Hey everybody!! In case you were wondering, we're all still here!

Time to get caught up, as once again I've been slacking!
We've had a lot going on the last couple of weeks, and though my blog is ALWAYS on my mind, it just doesn't always get the attention it deserves. I suppose I must take care of my children, instead of my blog, though they may both say that I neglect them as well!

First of all...have you noticed my cute "family" at the bottom of my blog?
Go ahead.
Scroll down.
I'll wait for you to get back.
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Isn't it so cute! I put it on there a couple months ago and have kept forgetting to bring attention to it. I just love how I look in that bikini! If only I was seriously a stick figurine like I look in that bikini...Oh, those were the days!

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We surprised Harrison and took him to Monster Jam last Saturday night. Disclaimer: He totally did not deserve to go as he had a less than pleasing attitude with his Mommy {perhaps Mommy needed her happy pills :) } and had I not already spent the money, and had I not wanted to surprise him (because he really has taken the last 9 months of being a big brother after being "IT" for 6 1/2 years totally in stride with few complaints or wanting to send her back) and if I weren't just a total pushover who loves her little boy....then I probably would have scrapped the whole idea!

But I didn't, and we even went early because I'd gotten pit passes (note to self not to do that again!) Shoot me if I ever wait in line 2 hours to touch "Grave Digger" or to get the drivers autograph. No thank you. Aaron reminded me that some people are seriously into this. Not I. I mean, seriously- a 50 year old man had a driver sign his sweatshirt. Isn't that something I would've done with New Kids on the Block in the 6th grade???

As for me, someone forgot to tell me what shoes to wear. I was the ONLY person in the entire stadium with any sort of heel. It seems tennis shoes or work boots are the proper attire for such an event. Next year I will know. I figured that this was as close to a night on the town I was gonna get for a while, so I should at least look nice. Anyway, it was fun. Lucas Oil Stadium is really nice and I'd love to go for a game sometime~ that would totally rock! I don't envision that in my future either.

We went to eat at the old Union Station in the Holiday Inn because it was closest and Aaron didn't take a coat (smart one). We thought we were in for a nice quiet meal until a hockey team of 7 and 8 year old boys came into the restaurant. Let me tell you....Harrison is an angel compared to those children. There were bottles flying through the air (plastic bottles) and the smallest of the bunch repeatedly said "Sam likes big butts and he don't know why". The most amusing part of it was that the parents allowed all the wild animals, I mean boys, to sit at the same table and the parents at separate tables. I was just amazed at the way the parents let the wild animals, I mean boys, act. Once again let me say that in comparison, Harrison is an angel, and I am a strong disciplinarian.

Harrison loved all the big trucks, but says his favorite part was when the demolition derby cars raced. Fortunately no one was injured as has been the case elsewhere (fatalities) and we were smart enough (and cheap enough) to sit in the nosebleed section, which in Lucas Oil, still provided an awesome seat! Also cool was the motocross dirtbike drivers doing stunts (flips and all sorts) in the air...now these boys have *you know what* but I can't put it in my blog :)

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Hayden is making her way around these days with no problem! Last night she crawled down the hall and when I snuck a peek she was picking toys out of the toy basket. The next time I looked, she had crawled to her activity table and was standing at it playing. Everything she picks up goes in her mouth and Harrison is very cautious of this. I'm most proud of the fact that she is now saying "mama"- my heart is gushing! Her hair is growing, even starting down the back of her neck~I've been thinking about how I am going to have to learn to do little girls hair soon! She is getting her 6th tooth. I think it's causing her a little more pain than the others because she is drooling a lot more and is a little fussy! She's developed a little bit of a bad schedule. She nurses and goes to bed and then wakes up around 12:30 to nurse again...and again...and so on. Don't quite know how to break this cycle and I certainly know that I won't be "letting her cry" anytime soon! She weighed 17 lbs. 10 oz. at her 9 month appt. last week. She's still taking after her Mama...petite :) She is one tough little girl and I suppose she has to be if you know what I mean *wink wink*. I can't believe that she will be ONE in just a couple months. Where does the time go?

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Harrison asked me this week "How do you get a girlfriend?"

