Mother's Day

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” -Washington Irvin

I am thankful to have a wonderful mother that has not only guided me through my life, but has guided me through my own experience as a mother. She is there to share my excitement and my disappointments. She laughs with me, and cries with me. She is my best friend. I hope that I can guide Olivia through her ups and downs, and that she will always love me as her mother and friend.

Mother's Day started off with...

Breakfast in bed. Of Course! I could not eat alone so Miss Olivia joined me. We may have had to change the sheets after, but it was worth it.

Robert then took Olivia to run a few errands while I relaxed in the quietness of my own home-all by myself-with no one here but the dogs. It was NICE!

They picked up a few fun things while out and about:

Check out our new summer hat complete with fake smile.

Robert then made a wonderful dinner on the grill complete with grilled corn, grilled asparagus, and grilled chicken with white bar-b-q sauce. It was wonderful.

The day was simple, relaxed, and just what I needed.

Thank you to my wonderful husband and amazing daughter for making this Mother's Day special.

April in May

So April came and went-in a flash. I can't believe we are already in May. I was thinking to myself the other day that it was already really hot for March, and then quickly reminded myself that it is May not March.

The birthday celebrations began with Miss Olivia's princess party to celebrate her third birthday. She was very excited to have her Gigi and Papaw visit from Alabama, and to have some of her friends come over. We celebrated the weekend before her actual birthday so my parents could attend, and I'm glad we did because the weekend of her actual birthday was a disaster. More on that later.




A princess party complete with its very own princess.



Taylor Grace-Olivia's friend from school.

Playing with her birthday/latest obsession.

Decorating princess cookies

The weekend of Olivia's actual birthday started off great. We went to run a few errands while Daddy worked on the shower. To keep things short and sweet lets just say that Olivia became clean up on aisle 12 in Lowes. The rest of the weekend was restless and sleepless for all. We put friends and family on notice just in case the "bug" hit Robert and myself. I don't know how we avoided it, but it was nothing short of a miracle that neither one of us got sick.

This is how our sweet girl spent her birthday. She was either asleep or in someone's arms.

Following the stomach flu we had her three year old check-up. They tested her vision, attempted to check her hearing, checked her blood pressure, and we came away with a few new numbers for the growth chart. She weighed 39.2 lbs and is 40 inches tall. Still way above 95% of other kids, but the doc was pleased with her growth. They are predicting that she will be 5'9" - 5'10".

Waiting for the doctor with our fake (not excited at all) smile.

Then the birthday celebrations continued with Uncle Kyle, followed by Papaw, followed by Nana, and finally followed by me.

If you know these two then you need no explanation for the above photos.

Among the birthday celebrations we threw in Easter and a day trip to the beach. Lessons learned...Boil more eggs than expected. She will want to dye more. She will break at least two in the process. Lesson two: Wait to put sunscreen on your child's face and arms until absolutely necessary. The consequence is sunscreen in the eyes and an hour of screaming in the car. The good news- the beach cures even a grumpy child.

So proud of herself.

Casualty #1

All is right with the world.

Catching up on events.

March was the beginning of our busy season which usually does not end until the first of May. Robert is busy with work as session began, we celebrated 6 years of marriage, and had a few other celebrations to attend.

 Enjoying a cupcake date with mommy.

 Celebrating Katelyn's Third Birthday-More cupcakes!

 Buddies

 Enjoying our favorite neighborhood park.



A Birthday Letter

I cannot believe you are three years old. So much has happened, and I cannot begin to explain to you what a blessing you have been in our lives.

I remember vividly the day we discovered that you were going to join our family. It was August 22, 2007. I was feeling very unsettled and tired, and a little voice in my head told me to take a pregnancy test. It did not take long for those two blue lines to appear. I immediately dropped the test in the sink and began to cry with excitement and joy.

The next few weeks were filled with happiness and fear. Daddy and I were excited, but nervous about loosing you. I will never forget the first time I heard your heartbeat at 7 weeks. You were so tiny, but your heartbeat was strong and steady. Daddy thought you resembled a peanut, and he still calls you Peanut to this day. The doctor said we might share a birthday (my 30th).

