This morning

This morning, like most mornings, while Neela took her morning nap, Stevie and I did some sort of "structured learning". I got my degree in Early Childhood and Special Education (one class away from my Master's degree, which by the way one day I have to finish), so I love to teach my children, it is one of my favorite things to do with them, is discover their learning style and teach to it. I must admit that Stevie Joy is a very fast learner, stubborn, but as long as she is interested in what you are teaching her she can catch on so quick! I follow the Children's Learning Activities, blog, so usually I do a lot from there, and then see little crafts here and there that I think would be fun to do with her. She knows all her colors (struggled with green for a while though, most of her numbers (can't say 7 for some reason? but can find it if you ask her "where's seven"), and just about all of her alphabet letters. It's so cute, because when she sees the letter "S" she says, "S...for Stevie"!! You can't tell that I am a proud Mommy can you? She is so much fun. I really need to find a time in the day to have a structured learning time where it is just Neela and I, but I haven't been good about that. I know it's not a good excuse, but I guess I think that Neela is going to learn everything so fast because she is always with big sister who is teaching her everything (they are 15 months apart). Neela can now say, "Mama, Dada, up, bye bye, Jay Jay, and ball". I only really have Stevie to compare her to, but I think she is doing pretty well in the oral area. She is also pointing very well, which is an excellent instrument to teaching words. Her attention span is no where near what Stevie's was at that age. Stevie already had her favorite books that she would sit still for and "read" with Mommy and Daddy over and over again. Neela, on the other hand, you can barely get through the story one time, before she is saying, "up up" and arching her back to get up. So some structured time in a high chair, or learning area, I think would really help her focusing skills.
This morning Stevie and I worked with stickers and counting (one to one correspondence). She is getting the hang of it. When I asked her how many cookies she wanted this afternoon, she replied, "3 cookies" and held up three fingers, when I giggled and only gave her one cookie, she raised her brow and said, "No, no one cookie??" I was so happy with her I did end up giving her 3 cookies, but they are just those little sugar free wafer cookies, so I think she is fine ;)

Our Story

Seth and I knew each other in high school, but I thought that he was pretty much a goody goody dork! I was kinda a partier/bad girl type back then (I know it's so hard to believe now). Anyways he does admit that he knew who I was and had a mini crush on me and even waited for me to walk by to my bus just to catch a glimpse at me, isn't that sweet**.


I went through a pretty rebellious stage for about 2 years after high school (I am down playing it really, I was VERY rebellious!). I did have a guy friend whose girlfriend was "not so rebellious" and we ended up being pretty good friends with one another. That's how Seth and I met (through her, April). We were asked by her boyfriend to throw her a surprise birthday party. We had never really even hung out all that much or knew each other, but you would never had known that by looking at us....we had a BLAST!! It was so much fun. He ended up staying at my house and hanging out all the time after that. I did not have any desire what so ever to date him, but I did think hanging out with him sober was just as much fun hanging out with all my other friends being "not so sober".

How I looked when we first started hanging out

We were inseparable for a year. He did finally start to develop feelings for me when we went on a road trip, he saw me playing with some kids that had some sort of disabilities and he said that he instantly fell in love with me. He did not tell me right away though. He waited until we got back from the trip. He dropped me off at my house one night (he use to drive a Volkswagon bus) and left a note inside my purse that expressed his love for me! OMG< onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrb0U0PMob4q6B6xbvC2tGPr8bb0aJvVwghFjWQTEdGCM1hz2-DNIQ3jUwI8YOQKIiS5I_pWk2pHncGdVcU8TopWXdaeTLsnNRHPHhcraIeOONzAFVkCMNrUYcqyfi1cRq4zxNJLEdns/s1600/seth+dumb.jpg">
The kids with disabilities that I was playing with when he fell in love with me
Us in the bus

