House of Payne

Dippity Do!!!

2009-09-03T21:04:00.008-05:00

I love dip. I love to make dip, eat dip and share it with my peeps. So when I saw BooMama's "Diptacular", I couldn't NOT participate. What better way to find a bunch of new dip recipes? Yum!

So here are my favorites:

Broccoli Sausage Dip

1 lb Velveeta

1 1b sausage (I use the Jimmy Dean sage one)

1 box frozen broccoli

Thaw broccoli. Brown sausage in large skillet. Add Velveeta in small cubes. Cook until melted. Stirring frequently. Add broccoli and heat through. Transfer to small crock pot or chafing dish to keep warm. Serve with tortilla chips. (Also good over baked potatoes)

Vidalia Onion Dip

2 c sweet onions, chopped

2 c Swiss, grated

1c mayo

Mix together and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Serve with Wheat Thins.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

1 large or 2 small cans of chicken

2 8 oz blocks of cream cheese, softened

1/4 c hot sauce

1 c Ranch or Blue Cheese salad dressing

1/2 c shredded cheese

Mix cream cheese, dressing, and hot sauce until smooth. Fold in chicken. Grease dish and pour in. Bake 15 minutes. Top with cheese and bake 10 minutes. Serve with Fritos.

Hot Shrimp Dip

1 c small shrimp

1 can cream of shrimp soup

2 8 oz cream cheese

1/2 tsp horseradish

1 small chopped green onion

1 Tbsp mayo

Mix all ingredients except shrimp with electric mixer. Stir in shrimp. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Serve with crackers.

Sweet Dip (for fruit)
2 c cool whip
1/2 c sour cream
1c powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp poppy seeds

Serve with sliced apples, strawberries, grapes and other fruits. Also good on graham cracker sticks.

Check out the rest of the delicious recipes too.

1000 words

2009-08-16T10:09:00.005-05:00

Well, I probably won't write 1000, but since I have no pictures, I will try.

My new phone takes decent pictures so I have been lazy about getting the big camera out to capture cute pics of the girls. Also, AM moves like lightning and mostly to dangerous places for her so I can't step away much. The phone is mostly in my pocket or in sight so it's easier. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to get those cute pictures from the phone to the computer. I am going to get a cord or card this week so I can share my terrific phone photography with all my fans. Well, the girls' fans.

And I will also try to get the big camera out more this week.

Ann Marie is not walking yet, but she is a climbing maniac. Her favorite place to be right now is standing up facing the back of the kiddie rocking chair. She can climb up and stands there and rocks while standing. Then she can turn anround and sit down and rock. It is hilarious to watch. She also loves to climb up on the fireplace hearth. Even though the couch is in front of it and I have blocked both ends with furniture and toys, she still manages to get on it.

All of a sudden she is really able to communicate with us too. She understands what we are saying and sometimes will even sign words like "more" when she wants more food. She is really good at expressing her disapproval.....by throwing things. Not pretty. I am trying to break her of this habit.

At her check up, she weighed 17 lbs 14 oz and was 28 1/2 inches long. She will eat ANYTHING, ANYTIME. Her favorites are graham crackers, cheese, baby cereal with fruit, and Yogurt Melts.

Ellie starts 4K preschool Monday. She has grown up so much in the last few months. I can't believe how tall she is. At her check up Thursday, she was 40 inches tall. But she only weighs 32 lbs so she is still a stick :) Nothing gets by her now. She picks up on things from TV and music and asks all kinds of questions. Consider that your warning- watch what you say around her :) She knows all her letters and some of the sounds. She can copy anything that you write and is really great at drawing. The detail in her drawing and coloring has changed a lot recently.

AM is torturing Ellie right now by stealing all the pieces of the puzzle she is trying to finish. Guess I better go referee......

Home from Carolina

2009-08-11T09:45:00.005-05:00

We had a great visit in SC as usual. It was busy and fun. Here is our journey in pictures.

Playing WOLF (Wiffle Ball Golf) will Uncle Davey
Hanging out at the WOLF Course

Cousins!

Watching "Dorofy" Otherwise known as "The Wizard of Oz" They were waiting for the witch part.

Getting ready for DORA LIVE!! Matching dresses from Granny

Crashed out with Tyler while I went to a "meeting" aka to see "Harry Potter"

Trying to get a cute matching picture.....just about impossible

Impromptu Dance Party in the Dining Room. Tutu cute!!

Beach Babe

Gymnastics with Gran Jan. E has almost perfected her big girl cartwheel

Basketball

2009-08-02T22:28:00.003-05:00

Tonight we were leaving my Granny's house and Ellie looked up and saw the basketball hoop. The net around the hoop is in bad shape and coming apart. Ellie was worried and wanted to know why someone had messed it up. I told her it had been there a long time and had just fallen apart. She asked if it was very old and I said yes. To which she replied, "like from when the dinosaurs were here? Were there dinosaurs right here, Mommy?"
I told her yes, that there were probably dinosaurs here, but the basketball hoop wasn't there yet. And dinosaurs don't play basketball anyway.

Fun in Chattanooga

2009-07-09T09:15:00.005-05:00

We've had a great time in Tn this week. We celebrated the 4th with Brandon's family and part of mine too. Mom, Granny, Tyler, Nicole, Davis and Lori came up to be with us for the holiday and for AM's dedication at church. It was a great weekend.

Tyler and Nicole went to the carousel downtown with Ellie and me.

Dedication at church. AM was so good. She loves to be the center of attention.

So sweet.

Beautiful dresses. Thanks MeeMaw.

So pretty!

Playing with/on Uncle Davey

Happy 4th!!

This is her silly toothy grin

Judo-chop

Triathalon Cheering Squad

2009-06-20T12:16:00.006-05:00

Today we went to cheer Brandon on while he competed in his first triathalon. It was right here on Ft Rucker and he did great. We had a really good time even though we had to get up at 4am and it was rather warm. Luckily we were home by 10:30 so the real heat hadn't even begun.

Ellie sharing her totally nutritious cheese product with AMWant some?

Really, it's delicious Ellie "feeding" her baby doll (Whispered to me, "But really there's no milk in there, Mommy.")

Starting out the swim

Biking 10 miles

Finishing up the run

Bath tubs, Boats and Blueberries

2009-06-16T15:23:00.004-05:00

AM has given up the baby tub. She is all about splashing and trying to drink the water. She's only fallen on her face once. It didn't even faze her....just kept on playing.

We went out in the boat for about 5 seconds on Monday. Seriously. It took us longer to get ready and packed to go. It was really hot and the water in the tiny lake on post was like a bathtub. The girls had fun except AM does not enjoy her life jacket. It's as big as she is and she was tired on the way back to the car.

Ellie had a great time. She enjoyed cheetos, fishing, digging and LOVED going fast. Unfortunately, the boat is not all the way fixed like we thought so it had to go back to the shop. Last week we went blueberry picking here in town. It was fun and the berries were delicious. I ate a bunch while picking them and then we made blueberry pancakes and a yummy dessert called Blueberry Buckle. It has cake on the bottom and a yummy cinnamon crumbly topping.

Blueberry Buckle

The End of Our Trip

2009-06-10T18:37:00.003-05:00

We had a great time in SC for the last 2 weeks. It's always busy for us there so yesterday was like culture shock. It was strange not to have anything to do. Also, Ellie and I were both still recovering from strep. But we are all better now and so ready to hang out with our friends here. On the way back, we stayed with Davis and Lori for 2 nights. We hung out at the pool in their neighborhood and had some yummy Mexican Food. The first night Davis made us shrimp tacos-Delish! Then we went out the 2nd night. Also delicious. Ellie always has so much fun playing with Davis and this trip was no exception. We introduced Ann Marie to the pool for the first time and she loved it as much as she loved the beach. She has a fancy float and really liked it. I can't wait to take her to all the pools here that we plan to haunt this summer. Here are some pics from the last few days of our trip.

Am enjoying her first taste of cheese. She literally shoveled it in to her mouth.
I will SPLASH you!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHASwimming nerd

Fun with Davey!!

Back at the Barnyard

2009-06-07T09:33:00.005-05:00

On Thursday we went back to the barn where Tyler's girlfriend, Nicole's family keeps their horses. We met Becca, Zoe and Jude there and Grandma and Papa came with Tyler too. It was really fun. The girls took turns riding the horses and got to see the baby peacocks.

Ty-Ty leading Zoe on Belle
Tyler and the girls

Ann Marie was mad because she wanted to ride. And also she stole Jude's pacifier.

Calmed down

All the kids love Ty Ty

Feeding peppermints to Sparky

Ellie was a little skeptical about the horse ride

Hanging with Grandma

and Papa

and more hanging with Tyler

Introducing.....

2009-06-03T23:11:00.002-05:00

....the tooth.

You can almost see it here on her top gum.

So we helped her out a little. There it is. In all its huge, mommy biting glory. (and in the last 2 days since I took these pics, the other one on top has poked through. Luckily there aren't any on the bottom yet)

Ellie enjoying a snocone at the Farmer's Market

AM enjoying green beans and her toes at the Farmer's Market

And who needs pony rides when you can have free Papa rides...thanks Grandma!

Fun in the Sun

2009-06-03T22:44:00.005-05:00

We went to the beach again yesterday. I slathered the girls in "sunscream" and sprayed myself well. All except for my shins and feet. I have a serious case of lobster leg-itis right now. We are going back tomorrow and I will do a better job. Here are some cute shots of the girls in their matching suits and hats.

Goofy big sister

Crashed out afte rplaying so hard in the little water

Relaxing with the other mermaids

Lunchables Rule!!! and cheetos of course

Yo, yo, yo, was up dog?

Sisters!!

Beach Baby- she loves the water. Even tried to "swim" a few times...

Official pose of Sullivan's Island.

So sweet

And here's some of E helping Uncle Tyler water the flowers around the playhouse he set up for her

and the other flowers too

Dancing Queen

2009-06-03T07:45:00.006-05:00

Ellie danced in the recital here last weekend. The theme was The Little Mermaid and she was a fish and a seagull.

She was excited to wear real makeup...even mascara.

Ellie and Zoe with "Flounder"

Boogie Woogie

Putting on her makeup

Arabesque (sort of)

Back on Sullivan's Island

2009-05-28T17:36:00.002-05:00

Snacks on the beach

Zoe-riffic

Baby Jude

Cousins

AM loved her first trip to the beach. Especially the sandy cheetos.

When did she get so tall?

Nothing Could Be Finer

2009-05-27T22:15:00.005-05:00

Here's a few pics from right before we left for SC and the first part of our trip.

Hangin with her peeps after the pre-school graduation/ showDriving at the airport with Daddy
Hanging out at the dancing school
Farmer's Market

Eating bananas with Tyler

And here are the pictures to prove it

2009-05-20T22:24:00.004-05:00

Someone stole my babies

2009-05-20T21:49:00.005-05:00

One of my babies is 4 and quickly approaching 14 or 15. Ellie is so grown up it makes me teary. She totally gets jokes now and word play rarely goes over her head. We really have to watch what we say around her. And she NEVER forgets anything. Just today she brought something up from months ago that was completely random and obscure. She constantly asks me what words mean and can recognize all her letters and write most of them. She can even tell you what sounds they make and what words begin with each letter. I will not be able to spell words like "p-a-r-k" out loud much longer to keep secrets from her. Tomorrow is her last day of 3 year-old pre-school and I am afraid I will have a hard time keeping her busy this summer. She loves to play baby dolls and anything that she can role-play with. She also loves to read, color and draw. She's already a better artist than me, but that's not saying much. She is very sweet to Ann Marie and helps me a lot. I am so proud of what a good big sister she has been. She has never been ugly to AM, even when she was a little jealous. Mostly she took it out on me :)

And speaking of that little one....she loves big sister right back. Her eyes light up when Ellie walks in and Ellie was one of the first ones that could get her to laugh. However, she is no longer interested in being a baby. All she wants to do is stand up. And NOT sleep during the day. The only time she wants to act like a baby is during the night when she wants to wake up and eat all night long. :) She is not "crawling" really, but she somehow gets from one place to another. If you put her down next to the couch, she'll be 5 feet away before you know it. And if there is anything in her path, watch out....it's going in her mouth. Paper, shoes, toys, you name it. This past weekend she figured out how to clap. I've been trying to get a video of it, but everytime I turn the camera on to tape her, she stops. Typical.

