AC squared

2012-01-29T20:12:00.000-05:00

I have been sleeping on the job of updating the blog!! Ansley is actually asleep on my side of our bed and she obviously did not care about the big pile of drool she just deposited!! Thanks love!!!

This is a picture of her from her school's Christmas Program; she is mid "Our God" ......see clip below........she is in the front row third from the left:

Enjoy!!

Coming soon to a mailbox near you....

2011-12-04T22:43:00.000-05:00

That is right, for the first time in our family history, we are sending out Christmas cards!!!

Fall Happenings

2011-11-04T09:21:00.000-04:00

I need to play catch up!!!

These are pictures from the parade in our neighborhood every year; I always have to work that Saturday, so Eric teams up with some of our neighbors and takes the kids....caught being silly!!

As you can see from the look on their faces, they are anticipating the rush to get candy from the next float.....or firetruck.....or boy scout troop

This is just a random picture to prove how happy our kids are when they get to eat sugary treats that his mommy obviously does not give him (smile)....

And then there is this! So we are at the cabin, and I hear gun shots outside, but do not think much of it as the cabin borders a national forest....and then I hear a lot of talking outside, and so I think, well maybe I should go out and see what is going on......only to find this.......seems the boys (Charlie included) have gone squirrel hunting......very troubling.....

Austin spotted for Eric, Eric shot, and Charlie retrieved....luckily the camera ran out of batteries prior to Grandpa Barry teaching Austin how to gut, skin, and pull the meat off of the squirrels so that Grandma Delma could make some squirrel soup!!! I have to say I could not have gone back to being a vegetarian at a more appropriate time in life!!!

Oh that is right my friends, Austin is holding the critters by the tail without a glove; I almost had to give one of my "talks" but then remembered that boys will be boys and a little squirrel blood never killed anybody......please do not tell me stories of someone who got hurt by dead squirrels!!!

Then there is Ansley's Halloween party. A few weeks ago she asked if she could go back to school, so we put her in a Mother's Morning Out program at our church. Eric went to her Halloween party and helped her to decorate her cookie.

She had lots of fun and was dressed up as a lady bug....stay tuned for the costume shot!!

This was at the cabin, this past Saturday afternoon. An has given up her afternoon nap, but on Saturday while we were waiting for dinner to be ready, she fell asleep sitting up in a chair....well, it was late and I did not want her to take a nap so late in the day, as she would then not go to sleep until, WAY LATE, so .... I picked her up. Well, she of course continued to sleep in my lap, so then I tried to make her stand up, and she started to wobble.....and then she sat down on the floor and continued to sleep, sitting up. This was the best picture to capture what was going on, but picture her swaying back and forth, sleeping while sitting up!

And then there was Halloween; Austin went as a pirate and Ansley a lady bug. Eric had class, so I was by myself, so needless to say, we got lots of candy but did not give any out, since no one was home when the trick-or-treaters came around!!

An and one of our next door neighbors, Jordan, that she loves.

And then this is Austin and Aris; they are in the same class and have a play date every Friday afternoon. So they obviously gravitate towards each other at neighborhood events. Earlier in the day on Halloween, Austin saw Aris's mom at the school and asked her if he could borrow a sword for his pirate costume (as I obviously was not going to let him have a sword to use to poke his sister's eye out with) and she brought it to him. The look on his face was as if he had won the lottery. I rationalize that this just makes him appreciate things more!!

Have a great weekend, and I will try to update more often!!

Another birthday

2011-09-07T14:21:00.000-04:00

Another day, another post, another birthday.....this time Grandpa B. is 65!!

Singing 101

2011-09-01T20:10:00.001-04:00

I am not soliciting birthday wishes; just posting to my virtual baby book :)

For some reason the audio is not matching up with the video; I will try to fix that later.

Kindergarten

2011-08-15T19:05:00.001-04:00

Oh happy day, oh happy day!!! AC1 started Kindergarten today!!! Austin just told me that was a rhyme. Just before we went to the bus stop.....(flash back to birth)

and then back to reality...................

This is a shot of the whole group who rode the bus from our neighborhood to school today. There were about 20 in all. Austin did great ... until ... he got to the bus and realized he had not gotten a hug from mom before he walked towards the bus (he did get a hug but was so wrapped up in the awe of the bus he did not even notice the hug).

Fortunately for us, there are several kids from our cul-de-sac on the bus and one of the 4th grade girls took Austin's hand and led him onto the bus...at which point he positioned himself in the back row with her...anyone worried yet???

Oh happy day, AC1 is a Kindergartner :)

Picture Diary

2011-08-06T22:30:00.000-04:00

You just cannot get us off this lake :) We took our neighbors' son with us a few weeks ago; I am just now getting around to finding the camera cord :)

Austin LOVES this float and another one from Granddad

Our neighbor Logan went out on it too!!

Logan and Eric went fishing; but not catching.....

Then, we got the most interesting gift that I only think could exist in GA; you can get free mulch from tree companies when they have to cut down a tree. This actually came from our power company; I called them months ago, and they just put your name on a list and when they are in your area and have a load they come and drop it off!! Free Bradford Pear tree mulch!!! It covered our back yard; we are very glad, the weeds were OUT of CONTROL!!!

Okay, so last weekend at the lake these ducks come swimming up to us while we are playing in the water....you would have thought, based on Ansley's reaction, that they were 3 headed ghosts....she screamed and screamed and cried until Eric put her in the boat ... she was deathly afraid of them, but yet felt fine feeding them food from inside the boat. So she and Eric threw them crackers while Austin and I swam close by.

LOVE it!!! Tired (pronounced ty-rad)

The next day we found a new duck and her babies....again Ansley about screamed herself hoarse until we got her back into the boat!!!

Irritating

2011-07-24T22:01:00.000-04:00

So as I am drying Ansley's hair tonight, Austin turns on my fan and starts doing the thing all kids do when near a fan, talking into it. He only says one thing before he turns it off and looks at me and says, "Mom, I'm not going to do that because I know that it is irritating."

Now if only he could get it through his head how irritating it is when he picks on his sister :)

Holiday Weekend

2011-07-04T21:02:00.000-04:00

So we spent the weekend at the cabin...........swimming:

Our cabin is just behind these "monsters" ... we can only dream of being able to buy one of these :) but it puts it into perspective of where our house is with regards to the lake.

How Austin spent his weekend........jumping off the boat into the lake.....he really is amphibious

This is just a far away shot of the lake area where we spent most of our time.

Austin could be in this inner tube all day; and I do mean all day!! We pulled him behind the boat for quite a while. This is a picture of him before we talked about hand signals....so for like 10 minutes we are driving around the lake and we have no idea what he is saying, but we know he was talking non-stop. Seems he was saying go faster, slow down, and stop....we now have hand signals :)

An & I keeping close watch on the talker

When we docked for lunch An needed to go to the little girls room, so Eric took here to the bathroom, well just as they walked into the boy's room, there was a wasp nest and a wasp bit An; the worst part was that it got tangled in her hair and bit her twice while trying to get out of her hair. It was a red wasp and my mom was allergic, so we were super worried!!! We rushed home and got her a Benadryl and Tylenol and she was fine. She actually seemed to forget about it until we would ask her how she was feeling ... poor thing!!

Some how Eric convinced me that I could take Ans out on the tube and he could pull us slowly....it lasted for a bit but eventually we dumped out.... A2 did NOT like that at all!! No more tube for her and I for a while :)

A1 on the other hand could stay in it all day...until

Oh that's right my friends....we let A2 drive the boat while Austin was in the float!!!!! HAHAHA

Can you see her little head behind the steering wheel????

"Hey An, don't look at Austin, look at Daddy ... don't worry about steering, smile and wave for the camera!!!" ............ okay, kidding!!!! I am out of the picture but am actually holding onto the wheel and throttle the whole time....tricked ya!!

After all of that fun, we had to get some rest!!!

Happy 4th of July America!!

Progress

2011-07-04T20:46:00.000-04:00

One of the best things about our new cabin is that we are super close to a lake, so we decided to take out boat up there permanently, which meant for the first time in three years Eric has been able to park his truck in our garage. This, my friends, is real progress!! So because of that, we had to build a "parking spot" for our trash cans to be in compliance with out HOA.

Which meant power tools!!!

Austin helped Eric to build the fence and gate for the landing...kind of hard to describe...but here is Austin putting on the hinges.

Ansley thought coloring one of the boards was a fabulous idea!!

Look at the cuts and bruises on her legs & knees; seems this girl is quite clumsy!!

but at least she can still smile :)

Is Austin trying to pop Ans' head off or is he just being silly? You decide....

After all of that hard work, they set off for an afternoon at the pool. This is a weird angle, but in the picture the two of them are actually sharing a pool chair during adult swim. We needed photo documentation of them sharing :)

Lima Bean

2011-07-04T20:37:00.000-04:00

So one of Austin's projects in school this year was to plant a lima bean and grow it hydroponically; well, once well established we decided to move it to a pot.....and low and behold, what do we have here??????

Dinner!!! Woohoo!!!

So we asked Austin if he wanted to eat his product, and wait for it....NO!!! He wanted to take out the seeds and plant the new seeds so that he could have more plants. To think, this was the one way Eric and I thought we could get him to eat something green!!

Last few days of Pre-K

2011-07-04T20:33:00.000-04:00

The last few days of school were activity days for the parents to attend and participate in with their kids....so Eric went to the field day and helped with the bean bag toss. The girl in this picture is Austin's "best" friend Ashley. They played really well together all year and he said he was going to miss her. Some how out of the 20 kids in his class and the 20 in the other class only one other little girl is going to the same elementary school. The weird thing is that our house was only about 2 miles from the Pre-K. But it seems that most kids who are going to our elementary school either went to a church program or stayed at home this year.

Austin is searching for the bean bag and Dad is not helping at all!!! If I could just reach.......

Of course, there was ice cream as a reward at the end of the event; note: Austin did not share with Eric.

A semi-picture of the whole group.

Austin is eating his cupcake before lunch; what a surprise!!!!

Sign says it all!!!

Yippee!!!!