A while went by before we could really hang out again, I think actually like a few months, which was really tough considering we were each others best friend and we hung out together everyday. I am not sure how we got to hanging out again, I think I just called him and asked him to come over b/c my parents were out of town and I was having some friends over. He came and I think we both just missed our friendship so much that we just "Made" it happen and not be weird.
Things were back to normal, Thank God! and speaking of God, I was starting to really get back to wanting a relationship with Him. I had gone to church with Seth a couple of times at his church and immediately fell in love with everything about it and everything about Jesus. I was really happy :)
We helped one of our friends move into her new apartment one night. Seth picked me up (oh yeah I guess I should mention that I lost my license for 6 months due to a speeding ticket and I lived ALL the way out in Hahira so it was hard to find rides most of the time, but Seth was always willing to come and get me no matter what, and his bus only drove like 50 mph max, so it took him forever to get out there to my house, isn't he an angel?). When he picked me up, I was wearing some "moving man" clothes (overalls, rugged shirt, painted on beard and mustache). We were always doing silly stuff like that. Anyways, we helped her move and ended up lying on the floor in her apartment living room taking a break. We were lying close to each other and talking and then suddenly the moment came that I NEVER thought would EVER happen, I wanted to kiss Seth!! It was crazy! We kissed, and at that exact moment we just knew, I know it sounds so cliche but it's the absolute truth!! After the kiss he told me how pretty I was, which is so random to me, b/c no one had ever really told me that I was "pretty" after kissing me. It was really sweet. I fell in love with him after one kiss, he is a good kisser. I must be one too because a little while after kissing, he threw up because he said that he was just so excited to finally have me. The next day, he asked me to marry him! How crazy is that! and I said, YES, how even crazier is that!??!? I guess when you know you know :)

Us on a date, we got all dressed up and walked around down town (this is actually my mom's wedding dress)

We couldn't tell everyone in the same day that we decided that we now "like" each other and are dating, that also by the way we are getting married. They would've thought we were nuts!! So we had to have a month or two to be "dating", which really we were engaged (for real, he bought me a ring and all that same day!). We did tell everyone we were getting engaged and that we were getting married. People still thought we were nuts, but oh well! My sister actually did not even believe us, even on the day of our wedding she was still so sure that we were playing a joke on everyone, I am a pretty big prankster, but that would have been a mighty big joke :)
I loved our wedding, Seth actually should take most of the credit for it, he was the director/designer/groom/everything!!

Our wedding:
We had a sixties themed wedding, because no one really had much money and we thought it would be really fun this way :) There was face painting, beads, hair braiding, tie dye, the whole sixties package, It was a blast!! We always talk about how it is our funnest day EVER!! I love my husband more than words can say, he is my best friend, soul mate, walking partner in life!! He's the best and I thank God for him everyday (and for my change in heart).

We will post other entry about our wedding story and honeymoon later... Stay tuned

The Emily Parker Experience

Seth and I always pick at our friend Emily about how many pictures she takes and how she makes every experience sooo fun b/c she is like a photo journalist :) Well, anyways, we decided to try out her method of having fun for Stevie's 2nd birthday. My bday is 3 days before hers and we all went out with other family members to celebrate it and her actual bday party is this Sunday so we decided tonight to do something just our family. We started out by going to the in- door playground in the mall. The girls love it there and it looked like it was about to rain so we thought we would check it out. They seemed to have had a lot of fun :) Stevie was running around crazy as usual and hard to get a good pic of. Neela was doing her typical laugh crazy face.
Stevie loved this alligator, she kept singing the "Along came Mr. Alligator" while riding on him


Neela's crazy face, she always makes this face :P She really is so happy and fun! I was more consistent with Babywise with her, but I don't know if that is what makes her so happy or if it is just her personality? b/c I did Babywise with Stevie Joy too, but we started later with her.


This was Stevie's favorite slide, we kept trying to move down to the other end for some better picture opportunities, but she kept running to this one for some reason?? Oh yeah in Stevie's hand is a crocheted piggie that Seth's Aunt Susu (Susan) made for Stevie for her birthday. She loves that thing and has been carrying it around with her since she got it!


Big girl standing next to the mushrooms


Neela can wave now and say "bye bye" I am so proud of her. And impressed, she is talking much much faster than Stevie did. I think b/c she is so sociable and also b/c she has an older sister who she is always around.


At the playground, Stevie had the opportunity to practice her new trick, to pretend that she is asleep, lol! She thinks it is so funny to trick people into thinking she is sleeping and then "boom" wake up.

Another thing I could not believe was that Neela climbed the rocks all the way up to the top! She even climbed the big one, she is so brave. She's cruising now, so we think she may be a walker soon, hopefully, she is getting pretty heavy!

After the playground, we walked to see if the Easter Bunny was at the mall. Seth said that it is rude to take pics with your own camera and that no way were we going to purchase them, but I still just wanted to see how she would do with a character, since one may be coming to her party. With Stevie things have to be her idea! So we let her walk around and wander up to him, she kept saying in her cute little girl voice, "Hey Rbbit"! She actually really liked him and EVEN sat in his lap!! I could not believe it, she freaked last year with him, but I think b/c I placed her in his lap, and she did not make the decision herself to walk up to him. She is her daddy's child, hee hee!!

