Fiesta!

Yesterday we met some of my mom's side of the family in Trussville for my cousin David's birthday party.  We had lots of fun and it was wonderful to have (almost) all of our family together!  David got lots of presents, and LOTS of money, but I think what made him the happiest is that he was with his family, who loves him so very much.  (Well, the family, and all of the money that he got.)NOTE:  I've tried 85,000 times to put names and descriptions by these pictures, but I cannot get everything formatted correctly.  So I'm including one caption that describes all of the pictures - "We're all related."

Cake Wrecks

My friend Robyn finds the greatest stuff on the internet. Her latest discovery is a blog called Cake Wrecks and it is HILARIOUS. If you have a few minutes and you need a laugh, click here.

A Few Pictures...

Mary calls her feet her "beet" (which absolutely cracks Wade and me up). I checked on her Saturday night after she went to sleep and found her like this, with her little "beet" sticking out...


Mary and The Bobo...


A gorgeous (and HUGE) butterfly...


Bobo relaxing in the sunshine...

Sweetness

I took this picture last night while Emma was "reading" to Mary, and they didn't know I was watching them...

Emma's First Day Of Kindergarten (Part 2)

I have taken a million pictures of Emma's first day of school, and I just wanted to share a few more from this afternoon when we picked her up from the bus stop. We all missed her so much today - the house just doesn't feel the same when she isn't in it. Mary looked for her big sister all day, and couldn't wait to get to the bus stop to pick her up. Emma had so much fun today, and came home absolutely exhausted. She has asked me no less than 10 times since we got home from the bus stop if we are going to have to get up "that early" every day. She asked me when I tucked her in tonight if we had to get up early again in the morning, and I told her we would have to wake up early on school mornings but on the weekends we could sleep late. Then she asked "How many more days until the weekend?" That's my girl!
...waiting for the bus.
...looking a little pooped.
...big kiss from Mary.

And They're Off!

Today was Emma's first day of Kindergarten at Kemp. She jumped out of bed this morning with a huge smile on her face, ate a great breakfast and kept asking if it was time to go to the bus stop yet. She was SO excited and wasn't the least bit nervous. There are 11 kids at our bus stop, and she was the first one on the bus! Somehow she ended up sitting between two boys she didn't know, so she wasn't thrilled about that, but she still had a beautiful smile on her face when the bus pulled away. Mary keeps asking for her, and Wade and I miss her like crazy. It will take a while to get used to not having her around, but we are so proud of her and we know she is going to have a wonderful time in Kindergarten.

Well, you, my friend, have crossed the line that divides man and bum.

This afternoon, we discovered Mary standing at the trash can, drinking the last few drops of Welch's Orange Pineapple juice from the discarded container.
Reminds me a little of this.

Meet-The-Teacher Day At Kemp Elementary

Today we met Emma's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Miller. Emma got to visit with her new teacher, see her classroom, and meet her classmates. She was okay at first, but the longer we stayed, the more antsy she got, and she finally told me that she was very nervous. She told me four times after we left the school that she did not want to go to Kindergarten. I did manage to get one picture of Emma and Mrs. Miller, but don't let Emma's smile fool you - she did not want to be there. I'm worried that Monday morning is not going to go well...

Emma Bowling

Here is a little video of Emma bowling. Look at that form!

Mary Bowling

Here is a little video of Mary bowling. The ball takes SOOOOO LOOOOONG to get to the pins that Mary just walks away.

Bowling

Yesterday we took the girls bowling for the first time. We had the best time and the girls absolutely loved it! Wade and I were really surprised at how well they both caught on and how STRONG they both are - they didn't even want help with the bowling ball. Here are a few pictures from our fun day...

Creative Sleeping

Emma sleeps every which way but the right way. This is how I found her the other night. At first I almost jumped out of my skin because it looked like someone was sitting upright under her blanket, but then I looked closer...
and saw that she was lying on her belly and bending her knees - the lump was the bottom of her feet.

American Girl

This weekend Emma and I met some friends from Birmingham at the American Girl Store and Bistro in Alpharetta. We had so much fun and Emma enjoyed every second of the day. She picked out a beautiful doll who looks (almost) just like her and named her Ella. She and Ella also found some very fancy matching pajamas and a little pink stroller so Ella can go everywhere with Emma.
...Parker, Reese and Emma
...Emma with her "stand-in" doll getting ready to eat lunch
...Reese and Emma
...the girls in their matching pajamas
...after a long hard day of being American Girls.

