Happy Birthday Andrew!

My pseudo-twin turns 38!

Happy Birthday Brad!

Brad turned 30 something yesterday, and the girls and I made this ribbon worthy cake.

Note how the icing doesn't reach the ends. And yes, that is chocolate lettering on chocolate icing, not an optical illusion. It says "Happy Brad". Brad drew little people around it too. His self portrait is at the top. See the glasses above the letters 'p'?

In the first picture he has his birthday pie beside him too. Georgia helped him make that on Sunday, since he was very determined to have a pie filled birthday.

Maybe today he can take a swing at the broken pinata that's still hanging in the garage from Georgia's Dec. 6 birthday party. It should be down sometime in 2009. The fact that my car hits it when pulling in isn't as motivating as you may think.

Happy (Belated) Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Georgia!

My baby turns 8.

Time

Georgia has an interesting school assignment this week; she's to list 5 events in her life for a timeline. She has almost 8 years worth of events to pull from, and the winners are:

1. Event: Her Birth / Date: November 29, 2000

I remember this day well. I was eating my 5th bowl of Apple Jacks that morning (I was 9 months pregnant!) and started to think that maybe when I thought I peed all over myself at 6 am (I was 9 months pregnant!) that maybe my water actually broke. Oh well, I had a 10am Dr. appt later that day so I just waited to see. Turns out yes, my water had broken. My Dr. was not pleased, since apparently the clock starts ticking for delivery at that point. When checking into the hospital the nurse asked me if I was in labor. I said "I don't know". I should know something like that though, right? I wasn't having contractions, so was I technically in labor? When my Dr. arrived for the big push, she entered the room saying "You know it's a girl right?" We did, thank goodness, since she would've just spilled the beans.

At 7:34pm Georgia entered the world. Whew. What the hell-o just happened?

2. Event: Broken Collar Bone / Date: July, 2001

When she was born, the Dr. thought Georgia had a broken collar bone. X-rays were taken our second day in the hospital to confirm, but the results were inconclusive.

At 8 months old she fell off the bed. Of course, it was under my watch. Granted, I was on watch 90% of the time, let's not forget that. The hospital staff had to document activities in the room between me and her just to make sure I wasn't a child beater and we were sent home. She had this nifty sling for a few weeks. I felt like the worst Mom ever. Thankfully she wasn't old enough to remember so she can't emotionally blackmail me with it now.

3. Event: Our move to Tennessee / Date: August, 2001

We moved back to TN from GA when she was 9 months old. The best thing we ever did. We had great friends in ATL, and still do, but it's so nice to be around family. The slower Nashville pace makes life much more enjoyable too. There's a special place in Heaven for Wayne and Diane. They took us in for a month, all of us - including the dog. Bet they miss those times - Not! It was fun, but I'm sure they were happy to get their house back when we left.

This picture isn't about the move, I just happen to like it.

4. Event: Becoming a Big Sister / Date: July 22, 2004

The day it stopped being all about her. A day to be mourned but to be celebrated as well. Maggie is now in the picture. Georgia has always been a wonderful big sis. She loves on, looks after, plays with and teaches like nobody's business. Maggie adores her. She's the first person Maggie looks for when she gets up.

5. Event: Her First Trip to Dollywood / Date: July, 2007

I know, it's just Dollywood, but Georgia and Maggie had been denied any type of real vacation until then. Sad? Brad and I had a few good trips before then, so it all worked out. They absolutely love this place, and it's cheaper than Disney. Georgia thinks it's big time, so all's well that end's well.

What would be your top 5? Mine definitely include Brad, Georgia and Maggie. That's 3. The other 2? I'd have to really think to pick those last ones; 28 years of history to sort through. That's right, 28 years.

It is on

The battle against random flea spottings is in full force. I am a complete bugaphobe, therefore the thought of them hiding in the sheets, carpet or on the cat gives me the eeby-jeebies. I'm trying to keep this "crisis" in perspective. Religious war, fleas, homelessness, fleas, and so on. It's not really working out. After the cat bath, another cat bath, multiple medicine applications, all kinds of carpet and furniture spraying and 2 of the grossest pills that make the fleas literally fall off dead, I decided to call in the big guns - Cooks Pest Control.