I do miss my babies, but these girls are a lot of fun too. I am looking forward to watching them grow up together. Hopefully they will still get along once AM starts walking/ destroying everything in her path. Ellie is pretty territorial when it comes to her stuff. I forsee her installing locks and/or motion detection alarms in her room.

Trip to TN

2009-05-19T21:46:00.003-05:00

We had a great weekend in TN! Some shopping, hanging out with MeeMaw and PeePaw, sleeping late, celebrating Ellie's birthday and LOTS of eating.

Ellie Says...

2009-05-14T12:54:00.002-05:00

This was too long to put in the sidebar so I thought I'd post it.

Yesterday we were coming out of a store and the door was propped open. Ellie asked me why the door was open and whether we should close it. I showed her the door stop and told her the lady had it open on purpose.

To which she replied, "But Mommy, it's not nice to do something on purpose."

I tried hard not to laugh, but it was so funny. She really does listen to everything we say.

Also, her teacher was out today and I asked if her little girl was sick. Ellie said, "No, I think she just had a "re-pointment".

Recital

2009-05-11T21:14:00.001-05:00

Here's part of E's dance...

Busy Weekend

2009-05-10T21:30:00.009-05:00

Wow! We have had quite a weekend. And actually the whole last week was pretty busy. The beginning of the week was spent buying and planning for Ellie's birthday party. We had it a week early because company was a'comin'.

AM helping with the laundry.

Thursday was my very first "Muffins for Moms" and it was so sweet. The kiddos at E's school sang songs and we had muffins and fruit (and chocolate fountains!). Ellie is not very outgoing at these events, but I know she knows all the songs. In the last few months she has gotten really good at remembering lyrics and singing along with songs. Most of the time she does get a few words wrong, but that's what makes it cute. One of the songs they sang on Thursday was one that my great-grandmother used to sing to me. I never knew all the words, and I didn't know that E was learning it, so I almost cried while they were singing. I probably would've broken down if I hadn't been preoccupied with wrestling AM away from the camera strap. Here's the best I could do with squirmy wormy in my lap.....

Then after school, I took E for a much needed haircut and then we went to a pot-luck supper at my friend Amy's house. It was a night time playgroup which Ellie thought was "cuh-razy!".

Friday the girls and I went to the gym, picked up a few last minute things at Winn-Dixie and then went home to finish the cake, clean up some more and NOT take a nap. That afternoon was the rehearsal for her recital and then my mom and granny got here about midnight.

Saturday we were up at out early for her dance recital. It was very cute and she did a great job. I will post video of it soon. We hurried home at intermission to finish up the food and decorating for her party.
At 2, her friends came over and we had a great Tea Party. The girls really seemed to enjoy it. We decorated fancy tea party hats,

played games, and had yummy treats. Everyone was super sweet and Ellie was so pleased with the whole day. Especially because she got to pour everyone's tea.

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

Thanks for the awesome stuff everyone!

This morning she even told me (totally out of the blue) "Mommy, that was the BEST. PARTY. EVER!" I teared up again. What a softie. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention...check out this awesome teapot cake. Who could've made such a masterpiece? Oh yeah, it was me!!!

I really can't believe she is going to be 4 in a week. It makes me sad. Enough of that. Here are some pics of her having more fun with AM this weekend. Thanks GranJan for the awesome dresses.

AM's favorite part of the whole weekend was all the crinkly wrapping

Playing "beauty shop" with Gran Jan

Eat your veggies

2009-05-03T21:31:00.002-05:00

Setting: House of Payne Kitchen

Ellie: (examining the baby food selection- she likes to look at the pictures on the jars and choose what AM eats) "Broccoli and chicken??!! Mom, you KNOW kids don't like broccoli."

Me: "Some kids do."

Ellie: "I don't fink so."

Afternoon at the Lake

2009-04-29T20:37:00.007-05:00

Ellie has been bugging Brandon to go fishing for a while so we finally took her on Sunday. I use the term "we" very loosely as I had zero involvement in the fishing endeavors. I was there as strictly a snack manager and cheif baby wrangler. Also- photographer and sunscreen applier. I did NOT handle any crickets or worms. And had any fish actually been caught, I would've had no part in their capture or release. Anyway, we did not go out in the boat. It needs to be serviced and we really didn't have all day since AM chose that day to actually nap. We did go to the lake on post and found a cool spot. There was lots of shade and you can drive right up to the water. Here is some of the fun we had.

Finding a good spot to fish

Getting her rod ready to cast.

Reeling it in

Cheif cracker-eater and slobber monster

Digging in the sand and burying her lures

Sunbathing with Mommy

Our spot

Playing super hero (obviously her interest in fishing did not last for the whole trip)

She's is SO over being a baby

2009-04-28T21:04:00.003-05:00

AM is really learning lots of new things every day. She is sitting up all by herself and eating just about anything you put in front of her. She's a huge fan of crackers and fruit. Also peas. I really haven't found anything that she won't eat if she's in the mood. Her legs are very strong and she will stand up holding on to your hands. Her knees don't even buckle at all any more. She will reach for toys from a sitting position and push herself back up to sitting. Sometimes she does fall all the way forward and can push up with straight elbows. She hasn't figured out how to get up on her knees yet, but she's close. The only direction she's managed to move in is backwards. Here is a video of her watching Ellie play with a balloon. Obviously she thought it was quite amusing.

and then here is one of her reaching for her toy

Playing Catch-Up

2009-04-25T22:41:00.003-05:00

Here are some slide shows of what we've been up to lately.

Some random shots of the girls...especially of AM eating real food. It's her new hobby, along with sitting up.

Strawberry Patch Field Trip

Hiccups and Hilarity

2009-04-25T21:57:00.004-05:00

Ellie has been on a roll this week...

Exhibit A

Ellie: "Mommy, I have the hiccups. Try to scare them away."

Me: "Ok."

Ellie: "I'm waiting."

Me: "Well, I can't do it when you're expecting it. I'll do it in a minute."

(approximately 1.5 seconds later)

Ellie: "ok.....I'm not expecting it."

(hilarious laughter from me, causes baby to crack up which make me laugh harder which make E laugh harder, thus making the hiccups worse.)

Exhibit B

I tossed her a washcloth in the tub after becoming slightly irritated with her and she told me, "Mommy, that is not Messesary!"

Exhibit C

I explained to her that the Pinocchio movie from NetFlix was a Blu-Ray disc and would not work in her little DVD player. She didn't seem to mind and chose another one. Later she wanted to watch Elmo and asked me if it was a boo-ray movie too.

one more...
One day this week she was so excited for Brandon to get home so she could tell him something funny or exciting (I can't even remember what the news was) but she just knew he was going to pee in his pants when he heard it.

and side note to Mom and Grandma- I do have some pictures to put up and I am going to work on them next :)

Easter

2009-04-16T14:21:00.005-05:00

Better late than never, right?

We started the Easter festivities a couple weeks ago at the playgroup egg hunt. Thanks Wades!

Ellie really got into finding the eggs this year. In fact, we had to have many, many practice hunts at our house before and after Easter Sunday.

These next two are ones Alex took. Hers are always so awesome. Thanks Alex!

Then on Saturday we went to the hunt across the HWY at the park. Ellie got a lot of eggs, but she was mad because they were all just thrown on the ground. None were actually hidden in her age division. I should've taken her down to the 4-5 year old section, but I was afraid she'd be more disappointed if she didn't get a lot of eggs. She still had fun. She was also mad because half of her eggs had starlight mints in them. She hates those. And who gives those out for an egg hunt? I mean, really?

E's basket and goodies

AM and her lootThis bunny poops jellybeans! heehee
What, that's it?

She looks a little skeptical about this egg.

Pink Ladies ready for church

I'm way behind again....

2009-04-11T19:21:00.016-05:00

Big surprise.

We got back from TN and then left 4 days later for Disney. In between there was an egg hunt and then another one today. It's been busy. I still have 2 small bags to unpack, but the laundry is all caught up. And I found E some white shoes to wear with her Easter dress. Thankfully AM doesn't need shoes yet.

Our trip was great. I will try to sum it up in pictures. Be forewarned- this is long....

On the way to Disney, we took a side trip to visit Ilene and Andrew and family. Well, they are not on the way, but it was so great to see them and we didn't have nearly enough time to spend catching up. We also didn't take many pictures there- too busy enjoying the company.

We played in the pool.

The girls (sort of) had a sleepover.

And AM started sitting up.

Sunday night we got to the resort- it was awesome. We spent some time chillin' in the room and ate dinner on the property.

Monday we went to the Magic Kingdom....

Everywhere we went there was a bus right outside our building to take us there.

"the castle, Mommy, the castle!!!"

Right after we got there, the parade came down Main St. It was awesome. All the characters were in it and Ariel stopped right in front of us and waved right at Ellie. I thought she would pass out. Other than the parades, it was difficult to find the characters and next to impossible to actually get near them. we did get to see Tigger and Pooh though and that was fun. The lines were long for everything, but worth it. AM looked like this a lot. E loved it all- well except for the Snow White ride. She is never, not ever again going on that ride. Or into the Tiki Room. The tiki gods scared her. She loved Dumbo and Alladin's magic carpet ride. And Small World. Luckily my mom was there to ride with her. I'm not sure who had more fun.

And Mickey's Toon Town was a great place to run around.

Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse was also a hit. No line to wait in.

Tuesday we went to Epcot. It was REALLY cold. and windy.

I love all the countries (especially the food (and Drinks)).

Giant apple-sized strawberries with hot fudge in Italy.

I think this beer was in Italy too, but the German one was better.

Prosecco in Italy

There is a fairy garden called Pixie Hollow after the the TinkerBell movie with replicas of the fairies made out of flowers and also with little fairy houses made from acorns, etc... There was a playground area too that was not crowded at all.

Just past Pixie Hollow is Minnie's Butterfly Garden. Real butterflies that will land on you and also beautiful topiaries like this one and one of Minnie where her dress is red and white carnations. Loved it!

Side note- the birds of Disney are not afraid of anything. They will fly/walk/soar right by your head and if you are eating outside (which we did most of the time)- LOOK OUT. They love french fries.

And the Seas were awesome.The Nemo ride was fun and the wait wasn't too bad. I also liked the one in the giant ball.

Wednesday we went to Disney Hollywood Studios. We had breakfast with 2 of the Little Einsteins and JoJo and Goliath from JoJo's Circus. It was really fun and one of th ebest meals we had the whole time.

Ellie and Leo

Ellie and June

Ellie, AM and JoJo
Goliath LOVED Ann Marie and did not want to give her back. It was funny. She was not scared at all.

