Long overdue on a good rambling session don't ya think?

OMG I leave for a few months and Blogger goes and changes its interface and its all pretty and new and it makes me feel like I don't belong. HA!

I probably don't. 

I am sure I piss off the regular bloggers. 

But that's not what this is about now is it.

Apparently if you want to be all into FREE social networking you need to be okay with change.  Which is funny because people hate change.  And yet it seems all people are social networking.  Maybe Mark Zuckerberg is single handidly going to change that in the world.  Now that would be an interesting movie.

Can you believe my baby is 6 months old?  I am pretty sure I haven't REALLY blogged since she was an infant.  She is wayy too big.  And wayyy to sweet.  She is the kind of baby that if she was the first born you would for sure have a dozen.  You not me.  But she sure does make it tempting.

Oh but she doesn't really like to sleep.  So excuse me if I misspell words and sort of sound crazy at times through this post.  I am a bit dizzy and delirious most of the time now a days.

Worth it. 

And JD is FOUR!  How did that happen?  I am a mother of a child.  Not a baby.  Oh and speaking of that I have CHILDREN.  Not child.  Children. 

And yet I still act like teenager or 20 something most of the time.  Not with the drinking and the smoking.  But with my weirdness mostly.  And the laughing at my own jokes.  And the weirdness.

I can't wait until my kids can really appreciate their parents weirdness.  I seem to think they will totally dig it and will be laughing with US and not at us.  One can only dream.

And the reason I say "us" is because P-Daddy is just as weird and funny.  If not more so.  But don't tell him I said that because I like him to think I am the funniest and weirdest one around here.

I like to think that the two new hit shows New Girl and Up All Night are somewhat written about me and my life.  I am weird and funny like New girl (just ask me) and up all night is just my life! It just is, OKAY?! :)

So I mentioned this to some of my friends last week but think its definitely worth saying here.

I blogged a lot about how being a SAHM and how it was hard and all that jazz.

Who was I kidding?

Working mom status is the hardest.  And I will tell you why.  You work and have all of that responsibility and have to be on your A game and all professional and smart cause they don't care if you were Up All Night (see how I worked that in there...told ya) or still smell like spit up and snot...nope.  They need you at your best all the time. 

And then there is the guilt.  The mom guilt that you aren't there every waking second with your children ensuring that they know they are loved and adored and nurtured.

And then there is the pangs that you AREN'T there seeing every little amazing thing that your children do each day.

And then there is laundry, and cooking a HEALTHY dinner and trying to spend time with your husband and time for yourself and then there is your friends.  Basically you become a bad friend.  I will say it.  And then you have guilt about that.

And I don't have to get ready for work.  I am pj casual everyday.

And my mom watches our kids.

And every other week I have a cleaning service that changes my sheets and makes my home squeaky clean and beautiful.

And yet its still really hard.  Do I sound like I am complaining?

I am not.  I like my life (can't you tell?!-HA!).  I am happy with the decision to be working.

I am better when I work.

But the moms and dads out there that get up after no sleep and get themselves ready, their kids ready, drop their kids at a daycare somewhere and are at their desk by 8am.  Well, they are my new hero's.

Seriously.

Moving On...

I have officially diagnosed myself with a MILD (okay maybe moderate) case of OCD.  P-Daddy and I had the whole day to ourselves (basically) yesterday and we both decided to spend the day completely organizing our lives.  Relax cause we get no sleep..nahhh!  Lets maticulously organize the tool box in the garage (if you are wondering, no it wasn't P-Daddy-it was me), medicine cabinet, and our master bedroom closet.  Oh and don't forget loading up three large boxes of kids clothes (tear) for Goodwill. 

Or the fact that before P-Daddy and I had a little get-away I labeled all of Baby J's drawers and made the below (which is just one page of the entire binder I left for our precious babies caretakers that weekend). 

Not to mention that this month alone I have re-arranged our living room twice.  Last month-once.

