There and Back: Lexi's Story

True Heros

2012-02-12T12:29:00.001-05:00

Here is a post I’d like to share from FB. My brother in law is in Afghanistan. He found out this week that my sister’s hair was falling out and she had just shaved it to just speed the inevitable. This morning John posted this very uplifting photo and post.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Task Force Hydra Soldiers show their support for
Command Sg...t. Maj. John E. Smiley's wife Carolyn R. Smiley, who began her 2nd Chemotherapy treatment session this week. 40 male Soldiers shaved their heads in support of Carolyn who has had to do so because of the treatment.
Carolyn was diagnosed with breast cancer over Veteran's Day weekend this past year and has been undergoing cancer treatment since.
"This is great and unreal," said Command Sgt. Maj. Smiley of the support
shown by the 648th Soldiers. "I never expected this much support, it's
overwhelming."
HHC, 648th MEB 878th Engineer Battalion Georgia National Guard 348th Brigade Support Battalion See More

‎2LT Pippins

By: ‎648th MEB

Small acts of kindness can mean the world to someone else. It can uplift them on a bad day and let them know that they do not have to face difficulties alone. I really must find something to do for these men in appreciation. What a great way to meet the day today. Reading this post has really touched my heart!

New Photos courtsey of Lissa!

2012-02-09T22:57:00.002-05:00

Guess who got to come to work last week with Mommy? Yep! Lj! And guess who just loved it? You got that right! And while she was there Miss Lissa took some pictures even though the sun was barely up! Lexi posed like a pro and then later I took her to school (which she was not exactly happy about!).

And the end result was a card soon to be mailed out to family and close friends just announcing her arrival to the realm of 4 year olds!

Just where does the time do??? So many times Lj tells us she wants to be a baby again.... and so many times we miss that stage but yet, every day we marvel at the transformation of our little precious girl and how we love her even more each day after the day before! And how much we believe God just chose her just for US! She is a blessing and as long as she is with us, we feel it every single day! God is good!

How do you really “catch up” when so much has happened?

2012-01-30T22:38:00.001-05:00

I went through a period of at least 30 days with no posts. It wasn’t because I was slacking, it was because we were busy going through trials of life. My last post in December was on the 14th. One the 16th our Dear Nanny passed away. We headed to Virginia the next week for the Memorial Service. We chose to leave Lexi with my parents because we just didn’t feel she was ready for that kind of loss in her life. Throughout the pain and loss I felt one of the proudest moments of Geoff in our life together now. The proudest of all was when he became a Christian and was baptized even though he has a fear of the water. His faith overcame that fear to make that public proclamation of his belief in God. Following that is the day we took our precious Lexi in our arms for the first time and I watched him become a father and every since then I’ve been so blessed to watch him be a fantastic Daddy. And following that was the day we stood before our family, friends, and God and became one in the eyes of God. ( I know to some that is backwards but it makes sense to me.) And now to add to my list, I have the day of Nanny’s Memorial. He volunteered to speak. He wanted to talk about their relationship, her relationship with God, and just try the best he could to bring others to understand that he could say a temporary goodbye to Nanny because he knows they will meet again in Heaven. His wish for his family and Nanny’s friends was to feel that same peace even in loss. I couldn’t be more proud of him. It was a hard thing to do and yet he did it no matter how hard it was.

After we returned home it was Christmas Eve. We tried to move into the holidays appreciative of our loved ones. We did really well I think but then my sister Carolyn ended up back in the hospital on Christmas Eve with complications from her double mastectomy. She was there an entire week! And during that time Carolyn’s husband was sent to Texas for the last training before his January deployment to Afghanistan. We did everything we could to enjoy every moment of the holidays with Lexi and enjoyed watching her enjoy her new toys and gifts from family. All in all, it was a very nice holiday even though I was not able to post photographs and commentary as usual. I can gratefully say Carolyn is doing better. I know it’s been hard for Carolyn and John to go through cancer apart but somehow they are managing to do it. That too is a huge blessing!

Then we began 2012 with no real expectations of anything other than our desire to be better Christians and raise our daughter the best we can. We want and DO enjoy every moment with her --- good and bad --- silly and irritating! Life just can’t be perfect all the time and we have truly learned that lesson. What I do find myself doing more and more is praying with and for Lexi. I also find myself enjoying the little moments and MAKING even MORE little moments (like today, we made heart shaped mini pizzas for her lunch tomorrow just for no reason at all).

I can’t even say that things in 2012 have been great. I’ve had problems with my left shoulder for unknown reasons. I spent the first two weeks of the year in severe pain and even missed most of the second week back to school. It’s getting better and I can’t begin to understand why but it is getting better just as mysteriously as it appeared. But I’ll take that with a grateful heart.

And finally, two weeks ago we lost our dear Sable. It was her time even though we did not want it. I’d like to believe she is in Heaven playing and loving on Nanny with her new healthy doggie body just living it up watching us knowing that we loved her so much. (even though I know there is no Biblical doggie heaven, I sure hope there is!) We didn’t know how to handle it with Lexi. We waited for her to ask about Sable but she didn’t in the way we thought. She proceeded as if Sable was still here. If she had a piece of leftover chicken at dinner, she asked to give it to Sable. She asked why Sable’s bed was in the garage and she even would tell us she wanted to go home to her Sable when we were out. So finally, I had “the talk” with her. She has only now for the last 4 days shown understanding that Sable is gone. At first I found this odd, but as I type this post I get it. It’s not so real for me either. It’s not really real that Nanny has passed and it’s the same with Sable. Sable has been with us our entire married life. It’s weird that I can now open the front door and not have to worry that she will run out and take off into the street with her deaf ears. And it turned out she was also blind. She was a tough old girl and she’ll always be missed.

I don’t know why I suddenly tonight I can “talk” about all of this and I’ll admit it has been a sad walk through the last month but I blog about our life as a family to document, document, document for Lexi and while the past months have not been filled with all happiness and bliss, it is part of our life and at least we can say we have made it through it all TOGETHER as a family. I think tomorrow I will try to make just a post of my favorite pictures of that silent month. This post explains it all. The pictures will be the final documentation and will show that we even through the face of adversity used our faith in God to get us through and leaned on each other as a family in such a way that we have grown personally and spiritually for the better because of it.

Through the Grace of God… we are a family and I’m so proud of the family we are and will continue to be.

The 2011 Year in Review of Lexi Jayne

2012-01-29T19:49:00.001-05:00

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The 2010 Year in Review for Lexi Jayne

2012-01-29T19:47:00.001-05:00

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Happy Birthday Lexi Jayne!

2012-01-22T22:42:00.001-05:00

Wow, how time flies! It’s incredible to see our little one turn four! We had a small family party for her yesterday and everything was just perfect!

This Cinderella dress has special memories for me. I bought it at Disney World while at a conference the day I found out when we would travel to China. When we did get her, I thought she’d never fit in it but this is the last time she’ll wear it. It now fits snug but once we decided on a Cinderella party, we just had to get one more wear.

Mom and I made the cake. It turned out so cute and was just delish!

I love this picture! Our house IS the place to dress up and usually as soon as the boys come over they begin playing and dressing up. Brennen cracked me up with this get-up but Sara said that since Lexi dressed up why not him too!

I love this picture!

My Girls with their boys!

Our happy family…

Four already!!!

Lexi was a little jewel and just let the boys help open all of her presents.

Lexi loves her some Aunt Carolyn!

Nana’s girl!

And of course after the cake, ice cream, and presents… it was play time outside.

This one cracks me up! It reminds me of the runaway bride!

Lexi’s birthday was certainly full of fun. She got some really nice presents but the best part was just enjoying the day with her with family. She has brought so much love to our family and we thank God for her everyday!

A story to get us back in the groove…

2012-01-17T21:04:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I know it’s been over a month since I posted to the blog but I do plan to get some updates of our holidays done soon. A lot has happened in the past month making it hard to keep posting. So tonight’s quick post will be the one to get us back in the groove.

Tonight I was reading to Lexi before bed. First I read “Bark, George” with no problem… but then I began to read “The Teeny Weeny Tadpole” and as soon as I got started my little Lj very seriously told me “you FORGOT the author, my TEACHER says the AUTHOR!”. I said, “what?” and she repeated it and showed me the front of the book. I couldn’t help but be so surprised! Okay… I know (as a teacher) to tell who the author is but I was just thinking she’s 3 and wouldn’t notice. Wrong! So I began to reread and THAT time I told both the author and the illustrator! I guess we know who the brains in this family is!!!

I’ll post more later this week… of course I will! Baby-Girl is about to be 4!!

Snack Day!

2011-12-14T21:11:00.000-05:00

Lexi was in "charge" of snacks today so last night we made Snowmen Bagels with Cream Cheese. Of course it was a deviation from my usual un-healthy snack but it was fun and apparently very well accepted.

And just look who has the "Smith" sense of humor? Yea...

I could spark a very heated nurture or nature syndrome!! I think the last time I saw a photo like this was courtesy of Geoff with a pair of chopsticks in Las Vegas!

Thinking of Someone Very Special...

2011-12-14T14:15:00.000-05:00

You KNOW you have a GREAT Dad when...

2011-12-14T09:12:00.003-05:00

he holds your hand just because...

he kisses your boo-boos and give you bandaids (even when you don't really need one)...

he lets you jump and tumble all over him ...

and he gets up at 12:30 am because you lost your blankie in your bed full of stuffed animals... and then he rocks you back to sleep.

(I just had to post this story and while I was at it, I decided to add a few more photos that Melissa took last Sunday at our family photo shoot with Sara, Chris, and the boys.)

More Angel Antics

2011-12-13T21:02:00.001-05:00

Gosh the holiday season is keeping us busy! I have been doing my best to post but it just keeps getting harder and harder. I really want to keep track of Angel’s activities so I’ll most likely be making so late posts.

When Angel decided to admire Lexi’s Santa picture, it totally annoyed her! I told her that he may be missing Santa or he may just think she is so pretty that he wanted to check out her photo. This was when we figured out what makes her so mad about Angel doing stuff around the house. Since he first appeared in her tree, she now believes that he MUST stay in that tree. She was pretty indignant when she found him looking at her picture!

Now after the night we went to see the Journey, she found Angel on the kitchen table. She was really mad that morning! Check out why…

Oh yea, he did! Lexi got a small coloring book at the end of “The Journey” and he colored on one of the pages! She was so upset because she “wanted to color that page!!”. Never mind that I don’t think she really even realized that she HAD a coloring book given to her the night before.

I guess Angel was bothered that he upset Lexi so on Saturday when he reappeared he came back bearing gifts of the “Beary” kind! He even wrote a note apologizing for bothering her stuff and told her that he just wanted to be friends.

Lexi really liked the new bear and was happy to take it. She then wanted me to put Angel BACK on her Snowman Christmas tree. I think she really forgave him and decided he was a good friend. Then yesterday after we got home she noticed that Angel was missing! She looked all over for him! She even looked in her bed where all her “friends” sleep with her at night. She called and called and hunted all over the house. No Angel. I told her that I sure hoped that he had not gotten stuck in the North Pole because of the cold weather!

But all was okay because after about an hour and a half she decided to go get some chocolate milk from the refrigerator and there he was!

She was a little miffed at him for sitting in her tea cup and for drinking some of her milk but she was not too upset. She kept saying, “what is Angel doing in the “frig-a-freighter”?” It was too funny! Of course, back to the Snowman tee it was for little Angel!

If Only...

2011-12-13T14:11:00.004-05:00

If only you had this...