I love this one b/c it looks like the dinosaur is about to get them.

Tyler and Ellie with Giant PlayDough in Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

Nicole, me, AM and Ellie in Honey I Shrunk the KidsBlock Party Bash Parade- awesome. One of my favorite things we saw. The Toy Story Mania ride was my #1 favorite.

Posing at the hotel before we left on Thursday.

Catching up and Chattanooga

2009-03-23T19:30:00.005-05:00

We are back in AL after a mostly fun week in TN. We got to rest a lot and hang out with the fam. AM had her first ear infection, Brandon got bronchitis and I'm sick now. Here's some pics from before we left and then from the trip.

Just hanging around....thanks Martins!

Ward and the band stopped by again on their way to New Orleans Enjoying some cereal and fruit

Playing some tunes

Stealing PeePaw's chair

GranJan even got to visit

4-wheelin with Daddy

Snuggling with MeeMaw

Creative Discovery Museum

Fishing with Daddy and PeePaw

She was so mad b/c the dogs kept chasing the line and they couldn't really fish.

Picking flowers with PeePaw

When she's ready to go, there's no changing her mind

5 Months

2009-03-08T10:22:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it's been 5 months since we became a family of four. Ann Marie has grown so much and is reaching new milestones every day. She can roll over like a champ and makes so many babbling noises that I am certain she is going to be a real talker. I think she will be sitting up on her own very soon too. She can hold herself up so well and only needs a little help. And it's uncanny how much she looks like Ellie... here are a few shots of them to compare.

AM in the big red chair (used to be blue) at 4 months.

Ellie in the big blue chair at 4 months.

Here she is at playgroup on Friday in Abby's swing.

Here she is last October in that same swing.

Her newest discovery- FEET!

Here's Ellie when she discovered hers.

Passed out on her mat after rolling over one way and being too worn out to try and roll back. It's tough being a baby around here.

Snow in Lower AL

2009-03-02T13:45:00.003-06:00

Well, it wasn't much, but more than I expected. I honestly didn't think it was cold enough to snow. Our outdoor thermometer read 41 degrees. Maybe it needs an adjustment. Anyway, E and I ran around in it (she ran- I took pictures) for about 5 minutes until she was too cold. I guess we need to invest in real snowsuits before next year. Lucy didn't know what to think. She ran outside and then spazzed a little and came back in. She is really getting nutty in her old age. AM was asleep through all the excitement.

Trying to catch snowflakes.

I just love this one with her hands in the pockets.

I finally got her to look at me and smile at the same time.

Catching flakes on her tongue.

It's a Zoo Around Here

2009-02-28T10:54:00.004-06:00

Most of the time it just feels like a zoo...with all the roaring and poop smells, but yesterday we really did go to the zoo.

E's school had Fabulous Friday at the Montgomery Zoo. It was really fun. The weather held out until we were ready to go home and the girls were (mostly) good. There was a mini meltdown over some pretzels, but once we got some lunch in us, all was well.

Checking the map
Flamingo Impersonation
Love

Taking a break

Mermaid on a rock

Holding AM after lunch

Train Ride- so enthusiastic

Train Ride 2

Train Ride 3

Happy Baby on the way home

Randoms

2009-02-25T18:51:00.007-06:00

AM loves cereal!! She gets very excited when she sees the tiny bowls and spoons. When you put the loaded spoon in front of her, she opens her mouth really wide and flails her arms and legs. She's really gotten the hang of it quickly.

And this week she found her feet!

And Ellie apparently found Elton John's wardrobe closet.

Why yes, that is a princess dress over jammies with pink furry slipper/boots and weird heart sunglasses.

Reassurance

2009-02-22T09:36:00.002-06:00

Me: random silly growling noise to the baby

Ellie: "Oooh, Mommy, you scared me!"

Me: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Ellie: "It's ok Mommy. I'm not mad at you. I still want to be your daughter."

Me: (Phew)

2009-02-21T12:01:00.004-06:00

The other day I cooked something in the crockpot and when we got home it was VERY well done. I didn't think it smelled too bad, but apparently Ellie did. When I came out of my room after feeding AM, this is what I saw.

Don't worry, they were clean.

One of our favorite times of day is first thing in the morning. Once everyone is awake, we gather in the big bed for some snuggling. Another fun time is when E is in the bath and plays peek-a-boo with AM. It will make her laugh so hard, it's contagious. I don't have a pic of that on account of all the splashing.

And here are some shots from Valentine's Day. The Valentine's Fairy was very generous. To Ellie. Poor AM only got a couple of things. She will be so tired of hand-me-downs when she gets older.

Valentines Sisters after our trip to Smoochies for Ice Cream.

And Ann Marie had her 4 month appt this week. She weighs 12lb 11oz and is 25 in long. Her height is in the 75% for her age, her weight is on the 35% and her giant noggin is on the 90%. Big brain!! Here she is modeling her band-aids from her shots. Ellie went with us for moral support/ to get a lollipop from the immunization nurse.

My Funny Valentine

2009-02-15T11:26:00.004-06:00

I felt like I hadn't posted as much about Ellie lately so I want to make this one mostly about her. 95% of the time she is such a great big sister. The other 5% she just wants things back to the way they were B.A.M. (before Ann Marie). She loves the baby so much, but not so much the attention she requires from me. I know it's normal and I have to remind myself that she's only 3. Here's some samples of her cuteness from this week.

Wednesday it was really rainy and she wanted to play outside. She had a great time filling her watering can from the drips off the roof and then watering the already soaked grass.

She even wore her rain boots to ballet. Posing at ballet.

Arabesque

Silly grin

Playing the game at her Valentine Party at school

Pretty Valentine

Apple face

Yay Balloon!

And here is just one of AM. 4 Months Old!!!!

Milestones

2009-02-13T09:26:00.002-06:00

Ann Marie is reaching them one by one! This week she has really started babbling a lot and also blowing raspberries which is the funniest thing. She started rolling over from back to front as well. That is supposed to be the harder of the two ways, but she has not been on her belly enough to learn the other way. I know, it's my fault, but she hates being on her belly. So that also make the back to front rolling funny, because as soon as you put her down, she rolls over and then as soon as she's over, she gets mad because she's on her stomach. It's hilarious and annoying. Here are videos of all three new tricks!

So exciting!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2009-02-09T22:15:00.007-06:00

It's been just us gals and here's what we've been up to lately....

Ellie has been quite busy. She always enjoys a tea party with all her dolls. This one was a picnic tea.
And she even let AM get in on the action.

Dress up is very popular too. In Mommy's stuff,
and her own.

And here she is rockin' her new Snoopy shirt. Thanks Shapiros!!

Cute shot of both girls in ladybug dresses that Gran Jan made. The blue one Ellie has on was mine (so it's vintage) and the green one AM has on was Ellie's.

Hanging out after bathtime

Ann Marie is SO over being a lump. She is ready to be right in the middle of the action. Her favorite place to be in is someone's arms.

But she also loves to sit up (propped on something of course) Thanks for the BUMBO Auntie Ashby and Uncle Forrest!and she is ok with laying down as long as someone is near her or she can at least hear you (or the TV). She loves to watch the colors move on the magic box. Thanks again for letting us borrow this giant pillow Barbara! But her favorite thing to watch is her crazy sister. Ellie can make her giggle out loud like no one else can.

She can hold her head and shoulders up when being held and on the floor. Today she even rolled (almost) all the way over from back to front. She didn't make it all the way to her belly because she couldn't figure out what to do with that bottom arm, but for a first try it was a 10!

Everybody Dance Now

2009-02-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

So on the way out of dance class today, we heard that song. You will hear and see out interpretation of it in this video.....I apologize ahead of time.

I also got some footage of Ellie making Ann Marie crack up. Watch closely to see that she is alternately terrified and enchanted in both of these.

If this is 3, I really dread 13.

2009-02-03T14:07:00.000-06:00

A weekend in Review

2009-02-02T21:30:00.004-06:00

We had a lovely weekend here at the HofP. (It's like IHOP with out the I or the pancakes)

Anyway, Friday we had a great time at playgroup at a new friend's house and were all worn out from all the playing. Once Brandon got home, the girls were pretty cranky. We went to bed early after telling Ellie to get back in her bed a hundred and forty seven times.

Saturday I made bacon, eggs and biscuits, we hung around here all day playing princesses....

Thankfully Brandon was here to be the Prince. Usually I have to be the Prince. Occasionally I get to be the stepmother.

And as you can see, even AM gets in on the action. (Whether she wants to, or not.)

The original Princess Bride.

... ....and then I went out for Ladies Night. WooHoo!!! It was really nice. I met my friends at LaBamba, my favorite Mexican place in town and we monopolized the big table for 3 hours. No one even had anything to drink. We were just glad to talk to ONLY grown-ups. Of course we mostly talked about pregnancy, child-birth and children. (delightful dinner conversation for those around us- especially the teenagers in the booth closest to us that were on a double date-heeheehee) The best part was that when I got home, both girls were in bed.

Sunday I made a big breakfast again- AM helped, as usual.

and then we went to the park in the afternoon. I got some great shots of E and AM. I am still so in HEART with my camera. See below.

This one is my favorite pic of the week.

3 Months and 2 Sisters

2009-01-31T12:35:00.000-06:00

So, I am a little late with the 3 months pics- like 20 days or so. I would've never waited that long with Ellie's. For most of the time I was out of town so I couldn't take it in the red chair. And for the rest of the time I was too busy/lazy to remember to do it. So there you go- AM should be glad there are pictures of her at all. Every time I think I am getting the hang of having 2, something else throws a kink in the routine.....and.....I am slightly nuts.

Shout out to Ilene for the cute outfit. It was Jillian's and Ellie wore it too. And to my loyal reader Mema Ro- thanks for reading and sorry for the infrequent updates.

Yesterday they were so cute in there matching blue outfits that I had to take a picture. Thanks again Granny for the early Valentines.

DWTS/ WDPT Weekend

2009-01-30T16:12:00.003-06:00

That's Dancing with the Stars and Watching Davis Play Tennis- both great performances

The girls traveled wonderfully on Friday and we met up with Mom and Granny at Davis's house.

Saturday and Sunday we went to Davis's tennis matches and watched his teams win. On Sat he even got a trophy. Ellie was pretty mad that she didn't get one too.

Sunday was a smaller neighborhood match, but there was a playground so E liked it better.

The funniest thing that happened all weekend was during the match on Saturday. While the game was very exciting, nothing holds the attention of a 3 year old for long. We got an extra ball and Granny, Ellie and I started playing "Monkey in the Middle". Granny was the monkey and I advised her not to catch the ball when E threw it as she does not enjoy being the monkey (or losing at any game for that matter). She was very tired- I was trying to keep the atmosphere pleasant. Anyway, Granny missed several times on purpose because E was throwing and then she caught one that I threw so I became the monkey. So Ellie began to throw it to Granny, I missed mostly on purpose and then Granny missed a couple of balls again. To which Ellie said, "It's ok Granny, it's hard to catch balls when you're so old like that." I thought I would pee my pants from laughing so hard. The best part was, Granny didn't hear it and I had to repeat it because she wanted to know what was so funny. Of course I also had to repeat it for Mom and Lori, then for Davis when he finished and then for Tyler when he came that night. Hilarious!

