Homecoming Parade

Remember a few years ago when I posted about walking in the homecoming parade with my third graders? Well, this is really lame, but they don't have the elementary school kids do that anymore. Like I said, lame. Luckily they still do the parade. I wasn't working today and Jeff was sleeping since he is on graves for the week so I took Heidi to her first parade. I am happy to say that she LOVED it. She will love it even more next year when she can collect the candy. I wanted to take her to the parade in July but it was during nap time. I was so happy this one was in between naps. Her favorite part was most definitely the marching band.

This picture obviously has nothing to do with the post...I was rushing out the door and forgot the camera, but it is the most recent pic I have.

Hopefully by the time she is school they will realize that the elementary school kids should join the parade again because I have a pretty strong feeling Heidi is wants to be part of the excitement!

The Letter Lady

One night I was cleaning up dinner and Jeff was giving Heidikins a bath. She was playing with her new birthday bath toys from her cousins and I kept hearing Jeff laughing and saying, "Oh look, you're the letter lady." So I went in to see what was so funny. Jeff had her letters stuck all over her body. This doesn't even come close to justice because by the time I got the camera, half of them had fallen off. I don't know why, but the whole thing was so, and I mean SO funny to me.

As you can see, Heidi very rarely actually sits in the tub. Most of bath time is spent with her standing at the edge while she one by one takes out each and every toy and chucks it over the edge. This is always followed by, "uh oh". If you're ever at our house, you'll probably hear, "uh oh" a million times followed by, "Heidi, that wasn't an 'uh oh', that was an 'on purpose.'"

Heidi is so smart she can spell her first and last name. Okay, so maybe mom has just as much fun with her toys as she does. Is it weird that I already dream about the day I can have her spell words and I already tell her the letter and sound every time she holds a letter up?








Oh and by the way, have I mentioned how much we love, love, love our little Letter Lady?

Best Dad. Ever.

I'm not sure who has more fun when dad's around...Heidi or dad. One thing I know for sure is that she loves her two days of only dad a week! Heidi is all squeals and giggles when it comes to dad..she laughs so hard she can't even control herself. And let's face it, dad is completely, 100% wrapped around her finger.







For some reason, any and all games are more fun with dad around. I could play the same game and I don't get the same giggles. Heidi also says, "da da" NON STOP. When he's at work she stands at the garage door in the kitchen, put both hands on it, and says, "da da, da da". It is just too much. She also calls me "da da" and herself "da da" when she sees pictures, but there is no question she knows exactly who her "da da" is.

I can't say that I blame her, Jeff really is an amazing father. No matter how tired he is, he never turns down a story or a game. When he gets home off of graveyard he doesn't go to sleep until it is time for her nap so he can play with her for an hour or two. Then he wakes up early enough to play with her another hour or two before he goes back to work. When I have to work and he is just getting off of graves, he doesn't like me to get a babysitter because he would rather spend the day with her, even if it means that he is completely exhausted. Talk about dedication! One day Jeff will have a regular day schedule and I won't be working anymore, but I hope she always loves and appreciates him for the amazing father he is!

When You're the Best of Friends

Meet Mr. Care Bear, or Mrs. Care Bear...we're not sure which. What we do know, is that he/she is Heidi's BFF. While he/she is quite a bit larger than Heidi, Heidi has been known to carry her pal around. When she sees this bear, she is all squeals and giggles. The Care Bear cannot be in her room unless hidden in the closet if it is time to sleep. If you even mention the words, "Care Bear" Heidi starts looking around squealing. The Care Bear must also be in the chair with us during story time. Who doesn't like a good story?

Heidi loves to sit on her friend, point to (or rather poke out) his eye, and gives it all sorts of loves. No matter what Heidi does to her bear, it always has the same grin and it never takes her toys away. Maybe that's why she loves it so much.


When we went to California, my best friend from high school gave it to her when we got together for a visit. I wasn't sure if it would even fit in the car for the drive home and to be honest, I thought, "seriously?" But I have to say that I will be forever grateful to Auntie N-dogg for making this little girl so incredibly happy! Thanks Auntie N-Dogg--we love you!

Not My Proudest Moment

You see how Heidi is talking on her phone while operating her vehical? Apparently she learned that from her mama. Yes, it's true-- I have been known to talk on my phone from time to time while driving. I never, ever text, but sometimes the best time to make a quick call is when I am running errands.

