Birthday Celebration, Part 1

Today we celebrated Lily's 4th birthday! I cannot believe she is turning 4 on Monday! Today was an absolutely gorgeous day which made it a great day to celebrate our sweet girl. Our day started early as Lily came in at 6:45, and Mia was wide awake by 7:15. We decided this was a good time to surprise Lily with her birthday present from us. See the picture below...

She and Mia were both so excited about the new picnic table! We knew they would love to have a place on the deck to eat, do projects and enjoy the outside. I love this picture below as they had just got a glimpse of the table and are now looking back at me in pure excitement.

So happy!
Trying out the new table and lovin' it!

We decided to treat Lily to a special breakfast since we had some time this morning. She has three princess-type cookbooks that she loves to look through. A couple of days ago, I asked her what her favorite recipe out of the books was, and she picked the marshmallow lollipops. I decided we would make those plus a few others because she loves to cook. So, after showing the girls the new picnic table, Lily and I set about making an...interesting...breakfast. Here's a picture of Lily stirring up the freshly made strawberry milk. Turns out she didn't like it a whole lot, but Mia enjoyed it.

Next up came the Sea Crunch Bagels. We sliced up mini-bagels, put a little butter on them and then Lily had a great time decorating them with our different color sugars. Here's a picture of them just before going into the oven.

She was so proud of her artistic bagel work!

Mia was having fun too!

Getting a quick snack of marshmallow.

Of all things, I realized this morning I had forgotten to buy marshmallows. I couldn't believe it. Ryan was kind enough to run to Kroger and buy a pack for us while we worked on the other items. We stuck the marshmallows on craft sticks, melted and colored white chocolate and then let the girls swirl the marshmallows in the chocolate. Lily loved watching the batches of white chocolate become neon pink, purple, orange and green. After they were dipped in chocolate, they decorated them with princess accessories. The pack I bought had gold tiaras, red apples, pearls and blue glass slippers. Lily really seemed to enjoy it. Mia had fun swirling the marshmallows and then licking off the chocolate. Here they are swirling and decorating.

Marshmallow lollipops!

Once everything was prepared, I pulled out the strawberry banana jello I made the night before and made jigglers in the shapes of tulips, bunnies and the letter H. Lily was very excited about this. Here's Lily showing off her plate with jello, pink bagel and pink marshmallow lollipop. Obviously, this sugar-laden breakfast is not what we typically serve, but hey, it's fun to do something different sometimes!

Yum...jello!

Mia enjoyed breakfast too. She also enjoyed a banana with her breakfast. Technically this was her second breakfast of the morning as she had a container of yogurt while Lily and I made the milk and bagels. This little one can put food away like I have never seen!

I had also made a snack from Lily's cookbook of Multicolor Goldfish (she is fascinated by those), raisins and pretzels. Lily thought it looked really cool, but we decided to wait until snack time to try them (okay, except one yellow goldfish) instead of adding that to breakfast. It was really fun making all these things with Lily and Mia out of these cute little cookbooks. What a great way to start a birthday celebration!

We finished and cleaned up breakfast just before 10. We decided to change clothes and head to the North Georgia State Fair for a little bit because it was such a beautiful day. We arrived about 10:50, and received a pleasant surprise when they said all admission before 11 was free. Sweet! We spent about an hour or so visiting all the animals that were out. The girls loved this! You can see Mia waving "Hi!" to the elephants in the picture below. you will also notice Mia has on her otter backpack leash that Grandpops and Grandma Jan bought her from the Aquarium when they visited recently. This is the first time we have used it, and it is awesome! With Lily, I always thought it was crazy that a parent would put their child on a leash...well, never say never! This was great! We didn't have to worry about Mia wanting to get out of her stroller (not to mention strollers aren't allowed everywhere), and we didn't have to hold Mia the whole time. It made our whole experience so much more relaxing. She enjoyed it too because it allowed her the freedom to walk around a little bit. She would walk as far out to my right as it would go and stare and/or point and/or squeal at the animals or rides; then she would go as far to the left as it would go and repeat. She was fascinated and loving her freedom.

They had four huge tigers out too. Thankfully you couldn't get too close to these guys!

Inside the barn they had lots of ducks, chickens, roosters, goats, birds, horses, llamas, cows and rabbits. I was impressed with Mia's ability to recognize the animals. Both girls really enjoyed this area.

I was very impressed with this tall camel. He kept sticking his head over the fence which I thought was funny. They also had a zebra, alpaca, turkey, ostrich and goats under this tent.

Lily and Mia both loved picking up hay and feeding it to this tiny goat through the fence.

After visiting with all the animals, we walked into the ride and food area. Lily wanted to ride the farris wheel which we agreed to until we realized she wasn't tall enough; maybe next year. Then Lily got her heart set on the game where you use a sledgehammer to hit a target and it moves a little weight up to ring a bell. Obviously, she isn't strong enough to make that happen, but the vendor was very kind and helped her so the bell rung when she hit the target; she won a pink ball for her effort, and she was thrilled. We ended up not riding any rides. Neither girl seemed too interested in the carousel, so we opted out of that. All the kid rides were single rider only, so no adults could go with them. There was no way we could let Mia go on by herself, and we doubted Lily would want to go by herself. So we bought a big lemonade to share, nachos for the girls and corn dogs for us and enjoyed a nice lunch under some shade. We headed out about 1 and went to McEntyre's Bakery to pick up Lily's birthday cake for her afternoon party. Both girls were exhausted when we got home, so they took naps. Ryan and I finished cleaning up from the morning, he took a nap and I took a shower. Then it was time for Lily's party! More about that in the next post. This was a great way to start celebrating Lily's birthday!

End of September

I cannot believe today is the last day of September! Where has the month gone? I tell you what, my mind has been going a thousand miles an hour in a hundred different directions this month. I feel like I have barely stopped. Ryan took a couple of days a week or so ago to go to the lake and "download his brain." I think that's a perfect description of what I need to do too! I realized tonight I have not taken any pictures of the kids since September 7. It's not like we have been doing tons of things (actually, we were sick for a lot of that time), but still, I can't believe how few pictures I have taken recently. We have a lot of fun stuff coming up the next few months though, so I think I'll make up for it soon. Anyway, when I realized this tonight, I grabbed the camera and snapped a few bedtime pictures of the girls. So, here you go!

Mia still has the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen.

She is really getting into books now. Here she is before bed "reading" her animal book. She is especially fond of finding the goat (aka "goad") and fish (aka "feesh"). It still cracks me up that when you point to the lion and ask "what does a lion say?" she will whisper "roar." All other animal sounds she does in her normal voice, but not that one! We typically read two to three books together before bed time, and then we say our prayers. She is so sweet. We will be playing and reading, and then I'll say "Okay Mia, it's time to say our prayers." She stops right then and folds her hands together while I say a short prayer. When I say "amen," she smiles and says "AMEEN!" So sweet.
Lily showing off the rainbow artwork she made in Mission Friends class Wednesday night. She was so proud of her "colored Cheerios" (you probably know them as Fruit Loops). Lily also mentioned how she ate a lot of them before gluing them down ("I ate 10 at a time" is what I believe she said). As if we couldn't tell from the sugar high that had her running in circles way after bed time last night! It's really a cute little picture though. Lily asked to hang it up so Mia wouldn't get a hold of it; she has a tendency to tear the pictures which upset Lily greatly. We hung it on her closet door, so she could admire it whenever she wants to.
Mia showing off her teeth. Slowly but surely, they are coming in! She is also so excited about her new pajamas. These are her first two-piece pajamas. I absolutely love little ones in footie, one-piece pajamas, but Mia's a big girl now, so she is into big girl pajamas. She wore them for the first time the other night, and she smiled so big when she showed them off to Ryan and me. She is so precious!

