Celia and Emme's Green and Pink Party

Walking Emme

2009-06-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

For our distant friends and family. Emme is getting better at walking every day. This video is from last week. This week, she even ran some...she looked pretty unstable doing it, but she was speedy. She also can make it to the stairs and get up at least 3 of them before we make it to her-we now have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs.

Lowcountry Strawberry Festival

2009-04-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

We started the day with ballet. The story was A Midsummer's Night Dream. I am not sure how they made it into a children's story, but the girls were sure cute.

Next, we all headed over to the Strawberry Festival at one of the local plantations. They had lots of games, rides and bounce houses.

Celia was too busy taking in all the sights to actually face the camera.After the rides, we headed to the strawberry fields and picked our own strawberries. Celia did a great job of finding ripe and healthy strawberries.

After we filled the bucket, we went and had them weighed-we picked 6 lbs of strawberries. We ate some with our lunch and they were delicious. I might have to find a strawberry pie recipe or something to make sure we use them all before any go bad.

It was a beautiful day and a wonderful family outing.

Easter Day

2009-04-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

Emme in her Easter dress.

Celia's Easter dress.

Celia made a butterfly with Ms. Dee Bee.

This is Celia with her good friend Abigale.

The cross at church was covered in flowers from people's home gardens. Celia added an azalea from our yard. After church, we all came home and spent a quiet day as a family. Life is good.

Easter Eve

2009-04-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

Since David is already at church when we wake up on Sundays, the Easter bunny came during nap time on Saturday. Celia was so excited.

This is mostly a shot of Celia's new short hair cut.

Emme turned one on Good Friday. With all of the Holy Week activities, we decided not to have a big birthday party, so I made cakes for the Easter Egg hunt at church in honor of Emme's birthday. Don't worry, she had her own, less fancy, cake at home with party hats and noise makers. Unfortunately, our camera was broken, so we had to take pictures with our phones-I'll have to figure out how to get those to the computer to post.

There were Easter Egg hunts for each age group. Celia's group was made up of 2-3 year olds.
The eggs had some candy, but mostly treasurers-like balloons, bubbles and rings.There was even an egg pool for the babies.

The church had a bounce house set up.Ms. Dee Bee had a craft table where Celia made an Easter Egg.

Celia taking a rest and watching all the festivities.

We tried to get a few pictures of the girls in the matching dresses Nana sent them for Easter.

They also had hats, but Emme was not interested in wearing hers. Celia tried to help, but Emme successfully dodged all attempts to get a hat on her head.

Celia played with her new toys from her Easter basket: bubbles

and sidewalk chalk.

David and I are so blessed to have such wonderful daughters. Life is good.

Thursday Night

2009-03-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

The other night, Celia wanted to see if she could fit in her oven. Her petite little self fit in there just fine. David took pictures while I told her how she was not to ever try that trick with out Mommy and Daddy around-just a little different parenting styles =)
Tonight, Emme had pasta.
Sorry for the open mouth picture, but it is really hard to catch the girls for a picture with their full faces, eyes open....I have to take what I can get.
After dinner, Emme had to change shirts--she often has to take a bath right after dinner these days as she practices feeding herself.
After dinner, we moved into the den to play.
Celia has gotten so big. I think her feet grow every night.
Emme played in the kitchen.
And with a puppy.
David and Celia played with play-doh. They got out one of her birthday presents-a bunch of play-doh shaper toys. She was thrilled.

Disney Playhouse Live

2009-02-28T19:48:00.001-08:00

Tonight, I took Celia to her first show. David stayed with Emme so that Celia and I could go on a date to Disney Playhouse Live.
Celia was so excited she couldn't sleep at nap time, so she fell asleep in the car on the way. I was a bit worried that she wasn't going to rebound for the evening, but she got a new burst of energy when we arrived.
She just kept saying, "I am so excited."
The had pre-show entertainment. The actual show had Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Tiger (all in costumes) and people dressed as Darby, Handy Manny and the Little Einstein characters. They requested no pictures during the show, so I don't have any to share-although I might be the only one.
I told Celia she could have one thing-a drink, food or toy. She chose cotton candy. The cotton candy comes with the hat-I guess it helps justify the price. Celia was so well behaved. After she chose the cotton candy, she didn't once ask for anything else.

It was a wonderful evening. I might have spent more time watching Celia's face than I did the show. She is just wonderful.

Kitchen Bath

2009-02-28T19:29:00.000-08:00

Emme now eats all table food (as opposed to baby food). Part of that transition means she feeds herself most meals and pretty much needs a bath after dinner every night.

One of those baths last week was in the kitchen sink. It is her first kitchen sink bath ever.

She really seemed to enjoy it and did lots of splashing.

Celia asked if she could take a bath in the sink, too. She was disappointed when I told her she was too big.

Valentine's Dresses

2009-02-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

My dear friend, Misty sends the girls wonderful care packages for each holiday. The Valentine's present had matching dresses.
I got the girls dressed up for church the Sunday after Valentine's Day. I took a few pictures of each girl. I then told Celia that I wanted a picture of them together to send Misty. Boy, did Celia try to stay with Emme , who apparently had very important things to do.

Emme has started giving kisses, but they usually turn out to be licks. I guess Celia was "kissing" Emme back. I didn't even notice until I started posting pictures (click on the picture if you can't see Celia's kiss).

Beautiful Art

2009-02-28T19:15:00.000-08:00

Over the Christmas break, David and I repainted our den. It looks so much better. One of the best parts is that we finally have a place to hang all the pictures that we have of the girls.

Art Project

2009-02-28T19:05:00.000-08:00

Celia brings home her art projects each week. I put some of them up and others I just take a picture of and sneak into the trash....this one made a quick exit. Very cute, but way too messy.
We made this puppet as a home art project.

BEANS!!!

2009-01-02T18:21:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Celia helped David cook tacos. She loves to cook and is getting pretty good at it. She even has her own apron that her Grammie made her.

Emme was excited to try beans for the first time.

They were definitely a hit.

Christmas '08

2009-01-02T18:09:00.001-08:00

We had a very low key Christmas this year which was just what we needed. We didn't buy many presents since Celia just had a birthday and Emme has plenty of hand me down toys. We just really enjoyed spending the day together.

David and Emme woke up at 7am, but let Celia and I sleep a bit longer.Santa left Emme cups, eating utensils, socks and a pair of shoes.
Celia got underwear, socks, and glow in the dark stars from Santa, oh and an orange. Santa did not bring any walnuts this year thanks to my request and only a little bit of candy.