But on to the real reason for the visit. For Granny's Christmas and my birthday, Mom bought us tickets to Dancing With the Stars- the Tour. And of course she had to be forced to get herself a ticket too. They watched the show together on Mon and Tues nights this season and we would compare notes over the phone. If I was in town any of the nights it was on, I watched it with them too. It was awesome. Of course, because I am a big nerd, I followed the directions and did not take my new super zoom camera in. I was afraid I'd have to take it back to the car and miss part of the show. And of course, every other person in the arena had theirs with them. I tried using the camera on my phone, but all I got was a blurry bright spot. So I took pics of the program when we got back to the house.

The only celebs there were Lance Bass (awesome), Marli Matlin, Maurice Green and Toni Braxton. She didn't dance at all, but she did sing 2 songs and she is from the area so her whole family was there. Oh- Cody Linley, the kid from Hannah Montana was there too as a special guest appearance. All the pros that were there were so amazing.

Here is Maks, the heart-throb. He is the choreographer for the live show. And didn't wear a shirt that closed the whole way at any point in the show. Not that I'm complaining.

And here's Derek, or as I like to call him- Granny's boyfriend. She is in love with him. I am going to make her a shirt for her birthday that says "I HEART Derek". He is really good.

While we were at the show, Davis, Tyler and Nicole kept the girls. They were well behaved and had a great time. Thanks again guys. And thanks again Mom for the ticket. It was wonderful. And thanks again Granny for the t-shirt.

One more thing

2009-01-22T21:23:00.001-06:00

I forgot to add that the girls and I will not be posting for the weekend because we are going to Davis's. I'm going to see the Dancing with the Stars Tour in the ATL. My mom bought me a ticket for my bday, my Granny one for her Christmas and herself one so she could go with us. Be jealous. It's ok. I'll try to take good pics this weekend and post on Tuesday.

I apologize for the break in coverage....

2009-01-22T12:19:00.012-06:00

#1 I just can't seem to find enough time in the day.

#2 I'm addicted to facebook and it's a little more fun than this because you can see what everyone else is doing.

#3 I don't take as many pictures as I used to unless we are traveling.

Those are my excuses.

And here are some pics to sum up what it's been like since the last post.

Brandon came home on Sunday, but before that it was a little crazier than usual. I think Ellie was feeling a little jealous and neglected. So to lift her spirits, she decided to decorate the living room-with glitter.

The tree was still up, so I didn't really think the extra flair was necessary. I think that's the maddest I've ever been at her. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't just told her that we would do a craft with glitter as soon as I was finished feeding the baby- just don't open the glitter by yourself. She literally, threw it around the room so it would "rain" down on her. It was quite a mess. Lucky for me it was only glitter, not paint or nail polish. Lucky for her, I only put her in tine out.

After that, we went to the Fun Factory for playgroup (I know, I should've taken that away from her for the glitter incident, but that would've been more punishment for me than her). She was so tired from staying up late while refusing to sleep in her room that she had a couple mini meltdowns at the FF. (sleep problems are almost solved now)

Saturday I (finally) took the tree down. I think that is a record for me. I usually take it down pretty soon after Christmas. But I was out of town and it took me a while to catch up. While I worked, Ellie introduced Ann Marie to Baby Einstein. Both of my girls are big fans of the TV.

Sunday Brandon came home. Hooray!!!

Apparently Ann Marie was a little skeptical about it :)

Ellie is mostly back to her normal self. A little bit of jealousy here and there. It's funny that it took so long for it to surface. I think Brandon being gone for a couple weeks triggered it. She likes to play baby every once in a while, and gets tired of me always telling her "just a minute, I've got to feed/change/hold the baby." But she is still very sweet to AM and never takes it out on her.

We also put together their new toy box to hold the toys in the living room. It actually matches the nursery furniture, but I like not seeing all the toys in the living room. Thanks Grandma and Papa!!

And this is how AM spends most of her time these days- with either her own or someone else's hand in her mouth. I really think she is in the beginning stages of teething. She drools all the time, constantly gnaws on her hands and sometimes acts like it hurts her to nurse. Ellie didn't get any teeth until she was 7 months old, but I think AM will get hers much sooner.

All is well (for now)

2009-01-17T08:34:00.002-06:00

So she slept in her bad last night and the night before. She didn't fall asleep until almost 11 both nights, but she did it in her room. Maybe tonight will be even better. And B comes home tomorrow so that should help too. Hooray!

Getting back in the groove

2009-01-15T16:20:00.005-06:00

It's not happening quickly. I can't get Ellie to sleep in her own bed. She cries for HOURS. And I give in because at some point she has to sleep when there is school the next day. Last night I was strong until 10:48. It's a sick pattern. We'll try again tonight. There's no school tomorrow so we'll see how long she lasts. Here's some more highlights from our trip.

It was a fun and busy one as usual.

A very concerned Ann Marie goes bowlingEllie and Nicole at the bowling alley

Pretty baby

Cheezin' for the camera

Ladies in red- yes we actually went to church

Redneck bassinet. Yes, it is a laundry basket, but never fear- the clothes were clean.

Playing with Austin

Chatting with Grandma

Zoe, the one and only

Singing along with Tyler on the banjo (it was his Christmas present)

Ann Marie's solo
Hanging with Uncle Ty
Hanging with Uncle Wardie
Dancing ladybug- thanks for the super cool costume Ward

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T10:40:00.004-06:00

We hope everyone is enjoying 2009! We've been busy spending time with family, celebrating birthdays and generally having fun. The end of 2008 was spent in TN with Brandon's parents and then in SC with my family. The girls traveled really well. They are true Army brats already. We ushered in the new year here too and will head back to AL sometime next week. Ellie will miss a little bit of pre-school, but she'll go to dance class with Gran Jan and hang with Zoe which is much better than school in her opinion anyway. My bday was great. Thanks Ashby! We had fondue and it was delicious! The girls and I traveled across TN, GA and SC on New Years Eve so I was not in the mood to go out that night. We had a tea party and watched the ball drop in our pjs. We've been up later than usual every night, but that's what vacation is all about. Today we spent some more of our Christmas/Bday money and tomorrow everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) is coming over to my mom's house to celebrate the new year with ham, Hoppin' John and collard greens. Should be fun. Here are some pics of the trip so far and I'll take a bunch more tomorrow. I do still HEART my new camera very much.

Christmas Day Part Deux

2008-12-25T18:12:00.004-06:00

I have been properly chastised for not having enough pictures of Ann Marie posted. Between that and the new camera, I plan to have a lot more pictures for your viewing pleasure in the near future.

The only thing that will keep me from my new goal is no internet on the mountain. I will take lots of pics, it just may take me a while to get them online. I am leaving Saturday and will be in TN for a few days and then on to SC for a few more. It's my usual route, just with an additional passenger this time. We'll see how it goes. I'll be back sometime before Valentine's Day. Just kidding... I'm kind of playing it by ear for our return date. Sometime the week of the 5th. I don't want E to miss too much school, but I don't want to be traveling all over the south for just a few days of visiting time.

Here are a few pics from our celebrations today. Brandon and I both have some kind of weird stomach thing so the party was pretty quiet. But I do love my new camera and it takes great photos.

Ann Marie in her Christmas pjs

Close up view

Secrets from Big Sister

Playing Cranium HullabalooTrying to hit the ball

So much for keeping her eye on the ball- they are both closed.
Joke of the century- me trying to teach someone how to hold the bat.
Helping little sis with her toys.

Daddy's Girl (#1)

Is she as cute as I think she is?

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-25T09:32:00.005-06:00

Santa wuz here!

So far we are having a great Christmas. Until tomorrow anyway....

Yesterday E and I sprinkled reindeer food and baked cookies to get ready for the big guy's arrival.

I think she was pleasantly surprised with her Santa gifts. They are all opened and in various stages of play all over the living and dining room. She got an ironing board and iron, PIXOS, Hungry Hippos Game, an Ariel dry erase board, Cranium Hullabaloo, a talking map puzzle, two movies, a Dora bat and ball set and some other little stuff. Right now she is playing with AM's seahorse toy that lights up and makes music. She is holding it and "waltzing" amid the wrapping paper and toys.

I got a new fancy camera which I LOVE. The photos from this morning are taken with it. Hopefully it will inspire me to take lots of pictures again. I've been slacking.

Brandon got a scope, some reloading stuff, flashlights and a new radio for his car. In addition to my awesome camera, I got 2 movies (ANCHORMAN!!! and Dan in Real Life) an extra battery for the camera, and a case for it too. Some of those are my bday presents because B has to leave for an investigation tomorrow. We just found that out yesterday, but I'm not dwelling on it today. I'll write more about that tomorrow after he leaves and we are blue :( And we're hitting the road.

Christmas Festivities

2008-12-19T20:28:00.005-06:00

We have been pretty busy this week gearing up for Christmas. Wednesday was Ellie's dance class party. We got to watch them dance and then enjoyed the snacks we'd all brought.

Thursday was her school party. Much lemonade and cookies were enjoyed by all. Oh, and cheese trays and chicken fingers.

Today was the Christmas program at school and company from SC and GA came to watch.

They are also here to celebrate Christmas with us since we aren't leaving town. We had a nice lunch today at the Mellow Mushroom and then my brother Davis grilled hamburgers tonight for supper. All yummy! Right now we are all watching WALL-e. Tomorrow is PRESENT TIME!!

And here is a bonus shot of Ann Marie just for you Grandma!

2 Months Old and a Hair Cut

2008-12-08T13:41:00.003-06:00

No, I did not have to get Ann Marie's hair cut yet. It looks like she is going to follow in Ellie's (an my) footsteps and not need one until she's at least 2. I got my hair cut today. It had gotten really long and was annoying me because the ends were so split and dry. I was wearing it a pony tail all the time which pretty much defeats the purpose of having long hair. So I got it trimmed today and had a few layers put in with some to frame my face. I didn't even intend to get it cut today. I was walking by the salon and just decided to go in. I told the girl I just needed a quick trim to get rid of the split ends. It turned into a little more than that. I like it. We'll see if Brandon does (or even notices) when he gets home :)

In much bigger news, Ann Marie is 2 months old today!!! She is really growing and has a lot of personality. She smiles a lot and is very pleasant most of the time. But if she is hungry or her diaper is less than completely dry- LOOK OUT. My friend Barbara doesn't believe, me but Kim got to see it first hand on Friday. Most of my family got to witness it over Thanksgiving. Lucky them :) Here are some pics I took last night while she was enjoying the mobile in the big crib and then her 2 month pic in the big red chair.

This one's for my mom- I looked down in the crib and she was hanging on to Raggedy Ann.

2 Months Already!

Thankgiving in Review

2008-12-06T21:15:00.006-06:00

So, I finally got the jump drive out of the car that had the pics from last week on it (Better late than never. ) We had a great time hanging out with everyone.

Wednesday we got stuff ready for turkey day and Brandon and Ellie went fishing. That night Brandon and I went out (alone! at night! without children!) to hear Ward and Davis play at Art's.

Thursday we had lunch/dinner at my mom's with all of her family that lives in SC. I made a YUMMY squash casserole from the Southern Living website. It was great to have all 5 of us kids in one place. It's rare these days and gets harder every year. So we made sure to capture the event in a family photo. That night Brandon and I went bowling (at night! without children!) with Tyler, Nicole, Ward and Lori. Davis was studying for finals and stuff. What a nerd! (just kidding D!)

Friday B and E went fishing again and AM and I went shopping with Mom and Lori. That night we went to see the Festival of Lights at James Island County Park. We loaded up the Tapio bus with all 4 of us, Mom, Tyler, Nicole, her little sister, Granny, Aunt Rae, Uncle Randy, Becca and Zoe. The lights are awesome and except for AM crying most of the drive there and the crazy traffic, it was fun. There was a carousel, funnel cakes and smores.

