That's Good Stuff!

Thankful

2010-11-26T09:22:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, Day 1,- today we will celebrate Thanksgiving, Day 2, (as Chloe likes to call it) with my family at my mom & dad's house for lunch. This is the first year that we didn't have 2 Thanksgiving meals in the same day. I think this could work well for us! Now I can fill up to the point of sickness (and then get to feel guilty for my gluttonous behavior) two days in a row! I will try to control myself. But really, if you've ever had my moms coconut cake, you know it's not my fault. That stuff is serious! So, I guess that coconut cake makes it on the list of things I'm thankful for :)
I'm thankful that Micky and I have families that we truly enjoy spending time with. I'm thankful for a husband who loves me (and makes sure I know it) and that he is such an amazing father to our girls. I'm thankful that Chloe and Emma are healthy and brilliant and have the kindest hearts I've ever witnessed. I love how they comfort each other when one is sad, or if one has gotten in trouble they will come to each others defense. -- Just last week, Chloe had gotten sent to her room (I can't really recall why, I'm sure it had something to do with typical 6 year-old sass!) and we caught Emma sneaking upstairs to go check on her. Now, mind you, Emma sneaking is quite like a bull trying to sneak through a china cabinet. She lacks a bit of subtlety. But nonetheless, it was really cute and we let her do it. She just went in and patted Chloe's shoulder and stood beside her as she "thought about what she had done." I hope they love each other like this forever.
I'm thankful for friends who truly get me-- and still love me anyway! I'm thankful that God has given us everything we need. And that he has given us seasons-- so that even our youngest can see how he makes our world beautiful. Driving down the road- or just looking out our window- we get to see God's beautiful canvas and how he has chosen to paint it for Fall. It is breathtaking, and I try to remind myself to just STOP and appreciate it.
I'm thankful for sounds-- like the sound of my girls giggling with each other, the way Emma still says "I wuv you too!" -(I'm gonna hate when she figures that "l" sound out!). I'm thankful for the sound of little feet running across the hardwood floor to wake me & Micky up on the weekend- even when I wish they'd sleep a little bit longer- I still love it! I'm thankful for the laughter I hear at bath time when their dad is bathing them and telling a silly story! And even though Micky is trying to give me a few minutes break- I can't help but go back in there to be a part of the fun! I love that sound! As silly as this may sound, I think one of my favorite sounds of all is when I hear the garage door open. It means Micky is home! There's always a feeling of peace with that sound. I'm thankful he's home safe and that even as crazy as things can get around here -he still comes home :) And at the end of the day, we're here together. And that peace and security is probably what I'm most thankful for!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Imperfectly Charming

2010-04-13T15:23:00.010-04:00

CLICK ON PICS TO SEE LARGER IMAGE

Happy Easter! (yes, I know it's late-- but when you think about what Easter means, I think we should be saying Happy Easter all year-- so Happy Easter!) As you can see, taking pictures was very interesting this year. Emma definitely believes in the action shot, or should I say catching things in their natural state! At least that's the reason we like to give when she won't stand still for longer than a second for you to snap a pic. She'll stand there and smile and say cheese, but that's it. As soon as she finishes the last s sound in cheese, she's running to the camera to take a look. Oh, the joys of digital cameras! It's actually pretty cute, unless you're the one trying to snap the picture! Here are some of our attempts!

If you've seen these pictures you've seen my latest project. The bunnies! Please take note of the sequence of pictures trying to capture the girls with their bunnies-- I think my favorite is Emma's face when she dropped hers! Let me give you a little background on the bunnies:
About 2 months ago I sat in my den and looked around at all of the clutter- meaning- toys! toys! oh, and did I mention, toys?!? Just a few weeks before that day I had bagged up 3 large bags FULL of toys and taken them to the local drop-off site. Yet, still, there I was surrounded by toys. So, I decided that we weren't buying anymore toys. (we'll see how long that lasts) So far, we've stuck to it. Now, they still received Easter toys and presents, their grandparents and aunts & uncles gave them lots of "cool stuff"! However, the Easter bunny at our house brought them bathing suits, a Bible for Chloe and books for Emma. And I made them these bunnies. I know they are technically toys- but I figure these were handmade and will hopefully mean something to them later in life. Especially when they realize just how uncrafty their mother is, and that this was a HUGE deal for her to even attempt to make these! I saw Kata Golda's book on a website I like to visit, and it claimed to be a easy, fun "first" project for the beginner sewer. It is made of felt and stuffed with poly-fil fiber. Thank goodness my mother, a Master Seamstress!, was available for me to ask, "What on earth is a whipple stitch, a blanket stitch, and why would you do a double-run stitch?!?" While the book is great at giving templates and cute ideas, it lacks a little in the explanation of the stitching department. The main reason I chose this project (other than the crazy cute animals) was because it stated that part of the charm of these animals (you could do a dog or mouse too) was that they were imperfect- and their imperfection gave them character and charm! Well, if imperfection makes you charming, then these bunnies are the most charming creatures around! Seriously, though, they weren't too hard to make. Probably the hardest part (other than stitching the eyes and threading the darn needle!) was having to wait to work on them until the kids were in bed. So, that made for some long nights the days before Easter, but it was totally worth it when I saw their reaction to them. They both love their bunny, and so far have taken extra special care of them. I think I'll try a mouse next time- probably next Easter! My fingers need a break from all the pricking! :)

RIP baby mullet

2010-03-19T17:32:00.014-04:00

Today mom and I took Emma for her first professional haircut (meaning, not me & mom trying to trim it up while she sat on the kitchen counter). I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, but I will say that it went better than I thought it would. I envisioned her catapulting herself from the chair, ceiling tiles raining down due to the powerful stomping, and perhaps even windows shattering from the high pitch screaming. So, when all she did was cry a little when we sat her in the chair- and stopped when she was allowed to stand with me holding her- I was ready to do a cartwheel right in the middle of Hair Doodles!
If you measure the hair in relation to the yellow of the flower on the back of her shirt, it looks like about 1 1/2 to 2 inches got taken away from the back middle, effectively ridding her of the mullet. I think I'm gonna miss it.
(click on images to see larger)

Before

After

11 years!

2010-03-06T14:44:00.008-05:00

Happy Anniversary to my best friend!
If it hadn't been for that magical day 11 years ago, we wouldn't have days like this one now!

I don't see how I can love you more than I already do, but I look forward to trying :)

Thing 1

2010-03-02T13:58:00.006-05:00

It's Dr.Seuss week at Chloe's school. Yesterday was crazy hat day (pic to follow) and today was dress as your favorite character day. Her Grammy sewed a Velcro strip to her blue hair wig (Chloe can't just call it a wig!) so that she could easily take it on and off in hopes that it wouldn't be a distraction-- probably failed on that part- it's a blue wig. It's bound to be a distraction! But, hey, it's days like today that make her love school even more!

click on pic to see larger

catch up with Emma!

2010-02-22T09:29:00.011-05:00

Not sure why it's saying Monday, but I posted this Saturday, Feb. 27 :)

I'm BACK!!- Hope the Poltergeist (not Schwarzenegger) reference didn't scare anyone. I know, I know- I've said it before, but this time I promise to try to keep up! I won't even go in to how crazy things have been around here (crazy in a good way!), but I promised my Mom, Ms. Becky, and a few others that I would do my best to keep this blog updated. They finally got me back on here by saying I was short-changing Emma by not chronicling her cuteness as much as I have Chloe's-- lesson here is that GUILT works!!
So, Emma. Let's see. She turned 2 last month (I'll post about that soon with some awesome pics), but have no doubt, she thinks she's at least 17! She's a lot like her big sister, in that she almost always has a beautiful smile on her face, great attitude, and a loving heart. But it still amazes us how in some ways they can be so different! Most of it has to do with her being the second child (we think). Emma wants to do everything Chloe does, and she wants to do it by HERSELF! Miss Independent really doesn't do it justice- she is hardcore about trying things on her own. In some ways that makes me so excited, but in others it makes me sad. With her being our last, I want her to slow down a bit- and let me baby her a little more. But she'll have none of that! This is why I cherish naptime so! Not because I'm finally going to have a few minutes to myself (although that's nice!), but that's the only time that she sits still long enough for me to rock and hold her-- and get that baby smell that you know I love so much! It's like a drug to me! I fear the day that smell goes away- I may have some serious withdrawal!! Emma is also our resident daredevil. We just recently had to retire the Winnie the Pooh push behind walking toy (you know the one you can scoot around on or stand behind and push) because we found Emma on it at the top of the stairs ready to bobsled down! (we've also had to limit their Olympic watching after we caught both girls trying to do aerial stunts while jumping off of our bed!) Yeah, so I'm kinda fearing the day that she shows up with a Sean White at our door- because he can do the coolest stunts, oh and they have the same color hair!
Emma is doing great! She is a little chatterbox- and everyday we are able to understand more of what she says. One of my favorite sounds (& I'll have to record it and put it on here so you can hear) is Emma calling for Chloe- or Clo-oh as she says it. It is precious- and if you were at Bed, Bath, & Beyond today- or in a 5 mile radius- you may have heard her trying to find Clo-oh. Micky and I just smiled, because we know the day may come when she doesn't care that she hasn't seen her sister in the last 10 seconds! But right now, Clo-oh is her "happy place"- she loves her big sister so much that it can make me cry just watching them together. Also, Emma is a GREAT hugger! She still hugs with wild abandonment- like full body, I just might tackle you if you don't brace yourself kinda hugging! She doesn't care if she messes her hairbow up, or if she has chocolate pudding all over her face! And trust me, I don't mind getting that pudding all over me- because when you get a hug like that from Emma, it's just a soft sighing, melt your heart kind of moment. And besides, I usually have other food all over me anyway, so what's a little pudding?!? And Emma loves Poptarts! In her world a Poptart or PopPop as she calls it is one of two things-- an actual strawberry frosted Poptart or a Nutrigrain bar. The only way to know which one she wants is to show her the wrapper and let her pick! Every morning she picks one of those and promptly sits down at the table (in Chloe's big seat, not her booster! because Chloe's already gone to school and I guess Emma feels like the big kid on campus when she sits in Chloe's seat!) and waits patiently to eat her PopPop and she actually lets me feed her oatmeal. I love breakfast time!!
I don't think I can fully update you on everything new with Emma- but one thing you should be aware of is her HAIR!! I believe some Miracle-Gro must have gotten sprinkled on it, because it has taken off in the past 2 months! We do try to trim it when she's rocking the baby mullet, but I hesitate to cut it short. It's just too cute- and besides, Emma seems the type that might like a baby mullet! She's the most care-free, let's just have a good time in our diaper and boots kind of girl! She seems to like it :) Although it has given us some fits with trying to keep it out of her eyes!!!- you know I can't stand to see a babies hair in her face! Here are a few pics of Emma from the last few months- and you can try to guess which ones I did her hair in, and which ones she and Chloe did it in- have fun!!

More Firsts!!

2009-09-08T15:30:00.009-04:00

click image to enlarge

Packing the essentials for school-- a tea set!!

Today was Emma's first day of preschool. I guess at this age it's really more of a Mom's Morning Out, but to make it sound smarter- we're calling it preschool :) To be honest, it didn't seem to phase her too much. My mom came over before I took her to school and we tried our best to get some good pics. But I guess without Chloe standing at the door with her, it just wasn't that exciting for her. None the less, we still got some cute pics (of course they're cute, they're Emma!)

A little bored with this :)

Now she's feeling it!

Emma just loves playing with other kids. She does great in the church nursery. But she did cry when I left her today- and it pulled at my heart for the few minutes it took her to stop. As soon as her cousin got there she was good to go! Except for the fact that she then saw me (through the window) standing outside talking to Carla and Rebekah. Note to self-- do not stand in front of 1 year old's classroom window when said 1 year old is crying over your departure. She could totally see me, and I'm sure was thinking, "Are you just trying to torture me with the wondering if you're coming back now or later?!?" So sorry Emma! I promise to take my conversation down the sidewalk well out of your view :) She had a great time, and the leader of the program called me around 10 to assure me that she was doing great and had stopped crying- as soon as she couldn't see me! That is one of the reasons I love this school-- she knew I needed that call. It brought me great comfort! Apparently Emma has a knack for painting with apples. They said she dove right in-- I think they meant that literally!-- I told the teacher to be careful, and she said, "oh we had her paint shirt on." I told her I wasn't worried about Emma. I'm more worried about anyone standing within a 10 foot radius. Have you seen this kids arm? As light as paint is, I'm sure she could sling it pretty far!!

5 yr worries

2009-09-03T14:54:00.003-04:00

Chloe's school year has started off great! She's doing a great job with her work, and doesn't complain too much about getting up early! She's made some new friends, and is very excited whenever she sees someone she knows in the halls. (several older kids from our church go to her school) On the way to school one morning (I think it was her third or fourth day) she asked about Nina. I was waiting for Nina to come up in conversation. Chloe and Nina have been best friends since they were like 2. One of my favorite pictures is of the two of them at Chloe's second birthday party sitting on a Nemo lounge chair Chloe got as a gift and laughing hysterically. I have no idea what they were laughing at, but they both look amazingly cute. Anyway, Chloe asked me (for probably the 6th time) what school Nina was going to. I told her and she asked why Nina couldn't come to her school. I told her. Then she said this:
C: "Mom, do you think she'll find a new best friend?"

I was a bit taken aback by that question. It seemed entirely too grown up for a 5 year old to be asking. But I thought about it for a few seconds and replied,
S: "Don't you want Nina to make new friends?"

C: "Well, yeah. She can make new friends just like I am. I just don't want her to make a new BEST friend."

We pulled up to school at that point so I ended the conversation with something like, oh you don't need to worry about that now. You guys will always be friends.

I thought this was too cute! I didn't have the heart to tell her that Nina (& she) would probably find some new best friends. I think it's inevitable being at different schools. But they can always be great friends. I told her they were going to get to see each other quite a bit in Girl Scouts (Daisies to be precise!), and that it would be cool to have a friend at another school. When she's older she can meet Nina's new friends too. I'm 32 and I don't have just 1 best friend. I'm lucky enough to have several. Hopefully she will be too :)

Cookies n Milk

2009-08-27T15:04:00.004-04:00

I made cookies today for Chloe's after school snack. Emma watched Chloe dunking hers in milk and was trying to reach mine & Chloe's cup. So, her Grammy-- who always gives her what she wants :)-- got her her own milk. She didn't waste a crumb!

Chloe's first day of Kindergarten!!

2009-08-20T13:26:00.008-04:00

Click on pics to make them larger!

Chloe on orientation day!

Chloe's first day in K-5!

Emma wanted to get in on the picture taking too! She was so excited watching Chloe be so excited! Love the bedhead!

