Its been OVER a Year!

Yes....it has been one year and a half since I have last blogged and a lot has happened. I'm sure you are not surprised about that news! I can't believe I actually got on blogspot to finally start doing this again BUT it has been something I have wanted to do for a long time. So where do I begin?? I apologize in advance that this will be a LONG one in order to get everyone up to date on The Rice Family! Okay- WHERE do I begin:

First of all, February 10, 2009 I found out that I was pregnant with our second baby! I was about 7 weeks along. The beginning of this pregnancy was a little rocky at the beginning BUT God had his hands on this baby from the start. The first week in March of 2009, Gary and Carolyn Rice took the entire Rice Family (which is the three of us, Jason, Heather and Luke) to Disney for an entire week. What a dream come true! Beau and Luke had a blast. While we were there, I started spotting (I know....TMI). I just knew that I was miscarrying because I had always heard that bleeding wasn't good. It was the very last day we were there and I really didn't want to go to a hospital being that I wasn't home with my doctor. I thought "what can they do anyway"! Well- I did quit spotting the next day when we were headed back home. Had a great Saturday and Sunday with no spotting. I called my doctor first thing on Monday morning and, of course, she wanted to see me immediately. Long story short- I had placenta previa. I had NEVER heard of this. It is where the placenta is attached under the baby and right on my cervix. Okay- so what now?? I just had to be EXTREMELY careful. I wasn't put on bedrest or anything, but just had certain things I could not do. The good news is that corrected itself and the placenta moved where it was suppose to around 20 weeks. We found out we were having a girl. BIG SHOCKER!! To be honest, I wanted another boy (I thought)! I just thought it would have been so much fun for Beau to have a brother to play with and grow up. Well- God had different plans for us!

So- now our BEAUTIFUL baby girl was born on September 16, 2009! Her name is Brighton Olivia Rice. She just is almost 11 months and has been A LOT of fun. She is so fun and I NEVER imagined the amount of joy she brings to us. She has done everything so much quicker than Beau so I wasn't prepared. Brighton was sitting up by about 5 months, crawling at 7 months and has been standing up/cruising around on furniture since she turned 8 months. Just recently, this week she started taking steps. I don't want her to grow up so fast!

Jeff's business continues to GROW like crazy. We are so blessed. He is staying extremely busy and I'm very proud of him. I work 3 days a week and stay home with the Beau and Brighton the other days. Life is VERY busy when you work and have kids. I never knew I could be so busy.

I have enjoyed a little bit of traveling. Jeff and I were able to go skiing over the winter with some friends while mom kept the kids. Jeff and I were able to get away and go to the Dominican Republic with some friends. We enjoyed getting away and it makes us better parents. My mom is wonderful and it makes it so easy to be able to leave the kids. I sometimes think she does a "better" job than me and the kids absolutely LOVE her. She is a lot of fun. We also were able to take the kids, my parents, my brother and his girlfriend to Panama City Beach, FL! It was fun to get the family together. We all (except Papaw and Brighton) went parasailing! That was the highlight of the trip.

Beau played his first organized sport over the spring! He played flag football and he endured it. He wanted us to sign him up again for the fall so we did. He also keeps telling us that he wants to play soccer. So- we are not sure if we will do both.

Beau will start a program called Transitional Kindergarten in the fall. I have an in-home childcare lady that keeps Brighton for me while I work. Now that Beau is not in school over the summer, I found a camp for him. He is loving it. They do field trips, splash days, and art days. He really likes it.

This should get you ALL caught up on the past year!!!! I will be posting a lot more!

My Little Rock Star!!

Pay REAL close attention to the facial expressions. He gets really into his dancing and singing! He cracks me up!! His favorite song is "Please Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna! It is hilarious.

Today Was a Good Day!

Today was a day that Beau and I call "It's Just You and Me Today"! The days that I am home with him, he ALWAYS reminds me "It's Just You and Me Today"!! It is so cute. I just love hearing him say that. Not much going on in our world other than just routine. I have been having a few health problems, BUT I think I am on the mends (I hope)! I did miss some work last week so this week seems more of a "normal" week. I actually have some energy and was back in the gym today PLUS I got some housework accomplished.

This was a great day and Beau has been such a great little boy. I just can't explain how sad I have been lately about how much he is growing up. Just all of the sudden- 1) he's going to the potty without help 2) able to put his own pants 3) eating much better (trying new things) 4) wants to play, play, play (all of the time). I could go on and on with all of the things that he is started to do all by himself. We went to the park today- and he played so hard that his face was bright red and sweaty all over. I had to take him home and give him a bath to cool him off. He is really turning into a true boy! It is so much fun to watch him interact with the other kids and play. All of the sudden- he wants to constantly play with other kids. He loves to play chase.

Here are a few pics that I have taken recently!!!

Beau has this new thing that he likes to play. He has two drawers that are full of blankets from when he was a baby. He likes to get out ALL of his blankets and make a big pile and buries himself in it. Yes- I'm tired of folding blankets BUT it is good memories!

The other night Jeff was playing ball with him and he told his daddy that he needed a helmet! So all we had was his tricycle helmet. I couldn't resist and of course I grabbed the camera! So cute!

First Day of School & New Haircut!