Michael, our lovely Cooks guy, said everything had to be off the floor for him to spray (not bomb). Clearly he's never been too far inside my house. Let's have a look:

Georgia's room before picking up. This looks good for her room actually.

Let's move on to Maggie's room. She is the master at making messes. Again, this looks good for her too.

There's her softball glove for all the playing catch we do in her room.

Off to the bonus room. I wish I'd taken a 'before' picture, but the 'after' should give you some idea of the magnitude of toys.

And my favorite, the coat/catch all closet upstairs. I didn't even bother here.

Back downstairs to the den. It wouldn't be a room in my house if miscellaneous junk wasn't everywhere.

It took forever to get this mess off the floor. Plus, we all -including the cat- had to leave for 2 hours for the spray. Instead of risking additional fleas at the vet, Kiki hung out at Brad's office. We dropped her off and split. Kind-of rude I know, but it was lunchtime - we had to eat.

The Cooks guy was only here for 20 minutes!! It took hours of cleaning up for a 20 minute visit. I forgot to mention I had to vacuum the entire house too. You know how often I vacuum the whole house at once? Never.

While I was at it I had Kiki shaved. Those little boogers weren't going to hide in her hair. Georgia lost her mind when she saw her. It was a great opportunity to talk about loving people (cats) for who they are on the inside vs the outside and blah, blah, blah, you know the rest.

Notice random item in floor - Cooks guy wasn't here that day.

To Bathe a Cat

To bathe a cat, you have to feel pretty gutsy. Or you have to know it doesn't have front claws.



I saw a couple of fleas on Kiki, our kitty. This will not do, so I decided to give her a bath. I've done this before with a Persian that always pooped on himself, so I know how incredibly difficult it is.

The girls and I were off to the tub with Kiki. I had to clear all objects from the bathroom that could hurt someone if knocked around, understanding that a wet cat can cause some "get me the heck out of here" damage.

Georgia and Maggie situated themselves on the toilet for the show, while I armed myself with my grossest shirt and latex gloves. Notice Brad isn't mentioned yet. He's coming up.

The water flows, the cat freaks, and Georgia starts crying. "You're hurting Kiki!" she's wailing at me. Not helpful as I'm trying to hold onto a slippery mass of hysteria. I tell Georgia that I'm not hurting the cat. If anybody was to get hurt it'd be me with her back claws. She isn't buying it. Maggie desperately wants to cry in a show of compassion towards the cat but just can't muster up real tears.

The bathroom door swings open and there's Brad - with a camera. "I can't get a good shot of her" he complains as he directs me to turn her for a face shot. Brad is nothing if not helpful.



Lots more tears from Georgia, general unhappiness from Kiki,complete boredom from Maggie, and photos from Brad. Relief from me to finally be done.

Back to School Again

The completely awesome "Back to School Again" song from the American classic, Grease 2, is on repeat in my head the entire months of August and September. How cool were those Pink Ladies?!? Minus the smoking of course. Forget East High (High School Musical), Rydell High was the place to be. I digress.

School is back. I thought after the long, hot Summer, I was ready to get this ball rolling. In reality, getting up early, packing lunches, folders, and backpacks isn't all that appealing. But a must. Georgia was rezoned this year - much to her dismay and my delight. She did really like her old school, but her new school is much closer and smaller. The new school playground has been voted Worst In Class though, and that is okay. Priorities please.

Georgia was very happy Day One. Well, she was happy until she actually got into the classroom. I'm afraid her first impression was less than impressive.

Nice "I hate this face", huh? Let's get a closer look.

No worries, things have improved.

Maggie and I started this week. Let me say, my class is quite interesting this year. Turning my back for too long is not an option.

Here's Maggie on her first day. Shoes were added later.

She seems to like her class. It's right next door to mine and is connected by an interior doorway that only has a curtain separator versus an actual door. The result is Maggie periodically appearing in my room to show me things. And to point out that every stuffed animal in my room looks like one she has at home. Coincidence? I think not.

Happy Birthday Granny Di!

