Pictures from Around the Home

Here are some pictures taken around the house over the last couple of weeks:

Lily showing off her "nastics" skills. She is having so much fun in her Little Gym gymnastics class each week. She couldn't do a somersault when she started but now she tries to do them all over the house. She also enjoys playing gymnastics at home; here she set up three pillows to replicate the three tumbling block at the Gym. I love that she loves these classes so much!

Trying to imitate the expert...
What a sweet girl.

Lily trying to give Mia a kiss. Sometimes they can be so sweet to one another!

Trying to "help" me in the kitchen.

Mia LOVES corn on the cob.

Look at that face!

Mia loves all sorts of sauces and dips. She noticed us dipping our chips into our salsa, so she pitched a fit until Ryan picked her up to let her dip the chips herself!

Sweetheart!

Lily absolutely has the best laugh!

Lily's newest love is playing on Playhouse Disney's website. She has a great time playing educational games with the characters she knows and loves. She has now moved to setting the computer on the little side table next to the couch and scooting her chair up to the table. It's pretty cute to see.

Ryan was suckered into sharing his Cheerios at breakfast one morning.

A Few Stories

A few recent stories:

1. Lily was talking to Bama about going to see Kendall and Josh. When Bama asked Lily where does Uncle Josh work, she replied "The fire station" which is correct. When Bama asked where Aunt Kendall works, Lily responded "At Publix." Where in the world did that come from?! Kendall worked very hard to become an excellent nurse, so I don't know where that came from. My only guess is Lily loves to go shopping at Publix with me, so maybe since it is something she loves, she assumes Kendall works there. We'll have to work on this one a little!

2. While in Birmingham, Kendall came to visit from Tuscaloosa one day. She, Liz, Lily and Mia went to Macy's to look for new furniture. Lily didn't want to go until Kendall told her there is also a bookstore at the mall where Macy's is; Lily was onboard after that. Time flew by while they were shopping and they soon realized they needed to go to get the girls to bed. Liz told Lily it was time to go home and Lily reminded her Kendall said they could go to the bookstore. Liz told her the bookstore had already closed; that line usually works with Lily. While Lily seemed to agree to that, she said "Hmm. I thought she was serious." Kendall immediately looked at Liz and they agreed they should still go to the bookstore!

3. Liz still works part-time at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham. Their VBS was going on last week which is why Lily and Mia stayed the week there; this allowed them to attend the VBS and Liz could work the whole week there. One evening, there was a skit that included a man throwing a pie into the face of a lady which of course made most everyone laugh. I say "most everyone" because that evening, Lily informed Liz that she didn't like that man throwing a pie into that lady's face; it was very mean of him. This story got back to the lady, and she came down to explain to Lily that she was okay, and she knew that joke was going to happen. She asked Lily "didn't you think it was funny?" to which responded "no." Our sweet girl didn't like that someone had a joke pulled on them.

4. Mia is really starting to repeat a lot of words now which is great. We'll be in the car, and in the backseat we'll hear Lily say "Can you (fill in the blank)?" and Mia will try to repeat it; they will do this over and over which is great entertainment for them. Well, Mia is starting to remember a lot of animal sounds that we're teaching her. One of the cutest things she does is repeating the Sandra Boynton book "Moo, Baa, La La La" noises. It's so cute to say "Three singing pigs say..." and Mia responds "La la la!" We have a new video camera so hopefully we'll be able to get that recorded soon. She's so cute!

What a Week!

If you check this blog often, you may have noticed I didn't post anything last week. That's because our kids were in Birmingham all week while Ryan and I were at home in Smyrna! There really wasn't much to post about our week, but here's a quick recap:

Saturday: Girls left at nap time with Bama and slept most of the way to Birmingham. We went to a funeral visitation for a wonderful lady named Beverly Shoun. Beverly and my mom have been best friends for many years, so she was a dear friend of our family. Beverly had been battling breast cancer since 2001. While we are sad because we will miss Beverly, we rejoice that she is now in Heaven and free of pain. When we got home from the visitation, we changed clothes and headed to the Casey's house. It was Kim's birthday, so they had us and the Garys over for a game night. Their two oldest kids (15 and 10) stayed up and played with us while their two youngest (2.5 and not quite one) were asleep. We played Taboo until 1:00 in the morning! It was a blast! Not only did we have a fantastic time with our friends, but we loved that we didn't have to check in with a babysitter. What freedom!

Sunday: We slept in and then started cleaning the house. This was the major goal of the week: clean out all the stuff that we don't need. Today included the medicine cabinet, the deep freeze and the pantry. Mid-afternoon we went to Beverly's funeral service which was a lovely tribute to her. I couldn't keep back my tears as her two daughters spoke. After we returned home, we continued to clean.

Monday: Work and then our weekly meeting for our upcoming mission trip.

Tuesday: We took the day off from work and spent it cleaning the unfinished part of the basement. If you have been to our home, you may know our basement is the same size as our house, but half of it is finished (where Ryan's mom stays each week while she's here) and half if unfinished (a concrete slap with shelving, etc in it). Since we have the dumpster at the house for the deck, we took advantage and filled it up with stuff from the unfinished part of the basement. It took all day but looked so good when it was done! Of course, we now have a huge "donate" pile but we need an organization to come pick it up since there are several pieces of furniture included.

Wednesday: Work and then we had a dinner date to Chops. DELICIOUS!

Thursday: Work and then dinner at the White's house. Chris and Denna prepared a wonderful dinner for us, and we had a great time hanging out together.

Friday: We took the day off from work to work on the finished part of the basement. Ever since Lily was born, if we didn't know what to do with something we would just put it down in this part. You can imagine how much stuff was hanging around. We put up all the kids stuff and organized things for me to sell at a consignment sale next month which I am very excited about. We donated about 100 books to our local library. We got rid of so many empty boxes you wouldn't believe it. Now we just have to figure out what to do with the big pool table that is still in the middle of the room...any takers? This room looks so different now! Liz was amazed when she came back and saw how we had cleaned up her living area. She came up with some great reorganizing for her area too, so it looks really good. She now has a mini-fridge (there was one in the unfinished part that we had no idea was plugged in and working), a dresser and a nightstand in addition to the entertainment center with a TV that was already there. It actually looks like a decent little apartment! Unfortunately, we weren't able to work on the actual bedroom that is in the finished area of the basement. We ran out of time and energy. Plus, we can still close the door and not see that area! We'll get to it eventually though and maybe Liz will have an actual bedroom to use. We also went to Waffle House at about 10:30 at night just because we could.

