"You get what you get. . .

Disney 2010 and Sadie's 5th Birthday!

2010-05-03T21:41:00.008-04:00

When we were at Disney for Molly's 5th birthday, we told Sadie we'd take her back for hers. Well, it came around quicker than we expected, and with the addition of our little red headed princess it was a little more complicated this time around! Lucy was only 5 months old, so we decided it would be nice to have help so that we could all enjoy ourselves. Aunt Bibi and Uncle Andrew came along with us as our "helpers" and we all had a blast! Lucy was quite the trooper and it was wonderful to have help so we could enjoy riding "big girl" rides with Molly and Sadie.

Sadie had her birthday dinner at Chef Mickey's

One of Sadie's MANY birthday cupcakes

Lucy relaxing after a long day at the parks. . .

Molly driving me around the track, I have nightmares about what this will be like in 10 years in a real car.

Lucy at the Cinderella dinner with Anastasia (I think), their hair matches :-)

We had a blast, but plan to go back on Lucy's 5th birthday!!

Beach Trip

2010-05-03T21:30:00.006-04:00

Since Christmas, we've done quite a bit of traveling. Three days after Christmas, we went to Perdido Key, Florida and met Mama Lynn and Granddaddy for a visit. The beach was very cold, and getting to and from the indoor pool from our condo was quite challenging. We figured out from the winter residents that the trick is to use a cozy robe, after that we were all good!

Lucy enjoyed her first dip in the pool with her sisters. Anytime they are around and paying attention to her, she's happy. She's such an amazingly great baby.

We spent some very chilly time on the beach, but the girls didn't care how cold it was, they loved every second.

We had a wonderful time and hope to make it a yearly tradition. It was a nice break after the craziness of the holidays and Kelly's busiest work related time of the year.

Finally back!

2010-05-03T20:53:00.006-04:00

I can't believe it's been almost 6 months since my last post. My sister Libby keeps asking me if I'm ever going to post again, as if I could post anything she doesn't already know! But, like I've said before, this blog is primarily meant as a keepsake for my family, so even if I don't write often it's better than never. Now, to figure out what's been going on since November. . . .

We enjoyed our first Thanksgiving and Christmas as a family of five. We celebrated Thanksgiving at Libby and Andrew's house this year and had a great time. The girls love their "Bibi" (I think no matter how old they get they'll still call her that)and Uncle Andrew. Here is a picture of the girls that day:

Sadie was a pilgrim in her preschool Thanksgiving program and did a great job. It makes me sad that she'll be in Kindergarten next year!

Christmas was a little different this year. My sisters and I didn't all stay together, which I missed, but we have our own families now and there's too much stuff to drag around to be together on Christmas Eve night (if you know what I mean)! But we all were together at our house by mid morning on Christmas day, so it was great. It's so fun to watch the girls at Christmas, it really brings back the magic. Lucy and Annie both celebrated their first Christmas, it's fun to have cousins so close in age. I have a feeling they are going to be a mess!

The best picture I could get of the baby cousins!

Molly and Mrs. Niedrach, her kindergarten teacher

Sadie decorating her gingerbread house at her school party!

Lucy Claus

So, that's the recap of the holidays. Now to move on and get the last 5 months updated!

Lucy Jayne's birth story

2009-11-20T14:19:00.008-05:00

When I woke up on the morning of Friday, September 4th, I had a feeling that Lucy was going to join us very soon. I had been having contractions for weeks, but they were a little stronger and I just didn't feel good. Molly had "cowboy" day at school that afternoon and I really thought I should go, so Sadie got dressed up like a cowgirl and off we went. I called Kelly on the way and updated him (translation:cried on the phone and begged him to bail me out and go to cowboy day-but he had patients waiting), so he'd be prepared if something happened. Cowboy day turned out to be okay and I made it until Kelly got home around 5. For some reason, I don't know if my body relaxed knowing I wasn't solely responsible for Molly and Sadie, but my contractions picked up and I was very uncomfortable. I wasn't to the point that I was sure it was time, so Kelly took the girls to get pizza and I stayed home to rest. They had been gone about 30 minutes when I decided it REALLY was time and that I thought I was in labor. I called Kelly, so they finished their pizza and headed home. By this time my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute, but were not horribly painful. When Kelly and the girls got home it was about 6:30. At this point, we decided that we were going to hospital, so my Mom headed our way to take care of the big girls (she's about an hour away). We got to the hospital around 8:00 and went to triage. I was checked and was 2-3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced, contracting every 2 minutes or so. The doctor wasn't satisfied that I was in labor (because I had been at 2 cm and contracting often for a couple of weeks), so they told me to walk around the hospital for an hour and then come back to get checked again. The sweet nurse whispered to me to go and walk the stairs. So, for an hour, I hauled my hugely pregnant self up and down the stairs. I was determined I wasn't going home without a baby!!! Kasey and Libby arrived at the hospital to find me climbing stairs and were just thrilled to join me for some excercise :-). At the end of the hour, I was soaked with sweat and having some very painful contractions. The nurse checked me and I was 4-5 centimeters and still contracting regularly, so I was admitted to labor and delivery about 10 pm. I called my Mom and she came to the hospital while my Dad stayed with Molly and Sadie. I got settled in and immediately asked for my epidural, my contractions were getting very painful at this point. They gave me the necessary fluids and the anesthesiologist came in to take care of me. After the epidural had taken effect, my Ob came in checked me and broke my water. I had TONS of amniotic fluid and my stomach shrank dramatically with the fluid gone. The nurse checked me another time or two and by about 1:15 am I was fully dilated. They got the room set up and called the doctor. I was only 35 weeks and 6 days, so a NICU nurse came in for Lucy. I pushed for about 90 seconds and Lucy was born!! She weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces and was 19 inches long, quite a big baby to be 4 weeks early. She was perfectly healthy, but since she was so early they took her to the nursery for observation for 4 hours and had a neonatologist see her. We were discharged on Sunday and came home to a delicious meal and a birthday celebration for Molly.

This was taken right after she was born, she was very bruised from her quick trip into the world!

Molly and Sadie meeting their baby sister for the first time

Dressed to go home in the beautiful gown and bonnet that Granna made

We are so incredibly blessed!!!

July 2009

2009-07-27T20:45:00.004-04:00

I couldn't come up with a more exciting title, my brain failed me as it does so often these days.

I guess first and foremost would be a pregnancy update. As of today, I am 30 weeks and 1 day. I am absolutely huge and at the Doctor two weeks ago my belly measured 3 weeks ahead of dates, the baby measured 2 weeks ahead and I have a high level of amniotic fluid. It appears that this pregnancy is progressing exactly as Molly's and Sadie's did. They were both born in the 35th week and were "fully cooked" and ready. As my Mom said, if I happen to go full term, I'll have to push my belly around in a wheelbarrow because there won't be any way I'll be able to carry it! I am seeing my Doctor every 2 weeks now and having ultrasounds to monitor my progression.

We've decided to name our newest little sweetie Lucy Jayne. We've been hard at work on her nursery and getting everything ready for her arrival. It's been so long since we've had a baby, I'm afraid I'm going to forget something! The girls are so excited, they love to talk to her and rub on my belly and feel her kick.

Molly and Sadie have gone to quite a few little daycamps this summer, as well as two weeks of VBS! The weeks of VBS were by far their favorites. They have great CD's from both of them and have learned some wonderful new songs that warm my heart! Sadie loves to go upstairs and blast the music from her CD player and sing her little heart out!! She's gonna be our teenager that we are constantly asking to turn her music down!

They also attended a cheerleading camp that had a theme every day. These pictures are from "tacky day":

Molly's big accomplishment for the summer is that she has learned to ride her bike without training wheels!! She started out using Sadie's little bike, so she could easily touch the ground (thanks for the tip Amy!), but has now moved back up to her bigger bike. She loves it!

We are enjoying our last couple of weeks before school starts. We have no official plans. My plan is to soak up every bit of these sweet girls that I can before they head off to school and we add a baby to the mix!!

Early Summer Update

2009-07-27T20:04:00.010-04:00

As usual, it's been a while. . . I'm gonna try to recap all the pertinent events that happened in May and June, so hold on!

In early May, Molly fell of her Razor scooter and broke her arm. She was in a cast for four weeks, but handled it like a champ. Now, much to my dismay, she rides the scooter again!!! Here is one of the only pics I have of her with her neon pink cast:

Later in May, preschool ended with a fabulous circus themed program. Molly was a hula-hooper (broken arm and all) and Sadie was an acrobat. Molly also "graduated" from kindergarten, which marked the end of her preschool career. My heart was broken thinking about her moving on to "big" school and being gone all day! I know she is ready (she'll be in kindergarten again because of her September 7th birthday), but I'm not sure I am. They both had wonderful teachers that I couldn't have been more thrilled with and that will be greatly missed!

A few weeks after school finished up, we headed for our annual family trip to Hilton Head. Every year, we are adding more kiddos, so we may be looking for a bigger house to stay in next time!! Molly, Sadie and Reagan have a blast playing together. I hope they will always be so crazy about each other. Annie was our new addition this year and she was about 6 weeks old on the trip--and did great!

The best part of vacation is that we get Daddy all to ourselves with no pager or phone ringing for a whole week!!!!

That pretty much covers May and June. I realized by looking through my pictures that I took very few pictures in June, which basically means I have no idea what we did :-) All I know is I am quite pregnant and it's VERY hot here in Georgia, so any indoor activity I can come up with is at the top of my list!

Girls, Girls, Girls!!!!

2009-05-10T21:51:00.005-04:00

The baby is a GIRL!!!!!!!! We are thrilled and so excited to add another little princess to our family. My parents have three daughters and will now have FIVE granddaughters! Libby, it's up to you to produce the boys :-)

We'll take another one of these anyday. . .

Easter 2009

2009-05-10T21:22:00.011-04:00

We began our Easter celebration by dying eggs. Reagan got to join in the fun this year! Molly and Sadie were the experts and tried to show her what to do. However, Reagan had her own idea of how it goes. . . .

First you THROW the egg in the dye. . .

Then stick your hand in and get the egg. . . .

Then smash the egg against the table. . . . who me???

Of course, Molly and Sadie thought her method was hilarious, so she just kept doing it. It was quite entertaining to watch. The big girls in action. . .

On Easter Sunday, my parents, sisters and their families came over after church. We had a wonderful day and some great food!! The girls hunted eggs and we played outside most of the day. Molly ate so much candy she was sick that night, I tried to tell her, but she had to learn the hard way!!!

The family:

Sweet cousins (moments before Reagan escaped)

Riding the scooters the Easter bunny brought. . .

What a wonderful day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ!!!

Sweet Annie Grace

2009-05-10T21:10:00.002-04:00

My second niece, Annie Grace, was born on March 25th, 2009. She weighed 6 lb, 4 oz and has a head full of dark curly hair. She was breathing a little fast when she was born and had to spend a few days in the NICU, but is fully recovered and perfectly healthy. Her big sister loves her and is learning to be gentle! Kasey and Josh are adapting nicely to being the parents of two children under two. They definitely have their hands full, but are so very blessed!

Snaggle Tooth!

