P.S.

Forgot to add this picture to my previous post. This was taken in Old Town Albuquerque...my sister, CJ, brother, Casey, me, brother, Thomas, and cousin, Leden. Fun night!
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Flaky Rainbow...

We took Meredith to Batesville's Springfest a few weeks back. She spotted a tent with bubbles and face-painting right off the bat...forget the Ferris wheel, cotton candy, and stuffed animals. She wanted a fabulous rainbow on her cheek...so she got one. She was very proud of it. She did not want it washed off - ever. But in her infatuation with its imminent beauty, her little fingers slowly flaked off all the paint.

Once she was satisfied with her rainbow, she decided that a ride was the next order of business. Check out Gray's legs...nice!

The merry-go-round was a hit. She waved at all the carnies like they were long lost friends.

At this point, she informed me that she wanted some popcorn and a nap...I happily obliged.

Two weeks ago, my sister, CJ, graduated from Magnolia Heights. Her graduation was on Thursday night. I picked her up at 4:30 on Friday morning to head to the airport. She and I flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico to see my dad and his family and watch my brother, Casey, graduate! We had a great time. We ate at La Placida, one of my favorites - a great restaurant in the Old Town Plaza with a giant tree growing through it.

On the way home, CJ and I arrived at the airport in Albuquerque, only to discover that the flight had been overbooked and we did not have seats. I was so frustrated...CJ on the other hand, was drooling. She spotted this bit of eye candy in the airport. I knew this guy looked rather "Hollywood" and somewhat out of place amidst all the locals in mismatched clothes and modern day hippies wearing socks and flip flops. This studly specimen was none other than Joe Nichols, country music superstar! ("Gimme That Girl" is his #1 song right now). We finally got seats on the flight, though not together. CJ boarded first. I made my way to the crazy line...only to be allowed to break in line by Joe Nichols. We slowly made our way down the jetway. I eavesdropped as he told the person on the other end of his iPhone that he loved them and would see them soon. *anticipation building* I placed my bag in the overhead compartment, sat down, and fastened my seatbelt. Joe Nichols sat next to me. CJ stroked out. My phone began to blow up. Mind you that I still had no clue who this creature was next to me other than out of place and tall. She text me and told me who I was sitting next to. I googled him before the flight attendant told us to turn off our devices just to make sure CJ knew what she was talking about. She did. I was too chicken to ask to take a picture with him or get his autograph. He was really nice though. I do wish CJ could have had my seat...but I bet she would have acted like a buffoon :)

When I got home from the airport, Gray had already gone to work. I ran inside to drop off my bags and grab something to drink. I noticed that the door to my sewing closet was ajar. (I have been keeping my machines in a spare closet set up with a desk...I had no room left in there and it made for an ill seamstress) I then noticed that my sewing closet was empty! Okay...so I started searching...had somebody stolen my machines? I went upstairs to find this...My sweet husband had made me a sewing room while I was gone. He thought of everything...lots of storage, clothes rack, lights, iPod dock...it is perfect!

Nickname Queen

FLASHBACK FRIDAY!
Meredith. I had that name picked out for my "future daughter" when I was in the seventh grade. I was 13, so I had a few years to ponder a middle name. I didn't realize it was sort of a family name until later in life - some great grandperson's last name on my maternal grandmother's side of the family. I knew a really sweet, beautiful girl named Meredith when I was in seventh grade. I still know her...Meredith McCormack Meurrier. All you parents remember toying with names with your spouse...You think of a great name and he is reminded of some smelly boy from middle school or he thinks of a name and you knew a total brat with that name at one time. It isn't so much that you don't like the name, but rather the associational stereotype that goes along with it. If my Meredith turns out like Meredith Meurrier, I will be one happy mama! The thing is our family rarely calls Meredith by her name...she has more nicknames than one human needs. Ironically, she answers to all of them.
Meri, Mert, Mertie, Smurf, May May...How did this happen, you ask? I have no clue. Each variation sort of evolved. Poor child. I hope my adorable little girl doesn't get called Mertie in school. When I was pregnant with her, I had someone call me and offer me $500 NOT to name her Meredith because they wanted to use that name for their kid. Seriously.