After we left the Mall we drove to Cici's. Seth and I both love buffets (because we both eat a lot) and Cici's is the restaurant that Stevie will sit still, eat, and be happy at, so Cici's it was!!

Seth trying to find a parking spot.

duh, the best part was the cinnamon rolls!!


I am pretty sure Stevie was on a sugar high from all the brownies, because she was acting so goofy and making silly faces. I meant to bring some candles and a lighter so that she can practice her "blowing out" the candles, but I forgot :(

I even drank a coke, so I was pretty pumped up too!
After Cici's we went to Wal-Mart, because we had to pick up a few things and we wanted Stevie to walk down the toy aisle and pick out whatever toy she wanted (as long as it wasn't $100 or something) haha. We also looked for some crocks for her for summer time, but couldn't find any. Oh well, I guess I will keep looking. She had a lot of fun being "free" in the store! We always get two buggies, one for Neela to ride in and one for Stevie to ride in. But tonight for her special day, we let her roam the toy aisle. It took her a while, but after much consideration, she picked these $1 huge elephant and zebra toys, we liked the price. She must have frugal taste like her mommy and daddy.
Her 2nd bday was so fun (for us and her)!! All day we did all her favorites (painting, playing, stroller rides, playground, reading, etc.)! And for her party on Sunday we intend to do all her favorites as well. We don't know how to please everyone, but we DO know how to please our child, so the party will be very much Stevie centered :) We are looking forward to it :)

All in all I do think that we enjoyed the Emily Parker Experience!! It did make everything way fun that night! I think we will have to do it more often. I mean it makes it where you can never be bored on any experience with a camera. We are still newbies to the EPE, so I know we missed a TON of photo opportunities, but I think we did pretty good for ourselves, considering this was our first EPE, don't you???

What is Neela up to?

Neela is soooo sweet! She is actually what I thought my child would be like :) Not that I don't love Stevie Joy with all of my heart, but she is a very strong-willed child and for a first time mommy with a passive personality she took me for a loop. However, Neela is so much more laid back and laughs all the time. She is seriously constantly smiling. Every where we go people always guess that she is at least 3 months older than she actually is, due to her size, her hair, and her personality. She "talks" all the time, makes wonderful eye contact and smiles and laughs all the time! Not to brag (as if I haven't already), but she really is an "angel" baby! Stevie was totally a spirited baby! The only bad thing about how good Neela is is that it is going to probably make baby number 3 seem so hard, but I keep hoping that baby #3 will be even easier, especially since the baby will be a boy :) Titus Robert Megow!! We are going to keep it a surprise b/c it was a funner experience having it as a surprise. And no we are not pregnant yet, that may have sounded like we were.
She is rolling all around now and is starting to follow her sissy by rolling to her (so cute). Her hair is really crazy, I think it is going to be curly b/c it is a big poof afro on top of her head. She HAS to have a headband or bow or something when we leave the house :) She is actually a better sleeper than Stevie, which I didn't think was possible. She goes to bed around 8 and wakes up the next day around 8 in the morning. Naps for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, has already dropped her evening nap to a cat nap and can take it while we are out and about in the evening. I told you she is amazing. It is like she is an 8 month old trapped in a 4 month old body! I really enjoy her so much, she makes me so happy. I could seriously have 8 if they were all as easy as she is. I am so interested to see what kind of toddler she is going to be and child, hopefully she will stay sweet and laid back.

Us at Seth's work Christmas Performance:
Neela sitting in her big girl swing:

Living on a farm

Seth and I both grew up living "in the country". We both said that we did NOT want to live out in the country when we got older because it is waaaay to far out and we are busy bodies and like to "go go go". Well we are right where God wants us to be right now, while it may not have been "our plan". I actually do LOVE living on a farm. The main reason I hated living out in the country was because my parents never wanted to take me anywhere and it was so hard finding a ride when you live way out in the boonies! I said that when I grow up I am going to live in town so that my kids don't have to worry about living so far out and have a hard time finding a ride! Well as a kid really did like the farm life. I learned to drive at a very young age driving all around in trucks on the farm and I enjoyed the animals and taking care of them. I even really liked picking all the vegetables and fruit that we grew. So I think that maybe the good outweighs the bad. Sure you can't really have huge garage sales and lemonade stands, but actually on this road you could have a yard sale. Hmmm...well I guess I will just have to be more mindful when my kids grow up and get to that "pre-driving" age and remember how much I hated not driving but not having a ride either. As kids, I feel that the country life is way better. You don't have to worry about robbery as much, traffic, etc. But you do have to worry about snakes :( We even have a pond so we get to worry about alligators and drowning. Maybe it's not safer??

