Lemon Juice

A couple years ago, Jeff and I took a parenting class. The man who was the teacher supports spanking. He suggests using an object, like a wooden spoon, rather than your hand. It serves as a visual cue and you don't use the same hand to love and punish. Carson has never actually been spanked, but he is scared to death of the wooden spoon. All it took was demonstrating on a chair what it means to be spanked, and he knows he never wants one. He will immediately shape up.
This week, my sister's family in town. On Friday Ann Bennett had a sour mouth so she got a squirt of lemon juice. Carson was watching as this happened. Since he was being super whinny and ugly, I told him he could get it too. He has now added lemon juice to his crying. He would not even come close to Rene' for a few minutes because he was afraid she would squirt lemon juice at him too. On the way home that night, Carson brought the lemon juice up again. I told him he would only get it if he had an ugly mouth. Then I told him we would have to buy some lemon juice at the store. At that point he told me "I think there is a store that doesn't have lemon juice." The conversation continued for a moment talking about Publix selling food not juice. It was very cute. Now, it appears we have 2 threats for getting Carson to cooperate.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! We have had so much going on that I want to tell you about, but for now just a few photos. ( I was going to tell you I didn't take many, but I had 63 new photos.)

Carson checking out Woody from Santa.
Macie with her doll (the first of 3) and stroller from Santa. She is also holding her Cinderella phone-she loves it!

Macie with her singing vacuum.

Carson opening his Thomas computer from Grandma and Poppy.
Carson and Macie playing with Noah's ark, Carson's gift to Macie

The kids really had a fun time. Once I format pictures, I will post Macie walking around with her new purse. I have to find sometime to go through all of the toys and get rid of or hide some for a while. They are certainly blessed with many people who love to spoil them.

Picture Post

Finally some pictures. I don't have long because Macie should be up soon (it is 8:13), and I will have to feed her. But, in the few minutes I have, I thought I would share a few photos.

Our Christmas Card Photo














Macie at the sledding hill-asleep!














Carson skiing on the little hill














Carson and Ann Bennett with Mic

Still not photos

I still have not found time to deal with my pictures, so you will have to wait a couple more days. I have a couple videos on my camera so it will take a bit to deal with them, and I have not had the energy or time.
I thought I would shard our adventures last night. Carson stayed up to watch Frosty the Snowman. He had taken a nap, but he was tired when it was over. He walked up the stairs and hit the gate at the top of the stairs. He. of course, went crazy and his screaming woke Macie up. Thankfully she went back to sleep quickly. He went into the bathroom to brush his teeth-still crying. He was upset and dropped his blue bear in the sink. Jeff picked it up and threw it on the floor. The combination got Carson even more upset. I finally get him to bed and leave his room. About 5 minutes later, he comes out to go potty. Jeff takes him to the hall bathroom (right next to Macie's room). A few seconds later I hear this awful screaming coming from Carson. He had dropped blue bear in the toilet. (A long time ago he dropped a paci in the toilet too) His screaming woke up Macie. So, Carson went back to bed screaming because he did not have blue bear. Jeff set off to clean and dry blue bear (with the hair dryer). Macie kept crying this time. So, I ended up getting her up and rocking her. She fell asleep but woke up when I put her back down. She the yelled for about 45 minutes before she finally fell asleep. Finally blue bear was dry so Carson went to sleep.
The only good thing about the whole thing is Macie is still sleeping at 8 am!

We are home again

We left Tuesday for a trip to Colorado. My dad has a house in Brekenridge, so we try to go out once a year to ski. Most of the time my sister comes out at the same time. We missed last year since Macie was born in January and we all went to Disney in October. We had a good time, but it is hard traveling with small children. Macie did not sleep well at all. It seems like every time we have a baby out there, they sleep poorly. I don't know if it is the altitude or being away from home.
Carson took private ski lessons with my niece Ann Bennett. They both did well, but Carson could only handle a short time of skiing. They actually went up on the big lift (or swing as they called it) and skied down a regular slope. Carson was a little scared and started crying I want my mommy (or blue bear). He ended up going home for a nap, but Ann Bennett skied with us a couple times (she is almost 6). I have a couple pictures I will post in a few days. They had a great instructor so if you are headed to ski, let me know and I will give you his name.
We took the kids sledding the first day. Carson did not like the snow in his face, but liked sledding with mommy. I kept my hand in front of his face to keep the snow out. Macie like it too, but we were a little more cautious with her. She took a little nap in the sled.
I will post more later since this is already long. I will also try to get some pictures up.

Walking

I thought you might enjoy a video of Macie walking. She is still crawling some, but she walks a good bit. If she has goal, she walks. If she is just trying to get into trouble, she crawls!