Austin's End of School Graduation

2011-07-04T20:24:00.000-04:00

When I tell you that I have been too busy to sleep, I am not kidding!! So I am playing catchup on life for a few posts............

So, I think I wrote about this before...........but in case I have not..........So Austin was in a Georgia Pre-K all year, and they had an end of year party for the two classes of twenty that were in his school.....look at all of these people!!! It was only Pre-K for 40 kids, but from the looks you would have thought it was college for 100!!!

This is just a random shot of the crowd.......

Okay, in my defense, the plate is for A1 & A2 and myself....I am not that big of a pig :) but the point is to look at the look on Austin's face....he is like "I am not eating anything but cake Mom!!!!"

Ansley just hung out with Grandpa the whole time eating & drinking too :)

Here is Austin's graduation cupcake; there were lots of As in his class

So each student got an "award" from their teachers (Austin's are Ms. Ana (jeans) and Ms. Kristy (Red shirt) and he is racing away in the bottom left hand corner with his Science Award!! Why am I so happy about his award? Well, while other students got the "diva" award or the "soccer" award, Austin got the science award because he loved to do math & science in class and per Ms. Ana "often would ask me questions in class that I would have to go home and look up the answer to and get back to him the next day" ... this simple statement makes me proud :)

I am not sure why I included this, but the three of us are walking to the playground at the park; it was an "unofficial" graduation so it could not be on school grounds.

Anywho, we all had fun and are proud of Austin going to Kindergarten, finally!!!

Easter & Cabin

2011-06-25T23:09:00.000-04:00

Better late than never right?!? This was a picture from Easter morning; the kids need to coordinate their "lean"

As I alluded to in my birthday post for Austin, we bought a mountain cabin with Eric's parents and older brother. It is about two hours from our house and is less than a mile from a lake. We can walk a little path to the lake and go fish or swim or whatever. We have been going up every weekend since we got it, but have stayed home this weekend as Eric has major school work to get completed.....

This is the backyard/side yard; as you can see it is a bit steep :) The kids LOVE it there and have had a ball running up and down the hill and playing in the lake. Charlie has also had a blast swimming in the lake and running around, but he got poison ivy (don't say dogs cannot get it) and he has been MISERABLE for a few days....but after taking Benadryl four times a day for five days and LOTS of Calamine lotion, the boy is on the mend.

This is a snapshot of the kitchen in the cabin, and is good for perspective, as the entire cabin is pine. And I mean EVERYTHING. I will have to take a picture of our bedroom, it is like a pine wood insane asylum. Pine walls, floor and ceiling; beautiful but we have got to find a way to break up the continuity :)

Anywho...............that is all the news fit to print for now.................

5

2011-06-19T20:54:00.000-04:00

Yippee, Austin, you made it!!! You are 5!!! You had fun today with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Bunny, Dad, Ansley & Mom. We spent the weekend at our new cabin in the North Georgia mountains and you and your sister had lots of fun getting into lots of stuff!!

As you said a few days ago, the only worry you have in the world right now is if the water is going to reach your chair....that is you kid. You are amphibious and would LIVE in water if given the chance. You want to go to the pool 24/7 or play outside in the front yard with the sprinkler or go to the lake .... but you don't like baths because that means bedtime is around the corner.

And rocks; oh dear do you love rocks! In fact Granddad & Nanny sent you some super cool rocks from El Indio, Flat Rock, South Padre Island, and even your favorite mud pit :) You carry them around with you in an old mayonnaise jar as if they are treasures from worlds past. Which reminds me, you are a collector, I think they call it hoarding, but I am in denial. You would keep everything if we let you. And I do mean everything!! You always keep the packaging for any toy you get and you generally carry the packaging around with the toy, for safe keeping.........

The only way I can get you to get rid of something is to get you to donate it to some kids who do not have as much as you do, so in many ways you are generous....again that is my spin. You are also generous with your sister, just today you gave her a lick of your ice cream cone because she did not have any (she had already finished hers).

You really do say some of the craziest things I think I have ever heard; funny thing is that most of the things that are so funny sound like something Granddad has said and you have picked up, or at least something that Granddad might say. Just tonight at dinner you said, "Aw mom, I don't want to eat any dead pig." Of note: your Granddad is laughing right now til it hurts!!

Your dad swears you sound like a redneck sometimes by the way you enunciate some of your words, like worm & work; you are a Georgia Cracker!! But you also say "Mom I love you," just when I know you want something that you think I am not going to let you have .... oh Austy boy!!

You start Kindergarten in the fall, as we are SUPER excited for you, but we are also worried you may not be mature enough; only time will tell, but Ms. Ana & Ms. Kristy said you were ready to go and it would break their hearts if we did not send you.....so big boy, you are off to the races!!

Now, of course, you do still drive us CRAZY sometimes with all of the whining and crying that you do, so hopefully you will grow out of that sooner rather than later. But I have a sinking suspicion if I go back to last year's birthday post I will see the same thing, which tells me I have to do better as Mom.

Bottom line kid, we love you to pieces and are so glad we made it to 5!!! Happy Birthday Austin, Austy, AC1, etc.

Odd things heard in our house today........

2011-06-06T20:47:00.000-04:00

Just now, I hear crying from Ansley's bedroom, strike that, whailing.......I go running in there and this is what I find........."Mommy, I broke my teacher book!" It seems Brown Bear, Brown Bear finally bit the dust, the spine has been severed :( We will have to get the girl a new one. She, like millions of other kids her age, loves BBBB and has loved it to pieces, literally! She has it memorized and "reads" it over and over every night to her dolls in bed with her, and it was just too much tonight.

At dinner, Austin's food was hot, so he asked me to blow on it. I was being lazy and just blew on it from across the table where I was sitting, so my aim on his food was not quite "direct" and he gets a big smile on his face and says, "Mom, your breath is so cool and refreshing"............really?

Granddad's Visit

2011-05-30T21:23:00.001-04:00

Grandad and Nanny came from Texas to visit about a month ago, and I am just now getting to putting the pictures up on the blog; So Sorry!! Anywho, while they were here, Grandad went to Austin's Pre-K classroom on a Friday afternoon and played the role of the "mystery reader." See the class does not know who is coming or what they are going to read. Well, we kept Granddad & Nanny's visit a COMPLETE surprise from Austin & Ansley. They literally had NO clue that they were coming in from Texas to Georgia, so it was a MAJOR surprise for Austin to say the least!! This is a picture of Granddad reading to Austin. Note the cowboy hat on the table behind Granddad. You see, Grandad walked into the classroom as a cowboy, with his hat on and his boots.

Here he is reading to Austin's whole class (sort of) there were actually 20 kids in his class, so they are not all in this picture.

And then the parting shot, with all of us. Austin had a blast!! And I have a sinking suspicion that Granddad did too!!!

After it was all said and done, the kids actually had more fun talking about the "cowboy" that came to visit their classroom than the book he read. Seems we don't have too many cowboys in this part of GA!!!

3

2011-05-21T21:27:00.003-04:00

Ansley is 3! We are so excited!! 3! 3! 3! Yippee!!

Here she is opening her gift from Nanny & Granddad

And opening her cards from SO many good friends and family members!!

and playing with her baby doll!!

Remember this is our baby book:
Ansley, you are 3! WE cannot believe it. Some of our favorite things about you right now are: the fact that when you say you are 3, you say "free;" you love for us to be "proud" of you, (Mommy, are you SO proud of me?); you NEVER cry!!! I mean never, you fell today off of the bouncy house and you did not cry; you are so not related to your brother!! You love to give hugs, even to complete strangers; we are working on that!! You love your friends at school and the teachers always say that if they only had Ansleys to watch all day that their jobs would be too easy! You love to poop in the potty, and I only wish I were kidding when you tell us everyday that you pooped in the potty...you share too much!! Charlie is still your dog, he loves you like nobody else! You are still really small, as of a few days ago, you still only weigh 24 pounds. You are strong willed and confident; you do not let anyone push you around! Yet you are very flexible and agreeable. If you have a toy someone else wants (usually Austin) then you give it to them and just keep going. Just today your daddy said he thought you had an "old soul" just like him :) You enjoy books and baby dolls; every night you read to your baby dolls and pat them on the backs with their blankets on their backs, just like the teachers at school. Dresses are your thing, and anything PINK!! You like your hair in "ponies" and are a girlie girl. Bedtime is not your favorite and you still sneak into mommy & daddy's room sometimes to sleep with us.

Your brother LOVES you and often he or you will go up to the other and say "Austin, I love you" or "Ansley, I love you" which makes your mom & dad happy. Even though you may make each other crazy sometimes, you still look out for each other and want the other to be happy.

We love you big girl!!

Some bunny

2011-05-21T21:27:00.002-04:00

This is an old post that simply would not post until today :(

It seems that Uncle Bunny felt that the Easter Bunny should bring us two bunnies.............

meet Ansley's Bunny (that's right the bunny's name is Bunny)

and Thumper :) Two rabbits are twice the fun!!

This is just a random picture of An from earlier this winter.........don't you wish you were that flexible?

And we'll have fun, fun, fun

2011-04-17T22:22:00.001-04:00

Okay, so as you all know there has been some CRAZY weather going around the US lately........and we had our latest storm on Friday night........there was hail: which apparently scared a little frog half to death.....so much so that he was clinging on for dear life on our glass front door :) And then, despite all of our storms on Friday night, we still had a special visit from the Easter Bunny at our neighborhood clubhouse on Saturday morning!!

Austin and Ansley told him/her all about how excited they were to see him/her

then they went out for the "great" scavenger hunt

Ansley was on a mission!!

Austin was hopping around rather quickly

This was half of the group out hopping around......An is hiding behind a friend

And this was our "street" shot :) Roger, the little guy on the left is our youngest neighbor; he and Ansley enjoy hanging out as the little people. Then there are Austin, Saxton, Madison and Kylie.....all enjoying an early Saturday morning Easter Egg Hunt!!

Happy Palm Sunday!!!!

