hey there. how is it going where you are? i just ate a yummy cupcake from a wedding yesterday and it was mm mm good.
we got home from the beach yesterday! it was a lovely trip. well, minus the sand crusted, snotty nose, grumpy children. but, overall, for this stage of our life, the beach vacation 2012 was a success. and boy, i am grateful.
instead of doing a super long daily recap of the trip, i thought i'd share some highs/lows/funny's of the trip. and them some pics, of course.
sooooo i'll do the highs:
1. seeing the babies at the beach running and playing and truly enjoying it.
2. me and jake sneaked away one night from the fam and had a wonderful night walk on the beach and then stopped at a pub for a beer. it was truly a blessed time.
3. on tuesday we left the kids with the daddies and us girls got to go shopping and ate at olive garden! hello, if you know me, you know i was a happy girl. and i got some new jeans! holla!
and the lows:
1. the day i had to leave the beach early with audrey because she was D.O.N.E. and not having it anymore. and the enormous fit she threw EVERY time i bathed her sandy body in the bath post beachtime.
2. finley not really napping and being quite tired by about, wednesday. so he was just kinda running on steam and not exactly being reasonable with his emotions. i mean, what is he, 2 or something!?!!?
and some funny's:
1. when we were down at the beach taking family pictures all dressed nice and fin and audrey started playing in the water, of course, getting soaked. it was really funny to see them not caring a bit that they were drenched.
that's me, not wanting to actually hold wet, sandy audrey. LOL!
2. and finally, WHEN I LOOKED OVER AT AUDREY WHO WAS PLAYING IN THE SAND AND THEN I SAW THE POOP OOZING OUT OF HER BATHING SUIT! poor girl was just sitting there playing. so i rushed her to the ocean and we sent the poop off into the abyss to live a full and meaningful life. then i wondered how many other mothers have done that for their children and then wanted out of the ocean immediately. hahahaha!
it was great getting to see that side of our family and enjoyed getting away for a bit. i'm also ready to NOT take a vacation in the near future! our little home and our simple routine is enough for us. and i learned i am content here. what a gift.
love to you.
mer
hey! so, we are currently at hilton head island, SC. we've been going to the beach, the pool, eating, and doing it all over again. there have definitely been some difficult points, but the trip so far has gone surprisingly well. finley and audrey both LOVE the beach! which is really fun. neither of them are really scared of the waves and audrey just toddles along digging and playing in the sand.
just wanted to let you guys know we're doing well and soaking up the sun!
hope you are doing well today.
love,
mer
hi, there. i'm just thinking about how anyone who reads this has a lot going on in their world. there are so many of you i wish i could sit and have coffee with and hear all about it. i guess i'll settle for letting you hear about ours.
finley has become quite the bossy big brother around here. and VERY protective of his fire truck, cars, and basically anything his hands have touched. when little audrey comes anywhere near, he just yells, "NO TOUCH, Auda! NO TOUCH!" haha. me and jake laugh about this. he just repeats the things we tell him to her. like i mentioned a while back, audrey doesn't just sit and take it. she yells back at him. yells. back. there's been lots of shouting in our house. i've been explaining to finley his "indoor voice". ha, good luck me. the babies are doing good though. both healthy and growing. finley knows all his letters and we hear him counting to himself often. i'm so thankful for them.
we're heading out on saturday for our family vacation. we're going to hilton head, SC. it should be nice. a week at the beach. i know at this stage of our life, vacay is actually much more work than just being at home, but you gotta get away. i'm looking forward to being out of the norm.
well, as you know, it's thursday and i'm sure you're waiting very impatiently for me to do installment 3 of confession thursday! (i flatter myself :) ).
here goes.
i use men's deodorant. and shaving cream. and occasionally, body wash.