Mia's First Sentence

Our sweet Mia said her first sentence today. When Ryan brought the girls home from school, he gave them each a snack: Curious George gummies for Lily and a few vanilla wafers for Mia. When Mia finished, she walked over to Ryan and said "Daddy, Meme cacker peaz." Translation - "Daddy, Meme crackers (aka graham crackers which my grandmother, Meme, always gives to the girls when we go visit) please." Ryan had no problems agreeing to that! She is saying so many words every day now, but this is the first time we have heard her make them into a sentence. Our little one is getting so big!!!

Pull-Ups are Gone!

Finally, Lily has stopped wearing her Pull-Ups at nap time! I am thrilled! For a few weeks now, she has been wearing them to nap, but most days she would wake up and they would still be dry. Well last Monday, my mom came to stay with the girls after being gone for a week and a half to California. She told Lily it was time to change into her Pull-Up for nap time, and Lily responded "I don't wear Pull-Ups for naps anymore." Mom said okay and put her down in her big girl panties...it worked! She has been dry and Pull-Up free ever since! We're down to just Nighttime Pull-Ups now, and I don't have the first clue to get her to stop needing those. Oh well, it will happen at some point, but I right now I will be excited about this step!

Catching Up

Finally, it seems as though the germs have left the Hooks house! All weekend Lily was a little hoarse and Mia still had diarrhea, but it seems we are now all back to "normal." Here's hoping we stay this way for awhile because man, that wasn't fun.

Even though everyone wasn't at 100%, we had a nice weekend. Saturday late morning, the four of us went to the Taste of Smyrna which was great. It was a little warm, but there were lots of shaded areas to enjoy. Tons of restaurants come out and offer samples of their food for small prices, typically anywhere from 50 cents to $4. We had Williamson Brothers (BBQ), Crepe Revolution (Nutella crepes), The Melting Pot (brownies, pound cake and strawberries with chocolate drizzled over) and Kenny's Pies (mini key lime). Lily and I also shared a lemonade which is always a treat, and both girls LOVED the Blue Raspberry Hawaiian Shave Ice that they shared. Their tongues were bright blue, and they thought that was hilarious. The photographer from The Bright Side (a local newspaper) came by and snapped their pictures; how fun if it ends up in next month's edition!

Ryan and Mia stayed a little longer and enjoyed some of the carnival-like atmosphere (jumpies, exotic bird show, etc) while Lily and I headed out Sierra's birthday party. Sierra is her best friend from school. Everyday when she comes home from school, I hear a report on what Sierra had to eat, what she wore, what color her project was, etc. We also hear about Shelby and Ally, but it's usually about Sierra. I love that Lily has made her own friends; kids she truly enjoys playing with who aren't necessarily kids of our friends (though we like when she plays with them too!). She couldn't wait to get to Sierra's party. It was at a place called DACS Kids which I had never heard of. It was a really neat place. It is an inside playground that looks like a huge pirate ship! They have sand all around it, jumpies to play in and crawl through and little cannon shooters that launch foam balls really high into the air. Lily immediately went to one of the cannons and just kept laughing and having fun. A few minutes after we arrived, Sierra and Ally saw her and came running up. She immediately started playing with them and having a great time. It was so much fun to watch her! Lily also loved the princess castle cake and seeing Sierra open all her presents. This really was a fun party.

On our way home, we stopped into Publix to pick up things for the evening's dinner. Ryan's friend, Allison, was going to join us. Ryan and Allison went to Vestavia Hills High School together, and have stayed friends for a long time. She has spent the last three years in Egypt as a math teacher at a Christian School. She has recently moved back home to Birmingham, but she was in Atlanta for the weekend. We always love to hear about people's travels, so we were thrilled she was able to visit for a bit. She brought some great scrapbooks to look through, and she had lots of cool stories from the places she visited and people she met. The girls were both very well behaved and enjoyed having Allison there too. We all had a wonderful time visiting with her; it's always great to catch up with an old friend.

On Sunday, Ryan, Lily and I went to church while Mia stayed home with some of Ryan's family that was in town visiting. After church, Ryan headed down to the Falcons game with some friends, so Lily and I enjoyed lunch together at Moes. Since Mia wasn't with us, we were able to sit on the high stools against the wall; she thought that was awesome. I really enjoyed getting some one on one time with Lily; she is so much fun to talk with! She went down for her nap soon after we got home. Since Mia had taken a morning nap, she didn't want anything to do with an afternoon nap! This let us have some one-on-one time too which was nice. I am amazed everyday at how big Mia is getting. She is talking so much more, and she is just downright fun to be with. We are so blessed to have these two sweet girls!

The girls are out of school this week for Fall Break, so we're getting to spend more time with them. Ryan spent most of Monday with them before my mom came over. Mom and Dad just returned from a trip to California (they had an awesome time), and the girls were so excited to see her. They brought Mia a cute mix-and-match puzzle that she has had so much fun with. Lily also loves the book they brought her; it shows you how to trace your hand into different animal shapes, and then you can color, glue googly eyes and pom-poms (all included) on to decorate. It's a really cool book, and Lily is having a blast with it. Dad was also able to stop by for just a minute on his way home from work, so they were excited to see him too. After dinner, we cleaned up and then a few friends came over for Girls Night Out which is always fun. Ryan kept the girls downstairs where they played and had fun until bedtime.

He also stayed with the girls a bit this morning while I had a work meeting, but then I came home so he could go to his lunch meeting. I took the girls to McEntyre's Bakery which is always delicious. Ryan had already fed them lunch, so they were excited to get little cupcakes as a special treat while I enjoyed lunch. Lily picked the vanilla cupcake with orange leaf on it while Mia wanted the vanilla cupcake with red leaf. After that we ran by The Dollar Tree to pick up a few things, and then we headed home. We had a lot of fun just playing together (I love it when they play nicely together!), and then mom arrived to take over, so I could return to work. It's been a nice day, and we'll head out to church in just a little bit. We ate a delicious dinner at church on Wednesday evening, and then Lily really enjoys going to choir and mission friends. Mia also has fun in her nursery class where they make the cutest little craft projects and sing sweet songs. Ryan and I join our friends in a study too; this semester we're discussing predestination versus free will and the historical and Biblical aspects of the two. It's quite an interesting topic that gets some lively discussions going!

