Emma's 1st day of school

Emma Jade started school this week. She is attending a Methodist Mother's Day Out, 2 days a week, this summer and fall. She was very excited to go and meet new friends and play..but her excitement grew tenfold when we went shopping for her 1st backpack and lunchbox.
I knew what kind she would like so I was hoping we would find one..it had been just a few years since I bought a lunchbox or backpack! So off to Wal-mart we went. Not too long into our search we saw it..
Cinderella was on a sparkly, pink backpack! JACKPOT!!
$7, not so bad..so now we just need a lunchbox..
after more aisles, we find the specialty ones, and there again was Cinderella (and her princess friends) on a sparkly, pink lunchbox!
The joy was priceless and well worth the $5. She wanted to carry it around with her and tell everyone that we saw about her new gear! She always seems to draw attention and smiles from people in stores (usually good ;))!

So we had her new gear, picked out her dress, bow and shoes and packed up her lunch and backpack.
If you think that I made her wear her backpack like this, you are wrong..she thinks this is the correct way to wear it and refuses to listen to Daddy when he tells her she needs to turn it around!
We get to the school early, meet the teachers and friends, and with a quick hug say our goodbyes! What a big girl!
Georgia and I had a nice lunch with Carrie and before we knew it, it was time to pick Emma up!
We sneak in the room and watch Emma as she is helping clean up some blocks. She was very intent on her job!! Then she saw us and squealed, "Momma" and ran to give me a huge hug! It was great. Then I bent down so she could talk to Georgia..She said, "I missed you Georgia!" and kept saying that over and over again with kisses in between! It was really sweet. The smiles they have for eachother make my world!!
The school sends home a "report" each day. It states how much they ate, pottying, how much they slept, what activities they did, and their general mood of the day. I think this is a great thing and really helpful for the parents!
So the report says "She wasn't sleepy" and "ate some" and "went potty"...and played with lots of things. So overall good!
We did see the issues with her no nap and that wasn't pretty! It only took 30 minutes and she was out, though not without a loud fight!

Emma is bringing snack for her friends tomorrow, so we are picking something special out for that! She is looking forward to school again and water day tomorrow...
then we are off to Austin for our party boat weekend!! FUN times!!

celebrating another year

Sunday, July 26 was my 29th birthday. We were lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa as sitters while we went out in CS for a long night of celebrating!! It was great to have my brothers there, as well as many other friends! We drove home on Sunday, took a nap, woke up to icecream shakes, and ended the evening with Zio's italian take out. I slept sooo good! It has been a busy year but a good one. I am looking forward to celebrating with more friends this weekend on Lake Travis!

a day to dance

This weekend we are going toLouin, where she grew up, to celebrate the life of my paternal grandmother, Sidney Laverne Hickman Stevens.She passed away this Wednesday morning in Mississippi after a long, happy life.

She was a wonderful teacher and carried that love of learning and the strictness of the old school ways with her throughout life..even with her grandkids!!

She never let us jump on the beds, but did love to share icecream and Coke with us!

So today, me and the girls shared some vanilla icecream (her favorite) and thought about all the time we had with Grandma..even more blessed that my little girls were able to meet their great Grandma..and even share cake and icecream on her birthday!!
Her fight with Alzheimers was long and hard, for sure on her, but it made it easier for us to say goodbye to her today. Another true test of her personality as she fought for what she wanted!!

We will miss you Grandma and know you are "dancing in Heaven with your Momma and Daddy"...as my Dad put it!

Standing tall

For the first time, Georgia stood today by herself..meaning she let go of the couch and stood there. I don't think she realized she did it, but hopefully it is just the beginning of it all!
She has not felt good this weekend, but we did have a lot of good quality family time together! Saturday, while Daniel was at a conference, we went to a few garage sales to get out of the house and G puked..she was so pitiful all day..no fever, just real clingy and would just lay on me and rub her eyes. Sad. She is better today and slept great!
Daniel and I had a great time on our deck, relaxing, playing Trivia Pursuit and drinking way too much rum and Coke. We finally got rain so it was nice out. The girls were so nice to sleep in with us until 10 am!! It was great!
Thursday we met up at Sea World with some work friends who are new to town..they are nice and have a 21 month old girl, Julia. We also met up with them for dinner tonight.
Friday we attended our 2nd kiddie bday in SA for Rylee. It was an under the sea party with swimming and fished shaped foods. FUN and the girls had a great time!