eww. gross. meredith. TMI. i know that's what you're thinking. what kind of GIRL would use several men's cleansing and odor protection products? despicable. well y'all, i would. and do. for a couple years now, i've been using men's deodorant. well, you know how it is. sometimes you run out of deodorant. a perk to being married is there is someone else's riiiiiiiight over there on the other dresser. so one day, it was an emergency and i used jake's. sue me, okay! but you guys.... it works amazingly! no joke. it works much better then women's. perhaps, because it.is.made.for.gross.sweaty.stinky.MEN. but hey, i don't question it. since then, i haven't bought my own deodorant. yes, if you come close, i might possibly smell like a piney forest. but i mean, nobody comes that close! so, you would never know if i didn't confess this hidden trait. jake was given a HUGE box of free shaving cream from a friend and i have used it ever since then as well. this probably isn't so weird. but i never get razor burn when i use it. and my legs are so silky smooth. again, probably because big, hairy men use it for their FACE. and the body wash thing... well, i only use jake's if i'm out. it just sometimes lasts for weeks before i replace mine. and in the meantime i smell like irish springs. it's a liiiiiitle weird for jake. but only when he can smell his deodorant on me. hahahahha! i'm a weirdo. as i write this, i have come to that knowledge. perhaps it is weird. i am still a believer. and i would recommend to any girl, if that chick deodorant isn't cutting it, next time you're at target accidentally knock that beautiful, red old spice right there in your cart. act normal. and once you get home, hide it in your underwear drawer and no one will know. and you will have wonderfully smelling, non BO armpits. your armpits will thank me.
now how is that for completely ridiculous?!
i sure love you guys. thanks for reading. and i pray the Lord is your portion today. and His presence is known by you.
love to you.
mer
sheesh. my eyes are heavy tonight. i've woken up so sleepy the past 2 days. more than my normal tired :) ha! we've had 2 eventful mornings in a row involving audrey and poop and a bath... enough said. what's been goin on... hmm... i guess i'll give a bullet point update. who doesn't love bullet points!
- jake and i started watching 24. many have told us it will take over our lives... we aren't super hooked yet, but only 5 episodes in, so i'll keep ya posted.
- let's see, what's finley up to... he's getting tall! growing, growing. whenever we go anywhere in the car and he thinks we're going home, he says over and over, "no go home." he pretty much just says no to EVERYTHING these days. it's really funny when we say, "finley, do you want a cookie?" "NO!" pause.... "YES!" ha! he loves coloring and swimming. in the bath tub he always says, "i'm a fish!" he's a good boy.
- audrey is really into reading books right now. it's the cutest. and, i know i'm her mom, but i think she's a genius. she kinda, sorta sings the ABC's! she's 15 months old, people! she tries to sing along, at least. and now when jake takes her picture she poses! and says "eeese". i mean, she's just melt your heart cute.
- i'm currently eating too many peanut m&m's.
- i went to old navy today and really needed my mom and sisters there! i'm a really horrible shopper on my own. i don't have the motivation to try on clothes, or something. my sister katie found my wedding dress. my mom found my prom dress and countless other things and liz, well, liz would dress me if she could. she bought me flats and a belt at target one time and they are the most stylish things i own. i felt helpless.
- i want iced coffee EVERY afternoon after nap time. this is a serious problem. both financially and healthily. too.much.coffee.and.cream! but i just looooove it. and it gets me through my afternoon....... thank you dunkin donuts for being right up the street and having caramel flavoring. maybe i should not be thanking you.
- i think i'm gonna drink some wine and hit the hay. because, i mean, i've been extra tired lately. probably because even when i'm tired, i DON'T GO TO BED!
hope all is well in your world.
love.
mer
i mean, look at that face!
