"My" Baby With the Blond Hair

It's been over a month now that my sweet baby with the blond hair turned 4! Wowsers! I remember (literally) how fast she came into this world and time has been flying every since. Of course my 2 daughters are the difference between night and day and my "baby" loves babies and anything and everything that has to do with them! She has begged for the American Girl Bitty Baby "with the blond hair" which is like hers. That was her big birthday present from mom and dad. When she opened it, I asked what it was, and she just grinned from ear to ear and said "It's the baby with the blond hair"! Yes my friends, totally worth every penny spent on the doll! She loves it and to this day it goes every where with us. She takes it to school and puts it in her cubby, to the grocery store, to church. At church we usually sit with James and Mindi and their almost 7 month old James Michael. Anything that Mindi does for James Michael, Ella does to her baby. It's precious! She has named her baby "Ella", but it will forever be known as the baby with the blond hair.
Her party this year was at Papaw's house. A Strawberry Shortcake party with Papaw providing horse and buggy rides. There were a lot of people there, and it was a dreary, rainy day so we ended up having to be inside so it was a little crazy, but so much fun! Papaw still did the buggy rides despite the rain - which is no surprise! Ella is also my animal lover so the horse and buggy rides seemed appropriate for this birthday. Mamaw and Papaw provided all the food - we had a spaghetti supper and I decorated the cake while doped up on my pain meds... the appendix had just come out that week.
This was the first year she has been so excited about her birthday. I could tell she was having the time of her life. You can ask her when her birthday is and she will tell you "October nine". Ella is definitely more affectionate than Kaeley. She loves to give hugs and kisses and is oh so sweet. Just out of no where she'll say "I love you momma". She's a people pleaser with a very tender heart. She is crushed if she's done something wrong and gets called down for it. If she does something that she doesn't think I approve of she'll ask me if I'm happy or if I'm mad or if I'll put on a smiley face so she'll know I'm happy. And I suppose it's her mothering instincts coming out at an early age, but largely she is aware of the right thing to do and is always wanting to "mother" Kaeley and tell her "No Kaeley.... that's not what...." Which is not always such a good thing! Kaeley is quick to point out that hey, you're not my mother! Ella is the child that says please and thank you and I'm sorry without being prompted. She's also quite the computer wiz - I'm thinking that comes genetically from daddy! I'm amazed at the computer games she can play without any help. She'll tell me things like "no mom, you use the arrow keys for this game" or "you need to use the space bar". She's also quite the girly girl - her favorite color is PINK and that's really all she wants to wear. She's never even liked the thought of nail polish on her toes or fingers because she thought it was getting her dirty! Another sign she's growing up because she asked my mom to paint her nails for her birthday party and has kept her fingers painted every since! She is by far not perfect as none of us are and she is definitely has that "all girl" attitude especially when she doesn't get her way. She can get mad or have her feelings hurt and hold a grudge for quite some time. Love that stubbornness!

Love this picture, Mimi and Papa got Ella a baby bed for her baby with the blond hair, she loves it! Check out sister pouting in the background....

Baby with the blond hair in her "pack pack"