All that to really say we had a great low-key weekend and G stood alone!!

frustrating funnies

So Emma is cracking me up and frustrating the heck out of me lately! She is doing pretty good with potty training, I guess..though she doesn't seem to mind having an accident?! Not really good for those who have to clean it up! So we went to a playdate at Micky Ds yesterday. She had a Pull-Up on..
She came over to me, while lifting up her dress and patting her diaper, and said, "I went potty!"
Ok, great.."Well, baby come here and I will change it for you..let's go to the bathroom!"
She runs off in delight up the play equipment. I look at a fellow mom and say, "She went poop. You don't think she would take off her diaper, do you?"
"No, she won't take it off up there."
This whole scenario played out over and over again..and I just kept letting her run off, easier than me chasing her up those tiny openings. And I figure it is her problem if she wants to hang out in her own mess.
So, let's just get to the point..I look over and she is on the lowest level and stops to pull OFF her pull-up..it is dangling around her ankles with the POO overflowing from it..she then sees me dashing for her and starts to try and scramble away. Her dirty bottom is then SMEARING poo all over the equipment. EEWW.
I am grossed out, embarrassed (actually felt my face get hot and red) and just start laughing..what else do you do?? Well, I did clean it up with the help of my friend..we head to the bathroom and finish the job..for some gross reason she kept touching her bottom with her hands..more smears! EEWW again. Other moms were laughing and there you have it! A fun morning at McDs! The next thing Emma has done lately is try and NURSE Georgia..that's right..she is giving up on her uncooperating dolls and going for the real thing. I look over and Emma has Georgia in a head lock under her night gown. "What are you DOING??", I shriek. I really didn't know... Then she shyly smiles and said, "I feeding Georgia!" Then as Georgia is grunting from the stronghold put on her, Emma reels her back in even more tightly to her, um, chest..I don't think anything came out..I wish I would have thought about her being a wet nurse for me months ago..I could have paid her in cookies and icecream! Emma was pretty serious about this attempt and didn't understand why there were tears of laughter coming down my face. She then let Georgia go free and went and got her a baby doll bottle. I guess she figured it wasn't worth the trouble?! Finally, I put the girls down for a nap today..go out to get the mail and take out the recycling. I come back in and hear, "Ma, I AWAKE now!!" with much excitement..that smile quickly turned to sadness as I broke the news to her that no, she was supposed to be in bed. Not only had she gotten out of her bed, but she had decided to open the door, turn on the lights and play with Georgia..who was now smiling and bouncing in her crib! It was almost tempting to pick Georgia up instead of laying her down with that beautiful smile while hearing her say "Mama". Neither were pleased when I turned off their lights and closed their doors. Good night!! We got a watermelon..Emma is in love.."I LOVE watermelon"..I hear her choke out with a mouthful! She gets so excited and will eat almost anything we put on her plate so she can have some watermelon! Don't you just love summer!

GZ is 10 months

her toothie!!
that belly was pre-watermelon..what a figure!
My Georgie girl is 10 months old today. She is such a doll. Her constant smile lights up anyones face who comes in contact with her! She is on the move now..quickly crawling from room to room and she isn't scared to go somewhere dark.
I will be doing the dishes and then look to find her and have to scour the house for her..usually she will be in my bathroom..she likes toilets...which coincidentally is not great timing as Emma is now using the bathroom regularly and I can't really leave the door closed. Something I really didn't think of, til now!

Georgia is cruising on furniture and anything else she can easily scale. She prefers to play with toys that are sitting on top of something else. Of course!

She is a wonderful eater. She will eat anything we put in front of her. She hasn't had a bottle in weeks..so I think we will skip to a sippy cup for any milk she needs from here on out. I am still nursing her, but only 2-3 times in a 24 hr. period. I don't think there is much there for her, though she doesn't seem to mind.

She sleeps well, takes 2 naps a day, doing to bed around 8:30 and up around 8 a.m.
She still cries when we put her down but stops soon after. She also will wake up and cry in the middle of the night, but if ignored she will fall asleep again soon.

She is wearing size 4 diapers.

I think her favorite person is Emma Jade. They love eachother and were so cute playing peak-a-boo with eachother this morning.

We call her the "fountain". When she drinks and is not really thirsty her water spills out of her mouth like a little water fountain!

She just learned to shake her head "no", though it is more of an excitement thing and it is too cute!

She says Dada, Mama, bye, baba, gaga. She likes to dance and listen to music or singing..she waves her hands around and smiles. She will even "sing" along. She also likes to wave to people. She loves when I say, "I'm gonna get you!" and crawl after her..she squeals and crawls away as fast as she can..then quickly gives up and just smiles til I "get her"! She is so sweet and cuddly!

She is pretty laid back and will let Emma bully her a bit. She doesn't seem to mind her rolling on her, just more playful than anything.


She is awake now, so better run!! Watermelon and pool to celebrate the big day!!

Surprising that is it 100 plus degrees outside..in the shade it is nice..as long as you aren't moving around too much..back in MS we would have melted for sure..amazing what a lack of humidity will do. Any breeze will be welcome at the park tomorrow!!

