Grins, Giggles & Chaos!

Wow, I can't believe in 2 hours, 2008 will be gone. Where did this year go? Seems like it flew on by. A lot has happened in 2008 ....but the most exciting was finding out I was pregnant. I cannot wait for this baby to be born. :) As we say farewell to 2008, may 2009 be even better. Here is too good health, good fortune and good friends! Until next year.......XOXO

Today is my mom's birthday. She would have been 53. Most of you know I lost my mom almost 10 years ago. While I celebrate her birthday, I reflect upon the memories we shared while she was alive. She was so fun and fiesty - must be where I got my spunk from? She was strong and brave and she wanted nothing more than to be a grandmother. She sadly did not make it see my child but I believe she is watching over us and is being the best grandmother she can be from up above! Happy Birthday Mom, I love you!

The Howell's are expecting baby #2! I am due June 17, 2009 and could not be more excited. Rylee is so excited to be a big sister! This pregnancy has been a little different than Rylee. With Rylee, I had morning sickness ALL DAY. With this pregnancy, only nausea. I did get a prescription of Zofran and it is helping. My second trimester starts Dec 3 and hopefully the nausea will be totally gone. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow so I will try to post any updates tomorrow. Until next time......XOXO

After last night's election results, I have great concerns for this country and for my family. Since I am too stunned to blog about my feelings regarding our new president, take some time to read John McCain's speech last night in Arizona. (I copied his speech off Meghan McCain's blog) To Senator McCain - you had my vote and I will always hold you in the highest regard. You are and always will be a class act! "Thank You" POSTED BY MEGHAN Dad's remarks from last night... "Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening. My friends, we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly." "A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him. To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and per...

Get out and Vote today! Not only is it your civic duty but your right.

Halloween has come and gone but what a fun night we had! The morning started off with a Halloween party with her playgroup. That evening, our friends, Scott & Julia came over with Shelby. Rylee and Shelby had the best time trick or treating. The adults had a pretty good time as well. Check out some pictures of the kids. Enjoy! Until next time......XOXO

The Ped Egg today! And it is FANTASTIC! I love it! You should try it!

The weekend of Sept 25, my brother and sister -n-law were in town. At the airport Rylee had her welcome sign for her booboo & sissy! (see pics above of Rylee with her sign - it was too cute) Rylee was so happy to see them. We went to Bikes, Blue & Barb-Q Saturday (Sept 17) afternoon and Rylee loved it! Her first biker rally! ;) We really enjoyed the visit. It's always nice to have family come visit you for a change! Sunday, before taking Michael & Sarah to the airport, we hit up the Tulsa Zoo. It was ok. Not the best zoo i've been to but Rylee loved it and that was all that mattered. Last weekend, Rylee and I went to Dallas. While in Dallas, we went to the State Fair of Texas. If none of you have been, it's the best state fair around. Rylee had a blast. She rode almost all of the kiddie rides and loved it. She was not scared one bit. My little dare devil! Until next time......XOXO Here are a few ...

Before I was a Mom - Before I was a Mom - I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations. Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night. Before I was a Mom - I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep. Before I was a Mom - I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom. Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart...

Rylee in the bubble gum jump house! :) Rylee & Shelby- Jump Zone 9-21-08 We met a few friends and their kiddos at Jump Zone yesterday. The kids had so much fun on the big slides and all the bounce houses. I think they parents enjoyed it as well. :) After Jump Zone we hit up the pizza place. What a night! Nothing much new today. KC is in Dallas - he should be home tonight. Michael & Sarah are coming to visit Thursday night. We will be heading to Tulsa to pick them up from the airport. Rylee is so excited to see them. Of course, we are excited to see them as well. Should be a fun weekend. That's all for now, until next time....... XOXO

Hello there! Today we are watching Shelby. Rylee absolutely loves her. Can't seem to get enough of Shelby. It's funny, whenever we haven't seen Shelby in a while, Rylee will say, "I need to go see my sister Shelby!" It's pretty cute. She calls all of her little friends either "brother" or "sister". I guess she is making do since she doesn't have any siblings yet. What she doesn't know, we are working on getting her a sibling. I just hope she is just as excited to have a real sibling. We shall see. :) Since the kiddos are asleep, I am off to do some laundry! Until next time.....XOXO Rylee & her "sister" Shelby! Lunch time! :)

Hi all! Sorry it's been a while since I last blogged. Things have been crazy around here. For some reason, Rylee does not want to go to school this year. She has the same teacher as last year and there are a few of the same kids so I am not sure why she doesn't want to go. Even now that she has been in school for a few weeks, she still tells her teachers that she wants her mommy. So sad.... Hopefully, she will warm up to it. If not, too bad. She is going! :) Kasey has been a little traveling gypsy here lately. I am afraid it's going to get worse. He is up for a promotion and it includes more travel. MORE travel? How can he travel more? He is gone a lot as it is. I just can't wait.... (that was me being sarcastic) I am been dreading this so here it goes. Thursday, Sept 4, I found out I was pregnant. Friday, I took 3 more HPT to make sure and sure enough, they were all positive. I was super excited! We have been trying for a while and were on our second cycle of Clomid...

