SNOW!

Yesterday we actually had the tiniest bit of snow here. The girls were thrilled!!

Baby it's cold!!

It has been ridiculously cold here this past week and we are all going a little stir crazy being couped up in the house. I am so, so ready for spring to get here. Everyone is so much happier when we can get out and go to the park or go for a walk or even go shopping, which we aren't even getting out to do right now. Zoe Anna asked if we could go jump on the trampoline today and I told her no, it's way to cold out. She told me we could just put on a jacket and gave me this look as if to say "man are grown ups ignorant. thank goodness i'm here to clue them in" ha!!

We did venture out this afternoon to see The Princess and The Frog (which I highly recommend taking the kiddos to see. Great movie!!). I thought this would be a good thing to do to get out and we could still be warm. Boy was I wrong! Caleigh, Zoe and I arrive at the theater all excited and then they inform us that there isn't any heat. So we decide to go in and see how bad it really is and if we think we can stand it. The girls decide it isn't really that bad so we stay, which I'm glad we did but we were all frozen by the end of the movie. Thank goodness Zoe Anna sat in my lap and kept me a little warmer or I might not have made it. Kids are so much more resilient when it comes to the cold...me, not so much. Zoe Anna did wear her gloves and toboggan through most of the movie and was complaining a little towards the end. We survived and really enjoyed getting out ~ Yay!! I think we'll stay in for a little while now. Well, at least until we go watch Caleigh in the spelling bee Friday ~ wish her luck!!!

Zoe LeAnna

I meant to post this a long time ago, but never got around to it. I guess it's because Zoe is such a unique, complex little girl... it's just hard to sum her up, especially in one little post, but I will do the best I can.

Zoe Anna is definately full of personality, to say the least. This can be so, so wonderful and also at other times not so wonderful! I have without a doubt met my match. So many times her response to something just completely throws me off guard. So much so that I don't have a clue what to do or say back to her. For instance, the other day I told her for the umpteenth time to pick up her toys and if she didn't do it this time I would just throw them away. Now, I'm a firm believer in mean what you say and say what you mean so I fully intended to do it. This is where she throws me a curve... "Ok mommy, I want you to throw my toys away". Well, as you can guess that is not how I expected things to go. She knows exactly what she is doing. She knows that I don't really want to throw away the toys. She knows that I really want her to pick them up. She is teaching me that I have to learn new ways to work with her.

Before Christmas she had spent the day with Nanna. As they were on their way home, she decided to get a little attitude. Well... big attitude. Anyway, Nanna reminded her that she needed to be a good little girl because Santa was watching her to which Zoe replied "No he's not!! Santa's at the mall!!" Nanna gave her some explanation as to how he was still watching her even though he was at the mall. Zoe thought about this for a few minutes, then in her sweet little voice told Nanna "you know I was just kidding with you!".

I could tell a million stories about that little girl. She surprises me everyday one way or another. Good and bad. She acts like such a little grown up at times. I don't mean in a responsible grown up way, I mean in a dramatic grown up way. I'm sure some things she picks up from me, but there are things that she says and does that I absolutely cannot figure out how she would even begin to know anything about. It amazes me. She just turned 3 in December, but she acts more like a 4 or 5 year old. She has always seemed a lot older than she really is. I always thought it was just because she's big for her age, but it really is so much more than that. I honestly cannot put into words what it is about her. Those who know her though know exactly what I am talking about.

Zoe Anna is also such a loving, sweet little girl. She loves her sisters more than anything. I love watching her with Heidi and the way she talks to her. They are only 20 months apart but Zoe acts like a little mama to her. Sometimes Heidi will be crying and Zoe will say "it's ok baby. I'm right here" or " it's ok baby. don't cry. I will take care of you" and she does take care of her. She will get her a blankie or paci or if she can't help she will tell me in a very matter of fact voice what I need to do for Heidi. Tonight when I was getting them to sleep, Heidi did something funny and Zoe looked at me and said "awww, she's soooo cute" and just giggled.