Anti-Oxygens

2011-04-08T22:00:00.000-04:00

As you know...Austin is with Eric's parents for Spring Break....he called me again the other day, since he knows his phone number and all and said this: AC1: Mom, I need to eat more antioxygens Me: Okay Austin, why? AC1: Because they are good for your body Me: Okay, where do you get antioxygens? AC1: From blueberries. Me: Oh you mean antioxidants AC1: No mom, antioxygens, they help you feel better. Me: Okay, well the next time I go to the grocery store I will be sure to look for foods that are high in antioxygens. AC1: Okay mom, you are a good mom.

Bacation

2011-04-04T20:54:00.001-04:00

Austin is on "bacation" for a week for Spring Break and we asked Eric's parents to just take him for a few days so we could still go to work, etc.....and they have decided to take him until Sunday; that would be a week my friends..........I may be weak at the end of this week :( Charlie is already missing him This was our bonding moment before he left ... and then there is always Ansley, taking full advantage of AC1 being gone :) She had date night tonight with daddy while mommy was teaching :) So one of the many skills Austin has learned at school is his home phone number. So today, while with Grandma & Grandpa B. he calls our home phone and leaves this message: "Hi, I am Austin. Mom I love you. You are a good mom. and you are a good mom. And I love your dad. The end. Bye." Gotta love that kid!! So then, while talking to Grandma, she asks him, "who do you call in an emergency?" and he says 911 and Grandma says no, 411, and Austin says, "no Grandma, that is for information; you call 911 for an emergency" ...... Grandma conceded :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2011-03-17T22:10:00.001-04:00

Luck 'o the Irish to ya'

I caught them mid-play on our backyard swing set.

An is swinging on her "big girl" swing.........I can vividly remember doing this myself as a child.

Austin making tracks in the sand box ........... finding and burying treasure :)

My favorite time of year!! This is from a cherry tree in our front yard.

Charlie and his girlfriend, Goldie, the next door neighbor........fyi........Charlie is the one in the back of the picture.

Damn it

2011-03-15T22:25:00.000-04:00

So Eric's parents picked the kids up from school today, and while riding home Ansley said "damn it" and so of course Austin in turn said "damn it" too....so Grandma says "Austin, where did you hear that, you do not say that, who do you hear say that?!?" To which Austin replied "Ansley"

I still smile when I hear that little voice in my head; I also am dreading my life with teenagers :)

Two words

2011-02-27T14:12:00.000-05:00

I have two words for you blog readers of the world....................POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!

Need I say more?

Hanging out

2011-02-01T19:50:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Uncle Scott!!!

Eric had class tonight, an Accounting midterm at that, so we were hanging out being silly!!

Austin looks cross eyed and Ansley has no eyes.....just like her Mom apparently :)

Charlie is confused as to whether or not he is to eat the camera or just look at it

We decided to color in the kitchen; Austin is practicing writing his name (and so is Ansley in her own world)

I think Eric took this last night after bedtime while I was at work ... this is a "post-bath-my daddy is letting me stay up too late" picture.

So I met with Austin's pre-K teacher today to discuss his readiness for Kindergarten in August. She seems to think that academically he will be fine but she, like me, is concerned about his maturity level and being ready for the discipline needed for Kindergarten. To make a long story short, after a long talk with the assessment specialist at his Elementary School, we will get him assessed in May to determine his readiness for Kindergarten. Our inclination is to get him started "on time" in August, but we do not want to push him into school if he is not yet ready. So we will just wait and see what we hear in May. Stay tuned....film at 11

Progress

2011-01-18T20:32:00.000-05:00

So she pooped in the potty!!! Yeah!! But then, a few short hours later, at the doctor's office regarding the fever & persistent cough, she pooped in her diaper :( I was very sad!! But still very excited that she pooped once in the potty, it's a start!! She was diagnosed with a virus and told to stay home for a few days, so we will keep with the potty training. Again, I have decided not to show documentation of these events.

So tonight at dinner the conversation goes like this:
Austin: Mom, there is a great king in town who does great things!
Mom: Oh?
AC1: Yeah, his name is Martin Luther King
Mom: Oh, yes, I know him.
AC1: Yes, he does great things, he changes the world!
Mom: Do you know how he did that?
AC1: Yes, he got people to stop fighting.
Mom: Who is fighting? Do you know why they are fighting?
AC1: No.
Mom: Oh, okay, where did you learn about Dr. King?
AC1: At school!
Mom: Great, did you learn anything else about Dr. King?
AC1: No, that was it.

We continued talking about other things at school and he showed me how to write "cat" ... who says kids don't learn anything at school?

Perseverance

2011-01-18T12:50:00.000-05:00

Today, there is a battle of wills going on in our house. You see on Saturday night, Eric's parents kept both kids, so we had time to go shopping and take care of errands, etc. So we had time in the diaper aisle at Target to compare prices, look for bargains, etc. ... to that end, I decided I was done!! I was DONE wasting $20 on 124 diapers!! DONE I tell you!! DONE!!

So today, I stayed home with Ansley and have been stuck in the kitchen with her since 8am and while she has tt'ed in the potty numerous times, she refuses to poop!! So ... as I sit here and look at her sleeping on the floor of the kitchen without a diaper on because I know the minute I put one on her she will poop in it ... I think to myself, how did I ever think one stubborn girl was going to ever teach another stubborn girl how to use the big girl potty!!!

I will be victorious!! Or will at least not put a diaper on her again!!

Snow mountain!!

2011-01-14T15:10:00.000-05:00

This is a video of Austin going down the snow mountain our neighbor created .... of note, school was cancelled again today, and with Monday being a holiday for MLK day .... we will have been out of school for 10 days!!! We really did like the snow initially, but now, we are tired of it!!

Honesty

2011-01-12T11:08:00.001-05:00

This was the best sight I have seen today; seems we are stuck at home for day #3, which would not be bad if day #1 had of been a Saturday...but it was a Monday, so this means our kids have been stuck at home for 5 days in a row with very little time to play outside due to the bitterly cold temperatures.....so........this is a picture of Eric driving off with the kids and one of the neighbors and two of their kids to go to the grocery store and run around and get essentials ... and ... a much deserved trip to the McDonald's playground to go get some of their energy out!!

They say that the roads will probably not clear up until Friday afternoon, so that would be one week without school ... it was fun at first, but I think the kids might go stir crazy by Friday, only to have a weekend, and that my friends is a week with no school. That is enough to make this old woman weak!!

The mound beside Eric's truck is the mound of ice we scrapped last night so that our cul-de-sac might be more manageable today. One of our neighbors left yesterday while he could, with a suitcase, so that he could go to work, and then just spend the night there until the weather improved enough for him to come back home.....oh the sacrifices we sometimes have to make to pay the bills!!

Hope you all are warm!!

Snow 2011

2011-01-10T20:29:00.000-05:00

Oh my gosh!!! That's right, 5 inches of snow!! Now, of course when I first did this, I thought it was 7, but of course the ruler is upside down!! duh!!!

We are SNOWED in!! Love it!!

Austin making a very rough snow angel.......at some point overnight the snow was light and fluffy, but then the sleet started and it became hard on top but very fluffy underneath, so ... snow angels were hard to do....... but ...... fun was had none the less

Austin showing us how cold he is

I am going in for a snowball, mid snowball fight with Austin ...... could be a great picture of our house if only I was not in the way :)

The hill leading up out of our cul-de-sac........needless to say, we are all going to struggle with it. Eric made it up it a few times on his four wheeler; he and the kids had fun playing!!

Austin had just fallen down, face first into the snow bank the neighbor had made while scraping their driveway.......note Ansley on Eric's four wheeler with her white cowgirl boots!! They are too girly!!

The snow hill the neighbor made; I cannot even begin to describe how much fun our whole neighborhood had on this. Basically it is just a snow slope - like a down hill slip and slide made out of snow, with hills and ramps that kids rode down on anything that would slide. At one point there were at least 10 kids in line to go down the hill. It was AWESOME!!! To think, this is Georgia!! Ansley and I rode down once together on this chair thing, and we totally flipped and I landed on my head - needless to say, I have a really bad headache, but An was fine!!

Later on, she rode down by herself, and I was SO nervous, but the smile on her face when she got down to the bottom of the hill without falling over was priceless!!

She liked sitting up here as she was safe from the snowball fights!

And my favorite part of the day; snow ice cream!! This is one of my all time favorite memories from being a kid; my mom used to make snow ice cream for Scott and I. You just put milk, vanilla and a little sugar in some snow and mix it up real good, and tada ... snow ice cream!! It was awesome, and I am so glad the kids and I got to do this today!! We even saved the extra to eat later. Our snack was hot chocolate with snow ice cream.

so much snow!!

Hope you and yours are safe and warm!!

Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-29T11:36:00.000-05:00

Texas came to Georgia for Turkey Day 2010!!

Carter and Austin found a familiar sight at the Fernbank Museum

Here they are running through a rain simulator.....pretty cool!

Carter (in Aggie paraphernalia) in front of a GIANT dinosaur!!

Ansley is explaining how to make a screwdriver work!!

Carter is taking Ansley for a ride in her Jeep!! At first Carter wanted nothing to do with this Jeep because it was for "girls" ... but once he saw how much fun they were having in it, he decided to join in!!

We got to watch the Longhorns play the Aggies; it was a good game, and I am glad the Longhorns did not get beat too bad!!

It was great to have Uncle Scott, Aunt Natalie and Cousin Carter here for a long visit; it was their first time to come to Georgia!! We had a blast and can't wait to see everyone for Christmas!!

Caught!

2010-11-27T20:17:00.001-05:00

Somebody caught us outside being silly!!

Been a while!

2010-11-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a while, and I am sorry for that; we have been a little busy!!

This is from Austin's school. While his singing is not the best, he is quite proud to belt it out. His teacher sent this mainly because he built himself this little podium and then put a block behind it and found a microphone to get his best ABC song out there for all to hear :)

We had our follow up visit to the pediatric urologist, and ...... Ansley is fixed!!! Her urinary tract reflux has stopped due to the urethral reimplementation, and now her urine stays in her bladder...YIPPEE!!!!! This is a great relief, as she no longer has to have a catheter put in each time she gets a fever. She would only have to do that now if she has a fever over 103.0 and .... she is starting to potty train, so hopefully she would be able to provide a urine sample without the catheter. All in all, it has been a great week!