Saturday we hung around the house decorating mom's tree and that night we went to an oyster roast at my dad's cousin's house. We got to see some more folks from that side of the family and went back to mom's to decoarate some more. Ellie really enjoyed helping mom and seeing all the ornaments and stuff that I remember from my childhood.

Sunday we made the LONG treck back to AL. It was smoother than the drive there with less crying and stops. Here's some pics from the week.

A Little Late

2008-11-28T22:37:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving a couple of days late. I never post much when we are on the road. And the pics will have to wait until we get back. I hope everyone had a great turkey day yesterday and shopping day today. We ate a lot and hung out with my fam yesterday. Brandon and I even went out sans kiddos 2 nights in a row. Granted, the first night we were yawning like crazy the whole time. My brothers were playing music right down the road from my mom's house. Then last night we went bowling with some of my brothers and cousins. It was really fun. Today I got some really good deals but I still have a good bit of shopping to do. Guess I'll be going to Dothan in the next few weeks. Who's up for a shopping trip?

Thanksgiving Feast

2008-11-22T13:04:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was the Thanksgiving Feast at Ellie's school. It was really nice. The kids in the 2,3, and 4 year-old classes sang some really cute songs and there was a potluck lunch. The school provided turkey, and chicken fingers and each family brought a side, bread, or dessert. There was lots of food everyone (even Ellie) found something to enjoy. Each table was decorated with a pumpkin made to look like a turkey. The kids had all decorated the paper "feathers" that were stuck in the pumpkins. One chair at each table had a sticker on the bottom and whoever was sitting there got to take the pumpkin turkey home. Ellie did a great job singing and her Indian costume was really cute.

All dressed up and ready to go.
She wanted to take a silly picture after I took a bunch of regular ones.

Here she is in costume on the stage.

This is as close up as I can get with my camera. (Hopefully I'll get a new one for Christmas).

I tried to get some cute shots of the girls in their matching dresses. Thanks MeeMaw!!

Ann Marie kept falling over on to Ellie. She said, "It's ok Mommy, she just loves me."

Caught one of her almost smiling. I think this may be my favorite picture of her yet.

2 Cute Girls and a Mystery

2008-11-21T15:32:00.004-06:00

Just some random pics I've taken that I thought were worth sharing. More later from the Thanksgiving Feast...

Sweet Baby. This is how she looks after she's been in the car seat for a while. However, when you are putting her in the car seat, she screams. Every. Time. I think it's something about being confined. May have a wild one on my hands.

This is such a classic Ellie face, I had to share it. It is usually accompanied by the phrase, "Mommy, what are you talking about?" or "I have to 'Fink' about it."

Cute smile

When I saw this I thought for a moment that we had a Giant -Napkin Stealing- Rat problem. But then I realized we just have a weirdo 3 year-old who loves chocolate chip cookie dough without the chocolate chips. And who thought it would be nice (and hygienic) to leave the chips on the (clean) napkins.

He is with us?

2008-11-19T20:07:00.002-06:00

Wait til you read this.

On the way to ballet today.....

Ellie: "Mommy, at night, I talk to God in my bed."

Me: "That's great, it's good to say your prayers to God at night." (thinking they've been talking about this at school)

Ellie: "No, silly, at night when I can't sleep or my belly hurts, I talk to God."

Me: "Really, who told you to do that?"

Ellie: "No one, silly, I just thought of it in my heart."

Me: "Um, ok."

Ellie: "Sometimes it's like he's really there and in my room."

Me: "Um, ok."

Later I tried to find out what she talks to Him about, but she wouldn't share with me. Clearly I am not needed much for her spiritual growth. So if anyone has a prayer request, just let me know and I'll forward it to Ellie.

They could be twins

2008-11-17T16:31:00.004-06:00

** Warning** Nudie Baby pics follow*****

It's really freaking me out how much Ann Marie looks like Ellie did at close to the same age. She is a little bigger than Ellie was, but the resemblance is scary.

Ann Marie
Ellie

Ann Marie

Ellie

And here's a bonus shot from this weekend. Ellie's new favorite hobby-huntin' with Daddy.

Peanut Festival

2008-11-16T14:08:00.002-06:00

I just realized that I never posted the pics from this year's trip to the National Peanut Festival in Dothan.

Ellie loved it, Brandon and I ate yummy fair food and Ann Marie slept the whole time. It was a good night for all.

The first thing E said was that she did NOT want to ride the Ferris Wheel. It was too big. I didn't think she would like to ride anything, but I was sorely mistaken. Once she realized how much fun the rides were, there was no stopping her. Maybe I will have someone to ride the roller coasters with me in a few years.

As you go in to the grounds, you have to pass the petting zoo and pony rides before you get to any of the fair rides. So of course, E wanted to see the animals and ride a pony. I was on stroller duty so Brandon took her in to both things. She was afraid of some of the bigger animals, but she loved the pony. There was some big hairy buffalo thing in the petting part and I thought E was going to jump back over the fence toward me when she saw it. I laughed and laughed. This pic is her looking at the hairy thing. See how she is all the way on the opposite fence. Hilarious!

Once we finally got to the kids' rides, we rode the flying elephants,

Dizzy Dragons, and the Merry Go Round. All were very fun and surprisingly the carousel was the fastest one. I swear, if I hadn't been on there holding on to Ellie, she would've gone flying off. The camera batteries died before we could get a picture on it though.

One other cool thing we saw was the sea lions. We didn't get to see the show, but we watched them sliding and swimming and eating fish.

Overall it was a fun night. AM didn't wake up until we were on the way back to the car. I had to feed her before we drove all the way home, but the car was much warmer than outside so it was OK.

1 Month

2008-11-08T09:53:00.007-06:00

What's that you say???

I'm 1 month old today!!

I can't believe it! She's been here a whole month. And yet it feels like I have fed and burped her a million and a half times and changed a billion diapers. Actually that may not be an exaggeration.

Things are going great. She gained almost a whole pound in the last 2 weeks. We went to the doc's office on Thursday for a weight check and she weighed 8lbs 10.5 oz. I was so excited. I think it took Ellie 2 months to get there. Ann Marie is a really good eater. We've even given her a little bottle of formula a few times because it seemed like the milk factory was not satisfying her. But most days it's not necessary.

Ellie is still besotted with her and has not been jealous or anything. She wants to love on her all the time. Here they are together yesterday and this morning.

Check out the difference in last month and this month in the big chair. Last time we couldn't even keep her upright. She kept folding over. This morning she was strong and practically sitting up on her own.

October 2008 A few days after we came home from the hospital

November 8, 2008 1 month old

And here's Ellie's brand-new and 1 month pics. See any resemblance?

May 2005 A few days after we brought Ellie home

June 2005 Ellie at 1 month old

I have a feeling that I will have a hard time keeping their pictures straight as they get older. At least the chair is blue in Ellie's and red in AM's.

Fun Running

2008-11-03T12:00:00.000-06:00

We had a big day on Saturday. It was the annual Ft. Rucker Chili Cook-off. The whole thing started with a 5K run that Brandon participated in with a team of people from work. After the adults' run, there was a 1 Mile Fun Run for kids. Ellie wanted to race and she actually ran the whole way. Brandon ran it with her and we were both surprised. He said she didn't even slow down to walk once.

Here she is waiting for Brandon's race to start.

The starting horn for the 5K.

Showing me her skillz and warming up for her race.Stretching out before the Fun RunAnd....they're off....Pace yourselves!

Coming in at the finish line

Showing off her medal

Hamming it up with her buddy Madison

She still had plenty of energy for the bouncy house!

Trick or Treat

2008-11-01T15:25:00.004-05:00

2 Cute Halloween Bugs

Ellie had a great time Friday night. She's been talking about it (and eating candy) ever since. A lot of the LAME houses in our neighborhood were dark and deserted. The only upside to that is that E did not get a huge amount of candy. The bad part is, we did not have a huge amount of kids visit our house so we have a lot of candy left over. Luckily I only bought stuff I don't like. But, E thinks because we still have candy left, that there will be more trick-or-treating. You can't explain waiting a whole year to a 3 year old.

Brandon did most of the house to house walking. I stayed by the street because.....

this is how Ann Marie trick-or-treated. We took the carrier, but she wanted nothing to do with it that night. Checking out her loot.

She sorted it out right away. Anything she didn't like went into the big bowl for our trick-or-treaters. Anything chocolate went in my belly! Thank goodness she didn't get much. Everyone knows I have no self-control.

Pre-Halloween Festivities

2008-10-31T15:57:00.007-05:00

Beautiful Rainbow Butterfly

Honey Bee

The lead up to Halloween this year has been intense. And we didn't even get to go to the Pumpkin Patch. E's school trip was rained out and I was going to take her one day this week, but she and Brandon brought a pumpkin home to me when the went to Lowe's together last weekend so that saved me the trip. (on a side note- she asked to go with him and she was still in her pajamas. So the two of them went to her room to get her dressed. I was feeding the baby, as usual. So of course she was stylin' for the trip to Lowe's in a brown summer skirt with tropical designs, purple t-shirt that reads "My uncle is a green beret" and pink plaid princess dress shoes. It was lovely. I am sad to say I did not get a picture as I was still on the couch with AM when they got back.)

Anyway- this week has been crazy. Monday and Tuesday I worked on her costume in between feedings and diaper changes.

Wednesday was ballet and then the Fall Festival at the church. It was great. So well organized and decorated. E had a great time playing all the games.

All the games were related to Bible stories and most of them were easy enough for E to do. At each game the kids collected "pumpkin bucks" that they cashed in at the end for prizes.

Thursday was the Halloween parade and trunk-or-treating at school . The games were still set up in the gym so they got to play some more. There was also the coolest bouncy house and cookie decorating.

Costume Parade

Trunk or Treating. Notice the cute bags that they painted.Cookie decorating- more icing was stuck to the table than any where else.

Class photo- aren't they cute. All the costumes were adorable. Out of 12 kids, there are only 4 girls- E was a butterfly and the others were a cheerleader, a fairy and a princess. And of the 8 boys, 3 were pirates this year.

Fishing Game with Ms. Tammy.

Today we had playgroup- Halloween style -at Barbara's house. More candy and cookies!! Barbara always has fun stuff planned. The girls each got to decorate a goody bag and then they trick or treated in the living room. We had a yummy picnic lunch of hot dogs and someone (me) made really good cookies. :)

All that and we haven't even trick-or-treated yet. Here is how I found Ellie this afternoon. She was in our room watching "The Great Pumpkin" and it got really quiet. Sure enough, she crashed.

More pics from actual trick-or-treating to come......

Hot Lava

2008-10-31T15:55:00.001-05:00

The other day I got in trouble for "erupting" while Ellie was trying to tell a story. Today I did it again while she was singing to the baby.

I guess learning about manners and volcanoes at the same time is a little confusing.

Week 3

2008-10-29T09:14:00.004-05:00

So, I haven't been very good about taking pictures. At least not as good as when E was first born. I will try to do better. Here are some of the ones I have gotten.

Ellie took this one this morning. Please ignore the dirty diaper and my leg sticking out of the picture. It almost looks like she's smiling.

Snuggling on the floor yesterday after school.

Sleeping in the big crib. She napped in there for hours yesterday. I wasted it on Facebook. (Melissa- notice her shirt.)

Snuggling in the big bed. You can see here that they have EXACTLY the same nose.

