Travis' Rules to Parenting.....

So most couples when they find out they are expecting their first child sit down and have conversations about what type of parents they want to be. They discuss the type of discipline they are going to use and their overall parenting techniques. They read books, asking family members for advice, browse the internet, and basically set up some sort of plan. Not us. We parent by trial and error and generally have very little rules at our house. Most of our rules I have developed as Mad grows older. No eating dog food, Pet Tucker Nicely, don't touch the electrical outlet, Stay away from the wine rack, and don't play in the dog's water. (consequently because Mad has developed an obsession with everything dog related the dog dishes have to be kept outside and Tuck and Fish are forced to enjoy their meals on that patio.) These Basic rules keep everyone in the house happy. Travis on the other hand had 2 concrete rules from the moment we found out we were having a girl. Those 2 rules have grown into 3 as Madeline gets older. Travis said and I quote "Mad can do anything she wants except...."

1. Be in Child Beauty Pageants - I agree with this rule as well. Although for some reason I have a sick fascination with watching the show Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC. I watch the over weight middle aged moms live vicariously through their adorable daughters and convince myself I will never be that way. (Yeah right....Ummmmm Delovely do you have a payment plan I can start now??) Travis comes in and promptly announces "Turn that Shit off!" and then goes on a tirade about how sick and twisted Child Beauty Pageants are. Who knew my husband had an opinion about anything!? I will say that when the Mad is older and is she decides on her own that she would like to do a beauty pageant I would help her.

2. Have a New Car when she turns 16 - This rule is my fault. I had a new car when I was 16 and see nothing wrong with Mad having one. But Trav says that she will just end up wrecking it. I disagree. I never wrecked my car. I severely damaged a garage but never wrecked my car. I had a boyfriend wreck my car....but still not my fault. My financially responsible husband did say that he would match the amount of money Mad saved up for her car and help her buy one when she turns 16. (Are you impressed yet? I totally was.) But it probably should be mentioned that Travis first car was a 1980 something blue diesel station wagon. He paid $100 cash for it and mowed the neighbors lawn all summer to pay off the other half. If Mad is anything like her mother that won't do! I already know how this is going to play out. About a month before her 16 birthday Grandma Re and Papa are going to get a phone call about how horribly mean her father is and won't buy her a new car. There will be a little debating at the Thomas household and magically a new FORD car will appear in our driveway. There is a really good chance Mad will drive a nicer car than us.....

3. Madeline must wear pants - this is the new rule that he developed about 6 months ago and the only rule he has instituted since she was born. Madeline Must Wear Pants. Lately I have been able to negotiate that Mad can wear dresses if she has a cute diaper cover on underneath. It drive Travis crazy if I let her run around in her diaper and a T-Shirt. She's a baby Trav....come on! I think he secretly fears that if she doesn't wear pants as a baby she will grow up to be a promiscuous teenager. Right....? Anyway being the good and loving wife that I am right before I put Mad in the bath at night I let her run around completely naked just to piss Trav off! I strip her down and tell her "Go show daddy" and she runs into the living room like a lunatic and laughs her head off at her dad. I think she knows too how much it pisses him off when she is naked!

So as most of you have gather by now we are not perfect parents....not even close. But we are some how managing to raise a funny, happy, easy going daughter, who occasionally runs around naked! Doesn't get much better than that. :) Also if you are interested Travis is available for consulting purposes on raising children!

Happy Early Fathers Day!


xoxo - ET

WARNING: May Be Life Altering

It has recently dawned on me that Motherhood should come with a warning label attached. I feel as if the FDA, FAA, USEF, OSHA, AMHA, FBI, or some other government agency, should issue a federal warning to all women considering motherhood. Let's face it, there are tons of warnings once you become pregnant. Do not ride this rollarcoaster if you are expecting....do not bungee jump, do not drink Caffeine, do not eat shell fish, do not fly after 36 weeks pregnant, do not drink alcohol and smoke (duh), do not stand on your head and recite the alphabet, no horse back riding (That's a Travis Rule). But my point is business, doctors, even the FAA go to great lengths to warn women about the potential dangers duing their pregnancies, but no one has really issued a warning for what happens after you give birth to that wonderful bundle of joy. So I am officially issuing a warning to all of my followers....all 10 of you. (Yup...I'm popular) It goes something like this....

WARNING: Having Children may cause....