Well- this morning started off rocky! Beau wasn't sure he wanted to go to Mrs. Alichia and Mrs. Courtney's class. He just didn't know. He whined around the house while I was telling him how much fun it is going to be. He ended up getting the SAME teachers that he had last year in his 2-year-old class so this shouldn't be much of an adjustment for him, I thought. I really tried to talk it up. First thing- he didn't want to wear his new shoes. He wanted to wear his crocs from this summer. Well- he can't wear his crocs to school if he wants to play on the playground. Yes- I gave in and told him if he would let me take pictures of him, I would let him wear his crocs to school today. I know- I just couldn't stand him so upset on his first day of school so I was trying to get him happy! He was trying to be goofy when I was taking his pictures this morning and he refused to standup for me so that is the reason for the floor poses. We got through the pictures then we head to the car and he wants me to turn on the "video" (DVD) of Barney. I told him that we were just driving down the street and he wouldn't get to see much of it so let's not turn it on. Well-(you guessed it)- MELTDOWN! So YES- I gave in again this morning just so he wouldn't be distraught. Then we get to school and he is begging for me to hold him while walking into the building and into his classroom. I try to tell him that he is a BIG BOY now and that he needs to walk into his school. We enter the doorway and he just stops walking. He's not crying or anything but just doesn't want to go any further. He recognizes it from last year. Everyone is coming up to him and saying hi to him and calling his name. He just turns his head and acts shy. Then we finally get to the room and he REFUSES to go inside. I have to literally take his hand and drag him to his place with his name tag. I sit him down in his chair and he is so mad. He NEVER cried but he is so mad at me. The pictures will reflect this. This is how our morning went for the First Day of School. Little toot!!! It feels kindof good that he STILL wants his mommy.......He better ALWAYS want his mommy........

New Addition to the Family!

Yes- A FISH!! Beau has wanted a fish for a while now BUT I haven't thought much about getting him one. Well- I have been working more this summer and I have just felt horrible about not doing anything with him. So Friday- it was all about Beau! We met a friend at Chic-Fil-La for lunch. As we were leaving I saw a Petsmart across the parking lot and decided to drive over there and surprise Beau. As I'm driving- I was asking him if he wanted to go and pick out a real pretty fish. He was soooooo exciting. I could barely get him out of his carseat fast enough. Then- while we were there picking out his fish- he wanted to take home a bird, dog, hamster, rat, etc.....I had to do some SWEET talkin' to get him out of this place. Then as we were walking out of the store this was our conversation (so sweet):

Me: "You need to decide on a name for your fish."

Beau: "Ummmmmmm- I don't know his name."

Me: "You need to come up with a name for him." "He needs a name like we have named our dogs."

Beau: "I just can't think of it."

Me: "Just keep thinking REAL hard." "Just take your time."

Beau: (very casual says) "We need to name him Ummmmmm TIP TOE!"

So needless to say- his first pet (that he picked out) is named "Tip Toe"! I thought it was adorable. Not sure where his little mind went to grab that name, BUT it is definitely original and he laughs everytime he says it. He spent the night with my mom tonight and called me just to make sure that I had fed "Tip Toe"! I was explaining to him in the car (after getting the fish) that he has to take care of his new pet and if he does a good job, then we can get more in the future. He is so eager to watch him swim and to feed him in the mornings.......

Daddy & Me Time!!

Beau is getting more and more attached to his daddy! These are some pictures of them playing together this week! Just love my boys!

Addictions/PottyTraining/Eating!

First- I have a confession to make- I am officially addicted to Ice Cream! This week I have had more ice cream than ever before. It has to be "COOKIES & CREAM". I crave it every night after dinner. Baskin Robins just went in real close to our house and that was NOT a good thing for me. Beau and I have visited this place quite often this week. They even know us by name! He! He! He!- So I found this shirt online and thought it was really cute!

Furthermore- We have been "potty training" now for about 6 months! I'm not quite understanding what moms mean when they tell me that their child was trained in one week and then it was over??? I hear that all of the time and I'm pretty sure that it didn't just take ONE WEEK! I'm sure it was a process and then maybe it clicked in one week. Anyways- this is my dilemma- I can put real underware on him starting off in the morning and by lunch time- I have changed/cleaned-up messes at least 3 times within a four hour period. Very frustrating. I have really close friends that tell me to get away from "pull-ups" and switch to real underware and I do BUT my carpet is being destroyed by TEETEE!!! So frustrating- so I just feel he isn't ready. I have heard ALL the stats and I know boys train a lot later than girls BUT he is about to be 3 years and 3 months. He needs to be trained. So- he is wearing pull-ups right now and stays dry for me most of the time. I just keep taking him all day long. So ALL of this to say- I had to go to Sam's to buy more pull-ups and when I opened the box it had a DVD about potty training. I was SOOO excited thinking this was going to be good for Beau to watch. When I started watching it with Beau it was more for the parents! I was a little bummed BUT Beau loves it. This is ALL he wants to watch. YEAH!! Maybe this simple/free DVD will make a difference- We'll see!!

(Side note: YES we have tried treats, stickers, rewards- we have tried it all)- these things do not motivate him at all!!

Last- Beau has never been a BIG eater so I have never made it a big issue. From the start our pediatrician told me that some kids are just not interested in eating and they will ONLY eat if they are hungry. He gave me several tips to try so he would eat a meal. He is a pretty picky eater and it changes from one week to another. So one week- he hates spaghetti and the next he will love it. So- yesterday morning I fixed eggs, sausage and biscuits. The entire time I was cooking the eggs- I was thinking- "he's not going to eat these eggs" BUT I thought I will always offer him things. I put the plate in front of him and immediately he tells me "I don't like this". I just say okay- and I walk off. I went to check email and when I went back to check on him- this is what I saw! I was amazed and so proud.

Can you believe it?

He ate 1 egg, 1 sausage, and 1 biscuit!

So Proud!