(picture taken last Sunday by Melissa)

You could have a tree decorated like this!

On a side note... as we were cleaning up last night Geoff was trying to discreetly move a few of the bulbs. Well, a glass one slipped from his hand and shattered. As he was cleaning it up Little Miss Smartie Bossy Pants informed him that if he broke anymore bulbs that he was going to have to clean it up and Mommy would send him to time out.

She also asked me last night what I wanted for Christmas so I told her that I just wanted a 9x9 baking pan. With that she replied, "that's not a Christmas present! You need a Princess Castle!". Hummm... me or her???

Lexi’s 2011 Pre-School Photo

2011-12-12T19:13:00.000-05:00

The Journey ~ An Interactive Christmas Story

2011-12-09T13:56:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday me, Geoff, Lexi, Sara and the boys, and my Mom, Dad and brother went to our church to experience the Journey. Geoff and I are relatively new members having joined just this year so this was our first experience with this awesome yearly event at Savannah Christian Church. Most of it is outdoors in the surrounding areas around the church. We began inside though and passed the time until it was our turn to go by listening to some very good music. Once we left, we were put into a tribe, given a Jewish name and occupation. We were herded through the beginning by some very loud Roman Soldiers! Some of them were even on huge horses! As we began, we could stop at various places throughout the woods and watch dramatizations about events that lead up to the birth of Jesus. We even boarded a boat and was taken across the … I didn’t really start trying to take photos until we got into some better lite areas. This is the 3 Wise Men and some camels.

King Herod Plotting…

Sites in and around the town of Bethlehem.

And finally the baby Jesus in the manger.

We had such an awesome evening! I think it may just have to become an annual tradition.

Melissa’s Magic Just Keeps Coming!

2011-12-07T22:23:00.001-05:00

I think Lj has a fan! Melissa edited a few more pictures tonight which was a big surprise! These pictures so capture the spirit of Lexi.

This picture is totally Lexi… always laughing, playing and so lovable!

These eyes… the totally stole my heart the second I laid eyes on them in our referral pictures. I hope she forever has such spirit and happiness! We love this child so much!

Angel must be missing the North Pole Snow!

2011-12-07T21:54:00.001-05:00

Lexi found Angel this morning in the dining room. She just couldn’t believe that he made such a mess! She wasn’t aggravated with him this time. She wanted to play in the Epson Salt too!

More to choose from..

2011-12-06T22:19:00.001-05:00

we have too many favorites to choose from.. and there are 300+ to choose from…

to our dear friend Melissa… thanks for capturing just a few moments of our crazy in love family! Looking forward to next time!

P.S. the final version of our Christmas Cards made by Ms. Lissa… will be on here soon!

Love that Geor-gia Snow!

2011-12-06T21:57:00.001-05:00

Can’t help but finish my posts tonight with a funny story about the weekend photo shoot. We went to several places in Melissa’s hometown, we made our way past a cotton field. There were many and they were so beautiful, just before cotton picking time! We stopped at one location and took a few pictures. We tried to explain to Lexi that the dress she was wearing was made from the cotton being grown there. I picked her some cotton and we took picts and left. Later on, we went to a barn and after we got in the car Lexi wanted to know where her “snow” was. Bless her little Chinese heart! She is instinctively picking up our Southern slang for snow! Apparently around here, cotton growers refer to the cotton as GA. snow. (I didn’t know this until I was telling Melissa about her comments.) My Grandparents grew cotton in SC and my uncle in SC still does. The cotton fields bring back early memories for me and it just means so much to share this kind of “heritage” with Lj even if it is through pictures. And of course, we surely can’t make a snowman with this stuff!!!

Angel is trying so hard…

2011-12-06T21:30:00.001-05:00

This morning Angel had rescued Lexi’s balloon that had escaped to the ceiling last onight. He twisted it around himself and landed in her Snowman tree. I’d like to report that Lj was happy but once again she wanted her “stuff” and did not want to share with Angel. Poor little fellow! We keep trying to let her know that he is reporting about her behavior to Santa but we are not quite sure when she will “get” it. Poor Angel, we are routing for him!!

The Festive Season Began in Town…

2011-12-05T22:11:00.000-05:00

Before we know it, the Christmas season will be over and while it is full of hustle and bustle we are trying our best to enjoy every moment of it. Last night we met Sara and the boys downtown for the lighting of the Christmas tree and all of the fun activities they had planned. The reindeer were a big hit with Lexi. She also was thrilled to get her photo taken with a snowman and a penguin. The lighting wasn’t so great but we tried to capture the moment. Of course one of her favorite things of the night was getting the balloon! Afterwards we all went to eat Mexican. Lexi and the boys had a great time!

Angel Reading…

2011-12-05T21:13:00.000-05:00

When Lexi got up this morning, she found Angel reading the book we had read the night before. She was NOT happy with him for reading her book but I told her that he wanted to learn about Jesus too. We are still trying to convince her that she must be nice to Angel so that Santa knows that she is a sweet, good girl!

Angel Strikes Again…

2011-12-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

We’ve started decorating and apparently Angel wants to help! Lexi was NOT pleased to find him sitting next to her Santa Bear. Why, oh why will our little girl not share with Angel??

More from out shoot...

2011-12-04T18:59:00.002-05:00

Sneak Peek…

2011-12-03T22:45:00.006-05:00

We spent the late afternoon with Melissa today getting family photos. I can’t wait to see more photos. Plus the blog will be having a makeover by her really soon.

Guess Who’s Back!

2011-12-03T22:34:00.002-05:00

Angel! Our family Elf. He visited us last year and mysteriously reappeared this morning. Lexi and I had already made her tree from last year look like a snowman. We got the idea off of Pinterest. It’s my new favorite thing to do while watching tv. I guess Angel likes the tree too because he was hanging out in the tree.

For Aunt Carolyn…

2011-12-02T21:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Aunt Carolyn had a double mastectomy. Of course all of the family wanted to be at the hospital. I took off of work and Lj and I headed to the big city. We met Daddy for lunch since Aunt Carolyn’s surgery was so long and waiting is so hard for a little one. She came through the surgery with flying colors even though I’m sure the recovery and aftermath will not be an easy one.

While Aunt Carolyn was still in surgery, we took these photos as we headed back to Daddy’s office. I just love the vintage look of the bricks between some very old buildings.

Lj was a bit concerned to see her Aunt Carolyn lying in a hospital bed but was a trooper and I know in her own small way was a very nice surprise for Carolyn to see after just coming out of surgery.

It just reminds me of the song “Jesus loves the little children” and no matter how old we are we are all children of God. Even as our family experiences trials and hardships we still graciously THANK our Heavenly Father for all of our blessings. Just today I found this picture that we took in VA with Nanny. It is the grace of God that she is with us and it will be the grace of God that delivers Carolyn through this hard time in her life. The hardships we endure just continually remind me of the blessings from God and make me appreciate every single day with our family.

More Visit with Nanny Photos...

2011-11-25T22:21:00.002-05:00

Before heading to visit Nanny... Lj got to drive YeYe's tractor!

And playing in the leaves...

Once at Nanny's, Grandma and Lj made cookies for Nanny.

And before we left we had to have a family photo with Nanny.

May God bless us all during this holiday season and let us all know how special everyone in our lives are to us every single day!

Jesus love you Nanny!

2011-11-25T22:06:00.002-05:00

We have not talked yet about how the month of November went by so quickly. Earlier in the month we learned that Nanny was experiencing Liver failure and was not doing so well. We felt compelled to visit as soon as possible so we flew to VA for a 4 day visit. We feel so blessed to have had at least one more visit with Nanny. We especially were so glad to give our Lexi at least one more visit with her. It was a busy weekend for sure and we loved seeing all of the family. Lj especially loves cutting up with her YeYe! As the end of the 4 days approached, the last night we were there, Lexi sang for Nanny. It was so sweet and so magical that we will never forget it. Unfortunately, I only had my cell phone camera to take photos and video. That night we did get her singing but the light was not so good. So the day we left, I had her try again. This time the light was good but I had no idea that I needed to hold my phone vertically. Still this video just shows the love Nanny has for Lexi and the love Lexi returns. Never could a child sing so beautifully, nor to a more precious woman. She sang many songs but this was just one that we did capture. I'm so proud of our little Lj and so blessed to be a member of this family. And this year as we counted our blessings, we were so glad to have the blessing of Nanny being with us regardless if we were in VA or not.

November…. already!

2011-11-23T13:56:00.001-05:00

Well now… half over so I’ve got some catching up to do.

Honestly at the moment, I am beginning to like Fall less and less. It’s hard to believe that it’s already the 18th and I’m so far away from being updated! Halloween was fun and Lexi had a great time. This year we participated with my school’s trick-no-treats and after Lj finished going door to door, she loved helping me give out treats to other kids.

The Friday night before trick-or-treating night, we went downtown for the Beggar’s Walk and then to Mom and Dad’s church for a lot of great fun. Here are a few pictures…

Yes, it’s hard to get 3 toddlers to all look at the camera!

Meet Abby Cadabby!

2011-10-27T21:09:00.001-04:00

Lexi had a fun day at school today. They played carnival games, had pizza for lunch, AND had a Halloween Costume Parade. I was able to leave work to watch the parade. It was fun to see her and this year she even smiled for me!

And when we came home, she played and played. After using some of her treats from school to “decorate” in the kitchen. She needed some “friends” to view her decorating. After that the sillies just kept coming! (and to think most of this stuff is in her bed every night!)

Pretty Dress vs. Panties

2011-10-27T20:43:00.000-04:00

Geoff came home last night and brought Lexi a bag from Baby Gap. She went from totally excited to NOT in like 5 seconds. See he brought her panties and she wanted a pretty dress. She scolded him and told him not to bring her panties anymore.

In fact, she was so bummed out by it she brought it up again today and told me that she didn’t like those panties and that I should buy her Ariel panties because she would like them. So later Aunt Carolyn came by with another pretty dress from Cutie Patootie. Lexi had to go into the whole panty story all over again with Carolyn.

I think Daddy is going to have to redeem himself with either a pretty dress or Ariel panties one day real soon!

Hiding Stuff from Sable

2011-10-26T21:27:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, Miss Cheryl gave all the girls a treat bag that had a bunch of lollipops in it. Well, when Lexi wasn’t looking, Sable got one and took off! Lexi started hollering for me to come and was just so upset that Sable had a lollipop. When I got near her, she hunkered down like she was eating a steak (paper and all). I told Lexi to let her have it and she just cried because she wanted to eat it. So she got mad and decided to HIDE the rest of her candy. After she went to bed, we laughed at her hiding method.

That was quite a lot to do just to hide candy from the dog! And of course, she never even asked about it after we put everything away when she went to bed.

Ballerina of the Day

2011-10-25T22:37:00.001-04:00

Guess who got a certificate today for being the “Ballerina” of the day?? Yep, you got it! Our little Lj led the line out of class today with a proud certificate in her hand! I was so proud even though I know that they give them out evenly. She doesn’t know that! Plus, I watched our little ballerina today through the one way glass and marveled again at how well she is doing. I should say I “hogged” the window! I figure that I as probably the oldest Mom in the building should get some perks! LOL!

Lexi was disappointed once again that she did not have her very own tap shoes that she can get out of her bag. (We ordered them now a month ago! And Lj does not understand WHY she does not have her own tap shoes like all the other girls.) Who knows they may have been here today but Mrs. Cheryl’s daughter had a baby today so she was out.

I had to take some pictures of Lexi with her certificate. This weekend, she will have her first public debut! We will be posting how she does. Sometimes it takes her a bit to warm up so we have no clue how she will do! Not to mention that the dance they are doing is a “witch” dance and she does not like witches! And that she will have to wear a witch hat AND black tights! Two uncomfortable things may just be too much!

Anyhow… here is our little ballerina!

I so love watching her grow and learn but at the same time just want to slow her down!

One more story and then I’m done. Last week when I picked Lexi up from her dance lesson, her teacher walked out and came up to me and said that she wanted me to know how proud she was of Lexi. She said that that particular day at dance, the girls were not listening and that she had to raise her voice a lot. She made sure that I knew that she did not have to raise her voice at Lexi. She so far as to say that Lexi was doing awesome and that she tried her best, listened the first time spoken to and that she clearly wanted to do well. I jokingly told her that I wished she would do the same at home! She then proceeded to tell me that it was student’s like Lexi that made her continue to want to teach dance. I was so proud! I so hope that she continues to do so well and that she does indeed to always strive to do her best!

We know she is amazing but it is extra special to hear it from complete strangers!

Lexi says this is how to make an Owl Smore…

2011-10-17T21:01:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow is Lexi’s day to bring snack. She pretty much had her hands in every step of the way so watch out future Chefs… Lexi may well be a force to deal with!

First, you break graham crackers in half. Then you squeeze marshmallow in half to make the “eyes” of the owl. (Just please ignore the fact that she is about 3 weeks late for her haircut!)

Then you take some Wilton yellow wafers and shave the point off with a knife… (Lexi had to do this too, only she asked for a kid’s knife so that she would not cut her fingers).

I was then able to put them in oven on the low broil heat just long enough to melt and fluff the marshmallows. Then we carefully, put the candy corn beaks in place along with the M&M eyes in place.

And the finished bunch…

And of course, she had to help with the packaging of the finished to bring to school. (not great photos for some crazy reason) The toppers were made by Melissa… Lexi’s extra special Mommy’s friend. What really surprised me here was that as I cut the toppers out and began to fold them in half, Lexi insisted on helping and much to my surprise, she could fold in half just as well as me!

And here they are… our basket of school treats for the month of October. One to bring home and one to eat at school.

So… what shall we do next month??

And by the way… the idea came from one of my favorite sites Living Lucurto. We’ve just been waiting for October! I love doing these kinds of “cooking” activities with Lj. She loves it and we get great Mommy-Daughter time together. It’s so much fun!

She’s got Style… Lj Style!

2011-10-16T21:33:00.001-04:00

Lexi picked out her own outfit this weekend. We actually went to WalMart like this with her wearing her pink boots! I have to say though the pink boots at least matched the bow on her ghosts head! After we came home we did some crafting in the kitchen. Needless to say anything done in the kitchen with Lexi is very entertaining!

Oh, and while we were at Wal Mart, she got a new baby. She’s finally showing some interest in her dolls and stuffed animals.

And here’s our little finished project. I was inspired by How Does She.com. I can’t wait to make some more for the holidays. I think I will be making some of these to sale at Lexi’s preschool Bazaar. Team Brandon is going to do a fund raising booth and I think these will be fun to make. I think I’ll do some as cookie pop holders and make some cookies to display. I’ve been wanting to try some new things so here we go!!

I missed my calling…

2011-10-13T21:58:00.001-04:00

Once upon a time, my Mother wanted me to go into the Medical field. I told her I just could not stomach the yucky stuff and never even considered it even when she said I could be an X-ray technician. Little did I know that teaching also comes with “Yucky stuff” and for that matter so does Motherhood! Heck! Sometimes I can’t even stomach the cats and dogs!

However, over the years anytime anything comes up with any of us, I make my very unprofessional diagnosis of the issue and make very good diagnosis! YES! Geoff has bronchitis. He was still sick this morning and stayed home and on his OWN violation made a Dr. appt. Seriously, I do not take any pleasure in being right and I pray that Lj does not get sick next. I see Geoff going through what I did last weekend and just feel so bad for him. I hope his meds kick in soon!

On another note, once I got home tonight I began to fix dinner and “play” with my next idea for Lexi’s snack next week. I got the idea here and have been anxiously awaiting making this month’s treat. Well, after buying the necessary ingredients, I tried one… then two… and so on and so on!!! Now I just implore anyone who has made these adorable little Smore Owls to share with me HOW you managed to get the doggone marshmallow eyes to MATCH! Every one I tried ended up with one BIG eye and one LITTLE eye! It must be possible since the site with the recipe has such a perfect cookie! And no… I’m not likely to be pleased with a crazy two – sized eye Owl. Owls are cute… adorable and I want this snack to work!

As I finish this post, I hear Lj coughing in her room…. Gracious,”Lord Jesus keep her well!”

Prima Ballerina!

2011-10-12T22:24:00.001-04:00

Ah, sickness has invaded our home but thankfully it has only attacked Geoff and me. After being “down” since last Wednesday with muscle spasms and then bronchitis I am back to feeling better. I can’t say the same for Geoff and can’t be sure that I didn’t give him something.

I was home yesterday and did take Lj to her dance class. She was awesome as usual and is learning so quickly! It makes a Mama proud! This morning, Lj wore an outfit we bought at Carter’s with boots from Old Navy to match. I just love dressing her in quirky cute clothes! I’d make another scrapbook page if only I could remember some of the key strokes that I need to know … (Melissa… time for some re-teaching!!)

So here are some picts I took this afternoon as we returned home to find two of the last three Butterflys that needed to be turned loose to fly to Mexico!

She is always so concerned if they are boys or girls. Today, we had a boy and a girl!

There is a butterfly in this picture but she turned away… as usual!

She’s alright as long as they don’t touch her skin anywhere other than her hand! She didn’t like this butterfly lovin’ at all!

Next thing to do was go play on the Little Tykes!

She’s certainly a tough little thing! It’s amazing how much she has grown! In this picture she is wearing a mixture of sizes! The top is size 4 (which is for now a bit big but by the end of winter will probably be just right!. The skirt is still a 2T but she can now wear size 3 leggins! The boots… size 8!) It just seems that each season she gains much more and by the time she hits four maybe she will actually wear a size four for the most part! If only we could just slow…. and I mean ssssslllooww…. down… her growing up! And Yes! It’s time for a haircut!

Butterflies… are free… to fly…. Fly Away!!!

2011-10-12T21:11:00.001-04:00

Here are a few pictures taken while we released butterflies over the last month. At home we are up to over 160! Today when we came home, we had two unexpected little new butterflies that hatched. One was a boy and the other a girl. I was so tempted to keep them and just see if I could successfully breed and raise some. But considering how hard it is to grow milkweed in the winter, I decided it was best to let them go. We have ONE little lost caterpillar that is just today making its chrysalis so we have just one… one little butterfly to look forward to. It’s been fun and it’s just too cool to hear my little one actually say things like, “Mommy, it’s a chrysalis!”. That’s just too cool!

P.S. Yea, this post is me trying to use PhotoShop again for the first time in like FOREVER!

And yes, every single time we release a butterfly, I think of the journey it has ahead to migrate to Mexico and just think how nice it would to go visit the Monarch sanctuary with it! Maybe one day, our family will actually go to witness this miracle of nature together.

Dancing Princess!

2011-10-04T20:47:00.001-04:00

Today was Lexi’s second dancing lesson. She started last Tuesday but low and behold I brought a camera without SD card! So today I made sure to bring a camera. I didn’t get the greatest photos but no worries… our little princess is just awesome! Last week, she was not prepared for what she was about to do. We had talked about taking her to Disney on Ice and she thought that was what we were doing. Today however, she knew exactly what to expect and was sooooooo ready! I stood behind the one-way window and watched her dance in total amazement! She has pretty much picked up everything overnight! Most of these girls have been coming to dance since August. Needless to say… this MAMA thinks her little dancing princess is just sooooo talented!

We had to order tap shoes so these are loaners. Lexi want’s some so bad that she put them in her bag. I think she just thought they were hers since she has worn them two weeks in a row now. Last week she “fussed” at me for not having a “dance bag” with her shoes in it like all the other girls. I got the bag this week, but we still have to wait for the tap shoes to come in. This week she was so proud of herself and talked about how she was not being shy today. I for one was a very proud Mommy!

What difference does 3 seconds make ???

2011-09-28T22:18:00.001-04:00

**** Soap box alert!!!

I’ll admit part of tonight’s post is just pure frustration and as soon as I’m finished, this Mama is going to bed!

First of all, I’m a rule follower in my profession. That being said, I’ll begin. I hate to be late. I follow rules. However, I’m not so stupid as to think that sometimes “LIFE” will not intervene and that you just roll with the punches.

Well, at my place of employment, we are “supposed” to be at work by 7:15 am. I diligently try to make this happen on a daily basis. I’ll admit, I’ve been known to say that if anyone had to kiss goodbye to my little Lj every morning, they would be challenged to get to work on time too! But this year, I’ve made a personal commitment to not only not being late but also being present as many days as I can even when sick. (take last week as an example… I was sick 3 1/2 days of the 5 and still made it to work and did not miss!)

So far this year, I’ve been late once. This was early in the year and on that particular morning, Lj was having a melt-down. This is NOT typical of her and was hard to deal with. That morning, I clocked in over 4 minutes late. I knew I was late and no matter how I felt about it, I accepted it and just moved on. Geoff and I began to deal with our little non-morning girl on a different basis and so far it’s been working. And by the way… we have a whopping three minutes grace for the purposes of no one’s clock being exact on any particular day. Technically, I am supposed to clock in by 7:15 but have “grace” until 7:18.

** Side note… she is not a girl to be rushed awake regardless if it is morning or nap or whatever and she like any little self-proclaimed “princess” reserves the right to be pampered and cuddled or snuggled before you can get her into full swing. Honestly, some mornings the first thing out of her mouth is “I need to snuggle-snuggle (in the most pitiful voice you can imagine!)”. She’s been this way from DAY ONE.

So here comes today… she wakes up, wants to “snuggle” and still somehow we get her dressed for school and get out of the house with me just enough time to get her to Mom’s and then me to work without me NOT being late.

But on the way to Mom’s as I play my favorite CD that Geoff has made me of our church’s Christian music she begins to quietly sing to my favorite song. As I heard her, I told her I would love to hear her sing and very reverently begins to sing the precious words. I was just stunned. The song is over 5 minutes long and she knew all the words (even though some are not really clear). I listened and just felt so proud to listen to our 3 year old sing a song that speaks so strong to me and her voice was that of an angel.

The next song came on and she knew it too… I listened in quiet pleasure and drove to Mom’s. By the time we got to Mom’s she was singing song #3! (These were songs she has never sung for us and not a children’s bible song either!) So once we got inside I shared for just a few minutes Lexi’s beautiful singing and how very proud of her I was with my Mom. I left her very proud of herself and me, very full of pride as a mother.

Then traffic hits… the normally quiet trip to work is more filled with cars and as I need to turn right, there are two people ahead needing to turn left. I could have broken the law and cut through the gas station but no…. I refuse to put the law or anyone’s safety at risk or the sake of a time clock. Finally, I turned in to our road to work and had to drag behind parents who were taking extra time to avoid a longer wait because they can’t drop their kids off until 7:20. Finally, I get to the staff parking lot, run inside and begin to clock in. Yes, they do give us 3 minutes grace time to clock in. And after I went inside, I evidently had too much lotion on my hands because the clock kicked my fingerprint out and I had to start over again. By the time I was successful at getting clocked in, it was 7:18:04. Busted!

Busted I say! Three seconds busted me! I still made it to my morning post and did my morning duty. No students were at risk and nothing bad happened but by lunch time, I went to check out my teacher’s “mailbox”, I had a very special envelope with a document for me to sign that I signed in late and that it was my “heaven forbid!” second time late. I was also informed that IF I sign in late 5 times in one year, I will be disciplined with a GTDRI. (Ga. teacher’s duties and responsibilities instrument and put on a PDP (professional development plan). ) I signed the thing and DO know that I was technically 3 seconds late. So how exactly do you retrain a teacher who is 3 seconds late??? Is being late a lesser offense than one who can’t teach at all. I guess I’m on my soap box because my 3 seconds vs. my commitment to my students and their education seems to pale in great regards compared to many educators who do nothing to encourage their students at all! Seriously… are you kidding me!!???

As a parent, I’d gladly accept the PDP as a result of getting a GTDRI in exchange to hearing and being so proud to hear my 3 1/2 year old sing praises to the Lord and relishing in listening to her very innocent voice sing praises to our Lord Jesus Christ.

I for one, feel proud that each day we listen to the praise music we do and that TODAY, I was late to work by a whole 3 seconds because my precious baby girl on this day decided to sing to me and let me know that she is learning by our example. That is a job that I can claim “well done”. And even if I am not considered to do a job well done by signing in 3 seconds late… I KNOW it WAS and it IS!

She’s Ours!

2011-09-21T21:16:00.001-04:00

Lexi-isms are what I like to think of them… more than not, they are glimpses into the future of our little Lj. One of my favorites that I like to use myself now is turning the focus to what you don’t have vs. what you want. For example: “Daddy, I don’t have any chips in my hand.”. So my response to my child’s lesson last weekend was, “ Geoff, I don’t smell any bacon in my nose.” AMAZINGLY, I was eating bacon soon there after! Maybe we should market Lj’s “way” of getting her “WAY”!

Big School Girl!

2011-09-21T20:07:00.001-04:00

I swear it breaks my heart to think of Lj this year vs. last year! Gracious! Where has the time gone? And how can I slow down our little precious baby girl????

Yes! Those are knee-socks!

And just when did our little girl grow into 2 and 3T outfits?? Not to mention that she could be a “model” for Target! Who says clothes have to cost a lot to be stinkin’ cute??? Lexi just looks cute in everything!

You know when you are a GREAT Dad when…

2011-09-21T19:59:00.001-04:00

No worries… we had fingernail polish remover ready for Geoff’s next day at work! Heaven forbid Shannon see him with pink nails!

Say Yes! to Monarch caterpillars!

2011-09-21T19:54:00.001-04:00

Finally! She loves them as much as I do! Yes, it’s caterpillar season and Yes, we have been collecting baby cats! Last weekend, I took these pictures of us releasing butterflies! It’s a bit weird though because she only wants to “hold” the girl butterflies and still be a toddler diva!

And little Miss insists on helping free the new cats!

I just LOVE that my little princess loves caterpillars and butterflies as much as me!

Acorns, September Preschool Snacks!

2011-09-21T19:40:00.001-04:00

I just love coming up with creative snacks for Lexi’s class each month. This month I had the help of Disney’s Family Fun Magazine and BFF Lissa!

I thought with Autumn so close this would be so cute! And it was! I am going to be doing this activity with some of my Kindergarten friends soon!

Happy Birthday to YeYe!

2011-09-13T21:48:00.001-04:00

Here’s a song just for YeYe!

Don’t even ask for what bribery it took to get this song!

Finally able to take a breath…

2011-09-13T21:44:00.001-04:00

The new school year has begun (over a month ago now!) with a blast! I am finally feeling as if I can breathe at home during the week and get something done over the weekends (as of LAST weekend that is!). I’ve been learning a new version of Windows Movie Maker and using my favorite subjects, of course!

Here is a movie of tonight before Lj’s bedtime when we decided to try out a new website that I found to use with my Kindergarteners. She certainly held her own! TV shows could certainly take a backseat now that she can use the mouse all by herself!

That’s our girl!

Lexi Theatrics! Will She be famous someday?????

2011-09-13T19:46:00.001-04:00

Lexi Made Up Her Mind!

2011-09-12T21:53:00.001-04:00

We purposely did not get Lexi’s ears pierced she was younger. We wanted her to be old enough to ask to have them done. Well a few weeks ago, she came home and was talking about her new friend Makayla. Makayla had “sparkly” earrings and she wanted some. She told me that she was going to ask her Daddy to take her to get some “sparkly” earrings. Need I say more? Just the fact that she wanted her Daddy to take her was all it took. So on August 28 after church she asked again and off to the mall we went. Lexi marched up to the store, took a seat and very bravely got her ears pierced. She’s such a drama queen I expected her to cut up at least a little but oh, no! This girl has already got the “it hurts to be a girl” down pat!

What happens after school…

2011-09-12T21:16:00.001-04:00

It’s scary to admit sometimes the crazy stuff we do after school. Lexi never allows for a dull moment and certainly keeps us entertained!

Sometimes she’s an “Angel”…

And sometimes she’s “Monster”.

Both looks posted here were purely her doing. The “Monster” look really got me! She did this while watching TV, reading a book (that conveniently came with a dry erase marker), drinking “chocky milk” while I dozed BESIDE her!

I asked her why she colored her legs and was told that she wanted to be a monster. When I told her that I was not happy with her she repeated back to me “Well, I’m not happy with you either!”. Thankfully it was NOT a Sharpie!

White Lies?? Really??? Already!!!!!

2011-08-15T21:32:00.001-04:00

Just look at our little cutie, complete with hair long enough for TWO pig-tails (well, pretty close!) just before school last week. I swear there are not too many days that go by that Lj does not amaze us. Last week was no exception. She cried the first day of 3 year old preschool and then the rest was history. She just could not wait to get there! Well, last Thursday when Mom picked her up and began to ask about her school work, she noticed that Lexi’s usual very good coloring had reverted back to scribbling. Mom asked her shy she scribbled and she replied that her friend #1 scribbles so she did too.

What??? Well, Mom made her redo her paper and then when I arrived told me about the issue. I took little Lj home and had a conversation with her about doing her best and then made her color a page in a coloring book for me. She did awesome!

So when her dad came home that night I struck up a conversation about school during dinner. Lexi began her usual aversion tactics! First she avoided the question of what she did a school. So I brought in her papers. Then her Daddy asked her what kind of shape she had colored… (no answer). Then he asked her what color her shape was and she replied, “ I don’t know.” It was then I stepped in out of sheer maddness to let her know that if she continued to play “clueless” she would get to watch no night-time tv. Yea… it worked. She quickly told her Daddy what shape it was but then when asked the color, she again replied “I don’t know”. I jumped in again and she told him, “It’s a secret.” AGAIN I told her you either tell your father what shape and color on the page or we will spend the rest of the night reading books about shapes and colors. FINALLY, she looked at him and said “it’s red!”

Now for the really amazing part… after she finally told her Daddy the color of the shape, he made a comment that if she continued to not do her best at school, he was going to call Mrs. Linda and tell her that she could do better. Well, Lexi pipes up and told her daddy, “well, she does not have a phone!”. I swear we both just about fell out of our chairs but needless to say after over 2 years of parenting her, we both knew that a straight face was in order. All I can say now is “HOLY COW!” If her 3 year old brain can now make up such excuses Heaven help us when she is 16!

Here’s our dilemma. . . how far in the name of getting her to become her own person and not be a follower do we go? And if it is short, how do you teach a 3 year old that skill? She’s clearly very bright and so much of the time, we think she is much smarter than we are!

T’was the Night Before “pre” school . . .

2011-08-09T20:32:00.002-04:00

Cool as a cucumber!!!

Backing up…

2011-08-09T20:26:00.001-04:00

A Princess’ answer to plain ole’ tee-ball uniforms!

A style all of her own!

And to top it off, she DID play better!

PM 1st Day of 3 year old Preschool…

2011-08-09T20:13:00.001-04:00

Just let me say… we tried! For the last two nights, Lj has fought sleep at night so we thought withholding her afternoon nap would help get her to sleep. Let’s just emphasize “thought”! Before I could get her home we had this….

and then after bringing her in, we still had this….

tomorrow will guarantee a nap after school! Notice, she is NOT in her school outfit. Regardless of how cute she was, it WAS NOT a dress so as soon as she came home, she changed BACK into the dress she slept in last night. So… again… who is the boss of this family???

Lexi’s First Day of 3-year old Pre-school

2011-08-09T19:15:00.001-04:00

It’s very hard to believe that the new 2011-2012 school year is here and that Lj officially started Pre-school today! For one… it’s too daggone HOT for school and for another… she is growing UP too soon!

I’ve been back to work for a week now and have had students for 4 school days. This morning our very family oriented principal covered a Kindergarten class for me so that I could go with Lj to class for her first day. I really hated to leave a class that I had yet to spend a full period with but then again, this is a first for Lexi that will not be repeated.

I got there before Mom and Lj and once they arrived took a few pictures. Gracious, it’s hard to not notice the difference between last year and this year. She did put up with me taking a few pictures but I still did not manage to get really great ones. 9:00 am is not a great time for photos but here they come…

Proud little 3-year old preschooler… fearless!!

Taking the steps into the building complete with new book bag!

One final “photo-opt”! This outfit sponsored by Aunt Carolyn by Crazy 8’s!

The next thing that happened was not documented due to an unprecedented appearance of “Lexi who wants her Mommy” act. (She was just fine as soon as Mommy left the room and then her best friend Rachel came in!) Not only did she manage to cry, she made Mommy cry as well. What happened to the easy first day of last year???

I promise an update of the afternoon events later….

Last Weekend before “Back to School!”

2011-07-29T21:30:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe it is the eve of the end of Summer vacation. I have really not posted like I should and have no excuses except that I just needed a break in routine and have just enjoyed our daily life without being connected to a computer every day.

This last week has flown by with last minute appointments and rainy days (also filled with much smokiness from the local fires that have plagued us this year). Last Saturday was Lj’s last day of t-ball. She never totally warmed up to the idea of playing in a group but her last bat was awesome! She did it all by herself and whacked it out there good! She even ran the bases.

Here with teammate Brennen… two reluctant players!

I got Brennen’s big hit, but missed Lj’s! Brennen has all the makings of a very talented ball player!

After church on Sunday, we went to lunch and then headed back to the fountain at Ellis Square so that Geoff could see Lj play in the water. Lj had other ideas. She really just wanted us to get wet with her. But gracious, just look at that tan! I promise I put 70+ on her every time we go outside!

Then today I had a hair appointment and afterwards we came home and took a long lazy summer afternoon nap together. Talk about pure bliss! Snuggling with my little snuggle bunny in the cool air conditioning is awesome! After we woke up, Lexi said that she needed some “chocky-milk and her t-B (aka… tv)”. I told her that I could do that if she would give me one thing… a kiss on each cheek. So she jumps up heads to my face and then sticks out her tongue and LICKS my cheek! Lil’ Stinker! She knew exactly what she was doing. She has her own ideas about everything!

Summer has been awesome but I also like routines. Lexi and I will both be getting back into the swing of things come Sunday night. I do hope to find some time for fun between now and then. As I type this she has just provided one more story. The other day we were at Mom’s and I didn’t have her “blankie” so we borrowed the one we keep at Mom’s for the ride. Her “blankie” from home has not been washed in a few days so it is much more “fragrant”. The one from Mom’s was freshly washed and clean. So we’ve ended up with both “blankies” at our house this week. Lexi prefers the “dirty” blankie to the clean one. She says it smells better… to us it is just nasty grossy-grossy! But today she has been asking for the dirty blankie. She just asked her daddy to hand her the “dirty blankie” and he was confused. I had to let him in on the dirty vs. clean blankie. Needless to say… both blankies need a bath at this point and will get one over the weekend. I just pray that she will not be taking “blankie” on her honeymoon someday!

A Lazy Day of Summer

2011-07-19T23:05:00.001-04:00

I know… it’s been too long between posts! I’ve been enjoying my summer and miraculously have managed to avoid my computer! I need to get caught up on some posts but for now, I’m going to talk about today.

All summer we’ve been talking about me bringing Lexi up to Savannah to have lunch with Daddy and while we were all there open a savings account for Lexi. She had 4 banks full of money so today was the day. This simple day turned out to be one of my favorite days of the summer. I sort of expected Lexi to get upset about leaving her money at the bank but she didn’t. She was just a few coins shy of $240! She helped put the coins in the coin counter and then was rewarded with a Money Monster stuffed animal to help her remember to save her money.

After we left the bank we went to the Wild Wing Café’ (YUM!) for lunch. After Geoff left Lj and I went to the fountain at Ellis Square. Lexi was a bit apprehensive at first because she really didn’t want to get her “pretty dress” wet. I had brought her a change of clothes in anticipation of visiting the square so I talked her into it. As hot as it was sitting there watching her play, I have to say it was SOOOOOO much fun! If only all of life was so easy as watching a child play in the water on a sunny day! Here are some of my favorite pictures.

apprehensive girl…

warming up…

surprised…

soaked to the bone…

I thought I’d never get her out of the water but finally she was ready. We then walked around to a few shops. We lucked up on this one shop where everything was 50% off. I found Lj a cute little dress made in India and one for me to match. We’ll have to work on a picture together. She could NOT wait to get that dress on! We went back to Geoff’s office and changed her. She then entertained everyone in the office calling them “coconuts”. Yes, she even called Geoff’s boss coconut! LOL!

When Geoff walked us back to the car and buckled her into the car seat she said in her best pouty voice “I really miss my Daddy!” Lexi couldn’t wait for me to get my “pretty dress” on once we were home. I told Geoff I looked like I had on a Moo-Moo (sp??) and Lexi piped up with “Mommy you look like a Moo Cow!” Such is the life in the day of the Mother of Lj! Precious. We enjoyed our day so much that I can’t wait to go back again with Sara and the boys!

Dear Jesus…

2011-06-21T22:30:00.001-04:00

There are some moments in time that just no pictures can capture. Tonight as I put Lj to bed was one of those moments. We’ve been growing as a family spiritually over the last 6 months. We can’t say enough about the guidance and support we have received since attending Savannah Christian. One of the things we have taken to heart is to pray with and for our children. So tonight as I put Lj to bed, I once again let her pray her prayer from her school and then began to pray over her. I prayed that Jesus would ease her fear over swimming and bring her peace as well as let her know how much we love her. As soon as I finished praying with her, she asked me “Why are you talking to Jesus?”. It was a special moment for us. I was able to tell her that she can talk to Jesus anytime she wants and that Jesus loves her as much as we do. My parents raised me loving Jesus and trusting in the Lord. I feel so blessed to pass this on to her and of course even if I had a picture, nothing could do capture the spirit of the moment. I felt very blessed to share this moment with Lexi and then share it with her Dad.

Swimming Lessons Day 2

2011-06-21T20:48:00.001-04:00

I have to say trying to figure out a 3 year old is a challenge! Lexi was very excited to go back to swimming lessons but did not want to go unless I went in the water with her. I’ve been trying to adhere to the YMCA rules and stay back but needless to say that has NOT happened. I don’t really feel bad about it because once I broke the rules yesterday, today there were 3 parents in the pool with their scared children (including me) as opposed to the other 3. Lexi responds well to me but not Drew. She really does not like him although he has a friendly face and means no harm. I had not planned to go in but after I sat her down by the pool and she cried and cried for me, I went and changed into by swim suit and headed in. Then it was much better. She kicked for me and made bubble in her mouth (something I picked up from the kindergarten teachers at school). She never did go under or try to swim to me but she would kick and even smiled. She even let me get out and snap a few pictures. Drew and one of the other parents both told me that it was progress and I agree judging from her smile. My main goal is to help her learn a valuable life skill of swimming but enjoy it as well.

One thing I know is that we can’t force her to do it but we can encourage her and let her know how proud we are of her when she does make a milestone.

After swimming lessons, I called Geoff and got him to stop by WalMart on the way home to pick up an inexpensive above ground pool. It’s not so deep she can’t stand up in it but yet it is deep enough for her to kick her feet and use her arms. She is very excited about the new pool even though we need to get it up and full of water. I hope to do that tomorrow and our Southern heat wave it will warm up in no time at all!

I hope to take her back to the pool tomorrow morning after my water aerobics class. I missed my spin class this morning since last night my summer insomnia took over and literally kept me up most of the night. These are the days of each year I dread the most. I can sleep like a baby during the day but at night there is no such luck! If I believed in vampires, I know for sure that I’d be one!

And one more catch up… it was a nostalgic day!

2011-06-20T22:16:00.001-04:00

One day last week… suddenly Geoff hears a familiar sound from childhood… THE MUSIC FROM THE ICE CREAM TRUCK! I told him he had to let her experience something we had from our childhood so out they went to greet the “truck”. Needless to say it was not as cool as our day in time but still it had ice cream and she loved it!

Yea… Geoff said the guy looked like a “carnie” and I agree.

She was still happy with the sour popsicle! And most of it got melted away anyhow!

But she still got a green tongue!

Backtrack to yesterday… Father’s Day and our 12th Anniversary

2011-06-20T22:01:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was our 12th Anniversary. We have decided to celebrate it next weekend together since it was also Father’s Day and not to mention that Geoff’s back started acting up on Saturday and we ended up in Urgent Care that afternoon. But it was still a very nice Father’s Day and Anniversary. God has brought Geoff and me together and together we will raise her to love and cherish him as we do.

I did manage to get a few pictures when Mom and Dad brought Lj home from church with them. I love to see Lexi with her grandparents. I miss my own grandparents and am so happy Lexi has all of hers to love. I just wish that Lexi could have spent her day with her YeYe and Grandma as well.

(And on a side note… Thanks Lanie for the dress! It’s two years since you gave it to us but the wait was worth the wait! She was so cute in it and just thought she was a princess for sure!)

And then a pictures with Nana and Papa!

And finally with her dear Daddy!

What did any of us do without her? Thank God he brought her to us!

Swimming Lessons 2011

2011-06-20T21:46:00.001-04:00

Last Friday, I signed Lj up for swimming lessons. We played in the pool on Friday after my water aerobics class to make sure she was okay with the pool. She thought it was “beau-T-ful” and was looking forward to swimming lessons. So today we got ready and headed to the YMCA (Or ABC as Lj sometimes calls it!) She was doing just fine testing the water before lessons until the instructor Mr. Drew came over and took her into the deeper water. From then on it was just horrible! I struggled as I watched trying to figure out where real fear came from, whether it was the unfamiliar man holding her or her fear of being away from her Mommy who is her protector. I eventually let mother instincts take over and headed into the pool. I did not want her to leave the pool afraid. I wanted to make sure she knew that I would be there to soothe her and protect her so we stayed at least 45 minutes after I took her out of the class. No way am I willing to give up on her learning to swim. With us living so close to the water, it is so important and I know our little miss will be an awesome swimmer one day with patience and time.

Here she is before she got scared by Mr. Drew testing the water without a care.

T-ball

2011-06-20T21:25:00.001-04:00

Okay… so Lj and Brennen are on the Reds Team. We missed all pre-game practices and began with the first game. Lexi immediately began with her “nervous” look (i.e. tongue hanging out of open mouth). During the first game she would virtually do nothing. Geoff had to help her bat and pretty much drag her from base to base. She does not like her uniform. In NO way is it a pretty dress! We had practice last Thursday and she did a bit better. On the other hand, the shy Brennen came alive and was the star of the practice! So last Saturday on game two, Lj announced that she could do it “all by myself!”. That lasted until we arrived on the field. She and Brennen took turns deciding who would participate. Needless to say they were not the only 3 and 4 year olds who had moments of showing who was really in charge! We were actually proud that by the end of the “game” Lexi was running more on her own. One thing is for sure, Brennen can whack that ball with the best of them! Lexi on the other hand would probably do better if she could wear a pretty dress while hitting and running! She is the smallest player on any team that we have seen so far so we just take that as one reason to be intimidated! LOL! Game 3 is coming up on Saturday… maybe the third time will be the charm!

A few picts to help catch up

2011-06-20T21:10:00.001-04:00

I’m beginning to think catching up is just impossible! I’m going to attempt to post a few pictures of our vacation and do an update. My computer is bogged down to a pace of beyond slow most likely due to the enormous pic files that I have loaded.

These are from our Sesame Place Visit:

Cookie Monster Breakfast:

Meeting Ernie

Meeting Burt … (he definitely is NOT her favorite!)

Meeting Abby!!! (Lexi’s favorite!!)

Meeting Big Bird! (He is really big!!)

And after breakfast we went on the coolest Carousel with Grandma and YeYe…

And later having a tea-party with YeYe and Daddy…

And finally meeting Elmo!

We had a GREAT time at Sesame Place and can’t wait to go back. Of course there are more fun photos but if I’m really catching up… I have to stop somewhere!

Welcome June, even if it is already half the way through!

2011-06-15T01:42:00.001-04:00

Gracious where does the time go?? I officially began the summer vacation on June 2nd. We flew off to Virginia that day and spent a week with family and having fun. We have been back a week now and slowly things are settling in for a summer schedule. I’ve now been to the YMCA 3 whopping times! Lexi loves it and now thinks of it as her new school. I guess it is especially appealing since she only spends a little more than an hour there but nevertheless, she really loves it! I’ve been working out and trying to get into a routine. I already have shin splints from over working but am not letting it slow me down.

However, we have been slowed down by car issues! On Saturday right after Lj’s first t-ball game, our Xterra just shut off while driving. We learned today that it was the timing belt and a few minor other issues and $593 later, we now have the old truck back. This leads me to my story of the evening…

Yesterday on the way to the Y, Lj got into Uncle John’s car (my old Mercedes) and very dramatically said, “This car is BEAU-tiful!!! It smells like Apple Pie!”. Okay… so have we ever fed her Apple Pie??? That would be a NO! But yet the story continues…

The next time we get in the car, she no longer likes it. Now she does NOT like it because it “smells like Apple Pie”. Trust me it does not!! If only we could figure out where she gets this stuff!

I’ll post pictures of our vacation in VA and PA as well as first t-ball picts in the next few days! Needless to say, the entire summer so far has been memorable Lj style!

Where did the month go?

2011-05-26T14:04:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that I have not made a single post in a month! I've got plenty of pictures and we've done many fun things but somehow I just never got around to blogging.

I'll make this one quick. Today is the last day of school for our students. Last Thursday was Lexi's last day of preschool. She has grown and changed so much over the school year. She makes us so proud but it's sad at the same time. I just wish I could slow her growing up down just a little!

Lexi on May 19.

Lexi on Aug. 10

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T20:14:00.001-04:00

We had a really nice family Easter this year. I wish I had been able to post during the weekend but it was so busy! We’ve been going to Savannah Christian Church for a while now and just love it but at the same time we miss attending church with my parents so we decided to go to a Saturday service at SCC and then go to Mom and Dad’s on Sunday. So once we were up on Saturday, Lj and I began making preparations! It was so much fun! We made our annual “Peep Sunflower Cake”, rolls for Sunday dinner, a Bunny Yeast Roll Bread to use as a veggie tray at Mom’s, and we dyed Easter eggs! Whew! All before getting ready for the 4:30 service!

Here’s a bit of a review of our family fun!

Geoff even helped Lj mix up the cake.

As usual she just has to lick the batter!

Here’s the pre-cooked Bunny Rabbit.

Then we dyed Easter Eggs…

And then finished the Peep Cake…

And when we were finished I asked Lexi to let me take a picture of her with her cake, which is when she decided she should lick it! Beware of anything Lj cooks!

Then she decided that she should chase her Daddy and wipe her chocolate nose on him. With his broken foot, she just about got him!

Next the bunny bread was ready.

Then we got ready for church. I tried my best to get her to let me take a picture of her in the dress her Aunt Carolyn bought her but this was the best I could do. . .

Before she took off running! We then attended a very nice service at SCC and head back home to get ready for Sunday morning…

Lexi left carrots for the Easter bunny….

and exchange got a basket full of Easter goodies!

of course she wanted to eat the candy right away but we had more church to do at First Baptist with Mom and Dad. We finished the Veggie Tray Bunny Sunday morning.

Afterwards we headed home to gather our stuff for dinner and I tried to get more pictures of Lj but once again they were not the best. She just does not like her photo taken! She insisted on playing with a stick instead of cooperating and then she ran like mad away from me… into the house!

We even tried for more pictures after church but instead she wanted to take photos of us!

We had a really nice lunch at Mom and Dad’s with Jenna, Charles, and their boys. it was a really extra special Easter. Each year gets more special as Lexi learns more. This Easter she even said a prayer for the family dinner. I was feeling very proud of her!

Once again… another special family day has come and gone and I didn’t take enough photos!

Preschool Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-20T20:18:00.001-04:00

I took off a half a day today to join Lexi at her school for her Egg Hunt. We’ve been doing annual testing and today was the last day so fortunately I was able to take a half a day to join in the fun. Mom went early and helped hide Easter eggs and then we joined them for lunch in the classroom. It was so much fun and I enjoyed watching Lexi interact with her friends. She especially loves Rachel.

Here they are walking outside hand in hand going to the egg hunt. Interestingly enough, their teacher had them bring egg cartons so that once they filled their carton, they would know that they couldn’t get any more eggs.

Once outside, the two quickly were on their own and Lexi was in “egg-hunting” mode!

Look Mom… I found TWO eggs!

Helping Rachel! What a good friend!

Once she filled her egg carton, she very obediently took her spot on the front step of the church. She surely made her Mama proud!

Before going back inside Rachel’s Mom and I were able to coax them into a picture!

Once home, I gave Lexi a bunny that Ms. Melaine gave me for her this morning. As you can see, she loved it! it was a super FUN day and I am so glad I was able to take a half of a day to spend time with my precious Lexi. We still have Easter festivities planned and I’m sure we will all enjoy her as much as I did today!

Day After Tax-Season

2011-04-19T20:39:00.000-04:00

Today was an extra special day. Geoff was off and of course I had to work! Geoff took Lj to school and did some stuff around the house in the meantime and then brought me lunch just before picking her up from preschool. I came home a bit early to enjoy as much of the day with them as possible. We ended up taking her for a walk/ride (we walked... she rode her "new" tricycle. She is really good and really FAST! Before we left I coaxed her into a picture wearing another outfit given to her by Ms. Fair. It is totally adorable!

How did she get so cute???

And WHEN did she get so "grown up"????

Needless to say, it is never boring around here!

Saying Good-bye to Tax-Season!!!

2011-04-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

I wish I could say each tax season got easier for our family but I can't. As Lexi grows older, it's harder to explain why Daddy is coming home later and later not to mention that it seems the older she gets, the more demanding she gets. This tax season, Geoff worked more overtime than ever before. I'm not complaining at all just stating facts. I am proud of how hard he worked for his employers this year and for the future of our family. He has done an amazing job trying to balance his professional and personal time.

So tonight after he got home, we had to have a new photo "End of Tax Season 2011" photo session (much like last years). I wish we were able to take off and do something special with Lj like we did last year but this year our school is in the midst of annual testing. The funny thing is he will be home tomorrow and then I'll be home on Friday. Such is the luck!

And this is one happy Mama and I'm so happy that we will have more time with Daddy!

U stands for Up, Under, and Umbrella!

2011-04-18T13:38:00.000-04:00

Last week Lexi had to bring in the snack for her class on Wednesday. They happened to be studying the letter "U" and "Up" and "Under". So we thought very hard about a snack that would help teach those skills. We came up with a cupcake and on Tuesday we came home and got started about 6:00. Just let me say she's a helpful (handful) in the kitchen.

Here is is ready to rock and roll! She only smiled because I bribed her!

Mixing the cuppy-cakes!

Tasting the Cuppy-cakes! And then promptly spilling batter all down the front of her "pretty dress" that Ms. Fair gave her so we had to have a wardrobe change!

While the "cuppy-cakes" baked, we worked on smashing Nilla Wafer to pieces!

Armed and ready to frost the "cuppy-cakes".

Taking a "break" while Mommy gathers all of our supplies, Lexi decided to have some fun with the dental floss she got that day from her dentist visit while I was not looking! (P.S. No cavities!)

Supplies ready!

Working Hard...

Adding finishing touches...

The first finished "cuppy-cake"!

A little taste here...

And a little taste there!

The one according to Lexi that "was not working".

The mess we left behind!

Lexi's finished "cuppy-cakes".

Mommy's Cupcakes for the class.

The break-down of the skills demonstrated in this snack ...

.... The letter "U" cupcake wrapper (made by Melissa)

... a chocolate cake for dirt for the gummy worm to come "UP" out of

... sand (smashed NIlla Wafers) to sit the Teddy Grahams on as they sat "UNDER" an "Umbrella".

One happy little girl!

She even helped clean up the kitchen!

Anyone care for a taste-tested gummy worm? Lj did not like them!

Need I say, it was WAY past bedtime but Daddy was still not home from work so we just let it go! We girls had lots of fun and I can't wait to do the snack for next month!

Dress Down, Up and all Around Memories Worth Blogging!

2011-04-11T22:50:00.001-04:00

Play Attire….

(Actually there is a cute outfit UNDER that tutu!)

Sunday Best…

These were taken just before we left to “go play with the girls and boys” at Savannah Christian. Lexi loves our new church!

Either is fine with me!

And while I’m taking some blogging time… I had to share some funny moments in the life with Lexi over the last week.

* Last Friday, she woke up and wanted “chocky-milk” before I could get her to Mom’s so when Geoff told her she had to wait until she got to Nana’s she told him, “I’ll go make it myself. I’ll get the milk, and pour it in the cup and put the chocky in it and shake it up”. Hummm…. she knows how but can you imagine the mess! Needless to say she had to wait for her “chocky-milk”! We have to make her wait until she has breakfast otherwise all she will have for breakfast is milk!

* Also on Friday just prior to the “chocky-milk” episode she comes to our room and very loudly says (we had yet to get out of bed) “DADDY, I THOUGHT you told me you were going to give me a kiss and I thought you were going to pick me up and put me in your bed!!!!”. Geoff had worked really late and I had told her that he would give her a kiss when he got home. She kind of added details! Now that she is potty trained she frequently finds a way to sleep with us by way of the “I have to go potty” excuse and then we are too sleepy to endure the fuss in the middle of the night. Ugh… she has us whipped! Completely and Totally!

* Then over the weekend on Saturday, she wants more “chocky-milk”. After already being told no, she begins with “Mommy, I don’t have any chocky-milk in my hand”. I reminded her that she could wait for lunch and have some water. Next thing I know I hear… “Mommy, I don’t have any chips in my hand”. I asked her if that was her way of asking for chips and then promptly told her that she had to eat a good lunch first.

Lexi is growing by leaps and bounds! She has recently began to have imaginary conversations with Aunt Neaners on an old cell phone. Her vocabulary is getting better and better and she has to be into everything and her favorite words by far are … “BUT WHY???” As in the words of my friend Melissa, “Lord help us Jesus!”.

Oh and by the way… the dress above was bought years ago. Remember this post??? Here it is 5… YES, FIVE years later and finally she is wearing the dress! Yes, it was worth the wait! And FYI this dress is an 18 month HartStrings dress and it is as Lexi would say “beautiful!”. And she is certainly more beautiful in it than I ever imagine 5 years ago!

A Day in the Life of a Tax-Season “widow and daughter”…

2011-04-06T22:11:00.001-04:00

Thankfully, the worst of tax season happens near the end like NOW! Lexi is now getting extra time up at night to at least see her Daddy before bed. But for the most part it is me and her. 7 days a week! So tonight I decided to post a little about our evening.

Lexi has now decided that getting her hair washed is CRUEL and UNUSUAL treatment. Need I say BATTLE???

She also now insists on helping me cook EVERY meal! Who couldn’t accept that help when you are always the only one cooking??? However, tonight when I took pictures of her helping me I had the camera on manual focus as opposed to automatic focus and without my glasses, the quick view of the photo looked good. (was not at all) She was at least a good helper making the salad!

Then we got the dreaded bath and hair washing and eventually settled in to reading books and practicing our writing. (This is when I discovered that the camera setting was wrong!) She practiced writing her name using a technique my friend Sharon shared with me today called “Rainbow Printing”. Lexi really liked it!

Here’s my example for her….

And here is her’s … (not too shabby!)

Then we read 3 versions of the “Three Little Pigs”. Need I say I’m a huge fan of pig-themed books!??? It was always one of my favorite units to teach when I taught 2nd grade and it was extra special fun to read these books with Lexi tonight. Hopefully she will love the “pig” books as much as I loved teaching with them!

After reading, Lj and I were talking about what she learned at school today and she suddenly told me that she didn’t like Rachel. I asked her why and she told me that Rachel was a BOY. I told her that Rachel was girl but Lexi insisted that she was a boy because she wore a BLUE dress and a BLUE jacket. LOL! I explained that girls can wear blue and all was good again between Lexi and Rachel! If only all life’s difficulties were settled so easily!

And last but not least, here are some photos in focus of our silly Lexi avoiding the camera wearing a “dress” that is meant for next winter that Grandma bought. Hopefully, she will not wear it out before she grows into it! But what is a parent to do when the daughter insists that dresses are all-day attire?

And for now, all is well in the world of Lexi. Her daddy came home and now is rocking her and tucking her in for bed. She makes him promise that he will let me fall asleep first before he goes to sleep. Isn’t it funny how little ones pick up on that kind of stuff. Geoff never sleeps well when I am not home and he prefers I be asleep before he goes to sleep because of my chronic insomnia. So how does she figure this stuff out? Gracious! I think she is smarter than we ever will be!

Spring Break just keeps slipping away…

2011-03-31T23:09:00.001-04:00

You know I just don’t recall a Spring Break with this much miserable weather in all my 23 years of teaching. We began it with raging wild fires one county away where my sister, niece, and daughter live. According to the news the fire burned the equivalent of 2000 football fields! Thank God there was no lives lost and only one home burned. The rain was welcome to help put out the hot spots that lingered after days of burning woods. The last few days of rain has been the most helpful but even still they warn for no one to burn anything.