Making Memories

2009-08-19T21:39:00.007-04:00

I got to put both of my babies to bed tonight... and I cried. The tears were not tears of sadness, despair, fear, or even joy. To be honest, I'm not sure how to categorize these tears-- I guess maybe just love.
Emma has- for quite some time now- been extremely easy to put to bed. We walk in her room and she lunges for her crib with her blanket and Kitty Kitty and snuggles in to her crib as if to say, "Ok, you can go now. I'm good here." Micky and I were so pleasantly surprised when this started a few months ago. And I'm not saying that we don't still enjoy it. But sometimes I just want to hold her, sing to her, rock her-- just feel her warmth against me and breathe her in. Hopefully that doesn't sound too crazy, but the thing I miss most when we leave the girls (for a weekend or just a night with grandparents) is their smell. Just breathing them in calms me and brings an amazing peaceful feeling over me that I can't describe or do justice with words. When you feel it, you just know it. It's love! So tonight I did hold Emma, I did rock her and sing to her and I breathed in her goodness with an even deeper thankfulness in my heart. Because in the room across the hall, my other baby--is no longer a baby. She's grown in to an amazing young lady. And she is who I credit for first teaching me how to love like this. Chloe will always be our drawing board. We learn with her and we try it on Emma. Trust me, we learn plenty from Emma too-- they are by no means one in the same-- what worked for Chloe may not work for Emma, but Chloe will always bear the brunt of being the first. So that means we get to make our "first" mistakes with her!
Chloe was already in bed when I went to kiss her goodnight. With this being such a big night (Kindergarten starts tomorrow), I asked if she'd like me to lay with her and rub her back. She of course said yes, and was asleep in minutes. I stayed there for many more. At first I just stared at her beautiful, sleeping face-- having little trouble recalling what it looked like as a baby-- and I just watched her. Then I started looking around her room. It still has the same blue paint and flower border trim that was on it the day she first came home from the hospital. But it is no longer a baby's room. The crib has long since been replaced by a big girl bed. The knick knacks around the room are no longer things I picked out, but have been replaced by her favorites. Hello Kitty dolls, snow globes, Mickey Mouse ears from her first trip to Disney, tea cups from her first tea party, etc. Not to mention the numerous pictures that she has chosen to have in her room-- pictures with family, Christy, Tyler, Jenn, Jess and at least three with her and "her Nina," a picture of her, me, and Micky the day she was baptized, and Emma's picture from the hospital. And as I lay there looking at all of her treasures, I realized she's already doing what so many of us sometimes forget we're supposed to be doing-- Making Memories.
Micky and I were fortunate enough to get to go for a short weekend trip recently with our great friends Misty & Lee. And in the car on the way to Litchfield Misty and I were laughing about something silly and Lee asked what we were doing and Misty replied, "Oh, just making memories!" I actually paused for a minute when she said that, and I know it's a moment I will never forget!
I hope Chloe and Emma's lives are full of memories made and treasured. I know they're too young now to remember this night when they get older. I don't remember my night before Kindergarten started. But I do remember feeling loved, and feeling secure. I pray that they will too.

Big Night!!

2009-06-26T13:22:00.004-04:00

We had a big night Monday here at our house-- we celebrated my mom's 29th birthday :) , Chloe welcomed her new pet guinea pig into the family-- Ol' MacDonalds, Mac for short, and Emma had her first bathtub pony! The first two things were celebrated and fun, the last made me a little sad. I can't believe how fast my baby is growing up! The fact that her cute "baby mullet" can now go in a ponytail makes me smile and at the same time makes my heart a little sad. Micky & I are about 99% sure that we are not going to have anymore babies-- and I'm ok with that, I think. It's just hard to think that the first time I see Emma do new things will be the last time I'm watching one of mine do something for the first time. Is that confusing?
So, as much as it is cool watching and learning with Chloe as she still masters new skills, it's just as cool watching Emma because I know I better savor these moments. If I blink too fast, they'll be gone.
I love my babies and I love my life!

Caterpillar spring... Nature Scene style

2009-05-29T07:37:00.008-04:00

We were invaded about a month ago. By caterpillars! We were all playing in the backyard one day when Chloe shouted, "Mom, this tree is growing baby sticks!" Well, as you can see in the picture, the baby sticks are indeed caterpillars. Tons of caterpillars. They had nests on both of our crab apple trees and there were about 20 other nests on the trees at the back of our yard and in some of the limbs that hang over our fence from the woods behind us. It was amazing! I couldn't stop taking pictures of them, and watching them grow was pretty cool too. (Did you have to watch "Nature Scene" in elementary school science? I did. And at the time I really didn't appreciate it, but now I love that kind of stuff.) All I could think was, this would make an awesome "Nature Scene" episode! Chloe really got into it too. She learned how to very carefully pick them up-- so she wouldn't get their "guts" on her- they actually excrete something (guess what) if you startle them too much. She counted and guesses we had at least a gazillion caterpillars in our backyard. We've been waiting patiently (somewhat) for the gazillion butterflies that should follow, but so far have only seen two. Needless to say, Chloe hasn't been too pleased with that ratio!
Here are a few pics of our little friends (notice they've sucked the crab apple trees dry!) and also Chloe's own "Nature Scene" video is at the bottom. We'll let you know if we see anymore butterflies!
Click on pics to make larger

Just for...

2009-05-18T16:28:00.006-04:00

Let me apologize to my mother and mother-in-law for not updating sooner. I have to place the blame completely on my friend Heath who somehow put FACEBOOK on my iphone, and the time that I used to spend here has been replaced by confirming/adding "friends" on facespace. I have no idea how many "friends" I have (I'm sure someone is keeping count and if there is indeed a competition I'll pick up the pace and start adding everyone I ever shared a fudge round with--millions) but needless to say I have become what I dreaded- an addict. I very rarely comment or add stuff, but love to look at everyone's pictures. Although, I must say some people need to filter a little bit better. I really don't need to see you taking your 10th shot of the night or seriously do I need to know that you went to work, then the grocery store, the gym, then home? But that doesn't stop me from reading it, or at times adding my own silliness to the mix. And that's what I think it is-- silliness. And you know how I love good silly fun! So, while I'd like to say that I'm cooler than that, you know I'm not! Which is why I'm a big addict!
Anyway~ didn't mean to give facespace so much time here, but Susie and Carol have been wondering why I haven't posted about Chloe's preschool graduation! It was last week and it was awesome! They did their singing program first with all of the kids ages 1-5, then the 4 & 5 year olds graduated in cap & gowns! Too cute! I can still remember her first program (18months) when she just stood their staring at this huge crowd with a deer caught in the headlights look. Didn't make a sound, we were just proud she stood up there. And then this year to watch her singing and doing all of the motions and being in the "big" class just makes me wonder how it happened so fast!-- time flies and they change so quickly. Next year she'll be at high school she likes to say (actually elementary!) where she'll have to make new friends, meet new teachers, eat lunch!-- but we know she's ready. She's very excited and ready to get on the "huge" playground. I'm not so sure that I'm ready-- but here it comes! Her teacher sent this poem home on their last day of school and I wanted to share it. I'm not sure who the author is, but I like it very much.

JUST FOR

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you're going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.
Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count the stars.
Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.
Just for this evening when I run my fingers through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that GOD has given me the greatest gift ever given.

And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank GOD for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day.........

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-10T11:34:00.002-04:00

I want to thank my beautiful girls for what has been a GREAT Mother's Day! They are so sweet and definitely give the BEST hugs!! Also, I want to thank Micky again--without him I wouldn't be a Mom!
And here it is, to wrap up the 3 days worth of quotes, my favorite mom quote:

~If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.
-Dolly Parton

Never thought I'd be quoting Dolly -unless of course some beautiful redhead named Jolene tried to take my man!- but reading those words made me smile and remember that sometimes I just have to breathe and remember how lucky I am!
Hope you all have a Happy Day-- I know you deserve it!

Mothers Day-- day 2

2009-05-09T10:31:00.003-04:00

~A mother's hand brushes hair from your eyes, tears from you cheek, hurt from your heart.
-Lauren Benson

~Show me a woman who doesn't feel guilty and I'll show you a man.
- Erica Jong

~Being a full-time mother is one of the highest-salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love.
-Mildred B. Vermont

~Childhood is short; regret nothing of the hard work.
-Doris Lessing

~Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.
-Phyllis Diller

~The phrase "working mother" is redundant.
-Jane Sellman

~There's nothing wrong with teenagers that reasoning with them won't aggravate.
-Anonymous

~A mother's arms are made of tenderness, and children sleep soundly in them.
-Victor Hugo

~Be good at "letting go."
-Marsha Sinetar

~Govern a family as you would cook small fish-- very gently.
-Chinese proverb

TOP 10 THINGS HANDED DOWN FROM MOM TO MOM (I have done every one of these!)

10. The loud finger snap that will stop kids dead in their tracks.
9. The "I'm not angry, I'm disappointed" speech.
8. The fine are of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
7. The ability to separate mixed modeling clay colors.
6. The rule about not mixing the modeling clay colors.
5. The keen sense that a child is probably sitting too close to the TV.
4. The "How do you know you don't like it if you haven't tried it?" line.
3. The appropriate amount of time to spend in the corner.
2. The various comebacks to "But all my friends are doing it."
1. The terrified look that follows the question "Where do babies come from?"
-Dee Ann Stewart

Mothers Day-- day 1

2009-05-08T07:02:00.005-04:00

In honor of Mother's Day, and all of the fabulous women I love(mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, mom-to-be's)over the next few days leading up to the big day- I'll be posting some quotes from a Mothers book I read recently, titled "Wit & Wisdom of Mothers". Some serious, some funny-- but all will make you smile. Enjoy!

~There's no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.
-Jill Churchill

~A mother's hug says to the heart what a lifetime of words can never say.
-Mary Miro

~A rich child often sits in a poor mother's lap. -Danish proverb

~A mom will sit in the rain in the bleachers to watch her kid sit on a bench.
-Bill Gray

~A mom's love waits up when the rest of the world has already turned out the lights.
-Diana Manning

~A mom's heart is a lot like her purse. It holds everything a kid could ever need-and a little bit extra. -Linda Staten

~Mom's hugs are like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches... they're sweet and they stick with you a long time.
-Kay Andrew

~Few mistakes can be made by a mother-in-law who is willing to baby-sit.
-Anonymous

~What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.
-Mother Teresa

Croc love!

2009-04-28T14:53:00.005-04:00

So~ I know it wouldn't taste very good (and I'm pretty sure my small intestine would object!)-- but I'm dying to take a bite out of these cute Crocs on Emma! Maybe just a nibble?!?

Adam should've been the girl

2009-04-21T19:26:00.003-04:00

On the way home from dance class,

Chloe: "When we get home can I play Adam & Eve?"

me: "How do you play that?"

Chloe: "you know, like when they ate the fruit from the bad snake in the good garden. But can I please be the girl?"

me: "Sure, you can be Eve."

Chloe: "But I wanted to be the girl."

me: "Eve is the girl Chloe."

Chloe: "Oh......."

me: "Remember in the Bible story, Adam is the boy and Eve is the girl--I promise."

Chloe: "Well, I don't think Eve is a good girls name. I think Adam should be the girl and that's who I'll be. ok?"

me: "Good luck with that."

Chloe: "Oh, and Emma can be the snake! That'll be great!"

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T11:36:00.003-04:00

Deja Vous!!!!

2009-04-08T07:08:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago was Dr. Seuss' birthday. They celebrated for a week at Chloe's school-- making green eggs & ham one morning and inviting parents, grandparents, etc. in to read Dr. Seuss books to the class. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, and since then Chloe has gotten even more interested in reading. Micky found her like this the other day-- with all of her animals arranged, including Clyde of course, and she was playing "teacher" and reading to them. When he showed me the picture I couldn't help but be reminded of his little sister, Christy. She was 4 almost 5 (exactly Chloe's age) when we started dating. She would arrange all of her dolls and animals on their back porch and "teach" them for hours--it was quite cute! She is now in her second year at Clemson studying to be a teacher! If Chloe turns out as great as Christy I'll sleep very well at night!!!

DUCK....DUCK....DUCK....Cyde!

2009-04-01T11:50:00.007-04:00

Yep, duck is Emma's new favorite word. She is full on jabbering at you now and most sentences end with duck-- like-- gaba gaba gaba namama DUCK! And occasionally she'll throw in a reference to Cyde (Clyde)! Mind you, she is very animated and is constantly talking with her hands-- I can't imagine where she gets that from!?! But yes, Emma is in to everything now. Walking, sometimes running, all over the place. Her Nano likes to call her Fred Sanford due to her swagger-like walk, but she's progressing out of the limp and will sometimes give you a full on Frankenstein if she's coming towards you. Very cute! She's cut back to one long nap a day (has been for a month or so) and she's very flexible about when she takes it. Which has made my life of errand running, work, and chauffeuring Chloe around much easier. For awhile she would get extremely frustrated at times due to the fact that she knows what she wants or is trying to say-- but just can't say it yet. She's gotten much more patient with us on that front and is doing a better job of pointing to what it is she wants (and not freaking out if she can't have it)! For instance, after we put Chloe to bed the other night we took Emma into the playroom to keep her up until 9. (Chloe will sleep 12 hours if we let her, but we've figured out that Emma will sleep 9 1/2 to 10, so on the weekends we try to keep her up till 9:30 so we can hopefully sleep till 7:30- yep, we like our sleep!). Anyway, she found this Dora skirt and was trying to put it on her head. Micky helped her put it on right and she walked around in it for awhile. A few minutes later she walked back to me at the couch and did her best "point and grunt" act to the top part of the outfit. I wish we would have had the camera around to capture her smile when she got it on--too cute, she was beaming and I think if she could have she'd have given a little twirl in it!

Chloe is doing great. For those of you I've talked to about this, her hemoglobin and RBC levels are finally normal again. About a month ago I took Chloe to the Dr. because she was just TIRED all the time. She seemed to be getting plenty of sleep and eating right and what not, but just tired and whiny. This had been going on for awhile, and at first I though it was just a behavioral thing and she needed to snap out of it. Well, didn't I feel like the biggest jerk when come to find out she's tired because her RBC and hemoglobin levels were low, which would make anybody tired & cranky! Luckily a small vitamin with iron once a day for a few weeks did the trick! We went back last week and had another finger poke :-( and everything was fine. Still not sure why it was low in the first place, but we're gonna keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't drop again. She still loves her "school" and has had so many exciting stories to tell us about all they've been doing to get ready for Easter. Twice a week they go to "Bible class" (that's what Chloe calls it) and learn different Bible stories, songs, stuff like that. Well, yesterday in Bible they talked about the last supper and their teacher washed their feet for them like Jesus washed his disciples. Chloe thought that was sooo cool-- and here's what she told me about the meal.

C: "You first eat a small piece of the bread-- that's Jesus body mom-- then drink the wine, we just had juice though, and did you know that's Jesus blood?!? Ms. K says some people call it communion. I told her that I just call it a snack with a prayer."

Pretty much what most 4 year-olds would say I think. That didn't sound too bad to me. Last night on our way to dance class I was eating a honey bun (yes, you know I'm the healthiest eater ever!) and out of nowhere Chloe asks, "Mom, is that the Lord's body you're eating there?"
After I almost choked I told her, "No, just alot of processed sugars and fat!"
I would love to know what goes through her head all day! I'm sure it's quite a ride!

