Vacation to Florida

Last Friday we left Smyrna for a Florida getaway. We were so excited to go down to Lakeland for Ryan's cousin, Emily Hooks', wedding in Lakeland, Florida. Lakeland is where Ryan was born and lived until he moved up to Birmingham when he was almost 8, and he still has some family there, so he always enjoys getting to visit. We wanted to bring the girls down with us, but we didn't want to take them into the wedding, so Mom and Dad were kind enough to come down with us to babysit.

Ryan and I had a great ride down with the girls though it took about 9 hours. Mia would sleep and then wake up to play with the toys dangling above her head; she was a happy little girl. Lily was very content watching Little Einstein and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVDs on the portable DVD player. We stopped every 2.5 to 3 hours to feed Mia and let Lily burn off some energy. At the Florida line, we stopped at a rest stop that had some picnic tables, and it cracked us up that Lily literally ran laps around the tables for about 10 minutes. It was nice to finally arrive at the lovely Terrace Hotel that evening. Even though Mom and Dad left about 1.5 hours after us, we arrived at the exact same time!

Lily was very excited because we decided to let her sleep in bed with me (we had two double beds in our room) instead of in her inflatable sleeping bag. It worked out fairly well for several hours. Then, every night (or morning) around 2 AM, she would turn sideways; she would put her head on my shoulder and her feet against the wall. I would try to move her but she would snuggle right back up to me. To be perfectly honest, I didn't mind even though I didn't sleep very well. Lily is growing up so quickly, and it was actually nice to have my sweet little girl want to snuggle up with me.

We spent Saturday morning at Mayfaire which is a cool festival held each May in Lakeland. It is held around a beautiful lake where we saw lots of swans and ducks which made Lily very excited. There are many artists showcasing their work which we all enjoyed. Then we walked over to The Chop Shop for a delicious lunch. After that, we all took nice showers and naps for a few hours. What a great way to spend our first day of vacation!

That evening Ryan and I went to Emily and Brian's wedding while Dad and Lily spent time walking around the lake and Mom and Mia hung out in the rooms. It was a gorgeous wedding! Emily looked absolutely beautiful; her gown and veil were amazing. I loved the floral arrangements too. They were pink and white hydrangeas, peonies and roses; beautiful! It was a lovely ceremony, and then we headed over to The Lakeland Yacht Club for the reception. It was so much fun. We got to sit with some of Ryan's family: David, Jan, Grandpa Hooks, Lois, Uncle Sid, his wife, daughter and son-in-law. We enjoyed lots of delicious food and good conversation. They had a gorgeous (and yummy!) bride's cake and an adorable groom's cake that looked like a big Florida gator. Emily and Brian met at Florida's law school. We were able to spend several minutes getting to talk to Emily and her parents (Ryan's uncle and aunt), Hollis and Debbie, which was great. The photographer took some pictures of us that I can't wait to see. Hollis and Debbie had a great surprise for Brian and Emily too. They got them in the middle of the dance floor and then brought out the Florida Gator mascots, Albert and Alberta, dressed in a tux and formal gown! They were dancing and having a great time with the guests. It was awesome! This was such a great wedding. I am so glad we were able to attend. 

Sunday morning was Mother's Day. I love being a mom, so I was thrilled to have my girls with me. Of course, my mom is one of my best friends, so I was glad to have her with me too. We were fortunate to have brunch that morning with Ryan's grandfather and his wife. After taking a few minutes to warm up, Lily enjoyed her time with Grandpa and Lois. She had fun showing him what a Gator says; she does the Gator clap and says "chomp chomp." She sang her ABC's for them and when Grandpa started to sing them to her, she told him "No sing. That no good." Thankfully he just laughed at her honesty! She was very excited when they gave her gifts they brought back from FAO Schwartz in New York. They gave Lily two new books and a bathtub flute set that she loves. They gave Mia a toy telephone and a set of teething rings which she is already enjoying. It is always nice to spend time with Grandpa and Lois, so this was a wonderful treat. Below are a few pictures from our morning.

