Life With The Ardies

Five?!?! How?

2014-09-09T15:52:00.003-05:00

This little gal turned five at the end of last month. How is that possible? These last five years have FLOWN by. I refuse to believe she's growing up. I refuse to think about her starting Kindergarten next year. Where did my baby go???

The 5-year-old with her new haircut.

She's turning into such a wonderful person. She's an absolute joy to be around. Sweet, caring, thoughtful. She has no problems speaking her mind (no secrets with her!), and her baby sister is her favorite person in the world. There is never a dull moment with this gal. Her enthusiasm for the world around her is inspiring. I love watching her grow and learn. She's reading beginner books, becoming more and more independent, and loves learning new things. Her preschool is actually concerned about her not being challenged enough this year. We are currently working with the school to find skills that further prepare her for Kindergarten next year. So proud of her.

Happy Birthday sweet Babygirl. I love you more than you will ever know.

Summer Break 2014

2014-08-07T15:20:00.004-05:00

It was a great one. And it went by too fast.

Today, I'm back at work. The kiddos don't come back until the end of the month, but I have to come back a week before the teachers to prep. For what? Who knows. Meetings, caseload organization and planning, and other miscellaneous prep. It's a good transition back into the crazy school year. I'm looking forward to it. I'm optimistic that it'll be a good year. We shall see...

Summer was great. It really was. I had the summer off. The Hubs worked his butt off. The kids stayed in daycare. See why my summer was good?? hehe

Seriously though, it was so nice to spend the weekends together as a family, doing whatever we wanted. I didn't have to go grocery shopping or do laundry or clean the house. Errands and house chores were saved for the week. Glorious.

We went on trips. We visited splash pads. We had birthday parties. It was great. Many memories were made. Big milestones were met too. Babygirl started Pre-K, and SweetPea is finally walking.

Summer will be definitely missed. But I'm excited about the Fall. Bring it, football season!!!!!!!!

That flew by quickly

2014-08-07T14:40:00.002-05:00

Yeah, we clean up good.

2014-07-08T21:49:00.003-05:00

Taken end of May 2014

SweetPea turns ONE!

2014-06-15T21:29:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it. She's one. ONE. O.N.E.

Where did that year go?? She's turning into such a cute little gal. At a mere 12 months, you can already see her jokster personality. She'll reach out to you with a toy as if she wanted to give it to you. You reach for the toy, and she'll pull back while laughing... it's like she's thinking: "Haha! Just kidding. You can't have this." She thinks she's hilarious. I think it's pretty darned cute.

We threw a little party for SweetPea this weekend at the local splash park. We missed some friends but had a decent turnout. The kids loved it. Fellow parents of toddlers and young ones, the splash park is a great place for playdates, parties, and the such. The kids can run around, get wet, and have a blast. No worries about whether or not your baby can swim.... just sprinkler and fountain fun.

One year stats coming up at the end of the week. She seems so much smaller than the other babies her age. Petite little gal. I'm interested to see how much she's grown and how she compares to her peers. Such a little ham. Love her to pieces.

Happy Birthday SweetPea! You have given me so much more happiness in my life. I cannot wait to see what the next year brings us. I love you more than you will ever know!

On friendships and the like

2014-06-11T12:57:00.003-05:00

A lot of things change the older you get. Maturity happens. Life situations change. People come and go. For me, I feel the friendships I currently have only grown stronger... and that the people I call my friends are those who will stick around for the rest of my life. The others, the acquaintances, will fade in and out.

I have a ton of acquaintances. I enjoy being around people. There are people I care about, people I enjoy hanging out with, and people who I keep in contact with from time to time. But they aren't my friends. My friends, on the other hand, are a select few. And they know who they are. Some I talk to every day. Others I talk to several times a month. Some.... well, it's just whenever life decides to cut us a short break. And when that break comes, we just pick up right where we left off. No bullshit. No excuses. No drama. Just back to "us" and doing whatever "we" do.

