We interrupt you with this news bulletin....

We interrupt you with this news bulletin. The Beasley household has 3 items to report:

1. Isabelle has gone 2 days without chocolate milk.
2. Tommy picked Isabelle up from school today and one of her little school friends Noah gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. Tommy is in shock and gave her the speech "little boys are gross".
3. Poor baby has thrown up 3 times this evening. This is the first time I have seen her truly sick. I hope she is okay. Probably just a little stomach bug OR could it be a withdrawal symptom of her kicking the chocolate-milk habit :-)
   

Well, I am off to Birmingham tomorrow for a girls weekend of shopping and fun! Looking forward to it.

Here is a picture of Noah and Belle from Halloween.

Have a great weekend!

Yes, my daughter is addicted to chocolate!

Okay, it has been almost 2 week since I last posted to my blog. I guess I have not been inspired since I came to a realization that I am old :-) No, I have had plenty of moments where I have been like I need to blog about that but I would get busy with something else and never get around to it. Today's topic is Isabelle's addiction to chocolate.





When did I realize that she had this addiction, well the realization came with her chocolate milk obsession. We went over to some friend's house a few months ago and she had some chocolate milk. From that day on, she would constantly request chocolate milk. So, we purchased some Nestle Quick syrup to add to her regular milk. We would only put a squirt to give it the light brown color and some taste. Well one night, I forgot to put the chocolate in the milk and I gave it to her. She took one sip and said 'this is not chocolate milk', she turned it upside down to look at the color, and threw it across the room. Oh no - she did not! Yep - she did. To stop the temper tantrum, I went and added a drop of chocolate to satisfy her craving. So, we got away with using syrup for a month and then we went to visit aunt Bonnie, uncle Jason, and cousin Zach where she was introduced to Yoo-hoo.


We gave her a yoo-hoo box (per Jason they cost the same as juice boxes). Yoo-Hoo is the chocolate flavored drinks that usually come in glass bottle at the gas station. Well she had one and enjoyed it to the last drop. At dinner time, I tried giving her regular milk with some chocolate syrup that Bonnie had on hand and she would not drink it. She said I want chocolate milk but that was chocolate milk. So, now she won't drink milk with syrup. She considers that regular milk - yes, she says 'i don't want regular milk'.


So, we bought some chocolate milk boxes this week but have decided no more. Today, she drank one and wanted another one immediately afterwards. We did not give in! We are cutting the habit and going back to regular milk with a drop of syrup on an occasion. I am sure the Beasley household will go through some withdrawals, some crankiness, but we will survive.


Oh - don't even ask me about the Girl Scout Tagalong cookies. Oh yes, she knows the color of the box and we can't substitute a thin mint for the tagalong. We have one cookie left. Should we buy a few more boxes before the Girl Scouts disappear?


One last note on the addiction, on Saturday she was playing on the floor and looked under my bed and said 'chocolate, chocolate'. I looked and there was one Hershey Kiss leftover from her Christmas stash under the bed. I had to get a coat hanger and get it from under the bed. She popped it right in her mouth and enjoyed it.

"My daughter is a chocolate-milk-aholic - I will take control"

Here is a video of her love for chocolate - she was a little camera shy:

Promise next post won't be as long :-)

Happy V-Day & Barbie Story

It is so much fun being a mom to a 2 1/2 year old :-) She is going through the wonderful temper tantrum year (year, right? only lasts a year). You tell her no and she immediately starts into a cry. For example, this morning, daddy was the bad one - woo hoo - not me. He told her she had to get dressed and couldn't watch anymore cartoons. Immediately she went into an outburst of crying. Here is the funny part - we try to coerce her into not crying by saying "you are not a baby - babies don't cry" And she starts crying saying she is a baby. This little trick used to work and she would stop crying and say "I am not a baby - I stop crying'.