I think she looks like a rapper in this one. Yo Yo Yo!! Hilarious!

Trying to fill Daddy's shoes.

Granny came to visit last week and we had a great time. Here she is with her "great" hat ladies.

Ellie is still pretty infatuated with Ann Marie. She never gets tired of her and has not shown signs of being jealous or anything. Yet.

Two Weeks

2008-10-22T19:23:00.003-05:00

Hard to believe she's been here for two weeks. And it's hard to remember when she wasn't here.

Settling In

2008-10-19T16:35:00.005-05:00

Well, we're trying to anyway. This last week flew by! Ann Marie looks very different and is growing and getting stronger every day. She eats ALL the time and is sleeping well too. She can already lift her head up when you put her on your shoulder. In fact, you have to be careful that she doesn't fling herself all the way backwards. We stayed busy all week with normal stuff like the commissary and Dr. appts. and playgroup at the park and then this weekend Davis and Lori came to visit. We had a great time with them and even went to the Fun Factory to play Glow in the Dark Mini Golf. For those of you who know Davis, you know why I saved this for him to do with Ellie. She LOVED it. (and I'm pretty sure Davis did too). Today they left and so did my mom. I am a little worried about how thing will go now that she's gone. I know I can take care of E and AM, but whether everything else around here will get done is whole 'nother thing. I guess we'll see. Here are some pics of the fun we've had lately.

Halloween Craft Time

Playgroup at the Park

Big Sis/ Lil Sis
Uncle Davey and the Girls
Dave, Lori, Cooper and the Girls
GranJan and Ann Marie
Pretty in Polka Dots

Jammie Time

Ann Marie: Days 4-8

2008-10-16T21:01:00.003-05:00

Here's some new pics of the girls. We've had a great week with my mom and have even ventured out in public a few times. I am not quite up to full speed yet, but I'm getting there. Ellie is still happy about being a big sister and wants to love all over Ann Marie all the time. We took her to the Dr. today for a 1 week check up and she is doing great. Eating like a champ and on her way back to birthweight. We go back again next week to check again. We have more company coming this weekend and next week to visit and help out. It's always a party in the House of Payne!

Pink Lady (Thanks for the Magic Quilt Miss Mary Ann)

Pajama Party Sisters Sleeping Angel (she's gotten much better at the whole sleeping thing)

Big sister making sure the bouncy seat was working right
She will actually sleep anywhere now- bouncy seat, car seat, someone's arms, pack-n-play, and the big crib.
First "bath" at home- she did not enjoy it.
Good morning time in the bed with Gran Jan

Who Needs Sleep?

2008-10-13T16:37:00.001-05:00

3:30 am

4:30 am

and oh, the screaming......didn't you hear it?

She's Here!!

2008-10-10T16:20:00.013-05:00

Welcome Ann Marie to the House of Payne!!!!

I think you will agree she is a cutie.

I got to the hospital Wednesday morning at 5 to be induced. Contractions started quickly, my water was broken at 9am and and I dilated to 3 cm in just a few hours. I got my epidural about 10:30 and things moved fairly quickly and smoothly until about 2 PM. At that point I was dilated to 5 cm. Unfortunately at 7PM I was still at 5cm and really tired. Ann Marie was also not as far down as she could've been. The doc gave me the option to wait a while and see if there was any progress, or to have a C-Section. I was so tired and the epidural had worn off on the right side twice. So we decided to opt for the C-Section. It was an interesting experience (read- my epidural wasn't quite strong enough and they had to give me Demorall which made me loopy and knocked me out for a while. ) Things moved quickly and she was born at 8:25 PM pink and healthy. Brandon was Daddy on Duty and took her to see Ellie and the grandmas and then on the to nursery to get cleaned up and checked out. Once I was awake, everyone came to the room and we took some pictures. She weighed 8 lbs 5 oz. and was 21 inches long. Not quite as big as they thought, but still bigger than Ellie. I'm not sure how much she weighs now, but she's eating and sleeping really well.

Ellie is very excited to be a big sister and wants to help with everything- except the poops and spit up. Both grandmas are here so they've been keeping her busy. We got home kind of late last night and are adjusting to every day life as a family of 4 (with visitors).

BabyLegs

2008-10-03T19:49:00.004-05:00

So, I'm all about the free stuff.....There's a girl named Sarah with a really cool online store and she's offering a free pair of BabyLegs (they're like socks or tights without the feet in them) for babies to keep warm and help them scoot around when they're crawling. Check out the site. You can click on the logo up top to get to her blog and then there's a link on it to get to the store's site. I picked the Neapolitan style because I like the colors.

On a side note, Sarah used to live here and I met her through some friends. Her store has really awesome stuff and her nursing covers are the best I've seen yet. I will start using mine as soon as we get home from the hospital next week. The fabric is beautiful and the construction is amazing.

What do you think?

2008-09-30T16:38:00.002-05:00

Polling the audience.....I think my belly is much bigger and rounder this time. How about you?

May 15, 2005 The day we went to the hospital to have E. She wasn't born until the night of the 17th. 2 VERY long days.

Yesterday, September 29, 2008. Mind you, I still technically have 2 weeks to go/grow. Luckily my Dr. is a kind man.

Big Sister Prep

2008-09-30T16:08:00.005-05:00

Ellie has been working hard for the last couple of weeks to get everything ready for the baby's arrival. If only she could help with the really hard part. She asked again today just how the doctor was going to get her out. I told her the doctor had some special tricks. She thought I meant like gymnastics tricks. I suppose I will actually be the one doing the tricks. Too bad I don't have any magic tricks. Especially since they estimated the Peanut's weight today at 8lb 14oz. She's more like a watermelon than a peanut. That's going to be fun.

Here are some of the ways E has been helping me to get everything ready.

Testing out the changing table. She thinks it's funny that I used to change her diapers on it too. Her body takes up the whole top of the dresser now, instead of just the changing pad. She has just about kicked over the lamp several times.

Now that the mattress is at the highest setting again, she can climb in and out of the crib. She never did it when she was actually using it for her bed, but now she likes to play in it. She asked me if she was going to be able to check on the baby if she cried so I have a feeling I will find her in it with the baby at some point.

Making sure the baby tub didn't spring any leaks. It has actually been used as a boat, car, baby doll bed and TV watching spot in the last 2 weeks. I had to hide it because I kept tripping over it.

Obviously the chair and ottoman we are borrowing from Barbara and Eric for the nursery are comfy (as well as super cute). I was sitting at the computer and she climbed up on the ottoman in this weird position. I started rocking it back and forth and she fell asleep in about 2 seconds. I am using the chair right now as I type. It's much softer than the computer chair and my bum and I are all about comfort right now.

She also helped me paint the letters to hang on the wall. Well, she painted one and a half before she got bored and moved on to something else, but at least she wanted to help in the first place.

Remembering the good times she had in the infant carrier car seat. She was determined to sit in it and tried to use the buckles. She is just a little too tall for it :)

Are we biking today?

2008-09-28T20:31:00.007-05:00

Ellie has had some fun lately riding on the back of Brandon's bike and also at the Trike-a-Thon (pronounced "Trike-a-Fon" heeheehee) at her school. She's much more comfortable as a rider than she is as a "driver".

The kids rode around the gym for about 20 minutes last Thursday to raise money for St. Jude's. Since our driveway is too steep and our street is too bumpy, Ellis hasn't ridden her trike much. It was pretty obvious that the others were WAY ahead of her. (But she looked cute in that giant helmet)
Clearly we need to practice more. By the 800th lap or so, she finally got the hand of steering and pedaling at the same time. She never did figure out how to start off from completely stopped. I had to push her off every time. Here is frustration setting in......

And taking hold....look at that face.

And she stopped to rest a few times while the others were zippping around the gym.

Her teacher said she passed out as soon as the nap mat hit the floor.

Her bike is still in the car so we can take it over to the smooth track at the park and practice. Soon.

Oh, and she was line leader that day. What a big girl.

Green Acres is the Place to Be

2008-09-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

Farm Living is the Life for Me.

Ok, not really, I just like that song. Too much poop and dirt and giant spiders and rat snakes for me.

So Friday we went to the Jones Family Farm for E's school field trip. Once a month they have Fabulous Friday where the parents can choose to take the kids to whatever is planned. The Jones Family has a little girl in one of the younger classes and they were kind enough to invite all the classes to their property and give us lunch. The weather was really nice and there was lots to see.

First stop- baby chicks with mother hen. Undeniably E's favorite thing at the farm.

Story time with the retired children's librarian from the public library.

A little snack and juice before we see any other animals.

Stop by the baby chicks again...this will be a recurring theme for the day.

The hugest pig ever. I forget her name, but she was so tame. The kids could just walk right up and pet her. She would sniff them like a dog. Ellie did NOT want to pet her. Plus, the snake lived in this area so we didn't hang around too long.

A random nest of eggs in the pigs pen. E thought this was so cool.

Ginormous banana spider. Almost as big as the pig.

Petting the pony. There was a sheep and some goats in this barn, but they did not want attention.

And, back to the baby chicks.

There was also a field of goats, one of turkeys and some cows. Mr. Jones had a hay ride going too, but E did not want to ride. Maybe at the pumpkin patch next month.....ooh, we'll have 2 kiddos to cart around at that one.

It finally happened

2008-09-21T09:21:00.002-05:00

Conversation at Wal-Mart yesterday: (which I've been waiting for weeks to come up)

Ellie: "Mommy, is that baby ever going to come out so I can be a big sister? It's taking a long time."

Me: "I know. But we only have about 2 more weeks."

Ellie: (no concept of weeks whatsoever)" Ugh! "

(expression of deep thinking crosses her face)
"So, Mommy, just how is that doctor going to get that baby out of your shirt?"

Me: "Um, it's going to be really hard work....hey look over there- TOYS!"

...and scene.

No Real News

2008-09-18T17:29:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to check in for the week. Ellie had a great week at school. Her teachers always tell me that she is a great listener and she can usually tell me at least one thing that she's done each day. The biggest milestone this week is that she actually played with other kids on the playground. Before she would tell me that she just played by herself and I've seen her just follow the teacher around when I've picked her up early. At least twice this week she told me she played "princesses" with some of the other girls and today she even gave me some names! She also says she does not play with the boys because they are always in trouble. And only the girls got to pick from the treasure box because they were good. I'm sure it's not all the boys, but I just think it's funny that she lumps them all together. Each day they have done some kind of activity or worksheet to practice letters and numbers and she is very proud of all of her work.

On Wednesdays we've started going to the park in the mornings since she doesn't have school and this week Barbara and Abby met us there. I took one picture and Barbara sent me some good ones of Ellie that she took. Check out her "hair raising" experience on the slide.

We are very excited that tomorrow is "Fabulous Friday" for the Mom's Day Out program. We are going to a local farm to see the animals, have a hayride and pony rides and eat hot dogs. It should be fun and I will take the camera and try to be better about getting some cute shots.

Ellie is very excited and impatient about the baby coming. She knows time is getting close and yesterday asked me, "Is it going to take forever for that baby to come out of your belly?" And just a minute ago (as she was climbing into the crib to play with her dolls) she said she was so excited that we are having a baby girl and that "it won't be long now". She's right. Only twenty more days! That is if she doesn't take half a week to join us like Ellie did.

Grandparents' Day Tea

2008-09-13T15:09:00.003-05:00

Last Monday E's school had a special treat for grandparents to celebrate Grandparents' Day. MeeMaw drove all the way here from TN to go with us. It was very nice. I enjoyed it because it was an excuse to be in her classroom and see some of what they do each day. There were not a lot of grandparents there, so I was so glad we went. First off, the kiddos did a learning sheet at the table. They usually do that every morning until all the kids are there.