She adores Caleigh too. She wants so badly to be big like Caleigh and to dress like her and hang out with her and her friends and do what they do. She can't understand why sometimes they don't want her to hang out with them and it hurts her feelings so, so bad. Or she could just be manipulating me again... who knows;).

I could go on and on but I won't. Hopefully I will be a better blogger and stay on top of things... wish me luck!!!

Christmas

We all had a wonderful Christmas this year. For the first time ever, we didn't have overlapping events so that made for a much more relaxing holiday. It was also nice to be able to spend time with everyone without having to rush off somewhere else. I think the girls really enjoyed getting to spend time with both Uncle Sean and Uncle Hunter this year. They adore them so!

The girls were all really happy with what Santa brought too. Although, I think next year I will have Santa give Heidi's gifts to Zoe Anna and vice-versa. I don't understand why they always like the other's gifts better.

I will be back after the new year with my post on Zoe Anna since I never got around to it before now and it will be a long one, I'm sure. I don't make new year's resolutions, but if I did it would be to keep my blog more current... so we'll see. I will definately make an effort anyway.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!!!

Caleigh Blaine

I cannot believe that Caleigh will be 11 years old next month. It seems like she should still be the same size as the little girls. And once they start school time just flies by. She has always been such a little grown up. I think being the first grandchild on both sides and spending so much time with grown ups doing grown up things has contributed, but also I think she was just born "mature". I could always take her anywhere with me and she would behave perfectly and enjoy herself too. Since she could walk she has been going to teas and luncheons with her Mimi Vicki and she has always loved that sort of thing.

Caleigh is very sweet, understanding, mature, fair, thoughtful, creative and wise beyond her years. I really could just go on and on, but I'm her mom, what do ya expect :-)!! Sometimes, Caleigh can be too nice for her own good.. meaning, she wont stand up for herself. It's so hard to make her understand that it's okay to stand up for herself, that it doesn't make her a mean person... and she say's that she gets it, but I'm not so sure she does. I'm not always with her so I can't know if she is taking up for herself or not. I just have to trust that God will guide her and help her through those rough times and let her know what is the right thing to do. I am tremendously proud of her no matter what. She does very well in school and is very confident in herself. She loves her friends dearly and would do anything for anyone. She is already planning out her future... she wants to attend Samford to be a music teacher and marry a lawyer... have 2 children, although I'll be surprised if she even has one ( she would go to the hospital over a paper-cut ~ zero tolerance for pain!!).

It's so hard for me to let go of the little girl she was and let her grow up, but I think she is growing up beautifully and I enjoy every new stage of her life. Well... I say that now... she's not a teenager yet ;) Maybe we can skip that stage!!

Girl's Day

Every Sunday since Cody and I have been together, he goes to his buddy's house to watch football. Why doesn't he watch football at home, you ask? Because he is the one and only Cardinals football fan in Alabama, or the south for that matter, so they don't play Cardinals games on TV 'round here unless they're in the Super Bowl or if you purchase the Sunday ticket... which isn't gonna happen. I used to hate this. When we were first married, we didn't see each other at all during the week. I worked days and he worked a split shift which meant he was gone when I got up and gone again when I got home from work. The weekends were the only time we saw each other at all. Now all of that has changed, and I happily send him off every Sunday so the girls and I can have an all girly day together. I absolutely love these days. We go to church then come home and have lunch then it's time for princess movies and popcorn, painting nails and dress-up and whatever else the girls want to do. I can't say enough how blessed I am :-)!!!
Now if I could just figure out how to keep them little forever...