Emme gots some neat presents from the granparents too. Like organic vegetables (made of organic cotton). She really likes the carrot for chewing.She also got some clothes and her very own cell phone and keys.After presents, we had a nice breakfast with eggs, bacon and "Baby Jesus birthday cake" (as Celia now calls it). It is actually my grandmother's coffee cake receipe that she made for Christmas brunches when I was a kid. The rest of the day was filled with playing, reading and tricycle riding.

Thanksgiving Summary

2008-12-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

Grammie came to visit us over Thanksgiving. She made Celia a special apron. Celia had a wonderful time helping Grammie cook bread, cookies and green beans. She helped Daddy make mashed potatoes. I am so glad she is taking after David in the kitchen.

We went to the annual Oyster Roast at the church. It was really neat. They had tons of oysters (I ate one, Celia ate none and David ate a lot). We will know next year that David needs to bring his own glove, towel and oyster knife. There was also a fire for smores.

Then on Friday, we went to the holiday festival of lights. We arrived and drove through the 3 miles of lights. Then we parked, ate a picnic dinner, rode the carousel and visited the sand castle. Only on the water would Santa's Village be made of sand.

We bought one of those gingerbread houses kits. Celia and I made the house. Thanks to the special tray, it was a million times easier than the last one I tried to make (mother-daughter project when I was 8 yrs old...I don't think we even got one wall up). It was a fun and rejuvenating holiday.

Celia's 3rd Birthday

2008-12-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Celia's 3rd Birthday. We had a green frog party. When they arrived, kids got to color a froggie mask.

Then it was time for some Jumpnastics. They had an obstacle course and these wobbly seats.

Cake time!

Then it was time to play some more. The kids loved parachute time.

And they practiced coordination using these over sized hands to bounce the balls. This is Kylie with Celia, one of her favorite friends.

Emme helped gather the kids for present time (nothing attracts preschoolers like a baby).

I was so proud of Celia on her birthday. As each friend arrived, she greeted them with a hug. Then when she opened her presents and her friends "helped" she never snapped at them or complained, she graciously let them help. Can you see the polka dots on Celia's shirt? She was surrounded!

It was a wonderful party. Celia had a great time and was a perfect hostess and all her little friends had fun, too.

Celia's 3rd Birthday (continued)

2008-12-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

The parachute was a favorite activity.

Publish Post

Halloween Photos

2008-11-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of new posts, but until we can get back in the swing, here are some Halloween pictures.

Touch Book

2008-10-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Celia brought home this touch book the other day from school. It has soft things, rough things and scratchy things....Celia knows how to describe all of the items only, when she gets to the sand paper, she says "its Daddy's mess" (her name for when David needs to shave).

Nap time

2008-10-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Today, I put Celia down for a nap. Emme was not interested in the nap idea at the time, so I took her downstairs. She had squash, played some, and had a bottle. I checked the time and Celia had about 15 minutes left. Emme and I sang "Head and Shoulders" and then played "How Big is Emme?" Just then, I heard Celia calling from upstairs. I went to the bottom of the stairs and saw Celia standing at the closed baby gate. She said, "Were you just going to leave me up here forever?" She is just so funny.

Whew, what a day.

2008-10-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy Saturday. We started with Celia's dance class. I asked Celia while we were getting ready which story she thought they might read and she said, "we'll have to wait and see." The story today was The Red Shoes. I have never heard of the book, so we might have to find it at the library or book store.

After dance, we changed the girls and went off to the pumpkin patch. There is a plantation that has a scarecrow festival with a pumpkin bounce house and other fun stuff. Well, we didn't make the festival part, it was just too wet (notice the puddles in the back). When we first got there and told Celia to pick a pumpkin, she pointed to Emme and said "I want that one." So cute!!

We had lots of fun. We took some really cute pictures.

Celia found a pumpkin just her size.

And another one that David can carve.

Our happy pumpkin.

After lunch was nap and then the UT/ou game. It was so neat to be able to watch UT play and it was an awesome game. Celia likes football, too. Emme got a bit scared when David and I started cheering at one of the touchdowns. No matter who won, it was a good game to watch and of course, it is even better that we did win.

Next, we got the girls dressed up in their Halloween costumes and got pictures made (pictures to come later). Celia is really photogenic and Emme is adorable, so it makes choosing really hard.

Celia did such a great job at the photographer's that we let her have a ride on the carousel at the mall.

And baby doggie got to ride, too.

It was a busy day and we spent a lot of time in the car driving between locations. But Celia made sure to serenade us the whole time (If you notice the background moving a lot, David was parking the car while I took the video).

p.s. I looked up the Red Shoes. It is originally a Han Christian Anderson one about a girl who instead of doing what she is suppose to with money from her grandmother, buys red shoes which make her dance constantly. I tell you this in case you look it up, because the HCA version says her feet get cut off, but I want to reassure you that the version the girls read today is an adaptation and not at all as scary.

Happy Half Birthday

2008-10-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

Emme is 6 months old today. We had a half birthday party. We have been talking about Emme's half birthday for a few days and mostly just bought her a new (not a hand me down) toy. But Celia was really excited about "the party". When David picked the girls up, Celia started talking about the party and asking about it. David called and told me about Celia. We decided it would fun to have a real party, so I made a quick run to get a few more things (plates, a piece of cake and a balloon). We also had a noise maker, candles and such left over from my birthday, so we got those out.

I think maybe Celia was most excited about the cake and ice cream. After cake and ice cream (applesauce for Emme), she got to open her present. I used tissue paper to wrap it so it would be easier for her to tear. She was pretty good at it.

Celia helped a little too since she is a pro.

Emme really seemed to like it. She mostly chewed on the rings.
Emme even shared her new toy with Celia.

Sleeping Emme

2008-10-10T18:44:00.001-07:00

Hurray for Hand Me Downs

2008-10-04T19:11:00.001-07:00

Since Celia's birth, Grandparents and friends gave Celia special dresses and clothes. On a day to day basis, though, most of her clothes have been hand-me-downs. People at our church have been so generous sharing their gently used clothes with us and we have lots of friends with girls just a bit older than Celia. It has really helped save money on clothes she will grow out of so quickly, especially while David was in school. Now, since we are so far from Texas, we don't have such easy access to our hand-me-down connections. Last week, David even had to buy Celia some clothes for the fall and her drawers had been looking bare since I put away the things she has outgrown.