Happy 40th Birthday to my sister

This is Rene', Macie and me on the day of Macie's dedication in April. Today is her 40th birthday. In honor of her birthday I thought I would make a list of 40 things I love about my sister. (These certainly are not in any particular order)
1. She was one of the first people I met in the world.
2. She is the only person in this world who really knows where I come from and how it has made me who I am today.
3. Growing up, she was usually the one to get in trouble because she was the oldest. I don't ever remember her complaining about this either.
4. I never had to make a decision about who would be my matron on honor. I had several close friends so it sure made my life easier.
5. I can call her at any time and for any reason.
6. She came and stayed with me the weekend after Macie was born even though she lives 7 hours away and had just been here 3 weeks earlier for Christmas.
7. Just after Ann Bennett was born, she got on a plane with a tiny baby to come to my wedding shower.
8. She was in my wedding just 3 months after having a baby.
9. She has given me a wonderful chance to be an aunt to my niece and nephew.
10. She let me spoil her kids before I was married and had kids of my own.
11. She loves my kids as much as I love hers.
12. She taught me that you can get into trouble with credit cards in college.
13. She taught me that getting out of college without loans could be a good thing.
14. She allowed me to come visit at the drop of a hat during my single days.
15. She is paving the way for raising a boy and a girl.
16. She is learning all about having kids in school so I can learn from her.
17. She has given me enough hand me downs to cloth my children for most of their lives.
18. She has taught me that when you stay at home with your kids, you don't have to say yes every time someone asks for help.
19. She was there when we had to separate the Christmas ornaments.
20. When I was starting to question Santa, she gave the right answers so I could believe at least one more year.
21. She felt bad when she hit me over the head with the telephone or spayed perfume all over my room in stupid childhood fights.
22. She allowed me to tag along with her friends as we started to get older.
23. She understands why it is important to watch Days of Our Lives on Christmas eve even if you don't have a clue what is really going on in the show.
24. She can struggle along with me as we come up with ideas for Christmas presents for our family.
25. I know if anything happens to me while my kids are young (or anytime) she will give them lots of love to make up for it.
26. We have many memories of skiing through the years.
27. She still goes skiing with us even though it can be a pain to get together.
28. Her family helped us have a wonderful trip to Disney last fall.
29. She came and spent a week with Carson when I had to go back to work for a few weeks before summer.
30. We can talk for hours or sit in silence without any problem.
31. She has taken on Nita's tradition of making peanut butter balls at Christmas time.
32. We always have a good time when our families are together.
33. She has sacrificed being home for Christmas with her kids to come spend it with us.
34. She tells me I need to let things go when I really need to let things go.
35. She is a woman of faith and I know we will get to spend eternity together.
36. If I needed her she would rearrange her life to be here.
37. The seven hours drive between us hasn't drawn us apart. I wish we lived in the same town or even several hours closer, but I know our relationship is still strong.
38. She makes me want to have a 3rd child so Macie has a chance at having a sister.
39. She will work to help Macie and Ann Bennett have a bond that is like sisters.
40. I am blessed to have her as my friend and not just my sister.

Happy Birthday Rene'. I wish I could have been there, but we will do something when I see you next week.

Santa

We finally had some success with Santa! Carson's first Christmas, we did not make it to meet Santa. When he was one, we went to the Lake Lanier lights and tried to get pictures with Santa, but Carson would only see Santa if Jeff and I were in the picture with him. Last year at breakfast with Santa he really didn't want to see him, and the line was so long, I didn't make him. This year we got the picture and I even got him to smile (his fake smile) for me. I could see he was a little anxious while we were waiting, but he walked up and climbed in his lap. Macie cried at first, but then she liked to look up at him. Carson wrote a letter to tell Santa he wants Mack and Woody. He also told him that Macie wants a dolly and stroller. If Santa's helper who is visiting Disney this week comes through, all their wishes will come true! Enjoy the pictures.

Before we left for school.



Waiting in line.Showing Santa my list

Busy, Busy Busy, Busy

I thought I would post a couple more pictures from Orlando. The first is Jake and Macie and then All the kids with Pluto. Carson was much happier to meet him this year.
As you can tell by my title, I have been rather busy since we got home. We had a baby shower here on Sunday, so I had to get my house decorated and cleaned in just a few days. Thanks to my mom coming and working for 10 hours Saturday, it looked great. I am trying to keep it this way, so I have not had time to sit down at the computer. I have lots of blogs to read, so if I have not signed yours in awhile, I will soon.
The shower was for my dear friend Leslie. She is having twins in February or March. I was more than excited to host a shower for her. We have prayed many years for these babies so I know they have to be 2 very special people. I am sure if you check out Amy's sight she has done a great job of telling you about it. I have not looked to see though!
I tried pulling out the old digital camera, but after a few pictures, I remember why I wanted a new one 2 years ago. It was so slow, I could not get pictures of the kids. So, tonight I went to Wolf Camera and bought the updated version of my broken camera. Who knew that the camera store would sell it for the same price as all the other places. Tomorrow is breakfast with Santa so I am sure I will get lots of pictures to share.
Well, I gotta run clean the kitchen and pick up all the toys scattered around.

