Santa Temmy is Coming to Town

Santa Temmy

Temmy in her new walker

 


Temmy celebrated her first Christmas and it was truly a blessed one filled with lots of love, food, family, and of course gifts for Temmy :-)! I went crazy with my camera snapping pix of everyone. Thanks everyone for everything.

After Christmas, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry for the Christmas Around the World and Dr. Seuss exhibits. Temmy was fascinated by all the bright lights and colors. She took everything in and watched everybody. We definitely will have to take her back there. Learning is power.

??Future Fashionista?!?!

Styling and profiling for the camera before Nana's house

Temmy has been receiving so many clothes left and right from everyone that we're running outta space. When we get her dressed, we can never decide on an outfit. While I was gone, Todd decided he was gonna organize all of her clothes, but the task proved too daunting. *see picture below* If this is a sign of times to come, looks like she's gonna need at least 5 hours to get ready for school smh lol.

Thanks everyone for the adorably cute clothes. We love them all!!

Temmy's clothes that have nowhere to go

The "So Fresh and So Clean" robe courtesy of Uncle J

 *Good problems to have*

Merry Christmas!!!

Eat, swap gifts and be merry everybody! God bless :-)

5ive Ways Mommydom is Bad For You

Mommydom really does bring out the best and worst of you. Here are my personal top five Mommydom worsts.

1. Sucking pacifiers. I remember watching Boyz in the Hood thinking man that looks sooo silly what kinda grown person sucks a pacifier. Now I AM that person. I always put her pacifier in my mouth before I give it to her or if we're out and she no longer wants it, I hold it in my mouth. I'm pretty sure I suck it more than she does. Smh

2. My memory. Remember those "this is your brain on drugs" commercials?? Someone should make a "this is your brain on Mommydom" commercial. I swear I can't remember anything .....

3. I sing. This might not sound like a worst, but if you think that then you've never heard me sing. And now I do it all the time. EVERYTHING is a song. Temmy just spit up? There's a SONG for that.

4. I'm jealous. I'm not even gonna lie. I spend all day with Temmy, wake up with her in the middle of the night and yet, I still feel a little bruised ego when she smiles and makes googly faces at Todd. Those are supposed to be my kisses she's giving away.

5. I nap. Don't get me wrong naps are necessary every now and then. However, I usually fall asleep at least once a day trying to put Temmy to sleep. Then I wake up and realize that I have a few moments to actually take care of things around the house before she notices I put her down. I know "sleep when the baby sleeps" is the most given advice, but it feels so wrong. Even when my sleep-deprived body says otherwise, all I can think of are the things not getting done.

Ahhhh the adventures of Mommydom.....

Temmy Talks

For the past month or so, Temmy has been giving me and her Daddy a piece of her mind. She's full of words when she first wakes up, when we're laying on the couch watching TV, when we're playing with her. She talks and talks and talks. Of course, whenever she's on the phone or we try to record it, she's as quiet as a church mouse. Today, she finally decided to share her thoughts with the world. Enjoy the first edition of Temmy Talks.

P.S. Temmy laughs soooo hard when she watches this :-)

Just One of Those Days

Yesterday was an off day for me. Like Luther's curl, I just couldn't get right. I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I wanted to around the house. I almost put dirty dishes in the dishwasher with clean ones. Forgot to start the washer. I totally messed up dinner. The side dish was uneatable and I almost burned the meat. I splashed my entire stomach with boiling water. Luckily for me I didn't get burned. And somehow I managed to dump water on the floor using nothing but a strainer.

If I had hair, yesterday woulda been one of those days....

Temmy vs. The Pacifier, Round 1

Temmy holding her pacifier

Temmy has taught herself another trick - how to attack her pacifier.

She was laying in bed when her pacifier fell out her mouth. Rather than cry for us to put it back in, she did it herself...

Date Night

Saturday, December 3, 2011. That's the day Temmy spent her first night away from home.

Todd planned a date night for us. It was our first one since....actually neither one of us can remember the last date we had. I was pregnant and it was warm out. Baby's here and it's cold out. We both agree that we're long overdue for some Mommy/Daddy time so he got to planning a surprise night out for me.

