Mac 'n Cheese

This is Taylor, aka Mac 'n Cheese, she is my middle child and only daughter. She is a VERY mature 12 year old who is going into the 7th grade where she will excitedly be a "Dazzler" (the school drill team). I was not prepared to have a daughter, and I am even less prepared to have a teenage daughter. She is full of energy and drama! :) My mom tells her she goes a mile an hour to nowhere. But, I can tell you this child is going SOMEWHERE! She is a very focused and determined child. She has always been hard headed (literally and figuratively), self reliant (except when it comes to dishes, laundry, etc.), witty and funny. I tell her constantly that she would be a good attorney as she likes to argue, or a good sales person because she won't take no for an answer. Do not tell this child that you will be home at 6:00 unless you plan to be pulling up at 5:59:00 otherwise your cell phone will ring at 6:01:00. Be very definitive with your answers because a "maybe" always means "yes".

We call her Mac 'n Cheese because she is the middle child and at times suffers from MCS (Middle Child Syndrom). This was a name she appointed to herself a year ago when she sat me down to discuss the allocation of attention in our home. As she saw it Cooper (1 yr old at the time) was the chicken fried steak and takes up the biggest portion of the plate. Which is completely accurate; he was, and still is, into EVERYTHING. Jake (17 at the time) was the mashed potatoes and took up a big portion of the plate. This was also true as Jake was in his last year of school and a lot of the attention he received was due to the early onset of a severe case of Senioritis that began in September. Brutal! And, then there are the green beans...which I love! Green beans and mac 'n cheese share the remainder of the plate. Geno, my husband, is the green beans. So, there you have it...Taylor is "Mac 'n Cheese".

Although she may not always think so, I love this child with all of my heart and soul. She is my "Mini Me". She has caused me to catch my breath numerous times in more way than one. I think she is beautiful inside and out. There are times when I look at her and see myself. I want to protect and guide her so that she won't feel the same hurts and disappointments that I have. Hint: This doesn't work. She is her own person and will let you know it in less than a minute. I do not have to worry about this child, she will be just fine.

Decorative Wooden Wall Letters

Look at our new decorative wooden wall letters! These are adorably painted and "blinged" with Swarovski crystals. We can do 6" or 8" letters customized with your choice of paint colors...with or without the "bling". The letters shown are in the "whimsical" font. We also have a variety of font choices including Disney, Curly Cue, Curlz MT, and Script just to name a few. Price is per letter: $10 for painted and $15 for painted with crystal embellishments. Order via http://www.ninibooboo.com/.

Ladies Man

I love this picture and wanted to share it with you. The girls took this photo while babysitting last weekend. On the left is Lauren (the honorary daughter and Jake's best friend) and on the right is Hailey (Jake's girlfriend and Lauren's best friend).

As you can see Cooper has started early and already has too many girls to juggle...and all at the ripe old age of 2!

I can't wait until the day I can tell childhood stories to his girlfriends! Embarrassing ones, like when I recently walked in on him with his head in the toilet...he was watching the water rushing in the bowl as he flushed. Or my favorite so far is the time I walked in to see his naked bottom in the air and a DVD case swinging between his legs (he closed it on his privates)...don't worry he wasn't hurt. By, the way, the easiest way to potty train is to just let them walk around naked all day (it was summer). Unfortunately, there are some negative aspects to this method...lots of pee in the carpet (luckily we have a steam carpet cleaner) and the unforeseen injuries mentioned above.

Being that he is only two I anticipate having an arsenal of stories with which to thoroughly torture him later!

I do have to mention that although Cooper loves the girls in this photo, none could hold a candle to his true love...his big sister, Taylor. She is in cheerleader tryouts all week and we have been enjoying watching Cooper practice with her in the living room in the evenings. She will find out Friday if she made the team and I will post an update.

I am feeling OLD today

Yes, I am feeling rather old today. My oldest "baby" is 18 today! Lord help us all (laughing). When he was a baby I could not imagine him as a "man". Now, 120 seconds later, here we are.