E.L. Fudge cookies, South Carolina State Fair, & "About"

2009-03-23T15:36:00.004-04:00

You know, being the mother of a 4 year-old and 1 year-old I can honestly say that not much that they say or do surprises me anymore. I'm actually surprised if the day goes by and something strange hasn't happened. It's nothing for us to spend hours, days, or months discussing a topic. For instance, we had a sprinkler system installed last summer. Well, we did the "responsible" and legal thing of calling PUPS to come out and mark the utility lines before the guys started digging. Chloe was convinced that God had turned parts of the yard orange and yellow with special rain he sent down, and that He did this because He gets bored looking at the same color of grass all day up there in Heaven and he wanted to spice things up a bit. Maybe it was wrong of us but on day 15 of that conversation we decided to just agree with her and move on. Case closed--- or so we thought. A couple of weeks ago Chloe had a friend over for a play date and we (Chloe, friend, me & Emma in stroller) went for a walk through the neighborhood. Looks like someone else is getting a sprinkler system. Chloe saw the lines and in her exasperated tone that she can use said, "When is God gonna stop coloring the grass around here?!? I thought he had stopped but it looks like he's at it again. Can you believe that mom?" Knowing that if I didn't agree I would have to relive this story and my explanation for at least 2 weeks-- I did the weak thing and just shook my head and said, "Guess He wanted to have some fun again!"
Todays "reliving old moments with Chloe" story started with a trip to the grocery store. E.L. Fudge cookies were on sale, and pardon me but I can't pass up 2 buttery cookies with chocolate fudge between them for $2.19 a box! Who could?!? Well, Chloe asked for some pineapple and cookies for a snack. Simple enough-- or so I thought. She saw the cookie and explained (for about 20 minutes) how these cookies remind her how little she is. What?!? Exactly-- apparently they had these cookies for snack at school and "her Nina" could twist them apart "so gently" and lick the chocolate off before dunking the cookie in her pudding. Apparently Chloe wasn't so gentle in pulling hers apart and they kept breaking into pieces. She told me it was because she was so much "littler" than Nina. Well, I informed her that was silly and she just needed to pull them slowly and that she and Nina were about the same size. This started a retelling of our trip to the S.C. State Fair--in October. The height requirement for the slide ride was 42" tall. Nina walked up, measured, and was handed her burlap sack and sent on her way. Chloe however apparently measured in at 41 7/8" tall- so the dude made me go with her. I didn't mind, I grabbed the sack and rode down the slide with her-- I was actually glad he was doing his job, but really if I had teased her hair up 1/8 of an inch, the kid would've been fine-- and I wouldn't have to hear about this all the time and how that one moment from October means she is "small". So here's what she had to say regarding the cookie:

"Remember how I was smaller than Nina at the South Carolina State Fair when that guy measured me? So, I am smaller and I just haven't practiced enough with my cookies. And remember mom, about is not the same as same-- so I'm not the same size as Nina."

To which I responded, "Pardon me, but if you use that tone with me again you'll be ABOUT to get a spanking-- and that is the same as SAME dear!"

"Sorry mom." -- Kills me how cute she is even when she's being a little snot!... God help me when she's 13!!!!

Hitting the Bottle

2009-03-19T20:56:00.007-04:00

We handed Emma a bottle the other day while she was sitting on the couch in the living room watching the Wiggles. Micky walked in a minute later and saw this...

And yes, her jeans are unbuttoned- we got nervous the button would pop off, fly across the room and hit Chloe in the head! She tends to fair better with elastic waistbands! This may sound crazy, but for some reason I couldn't help but think how cute she looks like this-- but how this same pose can look so gross on a grown-up with a beer gut! Told you, crazy. But you gotta love this pudding pop!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-03-11T20:17:00.009-04:00

Shh... please don't tell Chloe that I posted this 2 days late :-(
Don't worry, I showed it to Micky on his birthday, but she specifically asked me to put it on my "computer page"-- and this is the first time I've been able to sit and do it :-)

Steroids--- not always bad....

2009-03-08T21:09:00.004-04:00

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile. Emma has been sick for about a week. It started last Tuesday night when she woke up at 3am with 103 fever. I took her to the doctor Wednesday only to find out that yet again she had a viral infection. I soooo hate viruses-- there's nothing you can do but wait it out and buy stock in Children's Motrin! Turns out she had something her pediatrician termed "paraflu" basically a cousin to the real flu-- but a cousin that Tamaflu wouldn't help treat, so more Motrin!!! Well, the cousin lasted his 3 days as the Doc had predicted and yesterday morning she had a new visitor (I'm guessing the crazy uncle in this disease process!) a nice hacking cough but luckily with no fever accompanying it. The nurse I spoke with yesterday told me they were seeing this cough linger for about 5 days in kids who had gotten the "cousin". My first thought was, Great! Poor kid can't catch a break. My second thought was, how bad is this thing gonna get?!? At about 4am last night I found out. I awoke to what sounded like someone whistling through Emma's baby monitor. I rushed upstairs to discover that it was Emma wheezing while she slept. I camped out in the recliner in her room to keep a closer eye on her and she woke up about 15 minutes later and had apparently changed species. The poor baby was barking like a seal. For all you parents out there who have had a child with croup, I can now truly understand your misery at having to witness such a barking fit. I immediately scooped her up and took her downstairs and out the front door into the cool night air. It took a minute but it worked. However, I then got to see her gasping for breath. Something I hope to never witness again-- in my profession I've seen that type of stridor from people on their death beds and I'm not exaggerating when I say that's what it reminded me of. A truly horrific experience.
Well, I called the on-call doc and we were first in line at the office this morning. Dr. Bowtie (not his name, but dude was wearing a pretty slick bow tie-- which unfortunately I can never appreciate or buy for my husband because every time I see a bow tie the image of my eight grade English 1 teacher pops in my head, and that bald dude is not what I want to picture anytime that I look at my husband-- so no bow ties for Mick!) Sorry for the rant, but Dr. BT prescribed some oral steroid drops for Emma and hopefully all will be well in a few days. He did however warn me that it might get worse before it gets better... yeah!! Just what a mom who's pretty scared wants to hear-- but I appreciate his honesty-- sort of! So, hopefully the barking will not return and Emma will not be learning how to balance a beach ball on her nose anytime soon. Please keep Emma in your prayers tonight and hope this family of illnesses will leave her alone soon! She's entirely too cute to be sick like this, how unfair!
Hopefully the steroids won't beef her up too much :-)

Try not to get too scared!!!

2009-02-16T21:28:00.003-05:00

Since I posted that bit on Feb.2 about Micky telling Chloe the Golden Arm story I've received about a dozen e-mails from people telling me they remember the story and it was one of their campfire favorites, and have received just as many asking what on earth the Golden Arm story is?!? Well, here it is.... Chloe style! (please note that we have explained to her that Farmer Fred could not legally marry his sister and that grave robbery is a serious crime!)
ENJOY!! --oh, you may need to turn up the volume!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2009-02-14T09:23:00.004-05:00

Kissing cuties!!!

Night Mices

2009-02-11T09:53:00.003-05:00

Last night Chloe was allowed (by her father, not me) to take a cup of juice upstairs. Apparently on the way to the stairs she "sloshed" a little over the sides of the cup along about a 6 foot trail on the hardwood floor. I found the "sloshed" juice about an hour later when I walked through the den in my bare feet. Of course I fussed and said we need to clean this up now. Well, Chloe ran downstairs and this is what she had to say:
"Mom, leave it.... PLEASE!!! Don't worry the night mices will get it."

Her father and I exchanged glances-- like we often do when we have no idea what she's talking about-- and I said, "What?!?" She said, "The night mices." And she said it in the tone of -do I really have to explain the night mices to you mom?!? how lame!-
Well, here's how the rest of that conversation went down:
me: We don't have mice in our house Chloe, and if we did I'd be outta here pretty quick!

Chloe: They don't live here mom. The night mices come from all over the world to South Carolina at night and pick up whatever we drop and eat it. They love it!

me: I see. Well, I'm not sure where you got your information but we don't let the night mices in here so we have to clean this mess up now.

She proceeded to pout the entire time we cleaned up the mess. And Micky and I were trying not to laugh and were trying to figure out where she came up with this idea. We decided it must have come from the "Nutcracker"-- I took her to see that ballet at Christmas time and she fell in love with it. She got the book for Christmas and the Barbie Nutcracker movie-- so we figured that must be it. Well, I found out this morning that we were wrong. The culprit for the crazy night mices is my MOTHER!! When I told her the story this morning she got a guilty look on her face and said,
"oh, when we were at the mall yesterday Emma dropped a Goldfish on the floor and Chloe tried to pick it up and give it back to her. I told her to just leave it there because the night mice come at night and eat the crumbs-- and they love Goldfish!"

Mystery solved. Be on the lookout for night mices that love to visit South Carolina!

R U kdn me?

2009-02-07T09:20:00.003-05:00

So, if you thought people driving while talking on their cell phones was dangerous-- how about driving while texting?!? Not saying I've ever done that (not saying I haven't). But it's time to realize that text messaging is taking over all forms of communication. It used to be that only the "kids" were doing it (like Micky's youngest brother and sister and my nieces). Well, now everyone's doing it (like me, Micky, and even his Mom!). And while I used to think it was crazy, I now see that it can be quite fun. I can't tell you how many times a text has brought a smile to my face-- well maybe not the text but the person sending it-- like Christy sending me "Dumb & Dumber" or "Christmas Vacation" quotes, or Carla and I texting silly "Office" comments back and forth. It's just fun! But it was just this week that I realized that this whole texting craze had reached a new level when Micky and I were texting each other Tuesday night (his late night at work). You won't truly appreciate what you're about to read unless you are a "Friends" fan, but just know that Micky and I used to watch that show all the time and it's being able to make each other laugh with these silly comments that makes me love texting. This is what we wrote:

me: How U doin? (like Joey would say)

it took Micky about 30 minutes to respond-- he was at work!

Micky: Could I BE any better? (like Chandler would say)

Yep, we're nerds. I'm just glad we get each others jokes-- makes life easy!

...so I'm back- from outer space....

2009-02-02T21:52:00.010-05:00

Sorry for the 70's song reference, but that's where I feel like I've been the past couple months! To say things have been crazy would probably be a little too dramatic-- but if you know me, then you know that completely fits!!! From now on, no more excuses! I started this blog so that one day Chloe and Emma could read it and know how fun these times were and that we love them more than anything, (and so that when they're teenagers we can show them that at one time they thought we were pretty cool too!)-- so by damn, I'm gonna WRITE on this blog what I want, when I want-- and starting today I will do it at least once a week! (feel free to remind me of that when I start slacking off again!) So, when Chloe and Emma read this in a few years please know that my downtime from writing had little to do with the two of you-- it mostly had to do with WORK and just holiday schedules! Speaking of holidays, Christmas was AWESOME! Poor Emma woke up Christmas Eve night (Christmas morning?) around 2a.m. with 103 fever-- but she was a champ Christmas Day and still had a smile on her face for the cameras! And Chloe was thoroughly enjoying the big sister role and trying her best to explain to Emma how Santa worked and that she (Chloe) could play with both their toys, but Emma should ask before she played with Chloe's things! (we quickly fixed that don't worry!) Just teasing, they both shared everything from the start and have done great since. We'll see how long that lasts! but so far so good.
Emma turned 1 January 10. Can you believe it?!? What a year! There are times that I sit and think about how much our lives have changed in this past year-- how we've all adapted to new schedules, new sharing of our time, shifting our priorities so that we can spend Quality time together-- and you know, none of that change has been hard. Just different. I guess when you really want to do something, you just do it. And when I try to remember what it was like before Emma, I have a hard time recalling it. Part of me feels like she's always been with us. Maybe it's because when we had Chloe I prayed that was just the beginning and that we would all get the chance to add to our family one day and give Chloe a sibling-- I'm so glad she got Emma. To see how much Chloe loves her and wants to teach her things, and to see Emma's face light up when Chloe walks in gives me a feeling I can't put into words. It's just amazing!
So~ for the past month Micky and I have been asked approximately 12.7 times a day if Emma is walking yet. It's a legitimate question but after about the 6.8 time in a day I'm ready to hang a sign on my chest that says "Sort of!" Meaning, she'll take about 4 or 5 steps and then look around as if to say, "I hope nobody saw that. I don't want to blow my cover and not get carried around anymore, so I'm just going to sit down and act like that was a fluke!" It's actually a very funny thing to watch, but trust me we're in no RUSH for her to start running. She's busy enough as a fast crawler, Lord help us when she starts doing sprints through the living room!!!
I tried to capture one of her "fluke" walkings tonight on camera, but I think she was on to me so no dice. But I did get this cute clip of her playing one of her new favorite games-- "hide the magnet, then find it myself 100 times!" Maybe this is why she's not such a great walker yet. This is her favorite walk behind toy, but she's recently discovered that the seat lifts to reveal this awesome compartment so she'll spend like 10 minutes playing with that instead of walking! Kids a genius, what can I say?!? And just so you know-- we usually do brush Emma's awesome baby mullet but this was filmed right after dinner, hence the green beans on her face, so we all look a bit rough at this time of day! And the reason Chloe is saying Emma's gone is because she has been asking to hear "scary" stories lately and her father has been telling her some apparently involving alien abduction--he actually told her the Golden Arm story which she has now told to all of her 4 year-old friends. Thanks Mick-- I get to explain that to the moms at preschool! (oh, and forgive the end--it's been awhile since I filmed anything and forgot how to turn it off. yeah, she gets the genius part from me can't you tell!)

Here's what I think they're saying to each other:

2008-12-19T21:36:00.010-05:00

(remember to click on pictures to see larger image!)

Bradlynn: "Em, can you give me a hand and pull me up?"

Emma: "No problem girl-- just grab on!"

Emma: "Do you see it? I think it must be the tag or something. It's driving me crazy!"

Bradlynn: "Yep, I see it. Hold still and I'll get it for you!"

B: "What on earth is that bright light?"

E: "I don't know man-- but it's blinding me! I wish they'd turn it off!"

E: "Did I get it?"

B: "No. Hold still and I'll take care of it for you."

E: "Wow! Now, that's love. Thanks girl!"

So.... Can you guess what Emma needs for Christmas?!?

2008-12-19T21:26:00.003-05:00

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

2008-12-13T09:16:00.003-05:00

Micky has been seriously addicted to the 90's station on XM Radio. Now, don't get me wrong, I love 90's music myself, but he has taken things to another level. Just this morning--upon waking-- we were lying in bed talking and I said,
"I've got White Christmas stuck in my head."
Micky responded, "I've got Mambo #5 stuck in mine."
Well, I of course laughed my head off at this- to which he replied,
"I've been listening to way too much of the 90's station this week."
I told him it's ok, the first step is to recognize and admit that you do have a problem! Only problem is that now I can't get it out of my head! And I'm not so proud that I know the entire song by heart-- wish I could remember school stuff as well as I remember songs-- that would probably be more helpful in life! (but not near as much fun!)

Number 3

2008-12-09T11:01:00.003-05:00

If you've been reading this blog for awhile you've already heard Chloe's reasoning for why it rains: 1. To keep the wivew (river) high enough so that she can see it when we're driving over the bridge. 2. To give her budiful (beautiful) flowers and grass plenty of water to drink so that they can grow as big and tall as she is.
This morning we learned that there is yet a third reason. With Emma still recovering from her bout with bronchitis, Mom volunteered to take Chloe to school for me this morning. (An offer I jumped on quicker than a cat on a mouse!) Well, if you live in our area you may recall that it was (still is) rather cloudy and gloomy looking outside. They had a conversation that went a little something like this:

Grammy: "It sure is cloudy today."
Chloe: "Yeah, I can't see Mr. Sunshine."
G: "I think it may rain a little later on today."
C: "Well, that's good. The clouds are very dirty and God needs to wash them!"

So, when the clouds get a little gray-- they just need a good bath! I can see her point... I mean it works for her so why wouldn't the clouds be the same way?!?

