What will it take?

What will it take for people to understand it's not worth it to drive and talk or text? For me, it took loosing a grandmother and a cousin in a car accident due to the irresponsible actions of someone using their cell phone. One split second and many, many, many lives were forever changed. I'm driving home from work today and almost overcome with rage as I watch a young woman in her sporty car chat away with arms waving as she talks. I'm not one to judge about being an animated talker but in the car??? A few days ago I watched a man text while navigating the narrow streets on the way to work downtown. I get it - you're important. The person you're talking to may be important too but do you understand that there is not ONE person on this Earth that is so important it is worth risking your life or the life of someone else for a quick phone call. If you're that important - they will understand when you tell them you are in the car and will call them back. For the 5 people that read this blog, pass this message on. In the months after the wreck, I wrote about things like this out of sadness. Now, I post due to anger. It makes me angry that we drive down the road and think we are special and will stay safe. That's NOT the case! And for those of you that don't text and talk while driving...your friends, family, co-workers and complete strangers are putting your life at risk when they use their phone in the car. That should be enough to get your attention. Please do your part!

3 signs your wife is pregnant...

1. She goes to the kitchen and pours a glass of orange juice. When she's finished, she tries to put it away in the medicine cabinet. (Pregnancy Brain)

2. The dishwasher is full so she starts it before leaving for work on Monday. By Thursday she is still just opening it up to get clean dishes to use instead of unloading it. (Pregnancy Fatigue)

3. She goes to the store for the weekly shopping and comes home with the following: cheese, orange juice and cinnamon rolls. (Pregnancy Stomach)

I'm certainly not guilty of any of these but in case you think your wife may be pregnant - these are obvious signs!

Idle Thoughts

As I sit here watching Maddy, I'm wondering - Do they ever get tired of watching the same show over and over and over? Maddy doesn't watch that much TV but we normally have an episode or two saved to the DVR for those desperate moments when you just need a moment to think. In the past week, Maddy has watched the same episode of The Backyardigans approximately 5 times! Is that normal? Should she be looking at me and saying "duh mom, I've seen this one." I mean, I watch some pretty stupid things on TV and most times I don't want to admit I watched it the first time let alone watch it 5 times in one week!! Maybe it's different with cartoons. I mean, maybe the colors, songs, etc are more entertaining. I know toddlers are like a big sponge so maybe she's noticing new things each time she watches. I just can't imagine watching the same episode of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" 5 times in one week.

Maddy's going to be a BIG SISTER!

It's official! Matt and I are expecting a new baby! We went for our first ultrasound today and the little one is doing great. Estimated due date is February 24th. I've been VERY sick this time around but hoping that will come to an end soon. We are very excited to add to our family. We haven't officially shared the news with Maddy and will probably wait until my tummy starts to get a little bigger. We are open to suggestions on ways to prepare her for the little one's arrival. We will keep you posted. My blog posts will probably take on a new twist!

Love to all,
Matt, Holly, Maddy and little one Hecht

New Name and Time Out

How important is a name really? I consider it very important and my most common name lately is Mommy. However, here lately Maddy has decided that Mommy is her last choice when calling my "name." In the past 24 hours she has called me Holly, Mom and my favorite Mommy May. She uses this one when she is really trying to get my attention and I'm not paying attention. MOMMY MAY! For anyone reading this that doesn't know, my middle name is May and so is Maddy's. Part of me thinks this is hilarious and the other part isn't sure if I should correct her or not. When she calls me Holly, I remind her that my name is Mommy. She's two so in most cases she's yelling, regardless of what she's calling me :)

On another note, Maddy is starting to recognize when she's done something wrong and feels guilty. She puts herself in time out!!!!! Twice this weekend she put herself in time out for talking ugly to Mommy. Hey, I can use the help so I'm letting her roll with it! If she could only learn to change her own diaper we would have it made!

This child can EAT!

We are very lucky to have a child that will eat just about anything you put in front of her and some of her favorites are the things that are so good for you, like vegetables. But tonight, she went to a whole new level in terms of quantity. This was dinner:

Dinner #1: 5:30 pm
1 serving of pasta
3 servings of green beans
4 cherry tomatoes
1 Popsicle for eating such a great dinner

Dinner #2: 7:00 pm (once Daddy got home)
2 servings of pork ribs
2 servings of green beans
Asked for more but it was all gone

I had to take her to the doctor today (don't ask) and they weighed her. 26.3 pounds. What? How is it possible to consume this much food and still weigh the same she did in April?!?! I certainly will not discourage her but at some point I have to tell her that the ability to burn calories fades into a distant memory once she turns 25. :)

Here's to eating 2 dinners!

