The end of 2009.....

So, I have been a super slacker on here lately, and it upsets me because my babies are doing the cutest things and growing so quickly, I want to be able to remember it all!! I have been writing down odds and ends over the last month or so, hoping to get time to get it down, and I figure there is no better time than New Year's Eve to do this! So, here we go....

Melanie's big catch phrase lately has been "No I ant." Anytime you say anything about her, she looks at you and says', "No I ant" instead of "No I'm not" or "No I can't". It's really funny! She also started practicing (before Thanksgiving) how she was going to react on Christmas morning. "Mommy, when I come down the stairs, I am going to look at the tree and say 'Oh my goodness!'" and she would put her hands on her cheeks. This went on for over a month, just her practicing her reaction! Also, Melanie wanted a kitty helmet and bike from Santa.....so she practiced what she was going to say to him over and over, and then when we got there, she asked Santa for a Mickey choo choo for Magoo, but forgot to ask for her helmet and bike! Luckily, we also put a letter to Santa in the big mailbox at Macy's, and he must have gotten it because she got both on Christmas morning, even though he did try and trick her because he hid her bike in the family room under Daddy's Georgia blanket! Silly Santa!!

We also have a cat that lives next door to us that Melanie refers to as "The Nasty Cat." She cannot stand this thing (I have no idea where she gets that from!) :) She was afraid that the cat was going to pop our blow up Mickey on the front porch, so the one night she looked at Eric and said, "Daddy, you have to go out and buy and awesome gun and shoot that nasty cat." That was totally out of the blue, because Eric and I have never, ever said anything about shooting animals or guns or anything!!

Melanie also came up to me one day and said, "Mommy, you smell skinny." I don't know exactly what that means, but hey, anytime I get a compliment with the word skinny included, I am not going to complain!!

My mom made both the girls aprons for Halloween and Christmas...Melanie's were Snoopy, and Meredith's were Mickey Mouse. When Mom gave Meredith her Halloween one, she wore it every day for about 3 weeks! It was so cute, she would get so excited every time we put it on her.

Melanie has picked up some of my habits....which probably isn't a good thing! She was driving around in the Cozy Coupe on the sidewalk in front of my house, both hands on the wheel, with a cell phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder, just babbling away....that is all me! She drove up to me, hung up the phone, and said that Mickey had just invited her to a party....her response was, "Ugghhhhh, I guess I'll go," like it was some big inconvenience for her! Then I asked her what time the party was, and she shrugged and said "11ish". She's 3 going on 16! She also drives around in her Cozy Coupe and when I try to take her picture, she gets out of the car and says, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?" like I am her papparazzi!!!

Meredith is the queen of babbling. She is right on the verge of talking, and she always has a lot to say, but most of it is just jibberish. She does, however, have a translator in her big sister. She was ranting about something the one day, and Melanie runs up to us and says, "Magoo say, 'Sweet niblets, where did Mommy go?'"'

Bad words....they are all around us, and yes, I am sure she picked up a couple from me. But I don't know where she learned the word "dickhead" and in what context, because she told Eric that he "smelled like a dickhead." At least that happened in the privacy of our own home. The one day I was at Target with her, trying to get what we needed before one of them decided to pitch a fit, and as I plowed through the toy section, Melanie shouted loudly, "Mommy, stop the damn cart!" She knew exactly what she said as she said it, because then she was all apologies, and everyone around us was laughing hysterically at the cute little girl with pigtails who just cursed at her mommy!!

We have been playing a lot of games lately....one of Melanie's favorites is "Pooh Bear goes to England". It's more commonly known to others as "Candy Land."

One of Melanie's favorite times of day is when she says her prayers. Except she thinks that "prayers" and "pears" are the same thing....we were reading a book the one time and she saw a pear, and said that she loves to say those....it took both Eric and me a few minutes to figure out what she was talking about! So sweet...

Gary, our elf, came back this year, and Melanie had some competition this year when it came to finding him! Meredith LOVED Gary, and every morning she would come down and search for him, and would get all excited every time she saw him throughout the day. Next year she will be even cuter with him! Melanie was so funny about Gary, because every time she would talk about him or tell someone about him, she would have to whisper his name. Eric would ask her where Gary was that day, and she would go "Gary is on the fan" or "Gary was going to burn his booty because he was on the light!"

Melanie also discovered tennis this year. Her version of playing tennis is a little different....we go and find tennis balls in the bushes around the courts, and then she and I would go with Meredith on the tennis court and bounce them, and whoever got a ball first won tennis. Easy, and it keeps us occupied for a good hour everytime we play!

And finally....sleeping habits. Melanie is not a sleeper, so it takes us a while to get her down every night, but whenever Meredith falls asleep, she gets excited and tells us that "Meredith's crashed asleep." She also has to put her babies to bed in her room everytime Meredith takes a nap or goes to bed, and they get up when Meredith does. She is such a good little mommy! She also gets up with her daddy every morning and has "Daddy and Mellie time" and she likes it because he makes her breakfast and puts hairspray in her hair every morning, and she likes to walk him to the door and reminds him to "Be careful!" while Magoo just waves and says "Buh Bye!" over and over again!! If I had to leave them in the morning it would be heartbreaking!

I hope that we are as blessed in 2010 as we were in 2009....both of our babies are healthy and happy, we have a loving family and a beautiful home, and we really couldn't ask for anything more.

It's Miley!

I know I have been a total slacker on this lately, and I have a whole bunch of cute stories written down to add in here eventually, but I had to add this one little Melanie story real quick. We are going to the Miley Cyrus concert tonight, and we have had the tickets since June, so Mel is super excited. She woke both Meredith and me up this morning and very excitedly shouted, "Happy Miley concert!" like it is some sort of holiday! I guess in a 3 year old's eyes it is a holiday! :)

Meredith's 1st Georgia game!!

We had a great day yesterday taking the girls to the UGA game up in Athens! Melanie had been to a game before, but this was Magoo's first time at a football game! They both had such a good time, and even when they were in tight spots, they did such a good job. Meredith loved the people and the noise and the actual game, and all Melanie wanted to see was Hairy Dawg and Uga! It was funny, too, because while we were tailgating, Melanie could not understand why it was "so dirty out here. Why is it so dirty out here?" Such a little priss!! Then, after the game, we went to Peppino's for pizza, and Melanie decided that she had to use the restroom. I tok her, and she decided that she needed a magazine to take with her, just like Daddy. There's only one word for that, and it's CLASS..... :)

We had such a fun time, and it was an absoultely beautiful November day in Georgia!

.

Pooh Bear goes to England....

This is what Melanie calls Candy Land....we do have the Winnie the Pooh version of the game, so the Pooh Bear part wasn't off the wall, but the England part was! She asked me today if I wanted to play "Pooh Bear goes to England" while Meredith was taking her nap. I didn't even know what to say! Where in the world did this come from? There are some days I just laugh non-stop....

Craziness!

Wow. Right now while I am trying to do this, one of my daughters is wrestling a blow up pool whale named Lulu and the other one just grabbed a chair, pulled it in the middle of the room, and is standing up on there screaming "Mama! Mama!" so hopefully that will explain why I am having trouble finding time to write down everything lately!

