the "everyday tiara," a birthday party, and mamie's new tricks

Well, I guess we bought the Halloween costume a bit too early. Lilly has been wearing her tiara or "clown" as she calls it, everywhere. She also wants to try on her princess costume every day--but we are getting a lot of mileage out of, "If you want to be a Princess, you have to act like a princess and share, etc." She wants to wear her "clown" to school, church, the store, basically anywhere we go. I do draw the line somewhere, but she has worn it out in public a few times. We haven't had much to post about lately. Mamie is so busy and is growing so fast. She is eight months old now and is into everything. She is the happiest baby! Those of you who knew Lilly as a baby know how surprising it is for me to have a baby who laughs and smiles all the time. She's drinking out of a sippy cup, eating table food, and pulling up and cruising all over the place. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Lilly holding her tiara on the way home from Target. She was SO proud she wouldn't let go of it for anything.

A typical night at our house. PJ's with a tiara, necklace, bracelet, HUGE ring, heels, and two anklets.

Doesn't everyone wear their tiara to the grocery store?
Needless to say, we got to talk to LOTS of old ladies while we were there.

Lilly feeding a goat at Livi's birthday party

Cal, Lilly, and Livi--Happy Birthday Livi!

Too bad they won't smile for a picture!

Mamie with her sippy cup

Mamie and Scole--he's the best dog in the world!

Mamie learning to ride on Lilly's old riding toy.

Mamie cruising and laughing

My Man

Well, I got tagged. I'm sure it will thrill Jon to know that I am writing things about him for others to read. (I'm not sure how sarcasm comes through on the computer, but that was meant to be sarcastic.) I love you grumpy Jon!

1. Who is your man? Jonathan Neal
2. How long have you been together? almost 9 years
3. How long dated? about 4 years--minus an 8 month breakup (he actually broke up with me by quoting Merle Haggard--it's hilarious now, but I SURE hated him at the time!)
4. How old is your man? 30--for a few more days!
5. Who eats more? Jon--unless it's from krispy kreme and then there's no competing with me
6. Who said "I love you" first? Jon
7. Who is taller? Jon--only if I'm in flat shoes
8. Who sings better? I don't think either one of us are going to be contestants on American Idol any time soon, but I would have to say Jon
9. Who is smarter? It definitely depends on the subject
10. Whose temper is worse? Sadly, mine. He usually laughs at me and tries to get me to get over it. But, if he does get angry...he gets pretty angry.
11. Who does the laundry? Let me answer this by saying Jon once asked me "which one is the dryer?" when I asked him to get something out of it.
12. Who takes out the garbage? Jon (I could write a pretty good story here involving a shattered oven door and a flying trashcan.) He LOVES it when I overfill the trashcan.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me--by the door so I can jump out of bed all night long for babies (and I can see the TV better from that side :)
14. Who pays the bills? Jon--thank goodness! I did it for the first 3 years and it is not one of my strengths--he's great at it (accountant).
15. Who is better with the computer? Jon
16. Who mows the lawn? Jon--he takes great pride in his grass!
17. Who cooks dinner? We both do--Jon is great about cooking dinner if I'm running late (and he buys the groceries! I'm one lucky lady!)
18. Who drives when you are together? Jon, unless it's at night and then I drive because he'll fall asleep.
19. Who pays when you go out? Jon
20. Who is most stubborn? We both are, but I would have to say Jon is worse.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? neither one of us--we usually just move on!
22. Whose parents do you see the most? Jon's--they live in Brentwood
23. Who kissed who first? Jon--FINALLY after standing in our (me, casey, & courtney) dining room and talking about NOTHING for 3 and a half hours until about 2 in the morning after going out one night. The last thing I remember saying was something stupid and meaningless about siberian huskies...how lame.
24. Who asked who out? Jon--we were good friends first, and he called and asked me if I wanted to go on a date. I was SO excited. He took me to the Ryman to Bluegrass night for our 1st date.
25. Who proposed? Jon-- He came early to pick me up for a date and I was still getting ready. He had already talked to my parents that day and I had no idea. He got down on his knee--it was so sweet.
26. Who is more sensitive? definently me--I can cry over almost anything.
27. Who has more friends? Probably me--all the phone calls at our house are for me.
28. Who has more siblings? Jon--he has 2 sisters and a brother--I have one sister
29. Who wears the pants in the family? We both do, but they are pants that I washed and dried and folded and put away :)

I tag Courtney, Casey, and Ada.

