My Reader

Mommy brag time! Report cards came out last week. In the envelope was a separate paper talking about reading levels. The goal of kindergarten is to have them reading at a level 4 by the end of the year. Haylee is reading at level 10!! Tonight in her reading packet was a real book. Not one of the learning books. We sat together ok the couch reading it tonight and she didn't struggle at all. One or two words I worked with her on sounding it out but other then that she read it with no problem. I am so proud of how far she has come in school this year.

This whole night was a dream with her. She played and played and sang all kinds of songs. She was so loving and sweet. I bought her this grey cardigan thingy yesterday and before bed she just came up to me and hugged me so tight and just said thanks mom! I made sure she knew how wonderful she made my night! She makes everything better. I love my haylee bug!

Creamer Towers

On the weekends we like to meet Adams parents for breakfast at Moes. It's a hole in the wall place by where they live. They have good $3.99 breakfast specials! Lisa has taught Haylee to make towers out of the creamer packets. She has been building now for three years! Yesterday she made a pretty big one. At one time we have three buckets of creamer and people were needing to come get it from Haylee! Breakfast was good but the company was better!

Six

My haylee turned 6 in November! Six! SIX!! I can't even believe she is 6! We went to fuddruckers for dinner and my little princess dressed herself. I am so thankful she is my daughter. We laugh and fight but she is all mine. I love to cuddle with her. I love waking up to her all wrapped up in me.

Water

We went to the stock show parade on Saturday and it was awesome. There is something about watching all the people on horses come marching down the street that makes me so happy to be in Texas. A part of Texas. We were walking back to the car and we walked through the new TCC campus downtown. They had the most awesome water decorations (for lack of a better word) down the stairs and all around. It was so calm and peaceful. They did a good job! Haylee loved it and I'm sure would of gladly got in!

September 11, 2001

Today September 11, 2011 I sit here in my home glued to the TV watching a collection of videos taken with cell phones, home video cameras, and other mics cameras from this same day 10 years ago. I find the same emotions coming to the surface.

Haylee asks questions. I don't know what to say to her. She is only 5 and has a heart of gold. Bad people. Bad people took over planes and crashed them into the buildings and a lot of people died.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that it has been 10 years.

1986

In 1986 I turned 5 years old. I do not remember my birthday this year but I do remember starting kindergarten. My teacher was Mrs. Jones and she was a fantastic teacher. I remember I really loved her! I also remember my mom was pregnant. My parents used to tell me that when we went through a more closed up tunnel bridge that you were supposed to hold your breathe and make a wish. Every single time I would hold my breathe and make a with that the baby growing in my mom's belly was a girl. I already had two brothers and I was feeling a little out numbered.

September 1, 1986 was my first day of kindergarten. September 2, 1986 was my second day of school. That night we went to bed like normal, however sometime in the middle of the night we were awoken and taken over to our friends house. They had a  big couch bed all made up for me and my brothers. They had a daughter who was my same age and we went to the same school.

September 3, 1986 I woke up at my friend's house and got ready for school. Before school started I received the most exciting phone call from my parents who were at the hospital. IT WAS A GIRL!!

Meridith Marie Petty was born on September 3, 1986.

All I had ever wanted was a sister and I got it! We shared a room and started a bond that would only grow stronger through the years. Don't get me wrong there were many times that we fought and couldn't stand one another... but on that day of her birth I was excited! I went to school and Mrs. Jones let me tell the whole class about her.

September 3, 2011 we celebrate without her here. This year we took 25 pink balloons to the cemetery. In the morning I had talked to Haylee about the day and told her about it. I cried. I think because I really miss her alot. She was what I wished for 25 years ago. That afternoon we met up with the family to do the balloons. This year and this time Haylee was not ok with it. She wanted to leave almost the moment we got there and then told us several times she hated balloons. She did not want the one my mom brought for her. I think Haylee is older and understands more now. She asks me about Meridith all the time.