Last Sunday, we went to First Baptist Church of Senatobia to my sister's baccalaureate service. Meredith is usually good in "big" church, so I took her in to sit with us. We went to the balcony. There was a giant screen at the front of the church. Meredith must have gotten the sanctuary confused with the Tobie...she kept asking when Alvin and the Chipmunks was gonna start and where the popcorn was.

Mystery Diagnosis...

A few weeks ago, my brother, Thomas came to visit. He lives in Albuquerque. I wanted to take him out to eat one night and decided to go to Kyoto. I could eat Japanese food 3x a day. Really. I always have the hardest time deciding what to eat because I want a lot of all of it...I usually opt for a little of all of it and waddle to my car in misery. My sister, Jodie and Meredith went with us. Meredith ate like a horse! She may not look like me, but she eats like me! (not really...she eats like a baby bird, but she loves Japanese)


Marching on...last week, my very healthy child scared me to death. She has never been very sick. The occasional runny nose, allergies, and of course, teething have all knocked on her door, but nothing too major. When I unloaded her from her car seat Wednesday night at home, she was steamy. I got the thermometer...totally traumatized her when I put it under her arm. In her defense, it is a scary looking thermometer. She had 103.9 degree temp. I did the other arm...same thing...then just to make sure it was working correctly, I did my arm pit, too. It was working. Now, my child had been acting like she felt fine. She had no other symptoms other than the fever. I gave her Tylenol and decided to wait an hour before I loaded her up to go to an ER or clinic. Gray was working, so that added to my worry. Sick babies, bad weather, etc. all seem to happen when I am home alone. Her temperature began to come down to low 103-ish. I put her in my bed with me and sat there. She fell asleep. I watched her sleep. The whole time thinking I should have taken her somewhere. Thursday morning I checked her and she still had a high fever (no other symptoms) so I took her to the doctor. I thought maybe she had a UTI. The doctor agreed, handed me a specimen cup, and wished me luck. My kid will do just about anything for chocolate...we returned the specimen to his office to find out that it was clear. (Da Da Dum) The next step to diagnosing her, pains me to this day! They had to draw blood. I don't even take her to get her shots. I make Gray do it. I can't stand it. I work with dead people so much better than I do live ones. I had to hold her down as they stuck her. Arm #1: after really, really, really trying to find the vein, they finally had to give up. Arm #2: lots of difficulty, but finally got it. They gave her 9 jillion stickers and a toy cell phone and me some Kleenex. They wrapped the stretchy tape over her battle wounds...she decorated the rest of her arms with the stickers. As we walked back down the hallway to the doctor's office, she stopped to show everyone she met along the way just what those ladies did to her arms. Then, she called her daddy on her new phone and told him all about it. Her results came back and her white count was elevated. He sent us home with antibiotics. She rebounded just fine. No clue what it was, but she is better now. But she still talks about them sticking her!


Meredith went to her BFF's 2nd birthday party. Trey, bless his heart, is being raised by 2 Bulldog fans. They even forced him to have a MSU tailgating themed party. As you can tell in this picture, he looks miserable. He so wants to be a Rebel when he grows up. Meredith made sure to encourage Trey and let him know there is still hope for him by wrapping his gift in red and blue. :)

My Mexican food bunny

This is what Meredith wanted to wear to Mi Pueblo to eat...she was quite impressed with her hair accessory choice, as it obtained her a bit of attention...not to mention, she hopped instead of walking. Needless to say, she wore herself out and slept like a champ!

Meredith started going to Aunt Jo's a few months ago. Aunt Jo and Nanaw keep a few kids around Meredith's age at Aunt Jo's home. They have been such a blessing to us. Meredith loves going and has made some precious friends. Here she is waiting to hunt eggs (with her arms crossed, patiently) at Aunt Jo's house.

Meri and Nanaw...

Meri and Aunt Jo...

Meri and her cop...

Gray said she could fit in this basket...It didn't look so big in the store.

Easter Bunny came to see us!

Look at the loot!

Headed to church to "see the kids" as Meredith says.