Well on to the real story. Here is our conversation this morning.
Belle - I am mommy's baby

Mommy - Yes, you are

Belle - I want a barbie and a Barbie car (she was exposed to barbies last week with my niece and Abigail)

Belle - I want one from Tiger Towns. Tiger Town (not towns as she calls it) is the one main shopping area in the Auburn/Opelika area that has Target, Kroger, Books-a-million, etc.. She loves Tiger Towns

Mommy - Sure, we will go this weekend

Belle - Me, you and daddy?

Mommy - Yes

So, today was Isabelle's valentine day party at school (see picture) and daddy wanted to go to Target afterward and get Isabelle her first barbie for her V-day gift and for going potty at school this week. How sweet - he is a wonderful daddy. I was thinking he would come home with an actual Barbie and a pink Corvette. Nope, he got a high school musical golf cart with a knock-off barbie (she is a little more stiff than a real barbie - not as bendable - hard plastic arms). He didn't even realize it wasn't a barbie until I pointed it out. He said the barbies all had bikinis and he was embarrassed to be seen buying a bikini barbie - guess he thought it would look a little strange. Nah - get used to it daddy. Here is a picture of the high-school musical purchase by daddy. Isabelle has already stripped the doll down - she has an obsession with taking the clothes off. Still it was very thoughtful of daddy to go out and buy this for our little girl :-)


Well, Tommy and I are having a date night tonight. Sitter should be here in 10 minutes. We are going to a beer and wine tasting and then to the movies to watch Grand Tarino.

Everyone have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Memphis Trip & Terror in the Moonwalk

Well - I missed my Manic Monday post and have been slightly AWOL on my blog due to our weekend getaway. We went to visit our good friends Bryan and Erica in Memphis to celebrate their daughter, Abigail's, 3rd birthday. Isabelle was pumped all week (as pumped as a 2 year old can get) about going to see Abigail, mama and papa, and pappa Beasley. The trip there was not bad as we drove to Guin on Thursday night and then drove to Memphis on Friday. We only had to whip out the dvd player a few times on the trip as Isabelle got in a few cat naps.

Isabelle and Abigail had fun dressing up in princess clothes.

Of course they had a few episodes of fighting over the same spoon, ball, Auburn football player punching bag. If one wanted it - the other wanted it. As Erica said, they would both want a pile of poop if it was there. I heard there was a moment in the barbie car when they both wanted to control the radio. Abigail wanted to turn it up and Isabelle wanted to turn it down. Now - I am sure us adults have this problem all of the time :-)

For the birthday, Erica and Bryan rented a Strawberry Shortcake Moonwalk.

This is when terror stroke - let me set the stage - Isabelle was in the moonwalk with about 10 other children bouncing right near the net so she could keep an eye on me. All of a sudden out of nowhere, a little girl in a red/white check outfit grabbed onto Isabelle and pulled her down. Then she climbed on top of her her like she was trying to embrace her in a bear hug but instead her hands moved around her neck. It looked as if she was trying to choke my daughter- hands wrapped around her neck squeezing. I go into panic mode and start yelling - someone help - whose daughter is this on top of my daughter and I described her. All of the other mommies gathered around and told the little girl to let go and they requested help from the older boy in the moonwalk but nothing worked. I guess I was just a little in shock and didn't even think about getting into the moonwalk to get my baby out. So, one of the other mommies went in and pried Isabelle from the girl's death grip and delivered her to me. I actually had tears in my eyes. Some onlookers thought it was like Chucky from Child's Play or something. Later on I was told that she was just trying to give Isabelle a hug and doesn't know how to do it quite gently ;-). After that, every time the girl would start to come near us, we would think of the jaw music. I feel bad and now that I look back at it - it is quite a funny moment - wish I would have captured it on camera or video.

Just beware of young toddlers - they are not as innocent as they look :-) Just kidding! All in good fun!

It is wonderful seeing Isabelle learn to share and play with other children. She now talks about Abigail all of the time. She pretends to call her on the phone, she says my room in pink like Abigail's room, etc... Below is a video of Isabelle's first moonwalk experience.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

PS - Erica don't hate me for writing this post. I just couldn't resist - it is such a funny story.