We found out in November that you were going to be a little girl. I had a feeling all along that you were a girl, and so did Papaw. Everyone else thought you were going to be a boy. Daddy never said one way or the other. He just wanted you to be healthy.

Being pregnant was the most amazing experience I have ever been apart of. The nausea stopped right at 3 months, and I started feeling flutters around 17-18weeks. The big kicks and acrobats soon followed.

You decided to give us a little scare and a glimpse into how our life was about to change. It was April 4, 2008. I was home from work because I was scheduled to work the weekend. I was having some cramping in my belly but didn't think much about it. As the morning went on the cramping became more intense and I started to notice. I began to time these "episodes" and they were happening every 3-5 minutes. After a call to the doctors office and to Daddy at work we were on our way to triage for monitoring. I was convinced we were going to have a baby. After a long time, IV fluids, and a few shots to stop the labor we were discharged home the next day. We were sad to be leaving without a baby, but we also wanted to ensure that you would be healthy.

Since you were frank breech we were scheduled for a C-Section on April 17, 2008. We had to be at the hospital by 5:30 with an anticipated delivery between 7 and 8. I don't know that anyone slept the night before. We were nervous and excited.

I will never forget the moment at 7:31 a.m when I heard you cry and they lifted you over the curtain for me to see for the first time. I remember the doctor saying, "Oh my Jamie she is so big, " and Daddy saying, 'Oh my goodness" over and over.

After the nurses cleaned you and wrapped you up tight for me to see. I couldn't help but think that you looked just like me as a baby. We were all surprised to find out how big you were-9 pounds 5 ounces and 22 inches long. My jaw dropped. The doctors thought you would be around 8 pounds 5 ounces.

The first time I held you was amazing. We were skin to skin, and you were so soft and warm. You immediately snuggled right under my chin, and we would soon learn that this would be a favorite spot for you to sleep.

Since you were frank breech your little legs would fly up to your ears anytime you were unswaddled. We would joke and call them your froggy legs. They did a hip ultra-sound on your second day of life just to make sure there weren't any issues. And of course you were perfect!

After sleepless nights and long days in the hospital we were able to take you home. We were excited to finally leave the hospital, but nervous and anxious with what was ahead.

Three years have gone by way too fast, and I am told that they only go by faster. When we look at you now we see a little lady full of love, kindness, empathy, mystery, drama, questions, and energy. We hope that you continue to question, search, and ponder life. We are thankful to be along for the journey, and love you with our all our heart.

My Shahbah

Some children have an imaginary friend, ours has an imaginary item. This item is a Shahbah. Don't ask us what a Shahbah is because we simply do not know. We know that it likes to hide in hands, on shelves, in pockets, and can be placed just about anywhere. It likes to travel to school or the store and often goes with me to work in my scrub pocket. It likes to appear at bedtime and needs to be tucked in snug as a bug just like Olivia. She coined the name Shahbah from what we have no clue. So, if you are around our child and she asks you to get the Shahbah off of the shelf you must capture it in your hands and gently hand it to her. She is very protective of the Shahbah.

In other Olivia news she prefers Robert with a goatee and told him when he shaved it, "I do not like your face. I like your beard, but not your face." The goatee was back in action a few days later. She wants a new bathing Soup for swimming. And one day she wants big teeth like mommy. Robert thinks this is hysterical because he thinks my teeth are gigantic in proportion to the rest of my body.

The bathroom reno is going at a snails pace. Of course I have no patience and wanted it done the week after it was ripped out.

We are gearing up for Olivia's third birthday complete with a princess party. It's hard to believe she will be three. She is super excited, and we are excited to have a visit from her Gigi and Papaw.