Graduate school was a tough time for The Hubs and I. We barely made it by financially. Living on two graduate school incomes left us with very little "play" money. Classes, research, internship, report writing, syllabi, you name it.... our work load never ended. No 9:00 to 5:00 thing. We worked all hours, day after day, week after week, year after year. Some "friends" didn't understand it.... didn't understand that we could not afford to spend much money....didn't understand that work consumed every spare moment of our life. And notice I'm not even bringing up the kids part. Drama unfolded if we had to decline. Drama unfolded if we had to leave early. It was drama regardless.

Yet we still made it work when we could because that's what we wanted. We wanted a friendship. We needed a release from graduate school/work/life. We hung out friends on the weekend, went out when we could, and enjoyed what little social life we had. It required time management skills. It required planning.....knowing that you might be going out with a group of friends on the weekend meant saving money on groceries, cutting back on something else in exchange for a night out. We made it work because the friendships we had meant something to us.

With social media, smartphones, and internet, there is no excuse not to keep in touch anymore. There's not.

A text. A Facebook message. An email. "Just wanted to say hi. Hope you are doing well. Miss you."

Five seconds of your time. Save the drama for someone else. I don't want to hear your excuses. We all have them. Life is busy regardless of your personal living situation. Plan. Most things can't be spontaneous anymore. I get it. I'm there too. Just plan. No excuses. It can happen, I promise. I've made it happen.

The door swings both ways.

I'm done trying. So to those "friends" .... to that "friend" .... thanks for the memories. I enjoyed our time together in the past. I'll cherish those moments forever. I truly will. But I'm done trying to maintain a friendship that is one-sided.

To all my true friends, I love you. And I don't have to tell you that either. You just know. You stuck with me through some of my hardest years, and some of my happiest as well.

Thank you.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

2014-06-05T12:23:00.002-05:00

Yup, that's right. Last day of school today!! High School graduation ceremonies tomorrow.

Four days next week to finalize all paperwork and prep/organize for next year.

This is it.

It's all downhill from here.

Sweet, glorious summer break.

I've missed you terribly!

In other news....

2014-05-29T20:59:00.001-05:00

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL IN FIVE SHORT DAYS!!!! Final week of the contract the following week, and then it's sweet summer break. Cannot wait. I am over it. This year has been a stressful one. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I love my students, and I love what I do. Sure, there are frustrating days, but I truly do enjoy going to work each day. (Maybe negotiate on the hours... sleep in, leave early... and a little less paperwork would be nice...) It'll be bittersweet watching some of my students graduate.

In other news....

Even though my not-so-much-a-baby-anymore SweetPea is closer to being ONE than not, I still need to upload her 11-month pic. For documentation purposes, ya know. How is it possible that she will be one-year-old in just 15 days. This year flew by!

She's getting so big!

In other news...

My grandma came to visit from Kentucky at the end of April. This was huge since we don't get to see her very often. She finally got to meet SweetPea, and I'm pretty sure she loved spending her time with the girls. We were also very fortunate to get some good 4-generation pictures. I thought that turned out great! To be honest, I wasnt very optimistic given the age range in everyone in the pic. Definitely will have some pictures to frame soon. Check them out:

What else??

Babygirl starts her preschool program in the middle of June. We have truly enjoyed the in-home daycare we have put the girls in. I really like the daycare lady, and we have developed a friendship over the years that Babygirl (and now SweetPea) have been there. But in efforts to fully prepare Babygirl for Kindergarten, we felt the transition would be even smoother if she had exposure to a school-based setting and a curriculum that challenged her more. There is an accredited school at the college The Hubs' works at, so we have decided to enroll both of the girls there. SweetPea will start in the Fall when there is an opening. I think Babygirl will enjoy this place. We've told her about the school, what they have, and what she'll do... and she seems pretty excited. I look forward in seeing her growth.

That's all for now, folks. I hope to update more this summer when I have more "free time." We shall see though.

22 School Days Left!!

2014-05-02T19:26:00.000-05:00

It's soooo close. Right around the corner.

