Football season always brings back fond memories of my college days. Raven and I, along with many others, including Travis, would tailgate all day, attend the game and then head "out" on the town. Much to Travis' dismay we would always end up at some "place" that offered loud music and dancing. Travis and others would mingle and chat while Raven and I rocked it out on the dance floor. 


A lot has changed since those days. We now tailgate at someone's house. We don't attend the games very often. We rarely are caught hitting up the town. And our dancing genes have apparently been passed on. Well, some of them. It's safe to say that Morgan Kate got Raven's dancing abilities (lots of rhythm) and Nolan got mine (slow to warm up). Ha! 

I apologize for 1.) the moving camera, 2.)the awful singing in the background, 3.)my terrible laugh and 4.)this really old song. However, I make no apologies for how hard these videos will make you laugh, especially this last one. Oh. My. Goodness. 

This contraption and I have a love, hate don't love relationship.

I love that Morgan Kate is finally "getting" the whole tee-tee in the potty thing and even asks to go. Seriously. She is telling us when she needs to go. We never have to ask and she's not having any tee-tee accidents.


I don't love that I have to think A LOT about this whole potty business every single time we walk out of the door. Like seriously. I thought packing diapers and wipes was a big deal. Now I gotta pack undies, extra clothes, wipes, more undies, more extra clothes. I also gotta think a lot about where we are going and if and where we will have potty access. 


I love that I am not buying diapers every few weeks.


I don't love that we are still having to use diapers at nights and at times during naps. Oh, and when she needs to do the "other thing". You know, the thing other than tee-tee.


I love that we aren't having any tee-tee accidents.


I don't love that we are having major "other thing" accidents. MAJOR.


I love that she is wearing big girl undies.


I don't love that she is wearing big girl undies.


I love that she is now using the "big girl" potty.


I don't love that she is big enough to use the "big girl" potty. 


I told you, it's definitely a love and don't love relationship. Maybe one day, and hopefully one day soon, I'll have a strictly love relationship with this contraption and all it entails. Until then, not so much.

Deep Conversations with a Three Year Old

Last night as I was rocking Morgan Kate we shared two conversations that I wanted to share.


As we were saying her prayers and she was thanking God for all of her family and friends (the list is quite lengthy) the conversation went a little like this:
MK: Thank you for Owens and Dippin and Kyle and Hunter and Jordan.
Me: And who else?
MK: Kaka and Gator.
Me: Who else?
MK: Jesus.
Me: Oh, okay. You are thanking God for Jesus. You are such a sweet girl.
MK: I wanna hug Jesus. 
Me: (All I could think of was "Really?" How in the heck do I explain this one?!?) Well, baby, you can't hug Jesus right now. Ummm, he lives in the sky. In Heaven. But, ummmm, you can blow him kisses.
MK: Why, Mommy?
Me: Why what?
MK: Why he no here? I wanna hug Jesus.
Me: Ummm, well you can one day, but right now let's just blow him kisses. Now, who else do you want to thank God for?


This question led into our next deep conversation:


MK: Thank you for Roddey, McNary and James. Mommy, who is McNary's daddy?
Me: You silly girl. James is McNary's daddy.
MK: No, Mommy. James my friend.
Me: Right, James is your friend, but he's McNary's daddy. 
MK: Oh. (Big smile on her face.)
Me: Do you remember when McNary was in Roddey's tummy? (Why in this world did I ask that? Wasn't my Jesus conversation enough for one night?!?)
MK: Uh-huh. And I was in your tummy?
Me: Yep. You sure were. (Thinking to myself: Not for very long, but yes, you were.)
MK: Daddy have a baby in his belly?
Me: Ummm, no, sweetie. Only mommies can have babies in their tummies.
MK: Daddies have boy babies in their tummies?
Me: No, just mommies. Daddies don't have babies in their tummies. So, I think it's night-night time. I love you. Sleep tight. 


Wowzers. Serious conversations going on around the Callahan household last night. This girl is way smart. 

Total Randomness.

One of my most favorite things in the whole wide world is watch these two together. May actually be my absolute most favorite. I knew a long time ago that this man was going to be the best daddy ever. And he does not disappoint. He makes me want to me a better momma. His love for this little girl is incredible.