"i'm a fish!"
hey y'all guys. is that redundant? what a wonderful week we've had around here at the greer house. why, you ask? let me just tell you.
last friday i received two of the greatest gifts anyone, my husband, could ever give me. a little back story... i.love.watching.the.ellen.show. i have a deep love for the ellen degeneres show. ever since i became a stay at home mom, ellen has become part of our day around here. i suppose like soap operas or oprah was is the days of our moms. when we lived in portland, jake worked for the cable company and a perk of that was that we had the largest cable package for free. it was nice. we would never pay for it. sooooo, when we moved here, i said bye bye to ellen. no more 3 o'clock post naptime ellentime. it was truly sad to me. i would often stay up at night watching ellen clips on you tube. it is my dream to visit the show someday. ellen kept me up on all current events. everything i knew about the outside world was thanks to ellen. okay... i'm being dramatic. sort of. but i really like watching ellen.
... fast forward to last friday when my dear of a soul, husband brought home rabbit ears he bought me and hooked up the tv to get THE ELLEN SHOW! glory, hallelujah we are back in business and ellen has returned. allie block, i know that you truly know how much this means to me. now you can really come visit.
secondly, last friday there was a wedding. i was under the impression all was normal and jake would be working all night. about 5 he came home and said he was just taking a break. he helped feed the kids/clean up and i was just doing our usual nightly stuff. well, at 6, when he told me he had to be back at work, there was a knock on the door and all of a sudden, our babysitter was there! i was shocked and looked it. jake said, "i'm not working. we're going on a date." glory, hallelujah again! man, what a great day! we had a wonderful date. went to dinner, got some cute house stuff at ikea, and saw the new spiderman movie (i LOVE spiderman movies, btw). what a guy. and it was so so nice to be surprised, completely surprised, with a night out with my boo. twas good.
AND THEN, on sunday, my dear friend from old pine cove days, katy reed, came to visit! she was here until this afternoon and we had such a great time. did we see much of charlotte? no. we did go to wal mart, target, the Y, chick fil a, and the post office. ha! she just joined our normal life and is so low maintenance and was just here to be with us and it was so refreshing. what a treat to have friends visit. gives me the endurance to keep trekking on in this new city.
this is already a long post, but so many yummy things i needed to update you about. SO, since i know you're dying of suspense.... onto installment 2 of confession thursday.
here it is:
i.do.not.like.the.movie.dumb.and.dumber.
shock. gasp. no response. whatever your reaction, this is true. i just genuinely do not appreciate this movie. the reason why i feel it worthy to include as a "confession" is because i used to fake it. i used to pretend it was the funniest movie EVER. and i would make myself memorize lines to know them. pathetic? yes. high school? yes. in our youth group at church, everyone loved this movie. it was cool to like this movie. i always felt like "cool" girls like this movie. and that guys liked girls who loved dumb and dumber. please, someone tell me i'm not alone in this. ha! i think it's great if someone genuinely likes the movie to be proud of it and love it, but me, i just pretended. all through high school and some of college. i wanted to tell jake, though. i wanted him to know i didn't like the movie, because he did, in fact, really like it and thought it was hilarious. on our first "official" date, i told him. the cold, hard truth that i was not a true fan. he laughed and "appreciated my honesty". haha! i felt relieved then, and i feel relieved now. knowing the whole internet now knows my secret. and if anyone out there needs to confess the same thing, please know this is a safe place and no judgement will be given. nothingbutlovehere.
phew. thanks again for listening. and catching up on our life. thankful for a good, fun week the Lord gave us. such little and big gifts all the time. be thou my vision.
love to you.
mer
hey all. happy 5th of july. hope yesterday was filled with all the american things you can think of. we, on the other hand, completely deprived our children of the american experience by totally skipping the idea of fireworks. i mean, we considered it. really, we did. then we put together the equation:
100+ temps + a billion people +$30 to park a car + lots of walking +strollers + snacks + crazy, cranky, double ear infection audrey + 10 pm firework show = drumroll please...... MISERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so, we skipped it. it felt liberating. we had a small cookout at josh and joy's and then they came over after all the kids were in bed and we talked till midnight. with hershey creme pie, of course. much better. good choice, us. good choice.
so, i decided to start this thing called "confession thursday". wherein (not sure if that's even a word) i will confess something to you all that you may or may not know about me. so here goes installment one.