Apparently OCD is currently how I am dealing with my issues.  HA!  Better that than Marlboro Ultra Lights right?!  Can I get an AMEN?

P-Daddy and I did get away recently to go and watch our great friends get hitched.  We made a long weekend out of it and spent some quality time with each other and friends.  It was awesome and much needed.

I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. 

At other people's jokes that is. 

I laugh that hard all the time at my own of course.

We have great friends. 

And that's all I got for today.

Your Love, Your Love, Your Love is my Drug

Who doesn't love K$SHA?! I mean, hello?!



P-Daddy thinks I sounds just like her when I sing "Wake up in the morning feelin like P-Diddy" as I sing that often 'round here. And when he says that I am all "I know, right?! And I look sorta like her too, right...right?" And then I say "I could have soo done her gig and totally been makin her millions...DANG!" Then he does the whole song and dance where he pretends like he's mad about it and says "thanks a lot...I wouldn't have to sell insurance if you would have just been K$SHA." And then I say the obvious..."umm my stage name would have totally been something way cooler than K$SHA" and we move on...What? You and your hubby don't have conversations like that? Daily? You should try it out sometime,its a blast. We are a blast. Just ask us.



Anyway...back to K$SHA and her fabulous tune "Your Love is my Drug." Actually P-Daddy's love drug is what I am referring to as we celebrated our 6th year of marriage on Saturday. Awww...I know, we are so cute! After we were done patting ourselves on the back for staying together and still loving each other in the mean time for 6 years (actually we have been together 9 total...but who's counting?) we celebrated this anni by going to the place where it all started. Well, sort of. We packed our pretty bags and took our pretty selves to the hotel in Indy where we had our wedding reception...that also happens to host their famous Heavenly Beds. Just in case you were wondering, they are still oh so heavenly. :) And since I haven't blogged about our recent gap in sleep...I will tell you now...it was important to have a wonderful bed to sleep all the way through a wonderful night in. Just once...at least once...in a months time.


We were classic P and M and instead of going out to a fancy meal (which we do enjoy by the way but on momentous relationship occasions history has shown that we will do a bit more comfort food than fine dining. Like the night we got engaged...Arby's pot roast sandwiches was our celebratory dinner of choice. I know this just made you want to be friends with us even more!)we ordered one of our favorite pizza's that won't deliver to us in God's Country and ate in our hotel room while watching HGTV. Oh and for those of you who know me and care, yes I sure did go to the gift shop and purchase myself some Pringles...because we all know how I feel about pizza and chips. We did a lot of laughing (at our own jokes and each others) and a lot of relaxing. It was a wonderful way to spend a day with each other in celebration of our love!


And since we were too lazy to take any pictures to mark this occasion...I will share one of my favorites of us!

Love you forever P-Daddy!

Surprise...You're 30!

I talked a while back about how P-Daddy got the lovely gift of landscaping for his (what was at the time) big upcoming birthday. Well that birthday has come and gone (tear) and I have been a little fuzzy (seriously took me longer than it should have) since the festivities to get on here and blog about all the fun we had!

Birthdays have ALWAYS been a big deal in my family. They really weren't for P-Daddy growing up so when we celebrated his first birthday together (7 years ago...cannot believe it) he was amazed and humbled at all the excitement I tried to create. It is the one day in the calendar each year that is just about YOU so I think it should be celebrated to the fullest!!

P-Daddy is also the first of all of our friends to turn the BIG 3-0 so we had to kick off our 30's with a bang right? Well...even if we didn't have to...we did! As many of you know, I am a planner so his party was in the works for MANY months (or maybe even a year!!) I will blog here about the planning as I don't want to bore those who aren't interested on the details...

