lifting her leg up to the deck to get to the slide (she still needs a boost up though), holding on to the top and jumping up and down with excitement, pulling herself down the slide. Such a big, little girl we have now; she makes me smile a million times a day, I swear.