Of note, mainly to me so I won't forget :) Ansley's left kidney will always be smaller than her right one due to the damage caused by the reflux, but it should not have an impact on her life. However, her children have a 60% chance of having the same condition, so we will have to remind her of this many, many, many decades down the road .... tee hee :)

We also celebrated Eric's birthday and had an awesome bar-b-que dinner to help remind us of Texas. He was in training all week, so he did not get to go fishing or hunting for his big day, but he may in the coming weeks.

I had a conference presentation last weekend in Savannah, and Eric's parents agreed to take both kids for the weekend, so Eric and I got to go and have a relaxing weekend. The weather was great and on our way home we stopped in Juliett, GA and ate at the Whistle Stop Cafe, where Fried Green Tomatoes the movie is based and we had some FGT, they were awesome!!

So again, all in all, we are great here and are ready to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holidays with family.....more to come soon.

Halloween!!

2010-10-31T21:02:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween!!!

Ansley, our puppy dog and Mrs. WeeWee (Wendy), our next door neighbor

Our street pre-hayride.......Eric made us a hayride in his trailer and took us to the party and then took all of the kids in the neighborhood for a ride.........or for 7 rides of about 10-15 kids each time!! What a trooper!!

Austin & Ansley before we went.........he was a red Power Ranger and she a dog..........note it is the same costume he wore when he was 1.5 years old, and she in 2.5 years old :)

Here is Austin at his school's Halloween parade.........he is the only one with the orange hat....

Here he comes in the "parade" through school.

We had a great day; hope you all did too!!

Lotion

2010-10-29T22:18:00.000-04:00

So Eric took Ansley to the grocery store today and an "older" lady (70 ish) says to Ansley that she likes her makeup! Well, of course Ansley was not wearing make up, and Eric did not want someone to think that he would let his 2 year old wear make up, so he gently said to her that An was not wearing make up. The woman said she could not believe how pretty her lip color was, and how it was so amazing that her lip color was so naturally beautiful....Ansley piped in and said "lotion" and smiled really big! Seems the kid already knows a thing or two about getting pretty!!

Hair Color

2010-10-10T21:11:00.000-04:00

So we were driving home tonight from dinner at Grandma & Grandpa B.'s house and I asked Austin if he was excited that it was a school day tomorrow, and he said yes! I told him I had to work tomorrow, so I had a school day too. He said that meant that the orange haired people in the family had school and the brown haired people had a stay home day. He then said, "well Ansley has brown hair, and Daddy has black hair, with a little grey."

I laughed until it hurt!! Why??? Because Eric only has 3 grey hairs, but somehow Austin has paid enough attention that he knows they are there and was quick to point them out......Eric has a birthday coming up soon......maybe he needs some male hair color!!! hahahaha!!

Too much TV

2010-10-01T20:13:00.000-04:00

So I was cleaning the floor tonight and unable/unwilling to get up and get AC1 & 2 something from a shelf, so Ans decides to push a chair over to where the shelf was and climb on the chair (mom of the year here I know....she already has broken one finger climbing on the same chairs)....and she cannot reach whatever it was she was going for.....so Austin climbed up on the chair, and then up onto the desk and turns to Ansley and says "don't try this at home."

Oh my gosh!!!! Did he really say what I think he just said!!!

Me: Austin we are at home
AC1: I know mom, but Ansley is too little to do this
Me: Where did you hear that phrase, "don't try this at home?"
AC1: That dirty show (Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe)......

Note to self: turn off TV!!!!

Ultimate Playdate

2010-09-22T23:48:00.000-04:00

Our school district is off this week.......makes no sense to us, but we are making the best of it around here......our local park had an Ultimate Playdate for the kids. Eric took our kids with several of the neighbor kids and parents while I worked :(

Here Austin is bogeying with Saxton, Kylie & Logan

Here Ansley is shaking her groove thing with Jordan and Madison and Wendy

More shaking and grooving....

Somehow earlier in the day Eric fed six kids their lunch.........pretty impressive. But more impressive was the fact that no one got into trouble :)

Beach!!

2010-09-22T09:06:00.001-04:00

Sand dollars ............

and waves can mean only one thing..........

We made one more trip to the beach to squeeze in the last bit of summer!!

Eric & Ansley inspecting their "loot"

time to make a river, as sand castles were out in this type of sand.............

We went down to Jekyll Island off of the Georgia coast and had a blast playing in the water.

These rocks behind An serve as a barrier for erosion.....at high tide these rocks are all that you see as the waves are crashing over them and there is not any "beach" to play on; at least that was the case for the part of the island where we were staying and where we would go to play.

This was a picture of the marshland just as we crossed the bridge onto the island

A really cool bridge to get on/off the island too.......goodbye summer, it has been fun.........see ya again soon!!

My brain

2010-09-16T20:10:00.000-04:00

Conversation between Mom & Austin tonight:

Austin: Mom, we learned about lying today at school and I was thinking in my brain, that we probably don't lie at our house, so I thought in my brain, I won't lie at Mom & Dad's house. So I think my Mom & Dad would not want me to lie at their house.

Mom: So does that mean you would lie at someone else's house

Austin: (thinking....looking at Mom.....)no, I don't think so because I don't think their Mom & Dad would let them lie either.

Mom: Okay, I don't want you to lie at all.

Happy Grandparents' Day!!

2010-09-12T10:02:00.000-04:00

Today, Ansley was getting ready to talk to all of her grandparents, and decided to let Charlie have a try at talking to her relatives...she sat down beside him with my cell phone in hand, and lifted up the flap of his ear (he's a lab) and put the phone under the flap and had a pretend conversation with "dandad"....I laughed until it hurt!!

Happy Grandparents' Day!!!

Parade!!

2010-09-11T13:49:00.001-04:00

There was a parade in our neighborhood this morning so Eric took the kids with one of our neighbors....great fun was had by all and they brought home a back pack full of candy!!! I truly have not seen so much candy since Halloween!!

This is just a random picture of the parade....

Here is Ansley going for the candy!

Ansley & Austin are coming back with their loot!

Eric took pictures of them before they left....in case they got lost :(

Austin looking inquisitive ....

To whom?

2010-09-09T20:52:00.000-04:00

On our drive to school this morning I said to Austin that I needed to make a brief detour to mail some cards....
AC: To whom?
LT: What did you say?
AC: To whom are you mailing the cards?
LT: I guess you are paying attention when I correct your grammar ....

enjoy your Friday!!

Labor Day

2010-09-07T20:54:00.001-04:00

We spent three days outside in our front and back yards during the Labor Day weekend working on our yard and all of our neighbors...we should get cul-de-sac of the month!! It all culminated with smores in our backyard on Monday night....

Ansley LOVED them!!

Austin and some of the neighborhood girls roasting the marshmallows

Ansley explaining to the camera that it was completely appropriate to eat with your fingers :)

Hope you all had a happy Labor Day too!!

Antagonizing

2010-09-07T20:53:00.000-04:00

So Austin was laying on the couch the other day reading a book and An walked over to him and started trying to read the book too and Austin deadpanned said to her "Anzy will you please stop antagonizing me." I died laughing....seems those words of the day from Grandad have a lasting impact ;)

Camping

2010-09-07T20:44:00.000-04:00

Austin, Eric and Eric's dad, Barry, went fishing and camping the weekend after Ansley's surgery so that she would have some peace and quiet and be able to recuperate a little easier than having a 4 year old around....they went to Carter's Lake, GA and the entire time Austin kept saying "I sure do like Carter's Lake" implying that it was his cousin Carter's lake and Carter had loaned it to them for the weekend!! Very cute!!

This is a shot of what they looked out at from their camp site on the lake

This is a shot of Austin going up a water fall....Hook'em Horns hat and all!!

nap time....looks comfy

another shot of the lake........they said it was beautiful

AC1 enjoying the water and spending time with his dad and grandpa. They had fun and AC2 got some good sleep!!

Ureteral Reimplantation

2010-08-25T16:07:00.000-04:00

It's done; we are home from the hospital, and all went well. Ansley had her ureter reimplanted into a new spot in her bladder. She is on restricted activities for 2 weeks and then will go back in a few weeks for follow up tests to assess the surgery's success. But for now, she seems fine, she is wetting diapers as she should be and she seems pretty much the same old Ansley.

Here she is after getting her "giggly juice" before she went into surgery; the nurses were great and everything they did to Ansley they did to her baby doll first so that things were not so scary

she really did look drunk in real life too! She just kind of hung out in Eric's lap and talked more gibberish than normal!!

I did not take a lot of pictures as I mainly held her all day and night; but here are a few...

hanging out coloring - her eyes were pretty red and irritated on the skin all around her eyes as they taped her eyes closed during the surgery. She had "caudal anesthesia" so her muscle control was a little out of whack and they wanted to ensure her eyes were safe during the surgery. So her eyes were really the worst looking part yesterday.

a close up of her IV; just remember this is my digital baby book.

her room; Pooh in the background helped out too during the rough parts. We were confined to our room yesterday since she had to be hooked up to a number of machines; IV, blood oxygen monitor, etc. She had trouble sleeping, so she and I both slept in her bed, it was a little uncomfortable, but worth it so that she was not so restless. She would wake up periodically and say, "close your eyes Mommy" "go to sleep Mommy"

she was drawing a picture for Austin for good measure ;)

We made it through, and are thankful for the skilled doctors, nurses, etc. that helped us!!

I will update more later.

Brakes!!

2010-08-15T21:23:00.000-04:00

I have decided to marry Eric ;) I have had squeaky brakes (really squeaky) for several weeks/months now, and they were starting to drive me crazy and were a bit embarrassing in the "kiss & ride" lane at Austin's school..........so, my dear husband replaced my brake pads tonight, and taught me how to do it too!! I was completely impressed!!!

Furthermore, he did not utter one cuss word and it only took an hour!!! I think I should marry this man!!

Thanks dear!!!

No liky big bed...

2010-08-13T19:54:00.000-04:00

So tonight after we put Ansley down for bed, she showed up down stairs a few minutes later saying "no liky big bed" "no liky big bed" ... so I picked up the somewhat sobbing child and carried her back upstairs to her room. See, while Nanny & Grandad were here An went to her big bed instead of her crib, so we took it down and are planning to sell it, so there is no going back!!