1. You to get fat....Okay not everyone gets fat, and some gain more weight than others. And I know who you people are who are super skinny and toting around kids the same again as Madeline. I will find you and I will glare at you....a LOT! But considering my genes I should have been back to a size 4 two months after conceiving The Mad One. That's what happened to my mother. I was born in May and in June there are pictures of her strutting her stuff in a VERY tiny Bikini on the beach. I went on a cruise a couple weeks ago and wore a cover up 90% of the time. (did I mention Mad is 15 months old now.) It seems like once I got pregnant my metabolism went on strike. "Hey Erin, we don't feel like working anymore....so good luck with that weight lose thing." What the Heck! Don't even get me started on stretch marks...

2. Lack of Sleep: This is a no brainer right? Anyone who has ever heard of an infant knows that new mothers and some fathers, although not my husband, lack sleep the first few months of their child's life. Get that. And I was super fortunate that my daughter thought sleeping was pretty cool early on. We figure she got the Thomas Sleeping Genes...my brother can sleep 20 hours a day given the chance. But no one told me that I was going to turn into an insomniac once she was born. It's like my super hero hearing kicked in and I am awakened from a dead sleep because the Mad rolled over at 3am. Then once I am finally back to sleep my super powers kick in again and I can hear her sigh deeply. What's the point in having a baby who enjoys sleeping if I can't reap the benefits of it?

3. Everyone to forget who you are:Prior to Madeline being born and during my pregnancy people would call all the time to talk to me. They would ask how I was doing, how work was, how I was feeling. People were generally interested in my life. Now that I have Madeline no one cares about me anymore. People call and pretend for about 15 seconds that they are interested in the movie I saw last week....but usually the conversation turns quite abruptly to Madeline. "How is Mad? Is she doing anything new? Does she like the clothes we bought her? Can you send us more pictures? Put Mad on the phone. Hi Mad it's....fill in the blank...we are going to send you a million dollars." I'm good....I'd like new clothes or $100...I just won the world record in underwater basket weaving...I just got nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court....NOTHING! It's all Madeline all the time. Wait until she is actually old enough to talk on the phone. Once caller ID comes up I will just hand the phone to her. "Oh the phones ringing. Oh its my dermatologist she probably wants to talk to you." Hand the phone to Madeline.

4. May Cause Shift In Power: Sometimes in my house if feels like we live in a Terrorist State. Things will be going along well, no complaints, no issues and then BAM! Madeline throws a fit because Travis won't let her touch the hot stove. Then depending on her mood, and the time of day, the fit could last anywhere between 10 minutes and a couple hours. And there is NO replacement for that hot stove. No blanket, pacifier, bunny, dog, spoon, milk, or even bribes of money, can replace how important it was to touch that hot stove. AND we are the most evil and awful people on the planet for not letting her touch the hot stove. My philosophy used to be "We are like the UN, we do not negotiate with Terrorists." But lately my outlook has changed to more of "GIVE HER WHATEVER SHE WANTS SO SHE STOPS CRYING!" Before anyone freaks out and calls CPS I have never let my child touch a hot stove. I stayed strong on that one. ;)

5. May Be Contagious: This works 2 ways as well. The first one is that women see other women having babies and think it's fun and easy. My friend Jennifer who just had baby Jacob almost had me fooled. After being there during his labor and holding baby Jacob when he was just minutes old made me long for the days when the Mad was little. Jennifer's labor was so easy it made me forget the horrible labor I suffered through and the weeks of recuperation to put myself back together. I said almost....I wasn't fooled! I came home and slept through the night (kinda see number 2) and woke up and realized Jennifer had probably been up every 3 hours for feedings. No Thanks! The second way is that the babies themselves trick you. They go through stages that are much easier than others. Once you have left a difficult stage and emerge yourself into the easier one you forget the horrors of the previous months and fall madly in love with your baby again. This is when it becomes really easy to get hypnotised by their charm and decide to have another. DON'T FALL FOR IT! A couple weeks later you will be knocked up and fighting over who has to feed the child that hates everything you have in the house. The loser walks away with a face full of sweet potatoes and peas. The winner has to listen the loser curse under their breath. Pretty much before the night is over you both want to touch a hot stove. :)

But like every good HR Representative will tell you, you have to give constructive feedback. Along with all the warnings we have to acknowledge all the good things that come from having these little people in your life. (I love it when work overlaps with my blog. Can I count this as paid time?)

WARNING: Having Children May....

1. Cause extreme happiness: Watching Madeline explore and discover the world around her is the best gift I could ever receive. When she looks at me and says " Ma Ma Ma Ma" if never sises to make me smile.