This should be an interesting week. KC left bright & early this morning for Dallas. He is to be gone until late Thursday. Yay me! Not really.... It's so hard when he travels. Before we had Rylee is was no big deal but now I have to be everything. The cook, the maid, the mom & the dad. Rylee thinks she rules the roost when KC is gone. HA! We are going to put a stop to that. Had a good weekend. It rained but cleared up long enough Saturday night for us to check out the Frisco Festival. Oh boy was it fun. ;) I guess it was ok . We met our friends and their kids and had fun walking around, eating fried food with them. Rylee and KC did ride the super slide twice and her and I rode the carousel. I can't wait until October.....State Fair of Texas time. Rylee had a blast last year. I think this year will be even better. She is old enough to ride all the kiddy rides. Hopefully we can get Chris & Julie to come along and bring Emma. The girls had a blast together last ...

Hello! I know it's been a while since my last post but frankly, I have just been lazy. Not only lazy but I forget to blog. How do you forget to blog? Anyway, you would think with this insane case of insomnia I have, I would be blogging at all hours of the night. Nope! Doesn't even cross my mind. I promise I will do better about updating this thing. Now, on to better things. My friend Julie, who I said in my last blog was pregnant, found out she is having a boy. A BOY! Yea! I am so excited for her. I think she was freaking out a little because she thinks she doesn't know what to do with a boy. She will be ok and she will get the hang of raising a little boy. She is due mid December and I can't wait to see him. The two ladies in my mom's group that are pregnant - Julia & Danielle, found out what they were having as well. Julia is having another little girl and is due Dec 1st.. Pretty sure her name will be Piper but we will see. What a cute name, Piper! Ca...

Drum roll please......... Rylee is potty trained! I am SUPER excited! I have been working on this with her for a year and BAM, she has mastered it. All it took was 2 days. She was never interested in going to the potty before and the day before we left for Houston she wanted to use the potty and that's all it took. I guess I had to let her make the decision for herself. She is so proud of herself. She gets so excited everytime she goes to the potty. :) Mommy is pretty dang proud of her as well...... Until next time....XOXO

Last night I found out that my friend Julie is pregnant! :) I was so happy for her! The crazy thing is, they were not even trying. I am not really sure they even wanted another baby! I am happy for them! I wish it were me too! I would love to be pregnant right now. Julie and I were pregnant together the first time and our kiddos are 6 weeks apart. Rylee and Emma are the best of friends! It would be so cool to do this with her. Speaking of pregnant, there are two girls in my moms group that are pregnant with baby #2. Boy, do I need to jump on the bandwagon! :) I do think we will start trying to get pregnant in June or July. We'll see.....until next time....XOXO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqfGqOx2iDQ

Anyone out there have a child that is potty training? If you do, I so feel your pain! I just recently started the whole potty training thing with my 2 1/2 yr old. I know, I know, I started a little late....get off your soapboxes and let me complain a little. I just don't think she is catching on. I mean, she will tell me, "mommy, I am wet, I need a new diaper!" Ok, come on.....if you know you need a new diaper because you just peed in it, you should be able to use the potty. That's what I think but little miss priss thinks otherwise. She just will not go to the potty. I sit her on it like every 20 min (like the potty training book says) and she sits there.....no tinkle.....take her off the potty, 2 minutes later, pees in her panties! What is a mom to do? I have cheered, I have given treats and stickers.......tons of new "big girl" panties....NOTHING! Nothing I am doing works! Why is it easier to potty train a puppy? WAIT! Maybe I will just go buy some puppy ...

Hello all! I know it's been a while since my last post but I have just been too busy! The week before Christmas Kasey and I went to Vegas! What fun! I forgot what it was like to be childless for 4 days! While we did miss Rylee, we had a blast! Vegas has so many new things....we didn't have time to see it all! Oh well, I guess we have to plan another trip! ;) Christmas was great. Rylee got way too many presents! We spent 2 weeks with our family in Dallas. Such good times..... I didn't want to come home! 2008 has been great so far. I am still doing things with the Bentonville Mom's Club. We have meetups often so it's fun! Rylee is still going to school. She absolutely loves it. If they had a 3rd day available I would put her in it but as for now, I am on the waiting list like everyone else! It's ok, I love spending time with her. When she's not here I miss her. Kasey is busy as ever. He has been traveling and getting ready to start school in August. He has bee...