Yesterday I was on my way to my early morning faculty meeting. It was one of those mornings...I got in the car without my lunch, ran back to grab it only to realize I also forgot my phone that Heidi had thrown behind the bed. I had forgotten it the day before and Jeff wouldn't answer from an "unknown" number so I thought I better grab it. So I crawl under the bed and grab it to find I have a missed call from my friend. I thought, "Why would she be calling me before school? Did something change with the meeting?" Since I am only there two days a week, I thought maybe I needed to know something before the meeting. I called her back as I headed the four blocks to school...running late, didn't walk as usual. As I am pulling into the parking lot, I see a cop behind me with the lights on. Crap. Yep, I got a ticket for talking on the phone while driving. First ticket ever. I should have just walked because I was late for the meeting anyway since I was stuck in the parking lot and of course, every single person saw me getting my ticket when they pulled in. Like I said, not my proudest moment. Then to top it off, I found out that apparently I will be in the paper yet again. Can you believe they post all the tickets in the paper by name and what the violation was?? Oh hooray. I just love attention. I guess I better start teaching Heidi not to talk on the phone while driving her little vehical now!

Funny Little Girl

I know I just posted yesterday, but Heidi has been doing the funniest thing lately and I just happened to get some pictures of her this morning so I thought I would share...mostly so I don't forget.

Have you read the book, "The Grouchy Ladybug?" Well, it's one of Heidi's favs. Mostly I think because there are all the tiny little pages to flip. Anyway, whenever it gets to the skunk, I plug my nose and say, "pee-ew". Heidi thinks her mother is so funny and repeatedly turns to the skunk page. She now comes up to me and plugs my nose so I will make the sound and then starts laughing her head off. She has also carried this over to her dad. Jeff was confused at first until I told him what to do. One of the days he was watching her this week while I was at work I came home to him asking me why I taught her that because she was doing it to him ALL day long. So if you see Heidi and she grabs your nose, you know what to do!

The Bridge

Sometimes I cannot believe I get to be this funny little girl's mom. She makes me laugh every single day. Spending time with her never gets old and she always keeps things interesting! Around 5-6 months I thought she was a blast, but the older she gets the more and more fun she becomes. When she was a newborn it was SO hard and the thought of having another newborn someday makes me a little more than nervous.

This is Heidi's favorite bridge move. She started doing it when she was learning to walk. Whenever she would fall down, she would just put herself in a bridge. Now she just does it for fun. She likes to play peek-a-boo this way and she especially likes to pull toys underneath the "bridge" to play with. It is quite entertaining for all of us!

Back to School for Mommy

I officially started last week with three days of meetings, but this week I actually started my new job! The kids came back Monday, but I worked Tuesday and Wednesday. I am seriously so lucky. I met with the principal and the other Title I teacher and they decided it would be best for me to work two full days a week. But get this, I get to actually pick which two days each week I work. Of course I am trying to make it the same two as much as possible, but I since I can choose, I can work around Jeff's schedule. This means we only have to find a place for Heidi about once a month, twice on a bad month. I feel so incredibly spoiled. For September we worked it out so that we don't need a babysitter at all. It looks like October might be the same, but we might have to get a babysitter once. It makes me feel so much less guilty knowing that Heidi is spending quality time with her dad and she gets to be in her own surroundings with her own bed and schedule! Jeff is such a good dad and so involved so I don't even have to leave any instructions at all. He just knows when to put her down, what to feed her and how much, what she likes to play, and how to calm her down. Not to mention, he gets SO excited for his special daddy/daughter days. It is so nice! The only problem is that Jeff and I don't get to see each other much since on the days he's home, I work. That stinks, but I only work 9-3:30 so we still have a little time. It's so lovely not having to be to work until 9 because we have time to run in the morning and play without feeling rushed. Since the weather is nice, Jeff and Heidi have even been walking mommy to school!

So far, I LOVE the job! I love being back at the school I was at with people I love and doing something I absolutely adore. When I am there, I long to be back in the classroom full time. But then when I call Jeff on my break and hear Heidi saying, "hi, hi, hi, hi, hi..." (you get the point) I go crazy thinking about how long until I get to go home and kiss those cheeks. I hate feeling torn between two things I love, but I am so lucky to have both right now. I definitely don't think I would be happy working full time and being gone all day, every single day, but twice a week is perfect. I am excited to work in a different capacity than I am used to because I am already learning all sorts of new things. It will be so fun to work with all the grades and work and learn from all the teachers in the building. It's a one-year only position so I need to soak up as much as I can in the short time I am there!