This was a surprise party, and after MUCH doubt...P-Daddy was truly surprised!! I didn't get a good picture of that, but I did manage to acquire many, many others. Some flattering, some not but you know what? We had a great time! A GREAT time and a Kodak moment is a Kodak moment whether it makes us look glamorous or not, right?! I guess that's what great friends, family, Sam Adams, and Yagerbombs will lead to! :)

Happy Birthday again and again to my best friend, partner in crime, coolest daddy on earth, the true love of my life...can't wait to see what the next 30 years brings us!

Dads Day #2

In honor of P-Daddy's second fathers day I thought it would be nice and fun and fun and nice to show you a years worth of pictures of JD and his daddy! I am sure you already know this but he is the bestest father and husband we could ask for.

These pictures really do speak for themselves (which you know is hard for me because I love to talk...about everything including my pictures...but today, or yesterday rather, is about P-Daddy and so I shall be silent and let the pics do the talking).

A Tradition Unlike Any Other {15}

P-Daddy has a tradition with his really close college friends. Golf. :) No really it is golf but WAY more than that...its a weekend every year where they all meet up in Ohio and go to The Memorial PGA golf tournament, play some golf, eat too much, drink too much and have a great time! Their annual golf game against each other is over the top competitive that includes a plaque which hangs in our den of the running winners from each year AND green jackets that are passed along to the winners (like The Masters...which if you aren't a golf fanatic you won't know what I am talking about, but just know that its a big deal, especially to golf nerds like my hubby and his friends, and yes I totally mean that in the most loving way as I do love that he is a golf nerd). :)

Three of the 4 guys who attend this tradition (unlike any other)

From Left: Zuercher, Liss (who doesn't attend), Walker, P-Daddy (we are missing Shilts)...I wish guys were better about taking pictures because I don't have any from their any of the years they have done this extravaganza together!

It helps that the host of the weekend's mother is the mayor of the town in which the tournament is played though. These boys are treated very well...go to the CBS dinner where they hang out (look at) Jim Nanz, eat lunch at the course in a VIP tent and so on and so forth. This is P-Daddy's idea of a great time so we are always excited for him to go for this tradition.

On a side note, I love tradition. Wish my girls had one or rather had kept one. But women are so bad about this I have discovered (I am including myself in this). Its our maternal crap I guess. And I only call it crap on a day like today, where I have spent the last 56 hours (whos counting) alone (mostly) with my son (whom I love dearly) but girlfriend is TIRED and is ready for a spa weekend somewhere soon. Very soon. :) Because I am a spa nerd.

Back to P-Daddy. He came home all cute and tan and well fed and well dranked and happy. To say that JD and I missed him sooooooooo much would be an understatement. We love ourselves some P-Daddy! Last night around bed time I REALLY noticed that JD was extra cuddly, extra sad, extra extra everything really. Daddy was gone and I think he really started to wonder what was going on. I, of course loved the snuggle part, because THAT is a rarity around these parts, but it made me sad too.

I was all "awww...daddy is golfing with his friends and he loves you and misses you and will be home tomorrow." And JD was all "dadda, dadda, dadda" and then he ran to the gate where he greets daddy every day...and then when he realized dadda wasn't coming through the door, he ran back to me and snuggled. So cute! When Daddy DID come back today he was soooo excited!! There was no cold shoulder, just hugs around these parts!

So I want to send a thank you to Walker, Zuercher, and Shilts for providing P-Daddy the outlet to be able to have such a weekend with such great friends!! :) We don't tell you enough what great friends you are!

Curb Appeal {20}

Today, P-Daddy got his early birthday present (I won't tell you what bday it is...not yet at least)...our home was LANDSCAPED! We have had a "work in progress" landscape thing going on since we moved in THREE YEARS AGO! P-Daddy and I both like things to be done, finito, complete (lets be honest here, perfect)...so as you can imagine this has been driving us crazy.

We have done little things here and there but we are by no means landscape architects so it kind of looked like amateurs had done it. Fortunately, because of my past life we have a hook up with a professional who does an EXCELLENT job for what I consider a very reasonable price!

