Egg Hunt #1

Our friend Heidi was very nice to include us in her neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. She has a daughter named Ella who is a few months older than Reese. Reese (of course) was very shy to join Ella. But, Ella, being the sweetheart she is, took Reese by the hand and they tore up the tennis courts where the 4 and under group got to search for eggs. Ella and Reese were a little too old for this area and they took the majority of the eggs. I snuck a few out of Reese’s basket and put them out for the babies.

I, of course, had to capture as many moments as I could. I couldn't keep up with them when they were getting the actual eggs because they were running around too fast!

Fran walking the girls to the tennis courts.

Reese running through the tennis courts to get as many eggs as possible

Reese and Ella after the hunt!

Reese's loot. Unfortunately there was a lot of melted chocolate in these eggs!

Sweet Ella. I loved this picture so much I decided to switch it to B&W

After the hunt they had snacks. I think this was Reese's favorite part. She made that cupcake last a long time!

They also had little trinkets in the eggs. Ella does a mean "argh!"

Overall it was a great day and we look forward to all going to the zoo together this weekend!

Someone please pass the soap...

It has been a challenging week to say the least. It's so hard when David is out of town and we're going on week #2. My hat is off to all of the single parents out there.

I would say the worst (so far) was yesterday. We had her ballet pictures and I couldn't get her off my leg. She was just scared to take the picture! I finally told her we could leave if she wanted too and then she decided she wanted to take the picture. Did a big ole grin when it was time. I think she is having some separation issues with David being gone so long. Fast forward to that night. She did not want me leaving her room and kept coming out. I finally told her that if she came out again I was going to take away her animals. She looked me dead in the eye and cocked her head and said "Then just go ahead and take them". I really do think my mouth was open in shock. I never thought I would have to deal with a sassy three year old!!! She immediately covered her face on the bed because she knew she was in trouble. But, I do believe that is the first time (and won't be the last) that I will want to wash her mouth out with soap.

But, to end on a cute note here is my baby girl in her dance costume. Please ignore the elephant ankles :).

Sticking her tongue out

Big ole grin

And the beginning of a fishy face smile

*No child had their mouth washed out with soap in this story. I can't promise anything for those teenage years though...

Bandaids make everything better!

David and I do have some interesting luck. He got clipped by a car yesterday (thank goodness Reese wasn't in the car!) Well, when Reese saw it she insisted they stop and get a Diego bandaid to put on it. Here she is fixing Daddy's car's boo-boo.

My not so "little" girl

Today my parents picked Reese up from school for me. *Thanks mom!* She was outside playing and just watching her made me realize that she is growing up so fast and that she is going to be 4 this year! Where did the time go?? Anyway, I get Reese in the car and tell her that she's grown up so much and that she's not my baby anymore. Her response? "Mommy, I'll be your baby. I'll grow down." How sweet is that! She also told me "Your mommy, my grandmudder, told me I get all of her jewelry when I get big. Mommy, I get yours too. All the rings, watches,..." She is learning young. All around it was just a great day!

New Project

Well, I started a new project for myself. It all started with my friend Jamie showing me a link to the cutest hat. I immediately thought "I can do that!" and the search was on for patterns. I'm not a creative person, but I can follow directions! These are the first 2 fully completed hats that I've done that are both going to Jamie. I put the flowers on pins so they are easily changed out. I'll post new ones as I get them finished. I actually had to bribe Reese one morning to model them for me. The next day she wakes up and said "Mommy, can I take a picture with the beautiful hat so I can get a special treat??" She learns fast!

This one is navy and is a little hard to see. The flower is double yellow with pink center.

Extra flower to go with the hat. Lavendar, lime green, grape center

Rose petal pink. Flower is hot pink, aqua, and yellow center

I only got to take a couple of shots and then they all started looking like this, LOL. She decided it was too cold outside.

Extra flower is chocolate brown, cornflower blue, and wine center

Narcoleptic Cat

Our new kitten is the funniest little thing. He was actually asleep in all 3 of these pictures but I woke him up. We find him in random positions all time. These were all taken with my camera phone, so not the greatest quality. He's just so darn cute!

