Shhh daddy's sleeping

Last week, Amanda came into my bedroom and said, "Mother, Father fell asleep in my bed and he didn't finish the story!" Hubby tells Amanda's stories before she goes to bed.

I went into her room and sure enough he was asleep in her bed.
I have to admit the sight of seeing my hubby in his daughter's doll house bed.......made me want to grab my camera, but I didn't want to wake him. Plus, if you give me a camera, I am going to take a picture, and if I have a picture you know I am going to post it on the blog! And if I post it on the blog well, hubby might not appreciate that too much!

Last night Amanda came into my room again and said, "It happened again! Father fell asleep and I can't wake him! Can you finish the story?"

I finished the story and then she went back to bed. Father woke up several hours later and finally came to bed! Maybe I will have to buy him his own dollhouse bed for Christmas!

BTW- Amanda started calling us Mother and Father several weeks ago and we can't figure it out!

Graduation 2010!

June 5th will not only go down in history as the day my baby Amelia said, "MOMMA" but also the day my niece graduated from high school! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I remember traveling to Roanoke to see her for the first time after she was born. The fact that we were traveling to Lynchburg to see her rewarded for reaching t his milestone was really exciting yet sad. Sad, because life is moving too fast and I want it to slow down. It really reminded me once again to just LIVE EVERY DAY TO THE FULLEST with my girls.

Lindsay walking in...............

The Graduate after she graduated.

All of her Aunts and Uncles, cousins, and grandparents were there for the celebration. It was awesome to have the whole family together for the celebration and we really had a wonderful time! Of course, Amanda was thrilled with that we were staying in a hotel, she loves to stay in hotels!

The cousins played so well together and were so happy to see each other!

The graduate getting her degree

The first pic of the newly graduated niece! Yes, I did have to fight my way through the crowd to get it but don't worry I only knocked two old ladies down.

The oldest and youngest grandchildren in the family!





Amelia wasn't sure about the cap but she did enjoy chewing on the tassel.

The future Doctor of the family or nurse or something in the medical field not sure just yet but that's OK, college doesn't start until August!

It truly amazes me that she gets her looks from

me and I am just the Aunt!

All the grand kids together with that proud mammaw and pappaw.

Oh sweet siblings! I don't really ever remember them fighting too much?

The happy family!

BTW- I missed getting the siblings all together with the graduate pic so send me one please, I will need it when I do next year's family calendar!

Future date? Nope, just using graduation as a chance to get up close and personal to my niece. Watch out buddy you better not get too close her daddy knows how to shoot! He had a buck head and lot of dead stuffed birds at one time to prove it.

Those happy grandparents!

Those beautiful cousins!








After a classy buffet, we were summoned to the front door because someone was playing a joke on my niece............

She wasn't sure what was going on.........

She didn't understand why her mom was telling her to look outside for some boy? But when she looked in the driveway she saw a set of shiny new wheels just for her! She felt like she was on The Price Is Right and acted just like those women who are shocked because they won a brand new car!

Amelia asked her daddy if she should expect this at her high school graduation and put in a request for a Lamborghini.

She hugged and cried on her dad but he just kept filming! Just what was he filming anyway?

"Oh dad, I am sorry for all the bad things I have ever done." (Actually, this is one kid I must say that didn't do too many bad things because her mother kept a Mr. Ouchie in the diaper bag at all times!)

"Are you sure this is for me? Is this some type of sick joke and you are just teasing me or something? You really bought me a car? Brand new? Are you nuts? You have seen me drive! All I can say is I hope you have good insurance!"

She was so shocked she didn't even get in it until someone told her she could.

"Now remember Lindsay be careful and
don't remember anything I taught you about driving!" "Please do not break for squirrels, I learned that lesson the hard way."

"Mom it will be OK, I tuned out everything when you were teaching me to drive but don't worry, I can always look to my Aunt for some driving tips!"

Let me fix my hair before you take any pics people

"I am having such a hard time believing that you didn't let this slip."

"Does this mean you expect me to drive my brother everywhere?"

Amanda at the late Dr. Falwell's pulpit. Was she getting ready to preach? Stay tuned for more details about our Lynchburg trip!

Another first for Amelia

What is this mom? Did you buy me another teether?

Yummo mommy this teether is good!

Wow, pieces come off!

I really like this.

Good! Lets have this every night.

