Go Vols!

Last Saturday, we took the kids to the UT men's basketball game against Ole Miss. It was a great game!! The score was close all throughout, and then they ended up in overtime! They had us worried for a second, but our boys pulled through and WON! Final score: Tennessee 71, Mississippi 69.

A new year - a new job!

Here it is only two weeks into the new year, and I am already slacking on one of my resolutions! That just won't do. So even though I'm dead tired from getting less than 5 hours sleep the past two nights, I'll try and get this update in before I head to bed.

After a lazy, snowy weekend, we have had a bit of a busy week....well, busier than usual at least! Monday and Tuesday were normal - Dakoda had school and therapy as usual. But yesterday and today were a bit chaotic because I had to attend two full days of training in Knoxville for my new job at H&R Block. It was my first time being away from Sarah Kate (who is still nursing) for more than a few hours! I am so lucky that my inlaws were able to keep the kids for me yesterday. Even though I have full confidence in them, I still worried about Sarah all day. But I needn't have, because they said that she did wonderful and didn't even fuss at all! Darren took the day off of work today to stay with them, and he took Dakoda to OT and Speech. He said that they had a great day, and I think he really enjoyed playing Mr. Mom. :)

Now that the 2 training days are over, I'll be working mostly nights and weekends through tax season. I am really excited! Although I love being a stay-at-home mommy, I am looking forward to being out of the house and getting some adult interaction. Ha! I know that I will get tired of working and being away from my family, though, so the fact that it will end on April 15 makes it a perfect fit for me!

Well, it is after 10 pm and that means that this girl is about to turn into a pumpkin. Haha! Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Resolutions for 2010

I made some New Year's Resolutions, but didn't post them here, and since I can't think of anything else to write about, I'll go ahead and do that now. :)

1. To have more patience with Darren and the kids. I love them with all my heart, but I sometimes have a very short fuse. So I'm working on controlling that temper of mine. They don't deserve my wrath. Most of the time. ;)

2. To be a better cook. I'm not necessarily a "bad" cook, I just don't do it often enough, and I tend to make the same things over and over again. My goal this year is to cook dinner at least 4 days out of the week, and to cook a variety of dishes. I'm actually going to attempt to cook my way through The Pioneer Woman's cookbook. So far, every recipe has been a hit!

3. To be a better housekeeper. I have an illness, you may have heard of it - it's called laziness. It tends to affect me most whenever there are chores that need to be done around the house. I'm working to overcome it. It's a slow process.

4. To keep my blog updated! I'm the worst for sitting down to type up an update and getting sidetracked checking my email or something and then running out of computer time. Then before I know it, weeks (or months) have gone by without a post. So my new goal is to update at least 3 times a week.

So there you have it - my goals for 2010. What are yours?

Love is patient....

No matter how much you love your children, there will always be days when they really try your patience. Today was one of those days for me.

Dakoda went to bed 2 hours late last night, so I knew that today would probably not go very well, but I was not prepared for just how rough it would be. My sweet boy just had it in his head today that HE was the boss and was NOT going to do anything other than whatever HE wanted to do. He didn't want to get his diaper changed. He didn't want to get dressed. He didn't want to put on his coat. It was just a fight every step of the way this morning. And I'm pretty sure Miss Sarah Kate was watching and taking notes, because she put up a pretty good fight, too. But we finally made it out the door, and only 5 minutes behind schedule. Success!

Dakoda had his PT appointment and then Speech. Both therapists said that it was a rough day for my buddy. :( After his sessions were over, we met Darren at McDonald's, which went surprisingly well. Darren went back to work, and the kids and I headed home. They were both asleep before I made it out of town, and I mentally sighed, because I knew that would make for a L.O.N.G. afternoon for me at home.

Sure enough, both kids snapped wide awake as soon as the van was put into park, and they stayed that way. All. After. Noon. I think I finally got Sarah Kate down for a nap around 4 pm, but Dakoda just wasn't having it. Poor thing, I knew he was exhausted, but he just could not (or would not) settle down and rest. He had several meltdowns, mostly because he would try to tell me something and I wouldn't understand, and he would get frustrated. :( There is nothing that breaks my heart more than to see that little face crumple because I don't understand what he is telling me. It is just the saddest look.

It is a rare occasion that Darren has to work late, and this was one of them. I knew that Dakoda wouldn't go to sleep until he saw his Daddy, so there was no point in trying to put him down. So after I put Sarah Kate to bed, he and I cuddled up on the couch with his blankie and watched AFV (one of his favorites) until his Daddy got home.