My little boy has grown from 20 1/2" to 75". In case you don't want to do the math...that is 6'3". I have been blessed with the opportunity to experience every laugh, tear, first love, first heartbreak, disappointments and many accomplishment of this precious child. I have watched his many transformations from a chubby baby to a skinny toddler, chunky cheeked kid to a handsome young man.

Once I had to run after him down our inclined alley, he in his walker laughing all the way. When I caught him his brand new socks were completely tattered. I was frazzled and he said "again". Little did I know then that this would be typical Jake with mom running after him.

Always the boy, I found him at 2 in the bathroom laughing like a hyaena with a once full bottle of ajax in his hands. He had the ajax dust all over him, the bathroom counter, the floor...everywhere. (FYI -- It is extremely hard and takes weeks to clean the all the residual remains of Ajax.)

I am so proud of this kid! Being only a "child" myself when he was born, he has had to overcome many obstacles. Despite that, he has become a loving, funny, smart and handsome young man. Because I was so young and immature, I cannot take all the credit for what he has become. My mom (nini) and dad have been a very integral part of who he is.

Now days he spends most of his time with his posse (he always has 3 or 4 kids in tow), mudding in his new "monster" truck, spending time with his new girlfriend, or just "hanging out". I still worry about him constantly, but am very proud of what he has become thus far. We made it to 18, now I just have to get him graduated in June (cross your fingers).

Marking his territory?

Okay, what is it with little boys and their fascination with peeing anywhere BUT the toilet. My two year old is completely potty trained (yeah Cooper!) but I have noticed some odd behavior lately. Example: Last week I found him naked in the kitchen floor with an empty cookie package (you know...the part of the oreo package that actually holds the oreos?) . When I asked what he was doing he looked up at me, smiled, and said "I tee tee." Yep, he peed in the cookie package. I have found him peeing outside while playing in the backyard (I know not so weird.) However, last night as we were all standing in the kitchen he actually pulled his pants down and peed in the kitchen trash can. Leaned the can toward him and did his business. (My husband scooped him up and ran him to the toilet.)

I remember my brother at the age of 6 or so peeing off our roof with his friends, just for the fun of it. And, I have found my 18 year old (he was 5 at the time) doing some of the same.

My daughter Taylor was once very disappointed and upset that boys could perform this feat and she couldn't...and believe me she tried more than once. This had me thinking...if I could, would I? Maybe.

New Blogger!

Welcome to the http://www.ninibooboo.com/ blog! I have thought about starting a blog for some time about the antics of my 2 year old son, Cooper. However, I began a new webstore and decided to start the blog for that reason. I do plan to incorporate the Cooper stories, life stories along with feature product in this blog.

Ninibooboo is an Infant & Children's Boutique specializing in unique, personalized and monogrammed gift store. We will be featuring many name brands such as Belle Ami pettiskirts (if you haven't seen these, believe me when I say they are precious!), Three Little Ziglets nursery items, Rock Star Organics, BabyLegs and Cozy Cacoon and many more added daily. Additionally, we will have ninibooboo exclusive items made by my personal seamstress...a beautiful and talented native Texan named Nita. I know her as mom and my children as "NiNi". Thus the idea for, you got it, ninibooboo!

I am a mother of four beautiful, smart (yes, Jake), beautiful children of varying ages. My oldest is my funny and very handsome, Jacob (aka Jake) who will be 18 in exactly 11 days, my beautiful only daughter Taylor (age 12), Cooper (the new love of my life) age 2. And, I could never forget the talented and genius Ben (age 14). I am married to "my love" Geno for 14 years.

This is our ninibooboo "pillow case" dresses with unique embroidering and sating ribbon shoulder ties. These are individually made with your choice of ribbon color and embroidery design. These would be great for spring and summer days, special photos and Easter. No two are the same. Each are individualized per your specifications. See http://www.ninibooboo.com/ to order.

Check back again soon!