Family

2008-11-29T21:56:00.008-05:00

As I sit here- full up to my ears with turkey, ham, stuffing, and giblet gravy- I find myself only able to sit and think (mainly because I don't have the strength to move this body I've stuffed for 2 straight days off the couch). My thoughts have ranged from all sorts of topics like 1. Who came up with the Lego idea and how? 2. Why does the sound of rain dripping off the house always remind me of my Nannie's house? 3. How many possible excuses can Chloe come up with for getting out of bed yet again (so far we're at 4 for the evening)? 4. Who was the first guy to ever use the "comb over" and who was the mean woman who told him it looked good and nobody would ever notice? 5. I think my tree needs a few more ornaments at the top. 6. I love hearing the sounds Emma makes on the monitor while she's sleeping (she's a soft moaner--like my brother Scott). 7. I sure wish Starbucks delivered--I'd love a White Chocolate Mocha with 2 pumps of vanilla right now. I'm pretty sure there's just enough room in the belly for a tall one of those! 8. I've got the most awesome family possible and it's weighing heavy on my heart that I may have hurt one of their feelings recently (completely unintentionally but if it hurt them it doesn't really matter how it happened I just want to erase it from their memory).--so that thought has led me to try to come up with some type of machine that can eliminate painful thoughts (something other than drugs or alcohol!). So far I got nothing. The best I've come up with so far is words. Plain, simple, words. The same thing that can cause the pain can some times be the same thing that can take it away. (Don't worry this person and I have already settled this and all is right in our worlds, but just knowing that the power you have with just a few simple words to hurt someone causes me to be a little awe struck)
This has really just turned into a big ramble now, but again, I'm too full to even close the computer so I'm going to type a little bit more. My family means everything to me-- and when I say family I'm not just talking about people who share the same blood or last name. I'm talking about people who I think of when I think back on some of the most important events of my life. People I've wanted to share great moments with-- like the births of my children and their baptisms, their birthday parties, silly 80 parties, and some of the best times just sitting around the table at mom's telling crazy stories and picking on each other and laughing so hard that you cry. People that get me-- and all the crazy that comes with getting me (laughing at my not so funny jokes, getting my references to "Dumb & Dumber", "Christmas Vacation", and "The Office"). These are the people I love. And I want and need to tell them that more.
So, for all you saps out there who are in my "family" and didn't even know it: I LOVE YOU!!!
Happy Thanksgiving and please don't laugh too hard as you picture me rolling off the couch to get one more piece of coconut cake!
(oh, and the Chloe count is up to 6 now-- with the latest being that Ariella Beariella (her bedtime bear) needs some more honey-- I had a hard time arguing with that one so I'm pretty sure she's in the playroom looking for honey! What can I say, the kids gonna have to teach me all about fractions next year. Do you really think I remember all that elementary school stuff? I can barely write a coherent grocery list these days :-) !!!!!

May the Force Be With You

2008-11-02T14:18:00.007-05:00

Happy Halloween!

Queen Amidala and Princess Leia had a great Halloween! This was the first year that Chloe was allowed to go Trick-or-Treating through our neighborhood. Micky took her, along with Uncle Scott and Kristin, and she had a blast! (if you see her soon be sure to ask her about the cemetery yard she walked through!)

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch Monday night and Chloe and Micky picked out a big one! (it's really the local Farmer's Market-- but they have pumpkins so we're calling it the pumpkin patch!) Emma and I were just along for the ride and were glad to be getting outside for some fresh air! I love the way Fall feels-- it even has a different smell in the air to me-- does anyone else notice that?!? Chloe really got into helping Micky carve this year and was a huge help scooping out all of the pumpkin guts! She chose a bat design this year, and I think it turned out great!

(click on pic to see larger)

Now we just have to eat all this candy she got. It would probably take a normal family about 2 months, but I'm confident we can have it knocked out by next weekend!

I love my nerd!

2008-10-25T10:17:00.005-04:00

Micky is AWESOME!!! He found a computer program that was somehow able to recover all of my deleted pictures.

There is now peace in my universe :-)
Check out these cute pics of Emma in her winter hat (a hand-me down from Chloe of course!)and her baby. It just makes me smile!

Sometimes you need to rant!

2008-10-24T10:59:00.004-04:00

Ok, have you ever heard someone say "I don't know how it happened but it did."? Well, imagine me saying that... like 100 times in 10 seconds. Now, I'm trying to keep things in perspective and realize that no one was injured and we still have a roof over our heads and food for our bellies--but I'm still seething over here. I'm the moron that SOMEHOW deleted ALL of the pictures from my camera-- which wouldn't be such a big deal except I still had ALL of our Disney pics on there and some of the cutest pics of Emma from the last month (sleeping with her arm hanging out of the crib, cheesing it up for the camera in her cute winter hat, playing with Chloe and Dad, and just looking adorable in everyone of those pics) I actually haven't shed tears yet, but they may come. I'm going to try to take some deep breaths and calm down, and maybe this will be something I laugh about later. I DOUBT it.

Ok, I've taken some breaths and I'm pretty sure I'll be fine now-- just don't let me near the Menu option on my camera again!
(See sometimes it's good to rant over something to get it out of your system--even if it's something silly-- I feel alot better now. Thanks internet for listening!)
:-)

Still here

2008-10-20T21:49:00.005-04:00

Hello!!! I know, I know... it's been FOREVER since I posted. I am shocked at how many e-mails I've received asking if I'm through with this blog. (I thought only about 4 people looked at this thing--nice to know I was wrong!) But, no, I'm not through-- it's just been crazy busy around here this month and this is honestly the first chance I've had to sit and do this. I have several posts floating around in my head and can't wait to share some great stories about the girls. But for now, I'll leave you with a pic of the 2021 Mouseketeers from the Disney Channel!

Second Verse!

2008-09-30T15:05:00.004-04:00

If you saw Chloe's end of year school program post, you know how much of a hit "You Are My Sunshine" is in this house. (If you didn't, click on the videos section to the left and watch Chloe belt it out!) Well, it seems this song is Emma's favorite as well. Generally, the only time she fusses in her car seat is when she's tired. We've discovered that if we sing this song she immediately stops crying and will turn her face into her car seat and try to go to sleep. It's pretty neat to watch-- and if you stop singing before she's asleep she quickly lets you know. Last week we went to dinner at a friends house about 20 minutes away. The ENTIRE ride home Chloe and I took turns singing-- and no other song would do, trust me! You may not know this but the second verse is better than the first! Now I could be biased because I made it up when Chloe was a baby and would sing it while rocking her to sleep every night. But I think I should get a copyright for this straightaway!
(to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine" , the second verse!)

The other night now while you were sleeping
I closed my eyes and I softly prayed
Oh please Lord watch over my dear sweet Chloe
Please don't take my sunshine away

Feel free to substitute your child's name and watch him smile with delight at having a song sang just for him!

Her Bodyguard

2008-09-29T21:44:00.007-04:00

It took Emma and Clyde a few months before they paid any attention to each other, but now they are best buds! (I think at first Clyde was trying to pretend that it was all a dream, like, "Oh no, they didn't bring another one home to dress me up and ride on my back!") We thought we might have a little trouble when Emma started crawling-- her favorite place to play and crawl is also Clyde's favorite place to lay and sleep. But it has been no problem, he's actually been very accommodating and will move to another rug when she comes to play or he'll just lay there and let her poke and prod him (all under the close watchful eye of mom or dad!). And even though he likes to act like he doesn't care--he's not fooling me-- when we let him in from being outside for awhile he has to search the house to find her, and on more than one occasion I've caught him napping outside her bedroom door while she's in there napping! You gotta love that beast!!!

E: "You bend it this way to crawl like me Clyde"

Clyde: "Code Brown over here-- this could get ugly!"

Emma: "Clyde if you just put your back against mine we can sleep sitting up. Awesome!"

My, what big ears you have!

2008-09-24T12:41:00.005-04:00

I promise to post more Disney pics as soon as I can, but I had to share these. I hope you can appreciate how hard it is to get a still shot of Emma now that she is crawling like an animal being chased! That kid is fast! Here are a few pics of her with her lovely mouse ears (click on pics to see larger)
I had to include a couple of her in some of her Gamecock gear! and the one at the bottom she's chewing on C-3PO and a Storm Trooper (we brought back Star Wars toys for Emma and Micky to share!) Chewbacca is her favorite!

"...a world of laughter a world of tears..."

2008-09-19T22:39:00.005-04:00

It is indeed a small world after all! We got back from Disney yesterday around 6pm after what seemed to be the LONGEST RIDE home EVER!!!! :-)

Disney was awesome! The weather was great, the rides were great, the characters were great, and the company was great! I'm pretty sure Chloe and "my Nina" had a blast and will remember parts of this trip forever-- I know I will. They were so sweet! Now, there were moments when I thought that if my child whined one more time that I might just have to toss her on top of the huge golf ball at Epcot! But those moments were overshadowed by watching her and her bestest friend be so unbelievably adorable-- like watching their faces light up the first time they saw the Princesses on stage, or seeing them act shy when getting autographs from characters, or when they watched the 3-D shows (Muppet's and philharmagic!) and were so excited trying to reach for the objects jumping out at them, and my favorite-when they put their princess dresses on for our Princess Luncheon and just had to call each other Belle and Aurora! You can't put a price on seeing stuff like that, and it may sound corny but I'll say it anyway-- my heart skipped a little when I felt like I was seeing things through their eyes. It was so worth the ache my feet are feeling right now! And I can't help but laugh when I think how at such a young age they can be such good friends to each other. One minute they may be fussing over who gets to hold Tinkerbell or the DVD case-- and the next minute they're riding side by side in strollers leaning out so they can hold hands! And if one of them was upset they would comfort each other so tenderly! We could learn a lot from these princesses!
I'm a bit worn out right now, so I will post more Disney pics later-- I've got a ton and they are so cute!
(This first pic is one of them on their first day of 2 year old preschool-- yes Chloe may hate me for this one day-but it cracks me up to see how much they've changed! And the second is from our second morning in Disney!) click on image to see larger
If these don't make you smile, put your fingers to your inner wrist and check your pulse! :-)

Boyfriendssssssss!!

2008-09-11T15:15:00.008-04:00

As you know, Chloe is very much a girly girl! She loves her princess gear, dancing, and telling fairytale stories. However, she does have a good bit of her daddy (and some of her tomboy mommy) in her. She loves to run outside and play golf, softball, soccer-- just about anything that keeps her moving. She has some boy friends at school, but she never talks of inviting them over to play like she does the girls. There are 2 boys that she is always asking me if they can come play-- Tradd and Jackson. She never calls them that of course, she simply refers to them as "the boys". Misty (their mom) and I talk a good bit on the phone and Micky will talk with Lee (their dad) about golf times or whatever and she never fails to ask to speak with the boys or if the boys are getting to come over. They generally come over for dinner about once every couple of months and the kids have a GREAT time playing! We will soon have to educate Chloe on polygamy (in about 20 years!). She insists that one day she will marry "the boys" (& Redding--my Nina's bro) and they will all live in a castle in the forest and have tons of horses. I find it extremely cute and love that she enjoys playing with them so much. They definitely bring a new perspective to all of her "girl" toys, and I love watching them ride on her princess tricycle! Last Thursday they came over to watch the Carolina game. Just before half time they all started getting tired so Chloe picked out a movie for them to watch in the living room. Yep, you guessed it Peter Pan. I got some cute pics of Chloe and her future husbands-- love the one where one of "the boys" looks mad about being odd man out! I'm hoping they all stay great friends as they get older. We'll have plenty of pics to embarrass them with :-)
(click on pic to see larger image)

Can You Hear Me Now?!?

2008-09-08T16:09:00.010-04:00

We've been repeating this scene at our house over and over again for the past two weeks:
Emma will crawl a bit~ I'll get the camera to tape her~ Emma stops crawling to stare at all of us acting like fools~ Chloe tries to get Emma to crawl again using any type of persuasion she can.
For the past two days Chloe's persuasion techniques have included INCREASING the volume of her voice-- as if Emma was hard of hearing. I can only guess that Chloe must think that if she says it loud enough Emma will suddenly understand and start crawling, talking, and doing long division. So, while Emma is very cute to watch in this little clip, I can't stop laughing at her drill sergeant barking out orders! (At about 10 seconds in you'll hear Chloe say something about a spider being on my head-- she got this from my family using it on her to get her to look at the camera-- something that even as a 4 year-old she still hates to do.)
You won't actually see Emma crawl in this clip but I promise she can-- especially if Chloe drops a Cheez-It anywhere in a 1 mile radius. Emma and Clyde will race to get it! (don't worry I'm not letting her eat crackers yet... she's still getting use to steak!)

Rainy Days

2008-08-26T11:03:00.006-04:00

It's been raining for two days straight. Rain, I might add, that we are in desperate need of. We love to eat fruits and veggies, so Lord, please give them plenty of rain! The rain, mixed with Emma's nap schedule and the price of gas, has kept us inside. Have no fear-- there has been constant play going on. Chloe's still hooked on Peter Pan, so yesterday Emma and I got to be pirates in Captain Hook's gang. Walking the plank proved to be a challenge for Emma, but she gives a mean arrghh!

And Chloe was giving some props to Lou and Louise from the Safety Patrol, by wearing her helmet in the house. She sure didn't want to get a safety violation!

Fun Fridays!

2008-08-22T09:51:00.006-04:00

Today's Fun Friday post is about something that both pleases me greatly and makes me a little sad. INDEPENDENT PLAY!!!! I love that Chloe has such a great imagination and can play by herself for hours, but I hate that the more she does it means the more grown-up she's becoming. I'm guessing soon she'll have her door shut with a DO NOT DISTURB sign on it--just kidding-- NOT in this house! She's going to get hugs from me everyday whether she likes it or not! :-) This isn't really all that new for Chloe, she's been doing it since she could walk and talk. But she did regress a little in this when Emma arrived, and wanted us to play with her more than before. Something we understood and tried very hard to fit in our schedules. Well, she's pretty much over it now and will disappear for lengths of time leaving me to have to call upstairs to her and get verbal confirmation that she is in fact still breathing with all of her limbs intact. Her independence does have its downsides. For instance, I tend to stay out of the playroom because seeing the mess usually shocks me and makes me feel like I need to clean it right away. Lucky for me, I'm usually able to fight that feeling and Micky and Chloe will tackle that room together on Saturdays.
Yesterday, Chloe stayed in the playroom for a good part of the day and when Micky went up there last night to work out he found this:
(click on image to view larger)

We've had discussions with her about not putting stickers on furniture, but she assumes anything in the playroom is fair game. That's understandable. This piece of furniture is one that I miss greatly. It's the matching coffee table to our end tables and foyer table downstairs. Obviously we bought this stone death trap with crazy sharp corners before we had children, and it sat in the middle of our rug in the great room. Ever since Chloe could crawl it has been stuck up against the wall in the playroom-- in a spot very unlikely for children to run into it. But apparently in a great spot for placing Dora stickers!

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

2008-08-20T21:59:00.006-04:00

Peter Pan was in my house today... and yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and the day-- you get the picture. A week ago Monday, Chloe found the movie Hook at my parents house. You know, the one with Robin Williams as Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook. Well, she just HAD to borrow that movie and watch it on a loop for 3 days, until finally Micky and I had had enough. In Hook, Captain Hook uses the word hate way too much for our taste, and the overall mood of the movie is just not something we really like her watching-- especially around the clock for days in a row. Mind you she was very quick to say (every time she heard the word) that "It's not nice to hate people. Captain Hook is talking mean again mom." But even knowing that she knows it's wrong still doesn't make me all that happy about it. So, we were able to wean her off of Hook with minimal withdrawal symptoms. Just when she was clean of the pixie dust drug, guess what Grammy brought her?!?

Yep, another Peter Pan movie! But this is one we actually endorse, and other than the fact that I'm sooooo tired of Tink and Peter, it's actually a pretty good flick. I'm not quite sure how long Peter will be visiting with us, but I do know he's being well fed while he's here. Chloe needed refills on all of her snacks today (ice cream, crackers, blueberries, juice, cheese, etc.) because she was having to share them with Peter.

We're heading to Disney World in a few weeks, and besides being pumped that she and "my Nina" are having lunch with the princesses-- she's looking to score some pixie dust while she's there. She's "positive" that they sell it there. Micky and I asked her what she needed it for and here's the answer she gave us in the car the other night,

C: "Well, if I get some pixie dust I can fly up to kitty cat heaven and save Mookie from all the bad kitties." (Mookie was my parents cat that died about 6 months ago and Chloe still mentions him about once a week)

me: "Baby I'm pretty sure all the kitties in Heaven are nice."

C: "No mom, not all of them. And I promised Mookie I would keep him safe."

