Surprise!!!!

1. No, I am not pregnant and the little bean is not 6 inches.

2. No, it did not snow here in Florida.

3. No, Hunter did not grow 6 inches this year.

But....

I DID cut 6 inches off my hair, and that is the reason I missed Thursday's post. I did not go in planning to cut my hair, it sort of just happened. I went in wanting a trim and a touch up on my color. When I got there after an exhausting morning with two kids, I sat down, looked into the mirror, and just said 'cut it off'. That is exactly what she did. When she started cutting it, my first feeling was "what did I just do?" I felt mixed in emotions.

AND...

I do crazy stuff like cutting my hair SHORT about every 2 years. I didn't go as short as I normal would though.  But, this is not what this post is about. When all said and done, she did an amazing job on my hair and I LOVE it. Take a look!

But wait...

That is NOT the "SURPRISE" that I am talking about in this post.

No! No! No!......

It is NOT about the Red Sox beating the Yankees last night 8 to 4, either.

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS???

SURPRISE!!!!!....and CONGRATULATIONS to Lindsay and Clay. They got engaged yesterday before we arrived at the game. Lindsay came to greet us at will-call, but I almost couldn't see her because I was blinded by the bling on her left hand.

Isn't that so exciting? Let's just say that Hunter wasn't the only one on cloud-nine last night. I am so happy for Lindsay and Clay. The wedding will be held on .... well I will keep a couple of things private for now.

Here are some pictures from our fabulous and very much V.I.P evening at the 2009 Spring Training, Red Sox vs Yankees game, in Ft. Myers Florida.

This was spotted by Hunter on our way to the game!

While "eating" at Louie's Bar and Grill, not seating ...UGH!

The moment he had been waiting for all day.... 

Morgan, LOVED Lindsay.  I mean L-O-V-E-D Lindsay.

However, when Lindsay tried to let Clay hold Morgan, this is what happened...

(click on image to zoom)

Yesterday, did I say we had seats behind the home plate? Well folks, I meant we had THE SEATS.... the first seat, by home plate, right behind the Yankees dugout. You can almost reach over, touch the grass and red sand, that is how close we were to the players and field. Thank you so much Joe and Kim!!!

Aren't these pictures great? 

Hunter hanging out with Clay. Taking photos with the mascot.

Seeing his favorite players in the flesh and up close in the game.

This kid has no idea how lucky he was last night....

or maybe he does?

I don't know what his thoughts are when he is laying there in his bed by himself.

(click image to zoom)

At one point during the game, the Yankee's player Shelly Duncun, fouled a ball into the Yankee dugout.  Joe Girardi got the ball, turned around...

as a tons of fans stood up screaming for the ball, Joe shook his head "no" at some guys reaching in front of us to get the ball and point right at Hunter and tossed it to him!!! Pretty cool!

Then Morgan decided it was HER ball, after all she had on the Yankees gear!!!

(For those that aren't into baseball, he is another great pitcher for the Red Sox)

We also had the chance to meet up with and say goodbye to Joe, outside of the Yankee locker room before getting on the road! By the way, let me just tell you what a man of GOD this guy is. Mark and I look up to Kim and Joe in their marriage.

When all said and done, Hunter didn't just come home with; not 1, not 2, not 3...but 4 balls. Including one signed by some Red Sox players. A signed rookie card by Clay and some really awesome memories and pictures!

The night was AWESOME!!! 

A very tired Red Sox fan! 

And one precious, sleeping, future Yankee fan.... but she just doesn't know it yet! 

And let's just say... that is one LOVED and lucky "TEDDY BEAR"!!  

Baby girl was so good the entire night. Such a trooper! She slept the entire 2 hour drive to Ft. Myers before the game, and slept the entire ride back home.  Mommy, on the other hand started to feel a bit sick yesterday, but fought it through. Until on the way home, it started to progress and get worse.  Today, I feel like POOP!!! Thank GOD, I did not feel this way yesterday and that I got to enjoy a day with my old roommate, meet her SOON TO BE HUSBAND, and watch the two teams that the men in my life LOVE to watch.  It was a great family affair and we could not have asked for more.  

Hunter was in awe.  He had a smile on his face the entire night.  When the players came to meet him, he looked at me and said "mom, I don't think I can say a complete sentence right now." That speaks for itself on just how excited he really was. 

Thank you Girardi's, Clay, Red Sox and Lindsay for giving Hunter a night to never forget and allowing my family to have an eventful, fun and sports filled evening!!!  It was a total V.I.P. experience for all of us. 

Can you guess where we are going tonight???

Okay, okay.... if you can't guess then I'll just come out and tell you.... (smiling)

Yes, we are going to Ft. Myers Florida today to sit behind home plate of the Red Sox/Yankee's game.  As you can tell by the first photo, what Morgan thinks about her brother being a Red Sox fan.  

They had a little bit of exchange in words (or not so many words)

Then the fight was on, the paws where out and the ....

Dukes where flying...

And the giggles and laughs were rolling...

Then a little make up time and brother/sister lovin and smoochen

Our little Yankee cheerleader ....

