I am so blessed to have such wonderful girls in my life. Today we all went and got pedicures done, even the babiest girls. We had a wonderful time. My mom had gotten us gift certificates for it for Mother's Day. Nanny and I hadn't used ours yet and Momma and Krista needed to get theres done for vacation. So to the salon we went. They were so wonderful and almost did us all at once, which left left one to take pictures. They even rubbed Kaykay's feet and painted her toe toes too! The chairs are my favorite part, they are deep kneading and heaven!

Enough of my ramblings though, here are pictures...

I will cherish this memory forever. I highly recommend this to all of you girls!!

Okay Okay, I know... I write about Mikayla all the time. But hear me out, I am a stay at home mom, she is my world. So to me, I write about my world lol. Today in my world this crazy silly lil girl I call mine, found an apple...

I had given my niece who called me and said "Aunt Teffie, come get me" (so of course I did, I mean who can turn that lil cutie down) an apple while she was visiting us. Well after a bite or two she got bored with it and wanted to play with the puppie. However Missy Mikayla who apparently had been eyeballing that very apple paid close attention to her cousin. And as soon as the apple was no longer wanted she went right over to it and started munching away. She ate a ton of that apple, now usually I peel and cut her apples up for her. But this time, it was all her. She had so much fun eating that apple and figuring out exactly how/what to do with it. Plus it made for some really cute pictures lol. She would make the funniest faces when she got peel instead of apple. It was so great to watch her discover this fun new treat. Moments like this are the funnest times to be a mom, to watch them learn, grow...to stop there tears, and calm their hearts.

Here are some pictures of Mikayla and her apple...

I can not get over how proud of herself she was. It was a very cute thing to get to watch lol.
Hope yall enjoyed seeing these.

Take care till next time.

I can not believe how big Mikayla is getting. It seems like everyday she is learning new things and putting more things together. I can not believe this is the same baby that they didn't think would make it. She is becoming the person she will be so fast. I am so happy God has chosen me to help her get there.


Here is a pic of her being so proud of herself lol. She looks like a lil wild woman but we had spent all afternoon at the park...


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I love being from Oklahoma, and I have loved growing up here. Part of growing up in a smaller community has made for some great fun, great traditions, and wonderful friends. My Nanny and Pa had a lot to do with raising us kiddos. My mom and sister tell me that I am going to be the next Nanny. Which is by far the greatest compliment I have ever recieved. I am the stay at home mom in the family. I love to sew, and can sew lol. I love to cook, have even written a cookbook. I am the one that knows all of Nanny's recipes and tips. I love it. My Nanny and Papa are from a different time. A time that I am completely in love with. I love the woman in the kitchen, Man at work style of life. I love to feel like the little woman. Now dont get me wrong I like to be heard and be independent as much as the next woman, but there is just such a sense of pride to know your man is happy and your house is too, you know?

Okay okay, I am getting off of subject here lol. I am writing this because last night I went to visit my momma and she gave me tons of beautiful yellow squash and red tomatos from her garden. They looked and smelled so good I could barely wait to eat them. Now I am usually a griller not a frier, especially when it comes to veggies. However this afternoon I was really wanting a tomato and toast sandwich (my fave food of all times) and needed something kinda salty to go with it. So as I was getting stuff for my sandwich I thought you know...I haven't had fried squash in forever. So I chopped it up and fried it. Man was it awesome! Not as good as grilled but it was wonderful with my sandwich.

Now I know yall are thinking, tomato and toast? fried squash? but yall just dont know what your missing. I took a picture of it for yall to see. The tomatoes were so ripe, and juicy, and beautifully red. And the squash was nice and crunchy with the salty of the little breading and sweet from the squash. MAN!!! It was great.

But enough of that, here is the picture...

Now if any of yall want to taste these for yourself be my guest:

Tomato and Toast Sandwich

about 4 slices of tomato (homegrown taste best)

fatfree mayo (regular if you want it)

wheat bread, toasted

salt and pepper to taste

Build it like a normal sandwich lol.

Fried Squash

However much squash you want, sliced in about 1/2 inch chunks

Salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste

Take equal parts flour and corn meal and seasonings, enough to toss to lightly cover the squash

Put about an inch of oil in your pan and get it hot, then add your squash (not the extra breading). Dont stir it just flip it about every 3-5 minutes or so till golden and tender.

YUMM YUMM YUMM!!! This was such a great treat for lunch!!! This whole lunch just tasted like summer!

Okay now I know every creature has a purpose, I understand they are a living, thriving part of our world...