The weather is wonderful. Perfect happy hour on the patio weather.

State testing is coming to a close. The kids are getting antsy.

I'm 8 evaluations away from being done for the academic year.

I'm getting antsy.

Come on, summer break! Get here already! I've missed you greatly!

10 months and then some

2014-04-23T20:24:00.001-05:00

SweetPea seems to be the main reason I blog these days. Ha! I feel the need to update her monthly pics on here for documentation purposes. I've pretty much given up on blogging. I'd like to think that I'd blog more, and maybe one day I'll post more regularly. But currently, my time is better spent doing something besides blogging. I don't think I'll ever give up blogging because I do enjoy writing about my life and my family. But after SweetPea turns a year old. I'm not sure what will keep me coming back for more posts. We shall see...... but until then, here's our monthly pic and then some:

SweetPea. 10 months, kid. TEN. MONTHS. Where has the time gone? You are scooting around like a pro. Crawling? Ha. That's overrated for you. You rather scoot. You are an absolute joy to be around. Always happy, always looking to get our attention. You love your big sister more than anything in the world, and it's clear when you save your biggest smiles and your largest laughs for her. You have seven teeth, and I'm pretty sure you're sprouting another bottom tooth. You rather feed yourself than to have baby food. Cheerios and crackers are your favorites. Ditching the bottles is next on the list. I'm pretty sure we will have to go cold-turkey on the bottles. You aren't much of a sippy cup fan right now. Adorable. That sums you up. I cannot believe you'll be a toddler in a few short months!

A couple of weekends ago, we got invited to a friend's lake house for the weekend. Best weekend in a long time. It was beautiful. This is Lake Livingston, folks. And it's gorgeous out here. (Note to self: save up for a lake house). The weekend was spent enjoying the gorgeous Texas weather, boating, fishing, BBQ-ing, drinking, firework-ing, and just having an all around good 'ol time. I sure hope we get invited back to the lake house soon. It was a great trip with an amazing group of friends.

This is a pic of SweetPea on the boat. She absolutely LOVED it. Squealing, smiling, and laughing the entire time. Priceless.

Here's Babygirl with one of her friends. Love you MasonMan!

And finally, a Texas tradition. Almost obligatory every Spring. Bluebonnet pictures. The Hubs and I headed out to a field nearby our house to get some shots of the girls in the bluebonnets on Easter Sunday. I haven't busted out the "real" camera yet to see what we were able to get, but I got a great pic of the girls on my phone. I'm really hoping for a similar one on the camera because I want to blow one up on a canvas. These girls are just too cute.

And finally, saving the best for last. Even though I've already posted about it, and even though we knew it was coming.... April 18th marked the OFFICIAL finish of The Hubs' graduate school. Dissertation was revised, complete, and turned into the graduate school. Approval signatures were obtained, and he received the official congratulatory handshake from the graduate school staff. He. Is. Done. 100% done!!!!!!! Hooding ceremony and commencement in May! Let the celebrations begin.

And for anyone reading this, our next step: buy a home! Anyone want to donate some money????

And another one down!

2014-04-03T12:13:00.005-05:00

Family dress code for The Hubs' graduation!!

Yup! That's right! The Hubs successfully defended his dissertation on Tuesday (yes, on April Fool's Day, no joke)!! Come May 15th, and we will have another Ph.D. in the house!!!!!!!! It has been one hell of a ride getting here, but he did it. WE did it! I am so proud of him. I am so proud of us!

And just like the song that plays non-stop around here... "For the first time in forever, there'll be music, there'll be fun! For the first time in forever, The Hubs' Ph.D is finally done!!!" We have big plans for ourselves and our little family. (Course we will be the funds for that... but hey, small steps. We'll get there.)

EEEEKKKKK!!!! So happy right now! We can FINALLY move past this stage of our lives!

::whew!:: I seriously need a beer!

(And to Babygirl and SweetPea, both of your parents have Ph.Ds in psychology. We are always watching you. Muahahahaha)

9 months and then some

2014-03-17T16:12:00.002-05:00

Miss Thang over here is in the 25th %ile for height and weight. Her 9-month well visit went great!

