Day 2 and still goin' strong

By some miracle, we have yet to see all of those daytime thunderstorms that the weatherman predicted for this holiday weekend. Hallelujah! It always seems to start raining the minute the Friday 5 o'clock bell rings...just in time to spoil Corey's weekend. I always feel so terrible for him when I see a weekend forecast full of rain after an entire a week of nothing but sun.

Since the weatherman has been mostly wrong again this weekend, we took our chances, packed our lunches (and the rest of our house) and set off for some swimming fun, rain or shine. If I'm packing that much stuff I'm staying for the duration!

I also thought I'd take a chance on some water wings for Grace again this year. They weren't a big hit last summer, but after seeing how well my friend's daughter swam with them at our pool date last week I decided to try them again. What a difference a year makes! I won't go so far as to say that Grace's alter ego is Ariel the Mermaid, but she did pretty well and even allowed us to let go of her for short periods of time so that she could swim by herself. We'll definitely keep trying them!

Bonnie, on the other hand, LOVES the pool. The second her toes touch the water her legs start kicking a mile a minute and the squeals get really loud! She loves her float, too, which really helps me when we're at the pool without Corey.

Finally, since the girls were so good at the pizza joint last night, we thought we'd take them out for Mexican tonight. They did great and even got to have their very first bath together when we got home! Talk about a couple of little torpedos...

Off to a good start

We managed to kick off the Memorial Day weekend with plenty of outside time before the rain came. We got some chores accomplished around the house first, then headed to the Silver Comet Trail for a walk. I really wanted Grace to ride her tricycle since it's been sitting inside our house untouched for the last 5 months, but she was more interested in running (and by running I mean prancing) and collecting rocks. She humored me, though, and let me take her picture on the trike before she took off on foot.

Bonnie was content to ride in her stroller. She laughed and squealed the entire time and loved being outside.

We rounded off our day with dinner at a nearby pizza place, and Corey and I couldn't believe how well the girls "behaved" at the restaurant. I was a little nervous about how long Bonnie would last since it was getting dangerously close to her bedtime, but she had a blast sitting in her big girl high chair. She also loved all the attention she got from our waiter.

The entire way home in the car those two girls were cracking each other up. Grace would make a silly noise and Bonnie would try to copy her. They were very loud, but very cute. Bonnie clearly adores her sister and I think it's safe to say the feeling is mutual for Gracie. If I may steal a line from another blog that I read, it just don't get no better than that.

New wardrobe

I went to the mall this past weekend for the first time in about 3 months, and it was very hard to resist the urge to buy Bonnie every adorable 12-18 month article of clothing that I saw. They just make everything way too cute.

I managed to resist, though, and as soon as I got home I was inspired to get up in the attic and pull out all of Grace's 12-18 month bins. What was I thinking buying so much stuff? I must admit that going through all those clothes was way better than shopping at any mall. I was so happy to once again see everything that Grace has outgrown and it's definitely safe to say that Bonnie is all set in the wardrobe department!

"Mama!"

Don't be deceived by the picture...Bonnie is not crawling yet. I am, however, ecstatic to report that she did say mama for the first time this morning! She was sitting in her highchair when it happened and my mom can confirm...I was on the phone with her when Bonnie said it!

We had a great weekend full of working in the yard, going to the pool, and having dinner with our friends down the street this evening. We're looking forward to the long Memorial Day holiday next weekend!

9 months already?

I swear, Bonnie is going to crawl any day now. I realize that I've been saying that for at least 2 months, but I really feel like the day is about to be here. She can turn a complete circle on her tummy, go backward, and take one lunge forward if there is something in front of her that she really wants.

Thankfully, she is a very good eater and is eating mostly finger foods now. Puffs are still her number one snack of choice, but she also loves cheese, avocado, sweet potatoes, broccoli nuggets, and banana pancakes, just to name a few. In fact, just this morning she finished an entire banana pancake and then signed more!

She still says dada like a champ, and has also added go to her vocabulary. She has yet to say mama; however, she does get a little separation anxiety when I'm out of her sight so I'll forgive her for now!

One thing remains, and that is she is absolutely adorable and I love her to pieces!

Open the pool!

The exciting week continues...

This morning we woke up, ate breakfast and headed to Handley's pool. Actually, I packed for Handley's pool for an hour and a half first, but we eventually made it there. On time for once, too!

