feel good friday - happy hayden day (take 3).

It's Friday and time for The Girl Next Door Grows Up's meme - Feel Good Friday.Although this week, while Erika from The Girl Next Door Grows Up is on vacation, Tami from 29 and Holding is hosting Feel Good Friday. Tami rocks (as does Erika). Go check out both their blogs if you never have. They are two of my favorites. Seriously. I'm not being the least bit facetious.

Anywho - onto the post. (I can't figure out if it should be 'onto' or 'on to' so I apologize if 'onto' is incorrect... my bad).

Today I have opted to write about something that made me happy this past week - Happy Hayden Day.

This past Wednesday was another 'Happy Hayden Day'. See prior posts here and here for further information regarding the 'Happy Hayden Day' tradition.

We started the day by watching some tv and hanging out in our front yard.
Then we went to 'Barnes and Noble'. We spent a little over an hour there and were treated with a surprise visit from daddy while perusing books.After 'Barnes and Noble' we picked up some food from the 'Chick-fil-A' drive-through and returned home to eat it.

We then watched some more tv, rested, watched more tv, and the proceeded to go to 'IntaJuice' with Randy (my husband - Hayden's daddy).Following our smoothie-date we returned home and watched some more tv. Then Hayden took a bath, we watched some more tv, and then Hayden went to bed.

The third Happy Hayden Day was definitely a success. With many more to come.

triple anniversary dinner.

This past Saturday we celebrated our 'Triple Anniversary Dinner'. What is that you ask? Well, I will tell you.

Ever since Randy and I were married (7 Years ago), we have gone to dinner at 'James at the Mill' with my parents to celebrate our anniversaries (with our anniversary being on June 13th and my parents' being on July 5th we tend to go sometime in between or at least sometime near the two occasions).

Last year we added my sister and her husband Clark to the mix as they were married on June 27th, 2009.

So now there are three couples - hence the "triple anniversary dinner."

The dinner is a nice way to acknowledge and commemorate the relationships (and to just have a nice, special dinner at a fancy, yummy restaurant).

I hope this tradition continues as we mark each year with another special dinner - as a trio of happily married couples. (Click here to see the blog post about last year's dinner and to see pictures from that dinner.)

Here are some pictures from this year's dinner:

randy and I.

my sister, Mary, and her husband, Clark.

my parents - Leslie and Ted.

the whole gang.

in regards to baby #2.

Hayden is now 3.5-years-old. Before my husband, Randy, and I had children we envisioned ourselves having 2 kids, two years a part. Obviously that hasn't happened, and it isn't going to. And that is by choice. It isn't that we have been trying and have been unsuccessful. Trust me. We have not been trying.

The truth is that after having Hayden and actually experiencing motherhood, I realized I couldn't do it: have two little ones so close together in age. My disposition doesn't seem to fit with that family composition, at least from my point of view.

I decided that I needed more time. I needed Hayden to be older… and so we have waited. I feel like I am almost ready - getting close to the point in which we can begin trying for another baby.

My sweet husband is definitely ready - more than ready actually. He seems to be getting a bit uncomfortable with the obvious gap in age separation that will exist between Hayden and this theoretical “baby #2.”

And I admit that I too worry about the age gap that is inevitably going to exist between Hayden and his supposed sibling.

I also worry though that I won’t be able to handle being a mother to two children. I worry that we won’t have enough space. I worry that we won’t have enough money. I worry that I won’t have enough time or energy to parent two children. I worry that I won't remember how to parent an infant. I worry about how Hayden will adapt to having a sibling and having to share a room with a new addition.

I worry that I won’t even be able to get pregnant.

I just worry.

But at the end of the day, I know that everything will work out as it is intended. And for poor Randy’s sake, hopefully things will come to fruition soon.

swimming lessons.

For the past two weeks, Hayden has been doing swimming lessons at our local pool. He started out a little apprehensive, but eventually he got the hang of it - although he still didn't put his head under water, jump off the diving board, or go down the slide. That's okay though. I think it's important to respect his fear-level and work with it. Push him a little, but only so much. In the end, he had a great time. And I REALLY enjoyed watching the lessons. It was fun, relaxing, and highly amusing.

Here are some pictures from our lessons.

Enjoy.
The last picture is of Hayden and his friend Ella. I think it helped to have a friend in his class with him. It also didn't hurt that one of his teacher's was a very pretty girl who Hayden seemed to "appreciate." Very amusing!

featured blogger - arkansas women bloggers.

If you are looking for my 'Getting to Know You' post, go here.

I just wanted to post a quick post letting you know that I am a featured blogger at the 'Arkansas Women Bloggers' webite.

Go here to check out my post about my fears and worries about having another baby. I think it's a pretty good post (if I do say so myself).

Have a lovely day!

getting to know you.

Today I am participating in Keely from MannLand5's 'Getting to know YOU' blog hop.

The rules are simple: copy the questions, answer them, post the questions/answers, and link back to Keely’s blog.

Although for this week, Keely had absolutely nothing to do with the questions... In reality, the questions were created by Kim at Kimberly's Korner, Jen at A Daily Scoop of Chaos, Rachel at Simple.Little.Joys,and Amber at A Day in the Life of Amber.