Saturday: We got up about 9:30 so I could register for next month's consignment sale which I am super excited about. Then we ran a couple of errands, but by noon we were sitting at home relaxing. We had World Cup soccer on, and I was reading magazines. The girls and Liz got home about 5:30, and it was wonderful to see them. We truly enjoyed our child-free week, and we cannot thank our Birmingham family enough for taking the girls; we had forgotten the freedom that comes without having children. With that being said though, we love those little girls to pieces, and we wouldn't trade them in for anything. They are the most wonderful gifts we have ever been given!

Just Thinkin'

Friday night, we went to dinner at Taco Mac. As we were heading towards the car, Lily sat down on the curb which prompted Ryan to ask "What are you doing Lily?" She said "I'm just thinkin'," so he said "What are you thinking about?" She said "God." Ryan responded "What about God are you thinking?" She said "How he made everything like the dirt and flowers and curb." How sweet!

Make My Heart Melt

Lily absolutely melted my heart tonight. After putting Mia to bed and while Ryan was outside working on the deck, Lily and I had lots of fun playing together. Mostly we played hide and seek which she said was her favorite game. Finally, I helped her get ready for bed, we read her story and I asked what she was thankful for. She pointed to me and smiled really big. I said "Me?" and she said "Yes!" I gave her a huge hug, a kiss and said "You just made my day!" She just laughed and said "I'm thankful for you!"

Memorial Day Weekend

I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend; we did! Here's a recap of what we were up to.

On Friday evening, my mom, dad and Meme kept the girls for us, so we could meet some friends for dinner. I told Lily on Friday morning that they were coming that evening; her eyes got really big and she said "Really? Yea!" Mom said they were really good, and they had a great time playing together and entertaining Meme. Ryan and I met our friends at a little Mexican restaurant that we had not tried before, but it has gotten rave reviews for years. It was delicious, and it was a nice evening out with friends.

On Saturday, we all slept in a bit and then went to J Christopher's for brunch. It was delicious! Both girls did great too, eating well and smiling/waving/blowing kisses to all who looked their way. We spent the day playing, relaxing and napping. Soon after nap time, our friend, Nancy, came over to keep the girls. My cousin, Ashleigh, was getting married, and we were excited to go. It was at The Strand Theater in Marietta which was a cool place to have a wedding. They were married onstage while we were all in the audience; they had a dessert reception on the second floor and a dance floor on the fourth floor. You could also walk outside onto the patio above the marquee lights which was pretty cool. There were many family members and friends there who we enjoyed catching up with. Also, Saturday marked my parents 39th wedding anniversary, so it was nice to celebrate a little with them!

On Sunday, Ryan wasn't feeling very well; he had developed a pretty bad cold. I took the girls to church so he could stay home and rest. We met up at Williamson Brothers BBQ afterwards though for lunch; boy, is that delicious food! On our way to meeting him though, I experienced Lily's first episode "Mommy, I need to go potty NOW." She had told me in the car on the way to church she needed to go, and I told her she could go once she got to Sunday School. As we were in the car leaving church, she again said she needed to go. I asked if she had gone at church, and she said no; I think she was embarrassed to need to go. I asked if she could hold it for a few minutes while we went to meet Daddy for lunch. At first she said yes, but then that changed to "I need to potty NOW." I could see her in the backseat trying to cross and uncross her legs, and I just felt badly for her. I called Ryan, and we were able to meet up on the way; he stayed in the car with Mia so I could run Lily into a McDonalds. We made it just in time! After a delicious meal at Williamson Brothers, we headed home for afternoon naps. Once the girls woke up, I took them to Publix for groceries and to let Ryan enjoy some peace and quiet. We had been gone about 45 minutes when a terrible sudden thunderstorm hit. Wonderful man that he is, Ryan got in his car and came to Publix, so he could help me get the kids and groceries into the car without getting soaked. We didn't even know he was coming, we just looked up in the store and there he was! What a fantastic husband and daddy! We enjoyed a peaceful evening, and then while I was working on scrapbooks, Popi came in since he was in town for Jazzfest. It was fun catching up with him.

On Monday, we were supposed to go over to the Hendersons, but unfortunately, they were all under the weather. Instead our family had some fun together.  We went to House of Chan for lunch. This is my favorite Chinese restaurant. Of course, it has yummy food, but I also love it because my mom and I eat there together; it's our special place. We were right there though, and I saw they weren't too crowded, so I took Lily in. She said it was "one of the coolest restaurants" because she liked drinking out of the little white cup that is typically for hot tea, but she enjoyed her water in. She loved the honey pecan chicken and fried rice that we split. Most of all, she loved the fried wonton "chips" they brought out in the beginning. I told her Granna and I like to eat there, and she said "Yea, it's only for girls. We'll come back with Granna and Mia someday." I look forward to that day! The rest of the day was a very lazy day which was nice. Mia ran around playing, and Lily had a great time on my computer on the Playhouse Disney website. It was a nice end to a relaxing weekend.

We also would like to thank those who protect our country and allow us to have a Memorial Day to enjoy our family, friends and country.

New Playground Agreement

On the way home from church and lunch today, we passed a store that sells playgrounds sets that look pretty similar to the one we have at home. Lily noticed them and we had this conversation:
L: Oh Mommy, look at all the playgrounds! Can I get a new playground for our home?
M: No, you have a great playground at home. You don't need a new one.
L: What if ours breaks? Can I get a new one then?
M: Your playground isn't going to break. It's really strong.
L: Well, what if a dinosaur comes to play and breaks it? Then can I get a new one?
M: Okay, if a dinosaur is playing on it and breaks it then yes, you can have a new one.
L: Okay, that's a good deal.

3 Year Old Logic

Ryan and I went to a wedding this evening, so our friend Nancy kept the girls. Nancy used to babysit me, so I know she's great! Lily asked her to help put together a puzzle, so Nancy got everything out, followed Lily's directions on where to sit and what to do. After a few minutes Lily asked to do something else, and Nancy said "we haven't finished the puzzle yet." Lily said "Miss Nancy if I do too many pieces, my tummy hurts." In other words, "I'm done with this puzzle!"