And then...
Wednesday, one of the wonderful ladies at the church asked me if Celia would wear used clothing. Heck yes (I thought). She gave David a large stack of cute dresses, a bag of shoes and a basket of PJs, socks and play clothes. So generous!
I realize that at some point, we will probably have to start buying clothes on a regular basis, but I am happy to delay that day a bit longer. The other great thing about getting clothes from someone else is that I have absolutely no style (really, I don't), so they are clothes that someone with style has picked out.Although these are also some of the new clothes, it is really a picture to show how long Celia's hair is getting.

This week in ballet...

2008-10-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today, the girls read Cinderella. They danced some and then each one tried on a glass slipper and it fit! It was "bring a friend" week, so there were a lot of extra parents watching and so, I couldn't get very many pictures.

Celia's Art

2008-10-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of art work around here. Celia brings home a "Friday folder" each week with her art from school. Also, she brings home art from Sunday School and Children's Church each Sunday. We have a door in the kitchen that we have covered in art work and I rotate pieces out from time to time. There is just so much. I often think about framing it or sending it to someone. Today, I took pictures of several of the pieces and then..threw them away. It was hard, but at least we will have photos of everything. If you would like to be in an art of the week club, just let me know and we can mail you art for all your walls.

Cheerio

2008-10-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

I gave Emme some Cheerios today, mainly for her to play with while I made lunch.

She didn't get any in her mouth, but it was still a good first introduction.

Bananas!!!

2008-10-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today, Emme tried Bananas. She ate the whole jar. I thought maybe she was just getting better at eating, but tonight I gave her peas...and nope, it was that she likes bananas.

Growing vocabulary

2008-09-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned before, Celia often says things that catch us off guard. She will say very insightful things or use big words... Last Sunday, the girls and I were in the car and David was at church. Celia pretended to call David and said, "Hi Daddy, um Emme is crying, apparently she is still sick." I later asked David if he though she knew what "apparently" meant and he said "apparently so".

Yesterday, Celia brought home a project from school with lots of items from nature taped to a piece of paper (bark, grass, acorns and a pine cone). Celia showed us the little baby pine cone and said "its adorable."

Exercise

2008-09-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Emme still can't sit up on her own, but she has some tummy muscles.

The cool thing about ballet shoes

2008-09-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Celia discovered today what makes ballet shoes special...they slide. She would slide down, get up and do it again. It passed the time until class started.
Today's story was Ragged Ann. The girls got little pants, dresses and an apron.

Emme's new friend

2008-09-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

The room was a bit dark, but I had to capture Emme giggling at her new friend. It is so much fun watching babies discover the world. This was especially nice because Emme has a bad cold. She hasn't acted too fussy, but you can just tell she feels awful, so I was glad for an extra giggly time.

Ballet Class

2008-09-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

Celia has ballet on Saturdays. We drive across two rivers to get there, but she loves it. They line up before class like a train and head into class. There are like 12 girls in the class, but most of them come after they have already gone inside.

First they do some activities to get settled like have a pretend tea party.

Then they pretended to tickle the teacher's toes.

Then they stretch.

And finally, they start practicing ballet walking, toe tapping, turns and such. After they have gone over some dance moves, they read a book....

And the story was...

2008-09-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

Curious George. The teacher read the story and every girl sat quietly and listened. Each girl got a monkey costume.They did some moves with a yellow hat (in honor of the man with a yellow hat).

And then with a fire hat (the story had George calling the fire department).

Ballet Video

2008-09-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

I always seem to forget that I can't reorient video, so I apologize, but you will have to turn your head sideways. You don't need sound, it is just the other moms chatting.

Emme at 5 mths (almost)

2008-09-06T19:45:00.001-07:00

Emme wants to crawl so badly. It is going to be awhile since she doesn't even sit up by herself yet, but boy does she try.

She is showing preferences for certain toys and is reaching for them. This ball is one of her favorites.
Emme has little Micheline baby legs which leads to a diapering question--whether it is more comfortable for that last little fold to be inside the diaper or to try to pull it out of the way. Celia didn't have as much baby fat, so it wasn't a problem.
This is another picture taken by Celia. She is getting really good at using the camera. She even knows how to get my cell phone to take a picture without any help. David has put a locking code on his phone so that she can't "accidentally" call China, but she will probably figure it out eventually.

Garage Tetris

2008-09-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

If you drive around in our neighborhood, you will see that nobody parks in their garage in Charleston. I guess most people use them for storage. We still have many boxes of books
in our garage (until we get some bookshelves) and other stuff. Plus, David moved some stuff into the garage to get it out of the wind-like the smoker and rocking chairs from the porch. So, David worked very hard to get the boxes stacked to the sides so that we could get both cars in the garage and safe from the storm. It was a bit like watching tetris. Hanna ended up not hitting us very hard and we only got some rain, but at least we were ready and are a bit more prepared for next time.

Sunday School Project

2008-09-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

Celia made this in Sunday School this past week. Can you guess the bible story?

Emme likes to Peek-A-Boo

2008-09-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

While Daddy and Celia played in the fountain, Mommy and Emme played peek-a-boo. Emme is a very happy baby.

Waterfront Park

2008-09-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Waterfront park... down on the peninsula, in Charleston. There are a couple of fountains there that kids can play in. We had a great time. Celia especially liked running around the fountain and coaxing her Daddy towards the middle.

The closer Daddy got to to the middle--the more wet he got... and the more Celia laughed. The wind kept blowing all of that water around... so there was definitely a dry side of the fountain and a wet side.

After the big fountain, and some snacks, we went to the pineapple fountain! The pineapple fountain is one of Charleston's most photographed landmarks.

Celia especially liked the pineapple fountain.

There were some kids that were swimming under there. But not Celia... she was good. After wrapping up, we went out to eat at "Ye Olde Ice Cream Parlor"... it was a great day.

Another meal with Emme

2008-08-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

I post a lot of pictures of the girls at the table because it is the one time they are sitting still (or relatively still) and things are calm enough to get to the camera. Emme has learned to scream and screech and blow raspberries. It is all entertaining stuff, especially for her.

Princess Breakfast

2008-08-28T17:12:00.001-07:00

Celia has beautiful hair. It is brown and light brown and even some blond (all from the sun), but it is fine. When she wakes up in the morning the back is an unbelievable sight. We have to spray a large amount of "no more tangle" spray and try to slowly work a brush through it. I am hopefully that it will get thicker when she is older. Even with the tangles she is still a cute princess.