After our wonderful visit to Lakeland, we drove about 45 minutes over to Orlando to extend our vacation. We love the JW Marriott Grand Lakes, so we were thrilled to be back to spend a few days there. On Sunday evening, we drove over to my cousins' house who live in Orlando. It was great to spend time with Jason and Jill and their kids Natalie and Nicholas. They have a pool in their backyard along with a trampoline, playground, play house and lots of toys, so Lily had a blast. Natalie and Nicholas were so sweet to Lily; it was great to see them playing together. I think Lily had the most fun when Natalie brought out some stickers. By the time we left I think she had put about 20 of them on her shirt! They also made a delicious dinner for us of hamburgers, fries, corn and beans. What a great evening. I wish they lived closer to us so we could spend more time together. Jason and Jill are expecting Baby Howell number 3 in just under a month now too, so we hope this last month before becoming a family of five goes well for them.

On Monday, we had an amazing breakfast at the hotel; they have the best buffet. Then we spent the rest of the day, except nap time, in the pool. We have been telling Lily for a couple of weeks about going to the big pool in Florida, so she was beside herself excited. The Marriott has a beautifully landscaped pool area that includes a playground, toddler play area (where there is just water on the ground, but it's not a pool), a restaurant, a volleyball pit, a life-size chess set and a lazy river with lots of waterfalls that connects three pools. We spent most of our time at the kids' walk-in pool which was wonderful though we enjoyed going around the lazy river several times too. The first go-round, Lily just wanted to look at the waterfalls and see Ryan go under them to get wet. By the last time around though, she wanted to go under them too which was fun to watch. We stayed out until about 7:00 that night just enjoying the day; it was perfect. Just before bedtime, we saw some of the fireworks from Sea World and from the Magic Kingdom from our room's balcony. Lily saw the smoke afterwards and kept saying "Pee-eww. That smoke smells!" even though we were too far away to actually smell it; I guess she has just heard me comment about how smelly smoke can be.

We took several pictures in the pool with a water camera, but we haven't had those developed yet. Here's a picture of Lily before we walked down to the pool that morning though; she was ready to go. Is she cute or what?
Tuesday was a great day too. Mom and Dad were so gracious to keep Mia all day so Ryan and I could take Lily to the Magic Kingdom for a fun day. We parked and rode the tram to the monorail station. I think she would have been happy to ride the tram all day; she thought that was great. She compared the monorail to an airplane because I told her it would take us in the sky to get to the park, and she enjoyed that ride too. She was so excited when we walked into the park, and Pluto and Daisy Duck were greeting guests. We stood in a long line for a few minutes before deciding to move along; we promised Lily we would try to come back later to see them and thankfully when we returned later in the day, they were there. We met Daisy who gave Lily and me kisses on the cheek. Lily was shy but she took a couple of pictures. We didn't get meet Pluto but we were able to also meet Mary Poppins. Lily likes that movie so we were glad to see her.

We had a blast on the different rides too. Lily LOVES Dumbo (she still talks about riding it last summer and her Dumbo doll from Randy and Georgia sleeps with her every night), so we rode that twice (one time with me and one time with Ryan). We rode It's A Small World twice because Lily really liked seeing the little kids and animals dance and play instruments. We rode the carousel three times. Lily would sit on one horse, and I would sit on one next to her. She held my hand the whole time, and she would move it up and down; she told me she was moving my horse up and down for me. On the last ride, Tigger was actually on the carousel too. He was with a Make-A-Wish child a few horses behind us which brought tears to my eyes. We also had fun riding the "little pirate ships" with Peter Pan. I love that Lily loves riding all the rides.

We stopped for lunch at the little bakery cafe on Main Street which was a nice break. On the way to the cafe, there was a street parade that passed. Lily liked seeing Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Mr Incredible, Woody, Jessie and all the dancers and performers. After lunch, we rode the train back around to Toon Town. We were quite surprised when Lily asked to go on Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster. You have to be 35 inches tall of which Lily is just a little taller than that. We kind of thought we would stand in line and then Lily would freak out and refuse to ride, but we decided to give it a try anyway. As we were in line, the ride would go ride over our heads. Lily just laughed and would say "Whoa, that goes fast!" She and I rode it together while Ryan rode in front of us and took pictures of us. Lily loved it! She kept saying how much fun it was. I guess there is a little adventurer in her.