Melanie has just informed me that she "wants a little brother. I want to keep my sister, but I want a little brother, too." I told her just to ask Daddy and see what he says about that! That should be an interesting conversation.... :)

Busy, busy, busy!

I hate that I have not updated this in almost a month! We have just been busy with fall....football games, tailgating, festivals, school, softball games that don't start until 10 at night, lack of sleep due to a 15 month old with double ear infections, ballet, playdates, catching up with old friends....I could go on and on!

To start, I took my baby girl (who somehow is already 15 months old...don't know when that happened) to the doctor for her well visit, which quickly turned in to a sick visit when the doctor peeked into her ears and winced. I had no idea she was sick, and I felt terrible because I had been getting so frustrated with her for not sleeping the last few nights. She weighs in at 22.2 pounds, and is 32 inches tall...she is quickly catching up with her big sister! It's crazy how fast time is going by!!

Melanie has been as insane and creative as ever! I have been making little notes about things she has said and done the last month so I could remember to write them down.....

1. Melanie isn't in real school yet, but she goes over to Miss Jen's house during the week and she and David do school activities together, and David comes over to our house, too. The very first day she started, it was raining, and Melanie asked me if we could leave early to get to Miss Jen's, because with the rain, there might be traffic. Now, mind you, the Willis' live maybe 10 houses down from us, if that....she was just so excited to be starting "school".

2. Melanie has been telling Bobby for months that her 2 favorite baseball teams are the Red Sox and the Cubs.....(Bobby's teams are the Cardinals and the Yankees, so this does not go over well!!) So one morning, she comes strutting down the stairs and announces to me, out of the blue, that if Bobby decides to buy her a Yankees shirt, she will wear it. Random, but funny!

3. She was driving in the Cozy Coupe at my mom's house a couple weeks ago, and had a cell phone she was using....she was driving and had both hands on the wheel, and the phone tucked under her ear, babbling away to Mickey Mouse. The cell phone while driving was funny enough, but she came prancing up to me and said, "Mickey invited me to a party....ughhhh, I guess I'll go....." Such a diva!! I then asked her what time the party was, and she actually shrugged and said, "11ish." Where does she get her material????

4. Melanie's newest catch phrase is, "No I ant." It's what she says instead of "No I'm not." Any time we are teasing her, she just starts saying. "No I ant!" It's really funny!

5. Although she insists she is not a diva, but a "pop superstar," she sure does act like one! She had her sunglasses and Hannah shirt on the one day, and she looked cute, so I pulled out the camera. Now, I know I probably take way too many pictures of her, but she shouted at me, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?" like I was the paparazzi!! I know she got that from an episode of Hannah, but still, the fact that she used the phrase and reference correctly astounded me!

6. Melanie now talks for Meredith. Whenever Meredith babbles, Melanie translates for me to understand. For example, when Melanie wants to go out to eat, Meredith with say something, and Melanie will say, "Mommy, Meredith wants to go to Tick-a-lay (Chick-fil-A)." The funniest one was when I was up the aisle at the store, and Melanie looked at me and said, "Mommy, Magoo say, "Sweet niblets, where did Mommy go?"

Now, Meredith definitely has a great little personality. She is always so happy, and loves the little jack o' lantern on our hallway light and has to touch it and say "Boo!" every time we walk down the stairs. She has a new obsession....Mickey Mouse! She loves anything Mickey Mouse. Every time Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comes on, she gets up, points at the t.v., claps and dances! She even has an apron with the Mickey Halloween characters that she wears pretty much everywhere!! It's also funny, because whenever Hannah Montana comes on and she hears the song, she gets up and dances and smiles!! The kid loves music!

I love my girlies!!

Playing catch up!

Both girls are asleep, Eric is up at the Georgia-South Carolina game, so I have some time to myself, which lately has been pretty hard to come by, so I decided to try and get as many little stories into here while I have the chance!

First of all, last night Meredith somehow got her outfit undone, took off her diaper, and then pee peed on the floor, and I didn't realize any of this until she then slipped on the wet floor and hurt her head. So when Eric walked in the door last night, Meredith was running around completely naked and Melanie was riding her motorcycle through the house. Talk about comedic timing!


The night before, both girls were just screaming and I couldn't get them to calm down at all. I was able to get Melanie settled with an episode of Hannah Montana. The only way I could settle Meredith was to let her play in the refrigerator, which is one of her favorite things to do.


Then, last week, I had to make a cake to take to a friend's party, and both girls wanted to help with one stool. They kept fighting over the stool...and Melanie was the one who kept getting pushed off! Poor baby!!!


Melanie has a new love....it's called "scissoring". At least 6 times a day, I get asked, "Mommy, can I go do my scissoring?" which is where she goes, gets a piece of paper, and snips around the edges of the paper, where it kind of looks like fringe. It's funny, but it keeps her occupied for a long time! She loves her new blue scissors!

Meredith also has a new obsession...well, actually, 2, and they both keep her occupied while we are in the car. The first one, she just found her eyelashes and eyelids, and she thinks it's great that she can stretch them out! She will sit there for a good 10 minutes pulling out her eyelids. The second one is funny....she loves sitting there watching her stomach go up and down while she breathes. She will just stare at her stomach, and starts taking really deep breaths so that her stomach gets bigger!! So funny!!

And finally, I have a picture of Melanie at one of her favorite restaurants...."Snopes". (Actually, it's Slope's BBQ, but she calls it Snopes.) She loves to see all the piggies, but she especially likes the ones that have the forks and knives. They have floor mats with the picture of this pig on there, and she has to go stand on them a few times every time we go there!


We have got 2 crazy girls, but it sure is a lot of fun!!

Modesty

"How could I possibly be any cuter?" The words that escaped from my 3 year old's mouth earlier this week. I didn't even know what to say. I just had to laugh. We have been working for a while on how, when someone compliments her, she is supposed to say "Thank you," instead of what she usually says, which is "Yes." In complete agreement with whatever the compliment was. It could be, "You look beautiful today" or "You are so smart" or "You have such pretty hair" or "I love your shoes."

In the words of my husband, "She has a self-esteem problem. She has too much!" While it seems kind of rude sometimes at this age, I hope she keeps this kind of self esteem problem throughout her life! It's so much better than her being self conscious or unsure of herself. We just need to work on the "Thank you" more than just agreeing with everyone (especially complete strangers) just how wonderful she is!! :)

But, I will admit....I am the biggest part of the problem. Because really, how could she possibly get any cuter???? :)

Our morning routine....

It used to be so easy to get ready in the morning before we had the girls. I would get up, hop in the shower, brush my teeth, dry my hair, get dressed and be on my way. It was ok when it was just Melanie I had to worry about because I would wait to hop in the shower when Magoo was taking her morning nap (which she has since dropped most days). Now, if I can get in the shower before noon, I consider that a great day. If I can be in there for 5 minutes without something happening, I want to go out to dinner and celebrate. Needless to say, we haven't been out to dinner to celebrate in a long time!