Nastics

Wednesday was Lily's first of Gymnastics, or "nastics" as she calls them. We have a Little Gym in Downtown Smyrna that has always looked like so much fun. I happen to drive by the other day and saw a sign that said "Now Enrolling for Summer Camps and Classes" so I stopped in to have a look. It looks awesome! My niece, Molly, had a birthday party there a few years ago, so I knew it had all sorts of fun, supervised activities for kids, but I have never looked into their classes before. However, at 3, the kids start doing classes without parental involvement. So, each Wednesday through the summer, Lily will go to her gymnastics class; her age group (3-4 year olds) is called "Funny Bugs."

As soon as I told Lily she was going to go to gymnastics, she was resistant. I tried convincing her it would be so much fun, and she already loves to tumble and jump, but she wouldn't get on board. You know she gets nervous with new situations, and she had no idea where I was talking about taking her. I could see why she was nervous. I asked Ryan to take her to the first class because I thought she would be less likely to cling to him than to me. Ryan said when they got there (and they arrived a few minutes early so she could take it in for a bit), she asked to sit in his lap; they sat there and talked about all the fun things to do. But then, right at 10, the teacher came out and said it was time for class to start. Lily slid out of his lap, took the teacher's hand and walked right in. One whole wall is glass so parents can watch, so Ryan stayed for a few minutes to see how she did; she did great! He ran an errand for a few minutes, then came to see that she was still doing great. This first class was mostly about how to safely do things, but they also rolled over balls to do somersaults, and they walked across low uneven bars. She got a stamp on her foot as she was leaving which she thought was great too. When class was over, she walked out and immediately told Ryan, "I love nastics!" She was so excited!

Since The Little Gym is just a few minutes from my office, they came by afterwards so we could get lunch together. Lily ran up to me, gave me a big hug and wanted to tell me all about it. I am so excited that she is so excited! She asked me several times today if she gets to go back to nastics tomorrow; next Wednesday can't get here fast enough. I am planning on taking her next week so I can see her in action. The other reason I am thrilled she loved it is because we signed her up for a couple of the day camps. They are 9-12 a couple of times a week, but she won't start for a couple more weeks. They have a different theme each week (princesses, beach, wild west, outer space, etc), and I think Lily will love it. It looks like this is going to be a fun-filled summer for Lily!

Mia's Check Up

Today was Mia's 18 month check up. I can't believe it! She did pretty well too. She really liked climbing in and out of the chairs while we waited; getting down from a chair is certainly a new task that she is mastering. Dr. White and I were both a little surprised that she weighed in at 24 pounds, 4.5 ounces which is the 50th percentile; we both thought she was a little bigger. I will say that Mia was putting up a little bit of a fight sitting on the scale, and I am wondering if a foot and part of a leg didn't get fully counted. She is also 31.25 inches tall which is the 40th percentile, and her head is in the 60th percentile at 18.5 inches. All of these are consistent with her growth pattern which is great. She passed her autism screening with no concerns. She appears to be hitting all the markers for her age which is great; her speech seems to be back on track after getting the tubes in which is such a relief too. She is saying about a dozen words which is right where she should be, but she understands so much of what is said, and she can follow directions well (when she wants to!). She loves to imitate people which is a good sign at this age. She also had to get the last three of her baby immunizations which was not fun. I will say though that she immediately put her head on my shoulder when I picked her up from the table which is just so sweet. Overall, Dr. White said she is a healthy, beautiful little girl.

Mia is such a precious little girl who we adore. She lights up our world when she gives us hugs, blows us kisses or even just smiles. Her big blue eyes sparkle when she sees us, and she has such a great laugh. She wants to attempt anything she sees Lily doing, and most of the time, she imitates pretty well. She makes us laugh as we watch her happily dance and try to jump up and down. It's sweet that to calm herself down, she presses Glo-Worm's belly to make her sing, then immediately starts sucking her left thumb while holding Glo-Worm's ponytails with both hands. Mia is such an amazing, precious child who we are so blessed to call our daughter. We simply can't get enough of this little one!

Two Lily Stories

For about a week or so now, Lily will ask "Are you happy?" if she senses you are frustrated, tired or anything but happy. I am trying to help her understand these emotions by saying something like "I am frustrated that Mia made such a mess, but otherwise, yes, I am happy." When you say "Yes, I am happy" she will immediately reply "Well then let me see a happy face." You can't help but give a big smile with that!

Finally, after weeks of holding her poop in until she put on a Pull-up at nap time or a diaper at bed time, Lily has gone poopy in the potty again! Knowing that she needed to go, Liz pretty much forced her to go in the potty on Saturday. As soon as she pooped, they turned it into a celebration. I am so glad that she did this because I kept thinking "if she would just go once at home, she'll be okay." This morning, she still put up a fight, but Ryan got her to go on the potty too. That's twice! I think (knock on wood) that we're making progress here!

Weekend Getaway

Ryan and I feel it is very important for just the two of us to get away together for a few days each year. Between work, kids and life in general, our energy is drained, and we feel it takes getting away to recharge, reconnect and refresh. We are so fortunate that our parents are willing to take care of the girls while we're gone. This time, especially, my parents were out of town, but Liz was willing to save the day (and weekend!). We could not have done it without her willingness, so a huge thank you to Liz! A big thank you to my parents too for donating Marriott reward points so we could stay for free! That was a great birthday present!

We went to the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida. We absolutely love this hotel. It is beautiful! We got in about 5 on Thursday evening. Knowing we were using reward points, we figured we wouldn't have the greatest view, so we asked if they had any pool views available. They said they did for a small fee, but we decided not to pay that. So, we unpacked and decided to just walk around the grounds a bit. As we were walking we decided it would be worth the small fee to overlook the pool, gardens and lakes instead of the parking lot. We went up to the front desk and spoke to Conner, the same person who checked us in. He said it was no problem to move us up and as a birthday present, he would waive the fees. We were so excited! We went back up to the old room to pack up and when we walked in, we saw this in our room:

While we were out walking and before we asked about upgrading, Conner had sent champagne and chocolate covered strawberries to our room with a note wishing me a happy birthday! I thought that was so kind!