It was at this time that Micky informed me he had already had this conversation with her at bath time a few nights before and that he had made the same argument as I had and got shot down. We've tried to reassure her that Mookie is happy and playing in Heaven and that she doesn't need to worry. Her response to all of this is,

"He'll feel better when he sees me flying up there to see him."

I can't explain the kind of sweetness she says that with. Makes me want to squeeze her so tight and hold on forever.
I know one thing, if we see Tinkerbell at Disney, whoever's in that costume better watch out-- they just might get tackled by a couple of 4 year-olds looking for some pixie dust!

I think I can, I think I can, I think...

2008-08-19T09:54:00.004-04:00

She clearly has the form down, but is having a little trouble with direction! She can crawl-or scoot-backwards great, it's just going forward she has a little trouble with. Chloe is coaching her up great, and every time she rocks back and forth I can't help but think of The Little Engine That Could-- and have a hard time resisting the urge to pump my fist in the air and say, "choo choo!" We're pretty sure she's about to take off any second now...

Fun Fridays!

2008-08-15T10:12:00.005-04:00

Today's Fun Friday post is about one of Emma's favorite toys, the Rock-a-Stack from Fisher Price. She loves taking the rings on and off, but mostly she loves chewing on them. I remember this being one of Chloe's favorite toys too. It's a classic toy, and I'm pretty sure it-or something just like it- was around when I was a baby too. This week her teething has been STRONG-- as evidenced by the minimal sleep she's been getting! So this week her favorite thing has been to take all of the rings off and then gnaw as hard as she can on the yellow part. It must have worked because she now has 2 teeth (front center bottom) to show for all her work!

On the other side

2008-08-14T08:27:00.012-04:00

As many of you know, Chloe recently had surgery to have her tonsils removed. They had been swollen since February with no good reason why-- and the child had to sleep in an almost seated position so she could breathe. Her snoring rivaled Clyde's! Let me start by saying she did absolutely wonderful. She was so big and made us very proud. I think the worst part for her was the week before her surgery when she had to have blood work drawn. Her vein blew as soon as they stuck her and if you've never seen that or had it happen I promise it can be very painful-- but she took it like a champ and let them finish what they had to do. I on the other hand was ready to grab the needle and do it myself. Micky was very proud of me for restraining myself! (You'll often hear that nurses make the worst patients. Well, that may be true, but being a nurse who has a child in the hospital tops that! Cardiology was my specialty, so when it comes to peds or OB I try to sit back and listen-- and most of the time not even tell them I'm a nurse. I find they tend to explain things a little better when they think I know absolutely nothing about it. Works for me.)
One thing they stressed in nursing school (it's actually common sense) was that no procedure is minor when it's happening to your loved one. That is so true! I know how "minor" a tonsillectomy is supposed to be, but when it was Chloe we were talking about it became very serious to me. That's my baby they're going to put to sleep and my baby who will be hurting for weeks after and not understand why. So, I'm sorry if I got offended if someone told me it was no big deal. I know they were just trying to comfort me and help me not worry-- but me being the crazy I am, that comfort didn't come until I got to hold her in the recovery room. I don't know if I've ever hugged her so tight.
Well, she slept most of that day, and when she woke up that afternoon she was telling everyone that she hurt her foot and that's why she had to stay at the hospital and that they were putting water in her toe. (she was asleep when they put the IV in!)

We spent one night in the hospital and when we came home she did great! Clyde has regained his role as #1 snorer in the house! So far the only downside from the surgery is that she still thinks Popsicle's make an excellent breakfast! Hard to argue with that! Here's some pics from the big day! (click on pics to see larger)

Sounds that fill my soul!

2008-08-08T21:33:00.008-04:00

For about a month now we've been cracking up watching Emma crack up at Chloe. Sometimes Chloe just has to walk in the room and she'll give a hearty laugh. Emma's always given her biggest smiles to Chloe, and it looks like she'll be getting her best laughs too! It makes my heart leap each time!
Tonight Chloe was entertaining Emma by jumping off of the couch and spinning around. A couple things before you watch this, 1. Sorry for the poor camera work-- kinda hard juggling 20lbs on one side and trying to aim a camera on the other! Oh--and there's nothing wrong with Emma's face-- some of her slobber got on the lens when she reached for the camera (don't worry I wipe it off after a few seconds!) 2. You should be impressed that she can laugh like this AND keep her finger in her mouth at the same time (we saw the top of tooth #1 poking through today--YEAH!!!!). Hope you enjoy!

Fun Fridays!

2008-08-08T09:30:00.005-04:00

Today's Fun Friday post is about something that is a lifesaver around here... PLAY DATES!!! Chloe doesn't have school the entire month of August, and everyday she wakes up asking, "What are we doing today mom?" I can only get away with saying, "nothing" so many times before her head starts spinning and strange sounds come out of her! So this month more than any other, we will be utilizing every play date chance we get. "My" Nina is going out of town next week so we've had to prepare for that this week with 2 play dates! Chloe is stocking up on her Nina time so she can make it a whole week without seeing her. It's actually quite cute. She told me the other night that Nina would be gone for 100 nights. I explained that it would only be for 7. Her response was, "Seven? That's even worse! She'll get so big before I see her again." (She's definitely been hearing too many people say how much Emma's grown since they saw her last!) I've reassured her that the week will be over before she knows it and that she and Nina will still remember each other. She continues to look at me as if I were crazy-- but she's been doing that a lot lately. Maybe it's got something to do with my new crazy haircut. Who knows?!?

Fun Fridays!

2008-08-02T13:34:00.008-04:00

Ok, so I'm a day late with this one. But today's Fun Friday post is about the iPod Touch. Micky gave me one for Christmas, and it has been enjoyed by me, him, and Chloe! Here she is checking out an episode of Hong Kong Phooey.

Micky downloaded a couple of those for her and she loves them. We even took it with us to the hospital for her overnight stay and she was so happy to have it and get to watch her shows! The only problem with the iTouch is that we only have one of them in our house. Now that 3 of us want to use it I'm considering setting up a timeshare (with me obviously getting the most time!). We've enjoyed it so much that we're considering changing our cell service when our contract ends in November so we can get some iPhones. I'm sure Sprint would just hate to lose our 500 minute plan!

Princess potty mouth!

2008-07-30T09:12:00.007-04:00

Ok, the fact that I have two older brothers makes it pretty easy to understand why I was a pretty big tomboy growing up. I could play football, baseball, basketball-- even badminton better than most of the boys in our neighborhood-- but my mom drew the line on me talking like a boy. I was never allowed to make "fart" jokes like the boys--and the one time I spit while on the baseball field I got a 20 minute lecture on being ladylike-- something that when I was 8 upset me greatly. Now, I'm pretty glad that she tried to make me somewhat of a lady, although I still can't bring myself to spit-- even in private! So given the fact that Chloe has no older brothers and really doesn't hang out with many boys, you can see why I was surprised when she started talking about poop ALL THE TIME! The first time I noticed it was a few weeks ago when she had two of her best friends over. These girls couldn't wait to put on princess dresses and play dress up and dance, but they had the most fun when they started talking about POOP! At first they would just take turns saying the word then all fall to the ground with hysterical laughter. I considered putting a stop to it, but was actually amazed by the entertainment this one word seemed to be providing them. Then it got ugly. They started this game, one would say "I'll put poop all over the yard" another would then say, "Well, I'll put poop all over the porch", and not to be outdone the third would say, "I'll put poop on the roof and the whole WORLD!" I finally decided I'd heard enough poop talk and asked them to please play a different game. Their little faces sank like I had just taken Santa Claus away. Luckily I had popsicles to ease their pain!
I guess I'm just so surprised because they always seem to be so girly, but deep down I guess everyone loves a good poop joke at some point in their life. Hopefully this fad will fade quickly! These little poop heads are growing up too fast! :-)
(click on picture to see larger image)

FYI, when I told Chloe the word poop was banned in our house her response was,
"Well, where will I go potty?"
Looks like she wins again!

Signs

2008-07-29T20:56:00.007-04:00

On the ride home from my parents house, we pass 2 very hardcore Southern Baptist churches. Or I should say, their signs. See, one of the churches is off a side road so they put their sign on the "big" road so people will actually see it. I have no problem with this, and often get a chuckle out of reading their "loving" sign that usually has sayings like, "Repent or Burn in Hell" or "Visitors Welcome, Members Expected" posted on it. I'm all for professing your love for the Lord and trying to bring others to hear His word, but I don't usually like the wording they choose for their signs. Tonight proved to be an exception. Micky and I picked the girls up from Grammy and Papa's after we finished working late, and the sign tonight read, "God accepts you as you are, but loves you too much to leave you that way."
I've ridden by that sign probably a million times in my life, and tonight was the first time I was glad I read it. I sometimes forget how much God loves me-- loves us I should say. So tonight I'm thanking the church down the road from my parents house for reminding me to thank God for loving me and for continuing to mold me into the person I'm meant to be-- even though I've done nothing to deserve it! What an Awesome God!

Fun Fridays!

2008-07-25T09:14:00.005-04:00

Today's Fun Friday post is about one of our all-time favorite movies. We like to think of it as a classic. The likes of which we will probably not witness again in our lifetime. One of the best comedic films of all-time, maybe even the best (not quite sure, but it's gotta be close!)... I'm talking about Dumb & Dumber.
Believe it or not, the first time I saw this movie at the theater I fell asleep. In my defense, it was a midnight showing, and anyone who knew me in high school may remember that no matter where I was at midnight I was falling asleep. I did not sleep through the whole movie. I was stirred awake by roaring laughter at the scene where Harry was using the bathroom that ended up not being able to flush and found myself laughing through my stupor of sleep. Micky and I have since watched this movie too many times to count, and we never get tired of the craziness. It can always make me laugh- and anything that can do that is AWESOME!
Micky and I will often pull out quotes from this movie while out and about, and gauge people on their coolness if they get it too! When we moved back to Columbia and started hanging out with Misty & Lee I knew we were going to be lifelong great friends when we were out one night and THEY started quoting lines from this great film! I almost choked on my Tom Collins I was so excited. What great friends!!!
So, if you're in the minority who hasn't seen this movie I highly recommend it. And if you're in the minority that thinks it's too silly to watch I say--- Get over yourself and loosen up a bit! Everyone needs a mindless laugh sometimes!!

oh, by the way, I've had to break Micky's heart and tell him that his next car can NOT be a duplicate of the "shaggin' wagon"!

Happy Beach Birthday to Nano!

2008-07-24T09:06:00.010-04:00

A couple of weekends ago we packed up and headed to the beach for a long weekend to celebrate Nano's birthday. He keeps telling us he's just 40, but with Micky being 31 I'm not too sure that's accurate! We had a great time playing on the beach, at the pool, and doing some shopping. The girls both did great, and Emma and Nano were afternoon "nap buddies"-- which worked out great for me and Micky. We actually got to be on the beach at the same time instead of taking shifts. Here's a few pics from the weekend, and I hope we get to do it again soon!

Nonnie and Emma chillin on the beach

Who knew a whale toy could help with teething so much?!?

Football heroes!

Nano and Chloe personally fed the huge fish at Broadway at least 10lbs of fish food!

Amazed by Tyler's rockwall climbing abilities!

Charlotte a.k.a. City of Please Steal My Car From the Hotel Parking Lot

2008-07-21T15:33:00.002-04:00

click on title to see this clip from Charlotte's Sunday night news. The black truck in the yard that hit the tree is Mark Allen's. Here's a good chance for Allstate to earn their money!

Mark Allen took a weekend trip to Charlotte and had to take the Greyhound home!
(jk-- luckily his friends car survived the crime spree!)

Fun Fridays!

2008-07-18T07:27:00.003-04:00

Today's Fun Friday post is about Chloe's all-time favorite book, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear. We can't remember exactly when she got the book, but we do know that we started reading it ALL THE TIME about the time that she turned 2. By the time she was 2 1/2 she would recite the book in the car, bathtub, while learning to go potty-- pretty much anytime, anywhere. Sometimes she would use the book as a prop (of course she couldn't read it, she had just memorized every word), other times she would just say, "Let me tell you a story about the big hungry bear mom." And 20 minutes later, after hearing the story about 5 times, we would plead to hear a different story! She still loves the book, and can go weeks without having read or talked about it and still not miss a word if you ask her to tell you about it. I think that's pretty cool. I'm actually very excited that her favorite book has nothing to do with a princess. It has opened the door for bedtime stories about all types of animals-- not just fairy princesses. Which, by the way, is exactly what Chloe says she's going to be when she grows up. That, and a dentist. I told her that I think tons of people would love to see a fairy princess dentist! Gotta have a dream!

Check out that posture!

2008-07-09T16:29:00.008-04:00

Today, I finally got smart! When I sat Emma up for her "sitting" time, I put her favorite toy between her legs to keep her focus centered. Not quite sure what type of brain damage I have that has kept me from doing this before, but I have been thinking she could sit up by herself for quite sometime now-- but every time I'd try she would immediately fall to the side. Well, duh!!!, she was going for her toys! I'm the genius who would place them all around her in a circle, and of course she just wanted to put one IN HER MOUTH! Once I smartened up, she sat up for 15 minutes straight. I think we can check this one off the list!
Oh, and if you click on the pics of her looking down you can get a peek at just how red her hair still is! Who knew?!?

Fun Fridays!

2008-07-07T13:57:00.009-04:00

As you know, last Friday was the 4th of July! This is always one of my favorite holidays and this year was no exception! We kicked things off by heading to the SC Peach Festival in Gilbert, SC. This was my first time attending the festival, and while I was disappointed that there was no one dressed up in a huge peach costume-- I did have a great time. We sampled all the peachy things they had to offer, and the peach ice cream was definitely my favorite!

After eating our way through the festival (and when the temp reached at least 1,000 degrees), we headed back to Cola town and had some BBQ and swimming fun at Aunt Marsha's, followed by more BBQ and swimming fun at Micky's parents house.

Due to a much needed rain storm we were unable to shoot fireworks Friday night, but shot them off Saturday night! And Emma, who is the best baby sleeper I've ever seen, was able to sleep through the war zone I call "Nano's fireworks!"

1+1= 2, so...

2008-07-02T22:03:00.008-04:00

logically, this must also be true:

(back story)
Micky brought Chloe home some "big kid" toothpaste today.

Due to fluoride concerns Chloe has never used any toothpaste other than Oral-B Toddler-- has no fluoride so it's ok if she swallows the whole tube! Well, she's had the whole spitting thing mastered for some time now (I'm thinking about a year!), so Dad decided it was time to move on up. Well, Chloe was pumped about this and even more excited when she saw that it was blue and sparkly.

(this is where her great logic kicks in, and I think I may owe her if we actually get to take a trip because of this exchange!)

Micky: "Let's try your new toothpaste Chloe"
Chloe: "Thanks Dad, it's so cool!"
M: "Remember you have to be sure to spit this out."
C: "I will Dad. This is big kid toothpaste right?"
M: "Right."
C: "I'm 4 now so I can use it."
M: "That's right, you're a big kid now."
C: "Yep. And now I get to go on an AIRPLANE!"

So, if you're using big kid toothpaste, it's time to take that airplane ride. Oh, and if you tell your kid they can do certain things when they're bigger-- like go on an airplane-- I can promise you they'll never forget it! I like the way this kid thinks!

Aqua Tunnel moves...

2008-07-01T22:35:00.004-04:00

Don't try these at home-- especially Tyler's flip!

Birthday Fun!

2008-07-01T22:24:00.004-04:00

Fun Fridays!