He apparently has his eye on two little girls at school. I am trying to teach him that saying girls are "hot" is no longer appropriate. There was a time that these first time parents of a little boy thought it was kind of cute, but that is no longer, and now I get to try to reverse this "behavior" and teach him to "respect" girls. That is a hard concept to teach, but is SO important, especially with all that he will be exposed to out in the world. Anyway, I reminded him last night that it wasn't just about looks. I asked him if the girls he liked were nice. He said AnneMarie is a little "cranky" and Savannah is "nice". AnneMarie was his "girlfriend" last year, even though he said she was "bossy". I think by the way he is talking about her, they'll probably end up married. This is probably the way Aaron refers to me 90% of the time...cranky and bossy! He also mentioned that one of his friends likes AnneMarie also. In his words... "There's a problem...Garrett likes AnneMarie too" It's like an episode of "As First Grade Turns" or "Days of our First Grade Lives"....

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I'll close with a few more pictures! Eventually I am going to post some more Christmas pictures...but seeing as I still have some cards laying in a basket to send and I am still putting away Christmas decorations, I figure it's okay to still post them eventually...since I'm still doing other "Christmasy" things.

This is Haydens' "official" Christmas dress. However, she wore it once and will be wearing it again if I have to take her to a fancy restaurant just for this purpose. Yes...she had a matching flower headband that I stayed up making the night before just so that she could have it! OCD!

You know who this is....and he looks so sweet and innocent. NO WAY! This is the sweet and innocent one~

This is Harrison's favorite "activity"- hunting any wild animal or flying bird, innocently gliding through the air until.....

And if you had to put up with our family, you might feel the same way Hayden does...WORN OUT!!!

Bless their hearts...I love them both so much~ and despite the MANY times I feel like hanging Harrison from his toenails to the ceiling fan...and turning it on...What on earth would I do without them? I know I'm not alone in feeling this way some days, but then I'm reminded of all the people who would give anything to have a child, and I realize I'm so blessed to have Harrison's "attitude" or Hayden's waking me up in the middle of the night.

~I love my life~

NOT ME!!! MONDAY

UPDATED: HOPEFULLY THE VIDEO WORKS NOW!

First of all, just let me say that I can not handle the immense stress of knowing that you are all out there just waiting for me to post my NOT ME! Monday. There just may be a week now and then that I just don't have anything funny to share. It may simply be that I can not remember all the funny things that happen throughout the week. If anyone wishes to donate a laptop to my cause...the "Save Susan's Not-Me Mondays" , your donation would be appreciated :) You are all just going to have to accept that my life can not always be funny...I know, I know...very hard to comprehend. Some weeks I just might be a ^*^perfect Mom^*^, therefore having no "not-me's". (*wink*wink*)


So, having gotten this off my chest....drumroll please....


I present to you my NOT ME! Monday for this week. Jump on over to visit MckMama, the brain-child of this fun blog carnival.


I did not come home from my first day back to work since Christmas, nurse my baby girl, and then proceed to get majorly spit-up on by her....IN THE FACE and then down into the cleavage. It was most certainly not a mixture of vegetable beef dumplings and breastmilk and it was not totally disgusting and a wonderful "welcome home" after a long day of work.


I did not begin my planning of Haydens 1st birthday party by scouring etsy looking for just the "perfect" outfit, etc. to fit her birthday theme. My sweet girl can not possibly be 9 months old today...it was just yesterday that she was born. I am not slightly obsessive, in case you haven't figured it out.


I did not struggle very hard to come up with any Not Me's this week and was to the point of just saying..."I don't have any"...then I realized I had already started this post with the previous not-me, at the beginning of last week, so that I wouldn't forget (which I obviously did).


I did not just take my tree down this past weekend January 10th and 11th)...and being that it was a live tree, it certainly did not look like this....

I do not still have Christmas cards to send out, some still un-addressed, some waiting for family pictures to be added.

I did not spend part of Friday "steam-mopping" my floors with my new steam-mop, only to have it all "destroyed" when the weather turned wet and snowy on Saturday. I did not proceed to have a mini-meltdown and go into a teary discussion with my husband about how a womans house is like a mans barn, that I take pride in my house, and that is why I want it clean, tidy, and nicely decorated....He did not think he married a total nutcase, and retreat to his barn for the afternoon. (probably a wise idea!)