Bicycling

2008-08-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

Celia is getting better at riding her bicycle. Her legs are still a little short to pedal normally, but she has managed to make due. In this video, you can see her "Baby Doggie" riding with her in the back and she is saying "I think I can".

One of the cute things about this age is that Celia provides almost constant narration of her actions. It is helpful when she is in another room so that you know exactly what she is up to. You just have to worry when she suddenly gets quiet. It also seems to draw a lot of attention in public, mostly giggles. Like when she goes to the bathroom at a restaurant. My favorite part of the video is about a minute and a half through the video.

Pajama Night

2008-08-19T16:55:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, David had a meeting. David helped me out by giving the girls baths before he left and so, Celia, Emme and I had a pajama party. We watched Madeline episodes on DVD. Of course, Madeline herself had to join us.
After Emme went to sleep, Celia had a snack. Next we painted Celia's toe nails and finger nails.

Celia did a great job of blowing on her nails and keeping them still so they could dry. We didn't get any polish on the floor or the bed.

Then we did each others hair. It was a nice low key evening with my sweet girl.

Home

2008-08-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

We spend a lot of time at church. We are there on Sundays and Wednesdays and often in between. This weekend David, the girls and I have spent most of the weekend there for a mission project. Today, after the work was done, there was a lunch. After we ate, Celia ran around (literally) with a little girl named Grace. Celia giggled, laughed, smiled and just had a wonderful time. She has warmed up to the wonderful adults who go to our church and gave out hugs. As I sat there watching Celia play I felt such joy that we are finally home.

Time to Eat!!

2008-08-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

Emme had her first taste of food the other night-rice cereal. She liked it. She has been watching us eat lately and even trying to grab food off our plates, so she seemed ready. I had forgotten how messy it is. I need to try to remember where I packed the bibs.

Friends

2008-08-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

This post is going to be out of place as it is more about me and my hopes for my girls. This weekend is the anniversary of my Daddy's death and some really cruddy stuff that followed related to it and continues to drag on. My father never missed a chance to tell me how much he loved David, Celia and I (he didn't get to meet Emme) and how proud he was of us-even that we restored his faith in love. What a gift to have a father that expressed his love so openly.

Despite all the wonderful ways God has blessed David and I, especially this year, I still have an empty space from the loss of family members. But that must be why God created friendship.

Make new friends.....We have already made such great friends in Charleston. On Saturday, this beautiful arrangement arrived to lift my spirits. It is a reminder that there are still so many new friends to get to know and love.

But keep the old......I have been friends with Misty since I was 3 years old. They say you have to be a friend to have one, but I am certain that I have not every done anything to deserve such an amazing friend. She has been by my side for everything and is the kind of friend that just takes over and holds you up when you can't do it. Right after Emme was born, and David was out of town for the weekend, Misty came to Austin. She woke up in the middle of the night to help with Emme, she washed my clothes and put them away, she washed dishes, cooked meals, took Celia to church and most importantly, she was my supporter. On Friday, when I arrived home with nothing left to get me through, I found a care package. You can't see them, but there is a large box of brownies as well. On top of the gifts, Misty again was a supporter and listened to me talk for almost an hour. It is a reminder, that though we are far away, we still have wonderful friends just a phone call away (or airplane trip).

So, I pray daily for my girls. That they will know such wonderful friendship in the world so that when they have down times, their friends can help lift them and when they feel like they are on a mountain top, they will have someone to share that joy. And even more, that they can be one of those people for each other:

So, please pardon my interruption of the green and pink party, but since most of those who follow the site are among our wonderful friends and family, I thank God for you as well and just wanted you to know.

Celia's Trick

2008-08-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

I have been going through pictures this evening and came across this one that I don't think we ever posted. This is one of Celia's tricks. She was performing for her GG (great grandmother) back in February.

Riverdogs

2008-07-31T19:27:00.000-07:00

My new firm had a night at the ball park. It was a great chance to meet everyone and for David to meet the people I work with. It makes it easier for him when I talk about my day when he knows who people are.

It was pretty hot outside, but our seats had a great breeze going.

Celia really enjoyed the game. She had yummy chocolate milk.

And she made a new friend. Hannah is 3 and she and Celia got along great. Hannah shared her cotton candy with Celia and they both danced to the between inning music. The chocolate milk and candy made it a little hard to get Celia to sleep, but I suppose that is what a night at the ballpark is about.

Emme did a great job at the game. Despite being hot and staying up way past her bed time, she stayed sweet. Special thanks to David who held Emme most of the night-I think his left bicep is an inch bigger after that.

My Girls

2008-07-31T19:14:00.001-07:00

Celia likes to entertain Emme during tummy time.

She showed Emme how to call someone..I think they called G.G. and Tutu.

I guess, with two girls, I should get use to them being on the phone. Well, actually, I wonder if they make toy cell phones with texting.
(Please pardon the picture quality, there were finger prints on the lens.)

Tutu's Visit

2008-07-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

Tutu visited us a few weekends ago. On Saturday morning, Celia took her to see the playground across the street.
They had a great time and also went to a neighborhood garage sale. David got a nap in and I appreciated the chance to take a long shower.
Emme got lots of Tutu time as well. They had lots of talks.
We ate a lot of good food while Tutu was here. Emme is now old enough that she wants to be a part of everything, so even though she can't eat, she likes to sit at the table during meals.
The place we ate on Sunday for lunch was on Shem Creek which is where the shrimp boats come in. I guess that attracts lots of pelicans, so after lunch Celia went to see them up close.

Mademoiselle Celia

2008-07-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

We told Celia that as soon as she was potty trained, she could take ballet lessons. She is coming along, she still has accidents every few days (does that count as potty trained?), but she is getting better. So, I went ahead and signed her up since they don't even start until the end of August. While Tutu was here, we went to get her attire. Pink leotard, pink tights, pink shoes. The lady who assisted us was so sweet to Celia as she measured her foot and found the right shoes.
Celia got to pick out which leotard and skirt she wanted.
Good thing there weren't any green ones or we might have had a problem.
When we got home, she tried the whole outfit on.
And practiced a few dance moves. I am excited to see how she likes dance class.

Photographer in Training

2008-07-29T18:46:00.001-07:00

Celia got a hold of Tutu's camera and was off taking pictures. Tutu and David helped out a little in making sure Celia got everyone in the picture. The picture of Emme and David is right side up.