Punkin' Patch

Saturday, Samantha, Zoe, Heidi and I loaded up and went to Tate Farms. Caleigh was supposed to go also, but her cousin Mary Clayton was in town, so she went to her Mimi Vicki's and Grandaddy Frank's in hopes of getting to see her. The weather has been so nice this month, with the exception of the rain, until Saturday. It was freezing and so, so muddy. We were all covered in mud by the time we left. The girls really enjoyed it though. Heidi would get so excited looking at the pumpkins in the patch while we were on the hay ride and as soon as we got out there she went for the biggest pumpkin she could find and tried to pick it up. She's so stubborn. She would've stayed out there all day working on that pumpkin. I eventually had to drag her away screaming...typical. Zoe would've preferred to just swing. We go to the park at least 2-3 times a week, if not more and weather permitting, so you would think that she would be interested in all of the other things they had there...
My camera, of course, wasn't working, so as soon as I get the pics from Sam I will post them.

Heidi Madelyn

Heidi is growing and changing so much these days. I can hardly keep up. At her 1 year check-up she was 21.13 pounds and 31 inches. She is technically a little above average, but she seems so, so tiny. I don't know if it's because she has such a petite frame or because Zoe was so much bigger at that age orrrr because she is so bow-legged. Yes, I know all babies are a little bow-legged, but they usually grow out of it by now. Not Heidi, she is very noticeably bow-legged and if you have ever seen Cody, then you know where she got it from. I'm just praying she grows out of it at least a little bit:)!

Her vocabulary is expanding daily now too. Her newest phrase is "heeeey precious" and it really is precious to hear because her voice gets really high pitched during "hey" and she says precious really fast. I'm hoping to capture it on video, but she would rather play with the camera than be in front of it, so that's getting harder and harder. She does love to entertain though and will do anything for a laugh. Zoe can make her laugh better than anyone. Sometimes I can't even figure out what she could possibly be laughing at.... I guess Zoe is just naturally funny to her. She adores Zoe. She is constantly just walking up to her and hugging or kissing her. And whatever Zoe does, she has to do to. I am so glad that they are so close, and I love watching the two of them grow and play together everyday. Some of the other things Heidi can say:

Heideee
momeee
datteee
hey doe - hey Zoe
dottie - doggy
pop pop
mimi
nanna
baboo - drink (not sure how she came up with that one. it can also mean other things too)
dady - baby
me
ni-night
ahht - hot

aaaapu - apple

ep - help

nah nah - no no

nana - banana

hey bwirdie - hey birdie

heeey boogie

She has only said Zoe 2 or 3 times and she hasn't been able to get Caleigh down. I guess that is a little bit harder. She is so funny with Caleigh. She will just sit and look at her with admiration. She doesn't try to play with her like she does Zoe or like Zoe does with Caleigh, but she loves for Caleigh to hold her and take care of her. I guess she thinks of Caleigh as a little mama or something. All of my girls are just so sweet together and I am so very, very blessed.

On the down side, Heidi has recently decided she doesn't want to sleep in her bed. I can't figure this one out. She has always slept in her crib. She went straight from the hospital to her crib in her room and has always loved it. When I would lay her down at night she would just roll over and cuddle her lovie and go right to sleep. Of course, there were nights when she would fuss a little, but it would only be for a few minutes ( with the exception of the nights when she was teething. those were a little harder). For the past few weeks, she would go down fine but then wake up in the middle of the night and absolutely would not go back to sleep. So, we would go in the living room and lay on a boppy and watch sportscenter. Some nights she would just go right back to sleep and others it would take longer, then I would just put her back in the crib. Well, for the past week or so, she has started to get hysterical when we would start heading to her room and would cry for the longest after I layed her down. The past 2 nights I had to rock her to sleep, which I haven't done since she was a little baby. This happens at nap time too. I just can't figure it out. I thought maybe there was a scary shadow in her room so I removed all the animals from the shelves, but that didn't help. I wish I could fix it... I hate for her to be so upset. I just pray that God will calm her little soul so she can sleep soundly again (and me too).

It's been a while

I haven't been that interested in the blog lately,or in other words I have been way too tired... but I'm coming back. More to come soon!