Callin' Ducks

About a month ago Mamie found Jon's duck calls and started playing with them. The first time she ever picked them up, she started blowing into them and laughing hysterically when they made noise. She doesn't seem to think it's quite as funny anymore--I guess she's gotten used to the sound they make, but she still loves to "call ducks." I should have gotten video of it sooner, but I think it's still pretty cute.

Studio 330 & Little Big Town

Some of you know that Ashley's mom, Kathy, and I have a little decorating business started--the "Decorating Chicks." Anyway, we had a really fun job a couple of weeks ago at CMT. They needed some HUGE curtain panels for the set of a show on CMT called Studio 330. Kathy did a fabulous job making the three 12-foot long panels pictured in the background above. We got to deliver and help install them. They really looked beautiful--it was amazing what a transformation they made. It was so much fun and we got to see so much neat "behind the scenes" stuff. The lady that hired us produces the show and begged us to come the following day to watch them shoot Little Big Town but I didn't think they would appreciate Lilly and Mamie coming along, so I had to pass. I was sad--I actually LOVE Little Big Town, but it's probably best--I would have probably said something stupid or done something embarrassing and replayed it in my head for the next ten years. I think we may get to go to the CMT awards and a few free shows. It was worth it to me just to get inside and see what it was like! I'm easily impressed!

For my 5 year anniversary, could I have some antibiotics, please?

Here we are at Sperry's in Cool Springs with CJ and Pop (and yes, Mamie DOES have a face)

Well, this past Friday was our 5 year anniversary. It's been a wonderful five years! Jon and I had celebrated it early at Marlin's when we were in Destin, but my mom and dad (CJ and Pop) came up to see Lilly and Mamie this weekend and took us all to Sperry's to celebrate again. One of the hostesses there used to work for Jon at the store, so we always get the private room with the big flatscreen (I'll be so sad if she ever leaves). Anyway, I also "celebrated" with two weeks of doctors and sickness! Mamie had a mystery fever of 102 with NO symptoms almost all week last week. We finally spent almost 3 hours at the doctor's office on Thursday afternoon trying to figure out what it was. Her doctor thought she may have a UTI and wanted to get a urine sample. They put a little sticky bag on her underneath her diaper and I nursed her, thinking we'd have a sample in no time. Wrong. We waited 30 minutes and then I gave her a bottle of formula. Still no tee-tee. The nurses came in to talk to me about a catheter. I really wanted to save that as an absolute last resort. They brought me a bottle of pedialyte to try. Mamie drank 5 ounces of that, but STILL no pee. At this point, they were almost convinced she had a UTI because she seemed to be holding her urine. So after waiting well over an hour and filling her as full of liquid as I could get her, I finally agreed to do the catheter. It was the most pitiful thing I have ever had to see her go through. And, after all that waiting and all that trauma, her culture (thankfully) was perfectly fine. No UTI. I just have a strong-willed little girl who didn't want to go in a funny feeling diaper. She's been fine ever since--I have no idea what was causing her fever. Then I came down with the most horrifying case of strep throat I have ever had in my life. My throat started swelling up on Wednesday, but it didn't hurt and I felt great. I thought I was fine. Then, it hit me on Saturday while my parents were here (sorry mom and dad) and I ran 102+ fever from Saturday until Tuesday. I still thought I would be ok on Saturday. My throat was so huge I could hardly swallow, but I was still bound and determined to go to Sperry's and couldn't wait for some of their peppermint ice cream. Good thing I got that meal in, because I ate nothing but jello for the next couple of days! After a shot in the butt and a couple of antibiotics, I am finally almost feeling back to normal. Please know that I am NOT writing this to get any sympathy--when there are couples like the Farley's going through what they are going through, it makes everything else that we whine and complain about seem so insignificant. I just honestly thought it was comical that Jon (and my poor parents) had to spend our anniversary with me--in glasses and no make-up, greasy-haired, in mismatched pajamas, with pus dripping off of my tonsils like stalactites (the doctor's phrase), and oh yes, now my tongue is green and furry from all the antibiotics!