But I did find it intriguing that after several weeks of no problems, all of a sudden she didn't like her big girl bed....so as she and I were talking, in came Charlie to her room, and then into her bed!! Seems she does not like her big girl bed because Charlie felt it was his duty to sleep with her. So when he jumped in, Ansley again said "no liky big bed" and I asked if it was because Charlie jumped in with her and she said "jes" (yes). So problem solved, and we are now back to "liky big bed."

You all sleep tight in your big beds too!!

OMG a month off!!

2010-08-09T09:48:00.000-04:00

Where have we been? Busy!!

Let's recap....but first....today was Austin's first day of pre-K!!

All dressed & ready to go...

Has his backpack all packed.....plus his frog for nap time

Having second thoughts about leaving....

And then there is the parting shot.....Austin walking out the front door and Ansley shocked to be staying home ... such a big boy!!

So what has been going on since we last spoke.....
Granddad & Nanny came to visit us for a few days
Ansley went for her annual urinary tract study/tests
Ansley's Urologist has determined that her urinary tract is not getting any better on it's own, so we have scheduled her for surgery on 8/24. She will be in over night but this should fix the problem for good!

That is all the news that is fit to print....stay tuned, I hope to get some video of Ansley talking on the phone up here later today ;)

Ansley's 2 year old check up

2010-07-02T20:59:00.000-04:00

We grew these in our back yard!!

So Ansley went today for her 2 year old checkup (yes it was a month & a half ago) and she "looked good." She is growing and developing as scheduled and we are set to go back to the urologist in a few weeks for her VCUG and Renal Scan. She will have to be put to sleep for the Renal Scan as the pictures take about an hour and she has to lie totally still.

So anywho, her stats:

Height: 33 inches, so she should be about 66 inches when she is full grown (so the wives tale goes) which makes her taller than Grandma B, Grandmother T. and her own mommy!!

Weight: 23 lbs - which puts her back on the positive side of the percentage mark; she previously has been off the chart in a skinny kind of way

Head circumference: 49 cm - which is 82% so, she has a HUGE head!! Thanks to her daddy & big brother!!

BMI: 15.2 which is 20% which is way better than Austin's!!

and her iron levels were good, so she does not have to take iron like her brother!!

So all in all, a good visit; only one shot and a foot prick to check her iron.............we will give you the scoop on her other tests when we know something.

Happy 4th of July!!

4 year old check

2010-06-29T08:47:00.000-04:00

Austin had to go to the doctor yesterday for his 4 year old check, and I told him, "oh Austin there is nothing to worry about, they are just going to say, 'Yep, he looks like a 4 year old.'" I was SO painfully wrong!! He got 3 shots and had to give a blood sample.....ooopps!! He was a trooper!! Seems his iron is low so he got put on an iron supplement and we go back in 1 month to see how his levels are.......otherwise here are his stats:
Height: 42 inches
Weight: 40 lbs....according to Grandad T. that is a pound an inch!!
His BMI is 76% so we have to keep a look out on this as he is a big boy and anything over 90% is considered overweight!! We are not too concerned as he is incredibly active, but we have to cut back on things like hot dogs for dinner more than once a week....obviously a good thing!!

So later on last night, he wanted to show his "concerned face" after he got his shots and finger pricked!

But then he and Ansley just played in her room for a while...........they are doing this more and more and it is really great!!

Austin got a hair cut too (free for his birthday!! I am SO cheap) and so he was happy about that too!! Have a good week!!

My Clone

2010-06-24T21:54:00.000-04:00

He crawled in bed this morning with me and fell asleep too....so much for him being an effective alarm clock ... kind of scary how much we look alike

Happy 4th Birthday Austin!

2010-06-19T14:29:00.000-04:00

Editor's note: another post for our kids virtual baby book

Yippee, Austin you are 4, you made it! Here you are eating your birthday cake!! You turned blue ;)

This is your bike you got this morning from Grandma & Grandpa & your firetruck that Nanny & Grandad gave you is behind you in the picture...you opened your firetruck about a week ago when the package came in the mail and got rained on, so the box was not hard for you to open and you got to it before I did ;)

We are glad you are 4, you are pretty tall, so you have seemed like you were 4 for a while....but sometimes you don't act 4, you definitely are in the stage of you being hard headed.....I hope this phase goes away soon!! (Good luck, right?!?)

You are quite the talkative fellow, you will strike up a conversation with just about anyone, even when it is time to go! You love to call Grandad in the morning on your way to school to ask him for the word of the day, today it was delicious, and so all day you tried to use the word delicious. This is working to expand your vocabulary, as last night you were outside playing and told the neighbors that Charlie had been irritating Dad. Don't know where you learned that word!!

You love to play with trucks, any kind, any place. Fire trucks, trash trucks, dump trucks, tow trucks, monster trucks, cement trucks, bull dozers, container trucks, etc. You love to "bash" things into each other. You love to take toys to school for show & share. You love to play in the mud and the sand box, you have never met a mud puddle you did not like. You LOVE to watch your "one show" which means one TV show; you go through phases where you want to watch one TV show everyday, and then days where you don't even remember we have a TV (I like those days). You love to read books, eat cereal, play with trains, eat popsicles and hot dogs, go to the pool and jump off the diving board with your life jacket on, play with Charlie, eat yogurt, throw balls, play golf, wear pajamas, eat fruit snacks, your teacher Ms. D....You LOVE to do puzzles, we can literally do a new one everyday!! You are now able to do 100 piece puzzles all by yourself. One of your favorite sayings is "Well Mom, I am just a little hungry."

You do have some room to work on things....you still do not like to share, and you are a bit whinny!! Sometimes this drives me CRAZY!!! In fact, generally the main things you get into trouble for are not listening & whining.....part of that is being 3 and now 4, but we gotta work on it!! You do love your sister, every night you give her a hug, and you always ask if you can pick her up when you get bigger ;)

This is a picture of her eating your birthday cake ;)

Well, happy birthday little dude, I am sure glad it was a happy one!! You make us very happy and we can't wait to have another big year with you. You start pre-K in the fall, you big boy you!!

Ladies' Man

2010-06-09T12:21:00.000-04:00

So last night we were outside playing with our neighbors, who have 2 daughters, and Austin decided to be sweet....almost. So he was playing beside a gardenia bush, and decided to pluck one of the flowers to give to one of the daughters, but in the process of picking the flower for her he fell back into her and almost knocked her down......then he decided to pick a less challenging flower for the other daughter, and went over to one of my rose bushes and decapitated one of my not yet bloomed rose buds.....the boy had good intentions, just needs to work on his delivery ;)

Needless to say, he picked nada for Ansley & I......:(

Dress up

2010-05-30T14:16:00.000-04:00

We never really play dress up around here....but we did yesterday.....

Ansley is wearing her "dress" which is actually one of my old maternity shirts ;)

And then there is our little Tibetan Monk....I tried explaining to Austin about Tibet and the monks, etc.....he was not as interested as I thought he might be ;(

Happy Memorial Day weekend, we are thankful for those who have fought and served so that we can be free!

Birthday party fun!!

2010-05-27T08:16:00.001-04:00

Ann LOVED her cupcake on Sunday, but she only ate the icing, she skipped the cake part ;)

She had to get a little help from Austin to blow out her candles

It was hot (for Georgia) on Saturday, so we set up their kiddie pool in the front yard

Austin kept jumping in like this into the pool....

and this was always the resulting splash. I don't know if you can see it as well, but there is water splashing up above the pool. Needless to say, Austin absolutely loved the water and ....

notice where Ansley is....that is because she wanted NOTHING to do with the water again. It did not matter if Austin was in the pool or not, she did not want anything to do with the water. Oh well.

We considered moving Ansley to her big girl bed last night, and she really was not liking the bed, so we tried to all sing her a song to coax her to sleep. It did not work and she went back in her crib. But Austin's good night song was noteworthy.......

Ode to Ansley by Austin

Goodnight Anzy

Goodnight baby sister

I missed you today

But I saw you on the playground

And Connor had poop on his back

Goodnight baby girl

Goodnight baby

Goodnight Anzy

Aren't you feeling sleepy already?!?

2

2010-05-21T09:42:00.000-04:00

Readers note: I am not good at keeping a baby book, so this blog is my baby book for our kids, so this post is not really for y'all so much as it is for Ansley and our memories of her on her 2nd birthday)

Ansley, Annie, Ann, Ampersand, Anzy (Austin's name for you),

You are 2!! I cannot believe you are 2!! It does not seem like it has only been 2 years since you were born; honestly, it feels like 5! You are such a joy and I just feel like you have been here with us for a long time.

You are such a good, sweet child. Everyone that meets you says how pretty or cute or adorable you are, and as your mom and dad, that makes us feel wonderful inside, not because we want people to think we have a cute kid, but because other people can see how wonderful you are, and it is not just us!! Although of course we are super partial!!

You and your brother are just starting to play together like true siblings; of course you fight and argue, but you also seem to play together too! Austin has figured out (slowly) that if you have something he wants, if he just asks you for it, you will almost always give it to him. You are very giving and you really love to share.

You love to share everything, but especially food. You want to share your food and you insist that others share their food with you....no matter what it is!! You love everything dad & grandpa eat, and you like some pretty weird stuff, raw onions seem to be one of your favorites!! But you also like horseradish ;)

You love to talk, you love to laugh, you love to be tickled, you love to be silly, you LOVE Charlie like no one else, you love to pat Charlie's face & back, you love to swing and play in the sandbox, you love to talk on the phone, you love to smile, and you love to be loved. You love to wave bye and blow kisses, you say "kiss, kiss" and wave bye. You sound just like a southern belle when you say "bye" and we all laugh when you say it.

You have your stubborn moments too (don't know where that comes from) but you can get a stubborn streak in you. You have already started to roll your eyes up into the corner of your eye socket when you are in trouble, and you will refuse to look at us when we are trying to talk to you about what you did. But honestly, this happens about once every two weeks, and it usually happens when you are tired or when Austin has been picking on you! But I am not making excuses ;)

Everyone at school loves you! Numerous teachers on numerous occasions have said that they wish all of their kids could be like you! Your daily notes share things about you like: she did a great job answering yes & no questions; she loves singing her ABC's; she knows her numbers; she loved playing outside.....