Here goes:

1. Thong or Granny Panties? Neither. I have one pair of “sexy thongs” and the rest of my underwear options are more boring and comfortable in nature; however, I wouldn’t comsider them “granny panties.”
2. If you see a guy with his fly down, do you tell him? Honestly, no. Unless he is a good friend, my husband, or my dad.
3. Spanx or no Spanx? No Spanx. I don’t own any Spanx.
4. Do you sleep in your sheets? In my sheets? What does that mean? I sleep under my sheets.
5. What is your favorite Disney character? Boo from Monsters, Inc. She is so freaking adorable!
6. Dream vacation spot? London. I love London. I also like Venice, Italy.
7. What is your dream job? I have it. Honestly. I love being a stay-at-home mom. I think that once my time as a stay-at-home mom is done (which may not be for another 10-12 years), that I would like to be a preschool teacher at my son’s current school.
8. Who is your hero and why? Are you ready for my lame answer? I hope so because here it is: I don’t have a hero. Seriously, I don’t. Maybe one day I will, but at the moment I don’t have a hero.

Well that's it. Have a fabulous day and head on over to Keely's blog if you want to participate!

my boys.

I haven't posted any pictures in a while so I thought it was about time to share some recent pictures of Hayden and Alfie - my two boys (aside from Randy - who indeed is also one of "my boys").

peter the rabbit.

I saw a rabbit yesterday morning. It made my day. Is that odd? I have never seen a rabbit in my yard before and it was just so cute and fluffy. I decided to name him Peter.

Then later, I saw him again. I was so excited! I hope I see him again… although I then watched Peter hop across the street. This is not a good sign. Obviously he isn’t very cautious. I seriously hope he doesn’t get hit by a car. I honestly think I would cry if I saw him dead on our road. Seriously. I would lose it.

So Peter... please be safe. Don’t become roadkill.

monday minute.

It is time for the Monday Minute.

Ian is now co-hosting the Monday Minute featuring a different co-host each week. Today’s co-host is Michelle from Mommy Loves Stilettos.

The rules for the Monday Minute are simple – Copy the Questions, Answer Them, and Link Back to Ian’s Blog.

Here goes:

1. What's your real name? Melissa
2. Have you ever fabricated a story or anything on your blog? Nope. Everything I write is the total truth. I don’t see the point in making stuff up. My blog is a reflection of my life and how it’s going so to fabricate any part of my blog just wouldn’t make sense.
3. When in the car do you listen to the radio/CDs/iPod/etc? Huh? I’m not quite sure what this means. For the most part, when I am in the car I am listening to the radio - or if there isn’t anything good on the radio then I listen to a CD. And when I’m not listening to the radio or a CD then I’m chatting with Hayden - good times.
4. Describe the 'sexiest' item of clothing that you own. Hmmm… I have a skimpy little black lingerie-thing with red trim. It’s pretty awesome. I wear it maybe once a year - seriously. I’m pretty lame like that.
5. Would you be willing to breastfeed your friend's three-year-old child? Nope. I could barely breastfeed my own child (lack of production). So I wouldn’t even be capable of it. But either way, I wouldn’t do it. It’s not necessary - a three-year-old doesn’t need breast milk (I would pour him a glass of milk though).

getting to know you.

Today I am participating in Keely from MannLand5's 'Getting to know YOU' blog hop.

The rules are simple: copy the questions, answer them, post the questions/answers, and link back to Keely’s blog.

Although for this week, Keely had absolutely nothing to do with the questions... In reality, the questions were created by Tami at Talking with Tami, Tanii at Ethnically Ambiguous, Megan at Everyday Mama, and April at A Kingly Affair.

Here goes:

1. If you had to choose a country to live in besides USA (or the country you live in), which would it be? Canada. It’s very similar to the US and they seem quite liberal and progressive. So I’m all about Canada… O Canada!
2. Which would be worse, wearing flip flops in the snow or wearing gloves in the summer? Hmmm… It depends on how much snow we are talking about and how hot the summer is. If it’s just a little snow and I was only walking to the mailbox or something then I would opt for flip flops in the snow. Plus, the gloves in the summer thing would really not be practical. You can’t do much with gloves on.
3. Fried or Baked and why? Baked. It’s healthier and I really don’t like fried food that much.
4. If you were an entertainment reporter, which celeb would you love to interview and why? Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, or Julie Bowen- they all seem like really cool ladies.
5. What was your favorite book as a preteen/teenager? As a teenager, I liked 'Lord of the Flies' and 'Catcher in the Rye' (although I have since re-read 'Catcher in the Rye' and it just doesn’t do it for me anymore). When I was a little younger than that (like 7-12), I really liked books by R.L. Stine and Lurlene McDaniel (R.L. Stine writes teen horror fiction and Lurlene McDaniel writes young adult books dealing with chronic illness and mortality - as you can tell, I had/have an interesting preference in regards to reading material).
6. List your top 3 guilty pleasure television shows. Big Brother, Real Housewives of New Jersey, and Teen Mom/16 and Pregnant.
7. What bumper sticker slogan best describes you/your attitude/your life? I did some research on this, because I’m not very familiar with bumper sticker slogans. I found two that I liked. They are both quotes from famous people. The first bumper sticker’s slogan is from Rebecca Wave:The second bumper sticker’s slogan is from Martin Luther King, Jr.:
8. If you were to join a circus - what performer would you be? The ringmaster. I have no talents that I can think of so I don’t know what kind of performance I could do and I’m not that funny so I don’t think I could be a clown - plus, the clowns are a little creepy.

Well that's it. Have a fabulous day and head on over to Keely's blog if you want to participate!