On Monday (Labor Day) Eric went out with his friend Tim for a little bit in the morning so we could go out and do family stuff in the afternoon. So I decided to just go shower and get ready so we could leave when he got back. I had a diet coke on the bathroom counter that Melanie wanted, so she got her stool and got the drink, and left it on the edge of the counter. So, when Little Bit toddled in, I didn't even see her grab the drink off the counter. So a couple minutes later Melanie comes running in saying that Meredith spilled a little bit. I thought she was talking about Meredith's sippy cup, so I just told her to leave it be and I would clean it up when I got out of the shower. Apparently in 3 year old language, that means to stick your hands in the puddles of diet coke and rub it all over the wall! There was diet coke all over the newly cleaned carpet, and now all over the bedroom wall. So I got all of that cleaned up, and then texted Eric telling him that I was going out for a couple hours by myself that afternoon!!

So this morning, I am in the shower, I had Disney Channel on t.v. for the girls, and Melanie comes running in saying she changed the channel and needed Disney back on. I told her I would fix it when I was done in the shower, and she just went out to play with the basket of toys we keep in the room for them. Meredith, I guess, didn't like that, and she came and did her Garfield on the car window impression where she puts her hands and face on the glass of the shower and just watches me....it's really funny looking. I wish I could take a picture, but it would most likely ruin the camera. But today, she stood there banging her head against the shower door, over and over and over again until I got out! It was crazy! I can't believe it didn't hurt her head. Then, she wouldn't move to let me open the shower door. I called to Melanie to get a toy to distract her away from the door so I wouldn't throw her to the ground when I opened it. It took me at least 5 minutes to get out of the shower, and then Meredith stole my towel!!

All I did was laugh...and I know I am going to miss all the chaos that ensues while I am in the shower one day soon when they get bigger!

The longest day ever!

Melanie was originally scheduled to get her tonsils and adenoids out on October 13, but I got a call on Friday morning saying there was a cancellation for Tuesday, and wanted to know if I wanted to bump up the surgery, so of course I snapped it up! I figured an extra month of Mel not being sick anymore was totally worth having to scramble to get everything set up! So we took it and had to be at the hospital at 8:00 yesterday morning.

Eric woke Melanie up and she was not happy with him at all that he got her up. I had to get Meredith down to my mom and dad's because my dad was able to work from home to take care of her while my mom went with Melanie and me to the hospital. (Since it was so last minute, Eric couldn't get out of work to be with us at the hospital.) We got there and had to finish all of our pre-op stuff, which included us having to go to the lab for them to take blood. That was horrible. She wiggled so much there was blood everywhere, which I think freaked Mel out more than he actual process of them taking the blood! She got all cleaned up and we went back to the waiting room, and then up to the room to get her prepped for surgery.


We were in that room for maybe 20 minutes, and then they wheeled us to another room, where I had to sign all of the forms and spoke to all the doctors and nurses who were going to be with her. Then it was time for her to go (by herself) to the operating room...I started to cry, but went back down to the waiting room with my mom. We went and grabbed something to eat and waited, and waited, and waited, for what seemed like FOREVER (it was actually only a little over an hour) and they called us back up to see her....she was done! We got up there and she started freaking out because her arm was all bandaged up....they had to give her an IV after she was put to sleep and then they bandaged it so that she couldn't pull it out and I think it scared her when she woke up. I climbed in bed with her and got her to calm down, and they rolled her down to the recovery room, where she slept for a couple hours.


They wouldn't let us leave until she ate a popsicle or drank something, and she refused. She kept telling the nurse she wanted a blue popsicle and they didn't have any, and that was all she would eat. Mom Mom went and got a push up and some blue powerade for her, but she still wouldn't eat or drink. I kept pushing it because I wanted to get her home, but she wouldn't budge. Finally, the nurse called the doctor, and he said that we could take her home, but if she still wasn't eating or drinking to call them and we would go from there. They gave Melanie this adorable stuffed giraffe, and then gave her a stuffed rhino to take home to her baby sister...so nice! We got her in the car, and she drank a whole cup of apple juice, so she just didn't want to be there anymore!!

Melanie wanted to go to my mom's to see the puppies, and I didn't care where she was, as long as she was happy and not upset!! We got over there and she just hung out on the couch for a while and visited with the puppies and Meredith, who was excited to see her big sister. We hung out there for a while, and just decided to join my mom and dad for dinner. Melanie was due for another dose of her pain medication, and she was fighting me on it big time, but I was stubborn and made her take it. The first dose I got in her mouth she spit out all over her hair and her arms, so we tried again. The second time, all down her shirt and all over me. Finally, I put the third dose in her cup of juice and she drank it down....however, it didn't stay down for long.

I decided to give the girls their bath early because Melanie had gotten it all over her when she spit it out. I was about halfway up the stairs, carrying Melanie with Meredith crawling up behind us. All of a sudden, Melanie opened her mouth, and threw up EVERYWHERE. All down her shirt and shorts, all down my shirt and pants, and poor, sweet, baby Meredith....well, she took a direct hit in the face. I couldn't move because I was afraid it would make a bigger mess, and also because I had my vomit-covered baby blocking the way back downstairs, and before my mom and I could figure out what to do....out came the second round, all in my hair. Luckily, Mom Mom had grabbed Meredith so she didn't get hit again. Melanie looked at me and I thought she was going to cry, but instead we both just started laughing!! Both of us completely covered in vomit, and we stood there laughing. I made my way back down the stairs into Bobby's bathroom, where I had to strip them both down and rinse them before I could actually bathe them. (Oh, and in the middle of all this, Meredith pooped. And it was awful. So the bathroom had a lovely aroma while I had to do all this). Then, I had to strip down...Mom came and got all of our clothes and put them directly into the washing machine....thanks Mom!! She then went and ad to clean the carpet on the stairs. It was so bad, she got it in my bra!!! I washed them, then drained the tub, then washed them again. I kept thinking that they still smelled, and then I realized it was me! I got them out, gave them to Lulu (who kindly got me clean clothes, thanks Lulu!) and I hopped in the shower, where I scrubbed down with Bobby's Old Spice body wash to get the smell off of me! If I wasn't officially a mom before that, I am now!!!

In a weird way, I was glad that if she was going to get sick that she did it on me...if she had just thrown up all over herself, she would have been so embarrassed and upset with herself, and instead, she just laughed it off because we were stuck in the same situation. I am also glad that Magoo is not old enough to remember what happened to her! And it gives me a story I will NEVER forget!!

Melanie's birthday!

Our baby girl is 3 years old! I can't believe it....we had a great birthday weekend with her. The thing that I will NEVER forget is how every time we sang "Happy Birthday", she would sing with us, to herself..."Happy Birfday dear Melanie...." It was about the cutest thing ever!!

We went to the Braves game on Friday night because she "wanted works for her birthday just like Magoo gets for her birthday" so Uncle Bobby got us tickets for the game. We had awesome seats, but the people in front of us didn't like us....Meredith kept sticking her hands in her sprite and then wiping her hands on the guy's shirt right in front of her! (They didn't stick around too long).



Poor Mellie didn't get her works though....it began pouring rain, and we had to make a run for the cars! Papa and Mom Mom bought everyone ponchos, so ther girls didn't get soaked, but it was a very nasty storm.