2008-06-27T06:53:00.006-04:00

Last Friday I wrote about my all-time favorite snack. This week I'm writing about Micky's. Now, I didn't start to enjoy Fudge Rounds until I was 7. Micky, however, began enjoying his favorite snack in the WOMB. And it's been "Truly Satisfying" ever since:

Yes, the Snickers bar! The #1 selling candy bar of all-time. Sales reach approximately $2.5 billion each year! Apparently, in 1977, Micky's mom accounted for about half those sales :-) and reportedly consumed at least one Snickers a day throughout her pregnancy! Who can blame her really--- they are available in mini size, fun size, and even King size. Way too many options for a woman with strong cravings! Her love for Snickers passed on to Micky, and he's been enjoying them on his own since he got his first tooth!

MIRACLES!!

2008-06-26T16:07:00.005-04:00

It is with great joy that I introduce you to

Bradlynn Kate

Born to Scott and Rebekah June 26, 2008 at 1:35 pm, weighing 6pounds 13 ounces. Mom, Dad, and baby are doing great!
Emma saw this pic and actually chuckled-- like she was thinking, "Mom, you won't believe the kinds of trouble she and I are going to get into. Better hold on tight, it'll be a fun ride!"
Oh how I hope so!

Beware of Aqua Girl...

2008-06-25T12:53:00.004-04:00

Especially one with blue icing around her lips!

(more pics from the party to come!)

When I "growed" up

2008-06-25T08:46:00.009-04:00

(not sure why this whole post is in italics, but I couldn't fix it-- sorry!)

Last night, Chloe asked me and Micky the same question she's been asking for weeks:
"What do you want to be when you growed up?"

We gave the same answer we've been giving:
"We're already grown up. Mommy's a nurse and Daddy's a dentist."

Well, she never likes this answer. So, she proceeds to tell us what we will be.
"I'm going to be a Princess and Daddy will be a Prince. Mom, you can be the Fairy Godmother or Genie if you want."
To which we usually just smile and nod.

These exchanges over the past few weeks have got me thinking about what I used to want to be. And then last Friday, while at a friends house, I was talking to 4 of my closest friends and we realized that, at this time, only one of us is "using" our degree. Afterwards, I thought about it for awhile and I realized we were wrong. The truth is that only one of us is getting PAID money to use our degree. Three of us are stay at home moms (SAHM as dooce says!). I still use my nursing knowledge in caring for my friends and family, and my friends are using their teaching degrees EVERYDAY in how they raise their kids.
These past few years of staying home with Chloe, and now Emma, have been awesome and I wouldn't change it for anything. But I have had the struggle with "self-worth" that I'm sure every stay at home mom has when you think that -- because I'm not bringing home a check maybe I'm not contributing enough to my family. I've tried for 3 years to get over that feeling, and every time I think I've kicked it, it'll rear it's ugly little head again. It doesn't matter how many times Micky tells me I'm doing a great job or how supportive he is, that feeling can eat away at me for days, weeks, forever.... I've gotten better at dealing with it, but I don't think it will ever be gone for good. Maybe that's because when I was growing up I never thought I'd be a SAHM. I wanted to be a meteorologist and work on the Weather Channel. Some girls wanted to be like Debbie Gibson or Kelly Kapowski, not me-- I wanted to be Cheryl Lemke the weekend anchor on the Weather Channel.

I know I could have rocked out the jet-stream moving across the country like nobodies business! But when the time came to go to college, the closest school for meteorology was Georgia Tech. Out of state-- so not only out of price range, but way too far for this mama's girl to go! Who knows, maybe when my girls graduate college I'll go get that meteorology degree and be the "smoking hot granny" on the Weather Channel. But for now, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and realize how lucky I am to get to be here with our girls during this time of their lives, and try to stomp down that ugly little monsters head when he tries to make me doubt myself!
So, the next time Chloe asks me what I'm going to be when I "growed" up, I'm going to simply reply, "FABULOUS!"

Fun Fridays!

2008-06-20T10:03:00.006-04:00

My great friend Misty started posting "Time-out Tuesdays" on her blog, in which she posts about things she and her family love. I think this is such a great idea, and figured I'd give it a whirl and start posting Fun Fridays. It'll consist of things I love, Micky loves, or the girls love-- and some things we all love! Thanks for the great idea Misty-- and if this should ever make any money--from the 10 people who read this blog:-)-- I'll be sure to cut you in!
My first Fun Friday item will be my all-time favorite snack. It's been around since 1964 and I believe I've been enjoying them since 1984. I'm pleased to present

Little Debbie® Fudge Rounds!

This cookie, filled with rich, chocolaty goodness, is my go-to snack. It was what I craved most at 3a.m. while pregnant with Emma, and the one thing I gave up for Lent a few years ago. That was my hardest Lent ever! A Fudge Round and a glass of milk always hits the spot! Somehow, it only ranks at #8 on Little Debbie®'s best-seller list. I guarantee I'm doing my part to increase that, and I'm passing this knowledge on to the next generation. Chloe loves them, and something tells me that Emma will too!

The "Perks" of 4 year-old life!

2008-06-18T14:15:00.009-04:00

Yesterday was Chloe's fourth birthday, and I still can't believe that we've had this sweet angel in our lives that long! She had a fantastic day and wasted no time telling everyone she saw that it was her birthday! Her school is having "Summertime Fun" this summer on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so this is probably the only year that she'll actually get to go to school on her birthday (unless year-round school comes a calling--boo). So, we definitely had to take some cupcakes for her class to celebrate with at snack time. Chloe got to pick everything out- so we took strawberry cupcakes with rainbow chip icing and Little Mermaid and Flounder sticks in them. It was the first time I'd ever tasted strawberry cake and it was surprisingly good! Chloe's Grammy picked her up from school and we all went to Chuck E Cheez for lunch. That's where Chloe started pointing out things that "only 4 year-olds get to do." There's a big tunnel playset that's pretty high up that she's always been scared to try, but as soon as she saw it she said, "You have to be 4 to do that." And off she went! After using all her tokens she had 60 tickets, and of course she picked a lizard and snake for her prize. She felt she needed to inform us that "only 4 year-olds get GREEN snakes." She spent the day doing things that "only 4 year-olds" can. Like dancing in her new ballerina outfit (from Grammy and Papa) to her new "Princess Dance" game (from Nonnie and Nano). I think she had a great birthday and the partying will continue throughout the week! We're having an Ariel party with a waterslide this weekend. She's invited some of her school friends to share in the fun! That should be interesting! I'll put some pics up as soon as I can-- can't wait to see all those cuties having a blast!

Got some great birthday love from "my Nina" :-)

taking out the shark heads at Chuck E's place (she was defending your honor Wendy!)

Excuse me-- Did you say cornhole?!?

2008-06-13T17:35:00.013-04:00

I had no idea that the game I've watched people play while tailgating and hanging out before concerts was called cornhole. And apparently, what I thought were "bean" bags are actually "corn" bags. I'm so glad my cousin Jenn could clear that up for me. Jenn and Jess brought this fun game, as well as ladder golf, to the beach this year. Our backyard was large enough to accommodate these games, and we had almost as much fun playing those as we did surfing at the beach!

Jenn utilizes the side-arm approach

Whereas Micky uses a more traditional follow through

We usually don't go out too much while on vacation. We enjoy just hanging out by the pool at the house, playing cards with the fam, or just sitting around reading books or doing NOTHING. But every year we do go play Putt-Putt-- all 16 of us! When we descend on a Putt-Putt venue, people better watch out. There's usually some sort of wager on the game, but this year we kept it clean. This was Chloe's first year playing, and wouldn't you know, she got a hole in one on every hole. It was quite impressive! Uncle Scott picked the Putt-Putt place this year, and he couldn't have picked a better place for Chloe. The main attraction was a huge pink castle that you actually played a couple of holes in. She was loving it! And she couldn't wait to tell Scott what a "great place" he picked.

Our only other night out, Micky and I took the girls to Broadway for a little ice cream and shopping. Mom and Dad went with us, and we found the David & Goliath store. I fell in love with all the silly shirts, and picked this one up for the girls.

You may have noticed the awesome Snugli I'm carrying Emma in.

My friend, Carla, let me borrow this about a month ago, and Emma has just recently started enjoying riding in it. I love it and it really does provide good back support. Which is important when toting 19 pounds of sweet baby for an hour or so. I've always seen dads using them, but Micky got the job of toting Chloe most of the time-- so I happily took the lighter one for me! Carla hasn't asked for it back so I'm hanging on to it as long as I can, and when Emma outgrows it I'll casually slip it back to her :-) Thanks Carla!

Don't Hassel the Hoff

2008-06-12T22:17:00.012-04:00

As I was preparing these pics to post here, I was trying to think of a cute title to enter. When I went to type it in, somehow my cursor had moved to my Google search bar and when I typed in beach baby, up popped lyrics to the David Hasselhoff hit "Beach Baby". You can imagine my surprise, seeing as how I thought he only produced songs in the German language. (Mom- apparently the Germans love him and his music spends like 49 weeks out of the year at #1 there)
:-) But anyway, I think seeing Emma on her very first beach trip is far better than any Hoff song that may have sat atop the charts in Germany last year! Check out the REAL beach baby!

Our first day, Emma's first time on the beach!

Chloe showing Emma that "the water doesn't hurt a bit. See?!?"

Emma's first dip. We think she liked it.

Chillin' with Dad in the cool tent he put up just for her!

Surfer Girl decided to take a break from riding the waves and hangout with little sis for a bit :-)

Grammy's got the good stuff!

Love those curves!

Being so cute is exhausting!

Birthday Month

2008-06-11T11:27:00.010-04:00

On June 18,2007, Chloe started asking when it would be her birthday again. We always replied next June. She's asked that same question at least 1,357 times, and we always gave the same answer: June. Well, when it turned June while we were at the beach she fully expected her birthday! So, we've had to change our tactics and remind her that it's actually June 17th. Well, Grammy got wind of this at the beach and decided to appease (by appease I mean spoil!) Chloe by having a Dora party! Just so happened that we of course took Chloe's Dora Mermaid dress and Grammy had brought Dora plates, napkins, and cups. I'm pretty sure she had planned this some time ago! Well, here are some pics from Dora's day-- mainly mom and Chloe making the chocolate pound cake (which as you can tell by Chloe's changes in wardrobe was an all day process)! Everyone played along nicely-- mainly so they could get a piece of that yummy cake!!

Look at the windows and notice that it's dark outside when she finally gets to eat some yummy cake!

Up all night... sleep all day...

2008-06-10T21:38:00.008-04:00

Yeah... if only we could sleep all day too! Over the past two weeks, the oldest person in our house and the youngest person in our house have been averaging about 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep for a total of possibly 6 hours all night. This is worse than newborn sleep-- and my body is beginning to shut down. We're trying some new things, and we'll see how it goes. I know I'm not the first parent to lose tons of sleep-- it's just this is a lot harder the second time around. With the first one it didn't matter so much if we had a few rough nights in a row, I could always try to nap when she did. Not true with the second baby. You have to not only be awake all day with the older kid, you have to be able to not bite their head off for just asking for simple things like a cup of juice or say, breakfast 2 hours late! So right now I'm doing the best I can and I have no doubt we will all get through this just fine and eventually look back on it and laugh at how dramatic I am/was about it.
But anyway~~ On a lighter note, we did just get back from a great vacation with my side of the family! The girls loved the beach, especially our surfer girl Chloe! And it was great to have lots of eager hands to help out with Emma during the day-- and mom was usually so sweet in the morning and would let me and Mick go back to sleep for an hour while she watched Emma! I've got lots of pictures to share from our trip and I'll do my best to get those posted here over the next few days.
Emma's sleeping now, so I better hit the bed myself. She's such a cute baby-- and trust me, when you see that sweet smile in the middle of the night you know there's nothing better than this-- not even sleep! Gotta love her!

Here's a sneak peek at our Beach Bums!

Cutie Indeed

2008-05-28T22:17:00.010-04:00

A rare moment of peace for Emma in these past few days. There's a good reason we can't remember what teething felt like... I hope Emma can forget soon! Even when she's hurting so bad, she can still give you the sweetest smile that stops you in your tracks. All I can do is love on her-- and give her Tylenol, and rub her gums for her, and try to talk Daddy into inventing some safe numbing oral agent for infants that lasts longer than the 5 seconds Baby Orajel does!

Betty Crocker

2008-05-22T16:06:00.009-04:00

We're having some family over for dinner tonight, and Chloe decided that we must have brownies! Who am I to argue with that?!? She's a lot like her mama, in that, the batter is better than the cooked brownie, and it's not any good unless you get it all over yourself!-- and the counter, the floor, the wall, etc...!!

[if the chocolate looks like it's beginning to harden in the bowl, it's because she licked the bowl for the entire 35 minutes it took for the brownies to cook! She's not a waster :-)]

Squash.... Check!

2008-05-21T23:06:00.015-04:00

When we went to Emma's 4 month check-up last week her pediatrician gave us the go ahead to start baby food. Seeing as how she's wearing some 9month clothes and all-- he figured she might be hungry! She's had rice cereal in her bedtime bottle for weeks, so we knew she wasn't allergic to that. So her first food was SQUASH. I, personally, am not a fan of squash, but her Dad is. She is totally taking after her Dad on this one. Even though she was crazy tired, she went to town on some squash! I couldn't shovel it in fast enough for her. At one point I was holding the spoon in front of her and talking to Micky as he took pictures, and she dove at the spoon. Thank goodness it was one of those soft-tipped ones. I guess I shouldn't dangle food in front of her face-- she was just saying "FEED ME MOM!" Well, she's had squash for 5 nights now so we can check that one off the list. Next up-- CARROTS! Yummy!

We were afraid she would fall asleep mid-bite! But once she realized this was going to her tummy-- she somehow caught a second wind :-)

She's got it figured out now!
E: "What's so hard about this spoon? Give me some steak people!"

No, my thumbs aren't broken. That's just the way they bend!

E: "That's it?!? Wait a minute, I think there's some more on my hands. I'll clean myself up!"

They do listen

2008-05-20T10:00:00.005-04:00

Last night Micky and I took Chloe with us to our softball game (we're playing for our church's co-ed team). On the way home, Micky and I were discussing my apparent lack of speed--shock, shock! And I made the comment that my knees were just dead and gone and I didn't think they'd be coming back, so I should just get used to not being so fast anymore (not that I was ever really a speed demon mind you!). Well, here's what Chloe had to say on the "dead and gone" subject from the backseat:

C: "Jesus died, but he can come back... 'cause he's God's son. And Jesus and God will save the day!"

I think she's got a pretty good understanding of things for a 3 year-old (for any age for that matter). Just goes to show, if you take them and show them, they can learn, and she makes it all sound so simple. I guess it really is.

"...never know dear, how much I wuv you..."

2008-05-16T14:57:00.008-04:00

Last night, Chloe's school had their end of the year program. All the kiddos (ages 1-5) wore bathing suits or other beach wear for their "Fun in the Sun, Praising the Son" program. All of the songs were very cute. It's usually pretty funny watching what all the kids will do on stage. Some of the best entertainment comes from the ones who aren't actually singing or dancing-- they're discovering their belly buttons or playing with the girls hair who's standing in front of them-- things like that. Chloe is typically the child who will sing along and do some of the motions, but she usually prefers to just watch the kid standing next to her and let them do all the work! Well, not this time. She was singing and dancing her heart out-- and then she took my heart (along with the heart of every member of our family who was there to see her) and made it sing! When her class finished singing their 2 songs, the teacher held a microphone for Chloe and she sang "You Are My Sunshine"-- and she did an amazing job! There wasn't a dry eye on our two pews when she got done. Her teacher was very smart and didn't tell me about this beforehand, and they only had Chloe practice it once the day before. They knew if we made too big a deal about it she would never do it. Luckily, Chloe could sing this song backwards in her sleep we sing it so much around here, and it was AWESOME! I particularly enjoyed how proud of herself she was when it was over. It was great to see her, who is usually so shy and timid in a crowd, have that much confidence in herself. It made me so proud! This just so happens to be the song my mom always sang to me and is my #1 choice of songs to sing to the girls. It's always had a special place in our hearts, and now it's even more special!

