Elmo!

Here's a few video clips from our adventures with Elmo!

Santa Picture 2008

Well, Santa didn't go as well as I'd hoped. We had been talking about Santa for days and when you asked Sydney if she wanted to go see Santa she would say "UHHH HUHHHH! And she has been saying "Ho Ho Ho" and said she was going to tell Santa she wanted "Toys". When we were in line waiting for Santa to come back from lunch she pointed at a picture of him and said "Santa". But when he came walking to get in his chair, she froze. We got her to wave at him a couple of times, but she would not take her eyes off him. Then when I put her in his lap she freaked. Oh well, there is always next year.

Almost Thanksgiving, but here is Halloween!

I just got my camera back from my Grandmother's house, so here are Sydney's Halloween pictures. She is in the mode of HATING having her picture taken, so she is covered in chocolate - the distraction so I could take her picture. When she sees the camera, she breaks down and cries. I can't blame her, that's how I feel about having my picture taken too.

Goldilocks (and the 3 bears)






We have a big accomplishment for the day today! Sydney said the first sentence we've heard. I had to work today and I was getting ready to leave and getting my hugs and kisses at the door and Sydney said, "Mama what is dis?" and pointed to my sunglasses on my head. She wants you to tell her the words for everything so she can repeat them. She is in the "Parrot Stage" right now. She has been talking SO MUCH the last few weeks. My list of words that I posted at the beginning of November seems obsolete. That list has at least tripled of words she says and knows what they are, but she'll repeat any word you tell her to. She can now say all of her grandparent's names - Hoppy, Gran, Meme, and Pops. She started saying Hoppy about a week ago and has since learned to say the others and points them all out in pictures and names each one over and over again. It's so cool how fast they learn. All you soon to be moms out there remember to soak it up. I feel so sad that I barely remember her being a little baby. In a year or two I know I won't remember this time very well either. Even though that time is gone, the present is so much fun! Plus, there are the hours and hours of video I can watch one day...
Well, this went on much longer than I meant. I bought some hair color today and I am going to try to save $100 by touching up my highlights at home. Wish me luck!

Just An Update

I have no pics from Halloween to post because I left my camera at my Grandmother's house, but I just thought I'd do an update on the Permenter clan.
At 17 1/2 months Sydney is growing by leaps and bounds. She has really started talking lately. I think she has been talking for a while, but she has such a country accent, we didn't realize she was actually saying words!
Here's a list of what I can remember:
"Baw" (Ball)
She calls the dogs "Oh Puppy"
"No, No, No"
"Huh" and "Yah" (which both mean Yes)
"Uh Oh" (Her favorite)
"Whoa"
"Mama"
"Dada"
"Eyes"
"Eye Ba" (eye brow - she's infatuated with them for some reason)
"Noph" (Nose)
"Ears"
"Mouf" (Mouth)
"Die-per" (Diaper, but super country)
"Go, Go, Go"
"Hey"
"Bye"
"Hoe" (Hello)
"Baby"
"Acorn"
"Cup"
"Hot"
"Hat"
"Tantoo" (Thank You)
"There this" (There it is)
"Where dit go"
"Nuh Nuh" (Night Night)
"Pish" (Fish)
"Back" (For Backyardigans)
"Jack" (Jack's Big Music Show)
"Clap"
"Giggle Giggle Giggle" (Tickle Tickle Tickle)
She'll also "Shoosh" you with her finger over her mouth
She says "one" and will hold her finger up when you ask how old she is
She knows a ton of animal sounds because that is all we do on the way to and from school
Cat says "Mowww" (like a dying cat)
Cow says "Boooo"
Coyote says "Owwwwww"
Dog says "Uff Uff"
Pig says "Onk Onk"
Frog says "Bibbot"
Duck says "kak kak kak" (in a really high voice)
Chicken says "click click" (she clicks her tongue)
Bear says "Errr"
Tiger says "Errr"
Lion says "Errr"
Zombie says "Errr" (we've been playing monster at our house)
Horse says "huhuhuhuhu" (almost like a laugh)
snake says "slslslslslsl"
Owl says "Oooh Oooh"
At night in the tub we learn our body parts. So far she knows:
Eyes
Eyebrows
Nose
Mouth
Tongue
Teeth
Ears
Hair
Head
Chin
Cheek
Neck
Shoulders
Elbows
Arm Pits
Arms
Hands
Wrists
Fingers
Boobs
Belly
Belly Button
Vagina
Booty
Legs
Knees
Feet
Heels
Toes
When I taught her "Vagina", I told her to go show daddy where his vagina is. She pointed right to his crotch. So funny!!

I started a new job last week and so far so good. I'm working at Crye-Leike Property Management as a Leasing Agent. I've been taking the Real Estate courses to get my license and should have it in the next month or so. It's not such a good time to be a realtor, but a great time if you are in the rental side of the business. My friend Tina has been working there for a year and has been trying to get me to come there too, so I recently decided it was time for a change. AAA was a dead end. Unfortunately AAA has too many "cooks in the kitchen" when it comes to upper level management. A bunch of old men with out-dated ideas. Their business is suffering because of that. I am excited about starting a new career and learning new things and working with Tina again. It was time for a shake-up. It's fast paced, which is what I like. The possibilities in this position are unlimited. Not only am I only 1 of 2 Leasing Agents for Crye-Leike, I will also be able to list homes for sale and be a Buyer's Agent. This could potentially be some really great money!
Jeremy is the same as always. He hasn't started a new job, or learned any new animal sounds. He got Mario Cart for his birthday and recently discovered Facebook, so that is mostly what he has been doing.
Well, that's the update. I'll try to go get my camera this week so I can post pictures of my little "Goldilocks".