The next day we went up to Athens for picture day! Daddy got in line at 3:15 am for a ticket to have a picture with Uga VII....and he was the 94th person in line! At 3:15 am! Crazy! But the girls had a great time in Athens, they weren't that crazy about Uga, but they did okay! Melanie wanted a picture of her and Daddy with Hairy Dawg, and since we didn't see the real Hairy Dawg (except from far away) we had to settle for the painting at Little Italy!


We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner after picture day. Mary came home from Alabama for Melanie's birthday and we all had a lot of fun, except for when Meredith got Mary's phone, unlocked it, and somehow called 911. Luckily Mary picked up the phone and was able to tell the 911 operator that a baby had gotten her phone, and that they didn't need to send anyone out.

The next day was Melanie's actual birthday!! The birthday girl decided to sleep in, and while we were waiting, Magoo was trying to get at Melanie's breakfast...



After Mellie woke up, we ate breakfast, and then we had some Mommy and Mellie time. She wanted to go to QT and get a drink, and then stop by Mom Mom's, where she got a new Hannah sweatshirt and backpack and lunch box, which she had to bring in to Publix with us, where we got subs for lunch and seriously, a Hannah Montana balloon that was taller than Melanie. We went to the pool for a little while and just relaxed, which was really nice. Then we had to go home and get ready for Chuck E. Cheese! We did Chuck E. Cheese for dinner with Mom Mom, Papa, Bobby, Lulu, Bill, and Jenny Lee...I think all the big kids has more fun than the little ones! Meredith would not get out of the monster truck there...I think she rode it about 25 times! It was all she wanted to do.



After that, we went home and did presents, and she got a ton of Hannah Montana stuff, which was all she wanted! She also got a princess scooter and we bought her a little ride-on motorcycle, because she always tells Eric that's what she wants!! It was a great birthDAY, but technically the celebrating still wasn't over because we still had her party with her friends the next morning!

Of course, it was a Hannah Montana birthday party. She showed up straight from her ballet class, all Hannah Montana-ed out!! Bathing suit, shirt, sunglasses, shoes, hairbow, everything was Hannah! And she wasn't a diva, she was a pop superstar! Silly girl....


We had a great party with her friends, where the kids ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches shaped like butterflies and stars, and all the moms had chicken salad...it was yummy! She got even more Hannah stuff from her friends, which she just loved, and got a pair of Snow White gloves from my Aunt Margie...she thought they were Santa gloves though, and everytime she put them on, the other kids would start telling her what they wanted! I think Braelyn told her she wanted a piano for Christmas.....I don't know where she gets her material!!



After 4 whole days of celebrating, it was nice to get back to normal! (For a little while anyway....Melanie says that Christmas is coming soon!!)

"Is it August? Is it the twenty-fird?"

This is the question that I have been asked about a million times this week! Melanie is just a little bit excited for her birthday on Sunday! And I can't believe she is already going to be 3 years old...it just doesn't seem possible that the baby I just brought home from the hospital is going to be 3 this weekend. Since I wasn't writing this when she was born, I am going to recap the day she was born a little bit while I can still remember!

I woke up on the morning of August 23, 2006 at 5:30 am because I had to go to work. We were only a week and a half into the school year so I had 20 brand new kindergarteners just learning the system. Eric and I cuddled for a little bit, then I got up, debated showering (which I did, and to this day, so glad I made that decision because I would have been hitting the 60 hour mark on showering after giving birth....yuck!) and headed off to work. I didn't realize I would have my baby girl by the time the day was over because my due date wasn't until August 29th. My assistant, Denise, was already there because she was awesome and she knew how hugely pregnant I was! Around 7:15, the kids started coming in, I went to the bathroom and just didn't feel right...I felt like I was leaking, but I just chalked that up to being 39 weeks and 1 day pregnant! I started the morning with the kids, and around 9:30 am I was in my rolly chair teaching language arts, and I just still didn't feel right so I decided to call my doctor. They asked me if I had been having any contractions, which I hadn't, but they told me to come in and they would check me just to be sure nothing was going on. I told Denise, grabbed my bag and went to go find my principal to tell her I had to go to the doctor. I made the mistake of telling my students I would be back in a little while. When I walked into the hall, my friend Annemarie saw me with my purse and came out to see if I was ok, and I was like, "Oh yeah, I'm fine, I'll probably be back before lunch."

I left and went to the doctor, and realized I hadn't even called Eric yet. I called him, and he was about to be in a meeting, but got out of it and met me at the doctor's office. We got called back, and the doctor came in to check me and said he didn't think anything was going on yet, because I was only 2 cm. dialated and no contractions, but because I said I felt "leaky" (that was what I said to Dr. Perry...I'm great with the technical terms) he did this little test to see if my amniotic fluid was leaking. It was just a little strip, and he took it and left the room. Eric and I were sitting in the room, waiting, when Dr. Perry poked his head back in and asked if I had all my paperwork and bags in the car, because I was headed to the hospital! I wasn't crazy, I really was leaking! I started to cry, because even though I had 9 months to get ready for her, I all of a sudden, wasn't ready! Eric calmed me down, we got out of the doctor's office and hopped in my car. I called Ocee to tell them I wouldn't be back, and then we both called our moms to tell them. When we called my mom, Bobby got all excited because he had been saying since I told him I was having a baby that she would be born August 24th, and Dr. Perry mentioned since I wasn't even having contractions, the earliest she would be here would probably be in the middle of the night! They also told us to leave Eric's car at the doctor's and that they would go get it for us later so I wouldn't have to drive.

We started driving home and I decided that since it was almost lunchtime, I wanted to eat before they wouldn't let me at the hospital. So Eric swung by Wendy's for me and got me a cheeseburger, fries, and a Dr. Pepper. We took it home, ate, got changed, then headed for Northside. I was really glad we weren't in a huge rush because we got caught in construction traffic on 575! We got to the hospital around noon and got all checked in. Eric was disappointed we didn't get on the A-Team, but we were on the D-Team, and it worked out great because we got the best labor and delivery nurse! The first nurse wasn't that great...she didn't even know how to put the IV in the right way, and kind of bad mouthed me for taking so long to get to the hospital, but once she left, we got Nurse Heidi, and she was fantastic! The doctor came in and broke my water, and then started me on pitocin to get the contractions started. They started around 3:30, and I asked for my epidural arounf 3:35! The anastesiologist came in and he was fabulous. I sat on the bed, bent in half, and honestly, it felt like a little bee sting. Once it started working I felt great! I had Eric, my mom and Leeanne, and my in-laws all there to keep me occupied. Bobby came around 7 with a little cooler full of beer because they were all celebrating! He looked very official walking through the hospital with the cooler...it looked like he was transporting organs! Eric went out for barbecue at his favorite barbecue place, and he was pretty calm through everything.