2009-04-08T21:08:00.005-04:00

Since Molly started Kindergarten, she's been talking about all her friends that have lost teeth. She is the youngest in her class and it seemed as if everyone had lost a tooth except her. So, you can imagine her excitement to discover a few months ago that one of her teeth was loose. She would wiggle that tooth and it would just BARELY move. Then one morning, being graceful like her Mother, she ran into the doorframe in the bathroom and knocked it really loose. She was thrilled!!! A couple of weeks later, (on Friday, March 20th) she bit into a pop-tart at breakfast and that pushed it the rest of the way out. It was hanging by a string, so I pulled and it was done! She cried at first because there was a little bit of blood involved, but she recovered quickly and was so excited. She called her Daddy and Granna to tell them.

I can't believe how much different she looks with that hole in her mouth. She looks so grown up! This Mamma is not ready!!!

Baby #3 on the way!

2009-03-19T20:52:00.005-04:00

We are excited to announce that we are expecting baby #3! It was a wonderful surprise and we are very excited. I am almost 12 weeks along and we have a due date of October 5th. Molly and Sadie were both born about 5 weeks early, so we are expecting the same with this one. We will most likely have a baby in early September, close to Molly's 6th Birthday. Everyone keeps asking us if we want a boy this time, but honestly we don't care either way. We will find out the baby's gender on April 21st at 16 weeks. Here's our first picture of the baby, this was at about 9 weeks.

Molly and Sadie are absolutely thrilled! Molly will be 6 and Sadie will be 4.5 when this little one comes along, so I hoping they will be alot of help. It will be a very different situation from my babies 17 months apart--and much easier I hope!

Incident and Recovery

2009-01-28T10:58:00.003-05:00

On December 29th, we had a little "incident" at our house. Our dog of 12 years, Squirt, bit Molly's little hand. I just remember being in the playroom with Sadie and Molly screaming and running into the room with blood pouring out of the palm of her hand. I put her hand under water and called Kelly to find out what he thought we should do. We wrapped a towel around her hand and ran out the door to meet Kelly at the hospital. After several surgeons took a look at it, they decided she needed to see a hand surgeon. So, after our appointment with the hand surgeon, Molly had surgery to clean out her wounds and check for serious damage to her hand. All went really well, she had a little damage to a tendon but her hand has healed nicely and functions perfectly.

About Squirt. . . he was never a friendly dog, but was WONDERFUL with the girls. He was a Rat/Fox terrier mix and was very territorial. He was aging and was getting more aggressive, having accidents in the house, and just becoming "not himself". I was always very suprised and happy at how sweet and tolerant of the girls Squirt was. They could climb all over him and he never was aggressive towards them--until the morning of December 29th. We were forced to make a very difficult decision about Squirt and he is now in doggie heaven (or hell--just kidding).

We now have a new member of our family. Buddy, the mutt that has turned out to be a cardigan welsh corgi. He is about a year old and is house and crate trained, which has been wonderful. He is a little bit hyper because of his age, but he is getting "fixed" on Friday. We are hopeful that he will calm down after his surgery. Molly has become scared of him (rightfully so after her experience) but we are working through it. He stays outside alot!!

Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T19:59:00.002-05:00

Please take a minute and click here to go to my friend Jmom's blog and read her letter to President Obama. She is an eloquent writer and said everything I've been thinking (and more) on this historic day.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-30T19:46:00.012-05:00

**Updated to correct grammatical and spelling errors pointed out by my husband :-)**

It's hard to believe that the Christmas season is already gone! There is so much I want to tell you about, so I'm just going to post pictures and write along with them (that way my old brain won't get too overwhelmed).

We spent alot of time talking about the real meaning of Christmas. I want to make sure that the girls understand that not every kid is as lucky as they are. One of the things we did to emphasize this point was to pack food boxes for needy families. It was a test in patience and organization for the packers (simply because of the little helpers), but the end product was worth it!! Our church packed 500 boxes of food with essential food items and people lined up for blocks the next morning to pick them up. It certainly gave me some perspective on how blessed we are. Molly said she was "just amazed at how many people need food."

When they talked about Santa (which was quite often), I would remind them that the reason Santa was bringing gifts was to celebrate Jesus' birthday. We have a several "kid-friendly" nativity scenes that they enjoy playing with. One afternoon they thought Baby Jesus needed some entertainment, and I found them doing this. . .

Sadie has quite the imagination and had us laughing at the scenarios she created for Baby Jesus. One night while we were eating dinner, she told us that Baby Jesus had to go to the back of the hay because he couldn't behave. Another time she put Mary on the corner of the sofa and said that Mary had gone back to Bethlehem to have another baby because Baby Jesus was bored!!! She keeps us entertained, to say the least.

Molly's class did an adorable Christmas program where they all had a small part with one or two other kids. Molly was an angel, and she and her friend Lauren led the angel band. Libby and Reagan came to watch!

We made the trek to ride the pink pig at Macy's in Atlanta. I honestly think it's more trouble than it's worth, but somehow it's kind of become a tradition. Lenox mall completely stresses me out and my main goal is to get out of there as fast as I can. But the kids like to ride, so we go!

Making homemade cookies and homemade icing with Mommy and Daddy on Christmas Eve (Sadie fixed her own hair):

Granna and her girls in the Christmas dresses she made!

Christmas morning, headed down the stairs to see the goods:

Merry Christmas! Off to start taking down the decorations!

Santa visit

2008-12-15T12:00:00.010-05:00

The preschool that the girls attend hosts a wonderful Santa breakfast every year. It includes crafts, pancakes, and a completely low-stress Santa visit where you take your own pictures. I LOVE that they do this and we can move along at our own pace and not have to wait in line for hours to see Santa. Santa is very friendly and has time to spend a few minutes talking with the girls and reading their lists. Molly and Sadie really enjoyed the time with him, however, Reagan did NOT!!!!!

Sadie reading her list with Santa. Sadie's list includes: Bitty Baby, Mickey Mouse Racetrack, Ponyville, and bunkbeds for her baby dolls.

Molly reading hers, which includes: Puppy that grows and knows your name, Cat that grows (Santa is getting creative with this one as there is no such toy), and crawling Cinderella baby doll:

The girls with Santa before Reagan's breakdown:

Reagan figures out who is holding her and is not happy--this series of pictures cracks me up. . .

We did rescue her quickly, and she recovered well :-)

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-15T11:37:00.007-05:00

I'm way behind on my blogging, but I want to include our Thanksgiving festivities for posterity's sake, so here it goes:

Our tradition is to spend Thanksgiving with my extended family every other year. On the off year, it's spent at home with immediate family. On the years for the extended family celebration we usually go to Alabama and make two stops--one to see my Nana (my Dad's Mother) and the other to see my Mom's side of the family (which is quite extensive, as she has 6 sisters and one brother, all of which have at least 2 children (Amy, I'm counting Johno for you)!) This makes for a group of about 40 people. We hosted Thanksgiving for the extended family at my house this year, so we had a houseful--but it was a blast! It worked out great that I have no dining room furniture because we rented tables and chairs and were able to accomodate everyone!! Kelly was on call (Thanksgiving is a four day call, so it's brutal), but was able to come home and enjoy the food and visit with everyone for a while. The girls especially had fun playing with their cousins Macey and Jodi. They are several years older than my girls, so Molly and Sadie think they are the cool "big" girls. I'm so thankful that they are so sweet to my girls and are happy to play with them, it means alot to Molly and Sadie (and to me).

Both Molly and Sadie were pilgrims in their school programs--and cute pilgrims they were!!!

Macey and Jodi even brought an art project for Thanksgiving:

Molly and Sadie helping Granna break up the cornbread and biscuits for the dressing:

I love this action shot with cornbread in the air:

Reagan enjoyed her first taste of Thanksgiving food:

Happy Thanksgiving (3 weeks late!)

Molly and Sadie's photos

2008-11-26T12:37:00.004-05:00

I've been saving a few (of the hundreds) of pictures that Molly and Sadie have taken. I think looking at them gives me a whole new perspective on the world at their level. Among the photos are many pics of dolls, toys, the TV, the dog, extremely unattractive shots of me (the angle from below enhances my double chin), and most recently they've learned to photograph themselves. Here are some of the great ones for posterity:

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T10:20:00.006-04:00

Halloween was a bit of a crazy day at the Mayfield house. We hosted the neighborhood party, which was complete with a trick or treating hayride (thanks to our great neighbors, the Mumbers)! Our neighborhood only has 20 houses, but when kids are included we ended up with 65 guests, so we had a houseful. We had a blast and so did the kids. Thanks to Kasey for coming to help me with the girls while I got ready for the party (Kelly was on call!).

The girls dressed up as princesses early in the day, and then changed into their "real" halloween costumes. Here they are as princesses (Molly's doll was also dressed as Cinderella):

The real costumes:

The hayride:

If you want to see some really adorable costumes, head over to Jmom's blog and check out the "number 1 combo". Happy Halloween! Now to move onto Thanksgiving!

Pumpkins

2008-10-31T10:39:00.000-04:00

We have had three trips to pumpkin patches this year, one with family and then both of the girls had field trips. All three were alot of fun and we have ALOT of pumpkins at our house. We have all colors, shapes and sizes of pumpkins and I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of them! I love this time of the year, especially when the weather is as beautiful as it has been. I could deal with 65-70 degrees everyday! Here are lots of pictures from our fall pumpkin patch trips:

Pumpkin Painting with Libby

2008-10-20T19:46:00.005-04:00

has become a fall tradition at our house. This year we decided it would be fun to include Reagan, who just turned one. It was her first experience painting and she thought it tasted really good! I helped Reagan get the paint onto her brush but she put the paint onto the pumpkin all by herself. Molly and Sadie had a blast watching Reagan, they love that she is big enough to do things like this with them.

Painting Pumpkins 2008:

Compare this with painting pumpkins two years ago by clicking here. My have the girls grown!

Perspective

2008-10-15T19:49:00.002-04:00

I can get so caught up in my own menial struggles sometimes that I am unable to see how great I really have it. Yes, I had a hard day with the kids on Monday. But, a friend of mine has recieved life threatening diagnoses for TWO of her immediate family members. My life is wonderful and I feel very selfish for my previous post. My kids can be difficult and days can be hard, but I have no idea what a really hard day is like. I have a better perspective on my life today. Now I'm going to pray for my friend. . .

Some days just stink. . .

2008-10-14T21:40:00.004-04:00

and yesterday was one of those days. From the moment everyone got up in the morning, it was tough. Whining, arguing, backtalking--all the fun stuff, they did it. I couldn't seem to get them under control AT ALL. I'll spare you all the ugly details, but there was one funny (and also frustrating) part of the day that I have to share. Sadie was playing with clay at the kitchen table and managed to get a huge piece of it stuck in her hair, so being the bloggy Mommy that I am, I had to take a picture. . . .

You do need to know that she was screaming hysterically about the clay until I pulled out the camera. Maybe that should be my new form of discipline--you better behave or I'll take a picture of you!!! Whatcha think?

Reagan turns one

2008-10-06T21:13:00.000-04:00

When we lived in Atlanta, Kasey and Josh very graciously hosted both of the girls second birthday parties. We offered our house for Reagan's first and had such a sweet little party. We had the perfect number of guests (all family) and everyone had a great time!

The theme of the party was gumball machines

Her adorable outfit that Granna made to go with her theme (actually I think the outfit determined the theme)

SOOOOOOOOO tired. . . .

Reagan also has some big news! She's going to be a big sister on April 15th. The due date is quite ironic since Kasey is an accountant and needs to work through tax season!! Kasey and Josh are as crazy we are to have two babies 17 months apart (apparently they weren't paying attention when Molly and Sadie were babies :-).