These two cannot get enough of each other. I love it!

I finally updated the growth chart. Babygirl's numbers are on the left, SweetPea's are on the right. Look at how much Babygirl has grown in the last 2 years!!!! The doc even mentioned how much of growth spurt that is!

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy/Daughter Moment

2014-02-19T08:50:00.002-06:00

My favorite Valentines!

2014-02-14T13:58:00.001-06:00

These two love each other so much!

Happy Valentine's Day 2014!

8 months!

2014-02-14T13:52:00.003-06:00

Let's be honest

2014-02-03T15:29:00.002-06:00

Yeah... let's just be honest here.

I suck at this blog thing.

One excuse is that I don't want to pull out my laptop. Sure, I could blog on the iPad, but it's just easier on the laptop. But it requires waiting for it to boot up. Keeping it plugged in at all times since the battery needs to be replaced. And moving at its snail pace. And let's be honest, I don't like dealing with that piece of crap most days.

Another excuse is that we are desperately trying to get The Hubs' graduated in May. He has been working so hard on finishing up his dissertation. In efforts to help him out, I told him that his dissertation was his #1 priority. I said I'd take care of the kids, house, meals, chores, errands, you name it.... just so he can focus on his dissertation (and his work). It can be done. It HAS to be done. So I haven't blogged because I've been busy. And let's be honest, after a long day at work and a night full of wife/mommy duties, I'm in no mood to think of something clever or witty to write about.

Lastly, Babygirl and SweetPea are just so much fun to be around (97% of the time). SweetPea's personality is shining brighter every day, and I just can't get enough of her. Those smiles. Those giggles. Her learning something new every day. I love watching her grow. And Babygirl, she continues to blow me away with her love for her little sister. She's becoming such a wonderful little girl. She loves spending time with her family. She's cute, she's funny, and she's got all the skills she needs to start school. And let's be honest, I want to spend as much time as I can with those silly little girls of mine before they grow up and realize Mommy is "not cool" anymore.

Seven months!

2014-01-17T14:53:00.000-06:00

A blogger I am not

2014-01-04T20:20:00.000-06:00

Wow.

Definitely not going to win any blog awards anytime soon. December 11th was my last post. That was a long time ago. A bunch of post-worthy things have happened. I mean, hello? I have even posted a 6-month update!

So here you go. Here's SweetPea's 6-months photo.

Her 6-month well visit was a good one. She is in the 25th %ile for height and weight. (She was in the 40th at her 4-month. Doctor wasn't too concerned. Anxious to see where she's at on her 9-month visit). She's sitting up for the most part...still needs some assistance, but she's doing great. She's been sleeping through the night (approx 7:00-7:00 whoo hoo!!). She hasn't met a food she doesn't like yet. Sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, squash. Loves them. I'm pretty sure applesauce is her favorite though. She rolls over onto her tummy with no problems but doesn't/won't flip herself back. She's done it a few times, so we know she can do it. We've seen her but 98% of the time, she waits for us to flip her back. Screams until you do so. That's just so much fun in the middle of the night if she happens to wake up. ;o) She's an absolute joy to be around though, and I cannot get enough of her. Always smiling. Loves watching her big sister. Great personality, laid back and easy going. She's great out in public too. Loves to look around. She's content in her car seat and rarely fusses while we're eating, shopping, etc. She's starting to babble more. She shakes her head "no", squeals, and shrieks. But her utterances and sounds are starting to become a little more varied. She's trying to talk, and I cannot wait for her to start saying da-da or ma-ma. Soon. I'm pretty sure of that.

Post about 6-month update? Check!

What's next? Uhh... We had several snow days as you can see from my previous posts. We were off Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. There was still quite a bit of ice on that Thursday and Friday, but school needed to continue. So it was busy, busy work that Thursday and Friday, as well as the following week (the week before Christmas break). I go back to work on Monday. Students go back on Tuesday. Back to the grind. No break until March (Spring Break).