One Year Ago Today...

Today is Heidi's 1st birthday. I cannot believe how fast this day has arrived. This is how my day went last year...

It was the very first day of school, 4th grade, for Caleigh. Zoe Anna and I dropped Caleigh off at school and headed home to just hang out for the day. No big plans. In fact, I wanted to take it easy because I had worked really late the night before. We had just installed a new kitchen floor and I had been putting all the little things back into the kitchen ( because I AM OCD and everything had to be perfect ASAP). For the past week or so I had been telling everyone that I was ready for the baby to come but I had to have my kitchen done and Caleigh's first day at school over with. OK, back to my day. When I hopped out of the car after dropping Caleigh off, I felt "strange". This being my 3rd baby and my 2nd in the past year in a half, I felt pretty certain of what was going on. It was Thursday and my next appointment wasn't until Monday so I called the Doc and pretty much demanded to come in. I dropped Zoe Anna off at Mimi Vicki's and felt pretty sure I wouldn't be coming back for her until a couple of days later.

I believe I waited at the Dr.'s office forever. Finally, she comes in and checks me out and lets me know that it definately would NOT be today. "Come in on Monday, and we'll go from there. Enjoy your weekend". I'm not discouraged though, I Know I will be back later. Maybe not today, but definately before Monday. I had made up my mind at this point and it was going to happen one way or another.

I pick up Zoe and we go about our day. Actually, we had a really great day just hanging out together, not really doing anything in particular. Around 1'ish I started dragging. I knew the feeling. By the time I picked Caleigh up at 2:50, the contractions were coming pretty regular but not painful. At 4pm I called my friend Sam at work and asked if she would come over "just in case". She was leaving for Gatlinburg that night so she stayed with me for about an hour and by that time Cody was home. I called the Dr. and she still didn't think it was anything, but if I felt worse in an hour to come on in and they would check me. Come on lady! It's not that hard to figure out whats going on. By the time we dropped Caleigh and Zoe Anna off at Mimi Vicki's I could barely stand up, the contractions were coming so hard and so fast. I'm thinking " oh God, please let me make it to the hospital!!".

We make it there and I get the nurse from hell!! Seriously, she was horrible. First of all, she comes in and tells me that my Dr. doesn't think I am really in labor and that she wouldn't be coming by and NOT to give an epidural. Then she says, "I'm afraid you aren't going to get the epidural in time". Well, I start to cry. After having a 10lb 2oz baby with 2 epidurals and still being in excruciating pain, the thought of doing that without any pain medication was more than I could handle. By the way, nurse Betty is completely oblivious to the fact that I am upset. So she starts my IV, but she is putting it in my arm instead of my hand. I'm still upset, so I don't think to ask why she is doing it that way. She then screws up and we have to change my sheets because they are soaked in blood. I think on the 3rd try she gets it right, but it's extremely painful.

A little while later, I am excited to find out that I am in fact going to get my epidural. He arrives soon there after and while preparing me he starts an argument with nurse Betty. This goes on for forever. I am not a very patient person in normal circumstances so you can just imagine how I felt right then. I think I finally tell them to just get on with it and to drop the fight. My mom and Cody were very surprised that I didn't cuss them both out and make them feel about an inch high.

I am good now. She is sooo close at this point, but just not quite there. No matter what I do, she just will not budge. So, nurse Betty tries to help things out and she is successful. In fact, so successful that the baby is coming immediately! I am freaking out because the Dr. hasn't arrived yet. Nurse Betty tells me to hold her in. What!? Hold her in?! How do you hold a baby in??? Apparently, it is done by panting like a dog, according to nurse Betty. In the next minute, my Doc arrives and she is here. I'm pretty sure I sat up and said, "That was it?". Again, after having a 10 pounder a mere 7lbs 14oz was a breeze. So, Heidi Madelyn arrived at 10:15 that Thursday night... I knew I was right!!