We hired our main man a while ago but we couldn't get on his schedule until now. So water we will because planting new plants and transplanting existing ones in 85 degree heat isn't always the best thing. But we have proven that WE CAN keep things alive. :)

This is one of our little things...and it is those little things in life that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)

Before (or during rather)...

The crew

And After...

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Not that this will be the only time I say this on this here blog but HAPPY BIRTHDAY P-DADDY!

February Fun Fotos!

February is normally the month in the winter that I dread. I know, I know its the shortest month of the year BUT it always feels like the longest. It typically brings lots of snow, short days (meaning it is dark when you wake up and dark by the time P-Daddy gets home), and bitter cold temperatures. February is the reason I wanted to join a gym last fall...one with "daycare" so that JD and I could get out of the house on those days where we would have normally been all cooped up! February is the reason that I started a play group last fall. So, as you can tell I don't like winter...and February is the "spokesmonth" of winter in my eyes.

That whole paragraph was depressing, so I will cheer you up with this next one. This February we were freaking busy!! I don't know why but it just literally FLEW by...and I don't even think we had much snow to speak of! I didn't really even blog that much because we were so busy. We had the norms, like the gym and play group to attend, but we didn't stop there.

Here is some highlights of our FUN FEBRUARY! We hope every year is as great as this one! We also hope your February flew by as fast as ours did! March is here and we are crossing our fingers that means more nice weather and days we can at least walk outside!!


We traveled to Ohio to play with our friend Max...

Max: "JD this is the "baby Nelson hold"...I will teach you in a minute!"

Mommy and Daddy had a fun night out with friends (and our camera died so we only got one picture, which is the below but SAD that we didn't get one together, in a bar, without baby and having adult beverages...P-Daddy was there and having a blast, he took this picture!)

L to R: Aimee, Godmom, JBU, me

We went to the Children's Museum with Addy, Lilly and Mallory...

L to R: Mallory, JD, Addy, Lilly

Addy: "I think I am going to take a fist full of this stuff and eat it up"

JD: "Addy I tried it and I promise its not good, but it is kind of fun to put in your mouth so go for it"

Dad needs to learn a few tricks from me...TWO lawnmowers! This is awesome!

I couldn't resist...look at how he is holding them? HA! He is all boy for sure...just one holding baby dolls (or swinging them around) :)

We got JD's haircut (again...and it already needs cut AGAIN)...

This...AGAIN?? C'mon mom and dad, seriously??

Combs are fun to chew on...we should look into some for my toy box okay?? :)

And last but not least...we met our friend Leo for the first time!

L to R: Anne with Baby Leo, Me with JD

We are so excited for the what blessings March will bring us! We already know one...GranBeck is COMING!! She will be here for a WHOLE month beginning this Friday and we are sooo excited! Happy Spring!

A Small Glimpse Into Our Reality...

If you have an account with Facebook you know that there has been a ridiculous amount of "lists" going around. Everything from "Top 25 things about yourself" to "All About Your First Born" (I have to admit I did that one), to "My kids are napping and I am bored." Its insane and somewhat ridiculous (not ridiculous enough for me to stop reading everyones though). I decided to go ahead and boycot Facebook and do my own "list" on here! I did get this specific list from Facebook though...just not going to do it on there. :) If you are a frequenter of Dooce (my favorite blog of all time), she did this too...so I am sort of copying her (because in many ways I aspire to be my own version of her because I think she is so freaking fabulous). :)





I don't talk enough about P-Daddy (and how awesome he is in so many ways) so this is dedicated to him and us. :)





What are your middle names?
P-Daddy's is Hubbard (I love his middle name, it runs in his family and we will be using it on baby #2 and before you ask, no we are not trying or even thinking about going there yet!)
Me-Louise





How long have you been together?
Together since Fall of 2001, Married for 4 1/2 years. The Big 5 coming up in September!!