Boo.

Our holidays were great. In a pinch, here are some highlights:

Babygirl had her first real sleepover with her BFF. They had a blast! They're watching the Smurf's Christmas here.

Here's a pic of the cousins (and The Hubs) intently listening to Grandpa's story.

And us girls being silly with one of my stocking stuffers. The seriousness of Babygirl's face here cracks me up!

CAKE POPS!! I got one of those George Foreman-type thingies that makes cake pops. Best/worst thing ever! These were only half of the cake pops. (We had a little over 4 dozen!)

So there you have it. A brief recap of the last few weeks. I hope to write more this year. I wouldn't call it a new year's resolution or anything, but perhaps I'll get better about updating this thing. But while we're on the topic, and while I'm still saying I do not have any resolutions, I do plan to start running again. Maybe I'll be able to complete the whole couch-to-5k program this time! Not sure when that'll start though. I haven't run in over a year and a half, and I'm sorry (total lie), it's just going to happen when it's 30 degrees outside. And I do hope to eat better, be a better wife and mother, spend less money on trivial things, you know all the standard resolutions I'm supposed to make.

Until the next time I post (because let's face it, I suck at publishing new posts), I leave you with:

Happy New Year!

Here's to 2014 being your best year yet!

Ice Day #6, 4th Day of No School

2013-12-11T08:49:00.001-06:00

School. Cancelled. Again.

Amazing. I am still in Texas, right?!?!

My school district must have been hit pretty hard. We live about 20 min south of where I work, so our roads are fine. The Hubs and the girls have been going to work/daycare all week while I've been at home. I've been doing a little work since I don't have any distractions, but there is only so much I can do from home. I've already started thinking about all the meetings that will need to be rescheduled and all of the counseling services that will need to be made up. It doesn't help that Christmas break starts at 4:00 on the 20th. Finals are the 18-20th at the high school, so I won't be able to see kids then. Students have missed four days of school.... four days of instruction. I highly doubt teachers want me pulling these students from their classes. Not exactly sure what to do here.....

I miss my job. I love my job, I really do. Sure, there's plenty to bitch about. And it's definitely stressful. But I love my job. I love working with kids everyday. Each day is something different. And to advocate for them. Nothing compares to that.

We have two make-up snow days factored into our academic calendar already. Definitely will be working those days. We will have to see about the other two. And I'm not entirely sure we are going to be snow day free for the rest of the school year. Winter hasn't even officially started yet!! I've got a feeling we'll have something in Jan or Feb.

Craziness for sure. There is still ice on the ground. Most of the ice has been cleared from the streets. Shady bridges and grass areas are the main culprits. I'm not a fan of winter. I hate being cold. But I do have to admit that seeing white everywhere is pretty. The 30 degree days and 20 degree nights.... not so much.

Now.... can we go back to school tomorrow? Please?!?!

Another Snow Day??

2013-12-08T20:15:00.000-06:00

School is cancelled again tomorrow. There was some melting today, but it's all going to refreeze overnight. This prompted everyone to cancel another day of school. After being holed up in the house since Friday, we ventured out today and did some Christmas shopping. The main roads were mostly wet. The less travelled roads and bridges were still icy, but it really wasn't too bad. But I was actually hoping to be able to go to work tomorrow. I guess I'll worry about all the work I have to catch up on at a later date.

I saw this cartoon on a friend's wall on Facebook. Pretty much sums it up for us Texans.

(Click on the pic to enlarge)

Ice Ice Baby

2013-12-07T20:06:00.000-06:00

It's been quite icy (read: cold!!) around here. Schools across the area were cancelled on Friday (was that really just yesterday?), and at this rate... I'm not sure we'll be going to work/school again on Monday. I've got cabin fever like crazy. All I've wanted to do is get out of the house and do some Christmas shopping. Not going to happen. It hasn't gotten above freezing all day. The actual temperature is 27 degrees, and it feels like 18. I'm still in Texas, right??