Isabelle's 1st Year

As I mentioned in Monday's blog, I finally created Isabelle's 1st year album (she is 2 1/2). Below is a collage of some of my favorite 1st year photos (this one is at 3 weeks). Once I finish her 2nd year album, I will post those pics. Then I will be all caught up and post current photos - woo hoo!

PS - Before I get started attaching pictures, wanted to let you know that she woke up this morning at 5 something crying. It was not the quiet tip-toeing of her coming into our room instead it was 'waaaaaawaaaaaaaa - I want to go downstairs and watch tv'. I think I have totally jinxed myself by writing about her waking up early. I will leave the subject alone and maybe things will go back to normal :-) I love 6 am.

What we have above is Isabelle fast asleep in the car seat (oh those days are gone - we had to purchase a DVD player for trips longer than 30 minutes), Isabelle's first bath, first Halloween, first Christmas, Easter trip to Callaway Gardens, daddy being crafty and making her a crown out of a slimfast box, first Memorial Day, first beach trip (Seaside, FL), first Fourth of July (Williamsburg, VA - this is the trip she acquired her stuffed dog and started sucking her finger), and finally her first birthday.

I would not trade these moments for anything! Cherish every moment (even those early morning wake up calls) :-)

Happy Wednesday!

Televison Thoughts Tuesday

Well as I promised Tuesday would be 'Television Thoughts Tuesday' but I have a few things to ramble about prior to getting to my few thoughts on my television watching marathon (yes, watching more than 2 shows in one sitting is considered a marathon in my house).

Update on Isabelle's sleep pattern. Today, she came into our room at 6:05 am which is 25 minutes earlier than her average waking time. Now you are probably wondering - what do you mean she came into your room... Well, 3 weeks ago we took a huge step and leap of faith and converted her crib to a day bed. The leap of faith was in the hope that she would not get up in the early morning hours and want to play and wake up mommy and daddy. So far, she has not gotten out of her bed prior to 6 am but in the past when she would wake up would stay in her crib and play and possibly go back to sleep until 7 am. She has discovered what freedom is - let's just keep it to 6 am.

Okay, last night I watched Gossip Girl. Love the show! As Isabelle would say "it's my favorite". The only thing is in the past 2 or 3 episodes it doesn't' really get good until the very end and then it leaves you hanging! I don't want to ruin it for those of you who have it on your DVR waiting to be watched. It does look like they are going to leave the Chuck and Blaire love/hate relationship alone for now. Chuck is about to enter an intriguing/deadly world of finding out his deceased dad's secrets. Oh and Dan Humphrey turns into a bad boy and gets a little too busy with the teacher. Okay - now I am officially cheezy.

And who can forget the Bachelor. What's up with Melissa and Jillian in the hotel bathtub with the girls just hanging out and talking? Don't you think the hotel had a hot tub or pool? It was just so random to see them hanging out in the bathroom. Oh - and you had to love Molly's pony tail on the group date. I kept thinking did she just wake up and then I thought windy Seattle (or is that Chicago) - the wind must have given her bad hair and she just put it in a pony tail. (Random thought alert) - that pony tail looked like something I would do - I need lessons for fixing Isabelle's hair (seriously) - I can't pull it into pig tails or pony tails - everything turns out uneven or it has a huge hump. I never was able to fix hair - in fact my mom always told me I had bad hair. I can't even braid. I wonder if there are any community classes for learning to do a straight pony/pig tail. Oh - back to the Bachelor. Molly gets on my nerves something with her voice. I just don't know about Melissa - this is like her 3rd reality tv show appearance (maybe she is in it for love). I do like Jillian but the word 'adventure' was used a lot yesterday. And finally, I don't see him with Naomi. Okay - I need to get a life. My husband would totally give me heck for writing about this.

Promise TV thoughts will only come on Tuesday. There were a lot of reruns last week, so I limited my thoughts to what I watched yesterday. Oh - and my DVR space is at 80% - I am getting warnings. Much of that space is being taken by Micky Mouse Club and Wow Wub Wuzzy (or whatever that show is)

Happy Tuesday!

Manic Monday

Welcome to my new blog - Blogging with the Beasley's!