We were so glad we ended up with the nicer room (especially for free). Instead of a big parking lot, here was the view from our room:
We overlooked the hotel's lazy river and many pools, gardens, lake and golf course. In the distance are the Disney properties where we could see the firework shows at night. It was an awesome room!


On Friday, Ryan got up about 7:30, got dressed and went to Epcot for the day. He had a great time wandering around, people watching, show watching and sampling lots of fare from "around the world." He picked up some great presents too. He found a cute Minnie Mouse doll for Mia, little giggling Charlie and Lola dolls, plus a sticker book for Lily and Twinings iced tea for Liz. He also gave me the most beautiful Sworovski crystal tennis bracelet; I was truly surprised and moved by this gift. What a great husband. Here are just a few of the great pictures he took.

Watching "The British Invasion," a Beatles cover band in England.
I love the way they cut their trees, plants and flowers. Look at Beast and Belle!

A beautiful spot in Japan.

The big golf ball in front.

While Ryan enjoyed his day at Epcot, I had an amazing day at the spa. The Marriott and the Ritz Carlton share their spa facilities and it's awesome. I had a 75 minute hot stone massage which was incredible. After that I was escorted to the ladies lounge where they had these super comfy over sized chairs and blankets; they encourage you to take a nap while the soft music is playing. I stayed there for about 30 minutes, and even though I didn't nap, I was able to spend almost the whole time in prayer which was wonderful. I can't remember the last time I was able to get that kind of time in peace and quiet. After that, I showered and changed into my swimsuit and cover up. I went down to their cafe where I enjoyed a blue crab and asparagus salad; yummy! After that I spent the rest of the day reading magazines by the pool and floating in the pool. I felt like for the first time in a long time, my head was clear. It was wonderful. I stayed there until about 5, and then went back to the spa to shower and clean up for dinner.

At 6, my cousins, Jason and Jill Howell, picked me up and we met Ryan at The Boardwalk for dinner. We went to Cat Cora's Greek restaurant called Kouzzina, and we enjoyed a delicious meal trying lots of new dishes. Jason and Jill are some of our favorite people to hang out with, so we were so glad they were able to get a night out themselves while we were in town!

Saturday, we slept in a little and then went down to their awesome breakfast buffet. More fresh fruit than you can imagine (I tried gooseberries...didn't even know these were real; I thought they were only in Snow White!), delicious pastries, waffles (with tons of toppings), pancakes, omelets, sausage, bacon, potatoes, scrambled eggs, grits, bagels, yogurt, deli meats and cheeses. Seriously, this is amazing. After breakfast, we went down to the pool and stayed there all day enjoying some tropical drinks, the lazy river and reading by the pool. Not surprisingly, we ended up a little sunburned by day's end.
We went back up in late afternoon to get ready for dinner. We had reservations at Jiko, an African restaurant at The Animal Kingdom Lodge. We wanted to try something different, and this fit the bill. We started out with a cheese plate which had five different cow, goat and sheep's cheeses from around the world. They were delicious and went well with our South African wines. For dinner, Ryan had the highly recommended filet mignon and macaroni and cheese. I had a pork loin that was encrusted with herbs and spices and was served with polenta. It was definitely different, but I'm glad I tried it. We thought about going to Downtown Disney to get dessert, but it was so crowded we just decided to go on back.
On Sunday, we enjoyed the wonderful breakfast buffet again. Since we were still sunburned, we decided to spend the day relaxing inside. We dozed in and out of naps all morning, watched the French Open, read books and magazines and worked on my digital scrapbooks. We decided to go to Giordano's for dinner. This is a famous Chicago pizza restaurant that has a location in Orlando. Ryan got their famous deep dish pizza while I had their thin crust Hawaiian. It was wonderful. We got back and walked down to the pool to enjoy some tropical drinks again. After that, we wanted to get back to the room in time to watch all of the Lost wrap-up, finale and Jimmy Kimmel. It was great!
On Monday, we slept in and took our time packing up our things before heading out. We went to The Grand Floridian Cafe to enjoy one of our favorite sandwiches: turkey and ham on focaccia bread with melted Boursin cheese. Oh my goodness, it's awesome. From there, we went to Downtown Disney to visit their dessert shop. I love their peanut butter cups while Ryan favors their pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate. Ryan was also kind enough to stop by Wal-Mart so we could pick up a converter for the car, so I could work on our scrapbooks all the way home while he drove. Thankfully, we made it home safe and sound around 10PM; of course, this was after the girls had gone to bed, so it was great to see them this morning. We missed them!
This was such a wonderful trip, and we are so thankful that we had the opportunity to get away for a few days. We just may return next year!

Lily's Graduation

Today was Lily's graduation from Parent Morning Out. The funny thing is she will be returning next year because of her age. The school cut-off is September 1, and with an October 4 birthday, Lily cannot enroll in Pre-K this Fall, so we decided to send her back to PMO for another year; we love this program! Around Christmas, they combined the "Young 3s" class with the "Older 3s" class into one larger class. Lily and a couple of other kids will be returning next year because of their birthdays, but since some of the kids will be going on to Pre-K, they held a graduation service at school. It was a sweet little ceremony, and here are some pictures from it.

Here's a picture of Lily before leaving for school this morning. She was very excited to get to wear a pretty dress to school instead of play clothes. She asked me "Why do I graduate in a dress?" She also told me she was so glad we were coming to her "show." She called it her show several times during the day which made me smile.

There were about 10 kids graduating today. They were all sitting so patiently in their chairs at the front of the gym. They were all wearing little graduation caps which was adorable to see. To pass a little time while waiting on all the parents, they sang a song they learned about the months of the year and then one about the days of the week. Then they sang a song using each child's name, the letter it starts with and the sound that letter makes. It was really cute to watch them sing these songs. When everyone arrived, the director, Mary Jane, spoke for a minute and then Ms. Mollett, the teacher, said a few words. Then Ms. Mollett called each child up onto the stage where she said a few kind words about the individual and gave each one a certificate. She said how Lily knew all her colors, letters, shapes, how to write her name and how to cut when she joined the class. She asked Lily "Did your parents teach you all these things?" to which Lily confidently replied "Yes." She also asked Lily if she had fun in school; Lily again replied "Yes." For those that read this blog often, you know how shy Lily can be. I have to say, I was so proud of her for answering confidently and where everyone could hear. Then, they shook hands and Ms. Mollett gave Lily her certificate. Look at this adorable picture.
We managed to get this picture of Lily after the ceremony. How precious is she in the little hat?!