The Golden Rule and Manners

2008-09-18T23:00:00.003-04:00

The girls have been talking about the golden rule in preschool this week. This morning I awoke to hearing them arguing on the monitor, so I turned it off, rolled over and prayed they'd go back to sleep. They did not go back to sleep and it turns out that Sadie pulled Molly's hair, so Molly pulled hers back. When Molly was asked why she did that, she very seriously said "The golden rule says to do unto others what they have done to you." Oh, my. . .I think we need to talk about the golden rule. . .

Manners are a big thing at our house. I insist and remind the girls of their manners constantly and feel like it's always falling on deaf ears. But an incident at my Mom's today proved that they are listening. The girls had taken out alot of toys at my Mom's and they were scattered about under my Mom's feet while she was trying to cook. Sadie came in and my Mom said, "Sadie, would you like to pick up these toys for Granna so I don't fall over them?" Sadie looked at my Mom and politely replied "No, thank you Granna" and went about her business. I guess we need to work on listening and not manners.

Disney Trip and Molly's 5th Birthday

2008-09-09T12:22:00.017-04:00

Wow! What a week we had at Disney! Thanks to our "Fairy Trip Mother" who helped me organize every detail, we were able to experience ALOT in the time we were there. We left on Tuesday night after an intense day of getting ready (thanks to Granna I didn't lose my mind) and drove 3 hours to break up the trip. Kelly was on call for 4 days for Labor Day weekend so he was exhausted (slept 2 hours the night before) so he and the girls slept while I drove. We got a hotel room in south Georgia and woke up bright and early to finish our journey. We arrived at Disney early afternoon on Wednesday so we were able squeeze in some extra time! We stayed at the cabins at Fort Wilderness and I would highly recommend them. It was a wonderful alternative to a hotel room (or two, which the price was astronomical on!). We were able to put the girls to bed and then retreat to the living room and relax for a while.

We had dinner with Pooh and his friends, the princesses (twice), Mickey and his friends and got all dolled up at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. We spent time at all the parks, but Magic Kingdom's Fantasy Land was by far the girl's favorite spot. Molly's favorite ride was Goofy's Barnstormer and Splash Mountain and Sadie's was Dumbo.

Molly turned 5 on September 7th, so we celebrated her big day while we were there. I am still struggling with her being 5, I'm not ready for her to grow up. I know she's still a little girl, but it makes me sad anyway. I want to hold onto her sweetness forever.

I took over 200 pictures during our vacation, so I'll just show you the highlights. . .

On the way to Magic Kingdom on our first day:

We met up with our friends to celebrate Molly's birthday, the kids LOVE each other and have a blast together (and so do the parents!)

On our way to meet the princesses:

Mickey's not so scary Halloween party had free face painting (Sadie was dressed as tinkerbell but chose to have her face painted like goofy--typical!)

In "Mexico" at Epcot (Daddy was getting he and Mommy a much needed margarita):

Molly and her birthday cupcake at Chef Mickey's:

Molly took this picture of Kelly, I think it's pretty good!

Sadie grabbing Donald Duck's tail. . . (I'm telling you, she's trouble!)

The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique had three choices for princess hair: Fairytale (up in a bun with a crown--what I would have preferred), Disney Diva (long curly extensions), or Pop Princess. I unfortunately did not know there were photos of the choices in the brochure they handed the girls when they checked us in and here's what they chose. . . .it's really lovely, huh?

We all had a blast but are glad to be home and rested. You should definitely schedule a "vacation" after your Disney "vacation"!!!

First Day of School 2008

2008-08-18T20:50:00.006-04:00

Today was a great first day of preschool for Molly and Sadie. They woke up very excited and our morning went great, thanks to jmom's morning routine chart. I'm sure everyone that knows us is not going to believe this, but we were one of the first to arrive at school this morning! Certainly not the norm for the Mayfields (or Latefields, as my Mom likes to call us). There were a few brief tears from Molly and Sadie as we left, but the sweet preschool director called mid-morning to tell me they were doing great.

Having breakfast

Ready to go in!

Sadie showing off her cubby-

Molly outside her classroom-

When I picked them up they ran into my arms and told me all about their day. Molly brought a picture home (that she doesn't look too excited in):

She told me all about making gingerbread men with peanut butter and sugar. They left the gingerbread men on plates in the room while they went to the playground. When they returned, the gingerbread men and the plates were gone (following the story they read). Sadie's reaction was "Molly, now how did the plates leave? They can't run away!" She didn't question that the peanut butter and sugar "men" ran away, but was puzzled by the plate. . .

I missed them, but I did enjoy my quiet morning catching up on some errands and working out!! Now to tackle the rest of my list. . .

Summer Recap

2008-08-15T11:07:00.027-04:00

Well, summer is coming to an end and preschool starts on Monday. I haven't posted much this summer, but it's not because we haven't done anything! I keep telling everyone that I am worn out from being the "preschool camp director", because we have surely stayed busy. Here are some photos to show what we've been up to the last couple of months. . .

The Beach

Dance Camp

Visits from (and to) the Stephens

Playdates with neighbors

Styling Kasey's hair

Playdates with our buddies P, K and R

Lots of time with baby Reagan!!!

A 4th of July visit from Granddaddy and Mama Lynn and our first fireworks!

A "real" tea party

Trip to Chattanooga Children's Museum with P, K and R

Making a birthday cake and celebrating Big D's 58th birthday!

A visit from our sweet cousins, Macey and Jodi

Loving on Daddy. . .

Reading with Granna. . .

A trip to Alabama to see Nana and celebrate her 75th Birthday!!!

A visit from our precious friends, Shan and Delilah. . .

Right now, the girls are at Libby and Andrew's visiting for a couple of days. I'm supposed to be getting ready for preschool (i.e., grocery shopping for lunch stuff, school supplies, etc.) but you see what I'm doing. Kelly and I are going out tonight to celebrate a great summer and the start of a new school year--and I'm looking forward to it!!!

Sadie

2008-08-15T10:24:00.006-04:00

All about Sadie. . . .

I will start this post by telling you that my Mom says Sadie is EXACTLY like I was as a child. She is strong willed, spunky and outgoing. She demands alot of my attention and can be very emotional and dramatic. She is also very sweet and loving and will crawl up in my lap and tell me how much she loves me. That being said, she is also the clown of the family and provides us with constant entertainment.

Sadie is a very quick learner and is more "fact" oriented than Molly. She loves to do puzzles, play board games and read books (particularly those "look and find" books). She will bring me a pile of books that she almost can't carry in her little arms and wants to sit and read all of them. I hope that she will love to read like I do. She and Molly both like to play outside, but while Molly will ride her bike, Sadie prefers to play soccer or tee-ball.

Sadie also loves to sing and dance. Her favorite songs right now are "Your Grace is Enough" by Chris Tomlin (also a favorite of mine) and "Huff, the Magic Dragon" (as she calls it, I can't convince her that it's "Puff"). She will sing her little heart out in my backseat and it just melts me.

Sadie, I hope your passionate little spirit continues and that you will use it to glorify God. You are a sweet gift from above and we love you more than you'll ever know!

Molly

2008-07-28T20:24:00.007-04:00

This post is dedicated to Molly and who she is.

I would define Molly as my sweet, sensitive, creative perfectionist. She is truly a unique mix of Kelly and I's personalities. She loves to draw, paint, color--anything "arty" (as she calls it). She amazes me with the things she can draw just off the top of her head. I have some creative abilities, but I think she has me beat by a long shot! Recently, she won 1st place in the coloring contest at our local library.

This is her picture with her blue ribbon--it's displayed in the library! She's very proud. I thought Sadie would mind that she didn't win, but she said that her hand got tired while she was coloring her picture so she just "scribble-scrabbled"!

The bear on the right she colored and then drew, colored and cut out a copy of it-I was quite impressed.

Molly is sweet natured and is always concerned about other people. She is definitely a worrier and is shy around people she doesn't know. Apparently she gets this from her Daddy. He remembers being this way as a child and is now more social, but I would still describe him as somewhat quiet. At Christmas this past year, we did shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse. While we were shopping for the boxes I was explaining how some kids don't have money for gifts and don't know about Jesus and we were going to help them. She looked at me and said "Mommy, I think I have enough money in my piggybank to pay for this". I had tears in my eyes in the middle of Wal-Mart. So, we took all her money to the bank and she paid for her shoebox that we sent. She's just sweet!

She is generous with her hugs and kisses and loves to have her back tickled. I think she would lie still all day if she could find someone to tickle her. She and Sadie are both Daddy's girls, but Mommy will do in a pinch! She likes to make people happy and is always trying to please.

Molly, you are truly a joy and we love you to the moon and back!

Too big!

2008-07-09T16:52:00.006-04:00

All I know is that my girls are getting too big, WAY too fast. I remember when they were tiny babies people would say "enjoy this time, they will be grown up before you know it" and although I know they are no where near grown up, they are getting to be big girls. I want to keep them little, I'm not sure what I'll do with tween/teenage kids--the thought of it makes me twitch.

This past weekend Molly learned to jump off the diving board and swim to the side of the pool all by herself! She was so proud, and we were astonished that she is old enough to be able to do it!

Sadie preferred to sit on the side and watch. . .

June 27th, 1998

2008-06-29T23:10:00.011-04:00

is the day that Kelly and I got married. We had already been together for 8 years prior to that, so we have quite a history! Here are some pictures to make you laugh and to show you how far we've come!

This is the oldest one of us together that I could find. I'm pretty sure it's from freshman year of high school, so we are either 14 or 15 years old. I don't know where we are going, but we look REALLY spiffy!

This one is our junior prom. Aren't the gently cascading tendrils just lovely?? My parents actually paid money for my hair to look like that.

Sophomore year of college, JCPenney photo special. I dried Kelly's hair with a round brush for this one. His hair really is pretty, maybe he should grow it out again. . . .

Our wedding day, one of the hottest days in the history of the world. It was a wonderful, magical day but it was also June 27th in Georgia and we got married outside. Need I say more????

For our 10th anniversary my family graciously watched the girls so we could get away for the night. We stayed at the Four Seasons in Atlanta as we did on our wedding night 10 years ago. We had a wonderful lobster dinner at The Palm and when we returned to our room, we were greeted with this gift from my family. . .

Going out on the town (and attempting to take photos of ourselves)

Happy 10th!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-17T20:28:00.002-04:00

In honor of my late Father's Day post, I thought I'd do this little quiz all about Kelly.

1. Who is your man? Kelly, Daddy

2. How long have you been together? 17 years together, 10 years married (on June 27th)

3. How long dated? 8 years

4. How old is your man? He'll be 32 on Sunday

5. Who eats more? Him by far, he has quite an appetite!

6. Who said “I love you” first? Wow, that was a long time ago. I think he did.

7. Who is taller? He is 6 inches taller than I am

8. Who sings better? Both of us are pretty awful, but we like to sing anyway

9. Who is smarter? He definitely is much smarter than I am (but don't tell him that)

10. Whose temper is worse? Mine for sure :)

11. Who does the laundry? I do most all of it. He will help, but I mostly do it during the day when he's not here.

12. Who takes out the garbage? He does. It's "his" one household duty that I don't participate in :-)

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? he does

14. Who pays the bills? I do, but he handles all the bigger financial things (investing, etc.)

15. Who is better with the computer? Hmm. . .I think I am

16. Who mows the lawn? He does

17. Who cooks dinner? I do occasionally. He likes to cook but simply has no time to do it. We eat out alot.

18. Who drives when you are together? It depends, sometimes he does and sometimes I do.

19. Who pays when you go out? Depends on whoever can get to their $$ easier.

20. Who is most stubborn? Neither of us is terribly stubborn

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me

22. Whose parents do you see the most? Mine, they live about an hour away, his live in Texas

23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me first, but it took him 5 dates to do it (I mean, we were 14!)

