I'm pooped!

I worked like a fool today! (Don't worry, I did fit in a nap, too!)

I realized this was my last day without Emily and with Brian off. (Though he worked overnight last night - and thus slept all morning)

I did a lot of cleaning and organizing that was long overdue. Now I have some loose ends to tie up, and I still need to do major cleaning in my bedroom before Friday.

Emily and cousins went on a Trolley ride today and to Botanical Gardens and had a great time!
Madeline was being so cute today. Yesterday she said "happy" for the first time! :)

Top 10 I wrote

from my email archives! . . . Enjoy!

Top 10 Reasons I'd like to come back as Sportcenter in my next life . . .

10. My husband would give me 1 hour of undivided attention at least once every day - often more than once. . . wanting to hear my best stories over again to catch every detail!

9. He would prepare for this time, getting a drink and snack, taking his shoes off, and settling in a comfy chair for our time. . .

8. My husband would laugh at my jokes - even the lame ones.

7. My husband would be an active listener . . . "ooooh" "no way!!!!" "ughhhh"

6. My husband would listen to the same stories over and over (T.O., anyone?) and still be interested!

5. My husband would ask other men, "did you hear about . . . I learned it from Ellen"

4. My husband would be so excited to hear from me, he would often wake me at 5 am or midnight, just to hear what I had to say!

3. Sometimes my inspirational stories would move him to tears.

2. My husband would "shoosh" everyone so he wouldn't miss a word from me!

1. My husband would turn me on every chance he got!

Thanks for indulging me!

Emily goes to the Zoo

Emily and her cousins went to the zoo today - here are some pix!

(Thanks to photographer, Caroline!)

News from Emily

I love technology! My 10 year old niece sent this email yesterday - with these pictures! It looks like Emily is keeping quite busy! We miss our little peanut!


From Emily:
"I am really busy and I will send you a letter so you know what I am doing and it is fun!"

Caroline:
We had fun today. I sent you pictures!!!

Emily, We miss you!

Our Emily is at her Aunt Susan and Uncle Mike's house (more importantly her COUSINS' house) for A WEEK! I brought her up to Anderson today to meet up with them.

All I can say is: Our house is quiet! Madeline is enjoying the attention!

I hope to get a lot done this week - but also rest some!

Susan says her house is louder and busy!

It helps us know how much we love our Emily!

Oh My Word!

So . . . Emily was having pain when she went potty today - so we made an emergency trip to the Doctor. . . It was a nightmare! Have you ever tried to get a 3 year old to give a urine sample? DON'T!!!!! It took 2 sippy cups and and hour and a half. . . and after all that, we had to drive to the hospital to turn in her sample. The nurse at the dr's office stuck this sticker on Madeline, after overhearing her yelling, "I don't want to go potty!!!!"
I didn't know whether to smack the nurse, or hug her because she understood!


Then Maddie wanted her picture taken, too - this is her best smile!
(I made Brian borrow his work camera so I could get a picture of Emily with her lable!)

The Girls' Songs

Emily's Song (to the tune of Singing in the Rain)

Emily Loraine, Miss Emily Loraine

What a sweet little baby (lady)
What a beautiful name

She's cuter than the rest
She's better than the Best
Cuter than all the rest
Better than all the best
She's our Emily Loraine

Madeline's Song

Madeline Jill, you are my love
Madeline Jill, you're my gift from above

I love you sooo
And I want you to know,
Madeline Jill
You are my love

Madeline's Cheer (chanted by Emily and I since before she was born - to the rhyme of Pattie Cake)

Maddie Cakes, Maddie Cakes
She's our girl

She is our favorite in the world

We'll hug her and kiss her
And mark her with a "B"
And keep her in the middle of our family!

Events of the Day

• Brian slept in until noon after working all night
• I never sleep as well with him gone
• Emily was just dancing, chanting, "Go princess, Go princess!"
• Emily announced a new imaginary friend today while I was napping. I awoke to hear that she pointed behind her and said, "That's Lisa." After further questioning, Brian informed me that Lisa is married with children.
• We had fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner.
• The icecream truck came around, so we used money papaw left for that purpose
• We discovered a very cute frog living in our flower bed
• Brian and the girls played buttons while I made dinner. . . each taking turns with, "I like this button because. . . "
• I showered today! (This does NOT happen as often as I would like)
• Jill and George left today for India

Family day

Yesterday we went to the fair after supper. The girls loved seeing all the animals. Emily got to pet several horses, cows, and a bunny. Madeline even pet the bunny. She is getting braver!! We didn't get home until almost 11pm!