At least we're taking advantage of the time together as a family. We've watched movies, baked goodies, and had hot chocolate. The Hubs has kept us warm with fires in the fireplace. Other than dying to get out of the house and actually do something, I seriously cannot complain.

Here's some pics of our Ice Day yesterday:

Cutest little snowman ever.

"What's this stuff on my hand??"

"Enough with the pictures, Mommy. It's freezing out here!"

Precious!

All ice.

More ice.

Again, nothing but ice. Not snow. All ice. Brrrrrr!!

10 Random Facts about Yours Truly

2013-12-04T20:26:00.001-06:00

1. Sandwiches with plain 'ol sliced bread are not appealing to me (unless it's a grilled cheese sandwich or PB&J).

2. I graduated with my doctorate in May 2011, and I still get all giddy inside when I get to finish my signature with "Ph.D."

3. Apparently I have been saying "tootsie roll" wrong my whole life, and I cannot, for the life of me, say it correctly. I say toot-sie, but it's supposedly tut-see.

4. As much as I want to look sophisticated by drinking wine or mixed drinks, I'm a beer kind of girl through and through. Darker beers are my fave.

5. I'm still in denial about being in my thirties.

6. I love that I can use my kids as an excuse to be a kid again myself. I get to play games like Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders, go trick or treating, and climb around in the tubes at Going Bonkers without people looking at me funny.

7. Mexican (Tex-Mex) is my favorite type of food. I could it eat every day and never get tired of it.

8. I still think the 90's and me being in high school was ten years ago.

9. Fresh baked desserts are the best thing ever, but most of the time I make cookies, brownies, cakes, etc just for the batter.

10. Cleaning the house is actually fun when it's cool enough to have the windows in the house open and the music blaring throughout the house. Spontaneously dancing while scrubbing, dusting, or sweeping adds to the excitement.

Wordless Wednesday - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2013-12-04T06:14:00.000-06:00

These two

2013-12-03T21:04:00.002-06:00

They totally rock my world. I cannot get enough of them right now. Babygirl is just wonderful as a big sister. She is totally in love with her little sister. And sweet SweetPea, she's a complete joy to be around. I love these two more than they will ever know.

I don't know if it was the week off I had last week for Thanksgiving or the fact that SweetPea is finally sleeping through the night or the excitement/joy of the holiday season, but things are pretty awesome around here. Work is still ya know... work. Laundry and dishes continue to pile up. And we still can't seem to put back any extra money in savings. But none of that seems to matter. I've got my husband and my baby girls, and I could not be happier when I'm spending time with my favorite people.

I am pumped about Christmas this year. Babygirl is at the perfect age to remember previous holiday traditions and get excited about new ones. SweetPea is become so observant and loves to laugh/smile at everything. I cannot wait to continue our tradition of baking Santa cookies. I also want to start a new tradition of the girls opening a present on Christmas Eve that includes new PJs and a Christmas book (or movie). We started the advent calendar on Sunday. SweetPea isn't old enough to really participate, but Babygirl sure is getting a kick out of opening the box each night after dinner. We started that last year, and I was excited about doing it again this year. Having kids truly brings back a lot of the childhood giddiness of the holidays. I've always loved Christmas, and I've always looked forward to friends/family and holiday traditions. But there is something about making it special for the kiddos. And I am absolutely loving the fact that The Hubs and I are creating fun-filled memories that the girls will (hopefully) cherish forever.

Those two. Love them to pieces.

Annual Ardie Family Photo - Outtakes Edition

2013-11-29T10:20:00.003-06:00

If you've hung around us long enough, you'll know about our Christmas picture tradition. I plan to continue this as long as I can. (I can only imagine trying to get two pre-teen/teenage daughters to help carry on the tradition! haha!) Here are the last four years with Babygirl:

Fish face 2009-2012

Adding SweetPea to the crazy bunch made us contemplate how we were doing to continue the tradition as a family of four. We took a bunch of pics just because 1) we wanted options and 2) Babygirl thought it was hilarious this year!

And the winner is...............