Then they came to the floor and did the days of the week and the date and I think the weather. They also sang some songs for us.

Each student had made an adorable picture frame for their grandparent with a fun picture from the playground in it. We had muffins and juice together and then the kids sang us a goodbye song. I think E really enjoyed having us there. She made MeeMaw's day when she looked up at her and said, "Thank you for coming to our party." With no prompting at all.

That made the 5 hour drive all worth it.

Due Date Update

2008-09-12T09:22:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm still technically due on October 15th, but I'm going to be induced on the 8th. Scheduled as of yesterday. We all think this bambino is going to be of the larger variety so the doc thinks it's a safe bet to plan ahead and bring her on out a week early. Its great for me to have a date so we can get some grandmas here to watch Ellie and help out. Hopefully it won't take 2 days to get her here like it did with Ellie. And hopefully we won't be in the hospital for a week like before. That was not fun. So anyone who wants to come visit, make plans for sometime after the 8th. I'll keep you posted.

September So Far

2008-09-07T09:30:00.005-05:00

I'd like to say that we've been so busy I haven't had time to post anything. Unfortunately, I've just been too lazy to really DO anything worth posting. The normal routine has been followed and all children/husbands/dogs have been fed and taken care of, but other that that, this has been a no frills house lately. I have read a lot of books and I did clean the house on Tuesday- even the tub. That is not easy when you have a basketball attached to the front of your body. In fact, Ilene called while I was in the middle of it and asked why I was so out of breath. Very sad. Lucky for me, Ellie is in school for 3 days each week and when she's home she likes nothing better than the TV. We do turn it off and actually interact on occasion too. Here are some very random pictures of what we've been up to this month. Oh and I heard that the hottest temp ever recorded in AL was in September so these last 5 weeks of basketball belly ought to be FUN!

Another day at ballet. I just thought she looked so cute in her tutu.

We've been experimenting with new makeup looks. I call this one Pink Blush Everywhere.
I can't even come up with anything for this outfit. The best part was that she wore it to help Brandon out in the garage. Crack up!

Carys's (a playgroup friend) birthday party was a Messy Art Party. The kids got to paint and use all kinds of cool materials and then we all got in the pool to wash off. It was really fun. Alex even made each of the kids a t-shirt to cover their clothes that said "Carys's Messy Art Party".

E was very serious about the painting. She really concentrated and only used 1 color. But the end result is pretty cool.

Here we are in the pool. I was like the Pied Piper for all the kids there for a while.
On Thursday we celebrated our NINTH anniversary. We are old. The scarier part is, we've known each other for 14 years now. Soon I will have been with Brandon longer than I wasn't.

These are "our" anniversary flowers. Ellie thinks it was her anniversary too. The carnations are mine and the rose is for Ellie. She has decided and will inform anyone that will listen that roses are her favorite, but Mommy just likes pink carnations. And Daddy listened.

On Friday Ellie and I met Kim and Madison at the bowling alley on post for lunch and the girls bowled a coupe of games. E is much better than she used to be. They have these hilarious pink 4 pound balls that she can lob down the lane. It's quite a sight.

Peanut Update

2008-08-29T18:39:00.002-05:00

We had another ultrasound today to check the baby's size/growth. Supposedly she weighs about 5lbs 4 oz now and is measuring at about 35 weeks. I'm only at 33 weeks so she's a little big. She is pretty smushed in there already so we weren't able to get a good picture. We saw the top of her head, belly and thigh bone because those are the parts they use to measure and compare growth. None of those are super exciting though. We didn't even get to see her face because she was turned around. We did get to see and hear her heartbeat and that's always fun.
She seems to be a really strong little thing. It literally hurts when she is rolling and flipping in there. My whole belly moves and does the wave. And she is rarely still. If I am moving around, I don't feel her, but as soon as I sit still, she starts hopping. I don't remember Ellie being that active, but I also didn't remember how small newborn diapers are until I opened the pack we got at the shower. Seriously, I really can't remember E being that small. She's such a big girl now. *sniff*
And still no definite name decision. Still mulling it over.

The rain, she finally went away

2008-08-26T16:04:00.005-05:00

Hopefully for a little while anyway. The forecast shows rain every day this week and weekend except Friday which is only partly cloudy. I was only annoyed with the weather until last night when we had 2 Tornado Warnings- as in one has been spotted.... We didn't even live here yet when the big one hit last year and I was spooked. The one at 8:00 wasn't so bad because we were still up, but the one at 1:30 scared me because you could hear the siren so well and E was all the way across the house in her room. I wussed out and brought her to our room just in case we had to make a run for the closet. Of course every noise I heard for 2 hours sounded like a tornado to me and I only had a third of the bed so it was a long night. But we made it.

Saturday we were inside all day except for a brief trip to pick Brandon up. Sunday we were inside all day in the rain with no break. Monday E's school was canceled and we were inside all day except for a very necessary lunchtime trip for Mexican food and a stop at Wal-Mart. So today we were ready for normal. E went to school and I went to the dr for baby stuff. That's pretty much the new normal around here. I have to go once a week for appts and once a week for a Non-Stress Test where they make sure the Peanut is moving a grooving like she should be. This week I also have an ultrasound so 3 out of 5 days I'll be at the Medical Center. Big Time Fun.

We did have some fun on Monday. Abby came over while Barbara had to work. Ellie follows her around making sure she doesn't find anything to put in her mouth, etc... And she has to be the one to get the diaper bag for me if Abby needs a change. She told be "Don't worry, Mommy, I am the big sister helper." Hopefully she'll be as excited to help when the baby is here all the time. Somehow I doubt it. They had a great time reading books together in the big chair.

And here's what happens when you are stuck inside for so many days in a row- your child starts making up fake weather. Apparently it was snowing in EllieLand on Sunday.

Fay, Schmay

2008-08-24T10:46:00.003-05:00

Well, we survived the tropical storm. Really it was just a little windier and rainier that usual around here. And Brandon's flight from ATL to Dothan was canceled. But they got a rental and made it here only a few hours later than expected. All in all it wasn't a bad weekend.

Friday was the big welcome picnic for E's school. We decided to forgo the picnic part and just play at the park with all the kids (and then we went to the Mellow Mushroom with our friends). The weather was nice- cooler than normal and windy thanks to Fay. It started to rain Fri night, but nothing major.

Yesterday we were all ready to go to the airport and I checked the Delta website one more time and sure enough, the flight was canceled. I was surprised it took them that long to decide. So we waited a while longer and picked B up from work instead. We are just glad to have him home-however he had to travel to get here. Once we got home we had a belated birthday dinner and celebration for him since he was in the desert on the big day. By the way- if you have something that you don't want anyone to know, don't tell Ellie. She is the worst secret keeper ever!

Today has been lazy so far. We got up kind of early and had breakfast, and it started to rain again. I thought we'd be trapped inside all day again, but it looks like maybe the sun is coming out. Could be a false alarm though. There might be another rain band coming. Just have to wait and see. Here is Ellie making sure Brandon didn't bring any weird desert diseases home......she's a nut.

Off to be lazy some more.

Shower Time

2008-08-21T19:15:00.006-05:00

I have great friends.

On Monday, my local friends showered us with gifts and well wishes for the Peanut. I am embarrassed that it's taken me this long to write about it. Except everything seems to take a little longer these days. Part of the deal I guess. Barbara hosted the shower at her house WAY out in the country :) and it was really fun.

We played games.... one where you had to sniff the contents of diapers and guess what kind of candy bar it was.....some people couldn't get past the appearance.

And another one where you had to guess what flavor baby food was in jars just from looking at the outside with no label.

We had tasty snacks. Notice the ladybug cupcakes. The whole party had a ladybug theme.

And everyone was more than generous to us and the Peanut.

Matching dresses for Ellie and the Peanut from GranJan.

We even got to enjoy out of town company for the shower. My mom and both of my grandmothers were able to come for the weekend.

They were glad to meet everyone and see that I really do have people that will hang out with me.

And they got to spend time with Ellie (which of course is why they really came) and helped me get some things organized around the house to get ready for October. There is still plenty to do so if anyone out there is really bored and wants to sort onesies and tiny socks, just let me know. First you'll have to get them out of the attic for me. I don't think I can even fit through the door. heehee not really. But, seriously, look at this thing!

Hola mis amigos!

2008-08-15T09:57:00.003-05:00

Day 3 was also a success. No crying and only one feeble "Um, maybe I don't want to go to school today." when we were already in the building. And the whole way from the car to that point she was running ahead of me and even told me I had to try and keep up. I am a slow moving creature these days.

After school we went to the weekly doctor's appt and waited an annoyingly long time. The waiting room is huge and there was hardly an empty seat when we got there. Finally at 4:45 we left and picked up dinner on the way home.

Even after the busy day she had, E still had time to ride off into the Mexican sunset saving our house from the bad guys. Don't worry, they are all safely locked up in the "bad people place".

Day 2

2008-08-12T18:22:00.002-05:00

It was a success. E was running ahead of me on the sidewalk on the way in saying "Hurry, Mom!" and she walked into the classroom all by herself.

When I picked her up she said she had a great day and is excited to go back on Thursday. I am excited to sleep a little later tomorrow :)

We survived!

2008-08-11T16:03:00.004-05:00

Both Ellie and I made it through her first day of pre-school unharmed. She cried a little when I dropped her off this morning, but she must have enjoyed the day because she already agreed to go back tomorrow. (Not that she has a choice, but she didn't pitch a fit when we talked about it)

Last night she was very excited and said she couldn't wait to go. We talked about all the fun stuff she was going to do and picked out her outfit (Thanks Sharon!) and made her lunch. But this morning when I woke her up and told her it was School Day, she said she didn't want to go. And she repeated her mantra "I don't want to go to school" about 150 times in the 7 minutes it takes us to drive there. She got out of the car just fine and carried her bag inside, but then she hesitated outside of the classroom. Reality had set in! We went in and deposited all her stuff and I tried to distract her with the toys, but she was not falling for it. Luckily, Ms. Kam swooped in and picked her up. E wrapped her in a bear hug and I ran out. (Well, I waddled out.)

I went over to the gym part of the church building and did jazzercise and I wanted to go peek afterwards, but I didn't. I was strong. I knew if she happened to see me, it would be over for Ms. Kathryn and Ms. Kam. I managed to fill my day with getting a pedicure, cleaning out the toy closet and a little shopping (not much, mostly I just looked :)

Since we got home, here's what she's been doing. She probably has TV withdrawal. It's bad.

Tomorrow, I have to come straight home after working out and get more done around here. I have a lot to clean out of the 3rd bedroom before we can get it ready for the Peanut. And we have many grandmothers coming this weekend so I have to do real cleaning.

Keeping Track

2008-08-10T09:40:00.001-05:00

Olympic Medal winners at NBC Olympics.com!

She really is ready...

2008-08-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

...for Pre-school.

Look at the artistic ability that just started today. All of a sudden her drawings are no longer floating heads. I typed the captions directly on the pics so they are kind of small.
Be sure to pay attention to the family portrait one. I am a giant.
And she'd never really attempted an animal before. I was impressed.

This week so far in pictures

2008-08-06T21:02:00.005-05:00

We've been trying hard to keep busy and do something each day to make the time go by faster. Here's what we've done so far.

