TAG

My college friend, Maggie, tagged me for this, so here's what I have to do....
1. choose the 4th picture folder on my computer.

2. choose the 4th picture.

3. explain the picture.

4. tag at least 4 people to do the same.

Ironically enough, my cousin-in-law, Adam, took this picture Thanksgiving day last year. I know I'll be saying this for the next 20 years as I watch my children grow, but I can't believe how much changes in a year. Sadie Beth finally gave up the fight to sleep and enjoyed a nice little nap while being held by some family member during our most important family Thanksgiving ritual....singing? No. Going around and sharing what we are thankful for? Nope. Eating....a close second, but wrong again. Sadie Beth was napping during the annual Hotchkiss et al. family BINGO game. No, I'm not kidding. So don't laugh. BINGO is a very serious matter in our family. After we eat, everyone crowds (understatement) into the living room for at least an hour of BINGO with my Great Aunt Esther calling the numbers. There are prizes, people holler at each other to be quiet (only making it more difficult to hear), and we get very excited when they BINGO - especially if it is for a much desired prize (usually from the dollar store, but also boxes of chocolate from the Russell Stovers Factory in Seymour). Fun is had by all. Sadie Beth, I don't think, will be quite as easy to manage during this year's BINGO festivities. Daddy, get ready to take care of the baby cause Momma has BINGO to win!
I tag:
1. Becky (because her stories are ALWAYS hilarious).
2. Katy
3. Jenn
4. Abby
5. Jackie
6. Hillary

See Below...

Um...i just did a new post, but i started it a LONG time ago....so for some reason it posted below my "Not me Monday" post. Just FYI....

Introducing (on my blog)...Not Me Monday!!!

Recently I started reading this fabulous blog about a mom who calls herself MckMama and her four little-bitties...(thanks Jenn for getting me hooked on yet ANOTHER blog). I appreciate this mom's transparency and helpful ideas. She started what she calls a "blog carnival" called "Not Me Mondays" and I LOVE IT. It's all about the mistakes made, corners cut, and mishaps happened that we've lived to tell (and laugh) about as moms....
I'm not usually into jumping on these bandwagons, but this is fun! MckMama really is right...writing your Not Me's and reading others is really therapeutic activities. So, my friends, I challenge you to own up (DENY) and laugh about all the ridiculous things that happen in daily life with....

Here I go:
1. My potty training 14-month old certainly did not reach into her pottty chair and touch her poopy this morning....I would never let that happen. That would be gross. And I would never laugh about it either.

2. Following that incident, I didn't absent-mindedly pick Sadie Beth up and hold her against me to wash her hands in the sink BEFORE wiping her poopy bottom and so there wasn't poo all over my pj shirt that my loving husband had not just washed the night before. I then did not proceed to wear the shirt for 15-20 more minutes before finally starting a load of laundry. Yuck!

3. I never dreamed of spending too much time playing a Super Mario game on the Wii this weekend - I am far too responsible and productive to do that. Nor did I hold my baby in my lap and play for several minutes to get to a save spot - I know better than letting my baby watch TV, let alone video games! I'm not nearly that "into" games...

4. I definitely didn't spend time making David a batch of peanut butter cookies on Saturday night, only to let them sit out all night long and become, very, well, "crunchy" - (stale)...that would be ridiculous. And I certainly would not eat more of those (stale) cookies than David....

5. Lastly, I never would have laughed on Saturday morning when I got up at 10am thanks to my sweet man of a husband after finding Sadie Beth wearing the following: a sleeper, a pair of cotton pants over the sleeper, a long sleeved shirt over the sleeper, a pair of blue jeans over the cotton pants, and a sweater over the long sleeved shirt...and don't forget her 2 bows!

There you have it...my Not Me Monday....now it's your turn! And by the way, I would NEVER let my daughter walk around the majority of the day with food on her face.

the rest of September...

Oh, I'm still so behind....my eventual goal is to get caught up on my blog and then start doing smaller posts ever few days. We'll see. Since, I'm not a scrap-booker, one day I'm going to have this turned into a nice blog-book, which is why I want so badly to get caught up. So here we go for the rest of September...

Sadie Beth continues to be busy busy and lots of fun! Any time I turn my back she is into something new, usually something that is a "nonono." When I tell Sadie Beth that something is a nonono, a lot of the times she listens and moves on. Other times, she looks at me, grins, says "nonono" while shaking her head and then continues to pursue the off limits object/activity. We're working on that.... :) Here she is digging into David's hamper. If I leave the room for any amount of time, immediately she sneaks off to the exciting world behind the elliptical runner. It's really not very exciting...just uknown.

Oh the tv...still another tempting grown-up toy. Now she will get up to the tv just to wait for me to tell her that it is a nonono. Or, she climbs up, looks at me, grins and shakes her head.

Here you will see the "baby" book. Sadie Beth likes to climb up and point the book with the babies on the spine. She says "Hi!" and waves to them....She says "Hi!" to everyone. If we are at Target or Meijer, she says "Hi!" to everyone that passes us in the cart. Often she will repeat herself until people respond to her.

David and Sadie Beth were playing one afternoon and they dressed "Tanzy" (the bear's given name from the bear making company) in her clothes.

Bunny-bear is still a very prominent figure in our house...he makes her happy, no matter what is going on. And this is usually how she sleeps. :)

We frequented a park near our home this summer so that Sadie Beth could enjoy one of her favorite activities...swinging. It looks like we were having a good time on this day, but the fun soon ended....when she threw up multiple times in the car on the way home and we all were plagued with the same yucky 24 hour virus. It was NOT FUN. Thankfully, when I had it, David was home from work and was able to take care of Sadie Beth while I slept it off.

Aren't homemade toys often the most fun? I took an empty pump bottle and a peanut butter jar and filled it with shiny pennies to make "shakers" for Sadie Beth. I tried to shine the pennies with salt and vinegar. That didn't go so well....I guess I better leave the science projects to David when the time comes. :)

Hugs!!! We do this a lot in the Balzer home. We are so blessed to have such an affectionate little girl. She gives hugs to pretty much everything....mama, daddy, toys, pictures in books, the air (when she wants a hug she will lean over and say "aww...."). Here she is hugging the hokey pokey Elmo.

And Tanzy.....

And the baby in the mirror.....you see that cute little face? Don't be fooled. She started sticking out her tongue and blowing just for fun. Then she figured out she could do it with "attitude" - so now, oftentimes when she is mad or when things don't go her way she will respond with this very blatantly. What a stinker!!!! She is learning very quickly however, that this behavior is not pretty, loving, or ladylike and has slowed down with it already.

I suppose this picture brings us to "bows." She's a little ridiculous when it comes to bows. She wants them ALL THE TIME. However, she also takes them out all the time. Often, when we go into her room in the morning it is the first thing she asks for. The other day I woke her up from a nap and she opened her eyes, pointed to her head and said "booowwwww." No joke. Ridiculous.

"Please?" She wants something....

Oh, she wanted my yogurt cup...(we often share)...

But then she sees and signs that it is "all gone"

And I am "All done!"

Up Next...

Sadie Beth's newest funny face....

And what could possibly have prompted this?!?

Hopefully I will keep catching up!