Emily and Caroline

Catching up...

2010-08-17T12:30:00.001-07:00

I know, I know... I officially suck as a blogger! It ahs been over a year since my last post, and I have no excuses... well except that I have a job, am in grad school, and have a very active and energetic 4 year old!!

So, while I aspire to do better, but I'm making no promises! Here's a quick pictoral synopsis of what we've done this summer:

Caroline was the flower girl in Lance and Morgan Crowley's wedding. "Miss Morgan" has been at Caroline's daycare since Caroline started there and has also been our go-to babysitter!

Caroline performed in her very first dance recital. For her tap performance (seen above), she was a teddy bear. For her ballet routine, she was a lamb. She was adorable!

Jackson's coach-pitch team won their division championship, and we had a blast celebrating with the team!

Caroline, along with good friend Emily Adkerson and Jack Fountain, completed swimming lessons at the Sanderson Center. All three kids did great and had come along way in two weeks!

Each year the three church daycares downtown have a 4th of July parade. The kids are always so festive and have so much fun!! Caroline's first parade was when she was 9 months old, and it was quite nostalgic to look at the series of pictures from all 5 of her parades!

We saw the Braves beat the Brewers....and the kids ran the bases after the game. They also got a close-up of the Braves dugout.

Our last stop on the Atlanta trip was a fun-filled day at Stone Mountain, complete with Duck Boat rides, a trip to the top of the mountain, ropes courses, train rides, playing in the stream, and the laser show.

Whew....those are the highlights. Now, we're getting back into the fall routine. Caroline is settled into 4 year old Pre-K at First Methodist...our last year there before moving on to "big school" for kindergarten. Dance and gymnastics start next week! Football season and a Disney World trip are coming up. Updates to follow.... maybe ;-)

Tiny Dancer

2009-06-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

Caroline had her first dance class today!! She has been begging for months to go to "ballerina class, " so I finally made the move and signed her up for the summer session at Dancing Feet Academy. The class is one hour -- 30 minutes of tap, 30 minutes of ballet. Chloe and Tessa, her best friends from school, are also in the class! They were precious in their leotards and tap shoes!!

Caroline seemed to enjoy the class -- she came out with a gigantic smile on her face -- and she told me she wanted to go back "five more times." Lucky for her, she's signed up for 8 more weeks!!!

Loving the noise the tap shoes make!

Chloe, Tess, and Caroline

Bedtime Pals

2009-04-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

Of all the millions of stuffed animals and dolls Caroline has, she has shown a wee bit of favoritism to a giant pink/red caterpillar and a white unicorn (whose legs are much longer than its body), whose names are Cheese and Dooga, respectively.

Here is a picture of Caroline sleeping soundly with Cheese and Pink Blanket (the most sacred off all of C's possessions).

Super Bulldog Weekend

2009-04-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

Baseball, football, and fanfare, oh my!!

Caroline and I took in the sites and sounds (and smells -- the BBQ smelled fantastic) of Super Bulldog Weekend, and we had a blast! And although rain and cooler weather caused a little revamping of our agenda, we still got to enjoy most of the activities this weekend, and spend some fun time with friends. We made two of the three baseball games, and of course Caroline made a beeline for the diamond girls! She just makes herself a seat right in the middle of the girls that aren't on duty and is truly becoming one of them! Of course, we are partial to Jessica, as she is one of Aunt Nat's good friends. Caroline just HAS to get her face painted, and is on pins and needles until it's time to stand on the dugout and do the chicken dance!

We also went to the Bulldog Fanfare and had all the inflatable fun we could stand, and followed that with the spring football game, where we met up with Vic, Robin, and Mac Parker. Mac and Caroline had more fun with the Magna Doodle and eating popcorn.

As a parent there are a lot of strong morals and values you want to instill in your child -- being a die-hard Bulldog fan is one of them!! I think I'm off to a good start ;-)

Caroline and Jessica

Caroline and her captivated audience

Caroline and Jessica sporting their paw prints!