The girls had a great time and even Bonnie was happy...as long as I was in the water swimming with her! I was surprised at how much she loved (to eat) the water. Their neighborhood has a salt water pool, so of course Bonnie wanted to dip her face in every chance she got! Just kidding, Bonnie :-)

Gracie's 1st Ballet Recital

I know what the word proud means. I've used it in a sentence before. I've felt it before, too. Like the time I was in 11th grade and I was one of two people in my entire class to get an A on the Stoichiometry test in Chem I. It was the hardest test I took during my high school career, and I aced it. I mean I aced it.

I was so nervous when Mrs. Manly called my name for me to come up to her desk and pick up my exam. I knew that it was customary for her to place a sticker on top of students' tests who had scored an "A". I was sure that I'd bombed it miserably, so when I walked up to her, shaking, my eyes welled up with tears when she placed that sticker on MY test.

I was so proud of myself for that. Still am. In fact, I have the notebook with that test in it. Corey has seen it a million times and heard the story about it a billion times and I'm sure he'll hear it a zillion more for as long as I'm alive.

I've been proud of many other things, too. I'm proud of my parents for having been married for almost 37 years. And for raising 2 children.

I was proud of Corey when he passed the California Bar Exam. And then the Georgia Bar Exam 6 short months later. Man, his parents must be so proud of him!

And today, I felt pride again. A pride like I have never felt before.  I felt it from a parent's perspective. 

I got to see the end result of something Grace has been working so hard toward. AND SHE WAS MAGNIFICENT. The perfect little ballerina. I was so proud of her and of how much she has learned in just a few short months. She followed directions and danced like a pro. In fact, all the parents in the room today should be beaming with pride because the entire class was awesome.

I can't imagine what a blubbering fool I'm going to be when she accomplishes even bigger things...like graduating from preschool!

Poor Emma came down with a terrible stomach bug so she wasn't able to make to Grace's recital today. We love you and hope you feel better soon!

Also, a special thanks to Mimi for being my photographer today!

Emma's Ballet Recital

Every day this week Grace has asked me if it was time to go to Emma's recital. The day finally arrived, but her questions didn't stop there. All morning and then the entire way to Roswell I heard, "Am I going to get to see Emma now? Hey, Mom. Can I see Emma now?" Even after we got to the art center she continued to ask everyone and anyone who would give her an answer...especially Emma's Nana. Sorry Nana! :-)

*Nana is always so sweet to Gracie (and Bonnie) and I loved this picture of the two of them!

She was so excited when Emma walked out on stage, looking absolutely adorable I might add. I was worried she was going to scream her name throughout the entire performance, but she managed to remain fairly calm and only shrieked a couple of times!

Emma was a beautiful ballerina. She and "Old Puppy" did such a great job today!

*Always a priceless greeting!

After the recital it was off for frozen yogurt at Menchi's. I'm not usually a big ice cream eater, but this was really good! Grace inhaled a chocolate and vanilla swirl yogurt with chocolate and colored sprinkles while Emma devoured her chocolate yogurt with Lucky Charms and chocolate sprinkles. Yummy!

We had so much fun today and can't wait for Emma to come to Gracie's recital!!

Stylish

Grace has been telling me the last few nights that she is going to brush my hair and make it look stylish. Good luck, sister. I need all the help I can get. Once again, I have no idea where she learned that word, but it still cracks me up every time she says it.

She also brought me these sequined cat eyes this morning and told me that she wanted to be Mardi Gras. Now, I know that one came straight from the Tiana book we read every night.

Those couple of quotes have prompted me to get out the list where I jot down every other funny thing she says...which is just about everything.

Mucho gusto.

*This is what she once said to me after I served her her dinner. Clearly, she didn't learn it from me. I took Latin so I don't even know if she was making sense.

You make my heart feel super happy.

*Don't get all teary-eyed like I did when she said this to me. I later discovered that she picked up this line from Kai-Lan.

Ow! I 'stepped' my toe!

I can't marry Prince Philip if I have a dirty dress.

Oh, my Mickey ball...awesome!

A couple of days ago, we were having a discussion about Grace's cousins. After she named all three of them she asked if Baby Coltrane was sleeping. The rest of the conversation went something like this...