2. Be Life Altering: So no one remembers who I am anymore...big deal. The only person who counts in my world is Mad. (Sorry Trav you are a close second) My whole life is dedicated to making her happy. Gone are the days when all I cared about was myself. I somehow managed to create and bring into this world a perfect little girl and my whole goal in life is to surround her everything she could possible need or want. (Except beauty pageants and new cars. Those are Travis' rules)

3. Bring You Immeasurable Love: I wish for all of you the love I feel everyday when I look at Madeline. It is pure, unaltered, and infinite in it's abundance.

4. Make You a Better Person: I have yet to met anyone who can raise a child and not grow and learn everyday from the experience. I have better patience, tolerance, budgeting skills, time management, and somehow grew 4 more arms in the process. I have become a better friend, a better daughter, a better sister, and a more caring and understanding wife.

To all the mothers out there I salute you! To all the skinny mothers out there...I glare at you!!

xoxo Erin

Smart Phones Stupid People

I should preface this post by saying that I don't actually believe any of the people listed below are stupid....I just thought the title was really catchy. In reality I feel that I have done a great job of surrounding myself with highly intelligent individuals. But even the smartest people do idiotic things from time to time...myself included.

So you may remember from earlier posts that Travis and I decided to be high tech and purchase Android phones from Verizon. (No I do not work for Verizon but I feel like they should pay me to endorse their products on this blog. Because I LOVE my droid!!) Anyway Travis got a huge lecture about taking care of his Droid because his last phone had to be replaced 4 times. You may remember the golf cart incident? I am still amazed that he managed to run it over 4 times! Who does that?? Anyway we get the phones home and a couple days later I see his laying on the counter and I notice there is a horse hair stuck in the corner across the screen. I pick it up and try and wipe the horse hair away and it doesn't move. I try harder with more force and it still doesn't go away. That is when it dawns on me...it's not a horse hair its a crack in the screen! Our phones are only less than a week old at this point and not even paid for yet ("Oh Yeah just put that on our next bill") and his has a crack in the screen. This is ridiculous!! So being the kind and understand wife I am I march into the bathroom where T is dropping the kids at the pool and say "James Travis Higgins?? What did you do to your phone!" Travis looks at me and states "Get the hell out of the bathroom!" Ok...appropriate response I will admit that, but me being the person I am I can't let it go and I won't let a putrid smell get in the way of a good lecture. So I breathe through my mouth and continue..."You cracked your phone already!?" This is followed by some profanity and another "polite" request to get out of the bathroom. When I also "politely" refuse to leave until I get an answer he enlightens me with a tale of woo and sorrow. Actually he tells me he has no idea how it happened and that he believes the phone is a piece of garbage. Right...it's the phones fault....

Anyway a week goes by and I am at my place of employment hard at work saving the world from yet another payroll crisis, when Travis calls. "Hey, can you hear me" he asks. Okay weird question but I go with it. "Ummm yeah I can hear you what's up?" He replies "Okay good that means my phone is working." Red flag goes up...alarms go off...and I try not to panic. "What do you mean your phone is working? Why wouldn't it be working." I ask extremely calmly. "Well..." He starts. This gonna be good I could tell already. "I Dropped it in a horse water bucket. But I dried if off and it works fine now." Okay...don't panic Erin...don't yell....remain calm. "TRAVIS!!! How do you drop your phone in a water bucket!!!???" What you are about to read next is a move Travis has patented. When things don't turn out the way he anticipated or he just wants to get out of trouble he turns the tables. He then informs me "I never wanted these stupid phones in the first place! I just wanted to keep my normal phone. I hate this Droid. I wish you hadn't made me buy it." There are so many things wrong with that statement I don't even know where to begin...But before I can retaliate his phone goes dead and I realize we will be making an insurance claim with Verizon wireless that evening.

So....Travis makes his insurance claim, gets his 1st of what I am anticipating to be at least 4 refurbished phones, he loves his droid again, and the world is a happier place. As some of you may know I left for a cruise in Mexico last Wednesday. When I booked the cruise earlier in the year my passport was expired and I didn't have enough time to renew it before the trip. The travel agent assured me that my original birth certificate with a raised seal would be enough documentation to get me to Mexico and back. Perfect! Call my mom, ask her to send my Birth Certificate, and we are in business. So for the past 2 weeks my Birth Certificate has been sitting ont he kitchen counter in the envelope it was mailed to me in. I have looked at it everyday and everyday reminded myself that when the cruise is over I need to mail it back to my mom so I don't lose it. Good Plan Erin! So on Wednesday I am finishing packing and collecting all my documentation when I realize the envelope with my Birth Certificate was not on the counter anymore. Panic quickly consumed me and I called Trav and immediately accused him of losing my birth certificate. Pass blame....it works everytime. Travis immediately replied with something that sounded like he said I was on crack and leave him alone he was working. I then asked him if he had thrown it out when he was cleaning, to which he replied..."I don't think that is possible because I don't remember the last time I cleaned." That in itself could have turned into a whole other fight but I let it go. One fight at a time!

