Monday, December 29, 2008

7 years ago today.....

.....was the best day of my life!!! I married my best friend. I am so thankful that God brought Tim into my life. We have been through so much and I am so happy to say that we are so much stronger today than we have ever been. I love you baby!!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The birthday madness continues...

December is INSANE in our house with birthdays. But oh so much fun!! Yesterday we had the combined family party. And the theme was cupcakes. I made the littles tutus to wear. And they were adorable. However, both of the little birthday girls were cranky, so we didn't get a good picture. So stay tuned as I dress them all up again and threaten them to get a good picture! LOL

Here are some that we did get.



This is the "in process" shot of the giant cupcake cake that I made.

The decorations

Madison with her balloon bouquet The cake (It was so cute that I didn't want to cut it!)

Vivi with the pinata
Madison really liked this part of the party
We were even able to get a picture of the elusive tween. This was her party too, although she is adamently against the mommy paparazzi.
This may be the only shot that you can see her cupcake tights and shoes
Madison loved her Samantha book. She is really into American Girl this year.
Are we done yet?

At least you can sort of see her cupcake sweater here.

A few people brought small gifts for Leah which was so sweet. She did so good yesterday.
Yeah, this is as close as I got to a picture of their tutus.



Monday, December 8, 2008

My baby is 12!!!

I can remember it like it was yesterday, which is surprising since I can't seem to recall her name half the time. I was very young and very scared. Our birth experience was less than stellar. I didn't know about interventions like I do now. So of course we had every one. But regardless, it was one of the best days of my life. I didn't know at the time how profoundly this little baby would shape my life. I didn't know that God had sent her here to help me grow. I didn't know how we would make it. And I didn't know how I would take care of her. But God did. He protected us both and provided for us when it seemed like there was no way. She loved me even when I was not qualified at all to be a mommy. She was a wonderful baby. So full of smiles and laughter. We are so fortunate to have Mackenzie as our daughter.



1 month old

3 months


Mackenzie and my mom












Mackenzie with mama and paw paw

She loved the johnny jump up. It was one of God's little gifts to me. My mom used to rave about how much I loved it when I was a baby, so it was sweet to me that Mackenzie like it too.


1st time on an airplane


.
Always smiling












At the lake with mommy
I am so thankful she didn't break her neck. What a far cry from the Britax seats we must have now!

1st dance recital Dressing up
Playing with her daddy One of her karate trophies On "our" wedding day. We were a package deal. Precious to me
She has grown up to be such a beautiful young lady. We love you Mackenzie!!


Sunday, December 7, 2008

Causing a ruckus at church

So we are visiting a new church. We have been a few times and are trying to keep our kids in the service with us. I swear Vivian associates the building with eating. As soon as we walk in the door, she is asking for snacks. It's a small congregation so there's no way of not causing a scene. Today we came prepared with snacks and talked the whole way there about how we are going to wait until the preaching starts to have snack. Apparently the almost two-year old brain retains all information except the fact that there's no snack until after we sing. She asked the entire time! Then three songs in, Leah has to go potty. So we tromp out and back in. Then the sermon starts and we all break out the snacks. Then Vivian wants to talk it through. LOUDLY. Her brain also doesn't seem to understand whispering. So the entire sermon I spend shushing her and rotating raisins and goldfish. And the cup. Can't forget the cup the she completely downed in two secs and proceeded to throw on the chair next to us and make a deafening sound that she thought was funny. We manage to get almost through the sermon and then we have to have another potty break/nose-blowing break. I think it's just an excuse to visit every potty that we can.

All in all, they did pretty well. Things started to get ugly when we started communion so Tim took them out for that. Which is always good b/c they always want to know why everyone else is having a snack that they can't have.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

A first for me

I have been a parent to 4 children over the span of 12 years and now fully know they are all very different!

We put our pre-lit tree up the other day and realized that some of the lights weren't working. So we went back and forth about what to do. Since I am a nut and was worried about the thing catching on fire, I decided that we should just string lights on it and use those instead of the prelit lights. So yesterday I hang the 1st strand and start discussing with Tim how it looks terrible, etc. I turn around and Vivian is holding the lights. So I take them from her and explain that they are no touch, the tree is no touch, etc. I go back to the lights and try to figure out a way for them to look normal and I hear "CRUNCH." This child ATE ONE OF THE LIGHT BULBS!!! I almost died. Thankfully they weren't plugged in. I scooped her up and looked at her. She wasn't bleeding or anything. I could only get one tiny piece out b/c she had swallowed it. So I called Children's and the lady actually laughed at first. She said, "I have never heard of that before." The lady is asking me a bunch of questions while Vivian is playing as if she didn't just ingest glass!! We determined that she's ok and we just need to be on poop patrol for a couple of days. Joy!! After everything calmed down, I took her over to the tree and showed her the lights and said "we don't eat or touch the light." She pointed to her mouth and said" MINE!! All done."

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Dude wook!!

...translated "dude look." You know you're saying "dude" too much when your baby says it!!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Monday, November 17, 2008

Hairbow Holder

Can you believe I made this?

