Summer Wrap Up

I still have alot to catch up on that I missed blogging with our move, but I decided to do a summer wrap up so I won't forget some of our great summer memories! We have had such a busy summer filled with moving, unpacking, going on a family beach vacation, swimming lessons, church VBS, swimming, etc. It has been hectic, but loads of fun!

We started off the summer with Caroline's first real dance recital on the "big stage". It is hard to describe with words how completely precious the program was. The theme was Rejoice and all of the dances were just so sweet. Caroline's dance was to a sweet little song about angels watching over you as you sleep. At the very end they lay down on the stage and act like they are asleep. Of course, Caroline did the whole dance beautifully and at the end she sat on the stage instead of laying down, crossed her arms and shook her head no....everyone in the audience (including us) cracked up! You could not take pictures during the performance, so here are a few before and after the show.



Savannah and Caroline enjoyed swimming lessons with Miss Jody this summer and did great! For Caroline, it was more water acclimation, but Savannah learned so much including swim strokes, water safety, and the back float. After the two weeks of lessons, with a few more times at the pool she has just blossomed into a great little swimmer. Caroline is doing great too! It makes being at a pool with both of them much easier!












Savannah about to take her swim turn!




Caroline choosing her skittle color....by far her favorite part of lessons!


We had a wonderful time vacationing with my whole family in South Padre Island. We have grown to the point we had two three bedroom condos this year. We had a great time! The girls loved being with all of their family for a week. Savannah loved playing in the ocean and building sand castles and sand mermaids. She also loved going to the pool and practicing all of her new moves. Caroline loved filling bucket after bucket of water from the ocean and pouring them into Uncle Luke's giant holes he dug in the sand. They both collected many seashells, flew kites on the beach with Poc, "surfed" on boogie boards with Uncle Luke, played horse shoes, and basically played non-stop the entire week. They slept in the same bed (which was a mattress on the floor of our room) each night and were so cute. Every night when we came to bed they would be on the same side of the bed on the same pillow....SO sweet! Our bathroom only had a shower, but it was a big walk in "rain" shower with three shower heads. The girls thought it was so much fun to take showers instead of baths. Savannah's showers were not complete without her shower songs which were hysterical. She made them up and they all had to do with rain. We also got to celebrate my sweet niece Emerson's (have I mentioned she was named after me?:) 2nd birthday! Yes...none other than Strawberry Shortcake! It's a family fav! We also had the privilege of being close enough to be at the hospital when my new niece Adeline (Addy) Gayle was born! She is SO precious and we just love her so much already. This is the first baby for Melayne (Brandon's sister) and Frederick and we could not be happier for them! They are already great parents! The trip was wrapped up with a famous fireworks show which we all watched from our balcony. It is a tradition we have done as long as I can remember. It was a busy week, but I did managed to eat some great sea food, sleep late AND read a great book! Here are some pictures of our vacation!





We have just had an unbelievable summer spent with family and friends. It makes me sad that it is all coming to an end. This is my very last day to have both girls at home with me. Starting tomorrow morning we will officially have a kindergartner! Savannah is thrilled...I just hope mom makes it through the day. I am sure I will have more to post about this big event later this week! Happy End of Summer!

I am still here....I think!

I thought I would just post a quick blog to hold myself accountable to catch up on everything that has gone on lately that I have missed blogging! I will have a LONG blog soon that will encompass a little of everything that I have not documented. Please don't feel obligated to read it! :) Since my last post, we put our house on the market, sold it in one week and now have finally found a new place to call home! We are not going far and are SO excited about our new backyard with trees!! We will be moving at the end of the month, so things are not going to slow down for awhile. Stay tuned!

Can it be?

As I was pulling out of the parking lot after picking up Savannah from preschool today, I glanced in her folder and to my surprise found this...her cap and gown picture proofs. My baby will be graduating from preschool?! After blinking back a few tears I was able to pull it together. I am just not ready for this. It sounds so cliche, but it REALLY does seem like yesterday she was born. Anyway, I am having major mommy anxiety about her starting Kindergarten. The school she will be attending will only be three days a week unless they have a field trip, but I will still miss her! Here are some things I just love about this girl and don't want to forget about this age.

-I love how she started brushing Caroline's teeth in the mornings all by herself

-I love how she knows every single word to the Strawberry Shortcake theme song.

-I love that she can sit and paint, color, draw, write, cut, glue....anything artsy for hours.

