tagged

Well, I've been tagged by Amy to complete this list :)

* Maybe I should... get a tan, and finish a few of the things that I have been writing on my weekly "to do" list for way too long now.

*I love the smell of...babies after a bath, coffee in the morning, and hot krispy kreme doughnuts

*People would say that I... tend to exaggerate, am always busy, have a hard time letting some things go, and can be extremely anal about things.

* I don't understand why...God made mosquitoes or cellulite, or how anyone could ever harm a baby or child.

*When I wake up in the morning...I cuddle on the couch and watch cartoons with Lilly and Mamie.

*I lost my will power to...exercise.

*Life is wonderful with...a husband who brings the groceries home every night, and when (extemely rare, but wonderful) all of the laundry is put away, a clean house, and nothing to do but enjoy spending time with our two little girls.

*My past made me...want to raise athletic kids (since I clearly am not).

*I get annoyed when...I reach for a box of something in the pantry and it's been put back empty. JON!

*Parties are not...something I know very much about anymore.

*Dogs are...the greatest people on earth.

*Cats are...not good for much besides making me sneeze and itch.

*Tomorrow I am going to...go to a baby shower for Jon's cousin, Allison.

*I have a low tolerance for...slow drivers and people who say "we had went."

*I am totally terrified of...ghosts, flying, roller coasters, and wearing a bathing suit in public.

*I wonder why I thought my life would be...easier! Like I was going to be a little stay at home mom who lunched with her girlfriends once a week at the Puffy Muffin while a nanny kept my kids--HA! Babysitting for all those rich moms in college ruined me!

*Never in my life...would I try to have a baby without an epidural.

*High school was something that...I would love to be able to go back and do over NOT as a dork.

*When I am nervous...my chest and neck get red and splotchy.

*Take my advice...and never ever microwave anything plastic.

*Making my bed is...something I do daily and (I wish I could post a picture here for you to fully understand) a HUGE chore after Jon sleeps in it all night. It's basically like starting from scratch--the sheets are all pulled out and half of the comforter and pillows are on the floor.

*I'm almost always...out of time.

*I'm addicted to...krispy kreme doughnuts (especially chocolate), candy bars, slice & bake cookies, coffee, potato chips, lemon cake, cokes, sweet tea, and pizza. (mostly health foods, as you can see.)

*I want someone...to do all of our laundry. Actually, I'll even wash it and fold it--it's just the putting away part that I HATE.


I tag Courtney, Casey, Kim, and Jennifer S.

scole has a sleepover buddy

Scole got to have his friend come home with him from the farm yesterday. Lilly and Mamie are pretty excited. Mamie is crazy about dogs and now runs around saying "Bo, Scole!" Bo is sort of under house arrest, actually. He kept visiting a neighbor's farm and "playing" with the chickens and cats, so it's either subdivision lockdown, or get shot by an angry man with a loaded rifle. I'm not sure he knows what to make of the fence--he keeps walking laps around the yard, sniffing it and looking at it like he has no idea what it is. He's so sweet and well-behaved. We're all glad he's here for a while. Scole has been pretty bored and pitiful lately. We've been keeping him outside since we listed our house last week, so he needed a friend.

two doggies are two times the fun!

wet & wild

On Memorial Day, all of my family went to my cousins' farm for lunch. There were 41 people there counting all of the kids. There are so many little ones that are the same age--it is so much fun anytime we get together. The kids swam and played on a huge slip and slide. I think Mamie liked the slip & slide even more than Lilly did. She was out there with all of the big kids trying to slide down by herself. After lunch it started pouring so we had to move inside, but that didn't seem to stop any of the fun. As usual, we had great food and wonderful homemade ice cream!
Congratulations to my parents who celebrated their 35th anniversary on Monday!

Cal, Ellie, Carly Beth, and Lilly dancing together and playing "ring around the rosie."

Ellie and Lilly dancing while Kerry played the guitar and sang. Lilly takes her dancing seriously. Her favorite show is "Dancing with the Stars."

Ellie sitting in one of the buckets that held the plastic down for the slip and slide

Lilly "helping" Mamie get to the slide

Mamie standing at the bottom ready to go again while Eli slides by

At the end of the slide--how sad

This is how Lilly kept posing when I tried to take her picture. Pretty funny. She sure didn't learn how to pose in a swimsuit from her mommy.

rainforest cafe

A couple of weeks ago, I had to run a couple of errands at Opry Mills. Lilly discovered the Rainforest Cafe and has been asking if we can go eat at the "animal mall" ever since. While my parents were here over Memorial Day weekend, we all took Lilly and Mamie to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. Mamie was not so sure about it and spent the first five minutes clinging to me for dear life. She finally decided she liked it and kept saying "mum-key" and pointing to the monkey swinging over our table. Lilly loved it but was a little scared by the thunderstorm they have every 30 minutes. Most of the pictures I took didn't turn out too well because it's so dark. I'm sure we'll be going again--Lilly really liked it. I just enjoyed being there without four classes of first graders asking me if they can go to the bathroom and destroying the gift shop.

In front of the big elephant

Daddy and Lilly by one of the fish tanks. Lilly saw Dory inside.

Pop taking Mamie around to show her all of the animals.