We also enjoyed the Philharmagic 3-D Show. Everyone files into the theater and then you "hear" Goofy the stage manager to the left. Lily was sitting in my lap, but she was staring at the side of the theater looking for him. When the show started, we put our glasses on, and Lily just leaned against me watching the show. At one point, Donald falls through a hole so the screen quickly goes black which is a little surprise. Lily actually jumped which was pretty funny. This show is really cool. At one point, they are in the dancing dinnerware scene of Beauty and the Beast, so you would smell the different pastries that had been prepared. Another time, they are flying through the air with Jasmine and Aladdin, so you would feel the air blowing on you. While they were swimming with The Little Mermaid, you would feel drops of water. At the very end, it appears that Donald is flying right at you and when you remove your 3-D glasses, you see Donald stuck in the back wall of the theater. Lily was quite concerned about him ("Uh-oh Donald!") until he was pulled through to end the show. Lily is convinced that Minnie Mouse rescued him though there was no indication that Minnie was involved. This was a really neat show that I am so glad we saw.

Our concern while at Disney was Lily's nap; she still needs one each day. By 3:30 (1.5 hours after normal nap time), you could tell she was so ready for a break, but she wanted so badly to keep people watching. We asked an employee if there was any place a little quieter that we could go, and she suggested the child care center on Main Street. We had no idea this place existed. They have a kitchen stocked with juices, snacks, formula, bottle supplies, diaper supplies, strollers, etc., a room filled with high chairs and small tables for kids, a nursing room for moms, a diaper changing area and a room with movies playing. We found a little couch and convinced Lily to put her head in my lap. Within a minute she was out and slept for almost an entire hour. She woke up, looked at me and said "I go ride Dumbo now." Before going back to Toon Town though we stopped for an ice cream treat. Lily thoroughly enjoyed that! We headed back to ride Dumbo, but unfortunately, a Florida afternoon thunderstorm was setting in. We stood in line for 25 minutes and were the second to ride group when they announced there was too much lightening in the area so the ride was being shut down. We called to check in on Mia who was having some teething issues, so we decided to go ahead and call it a day. We got back to the monorail just as the rain started to come down. After the monorail we got back on the tram to our car; Lily loved both of these rides. Then she laughed as we ran through the parking lot to our car and headed back to the hotel.

We all had such a wonderful time on this vacation. I love making family memories like this! Since coming home, Lily has talked so many times about the "big swimming pool," "fast Goofy airplane," getting "kisses from Daisy Duck," watching "Tigger ride the carousel," "kids dancing and singing," "Donald getting stuck" and "I ride Dumbo with Mommy and Daddy. He purple with Mommy and yellow with Daddy" (referring to the color of Dumbo's hats). When asked if she wants to go back, she gives an enthusiastic "YES!" Hopefully someday soon!

Birmingham Pictures

Here are some of the cute pictures from Ryan and the girls' trip to Birmingham a couple of weeks ago. They had a great time at the McWayne Center which is where most of these pictures were taken. She really loved the big "light-bright" board where you put colored pegs into the wall that lit up. She also had a great time on the huge piano that she could run all over; she loves making music. Who are we kidding, she had a great time at the whole museum and can't wait to go back!

Emotions

Lily is really starting to learn about and understand emotions. Usually she looks at a book and tells me what the people are feeling. For example, we look at her Bible each night before bed. She has commented how Adam and Eve look sad when they leave the Garden of Eden, how mad people look after their "very tall tower" is destroyed (Lily loves looking at very tall towers) or how happy the disciples are when they see Jesus.

The other day we were playing with Lily's pretend kitchen food, and she handed me the hot dog. I started singing "The Hot Dog Song" which is the song they sing at the end of each Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode as the characters are leaving the clubhouse. Lily said "No, Mommy, no sing. It makes me sad." I asked why it made her sad (thinking it related to my singing skills, or lack thereof as the case may be). She said "The hot dog song means Mickey Mouse is leaving." I thought that was pretty smart!

Also, today was the parent pancake breakfast at Lily's school. While she was eating her breakfast at our kitchen table, I told her I was going to go to school with her and eat pancakes. She gave me a curious look and asked why. I told her the teachers wanted to thank us for letting her come to school so they were making us pancakes, and it meant I would spend a little bit more time with her instead of dropping her off. She melted my heart when she said "That makes me smile!" What a sweetheart!

A Great Weekend For Everyone

This post is written by Ryan:

This past weekend the girls and I wanted to give mommy a much needed and well deserved weekend of rest. So, Thursday afternoon we packed up the car and headed to Birmingham.

