Pre-Historic Valentine

Jackson will exchange valentines with his preschool classmates this Thursday. He's really going through a dinosaur-loving phase, so I was happy to find a box of dinosaur valentines at Target.

Last night's bunco party was Valentine's Day themed and we were all supposed to bring valentines to exchange. Well, let's just say I was done with overachieving after Annabeth's birthday party and the V-Day baking extravaganza. So I grabbed 11 cards out of Jackson's dinosaur box to take with me.

I learned in 5th grade that you should always, always, always go through the cards and make sure none of them says something embarrassing. That year I accidentally and randomly gave the boy I liked a Snoopy card that said, "I want to kiss you, Valentine." Horror.

So I was going through the cards and I found this one.



Okaaaay. No soup for you, prehistoric valentine card! Okay for four-year-olds, not okay for grown women.

The first thing we did at bunco was decorate bags to hold all our valentines. Then everyone started filling them with adorable handmade valentines, heart-shaped brownies, and homemade cookies. I would have felt insecure about my little dinosaur cards but the mental energy I usually devote to succeeding! had been sucked dry along with my ability to care-slash-obsess!

Anywho, this morning Jackson and I had a wonderful moment on the couch together before he went to school. He snuggled next to me and we watched a few minutes of Dinosaur Train on TV. Just before walking out the door, he said with such love and wonder, "When Bibby and Mommy were babies, did they see dinosaurs?"

You cannot make this stuff up, people.

Ronel, V-Day Baking, Monster Jam, and the Super Bowl

The last week has been a whirlwind. Truly. If you saw the state of my home right now you'd know I'm telling the truth.

After Annabeth's party on Wednesday, we went to church. We always eat dinner up there and hang out with friends until Curtis' Bible study starts. If you're in the area and want to come, Midlink lasts from 7-8 in the Garden Room at HFBC. Curtis is teaching out of 1 John. My favorite thing about it is that the group consists of all ages. It makes me really proud of my man when I think of that. Is it okay for me to say that?

On Thursday Jackson went to school and Annabeth and I hung out at home and enjoyed having nothing to do. However, BIG HUGE THINGS were happening with Debra's family. Long story short (and I hope you already know about this because you're already following her), Ernest and Ronel made it home from Haiti (after a stop in Florida) that night! Praise the Lord! Some friends and I hopped in the car together and went to the airport for the welcome party. I made a sign out of the top of Annabeth's cake box. Ha! Getting to witness Ronel's arrival with his Hero Papa was one of the most awesome things I've ever seen. When they came down the escalator into baggage claim, Ronel had a huge smile across his face. It was beautiful. Everyone cheered at first, then it got very quiet because I think everyone was emotional. Debra has a lot of pictures and some video on her blog. If you're reading this late, go back to her February 2010 archives. God has written an incredible love story for the Parker family.

On Friday we chilled at home and I spent hours working on the birthday party post. Notice I have not posted anything about Christmas and it's because it takes for-stinking-ever to do picture posts. It's just hard when I have an almost-four-year-old who wants something every 15 minutes or less and a baby-now-toddler who needs me for, well, everything. I hope that explains my recent lack of pictures. Pitiful.

On Friday night we went to this restaurant called BerryHill for dinner. I'm suddenly taken with fish tacos and they have great ones. There was a guy playing the guitar and singing, which made our little family dinner extra fun.

Saturday was crazy but a blast. My friend Missy hosted a Valentine's Baking Party at her house. I will refrain from describing it so that you will just go to her blog and see it for yourself. As I've said before, everyone needs a friend like Missy. I'm sure I've gained 5 pounds since that day.