24. Who asked who out? He was spending the night with a guy that lived next door to me and I had a friend over also, so he and his friend came to visit at my house. The next morning he came over and we jumped on the trampoline (again, we were 14!) Later that day we went to the movies with my family to see "Three men and a little lady"

25. Who proposed? He did, on the beach in Perdido Key.

26. Who is more sensitive? Me.

27. Who has more friends? I do.

28. Who has more siblings? He does.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? Alot of people would probably say that I do, but at the end of the day he really truly is the leader of our household.

30. How did you meet? He sat behind me in 9th grade world geography class.

Kelly,
Molly and Sadie are so fortunate to have you as their Daddy. You are a wonderful husband and a loving, dedicated father to our sweet girls. I thank God every day for blessing me with a husband like you. We love you so much!

Hilton Head 2008

2008-06-17T15:13:00.005-04:00

We returned on Saturday from a week in Hilton Head with my family. We enjoyed our time together and the girls experienced several "firsts". They played miniature golf for the first time, which they thought was a blast. Sadie made the game very easy for everyone as she would give you one chance to hit the ball and then she picked it up and dropped it in the hole for you. I myself, not being a terribly patient person, thought this was a wonderful technique. It certainly helped move the game along. We rented a boat on Wednesday and the girls had their first boat ride. We did a little bit of fishing but didn't catch anything. Molly ate raw oysters for the first time with her Daddy (with horseradish and tabasco sauce) and loved them!

Here are a few of the hundreds of pictures I took.

Two teeth require two toothbrushes. . . .

2008-06-01T20:51:00.004-04:00

Look at all this cuteness. . .

What? Do I not need a toothbrush for each tooth?

Reagan is spending the night with us tonight and the girls thought she needed to brush her teeth with them!

Strawberry Pickin'

2008-05-28T15:16:00.003-04:00

There is a strawberry farm about 15 minutes from our home that opens up in the spring for "pick-your-own" strawberries. We had a great time picking them but got a little carried away and picked too many! We shared some with friends and even made fresh pies, they don't last very long when they are that fresh!

We really find alot of fun things to do in our small town! If we could only get a Target. . . .

End of the year preschool program 2008

2008-05-28T15:04:00.005-04:00

Since the preschool program was two weeks ago I decided it was finally time to post some pictures :-) As I've said before, we've been MORE than thrilled with the preschool the girls are attending and they have been so happy there. We toyed with the idea of moving Molly to a private school for Pre-K, but chose to leave her where she is.

The theme of the end of the year program was "wild west", so all the kids dressed like cowboys/girls and sang themed songs. My favorite was the class that sang Willie Nelson's "Mammas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys"--it was hilarious. I'm always a little nervous as to whether the girls will actually get up on stage and perform, but they both did great!! Here are a couple of pictures--the lighting is HORRIBLE for photographing in the sanctuary, but I tried. . .

Preschool is flying by!

Already?

2008-05-14T14:59:00.005-04:00

The girls have one more day of preschool for the year. This year has flown by and I can't believe it's over already! They have done wonderfully at school and have really enjoyed themselves. We are now going to have so much time together we may just all go crazy. Here are a few examples. . . .

On Monday morning, I attempted to quickly (and I mean I was out of the room for less than 3 minutes) check my email and this is what happened. . .

I don't buy anything but washable markers, however, these weren't so washable on their faces. We met Kelly for lunch and he busted out laughing when he saw them.

Later Monday morning I was folding clothes and they were upstairs playing babies. I went upstairs to put the folded laundry away and noticed a very unnaturally round ball of #2 in the potty. I asked whose #2 that was and Molly quickly informed me that Sadie had pooped in the baby doll potty!!!!! Sadie has this set of miscellaneous baby doll toys that includes a doll size potty--which she decided to poop on. Here's the potty she used. . .

Looks like the perfect size for a 30 pound three year old, don't you think? So she had pooped, dumped the poop in the big potty and attempted to clean the baby doll potty. Imagine the mess I was left with--SO FUN. Seriously, how do they come up with these things?

Oh, I love these girls but I hope I don't lose my mind!

Don't you wish you had one of these?

2008-04-29T20:10:00.004-04:00

I know you are jealous. If you really want to borrow it, email me and we'll see if it can be arranged :) I was cleaning out my closet yesterday and ran across this shirt. It is from the first trip Kelly and I took "together" when we first started dating ("going together" was the actual term--we weren't old enough to "date"). We went on a church youth group spring break trip to Panama City when we were 14. I bet this shirt looked great with the HUGE hair I had at the time. We had started dating a couple of months before, so this shirt is from the early days.

The shirt was one of a couple of things lately that have called my attention to the fact that Kelly and I have been together for a LONG time (17 years together, almost 10 married). We were at church on Sunday and a couple introduced us to their 14 year old daughter. As we were sitting in the service, she was in front of us and I started thinking--you know, that's how old Kelly and I were when we started dating!!! She is so young, and now we are so old :)

For those of you who don't know, we started dating as freshmen in high school. We went to college together (go Dawgs!), got married, Kelly went to medical school and through a surgery residency--and 17 years later we made it to the "real world"--with two kids and lots of school debt! Life hasn't always been easy or perfect but we've always been each other's best friend.

Here's to us, Kelly! God is good!

Sadie's First Trip to the Dentist

2008-04-29T20:00:00.002-04:00

Sadie had her first visit with the dentist last week--and did great! When Molly and I went back in the fall, I made an appointment for all three of us. Quite honestly, I did not expect Sadie to be as cooperative as she was. Molly got her teeth cleaned first and showed Sadie the ropes. Then Molly got down and Sadie jumped in the chair and opened her mouth as wide as she could! I was relieved that it went as well as it did. The hardest part was trying to balance all the toys they kept piling on top of me while I was trying to get my cleaning :) I will be making a seperate appointment for myself next time so I don't have to supervise the chaos while I'm in the dentists' chair!

There's nothing like. . . .

2008-04-17T07:31:00.017-04:00

a husband that you are crazy in love with. . .

a Daddy that plays Barbies with his daughters. . .

having grandparents that are crazy about you. . .

(sorry Granddaddy I couldn't find a recent picture--we still love you!)

friends you've had since middle school-and your children are now friends!

a sweet baby niece whose smiles and laughter melt your heart. . .

seeing what Sadie will put on if you tell her to go and get dressed by herself. . .

watching your children play a sport that you loved as a child. . .

sisters that are your best friends (and love your kids almost as much as you do). . .

sharing a bed with your sister so you aren't afraid at night. . .

Preschool Field Trip

2008-04-06T21:28:00.002-04:00

Last week, Molly's class had a field trip to a local college's "Agriculture" week. Some of the college kids brought out a few farm animals for the class to pet. They saw a sheep, a calf, a horse and its one month old foal, a guinea pig (I was a little puzzled by this also), and a puppy with a broken leg looking for a home (the highlight of my kids trip--because we never see dogs??)

The teachers coordinated "field day" kind of games with the kids, which were a big hit. They had a bean bag toss and played "red light, green light" and "duck, duck, goose". The girls have played "red light, green light" nonstop since the field trip, but they have rules about how it is played. Usually it's just the three of us playing, so one of us has to be the teacher at the starting line, one has to be the teacher at the finish line, so that means that only one person actually gets to play. They were excited when their Daddy got home early one night last week and he and I could be the teachers and they could both play!

My friend and I decided to venture into the student center for lunch with all five of our children. Our children are always noticed not only because there are 5 of them 4 and under, but because her three are triplets and people always think Molly and Sadie are twins. Wow, did I feel old in that student center!!!

Sadie playing tag with R and P

P caught Sadie for a sweet hug. . . .

K in action at the bean bag toss

Molly and the sheep

This is what Sadie thought about the bean bag toss. . .

Playing "hide and seek"--where in the world is K?

All five of the cuties--smiling, no less!

Easter 2008

2008-04-04T12:58:00.000-04:00

Easter at our house this year was quite busy! We participated in three Easter egg hunts, not to mention the dozens of times we hid eggs at our house. Both of the girls had their own agendas in hunting the eggs. Molly is old enough that she was focused on the number of eggs she could collect and was competitive. Sadie, on the other hand, was more concerned about what was in the eggs--she would find an egg, pick it up and open it to check out its contents. If it wasn't chocolate (particularly reese cups or M&M's) she would throw it over her shoulder and keep looking!!!

Right before Easter, I finally got my hands on some Resurrection Eggs. These are plastic eggs that tell the story of Easter by their contents. It's a very neat concept and the girls really seemed to understand. We made foam coasters for everyone to use at our Easter dinner. We were writing names on the coasters and Molly said "Mommy, I think we should write "Jesus died on the cross for our sins" on them." I was suprised but thrilled that she understood enough to ask me to do that!

My Mom had her work cut out for her this year with Easter dresses for three little girls! She did a wonderful job and even completed them several days early! They all looked so sweet.

These are from school egg hunts:

Egg hunt and Easter Bunny at the Club:
Reagan is the only one who would sit with the Easter Bunny!

Molly decided it was okay to hold his hand.

Sadie preferred the safety of Daddy's lap!

How cute is this little bunny?

Easter Sunday:
Daddy and his girls

Granna and her girls--look at those dresses she made!!!

As you can see, we had a wonderful time. And now all my holidays are caught up on the blog!

Christmas has been added. . .

2008-04-03T10:17:00.001-04:00

If you scroll down, I finally posted Christmas. . . now on to Easter!

Updating

2008-03-24T19:40:00.000-04:00

If you scroll down, I've gone back and posted Thanksgiving on 11/22/07 (which I know isn't when I posted, but then it keeps it in the right chronological order!)Christmas is next, I'll let you know when I do that one.

Papoo-Fairy comes to see Sadie

2008-03-21T19:05:00.000-04:00

For those of you that don't know, Sadie called her pacifier her "papoo". The Papoo fairy came to see Molly when she was three, so we decided to follow suit with Sadie. The funny thing is that the transition is harder on us than it has been on either of them. The main drawback to losing the papoo is that she's not napping much anymore. Now she and Molly have rest time in their bedrooms (otherwise known as "see how much mess we can make in 45 minutes while Mommy's not really looking) to give me a tiny break which gets me through the day.

The way the papoo fairy works is much like the tooth fairy. We collect all the papoos from everywhere (and I mean they were everywhere--sofa cushions, under beds, drawers, under seats in the car. . . .) and put them in a bag and hang them on the front door. The papoo fairy comes when you are sleeping and takes all the papoos to children who need them and leaves you a suprise. Sadie had requested a purple guitar and a pink teddy bear. The papoo fairy had to improvise and personalize a plain guitar with purple polka dots :-)

The whole collection of papoos. . .

Sadie's chose the gift bags for the papoos and says goodbye!

Look what I got!

It's wonderful and sad at the same time to be rid of the papoos. It was the last "baby" thing we really had left. We definitely have two big girls now!!