I dropped Temmy off to her Nana's house late Saturday afternoon. Surprisingly, it only took 25 minutes for me to leave. Then I got teary-eyed walking out the door. I made my first turn, then I called to make sure she was ok. After that, I promised I wouldn't call anymore and proceeded home to get ready.

My mom called a few times while we were getting dressed. I missed all her calls (how could I forget to take my phone off silent? *SUPER Mommy fail*) and panicked when she didn't answer when I called back. She called back asking about the bottle and wanting to let me know Temmy gets angry when you don't move fast enough. *whew! Glad she wasn't calling to tell me to meet her in the ER* 

Todd and I finished getting dressed and headed out to dinner. We decided on this Italian restaurant called Topo Gigio on Wells. It was really nice. Nice atmosphere, excellent food. Kinda dressy. We will definitely be going back for a birthday or something.

After dinner we walked down the street to Second City for a comedy show. From the second it started till it ended, we were laughing. We ordered two Pirates of Navy Piers (adult apple ciders) and got two souvenir mugs to take home.

On the way home, we made a split decision to go to the new casino. We've been wanting to go since we heard about it, it's on the way home and we're baby-free for the night so why not? We decided on a set amount to play, sat down at a slot machine, played 3 times, won double what we started with, stared in disbelief, cashed out and left.

We came home and crashed. I woke up this morning and immediately texted my mom. 40 min later I called every number I had for her. Did Temmy sleep thru the night? Why hasn't she called me yet? Is everything ok? While I waited for my mom to call me back, we enjoyed our babyless morning by indulging in Hulu+ and leftovers. AAAAHHHH this is the life... When my mom finally called back, we got dressed and went to pick up Temmy.

It was nice playing Grown Up, but I'm glad to have my baby back. :-)

Thanks Todd for a LOVELY date night!!!!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's officially Christmas season at the Jenkins / Sparkman household. :-)

Thanksgiving night, Todd put up our Christmas tree and he bought some lights to put on our balcony. Even Temmy is getting in the spirit. I Christmas'd out my iPod and was listening to it as I worked out yesterday. She had the BIGGEST smile on her face the entire time.

Tis the Season....

THANKS God For GIVING Us Family

Our First Thanksgiving

I know this post is late but we had a very busy, but blessed, Thanksgiving holiday.

We started celebrating with dinner and a family sleepover at Keisha's house on Wednesday. The sleepover is a new tradition that Keisha is starting and one that I'm looking forward to. I had a great time and I know that once the kids get older, they'll enjoy each other's company as well. In my head, the future sleepovers sort of remind me of the parties my granny used to have at the house - adults upstairs doing their adult thing (drinking, talking smack, listening to music, having a good time) while we kids were in the basement doing our kid thing (playing video games, talking smack, playing pretend, having a good time).

Thursday, we house hopped, going from my mama's house to Todd's aunt house to his best friend's house, back to Keisha's house before heading home. It was a very long day filled with lots of meets and greets, delicious food and driving. Apparently, Temmy thought so too because she cried every time we got in the car and we both passed out as soon as we got home. Happy Thanksgiving!!! :-)

Uncle Todd & the birthday girl

Friday, Temmy and I slept in while Todd and Jason played the game and watched Netflix. Good day. :-)

Saturday, we took family pix. The pix came out absolutely beautiful, but it was a very long day. We never got a chance to officially celebrate Nema's birthday, but the birthday girl looked absolutely adorable in her pix.

Sunday, we dropped Jason off at Keisha's so that he could grab some authentic Chicagoness before heading back to Houston. We chilled over there for a while before heading back home so Todd could get ready for work in the a.m.

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday filled with family. After all, that's what the holidays are made for and I'm thankful for all of mine, both immediate and extended. LOVE YOU GUYS!

Sleepover

Thanksgiving Day

Todd and Temmy taking pix

Uncle Jason Loves the Kids

Uncle Jason and Temmy

Uncle Jason and Nema

You Got Me Twisted

Temmy and I were chillaxing on the couch and I started playing in my hair. Before long I had twisted the front. After catching a glimpse in the mirror, I decided that I would twist my own hair for Thanksgiving. Less than four hours later, beauty emerged. I was nervous about how it would turn out since my hair is so short now, but I must say, I'm impressed!