We are back

After a week in Orlando, we are back home. We had a nice Thanksgiving with Jeff's family and then enjoyed a couple days at Disney. Carson was very excited to be back in the Magic Kingdom and Macie loved her first visit. She loved all the rides. We have pictures of her on Small World clapping her way through. (It is film so you can not see it yet..see below.)
Unfortunately, we dropped the camera at Disney and broke it. I am hoping we might be able to get it fixed quickly, but in the mean time, I will be taking pictures the old fashioned way. Luckily, I have a nice 35mm camera so I can still get good pictures. We still have our old digital camera somewhere too. So, maybe I will pull it out and deal with the difficulties it causes.
Here are a couple to last until I figure out what to do about digital pictures.

Macie looking through a honey pot at Pooh's play ground.

Carson and Cassie on the bridge at the playground.

If you have kids and have any extra money, I highly recommend a trip to Disney. I would go for a week every year if we could afford it. We still have 3 more days of tickets, so I am sure we will go again in the next year. Luckily we go to Orlando to see family often. It really is a magical place and I love to see the kids enjoy it. Even Macie at 10 months loved every minute.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the photos of Carson at his school feast. Notice how tall he is compared to the other kids! The first one is with his 2 teachers.

10 + steps

Tonight as we were getting the kids ready for baths, Macie walked more than 10 steps. Usually she can only make it 4 and then she falls, but tonight she went about 5-6 feet before she fell. Jeff said he thinks it counts as walking. I think it counts as walking when she walks more than she crawls. Any thoughts? I will try to get some pictures up soon.

She must have known

Macie must have known I was talking about her poor sleep habits. As if to say "I'll show you" she slept 11 hours last night. I did not hear a peep from her until 5:55. Since she was in bed before 7, I can not complain. Of course she was ready to get up for the day, but it is much better than being up several hours in the middle of the night.

Macie

I thought I would tell you what Macie has been up to lately. I havn't down loaded pictures This week, but I will try to get some soon.
She is working really hard at learning to walk. She is all over the place if she has something to hold. She is taking one or two steps on her own, but she crashed quickly. I think she will have it down fairly soon.
She is saying mama and dada and I think banana-of course it sounds like BA, but she uses it for banana so I think it counts!
She claps and sings along in music class. We actually have a few weeks off, but it is cute to hear her "sing" when music is playing.
She loves to play in the Cozy Coupe. Today she sat in it and played for 30+ minutes while I did a little yard work. She has even figured out how to make it move. She climbs in and out and up on the seat. I wish I had gotten a picture of her. I posted some a while back of her and Addison playing in it, but she has really gotten into it lately.
She still isn't sleeping well. Jeff was gone last night and she was up for a good 2 to 3 hours. Since we will be traveling some over the next couple months, I decided I should do whatever it takes to get her back to sleep. I don't think I should let her scream for hours just to leave town and have her messed up again. So, when she started crying just as I was falling asleep last night, I decided I would see if feeding her put her back to sleep. I did wait a few minutes to see if she would go back to sleep on her own. Then, I went to her room rocked her a few minutes and then tired feeding her. When I put her back in her bed she was crying again. I thought I would take her to my room and let her sleep with me since Jeff wasn't there anyway. That worked for about 10 minute then she was trying to crawl out of the bed. I tried several things, but she would start crying or climbing out of the bed again. Finally, I gave up and put her back in her room. I put the pillow over my head so her cries were muffled a little. I don't really know how long it took for her to go to sleep. She would cry a while then stop then start again. Once she finally went to sleep, she slept until 7. (Of course Carson had me up a couple times too, so I had very little sleep.) I am certainly looking forward to her figuring this sleep thing out! I should say there are many nights where she will sleep for 8-9 hours-it just starts too early. Tonight she was in bed before 7.
If I find the time, I will get some video of her up here soon. She really is a cutie-except when she is screaming in the middle of the night!

Funny

Every week at school Carson has a letter of the week. This is the conversation we had on the way home from school about next weeks letter.
Sandy: Carson, what letter do you think will be the letter of the week next week?
Carson: I think H
Sandy: Wasn't H your letter last week? What was your letter this week.
Carson: I
Sandy: So, what letter do you think it will be next week?
Carson: Hold on let me check...(singing) A B C D E F G H I J
(in a very loud and excited voice) J

A plug for Thomas' stacking risers

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE SUE!

