January 2010

Surely January is not over already! I'd like to say it's been fun and exciting, but it is the middle of the winter... not too much of that going on. We've been staying busy though - hair appointments, dentist appointments, birthday parties, working out, snow days, and I've had what feels like a zillion meetings related to PTA stuff. Oh yeah, and I've made 3 cakes this month and Greg's been on one trip - Naples, FL. Now for February -- it is going to be crazy busy too! Next weekend is Kaeley's 7th birthday party, and then I have the HUGE teacher appreciation luncheon at Kaeley's school on the 15th and the 19th, we're headed to Disney World! Oh, yeah, and I have a birthday in there somewhere. Let's not talk about it. Here are some pics from January to enjoy... and I think they're in reverse order, but I'm in no mood to fight with blogger!


Jan. 30th snow day...

Girls in the tub together... this is a big deal because it's been a long time (over a year if not 2) since they've bathed together. They starting fussing and fighting and so we gave them separate baths. They forgot how much fun it could be together!

Modeling their outfits my friend Mary made for them before church on Wednesday night...

Jan. 8th snow day... not a lot of snow, but the girls were determined to make something... this is their "Snow Castle" made with a sand bucket!


This is a very important picture for me to remember... the 1st time Ella has worn blue jeans...and she put them on to play in the snow!

Christmas Recap

Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe another Christmas has come and gone. Ella has been none to happy about Christmas decorations coming down. I told her Christmas was over and she informed me that no, it’s here. Sweet girl. All of our Christmas decorations are down with the exception of the air blown Mickey and Minnie that Papaw purchased for our front yard. Ella simply loves them. I think she’s finally convinced Christmas is over and has agreed to let us put them away. I was worried they would still be in the front yard come summer time!!! This year we tried something different for Christmas Eve, when my mom and John arrived, we headed to the Japanese restaurant for dinner. We usually cook, so this was a real treat for me and the girls love it minus some small fears of the fire. Christmas morning the girls awoke to a living room full of goodies. Kaeley tore into her presents and was sad when she had them all opened that there were not any more. Ella on the other hand enjoys each present she opens and oohs and ahhs over it so she had several presents left to open after Kaeley was all through. This year the big Santa gifts were a DSi for Kaeley and an American Girl Bitty Baby w/ Pig Tails for Ella. Kaeley also got lots of arts and crafts stuff, several DS games, and Zhu Zhu accessories. Ella got a high chair, double stroller, bath tub and bouncy seat for her American Girl babies. Oh, she is definitely a little mommy! Greg never gets anything very exciting for Christmas and I tried to get him to put a new kitchen trash can on his list since ours was on its last leg. He’s all about getting something practical that we need. He informed me he didn’t want a new trash can. So he bought one for me! How sweet. Reminds me of the Father of the Bride movie where the bride is given a blender from the groom as a wedding gift. What kind of expectations does this gift set? Definitely something I needed and I have to admit, I do like it! Greg also got me some new jewelry that I picked out. I just wanted some new silver earrings and ended up getting hooked on this new line of jewelry called Kameleon. You buy the sterling silver jewelry pieces like earrings, bracelets, etc. and then you buy jewel pops that you can interchange. Pretty cool… but the jewel pops themselves are none too cheap. Anyway, I love them! He did such a good job picking them out! J Greg ended up with some gift cards, clothes, and books. Exciting, I suppose! Better than a trash can? Debatable. I also cheated on Christmas dinner this year. We usually spend HOURS cooking and cleaning, but this year, I let Pimento’s do the catering. It was great! My grandparents live in Asheville, NC and had been snowed in and Christmas morning were iced in. They were able to make the trip to Knoxville, but my aunt Deb didn’t make it because she couldn’t get out of her driveway. At least most of us were together. Aunt Deb and Uncle Tim were missed though!

Christmas night we head to my dad’s for Christmas with him and my step-mother. The big gifts from papaw were the Fur Real Lulu kitties. The girls each had to have one. I think their huge and a little creepy. Not sure what you’re supposed to do with them…let the batteries run out I suppose? The next day we headed to Manchester for Christmas with Greg’s family. There are 4 grandkids ranging from Kaeley age 6 ½ to Luke who is almost 6 months. Needless to say our going around the room one at a time to open gifts didn’t go so well. The kids tore into their presents and the baby had to nap… it was all a whirlwind. Not sure what presents any of us got (just kidding, really, I do know) but it was great getting to spend time together. We haven’t seen baby Luke since he was born.

We got back home on Monday and we’ve been enjoying family time since Greg is off until the 4th. We took the girls to see the Princess and the Frog the other day, it was really cute. The girls have been playing like crazy. Kaeley even set her alarm for 6:45 so she could be up before anybody else so she could have alone time with her toys! Silly girl- she should know she has plenty of time since nobody around here is classified as a morning person! For sure not me, I’ve had way too much sleep and am a little on the bored side. Greg has had a touch of a stomach bug so he’s not much fun. Next year, I think we need to plan a trip for after Christmas. Or maybe “I” should go on a trip after Christmas and leave the girls with Greg! Ha, ha!

"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: