Wordless Wednesday

7 Years ago...

7 years ago today I was in labor with my first child...Allison Paige.

She was born at 9:28 pm and was healthy and beautiful, weighing in at only 6 pounds 9 ounces. She was just 20 inches long. Today, she is as healthy and beautiful but is tall and weighs around 60 pounds.

She amazes me with her personality, brains, love, charm and attitude every day.

I can't believe it's been already 7 years since she's come into this world. I can't imagine her 7 years from now but am trying to enjoy every day with her.

We had her birthday party yesterday at Chuck E. Cheese's, again. It was nice not to have to cook or clean so I suppose it was worth the money. Allison had a great time; she had lots of fun with her cousins and 9 friends from school. She got lots of great gifts, including a user-friendly MP3 player which she has been asking for for awhile. She also got lots of money in which she used to buy herself a digital camera. It was on clearance at Toys R Us and she has been taking photos of everything since.

The picture of her hugging her dad, below, is after she opened her MP3 player. She was so happy and excited and she even took a break from opening gifts to give both David and I a hug; I guess she's not completely spoiled rotten...ha!






She really is an amazing child.


Until next time.

SHOW US YOUR LIFE - Wedding Dress

Kelly at Kelly's Korner has been doing a "Show Us Your Home" every Friday, in which she features another room of her house each week.

I wasn't so keen on that idea since some of the houses are amazing and mine, well, let's just say, it's a "normal" house for where we live. Anyhow, she's finally doing something fun that I wanted to join in on.

Now, Kelly is doing a "Show Us Your Life" weekly blog and each week is featuring a new theme. This week is...Wedding dresses. Yay!

Of course I wanted to join in this one...I've already scanned in a bunch of photos for my anniversary post. So, how easy is that?!

I had always dreamed of my perfect wedding dress, even when I was just a little girl. I knew it was going to be a traditional dress. I knew I wanted a long train and lots of beading. I even knew I always wanted a bow on my butt.

I actually picked out my dress in a catalog, by just looking at the picture. When it finally came in and I tried it on for the first time it not only met my expectations but exceeded my dreams. It was a cathedral-length train and had everything I always wanted; it was very detailed. I wish I could find a decent picture of the back of it, because it had so much detail; there was a heart-shaped opening on my back with beads hanging down.

It was truly a traditional dress, even our minister commented that it was one of the prettiest and traditional dresses he'd seen in a long time. They sure don't make them like they used to.

On April 22, 2000 I married my soul mate.

My dad walking me down the aisle.

David and I, husband and wife.

My dream dress.

My dream dress with my dream man...at a park.

David and I being goofy and relaxed in the limo.

I hope you join in the fun; I would love to see photos of my followers' dresses; I love wedding dresses...next week is "Show Us Your Wedding Party and Flowers".

Living in Harmony

I love it when my kids play together, and all get along (Mason excluded; he always gets along with them).

I love it when Allison lets me put her hair in pig-tails.

I love it that Mason can play on the floor with the kids and they are gentle with him.

I love it when Preston can quietly and calmly play on the floor with the other kids.

I love my kids! (In case you didn't already know that)!

Mason is 5 months old!

Mason, you are 5 months old already!

Let's see what you have been up to lately.

• You weigh around 17 lbs (75%) You weighed 16 lbs and 8 1/2 ounces and were 25 1/2 inches tall at your 4 month check-up a month ago.



• You are still in a size 2 diaper
• You wear mostly size 6 months or 6-9 months clothes; I can still get you into some 3-6 month clothes.
• You are laughing out loud a lot more; and are very ticklish.
• You are trying to get up on your hands and knees now. You want to crawl so bad. You mostly roll around the floor and even "army crawl" a little. You are going to be moving any time now.
• You are now sleeping in your crib every night now. You sleep from about 8:30-9:00 pm until about 6:00 am every day. Sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night, but usually fall right back to sleep once we pop your pacifier back in. You're even starting to put it back in by yourself, which is why we put 3 around your head at night. But, you are not eating in the middle of the night anymore!
• You are still reaching for everything. It's very hard to eat or drink anything with you on our laps; you want it, no matter what it is.