After hours of tearing the house apart limb from limb my Birth Certificate was MIA. It was time to call my mom and admitt that I, her perfect daughter, had lost my birth certificate. Surprisingly, mom was more concerned about me missing my trip than me losing the document that salitifies my birth! And the second shocker of the day is my parents have a second copy! I asked my mom why she had two birth certificates for me and before she could answer Trav pipped in with "so when her idiot daughter loses the first one there is a second one on file." Thanks Trav....you always know exactly what to say. The next problem was how to get my Birth Certificate to Ft Lauderdale by tomorrow morning. By this time it was already 8:30pm Michigan time. This is when my genius father stepped into the picture. I have yet to blog about how incredible my father is, so this is just a taste of his infinite wisdom. Dad called Delta Airlines and arrange to have my Birth Certificate flown as cargo to Ft. Lauderdale. For those of you who ever find yourself in this situation you can put cargo on a passanger plane for a nominal fee. I then in turned picked up my Birth Certicate at Deltas cargo area and was able to enjoy my AMAZING Mexican cruise!

So here is the recap for those of you who need cliff's notes....

1. Trav cannot have smartphones. And he will in fact blame me for the rest of his life for "making" him get a cool phone.
2. My husband doesn't clean
3. I cannot retain important documentation....please don't tell my work because that is like 90% of what I do everyday
4. My Dad rules

Just another day in the life of the Higgins' Family!

xoxo - Erin

Super Mom

When I first started my blog my best friend Jennie asked me how I had time to do it all. At first I was surprised, then I started thinking about all the roles I play. Let's see...I have a full time job, I am raising a husband and a daughter, 2 dogs, and 11 + horses. At some point I like to fit in the gym, tanning, maybe a vacation here and there, visit my family in the Mid-West, take care of the house the laundry, swimming lessons for Madeline, doctors appointments, vet visits for the Mangy Mutts, grocery shopping, pay the bills, maybe attend a horse show, and now a blog. When you put it that way....it does seem like a lot. But as women when we mature and start to build our families we seem to develop go go gadget arms. The more you give us, the more we can do. But I think these skills are learned quietly and slowly by watching and subconsciously mentoring the mothers in our lives. So with Mothers Day around the corner I decided this was a perfect time to pay homage to the Super Mom in my life.

The most important super hero in my life is my own mother. (Sorry if this offends the other moms in my life, but she is my mom and will always be the boss of me.) I firmly believe my mom developed her super powers at a young age. She was the oldest of 6 and from what I can gather my Grandmas right hand man. (Interesting fact: My Maternal Grandmother has 2 grandchildren born on her birthday and now a Great Grand Child....the Mad. :) My mom went to college after me and my brother were born. She worked a part time job, went to school, and raised two children. She was the first person in her family to get a college degree and after she graduated she starting teaching elementary school. From there on she has been a surrogate mother to a new group of 1st graders for 20+ years I believe.

Growing up my mom was our biggest fan. She took us to all our activities, albeit 10 minutes late most of the time, but none the less we arrived and we conquered. She made our baby clothes, our birthday cakes, and Halloween costumes. She cried when the cookie monster costume she stayed up all night making was lost in the mail. She sewed patches on my ice skating skirt and barely complained when I quit a week later. She cheered the loudest at all our concerts, horse shows, soccer games, and piano recitals and didn't seem the least bit embarrassed when my brother did karate in the middle of the soccer field instead of paying attention to the ball. She cried with me when boyfriends broke my heart, girl friends became catty, and stayed up all night with me the night we had to put my first horse to sleep. She tolerated and barely survived my temperamental teenage years, and hardly batted an eye at my sometimes disastrous early 20s. She had faith. She knew given enough time, and experience I would find my way back home and settle into the woman I was meant to be.


She planned my wedding long distance and has become known in our circle of friends as the ultimate party planner. It is not uncommon for my friends to reach out to her and ask advice or use her to vent about their own mothers. All my friends are her friends on FB and she routinely comments on their activities and takes as much pleasure in following their lives as she does her own kids.