Swimming

2008-07-29T18:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday after nap, we went to the neighborhood pool. Celia showed off her swimming skills including floating and swimming under the water (holding her breath and pushing off to someone).
I think she was a little over excited about Tutu visiting because she swallowed a lot of water. Emme went swimming too, but got tired after a while and took a nap in my arms.

We went home and Celia got some good Tutu time while I cooked dinner--yes, I actually cook these days.

Baptism

2008-07-29T18:21:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, David performed his first baptism. He baptized Emme. It was wonderful. He did a great job and Emme looked around the whole time. One member told me afterwards that he was sure Emme made eye contact with every member.After church, Tutu, Emme, Celia and I returned home while David did another baptism at the 11 o'clock service.
Emme got a wonderful soft lamb toy from a church friend in celebration of her baptism. Celia suggested that she and Emme share. I keep saying that I need to video Celia saying that she and Emme should share for when Emme is old enough to play with Celia's toys. Celia has shown signs that she will still be a good big sister as they get older. When Emme cries, Celia doesn't get upset, she just says "its okay Emme, don't cry" and she has shared her Texas bear (a gift from her late grandpa) with Emme, so maybe that video won't be necessary.

Carriage Tour

2008-07-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we went on a carriage ride in downtown Charleston. It was HOT.

The tour was 1 hour long.
Emme and Celia were both great for the first 45 minutes, but then got a little hot and tired. We still had a great time and heard lots of stories, although we were later warned that half of them might just be made up-who cares, I don't know the difference and neither will any of you when you visit and we take you on a tour of downtown.

Money for God

2008-07-27T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today, I was helping in the workroom at church before Sunday School. It came time to take Celia to class and I left my stuff (including my purse) and off we went. Half way there, Celia asked for a dollar to put in the offering envelope. I told Celia that I didn't have my purse, so it would be okay if we just skipped this week. She looked up at me and said, "No money for God?" Needless to say, after I dropped her in her class, I went back and got my purse and took her a dollar. She was waiting at the door of the classroom when I got back waving the offering envelope. I handed her a dollar and she excitedly put it in the offering envelope.

Cake

2008-07-26T17:57:00.001-07:00

For her 2nd birthday, Celia received a box with 50 mini containers of Play-doh in every color. She received so many toys for her birthday that we put away half of them for another day.

David and I hosted our first official church function at the house. Celia (and Emme) stayed upstairs with a babysitter. David got the Play-doh out to be a special treat. When I checked on Celia mid-evening, she and Drew were making animals of every color out of Play-doh. Later, Celia apparently wanted to make a cake. She even put ice cream on top. Want a piece?

Rolling Over

2008-07-26T17:49:00.001-07:00

Emme is getting so strong . She can prop herself up for long periods of time and roll over really well. Now we are working on sitting up. Emme loves to talk. In the mornings when she wakes up, I get her all set up to eat and then she just turns her head, smiles at me and starts talking. It takes a while to convince her to eat even though it has been 10 hours since her last meal.

It is so neat to watch her growing although it is definitely happening way too fast.

Sun Baby

2008-07-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

Celia is sun-kissed. We spray her with sun screen every morning before school, but she still glows from her time on the playground and at the pool with David. Her normally brown hair is a beautiful golden honey color that curls into ringlets when she has been outside playing. Her skin is a sweet caramel color. David was a lifeguard growing up and based on the pictures I have seen of him during that time, she definitely takes after him.

Super Baby

2008-07-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

Both Emme and Celia love the Super Baby (Super Big Girl) game. I think it is one of the reasons they both have such strong tummy muscles. I am pretty impressed with myself for getting the action shot of Emme drooling although I should admit (related to the last post) that these are two of the eight pictures I took--the other 6 weren't in focus.

With two kids, David is a pro at dodging drool and spit up. It is good exercise for his reflexes.

Emme used those strong stomach muscles to rollover just before this picture was taken. I had put her on her tummy and she turned her head to look up and her body just kind of followed. I was very excited, but she didn't seem to notice her new skill.

Paparazzi

2008-07-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

There are some days when being around Celia is similar to being chased by the paparazzi. I have taught her that it is not appropriate to take pictures of me when Emme is nursing, but any other time seems fair game. I do have to admit, she does a better job of taking pictures in focus than I do.

Our Crappy Holiday

2008-07-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

Warning, this post is about potty training and therefore discusses bodily functions.
For our Fourth of July, we decided to take on the fun task of potty training (what better way to spend a long weekend, right?). Celia has been using the potty in the mornings when she wakes and at bath time for awhile. She just hasn't anticipated the need to go. So, I read the "Potty Training in One Day" book. The process is that you spend all day in the kitchen talking about the potty while giving your kid lots of drinks so you have many opportunities to practice actually using the potty. We figured, "why not try it?"

I prepared for today like I would any project, I made notes, prepared reminder sheets, bought the Potty Patty doll, the treats (candy, grapes, Cheetos, cheese), the special drinks (juice, Gatorade, milk) and the training pants. David read the book, too, so we could take turns. I talked to Celia all week about how she wasn't going to go to school on Friday because we were going to work on using the potty. We had previously told her that she can take dance lessons when she is potty trained, so she was VERY excited.

This morning, we ate breakfast and then I gave Celia the doll. She loved the doll. Then I gave her the new cotton panties (training pants). She loved them. Celia and the doll both changed from their diapers to big girl panties. Celia happily "taught" the doll how to use the potty. When the doll had an accident, she helped the doll practice going pee on the potty. Then Celia said she needed to pee and used the potty. "WOW," I thought, "this isn't going to take all day...maybe just an hour. I am so glad I have such a brilliant child."

Celia and I stayed in the kitchen following the process from the book. Suddenly, Celia said she needed to poop and ran to the bathroom. I was so glad she was catching on so well and followed her to the bathroom. TOO LATE. She had apparently not realized she needed to go until the deed was done.

Now I was faced with a problem, if the child has an accident, they are suppose to practice (before changing panties) by running to the potty, lowering their pants, sitting down for a second, raising their pants and repeating--10 times. The book even has a Q&A section where someone asks about poop accidents and it says to treat them the same. Well, with panties full of poo, that just isn't realistic. It also says that it is likely since the child will be potty trained so quickly, that they won't even poop during the training process, lucky us to be the exception to the norm.