Then I’ve been worried constantly about my Uncle David in SC. He’s been very ill and it’s been touch and go every day. I’ve kept my mind open to the idea of heading up to SC at any notice to help in any way I can. My cousin is an only child and I can only imagine the stress she is under trying to be strong under such conditions. Last night as I lay in bed, I couldn’t sleep and just had worries for so many things run through my mind. It finally dawned on me that the only way to really get through it all is to just put it in God’s hands so that is what I prayed and that was what finally eased my mind to finally get some rest.

This afternoon, Lj and I made a quick run to the grocery store and ran into the wife our family dr. I thanked her for all the good things he does for my Daddy and told her how grateful I am that he cares so much. I guess it weighs on my mind tonight the drama we all face and the worries we all worry but in the end we need to trust our Lord and recognize and be thankful for the goodness in those we share moments in time with on this earth. And of course, every single day of my life and many times each day, I am thankful, blessed and grateful for the presence of our precious daughter in my life and her wonderful daddy. I have no new picture for today but I’ll find an old unposted one just for good measure! She beautiful today, yesterday, and forever.

Ahhh… yes… a recent photo of the newest bathing suit purchase for the summer. She will be the cutest little bumble bee on the beach! And despite the dismal weather this week, Carolyn and I did manage to get our yearly beach week booked today! This week may stink but hopefully, July will be much better!

Spring Break is not so Springy!

2011-03-30T20:09:00.001-04:00

Last week our weather was in the high 80’s and everyone eagerly awaited Spring Break. We were even talking about going to the beach! HA! This week it’s turned cooler (I even had to turn the heat on yesterday!) Today it rained ALL DAY!

It already just stinks that my Spring Break is in the middle of tax season. So my entertainment has been Lj! Here’s some random photos of our boring week.

Yesterday we went to Wal-Mart looking for play earrings. We didn’t find them but ended up with nail polish. She insisted on BLUE GLITTER.

Spoiled??? 6 stores later finally found a cheap fake jewelry set. And after all that, she has yet to put them on! We went looking in the first place because she was fussing over her broken ones.

Mommy’s little cooking buddy. She even peeled a potato!

Painting a picture…

Talking on the phone with Brennen.

And today hiding under the coffee table…

Making brownies for Daddy (this was AFTERward when she begged to taste the batter)…

And of course, there is MORE rain in the forecast. I should have gotten pictures of her as I tried to vacuum today and she road on the canister the entire time. It’s just me and my shadow!

Another Blankie Story

2011-03-30T19:37:00.001-04:00

When we noticed how attached Lexi was to her blanket early on, we bought a back up. We learned this trick the hard way with Sable and her toys. So Lexi has a Blankie at Mom’s and one at our house. One morning this week, she told mom “My Blankie misses me.” Mom told her that she couldn’t got get it because my niece is visiting and she was sleeping in the room with Lexi’s crib. So Lexi was okay with that … for a while. Then she comes up with “Nana, my Blankie is crying. He’s crying! He misses me!”. It’s so funny how she talks to “him”. I don’t suppose she’ll ever need an imaginary friend as long as she has Blankie.

Boo-Boo Friday

2011-03-25T23:28:00.001-04:00

For the last month, Geoff has been playing basketball on Thursday nights. Last night Geoff hurt his foot while guarding and sort of rolled on the side of his foot. Of course, Mr. Macho Man didn’t tell anyone and continued to play. By the time he got home his foot was red in one spot, swollen, and hurting. By this morning, it was worse looking. He finally got into to see an orthopedic dr. late this afternoon. Dr. Wanda was right once again… he has a fractured bone. Turns out he has some hollow places in his bones in his left foot and the break was in one of them. So Mr. Macho man is now Mr. Hobble-Foot with his foot in a boot.

So while we waited for him to get home, Lexi scratched a mosquito bite until she made it bleed. She then of course HAD to have a band-aid for her boo-boo. She is such a little drama queen. So when Daddy came home we took boo-boo pictures.

And to top off this crazy Boo-Boo Friday, I have some kind of rash on my face that is red, itchy and spreading. I’ve had it on and off for a month or so but today it kicked up into high-gear and has spread all afternoon. I guess I’ll be the next one to go to the dr.

Geoff sure is a trooper though. Even with his fractured foot, he went out to Mom’s a while ago to retrieve "Blankie”. We had left “him” there and Lexi was missing him. We tried to get her to spend one night without him and sleep with her pink blanket but she just told Geoff, “this is not Blankie”. Then when he was tucking her in for bed said “Will Nana take good care of Blankie?”. After all that and my face burning and itching like mad and nothing to put on it, he decided to go get me some medicine to help ease. That’s a really great Daddy! I don’t know what Lexi, Blankie, and I would do without him!

Planning Ahead…

2011-03-16T19:24:00.001-04:00

Easter is just around the corner and I’ve been feeling a bit guilty for not planning anything special for Lj’s class for St. Patrick’s Day so when I came across an idea that I liked I just had to “hire” Melissa’s help in making a special treat for Lj’s class. I love the end result! Now for once I’m a whole month ahead of the holiday! I also love inspiring Melissa to do her “thing”! She is a very talented woman and is growing more so every day!

I ran right out today and bought the Peeps we will need!

This is the front:

And this is the back!

When I suggested that Melissa begin her 2nd career with a photography session with Lexi I was not kidding. She now has a blog with her creations and I just love watching it grow. You can check it out here.

I will be sending out Lexi’s 3rd birthday announcement tomorrow that was also one of Melissa’s creations. I LOVE it!!!

January Flashback…

2011-03-16T19:01:00.001-04:00

As I have said before, blogging is often hard to do with a 3 year old who is the center of all of the attention all of the time! I found some pictures I took of Lj in January of her cutting her plant’s “hair”. It was too cute!

Her Aunt Carolyn got her this little Santa.

Then a few weeks later, she gave him another “hair cut”~

The little guy got a few more hair cuts before he kicked the bucket! What will be ever do with all of this Lj talent???

Is there a ransom call coming??

2011-03-13T18:56:00.001-04:00

These pictures were taken yesterday while Lexi waited impatiently for her Aunt Carolyn to come pick her up.

She was going to stay with her while Daddy worked and Mommy went to the dentist. After my appointment, Carolyn was in no way ready for her to go and wanted her spend the night. So I relented. Well… here it is Sunday afternoon and still no Lexi. Carolyn WAS SUPPOSED to bring her back home but now I’m wondering if she is going to call with a ransom amount!

I know Lexi and Carolyn, Brittney and John have enjoyed her but I’m ready for our little fire cracker to come home!

Calling it now… she’s an entertainer!

2011-03-05T22:35:00.001-05:00

Everyday our little Lexi continues to amaze us! Her character comes out more and more! Just this afternoon I was talking to Sara on the phone and she said, “she sure is loud!”. Yea… that’s our girl! Loud and proud! Our day began with “nuggling” in bed after Daddy went to work and then we ate Fruit Loops and watched Caillou. What toddler wouldn’t love that!

Once we finally got out of bed, I began to try to clean up the house that badly needed some floors worked on. As soon as I pulled out the vacuum cleaner I had an unwelcome attachment … Lexi Jayne! I asked her to please go play and she turned and walked away … complete with shrunken’ shoulders, dropped arms and head walkin’ away from me… AND, YES it broke my heart! I couldn’t help but ask her to come back and give her a hug … and kiss… and finish vacuuming with her on my hip.

She later resisted nap-time and then took an almost 3 hour nap! Needless to say this gave us plenty of extra energy compliments of Lj.

When her Daddy got home from working tax-season hours, she met him at the car and he had bought her a $5 bouquet of flowers at Kroger. When she saw them she let out a big gasp and then when he gave her the flowers she said “WHY THANK YOU!” and did her usual bow as Geoff in returned said “Your welcome!” It was priceless!

Then as Geoff cooked dinner we did the bath thing and then ate dinner. She immediately wanted down but we made her sit and talk with us for some family time. After dinner she decided to go on a quest for her doll house babies’ Mommy and Daddy… when we couldn’t find them she decided that Yeye and Grandma must have taken or hidden the dolls last weekend when they were visiting. it was hilarious to listen to her ask Grandma on the phone where she hid her Mommy and Daddy.

We finally found them in her Minnie Mouse Pocketboook! Then she and I had to sing the babies to sleep and then make the Mommy and Daddy be “quiet” after the babies went to sleep.

All in all the day was super fun but our little Lexi is quite the challenge!

Here is my lame attempt to get her to reenact the flowers with Daddy… he was trying to cook dinner for us and at the point of the video she just wanted her Daddy to take a picture of me and her. This child is amazing. If I have to say so myself!

Has it really only been 2 years?

2011-02-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

Yes it correct. Your eyes are not seeing things. Guess who's back, back again, Guess who's back, tell a friend, Daddy's back, Daddy's back, Daddy's back. For all of those who have begged and pleaded for more posts from Dad, your wish (or nightmare) it will be decided soon enough, is about to come true. And for all of you who didn't ask for my return, you will just have to suffer through. Wanda and LJ are forced to listen to my uncanny sense of humour and wisecracks on a daily basis, the world might as well get a chance to share there joy as well.

Where to begin... I'd say we begin with humour, but since we might not get to that part anyway (depending on your opinion), we'll leave that as a goal for the end.

Its hard to believe its been 2 years since we saw LJ in person for the first time. Everything seemed so slow and drawn out up to the day we got to pick her up. And its been non-stop since then. We were going to have a dinner to remind of us our first day, but cold Papa John's pizza (nice product placement if I say so myself) or chinese food for dinner, however we went with a wonderfully prepared baked tilapia and rice for dinner instead. The cold pizza we will save for another day. And if Papa Johns would like to use our story as a commercial, please leave a message and our people will call your people. In my office I have the two best pictures I think I could possibly have. The first is of Wanda holding Lexi for the first time, and I think I can still see the tears on her cheek, and the first of myself holding Lexi. I don't think there is anyway that I could change out those two pictures. Others come and go, but these two will remain. I can still see those pictures in my head, along with part of that first day. I wish i could say that I remember everything from everyday that we were there, but that is just wishful thinking at this point. One of these days we will put our video together and the memories will be kept alive for Lexi to see later on.

So here's a toast to cold pizza, a darling princess of a 3 year old that is ours forever and ever, and to the best Mom she could ever have asked for, and the most wonderful wife a husband could ask for. Two years have flown by fast, and we have a long time to go and a lot more to learn. Lexi.... see you in a few hours for a potty break and the between 3 and 5 when you decide you need to sleep with Mommy and Daddy. Your always welcome in our bed. Mom just wishes you would let her sleep a little longer on the weekends... she enjoys the nuggling... just let her sleep till 8.

Daddy

Happy 2nd Family Day Anniversary to US!

2011-02-24T21:17:00.001-05:00

Today gives us one really good reason to blog… to remember and document moments in time of our lives. Of course as today dawned Geoff and I were reminded of a momentous day in our life together… our FAMILY DAY in China two years ago. It is hard to believe that just “moments in time ago” we saw our precious Lexi in person and were joined as a family. The day has been full of memories and I found myself even missing the time we were in China. I find myself so grateful and so prayerful for Lexi’s birthmother. She gave us the greatest gift she ever could. I hope and pray that she is at peace and knows that her darling little one is safe and in good hands.