This morning, Brian woke Emily up to take her to the "free movie." They saw Charlotte's Web. Then, this evening we broke out our croquet set. (We have had it for years) Emily has been requesting to play it, after seeing a spirited game on Max and Ruby. I have some cookies in the oven right now, and the girls are playing in the sandbox!

Brian works all night tonight watching over the new high school being built. So, I'll be sleeping alone. Unless, of course, Emily finds out and comes to join me!

Hello out there . . .

If you are reading this - will you leave me a comment?????

THANKS!

It has been a fun two days with Steph here. Yesterday she went to church with us. Then, last night she and I went to PF Chang's. It was fun! By the way - she looks AWESOME!

Today Steph hit the town around 11am to visit with old friends, and it is 8:30pm and she is still out. Tomorrow she is apt hunting in Illinois.

The girls are starting to fight more. It is so frustrating. They want whatever toy the other one has. Any advice from mom's of dueling toddlers?

This week is our county fair, so we hope to get over there one day.

Next week, Emily is to spend the entire week with my sister and her 3 girls. I feel a little afraid of letting her go for that long, but predict she will have the absolute time of her life! She LOVES her cousins!

Sheweee

Wow - what a weekend! It was crazy.

Friday, we had fun at the Gap outlet. I got a swimsuit for 50 cents, among other things. Then we checked into the hotel before meeting up with the group. The aquarium was fun, but Brian and I both agreed that it wasn't life changing for us. I think because we have zoo passes, it wasn't THAT incredible to us, but it was nice. The German restaurant was good, but Madeline was not, so that was stressful. Then, Brian swam with the girls at the hotel. We had an amazingly good night of sleep. We had 2 double beds, and Emily slept with Brian and Maddie slept with me. Except for a few short lived crying spells, it was a smooth night.

The next morning we hit IHOP. Then we went to the Creation Museum. . . it was all downhill from here. There was a line out the door. . . to put it briefly, it was FRUSTRATING! They said they hadn't ever had such a large crowd (it has only been open for 2 months). Basically, you had to follow a line of people all through the museum, which meant going at a snail's pace. Doesn't work with small children! I was just D O N E. Plus, the subject matter was not exactly riveting to me. There were cool parts, but other areas were just things on the wall to read. . . anyway - it was very exhausting to me. We went to Graeter's for "peanutbutter blitz" icecream afterwards and got home close to 8pm.

Soon, Steph arrived and we chatted with her until about 10, then hit the hay!

Big weekend

Today we leave for Cincy. . . We are taking an overnight trip with our small group from church. We are leaving early to hit my beloved Gap outlet on the way, then we will meet up with the group this afternoon at the Newport Aquarium. It is supposed to be amazing. Next, we will eat at the Hofbrauhaus, a well-known German restaurant. We are staying in a hotel with a pool, so I'm sure Emily will partake at some point. . . then tomorrow we are going to the Creation Museum. I'm also hoping to have some Graeter's ice cream while we're in the area! I'll post how it goes when we return . . . also - Steph is supposed to come visit us Saturday night, so we're excited to see "Stephie!"

Visiting the Mrs.

I brought the girls to visit Jill today. We had fun. Her house in organized chaos! She has tons of wedding gifts she still needs to open, a pile of wedding gifts to put away, stuff to pack for India (they leave in a week), and George's items he is trying to find space for! I felt bad for her, as she is such an organized person, I knew it must be driving her crazy! The girls had fun playing. Riley, George's grand daughter came over for awhile to play. She and Madeline are so cute together! We also opening a few wedding gifts!

Oh - Maddie said, "Emmy" for the first time yesterday! (calling her sister!) So cute!

Sloooow Day

Just a slow day here - Getting back into the groove of being home.

Brian is working security all night tonight (8pm - 5:30am)

I pick up Jill and George from the airport tonight at 11:20pm from their honeymoon!

Slow day again tomorrow! I'm glad!

We're Back

This weekend we:

- had a picnic at the covered bridge

- swam in the lake with cousins (Emily was jumping off the dock)

- took a boat ride (Emily had her arms spread open as she rode on the front of the boat - she looked like she was born to live there)

- ate with cousins at a pizza buffet

- spent 2 nights at Papaw's

- did lots of fun stuff at grandma's

- played grocery in the playhouse

- picked pickles

- ate lunch at my favorite greasy spoon restaurant

- played with buttons

- went swimming at grandm's neighbor's pool

- went for ice cream

- took a bath in Papaw's whirpool tub with jets (Emily LOVED it)

- went to Grandma and Papaw's church and stayed in their classes!