On Saturday night we met Kristy and her family at DoubleDave's and enjoyed some pizza rolls. Jerrell and Jayk met us a little later and we all caravanned over to Reliant Arena for...drum roll please...MONSTER JAM! Somehow we ended up being late even though we had aimed to get there super early. I cannot explain how this happened but I'm sure it was my fault. We were walking in the gates when the trucks came roaring to life from outside and sped in to the arena. I hated that we missed seeing it from our seats, but that was cool, too. Annabeth came with us and she was a champ. The Sister is no sissy. She wasn't bothered by the loud noise as I expected. She got sick of her headphones and then got cranky from being tired, but I was shocked that she lasted as long as she did. Curtis told Annabeth that she fit in at Monster Jam with her mullet. Rude, rude, rude! We are trying our best to persevere through an awkward hair phase. I forgot my camera that night but it would have basically looked the same as last year. I did take this with my phone.



It was a late night and I almost couldn't get myself out of bed for church. I skipped having my tea and deeply regretted it all day, especially when I nearly went into REM sleep during the offertory prayer. We had a quick lunch with my mom, then went to home to our beds. After our naps we were ready to join the land of the living. That's when we went to Heather's house to watch the Super Bowl. She and her hubby spoiled us with fajitas from Pappasito's, some amazing desserts, and a corn dip that I will dream about for the next week. We had the world's best time.

I have a lot on my plate today. I need to pick up the house, go to the store, work, wash my hair, and plan Jackson's birthday party. And if I survive all that, I'll go to bunco tonight. Which brings me to this question: Why am I on the computer?

Happy Monday.

And happy birthday to my beautiful sister-in-law Lindsay! I love you, my dear!

Annabeth is One!

I'm having one of those mornings. Annabeth is determined not to take a nap for the second day in a row. I forgot that the pest control man was coming this morning and when he arrived, we were all in our pajamas and the house was a mess. We still have all the party decorations up and it must have looked like a freak show. Jackson and I both woke up feeling very strong-willed. Earlier I told him to go play with his trains and he looked at me and yelled "FINE!" Is there a space in the baby book for that?

Thankfully, today is no reflection on how wonderful Annabeth's birthday was!

As I was driving to the church for Bible study on Tuesday afternoon, I passed my OB's office and realized that at that exact moment a year ago, I was getting the news that I was in the early stages of labor and that my baby would be coming soon. That was such a great moment to relive. I had been so happily shocked.

I came home from Bible study pretty late and began getting the house set up for Annabeth's party. Right after midnight I went up to her room and plucked the sleeping princess out of her crib. We spent the next few minutes snuggling in her soft pink rocking chair as I whispered my happy birthday wishes. She slept right through it.

The next morning, Curtis, Jackson and I went into Annabeth's room together to get her up for the day. Jackson ran in and yelled, "It's your birfday, Annabeff! It's your birfday!" He was so excited for her. We sang and clapped and she loved it.









Then we took some quick pictures with the Big Pink Bear. I was still half asleep and didn't notice that her shirt was wonky. My bad.



I told her to give the bear a kiss.





Twelve months later, she gets out of the chair herself. It's boggles my mind how much they change in a year!



The rest of the morning was spent getting ready for her little party. All of Annabeth's LPM aunties were coming over at noon to celebrate with us. In hindsight, I should have cooked the night before, but I was too tired after Bible study. Mom and Nancy came over early to help. I would not have been ready on time if they hadn't come! In the midst of the pre-party choas, Nancy asked me what time Annabeth was born. I answered 11:38 and looked at my watch. Unbelievably, it was 11:38 right at that moment! We all stopped and I got to give Annabeth some kisses and take it in.

"The Village," as we like to call ourselves, arrived at noon and the fun began. We had enchiladas and a great salad that my mom made. I served sparkling blackberry and sparkling pomegranate Izze's because they went with my color scheme. Then we had birthday cake and frozen cappuccino punch and opened presents. I'll let the pictures fill in the rest of the details.

Memaw brought a present for the big brother, too. So thoughtful!



Annabeth with Auntie Nancy. This was before she rejected her bow.



Memaw, me, Mom, and Annabeth - four generations of "Moore" girls.



Mom making her salad.



Very little evidence exists that I know how to use my oven, but here you go.





Auntie Kimberly McMahon/KMac helping me with the punch.



My grandma let me borrow her beautiful punch bowl and that gave me so much joy.