Doctored/Tortured Lucy
She's a decent patient. Take a look at the "band-aid" on her leg. She actually sat pretty still while E took care of her. Why she's a naked doctor, I don't know.

Swam with Abby and Miss Barbara. Thanks again guys!

Pretended to be the Naked Chef. We made muffins.

First ballet class here. She's been to lots in SC. She seemed to really enjoy it.

Other than these things we've also been to aerobics class on Monday and Tuesday and tonight was the Open House at Mom's Day Out. We met E's teachers and saw the classroom. Both ladies and all the kids seem really nice. I think she is going to have a great time there. Tomorrow I head to the doctor again and E will play with Max and Nolen. After that we are off to our weekly commissary trip to get regular groceries and special snacks because we are hosting playgroup here on Friday. I guess I should go get some cleaning done while she's asleep.....or maybe I'll go watch "So You Think You Can Dance". It's the finale.... Definitely more important than cleaning.

Multiple Personalities

2008-08-06T06:50:00.001-05:00

Here is Ellie in various stages of her summer wardrobe. And a bonus blast from the past.

Silly smile in big black hat. This hat was my Granny's and I used to wear it to dress up. See below...I'm the one in the middle.

SUPER ELLIE!!!!

Super Ellie to the rescue! (with mysterious drugged out look)

Fancy lady- complete with plastic heels and almost as large plastic earrings.

Very tired girl in sleep shirt from Lori!

I am so proud....

2008-08-05T07:50:00.001-05:00

...of myself.

For weeks I have been planning to make a cover for a nap mat for Ellie. It is the only thing that has gotten her excited about starting pre-school. I tried telling her all the fun things she's going to do, but she was having none of it. We finally bought the little $7 KinderMat at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago and it's been everything from a bridge to a surfboard around the house. I finally buckled down and made the cover.

I had 2 coordinating pieces of princess fabric and neither one was quite big enough so I used both of them to make the base of the cover.

It covers the part that she will lay on and then goes over the edge on each end. Next time I will buy enough to make it more like a giant pillow case. I think that will save me some time.

Then I used fleece for the blanket and attached it along one side. I made the other sides like fringe to cover my uneven cutting. Ideally I would get the blanket monogrammed, but I want to make sure this one holds up before I invest any money in it.

The pillowcase is also attached at the top, but the pillow can come out to be used in another cover (if I ever get around to making another one).

I also attached a ribbon for tying the whole thing up in a nice neat little package.

I hope to make her a couple more as the year goes along. Maybe even in seasonal fabrics. I should probably just make a bunch now because after the baby comes, I'm sure I won't have time and I know I will have less space for my craftiness.

2008-08-04T17:34:00.004-05:00

5 Minutes For Mom is having another great giveaway week. There's a different giveaway each day in honor of everyone getting ready to go back to school. Even though I am not, I can still feel it in the air. In fact, I even bought some crayons, glue and notebooks at WalMart because they were just SO CHEAP. 22 cents for crayons or glue and 5 cents for a notebook! I couldn't say no. And Ellie is starting school so I at least got to pick out a 1st day back outfit. I know, I am such a nerd.

Anyway, I am entering today's giveaway for sure and maybe even another one during the week. I have always wanted a label maker, but never felt like I could justify buying one. Winning a super cool DYMO one would solve that little problem.

Click on the button at the top to see the daily giveaways. Good luck!

Card Reader!!!!

2008-08-04T13:02:00.002-05:00

I'm back. I finally got my lazy self to Wally World and found a card reader. Who knew the quick fix was there all along for only $8.88? Now I can upload my pictures again and share them with all the world. Well, at least with the 6-8 people who actually read this. I will be adding some posts soon with many crafty things I have made and many silly outfits Ellie has come up with since last week. Check back soon.
PS. She starts PreSchool next week and I am a nervous wreck.

Technical Difficulties

2008-07-31T08:17:00.002-05:00

We are not lost or out of town or sleeping. It's just that my camera is broken and I am distraught. Well, the actual camera works, which is good. I can still take pictures and preserve the memories. But the hole where the cord plugs into the camera is broken so I can't do anything with the pictures I've taken. Our computer is old so it doesn't have a slot for the memory card like some of your new-fangled ones.

I wrote a whole post about my crafty sewing adventures and took step by step pictures. I discovered the camera issue when I was finished. There's also a really cute picture of "Super Ellie" wearing a piece of left over fabric as a cape. And there's one of her in the big black dress up hat that was my Granny's that I used to wear to play dress up. But alas, I can not share them with you. I am trying to come up with a solution. (Convincing Brandon that we should just get a newer fancier camera is high on the list. I swear I did not break it on purpose.)

I will keep you updated. I'm sure you will all be waiting on the edge of your seat.

Cupcakes and C-c-c-c-c-cold Water

2008-07-26T08:07:00.005-05:00

We've had a busy and fun couple of days.

On Thursday we met up with our PlayGroup Pals at a very cool place. It's called Cupcakes, Ya'll and it's a bakery that specializes in cupcakes. The perfect sugary place for a bunch of 1-4 year olds (and their moms of course).

The owner was nice enough to pull out some toys for the kiddos to play with and had coloring sheets for them too. We had plenty of time for them to play and then we had lunch. It was delicious. Then each of the kids got to decorate a cupcake. What a sprinkly mess! But they loved it. They also have other sweet treats like cookies and bars. I had a S'Mores bar and it was SOOOO good.

After playgroup, Ellie and I took Madison to the pool for a while and they enjoyed that too. We didn't stay long though because we had company coming! Forrest, Ashby and PeePaw came to visit for 2 nights.

Yesterday we went down to Vortex Spring again and it was even more fun since we had them with us. Some other friends from TN that used to go to Vortex with them years ago were also in FL this weekend so they drove up and met us there. It was a blast. Brandon, Forrest and Ashby jumped off the diving board, tower and the big swing.

The best part was watching them on the zipline. It wasn't working last weekend, but we were excited to see it was fixed yesterday. I used my current "condition" as an excuse not to jump, but I probably would've been too chicken anyway. They even took the opportunity to practice their SCUBA skills after a long break. Also, since it was Friday, there weren't many people there so we got a great shady spot with a picnic table.

They had to leave early this morning to get back to TN since they have lots of folks to visit before heading off across the ocean in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure what we'll do with the rest of our weekend, but for now I'm going to be lazy and lay on the pull out sofa bed that's still open from our guests!

Peanut Pics part deux

2008-07-23T19:11:00.004-05:00

Here she is.

I swear, it looks like she is smiling.

Our visit went well today. She is still measuring a little big. I'm at 28 weeks and she's measuring at about 30 weeks. Heartrate and everything were good. She weighs 3 lbs and some change.

And no, she still does not have a name. I am very indecisive this time and no one else wants to help. Well, Ellie still likes Sally and Brandon's vote really is for Peanut. Suggestions are welcome.

More highly useful information

2008-07-22T14:42:00.003-05:00

OK, so here's another meme. I just can't help myself. Maybe I won't feel the need to forward the email ones if I keep posting these.

This one came from a HILARIOUS (and also thought-provoking, of course) blog that I read daily. Her name is BooMama and she is a riot. I've been reading it pretty much since I started this one a year ago and I really dig it. I just didn't realize exactly how much we have in common until I saw her version of this. There are some answers I didn't even have to change and others I only had to tweak slightly. Check it out if you don't believe me.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I had just graduated from college and moved/ followed Brandon to GA, much to my parents' dismay. I was working at a daycare center that summer and trying to get a full time teaching position in the local school districts.

Favorite Snacks
pita chips and hummus
diet Coke with lime over ice
a scoop of peanut butter, I’m not even kidding
pretty much any form of cheese
and of course fresh fruits and veggies (just in case the OB is reading)

To Do List
I love a to-do list - mainly to try to keep myself organized. I like to write daily ones and also long-term ones. And I like to WRITE OUT my list because typing the list on the computer is not at all the same, NOT AT ALL. Give me a notepad, scrap of paper, back of an envelope and a hard surface and I'm set. Oh and any writing utensil will do. Except a pencil, cuz I might be tempted to change the list. I’m a fan of the to-do. And I will add the things that are not finished to the next list.

My current long-term list looks like this-
- make Milynda's bday present
-make Faith's bday present
-make cover for E's nap mat
-Brandon's present (not making that one)
-Zoe's bday present (not sure yet)
-E's shot record updated
-and as always, work on the scrapbook

Jobs I Have Had
Babysitter, hostess at restaurant on the beach, ice cream scooper, daycare slave, elementary school teacher, mommy and currently incubator

Places I Have Lived
South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama.
So basically, you know, the Deep South.
So much for the Army sending us to see the world

Bad Habits
procrastination, worry, caffeine, eating too much, exercising too little, letting the cleaning chores pile up, impatience, sitting at the computer when I should clearly be working on that to-do list

5 Random Things People May Not Know
-My husband was dating my friend when we started dating. I was 16.
-It took me 3 tries to get my driver's license. Driving a stick-shift minivan was not easy. But it did get a whole bunch of us to prom in style.
-I always thought I wanted a sister, but now I'm kind of glad it was just me and the boys.
-I love to sing, but am acutely aware that it is not something that should be shared with others.
That's why it only happens in the car when I am alone or only with Ellie.
-I used to have a borderline addiction to sticky notes. Being out of the classroom has pretty much cured it, but I still have some around the house just in case.

CDs I would want if stranded on an island
SDT's Churning Burlward, Any of Madonna's stuff from the 80's/early 90's, Soundtrack to Michael, Jimmy Buffet Fruitcakes, and I guess I'll cheat and say I'd have to make one from my list on itunes so I could have all my favorites

What I’d Do if I Were a Billionaire
1) Pay off college, car, boat, the new house and the army
2) Buy a large-ish place on Sullivan's Island so everyone could use it.
3) Buy another place to live in the country with lots of land and quiet.
4) Move to one of these places as soon as the army part of #1 was completed.
5) Put aside a chunk-o-money for the girls' college etc....
6) Try not to live extravagantly.
7) Donate generously.
8) Take my whole family on a trip.

So there you go, more than you needed to know about me.
And if you want - you’re it!

No New Pictures

2008-07-20T21:10:00.003-05:00

We've had a fun and busy weekend, but I have been lazy in the camera department. Yesterday we spent most of the day at the shooting range with Brandon. It was really hot, but good to be outside. Ellie collected rocks and flowers and we had a picnic. Today was even better because we decided after breakfast to go here. It was awesome. The weather was beautiful and the water was FREEZING. We plan to go back again next weekend too. I promise to take some pictures this week and maybe there will even be a video. E had learned 2 new tricks that are hilarious. And we should have ultrasound photos for you on Wed.

A New Favorite

2008-07-16T16:06:00.005-05:00

I thought the picture of Ellie in the flowers at my cousin's wedding from this post was my favorite. But it's been eclipsed by this one.

I love that she's barefoot and you can see her dancing. And that smile....I almost cried.

More Special Pics

2008-07-15T16:39:00.003-05:00

Here are some MUCH better pictures from this past weekend. Brandon's dad's cousin's husband Bill took them. He is a pro as far as I am concerned. I like to think that if I had a fancy camera, my pictures would be this good, but I doubt it.

**Warning-- there is a giant belly in 2 of the following pictures. **

Graduation pic actually close up enough to see Forrest's face :)
The actual Green Beret
The happy couple. Ashby and Forrest
The whole Payne crew.
Belly Alert! This shirt will clearly not fit for much longer. (Or the pants for that matter.)