Well, I think that gets us caught back up on what's going on in our lives. I realize this isn't the most exciting stuff in the world for everyone to read, but I enjoy writing it all down to remember what life is like right now. Our girls are growing up so quickly, and I want to always remember these sweet and precious ages. While working on our scrapbooks, I always read the blog again to help me remember what was going on at that time. Last week I was working on early 2009 (I realize I am really behind in my scrapbooking!), and I just couldn't believe reading some of the blog posts. Mia was only a few months old, and Lily was just getting into conversations. I just kept thinking "I can't believe how different they are now!" as I read it. So, if you read this blog regularly, thank you for allowing me to share our everyday lives with you!

Such Girls

Last night I needed to do a load of laundry for the girls, so I decided to start pulling out the Fall/Winter consignment sale clothes I purchased a few weeks ago to start getting them clean. Lily was thrilled with her new clothes! She kept saying things like "Oh, this is so pretty!" "I am going to look so cutie-tootie in this!" and "This is great!" My favorite though was "Oh my goodness, I cannot believe it!" to which I asked "What can't you believe?" She replied "I can't believe I have all of these new clothes!" She was such a girl!

Mia loved seeing the new shoes I had purchased too. She is such a little shoe fiend. We're in trouble later on if that habit keeps up!

On Monday evening, I also showed Lily their Halloween costumes. Mia will be a monkey (we're always saying "monkey see, monkey do" with her), and Lily will be Tinkerbell. She's all about Tinkerbell right now. Anyway, while Ryan and I were eating outside Monday evening, I left Lily's costume sitting out on the sofa. When I was consoling Lily after her "coughing incident" (see previous post), she said "I thought you were in your room so I looked in there but you weren't there so I thought you were in the living room so I looked but you weren't there so I looked at my costume and then walked to the kitchen..." While I felt really awful for her and incredibly guilty that Ryan and I were enjoying a meal outside while she got sick, it made me giggle a little to realize that even though she was sick and scared she couldn't find us, she took a moment to look at her costume again. I'm glad she is so excited about it.

Such sweet little girly-girls!

The Sickness Saga

Last Saturday's post talked mostly about Mia being sick with croup. Not fun at all. The virus stayed with our little one through Monday. It completely threw her off schedule. She was incredibly tired, cranky and clingy; she barely ate. I'm pretty sure she has lost some weight which isn't very good for a little one. She had awful diarrhea waking her up during the night and getting her incredibly messy during the day. We were easily doing at least one load of laundry a day for her clothes. It also led to an awful diaper rash for her which is painful. We kept her out of church on Sunday and out of school on Monday. Finally though, on Monday afternoon, it seemed she was back almost to normal, so we thought the germs were gone.

On Monday night, we put the girls to bed and then Ryan and I enjoyed a fantastic steak dinner on our new deck; it was a beautiful evening, and it was nice to have a nice, relaxing dinner together. We had the monitor out so we could keep any eye on the girls. Everything appeared fine, and about 5 minutes after the last time we checked it, we decided to go back in. When we opened the door, Lily was standing there bawling. I asked what was wrong and she said she had tried to go to the potty by herself to cough (aka throw up), but she couldn't make it; then she couldn't find us and was upset. Sure enough, the hallway from her room was covered in throw up, and she was pale as she could be. I held her for a few minutes while Ryan cleaned everything up and then we helped her back to bed. She stayed there the rest of the night.

However, at 3:30 that morning, Mia woke up and was crying out for Daddy. Ryan went in and she was absolutely covered in diarrhea. So, he helped her take a shower to clean her while I changed her sheets, disinfected the mattress, tried to get the smell out of her room and got clean pajamas out. About 4, we put her back to bed but then she woke up at 7:00, ravenous. Ryan stayed home with both of the girls on Tuesday; it was a rough day as they were both whiny from not feeling well.

On Wednesday morning, Lily threw up just a tiny little bit, so we decided to keep her out of school even though she seemed perfectly fine. She was thrilled when she learned she would get to come to work with me. Ryan already had other plans for the day, and since Wednesday was an extension deadline for my corporate clients, I needed to go in (Liz was sick in Birmingham and my parents are out of town). She asked to wear her favorite yellow dress. We brought some Color Wonders and the portable DVD player with us, and she did great being up there. She made me 5 or 6 pictures and decorated my office with them. She loved the water cooler and wanted to fill up her cup multiple times. She met several of my clients who stopped in, and they all loved her. We picked Mia up at 1 and then headed back up to the office for about 20 minutes to wrap up a few things that were due that day. We stopped in to see Wayne before we left and then headed home at 2 for naps. Both girls were exhausted and slept well. We all went to church that evening and Liz met us at home after that.

Other than Mia's diarrhea (which is just now starting to get better), I think we're all back to healthy. What a week and a half it has been though! Here's hoping this winter won't be germ-filled!

Hangers or Hooks

On Wednesday night after church, my friend Sonja called to tell me a story about her middle child, Anna. Anna is just a couple of months younger than Lily, so they are in the same class at church. As they were leaving, Anna was telling Sonja about playing with her friend Lily at church. She then said "You know her Mommy, Lily Hangers." Sonja was confused because she doesn't know a "Lily Hangers." Then she realized what Anna was meaning, so she said "Do you mean Lily Hooks?" and said "Yea, Lily Hooks Hangers!" I thought that was really funny, especially if you knew how absolutely adorable Anna is!

Sick Hooks

This week has not been much fun around the Hooks household. On Monday evening and all day Tuesday, Ryan had a stomach bug that left him not feeling very well. On Wednesday night, Lily said "Mommy, my tummy hurts." She tried using the potty but then seemed just fine, so I didn't think much about it. Well, about 1:30 AM on Thursday, she came into our room and said "Daddy, I have to cough in the potty." She says "cough" when she means "throw up" because she knows she coughs things up. Anyway, Ryan jumped out of bed and held her hair back as she threw up several times into the toilet. After that, I cleaned her up and just held for a little bit before helping her back into bed. By the time she got up Thursday morning though, she seemed fine so I think something just didn't sit well on her tummy.

Also on Wednesday night, but before Lily got up, Mia was up for awhile crying so I held her for awhile because she seemed to be a little off. I could tell she was getting sick because she sounded a little wheezy and warm. However, on Thursday, Mia obviously wasn't herself. She seemed hot, she was hoarse and she just wasn't acting herself. Around 2:00 I talked to her doctor's office and made an appointment for Friday morning. Well at 2:30, Liz called to say Mia had thrown up all over the two of them, and could Ryan or I come home so she could clean up and we could check on Mia. I immediately left the office and was scared when I got home and heard Mia; it sounded like she was struggling for every breath. I called the doctor's office and asked them to see us that afternoon; if they couldn't, we were going to urgent care. Luckily, they told me to come on in because Dr White's partner had an opening right then; I love this pediatric practice. We were sitting in the waiting room for a few minutes, when a nurse came out and called for another patient. She looked over at Mia, and said "I'm going to take these people back, but then I want to come back out and check her breathing." It made me feel better that I wasn't crazy for thinking she sounded awful, and they wanted to make sure this wasn't an emergency. She came back out a minute later, and lifted up Mia's shirt. She said it didn't appear she was struggling to breath because her stomach wasn't sucking in around the ribs, but she wanted to get us back soon to test her oxygen level. A few minutes later, a room opened up so they brought us back. She ran an oxygen test on her, and it came back at 99% which is really good. That means she just sounds horrible, but she isn't actually struggling for breath; what a relief. Dr Miller came in later, and after examining her diagnosed her with croup. She recommended a steroid (both in office and by prescription) and a breathing treatment to try to start reducing the inflammation. Mia was not happy with this treatment. She was crying the whole time as I held a mask over her mouth and nose. Luckily though, we started to see improvement in her behavior right away.