As most of you know Carson LOVES trains. I know for Christmas when he was 1, he got his fist Thomas track. His 2nd birthday was a train party. He still loves to play with trains. He still loves the wooden railway stuff, but he also likes electric trains. This weekend we were at the train store for Carter's birthday party. We told Carson we would get him some stacking risers for his Thomas track after the party. We have lots of different pieces, but these can be stacked and if you have enough you could take the track from the table down to the floor. There is a picture of this in one of the Thomas "year books" also known as the book that gives little boys big ideas on how to spend their parents money. Anyway, we told him about a month ago we would get one set for him after the party. Of course we have already tried them out. Although the 3 we have are not enough to go from the floor to the table, these things are awesome. They stay together better than any other risers we have in our collection. I promise you it is a bunch. So, for all of you with little boys who might get into Thomas, I encourage you to start early on the stacking riser rather than the other elevated track foundation or the ascending track risers. Maybe one of you will be lucky and Carson will be over his train phase and you can just by all of our train stuff used. Actually when I think about it, I probably have enough for all of you with little boys. Of course, if your son is already born, I don't see Carson getting over it any time soon. They really are great toys for boys. One day, I will tell you all the things I think Carson has learned playing with his trains.
On another note, my friend Shahla called this morning after dropping Carter off at school. Hanging on the wall at Carter's school was what the kids were thankful for this year. Carter has said he is thankful for Carson. It is really is fun for me to see Carson's friendships grow!

Weekend

Carson had his final soccer game of this season Saturday. He had a great time playing, but he certainly wasn't the star. His only goal came at half time in the 2nd to last game. We wouldn't count it, but he was playing against the 2 stand outs on our team. He is already looking forward to playing in the Spring.
We also decided Carson is the most accident prone kids around. He fell into the coffee table Friday afternoon and hurt his ear. At the soccer game, he tripped and another kids stepped on the same ear. We had Carter's birthday party at the train store later on Saturday. Carson managed to hit his head on the train 2 or 3 times. Then Sunday we were called out of church after Carson fell and scrapped his face just beside his eye. The good news is he always wanted to get back into the activity and he didn't need blue bear to calm down. Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Macie and Addison watching the game. It was cold in the morning!

Carson getting his trophy.

Checking out the trophy. (Sorry the quality is poor..I tried to make it bigger and messed it up!)

A group picture at Carter's party just after Carson hit his head the first time. (He is standing outside of the train on the right side)

Carson's injury. This morning it has scabbed and his eye is a little swollen. Thankfully we had pictures taken already.

Halloween

Tow Mater and the giraffe had a fun Halloween. It took me a long time to decide what Macie would dress like. We had 4 or 5 choices with all the hand me downs and the costume I bought at a consignment sale for $2. She ended up wearing her brothers costume because it fit the best and it was one of the few things she will be able to wear of his. She wore his pumpkin costume to Carson's school party. He had 2 his first year because Gigi sent the pumpkin after we had the giraffe.
We have really had a fun couple of days. Tuesday was Carson's school party. Macie and I went to the party. All the little kids loved playing with her. The slide show has a couple pictures of the kids holding her. Katy, who was in Carson's class last year, loves babies. She is the little blond girl. Most of the boys were super heros. I don't know how we have avoided this stage, but Carson is still into Cars and Thomas. Actually none of his friends are really into them either. As I mentioned before Tuesday night we carved pumpkins. There are a few pictures from that in the slide show as well.
Yesterday morning, we went with Carter and Addison to Chic-fil-a and then to the pumpkin patch one last time. The one at school has a big bounce castle, so it is lots of fun for the boys. Shahla and I figured it was a good way to entertain them before naps.
A few years ago, my college friend Tonya mentioned that her friends have pizza in the cul-de-sac before trick or treating. I mentioned it to our neighbors and it is now a yearly occurrence for us as well. Last night we have between 60 and 70 people there. The kids love it and it is fun to see all of our neighbors. The kids have a little parade to show off their costumes. Macie was very cute trying to keep up while pushing a little walking toy. Jeff was trying to hold her hand and Asher's hand and get them both to walk. I don't have any pictures because I was videoing at the time. I bet someone else will send me a copy. Once it is close to dark, we head out to trick or treat. All the boys come in a big mass. This year they were really into it. It is fun to see how they change from year to year.

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A new Tradition

Last night, we started what we hope will be a Halloween tradition for our family. Since we live where it can be 80+ degrees in October, we have to wait until the last minute to carve our pumpkins. So last night we have a pumpkin night. We had bacon and pumpkin pancakes (both flavored and shaped) for dinner. Then we carved out pumpkins and watched the Charlie Brown special The Great Pumpkin on TV. As long as ABC cooperates and shows it every October 30th at 8, I think we will try to do this every year. It was really fun. And Carson didn't know he was eating pumpkin in his pancakes!
And, oh my gosh, what were people thinking letting Sabrina go on Dancing. Now, how is a woman going to win. I must admit I am pulling for Jenny, but I don't know if she can do it.
I will try to get some pictures from last night and tonight up tomorrow. I am sure I will have a zillion!

Birthdays and Macie eating

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon at my friend Lynn's house from college. There are 4 of us who try to get together every now and again. Since this past weekend was the Georgia Florida game, it was a perfect excuse for us to get together. When we got home, we left all the stuff in the car. Sunday after church, I brought the bags inside. One of them had a box of Gerber toddler crackers we had taken for Macie. The bag was on the coffee table, but Macie managed to pull the bag down, get the box of crackers out of the bag, and open the box. The pictures to the right are how we found her! This was after she had eaten lunch. Have I mentioned she likes to eat?