Happy Thanksgiving all!!!!!!

C'mon and Braid My Hair

Singer Mario, Me and Temmy

Temmy met her first famous person today.

My mom called as we were walking out the door to drop Todd off at work to tell us that the singer Mario was coming to her school to talk to her kids.

After we left St. Sabina, we went to visit Lee before heading back to pick up Todd from work. Last time Lee saw Temmy she was two weeks old and sleep. This time she was wide awake for him.

Happy Friday!!!

Temmy and Great-Granddaddy

For nostalgia sake, enjoy :-D!

Mama Said Knock You Out

In the left corner, at 22.75 inches and 10lbs, we have TKO Temmy!!!!

Happy 2 months! :-D

Get Me Outta Here!!!!!

Thanks to Auntie Keisha and Uncle Cas, Temmy spends a lot of time swinging and listening to music. For the most part she enjoys it, but every now and then she decides to break loose. Guess we'll be investing in a surveillance system rrreeeeaaaalllll soon lol.

And It Begins.....

Who told her she could suck her thumb??

5ive Ways Mommydom Changed Me

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a thinker. I have been guilty of overthinking the simplest of situations and so, true to nature, I've been thinking about how my life has changed since September 16. Here's my list of the five ways Mommydom has changed me, in no particular order.

1. I'm a backseat rider. As long as I can remember I've always fought for the passenger seat. I thought the backseat was for lil kids and even when I was a kid I thought I was too big for the backseat. But when we took Temmy home from the hospital, I couldn't imagine leaving her in the backseat all by herself, so I rode with her. And I've been riding with her ever since (when I'm not driving). So somebody tell Uncle Steve he doesn't have to fight with me anymore to ride shotgun. I'll happily buckle up next to Temmy in the back.

2. My phone's primary purpose is to keep track of pees, poops, sleeps, and feedings. My unlimited everything is really going to waste these days. I resigned ALL of my WordFeud games when Temmy was born and the ppl who invited me to play again usually havta wait an average of 48 hours for me to play. The Queen of Text now takes hours to respond. Phone calls? Yeah, I didn't like talking on the phone when I wasn't tryna juggle baby, milk and poopy diapers all at once. I definitely don't use my phone to make phone calls now. So if I'm not pressing a picture of a bra, bottle, poop, diaper, or sleeping baby, chances are I have no idea where my phone is.

3. I'm no longer Ms. Picture Queen. To everyone that said I stayed in front of a camera, guess what? I found the cure...a baby. Who would've thought that they'd see the day where I'd stop taking pictures of myself. Probably not my family and friends. But the day has come. If you go thru my phone, 99.9% of the pictures are of Temmy. And if you do find one of me, Temmy's in it.

4. I have no personalized ringtones. Once upon a time, I had a different ringtone for everyone in my phone. I could tell you who was calling, texting, Facebooking, etc because of the song that was playing. I didn't even need to look at my phone but just in case I forgot how to read, everybody had their own caller ID pic. That time is but a distant memory now. Awhile ago, my phone bricked itself and I had to get it replaced. I never bothered to customize it because it stays on silent all the time. Why? See #2 above.

5. I speak baby. Seriously. There was a time when I couldn't say anything other than "Hiiiiiiiii *insert baby's name here*". I absolutely sucked at talking to babies. Now I hold 8-hour long convos with Temmy and can't seem to hold a full conversation with an adult without talking to Temmy at some point. And if she's not around, then she's brought up at some point. SMH

Yes, Mommydom changes....

What IS Natural Hair?

I've been feeling pretty guilty lately about my lack of commitment and concern for my natural hair. So I decided to turn to the greatness that is Google and, well, Google natural blogs and websites. I haven't spent a great deal reading and researching, but in my brief search, I did notice that there seems to be a difference in opinion on the definition of "natural". Apparently you can fall in one of four categories:

1. No perm, but color.
2. No perm, no color, but you still wear it "straight".
3. No perm, no color, no heat, but you keep it braided or under weave.
4. No perm, no color, no heat, no weave.