Oh and congrats to my cousin Tim and Shelly, on their first baby, Maddie was born this morning, finally!! She is a cutie. Weighing in at a whopping 8.9 lbs. We are excited they are in Austin and semi-close to us..I hope the girls all grow up as close friends...like we did!!E wanted to make sure you didn't forget she was around..she deserves her own post, FOR SURE!

puking at Pete's

Did I mention that we got to ride in style in an RV?..I am pretty sure the girls are ruined for ever again being satisfied with our suburban for long road trips. Well, after 14.5 hours on the way there, I was happy to be able to roam around and let the girls take turns out of their seats too.

The last day of our time in Pensacola, we were busy fitting in all of our favorite activities...beach, pool, food..and I think Emma got dehydrated..she wanted no food and was in a sour mood. We headed to Peg Leg Pete's for our last dose of crab claws, but not before I dressed the girls in matching outfits and took some pics on the beach..noone wanted to be there, so I am not really satisfied with them, but that was quickly forgotten...


While at our table waiting for our beloved claws. Emma was not wanting anything to eat, still..she was whiny..and had a high fever. Lucky me I know, but she has never had much of a fever before..but this I could tell without even taking it.
I decided to take her with me outside and call my parents to see what they thought of her condition..while outside (thank goodness) she starts puking!It pretty much lands on me and her and is over within seconds. So we head inside and I am carrying her so noone can really tell what happened. We stick out the dinner and I hold her the whole time while she sleeps.
Ok, so I know, no Mother of the Year award for staying at the restaurant, but we had already ordered our food, and the RV was parked way down the beach, so I couldn't imagine carrying her that far myself.
We just made a puke sandwich with our bodies and except for the smell we made it home in one piece. She got some Tylenol and tummy medicine back at the condo and her 103 fever finally broke that evening. She was fine after that and slept and woke up 100% for the 4th!

Pensacola, FL

We have now been in Pensacola for almost a week. It has been a blast, a tired blast, but a blast! Everyday we eat, beach, pool, eat, nap, pool, eat, pool, sleep. WHEW..basically in that order..and I realized that...
I Hate Sand! I also hate salt water...
It is sticky, itchy, chaffing and apparently doesn't taste good. (Georgia let me know with her whining as she took handfuls and crammed it in her mouth, eyes and ears.)
We still went back daily for more of the same..the waves here on the "whitest sand beaches" are rough. The flag was a yellow which means caution (mainly of the rip tides). It is scary for a grown-up who can swim well, adding a brave 2 year old and baby to the equation, then it just gets down right mommy-vigilant-I can't enjoy myself for a second-day at the beach!
Really, though, it was fun and I think most of the sand is washed out of our hair and crotch area.
The "baby beach" or the bay side was better, because you got the sun, sand and salt water with little to no waves and it was wading level even for Emma. Also, it backs up to the Boardwalk which is where all the shops, bars, restaurants are located. So if you get hungry, hot or desperate for a souvenir, you can walk 50 feet to Pensacola's finest!
Some of our highlighted events included:
*Daniel and I got to have a night alone and we watched a lightning storm, ate great (expensive) food and a bottle of red, and didn't even have to pick up crackers and broccoli off of the floor when we were done! NICE!
*Jeffrey (my little brother) and I got to go to the greyhound races one night..(that deserves its own post)I broke even, though!!
*Daily we listened to live music, drank Tropical Itches and ate crab claws! So much for my workout regimen I had been following!
*I got new running shoes (hot pink, Breast Cancer supporting) and a sports bra (I can even jog in it without much pain) so maybe there is hope for my workingout!?!
*Georgia's sleep cycle is SO off..she woke up at least once in the night and then like clock work (not my clock) was up at 6a.m. each morning..So I had to do the only thing I could..take her for a walk up and down the strand so to not disturb anyone else who wanted to sleep in for vacation. I was sad, but we WILL change that when we get back home! Georgia's 1st icecream, honest!!
*While listening to island music and taking shots of free rum, we took pictures with some big ass parrots. Emma was brave and wanted to do it..so we did..they hopped on us, 1 on my head and shoulder and as soon as the guy put the bird on her arm, she FREAKED! anyone surrpised, not me! But at least she wanted to try it! I was just glad they didn't poop on my head, or so I was told..
*cousins Brett Tyler, Emma & Georgia got to be good friends..they play great together and laugh and giggle and get really wild!! He is a big help with them!Aunt Jennie (Sid's sister & my middle-name sake, Georgia & BT
*Emma is crazy in the pool..she is getting a lot better at "swimming". She will jump off the side (on the count of 3, or 5, whichever she prefers) and hold her breath..SPLASH in your face and love it! She does this constantly and then she will "swim" to the ladder or side and crawl out. She has really improved, but it is best when she wears her ring..otherwise, you really have to watch her..she is too brave. I think I may have to put her in swim lessons soon.

Happy 4th of July..we are off to Louin to pick boatloads of blueberries and figs!