Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Well, I had this super cute post planned out complete with pictures from Dad's birthday dinner and a nice graduation photo of him, but my blog hates me this morning and refused to load them. Also, my coffee maker decided to quit working this morning.

Don't worry, with a few threats and emptying out it's water container, it came around and now I can enjoy my delicious coffee again.

Anyway, back to original thought, my Dad is turning 60 today. I cannot believe it. I'm sure he can't either. Sarah and I thought it would be awesome to help him not feel 60 and bring him into the age of iPod. He has been working out lately(super-proud of you,Dad! Way to go!) and we thought he might like some tunes to listen to. But, you CANNOT reach a milestone birthday such a this one without receiving a few gag gifts. A 2 foot long remote control, and eye glass repair kit, a rubix cube, and my personal favorite, which is a huge family joke, applesauce and vasoline.

Dad, we love you. I am so glad you are here to celebrate your 60th birthday( You gave me quite a scare back in September and would appreciate it if you would refrain from doing that again.). I hope for many more. You are an amazing man and I couldn't be happier or more proud that you are my father.

Happy Birthday, BoomPa!

Not Me Monday-Stellan Style

I don't know if any of you have kept up with MckMama and her baby Stellan, but he is not doing well. He has been in the PICU for a week now with SVT's(Supra Ventricular Tachycardia) and they cannot break him out for extended periods of time. I think the most that he has had a normal sinus rythym is about 45 minutes. So, since MckMama is the founder of Not Me! Monday, a bunch of the readers have decided to do their Not Me! Monday posts in honor of Baby Stellan.

I certainly have not spent an entire week praying for baby Stellan. My heart has not hurt every time she posts about how well is not doing. I have not applauded her faith in God and how calm and in control she seems to be most of the time. I also have not held both of my baby girls and prayed with them over baby Stellan and thanked God for their health. Most of all, I did not tear up when I got the news that one of my best friends was FINALLY bringing her baby boy into the world last night, while another internet friend was fighting for the life of hers. And last of all, my husband certainly did not quote her latest blog and I looked at him and asked where he had heard that, and his reply was, "Baby Stellan, of course!".

MckMama, we are praying for your family. I do not have any answers or much advice, but, we are praying.

Random thoughts from one sleep-deprived girl

I think I may have overexerted myself in the "tasks you can realistically handle". I feel like I haven't stopped moving since last Tuesday... oh wait, I haven't. Since we have gotten back from South Carolina I have made two trips to Huntsville, two trips to Birmingham, and one trip to Decatur. Plus, Dad's 60th Birthday is next week and I have been planning for that. And my favorite sister-in-law-to-be had a birthday on Wednesday, and we had to celebrate with "cake and Paaarrt-ee", as Addison calls it. I am also working on videos of the girls and pictures to send back with my Aunt to Texas for my Grandmother who hasn't seen Addison in over a year and never met Claire. I wouldn't want her to miss any of Addison's Medusa hair, tantrums, or gymnastic moves. I will say that Addison's tantrums have been much better lately. I think her temporary hearing losses are getting much better.

Knock on wood.

I mean, I haven't even had a chance to watch Twilight and it came out last Friday night!! I think that says it all. I have been too busy to watch my favorite obsession or monogram OR make any clothes or hair bows for my children OR obsessively clean my kitchen. It's as if aliens have abducted my real self and replaced me with a sleep-deprived non-overachiever.

I think tonight we are going to see if Claire will sleep part of the night in her bed. She is doing really well in there for naps, and honestly, I need my side of the bed back. She is turning into a scooter and sleeps at a diagonal. I think she is taking after her sister in the bad sleeping buddy department.

Addison is doing okay with the potty training. She refuses to go number two in the pink potty. Bribes of ice cream and 2 M&M's don't even work. She wants to wear the Princess panties, but will pitch a fit when I make her go on the pink potty but almost always tee-tees. I just don't know where she gets this stubbornness from. Yesterday, she had the grand idea of jumping on her bed in her Princess panties.