After the ceremony, they had juice and cookies for everyone which was a big hit. Then Lily gave Ms. Mollett a big hug, and then she took us to her classroom to look around and see all the fun things there. Next we picked up Mia from her room, and the four of us went to Chick-fil-a to get milk shake treats. What a fun day!

The Old Bait and Switch

Lily is such a little negotiator. She loves the new Scooby Doo gummy snacks that we bought her at Publix; she calls them Scooby Dooby Gummies which cracks me up. At most, we let her have one pack a day as a treat, but she would eat them all day every day if she could. On Monday, Ryan picked her from school, and in the car, Lily asked "Daddy, when we get home, can I have a snack and milk?" Ryan agreed and asked what kind of snack she wanted. Lily replied "How about goldfish?" Ryan said that was fine, and then Lily said "I think we're out of goldfish. How about Scooby Dooby Gummies instead?" The old bait and switch trick at work. You gotta watch this one!

Fun Times with the Hooks

Today when I came home from work, Lily had made me a card; she loves to make cards for people by putting on stickers, drawing hearts or rainbows and writing names on them. She pulled it off the refrigerator and handed it to me so I could admire it. After telling her how lovely it was, and how much I appreciated the card, I handed it back to her because she wanted to put it back on the fridge. It didn't stay when she put it up so I thought the magnet must have fallen on the floor. Lily however said "I'll just put more glue on it so it will stick." She was quiet upset when I told her we couldn't glue things to the fridge!

I typically use this blog to post about things the kids are up to, but I had to tell you that Ryan and I went to see David Copperfield at The Fox tonight. Granny gave us these tickets for Christmas; what a great present! He puts on a great show! We have seen him twice before, but we always love to see his show. You know, you absolutely know, there is a logical explanation for his illusions, but most of them, I don't have the first clue how he does it. I mean really, when you have several people in a big circle and in the middle of the circle on the floor, how do you make a car appear above them in just a matter of seconds? Also, how do you play with a tiny piece of tissue paper for a few minutes, then set it on fire and a long-stem red rose appear? How did he do it??? We left the show feeling so incomplete, but it was so much fun to watch and wonder!

Other fun times around our home lately...

The girls sweetly hanging out together. Aren't they cute?

Lily was so excited about her new hat, and she thought it looked perfect with her Snow White dress. When I asked if the hat was her princess tiara, she replied "Mommy, I'm not a real princess. I'm just tendin'. I'm just Lily tendin' to be a princess."
Mia loves corn. After giving her several helping of it, I finally just handed her the cooled off pot and let her go to town. This made her very happy!
Ryan has been working so hard for about a week and a half on tearing down our big back deck which is no longer structurally sound. Mia was fascinated by this process. She would stand at the window for long periods of time just watching him. She kept repeating "Da da!" and pointing out the window. Lily also enjoyed watching, and they both loved it when we would open the window to hand Ryan some water and chat for a minute.

Lily loves her new paints. She has always used Color Wonder or Paint With Water sets in the past, but I recently bought her a Thomas the Train real paint set that she begged for. She has had so much fun with it. She has probably made 6 or 7 pictures a day since getting this last weekend. It's so fun to see her creativity come out!

Happy Mother's Day

I am the luckiest mom in the world!

Sunday was a wonderful Mother's Day. Since Mia was recovering from a cold, we decided not to take her to nursery. Lily and I went though, and it was a great morning. Lily's class put sunflower seeds in a Dixie Cup of soil and made a flower that said "Mom" to put in the soil too. She was so excited to give it to me! We called Ryan when we left, so he and Mia could meet us for brunch. We had a couple of places in mind, but they were all absolutely slammed, so we ended up at Varner's where we had a nice time.

When we got home, I was very surprised to see several very nicely wrapped presents on the kitchen table. For a few days, I had seen a little green-wrapped box sitting on the fireplace, and Lily had told me she couldn't tell me what color she had colored the animals inside, but that was the only gift I was aware of. By the way, it was a very cute mug where you can change the lining to have different pictures; Lily had colored a picture of animals that was inside of it, and I think it's adorable. Lily and Mia were also very kind to also go by Williams-Sonoma and pick up a few other great gifts: a Cooking Together cookbook (because I already love cooking with Lily and I have big dreams of cooking together in the future), a crepe maker with mix (because we all love crepes), a really cool ice pop maker (because I think this is a delicious treat and a sneaky way of giving the kids healthy snacks) and a cookbook on different ice pops to make. There was also a wonderfully sweet card that the girls had helped make which I loved too. I really appreciate how thoughtful these gifts are, and I look forward to making lots of memories using them in the future!

I was treated to an afternoon nap too which I loved. After nap time, we went over to my parents' house where my dad was grilling out. It was such a beautiful day outside, so we all had fun playing on the back patio. Dad had bought a tricycle at a garage sale the day before, and Lily couldn't get enough of it. Wayne's family and Meme were there too, so it was fun to hang out with them. It was a delicious dinner (with ice cream, chocolate sauce and huge chocolate covered strawberries for dessert - YUM!), and we all enjoyed it. I always enjoy time with my family, and I am so glad I was able to spend part of Mother's Day with mom. She is one of my very best friends, and the best mom I know. I love her so much!

All this to say, I had a wonderful Mother's Day, and I truly believe I am the luckiest mom in the world!

Lily's Dreams

I often wonder what Lily and Mia dream about at night. I will ask Lily if she had a dream, and she usually replies yes. When I ask what is was about, she will tell me something that can typically be explained by a recent activity. For example, on Monday morning she said she had dreamt about Jesus which I attribute to being at Sunday School the previous morning; she has also recently said she dreamt about fairies which is probably from watching Tinkerbell. This morning though, Lily came into our room about 7 and fell back asleep between Ryan and me. About 8, we heard her singing "a,b,c,d,e...." and so on all the way to p; then she just stopped and was obviously still very asleep. When she actually woke up a few minutes later, she seemed very confused when Ryan asked if she had been dreaming about alphabet soup. I wonder what she was thinking about in her dream though to make her sing the alphabet. Was she in class, on a stage or reading a book? I guess we'll never know!