And she was there the day Madeline was born in an event she calls the most amazing day of her life. She stay up all night with me the night we brought The Mad home and while I tried to comfort a screaming baby, she comforted her own sobbing daughter. She tore apart the wedding dress she made for herself and used the material to make a baptism dress for the Mad. She cried the night she took it apart and then smiled and cried tears of joy when she saw Madeline wear it.


My mom is nothing like your typical grandma. She swims, water skis, rides roller coasters, shows horses, goes to the movies, and concerts. When she answers the phone sales people ask if they can speak to her mom. She and my dad hold hands while they are driving in the car and she insists that everyone have a car umbrella. (for those who don't know that is an umbrella you keep in your car in case if rains.) She loves Travis as if he were her own son. She has become very tech savey and has an iphone. She emails, facebooks, text messages, sends pictures and videos. And not just to me....to everyone in her life! My mom has a knack for making everyone feel loved!


My journeys have taken me and my family all over the country but the constant in my life is that my mom will find me. :) She never hesitates to hop a plane and visit for an extended weekend. With a grandchild in the picture we get to see her and my dad about every other month. If it gets to be too long since I have come home you can bet mom will call and gently remind me that is it time for visit!

I have been blessed with many strong, loving, and inspirational women in my life. My Best Friends Sara and Jennie are a constant reminder to me that as women we have the ability to influence, and change the world around us. Sara will run in her second race this May to raise money for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. She is one of Madeline's God mothers and when the time is right she will be a phenomental mother to her own child.

Jennie is a full time stay at home and has given our country the most precious gift of all. She shares her husband with the military and spend half of her life raising her daughter on her own so that her husband can defend our freedom. Peyton will not only grow up with a father as a hero, but also knowing that her mother is a hero in her own right. There family sacrifes their time together so that mine can lives in peace.

My mother in law raised her family on a shoestring budget but you would never know talking to Travis. She dedicated her whole life, and still does, to making sure Travis wanted for nothing. Now she provides us with the greatest gift she could ever give to us, she takes care of our horses. She is the barn mother to not only the four legged kids but to all of Travis friends, their neighbors, boarders, and any critter that may need a home in the area. It is not uncommon to find their house full of people who stopped in for a visit and stayed for dinner.

To be able to surround my daughter with phenominal women is the greatest gift I can give her. It is my hope that Madeline will someday grow up and think that I was half the mother to her that mine has been to me. If she were to love me half as much as I love my own I will have succeeded in this life. Hug your moms extra tight tonight and every night going forward. Moms are blessings and gifts that we never outgrown.


"My Mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune"

Happy Mothers Day! Erin

Odd Man Out

Apparently 6 years ago a little TV show aired that I, America's TV addict, failed to recognize as life changing. LOST. In my defense a TV show about a lot of people who survived a plane crash on an island just didn't appeal to me.

1. I am already a little paranoid about flying so I didn't need some stupid show to reinforce the idea that I could possible go down in a blaze of glory.

2. the idea of people marooned on a desert island seemed like a cross between Gilligan's Island and the movie Alive. What would have happened if the cast of Gilligan's island never got off the island? Who would they eat first? I am guessing the Skipper....

So LOST and I never clicked. Prior to this season, which happens to be the last, all I knew about LOST was that there was a Hobbit from Lord of the Rings, that Guy from Party of 5, a whole bunch of other people that survived a plane crash on an island, and NO Vampires. Boring!!

Quite frankly LOST and I will never be besties. There are no musical numbers, no Vampire/Teenage angst, and no funny and heart warming parental antidotes. Sorry LOST find some other nerd to suck in because it ain't happening with me. Put the original cast of 90210 on the island and then we can talk. But as it turns out all my co-works are die hard LOST fans. So that makes me The Odd Mad out....dun dun da!!

A co-worker suggested that I rent the first 5 seasons and watch them over the weekend. Then I would be able to partake in their Wednesday Morning LOST recap conversations. Brilliant! NOT! That's exactly what I don't want to do with my days off. Rent 5 seasons of a TV show I already stated I had no desire to watch in the first place. Just so I can fit in with your circle of friends. Is this starting to sound a little like High School to anyone....? WHOA Deja Vu! Anyways this is coming from a co-worker who has never seen the movie Teen Wolf. I do not take viewing suggestions from someone who can't appreciate the true cinematic genius of the 1980s. On top of that if you Google "Cool Kid" this co-worker will pop up. We are talking Fo-Hawk, Ed Hardy T-shirts, Diesel Jeans, and unseasonably tan. He is basically the Zak Morris of our office. Or as we like to refer to him, he is DAGR8ST. (On a side note I am a loyal Google fan. Sorry Bill Gates but Bing is lame. And I don't care that you have Vampires in your commercial, Google is still better. I feel a Beta vs. VHS rivalry coming on and Bing is going down! Hey Bing tell Beta 1975 says hi.)