Apparently, she had a full bladder.

I am still washing all of her bedding.

Anyway, I guess I should end the random ramblings. I don't even think that they are making sense to me anymore. I apologize for that.

It's Party Time!

Alright, since I am somewhat new to blogging, I ran across this Ultimate Blog Party button on someone's page, and since I am a curious cat, I decided to check it out. WHOA! It is a party for bloggers and non-bloggers to win prizes(awesome! who doesn't love prizes?) and meet other bloggers! That sounds right up my alley! So, let me introduce myself... I am Rachel and my husband's name is John, he has recently started a blog, but it is not family-friendly, and it ALL about his obsession-Alabama football, you can check it out here. We have two amazing little redheaded girls, Addison(2 and a half) and Claire(10 weeks). They keep up busy and on our toes! I love to make clothes for the girls, with matching hair bows, and am trying my hand at photography. I am turning 25 next month, and honestly, am having a hard time with it and I don't know why. I feel like a little kid pretending to be an adult. I work part-time at a pain center fitting patients for back and neck stimulators(awesome products!!) and am blessed to stay at home with the girls the rest of the time. My life tends to lean on the crazy side, but I wouldn't change it. I am SUPER organized, but lately, my house has been lacking it's cleanliness and normal organization, and it's driving me CRAZY!
I would love win any prize, but I really liked 4,15,30,52,62,71,77,88,118,125,132- in no particular order. Please feel free to poke around and leave a comment! I am always interested in meeting new people! If you'd like to check out the Ultimate Blog Party, click the button on the left side.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Happy Monday, everyone!! Let's start the week off with right with a Not Me! Monday. As you know, we went to South Carolina this week, therefore, most of my mommy mishaps involve our trip.

I certainly did not get asked by the guy running the x-ray machine at the Birmingham airport what my breast pump was and he certainly did not look thoroughly disgusted! And I would never pump breast milk on an airplane while waiting to taxi down the runway. NOT ME! Also, the man across the aisle did not stare at me the whole time, either. Sunday night, I certainly did not pump breast milk while driving down the interstate.( Are we seeing a pattern with my Not Me! Monday?)

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Monday!

We have a new addition to our family...

Our trip to South Carolina started off with a bang! Literally. We purchased our first gun before we went to the airport. Because, you know, that's how we roll. We got to the airport in plenty of time, unlike our New York trip, and of course, our flight was delayed because of fog in Atlanta. I absolutely HATE the Atlanta airport. Why does an airport need a subway to get you do a different concourse? I think it means your airport is too big. Anyway, we landed in Atlanta about the time our next flight was scheduled to leave and were very close to running to our gate, but we figured it was probably delayed a little as well. Our flight was scheduled to leave a 1:50 and we arrived at our gate to find it was delayed but it was due to a printer error and once they got the printer fixed, they could print our paperwork and we would board our plane. So, we were thinking, 2:30.

2:30 came and went and no info on our flight. We waited and waited and waited some more. At this point, I am needing to pump some breast milk. So, John asks if there is any news. They say it could be ANY! MINUTE! NOW! and not to leave the gate because we could be boarding the plane soon. Umm.. okay. Hopefully, my breasts won't explode. Did I mention that our gate area was so full, there were no seats and we were literally standing around? Around 3:30 the pilot of our plane comes up to the desk and asks those extremely helpful attendants if there is any new info. They pretty much ignored him too. There was a man who looked like he could snap your neck with his thumb that asked the pilot what was up, turns out, Com Air or whoever runs the planes(I'm not sure how all this works, by the way) has had a computer crash and that is why nothing is printing. Riiight... what happened to a printer error? FINALLY at 6:00 the paperwork comes through and we are able to board our plane.( Guess who STILL hasn't pumped??)