25 yeas ago my wish came true. 25 years ago I finally had a sister to call my very own.

Happy Birthday to my sweet sister. I would of loved to celebrate with you this year.

YMCA Baseball

Haylee played baseball this year and I have to say it was very successful! She really enjoyed it. Her uncle betty and papa were the coaches which I am sure really helped. We were really lucky to have such a good group of kids this year. Minus the one psycho parent who actually took themselves off the team by the second or third game... it was a great group of kids and parents. Bradley is missing from this picture... which is kinda sad! He was sick for the last game! Alot of parents asked if Brett would coach again next year... and if so everyone wants to be on his team. It would be pretty awesome if everyone got to be on the same team again next year. Brett really fell for these kids. It was also really neat to see them learn the game and grow as players. 

Haylee was lucky to have these two as her coaches. They were there to dust off the dirt and encourage her all along the way. She really loves them both and I have to say with her still being the only girl in the fam... I think she has them both wrapped pretty tight! 

Hanging with Cooper... at his house!

 Tonight me and Haylee went to visit with Uncle Aaron, Aunt Kimmie and Baby Cooper... oh and Dax and Max.

He has changed SOO much already. I forget how much I love to hold a tiny sleeping baby. And he is so peaceful! He slept the whole time... he is a pro binky sucker and like to keep his hands by his face. He can suck his thumb... but doesn't mind the binky at all! In fact as long as it is in his mouth he sleeps... when it is out he wakes... but doesn't cry... just looks around.

 He looks JUST like Aaron. I mean WOW! Mini Aaron for sure. Just like Calan was Brett's mini... I love it. He is sleeping here in Haylee's arms... at one point she had Cooper in one arm asleep and Dax on the other leg sleeping... rubbing the baby and petting the dog. She told us... I can do both. Hold babies and pet dogs!

Ok... He is adorable and I wish they were a little bit closer then a 20 min drive! I already want to hold him more!

Here is photography by Haylee. She is in LOVE with this little pooch, almost as much as he loves her. She carries him around and plays with him as if he is one of her baby dolls... Kinda freaked me out but Aaron and Kim both assured me it was alright... it is just what they do. Dax enjoyed the attention and his mommy and daddy were thankful that for it... Dax will sleep good tonight!

Cooper Kyllo Petty

S

 Cooper Kyllo was born on July 18, 2011! This auntie is really proud! Not only of my sister in law Kimmie for cooking one totally cute baby boy... but of my brother too. He did amazing! Didn't pass out was strong and has taken on the roll of a daddy just perfectly. I have to say it is a little bitter sweet watching my brothers grow. Me and Aaron have always been a little closer and then when he was my birthing coach, totally unplanned, with my sweet Haylee it just got closer. I knew he would do just fine because he was a pro 5 years ago. I am totally smitten by this little man. So far he is the biggest of all the petty babies... he was 8 pounds!

 I love watching Haylee take on the roll of super overprotective cousin. She wants to hold him and kiss him all over. At the hospital the first night he was here she went to pass him to my mom and proceeded to tell her grandma how to hold him... I guess she is unsure of how to hold a baby... but Haylee knew just how to hold him so he would not cry! I am pretty sure he was NOT ready to come out yet... Kim was ready and she was in labor... but he would only swim UP and pretty much refused to swim down!

 When they finally did take him to the nursery for his bath and stuff Haylee insisted that she follow. I did get a lecture about why she didn't do this with Reagan... my bad! She very closely watched those nurses take care of him... I am sure that if there was a problem that she would of quickly spoken up!

 She is so proud of him! As Haylee's mommy I like to watch her practice her motherly skills and take such interest in the babies. She really is a pro! It is hard to believe that it has been 5 years since I was here with Haylee. I sure do love my little love bug!

Feeling Violated...