We got into Birmingham just before 4:00 local time. We went straight to the CLC to meet up with Bama. Lily took awhile to warm up, but soon she was her normal self running all over the place. Lynne gave her a fun orange ball that she had a great time throwing and chasing and throwing and chasing etc. Bama introduced her to the 1980's wonder that is air hockey. She loved playing and kept asking for more coins when the air stopped. Bama would tap the puck down to her and she would catch it, put it under her paddle and slide it back down to Bama. After each time she scored she would catch the puck and put it in her slot so Bama could score too. It was very sweet. Miss Susan got a great video of us playing. I hope we can get a copy. We got a quick tour of the new youth building which was very nice. Uncle Josh came by and we had fun playing with him too.

We soon went to the house to unpack and get settled. Bama had made a wonderful roast and mashed potatoes for dinner. They have two cats and a rather large dog. Lily sometimes gets nervous around animals but she seemed to do quite well. As the weekend went on she began to warm to them nicely. I think one more day and she would have been asking for Sadie (the big dog) to sleep with her. The cats were in their own world and didn't have much to do with us anyway. We all had a very good time visiting.

Friday we had a good time just spending time together. We got to see the rest of the renovations to the church. I hardly recognized it as the place I grew up. It truly does look wonderful. Thanks to everyone up there who was so sweet to the girls. Lily left with lots of stickers, and we turned down lots of candy. Friday night I got to go grab a pizza with Josh at one of my favorite pizza joints. It was great to catch up with him.

Saturday we got to go to the McWayne Center. It was wonderful. I did not remember how much there was to it. Lily had a ball and Mia did fantastic. The first thing we did was essentially a huge Light Bright. Lily spent tons of time with this. She would take the pegs and put them in the wall and watch them light up. They also had a giant walk-on piano similar to the one in the movie Big. That was fun too. They had a special area for kids kindergarten and younger. There were lots of play cars, trucks, tractors and other things to "drive". She painted a picture, played on the playground and played with the toys in the water tank. There was plenty to see and do there and I'm sure we'll go back next time we are in town. You Birmingham folks are lucky to have such a great place to go.

That night we went out to dinner with Grandma, which was a real treat. Our friend Jimmy came with us too. We ate outside before the weather got bad. It was a really nice night. The place we went was a Chicago style pizza place so the food takes about 45 minutes to prepare. We all took turns following Lily as she walked up the ramp on the sidewalk, around the bushes and back down the steps. She probably made that lap about 50 times. Another great night. I must say that through all of this Mia just tags along like a trooper. She is one cool kid.

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. Lily did great going to a new classroom. We were concerned she might not be very comfortable, but she went right in and did great. After the service we came back downstairs to get the girls and ran into a few old friends which was a real treat. We went and got some Mexican for lunch and Grandma and Josh's main squeeze Amy joined us.

Our plan was to go home and pack up after lunch and head back to Atlanta. The severe weather caused us to delay our departure by about 3 hours. There were tornado warnings from Birmingham to the Georgia border. We got on the road right about 5:30 and were home in just over two hours. Mia slept the entire ride home and Lily sang most of the way. It turned out to be a very easy trip. We were all glad to see Mommy after being away for so many days.

Speaking of Mommy, she had a great weekend too. Her weekend consisted of a little work, a little house straightening, a massage, a pedicure, a stack of magazines, several cooking shows from the food network, Tylenol PM and sleeping in late. We were so glad she had a good relaxing weekend. No one deserved it more than she.

So, it was a great weekend for everyone. I'm sure we will do it again over the summer sometime. We'll get pictures up soon too so you can see for yourself just how much fun we had.

Green Beans

Last night for dinner I made chicken presents (chicken with allouete cheese and almonds wrapped in a puff pastry shell - delicious!), green beans, peaches and rolls. It was a good meal, if I do say so myself. Anyway, Lily didn't eat any of her green beans, so when she said she was done and asked to get down, I told her to eat one bite of green beans then she could get down. After reminding her of this a couple of times, she picked up one little bean and put it in her mouth. She immediately made a sour face, took it out and said "It hurts me." I thanked her for trying it and let her down. I guess that is just her way of saying she didn't like the taste!

Grandpops and Grandma Jan Visit!

We were thrilled to have David and Jan come down to visit from Chicago yesterday and today. David had some business here in Atlanta that he took care of, but then Jan flew down to join him so they could both visit with us. We had a great time together!