It's Potty Time

Little Mary tt'd on the potty today...yet another milestone I'm not sure I'm ready for.

Time Flies

In less than two weeks, our firstborn will start kindergarten. We've bought the supplies, shopped for school clothes and shoes, and picked out her backpack and (matching) lunch bag. We've provided proof that she's up to date on her vaccinations, dental visits, and toured the school. We've done everything we can to get ready for her first day of school. Except I'm not ready.

I remember like yesterday checking into the hospital around 7 am on Thursday, March 27, 2003 and the nurse congratulating Wade and me, telling us we would become parents that day. I remember so vividly HOURS of rocking in Emma's pink and white gingham chair, singing nursery rhymes and the alphabet and everything in between, wondering why she never wanted to sleep. I remember her first birthday party, and the book my Daddy gave her (Mayday To The Rescue) that still sits on her bookshelf to this day. I remember the day she started Mother's Morning Out, and how she made the teacher sing "The Wheels On The Bus" over and over and over again because she loved that song so much. I remember her spending countless hours with her first true friend Kayla, and watching them build a bond that is as strong now as it was when they spent every day together. I remember being amazed at how well she handled our move to Atlanta, and how I envied her because I didn't. I remember telling Emma I was pregnant, and how she announced that if the baby was a girl, we would name her Dora, and how she would lay on my stomach every night and sing the A-B-C song to Mary, and how Mary would get totally still to listen to Emma's voice. I remember Emma walking into our hospital room the morning Mary was born, and suddenly she seemed HUGE, and how gentle she was with Mary, and how nervous she was holding her new baby sister. I remember signing her up for preschool and choosing the 3-day program because neither of us were quite ready to spend that much time away from the other.

But now, ready or not, we're here. In 12 short days, I will walk our little girl to the bus stop in a precious outfit I'm sure she will have spent hours choosing. I'll take a million pictures and tell her how proud her Daddy and I are of her, and promise her a fun-filled day. I'll tell her all about the new friends she will make, and the important things that she will learn.

What I won't tell her is that my heart will surely be breaking because I don't know how I will get through the day without her, much less the entire school year. That, if she gets lost those first few days of school, I can't be the one to take her hand and help her find her way. That if she's nervous and unsure, I can't give her a big hug and tell her that she can do ANYTHING she sets her mind to, and she will be FINE. That now, when she scrapes her knee, a bandaid will have to do because I doubt the school nurse will kiss her boo-boo. That now, if someone is mean to her, she will have to depend on her teacher to help her deal with the situation. That now, if she cries because she misses me, she will have to work through it instead of coming back home to me.

I know it will get easier for both of us, and I know that I'm one of a million mothers who will feel these very same things that morning. But this is MY baby girl, and she's very special, and I want so many wonderful things for her because she deserves them all.

Mary-Speak

We have had so much fun watching Mary grow and learn to express herself. Everyday she uses a new word or group of words, and I wish I could say they are all completely decipherable, but they're not. Lots of times we find ourselves examining the context of the "conversation", her tone, even the direction she is looking in, trying to figure out what she wants to say. We ask her to repeat herself, which she does, repeatedly, until we're all yelling words left and right, still no closer to figuring out that she just wants some water.
There are words that Wade and I mispronounced when we were little that our parents still bring up from time to time, and it always makes us laugh. I've tried to keep a running list as Mary's vocabulary grows for the same reason. I wanted to share some of it, not only for its entertainment value, but to minimize frustration should you find yourself engaged in conversation with little Mary.

beebee – baby
bee mean – big plane
bypuh – diaper
cake nap – take nap (generally preceded by “no”, which interestingly enough is clear as day)
coo coo ree – choo choo train (one of our favorites)
cugga up me – cover me up
eye wuh woo – I love you
hice – ice
huuuh – here
Marmay – Barney
Meh Way – Mary
mm mm ah ah – monkey
nack – snack
neckneck – chicken
no hice – no ice
nya-nyou – thank you
out me – get me out
popeye - potty
root cup – fruit cup (another favorite)
root nack – fruit snack
Sisty – Sister
tips – chips