She has been steadily improving, but she still isn't well. The steroid stimulates her appetite a little bit which is good; you know she isn't feeling well when she doesn't eat well. She is still hoarse though which is just pathetic sounding. We are having to sleep with the monitor really high in case she starts crying during the night. In fact, Ryan and Liz were at the Braves game last night, so I was home with the girls. About 10:30, Mia started crying, so I went in to hold her. I was in there about an hour because she is just so sad right now. It's heart-breaking. The info from the doctor says croup typically lasts about 5 to 7 days; I really hope this ends soon.


All this to say, it hasn't been the most upbeat week around our home. Here's hoping everyone makes a complete recovery soon!

Fall is Here!

Fall has arrived! I know it's not technically correct, but to me, Labor Day always signals the start of Fall which happens to be my favorite time of year. The weather starts to cool off, the leaves change color, football starts, my three favorite people have birthdays...it's all wonderful! We had a great long holiday weekend, and I hope you did too. Here are some details from our weekend...

We had originally planned to head to Tallahassee with some friends to see FSU take on Samford. However, those plans changed a couple of weeks ago, and we expected to just enjoy the day at home taking in all the games. Then, a friend unexpectedly offered us his tickets to the UGA versus Louisiana-Lafayette game in Athens. Thankfully, my parents were available and willing to watch the girls, so we got up that morning and headed up to Athens. It took about 2 hours to get there and find a place to park, and we walked into the stadium right at kickoff. Even though neither of us are UGA fans (in fact, we typically root against them!), it was so much fun to be at Sanford Stadium! It's such a great atmosphere, and it was so exciting to be at a college game again. This was so much fun! While we were in Athens, my parents took the girls to see Molly cheerlead in her first game. Mom shot some video, and it was adorable! All these little 5-year-olds were precious. Lily loved it and talked about it for hours afterwards. I know they had a great time hanging out with Granna and Papa. We got home from Athens about 5, picked the girls up and headed to Moes for dinner. Really, we just wanted to eat outside on a patio. It was an amazingly beautiful day! After the girls went to bed, Ryan and Brian started putting together the new grill Ryan bought on Friday. It took a few hours, but it looked great! Unfortunately, we didn't have the right adaptor for the natural gas line, but we knew we could pick one up on Sunday afternoon. While they worked, I relaxed with my new book inside (Seeds of Turmoil by Bryant Wright if you're interested), and I was able to watch the beginning of Game Day that we had recorded. I absolutely love Big and Rich singing their Game Day "Coming To Your City" each Saturday morning. It gets me ready for a great day of football! Whenever I hear the song during the rest of the year, I change the words to sing the Game Day version instead of the "real" song.

Sunday was Ryan's 32nd birthday. Happy birthday to Ryan! We went to church in the morning, and then to Panera for lunch which was a nice change of pace. After Panera we ran by Home Depot to pick up an adaptor for the grill. After that we went home, and Lily was excited for Ryan to open his birthday presents. She and Mia both helped open his cards and gifts, so they loved that. Then it was nap time; yea! While they napped, Ryan started working on the adaptor. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite the right size, so that started a long process of trying to get everything to fit together. Our friends, the Hendersons and the Caseys, arrived about 4:30 to celebrate Ryan's birthday with us. The guys kept working on the grill and got it ready to go. Ryan made wonderful hamburgers and hot dogs for us all. We had a great time hanging out with our friends and enjoying a delicious dinner. Here are a couple of pictures.

Cake is always delicious. Parker, Lily and Mia really enjoyed it!

On Monday, we all slept in a little bit which was really nice. We decided to go to Waffle House and then head to the zoo. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the zoo, it was packed. We couldn't even find a parking space! We decided to head to a new playground near out home instead, and the girls had a great time. It was pretty crowded too, but they still had fun. By then, it was nap time, and they slept great because they were worn out! We actually woke Mia up after 2.5 hours because we were heading to our church for the first Holy Smoke BBQ. Our class entered the contest and did awesome. Sarah took third place in cakes (out of 30+ cakes), Cullen took second in BBQ chicken and Jeff took first in sauce (both out of about 20 or so entrants). Woo-who! The whole festival was a lot of fun. In addition to all the delicious BBQ and sides, there was funnel cake, lemonade, games, jumpies and music. It was great, and I look forward to this coming back next year.

Overall this was a great holiday weekend! Even though today wasn't a holiday, it continued the fun we were having. While I was at work, Ryan took the girls to the zoo, and they had such a fun time. I love being members there, so we can come and go as we please. They played on the playground a lot today which was a fun treat. Here's a picture of the girls on the the see-saws; they had a blast! After dinner tonight, we enjoyed Popsicles on the new deck. We learned our lesson with stained clothes last time, so this time we stripped the girls down and they loved it.

What a great way to wrap up summer! Hope yours was good too!

Visit with Granny

A few weeks ago, Granny and Aunt Nancy came into town because they were going with my Mom to the lake for a few days. Mom and Dad had our family over for dinner so we could all visit with them before they left. We had such a great time! Of course, the kids always love getting together and playing, and I think Granny and Nancy loved getting to watch them. They are entertaining bunch, that's for sure!

Here is Granny with her five great-grandchildren.

Granny with our girls.
4 generations...Granny, Mom, Me and the Girls.

We always love a visit from our Tennessee family!

Lily's First Braves Game!

Ryan and I took Lily to her first Braves game last night, and we had a blast. She was so excited about going! For the last few weeks, every time she saw them on tv, she would sit down to watch for a little bit, so we thought this would be something fun to do. It was a beautiful evening, and a perfect night to sit out at the stadium. Unfortunately, the Braves didn't do so well against the Mets this night (they had beaten them the previous three nights), but oh well, you can't win them all, right?

Lily decked out in her pink Braves outfit. Both her pinstripe shirt and shorts have the Atlanta "A" on them. Bama had braided her hair, so she looked adorable. She was so excited!

So excited to walk up the stairs at Turner Field. She couldn't wait to get to our seats.
The game started at 7:00, but we decided to get there a little early and eat dinner at the 755 Club. We all shared garlic fries and a pepperoni pizza which were actually really good. Lily was thrilled to get a lemonade to drink. She was impressed with how high up in the stadium we were while eating. I told her we would all stand up and put our hands over our hearts to sing The Star Spangled Banner, so for about 15 minutes before the game, we heard "Is it time to sing yet?" over and over. She stood pretty still when the time came with her little hand over heart; it was precious to see. Here's a picture of us enjoying the lemonade while we waited on our dinner.