Everything was pretty calm...we watched Scrubs and Mythbusters, and around 10 the doctor came and checked me, and I was around 6 cm. They said she would probably be here my 2 am (August 24th). I just got relaxed and hung out, and all of a sudden around 11, I felt awful! Something didn't feel right. Eric went and got the nurse, because there was a bunch of drama with someone giving birth on the side of the road, and someone else who had a paternity situation. Nurse Heidi checked me, and from 10:00 to 11:00, I went from 6 cm. to 10 cm.! I was ready to go! The doctor was delivering someone else, so Heidi told me just to push enough to make myself feel better! During that time, my blood pressure started going really high, and I knew it was bad because of the look on Eric's face. I really thought they were going to end up doing a c-section on me. Luckily, the doctor came in a few minutes later and I started pushing. Dr. Dang was awesome. She kept an eye on my blood pressure, and I started really pushing. I pushed for about 35 minutes, and I got her head out! Eric said she was just a mess of dark hair, and was just staring up at the ceiling. I said I was done pushing and took a break. I probably sat like that for a minute, and then just went for it and out came Melanie...screaming, of course. She always had a very distinctive scream, but she was so beautiful...I couldn't take my eyes off her! At that point, I realized I had no idea what time it was, so I wasn't sure if she was born on the 23rd or the 24th. If I was more "with it", I would have thought about how Nightline was on when she came, so clearly that meant she was born on the 23rd. 11:43 pm, to be exact! Eric went running out to show everyone Melanie's teeny tiny footprints and gave them whatever details he knew...which at that point was probably just that she was here. I don't think he knew what time she was born, or how big she was, or anything! He brought my mom back first, and then got his mom and dad, and then our brothers and sisters. Everyone was as smitten as we were! They all hung out for a while, and then left to go get some sleep and to give us some time, because Melanie was getting hungry and I had no idea how to nurse her! Luckily, she was a good little eater so it was fine.




They got her all cleaned up and we got moved from the delivery room to our room...which was not a private room, but a shared room. So instead of Eric getting to stay with us, he had to leave because there was no room whatsoever! (He took care of that problem the next day...we had a private room for the next night...and a stork on the door, too....he was not too happy about not having a stork for his baby girl!)

I just can't believe it's already been 3 years...it's flown by, but it's been the best 3 years of my life! And "August twenty-fird" was one of the best days of my life, because we got our first beautiful little girl!

So sweet!

I feel like I always write about Melanie and never really get as much down about Meredith, but it's because Melanie is at an age where she just says the craziest, silliest, sweetest things!

We were at the pool on Saturday night, and Meredith was sticking her hands in the cooler and then touching us, which she thought was just HILARIOUS! (And it was!) But, my mom looked at Melanie and said, "Where did you get that sister of yours?" and she looked at Mom, straight-faced, and said, "From Mommy's jelly belly!" I almost fell off my chair. She said it in a way that was kind of like, "Don't you remember where she came from? It wasn't that long ago!"

I really love being a mommy... :)

My sweet girl....

Last night when we were putting Meredith to bed (she comes with me and turns on the nightlight for Meredith)we were walking up the stairs and Melanie looked at me and said, "Mommy, I just love us," meaning our little family. It was so sweet I almost cried! And then, she was playing with Meredith on the floor the night before, and she kept running up to her and giving her hugs, and then came to me and said, "I just gave my best friend a hug!"

So, in typical Melanie fashion, she came up and plopped on my lap a couple nights ago and I said to her, "I can't believe you are almost 3 years old! Where does the time go?" and she looked at me, completely straight-faced, and said, "I think it goes in Magoober's butt." You gotta love her sentimentality....she must get that from her daddy!! From the mouths of babes....

Our first real family vacation!

We had the best trip to St. Augustine last week. I was so excited because it was going to be our first vacation that was just the four of us, and the whole trip lived up to my expectations, even though it didn't seem to start off that way....

Day 1: Eric and I woke up at 4:30 am because we figured if we got up and out, it would give us a whole extra day at the beach. We had packed up the car the night before, including strapping Meredith's pack and play and the girls' double stroller on the top of the car. We ended up leaving around 5:20 am, and for about an hour everything was going great! We were just south of the city on I-75 when all of a sudden a big 18-wheeler started honking at us and flashing his lights, so Eric pulled over and the truck pulled behind us. Turns out, the pack and play flew off the top of the car. Awesome. So the guy told us where we lost it so we turned around. We were driving about 25 in the HOV lane looking for Meredith's bed, and all of a sudden, the same guy was honking and flashing his lights at us. He had gone back and gotten the pack and play for us because he thought it was safer for a big truck to stop than my little Tucson. It was so nice of him! He wouldn't give us his name or let us give him any money, but he basically saved our trip (and our marriage, because I am sure that this would have caused a fight!) The mattress of the pack and play was trashed, but I was able to make it work for the week so Meredith had some place to sleep.

We had to go to a Chick-fil-A in Jacksonville because Eric had read something about how they were testing a spicy chicken sandwich in the Jacksonville Chick-fil-A's, so we actually found one with the sandwich so Eric was thrilled! And since Chick-fil-A is Melanie's favorite, she was happy and she got to play on the playground a bit before we had to get back in the car.

We got to St. Augustine before we could check in to our condo, so we took the girls down to the beach by the pier, where Meredith discovered that sand is just delicious, so she sat there eating sand and trying to eat shells. This was just the beginning of our sandy week with her!



We got to the condo and it was great. At least Eric and I thought so. Melanie walked in and was all upset because there was no fireplace. I tried to explain that you don't really need a fireplace at the beach, and she said that she didn't need a fireplace for the fire, this place didn't have a stage where she could do her singing. Not too much of a pop superstar, is she?

Meredith loved exploring around there, but the 2 chairs in the family room confused her because they spun around. She pulled up on one, didn't realize it spun, and then went flying, taking Melanie down with her! At this point it was time for everyone to go to bed so we could enjoy the beach tomorrow.

Day 2: The weather was beautiful when we woke up! We got the girls ready and, as Melanie says, "sunscreened up", and headed down to the beach, where Magoo proceeded to eat about half of the sand on the beach. I was beginning to get concerned that St. Augustine Beach was going to be out of sand by the end of the week. It was really funny because she would just sit there and dip the top of her sippy cup in the sand and then drink it, or get a piece of ice, drop it in the sand, and then eat it. And Melanie thought it was just HILARIOUS to fill Eric's shoes with sand. Needless to say, that was the only day that he wore shoes down to the beach. A little while later, Melanie was all pouty, looked and Eric and said that she was not a happy camper. He asked her why not, and she told him it was because he ruined her life! If this is a preview of Melanie as a teenager, we need to watch out!





After the beach, we all got changed and headed in to town. We stopped by the landing site of Ponce de Leon and got out and walked around a bit, which was pretty cool. Eric had been there before, but I hadn't, so it was really neat to see. We took Melanie to what she called "the Ariel store", which was really Alvin's Island, the souveneir shop. She called it the Ariel store because there was a big mermaid on the outside. We got each of the girls a t-shirt and Melanie got a "buggy board" with a huge smiley face on it. After that, we went back and took the girls to the pool, where Meredith began harassing these people who had drinks sitting by the side of the pool. She would walk (on her knees) a few steps, look at the people to see if they were watching, and then take a few more steps. They thought she was hilarious! The rest of the week, any time we saw those people, they would start telling everyone with them that was the cute little girl who tried to steal their drinks. After the pool, we stopped in the hot tub, which Melanie LOVED! Every day, that was wear she wanted to go first. Meredith started to say "duck" and "bird", which was really cute. Eric cooked up some shrimp for dinner, and he discovered this certain cocktail sauce that he loved....it was all we heard about for days! When Eric finds something he likes, he gets really excited about it! After dinner the girls took a bath, where Melanie bit Meredith in the ear and couldn't figure out why she was upset....then, we walked on the beach, where we discovered that walking on the beach will put Magoo to sleep....which worked to our advantage the next few days! When we got back to the condo, Melanie wanted some of the brownies that we made for dessert, so we gave her one. A few minutes later, it was gone, and so was she. The next thing we knew, she was in the kitchen andstuck her whole hand in the pan and just grabbed a handful of brownie....such a mess, but really funny. It was a great first day of vacation.