We got to Greenville 4 hours late. A cool thing happened, though. There were some Marines coming back from their tour on our airplane and we were leaving the airport at the same time, they had a welcoming committee of about 7 or 8 Harley's flying American and USMC flags that caravanned around the vehicles the Marines were in. It was pretty cool and made me feel quite patriotic.

We ate a wonderful dinner at the hotel. As well as a wonderful breakfast. BMW puts you up and feeds you when you do a Performance Center delivery. All you have to pay for is getting to Greenville. We spent two hours driving cars that were similar to ours around the test track. We did panic breaking at 40,45, and 50 mph. After that, we did the slalom course, which I wasn't too great at, but it was a lot of fun. You have to steer through a series of cones all while maintaining a certain speed. Then, we did my very favorite, the skid track. They turn the sprinklers on a polished concrete track so it is really nice and slippery and tell you to floor it. We were spun all over that track more times than Julianna Hough on Dancing With The Stars. It was AWESOME! After that, we took a tour of the factory and saw the birthplace of our car. It was so amazing to get to see how a car is made. It is so fascinating. I highly recommend going to your nearest car factory and taking a tour. After that we did the X5 course, which is pretty awesome to see what the SAV's can do.

We then ate a fantastic lunch provided by BMW, and did what they call a "hot lap". Our instructor took us out in an M5 and did the entire course at speeds I can only assume to be around 80-115 mph. It was AWESOME! I looked over at him during one of our trips around the skid track and he was steering with his finger tips. We were doing 360's and he looked like he was cruising down the interstate. After I picked my jaw up off the ground and could actually form complete sentences, we took delivery on our car. They schedule about 2 hours to go over everything. They tell you anything and everything you could ever know about your car.

It is the best experience. If anyone is ever going to purchase a BMW I highly recommend taking delivery at the Performance Center. Here are some pictures from our trip.

John and I outside the Performance Center

Hugging the car

Outside the visitor's center/factory

Our new car!!!!!!

I may have an obsession...

It started with just one pair of pants...

...and turned into two matching outfits...

...and multiplied into this!!!

Let's not forget Trixie's bandannas...

A beach towel may have caught it too...

And let's not forget the hair bows...

I may or may not have gone a little cray-cray in the crafting department. What started as a couple of matching outfits for the A-Day game and our trip to the beach multiplied into 5 shirts, 3 dresses and two complete outfits for Addison and 3 shirts, 3 dresses and two complete outfits for Claire. And matching bandannas for Trixie. And monogrammed beach towels for the entire household. If you sit still in the house, you might just get monogrammed. And end up with a matching hair bow. The above picture is only the hair bows I have made in the past 3 or 4 days. I wouldn't want to scare any of you inter webs with the amount of actual hair bows in the house. You might form an intervention and let's face it, I am just not willing to admit a problem. There's nothing wrong with every outfit having a matching bow, is there? Don't answer that. 

Also, I may or may not have some seersucker fabric that may be making an entrance before Easter. I swear, the fabric just cuts itself and jumps into my cart at Hobby Lobby. 

I think my new monogramming machine is the best/worst present ever. Best, because it's awesome! It comes complete with Disney characters pre-programmed in it. Who doesn't want a kissing Mickey and Minnie on their t-shirt?!!? Worst, because John might find himself wearing shirts to work with him name on them. 

You know, in case he forgets it. 

On a completely different note, we are leaving to go to South Carolina to pick up our new car. I am very much in need of a couple of days away from my screaming heathens, oh, I mean, lovely and precious girls. The ones that never scream or cry for no reason and certainly not a little red head that is testing every boundary ever set in the history of this house. I shouldn't even go into that at the moment, because, let's be honest, my mind can't take reliving it. Anyway, back to the car thing, we get to tour the BMW factory and drive on the test tracks and lots of fun stuff. I am REALLY looking forward to some time away. Did I mention that already? 

All We Need Is Some Green Beer And Dancing Leprechauns

Happy St. Patty's Day from The McPhillips' Duo!

P.S. Happy Anniversary BoomPa and GiGi!! We Love You!!

