one word.

or two. or three.

hoss. champ. rock star.

that sums up my daughter.

she was so stinking amazing today. (can you already sense the change of tone in my voice? i mean, my poor pity party yesterday. whew. i should have worn a hat and invited people.)

i prayed and prayed last night. for so many things.

buz took big h to school. there couldn't be anything better for my little man. he ADORES his daddy. so *bringing* daddy to school was a highlight.

goo and i had some mommy and me time this morning. and somehow she didn't notice that she didn't have a morning bottle. or breakfast, for that matter. champ.

headed to the surgery center. this place was basically gymboree with nurses and doctors.

the waiting room was incredible. i hadn't even put my keys away before they called us back. shirley, our nurse, was so informative. she was warm, friendly, and so good with the goo. goo had her own portable DVD player, though she wasn't that interested. they had toys for her to play with. and honestly, she was happy just walking the halls.

we met with the anesthesiologist, the OR nurse, and the doc. again, everyone was so informative.

finally, the time came. the time to take goo back to the OR without us. and we were escorted to the consultation room. buz went to the restroom, and i was determined to "get it together." i didn't want to cry. she was going to be fine. we were so confident in everything. "pull it together," i said to myself while buz was gone. hmmm...my cell had a light on. missed call/voicemail. from kelly.

i decided to listen to it. bad choice. she begins her message with "i'm praying for you guys." and then goes on with, "well, i'm praying, so i'm going to pray right now." and she prays. right there. in her voicemail. and i can tell there's a smile on her face. and then. there's silence. silence because she was crying. let me tell you something of interest about kelly. i have been best friends with her since THIRD GRADE and have seen or heard her cry ONCE. once. this was big. so my hope of "getting it together?" bless my heart. i love you, kelly.

after what felt like twenty seconds, the doctor came in and said everything went fine. she did really well.

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!

and then, the recovery nurse came to take us to our baby. oh, our baby. there she was on a gurney, laying on her belly. with her blankie.

and there we sat. with our baby. the nurse gave her to me, and with buz right by my side, i can safely say there is nowhere i would've rather been. sweet, memorable time.

she is definitely not a sight for the faint of stomach. but she was our little red-eyed angel. she did great in recovery. had a whole sippy cup of water and kept it down.

they said one of her short-term side effects would be sensitivity to light. so when she was ready for discharge, her nurse fitted her with a sweet pair of gold sunglasses. this girl was hot. accessories were her game today. i'm sure of it.

we left the surgery center to go pick up big h from school. big h was less than pleased that we picked him up in my car vs. daddy's car. oh, to be four.

when we got home, he and buz left to go get goo a treat of some kind. and i'm going to be honest with you. i got about 45 minutes of anesthesia-goo. just a lump of sugar and her blankie nuzzled in my lap. bliss for her mommy. i'm just sayin'.

and we came home to dinner delivered to our front door and a cookie gram all the way from tennessee. we are blessed. so incredibly blessed.

and now. goo is asleep in her bed. her brother asleep in his. and her daddy and i are at peace. our goo is fine.

vacation?

nope. haven't been on vacation. honestly, just not in the mood to write these days. not feeling witty. not feeling informative. those of you with blogs might have noticed that i haven't been stopping by lately either. i'd love to say i have a good reason.

but nope. no good reason. i have been around. i promise.

here's to boring blogging. you know...the computer version of my journal/baby book. enjoy. :)

never did post halloween picture. big h had the time of his life. the "sick or seat" was definitely the loudest on the block. i know at some point, we'll have to work on his speech. but for now, i like his versions of the words. goo did NOT, however, understand the point of trick or treating. the first three houses we went to, she actually went in. social graces...she'll get it next year. maybe.

had an incredible thanksgiving. my brother and his family came into town from birmingham. big h LOVED being with his cousins. he has a 5-year-old boy cousin and a 4-year-old girl cousins. the three of them had so much fun together. and he also has an 18-month-old girl cousin. yeah, she and goo are going to be fast friends really, really soon. buz and i had a date with my brother and his wife. oh, how i wish they were here in town. we have such a great time with them.

speaking of the cousins, let's talk about a milestone that occurred this past weekend. big h. slept. over. at. nana and papa's. with his cousins.

maybe you skimmed over that.

i'll state it again. buz and i were in our house with only one child. some of you know this piece of trivia. i have only been in my house once without big h. and that was the night buz came home from the hospital after his heart attack. not exactly the most dreamy of evenings. this was crazy, people. crazy. and rumor has it, he LOVED it. honestly, i was going to blog about it. that afternoon. but you know what i did instead? did a 400-piece jigsaw puzzle. in one sitting. (rats. i've just sealed my fate as being known as a complete geek forever.) i'm ok with it. it was so much fun. i sat at the table with a cup of coffee doing a puzzle while goo slept peacefully in her bed. and buz played playstation. shocker.

i was one of the six people who tuned into the bachelor this season. disappointed is such a mild, bland word to describe my feelings after devoting an entire evening to watching with my hubby. and putting off doing anything productive around the house. darn you, brad womack. and darn you, abc.