As it turns out I am not the only TV addict out there that has never watched LOST. Our Bosses Boss is also a LOST junkie and subscribes to a blog written by a guy who is watching LOST for the first time. After each episode he Blogs about what he has learned and what he thinks about the show. 1 word....HILARIOUS! I have been asked not to read this blog at work because I laugh out loud and distract my co-workers. This guy was my inspiration to start my own blog. While I still have no desire to watch LOST I look forward to Wednesday afternoon so I can read his blog.

http://neverseenlost.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/introduction/

We are friends on Facebook so basically we are BFFs in real life. If you are a LOST fan, or like me never watched the show, this blog will entertain you. I am going to suggest he Blog about some of my favorite TV shows next. The Real Housewives of New Jersey comes to mind as a great show to mock!!

Love, Erin

The Kentucky Derby and Catching Babies

So for those of you who don't know Travis and I had the pleasure of living in Simpsonville Kentucky for almost 3 years. Simpsonville is the Saddlebred Capital of the World and about 10 miles outside Louisvilles city limits. Looking back Travis and I could have lived forever in that tiny town. Simpsonville is the kind of place were everyone knew your name, or at least who your Daddy was. Travis had a standing appointment every Sunday at the local Hardees to eat biscuits and gravy with "The old Boys" club and He had his hair cut by an "axe murderer." But he reassured me no one could prove he had actually killed his wife. And there was a really good chance you could get stuck behind a tractor going 15 miles an hour going down Shelbyville road. (The main road in town) A tiny town full of Good ole Boys, great food, beautiful horses, rolling acres of bluegrass, and The Kentucky Derby!

Nobody knows how to party it up like Southerners! And bring on Derby week and you might as well stay home from work, shop for the biggest hat you can find, gulp down some Mint Juleps and pray you are sober enough to put your money on a horse that at least has a shot of crossing the finish line. Even my extremely "frugal" husband will dig up a couple dollars to place bets on local favorites. (He informed me the other day that he couldn't wait until he went bald because he was sick of paying for hair cuts.) So....the first Saturday in May I settled myself in for a full day of horse racing. I exchanged my party dress and Jimmie Choos for sweat pants and a hoodie and instead of roaring crowds I entertained a screaming 14 months old. Instead of Mint Juleps I had a 6 pack of Shock Top in the fridge calling my name. If I closed my eyes really tight it always seemed like I was there....almost. When they played "My old Kentucky Home" I proudly stood up and sang along as if I was in the stands. I seriously think God was joking with me when he made me born a yankee....The Big Guy and I can debate that out at a MUCH Later date.

As they were getting ready to call "Riders Up" my new high speed Droid yelled out at me that I had a text message. I glance away quickly to check who was texting me, expecting it to be my glamorous friends from the stands at the Derby....but what I read literally changed my life forever. My friend Jennifer stated simply "Can you come and get me, I am in labor?" Labor!? It's Derby day!? Don't babies know that this is the holiest of all days for horse people? (on a side note, I have a love hate relationship with texting. I think urgent things likes Life and Death, breakups, and serious conversations needed to handled over the phone, not via text. But Jennifer and I can debate that at a later date as well.) But I quickly jumped into reaction mode and called Travis. I shouted at him over the phone "Get home Jennifer is in labor." He replied simply "Ok" and then hung up. Hmmmm not really the sense of urgency I was hoping for. But he must have sensed the importance in my voice because my chronically late husband walked through the door 2 minutes later. I threw our own offspring at him and told him the hospital I would be at. As I was running out the door Trav screams after me "Don't forget your catchers mitt!" Ahhhh we can always count on Travis to know the right thing to say. :)

As it turns our Jennifer was 2 weeks early and her family was in California at a wedding. I had told her to put me on call in case she needed someone at the hospital with her and as it turned out I was activated and called up to serve! I took my responsibility very seriously and was prepared for the long haul....ipod, Kindle, Droid, and magazines accompanied me to the hospital. Jenn is a first time mom so I expected this to be an all day and all night event. WRONG! Be prepared for a post entitled 10 things I hate about Jennifer because she makes having a baby look easy!