Okay, so we skipped the practicing step. Next, the kid is suppose to clean themselves up with no help. I should mention that the consistency of Celia's accident was similar to the thick mud you might find in a face mask. You know the kind that you put on, let sit for 5 minutes and them almost have to scrub off because it is so thick? So Celia took off her panties which caused the poo to smear all the way down her legs. She then began using wipe after wipe trying to get the stuff off. I must admit, I ended up helping her a bit. Celia put on clean panties, we put the dirty ones in the wash and resumed training. At least we got the poop out of the way. Now, I gave her lots of liquids so that we could continue to practice.

An hour later, she still hadn't peed. We were sitting there and she said she needed to use the potty. When we got to the bathroom (which I will add is 2 feet from our kitchen table) and she pulled down her pants, it was too late. Crap, no really, she had pooped again. Since she pulled down her pants and sat down before we realized it was too late, poop was again smeared down her leg. This was not how the book said things should go. I called to the other room for David for help.

David instructed Celia on how to wipe the big stuff off and put the toilet paper in the potty. Celia finished cleaning up the big stuff, then got down from the potty and flushed it. Immediately, it started backing up. I guess all that paper and Kando wipes were just too much for it. David used the plunger and then took Celia upstairs for a shower. He made her clean herself up in the shower only helping by telling her where else she needed to wash. Celia put on new panties and a clean shirt and came back down stairs.

Celia was still in a positive mood about the potty training, thankfully. It was now lunch time, so we all ate lunch. All during this, we continued to do pants checks where you ask if the kid's panties are dry. Celia still had not peed since that first time when we started despite all that extra fluid she was drinking. She stayed dry during lunch and we encouraged her to drink more.

After lunch, David and I were discussing the training and laughing at how it was going-really, what are the odds that our kid on the day we decide to train would need to poo twice. Then Celia made a noise and we asked if she needed to go potty. She said no, but we checked her pants anyway...what? again? you have got to be kidding. She pooped again. This was definitely not in the book. David took her upstairs, put her in the shower and told her to clean up. As they walked up the stairs, David and I decided to abort mission. Three poos in three hours just isn't what we had signed up for.

I cleaned up all of our supplies (drinks and snacks) and put the training pants away for some other day. Then David came back down and asked for a pair of training pants. I stared at him blankly and he said Celia still wanted training pants. I reluctantly gave him a pair. Celia came back down stairs with her new panties and shirt on.

It was now nap time. We put Celia's mat on the floor on top of a towel. I asked before she lay down if she wanted to pee and she did, in the potty. Celia stayed dry through nap.

After nap, she and David went outside for him to mow the lawn. While he was mowing, she stood up and said she had to pee. They rushed in and to the potty. She peed as she was pulling down her panties. We practiced 10 times and she changed her panties.

An hour later, Celia was back outside with David barbecuing. She said she had to pee, stood up and said “uh-oh”. Too late. We practiced 10 times and changed panties.

We ate dinner. At the end of dinner Celia need to wash some food off her hands. She went to the bathroom to wash her hands and said, “I got pee-pee running down my leg”. We practiced 10 times and changed panties. Apparently, all the liquid I gave her this morning was finally making through her system. Oh, goody.

After dinner, I took Emme upstairs to eat and get ready for bed. As I was feeding her, I heard David say the following, “Well then, run, run………oh, Celia you pooped.” Yes, that’s right folks, she pooped again. My theory is that the very candy I was using (per the stupid book) to reward my child was giving her the poops. David’s theory though is that it is because her last molar is coming in (make a note new parents-teething sometimes causes extra saliva which results in extra poops). David took her to the potty to clean up and then took her upstairs for bath. All I could do from my chair nursing Emme was laugh.

While reading books for story time, Celia said she had to pee and she ran to the potty pulled down her diapers (we are not trying panties for overnight quite yet) and peed on the potty, hurrah...maybe there is hope. Or maybe she is just teasing us so she can poop in her panties again tomorrow.

So, that is it for today, folks. Celia is wearing a diaper to bed and I am planning on having a beer as soon as she goes to sleep, maybe a few. The current plan is to put her back into training pants tomorrow….we shall see. Stay tuned for another episode of adventures in parenting.

The Best Part of the Day

2008-06-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

At dinner, we all talk about the "best part of our day". Tonight I asked David and Celia what the best part of their days were. David said it was picking up his framed diplomas (a Father's Day present). Celia said something that we couldn't quite understand and had to get her to repeat at least 3 times....finally we figured it out: "Loving my family". There are just some moments that take my breath away. David and I are so blessed with our two wonderful girls.

PJ Day

2008-06-28T18:36:00.001-07:00

Last night, Celia got sick, real sick. The whole ordeal started at 1 am and lasted about 2 hours before Celia could finally fall back asleep-just in time for Emme's night time feeding to start. Celia felt much better this morning, but we were all tired. So, today we had a very low key day. We stayed in PJ's most of the day and didn't leave the house except to check the mail.

We watched Winnie the Pooh and Mickey cartoons, read books and played with her kitchen. I had gotten Celia a set of wood fruit for her kitchen that has velcro so that it can be "cut" into pieces. Celia spent the afternoon playing with it and making fruit salads. It turned into a wonderful family day, I just wish it hadn't started with poor Celia being so sick.

A Conversation with Emme

2008-06-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

Emme is now at the age where you can have a "conversation" and she loves to chat. Her eyes light up and she really responds as if you can understand her. It is currently one of my favorite pastimes.

All of these wonderful new skills are just as exciting and awesome with Emme as they were with Celia. It is neat to see how different the personalities are even at 2 months.

Photo contest

2008-06-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am spending too much time at home (don't worry I start work again soon), but I entered Celia into a Parents.com contest. The photos are open for rating and comments, so feel free to stop by and rate them (5 stars of course), recommend them and comment. To get to them:

*go to http://www.parents.com/
*in the "don't miss" drop down box, select photo contest
*on the left side, in the search box type Celia and the group that comes up should have her picture in it, you click on it and can rate and recommend it.

I only added the pictures on the last day (yesterday), so there aren't many ratings, but I think they actually have judges to choose the winner and the voting just get's Celia's picture on the main Parents.com web site.

The minimum age was 6 months, so I couldn't enter Emme.

Boating

2008-06-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

We went on a boat ride on Sunday that toured Charleston Harbor. Celia loved it. Before we went she kept asking if the boat would be green. I said maybe, but asked what other colors it might be and we listed out all the colors I could think of. I didn't think it would be green and I wanted to prepare her so she wouldn't be disappointed. But, what do you know, the boat was GREEN.