I would like to start off my thanking my friend Leslie for finally convincing me to start a blog. First off Leslie introduced me to MySpace and when MySpace wasn't enough there was Facebook and now finally there is a blog. A year ago, I used email as my one and only way of communication (for those of you who know me - I hardly use the phone). Now look at me - my life is obsessed with the computer. I work all day in front of a computer and play on it in my spare time. No wonder my daughter plays like she is sending an email or says to me "just wait - I need to send this one email' :-) Well today, I did break up with MySpace officially (after ignoring it for 6 months) and now I am on to this new relationship with blogging.

Another disclaimer, please don't have high expectations for my blog. I can almost promise you that my blogs will be boring as I pretty much live an uneventful life. But, I do have a 2 1/2 year old going through the terrible two's and I am sure I will have a story or two to share. Another thing you will notice, I will write the most random thoughts ever - sometimes just as they pop in my head without thinking about them and they be totally unrelated.

Well - on to the blog - I decided to call Monday's posting - Manic Monday (every Monday - will be Manic Monday). I am thinking Tuesday's posting can be called Television Thoughts Tuesday (just because there is so much good tv on Monday night - The Bachelor, Gossip Girl, plus much more). That is far as I have gotten with my blog themes. If anyone has any blogging etiquette to share with me - please pass on. Is once a week enough for a post or do I need to post everyday or whenever I feel like it? If that is the case, it might turn out like my relationship with MySpace. One of the reasons I was hesitant to start a blog was because I felt like I would have nothing to write about - we will see.

Manic Monday:
Mondays are referred to as "Manic Monday" not because I woke up this morning with the "just another manic Monday" melody going through my head by the Bangles (in my mind I can actually sing this tune) but because Isabelle ALWAYS wakes up early on Monday morning. Is she excited about going to school? Sometimes it as 3:30 am, sometimes it is 6:00 but it is always prior to her 6:30 am normal wake time (ouch - yes, Tommy does get up with her while I lay in bed until at least 7:15). (Random thought - alert - I will skip to another paragraph).

I think she wakes up because of the train. The train wakes me up almost every morning but on Monday's it seems super duper loud - maybe it is a mental thing because I know I can't go back to sleep. We are first startled by the train at like 5 am and then it comes by once every hour after that. I thought I read something somewhere that one will eventually not even here a constant sound after you are exposed to it for a while. For example, people who live by an airport never hear the planes fly over. Well, somehow our house is like within a 5 miles radius of 5 different railroad crossing so we get to hear the gracious train horn every morning. Oh - Isabelle has told me on several occasions that she woke up because of the train.

Okay - I need to wrap this thing up (that just popped in my head). I want to share with you some of my favorite phrases that Isabelle used today:

• I said she woke up because her pajamas are too small (the shirt and legs ride up) and her reply was "my pjs aren't too small they are too tight"
• "What's that noise" - she loves to ask what a noise is - she does have a few noises down but I will share those at a later date
• After drinking 2 glasses of chocolate milk this morning, she says this to me when we get to school "I don't' feel well - I don't feel well at all". I love how she threw in and emphasized the "at all" part. Yes, a topic for another date, her obsession with chocolate!
• And then once we got to her classroom, she says to me "i need to go to the doctor - I don't feel well". She has this thing about asking to go to the doctor.

I am very proud of myself. Yesterday, I created and ordered Isabelle's first year baby book (yes, she is 2 1/2). I used Kodak Photo Gallery online to create a photo album with all of her photos from newborn to 1 year. I can't wait to get it. It is amazing how much they grow and change. Enjoy every minute of it. I plan to post some of my favorite 1 year pictures in a bit (just need to figure out the picture attachment thing). My goal is to complete her 2nd year book within the coming month (or year) . I really like idea of creaing photo books using digital pics (no mess)- I think I may sell all of my Creative Memory stuff. If anyone has any recommendations another photo book site, please let me know. I might try photoworks next time.

Mondays will always be manic because it will have a bunch of random stuff starting with how I was brought to reality of the work week.

Have a great Monday!