Yesterday was my birthday. On Sunday, I told Jeff what I want next year from my birthday. It is truly a sign that I am getting old. I would have loved this gift this year, but by the time I thought about it, it was too late. So, what is it that I want? I want Jeff to take the day off of work. He will get up and get Carson ready for school. If we send Macie next year he can get her ready too. I get to sleep in a little late. We will then all go to breakfast as a family. After we get the kids to school, Jeff and I will spend the day Christmas shopping. He thinks this sounds like a miserable way to spend your birthday, but for me, it will be wonderful. It isn't because I love to shop. It is because ALL of the holiday shopping falls on my shoulders. I have to come up with the ideas, purchase the gifts, wrap the gifts, and make sure they get to the correct place. In addition, we have 9 birthdays in the family this time of year. Somehow, this was in the fine print of our marriage liscense. A great deal for Jeff, but a really crappy one for me. For me to have all of his family taken care of and most of the kids gifts and my family before November will be the greatest gift. It will take away lots of stress and give me time to enjoy the fun of the holidays. Plus, if I can get Jeff to smile and not complain, we can get some quality time together. (Have I ever mentioned that quality time and acts of service are my love languages?) Maybe knowing that this year is the last time I have to do it alone will make it easier for me!
By the way, I really do enjoy trying to find gifts for people. It just gets to the point where it is too much all at once!

Chick-fil-a

Macie and I have music class on Mondays. There is about an hour between the end of class and getting Carson from school. We have come home a couple times, but really it isn't worth the time. So, today we went to the Chick-fil-a at Roswell Corners. It is across the street from Carson's school, so it is the perfect location for us to pass a little time. I have been to this particular location about 500 times. I am probably not exagerating! Carson, Jeff and I all love the food and it is close to our house. Today, I had such great service, I had to talk about it.
First, as I walked up carrying Macie and all the stuff that goes with her, one of the workers came to open the door for me. I ordered and got my food quickly. The same lady carried my food to our table and got me a straw, spoon and napkins. She also got a table topper (A little plastic thing you can put on the table so kids don't have to eat off the public table. They just got them at this location and I am very excited) She also went behind the counter where they keep a box of Cherrios for little ones. She came by to check on me several times and took my trash when I was finished. I did not get her name, but she went out of her way to make things easy for me. I did not really need another reason to go to Chick-fil-a, but it is a nice added bonus.
For those of you with little ones, I recommend you try to soup for them. Macie loved the pasta, carrots and chicken. She also loves the grilled chicken and fries, but I feel better if she eats carrots instead of fries!

Pictures

We got our proofs from Saturday's pictures yesterday. Now, we have the difficult task of deciding what we want to order. I am not very good at making the decisions! We also got Carson's school pictures back to day. They are cute-especially for school photos. Let me know if you want to see the proofs and I will email you the link.
It is a dreary day here. We really need the rain so I am not complaining. (An article in the paper Sunday said Atlanta has 80 days of water left in Lake Lanier) Carson did not have school so he is watching a movie on the couch. I am hoping he will nap. Macie slept about 30 minutes twice today. She is up in her bed fighting a 3rd nap. Any suggestions on getting her to take good long refreshing naps? Remember I have to be in the car from 9:15-9:45 and 1:15-1:45, 3 times a week. I think Mitzi and I are setting a car pool schedule so I might be able to eliminate the drop off time. Maybe that will help.

Pumpkin treats

I have always loved pumpkin pie. I love the holidays because my family always had pumpkin pie. I remember one time when I was in high school I think, my mom had a pie cooling on the counter in our kitchen. My cat, Daisy, climbed up there and took a nice bite out of the middle. She was a great cat for kids, but she could get into some trouble. Maybe one day I will try to find a picture to scan of Daisy. I had her from the summer before 1st grade (5 years old) until my sophomore year in college (19 years old).
Back to pumpkin talk! A few years ago, I discovered that a bagel shop around here has pumpkin cream cheese and bagels in the fall. I can not really taste it in the bagels, but I love the cream cheese. Since I only have 2 weeks left to get to my weight watchers goal, I have not had one this year. I will be there soon though. I will just plan to have veggies for a meal to make up for the large amount of cream cheese I will eat. Sunday, I discovered another pumpkin treat. Statbucks has pumpkin drinks this month. I don't know how long they are around, but I highly recommend you try one! I had the fat free latte without whip cream and it was incredible. I am sure it is even better if you get it with the really fattening stuff. There is also an ice cream shop in town that has pumpkin ice cream this time of year. Jeff likes it a lot, but it isn't my favorite. I noticed as I drove by the other day they have milkshakes too. I might try one before they are gone, but again, I would have to balance my points!
Basically, even without the holidays, I could find a few extra pounds in the fall. I just went to the Starbucks website and looked up the calories for the pumpkin lattes and frappuccinos. My best bet is the light frappuccino. It has 1/3 of the WW points as a regular!