I imagined this looking cuter. The water bottles ruined it.







Auntie Kimberly Meyer showing the candy bracelet napkin rings.







Curtis and I simultaneously spilled our red drinks all over the table cloth. I nearly died but it just beaded up instead of soaking in! We just wiped it away! Is that not crazy?





My handsome man.



Kristy, KMac, Jenn, and Michelle.



Linda, Sabrina, Susan, Memaw, Nancy, and Kimberly



Annabeth with Auntie Sabrina





Second only to the guest of honor - the cake!



Bring it on, people!





Contrary to how this looks, she could not reach the candle.



Annabeth loves to throw her head back.



Warming up to it.



Meanwhile, Jackson was downing a piece.



Mom and Nancy did such a good job slicing it. The first few pieces were as big as our heads, but at least they were generous.



I put a photo book of Annabeth's first year in my office for everyone to see. Curtis gave it to me for Christmas.



Icing's pretty good, y'all!





Making very good progress on the smash cake.



The invitation specifically said, "No gifts please," but do you think anyone listened? I told them they were lucky they didn't have to sit on the time out step. Annabeth was blessed with some adorable spring outfits from her aunties and a few little toys, which we will definitely enjoy.



She was very interested in what she was getting.



Annabeth wanted to share some cake with KMac.



Auntie Michelle, Mom, Nancy, and AB.



Playing with some new toys after the party was over.



These are the beautiful roses that Aunt Melissa and Uncle Colin sent. Her dress was actually their Christmas present to her. We missed them but they were with us in presents if not presence!



These things were so fun! I would have left them up for days but they started falling down that night.



I'm not sure we'll ever be able to eat all of these.



The perfect use for a silver bowl, don't you think?



These little pennants came with the banners that I ordered from Love September.





The banners say, "Happy Birthday Annabeth." I love them and plan on hanging them up every year.



This was right before the birthday nap. She had a hard time falling asleep after all that sugar.



The night before her first birthday I finally got the nursery like I wanted it. So here are some pictures.



Mandy Moody made the adorable canvas letters. (She can be reached at mandymoodyart@gmail.com.)





Happy birthday, sweet Annabeth! The last twelve months have been amazing. I love you so much!

Frozen Cappuccino Punch
(Thank you Annalee!)

1/2 C sugar
1/4 C instant coffee granules
1 C boiling water
8 C milk
1 qt vanilla ice cream, softened
1 qt chocolate ice cream, softened

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and coffee. Stir in boiling water until dissolved. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Just before serving, pour coffee mixture into a 1 gallon punch bowl. Stir in milk. Add scoops of ice cream. Stir until melted.

Birthday Week is Here

The birthday week is here. Annabeth is turning one on Wednesday. Can you believe it? My memories of sitting on this couch and feeling her move around in my tummy are still so fresh. All weekend I've been playing the "What was I doing one year ago?" game. (One year ago VVPG was at Monster Jam because of her very great love for her son.)

I was a bad blogger last week and I need a little warm up post to get ready for this one. So all I know to do right now is a weekend recap.

Friday:
We had dinner with a really neat couple from our church, My-An and Kevin. Our kids are very close in age and they played great together. I found out My-An potty trained each of her three kids before age two. I'm so inspired! Maybe I'll get brave and try that with Annabeth. Kevin and I realized we had gone to high school together. Curtis was then treated to seeing his wife's ninth grade yearbook picture.

Saturday:
Annabeth slept late, so I didn't wake up until 8:20. PTL! If you had told me 10 years ago that one day 8:20 would be "sleeping late," I might not have had kids. They're so worth it though. I woke up to the smell of something cooking and it was my hubby making pancakes! To make a great morning even greater, Mom and I did a little birthday shopping with Annabeth. It started with lunch at Ruggles Cafe, where Annabeth got her own kids meal for the first time. We went to Fleet Feet and Mom got some new walking shoes and I got a pedometer. I can't wait to use it. I didn't run one time last week, so I need to get my rear out of the bed tomorrow and hit the road. AB was having a mini language explosion on Saturday. She started saying "uh oh" and also mimicked me saying "bless you" after she sneezed. Then, to top it all off, as we were checking out at this cute kids boutique I love, she started saying something else. It took us a while to figure it out, but we decided she was trying to say "love you!" I'm sure you can imagine how excited we were. I think she was thanking Bibby for her new birthday frocks. Later we all had dinner at a neighborhood cafe and then Mom took Jackson home for the night. He loved getting to do that.