Loretta Lynn is a horrible cook!

If you're ever in Hurricane Mills, TN and you see Loretta Lynn's Kitchen and Gift Shop and think "Oh, I bet that's some good country food", think again, turn around and go to McDonald's or the BBQ place in the trailer. But first, I guess I should explain why we were in that area of TN. In late July we sold Jeremy's Jeep and have been looking for a car or van that would get better gas mileage than the Jeep's 10 MPG. We've been to all the dealerships, looked on Auto Trader, Craigslist, and EBay Motors. Everyone is taking advantage of the high gas prices and cars are so overpriced right now it's ridiculous. So we found several cars on EBay and bid on a few of them, but didn't get them. Finally about 2 weeks ago I see this fabulous car and tell Jeremy we should bid on it. We had both agreed early on to get a car that is not going to be expensive to repair, but I just couldn't resist this one. Well, long story short, our bid was the highest and we are now the proud owners of a Mercedes-Benz!



This is what eventually led us to drive 4 hours each way to Pulaski, TN. So that's what we did this Saturday, which in turn led us to the horrible mistake that was Loretta Lynn's Kitchen and Gift Shop.
You pull up to what looks somewhat like a Cracker Barrel - the country crap on the outside of a fake log cabin with rocking chairs and John Deer signs flanked by picture windows showcasing Ceramic Dolls, Loretta Lynn Cd's and other household essentials for the Southern Trailer Park. OK, so far it's living up to my expectations of the "One Stop Eat and Shop". After perusing the monogrammed coffee mugs, "I love TN" shot glasses and the shelves and shelves of Loretta Lynn souvenirs we decided it was time to try the food. I should also mention it was 12:00pm on a Saturday afternoon. We just knew that we would be fighting for a place to sit with every Senior Citizen within a 45 mile radius. We should have been tipped off when there were 5 empty spaces right by the front door. We are led from the Gift Shop area to a "Seat Yourself" area that is just indescribable, but I'll give it a shot. It just made me sick. It made me dislike Loretta Lynn horribly. Think of a CK's restaurant. Now make it 2 times bigger, 2 times dirtier, way more country, throw in about 200 Loretta Lynn pictures, and that's the decore (I'm so sorry CK's. You are 5 Star compared to this horrible, horrible trap that calls itself a restaurant). There is just no comparing the food. I can not think of a time that I have ever eaten garbage before now. We had the extremely overpriced $10.99 buffet that consisted of barely any food, but lots and lots of heat lamps! You know when you were a kid and your grandmother cooked and it was soooo good, but then as you got older and she got older her cooking started to go. The lady in the kithcen must have been over 100, because this food should have been thrown out about 5 days ago. It had been reheated so many times. The one thing I thought I could count on to at least fill me up was the good old country staple - cornbread. How can a "Country Kitchen" screw up cornbread??? When I was in the 4th grade I made corn bread for 4-H and won the regional first place prize. Do you know what this means??? A 4th grader makes better corn bread than Loretta Lynn's Kitchen!
Loretta Lynn, please take my advice and take your name off of this shit hole posing as a restaurant. You should have the person in charge of your P.R. killed! One of two things is clearly obvious, Loretta Lynn; you have never eaten at Loretta Lynn's Kitchen and Gift Shop or you have gotten so old that your taste buds no longer work!
Please warn others not to make the same mistake as us. Buying a car on EBay turned out to be a great experience. Keeping our lunch down was much harder.

Some updated pictures

My silly girl!





This is her meltdown after bath time. Too sleepy.

Finally, an update!

OK. So I know it's been months since I've updated, but I have been busy with my new job and when I get home at night, I don't really want to get back on the computer. I just want to spend time with my two honeys. Some updates since Christmas...

Sydney has 8 teeth. She says MaMa and DaDa and she loves the dogs so she tries to bark. She waves, blows kisses, and when she hugs you she says "Awwwww". Sydney loves music and will dance and wave her hands around when music comes on. She is so much fun. She is trying to walk. She's taken a couple of steps. She has a push cart and walks behind that really well. If you ask her, "Are you a good girl", she shakes her head "No". Sydney is eating grapes, chicken nuggets, kraft singles, fish sticks, scrambled eggs, potatoes, and anything off my plate that I will give her. She loves chinese noodles. She has recently started wanting to spoon feed herself, which makes dinner extra messy, but so funny. Cheerios and sweet potato puffs are still her favorites. She is still not sleeping through the night. Sometimes she wakes around 2 or 3 wanting to eat, but most nights it is about 5:00. She goes to bed at 8:30 and gets up around 7am. Some days she naps at school, some days she goes strong and won't nap all day. Her favorite show has always been "The Backyardigans". When they sing and dance, she is just mesmerized. She points her fingers straight in the air when she hears the theme music, almost in a "ROCK ON" sort of way. I put a Backyardigans book in her Easter Basket and everything else got tossed out in order to get that book. The Backyardigans show (or CD in the car) is the one thing that can always soothe the savage beast. Jeremy has even been known to break out and sing "I Love Being a Princess" just to calm Sydney down.

Here's some new pictures. Some from snow day and her Easter Bunny pic. Enjoy.







"Ahhhhhhh!! The stuffed animal moved!!! Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma MAMA!"