Day 3: We made our way down to the beach for a beautiful morning. Meredith started to get cranky, so I walked her down the beach again and she quickly fell asleep.

We spent a couple of hours down there, then decided to see some of the sights. Eric wanted to go to Fort Matanzas, which was only about 20 minutes away, so we got in the car and drove down there to explore what the tour guide said was the "most boring fort ever." And it was. Nothing really ever happened there, but the girls enjoyed going on the boat ride and then we had a picnic afterwards. We drove into historic St. Augustine and went to the San Sebastian Winery, which was fun for Eric and me, but not so much for the girls. During that time, it was POURING rain, so we ran inside with the girls, where Eric realized Melanie was missing a shoe. So he stayed with the girls on the tour while I searched for the shoe outside in the rain. I met back up with them, and went through the rest of the tour, and then we had the tasting. Meredith loved that part because she stole all of the crackers that were there and ate them! We left the winery and it was still pouring rain, so we just drove around...the only problem was that we were driving through what seemed like lakes! All of the streets were flooded, and there were a couple times that I thought we weren't going to be able to get the car out. We decided to stop by the lighthouse, where we discovered that you have to be at least 44 inches tall to climb up, so the girls couldn't go. So we just took some pictures and moved on!






We stopped by the shell shop, where the only shells Melanie would even consider getting were covered in glitter! So cute and funny. We also bought each of the girls a shell necklace. By the time we got back to the condo, the rain had stopped and Eric made us some awesome fried shrimp for dinner....seriously, some of the best shrimp I have ever had! We went to the pool afterwards and all Meredith wanted to do was play with this blue cup that she fell in love with at the condo. She sat on the side of the pool and played with it for a good 30-45 minutes! We walked around a little after that where Melanie discovered rocks, and she told me that she was getting 2 rocks - 1 for her and 1 for "Gooby". It took her about 10 minutes to put all the rocks in Eric's pocket because she kept missing and dropping them. When we got back to the condo, Eric emptied his pockets to find not 2 rocks, but 9....she's just so funny! However, she did learn a new word on vacation...."FINE," with a complimentary eye roll included....I had no idea a 3 year old could act so much like a 14 year old!

Day 4: Every morning when we went to the beach, Melanie had us do "dig-ups" with her, which was basically what it sounds like - we sat there and dug up sand with her and made holes in the sand. This morning, she informed Eric that if he didn't help her with her dig-ups, that he wouldn't get any lunch that afternoon. She almost made it sound as if I use that as a punishment for her if she doesn't do what she's supposed to do! Crazy girl. She also made us refer to Meredith as "Little Lola" because she thinks that she is Hannah Montana, and Lola is Hannah's friend. I really don't know where this kid came from...

We did teach her how to "buggy" board though, and she loved it! It took her a while to get used to it because she hates getting her face wet in the water, but once she started catching the waves she loved it.





We also went to the Fountain of Youth, which I had been wanting to go to since we got there! Eric kept making fun of me for wanting to go there so badly, but I had never been there and I thought it would be fun. Which it was, but the girls weren't in the greatest mood so that made it a little more difficult. Melanie was just being a little cranky...



and Meredith had gotten a horrible diaper rash from all of the sand at the beach, plus the heat, and the constant teething, so she was just miserable. Melanie's favorite part of the Fountain of Youth was the planetarium show where she got to see all the stars on the ceiling.

It was so hot, we took them back to the condo to cool off for a little bit, where Meredith decided to take her very first steps! I was cooking dinner in the kitchen, and she was right by the dining room table, and all of a sudden Eric shouted for me to come see her and she took about 5 steps, on her 13 month birthday. Such a big girl! I was so excited.

It had started to rain again outside, so we were just hanging out and Melanie and Eric started looking through the phone book just to see what was around. She started talking about what we were going to do on Daddy's next pirate birthday...



...apparently we are all getting tattoos for Daddy's next pirate birthday!

The rain passed (temporarily) and we took the girls down to the pier to go fishing for a little while. It was beautiful down there, but as we were just getting started, we could see another storm blowing in...



...followed by a beautiful sunset!




Melanie was constantly "talking" on her phone to Mom Mom while we were on vacation...apparently, Mom Mom got bit by a shark and wouldn't be able to go to lunch with Melanie the next day...but that was okay, because she and Daddy were probably going to go fishing instead!

Day 5: We decided to go to the second fort of our trip early in the day because the girls had gotten so hot the day before at the Fountain of Youth...which was a good move on our part, because when we got to Castillo de San Marcos at 9 am, it was already HOT! Melanie wandered around there, and when we got in to a room with the sleeping quarters, Melanie looked at us and said, "This bed is just like my Hannah Montana bed!" Ha! If we knew she would be happy with a couple of pieces of wood thrown together, we wouldn't have spent all that money on her Hannah Montana furniture! Silly girl....

We walked around town after that and did a little shopping. Melanie found Eric a koozie with a pirate flag on it that said "St. Arrrrgustine," and as we were paying for it, she told the lady it was for her daddy, for his beers. It was really cute. We went to the Columbia for lunch....YUM! We went a little early so that it wouldn't be incredibly crowded, and we lucked out and got almost the whole second floor of the restaurant to ourselves, which was a good thing with our 2 crazies....at one point, Meredith was throwing pieces of ham across the room! But for the most part, everything went smoothly, and it was a fun lunch.


We went back and headed out to the beach. We tried to bury Eric in the sand, but the girls just kept digging him out of it. Melanie tried to make him a mermaid and give him "boobies," but then kept "ruining his boobies." Nice, Mel.... :) Everyday after the beach we would walk up the boardwalk and rinse off in the shower, which Meredith hated....everytime we got past the gate she would scream because she knew the shower was coming!

We made dinner then decided to try and go down to the pier for a concert....which seemed like a good idea at the time. Melanie was walking out the door when she looked at Eric and said, "Daddy, do you want to wear your country boy hat?" which was his brown hat he uses when he goes fishing. That was really funny. We got down there, and a storm was blowing in! We got caught in somewhat of a sandstorm...I had Melanie, Eric had Meredith, and we were just covering their faces to keep them from getting sand in their faces. Melanie asked for ice cream, so we figured there would be a bunch of places right along the beach...yeah, not so much! We drove 20 miles down the road when I finally looked at Eric and said, "Next gas station, stop and just buy ice cream bars!" So he stopped, got ice cream and we drove to the Marineland beach, which was just beautiful. The girls got to eat their ice cream and we got to have a little road trip, which turned out to be an awesome experience.