Milestones

As Olivia approaches three we are amazed at how much she understands and is able to express. She has the best personality. She understands emotions good or bad, offers sympathy, and has her own sense of humor. She loves to laugh, and most of the time is in a great mood. She gets grouchy when she is sleepy, hungry, or sick. Thankfully her last two molars are in, and she is finely feeling better from all of the pollen coming early this year. She is a girly girl. She likes to have her nails painted, and is into wearing a skirt or dress. She loves her jelly sandals and her "pretty shoes with the flowers and the butterflies." Pretty shoes are simply her pair of brown mary janes. Right now she has a preference for her momma or mom as she calls me, but she will soon change and be in a daddy phase. She loves to help us cook, clean, garden, or take a walk. She will tell you that she has been working very hard at _ (cleaning, yard work, etc...). She helps with feeding the dogs and giving them their daily treats. She is potty trained and I mean big girl panties except for nap time and bedtime. She has been trained for about 3 weeks and is doing great. No accidents! She is actually staying dry during nap, and has woken us up on two different occasions in the middle of the night to use the restroom. I forgot to put a pull-up on her one day this weekend for her nap and she stayed completely dry for the entire 3 1/2 hour nap. BIG GIRL! She likes doing "projects" at her desk which include coloring, decorating with stickers, and stamping. She is learning to use scissors at school, and is a lefty like her Papaw. She can carry on a conversation with us about her day or what she wants to do later in the day or on the weekend and uses complete sentences. She still doesn't quite understand talking on the phone to relatives. She is able to state her full name and tell you that it starts with an "O." She also knows that my name starts with a "J" and Roberts with an "R." She recognizes some letters and wants to know what sound they make. She is able to draw a circle, name colors, and name shapes. She is learning to dress herself with a little assistance of telling her where the tag is and that it goes in the back. She know right vs. left when it pertains to her.
She is growing and changing so much. We are always amazed and surprised by things she will say or things that she knows that we didn't realize she knew and we may not have taught her. She constantly has us moving and on our toes, but we love every minute of it-even when she is grumpy.

What I have learned with home improvement projects.

I'm not sure if it is Spring fever, the weather, or a combination of the two but we have been busy bees around here. It started off with me wanting to get a little painting done. I have been itching to paint every inch of this house and get rid of the builders grade flat paint which shows every scratch, speck of dirt, and little finger prints. I painted the dining room and half bath this past fall, but never managed to motivate to tackle any of the other rooms. I finally picked out colors for Olivia's bedroom and bathroom. Two weekends ago I did her bathroom-including the ceiling and skylight. This past weekend I painted her bedroom. Both turned out great, and we are very pleased.While I was working on the bathroom Robert was doing a little caulking in our master bath. About 6 months after we moved into this house we started noticing water on the sheet rock outside of the shower door. Remember our house was empty for ~1 1/2 years before we moved in. At that time RJ recaulked the shower door thinking it was the root of the water issue. I then primed and painted the water stained area and all was great with the world until a few months ago when we started noticing water again. On said weekend of painting and caulking we were talking about the water staining. He thought it was a leaky shower door...I thought it was something much bigger. We both agreed that the only way to find out was to rip the shower out. And that's how the demo started. I have never seen my husband so happy. He missed his calling as a demo man. So here are things we have learned and or said to each other over the past two weeks of home improving.

1. Really? I can take a sledge hammer to the bathroom?
2. If this goes on for months you have to promise to hire someone.
3. I'm so tired my eyelids hurt.
4. I can barely lift my coffee cup.
5. Die tile! Die!
6. I'm pretty sure I just had a heat stroke painting the skylight.
7. I don't need no stinkin' painters tape. I have OCD
8. Mom, how your shower so strange?
9. Mom, I working hard too.
10. I yike my pink room.
11. Holy crap dude. I'm glad you weren't in here for the demo. The mold would have totally grossed you out.
12. Happy early anniversary baby. Looks like we bought ourselves a new washing machine.
13. What's our third thing? You know things come in threes.
14. How can you paint and not get anything on you?
15. Let's go back to work so we can rest.

The painted big girls room. 

 The gutted shower.

 The remaining baby blue tile around the garden tub. Awaiting demo.

 Where else do you sleep when your room is being turned into a princess room? Mommy and Daddy's bed of course.

We are so glad the shower met the sledge hammer. We had multiple areas of compromised tile and the shower pan resulting in water in areas where it shouldn't have been. Now all the yuck and mold is out. Waiting on quotes before we put everything back together.