• Your eyes are still a dark blue and are just beautiful. I think you are going to keep them forever!
• Your hair has gotten a lot thinner, even more from last month. It's still long on top and at the very back. It looks like the hair growing in it's place is a lot lighter; you may end up being blonde!
• You are a great baby; you are so happy all of the time.
• You still don't like anyone but mommy or daddy to hold you; you get really upset if someone else tries to hold you.
• You really love your exersaucer. You will play in there for awhile before getting bored; we've even had to move it up since you can stand straight up in it, it's on the second level now.



• You love going for walks and love to sit facing out in your stroller. You never make a sound when you're in there, just look around.
• You're making lots of noises and sometimes it sounds more like words. We swear you've said "hi" already.
• You are still only getting breastmilk, whether it's in a bottle or nursing, except one jar of stage 1 baby food each evening. You are a GOOD eater! You love anything sweet; sweet potatoes, sweet carrots, sweet peas, applesauce, bananas, pears. You don't like green beans much, but I tried them, too; they don't taste good. We did buy you some stage 2 foods, but haven't tried them yet.
• You love to put your hands and everything else in your mouth; so I bought you some biter biscuits this week and you loved the one we gave you to keep you happy the other night. It made a huge mess, but you enjoyed it so.


• You are still growing way too fast. :-)
• You make everyone in our family so happy; we love you so much!
  

Help me help others

I've been following Adrienne's blog at "Our Journey of Love" for quite some time. Adrienne and her husband, Jim, have been through many tough years of failed attempts at trying to carry a biological baby full-term. During this process, they have adopted sweet Owen from Russia and have also, most recently, had two failed attempts at domestic adoption.

But, they have found their "Lily" and are working to adopt her from South Korea. They need our help.

International adoption is very expensive and Adrienne and Jim are trying to raise enough money to help with some of the expenses.

This is where we come in.

I will be donating 10% of all proceeds from my Avon sales from now until July 31st to the "Bring Lily Home" fund.

You can check out the current catalog at my Avon website at www.youravon.com/michelemerritt. But, you have to email me your order at merrittm422@aol.com and mention Lily's name so I can keep track and donate. I will ship all items at my cost.

There you have it; a great way to get a great product at a great price and help someone else, which will make you feel even better. It's a win-win situation..what are you waiting for?

Mom Survey - Random Thoughts!

Does it make me a bad mom because I've never been away from my children overnight (except when I was in the hospital having another baby)?

My brother-in-law and his wife left their 11 year old while they went to Florida. Yes, I understand he's 11, and he's joining them half way through, but they leave him a lot, for long periods of time, with different people while they go on vacation, or out of town for work or a couples retreat with their church, etc. I panic every time I think of being away from my kids. I know there is going to come some point where I have to let them go and spend the night away, but NOT until they ask will I ever consider it. So, am I just being over-protective and psychotic? I mean, really, no one is ever going to take care of my kids, or keep an eye on them like I do, and what if something happens to them while they are gone? I would never forgive myself or anyone else; I don't even want to think about it.

Ok, so I need to know...how old was your child the first time they spent the night away? I need some reassurance here, ladies!

Thankful Thursday!

Well, I haven't done this in a couple of weeks, and it's the easiest way to get a blog posting in.

Today I'm very thankful that my husband is on his way home from PA and is DONE with that job. This means he will stay in town, for a few weeks anyhow, and work. Yay!

I'm thankful that my kids have been so good through this past month of daddy only being home 2-3 days a week. Yes, they've still argued a bit and gotten into trouble, but, for the most part, have been wonderful and listened AND, eaten the food that mommy cooked, since I'm not the usual chef in our house.

I'm thankful that my kids are enjoying their summer thus far and am looking forward to doing something fun with them in the upcoming weeks when daddy is home.

I'm thankful that through 6 weeks of Weight Watcher's I have seen results. I have now officially lost 12.6 pounds thus far and am continuing strong on my weight loss journey. This is giving me the motivation to keep going!