The Sailor Dress

2008-06-25T18:36:00.001-07:00

This is Celia dressed up for David's installation. She was watching Winnie the Pooh as a distration while we fixed her hair.

Cousins

2008-06-23T18:17:00.001-07:00

David's sister, Rachel, her husband, Andrew and their baby, Cana came to visit. Cana is 3 wks younger than Emme. It has been so neat to have the whole crew together. Last night, they had some group floor time. Pictures are courtesy of Andrew.

Celia has really been into flash cards lately. She likes the alphabet ones the best and is getting really good at recognizing the letters. She still is learning F, Q, V and W.

Celia has had a wonderful time playing with Aunt Rachel and Uncle AP. She also is really enjoying having two babies. She constantly asks where Emme and Cana are so she can keep track of them.

Emme is less aware of our guests, but I know in a few years she and Cana will be great playmates at holidays and reunions.

David, Rachel, Andrew, Cana and I all went to downtown Charleston this morning. We saw Battery Park, Waterfront Park, Rainbow row and lots of historic houses, It was neat just walking around the peninsula.

After lunch, we picked Celia and Emme up and headed to Folly Beach. The water was pretty warm and it turned out to be a great day. Celia loved the water and spent lots of time jumping waves, playing in the sand and practicing her swimming. Emme wasn't such a fan of the water and especially the waves. It was windy and every time the wind hit Emme, it caused her to hold her breath (natural baby instinct), so she spent most of her time in a covered area just off the beach. I think she still enjoyed the ocean air though. We really need to stock up on beach gear like pails for sand castles, a beach umbrella, chairs. But of course them we would have to figure out how to transport it.

All in all, it was a great day.

New School

2008-06-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

Celia and Emme started the new school today. It seemed to go well, but I am not calling it a success until the end of the week. When we went and dropped Celia off, she cried some, but the teacher was very sweet and held her, talked to her, and tried to distract her. You would think these are givens, but they didn't do it at the last place. The director has cameras in the room, so we were able to watch and see that Celia quickly settled down. When we picked her up, she said it was quieter and she liked it. She also knew her teacher's name, which she also didn't do at the last place. So far, so good.

School

2008-06-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

Since the last post was about how well the girls adjusted to school, I figured I should update you on what has happened since.

The girls started school 9 days ago. Celia loved her first day. On the second day, she happily went to school. When I went to pick her up, she was participating in the activity, but was crying and holding her blanket. It all went downhill from there. She started falling apart when it was time to go to school. Her complaints are that it is "too loud" with "too many boys and too many girls." It is understandable since she was in a class with just 8 kids before we moved and now has 18 in her class and the class doesn't seem as disciplined.

Each time we got dressed or went to the car this weekend (to church, for errands, etc.), Celia would start to cry and say she didn't want to go to school. As soon as we assured her that she wasn't going to school, she quickly became her normal happy self. When she gets home each day from school, she says she doesn't want to go back, in the mornings she cries and says she doesn't want to go. It just breaks my heart and is starting to wear me out.

Now, Celia has been through a lot this spring..a new sister, a new city, a new home, a new church, a new school, so I am sure there are transition issues plus she is two years old, so this all could be normal. Then on Monday when I dropped her off, two kids were throwing blocks while the teacher watched. When David picked her up, she was quietly sitting next to her teacher chewing the corner of her blanket while the other kids banged on the tables. Her teachers say she is getting better, but while she may not be crying the whole day (like she did last week), she is not herself at all.

So, we are moving her and Emme (who is happy to sleep and eat anywhere) on Monday to a new school. This one will have 12 kids in the class and seems more structured. I am just praying she adjusts to this school more easily. Stay tuned.

Emme's 2 month visit

2008-06-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

Today was Emme's 2 month check-up. I didn't get a chance to take pictures, but here are the stats.

Height-24 inches (95 percentile)
Weight- 10lbs 15 oz (50 percentile)
Head- 14 3/4 inches (25 percentile)

For anyone who followed Celia's growth, it is kind of funny that Celia had such a proportionally large head and Emme's is small. I guess they average out.

Emme was in a great mood at the visit. She smiled and laughed at everyone...until the shots-3 of them and then she was mad.

My favorite part about the new doctor's office is that the nurse held her and gave her the shot. At the last doctor, they would have the parent hold the baby's arms down and stand so the baby only saw the parent's face. I always hated being the one that Celia was looking at when she suddenly felt a stabbing pain (or 3 of them). She always got this look of betrayal.

Now Emme has 2 months to recover.

A New School

2008-06-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

The girls both went to school (day care) today. They each had a new outfit. David has Mondays off so we got them ready together and packed them up to head for school.

As soon as we got to Celia's classroom, she was off to play. We could not get her to stop long enough to take a picture or even say good-bye to us. The rest of the day apparently went just as smoothly. When I went in to pick her up the first thing her teacher said was, "She is really bright." She loved being back at school. Her favorite part of the day was "singing Little Star" (twinkle, twinkle) and "playing in the room".

Emme's day went just as smoothly. She was asleep when we dropped her off and asleep when we picked her up 3 hours later (I have to ease into being away from her). She had woken up once and had 1/2 ounce of a bottle, but that was it for her activities. I am glad they both did so well and that Celia is looking forward to going back tomorrow.

After Church

2008-06-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

After church, we came home and changed into our play clothes and just hung out at home. It was a busy week and the girls start school Monday. I am excited that Celia will be at school making new friends and I will have some down time, but a bit anxious about entrusting her and Emme to someone else's care.

Pastor Dave

2008-06-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

My grandmother, Mamaw, has requested pictures of our church and house. She says that she wants to be able to imagine us here until she can visit. So, these are the pictures of David's office. He hasn't gotten it all put together yet, but I think it looks very "pastorly". David was getting his robe on for the late service while I took the pictures.

Bumbo

2008-06-08T16:22:00.001-07:00

Emme can now hold her head up steadily. This is the criteria for being able to sit in a Bumbo. The Bumbo is meant to help her practice sitting up by herself and build those muscles. She actually seems to like it...for awhile. She talks and smiles. Then she gets tired and tells us that she is done.