Taking it all in while we waited.

Enjoying the view!

Lily thought it was really funny that the chairs closed up on her. She kept getting in and out just to see that happen. There wasn't a big crowd at all which was nice. We were able to spread out a little bit which was really good because it allowed Lily to move around a bit. Ryan surprised her with a Tomahawk because she loved seeing them on tv. She loved it!

It was actually NASCAR night at the game. Even though Ryan and I don't watch NASCAR, it was really cool to see the race cars that came out just before the game started. It's a little difficult to see in this picture, but there were 5 or 6 cars in a row; they are by the Braves' dugout in the picture. When they got about halfway around the outfield, each one took off and went really fast; this impressed all of us!

Around inning 5, we noticed Lily was paying attention to everything except the game. At one point, Ryan asked "Lily, where's the baseball game?" She said "Ummm..." and looked around for a few seconds before laughing and pointing to the field. We decided to go get Dippin' Dots ice cream for a little treat and break. Lily had vanilla, I had strawberry, and we picked up Cookies & Cream for Ryan. As we were walking back to our seats to enjoy with Ryan, Lily looked at all three flavors, and decided that "mine is liciouser than yours." "Licious" is how she says "delicious" so to hear "liciouser" made me laugh.

We thought we would probably only be able to stay a few innings before Lily would become too bored or tired. However, she did great for a long time. In the 7th inning, we could see she was starting to fade quickly though, so we decided to head up to the top of the stadium to play at the Kids Corner. Lily loved these huge Coke chairs to climb in and walk around on.

Seriously, the chairs were HUGE!

Ryan and Lily enjoyed them too.

Tomahawkin' away!

The kids can run the bases on top too. Lily wanted to do it, but didn't want to run by herself, so I agreed to run with her. Fun times!

We headed out in the bottom of the 8th. We were impressed with what a good job Lily did. She loved it, and asked to come back soon. She enjoyed seeing the Gas South fire light up when Hutson got a strike-out, and she didn't freak out (major improvement!) when the fireworks exploded above us when McCann hit a home run. She has talked several times about what came out of the yellow gate; she's referring to the race cars and the inflatable tools that come out to race. She also liked the "ball cap shuffle" on the big screen and watching people dance on the screen. We're so thrilled to have another Braves fan in the house!

Recent News

Lily and Ryan had a Daddy/Daughter Date Night last night. They both really enjoyed themselves. Ryan took Lily to Veni, Vidi, Vici for dinner which is an excellent Italian place. He said the hostess seemed surprised to see a 3-year-old there, and even told him they didn't have a children's menu or a booster seat. Luckily, Lily is a pretty well behaved little girl, so she did great. She LOVED the breadsticks they brought out. They were long and skinny, and she told Ryan they were "kinda spicy." Ryan tried one and said they were covered in black pepper; she ate several of them though. Lily ate some penne alfredo while Ryan enjoyed his lamb risotto. They split some cheesecake for dessert. After dinner, they went to Chuck E Cheese to play for a bit. Overall a very successful date! Here's a picture of Lily outside the restaurant. Doesn't she look cute in the little dress we brought her back from Alaska? It has a moose on the front. Mia has a similar one that is blue and brown with a bear on the front; they both look adorable in them.
While they went out on the town, Mia and I picked up Meme and took her to Ted's for dinner. Mia won over the hearts off all the staff while we were there. She smiled at everyone, waved across the restaurant to them and enjoyed her salmon, green beans and gravy. She wasn't a fan of the mashed potatoes, but she loved dipping her green beans into the gravy! After dinner, we went back to Meme's apartment with her for a little bit. I always enjoy getting to catch up with Meme so this was a very nice evening.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that Ryan and Lily also made a visit to Samford while in Birmingham last week. Lily loves school, so she was excited to see where Mommy and Daddy went to school. If you have ever been to Samford, you know it's a beautiful campus; we always love going back to visit. They walked around the quad, visited the library to look out the windows (and you know Lily loves books), and went to the Bookstore where Lily was thrilled to purchase some Gummy Bears. Here's a picture of Lily with Mr. Beeson's picture in front of the library.

We took the girls to the ENT today for their follow-up visits to check on their tubes. They did a visual exam and then used a tympanometer to see if the tubes were clear and working. Lily came through with flying colors. Mia's results weren't as good. They look for a reading of at least 1.0 to determine that the tubes are clear and working. Lily's scores were 2.7 and 3.2. Mia's scores were 1.4 (right ear) and 0.8 (left ear). With that score, they wanted a closer look in her left ear. We laid Mia on an exam table, I held her arms down and a nurse held her head still while the NP used a big microscope to look in her left ear. I was amazed, but Mia didn't cry. She just listened to the nurse and me talk to her; she even laughed a few times. This precious little girl never ceases to amaze me! After the exam, the NP said it appears the tube is just clogged up with wax, so she prescribed some drops to put in. She said as long as Mia doesn't develop a cold in the next few days, the drops will most likely clear everything up and help the tubes. We go back in two weeks to have her retested; Lily gets to wait 6 months for her next exam.

They weigh the girls before the exams which I love; I always like to know how big they are. Granted they were wearing the clothes and shoes, but that shouldn't add too much. Lily weighed about 37 pounds while Mia weighed 25 pounds. Always good to know.

On the way back, Lily absolutely cracked us up. We were listening to some Cedermont Kids' songs on Ryan's iPod, and Lily asked me the name of a song. I wasn't really sure the name, but Ryan said it was "God is strong." He then told me that is actually what Lily told him the other day. Lily said "No, it's called...God is strong and God made everything and then God said oh look at that." We just busted out laughing...I guess that's one translation! We then realized right when she said that we drove past a water wheel in front of an apartment complex that she had never seen before. We still thought it was really funny though as we imagined God in all His wisdom saying "Oh look at that" after creation.

Lily also had us laughing after her shower tonight. Ryan was helping her dry off, and she out of nowhere said "I had a rough day today." Really, watching Monsters Inc in the doctor's waiting room, getting a sticker from the nurse, coloring at Mommy's desk, napping for a couple of hours, reading books, playing with Mia, running in circles, eating dinner and getting ice cream for dessert made for a hard day? Interesting. Not a bad life if that's a rough day!

Quiet on the Homefront

It's been a very quiet week here at home. I have two big projects at work going on right now, and I needed to get some extra time to work on them. Also, we had the house REALLY cleaned last Saturday because I hosted a baby shower at our home yesterday. In order to keep the house clean and give me more time to work without feeling guilty about not being at home, Ryan took the girls to Birmingham on Tuesday morning. I really appreciated it! Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I was able to stay at the office until about 10:30 or 11:00 and then come home to a clean house. Friday, I spent a couple of hours at a client's office for a meeting, and then took the rest of the day off to run errands and get things ready for Saturday's shower. Everything went really well on Saturday. Our friends, Wendy and Wendall are expecting their first baby in October, and we are so excited for them! Lisa, Kara and I had a good time planning the shower, and everything went really well. I have to say, it was really odd to have so much quiet and not constantly have to clean things up around the house each evening. It was nice for a few days, but I certainly missed them and was so glad when they came home yesterday evening!