Bet he's won a lot of 10 foot tall stuffed animals

2008-05-14T19:37:00.010-04:00

Let me start by saying that gambling is not something our families take lightly-- we're very serious if we place a wager on something- only it's never for money. Strictly bragging rights. Today we took Emma for her 4 month check-up (I know, I can't believe 4 months already) and we had asked all of our family members to try and guess her weight. Everyone did a pretty good job, except Aunt Wendy who said 20 pounds--she was definitely the furthest off! So, we're at the office and Micky was waiting in the room with Chloe while I took Emma in the hall to be weighed. I actually cringed when I saw the weight-- not because it was too high or anything, it's actually a perfect size-- but because it was exactly what Micky had guessed, 17 pounds 4 ounces. I told the nurse I'd be hearing about this until her next check-up--two whole months. I mean really, who guesses the ounces right?!? INSANITY! You know, fair week is always very slow at the office (who goes to the dentist when you can take out a loan and go to the fair?) so I'm thinking Micky should try to be that guy who guesses your weight. I'm sure he could at least make enough to fill up one of the cars with gas!
Emma's appointment went great! She's still in the 90th percentile for height and 97th for weight-- exactly where she was at her 2 month check-up. She is 25.5" long, and she took her 4 shots like a champ. Although I'm here to tell you that her lip quiver before she cries could break even the most hardened criminals heart. She's just too sweet, and I sure hope the next 2 months don't go as fast as these have. She'll be driving before we know it!
Here she is in what was one of my favorite outfits for Chloe. It's size 3-6 months, so when I put it on her the other day I figured I should take some pics because I don't think she's fitting in it again :-)

I could make a meal outta those cheeks!

Call me Paranoid, but...

2008-05-13T23:13:00.008-04:00

I think they're already plotting against me! On more than one occasion I've noticed Emma and Chloe with their heads leaned toward one another (as if they were deep in conversation) and when I walk up, they quickly look away like nothing was going on-- Chloe will start flipping through a book and Emma usually starts singing her vowel song, "aaaaeeeeiioooouuuu." I'm thinking, although Emma's only 4 months old and just mastered the art of turning over, she and Chloe have been secretly communicating for weeks! I believe they discuss middle of the night wake-up times, as well as hunger pain times-- where they will, at the same time, start whining for something to drink (Chloe- chocolate milk, Emma- Enfamil Gentleease). Maybe I'm reading too much into this--who knows?!? But I recently captured a few pics of one of their discussions. You be the judge.. but I know they were plotting something
:-)

[click on pic to see larger image]

Emma is clearly whispering some top-secret plans

See how slick Chloe is? She wants me to think she's giving Emma a kiss. But in reality she's telling her about phase 2 of the plan.

Now they're just being cocky-- and smiling in the knowledge that I have no idea what they're about to do.

Now in this one, I think Emma is just being a good sister and friend and taking care of some personal grooming for Chloe. I'll have to teach her that we let people take care of that sort of thing themselves.

Chloe's trying to be cool-- smiling like, "there's nothing to see here, just some sisterly love"
Emma's not so smooth-- that face is definitely saying, "ahh man, we are SOOOOO busted"

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-10T21:04:00.006-04:00

[click on pics if you'd like to see larger, remember to hit the back button-not the X or it will close the blog :-)]

This beautiful jewelry box was "handmade" by Chloe. I went with her to school Wednesday for Muffins for Mom, and this was the great surprise she had for me. On the inside is a cute picture of Chloe along with "A Mother's Beatitudes"-- here's how it reads:

Blessed is the mother who understands her child,
for she shall inherit a kingdom of memories.

Blessed is the mother who knows how to comfort,
for she shall possess a child's devotion.

Blessed is the mother who guides by the path of righteousness,
for she shall be proud of her offspring.

Blessed is the mother who is never shocked,
for she shall receive confidences.

Blessed is the mother who teaches respect,
for she shall be respected.

Blessed is the mother who emphasizes the good and minimizes the bad,
for in like manner shall the child make evaluations.

Blessed is the mother who treats her child as she would be treated,
for her home will be filled with happiness.

Blessed is the mother who answers simply the startling questions,
for she shall always be trusted.

Blessed is the mother who has character strong enough to withstand the thoughtless remarks and resentments of the growing child,
for again, in due time, she shall be honored.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Pewu again!

2008-05-06T14:51:00.008-04:00

Our conversation on the ride home from school yesterday:

C: "Ask me if Kaitlyn was there today?"

me: "Was Kaitlyn at school today?"

C: "No"

me: "Was she sick?"

C: "No, she's in Pewu."

:-)

I had no comment for that, just laughter that brought me to tears. Hope Kaitlyn feels better!
*If you're confused, read the Peru entry :-)

Quattuordecim

2008-05-06T13:33:00.012-04:00

Today is the 14th anniversary of mine and Micky's first date! I can remember it like it was yesterday-- down to the outfit I wore and everything. Micky planned the date, and all he would tell me was what type of shoes to wear. He picked me up in his black and gray GMC Jimmy and gave me the tape of the single "I Swear" by John Michael Montgomery. (A few weeks before while we were at our Junior prom-- with other dates!-- this song had played and we had looked across the room and it was like a tv moment, we just knew!) Then he took me for a picnic consisting of Hardee's fried chicken, rolls, and sweet tea at Harbison Park. At the time, it was a lovely park inhabited mainly of mama ducks and their ducklings waddling about-- now it's inhabited mainly by thugs and their crime :-( After dinner, we went to the Melting Pot for dessert and then to Finlay Park where we sat on the swings and talked awhile (we really liked parks!). I had to be home kinda early, 10:30, because we were both taking the SAT the next morning. It was a great date!
Most of our friends and family know this is our first date anniversary-- due to the fact that every year I go on about it ad nauseam! But few of them know that our first date was supposed to have been April 29th. It was postponed a week due to Micky getting GROUNDED! First, you need to know that our Latin teacher in high school was a great woman but not too much on the teaching side of things... we spent 3 years in Latin and watched more Spartacus type films and colored more pictures of gladiators and coliseums than you can imagine. This didn't bother us at all-- at test time the class (which consisted of about 12 of some of my closest friends) would get to "share" a test. Which Micky would take and we would all get A's! So, while we took Latin to prepare us for our careers in medicine and law, it mainly taught us how to completely circumvent all authority and get a good grade while doing so. The fact that I was able to pass the Latin exam upon entering college and exempt my foreign language classes still amazes me to this day! Anyway~ our Latin class was taking a field trip to Charleston, and Micky and a few of the guys decided that instead of riding the bus they would drive themselves. And instead of doing the field trip agenda, they would visit the beach, walk around town, and have lunch at T-Bonz. (I still have the t-shirt he brought me from T-Bonz!) Well, I don't think he got grounded because he drove, our Latin teacher was well aware of their plans even though his parents weren't, but he was grounded for the idiotic thing he did to get caught! That's his story to share--not mine so I'll leave it at that. I am still so thankful that I didn't go with them--not that they did anything crazy or something like that-- but because his mom still remembers who was riding with him and to this day will ask about them with a certain tone in her voice :-) I get the feeling our relationship (mine and Micky's mom) would be much different had I been in that car too!
So while I always remember this as being the date of our first date, it also makes me think about the silly things we did in high school that we sometimes got caught at! (Notice the word sometimes!) A lot has changed in fourteen years, Micky has long since gotten rid of the black Appalachian State hat he wore EVERYDAY for 2 years (oh, I loved how he looked in that hat!) I finally convinced myself to get rid of the outfit I wore on that first date(paisleys just aren't coming back in style-- not sure if they ever were but I loved that outfit!), and we're now the parents thinking about the days to come when our girls will try crazy things in high school and we'll have to ground them. But somethings never change-- every time I hear "I Swear" not only do I think of our glances at Junior prom, I think of our first date, Micky's wedding ring I had it engraved on, our first dance at our wedding, and all of the great things that have followed since that first date!
You guys let me know if you see any black App State hats for sale!

Oh no she dittn! (snap, snap)

2008-05-01T15:18:00.003-04:00

Just got back from what I like to call, "Day of Fun with Chloe and Nina"-- Emma got to go too. Nina came over this morning and instead of staying here all day and playing with the same old same old, I took the girls to the Funzone and for a picnic. Most days just one of those trips would be enough, but I've been talking up the Funzone to Chloe for a week or so now, and dang Little Bear had to go and have a picnic on his show yesterday ~ so, picnic it was!
For those of you who don't know, the Funzone is probably one of the coolest places EVER! They have HUGE jump castles, slides, bouncy obstacle courses, and all types of neat bouncy things INSIDE, with AIR CONDITIONING! (that last part is key, seeing how in a couple of weeks it will probably be 110 degrees outside!) Of course the girls had a blast, and Emma was like a bobbing head doll watching them bounce all around. If someone else had been there to watch Emma, you can bet your bottom I would've bounced right along with them-- it looked so fun! They also have a toddler room, that's set-up with dress up clothes, a playhouse, and other fun toys-- which the girls went in when they needed a break from all that bouncing. Well, they were both wearing princess dresses and playing in the playhouse while I sat on a bench feeding Emma. Next thing I know, they're walking past me holding hands and had taken off their dresses headed back to the bounce room. I called them over to see what was up and here's what I heard:

me: "You guys don't want to play in here anymore?"
Chloe: "We were having a tea party and now it's ruined."
me: "Ruined?"
Nina: "Yeah, ruined-- that girl broke the cup."
Chloe: "Yep she sure did, and she wasn't even invited!"
Nina: "Right, so we're leaving now."

So, the girl they were talking about appeared to be about 18 months old, and had no idea she had just crashed the social event tea party of the year! I tried to explain that to them, and I swear to you, they looked at each other and simultaneously said, "KIDS!" -- like I can't believe we used to be that little too! All I can say is the preschool world better watch out for these two divas!

*just so you know, before we left, they both played with the little girl and walked around holding her hand very motherly like-- very sweet :-)

Wishing...

2008-04-29T22:23:00.009-04:00

My morning started off the same as most mornings do-- waking up to the sound of Clyde walking across the hardwoods in the great room to come stand by my side of the bed and shake all of his 72 pounds, thus waking me completely with the sound of his jowls flapping in the breeze. While this is always somewhat annoying, I very much prefer this to the smell that would awaken me if he didn't come to get me-- which would be piled up right in front of the back door-- as if to say, "If you'd get me a doggy door, I could've done this outside." Well Clyde, if we had a doggy door that you could fit through we'd be inviting every human under 6 feet and 170 pounds to enter and take what they'd like-- not to mention all the other beasts that could use it-- like bears or anaconda type snakes! So~ as I left my bedroom and entered the den, something large and sharp entered the heel of my left foot. And no matter what I tried I could not get it out! It stayed there all day until Micky got home and could surgically remove it-- and wouldn't you know, today was his late day and he didn't get home until after 7! So I spent the day limping, or what Chloe calls doing my "pirate walk". We're still not quite sure what it was-- not a splinter as I had thought-- luckily I'm up to date on my tetanus shot! Anyway-- back to the point-- my day didn't start off too well. Then, Mom called to see if she could take me and the girls to El Chico's for lunch! And seeing how I strongly believe that guacamole serves some type of medicinal purpose, I quickly accepted the invitation. As we were leaving El Chico, my day took a fantastic turn for the better-- thanks to a fountain and the sweetest 3 year-old I know! They have a small fountain in their entryway and Mom always gives Chloe a few coins to toss in as we leave. Well, today we could actually hear what she wished for and it went a little something like this.
She had several coins and each of these phrases was accompanied by her tossing in a coin.
C: "I wish I will always wuv my mommy, daddy, grammy, and my baby." toss
C: "And my Papa." toss
C: "My Tywer." toss, "Christy" toss, "Nano" toss, "My Nonnie" toss
Then she looked down to see she only had one left and said, "And I wish they wuv me too." Then she kissed that coin and tossed it in. I gave her a quick hug and she said, "Those are my best wishes."
It only took her about 30 seconds to do all that, but in that time I was able to picture her through all the stages of her life so far-- and all I could wish for is that time would SLOW down. She's growing up so fast, and she's just as sweet as she is beautiful!

Is there something in my teeth?

2008-04-25T11:52:00.006-04:00

Micky and I are out of town at the state dental convention (without the girls :-( or :-) )-- can't decide if I'm happy or sad about that. But-- once again, I forgot my toothbrush! I guess if I had to forget something I'd rather it be that than birth control pills or the box of Hostess cupcakes I brought! At least it was no trouble finding a new one. As a matter of fact, I think the Colgate rep and the Oral-B rep were about to fight over who could give me a new toothbrush! Don't worry, I calmed them down and took 2 from both of them! I'm such a peacemaker!

Peru: The Land of the Sick?!?

2008-04-21T22:49:00.005-04:00

Last year, Chloe's Papa (my dad) traveled to Arizona 3-4 times for business. When he would go, we would always tell Chloe about him flying in a plane to Phoenix. No matter how we explained it, she always believed that he was on the plane the whole time he was gone. She thought he would just fly around non-stop for 7 days and then come home. Every time she saw a plane she would say, "There's my Papa. Wave to him."
This year, Chloe likes to inform me if anyone in her class is absent from school. And if they're absent, she automatically assumes they're sick-- and then she'll talk about "poor Joseph(example), I sure hope he feels better soon-- it's not fair he had to be sick today."-- It usually goes a little something like that. So~ today when she told me to ask her if Robbie was absent, I was surprised to hear he was in Peru. But according to Chloe--he's still sick. Here's how it went down:

C: Ask me if Robbie was there today?

me: Was Robbie at school today?

C: No, he's in Pewu.

me: Peru? That's cool!

C: (loudly) That's not tool mom-- he's vewy sick.

me: He's sick? In Peru?

C: Yeah, that's where all the sick people go.

me: Are you sure about that?

C: Yeah, he flied on a plane there-- on Papa's plane to Pewu. And Pewu is FULL of sick people.

me: I see. Well, I hope he feels better.

C: He will when he gets to come home and go to school. Too bad Pewu is so sick.

Wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so I just let it go at that. I guess I should try to explain to her that you don't always have to be sick to miss school, all of the planes in the sky aren't her Papa's, and that Peru is actually a very healthy country :-)

A Fungus Among Us

2008-04-18T10:51:00.008-04:00

Last night Chloe and I (along with her Nonnie, cousin Reagan, bestest friend Nina, and her mom Carla) went to see the Disney Princess on Ice show. Trust me, you've never seen so many princess dresses in your life! The girls loved it-- even the fire breathing dragon... on ICE! didn't bother them. They had a blast, and were completely juiced up on snacks and the $50 cotton candy! (obviously I'm exaggerating, but I bet it'll reach that price soon!) I've got some pics to share, and if you're trying to figure out what that is on the ice-- Chloe picked it up in no time. Her first words upon seeing the ice setup (which was a sea setting) were, "Oh no, there's some fungus here!" I told her her Dad would be so proud! I love my nerds :-)

Deep Thoughts... with Pinocchio!

2008-04-17T09:52:00.007-04:00

Those of you who know Chloe know that there are some days where she's very talkative and some days where not so much talking goes on-- usually just deep thinking and a lot of drinking (juice that is)! On her "deep thinking" days, I try really hard to pay attention when she does decide to start a conversation because you never know what random piece of information you're going to hear! Yesterday was a deep thinking day and here are just a few of the topics she felt were worthy to discuss(and I thought were pretty funny):
1. On the ride home from school:
Chloe: Mom, ask me who the line leader was today.
me: Who was the line leader?
Chloe: MEEEEE!!!
me: That's great-- how did it go?
Chloe: well, I walked outside and down the hall,and to the bathroom-- and everyone followed-- because I was the leader.
me: I see.
Chloe: It was a good day.