Average girl

Macie had her 9 month appointment this afternoon. She was nice and smiled at all the nurses until she got her first flu shot. Her ear infection has healed, but she has a yeast diaper rash so she will have to have prescription cream. She is growing well and is about average in all categories. Her height is 28 inches (50-75 %). She gained exactly 2 pounds in 3 months for a weight of 17.09 (25-50%). I am not sure if this means 9 ounces or .09 pounds. I think it is 9 ounces. Her head is 43 3/4 cm (25-50%) (I just concerted this to compare Macie to her 4 month old friend Bryce-it is 17.2 inches) She is doing well developmentally too. We go back after Thanksgiving for the 2nd flu shot, but hopefully we will not have to go again until she is 1.

She eats everything

We have been saying for months how Macie puts everything in her mouth. I have seen dirt, grass, bark, rocks, cat food and lots of other stuff. Usually I am able to fish it out of her mouth with little harm done. Today, we discovered that she at some point had a pink paper clip in her mouth. I must have missed this one! You can use your imagination for how we discovered she had eaten it.

Pictures

Since I could not get pictures up, I thought I would share several. There are pictures of Macie and Carson's trip to the Holy Cow Farm. If you did not read the earlier entry, scroll down and read it too.

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9 Months

Can you believe Macie is already 9 months old? We go to the doctor next week so I will let you know how she is growing. For now, I thought I would share a photo from yesterday and give a few updates. ( I tried to get a picture to upload, but its not working . Check back later)
Macie loves her brother. She wants to play with his favorite things and just watch him play. She loves to pull apart his train tracks. She is crawling all over the place and loves to pull up to standing. She is trying to take a few steps and transfer from the couch to the coffee table. She falls about 50 times a day. Thankfully, she has not discovered the steps yet. She likes to try out the cat food and play in the cat litter. We do try to keep her out of both. She really likes to eat people food. The other night she had pork tenderloin, pasta, bread, and asparagus for dinner. She loves to be outside. Starting about 4 in the afternoon she is really cranky, but if you take her outside she is happy. She still doesn't sleep great. She thinks she is an infant who needs to take lots of short naps during the day. Most nights she sleep 8-10 hours, but then she wants to eat and go back to sleep. This would be fine except she is usually in bed before 8 so I hear from her before 5 am. She really is a joy to be around and we think she is pretty darn cute.
This time last year we were in Disney World. It was an awesome trip. We are planning to take the kids to the Magic Kingdom after Thanksgiving, but it won't be the same as staying in the park for a week. Hopefully we will go again before Macie turns 3. Most people think 2 is too young, but kids are free until their 3rd birthday. Carson loved it (He was 31 months) and a year later still talks about it. He is excited to go back. I highly recommend taking your kids as many times as you possibly can while they are young. The memories are worth every penny we spent. Maybe I will put a picture up when they are working again!

First ear infection

Macie and Carson have both had a little cough and a slight runny nose for a couple weeks. Since it is ragwood season, I have not been too worried. I finally took Macie to the doctor today because she started pulling on her ear. I still wasn't sure it wasn't her teeth bothering her. It looks like she is working on several right now. But, her right ear does have some fluid. Dr. Ani didn't think it looked too bad until she looked at the left ear. So, Macie will start her first antibiotic this afternoon. We go back the 22nd for her 9 month check up so we will see how it looks, get a flu shot, and check to make sure all is going well in her growth.
Now for a completely different subject. One of the first years we lived in our house, we planted some lantana in our front yard. They were really big when we pulled them up and the roots were are tall as I am. One of the plants was on the other side of the drive way from all the others. We just left it in the ground and when it died cut it back to the ground. It has come back year after year. It is gigantic. Jeff would not be able to park in the garage because it is growing into the driveway. I thought I would post a picture of it and one of the ones we planted this year-a much more respectable sized plant!

A normal plant!

!

Girl, Second Child, or Personalty?

There is no doubt that Macie has a different personality than her brother. Carson would sit and watch a Baby Einstein video while Jeff and I ate dinner when he was really little. Macie won't sit anywhere for that amount of time. Carson always looked forward to his naps, Macie would rather take all her naps in the car. Macie keeps trying things until she gets them or figures out another way to do something. Carson still doesn't like to try things until he knows he can do it. (This weekend, Jeff blocked Macie in the family room to keep her from pulling apart Carson's train tracks. It took her a little while, but she finally figured out how to crawl under the exersaucer. Then, she got her head stuck between the couch and a gate trying to get past the gate.)
Anyway, I get lots of people telling me why this is the case. Lots of people tell me girls are just different than boys. Others say its the difference in a first and second child. I tend the think it has a lot to do with personality. Usually I just get and opinion without asking, but I thought I would throw it out there and see what ya'll think. Where does this feisty little girl come from?