Starfish!

Today was a big day for Maddy at school. Every Tuesday during the summer they have water play day. They wear their swimsuits and go outside to play in the water. They normally have some type of learning activity or game that involves the water. Today was special. It was beach day and they had a starfish there for the kids to touch. Maddy's teacher said that she loved it! It was still alive and moving around and that didn't seem to bother her one bit. The funny part is that when you ask Maddy about the starfish, she says it was real soft with eggs all over it :) Funny how a two year old visually processes things. Anyway, she had a great time and told me that maybe it would be there tomorrow so I could touch it.

On another note, we've graduated from saying we're mad. Recently, Maddy says she's mad about a lot of things. And she recognizes when I'm mad at her. But today, she said, "Mommy, I'm angry." A little girl at school, we'll call her Susie, took Maddy's blocks as she was leaving today. And on the way home Maddy explained that she was angry with Susie. Except she says that she's angry AT Susie. And then I ask why are you angry and she says, "because I are!" I love these little conversations.

Happy 4th of July!

Great weekend! I made the mistake of telling Maddy on Friday night that we were going Saturday morning to try on her Princess dress for Brent and Heather's wedding. I think it was my way of trying to get her to go to bed but it backfired a little when she woke up at 6:45 am Saturday morning READY TO GO! I had to explain that the store didn't open for another 4 hours (eternity in toddler time) and that we would have to wait. Needless to say we were there when they opened. Maddy tried on her dress and proceeded to parade around the store. There were lots of ladies in there and of course they made a fuss over her so getting the dress off was a difficult task.


Sunday, we went to church and I had a hard time explaining to Maddy that we were just going to church and not for the wedding so she couldn't wear her dress. It's going to be a long 2 months waiting for the wedding :)
After church, Brent and Heather invited us to her parent's lake house for boating, swimming and eating. Maddy had a blast! They bought sand and made a homemade beach area for Maddy to play. It was awesome!


It's amazing what a difference a few weeks can make with Maddy's comfort level in the water. She started getting some experience in Texas but this weekend she really LOVED it! She wore her Tinkerbell life jacket and was swimming all over the lake. By the end of the day, she was jumping off the boat dock!

Still not a fan of fireworks. We knew this so we decided not to waste the energy going to see a big show. On the way home from the lake we saw a few in the sky and she didn't want anything to do with them. Oh well, we can try again next year.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

More Texas Stories

I was talking to my mom yesterday and reminded of another funny Texas story. While Maddy was in Texas, Nana decided to take all the grandkids (6 total, ages 10 months - 10 years)and get their pictures made together. Taking one child for pictures is enough so I give her lots of credit in the bravery department. My future sister-in-law Brandi went too so that was helpful. Anyway, the story goes that they're all dressed in their Red/White/Blue 4th of July best and everyone was being so great...everyone except for Maddy. She wasn't bad, just being her normal stubborn self and she didn't feel like smiling so she just wasn't going to smile. It's as simple as that. This was my biggest fear for these pictures - "Please don't let my kid be the one that ruins the pictures." So, they try everything. Horns, silly toys, etc. Maddy continues to not smile while all the other kids stand there with their faces frozen with a smile for Nana. And then Maddy says to the photographer, "I being a stinker!" Everyone laughed and Maddy started to smile. Pictures were taken and life was good. Apparently, Nana and Papa would tell Maddy that she was being a stinker when she was acting silly or stubborn and she clearly understood the context. So, she decided that picture day would be a great time to practice being a stinker. Nana and Papa are still laughing about that and the pictures came in this week and Mom says they're great! Thank goodness!

A few things Maddy has talked about this week related to Texas:
1. The golf cart - she wishes we had one
2. The boat on the lake - she wishes we had one
3. "Star" the cow - she wishes we had one
4. Puffy chips - Memaw bought puffy cheetos for Maddy and she wants more
5. Her quilt - Memaw is making Maddy a ladybug quilt and Maddy is still talking about it.