And, John (my brother-in law, who is a faithful blog reader and the root cause of all my stress regarding NOT ME! Monday....I do not (really, I don't) have a "leakage" story for this week, but I'll see what I can pull off for next week....

That's all folks....until next week...or the next....

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Oh, but please do read on.....(tears, tears, and more tears....)

MY BABY IS 9 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!!

I didn't get a good picture of her today, but thought I'd share this video...a prime example of what this poor girl has to put up with....click below...

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Miss Hayden is so much fun...I know I've said that before, but it's worth repeating. She is cutting tooth #5, waving (often with both hands), trying to say bye-bye, da-da, ba-ba, pa-pa. She's blowing raspberries and biting when she nurses. She's getting around for sure, but not crawling yet. The cutest thing is that when I sternly tell her "no!", at first it would startle her. Now, she cries like she has gotten her feelings hurt. It makes me sad, because I feel bad for hurting her feelings...however, the "headlights" would prefer that she leaves them attached! (did I really just type that???)

HAPPY 9 MONTH BIRTHDAY HAYDEN!!! WE LOVE YOU TONS AND DON'T REMEMBER LIFE WITHOUT YOU!!!

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Just a couple notes to finish up...

Have I mentioned that I REALLY HATE computers. I know HATE is a strong word, but I'm talking about a "thing" not a person...so....

I just spent the last 2 (now, make that 4) hours trying to get that daggone video to upload. Persistent, I am...and I think I've got it...FINALLY!! I hope your enjoyment was worth the last 2 (again, now 4) hours of my life.....as if I have nothing else I need to be doing!

Not-Me! Monday

Well, after a week off, NOT ME! Monday is back and I am so ready! Actually this week should be titled NOT ME! Monday X 2, because not all happened in the past week. As a matter of fact, the past week was fairly uneventful! So glad that MckMama is back in the swing of things since Baby Stellan is now home from the hospital ( do I hear a yeah rah!!!) !and doing well!!! As usual, if you'd like to play along, join the rest of us crazy's and do your own NOT ME! Monday. Visit MckMama's blog to play along!

I did not take a big swig of vinegar laced diet coke (majorly), courtesy of yet another prank by Aaron and Harrison and then proceed to throw up in the kitchen sink. Please note that I previously posted about another prank by the two "boys" in my household, which now means they are up 2 to 1 and I have some plotting to do to get back at them...any ideas, I am open to suggestions.

I did not have a dream I was at MckMama's house. I remember waking up and thinking I have to remember this...but of course I don't! I hate that about dreams...and I have some doozies! I can't imagine the ones I have that I don't remember!

I ABSOLUTELY did not take a picture of my hubby's "carpenters cleavage" and place it on the new digital photo frame that my Dad gave to my Mom for Christmas, as I was downloading grandkids photos to it! It was NOT just too plain funny (to he and I, at least) as the picture popped up on the screen while showing Mom all the new photos we added to the frame. My illustrious husband certainly DID NOT pose for this photo!!! He's way too shy to show a teeny part of his "crack" to my MOM!!! HA HA HA, I'm still laughing thinking about it...he and I know how to have a fun time! And, my Mom will NOT once again say " I can't believe you put that in your blog..."

I do not smell yet another dead mouse in the wall!! I DO NOT smell this mouse every time I walk in the kitchen and it is NOT discouraging that it is only January and just the beginning of "mouse season"... I DO NOT love living in the country, where these sneaky little creatures manage to find their way "in" one way or another.

I do not look around, after having nearly 2 weeks off work, and wonder what I did those 2 weeks, because from the looks of it...I apparently didn't clean!

I do not watch our Indianapolis Colts go down to San Diego Saturday night, leaving a gaping hole in my heart as our football season has come to an abrupt end.

I did not have an absolutely wonderful Christmas, and my tree is NOT still up! (It runs in the family!)

Lastly...I am NOT still working on Christmas cards to send out! NOT me, I'm always on time for everything!!

Join the fun...come on, you know you want to!!!