Oh my goodness does she ever look like 'me' here.  WOW! 

Yes, Hunter is a HUGE Red Sox Fan...

Hubby is a Yankee's fan.

When asked Morgan what she thought of the Red Sox...

I guess that answers the question...

Making her own cheer pyramid...

Holding a sand dial, counting down the hour(s) before we get on the road.

This dress I purchased before she was born. Its a size 12 M, in which Morgan will be next month.  How perfect is the timing that we get to attend a Yankee game for her to wear this dress?

This last picture says:

Red Sox or Yankees.... no matter what,

nothing will ever truly come between us! 

PS: I will be explaining later why there wasn't a post yesterday.  Other than Michelle (Circle of Life) who can guess why or what could have been going on to cause me to miss a post??

Hint:  6 Inches!!!

Oh and me???? 

I am neither a true Yankee fan or Red Sox fan, although I feel I know both teams fairly well.  I just love BASEBALL! But, if I were to root for a team, it would be Yankees probably, but tonight, I have been demanded to root for the Red Sox.

This is the tricky part....

We are friends with Joe Girardi, the Yankees coach.  The one that got us our tickets for tonights game.  Thanks Joe and Kim!!! We love you guys! 

 

Also, my good friend and old roommate, Lindsay is dating the Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz.

  She is in town with him and so I get to see her tonight.  She is hooking Hunter-Bunter up BIG TIME~~

Clay and Lindsay are surprising Hunter with a ball signed by the Red Sox, while also taking him in after the game to meet the Red Sox players.  

Hunters 3 top he can't wait to meet:

Clay Bucholz - Pitcher

Jason Bay - Outfielder

David Ortiz - Man behind the bat! 

And no, I will NOT be singing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" in the 7th inning of this game... or ever again probably!!  (Laughing)

Ooh and Ahh....

And no I am not talking about these guys.  Disney's TV host "Ooh and Ahh" the monkeys. 

I am saying "ooh and ahh" for my oh so ever growing talent of blogs, codes and .coms ~ oh my!

This change in time has either really thrown me off, or the fact that Hunter is on spring break with daddy, I am getting an extra hour of sleep in the morning. I found myself with my second wind tonight and couldn't go to sleep. I was too caught up in figuring out how to turn a blog into a 3 column template.  I tried MANY times before a couple of days ago, following different 'how to' sites, to only end up with a backache from hunching over my computer starring at html coding for hours and disappointment of failure.  

However, when I get my mind on something like this, I am determined one way or another to figure it out.  By the way did I ever mention to you that I was the only girl in my shop class in high school?  Yes, that should say something.  I love to make things, figure out things and learn things.  Always have. So tonight I got busy and tried again with the html stuff and I made my first 3 column layout.  Check out my photography blog HERE. I am so proud of myself.  Yea, Me!! But come back over here and finish reading this post, silly! 

Speaking of photography and or blogs.... 

Another someth'n-someth'n I did all on my own.  I also captured my own domains and figured out how to redirect or sub host (as the computer geeks call it) my blog domains for shorter and more easy slash professional URL/Domain names.

My Photography Blog address used to be www.mistyricephotography.blogspot.com ~ Now its simply www.mistyricephotography.com ---- Oohh!!!! 

Of course I would figure it out now, after I contacted a professional to redesign this blog into sometime more professional and attractive.  So in about a month, I should have the new look to my photography blog.  Stay tuned. 

My Family Blog (the blog you are on now, just in case you didn't know - ha!).  That address used to be www.theytakemybreathaway.blogspot.com.  Now come on.  As unique as that may be, can you imagine how annoying that gets to try and tell someone my blog address?  Yea, not fun! 

Now my blog address is www.mistyrice.me ---- Ahhh!!! 

So now I have these 3 sites:

MistyRice.net (website) ~ Professional Website

MistyRicePhotography.com (personal photography blog) ~ Personal Blog to display photos.

MistyRice.me (personal family blog) ~ Personal Blog of inside mine and my families life. 

Come now, say it loud, say it clear, say it proud ...... OOH!!!!  AHHH!!! Only at mattress giant......  Oh wait... come back brain! 

One Foot - Two Foot..... Wings and Moe's

What?  

I know that is exactly what you are thinking.... And if you were standing next to me, I would say in return, "made you say what." 

Yeap, that is a game we play around our house, but that is not what this post is about.  

Actually, what is 'this post about'?  Nothing really, but I am sharing it anyways. 

These first two images are moments I love.  Morgan is loving the world of independence, and the freedom to crawl and roam just about any where she pleases in the house.  Keeping mommy very busy, chasing her around and putting things away so she doesn't hurt herself.  

However, there are those moments when I am sitting at the computer (or in the bathroom) and my little butterfly comes giggling and crawling to me as fast as she can, pulls herself to a standing position next to me, clamped on as tight as her little hands will allow, and just starts smiling and laughing at me, with those BIG BLUE EYES.  Ahhhh!!! I love it. 