Here are a few pictures from the previous week--before all the "fun"!

Mamie loving the swing at the park.


Sweet feet


Lilly sliding

This was the cutest thing, but not the best picture--I was driving the girls around my cousins' farm, and Mamie had been sitting on my lap. She pulled up to look out the window and realized she could see herself in the mirror. She was leaning way out and laughing at herself--it was so cute!

More beach pictures

I realize now that I should have done this post first, but I'm still getting the hang of this!
Our attempt at beach pictures--Courtney actually got some good ones of our girls with her camera, but I don't have them yet. Mamie just tried to eat sand while Lilly posed.

Mamie laughing at the water with daddy.

Lilly looking at the "loud" water

Lilly and Cal--best buddies (partners in crime)!

Mamie and Will hanging out in the shade at the beach.

She's probably giving him tips on how to rip his hat off--notice she has just thrown hers off for the hundredth time!

Mamie loves her float!

Lilly swimming all by herself (with the help of water wings)! She was so proud of herself.

The whole gang--Lilly, Mamie, Cal, Lexi, and Will

I may need a vacation from my vacation

Today we spent the longest 8 hours of our lives in the car with 2 little ones. Driving all day with a seven month old and a two and a half year old is not my idea of a fun day. Mamie, the baby, actually did pretty well despite pooping on three outfits in the car. Lilly, however, was not such a patient passenger. I think she told us she wanted to go home and play in her room and in her closet and sleep in her bed about a hundred times (she's quite the homebody). Then we had to answer about a million questions about her Cinderella movie she watched 4 times. Packing up and leaving for home is never fun anyway when you've been on vacation. We had our Yukon packed to the gills inside with a carrier on top--we had a stroller, wagon, exersaucer, pack & play, booster seat, beach toys, way too many clothes, and a bunch of other miscellaneous baby gear. It's all still in my kitchen, and the thought of unpacking it all in the morning is probably why I'm not in bed yet. We had a great time and the kids loved it, but I wouldn't exactly call it a "relaxing" vacation. This is our fifth year taking this trip with these couples, and each year it gets progressively less relaxing. We've gone from, "Table for 6" to "Party of 11" when we go to out to eat. It's absolutely wonderful and such a blessing, but also pretty comical. I look back at the picture I have on my refrigerator of me, Courtney, and Ashley at the beach before kids and wonder who those tan people were. Those people who took an hour getting themselves ready to go out to dinner at whatever time they wanted to. Those people who took a nap if they were tired from laying out. Those people who slept in until almost lunchtime. Those people who could jump in the car and go shop at the outlets without having to coordinate it with naptime. Those people who could walk out the door with a book and sunglasses and nothing else to go to the beach. Now, you have water wings, SPF 50 sunscreen, baby floats, a quilt, an umbrella, a baby pool for the beach, your camera, sippy cups, beach toys, 3 towels, hats, sunglasses, snacks, and you have to have a wagon to haul it all. It's exhausting, really. And, after a solid week at the beach, I do not even have a tan. But it was still worth every minute of it, and I know I'll gladly do it again next year. We'll all have great memories to look back on (and it sure does make us appreciate the nights we got to get a baysitter and go out by ourselves)!