Sunday Efforts

2008-06-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

David leaves for church before the girls and I wake up on Sundays so I get the girls ready for church by myself and try to get myself ready, too. He lovingly helps me prepare for this task by helping pick out clothes for them on Saturday night and ironing them, if needed. Today, I got Emme all dressed up and super cute. Then she fell asleep in the car on the way to church, stayed in her car seat asleep the entire church day (including the pot luck after service) and only woke up when we returned home. I guess that means she can wear the dress again next week.

10 Dresses

2008-06-08T16:12:00.001-07:00

Grammie sent Celia a box of precious dresses..10 of them. Grammie also made bows to go with each dress. As the person who gets Celia dressed for Sunday church and Wednesday night dinner, I am thrilled. I will try to get a picture of Celia in each as she wears them.

If you're happy and you know it...

2008-06-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

Breakfast with Celia

2008-06-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

It isn't easy to catch Celia on film. She gets shy when she knows the video camera is on, so I had to be sneaky to show how verbal she is. She talks so well--in complete sentences and is very clever. Please pardon the sound of the laundry in the background.

Time with Emme

2008-06-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

I always grab the camera right after Emme has been especially happy and talkative. This is another one of those times, but you still get to enjoy a small smile and the general cuteness of Emme.

Carolina Girl

2008-06-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

My girls gave me birthday presents to help me settle into my new state. The palmetto (palm tree) and moon are on the South Carolina state flag and show up everywhere. Of course, the girls chose pink and green. David gave me a necklace with a palmetto tree. It has been a great day.

Sleeping Progress

2008-06-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Emme slept for 6 hours last night and went 8 hours (not all sleeping) between feedings the night before. I am hopeful that we will have a normal sleep routine around here in the next few weeks.

Sonic Toy

2008-06-06T12:14:00.001-07:00

The toys you get at the drive through are usually not keepers. We typically put them aside for Goodwill and I generally think they are not environmentally friendly as they probably end up in landfills. Sonic, however, provided a very useful toy this week. A critter catcher. We caught a pesky fly that was living with us and released him to the outdoors. That, at least, is environmentally friendly.

Emerging Photographer

2008-06-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

Celia loves to take pictures. Usually they are of the ground, an arm, a tummy...and then there are the times when she has the camera backwards. I still think it is a great picture of her beautiful brown eyes.

Art Time

2008-06-06T12:10:00.001-07:00

Celia reached a milestone. When she drew a cat, it actually had eyes, a nose and mouth. Up until now all pictures were a group of circles or scribbles.

Moving Damage

2008-06-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

We moved a very long way and only two items were broken (pretty good odds, I think). Sadly, one of those items was the kitchen Emme gave Celia. David was able to take the top bar off so that Celia can continue to use the kitchen.

Chuck E. Cheese

2008-05-31T17:13:00.000-07:00

Celia has been such a trooper through all the changes lately that we thought she deserved a reward. We took her to Chuck E. Cheese on Friday. She loved it. She loved riding in the cars, watching the shows and especially the squirt gun game. We didn't take the camera, but one of the "rides" took her picture with Chuck. I really didn't mind it at all. The pizza was fine and I think because we went on a weekday, it wasn't too crazy. One word of advice, always go online and print out a coupon-it costs like half as much that way. We will definitely be back..maybe after school starts again in the fall.

Emme's Smile

2008-05-27T18:01:00.001-07:00

Emme has a beautiful smile, but is shy about showing it. She seems to be more demure than her sister, but her smile and laugh still seem to light up the room.

Quiet Time

2008-05-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

Celia does not like naps and puts up quite a fuss. Thankfully, she loves to read and will agree to have quiet time with some of her books.

After hearing her squirming about in her bed and the occassional book fall, it finally gets quiet. At the end of quiet time, if you ask her if she slept, Celia will say "no".

Sisters, Sisters

2008-05-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

Celia has been very helpful with Emme. She has taken the job of offering Emme her pacifier each time Emme spits it out which is a lot.

Celia loves to share with Emme. She will lay down next to Emme during tummy time and "read" her books. She is also protective. On Sunday in the nursery, she was quick to point out to the child care workers when Emme woke up. She is also quick to let me know when Emme is hungry.

I am so grateful that Celia is so loving towards her baby sister. Emme also seems to love to watch Celia and happily shares all of her toys and books, too (not that she is quite using them yet). I know they will be close when they get older and am glad they will have each other for playmates and friends.

Folly Beach

2008-05-27T17:06:00.002-07:00

A week after we arrived in Charleston, we finally made it to the beach. It was very windy.

Celia really liked the beach.

Emme didn’t-she didn’t like the wind and kept telling us she was hungry.

Emme and I went back to the car and David and Celia collected several sea shells. Considering how much Celia loves the outdoors and bringing it home, we are sure to have quite a collection of shells by the end of the summer.

A Trip East

2008-05-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

David picked us up from mom’s and we spent the next 4 days on the road. The girls were both great. Emme would eat, then sleep until the next stop.

Celia would color, sing some songs, sleep, and then start asking to take a walk. We stopped at two hotels with indoor pools to make it a bit more fun for Celia.

Our drive took us through the Smokey Mountains in Tennesse & North Carolina.

We stopped at the South Carolina welcome center.
They were having a 40th birthday party and were handing out door prizes (we got a t-shirt) and cake.

A Final Visit to College Station

2008-05-27T16:49:00.001-07:00

After David’s ordination, the girls and I went to my mom’s house while David met the movers. I was able to introduce Emme to her great grandmother, Mamaw, who is 95 years old and still full of spunk. She even still drives.

While at Tutu’s, Celia helped her cook many of the meals. Celia has not previously liked potatoes, but she happily ate the ones she helped cook. Despite helping to cook the asparagus, she still would not eat it.

A Green Party

2008-05-27T16:31:00.001-07:00

Celia's school friends had a going away party for her. She has been asking for a green party for the longest time.

I am not sure what a green party is, but she had green cupcakes with green icing (food coloring in both). They let the kids mix the cupcakes and so they were packed full of "flavor bursts".

All the kids ended up with green mustashes by the end of the party.

In the background behind friend Janie, you can see Miss Stacey, Celia's wonderful teacher. She has had a great experience at Hyde Park and we are sad to be moving her, but we are sure the future holds even more wonderful things for her.

New Family Site

2008-05-27T12:55:00.001-07:00

We are going to start posting pictures and updates to this new family site as a one-stop resource for news on the girls and maybe the parents, too. We will keep the girls' sites in case they want to share anything with you...Celia is currently typing something to her site (not sure that it will be readable). Just bookmark this page and join us in trying to keep up with these two balls of energy.