LOVED the cold front that thanksgiving brought. though today i wore a short-sleeve t-shirt outside when big h, the goo, and i played outside with some of our friends. never ceases to amaze me. never.

really need to get to bed. plus you're probably bored to tears. i would be. it's ok. you can admit it. you've also probably noticed that my usual upbeatness is not present tonight.

i'm finally admitting it. my sweet gooby has surgery on her eyes tomorrow. and i've been so nonchalant about it. "yeah, we're so confident in the doctor. he's great. we're really impressed with the surgery center. blah, blah, blah." but it's officially tomorrow. i know my mom and mother-in-law are reading this. and they're going to be calling me tomorrow sad for me. it's ok mom, and ms. wiz. i'm fine. i just want it over with. her surgery isn't until........NOON! who ever heard of making a 15-month-old wait until noon without eating anything? seriously. it didn't hit me until today. until everyone from the surgery center called with information. that she can't have anything after 9am, and before that, all she can have is clear liquids. have i mentioned that my favorite thing to do with goo in the morning is snuggle with her and her pink blankie and give her her warm (almost HOT) bottle? all while big h is watching a little playhouse disney or noggin. beauty. not tomorrow. oh yeah, and she has the mother of all diaper rashes. for the sake of your tummies, i won't go into detail. just know that after a week and a half of it being really, really bad, we had to get a prescription ointment that just got filled this afternoon.

wow. i just read this whole thing. and someone is a debbie downer tonight. sheesh.

so in the spirit of my half-fullness, let's end on a positive note, ok? if you think of it, pray for my sweet goo. pray that the morning tomorrow is a relatively easy one. one that she doesn't notice food or drink. that she is distracted. that the hour before at the surgery center is a relatively smooth process. that we are blessed with an amazing staff who will love on my baby. for dr. s. that he gets a good night's rest tonight and is fresh tomorrow. that he treats goo's eyes as delicately as possible. for big h. that he will have a good time at school tomorrow. that he will occupy himself well when he gets home. that he works really hard at not touching her face at all. (this is a big one, folks.) for buz and me. that we are loving parents to her and provide all she needs. and for goo, that she would feel a sense of being in the palm of her Father's hands.

thanks for praying. will update you tomorrow.

go ahead. swoon.

so my title for this post was going to be different. something like, "can i get an AMEN HALLELUJAH?"

because of this.

and really, that's all i was going to say.

because that would've been enough.

but then.

i know you'll all be surprised to hear that my husband did something so incredibly thoughtful, i will NOT do justice to try to put it into words.

love languages. you've heard me talk about them once or eighteen times by now. i won't even go into my deep and obsessive feelings towards them. other than to tell you that they have helped buz and me build an incredible marriage.

side note: we don't communicate in our love languages nearly the way we did before kids. so to those of you out there without kids or with kids on the way (jill), pretend i didn't say that. enjoy your marital kid-free bliss.

point to all that. my love language is words of affirmation.

and people, my sweet buz knows how to mush me up. i mean, this? this would almost make me wanna go out and buy him a playstation game for no reason. no reason. this is huge.

and do we even bring up how much TIME it must have taken him? the thought that went into it?

please note the time it might take you to go through these. but the enjoyment that will come from doing so? well, it will bless your whole day.

let's just say there's at least one backstreet boys song. and martina sings "our song" live. yeah, that's our song.

(and i'll just be bold. leave him comments. he only posts every three months, you know. he's sensitive.)

making me happy

sorry i've been gone for a while. just doing life. one day at a time.

big h saying from the backseat, "yook, mama. i'm doing the robot." oh. oh yes. yes, he was. perfectly, i might add.

same time, same place. i skipped over a song that was about to come on in the car from my ipod because i was trying to get to a song big h would like. he interrupted my nervous shuffling while saying, "wait, mama. go back. that was a good song." it was this song. my heart instantly melted into a big pile of mush. big h, you make a mama proud with your love of all things hip hop.

while picking up big h from school, he told me, "mama, i played with "A" today, and i was really nice to him and i didn't even hit him." baby steps, i guess.

goo's laugh. period.

wearing shorts and a t-shirt today. because you know, it's NOVEMBER and all.

yeah, no. that's not something that made me smile. no. that definitely did NOT make me smile.

these. i mean, really. don't they make you smile too?

this website. makes me want to decorate. bless my heart.

seeing this at the mall kiosk today. oh, how i can't wait to rekindle the flame with my very own meat log, smoky bar, and sweet hot mustard.

this. I-L-L!! I-N-I!! i would sing the fight song for you. but well, i can't sing.

and the fact that my husband came home with this for dinner. love languages, people.