And yes, Daddy did wear his country boy hat on our little road trip. :)



Day 6: As our vacation was winding down, so were we. WE had actually made a list of everything we wanted to do and got most of it done, so we just hung out and relaxed. We did the beach, the pool, and the hot tub, all of which were great. We came back in, where both girls decided to take naps, and it looked like rain again. We had left our beach chairs and some toys down at the beach, and Eric asked me if I wanted him to go get the stuff, and I said, "Nah, it'll pass." Not 10 minutes later, we see a trash can fly by the balcony of the condo! (Keep in mind, we were on the second floor!) It rained and stormed for the next 2 hours! And it was heavy duty...so we had no idea what we would find at the beach! Melanie wanted to drive on the beach, so we drove down there, and as we were driving, we counted 6 tailgate tents that people had set up on the beach completely destroyed! When we saw that, we thought for sure our stuff would be broken or gone. But when we got there, our stuff was fine, just soaking wet, so we got really lucky! I did get really mad at myself though, because as everyone knows, I never go anywhere without my camera...but when we drove on the beach, I left it at the condo and we saw the most beautiful rainbow over the ocean as we were driving on the beach...the girls loved it....I was so sad I couldn't get a picture!

Day 7: Our last day of vacation! We had a very sleepy day, just trying to enjoy the beach and the pool. Eric and Melanie discovered a new way to "buggy" board...Eric would take the strap and she would sit on it, and he waould drag her across the water....they had a blast!




Melanie swam across the pool by herself 3 times! She's our little fish! The one big thing we did was miniature golf! We had never taken Melanie before, and we actually took her to the mini golf place right next to the hotel we had stayed at a few years ago when we brought her on her first trip to Florida. She loved it and she did AWESOME! She got a hole in one on her 3rd hole, which ended up being the lucky hole of the day, and she won a free game! Then, the first hole she did all her own, she knocked it in on 2 strokes! It was so much fun and it was beautiful (but humid) night. It was a great way to end our vacation!






It was just simply, a wonderful week, and I will never forget it.

Mellie's 1st day of ballet and tap!

I know I haven't written anything about our very eventful vacation yet, but I will need a good hour by myself to sit down and go through everything that happened and what we did, but I had to write about our little ballerina.....

Melanie did so great at ballet today! First of all, she woke me up at 7 this morning wanting to know when we could leave. (Ballet wasn't until 11). So then it was every 5 minutes..."Mommy, what time is it?" "It's 9:47." "Mommy, what time is it?" "It's 9:52." "Mommy, what time is it?" "It's still 9:52." It was really funny. The parents aren't allowed in the room to watch, but it's really cool because they have what they call a "Parent Viewing Room" where we get to watch the class on closed circuit t.v. It was great because it was a room with a bunch of other moms and other little kids that Meredith can play with and be occupied for 45 minutes. Watching about 10 three year olds doing ballet and tap was about the funniest thing I have ever seen on a t.v. The teacher had them doing certain moves, and then pulled out the stick ponies that you put between your legs and run around....well, Melanie loved these things, but didn't understand the "putting it between your legs part" because she had the horse by the stick and was just whipping it around the classroom. I really thought she was going to smack some of the other kids in the head. Thankfully she didn't! During the tap part of class, all Melanie did was jump up and down constantly so her shoes would make noise. She was in the back row and while they were doing their dance she kept jumping all the way in to the front row, almost knocking down some of the other ballerinas! There was one point where all the kids were sitting on their spots, and she was lying on her tummy, pretending to swim....I saw the teacher turn and told her to sit up, and I thought for sure she was going to get upset....but she did as she was told and went through all 45 minutes of the class without any problems! Her teacher, Ms. Maria, came up to me after class and told me that Melanie did a great job. I was so relieved!

I posted a picture of our ballerina.....she is so sweet!!

Halloween

It's only July, but in our house it is all about Halloween this week! I love little kids because they don't really understand the difference in holidays, seasons, etc...everything all kind of runs together, like last Christmas when Melanie had to wear her ladybug Halloween costume on Christmas morning, plus asked Santa Claus to bring her a "bug cake" like she had on her birthday. 3 holidays all thrown into Christmas Day, so it didn't surprise us at all when she started discussing Halloween.

Well, she has decided what we are all going to be for Halloween. She, of course, will be Hannah Montana. I know, it's shocking! :) "Meredith is going to be a pumpkin, Daddy is going to be a pirate, and Mommy....well, Mommy is going to be.....well, Mommy, for Halloween, will be....a hot dog." A hot dog?!?! Where in the world did that come from? It's hilarious and totally Melanie, but a hot dog? And now, of course, Eric is asking me if my mom has started making my hot dog costume yet...she is just so random, but so funny! At least it's not as weird as what she told Lulu she was going to be....she keeps saying that Lulu is going to be a blanket! And for a while, since she was going to be Hannah Montana, she wanted Magoo to be either Lola from Hannah Montana, or she wanted her to be Nick Jonas....seriously, child....you are 2 years old (well, almost 3, but what 2 or 3 year old comes up with this stuff???)

I really do love being a mom.... :)

Eric was on the radio today!

So, Eric was on the radio today...he didn't seem to make a big deal of it, but I knew he was excited about it because he told me about it this morning before he left, and then about 10 minutes before he was supposed to go on the air, he texted messaged me again with the radio station and the time he would be on...AM 1450 at 9:05 a.m. Well, AM 1450 is a radio station out of Cartersville, which we didn't get very well at the house so I loaded the girls in the car and I started driving towards 575, hoping that we could hear it a little better. It was totally worth the trip out! When he got on the radio, Melanie got all excited that "Daddy is in the radio!" which was so cute. But Meredith started going NUTS! She was shouting out, "Da, da, da" over and over again, and if she hadn't been strapped in the car seat, she would have gone out the window....she was looking for Daddy! So then Melanie is sitting back there trying to explain that "Daddy is in the radio, not in the car, Goober!" over and over and over again! But from what I was able to hear, Eric sounded awesome! He sounded so professional and important and grown up...he really knows what he is talking about! NorthWest Bank and Trust is lucky to have him! I am really proud of him and what he does for a living.

After we finished listening to Daddy on the radio, we of course had to turn on....what else, but Hannah Montana. The funniest part is when Melanie is singing the song "Ice Cream Freeze" and the one line is, "Do the ice cream freeze, strike a pose..." Well, everytime that line comes on, I hear a little voice in the back singing, "Do the ice cream freeze, strike your po's..." Melanie has called her ponytails "po's" since she learned how to talk, and whenever she sings that line, she grabs whatever "po" she has in her hair! So, so funny!!!

Meredith is getting so close to walking. I think she may have taken her first step today but I am not 100% sure because as it happened, Melanie fell off the couch so I was helping her. I couldn't really tell if she took a step or not because of all the chaos at the time! She is going to do it any day now!

We are taking our first real family vacation next week to St. Augustine and I am so excited about it. We are going to have a lot of fun!!

Melanie-isms

The things kids say! Melanie has been on a roll this week....I guess I will start with explaining the picture above. She got dressed herself, and then went into my sock drawer and pulled out my winter socks, and put them on. She ran in and told me, "Mommy, I am in my soccer outfit!" and I think, "Aww, how cute. Don't know how she knows what soccer players wear, but cute." She then proceeds to go over to Magoo, rub her "Little Bald Head" and say, "...and this is my soccer ball!" Poor Magoo!