How long had you known each other before you started dating?
Since Fall of 1998 (freshmen year of college)...but we really became closer friends junior year of college because we took a lot of the same classes and we studied together a lot (real studying people, like the kind where you make flashcards for memorization and you are in the university's library) :)





Who asked whom out?
Technically P-Daddy asked me out (to his fraternity formal) because our fake anniversary (meaning the one we celebrated each year until we were actually married) was in November because that is when we said we officially started dating. Although we had already been hanging out a lot but in the form of friends to that point!





How old are each of you?
P-Daddy is 29 (turning the BIG 3-0 very soon!) and I am still the young, ripe age of 28.





Whose siblings do you see the most?
Well as many of you know we see Uncle Badgeman quite a bit. He is P-Daddy's older brother. We see Uncle VP the second most, who is my younger (and only) brother.





What situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
P-Daddy says "his gas" HA...it is pretty bad and there are days where I wish he would quit with it already... but since we are giving you that "glimpse" into our lives I only think its fair to be honest. I think its finding balance that is the hardest on us. Finding balance in our parenting duties, in our "dating" lives (because yes you still date once you are married), in our (ahem) sexual lives, with religion, P-Daddy with work, me with keeping everything clean around these parts and much more. It can be tough and there are weeks where we literally have no balance at all and we are completely out of sync with each other. Those are hard...and I wish I could share that the weeks where we have some balance that it feels perfect and all is right in the world. But I don't know that there will ever be 100% balance with all of that. It's a matter of enjoying the balance bliss when we do have it (even with the small things) and learning from our mistakes along the way.





Did you go to the same school?
College, yes...Butler University. P-Daddy went to what we shall call "Bomber" High School and I went to DHS is the best! :)





Are you from the same Hometown?
P-Daddy is from Northern Indiana and I am from Central Illinois.





Who is smarter?
P-Daddy is definitely booksmart and he is smarter than me in many ways. It also needs to be noted that he graduated BU with honors, so yes he is a smarty pants! The only thing I really have on him is a RIDICULOUS memory, which I guess makes me smart on some level. :) We are both very driven people though.





Who is the most sensitive?
Me, hands down. But I am not going to downplay P-Daddy's sensitivity! He is a sensitive guy for sure...but I think this question is somewhat dumb because aren't all women in relationships more sensitive than their hubby's?





Where do you eat out most as a couple?
This is normally a phase thing for us but right now it is a local place called Stonecreek. We love dining in or doing carry out! It is FABULOUS food!





Where is the furthest you have traveled as a couple?
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic...ahh memories. Although we have been to Puerto Vallarta twice and I think technically that may be farther. Again...with the smartness not so great with Geography!





Who has the craziest exes?
Its a toss up...but overall exes haven't been a huge problem for us.





Who has the worst temper?
I am one of those people that in many situations am level headed and can talk through a disagreement. I did say MANY situations right? Not all...cause I also can get really mad and yell and scream. I don't normally regret what I say during these moments, but how I said them because it definitely gets lost in translation as I am spitting fire out of my mouth as I am trying to get my point across. So to answer the question, me. P-Daddy is really not hot headed at all. Only when the fire coming out of my mouth (occasionally) grazes him does he have a temper and I don't hold that against him. By the way...I am working on it! :)

Who does the cooking?
Mostly me but it hasn't always been that way. We both enjoy cooking a lot (the Food Network is a staple in this household). While prego P-Daddy cooked literally every night for us. That was amazing! Now that I stay at home I cook almost every night and he does the dishes! I think thats a fabulous trade off! :) I also LOVE desserts (this was realized while prego) and enjoy cooking new and fun sweet treats for us and friends all the time!