Ryan and the girls had a really good time in Birmingham. Ryan was very thankful that Liz was able to take care of the girls so much, so he was able to catch up with lots of old friends that we don't get to see nearly enough. I loved getting to hear each day who he had visited with. The girls had tons of fun at Star Lake where they got to feed the fish, ducks and turtles. I have also heard lots of stories about a new playground that is built like a castle. It had a tire swing, and you could walk across the top of the castle; according to Lily, it was pretty cool! Kendall and John came to visit from Tuscaloosa on Friday which everyone loved. Ryan took Wednesday to drive to Fort Payne to visit with Josh for the day which he really enjoyed. Unfortunately, Ryan left the camera here, so I don't have any pictures to upload from their "mini-vacation," but I know they had a great time.

I had a couple of hours downtime Saturday afternoon before they arrived back home. I finished a great book, Radical, which was very insightful and left me with a big challenge; I highly recommend it. After that, I took a little nap, and then they arrived home. We ate an early dinner at Taco Mac, and put the girls to bed early. Mia went down at 6:45 and Lily was in bed by 7:30. They were both exhausted from such a fun week (and a very small nap in the car). While Lily woke up about 7 this morning, we had to wake Mia up at 7:30 to get ready for church.

After church we enjoyed lunch and then a nice long nap time; both girls slept for about 2.5 hours. We played for a bit, and then had dinner. After dinner, we talked to Grandpops in Chicago via Skype. This was our first time to use Skype, but we loved it! We both have video cameras hooked to our laptops, so the girls loved getting to see him and their dog, Taz. Grandma Jan is currently in Florida, but hopefully we'll get to talk to her soon too. Mia just kept staring at the screen, and then pointing and saying "Pops!" Lily enjoyed talking to him though. When it was time to say "night-night" though, Mia got so sad; she didn't want to hang up! She stuck out her lower lip and asked for Glow. She was finally comforted when we told her we will talk again soon. After that, it was bath time and bedtime. I'm glad we're all back together again, and things are back to "normal." We're ready for a new week!

2 Funnys

1. Mia usually likes to imitate what she hears. You can often say "Mia, can you say (fill in blank)?" and she will try. We often say things just to see if she can repeat them. Grandpops picked up on this too while he was here, and he would say "Yabba dabba do!" like the Flintstones. Mia tried her best to say it and we would hear "Daba daba dooooo!" The look on her face when she says "doooo!" cracks me up!

2. While watching her princess sing-a-long DVD last night (or "Princess Cedermont Kids" as she calls it), Lily noticed how long Jasmine's hair was; I agreed it was past her bum. Lily said "I guess she needs to go see Ms Joannie sometime soon." I take it as a good sign that she is referring "new clients" to Joannie for a haircut!

Weekend Visit!

We were so excited to have David and Jan visit this weekend! David flew in on Thursday to have some business meetings, and Jan joined him on Friday. Ryan and David were able to have lunch together at The Georgian Club on Friday before Jan arrived which was nice. I was actually there too at a networking luncheon so I got to run in and say hello very quickly. We all enjoyed their delicious buffet lunch. I know Ryan enjoyed having a little bit of time to catch up with David without two little ones running around!

They came straight from the airport on Friday afternoon. Luckily the girls woke up a little bit before they arrived. Lily was so excited! When they called to say they were on the way, we told Lily and she said "I just can't wait!" She asked several times "Are Grandpops and Grandma Jan here yet?" and also would say "I'm so excited!" When they arrived, she turned shy for about a minute, and then brightened right up when Grandma Jan agreed to see her and Mia's rooms with her. From then on, it was hard to pull her away from Grandma Jan!

We spent Friday evening just hanging out at our home. Lily and Jan played tons of games together, and Mia had a great time showing David her tricks of jumping on Lily's bed. We all enjoyed talking and catching up and playing. About 5:30, I fixed dinner for us because that is simply easier than getting the girls ready and trying to contain their excitement of seeing David and Jan. After dinner, we played a little more, and then it was closing in on bedtime, so they headed to their hotel and we put the girls to bed.

On Saturday morning, we all met up at The Georgia Aquarium. See the picture below we took just before walking in.

We had a lot of fun visiting the Aquarium! The girls had a lot of fun running around and seeing the different type of fish. Mia is really good at saying "FISH!" (sounds like "FEESH!"), so we heard that a lot. Mia also got really good at saying "Pops!" ("Grandpops" and "Grandma Jan" are a little difficult right now) which was super cute. Both girls enjoyed seeing the fish, but to be honest, I think they liked it best when we sat down to eat a snack, so we let them run around, dance and jump since no one else was around us. It was a good way to get their energy out. We loved seeing the beluga whales, whale sharks, humongous grouper, garden eels, jellyfish, seahorses, penguins, sleeping sea otters, albino alligators and lots of other fish. It was really interesting. Finally it was time to go, so we headed out through the gift shop (don't you love it when places force you out that way?). Lily was beyond thrilled when Grandma Jan agreed (after getting my permission, thank you!) to get her a rainbow lollipop. Grandpops and Grandma Jan also surprised the girls with a few other souvenirs: a book, two puzzles, an adorable sea otter harness to use when Mia is out walking around in a crowd so she can't run away (this was our suggestion!) and a snowglobe which Lily calls a "snowblow." Both girls were fascinated with the lollipop when we left the Aquarium, but once it was gone, they have played nonstop with their other new toys. Lily has asked to take the "snowblow" to school for Show and Tell tomorrow.

After a good nap when we got home, we met back up with David and Jan at Atlanta Fish Market. Mia enjoyed her broiled salmon, some sticky rice, a few of my veggies and lots of mashed potatoes; Lily thought her chicken fingers and mashed potatoes were really good. They both loved the bread too. I hadn't given either of them an afternoon snack thinking that would help them eat a good dinner; I didn't think about the delicious bread that comes out before dinner that would fill them up! Lily asked David several times "tell me a funny joke." She has gotten really into jokes recently, and she knows Grandpops can always come up with a good laugh! Overall, they did really well at dinner which I was grateful for, and we all appreciated such a wonderful treat. After dinner, the girls wanted to show Grandma Jan the huge fish out front while David and Ryan got the cars from the valet.

When the cars arrived, we unfortunately had to say goodbye to Grandpops and Grandma Jan who were heading back to Chicago on Sunday morning. We had such a fun weekend with them! I know the girls absolutely adored them and loved spending time together. I know I can safely speak for all four of us when I say I hope they can come back soon!

Mia's Words

I love how much Mia is starting to talk these days. My very favorite thing is that she is saying "Mommy" and "Daddy" now instead of just "Mama" and "Dada." It's so sweet to hear. If you read this regularly, you probably know that Mia loves to eat. It shouldn't surprise you then one of her favorite words is "Bite." She'll see something she wants, point to it and say "Bite! Bite!" It makes me laugh when she does that.