Birthday Vacation

2008-03-18T12:50:00.000-04:00

On the day of Sadie's actual birthday (her party was a few days after, so I guess technically I'm out of chronological order here) we went to Chattanooga (Sadie called it Chagganooga)for a mini-vacation. Kelly was off for the whole week and we decided to get out of town for a few days. We stayed in a train car at the choo-choo hotel and it was interesting to say the least. We knew we were in trouble when we checked in and saw the sign on the wall that said "We have done everything possible to soundproof the train cars without compromising their historical value." About 11pm that night, we found out why that sign was there when the very loud, rude man in the car behind us snored when he fell asleep! I'm not kidding. . . .

Despite the "tin-can" (as Kelly called it) that we stayed in, we had a great time. We visited Ruby Falls (which tested my claustrophobia), the aquarium and IMax theatre and the childrens museum. We all had a really great time together. I will have to say that I think the girls favorite part was the indoor pool at the hotel! Maybe next time we'll just get a room at the local holiday inn. . .

Happy 3rd Birthday!

2008-03-17T23:26:00.000-04:00

Sadie has turned three and now officially thinks she is really big girl. I, on the other hand, prefer to think she is still a baby :-) She was so excited to have her birthday party at one of the local "jumpy" places. I love having parties at places besides my house, it's SO much easier and more enjoyable (for the Mommy at least!). She had a wonderful time at her party with all her friends. She was lucky enough to have all her grandparents in town for the festivities, and her cousin Reagan has now attended her first birthday party!

Reagan with her Big D

Sliding with Daddy and her buddies

Sadie's Elmo cake--for the second year in a row!! I couldn't find "Max and Ruby" so she decided on Elmo again--I guess it worked for her last year. ..

The Mayfields are back on!

2008-03-17T20:56:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it's been awhile since an update, I know. . . .

I had decided to stop blogging because I felt like I didn't have anything very exciting to talk about. Then I realized that I have a 3 year old and a 4 year old (just their ages make life exciting most of the time) that are growing up really quickly and I'm missing out on documenting some very important moments that I would like them to be able to look back on. So, here I go again!
(oh, and my friend JMom put a link to my blog on hers and gave me the push I needed to get back on track)

Here's a short (also quite generic, I'll get more specific as I move on to the posts) summary of our lives right now--we still LOVE our new home, Kelly LOVES his new job, the girls LOVE their preschool, I LOVE being a full time stay-at-home Mommy and we are overall very happy! Sadie turned 3 in February, so I'm going to catch up the posts from there.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

This Christmas was our first in our new home and our first with Reagan! The girls had a Breakfast with Santa at their preschool a few weeks before Christmas (which was wonderful because we didn't have to do the mall Santa!) and Reagan joined them for their visit. Granna made the girls all matching jumpers, it's so fun to have three girls to dress alike. Sadie wasn't quite sure what she thought of Santa, so she hung back a little bit but didn't scream like she did last year. Molly was so excited and wrote her entire letter to Santa by herself (I spelled things for her, but she wrote it).

I did my best throughout the season to focus on Jesus' Birthday and not all the stuff. I really want the girls to enjoy Christmas and recieve gifts but understand that all the stuff doesn't really matter (I know they are too young to get it yet!). We saw two live nativity scenes, which we really enjoyed and spent alot of time talking about what Christmas is all about.

We made our second annual trip to the dollar store for the girls to pick out their family gifts. I let them buy whatever they want and it's always a treat to see what they pick out. This year they also wrapped them themselves and were so proud of their gifts. Here are a few examples of what they picked out--Sadie bought Kelly a plastic dinosaur toy and Libby some ponies, Molly picked out some highlighters for Kelly and some Nerds candy for Kasey! It has become one of the highlights of the day to open the gifts from the girls.

The whole family stayed with us on Christmas Eve, so that was really fun. The girls were really excited about Santa coming!!! The big request this year was Butterscotch the Pony, which was Santa's big gift for both of them. Molly's other request was the Island Princess Barbie. Sadie wanted a blue Baby Alive (which turns out is a boy and anatomically correct!). The joke of Christmas morning was to see how long it took Sadie to figure out that the baby had boy parts. Of course, the first thing she did when she opened the doll was take its diaper off (she does that with all dolls) and Molly said "Sadie!! That baby has a p***s (which she prounounces pee-noss)!!" OH, how we laughed. . .

Poor Sadie was very sick on Christmas Day. She felt so awful, she had a fever, cough and runny nose and slept most of the day. I hated that she didn't get to enjoy the day. All she wanted to do was sleep.

Thanksgiving at our new home!

2007-11-23T16:09:00.000-05:00

I said I was going to start at Sadie's birthday, but I decided to go back and do Thanksgiving and Christmas so there aren't any big events left out. We finally have enough room in our new home (and my parents now live in a townhouse!) to have our family get togethers comfortably. It's so nice to have everyone at our house for a change.

This year for Thanksgiving Nana joined us (my paternal grandmother) which was very special. Since we've moved she is now only about a hour away, so is able to travel the shorter distance. Two years ago I had four living grandparents (one of which was a great-grandmother) and now I only have Nana left. The girls thought it was so neat that Nana came to our house, they attached themselves to her when she came in and didn't let go. I know they wore her out, but that she loved it. We loved her being here.

Thanksgiving Day was also Granna's birthday. I won't tell the blogosphere how old she is. . . .

Here are some pictures from the girls Thanksgiving programs at school and from Thanksgiving Day:

The girls in their "cousin" t-shirts-- Big Cousin Molly, Big Cousin Sadie and Little Cousin Reagan!

Molly goes to the Dentist!

2007-10-16T17:03:00.000-04:00

Molly went to the Dentist this morning for the first time!! We had two appointments, so I went first and she watched. The hygenist was very sweet and Molly really warmed up to her. It also helps that the Dentist lives next door to us and she has met him several times. She and Sadie walk over to his yard daily and pet his dog "Georgia", so anyone that has a dog they will let Molly pet is a friend of hers! We both had a good report with no cavities. Sadie will go with us next time so that experience may be a little different :-)

Here are some pictures from the visit:

A flouride treatment--she said she looked like a duck!

So, what did we do when we got home?? What you always should do after going to the dentist--made caramel apples!! Sorry Dr. Muller, we'll brush after we eat them!

Good Times

2007-10-13T20:35:00.000-04:00

We have been doing all kinds of fun fall activities. You know, we moved to this small town and were worried we might get bored and there might not be enough to "do"----that is NOT the case here!!!!! I have laughed and told several people that the social event calendar here is wearing me out. It's funny, we've gone from residency where we didn't have the time (much less the money) to do much of anything, to a full on packed social calendar. It's really wonderful though, we've met so many great people that we already feel like this is home.

We were re-introduced to the fair last week--and it was exactly as I remember the fair being. I haven't been to a fair in probably 20 years (wow, that makes me sound OLD). The one thing I didn't realize was how expensive it is, it made Six Flags look like a bargain. The money spent was worth every penny when I saw the sheer joy on Molly's face riding the rides. I'm not sure I've ever seen her have that much fun and I think she would've ridden every ride there if we had let her--she had absolutely no fear at all. Sadie and I would prefer to watch and she and her Daddy can ride :-)

Me and my Mini Me on the carousel (the only ride Sadie liked!)

We also have been spending alot of time outside at our house. One of the primary reasons we bought our house is because of the yard and all the outdoor living space it has and we are finally getting to enjoy it!

Today Daddy was on call so we talked Granna into coming up and joining us for the big Chili Cook off. We liked the chili (as you can see by our faces), but mostly enjoyed hanging out with Granna!

Baby Reagan is going to visit our house for the first time tomorrow and we are so excited!! We'll post more pictures after the big visit!

Sweet baby Reagan

2007-10-10T14:56:00.000-04:00

Kasey and Josh welcomed their daughter Reagan into the world on Thursday, October 4th at 9:22 pm. She weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces and was 19.75 inches long--she's so tiny! I love having a tiny baby to cuddle again, I am really enjoying being an Aunt. Molly and Sadie are so taken with baby Reagan, it's all they talk about--I mean, it is the first cousin they've ever had. Kasey and Josh have been very sweet and have let the girls love all over her as much as they want. She is a beautiful baby, she has a headful of medium blond hair and when she smiles in her sleep it looks like she has her Daddy's dimples. Here are some pictures of all the little princesses:

Big D and his girls-

Swaddled like a burrito

Already a bulldog

Sweet cousins

Reagan is pulling at Kelly and I's heartstrings and making us wonder if we want another one. At least for now, I am going to enjoy being an Aunt and all the perks you get from not being the "Mommy"!!!

Molly turns four!

2007-09-18T17:07:00.000-04:00

Molly turned four on the 7th of this month and we had quite a celebration. It actually was more of a birthday long weekend than just a "day". Thursday (the day before her birthday) we made cupcakes and took them to Molly's preschool class. On Friday which was her actual birthday, Granna came to visit and brought all kinds of suprises. That night we went to dinner (she wanted "fried oprah" (okra)--can you tell she's from the south?) and then to an outdoor concert where the girls had a ball. They danced and played and we all had a great time. Then on Saturday, Granddaddy and Mama Lynn came from Texas to visit! We took them "out on the town" in the new city we've moved to and had a nice time. Sunday was the big day, Molly's ice cream party!! I haven't actually counted how many people came to the party, but I know it was around 50. It was fun, but I don't plan to do another party that big (remind me of that in February when I start planning Sadie's:-). Here are some pictures from the birthday weekend:

At her school party

With her new baby doll

Sadie got a baby too!

The birthday girl did not everyone singing to her--she buried herself in my chest.

Mama Lynn visited for a few days after the party, this was taken right before she left! I hope she has recovered by now, I'm sure we wore her out!

Molly had a wonderful birthday, it's hard to believe she is four years old. I do love this age though, she's big enough to fairly independent, but still wants to hang out with me--which I know will come to an end soon enough. . . . .

growing up. . . .

2007-09-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

It has been so long since I've written, I'm not even going to attempt to catch up. We LOVE our new home and the new city we live in. We are enjoying the "small town" kind of life, I think it suits us very well. Kelly is enjoying his new job and works with a group of truly nice guys who are looking out for him. It's amazing how different life is without Kelly in residency!!! He is actally home most weekends (he's on call every 5th) and makes it home in time for bedtime almost every night. The past couple of months have been wonderful for our family.

The girls are back in preschool and are doing very well. I am thrilled with the program they are in, it is a vast improvement over the one they were in last year. Molly's adjustment has been great, she already knew the "twiplets" that are in her class, so I think that made a big difference. Sadie has had a little bit harder time than I expected her to, but overall seems to be doing good.

Molly will be 4 on Friday and I can't believe she's that old already!!!!!!!! She is having a party this weekend and is so excited. She is really growing up, she has started sighing at me and giving me these "looks". Kelly says she looks just like me when she does it, I guess they do watch everything I do!! Sadie is still her strong willed, incredibly sweet little self. She is really into books right now and will sit and read out loud to herself for long periods of time. She and Molly are learning to drive each other nuts, so I've been playing referee alot lately!

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks. . .

A few pictures from our beach trip in July--
We went to Hilton Head and it was the best family vacation we've ever had. Everyone enjoyed themselves and relaxed.

Molly in her fort--she and Sadie spend a lot of time playing up there!

I was unloading the boxes of china for the cabinet and they climbed in the cabinet! I thought it was really cute so I took this picture--but they were instructed to smile for the camera, but to never climb in the cabinet again!!!!

Fun in the tub!