But I would absolutely love to hang every cat in my neighborhood by their tails to a ceiling fan!!!! I love animals I think they are great but I can not help but want to strangle these cats!

Okay, Okay, let me explain...

I have grown up in this house, I love it, its old but its home. And apparently the cats of the neighborhood like it too. Somehow the cover for one of the holes to under the house came off and they moved in!! Not only did it take forever to get them out they tore up the AC ducts when they were under it. So NOW in this hot Oklahoma weather the underside of my house is nice and cool, while the inside is, well 80 degrees by 2!!! I mean it took 3 weeks to get the cat peepee smell away from our house, and now this?! I mean come on, how long do I have to fight this battle? Its not just the AC, they walk all over our cars, think my flower beds are litter boxes, and hide underneath the hoods of our cars. Its rediculous. Where did they all come from? Any tips to make them leave our house alone? LoL I am going to go nuts!!

I took pictures of 1 of the kittens that was born in the comfort of under my house...

Now I have to find an AC guy (everyone has a 3 week waiting list so far) that will/can crawl under a house. So wish us luck on the hunt, and wish me luck on the cat war LOL!!

Booms, bangs, and bug spray were a small fraction of our 4th of July celebration. Because you see, this isn't our first 4th of July with Mikayla. Last year she was 2 and a half weeks old and about 2 and a half pounds. The NICU was still feeling new and crazy, and chaos was only half of the feeling. There was fear of not knowing what in the heck was going on, physical pain from my c-section not healing, feelings of being alone/homesick were starting to set in, but most importantly there was love. A love for this little girl I watched day and night, a love so strong, so consuming, that it made everything else not really matter. I am lucky enough to have a great family and some great friends that didnt let me be alone for too long at all. I am so thankful to all of them. I love you guys!


Last year on 4th of July my best friend, Heath, came up for the weekend-- like he had been doing and continued to do until we came home. But 4th of July is his Christmas! He would never miss the chance to blow things up and play with fireworks, except to make sure we weren't alone. After the 9 o' clock hands on that night we made sure she was settled in for the night and he made me go outside, like every weekend, to just get out and get some fresh air. So we started to take a walk and heard the big booms and if you looked just through the skywalk towards Bricktown you could just see the big fireworks that they put on. And then it was over, and it didn't even seem like the 4th of July it just seemed like any night of any month of any year. When you have a baby in the NICU you just run on a constant autopilot. You shower to pass time, you cant really remember if you have eaten that week or if you have taken pain medicine (until it is time to have your wound packed...then you remember). But you can remember every day how many wet/dirty diapers she has had, how many cc's she ate, how many brady's and desats she has had, and when to pump to make sure she has plenty of milkie. We were up there for 9 weeks and 3 days, and though they were the longest of my life, they will be the shortest of hers and that is all that matters.


This year it was a bittersweet moment. It felt so good to have her home and be with my friends and family. But at the same time it brought back all of the memories from the NICU and her first 4th of July that we spent in the NICU trying to peek at fireworks through a skywalk lol. Not all of my memories from the NICU are bad, most are wonderful. I met wonderful people that are nurses and mom/dads like we were. I also got to get back to being close to my best friend, we had a lot of catching up to do. There is a fountain outside in one of the buildings outside of the Childrens ER that had tables and chairs and made for great late night conversations, and a lot of just sitting and listening to nothing. By the fountain there were no alarms going off only the water. It was a sanctuary in the chaos. However I am soo thankful we had a normal, very nice fireworks show this year. It was wonderful to be home and celebrate Kaykay's first real 4th of July.


Okay enough of my ramblings lol. Here are some pictures of our special day.

Kaykay didnt know what in the heck he was doing but it looked fun...

It was quite hot out so we made Kaykay some shade with one of her blankies...

I dont want to know what they were trying to do...

I love this picture...

The first time Kaykay got to see a pretty firework, I love how big her eyes got...

She could not believe all of the pretty things she was seeing...

She was so excited!!

He was so proud, Greg said you could see the smoke from the interstate!

Watching the Dr. Pepper smoke bomb go off...

She started getting quite sleepy and needed a juice break...

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!! Ours was awesome!

<3>

3 months

It is hard to believe she was so tiny, she is soo strong.
<3>

It is crazy how fast these two became friends. They look for each other, make each other crazy, and already need each other. I am afraid I now am back to two big inside dogs. (However I am still holding out that she has to be house broke before Aggie comes back inside.)

Till then, go play <3>