Other words we often hear:
-For food: snack, waffle, anana (for banana), fish (for goldfish), peach, go (for mango) and "more" which is often coupled with the sign for more.
-For family: Lila (for Lily), Mama (for Bama), Nana (for Granna), Papa, Meme and Zac (my nephew).
-She is good at these animals' sounds: ducks, dogs, sheep, cows, pigs, lions, tigers, snakes and "three singing pigs" (from a Sandra Boynton book to which Mia correctly responds "la la la").
-Other general words: Jeez (for Jesus which she says while we're singing "Jesus Loves Me"), Boo (when playing peek-a-boo), boo-boo (when she falls down), Uh-oh (when she throws something down on the floor), Mine (we often hear "mine" very loudly as Lily tries to take a toy away), No, Bow, Ooes (shoes), Duck, Dog, Toodles (from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), Ook (for book), Eez (for please), Thank You, Eyes, Nigh-nigh (before going to bed), Too (her response when you say "I love you"), Glow (for her favorite toy - Glow Worm) and Up (when she wants us to pick her up).

Of course, we hear a lot of laughter from her too. Mia is such a sweet, happy girl. We adore her! I know there are more words than this that she can correctly say, but I am just not thinking of them right now. It is amazing how her speech skills are really starting to take off. I have a very strong feeling that once she starts talking, she won't slow down for quite awhile!

First Dentist Trip

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you take a child to see a dentist by the time they are 1. Are you kidding me? Can you imagine trying to get Mia to sit there and let them look at her teeth? Ha! Well, at Lily's 2 and 3 year old check-ups, Dr. White asked me if she had been to a dentist yet to which I sheepishly replied "no." It recently dawned on me that we have her 4 year-old check-up in just a couple of months, and I really didn't want to admit again that I hadn't taken her. I didn't expect the visit to go well, but I knew it had to be done. So, last week I called Pediatric Dentistry of Smyrna and made an appointment for Lily at 8:30 this morning with Dr. Aaron Schwartz. This office has been in Smyrna for many, many years (though the two dentists are fairly young), and it is just down the street from us. You may know that Dr. White's office is really close to our home; at the end of the street, there's a gas station and then Dr. White's office. Well, Pediatric Dentistry is before the end of the road...seriously, a minute drive away. I have been talking to Lily about going to visit the dentist since making an appointment. I told her they will look at her teeth, count them and clean them to make sure they are healthy. She didn't really seem sold on the idea, but she didn't fight it. So this morning, we get ourselves ready and off we go with major nerves in my stomach as I envision a massive meltdown coming. If you're wondering what would make me think a meltdown was in the future, check out this previous post of Lily's 3-year-old check-up visit with Dr. White...you'll understand.

I have never been so happy to say I was wrong. Lily did an awesome job! I was so, so, so proud of her! As we walked in, her eyes got really big as she saw the waiting room. They have a carnival theme going on, so there were lots of fun animal paintings on the wall (monkeys, giraffes, elephants), a climbing hole to go through, a stop light that had buttons where you could change the colors, an airplane with a propeller that spins when you push the button and several bead games (see picture below) which Lily really liked. She had a fun time while I filled out paperwork. Then we used the potty (I'm telling you, she is a Smyrna potty connoisseur), and then we were called back.
Ms. Stephanie was the hygienist, and she was very nice. They have a few private rooms on the side, but most of the brightly colored chairs are sitting in row facing a big window; Lily climbed up into the yellow chair when asked. I handed her a toy that she was fascinated by; see the picture below. It was filled with water and beads, and when she pushed a button the beads went flying through the water.

Ms. Stephanie showed Lily the tools she would use to clean her teeth; a tiny spinning toothbrush with toothpaste (Lily chose cotton candy toothpaste over grape toothpaste), a small water squirter and a "silly straw" to drink up the water. She let Lily feel the spinning toothbrush on her finger, watch the water squirt and the straw suck up the water which I think helped Lily feel better about using them (it's as if Stephanie has worked with kids before...). Then she told Lily she was going to lay her down a bit which made Lily's eyes widen a bit and she gripped my hand. Then Ms Stephanie showed her mirror she would use and asked Lily to open wide so we could count her teeth. Lily briefly paused (I really think she took a deep breath) and then opened up. We counted all 20 teeth which Stephanie said looked really good. I was so relieved because I just had this fear she would tell me we weren't brushing good enough...whew! Next, she cleaned Lily's teeth. Lily held the water toy but stared at Stephanie the entire time. Then it was time to floss her teeth which I have never done with Lily; thankfully that went well too. Lastly, she applied a fluoride treatment (or "princess paste" as she told Lily) to her teeth. The hard part was over!

Lily told her thank you and then Dr. Aaron came over and introduced himself to both of us. He asked if I had any concerns, so I mentioned her thumb sucking. He asked Lily to bite down and we could both see her front teeth coming forward as a result of the sucking. He looked inside her mouth and pointed out it was only the front teeth currently affected; the back ones are still in the right place which is good. Lily started getting a little fidgety so he said he would finish the exam and then we would talk more about this. He looked in her mouth again, said he could feel her 6-year molars developing, and declared no cavities. Awesome!

Ms. Stephanie then handed Lily a goody bag with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, stickers and princess wand in it. She also helped Lily down to go over and pick a prize for doing so well; she picked a pink bracelet that says "princess." While she did that, Dr. Aaron and I talked more about the thumb sucking. He said that 3.5 is really the critical time to stop the sucking because of what it is doing to the shape of her mouth before the permanent teeth come in. He recommended a specific nail polish like substance that he said his patients have had great success with, especially when coupled with a rewards system. They have a special "treasure chest" that kids can come by and pick a toy from once they stop sucking their thumbs too. He said how the habit of thumb sucking can be just as strong as cigarette smoking; the chemical changes it makes in a child's brain to calm them are amazing. It won't be easy to change this habit, but I know we need to do it. I would rather do this now then have her endure teasing from other kids; it would be nice if it kept braces out of the picture too. We're going to start this process soon; I'll be sure to keep you updated.

When Dr. Aaron and I finished talking, Lily told him thank you and we went out front to pay. They have 3 or 4 really cool tracks set up for the kids to play with while the adult checks out. Ms Stephanie gave Lily a marble, and she had a blast letting it roll down the different tracks through the various tubes. As we were leaving, I told Lily how very proud of her I was and told her we would come back to see Dr. Aaron in a few months. She immediately said "Yea, and I'll play with the marbles again!"

This was a MUCH better experience than I ever imagined it could be. I am so proud of Lily, and I am so grateful at how great the professionals worked with her. Maybe we won't wait quite as long for Mia to visit (maybe...). Check out this sweet picture of Lily with her goody bag just after climbing out of the chair. She's showing off a mouthful of clean, beautiful teeth!

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for the girls. Okay, so "school" is actually Parents Morning Out, but the girls were still very excited! Ryan and I went last Thursday to meet their teachers while Lily went to dance class. Lily will be in Ms Mollett and Ms Amanda's class. Ms Mollett was her teacher for the second half of last year (she was moved up an age group at Christmas), and she loved her. She knows she will enjoy her time with Ms Mollett again. Mia will be with Ms Jodi and Ms Alieta, and I'm sure she'll love it.