Tellin it like it is. That's why we love her.

One Hot Summer Day

One of many actually.

We went to Cheekwood's Happily Ever After "Garden Experience" this week. Boy was it hot! The kind of hot where your shirt sticks to you as sweat rolls down your back. Who cares about that though when you can cross the Three Billy Goats Gruff bridge into the mouth of a troll (that cooks no less)?



Or climb Rapunzel's hair to the top of the tower?



Wait - here's the big bad wolf with a little piggy in its mouth:



We had a great time despite the heat. So much so that we were back the next night, getting our sweat on again.

Of course we can't have a week without a medical co-pay, so Maggie got a really nasty bug bite while there on her belly button that got infected. It was pretty yucky. She's now on an antibiotic cream for 5 days, and I clean gunky stuff out of her belly button with q-tips. With every swipe I think fondly of creepy little Rumpelstiltskin weaving straw into gold or that poor princess having to sleep on a pea.

Happy Birthday Maggie!

The Big Oh-Four.

A Week in My Life

Wednesday, June 25th, 8pm: 'Fall' in hole and hurt foot. Didn't actually hit the ground, but managed to cause quite a bit of pain. I did the same thing about 4 years ago at a cementary in my hometown of Rogersville. I had to yell for 2 grave diggers to help me up and help get Georgia (3 at the time) back into her car seat. For grave diggers, they were some tiny men; I was a bit worried. At the hospital, the nurse asked what my pain was on a scale of 1 to 10. I said, "I'd like to say 10, but I've had kids so let's back that down to a 6."

Wednesday, June 26th, 9pm: Realize foot is no good and cancel 5 day trip that was to start the next day. Bummed.

Thursday, June 27th, 1:30pm: X-rays show fracture and bone chips. Talk Dr. into air cast vs humongous boot. Last time I wore the boot a piece of pepperoni fell in and I didn't realize it until 5,000 ants made their home in my little piggies. It took 2 days to find the pepperoni.

Friday, June 28th, 3:30am: Wake up with pink eye. Hey, why not?

Wednesday, July 3, 6pm: Realize thing on my boob (how about that word?) is looking weird. Maybe a spider bite?? Confirmed spider bite. Get oral antibiotics. I had a really nasty spider bite on same boob last year. Are there a breed of boob lovin spiders in my yard? Reason #267 why I don't like to pull weeds.

What a great week it's been. Oh, I forgot one highlight last Saturday. Brad and I were at the Green Hills Cinema, and as we were walking out Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were walking in. Everyone was staring, including me.

Happy 4th. Keep it injury free.

Happy Birthday Wayne!

I couldn't ask for a better father-in-law. Happy Birthday. We all love you very much!

We are the Champions, My Friend

Whew! It's been a busy 2 weeks. Georgia is worn out - that girl played hard! Lots of softball games played, lots of softball games won. And finally, they won the one that counts.

Time to brag a bit - this group of girls came a long way from the first game. They got schooled - 20-2!! Come tournament time, they beat that team twice. Their team made it to the Williamson County championship game and lost, which is OK. Two months ago they would've never made it that far.

They then played the second tournament, which was their league only, and won it undefeated.

Here comes the cheer:
S-U-C-C-E-S-S
That's the way we spell success.
Right on, the black team is the best,
Right on, we're better than the rest.

I was in full stress mode last night during the game. My Mom said she'd never seen me that way and that it was "unbecoming". Unbecoming??!?!? I call it passion for the game.

Oh, and the Queen song. Georgia heard it during the Chicken Little movie and thought it went "God is a loser" vs "No time for losers" and got really upset. She said God wasn't a loser and refused to watch the movie any more. I rewinded and told her that's not what they were saying. I like that she got upset about that though.

Something's Begun

Summertime. I get that Will Smith song in my head about this time.

Georgia wanted to start with a bang - pool, park, popsicles (how's that for alliteration?). I wasn't quite feeling it, so we settled on park and popsicles. You got to go, go go in the Summertime.