i.am.not.a.morning.person.at.all.
all the morning people out there say, "oooh gurl, you crazay!"
all the night owls out there say, "dude, gurl, i feeeeeel ya!"
now, some may think, no big deal. morning/night person... it's all good. well, having little ones makes it a little more tricky. but here's the thing. i am decently pleasant humanly if i am woken/needed to be up at 8am or later. this is the trouble... when little finley wanders in at 7:12 am saying, "hey mama, hey!" "mama, pants." "mama get up!" etc. or at 7:14 am when audrey is obviously being kidnapped or is seriously hurt by the way she is screaming when in reality she dropped her beloved blanket over the side of her crib. but no chance can i just sneak in and give it to her. and calmly go back to bed. the second she sees me, it's 0-v-e-r. it's become a bit of a joke around the house between jake and me. he lovingly asks me later in the day once i am in "normal" function mode, if i was "okay" this morning. or if i was in fact terribly angry like i seemed. ha! here's the thing: ICAN'TCONTROLIT!!!!!!!!!! i do not know how to rise peacefully and joyfully like the birds or that princess girl in enchanted (what's with her, anyway). i am simply, not.a.morning.person. although, once i am up and toothbrushed, i can carry on. oh, with coffee in hand, of course. some mornings i am more grumpy than others. like when i stay up till 1 am reading blogs or working or ahem, watching felicity. but i love night time!!!!! i love staying up late at night. it's just who i am, okay. and it's truly only a problem because i have much responsibility bright and early. well, i mean, i cannot complain that my kids typically keep quiet until 8 or so. i am lucky, i know. and if they were 6 am risers, they would learn real quick, mama ain't happy that hour of the day, and perhaps they would just keep quiet for their own good.
my dear husband is very understanding and a perk of this whole wedding gig business is he doesn't have a for real time he HAS to be at work so we actually switch off a lot with who sleeps in. and if we are woken and i say, "i juuuuuust caaaaaaan't geeeeeeet uuuuuuuup," he knows. it's probably best for everyone involved if i sleep a bit more.
phew. that feels good to get off my chest. i mean, who likes a morning grump?! NO ONE. i would love to say i'm working on it, but no. i'm really not. i keep thinking, eventually, i will just become a morning person. buuuut, i'm not really seeing that happening. but if you need me past 10 AM, I AM YOUR GIRL!
hope all is well with you. thanks for reading.
love.
i'm just sitting here, in a quiet, clean house, trying to think of what to write about. audrey's sleeping, finley is at the y with daddy, and i'm here. enjoying the silence.
i'm not always the most vocal person in the world...shocked? no. you're not. but i am always thinking. there's always a million things going on in that brain of mine. i was working that wedding on saturday, ya know, and i was watching the bride and how happy she was. she was SO happy. now, at this business, not all the brides are super happy and relaxed on their wedding day. shocked? probably not. this particular girl was so, so happy. and she was one of those girls that you can tell everybody loves. and she loves people. she and her groom walked around to every single person at the wedding and gave greetings and hugs. it was sweet to watch. i've been thinking a lot about Jesus lately. just what He would be like on this earth today. i've been holding this song lyric in my heart the last few weeks:
"harbor me in the eye of the storm, i'm holding on to the love you swore."
to the glory of Jesus, jake and i are not in a "storm" time of life. we are enjoying life and thankful for what He has given us. i am so glad that we have a Savior we can depend on. who is always love. always peace. always patient. always faithful. one of my favorite parts of being a momma is my role as comforter. just as i was writing this, daddy and finley came in and finley conked his head on a drawer. he was hurt and crying and i held him until it felt better. it's hard to see your children hurting. but it's such a gift to be part of their healing. i love that Jesus is so comforting. and close. and near. even when it feels like He isn't.
i just want to live my life well. i want to be like Him.
"bind my wandering heart to Thee."
love to you. thanks for reading.
mer