Greetings from the new house!

2007-07-11T11:18:00.000-04:00

We are all moved in and somewhat settled in the new place. So far we love it here! The girls are having a blast exploring the house and the yard. Here are a few pics from the past week or so.

Sadie on her new bike--which she rode in Wal-Mart, but then wants someone to push her at home--LAZY!

Molly rides like a mad woman and scares me to death. She has already skinned up both of her knees, but she just keeps on going. We are trying to teach her to use her brakes, but she just doesn't get it yet!

Playing in the new treehouse, Molly found a fishing pole. . . .

Doing what Mayfields do best (except Sadie of course) SLEEPING!

pictures from June

2007-06-27T22:54:00.001-04:00

Sadie is officially potty trained!!! This picture makes me laugh because it basically shows the number of pairs of panties that Sadie wears in a day---and not because she needs to change them, but she feels it is necessary to put on a clean pair almost every time she uses the bathroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It makes me crazy! In our new house, the "panty drawer" will be upstairs and not so close to the potty she uses most of the time--thank goodness!

Libby's birthday was June 6th, and the girls made her a cake. She came over on her birthday and they were so proud of their creation for Aunt Bibi!

My babies are too big! They both use a "big girl" swing now. It really hit me when I saw this picture.

We also made Daddy a birthday cake! We had a great time, although it was a HUGE mess for Mommy (but everything that is fun seems to be!)

I'll post next week after we get to the new house!

Move Update--oh, and Happy Anniversary

2007-06-27T17:48:00.000-04:00

We are preparing for the big move next week, and it is wearing me out!!! We close on Monday, they pack us Tuesday, Wednesday is a holiday (they apparently think they should get a day off:-)), Thursday they load our stuff (and pick up my new stuff!!) and then FINALLY on Friday they deliver us to our new home. Kelly has 3 days of residency left and it can't be over soon enough. It's hard to believe we've made it to this point. I had a person cleaning our rugs today and he asked me "Is your husband a doctor?" (he saw Kelly's med school diploma), and I said "Yes, he's a surgeon and has 3 days of residency left", he said "how long does that take?" and I told him, "4 years of college, 4 years of med school and 5 years of residency". He was floored and said "He must be real smart"---yeah, I guess he's "real smart" :-) It's been a long road. . . . . . but we are excited about the future.

Kelly and I are celebrating our 9 year anniversary today. All in all, including dating, we've been together 16 and a half years. Someone pointed out to me that we've now been together longer than we were apart (we are 31). What a gift he is to me and to our family and I am thrilled to celebrate this day--and many more!

Please pray for our family, my grandfather passed away today. He suffered for a long time, so it its truly a blessing for him, but hard for those of us left behind. He was lucky enough to be surrounded by all of his children (8 of them) when he died peacefully this afternoon. We'll miss you Paw-Paw.

I have lots of amusing pictures of the girls to post, they've been a handful lately. They are also going through (and will continue to) go through alot of changes in their daily lives, so I know some of the LOVELY behavior is a result of that. Lord, give me patience!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll try to get the pictures up soon.

So far behind. . .

2007-06-02T20:40:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I realize it's been almost a month since my last post. I am trying to decide whether to keep blogging since I can't really keep it up! For now, I am just going to do what I can. Alot has happened since the last time I wrote!!

First of all, I am going to have a neice! I'm so excited, apparently our family can produce nothing but girls. My parents will have 3 daughters and 3 grand-daughters when this baby arrives. Kasey is finally feeling better and is starting to enjoy her pregnancy. She is almost halfway there!

A HUGE weight has been lifted off of our shoulders, Kasey and Josh have decided to buy our house!!!!!!!!!!! It has worked out great for everyone so far. We close next week and then will rent back from then until we move in July. It was truly a blessing in disguise that the last contract fell through.

Kelly is on his last rotation of his residency. He will be finished on June 30th and is taking the entire month of July off. He normally works between 80-100 hours a week, so we are hoping we still like each other when we spend all day every day together for a month :-) We are trudging through these last few weeks and looking forward to the future.

I am not working very much and preschool is out, so the girls and I have been finding things to keep us busy (and keep me sane). Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to:

Mommy Lynn came to visit us from Texas. She stayed with us so that Mommy and Daddy could go out on a much needed date!

One of our best buddies, Sarah, turned four and we had a blast at her party!

We have discovered sidewalk paint--and we love it (and so does Mommy because it stays outside!)

We went to Alabama for a Memorial Day cookout at Aunt Peggy's house and went swimming. Neither of the girls have any fear of the water AT ALL--which is quite frightening!

One of my best friends (that I've known since middle school-and we now live less than a mile apart) and I took our kids (between us we have 5 kids ages 4 and under--yes, we are nuts!) to the children's museum last week. The kids were all very well behaved and had a wonderful time! They certainly wore us out!

I'm going to be an Aunt!!

2007-05-03T11:46:00.000-04:00

Kasey and Josh are going to make me an Aunt!!! I'm so excited that we are going to have another baby in the family, my girls are getting too big. Kasey is due on October 23rd, so she is about 15 weeks along right now. And let me tell you, she has had a rough time so far. Not only has she had SEVERE morning sickness but she has been hospitalized 3 times so far with kidney stones. She is actually in the hospital right now and we are praying that the doctors will find a way to relieve her pain so she can enjoy her pregnancy! She had an ultrasound yesterday and we were hoping they might be able to tell the sex of the baby, but it wouldn't cooperate and let them see what's going on between its legs.

Baby Thomason

Slow down!

2007-04-24T14:58:00.000-04:00

I faithfully read a couple of blogs, one of which is written by a new friend of mine that has 2 year old triplets. She offers great inspiration in her writing and today her blog really spoke to me. She posted a quote from Anna Quindlen about parenting and it is very insightful (sorry to copy you JenMom, I just couldn't resist):

"The biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less." (Anna Quindlen)

Our lives have been completely out of control lately and I've been incredibly stressed out. I certainly have been guilty of just trying to get through the day and not taking time to enjoy my girls enough. Hopefully by reading this and thinking about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family I can re-focus and chill out a little bit. I truly have so much to be thankful for!!!!

Here are some funny pictures of the girls:

This one is what I call "oompa-loompa" Molly. She and Sadie were playing in make-up and got a little carried away with the purple eyeshadow?? lipstick??--honestly I'm not really sure what it was supposed to be. . . . by the way, it took about 5 baths of washing her hair 3 or 4 times to get their hair clean. . . .

The girls had an "art show" at their school last week to showcase some of the things they have made throughout the year. It was really cute, and as you can tell, Molly was quite proud of herself. She loves her art!

Houses. . . .

2007-03-30T22:39:00.000-04:00

The whole house buying and selling process is wearing me out. We had a contract on our house that fell through earlier in the week when an inspector told our buyer that we had mold in the crawlspace! We completely freaked out and had a mold specialist come out that day and it is in fact NOT mold, but dryer lint from an old vent that was down there (from the previous location of the washer and dryer). The buyer didn't give us a chance to even check it out before they bailed, so we are back to square one. We were disappointed, but we still have plenty of time to sell before July. We also made an offer on a house last week, but the counter offer was terrible so we'll see what happens. We may just walk away and buy another house, but again, we have plenty of time.

In the meantime, the girls have been having a blast playing outside in this beautiful weather! They got a package from Aunt Ashley last week and among other things, it had band-aids--one of their VERY favorite things!! Thanks Ashley! I was not paying attention and they decided it would be a good idea to stick them everywhere---even their eyes. . .

This picture is funny, but getting the bandaids off their eyelids was not. . . .

Kelly has been on a wonderful rotation this month and has been home alot! It has been a great time for this rotation with our crazy house situation. This picture is from he and his assistant cutting the grass one afternoon! Sadie sat on the porch in my lap because she doesn't like the sound of the lawn mower.

The girls had their Easter parties at school this week and loved the egg hunts. Molly really understands the concept of the egg hunt this year and it's been her favorite activity for the last couple of days! This picture is from Sadie's class party (Molly came too!)

Daddy's Vacation

2007-03-11T20:27:00.000-04:00

Kelly has been on vacation this week, and we've had a great time together. We went to the zoo and spent some time looking for a new house. We are struggling a little bit selling our house, the market is a little flooded so we are praying for something to happen soon. I am trying to be patient, but as most of you know it is certainly not my biggest virtue!

Click below to see a slideshow of what we've been up to!

Make your own | Click to play

Happy Birthday to Sadie!

2007-03-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

My baby girl turned two last week. I can't believe how quickly time flies when you are watching kids grow! We had a little "family" party on Sunday and she had a great time. We had the party at Kasey and Josh's because there was an open house going on at our house at the same time. I took her to Publix on Friday and let her pick out her cake, so we had an Elmo party.

Granna and Big D gave both Molly and Sadie these adorable dress up outfits, they've been having a ball playing in them!

I had to include this picture because it just makes me laugh. . . This is what Molly and Sadie look like when they wake up in the morning! Sadie went to bed with her hair wet, can you tell??

Our Little Buddy. . . .

2007-02-08T21:24:00.000-05:00

For those of you that don't know, we have a very territorial, loud, obnoxious, tempermental and unfriendly dog. His name is Squirt and Kelly and I got him when we were in college (he's 10 years old now), and he was our first baby. Unfortunately for him, when the girls came along, he quickly lost his status as our baby!! He is mean to anyone he doesn't know and barks at EVERYTHING. We've tried "bark" collars (the ones that mildly shock them when they bark) and he wears them out within days!!!!! Luckily for Squirt, Molly and Sadie are absolutely crazy about him. As mean as he can be, he has never done anything to threaten the girls. Molly calls him her "boy" or her "little buddy" and loves on him all the time. I put Molly to bed a few days ago and Squirt was laying down with her. A few minutes after I walked out of her room, she called for me. When I went into her room she had snuggled Squirt up under her blanket with just his head sticking out and was laying next to him. She is so stinking sweet!

Sadie loves Squirt too, but I think he's kind of afraid of her. She climbs on him sometimes and is more rough with him than Molly is, I know it's partially just her age (and his!). He just lays around most of the time and doesn't appreciate a toddler interrupting his naps! As you can tell in the picture he is trying to figure out how to get away from Sadie!!!!

Sadie has recently learned to take her clothes off by herself and it is now one of her favorite hobbies--not so fun for Mommy, especially when she pulled her pants down at Moe's!!! Here she is reading completely naked in her rocking chair, what am I going to do with her?

New pictures

2007-02-08T21:13:00.000-05:00

The girls had their pictures taken about a month ago, and since I spent a small fortune on prints they were nice enough to give me a CD with the photos! One small detail they didn't share with me was that the CD has ALL 73 pictures on it and they aren't edited at all. Anyway, I just now got around to editing the photos, and wanted to share them. The morning started off very stressful and I was very nervous about how the girls were going to behave, but as you will see, they did GREAT! I have to thank "Saint Libby" for getting them ready and meeting me at the portrait studio, it is not an easy task to get them dressed, especially for pictures!

House for sale!

2007-01-19T11:52:00.000-05:00

So, we are just a few days away from putting our house on the market. What a stressful (and exciting) time this is! The beginning of December, two homes in the front of our neighborhood went up for sale, so we decided we would watch them and see what happened before deciding what to so with ours. WELL, they both sold in less than 3 weeks, for the highest prices ever paid for homes in our neighborhood. So, we were faced with the decision, do we list while the market seems to be hot (also chancing that we could be homeless in a matter of weeks!) or wait and possibly have two mortgages to pay after we move? We (obviously) have chosen to go ahead and list.