Her father also has her convinced that "Ogama" (Obama) is best friends with Icky Bear. I left her down with Eric the other day when I was doing something, and she told me that she doesn't like Ogama because he is best friends with Icky Bear*, and she "hates democraps." Not democrats, demoCRAPS. So when we were in Borders the other day, she sees the big display of Obama books and starts shouting out how she hates democraps and that Ogama and Icky Bear* are best friends and that they go on vacation together. And then she proceeded to start turning all the books with his picture on in the other way! I didn't even know what to do.

We also went to Chick-fil-A (or Tick-a-lay as Melanie calls it). And out comes the big dressed up cow. She decided she wanted to go see him, so her aunt Lulu took her to see him outside. The next thing I see is the cow grabbing and shaking his head no, and Melanie laughing. She told the cow that he "looks tasty!" Now, I will say that she had some help from Lulu on that one, but she still said it to the cow at Tick-a-lay!

I'm trying to remember if that is all from this week...I am sure there is more that I am missing, but I will add it later if I remember. Also, I can't miss talking about Magoo in a post...she got her first pedicure this week. I painted her nails Cha-Ching Cherry, which was what I had on my toes when I had her. I did the same to Melanie when I first painted her toes...she got Cajun Shrimp polish, which was what I had on when she was born! Here is a picture of Meredith's toes!

Scamp

My family had Scamp for the last 15 and a half years. He was really the only dog I had, and he was the best dog ever, and now he's gone, and I am really sad. I mean really sad. I knew it was coming, but it doesn't change the fact that he's gone and I will never see him frap around again. We went over last night to say good bye, and Melanie and Meredith both got to play with him last night. Meredith was actually out in the front yard crawling around after him, and it was so cute. She loved him...so did Melanie.

I was 12 when we got him from a farm in Fayetteville. Leeanne wanted to name him "Pongo" from 101 Dalmations (she was 4) and when Mom came up with Scamp from a book she always used to read us, Leeanne sat there, crossed her arms, and said, "Fine, well, then his name is Scamp PONGO Wesley." He was a good dog, just crazy! The one time in our old house I was doing homework with a bowl of ice cream next to me and he snuck in there and started eating out of my bowl without me knowing. I have a scar on my nose still from Scamp when we were playing when he was a puppy and he caught me. I used to laugh at the old house whenever he would get excited and he would literally do laps around the entire house! Family room, kitchen, dining room, up the stairs, all the way to Bobby's room, and back down again!

I don't really know what else to say but I am going to miss him a lot. And I am glad that he had Mom and Bobby with him when he went, and I am thankful for them that they had the strength to be with him, because I don't think I could have been.

What a weekend!

Well, Eric and I had the best weekend to celebrate our 5th anniversary. We went to Athens on Friday night and went out to some of our old favorites, and then spent the night at the Foundry Park Inn, which was where we spent our wedding night....that was so sweet of E to book for us! Then Saturday we headed down to Jekyll Island for the second part of our trip, where we got to stay in our free room that E won for us, plus free breakfast in the Grand Dining Room the next morning! When we got down there, it was pouring down rain but made the best of it by doing a little shopping for the girlies, walking on the beach during the 10 minutes it was just sprinkling, and making our way to St. Simons, where we ate at Barbara Jean's (YUMMY!!!) and watched the Braves lose. By the time we got back the rain had stopped so we decided to take a dip in the pool and when we got back to our room there was a bottle of champagne and strawberries from the Jekyll Island Club Hotel for our anniversary!! It was so nice! We went and had a night swim, listening to these 2 guys complain about how there weren't any lights in a pool that was 90 + years old, and then we went and played cards on the porch (and of course, drank our champagne!) Sunday morning we went to the dining room to have our breakfast and since my hubby can't sleep past like 4 in the morning, I needed some caffeine asap, so I ordered a diet coke. It was brought to me on a plate, on a DOILY!! The fanciest diet coke I have ever had! We had a great breakfast of shrimp, spinach, and tomato omelets (Melanie would have loved it!) and then hit the beach and the pool (because the weather was amazingly beautiful) before we had to head home.

Then we get home....we pick the girls up from Mom Mom's house, where we were informed that Melanie learned how to play Go Fish over the weekend. Seems innocent enough....I take the girls home for a bath and Melanie was playing with her foam letters and numbers.....once again, innocent enough......then she takes the number 4, sticks it between her butt cheeks, turns her butt to me and screams out, "Do you have any 4's? GO FISH!!!" Now, mind you, this is my not even 3 year old baby doing this! The only reassuring thing about it was that she knew it was the number 4!!!! We called Mom Mom and she said that yes, she learned how to play Go Fish, but not like that!!! What a crazy kid!!!

E and I had a great weekend, but we missed our babies and are so glad to be back!!! I am listening to them playing downstairs right now....it's the best noise in the world!!

Life in general....

Since my baby just turned 1, my older baby is about to be 3, and Eric and I are about to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary tomorrow, I decided I wanted to try and do something to help me preserve our family memories. There are so many sweet and cute things that the girls do, and I am so afraid that I am going to begin to forget them, and it makes me sad to think about that! For example....the other night Melanie had a "perftict idea". After Meredith went to sleep, she wanted to play cards (which for her is the Disney Princess Memory game). So we sat down and played Memory, and when we were all done she looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I love my peezles, and I love my cards, but I love you the best." Talk about melting my heart!! That was honestly the sweetest thing she has ever said to me. Or, when we were walking in to Kroger the other day...she was wearing her bathing suit and blue cover up and her Hannah Montana glasses, and I said, "Come on, diva, we need to get going!" and she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I am NOT a diva, I am a pop superstar!" The kid is not even 3 years old yet! It's the things like this that I want to make sure I remember.

We just finished up our last day of princess camp today. The best day that I saw was on Tuesday when Melanie was Princess Jasmine. They all sat on their magic carpets and were imagining what they were looking down at. One little girl said she saw a cow, one said a horsey, one said she saw her mommy and daddy. Our little girl? Stares at the floor and says, "All I see is tape." She was staring at the spots marked where they were to stand. It took the teacher a few seconds to stop laughing. I don't know if I have ever been so happy to have had the video camera going!

And Meredith....she had more fun at princess camp than most of the girls there! She crawled around, danced, found herself in the mirror, stole the stars off the floor....and the teacher was so great, she didn't even care! We had her birthday party up at the pool last weekend and had a lot of fun. She was having such a good time that she wouldn't even get out of the pool to eat her pizza - I had to put it on the side of the baby pool and she stood in the pool eating not 1, but 2 pieces of pizza! She is our little Magoo......I really never thought that I could love 2 people as much as I love these 2! As difficult as it can be sometimes, I couldn't imagine my life without them!



Now on to us......married 5 years already?!?!?! That is so hard to believe. 5 years ago I was on my way up to Athens to get married, probably about to get ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner right now. I don't think if I could, I would change anything about that day...it was perfect....I think back on the last 5 years and I just feel.....tired! Great, but tired. We have done A LOT in the last 5 years!!

Let's hope I can keep up with this....I need an outlet so I don't let all my emotions build up on me!! :)