Pumpkin Patch

Hill and I went to a Pumpkin Patch with a group from Mothers Day Out. I'm not really sure what I was thinking taking a baby who can't even walk and doesn't like to be held into a dirty field in the middle of nowhere. It was pretty cold yesterday, so I knew I needed to put something on her feet before we went outside. I am a firm believer that babies should not wear shoes unless they can walk, but socks do not stay on her feet. I went into panic mode, but remembered that my sister had given me some of the twins shoes. Talk about funny. My options were lime green crocs or little white lace up shoes. For fashions sake, the crocs were out. The 30 minute wrestling match of trying to get those shoes on and tied was definitely one of those moments I wish I'd gotten on video. I have not mastered the ability to get myself and Hill ready and out the door without my house looking like a bomb has gone off, am I the only one? (If I am, just don't tell me, ok). One 45 minute car ride (with no nap) later, we arrived at The Great Pumpkin Patch. We took a hayride and Hill seemed to enjoy the wind blowing in her hair and while I can't quite figure out the fascination a 10 month old would have with pumpkins, she loved them. She crawled from pumpkin to pumpkin and would bounce on them and try to pick up the little ones. By the time we took the hayride back, she was DONE. With all of the other children cuddling in their mothers laps, Hill was not having it and went into "nuclear meltdown" mode as we call it in the Maples house. I had to explain to the other moms that she was just sleepy (that's what I was telling myself at least). Once we got in the car, she was having sweet dreams of pumpkins and was an angel the rest of the day. All in all, I am glad we went and it was fun to get to know some of the other moms, but by the end of the day I was DONE too!

Quirks

We all have them, some more than others. Most of the time we don't even realize that what we might think is perfectly normal others think is perfectly crazy. For example, but not to name any names, some of you don't particularly care for "little" people, won't eat melted ice cream, are scared of animal dolls with people faces, and even iron your underwear. Here are a few of mine:


1. I despise wooden handled anything. Spoons, Popsicle sticks, gardening tools. The absolute worst though is picking up a wooden handled knife out of the dishwasher. Oh my gosh, I can't even think about it, it makes my teeth hurt.

2. Afghan Dogs, don't like them, never have. I think I had a book when I was little that had a picture of an Afghan dog in it and I still think of it in disgust to this day. I also love watching dog shows on TV, but change the channel when it's time for the Afghan grouping. I only remembered this because one has moved in down the street. I saw its owner walking it the other day, and I actually turned my car around so I wouldn't have to drive past it. They freak me out.

3. When I have multiple items of food on my plate, I work very hard to make sure they do not touch each other. Then I eat each item one at a time. Usually I begin with my least favorite or whichever food is most likely to run into the other foods. My only exception to this rule is with cheese grits and eggs. While the cheese grits are runny, I always eat the eggs first because I don't like them as much.

4. I am a rule follower and it really bothers me when others do not follow the rules. For example, while doing PR at a concert for Alabama Adventure last year, a big ole butch "lady" with a baseball hat and cut off jean shorts with her bikini underneath tried to stand on the bleacher seats behind me to get a better view. It made me really mad, so with my official PR (not security) badge and all I told her to get down because it was against the rules to stand on the bleachers. Long story short, Kyle had to jump in so I didn't get punched in the face.

5. I could go days without showering, shaving, getting cleaned up and it wouldn't bother me one bit. Other people, yes. I do enjoy being clean and looking presentable, but I'm just saying that if worse came to worst and I was stuck in the woods somewhere, on Survivor, or didn't have running water, I would be fine.

Sadly, I could add several more things to this list, but those are the first five that came to my head. Well, I don't want to be the only one who comes across as a weirdo, so I tag my sister, Lindsey Slagley, Stephanie Gibson, Kristy Masterson and Lindsey Benson to list five of their quirks. Keep the crazy going.

Halloween Preview (I couldn't resist)

First let me say that this whole Halloween costume thing has been quite the ordeal. About a month ago, I started looking online for ideas. I saw tons of adorable costumes and some that kind of gave me the willies:


I saw a couple of costumes that I liked for Hill, but nothing that jumped out at me. Then one day while searching for "cute baby costume", there it was! I had to have it. Well, what I'd found was a picture of an actual child wearing the costume. After scouring the Internet like a maniac, I found out that the costume was made by Baby Style, easy enough right? Wrong. I went to their website and it turns out that the costume was last years style and is no longer being produced. Typical. So, I went to Ebay. Turns out I wasn't the only one who liked the costume. Those women on there are crazy. I refused to spend more than $25 on a USED Halloween costume and those Ebay freaks were outbidding me for $60 every time. I gave up. I happened to mention the ordeal to my mom (closet Ebay nerd) and next thing I knew, she'd won the costume I wanted from a smoke free, cat free, normal person home for less than $30. Woo Hoo! It came perfectly packaged in the mail and I couldn't resist trying it on Hill. It is everything I hoped it would be and more. Enjoy!
My Little Octopus