Morgan Kate loves bath time. Mostly. It's hard slowing her down enough to actually get in, but once we get her in there she's great. Until it's time to wash her hair. Every night, bath time goes a little like this:
Me or Trav: Morgan Kate, it's time to take a bath.
MK: No wash my hair.
Me or Trav: We have to tonight.
MK: NO WASH MY HAIR.
Me or Trav: Morgan Kate, it hasn't been washed in two days. We have to.
MK: No, please. No. (Begging and pleading.)
Me or Trav: We will do it real fast and it will be over super quick. Promise.
MK: Okaaaayyyyyy. (Real whiney like.)

I have been meaning to share this awesome chalkboard that my daddy made me for my birthday. He constructed it and my momma "supervised". They are a pretty good team. I had been wanting a chalkboard for my kitchen for like forever, so I was thrilled, beyond belief, when my daddy made this one. I love it and I just sit around and think of funny and clever and life changing things to write on it. This week I chose a quote I found in my planner. It's kind of my motto to live by right now. 

Oh, and if you are looking for something cute, "fall-ish", FUN and kind of, sort of decorative - then check out this "Fall Bucket List" printable (and it's cute blog). Totally cute. And totally FREE. Nice. 

Today we celebrate my mom!

My mom is one of the most giving and caring people I know. And I'm not just saying that because she is my mom. She is. For real. She is especially giving and caring when it comes to her children and grandchildren. I have always known, for years and years and years, that her love for us is unconditional. I pray that my love for my children and grandchildren is just like hers. Endless.

She loves us even when our children are running around like crazy people screaming and whining at her birthday lunch. She loves us even when said older grandchild crawls under the lunch table and has a potty accident in the middle of her birthday lunch. Or the youngest grandchild pulls the safety alarm in the middle of her birthday lunch. She loves us even when after all of the running around, potty accidents and alarm pulling, her middle child has a sporadic nose bleed in the middle of her birthday lunch that requires attention from numerous lunch guests. She loves us even when her oldest, who is trying her best to learn this whole parent-child-discipline-thing, argues with her three year old about where she will and will not sit during the birthday lunch. She loves us when her youngest, who is also a parent in training, snoozes on the couch while his child clings to my her legs in the middle of her birthday lunch. And all the while there is a dog crying at the back door and another dog begging at her feet. Even still, she loves us. All of us. A whole lot.

Happy birthday, sweet Mommy! We love you. A whole lot.

Morgan Kate has been home for the past three days suffering from some sort of viral infection. One that brings high fever and ulcers all over her throat. My poor baby.

As long as she can have her purple and red medicine (Motrin and Tylenol) she's a happy camper. She won't eat much because it hurts to swallow. Last night I even offered her ice cream for dinner and she didn't want it. No worries though, she is drinking lots and lots of cold milk. Matter of fact, that is all she will drink. This morning she did request yogurt, so we made a mad dash to Chick-fil-A for a yogurt parfait and fruit. Thank goodness for Chick-fil-A.

I'm so ready for her to feel better. We are waiting on a throat culture to come back. Dr. G thought she may have strep because her throat looked so awful, but the test they do in the office came back negative. The culture they send off is still off and we won't know the results until late this afternoon or tomorrow morning. If it is strep then they will start treating it with an antibiotic. Until then, we are just treating it with purple and red meds, lots of snuggles and as many popsicles as she can eat. 

Today Morgan Kate got her very first haircut. 

We have been patiently waiting three years for her hair to grow. Okay, maybe not so patiently. Ha. It finally had some length, but the ends of her hair were so brittle. It was straight up baby hair and it had seen it's better days. So, I knew it was time for a "trim". We took her to this little children's place in Lexington and she loved it. I really had no doubt that she would. One, she loves to be pampered and two, she loves to look in the mirror. I myself was a little anxious. It's crazy- I didn't shed a tear the day I walked her into preschool, but I found myself with a huge lump in my throat as I watched her climb into that big chair. However, the minute I saw her excitement, all of my emotions and anxiety subsided. 

She really was so excited. She climbed up in the chair and waited patiently. Before jumping in the chair they gave her a bracelet with a card attached. She got to wear the bracelet during her haircut and afterward she could turn the card in for a "surprise".