A few photos

Somehow, time has been getting away from me. I thought I would share a few pictures from the last couple weeks. We have been to the pumpkin patch twice so there are lots of photos. Here are a couple

Carson and Grandpa working on a model for his train table.
Riding His bike up to the playground with daddy and grandpa Portis
Carter and Carson Find an interesting way to eat ice pops

Macie and Addison at the soccer game
Macie at the pumpkin patch (see photo above for the cute shirt that goes with the outfit!)
Carson and his friend Katie from school jumping in the bounce house at the pumpkin patch
Carson and Macie in the big tree at Carson's school (the pumpkin patch is at his school)

In the next couple days check back to see pictures of my huge lantana.

2 or 3

This weekend, our neighborhood is having a garage sale. We have lots of junk around here I would love to sell. But, honestly, I am too lazy to get it all together. Plus we have soccer Saturday morning. I am going to miss the next 2 so I don't want to miss this one. I might take a few things over to the Morrows if they get their stuff together.
Thinking about getting rid of stuff in our house, beings up the question of a 3rd child. It is a debate that I have often. Jeff for the most part can go either way and says I can decide. At times, I think no way and others I think we could have one more. I don't think Jeff or I have had that sense that our family is complete. But, I am not really sure I want to do it all again. This wouldn't be a big deal right now, but if we are done I want to get rid of all my baby things. I have thought about selling it all and starting over.
Anyway, I will get you a good update with some photos soon. In the mean time, come by our neighborhood this Saturday. Especially is you are looking for baby things. There are a zillion families with young kids around here. I am sure you can get some great deals.
As for the 3rd child you need to check back in a few years!

Macie's Fun Part 2

Everyone seems to like the montage better. The photo book was cute, but when I post it here, you can only see one side. I am sure there is a way I could edit it and make it work, but I have not figured it out yet. Holly or Amy, if you know how, give me directions! So, here is the same thing as before in a different style.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jeff's dad is in town for the weekend. Carson already has him building track and playing trains!

Macie having Fun

Here are some pictures of Macie having fun the last few days. You have to click on the picture and it will take you to another site where you can view the photo album. Leave me a comment on how this works for you. I thought I would try it this way since several people have not been able to get on the other way.

Having Fun

Unrequited Love

Some time last year Carson started telling me that "Windsey" is my best fwiend at school. I really didn't think anything of the situation until his birthday when I took cupcakes to the school. His teachers were very surprised because they rarely played together. Well, Lindsey is in his class again this year. Yesterday, they made best friend pictures. Here is Carson's.


I asked Carson why he chose Lindsey and he told me because she is cute. Later, I asked him if Lindsey put him in her picture. He said I don't think so. Apparently he isn't bothered by her lack of interest in him. We are going on a field trip in a couple weeks, I will have to see how he interacts with Lindsey!

Traveling

Jeff and I have loved to ski since we were dating. I actually have been skiing since I was a kid. My dad has a house and a condo in Breckenridge Colorado which makes trip a little less expensive. (he rents them both, I will try to get links to his by owner site) Once you pay for the air line tickets and the lift tickets, it is still an expensive trip. We still try to make it at least every other year. This year we are going with my sisters family in December. Everything is a little cheaper going at this time of year. Carson is actually excited about taking skiing lessons with Ann Bennett. Last time we were there, he was almost 2 and hated it because he had to wear all the gear. We will see how he does this time around.
I have really seen how little I like to take risks in planning this trip! Rene' booked her air line tickets on Sunday, but ours were still well over $300. Since we still have awhile there is a good chance the rates will go down. There are still plenty of seats on the flights we are looking at so it should be a safe bet to wait. But, it still makes me anxious. There are several options, but traveling with small kids some times are much better than others! Plus, Rene' and the gang will come through Atlanta so we can all be on the same flights to and from Denver. Since Macie does not have a seat (I am way to cheap to pay that kind of money for her when she can travel for free), it is nice to have 2 extra adults with us. Plus, Macie LOVES Ann Bennett. Needless to say, I have would really like to be on their flights.
This morning my mom sent me an email from Air Tran announcing a 72 hour sale. We would only get the discount going out, but it would save us $225. That will pay for one of us to ski while we are there (Carson's lift tickets will still be free!). So, I spent this morning waiting to see if Delta will match the rate. Their times work better for us and Rene' is flying Delta. I checked like 10 times today and finally the rate had fallen and I was able to get us all on the flight in the row dirctly behind Rene' and the gang. Should I have waited longer to see if the rate would go down any lower? Who knows, but for now I will just be happy for the savings I got on the flights I wanted!