We arrived at the hospital at 4pm and Jacob Austin was born at 8:59pm. He was 20 inches long and 7lbs 12 ounces. I believe I witnessed a miracle that day. When I had Madeline I was doing all the work so I didn't get to appreciate how miraculous giving life is. I feel honored and privilege that I got to be there to witness his amazing birth. I feel a strong connection to baby Jacob and he will probably grow up and tell Jennifer that he hates how overbearing his Aunt Erin is. :)

The natural bond between mother and child is one of God's greatest gifts. After making sure mom and baby were okay I came home that night and kissed my own sleeping child. One day she will grow up and think I am super uncool, unfair, and totally lame. But I will always remember that moment I met her and how I instantly knew I do anything in the world to protect her from harm. I saw the same love and devotion in Jennifer's eyes the moment they handed Jacob to her.

Welcome to the world Baby Jacob! And remember...don't mess with Aunt Erin on derby day.

God Bless Everyone! Erin

Vampires and Horses

Like every other female in the world between the ages of 13 and 50 I have been consumed with the Vampire obsession. Twilight in particular. I truly believe the love story between Edward and Bella is one of the greats. It rival es Romeo and Juliet, Heathcliff and Catherine, and Zak and Kelly as greatest love story of all time. What 17 year old high school student wouldn't be swept off her feet by a 100 year old vampire that glitters in the sun and drinks animal blood to survive....? Be still my heart (swoon).

Soooo when my impromptu horse search turned up a young gelding named Edward it seemed like fate tapping me on the shoulder! (He was also the right price, and related to my moms horse Bailey....but the name is what's most important) December 23, 2009 Edward joined the Higgins family.

A couple months later my Mother In Law (MIL) received a call from a farm in Indiana that was having financial problems. They were looking for someone to take a Saddlebred broodmare named Matilda and her 1 month old baby at her side. Travis' eyes basically glazed over and he started salivating at the idea of having a broodmare. I started having heart palpitations thinking about the extra expense our "free" horses were going to cost us. But....like the soft hearted push over I am I agreed to take Matilda and her baby. So on April 30, 2010 Matilda Bay and her baby also joined the Higgins family.

For those of you keeping track this now makes me financially responsible for 3 horses....and 1 on the way. Because the instant my husband found out we were getting a broodmare he and my MIL arranged to have her bred back immediately. As my MIL put it, "We now own a Factory." But I figure maybe I can distract him from wanting 4 kids by letting him have a baby horse every year? I will keep you posted as to how that plan works out.

So my newest money pit now needed a name. We couldn't just call her Baby Matilda....I feel bad that we have to call Matilda Matilda...ick! And then it dawned on me....I already had Edward burning a hole in my wallet why not add his girlfriend to the mix. Edward and Bella. So baby Matilda (ick) is now officially Beautiful Bella. I had my own official Twilight Saga standing in a field in Northern Indiana. It's every tweens fantasty!

So if you happen to ever drive through Fort Wayne Indiana there is a really good chance you might see my hay burners hanging out in the field. I hope you enjoy my pasture ornaments because they are bleeding me dry!

Moral of the story....beware of free horses! And ladies, if you figure out a way to make your husbands/significant others into Sexy Vampires, look me up! I am dying to know. :)

http://www.ericdsnider.com/snide/my-rejected-twilight-screenplay/

If you love Twilight you will love Eric Sniders commentary! It made me laugh out loud.


ETH

Adventures at Verizon Wireless

So I am going to preface this story with them following....Over the past year Travis has had 4 refurbished/new phones because he some how manages to run them over with his golf cart. Most people can go their whole lives without running anything over with a golf cart. My husband managed to break 4 phones in one year with one. That my friends takes talent. So, being the wise and independently wealthy family that we are (sarcasm font needed) we decided that we should both go to the Verizon store and upgrade to the New and High Speed Droid phone! Dun dun dun! In our defense they were having a buy one get one free deal going on. So we make it a family outing and bring The Mad with us as well. Being the smart parents that we are we also go around 6pm which is only an hour from her bedtime. But hey...we all know that tired children are happy children...right??