Recent Lily Stories

1. This morning, Ryan and Lily went to run a few errands which included a brief stop at the office to pick something up. Lily asked Ryan if she could type on the computer, and Ryan agreed. First they typed out everyone in the family's names because Lily loves to spell them. Then, they decided to make a list of animals that Mommy likes at the zoo. Of course, flamingo, giraffe, sheep and meercats were on there (actually, Lily listed out 21 animals), but I was a little surprised when she showed me the list and "dragons" (maybe a kimodo dragon???) and "scary monsters" had made it on there!

2. Lily loves to make "projects." I remember when we were still expecting Lily, and I told Ryan I really looked forward to the day that she would be able to color and paint because it's something I love to do. Every day now, Lily wants to do some type of project, and it's so much fun. I think a lot of her ideas come from Bama which is great. Today while I was making dinner, she ripped some paper up into different sizes and then glued it down to make "our house and our flowers." We also have a great time with the Color Wonders sets; they are special markers and finger paints that only go on the Color Wonder paper...it's awesome because there is no mess! We will color several pictures each day, and then Lily will usually give them to Ryan as a present. She likes to wrap them up first in a placemat, so he can actually open the present. Of course, she also likes making things with stickers, pipe cleaners, crayons, etc., so we have lots of fun with her daily projects. I love seeing her creativity and imagination!

3. One of the projects Lily often undertakes is making cards for people. She will get paper, draw a heart, write Lily and put stickers on it. She is very proud of her cards. Today though, we were playing in the playroom and she picked up a toy and said it was a card. I asked her what the card said and she replied "It says Dear Mommy, this card is for you because I love you and I love to play with you. We have fun. The end." A few minutes later, she made the same type card for Ryan (i.e., gave him the same toy) and when he asked what his card said, she replied "This card is to Daddy. You are a good man. He loves everyone especially his friends. The end." We both just about melted when we heard this; what a precious little girl!

New Pictures

Here are some new pictures of what's been going on around our home.

Sweet sisters!

Mia loves spaghetti. She shovels fistfuls at a time into her mouth!
Those fistfuls lead to a mess like this, but she thoroughly enjoyed her meal!

Mia is such a happy little girl!

Parker and Macey came over to play on Friday evening. We enjoyed some playtime and pizza at home and then a quick trip to Chuck E Cheese. Here's a picture of Lily, Mia and Macey playing together.

Lily was pretty excited about all the new toys she received for going poopy in the potty...a Little People Circus and Ferris Wheel set, a Look and Find Disney book and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book with figurines. Her poops since this have been while she has been sleeping. While this isn't going in the potty, it's at least not intentionally getting a Pull-up on. Small steps...

Mia in one of my favorite dresses. Grandpops and Grandma Jan gave this us this dress while I was pregnant with Lily. In fact, it was the first baby gift I received! It is a beautiful pink and green seersucker. I love that Mia can wear it now!

Lily dressed Dusty up. In case you can't see it all, he has a necklace around his nose, Clifford ears stretched across his head, a purple tiara, Cubs hat and the purple cat neck pillow on his head. Lily was thrilled with the outcome of how he looked and asked me to take a picture of him.

What a sweetheart!

Mia loves the slide at the playground!

One of our little chefs. Mia loves to play in the toy kitchen.

I absolutely love this picture of sweet Mia.

Mia enjoying her lunch at Figo.

Unfortunately, no picture for this, but we planted flowers in our flower garden. She talked about putting the "blanket" (aka soil) over the seeds to help them grow. We have been watering them, and in the last few days, the flowers have begun to bloom. Lily loves seeing them! She goes to the window each morning to check on them and see if any new ones have come up. Maybe someday she can make the gorgeous garden my Dad had at the house come back!

Lily's Songs

Lily enjoys making up songs. Tonight before bed time, she made up a new song and wanted me to hear it. This is how it went:

God is family
God loves me
I love God
God loves me
God loves Mommy
God loves Daddy
God loves Lily
God loves Mia
and Jesus too

I thought it was pretty sweet. She also made up a song about her new book, her pillows and her stuffed animals. You never know what she'll sing about!

Lily's Big Day!

Today is a very big day in Lily's world...she went poopy in the potty! We waited until last summer to potty train her, and she picked it up pretty easily. However, she never wanted to poop in the potty. We let her put on a Pull-Up if she needed to because she seemed to have this intense fear of pooping in the potty. Last week, we decided she really needs to get the hang of this, so we I bought special "nap time only" Pull-Ups, and she bought into only wearing them for naps...until it came time to poop. Lily is a smart kid. She realized she would get the Pull-Up at nap time and a diaper at bed time, so she waited to poop until she had one on; very, very frustrating for me!

Today, Ryan, Lily and Mia brought Chick-fil-a up to the office for lunch. Lily said she likes coming to work, and she brought me a picture from home that she colored. After we ate, Lily was exploring my office when she suddenly stopped, and said "Mommy, I have to go poopy." I replied "I'm sorry Lily, but I don't have any Pull-Ups here. Do you want to go use Mommy's big potty?" She loves to try out new toilets (we have to visit every one at almost every restaurant we go to), so she agreed. She said down and immediately pooped. I started cheering and clapping. SO EXCITING!!! As she was washing her hands, she asked "Are you proud of me for going poopy in the potty?" to which I enthusiastically replied "YES!" Ryan, Kim and Mia were all waiting outside the bathroom, so they started cheering too, and then we called Bama to tell her. Lily was so proud of herself! She climbed up into my chair, grabbed a highlighter and a piece of paper and said "I'm going to write a note that says 'Dear Lily, I went poopy in the potty.' Mommy, how do you spell potty?" So I told her and she said "I know how to write those letters!" I said "Okay, so 'P'..." and Lily cut me off to say "I have to spell Lily first." I looked back a minute later and she had written out "Lily Potty." Again, she was so proud of herself! I want to frame this paper I am so excited. She then proceeded to draw on lots of pieces of paper and said she was going to give them to Daddy because he's a good daddy; how sweet is that?

Then it was time to go home, but Lily has the promise of a cupcake from McEntyre's, a trip to the Dollar Store before nap time, toys when Mommy gets home and dinner and play time at Chuck E Cheese tonight. We also want to have a "potty party" soon to celebrate. Isn't this good motivation to go poopy in the potty again? I never thought I would be so excited about this kind of stuff, but man, she made my day!