Excited to start back to school!

Showing off their school bags. You're not seeing things...Lily was jumping up and down because she was so excited!

We started out the day a little earlier than we wanted this morning because Lily woke up after a nighttime potty accident. She and I got changed into something dry and then came out to the living room. We tried laying on the couch together for awhile, but by 7, Lily was wide awake. I decided to put on a cartoon so she would at least continue to lay there and maybe rest a little. After some Curious George, we got up to make breakfast. As a special treat, we made Banana Bread Muffins (mini-sized) together. Lily loves to cook, so this was a fun way to start a special day. While they cooked, Ryan and I got ready, and the timer beeped just as Mia woke up. We all enjoyed the muffins for breakfast, and then it was time to get the girls ready. They looked so cute! We took a few pictures before heading out. You can't see it in these pictures, but the girls both loved the new lunchboxes I bought them at the recent consignment sale (they were brand new!). Mia's is blue and has Cinderella on it while Lily's is pink with Aurora, Belle and Cinderella on it.

Ryan and I walked the girls into school today though usually we'll just go through the carpool line. We arrived at Mia's class first; she started to get a little nervous, and she became clingy with Ryan. At that moment, Mary Jane (the preschool director) walked by and said "Hi Lily! Do you want me to walk to class with you?" Lily said "Sure!" and took off. Glad we gave her hugs and kisses at home! Just then, Mia noticed one of the cool toys inside her classroom, so she started pointing to it. That made it easier to hand her off to the teacher. No tears from either girl! When we picked them up at 1:00, both girls were so happy, and it was easy to see they had great days. Lily was thrilled that her friend from last year, Sierra, was there again, and she kept telling us about the rainbow and clouds project she made. You could see Mia was worn out from a big day, but she smiled really big when we asked if she had a fun day. I love that the girls love going to school so much. I think it's going to be a great school year!

Happiness

Last Sunday after church we went to Phipps Plaza. We decided to eat at Johnny Rockets in the food court and then head down to Frontgate to check out their big sale. On the way there, we knew we would pass River Street Sweets which has all sorts of delicious goodies in it. I really wanted a piece of chocolate, and I thought it would be fun to get the girls a little treat; I was able to talk Ryan into a quick stop. Mia ended up with some mini M&M's which she loved. The small cell phone picture below shows Lily's choice. She was thrilled with her selection!

She loved this huge lollipop. She licked on it for over an hour. It was also really funny because after finishing her mini M&M's, Mia wanted to try Lily's lollipop, and thankfully, Lily was willing to share. Mia would say "Bite!" then stick out her tongue. Lily would stop walking and rub the lollipop down Mia's tongue for her. This went on for quite awhile. It was pretty funny to see, but also so sweet. I love it when the girls are sweet to one another!

"So You Think You Can Dance" Season 43 Preview

Lily is so excited about her new dance class at The Little Gym! They teach ballet and tap while there. Last Saturday morning, she and I ran a few errands which included stops to purchase ballet slippers, tap shoes and leotards. The pictures below are her showing off her new outfits to Daddy when we got home.

Yesterday was her first day of class. Bama took her and was a little surprised when Lily was the only one in the class; how's that for attention?! She asked the director about it, and she said two sisters had canceled their spots the night before. Hopefully some others will sign up in the first few weeks, but if not "we will discuss our options." I am really hoping that a couple of other girls will sign up soon because Lily loves this class!

How precious is she?

Mia wanted in on the dance action too, so she put on Lily's Cinderella dress. What a cutie!

Mia's First Haircut!

We decided it was finally time to get Miss Mia a haircut. For 20 months we have let her hair grow without cutting it...it's time. I called Joannie (one of my mom's best friends who also cuts Ryan and my hair) and asked if she had any time available for the girls before they start to school next Monday. Luckily, she had this morning at 9:30 available. Lily said she was going to be a big girl and sit in the chair all by herself this time instead of sitting in my lap. We weren't really sure what Mia would think. I knew she wouldn't like being forced to sit for awhile though so I packed a couple of toys and a snack to hopefully keep her occupied.

Both girls walked happily into the shop and said hi to Joannie. Then Lily gently pushed Mia in front of her and declared "Mia can go first." So I put her on the little stool in Joannie's chair; Mia immediately stood up and said "Uh-uh." We tried putting the big plastic bib on her; "Uh-uh." Okay, looks like I will be sitting with her! I put her in my lap, and she tried to get down. When I held her in place, she started crying and reaching out Ryan while crying "Da Da!" Joannie put a big bib on me and said "We won't go for accurate, just a cut!" I told her I wanted to make sure we could still pull her hair back in pigtails because we're growing her bangs out. Mia was still sobbing and refusing to "help" by holding a brush, comb or plastic curlers. She stopped crying after a few minutes though once we handed her a big mirror to look at, and she realized we had a snack for her. From then on, she did great. She held pretty still and smiled really big several times at Joannie which was such a relief. It looked so good when Joannie finished!

Then it was Lily's turn. I want to note also that Lily spent most of Mia's turn talking to a complete stranger who was sitting nearby; I couldn't believe it. She was a very nice woman probably about our age, and Lily just talked up a storm to her telling her about Disney World, Animal Kingdom and Mia. Anyway, Lily came and sat on the stool. Joannie put the bib on her, and Lily asked if I would stand right next to her and hold her hand which I was happy to do. She winced a little when Joannie squirted her hair with water, but she didn't complain or cry. Then she started talking to Joannie and having a good time. At one point, she started making funny faces in the mirror which made us laugh. I think Joannie cut about 6 inches from Lily's hair which was desperately needed! Overall, this was a good experience, and we have vowed not to wait this long for their next haircut! Here are a few pictures documenting the trip...

A recent picture of Mia. She really needs a trim!

Watching herself and Joannie in the mirror while enjoying a snack. She also was holding a Costco receipt from the car; she wouldn't let go of it for some reason. A little odd for a comfort piece, but hey, whatever works, right?!
Oh that baby is so cute!

Look how good this looks!

Even more precious!

Yea Mia...you did it!

Lily intensely watching Joannie in the mirror.

Making a funny face to the mirror.

We played "beauty shop" after both their cuts were finished, and Ryan was getting his hair trimmed up. Lily also liked pretending the dryers were our rocket ship outfits that took us to outer space; I can see where she got that idea! This picture also makes me realize we need to work on sitting a little more lady-like in the future!

A big thank you to Joannie for showing such amazing patience with the girls and doing such a wonderful job on their hair!

Melt Our Hearts

It's stories like this that just melt our hearts.

1. For dinner tonight, I made balsamic chicken, brown rice and a fresh fruit medley (cherries, strawberries and blueberries for Ryan, Lily and me; watermelon and blueberries for Mia). As we were putting it on the table, Lily looked up and said "Mommy, you make the best chicken ever!" I love to cook, so this made my day!

2. Lily and I were having a tough time finding Minnie Mouse tonight before bed, so I asked Ryan to see if he could find her. When I told Lily Daddy would look for Minnie Mouse, she said "Yea because he is a good man." So true, so true.