Ryan picked Jan up from the hotel early Thursday afternoon and brought her to the house. She was able to hold and play with Mia for a little bit before Mia's nap. We then had a chance to catch up before Lily woke up. Even though she had been talking all day about getting a visit from Grandpops and Grandma Jan, Lily was shy around Jan for the first little while after she came out of her room from her nap. A few minutes after she woke up, David arrived from his meeting. The four of us talked for a little while before Lily started to warm up.

Lily and I went outside to play while Jan fed Mia. When the bottle was gone, they joined us outside. Lily had a great time showing Grandma Jan her playground, demonstrating how well she jumps, singing her ABC song and bringing her flowers. When we got back inside, David was playing on Ryan's guitar. He started playing some familiar tunes, but then he made up songs for Lily. She was hooked after he sang a song about Dusty, her beloved rocking horse. She took the guitar and started "playing" her own songs...we each received our own special song written by Lily. She cracked me up too because after a few songs, she had her "big finish." She would throw her right hand up behind her and lean back a little as if expecting (and she received) a big round of applause! Here's a picture of her enjoying her new hobby.


After this we all enjoyed a delicious dinner at Zucca's, and then David and Jan returned to their hotel on the promise of seeing us tomorrow.

Lily was very excited this morning when we reminded her she would get to see Grandpops and Grandma Jan again today. She was even more excited when we told her we were all going to the Children's Museum. She loves that museum! We picked David and Jan up at the hotel and arrived shortly after the museum opened. I'm amazed that each time we go, Lily picks a different area to really concentrate on. Today, she was fascinated with fishing. I have to say too, she was awfully cute in the little yellow jacket rain jacket the museum supplies for the kids to wear. She wanted to fish a lot of the time we were there, but she also enjoyed playing in the market, "driving" the tractor and cranes, playing with the plastic balls in the water, running through the tree house and building a sand castle. They had changed their Bob the Builder construction exhibit to a cute fairy-tale exhibit. Lily had fun making horseshoes, putting together the magnetic puzzle and growing onions, carrots and garlic in the garden in this area. Here are some pictures from our 2.5 hours there...

Filling up her shopping cart...

and her shopping basket.
Driving the construction crane.

Hammering out the horseshoe.

Putting the shoe onto the horse.
Grandpops and Grandma Jan had fun spending time with Mia too.

Building a sandcastle with moon sand.

Coming down the tree house slide.

Mastering the rope ladder.

Running across the tree house bridge.

Grandpops enjoyed holding Mia.

Grandma Jan shares her fishing secrets with Lily.

Go fish!

With one of her many catches of the day!

After seeing how much fun Lily had with Ryan's guitar the night before, David and Jan asked if we could go to Toys R Us to get Lily a little guitar. So after a wonderfully fun time at the museum, we told Lily it was time to go because we were going to a special toy store. She and Mia both caught much needed mini-naps in the car until we got to the store. We found the cutest little guitar for her to play; it's red with hibiscus flowers and "Aloha!" on it. Lily loves it and calls it her "gar." She was also thrilled to get a pink Princess umbrella (or "underbrella" as she says). She has been carrying it around all afternoon, opening and closing it, and telling me its raining so she needs her "underbrella." After watching Lily have fun in the market and kitchen at the museum, Jan wanted to get her something to add to her kitchen at home. We found some cute little pink pots and tea kettle plus a kit filled with lots of different fruits, veggies, snack foods, cans and boxes. Another great find that Lily loves is a little drink thermos with a strap so she can wear it around her neck. We got a pink one that says "Lily" on it, and I was very excited to get a green one with "Mia" on it. It was very generous of David and Jan to get all these toys for Lily. I know she is going to have lots of fun with them. The best gift was getting to spend some great time with David and Jan. We don't get to see them nearly enough!

A Few Pictures

Here are a few recent pictures...

So excited to be in the excersaucer!

Staring intensely at the dangling fish.
"The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades..."

Lily loves riding Dusty. She rocks back and forth and says "Go Dusty go! Go Dusty go!" The other day we were playing in the playroom, and Lily couldn't find her Little People horse for her carriage. She looked over and said "Dusty, have you seen my horsie in the playroom? Have you seen him Dusty?" She also likes to cook in her kitchen and share whatever she makes with him.

Mia really likes her changing pad. She "talks" here more than anywhere else. I guess she just likes how soft it is. On the rare occasion that she is really upset and fussy, we will lay her on the pad and it seems to calm her down pretty quickly. Earlier in the week, Mia was very upset so Ryan laid her down to change her diaper; she fell sleep very quickly. Instead of waking her up to move her, Ryan buckled her in, and we moved the pad from her changing table to the floor. She slept quite peacefully for about 30 minutes or so just like this.