The Newest Habit

Lily has formed a new habit that I love. As I am leaving for work in the mornings, she "helps" me down the stair into our garage by holding my hand and my purse. Then she gives me a big hug and kiss and waits at the corner of the garage. As I back out, she waves really big as I back down the driveway. When I call out "I love you!" she calls back "I love you too! Have a great day!" I love this kid!

A Normal Weekend

Finally, a normal weekend for us! Last weekend we were all excited about the end of tax season, but now life is back to normal, so we just enjoyed the weekend.

On Friday, I left the office at 4; I love that our office now officially closes at 4. I picked up Mia when I got home and took her to Target with me. Lily stayed at home with Ryan. Mia is at one of my favorite ages, so I absolutely love getting one on one time with her now. She pointed out every ball she could find (it's amazing how many balls Target has) because she loves to play with balls. She sat contently in the buggy, snacking on some crackers and occasionally squealing. She's such a sweetheart. We finished our shopping and went home where Lily was thrilled to see her new "Minnie Mouse flip flops." She loves them and has asked to wear them every day since Friday night.

About 7 our friend Nancy came over to keep the girls so we could enjoy a dinner out with our friends, Jennifer and Anthony. Jennifer and Ryan have been friends since elementary school, and we quickly became friends when Ryan and I started dating at Samford. She and Anthony have been dating for a few months now, so we were thrilled that they were coming to Atlanta for the weekend, and we could meet him. We met at Pricci, and enjoyed catching up with Jennifer and meeting Anthony. We hope to have the chance to do it again soon!

On Saturday morning, Ryan and Lily went to run some errands which ended in a trip to Chuck E Cheese. Lily again loved the big horse racing ride and rode it about 15 times. Mia and I had fun at home; we ate, read books and played kitchen. After the girls' afternoon naps, we went to US Cafe for dinner and then went to explore Costco. We're not members there, but we just wanted to stay out for a bit, so we thought we would explore there. It was a calm and relaxing day.

Sunday morning we went to church and then had lunch with our friends, Wendy and Wendel. They announced in Sunday School that they are expecting their first child so we had lots to talk about! We all took afternoon naps when we got home and then we went to McKayla's birthday party Sunday evening. She will be 10 in just a few days - wow! It was a small family party because she had her friends party the weekend before. All the kids had fun playing together; they have a fun playground, trampoline, train set, kitchen set and play-dough area the girls couldn't get enough of. We always enjoy getting to spend time with our family. Happy birthday McKayla!

All that to say, it's so nice that life has returned to normal!

From the Mouths of Babes...

The girls make me laugh...

1. The three things Mia has no problem saying: "Uh-uhn" as she shakes her head no. "Thank you" which she says whenever you hand her any thing (it's precious to see and hear, and I'm trying to get it on video so I can upload it and you can hear her too). "Waffle" That's right, as is in the breakfast food. The girl loves them and can't get enough of them. Whenever you ask if she wants more, she nods her head, signs more and says "waffle."

2. I love putting Lily to bed because before we say our prayers, I ask what she is thankful for. I try not to direct her answers or say "really???" with some of her responses; you just never know what she'll say. For instance, on Friday night, when asked what she is thankful for, she responded "that Bama likes to play with me. Tell God I'm thankful for that." How sweet is that? On Saturday night though her response was "for my new trashcan. Any my Ladybug book. Tell God I'm thankful for both of those things." Seriously?

From the mouths of babes...

Post Tax Season Weekend

Tax season is over! These last couple of weeks have been stressful for all of us, so April 15th was a very welcomed day. On Thursday the 15th, we closed the office at 5, and Ryan and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at La Grotta. That is one of our all-time favorite restaurants, and it was a wonderful way to wind down a long couple of months. When we came home, Liz had cleaned everything (not just picked up, but really cleaned...wow, thank you!) which was such a welcome sight. She had also helped Lily and Mia make this adorable sign that says "Great job Mommy & Daddy. Thanks for working so hard! Love, Lily and Mia." Isn't this sweet?


We got home just after Lily had gone to bed, and she actually got out of bed a few minutes later. I went to put her back down and she was so excited to see me. After a big hug, she said "Mommy, I have a surprise for you and Daddy, come on!" I thought about saying no and putting her back to bed but she was so excited, I couldn't. She took me by the hand, and we walked out to get Ryan. She led us to our bedroom where we could see our surprise. Lily had painted each of us a picture frame ("Pink because pink is my favorite color") and put stickers spelling Lily and Mia on it plus some pretty flower stickers on them. She had also put some Dove candies out for both of us, and I received several magazines (my favorite way of relaxing). Liz also gave each of us a gift card to use just on ourselves which was very appreciated. Lily was so excited about giving us these things. She was precious to watch. Thank you so much to Liz for "helping" her put this together and for all the wonderful help you have given!

Our office was closed on Friday, and we wanted to spend the whole day with the girls. We got up that morning, had breakfast and headed out to the zoo. It was a beautiful day; a perfect one for being outside. The flamingos are right inside the gate, so we of course went to them first. They were cleaning out their space, so they were bunched up near the top, but Lily was still excited to see them. She immediately took out her camera to take a picture. After she took it, she turned to me and said "they all smiled and said cheese for me." Here's the resulting picture.



We enjoyed our time there even though it was pretty crowded. Here are some more pictures we took while visiting.

Lily with the baby elephant statue.

The pandas were very active. This little one was playing on his ropes and trees and walking all around his area.
He stopped for several minutes right in front of Mia. She kept trying to reach in and pet him, but thankfully, there was glass between them!

He was right there!

Mia also enjoyed watching the little monkeys jump and swing through their area.

Lily always loves the zoo, but I felt like Mia really enjoyed herself today. The animals were all pretty active, and she seemed so interested in watching all of them. Here is she is watching the meercats. I'm pretty sure she was trying to figure out how to grab one of them; she was staring so intensely at them. It's so much fun to watch her these days as you can see her little mind soaking everything in. She is so much fun to be with!