Waiting on monkey wrench #3 and our cat, Possum, who thinks he's a dog

Don't faint...yes, I am updating my blog. We have had quite a month. This upstairs has been constant work for us. We both enjoyed it, but are so over that now. We just want it to be done, move everything up there, and close on the refinance. We have worked our tails off. My mom has been a jewel. She has kept Meredith for us on Gray's days off when I got off work so we could work upstairs. We couldn't very well hammer and bang around up there while Meredith tried to sleep...and we have put in quiet a few late nights. Monkey wrench #1 - Gray got the flu. Monkey wrench #2 - I got swine flu. These things come in 3's...so we are holding our breath. Speaking of monkey wrench #2...the swine flu is for the birds! That was the most miserable I have ever been...I have never in my life been so weak. It took incredible effort to talk. I am fine now, but ugh...I still haven't taken pictures of the upstairs. Sorry. I am getting to that. Promise. Meredith is absolutely loving Aunt Jo's. She has the best time. That is such a comfort to a mom, knowing she is not miserable at a babysitter's. Aunt Jo takes up so much time with the kids. Meredith knows her colors, ABC's, and can count to 20 now! She is growing too (finally)! She has almost outgrown all her 12 and 18 month clothes. She weighs 20-21 pounds and is 32 inches tall. She has such a sweet spirit. She will come up and hug my leg as I cook dinner and tell me she loves me...just out of the blue.

Grouchy Murdiff

Valentine's Day party at Mother's Day Out



Snow Day...going to ride the 4-wheeler with her Daddy...wearing Gray's old coveralls from when he was little! They are still too big, but served their purpose!

Gray and I will feed anything with a heartbeat...meaning we have been known to take in a stray or two or three or...well, anyway. We have 2 official dogs, Sadie and Suzy, and 1.5 official cats, Willie Mac and Possum. Possum is a kitten that showed up at our house when Meredith was about 9 months old. He would only come out to eat at night and brought his friend, a real opossum, with him to eat on my front porch. The real opossum suddenly suffered some blunt force trauma on the highway and left only the cat, Possum. He became a regular around our house. Meredith would even include him in her prayers at night in the long, long list of "thank you, God for's..." Right before Christmas 2009, Possum disappeared. I figured since he was a stray he just ran off. Gray parks his truck at a house in Batesville and picks up his patrol car there when he is on duty. One day he called while getting in his patrol car and told me he saw Possum at the house (10 miles away from our house). I couldn't believe it! That cat must have ridden 10 miles in Gray's truck to Batesville and hopped out at that house. We know the lady that lives there and she is worse than we are about feeding strays. She actually feeds raccoons every night!!! I took comfort in knowing that Possum was eating...and probably better than we were since Miss Patty usually feeds the animals scraps. About 3 weeks ago, Gray came home from work and I ran to the mailbox. On my way back to the house, what did I see?!?!?!?! POSSUM. That darn cat rode back home with Gray in the back of his truck! He must think he is a dog!

Possum Nickels

Willie Mac Nickels

Ruby Suzanne "Suzy" and Sadie Lucretia Nickels

Porch toilet and a dusty fish

I have considered bringing home a roll of crime scene tape from work to wrap around my property. There is a mound of wood in my driveway, a toilet on my front porch, and my guest bedroom looks like I should be on the show "Hoarders." We are finishing out the upstairs at our house...finally. We have 800 square feet up there that was full of Christmas decor, baby gear, clothes, and all the usual junk you store in an attic. Gray decided that it was time to de-junk it and put it to good use. We are adding a bedroom, bathroom, den, office/sewing room, and junk closet. Sooo...all the stuff from upstairs is now downstairs until construction is complete. It kinda makes my skin crawl to see all the mess. I will be so happy to get everything back in order. My house is so dusty from all the sawing that Meredith drew a fish in the dust on my coffee table, then asked me to wipe off her finger. I have no pictures of the upstairs...but will see what I can do about that.

Marching on...

Meredith needed a nap mat for Mother's Day Out. I began my search online...it did not last long. Once I saw what junk people were selling and calling a "comfy cozy plush nap mat cover" and selling this junk for anywhere from $60-$150 a pop, I decided that I would just make one myself. I wanted to be able to throw it in the wash and didn't want to have to keep up with a blanket and pillow. I made the actual cover and attached the blanket and pillow case to the cover. The mat and pillow can be removed so I can was the funk it will gather from being on the floor. She loves it. In fact, she loves it so much that she refused to take a nap at Mother's Day Out yesterday...I guess it was just too exciting...yeah, I will just keep telling myself that.