I'm thankful that my mom came and stayed with me one night a couple of weeks ago and helped me make my curtains for my dining room. After 3 years, I finally found something for that window (and wall)...even if I did have to make it myself.

And, as usual, but not less important, I am very, very thankful that my family is healthy and happy. There have been a lot of stories of sick kids or people passing away and I am forever grateful for every day I have to spend with my family.

There you have it, my quick, yet important, Thursday post for this week.

What are you most thankful for today?

Proud Mama!

Sunday, we had a surprise baby shower for my friend, and co-worker, Melissa. Of course I had to take all three kids because David left for PA early and I sure didn't want to miss the baby shower.

Earlier in the day, Allison and Preston were acting like crazy kids and being out of control. I was afraid they would act crazy when we went to the shower and embarrass me. I ended up yelling at them and sending them to their room about an hour before we had to leave...just to get some peace and quiet and maybe, just maybe, get them to settle down.

Well, the time came to leave and I told them to get ready, go potty and we were leaving. Allison wanted to wear a dress, of course, and Preston wanted to wear "handsome" clothes. So, they got ready, did everything I told them to and off we went to the shower.

I wasn't quite sure where I was going, I had "map quested" the address, and was able to drive there without the kids making me totally frazzled; they were pretty tame at this point. We got to the shower and got settled in before Melissa arrived, which is a true accomplishment, being [temporarily] single with 3 kids.


Let me just say that my kids, all three of them, were SO good. Allison and Preston used their manners, were cute, funny and lovable the entire time. They ate all the food they took and Preston played with the other kids beautifully. Mason, even though he didn't want anyone but me to hold him, was good (as usual) and quiet.

They made me look like such a good mom and made me so proud! I even thanked them afterwards for behaving so wonderfully; I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Sometimes they just surprise the heck out of me and do exactly as I dream they would. I'm so lucky!

AVON Calling...

So, I took the plunge...I am now selling AVON!

It's something I've thought about for awhile and not only because AVON has great products, but I can get the discount and hopefully earn some extra money. AVON is less expensive than a lot of the products out there and again, they have great products; not only make-up and skin care, but clothes, shoes, home products and fabulous kid items. So, it's a win-win situation all around.

You can check out my website at www.youravon.com/michelemerritt

You can even order from my website AND have your purchase shipped directly to your home. How cool is that?

You should really check out the current book; there are some awesome sales (Buy one Get one free)! Who doesn't like something free?

Keep checking back; I am going to be having a fun giveaway with purchase in a few weeks... again, who doesn't like free stuff?

Side note, I want to make a button for my side-bar to link right to my AVON web page. Does anyone know how to do that who can walk me through it? I'd really appreciate it...and who knows, there may be something in it for you!

Now, go shopping!!

Why are Mondays so long?

But...what is better than coming home after a long Monday back at work?

Yep, coming home to happy, healthy (and beautiful) children; not that I'm biased or anything...

Mommy Confessions: I've created monsters

It’s time to confess again! As moms we all have something we want to get off our chests and as such The Mommy Confessions have been created? Do you have a confession, well go ahead and get it of your chest then head over to Life Starring Ellie and Eve to see what other mommy's are confessing.

So, my mommy confession for this week?


I have created monsters.


What does that mean you ask? Well, Allison and Preston love to play board games. They each get a new one every Christmas and sometimes for their birthdays. We have tons, from Chutes and Ladders to Guess Who. We also have many different card games from UNO to Go Fish. Through the years, I have occasionally been known (but not by the kids) to "miscount" so that I land on a chute rather than a ladder or "forget" to take my $2.00 for passing GO on Jr. Monopoly, just so the kids can win a time or two. Ok, well, I don't cheat all the time, just sometimes....maybe when I want the game to be done or want to give the kids a chance to catch up or get way ahead.

Well, when I don't cheat to lose and accidentally win, my kids throw huge temper tantrums. I'm trying to teach them to be a graceful loser and not a spoiled sport, but it's too late; they've already turned into the kicking-screaming-crying-refusing to clean up the game-monster that comes out when a child this age loses an ever so important board game against poor old mom.


I just want to say to them "Well, geez, act your age, would you"!