Yea Mia!

Mia just rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time; yea! She has been going from her tummy to her back for about 6 weeks or so, and she has been trying to go from back to tummy, but has never been able to get over. She finally made it; yea Mia!

Cool Lily

How cool is Lily? For three days in a row now, she has been happily playing and having a great time when we tell her it's almost nap time. She'll reply "One more (book, bubble, puzzle)" so we do one more of whatever it is. Then we'll say "Ok, it's nap time." She stops what she is doing, tells us to stay where we are, closes the hallway door and then her bedroom door. On the monitor, we see her turn on her humidifier and then climb into bed. She arranges her animals the way she wants, pulls the blankets (yes, all four blankets she insists on having) and goes to sleep for about 2.5 hours. Is she awesome or what?!

This morning, she was dancing like a ballerina. Actually, she says it's like June, who is a dancer on the Little Einsteins show she loves. She just kept spinning around in circles until she almost fell down. When she stopped, she said "Whoa! Mommy, the house is spinning!" I burst out laughing.

Lily has a little kitchen that Granna and Papa gave her for Christmas a year ago. It is an adjustable height one, so we decided last night after Lily went to bed to raise it up so it would fit her better. When you raise it, there are two extra doors to put things in and we had saved some extra accessories for it (extra cups, spoons, etc). This morning when Lily saw it, she stopped and stared then she just kept repeating "Wow!" Finally she said "My kitchen got big! It is very, very tall!" She has been playing in all morning because she is so excited about it.

Yesterday Lily was climbing on me, so I said something about her being a silly monkey. She said "No Mommy, I'm just a big girl." I couldn't help but agree!

Lily is crazy about sunglasses and hats all of a sudden. We were at the park last week, and she saw a little girl wearing a wide-brim hat. She commented on how cute it was, so I asked if she would like to wear a hat. She said "Yes, buy one at store. And sunglasses." Well, we already have sunglasses for her, so I pulled those out for her to try on. She loves them and doesn't want to take them off. She wants them in her shower and at breakfast. I'm going to try to get a picture of her in them soon because she is stinking cute with them on! Now to find a hat she will want to wear outside too...

Great Days

We have had several great days recently. On Saturday morning, lots of our friends from Sunday School hosted a Sip and See shower for Amelia and me and two other friends who have new babies; Jill has Macey who is 5 days younger than Mia while Diane has Christen who is 2 months younger than Mia. Our girls are all second children, so we didn't want to have a big shower, but this was a great way for our friends to come together and celebrate these sweet new babies. Everyone was so generous in giving baby essentials like diapers, wipes, burp cloths and books. I am so thankful for our friends!

While I was at the Sip and See, Ryan and Lily stayed home but several friends came over. Brian brought Parker, Doug brought Vivian and Chris brought Payton. They had a great time playing on the playground together. Then, they brought the inflatable jumpy out and the kids had a blast. Even better, our neighbor, Ryan, was driving by with his son, Maddox, so they stopped and played for awhile too. Lily has been telling me about playing with her friends in the jumpy for several days now; she had so much fun!

Saturday evening we went to our friend, Sonja's, surprise 30th birthday party. Sonja's husband, Chad, had finished off their basement so it's a great playroom for their three kids and their friends. They had a movie playing on the big screen tv and tons of great toys to play with. Lily had a lot of fun playing with all the "new" toys. Ryan and I had a great time hanging out with our friends. Saturday was a wonderful friend-filled day!

Sunday was a great day too. We started out by going to church which we always love. When we got home, both girls took long naps at the same time, so Ryan and I were able to take naps too. Sunday afternoon naps are one of our favorite things to do, so we were excited to get one in; that doesn't happen enough these days!