Quiet times like that with him are my favorite, and, as usual, those few quiet moments on the couch made all the bad ones from earlier in the day just fade away...

Girl Time at Target

It was back to school today for Dakoda, so Sarah Kate and I decided to go do some browsing at Target. It was sooo super cold outside (and actually snowed off and on while were out - but didn't stick), so there were not very many people out and about. Just the crazies like me! Ha! As soon as we walked into the store, we ran into our pediatrician, Dr. Lin, and his three daughters. They didn't have school today, so he took the day off to be with them. How sweet! After we left them, we checked out my favorite part of Target - the bargain bins! They had lots of great stuff, including some SUPER cute Valentine's Day goodies. We just started a new budget, so I'm watching my spending very carefully, but at $1 a piece, I couldn't resist these cuties. :)


Of course I had to check out the after-Christmas clearance sales. I found this 100+ piece food set on sale for $7.00! It will go great with the new kitchen that Santa brought Dakoda and Sarah Kate!


I checked out the Christmas decorations that were 75% off, but didn't see anything that I was crazy about. Then, while we were looking for a shelf to go in Sarah Kate's room, we came across a shelf of these beauties, and I fell in LOVE! At only $3.74, I knew I had to snap one up!


So I ended up with 2 magnetic memo pads, a pair of socks, a 100+ piece food set, and a new Christmas tree for just $13.74 plus tax. I just love finding good deals, don't you?

A few memorable moments from 2009

It is hard to believe that 2009 is already over! It was such a memorable year for us in so many ways. Here is a quick recap of a great year.

February

• Dakoda broke his leg :(
  

• Sarah Kathleen came into the world!

April

• We celebrated Sarah Kate's first Easter, and our first as a family of four!
  

May

• Dakoda turned 2!

June

• We had our first family picture made

July

• We celebrated Sarah Kate's first and Dakoda's third 4th of July

August

• Darren, Sarah Kate, and I went to Los Angeles for Darren's work, where we attended our first Dodgers game!

• Sarah Kate turned 6 months old!

September

• We attended a UT tailgate, where the kids met the Dance Team and SMOKEY!!

• We went to Disney World!!

October

• Darren, Sarah Kate, and I attended the UT vs UGA game and got to watch from the sidelines!

• We visited Maple Lane Farms and picked pumpkins

• Dakoda was Superman and Sarah Kate was a Kitty Cat for Halloween

November

• I turned 25

• We celebrated Thanksgiving

December

• Darren turned 27

• We celebrated Sarah Kate's first and Dakoda's third Christmas!

Happy New Year everyone!

To My Beautiful Boy...

~ Dakoda ~

You are exactly 31 months old today! I can hardly believe that you are already 2 and 1/2 years old. You are changing so much everyday and are turning into such a big boy. Although I am so very proud of you, it secretly makes me sad because I am not ready for you to be so grown up!

Some fun facts about you at 31 months old:

• You are 36 inches tall and weigh around 30 lbs.

• You wear size 3T in most of your clothes, size 4 diapers, and size 7-8 shoes.
  

• You LOVE to play ball! You got a basketball goal for your 2^nd birthday, and it is by far your favorite toy. It is the first thing you go for in the morning, and I’m pretty sure that you would shoot all day if I would let you.
  

• Your favorite movie is Aladdin. You always pick it to watch in the van. Your favorite characters are Abu, the Genie, and Jafar. You like to dance to the songs, and you always cover your eyes at the kissy parts. You are so funny!
  

• You are a wonderful big brother to Sarah Kate. You are very good about sharing your toys with her, and you always want her in the floor with you so that you can play with her. You sometimes forget that she is so little and try to play a little bit rough, but after we remind you, you always love on her and tell her you’re sorry (in your own way - we're still working on that word!).

• You are turning into quite a chatterbox. You love to point out the things that you see and tell us about them. You have so many words now that I can’t even name them all!

• You are going to school for a half a day, two days a week at The Henry Center, and you LOVE it! You are always excited when I tell you where we are going, and you take off to play as soon as we get there. You are always happy to see me when I come to pick you up, though, and the huge smile that you give me when I get there always melts my heart.
  

Everyone agrees that you are the sweetest, most loving little boy they have ever met! You and your sister are the best parts of my life, and I am so glad to call myself your mother! I love you, my sonny britches!