30 Things I've learned about Oklahoma

In honor of my turning 30, I thought I'd share a few things I've learned in the last 4 years:

1. There are a LOT of famous people from Oklahoma: Gene Autry, Garth Brooks, John Denver, Vince Gill, James Garner, Mary Hart, Ron Howard, Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, Dr. Phil, Mickey Mantle, Brad Pitt, Carrie Underwood, James Marsden and many more!
2. The Native Americans do NOT still live in teepees
3. Oklahoma still has Native Americans, but they aren't offended when you call them "Indians"
4. The "Indians" out here look just like you and me, but they get special license plates on their cars
5. Apparently, you only have to be, like, 1/92 Native American to get that special license plate (I'm going to start doing some genealogy tomorrow! Surely somebody in my family married an Indian... Right?)
6. The people out here will bend over backwards to have a conversation with you
7. Not only that, but if they find out you have any needs during that conversation, they will give you the shirt off their backs if it would help!
8. Oklahoma has only 3 seasons: Cold, Hot, and Windy aka Wet, Dry and Tornadoes
9. During the Cold season, everyone wishes for the Hot season.
10. During the Hot season, everyone wishes for the Cold season.
11. Nobody wishes for the Windy season, except for the local weathermen, who get overly excited when they find a funnel cloud.
12. During the Tornado season, men are expected to go out on the front porch to look at their impending doom.
13. Your "safe spot" during a Tornado is locally know as your "Hidey Hole"
14. A "light breeze" in Oklahoma is 15mph, a "steady breeze" is 25mph, and a "strong wind" is 50mph. Anything above that requires a "Wind Advisory". Because the debris flying through your front yard isn't advice enough to stay inside, apparently.
15. There are approximately 2 weeks out of the year where it is comfortable enough outside to leave your windows open. Unfortunately, those two weeks are random days scattered throughout 12 months.
16. Oklahoma is actually civilized; bandits do not roam the streets on horses anymore. Just sayin'
17. Time goes a little slower out here in Oklahoma. If you want to get somewhere on time, you better leave early. People on the interstates are never in a hurry and they believe you shouldn't be, either.
18. There is a Wal-Mart OR a gas station on every corner.
19. Speaking of corners, all the streets are straight out here. The cities are built on grids.
20. Not only are the streets straight, but they are flat, too. Elevation changes are very rare.
21. When it rains, it pours. Literally.
22. When it doesn't rain, the whole area is placed on water restrictions.
23. When water restrictions are enforced, stuff catches fire.
24. Stuff catches fire because the temperatures reach 100°F for weeks straight.
25. Since I've lived in Oklahoma, we've endured over 100 days where the temperature reached over 100°F.
26. I do NOT like 100°F weather
27. I do NOT like strong winds
28. I do NOT like tornadoes
29. I do NOT like straight roads
30. But I sure do love the people here!

Polish the floors... Not exactly what I meant

Yesterday, Aurora and I went to ULTA to purchase some beauty supplies. I got more makeup and Aurora spent her money on sparkly teal nail polish. This morning, she wanted to paint her fingernails herself. Against my better judgment, I let her paint them on the floor of the playroom. Ryan was in there, too. Somehow, the two of them collided. It resulted in an explosion of teal nail paint all over everything. Fortunately, the furniture was spared such a colorful swash of polish. My floors sparkle now; I seriously don't think the tiny sparkles from the nail polish will ever come off! MY hands are sparkly, too!

This is the mess. Apparently, Aurora was sitting right at Ground Zero and Ryan stepped down from on top of the step stool. This resulted in the nail polish bottle (which is glass) flying into the air and leaving a trail of teal about 4 feet long.



The fan was on in the playroom. This nail polish was drying fast! I did the best I could to get as much of it off the floor while it was still wet. The nail polish remover was almost full when I started the cleanup process.



It took nearly an hour to get it all up. I sent both kids to their rooms because they were each blaming the other. No one really wanted to take the fault for the accident. I didn't see a need to place fault on either for something that nobody had seen coming. I mean, how were they supposed to know that the playroom was going to be redecorated in 1994's most popular kitchen color?

By the time it was all said and done, quite a bit of the nail polish remover was gone. I went through 2 paper towels. The step stool is permanently stained with teal and sparkles. I think the floor looks pretty good, though. There certainly would be tears if I had not been able to get that stuff up. I'm also VERY grateful that this floor is not actual wood OR laminate. The surface would probably have been permanently damaged from the nail polish remover. Fortunately, there is a nice sheen to the floor now. Of course, it's probably just all the glitter catching the light from above!


And, of course, my hands were not immune to the teal's glittery splarkliness. This was the result of my hard work. I do wish that I could blame either of the kids for the mess, but the truth of the matter is: I let her buy the nail polish. I let her paint her nails in the playroom. I didn't stand watch while said teal polish was in use. Nor did I think about the fact that the polish was in a glass bottle. As many of you well know, glass containers and young children do not mix. Lesson learned. The hard way.

Over the Hill... Not Hardly!

So I turned 30. What's the big deal? Where's my parade; my pomp & circumstance? Where's that feeling that I'm supposed to--all of a sudden--feel grown-up now?

I begged Rob to do a 30th birthday party for me. I wanted it to be a surprise party and didn't want to know anything about it. The poor man, he tried so hard! In sending out the email to our group of friends, he accidentally forgot to erase MY email address from the group's setting!!! That's right, I got the email about my "surprise" birthday party. He was devastated!

So the party date arrived. I was surprised at how many people actually attended. I honestly didn't think that many people liked me--I mean, genuinely liked me. I knew they tolerated me, but... Well, let me just say it this way: We had a full house and there were extra chairs set out. People were still sitting on the floor in order to make room for everyone. It was such a blessing.