Princess Aurora would've never woken up if she knew she was going to be treated so badly

So, I realize that not everyone is as excited about my child's bathroom habits as me and possibly MeMac, therefore, you might want to stop reading because this post is dedicated entirely to potty training.

We have officially started potty training Addison. About two weeks ago, I thought it was time to stop messing around with it. We weren't being very proactive about the whole thing. The Pull-Ups are just another form of a diaper for us. So, I got out our 4 pack( Laugh now, you mothers that know better) of Princess panties, complete with Princess Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, and Ariel. We had gone through the entire 4 pack by lunchtime. She would scream "NO!!" when I asked if she needed to go to the bathroom and then immediately go in her Princess panties. I even took her to Wal-mart and let her pick out some more Princess panties, because, let's face it, 4 pairs, just ain't cuttin' it. Our underwear selection now branches out to Jazmin and Belle as well as the other Princesses. After a couple of days of constantly washing Princess panties, I realized, maybe she was not really ready.

A couple of nights ago, John just started putting her on the potty before her bath and she goes tee-tee every time. Yesterday morning, she even went poo-poo in her pink potty! YAY!! I was so ecstatic. She ended up going pee-pee in the pink potty 3 times yesterday and poo-poo once. I wish someone would dance around me and give me high-gives and M&M's every time I went to the bathroom in a pink potty. Life would be so much better.

Sometime yesterday afternoon, Addison stopped refusing the Pull-Ups and wanted only to wear her Princess panties again.

Poor Cinderella never saw it coming. Addy went tee-tee all over her, but the good news is, she was able to stop when she realized she was peeing on herself and came and got me to go the pink potty.

She went in the pink potty again this morning and refused the Pull-Up, so I guess we are back to the Princess Panties. I would like to publicly apologize to Jazmin, Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, and Ariel for what my little red-headed daughter is going to do to you in the coming weeks.

I promise, it will wash out.

Claire Bear is 2 Months Old!

Claire had her 2 Month check-up on Thursday. And, honestly, it was an awful experience. Of course we were there for 2 and a half hours, but, the doctor was a flat out jerk. I have always felt like the girls' pediatrician is extremely intelligent and a great doctor, but sometimes he is Jekyll and Hyde(sp?). We had several concerns about Claire. She is extremely fussy, wheezy, snorty, spits- up a lot, has green poopy diapers( I know you wanted to know that, right?), and is not a good nurser in the evenings. Once we finally got back there, we were changing her diaper for her weight check( She weighed 12 lbs 3 oz, by the way) and she had blood in it. I feel like someone should show a little concern about that. He just looked at it under the scope and said," Yep, that's blood" and never really addressed it. Maybe he had already figured it out in his brain that it wasn't anything to be concerned about, but he never felt the need to explain that to us. ( By the way, John went with me, and he is officially un-invited to all doctor's appointments from now own.) I had been researching Claire possibly having a milk protein allergy and he quickly dismissed it. He never gave an explanation for what is going on with Claire, but gave her Prevacid for reflux and is referring us to a GI Specialist. So, who knows. I certainly don't. I am more confused than ever. But, the good news is, she seems to be growing well and gaining weight despite her spitting up all the time. I guess we will keep you posted on any updates we have on Claire.

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A Jack Handy Moment...

I don't really get into "Deep Thoughts" or any soul searching on my blog, but I feel the need to share with all of you internets.(Okay, who am I kidding? I am sharing with MeMac, John, Sarah, and BoomPa and GiGi.) I am apologizing in advance if this gets a little cheesy. There are not many things that bring me absolute pure joy. Sure, my family and husband and children are always at the top of my list.But something about the feeling of accomplishment makes me proud. When people are impressed by any skills that I have.(What can I say, I am a bit of a narcissist.) Skills such as my organizational ability, or making my girls clothes and hair bows or even cooking a great meal and getting to watch people enjoy that. Those are things that I love. It makes me proud to know that I have done something well.

