Is being girlie innate?

So as some of you know, I am not super girlie. I wouldn't call myself a tomboy either but I am not into getting all done up everyday. For my first baby shower I knew I was having a girl but didn't tell people because I didn't want a bunch of light pink stuff. So how is that I have raised GIRLIE GIRLS...yes, that is plural. I have known for some time that BOO is girlie. But recently I am starting to see it more and more in Reese. Here is my latest example..

Lately after her nap and in the morning we place her pacis (a collection of 5) on the dressing. If she asks for them before going to bed she gets to pick one, then we place all of them in the corner of the crib (if you are wondering the point of this is eventually the collection will decrease in size).  Here is the set of pacis:



You notice there is a red, orange, pink, green, and purple one. Well, this is always her choice!



SO GIRLIE

Wordless Wednesday: What do you see when you walk out your front door?

Brady's Blooms

Beppa (Karl's mother) gave the girls an indoor garden as a Christmas present. Okay, well I admit that this gift I think was intended for Reese, but she was more interested in eating the dirt so Brady kinda adopted it :)



The garden pots are made from recycled milk jugs so they are being green while having a green thumb...HOW FUN!!! In February, we were finally settled enough from the move we decided to get gardening. The three seeds included were sunflower, zinnia, and sweet basil. The set also included soil discs that had to be moistened and you had to wait 30 minutes before planting the seeds.

[caption id="attachment_543" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Those 30 minutes seemed to last FOREVER!!! At least in toddler world..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_544" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Oh man, still 17 minutes left to wait!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_545" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="30 minutes is up...time to fluff the soil!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_546" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="The girls favorite part, patting the soil after the seeds were in"][/caption]

 I always wanted to keep the pots at a level where the girls could check to see if any sprouts had come up, but Brady everyday would stick her finger in to "make a hole for the seeds and then cover it up, then pat pat pat". I feared that we would not have any growth at all.

By early March, sure enough we saw tiny sprouts on the Zinnia plants!





The sun didn't come enough through the window by kitchen table so we moved them to the window in Brady's room (the front of the house). The plants TOOK OFF!!! Brady got to water them every other day, which she throughly enjoyed doing.



So by mid-April, they were too big for their pots and needed to be replanted. However, we still hadn't seen any blooms on the two flowering plants. We did take advantage of using fresh basil in recipes! So we planted the three plants near the front entrance of our house (and near the automatic sprinkler).



 

 

[caption id="attachment_553" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="BOO felt the need to take pictures as well. Here is the view from inside the house..."][/caption]

Well, we have been keeping an eye on our garden. Brady waters it when she plays in her "pool." But recently we WE GOT A BLOOM!!! And three more are on the way...YAH! Thank you Beppa for such an fun, green and educational gift!

Wordless "I don't want to type but I know you guys wants a post" DAY: Reese's back curls are hanging!!!

Tidbits of our trip...

There is no way to detail all the wonderful moments the girls and I had on our trip up north, we visited lots of wonderful people, and had lots of great memories, so I will give a list of tidbits for you to enjoy... (with a few visuals)

• It's a small world: Jeff, our new neighbor and dear friend, his parents run a B&B at the college that Jamie , my good friend from college's husband, attended for undergrad. They allowed the girls to stay there on the way up and the way down...Jeff's parents were very gracious and it was a perfect halfway point.

• We ate Chick-fil-a ummmmm I think 5-6 times, including the original one in Atlanta, GA. THEY SERVE BEEF THERE!!!! It is called the "Dwarf House".

• Brady got to play with Uncle Jason's iPad, and knew how to use it right away.

• Brady and Colton picked up right where they left off, Brady pushing Colton around in his car...And on a very sweet side note. In Colton's prayer, the night we were there he said "Thank you God for Brady come home"...tears

• Reese and Shelby got to finally play side by side upright ;) Yeah for Shelby standing! Reese loves to play with kids her same age.

• Ainsley and Brady do an excellent job at picking out hats for Shelby...

• Reese is  Caddy's girl!

• Reese and Brady love their horse and Radegy Ann doll they got from Uncle Joe, Beppa and GP.

• I had the opportunity to meet three new babies, all three VERY sweet and VERY gorgeous! Congrats to Tara and Melisa!!! However,  I did learn, as much as I want a third baby right now, Reese is very happy being the baby in the family ;) this our plans are to stick to being a family of four (for now).

I am so glad I was able to make this trip, I miss all my family and friends back in NC and VA. I wish that I could have spent more time with everyone, and gotten to visit with more people who I was unable to see. Hopefully I will be able to make another trip this year...who knows though, too much to think about,  I am still worn out from all that driving!!!!

Wordless Wednesday: When you have one set of hands, and two eager toddlers...

DEECO turns 20!

I recently traveled to NC for DEECO's 20th anniversary/birthday! For those of you who don't know, this is the business that my father started from scratch, back in 1990, after working in environmental industry for 20+ previous years.  The company does stack sampling. All five of us DeWees family members have worked for the company, my sister and I in the summers as teenagers, my brother for 17 years, my mom still does. So as you can tell, there is a lot invested into the company, and we are all very proud of this 20 year milestone. 

The company celebrated with a dinner for the employees at the Chop House by the RDU airport. The food there was WONDERFUL!!! My steak was so tender (I had to rush through it though, because I had a grumpy toddler). The best part of the place though was that is was next to an empty lot, which presented a backdrop for great pictures of the girls and me. 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_495" align="alignnone" width="717" caption="This picture was taken by Brady"][/caption]

Also, my sister, Daniel and I worked on a "birthday" cake for the celebration. We made the logo 3D of sorts. Andi really did most of the work, but we were there to support her. She is SO SO SO amazing what she can do with cakes, especially since this is just a hobby she has just picked up on her own and just reads on the internet how to do everything. 