Who is the neat freak?
P-Daddy and I both are neat freaks in our own way. His version of "clean" goes like this...the house is picked up and appears clean. His apartments were always "clean." Except the countertops were rarely wiped down (in the kitchen or the baths) and the floors were rarely swept. But for a guys apartment...it was clean. My version of "clean" takes about 4 hours and consists of some serious elbow grease and spotless everything. So all in all, you can normally lick the floors around here and be safe and sound...while also enjoying that everything has its own place and is organized. I think we are two peas in a pod when it comes to cleanliness! :)





Who is more stubborn?
Me. No need for explanation...you heard about my temper above, that should explain it. :)





Who hogs the bed?
Neither of us. We have a lovely king size bed and we each have our sides that we stick to on most nights. Sometimes when I am scared I will hog his side and make sure at least one limb is touching him just in case the boogeyman trys to get me. :)





Who wakes up earlier?
Me for the most part but that is mostly because my internal clock is set to when Mr. JD wakes up and I am up and atem before I even hear a peep from him. P-Daddy is right behind me though! I must mention though that having JD has made me a morning person. Prior to him I was a sloth in the morning and work was always lucky to have me show up with an ounce of makeup or my hair dry. It was also best not to talk to me until I had fully woken either as I was one grumpy mess. P-Daddy was pleasent in the mornings and excited to start a new day...now we are opposites! I am sure this will switch again at some point in the marriage as I can't imagine always loving the mornings like I do now...but I am enjoying it while it lasts! :)





Where was your first date?
O'Charleys on good old 38th street. Our fabulous (not really) dog Charlie was named after that lovely occasion. :)





Who is more jealous?
Neither of us are really jealous people. We are both jealous probably the normal amount.





How long did it take to get serious?
Not long, but keep in mind we were friends first and we already knew every basic thing about each other. P-Daddy said the "L" word at Thanksgiving and knocked me off my feet! I wasn't expecting that from him at all! :) I of course had already fallen head over heels but was NOT (there is the stubborness) going to say it first! :)





Who eats more?
P-Daddy...but I can be guilty of trying to eat just like him at times. Again, we both love food so what we are having for our next meal is a staple conversation in our relationship.



Who does the laundry?
Me. Again though...this changed once I chose to stay at home. P-Daddy used to do his laundry and I used to do mine prior to JD.

Who's better with the computer?

Me. Only because in my former life I somehow became in charge of setting up the sales staff's computers so I spent COUNTLESS hours on the phone with IT and picked up a few tricks here and there!

Who drives when you are together?
Its split really. P-Daddy tends to drive on dates and to church and I tend to drive everywhere else we go!

***Noticed the CH-CH-CH-CHANGES on our blog? Missing the "Blogs We Frequent" area? I thought I should mention the additions and deletions we have made. Nothing big but we did think that the left side of Rhyme and Reason was getting a wee bit too busy so we moved our "blog list" to our profile area. If you are missing it because you too stalk some of the same blogs we do, just click on "view my complete profile" and all the blogs we stalk are listed there! Also we added an email address just in case you would rather email us than post a comment! Its also found in the "view my complete profile" area.

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Daddy with one of his gifts

P-Daddy turned the big 29 yesterday! YEY! We spent the day as a family giving Dad his presents, going to the pool and playing. Then, Grandma Principal came over and Mommy and Daddy got to go out on a DATE! That was exciting! And we managed to have adult conversation that only consisted of talking about JD for 5 minutes. :) Its harder to do than one might think so we were proud of ourselves!

Daddy and JD enjoying some pool time.

Daddys favorite gift (and it camed stocked with his favorite beverages)!

Uncle Badgeman and R came over to help Grandma Principal babysit JD and stayed for some Happy Birthday ice cream cake! It was fun to visit with family over Daddys Birthday!

Make a wish Dad!

Our Ode to Dad on his 29th birthday is that we love him for all that he is and who he aspires to be! P-Daddy is a wonderful husband, best friend and father. His jokes are hysterical, his laugh is contagious, and his heart is always in the right place. I love you P-Daddy (JD says "I love you daddy"). Happy Birthday!