I hate feeling violated. Monday morning Adam was leaving for work and called me to the front door. He said he noticed it when the door didn't shut. Someone tried to break into our home. The door jam is broken and the metal thingy (for lack of a better word) was hanging down. Thankful they didn't get in. Thankful nobody was hurt. Thankful our lock kept them out. Chade is with us this week and he was still up. He heard them messing with the door lock. We have a push button code to unlock the door and it beeps when you push the buttons. He said they pushed buttons. I don't think like a criminal but WHY would you think it is ok to break into a house with cars in the driveway and people are home? I mean... really. I know that if they would of got in they would not of got to far... as we have dogs. BIG dogs and they have scary barks! But I am no dummy that a bullet would make them be quite... and that scares me alot. I never thought I would be a mommy to a heard of dogs... but I am. And I love them! I mean I dislike the hair and the lack of bed space for me... but I love them.

Needless to say I have bought an extra lock that is ONLY on the inside of the house as extra protection and this weekend I do believe we will be doing some handy fix ups to our door and checking other safety things.

Until them I am thankful Adam lets me sleep a little bit closer...

Best 4th of July EVER!

Can I just say that this has been the best week ever! This weekend was awesome and the week is the same. Monday on July 4th we got up and ran around a bit then headed over to my parents house. We swam and my parents had a group of young single adults from church over. We grilled and then set off our own fireworks. It was by far one of the best 4th's I have had in a while. Haylee would holler after then either saying AWESOME of LAME! Lame is her new word... cracks me up every time! Calan stayed up and even he liked the fireworks. He really liked swinging sparklers around. Since then I have been recovering from a little too much sun on my shoulders from the water park... I think I may start pealing... YUCK!

Today I woke up, but then took a nice nap... then me and Haylee went swimming and had dinner at my parents house again. Adam stayed home with a bad headache... the same one I had yesterday! After swimming then dinner then more swimming me and Britty took the kids (haylee, calan, and the twins) to get snow cones.

Now we are home and haylee is passed out... I think she is really enjoying me being home this week...

I'm Back!

Well after an $80 charger... that was crap! My sweet Adam ordered me one off Ebay and I have a computer again! I am so excited!!! I have missed blogging and I have missed keeping a record of my life and everything that happens.

Today we went to NRH2O a  local water park... Aaron called us this morning and just thought it would be fun. We had to go swimsuit shopping.... not my idea of fun... I have yet to find them after the move. We got all suited up, packed and headed out. We, as in the adults, may of gotten a tad to much sun, but it was so much fun. We were out there for about 5 1/2 hours! Haylee rode the slides and came out yelling how awesome they were and running back to the line for some more. We saw some friends, which was nice! Because things have been a little hectic around here I haven't had a chance to email her back, so face to face chatting was SO much nicer!

Adam and I both took off this next week for vacation.... hopefully we will have some play time, but we are working. We have tools and some things at the old house to get... so we have some work to do. Which I am not looking forward to for a few reasons... one being it is SO hot outside. But I guess a little sweat never killed anyone!

ps... Thanks babe for my charger! I wasn't ready to have to get a new computer... and figure out how to get all my things and PICTURES off this one yet... Guess I really do need to break down and buy a back up drive! I love you!

our NEW home!

Well we have been secretly looking and looking and looking for a new house to call our home. We found one back in March, bid on it, and WON THE BID! It has been a whirlwind of emotions and check lists since then. We closed the end of April and we have yet to move in... Why?? Well where do I begin.

PAINT! The previous owners... let's just say I have NO idea what they were thinking. They had some REALLY ugly colors. And not only that, but the attention to detail was severely lacking! With the help of my parents, (and that is a total understatement) the living room, entry way, kitchen, hallways, and Haylee's room have all been repainted. It is SO beautiful. The hallways, kitchen, and entry way are all an oatmeal color. The living room is a really pretty soft green color. I LOVE IT! It has turned out so beautiful. The front "game room" was painted a dark chocolate brown, which we kept. The master was a light brownish, neutral color, we kept that too. Chade's room has wood floors and is a darker blue color, which is the closest to black he is going to get. That kid LOVES black! (who's the blame him... black is my favorite color of clothes for myself... but I have an excuse!)