 

Also, all the employees got bonuses and one lucky employee won $2000 towards a family vacation! So the company also gave "birthday" gifts to all the children in attendance as well. Here are the gifts that Reese and Brady received: 

[caption id="attachment_502" align="alignnone" width="717" caption="Elmo Live!"][/caption]

  

 

It was a nice evening to celebrate this significant milestone...CONGRATS DEECO!!!

Just to hold you over...

I have lots to tell you about my recent trip up to NC and VA. But I am still trying to settle back into FL. So here is a mini post to hold you over while I work on blogging all the details of my trip.

When you are in the back of the house, using the restroom and your kids are out and about playing, then you all of a sudden hear a male voice, don't be alarmed, like I was...



It is just your 16 month old figuring out how to turn on the TV so that she can watch a little bit of the Today show...thats all!

Taking a break...

I am going out of town, and thus the blog will be taking a break.  My father's business, DEECO Inc., is turning 20, so I am going up to celebrate!!! I will update you on all my fun adventures when I get home towards the end of this month. Check back in a couple of weeks...

I will leave you with something to ponder however. Last night, the jingle from oh like 15 years ago came to my head..."Who wears short shorts, dare to wear short shorts, nair to wear short shorts...". Thanks to my sister for giving me the last line. Karl and I were debating whether it was a panty hose commercial or a razor commercial and Andi settled the debate by filling the the third line...

Now, for the next week and a half, everytime a commercial jingle from the past comes up, post it and so all of us can get it stuck in our heads..."You run, you jump, you slide, you hit the bump and take a dive...." Remember that one? okay your turn!

My number one pet peeve...

is when people throw their cigarette butts out the windows or on the ground in general! I feel like the people think they aren't littering or something. It drives me absolutely insane when people do that. I think to myself, would that same person ball up paper and throw it out the window, because by the time they have thrown like 5 cigarette butts out the window, they might as well have thrown a full sheet of paper out the window.

My sister and I used to say in high school (yes, this has been my pet peeve for at least 10 years) that we wanted to clean up all butts and keep them in the our trunks. When we saw someone throw one out we would follow them to their house and then dump like 4 garbage bags full of butts in their yards. Needless to say, this was only a dream that we knew better than to fulfill.

But here is the thing about my pet peeve... it makes me dislike a smoker in general, whether or not I know if that person litters. I just assume when I see a smoker that they litter too. Therefore,  I have stereotyped smokers as litterers! Thus, I tend not to like smokers! Which is against my morals to be prejudice.  What a catch 22...

Aren't you glad I gave you a glimpse inside my head today ;)

"We are good sisters"

We recently have started letting Reese brush her teeth on her stool that Santa brought her. She loves standing next to her sister and being big girl. FYI: previously, we would brush her teeth in her room since we don't use paste, and she doesn't 'spit' yet.



Well, this morning when I had the girls' in there brushing their teeth, I was letting them both have their turns after I had taken my turn. I was singing one of my many made teethbrushing  jingles. But they both kept brushing and smile at each other's image in the mirror. That is when Brady looked at me and said "we are good sisters!"

Oh, how I love being the mother of these wonderful little girls! They make each and every day special!!!

Pensacola's 2010 Wiener Dog Race Champion is...

DEWY!!!!



Our neighbors, Jeff and Danielle, who also own two wiener dogs, told us this morning about the race that was just down the street from our houses.  Karl and I have always wanted to go to one of these but have always read about them in the newspaper after they happened. We were so excited to have the chance to go today!!!

[caption id="attachment_459" align="alignnone" width="717" caption="The girls eating "fruit on a stick" we got by donating to the Dachshund Rescue"][/caption]

There were three weight classes 1-9 pounds, 10-15 pounds, and 16+ pounds. Cricket, our neighbors puppy, raced in the feather weights. Dewy was in the welter weight group. Pace was our heavy weight. Cody, our neighbors other dog,  chose to be a cheerleader and steal hot dogs from unsuspecting 12-year-old girls instead.

Cricket and Pace, got confused and neither made more than 5 feet from the start line. But we are proud of them. Pace didn't like all the heat and this is where he choose to hang out while he waited for all of Dewy's races.



About 50-60 dogs, raced Dewy's weight class. And after a "trail round" with Pace, Karl and I brainstormed how to make Dewy get to the finish line. So Karl walked with me to the start line and squeaked the toy all the way as he took his position to catch Dewy at the other end. Dewy was bucking trying to get out of my arms to that toy. Dewy won his first heat, and got to race another heat among the wiener winners... and guess who won the second heat of wiener winners....DEWY...he is the CHAMPION!!!!

[caption id="attachment_463" align="alignnone" width="768" caption="Dewy at the finish line!!!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_465" align="alignnone" width="768" caption="Brady wearing one of the prizes Dewy won!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_466" align="alignnone" width="768" caption="Reese holding another prize Dewy won, a reusable bag that stores in a strawberry pouch"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_462" align="alignnone" width="768" caption="Reese giving away hugs to Ms. Danielle"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_469" align="alignnone" width="768" caption="The board showing Dewy won the second heat!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_467" align="alignnone" width="768" caption="A friend Reese made while pretending to nap on the grass"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_470" align="alignnone" width="768" caption="The Champion on his way home to get some R&R"][/caption]