 

 
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Sunday, November 9, 2008

I am an enabler

So, when Tim and I met, he liked UGA. When he found out that my dad and stepmom went to Tech, then he liked them even more. :) I have been playing both sides of the fence until this year, when I really got into UGA. It's been so fun to have this hobby for he and I to do together. We DVR the games and watch them when the girls go to bed. And I am one of those girls who actually knows what's going on on the field (thanks to my Dad!) So this has just fed this addiction that my husband has. And taking him to the game was just the push he needed. He has been crazy about finding tickets to another game. So guess what? Yep, you guessed it. We're going to the UGA/Tech game. I told him he has to sell something to pay for the tickets. HAHA!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

American Girl

Ok, so Mackenzie has had an Americal Girl doll for years. It was a hand me down from my sister. We have since passed her to Madi and Leah to play with. They dress her, she has a bed and a chair in Madi's room, etc. No biggie right? Well today we went to the American Girl Doll store for the first time. I was in SHOCK!!! I couldn't believe how much the stuff costs. It's not just the $100 doll. Which alone is staggering. It's all the accessories. If there is any material thing you can imagine, it's there, doll-sized. We watched while 2 dolls got their hair done and one even got her ears pierced. When their "mommies" came to pick them up, they got instructions on how to care for their new dos. I almost wish we hadn't have gone in. I mean seriously, when you have three little girls that are all going to want these things, someone will have to get a 2nd job!! We almost had to pay for an $80 bathtub that Vivian tried to climb in. I think we will be waiting for a few years before we go to the cafe with our dolls. If I am going to spend hundreds of dollars on lunch and a doll salon, I want them to remember going.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Thoughts on the election

For all the people who voted for the first time, I have to wonder if they knew the issues or were just voting based on skin color. Do they realize what is going to happen to this country and to the others that we support no longer? I am honestly sick to my stomach today thinking about these things and how this is going to affect my family personally. But through those fears I have to trust God that He has a plan for our nation and it is good, even if it doesn't seem good right now.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

I am so mad at myself!!!

I cut Vivian's hair. My daughter has a hair problem that I have been looking at for several months now. She had a mullet. So tonight after bath, I just figured that I would snip the stringy mullet hair off. Well, I did and I immediately was sorry. It is so short. And straight. No curl back there whatsoever. Please note here that neither Madison nor Leah has had a haircut yet. :(

Monday, October 27, 2008

Today in the boondocks

It's cold, and super windy. And today was the day we had to be out of the house early for my dr's appt. It went great by the way, in and out in 15 min.

So we ran to Kroger for some deals. We get there and open the doors of the van and all our "stuff" (papers, trash, jackets, etc) starts blowing out due to the wind. So I am running around grabbing all our "stuff" and putting it back in the car. Then begins the fight of putting coats on. So we finally get out of the car and go in. We find a car cart where a fight promptly breaks out with who is going to ride in and clean it off. So I hand everyone a wipe and they go to town wiping down the entire thing. I convince Madi that it's super fun to walk with mama, so she can help me.

We are not even down the first aisle when the child who came to blows over riding in the car cart wants to get out. Yeah, right.

Off we go to find our deals. It wasn't crowded (thank you Lord!) so we didn't get in many people's way. The ones that did come across our path were usually nice except for the lady in the produce dept. Apparently she felt like my four year old was out to get her b/c she bumped into her. And was visibly upset when Madi wouldn't apologize. Honey if that ruins your day, come spend some quality time with us! So for the 15th time during the trip, I have to stop and explain the importance of staying next to mama and not getting in anyone's way. Oh yeah and by the way, could you just obey me so we don't have to keep stopping and prolonging the trip.

I realize when we are almost done that I didn't get hummus, which of course is on the other side of the store. So we took the opportunity to get some deli meat. The sweet lady asked me how I would like it sliced. Quickly, that's how.

I picked up lunchables as tokens of bribery but that quickly backfired b/c I knew full well that I was going to give them to them no matter what b/c I didn't feel like making sandwiches today. So I grabbed a bag of candy corn and used that for the checkout. Coupons really add to the checking out process.

I love Kroger's policy of NOT helping you to your car too. Especially on days like today. And I was counting my blessings as I realized that Vivian had soaked through her clothes and I had to change her sad little behind in the freezing car. Even more blessings when I got home and everyone wanted to "help" me put everything away. Loving the tomatoes that were bumped on the way in and the pineapple juice that was tracked in all the way from the garage. I also loved that while cutting up all the yummy fruit, I was summoned b/c someone had an accident. How fun!

I was truly thankful for all these little blessings today because my dr gave me a clean bill of health on the lumps I had removed. No cancer, not even pre-cancer. When you start your day out like that it's a huge reminder of how gracious our God is.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

How 'bout them Dawgs?!?!?!

We had an awesome time at the game last weekend. It was a good game and we just had a blast being together and hanging out. Happy Birthday baby!

Representin' our Dawgs!
College Dr
The buses
My love being silly
The view from our seats


Decked out in our UGA attire

(An apology here to my parents for having to see me like this, they went to Tech. LOL)

We just love Mark Richt
Ellerbe, hoping he's back next week
It was homecoming, so the veteran cheerleaders with out there too. It was so cute!
Stafford, the rock star

UGA VII
Massaquoi, my fav!