Bully

Fun at the Park

2009-04-16T08:46:00.001-07:00

We've been trying to take advantage of the sporadic nice spring weather by going to McKee Park. Caroline loves the slides and has even mastered the climbing wall!! There is a short tunnel that she loves to crawl through, and she calls it her 'office.' Her imagination really comes to life out there!! (You should be able to click this smaller image to link to a larger one.)

Hail, Dear Old State!

2009-03-09T09:48:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. Been a long time since the last post! Sorry -- I'm going to make an effort to do better!

Since Christmas, Caroline and I have taken in several men's and women's basketball games. Caroline has had a blast cheering on the Bulldogs! No matter what she is doing, when the band starts playing, she starts dancing! And she loves to do the chicken dance!! I just know I will be on the jumbotron one day as my child's chicken dance is featured!

And of course, no trip to the ballgame is complete without popcorn! The pleas for popcorn start the minute we pull into the parking lot!

This particular day, she wore her Miss. State t-shirt, although most game days, she demands to wear her "ballgame dress" which is an MSU jumper we bought for football season, and luckily, it's had just enough wear left in it to get us through basketball, too!

As basketball season comes to a close, we are looking forward to the spring weather and baseball games! Go Dogs!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-16T06:54:00.000-08:00

Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday and a happy new year!!

Changes in Latitude...Changes in Attitude...

2008-11-05T19:55:00.000-08:00

Jenny and I have instituted an annual Labor Day beach trip (2007 was the inaugural trip), but Hurricane Gustav forced us to postpone this year's trip by two weeks. Nonetheless, we loaded up the kids and headed to Destin for several days of fun and sun. By the time September rolls around, the crowd has gone home, and Destin is much more manageable! We can go to dinner at 6:00 and never wait for a table, and with a 3 yr old and a 2 yr old, that seals the deal! We pretty much had the kiddie pool area to ourselves each day, and the only thing bothering us at the beach were the seagulls that were attracted to the myriad of snacks that were mandatory items in the beach bag! I mean, that 100 yard hike from the condo to the sand just drains you of all your breakfast calories :-). Anyway -- it was a blast as usual and we are already geared up for next year!!

Last year, Caroline and Sutton were both a little water-shy. It took them up until the last day of the trip to even touch the ocean water and the kiddie pool was a feet-only venture for the most part. This year, they were all about the pool. The ocean was a little dirty and still rough from the storms, so it wasn't much fun for anybody, but the kids enjoyed the sand and all the millions of beach toys we hauled down there!!

"Cooking" at the pool

Beach Bunny

Trekking from the water fountain back to the pool

No matter the location, there's always time for Dora and Diego!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T06:53:00.001-07:00

Paging Dr. Caroline...

2008-10-30T16:51:00.001-07:00

I hope this is an indicator of her career aspirations!!!

The ABC's of me...

2008-10-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

ABC fun... an idea from Nat!

A. Attached or single? Single!

B. Best friend? wow..tough to narrow down..but to mention a few...Shannon, Holly, Mandy, Amanda, Chloe, Jessica, Paige...

C. Cake or pie? mmmm...again, tough call...but I guess I'll go with cake

D. Day of choice? Friday

E. Essential items? Cell phone, laptop, and if Caroline is in tow we gotta have "pink blanket"

F. Favorite color? Red

G. Gummy bears or worms? SOUR gummy worms

H. Hometown? New Albany, MS

I. Favorite indulgence? Bops Peach Cobbler a la mode!

J. January or July? July

K. Kids? got 1...Caroline

L. Life isn’t complete without? My family...martini nights with Shannon...cuddling with Caroline at night...

M. Marriage date? ummm....the next one? wish I knew!

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 3 sisters, 1 brother

O. Oranges or apples? Apples definitely

P. Phobias? Heights (well, more specifically ledges...it's not so much the height), Asian cuisine :)

Q. Quotes? "We're Adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop?" -Meredith Grey

R. Reasons to smile? I have a happy, healthy little girl who amazes me with something new each day and tells me daily that I am her best friend!