THE AIR CONDITIONER! This has been the biggest headache, problem, pain in the you know what ever... welcome to home ownership right? I knew going into the house there was a problem. But it was thought to be electrical. Well, after the electrician came out... it was NOT. It was diagnosed as the compressor. The unit itself is ALMOST 10 years old. I found out (with the help of my mommy) that it was still under warranty! YEAH! NOT! It was still going to be $1200 to fix it! Well the AC company came out yesterday (monday) and since FRIDAY someone stole the motor and the fan blade! What's the luck right? So now we are buying a whole entire new AC unit! Not what I had planned, but it will be better... I am hopeful.

This has been alot of fun but expensive! We had to buy a new range, an above the range microwave (apparently the previous homeowners needed it more) and then last night on top of the new ac unit we bought a new refrigerator! I never thought I would be old enough to be purchasing these things! So after tomorrow morning we will have AC... and with it being hot already I can't wait. So this weekend we will move it.

I am very excited to be moving into our new home. To be starting a life and settled with roots going down here. As much as this has been a headache and learning experience I wouldn't want to be doing anything else!

April

The entire month is gone... My computer charging cord took a turn for the worse and I replaced it with a HP charger, but one that can be used on different computers. Well it is NOT working either... so needless to say I am really sad without my laptop! When life slows down a bit I will get a new one! On top of that... Adam's laptop the space key doesn't work. Try typing something and ctrl v everytime you need to space. It SUCKS! So... April is gone.

Tender Moments

Everyone once in a while I am lucky and blessed with a moment where I can feel my sister. I actually feel her as if I could reach out and touch her. Reagan was blessed today and I was holding him. He was so cuddly, but oh boy he was wet! That boy soaked his diaper! Being the awesome aunt I am his mom gathered up his stuff and I took him to the bathroom to change his diaper.

As I was in there alone I couldn't help but remember 5 years ago when I was in the bathroom after I blessed Haylee with Meridith changing her. Meridith took one of the only pictures I have of Haylee in her blessing dress. It was not the memory of that day with Haylee, but rather that moment I had with my sister. We were laughing and being how we always were together.

While I had Reagan on the changing table he looked over my shoulder and smiled the biggest smile. He then followed something with this grin on his face. It was HUGE!  I just stood there and felt her there with us. As if she knew that I had been missing her the most these days and needed her.

When we went back into the chapel my mom I think went up to bear her testimony and talked of Brett saying a part of all this that saddens him is that his children will not know Meridith the way Haylee does. Don't get me wrong, Haylee was only 6 months old when Meridith was taken, and yes she was held in Meridith's arms and I have pictures.. but Reagan saw her there in the bathroom and he smiled at her, because he knows her. Haylee didn't get the spirit world with Meridith like Reagan did... He knows her. It is up to us now to keep her memories around and talk about her so that our children WILL know her. Haylee will never know her the way I did. But I talk of Meridith to Haylee every time something comes up.

I am thankful for the moment I had in the bathroom and even more thankful Reagan and I got to have it together, alone. As much as I miss her, I am not as sad now as I was before. I have her comfort with me and I always will. Even if I need these simple moments to remind myself of it every now and again.

Full of Family Weekend!

This weekend was packed full of family. Friday was Nelly's birthday. Nelly is Ryan's Wifey (Ryan = Adam's Brother). We cooked out at Nana's house... Pork Chops and Fajita meat on the grill. YUM! We had a pinata full of candy. I am not sure who was more excited about that one... Nelly or Haylee or Will (ryan and nelly's  year old son) We stayed late and rode bikes and enjoyed the awesome weather we have had!