So about 15 minutes into our adventure at Verizon Madeline decides she no longer wants to be held and wants to get down and crawl around. Cool, it's better than crying. So away she goes to every display in the store and proceeds to rip every item off the hanging display hooks. Being the good mother I am I follow behind her and replace the items once she has moved on to a new display. I jokingly say to the sales woman "don't worry, we will have your whole store destroyed by the time we leave." To which the sales woman replies "can you please try and keep her from pulling things down, we are in the middle of having an inspection and we lose points for that." Ok....so I pick The Mad up and she instantly earns her nickname by screaming at the top of her lungs. She bends herself in half like a taco shells and turns bright red from screaming. So I put her back down thinking that will atleast subdue the screaming. WRONG! She then throws herself on the floor and literally does the stereotypical "kicking and screaming" child routine. Arms and legs are flying through the air and her face has now turned a shade of purple. Like every other good parent Trav and I take one look at our charming daughter and bust out laughing. We are both doubled over laughing at our child throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of the Verizon store. Did I mention they are having this huge promotion going on and an inspection? That means there are probably close to a dozen people in the store at that time watching our child have "a moment" on the floor.

After about 30 seconds of laughing on our part, and kicking and screaming on her part I pick her up and tell her that is unacceptable. She obviously stops crying and behaves like a little lady going forward. Oh...WRONG AGAIN! The screaming stops but the crying continues. I pass her to her father who has been a huge help up until now and tell him he is in charge of The Mad One. While this is going on the Sales Rep suddenly gets a burst of energy and is able to process our new phones in record time!

Travis, now in charge of the kid, tries to give her away to anyone walking in or out of the store. So Just to recap our parenting technique...
1. We take a tired child to get new cell phones which everyone knows takes an entire day to accomplish. We might as well have taken her to purchase a new car.
2. We let her destroy the store in the middle of a very High Level Inspection and get reprimanded by the staff.
3. We laugh out loud and obnoxiously when our child throws herself on the floor and throws a grand mal temper tantrum in front a dozen witnesses.
4. My husband then tries to give our child away to anyone coming in or out of the store.

Our very willing to please Sales Rep processes our phones in World Record time and we high tail it out of Verizon before anyone can call child protective services. The minute we get out the door the screaming stops and Madeline starts smiling and laughing. She gives us both a look like..."Hey can we do that again?"

Stay tuned for more Adventures :) .....Erin

Meet The Vegas Family

This blog was originally started because a co-worker of mine suggested my husband, Travis, start his own blog. Apparently his dry sense of humor and often blatant honesty is humorous and heart warming all at the same time. Who knew....? But as most of you will know Travis has neither the drive or the desire to maintain his own blog. He would rather spend his time fishing, working on his truck, hunting coyotes, or watching Axe Men on TV. (on a side note, when did cutting down trees become PC again? Really? Aren't we suppose to be going green?) So I have decide to become the scribe for our family and post our daily, or weekly adventurous and add as much of Trav's humor as I can.

Our daughter Madeline, aka Mad, Aka Maddie, Aka The Mad One, Aka The Mad.....she will be known as all of those names going forward, just a warning, will probably be the primary focus of this blog. She is currently 14 months and starting to enter into the terrible twos. We always knew she was advanced so it makes sense that she would enter this stage about 10 months early. But, for the most part The Mad is a pretty easy going laid back child. She is our first and only child right now and if it were up to me we would keep it that way. But ever since the show Parenthood started airing Trav thinks have 4 kids would be the greatest thing ever. I guess he imagines they are going to grow up and be like the Braverman kids. I picture them growing up and living with us until they are 30. But so far we have been blessed with a VERY easy baby. She has never been sick, never had diaper rash, started sleeping through the night at 3 months, currently sleeps no less than 12 hours and takes 2 big naps during the day. Seriously we somehow were blessed with an almost perfect baby. I am pretty sure she is going to run away as a teenager.....

No family would be complete without 2 big, hairy, stinky, maingy mutts, as Trav's lovely refers to them. Fisher and Tucker, aka Fish and Tuck, round out our Vegas family. Fisher is 4 and we have been trying to teach him to shake for 3.5 years now. We are to the point where we know he understands the command he just lacks the energy or the desire to perform. I can't blame him...why perform when you know you're going to get a treat anyway. Tucker on the other hand has an overwhelming desire to please. He is 2 and a mammas boy, or wuss, depending on who you talk to. Tuck would rather spend the day in the house with me and the baby, where as Fisher would rather sweat to death in the 110 Vegas heat with Travis then step foot in the house. (We aren't sure how smart Fisher really is but we love him anyway.) But they complete our family. Both dogs love Mad and are the sweetest kindest animals on the planet. They roll with the punches, which is a necessity with our family, and occassionally tolerate Travis picking them up and carrying the around like babies. (They both weight over 75 Lbs)

So that is our Vegas family in a nut shell. Stay tuned for more adventures from Sin City!

Love, Erin