But.... today, she crawled over to daddy and crawled up on him to give him some of her love, and all of the sudden she did this.

She hung out and watched TV on her own next to daddy.  That's the best!!!

On to 'nothing' part II of this post:

Honey calls every day when he is leaving the office and asks "what do you want to do for dinner?" This is the BIG question of the day...always!  My honey loves his breakfast and loves his dinners.  Can you blame a man?

Sometimes Ill have something already planned out, sometimes I don't make it out to the store, or sometimes I am off with Hunter at some sport game or practice that honey is off to fend for himself.  Sometimes he will call and then we will toss out ideas for dinner and either he will or I will run out and get whatever that may be, unless we opt for "make your own....whatever" out of the pantry.  We try to do that more lately, you know trying to save money and all.  

Except for today:

Honey calls home, asks "what I wanted for dinner"... I can ALWAYS eat a burrito from Moe's and honey can ALWAYS eat his grilled, non-fried wings from Wings Plus. We normally do this on Fridays, and call it "Wings and Moe's Friday." Today it became a "Wings and Moe's Tuesday," because we both were in the mood for this stuff for dinner. 

Feeling sort of bad that I hadn't gotten much done around the house today, and not having anything planned for dinner for hubby when I indeed actually should have and could have, but just didn't have.... ahem. 

I thought to participate in this dinner "team work" stuff, I would surprise honey with clearing off the patio table and chairs, so that we could sit outside in the fresh air, warm breezy weather, looking out over the lake and listen to some nice relaxing music, while eating dinner together.

I put baby girl in her exersaucer and she enjoyed being outside also, watching the cats chase lizards, birds fly in the air and the ducks quack in the lake.  

Didn't I tell you in my post yesterday just how blessed I am?.... I am! 

Butterfly~

These are her BLUE EYES, this picture is ROTC, with not one single editing touch done to it. ALL NATURAL. 

This picture I just hit "enhance" button once and that's it! 

My dinner bag ~

I always get the Joey Jr. (used to be the kids 'moo-moo')...

With chicken, black beans and cheese only.

A side cup of queso dip and a drink.  Also comes with a bag full of chips.  Yum!

Mark, special orders his wings every week...

He calls, they say "hello Mark, the usual?"

Wings, grilled only, they do not go in the deep fryer, and they don't do this for just anyone! 

You hungry now? 

To not be eaten with out his "FAT FREE RANCH." 

On to "nothing" part III:

If this where Monday I could post a "Not Me"...but I didn't want to wait till Monday, because that's so far away from today, and this made me laugh at myself so hard, I just had to share it.

Where is my head sometimes?

It was a busy day, so it seemed that way to me anyways, and yet I feel as though I really accomplished nothing.  Go Figure! 

Today, Morgan has been fussy. I think I will take her in and have her ears looked at.... she keeps placing her hands over both ears and or slapping them.  At first I thought that maybe she just discovered she had ears, but the more I watch her and today's behavior, I am thinking this could be her way of saying "hey these things are bothering me," while having a pretty high pain tolerance to them.  Just to be safe, we will go to the doctor tomorrow.

So, because she was fussy, she was tugging at me all day, and in that annoying way, not that really cute sweet way.  I tried to let her feed her self some jello for the first time, thinking this would entertain her and be fun for her to explore. It became a big huge sticky mess.  Then I gave her some cheerios, because we are still learning and exploring with solid, finger foods.  She has a hyper-sensitive gag-reflex (just like mommy) and gags on just about anything of solid texture.  She some how puts more than one cheerio in her mouth and gags, and when she gags, she PUKES A LOT. So now I am cleaning up red jello, cheerio's and puke.  Not to forget to mention, that I had already changed a big dirty diaper first thing when she woke up.  Then before daddy got home, she gave me dirty diaper #2, which isn't normal for her, so that tells me even more that something is off with her today.  

With all the puking, dirty diapers, cleaning, fussiness, chasing..... I at one point found myself walking when my left flop felt weird to me. I thought to myself 'it's just twisted' a bit and I need to straighten up my foot. So with out a missed beat, or looking down, I wiggle my foot into my flop to 'straighten' it out, only to realize that both my flops are feeling a bit weird come to think of it.  I look down only to notice this.....

While cracking up and trying to not pee on myself, I thought "now that's a picture to capture for the blog."  See how I think about you all? Yes, I looked down, only to realize that I was walking with my shoes on the wrong feet.  The scary part of this, is that I really don't know for how long, because I honestly couldn't remember when I put them on last or took them off.  I put them on out of habit, because I am one that can't stand to walk barefooted on any hard surfaced floor.  Any little spec of dirt that sticks to my foot will annoy me to the point of going mad,  and I will walk around with a broom in my hand.  And when you have a husband, two kids and two cats.... I rather walk around with flops instead.  You know what I mean? 

Sigh!!!!  

From....sweet moments, to fun dinners, to pretty pictures and funny real life mishaps.  You really never know what you will read about here on this blog.  

I will close with this:

Today is the day the LORD has made, let me rejoice and be glad in it.  

-Psalms 118:24