But, nothing makes me more proud than capturing those "special" moments on film for someone. I love being able to capture someone's personality in a photo. For a while I was just happy taking pictures of my own children, but I am starting to feel like that is not enough. I love capturing those moments for other people. I want to be able to share those memories. So, even though I feel like a little kid trapped in a parents body, and I am terrified of failing at it, I am going to follow that dream. I want nothing more than to be able to become a photographer. I have no idea what I am doing other than the fact that I have a great camera and this is what I want. I am going to take some photography classes and take a million pictures and generally, just jump in feet first. Please follow me on this terrifying and exciting new journey in my life.

And So The Lion Fell In Love With The Lamb...

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a slight obsession with the Twilight series. Who am I kidding? It totally takes over my life. If any man ever needed a manual, he should channel Edward Cullen. He is the best there is. I love all the cheesiness of it.

The movie comes out on DVD this month. In fact, it comes out in 16 days. I cannot wait. I can sit and watch Bella and Edward all day long. Just like I used to do with Harry Potter. Harry deserves his own post too. I cannot wait for all of the extended scenes and deleted scenes and interviews with the director. Yay!!! If you haven't read the books, they are fabulous and you should. Just beware, they will take over your life. You will not be able to put them down. And you will wish Edward Cullen were real. Who cares if he is a vampire?

It's Almost As If Reality TV Isn't Real....

Honestly. Where to begin with last nights Bachelor Finale. Maybe I should start with the fact I almost MISSED it! Gasp. Thankfully, the wonder that is DirecTV lets you set up to record shows from the Internet. Oh, How I love technology. I had resigned myself to stay away from Facebook and Perez until I was able to watch it. And I was twitching the whole time. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when my FIL ALMOST RUINED it for me. But, I was able to scream loud enough to scare him from speaking. I am not kidding. I have never seen him so shocked before. It actually scared Addison, and you KNOW that girl is NOT afraid to scream for any reason. Anyway, we got home and Claire and I settled into the bed to watch the 3 hours of the Bachelor that was Tivo-ed. It was as if she knew how important it was to be a good girl and she hardly made a peep.

Jason is a hot mess. Honestly. Molly was always my favorite. Something about Melissa just always rubbed me to wrong way. Maybe it's because her teeth are so white. I can't be sure. John came to bed and I had to listen to him say his usual, "This show is so fake" and "This guy is cheating on those girls". I have never been able to understand how these girls have no qualms about this guy that THEY ARE SO IN LOVE WITH is going on dates and dry humping other girl on national television.

Jason obviously has a lot of issues that need to be worked out, but that will take years of therapy and maybe ABC should make a reality show about that? I honestly loved Chris Harrison's knack for stating the obvious. I mean, what girl wants to be broken up with with cameras rolling and a narrator? It certainly sounds like a good time to me. NOT.

When Molly came out, all I could think about was how bad her hair looked. Really, headbands should not make a come back, and someone needed to get that girl some conditioner or something, those ends were kind of ratty. Anyway, how can he want to go get coffee or a drink with someone that rubbed him down with massage oil and then dumped the next day? Or how can she skip off into the sunset with him as if he didn't JUST break off an engagement with another girl( which I am betting she didn't know he proposed). I swear, I will never understand some girls. Maybe they could get a group discount for all that Chris Harrison therapy.

Addison loves snow!

John took the video so some of it is a little rocky. Hope you enjoy! Addison sure did!

It Snowed!!!!

I cannot believe it!! The weatherman was actually right!! It Snowed! It has not snowed as long as John and I have known each other. So, of course, we took Addison to play in it!! She loved it!! We had trouble getting her to come in even though her hands were sort of frostbitten. We are not prepared in the McPhillips Household for snow. I was the only one who had gloves. John ended up wearing work gloves to build the snowman. 

Our Snowman!

John hitting me with a snowball( Yes, he is in his pajama pants!)