We received miraculous news on Monday. For about a year, I have had a small knot on my right shoulder. About a month ago, it suddenly started growing to where it was about the size of a golf ball in a matter of days. It was extremely painful and flat-out annoying, but it also concerned me. I went to see our general practitioner who thought it was a fluid-filled cyst and referred me to a general surgeon to have it drained. That surgeon didn't think it was fluid-filled, and he ordered for me to go have an MRI to have a better look. The results of that MRI were inconclusive on what it was, so he referred me to an oncology surgeon at Emory Hospital. It's location is right above the major artery that runs from your neck to your hand, so he wanted someone who specialized in that area to look at it. At my visit with that specialized surgeon, he said he wasn't sure what it was; however, he thought it was benign. He wanted me to have it drained and tested to be sure. I went back yesterday to have it drained, but the mass is completely gone; there is no knot on my shoulder, I cannot feel it and two doctors examined me but could not find it. All I know is my family and a lot of my friends have been praying about this situation, and as suddenly as it came, it went away. I think this is nothing short of a miracle, and I am very grateful to those who prayed for me. Our God is great and amazing!

Ahhhhh

Ahhhh, it's time to breathe again. Why? Because tax season is over...woo-who!!! This tax season was an interesting one because of having my new, expanded firm, not to mention a husband, 2 year old and newborn at home. However, with a lot of help, we were able to get through it and get everyone filed or extended by Wednesday.

Yesterday, I went into the office while Kim was at the house to get a few things taken care of. I got home about 3, and was ready to let the relaxing begin. To celebrate the end of tax season and to thank Mom and Dad for all their help, we had purchased tickets for Jimmy Buffett's concert at Lakewood Amphitheatre. He always puts on a great show, so we couldn't wait to get there. Our friend Nancy arrived about 4 because she was going to keep the girls for us. Mom and Dad and our friends from Birmingham, Cole and Jill Bensinger, arrived about 4:30. We made a quick stop at Howard's to pick up dinner and headed on down. We got there about 5:30 and had a great time tailgating until the gates opened about 6:30. Dinner was good, the cookies and brownies for dessert were delicious, and Cole made some excellent margaritas to enjoy. We got in and claimed some great lawn seats. We have been to lots of concerts at Lakewood, so we know just where we like to sit. We listened to some good music and enjoyed being in the beautiful weather while we waited on the concert to begin. Dad even surprised all of us with cool tour t-shirts.

Finally, 8:00 rolled around and a bare-footed Jimmy came out to start the show. He played some newer songs, lots of old favorites and a couple of songs he had written just to play at concerts. He even threw in a few cover songs like Brown-Eyed Girl and Yellow Submarine. His backdrop changed between lots of gorgeous tropical scenes that made us want to go back down to the Caribbean so badly! We had so much fun singing along and dancing. Several of our friends were at the show too, so we got to visit with them some which was nice. Jimmy's music is one of a kind, and we all loved it! This was a fantastic way to celebrate a return to a slower pace of life that we can now enjoy!

I closed my offices today, so this morning, Ryan treated all of us to Chick-fil-a for breakfast. Then, Cole and Jill headed back to Birmingham, and Ryan headed to work. I put Mia down for her morning nap and had a great time just playing with Lily (not to mention I was able to do some laundry - yea!). Just before Mia woke up, we decided to change out of pajamas, so after she ate, we could go out for a little bit. After getting Mia ready, we headed to our little local park. Lily had a blast looking at all the ducks, turtles and fish in the pond. There were lots of little baby ducks, so that fascinated her; "Look Mommy! Babies just like Mia!" was what I heard several times. Then we hung out with the big frog statue that she likes for a few minutes and then went up to the gazebo. Lily had a blast dancing in it and just running around. We smelled some flowers and talked about how pretty everything is. An absolutely wonderful hour and a half. After that, we grabbed some lunch and came home; Mia went down for her afternoon nap while Lily and I ate. Then, we played for a few minutes before Lily's nap. I have a few minutes to finish this up before Mia wakes up ready to eat. What a great day!

Some More Recent Pictures

I have just put several new blog entries below. However, here are a few miscellaneous pictures from the last week or so.

Oh I love these two!

 My beautiful and happy Lily.

 Lily wanted to share the egg hunting fun with her sister!

Lily liked wearing my heels! She actually walked pretty well in them which really surprised me.

Mia is such a precious little angel.
Being the big girl that she is, Lily now likes to help me dry my hair after our shower.
Singing away!
Lily loves it when Ryan turns her upside-down!
We walked in at the end of Mia's nap to find her like this. Her little legs were just sticking out the end, but she didn't mind. She was sound asleep!
Mia really seems to like the excersaucer. She is getting pretty good at balancing herself and playing with the different parts. She grabs the dangling fish, hits the music part and (occasionally) makes the rattle go. Lily has a great time playing with it too. She can easily get inside of it, but then she gets stuck and can't get out.