My goals this Summer are:

1. Have Georgia ride her bike. When we try to get her on her bike, she literally runs into the house, up the stairs, into her room, and locks the door. Screaming the entire time. Hmmmm... this goal may not be reached.
2. Beef up on Maggie's ABCs. Another tough one When we start alphabet talk, Maggie says "Stop saying that to me!" She blurted out the spelling of her name this week, which she has previously refused to do. I was shocked! So she is learning a little something. Let's see if I can keep that up.
3. Maintain a daily schedule of school work, at least 20 minutes a day. Georgia thinks this is all very unfair, since school is technically on break. You can't take a break from learning! Your brain goes to mush. Seriously though, school is a lot tougher nowadays, so keeping up, or even slightly ahead, is a good thing.

So I've laid it out for all to see. I guess I'm now accountable. Feel free to call me on it.

Happy Mama's Day

Then:

Georgia


Maggie


Now:

Georgia


Maggie


Ahh... the reason I got an iPod today. And why I love my job as Mother.

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, Diane, Michelle, and Dana. Some of the best Moms I know.

Happy Anniversary Brad!

Monkey Business

Maggie, her friend Caylee, and most of her preschool class visited a new play place called the Monkey Treehouse. We are lovin' this place! For a very small fee, the kids can play and the adults can sit on actual couches and chat. The play area was divided into fun centers that the children could have played in forever. No adult help needed either, which makes for a very nice time for everyone. PLUS, they have great adult magazines there, not the boring 'how to raise your child' stuff that usually takes over these places. Maggie's favorite spot was the sand area. She never gets to play in sand because 1. We are not beach people 2. She has no sand play place outside at home. I am a crumbaphobe. I can't stand crumbs on countertops, floors, etc. Sand falls into the crumb category based on its size and texture. I'm surprised she even knows what to do with it due to underexposure.

McDonald's is strategically placed within walking distance, so of course it was Happy Meals for lunch. Then back to the Monkey Treehouse. Bonus - you can come and go all day for just the one price.

Maggie has just has much fun tormenting her sister about how great it was as she did actually playing there. I think that is the bonus for her.

Alexandria Renee

Andrew and Michelle had a beautiful baby girl on March 13.

Flower Power

The family made a trip to East Tennessee last weekend for my cousin's wedding. Weddings are such fun. This one was especially for Georgia and Maggie since they were the flower girls.

And here they are pre-hair makeover. Here's what I know about doing hair - zero. Thankfully one of the bridesmaid actually worked in a salon and took pity on us.

We arrived way early for pictures. Why is it wedding pictures take for-e-ver?? All those poses and planned 'spontaneity'. Let me say, Maggie's smile on demand is in serious need of work. Her mouth contorts like she's at the dentist waiting for a dental dam to be placed. Exhibit A:

This was Maggie's first gig and Georgia's third. We weren't too worried about Maggie's performance since she had Georgia to watch. Que the music and here they come. Georgia is all smiles lightly tossing her petals down the middle of the aisle. Then comes Maggie. She is literally staring down anyone who dares make eye contact of more than 5 seconds. She goes side to side hunting down those brave souls and tosses petals in their direction with a bit of 'in your face' to her throw. She stopped and changed direction at one point.

When she finally made it to the front she stood by Georgia and shoved her basket at her. Of course Georgia shoved it back. The prayer starts. Maggie does not want her basket. More shoving in Georgia's direction. More pushing back by Georgia. Thankfully the prayer was long and they worked it out. Maggie was stuck with her basket.

Everyone commented on 'how cute your girls are'. It made me feel old.

Being a flower girl seems to be some sort of rite of passage. I'm glad they had this honor at my sweetest cousin's wedding. Much love and happiness to the bride and groom.

In Full Bloom

You can feel Spring trying to push Winter out. Helping shoo away the dull of Winter are these beautiful daffodils in our backyard. You must know I can take no credit for anything lovely growing in our yard. The previous owners worked very hard at that. They'd have a stroke if they saw the place now.

Maggie enjoys running through the flowers, as does the cat. Maybe Kiki just likes having her picture taken? I know Maggie does.

Oh, wait. Here's something I can take credit for:

Ugghhhhh... I just want to put some lotion on after looking at that.