-I love that when she goes more than one day without seeing her friends or family, she will say she has not seen them in "years".

-I love how much she loves the Lord at such a young age.

-I love that she is such a morning person and respects that I am not. She crawls into my bed with me and "snuggle-bugs" until I am ready to wake up.

-I love that she says she is growing her hair out....it has been trimmed once.

-I love that she loves tea parties/dress up but also loves to play pirates or any kind of good guy/bad guy all in the same day.

-I love how clumsy she can be...reminds me of her mother! :)

-I love that she has a way of working the word "actually" into any sentence she wants to use this word.

She just cracks me up daily and I just love being around her! She is such a joy and has a heart of gold. I just wanted to remember some sweet things about her right now before she turns five and graduates from preschool!

I lost 8 inches.....

of my hair! :) I am posting this for my sister in Atlanta. On a complete whim yesterday, I chopped off my hair! That is just not something I would usually do without consulting my sisters! I had been talking about wanting a change, but didn't plan on this short. I really like it so far and it seems much easier. If not, my hair grows SO fast. Celeste, I can't wait to see you on Friday!

Welcome Sydney Claire!

We had a whirlwind of a weekend, most of it spent at the hospital loving on my sweet new niece! Sweet Sydney Claire was born Friday night at 8:31pm weighing 7 pounds 15 ounces. Meredith had a LONG day of labor, but it was well worth it! I have realized the closest thing to having a baby yourself is your sister having one. It was such a special day and I was thrilled to be there and welcome her into this world. Praise God for her healthy and safe arrival!

There is one thing for sure, Sydney will not be hurting for attention from these two cousins! They were so funny with her! One would hold her while the other stood waiting saying "it's my turn now!" They loved there "cousin" shirts and keep wanting to wear them everyday. Savannah is just a natural mother hen, but we were all surprised at how sweet Caroline has been with her.

I am one proud Auntie Em!

Spring Snow?

Yes indeed! Only in Texas can you play in the snow in March, two weeks before Easter. That is one thing I just love about this state....the unpredictable weather. It drives some people crazy, but I just love it!

I was sitting in the tea room chatting with my mom and sister and had no idea until we walked out and saw an inch of snow on our cars that the weather had gotten so bad. I had a moment of panic thinking what if the preschool had closed and I didn't know it and I was picking up a friend's daughter too....oh no! :) Everything turned out fine and we had a fun afternoon playing in the snow, drinking hot chocolate, and then playing in the snow some more! Caroline kept looking outside and saying "ummmmm.....somebody made a BIG mess!" The girls loved it! Savannah would have stayed out there until she literally turned into a popcicle.

Even more exciting then snow in March is that my sister is going to have her first baby today! Things are progressing slow enough that we are home now for naps, but will be headed back to the hospital soon! I will post once my sweet niece arrives!

busy, painting, and stitches...

I have two blogs written that I have not posted yet because I keep thinking I want to upload pictures first, but time is flying and I thought I needed to post something!

We have been SO busy lately! We are getting our house ready to put on the market in March, so right now this means fresh paint. The painter finished today and it looks GREAT! If you need a good painter who has great prices let me know.

Now for the stitches part...since we were painting, everything had to come down off of the walls. We have a tapestry that hangs from a wooden pole with two metal sconces. Well...that was taken down and laid on our mantel. It took less than five minutes for sweet Caroline to come home, find it and pull it on her head. Yes, the corner of the metal sconce! Did I mention this was at 5pm on President's Day? Six hours later, we were back home with stitches in her forehead. (I will post a picture later) We were told to go to Cooks downtown since it was on her face. Once we were finally seen, the doctors and nurses were so great. Caroline left happy with a popcicle and a new teddy bear. I had NO idea how traumatic it was having your child get stitches. I mean, I have heard people talk about it, but nothing prepared us for how terrible it was! We need to start a support group!

I will end with this soapbox...WHY...WHY...WHY must it take six hours in the emergency room? This is our second trip to Cooks and both times we have been there for HOURS....why? We sat next to a baby who was there with a diaper rash and across from another one with an ear infection. My child was covered in blood needing a few stitches and we were waiting in line with diaper rashes and ear infections. I apologize if I seem insensitive, but the sign says EMERGENCY room. I don't know which part of the system is failing, but it is not working! I know there are times when we need urgent care, but there are places for that too. I guess we need the current "Emergency Room" (after hours doctor) and a "Real Emergency Room" (used for real emergencies!).