For those that don't know, in Chloe's world, being the line leader is about the best thing that can happen to her at school-- unless it's Donuts for Dads day-- which is next week and she has informed us that her dad is supposed to take chips... for Donuts for Dads day. Who are we to argue?

2. I took her and Emma by Micky's work to see everyone, and the first thing she said to them was: "I'm going to be a mermaid at my church and my baby is going to be baby Jesus." They were a bit surprised by this random piece of news, but apparently she'd been thinking about this the whole way there and explained to us that mermaids were indeed there when Jesus was born. She thinks they should get to be in the church play too. Again, how do you argue with that?

3. Chloe got to go to church with me last night while I practiced handbells. I told her to sit very quietly and eat her snack (Goldfish) while we practiced. That worked for about 4 minutes... then she had to go potty twice in 7 minutes. After the second trip, she did sit quietly and play with stuff in her bookbag. After practice, our music director let Chloe play on the organ for a few minutes. That was a LOUD couple of minutes, but she was rocking the organ out! When they got done-and I got my hearing back- this was our conversation:
me: Did you like playing the organ?
Chloe: I was just showing him how to do it.
me: (trying not to laugh) Really? I think he knows how to play the organ very well sweetie.
Chloe: But he can't dance and play at the same time like me-- so I was showing him how to shake his head and move his shoulders.
me: I'm sure he appreciated that.
Chloe: well, he said thank you so that means he LOVED it!

So, remember if you LOVE something-- be sure to say thank you!

4. For a few weeks now Chloe's had days where she wants to be a boy like her daddy. We usually just play along, but yesterday it got pretty interesting on a trip to the bathroom. She had to go potty and was very quick to say, "I can do it myself mom." So, I let her go. When I walked by the bathroom she had her pants off and was STANDING on her stool in front of the potty. Here's how that went down:
me: Chloe, what are you trying to do?
Chloe: I'm just going to potty mom. Pwease shut the door.
me: Well, you've got to sit down
Chloe: I'm a boy remember, and this is how we potty.
me: Well.... only REAL boys get to potty like that.
Chloe: (almost in tears) but I am a real boy... see-- and she straddled the potty and went.
I about had a heart attack but guess what-- not a drop hit the floor. Apparently girls can stand to potty if the aim is right. Who knew?!? Luckily, 5 minutes later she decided it was more fun being a princess and was a girl again! We definitely have to get Pinocchio for her to watch!

If Only I Could Bottle and Sell It...

2008-04-11T17:27:00.009-04:00

Chloe's "bestest" friend Nina came over yesterday for a much overdue, and much needed, play date. As I've mentioned on here before, I love watching and listening to the two of them together. They are so smart and sweet-- I strongly believe they'll grow-up to be either doctors or Academy Award winning actresses! The drama these two exude is quite comical. You never knew how important it was to have the "right" Princess cup full of Cheez-its until one of them got the wrong one. Apparently Chloe was Sleeping Beauty yesterday and my Nina (which is how Chloe refers to her) was Cinderella. I'm the crazy lady who got them mixed up. What was I thinking?!? But don't worry, we quickly switched cups and I reminded them that a real princess doesn't fuss at the hired help for making a mistake :-)! They didn't think that was so funny. Anyway, the best part of the day for me was watching them play outside. They would run back and forth between the princess castle and the swing set rescuing each other. They took turns being in the castle yelling, "Help, please save me my dear Prince." With the other one responding, "Don't worry, I'm on my way!" This went on for a good 10 minutes and it never got old to watch, and they were completely committed to their characters each time! Their flair for the dramatic is matched by their sweetness. Usually by the end of the play date they're both so tired that at least one of them isn't wanting to give hugs or give a proper goodbye-- luckily Carla and I don't think this is a big deal and are usually very excited to know they're so worn out they'll be taking a great nap! But, before fatigue sets in, they are so sweet together. For example, as they were swinging and climbing the ramp to Chloe's clubhouse, this is the conversation that took place:

Nina: Can I have a turn on the swing?
Chloe: Sure, I'll go in the cwubhouse.
Nina: Oh, thank you
Chloe: no pwobwem, I wuv sharing with you
Nina: you're my bestest friend
Chloe: Your bestest?!?
Nina: yeah
Chloe: thanks, that's great!

If only you could have seen their faces and how happy this exchange made them, you probably would've wanted to eat them up too! It took all I had not to jump off the deck and wrap them both up in bear hugs! That's good stuff!:-)

Hi, I'm Grace. Nice to meet you...

2008-04-03T21:29:00.006-04:00

Those of you who know me well, know that I am about as coordinated as a 3 legged dog on skis! As a matter of fact, some of my close friends don't even bat an eye when I fall face first walking in the mall-- tripping over nothing but my own feet and hopping back up faster than any bunny can hop-- they're just used to it. And they know that unless I mention it, then it didn't hurt a bit and we can just keep talking about whatever and not even break stride in the conversation. :-) One of my most memorable falls was from about a year and a half ago. Micky and I went with Carla and Ross to a concert at the Newberry Opera House. As we were leaving and walking to the car (completely sober mind you) I fell full body, face first on the pavement. My hands actually got caught up in my jacket so I wasn't even able to use them to break the fall. Again, I hopped up in record time, but that fall actually left a few marks and drew a little blood. I do have to give those guys credit-- they were actually nice enough to make sure I was ok before they busted out laughing. Not sure if I could have done that-- I've imagined what it must have looked like and I think it's HILARIOUS! My most recent fall happened tonight at aerobics. Yes, I said aerobics. Don't be so shocked! I've been going to work-out for a few weeks now, and I'm really terrible at it! But I like it-- I feel good when I leave knowing that I've done something good for myself-- and it helps me feel better when I dive in to a hot fudge sundae for dessert! They do a lot of step aerobics, and for someone with my great coordination that can be a challenge at times. Tonight as we were going over the box (from one side to the other) I caught my left foot on my right heel and just about hit the floor. Luckily, I was able to catch myself before I went down too far, but unfortunately, Jane still saw me and I could tell she was dying laughing on the inside-- not that I blame her, it was pretty funny and I got a chuckle out of it! I'm just impressed I didn't end up eating the floor! Oh, Jane is a lady that has been in every class I've taken. I only get to go a couple of times a week, usually late in the day after Micky gets home, and she's been their every time I go. She loves to tell me how she's been doing it for years and to just stick with it and I'll love it. I have no idea what her real name is, so I refer to her as Jane, short for Jane Fonda. After our hour long workout, she still looks like she just came from the salon-- fresh makeup and all-- and I'm standing over there dripping sweat like I've been working on the chain gang all afternoon by the railroad tracks! Oh well, I do think she means well and I do admire the way that woman can work out-- it's impressive.
So, I've been thinking about this falling addiction of mine lately, and hoping that it doesn't pass on to my daughters. So far, so good with Chloe. The jury's still out on Emma. We've been having "Dance Parties" just about every night for awhile now, and lucky for Chloe she seems to have inherited her Dad's smoothness. Again, if you've seen me dance, you may have wondered if I was hurt-- don't worry-- that's just how I roll. I'm well aware that I'm no Paula Abdul in the dance department, but I guarantee you that I have more fun dancing than her. I have several theories on people who just stand around and watch other people dance: #1 they're just taking notes on some dance moves to use for the next video they're choreographing #2 they are such good dancers they don't want to make the rest of us feel bad and #3 (this is the one I believe in the most) they just have a huge stick up their a** and think they're too good to look silly and have fun with the rest of us! I realize that some people aren't as willing to embarrass themselves as I am, but sometimes you just got to let go and see what happens when you swing your arms this way or that! Life's too short, and besides, Chloe thinks I'm an AWESOME dancer and Micky loves me enough to tell me I look great! That's all that really matters to me!

She must work out!

2008-04-02T16:19:00.008-04:00

Check out that bicep! Yeah... she can curl at least 2 rattles at once-- without breaking a sweat!

Just in case you're counting, there are indeed at least 4 sausage links on her left arm :-) More to snuggle with I say!

Get your TiVo ready Ladies!

2008-03-31T18:57:00.003-04:00

Let me start by thanking my dear friend Carla for notifying me of this GREAT event! New Kids on the Block are without a doubt-- BACK! According to people.com, they will be performing on the Today show Friday morning. If you miss it, don't worry, I'll be recording it (probably while wearing my "I Love Jordan" t-shirt with my hair in a side ponytail!) and you are more than welcome to come over and check it out when you get a chance! Until we meet again, just keep on Hangin' Tough! :-)

6 Powerful Words

2008-03-29T22:01:00.006-04:00

Have you ever had someone say something to you that made you stop dead in your tracks?-- like mouth gaping open in shock and you can actually hear your heart beating kind of reaction? If so, you know that type of reaction doesn't happen often and that it can be brought on by something that makes you feel wonderful or, like in this instance, by something that makes you feel like a little piece of your heart just broke. Well, as anyone who has spoken with me in the past two weeks knows, we had been having some trouble with Chloe acting up a bit and having more than her fair share of potty accidents. And for awhile, Micky and I took the completely wrong approach at dealing with this-- fussing at her harshly and/or taking away fun stuff she likes to do. Normally, these types of punishment would be fine-- she typically responds well to a good talking to or us turning off Little Bear as means of getting her to listen and do better. Notice the use of the words TYPICALLY and NORMALLY. It took us a week or so of her not being herself to realize that her TYPICAL and NORMAL have been changed forever. Emma is now 11 weeks old, and Chloe didn't start acting this way until about 2 weeks ago. And to be honest with you, I figured she'd already done all the adjusting she needed to do. Needless to say, I was WRONG. Not once has she shown any negative feelings towards Emma. If anything we have to keep her from loving on her too much. But she was showing us in those other ways (ways that we took awhile to see) that she's still trying to figure all this out. If you know me, you know I usually hate "psychobabble" advice and anything that "experts" have to say. Well, I may have to change my opinion on some of that. Tuesday I was pretty much at my wits end and decided to search for some advice on the Internet-- using my favorite search engine Google, I looked up some articles on potty training regression. And what do you know, they all said the same thing-- the #1 cause of regression is stress-- and the #1 cause of that stress is a new sibling. I don't think I can put into words how big of an idiot I felt like, but it was GINORMOUS! This really wasn't something I didn't already know, I was just trying to fool myself into thinking that this couldn't be happening to my child. ARROGANT!-- another word I think that described my approach. So anyway, that night Micky and I had a long talk and decided we needed to change our tactics and try to pay attention to what she was trying to tell us. And basically, she just wants to be held and hugged on and told stories and tickled and told how much we love her and played with and treated like the princess she is. You know what, that's all pretty easy to do once you take the time to realize what's really important. The house getting cleaned and laundry getting done sometimes just have to wait, and that Seinfeld rerun we've seen 10 times just needs to be turned off. As long as there's clean underwear in the house, we'll be ok! :-)
Ever since Micky and I have wised up and made some changes, we've gotten our old Chloe back! I missed her greatly!-- and the potty problem has resolved very quickly! Chloe summed it up best with 6 very powerful words. The other night after I told her a goodnight story and was tucking her into bed she reached up and put her hand on my cheek and said, "Mama, I'm glad we're friends again." My heart skipped a beat. All I could do was hug her and tell her I love her-- and then run downstairs to bawl my eyes out :-) It's amazing how perceptive children can be, and it makes me hurt inside to know that she thought I wasn't her friend for awhile. But trust me, I'll make sure she knows everyday that she is my truest friend and always will be.
Micky and I are well aware that we can learn a lot from our 3 year old, and she does indeed teach us new things everyday,we just have to stop whatever silly thing we're doing and pay attention!

"Saving up for the pet store... think we'll call it 'I got Worms'"--- Lloyd Christmas

2008-03-27T15:24:00.004-04:00

So I just got done giving Chloe her afternoon snack, and I discovered she's been studying up on worms. Not sure where, but when I get done typing this you can bet I'll be checking my Google history. The lesson she gave me went a little something like this:

me: Would you like blueberries, strawberries, or a Dora yogurt?
her: chips
me: that wasn't a choice
her: how about an.... apple
me: that'll work
her: just make sure it's not a red one. I don't want to fall asleep like Snow White. I'm not sure when my Prince will be home. (Micky is of course the Prince)
me: ok. we'll go with green then.
her: does it have worms?
me: of course not
her: well, we might need some just in case we go fishing.
me: -blank stare peeling the apple-
her: you know, red worms help plants grow.
me: -another blank stare-
her: and black worms mean there's somethings wrong
me: that's good to know. where did you hear all that?
her: Little Bear told me
me: of course he did, here's your apple :-)

Healthy and Happy... with an extra dose of Healthy!

2008-03-21T09:04:00.004-04:00

Emma had her 2 month check-up Wednesday. It was about a week overdue, but we wanted to schedule it when Micky could go too, so it was this Wednesday. Everything went great! She weighed in at a lovely 13lbs. 8oz. and is now 23 and 3/4 inches long. We were very glad to learn that she has grown in length, not just weight! The cute folds around her chin were starting to concern us. She's in the 97th percentile in weight and the 90th percentile in height. Which means, if you had 100 babies her age, 3 would weigh more and 10 would be taller than her. Her doc assures us she is perfect (not that we needed him to tell us that) and that she's just an extra healthy baby! I guess that's his nice way of calling her a chunky monkey! We take great exception to anyone calling her BIG, we prefer healthy or chunky monkey!-- besides babies are supposed to have rolls. How else would I get to gnaw on her thighs or get all that good neck sugar?!? She's probably the happiest baby I've ever seen, and Wednesday night was the first night that she's cried for any length of time without us being able to get her to stop. I believe we can thank the 4 shots she got in her legs for that. She cried off and on from 8-9pm Wednesday night, but once she went to sleep she did great. She's got 4 little bruises on her thighs now. It's a really good thing that she can't talk yet. 'Cause when they gave her the shots, and later that night when she was hurting, and she stuck her bottom lip out and made such a pitiful face-- we would've promised her a Barbie corvette, a cell phone, or a trip to Disney World if it would've made her feel better!

"Mom, do you see this red dancing blob?!?.... It's AWESOME!"

2008-03-18T15:40:00.007-04:00

If Emma could talk, that's exactly what I think she would've said when she met Elmo Friday. Chloe had been singing and dancing for Emma while she was chilling in her Bumbo (which is the coolest little seat ever!). After Chloe went through all of her regular songs twice, she started looking around the room for other props. Then she looked at me with that look that says, "I've got a brilliant idea mom". She ran upstairs to her closet and came back down with Hokey Pokey Elmo. When she sat it down in front of Emma, Emma stared at it then Chloe then me, and she repeated that sequence of blank stares until she finally settled on Elmo as if to say, "Do you guys see this red blob too?" .... Then Chloe squeezed his hand! And if I had a decent camera that could take fast pictures, you would've seen the look of complete amazement and joy she exhibited at watching that little red blob do the Hokey Pokey! But since I have the 1999 Sony slower-than-a-snail CyberShot, you'll have to settle for these cute pics. Some are from Friday and some are from yesterday!
(If you click on the picture it will open up larger)

Emma this is Elmo. Elmo, Emma. She didn't take her eyes off of it for a solid 3 minutes--which is like a month in baby time!

Chloe is earning even more points as the coolest big sister ever! Emma is amazed that she can move just like the big red blob!

This thing is mesmerizing. How does he spin on one heel like that?!? I'm thinking so hard I'm drooling-- could I get a bib here or a wipe please?!?

All this dancing is making me tired. Catch ya later big red blob!