The house thing is very interesting, with me being an interior designer (of model homes, no less) I think that it has to be perfect. I basically think it needs to look like a model home. Well, this doesn't exactly work out that way with two toddlers that actually LIVE in the home. I am trying to come to terms with this and not make them and myself (and Kelly) nuts. I must admit, I'm not doing very well, we are going kind of crazy in the midst of all this. I do love how my house is nicer now than it ever has been before---and now we are leaving!!!

On another (and much more fun) note, the girls are really starting to play together like buddies. In the past, they would just play side by side, but now they are playing babies, kitchen, reading each other books. One of their favorite things to play is to pretend they are going to ride the "blue pig" (from riding the pink pig at Christmas). They get their strollers, put their babies in them and go to the "elevator", one of them pushes the button. They then "park" their strollers (as we had to do) and then take their babies out of them and go sit on the rug in the hallway, the "Blue Pig"!!! They talk about all the stuff they see as they go. . . It's adorable.

As we get closer to two (only one month away!) Sadie gets more and more like a two year old. She is so stinking cute and sweet most of the time, but she is VERY strong willed. I only thought Molly was strong willed until I had Sadie!!! My Mom and Dad just chuckle to themselves and say she's just like I was at her age. They have no sympathy whatsoever!!! She is very smart and talks non-stop (which is cute, but also very exhausting at times). She LOVES chick-fil-a and if we get in the car, she wants to know if chick-fil-a is open (because sometimes I have to tell her a little white lie about them being closed so that she will stop talking about it!!!) and if we are going there. If we have been there in past few days, she says "go chic-fa-ya ast nite?" (Go to Chick fil a last night?) or "go chic-fa-ya morrow" (go to Chick fil a tomorrow?).

Molly is growing up so quickly, she really has started taking care of her little sister. She will get them both a juice box or a snack and just start getting them all situated if I am busy. She has been waking up during the night crying saying that her legs hurt and ONLY wants her Mommy (so I can't even send Kelly to get her!). I have to admit, she has always been a Daddy's girl and I am kind of flattered by her wanting me! We think she is having growing pains because she has been eating like a horse, her pants are starting to get too short---oh, well I guess we may have to go shopping. . . . .

More to come on the house update. . .

I Love Christmas time!!!

2006-12-27T20:11:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a great Christmas we had!!! Christmas is so much fun with little ones around, and the girls are the perfect ages to start to "get it". We are still trying to find our house under all the stuff, it's truly overwhelming. Our house is very small and has virtually no storage, so we are being overtaken by toys. I am working on donating many of the toys that aren't played with much or have so many pieces they drive me crazy, but I have to pack them up and get them out of the house while the girls aren't around, so that's not an easy task. I am also finding that I'm a little bit emotionally attached to some of the toys, like Molly's baby stroller that she got for her first birthday--they got great new strollers, and the old one is falling apart, but still. . . . .

We had a fairly calm Christmas without too much running around to do. Kelly's parents have moved and are coming in town later this week, so we only had one family to visit with. We stayed at Granna and Big D's house (my Mom and Dad)and Santa came there. We went to a great family Christmas Eve service that the girls really enjoyed and then had a wonderful dinner with the whole family. Then off to bed to wait for Santa! Molly was so excited, she put out cookies and milk for Santa and raisins and carrots for the reindeer.

The girls got some really great toys that they are enjoying. They both got doll strollers, doll carriers and dolls--which are exactly the same. Santa apparently has learned that it is much easier if they just get the same thing so they don't have to fight over it and can play together :-) They also got an easel, which we all love, they painted three times today! But the favorite toy is the very loud and annoying Dora ride on toy (thank you Aunt Kasey and Uncle Josh--you will be paid back for this someday!).

Libby and Andrew gave both the girls UGA shirts, and Sadie loves the "bullgogs". Anytime she sees her "bullgog" shirt or socks she insists on wearing them. We have some tiny baby bulldog socks that she loves and will throw a complete fit to wear them even though I have to CRAM her feet into them. When she opened her new shirt on Christmas, she had to put it on at that very minute before she would do anything else--I think we have a future UGA grad on our hands--GO DAWGS!!

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas and I'm sad that it's over already. I am so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy daughters, a great husband and an incredible family. That's the best Christmas gift I could ever have. I truly don't need anything else. Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Holidays are upon us!

2006-12-18T10:21:00.000-05:00

If I thought it was hard to find time to write in this blog before. . . . well now I'm really behind. We've been so busy this year and I'm trying to slow down and enjoy everything because I know next year will be different. It all seems very bittersweet, I am very happy about Kelly finishing his residency and having more family time, but we will be moving farther away from my family who have been my support and my lifeline through this long process.

As soon as the holidays are over, we will be putting our house up for sale and looking for a new one. While I am VERY excited about a new house, alot has happened in our humble little home. We went through both pregnancies and brought both of the girls home from the hospital here. They were both baptised here and had their first birthday parties in this house. Although there are many things I won't miss about this place, I think I am more attached than I would like to admit.

Anyway, the girls are SO excited about Christmas. We have a busy week ahead of us, but I think it's going to be a blast. Molly has her school party today and Sadie has hers on Thursday. Molly, Libby and I made the most adorable snowman cupcakes for her class.

I know in a few days I won't be able to use the "Santa's watching you, you better behave" line, and I am not so happy about that. Molly takes it very seriously, it has been great to use on her. Sadie just ignores me, and puts herself in timeout. I don't think timeout is going to be an effective form of discipline for Sadie, I'm not sure what we are going to do with her. . . .

Starting the Holidays

2006-11-29T22:26:00.000-05:00

I haven't written in so long, I don't even know where to begin! I was looking through pictures from the past few weeks and realized how much has been going on around here. We've been enjoying the beautiful weather and the kickoff of the Christmas season. Our theory is, the sooner you can start Christmas--the better!

A few weeks ago, I was looking at our leaf covered back yard and thinking I should rake it (so that you could actually see the yard again). So, the girls and I went out and raked the leaves into a huge pile and jumped in them. We had a really good time just being silly and playing in the leaves. Molly liked it much more than Sadie did. I think Sadie was a little confused as to what we were doing and didn't really understand!

We started the Christmas season early this year by decorating a gingerbread house 3 days before Thanksgiving. I bought one of those ready made kits (which was great!) and we made a great gingerbread house. Now I just have to figure out how to keep the dog away from it, he tries to jump up and eat it off the kitchen table (I mean, it is cookies, icing and candy--can you blame him?)! Molly's heart will be broken if he gets into it, I try to remember to put it on the counter when we leave, but I just know I'm going to forget one of these days. . . .

We had a Thanksgiving lunch and "performance" (and I use this term VERY lightly) at the girls preschool on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. To describe this event as a complete mess would be kind. I honestly have to say that I was SO disappointed in the organization of this event, it was just pitiful. The entire preschool was in the fellowship hall of the church, we ate lunch and then they called ALL the kids to the center of the room. Now, this was every kid in every class--so I would guess maybe 100 or so kids, maybe more. Then they proceeded to try and get the kids to sing the song they had taught them. Needless to say, none of the kids participated (most of them cried because of the chaos and the sheer number of people) and you couldn't see anything. I was so stressed out when I left there from all the craziness, the preschool needs to seriously rethink the organization of that event--it wasn't fun for anyone involved!!

On Thanksgiving day, we went to visit our family in Alabama. We got together at one of my Aunt's homes and saw most all of the family. Sadie was so excited about seeing "Pa-Pa" (we call him Pawpaw), he is all she talked about. She had to know where he was the whole time we were there. It just warmed my heart to see her like that, he is battling cancer and we aren't sure what the future holds. Then, Mama Lynn and Granddaddy came over the day after Thanksgiving and visited for a while. We were glad we got to visit with them, we haven't seen Granddaddy in a while.

We got our Christmas tree over the weekend and the girls had a ball at the tree farm, they had goats there and they got to pet and feed them. When we arrived at the farm, they gave both of the girls a piece of bread to give the goats--but Sadie ate almost all of hers before we made it to where the goats were!!! We put out our blow up Snowman (the ones that go outside) and it is Molly's obsession right now. She is the keeper of the snowman. She plugs him up the second she gets up in the morning and checks on him all day long. When we leave to go somewhere, she unplugs him so he can "take a nap" and Sadie waves to him and says "bye-bye noman".

Today, we went to ride the Pink Pig at Macy's. The girls LOVED it!!! It is really cute, they had a good time. Then we went to see Santa. Molly colored a picture for Santa this morning before we left for the mall, so we brought that along with the letter they had written and gave them to him. Now, Molly my terribly introverted child, was in complete and total AWE of Santa Claus. She walked right up to him and gave him her letter and climbed in his lap and talked to him--she caught me completely off guard, I expected her to grab onto me and not even look at him. On the other hand, Sadie--my extrovert, screamed her head off and wouldn't have anything to do with him. After our visit if you asked her about Santa, she would say "cry, want Mama" to tell you how she cried and wanted me! Those girls constantly suprise me. Watching Molly really made me remember the wonder of Christmas.

Halloween and Vacation with Daddy!

2006-11-06T11:33:00.000-05:00

Kelly was on vacation this past week, so we had him all to ourselves for 10 days! We didn't go anywhere, but we spent lots of much needed (and appreciated) time together. Last weekend, Kelly and I went to the mountains for a little time away and the girls stayed with their Granna and Big D. It was great to get away for a couple of days, even if the Bulldogs broke our hearts AGAIN!!! When we got back on Sunday, the girls dressed up for Granna and Big D, then we went to visit with Mamma Lynn.

When we got back, we geared up for Halloween. The girls had parties at preschool on Monday and they had a blast! Sadie was an absolutely adorable puppy dog and Molly was a cute clown with green curly hair. I was so glad that Kelly was on vacation so that both girls had one of us at their parties-since they were happening simultaneously. Monday night Molly and I had some "mommy" time and went to a friends house to decorate Halloween cookies, while Sadie stayed with Daddy. Molly was covered in icing by the time we left and had eaten more icing than made it on the cookies! Then on Tuesday, I worked and Kelly had the girls (Libby got a little vacation!) and brought them to my office for a party that afternoon. Kasey had given me a bandanna to tie around Sadie's neck and a rubber bone for her to carry around (which she ended up walking around and chewing on!) Sadie won first prize in the costume contest and they got an insane amount of candy, so they had a blast. We handed out candy that night, but didn't actually trick or treat. Kelly and I have decided that we aren't trick or treating until they ask us to, it's not someting we are big fans of (and heaven knows we didn't need any more candy!).

On Wednesday, we went to the town we are moving to in July and looked at neighborhoods. It was nice to ride around and explore the area (although next time we hope to go without the girls-by the end of the day they were going nuts in the car!). We found several neighborhoods we are very interested in and will start seriously looking in January or so. I can't wait to look, but I'm trying not to get too excited, we still have a while to go.

I worked again on Thursday, and the girls stayed with Daddy again, so Granna got a little vacation also. The picture below shows what I came home to after work. . .
Apparently, they were having fun with Daddy!

They were both completely naked with various hats and shoes on--but no clothes at all!!! Sadie has figured out how to take all her clothes off, so they both can get naked at any time (and do so frequently!)