Of course this crazy momma brought her camera and took about 100 pictures. Hey, getting your haircut for the first time is kind of a big deal. 

Morgan Kate just smiled and giggled the entire time. She was so good and so still. We were so proud of her!

See, her hair really had gotten long. It was just really uneven and like I said, so, so brittle.

Right now, I would say that she has my hair. And that's unfortunate because it's super thin and super fine and just hard to handle. Hopefully, this is just her "baby hair" and new long, luscious, thick hair is going to grow in. Travis has awesome hair, so maybe she will get his. 

The sweet lady tried to get MK to look at us while she cut her hair. But, MK wasn't having any part of that. She only wanted to watch herself in the mirror. I'm not sure where in the world she gets that from. Hee, hee.

With the first clips my heart did stop for a second and I seriously contemplated calling the whole thing off. 

But, I took a deep breath and just kept my mouth shut. Mostly. I did step in when the lady was cutting her bangs. I told her that I wanted them to stay long. I wanted them cut right at her brow. Hey, I know what's it like to have bangs that are only like a centimeter from your hairline and it's not fun.

After the cut, MK jumped down and redeemed her prize. She was such a big girl!

We got a certificate for "Morgan Kate's first haircut" and even a small baggie with some of her locks. As most of you can imagine, that made this momma's heart just melt. 

It's short, but I love it. It's got so much shape and body now and I just think it's so, so cute. It looks so much healthier. And maybe now it will really start growing. 

One of my besties, Raven, recently returned from an almost two week trip to Japan. Maybe it was actually longer that two weeks. It felt like an eternity to me. They went to visit family and of course to have all of Makoto's (her hubby) family meet their precious baby boy, Nolan. I was so envious of their trip. I mean I was so excited that they got to go, but I was so jealous of all they would get to see and all the yummy food they would get to consume. Asian food has got to be my all time favorite food. Seriously. I could eat it every single day of my life.   While there they were so sweet and picked up a few goodies for their friends back in the States. One of the things they brought back for us was a little kimono for Morgan Kate and a parasol (Is that spelled correctly?). Oh. My. Goodness. Precious. Morgan Kate tried it on this afternoon and it fit perfectly and looked darling. She even let me take a few pictures. Okay, maybe a lot of pictures.

I told you it was precious. 


A BIG thank you to Raven, Koto and Nolan. We love you muches and we are SO thankful you are back home!

At the start of every school year I give all the parents of students I teach homework. I do it for two reasons. One, to take the pressure off of students and to get them to laugh a little. And two, to get to know my students better. It's a simple questionnaire that the parents fill out about their child and return to me within the first week of school. I've always given it as the teacher and never been the receiver as a parent. Until last week. Last week Morgan Kate's teachers gave us homework. We had to fill out a questionnaire, send in a photo of our child and decorate a "Super Star". I thought it was going to be super easy and fun. And it was fun, but it wasn't super easy and it was on my "To-Do List" for several days without ever being accomplished. I had certain "visions" in my head and wanted it all to be perfect. I finally finished it all today. Actually, I already sent the questionnaire back in - I'm such a good "student", but tonight I finished my star and printed off a photo of MK to send in tomorrow. Each child will have a star hanging in the classroom. If they ever feel anxious or sad or blue, the teacher will take them to the star and remind them of the important people and/or things in their life. I think I did pretty good. My only complaint - the star just wasn't large enough. Ha!

My Very First Vlog

UPDATE: I apologize if you can't hear my annoying voice. First time using my webcam and maybe I wasn't as successful as I first thought. Sorry!

A few things to keep in mind before watching:

1. Yes, I'm a dork. I know that and accept that.

2. Yes, I do sound funny and look funny.

3. Yes, this is ridiculous, but so much fun.

Now it's your turn...

Tell us a little about where you were born, raised, currently live, etc. Then, the instructions are to say these words:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions:

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you say to address a group of people?

What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Oh my gosh. I seriously love this. PLEASE, PLEASE do this and then let me know so that I can watch you!

Many people say "Don't stress, your baby will walk/talk/potty/etc. when they are ready. They will let you know." Those people weren't lying, or at least not when it comes to my child. This statement couldn't be anymore true.