- finished with lunch with Grandma and Papaw

- missed Daddy - and glad to be home!

We are going to a Dora birthday party our neighbor is throwing for her niece this afternoon. I am pooped!!!

Weekend plans

We had a busy day today. Emily had her last swim lesson. Then we stayed at the pool (the whole fam) for a few more hours. After an afternoon nap, my dad came to take us to a Women's NBA game -Indianapolis Fever. (the WNBA games have a similar crowd to Lilith Fair, if you get my drift) We had fun.

Tomorrow I am taking the girls to my parents for the weekend. Briant is working all weekend, and my sister and her 3 girls will be there through Saturday. So. . . I will have a full update when we return. So far, I know tomorrow lunch we are picnicing at a covered bridge. (My mom is so creative!)

New furniture

I've made my first major craigslist purchases! (I bought a dollhouse to give Madeline a while back) but this week we bought a new kitchen table with 6 chairs. . . and 2 new bookcases for our bedroom. (This is when a digital camera would come in handy!) We are in the midst of re-arranging - and when my mom comes in August she will help me refinish the top of the "new to us" table. I was just thrilled to get a table and 6 chairs for $100!

Mommyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

That is Madeline's new word. . . and she uses it freely.

I have to confess, that several times a day it stops my heart. So sweet to hear my "babyyy" calling me "Mommy."

And other times, she uses it like an alarm clock. (You moms know what I'm talking about) "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" But the only snooze button on this alarm is responding to her demand or desire.

Still, I love hearing her new word!

A Busy Day

We started today with swim lessons and ended with fireworks!

Emily did great in swim lessons, though she told us she did NOT want to go. She was fine once we got there. After that, we went to a favorite local breakfast spot of mine - Flapjacks for brunch.

When we got home, the girls and I chilled to cartoons while Brian did 2 hours of overtime. . . then Madeline and I took a nap while Brian took Emily with his friend, Wes, to pick up a load of mulch. They put tons of mulch in our front flowerbed, around trees, etc. It looks great.

Then we headed to Wes's parents' house to swim. They guys brought dinner - so we swam, ate, etc. I was SO PROUD of my girls - Emily has always been a fish - but that kid kept going underwater over and over again. Even trying to do strokes with her arms and kicking. It was awesome. And my little scaredy cat, Madeline - was so brave tonight. She was loving the water. At one point Brian and I were throwing her back and forth between us - she liked it, splashes and all!

Then we parked near our mall for fireworks. . . They lasted 40 minutes! I couldn't believe it. Emily plugged her ears the whole time. Maddie pointed and "ooooh" ed. The highlight was when Brian took Emily into the weeds to pee. . . he came back to tell us - "I thought I was holding her up high enough, until I noticed that a long weed was tickling her hiney." We laughed and laughed!

Well, it is past my bedtime! Tomorrow Brian works from 6am - 6pm - so I guess today was our holiday! :)

Swim Lessons

Today Emily had her first swim lesson. She will have 8 over the next 2 weeks. It went well. (It was pretty uneventful, except a family from church suprised us and showed up with their daughter - who told her Grandma, "I'm taking swim lessons with Emily.")

We stayed after class ended and swam - then had lunch at the pool. I was proud of Maddie - she was being brave and branching out. Emily is our fearless girl - and has always been part fish. Maddie is cautious with most of life. She takes things slow - and likes to stick close to mom.

Okay, I feel like this is a really boring post! If only I had a digital camera . . . Brian????

George and Jill

On Saturday, June 30, 2007 Jill and George wed! It was a great day! Both of my girls actually walked down the aisle!!!! HALLELUJAH! (We won't talk about what happened after that . . . ). My feet hurt so bad in the shoes we wore, that I couldn't feel my toes by the mid to end of the ceremony. Other than that, it was a beautiful wedding - and as you can see - Jill looked gorgeous!!!! Jill is my sister - and at 39 married for the first time. It was a celebration. (By the way - She wore my veil. . . and my mom's pearls that I also wore in my wedding)

Here is a picture of our family at the wedding. . . not the best photo! I'll try to post more when I get my hands on some!