Snack Attack!

Charlie- "Can I have a snack?"

Me- "Uhh, no! You didn't eat any of your dinner!"

Charlie(rolling eyes)- "Okaaaaay, I'll have my dinner..."

Me- "Oh, you want your dinner now?"

Charlie- "Yeah, so I can have a snack!"

Sheesh!

Peekaboo!!

Hello friends!! Here I am to well, blog! I won't even go into all the distractions and reasons for my absence...just want to do some catching up and see where it goes. I miss everyone ALOT though.
Today I attempted something ELSE I have been totally slacking on...photographing my youngins! It did not go well. Mallory was overdue for her nap, and Charlie just can't seem to remember where the camera is. BUT their outfits are so stinkin' cute, I will post the best of them here.
These first ones are my attempt at getting Mallory to sit still and smile pretty. She was so excited about a)the grass, and b)the dogs, that she just could not focus:




Now for the cute tye dye outfits...





You have got to be kidding me.

I would go back out for round 2, but it is TOO DANG HOT. Anyone else just to hot to go outside. We have yet to visit the waterpark, the zoo, or the park since preschool let out. Sad, I know. We have done the pool several times, though. I don't even remember being this hot last summer when I was pregnant.
Speaking of...my sis is getting a good dose of pregnant these days: We had her baby shower a couple of weeks ago...Baby Cullen is due in 4 little weeks!


What else is up? I am totally bummed about missing the EKC picnic AGAIN. I can't imagine how much fun it would be to meet blogfriends in person. Maaaaybe next year, and maaaaybe we will even get to meet the children of these lovely people...(by the way, I might have stopped blogging to protest the ridiculously long wait time of said lovely people's proposal ;)Read about the big day, it is a wonderful story. Congrats again, you guys.

What else? Last week, Adam invited us to go to work with him in Asheville, NC. Jess and I tagged along with the kids and had a great week. We saw the Biltmore on my birthday, which was awesome. The wine tasting was pretty fun, too. After 3.5 days there, Adam got a call to do a job in Biloxi, MS. Which happens to be (in my opinion) one of the happiest places on earth. So, in the car driving from Asheville, I am texting away searching for an overnight babysitter. Amber (who has moved back home, but is still our great babysitter) came through, and after the 4 hour drive from NC, we embarked on another 6 hour journey to MS. To gamble from midnight to 6 am, sleep until noon, and arrive home at 7pm. Phew!! It was a BLAST, and no, we didn't even hit the big one (this time...we will be back!)

All is well at the Beauchamps. The kids are awesome, the family is well and healthy, our friends are still as close as ever. I'll leave this post with a couple of our latest Charlie-isms:

"Mom, I'm a son. And you have to be very careful with sons!"

"Pop, don't say shit!" (oops).

(while playing Mario, to himself) "Missed me, missed me, now ya gotta kiss me!" (I have no idea where he heard this.)

"Earth is our planek, where we live, Mom. It's a good planek."

Ain'tsurance.

So, I go to the drugstore this morning to pick up my birth control. I love my babies, but I NEED the pill right now. I had been using samples from my doc to make sure I was on the right one, so this was the first time I was getting them from the store. $62. Really?? I have never paid more than 20 bucks before. So I call the insurance company, and they let me know that I have a $100 deductible on all name brand drugs. So, they are telling me that our $1200 every three months to cover our family is not QUITE enough money, and that the also are going to need this drug deductible. I guess they would rather me get pregnant again, so that I could go through another pregnancy that they DON'T EVEN COVER. I'm so over these people.

It's really too bad I picked today to blog, because things have been going really, really well around here. I escaped to the beach for a weekend with my best friend, Adam and I are doing great, the kids are awesome. My sister is graduating from college this weekend, and my mom's 50th is tomorrow. Plans for this weekend's celebrations are in full swing, and life is good. So, here I am, in my first REALLY bad mood in weeks. Bleeeehhhh....Happier catchin up soon.

'cause ya gotta have faith...

Okay, I'm ending my blog hiatus (hopefully, this time) with a bang...I have been wanting to write about this for a while now, and the time has come. I haven't managed to offend anyone since the election, and well, I guess I'm due.
Okay, I take that back. I'm not literally out to piss anyone off or be disrespectful...just want to voice my opinion, concerns, and questions.