We can always tell when you are sick; when you have a fever you are bright red and you are just not your normal self! I hate when you have to have a catheter put in to draw a urine sample, and you do too!! You have been better this year, and we hope the end is in sight. Nothing hurts your mother more than seeing you in pain. Every time we go to the doctor's office now, you will not let me put you down and you scream when I do, as you probably are thinking that a catheter is coming....I am so sorry for that and I am willing all I can that you get better soon.

I love you so much it hurts sometime, because I wish that your grandmother was here to see you since you would have been one of the prettiest apples of her eyes! You remind me so much of her and you are just as sweet as she was. I know she is watching over you and I hope to help you know her through me. I am just like her in many ways, as I am crying now as I write this, and I know she would be too!! We are just old softies at heart!!

You are now starting to show your loving side by patting your baby dolls on their backs and putting them to bed. After you lay them down and pat them on their backs you say "shhh" and put your finger to your lips, it is pretty funny. You also love to say certain words that just make us laugh!!

You are small! You definitely have your grandma's genes, as you might weigh 22 pounds, and that is with all your clothes & shoes on and a pretty full diaper!! You are short, but as your dad always says, you are dainty!! Since you are so small it is okay that you still love to be carried, but as you get bigger, you are going to have to do some more walking on your own!! But I will carry you as long as I can! This is not to say you do not walk on your own, but given the chance, you love to be carried around ;)

We are so glad that you are our daughter, sister, granddaughter, and niece. Happy birthday Ansley!!

ps. your real birthday party is on Sunday so that the rest of your family can be here. Today your school is having an "end of the school year" party, so you will have lots of sugar at school!

Big day!

2010-05-19T19:15:00.000-04:00

It has been almost two years since Ansley was born so....we finally got a haircut!!

This is an after shot

This shows you how long it is now....she got about 2 inches cut off

She was happy to pose for the camera

This was taken before we went to get it cut, so you can kind of see how long it was....but this last picture has more to do with the idea of nature vs. nurture....we do not encourage her to play with dolls, in fact, most are up so high or tucked away so that she cannot play with them, not on purpose so much now, but before she was just too little to play with the ones she had been given. But this last picture shows her new favorite past time, it is taking a towel/blanket and covering her baby doll and patting her on the back. I am sure she sees the teachers at school doing this for her and the other kids in her class at nap time, but she has just starting doing it here with this doll. Mind you there are NO other dolls or girl toys down at her level, most everything is boy based, like trucks and trains and cars, etc....so I am a firm believer in the nature idea that girls are more nurturing. Just my two cents ;)

Hard day at work....

2010-05-14T15:23:00.001-04:00

Don't ask me why, but a publishing company had a marketing event at the Atlanta Motor Speedway today, so we got to go there and preview their new textbook line and....go for rides in pace cars!!!

This is just one of the "pit" cars that we got to take pictures by...but we got to go for rides in a 2010 Chevy Camero at speeds of up to 115 mph!! It was so much fun!! Not a hard day at the "office!"

Happenings around here....

2010-05-13T20:46:00.000-04:00

We came home from Tybee Island today....wish we could have stayed a little longer, as we had a blast!!

Eric had fun making sand castles ;)

Ansley had fun playing with our rubber mallet that we took with us to hammer in the umbrella to keep us shaded (of note, only Eric got a sunburn this whole trip, and that is because he did not wear any sunscreen!! Silly boy). The rest of us pale people wore plenty of sunscreen and some of us (Ansley) even got a little bit of a tan!! Ansley continued to hate the water and generally just wanted to play in the sand box (beach).

Austin & Eric played in the water with a beach ball, Austin had SO much fun!! I think this is a pretty cool picture with the way the light reflects off the water...it was early on Wednesday morning, and we were almost totally by ourselves on the beach.

Austin & Ansley really started playing together like brother and sister this trip; they slept in the same room and would talk to each other in the morning when they woke up before Austin would come and get us up too.

Uncle Bunny gave Austin a new truck before we left, and he loved playing with it in the sand and water....we lost the doors to in the first day in the surf....look how empty the beach is!!

We came home to rose bushes in full bloom; this is how Eric gets out of buying me flowers, he buys me rose bushes instead; the gift that keeps on giving!

Hot fun in the ocean!!

2010-05-11T22:28:00.003-04:00

We came to the beach for a few days between semesters..............lots of fun!!

Austin & I playing in the water.......ignore the blindingly white bodies!!

Austin is concerned that you all might think he is having fun

Austin & I are having a water fight!!

Ansley keeps calling the beach a sand box....but, rest assured, she HATES the water!! She does not like to be in the water at all!! She cries and fusses and screams.....she just wants to be held or to run around in the sand.....when she does walk, she will go to the waters edge with us and walk, but she deliberately avoids the wet sand...prissy!!

But at least she is having fun in the sand box!!

Happy Meerkat Mom Day!!

2010-05-09T20:51:00.000-04:00

Today, Austin asked me if he could give me a meerkat kiss...sure!! So he came over and licked me on the cheek!! eeww!! But I'll take it!!

Today, the kids & Eric gave me a cool card that sings; before Eric gave it to me Austin told me it was a super hero card....turns out it was! It was "Mom the Superhero" card ;)

Happy mothers day; I hope you got some licks (kisses) too!!

Really bad sign

2010-05-02T20:23:00.000-04:00

Tonight while Eric was making Austin's bed with clean sheets, he lifted up the mattress to tuck in the top and look at what he found!!!! That's right it is a Bruder toy truck magazine!!!! When asked why he had it under his bed, Austin responded, "that is my hiding place".....well at least we know he already thinks like a teenage boy .... hahahaha....look at the look on his face

BUSTED!!!

p.s. Eric did not pee in his pants, it was bath time....all of the boys in the house are potty trained!!

Even sicker

2010-05-01T10:21:00.000-04:00

When I went to get Austin from school yesterday they had him in the front office with a towel around his neck....said he had a 103 fever.....so since it was 4:30pm the pediatrician's office was closed already so we had to go to a minor emergency clinic....after smelling his breath, I knew what they were going to say....Strep Throat part II. Seems strep throat is being spread around our neighborhood like a good rumor ... so back on antibiotics.

If you are keeping score, that is two sick kids on two different antibiotics and ibuprofen in our house. Both have fever, both are cranky, both want to just be held all the time or lay on the couch eating popsicles or run to the bathroom because they think they are going to throw up or yell at the other for looking at the other or ..... who wants to come take a shift so I can get some sleep??? I know, I know, it is always all about me ;)

Still sick

2010-04-30T13:07:00.001-04:00

This is a picture an an iris in our front yard; it reminds me of my Grandmother T's house growing up, she always had irises growing in the spring and the smell and image always reminds me of her ;)

Ansley came home from school with a fever yesterday, so we went back to the doctor this morning, seems her ear infection is still there even after she finished 10 days of antibiotics, so they put her on another round of antibiotics....but....no catheter!!! YIPPEE!!! That is a great day at the doctor's office in our house. Kind of puts being sick into perspective ;)

Have a great weekend!

Two Years Ago

2010-04-28T21:58:00.001-04:00

Almost two years ago we went to see our Texas family and friends and Austin & Eric went swimming in the "springs"....let me assure you that this water is freezing even in August!!

Here is Austin's reaction to catching his first fish with Dad, Grandad, Uncle Scott and Cousin Carter....all of whom are not in the picture as you can see....

We need to make a return trip to Texas soon!!

Sick

2010-04-23T20:54:00.000-04:00

We have been sick for two weeks in our house, first Austin had strep throat and then Ansley has had an ear infection & urinary tract infection combination....fun fun few weeks of antibiotics in our house, and several days home from work & school. Seems both are back to "normal" and doing well

This is one of our azalea bushes blooming; I meant to catch others, but alas, I have not made the time.

Charlie, trying to show that he knows how to listen...faker!!

Austin & Ansley had a picnic for dinner tonight outside in our front yard, Austin is clearly excited!!

Ansley was excited too; so excited she could not stop eating chips for the pictures to be snapped

We moved our picnic table to the front yard so they could enjoy a change in scenery....they had a great time!

Happy Spring!!

Happy...

2010-04-07T21:29:00.001-04:00

Birthday to Grandad....he is so old he forgot to turn his phone on so that Austin & Ansley could wish him a happy birthday!! kidding!!

Birthday to Aunt Stacey...she is the big 40!! She had a big party this weekend, so Eric & I got a sitter and had a night out with adults!!

Easter! We had an Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday at Eric's parents house....his Grandma B, Aunt Becky, Uncle Skip & Cousin Eileen were all in town from St. Louis to visit for Stacey's birthday and Easter....

Ansley came home from school on Friday with a new word.....chocolate

This is Ansley mid hunt

This is Austin showing his competitive nature...he wanted ALL the chocolate!!

If you know me well, you know there was no chocolate in any of those eggs!!!

Happy, Happy Day!!

Sad news

2010-03-25T10:15:00.001-04:00

My mom's mom, Grandmother H passed away on St. Patrick's Day, so Eric and I made a quick trip to Texas for the funeral. She was 101, so in many ways it was more of a celebration of her life. We got to catch up with family and friends while we were there. This is a picture of my aunt & uncle and most of my Grandmom's great-grand children.

This is a family group shot; it is a bit hard to get a group all together at once ;)

One of my favorite stories from growing up involves our mom taking my brother and I to my Grandmother's hometown when there was a big snow fall. My mom wanted my brother and I to see "real" snow, as at the time we lived in Austin and there was not any real snow there. So we went for a week and played in the snow with our grandparents. Well, the funeral was Saturday morning, and when we woke up Saturday, there were several inches of snow on the ground, so to me it was a perfect day to say goodbye to my grandmom. We will miss her dearly!