Appendicitis for My Anniversary

Greg and I celebrated our 12 anniversary on Sunday, October 4th. I had made a cake the night before and was up really late and then was at the shower all day Sunday afternoon so when I had a little pain before bed, I assumed I was just exhausted and could sleep it off. Then in the wee hours of the morning I was awakened with abdominal pain and then I started vomiting. It didn't feel like a stomach bug, but I was in pain and couldn't get any relief. Greg offered to have someone come over and stay with the girls so he could take me to the ER, but I couldn't imagine waiting for someone to get here, so I drove myself to Baptist West since it was the closest. First thing I told them was that I had a history of appendicitis attacks. Or at least that's what my family doctor said, she called it a smouldering appendix that would flare up and then calm back down. I was beginning to think she was off her rocker because each time I've had this pain, nothing conclusive is ever determined. Anyway, I was sure to tell the dr. in the ER, be sure to check my appendix. I was given IV meds for nausea and vomiting and also for pain. They performed a CT scan and told me there was fluid around my right ovary which indicated a ruptured ovarian cyst. Sent me home with prescriptions for pain and vomiting and told me to follow up with my gynecologist. So I did. I called her Monday and said "fyi... this is what happened." She requested my records from Baptist West and I received a call from her office that they wanted to see me in a week to see if the cyst was growing. I told them it ruptured, but they told me that the medical records did not state that it ruptured. I told them I couldn't stand the pain for a week so they agreed to have me come in on Tuesday for an ultrasound of the ovaries and an office visit. When I arrived at my dr. office, I had a fever of 102 and she said an ovarian cyst doesn't cause a fever of 102. She thought right away it was my appendix. Did I mention that when I left Baptist West ER, the dr. told me and I quote "your appendix is fine." And as for the fluid around the ovary... yes, that was caused by ovulation, not a cyst! Anyway, she sent me straight to a surgeon's office at Fort Sanders Regional, who proceeded to do a CT scan w/ contrast, which is standard protocol for appendicitis. The contrast was not done when I went to the ER. You have to drink this lovely "apple flavored milk shake" as they called it...and wait 2 hours for it to get all the way into your system before the CT scan can be performed. Before the scan was completed, the surgeon met me in radiology and escorted me to admissions so that he could get me into surgery asap. It was evening hours by this time ... honestly I don't even know what time it was, but getting late in the day. The surgery went fine and they were able remove it laparoscopically. Three small incisions, along with my incision from having my tubes tied and lots of stretch marks from babies - how lovely is my tummy?!? Yucko! I went home Wednesday afternoon. So many people - friends and family - were here to help with kids, prepare meals, and Grandma Joan was even here until this past Saturday giving round the clock care to my sweet girls. That was such a BIG help! Life is supposed to be getting back to normal now. I had my follow-up appointment last Friday. I'm able to drive and lift more than 10lbs now. Just supposed to take it a little easy for another week. Today I feel like I'm in a fog and I'm sure that's just par for the course. Now I'm just trying to figure out how I lost 2 weeks - and trying to get back in the swing of things. Not exactly what I was wanting for my anniversary!

Dora the Explorer!

Friday, Greg had the day off and we had lunch with Ella at Red Robin. Last week, we had seen someone dressed up in the Red Robin costume waving to driver's by on Parkside Dr. Well, Ella insisted that the Red Robin was at the restaurant on Friday and was a little upset that he was not. The waitress informed us that he was there, but in a box. I had to tell Ella that he was napping. Well, for the rest of the day, she wanted me to drive around Knoxville to find the Red Robin! She gets easily obsessed with things like this. She really does enjoy seeing "characters". She has an initial fear when she gets up close, but after a couple of minutes, she's FINE! Well, it just so happened that my step mother called this very day to inform me that Dora was at the Lexus dealership from 4-6. Oh... I had to ponder this one. We've had so many years of Dora at this house...I'm ready to move on to something else. And Ella would even tell you that she doesn't like Dora anymore, which makes me secretly do a little happy dance! However, her love of "characters" led me to tell her about Dora and so we ended up at the Lexus dealership. She did have the initial fear so Kaeley and I had to have our picture made with her first. Then Ella and I had our picture made. THEN, we had to get back in line for Ella to have her picture made by herself. She didn't want to leave!

This was waiting to see Dora. They had some snacks and Ella couldn't even eat - she was TOO excited!

Pigeon Forge Weekend Getaway

Ahhh...the neglected blog! Life has been crazy busy every since school started back. I thought I would have lots of time with both girls back in school. NOT! I'm the Hospitality Chair for Kaeley's school..and it's really keeping me busy! I'm also staying busy baking cakes and making hairbows.
The last weekend in August we headed to Pigeon Forge and stayed in a cabin with my mom and my grandparents. The cabin was awesome and we had so much fun! The girls love to go on trips! My grandparents got there before we did and so Ella assumed this was their other house. They live in Black Mountain, NC and have a condo in St. Pete, where we visited them when we went to Disney. We did a little shopping, grilled out, and the girls attempted swimming, but it was a dreary day and the water was freezing! Kaeley jumped in thinking it would be ok once she got in, but it was like ice! Ella jumped in and came out crying because it was so cold! Brrrr. Here's a few pictures from the weekend:

Ella's 1st Day of Preschool

We've been talking about it for awhile now - going back to school, and Ella's been a-ok with it as long as it's "later". Last Thursday morning when Ella first woke up, I said "are you ready to go play with Anna today?" She immediately thought "school" since I've been telling her how great it will be to have Anna in her class this year. She said, "no, I don't want to go to school today." That was a catch 22... because I was taking her to the preschool, but there was no school. I had a PTA meeting and Jessica was able to watch her for me, but she was working at the preschool getting her classroom ready. So really it was just going to be a big play date. As soon as I turned onto Smith Road and signaled to turn in the preschool parking lot, Ella said, "No mom, I don't want you to turn." It all worked out fine and she had fun playing once she realized I wasn't trying to trick her. Well, today was the real first day of school and I had her convinced yesterday that she was going today. She still said "later" and I said "later" is here! She was ok with it. Even when she woke up this morning and Papaw was here ... I told her to tell him where she was going today and she excitedly said "I'm going to school, and here's my backpack with a kitty on it!" Papaw was here making my yard look pretty so my neighbors will continue to let me live in this subdivision! He had brought the girls 2 American Girl Dolls and we didn't want Ella to find them before school, but she did! I thought oh no, Papaw and baby dolls - she'll never want to go to school! But she did! It was a little hard to get pictures because she just wanted the baby doll, but we got a couple. When we turned into the parking lot today the only thing she said is "I don't want new teachers." When we walked in the classroom, other kids were being dropped off and it was a bit crazy and for a moment she shed a couple of tears. As soon as it settled down and we were able to meet the teachers and get settled, everything was fine. Anna was there to greet her with lots of hugs and it was just a perfect day! She knows several of the kids in her class from last year so that really helps a lot. When I picked her up today - all the teachers that knew her from last year (including Jessica) were amazed at how well she did. She was happy! talkative! interactive! And for the first time had fun on the playground - now that she's graduated to the "big kid" playground! And did I mention she even ate some of her lunch? It's hard to believe she went practically all of last school year and most days she didn't even take a single bite! Wow, she's come so far - and I am SO PROUD! What a big girl I have! She reminds me of that daily! She tells me she's growing bigger and bigger and one day her teeth will fall out like Kaeley's! She gets so upset when Kaeley tells her she's not big!

Kaeley's 1st Day of 1st Grade

Not only was today the 1st day of school, but Kaeley rode the bus to and from school! She did great! Although, I was a bit anxious about the whole scenario - I didn't have to fight the school traffic, and that was nice! We started the day at 6:00a.m. and Kaeley was on the bus at 6:55a.m. That's rough - we are not morning people! Miles gets on the bus after Kaeley and Jessica gave him a heads up that Kaeley would be nervous, to find her and sit with her, and so he did! What a good buddy! Papaw called me this morning wanting to know how it went and wondering if I should call the school to check on her... I said "no". Then he asked if he should call the school and check on her! LOL! My daddy! Got to love it! Of course we had not even been in the house for 5 minutes when she got off the bus today and he called again wanting to make sure she was ok. Her daddy called from work and wanted to talk to her on the phone...well, Kaeley doesn't really talk on the phone, but he got a few mumbles out of her about her first day. Mimi called to see how it went. Kaeley said "I loved it, and that's all I'm going to say about it." Of course, I drilled her with 1,000 questions the second she stepped off the bus! I could tell she was proud of herself for finding her classroom all by herself! She also knows 3 people in her class, and her good friend, Lily sits right behind her. What a blessing! I know she was relieved to have some familiar faces. She had to take in 5 small things today to tell about herself, this is what she took:
1. A Barbie doll size Tinker Bell
2. Silver Barbie shoes because she likes tiny things and loves shoes!
3. Her swim goggles - Ms. Mildred would be proud!
4. A toy birthday cake because the real thing is her favorite food!
5. Ella's ballerina doll that comes off her jewelry box because she's all about being a ballerina!

Charleston & Folly Beach - Back in June!

Ok, I confess... vacation is so much fun and so much work! Back in June, Greg had a week long business trip in Charleston so we decided to tag along and make it a vacation! We drove and Mimi flew in from Atlanta. We had SO much fun! The first 3 days we were in downtown Charleston taking in all the sights ... yes, mostly shopping! That's what we girls love to do! And of course, eating lots of yummy seafood! Mid week, we moved to the Holiday Inn on the beach in Folly Beach - it was awesome! We (me & mom) were a bit worried because there were no suites, so all 5 of us were in just your basic hotel room with 2 double beds. You can't hardly complain, when you're staying on the beach front - for free! Got to love those Holiday Inn points! Anyway, it worked and we had a super, great time! The girls loved the pool and especially the sand and ocean! Ella wanted someone to hold her hand while in the waves, but when they would crash, she could yell "GERONIMO"! A couple of times, when water got in her face she would say geronimo got me! Kaeley had the best time swimming and quickly made several friends at the pool. It amazes me that she can be so painfully shy, but she still manages to make friends where ever we are!

Folly Beach...
Me, Kae, & the puppies...
Kae, chillin' bythe pool...

Ella having fun in the waves!

Kae & Ella...

Ella Beth...

Kaeley...

Ella chillin' by the pool...

Me and the hubby...

Group pic...

Kae in the waves...

Ella...

Kaeley and her friend Emma...

Ella...Ella, the photographer!

Kaeley being sneaky...

Mom & Me...

Greg & Kae...

Mimi shopping with the massive stroller we rented!

Downtown Charleston!