Depending on who you talk to, the only real natural is #4. More lenient ppl may say 3 and 4 and occasionally 2, but #1 gets a lotta flack for introducing chemicals to their otherwise natural hair.

So what exactly IS natural????

Daddy's Love

Maybe it's my own inner Daddy's Girl, but I absolutely LOVE watching Todd interact with Temmy. I see, love and respect him in a whole new light, because in those moments he's not my boyfriend, he's Temmy's Daddy.

Girls Day Out

After lunch

Since the sun was out so bright yesterday, Temmy and I decided that we'd be out too. We dropped Daddy and Granddaddy off to work and then we went to breakfast at this pancake house called Rise n Dine in Wheeling. Very cozy, friendly staff and the food was good. Temmy laid back in her carseat and took in the scenery, smiling and making googly eyes at everyone that told her how gorgeous she was or how much hair she had. (If I had a penny for everytime we heard that...) I ordered and my food came minutes later (score!) Of course as soon as I said grace, she started crying, inconsolably. Either she gets quiet satisfaction from watching me try to refrain from pulling what little bit of hair I have out, or her and her daddy are conspiring against me. (I swear she ONLY does it when I take her around other people alone.) I'm pretty sure it's the former, cuz as soon as she calms down she gets this "Gotcha sucka" smile on her face and then snuggles into my shoulder/neck.

My delicious breakfast

Two soggy pancakes and cold eggs later, I wasn't ready to head back to home, so I looked up the nearest Barnes & Noble (gotta love Google Maps) and headed there to see what goodies I could buy with my gift card (thanks Ms. Murphy, always encouraging reading :-) ). I started out in the DVD section where I got detained by two ladies who repeatedly expressed how beautiful and adorable Temmy was. (Honestly, not to sound like a horrible person, but I get stuck after the second time complete strangers repeat their original compliment. I just keep saying "Thank you" with the cheesy smile on my face, but I feel stuck. Should I say more?) After about 10 minutes, I made it to the kids section where I got lost in the vast array of stories. Counting books, ABC books, books about pets, bedtime books, Thanksgiving books, classics from MY childhood, books inspired by TV, popup books, you get the picture. So Temmy and I walked around picking up book after book then we sat down for me to read them to her while she slept. I couldn't choose just one. We will definitely be back.

Where we ate lunch

After wandering around the greatest place ever created for a born reader for hours, it was lunch time and Temmy has her Daddy's appetite :-p. We parked by this nice little man-made pond to enjoy our food and the wonderful day. After lunch, we listened to music until it was time to get Daddy.

What a wonderful Friday out!

Check out the Many Faces of Temmy

Ahhhh YEESSSSSS!!!!!!

Remember those Herbal Essences commercials where the girls got the big O while washing their hair? I'm pretty sure that's how my hair felt after I conditioned it this morning. It had been waaaaaay too long and my hair was starting to feel like sand paper. SMH I'm committed to trying to take care of my hair properly but that's easier said than done, especially when there's this pressure to use natural products on natural hair. And I'm not talking "hey I made this product for you natural folks" natural but "from the earth no chemicals or processing" natural. I didn't use a homemade conditioner it was Carol's Daughter. But ay it was a step in the right direction. Ahhhhh YEEEESSSSSSS!!!!

Watch "Clairol Herbal Essences TV Ad (2003)" on YouTube

It's the Great Pumpkin, Temmy Temp

Halloween for kids and adults alike means that you can dress up as someone (or thing) that you're not the other 364 days of the year AND you get to stock up on candy for free. :-) So in the tradition of all things orange, we took Temmy Trick or Treating for her first Halloween. Carrying around all that extra candy really wore her out - she was knocked out after the first house. I guess long walks around the neighborhood will put a spell on her that not even things that go bump in the night can break.

Enjoy these tricks and treats.

Getting dressed

Daddy and his Pumpkin

Temmy and Granddad

"Look at my strong grip"

Temmy collecting her candy

Mommy's pumpkin is tired. Trick or treating is hard work.

Happy Halloween!!!

Wiped out

Temmy's hard work. Daddy's lunch.