Playdate and the FLU

We had a fun playdate with my sorority sisters to an interactive neighborhood in Gainesville.

I just love this picture even though it's out of focus. Look how long her hair is!!!!

They had a little grocery store that Reese was able to get groceries and then I rang her up. We then switched and she got to be the cashier.

I thought this was a sweet picture of Maghan and her son Stephen in the "dentist's office"
She told me she was Bob the Builder

After we finished playing we all heading to the Mall of Georgia to eat lunch. Reese played hard and didn't get a nap. Before we even left the parking lot of the mall she was passed out. When we got home she took a nap and when she woke up she was burning up. She had a 104 temp and I called Christie of course. We took her to the Dr on Monday and they confirmed that it was the flu. Poor baby! She had to stay home for a week. She only got sick once and that was because she was coughing so hard. It was nice because she would ask to go to sleep and that NEVER happens. I'm happy to have my baby girl back to normal though.

Girls' Weekend

I had an awesome weekend with Julia and Christine. We stayed in a cabin in the mountains about 40 minutes from Chattanooga. We didn't do much of anything but relax and shop a little. It was a much needed trip! We did stop at the University of the South and WOW what a beautiful campus. They had this amazing chapel. I wish I would have taken my tripod in so I could have gotten my exposure better. It was dark in the chapel so I wasn't able to get my shutter speed low enough without my shaking hands ruining the picture. I'm going to try and fix it in Photoshop but haven't had time to play around with it. Here are some of my favorite shots

I can't believe they actually consider this a "chapel"

I loved the choir loft/altar area. The seats were like a church pew but they were for individual people. The backs went high up the wall

This is a view of all the seats on one side. The wood carving was beautiful.

These were at the end of every seat

A rose window with part of the pipes from the pipe organ. I wish we could have heard it being played!

The beautiful ceiling

Some fun shots of Julia and Christine

We had fun playing Mexican Train dominos. After we finished I looked down at our "train" and thought it was really funny. Can you figure out whose train was the school teacher's and whose was the accountant?

Our New Addition

Let me introduce you to our new addition to the family. His name is Cullen “Cullie” and he is named after Edward Cullen from the Twilight books. A big thank you to Christine for the suggestion!!

We got him from some random cab driver, LOL. David and I really loved his solid gray brother but Reese insisted on having Cullie. I think she was dead on too. Cullie allows her to carry him everywhere! He is so good with her and I know that we made a good choice in getting him. He and Rammie took a few days to get acclimated but they are now best buds. Rammie even bathes him now. They do chase each other around and we’re hoping Rammie will shed a few pounds. Those who have seen him know that it’s more than a few!!!

This was his very first bath and he did really well. Reese wanted to get IN the tub with him. He was filthy because he was living in a garage.

He has gorgeous gold eyes!

See how good he is!

She loves to hold him like a baby

He really does love her too!

I hope he becomes the companion to Reese that Toby was for me.

Use caution when speaking to a toddler…

This post may be a little delicate for some, so proceed with caution! :)

Yesterday my mom graciously picked Reese up from daycare for me. I run by their house to pick her up and then we had to go pick up the new kitty from the vet (more about Cullen later). Well, mom brought Reese out to my car because she knew that I was in a hurry. I pick Reese up and set her down in her car seat. She pops back up and says “My boody (aka booty) hurts!” So, I of course ask her if she has to go to the bathroom. She says “no” and then I do the next thing to check to make sure her bottom is clean. Mom runs in to get a wipe for me and we check in the driveway :). All clean. I tell Reese everything looks good and she actually goes back into her seat. She is very excited that we’re picking Cullie up from the doctor.