When I think of Lexi, I think of God blessing our family in so many ways! He not only gave Geoff and I a gift beyond measure, he blessed everyone who has and will come in contact with our darling daughter. Although I may not always show it, I really and truly believe that Lexi is a gift from God to all who know us, especially our close family. Many people that we know look back and think of her when we first brought her home and say things like “when we first got her…” and I just know that she is a precious gift to all of us.

So tonight I think back to two years ago walking into that room in China and seeing our sweetie for the first time sitting in an unfamiliar Nanny’s lap looking scared as she could be and my reaction that she WAS REAL! The picture we had gotten from the agency was really REAL and there she was and she WAS OURS! Then the rest was just surreal. We met her, held her, talked to the Nanny through the guide and then suddenly, we were in the midst of craziness! We went to the Chinese version of a Super Wal Mart to buy food, diapers, and a stroller for her and then walked across the street and ordered a Papa John’s Pizza! Talk about surreal!

So in honor of our family history, I must post (repost old photos and new photos)….

Family Day 2009..

Family Day 2010…

2011…. (surely this is not the same girl!… disregard the spilled milk on the dress!")

The Lexi popsicle! Crazy little girl!

The Lexi looking back at “little Lexi in China”.

I can’t tell anyone how many times people have told us that Lexi is lucky to have us. Each time someone tells us this I tell them that we are the lucky ones. Truth be known none of us are “lucky”. .. We are blessed. We are blessed that God chose us to be Lexi’s parents… God chose our families to be Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, sisters, brother in laws, nephews, great grand-parents, and even “adopted” aunties and uncles. Everyone who enters into the life of Lexi is blessed and meant to be. And watching her profound effect on others brings joy to our lives. I look forward to the many years in front of us watching our daughter grow and develop into a beautiful confident young woman. And trust me… she has a head start! Strong willed and confident only can begin to describe her!

I love you Lexi Jayne! You are a miracle in our lives and we love you beyond words!

Blog Make-over Surprise!

2011-02-21T22:05:00.001-05:00

We were off from work another day today for President's Day. Lj and I headed to Savannah to do a little bargain shopping and lunch with Daddy. While we were gone, the Blog-Fairy (Dear Friend Melissa) did us a very needed update on Lexi's blog! I love the new look and the precious pictures!

Thank you Melissa... for EVERYTHING! You are the best and I really hope you will begin your next career in graphic design and photography! You have a gift and are amazing! And I am blessed to call you a really wonderful TRUE friend!

Much love,
Wanda

And P.S. The photo with the pale pink Baby Gap dress... she wore it for the first time last Friday... and every since, it has been bed-time attire. We have washed it but she just LOVES it so much she will not go to bed without it. She loves her "pretty dress". (It's really not that cute but for some reason, she thinks it is amazing!) Good gracious... I really have no idea how "princesses" are born! We had nothing to do with this! It's all Lexi.... the Princess entitled but yet tom-boy go-cart, ball throwing, outdoor little gal... She's definitely all Lexi... all her own! But yet, all ours and we love her so!

And More…

2011-02-19T22:05:00.001-05:00

running out of words… other than precious… thankful… blessed!

This is like Christmas!

2011-02-19T21:50:00.001-05:00

Finding pictures of Lj taken by Melissa on FB. Need I say talented???

Pictures like this of Lexi just take my breath away!

Sunny Spring-like Saturday Family Fun!

2011-02-19T21:33:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was so much fun visiting with Melissa and Matt that I decided that it would be fun to spend an afternoon… well at least part of one with Sara and the boys. Lexi LOVES Brennen… (and Christopher too!) and as soon as I told her we would be going to visit them she never let a moment slip without asking WHEN we could leave. We had a mid-tax season treat this morning of Daddy sleeping in and having breakfast with us before heading out for his day at work. It was soooooo nice to have family cuddle time first thing this morning. But after he left we headed to Sara and Chris’s place.
I took photos of the kids throughout the day… it was so funny and as the day unfolded, I stayed longer and longer until both Lj and I were both exhausted even though she cried as we left… she wanted her Brennen!

A quick-study from Matt-Matt yesterday, Lexi was loving some Power Wheels… and again is practicing the new speech to YeYe… “YeYe… I need a Go-Cart!” I have to admit she could use some driving lessons!

The 3-Amigos with Lexi’s Sissy Sara… Brennen looking so cute in his new hair do… he looks even more like his Daddy!
Then began the afternoon drama… when we arrived the vice president of Chris’s company and one of the engineers were there being tough guys with chain saws taking down a few trees in their yard where they plan to build in the future. As I drove up, they were dropping a big tree where they would relocate. We watched them work and work taking the tree apart for fire wood and then as we played with the kids they began working on a particularly tough tree near the trailer. If it were to fall the wrong way, it would take out the bedroom, master bath and part of the kitchen! They were confident and began. I was amazed as I watched my son-in-law scoot up a tree to tie a rope high up to control the tree. What we did not expect came later…

Here is Chris driving the tractor trying to pull the tree over… it was a tough one though and just made him spin his wheels! At this point the tree was cut to fall but was leaning to the trailer… so no one could go inside and we all began to worry. Thankfully, they have insurance!

The “pecking” order… Brennen… Lexi… CE! running down the road as we stayed out of the way of the tree cutting!

Miranda (3 1/2 and Chris’s brother’s little girl) deciding that Lexi was okay so she gave her a kiss. It was sweet!
Then Sara rescued the potty from the house and low and behold all of the kids had to go potty outside! (Sorry Bren, I only got one shot and YOU were the one!
In the meantime… Chris calls in the professionals and they arrive to save the day.

Only when I knew they would be safe could I go home. I have to give out a shout out to Rick’s Tree Service for coming so quickly and not charging them an arm and a leg for a Saturday emergency service. They barely made enough money for their service!
Afterwards we left, but Lj was NOT happy about leaving her Brennen. She cried until she fell asleep and then awoke once home to cry again for him. She was a bear for the second night in a row of no nap! Geoff came home a rescued me from whiney Lj and cooked dinner. I was extra happy when he fixed me Geoff’s Outback Style Fresh Green beans! Yummy!

and then… Lj fell asleep in her Daddy’s lap… so precious! In the past few days we have learned, she can play with the best of the boys and come home and dress and be a pretty princess still insisting on sleeping in dresses!

Good-night, Princess Lexi Jayne! Sleep tight!

Foto Fun Friday with Friends!

2011-02-19T20:41:00.001-05:00

We’ve had some really busy days the past two days! Yesterday we had a school holiday and Lj and I had hair appointments near Melissa so I twisted her arm (it was really a tough job!) to let me and Lj come by and take some photos afterwards. We ended up staying all afternoon and into early evening and had a blast taking pictures (well…. she did the taking!) all over the place. I had asked her to take some 3 year old pictures of Lj because she takes such awesome pictures of Matt. I even told her she could launch her photography career with Lexi’s photo shoot. She does not give herself enough credit for her skills. I have seen the photos at a quick glance but can’t wait to see the finished product. Her blog and Facebook hints are amazing. Lexi fell in LUV with Matt-Matt and was at his beck and call. I only can wish she would listen to us as much as she did Matt-Matt! She even told him she would be coming back to see him today. It was too stinkin’ cute when on the last photos she took, Matt said “she could be my sister!”. Coming from an only child and a boy of his age it was too cute! He even took us for a ride on the Mule before we left. She now wants a go-cart because Matt-Matt took her for a ride on his. It was a fun-filled day with two very extra special precious kids! I’d gladly take Matt-Matt as Lexi’s big-brother.

And I surely love my dear friend Melissa and her kind heart.

This precious little dress was a birthday gift from another extra special friend, Sharon. I love it!! It’s my new favorite on Lj. She looks so grown in this picture…. where did our baby go!

And here are some with Matt-Matt! I can’t wait to see the rest! I “stole” these from Melissa’s blog! Okay… so we have the two most precious kids in the world…. no debating allowed!

I love this picture of Lj and Matt running off to play hide and go seek… although it gives me visions of her running off to get married one day! Oh, yikes!

And Lexi is now practicing her next conversation with YeYe… “ YeYe, I want a g0-cart!”

Reading Robert Munsch Books Part 1

2011-02-17T07:48:00.000-05:00

As a teacher I am amazed at Lexi’s ability to retell stories that she has read in her own words. It also amazes me at how much expression she already uses while she retells her stories. This video is just an example of how well she does. I hope to record her “reading” Mortimer soon. It’s our favorite by far. I did get this video recently though of her looking through many of her Robert Munsch books that I have checked out from school. We read them almost every night. We also go online to his official site and read them as he tells the stories in his voice. It is so much fun!

Sickly Runny Nose

2011-02-16T21:30:00.001-05:00

Last week, Lexi had a viral infection. She ran fever for 5 days and had this awful runny nose along with congested coughing and sneezing. After a few days, I got my own version of it but it was more of a stomach virus. Together we made one sick person! I missed a few days of work and Lexi missed all three days of her preschool. Sadly, it was the last week Ms. Aida (her teacher’s helper) was there. Lexi loves her and mentions her every day now that she is no longer there. I was especially touched to find a note that she wrote to Lexi in her Valentine’s Party bag. I will keep it for her forever.

One afternoon when I got her home, I brought her some new books that came with puzzles and she sat in the floor while I cooked dinner and put one of them together. Ignore the messy hair, Oreo mouth and the runny nose. It has been a fixture in Lexi’s life since she began preschool. I guess that is what happens when you are around lots of other runny noses all the time! And the hair… that is a new thing. She is taking to the hair bows less and less even though she is still a toddler diva only wanting to dress in dresses ALL the time! I did add the bow after I began to take pictures but had to bribe her to get photos!

I love those little fingers and love to watch them work! She is a great puzzle solver!

Parsley in the nose Grossness

2011-02-16T21:00:00.001-05:00

Pardon me for posting too much tonight… I’ve been a slacker and am trying to catch up with February pictures.

I took these pictures last night while Lj and I had dinner. I have been on a cooking new recipes kick and last night decided to make Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi and Sesame Noodles for dinner with garlic toast. The recipes turned out great but of course, Lj only wanted to eat the toast. She is discriminating though and only wanted the inside with no crust… (I on the other hand loved it all… a little too much and must get off this cooking kick before I regain my 30 lbs back!)

Love those pony tails! She requested them herself from Mom. I love her hair but have to admit that I miss her shorter hair. If she didn’t want a big pony tail in the “back” I’d have Cheryl trim her hair back to a bob.

Don’t ya just love the parsley in the nostril? Nice! And I hate to admit it, I’m still missing those two teeth that she knocked out last month. She is still as cute as a June bug but I miss those pearly whites! But in the end, who could resist this darling little face!

Picture of Daddy…

2011-02-16T20:37:00.001-05:00

Like I said earlier… the girl misses her Daddy. This is a picture she drew last week of him. I had to take a picture of it before she erased it! I think the “multiple eyes” are his glasses and you can definitely recognize the spiky hair!

Girls “best” Friend

2011-02-16T20:23:00.001-05:00

Tax season is beginning to take its toll on me and Lj. She cries daily for her daddy when we come home so we’ve been doing all kinds of things to keep her busy. Sable has become a little bit of a substitute even though most of the time she does not really enjoy the attention. She’s much too old now to appreciate an overactive toddler dragging her around the house. Before she got sick last week, they played bubbles. I got some really cute pictures of them. When Sable was a puppy she LOVED bubbles and liked to try to “eat” them! This was only a glimpse of days gone by.