Sunday:
We had church this morning as usual. It was so great. I really missed my boy and couldn't wait to see him. This afternoon I went to a bridal shower for Heather Sproule. Her mama, AKA Mama Sproule, has worked in the youth ministry at our church for years and years and years. She's an awesome lady. It was fun to get together and love on the Sproule girls. It's so weird to be past the bridal shower stage of life and onto baby showers. Our newlywed years seem like they were in a different lifetime. This evening my mom came over and we went for walk in my neighborhood. It was chilly but so pretty outside.

Before I sign off, please celebrate with me that I still have not had one french fry in 2010. It was hard when we went to James Coney Island today but I prevailed. Thus far the Lord has helped me!

She's Got a Plan

Kristen Howerton has a plan.

Check it out:
http://thehowertons.blogspot.com/2010/01/so-i-see-youre-in-mood.html

I'm joining in on my Twitter account. I'm @lpm_amanda.

Debra linked to this post today, which explains Ronel's situation in detail.

Debra's Update

Debra posted an update yesterday. If there's a new one today I'll link to it here. Keep praying!

Update from E - 1/27

Spasm!

Today I have to do the unthinkable. You know exactly where I'm going with this - all the way to Walmart. With both my kids. Help me, Jesus! I mentioned my dreadful errand to Curtis and he told me he does it all the time and it's no big deal. He's such a warrior.

Why am I going to Walmart? That's a very good question. Well, the hair dryer that I bought about six months ago is already kaput. I need a new one along with a bunch of groceries, so there you have it. Target cannot help me today. My hair has looked disgusting for the last week - just in time for the SSMTC and all the pictures that were taken! I finally realized it's because my hair dryer wasn't blowing hard enough and it was also getting too hot. The result has been a greasy, unsightly mess on my scalp. I'm apologize to those of you who've had to see it.

It's Curt's fault that my hair appliances have such a short lifespan. He has this habit of laying the hair dryer next to his legs and running it on low for hours on end to warm himself. I've tried so hard to change him with no success. The only thing I can do is guard my new hair dryer like a lioness - a fierce, amazing lioness. And when my hair is restored to its rightful condition of big-ness, my mane with be very lion-like.

Now I'm going to transition to a completely new topic. All of a sudden my heart is racing and I feel like I'm going be sick. That's how much I dread talking about this! Or it could be the shrimp pasta I ate from Red Lobster last night. The sauce was very buttery - it gets me every time!

The new topic is Facebook. A long time ago I decided that I was going to keep my FB friends limited to people I know in real life. (There are a couple of exceptions and I just need your grace there. This can be complicated.) I share a lot of my life on both of the blogs and I feel at peace with putting a boundary on that.

My sister did not agree with me for long time, but she changed her mind a few months ago and whittled down her friends list. Over the weekend she got a lot of questions about it. This is not something I want to have to address on the other blog, but it kind of needs to be addressed. So I'm hoping that it will help a little bit to mention it here. Melissa and I just need a place to be normal. Our friends get overwhelmed by the attention we get because of who our mom is, and we just need a place where we can be Amanda and Melissa-plain-and-simple. It makes me feel sick to talk about this because it sounds so self-important. Bleh! But I think some people may have their feelings hurt over this and I want to say that we're really sorry and that it isn't personal. Thanks for understanding. Or if you don't understand, thank you for extending grace.

Now that I've said it and I only got sick once, here's one of my favorite movie scenes of all time. Meg Ryan's character has just eaten a bunch of French cheeses.