Actually what I want to express here is that what I feel toward religion in general isn't contempt, it's more like...I feel left out of this club. I see people who have so much faith in what they believe in, and I'm thinking, "Well, why can't I have that?" And it's not that I don't WANT it, I just cannot make myself get it. I don't TRULY believe everything in the Bible...I don't TRULY know in my heart that there is one way to heaven, or that there even is one. And I can't fake it, either. I know that the meaning of the word "faith" has a lot to do with not having proof, and believing something anyway...but I'm just not there. It leaves me feeling like my soul lost out on some trait that allows me to believe without question. I see people quote scripture, and offer prayer, and I feel a little guilty when I smile and nod, all the while thinking, how come you have it?? Where's my big sign?
I have, in the last few years, started to sweat this whole thing a little less. I do believe in God, a God of some sort, and I really can't imagine the big guy/gal condemning folks who really did mean well to eternal fiery torture. Isn't that just...mean? And contrary to some people's beliefs, I DO pray. I pray all the time, and not just "O,God-I-am-about-to-run-this-red-light-please-don't let-me-die-right-now!" I have had some pretty spiritual moments where I felt such calm, and such a real presence with me (the most notable one happened to me in Paris) so I do not consider myself to be some heathen with no connection to the greater powers. I just cannot pretend to know what those may be. I HOPE there is more after this amazing life I am living...I hope to see my family members again...I hope to feel embraced by warmth and love and to never doubt anything again...But hope and faith are not the same. I know that many of you who do go to church and have that faith are probably shaking your heads, thinking about the many sermons you have heard about people who are saying the same thing as me..."If I am a good person, then SURELY, I will get in the gates, right??" And I know that Christians do not believe that is enough. But for now, it's all I got. I get uneasy when I hear that all gays are doomed, or that liberals are never really Christians...why not? So while I do not agree with many aspects of that major religion, I do admire faith in any form. I admire people who have that...thing. There is something beautiful about taking that leap. I hope one day I can. For now, I look at all religions as different paths to the same outcome. I think it's exciting that we can (or should be able to, as human beings) choose our own paths. And I don't like to think that heaven is won by being lucky enough to choose the right one.
So, in closing, I will say that if you do indeed, have the faith, I don't really want advice on how to get it. That sounds rough, but I have had many people try to help me out with this, all my questions and doubts, and I just think it's going to happen on it's own...or it won't. I do have moments of panic...Oh, shit, what if I DO die tomorrow and as it all slips away, I think...'all I had to do was accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour, and I couldn't even do THAT? Come ON! I do, I do!' The closest I have gotten to having religion click with me was reading the book Eat, Pray, Love. Elizabeth's journey to God through meditation and prayer was amazing, and if only I could spend three months in an ashram in India, I bet I could do it to.
There I go again, ever the cynic...what's wrong with me??

CF talks...

These have been all over, and I'm late to the game, but here's Chuck's interview!


1. What is something mom always says to you?
"don't do it"

2. What makes mom happy?
"clean up"
(Dang, I'm mean).

3. What makes mom sad?
"sit on Mallory"

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
"poopoo on Mallory's head!"
(Never happened, but he thought it was a funny thing to say...ew).

5. What was your mom like as a child?
"tickle her belly"

6. How old is your mom?
"I dunno"

7. What is your favorite song?
"liiiike, Bob Marley"

8. What is mommy’s favorite thing to do?
"playin' out in the yard"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
"work downstairs with the 'lil puter and I always cry"
(Awww.)

10. What is your favorite movie?
"Surf's Up and Ghostbusters"

11. What is your mommy's name?
"Hedda"

12. What is your mom not very good at?
"I dunno, Mom"

13. What does your mom do for her job?
"get some money"
(if only it were that easy)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
"peanut butta"
(I hate peanut butter and I never eat it. haha)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
"pushin' me on the big boy swings"

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
"Spongebob"

17. What do you and your mom do together?
"pway outside, Mom"

18. How are you and your mom the same?
(At this point, I lost him to a game of 'scatter the pillows all over the living room').

19. How are you and your mom different?
"Mom, you already said that"

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
"hug, just hug."

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
"to work"


:)

Oh, and so you know he's NOT a baby anymore:

Alright, Already.

This is why I could never be one of those awesome bloggers who make the big bucks with advertising. Well, one reason...I have no discipline! I have plenty to blog, but not the mojo to do it. I can still stare blankly at Facebook for hours, and update my status every 20 minutes. Ah, well. I'm here now, kiddies. It's all gonna be okay.
I know the main thing your itching to see are Twilight party pictures. What a night.
Apryl worked her tush off on the decor. And other than red candle wax bleeding down my mantle onto the pillows, it was beautiful! (It looks like someone was murdered in my living room!Haha.) We had bloody butter popcorn, Bella's mushroom ravioli, Bloody Marys, punch, and vampire bitten cupcakes, courtesy of my sister, the cupcake queen.
Th stress was on just before people started arriving, so I WILL admit to hitting that red punch (not kool-aid) right at 7. Soooo, by the time the movie started, some of us ended up a little too giggly for the show and partied on the porch. WITH the soundtrack playing, so we weren't too out of the loop. It was an awesomely fun night.
Yes, Twilight shirts WERE passed around my the girls, in the most appropriate manner!
Enjoy!















THAT....was fun.

Two days later, we partied on for Charlie's THIRD birthday. He has requested a Ghostbusters party for months now. You can't really find that stuff these days, so the decor and shirts were handmade with love by Adam and I. We tried to use a lot of green, a la Slimer. It was a hit. We even made a "Slime the Ghostbusters" game. It was chilly (that makes TWO years in row) but the kids were able to play in the yard, kind of a kiddie afterparty. :)












What else? There's plenty going on, but I think I may have already reached my quota for the year o the "Life-is-hard-I-am-overwhelmed-what-the-hell-am-I-doing-here???" posts. It helps tremendously though, when I do have to post those, and read the amazing responses. We really aren't alone. It's amazing. Thank you for that.


How about a few more pics? Amber took some great ones of the kids one day while I was working...Gotta love that girl, she can do it all.







The kids are doing well. Mallory is turning into a bit of a mama's girl, which is sweet, until I want to put her down for any reason. Her first tooth finally came through on the bottom, so I'm sure that is part of it. She is still a great sleeper, so I am not complaining. Charlie is still crazy, still stubborn, and still awesome, as he will tell you upon meeting him.

Speaking of kids...looks like there is a puddle of ice cream with my name on it.
More soon!

I should really blog...

...and I will, soon!