If there is one thing I've learned through the years, it's that stuff doesn't satisfy. Being surrounded by loved ones is what matters most. Oh, and to those of you who are over-saved (Rob), yes, of course, God matters MORE. What I mean is that during times of transition and milestones in your life, the people you love are the ones you want to surround yourself with and by whom you desire to be encouraged. These are the people who have helped mold your entire being into the person you are today. They celebrate with you, mourn with you and walk alongside you when you need them most.

Thank you to my encouragers, my cheerleaders, my co-conspirators (you know who you are!). Turning 30 really wasn't all it's "cracked up to be". It's so much BETTER!!! I'm completely and honestly sincere when I say you all made turning 30 so much more fun than when I turned 20!

So, to those of you who would say that 30 is "old", "outdated" and "over the hill", I laugh in your face. Ahahahahahahahahaha!!!! My life is just beginning to get good and I'm not letting a little number steal my joy!

This has GOT to be a joke. Please be a joke...

Somehow I came across some crazy lady's blog about how she wants to do a Koi assisted water birth in her indoor Koi pond. She's due in October 2011.

I've heard of water births before, but none like this. My first thought: She'll be begging for an epidural. My second thought: She'll kill the first fish that touches her during a contraction!

What gets into some people? Do they really think that birth is that easy? Oh, I'll just chill in the Koi pond and my fish will bring my baby to the surface for me, all peaceful and stuff...

My epidural wore off when it was time to push for Ryan and I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I didn't want anyone to touch me, I just wanted to get it over with and see my baby. "Get out of my way, people, here we go!" I can't imagine what it would have felt like if slimy fish were floating all around me!

Gross.

A Very Merry Half Birthday

I can't believe it is already July 1st! Just a measly 6 months ago, I was sitting in a hospital room adoring my newborn baby girl.

Yesterday was Elliana's half-birthday. We went and had photos taken at Olan Mills. I get FREE portrait packages--which always end up costing me $10-20 because I usually want more than one pose, but I digress.

We got a bunch of really great poses: In a tub with rubber duckies, laying on her tummy under a tiny bench playing peek-a-boo, sitting next to a rocking chair while playing with the cute teddy bear sitting on the rocker, and of course I had to get a pose of her wearing her tutu. I only purchased the bathtub and tutu poses. I have one of her in the tutu for every month thus far. All the other months, she was shirtless in the tutu, but this month I put a cute onesie on her. It's time that girl puts some clothes on, I guess. I don't know why, I just felt like she needed to be covered this month. It's weird, I know.

Today we went to her 6 month Well-Baby checkup. I can't believe how much she's grown! When she was born, she weighed a mere 8 lbs. 8 oz. and was only 20.5 inches long. Today she weighs 18 lbs. 13 oz. and is a whopping 27 inches tall! I don't think Aurora was 27 inches tall at her 1 year appointment!!! This girl is destined to be either a supermodel or a WNBA basketball star. Her feet are still tiny, though! So is her head, comparatively. Her height and weight are both up in the 90+ percentiles, but her head is in the 67th percentile. It's a pretty head, even still.

Both Ryan and Aurora were showing off their baby sister to the Pediatrician today. I could hardly get a word in edgewise! The Pediatrician would ask a question and Ryan would chime in about some wonderful fact he knew about Ellie (which, thankfully, his facts have come a long way from the 1 month fact mishap). Aurora was fascinated by everything the doctor was doing. She wanted to be right there! I was asked to sit up on the table with Ellie in my lap; Aurora decided she needed to sit up on the table with us. I looked at Aurora and told her to get down. When she asked why, I said "Too many cooks spoil the broth." She cocked her head to the side and said, "What?!?!?" I told her I'd explain it to her later. The poor thing didn't even know what broth was. I've heard that saying my whole life. I've never thought about having to explain it to someone before. Children are truly fascinating, the way their minds work and how literal they take everything.

So, on the car ride home, I explained to Aurora what happens when there are too many cooks trying to make soup--your soup could end up having too many of the same ingredients and end up being ruined. I explained to her that when she was trying to take over the jobs of the grown-ups in the room, she was filling the room with "too many cooks". She looked at me all kinds of confused and said "Mommy, nobody in that room was a cook!" *sigh* I'll explain it better when she's older, I guess.

Back to Elliana... She's been having some tummy troubles for a while now. I've talked to the doctor about it and we're just going to keep an eye on it. I've tried to start her on solids a few times now and it just hasn't settled well with her. So, the pediatrician is on board with skipping cereals and just feeding her veggies and fruits and whatever other table foods we have. Of course, they will all have to be mashed up and made into a consistency she can handle.

I'm also waiting for her to roll from her back onto her tummy. She's scooting all over the floor while she lays on her back, but she hates--I mean HATES!!!--being on her tummy. I'm not in too big of a hurry for her to start all that mobility, though. This house is so far from baby-proof. On a related note: I'm looking for ways to find new homes for all the Squinkies in this house. I'm beginning to wonder if they are choking hazards or if they are small enough that they'll just get swallowed and end up in a diaper again. Whichever is the case, I don't want them around anymore. They annoy me. Plain and simple.

Also, just a random thought: In 6 months, we have to come up with a plan for Ryan's 6th birthday and Ellie's 1st birthday. They're only 2 days apart. Ryan will want a real birthday party with friends from his class; we will want to do something small and special for Ellie's 1st birthday. How are we going to handle that? Will Ryan feel like we're stealing his thunder, or will he have a good attitude about it? Time will tell.

If anything has been learned over these past months, it will all be here before we know it!