S. Season of choice? Fall! Love the weather....and love the football!

T. Tag 5 people.- huh?

U. Unknown fact about me? I cannot stop a gas pump until it is on the nearest quarter of a dollar amount. It's got to end in .00, .25, .50, or .75, and I will keep pumping until I hit one of those!! Makes me crazy. AND -- I balance my checkbook EVERY day!

V. Vegetable? Just about all of them....favorites are green beans, okra, and corn.

W. Worst habit? biting the inside of my jaw....to the point it bleeds, biting my cuticles

X. X-ray or ultrasound? Had both....ultrasound was much more fun because I got to see my baby!

Y. Your favorite foods? vegetables, spaghetti, anything my mom cooks, a good steak!

Z. Zodiac sign? Sagittarius

Scenes from Caroline's Summer

2008-10-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Caroline learned to ride a tricycle this summer!! Actually, I don't know how much actual "learning" was involved. She just got on one day and took off. And tricycle time was just not complete without her Dora backpack (thanks Nonnie!) strapped onto her back! It was quite telling when she rode up to one of the front porch columns and started placing her order for chicken nuggets, french fries, and a Sprite!

If only the nutrional value of popsicles mirrored that of broccoli!! However, popsicles were a great bribe! I got a lot of things accomplished this summer using popsicles as a reward!

Reading to a very captivating audience! Once she was done here, she took off for Pebble Beach with the golf clubs!

After a busy summer, you can't help but be exhausted!

"B is for BIG, ol tears..."

2008-04-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm really not actively playing the alphabet game that is going around on blogs these days (although, when I have more time to devote to blogging, I think I might try it...), but after reading Nat's blog for today I felt compelled to respond on my blog, and maintaining the alphabet game theme just seemed fitting. And I say big ol' tears because what Nat said in her blog brought tears to my eyes, yet at the same time, a huge smile to my face.

First of all, I will admit to being a bit of "take no prisoners" type big sister. Unfortunately, I am totally guilty of all the things Nat mentioned. However, in my defense, the minute steak incident occured only after she'd been warned not to to touch me!

I think it goes without saying that as you get older, you come to appreciate your siblings a whole lot more. There's less sibling rivalry, less fighting, less frustration.... But I have the distinct pleasure of also having sisters who, as I have gotten older, have become my best friends.

Natalie is always so quick to point out how my being in Starkville was such a comfort to her and how I helped her through so much, but little does she know how many times I've silently depended on her....or found strength in her. I've always felt I was needed as a pillar of strength for so many, and I never felt like I could waiver or lose my composure, and somehow, my baby sister, who thought she was leaning on me so much, was actually the one holding me up. And when it was time for me to face parenthood and bringing my daughter into this world, I found there was no one I needed more than Nat....and no one I wanted more in my support system. Everybody should have an Aunt Nat....but don't even think about taking ours!!

Nat, You always find the sweetest ways to make me feel special. Getting to be your big sister is one of the most incredible things to ever happen to me, and with each passing day, I find a new reason to be proud of you, to admire you, and to love you just a little bit more.

He must become greater; I must become less.

2008-03-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

John 3:30 was the verse of the day that arrived in my email inbox yesterday (www.verseoftheday.com), and it has really amazed me lately at how such a simple ministry has touched me in such a powerful way. It seems as though the verse that arrives each morning is exactly the encouragement, the guidance, or the inspiration that I need.

With everything that is going on in my life right now, I've spent a lot of time in prayer and trusting God, but as much asking as I've done, I don't feel like I've done enough in the way of living for God. Therefore, yesterday's verse stung a little. I was sharply reminded that I need to live FOR GOD, not for Emily.

Here Goes...

2008-02-24T23:10:00.000-08:00

My little sister has inspired me to start blogging...thanks Nat! She always seems to lure me into whatever it is she's into at the time -- it's usually a TV show, so at least we're on to something new now!! I'm sure the postings and updates will be sporadic for now, but I'll try to get some sort of routine going.