Checking in

2010-03-10T08:34:00.001-05:00

This is often Ansley's favorite spot in the house; she loves sitting by Charlie when he eats. I wish I were joking when I said she doesn't eat much of his food, but more than once she has snuck in a bite.....I know we are awful parents!! Obviously we checked the label and there were not any poison control warnings, she only ate one little piece, and she acted fine afterwards, but now we have to watch her watch him eat ;)

Charlie is doing great, he is just a fabulous pup!

Austin and I decided to make home made play dough the other day and we had a ball playing with it. His smile to say hi to the folks in Texas and beyond!

His "masterpiece" of play dough:

Sometimes it is better to just not ask ;)

Rainow

2010-03-02T08:27:00.000-05:00

I thought weird weather only happened in Texas! Today it is raining and snowing at the same time, now I realize Eric may call that sleet (maybe the rest of you too) but I call it rainow, one drop of rain for every drop of snow....and no I did not/cannot take a picture as it just looks like rain ;) So while my true calling may have been meteorology, I will stick with being a teacher for now.

Circus!!!

2010-02-28T19:58:00.001-05:00

So Eric was on a morning program this month for work and met Bello from the Big Apple Circus, and he invited all of us to go to the circus........so we finally got around to it today!!

Eric's parent's, brother & sister-in-law, and the 4 of us went and had a great time eating cotton candy, popcorn, hotdogs, etc., etc....

He are Austin & Bello backstage with the tiny horse
Here is the whole family backstage.............

A closer up picture........like how you can only see the adult's faces??? Annie is staring at Bello's hair trying to figure out how to make her's do that!!

Here is Austin with Bello up close.........there was a lot going on and honestly Austin was scared by a lot of the things.......but also excited. He really enjoyed the trapeze acts and wanted to do it too! Ansley liked this big spinning wheel contraption thing that went around and around.

All in all, we had lots of fun and the kids went to bed without a whimper tonight!

Night Night

2010-02-27T20:32:00.000-05:00

It has been a long day....Ansley and I have a cold and it is cold outside so we were stuck inside all day :( But tomorrow is a new day and we are going to the Circus!! Stay tuned

Onion again

2010-02-23T20:11:00.000-05:00

So Ansley was in the refrigerator today getting her milk, I thought........nope, she found an onion and opened the Ziploc bag, took out the onion, and took a bite.....I could not make her put it down, she just kept taking bites....OMG did her breath smell!!! WOW!!

Meet Charlie

2010-02-21T20:13:00.000-05:00

We got a new dog from the pound this week.........

We think (pretty sure) he is a yellow lab; he is about 1-1.5 years old; he weighs about 65 lbs. and is the sweetest thing you have ever met.

He is very calm and gentle; he lets Ansley "walk" him around on the leash ;)

Ansley was not in the mood to smile for the camera!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day outside, so we all hung out outside for several hours and got to let Charlie get used to the neighborhood.

Austin tried to show him how to fly a kite ;)

Austin tried to get the kite going, but there was just not quite enough wind....

Ansley LOVES this dog!! I think she is going to have to fight me for ownership!! He is just so amazing, I cannot believe he was a "stray." He knows how to sit and "shake" and loves to have his belly rubbed. He got "fixed" on Friday, so he is really calm, and may liven up some, but even if he doesn't I am in LOVE and am so glad we got him!

What is even funnier, is when Austin does something, like takes Charlie's ball away and he is not supposed to, I say: Austin apologize to Charlie, and he says "Sorry Charlie" and it is just the funniest thing you have ever heard!!

Welcome home Charlie!!

Good night

2010-02-15T20:34:00.000-05:00

Austin has been home today without Ansley, he wanted to wish her good night, so here is his good night smile for his sister ;)

Been a while

2010-02-15T14:01:00.001-05:00

So sorry that it has been so long! Every time I would come to the blog to post something new, I would see Madison's picture and it was just too much, I really, really miss her! I am still really sad that she is gone, but at the same time realize she is better off not suffering. She had gotten pretty ill and lost a lot of weight and it was just time, but I am really heart broken; thanks to all of you for your well wishes!

We actually went to the pound yesterday and looked at new dogs; we found a yellow lab we liked and will wait to see if we are approved to get him, maybe this weekend......I really think that a new dog will be a nice addition to our house ;)

So, what's new? Lots & little!

Here you find Austin in his finest duds!! OMG, mismatched socks, pajama pants, too long t-shirt and all!!

He is showing you his puzzled look! So this past week I decided to cut his hair.....he was in the bathtub and I was just going to "trim" the back a bit.....in the process I cut his ear!! Total accident, obviously, but it bled pretty bad and I felt AWFUL!! When he finally stopped crying and bleeding, he turned around and this is what followed:
Austin: "Mommy, first and foremost"
Mommy: dying laughing
Austin: "Mommy, why are you laughing?"
Mommy: "Austin, did you really just say first, and foremost"
Austin: big smile on his face "I like that word"
Mommy: "Okay"
Austin: "First and foremost, Mommy, you need to apologize for cutting my ear"
Mommy: still laughing/smiling "Okay Austin, I am SO sorry for cutting your ear"
Austin: "Okay, and second, next time I promise not to move in the chair at the haircut store because I do not want you to cut my hair anymore"
Mommy: "Okay Austy, that's a deal!"

Austin is learning to read at school; he goes to a mother's morning out three days a week

here are 3 of his words, he knows about 10: Austin, at, cat, fat, big, it, door, chair, window, snow...

Speaking of snow.....this was the view on Friday out of our front door.....we got about 3 inches total, but nothing like what Dallas, TX had!! We were jealous.

And then, there is Ansley........my sweet little Ansley........she fell this week and had to go to the ER. This picture does not do her finger justice.......she was standing in one of our kitchen chairs and turned around, and the momentum knocked the chair down and she got her finger caught between the chair and the floor....she broke the tip and had a HUGE cut that bleed like I have never seen anything bleed before!! We took her to the ER, she got several stitches and the tip is broken.....she had to get x-rays and the whole 9 yards.....but she was a trooper!!

The whole time in the ER she was waiving to everyone who walked by her room, and saying "hi" You have to hear Annie's "hi" she is a pure southern belle!

Here she is showing her boo boo for all the world to see!

Goodnight Maddie

2010-01-21T11:38:00.000-05:00

We had to put Madison to sleep today; she was 13.5 years old and had lived a good long life. We will miss her.

Christmas times 3

2009-12-30T12:54:00.001-05:00

So we did 3 Christmases, try explaining that to 1.5 & 3.5 year olds!!

Here we are in St. Louis for part I at Eric's Grandmother's house - this is her and several of her great grands - Austin loves to smile huh

Later on, when he was alone with just her & one camera he was a little more camera ready!

So part II, Santa came to the casino where we were staying and brought us stocking stuffers and SNOW!! Here Austin is playing in the snow with Uncle Bunny

Here are some of the family (22 in all) members relaxing and putting together Christmas presents...Ansley is supervising

And then part III, I did not get any pictures of.......when we got back to Atlanta, Eric's brothers & significant others and parents all came to our house for gift exchange.........thus I made a big dinner........while preparing spinach artichoke dip, I was cutting up an onion........Ansley saw it and kept saying apple, apple......I told her it was an onion, so she starting saying onin, onin, bite, bite, so I gave it to her........yep, this is not "photoshopped" the kid is eating an onion like she would an apple............I cannot even begin to tell you how proud Eric is and how disgusted I am!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

2009-12-16T22:05:00.001-05:00

Ansley will eat anything her daddy makes and her mommy hates.......

potato salad - yuck!

Ansley is going to be a climber...........she climbs on EVERYTHING........chairs, tables, beds, bed rails, boxes, anything her little body can muster up ............

Eric is doing all of the cooking for Christmas..........kidding..........here he is just so proud of himself for smoking a pork shoulder that made us miss Texas :(

Austin is saying hi to all of the folks who still happen by our blog..........sorry to be gone so long

Ansley is starting to gain some weight.......here she looks a little chunky - (more potato salad on her face)

Ansley will eat anything.........here bacon.............

and finally...........Christmas!!!

Eric had to get in the picture as Ansley was not too keen on Santa..........and of course Austin gave his "goofy" grin ;)

We are in the middle of finals and grading.........Austin starts school in a few weeks, just a few mornings a week.........Ansley is OBSESSED with zippers!!!.........Eric did great in school this semester.........and Madison is just plain getting old............that's all the news that is fit to print ;)

Zoo

2009-11-13T21:17:00.001-05:00

We went to the zoo today with our old nanny & her daughter; it was a beautiful day finally, so we all enjoyed the sun...........

Austin sort of blends in with the lions ;)

This is our old nanny, Lane, in the foreground with her daughter, Femi.

Ansley, as always, the perfect angel; she sat like this for most of our 2 hours at the zoo, she loves to take in the sights. She did get out to stretch her legs at the playground and had lots of fun there....she loves to go on this little school bus toy, I literally have to persuade her to get off, may be a good sign for days to come ;)

Austin and Femi roaming in the "lions den" ..........have a great weekend.

Boys Weekend

2009-11-09T13:41:00.000-05:00

The boys (Eric, Austin, Grandpa B., and Uncle Bunny) all went on a camping trip this weekend as part of Uncle Bunny's work........obviously lots of toys for boys were there and Austin apparently had a blast!!

It seems Uncle Bunny's co-workers did not know he was Uncle Bunny instead of Uncle Brian and that was a HUGE hit for all parties; Brian has come to be fond of the name too, it has taken a while.....

So the girls (An & I) spent the weekend alone.....she had to get her 18 month shots on Friday, 3 immunizations and a flu shot, so she and I laid low all weekend so she & her arms could recover ;)

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-31T21:46:00.000-04:00

So our neighborhood Halloween festivities were in our cul-de-sac this year, and it was fabulous!! Ansley was a flower and we made Austin a Thomas the Tank Engine costume. He was SUPER excited about the costume until he put it on, I think it was just a little hard to wear...........nevertheless here are some pictures of our night!!

Seriously Mom, did you really dress me up as a flower in a pot?

Austin in his homemade Thomas costume (side view)

Front view; one of the only times he was really excited about wearing it; I think it was awkward to wear so he only wore it for about half of the time. He trick-or-treated in just a warm coat :(

I don't know how this happened, but Austin asked Ansley for a hug, and she complied; I was just too close to catch it on film, but Grandma B's face in the background should give you a huge indication of how happy we were to see the hug!!!