Me: Yes, Baby Coltrane is probably sleeping right now. Babies like lots of sleep.

Grace: They like lullabies, too.

And my personal favorite...

When a woman says later, she really means not ever.

*Okay, I just about spit out my milk when she busted that one out at the dinner table. I quickly learned that she heard it on The Princess and the Frog. C'mon Disney!! Is there any movie that's safe for the kids to watch when Mommy needs an occasional babysitter?

I'm afraid of what 's going to come out of Bonnie's mouth when she learns to talk!

I am, however, excited to report that Bonnie can sign "more" when she wants more food or more of anything for that matter. She doesn't perfectly clap her finger tips together (it's more like a fist and a palm :)), but she definitely gets her point across and squeals with delight when she gets what she wants. Then she does it again and again to see if it will work!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to our moms, grandmothers, godmothers, aunts, sisters, friends and all the other mommies out there! We hope you had a wonderful day. I know I did!

Thanks, Glee!

Gracie is shaping up to be our little music prodigy. At 14 months she could hum the tunes of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Daisy, Daisy, both in their entireties. At 17 months she could hum all of Hey, Jude and by 20 months she could sing most of the words.

So it's no wonder that she loves to watch the "kids" on Glee perform. Just to clarify, we don't let her actually watch the show, just the musical numbers. Because of this program, she has added many new songs and bands (and I must add that she has excellent taste in music) to her current catalogue, including Queen and Katrina and the Waves.

And Carrie Underwood.

There's nothing like it when you're sitting at dinner and your 2 year old, out of nowhere, belts out, Last night I got served a little "bitty" too much of that poison, baby. Last night I did things I'm not proud of. And I got a little crazy, in the most plain, easy to understand English you've ever heard. There was no mistaking what she was singing.

Thank goodness we were at home at our own dinner table.

It was right then that I realized not only the capacity of her memory as we haven't listened to that song in months, but also her ability to recall and repeat information that she's been storing over a period of time. And one day she is going to recall and repeat all of the things I've said to other drivers when they've cut me off in traffic. In public.

**Note to self to get better about that.

She's also been all about her cowgirl boots this week. So what if it's 85 degrees outside?

"Happy Cinco de May-home!"

Last night, Grace had her very first ever sleep over...with Emma! We've been planning this event for quite some time, and Grace has asked me every single day leading up if it was time for Emma to come over.

Emma and Mimi arrived just in time to wake Gracie up from her nap, and there aren't enough words to express how excited Grace was when she opened her eyes and saw Emma in her room!

After the girls recovered from their greeting, they were ready to have some fun. They ran around in the backyard wearing Rosetta and Silvermist costumes, played with bubble wands, looked at ants through magnifying glasses, got out every toy in the playroom, ate popcorn shrimp and macaroni for dinner (and maybe some cupcakes for dessert), and then it was time for baths...but not bed!

While Mimi gave the girls their baths, Tinkerbell may have made a secret visit to our house to drop off a few things for movie night, including princess sleeping bags and, of course, Tinkerbell dolls. Grace immediately climbed into her sleeping bag and declared that this was the best day ever!

Bedtime did inevitably roll around, but the fun didn't stop there. Both girls piled into Grace's bed, princess sleeping bags and all, and proceeded to giggle and act silly until 11:00pm when Emma couldn't take it anymore and finally fell asleep. Grace conked out shortly thereafter. Meanwhile downstairs, we were watching the entire thing on the video monitor. It was hilarious!

Today brought even more fun. We all woke up and ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, got dressed, and headed to the playground for our weekly play group. Gracie was so excited to introduce Emma to her friends, Handley and Avery. I would have loved to have gotten a picture of all the girls together, but good luck getting everyone to sit still for a picture, right?

Bonnie wanted so badly to get out of her stroller and play with the big girls!

We were all so sad when it was time for Emma to go home. It really was the best day ever!

He's here!

Corey's sister, aka Grace's and Bon's Aunt Ellie, gave birth to a big baby boy this afternoon! Coltrane Russell Morris was born today at 3:18pm, weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces (my prediction and my birth weight :-)) and measuring 20 3/4 inches long. And man, is he a cutie!

Congratulations, Ellie and Josh! We love you guys and are so happy for you!!!!!