I'm SAD

Not really, but I do think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. I LOVE the Fall, but today's rainy weather was an unwelcome glimpse into a homebound winter. I don't know about anyone else, but this whole idea of our economy totally crashing and the prospect of not being able to afford sending Hill to college and never being able to sell our house (it's not for sale) and not being able to go out to eat or go on vacation...was eating at me. Then, in addition to my totally selfish thoughts half of which were ridiculous and spoiled brat worthy, the little green eyed monster started to invade. If we had more money than I could..how come they can and I can't...why can other people afford to and I can't...I'm over here counting pennies and they get to... I mean, I just want to buy a pumpkin for my front porch and not worry about it. Then I went through the whole guilt of my thoughts. I am selfish and ungrateful yet incredibly fortunate and blessed and I don't want to be that jealous person and tear others down just to make myself feel better. I want to be happy with what I have, I should be happy with what I have. Seriously, husband, child, family, friends (who apparently love me despite being crazy) roof to cover my head, and did I mention that I just got home from the beach? Get some perspective Lynlee! Well, I did. After my morning of wallowing around and feeling sorry for myself, I got in the car (I have a car, I should be thankful)and turned on the radio. These lyrics courtesy of Leeland hit me like a ton of bricks, I was just listening, thinking, yes, that is how I feel, then BOOM, perspective. I feel totally re-energized. Thank you God.


Living in the same town
For all these years
Doing the same old things
Hanging with the same crowd
And it’s starting to get crippling

You’ve never felt in place
And you tell yourself it’s all okay
But something’s different today
You want to run the opposite way

And it seems like you’re locked in a cage
And you need to find a way of escape
When everyone is setting the pace
It’s okay to run the opposite way

The Father sent His Son down
The light of men
The cross He bore was crippling
Rejected in His own town
They couldn’t see the sun shining
He knelt in the garden and prayed
Father, let this cup pass from me
It’s not Your will for me to stay
Your will for me is the opposite way

And it seemed like He was locked in a cage
And He couldn’t find away of escape
But through the cross He conquered the grave
My Jesus ran the opposite way

Oh, and through the cross He conquered the grave
Oh, He ran the opposite way
Yeah, through the cross He conquered the grave
So you could run the opposite way

A+ Student

Many of you have asked about how Hill is doing in school (Mothers Day Out, Monday and Wednesday) and I am proud to say that she is doing GREAT! It was really rough there for a couple of weeks. Wouldn't you agree that a child making herself throw up just so you will have to go get her is pretty bad? I signed Hill up for this program before she was born and I had been looking forward to it for selfish reasons and because I thought she would absolutely love it. I definitely had my crying moments to the director and her teachers and they were so sweet and encouraging that she would make it through, she just had to get used to it. I felt the need to explain to them that I wasn't dropping her off so I could go to a ladies lunch then play tennis at the country club while a maid cleaned my house, washed clothes and prepared dinner. I AM the maid and the cook and I needed to clean my house and wash eighty loads of laundry and scrape up the dried cheerios that have somehow taken over. Is that really too much to ask? After resorting to plan C, which involved me taking Hill's blanket from home then sitting on the floor and playing with her a while before sneaking out of the room, we finally had a breakthrough. We are now on week three of school success. Hill gets sent home with a note every day and she has gone from getting check marks in the I Just Picked At My Lunch, I Played By Myself and the I Was Not Happy Today categories to I Gobbled Up My Lunch, I Played With Other Children, and I Had A Great Day! She has even gone from My Diaper Was Just Wet to My Diaper Was Dirty Too. One less dirty diaper for me to change, now that's something to cheer about. Here are some pictures of Hill before school.

Beach Baby

We got home last night from another fabulous trip to Rosemary Beach. This was Hill's fourth trip to the beach and she's not even one yet. She's one lucky girl. Each time we have been, it has gotten better and better. Hill's ability to sit up on her own and play independently was key to making this trip relaxing for all of us. There is nothing like being surrounded by close friends, strolling to get coffee and breakfast in the mornings, going for an afternoon swim, then ending the day on the beach. The weather was warm but not too hot and we were actually able to stay out on the beach for substantial amounts of time! Once again, Hill's favorite activity was swimming. The water was so calm, Kyle was even able to take her into the ocean. She loved every second of it. Thank you again to our wonderful hosts, we had a blast.

Stressed Out

Not about anything important, just my last post. I've decided that the question is just too overwhelming for me. Do I choose someone classic like Julie Andrews? Man she has been in a lot of good movies that I think would have been really fun to be in (Mary Poppins/Sound of Music/Princess Diaries). Or Haley Mills, what little girl didn't want to be in Parent Trap, Pollyanna and even that short stint on Saved By The Bell makes her an attractive choice. Nicole Kidman's got some good ones like Moulin Rouge, Far and Away (but I think I'll rule her out because of the whole Tom Cruise thing)...Meg Ryan (wow)...Reese Witherspoon (Joaquin Phoenix please)...what about someone a little more indie like Natalie Portman or Scarlett Johansson. Oh, and I would have loved to be in some of the movies that Kiera Knightly has been in like Pride and Prejudice, Love Actually, Bend it Like Beckham. Maybe I should choose Demi Moore strictly based on (no not Striptease) her interaction with Rob Lowe (I have a small obsession). I could go on and on. I really don't want to think about this anymore. Oh shoot, and I forgot about Julia Roberts...and Gwyneth Paltrow. Really, I'm done.