Honesty

I love it when Amanda just tells me how she is really feeling. She doesn't always do this right away, she ponders things and then talks to us. It makes me so happy when she shares her thoughts and feelings because she trusts us and knows she can be herself at home in her little haven. I pray this continues as we navigate through those teen years one day!


We were on our way to see our friend who just had a baby! We wanted to serve this family with a meal and some treats for the other children. Amanda wanted to help serve and since she can't cook all by herself, I told her she could make treat bags and decorate them. She was thrilled to do this and decorated them so beautifully with stickers. I told her she could decorate with any of the stickers and keep the ones she wanted for herself. I was thrilled to see the finished projects where she had taken her favorite princess stickers to decorate the bags and didn't keep them for herself.

While we were driving there Amelia started to cry and Amanda said, "I don't mean this bad and I don't mean this rude, but it was a whole lot easier to do stuff with just one of us!" I validated her feelings and told her I understood what she was saying. She said, "I mean, I love Amelia and she's my playmate!" We had a sweet, grown up girl talk moment!

I am so thankful for a daughter who loves to serve others and hope this continues. I am also thankful for a daughter who is open and honest, and willing to be vulnerable by sharing her feelings. This is something she will need her whole life. I want to raise a girl who isn't afraid to be herself and has enough confidence in herself to not feel the need to have to "fit in" or be just like the other girls, she can be different and totally real and not give a flying flip about what the other girls think and say behind her back. Unfortunately, this will not end in the teen years, I am afraid she will have to deal with that all throughout adulthood.

Chocolate makes everything better!

It's no secret the power chocolate has especially on a woman! Yes, I have research to back this up!
Today Amanda had her five year old check up and yes, you read that right and no, I know my daughter isn't five yet and won't be for six more months but.........the preschool she is going to go to in the Fall wanted a physical done and it had to be done within three months of the start of school with the forms turned in by August, so the doctor did the exam early.

Amanda was very talkative and cooperative as she always has been at the doctor's. She will tell you that she LOVES going to the doctor and now she wants to be a nurse again. She hasn't cried when getting a shot since she was a baby and loves to watch her blood be drawn and yep, she really is my child but oh, so different than me!

Today we were waiting for the doctor and Amanda said, "Could you just be quiet and let me ask the doctor questions this time? I have two questions for the doctor." Then she told me what they were! The doctor was very pleased with her and told her,"You are just a happy girl, I bet you are happy all the time!"

I was so pleased that Amanda was letting her light shine at the doctor's that I treated her to Chick-filet afterwards, (OK really a reward for me too but hey, I get some credit for helping develop that "happy all the time" attitude!)


Amanda had 2 shots today and the one didn't hurt but she said, "The one in the left arm, stung a little, I really didn't like that one too much!" I gave her some chocolate afterwards and she said, "That chocolate made all my hurt go away, my feet, my left arm, and my right arm!"

The good news is we don't have to back for a year and a half...........the bad news is I know we will be there before then considering we spent the month of April at the doctors!

But maybe it is our turn to be doctor appointment free for a while, that sure would be nice but I will not complain because I have very healthy girls most of the time and when I think of those little ones with cancer, fighting for their lives and some losing the battle. I just say, "Thank you GOD our health problems have been soooo minor."

Honeymoons, weddings, and baby talk!

There has been a lot of "imaginary play" going on around here and a wedding ceremony almost everyday. I know it is just the age and something little girls like to play but today it went a little too far for me. I was cleaning in the basement while the girls played and Amanda brought me her doll and said, "Mom can you babysit my baby? I need to go on my honeymoon."

I replied, "Oh, well you usually go on your honeymoon BEFORE you have a baby!"

Amanda responded,"I know but she came early, she's a newborn!"

I wasn't about to explain anything else so I just told her I would babysit her baby and asked her where she was going on her honeymoon.

Amanda said, "Texas, New York, then to the West and then to the East."

A little while later she came back to pick up her baby and said, "Oh, how was she?"

She is so loving with her little babies like they are real, I think they are to her!

I asked how the honeymoon was and what she did. (I wanted to know!)

Amanda said,"It was good, we went to a movie, then to a restaurant and saw some friends there. Then we saw a show."

"What did you like the best?"

Amanda replied, "The West and the East was the best!"