Three perfect examples. Example one, when MK was learning to walk, we tried and tried and tried some more. We worked so hard. She would take a few steps and then fall. She just never seem interested or ready. She would rather crawl or have someone carry her. Then around seventeen months she started "trying" a little harder. And then one afternoon, right around eighteen months, in the middle of a crawl, she just stood up and started walking. And that was that. Example two, the bottle. I knew the bottle was going to be difficult. We had cut all other bottles out, but she was still getting one bottle right before bed. We tried several times to go cold turkey, but she just cried and cried and cried. Bedtime became a nightmare so we gave in and continued. Then, one night as I was getting ready to give her a bottle she said, "No bah-bah, Mommy. I big girl." And that was that. And example three, the potty. MK got a potty for Christmas last year and we've been talking lots about it and encouraging her to go. Some days she would and some days she wouldn't. Sometimes weeks or months would pass before she would use the potty again. At the start of this summer I devoted an entire week to "Potty Training Boot Camp". Tremendous fail. She wasn't ready. Fast forward to early last week. While at Roddey's, where several others are learning to use the potty, she began telling Roddey she need to go. Then, she would come home in the afternoon and tell us. She even started waking us up at night because she needed to go. We were prompting her or encouraging her at all. It was all her. This past Friday she stayed in "big girl pants" ALL. DAY. LONG. and only had one accident late that evening. Yesterday we spent the majority of the day on the lake, but we took her potty with us (Roddey's genius idea). MK asked to use it twice while we were out. We are so proud of her! I just can't believe that the week before we were on diapers 24/7 and this week, all because MK was ready, we are wearing big girl pants. Wow.


Sometimes it's so hard to trust when our little ones are ready for things. We stress and worry about when and where those huge milestones will take place. But, usually when we do give it to them, we have HUGE results. 

Today was the day.

My baby, my teeny-tiny baby, started school. Just the first of very many school years to come.

 It was such an exciting and happy day.

And some of you will be shocked. I didn't shed one tear. Not a single one. I'm still pretty amazed with myself. And I'm still trying to figure it out. I realize I should just go with it and not worry or think too much about why I didn't cry or become emotional, but as usual, I analyze everything. And here's what I've come up with. My current thinking, that could possibly change at any given time. Here goes. With most of MK's milestones - learning to crawl, walking, giving up the bottle, using the potty (she's been working hard), leaving me for the first time, etc. - I have thought of them as endings of things rather than new beginnings. While I was excited for her to crawl, I was sad she wasn't that tiny little baby that would just hang out wherever I put her. When she gave up the bottle I was thrilled I didn't have to wash anymore, but I was sad that I wouldn't get to watch her take her bottle in such contentment. When I left her for the first time with Roddey, my heart was so full and so excited about where she would be and most importantly who she would be with, but I was also sad that my stay at home days were ending. With most change in my life I see things as endings rather than a new start. Is this making any sense? But today, nothing was ending. She's still my three year old little girl, she's still with Roddey, I still go to work each day. So rather than mourn the ending of something, I could truly appreciate the beginning of something. And I've decided that I have really got to start living more of my life like that. Rather than being down in the dumps every Sunday afternoon about returning to the work week, I should be excited about what the new week might hold. Instead of being sad about my baby no longer needing diapers one day (I'm crazy, right?), I should look forward to what "potty independence" might mean for all of us. I apologize if this makes no sense at all - it makes perfect sense in my head. Really.

Anyway, I didn't shed a tear and Morgan Kate didn't really either. She got a tiny bit teary-eyed as I was leaving, but two seconds later she was fine. And I totally appreciate that she at least gave me a tear or two. 

Roddey met me there with Morgan Kate and I was able to walk in with them. In was such a huge blessing and having Roddey there with me did make it much easier. She's such a calming force. I wish I could take her everywhere with me. Ha!

Morgan Kate was just all smiles the entire morning and it made this momma smile.

During her first day at preschool she got to decorate cookies. How awesome is that? Who doesn't appreciate food, especially cookies?

It was a memorable day for sure and I couldn't be happier! Thanks for all the prayers, support and encouraging words. MK is already asking about when she goes back!