The first shot of the neighborhood "crew"

Ansley is in the upper left hand part of the picture being held by our next door neighbor's daughter - Austin HATES big group pictures - look at that face!

The second picture of the whole group, this one includes parents and kids, but this was the sight in our cul-de-sac for most of the afternoon & night!!

When it came time to trick-or-treat Ansley got bundled up and Eric puller her in the wagon while Austin & Uncle Bunny went in Austin's play train.

Ansley is kicked back enjoying the "ride."

Austin's first solo trip to a front door; he did not quite "get" the whole say trick-or-treat thing, often when they opened the door he just stuck his hand in their candy bucket without saying anything and then turned around and left ............ OR he would sort through their candy to find the Whoppers, as that is what Eric had instructed him to do. Eric LOVES Whoppers and I think they are awful, so we never buy them, so Eric got Austin to help him indulge!

Thomas (Uncle Bunny) talking to our neighbor "James."

All in all, it was SO much fun, we suffered through rain for most of the afternoon and night, so all of these pictures are taken through a rain soaked lens ... and it was pretty cold ... but no one got too sick from eating candy! Happy Halloween!!

Snuggling

2009-10-17T21:03:00.001-04:00

Hanging out with Dad; it's cold here so they piled on the blankets

DAD!! We caught you sleeping!!

Stolen!

2009-10-17T13:07:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite "pun" Halloween costume ideas has been stolen! I have, on occasion, dressed up as an "illegal alien" for Halloween with and inmate costume and an alien mask; I think it is hilarious! Well.....Target has stolen my idea and now in an effort to be PC they are taking the costume off their shelves.........serves them right for stealing my good idea ;)

Still Wet; Still Flooding

2009-10-13T21:56:00.000-04:00

You will have to work with me on my photo taking abilities; I am not a budding paparazzi ;)
This is our back yard "creek" after getting 4 inches of rain in 12 hours..........

This is it post-flood; nice "beaver" dam for us to clean up

Obviously my photo-taking abilities do not do this much rain justice, but to put it into words, this creek usually "flows" in a ran storm, and this month it has "run" with a vengeance!

Telecommunications Error!!

2009-10-09T22:42:00.000-04:00

We have had internet issues since the "floods"

We went to the zoo and rode the train ;)

Ansley is pulling up our grass; I'm not happy about it but she is ;)

Austin posing as a meerkat

Wet

2009-09-24T14:40:00.000-04:00

We are alive & fine ... but a little wet. With all of the floods in Atlanta, we only had some minor leaks in our basement that a little cement patch fixed ;) Should have seen me and the shop vac and 2 kids vacuuming up about a 1/2 inch of water in our basement....they thought it was puddle jumping time ;) They are minor leaks, but when you get 12 inches of rain in 24 hours, you get some leaks. At our house, we estimate that we had 24+ inches of rain in the 5 days of the storm.

We have no phone, internet, or cable, but otherwise we are fine and should be back in the technology world soon. My campus is closed due to no running water in our county so I have had the week off ;)

Hope the rest of you are dry!

Blueberries

2009-09-13T22:12:00.000-04:00

Austin LOVES to help us cook, tonight we made blueberry muffins.........look at those teeth!! He looks like a prime candidate for a visit to the dentist for some major cavities ;)

He is so proud of himself

This picture does not do his fingers justice; they were so dirty!!

Hope you all had a happy grandparents day!!

Hot fun in the suburbs

2009-09-07T20:47:00.000-04:00

When Eric got home from work today, we decided to do some "labor day labor" and wash the garage doors...........and the kids decided it was time for an outdoor shower.........they had fun so my embarrassment faded as time when on but...........we were a bit white trash

Yes, Ansley is just wearing a diaper

Austin had TOO much fun!

Ansley inspecting her wet outfit

OMG I did not know diapers could hold this much fluid............these are some great diapers!!

Fun was had by all...........happy birthday Grandpa B. Hope you all had a great labor day.

Shear Perfection

2009-09-01T14:55:00.000-04:00

Seems Austin thought his hair had gotten too long.........yes, that's right he cut his hair this morning with a pair of scissors, see the chunck missing in the front? He was helping me cut tape and I guess he just got really into it.............

This is the best the hairdresser lady could do with what he had done.......he still has a "short spot" and she went down to a #3 blade with the clippers............hopefully he will learn to not cut his own hair..........but probably not ;)

As Eric said, good thing we don't have anything like school pictures to worry about - ;)

Genetic Link?

2009-08-23T10:12:00.001-04:00

This morning, Eric and Austin had to go run an errand, so I stayed home with Ansley......Eric & Austin left at 9 am and by 10:15 Ansley was still not awake so I went into her room and got her up. Mind you that she went to bed right at 8 pm last night and did not stir all night long......my point? Our Cousin Ellen used to sleep like this when she was younger, and I have been known to take my time getting out of bed as well, so we know Ansley has not fallen far from the maternal side of the family tree. The real question is, how long would she have stayed in bed if I had of just left her there? I don't yet want the answer to that question........

Injured

2009-08-16T20:42:00.001-04:00

Eric managed a fairly large & painful self-inflicted wound today. He was shortening our kitchen table (which is metal) to accommodate 4 people and no high-chair ;) when the right angle grinder decided his knee cap was just too pretty looking....he had to get a tetanus shot because as you might imagine the grinder was not the cleanest piece of equipment in his tool room and he opted for "superglue" instead of stitches as he is not a fan of pain - can't blame him for that!! So....he will be on the injured list for at least a week or so. Hard to believe I had to convince him to take some Tylenol for the pain; too macho for me!

In other news....Austin went to Grandma & Grandpa B's for the night last night, so we packed his bag with clothes and toys, and I had a glimpse of the future, around this time of year, when he will be going off to school for real!! He just loves this backpack....or in his words packback.

NOT a good picture of either kid, but it was the only one I got of both of them together.

Otherwise, not much to report....my school starts back in a week so we are about to be busy again....oh those dog days of summer are just too much fun sometimes ;)

Random Pics

2009-08-06T12:59:00.000-04:00

Ansley caught off guard...

Austin, out for another drive....

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do..." or when in Georgia do as the Georgians do and make home made peach cobbler, tastes as good as it looks ;)

Grandma B. buys these kids some great shoes, but these have to be my all time favorite for Ansley, do they get any cuter? I want a 6.5 for myself - kidding ;)

Austin's obsession with Thomas is not waining anytime soon, while on vacation from Mom & Dad he went to a little town in North or South Carolina that has been made over into a Sodor Island (Thomas's home) and he just LOVED it!! Here are his pjs he got from there - you can't see it but he has matching underwear, as he is still potty trained!!! I pinch myself every time he says, Mommy I have to go potty and takes off running to the bathroom all by himself!!

Ansley playing peek-a-boo with the door

Her, mid-walk - my only way to prove she is walking as I cannot figure out how to load videos to this blog......I am still a bit technologically challenged.

Have a great week!

Hiding

2009-07-31T20:37:00.000-04:00

So long story short, I had a little "procedure" done and therefore Eric's parents took our little rascals for TWO WEEKS!!! And as if watching BOTH kids for two weeks was not enough, they went off and potty trained Austin in one day!! I do not think I can ever repay them for all that they have done for us!!

Anywho, so no posts from me because I have been resting, but all is well now and the kids came home this afternoon, and we are back to "normal."

Ansley now only walks, no crawling for her!! So of course, that means she is in constant motion and Austin has really come into his own. Today he said, "Mommy, I can go poopy in the potty now, so that means I can go to school (preschool) and that should make you feel all better." I could not have said it better myself. But then he finished it off with "I am so proud of me, and you are a good mommy." Just brought tears to my eyes. I love my babies ;)

Promise pics this weekend - and you can hold me to it!!

Walking

2009-07-08T11:43:00.001-04:00

So Ansley started walking last Tuesday, on her own, all by herself, etc....I will take a picture today and post it later. She is just cruisin' now!!

We saw the Pediatric Urologist last Thursday and she told us that Ansley needed to be on the prophylactic antibiotics and pretty clearly expressed her disappointment that we had not previously put her on them. I told her that I just did not want her on daily antibiotics, but she basically said to "get over it." So....now every morning Ansley takes her daily dose of Septra and she will continue to do so until either her body self-corrects the reflux or she has a surgery to correct the problem. The official diagnosis is: Primary Vesicoureteral Reflux and she only has it on her left kidney and it is a grade 3. So after 1 year, she is not any better or worse. Luckily she likes the antibiotic most days so it is okay, but those mornings when we have to struggle to get her to take it, we (Eric & I) just keep reminding ourselves that it will keep her healthy.

So, as long as she does not get any more UTIs, we don't have to have any more tests run for 1 year, but if she gets another UTI then we will have to re-examine the treatment plan and surgery.

Hope all is well on the home front where you are!! I hope to posts pics later.

3 Whole Years

2009-06-26T12:40:00.000-04:00

We went for Austin's 3 year check up today, and basically he is a big kid.

Height: 39.5 inches (90%)
Weight: 34.8 lbs (77%)
Head Circumference: 52.5 cm (97%)
BMI: 35%

So....Dr. said to cut down on the amount of milk he drinks and give him more water and to be patient on the potty training......we are being patient but it sure would be nice to have one less kid in diapers!!!

He had to get one shot, and he was a good sport....cried a bit but got a lollipop to make it all better!!

Have a good weekend!

Shelved

2009-06-25T18:08:00.000-04:00

We had so much fun in Florida for Austin's Birthday, Cousin Amanda's wedding & Father's Day that I did not take any pictures!!

We are back now, and Ansley has another UTI, only 3 weeks since the last one, so we go see the pediatric urologist on July 2nd....I'll keep you posted.

Austin goes in tomorrow for his 3 year checkup - maybe our Dr. can explain to me why he wanted to skip his earlier nap today and take it on the book shelf later this afternoon - any answers will be appreciated!!

Seriously does this look comfortable?

His friend Riley came over this morning for a play date, so maybe that just hyped him up and then wore him out ;)