West Texas Freak show

Midland is a freak show. That's fo sho.  Seriously.  This place is a madhouse and you have to experience it to know what I'm talking about.

 Here are just a few examples of the business of this crazy place called Midland.  Everywhere you go shopping is crowded and I'm talking like, "Is it black Friday??" crowded.  People are everywhere yanking things off shelves like its the zombie apocolypse.  The shelves can't stay stocked to keep up with the demand of the place.  Over the weekend, Wal Mart, yes,WAL MART was out of 409.  Sad.  The lines here are out of control.  It takes forever to do anything and check-out of anywhere.  I haven't even had a Starbucks yet because every time I drive by the line is wrapped around the building. Really Sad.  When you ask people for recommendations for pediatricians, doctors, dentists, ect...they will tell you the best one followed by, "...but they aren't taking new patients". Tragic.  I called 8 different churches before I could find one that would take both my little trophies for Mother's Day Out! Thank you, Christ Church Midland.  (I did, in fact, find my bambinos a pediatrician today!)

A few other tidbits about our new home: My allergies were not prepared for this climate.  ohmygawd. They are horrible!  I need to get on some kind of medicine regimen stat or I will forever sound like the person on the other end of Charlie Brown's phone. WHOMP.  After all, scratch that, MOST of our stuff arrived out of storage ( some kitchen appliances and a kitchen table chair were casualties ) we decided to have a garage sale of all the stuff that we weren't going to use in this house.  We had a lot of furniture and I sold a lot of baby boy stuff in hopes that when (if) baby pop #3 comes, she is a girl.
 Shout out, Mark!  Folks here in Midland don't play around with their garage sailing...our garage door opened at 7 by 7:10 we had sold all our furniture.  By 9am most all of our stuff was gone. We shut down the garage sale with a cool $875 in our pockets.

I like the busy, I like the hustle and bustle.  Our new house is just awesome and thanks to my mom, is already decorated. I know we are going to be super happy here.  This week, since I have a kitchen again, I made chili, chicken spaghetti, teryaki beef and peppers, and turkey breast with mashed potatoes and greens beans.  I will start junior league here in January and I'm waiting to hear back from the MOPS group at First Baptist.  We went to story time at Barnes in Noble on Wednesday and I'm seriously introducing myself to everyone who looks like a stay at home mom. HA! Seriously.  Just trying to be in a new place the best way I know how.

STAY POSITIVE,
KPOP

6 MONTHS

The past 6 months have been a whirlwind.  I never in a million years thought our stay with Sassy and Puff Daddy would last this long and I never EVER EVER thought our final stop at the end of this journey would be Midland!  Funny how life works out.

So, Goodbye, McKinney.  Thank you so much for being a great "in-between" home for us.  Thanks to my parents for allowing us to take over their house for 6 months and their willingness to always help out with anything and for the free babysitting.  Thanks to my mother-in-law who was always on stand by on her days off to watch the kids, run errands with us, or just hang out.  Thanks to all my precious friends who I a got to reconnect with.  Thanks to new friendships.

6 months is an eternity when your kids are the ages mine are.  Over the past 6 months they have changed so much.  Molly was just 4 weeks old when we moved here.  Now, at six months...she's eating solid food, she is super loud with her screaming (or as I like to call it, practicing her cheers!), here smiles are wide and captivating, her eyes turned blue like her brothers, she rolls from tummy to back, she drools...a lot,  she thinks everything Mark does is awesome, pink is her favorite color, she is an amazing sleeper, she loves the bumbo and the bouncer (for a short time), her favorite person is Puff Daddy, she is still our little butter bean and I can't wait to see what the next 6 months have in store for our little gem!  Mark has turned two, it is nothing short of amazing what kids can do after two.  Mark's language has really taken off he can repeat almost anything you say pretty clearly, he is just a mess.  He has a ton of energy, he loves dogs, coloring, play-doh, digging dirt, going to the park, terrorizing my parents' dogs, hitting things with golf clubs, his iPad, every time I take off his diaper he runs to the bathroom...climbs on to the toilet, pees then proclaims "YAY TEE TEE!!!"  He has worn a sheriff's hat to most public places for a solid month now, he likes going to restaurants and sitting on his sisters head.  Like Molly, the next 6 months for him should be pretty fun too!

As for me, the past 6 months...I learned how to be a mom of two, lost all my baby weight, gained upmost respect for military wives and working moms, missed Mike when he was gone, found love for Zumba, rarely cooked, rarely cleaned, shopped a lot, and missed routine.

I will forever look back on the past 6 months where we lived with my parents as a positive time in our lives. Even though, in the moment, it didn't always feel that way.  So Cheers to the past six months as we close the door to you and look forward to the next chapter of our lives in Midland!!!!

One handed

I'm sure the title strikes a nerve with a lot of moms.  Since you've become a mom, are you amazed at the things you can do with just one hand?  I feel that way every time I pick something up with my toes or get dinner on the table all with a kid on the hip!  Here are a lists of tasks I've mastered with just one hand...

1.  Putting on make-up
2. Making scrambled eggs
3. Putting on pants
4. Taking off Mark's clothes
5. Picking up most small objects off the floor (thanks, toes!)
6. Puzzles with mark
7. Putting folded laundry away
8. Carry a laundry basket (thanks, hips!)
9. Putting on socks
10. Strap a baby in their carseat

Impressed? Now, what are some other tasks you moms have mastered with just one hand?