The kids have also discovered the playground at the zoo. I think they would be fine playing on it and skipping over some of the animals! Lily had a blast with "the beanstalk" as she called it. It looks likes a little vine that she could climb and then step onto the slide platform. The first couple of times she did it, she was so cautious and had her arms wrapped very tightly around the pole. By the end, she was zipping up it without problem. You could see she was so proud of herself which was fun to see. She has talked all weekend about going back to climb the beanstalk.

Bama enjoyed watching all the action too!

The girls liked playing on the Willie B statue for a few minutes.

Mia liked the little school bus on the playground.

They have a four person seesaw which is pretty fun. I should know because I got to sit on the other side to balance them out!

After being at the zoo and playing for a couple of hours, we decided it was time to go. Mia fell asleep almost immediately since she had missed her morning nap. Lily stayed awake for a few minutes but then was out too. We were going to The Varsity for lunch, but as we pulled up we saw at least a hundred people trying to walk in. I have been there on GA Tech gameday's before, and it was nothing like the crowd that was there. We couldn't even count all the tour buses that had just emptied out. Needless to say, we kept going. We went to Jason's Deli at Cumberland which was different than The Varsity, but it was good. As we were walking up to the entrance, Lily said "Mommy they have ice cream here!" I don't remember taking her since she was just a few months old...how did she know that? Anyway, we enjoyed a good lunch (complete with ice cream), and Mia kept us entertained the whole time.

We got home, and it was time for Mia's nap. Lily and I went outside to play for a few minutes first. Ryan's car had backed over a piece of her pink sidewalk chalk the day before, so there was big pile of crushed chalk at the top of the driveway. Lily found a little stick and we used it to "paint" with. I love seeing Lily's creative side. Creativity is definitely not my strong point, so it's fun to watch in her. Here's a picture of her painting. Notice her new headband too. She loves this! She is barely willing to take it off for nap and bed time, but she will carefully remove it and put it on her shelf where she can grab it in the morning.

Ryan and I were able to take naps Friday afternoon too which was a wonderful treat. We were all pretty wiped out from our day playing, and it wasn't until Ryan's cell phone rang at 5:30 that I woke up; I woke Ryan up, and we quickly got the girls up and ready because we were supposed to meet the Lundquists' at Chuck E Cheese at 5:30! It was fun to catch up with them, enjoy some pizza and have fun with some games and rides. Here's Lily on the carousel which she says is her favorite ride there.

Mia tried it too, but didn't like it quite as much. As you can see in the picture, you have to watch her because she will try to jump off a ride before it's finished!

They also had a new horse racing game which Lily tried. It's a pretty big horse that you sit on and it moves back and forth, jumps, etc to make you feel like you are in a race. She must have ridden this a dozen times. She had a blast on it.

On Saturday, Ryan took Lily to run some errands with him in the morning, and I got to spend some time alone with Mia. What a treat! I am so amazed every time I am with her. I remember being like this with Lily too; just amazed at every thing she is learning. You would think the second go-round would be less impressive, but it's not. I am so in love with this little one! We spent close to an hour in the play kitchen. Mia would mix things in a bowl with a spoon that was way too big for her (it's one of my old silicone mixing ones), but she didn't care. She would mix a few things, then put it in the oven, turn the knob to make the timer sound, open the oven, remove whatever she had cooked and pretend to eat it or offer it to me to eat. She did all this too while sitting on an upside down green storage box so she would be at the right height; she would scoot all around on it. Then she had a blast practicing jumping as she would stand on a box top (approximately 1 inch from the ground), hold my hands and "jump." Of course, it was more of a quick step off, but to her, it was jumping and the look of joy on her face was priceless; I couldn't stop to get the camera because I wanted to see the look on her face again and again. We read a book together which always thrills me, and we sang some songs together. It was much-needed time together. I could see she was starting to get tired though, so I finally put her down for a nap, and then decided to lay back down myself just because I could.

Ryan and Lily got home, but let me sleep for awhile longer until Mia woke up. We decided to go Steak and Shake for lunch and try their new Kool-Aide milkshakes; if you're wondering, they taste just like Kool-Aide. After lunch we drove down to the playground just for a change of scenery. The girls had lots of fun playing on the two playgrounds there. After becoming so brave on the beanstalk at the zoo, Lily decided to try the little rock-climbing wall they have on one of the playgrounds. She would climb about 3 feet into the air and then step onto the platform again and again and again. I love seeing how proud of herself she is after doing something new like this! After about an hour, we decided to head to Karen's down the street because it is an adorable store, and the owner has decided to retire; she's having a 50% off sale right now so we found several cute things at a great price.

After nap time, Ryan headed down to the Braves game with Charlie and Brian which is something he loves to do. He even came back with a great new hat. I think this was a fun way for him to relax after a long tax season; he definitely deserves it with all the hard work he put in. While he was there, the girls and I had breakfast for dinner (a favorite around our home) and just enjoyed playing together. After Mia went to bed, Lily and I cleaned up the playroom and then cuddled while watching Charlie and Lola and reading a couple of books together. It was really nice to have some time alone with her too. After she went to bed, I put up a few things and then watched a Netflix movie called "My Sister's Keeper." It was an incredibly difficult movie to watch (the story revolves around a family who has a daughter with leukemia), but it was wonderfully done and acted. While not really a relaxing movie, it was nice to have some quiet to just enjoy to myself.

On Sunday morning, we all went to church which was great. It was wonderful to catch up with our friends, the Barbados and the Rohans, at Moe's afterwards too. We came home and Mia immediately went down for her nap; Sundays always throw her off schedule. Lily and I played for a little bit and then watched the second half of Horton Hears A Who, a movie she loves. When the movie ended, it was time for her nap. Mia woke up shortly thereafter, and she and I played together some more. We were back in her kitchen which was still fun. Lily came out a little while later, and then Mia actually needed to go back down for a late second nap. While she napped and Ryan watched the Braves game, Lily and I went to Publix which is something we both enjoy. We had a fun evening all playing together and both girls went to bed without problems.

This has been a wonderful weekend decompressing after the stress of tax season. We have about 10 weeks of extremely hard work, and at times, it becomes really difficult and I'm not sure it's worth it. However, when I think of the flexibility and opportunities it affords us the other 42 weeks of the year (and even during those 10 weeks when necessary), I realize how fortunate we are to have this business. I have to say though, I am glad life can return to normal again though, and this was a great way to welcome "normal" back!