CJ and Lilly

gone fishin'

As a reward (one of many) for getting rid of her blanket, Jon surprised Lilly with a Dora the Explorer fishing pole a few weeks ago. He's been wanting to take her fishing for a while but the weather hasn't been cooperating on his days off. Tuesday he picked her up from school, went to buy crickets at the bait shop, and headed to his grandparents farm to fish in the river there. They caught tons of fish and she had the best time. I thought she might freak out about the crickets or having an actual fish on the end of her line, but she loved it. She has talked about it to anyone that will listen. She caught about five little blue gill. He didn't have our camera, but took a picture with his phone. (thanks, uncle Branson for getting it off the phone and emailing it to us!) I think we may have a little angler on our hands. Here she is showing off her fish--so proud!

Not too many fishermen wear their Lilly Pulitzer dress, gold flip flops, and a bracelet to fish.

This picture looks nothing like Lilly to me--maybe it's the camera phone, but it's very strange.

mamie at 15 months

Mamie had her 15 month check-up yesterday. She weighed 22.13 (50th% for weight) and was 32 3/4 inches long (90th% for height). As always, the pediatrician mentioned her unusual strength. He should try putting her pajamas on! She is still such a happy baby. She plays by herself or with Lilly so well (which sometimes involves me having to clean up a big mess) and is so content. She is extremely tough (she has to be to survive living in a house with Lilly), and rarely cries when she falls down or gets hurt. She is a serious climber and loves to climb on the arms of the couch, the kitchen table, Lilly's bed, our bathroom counters, shelves, etc. I do have to watch her pretty closely lately to keep her off of things--she is a true daredevil. Lately she is really interested in babies. She loves carrying around baby dolls and patting them, rocking them, and putting a binky in their mouth. Likewise, she is equally interested in her baby cousin, Hollis. It's so cute to see her act like a little mother. I tried writing down all the words she is saying before I went to the doctor (they always ask and I never think to write them down before I go) and she is saying 49 words. She tries to say pretty much anything you tell her to, and it seems like every day or two she says a brand new word. Mamie is also particularly interested in dress up shoes and purses right now. She likes to carry about five or six purses around at the same time and usually just has on one of Lilly's (or sometimes my) high heels. She has a hard time getting both of them on by herself. She LOVES being outside and tries to go out from the minute she wakes up each morning. She is silly in love with her big black dog and also, unfortunately, his water bowl. She's getting so big so fast! I think the second one seems to grow up even faster than the first.

Saying "cheese." I had wanted a picture of her rocking her baby, but she wouldn't quit posing for the picture.

Let's see...what to wear with a brown gingham bubble? I need the pink feather purse, the straw purse, the floral purse, the black purse, and oh yes, one yellow high heel. Yellow is a big color for spring, you know.

Mamie had to climb up and sit beside me while I held Hollis. She was so excited.

I caught her standing in Scole's water bowl with water literally everywhere. I fussed at her (thus the crying) but then just had to take this picture. It was like she was having a little soothing foot soak.

mother's day

This Mother's Day I have spent a lot of time thinking about the incredible responsibility of being entrusted with these two little perfect souls.

Am I making the right choices with how I discipline our children? Am I helping them build a strong relationship with God? Am I teaching them to be kind and caring and empathetic towards others? Will they always be able to see past people's outward appearances? Will they feel the enourmous pressure to be like and look like everyone else? Will they make wise and spirit-led decisions as they mature? Will they feel passionate about helping those in need? Will they be too consumed with "things?" Will they surround themselves with the right friends? Will they make the right decision even when no one is there to see? Will I be able to keep them safe from harm in today's very scary world?

I am so blessed to have these two sweet girls and I pray that I will be able to make the right decisions as a parent.

My two sweet girls. One funny note--since "mother's day" Lilly has been calling me "mother" constantly. "Mama" and "mommy" have fallen by the wayside and been replaced (unfortunately) with "mother." I'm hoping it's only a phase...

How we spent our mother's day

Playing with Pop in the gravel around the fountain in my parents' backyard. Lilly always uses the binoculars while we're there (turned around backwards) to look for birds in the woods.

Mamie and CJ playing with bubbles. Mamie does NOT ever want any help, which makes for very messy bubble time.

For Mother's Day this year, we decided (Jon's idea, actually) to surprise my mom at church in Huntsville Sunday morning. That meant waking up at 5:30 to get everyone and everything out the door in time to make it to church at 9:00. My mom was so surprised and happy it made it all worthwhile. I could read her mind when we walked into the auditorium. She didn't see us until we were standing right beside her, but she was surrounded by families whose children and grandchildren had all come home for Mother's Day and hers hadn't (she thought). It was a great way to spend the day. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mother. She is truly my best friend and I can't imagine not being able to call her on the phone to talk at least twice a day. I love you mom!

bye-bye blankie

Lilly's new bedtime friends: Piggy, Hippo, and Bunny

one Belle dress: $19.00
one inflatable giraffe swimming pool: $24.99
one Snow White doll: $9.99
one orange Icee: $1.30
one folding Disney Princess beach chair: $9.99
one Dora the Explorer flashlight $3.99
Leaving the house without a brown, wet, smelly, rotting blanket hanging out of my child's mouth: PRICELESS

It's official! Lilly has now been "off the blanket" completely for about three weeks. I felt like I had to wait to celebrate in case there was a relapse, but she has done great. It amazed all of us. She was SO attached to it and had NEVER slept without it once--naps or nighttime, but she somehow (with the help of bribery) breezed through giving it up like it was no big deal. I am so proud of her and so relieved. I have dreaded having to take it away for months now, but we decided it had to be done when they said something about her teeth developing an overbite when we were at the dentist. She is so proud of herself and has told everyone. She had to tell her teachers, friends, every family member, and even the lady at Target ALL about sleeping without her blanket. She is so proud of herself and so are we!