The last 10 days

Last night, I read Jenny's blog. I was behind a couple days so after reading the most recent entry and crying like a baby, I went back to the previous entry. Jenny has a little girl who is just 10 days younger than Macie. Izzy was born one week after their daughter Catie died. I had followed Catie's site for several years and had the joy of meeting her the week before she died. Back to the point, Jenny said "It's funny how you can hit a week with a baby and all of a sudden they can do all of these new things that they couldn't do 10 days earlier." This got me thinking about all that Macie can do now that she could not do 10 days ago. Here is a list I can come up with off the top of my head.
1. Crawl, I mean really crawl on all fours moving around the house. Thankfully she hasn't discovered the steps yet!
2. Pull up on most things, she can not get her arms above her head to pull herself up, but she can certainly get to standing.
3. Eat all sorts of table food, chicken, cut up pears and sweet potatoes, bread.
4. Scream in a way that makes you think something is terribly wrong, when really she just wants you to pick her up.
5. Take a bath in the big garden tub with Carson.
6. Find the cat food in the kitchen in only a few seconds. (Poor Smokey is going to have to find a new place to eat. For the record, Carson never in all his babyhood got into the cat food)
7. Get the wipes out of the wipe box.
8. Convince me its not worth the fight to take it away! (see evidence below)
9. Suck her thumb! (She is putting her thumb in her mouth more and more. I am trying to have a pacifier handy to avoid having a thumb sucker.
10. I can not think of a 10th, but I am sure I can add move up a class at church. I don't think she will be able to stay in the youngest nursery now that she is a wild thing!

MOPS and Friday's picture

On two Fridays a month, I attend the MOPS program at Crabapple First Baptist church. I started going last year and have really enjoyed attending. Today our speaker was Jeannine. She has taken Macie's 3 and 6 month photos and will take the 9 and 12 month as well (If you click on her name, Macie and Carson are samples on her site). It was really interesting. I learned so much about my camera and what to do with all the settings. I am sure it will take lots of practice to figure out how to really make the right choices, but it was fun to learn a few things. In the middle of the meeting, I thought I should have brought my friend Amy with me. She is taking a photography class and probably would have enjoyed it.
A few Blogs I read have a Friday photos. Since I always have pictures and this entry is about photography, I thought I would try it out this week.

Carson getting ready to go to Awanas on Sunday
Waiting for Mitzi to pick him up for school.

Macie eating yogurt. It isn't really focused on her, but I will work on getting better with my new photo knowledge!

Preschool

Since Carson has started back to school, he seems to be picking up a lot of things. I thought I would share a few with you.

He has started comparing the size of his finger prints. They made a family tree on Monday and used their finger prints(see picture above). He was telling me that his pinkie was smaller than his thumb.

He has started talking about pretending. I think this comes from the girls he plays with in the kitchen.

Yesterday he told me that these books were his favorite in the whole world.

After chapel on Monday, he told me God made the things outside. This was great because at Awanas they were learning Genesis 1:1. However, as he was listing everything God made, he left the trees and the sky and the flowers and started with the sidewalks and all the signs. If was much better than Cole who cam home asking about the trinity!

I am sure we will have many more through out the year, but I thought I would share a few now. I got some cute front porch pictures the other day. Since we missed them on the first day of school, I got a couple while he was waiting for Mitzi to pick him up. He is very excited about carpooling with Cole and Connor. He was even a little mad when it was only him in the car on Tuesday afternoon. Once I upload the pictures, I will post them too!

Sick, sleeping and crawling

I thought I would give a Macie update today. First and most exciting is she slept all the way through the night twice this week. This was really nice because Jeff was out of town and she usually choses to be up all night when he is gone. The first night she slept until 5:40 and then went back to bed until after 8. The next morning, she slept until 6:45. She went back to bed, but I don't remember when she woke up. I am sure it is because I bought a video monitor so I could feel better about letting her cry it out. The last 2 nights she has been up again, but she was sick. She seems to have caught the croup from Carson. She took the same steroid for a day, but she was starving all day. Since I was not able to nurse yesterday, I chose not to give it to her. She does seem to be feeling better today, but she still sounds yucky when she coughs. She has taken a good nap today and is working on her second one.
She has also started really crawling. It is funny to me because she is now really slow. She takes a couple "steps" and then goes back to sitting. She won't do any of her other crawls now so she has really slowed down. She is working hard on mastering it. Once she is good at it, I will post a video.
I tried to get a picture of Smokey (our cat) to put up here the other night. She was sitting on the back of the couch watching Macie in the monitor. It was really cute. She is not a social cat and not a good kid friendly pet. But, she lets Macie pull her hair and doesn't scratch or bother her. She did hiss at her one day, but Macie thought it was funny.
We have enjoyed our visit with Grandma Joan. I hate that Macie was sick, but it seems normal. Carson has always managed to be sick when she comes to visit. She will be here through the weekend since Jeff has been gone all week. He should be home this evening if the weather and flights cooperate. (If you read this on Friday afternoon, I am sure he would appreciate a prayer for easy travel)

Soccer and Movies

Saturday morning, Carson started soccer. Here are a few photos.

Carson, Cole and Carter in the parking lot.

One of my favorites..Carson (4) and Carter (3) walking with Coach Brad.

All the neighborhood boys plus one other little boy on the team.

Next, we went to see a Thomas movie in a theater on the other side of town. I don't have any pictures from that event.

The final event of the day, was a dive in movie. Our neighborhood rented a big blow up screen and showed the movie Cars. The kids loved it.

The big screen Carson, Carter and Macie eating before the movie.

Cole, Carson and Carter watching the movie.