Saturday Adam let me sleep in till after NOON! I could NOT believe that I slept that late. I guess I really needed it because I felt SOOO good! We then went to lunch at Chili's and then did a little shopping. We went to Carnival, which is a local grocery store leaning more towards a mexican flare store! It was much cheaper and since we were doing street tacos for dinner we needed some of the more mexican flared type foods... They have much fresher produce and ALOT cheaper! That night Chad and the kids came over and ate and then Becki when she got off work. They left kinda early and then I crashed! I guess I was needing some sleep this weekend! Of course I forced our poor poor children to clean house this day.

Sunday Brett and Brittany blessed my sweet nephew Reagan. Me and Haylee got up early and went to church. It was awesome to sit down and Calan got all excited and said mama and ran over to me. He calls all of us mama... NOT to be confused with mama that he calls his mommy... it is different. He then sat in between me and maymay (haylee) and we read books! I love that little boy... there is something so sweet about him... BUT do not be fooled... he is a little toot! I love watching him be a stinker!

Tonight we grilled out hamburgers and I made mac and cheese and beans! Success! Everyone ate and was VERY happy with dinner. They kept saying how good everything was! Which is always a bonus when feeding these picky kiddos!

Things I never want to forget about my...

Haylee

1. She has the most beautiful hair!

2. She loves finding old clothes of hers and wearing them... even if she is 5 and it a size 24 month one piece outfit.

3. She doesn't know how to be quiet. She talks or sings constantly if she is awake.

4. She can mess a room up... FAST!

5. Awesome and vivid imagination.

6. Too smart for her own good.

7. Has enough "babies" to fill an entire day care by herself.

8. Stubborn... I don't know where she gets that from.

9. Remembers everything.

10. She sleep walks till she finds her mommy... cause she is my sweet girl... and we both sleep better when we are together.

11. She's a fighter.

12. Awesome at Wii games... she will kick your butt in boxing!

13. Enjoys watching all Leap Frog movies and picks them over all others.

She is an absolute doll to be around... even when she is fake crying because her mean mean mommy is making her clean up her room! It wouldn't be SOOO messy if she didn't change clothes a thousand times in one day.. that I see anyways! I sure love her.. she is my world!

Tagged

I was tagged by my friend Marcia in this four by four meme that revels some little facts about me. 

1st ...Four places I go

Work
Target
Albertsons
Home

2nd...Four favorite smells
Clean Laundry... Gain Lavender Soap
BOYS... specifically my boy all cleaned up and smelling oh so yummy!
Grilling... steaks or whatever... I LOVE the smell of the grill
Coconut smells... like summer. 
3rd...Four favorite TV shows or movies
Grey's Anatomy
Vampire Diaries
How I Met Your Mother
Big Brother

4th... Four recommendations 
Blog More
Carry Your Camera... you never know when you will need to take a picture
Hug More. Kiss More. Love More.
Hang out with friends. Grow relationships. Be social. It's healthy to have fun and Laugh! 


I tag... My Mom. My SIL Brittany. Friend Catherine. Cousin Stephanie

Happiness

The best revenge is happiness, because nothing drives people more crazy then seeing someone actually living a good life.

Someone posted this as a facebook status and it really stands out to me. I love it. It is so true. I am just glad that I am able to drive so many crazy by my undeniable happiness!

1766 Days

Can you imagine NOT talking to somebody for that long?
Especially if you were really close?

That is 4 Years, 11 Months and 1 Day

That is a long time to not get to talk to my little sister Meridith.

Death sucks. There is nothing good about it. I know it is very selfish to want her here now... The other day I looked up on facebook this boy that she knew in college. I think they went out a few times... I know he gave her a flower. I was kinda sad to see he was married and had a really cute baby. I am happy for him... but sad for myself and sad for my sister. It just goes to show how life goes one... even when one passes. That people continue to live and breathe and meet people and fall in love. I really am happy for him... but just sad for myself. I wish I had a sister who had babies. I wish I could be in the room with her... I wish that we could do sister things together. I wish alot of things...I guess I will just keep wishing... a wish that will never come true.