Last week I let Amanda pick out a DVD to watch and she picked out our wedding and reception DVD so we watched it and she wanted to watch the entire thing! I didn't realize it was sooo long and needless to say, we got nothing done that day! It was fun sharing our day with her though. I loved how she reacted when she recognized people, especially her cousin who was just a baby at the time, she got a real kick out of that!

I asked her if we should get married again since some people do that. She said,"Well, no unless you marry the same person!"

I sure am glad she likes the man I chose to marry, I do to, and I would do it all over again, except this time I would make sure Amanda got an invitation!

sweet sister love

Amanda loves her sister more and more everyday! She has always been in awe of her from the time they met at the hospital but now that her little sister can crawl and play, she has become more than a little sister she has become a "playmate" that is what Amanda calls her!

This week Amanda gave her a big hug and said,

"I am just so glad that I could afford to buy you at the hospital."

I explained to Amanda that we didn't buy her, God gave her to us!

Amanda replied, "Well, we had to give the hospital money!"

I explained to her that we just paid for the doctor to take her out but that God is the one that gave her to us.

I guess we are making some progress though because before Amelia was born, I remember the day a package came at the door and I yelled out, "Oh, we have a package!"

Amanda ran to the door faster than I have ever seen her run and said, "Oh maybe it's my baby sister!"

Amelia update

Our growing girl is not just growing physically but her vocabulary is expanding and she has started pointing to objects and people on request, and identifying body parts!

The words she says now:

Dada, momma, mumma, mom (2 times), sissy (2 times), OK (3 times), Hi.

She can point to the following when requested: daddy, mommy, sissy, papaw, mammaw, nose, mouth, eyes, head, hair, ceiling, and floor.

She loves to point to her own facial features but will identify the features of others too only watch out, because she has a fascination for sticking her finger in the nostrils of anyone that is holding her. (Someone must have told her that nose picking is my least favorite thing to see.)

She pulls up on any piece of furniture she can find. One of my friends thinks she is going to walk soon! NOOOOOO! We are not ready for that!

She has added cheese sticks to her food list this week and gets so excited when she sees one being unwrapped. She holds onto it and just bites off a piece at a time just like her big sis. I must admit that this shocked me a little but I guess things just happen faster with the second child since they have that role model in front of them and she always wants what Amanda has! When she sees someone eating something different she starts making this "grunting-type" of noise.
I wonder if the third child picks things up even faster?

Amanda's bad news

Last night at dinner Amanda looked at her dad and said, "I've got bad news daddy."

Daddy: "Oh no!"

Amanda: "The oil spill has reached the beach we go to."

Sadly, the news is true and we are wondering if that pretty Pensacola sand will be white the next time we go there.

Sprinkler fun!

One of our favorite things to do on a hot, sunny day, is to get WET! We don't care if it is in the pool or a sprinkle park, or water park, we love the water and want to be in it as much as possible.

So off we went for kids day at the sprinkle park to get wet and watch a show.

The guy in the white hat was the performer

We love sprinkle parks but had never been to this one before. This shopping center has kid days where they have a performer do a show, and then all the kids hit the sprinkle area to get soaked. Amanda had a blast although she told me at lunch she didn't enjoy it but pictures don't lie. Plus, I asked her AFTER she had gotten sunscreen in her eyes and we all know that is not fun!

A dental office was there promoting braces (most of the kids in the crowd were preschoolers) so I am not sure why they were there, but they let the kids make free tooth puppets. Amanda loves to color and loves puppets so she was one happy girl! We told them we will hold off on getting the braces though since she still has her baby teeth!

Can you find her? She's in there!

Having fun in the sun!

Afterwards we went to lunch at a pizza shop within walking distance. There were so many kids there that all the highchairs were gone so Amelia turned her stroller into a highchair. She didn't care since she had a straw to suck on and that's all it takes to make her smile! Plus, she had fun watches all of the other kids.

When Amanda got wet the sunscreen ran into her eyes so she wasn't have the best time at lunch!

But this one had a blast at lunch and enjoyed every bite! She did stand up in her stroller while I was helping Amanda but we caught her just in time! It was a thank you GOD kinda moment. (We have a lot of those around here these days since she is ONE ACTIVE BABY.)






We finished the day off by picking up some cupcakes from a bakery we could walk to and have heard nothing but raves about and took them home to daddy to celebrate his birthday! We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon as a family since daddy got to come home early since he had a speaking engagement that day!

What a fun beginning to summer fun!