Fast forward to the vet’s office and I’m chatting with the woman up front. Reese feels left out so she asks me to pick her up so she can see the lady too. Reese then pipes up and says “I don’t need to see the doctor anymore. It doesn’t hurt.” The woman then asks the dreaded question “Really sweetie, what hurt?” I actually was going to try and stop her because I knew what was going to happen. But, she said it too fast. Reese looks her straight in the eye, crinkles up her nose, cocks her head to the side and said very matter-of-factly “My boody. It was hurting.” The woman cracks up and responded “Really, that’s good it doesn’t hurt anymore.” I apologized and the woman told me that she is the one that asked and that she has a 5-year old. I thought for sure Reese was going to say “It was all clean” but she didn’t. I guess I really should consider myself lucky because it could have been much worse! :)

My Sweet Toby

For most of you that know me you know that Toby has always meant the world to me. I was there the day he was born at my Nanny’s house. He instantly became my “first” baby and it was love at first sight. I was so surprised when mom said that I could keep him!! His full name was Tobias Napoleon Silver Hall (crazy, I know). Ryan wanted to name him Napoleon so badly that I agreed to have it as his middle name. He was such a little thing and he would nurse on my ear (and dad too!) any chance that he could get. A lot of you would enjoy my stories about how he was quite the “randy” cat and would hump his Pound Puppy (remember those???) at least once a day. When he was a baby it was this small Pound Kitty. There were years that we were apart in college but as soon as I set up my own house with David he settled right in.

My baby boy some how got out last Friday. Every other time he got out he would always come back waiting at the door…this time he didn’t. I can only assume that he went away to pass on in peace. He always LOVED the outdoors and he would constantly try and bolt out the door. The original plan was for him to be an outdoor cat but when he was a kitten cats would approach him and he would be so scared he’d poo all over himself. So, we made the decision to keep him inside, LOL. I got tired of giving him a bath!

Reese was very concerned at first when we told her that he was lost. Toby was her “buddy” and she immediately started crying and we went outside looking for him. We always said “Toby-Tobe” anytime we would look for him. Reese was sure to correct mom when they went looking for him as well. When it became clear that Toby wasn’t coming back we told her that Toby was up in heaven. She told me not to be sad because the doctor was in heaven and he was going to make him better and send him back. Oh how I wish it worked that way!!

I am going to miss his rough and stinky kisses and how he always wanted to cuddle with me. My house (and bed!) seems so empty with out him. I could go on and on with stories about my Toby and how much I loved him. We recently got a scanner so I’m going to try and find some old pictures of him to post. He was so beautiful!

We recently added to our furry family so look for some new posts about him. Reese has found herself a new best friend!

Rest in peace my sweet Toby. I’m going to miss you so much!!

Tobias “Toby” Napoleon Silver Hall
April 11, 1992-January 23, 2009

Miss Manners

Lately we’ve had issues with Reese ignoring us when we talk to her. This morning she didn’t want to get out of bed so I was giving her as much time as possible to wake up. Eventually I asked her what color vitamin she wanted, pink or purple. I asked about 3 times and of course she ignored me. Finally I told her “Reese, I’m talking to you. You need to answer me.” She looks up at me and said “I’ll talk to you in one minute, OK mommy? I’m resting. Don’t talk to me for one minute.” She then pulled the covers way up to her eyes. Oh in case you’re wondering what color vitamin she wanted…orange. She has to control everything!

RIP Dear Grover

Reese’s beloved fish Grover died last night. He had been swimming on his side for about a week and yesterday when I got home I found him upside down in the water. David took him out and Reese helped flush him down the toilet. She didn’t seem too upset because she wanted to go to the store to get another one.

When mommy's away

I went to the Celine Dion concert Saturday night (which was great!) and I got a text from David while there. He sent me this picture to show me Reese with a friend’s little girl, Avery. Yeah, can you tell where they are???? This is where 2 grown men take their children when their wives are away, LOL. I guess they really are there for the food :).

It's a bird, it's a plane, no its Reese!!

David brought Reese to my work Friday evening to pick me up for dinner. I am on the 12th floor and Reese went to one of the windows to look out. She looked for a minute or so and then came running over to me saying “Mommy, come look at the cars, they are little! We’re up high like the birdies!!!” Now how cute is that?!?