Here is some pics of us enjoying the farm today. I would really like to get more animals out here, but I don't want ALL the responsibility that comes with them and Seth is not exactly the "farming/nurturing to animals" type of guy. Maybe when the girls get older and can really help and take care of them. My biggest problem is that I really am girly and just like baby animals, once they are no longer babies, it is like they do not exist to me, lol! So then what? eat them I guess haha.

Stevie feeding the chickens:


See how much she loves those dumb chickens!
Mad at me because we left the chickens, btw Seth thinks this outfit looks like a clown, but I love it, it's so bright and colorful!
Our pond:

Ear Infections

Stevie Joy has been really sick and not acting like herself lately so I decided to take her into the doctor. We took her in because she has been throwing up a lot and has had really bad diarrhea, but when we got there they ended up telling us that she also has a double ear infection. This makes her 6th time this year! They gave her a shot (she screamed!) and she now has some antibiotics to take daily. We have to go back in two weeks to check things out. If things keep going like this the doctor recommends that she has tubes put in her ears. I am not too sure what all this entails so I don't really know how to feel about this. Surgery is scary, but chronic ear infections are dangerous too. I know the doctors know best so I just pray for divine wisdom and trust in Him that everything will be okay. One a positive note: Neela can now roll over kinda consistently. She hates when she does it though during her sleep b/c she does NOT like being on her back. It is sad, but kinda funny b/c her cry is so pathetic and I go in there and she just has this adorable, confused look on her face :) Am I a mean mommy to think this is funny? haha

We may be getting a baby pig, but the girl hasn't gotten back with me yet. We are trying to "stock" the farm up. We have cows, goats, chickens, and dogs (oh yeah and one cat). A pig would kinda complete the farm don't you think? Here is a picture of them:

Another attempt

I am going to try this whole blogging thing again. I feel like we have a pretty, fun, and interesting life so we should share it with others. I am very entertained reading other people's blogs, but for some reason just find it to be so much work when doing my own. I do see the benefits in having it though. Especially with baby number two I am constantly trying to think back to how it was with the first one and the tricks we did, milestones, etc. If I had something like this I think it would help.

Probably won't be that in depth, but I am going to give it a try and see how it goes :)

I worked a half a day today. I really don't mind working all that much, but like I always tell Seth,
"My best day at work still doesn't compare to my worst day at the house!". I just really enjoy being home with my girls!! Speaking of my girls, they are doing very well. Neela is now 16.5 lbs, I can't believe it! Stevie is only like 22 lbs so that means they are 15 months apart but only 5.5 lbs apart. At this rate, Stevie Joy will catch up to her very quickly.

The girls are so different, like night and day. Stevie is much more "things HAVE to go her way" type of baby and Neela is a "laid back" kind of baby. Here is a typical example: the other morning getting ready for church Neela was lying on her blanket in the middle of the floor cooing and giggling at who knows what playing all by herself just as happy as can be while Stevie on the other hand had to follow me around and let me know that she wanted to watch a show, then proceeded to "tell me" (by whining) that the show I put on for her was not the right show so we had to go through the DVR library to see what she wanted to watch :) Then she wanted her juice....you get the picture? I am interested to see how Neela will be at the toddler age. I know you are suppose to love every age, but the baby stage still isn't my favorite. Well actually I really love it when they first come home from the hospital and you get to spoil them and just hold a sweet baby all day. And you are still healing so no one expects you to do anything either. So basically your full time job is to hold, nurse, and love on this sweet little baby that you have been "cooking" inside of you for nine months! I love it! Definitely one of my fav. stages, but then after about 2 weeks, I start lying them down for naps and training them to be independent sleepers meaning they learn to put themselves to sleep with no props. Neela is so awesome at this! In fact she won't even go to sleep if you are holding her (kinda bad when you are at a public place and you need to hold her for her nap, basically impossible!)

Well Seth is wanting some alone time now that he is through with his stuff on his computer, let's see how this blogging goes from here on out :P