The rest of the week, we just hung out with family and tried to get some rest. We meant to do alot of chores around the house that didn't get done, but we spent alot of time together and that's all that really matters!!! I am so thankful to have such a wonderful husband and sweet baby girls.

catching up. . .

2006-10-29T20:30:00.000-05:00

So, I haven't done nearly as well as I had hoped I would with this blogging thing. I just realized that it's been nearly two weeks since I posted, and I my goal is to post at least once a week, so I have some catching up to do. The girls have done some fun things lately, so this one is going to be pretty long.

We are lucky enough to have my sister Kasey as the girls "hairdresser". She spent a brief period of time in cosmetology school and does a great job with the girls. I am so thankful that I don't have to deal with having someone else cut their hair (especially with my painfully shy Molly who I'm sure would scream if anyone she didn't know tried to touch her hair). Kasey is EXTREMELY patient while they are wiggling all over the place and trying to get into anything within their reach. Somehow she manages to give them really cute haircuts and not cut them or herself in the process.

Last weekend we visited Cagle's Dairy Farm for some fall fun. Kelly was on call, so we went with Kasey, Josh and Josh's brother Jason and his family. Once we got everyone together we realized we had 7 kids with us and we were scared!! But, everyone behaved very well and we had a great time. They had alot of fun stuff for the kids to do, they got to pet calves that were just a few days old, go on a hayride, and see pigs race. They had a great time. Sadie was all over the calves, sticking her arm in their cages and petting them, while Molly watched to see what happened before she tried!! The highlight of the trip was when one of the calves Sadie was petting grabbed her sweater and pulled and wouldn't let go. The green slimy mess left on her sweater was really disgusting, but she thought it was hilarious.

Bedtime struggles

2006-10-16T22:14:00.000-04:00

The newest struggle at our house is with Molly's bedtime. When Molly turned three, the "paci fairy" came to get her paci and left her a guitar (like Laurie Berkner, our newest hero). Taking it away was prompted primarily by starting preschool--they aren't allowed to have them in her class. She has suprised us all and has done really well without it. Before I had kids, I always said that MY kid would never have a paci when they were older than 2. Never say never!!!

The only problem with taking the paci has been that she is very difficult to get to sleep. Not only is she hard to get to sleep, but she is waking up during the night and getting in the bed with Kelly and I. She has never slept in the bed with us since we put her in her crib when she was 8 weeks old. I have to admit that snuggling with my sweet angel during the night (we all know they are the sweetest when they are sleeping!) is nice sometimes. Her tiny little body right up next to me, the smell of her hair and the sound of her breathing make me appreciate these times, and forget that I'm going to be sorry if I let her make a habit of it!!!

Molly has always been my good sleeper, she slept through the night at 5 weeks old (unlike her sister that didn't sleep through the night until 8 months!) and has always been a great napper (also unlike Sadie). I remember a time when she would go to bed at 7:00, get up at 9:00 and also take a 3 hour nap. As I look back, those were the days!

I honestly think that without the paci she doesn't know how to soothe herself to sleep and has lost some of her security. It makes me sad to think that I took that from her, but I know it was time.

So, Kelly and I are trying to teach her to sleep again, but I'm afraid the days of long naps (and naps in general) and sleeping like a rock are over for Molly. Hopefully, we will be able to get her to sleep through the night again soon.

Busy, busy, busy. . .

2006-10-14T09:41:00.000-04:00

just so stinking cute!!

Wow! It's only been a week since I posted (which is longer than I intended to wait), but alot has happened since then. Molly has finally recovered from the preschool cooties, but not without a trip to the Pediatrician and a round of antibiotics. Sadie is still sufffering with a never ending runny nose and cough, but Daddy decided we should start her on antibiotics yesterday, so hopefully she'll be better in a day or so.

Kelly has been working a ton and I am pretty worn out and ready for this awful rotation to be over (as is he). Although he doesn't have to take overnight call during the week, he hasn't been getting home until pretty late, usually the girls have been in bed. He has the weekend off though, so we are thankful for that time with him!

Earlier this week, I took the girls to have their silhouettes done. A local kid's store had arranged to have an artist come in. She was amazing. With the girls sitting in my lap reading a book, she took a small piece of black paper and a pair of scissors and within 10 minutes had cut out a perfect silhouette. I was astounded by her talent! Here are copies of them, I think they are adorable!!

Molly

Sadie

Weekend with Granna

2006-10-08T10:07:00.000-04:00

Jumping on Granna's bed after baths!

Daddy was on call this weekend, so we hung out with Granna! We've been sick all week, so we (mostly Mommy) needed to get out of the house. Mommy is a little worn out from taking care of sick kids that aren't sleeping so well and refuse to take medicine, so Granna stepped in to save the day. Something about being three has made Molly stubborn about taking medicine :-) --I'll let you all know if I figure out what it is! I kept telling Molly all week, "you have two choices, you may take this tablet that tastes like bubble gum or Mommy will have to put the medicine in your bottom (tylenol suppository)" She often was obstinate and I had to do the latter, which was great fun for all that were involved. Apparently the "two choices" thing sunk in because she was coloring with Granna and quoted Mommy. She had colored two pictures and said "Granna, you have two choices, this one or this one". Granna cracked up and couldn't figure out where she had gotten her little saying from!!! She doesn't miss a thing!

We made a HUGE decision this week. Kelly signed a contract with a practice in a small town in the northwestern part of the state about an hour from where we are now. When we visited and Kelly interviewed, we were blown away by the kindness and hospitality we were shown. We really both knew in our hearts when we left the interview and visit that it was the right thing to do for our family. Kelly looked around a little bit and talked to a few other practices, but it always came back to this one. He was thrilled when he went to dinner with a two of the partners and they offered him the job. We are so excited to be moving on to this new chapter of our lives and leaving residency behind us. It's been an incredibly long and hard road (but we wouldn't change a thing), no one realizes how hard doctors work to get where they are.

It's also bittersweet because we will be moving away (not too far) from my family and many of our friends. I honestly could not have waded through Kelly's residency without their help. Kasey and Josh live about a mile from us and often come by after work to save me from the "witching hour"! Granna drives 40 miles (like Libby does!) to keep the girls one day a week while I work. I have a wonderful friend (actually from high school) that lives right across the street and both of our husbands work like crazy, so we keep each other sane (at least we try, Amy-I'm not sure it's working, what do you think?)!! Molly and Sadie have so many people that love them so close right now, we have been very fortunate. We spend a ton of time with my family and love to hang out and will miss them when we move, but will visit all the time, we won't be too far away! As I've told my Mom, "We aren't moving to Montana!". We are still trying to convince Granna and Big D to come with us, we'll see. . . . . . .

We are ready to go, but have 9 more months of residency to endure. But I know the time will fly and we'll be moving soon! I'm trying to slow down and enjoy the time we have left close to our family.

Preschool Cooties. . . .

2006-10-02T22:04:00.000-04:00

Molly and Sadie are kids that RARELY get sick. So rare that Molly has been on antibiotics once and Sadie never has. I will say that the fact that their Daddy is a doctor keeps us from visiting the pediatrician unless absolutely necessary. He doesn't get worked up about anything health related unless it is pretty serious. I like to say that the girls would have to have blood shooting out of their eyes and their ears in order for him to be concerned. (It's not that he doesn't care, he just sees much more serious problems than a sore throat or a runny nose!)

But, since the girls have started preschool (three weeks ago) they have both been sick--Sadie is working on her second illness. This does not make for a fun experience for anyone involved! I also feel like I am wasting a ton of money since Sadie has missed 50% of her school in the past two weeks. In some ways I feel like it's my fault for not exposing them to enough situations with other kids until now, they obviously don't have the immune systems to handle all the germs associated with a room full of kids. I will admit, they've been a little sheltered, but it's not something I am sorry about---I think they are quite lucky kids! I do work part-time, but on those days either "Aunt Bibi" or "Granna" (my Mom) stays with them. We have been fortunate enough to not have to put them in daycare. In fact, I was telling someone the other day that we have never had to pay a babysitter!!!!!!!! We always have family around to help out, which means the world to us (and the girls!).

These are pictures of what we did today in order to keep us all sane while we were stuck in the house sick. A bath is always a good distraction for the girls, it is often the cure for the "witching hour" (any of you that have children know what time I'm referring to!), my Mother-in-Law calls it the "arsenic hour", which is also appropriate for the behavior that occurs during this time of day! The other picture shows the girls having fun coloring on a box--it kept them entertained for about 30 minutes! Just proves the point that the box is often more fun than the toy inside!!

Here's to hoping the preschool cooties pass soon. . . . .

Fun with Aunt Bibi. . .

2006-09-27T20:40:00.000-04:00

Molly and Libby

My sister Libby (A.K.A., Aunt "Bibi") has one of the kindest hearts of anyone I know. She is always offering to help with my girls and gives up a day of her time every week (and drives across the city) to keep the girls while I work. I think without her, I would have lost my mind in the last few years. When I was pregnant with Molly she moved in with us while attending college and was planning to keep Molly when I went back to work full time. I had a change of heart (and a complete breakdown) when I tried to leave Molly to go to work, and I was fortunate enough to be able to stay home for a while. Libby has sinced moved out and is now married, but still visits us several times a week. She is very generous with her time and means the world to all of us. I hope when she has children I will be able to somehow repay her for all she has done for me.

The girls get so excited when Libby is coming over, they greet her at the door screaming and jumping around. Libby loves to do creative and often very messy projects with Molly and Sadie, and they LOVE it! She just jumps in and lets them make a huge mess and they have a blast. This particular activity was painting pumpkins and using glitter. The painting only began AFTER she hauled the girls to three stores looking for pumpkins (which is a feat in itself!). You can tell from the pictures that they had a ton of fun!!! I'm just glad she decided this was a good activity to do outside :-). By the way, she got the idea from Martha Stewart---I wonder if Martha looked like Sadie and Molly when she got done painting her pumpkins????

Time with Daddy

2006-09-25T20:18:00.000-04:00

Kelly is a 5th year surgery resident and typically works at least 90 hours a week. I honestly don't know how he does what he does, I have great respect for the man he is. He is not only dedicated to his job, but he is a wonderful husband and father. When he gets home from a 12-16 hour day, I know he is exhausted, but he still pitches in with the girls and makes the time he has with them really count. He only has 9 months to go and he will be finished with his residency and will be starting in private practice. We are greatly looking forward to having a little more control over his schedule and more family time. On this night, he and the girls curled up in the rocking chair and read before bedtime. It is rare to get a picture with both girls sitting down and being still (even though Sadie is making the goofy face that she makes in all her pics these days)--what you don't see is that Sadie got up about 2 seconds after I snapped this photo!!

Starting the blog. . . .

2006-09-25T11:10:00.000-04:00

I have finally decided to create my own blog to chronicle the life of our family. I want to do this so that I can look back and remember all the details of my children's lives, knowing that the chances I will ever complete their scrapbooks is very slim. They are such a gift and I struggle every day to take time to realize that. Life is so busy and it's so easy to get priorities all out of whack, but at the end of the day it's these two angels that really matter.

Right now, Molly is 3 years old and Sadie is 19 months old. Their personalities are very different, Molly is very shy and reserved (more like her Daddy), while Sadie is more outgoing and extroverted (like her Mommy). The picture of Molly is from the day of her 3rd Birthday party, she's very excited to be three! Sadie's picture is from her singing debut on Molly's new keyboard (that Mommy had no idea had a microphone when we bought it :-) Do we have an American Idol contestant on our hands?